#food Fantasy fondness guide

[vrystalius]

GI-HUN / PLAYER 456 YOUR YANDERE.

What will happen if the previous winner of the games falls utterly and sickly inlove with you?

Pairing: Gi-hun x fem!reader (x In-ho)

Warnings: non-con themes, gaslighting, unhealthy obsessions, stalker-ish behaviour, sexual/perverse fantasies, slight somnophilia if you squint, groping, violent fantasies, barely read-proof.

Summary, Gi-hun as your yandere: Falling for you, his yandere profile (with nsfw), his jealousy of In-ho

Words in total: 3.4k

In-ho’s yandere profile over here!

Introduction.

Gi-hun is incredibly careful ever since the horrific death games he witnessed and survived. Paranoia followed him everywhere, the feeling of being utterly useless crept more and more to his head as another year passes by without any useable evidence or clues that brought him even a little closer to the people controlling and allowing these games and the dread that tried to lure him into simply giving up.

As he finally managed to join the games once more in firm belief that his hired team of investigators/hitmen and Jun-ho can track his exact location before his hopes were shattered for one another time as he discovered the missing chip in his tooth.

He spotted you for the first time during the Red Light Green Light game. As Gi-hun yelled instructions on when to move and when to freeze, his eyes found your precious face.

You were horrified, that was obvious. Your eyes were darting around in panic as more and more people were shot and bodies hit the floor, your hands shaking slightly despite your best effort to hold them still after seeing a woman get eliminated for having trembling hands, a strangers blood splattered over your face and tears threatening to run down your soft cheeks.

Gi-hun’s voice faltered for a moment. Glancing around and noticing that most people were over the finish line already, he rushed over to your side as quickly as he can and hooked your arm in his, practically dragging across the large hall to force you to move. Instinctively, you clung onto this stranger as he was guiding as carefully as he can to survival.

He released a deep breath he never knew he was holding as he gently lowered your shaking onto the dirt below. Seeing you cower and bow at his feet and thanking him over and over for saving him stirred something inside of him he hasn’t felt in years.

What exactly it was, Gi-hun doesn’t really know.

“You can get up, it was nothing. I am glad you are safe now.”

Yandere profile (SFW part).

- Overcompensating Generosity -

Gi-hun shares every single meal be gets with you. If you ever refuse or kindly decline his offer so he can have more for himself, he will come up with lies about allergies or feeling sick so that you can have even more. He worries that you might be malnourished or don’t have enough energy to live through and survive the next round of games.

He quietly stalks you from the side and makes sure you eat and drink everything up. If you ever complain about being full and sharing a little with Dae-ho or Jun-hee, Gi-hun will gently scold you for not eating properly, almost like a father would in a way.

His hand would ruffle your hair slightly in frustration. The kimbab he gave you was intended to be eaten by you, not… Dae-ho. No matter how much you grew fond of him. But your kindess and compassion to share does put a small smile to his face, even if it frustrates him.

“You shouldn’t be careless. Think about yourself first. Stop sharing your food with others.”

He completely contradicts his own actions by scolding you for offering Jung-hee or Dae-ho some of your share by giving you his own food.

Gi-hun doesn’t only share food but his clothes as well. If yours ever get bloody or if he catches you shiver just once, expect his jacket to immediately be wrapped around your shoulders or offered to you to wear it instead of your bloody one. He did consider giving you his t-shirt and going without one more than once after seeing your face scrunch up in disgust at the sight of someone’s blood on your shirt.

He wants and will do everything in his power to keep that frown of your face. Your smile lights up the whole bunkbed-hall and gives one more reason to keep going. It may sound depressing, but you gave him a reason to live and fight for survival. Even if you don’t know about it yet. He planned on leaving the rest of the money he had for his child and ending his life after the games. What other reason does he have to live for anyway?

Now he has. You are his reason to live. Gi-hun can provide for you, care for you, love , protect and worship you with every cell in his body, if you let him or not, he will find a way to fulfil his new purpose in life and Gi-hun will make you enjoy it.

- Persistent attention -

He is watching you every minute, every hour, every day and all day. Gi-hun insists on taking watch during the night and shooing Jung-bae off just so he can have a moment to himself to watch your adorable sleeping face. He takes mental notes on your sleepy expression, your soft pout, squished cheek as you lay on your side, your hair perfectly falling into place and how your chest was perfectly squished by the mattress or just lift up and down when laying on your back, synchronised with your breathing.

His fingers briefly brushed over your forehead to push some loose strands from your eyes so he can admire you further, a soft smile resting on his face. Watching you and knowing that you are safe brings makes his heart race a little slower when around you. One less thing to worry about.

For some reason, Gi-hun knows more about you than you do yourself. He can predict when you need to use the bathroom by watching what and when you drink. He knows your sleeping schedule and your favourite position to lay in. He knows what food you prefer despite barely mentioning it. He knows what to say to make you smile, his favourite expression on you, and how to comfort you when you are scared. Gi-hun also constantly “helps” you in a way that includes physical touch.

He might close your zipper up, his fingers briefly brushing over your chest, or tucking you into your bunkbed as if you were a child needing constant care.

Even if it may seem sweet from time to time, it does feel incredibly overbearing and annoying when Gi-hun goes ahead and “helps” you with eating food as if you’re not capable doing so yourself (embarrassing you in front of the others during the process) or offering you to go to the bathroom with you for protection, waiting outside with the guard while you did your business.

Somehow, even the stationed guard felt creeped out by him.

⁎⁺˳ — A mini scenario starts here. —

You were afraid to fall asleep at night despite Gi-hun assuring you that he will keep watch at all times. Your eyes were tired and heavy but your mind just couldn’t relax, couldn’t rest. No matter how hard you tried your own body forced you awake, believing that you are in immediate danger.

Paranoia kept swirling inside your mind as your eyes floated around the room. Did that shadow in the corner just move? Or was your exhaustion finally catching up with you?

“Hey.” Gi-hun’s voice ripped you out of trance like state as you flinched violently in surprise. His heavy hand carefully brushed over your shoulder in an attempt to comfort you as it rubbed back and forth slowly. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.”

The soft red light of the X marking on the floor illuminated his face to the point where you could read his soft expression. Worry was etched into his face. “Can’t sleep?” His voice was mich quieter now, trying to provide a little more comfort. His hand slowly made its way down to your waist as it began rubbing gentle circles there. You slowly nodded your head as you shifted your position to carefully shake his hand off.

You rolled over onto your back and Gi-hun smiled slightly. His fingers brushed some hair strands out of your face, briefly brushing over your soft cheek to savour your warmth a little more.

“Let me…” Without asking, Gi-hun suddenly gently scooted you aside to make space for himself as he crawled into your bunk bed, wrapping his arms around your smaller body. His hand began running through your hair, untying knots and feeling their softness. You uncomfortably shifted under him. “I-I can sleep on my own—“ “It’s okay, I’ll stay here.”

His voice left little space for arguments, just as much as his arms did. They were tightly wrapped around your back and waist, pressing you so firmly against his body that you could swear he was trying to absorb you. His nose brushed over the top of your head briefly, nuzzling into your hair.

“Close your eyes, I’ll keep you safe.”

⁎⁺˳ — End of the mini scenario here. —

If you ever try to tell him about how uncomfortable it makes you when he keeps on treating you like you’re incapable of being independent and thinking/acting on your own. Gi-hun first on denies being so overbearing with you and insists that it’s all you’re exaggerating, mistaking his simple kindness for whatever you’re talking about.

“Why are you so unreasonable? I’m trying to help you stay alive in these games. Don’t you want to survive and go back home? Let me take care of this, of you. You’ll die without me.”

- Idealisation -

Gi-hun put you on a pedestal the moment you came into his life. To him, you embody perfection, kindness, beauty, patience… Everything good in the world. Whoever dares to taint your image just the slightest earns themselves a night visit by Gi-hun himself to force their eyes away from you (and everything else) forever.

He’ll downplay or outright ignore all your “bad” or “negative” traits, fully believing that you could never do or feel wrong. Even your tears, your anger, your fear makes him feel absolute euphoria since you blessed him with the opportunity to witness your emotions on full display.

He sees you as his saviour and the one who will cure all of his illnesses, mental and physical. You fill the void in the man’s heart and he believes, no, knows, that you will bring Gi-hun everything he ever longer for; happiness, stability, protection, hope, absolute love and eternal devotion.

He fantasises every hour about having a perfect future with you together; a rural house somewhere quiet and peaceful, a child or maybe children (wether you want them or not), worshipping the ground you walk on everyday and come home with a new bouquet of flowers whenever he returns from grocery shopping. A fulfilling family life.

If you ever voice something that would go against his fantasies and imagination, for example that you don’t even want to marry him, Gi-hun will become visibly depressed and deflated, going as far as stopping to eat until you comfort him and shower him in attention, encouraging his fantasies once more.

- NSFW -

Gi-hun cannot control his own body anymore to the point of constantly finding his hard on pressing against the damn pants of the track suit uniform. Concealing it is hard so he either uses your pillow to cover it up and letting it rest on his lap until it finally calms and goes down or he sneaks off to the bathrooms, basically pleading with the guard to let him use the men’s room in the middle of the night.

During masturbation, you are again the only thing on his mind. He teases himself my cupping himself by the base harshly, makes himself whimper broken parts or your name by brushing his thumb over his leaving tip and drown himself in the fantasy that you are right there, with him, your hand on his cock and furiously jerking him off while the lewd Schlick Schlick Schlick sounds echo through the bathroom.

He also likes using your belongings and things to pleasure himself. Your pillow, for example. Gi-hun secretly swapped it out with yours while you weren’t looking and now has it pressed between his thighs tightly during the night when everyone is asleep, pathetically grinding onto it, thinking about where exactly he went wrong again and again as thought of your soft lips leaving burning kisses all over his body, your soft voice whispering encouragements and praises into his ear before switching around and calling him your obedient slut as you edge him over and over.

Gi-bun bites down onto the thin blanket to muffle his pathetic whines as he coats the inside of his boxers with sprays of his warm cum, his head falling back and his eyes tightly shut, not ready to leave his fantasy just yet and open his eyes to find himself back in the damn death games. He cuddles onto the thin of his blanket as if it were you lying right beside him, comforting him after such a rough and unforgiving session of imaginary praise, edging and your soft coos.

He does get more and more perverted and rather desperate at times when his fantasies aren’t enough anymore. Gi-hun lets his hand “accidentally” brush over your backside before profusely apologising over for his honest mistake. You forgive him and wave it off of course. Your forgiveness and the way you wave it off so quickly pushes Gi-hun to go further, do more, *feel* more. His hand frequently brushed over your backside, his palms gently pat on top your chest after zipping your jacket close, his fingers briefly brushing over your soft thighs while you slept, lingering close to your core but never daring to outright touch it. Yet.

When it comes to thought of sex with, Gi-hun gets all shy when even thinking about doing it with you. He isn’t the youngest and his stamina is not the best either. It was a long, long time since he felt anyone else be wrapped around his cock than his own fist working up and down so what if he forgets what to do? What if you’ll be disappointed? What if you become disgusted by him and leave him forever? He doesn’t want to think of that so he finds himself content with just finishing inside his boxers, hand and all over your pillow.

Gi-hun gets incredibly ashamed of himself after cumming to the fantasy of you being there with him, encouraging him. He beats himself up over being so utterly in love with you, such a perfect, young woman. You would never love a middle aged man like him, he is sure of it. He knows he has to somehow make you love him, at least just a little. Make you learn to love him, accept his care, teach you how to pleasure him properly, keep you all to himself and shut you away from the world, all the perverts and men that ogle you when you simply exist.

The world is too cruel, too corrupted, too perverted for a naive thing like you.

- NSFW ends here -

Gihun’s jealousy.

The moment In-ho joined his little alliance group he immediately felt inferior to him. He is intelligent, charismatic, dependable, kind. Everything Gi-hun barely ever is. It’s no wonder you got so attached to someone like him, the way your eyes sparkle when In-ho begins to talk or explain something, how fascinated you looked after he put Thanos in his place by demonstrating his strength, how you complimented his kindness after he gave his milk carton to Jun-hee. It makes him feel sick and incredibly angry at his friend for seemingly no reason other than existing near you.

Gi-hun slouches in his seat and fiddles with his fingers as he watches you have some small-talk with In-ho during breakfast. He’ll compare himself to In-ho in every way he possibly can, from his appearance to behaviour and actions.

Gi-hun watches him closely and tries to study his gestures and the way he presents himself, subconsciously mimicking everything his does in hopes to appeal to you even more.

He’ll start over analysing every single, every small interaction between you, imagining and spiralling himself into dark thoughts. He somehow fully convinced himself that by you clinging onto In-ho during the six-legged game means that you are in love with him and will end up marrying him after the games (despite the fact that you held onto your life on Dae-ho and In-ho’s shoulders, scared you’ll trip. But Gi-hun is just focused on your touch with In-ho).

Gi-hun becomes much more irrational as he keeps switching back and forth between showering you in love and affection and accusing you with trying to sleep with In-ho. One moment he is happily sharing his meal with you, admiring your hamster-like cheeks as you chewed on the food he shared with you before passively-aggressively interrogating you about why you even looked at the other man.

“You and In-ho seem to get along really well. What’s going on between you two? Are you trying to seduce him?”

