#but i did say it might be a huge timeskip instead of au

[yingren]

what if they kissed? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

what if they kissed? / accepting.

if ren closes his eyes in this moment, time feels as though it’s slipping through his weary hands, fleeting like grains of sand. if he blinks, he might miss it entirely. the blue skies above stretch endlessly, interrupted only by a few lazy clouds drifting across their vast canvas. the sun, reigning untamed and radiant from light-years away, threatens to blind him if he stares too long - and in that blindness, he might miss the slow turning of the seasons.  

the air is drenched in floral fragrance, wrapping around them like an embrace. upon his head rests a flower crown, carefully woven by smaller, gentler hands. in his own hands, he works with careful precision, tucking stems into the braid of another crown, their delicate forms held together by his tired but steady touch. the petals brush softly against his fingers, and for a moment, he pauses, worried that the fragile creation might crumble under the weight of his care. it doesn’t, of course. but as with all things tied to elodie, he handles it with the utmost tenderness.

“ come here, ” it’s a gentle call, not quite a whisper but just soft enough to barely register. elodie doesn’t need to push or insist when suggesting an outing like this, ren will always follow. even though he feels utterly out of place, seated in the middle of a field where nature has woven a vibrant tapestry of flowers and greenery, he stays. among the beauty of it all, he stands out like a misplaced thread, a stark contrast to the harmony around him. yet, for elodie, there is no hesitation. he comes willingly, sitting by her side to share the moment, listening as the wind weaves its melody, dancing lightly through the tall grass.

when elodie comes close, his hands lift to gently place the delicate flower crown atop her head. for a moment, he simply looks at it, slightly amused by how much better it turned out than he expected. it rests against her iridescent hair as if it had always belonged there, a natural extension of her grace. a faint smile tugs at his lips, softening his gaze as the tension in his shoulders eases. a quiet calm settles over him, washing away the nervous energy that had lingered like a shadow. it feels insignificant now, like a speck of dust brushed off without a second thought. tilting his head slightly, he takes her in from a new angle, as though the view might somehow shift. again, it doesn’t. and yet, ren finds he doesn’t mind at all.

“ pretty. ” if the tone of his voice doesn’t make it obvious, the way he looks at her surely does. his gaze lingers, drinking in the sight of her as though preserving a moment he’s vowed to safeguard forever. each detail is committed to memory, etched into his mind with the care of someone cherishing something irreplaceable. his hand lifts to cradle her cheek, his palm warm against her skin, fingertips threading lightly through her hair while his thumb brushes tenderly over her fair complexion. the kiss that follows feels both instantaneous and eternal, the slow closing of the small gap between them taking what seems like years. it’s tender and deliberate, a soft press of lips that lingers until his lungs beg for air. when he finally pulls away, he doesn’t let the moment end. he scatters smaller kisses across her face, each one a keepsake of this fleeting perfection, the last landing with delicate affection on the tip of her nose.

“ happy birthday, dearest. i hope to celebrate many more with you. ”

[blaithnne]

I. HAVE BEEN WORKING ON THIS. SINCE BLOODY MARCH

And tumblr murders the quality pls click for better quality lmao 🙏

Lauren’s reference sheet has been in DESPERATE need of an update for a long time now, but back when I started working on this it was in the middle of exam season in school, so I ended up taking a break from working on it, and by the time I came back to it…I had to redo the whole thing cause there was just so many mistakes. Plus I’d switched drawing programs.

This was my first time doing a turnaround sheet and it was a NIGHTMARE but I’m really proud of it. I do at some point wanna make a version of this with her jacket, because I always neglect to draw that lol, but I just did not have the energy to include it here bc it would have meant this. Never got posted LMAOO

One of the challenging things about this was trying to make some more differences beteeen Lauren and Johanna because they’re supposed to look similar, but I always worry they’re too similar. So, I put together this little thing to show some of the more subtle differences between Lauren and Johanna, as well as some other design notes! This stuff is only really applicable if you’re training to replicate the shows style in ur drawing, so don’t feel you have to stick to these rules exactly if you want to draw her!

Some other stuff I wanted to achieve here - I wanted Lauren to look more muscular! She has become The Strong One, that’s her thing now! But since one of Hilda’s design trademarks is the very straight limbs, it was hard making her look muscular without exaggerating her like Ahlberg. Sooo I tried some more subtle ways of doing it, which I point out specifically in the little notes sheet above!

