#and it took everything in me not to delete the chapter and rewrite it first

[innytoes]

Chapters: 28/35 Fandom: Julie and The Phantoms (TV 2020) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Ray Molina & Reggie Peters, Alex Mercer & Luke Patterson & Reggie Peters & Bobby Shaw | Trevor Wilson, Alex Mercer/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), Ray Molina & Willie, Aunt Victoria & Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), pre Reggie Peters/Bobby Shaw, Alex Mercer&Reggie Peters, Julie Molina/Luke Patterson Characters: Reggie Peters (Julie and The Phantoms), Ray Molina, Julie Molina, Carlos Molina, Luke Patterson, Alex Mercer, Bobby Shaw | Trevor Wilson, Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), Aunt Victoria (Julie and The Phantoms), Emily Patterson (Julie and The Phantoms), Flynn Taylor Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Foster Family, Foster Care, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, mentions of abuse, Bobby Shaw is Not Trevor Wilson, Best Dad Ray Molina, Willie Uses He/Him and They/Them Pronouns (Julie and The Phantoms), Reggie Peters Has Bad Parents (Julie and The Phantoms), Angst and Hurt/Comfort, make Reggie a Molina, Found Family, Caleb Covington Being a Bastard, thrift store shopping montages, emergency sleepovers, Slow Burn, Minor Character Death Summary:

When Reggie's father finally snapped and crossed the line and put him in the hospital, he wishes he could say he was surprised. He's sent to live with a foster family, the Molinas. The worst part about it all? It already feels safer after one day than his old home had in years.

Willie hasn't had the best track record when it came to foster families after both his parents died. After running away from his last group home, their case is reassigned, and they end up with the Molinas. Maybe this time is the charm?

Rose and Ray had always talked about fostering. But right after they got their license, Rose got sick and passed away. Now, a year later, with his kids fully on board, Ray decides to open up their home again for their first placement.

Happy Thursday! Chapter 28 is up! In which a low-key Molina Christmas is still miles better than what Reggie is used to, Alex plays Awful Mercer Family Christmas Bingo, Julie channels her aunt, and Bobby crawls through another window but does not get a concussion this time.

[writingdotcoffee]

Writing Challenge: Fast Drafting

Fast drafting, or vomit drafting, is a pretty self-explanatory approach to writing. You try to get the first draft down as fast as you can. Contrary to what the name suggests, it's not all about speed (or, well, indigestion).

In this post, we'll go over the benefits of fast drafting and why you should try it at least once.

Why Fast Draft?

Although you write faster than usual when fast drafting, speed isn't the point. For most writers, speed isn't a concern at all. Who cares whether it took you three, six or nine months to finish your book?

The problem many writers face is getting bogged down and never finishing at all. You probably heard the stats before. Nine out of ten writers who start working on a book will never finish the first draft.

Often, the issue isn't time or energy. These aspiring authors are paralysed by self doubt, second-guessing everything.

I still remember my first attempt at writing a novel. I spent weeks writing and rewriting the first few paragraphs — about 700 words. And that's it. I never got beyond that.

It starts by going back to edit stuff — rephrasing a few sentences here and there. Any bigger issue you can't fix right away will gnaw on you. Suddenly, you've got this feeling simmering inside of you that the story won't work.

You go back to your outline and start moving things around. Maybe you killed the sidekick too early? Isn't the build-up too predictable? Ugh! The whole thing is a mess, and you don't want to be working on it anymore.

How Fast Drafting Works?

The goal is to keep your mind focused on making progress. You don't want to give it a chance to second-guess anything until you've finished the first draft.

It's surprisingly difficult to do if you haven't done it before.

Your first draft will be a mess. All first drafts are. But you will have to ignore that and keep ploughing ahead. Your inner perfectionist will be in agony.

To stay disciplined, many writers don't allow themselves to fix anything. Mistyped a word? It stays in. No exceptions.

Editing is a slippery slope. You fix a typo here and there. Next, you're fixing the odd structural issue, moving a few paragraphs around. Before you know it, you're outlining again, wondering whether you should rather kill the sidekick in chapter 24.

That said, a messy first draft can be a blessing. Instead of seeing your first draft as this seemingly polished thing, you see it for the mess that it is. No matter how much you edit during the first draft, it will never be perfect.

When you start editing, you'll fix the typos and obvious issues. That will help you get into the flow and be ready to tackle the big things next.

The Editing Lock

Writing Analytics (the app that I built) has a thing called the editing lock. When you enable it, you won't be able to delete anything from your draft.

Every time I use it, I'm surprised just how much I go back to edit stuff. It's so helpful.

It was a suggestion from one of the readers of the blog a while ago (massive thank you 🙏).

If you'd like to try it, the app is free for everyone for the first two weeks.

The Challenge

Spend an hour or more this week fast-drafting a story. Come up with an idea and stick to it until the end — no matter what. Put the editing lock on if you're struggling and crush all the self-doubt that comes up with a steamroller.

I set up a challenge where you can write along with me (and others):

https://app.writinganalytics.co/challenge/646c860be7b6ddfbda016a9c

[itskattkm]

New York New Rules Pt. 5

Warnings: Violence, Trauma, Fluff, maybe Smut, mental health, blood

Summary: Y/N meets the survivors of the last events in Woodsborrow and gets on Ghostface's list. But there is also a darkness in Y/N wich path is she going to choose

Female Y/N x Tara Carpenter

Sorry for bad writing. I'm using a translator and hope you guys can enjoy it. Also, this is going to be a slow burn

A/N damn guys I wrote that on the plane and what happens before I finished? I deleted everything by accident… and then I had to rewrite. What means, I couldn’t write it like I I did in my first draft. Hope you still like the chapter, and if I hadn’t rewrite it, well it would also be longer

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4,

Now I stood here and made the pizza for the Woodsborrow Gang. I was basically free on Friday because of the therapy. Maria had even insisted on this herself because I worked here most of the time on the weekends. But now I didn't have a therapist anymore, how would I do it now? On the other hand, I had done it this way so far.

Heavy steps that just moved over the ground came closer to me and the next moment Maria kept me company. I would recognize Maria's steps of hundreds of meters. But to defend her at this point, she is already around 50 years old and had opened the pizzeria here with her family when they had emigrated from Italy to America. They wanted to get a taste of the American dream and in the end they got it too. Maria was a great inspiration at this point, she had always stuck to her wish, no matter how difficult the way there was. Thanks to the job with her, I always had the advantage of baking pizza when I wanted and as much as I wanted or I took something else from the restaurant with me. My mother doesn't feel that I was still eating pizza, but at least it was something. I always called it the pizza diet back then.

When suddenly something wet hit me on my neck I looked shocked at Maria she had hit me with her rag "Don't you think that's too many jalapeños?" She said with her arms crossed and looked skeptically at the pizza I had just topped "It was a special wish" I said with a smile. Now Maria raised her eyebrow, looked at me skeptically. Her brown hair with the caramel highlites had been put together into a messy bun when she said with a strong accent "Y/N you don't have to exaggerate right away, I hardly see the tomato sauce or the cheese" I grinned and looked at the pizza "that's still possible" she sighed "hopefully this is the first and last pizza you did this way“

Where would I be without Maria?

I listened to her while she was talking in Italian until she was finished. Now there was a short silence, she was interrupted by the entrance door. When it had opened and touched the bell. I degenerated on Maria's usual greeting, but it never came. Confused, I turned my gaze forward and wiped my hands on the black apron I was wearing around my hip. I took it off as I walked around the workplaces and ran towards the restaurant. When I stood at the door frame, I found Maria on the floor. Her eyes were wide open as she held her hand firmly on her neck. Blood.

She was flooded with blood and had leaned against the wall. Slowly my gaze wandered in and met him.

Ghostface. He was here...

I had held my breath in the hope of becoming invisible.

"Y/N I would have called you, but unfortunately I don't have your cell phone number," he said and looked at me crookedly.

My gaze wandered over the white empty face of him and got stuck in his black eyes.

"You could have called the pizzeria," I said before my brain could process any information and situation. Was that the adrenaline? Or did the survival instinct felt like that? Carefully, I took a step back and looked back to Maria. His knife was in her neck. Maybe she would survive? But there was already so much blood. Way too much... how could she stay so calm?

With her eyes she tried to tell me something when she looked at the kitchen several times. I understood and turned my attention back to Ghostface "you wouldn't have answered on your day off," he said.

Analyze. Analyze! I screamed in my head. Okay Y/N that was now the chance to take information with you. How often would I run through the Ghostface otherwise? Let alone survive?