It rarely happens but Gi-hun does explode out of rage sometimes, mostly when you two are alone and after letting his chronic jealousy get suppressed. He’ll scream and yell, vividly gesturing around, accusing you of everything you can be possibly accused of; having sex with him, wanting sex from him, loving him, thinking about marriage, you thinking In-ho is soo much better than him, you seducing the man… Gi-hun would’ve gone on and on, yelling and screaming at your trembling form as you were totally confused on why he was so angry if not for a guard that stepped in and dragged him back into the halls of bunkbeds with the other players.

In-ho. In-ho. In-ho. Whenever you say In-ho’s name, Gi-hun could throw his guts out or snap his own neck. He both wants to die and murder someone whenever his name slips through your soft lips. It makes him want to break your jaw so you could never utter his name again or bash your head in to the point of not being able to think about anything but himself, Gi-hun, your caring and generous future husband you don’t know about yet.

⁎⁺˳ — A mini scenario starts here. —

“You seem awfully tense. Is everything alright, Gi-hun?” In-ho’s voice sounded sincere. He scooted a little closer to his friend and leaned forward to rest his arms on his thighs, a concerned look on his face.

Gi-hun didn’t bother to spare him a glance and kept his eyes glued to the ground below him as he kept clenching and unclenching his fist. “I’m fine. Just worried about the games and all.” He lied through his teeth and turned his face away from him, earning a hum from the man beside him. In-ho placed a warm hand on his shoulder and gave it a small pat.

“If you are worrying about your darling, don’t worry. She is too smart and fast, she’s a real fighter. We’ll keep her safe together though, won’t we?”That statement shook Gi-hun to the core. We? Who exactly is we? He turned his head to finally look into his eyes, trying to see if he was trying to joke or being serious right now. He’d thought about letting In-ho purposefully die in the next game if it means to finally end this friendship or whatever it was between you and In-ho, but he always felt ashamed to think of someone like that right after. But not right now.

Right now, staring at that man’s face, Gi-hun wished he could wrap his hands around his neck and shut him up forever. Cut off all the air and watch as the life leaves his eyes, personally making sure that he will never talk, look or even breathe your way. How dare he. How dare he touch you, how dare he make smile, how dare he make you happy, how dare he do the life-long-job Gi-hun assigned to himself and only himself.

Gi-hun’s thoughts spiralled further. Surely In-ho fantasises about you too. About how the fat of your ass jiggles ever so slightly when you walk, how your chest stretches against the fabric of your jacket, how beautiful you’d look covered in his cum, how it would feel to take and taint you as his and only his.

And yet, he forced his violent thoughts away and let out a small sigh. Gi-hun nodded and turned to look away from In-ho again, not able to bear to have bim in his sight without fantasising about bashing his skull into the bed frame until his brain was mush and never able to conjure another thought again.

“Sure. Let’s keep her safe.”

⁎⁺˳ — End of the mini scenario here. —

💠

Author’s note.

Oh wow, I wasn’t nervous about posting like this since the first time I ever posted. To be fair this is kind of my first time posting about something else than Demon Slayer, soo… Also, Dae-ho is my baby, my precious. I need to hold him and tell him that everything will be okay and that it’s okay to feel scared. 🥺 Poor baby is so traumatised. Anyways, rant about Dae-ho over.

Make sure to EAT, DRINK and SLEEP enough!!

Take care of yourselves <3

[3kiripima3]

Hi! I just saw your post about Hazbin match ups & I’ve never done this before so I hope I’ve included everything I needed to :D

. Gender Identity -> Gender Fluid

. Sexuality -> Bi

. Hobbies -> Ok so I have quite a few so first off I absolutely LOVE reading (bit of an understatement) but it’s a really bad habit of buying books that don’t fit anywhere, as for a specific genre of books I quote like murder mystery or dark (as in spooky, mystery etc) fantasy. Some of the books I own are how to kill your family, one of us is lying, hunger games, girl in pieces, good girls guide to murder, five survive, welsh poetry & to kill a mockingbird. Secondly I’m apart of the air cadets! I do not have a rank and I’m quite happy with just attending events and such and I’ve been having such a great time with them, another hobby of mine is baking (especially for my grandparents) their diabetic so I love trying to find receipted that don’t have as much sugar that they can have. And lastly I do horse riding, while I did stop for a while because of money issue I’m starting to get back into it and I’m hoping to start either show jumping or cross country.

. Interests -> Hmmm as for interests I’d probably say FNAF, hazbin of course and at the moment I’ve been getting back into Murder drones (especially after the 7th episode come out, I was so shocked) but I honestly don’t have many I treated as most of my time is taken up doing things like my hobbies (all though I do love to give places a good clean)

. Overview of personality -> umm I honestly don’t know what to say to describe myself, but based off what my friends are saying I’m quite sarcastic & quick witted with my answers, but I tend to be concerning in my sense of humour & my things, I’m somewhat on the neurodivergent spectrum but I don’t have a special interest I keep changing them a LOT (hence why I haven’t put much down for interests) and I think my friends start to get concerned when I become interested in things like needles and phlebotomy before changing to something like cannibalism (I find it fascinating what drives people to these things). Anyway I have been described as being quite a lovely person especially by family me members and I think it tends to show when I’m around people I don’t know much because I like to make a good impression of myself & not embarrass anyone or myself.

. Any character I don’t want to be paired with -> Husk (nothing against the man just not my type at all yk), Charlie & Vaggie (their such a cute couple and definitely prefer to keep them together and not get myself shipped with any of them)

. Anything extra -> idk if this helps but I honestly SUCK at using technology, like I can’t do it to save my life 😭, but I do like to have a good poke around on stuff like tv’s, laptops, sat navs, just to see if I can find anything out. Oh and I hugely look up to my grandad, anyone asks me and I’ll always say I’m a grandad’s girl he inspired me so much, he was in the navy & worked as an engineer. And I t think to do something like that for a good chunk of his life is so inspiring.

Anyway, hope I’ve written everything I need to, and have a good day/night xx

Hi! Thanks for the request! After some consideration, I think I'd pair you with…

Alastor!

I feel like you two would be practically perfect for each other.

I see Alastor as the type to also read a lot. I think he'd honestly have very similar taste in books to you. I could imagine him often recommending you books, albeit rather concerning ones.

With baking, I don't see Alastor being particularly fond of that. However, I view him as the type of person who likes to cook instead of bake. So, you'd likely both end up making different food at the same time and talking with each other.

Due to Alastor's nature, I don't think he'd exactly be interested in shows at all. Yet, I can see him listening quite avidly to any of your interests if you discuss them with him.

Alastor would appreciate your personality a bunch. As he himself is naturally quite sarcastic and quick-witted, he'd enjoy having a person like you who'd be able to reciprocate. Alastor would definitely not have any issue with concerning types of humour unless it involves anything sexual towards him.

I think Alastor would also love that you're able to make good impressions on people and be a lovely and polite person, as he values his reputation a certain amount and would rather not be around someone extremely brash in public.

Sucking at using technology wouldn't bother Alastor at all. He'd probably bond over the fact that you both struggle using technology.

Thanks for requesting! I hope this is good enough for you :)

[iwoszareba]

8, 21 and 38 for Aqil please!

Thank you for asking about my boy!!

8 What were they told to stop/start doing most often as a child?

Oh man, kiddo Aqil was so intense i think people had to keep telling him some variant of ‘chill out’. You know how Aang's reaction to being avatar was to want to run away from the responsibility? Aqil did the opposite and decided he had to become perfect to be worthy of his title. Which is honestly just as bad. So to keep him normal his sisters would rope him into children shenanigans, his mother would encourage him to embrace interests that may seem frivolous and his dad would remind him that making mistakes is not the end of the world.

21 Why do they get up in the morning? 

To live and learn! He is equally guided by his desire to prove himself, be as skilled/wise/accomplished as he possibly can and his genuine love for the world, his curiosity and desire to experience it all.

38 What memory do they revisit the most often? 

He is such a sappy person despite still being young. If fantasy world had family photo albums he would happily tell you about each and every picture. But I think his most fond memories are family dinners, there is just something about sharing food with the people you love.

[wyrdstonethenovel]

CH 30. Sais-Eit the Heartreader

AN: Wyrdstone is a serial fantasy novel updating here on Tumblr so it gets off my hard drive. Wyrdstone is a good ol' fashioned "fight for the throne." With magic. And gods. And world building. And rebellion. Enjoy:

After the welcome physical exertion of loading another trireme full of tribute bound for Aegtrys; Admrilia Hortus Ashiphiex had to finally admit to herself that she was no closer to uncovering the Ten. Her window to find answers was narrowing with each passing day. The Pontus had already set sail days ago for Di-Fi’s port down the coastline and up north, the Triumph would be preparing their march south through the Dunelands. 

If Alexandros and Flavius sensed her dangerously foul mood, they had enough wits to not remark on it as Admrilia led them up the harbor. Her clothes were covered in a thick layer of sweat, and she was already aching for a swim to wash off the oppressive heat of the desert. As they walked, trade ships from Pi-Yenja and Sugia were already unloading the day’s load of pottery, grain, and cattle. The constant berthing and sailaways of Ash-Kai’s port only sullied Admrilia’s mood further. She was no closer to solving Legate Xur’s murder, and at this rate, likely never would. The prospect of returning to the Conqueror with only failure to offer… 

Admrilia banished the thought. She was the Argenti, the prodigal daughter of the Ashenian Empire, no rebel would be free from her vengeance once she knew where to point her spear. Currently, her spear bade her west towards De-Asha and Anu-Uro-Set. If Admrilia could find the star the Conqueror desperately sought, the throne would be hers. But the risk was equally as perilous as the reward. If she failed… 

Admrilia bit the inside of her cheek. The Argenti didn’t fail. 

Yet, Asho had months she didn’t to earn the favor of the Conqueror. Months she had lost due to the failing mission to find Xur’s murderers. If Asho was chosen by the Conqueror, could she, would she dispute the choice? Besides, Asho had declared her his rival in Kinos, there was no going back for them, regardless of the Conqueror’s choice. 

Admrilia had been too much of a prized pupil to know the history of civil war was likely. If civil war broke out, Ironore and Kinos would back Asho, as would Aegtrys — the senators and elite backing the son of the man who had saved the empire. 

Which left her with Ker. Her mother’s homeland, ravaged by war and genocide. Much as Admrilia was loath to admit it to a living soul, she was developing a begrudging fondness for her mother’s family. Her uncles were informed on all matters of history, culture, and politics. Her younger cousins polite and appropriately fearful. Ibi-Kai attended to her every whim; and Wyn-Kai had a powerful, far reaching, intellect. Admrilia knew in her heart that Wyn-Kai the betrayer would back her bid for the Ashenian throne, but would the rest of the Houses follow? 

They’d be just as likely to stab you in the back, Admrilia. Just get the gods’ damned star and you won’t have to worry about it. 

Decision made, Admrilia resolved to inform her council and Wyn-Kai that they would push onward to De-Asha. Certainly Advisor Clavo would agree with his son’s life hanging in the balance, and Khispen was too subservient to really object. 

Mood improved, Admrilia guided her neptori towards the street stalls that crowded the shoreline. She made a middle-aged vendor’s life by ordering some beef skewers. Alexandros’ brown eyes were filled with a silent plea and Admrilia quickly doubled her order. The merchant refused her payment, and they quickly carried their food over to the shade. 

Admrilia’s teeth tore into the tender beef, her taste buds appreciating the thick tangy sauce and hot pepper. She polished off the skewer and grunted her appreciation. “Go get another three, no wait, make it five more.” 

“You eat like a man.” Flavius grumbled as he rose. 

Alexandros belched and wiped his mouth. “No, she doesn’t.”

“You wager yourself a competition?” Admrilia asked haughtily. 

“Only competitions I can win, Argenti.” Alexandros said with a glint in his eye. 

Admrilia was about to respond when she noticed the storefront across the street. The glyph was faint on the shop’s door frame, but from her angle it almost appealed to be the half profile of the Lady of the Dunes. “I’ll be right back.” Alexandros, the loyal guard he was, got up and followed her paces behind. Admrilia pulled back the beaded curtain into the dim shop. The shop was musky, reeking of wet earth and opium. A muscular older woman with her hair braided tall atop her skull narrowed golden eyes. “Welcome in.” 

“What are you selling here auntie?” Admrilia asked, switching to kiyr. 

The shopkeeper ran her hands together from behind the tall bench. “Maps, close and near to the heart.” 

A mapmaker? How… odd. Admrilia tilted her head to the side, doing her best to appear non threatening. “How interesting, may I?”

“Come, come.” The shopkeeper waved her forward. Admrilia walked over to the bench and stiffened as the woman grabbed her wrist. She was unused to people touching her, as most would never dare. “I am Sais-Eit.” The woman said as she unfurled her clenched palm. “The Goddess has blessed me with the gift as my mother and her mother before her.” Sais-Eit ran a dirty index finger along the crease of Admrilia’s palm to her thumb. “This line here ends abruptly. It tells me that you had a passionate, short lived first love, doomed from the start.” Admrilia’s mask slammed into place as the woman’s nail traced along the seam to her index finger. “And this line here, ah, I see it now. You shall have another, fiery love. It will cleave you in two and meld you back together anew.” 

“That’s enough.” Admrilia wrenched her hand away. Her cheeks felt hot as she began backing out of the shop. 

“What? Do you not want to learn of your future lover?”

“Stormlord below, no.” 

Admrilia bolted from the shop as Sais-Eit called out. “Thank you for your visit, Princess Admrilia.”

