#and by that i mean i need to reread it four times and try to find as many spelling errors as possible

[littledreamling]

I have tentatively finished The Wrong Name at a staggering* 5.2k words

*staggering not in volume, because I’ve written more in way less time, but because this was supposed to be less than half of that length… oops

[july-19th-club]

a while back i read jane eyre for the first time since high school in anticipation of watching the 2006 wilson/stephens miniseries. it's incredible to reread these classic novels as an adult, because while i got all the words and understood the *content* as a teenager, i didn't at all find the book interesting or fun to read. anyway i think one of the reasons that book stood the test of time isn't so much the gothic intrigue and how fucked up rochester and his wife are . he sucks so bad in so many ways . but he keeps needing rescued from stuff and only jane can do it . he fucking breaks an ankle falling off a horse early in her employment with him and she's the one who helps him back to the house . his attic wife sets his bedroom on fire and jane's the one who finds him and puts it out before he dies of smoke inhalation . then attic wife sets the house on fire after jane leaves and the whole place burns to the ground, grievous death and permanent injuries, etc, etc. jane comes back yippee everything's okay again! austen heroes don't get wounded like that because they're far too sedate and busy engaging in social seasons and heathcliff is like not wounded physically so much as destroyed emotionally . but this dude strikes the balance for readers who best enjoy when a man is collapsing of various problems and literally cant survive a day without some governess to pour water on his four-poster so he doesn't fry to a crisp

ALSO . i particularly was interested in the passages just after jane first meets him where she talks a lot about how if he was a normal polite person, or even just like a normal Lord with like, a sense of propriety and good manor house manners, she'd have been shy and awkward and uncomfortable and would have hated him. but i think where some interpretations get it wrong is that she doesn't think his rudeness is HOT. she thinks it's good for her own confidence, in that she knows her own self-esteem and social comfort levels are so low that all the scripts of peerage and society make her crawl into herself and disappear. she doesn't know how to follow the scripts convincingly, she's been emotionally abused her whole life so she has no sense of self-worth, but he doesn't follow the script. which means she doesn't have to worry about following it either. which does wonders for her confidence levels because when she can just act in ways that make sense to her rather than second-guessing whether she will be Approved Of, she can actually be a person. and that's what she first appreciates about him: his ability to (more or less without trying or even noticing) facilitate that for her.

"The incident had occurred and was gone for me: it was an incident of no moment, no romance, no interest in a sense; yet it marked with change one single hour of a monotonous life. My help had been needed and claimed; I had given it: I was pleased to have done something, trivial, transitory though the deed was, it was yet an active thing, and I was weary of an existence all passive."

[esmereldapearl]

PJO Future AU head-cannon stuff (some ARE taken from other peoples head-cannons bc they’re awesome):

- Will Solace would not be a medic/be in the medical field— I feel like just because he’s good at it doesn’t mean he likes it. Maybe he’d be a teacher because of his leadership skills.

- I feel like from working in the infirmary and having people close to him pass, Nico would choose a medical field job. I feel like he’d be an RN (registered nurse) or doctor and work at like an urgent care (er is too crazy for him— or maybe it wouldn’t and he’d like the chaos)

- I also feel like there’d be a not so great injury and Nico would be like “Oh let me see” then see it and be like “oh that’s really cool” not much would phase him— or it would but he’d find it fascinating

- I feel like the fact that they didn’t have these new kinds of tech when Nico was growing up also adds to his fascination. Like what do you mean x-Ray machines exist?

- I feel like Percy would do well with water jobs— like maybe he’d be a marine biologist and he’d find it fun to just communicate with the ocean life.

- Frank and Hazel would take a lot of dual credit classes or graduate early from highschool so they could focus on the camp— like they’d take online stuff so they could spend more time focusing on camp. (hope that makes sense) I’m not sure what I think their careers would be.

- Leo would own his own mechanic shop after going to trade school (saw on tiktok)

- Jason (revived) would be a professor of history— probably mythology.

- As a Valgrace shipper (dont judge pls) I think that they’d get together shortly after Jason is revived (not too short— six months after?) because they’ve been through a lot already and don’t want to risk anything again.

Now, onto kids because I don’t see these often but I find it fun to imagine:

- Frank would be a girl dad. He’s got two daughters and is just so happy with them and Hazel.

- Percy and Annabeth would have three kids, two girls and a son, in that order. I feel like Percy and Annabeth would work hard to have good relationships with their kids and finally relax. I feel like they’d be sorta protective but also be very relaxed with them- educate them about being mature and making good choices.

- I feel like Annabeth would realize how important names were and try to name her kids after popular figures in history who had good stories

- Will and Nico would probably have two kids, both adopted, but one would be one of Will’s half-siblings/half-nephews. The kid was really little, like four or five, when he got to camp and Will just kinda adopted him so he didn’t have to be full-time at camp. They also have a daughter but not until the son is like 12. She’s also adopted and is also a half-blood but I feel like they wouldn’t know who her godly parent is until she’s 12 and then be shocked because she’s like a child of Zeus.

- Leo and Jason would wait a while and focus on their relationship and careers. Then they’d adopt two daughters (not at the same time) and raise them where they don’t know about half-bloods until they’re older. They’d probably be half-bloods so that way they could raise them the way they wished they were raised. Leo and Jason don’t want them to have to see and experience the stuff they had to at such a young age.

- I don’t think any of them would name their kids after any of their late friends. I saw someone, a while ago, bring up that it could result in bad memories or just not be an okay time yet to do so. So— I don’t think that Annabeth would name her kid Silena and I don’t think Nico would name his kid Bianca.

- However, I do feel like Annabeth and Percy would name their eldest Sally after Percy’s mom (it would work well with the headcannon that Annabeth would name her kids after people with good stories) and have her middle name be a positive powerful historical figure.

(I realize I left Piper out— I’ve been forgetting a lot about characters recently and need to go back and reread HOO in order to grasp what I think she’d do in the future)

[unordinary-diary]

Thinking about how Blyke is actually insanely strong, even by the standards of his world, yet he gets his ass kicked for the entire story.

From episode one...

To the first actual fight he’s ever been in... (ch. 15) [Edit: second actual fight]

... to the approximate middle of the story... (ch. 197)

... Up through the very latest chapter as of me writing this— (ch. 345)

— Blyke repeatedly gets pummeled.

Over,

and over,

and over,

and over.

It’s really no wonder he gets insecure about it.

I mean, these screenshots were all taken from different fights. The amount of fights he’s won, on screen, without backup is... once or twice against Zeke, once against Gou (Agwin’s Jack from turf wars), and once as a vigilante solo act. That’s four, max. There could be more that I’ve forgotten, but I’ve read this series so many times and I really can’t think of any. (No, I don’t count firing a warning shots to get people to behave as “winning a fight”.)

compared to all the fights he’s been outmatched in? You’ve got Rein from turf wars, Volcan, John, John, John, Lennon from his vigilante solo stunt, John again, the fight in the Rowden amusement park, the attack on Rowden hill, Ember, and now the authorities in general. Possibly more that I forgot. That’s 11. He didn’t necessarily lose all those fights, but they’re fights where he was way out of his depth and/or would’ve lost without backup.

Anyway, point is: Blyke is no stranger to getting his ass kicked. In particular, he is no stranger to getting kicked while he’s already down.

In fact, I’m gonna take an example from the turf wars match in chapter 15: Blyke has already lost the fight with Rein, yet Arlo hangs him out to dry. Arlo is the one who’s supposed to call him back to get healed, yet he just smiles while the others look at him expectantly, and Blyke gets more and more injured. Even Rein is questioning it.

I could and honestly probably will do a whole analysis on just chapter 15, but eventually Seraphina calls him back for healing. The way Blyke was treated in that scene was kinda heartbreaking.

GOD chapter 15 is my favorite episode but it leaves me with so many questions grrr I wanna talk about it but that’s another entry.

Putting that aside, Blyke is very protective, and compassionate to the plight of others when he’s aware of it. After he sees the situation in Branish, he is immediately, rightfully pissed about the way society is. It opens his eyes to a world he hasn’t experienced, and it reframes how he thinks of John (still a “cripple” at the time).

