#hi 2-3 other people in the mid fandom how do i tag :(

[t4tdanvis]

if the world was ending i would watch you die (/r)

[abyssleaves]

Why I'll Be Remaining in the Lurking For Love Community

Ok.

Honestly, I really don't want to make this.

I'm way too old for fandom drama, and I don't need to be making myself a target. My gut is telling me that it's a bad idea to get involved, and I'm inviting trouble for myself by posting this.

But the most recent post against Tom is just ridiculous and I can't not speak my piece.

I'm not linking to it or reblogging it because I don't want to send hate anyone's way, and honestly because I'm going to block them as soon as this is posted. You can read mine and theirs for yourself and decide what you think.

As far as the “anti-Latino” posts that Tom liked, I can't speak to whether they do damage, or what Tom’s views actually are. I am not Latino, and I'm not Tom. It's not my place. But I will say I was aware of those posts long before I saw that “callout” post, and it's because multiple Latino artists I follow liked and retweeted them. At the time, I was given to understand that they were satirizing the fact that both were styles of stereotypes, but one was acceptable while the other was not, despite both being bad. I can't say, based on just those tweets, that I see any anti-Latino sentiment in Tom. I'm willing to admit that my knowledge on that front isn't bomb-proof.

The second point, well... I'm sorry to the friend that feels used. They're entitled to be hurt. And I will readily admit that I'm only able to respond to the info within that post. Maybe there IS more to it.

But I don't think that Tom ceasing contact over the hormones is surprising at all, from a mental health standpoint. Put yourself in his shoes: you're a trans person in US, which is its own struggle, and you've reached your mid/early 20s without being able to attain gender-affirming care. Now someone years younger than you just got the thing you want more than anything else. Sure, you might be happy for them. But that is also going to hurt, horribly. You really have three options:

1) stay friends and smother the bitterness/possible resentment. That will either end up ruining your mental health, or coming out and ruining the friendship anyway.

2) Ask your friend not to tell you/post about their transition. That makes it about you and also ruins something that should make them happy.

3) Distance yourself.

Maybe he should have spoken more directly with you about his feelings, granted. But, Tom has not been shy about the fact that he struggles with his mental health. None of us handle every situation well. As far as his occasional venting, I would think, if you WERE his friend, you might have some compassion, and either cease contact if the friendship is not fulfilling, or accept his sincere, well-written apology (Which are the ONLY words straight from Tom’s mouth on the entire fucking post).

Instead, you got the apology from him, and then shared a bunch of gossip between you and another friend, and outed your interpretations of his vent sessions to the world. That's not exactly classy, posting about how he sought people he felt safe with during a time when a big chunk of the community he built is telling him to do horrible things to himself.

I want to make it clear that I don't agree with all of Tom’s views as expressed on his initial explanation post. Again, many of them are issues that I don't feel are my place to get involved in, and therefore I stayed quiet at the time.

I'm aware that the justified and intense hurt felt by people in those communities can mean that even differing opinions feel like a slap in the face. You have every right to see Tom’s views as hurtful and choose to leave, and/or make a separate community for support. I don't blame people who are in those communities for doing so. This post is aimed at the obsessed minority that won't leave the tag/remaining fans/Tom alone.

All of the above being said, the reaction to Tom’s post is the most “touch grass” thing I have ever seen.

Tom liking one or two comics from a dark-humor comic artist so widespread on the internet that I didn't even know he had an actual page, or anything about him as a person (something Tom also stated) = Tom is a Nazi sympathizer.

Tom saying “I don't care for neopronouns, but I won't attack you for using them and will respect what everyone wants to be called” = Tom is a monstrous bigot.

The racism accusation has me especially 💀. All because he liked a post about help from an unexpected source and that we should be kinder to each other.

How on earth are you going to tell a POC that he doesn't know what racism is because he’s NOT THE RIGHT KIND OF POC? Do you hear yourself?