Her cheeks flamed. Alexandros kicked off the wall where he had been waiting. “Why do you look as if you just saw the Maiden herself?” He asked. 

“I thought she was a mapmaker.”

“Truly?” Flavius asked. He offered her a beef skewer and Admrilia waved it away. “Was she?” 

“Of heart maps, Flavius.” 

His eyebrows bounced. “Wait, what? Did she?”

Could her face possibly burn hotter? “I will not discuss this with either of you.” 

Alexandros elbowed Flavius, and the pair exchanged a knowing look, communicating in that silent way of theirs. Admrilia tampered down the flare of loneliness that hit her when they did so, walking up the hill towards the Kai’s estate. The further away she could be from Sias-Eit, the better. 

Two days later, Admrilia Hortus Ashiphiex had completely nested in the Governor’s private library. The collection of tables and chairs that her council had taken up residence had been converted into a war room of maps, missives, and papyrus strewn across all surfaces. With her decision made, they needed all the knowledge they could possibly cultivate in the hunt for the star. As Admrilia had suspected, Advisor Clavo had been quick to bend to her new demands to push for De-Asha. 

“G.V.F.” Admrilia held up the papyrus that Hubei-Kai, Wyn-Kai’s brother, had passed her. “Who is this?” 

“Legate Fillium.” Hubei-Kai explained. “He recently purchased a map, and the guidance of our House’s scholars, to guide his party from De-Anu to De-Asha.” 

Admrilia had learned that House Kai made a significant portion of their wealth selling access to Ker. They sold to merchants, to the military, and even the Triumph for the ability to navigate the hazardous Dunelands. Admrilia set down the receipt. Legate Fillium had paid 1000 gold pieces for the map. “I fail to see what is so suspicious about the transaction.” 

Hubei-Kai nodded. “As did I, until I asked a clerk of mine to pull the receipts. Legate Fillum recently purchased maps to De-Jax, and De -Urs.” 

“He has no business going north.” Advisor Khispen piped up from a nearby table. 

“Exactly.” 

Admrilia glanced down at the gigantic map she had been studying. A copy of the master that had been sent North for the anticipation of the Conqueror’s arrival. The map sprawled the entire Territory of Ker. She noted how the Kerxa branched southwest towards their destination. The river would not be deep enough for the first neptor’s triremes, forcing their party to take barges instead. Admrilia did not envy Khispen who had the unfortunate logistical nightmare of transporting their neptori and supplies. Despite his best efforts, the trip was going to be long and miserable for her men. 

Admrilia pointed at the loser corner of the map. “De-Uro?” 

“This is a pre-Conquering map, princess.” Hubei-Kai explained. “By the Conqueror’s edict, the city's name was changed after the war. Just as De-Kai became Ash-Kai?”

“And De-Anu?” 

“The dead maintain their name.” Hubei-Kai said. “It will be a natural place for your party to stop on the way to De-Asha.” 

“Yes. We will pay the Legate a visit.” Admrilia said grimly. “Where are the Uro’s?” She asked. She glanced up from her seat as the door opened, and stood. 

[traveljunky]

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[chiyoso]

hiraeth! how are you doing today?

got a 59, 35, 42. 56 and 57 for your ask game.

it's a lot BUT I AM I N T R I G U E D

hehe! hey pretty <3 feel free to ask more, because i love intrigued people 🤭

35) favorite subject

i've ALWAYS, always had an affinity for music no matter what. i realized it late though, but because of my mom's wants of me being good at music in general, i developed a natural talent for teaching violin/piano in my own way that amazes her.

e.g. i helped a clearly struggling student of hers, and it was the day of the performance + we only had 1-2 hours of practice left, a piano student, she was having a hard time with counting the beats, and being on beat, having trouble with pacing as well, which i picked up almost immediately, and my mom was busy making preparations so she couldn't help. but i stood up and decided to because i just- idk? i really just wanted to help!

and i wasn't aware that this certain action of mine would lead to a successful performance, with a damn headmistress of a school offering me a free college scholarship because of my own performance + my sudden deeds

bam. (i think i overshared and retold my story about the free college scholarship lmao)

more info under cut! ❤︎

42) favorite books

hrm, i don't have a lot of books to read in this time now BUT

my favorite books growing up was diary of a wimpy kid (i swear i was so addicted to it, and i finished all books of it, PLUS THE MOVIE??? RODRICK??? OMG)

those fairy books i forgot the names but i think the titles were literal names of the fairies? idfk

bridgerton (cough) i'm a sucker for this genre

i can't think of anything else since i dont read much anymore, but i want to say that my favorite genres are; fantasy, romance, dark mature content (no, not 50 shades of grey) smut duh, sci-fi and i think thats pretty much it!

need recommendations... i wanna read some books where we flirt with some shadowy, dark eldritch horror or even the grim reaper himself (im so fucked omg)

56) favorite food

ITALIAN FOOD BABY, but i've been growing fond of uhh... chicken liver. i'm also really open to trying lots of things

ranking: most favorite

1. italian cuisine

2. fried japanese foods

3. korean cheese tteokbokki and tteokkochi

4. tbh convenience stores go hard too for my broke ass

5. philippines food

pizza reigns supreme.

...along with fries dipped in ice cream.

57) favorite animal

cats. any cat. (except for the furless ones im sorry)

cats remind me of scaramouche, lyney, neuvillette, blade and jing yuan so much, i wanna have a black cat along with a white one with gold eyes.

59) why i joined tumblr

now this... hrm

i genuinely forgot why i suddenly downloaded the app... shit.

dammit, i forgot. fuck. i just know i joined when me and my ex were at an all time low and the verge of breaking up.

i remember why i stayed and decided to write myself, i got inspired, heavily inspired and horny from the star rail fics i kept encountering, like my sexual drive just went through the roofs because of this certain welt yang x stellaron hunter blowjob fic, and some aspects of it, like welt and her not trying to get caught — my cynosure reader is inspired by that, doing lewd shit in secret.

and then i kept encountering fics, over and over. showering support to all which was so rejuvenating for my mental health, and then i encountered nat's al haitham fic, encountered you through my first story, and nat's mutual who guided me when i received anon little shits talking about my tagging lmao, yall were the three pillars that kickstarted my writing career genuinely

but if i can try harder to remember why i joined tumblr... i was uhhh, i was heavily depressed, dealing with my ex's shit, life, etc, and i was just mindlessly looking for something, anything, to give me energy, anything eventful for my overly draining situation.

that's all! ehe, ily aine <3

[foodfantasyimagines]

Food Soul's Favorite Foods to help level up fondness faster list!

•Bamboo Rice|🎍🍚| Corn Pie

•Yellow Wine|💛🍷|Braised Octopus

•Red Wine|♥️🍷|Fried Cod

•Pudding|🍮|Peanut Crisps

•Rice|🍚|Stuffed Lotus Root

•Milk|🥛|Fried Rice Cake

•Black Tea|☕|Hotteok

•Brownie|🍪🍫|Minestrone

•Sake|🍶|Braised Pork

•Orange Juice|🍊|Smoked Salmon

•Coffee|☕|Cheese Bread

•Miso Soup|🥘|Grilled Pork Belly

•Omurice|🍲🍚|Cucumber Salad

•Ume Ochazuke|🍲|Boiled Lettuce

•Tempura|🍤|Salmon Sashimi

•Long Bao|🌰|Stir Fried Potatoes

•Zongzi|🍙|Sauteed Mushrooms

•Crepe|🥞|Apple Crisp

•Hawthorne Bell|🍓|Pineapple Fried Rice

•Sandwich|🍞l Peanut Pie

•Tangyuan|wip|Strawberry Ice Cream

•Tom Yum|wip|Roast Beef

•Dorayaki|wip|Shogayki

•Sukiyaki|wip|Cold Tofu

•Pastel de nata|wip|Piglet Daifuku

•Yuxiang|wip|Mango Pudding

•Pancake|🥞|Black Pepper Beef

•Macaron|🎉|Fruit Salad

•Taiyaki|wip|Tamagoyaki

•Spicy Gluten|💃💥|French Fries

•Chocolate|🍫|Salad

•Foie Gras|wip|Mango Wrap

•Hamburger|🍔|Crispy Pork

•Sakuramochi|🌸|Omurice

•Sashimi|🐡|Baked Potato

•Moon Pie|🌓🌔|Butter Bread

• Pineapple Cake|🍍🍰|Sauteed Lettuce

•Mango Pudding|🍈🍮|Apples & Cream

•Nasi Lemak|Wip|Pineapple Juice

•American Corn Bread|🌽🍞|Garlic Oysters

•Vodka|🍸|Takoyaki

•Cold Rice Shrimp|❄️🍚🦐|Risotto

•Popcorn|🍿|Roast Chicken

• Salad|🥗|Pumpkin Muffin

•Stake|😈|Bacon Tofu Wrap

•Jello|🎤|Grilled Corn

•Udon|🍜|Baked Pineapple

•Milk Tea|🥛🍵|Chicken Pizza

•Tiramisu|🍫🍰|Shortbread

•Yogurt|💐|Chicken Soup

•Sanma|🐈|Vegetable Tempura

•Plum Juice|🍑🍹|Carrot Bread

•Sushi|🍣|Emerald Roll

•Gyoza|Wip|Salmon Fried Rice

•Bonito Rice|🍘🍚|Fried Unagi

•Eggette|🥚|Cucumber Egg Stir-Fry

•Yunnan Noodles|Wip|Mushroom Yaki

•Eggnog|🥚🥃|Matcha Cake

•Crab Long Bao|🦀|Kung Pao Chicken

•Peking Duck|🦆🐤|Sweet Yam Bun

WIP

[wherearethaberries]

tantalizing. - chapter 1

prohero!hawks x chubby!reader

sweet dream, or beautiful nightmare?

The ivory sheets of silk wrap around your exposed torso as you begin to lose your battle against your eyelids. You thought that you would be able to see Dabi tonight, but after noticing how cold your food was getting and watching the sky fade from bright pink to midnight black, you decided to just get in the bed. You decided to give Dabi’s dinner to Toga instead, who seemed delighted to have your cooking. You said goodnight to her, along with Shigaraki, Kurogiri, and the others before making your way to the room both you and Dabi shared. You took a shower, brushed your teeth and laid on the bed, trying not to think of how tired you were of sleeping in an empty bed. A small part of you hoped that maybe you’ll be able to see him before you go to sleep at least, but alas, your eyelids began to grow heavy and your yawns were growing more frequent. As your arms embrace the body pillow next to you, your mind begins to develop your dream for the night. You wondered what fantasies your brain would create, consciousness slipping away before you go into a light slumber.

You woke up from your slumber, rays of sunshine dancing on your face as you wiped your eyes with your fingers. Your eyes focus after your attempt to wake up, spotting a woman in a rather tattered dress. Her smile was soft, but shined brightly regardless. Her eyes told a different story. From her irises, as dark as the sky on a new moon, to the deep purple circles that decorated her pale, dainty skin. She was a beautiful woman indeed, but definitely would benefit from a day’s worth of rest. “Good morning, your majesty.” Her voice was deeper than expected, a bit raspy as well. You opened your mouth to return her gratitude, but words had failed to come out. The woman set a tea tray onto the bed, picking up the teapot and pouring a weird, hot substance into the cup next to it. “Are you still feeling a bit under the weather, dear?” She sat beside you and put her small hand on your forehead, a wave of coolness going through your body. You had not even noticed how hot you were until now. You nodded, since you still could not find the words to speak. She nodded as she stood up from the spot beside you, her facial expression seemed to sadden a bit. “I’m sorry, Y/N. Prince Dabi made you this tea and insisted that I bring it to you. He’s extremely worried about you.” She gave a soft smile as she headed towards the door. “If you need me, you can ring the bell. I know that you aren’t very fond of it, but it’s sort of hard to know if you need something if you lack a voice.” She chuckled. “I’ll see you soon, Y/N.”

Hearing the door latch, you decide to get yourself out of the bed and possibly explore this new place. Your gaze first fell onto the mirror that was placed in front of you. Your long night gown, a faded ivory just like your bed sheets, hugged your plush frame firmly. You had most of your features for the most part, but every blemish of yours had disappeared. A silk scarf was wrapped around your hair, not tight enough to produce a headache, but tight enough for it to stay firmly on your head through a rough night of sleep. Your nightgown fell to the floor, casting a light glow from the ground towards you. You noticed that the light shined brighter than when you had previously noticed, and your feet guided you to what seemed to be a small balcony. You open the double doors, a slightly cool breeze hitting your face as you step outside. The wind flows through your dress, the cool autumn air smelling as fresh as a dozen roses. Your hands landed on the railing and you watched the sun continue to rise. The array of colors expected in the sky were covered by the abundance of clouds that indicated that there may be a storm coming soon. You were so mesmerized by taking in all of the details, that you didn’t notice that someone’s presence was behind you, slowly getting closer. It wasn’t until you felt one hand wrapping around your neck and another putting both arms behind your back, that you acknowledged that you weren’t alone anymore. You attempted to scream for help, but not a sound came out of your mouth. Your breath hitches, they deeply chuckle and only clutch onto you tighter.