Another thing I did was alter her colours, just to make them a little more cohesive and less saturated. Also less dark, for her jumper and shoes at least - I think I didn’t notice how dark they were before bc I drew her with her jacket so much, but now I don’t do that lol.

OH if you’ll recall her last reference sheet update, I made a version for the What If AU in particular, giving her golden earrings and a headband to emphasise the difference between that au and her regular timeline. Well, since then I’ve decided that that AU IS her regular timeline, and I’ve kinda scrapped the Runaway concept altogether - I wasn’t having fun with it, and it just doesn’t fit her character anymore to have run away in the first place, amongst other things. Sometimes I keep the gold earrings though just cause they’re fun to draw, but for her “canon” design they out her over the designated Hilda characters colour limit so they had to go :(

Oh and since that timeline has been scrapped and I’m talking about her design anyway I might as well just say it here - yeah The Bellkeeper was who I had in mind for her father when I designed her. I didn’t make a huge effort to hide it LMAO but I never wanted to say it, because at that point I REALLY wanted Lauren to be canon compliant, and was rlly scared that I’d “reveal” The Bellkeeper as her dad only for it to be announced the next day that he was Johannas brother or something. Canon compliance is the whole reason Lauren was a runaway to begin with - I wanted her to be able to slot easily into the timeline after the events of the show. But over time I got really stressed from trying to make it all work and ✨depressed✨ from life, so I started working on the What If AU just for fun and I had way more fun with it. And THEN Mountain King came out and introduced the timeskip which kinda ruined the whole she can slot in anywhere thing, so that combined with the fact that I just wasn’t having fun with The Runaway Timelime anymore led me to decide fuck it, that’s not a thing anymore! Instead I’ve been focusing on figuring out how she could fit into the show if she was a canon character, and it’s been so much fun. BUT I didn’t want to have to rewrite her entire storyline the moment we got the dad reveal, so I have now got her story figured out so that it works regardless of who Hilda’s dad turns out to be - so tldr even though The Bellkeeper was originally The Father, he isn’t necessarily anymore, but I still use him as a point of reference for her design because I’m 100% convinced he’s related to Hilda SOMEHOW, and it makes sense to me for Lauren to look like him since sometimes there’s just that one family member who you look weirdly identical to.

And for those curious I have no idea if BK is the dad or not, I used to be pretty sure he was but now I got nothing, I no longer have a dog in this fight so I’m just excited to see where the story goes LMAO and I’m happy with anything, honestly fics like Carpe Diem have gotten me really attached to the idea of him being Johanna’s Cousin or Brother or something

That was a side tangent away from her design lol, my b, but uhhh I can’t think of much else to add! I’m rlly happy with how this has come out and I think it’s a major improvement from her old sheet - even if this is far from perfect I can already spot a thousand things I would do differently next time lmao! Anyways if you’ve read this far thank you for coming to my ted talk and goodnight

Lauren is Hilda’s older sister, and though she may not be all that academically gifted, she’s a hard worker who cares deeply about her family. She’ll take on any hardship if it means keeping them safe and happy!

Strong physically as well as mentally, Lauren handles any manual labour that needs done around the house, and does her best to be a good role model for Hilda, and take some of the single-parent-pressure off Johanna. She’s a constant shoulder to lean on for anyone who needs it, whilst keeping her own feelings close to her chest. Her mother worries she takes on too much, but Lauren brushes her off - she’s stable and reliable, it’s her job to protect her family, she doesn’t need an outlet, she’s fine.

Right?

With their home crushed by A Giant and a new future on the horizon, will moving to Trolberg allow Lauren the breathing space she won’t admit she needs? Or will the growing tensions between her sister and mother only make things worse?

[ryuichirou]

LEVI SMEX HEADCANONS (with anyone)

Anon, we thought that your ask is a good opportunity to drop some smutty headcanons about Levi with every single character we ship him with (well, at least as many of them as I can think about right now). So yeah, prepare for the wild ride, there are some surprises here lol it’s also kinky at times

Oh and also just in case, here is our previous post with Levi-centric headcanons! If you haven’t seen it already, that is. It’s quite old though haha.

Ok here we go:

If Levi leaves marks on Eren, and this is a universe when titans exist, Eren doesn’t heal those for as long as he can. He likes looking at it and thinking about how good Levi must’ve felt, since he usually isn’t the type to leave scratches or bites or anything like that.

When Eren and Levi fuck in a doggy position, Eren hugs Levi’s neck from behind so hard he’s choking him. It’s hard to tell whether it’s intentional or not every time, but Levi almost fainted a couple of times, and he did faint once while doing so. Eren felt a bit guilty afterwards, but still found it very hot.