(FWIW, I also don't agree with kink at pride. Sorry. LGBTQ+ people are not "narsty little freaks"--yeah I SAW that post--they're people. They can be kinky, they can be vanilla, whatever. Kink has nothing to do with your orientation, and therefore it isn't part of Pride. Also, my guys, if you're having public sex/being nude at pride for kink reasons, then you're not part of the healthy kink community: safe, sane, and CONSENSUAL. Nobody around you consented to that. Similarly, while I feel that sex education for minors should be normalized in order to give them better tools to tell when they're being groomed, seeing strangers with no pants on is NOT education, that's involving minors in your fetish. And that's fucking gross. )

The LGBTQ+ community in the US is in a lot of trouble right now, and we have a very bad habit of eating our own. We divide and subdivide and allow ourselves to be carved up by a united conservative front.

We do not allow for differing levels of leftist beliefs, and we constantly accuse each other of being not POC/leftists/queer enough, or being the wrong kind, or using a term for ourselves that some other individuals don't like. A great deal of the bullying leveled against him is justified by others saying that he's choosing to support a party that will turn on him and cause him and others like him harm.

Well, to be honest, the only community I see doing that right now is this one.

The amount of disingenuous “OMG, just FYI everyone to everyone hurt by [situation], I’M not transphobic/a bigot, you're all welcome here 😌” posts from people, who did not read his post, did not link to or quote his post. Disgusting. You know very well that nothing in his explanation or in his actions throughout his time in the community pointed to any abuse ON HIS PART towards trans people, non-binary people, people of the Jewish faith, or POC. You're virtue signaling, you're putting lambs blood above your door to keep the baying mob away.

This is insane. When did differing opinions turn into this? You don't have to agree with Tom’s views on anything. You're welcome to not follow his accounts, not like his art, not buy his game. If you feel that his opinions are too severely different from yours, you should be allowed to leave the fandom without people telling you that you should do bad things to yourself because your opinions don't match theirs (sound familiar?).

But…please. Can we stop with this awful parasocial obsession with his personal page? You can't lie to yourself and call it anything other than literal stalking. It's creepy as hell, and it reflects more on you than on him, in the long run. People might agree with your outrage, but deep down, they're afraid of being the next target, and they stay quiet out of fear that you'll stalk them next and send a mob hurling abuse their way.

To Tom, I'm sorry that this happened to you. You didn't deserve anything even close to this level of vitriol and abuse. You started from scratch and created a character and story that I feel was something truly unique. You reached an incredible number of people's hearts with Lurking for Love and Jacob, and no matter what happens from here with both of them, you deserve to feel proud of that. I hope that you are ok. Being a public figure on the internet doesn't mean you don't have a right to private opinions or even just general privacy.

I'm not tagging any characters in this. I'm only tagging the game because I hope other fans get to see that they're not alone. I don't believe the tags should be polluted this way. If you have to discuss a creator, it should be in his tag and not in a fandom space.

I'm aware that there will be deliberate bad-faith readings of this, or nitpicking of things I didn't cover. Whoever wants to, go ahead and respond, but I've said what I came to say, and I have nothing more to add. My inbox is closed and I love the block button.

[skeptiquewrites]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Thank you for the tag @tackytigerfic (here) and @maesterchill (here). Emerging from my post illness hidey hole.

How many works do you have on ao3?

32, a number that both seems too large and smaller than I thought

2. what's your total ao3 word count?

254,835. Wild.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Mostly HP, although once in a while I peek over at other fandoms. And I have a joint Check Please fic in the works.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

All Drarry. None really surprised me but the final one, I hadn't realized it climbed that far up the kudos. Huh. 1. Yours Truly - my romcom fic about Harry feeling left out when everyone's coupled up, telling a lie that gets out of control, and also how hot magical ecology is 2. Home Truths - my Quidditch fic about the complications of fame, love of the game, Harry finding out who his family was and letting himself fall in love 3. Special Affinity - how quickly one can justify fucking one's coworker given a bonding spell while having no idea if the feelings part is reciprocal 4. Winner Takes It All - Draco feeling caught in impossible circumstances, working too much, caregiving for a parent, and how small kindnesses can mean the world 5. A Little Time - mistaken for a couple, forced proximity, Healer school, and everyone in a small town hating you and all your friends on sight

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

I love responding to comments, but it takes me a while. I read every single one, and I try to wait until I have the time and energy to respond with something thoughtful. I'm months behind at this point.

