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blakbonnet · 4 months ago

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AUTHOR OF THE WEEK: @adhduck

Please give it up for the nicest and one of the most creative writers in this fandom: Duck! I'm just such a fan because not only does Duck manage to write the softest, gentlest, loveliest Ed and Stede (both together and apart), their fics somehow perpetually keep me looking like 🥹 all the time ough. And they were very very nice about sharing their writing process with me:

What's your writing process like? Do you start with the beginning or the end? Do you write in order or as the scenes come to you?

Mostly it’s the Taika “look at a document for 8 hours and then close the document,” honestly. I’m a very slow writer and lose motivation very easily, so I mostly get by on the muse’s fire hydrant and forcing myself to write those fifty words even when every single one feels so bad.

I go moooostly beginning to end because even though I’m generally an outliner, I always end up with little details that will affect later scenes and I don’t wanna lose continuity or have to rewrite a bunch. However, I do definitely let myself do a [finish this scene later] and move on to the next scene because otherwise I will get really fucking stuck, and sometimes I’ll write a line or a paragraph I thought of that sounds really good and tuck it away for a later scene.

Favourite trope or headcanon you like to explore while writing?

Ooooooooh, I don’t know if this is a trope but there’s just nothing I love more than huge feelings contained in mundane stories, of feelings so big you can’t actually express them and so they’re this constant hum throughout the story. I also love writing about touch for both of them, how Ed gives casual touch to hide the deep well of desire for intimate touch, how Stede is so unused to touch and craves it so deeply. (Can you tell I just really like subtle yet overwhelming emotions? Maybe it’s the aroace in me idk but that shit hits HARD.) Oh, and I love a fuckin’ allegory or object to discuss all those big feelings, whether it’s monsters or gardening or peaches or what the fuck ever (I have used all of these lol).

Whose voice is easier to write - Ed or Stede? Why?

I think Ed’s voice comes to me faster because the way I personally speak is closer to Ed’s voice, but it also means I’m sometimes double-checking myself to make sure I’m still deep in his voice, not my-voice-but-Ed. Stede isn’t necessarily harder for me, I’m just doing all that double-checking to make sure I’m not slipping into Ed voice or, god forbid, Aziraphale-lite voice. So, idk! I love writing them both, the little details of each of their inner dialogues are SO important to me (Ed’s tangents and his pshh-I-don’t-care moments, Stede actively avoiding thinking about things he doesn’t want to face, etc etc etc).

Your personal favourite thing you've written that you'd like more people to read

For the longest time it was There is Love That Doesn’t Have a Place to Rest, mostly because it was posted the day before another fic and, while I find them to be siblings and equal quality, the other one got way more attention. That fic is about the time between signing the Act of Grace and getting to the academy and I think I really nailed where the two of them are at.

However! (And I know this is cheating okay shh.) Nowadays the one that I wish people read the most is Not Only the Sugar, But the Days. It’s the sequel to my “offscreen 30 year slowburn friends to lovers finally get together” fic and I put my whole fucking heart into it, honestly. The two boys basically go on a bunch of dates to live out the teenage experiences they never got together and work through the biggest feelings and I just! Really want people to see it! (It also can be read as a standalone, which I didn’t advertise super well lol.)

What is the one word that you think you use a lot?

Unfortunately it’s probably “just” or “a little” or filler words like that. Also obviously if the word fuck counts then, yeah, that. Maybe warm? Or something about yearning??? If I have a classic word please tell me I’m fascinated by this idea.

Do you have a beta reader? Have they made you a better writer?

The person who beta’s for basically all my fics is Owen @trans-top-stede and they are sooooo fucking helpful and incredible. So good at catching all the little things I miss, making sex scenes make sense, reminding me positioning in general is a thing, cheerleading me on, etc etc etc. My fics are so much better for their help.

Why OFMD 🥹

Ed and Stede just fit so fucking well into all sorts of AU’s (they try to invent their own AU’s in canon, even) while also having so much fun space to explore within canon. Their range is also perfect perfect perfect for writing fics—they can be in the wells of misery and fluffy as fuck and obnoxiously cheesy and realistic all in the same fic, if you want, and it’s completely accurate to their canon selves. It’s also helped me to embrace being silly and cheesy and earnest because life is about being yourself and finding your people and feeling deeper, feeling bigger, feeling more authentically without fear of being too much. Fuck I just really love these boys. (Also they’re so pretty and the whole crew’s so pretty we WON.)

Please head over to @ofmdlovelyletters (who also made the header) and send your love to all your favourite authors (and authors of the week 😈 watch that blog for some special letters coming your way)

#aotw #artist of the week #author of the week #adhduck #writing #ofmd #our flag means death

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fullmetalscullyy · 3 years ago

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a moment of repose

summary: riza wakes to a light weight covering her shoulders, but the feeling of it doesn’t completely register with her right away. it’s warm and holds a distinctly familiar smell but she cannot place it while still half asleep. the comfort it brings is almost enough to lull her back to sleep, but something within her is fighting the urge. [inspired by fanart]

an: this fic was inspired by the wonderful @mienaime‘s art, which you can find on tumblr and twitter

rating: g | words: 2207 | tags: royai, inspired by fanart, fluff, thoughtful gestures

read on ao3

Roy feels ready to fall asleep at his desk as he approaches the double doors to his office. The hot coffee cup in his hand is the only thing keeping his eyes open. He’s conscious of not spilling it as he walks and the heat bleeds through the supposedly heatproof cardboard holder, searing his fingertips. Every so often on the walk back he had to switch hands to stave off the pain. Roy had even glared at the cardboard once or twice, grumbling about false advertising as he switched for the umpteenth time.

It wouldn’t be the first time he’s slept in the office, but he can’t. He’s stayed back with the Lieutenant to finish up some loose ends from the week, so he really needs to buckle down and get to work. He also couldn’t do that to her. Not only because they were working overtime and he’s not that much of an asshole, but also because, unfortunately, they’d somehow uncovered even more work to do while finishing things up, so they were due in for a long night. Hence the late-night coffee run.

The Lieutenant had declined his caffeine offer, opting to remain in the office and continue working. So, Roy had rushed across the street from Central Command and picked up a coffee for himself and a pastry for her. She may not want to eat it tonight, but it would keep until tomorrow, the shop owner assured him. It would be a small surprise and gesture of thanks at least. Far less than what she deserves, but all he can give tonight.

Regardless of their long day, the evening is not all bad, Roy muses as he pulls down the door handle outside the office, because he gets to spend some time with her.

Once inside the office, Roy freezes. He blinks at the sight before him, seeing the Lieutenant’s head down on her desk. Immediately he thinks something is wrong, but the spark of panic isn’t given a chance to form fully. He can see her face and takes note of how relaxed her expression is. He can also see the gentle rise and fall of her back as she breathes evenly. One hand is tucked underneath her cheek, lying flat on the desk, while her other arm is a pillow for her head.

Roy blinks.

She’s asleep.

He blinks again because he can’t quite comprehend the fact.

The sudden burning heat from his coffee makes him hiss in annoyed pain and it jerks him out of his shock. He switches hands immediately.

Once the surprise has worn off a fond smile tugs Roy’s lips upwards because he can’t help but think about how peaceful – and beautiful – she looks. She’s completely at rest and without any worry or stress.

He turns quickly and locks the office door. No one should be making the rounds at this hour, however he knows that if they caught the Lieutenant asleep, not only would she be mortified and be wracked with shame and guilt for succumbing to her exhaustion in the first place, but there would be disciplinary action as well.

Roy contemplates waking her. He knows he should and knows she would want him to do so as well, but he doesn’t have it in him. It’s been an arduous week for all of the team, but especially for the two of them. Their hours have been long, with little time for breaks, and their sleep has been cut short because they needed to return to the office early to make their way through the workload. This is the last night of it all – tomorrow they are free – and, Roy supposes, there is only a small bit of work left to do. He can take over the reins for a while and let her sleep.

Riza Hawkeye simply does not fall asleep at work or at her desk, so she must need the extra rest.

He can give her that for a while. She deserves it more than anyone.

