#doesnt help that i want to focus on my fic writing too. that shit's not gonna write itself & all

[orcelito]

Made it to Indy ✌

Might try to work on compiling some information

[saltyr3mix]

wiatt nicholson head canons plz

ok. Wiatt is very similar to Damien to me. In the sense of oh boy, I hate writing this character so much. It's a quartet of Damien, Norman, lewis and Wiatt. Hate all of them/j they each have their ups and downs. Mainly downs but like- Lewis is by far the easiest of the group but still so far behind the others in terms of effort to write. Especially when paired with Wiatt. TGE ONLY TIME IVE EVER WRITTEN WIGHLIGHT AND WAS SATISFIED WITH IT WAS THAT ONE LIKE 10 LINE SCENE IN FEBRUARY 4TH WHERE THEY APOLOGIZE TO EACH OTHER. IT IS MY GREATEST FLAW. I CANT WRITE WILIGHT AND IT HAUNTS ME-

but this isn't about them! Just Wiatt! So let's get started on it!

To learn from the tragedies: he's do stressed. Let's this guy be. He just wants to help his boyfriend but also doesn't have a clue what's going on. He thinks he knows everything. He doesnt. At all. He's sort of the main focus of book one but is a lot more background in book 2, which focuses more on Sara. Both of them are technically going through the same thing but because Sara was the villain is treated a lot differently. I sometimes think about what would have happened if lewis hadn't explained things to Waitt. And instead he and Sara teamed up to get answers and everything would have been fine. But no, lewis is far too dramatic for that.

Shattered dreams: he dies. womp womp. Does become Guide! (Gaslight. Useless. Idiot. Dead. Employee) But I think I'll talk about him more in the Oc au because I think despite it being nearly the same situation he's more interesting there.

One shots/you'll live until I die: I thinkkkkk her appears like once in yluid and it's like- the least relevant scene in the fic i was just trying to even out the perspectives. But in that and other one shots he's sort of just a mechanic. Almost never more apparent than that. Try to keep it close to cannon, he likes helping people but tends to mess it up a lot but never enough to be fully blamed for it.

I will make them create my world: don't. Don't talk me. I- I'll figure it out! (Has over 10k of scrapped shit THAT US JUST HIM. The reason there hasn't been a new chapter since February is Because of that man and how hard he is to write and plan)

Buried masks: I think I've made a few post on him but he stays outside the basement because Sara doesn't like him. He helps Damien with his investigation and is highly suspicious of Sara. Eventually he does get more involved for a big event! But that is major spoilers :3

Swap au/skating in silence: he plays Norman here! Which I find very interesting. Not interesting enough to have concrete ideas for it but enough that if given the chance i could see myself exploring. Wiatts like main thing is he feels worth through helping others. And by directly helping Lewis he'd really enjoy the job. If lewis was different from Sara and still have him praise and carted about him it would honestly create a more toxic relationship than canon because Wiatt would be left clinging for Lewis's validation and willing to go very, very far for it.

Superhero au: he's chill. Doesn't have any powers. Is a reporter and a hero stan. Untilllll things start happening and lewis is sobbing in his apartment because he's having to deal with some very traumatized kids, and half their trauma may have accidentally been his fault and he knows the heros are all a massive lie and starts giving wiatt info about some of the more horrible things the organization has done and wiatt starts a character arc of now speaking against the hero system and trying to in mask it for what it is! Mostly he just appears in the background, he's sort of the symbol of the general public, being powerless and living a mostly normal life.

Steven universe au: he lives in his car as a photographer. He enjoys life and specifically lifes mysteries and the unnatural. He fines this fenced of beach that has been rumered to be haunted after a man died mysteriously several years ago. Wiatt never followed the rules and climbs over because the view from that clean of a beach must be stunning!

And bam! Rock Aliens. They all scare each other but wiatt has a camera and the aliens don't know what that is and they think it's a weapon. They explain they didn't mean to bother and humans and Wiatts like oh wait their really sweet. And he's friends with them now!!! He gives everyone their more human names and let's them experience life. So far he's the only human that doesn't get experimented on so that's good for him. He is a little overwhelmed by dating a space dictator that fake killed himself but it's ok, he'll figure it out.

Maze au: he's human. Don't know how he got in the maze. I can imagine him playing a role similar to Kyle in the sense of like, he's here to help and try his best not to get into anything but is not going to sit around. He's probably a runner. Not a very good one. Maybe he stays in the back and makes maps. He and Oliver team up to make most of the clearings.... Everything. They make weapons and tools and supplies and help build housing and food they are the progressives. They make sure the clearing is constantly improving.

Oc au: he dies! Not to litho though cause we accidentally took him out. Instead he dies to jot! In a....messy scene. Both because there was a lot of blood and two it was written late at night and neither of us really knew where we wanted it to go only that wiatt needed to be dead by the end of it. So mans got straight up beat. Joy crushed this dude with her bare hands. The virus actually took out two....well killed two people by technicality it knock loli out for a good while but she's fine now! Yeah, we made it slightly more deadly just for fun. And now Wiatt is a tour guide with amnesia! He loves the company and works mostly in the lobby with Dot. Star also had his memories erased in this au.

Instead the whole what about love speech, was joy about carly. Which Winnie being already connected to Carly made it a lot easier and so roller gays are doing fantastic and wighlight is struggling.

We have yet for star and guide to interact but I'm looking for to when they do!

that should be ittttttt. He plays a background character in most of the aus. So not a ton to say.

Thank you for the ask!!

[betawooper]

Hi, how are you?? If its not too much trouble, I have two questions 1. How do you get motivation to write your fic (which is amazing, btw!!) because I am trying to write a fic of my own but I can't seem to find the motivation to actually sit down and write it out, even though I am super interested in it. 2. If its not too much, do you have any tips on outlining a story?? I'm not very good at planning lol Hope you have a great day!! I love your art and your KNY Plot Rewrite!!

Hiiiiii thank you for the ask!

1.

Honestly dedicating a certain portion of my day just to write has been super helpful. I tend to feel most motivated in the morning so I just write then and just keep dabbling in it.

I do this weird technique where I write with white text on a white background so I don't focus too much on the mistakes. If you find yourself getting overwhelmed, just changing the font color so you can't see what you're typing breaks that anxiety. Drastic, but it works.

I also write on my phone when I'm feeling particularly unmotivated?

Here's a vod of me doing exactly that for Ch 53 (the video quality is very crunchy, forgive me):

I usually use a lot of ADHD strategies to get myself into the mood lol.

2.

It seriously depends on what kind of story you want to write, but I'm assuming you mean novel/longfic type of stuff with a fleshed out story and a whole cast of characters? That's the assumption I'm going under while writing out my next tips.

What is your main theme? Or genre rather. Is it humor? Romance? Tragedy? A combination? Knowing the overall tone that your story will be in helps a lot in the development of the characters, since each character should fit into that theme in some way. In KNY, the main theme of the story is tragedy, and this affects literally everything, from the backstories for all the characters to the literal worldbuilding in the form of Demons (victims of circumstance, cruelty of the world, that kind of thing).

Once that's down, start small. Just figure out your main character, their motivation, their character arc, and what you want them to realize by the end of the story. Can just be as simple as:

main character (Tanjirou)

wants to live a normal life and go back to the way it used to be

ideally, he should realize there is no going back and he has to move on so he doesnt get left behind? oh ye his sister could represent the constantly changing state of the world and his negative reaction to her changes expresses his inability to let go of his past

*note to self, develop sister character more

Don't think about other characters unless they will actually help the main character get closer to the ideal end you have for them, like I did with Nezuko in the above example. Don't want to overwhelm yourself, you know?

From here, you can start developing stuff. Thinking of concepts. If you're anything like me, you've probably already come up with something your story focuses on like "oh yeah there's magic and shit, and they have to take down the government with it" because I like magic and shit. What kind of setting do you want your story to be in? Post-apocalyptic utopia? Dystopia? Steampunk fantasy? 1920s Japan in the midst of rapid westernization? Is this based in a specific region of the real world or are you making up a whole new world for this?

Once you get the basics down, write down story beats. It can be a similar list as before like:

idk ig nezuko becomes a demon and loses her memory

the two meet a super strong swordsman to kinda show the reader the concept of demon slayers AND the highest ranking people from the get go (oh, think of a name for this rank, maybe pillars? bc pillars of hope and shit lol im a genius)

oh shit, you write hashira in 9 strokes? maybe we could have 9 pillars ooooh that would be pog

tanjirou and nezuko have an argument about tanjirou's Problems bc he refuses to talk about anything that bothers him

uhhhhh fight a demon

fight a Strong demon (what the hell am i gonna call these, just do that later)

oh hold on theres gotta be a training montage bc swordfighting takes time to develop

i should add an examination right? yeah like naruto ok put that into the consideration jar

broooo omg what if [insert plot twist here] happened? ive gotta put that in holy shit-

Doesn't even have to be in order. Just let your mind flow. If you have more characters at this point, think about how you want their arcs to end and all that like you did for the main character, then slap those beats into the massive list of story beats.

From here, you can sort stuff out. Then zero in on a specific arc/plot development and build around that. How much you should develop the story depends on how many characters you have and how long you want the story to be. KNY has a fairly large cast and is meant to be serialized, so Gotouge really needed to spend a lot of time thinking about this stuff (and you and I know that didn't end up working out too well lmao, they tried their best though).

Biggest tip is to take your time. You can't create a world in one day, especially if you want to be respectful to the other cultures and stuff you want to portray. Research stuff, look up writing inspiration blogs, all that, just take your time.

Also lemme know if you want to know how I specifically outline stuff in chapters to prepare for writing because its a little different from what people normally do? Idk what people normally do but its certainly not the way how I do it and this post is long enough already.

(Thank you for the compliments btw, good luck on your own story!)

[kuraiangeliusm]

hi can i ask for a fluff fic?

so, childe is always busy and when it's finally ur birthday, he finds time and doesnt work for 3 days. during that time, u go back to his home, travel for a while and hang out? if thats ok with u? i liked ur ayato fic and i wanted to ask. its ok if u dont respond btw!

Characters: Childe Genre: Fluff+a bit o crack Word Count: 0.5k A/N: forgive me i have altered some stuff, and suck at battle stuff, but i do hope u enjoy<3| also thanks to my cousin for helping me write this cuz we r two lazy asses <3 (no proof-read cuz im a lazy bitch 😔)

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Childe: He’s mostly busy with his fatui work, other than having to go out and collect debts, he has to do his paperwork, which means almost no time for you :( . But don’t worry! Childe prepared something special for your birthday, he took a week off for you and finished all his jobs just to spend time in his hometown! _______ _______ When the boat arrived in Morepesok, immediately Tonia and Teucer came and greeted you.

“Miss Y/N, you’re finally here!” Teucer chimes in, “Ah, I do hope it was a safe trip, no?” Tonia says as she helps you with your bags. “Well the trip was a bit rocky, but we came unscathed at least.” Carrying your bags to their family home, Childe suggested that you should rest first, he’d join you in a while.

After taking a shower you head on to the bed, where Childe was waiting for you. “Tired, love?” He coos while he beckons you to the bed. Exhaustion overtook you the moment you laid on it. “Sweet dreams…” Childe whispers, tomorrow would be a long day. “HAPPY BIRTHDAY Y/N!” Teucer burst into your room, waking both of you. “Teucer…what time is it…” You murmured as you rubbed your eyes. “IT’S 7 AM TIME FOR YOUR BIRTHDAY!” Teucer ran and jumped on the bed, poor Childe was the landing pillow. “ACK! Ow, ow…Teucer calm down a bit…” Childe slowly got up and rubbed his eyes. “GET DRESSED GET DRESSED IT’S Y/N’S BIRTHDAY!” Teucer jumped up and down the bed, too excited for the early hours of the morning. “Fine, fine we’ll meet you downstairs, now calm down…” After getting dressed, you met with Teucer, Tonia, and the rest. “Happy Birthday Y/N” Childe’s mom greeted you at the dining table. “Thank you, ma’am.” You replied while taking a bite out of the porridge. “Well, after you do eat y/n, let’s have a face-off with me and my siblings in a snowball fight!” Childe’s laughter rang through the halls, of course you agreed, you would never lose to Childe, would ya? “You’re on, Ajax!” You finished your food and got ready for the cold outside. After putting on layers, and layers of coats and sweaters, it was time. Teucer would be with Childe, and Tonia would be with you. Tonia said that she’ll focus on Teucer, as to not be harsh on him, you on the other hand take Childe. The battle begins. Childe runs to your fort but Tonia hits him in the face stunning him for a bit, then runs to Teucer to invade theirs. Childe gets up but is suddenly hit where the sun don’t shine, by yours truly. “ a h ” a small gasp comes out of his shit mouth, and he falls on his (flat) ass. You then assault him with snowballs, poor cheld ✋😔. “Alright have mercy please stop-” Another snowball gets thrown at Childe, already on his back. “The 11th Harbinger, Tartaglia, getting beaten by snowballs, poor you 🤒” You teased as you threw another one, effectively shutting him up.