When Eren received a blowjob from Levi for the first time, he almost cried and thought he would faint, but jokes on him, because he was fucking Levi 2 minutes after this, so apparently he had just enough energy to do so lol

Erwin is one of those people who can come up with different sexy-but-messed-up scenarios, and at times when he tells (or whispers to…) Levi about how there could be a robber with a gun who’d try to sneak in while Levi’s taking a shower… Levi usually replies that it wouldn’t be a problem for him to handle a robber and Erwin laughs it off, but he always looks like he seriously considers doing something like that without warning Levi. Roleplays, man.

Erwin likes to rub his penis against Levi’s abs. He just does.

Erwin isn’t a jealous type, we’ve said it a bunch of times, but if he hears that Levi did something with someone that he finds interesting, you can bet he’ll do whatever it takes for Levi to do this thing with him too. He wants to experience it! And ask Levi a ton of questions.

The moment Zeke realized that other than sometimes bitching at him and breathing heavily Levi doesn’t make any sounds during sex, he decided to do anything to make him moan. Levi tried very hard to be as quiet as possible when he realized that Zeke really wants him to moan, but ultimately his voice did crack once. Very slightly, barely noticeable. Zeke was very happy though.

Zeke is ashamed of the fact that he started to google a lot of stuff about sex after he started to sleep with Levi. He loves it when sex is rough and they’re very antagonistic towards each other in the process, so he doesn’t mind Levi insulting him, but he’d hate to be obviously the less experienced one when it comes to sex: it’d make him feel lame and inferior, even though he knows it’s just a stupid ego thing.

Although if this was to actually happen, Zeke would probably just call Levi a whore for knowing his way around dicks so well. He calls him that quite often, sometimes very elaborately, when you won’t even realize that he just threw shade at poor Levi. He’s just jealous though, and Levi probably knows that.

Onyankopon is probably the most caring lover Levi’s ever had, and it’s super unusual to him: he always expects him to do something crazy because all of his previous lovers have been horny animals. Levi’s body isn’t used to it. But it doesn’t mean that Onyankopon leaves Levi unsatisfied: the man makes love to his body for hours before Levi collapses.

Onyankopon is also quite romantic, sooo candles, flowers, nice smelling oils… out of fucking nowhere. Nyanko is good at surprising Levi.

I said it before and I’ll say it again for those who still aren’t aware: Levi’s legs are actually fine post-timeskip, Nyanko just fucked him so hard that he can’t stand or walk, this is why he needs a wheelchair. The more you know.

Levi can clearly feel that Grisha is torn with guilt when they’re together, and he’d think that it would stop Grisha or make things more sad or sour, but in reality this only fuels Grisha for some reason, so he’s very passionate with Levi. He just fucks his guilt away.

Grisha can get surprisingly rough at times, even though he’s usually more or less “soft”. Levi had a lot of “oh right, this is Eren’s dad” moments when he’s with him. Sometimes everything starts with small kisses and stuff, but when Grisha just throws him on the bed and lies on top of Levi with his heavy body. The passion is always there and it’s intoxicating.

Can Grisha use his great medical knowledge and his medical supplies to do dubious stuff if we want a certain AU to have a darker and hotter turn? Heck yes he can.

Eren bites so fucking hard he can rip your skin off, but Grisha just nibbles on Levi’s neck instead. Actually, Zeke acts that way too: Eren is certainly the wildest out of all Yeagers. Levi can’t help but compare these two/three sometimes.

Connie is super excited about getting taller and the fact that Levi is now so much smaller than him. At first it was just him being happy and a little bit smug about himself, but then he started noticing how adorable and attractive Levi looks from that high angle. And now every time Levi looks at him, Connie thinks that Levi’s thinking about him being all big and all (and probably judging him for it), which ultimately resulted in Connie having fantasies about Levi riding him and bitching about him getting so big in all the right places.

If Connie ends up having sex with Levi, he’d be very scared to do something wrong at first, and he won’t be as fast as Eren at realising that Levi would let him do whatever he wants. But Levi can easily sense that Connie is as selfish and horny as Eren, so he’d probably tell Connie to relax at some point. Or just help him to relax very discreetly…

Connie would be super torn between telling everyone that he banged the Captain (with all the juicy details, some of which would probably be an exaggeration) or keeping this story to himself because this is too special to share with anyone. Besides, he wouldn’t want risking Levi not wanting to sleep with him ever again.