His feet carry him over to her desk, to the side of her chair, and Roy can’t help but smile again as he sets his eyes upon her features, so serene and relaxed. Roy places his coffee and the paper bag with her pastry down atop her desk. He gives in to the urge to reach out to her, placing his hand atop hers. It’s tucked underneath her cheek, so his knuckles brush against the soft skin of her face. The Lieutenant stirs slightly at the contact but doesn’t awaken. Her skin is warm to the touch because of her breath and the heat from her face. Like a welcoming fire on a long, cold night, warming his soul with its presence.

Leaning over, Roy presses a kiss against the side of her head.

“Sleep well, Riza,” he breathes. His lips move against her hair, and it tickles his skin as he catches a waft of her shampoo. It’s the one he remembers, and the one she’s used for years. It is so quintessentially her, that it makes him grin like a fool when he recognises it.

Riza sighs gently in her sleep.

Chancing his luck even further, Roy presses another kiss, but against her cheek this time. When he pulls away, he regretfully removes his hand from atop hers, but then starts unbuttoning his jacket. Once he’s shrugged it off, Roy drapes it over her shoulders, ensuring it’s tucked in securely, so it won’t slip away from her.

He walks over to his own desk with his coffee, leaving the pastry be, and settles in to get to work. The brief moment of affection has invigorated him, for if he works quickly, he can hopefully finish the work before she wakes up. It would spare her from needing to do more work when she clearly needs to rest instead.

Roy takes a sip of his coffee and puts pen to paper, determined and motivated to work.

* * * * * * * * *

Riza wakes to a light weight covering her shoulders, but the feeling of it doesn’t completely register with her right away. It’s warm and holds a distinctly familiar smell but she cannot place it while still half asleep. The comfort it brings is almost enough to lull her back to sleep, but something within her is fighting the urge. Her eyelids are heavy with fatigue when she blinks them open, but eventually they manage to pry themselves apart and she comes face to face with a… desk?

Her body jerks upright. In the chair her spine is ramrod straight and a cold sweat breaks across her skin. It has nothing to do with her lingering cold from earlier on in the week, it’s because she realises she’s fallen asleep at her desk. At work.

Panic flies through her and adrenaline courses through her veins, banishing any lingering tiredness immediately. She’s completely alert and awake.

That was also the moment she finally registered the weight on her shoulders. It had slipped off her body when she lurched upright, sliding down her back and pooling in a heap at the back of her chair. Before she can get her bearings properly and look down to see what it is, someone speaks.

“Lieutenant,” a voice greets cordially, as if nothing is amiss.

Her head snaps around to find the Colonel sitting at his desk in just his shirt with his sleeves rolled up to his elbows. His brow is furrowed as he almost glares at the document within his hands. She fears it’s because of her misconduct, however when he glances up expectantly to await her answer, his expression relaxes, and he smiles.

“Did you rest well?” His question is spoken quietly, but it is not mocking, sarcastic, or displeased. He’s completely genuine.

The skin of her face heats up with shame. Before she can open her mouth to apologise profusely, the Colonel holds up his hand to halt her.

“Don’t worry about it,” he assures her. “No harm, no foul.”

“Sir, I am so sorry for falling asleep at my post.”

“Lieutenant, it’s fine,” he replies softly with a gentle smile. “I figured you could use the rest,” he shrugs casually and goes back to his work. “I know I desperately want to do the same, so I don’t blame you,” he chuckles, and Riza realises he’s not lying. She can see the fatigue on his face, around his eyes. Like her, there were dark circles underneath them.

That not the point though, and she tells him as much.

“Either way, the work is… done!” With a flourish he finishes his signature and tosses the pen down on the desk in triumph, looking extremely proud of himself. “I was hoping to get it completed before you… woke up.” He lowers his voice tactfully at the end of his sentence, and she appreciates that.

What if someone had walked in while you were asleep?

Riza internally berates herself again.

While the Colonel stretches in his chair, Riza straightens her uniform. Out the corner of her eye she sees a white paper bag sitting on top of her desk and she frowns at it. Before she can comment, the back of her hand brushes against something. She sees a sleeve of their standard issue jacket lying haphazardly across her lap, and Riza remembers the weight that had been on her shoulders when she awoke.

Riza blinks down at it.

“Is it all right if I take my jacket back?” The Colonel is before her suddenly, speaking in a gentle voice as a smile teases the corners of his lips. His hand is held out, patiently awaiting her to return his item of clothing.

Nodding, Riza reaches around and hands it back. She averts her eyes before standing from her chair to pack up her things.

It’s not lost on her that he covered her with his own jacket while she slept. It was very sweet of him but is something she’ll probably be better mulling over once she’s in the privacy of her own home and away from the source of her embarrassment and disappointment. She shelves it for later, deeply appreciating his gesture, but honestly just wants out of the office as fast as possible, if she can.

“Here.” In his hands, held out towards her, is the paper bag that had been on her desk. “I picked it up for you when I ran out to get some coffee. If you don’t want to eat it tonight, the shop owner said it will keep until tomorrow,” the Colonel explains as he shrugs his jacket on his shoulders.

Peeking inside, Riza is curious.

He’d bought her a pastry.

She doesn’t know what to say. First the jacket, now this.

“Sir…”

“Call it a thank you gift for all your hard work,” he grins. “I only wish I could offer you more.”

“No,” she shakes her head. “Sir, this is more than enough. That was very kind of you. Thank you.” She’s completely touched by what he’s done for her. She’d make sure to repay the stolen work time back later, as well as pay the Colonel back as well. It was the least she could do.

“You’re welcome,” he nods happily. “Would you like a lift home?”

It wouldn’t be responsible for her to get behind the wheel. The adrenaline that had been raging through her veins upon the realisation she’d fallen asleep at work had dwindled, leaving her with the same fatigue she’d felt all week due to the workload and her recovering from a bothersome cold. The same fatigue that had betrayed her that evening.

“Thank you, sir,” she agrees.

His grin makes her stomach do a small, pleasant flip.

She reaches for the door and finds it locked. Confused, she turns to see the Colonel pulling a key out of his pocket.

“I took some precautionary measures,” he answers her unspoken question. “And it was also to ensure you would remain undisturbed.”

“Really?”

“Of course,” he replies as if it’s the most natural thing in the world, that he would do such a thing for her.

But, Riza supposes, it really is for Roy. He would absolutely do something like that for her.

A warm feeling coils inside her stomach and slowly spreads, climbing up her ribcage and settling gently and comfortably around her heart. It causes a smile to spread across her face as she stares back at him, once again, extremely grateful of his thoughtfulness.

In response, the Colonel's expression softens, and he returns her smile. “Anything for you, Lieutenant,” he murmurs quietly before opening the door and offering her to step through first. “You know that,” he adds, his voice stronger as she walks passed him. “Plus, how many times have you covered for me when I sneak a few minutes of rest,” he winks. “It’s about time I repaid the favour,” he snorts as they step outside.

“I hope this doesn’t mean you’re purposefully going to continue that habit,” she frowns, then lifts an eyebrow in warning.

He just laughs, and Riza thinks, dryly, that she doesn’t like the sound of that laugh. But the sound of it still makes her smile regardless, like always.

#royai #royai fic #royai fanfic #royai oneshot #mienaime #inspired by fanart #emma writes

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so-why-let-your-voice-be-tamed · 4 years ago

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With the year coming to an end, here is everything I’ve written in 2020. I had quite a productive year, and wrote some fics I’m very proud of. I’ve also met wonderful new people and I’m going to participate in the big bang next year, as well as hopefully join more fests! Thank you to everyone who has helped me create these 12 fics!

March:

🤴 with no way out and a long way down Larry, 31k, T, written for the @hlroyaltyfest

Prince Harry is ten when he receives his soulmark.

May:

✈️ driving down a one way road (to something better) Zouis, 26k, T, written for the @wallsficfest

“I’m at the airport.” It’s followed by a bitter laugh. “I’m - I’m literally at the airport, hiding away in the toilets to make a phone call. They’re probably going to barge in here in a minute, thinking I’m doing something illegal, but I didn’t know what else to do Lou.” He sounds desperate, wild, nothing that Louis is used to associating with Zayn. “My flight leaves in an hour, and I wasn’t gonna do this, but, I didn’t know what else to do.”

Louis frowns. “What do you mean, love?”

“Can I - Can I please come and stay with you?” It’s barely more than a whisper, and Louis honestly isn’t sure if he’s heard it right, but the lack of an immediate response on his part makes Zayn’s breath come out all shaky and Louis won’t stand for that.