Note one, he definitely seemed taller than me. So it must have been a man, but the robe made it very difficult to distinguish that. I understood why the killers had chosen this costume. Okay note, two he had a Voice distortion and then his face. Damn you couldn't see anything except a crooked look here and there. But wait... Note three...

"How do you know that I work here and have Fridays off? And since you don't have my number, maybe Mindy's statement wasn't so wrong... you're Ethan" I said cooler than I thought. Ghostface straightened up and did not answer. His body language told me that he was pissed off.

Fuck. The next moment he sprinted towards me so quickly that I almost stumbled when I ran back into the kitchen. I reached for everything I found to put as many obstacles in his way as possible. After I had made a round around the work surface, I grabbed the noodle wood and threw it on his face on the way to the restaurant. However, I only missed him there slightly. So I grabbed every chair in the restaurant I got into my hands and threw them mercilessly at him. If I could do something well, then it was to throw chairs!

When I hit him again, he fell to the ground. That was my chance! I grabbed another chair and started hitting him with it. There it was, the anger. Fear? No, I wasn't afraid.

Suddenly Ghostface was able to reach for the chair and now turned the tables when he began to press it firmly against me.

I fell hard with my back on the floor.

No. No. No. I quickly tried to get up, but realized that I had slipped and was now in a blood trail. My gaze followed the blood pool and I found Maria lying on the floor next to the small reception. No... my gaze continued to follow her tips that she had left behind and there was the phone itself, it hung down the wall.

The next moment, Ghostface lay over me and pushed me firmly to the ground. He put both hands around my neck and began to choke me. No. I certainly wouldn't die now! Not after what Maria had done. And then there was this feeling again but I couldn't say if it was the adrenaline. I grabbed Ghostface firmly by the shoulders "Fuck you!" I screamed and hit my head against his. His grips left my body and he groaned in pain. I fell back exhausted and suddenly he took a knife over me the next moment. Ghostface pulled out and I would immediately be hit by a pain that I couldn’t avoid... but what I could do was to decide where this pain would hit me. With a force that I never expected, the knife came towards me and pierced my left hand when I came to meet the knife with it. Trembling, I resisted him a few centimeters above my face. Why didn't I feel any pain? I asked myself now, I barely took how the blade had drilled through my hand. I looked into the black of his eyes and screamed as he began to move the blade in my hand. He would cut my hand in half just between my fingers and I couldn't do anything about it. On the contrary, I continued to exert pressure to push him away from me. I felt his strength read and could perceive his astonishment despite the mask.

Piece by piece I felt the metal destroying every one-liner muscle and that tendon. Only a few centimeters were missing and my hand wouldn’t be one piece.

Just when I thought my cry would be the last thing I would hear and ghostface's face would be the last I saw before my death, a sound appeared that I never thought I would feel safe of it.

Sirens. Ghostface resistance disappeared from now on. I smiled dirty at him and whispered " now you're fucked!" His gaze fell to the window. The red and blue lights of the siren were reflected in the white of his mask.

And then he gave me one last look and ran into the kitchen. The door was torn open and I was met with a relief that I would never have wished for. Kirby held her gun in position and glanced through the restaurant, behind her a SWAT team and some police officers.

When my vision deteriorated and the pain hit me like a bullet in the chest, I croaked "K -Kirby" and I no longer had to stare at the darkness, I saw in Kirby's eyes that were as bright as the sky. Worried, she looked at me "kitchen" I whispered and let my head fall back. " Hurry up!" She called out to the team and was by my side the next moment. I shook my head "Maria..." Kirby followed my gaze and I recognized so many feelings in her at once, but she managed to collect them and gave clear instructions. Her gaze fell on the police officers "paramedics immediately!" Already a group of them stormed in and they gathered around Maria.

Was she still living? Did she have another chance? I had to know I had to see her.

"Why cant I see anything!" I said without a voice and shook my head. Kirby straightened up much carefully and leaned my upper body over hers as she pressed me into her arms and began to wipe over my face.

"Tell me that you can save her! "I called the paramedics in my half voice. I hadn't realized how much I had screamed while Ghostface was about to kill me.

I began to breathe hard. Kirby's grip around me became stronger and she wiped away more and more of my tears. So they were the reason why I couldn't see.

"Williams... I need you here," Kirby said sternly and one of the paramedics turned around. He came to my side and raised my arm to look at my hand.

My head burned and pounded... my voice was now just a soft whisper. "I -I was so scared Kirby... i -I thought I was dying" tormented she looked at me and nodded "everything will be fine Y/N" I shook my head "no... no it won't"

I resisted her grip and wanted to stand up, I wanted to destroy something. I wanted to hurt Someone like I was hurt and there I was hit by a small sting on the upper arm. Confused, I saw to my right upper arm " fuuuck..." I whispered before everything got dark I began to fall.

[osarina]

hi carina !! havent been in ur inbox for a while, hru :)) i hope ur well >^< !!

i'm mainly here to ask if u have any writing tips/advice bc ur lit one of my fave bsd writers ever i adore all ur works sm and recently i've hated everything im writing ajkrnjekncvej SO IM WONDERING IF U HAVE ANY ADVICE CEJFCNJ (hopefully this isnt strange eabfihri)

you dont hafta answer this is u dont wanna btw !!! have a great day mwah <333

REDDDDDD MY SWEET LOVE BUG i've been doing okay!! work hasn't been as awful as i expected it to be, i rlly got lucky with my boss HAHAH - how are you doing?? you had exams right?? i hope they all went well!! sorry it took me so long to answer this one, but i wanted to actually be able to give u a good response so it had to wait until i had time i fear

IT'S NOT STRANGE, ur so sweet im giving u the softest forehead smooch. i'm sorry to hear you've been feeling that way about your writing though - i get it, trust me i do LOL, i go through days and weeks where i literally am revulsed by every word i put down in a doc. actually, i just went thru it like 2 days ago while writing the first chapter of civilian dazai so it's all fresh in the head LOL

honestly, i think the most important tip i have is really basic but u should never force yourself to write just for the sake of getting something out. like, i've done it before and whenever i do, i'm soooo unhappy with the results that it usually makes me go through a huge writing slump -> this happened with uu6 actually, i was so busy but i was trying to force the chapter out on time that i ended up rewriting it like 3 times because i hated it so much. finally i decided to move on to write some pmzai drabbles to clear my head & then came back to uu6 when i started feeling it again and behold, it came with ease. sometimes when i want to write but none of my wips are doing it for me, i'll literally conjure up a huge list of tropes and just read through it until one pops out to me LOL and then ill work on that

another i think basic piece of advice is reading. whether its fanfics, or novels, or whatever. whenever i have trouble liking what i write, i find something to read. reading is actually how i taught myself to write HAHAH my go tos are fantasy/scifi- tolkein, martin, herbert, rf kuang, i've been meaning to read sanderson but haven't had the time yet. honestly, in general, if i have free time and i'm not writing something, 9/10 i'm reading something.

i think plotting is also really important!! even for like one-shots, sometimes i get so lost in the writing that i lose focus of what the fic was originally supposed to be about and that frustrates me into deleting everything i've written. so something i do is i list out all of the scenes i want to see in a chapter or a one-shot before i start writing it so that i don't lose focus.

dialogue is a huge hurdle for me - sometimes i struggle to figure out whether or not my dialogue is realistic, so LOL sometimes i just sit there and speak it out loud, acting out a conversation with myself to see if it flows properly and then adjust accordingly. sometimes i do it for like descriptions/narration too if i think the narration isn't flowing or is too clunky. reading things out loud is a go-to way for me to figure out what's wrong with my writing.

and then lastly, this is more of a mental thing than anything else, but i've just slowly had to teach myself not to be too hard on myself. like i'll get so mad if something doesn't come out exactly how i envisioned it, and it used to genuinely make me so disappointed that i couldn't bring myself to write for days. so i've just slowly been working myself into a mentality telling myself that it doesn't have to be perfect to be great, yknow. and ten times out ten, you're seeing faults in your writing that no one else will take notice of.

so the whole tldr:

only write what you WANT to write, dont force urself to finish/write something

read when you can, whether its fanfic or novels or whatever u can get ur hands on

plot things out so you don't get lost

read things out loud that aren't making sense

work on not being so hard on yourself

[the-one-who-lambs]

AO3 Questions Tag Game!

I was tagged by @bamsara (on my main @onethirdofimpossible but most of my readers follow me here for cotl stuff so I'm posting it here)

I tag @i-eat-deodorant and @megsiepoo!

Under the readmore because this is long as shit

1 – How many works do you have on AO3?

69 BAYBEEEE

2 – What’s your total AO3 word count?