Moblit did have sex with Levi while being drunk once. He’s usually very focused on his work, so the thought of him being into Levi in any way has never occurred to him before that happened, but one time he just woke up with the hangover and realization that he probably fucked Levi. He wasn’t sure if that was a dream or not though, so he had to actually ask Levi if it happened, and it was super nerve-wracking and embarrassing to him. He felt super sorry and anxious, but after he realised that Levi isn’t mad at him, this situation suddenly became very hot to him.

Oluo absolutely has wet dreams about Levi. The more he thinks about him, the more he imitates him, the more in love with him he gets. At some point it stopped being about trying to impress Petra and became his own little sexual obsession.

Zackley got intrigued by Levi the moment he learned about his existence. Of course he instantly decided that Erwin took him in for more than his amazing fighting skills, and he definitely asked Erwin if that was the case, because if this is the case, Erwin might as well share. Sometimes, if you want, it can be a blackmail scenario.

Zackley’s bdsm dungeon and Levi? More likely than you think. That’s it, that’s the headcanon.

Zackley also laughs very loudly and enjoys it when Levi’s bitching about something or someone. Even when he’s telling Zackley than he’s a huge pervert. Levi might say that to shoosh Zackley away, but it’d actually just have an opposite effect.

[saemi-the-writer]

Caretaker AU - AU writings and montages dump

Congratulations to @caretaker-au creators for finishing their story! (and they are more bonuses on the way, yeeeees~ )

I took the time to re-read it entirely and found some drafts about it (AU of an AU, same verse as this parody I did a while back) and more montages about with their comic in my folders. Oh dear! xD

 I am posting them all -in chronologically order of the events- undercut. It’s unfinished, but I MIGHT wrap it up if inspiration strikes again xD

Note: I WROTE THIS 4 YEARS AGO. I included some of my own headcanons in there, like Frisk’s full name, which is different from Caretaker AU’s canon.

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

Chara re-winded the video for the umpteenth time, zooming on another zone to study their adoptive child’s attitude closely. After slowing significantly the speed of the video playback, they launched it again.

 Frisk was drawing quietly, sitting on a chair at some distance from them -Asriel, Chara and the new scientist- when the incident happened, when that clumsy assistant unwillingly created a potential destructive weapon with that huge (and heavy!) cylinder. The thing had taken off like a rocket and bounced back on the lab floor, then went to a wall only to rebound against it and then on another area and so on, creating panic inside; the image jumped as it happened, it was a miracle the security camera had not been destroyed during the incident. Their child startled at the commotion, then looked at the rocket with wide and frightened eyes before taking cover under a table -as Asriel and themselves had shouted them to while dodging the dangerous thing and trying to find shelter too- and stayed there a moment, their gaze following the cylinder in fear. Their gaze scanned around a moment and suddenly, Frisk’s expression passed from scared to resolute. The child got on their feet and got out of their hiding spot.

 Chara paused, went back a bit and de-zoomed to determine the cause of this abrupt change.

 The “rocket” was heading towards them. Chara had not noticed it at the time, too busy shouting at the staff to either stop that damn thing or evacuate everyone, whereas Asriel seemed to have seen it, given his expression.

 Play.

 Frisk had rushed to grasp a tool on the table; luckily a big one, like a baseball bat and placed themselves on the path, steadying their position. They had called out for Asriel then, as the rocket drew near, the child’s grasp on their makeshift weapon tightened and they swung with all their might. The hit sent the cylinder flying away however the impact casted Frisk backwards too. Fortunately, Chara had been there to catch them. The two had rolled on the ground while Asriel used his magic: plants grew in an accelerated manner under the tiling and grabbed the damn thing, slowing its mad race and their husband stood as if he were about to catch a baseball ball thrown at him. The impact had him slipping quite a distance backwards, but he did not lose his balance.

 Pause. Zoom.

 The damage on the cylinder… Frisk really did that.

Granted, the tool had been solid (fortunately for them all) but still. It was impressive. And they were only eleven.

Frisk had always been a child who had a tremendous energy and a strong will, also full of stamina, way sportier than them and Asriel together… which had forced the two of them to train harder to keep up with their little one but now was not the time to dwell on that.

 Chara went back again, paused at a precise moment and zoomed.

That look of determination.

Could it be?

 Chara had lost their ability to control time and shape the world about three years ago, which had been a great loss for them, they had to be even more careful with any decision. Maybe Frisk was now the one to hold on this power…

 But Frisk was their child.

 This happened because they had been in danger.

 Frisk had accomplished this in order to protect them, surely, they would have done the same for Asriel.