“I thought you would have drunk my special drink, my love. I made it especially for you.” They pouted a bit, their cool breath lingering on your neck as they released the grip they had on it. Instead, you felt a blade slowly graze your bare back, the coldness sending shivers up your spine. You start to panic now, your hands begin to feel clammy and your body begins to sweat. Your skin now glistens against the sun, regardless of the clouds covering it. “Why aren’t you speaking? It's rude not to reply when someone is trying to have a conversation with you.” He chuckled to himself, pressing the blade into your back more. You suddenly feel a sting followed by a warm liquid trailing down the rest of your back. “...My apologizes, I've seem to forget that I ridded you of your speaking privileges... I hope you didn’t mind. A man prefers his woman not to speak anyways.” He kissed your neck a couple of times, his lips feeling too familiar.

“Y/N, baby. Wake up.” Dabi’s raspy voice could be heard as your mind started to gain consciousness again. Your blurry vision began to clear, revealing the time on the clock which showed 01:41. You sigh deeply, turning to the man you’ve stuck with for the past three years. He didn’t smell of perfume or alcohol, so that was a good sign. However, you were still very curious about his whereabouts. You despised the fact that he would hide things from you sometimes, and it didn’t help that Shigaraki refused to tell you anything. Toga also didn’t know what was going on half the time, so you were completely clueless about Dabi. You weren’t even sure why he was keeping things from you, it was starting to hurt. Did he not trust you? You were still deep in your thoughts as Dabi laid down next to you, wrapping his arms around you and nuzzling his face into your neck.

“Where were you?” You weren't interested in greeting him at the moment, your curiosity getting the best of you again. Dabi rose his head from your neck, giving you a glare. You could tell that he was tired of you questioning him, but who could blame you? You were tired of sleeping alone and waking up to a semi-warm spot on your shared bed. “Where were you, Dabi?” He rolled his eyes, groaning in annoyance. “It’s none of your business, I thought we went over this already.” He tried to go back to his spot on your neck, but you shifted away from him. “Seriously, I don’t see why you have to hide this from me. It’s not like I’m going to snitch on you or anything.” You scoffed as you pushed his arms away from you. “I would’ve snitched a long time ago if I really wanted to.” You adjusted your shirt on you and bundled up in the blanket, suddenly feeling a shiver go up your spine. Maybe it had something to do with the window you both kept open, or maybe it was the icy stare that froze your mind and body. “Why are you being so damn overbearing right now, Y/N? Just stay the fuck out of it!” Overbearing. That’s new. You thought to yourself, deciding to get out of the bed. You grabbed one of your pillows and a blanket from the corner of the room. The whole time, you could feel his gaze burn a hole on your back. “And where do you think you’re going?” You turned to him and scoffed, “I’m sleeping in the living room, since I seem to be overbearing.” You turn to leave, your pudgy fingers barely grazing the door before Dabi grabs you and pulls you close to him. “Don’t leave, babe.. I just got frustrated because you were interrogating me like a policeman or something. Just.. stop asking me about the shit, okay?” He rubbed your lower back as he kissed your forehead. With a sigh of defeat, you gave in. Only because it was too late to be arguing and you just wanted to sleep. “Fine, whatever.” He rolled you over in the bed, getting back in the previous position before you heard light snoring from him. You followed shortly after, growing used to his warm hands caressing your stomach.

a/n: thank you all for taking the time to read! i hope you all have a great day/evening. feedback and criticism are appreciated! :) btw, can't guarantee that an update will be soon, due to college.

[15-dogs]

hey lover |s.r.|

pairing: spencer reid x fem!reader

summary: spencer wants to ask you on a date but his fear of rejection causes him to write you a letter. however, he’s made the miniscule and idiotic mistake of forgetting to sign it. (fluff, mutual pining, and miscommunication!!)

warnings: very light swearing, description of murders/crime scenes (criminal minds level gore/description), food mention

guide: (Y/N) = your name, (Y/L/N) = your last name, (Y/N/N) = your nickname, italics = letter

word count: 3.2K

a/n: asjkdfhkj this is my first spencer fic i hope it turned out ok!!

***

It seemed like a good idea at first. Derek’s ideas always seem good at first. Spencer wasn’t sure why he trusted things would work out without error. Yet there he was, letter in hand and eyes wide at the stupid, miniscule mistake he made while you awaited his answer.

***

You had just begun working at the BAU no more than 3 months ago as the new communications liaison, replacing JJ while she was absent on maternity leave. You were quickly integrated into the carefully woven quilt that was the BAU and, in turn, you had built some very close relationships with your coworkers. 

However, there was one person who you had grown extraordinarily fond of: Spencer Reid. You didn’t want to admit how smitten you were with the doctor, seeing as you were only working at the BAU for so long, but it was an indisputable fact you had fallen for him.

Unbeknownst to you, Spencer felt the exact same way. Your courageous and selfless demeanor struck him as something he hadn’t seen in anyone in quite some time. Not to mention how incredibly beautiful you were. Spencer knew it was impossible for anyone to be perfect but, when you made him feel the way he did, he began to question his thinking.

Spencer was quite terrible at hiding his feelings, finding himself staring at you a second too long when you walked to your office in the morning or bringing you extra breakfast and coffee because the store just happened to have an extra muffin they wanted to get rid of. It was so obvious yet you couldn’t pick it up for the life of you and Spencer really thought he was flirting to the fullest extent of his ability.

One morning you were running late. You had yet to arrive but you called Hotch to let him know you’d be at the office in no more than 30 minutes because the train was down for the time being. You also had texted Spencer, asking him if he wanted something at the small coffee shop around the corner while you waited. So as Spencer gave you his order with one hand, he downed the coffees he had made for you and himself in the other.

“Whoa, kid,” Morgan chuckled, prying the cup from his hand, “slow down. Your toothpick-body can’t take all that caffeine.”

Spencer swatted at Derek in an attempt to get the cup back only to see him lift it to his lips. “Oh, I’m sorry,” Morgan started with mock innocence, “was this for a certain communications liaison that a certain doctor has a crush on?”

Spencer rolled his eyes but felt the back of his neck heat up. “I don’t have a crush on her.” He made his way back to his desk, ignoring Morgan’s eyes boring into him.

“Oh, really? That’s a shame,” he could practically hear the teasing grin in Morgan’s words, “because she likes you.”

Spencer went rigid. He spun slowly on his heel until he saw Morgan’s smirking face, feeling his stomach drop again. He couldn’t believe he fell for that. Spencer retreated to his desk with Derek chasing after him.

“Kid, kid, listen! I know you like her! I was just-”

“Be quiet!” hissed Spencer, his cheeks now coated in a healthy flush.

However, Morgan wasn’t quiet enough. Emily perked up from her desk, rolling her chair over to join the conversation. “What are we talking about?”

Spencer tensed his hands and shook his head, turning to face his work again when Morgan explained, “How pretty boy’s got it bad for (Y/L/N) and won’t do a damn thing about it.”

“What?!” Spencer whipped around, his jaw slack from panic. Morgan and Emily were cackling to themselves at his shock, not even bothering to silence themselves.

“Reid,” Emily began, clutching her stomach from laughter, “it’s okay, I know you like her-”

“What?!”

Spencer’s increasing panic only furthered the pair to laugh even harder. Was he that easy to read? Did everyone know how he felt towards you? Dread began to set into his stomach at the thought of you knowing. His overthinking mind started to wander, assuming you knew how he felt and had led him on to get free breakfast every morning. He quickly scolded himself for thinking that— he’d been hurt too many times before, making that line of thinking second nature. But you weren’t someone who wanted to see people hurt; you were too kind, too caring to do that to anyone.

“Why don’t you just ask her out?” Emily asked. “She obviously likes you, too.”

Spencer’s eyes lit up for a second at the thought of you feeling the same but he caught himself. A moment too late, however. Emily and Morgan teased him, batting their lashes and making kissy faces at him, leading to Spencer throwing his head in hands to hide from their stares.

The two were no later interrupted as Hotch called Emily up to his office to go over a report she had put in, leaving Spencer and Morgan alone. Derek nudged Spencer’s leg, Spencer frowning at him as he met his eyes.

“Listen, kid, Prentiss was right. Why don’t you ask her out?”

If what Derek and Emily had said was true, why couldn’t he? He imagined himself walking up to you and asking you on a date, his heart fluttering at the thought. His fantasy soon turned sour as you snorted at his question, shaking your head vigorously and pushing him out of your office.

“I don’t think I could look her in the eyes if she rejects me.” Spencer’s voice was no more than a whisper as he announced his realization.

Morgan laid a hand on his shoulder, the other reaching around Spencer’s desk to hand him a piece of paper and a pen. “Then we’re going to do this the old fashioned way. Women love it when they get love letters, so write her one.” Spencer’s eyes bulged at Morgan’s words. “Love might be a bit strong, I get it, but you get the sentiment, right? Write her a letter about why you like her, ask her out at the end of the letter, and then slip it under her door.”

Spencer nodded slowly before shooing Morgan away, already hunched over the first draft of the letter. He worked it over and over again, feeling like each copy wasn’t good enough for you until he saw his phone buzz. It was a text from you. You were heading up. Spencer panicked, folding his latest draft and slipping it under the door to your office before settling back at his desk.

You waddled in from the elevators, attempting to balance a carry-out tray of coffees and a bag of croissants in one hand and your work bag in the other. Spencer jumped up from his seat, relieving you of the items belonging to him in an instant.

“Thank you so much, Spence. I was seconds away from dropping my breakfast.” You shouldered him gently in place of a grateful gesture. He nodded, ducking his head in hopes you hadn’t noticed the blush creeping up his cheeks.

Before Spencer could say anything, your phone rang. Sending him an apologetic smile, you managed to slip it out of your pocket and place it on your shoulder, shrugging it up to your ear as you answered. “(Y/N) (Y/L/N).”

Spencer watched you walk off towards your office, taking a short sip from the coffee he definitely didn’t need. You stepped in and flicked the lights on with your elbow before tossing your bag onto your desk, freeing a hand to hold your cell phone. You took another step in before stumbling, your shoes caught on a loose paper by your door.

It was go time.

Spencer hurried back to his desk and pretended he wasn’t looking at you, even though it was extremely obvious he was. You set your breakfast on your desk and bent over to pick up the note, skimming it as you spoke. Your head snapped up and you turned to face the window that exposed the bullpen, Spencer ducking his head down and innocently reading the newspaper on his desk. He chanced a look up only to see you frown and hurriedly shut the blinds.

Spencer thought he was going to be sick. He paled and ran his hands over his face before digging the heel of his palms into his temples, massaging them roughly. You looked upset— disgusted. Why did he think you’d ever like him?

Before he could indulge in his own pity party, you stormed out of your office with a large file in hand. You raised it in the air to gather the attention of the team as you announced, “We have a case!”

The team scurried in after you, everyone finding their places in the conference room as you clicked on your presentation. The pictures of two young couples appeared on the screen as you passed the files around.

“Four victims from Atlantic City have been found dead in their homes.” You clicked to the crime scene photos, wincing at the sight. “The husbands’ C.O.D. being a slice through the carotid and the wives’ a shot through the head execution style. The husbands have also had their...hands removed.”

Hotch looked up from the file, brows furrowed. “This all happened in the span of 3 days so we need to be vigilant. He could be planning his next attack right now. Wheels up in 20.”

***

On the plane ride to New Jersey, the team had finished being briefed by Garcia’s intel quicker than usual and were left to ponder their own thoughts. You sat off by yourself at a table in the back of the jet, opening your bag to sneak out the letter left at your office earlier. You scanned the words and frowned again before being hit with a genius idea.

You stood from your seat and settled next to Spencer on the couch. Oddly, he went rigid at your presence, sitting up straight and avoiding eye contact. You shook it off and continued on with your plan.

“Spence, hey, can I ask you something?” you whispered.

Spencer’s mouth went dry. He knew what you were going to ask about. What else could you be asking about? “S-sure.”

“You’re the guy who’s good at identifying handwriting, right? Like matching it and stuff?”

His eyes flickered up, mouth opening and closing a few times before he settled on a nod. His mind swarmed with questions but none of them came out. He decided it might be best if he were silent, anyway.

“Great. Then can you help me out with” —you pulled the letter from your bag and handed it to Spencer— “this? I think I might have a secret admirer or something. Whoever it was either wanted to stay anonymous on purpose or forgot to sign their name. Either way, could you help me out?”

And that’s when Spencer started to blame Morgan for his terrible idea. Well, it wasn’t exactly his fault but Spencer couldn’t take the blame for something so embarrassing. There his letter was, his handwriting, his words, his admission, and he forgot to sign his name.

Spencer debated the logistics of admitting to his error; he wouldn’t have you pining over a mystery man, but then again he would be asking you out in real time. The whole point of the letter writing was to not see your face and if he told you he wrote it you could reject him straight to his face. He couldn’t deal with the thought of that. So Spencer, fear consuming him, shoved the letter back in your hands with a nonchalant shrug.

“Sorry, (Y/N/N), I don’t recognize the handwriting.”

“Oh,” you muttered, standing up. “That’s okay. Thanks for looking.”

And as you returned to your seat on the other end of the plane, a pit formed in your stomach. You were no profiler but you hoped you could have read Spencer better, seeing if he let on any signs the letter was his, that he liked you. But at that moment you had to push it aside. There was work to be done.

***

After a few days in the case, the team had a breakthrough. They had discovered all the women had been drugged and used a bargaining chip to lead the men back to their homes before getting killed. The unsub had been targeting wealthy couples at casinos and the only way the team could catch him is if he was drawn out of hiding. The whole explanation was a long winded way of Hotch telling you you needed to go undercover as Spencer’s wife.

You begged him to let Emily take your place but Hotch assured she would be better as a lone guest to cover your perimeter. Frowning, you explained you didn’t have any undercover experience but Hotch assured you you’d be fine, that the unsub would fall easily for your charade because of your close identification with the victim pool.