213,360 words published

3 – What fandoms do you write for?

Previously: Pokemon (no longer online), Steven Universe, a few Deep-Sea Prisoner games (Wadanohara and the Great Blue Sea, The Grey Garden, Ice Scream)

Currently: Cult of the Lamb

4 – What are your top five fics by kudos?

The Care and Keeping of Eldritch Gods. Until the rewrite of RL/FG is done, this is my magnum opus

Present My first ever CotL fic. This was the first time I'd written fic in like four years and I was dusting off my writing muscles...

Smitten soft narilamb....

Cat(nip) Boy wrote this for shits and giggles in my early fandom days. The One Who Waits on catnip

How Narinder Takes His Tea First part of the old RL/FG series. Though I'm remaking it as a longform multichap fic, I'm keeping up the old series because of the memories + I don't want other people who saved the old one to lose it.

5 – Do you respond to comments?

All the time! I was able to respond to literally every single comment back in 2022, but as last year went on, I realized I probably can't realistically do that anymore. It's a blessing and a curse.

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

We already knew how this would turn out. Title not given directly in my answer in case of spoilers. My readers saw it coming because I had built up to it, but I took my time writing the gradual reveal in the last chapter to make sure it landed the way I wanted it to.

And one more comment I won't post here bc (for anyone who wants to read it) spoils the ending but shoutout to the person who physically felt the shock lurch through their body when the realization hit them after the slow build-up.

As much as I love angsty stories with happy endings, what gets me more are stories that are happy at face value, with endings that are heartwrenching because of the underbelly of what lurked beneath that facade.

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

The Risen Lamb and the Fallen God. Bit a spoilers below if you're avoiding that

The original wedding fic (as part of the original series) is up, but it's going to get a good polishing in the rewrite. Lambert and Narinder are going to have a private first dance, Thenana and Narinder are going to have a deeper conversation, Ratau's interactions with Lambert are gonna be shown rather than just told, Aym and Baal will be revived.

8 – Do you get hate on fics?

Mostly no. There was one time last year that I was compared to another writer in the fandom and slowly asks evolved into "your own concepts are being done better by others" and shit, and the other writer got hate messages as well, and... well, it was a whole thing. Don't wanna talk too in detail about it because I don't wanna beat a dead horse but cotl writers have unionized so we got the last laugh I guess

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

lol ya it's on remainderofreality. What "kind?" uh. experimental because I'd never tried the genre before this fandom and it kinda shows but that's okay.

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

Honestly, I'm not really into crossovers! Unless it's Webber in cotl. He can stay, he's cute.

11 – Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Yeah. It was actually the first fic I posted online, ever. In middle school, I wrote a whole ~100k-ish word self-insert pokemon fanfic, which I wrote by hand in like five composition notebooks, so I never posted that online. But after that I decided to post shorter one-shots for pokemon online, and a few months later I found one of mine reposted without credit. Plagiarized entirely, basically. It scared me and I deleted everything I had posted online, and I don't have extra copies of the works now. :(

12 – Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope, but I'd be okay with it if I was asked beforehand and proper credit was given!

13 – Have you ever co-written a fic?

Yeah! Of Duty and Devotion is basically a glorified roleplay between me as Aym, @i-eat-deodorant as Baal, @checkplzjuliet as The Lamb, and @surfdudeboy as Narinder. I also wrote Hide and Seek, a cute little Bishop family one-shot, with @lordiedams (hi Damien I miss you).

14 – What’s your all-time favorite ship?

Narilamb. I haven't focused on a ship for this long, except maybe Rupphire back in the day, but I'm fixated so much more on CotL than I was for SU.

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

Honestly, Of Duty and Devotion lmao. I'm much more focused on my own projects and so are Pavi, Surf, and Juliet. I do want to finish it though.

16 – What are your writing strengths?

Pacing, diction, syntax, getting the intended point across and doing it well. Once I commit to doing something, I don't usually let myself "give up" on it, hence why I barely have any unfinished WIPs. That's a skill honed with tons of practice, though. I have massive ADHD, and I'm bad at finishing things, but when it comes to writing by god I'm gonna do it.

17 – What are your writing weaknesses?

I often struggle to get to a point where I'm totally focused in on what I'm writing. It does happen once or twice a month, but honestly, I'm usually so busy with life stuff that I don't get to do that most of the time! I wish I had more time to make room for my hobbies, but alas. At least summer is coming up, and I'll be able to do that more often, hopefully!

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

It's possible to do it naturally for sure, but I rarely see it done well in fic. I've never attempted it...... or, wait, have I? I guess Thenana's sign language counts, huh? ...I feel like I need to do more research about this topic to answer the question properly.

19 – First fandom you wrote for?

Pokemon <3

20 – Favorite fic you’ve written?

The Risen Lamb and the Fallen God or The Care and Keeping of Eldritch Gods.

Risen/Fallen (and the enemies-to-lovers narilamb dynamic) was like the first thing that I did to make a "mark" on this fandom, and I didn't expect it to inspire so many people for sure! But, the first iteration of the series was so rushed. I wrote the whole thing in just over three weeks and averaged one chapter published every day and a half. Now that I have a better grasp on the characters after playing with them for a long while, I get to see my improvement, and I get to see so many friends I've made along the way sticking with me, the revamped "director's cut" version is definitely on track to be my favorite work.

However. It has yet to surpass Care and Keeping. As the oldest of four kids in my family, I based so much of Shamura on my experiences as an eldest sibling, and many of the experiences the younger bishops had in their formative years on our own childhoods. I based Narinder's childhood off of brother #1's (brother who is two years younger than me), Kallamar's childhood on my own, Heket's childhood on my sister's (five years younger than me), and Leshy's off of my youngest brother's (ten years younger than me). This story wasn't just an exploration of the Bishops and their dynamic/relationship pre-canon, it's also a testament to my own love as an eldest sibling... and all the anxiety associated with that, too.

Thanks for tagging me! Back to working on my presentation...

[venuscrsnow]

Unspoken Words pt. 1

Era: Alexandria, pre-negan

Pairing: Daryl Dixon x Reader

Word count: 1476

Warnings: none (for now)

Authors Note : ahhhh my first story(I posted) I hope you like it, please let me know your thoughts! Help is welcome! This chapter is probably a bit choppy at the end, but I tried to rewrite it a few times and it got deleted so that’s all I got for now.

Enjoy xx

—————

You felt his gaze on the back of your neck, making you even more nervous under the scorching sun. It had been a while since you had spoken to Daryl. The last time you had tried to join him on one of his supply runs beyond the walls of Alexandria, he had already left by the time you got to the gate. Even though your primary duty was to keep watch and protect the gates of your small community, you couldn't resist the urge to go on these weekly outings with Daryl. It was your thing, between you and Daryl.

When you first arrived in Alexandria, you and Daryl didn't have much in common. In fact, you're pretty sure he didn't even notice you for the first few days. But the man with the crossbow caught your attention right away. You're not sure what it was, but the first time you saw him riding on his motorcycle through the gates, you felt an attraction to the man. After a few days, you mustered up the courage to ask him if you could join him on his next outing. "What am I gun’ do with ya out there?" he asked the first time. And the next few times, it was just a blunt and simple "no." Although it wasn't encouraged to go out alone, and a certain man didn't want to take you with him, you took matters into your own hands. That same night, Daryl caught you outside almost becoming a meal for the walkers, and so he decided to take you with him from time to time. And so, a friendship slowly developed between the two of you, at least as far as it could with Daryl.

And suddenly, from one day to the next, Daryl started acting like you were a stranger, like you two didn't finally start to open up more to each other. He knew how hard it was for you to pretend like the world wasn't ending outside the walls of Alexandria. It was hard to get used to this new world, but it was even harder to pretend like the past three or four years – you weren't even sure how long it had been – hadn't existed or that everything went back to normal. More than half the people here hadn't even killed a walker, let alone had one right in front of them.

At first, you didn't think much of it when he brushed you off for the first time. It wasn't unusual for him to go out with others or alone. But it had been two weeks since the last time he had asked you to come along, and you two hadn't really talked much since then. You counted him as one of your closest friends here, and you thought he felt the same, which to his current actions he didn’t. Every time you sat with him on the terrace to smoke, he would get up shortly thereafter. Every conversation you started was ended by him after two sentences. You didn't really see each other, even though he lived right in the next house.

And now, he had been watching you for 15 minutes as you stood on the stupid railing, keeping watch. You wanted to jump down and strangle him. You wanted to ask him what was wrong and what had happened between you. The last time both of you went out, you already felt strange vibes from him. You were always jokingly flirting with him since you knew he would never see you like that, so you just started to have fun. You thought to yourself that there was no harm in having fun. Right?