 And they were strong, oh so much stronger than Chara had thought.

 So much potential.

 Chara leaned back on their chair; a smile made its way to their face.

 “Time to start your training, dearest.”

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

Convincing Asriel had been easier than they had anticipated, the human Prince did not even have to use their prepared speech.

“I understand. The sooner they will know how to defend themselves, the better.” Asriel had sighed when Chara announced him they intended to train Frisk to fight, taking them by surprise. “We don’t know what kind of human could fall next, and it could be sooner than we think… I don’t want Frisk to be unprepared in any case, I wish they will never have to use their skills into a fight but-“ he had then stared at his husband intensely. “Just like I said the day I gave you your knife: if it saves their life, it’s worth having it.”

Chara had felt their heart raced slightly at this declaration and planted a gentle kiss on their Prince’s cheek, both pleased and proud of how wise he had become.

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

 “Frisk, you do not have any class in the afternoon today, do you?”

 Frisk looked at their mother and shook their head as they were chewing on their toast.

 “Today is Wednesday, we never have any class in the afternoon on Wednesdays.” they precised after swallowing. “But I have a training with my team from two to three, why?” the child seized their bowl of hot cocoa and started drinking from it, their eyes on their parent.

 “Three? Then you should be home around half past three.” Chara mused with a short hum. “Good.” They put their cup down to stare at Frisk with a smile. “Following the recent events in the laboratory, your father and I have taken an important decision.”

 The youngest Dreemur blinked, glancing from one of their parents to the other. This seemed serious. Worry raised in the child when they noticed how tensed their father seemed to be, almost grave. Was it because they had acted recklessly in the lab?

 “Am I in trouble?” they asked in a small voice.

 It was their mother’s turn to blink, Asriel and them exchanged confused looks.

 “No, not at all.” the two replied together.

 “Unless you have something to hide.” Chara added with a raised an eyebrow.

 “No, no!” Frisk quickly shook their head. “I thought you were mad because I put myself in danger when I tried to stop that rocket.”

 “Well, you certainly did.” The adult human remarked, joining their hands under their chin. “But you also successfully helped saving us all from it. Which leads to our point.”

 There was a short silence.

 “Frisk, you know Mom is the Caretaker of the Ruins, our protector against any potential evil humans.” Asriel gently patted his child’s head. “Well, someday, you will have to help them in their duty. And for that, you need to be trained.”

 Asriel gazed at their spouse, Frisk did the same.

 “We are going to teach you how to fight.” Chara straightened their back. “And I wish to give you your first lesson today.”

 “Fight?” Frisk repeated in a whisper, tensing slightly.

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

“This is not a game, Fragana.”

Frisk tensed. When their parents called their real name instead of the usual nickname, it was always in serious talks.

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

(* insert timeskip*)

Frisk gasped at the clothes their parents were handing them.

“B-but, is that?...” they sputtered, their eyes going from Dad to Mom.

 “Take them and see for yourself.” Mom encouraged them with a nod of their head while Dad snorted.

Their hands shaking with expectation, the child took one of the garments and let it unfold.

It was a beautiful purplish-blue tunic on which the delta rune adorned the chest, with thin white stripes at the end of its short sleeves; it reached somewhere between their thigh and their knee. Frisk looked up from it and stared at the belt and legging Dad held proudly out to them.

“Surprise sweetie!” he beamed at them.

The child’s smile was still a bit shy as they took them, but they did not forget to kiss their father’s cheek with a thanks. Not sure what to say anymore, they turned to their mom.

 “You’ve proved you were ready during your training.” Chara smiled as they leaned in. “So from now on, you will come with me in the Ruins once per week and learn everything you need to know as their future caretaker.”

Frisk was now smiling widely and started bouncing excitedly. They had certainly not been expecting this! Not so soon! Mom and Dad had only started giving them fight lessons and the plans of the Ruins last year!

 “Really?” they cried out at last.

 “Yes, as long as you do not neglect your homework!” the two Regent Princes precised in a same voice, one holding out a finger in warning, the other with a laugh.

 “I promise I won’t! Thank you!!”

 Frisk rushed to their room to try their new outfit, so excited they did not notice that their grandparents had been recording the whole thing. They quickly put them on and admired their reflection in the mirror, both proud and moved.

 “Just like the two of them!” they chirped and twirled.

 A pair of boots Grandpa and Grandma had given them were matching just fine with this new ensemble; after putting them on Frisk smoothed their short hair and put small white elastic clasp on their longer hair strands -similar to their Mom’s- then the final touch: the pendant.