To the actual point of this diary entry (other than rambling about Blyke, that is), John is another character who gets repeatedly kicked while he’s down. I don’t think I need screenshots to prove that. However, in my current reread of the series, I recently came across a certain panel that I do wish I had a screenshot of. It’s either Blyke or Seraphina who asks John “Why are you always kicking people while they’re down?” And John responds: “Because everyone kicked me when I was down!” And I think that’s a vivid contrast with Blyke, who has been kicked while he’s down, and chooses to protect people who are weaker than him. In particular, I want to point out that in order to protect them, Blyke is willing and actively chooses to get beaten quite brutally.

Mind you, this ^ is to protect people who he barely knows. He and Sera aren’t close, and the others are practically strangers.

It’s pretty much the inverse reaction. John says “Others kicked me while I was down, so I’ll do the same on everyone else tenfold.” Blyke says “I was kicked while I was down, and goddammit I will keep getting kicked if it means other people don’t have to.”

It’s such a cool parallel, and the fact that when John was getting kicked, Blyke was trying to help, but when Blyke was getting kicked, John was doing the kicking adds so many layers to it.

[a-memory-a-distant-echo]

ok, i'm being so brave and making the rec post that i told anon i would do like three days ago.

the obligatory caveats. this is not comprehensive—i haven't read all the fic in this fandom, and i've barely looked at anything not in english. my reading habits are pretty broad—i'll read almost any pairing, and am generally willing to suspend my disbelief to do so. i am not usually an au person, though this fandom is doing its absolute damndest to prove me wrong on that point.

also i have…more…fics that i felt i should rec somewhere, so probably this is rec post one, but ten felt like enough and also saying things in public where people can hear me is, it turns out, absolutely excruciating. please no one be mean to me about this post, especially if you wrote one of these fics, because if you are i will simply fill my pockets with rocks and take to the sea, ok? ok.

excited to find out what i manage to do that ruins the formatting, links the wrong fics and/or people, or otherwise breaks things in this post. please tell me if i've fucked up, or if your fic is on this list and you would rather i keep your name out of my mouth, or whatever.

first, a very special mention to the mlc reference guide by @yletylyf. this is such an incredibly comprehensive and generous resource. you want a timeline for this show that does an incredibly poor job of maintaining its own timeline? it's here. you want episode summaries? they're here. you want all the people and places? they're here. if you're writing fic, you want this guide, because it's so much easier and faster than scanning episodes or subs files to figure out the name of one specific guy or whatever. it also means that at least occasionally you work on the thing rather than accidentally rewatching the same scene five times, or hypothetically watching two to four episodes without even really thinking about what you're doing. the reference guide is the unsung mvp of fandom.

beyond porch and portal, difanghua, teen, by willowdream. this is the vampire au that i didn't know i wanted? the author posted it and their note was like 'i'm trying to be the change i want to see in the world,' and i was like ok sure, i'm not really convinced that the change i need is vampire aus, but i'll give it a go, and then i did and was like, oh shit, i'm eating fucking glass about this vampire au, i'm chewing on my own fucking fingers, i'm so fucking normal about this, i need another hundred thousand words of this and also seventeen more vampire aus in my inbox by monday morning. i literally finished reading it and scrolled right back to the top to read it again. i have no idea why this fic hits so hard, but it took me out at the knees. the voices are perfect. something about it is just impossibly compelling.

不安的遠離，再无歸期 | restless distance, without return, fang duobing/qiao wanmian, mature and teen, by @difeisheng. this is technically two fics but they're short and you should read both of them because they're such a brutal, perfect encapsulation of grief, and a really beautiful acknowledgement of the ways that fang duobing and qiao wanmian can be read as reflections of each other, separated by a decade, and it just fucking guts me. i dunno. it's about the grief! it's about the yearning! it's about someone who understands parts of you that you wish didn't exist! i think i've reread this like once a week for the last six weeks and i feel like it gets overlooked because it's not A Ship but like. it could be. it should be.

dance the silence down, fanghua and feihua, explicit, by @momosandlemonsoda. this fic. ugh. ok. i'm breaking my own rules. i had two when i started writing this post: no works in progress, and no reccing things that i haven't left a comment on, like a goddamn grownup. this one fic is breaking both of those rules and i feel bad about it and will hopefully spend like, all day tomorrow just commenting on every chapter or something, but i have to do this. this fic is so good. this fic ruins me. this fic is 63k, still a work in progress, and also if i were losing the whole internet tomorrow and i got to keep one fic in all the world and it was the only fic i could have for the rest of time, it might have to be this one, even as a work in progress. i ignored this fic for so long—by which i mean probably two of the four months since i first watched mysterious lotus casebook—because i was like, i don't like aus, and i especially don't like rock star aus. (or sex work aus, and you're never gonna fucking believe what else this author is writing and what else i absolutely cannot get enough of—this is a sneaky bonus rec for all i wanna do is wrong, another fic that i feel so so so normal about!) but then i was like okkkkkkk but. maybe i'll try it. people seem to be nuts for it. and then i read it and i was like OH HOLY SHIT PEOPLE ARE FULLY CORRECT TO BE ABSOLUTELY UNHINGED ABOUT THIS and normally, honestly, i wouldn't bother posting a rec like this because it's like 'oh haha have you read the five most popular fics in this fandom?' and it feels so redundant, but i know for a fact that a friend of mine who finished watching the show yesterday is reading this post, and even if everyone else has read it, she has not! anyhow as a former music person and a former diner cook, this fic like. i don't know. i feel like it broke me but also fixed me? i literally criticise writing professionally and every time i try to talk about this fic i find myself speechless because it's so perfect to me. i am deeply unwell about this fic. every time a new chapter comes out i sit down and read the whole thing again, yes, all sixty-thousand-plus words of it. some nights you go to bed and you're like 'what's the fucking point?' and then you're like 'no wait, there will eventually be more of dance the silence down,' and somehow that makes things suck a tiny bit less. my wife has made me take out like six sentences from this rec because they're too intense and too weird about it but i need you to understand: you have to read this fic.

in this dream, there is a lover to share this life with, fanghua, g, by @lianhuajing. alternative ending for the end of episode 27, in which li lianhua—precious man who has yet to discover a hill he's not willing to die on—apologises to fang duobing the only way he knows how, and it's wildly upsetting for everyone (but it's ok and it doesn't end miserably, no one panic). this is a delightfully angsty treat, and i love how conflicted fang duobing is in it—i feel like it's not something that i've seen explored a lot, but this poor boy really fuckin goes through it—his best friend and his childhood idol are the same person but are lying to him about it, and his dad's not actually his father and has been lying to him about it, and his best friend/childhood idol may have killed his father, and—yeah, is lying to him about it. like? someone give this poor man a hug and a cup of tea and a snack and a blankie. i love that we get to see some of his internal conflict in this.

quintessence of dust, feihua, teen, by justthereforit. this plays with one of my very most favourite tropes in the world, which is the one where the heart is a physical object and a physical form of trust and control and surrender and—like. this is so good. it's set in episode 13, which is, for me, one of the absolute peak angst points, and it absolutely nails it. di feisheng who's upset and vulnerable and frustrated and angry, li lianhua who knows he's going to die and can't bear the thought that he's going to take anyone else down with him, and they're both just so fucked up. chef kiss. i love it when everyone is emotionally wrecked and continually like 'ok no, i can take one more knife in my soul to protect someone else', and this absolutely delivers on that.

under moonlight, we change our futures yet again, feihua, explicit, by @thesilversun. the wedding room! obviously we have to have a wedding room fic, right? i'm not going to lie: i'm willing to suspend a lot of disbelief for wedding room fics, but in this one, it's actually a wonderfully, horrifyingly plausible setup. it walks a really fine line of keeping people in character, and acknowledging the inherent horror and seriousness of the situation, and also providing some desperately hot sex, and also managing to get the emotional beats of it, too. it has a sequel, which imo really has to be read as the conclusion to this fic, and it's just as good. it's possible that some of what i'm saying here is 'i love vulnerable-inside crusty-outside di feisheng' but like. i do. i love it so much.

what's sealed away, feihua, teen, by @bbcphile. AMNESIA FIC yessssss, a-fei my beloved, fics that handle brain damage/memory issues/amnesia well my beloveddddd. i love the a-fei arc, but i also have had a number of brain injuries and some other stuff that means that my own memory is…not so great, so i sometimes really struggle with how often amnesia in fiction is played off either as nothing to worry about or as a funny thing where everyone's in on the joke except the person who has amnesia. this fic is a great and sometimes very visceral exploration of a horrifying experience, and a really fantastic study of a-fei/di feisheng as a character, as well as the relationship that he has with li lianhua. a-fei trying to balance the trust he has in the sense memory of his body with his understanding of his relationship with li lianhua with li lianhua's reaction to—everything, really—is really well done and wonderful/terrible to read.