When you heard knocking on the ladder, you jumped, and your heart started beating faster. You secretly hoped that it was Daryl who realized how much of an ass he was right now. But it was just Rosita climbing up with a bottle of water. You caught a glimpse of Daryl. He was still looking at the railing, and when his sight met yours, you forgot to breathe for a second. You put your feelings for him in a box and buried it, but the more he ignored you, the more your feelings started to come back, and the more you got frustrated.

"Just go and confront him already, it's been two weeks, Y/N," your best friend interrupted your thoughts when she realized you were staring in his direction. She was the only one who knew how you felt deep down. "Well, since he's the one having a problem, he can come talk to me. God gave him legs and a mouth." Rosita started to laugh. "Well, since he's not going to, you need to do something. Otherwise, you two will drift apart and never talk. And I think we both know that's the least you want." "Yeah, I guess." She was right. The friendship you two had meant something to you, and since he would never see you with those eyes, it was also the only thing you two would ever have.

"So, go talk to him! I'm going to keep watch, so just go!" She pushed you back and stepped right in front of you. "W-what? Right now?" "Now or never. He's already standing down there with the others. He won't dare to ignore you in front of everybody. They will know that something's up." Without thinking twice, your legs were climbing down and walking in the direction of the man in question. He was standing there with Rick and Aaron, watching over a map. You couldn't really understand what they were talking about, but with each step, your heart was beating faster, and your legs got wobblier with every step.

"Oh, hey, Y/N! What's going on?" Both of the men greeted you while Daryl just stood there. "Hey, guys, nothing. What are you doing with the map?" you said. "Oh, just marking some area.. Are you coming to the party later?" Oh, right, Deanna's welcome party for the new group that arrived a few days ago. You really didn't want to go, but there was no way Rosita was going to let you stay in. "Y-yeah, sure. Uh, actually, I kind of wanted to talk with Daryl about something, so I need to borrow him." "Hm?" His head snapped up. He didn't expect you to want to talk to him.

"No problem, Rick and I will go. We have something to do," you said, and with that, you two were standing alone. You felt the air between you get kind of awkward, both of you standing there and looking at each other. You didn't even know what to say. "So?" you stared up at him and asked him with a sweet but sarcastic voice. "So, what? You the one that wanted to talk?" He crossed his arms and looked away. Oh brother, your pulse started to shoot up, but you tried to calm down. You didn't want him to actually know how furious he made you. You went straight to the point since he wants to play dumb. "So, why are you ignoring me? Did something happen?" He didn't say anything for a few moments and just turned his head and stared at you. "Dunno what ya talkin’ about." Was he really serious right now? You two went from talking every day to basically no contact, and now he tries to play all cool and dumb. "Okay, what's the fucking matter with you?!" you snapped at him. Enough is enough. He's a grown man and acts all childish for reasons nobody knows. "First, you don't go on runs with me, then you ignore me when I go over to your house, the only time we talk is in front of others! So either you tell me what's your problem with me or what I did to you. It's unfair, I thought we were friends!" You didn't care that you sounded pathetic. Daryl really started to hurt your feelings. "Look, I'm not one of ya little friends, Kay? I took you out with me so you wouldn't get yourself killed, but I can't take you everywhere with me. You're getting on my nerves. I can't look after you every damn time." You looked at him with shock in your eyes. Where was this coming from? You really thought he liked you and liked spending time with you. His words didn't even make sense. "You know what, Daryl, fuck-" Before you could even finish your sentence, you heard Rick yell Daryl's name.

[osunism]

For the fic writer asks, please 🥹🙏🏻

🫓🥘🍲 🍱 🍛 🍜 🍠 🍢🍣 🍥🍙 🥮 🍡 🍘 🍚

🫓 What is your most popular fic?

My most popular fic is my Dragon Age: Inquisition fic, Maledictus. Still. LOL

🥘 What category do most of your fics fall under?

Almost always romance/angst or hurt/comfort. And definitely smutty.

🍲 When did you start writing and why?

I wanna say I was writing fanfic before I knew what fanfic was when I was in third grade? Sailor Moon had just premiered in the US and I was enraptured. I'd seen anime before, of course, but never like this. Ultimate princess fantasy. But I wasn't satisfied with the adventures I was seeing. I wanted to know more, I wanted the characters to do something different. Most of all, I wanted to feel like I was part of the adventure. So I made my first OC, a girl named Jade. She still exists in some form and I may revamp her and give her a spot in my JJK 'verse. :3

🍱 Do you read your own fics?

I used to not do that because I'd always frown and find myself wanting to go back and rewrite a bunch of shit or add more or do something different. I also wasn't always as confident in my writing as I am, now. Now, though? I'll talk my shit. I'm so fucking good at this. I reread a lot of my old work just to see how much I've evolved as a writer. But I reread ALL of my current fics I've published this year. I'm at that stage where my own writing satisfies me. I also acknowledge that my writing style isn't everyone's cup of tea. That's fine too.

🍛 Have any comments, tags or reactions to one of your fics every made you laugh or cry or both?

I don't cry easily, but it's so fucking easy to make me laugh. Everything is amusing to me. I also don't get a lot of comments on my fics so I read each one thoroughly. The ones I do get are gems, tho.

🍜 Do you ever feel pressured to write?

Answered.

🍠 How long does it take you to write one of your fics or a chapter/part?

It takes as long as it takes. I don't set time limits or deadlines on myself. I impose chapter restrictions and I make a detailed outline. However long it takes to translate my outline into something worthy of being called a first draft depends on the story I'm telling. I have deleted entire chapters to start from scratch because the words I spit up were so unsatisfactory. So there's no way to know how long it'll take.

🍢 Have you ever gotten hate on a fic?

My comments on AO3 are moderated for a reason, and my Dragon Age fics are locked to registered users only for a reason. I took a near ten-year hiatus from fandoms for a reason.

That's all I'll say about that for now.

🍣 What helps you focus or get in the mood to write?

Answered.

🍥 What's your favorite fic you've written?

Out of every fanfic I currently have published, it will always be Maledictus. I put my heart and soul into that fic and till this day people still comment on it and talk about how good it made them feel, how inspired it made them feel. That means a lot to me since the fic was pulled from a place deeply personal to me.

🥮 Do you have any writing milestones you're working toward?

Nothing too concrete, but I do want to get the next chapters of Highball out soon, and The Godslayer Project should be ready to go after the holidays are over. I'm hoping a change of scenery will stimulate my brain.

🍡 Which of your fics was the most emotionally difficult to write?

Answered.

🍘 Is there a fic or idea for a fic that you've abandoned?

Yeah, any of the Dragon Age fics that are not marked as complete are considered abandoned. Mostly because I simply don't have any interest in writing in that fandom anymore.

🍙 Is there a fic you wish had gotten more attention?

LOL...literally all of them? I don't pay attention to my stats on AO3 because I barely have any stats to track...like at all. It would be nice if people left thoughtful comments or reblogged and shared my work in their own little communities...some sign that all these hits, and kudos, and likes, and secret bookmarks are amounting to some measure of impact. But I've long since learned to not let myself get caught up or hung up on the numbers and algorithm game. The deck is already stacked against me: I'm Black, my OCs are obviously and visibly darkskinned Black women and shipped with fandom's male faves, etc.

If I get hung up on the numbers, which already don't favor me from the start, that's only going to discourage me and make me miserable. And then I won't write at all, and I am finally having fun and enjoying some measure of peace in my little sandbox.

🍚 What genre do you have the toughest time writing?

Horror. I'm bad at building tension and translating the truly horrifying shit in my head into words on the page that will convey that horror to my readers. I can describe blood and gore all day long but to truly frighten my readers? I need to tap in with that.

[melting-houses-of-gold]

For your ask game! For "Can we live with just a taste?" Or a current wip of yours!

3, 16, 24 and 26!

Ooh! I’ll do all of these for could we live with just a taste! List of questions is here :)

3) Did the idea change at all by the time the fic was complete?

Very little in this fic changed from my original idea! I had crippling insomnia while I was pregnant and frantically wrote what became chapters 3 and 4 between 2-6 am haha. I knew how the fic was going to end on day 1, and then I backfilled and seeded stuff in chapters 1 and 2 from there!