 Whereas Asriel and Chara’s pendants were silver, Frisk’s was gold and had a special shape: like a human soul outside with a smaller -and in a lighter gold- heart inside, like a monster’s. Two souls for one, human in appearance but a heart like a monster’s: full of love and hope. A “heart of gold”.

 After a last glance to their reflection, satisfied with it, Frisk pranced back to the living room where their family was waiting. Grandma immediately turned her camera on again at their arrival.

“Look at our little princess!” Grandpa exclaimed and held out his arms for them.

Frisk ran to him and laughed as the old King swung them up in his arms before going to their Dad who did the same but kept them against his chest, holding back tears.

“My baby angel is all grown up!” He whispered tearfully as he nuzzled their foreheads together. “You are so beautiful!”

Frisk kissed his cheek again before turning to their mother, who had their hands joined together in front of their mouth. They embraced them both before kissing the Princess’ forehead.

 “Oh Frisk, let me look at you.” They breathed.

 Asriel put the child down and watched with emotion Frisk standing at their full height and outstretching their arms so Chara could fully see how much the clothes fitted them. He could swear his spouse’s eyes were gleaming with repressed tears, which made him smile wider while Frisk spun happily, the hem of their tunic flowing as they did.

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

“Wait Frisk, there is one last thing I must give you.”

Frisk turned back to their dad, who held out a small metal stick to them.

“What is it?” they asked in curiosity, inspecting the object.

“Please be careful!” Asriel held his two hands out, looking concerned. “First, push this button.”

The young princess blinked and did as told, then jumped as the small stick suddenly expanded -becoming as big as their baseball bat- with a discreet clink.

“Asriel?” Chara called out in disbelief. “Did you make this?”

“No, I had it made by one of the new engineers.” The monster Prince scratched the back of his head awkwardly. “Since Frisk is pretty good with a bat and at fighting with stick, I thought it would be best for them to have one when going to the Ruins. But a stick is not very discreet, so I had this idea and asked if it could be made…”

Frisk rotated their new weapon carefully and swung it like they had learnt to do it. It was well balanced and did not slip through their hands.

“It’s great! Thanks Dad!”

“Wait, it’s not all. Now, there is a smaller button underneath…” he gently seized his child’s hand, preventing them to push it at once. “But it’s only for emergencies, and by that, I mean for you to use it at very last resort! You shouldn’t have to use it since Mom will be going with you, but I asked for this addition, really just in case…”

The two humans exchanged a bewildered gaze, Asriel stepped asides and then Frisk cautiously pushed the odd button. The sound was not loud, but the shlink resonating teared the silence. Frisk’s eyes grew wide at the blade coming out from the opposite side of their weapon. They were now holding on a spear.

The child’s attention turned to their mother who had tried to muffle their gasp behind their hands, but while they did seem shock, it was nor fear or worry that glittered in their eyes. But Frisk could not tell what it was, too stunned.

“Oh Asriel!”

Frisk startled when their Mom pounced on their Dad to kiss him in a way they had never did in front of them. The child was now smiling sheepishly, quite astonished by their parents’ sudden public display of affection and binked in surprise when it was their turn to be embraced; and as Chara loudly kissed their cheek, they realized their mom was crying.

“You will do wonderfully, my dear. I am sure of it.” they beamed as their arms tightened around Frisk. “Freedom is near.”

[velkynkarma]

Get to Know the Author

@bosstoaster has been tagging me all night :P

1. How did you come up with your username and what does it mean?

I’ve had the name ‘Karma’ for about 17 years now? I don’t even remember where it came from. The ‘Velkyn’ got added a little over 10 years ago when I decided I wanted to get back into fic writing. But I was still in that phase where you think you’re supposed to ‘grow out’ of fandoms and writing fanfiction, so I didn’t want any of my friends to know I was doing it. I was embarrassed. It was silly. I picked a different handle, VelkynKarma, which actually means ‘hidden Karma.’ Later I just liked the name and also got over my embarrassment for fic writing and just started using it everywhere.

2. Which fanfic of yours has the most feedback? (bookmarks/subscriptions/hits/kudos).

No matter what statistic you look at, Routine Maintenance wins across the board by a large margin. Parasite Knight only has 1 less subscription, though, so I guess it’s a fair contender on subs.

3. What is your AO3 profile icon, and why did you choose it?

Same as my tumblr icon, it’s one of my OC’s, Morrigu Lovel. He is a little smartass and I love him.