“Yes,” he decides, repeats it, in a softer but no less certain voice, when he knows Zayn is about to protest. “Yes. Of course. I’ll be there, yeah? I’ll come pick you up. When will you get here? What airport?”

---

When Zayn breaks up with his boyfriend, he needs a place to stay. Louis wouldn't be Louis if he didn't immediately open his doors to him. Never mind the fact that he's been in love with him for two years. That's not important, right?

July:

🏥 my love will never leave you Larry, 10k, T, written for the @wordplayfics challenge week 1

In a world where memories are used as currency, Louis will do anything it takes for Harry to get better.

🗝 sadness is a little boy looking out the window Ziam, 6k, T, written for the @wordplayfics challenge week 2

Liam is twelve when he receives the key. It’s given to him on his birthday, in a red velvet box, and something about the weight of the box in his palm gives him pause, makes him hold his breath when he unwraps the bow around it.

The bronze key looks innocuous, but Liam knows better. He’s grown up with the stories, as many people have. Has been told about the keys, and that most people except for an unlucky few got one at birth. Some were immediately gifted to them by their parents, others had been kept away from them until such a time that they were deemed responsible enough to understand what it meant.

Because this kind of key, it doesn’t just open any door.

It reveals what you need most, when you need it most, and it can only be used once.

✨ it’s time to find your wings again Larry, 12k, T, written for the @wordplayfics challenge week 3

The first reports are dismissed, as tall tales or folklore. As mental illness, poor Bathilda, she’d gone loopy. As people simply getting scared in the dark woods and seeing things, making things up. Magic isn’t real. Mythological creatures aren't real.

But then the first one is caught. A faun, that little Meg from around the corner swears has attacked her in the woods, and everyone comes to the marketplace to see the faun be hanged for its crimes. Louis doesn’t want to go, but at the same time, he finds himself unable to stay away. Not when this proves what he’s wanted to believe all along, that magic is real.

Louis is twenty when he starts working at the prison. His fascination for supernatural creatures had turned into something most closely resembling loathing over the years, due to the many stories of their evildoing, and although he still doesn’t believe in hanging them for their crimes, he does believe in keeping the town safe. In making sure that his siblings get to grow up without fear of being kidnapped or hurt. As the oldest son, it feels like his duty to make sure that no creature in the wide area will ever pose a threat to anyone.

🍛 it’s a long shot just to beat these odds Ziam, 14k, T, written for the @wordplayfics challenge week 4

Zayn: how many years in prison would I get for murdering a popstar???

He scrapes the plates clean, resists the urge to kick the trash can, his breathing still feeling shallow and high in his chest. He wants a cigarette. And a cuddle from Louis. But a text is the most he can realistically ask for now, and luckily Louis doesn’t leave him hanging.

Louis: ?????

Okay, so it isn’t that helpful, but Zayn knows his anxiety well enough that just distracting his mind is usually enough to keep from having an actual attack. It doesn’t matter that the subject he’s discussing is the one thing his brain is actually panicking about, just trying to formulate words into a text is helping.

Zayn: I served him raw chicken. RAW. And he was kind enough to want to try and eat it too. I could have killed him!!!

That would’ve made headlines for sure. FORMER BOYBANDER GETS POISONED ON FIRST DATE, more on the ten p.m. news.

Louis: well that’s one way of making sure he’s not going to go on any of the other dates. Bit drastic though mate.

August:

💌 if you’re lost just look for me Larry, 9k, T, written for the @wordplayfics challenge week 5

Let your dreams set sail.

Louis blinks at the sticky note, sitting casually in between a flyer advertising an upcoming gig for one of the many bands on campus (the heavy metal graphics implying that the music is not to Louis’ taste) and an ad for a yoga club (Louis is going to have to give that one a miss too). It’s small, barely noticeable unless you’re paying attention, just tucked away as though it’s been left there for Louis to find.

He snorts. “Let your dreams set sail. What a fucking joke.”

Louis' first year of college is everything he had hoped for it to be.

It’s why it’s so hard to swallow that his second year is everything but.

A fic where motivational quotes, no matter how cheesy, might just make everything better after all.

💐 the birth of love like a force of nature Ziam, 22k, T, written for the @ziamfantasyfest

After moving into a new house, Liam decides to introduce himself to the neighbours. The next thing he knows, he’s tied to a chair and threatened by a small army of fairies.

October:

👻 these days I watch you from afar Larry, 666 words, T, written for the @1dtrickortreatfest

“Are you talking to me?”

The boy blinks, blue eyes thoughtful as he cocks his head. “Yeah?”

“You can see me?”

🎃 love me like we don’t have tomorrow Ziam, 666 words, T, written for the @1dtrickortreatfest

"Are you going to see him again?" Louis asks. He’s sitting on a ruined wall, inspecting his long, dark nails. Talons, Zayn thinks. He nods.

“How many years in a row is this?”

Zayn glances at his best mate, doing up the buttons on his coat. “Dunno,” he says, even though he can recall, with perfect clarity, all the times he’s met up with Liam. Every Halloween that he’s spent with him.

"And he still doesn't know?"

☠️ be the end of me Zouis, 666 words, T, written for the @1dtrickortreatfest

"Who are you?" Louis asks, and Zayn can tell that he already knows. He's tense, poised for a flight from the inevitable.

Zayn still answers. "Death."

December:

🎄 room for your love underneath this tree Larry, 11k, T, written for the @1dchristmasfest

“IwannameetHarryStyles,” Daisy mumbles, and Louis blinks.

“What?”

“She says she wants to meet Harry Styles.” Phoebe pipes up, and Louis blinks again, absently switches the camera to himself because he knows that his followers will want to catch his baffled expression.

“You-” he starts, and then stops himself, because he did tell her she could ask for anything she wanted, and how can he go back on his word and tell her that he doesn’t actually have the power to make that happen?

Because Harry Styles is -- he’s next level kind of famous. Louis has two million subscribers on his YouTube, but Harry has eighteen times as many followers on his Twitter alone. He’s had three number one hits in the last year, and his last album had charted at the top spot for a record breaking 27 weeks. He’s a singer, actor and philanthropist, and there is no way in hell that Louis can get him to come meet Daisy for Christmas.

So of course he laughs, even if it’s a little bit breathless, and nods at her. “One Harry Styles for Christmas, coming right up.”

#hlcreators #1dsource #hljournal #larry #my fic post #my fics #2020 in writing #fic masterpost

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bigskydreaming · 4 years ago

Note

Scott “I am an alpha! You have no idea what I can do!” McCall is not a victim of his peers and he doesn’t have a low self-esteem, lol. In fact, Scott actively mocks, uses, violates, and dehumanizes others and assaults his peers out of jealousy in the actual show. Stop trying to paint Scott as some sort of poor mistreated wooby who’s too good and kind for his evil ungrateful friends please

Hey thanks for the spite-writing session, y’know, that thing I told you last time was literally the only thing I had to say to you about anything ever.....the way you just....inspire me to write TW fic about what I like and not cater to your obsessive need to fight over your staggeringly dishonest takes, because lololol you really just do not matter?

Anyway, so here’s what I just wrote for the next chapter of my fic WWTA, that I’ve been struggling to get back into, so thanks for the motivation! I think this chapter has like, three more scenes in it, in case you’ve got any more pointless annoying messages you want to send me, to like, help me out with the energy to write those too!

*****

Chapter Five

Freshmen were kind of adorable, Allison decided a week into the mentoring program. At least that was something.

The way Liam lit up as she and her friends made their way to the freshmen down the hall was particularly endearing. She had to keep her glare from surfacing and pinning Brett against the lockers he leaned against, right beside Liam, Mason, Garrett and Violet. What had begun as a way to repay the debt she felt to Scott while still doing her duty had quickly graduated to true protective instincts for the young teenagers. A slight shudder ran through her body as she remembered the gashes across Scott’s chest and the defeat in his eyes -

- none of us wanted this, but it happened and we’re stuck now -

No. That would not be happening to Liam and his friends. Not on her watch.

“Hello children. And how is everyone this morning?”

Lydia made even her casual greetings a regal proclamation. It was with no small amount of amusement that Allison watched the freshmen war between their instinctive reaction to being labeled ‘children’ and their awe at being on first names basis with the undisputed queen of Beacon Hills High. This was all wildly against the natural order of things. Her eyes drifted in Brett’s direction to find his narrowed at her, and her good humor evaporated. Ugh. Why couldn’t she ever have nice things?