我只愿面朝大海 | i wish only to face the sea, g, by foreverstudent. ok so you wanna fuck yourself up some more? go read this. this is canon divergence from episode 39, and fang duobing has learned too well the lessons he's been taught, and sees the shape of things before li lianhua ever touches the wangchuan flower—so he sets about making sure that he won't be able to throw it away. this is agonising and gorgeous and maintains the canon relationships while developing the narrative differently. i wept literal tears. i was like 'ok that's it the worst part is over!' and then i remembered that there was another part coming and then i started crying. anyhow, it is—as ever, with me—about the devotion.

我住長江頭, 君住長江尾 -- i live upstream, you live downstream, fanghua, teen, by @rimbaudofficial. ok so this is Not a fic that i should like, because i am a massive academic failure and despite being in my forties have regular nightmares about having to re-engage with academia for like. any reason. HOWEVER. as noted, i read indiscriminately, even when i'm like 'reading this is a terrible idea and will be upsetting for me personally!', so i was like 'well, how bad of an idea can it possibly be?' and then instead! it was. incredibly charming? it was so fucking cute? the fang duobing characterisation in this is somehow just perfect to me—he's simultaneously confident and vulnerable, and also just so deeply committed to the weird clueless guy who he's decided is meant for him. di feisheng and li lianhua have a perfect weird-bros friendship. i would read another ten chapters of this and i would love it.

[copperbadge]

I find a lot of your posts very helpful and like to reread them sometimes, but as I am primarily mobile these days (2012 me would be appalled and ashamed), it's sometimes hard to do. Which of course is mostly Tumblr's fault, but I came here to suggest that maybe your featured tags could use an update? Your list is fairly short so I'm assuming that means you selected specific featured tags instead of having Tumblr just infinitely list your "frequent" ones. I think maybe adding your usual ADHD, therapy, and aphantasia tags would be good, and maybe some of your NaClYoHoMo* tags? Those are the ones I am usually looking for anyway. Hope you're having a good weekend!

*I slightly misspelled this and also had it all lowercase at first and autocorrect suggested "backup homo" instead. I have no idea what to do with this information but it made me laugh

LOL NaClYoHoMo. I never even thought about adding the Mo on there to make it uniquely gay. :D

I won't lie, I am unsure I ever even knew what featured tags were. I have no idea where one finds them on someone's tumblr, mobile or desktop, and I think possibly either I knew about them and set them to something wildly weird and forgot, or I never knew about them and Tumblr Did A Thing.

I did find out where to change mine in the settings, so I will be updating them and I appreciate the suggestion of useful tags! They should be updated by the time this posts but I need to go through and standardize the therapy tag before that one goes in. If folks have other tag suggestions feel free to drop them in comments. Thanks for the suggestion, anon!

Also if folks have sent me asks in the past, oh, four or five weeks, I do still have a lot of asks in my inbox, I'm going to try to get through them before the end of October. Some of them require thought or research or such, so it just takes extra time, and my social battery is currently temporarily low (nothing to do with mental health, I just have a lot going on right now). But I'm working on it!

[crescencestudio]

๋࣭⭑ Devlog #42 | 6.25.24 ๋࣭⭑

tis the season of Kayn

HAPPY SUMMER!!

Hope you're all doing well and keeping cool <3 I know for me it's started getting to.... the Hot Season. To celebrate the start of Hot Girl Summer (and the beta route going live), I of course had to draw the hottest girl, Kayn.

we must stay cool brothers

Now that we've paid respect to The Hot Girl, let's get into the devlog!

Writing has been fun this month. A lot of it has been dedicated to Etza edits and writing Kuna'a's route. We're getting to about the halfway mark with Etza edits, so we are definitely chugging along!

Sneaky peeky of a recent edit

For Kuna'a's route, I said I wanted to have his first draft complete or almost complete by the next devlog, and I'm VERY PLEASED AND PROUD to say their first draft is In Fact almost complete! This is, of course, the very, very first draft so I'll be going back in to flesh some scenes out here and there and rizz him up even more. But I'm happy with the fact that at least the very base draft is done ^^

This month, I did quite a bit of drawing actually! I finished rendering two of Kayn's CGs, meaning 8 out of their total 9 CGs are finished YYYEEEAAAHHHH!!!!!

it feels so good to see the ending cg titles ouuggHHHH

Because Fenir's beta will be going out soon, I wanted to make some headway on his CGs. This month, I ended up finishing 3 of his CGs and sketching two. I'd really like to get 5-6 of his CGs finished so that it's a similar amount to Kayn's beta, so here's to praying!

baby girl

I also finished Senja's (they/he) sprite and base expressions. His outfit was designed by very talented bestie @saffein-e so please thank them for doing god's work o7

Finally, this past month we worked mostly on Kayn's beta route and getting Fenir's beta route ready for Patreon access!

If you'd like to try out Kayn's beta, you can get access to it if you subscribe to my Patreon (tier Hydra). Beta access to Kayn's route will close as soon as Fenir's beta goes up which will be early July, so if you want to experience Kayn's beta, definitely make sure you subscribe before it ends!

Player feedback for Kayn's route so far has been really positive, which has been a relief, especially since Kayn's route is the first one I wrote so is arguably the roughest (I have a big soft spot for it and like it, but I'm obviously Biased). So I hope you're all looking forward to it!! <4

beta feedback: so real

I also have started the voice acting sessions for the characters, which is EXTREMELY EXCITING!! That's the last asset I need basically, so the fact we have finally entered a stage where we can start recording is crazy. Our current session is for Kayn's route, but in the coming months we'll be moving to the next routes similar to how beta-testing is going :')

Aside from Kayn's route, I've also been working on coding Fenir's beta route. Rereading his script and he's... a cutie, I'll admit. So I hope the Fenir fans are excited for his route to enter the beta phase!

LET'S.......... GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Last thing, but I also ran a poll on Alaris's release, basically asking whether you all would prefer a full or segmented release. The results were basically 50/50 LMFAO and that's the vibe I've been getting in general. So while I don't want to solidify anything yet, just let it be known that Alaris may end up having a segmented release, where the first four Central routes are released first, and the Fae routes a bit later. I'll see how I start feeling as the year goes on and where Alaris stands, but thank you all for the support and understanding for the poll <3

I was pretty busy this month, so I didn't have too much time to do market research :cries:

But............

I did see the new Haikyuu movie..................... And I am the biggest Haikyuu fan. Quite literally if you want to know everything about who I am as a person and creator, watch Haikyuu and you will understand who I am to my deepest depths.

obviously I had to draw baby

But aside from that, I want to give one last shoutout to our Hot Girl Summer cross-promo! If there are any games you haven't tried out in this little set, I highly recommend giving at least 1 or 2 of them a peek! All of the games are so charming and have some similarity to Alaris, whether it's a personality mechanic, hot Fae, or a fantasy/ adventure story :')

Links to each game can be found on the Alaris Game page under the magic and mystery otome section!

I'm pretty happy with the progress we made this month. While there's still a lot to do, it's satisfying to see Alaris come more and more to life with each month. See you all next month with hopefully more exciting progress!