So there you were, in your hotel room sitting in a dress you didn’t care for with a wire far too uncomfortable running up the length of your sleeve. Your body thrummed with nerves so, in an attempt to calm down, you reached for the letter and reread it, practically having it memorized by now.

(Y/N),

I don’t normally do these sorts of things but you deserve these sorts of things— nice things. You deserve the best things. You deserve the things that make you happy, that make you smile, that make you laugh. You deserve all of that and more.

I’ve only known you for some time but I can safely say I’ve completely fallen for you. To be entirely honest, I don’t know how everyone here hasn’t as well. You have this gorgeous smile that makes everyone light up around you. Not to mention your laugh; it’s harmonic and encapsulating, like good music you never want to turn off.

I like you. A lot. And I know you’re too good for me but I can’t help but try. I get scared because people might see right through us— through me— and you’ll realize it, too, that you’re too good for me. 

But now isn’t the time to worry about the future (even though I may have a tendency to do so). I’m sorry for not being the best at words. And I’m sorry for not being able to say this to your face but I like you, (Y/N), and I want to go on a date with you.

You were sure you had the confidence to spur forward with the night.

You left your room, ready to knock on Spencer’s door when you heard hushed whispers coming from inside. From the sound of it, Spencer was trying to opt out of the night while Hotch was trying to convince him to stay.

“You’re the only one on this team that can play some convincing poker, Reid-”

“That’s not the point!” Spencer huffed. “It’s...it’s (Y/N). People might see right through us— through me— and they’ll realize she’s too good for me. They won’t buy it. Not when she looks like herself and I look like, well, me.”

Something about his words hung around in your head. It was disquieting. His words weren’t true, of course. He was everything you could’ve wanted and the sheer fact he didn’t see himself that way broke your heart. But it wasn’t just that, there was something else. Something hidden in his words triggering a memory in you.

You were pulled from your thoughts as Spencer and Hotch walked out of Spencer’s room, giving you curt smiles before leaving towards the undercover van outside.

***

Fortunately, the night went as planned. The unsub was apprehended and you managed to stay cool undercover. Mostly cool. Your head was up in the air for a bit as you tried to recall what exactly Spencer had said that reminded you of something. Spencer had to focus you back in a few times but didn’t think anything of your lack of focus. Or, at least, he didn’t say it.

The jet couldn’t leave until the next morning so the team was stuck overnight at the trashy little motel the bureau had paid for. You tossed and turned in your bed, unease settling in your stomach. You decided it might be best for you to read the letter again, seeing as how it brought you such comfort earlier. But the second you scanned the words, the realization hit you squarely in the face.

Disregarding the late hour and the fact you were in pajamas, you ran out of your room and up to Spencer’s knocking on the door with haste. Spencer also seemed to be awake, answering just as quickly as you knocked.

“(Y/N)?” His voice was gravelly and low, like he had been in and out of sleep. You bit back a grin at the adorable pajamas he wore: plaid flannel bottoms and a t-shirt reading “I LOVE LAS VEGAS!” in bright gold lettering. Spencer tracked your eyes roving over his body before clearing his throat to get your attention again. “What’re you doing up at 3:00-”

“I know you wrote the letter.”

You didn’t mean to blurt it out but you just...did. Spencer coughed awkwardly and avoided your stare, shaking his head.

“I don’t...I don’t know what you’re…”

“Spence,” you began, taking his hand in yours, “I overheard you and Hotch talking earlier, about how people would see right through us. It’s the same thing in the letter— nearly identical.”

Spencer, positive he was completely red in the face, muttered, “Must’ve been a coincidence.”

“But it wasn’t, because I know you, Spencer.” You sucked in a sharp breath, your heart pounding in your chest. “Because I like you, Spencer.”

Spencer cocked his head, a smile tugging at his lips like he didn’t want to believe what you said. “You...you like me?”

You took a step towards the doctor, locking your hands around the back of his neck with a chuckle. “Yeah, Spencer, I like you.”

Spencer reached a careful hand up, brushing your hair out of your eyes and running his knuckles down your cheek with an adoring smile before connecting your lips. The kiss was soft and unsure but worth exploring. As you began to deepen it, you heard a door click open from behind you.

“Nice pajamas, you two,” Rossi teased. Spencer glared at him over your shoulder for disrupting what was the most perfect kiss he ever had. Rossi chuckled, holding his hands up in defense. “I saw nothing!”

Rossi slipped back into his room, laughing to himself about the interruption. You tucked your head against Spencer’s chest, feeling him place a soft kiss against the top of your head while his arms looped around your back, pulling you impossibly tighter towards him.

“You know,” he began, his chest rumbling against your ear in the most comforting way, “I’m beginning to think I should be writing you more letters.”

“A few more couldn’t hurt.”

[cyborg00-why]

If all 9 cyborgs had to go undercover for about a month and are able to choose their own civilian identity/cover occupation what do you reckon they’d choose? For context sake Pairs/groups are feasible.

I’ll go first lol, yes some of these are a bit ooc:

001 & 003- Children’s show host & acting cast member. Something between lamb chops play along and sesame street. Francoise is great with kids and Ivan would probably be excellent at puppeteering well, the plush cast members. Fran has to have several talks with him about making adult jokes that go over the other kids heads when voicing the puppets. The other staff often comment that she'd make doting mother, and the sentiment loses novelty quickly.

002- I’m going to double down on the Gods War manga and say Jet would definitely play around as a private investigator for a month just to really live up the film noir fantasy. The fact that someone else is footing his dry cleaning/cigar/takeout/bar tab for that month is just the icing on the cake. He never gets a legitimate case but he’ll be damned if he doesn’t make smoking out a fire escape window look good.

004- Parking lot security, specifically for private owned lots and typically night shifts. He’s not fond of meeting new people and low profile jobs are preferred, besides security gigs they give him time to do other things instead. He’s likely catching up on his reading list anyway. He regularly goes to work with an igloo cooler full of food, a book, a small pocket radio, and a DVD player from 2005 that’s on it’s last leg.

005- Radio station host, likely something small like a campus operated station. He runs the graveyard shift playing whatever he wants between the odd call in here and there. For a while the other cyborgs send in fan mail to be read on air and this leads to a short lived half hour nightly segment where Junior gives advice to those writing in with their troubles. He takes it maybe a bit too seriously. Albert and some of the others tune in as regular listeners, and find it funny that he regularly gets the call sign wrong.

006- Is reached out to by the producers of Master Chef, they’d like to have him on the next season that will begin filming shortly. Chang is a bit skeptical at first but after a heated argument with Great, he is trying win a bet that he can impress the judges on the show. Even if he’s absolutely positive they pick the winner long before filming even begins, Chang is confident getting even the smallest bit of praise from Gordon will finally shut GB up once and for all. Besides, Francoise isn’t the only one with a face for television.

007- *Is coincidentally impersonating Gordon Ramsey on Master Chef*

008- Pyunma is living it up as a tour guide at a natural history museum, he rotates between the children’s activity wing and the dinosaur exhibits at the entry hall. He loves when kids ask him questions that have no known answer, and even more so when a school group gets excited about dirt and the many treasures in it. He wears a very cute apron in the activity wing, with deep pockets that have snacks and stickers for the kids. His favorite part is the “excavation site” where groups can unearth “dino bones” he planted that morning.

009- Joe would probably take up something out of his typical range, maybe play the role of a college philosophy professor. He would of course be sessional and of course have a handful of students asking to go over the course material after hours. At some off campus cafe that seems maybe a bit too cozy. Y’know, to pick his brain. It’s a little detail he leaves out when regaling the job to Fran.

[thebiscuiteternal]

I had an evil thought on twitter and way too many people encouraged it, SO-

“Collecting the Pieces”

Mild Horror, Family Secrets, Mental Instability, Magical Fuckups, Sangyao-lite, Nie Huaisang Doesn’t Know Yet, Jin Guangyao Is About To Know More Than He Ever Wanted To

__________

There is something wrong with Nie Huaisang.

It manifests in small signs at first.

Little things like how he would look at a person, but not at them, green eyes dull as if he wasn’t actually seeing who he was talking to. The unnaturally pale tint to his skin and the dark shadows under his eyes. The fact that his robes had gotten heavier over thr last several months, trying to hide that he was getting thinner.

The incident where he had lost consciousness in the middle of a discussion with Ouyang-furen and had only been saved from cracking his skull against the floor by the reflexes of his head disciple was… concerning. But like all of the other symptoms, it could easily be tallied up as exhaustion from lingering grief and having so much responsibility dumped onto an unprepared back.

But then...

Then there are the conversations none of them can hear. Those moments where he sits with his head slightly bowed, staring at nothing and lips moving silently.

There is something wrong with Nie Huaisang, and for those not of his sect, his presence has gone from mildly concerning to downright unnerving.

Jin Guangyao has to point out to his father more than once that they have only just averted the conflict with the previous sect leader; to bar the new one from the discussion conferences just because he seems strange would be an insult tantamount to inviting war, even if Nie Hengbai does seem to be doing all the talking for the Nie at the moment, his sect leader a quiet little shadow at his side.

He finds it a unique opportunity to observe, in fact. Everyone is so unsettled by the mere fact that Nie Huaisang converses with empty air that no one has apparently thought to find out what he is saying when he does .

The seating arrangement isn’t ideal. The only person besides his own disciples who doesn’t seem to be scared off by Nie Huaisang’s unnatural behavior is Jiang-zongzhu, who pointedly settles himself on the opposite side from Nie Hengbai and scowls at all gossipers, their host included. His height half-blocks Nie Huaisang from view.

But still, Jin Guangyao can see.

And as he watches the words fall unheard from Nie Huaisang’s mouth, he feels a chill slowly creep up his spine.

‘Da-ge, come back. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’ll behave. I'll be good. Please come back. Please, Da-ge…’

He is glad that his sleeves hide the involuntary clenching of his hands.

While he knows better than to completely dismiss a possibility, no matter how small the odds, his mind nonetheless rebels at the first idea to enter it. It cannot actually be Nie Mingjue's resentful ghost haunting his little brother. Even if it had been whole, if he and Xue Yang had not scattered it with the man's physical pieces, it is decidedly not Nie Huaisang that the man would be tormenting with his presence if he were capable.

Isn't it?

And yet, he cannot shake the cold in his bones.

There is something wrong with Nie Huaisang, and he will seek out the source.

---

"San-ge?"

Nie Huaisang blinks at him, eyes glassy and confused. He tilts his head questioningly like the birds he is so fond of, then slowly regains awareness of his surroundings and smiles, looking more like himself.

Jin Guangyao forcibly clamps down on a shudder. "It's good to see you, Sang-er," he says, allowing himself to adopt the regional address since they are nowhere near the judging eyes of Koi Tower. He reaches out and sweeps the younger man's hair out of his eyes, then tuts in concern. "Are you still not sleeping well?"

"Ah-" Nie Huaisang flinches and looks embarrassed at the gentle chiding. "It's… nothing, really. Busy times and too much paperwork, that's all. Can I get you anything?"

"I just need to look over some map records, if you don't mind. A handful of small sects have brought a problem to my father, and I'm afraid our own records are… a bit lacking."

The younger man simply nods, accepting the excuse at face value, and Jin Guangyao isn't sure if that says something about Nie Huaisang's state of mind, or the Jin sect's reputation for ignoring anything that isn't expenditures or debts to be collected. Either way, when Nie Huaisang reaches out to tug his sleeve, he goes willingly and tries to ignore the slightly unsteady sway to his friend's pace.

Even though the poor end to his relationship with Nie Mingjue had been loud and public enough that the whole of the Unclean Realms knew about it before the day had even ended, he is apparently still a familiar enough face that barely anyone pays him mind.

Indeed, most of their worried glances are directed towards their sect leader.

He refuses to examine the possible reasons why that might be settling sour in his stomach.

They are still a few halls and turns away from the library when Nie Huaisang lets go of his sleeve and puts a hand to his head, looking even more pale than before. Jin Guangyao catches him before he can topple into the wall and then bites his tongue when green eyes slide over him, gaze unseeing.

“Sang-er?” he asks cautiously.

Nie Huaisang’s eyes don’t clear, but he seems to still be at least halfway lucid. “I’m sorry… I don’t feel well. I think I need to stay here. You remember the rest of the way, don’t you?”

“I do, but this is no proper place for you to rest.” He leans around the corner and waves over a passing servant. “Would you assist Nie-zongzhu to his room, please?”

“Of course, of course,” the woman says in a tone that conveys she is apparently -unfortunately- used to this. “Come along,” she says, taking hold of Nie Huaisang’s hand and wrapping a steadying arm around his waist, as if guiding a lost child, and he follows her lead without complaint.

Jin Guangyao watches them go and squashes that sour feeling when it threatens to churn.

Answers.

Answers first.

---

The library he needs, he has decided, is not the primary library, the one that Nie Huaisang had been taking him to. No, he seeks out the room buried so deep in the Unclean Realms that no daylight reaches it, that he had only stumbled upon by accident back when he had been employed here.

Lighting the only lantern in the room with a flame talisman, he finds that nothing has changed since the last time he was here other than a thickening of the layer of dust.

Swallowing hard, he straightens his back and starts with the family records.

---

‘After much deliberation and testimony from the physicians and healers involved in the care of the first young master, it is the advice of the sect elders that- ’

He has relit the lantern twice, and he’s fairly sure it’s long past dinner when he sinks into a chair and slaps the open scroll down onto the table, feeling lightheaded and shaky.