“Everyone’s coming to my place after school, right? Your first archery lessons!” Allison cut in before any of the freshmen could muster a response to Lydia. Brett flinched, and a dangerous grin worked its way across her lips. She might not be the only predator interested in these kids, but she could damn well make sure her competition knew she was bringing claws of her own to the fight.

“For sure!” Liam enthused. “I still can’t believe you know how to shoot a bow and arrow. And your parents are really cool with you teaching us?”

“Oh yeah, no big deal,” Allison shrugged. In truth, it hadn’t been. Even if her father might have had slight reservations, Grandpa Gerard had practically salivated at the notion of her starting a How To Kill Werewolves 101 course for local teens. He was already planning how to use this to start recruiting new hunters from Allison’s handpicked group. She wasn’t about to let things get that far, but Brett didn’t need to know that. Let him worry.

“I still don’t think Allison’s parents are the only ones who should have been informed of this little extracurricular,” Danny said. “Isn’t this the kind of thing that should require signed consent forms from everyone’s parents?”

“Oh, live a little Danny,” Allison said. “What they don’t know won’t hurt them.”

“No, but the sharp pointy sticks might hurt their kids, and then there are these things called lawsuits…”

“Don’t be such a Danny Downer,” Stiles said. He clapped their friend on the back, but his eyes were on her. “I’m sure Allison knows exactly what she’s doing.”

She smirked back.

“I can’t make it,” Brett spoke up at last, sparking cries of complaint from his ‘friends.’

“What the hell man, I thought we were all gonna do this?”

As much as Allison hated to admit it, she wasn’t sure she did know what she was doing though. She had her work cut out for her in trying to drive a wedge between Liam and Brett. The younger boy had latched onto the sophomore as a confidant before they’d gotten their mentoring program up and running, and Brett’s claws were already in deep. Liam idolized the kid, and it didn’t help that whatever she might know about the pack’s true nature, to everyone else they were simply the cool, mysterious bad-asses that everyone secretly wanted to know more about.

“Got stuff to deal with at home,” was all the taller boy said, deliberately vague. She considered that. Was he just trying to get out of going to a hunter’s house - not that she’d ever expected he’d show, really - or was that code for the pack would be up to something later?

“Family stuff?” Allison asked casually.

“More like chores at the group home I live at. My family’s dead,” Brett retorted. She wondered if anyone else picked up on the bitter menace underscoring his calm tone.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

“How could you? It’s not like peoples’ families being murdered by burning their houses down around them is an everyday thing. Who would ever think that was a thing that happened as often as it does?”

“Jesus,” Mason whispered in horror. The other freshmen looked as sick as she felt suddenly, and she felt her own friends shuffle uncomfortably behind her. That hadn’t come up in her research at all, but she didn’t doubt for a second that the werewolf was being truthful. The naked pain in his eyes was entirely too human for that.

“I didn’t know,” Allison repeated again. It wasn’t an excuse, it was just all she had. He snorted.

“Whatever. I’ve gotta go. Be careful with them, yeah?”

She bit her lip and nodded, wondering how much he really knew about what she was doing. Had Scott clued in any of his pack about her plans? He’d seemed protective of Brett, and the younger boy seemed to be one of the ones who followed his lead over Cora’s, but who knew how pack politics really worked…god, could she just have five complete moments to feel on top of things and not totally in over her head?

“Damn,” Violet said once Brett had disappeared around a corner in the hall. “I mean, I knew he was an orphan too, but I didn’t know he had…shit.”

“Well, he probably doesn’t advertise because he doesn’t want people gossiping about it,” Allison said. Jackson and Danny nodded in agreement, the freshmen looking thoughtful, but Lydia and Stiles were both just watching her, the same as they’d been through she and Brett’s entire little tété-a-tété. Feeling an abrupt need to be elsewhere, she chose the better part of valor and fled. “Look, I gotta get going too, but you all have directions, right? See you after school!”

Weak, Allison.

She circled the school, doing a lap across the quad and around the outer edges of the buildings to calm herself. Almost predictably at this point, her efforts were thwarted by the appearance of one Scott McCall sitting cross-legged on the grass behind the Liberal Arts building.

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sage-nebula · 6 years ago

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TWEWY: Final Remix - Thoughts

So, I’ve more or less beaten Final Remix now. I’ve beaten the main story, as well as “A New Day”, and while I still have to play through “Another Day” and get the Secret Reports, I think now is as good a time as any to type up my thoughts.

Since the original story is ten years old and I’ve played it dozens of times, I won’t be discussing the plot of that too much. However, I will discuss “A New Day,” so I’m going to put the rest of this under a cut as well as spoiler tag it just so that no one ends up seeing anything they don’t want to see.

To begin with, Final Remix as a whole.

First, I do think that there are some legitimate criticisms as far as the gameplay goes, and those criticisms stem from the fact that SE clearly ported over the iOS controls instead of building from the ground up to make something that would work with the Switch. While I understand that the Switch doesn’t have dual screen capability, that doesn’t mean they couldn’t have implemented the JoyCons in small ways when playing in handheld mode (such as using buttons for the Tin Pin Slammer whammies), or that they couldn’t have found a better way to utilize Neku’s partners rather than treating them as pins. The motion controls when playing in docked mode can be a bit wonky as well, and in particular I personally found Joshua nigh unplayable in that mode. Moreover, there are certain areas where the gameplay is not intuitive at all, where a bit more assistance would have been helpful. Namely, the giant bat boss in Week 1, Day 3 was changed to compensate for the fact that there aren’t two screens, but you are not told what you need to do to launch Shiki to the top screen, so you’re screwed if you don’t figure it out on your own. Likewise, Tigris Cantus was changed to compensate for the lack of two screens, but you’re not told that you have to stand in her shadow to allow your partner to attack her directly during the third phase. These two bosses caused me way more frustration than necessary as a result.

All of that said, though, I do think that a lot of the freaking out I’ve seen about the controls is a bit of an overreaction. The reliance SE had on Solo Remix was a detriment to Final Remix, to be sure, but the controls just take some getting used to. This can be difficult for seasoned TWEWY players such as myself, but with a little bit of practice it’s not that bad (particularly in handheld mode). Even when it comes to Tin Pin---yes, it sucks that you can’t use the buttons for the whammies, but if you know that ahead of time you can train yourself to quickly tap the whammies. Takes some practice, but the original Tin Pin Slammer did as well. You just have to retrain yourself.

Moving on from that, I do think that the majority of the remixes were absolutely fantastic. However, there were some . . . bugs? . . . with the music in certain areas. Such as: When you first meet Shiki, “Deja Vu” starts playing, taking over “Despair”, which rather ruins the mood of the moment considering Neku is still panicking about the Noise that were attacking him. That wasn’t the only place where there was some musical dissonance, but it’s one of the first ones I remember off the top of my head, particularly because it was so jarring I looked up a video of the original DS version of that moment to see if I was right in remembering that it was off (and I was). I’m not exactly sure why SE screwed with the music like that, but I wish they hadn’t. The remixes are great, but we didn’t need which track plays where screwed to that degree. (Though that said, for those who don’t like the remixes, you can switch back to the DS OST at any time in the settings menu. I’m not sure if that fixes the musical dissonance that sometimes occurs or not, but that’s an option. So there’s no real excuse to have “I hate the remixes” as a reason for hating the game when . . . you can disable them.)

Overall, while there are a few minor things here or there that could have been better, I don’t think that any of this is a reason to discourage people from buying this game, particularly when it has been said this is our last shot at a sequel. These are all petty, minor inconveniences---they’re not enough to ruin the experience, in my opinion, particularly for a brand new fan who won’t be blinded or have their opinion marred by nostalgia.

All of that said . . . “A New Day”. Oh boy.

I think the biggest weakness of “A New Day” is that it was too short, and left way too many things unanswered. This is obviously to leave room for the sequel (which we now have a reason for; there was no room for a sequel before, but now there definitely is), but at the same time it’s also a little frustrating, especially considering the very good chance that we won’t get a sequel due to it not selling well enough in Japan (which is Nintendo’s own fault, by the by, because I was actually in Shibuya this past August and I saw no advertising for it anywhere---literally, I passed by Tower Records and I heard Splatoon 2 music playing, but I didn’t hear a single note of TWEWY music, wth), and people in the western fandom telling curious people to buy the DS original or iOS ports instead. The idea that we might not get any answers to any of the questions raised (and that Neku might just stay dead forever, I guess) is really frustrating to me, but I guess in Nomura’s defense he couldn’t have planned for that, so. It is what it is.