16) Talk about the fic’s biggest moment & how you came up with it

For me, the biggest moment is the conversation they have in chapter 4 where you finally get something of Ahsoka's thoughts and (hopefully) things begin to fall into place and Rex is finally able to understand some of her actions before and during the fic. This was actually the thing that I wrote and rewrote a bunch of times because pregnant me REALLY leaned into the misunderstanding trope and not-pregnant me was stuck with trying to navigate the fic out of it. I wish I could say I came up with it in a flash of brilliance but really it was just a lot of "they would not fucking say that" and deleting and rewriting until I was semi-happy with it lol.

24) How did you celebrate finishing?

I took a nap! 😂

26) Share your favorite detail

My favorite detail is the first kiss, where Ahsoka takes a sip of her drink, Rex watches a drop fall down her neck, and he's compelled to wipe it away before they kiss.

We know as the readers that probably they talked about the fact that they might have to kiss, that there were probably parameters set in place to not make anyone uncomfortable, etc. And I think in that moment, he's struggling with keeping his cover identity at the forefront because this IS the woman he has serious feelings for, sitting on his lap, he's overthinking everything, and he knows he's just done something that, while mission-appropriate, is a touch that is probably not in the parameters of what they discussed. And HE doesn't know that she knows that he has feelings for her, and that she has feelings for him, and so this is her opportunity to really show him. But of course, in this fic he second guesses EVERYTHING so he's like WOW that was so believable she's really helping us sell this.

And then from there, the rest of their interactions are set by the tone of that first kiss and then they have to kind of keep all their public romantic interactions at that level, and continue simmering.

[vodid]

How do you plan your stories? Do you actually have a sheet where you write anything down? And if you do, what do you put in it?

Cause I’m planning a story and I have no idea of where to start 😭

I HAVE BEEN WAITING TO ANSWER SOMETHING LIKE THIS BC I'D LOOOVE TO REDIRECT YOU TO SUNA SCRIBBLES' AMAZING WRITING ADVICE TAG because it has helped me SO much

here's a tldr(ish) for how i approached writing a fic. we'll use my blitzbee fic as an example:

come up with a scene you really really want to write for the fic. for me, it was the first meet of blitzwing and bumblebee arguing on the cliff in chapter 2. write everything that comes to mind with that scene and do not worry about making it fic quality. important actions, dialogue, setting, etc. make typos! make mistakes! make it silly! you'll rewrite it later

when you write out a scene, you may get hints of a plot (such as conflict characters can work through, whether internal or external) and character portrayals + interactions. from the example above specifically, we have a) bumblebee is big sad, b) the autobots don't like bee for some reason, and c) blitzwing is so weirded out by bee's big sad that he doesn't want to immediately kill him. all of these can be expanded upon, so from that:

write out the main characters' traits. their strengths, weaknesses, secrets, fears, quirks. anything. then write out reasons why they may have these traits and how it's important to their character development/conflict. make it fancy if you want!

i have more things in this part, such as motivation, the actual development/struggle, why he helps the other and why he lets the other help him. these are bullets a lot more in depth (and spoilery) and were added after i wrote this:

write out a basic plot. start middle end, if you can. you do not have to figure out every little thing (i didn't!) just a general idea of where you want to take this story. it does not have to be set in stone either. after all, my fic has six plots written out. four of them are drafts (lovingly titled Plot X, Plot 2, okay a more sensible plot and basic plot) and the last two are other important plots (overarching plot and trauma plot!) i have been actively revising these as i write the fic itself and with each plot written out, they increase in detail — let it happen! make all sorts of notes, whether in an indented bulleted list under each point or comments on the doc itself. i have 32 comments on mine full of notes!

if you're stuck here, studying the shape of stories by kurt vonnegut really helped me figure out a direction. also making the plot points written in silly ways took a lot of pressure off to get it perfect! while i may not reference the shape as much anymore (especially since the plot i wrote with it is outdated) it still gave me a really good start

and a side note, the overarching + trauma plots are to help guide me through the main plot. overarching is in the background, controlling and being controlled by the main plot's events, while the "trauma plot!" is for figuring out blitzwing's trauma. how did he get bpd? why? how does it affect him? how has it and others added more trauma? this is basically a glorified character past section lol

at the bottom of my outline doc, i have a section for future scenes i want to include. i have notes/comments on various spots and plot points that all have scenes attached, but these are the ones that are more detailed and need their own space. exactly like the first scene blurb in the very first bullet (which is actually at the top of my outline! i haven't deleted any of my past notes, even if they're outdated) actions, dialogue, notes — throw it all in there!

so after posting a chapter, i tend to take a break a few weeks long (or however long others need) to get back to the drawing board, making sure everything is up to date to prepare for the next chapter. it also really helps (for me personally) to have a buddy to rant to. i figure things out best when i'm talking to someone, or acting like i am, and can get feedback on it! ..or just let my brain figure itself out bc man have i gotten stuck on certain points before lol (see: trauma plot! and thats not even half of it)

it's not something that works for everyone — it didn't for me a year ago! but once you let go of rigid formatting and needing to have EVERY little thing figured out from the get-go, and just start typing what you want — with a little semblance of organization (at least labeling which is what) — you can go pretty far. but if not then maybe at the very least, it can lead you to a technique that works best for you.

true tldr: it's good to remember that anything relevant? write it down. doesn't have to be pretty, it just has to be functional. you want it to be easy to reabsorb if you forget the info

anyway tysm @morethanmeetstheass for all your writing advice :') its really helped my writing and my confidence 💖 i hope my post here can be as helpful to you anon 🥺

[onlythebravest]

Writing Self-Evaluation 2022

I was tagged by @larrysballetslippers to answer some question about my writing in 2022. It’s very very long, so I did as Aaliyah did and put the long answers below the cut and the short ones above!

1. Number of stories posted to AO3 this year: 14 (+1 hopefully)

2. Word count posted for the year: 93 900

3. Fandoms I wrote for: One Direction

4. Pairings: Harry/Louis (and a minor side Liam/Zayn in one fic)

5. Story with the most… (it’s all the same work)

Kudos: never been a fan of change, but we’re still the same

Bookmarks: never been a fan of change, but we’re still the same

Comments: never been a fan of change, but we’re still the same

more under the cut

6. Work I’m most proud of (and why): 

I’ve answered this before during an ask game, you can see my answers here & here, but I’ll leave an answer here too.

I have two fics that I’m the most proud of; never been a fan of change, but we’re still the same and can you build me a nest?

I had a lot of fun writing both these fics. when I wrote never been a fan, I took all my favorite things (touch starvation, omega drop, scenting and nesting) about the omegaverse and put them into this fic. I can’t really say why I’m proud of it, I just am.

can you build me a nest? is my first published smut, and that’s why I’m so proud of it. it’s a proof of how much my confidence has grown, that I feel comfortable enough to publish smut. and that’s why I’m proud of that one.

7. Work I’m least proud of (and why):

probably party behaviour. I really like the idea behind it, and when I wrote just the dialogue I liked it. but when I added body language and descriptions, it just wasn’t working the same way anymore. I probably wouldn’t even have posted it if it weren’t for the fact that I had teased about to to A and she was excited about it 😂

8. Share or describe a favorite review you received:

I’ve gotten some really nice comments by authors that I look up to and whose works I love. those meant so much to me. and boosted my confidence in my writing a lot 😂

but also comments that pick up on small details in the fic also makes me so happy. I got a comment on never been a fan where someone had picked up on how Louis slowly progressed to calling Harry his omega subconsciously. and I got so happy that someone picked up on that!

9. A time when writing was really, really hard:

summer! if we’re talking mentally. physically, it was in May, because I had some problems with my shoulder/arm, so I couldn’t be on my computer or I would be in so much pain. I was barely able to finish dream about a summer night in time because of that injury, and the stress that gave me, gave me a writer’s block and to some degree is still here.

10. A scene or character you wrote that surprised you:

there are a lot that surprised me this year. my characters have a tendency of writing themselves and do things I don’t really want them to. like in can you build me a nest?, i had to delete and rewrite the nest scene multiple times because those two kept undressing themselves to have sex and I didn’t want to write more smut. but the biggest surprise was probably the entire why can’t we forgive and forget?. I never would’ve thought that I’d write vampires, for starters. and then that they were arguing, where it took place, the “plot”. everything about that surprised me.