[ihugzminseo]

needed me. pjh x reader. part I.

pairing : toxic!gf!jihyo x afab!reader

synopsis: 5 years. 5 years of hell to you, 5 years of sadism to her. 5 whole years, you and jihyo have been on and off. why? she's toxic. it's completely insufferable the way she treats you, because she just treats you so badly. that is, outside of bed. god, she's so good in bed. but the on and off is too much, so you decide to leave her. for all. as you said the previous three times. so, you inevitably come crawling back, because you both know deep down, you need her.

warning : non-idol au, unnie!jihyo (jihyo is 27, reader is 25), slight s&m, possessive!gf!jihyo

word count : 0.7k

a/n : this is the first (of many) songfics!! this fic is heavily inspired by needed me by rihanna (hence the title ykyk); 

to feel a little more, and give a little less. know you hate to confess, but baby, ooh, you needed me.

disclaimer : this fic has been on the brain for a while, but PLEASE, for the love of all things sacred, do NOT by any means depend on a partner, especially one that's toxic. speaking from experience, it crushes you. seek the help needed, and do not lean on them. at all. this is a work of art, and does not depict any real life instances.

october 2nd. today would've been you and jihyo's five year anniversary. and hypothetically, it is. because this is the day you two got together. for the first time. you weren't fond of college, so you applied for a part time job as a boutique assistant. you've worked at this boutique for nearly eight years, and jihyo was a fairly frequent customer. from her long dark hair, to her big doll-like eyes, to her sweet-as-honey voice, you were in love.

you could go on and on about what you loved about her. her hair looked so healthy, you hated big eyes but godthey suited her so well, her figure was everything you aspired for, her style was top tier but most of her clothes were from the boutique you worked at anyways, her voice was so sweet sounding it drove you crazy. and most of all, she always came directly to your register. not your coworkers, you. and god forbid you were out one day, she'd have another one of your coworkers hold whatever she was planning to check out that day and she'd come back when you came back.

it seemed like the people around you could sense the chemistry between you and jihyo before either of you even sensed it yourself. jihyo had only been shopping there for four or five years, but she was so inclined to walk right over to you, as if she'd known you since day one. and a stranger would think you had on really tacky makeup with the way you blushed everytime she came around.

the two of you initially only engaged in small talk, but that led to the two of you having genuine conversations while you checked her out, like you were two best friends meeting over coffee. and she was just such a sweetheart, it damn near hurt.

she'd smile and nod while you spoke, pretty long lashes batting against her cheekbones when she blinked. and when she spoke? you could listen to her forever. she spoke slowly, almost sensually, and that smile she'd had while on the receiving end of the conversation never faded. she would "unintentionally" touch your hand while handing you her card, feeling the rough prongs of all your rings against her soft hands.

and one day, she slid you something while you took her card. a sheet of paper. "call me? XXX-XXXX-XXXX ♡" . didn't even take you a second to reread it, just a glance up mimicking her sweet smile and a mouthed "you got it".

in all honesty, you hadn't really expected her to pick up. you'd expected to listen to that eardrum-bursting ringing sound for the next 20 seconds before you were eventually told to leave her a message. but, it was definitely a bit of a shock to hear that honey-like voice answer the call with a "aww, you remembered to call?". her voice was much raspier than usual, and she tripped over her words trying to say 'remembered'. jihyo was drunk, very obviously drunk at that.

"jihyo, you sound drunk. really drunk. are you alright?" did it feel right outwardly asking that? no, but it was on your mind so you did. what wasn't on your mind was hearing "you don't question your elders, y/nnie. im not drunk." three things. one, you could hear the slur in her voice. two, she was a really bad liar. three, elder? she didn't look much older than you, so you hadn't thought to address her as such.

"elder? jihyo we look the same age." was all you could get out. jihyo was charismatic, but understanding what she said was like a rubik's cube. "i can just tell im older than you, im 27 y/nnie. and you look younger than i do." oh. 27. like you'd thought, she's barely older than you. 2 years was not that much of a difference, but it must've counted for something to the pretty drunkard on the other end. "i see. jihyo, im 25 though. you're like, barely older than i am."

should've stopped talking earlier. wayyy earlier. as you learned, jihyo didn't really like being proven wrong.

"so? im still older, even if it is 2 years. so be respectful." her voice was still raspy but now it sounded like she was almost snarling at you. god, you would've hung up right then and there if you knew what your misplaced quick wit and her very well hidden sadism would do to you. because it did barely anything, if anything at all, right.

[linskywords]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to five other writers! 💗

Have you done this yet? If you haven't, you should! If you want!

Top five! Oh man that's so hard. Through great self-restraint I have narrowed it down to these five:

Burn Our Fingers and Change Our Names (Hockey. Bennguin. 44K. Werewolf AU, but not if you ask Tyler.) Ah, the wolfverse, my beloved. I could have chosen five just from there, but I went with this one because I think the pining is the most delicious. Also who can resist this level of cluelessness from Tyler?

Like You Have a Secret (Hockey. 1988. 34K. Kaner is a girl who disguises herself as a guy to join the NHL. Aka the She's the Man AU.) Outdated at this point in that no one in the story seems to consider the possibility of trans people, but still one of the most fun stories I've ever written, and also one of my favorite versions of Kaner. If I ever decide to take a hockey story and file off the serial numbers and try to sell it, this will be a candidate (with some major updates).

I Feel Like I've Been Locked Up Tight (Hockey. Bennguin. 34K. Jamie's a virgin who keeps falling hard for the wrong people.) This is the closest I've come to writing about my own demisexuality. This one's for everyone who can't figure out why they can't just date and hook up like everyone else seems to. (Turns out there are a lot of us in fandom!) It was like pulling teeth to get this one written and I'm so glad I persevered; it feels hard-won and honest to me.

Just to Break My Own Fall (Hockey. 1988. 9K. Kaner decides to move out of Trump Tower). This one is sort of a deep cut, but it feels like the other half of my own history of romantic anguish: the tendency to fall for friends and to learn to live with it but some times are harder than others. It's ostensibly about Kaner selling his condo and really about yearning for what you're not sure you'll ever get to have.

Someone Else's Solid Ground (Hockey. TK/Patty. 22K. Nolan struggles with gender.) This is the first really serious exploration of gender I've ever written. I always feel weird writing those, because I identify as cis, but also they speak to me in some way that maybe should make me reexamine that identification at some point. This one was prompted, for Yuletide, and I probably wouldn't have written anything like it otherwise, but it ended up feeling really powerful in a way I didn't expect.

Those are all pretty old--the most recent is from 2020--and I think that's because those stories feel "vetted" to me: I wrote them long enough ago that I could have stopped caring about them but I didn't. As a bonus, here are my top five from the past four years:

Where You Lead (Hockey. Jack/Nico. 42K. BDSM AU where there are no subs in the NHL, so Jack obviously isn't one.) It was a tossup between this and the sequel; I love them both dearly. This one really started something for me. I have at least three more stories I need to write in this 'verse now, and I doubt it'll stop there.

Wanna Love You in the Daylight (Hockey. Mitch/Auston. 107K. Wolfverse.) Again, probably arbitrary to call this my favorite of the recent wolfverse stories, but I reread it a while back and was just so happy with how it held up. It's the longest thing I've ever written, and very different in its pov character from most of my longer stories (Mitch might actually be...emotionally competent??), which makes it feel singular.

Don't Want You Like a Best Friend (Hockey. JD/TZ. 10K. Jamie doesn't understand that hooking up with Trevor might mean he's into guys.) Haha speaking of emotional competence: Jamie doesn't have it. This one was just a delight. Jamie's conversation with Rico makes me giggle looking back on it. This is one of those stories you're almost sad to have written because you want the experience of writing it again, over and over.

So Hey, Let's Be Friends (Hockey. Quinn/Brady. 4K. Brady has Quinn's name on his arm, but Quinn doesn't have Brady's.) I don't know that this is anyone else's favorite of mine, but it was an experiment for me -- can I write a whole pining journey in 4K? -- and I was so pleased with how it turned out. It's not perfect, but it felt almost miraculous to me.

The Jaws That Snatch (Scholomance. El/Orion but mostly a "what happens next" after Last Graduate. 5K.) Partially because I'm smug about getting the thing about [redacted] right, but mostly because it had people asking in the comments if I was sure I wasn't Naomi Novik. I'm carving those comments in stone, so I can be buried with them.

[roboticnebula]

✨Incomplete/In progress✨ Halbarry fic recs

I've been meaning to do this for a while and finally took the time! This is a list of some of my absolute favorite Halbarry fics on AO3, with a twist: all of the are in progress/ none of these are complete (yet? or never to be? who knows, that's half the fun).

These are only the ones I reread recently, but there are sooo many good ones out there. I sometimes like to filter with "works in progress only" and it's always a good time, I highly recommend it. Also if you have a WIP you like, feel free to drop a link my way. Happy reading!!

Acinonyx Juniper by ceeloilights

Love me a post-apocalyptic story where people find each other and fall in love. Very visceral writing and I really enjoy Hal and Barry's portrayals.