6. What is a fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I'm a fairly happy ending sort of person. I tend to go more for straight angst for drabbles and micros. Maybe Beside Manner? They're formerly bonded and dealing very badly with the dissolution.

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

Oh, gosh, most of them. I'm most enamoured by the Big Damn Kiss at the end of Home Truths. I love No Distance because Harry and Draco are very much in love and not able to hide it. I am particularly fond of the end of Winner because I was able to leave Draco in a very good place that felt right for the fic.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not really I think. I get the occasional rude bookmark rating. Once, a very unpleasant person who sent lots of hate for months over a fairly inconsequential aspect of a fic. And then there have been a few comments where it's clear the reader wanted me to write a different fic, which I don't really take that personally. Nice comments far outweight the negative.

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

Not much. Tender, expressive, evocative. Light on details mostly.

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

I am not a crossover person.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I don't think anyone has ever tried.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes. Two by the wonderful Bluebubbling which I was thrilled by.

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

I've always wanted to. I'm trying my hand with another fandom, but one day.

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

Drarry. It just hits different.

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

I'm one of those people who has a dozens of ideas. I think I'm unlikely to finish my Veela!Harry fic, I just don't think I have the range. I have yet to successfully write and finish a PWP. Would be thrilled to finish some of my rare pairs.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Hmmm. I think dialogue, efficiency, and atmosphere.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

More complicated or mystery-oriented plots, the mid-level between an ensemble cast and an intimate chamber piece, anything with significant length, spending lots of words on one scene.

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

One of my ideas about writing is that not everything has to be maximally accessible to all to be an authentic expression in a fic. If that's what fits or feels right, go for it.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

You know, I found out the answer for sure recently, and I will be keeping that information to myself. Highly embarrassing and yet formative. Let your imagination do the rest.

20. Favorite fic you've written?

Winner Takes It All. Exactly what I intended, turned out beautifully. Some of my favourite writing.

tagging @magpiefngrl @lettersbyelise @lqtraintracks @quicksilvermaid @goblinmatriarch @teledild0nix @boxboxlewis and anyone else who is interested

[mareenavee]

Fic Authors Self Rec!

Tagged by the indominable @kookaburra1701! Rules:

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love!

I love this. OKAY LET'S GO. Tell me about how proud you are of your work, friends. You've come so far <3

Tagging: @paraparadigm, @polypolymorph, @changelingsandothernonsense, @thana-topsy, @dirty-bosmer, @thequeenofthewinter, @gilgamish, @archangelsunited, @throughtrialbyfire, @expended-sleeper, @ladytanithia and YOU yes if you see this, talk kindly about your writing journey and TAG ME BACK <3

Below the cut because I do be ramblin' (: They're not really in any particular order, I just love them all for different reasons.

1) If We Knew Anything At All

This one was a hell ship prompted by a list that Topsy shared with a bunch of us and I had a brainwyrm, then ended up crying while I wrote the end of it. Quite possibly one of my favorite ever pieces. This one is both the inevitable end to my fic universe and something completely outside time. How did I manage this? Via Sheogorath's voicing. I don't think it gets more unreliable than that.