The battle ends with you and Tonia winning and poor Childe getting his face stuffed by snow. This was really one of the best birthdays you’ve ever had in your life.

[lemonluvgirl]

New Everlark Modern AU Fic Sneak Peak!

Hitting The Target By: SparklingStella & LemonLuvGirl87 

Summary: “When you shoot, you’ve got to keep both eyes on what you want to hit.” Katniss tells him seriously. “Do you bring this kind of tenacious focus with you to all aspects of your life?” Peeta asks, hoping his wildly mounting attraction for her isn’t as obvious to her as it feels to him. “When the situation calls for it. I’m good at going after what I want. And I find my mark almost every time.” She tells him with such a straight face he would have believed they were still talking about archery if her smoldering grey eyes weren’t glued to his mouth. 

When hot shot college archery rookie Katniss Everdeen makes it to the USA Archery Collegiate National Championships her first year on the team, the university’s newly appointed  college sports reporter Peeta Mellark is sent on assignment to cover her and the archery team’s meteoric rise to fame. What he never intended was to get so invested in the subject of his article, or to get so infatuated with the girl herself. 

~Snippet From Chapter One:

“Peeta! Where’s that article on the golf team’s latest tournament?” A frustrated feminine voice rings out through the university newspaper work room. 

“Fuck me,” Peeta mutters tiredly under his breath while trying to simultaneously shrink down to inconspicuous levels so his editor, Johanna Mason, won’t hear him or see him. But even the hunching of his massive shoulders and lack of reply can't help him now. She knows he's here. She knows he's not done. He feels a sweat break out on the back of his neck as she approaches his work station. Knowing Johanna she’d take his curse words as an invitation for sex, not as an expression of utter unenthusiastic dread. And he doesnt want to have sex with Johanna. He doesn't like her that way. Actually, he's found himself almost resenting her in recent weeks. She's the reason he's got writer's block right now. He’s dreading having to finish this article. It's driving him nuts. 

Peeta hates golf, (he told Johanna this when she gave him the assignment) and he’s been doing nothing but covering their university’s shitty golf tournaments for the last few weeks. And even though he’s seen enough mediocre college golf to last till the end of eternity, he can’t for the life of him finish this pathetic golf article that was due half an hour ago. The thing is just a boring, uninteresting, cold fish piece of shit. And he hates himself for writing it. He hates Johanna even more for assigning this piece to him. It's like she knows exactly which soul sucking assignments he desires least and saves them just for him. 

 “Mellark! Are you still stuck on the conclusion? Stop playing with your dick and finish the fucking article already! We’ve got a deadline to meet!” Johanna says when she finally reaches his desk and stands over his shoulder, only to find he’s stuck in the same spot he was an hour ago. 

“I’m trying Johanna! But this--this story is just--”

“Just what asshole? Too hot for you to handle? It's a damn 600 word news piece, not a 60 minutes interview for god sakes!” 

“It's BORING! And there’s no way to make it interesting! I’ve tried! Its just---garbage! Dry, utterly boring and sleep-inducing garbage!” 

Johnna stands stock still for a minute. Peeta worries he may have gone overboard. 

Then she starts shaking with silent laughter. 

“Well, yeah duh! I mean it's college golf, not exactly riveting stuff. ” She says in between involuntary shoulder shakes. 

“So you knew. You knew it was a crap assignment and you made me write it anyway! That’s just great Jo. That’s terrific. Why couldn’t you assign it to Beetee or Wireless or something? Didn’t you tell me when I joined the paper that I had the best ‘authentic writing voice’ you’d heard in years? And yet Marvel and Cato get to cover our basketball and football team every season! What am I doing here JO? How is this a good use of my skills?” 

“Mellark, you’re talented. That’s exactly why I give you the tough assignments. You can dress up a pile of shit and make it look like a chocolate sundae. But, you’ve only been on the team for a year. You still have to pay your dues rookie. But, look, I’ll make you a deal. Finish this shit show of an article, and make it readable. If you can do that I’ll give you a better assignment this coming week. Not basketball or anything super big, because you know, baby steps, but I promise it will be a step up from the golf crap.” 

“Fine Jo. But I’m holding you to your promise! Maybe I should make you sign a contract so you don't go back on your word,” 

“Yeah, yeah, Mellark. No need to break out the ritual sacrifice knife to make me sign my soul away in blood. I'm a woman of my word. I'll deliver on my promise. But, you better wow me with this conclusion, or else it's back to the golf carts, pretentious khakis, and designer sunglasses for you.” 

“It's going to be the best shit sundae you’ve ever had Jo. I promise.” 

And it was. Peeta managed in the next 20 minutes to tweak and finish the article until it was actually an interesting and engaging college sports piece, and by the time the story had to go to print Joanna was smiling.

“So, I take it that smile means I’m going to get assigned something decent this coming week?” 

“Well, since you actually pulled it off, I’d say so.” Johanna slams a piece of paper down on his desk. It contains a name, email address, and office phone number.  

Haymitch Abernathy -coachabernathyarchery@PanemUfaculty.edu 555-451-1213

“What’s this?” 

“Contact info for your next assignment. Email this guy and set up a time to go and observe his team at practice. He’s the head coach for the university’s archery team. Word around campus is there’s a new freshman blowing all the competition out of the water. The team’s got a shot at nationals this year. I want you to do a full piece on her, and the team. You can interview the coach too. The higher ups want to make this feature article a two page spread.” 

“Two pages?!” 

“Yep. So don’t say I never did nothing for ya Mellark. Oh, and take your camera and get some candid shots. Apparently she’s hot. That’ll be good for the article too.”  

Peeta laughs, only Johanna would so openly comment on sex appeal as a way to increase their readerbase. 

“Ok, Jo. Sure thing. And thank you! You won’t regret it!” 

“Yeah, yeah. Bring me back something spectacular and we’ll see if you deserve to be bumped up permanently to something more substantial after this.” 

Peeta nodded, and smiled. He was hopeful, enthusiastic, and most of all really intrigued to find out more about his newest assignment. Maybe he can gain more than he imagined...Johanna did say SHE, the apparently female assignment, is hot. Most interesting...

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

More Coming Soon!!! Story will be posted to AO3 as a collab between @sparklingdust4612 (SparklingStella on AO3) and @lemonluvgirl87 

[leafcabbage]

i am going to elaborate i have decided

so. you may ask. “cabbage you have never seemed like someone who has boundaries you seem like you would give your social security number to someone for laughs.” and i would say “thats not a question”

despite that, i will elaborate. yeah, i do overshare, but im pretty careful about what i say, so none of y’all actually know me. maybe it shouldnt bother me that people assume they know things about me or how i “should” act, but like, i am a real person, and i suppose i dont have to justify those feelings. it genuinely wasnt one thing that one person did or whatever, it’s been some commenters, a few posts ive seen, some askers, several anons- all of it led up to yesterdays choice. also, i shouldn’t be anxious or upset by things on this dumbass blog. its supposed to be fun. ive put too much weight into this. literally all of my reactions are my problem because i let myself put too much of my time and energy into being cabbage leafcabbage. what can i say, recognition feels good at the end of the day. 

now youre like “okay but what the fuck does that actually mean???”

yeah thats fair. it means i do want to focus more on writing on here and i probably(?) will be less active, but i genuinely dont want to stop interacting with you guys other than that all together. i’d like the main focus of this blog to be writing. i’d like the majority of my content on here to be about my fic. but i do like the funny little interactions we have and the asks for the most part. so... things. i guess. that should be kept in mind. questions for yourself, perhaps. “should i send this to a friend instead of a fanfic author?”, “is this something i should say to a 20 year old i dont know on the internet?”, “am i trying to get validation from someone who i see as “cool” (ahaha thanks) in a way that won’t actually help me?” and other stuff like that. 

examples of things besides fic questions i am happy to answer: give insight on things i have experience with (writing, student gov, college, being aroace/trans/autistic/etc), talk about dsmp/mcyt, talk about other media i like, give media recs, give opinions, etc

examples of things i am not going to answer: stuff i just... cant play off of? like if i cant give an answer thats gonna add to things i wont answer. it doesnt mean you did something wrong, im just gonna filter through more. i wont talk about trauma, not gonna answer asks about how your day went, i wont answer asks with any personal info in them... just generally if you wouldn’t talk to an acquaintance youre at a cafe with about it, dont send it to me. 

also, i appreciate that you care about me, but dont tell me to sleep/drink water/ take a break/ etc. im not upset with you if youve done that of course, but im 20. i know how to take care of myself. i know to drink water and sleep and eat. 

one more thing- if you would say it to a dog, don’t say it to me. so weird that i have to say that. 

“cabbage you seem to be thinking about one more big important thing that you hope people will read even if they skipped the rest of this do you want to talk about that?”

oh boy do i!

you guys terrify me. specifically the minors who follow this blog. please, please be careful of who you are sharing things with on the internet. things that seem harmless can give adults who want to hurt you leverage, an in, something they can talk to you about to try to gain your trust. i can tell you “i care about your safety” and you still don’t know if i am telling the truth! im sure you’ve gotten the “be safe on the internet” lecture from adults who dont even know what happens on here nowadays, and yeah that shits hella outdated, but i am someone who grew up on tumblr, so please at least think about what im saying.

 when you tell people on the internet about your mental health/triggers/any personal or identifying information, you are providing them with information they can use against you. i do not at all mean this in a victim blaming way, if something happens that is not your fault, but i am asking you to be careful now.  using my cafe analogy again, if an adult comes and sits at your table, your first reaction shouldn’t be to tell them personal information. adults should not be reaching out to you (there’s a reason i only message y’all if its for permission to print your artwork. it would be hella weird for me to try to strike up a conversation). no adults should be telling you youre different or mature or whatever. please just be careful with who you’re trusting and who you’re talking to. good interactions =\= good intent. a person with a platform =\= a good person.

“are you finally done?”

yeah i am. all that to say im sticking with fanfic related asks rn but if you stick to what ive said i may answer others in the future. thanks for reading this and thank you for being such a wonderful community (cough, for the most part, cough). im probably gonna be more harsh going forward on things that cross boundaries because im shit at setting them. that doesnt mean im upset with you as a person i just need to make things clear. i hope you guys are doing well and thank you again

[maariarogers]

random plot bunnies from my seojun x sujin brainrot on a fic that i might?? or may not write. based primarily from k-drama, following the webtoon plotline:

so, this is set in the future, maybe about five years in?? so theyre all 25 years old at this point and seojun’s a well-established idol (singer)

seojun’s nutritionist provided by the agency is going to resign because she's six-months in into her pregnancy and wanted to focus on raising her children

seojun feels a little disheartened at this point; a lot of the time, being an idol, the few constant things he could rely on was the same faces of the team that took care of him - because in other aspects of his career, he has to meet new people a lot, and his scene and environment changes so much

so this was lowkey a blow for seojun, who just wants every sense of familiarity, regardless how little, to sorta stay?? the same??

but he can’t really have much say on it too, because a lot of the team members who took care of him which he has are provided by the agency, and he knows the agency will be doing placements for that too

but then his nutritionist sorta knows he’s a lil sad (she’s become like a surrogate older sister for him) and she’s like, “i have someone in my mind. she’s... a little rough around the edges. she’s been through a lot. but - she has a good heart. like you.” the nutritionist smiles, “i think the both of you could get along well!”

so the new nutrionist? that’s our badass girl, kang sujin.

now sujin has already known that her senior wanted her to replace the position for han seojun’s nutrionist because her senior trusted her to do a good job, but sujin’s a bit queasy about the entire arrangement if she’s honest

she wants to say no, but her senior has always been supportive and strict in ways that’s got her shaped up to her best ability, and she just didn’t have the heart to say “no” in the end

so on the day they met, seojun recognised sujin immediately, and sujin, at first, pretended that she’s only met seojun for the first time

seojun consecutively tries to trigger some sort of reaction in sujin, but she deflects pretty well? every time he tries to confront her, she’s like “hi mr. han seojun” and “what can i do for you today?”