After 7 years of a mysterious virus outbreak, ex-Air Force pilot and scientist-hating Hal Jordan wants to reconcile with his family but ends up meeting government scientist and military-repelled Barry Allen, who leads a double life. These two, along with their ragtag team of survivors, have to find their way through a post-apocalyptic world, learning how to survive, grieve, cope, forgive, and love, all the while the government and cults try to get their asses.

What an Earl wants by finalfrontierpioneer

Your honor, they are in love. There is fencing, and a kiss on a boat. 10/10.

Barry is new to the upper echelons of polite society. Hal offers to teach him everything he needs to know in order to fit in, and it blooms into a romance neither of them expected.

Steal Your Skin by ChocolateTeapots

We're in October, the perfect time to check this out. I love the blend of GL lore with the supernatural, and Hal being a monster hunter promises shenanigans.

Monster hunter Hal Jordan is out to confront the friend who betrayed him. When he gets the chance for one last, simple hunt, he takes it and won't be deterred by a troublesome werewolf who refuses to let Hal's spectres stay buried.

Every man must build a life (and someday watch it leave) by jcp_sob_rjl_lmep

Slow burn recovery, and Halbarry + Wally family. I am on the edge of my seat when reading.

When Hal and Barry set off on their honeymoon in space, it's supposed to take a month. Six weeks, maybe, at the most. No one anticipates their return two years later. Thought to be dead, their return should be joyful, but they're obviously deeply traumatised by the time away that neither of them is willing to elaborate on. The road to recovery is difficult and riddled with obstacles that, at times, seem unsurpassable. But anything is possible when they have each other, even the slow revelation that they might never be heroes again.

Wondering where the lions are by magnetocent

Getting together, historical AU set in the 1970s. There's grief, there's loneliness but also there's love and anyways this one made me cry for all the right reasons.

Hal comes back from his cross country trip with oliver to what is possibly the most emotionally complicated year of his life. Following hal and barry's budding relationship, from 1977-1979.

Catching You by SweetApples02

Racetrack racing but with wings! I keep re-reading the scene where Barry falls because it's mesmerizing.

Racefliers, athletes who compete against the worlds best and fastest fliers for a chance of being the once in four years champion.

Barry Allen, a name that Hal only knew from his friend’s mouth as Ollie raved about the champion title and the influence “Flash” carried over fans. The racer didn’t have any significance to Hal though, at least until Ollie convinced Hal to help him vandalize the Flash track insignia the day before the first race of the year during a drunken night.

Catchers, fliers hired to catch racers in distress. The same position that Hal was forced to pretend to be in when he awoke the next day in the stadium.

Waiting out the event out of moral obligation, Hal found himself in another pickle. A collision sending the Flash crashing down- and taking Hal with him when the vandalizer turned Catcher attempted to catch him.

The legalities afterwards continued the problem. Video footage and Hal’s witness to the collision bringing a discovery that it wasn’t just an accident, but the coverup of Hal’s involvement could turn his statements futile at any turn.

And the budding looks and quiet conversations between him and the recovering champion was a whole new problem by itself.

[syrstab]

⋆.ೃ࿔*:･ SUNSET SPOTTING!

a/n : hi so this isnt my best piece of work, i js felt like i needed 2 post :P (also, im REALLY shit at writing furina + neuvillette, i js wanted to try writing them, sorry if its inaccurate :( +THE BEGINNING IS HARD TO READ LIKE I HATE IT SM ARRRGHHH - i reread this and i found it MAD cringey sooo..

SUMMARY - basically you and furina suggested to neuvillette to go out in public. of course neuvillette was a busy man, but he just has to make time for you. ( also watching the sunset :> )

you and furina were catching up over some tea, as you two rarely saw each other as you were both so busy with work.

“hey furina..”

“yes y/n?” furina looked up, her bright blue eyes meeting yours, taking a sip of her tea

“you, me and my darling neuvillette should go out today.” you say proudly, as if all three of you would go out together. it’s always just been you and furina.

furina giggled when you called neuvillette your 'darling' and took another sip of her tea whilst looking around. “your absolutely obsessed with neuvillette, y/n. I personally find it adorable how you gush over him twenty-four seven , but, i highly doubt all three of us would go out. neuvillette is practically drowning in work…”

you pursed your lips, as if you really thought about it

“just you watch furina, all three of us WILL go out together!” you say with a smug smirk, getting out of your chair.

“y/n, y/n, y/n…” furina sighed putting her tea down and following you.

you proudly walked to neuvillettes office, where of course, he’s doing boring documents and signing papers.

“how’s my gorgeous, cunning, sexy, handsome, beautiful, iconic, courageous boyfriend THE neuvillette doing?” you beam whilst opening the door, furina trailing behind you

“well, hello to you too, y/n.” neuvillette smiles. he knew you were going to ask him for something, as you don’t usually call him those lovey-dovey names. at least, not all together.

“i have a teeny, tiny itzy bitzy request for you.” you grin, furina facepalming knowing damn well this whole 'going out together' thing isn’t going to happen and it’s just going to be you and furina, again.

“go on, my love.” neuvillette stops writing and places his quill down, then interlocking his fingers together like some sort of ceo, i mean he��is chief justice of fontaine..

“sooo… i was wondering if you could stop working for an hour or two, to go out in public to clear our minds? we both know how stressed out you’ve been recently.” you furrowed your brows at that last comment, attempting to persuade him to stop working

he purses his lips, glancing at the window in his office “mmm… as much as i want too, i simply cannot. i’m sure furina told you about how much work i’m doing.”

“pretty pleaaaaseeeeee neuuuuuvi?” neuvillette knew you were the type to try to get anyone do anything for you, and the fact you added his adorable nickname you made for him, he REALLY thought about it.

“come on y/n, maybe just us TWO should go out together. let’s LEAVE this poor man alone.” furina says, adjusting her little top hat on her head, attempting to egg you on with the comment she just made

“you’re SO right furina!! we should DEFINITELY go out together, WITHOUT the chief justice of Fontaine!!” you and furina turned around, backs facing neuvillette, arm in arm, smiling at eachother

“have fun, you two. don’t get into too much trouble.” neuvillette waved you and furina off, your mouth agape as neuvi said this. was this man REALLY being serious?

“uggghhhhhhh please neuvi? just for an hour! pretty please with a cherry on top?” you turned around, and at this point you were properly begging for this man, and neuvi took notice of your whiny voice

furina chuckled at how desperate you were for him to go out. neuvillette usually kept himself out of the public eye, unless you dragged him outside.

you grasped neuvillette’s hand, pulling him outside his office. “you can do those shitty documents later, the suns about to set.. and there’s nothing like watching the sunset with my lovely boyfriend!” you gleamed at neuvi, furina leading you outside to the nearest aquabus station she could find.

you found yourself on the aquabus which Aeval was always on, and you, furina and neuvillette stroke up a conversation with her. you weren’t talking about anything specific, just whatever came to mind.

after a while, you came to romaritime harbor. there weren’t many people there, as it was getting late.

“you don’t have to act all tough and regal, neuvi.” you nudged him lightly, as it seemed he was holding a lot of weight on his shoulders, after all, he is a very important man.

“i suppose so. there isn’t many civilians around today..” neuvillette huffed, dropping his shoulders ever so slightly

“awwh, what cuties you two are…” furina giggled to herself as the three of you walked towards the edge of the balcony

the sun was setting behind sumeru’s desert mountains, and everything felt perfect.

you stood in between furina and neuvillette, staring out whilst your head rested on neuvillette’s shoulder. there was a comfortable silence in the air.

“i love you, neuvillette.”

“i love you too, y/n.”

“...aaaaaaand BOOM! you get married to eachother, have kids and live happily ever after.” furina smirked, knowing you’d blush at the thought of getting married to the iudex himself,  neuvillette.

“oh shush, furina.” you waved her off, one hand covering your cheeks as they were painted a rosy pink

“…i would like that.” neuvillette says, looking at the painted sky

“...like what?” you asked, looking up at him

“i would like to get married to you, and have children with you.” neuvi looked down at you, making eye contact

“i would like that, too.” you smiled at him.