A spirit-tethering.

Until he had seen the books Lan Xichen carried from the library of the Cloud Recesses, such a thing had been the stuff of fantasy stories. Even in the vaunted Lan texts, it was only described in abstract theory.

And yet there was apparently enough foundation to it that a serious proposal had been made to cast such a thing between a pair of children to keep Nie Mingjue from being torn apart by the saber he’d bonded with far too young.

He forces himself to keep reading, feeling his stomach sink with every passage.

Nie Haoran had argued viciously against the idea for two years, even offering himself as the tether, only to be shot down due to his own unstable health. He had only given in when his son had experienced his first qi deviation at eleven years of age.

Eleven years old.

Nie Huaisang would have only been five.

Jin Guangyao bites his tongue again and presses the back of his hand to his mouth to forcibly swallow back the bile that bubbles up in his throat.

The mechanics of the matter only make the horror of it even more stark. The only ones who would have been able to undo the tether would have been the brothers themselves. He finds notes, plans, all written in Nie Mingjue’s sharp-edged calligraphy, of how he would set his brother free once his own health became too compromised but before his mind was too unstable…

But he hadn’t done it.

Hadn’t been able to do it.

He’d deteriorated too quickly.

Instead...

Nausea continuing to roil in his guts like a thunder cloud, Jin Guangyao rolls up the scroll and shoves it back into place with enough force that it crumples, practically fleeing the room even though there is no monster there to escape, just-

It is indeed dark outside as he traverses the hallways, barely able to restrain himself from running.

No one answers when he knocks at Nie Huaisang’s door. He sucks in a sharp breath to ground himself, then carefully pushes it open.

The room is as stark as he remembers from his last visit. Though he knows he Lan Xichen have both offered to help, Nie Huaisang has yet to start replacing any of the possessions that his brother had burnt. There is a tray of food on the table near the bed, untouched and probably long cold.

The person he’s seeking is curled up on the bed on top of the covers, still fully dressed. Fingers twitch and scratch at his own arms as he shivers, most likely in the throes of a nightmare.

His lips are moving.

Jin Guangyao doesn’t dare read them.

He closes the door behind him and crosses the room to the bed. Nie Huaisang doesn’t react to the dip in the mattress as he sits down, nor to being pulled and shifted until the younger man’s head rests in his lap. When he gently removes the guan from his hair and begins combing out the braids, however, the fit finally eases, the anxious lines of Nie Huaisang’s face smoothing out as he calms.

Jin Guangyao closes his eyes for a moment and sighs.

He now knows what is wrong with Nie Huaisang, and he knows he is at fault.

He could lay the blame elsewhere. He wants to. The elders who’d made the proposal... Nie Haoran for allowing it... the healers who’d carried it out… It is most tempting to blame Nie Mingjue for having not undone it as soon as they were both grown.

But no. The fact of the matter is that Nie Huaisang’s condition can be laid at his feet. Had he not hastened Nie Mingjue’s death… He doesn’t regret that.

He refuses to let himself regret that.

But this…

Grief could be moved past.

Missing pieces could not.

He opens his eyes to find Nie Huaisang has shifted to curl against him, and he allows himself a small, weak smile as he begins carding his fingers through silken hair again.

He knows what is wrong with Nie Huaisang, and perhaps he can’t fix the damage already done, but there are still things he can do. Information he can find, pieces he can move or remove. He can make things easier.

“It will be alright,” he murmurs, then leans down and gently presses a kiss to the sleeping young man’s temple. The gesture makes Nie Huaisang snuggle closer in his sleep, and his own smile gains strength.  “I took care of er-gongzi before, I will be happy to take care of zongzhu now. He is my responsibility, after all.”

[slashersins]

how you met thomas . . .

part six

( part one )  ( part two )  ( part three )  ( part four ) ( part five )

“ are you sure you don’t need help with anything , miss luda mae ? ”

“ oh now hush , you’re our guest . you just sit there and look pretty . i was worried that ol’ shirt of tommy’s might of swallowed you up , but you made it look nice . ”

you laughed , rubbing the back of your head and beaming as luda stood over a hot stove , making some sort of stew . hoyt was there , arms crossed and glaring at you . the feeling of his eyes burning holes into the back of your head making you a bit uncomfortable . but you guess anyone who just got chewed out by their momma in front of a stranger would feel like glaring . 

“ made ya look damn good enough to eat . ” hoyt spat out with venom . luda turned , giving her son a pointed and harsh look . 

“ now listen here . you’re gonna mind your manners or you’ll go bed hungry . i ain’t gonna have no disrespect in this house . quick your grumbling and act like a gentleman ! ”

once again you found yourself staring at the floor feeling utterly embarrassed for the older man . you brushed off his comment , wishing tommy was back down stairs so you could at least have someone to talk . you figured hoyt wouldn’t be that much fun , and luda was mostly minding the stew . and if hoyt was giving you the stink eye and then you could only imagine monty would be too if he was rolled in . 

“ y/n , how about you help me out and get that spice for me off the shelf over there . ” oh thank god . you got up with a polite ‘ yes ma’am ’ , moving to grab the container she said and offering it to her . she added it to the stew and hummed , picking up some of the veggies and meat on the spoon and offering it to you , “ now tell me what you think , an’ no lyin’ i want your honest answer . ”

you blew on the offered spoon softly before putting it to your lifts . a soft ‘ mmm ’ left you as you chewed and swallowed . with one hand on your hip , you looked between luda and her stew , contemplating the flavors . “ it’s good . could use another dash of that seasoning you got there and some more black pepper and it’d be even better . ”

luda gave a smile and patted your arm gently . “ that’s what i like to hear . i’ll add to it and then supper’ll be ready . you go on and sit down , thank you darlin’ . i’m happy at least someone in this house gives me feed back about my cookin’ instead of being ungrateful . ”

you couldn’t help the twitch at your lips as you moved to the table , stopping when you saw tommy in the door way , eyes on you and an expression you couldn’t place on his masked features . “ hey , tommy . were are you sittin’ ? ”

thomas had came down as momma had been chewing out hoyt the second time , standing in the door way to watch hoyt huff and puff and cross his arms . but the old man didn’t have his attention for long before he was looking at you . he wanted to walk over , to sit next to you , maybe you would talk more to him .

but before he could move his momma was calling you over . and he couldn’t help but feel like he was dreaming . it felt so right watching you . the way you brought momma her spice jar , the way momma offered you a taste and you took it , mulling over the flavors before giving your two cents . it was so domestic . and thomas couldn’t stop himself from seeing you standing over a stove , calling him over to taste your cooking , a smile meant only for him on your face .

he was brought out of his fantasy by you calling out to him . the fondness on his face still there as you spoke . half in a haze , still so affected by seeing you in his shirt , seeing you be so casual with his family , he grunted and nodded towards the seat next to you . you laughed , and his chest clenched so painfully sweet in his chest . “ looks like i’ll be sitting next to good company . ” your smile sent butterflies swarming through his stomach . and he felt weightless as he moved closer to take his seat . 

“ hoyt , go on and get monty , dinner’s ready . ”

hoyt huffed at he got up , shooting you a glare only to get one shot back from tommy . mumbling about wasting food on meat under his breath . 

“ i can help make everyone’s bowls , miss luda mae . you can go sit down . you might be made of tough stuff , but you need rest too . besides , i don’t mind . it’s the least i can do for y’all helping me out and inviting me over . ”

“ well ain’t you a little sugar plum . alright darlin’ i’ll go sit . ain’t they just a little homemaker , tommy ? ” you laughed at that , glancing over your shoulder as you started to pour stew into each bowl . you shot a wink to luda , being playful and silly .

“ well that’s what i was raised to be . gotta show off my only skills somehow . ” you laughed as you turned back to your task .

luda gave a smug look at thomas , shoulders back and chest puffed out in smug pride . she knew what her son was thinking , and thomas wanted to hide his face in his hands at the embarrassment . you saying something like that make tommy’s heart jolt . a little homemaker . . . would you . . . could you ever be his ? he shook his head , huffing to himself and glaring at the table . he didn’t want to risk looking up at luda , knowing damn well his momma was more than up to something and probably looking like a cat who stole milk . 

hoyt rolled monty in as you started serving food . starting with luda , then going to hoy and monty , finishing with tommy and yourself . you counted your blessings that you were sat between tommy and luda . and when they offered their hands for the dinner time prayer you took them without issue . and you could have sworn you felt tommy’s hand twitch as he held yours . 

"we were hungry and he gave us meat. thirsty and he gave us drink. amen . ”

hoyt’s prayer was short and to the point , and the table all mummered their own amen . the rest of the dinner went well , light conversation , mostly with smiles tossed tommy’s way when hoyt said something harsh or monty made a rude comment , he looked exhausted by them and kept sassing them with a single glare . and luda kept you entertained by asking you questions about your life , your family , your hobbies . everything seemed to meet approval , the old woman happy with how nice it was to have a kind house guest for once . 

“ well now , that was a good dinner . it always tastes better when you’ve got good company . ” luda mae was smiling , giving your arm a small squeeze . you could only blush and nod , eyes bright with the fact that you were able to make luda’s evening a little better . she really was a sweet woman . 

with a smile you got up , confusing some of the family for a moment before you started gathering empty bowls and cups from the table . hoyt huffed , making his first kind , well sorta kind , comment about how you at least had some damn manners . luda wanted to fuss but you just turned her words back on her with a goody smile . 

“ none of that now , you cooked , so i’ll clean . it’s the only polite thing to do . so hush up and enjoy your family . ” she laughed , swatting at you with her napkin as your sass . it drew a chuckle from tommy , his eyes soft as he watched you , yet again , act like a little homemaker . in his shirt , in his house , wearing his clothes , taking care of his family’s dishes . that soft look of longing , of want , came over his face . he’d barely just met you , but he could tell he was already starting to get week for you . 

you washed the dishes while humming , not minding the chore at all as the rest of the family talked , not noticing how thomas was gazing at you with such sweet intensity . but luda noticed . as did hoyt and monty . and suddenly thinks clicked in the two older men’s head . they looked to luda , who only gave a pointed look back . 

“ my baby boy deserves some happiness . ain’t my fault they caught his eye . and i ain’t about to let this opportunity pass him up . so y’all best be with me on this . ” her voice was a harsh whisper , unheard by you over the sound of water and clanging dishes . even thomas wasn’t aware of the conversation . instead he’d moved to stand next to you , picking up a clean dishrag and starting to dry as you washed . it was an excuse to be close to you , and he was thankful that you seemed to enjoy his company . 

“ tomorrow mornin’ i’m gonna need you to take monty outside to look at y/n’s truck . said there might be something wrong with the ac . poor thing was red faced and burning up when she came into the store today . you think we might have something to fix it in that old barn or spare parts from those old abandoned trucks out back ? ” 

you turned at that , flustered , “ miss luda , you really don’t have to . mr monty , it’s fine . i can handle a little heat and it’s not that far of a drive to where i’m going , i can take a few hours in that truck - ”

“ oh hush now . ain’t no one can last happy in the texas heat that long while driving . if we got the parts then monty’ll fix it . besides , he’s been getting lazy of late and it’ll be good for him to move around and get to fixin’ somethin’ . ”

you looked between them and hoyt just snickered , “ ain’t no use in gettin’ on momma’s bad side . thought i wouldn’t mind it if you did . ”

“ hush , hoyt . ”

you sighed , running a hand over the back of your neck before letting your shoulders drop . “ yes , ma’am . if you insist . but i don’t wanna just laze about . maybe there’s something i can do to help around the house while mr monty looks at my truck ? ”

“ oh , we’ll figure it out . for now just finish up those dishes and tommy’ll show you where you’ll be sleepin’ tonight . 

there’s a smile , a ‘ yes , ma’am ’ given and you return to task . it’s finsihed fairly quickly , thomas looking down and then nodding his head towards the stairs , guiding you to the second floor .

as you leave the room , luda mae turns serious as she looks at her eldest and her brother . “ make sure that truck can’t be driven off this property . do what you need to , but i don’t want her leavin’ . thomas likes them well enough already , and they’re good company . and look , they even went out their way to do dishes and is offering to help ‘round the house . you understand me . and don’t you go tryin’ to chase them off . thomas deserves someone nice , and i could use a helpin’ had around here with chores . ”

hoyt and monty look to each other and then back at luda . hoyt , even as cranky as he is , knows that momma’s word is law . even if he plays himself as man of the house . “ alright momma . you get to keep em . but when they see what we do and tuck tail and run - ”

“ they won’t . not until they need to know . ”

monty huffs , not wanting to go out in the hot sun , even if it is to tear up and mess with a truck . thought he has to admit . . . maybe doing that wouldn’t be so bad . it’s been a good while since he had his hands coated in grease . he nodded . “ fine , as long as i get the next pretty thing . ain’t fair none when hoyt get’s to tie up the pretty - ”

“ it’s settled then . and monty , you watch that mouth of yours . aint want them to hear nothing vulgar out your mouth . ”

meanwhile , you followed tommy upstairs , completely unaware of that you were about to become more than a guest of the hewitt family .

[slashersins-abandoned]

how you met thomas

part six . 

part one . part two . part three . part four . part five .