2) Metempsychosis

A very dear friend and fantastic teammate I met through Skywind sent me this prompt and it gave me such an excellent challenge not only to flex on weird god voice stuff again, but also to bust out some spoken word poetry tricks. I did end up recording myself reading this one too and it felt like old times. I loved all the layers of references I shoved into 1,000 words. It is also my first Morrowfic. And also one that reminded me what I am capable of even more strongly than some of my other projects did. 🥰

3) Serpens Caput

This one is newer, yes BUT OH MY GODS what a flex it was. ANOTHER Morrowfic but it's set in Ceth's fic universe featuring not only major character death but the mindset of a villain in his final moments. And we get to see Danger!Josh through his eyes. It was WEIRD. WEIRD WEIRD but so much fun. I don't think I've yelled so much about a fic whilst writing before. Ceth threw me this prompt, but I don't think was expecting this to end up...being this way (: Borrowed the description of Teldryn and Nerevar from her universe and just RAN WITH IT.

4) Little Dragon

This was written as part of my cute, happy LDB!Athis polycule AU where nothing is quite as horrifically messy as my main fic universe. It is a different kind of catharsis to write, often fun and humorous and a flex in that direction, since I didn't know what i was capable of—I always write pining and heartbreak lol. This came about as part of a fic writer's duel with AU (judged by Poly) which was honestly one of the coolest fandom experiences I've ever been in. It has become its own thing now with multiple other stories and I've been in yet another fandom duel since then. So it's all cute fuzzy feelings and happy memories and I love it to bits.

and last but certainly not least:

5) The World on Our Shoulders

My longfic which throws characters into extremely tough situations, handles horribly difficult themes and topics, shows people being messy and still finds ways to show it all with grace. It's what got me out of my multi-year writing slump and truly, truly brought me back to myself. So yes maybe some of the characters have some of my irl nonsense. Some scenes are far too relatable and it's a little scary sometimes how horrible that is, but it's a different kind of Catharsis. I love also the support its gotten so far for its specific type of storytelling structure as well as all the weird details that sprawl into other stories (Like my honorable mention written for Para, Recurse) and sequels and spin offs. It's been a great joy to be writing this and it's continued to inspire me. From draft one, which I wrote in challenge mode, posting every day this last February to now, where I am mid-ground-up-edit, I love this project to bits and will do all I can to see it through to the end. I see how much I can accomplish in this project. I see what can be done with common tropes and themes and even Fic in general. It's unalienated labor that I do for the sheer hell of it because I can and it's mine and I don't have to follow The Rules. There's something beautiful about that. It's one reason I get up at the crack of dawn every day -- to write for the sake of writing. Out of spite sometimes for all the ways the world tries to crush this kind of self expression out of us. This is my gem of a project. And I am proud of it and how far I've come since I started it. (:

So now it's your turn, if you got this far. Why do you write? How have your favorite fics you've written changed your perspective on the craft so far?

[fruit-of-infidelity]

My OCs from different fandoms and their races!

Tagged by: @kindan-no-kanojo ! Tagging: @poohwhin , @sumire-bride , @arleccine !

This was super fun! I didn't include the founders that i have been working on (i mean, forgot about.. bc ive been busy but ahem i WILL finish them, promise), but this made me think about the babies I abandoned along the way (i only love my one son Ryuuto and what of it, huh?) but maybe i could pick up the stories of these old OC's somewhere down the line when i inevitably dive back into these fandoms through cosplay lol. I have plenty of old OCs, for the record, these are simply the ones that I could remember/fit in nicely/liked best to include. TW for old, blurry, cringe art.

#1 Diabolik Lovers - Sakamaki Ryuuto

Race: Vampire Age: 18 (Physically)

I mean, you already know about him if you're reading this lol. My favourite, and I have no shame in saying that. He is the OC of mine that will always, ALWAYS get the spotlight, and get put onto a pedestal, because he is my SON, my LIGHT, my MASTERPIECE. I wuv him so much, I miss him, and cannot wait to return to posting regularly here (which I hope to do as of now-nextweek-ish?)!