“ooooooooooooooh~” furina says in a high pitched voice, leaning forwards

“oh shut up, furina!” you and neuvillette groaned in unison, and once you both realised you said that at the exact same time, you all started laughing together.

[roomwithanopenfire]

Six Sentence Sunday

Happy Sunday everyone!! Thanks for the tags @blackberrysummerblog and @artsyunderstudy!!

This week I’ve done the big three: writing, editing, and ignoring my wips, with perhaps a bit more of the last one than I’d like. Most of my writing this week has been for an exchange fic for a different fandom, which I finally finished the rough draft of. Cue the celebration. However, even if I wanted to share anything from that, I can’t, it must remain hush-hush, but I am getting pretty excited to share it (and way more excited about receiving my own exchange fic back, this whole thing is very fun).

I’ve written less than 300 words on my COBB this week, and none of them are good, but I have gotten some editing done of Proof of Life. I can’t share any more snippets of the next chapter though because I’ve shared too much already. So instead, I figured I’d do a bit of a process post this time around, because I always love reading those. Check that out under the cut! (and i'm sorry this is long, i still have not learned brevity)

So my editing process isn’t too crazy, and is brought to you almost entirely by google docs comments. I also use the word ‘editing’ very loosely to encompass rewriting, revising, and proofreading. Sometimes editing means completely rewriting a scene/section, sometimes it just means switching around a couple of words or cleaning up a sentence. 

Mostly, I try not to take everything so seriously, because I know that I could edit something forever and ever and never post it if I let myself get too carried away. So I try to keep everything pretty chill. So here’s my steps I go through for each chapter that I edit. 

Step One: Reread the whole chapter. While I do this, I’ll leave comments on big picture things. “Maybe move this scene into the next chapter” or “The dialogue in this scene feels stilted” but I don’t add a lot of comments at this point. Once I’m done with this I’ll copy over any comments I had on the first draft or the beta reader copy over into the ‘draft two’ document. 

Step Two: COMMENTS. Again, my fics are brought to you by google doc comments. I like to go through from the bottom up, reading scene by scene and leaving comments on pretty much every single sentence. 

A lot of the time (read: most of the time) these are really vague like:

And sometimes these are more detailed like:

And occasionally these are compliments

Step Three: Once the whole chapter is filled with comments, I go through scene by scene (in whatever order speaks to me), and rewrite, edit, or fix sections. This part I find really fun, because I’m taking parts that aren’t good yet and I’m making them better. I love fixing things and getting rid of all the comments. It typically ends up being a lot of  rewriting, but I always finish a scene feeling better about it then when I started.

For example, here’s the draft one vs. draft two version of a snippet from the first chapter of Proof of Life. This is one of the scenes I pretty much rewrote. Others look a lot more similar to their original versions.

Original:

Edited:

Step Four: Then before I post a chapter, I’ll read through the whole thing and sometimes find smaller bits to fix. Then I’ll run it through a grammar checker and ignore half of their suggestions in the name of ✨style ✨.

Overall, I feel like I have a pretty basic editing strategy and I’m really pleased with it. Even though sometimes I feel like more robust edits would make everything way better, it’s a good mix of fixing things but not spending too much time on it. I remember I spent like a month on editing the very first fic I posted at that was only 6k words. If I kept doing that for everything, I'd never post anything at all. With fanfiction, I know that y'all will be nice to me even though it's never perfect <333

Tags and Hellos!! (I'm unsure if we still need the spaces, but i've been burned too many times lol)

@you-remind-me-of-the-babe @m1ndwinder @facewithoutheart @run-for-chamo-miles @raenestee

@onepintobean @prettygoododds @noblecorgi @hushed-chorus @angelsfalling16

@thewholelemon @monbons @shrekgogurt @brendughh @hertragedyconnoisseur

@beastmonstertitan @valeffelees @horsesarenotdeer @drowninginships @supercutedinosaurs

@fiend-for-culture @rimeswithpurple @cutestkilla @alexalexinii @ileadacharmedlife

@arthurkko @rbkzz @skeedelvee @bookish-bogwitch @brilla-brilla-estrellita

[delusinalandpassionate]

Hi hello I was looking back at the canto 3 DQ scene and had some stuff I wanted to share, rather rambly however, sorry.

For one, Sinclair getting the KotWM is rather funny in hindsight, especially with the lines he was given the 'visions of promise' and the connection to fate given the mirae-mirae river. He has Impending Day for the theme of fate/future as well as he calls the day Kromer asks for the basement key the 'promised day', not to even mention how the blue is of course Demian's main colour, and how the KotWM defeats Don in the source which I am hoping to mean he pays Donqui back for beating him back to his senses.

But onto what this ask was originally going to be about, while in canto 3 its called their 'deal' I am of the opinion the promise White Moon Sinclair mentions is that very deal. With the possibility if the flow Vergillius follows being somewhat literal given the subterranean rivers, and the fact that this was seemingly a deal with him specifically and not the company at large/part of her contract, I do wonder what exactly that promise was, not exactly sure what sort of deal Sancho would want for. But! Vergillius does mention that something significant went down at her recruitment, given the context of the scolding then perhaps she jeopardised something she held dear.

Knowledge on this point is courtesy of Wikipedia, I am somewhat out of my element on this one:

Mambrino's helm within the story is given a familiar golden glow, plus with the way Don flounders when asked of its location, leads me to believe its somehow involved with the [checks notes] 4th person to be stabbed with a bough, namely in being the bough itself or a part of it - if clockhead is anything to go by, then it could be the source of the powers its said to have in the source story, namely invulnerability. Its power is one that can be funneled into being used for a specific purpose via resonance or synchronisation: see canto 6 wherein Dante synchronises with one in order to funnel the power through their clock head and thus produce time related results, so perhaps it gave him the boost in energy needed to make La Manchaland reappear?

On the topic of the bough, it and what's effectively its new host have a bundle of what seems like roots under it, and the familiar golden glow has been tainted red, solidifying that its been a good while since the impailment. I do wonder how someone managed to do that though, unless someone has whatever Iori has going on or whatever Bari has going on I don't think it'd be easy. Unless WARP shenanigans in case it counts as a separate dimension W corp tech can help one travel to.

Small thing but the background in Sansón's little solo shot has a pattern with a star in the center, four pointed just as the one Dante follows and this is a very subtle reference to the fact his part of the Blue Group. Also the way Don Prime has his arks covered in the sprites of the past is awfully reminiscent of Hermann to me. Add to that the small star on his necklace you can see if ya squint.

Sancho also looks awfully happy in the door opening cutscene as well, I wish her and her extremely fluffy hair well.

I believe that's all I have to say, well wishes and I hope Thursday decides to hurry up a little

Hello! Okay, I reread your ask a few times and will try my best to answer but I kinda want to make known that English isn't my first language and I can misunderstand some things, so please free to correct my mistakes!

And about first, yeah! It's extremely interesting that Sinclair has the role of Blue Knight, with hints of Bari being sort of prophet. Also even more connections with Blue team?(could he be a sleeping agent) It also interesting to me that out of all characters in this stories Bari is only human(or well Bloodfiends think she human) and it also an interesting thing to me that Sinclair got this role.

I keep thinking about karma getting to her for beating Sinclair, but to be honest, right now, I don't see it's happening. Don isn't distorting. She's actually more lucid than ever, so you can't bear her to senses? It could be an opposite where they will try to beat her and put Rocinante, but I feel like it would be narratively wrong? She needs to wake up.

However, I still think that Sinclair will make an important and difficult decision. I just think that maybe it will be a canto in which they start to think that beating people while they experience psychological breakdown until they get a breakthrough isn't the best idea. But it's too much hope, I think.

For the second point with the deal, well... I do see a point, and it makes sense, but I have trouble with accepting it. Gut feeling or something else.

About Mambrino helm, actually, I kinda think Don Quixote is wearing it right now. At least this thing looks a lot like golden helm. I'm not sure what it's doing through.

About Don Quxote being stabbed with Bough, I think it helps to keep him alive and maybe even empowers, but as we know, Sanson also somehow has access to its power?

It actually could mean that he isn't Higher Kindred, but just a Bloodfiend thar got power from it. Sinners thought that his abilities to force them into plays are Bloodfiends one, but what if they aren't?

Thank you for the information about stars! I didn't even notice it tbh.

And yeah, Sancho is... not happy( but I am)

And Thursday is just five days away.