even during their private sessions while sujin goes over seojun’s daily food and nutrition intakes and adjusting new set of schedules for him, sujin’s all serious. she’s gotten close to snapping at him - but then she quickly just, “noooo :) im not mad :) what do u mean”

after a while, seojun sorta lets it go and focuses back on training

his team is planning a tour, maybe even concerts outside korea, and seojun’s lowkey scared because even though he’s toured and flown to various countries to perform at this point, he still has the anxiety

he wants to be so good to his fans, wants to do his best now that he’s come so far to the point he essentially sacrifices a chance at a relatively ordinary life

but then, he starts overworking too

seojun’s never been the best dancer, you know; he could always make up for it with singing, but he still?? doesnt feel like it’s enough???

and then one day sujin just comes barging in at his apartment, mad, because seojun’s had a fever and couldn’t train for two days now and turns out?? he hasn’t really been eating as much as he should, or he’s not drinking as much as he should

that was the first time sujin showed any sense of familiarity from their high school days

she gave him a good whip, talks to his doctors, and adjusts his diet according to his schedules and for the next week, she sorta comes quite frequently to make sure even when he’s training, he’s doing okay

seojun comments that she’s “scarier” than his last nutrionist, and sujin’s like, “good. it means you’ll listen to me.”

one day, he starts asking her to stay just a while instead of just leaving, which she always does, and he’s like “have a beer. what, you have a strict diet too?” and sujin reluctantly stays? even tho she’s awkward and quiet

finally seojun’s like, “why did u pretend u didn’t recognise me?”

and sujin’s just.... “didn’t you hate me?” referring to what she did to jugyeong (implying the k-drama events i assume?? but imma keep this vague as hell) and she just, “i did something horrible to the girl you love.”

and because this is seojun, esp their dynamics dkjhksdhf, he’s just straight up, “yeah. you were a bitch.” because to him, that was the facts, you know

sujin sorta stays quiet, but then she puts the beer down and like?? “i don’t have to explain anything to you.” but seojun’s like!!!!! thats not what he meant!!! and hes just, “hey no! sit. you just started relaxing, right?”

but after a minute he comments under his breath, “i didn’t know you were this sensitive.”

but then sujin quietly replied, “she was my friend. i loved her too.”

and that sorta got the two of them quiet, but then seojun decided to change the topic because its Its_Too_Awkward.jpeg, “last i heard u were gonna be a doctor. your dad’s professor Kang right? he treated my mom.”

and that sorta??? causes sujin to tense up, but then she deflects with a snappish, “why are you so interested in me?” “i’m not! i’m just asking questions.” “i should be asking you questions - why the hell did you think it was a good idea to pull the shit u did now that your touring schedule is in the talks? how are you supposed to perform if you can’t even stand?” “aish, didn’t you already nag me?” “you’re so stupid, i’m scared you’ve forgetten”

they started bickering again but that night was really what triggered for sujin to be a little more relaxed with seojun, and for seojun to sorta - try a bit harder to?? not be friendlier, no, but he likes that he’s known her from an era in his life where he didn’t have to always be a face in the screen.

more and more, seojun asks sujin to stay and have dinner after she’s done evaluating his weekly meals and they have a better comradeship

he starts anticipating her more when she comes to evaluate another idol or something at the agency and he’s just!!!!!!! “you’re here? why are you here? did u miss me already? what do u mean i’m not the only one you’re treating”

and then slowly we also found out why she didn’t become a doctor (she didn’t wanna follow her dad; and she still carries the guilt of what she did to jugyeong and admitted, more than the result of her father’s anger, she likes the version of her who always wants to help others - and, she can memorises easily, so... nutritionist didn’t seem bad)

sujin starts bringing in board games or sometimes she sneaks a few of supermarket-brand goods since seojun’s been behaving with his meals and vitamin intakes, and the one time seojun’s invited to a tv show where it has quizes, she tutors him the whole night so he “doesnt make a fool out of himself”

she also starts to keep up with whatever show he’s in, and she’s always texting him that she’s watched him with this horrible washed-out screenshot because she takes the photo on her laptop with her phone. and her texts are all “the dance was good” and “you’ve improved that move huh” and then sometimes “idiot. why did u answer like that”

sujin makes fun of her for not being able to take a clean screenshot, but he never really leaves her un-replied

and they started talking about relationships - how they were both so enamoured with suho and jugyeong respectively, and for sujin specially, how she can’t wait to be loved by someone who can make her feel like suho’s not a big deal at all

but then she admits she doesn’t think she deserves to be loved, and sorta has this sad smile, and seojun confesses that he’s scared if he loves someone, he has to lose them due to his career

and they’re really sad about it, but the night also isn’t as bad cause they had each other

and ok i have a LOT more i think - and i honestly dk how nutritionist actually works BUT. yes. them.

[reineyday]

geraskier zoom conference hc's based on that 'and they were video conferencing' post

(this has turned into a fic in point-form oops; also it's more pre-slash 'cuz this quarantine is ongoing and i don't have any specific ideas about how a relationship discussion would go or be handled over zoom haha)

it starts as a group conference call between yennefer and triss and jaskier and geralt probably because yen and triss and geralt run some sort of small business and they need jaskier for something artistic probably (he's a freelancer)

let's say they have some sort of start-up to do with children's education somehow, inspired by ciri, and they want to start a small educational web series and they want music in each episode and so hire jaskier as a composer

geralt is in charge of episode content because this web series is gonna be about mythology and he has a masters in it and has done a fair amount of traveling for it (and lowkey has been learning about different kinds of myrhs and legends and heroes and monsters all his life alongside swordfighting thanks vesemir)

ANYWAYS at first they just talk about work: geralt knows which myths he wants to talk about and how, but can't quite come up with a good narrative because he has a bad tendency to ramble on about very precise specific details that get boring, and he also doesnt know how to set the tone for children despite having one himself

jaskier suggests they make the show centre around a hero that is a witcher who goes off on adventures meeting all these creatures, and jaskier already has some fun ideas for songs

jaskier thinks geralt isnt very forthcoming but he's clearly interested in the project and there's excitement in his eyes when he says ciri will like something they write together

geralt also gets kind of moody about inaccuracies (like a nerd 'cuz he is one lol), and jaskier thinks it's funny and likes to pull his leg by saying they should just change this detail or that detail and that he's allowed bc he's the composer and he's taking creative liberties

about three zoom meetings in, they decide the witcher should have a horse and jaskier says they should give it a name and geralt says "roach" and jaskier laughs and asks about cockroaches and geralt looks... petulant??? and says there are fish called roach too and he meant the fish, and jaskier feels fond and relents and says yes fine the horse's name is "roach"

the next video call they have, they start talking again about work and jaskier's trying not to focus too much on the fact that geralt has shown up with his hair braided but goodness it makes him look softer with the way it pulls back and some strands of hair escape to frame his face

geralt eventually notices and hmms his questioning hmm (and when did jaskier start distinguishing the difference?) and when jask asks about the braid, geralt's face goes EVEN SOFTER and says ciri can't practice braiding on her friends' hair at school anymore so she practices with him and jaskier's like "well fuck that's it this is it ive never even seen him in person but here we are this is a crush oh shit"

the first time geralt laughs is because in one of their meetings, jaskier decided he was gonna be chill and wear a work shirt but just his boxers with stupid cartoon pizzas on them, amd he feels so comfortsble he forgets he's just wesring his underwrar 'till he gets up to grab his acoustic guitar and geralt sounds like he was startled into laughter and yeah, that's right, he's wearing stupid boxers and he flushes but geralt looks pretty amused and jaskier did that so he's not too embarrassed

halfway through the session after that, where jaskier has given up on slightly professional looking clothes but has committed to wearing something over his boxers at all times, he hears some barking and he sees a german shepherd's nose enter the bottom of the frame by geralt's arm

jaskier is obviously like YOU HAVE A DOG and geralt explains ciri usually plays with him during their meetings but they decided to go earlier that day and when jaskier asks what the dog's name is, geralt pauses and looks a cross between irritated and embarassed and then says "roach"

jaskier laughs and laughs and geralt just looks on stoically and it's not on his mouth but jaskier can see the pout in his eyes, but after he's done laughing, all he says is, "like the fish" and geralt smiles a tiny smile and shakes his head and jaskier's a goner, truly

one day, jaskier is caught on trying to find the perfect wording and chord progression for one of the episodes, and focuses on his guitar and keyboard for a while as he toys with this key and that rhyme, and when he looks up, geralt is in a kitchen putting on tea and mixing something in a pot and it's an hour past when they usually hang up

"you could have stopped me, you know?" jaskier asks, but geralt looks at him and hmms and jaskier feels all warm goddammit

he tells jaskier to go take a break and jaskier obliges and brings his laptop to his kitchen and they kind of just have tea together for twenty minutes before something dings and geralt has to go 'cuz it's dinner time for him and ciri

the next meeting, geralt shows up and his daughter's there in the background and she has hair like geralt's and a sunshine personality the complete opposite of geralt (though they both give off disintguished kinds of vibes)

jaskier is charmed; she's a great cheerleader and a wonderful person to run ideas by especially considering she's the target age group for their show, and when she makes a comment about how she wishes she could play the ukulele she got as a gift two years ago, jaskier brightens up and says he can teach her

now jaskier zoom calls a little earlier so ciri can have a short ukulele lesson before his work meeting with geralt, and it's so nice whenever he hears ciri practicing off to the side or roach barking from out of the frame and jaskier wonders what it would be like to truly be in the house with them

the next meeting after, they go a bit too long again bc they were arguing (well, jaslier was actually pulling geralt's leg some more, to be honest, but he can't help it if that's how he flirts), and ciri shows up and says it's time for food and when jaskier says he'll leave them to it, ciri suggests he just stay on amd they can eat together

geralt doesn't immediately say no and actually seems to be waiting for jaskier's answer so jaskier says yeah okay, and he grabs some food and they all have dinner together and they get to talking and jakier and ciri bond over disney movies and ciri says she wants to watch them together the three of them and yennefer and triss

the watch party happens and over zoom yennefer seems deeply amused the entire time and triss keeps giggling and geralt seems extra annoyed for some reason but jaskier enjoys himself and sings along to the movie and he tries not to imagine sitting right next to geralt on his couch on the side not occupied by his daughter

jaskier wakes up with a headache very close to their meeting time one day, and kind of just opens his laptop while he's lying in bed and opens the window to wait for geralt to start the meeting while he reaches over to get his ukulele 'cuz it's the closest instrument to his bed and the easiest on his brain when it's pounding like this

when he settles back against his headbkard and pillows once more, geralt is looking at him with a frown and asks if he's feeling okay, to which jaskier replies he's fine it's not covid he just gets headaches every now and then and it sucks but he can still compose (and he shakes his lil uke at the camera)

geralt says no he should sleep and when jaskier pouts he says he's going to sit here and wait for jaskier to put down the damn ukulele and drink some water and eat a granola bar and then tuck himself back into bed and he looks all fierce about it while he says it and how can jaskier not lug his laptop around while he does these things and fall a little more in love

eventually it becomes totally normal for jaskier to just hang out for long stretches of time, whether or not they talk about their witcher web series, and they cook together and hang out in their pajamas and jaskier and ciri have their music lessons and their disney nights and geralt even starts getting him to work out during some of their work breaks by doing 8 minuts abs

(jaskier was pretty adamant about not exercising but said he's do it just the one time but after 8 minutes of pain, geralt was flushed and kind of sweaty and said he needed to chamge his shirt anf then just took it off right there on the camera before he walked out frame to grab a new one and jaskier had to rush to pick his jaw off the floor before going to change out of his own sweaty clothes and yeah so he does 8 minute abs with geralt sometimes now)

once, geralt sends him a zoom link for a meeting at 2am on a night when jaskier can't fall asleep (his sleeping schedule's been so fucked since quarantine started) and when jaskier joins him, he looks like hell and he apologizes but when jaskier says he probably won't sleep for another three hours anyways, geralt looks the tiniest bit grateful and asks if they can work so they do, and if jaskier writes a song that's a little more like a lullabye dyring their meeting, and feels like his heart is about to burst when geralt, who'd moved from his desk to his couch, nods off while jaskier softly sings to him, well... jaskier doesn't know what to do with himself after he makes sure geralt is properly sleeping and then leaves the zoom meeting

they work and work and really get to know each other and then, all of a sudden, there are no more songs to be written for their witcher series and jaskier says "that's the last song, i think" and geralt hmms but neither of them hangs up

jaskier bites his lip and says, "i'll see you at the team meeting we'll have with yennefer and triss to wrap up my contract, i guess?"