11. A favorite excerpt of your writing:

I have too many!! and it’s impossible to choose, so I’ll add two that I’m proud of. but I have two more that I wanted to add too, a part of chapter 11 in snapshots of moments, and a part of can you build me a nest? 

this is from snapshots of moments (chapter 2: tiny is a state of mind)

At that, Louis locked his phone and put it aside, then turned to Harry and said, “Even if there were no videos like this, it wouldn’t matter. H, you’d still be my baby. I’d still carry you around. You know why?” He didn’t give Harry a chance to reply before he continued, “Because your legs are only this long so you’re able to wrap them around me. Don’t you know that?”

from never been a fan of change, but we’re still the same

Louis had never met someone who loved being manhandled the way Harry did, and he loved doing it for him. Depending on his mindset, Harry would sometimes complain about being too heavy or too tall for that, something that Louis proved wrong time after time. He thought it came from the fact that Harry outgrew his family and friends, almost getting taller overnight, so people just stopped. Harry had confided in Louis previously that there were plenty of people who stopped seeing him as an omega as soon as he hit his growth spurt, forgetting his needs just because he was taller than the average omega.

12. How did you grow as a writer this year?

confidence! I’ve gotten more confident in my writing, which in turn has made me more comfortable with going outside my comfort zones. 

13. How do you hope to grow next year?

I hope to get even more confident in my writing and push my boundaries even further. I am so proud over can you build me a nest?, the first piece of smut I published. and I was so proud of myself for feeling confident enough to do that, even though I was so nervous and scared. so I hope to be able to hit more mile stones like that next year!

14. Who was your greatest positive influence this year as a writer (could be another writer or beta or cheerleader or muse etc etc)?

I’ve had multiple influences this year. I’ve gotten comments, both on fics and on snippets that I’ve posted, that have helped me a lot this year. those are too many to mention, but I have three amazing people who have helped me that deserves to be mentioned. 

@larrysballetslippers - an amazing cheerleader. she’s been so supportive and boosted my confidence whenever I needed it.

@paranormalbabydoll / @bottomhaztoplou - gave me so many nice, uplifting comments when they beta’d both never been a fan of change, but we’re still the same and snapshots of moments. super supportive when I bombarded them with questions and gave them huge jobs with my fics. and also, very much a cheerleader!

@hershelsue - gave me some great writing tips when they beta’d dream about a summer night, and they pointed out things I hadn’t realised about my own writing, that I now try and think about. such as not using the same words or phrasing over and over. 

15. Did anything from your real life show up in your writing this year?

it always happens 😂 there is so much of my real life in my writing. I have a WIP (that I’m not sure if I will finish) with autistic Harry who’s obsessed with learning stuff about plane crashes. this was me in august, september and october 😂 but also smaller stuff - Harry is scared of thunderstorms in dream about a summer night, that’s a piece of me that I gave him. 

16. Any new wisdom you can share with other writers?

Every writer works differently, but these are some things that I’ve learnt this year. 

Don’t force it when it’s not working. if it’s not working right now, don’t force it. I ended up hating/not liking the stuff I wrote while forcing myself to write on something I didn’t want to write it. either work on something else for a change, or just take a creak. 

sometimes it’s easier to write on unconventional ways. sometimes the notes app on your phone is less intimidating that a doc. sometimes it’s easier to write on your phone than on your computer. maybe it’s easier to write dialogue, then write only the dialogue. 

I often start my fics with dialogue, and it looks something like this;

H: love planes. Don’t know much about em but still love ‘em L: lucky for you, I happen to know quite a bit H: oh? L: I’m a pilot H: a pilot? L: yup

17. Any projects you’re looking forward to starting (or finishing) in the new year?

I have a few WIPs that I’m working on that I’m looking forward to finishing. but I’m the most excited about my omega gender confusion au. that’s my baby. you can read more about it and find some snippets of it here. but yeah, I’m so excited about this fic and I hope I can do it justice! and finish it during 2023! hopefully the first half, but we’ll see. 

18. Tag some writers whose answers you’d like to read.

I’m sorry if you’ve already done this! I haven’t really kept up with my dash these last few days, but I tried to do a quick look! If you’ve already done this - just ignore it. and if you don’t want to do it - just ignore it.

@stylesthebrave, @neondiamond, @parmahamlarrie, @sun-lt, @kenniewen, @wabadabadaba, @alwaysxlarrie, @finelinegynandromorph, @hellolovers13, @brightgolden & @allwaswell16. and if you want to do this but aren’t tagged - just say I tagged you 😊

[yell0wsalt]

20 Questions for Writers

saw @ljf613 do this and wanted to give it a try

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

27. (I have a couple others I made private bc they are horrid. Teeter between completely rewriting or deleting them, so in the limbo private collection they stay)

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

72,228

3. What fandoms do you write for?

I mostly have written for Avatar: Legend of Korra and have a few fics for My Hero Academia.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

I'm Bored, Let's Fuck

Your Electric Touch

A Spark in the Dark

Loving You throughout the Years

A Closed Discussion

Drives me bananas 2/5 of these are horrid not even well-writted E-rated fics and that I have several other stories I'd prefer being in my top 5 but whatever, I guess

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

Of course! Very few read what I write, let alone bother to comment. Honestly, you took time out of your day to read my silly story and leave a comment?

That means the world to me.

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

Without a doubt, Shinishi of the Deep. It was my first take on a Cosmic Horror AU and I took to leaving it open-ended regarding Iroh's fate. The last line Join me is simple, but keeps it in the air of who said it.

Was it Asami?

Was it the monster out in the open? Is that monster even real?

Who will he listen to?

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

The happiest? Umm I mostly write happy endings, so it all depends on the context, but probably Loving You throughout the Years, a small collection of one shots of Linzin being in a relationship not experiencing their breakup. Chapter 3 is what comes to mind when considering their happy ending.

Hurts Like Hell when I got Irosami to get together after their breakup was satisfying to write.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not cool enough to get hate on, so I fly under the radar.

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

Oof, that's a big old YIKES from me. I do a lot better with the build up and sexual tension between the couple before.

Pay no mind to the snippet I posted yesterday

Although I feel like I should get out of my comfort zone and try it, it's also horribly embarrassing to be seen flopping in real time.

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

Noooo. I have curious thoughts about crossovers (/pos), but have zero business in giving writing one a shot.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I'm aware of.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope!

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

Never have I ever.

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

Don't do this to me. I'm naming three.

Linzin

Irosami

EraserMic

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

I'm planning to bring all of my WIPs into the New Year!

16. What are your writing strengths?

Hmm, pass.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Everything—

*sad clown sounds*

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

I've seen people do it before in other fics which can be an interesting touch to world building. However, my problem with some authors doing so comes down to it being clear they used a source like GoogleTranslate to do so. Often, the grammatical structure is incorrect (surprise, surprise, not every language goes subject + verb + object like English).

Also, there may be words in the other language that would be better suited for the context in the fic.

I know myself well enough that's something I should stay away from in my writing unless I am familiar with the language or can reach out to someone who is.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Legend of Korra. I just started this year, so there's still a lot more to tap into.

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

Might be a tie between Breathe Me Back To Life or Say It. I like the universes I created for the pairings here and think about them often.

[basicallyjaywalker]

Selenelion Update (Big One)

Alright. So

I've been mulling over this for a little over a week on and off, last night I finally talked to someone else about it and got some reassurance

I'm going to be putting Selenelion on an indefinite hiatus/rewrite period and deleting the current two chapters off of AO3

There are a couple of reasons for this.

as I've worked on it this month, I found I didn't like the direction it was going. Not even in a "i'm a writer and hate practically everything i do" way, but in a "this feels wrong way." The best way I can describe it is that it feels like an inaccurate portrayal of the relationship I've had in a my head and I want to do it better

I want to finish the series before I do the full arc of their relationship. Before I thought I wouldn't have to do this until I started learning more about the newest seasons (and Lloyd's character in them) and realized that as it stands, I think I could write a better series if I had more... i guess the best way to describe it is reference material? Especially because I think Jackie would be a major player in things involving Harumi and Garmadon's resurrection because of her status as a previous student of Garmadon's (as it stands I'm not sure if she pities Harumi or wants to smack her but it's probably both)

I want to give Jackie more of a starring role in her own story. When I first revamped my OCs, I took them from being super plot involved to being the opposite because insecurity is a bitch, and that left Jackie being kind of a footnote while the main characters did cool main character shit. To put it in perspective, Jackie was not planned to go with the ninja at all to fight Morro. Her boyfriend gets possessed by an ugly ass ghost and instead of going through hell and highwater (literally high water splashing every ghost she sees in the face) to rescue him, she got left behind.

So because of all of those reasons, I'm putting the fic back on the shelf for now until I can do it justice. This also means that I'll be deleting the current two chapters off of AO3 (don't worry! they are safe and sound in my google drive)

This wasn't an easy choice, I hate quitting things and I hate that it feels like i'm giving up, but I do plan to rewrite the fic in the future, probably longer than 10 chapters this time around.