“ are you sure you don’t need help with anything , miss luda mae ? ”

“ oh now hush , you’re our guest . you just sit there and look pretty . i was worried that ol’ shirt of tommy’s might of swallowed you up , but you made it look nice . ”

you laughed , rubbing the back of your head and beaming as luda stood over a hot stove , making some sort of stew . hoyt was there , arms crossed and glaring at you . the feeling of his eyes burning holes into the back of your head making you a bit uncomfortable . but you guess anyone who just got chewed out by their momma in front of a stranger would feel like glaring .

“ made ya look damn good enough to eat . ” hoyt spat out with venom . luda turned , giving her son a pointed and harsh look .

“ now listen here . you’re gonna mind your manners or you’ll go bed hungry . i ain’t gonna have no disrespect in this house . quick your grumbling and act like a gentleman ! ”

once again you found yourself staring at the floor feeling utterly embarrassed for the older man . you brushed off his comment , wishing tommy was back down stairs so you could at least have someone to talk . you figured hoyt wouldn’t be that much fun , and luda was mostly minding the stew . and if hoyt was giving you the stink eye and then you could only imagine monty would be too if he was rolled in .

“ y/n , how about you help me out and get that spice for me off the shelf over there . ” oh thank god . you got up with a polite ‘ yes ma’am ’ , moving to grab the container she said and offering it to her . she added it to the stew and hummed , picking up some of the veggies and meat on the spoon and offering it to you , “ now tell me what you think , an’ no lyin’ i want your honest answer . ”

you blew on the offered spoon softly before putting it to your lifts . a soft ‘ mmm ’ left you as you chewed and swallowed . with one hand on your hip , you looked between luda and her stew , contemplating the flavors . “ it’s good . could use another dash of that seasoning you got there and some more black pepper and it’d be even better . ”

luda gave a smile and patted your arm gently . “ that’s what i like to hear . i’ll add to it and then supper’ll be ready . you go on and sit down , thank you darlin’ . i’m happy at least someone in this house gives me feed back about my cookin’ instead of being ungrateful . ”

you couldn’t help the twitch at your lips as you moved to the table , stopping when you saw tommy in the door way , eyes on you and an expression you couldn’t place on his masked features . “ hey , tommy . were are you sittin’ ? ”

thomas had came down as momma had been chewing out hoyt the second time , standing in the door way to watch hoyt huff and puff and cross his arms . but the old man didn’t have his attention for long before he was looking at you . he wanted to walk over , to sit next to you , maybe you would talk more to him .

but before he could move his momma was calling you over . and he couldn’t help but feel like he was dreaming . it felt so right watching you . the way you brought momma her spice jar , the way momma offered you a taste and you took it , mulling over the flavors before giving your two cents . it was so domestic . and thomas couldn’t stop himself from seeing you standing over a stove , calling him over to taste your cooking , a smile meant only for him on your face .

he was brought out of his fantasy by you calling out to him . the fondness on his face still there as you spoke . half in a haze , still so affected by seeing you in his shirt , seeing you be so casual with his family , he grunted and nodded towards the seat next to you . you laughed , and his chest clenched so painfully sweet in his chest . “ looks like i’ll be sitting next to good company . ” your smile sent butterflies swarming through his stomach . and he felt weightless as he moved closer to take his seat .

“ hoyt , go on and get monty , dinner’s ready . ”

hoyt huffed at he got up , shooting you a glare only to get one shot back from tommy . mumbling about wasting food on meat under his breath .

“ i can help make everyone’s bowls , miss luda mae . you can go sit down . you might be made of tough stuff , but you need rest too . besides , i don’t mind . it’s the least i can do for y’all helping me out and inviting me over . ”

“ well ain’t you a little sugar plum . alright darlin’ i’ll go sit . ain’t they just a little homemaker , tommy ? ” you laughed at that , glancing over your shoulder as you started to pour stew into each bowl . you shot a wink to luda , being playful and silly .

“ well that’s what i was raised to be . gotta show off my only skills somehow . ” you laughed as you turned back to your task .

luda gave a smug look at thomas , shoulders back and chest puffed out in smug pride . she knew what her son was thinking , and thomas wanted to hide his face in his hands at the embarrassment . you saying something like that make tommy’s heart jolt . a little homemaker … would you … could you ever be his ? he shook his head , huffing to himself and glaring at the table . he didn’t want to risk looking up at luda , knowing damn well his momma was more than up to something and probably looking like a cat who stole milk .

hoyt rolled monty in as you started serving food . starting with luda , then going to hoy and monty , finishing with tommy and yourself . you counted your blessings that you were sat between tommy and luda . and when they offered their hands for the dinner time prayer you took them without issue . and you could have sworn you felt tommy’s hand twitch as he held yours .

“we were hungry and he gave us meat. thirsty and he gave us drink. amen . ”

hoyt’s prayer was short and to the point , and the table all mummered their own amen . the rest of the dinner went well , light conversation , mostly with smiles tossed tommy’s way when hoyt said something harsh or monty made a rude comment , he looked exhausted by them and kept sassing them with a single glare . and luda kept you entertained by asking you questions about your life , your family , your hobbies . everything seemed to meet approval , the old woman happy with how nice it was to have a kind house guest for once .

“ well now , that was a good dinner . it always tastes better when you’ve got good company . ” luda mae was smiling , giving your arm a small squeeze . you could only blush and nod , eyes bright with the fact that you were able to make luda’s evening a little better . she really was a sweet woman .

with a smile you got up , confusing some of the family for a moment before you started gathering empty bowls and cups from the table . hoyt huffed , making his first kind , well sorta kind , comment about how you at least had some damn manners . luda wanted to fuss but you just turned her words back on her with a goody smile .

“ none of that now , you cooked , so i’ll clean . it’s the only polite thing to do . so hush up and enjoy your family . ” she laughed , swatting at you with her napkin as your sass . it drew a chuckle from tommy , his eyes soft as he watched you , yet again , act like a little homemaker . in his shirt , in his house , wearing his clothes , taking care of his family’s dishes . that soft look of longing , of want , came over his face . he’d barely just met you , but he could tell he was already starting to get week for you .

you washed the dishes while humming , not minding the chore at all as the rest of the family talked , not noticing how thomas was gazing at you with such sweet intensity . but luda noticed . as did hoyt and monty . and suddenly thinks clicked in the two older men’s head . they looked to luda , who only gave a pointed look back .

“ my baby boy deserves some happiness . ain’t my fault they caught his eye . and i ain’t about to let this opportunity pass him up . so y’all best be with me on this . ” her voice was a harsh whisper , unheard by you over the sound of water and clanging dishes . even thomas wasn’t aware of the conversation . instead he’d moved to stand next to you , picking up a clean dishrag and starting to dry as you washed . it was an excuse to be close to you , and he was thankful that you seemed to enjoy his company .

“ tomorrow mornin’ i’m gonna need you to take monty outside to look at y/n’s truck . said there might be something wrong with the ac . poor thing was red faced and burning up when she came into the store today . you think we might have something to fix it in that old barn or spare parts from those old abandoned trucks out back ? ”

you turned at that , flustered , “ miss luda , you really don’t have to . mr monty , it’s fine . i can handle a little heat and it’s not that far of a drive to where i’m going , i can take a few hours in that truck - ”

“ oh hush now . ain’t no one can last happy in the texas heat that long while driving . if we got the parts then monty’ll fix it . besides , he’s been getting lazy of late and it’ll be good for him to move around and get to fixin’ somethin’ . ”

you looked between them and hoyt just snickered , “ ain’t no use in gettin’ on momma’s bad side . thought i wouldn’t mind it if you did . ”

“ hush , hoyt . ”

you sighed , running a hand over the back of your neck before letting your shoulders drop . “ yes , ma’am . if you insist . but i don’t wanna just laze about . maybe there’s something i can do to help around the house while mr monty looks at my truck ? ”

“ oh , we’ll figure it out . for now just finish up those dishes and tommy’ll show you where you’ll be sleepin’ tonight .

there’s a smile , a ‘ yes , ma’am ’ given and you return to task . it’s finsihed fairly quickly , thomas looking down and then nodding his head towards the stairs , guiding you to the second floor .

as you leave the room , luda mae turns serious as she looks at her eldest and her brother . “ make sure that truck can’t be driven off this property . do what you need to , but i don’t want her leavin’ . thomas likes them well enough already , and they’re good company . and look , they even went out their way to do dishes and is offering to help ‘round the house . you understand me . and don’t you go tryin’ to chase them off . thomas deserves someone nice , and i could use a helpin’ had around here with chores . ”

hoyt and monty look to each other and then back at luda . hoyt , even as cranky as he is , knows that momma’s word is law . even if he plays himself as man of the house . “ alright momma . you get to keep em . but when they see what we do and tuck tail and run - ”

“ they won’t . not until they need to know . ”

monty huffs , not wanting to go out in the hot sun , even if it is to tear up and mess with a truck . thought he has to admit … maybe doing that wouldn’t be so bad . it’s been a good while since he had his hands coated in grease . he nodded . “ fine , as long as i get the next pretty thing . ain’t fair none when hoyt get’s to tie up the pretty - ”

“ it’s settled then . and monty , you watch that mouth of yours . aint want them to hear nothing vulgar out your mouth . ”

meanwhile , you followed tommy upstairs , completely unaware of that you were about to become more than a guest of the hewitt family .

[ericsonclan]

Stop and Smell the Stew

Summary: Duck goes down to the kitchen to see if dinner is ready and ends up helping his mom cook.

Word Count: 1759

Read on AO3:

Duck lay on his bed, his legs lazily kicking as they dangled off the edge. His eyes focused on a weird dot on his ceiling for a second, wondering how it got there before his attention was stolen by the TV as Final Fantasy music began to play on the title screen of the game. He had just finished an intense gaming session of grinding his weaker team members, cheering for them when they leveled up and laughing with Tidus as he did the laugh alongside Yuna.

It was a ton of fun but his stomach had been growling and sadly all he’d had was some Batman fruit snacks. Well, not some - one pack. He had inhaled that like it was nothing and now his stomach demanded more. It gave its usual pleas and angry cries, making Duck wonder if dinner would be ready soon. He knew it was only four but still maybe his mom would have started dinner early tonight or maybe she had made some treats.

With that thought in mind Duck swung his legs off his bed and swayed up to his full height in one awkward movement. Strolling forward, he walked past his bookshelf filled with nothing but comics and mystery novels. Batman, Spiderman and Scooby Doo figures stood proudly by the great reads he had collected over the years. His eyes stuck on the Shaggy figure who was definitely a bit worse for the wear due to being such an old toy. Still his goofy expression was still as strong as ever. With a small smile Duck reached out to grab the figure but accidentally knocked over Daphne in the process.

“Shit, sorry, Daphne,” Duck apologized with a smile and leaned down to pick up the toy when his eyes locked onto a Rubik’s cube. Oh, so that's where it had ended up. He could’ve sworn he had lost it in his pants. Eh, no use thinking about it too hard. Snatching up the Rubik’s cube, Duck began to flick around the colored sections while he put Daphne back on the shelf.

With a grin he turned and began to solve the cube. He had always had a love and a knack for puzzles and this one was one of his favorites. Spinning around the different sections, Duck quickly solved it then blindly reorganized it. His mind was easily distracted by the thought of a new puzzle game coming out and after a few minutes Duck had no recollections of how many spins he had done or what order it was in. The Rubik’s cube would remain a puzzle to solve later. Still holding it in one hand, Duck walked down the stairs with a smile and headed towards the kitchen.

“Hey, Mom, what's going to be for dinner?” Duck poked his head in the kitchen and noticed that Katjaa was busy getting out the dutch oven, carefully placing it onto the stove. The sound of her son’s voice made Katjaa look over with the brightest smile.

“I’m just getting started on it: carbonnade flamande,”

The name of the dish brought back fond memories and made Duck’s stomach growl.

That caused a laugh to leave Katjaa’s lips.“Want to help me?”

“Sure!” Duck beamed and placed down the Rubik’s cube in a spot he would most likely forget about by this evening. Rolling up his sleeves that immediately fell back down, he went to work grabbing all the ingredients. His loud footsteps rang around the kitchen as he grabbed the chuck roast that had been marinating overnight in the sour ale, bay leaves, garlic and some salt and also snatched up the bacon, beef broth and way too many other ingredients to try to carry all in one trip. Yet he still tried.

“Duck!” Katjaa exclaimed then bustled over, helping her son out.

“I wanted to carry it all in one trip,” Duck grinned at his mom who shook her head good naturedly before setting down the ingredients on the counter.

“I can see that and that was a very kind thought but you have to be careful,” Katjaa pulled Duck close to her and placed a gentle kiss on the side of his head.

“Okay, I’ll be more careful. Promise,” Duck gave a smile to his mom then turned his attention to the stove. “So, what’s step one?”

“We’re going to drain the beef and pat it dry,” Katjaa leaned down and grabbed a food strainer from the lower cupboard.

“On it!” Duck was off like a shot after snatching up the food strainer from his mom.

“Wait!” Katjaa called out, making Duck pause. “We have to reserve the marinade,”

“Oops, okay. I’ll do that,” Duck corrected his action and soon the beef was safely drained. Passing it over to his mom, Duck watched as Katjaa patted the beef dry with paper towels.

“Can you get the olive oil heated up in the dutch oven?” Katjaa smiled over at Duck as she sliced the onions. Duck nodded excitedly and was off once more, preparing the dutch oven.