and geralt says, "you should add me on facebook; we should keep in touch for future projects"

jaskier tries not to feel too bummed out because this is still a connection point and also yay more creative projects with the hot man he is probably definitely in love with and also potentially more money! but he's still a little bummed and then he decides if he's going to feel bummed he should at least do something about it and he says, "i will! you know facebook has video chat too"

and geralt hmms again but there's definitely a smile, and it's even an actual smile! "im aware," he says, and then before he hangs up the zoom call he looks stern and adds, "dont forget about ciri's ukulele lessons" and honestly jaskier wasn't expecting to continue with them but he's relieved they can still keep doing those

he shoots geralt that friend request and sates the need to scroll down his wall by going through geralt's past previous profile photos instead (they're usually of him and ciri and they're adorable)

and then, delight of delights, the next day around when they usually have their meeting, there's a video chat request from one geralt of rivia coming through facebook, and even more delightful: geralt's clearly on his phone and he only waits on the screen long enough to make sure jaskier's there and to give him a quirked eyebrow and a trademark hmm before he turns the camera around and jaskier is treated to an outside view and a walk with geralt and roach via mobile

and thus geralt becomes a fixture of his every day life

[redwoodrroad]

after i finished Jormag Rising, i uh wrote up something i immediately imagined--just like a wrap-up conversation between Rytlock and my commander. im really proud of it, but i don’t think it fits for ao3 where i would normally post fic, so im putting it here! if you’d like to give it a read, let me know what you think!

im also realizing it’s. a little similar in setting to the Rytlock’s short story segment that anet put out after season 4 episode 5, but who doesnt love a good talk by a fire--it’s low stakes, like having an emotional talk in the car because it eliminates the awkward feelings people have to face when they’re forced to look each other in the eye while talking about serious topics

anyway please enjoy <3 it’s no work of art, but i had such an influx of sudden inspiration that i really wanted to write it out, so let me know what you think if you’re interested in reading my take on how Rytlock feels about Ryland, the current situation, how fatherhood has affected him in this one instance, etc

Rytlock sat at the fire, hunched slightly and unmoving. Having been concerned for him throughout this Jormag-related escapade, Eridunis approached and sank down carefully beside him. They didn’t speak for a moment, but soon Eridunis looked to Rytlock and started,

“... Are you doing okay?”

Firelight flickered across Rytlock’s face, reflecting in his eyes.

“No. I’ll be honest, Commander: I’m not.”

“I’m... here if you want to talk,” Eridunis offered, sliding back a little to give Rytlock more room.

Rytlock shook his head. “I just can’t believe it... I can’t believe... the arc I witnessed—First Ryland was just getting too damn cozy with an Imperator; then he was joining that Imperator on some... some fascist brigade... Then I thought—Well, he must have been brainwashed so well by Bangar that he could be convinced to willingly awaken an Elder Dragon to—to serve Bangar... And then this. How the hell did it come to this...”

Eridunis paused for a long time. After thinking carefully, he replied, “I think... This was probably Ryland’s plan for a while now... Maybe not the whole time, but—Let’s be honest here, Bangar was never gonna be Jormag’s Champion—“ Rytlock nodded with raised eyebrows, unsurprised by the observation. “—I mean I definitely didn’t think for a moment that would end up being Ryland, but... He’s smart. He... knew what he was going to do when he entered that ruin. This was all... leading up to it.”

Rytlock went still again, still staring at the fire. He flashed back to fighting Bangar, beside Ryland for the first time, only to watch him step forward and accept the horrific mark of Jormag.

Sighing, Rytlock blinked and leaned back, out of his head finally. “Do you know why I—“ He started slowly but cut himself off to restart: “Did I... Did I ever tell you why I never... brought him up... with you or with anyone?”

Eridunis blinked too and thought about it, scoring his mind for an answer. He soon shook his head. “No.”

Rytlock looked past the fire. He paused but soon began to explain, gesturing, “You know it’s... not really in Charr... culture or whatever... to be all family and kid-raising and all that... You know, you got your Sire and you got the Dam, and when she has the kid, it... goes away, right? Gets raised to... join a warband and not get all caught up by family shit. That’s the way it should be.” Eridunis squirmed, not agreeing—but Humans were different. His life was different. “But when Cre had Ryland,” Rytlock continued, shaking his head slowly, “I... I couldn’t stay away. I just felt this... this tug... towards him and towards him and towards this... this idea of being in his life.” He looked to Eridunis, seemingly a little uncertain suddenly. “Do you know what I mean?”

Eridunis nodded. “Yeah. I get that.”

Rytlock nodded back and looked away, pausing before he continued, “Something was different though. Now when... when I was a cub like that... I was... the smallest, weakest little runt in the group—no one liked me—couldn’t do anything right... Not to get all pity party on you...”

“Don’t worry about it,” Eridunis cut in with a small smile.

“But Ryland... He was liked enough... He got on just fine—got along with people too... He didn’t need any help.”

Eridunis frowned, suddenly thinking of something. “I was... under the impression that you didn’t see him,” he started quizzically, “Which was why Bangar was able to swoop in and... you know, get close to him in the first place.”

Rytlock scoffed. “Remember all those times Logan came to visit Divinity’s Reach to see you and his brother?”

Eridunis instantly thought of all the times Logan came to visit throughout his childhood—he had so many stories for him... He always looked forward to his visits. Smiling a little awkwardly, Eridunis nodded. “I guess you weren’t just twiddling your thumbs, huh?”

Rytlock let out a huffy laugh. “Yeah, exactly. I went to check on Ryland and... well, Ryland is my oldest, so... I guess my big head put a priority on him for some reason...” He trailed off, but after a long pause he continued again, “I kept... thinking he would need help... You know, what I would have done to have my Sire see me get pushed around—but I’m not—I’m not jealous—“ He began snarling with his self-defense, “I’m not—not rubbing my paws together like some sort of angry jackass—“

“No, no, no—“

“—waiting for him to fall over so I can sigh in relief over not being the weakest Charr in my bloodline—“

“Rytlock, I would have never thought that!” Eridunis cut in finally as Rytlock waved his hand in sharp dismissal. Eridunis turned to him fully and put his hand on Rytlock’s arm. “Rytlock, seriously—I get it. You weren’t jealous, you just—you wanted to be a father.” Rytlock stared at the ground as Eridunis continued, “You... lived this life of fear and frustration—no one understood you. I get that—I lived that! You thought... that if Ryland would be anything like you—his Sire—that he would struggle through his experience in the fahrar. You expected he would struggle in the same ways you did—and when he didn’t... you didn’t know what to do. You weren’t jealous that he was doing better than you at that age, you... you felt helpless.” Rytlock flicked his eyes up towards the fire again, looking drained by the actualization. “He... He didn’t need help. You kept... imagining what it would be like to be a father in this culture that doesn’t have fathers, but when your own son acted in ways you didn’t expect and didn’t look up to you, you pulled back even more and got distant, and you’ll never know if you could have had a better life if only you’d been honest with yourself and with him when it mattered most—and oh gods, I’m talking about me and Logan.”

Rytlock looked to Eridunis with wide eyes. Eridunis froze, looking down while he processed what he had said. He soon looked up to Rytlock again, and Rytlock raised his eyebrows before he asked, “You uh... got a lot still going on with that, huh?”

Eridunis paused but nodded as he let his head fall a little. He then shook and started again: “Anyway—What I really want to say is... You don’t need Ryland to look up to you.” Rytlock deflated and shook his head. “Really—I know it’s not all about that, but... It’s not your fault that this happened. It’s not... by some failure on you as his Sire that Ryland has chosen this path. Whether he chose it all himself or fell into it through bad influence, it’s not your fault.”

Rytlock looked gravely sullen. “... I won’t be able to kill him, Eridunis,” he said lowly, shaking his head as he stared at the fire again. Eridunis was struck not only by the use of his name, from someone who has primarily used his title for the past few years, but by the stark realism of the statement. Rytlock shook his head again. “No matter what he looks like. He could be... undead... Risen—Branded... and I would still know it’s him.” Rytlock’s eyes grew wetter. “I’d still see my son and think there must be a way to save him.”

Eridunis hesitated but gripped Rytlock’s arm again as he replied, “Don’t think about it—that’s not... on the table... not... now. Just—focus on where we are right now.” Rytlock closed his eyes and nodded, scowling at nothing when he opened them again. “Listen,” Eridunis continued, “Ryland’s... current situation aside... This is not your fault. You didn’t orchestrate this, Bangar did—“

Rytlock nodded with another scoff. “Yeah, him I’m okay with killing,” he bites.

Eridunis let out a dry laugh. “—Yeah, really—But look: You did not do this to him. You didn’t... screw him up, Rytlock...”

Rytlock didn’t seem completely convinced, but he looked to Eridunis and gave his best impression of a smile. “I get it. I know you’re trying to help, and... I appreciate it. I appreciate you being here.”

Eridunis nodded with his own smile. He sat back again and felt the urge to continue: “I know nothing can replace him in your heart...” Rytlock stifled the urge to gag. “... But if it helps... I’ve always looked up to you.”

Rytlock swung his gaze to Eridunis in absolute shock. “... Real shit?”

Eridunis cracked a bigger smile. “Yeah. I mean, when Logan first took me to meet Destiny’s Edge in old Lion’s Arch, I definitely walked away from that calling you an asshole under my breath to Logan—“

“Wow, thanks,” Rytlock grunted playfully.

Chuckling, Eridunis raised a hand, and he soon continued, “But—after I saw you save his life when we went up against the Flame Legion, this man who... had always been in my life and who I don’t know what I would do without his influence... When you saved his life, I immediately started to see you as someone I wanted to be.” Rytlock’s expression softened beyond what Eridunis thought could have been possible. Eridunis finished, “If you need to feel like you’ve made a good impact on someone in your life... let it be me. Let it be—Rox and Braham and Taimi and even Kas and Jory—Arkus, even. Let it be Logan, Rytlock.”

“Even Canach?” Rytlock cut in jokingly.

Eridunis snickered. “Yes—despite the fact that Canach would rather jump off a ravine than admit that he has feelings, I’m sure he appreciates the friendship you have.”

Rytlock let out a laugh and looked away again. He leaned back, propping his hands on the grass. “... Thanks.”

Eridunis paused, hoping he’d finally said the right thing for Rytlock to heal from this. “... You’re welcome, Rytlock.”

Eridunis soon leaned back and mirrored Rytlock’s position, and they both stared at the fire for a long while.

... Soon, though, Eridunis started again: “If you keep stressing out like this, you’re gonna grow more grey fur.”

“Say that again, and I’ll gut you right here.”

“I’m just saying; you’re gonna look like a snow leopard by the time we’re done with all this.”

“I’m pulling out Sohothin right now—“

“Don’t pull a hip while you’re at it.”

“—throw your body in the lake so when you come back to life again, you’ll be frozen solid anyway—“

Eridunis laughed, leaning his head back, and Rytlock couldn’t help but laugh with him, both of them finally relaxing after a long and terrible night.

[perfectharmonyloveschaos]

what if whenever klaus is accidentally doing his telekinesis at first, everyone thinks it's vanya, including him. but when hes by himself or something and things keep happening he doesnt notice it or brushes it off by reasoning it. ben keeps trying to tell him that hes being dumb and it's klaus whos doing all of that

Sorry if you just wanted me to talk about this in bullet points or anything (i still might, god I love making those), this idea was just too good and immediately inspired me to write a small fic about it so hope you’re not mad anon! I wasn’t sure how much to go into, so I tried to keep it to your ask, but goddamn if it wasn’t fun. Klaus being an idiot and not realising that he can move things with his mind is so funny to me for some reason, hope you enjoy it!

The first time there had been anything out of the ordinary, it had been Ben who had noticed it. Field after field of wheat and corn and cotton stretched as far as Klaus could see, squinting his tired eyes against the glare of the sun that sat lazily on the horizon. If not for the aches left from his sudden fall into whatever time period they were in – little Five had said that the equations were a bitch to get exactly right – than Klaus may have paid more attention.