I want to thank everyone who's supported the fic so far, it means so much that people enjoyed the chapters that were just about my favoritest child (Jackie) and rest assured she will get more of her own content in the future. Big thank you to toastingpencils37, who left comments and built confidence in me that this story is something people want to read

And thank you for reading this, I apologize for any upset this may cause, but for the sake of not just leaving the fic dead in the water (and my sanity as a writer), I feel this is the best choice

[aohendo]

Find the Word

Tagged by @the-stray-storyteller!

My words were wilder, gleam, empty, tight, and bruise.

Sending this towards @whimsyqueen, @saltysupercomputer, @on-noon, @daisywords, and @scmalarky!

Your words are glide, glyph, glimpse, glint, and glee.

Wilder

This time, they met in the library. Back in that far corner with the pollination and court records, deep in the wild parts the other princes had no desire to trek to, back in the darkness, because this dealing should never be in light. Except then Nelovskevouk showed up with a scholar’s light and had the gall to ruin the mood. This one glowed slightly pink, probably a student’s attempt, or else the product of a colorblind professor, and was altogether too cheery for these dreary corners and the book of altered memories resting under Kiris’ hand.

Gleam

Kiris swallowed, frozen on the sword’s gleam. “Where is Bakivio?”

“Bakivio withdrew.” Nelovskevouk took another sip of coffee, then set it aside. It clinked on the table. “You know my policy with thieves.”

“You kill them.”

“Precisely.”

Empty

Kiris huddled against the wall of the bathtub as it rolled in the swells of Lake Vgor. The swordsman had removed the head-bag when they were still on the sailboat, and he had taken Kiris’ overtunic, too, carefully emptying its pockets and shaking out the loose crumbs from the biscuits. Kiris had stood there, frozen and compliant. It was into the bathtub that the swordsman had placed those biscuits—wrapped, now—and the bread, and his lockpicks in their case, and several days of food and water and two thick blankets and even a chamber pot with a lid. He had tied Kiris’ belt back around his waist, and Kiris had remained immobile, his breathing as quick as the racing of his heart. Only once they were several hours by strong wind and Krigover had faded over the horizon did the swordsman push the tub into the lake, and then deposit Kiris gently into the tub.

Tight

“Waters scholars are not restrained like that for such magics as Empathy or Streaming,” Nazvili said, tightly. 

He dropped his arm and tugged back down his sleeve like hiding it could hide it from her memory. “I’m not a scholar.”

“No,” she agreed. “But you are powerful in one of the regulated studies. Which is it?”

Bruise

N/A! Fun fact: for me, the main edit for going from a first draft to a second draft is moving the og chapter to the "stuff I deleted" document, then splitting the screen between that and the 2nd draft doc and completely retyping everything. Sometimes I can copy stuff back into the 2nd draft document, but most of the time, it's a pure rewrite.

[prodbyton]

જ⁀➴ dirty little secret chapter 7: bye baby

half smau, half written. wc. under 1k warnings: kissing

even after you and anton wanted more from each other physically after that night in his apartment, your schedules never aligned properly for you two to actually do anything. it left you both hot and bothered, sneaking off during the day to make out and grope each other before you had to part for the day.

like now, you were antons lap in the backseat of his car in the parking lot of your apartment, hands buried in his hair and his hands groping your ass as you two kiss each other like you'll never see each other again.

"yn-" anton breathes out in between your kisses, and you hum before going back to kissing him. "i have to go," his warning words make you stop, frowning against his lips before you pull away with a pout. you were just so cute, he felt bad knowing he had to leave you.

"you cant miss one practice?" you whine, pouting even more.

"im the captain," he almost laughs, if he could he would totally skip a practice to spend more time with you, but his roll was too important and you both knew that.

"don't you have a co captain?"

"yn..." you sigh, and he presses a soft kiss to your forehead and you understand that he has to go. you climb off of his lap, sitting on the other side of his backseat while you think of another way for you both to see each other.

"what about after practice then? i can sneak you in, i don't think my brother would mind you coming over" you hope that it convinces him, but the way his ears turn red after you say it makes you frown.

he wishes that your brother was one of his biggest obstacles in having you fully, it was too much of a risk for you to sneak him in, it was honestly a risk with him dropping you off at the apartment you shared with him, but he tried his best to not let that flood his nerves.

"i want you just as bad, but i wanna take you out first before we do anything" anton groans, running a hand through his hair. you cant help the smile that creeps on your face, the way he held himself back until you two were actually dating before you two went further made you grow more fond of the boy. but you cant deny that it also made you want him more.

"such a gentleman, and when is this date you speak of?"

"how about friday night? i have early practice, and i can pick you up after" you have to hold back a giggle from how cute he was with that hopeful smile on his face, and you pretend to think for a second before you finally answer him.

"i think i can clear out my schedule for that,"

"great," he leans over the empty space between you two so he can place a quick kiss to your lips "now i really have to go, okay?"

"fine," you roll your eyes, doing your fake pout once again as anton gets out of the car so he can open your door for you. once you're out of the car, you let anton engulf you in a tight hug. "you'll call me when you get home, right?" you murmur into his chest, and he presses his lips to your forehead while you two enjoy your last few minutes together for the day.

"of course, i'll call you baby"

"baby?" you pull back from him, blinking in surprise at the new name as you look up at him. he just smiles, a little nervous as he tries to gauge your reaction.

"do you like it?" you nod, bringing your hands up to the back of antons neck so you can pull him in for another kiss. it was softer, holding him close to you before you pull away, and you smirk when you hear him fail at holding back a whimper at the loss of contact.

"mhm, now go, don't be late for practice baby" you smile as you walk away, letting your hand drag along his chest as you leave and all anton can do is stare at you as you enter your building. it took everything in him to not forget about practice and go after you in that moment.

m.list | prev | next

a/n: bro tumblr actually stupid asf i had to rewrite half of this cuz it deleted my mf draft...

synopsis: living with your older brother had its perks, including easy access to his hot best friend

taglist is closed !!

🏷️- @selleprotection @gacktsa @cylovesmg @cherrytaesan @f4irynono @mokkaamo @givemeakith @taroddori @leebitofficial @the-swageyama-tobiyolo @g0niki @wonpoem @ningning1527 @streamluckybyriize @ant-onie @sunooslover @saranghoeforanton @serinebsblog @winuvs @onlyhyunjin @lynnimini @dearestjake @sasfransisco @nctjunie @angelpiixie @https-yeonjun @i03jae @nujeskz @astro-doll-the-star @lcvehee @ss1ren @imuziawi @snoopydooby @dutifullyannoyingfox @pink-lemonadefairy @yyangj3lly @urstrulynini @s9nwoo @bearbeom @totheseok @horijiro

[everywhereallofthetime]

I don’t know/remember off-hand how many followers I (may still) have here, - I didn’t bother/think to look before I began composing this post, - and idk if anyone has truly cared/missed me, - I never really had many notes on any given chapter, - but I’m, unfortunately, breaking my promise. 💔 I am so incredibly sorry; at this time I don’t believe I will ever finish “Some Girl”. In fact, I will be deleting it from this blog. Well, turning every chapter to private, which is nearly the same thing. I honestly don’t know if “private-ing” things blocks them from my already followers sight or what.

Under the circumstances, ofc, you can absolutely unfollow me if you choose to, but please allow me to first tell you where my head is/has been...

You see, I had a friend who was my beta reader and someone I could bounce my thoughts off of for SG, and then we had a messy, terrible falling out. Her fingers are all over little bits of this story, mainly in the later chapters, and honestly, it pretty much spoiled things for me. 😔 I still go back and read it occasionally and believe it was/is very good writing up to where it went on hiatus, but I started feeling different about how it seemed to be progressing. I was being influenced to write Shawn differently than I had been and it was messing with me, throwing everything off. I never should have allowed that. And after the friendship ended and the dust settled, I thought maybe I could get my head back on straight and continue, return it to what I had always envisioned it to be, but I think it was just… too late.

Idek if any of the previous paragraph makes a drop of sense, but that’s the best way I know how to describe things.

I even thought maybe I could do a partial rewrite, adjust some things, even in early chapters, but just the thought of such an undertaking is overwhelming. I’m not saying it won’t eventually happen, but I know better now than to make any promises.

Aside from that, I hit such a horrible wall with my writing, period. If you follow me over at my main Shawn blog and have read any of the stories on my master list, you may know that I haven’t posted a new story for a long, long time.