I unfortunately will have classes so will he late to a party...

[rainybubbles]

How did the Haikyuu boys confess to you ? part 1

Part 1- Akaashi, Osamu, Bokuto, Kenma

A K A A S H I :

-A poem.

-But not in a cringe way in front of everyone like you did during the mother's day with your mother trying to encourage you because "The sky is blue, i love you" is not the maximum of the literature.

-(Sorry buddy)

-So you were colleagues and during one reunion you talked about your tastes in books and you found out it was similar.

-One day you decided to lend him a book he wanted to read and which you had at home.

-He thanked you and...your exchanges had started.

-But there was a strange thing.

-When you're lending something to someone.

-Like your grandma, or some book.

-You expect them to give it back to you.

(sorry granny)

-But not Akaashi.

-You tried giving him back the books he lent to you but he always had an excuse or telling you, you could him them until the next time you made an exchange and...

-And you have thirty of his books at your home.

-You didn't question why.

-But today.

-Sick.

-Bored.

-And alone.

-The question was here.

-Why ?

-So you decided to reread some of the books.

-Maybe he didn't like them ?

-But again one of them was his favorite with many his own notes on the pages.

-And-

-Wait.

-All those books had a common point.

-They had pinky words in it.

-It didn't make sense the first time you saw it because there was no annotation, it was like random word like a "a" that was highlight in pink.

-You decided to search them and wrote them in the order of when he lent you the books.

-Slowly you found a phrase.

-"A university degree, four books, and hundreds of articles and I still make mistakes when reading,

You write to me "good morning" and I read it as, "I love you"."

Mahmoud Darwish.

-You stared the quotation.

-And slowly smiled.

-Because you knew it was not a coincidence and you're the only one he lent his books.

-He did this for you.

-You took your phone and texted.

-"Good Morning Akaashi."

-And he replied.

-"Finally."

O S A M U :

-Classic he told you he hates you.

-...I-

-Maybe you need more context.

-So it was Valentine's Day.

-As the good chef he is, he decided to give you the most delicious handmade chocolates with a little note confessing his feelings.

-But Osamu forgot something in his equation.

-His twin.

-Twin who was happy to have a chocolate from Osamu this year, because usually he didn't make anything for him.

-Usually, Osamu only gave chocolates to their mother.

-So yes, when he saw three bags of chocolate, he took the prettiest because he only deserves the best.

-Yes.

-In fact Osamu did bake chocolates for Atsumu.

-With liquor in it.

-To burn his throat.

-And with the inscriptions "I hate you" on it because he burnt his kitchen last month.

-So imagine the surprise when you opened the chocolates Osamu gave you and you found this.

-Osamu waited all the day.

-To have your answer.

-When he saw his brother with a big smile.

-"Ya know, your chocolates were cool 'Samu. Kinda like the praline one."

-Shook.

-Anger.

-And maybe disown his brother.

-Was what he was thinking at this moment.

-Because the praline was your chocolate.

-So he understood you received the most horrendous chocolates while his brother had yours.

-And now...you're thinking he hates you.

-He ignored the fake blond and called you quickly.

-But when your answer, he couldn't talk.

-"I'M SO SORRY OSAMU ! I mean, I... I should have apologized before. And I'm sorry I make you feel so uneasy with my act. I...I shouldn't look so intensely at your pectorals during all the match, but I- You...you're pretty and I had a crush and it's absolutely not an excuse to stare at someone. I'm so sorry I'm making you uncomfortable." you said quickly.

-Osamu froze up.

-"...wait- you...gaze at my pectorals?", he asked.

-"Yeah...is...is that not why you hate me ?", you stammered.

-"I- No, oh my god." He laughed."The chocolates you had were meant for Atsumu but he exchanged the bags and stole yours."

-"Oh."

-"So you like my pecs ?"

-"Osamu, can we forget about-"

-"I like you too."

-"Oh."

-"So stare at them next time we go on a date, is okay for you?"

-"I rather stare at your face honestly."

-"And I rather stare at your lips." he said, smirking.

-"You..."

-"Bye Y/N" He hung up with a smile.

B O K U T O :

-His grandma did it.

-So we know Bokuto can be clumsy.

-After a meeting with you, he had to share with someone how amazing you are, how he loves you and...

-"BRO I LOVE Y/N SO MUCH ! I WANT TO MARRY THEM"

-It was for Kuroo.

-But he sent it to his grandma.

-And it could end here.

-Like the grandma answered "Bo, darling you sent it to the wrong person."

-Yes but it was not the case.

-Because his grandma, Jacqueline, knew a Y/N, who was her neighbor.

-And Jacqueline was bored.

-Her zumba classes was cancelled and she had an argument with her best friend and sadly after this her bestie had a heart attack so she didn't have any best friend now to distract her.

-So guess what could entertain her?

-The love life of his grandson.

-So she baked some cookies and suddenly "realized" she didn't have any sugar.

-Guess who she could ask help?

-You.

-She waited for you going back to your home.

-And knocked at your door with her innocent face.

-You answered that of course you have sugar.

-She thanked you and asked if you wanted to bake with her because her poor hands were too weak to mix up some ingredients.

(She was not weak at all, she went to the gym every day and could lift up your dad AND mom together just with her arms)

-You said yes, because you're a kind person.

-Or maybe you can't say no when someone asks you something.

(go see a therapist Y/N, you need to say no sometimes)

-You ended up at her house.

-And when you asked how many eggs you needed, she told you to look on her phone.

-Guess what was on the phone.

-The text of Bokuto.

-You ended up blushing.

-You apologized and said you had some emergency and...

-And you called Bokuto to confess and told him the story.

-...he thought it was coincidence.

-But Jacqueline knew the truth.

-She was a perfect match maker.

-Maybe she could open a business with her fake meetings cookies.

K E N M A :

-You almost killed his cat accidentally.

-Here you can ask "where is the confession."

-Let me explain.

-You let a post-it on his streaming set-up with a "I like you more than a friend, do you want to go on a date together?"

-Because you knew you were not brave enough to tell him directly.

-And the only place he checked often was his set-up and his phone.

-But you find more romantic to write it on a note.

-Except that your note didn't stick to the screen.

-It flew to the ground.

-And guess who took this paper for something edible?

-Pudding.

-Kenma's cat.

-The problem was when he ate the note; he started suffocating.

-Kenma whe he heard his cat's cough, ran towards him and tried to help him.

-But he failed.

-He searched for the nearest vet's clinic and called you because he didn't have any car. And he needed to be as quick as possible to the vet.

-Of course you drove him and kept him company.

-But when he told you the events.

-Culpability went done to your stomach.

-You stared at the floor.

-"Kenma, I'm so sorry I- I think it's my fault."

-"Why ?"

-"I let a note to you on your PC, and...and I think Pudding ate it."

-"You...why did you let a note ?" he asked confused

-"It, I...I didn't want to tell that out loud. But it doesn't matter. Fuck, I kill your cat." you said horrified.

-"He's not dead." Kenma tried to reassure you.

-"Yeah but he...it's my fault."

-"Well it's not." a voice said.

-You looked up to see the vet.

-"Pudding had an allergic reaction to his new dry food which provoked the angioedema. Your note was not responsible. He was already suffocating."

-You felt relieved but stressed.

-"Is he okay now ?" Kenma asked.

-"Yes, but he needs rest and new foods. We have more tests to do, to identify exactly what is the component that provoked him this allergy."

-"Thanks sir." Kenma said.

-"That's my job. By the way, here's your note. We didn't know if you wanted it or not. "

-He gave you a plastic bag with your note in it.

-There was drool on it and it was kinda gross, but you could still read the message on it.

-So does Kenma.

-He stared at you, while you tried to look everywhere else like suddenly the yellow wall was interesting.

-"Yes." he said.

-"What ?"

-"Your question, the answer is yes."

-You opened your mouth and shut it before you felt something warm in your hand.

-You looked down.

-His fingers were intertwined with yours.

-It was a small gesture.

-But it told you everything.

Sorry for the mistakes, English is not my first language !Don't hesitate to correct me if I made any mistakes by the way !!!