#2 Diabolik Lovers - Dietrich

Race: Familiar/Unknown(?) Age: Mid-20's

Dietrich's character was scrapped early on into Ryuuto's development. He was initially going to be a personal servant/familiar and close friend of Ryuuto's, actually! I wasn't sure how I wanted their relationship to develop and, in the end, i felt that Ryuuto was best suited to be more of the loner type anyhow. So, as much as I adored how his character design turned out, I ended up scrapping him :(

#3 Black Butler - Alexander Eden

Race: Demon Age: 20 (Psychically) Height: 185cm (6'1") Occupation: Head Butler of the Peirce Estate | Demon | Contract Holder

Throwback to my delusional blonde men era, lmao. Alexander is (was?) an idea I created for a black butler storyline of my own alongside another self-insert-turned-oc. I still have the original unfinished story up on my Quotev, actually, which describes him as having "many different sections of his personality, each triggered through separate methods or people". Yes, I am quoting myself appropriately. I take social studies at university, deal with it. He's a blend of Sebastian, Claude, and Reiji, being "distant from other demons and disdainful in general ... [holding] onto the idea that perfection is the only thing valuable in this world and it can only be achieved through a pure soul of one completely aware of corruption yet not tainted by its temptations". I actually kind of miss him :')

#4 Free! - Niikura Seiji

Race: Human Age: 17 Height: 177cm (5'10") Weight: 65kg (143lbs)

Just directly quoting from the character profile I set up for him, Seiji is "the freestyle and backstroke swimmer and the vice-captain of the Kobeyashi Academy's swim team and a 3rd year high school student ... He was previously attending Iwatobi High School. He is part of the swimming club which includes: Tokaji Kuse, Yukari Niikura and Katsuyuki Tsukino", which are other OC's for his story. Cue the violins because his whole backstory is basically: "Originally, he was extremely passionate about the the swim team at Iwatobi, however, he was never accepted into it. Seiji stopped swimming after he was suspended from junior high school after attempting to psychically attack Rin who insulted his speed in the water. It wasn’t until his best friend Tokaji forced him back into swimming that he found his spark again". I began his story, but never published it! I might get around to doing that, because I really liked what I wrote for him back in 2018.

#5 Noragami - Shoji

Race: God Age: ??? Height: ???

Unfortunately, I didn't write a character profile for Shoji when I was interested in his story so I cannot remember it for the most part, and I only wrote two unpublished chapters which I archived. However, in the little synopsis, the storyline was that, as the reader, you "had known Shoji - the God of afterlife and exorcisms - for a while now and, oddly enough, a phantom encounter one afternoon after-school had brought you and your best-friend Hiyori closer after finding out she also knew a God. Soon you begun to realise if Shoji and Yato being past enemies wasn't bad enough to start another fight, the fact that both of them were falling rapidly for you definitely was". A typical, cringey (read: hot) love-triangle from an old fandom I was am into. Shoji, like Yato, was a God as was basically the polar opposite of his outgoing, happy-go-lucky nature for the most-part. It was just a sort of ying-yang situation, for the reader, I think. I had to use a picrew to reimagine him because I used a faceclaim but couldn’t find the original character T-T

#6 Yandere Simulator - Yuuto Shinohara

Race: Human Age: 17 Personality Type: Kuudere-Yandere

You're typical yandere!boy story, lol. I really did like making only male OCs, huh. Yuuto "is a 17 year old in second-year high school student at Akademi High. His classroom is 3-2, the same classroom as Taro Yamada. He has a strange obsession with Ayano Aishi and maintains a lovestruck persona towards her, as she does with Taro. He is in the Student Council Club as it offers him large benefits around the school". He was actually inspired here and there by some of the DiaBoys in his actions/manner of speech/etc. with the (again) unpublished chapters I produced for him. As is typical of many OCs, he had a tragic backstory too; Yuuto "had a hard time as a child, unwilling but not incapable of caring for others. Reasons for this stem from many different areas of his life, including the fact his parents died when he was young which left him with his older sister, Chiyu - the normal parent-child relationship unable to be created. Chiyu, although being a loving older sister, often leaves her younger brother alone while she visits different cities around Japan in pursuit of her career as a Tour Guide. This means Yuuto is often left alone for a number of months at a time. Yuuto, prior to transferring to Akademi High School in second year, was often bullied at school for being too quiet and isolating himself". Kind of want to explore him some more, too :'( Curse this tag game, making me want to hug my old OCs.