Nonetheless, there are a lot of questions raised. Why was Shinjuku erased? Is it erased for good? How is that affecting Shinjuku in the RG? How are Noise appearing in the RG in the first place? (I actually wrote a fic where that happened once, though I only got about two chapters in with it.) I can say that I’m not at all surprised that Coco is actually a Shinjuku Reaper. I always felt that she didn’t really fit with Shibuya at all, ever since the iOS port first came out and I first saw her. She just doesn’t look like a Shibuya Reaper, you know? But she does look very Shinjuku. I can’t really explain it, but the fashion and vibe in Shibuya is just different from Shinjuku, particularly since Shinjuku (contrary to what is said in TWEWY) is actually the high class fashion center of Tokyo. Like, Shibuya is filled with teenagers and all that, but Shinjuku is where you go if you want expensive fashion. So while I’m not saying that Coco’s outfit looks very expensive, I am saying that the fact that her fashion is so different from what we see in Shibuya in TWEWY definitely makes the fact that she originates from Shinjuku make so much more sense. I’m really glad that was clarified in “A New Day”. But that said, that doesn’t explain how she got to Shibuya’s UG to begin with (particularly since I thought that Reapers couldn’t travel between the different UGs), nor does it explain how she can summon a Noise big enough to swallow a city, or create illusions like she did, or use the Taboo Noise refinery to revive Minamimoto . . . there are too many questions here. Way too many questions, and we don’t have answers for any of them.

That said, although I do feel that it was too short, and though I feel that scrambling the map was done less because it made sense for Coco to do that, and more because they wanted to create some artificial length (because if you don’t know how to get to each location, you’re going to spend way more time randomly running around than you otherwise would), I did still enjoy it. The highlights for me were:

Seeing development in Neku’s relationships: Right off the bat, Beat was ready to form a pact with Neku again, and Neku was ready to do the same with Beat. They didn’t even question it, despite how they (understandably) questioned everything else. Not only that, but Beat screamed and reached for Neku when Neku was shot again right in front of him, and I can only imagine how devastated Beat must be right about now. If he didn’t need some therapy after the Game (and he did---they all did), he definitely needs some after seeing his best friend be murdered right in front of him. Then there’s Neku’s relationship with Shiki. One of my favorite parts is when he saw her in Eri’s body again, and his immediate reaction was, “No, that’s not Shiki. That’s not what she really looks like.” I made a post about it before, but one of the best things about Neku’s relationship with Shiki---one of the things that makes it amazing---is the fact that Neku doesn’t truly warm up to her until she drops the Eri act and starts acting like herself. Neku was never impressed by Eri’s looks, and he certainly isn’t impressed by her bubbly attitude; if anything, that annoys him. But Neku cherishes and loves (whether you see it as platonic or romantic) the real Shiki. And so the disappointment he showed when he saw her in Eri’s body---the fact that he doesn’t want this “fake” Shiki, he wants his Shiki, the real Shiki---was extremely heartwarming. I also loved how casually he agreed to go with her to pick up some thread to repair Mr Mew at the end. You know that’s an errand that has nothing at all to do with him, but he just wants to spend some time with her. That’s really cute. ♥ We didn’t get to see very much of it, but I liked what we saw of Neku’s relationship with Joshua as well. I always found it odd (and perhaps a little forced) that Neku said he trusted Joshua at the end of the game. Joshua is someone who repeatedly lied to, used, and murdered Neku. Whatever his reasons for it, Joshua has made it abundantly clear time and again that he will put his own motivations above Neku’s well-being, and he will not feel sorry for it. So while I of course understand Neku not forgiving Josh, I could never understand Neku trusting him despite that lack of forgiveness. If anything, I thought it should be the other way around, that perhaps Neku would forgive him after understanding where he was coming from, but would still not trust him. Either way, I was glad to see in “A New Day” that Neku doesn’t quite trust Joshua as much as he claimed. When he realized that Joshua would likely have some explanation about what was going on, he chased him down. He refused to back down at first, not believing that “Yoshiya” wasn’t playing him. When he had a vision of Joshua potentially shooting him, he thought of that as a very real possibility. All of this points to the fact that it’s less that Neku does trust Joshua, and more that he wants to, and that he’s still feeling pretty conflicted over it. Which, all things considered, is extremely understandable and IC. Finally, Neku’s relationship with Hanekoma has always been one of my favorites, and I was so happy about the little glimpses we witnessed here. I used to write fics where Neku saw Hanekoma as a father-figure (without explicitly saying as much), and where Hanekoma basically adopted him, so I honestly felt like this part of “A New Day” was written for me, haha. The bit where Coco started insisting that Hanekoma was untrustworthy, and Neku turned away from her (as he often does with those who annoy him) and insisted that he trusted Hanekoma more than anyone warmed my heart. Hanekoma, despite Coco’s interference, doing his best to help Neku and get him to WildKat, warmed my heart. And at the very end, where Hanekoma asked “What about Neku?” because he knew Neku’s fate? That, too, warmed my heart. We all know that Hanekoma, at the very least, does hold affection for Neku given the final Secret Report of the original game (“I am glad to have had the chance to meet you”), and I”m glad to see that carried over here as well. Hanekoma is worried about him, and I really want a sequel to see what, exactly, Hanekoma does to help him out of this situation he’s now going to find himself in. (Playing the Game again . . . this time with Pi-Face as his partner . . . RIP, Neku.)

Joshua’s characterization was deliciously on-point. I know that so many people disagree with me on this one, and that’s fine. Everyone can have whatever opinions they want. But from what little we saw of Joshua there at the end, I felt that he was 100% IC---and given how much Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance butchered his characterization, this was so, so refreshing. The thing about Joshua, which I noted above, is that he’s not a sentimental person. He’s a pragmatist. He sees the bigger picture and he puts his own motivations and goals above the well-being of others. Joshua is a person who murdered a teenage boy in cold blood twice, a smile on his face in each time, because he wanted to use said teenage boy as a pawn in a game of life or death. Joshua is a person who was willing to erase an entire town because he felt the citizens weren’t living up to their potential. Joshua is a person who isn’t merciless, and he’s not evil or cruel, but he does believe the ends justify the means and he has little patience for those who would whine about it. He originally chose Neku because Neku was the epitome of everything Joshua hated about Shibuya, the absolute worst person that Joshua could find (that also had suitable Imagination), and though Neku’s development and growth as a person changed Joshua’s mind about erasing Shibuya, that doesn’t mean that he grew attached to Neku on a personal level the same way that Hanekoma did. I know that many people took the Secret Ending of the original game to imply that he was emo about not joining Neku and the others, but I just rewatched it and, honestly, nothing gave me that implication. If anything, it’s vague enough so that you can interpret either way (that he’s either upset about not joining them, or that he feels they’re wasting their time---because after all, Hanekoma says, “Hey, it’s their world. They can decide what to do with it”), but I’ve personally always felt that the “Joshua is a lonely sad boy who just wants to be friends” was more wishful thinking on the part of the fandom versus what we actually see in Joshua’s characterization. Moreover, even if part of Joshua does care about Neku to some degree and wants to be friends with him and others (and again, that’s part of him), he’s still going to value the bigger picture over Neku as an individual. If Neku has to die again to get the job done, so be it. If Neku isn’t necessary for what Joshua has to do and ends up dying as collateral damage, so be it. He might not be exactly happy about it, but ultimately Joshua is here to play the long game, and Neku might not factor into that. In fact, judging by his “I don’t need him anymore” comment at the end of “A New Day” (which makes sense, because since Joshua’s Game with Megumi is no longer running, he has no reason to restrict himself to the RG and thus does not need a proxy to play for him), I’d say Neku doesn’t. Either way, I was really, really glad to see his proper characterization return. As I said, I felt that he was terribly OoC in KH:DDD, which actually led to me returning the game halfway through because it pissed me off so much, haha. Joshua is one of the most complex, fascinating characters I’ve ever seen in a JRPG, particularly with how he wasn’t swayed and won over by The Power of Friendship™ there at the end, and I was delighted to see that return. All in all, if you really want to know how I view Neku and Joshua’s relationship post-Game, here’s a fic I wrote a few years ago of the two of them interacting, featuring Neku’s lingering trust issues, lingering anger over what Joshua did to him, and Joshua’s lack of patience for what he sees as Neku’s pity party and inability to see the bigger picture. (Oh, and also Joshua teasing Neku and needling him to piss him off on purpose. Irritating Neku will never stop being one of Joshua’s favorite pastimes.)