If you want more : my masterlist

[jeeyuns]

Can we have some links for these mcd fics ? 👀

sure! let me rip my heart open again. hell yeah brothah here we go. lemme stick with 911 and keep it down to top 4. i DEFINITELY forgot some! but these are the ones where the atmosphere and specific lines stick out to me and stick out OF me if you know what i mean.

24 by @kitkatpancakestack

Buck left his muddy sneakers at Eddie’s house. Eddie is sitting on the back of an ambulance watching a gurney roll away, watching vaguely familiar faces trying to keep it together for him, watching his hands shake.  A voice somewhere says, “He’s in shock.” Another bites back, “Wouldn’t you be?” And none of it matters, because Buck left his muddy sneakers at Eddie’s house. * The first twenty-four hours are the hardest.

when i tell you i imprinted on the feeling i got from reading this MASTERPIECE. i haven't looked BACK baby. k knows what she's DOING. this is like one of the first 3 fics i EVER read for the 911 fandom. before this, i was a casual viewer of the show. i was the general audience going haha sexy firefighters i should keep watching a la february 2021 can you believe?????????

and the way she poured into me this feeling of grief, hour by hour on the countdown. made me GET it you know? my brain just rescrambled again i need to go attempt to reread it and oscillate in my office chair. yeah i WILL cry at work. one good cry a day keeps the horrors at bay or something like that. i'm also pissed because i left a comment from my old ao3 account i can't get back in to. kitkat i love you. mwah!

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3 more below the cut! 🫶

All The Work That Needs To Be Done by @try-set-me-on-fire

Buck nods, two slow movements like any action at all pains him. Eddie isn’t sure how literal or metaphorical that statement is, and wants to tell him again to let a doctor look at him, but they’ve had that argument several times already tonight and Buck had a look in his eyes like- like Eddie doesn’t even know what, but whatever would have happened if he’d kept pushing would not have been good, so he’d let it drop and stuck close to his side. "She shouldn't be alone." — Bobby dies. Eddie worries. Life goes on.

the insane (g00d) whiplash i got when i went from oouuing and ahhhing over brick's gorgeous art to the jaw-drop of OMG SHE WRITES TOO. and then i clicked on this bad boy. and was promptly sniped in the heart. the GUTPUNCH and depth of feeling along with the steady beat of quiet heartbreak. oh what i would do to turn back time to the second after i clicked

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i would've loved you (instead i lost you) by @honestlydarkprincess

Eddie cleared his throat, swallowing the tears that threatened to break free and forced himself out of the truck. He stumbled and caught himself against the vehicle, his breathing shaky. Ever since Buck’s death Eddie had struggled to feel like he was standing on solid ground. Without Buck he felt like he was just stumbling around, unable to steady himself. Taking a deep breath, Eddie forced himself to walk. One foot in front of the other, taking the path that he knew by heart, a path he wished he had never had to walk. Finally he found what he was looking for. Eddie had meant to stay standing but the second his eyes settled on Buck’s named carved into the stone he fell to his knees, the weight of his grief, of his pain making him fall. EVAN ‘BUCK’ BUCKLEY Or, the one where Eddie stands at Buck's grave, mourning what could've— should've— been.

jess craved violence one fine day and decided to stab me lovingly right under my 3rd rib with this and i've been OBSESSED with them ever since! just the type of cathartic release i need

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The best parts of you are here (but you're still gone) by justhockey

Eddie had taken Buck’s hand and squeezed it three times before he ran into that burning building. It had felt like a promise. Like a flash of all the dreams that were about to come true. Eddie never came back out. And now Buck is stuck here in this house. His grief, and Christopher’s grief, and Eddie’s absence are the biggest things in every single room. Their pain fills every crack and every crevice, their anger - at Eddie, at the job, at the world - is so thick that they can taste it.

justhockey usually writes the softest stuff and makes me sigh happily and wiggle my toes. the way they whipped this one up outta nowhere? took me the FUCKKKK out

[mentauxx]

⚠️ Spoilers for Shinrei tantei Yakumo volume 11 - file 01 ⚠️

Part 1 starts with the first victim of the four supernatural phenomena/the nasty things that'll be occuring later on in this book.

Rereading this really makes me appreciate how good Kaminaga-sensei is at building up the tension and picking your curiosity.

Especially in this form since one chapter is translated per month (or two I think (?))

Waiting every two months for a chapter is WAY better than reading the whole thing in one sitting if you ask me.

The emptiness I felt after reading this in 2019 and that major cliff hanger was just too much to handle.

Part 2 jumps to Yakumo's POV A.K.A the best POV of the series.

Now I have a lot to say on this one, so I'll be making a separate post later.

But, omg the way he smiled just thinking about her? Boy is the standard FR

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3

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It's good to see Gotou doing well after his accident in volume 10. I do wonder how he'll handle the events that are about to occur in this volume tho.

The hug between Gotou and Nao is just too precious, and the fact that Atsuko referred to him as dad. Blood relation? Who needs that?

Unfortunately, Eishin just HAD to end his momentary happiness.

He'll never escape Eishin. Not even in Shin • Yakumo haha.

“I never wanted that”

This sure reminds me of when Ayaka was begging Kinoshita to “Stop already”.

Eishin is so unserious lmao.

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4

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Love the Ishii and Miyagawa duo. Ngl I do miss when Gotou and Ishii used to investigate together, but this duo isn't bad either.

You can tell Miyagawa's respect for Ishii definitely increased, ESPECIALLY since volume 9.

The head poke is so funny. Gotou could NEVER.

I don't blame Ishii for being scared. Not even one bit.

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5

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Yaharu my beloveds~

I'm definitely making a another separate post about the drastic changes in their relationship.

But for now I'll try to focus on the plot.

If I gained enough credits and landed my dream job MONTHS before I graduate, you won't stop hearing me brag about it.

Lol Haruka acting like a proud mother when Yakumo told her HE was the one picking up trouble this time.

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6

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I love how it said This box shouldn't be opened and then they proceeded to open it lol

I mean, I would've done the same 😂

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7

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STOP THE WAY HE PUTS HIS HAND ON HER HEAD

Mission: Stop putting your hand on Haruka's head.

Difficulty level: impossible

”Spread… what are you saying?”

Oh my god Yakumo 😂

The way Haruka finds Yakumo's glare adorable is just so cute.

“What a boring era.”

Lol

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8

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The Kumakichi joke will NEVER get old.

So Sana is a high schooler, huh.

I don't know why I imagined her a middle schooler while reading the prologue.

Maybe because the ghost she saw was a middle schooler I guess?

I feel bad Like how tf do you expect a human being to stay sane when a drenched ghost is approaching them every day?

Gotou and Ishii bumping into each other is hilarious.

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9

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Do NOT listen to her. It won't end pretty for you.

I understand why he would tho. Humans will cling to their last hope even if their brains scream that it's a bad idea.

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10

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I just LOVE the friendship between Haruka and Makoto, and them having girls talk in front of Yakumo is just hilarious.

Haruka offered her seat and sat next to Yakumo. Happened many times. Will I stop screaming about it? No.

Haruka, Yakumo, and Makoto trio? I support.

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11

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Oh, fun fact: Meisei university is actually a real university.

Nooo Yakumo are you ok? I hope he doesn't experience what happened in Aokigahara's sea of trees again :(

I love how we're learning more about ghosts in this volume.

“Stop it. Don’t you dare go and confirm it even if unintentionally.”

There's a limit to how wholesome a couple be, is Kaminaga-sensei perhaps not aware of this?

THE HEAD PAT Y'ALL

Makoto is so me lol

When I first read this volume in 2019 I didn't find it odd that Yakumo made up a lie and tricked the student affairs to get a key to the warehouse, but now that I'm rereading it, will Mizukawa REALLY believe that Yakumo decided to help out voluntarily just like that? Not to mention that Mizukawa isn't the only student affairs member Yakumo was involved with.

I wonder if this little detail will change in the complete version?

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12

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Keiko did point that out before to which Haruka replied that she “doesn't understand how someone can act spoiled in front of the person they like.” I relate so bad.

Yakumo supporting Haruka when she was about to fall is so cute.

Human experimentation? Are you kidding me rn?

The chapter ends with them discovering Unkai's corpse. I think I'm starting to understand the direction Kaminaga-sensei is going for. I've ALWAYS been interested in the circumstances regarding Unkai's death.

Overall, an excellent intro to the tragic incident that shocked Japan.