[bloody-wonder]

mid-year book freak out tag

years go by... i still read books...

1. Best Book You’ve Read So Far in 2023? moby dick! i totally did not expect to like this dusty tome so much but it was just too perfect a mix of tropy revenge tale, sea adventure mockumentary, and making stuff up and putting it into categories that caused pleasant vibrations in my neurodivergent brain. i have watched so many whale documentaries after reading this, you guys have no idea🐳

2. Best Sequel You’ve Read So Far in 2023? flamefall is the second book in the aurelian cycle and it’s the best sequel i’ve read so far this year. the addition of a slow burn mm master/servant story line improved things considerably, not to mention that it was my favorite character’s time to shine. this series is sooo good, please read it guys you won’t regret it i swear🙏

(ngl i’m a bit annoyed that fourth wing, this fireborne sjm-ified, is doing numbers out there and meanwhile there’s no fandom for the aurelian cycle to speak of😒)

also i simply have to mention defekt, book two of litenverse. i found the first book quite boring despite it’s shortness but the sequel has a sad lil guy🥺. highly recommend for fans of black mirror, severance or the murderbot diaries. you don’t reeeally need to read book one btw, i think you can just read the description and then jump straight to the good stuff

3. New Release You Haven’t Read Yet, But Want To? i want to read witch king but i keep putting it off cause everything i hear about it sounds suspiciously like *american author does mdzs* and idk how i feel about that😬

4. Most Anticipated Release For Second Half of 2023? i’m looking forward to system collapse the most bc it’s gonna be set chronologically after network effect and it’s longer than the other murderbot novellas too. very excited to see murderbot and art bicker again hehe

5. Biggest Disappointment? ig it’s the warrior’s apprentice😬 many people recced the vorkosigan saga to me as “the lymond chronicles in space” but based just on this first(-ish) book i have to say miles is uhhh,, not lymond😐 lymond’s key traits are that he’s queer and a cunt and baby miles is simply not that (yet). of all the other books that people mentioned on my overcompetent scheming bastard post this was the last one i hadn’t read so i was a bit disappointed that it didn’t pull me in like the lymond chronicles. however, of all the books mentioned there it’s also the only series i can see myself continuing any time soon so. it wasn’t all too bad ig🤷‍♀️

i was also somewhat disappointed by assassin’s apprentice but i will make myself push through the realm of the elderlings just bc i’m so intrigued by the fool👀

6. Biggest Surprise? apart from the life changing experience that was moby dick i gotta admit i didn’t expect to like the goblin emperor, what with it being one of those cozy hopepunk fantasies where people are nice and decent to each other🙄 but it really did grow on me by the end, it indeed made me feel cozy and soothed. now i wanna try katherine addison’s older darker stuff that was apparently so controversial she had to change her pen name or smth👀🤭  

7. Favorite New Author? so i read another book by christopher rice and can confirm that he’s now one of my favorite authors. the man’s early 2000s gay thrillers are very melodramatic and refreshingly juicy - you can really tell they were published in ye olden pre-twitter times

8. Newest Favorite Character? cyrano savinien hercule de bergerac. after just reading that first act where he monologues about his nose for three pages straight and then spends all the money he has to hijack a theater and cause a scene by duelling a guy on stage while insulting him in ballad form i thought wow but this is one of my sexy fucked up guys who like to swish their swords and run their mouths! please enter the mind rotation chamber, monsieur🙌

9. Newest Fictional Crush? power sur eater🐉 you guys are sleeping on the aurelian cycle and on the Glory and Tragedy of My Boy who has done nothing wrong ever in his life and i love him😭 seriously, if you’d like to watch a character like draco malfoy go through jaime lannister’s arc you gotta read this series

also csevet aisava? the guy who put sexy in bureaucracy?? it’s a crime that he and maia didn’t kiss tbh