4. Do you have any regular/favourite commenters?

Oh for sure, there’s a few lovely readers that come back every time and always have something to say. I love you guys :) And a few others that don’t comment on every chapter or every work, but the comments they leave are always phenomenal and make my day.

5. Is there a fanfic that you keep going back to read again and again?

Depends on my mood, and I don’t necessarily read the entire fic, just the paragraphs/scenes/chapters that really stick out to me. But yeah, I’ve got some favorites I return to a lot.

6. How many stories are you subscribed to? How many do you have bookmarked?

Oh geez. This one’s hard to say since I watch stuff on AO3 and FF.net. A lot? I think a lot of those fics are dead now though.

7. Which AU do you find yourself writing the most?

Mmmm I don’t really have a tendency to stick to any particular series or AU for very long? I guess in terms of general themes I’ve done zombie AU’s the most, between Age of Heroes for Young Justice and Road Trip to End Times for Voltron...something about zombie apocalypse scenarios just fascinates me, especially since it can be done so many different ways.

8. How many people are subscribed and bookmarked to you in total? (you can view this on the stats page)

252 user subs, 444 work subs, 2039 bookmarks. I didn’t even know that until now, huh

9. Is there something you’d like to write about but are afraid of people judging you for it? (Feeling brave? If so, share it!)

There’s some character interactions that are such hot-button topics in the VLD fandom I’m cautious about approaching them because I don’t want to deal with people complaining or begging for things to get escalated. Like, I love Keith and Lance’s interactions in canon, but don’t have much fic centered around them because ship lashback is real.

10. Is there anything you would like to be better at? Writing certain scenes or genres, replying to comments, updating better, etc.

Short fic. What is brevity even? I can’t do zines or commissions because I can’t figure out how to manage a damn word count.

11. Do you write rarepairs or popular ships more often?

Nope! I don’t write any ships at all. I just write platonic interaction. Though I guess I wouldn’t be adverse to a platonic ‘rarepair’ as long as I liked the characters’ interaction potential.

12. How many stories have you posted on AO3 to this day (finished and unfinished)?

So far, 25. 23 of those are Voltron, 1 is Young Justice, and 1 is Supernatural (experimenting with cross-posting on both of those last two, some fandoms are just hard to break into or not on certain sites).

13. How many stories do you have saved in/with your writing program?

Oh boy. In progress? I wanna say 3. Notes? A lot, lot more.

14. Do you write down story ideas, or just keep them in your head?

I jot down notes! Or email myself ideas if I’m at work/out and about. Or speak them into a little portable digital tape recorder I keep next to my bed, if it’s the middle of the night and I have an idea, but lack dexterity to type.

15. Have you ever co-authored a story?

Not in a long, looong time.

16. How did you discover AO3?

Through TVTropes. Every time I finished a new series I’d swing by to read tropes pages and see if there were any decent fic recs. At first they all went to Fanfiction.net or livejournal but, over time, this ‘Archive’ thing kept showing up. I made an account to lurk or subscribe to things but didn’t actually start posting to it until at least a year later.

17. Do you consider yourself to be a popular or famous author in your fandom(s) on AO3?

Moderately well known in the platonic corner of it probably assuming people know bosstoaster and I are not actually the same person lol but probably not well known outside of that. Once upon a time I was a Big Name in the One Piece fandom, but after the timeskip I fell out of the fandom and lost my pirate king throne. That’s okay, it was fun while it lasted.

18. Do you have a nickname or fandom name for your readers?

No but you all are too kind

19. Was there an author who inspired or encouraged you to write?

In terms of ‘official’ authors, Brandon Sanderson is everything I ever aspire to be as a writer, and I take a lot of inspiration from that. For fic? My buddy BlackFriar was super helpful during the Young Justice era. More recently in the VLD fandom, @maychorian was big for just...getting me to stay in the fandom at all? One of her fics got me hooked and I stuck around, and then felt compelled to write, instead of just drifting off to the next interesting thing. And the Think Tank ( @bosstoaster @butteredonions @ashinan @mumblefox ) have all been huge for getting me to keep writing, between writing sprints and interesting discussions and a lot of encouragement, so that’s been huge for me this past year.