Once the oil was piping hot Katjaa began to cook the beef in batches, careful to not let the oil splatter when she did so, and told Duck to do the same. Even though he was  a young adult sometimes he still got too excited for his own good and forgot things. The two of them worked well together, making sure the beef was golden brown on all sides as the smells started to permeate the air around them. It was a warm, comforting smell that made Duck nostalgic as his stomach continued to growl.

After about ten minutes they removed the beef cubes and went on to the next step. It was time to cook the bacon and Duck had volunteered to take the lead on this one. Being ever vigilant, he made sure the bacon was cooked to crispy perfection while Katjaa hummed a Belgian tune that made Duck bop his head. Both of them shared a soft smile and soon Katjaa was back over beside him giving him hugs and ruffling his hair.

“Great job. You’re such a wonderful cooking helper,”

Duck gave a light laugh at that and grinned. “I had the best teacher,”

Katjaa gave his head another kiss then gave the instructions for the next step. After the bacon was taken out and put to the side, the onions were thrown in with some salt. The smell cut through the deep, meaty air that the beef and bacon had made, adding notes of onions that complemented it greatly. Soon some flour was added to the dutch oven to coat the caramelized onions and after that the beef broth was used to get any scraps off the bottom. Once all of those had been snagged, Duck gave a thumbs up and Katjaa added the reserved marinade, beef, bacon and thyme.

“Is that everything?” Duck asked, bouncing on the balls of his feet in anticipation for dinner.

“For now, yes. It needs to cook for an hour and a half first before we finish up the last few steps,”

Those words made Duck’s eyes grow big and his smile faltered. “An hour and a half?!? I thought it would be like twenty minutes. I can’t wait that long!”

Katjaa laughed at that; patience wasn’t her son’s strongest suit. “Don’t worry, you can have a snack to help tide you over,”

“I guess,” Duck mumbled, looking a bit defeated.

“Y’know, Duck, sometimes you just have to stop and smell the stew,” Katjaa placed a hand on her son’s arm and smiled, hoping he would get the twist on the saying. He didn’t. Instead he took it literally and began to smell the stew.

“It smells good,” Duck’s nose scrunched up when he saw his mom laugh. “What?”

“Nothing, it's just I was trying to put a twist on that saying. Y’know the one that talks about stopping to smell the roses. Duck, sometimes you need to slow down and relax, okay?” “Okay,” Duck nodded then tried to think of what to do to pass the time. “Wanna watch a movie while it cooks?”

“I’d love that,” Katjaa smiled and watched in amusement as Duck scampered off to put on Knives Out . He knew that his mom hadn’t seen it yet and he wanted to see if she could guess who the killer was.

It was a fun experience. Duck was on the edge of his seat as he munched on apples and peanut butter while Katjaa threw out guess after guess on who the killer was. Many laughs were shared, gasps given and their attention was captured. The hour and a half flew by in no time and even though they were both reluctant they paused the movie.

Duck repeated his same action from the beginning of dinner prep, his sleeves rolled up for three glorious seconds before falling back down as he helped add in the last few ingredients. Katjaa quickly added in the brown sugar, parsley, mustard and fresh pepper, giving the contents of the dutch oven a quick stir before putting the lid back on. The warm, deep flavors stayed in the air though, overwhelming Duck’s nose in the most wonderful of ways. His steps had a bit more pep to them as he guided his mom back to the living room, excited to finish the movie and then have a feast.

It didn’t take long for both of them to get swept up in the movie again and the reveal of the killer made Katjaa gasp. She gave her commentary as the credits rolled, Duck listening with a big smile as he added his own thoughts here and there. The two continued to gush about their favorite parts of the film as the fries cooked and soon dinner was ready. Duck eagerly set the table for three then looked over at the luscious Belgian stew that held a depth of flavor. The crisp smell of the french fries complemented the stew, adding another layer to the smells that danced around the kitchen.

Just as the table had been set and the food placed down the front door opened, revealing Kenny. He gave a big smile as he shifted his jacket off. “Hey there, Kat, Duck, it smells delicious,” He strolled forward and gave Katjaa a quick kiss on the cheek.

“Alright!” Duck sat down a bit too quickly, nearly slipping off his chair but gave a grin to his parents to show that he was a-okay. “Let’s eat!”

[write-baby-write]

Do Your Research!

Writing fanfiction can be fun, but it also can be tough. As I’ve said before in previous posts, it takes time and a lot of work to write a good story. Which brings us to today’s topic: researching.

If you’re obsessed with researching in general (like me 😅), I bet you didn’t imagine yourself researching about things you had zero interest about before writing fanfic and you probably have made a joke about the Google / Facebook / Instagram spy assigned to lurk into your account. But one thing you know for sure is how important it is to make a research about the themes you write about.

If you’re not so fond of the idea of researching, let me give you a few reasons to reconsider your opinion about it.

The Perfect Characterization

Anyone who ever read fanfiction knows there is a huge difference between fanworks in which characterization follows canon and OOC. Though it’s understandable when a character is written out of character to fit an alternate universe, a fanwork with poorly written characters can be a reason why readers avoid your work.

The solution to fix it? Research. Observing a character’s body language, personality, demeanor and backstory, making notes while reading/watching/playing, saving screencaps, reading the character’s fandom wikia and even filling out your own character sheet can make a significant improvement on how you write a character. If you manage to write the characters in a way the reader can easily recognize who says each line of a dialogue, they will get sucked into the world you created and wish to never leave.

Characters from countries and cultures you don’t know demand more through research, otherwise other fans (specially the ones from that specific ethnicity) will eye roll at your story and scroll past it. The best option is talk to someone from the culture/country you're writing about. If you don't know anyone and you're too shy to socialize (I feel you, hun), you can always consume any series, movies and books created by people from that culture/country.

When it comes to giving a new characterization to your MC or writing an OC, the best solution are character sheets (1, 2) and OC questionnaires (1, 2). Those will be your guide whenever you need to describe anything related to them.

Realistic Setting

Whether you’re writing a Regency Era romance, Renaissance adventure or modern day royalty, do your research! It’s crucial to take some time to research to make your story more realistic to your reader. A well written story with a dose of realism is the key to captivate new readers. We have easy access to various sources about food, fashion, art, economy and culture in different periods of time (movies, tv series, books, online articles, documentaries, etc) and that means you have no excuses to simply rely on Wikipedia and move on.

This also applies to stories set in a specific place related to cultures or professions you’re not familiar with. The same way you might need some basic knowledge on eighteenth century vocabulary, society and clothing in Europe, you can’t write a story set in a hospital without eventual researches about medical procedures and diseases or write your OTP honeymoon at the Maldives without adding some information about the place.

Make Your Fantasy/Supernatural Stories More Compelling

This is probably the genre that I find stories with the most grotesque mistakes. Novice (and cocky) writers have a tendency to assume that just because they’re writing fantasy or supernatural stories, anything can happen. They’re not entirely wrong, but it’s not that simple.

We all know a little something about mythical beings from books, series, films and TV because most of these stories follow a pattern. Though every author is allowed to take creative liberties while writing, there are mythologies about any supernatural creature you can think of. And when a writer diverges too much from what we know about the mythology of those fictional beings, their work can be seen as lazy and even dumb.

Let’s take vampire mythology as an example. Many authors have different opinions about the existence of fangs, what can kill a vampire and if they can reproduce or not, which is fine. However, not many people thought Stephanie Meyer’s idea of why vampires can’t step into the sun was good.

Supernatural/fantasy stories are part of a completely different niche, with their own notions of time, space, culture and society and some fans can be pretty vocal about inaccuracies. Which is why I believe a good research goes a long way for fanfic writers.

Writing Specific Subjects

There are certain themes in fanfiction which the author must pay extra attention. Stories involving mental health, disabilities, racism, LGBTphobia, xenophobia, sexism and acts of violence demand more than a few clicks on your favorite search engine page. Because those themes are part of many people’s lives (including your readers, mutuals, fellow writers), it’s really important to know how to write them and if you ever receive any criticism, to understand where it’s coming from.

To write those subjects, I recommend talking to people who deal with them in real life, read or watch testimonials. Why? Because it’ll give you a notion of what these people go through everyday and it’ll motivate you to write a good story not just for the notifications and praise. But also to honor those people.

Also, as a person who has worked with mental health, I need to make a request: when writing about suicide, for love of whatever is sacred to you, read WHO Media Guidelines before going all 13 Reasons Why on your readers. You cannot be too careful about this subject.

Know When To Stop Researching

I know this topic seems a little obvious, but if you’re into researching as much I am, you probably know what I’m talking about. It’s quite common for a writer to spend hours, sometimes days making endless researches about a subject and not finding what you want. It doesn’t matter if you change search engines, the keywords, read as many articles or watch as many documentaries about it. Before you know it, you wasted too much time falling into internet rabbit holes that led you nowhere. You simply procrastinated, you end up frustrated and even think about giving up on writing that piece to write something you’re more familiar with.

If you reached that point on your research, maybe it’s time for you to think how relevant that information is to your story. Does this information make a significant impact on your piece? If you don’t add that information you’ve been searching for, would you have to edit or rewrite anything on your fic or make big changes on your plot?

This usually happens when you’re getting too attached to details of your story, which is not a bad thing, but it can be exhausting. It’s important to figure it out before you get to the frustrating part. Otherwise, the research will fail to achieve its goal to help you write.

Did I miss any topics? Do you have any suggestions? Let me know by commenting, reblogging or sending me a message/ask.

Happy writing/reading!

[somuchbetterthanthat]

How to get your Archivist to relax. (Nsfwish, d/s-y undertones.)

“Look at you,” cooes Tim, squishing Jon’s cheeks together between his hands. “Taking a whole break with me --”

“Already regretting it,” Jon manages to say, but his frown is as affected as the dry tone of his voice, and Tim beams at him.

“What will I manage to do next?” he asks. “How far does my power extend? Is there even a limit? Could I even get you... Out of this office all together?”

“Now you’re being greedy,” Jon tells him, but his eyes are shining with such tenderness it actually makes Tim’s insides a little mushy. 

He takes a second to reflect on that. Good lord, Timothy, he chides himself, with the combined dulcet tones of both Jon and Sasha, and then uses the very next second to lean in and press a long kiss right on Jon’s very lovely mouth.

“Am I?” he challenges Jon afterwards, delighted in the way Jon’s entire face has softened, the startled, pleased look he gives him. 

It takes Jon a few beats to manage to say: “I suppose you do have compelling arguments.”

*

Sasha doesn’t realize how much being in the chair makes a difference until Jon comes back into his office and stops right on his track when he spots her. He blinks a few times, like he’s got a hard time processing what he’s seeing, and were it any other boss Sasha has ever had, she’d immediately feel a pang of anger, fear, and defiance. 

The pang in her stomach right now is absolutely none of those things. She has to resist the urge to cross her legs immediately. Instead, she grins. “Jonathan,” she says, with her best serious voice. 

“Yes,” says Jon, still frozen, eyes a little too wide, before seemingly coming back to himself. “Is... there... anything you needed?” he asks, and, god; it sounds so professional, coming off him. If she started to talk about a statement, right now, he’d go with it and not question this further at all. Head right back into work.

It’s almost six pm, however, and Sasha has no question about anything related to work. 

“Come here,” she says; commands. 

Jon does. Leaves the stack of papers he was holding on at the edge of his desk, and moves closer until their knees bump into each other. There he wavers on his feet, looking down at her as if waiting for further instructions, and the heat in her stomach grows almost unbearable. She tugs at his shirt, pulls him until he’s, slightly awkwardly, straddling her lap, and she let her fingers run over the back of his neck. He’s warm and flushed, which is quite rewarding.

“This is highly inappropriate,” he tells her. but his voice is fond and soft; almost shy.

“Feel free to fill the appropriate form next week then,” Sasha retorts, and when Jon snorts she suddenly grasps his hair, enjoying the small noise that comes off him, before guiding him down and kissing him properly.

*

“Will you stop hovering?” Jon asks.

“I’m not hovering, I’m making sure you’re actually eating.” 

“That’s literally what hovering is --”

“I swear to god, if you keep stalling I am actually going to feed you myself--”

Martin flushes the minute the words are out of his mouth, but it’s too late to go back on it. Jon’s expression is frozen into something sweet and startled, like he cannot believe Martin would go to such a length, like he cannot believe Martin would care, and just for that Martin is itching to forego any embarrassment and pick up the fork in front of Jon and make good on his threat. 

The best part is, he thinks, a little bit giddily, brain a little fried and heart beating way too fast, Jon might actually let him. Jon might frown, pretending to be exasperated and a little bit amused, but if Martin does it he’ll open his mouth obediently, and it’ll probably won’t take any more than a few bites for his expression to melt into something gentle and soft --

Jon sighs, cutting Martin’s fantasy out unwillingly, makes a show of taking his fork and mutters: “Fine, then; if this must be done --”

“You’re acting like i’m torturing you!” Martin protests. 

Jon doesn’t dignify that with an answer, swallowing his food instead, then stares at him with raised eyebrows. Martin feels an incredulous laughter bubble up his throat. 

“What?” he goes. “D’you expect a reward or something?” 

“As a matter of fact--” Jon starts primly, and he’s so impossible and adorable that Martin can’t help leaning sideway, grabbing Jon’s chin, and kissing him soundly on the lips.

“Good job,” he says, happy to realize it’s really all he needs to say to get Jon’s shoulders to drop a little, his eyes a little dazed and so, so very sweet. “Let’s keep going like that, alright?”

“You’re a menace,” Jon murmurs, but it’s so tender it makes Martin almost forget to be smug when Jon takes another bite.