💕Best Ship💕 the relationship of griff and delo in the aurelian cycle was SO dramatic and full of rawest scenes! kinda reminded me of captive prince at times, bc of the whole master/servant element. and the ending? “i will grow old in love, let them sing of others”?? i am Emotion🥺

10. Book That Made You Cry? furysong made me cry my eyes out like every ending to a ya series should. have i mentioned you should read the aurelian cycle btw? but also both moby dick and cyrano de bergerac made me laugh AND cry as only really good books do. there’s a part in moby dick about seeing whales in mountains and stars that made me remember i am a human being and was a small and happy human being once - like that scene in ratatouille when anton ego tastes ratatouille and the nostalgic memories hit him and he becomes not evil anymore. that was nice but i cried like a little bitch😭

11. Book That Made You Happy? re-reading twittering birds never fly without skipping all the yakuza plot scenes made me realize how hilarious this manga actually is! yashiro can obviously crack a joke but this time i discovered the comic relief goldmine that is nanahara

skjdvnksjdvk like?!

12. Favorite Book Adaptation You Saw This Year? i have a LOT of criticisms about martin crimp’s “free adaptation” of cyrano de bergerac but ngl it was fun to watch the play come to life on stage (even tho there were no swords, a crime😒) and even more fun to watch christian kiss cyrano on the mouth like god intended

13. Favorite Review You’ve Written This Year? so this year i actually started reviewing stuff on goodreads for the first time and it’s quite fun and really useful for refreshing your memory on what you thought of a book. i try to go for short and witty over in depth and analytical so i suppose the best examples of the reviews i have written so far would be the ones of moby dick and the goblin emperor

14. Most Beautiful Cover? the og red cover of fireborne slaps! the revolutionary red? the minimalist black dragon? the main characters’ profiles formed by its wings?? talented brilliant show stopping. idk who made the decision to redesign the covers after the first book but that decision was utterly stupid🤨

15. What Books Do You Need To Read By The End of The Year? i need to finish some series (the diviners, the dreamhealers, the broken earth), then like i said i want to read witch king and also i’m doing the classics challenge again so i have to at least finish reading roxelana and re-read the picture of dorian gray (the uncensored edition👀). i have looked up my old mid year tags and was pleased to discover that i since have managed to read all the books mentioned there EXCEPT for you love me which has been a staple in my reading plans since 2021 so i’m gonna put it on this list again to honor the tradition lmao

overall i have to say my reading year is going well but i still miss the exhilaration of discovering new books worth obsessing over like it kept happening in 2019-2021 with the secret history, captive prince, all for the game, mdzs and lymond. last year i used to think i wasn’t doing a good job of finding books like this but now i’m starting to suspect that i have actually read ALL the good books and there aren’t any left :( but that’s absurd right?? or isn’t it?! anyways tell me what you’ve been reading so that i can maybe get intrigued by something and prove myself wrong on this🙏📚

@figuringthengsout @counterwiddershins @fugitoidkry @magpiefngrl @sugarbabywenkexing @fandomreferencepending @pemberlaey @oliviermiraarmstrongs @hello-jumping-in-puddles @thehalcyonharbinger @pinkasrenzo @beeblackburn @weirdsociology @veliseraptor @theodoradove @sixappleseeds @doh-rae-me @venndaai 

talk to me about books guys! if you want to!!

goodreads │ old mid year tags 2020 2021 2022 

[dirtbag-linecook-kyloren]

10 characters/10 fandoms

YESSS THANK YOU @jaynesilver FINALLY MY WIDE READING OF FIC COMES IN HANDYYY

We're gonna go chronologically through my life because I think that's REALLY FUN (I legit couldn't choose a west wing character just know that if there's a secret 11th character is the ensemble cast of the west wing)