I was negatively affected by Shawn canceling tour, even though I understand/understood and accept(ed) that was what he needed to do, but it put me in a poor mindset for quite a while. I was supposed to be seeing him the very next night after the initial postponement announcement, as well as three other shows, including a M&G. It was a devastating blow. It took me a while to pull myself out of my upset/depression. That’s when the block started to develop. I know my happiness should not be dependent on Shawn, and it’s not, not really, but I had been looking forward to an amazing summer, for months, and suddenly there was no longer anything to be excited for.

There’s a lot more I could go into here, but I try to never burden anyone with my problems/issues. (Even though I probably should let people help me once in a while. It’s easy for me to be the person people come to when shit is rough, but difficult for me to go “crying” to others when shit is rough.)

I’ve been trying very hard to reclaim my writing mojo, because I do still absolutely adore and love Shawn, and I love writing him, and truly, I always seem to be jotting things down, even while I was so severely blocked. Maybe those little notes/ideas will eventually develop into something. Who knows?

I am feeling more stirrings than I have in a while, so silver lining? Maybe it’s because Shawn himself seems to be in such a better place and he has returned to being more active and interactive, and we know new music is coming “soon”, and that’s been so uplifting and encouraging. When he’s happy, I’m happy, you know?

(I’m sure many of the writers that write Shawn will be popping up again in the next few months.)

I still have a number of requests sitting in my ask box. Goodness knows if any of the requesters even remember requesting from me; it’s been so long. I’m slowly, tentatively trying to get back to those.

Okay, my lovies. If you read through this entire post, thank you. I appreciate you. ❤️ I hope you can forgive me.

[septixtrash]

Payback and Retribution Pt 2

Pairing: Soldier Boy x Supe!Reader

Warnings: language, mentions of death, mentions of gore (very little), mentions of drugs, depression

Word Count: 1.2k

Summary: You finally meet The Boys.

A/N: I'm so sorry it took me so long to publish this, my app I use to write deleted my original file so I had to rewrite it all over again. I haven't said what powers the reader has because it's a secret for the next chapter! Hope everyone enjoys this, I'm so thankful for all the support on Part 1! ❤️

Taglist: @spnwoman @veronicawritesstuff @atrxdxs @globetrotter28 @bronze-metal @deanwinchesterwifesstuff @buckybarnes-1917 @octobers-snow @faithm120601 @siospins2 @liuope @bxwitched @itsdesiree86 @epiphany-of-a-madwoman @bxrbiewrites @caffeinefueledfangirl @secretdreamlandmentality

“You must be well fucked in the head, agreeing to this…” Butcher tells you as you follow them both down to the parking garage.

He's right…

You walk right up to a beat up van, reaching for the handle. Butcher grabs your shoulder, scoffing. “Oi, just 'cause we're wanted doesn't mean we drive shitty cars…”

“That ain't mine.” He clicks a car alarm and points the opposite direction. “She is.”

“No fucking way…” You run up to an old black 87 Cadillac Brougham. It's in good condition too…

“I always wanted one! Vought wouldn't let us drive ourselves, had to have someone else drive for us. Ugh.”

Hughie grins. “I thought the same thing. He really looks like he owns a van!”

“Fuck off. Get in the car so we can fucking leave.” Butcher hops in the driver seat, Hughie sitting next to him.

You barely have time to climb in before he speeds off… dickhead.

“You didn't know the truth, did you?” Hughie turns around in his seat. “Before we came?”

You shake your head. “If I'd known sooner, they'd already be dead.”

It's still hard for you to wrap your head around the thought of it all… Ben's alive. Your own team betrayed you. Vought was behind everything and you'd been blindsided. It somehow hurts more, knowing that you’d been set up, that you’d been lied to. You think it would've been easier if you never found out the truth. Because through all the heartbreak, the tears, the endless nights high off your ass, desperately trying to savor the memories of him, it all meant nothing in the end.

As much as you'd rather be out hunting them all down, you knew you had to find Ben first. It wouldn't be right, getting revenge without him…

Hughie looks up at you, “I know how you feel… in a way at least.”

You raise an eyebrow, “and how's that?”

“A-Train killed my girlfriend Robin. Ran right through her… We were on the sidewalk, she took one foot off it, and then… then she was gone. The only pieces of her left were her arms that I held. He kept running, said he couldn't stop. He didn't bother apologizing, he lied to the media and Vought covered it up. They tried to buy my silence, but I-I couldn't take the money. It didn't feel right, being quiet about what happened. Why should I keep silent when he doesn't suffer any consequences. Butcher found me soon after…”

Poor kid. “I’m sorry… No wonder why you hate supes.”

You wonder what's Butcher's story…

“Don't be. Not all supes are like that, you know. You were always one of my favorites?”

You laugh. “Seriously, me? Why?”

“You weren't born a supe. You know what it's like being ordinary. You fought for the little guys, showed us that anyone can be a hero. I remember my Dad playing your old films, I used to want to be just like you…”

Your ears turn red. “T-thanks kid.”

You never felt you deserved to be a supe. To be called a hero. You just did what you felt right and helped others, because that's who you were, even before taking Compound V.

Maybe that's where it all went wrong, signing up for Vought's experimental program. At the time, it seemed like a good idea. You were young and needed the money, you were already struggling to make enough to get by. They offered a good hefty paycheck to those willing to try a serum they were working on. Of course you said yes, what a fucking mistake that was…

Pain, unlike anything else you'd ever felt. The serum rushing through your veins made it feel like you were dying. At first you thought you were.

They didn't tell you that most of the other subjects died. Their bodies rejected the serum. You somehow were lucky.

You got powers, but they came at a cost…

Vought made you their superhero. Dressed you up in latex and spandex and made you part of Payback, the first official supe team.

You thought you were fighting for freedom, but you were only fighting for a corporation.

You killed whoever they asked, saved whoever they wanted, all for ratings. That's all that mattered. How well the public responded to you.

You had it all, the fame, the drugs, the freedom…

You put on a face in front of the cameras, made it look like everything was fine, but in reality you were breaking inside. You'd never been so stressed before becoming a supe, but Ben, he made it look easy.

Maybe that's why you fell for him. He didn't have to put on an act, he was truly himself on and off the camera. He didn't care what anyone thought and that's what drew you to him. He taught you that you how be yourself again. But no one knew that…

Butcher turns around facing you. “Oi, we're here.”

You exit the vehicle and follow closely behind Butcher. He leads you all to a industrial looking building. Climbing the staircase, he stops in front of a door and unlocks it.

Stepping in, you have three pairs of eyes following you.

The place definitely didn't read: ‘We're wanted criminals.’ It was almost like an office, something you didn't expect from someone like Billy Butcher.

You face towards the only other woman in the room, a woman with long black hair.

“Hi!” You wave at her. “Nice to see Butcher has a woman on his team, I can already feel the testorone building in the room."

The woman uses sign language, signing hello.

Hughie laughs, Butcher just rolls his eyes. A man with a buzzcut stands up, “She doesn't talk. Her name's Kimiko. I'm Frenchie."

"Couldn't of guessed with your accent..."

The other man in the room turns away from you, grunts rolling his eyes. "Can we just hurry this up?"

“Who are you?” you ask, curious as to why the man clearly didn't like you being here.

“That's M.M.” Frenchie looks over at him. “He's got issues with Soldier Boy.”

Soldier Boy wasn't a good person. Everyone knew that. But he was only good to you.

There was so many things Ben didn't tell you; dark things he wasn't proud of.

Butcher pulls you from your thoughts. “Now that everyones here, let's go over the plan.”

You take a seat on the couch next to Kimiko.

“Your boy’s in Russia. We have a favor to our source, kill a target. Kimiko and Frenchie are already keyed in that. Once they're finished we'll be given the location.”

Kimiko pouts, signing something to Frenchie. He shakes his head at her then shrugs.

“You don't know where he is?!”

You should've known things weren't fully fledged out, but you expected a little more especially when these people were widely known supe killers.

“Oi, calm down will ya?” Butcher shouts.

Hughie looks away, rubbing his neck. There's a lot of tension in the room...

You face Butcher. “Who’s your source?” You rub your temples, sighing.

“Russian mobster, Little Nina. Frenchie here used to have a thing for her, now he owes her a favor. She told us if he does this for her, she'll tell us where the facility is.”

There has to be more than he's letting on… “What's the catch? Surely it can't be that easy, what's the favor she want?”

Frenchie speaks up, “She needs someone killed. But not by me…” he faces Kimiko who frowns. “Kimiko is the only who can do it.”

“Why her? No offense…”

“Because she's a supe like you. Little Nina knows that Kimiko doesn't want to do it, that's exactly why. She's doing it to get to me,” He sighs.

You get up from your place on the couch, rolling your shoulders, cracking your neck. “Well, when do we leave?”