Ben, however, didn’t get sore from falls out of the space-time continuum or hours of blind walking, so it really had been no wonder that his deceased brother had far more focus.

“Great.” Klaus hissed; his brows knitted together tightly as he hugged his arms closer to his chest. A shiver ran through him, the irritable itch of his skin taking no time in setting over his body. “This is just peachy, huh? Fivey couldn’t have dropped us somewhere nice… like Vegas?”

Ben made a face, strolling leisurely by the medium’s side as he watched the cattle stare as they passed. “Fresh air is better for you than booze and slot machines.” Ben reasoned, his lip rising as he watched Klaus’ slug by, his legs dragging off the dirt countryside roads until anything else came into view. “Besides, all these,” He added, gesturing a hand to a black Angus calf ignorant to them as it suckled its mother. “-must belong to someone.”

“Little shit dropped us in the asshole to nowhere…”

“The others could have landed in the nearest town.”

“-and my ribs hurt.”

Ben sighed, leaning his head back as he let his arms flop down to his sizes, focusing on the swaying motion of them as they walked in silence. They’d be okay, they’d find the others – probably Diego in that stupid outfit scowling at Klaus for ‘wandering off’ – and then Klaus would smile and quip and everything would be okay.

The others weren’t in the nearest town.

They could only gather so much from their surroundings, but their deductions seemed sound and clean enough that Ben smiled at his brother as he peered at the newspaper over his shoulder. Klaus’ long, knobby fingers worked on straightening the wrinkles and skimmed over the weather-worn letters – people had thrown looks at the lanky man tearing paper from a nearby trashcan, but none of them said anything, thankfully – only to let out a tired groan.

Ben didn’t need to read through it to understand what his brother meant.

“Nothing.”

Without another word, the newspaper was crumpled up into a ball and dropped at his feet, worn trainers that scuffed off the concrete feebly kicked it aside. He could see the tension in his brother’s shoulders, bare against his torn army vest – Dave, would he have been able to lift Klaus’ hopes better than Ben, did Klaus want Dave there more than him? – as his withdrawal slithered back in to replace the time-travel nausea.

Ben grimaced at the slump of Klaus’s body, hunched meekly on the sidewalk.

A few moments of silence went by.

“What are we gonna do?”

“We should check around for the others, at least we know something.”

“Fine.” Klaus nodded but didn’t budge from the sidewalk as his hands covered his face. The fashion definitely struck them of being around the 1960s, at least giving them a when to base their next action on, the newspaper only confirming it as 1960 to be exact. It was early morning, so fewer people were around to see Klaus – who appeared to be talking to the air, Ben reminded him – but the oncoming morning rush meant a higher chance of standing out.

“The Commission is probably already on our asses.”

Klaus snorted, but didn’t release the tension in his shoulders. Pressing his arms tighter against his side, the skin of his hands pressed white off the sidewalk, pushing all his weight into his limbs and yet failing to move. Short nails clawed at the concrete. Ben stared down at him, brow wrinkled at the heaving breaths that passed through his thin form, shivering with each exhale.

Glancing up to take a look at their surroundings, Ben forced himself to stay put. Withdrawal was a bitch, that much was given at how many times he had seen Klaus go through it before in hospitals and rehab, only to dive back into the intoxication pool without hesitation. But time-travel? That was a whole other game, sensations that he couldn’t understand as he was.

Klaus exhaled a hard breath beside him, the muscles of his arms flexed between them and his teeth clenched down hard into his jaw. Breathe, Ben reminded him, repeating the word over and over until it sounded wrong and then kept going.

"Breathe”.

“I know.”

“We’ll be okay.”

Klaus groaned in reply.

“We’ll find the others, and everything will be-”

The newspaper shot away from them and all the way across to the other side of the street.

Ben blinked.

His mouth opened to speak, to question what had just occurred, only to let his mouth close once more. There had been no wind, no breeze that flapped at Klaus’ clothing or anything else on the street strong enough to do that, so how-

“Alright... I’m alright,” Klaus said slowly, letting out a groan as he shakily rose to his feet. Ben leapt to attention, adrenaline left over alerting him to the scuff of his brother’s foot off the road before he could help him to his feet, his eyes never leaving Klaus. That was… new. “Let’s go.”

                                                         (***)

“Klaus.”

“Ben, for the last time-!”

“It was floating!”

“I must’ve made some other ghost corporal by accident!” Klaus reasoned, waving his brother’s concern away as he shoved his arms back through his jacket sleeves. “Remember when you were able to hold stuff again? You knocked all kinds of shit over-”

“There were no other ghosts, I would’ve seen it.”

Klaus rolled his eyes, picking up the knocked over lamp and replacing it back on the motel bed table.  Blowing a raspberry after flicking the light switch on to make sure the bulb wasn’t damaged; Klaus hoisted his bag over his shoulder and gestured for Ben to follow. “Maybe being corporal makes it harder to see other ghosts, Benny-boy.”

Realising the other was heading out the motel room door rather than listening, Ben pursed his lips with a shake of his head as he followed Klaus. Watching Klaus tie his hair into a high bun – the tangled mess of curls on his head now reaching his chin – in order to help dry the sweat still coating his neck, Ben sighed.

Ghosts can’t knock over lamps, he frowned to himself as Klaus hopped into the driver seat, quickening his pace to slip in the passenger seat before the other had time to start the engine. But idiots who can move stuff without touching them having nightmares can.

                                                        (***)

“Lucky that the guy tripped, huh?”

“Yeah,” Ben sighed, rolling his eyes as Klaus swung his arms leisurely, going on his merry way as if he hadn’t almost been mugged and stabbed by some alley-thug five minutes before. “It’s our lucky day…”

Because men twice the size of Klaus just so happened to become clumsy despite being able to sneak up on a man and a literal ghost.

And that said thug had tripped so hard that he somehow flung himself back down the alleyway far enough that they could escape.

And that the man’s knife just so happened to fly out of his hand and straight into a wooden pallet leaning against a wall more then ten feet away.

Purely, undoubtedly, luck.

Shaking his head, Ben forced himself to only nod when Klaus suggested they get something to eat.

His brother was such an idiot.

                                                        (***)

Their whole family were idiots.

“Our first objective should be stopping the apocalypse─”

“We need to help Vanya─”

“Allison please, we don’t know what she’s capable─”

“She is trying to control them, Luther. Why can’t you─

Any attempt at conversation was muffled out as Luther shouted louder, only angering Allison who had stood in-between him and Vanya once their brother had shown a lack of resolve to control himself. Lingering off to the side of the room, Klaus could only chuckle as chaos erupted between his three siblings, earning a look from the remainder of his family.

Five took no time in trying to dismantle the tension, jumping back and forth between the living room and the kitchen counter in order to move his plans elsewhere. Neither Ben, Klaus or Diego could blame the fifty-year-old-teen for his lack of concern, arguments were as common in their family as game nights for other, more functional homes.

Earning an expectant look from Ben, Klaus sighed as he hoisted himself up from the couch and stepped cautiously over to their siblings. Diego, raising a brow, glanced over to Ben before giving his dead brother a small smile.

Good job.

Ben straightened his posture, lifting his weight from the settee arm and instead balancing it on his opposite hip. He pursed his lips, however, into a glare at the shift of Luther’s stance, using his bulbous shoulders to basically shove Klaus out of the argument without even hearing what the medium had to say.

Lifting his hands before him to show no harm, Klaus tried to draw attention back to Vanya and her own voice, rather than letting her be drowned out like always. Sharing a smile with his shorter sister, Vanya shifted to allow Klaus room, guiding Allison who could only smile at her growth in confidence.

The conversation, however, didn’t calm as Luther continued to protest despite the majority, besides Five who was too busy working out equations in the kitchen and trying to save the world to care, to the point where Diego rushed in at the mention of their childhood numbers.

Klaus groaned, smothering his face with his own hands once Diego unsheathed a knife. Not listening to either Allison or Vanya demanding them to stop, Ben stood back as the argument began to break down into a brawl between the two highest numbers.

That was, until, something pushed them.

Silence fell as a force of some kind knocked into both men, knocking Diego’s knife from his hand and sending both him and Luther further back from one another. Wide-eyed, the group grew silent.

Until Five jumped back into the room, pissed-off and snarling at the group to restrain themselves, rather than making the Commission’s job easier for them.

Ben sighed as the blame shifted to Vanya, furrowing his brows as he caught sight of Klaus stepping back from his sister in shock. None had noticed his hand, clenched tightly into a fist and still slightly glowing blue.

Sharing a look with his startled brother, Ben scowled at his dismissal and the attention on Vanya, ignoring their sister’s certainty that she hadn’t done anything. Klaus shook his hand out, letting the colour fade and acted to be simply stretching once Five and Diego looked at him at the collapse of the argument.

Shrugging of Diego’s concerns, Klaus was quick to console Vanya.

Ben frowned but pushed those thoughts away upon his siblings realising he was corporeal once more, attempting to ease tension within the bunker.

Idiots.

[naoyatoudo]

i need to rant about how zzs was treated in shl hold on spoilers for the end of the drama

still pissed. i hate HATE HATE that zzs was shoved to the side and became the little side piece to wkx’s story of revenge. hello? he’s the MC. ZZS is the MC. WKX is the ML. this is not the wkx story this is the zzs story, literally, he is the main character. why does he just drop back into the background at some point, shoved into a corner, used only to make wkx look good? hello? how the fuck is it that he was captured and tortured for days but no one asks after him or shows much care when he comes back...........it just goes to wkx’s stupid plan that he DOESN’T TELL ZZS ABOUT? HELLO?

and after wkx “dies” no one even thinks to keep an eye on zzs despite him literally trying to commit suicide to follow after him before. how the fuck could they just leave him alone?? and then even when zcl and jby and wx learn about him taking out the nails they just are like. ok bye :) at least zcl cries but  THE FOCUS IS STILL ON WKX??????????? THE ENTIRE FUCKING TIME OUTSIDE LIKE 5 MINUTES??? AND WKX OF COURSE HAS THIS WEIRD OOC MOMENT AND LIES TO ZZS AND ACTS LIKE ZZS DESERVES IT AS IF HE HASNT LIED TO ZZS MULTIPLE TIMES NEAR THE END DESPITE THE FACT THEY HAVE A WHOLE THING ABOUT NOT LYING TO EACH OTHER BUT WHATEVER. HAHA. WHO CARES RIGHT? AS LONG AS WKX LOOKS SYMPATHETIC AND GOOD! FUCK. IT’S SO OBVIOUS THE SCRIPTWRITER HAS A WKX BIAS IT MAKES ME FEEL ILL.

I’M SO ANGRYYYYYYY HOW ZZS WAS TREATED LIKE SHIT IN THIS. LIKE GREAT SO YOU TOOK AWAY HIS DECISION WITH HIS LIFE TO SACRIFICE YOUR OWN SO HE’D LIVE FOREVER AND TRAPPED ON A MOUNTAIN AND CAN ONLY EAT SNOW. ALONE. FOREVER. HOW KIND OF YOU. IT’S NOT LIKE YBY HAS A WHOLEEEEEEE EXTRA ABOUT HOW MISERABLE THAT IS OR ANYTHING IN THE NOVEL RIGHT? FUCK OFF. HOW DARE YOU DRAMA WKX.

NOT TO MENTION HOW THE COSTUMES AND MAKEUP WERE CLEARLY HIGHER QUALITY FOR WKX...LIKE REALLY? REALLY?????/ ASIDE THE NEW YEARS ONES IT’S SO STARK HOW MUCH MORE MONEY WENT INTO WKX’S LOOK. AND THE AMOUNT OF TIMES WE HAVE TO SEE THE SAME STUPIF FUCKING FLASHBACKS OF WKX YES I KNOW HIS PAST YES I GET IT I DONT NEED TO SEE IT EVERY EPISODE 3 TIMES.