Neku’s Imagination giving him additional ESP. Because what were those premonitions if not ESP? Of course, all the Players are espers to some degree, but Neku had the highest Imagination of them all, which is part of why Joshua chose him as his proxy. We been knew about this for ages, but seeing Neku have premonitions of the future---even if they were partially given to him by Hype-chan---was still very cool. Considering that Noise are not appearing in the RG as well (RIP to weebers girl), I wonder if his premonitions will continue in the next game, should we ever get it. Oh, and speaking of---Shiki mentioned having a feeling that something awful was going to happen right after (or before?) she noticed the tear in Mr Mew’s seam. While that’s not as strong of a premonition as what Neku experienced, it’s still extrasensory perception, and I like that she got some of that as well, that it wasn’t just Neku being the most special boy as per usual. Because after all, as I said, they’re all espers to some degree.

The foreshadowing that Coco was controlling everything was also on point. Aside from the fact that she looked so out of place and her insistence on going along with Neku and Beat was odd, the fact that Fake Shiki and Fake Rhyme changed their behavior just so to match with the feedback that Coco got from Neku and Beat was subtle, but juuuust enough for a perceptive player to catch, and I really enjoyed that. (For instance, after Neku mentioned that “Rhyme” was acting awfully distant toward her brother, Fake Rhyme started calling Beat “big bro.” There’s also the fact that Kariya and Uzuki’s personalities were swapped, and that Coco said “isn’t this how they are?” meaning that her information about them was second-hand . . . and another point to the fact that she was the one behind everything. Oh, and the fact that Coco doesn’t know what Shiki really looks like, and thus Fake Shiki looked like Eri . . . and Coco wouldn’t have known Shiki’s true motivation for her entry fee, hence the “I forgot,” and so on.)

All of that said, aspects that I didn’t enjoy (length and cliffhanger aside) as much were . . .

Fridging both Shiki and Rhyme (or, well, their fake selves) was unnecessary. In all honesty, as much as I love Beat and his friendship with Neku, I think that “A New Day” was a wasted opportunity to not have Neku partner with Rhyme. We never got to know what her play style was in the original game, and she’s the only one of Neku’s new friends that he never got to partner with. She’s just as capable of a Player as any of the rest of them (arguably more so given how clever she’s shown to be despite her age), and we barely got to see her personality or characterization in the original game due to how early on she got erased. Although “A New Day” was short, I would have really liked to partner with Rhyme for it, to see how she and Neku interact on their own, and to see what kind of play style she brings to the table. I’ve always headcanoned that she used psychs outright like Neku (i.e. a variety of pins), but I wonder what Nomura always envisioned for her. I would have liked to see that. Aside from which, not only did we already go through Beat’s despair over having Rhyme erased in the main story (which means that going through it again here was a re-tread of what we literally just got done seeing), but I also felt that both his and Neku’s reactions were . . . extremely underwhelming. Beat cried and attacked the shark, but otherwise he got over Rhyme being erased a second time pretty quickly. As for Neku, he goes from shouting, “Don’t you touch her!” at Beat at the end of the third week in the Game when Beat goes to knock out possessed!Shiki to just sort of . . . accepting that Shiki was erased without really caring in “A New Day”. There wasn’t even really any drama about it at all, despite how she was his primary motivation for fighting during weeks two and three. So not only were they erased for the sake of manpain, but they were erased for the sake of manpain that was barely explored, at that, especially since Neku and Beat thought this was real at the time and thus had no real reason to get over it so quickly. (And I mean, I get that Coco had that happen because she didn’t want Neku and Beat to figure out that Shiki and Rhyme weren’t real, which they were pretty close to doing, but still. Doesn’t change the fact that it felt unnecessary for the most part.) And honestly, I’m really not kidding about the wasted opportunity re: Rhyme. I would have loved to have partnered with her. Why we couldn’t have that instead I’ll never understand. (I mean, in-universe I suppose that Coco might have chosen Beat because he is notoriously stupid, but like . . . come on. Let us partner with Rhyme, SE! We’re not asking for a lot, here!!)

The whole bit with “Yoshiya” wasn’t explained and felt out of place. As much as I loved Joshua’s characterization, Yoshiya is another story. The over-the-top stuttering was bad enough, but there’s also no real explanation for why he behaved this way. At first I thought that perhaps this was a time travel plot and that this was how Joshua was before he died and ended up becoming Composer, but not only was that not the case, we have no explanation for why this did happen at all. Why would Coco believe Joshua acted like that? What reason did she have for thinking that? He was so far out of character that, looking back, it’s really jarring. (Still, I’ll take Yoshiya over KH3D “Joshua”, so that should tell you something about how I feel about KH3D.)

We never got a real name for Hype-chan. It’s been all these years and we still have nothing to call her but “Hype-chan,” smfh. But no, really, what’s her name? What’s her story? I want to know and yet I may never find out. This kills the Scrawlers.

All in all I did enjoy it, missed opportunities and raised questions aside, and I really want the sequel. Here’s hoping we manage to squeak enough sales to get it. It would be nice. (Especially since the fact that the sequel would likely be made especially for Switch should mean that the control issues would be smoothed out. One can only hope.)

#the world ends with you #twewy #twewy spoilers #the world ends with you spoilers #scrawlers plays the reapers game

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gabolange · 6 years ago

Note

I hope this message comes through. I suck at Tumblr (still). For the Fanfic Ask: 8, 25, and 48, please!

For the Fanfic Ask! Ask me more questions!

8) Where do you take your inspiration from?

The characters, mostly. What part of their story haven’t we seen fully explored on screen? What has been left open to interpretation? How did they get here or where are they going?

I also read a lot, and so if there’s a gap in a character’s story that’s well explored in fanfic, you are less likely to find me there, in terms of how I prioritize my ideas. (I am a special cupcake, or something.) And I also like to push at fanon interpretations of character motivations a little sometimes, especially if there are dominant tropes that don’t quite line up with my vision.

But really…the character. My goal is always, always, always to tell the best story I can for the character.

25) Have you ever cried whilst writing a story?

Writing? Not really. Editing? …yes.

48)What’s your favourite trope to write?

My favorite trope in all the world is outsiders finding out about the (possibly secret or more often just not-well-advertised) relationship. I wrote it in Cultural Drift (Stargate SG1). I wrote it in Two to Whisper Quietly (City Homicide). My first somewhat successful attempt was Two at the End of the World (BSG). But no one will ever do better it than Leverage *actually* did on the show, and I try to be careful with it because it is very, very hard to do well. (There was an early attempt at BSG fic that involved Kara walking in on Adama and Roslin…that will never, ever see the light of day, because WOW that was bad choices!)

But really, I’m always here for ANY outside perspective on the relationship, and I do it a lot. I enjoyed playing with it in various ways in When the Long Trick’s Over (Miss Fisher), A Benevolent Arrangement of Things (Leverage), Walls for the Wind (Leverage), and The Greatest Exception (Stargate SG1). And probably other things I’m not remembering right now.

But of course, the actual answer is that my favorite thing to do with tropes is subvert them, quietly and casually and just enough that you only kind of notice as I’m doing it.

#meme #fanfic #writing #ask me anything #all about me #thatginchygal

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thfrustration · 8 years ago

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Wildest dreams - Chapter 11

TITLE OF STORY: Wildest Dreams

CHAPTER NUMBER/TITLE/ONE SHOT: Part 2 (Chapter 11)

AUTHOR: Anonymous

WHICH TOM/CHARACTER: Actor Tom

GENRE: Angst, Smut, Drama, Romance

FIC SUMMARY: It’s been three months since Tom and Sofia last saw each other. Memories from the past year come back to them, as they are now thrown together doing PR for their upcoming movie. Will they be able to sort out their feelings and the messy situation that they’re both in?