20. What writing advice would you give to a beginning author?

At the risk of sounding like that one video...just do it. It’s scary to put yourself out there, but just do it. You learn by doing. You also learn by absorbing new things around you, so read a lot and try new stuff; you never know when something completely random or a personal experience might actually add a lot to your story. And finally, write for you, first. Write the stories you want to see. Writing for comments/bookmarks/reblogs only goes so far. It means your motivation is reliant solely on people liking your work, which means you start writing for other people and not for yourself...and if reception is lackluster, it can kill your ability to finish a project, which hurts your practice at follow-through. It’s a slippery slope and starts to make the whole thing a lot less fun and a lot more of a chore. Write things you want to read, and if you feel like sharing them after, other people might like them too, but it’s important that you like it, first.

21. Do you plot out your stories, or do you just figure it out as you go?

Has to be plotted completely. If I try to wing it I meander or get hung up on trying to keep track of details. Turns into total garbage.

22. Have you ever gotten a bad comment on a story? If so, what did you do?

A few times, sure. Happens to everyone. Most often, it’s people begging, demanding, or insinuating that my platonic fics should include a ship, especially if the fic focuses on the interactions of two specific characters. Those are very frustrating because I’m always upfront about the fic being friendship only, and there are usually a million other ship fics already out there. Leave my platonic fic alone! I usually ignore the comments, or just politely remind people it’s friendship only and will remain that way. In one bewildering instance in a different fandom I had somebody who had been thoroughly enjoying the fic up until the climactic battle, whereupon they were furious at how it was resolved, and took great pains to tell me just what they thought. That one stung. I had to sit on it for a few days before I worked up the nerve to respond, and chatted with a few friends over it too. In the end I realized that it was more comparable to a fan really enjoying a canon work but being mad about a sudden twist that just didn’t seem right to them. It happens. I thanked them for reading, explained that I disagreed with their comments but did hear them, and thanked them for their time. Best I could do.

23. Is there a certain type of scene that you have a hard time writing? (action, smut, etc..)

I am straight-up incapable of romance, period. Even so far as to slide into ‘fake’ romance (I once got prompted for fake marriage/dating and literally couldn’t envision how to do it? It’s just so foreign to me). Or flirting. I can’t even identify flirting IRL. Basically anything in that general area of writing is completely out of my league. I can write intense scenes that are intimate in non-romantic, non-sexual ways, but those are really difficult for me to do too and I’m constantly second-guessing myself in case it’s maybe too much.

24. What story(s) are you working on now?

If I told you I’d have to kill you. But no, srsly, I don’t like to share ideas in progress until it’s almost done, just in case. Sometimes I share and then immediately lose interest, but I’ve already raised peoples’ hopes, and that’s just a dick move.

25. Do you plan your next project(s) before you finish your current ongoing story(s)?

I’ll have outlines, or sometimes need to plan around prompts. I don’t usually do series, so I never really need to plan too far ahead though. Sometimes if I’m plotting a crossover/AU I’ll obtain the source material and read/watch/play it to start gathering notes for that fic while working on a different fic, so that by the time I’m done writing the current story, the AU’s skeleton is plotted out and I have a place to slot in all the characters.

26. Do you have a daily writing goal set for yourself?

No. I’ve gotten better habits since working with the Think Tank but I still tend to be more of a ‘burst’ writer (no activity for days or weeks, and then suddenly word vomiting 100K in a month).

27. Do you think you’ve improved as a writer since you first started?

By a HUGE margin

28. What is your favorite story that you’ve written?

Oooh, that’s a toss-up between Phantasmagoria and Prince of Memory. The former because I love writing horror and it’s an idea I’d wanted to tackle for a while. The latter because it was a personal writing challenge to myself that I honestly wasn’t sure was going to go over all that well, but the response was stunning, and I was quietly surprised.

29. What is your least favorite story that you’ve written?

Caged Bird, from a different fandom. I make it a personal rule to never delete stories that I’ve posted, but ooh man, I wanted to get rid of this one really bad. I was happy when LJ gutted it. I actually don’t have any real dislike for any of my Voltron stuff.

30. Where do you see yourself (as a writer) in 5 years?

Still writing because I’d die if I stopped. Like a shark. But with writing.

31. What is the easiest thing about writing?

That flash of inspiration, when you get an idea and suddenly it’s building itself almost too fast for you to keep up. Dialogue. Action sequences.

32. What is the hardest thing about writing?

Getting started. Titles. Editing. Research. Any particularly emotional moment.

33. Why do you write?

Because fandoms are fun but I have so many questions after. “What if X happened? What if Y was a factor? Why not Z?” I try to hunt down answers to these questions in fandoms and if the fic isn’t already written, I write it. Also to challenge myself to do things that haven’t been done in the fandom yet, or to tackle things I haven’t tried yet.

I think everyone’s been tagged already so...feel free to play if you want, I guess!