THE NOVEL. IS ABOUT. ZZS. IT’S ABOUT HIM LEARNING TO MOVE ON AND SPEND HIS LIFE FREELY. WITH HIS OWN DECISIONS. AND BE HIMSELF. SINCE HE COULDN’T DO ANY OF THAT WHILE STUCK SERVING THE EMPEROR (PRINCE HERE, WHATEVER). AMAZING HOW WKX TAKES THAT AWAY FROM HIM AT THE END OF THE DRAMA AND IT’S PLAYED AS GOOD AND ROMANTIC. WKX’S REVENGE PLOT IS IN THE BACKGROUND AND IN THE END HE LITERALLY /LITERALLY/ CHOOSES TO LIVE SO HE CAN BE WITH ZZS. THERE IS NO SACRIFICE ON HIS PART. ZZS DOES NOT GET INVOLVED IN HIS SHIT EXCEPT TO SAVE HIM AT THE END. ZZS LITERALLY STATES WKX’S PLOTS ARE HIS OWN AND HE HAS NO RIGHT TO BUT IN IN THE NOVEL.

WHY DID YOU WRITE ZZS LITERALLY THE OPPOSITE OF WHO HE IS? I GET CHANGING THINGS TO MAKE HIM PALATABLE FOR  A WIDER AUDIENCE BUT COME ON. AND HIS CRYING AND SIMPERING..LIKE..>???????????? EVEN THEN FINE. BUT THEN YOU TURN HIM INTO A SIDE PIECE WHO JUST IS THERE FOR WKX TO LOOK GOOD. I AM SSSSSO MAD AND I’M GLAD APPARENTLY CHINESE FANS ARE TOO (?) . he deserved better. he did not deserve to be cast aside so the limelight can be on wkx. i feel so bad for zzs and for his ACTOR because even with the actos everyone is soooo focused in wkx’s actor.

wkx’s actor did well don’t get me wrong, glad he is getting attention, but zzs’ actor did really well too.......ugh. the way people are so into wkx and just use zzs as a piece for him even in fics now..like whya re so many fics zzs crying over wkx dying or being a comfort for an upset wkx?? zzs is the one who is literally in pain every single day, was literally tortured and betrayed, lost EVERYONE from his sect, and the whole shit show with wkx’s fake death HE WASN’T TOLD WAS FAKE. SO HE HASTENED HIS DEATH. but no it’s all about wkx and wkx’s emotions right? fuck off.

i’m gonna write so much stuff for zzs. im gonna write jby noticing zzs is upset and confronting and comforting him. for a supposed best friend in the drama he didn’t do fucking much. idk why wx and jby were even there, in the novel they cure him but here they just. what give him medicine so he can live an extra week? wow great.

im so sad we didnt get to see all the things zzs thinks in the novel that show how affected he is by everything and how traumatized he is. i hate how they made his shizun this friendly father figure when he was a rough person who died and left everything for zzs to handle alone at FIFTEEN. i hate how they made zzs the prince’s cousin for NO FUCKING REASON when zzs was just some guy from a family in the jianghu who befriended the prince to help his sect survive.

why is it the series starts off well and with zzs as the mc and switches at some point to be the wkx show? i still like wkx but im so........disappointed. im so disappointed if my rants didnt say it enough ufbhvndskm, especially how the other characters dont notice how upset or pained zzs is at any point?? how the fuck did jby not??? amazingly zcl is the best with it...T__T

also why is it they fight constantly and even though zzs is literally right usually wkx is the sympathetic one and they never talk it through zzs just kind of goes back over to him and they act like normal?? hello??? yeah, uh, zzs was RIGHT. INNOCENT PEOPLE WERE LITERALLY BEING KILLED FOR WKX’S PLAN. YES ZZS WAS RIGHT. IT’S HIS LIFE IF HE WANTS TO JUST DIE FROM HIS WOUNDS AND NOT LOSE HIS MARTIAL ARTS HE CAN. does no one remember in the novel when wkx tries to destroy his martial arts zzs stops him with a “if anyone should understand, it’s you..” and wkx just stops and says “yes...i..i understand...” and respects zzs’ wishes???

what were their other stupid fights? oh yeah zzs again saying innocent people die and oh look he was right again. when wkx betrays zzs’ trust and does his fake death without telling him zzs doesnt even get mad at him. meanwhile wkx raged at him for choosing his own path in life that wkx didnt want...right, that’s good. then the fucking end with wkx saying it’s his turn to lie to zzs like he didnt before. i would punch wkx into the ground for that. fuck you asshole, are you kidding me with this shit??

also why did it take so long for zzs to realize who wkx is in the drama?? in the novel they figured each other out right away almost... why is zzs weaker physically and not as smart.. T_T and he took his disguise off earlier so the fangirls wouldnt have to deal with the “ugly” (wasnt even ugly) look...i know it would never have happened but i feel like wkx’s reaction to his real face was kind of understated. i’ve already said i dislike the shidi-shixiong thing but i do get why they did it so whatever.

im mostly mad about how zzs was picked up, slapped around, and thrown outside.........

scriptwriter why do you hate zzs.......?

[graffitibible]

Do you have any advice for writing or creating regularly? That’s hard for me and I’d like to get better at it.

it boils down to what works best for you personally tbh. i’ve got a system to write semi-regularly (or i did......restricted movement hours have kinda forced me to restructure that lol) and it works for me but that’s just how my brainyot works. i’m a routine-based creature so working writing into my routine was how i got myself to write semi-regularly. 

ive also had significant Brain Junk for most of my life and was gradually able to navigate how best to create in spite of that but im also like, medicated for it and the like so self-care was a factor. i couldnt create shit while i was too busy lying in a pool of my own filth having fits of paranoia about the nature of reality so i was hardly about to make myself try and create stuff when that wasnt even on my radar. 

i can share some of the things i do to keep myself writing though! like again this isn’t something that’s for sure gonna work for everybody cause everybodys wired differently but i hope some of it helps!

1. daily wordcount - i’ve mentioned this before but i have a daily wordcount that i do for my original fiction. i don’t apply the same standard to fic-writing because that risks making it an arbitrary barrier that puts too many numbers on my internal list. that being said, it’s very small. i make myself do 200 words per day. if that gets me going and writing more than that, awesome. if not, i still got a little bit done. 200 words is small, and it’s not overwhelming to catch up on if i miss a day. no matter how shitty im feeling i try to get in 200 words.

2. routine - since i’m a routine-based person by nature i basically found ways to finagle creative processes into all that. it’s not hard and fast because that kind of rigid structure makes me balk and i’m not that disciplined lol, but it’s usually something like “i have an hour-long lunch break at work and literally nothing else to do during it so i’ll write in that time period” or “i have thirty minutes of sitting by the stove making dinner so i’ll write until it’s ready”

3. momentum - or what my housemate fondly calls “The Juice.” if i have The Juice of inspiration i keep that going for as long as i can. if something’s not working for me i don’t scrap it or toss it right away. if i’m having trouble with a scene i make a note to myself and move on to a different one. example of this from my latest wip, which is part iv of mayhem

i hadnt worked out what was gonna go there and nothing was coming to me easy in the moment so i stuck the note there and kept going. my works are full of this shit. if i can’t think of a name or if there’s a statistic or a character i haven’t worked out yet i don’t wanna break my focus and momentum so i slap a note in the first draft and keep going. at a first draft stage the important thing is getting the words Out so it doesnt matter if theyre perfect. ill go back and fix them later, revise all i need to. first drafts dont need to be good, they just need to be there so i can spruce them up later.

on the flip side do not be like me and commit to this momentum so bad that you forget that you are a human being who needs to eat and consume liquids. i do that sometimes because of who i am as a person and it is a serious flaw of mine, do not be like this. sometimes getting some food in you is what you need to get The Juice flowing again and that sounds kinda gross and i am sorry

4. planning and hangups - this ones dependent on how you create. i forget where this analogy came from, but i’ve heard it said that some writers are architects who need a blueprint of where they’re going before they end up there and some writers are gardeners, who don’t need a set plan so much as they need to keep going. i’m definitely an architect - a lot of my works start out as bulletpoints of what scenes i wanna cover, what topics i wanna explore, etc. - though i have on occasion simply Written without any set destination, usually to force myself out of a creative slump. me being a big planner used to be one of the biggest barriers for me creatively because i’d spend hours agonizing over minute universe details and never start the dang story. this still happens from time to time. like heres what my organizational folder looks like wrt “pray for disaster”

that is not even all the files in there. why do i have two dictionaries. jesus. like i make these giant ass fuckin....tomes of stuff i like to keep track of, which i like to call “bibles” lol. except i could tell that getting too organized was gonna be an uphill battle with very little payoff so by the end i just made a “MISCELLANEOUS BULLSHIT” doc and for now i throw everything in there if it doesn’t fit into something like a dictionary or timeline

shit like this is why i like to just sit down and write without a clear destination in mind if i’m having writer’s block. that’s one of those things that goes hand in hand with the way i take advantage of my own momentum - if i reach a certain point where i’m just picking at details and not doing any writing i just go “ok motherfucker sit down and write shit. we will work out the details later.”

5. motivation - the ways i tend to motivate myself are weird so idk how true this is for anybody else but i’ve been writing for a pretty large part of my life. i went to college for english/creative writing and got a whole dang degree cause i still wanna make this my vocation somehow. one thing i cannot ever turn off is the writer part of my brain that’s going “oooh huh that’s not how i would’ve written that” in literally every piece of art i consume - tv, movies, books, songs, etc. sometimes that’s enough to inspire me into doing something on my own time. most of the time though if i’m feeling stumped i tend to crack open some of my personal favorite works, like books or fics that have really resonated with me, to fall in love with the art all over again. seeing the way different authors and artists do their craft helps me get in the zone of wanting to write more cause i get this nice feeling of “damn, these people really did those things with those words.....that’s fuckin amazing.....i wanna do that.” 

you do risk falling into the trap of “ugh i can’t write like them though” but that’s the beauty of writing. nobody can write the way anybody else does. ofc i can’t write like terry pratchett, only terry pratchett can write like terry pratchett, and if i compare myself to terry pratchett i’m only gonna get sad and mopey. but i can write in a way thats totally unique to me so i should not try to write like terry pratchett because that’s just impeding my own creative energy in the interest of trying to cookie-cut myself into someone else’s zone. only terry pratchett can write like terry pratchett but only i can write like zero graffitibible.

i hope that was helpful? like this is all stuff that works for me so no guarantee it’ll work for everyone else.

oh right and idk how many of yall are minors because let it be known that i do not condone underage drinking; i am an adult who occasionally will get crunk because i like to write drunk and edit sober. if you too are an adult who can legally consume alcohol feel free to write while buzzed because that is a nice way to write with zero fuckin inhibitions. i dont get blackout drunk or nothing just a little buzzed and sometimes what i write makes no sense but i am at times at my most productive at 2am while mildly buzzed. its a thing.

like again i’m not really an authority on this by any means - this is just what works for me. but if it works for you too, great!! find your zone and all that

[kewltie]

How do you come up with so many new ideas for stories? I feel like I’m constantly stumped and stuck with cliches (and while those are fun and I absolutely love them) I can never really think of something to make it my own? When I see your writing I feel like you’re able to take cliches and make it your own so much it no longer feels like one, I’m always so worried about making a story to similar to another when trying to put a spin on a classic trope, also! Hope youre doing okay during this time

hi anon!!!

such a good question to bring up! for me, personally, inspiration comes really easy bc im really easy. that sounds weird but i basically consume any form of media across various genres that would catch my interest. i read, watch, play (games mostly lol), etc and maintain a variety of interest in like all sort of things so i pull ideas from a lot of diff places. like, i REALLY REALLY love animals and nature documentaries so i like to incorporate that into my stories w/ in the form of post-apocalyptic mermaids au (what happen when majority of humans leave earth and those left behind returns to the oceans bc i watch a fake nature doc about mermaids which are apparently sea ape and how how all live originate in the sea) or plant au (where the earth is living entity and try to take back the planet w overgrown murderous plants and descend into a world of nature taking REVENGE etc). i also really REALLY like watching doc about history of conquered so that influence my writing a lot lol. so yea, i take inspo in all these media i consumed and turn it into something i want to read. so having all these various interests that are all over the place i dont have a problem jumping from one genre to the next and never really get bored! you can see me talking endlessly about the various media i have consumed (i.e shoujo/shounen/yaoi etc manga/webtoon, asian dramas, games, tv shows) and im always open to new ones too!! being open minded to try out things not in my comfort zone was such a huge help for me and now im like ok that sounds cool i’ll try it lol. 