RATING: Explicit

WARNINGS/TRIGGERS/AUTHORS NOTES:

————————————————————————————————

Chapter 11

Tom POV

- One Year Later -

“Thank you” I said to the waiter as he dropped off my coffee.

“Would you like anything to eat sir?” He asked, I noticed his eye glance to the other side of the street, where a couple of paparazzi sat taking their photos. I’ve become quite the specialist at ignoring them, and continued the conversation like there was nothing unusual going on. “No, I’m still waiting for my friend”

“Certainly sir, I’ll be back to take your order”.

I could here the clicking sounds of the camera, can’t these bastards just leave me alone for five minutes? Ever since that infuriating article written by Claire claiming that Elsa and I have been spotted around town, they have been following me nonstop.

I lifted up my newspaper a little bit higher, hoping that it would disrupt their efforts. I turned the page, casually skimming each article, before I was struck by the one. Right there, painted out in clear color, was the advertisement of our film. The movie was scheduled to premiere two months from now, and it was already attracting a lot of publicity from the press.

“My man!” Harrison called out tapping my back before taking the seat in front of me. “How are you doing?”

“Harrison, you look well this morning, how’s the lovely wife?”

“She’s still lovely. Do you know you got a bunch of paparazzi guys stalking you?” He tilted his head to the right indicating my band of followers.

“Yes, they’ve been there for quite some time. I’m being trailed by every magazine out there”

Harrison laughed before facing the paparazzi giving them a small wave while they furiously snapped more shots. I jokingly shook my head in disapproval. “Don’t egg them on”

“Come on, you got to give them something” He answered. “So…Elsa Cartwright huh?”

“It’s nothing” I attempted to brush off the subject.

“Well, I was going to say you should bring her this weekend to this new bar opening, but if you say it’s nothing…”

“Bar opening?”

“Yeah, it’s this great new place. A couple of the producers, and some of my friends will be there. I wanted to ask you to join because a friend of mine is making a movie, and he wanted to know if you might be available”

“Another movie?” I don’t think I hid the sense of worry of in my voice well. I put in a little bit of effort to give me a smile. “Yeah, I wouldn’t mind discussing it”

“Oh Tom, this guy is great. It’s this crazy action film…”

Harrison kept talking, but my mind wandered elsewhere. I was really hoping to stay put for a while, maybe work on a couple of plays. Some of my old friends, and colleagues have contacted me about some of their work and I’m more intent on starting those projects. I clenched my shaking hand into a fist in an attempt to calm myself down.

“I can even talk to Luke about it, I’m sure he will think it’s a great idea…”

I don’t know if I’ll be able to handle another movie, but if I lose my momentum now I may never get it back. I’m at the peak of my career, I have to keep going.

I walked into my apartment, throwing myself onto my sofa, and closed my eyes. What do I do? I heard my phone ring and picked up to answer the call, I wasn’t surprised to hear Luke’s voice at the end of the line.

“Tom! I just heard from Harrison, and I think it’s great that you want to get in contact with another director…”

“Luke…

“Now, don’t worry I’m trying to sort out this whole Elsa Cartwright situation, don’t listen to any of the rubbish that they’ve been coming out with…”

“Luke, hold on” I stopped him mid-sentence.

“What is it?”

I swallowed hard before answering, feeling slightly nervous. “I don’t think I can do another film…well not right now at least…”

Luke went silent on the other end of the line.

“Luke?”

“Tom, I know it’s been an intense couple of years, but let’s not rush into a hasty decision. If you do this next movie, it’ll set you as the number one actor in the industry. Besides, Harrison’s movie is getting you a lot of buzz…”

“But Luke…”

“…and between you and me, I’ve heard rumors that they are talking about nominating you for an academy award”

My whole body stiffened. What am I thinking, he’s right. This is motivation enough to keep me going. I can’t just let it slide. I’ve worked too hard to stop right now. “I’ll think about it. Anyway, can’t we schedule another meeting? I don’t think a bar is the most professional setting…”

“No can do. He’s leaving for Rio two days after…and it isn’t technically a professional business meeting. Harrison is giving you a personal opportunity to meet a close friend. I did try to make reschedule though.”

“You always have my back don’t you?”

“What can I say, we’re practically married”

Those words unsettled me. “Great, then I guess I’ll see you Friday” The annoyance in my tone was pretty clear.

“Listen it won’t be that bad, besides you’ll see a couple of friendly faces there”

“I don’t really consider Harrison’s entourage as my friends….”

“No, I’m talking about Sofia”

“What?” I asked, that caught my interest.

“Yeah, apparently it’s her boyfriend’s bar. She’ll be there that Friday”.

Sofia POV

- before -

“Oh God, that was such a bad decision” Iris groaned as she finished touching up my make up.

“I told you not to mix your drinks” I lectured her. She responded by gently tugging a lock of my hair.

“Listen missy, I can make you look like absolute shit on screen”

“You care way to much about your work for you to ever be that petty”

Thankfully, Iris and Gina drank enough for the three of us that they both barely remembered the events of last night. I, on the other hand, was not so lucky.

I couldn’t bare to face Tom after what happened. The feeling I felt as he got up from the sofa and walked into the bathroom, leaving me stranded half dressed… I was so humiliated. I barely got a wink of sleep last night as a result.

The first time I kissed Adam, it was awkward. We were transitioning from friends to something more, and we were figuring each other out.

Kissing Tom was something else. I felt untamed, like I couldn’t stop myself. I’ve never been kissed so intensely before.

I’ve also never been rejected so quickly.

Not that I have much history to compare it to.

I sat back in my chair, staring blankly at the script on my lap. I completely crossed a line with Tom, and I shouldn’t have. I know better then to do that. But deep down, I thought just maybe…

There was something about the way he looks at me, and when he called me beautiful last night, ugh. I can feel my stomach start to knot up at just the thought.

How could I be so naive? Just because he thinks I’m attractive doesn’t necessarily mean anything.

“Hey kid, they’re ready for you”

“Great” I uttered under my breath, I’m not enthusiastic about filming today at all.

I walked over to the set, holding my head high. I’m just going to pretend like nothing happened. If there’s one thing I’m good at, it’s hiding how I feel.

- One Year Later -

I was running late, again.

I panicked when Adam had told me about Harrison, but I still held onto hope that Tom wouldn’t show. I just knew I was going to need some back up, so I asked Serena to come along. This decision prompted me to arrive at 10:30 instead of 9:00.

I walked into the crowded bar, the atmosphere dim with upbeat lounge music playing in the background. The only focal point in the entire room was the long, elaborately decorated bar.

“Let me know if you see Adam” I said to Serena.

She was much taller than I am, especially with heels on. She scaled the crowd before pulling me through it. I watched her tap Adam gently on the shoulder. “Hey you guys are finally here!” He said leaning forward to kiss Serena on the cheek, before grabbing me and kissing me.

“You look very handsome” I said kissing him again.

“And you’re stunning as always…”

“So how is it going so far?” Serena jumped in.

“It’s great, we didn’t expect the place to get so filled opening night, but once Harrison got here the guest list just escalated…”

“Harrison’s here already?” I asked.

“Yeah, follow me I’ll take you to his table”

I saw the excitement all over Serena’s face, she lopped her arm around mine before whispering in my ear “I can’t believe I’m going to see all these famous people!”

Adam pulled us to a table, and thankfully I realized that Tom was not apart of the group sitting in front of me.

“Hey kid! What the hell are you doing here?” Harrison asked as he got up to kiss me on the cheek.

“This is actually my boyfriends bar” I answered gesturing towards Adam, who already managed to get roped into a conversation with one of the producers. “And this is my best friend Serena”

She was star struck and barely managed to get a hello out of her mouth as she shook Harrison’s hand. “It’s a fantastic place. It’s good to see you, listen if you guys want to join you’re more than welcome to…”

“I think we are going to wander around for a bit, but we will stop by a little bit later”

I tried to get Adam’s attention but he was distracted by his own conversation. So instead, Serena and I left the VIP section and explored the rest of the venue. We both noticed the double doors at the end of the room that led to the outside seating area. “We have to be sure to check that out” She said. “Let’s go once we get our drinks”

“Come on, the bar is this way”

We took our order, which the bartender swiftly prepared before handing us our fancily presented cocktails. I could feel the crowd behind me start to swarm in. Serena scurried through managing to make her way to the tail end of the crowd before exiting, I swiftly tried to follow after her.