also, i really what i call genre mashing like combining two things that dont usually go together automatically like ??? post apocalyptic mermaids??? the princess bride but steampunk?? OR beauty and the beast au in space?? LIKE all are ideas i have talk huge amount about bc i love putting familiar ideas and throwing it some weird wild settings and just HAVE FUN. if you have something you think been done a millions time before (which is not WRONG AT ALL) just think how you could do it different this time around or look at it in a diff perspective. like, i wrote a hundred arrange marriage royalty au AND I APOLOGETICALLY LOVES THEM and each time im like i already did desert setting so i’ll go for some winter setting this time around; or i’ll make them childhood friends last time, i’ll go for enemies; in other fic i explored theme of duty vs heart, now i want to explore war themes etc so like i dont intentionally try to make it diff but i just think how the story & chars may go if i take on a diff direction and sometimes that little change can have a rippling effect and turn into a whole diff story. so yea, dont be afraid to ask yourself WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF–? bc who knows where it take you! 

this also translate to when im reading fanfics of other ppl and I READ A LOT. LIKE A SHIT TON. if im not writing im usually reading something. when im reading other ppl’s fic i get to see their take on certain tropes or how they address certain that i may really like a lot and i want to tackle it on my own but that also lead to if i run into a branch in the story where the author does it certain way but i think myself hmm…. what if this happen the other way and THAT GIVES ME IDEA. like, dont let hold yourself back from reading other fanfics bc you’re afraid you get similar ideas when the whole of fandom is about inspiring each other. inspiration =/= carbon copy. i openly talked about my ideas all the time and not possessive about it bc sometimes ppl would ask me if they can write something base of it and i 99%  say yea go ahead bc the way they write it would be diff from how i write it even though it’s the same concept, how i write the chars & the themes may be diff from how they view it. you can HAVE THE SAME IDEA BUT DIFF EXECUTION. that’s the most important part!!! it is not plagiarizing bc seeding an idea is like part of fandom and it becomes trend a lot the way ABO gets around the fandom like wildfire lmao. 

last but not least, be THE FIC YOU WANT TO READ. this is why you usually see me starting a conversation w a i really, really LOVE/LIKE etc and ramble away about an idea and how it’ll go. a lot of my stories are a reflection of my interests like how im always talking endlessly about kingdoms, war, and rulers and conquerors bc im just really fascinated by it lmao /o. and there’s also all those single parents fic i wrote bc i deeply empathized with it due my childhood being raised by a single mother. and there are times when things that matter to me i put in my stories, like im hitting my 30s soon and im still single. i think i dont mind being like that but i want to have children so how would that work out?? things that plague me in real life i address in fics in term of surrogacy & sperm donation bc it’s something i consider about wanting a family when you’re single and dont have a partner. every fic or idea i have ever written or talk about you can see my fingerprints all over it bc they’re things i deeply, truly care and am interest about that i want IT TO EXIST IN THE WORLD so i write it out. i algo get really annoyed when im there’s a trend in fandom to take a trope in certain direction and i just dont like it lmao (i.e. villain!deku im more focus on izuku getting his redemption and how & yandere au  WHEN THEY ARE EQUALLY CRAZY ABOUT EACH OTHER) so i put my frustration and complaint into a fic. you can see this clearly in a lot of my ABO fics where i tend to put omegas often on top bc that’s just my particular taste. i dont try to buckle trend just to be contrary but i do it when my taste doesn’t match theirs and ya know be the fic you see in the world basically lol. just bc something is popular by the mass doesn’t mean you have to follow it even IF YOU THINK YOU’RE THE ONLY ONE WHO LIKE IT, let assure you’re wrong. there will always be someone who taste clicks with yours OR you can persuade them just by writing a kickass fic and just stand by what they wrote. sometimes, i find myself falling in love with a story i would never consider reading at all bc i dont like the trope or themes just bc the writing is v v v good or the writer CLEARLY LOVE WHAT THEY WROTE THAT THEY PUT THEIR HEART AND SOUL INTO IT and i can see it in their writing and im swayed. so yea, don’t think of putting a new spin on old cliche but try to think of as making it your own by doing it how you WOULD GO AT IT. how would you write the million abo fic? what do you like to see? HISTORICAL, SCIFI, FANTASY? how would you categorized ABO?? go for classic alphas rules society and omegas are lower class? or do the total opposite?? like DON’T FORCE yourself to be diff, just let it come to you and im sure you’ll be able to make it your own bc look there’s like a million fics on ao3 AND EVEN MORE THAN MILLION original novels in real life. you’re not going to invent anything new that had never seen before so dont try be diff but be yourself and soon you’ve have something that is solely your owns and nobody else and that’s the best advice i can give. 

a;sjdf;as sorry this is such a incoherent mess but i LOVE, LOVE cliches just as much as i like trope breaking them and it doesnt matter where you fall on the line as long as you can enjoy what you create that’s all that matter! i hope whatever i said help you out a little and lighten your worry just a bit. and thanks for the question bc it really is intrestingl !!!!! and i hope you’re staying safe and please take care bc im doing ok for now lol!!

[thegeminisage]

hey liz i've been thinking a lot about story structure lately and i wanted your take on how you decide what structure your stories will have? i know there's that "you have to do what your story needs and tells you to do" thing but these bitches dont ever tell me anything they just multiply so. thoughts? - bma

(as an aside, i don't know whether involving medium would change many things but it may be worth considering. mainly i think medium is just a matter of arrangement and that the story would be for most intents and purposes the same no matter how you choose to tell it. i guess you could argue that structure is arrangement in itself and intrinsically tied to medium but i sort of feel like it is secondary arrangement, if at all? like if you consider time as an element to outline -- the time IN the story (how things happen to your characters) is not necessarily the time you’re telling the story IN (how you are telling your reader that things are happening) aka internal chronology doesnt equal your work’s pacing? or should it??? does this make sense? i dont think so. i am sorry.) - bma :|

NOOO dont be sorry ur making total sense

i think there’s 3 thots to unpack here (medium, structure, & chronology) & i’m gonna start with medium bc it’s easier. im also putting it behind a cut bc it’s gonna get just stupidly long and rambly. i’m sorry in advance if it’s not helpful to you, i have a lot to say for someone who has never taken even one single class on writing and as a result doesn’t know jack shit (there’s a tl;dr at the end dont worry)

about MEDIUM: 

so like ok i’m just some goof-off with a HS degree who writes fanfiction but In My Very Super Qualified Personal Opinion, i don’t think that most of the time medium is intrinsically tied to STRUCTURE of the main storytelling arc...i think the art of storytelling itself is distinct from the medium you choose to tell the story IN. this post puts it better than i ever could but basically for me, i feel like the story itself is sort of the raw, malleable concept, and the medium you choose to tell it in is how you convey the information??

like in a book, you can say “she forgot her keys” and in a film you have to show her smacking her forehead, heading back into the house, and swiping her keeps off the counter. you can’t TELL in film, you have to show. similarly i regret every day i cannot perfectly describe a facial expression with words when i see it so clearly in my head. for audio-only podcasts that are dialogue heavy out of necessity you have different limitations than you would for, say, animated music videos with no dialogue at all. games allow for more interactivity and exploration while sacrificing accessibility, tv shows allow for more length while sacrificing, uh, a big hollywood budget...medium affects the kind of story you can reasonably tell which is why some stories are better suited to one medium than another. i think trying things in other mediums is a good way to stretch your storytelling muscles but with enough skill nearly any story could be told in any medium. i think when trying to decide on a medium you just gotta weigh the pros & cons and what you feel comfortable with/what you think would be most effective/what would evoke the strongest reaction

re: structure:

firstly “do what the story tells u to do” is a little silly like...the story isn’t sentient. come on. that’s like “i can only write when the writing gods inspire me” there are no writing gods! inspire yourself! it’s all in our weird messed up brains! ok anyway.

this is, again, just how i do things, and i am 700% self-taught so take it with a grain of salt, but when i sit down and start blocking out a story from scratch i don’t...actually consider the big structure at all! sorry if that’s not helpful to you. i like to make a list of everything i want to happen, and then put it together in a few different orders to see what looks best. and when i’m finished, whatever i have just like...IS the structure i go with, with perhaps minor tinkering to make it flow more smoothly. (i think this might be in the same spirit as “do what the story tells you” with less bullshit and more Agency Of The Writer.)

for long and more complex projects, i actually usually have several lists - one list of stuff that is, for example, the Action Plot (the kingdom has been cursed, i’m tracking down my serial killer sister to bring her to justice, i’m running from djinn who wanna kill my dad, i’m trying to bring my dead not-boyfriend back to life). then i have another list for Character A & Character B’s romance or whatever. and maybe a even another one for solo character development (magicphobic prince learns to love magic, former werewolf hunter figures out his family is a cult, half-demon learns to embrace his own nature). and as many lists as we need for however many Main Characters and or Plots/Sideplots

how i order the lists: individually first. don’t mix them together to start with. when deciding the order of an individual list i like to, for example in a romance arc, use escalating intimacy. “A and B have dinner together” is naturally gonna go way sooner than “A and B kiss” or “A and B talk about A’s angsty backstory” because that’s more satisfying. draw it out, good/important stuff last, dangle that carrot so we have a reason to keep reading! for singular character development, it’s basically a straightforward point A to point B...if i want my guy to start hating magic with everything he is and end up being very comfortable with it, i have to put “reluctantly uses magic to save his own life” WAYYY before “casually using magic to light torches and reheat his cold stew.” 

the tricky part for me is when i’m done with these lists and then i need to mix them together To Pace My Whole Story. (this is usually why i wind up with a rainbow colored spreadsheet.) i don’t like to put too many things too close together because then the pace feels uneven. even if my Action Plot is only a thinly veiled excuse for romance and character development, i still don’t want to focus on a romance for 30,000 words and then go “and oh yeah in case you forgot Serial Killing Sister is still coming for your asses.” the more sideplots and major character arcs you’re juggling the harder it is to get an even distribution, which is my main concern always

and like, generally, whatever i have when i’m finished...is my structure. (sorry.) 

i don’t know much about the classic 3-act or anything like that, but i usually can divide them up into 3-5 big arcs based on story turning points. sometimes i take a scene out of one arc and put it in another because it fits better and i like for my shit to be organized, but usually by the time i’m finished with all that, that’s what the final story is mostly gonna look like. (there have been a few exceptions when i realized i needed extra scenes/changes while i was MID-DRAFT and let me tell you that murders me EVERY time. it happened on the merlin fic i’m currently posting and that was like my own personal hell.)

this is also where thots about chronology come in:

i think time CAN be an element of this if you WANT it to be, but it doesn’t HAVE to be. if you want it to be, i would consider it just another “list” like character development or the romance arc. 

i usually plot without considering Time very much...to me, it’s all down to the events you want to show, and however much time it takes is the byproduct. if you want to show something from a character’s chilhood but then tell the bulk of it when they’re adults, that’s one thing. if you want to show a scene from their childhood, teenhood, young adulthood, etc, that’s a different kind of pacing?? i usually do it this way so i can regard time like wordcount: it takes as long as it takes. 3 days or 3 years, a 1.5k drabble or a 100k epic...overall, my LARGEST CONCERN is that even distribution. in the same way that i don’t want one chapter to be 30,000 words when the rest are 10,000 words, i personally am not a fan of huge timeskips offscreen

(because this where i think someone’s own internal chronology DOES matter...this is just a personal preference, as a reader i have a hard time really comprehending, say, a year timeskip or a 10yr timeskip when all i did was turn one page. like, a year is such a long time. i can’t even begin to describe how different i am now to how i was a year ago. it’s the same for character development. time IS development and as a writer i’m not really comfortable having that take place offscreen - for main characters, at least. it’s just too jarring. a little prologue with something happening 10 or 20 years ago is usually fine, but for the most part, i’m not a fan. ...i can do one chapter per year a lot easier than i can do two chapters in childhood and the other 8 in adulthood. of course you can play with this a LOT with nonlinear storytelling, which is a whole other very cool thing, and someone skilled in their work can keep me sucked in no matter what, but imo if you don’t want to risk throwing your reader out of your work it’s better to keep things steady)

HOWEVER sometimes time IS an element u wanna consider outside of just making sure your shit is evenly distributed...if your heart is moved to tell a story in a specific timeframe, over a year, or from solstice to solstice (this was almost the timeline for my merlin fic and then i changed it), for the first six months of a friendship, or even a huge journey in the span of a single day (toby fox had a lot of success with this one lol).

i think it can help to choose a start and end point for your chronology the same way you do for character development (prince goes from hating magic to being ok with it, story takes place from ages 8 to 25, or from new year’s eve 2038 to 2039, whatever) - that way you can keep your distribution even, if that’s a thing you want to do...even if you have a lot of skips you can still note what happens offscreen to make it work better in your head? like, if you just make it another List, another column on your spreadsheet, when you’re in the early stages of organizing you can be conscious of it and make sure it’s playing into the story the way you want it to

anyway these r my thots im SOOOO SORRY this is so long lmao. brain machine broke today which is why i had to ramble more to explain myself. the tl;dr in case ur brain is melting out of ur ears & u didn’t sign up for an essay:

imo medium is totally distinct from storytelling tho ofc some stories are better suited to some mediums

structure? i don’t know her. i plot w/o regard to structure and then if it looks funny i mush it into a more structurally sound shape

my main concern when structuring anything, including time, is an even distribution of Events and a steady rate of escalation

structure to me is just what i have when i’m finished plotting. i’m sorry one day i’m gonna take a writing class

internal chronology matters to me personally because i have a little bit of time blindness but maybe not to everyone, i know many very successful stories where they disregarded that entirely to no ill effect

writer’s block isn’t real! everyone just needs more rainbow spreadsheets

thank u for asking I HOPE i didn’t make you regret it too badly lmao and that at least a little of it was helpful!! 

[throwing-summers-at-the-walls]

Hello half valid anon here (i like my nickname 😂). I got through all your fics and they were all great. Right now im just reading a lot of poi fanfics and watch fanvids cause i can't accept that the series is over 😂 --- i know what you mean about fics affecting you negatively. I had this with 13rw (the Show and some fics) everything was so dark and hopeless that i had to stop watching it. I also love to seek out fics where someone is hurt so i can feel my pain through the characters (1)

But i try to read only fics with lots of comfort so it kinda feels like i get comforted as well (dont know if that makes sense). If it makes you uncomfortable or if its unhealthy for you to write about this i completely understand and i dont mean to come of as pushing you to write. I just hope whatever you do will be the right decision for you! As for you feeling suicidal im sorry to hear that. Let me know if there is ever anything i can do to help! I wish i could say sth more comforting but Im not super good with words :( i just hope you have people in your life that support you! 💛

maybe root will grow on you too? Or maybe you can skip her scenes and enjoy John, Harold and most importanly Bear! 😂 Yeah Shaw definately looks really good. She is a bit like Reese minus the caring. At first it seems she doesnt care about anything at all but thats not exactly the Case. There was an episode with Shaw and a little girl (3x5) and i really loved it (have you seen that one?).

I really think Shaw would grow on you (especially since in the beginning she does a lot with John) but then again a lot of her later scenes include Root so im not sure. Yes i love that there were never any romantic undertones with her and John!!

yeah the core four were great. I was so sad when Carter died! :(

i guess everyone sees chemistry different, i think Shoot and Rinch post have great chemistry ☺️

as for John being good with people: YES!! he is always so compassionate and such a great listener as well. I especially like him with children. John and the baby were so cute or John with the boy who offered to pay for him. John + Kids was always a great combination and i wished we would have seen it more often. Also regarding children we did we never got to see a John Taylor scene after Carters death? I needed that!

yes John the badass is also amazing! His character has so many different sides and i love him so much!!

i think Grace Harold was really cute but i dont really see a future for them, i mean he lied to her for so long! but then again they really loved each other so idk maybe they work it out. Im also not into John/Harold/Grace but like you said good for the people who like the ship :)

John and Zoe were great! i wish Zoe would have appeared more often!

I have so many things to say about John and the boring therapist but i think i better not say them :D i wish i could just erase their relationship from my mind!

of course he didnt die! i didnt see a dead body so i refuse to believe he is dead! i also just wanted them to be happy. what kind of an ending is it to let the main character die? i refuse to accept this! -- thank you for the rec i will check it out :) while i do like fluff i mostly read h/c (with the focus on the comfort) cause i just want John to get his much needed comfort :D -- i have no idea where season 1 is supposed to be boring. but idc the people can live with their wrong opinions :D

(today: tumblr user nourann3 discovers the option to indent text after almost 5 years on tumblr...)

Hiii !! It is a very valid nickname 😂 That's nice !! Hmu if you want more recs ! Lol same honestly, I can't believe it's been 4 years since the show ended ! I can give you a link to my poi/Rinch fanvids playlist if you're interested 👀

Oh boi 13rw is so cursed, can't believe I watched all of the 1st season 😬 I remember being afraid of the suicide scene making me uncomfortable but it was so cringe, unrealistic and just bad that I wasn't even that uncomfortable, I cringed when she cut her arms but that's it.

Yeah big mood I project a lot on comfort fics as well. For suicide fics, I think it also depends on how the fics adress the subject. It's something that is complicated to write. If I read a suicide fic with no recovery I'm gonna project but feel like shit. But with recovery, I can project into the recovery as well so it's better ! I read a really good ace attorney fic showing Miles recovering after a suicide attempt, it was thoughtful and didn't fall into the pitfalls of magical super fast recovery/love heals everything, and some lines stuck with me, it was really good and comforting. But yeah if it's just a suicide/suicide attempt then I don't think it's good for me (but sometimes I still read it bc I'm a Dumb Bitch).

Dw you didn't come off as pushing 💜 I'll see how I feel about continuing it or not. I have to figure out if writing about suicide is positive or negative for me 🤔 I mean I'm not portraying John's suicidal crisis as a positive thing, and he reaches out to Harold, and considers he might get better so I don't think it's bad for me ? Another problem is that I have a tendency to drop my wips to write a new shiny idea I get, and then I never finish anything gkgkffjfjf I dropped the suicide fic for the body horror fic which I dropped for the time loop fic, and there's also the hanahaki fic I started last year but I haven't touched in months, plus a bunch of random shit floating around OneDrive lmao someone stop me

What helps the most is venting, just getting that shit out is helping y'know. I appreciate your support ♥️ at least it's not as bad as it used to be

I doubt Root will grow on me, catch me watching her scenes at 1.5 speed lmao, also yes you bet I'll enjoy watching them !!

Yes I remember that ep ! Iirc the little girl tells Shaw she has feelings but the volume is lower than in other people or smth along those lines ?

I hope she'll grow on me bc she seems cool. I remember I was a bit afraid of her just becoming a sort of hollow copy of John, like "look we added another badass to the show". Seems to be more than that though ! Also I'm curious about their mayhem twins dynamic. But yeah if she has a lot of scenes with Root idk how much it'll annoy me

I feel like I wouldn't be able to get the Shoot chemistry bc I'm too biased against Root lol

Ikr the crossing hurt me so much. But thinking about it takes me back to my careese days and my first fics lol. I feel like the death of one of the core four + the abandonment of the library really alienated me from the show (did I already say that before ?). And here I'm gonna shamelessly derail from Carter to the library bc boiii do I have a lot of feelings about the library !! And you're here, talking about poi, so you're the perfect subject to throw these feelings at. This post really says what I feel about it (I'll put the link at the end as well if you wanna read it after you're done with this l o n g reply). It was in a way its own character and its forced abandonment/destruction really hit me (fucked me up when they broke that glass board). It says something that it's one of the few things I remember from S3 along with Carter's death and 4C. I loved it a lot, it was a cornerstone of the show. It was a safe place, a home for Harold and John (and Bear !). I love when they're together in there, I love this cracked glass board, this yellow stained glass in the windows !!! (at least I assume it's stained glass ?), these lights, Bear's cushion, the whole cozy/safe/isolated feelings, just absolutely everything. And yeah later they have the subway, idk when it's introduced I don't remember if it's early enough for me to have watched it. And maybe it's nice, I can't judge rn. But it's like trying to give me a new MC after a MCD, make him as nice as you want I'll be clutching the previous MC until I die. Gkfkfkff I went overboard and off topic but I just love the library ok

Ikr I love how he's badass but also gentle and understanding and nice to people ! I love him !!! Yeah wolf and cub is really good, also I love when John smiles to Darren at the end !! I use this moment as my pfp bc I love it so much. He's just so cute ! I wish he smiled more (did we ever hear him laugh in the entirety of the show ?). Baby blue is so great, Harold and him are such a married couple in this ep ! Yeah same more content with John and children would have been nice.

I never thought about how much we needed a John Taylor scene but yes !! We were robbed :((((

Speaking of John being a cool badass. Here's a badass John vid rec it's super good

Yeah they were cute in the past. I think it's good he went back to her bc it gives closure to both of them. But I don't see their relationship working again. She grieved, probably started to move on after all these years and knowing he lied all this time probably won't make her want to go back with him. I've never been in love so what do I know lol, but were I her I probably wouldn't want to go back with him and I'd just be happy knowing he's alive after all.

Same I need more Zoe (also she's hot)

Lmao let's just forget about that weird relationship shall we

Aren't we all the same, firmly believing he's alive and happy out there ! It was foreshadowed since the first ep and it made sense but do I care ? No, fuck that shit John is very much alive

You're welcome ! John needs all the comfort and the love !!! I think I have a preference for fluff bc he gets hurt enough in the show lol

Indeed they can, veryyy far away from us

Sry if this is shit I have like half a functioning braincell today

The post abt home bases I mentioned

[patchdotexe]

so uh, i guess im back.

i guess im not really sure how to start this off? i have a lot to say but also not nearly enough.

tl;dr: took a break from tumblr, now im back. i think my inbox is still closed? ill reopen it some other time. hi guys.

not so tl;dr:

ive been spending the past several months trying to figure myself out and i wish i could say that i like, magically found a way to solve all my problems with myself and instantly become a better person and make it all up to the people i’d hurt and neglected. that... didn’t happen. id like to think im a little better, or else i wouldnt be here, but. the whole “overhaul of self” thing didnt happen. im just... kinda here.

i guess the more accurate explanation of “i took a break from tumblr” was i logged out of tumblr for a while, logged off of twitter, and just. tried to stay occupied and stay away from people. because id fucked up pretty bad and been prioritizing pleasing internet strangers over helping my actual real friends i talked to on a daily basis and ended up severely hurting them through neglect, failure to understand when they were trying to get me to even acknowledge their feelings existed, and being a general asshole. and thats not even getting into what happened in the jsab fandom.

then solar got me into hermitcraft and showed me a crossover fic they & their friend were writing, and so i got prematurely dragged out of my Isolation Hole to try joining the discord. which.. led to me meeting a lot of new people in the hc fandom. cue me getting frustrated with myself bc i wasnt supposed to be around people until i was 1000% sure i wasnt going to revert back to how i was and hurt people. i then ended up logging back in to tumblr to lurk because i didnt want to miss any of solar’s posts, or jorb’s, and then a couple months ago i caved and started using my minecraft blog again.

which was... the second thing i wasnt supposed to do. go me. and then i ended up interacting with the hermitcraft fandom through the shadow people au and, yeah, im mad at myself. cause it does feel like i didnt Learn Anything. like the stepping away from tumblr thing was never supposed to be permanent but it was supposed to last longer than that AND i started falling back into being way too emotionally hinged on how internet strangers felt about me

i ended up promising myself that id start using this blog after the new year. so... here we are, i guess.

ive been living with my parents again for a few months now and its... actually pretty okay. stuff used to be tense between me and my mom but now that dad’s around things are a lot less... bad. theyre aware of the system but it doesnt come up a whole lot, which im fine with. pepper’s having a great time and my parents love her, and she loves my parents, and its cute!

speaking of the system, uh... stuff got kind of. weird and tense. we’re still shaking off everything left behind from when we cut contact with apogees (again. for good, and willingly.) and its been... rough. there’s a couple new splits, Shay and Addy, although theyre both not really active right now. also an alter we never talked about because we didnt really understand that they existed is back, Pluto, and thankfully things have been going well in that department

uh.. around this time three years ago was. also when our ex tried to kill us. i’d say we’re coping pretty well but we’re depressed and kind of just dragging ourselves through the month. which i guess is better than the alternatives. we’ll be okay. just... trying to focus on everything else going on in our life right now.

i wish this whole post could be peppy and positive and like “yeah bad stuff happened but its better now and i all fixed it!” but that would be lying to myself and others. i spent way too long pretending things were fine and brushing stuff under the rug to “deal with later” and it ended up destroying almost all of my friendships. its something im still afraid to think about but its something im getting myself to face because if i keep hiding then this shit is just gonna keep happening over and over like it has been for years

im not gonna be like “2020 is the year where i fix myself” because its gonna take a lot more than a year but 2020 is definitely going to be. a year.