However, my exit was graceless. As I opened the double doors to the outside I accidentally bumped into someone, spilling my drink onto their polished black shoes. “Oh I’m sorry…” I grabbed their arm as I looked down at the fantastic mess I’ve made.

Shit.

It was Tom.

Tom is standing in front of me, his eyes ice cold.

Tom POV

- Before -

“Take five!” Harrison called out to the crew members. I could hear a few of them grumble. It’s been an exceptionally long day filming, and the energy was starting to feel a little low.

“I’m not getting anything out of this scene you guys. I think everyone’s a little worn out, let’s take a little break before we continue”

He walked back to his chair where he picked up the script and began scribbling words along the side. I turned to Sofia who already walked away from me.

Fuck.

I tossed my script aside.

The way she kissed me, how she took off her dress, how she looked underneath…I kept replaying the night over and over again in my head. It didn’t matter that she was ten years younger, or that she had just got out of a relationship, I would have taken her right then and there.

And that’s why I stopped.

If I did it, she would have resented me. She was drunk and not thinking clearly… She didn’t really want me. She was just feeling lonely, of course she was. Loneliness has a habit of seeping into the lives of the people who work in this industry. But if there is anything that I do know for sure, is that she is still in love with Adam.

I had to explain myself to her, even though she probably can’t stand the thought of me right now.

I walked through the set, where I found her standing and talking to one of the extras. I gently grabbed her elbow, “can we talk for a second?”

I could see the panic in her eyes. She followed me upstairs to a separate, isolated room in the building that we were filming in. I closed the door behind us.

“So…” I didn’t even know where to begin. “Last night…”

“I’m sorry” she blurted out. “That was completely inappropriate of me. I had too much to drink and I wasn’t thinking clearly, I’m sorry…”

“No I’m so-…”

“No, I thought you might have been attracted to me, and I let Iris and Gina plant stupid ideas into my head. I just thought I would try something…different. Obviously that was stupid. You know what? We should just forget about it, right? I thought you were attracted to me like that and clearly that’s not what you want…” She was pacing back and forth in front of me.

I stood in front of her tugging her by the arms pulling her close so she was facing me. “You’re quite chatty when your nervous…”

She looked down at her feet avoiding eye contacted with me. I tilted her head up with my fingers.

“I never said I wasn’t attracted to you. Believe me, it took a lot of will power for me to resist you last night” I studied her face, from her thick lashes to her cheekbones, to the sound of how intensely her heart was beating. I’m still resisting, cause I wanted nothing more then to kiss her right now.

“Then why did you?” She asked, her voice low and I could hear how hurt she is.

“Because, it’ll be complicated. I’m not in the right place to start something serious, and neither are you…”

There was a long pause before she spoke again. “Who said it has to be something serious? I wasn’t thinking there needed to be any…strings…attached”

I was taken aback, is she really suggesting what I think she is? The silence lingered as I took in her question. Not that I haven’t thought about it before, I just never thought she was the type of person who would want something…stringless. Maybe I’m overthinking the situation. I mean, nobody has to know if we did anything right?

Wait, what the hell am I thinking?!

I don’t understand how she can make me feel so restless.

I could feel her pull away from me. “Got it” She said quietly.

“I’m trying to be a gentleman” I responded with slight frustration.

Her body slightly tensed, she folded her arms across her chest before looking up right at me. “I never asked you to be a gentleman”

Oh, fuck it.

My hand found their way to her delicate neck, my fingers placed on her jaw and cheek. “Are you sure?” I asked again, pulling her face closer to mine.

Her hands reached for the collar of my shirt, she elongated her body by tiptoeing on her feet so her lips brushed against mine.

“Yes” she whispered.

A loud knock on the door caused us both to jump apart from each other. One of the members walked in announcing that Harrison needed us back on the set. Sofia gave me a knowing look before following her out the door.

We stood on set waiting for the rest of the crew to get in their positions. As Harrison called out last minute tasks, I leaned down to Sofia and whispered in her ear. “Tonight?”

She looked up at me giving me a small nod, and with that final gesture Harrison called out “Action!”

#tom hiddleston #tom hiddleston fanfiction #tom hiddleston fanfic #thfrustration #real person fanfiction #wildest dreams #anonymous #actor tom #angst #sofia #ex-lovers #multis #submission #mature

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so-why-let-your-voice-be-tamed · 4 years ago

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if you’re lost just look for me (Larry, 9K, T) written for the lovely @londonfoginacup

Let your dreams set sail.

He snorts. “Let your dreams set sail. What a fucking joke.”

It’s to himself more than anything, and he doesn’t realize that he’s been overheard until a voice speaks up from right behind him. “Don’t like the sentiment?” It’s deep, and rich, and Louis turns around to the owner of the voice, only to blink at him instead.

He is beautiful. Chocolate curls and intrigued green eyes, and Louis doesn’t have a brain to mouth filter at the best of times, let alone when he’s presented with very attractive boys.

“I mean, it’s a bit cheesy, innit?” He finds himself saying. “Like, this kind of inspirational crap is just bullshit, if you ask me, because how am I supposed to let my dreams set sail when I’m arse deep in homework and I don’t even know what I want to do with my life? It’s not like I have the luxury of finding out, with the prospect of crippling student debt.”

The boy hums. “I guess. The sentiment’s nice though. We should all try and dream a little bit more.”

Louis’ first year of college is everything he had hoped for it to be.

It’s why it’s so hard to swallow that his second year is everything but. * A fic where motivational quotes, no matter how cheesy, might just make everything better after all.

This fic was written as part of the @wordplayfics challenge for the prompt ‘board’. With this, the 2020 Wordplay comes to an end. When I started this I didn’t expect to be able to write for all 5 weeks, let alone finish up with over 50k written. I am so proud of myself, and I am so grateful for the wonderful @lululawrence for hosting this fest! I am already excited for next year!

#wordplay #larry #college au #minimal angst #strangers to lovers #larry stylinson #my fic #my writing #my fic post

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so-why-let-your-voice-be-tamed · 4 years ago

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Here are the five fics I’ve posted for @wordplayfics 2020! Once again a massive thank you to @lululawrence for organizing it, and thank you to all of those who helped me write these past couple of weeks. To all those who have read my fics, thank you so much! Your comments are what keeps me going. Please continue to let me share these worlds with you!

week 1: extract my love will never leave you [Larry, 10472 words, T] week 2: bronze sadness is a little boy looking out the window [Ziam, 6477 words, T]

week 3: sin it’s time to find your wings again [Larry, 12339 words, T] week 4: shot it’s a long shot just to beat these odds [Ziam, 13945 words, T] week 5: board if you’re lost just look for me [Larry, 9162 words, T]

== please click through to read the summaries for these fics ==

week 1: extract my love will never leave you [Larry, 10472 words, T]

In a world where memories are used as currency, Louis will do anything it takes for Harry to get better.

week 2: bronze

sadness is a little boy looking out the window [Ziam, 6477 words, T]

Because this kind of key, it doesn’t just open any door.

It reveals what you need most, when you need it most, and it can only be used once.

week 3: sin

it’s time to find your wings again [Larry, 12339 words, T]

week 4: shot it’s a long shot just to beat these odds [Ziam, 13945 words, T]

Zayn: how many years in prison would I get for murdering a popstar???

Louis: ?????

Zayn: I served him raw chicken. RAW. And he was kind enough to want to try and eat it too. I could have killed him!!!

That would’ve made headlines for sure. FORMER BOYBANDER GETS POISONED ON FIRST DATE, more on the ten p.m. news.

Louis: well that’s one way of making sure he’s not going to go on any of the other dates. Bit drastic though mate.

week 5: board if you’re lost just look for me [Larry, 9162 words, T] Let your dreams set sail.

He snorts. “Let your dreams set sail. What a fucking joke.”

He is beautiful. Chocolate curls and intrigued green eyes, and Louis doesn’t have a brain to mouth filter at the best of times, let alone when he’s presented with very attractive boys.

The boy hums. “I guess. The sentiment’s nice though. We should all try and dream a little bit more.”

Louis’ first year of college is everything he had hoped for it to be. It’s why it’s so hard to swallow that his second year is everything but.

* A fic where motivational quotes, no matter how cheesy, might just make everything better after all.

#wordplay 2020 #wordplay masterpost #wordplay 2020 masterpost #my writing #my fic post #larry #ziam

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