Artemis Fowl, Artemis Fowl

My first antihero, and we started YOUNG on that, I was reading these books premiddle school. I was obsessed with these books as a kid, and I'm still obsessed with them today. There's rumors of a third, more adult series when Artemis and Holly may get together and I will EAT THAT SHIT UP I LOVE THEM

2. Vexen, Kingdom Hearts

I Legit think this man primed me to enjoy Hux as a character. Like, I'm not kidding, I was obsessed with him as a kid. I'm 90% certain I wrote deviant art fan fic, but I have since abandoned that account so it's hard to know for sure if it ever got published. I was definitely roll playing at age, like, 13? way too young but god I loved him he was BATSHIT

3. Ianto Jones, Torchwood

Man, I can't really explain how much Ianto Jones as a character, he and Jack's kiss on screen, their relationship, and the events of the 456 changed me? It was DEEP though, I woke up the next day a different person, with much less trust in television writer's and their good intentions.

4. Desmond Miles, Assassin's Creed

We have to jump a few years to mid high school, because no joke I was on that Kingdom Hearts train for a WHILE. I love him, he was probably my first blorbo, before the term was invented. I tried to play the games after (MAJOR SPOILER) but I just couldn't do it. They didn't have the draw without him.

5. Stiles Stilinski, Teen Wolf

Now we've hit late high school, arguably my second blorbo. As a kid with ADHD, he was no joke valuable representation to me, even if it was sometimes played for laughs. I was also the least athletic kid on multiple sports teams who still tried really hard, so I got him, yknow?

6. Will Graham, Hannibal

It's legit tough for me to chose if I like the Will Graham of the books or the TV show better. (Don't ask me about the movies, I haven't seen them, and I probably won't. Movies and I have trouble. See: ADHD.) I'm not sure if he's a blorbo or just like, a regular character I like? My hannibal phase was my last 8 year ship, so the line is pretty blurred.

Now we've reached the part where I dived into a lot of fandoms at once, because I dropped out of college and kind of did a weird spiral? Idk, we've lost chronology is what I'm saying

7. Artemis Crock, Young Justice

god I cannot say enough good things about her and I also cannot express how much (MAJOR SPOILER) made me mad FOR HER. Like it was cruel specifically to her and we should talk more about that, honestly. She was definitely a blorbo, but we're still PRE blorbo as a word in my vocabulary.

8. Darcy Lewis, MCU

My first real fandom bicycle, I ship her with everyone from Loki to Agent Coulson to Natasha. As someone who often feels like the comic relief character in their own life, I appreciate her.

9. Kent Parson, OMG Check Please

My sweet, sweet disaster son. My emotionally constipated hockey boy. The reason captain america is my SECOND favorite character with a birthday on the Fourth of July. I love him, he was amazing, and also my first experience with like, really toxic fandom was being so mad when people tried to equate his canon mental health issues with a noncanon, imagined abuse?? It was wild, I ended up so distressed about it i did have to leave the fandom.

10. Armitage Hux, Star Wars

I mean you've been on my blog for like ten seconds i think it's obvious?? The others needed explanations but like YOURE HERE YOU KNOW

WAIT I FORGOT TO TAG PEOPLE SHIT @sariastrategos @gingersnappish @fallingdeeperintothispit

[quensty]

hello all. as u can see ur assassins failed to kill me last night so i'm back to clogging ur dash w a tag game.

i was tagged by @moondal514 (hi bestie <3) to answer 20 questions tailored for fic writers. moondal my love u will regret giving me this opportunity <3

🪿 how many works do you have on ao3?

36! i've been existing in the mid-30-ish range for a good while now. it's starting to piss me off. i post things and then get scared they suck and delete and the cycle repeats.

🪿 what's your total ao3 word count?

153,155 *pops champagne*

🪿 what fandoms do u write for?

am i supposed to list all of them? i'm not doing that 😑🤚 if ur interested ya'll can check out the list here

🪿 what are your top 5 fics by kudos?

men abort mission is definitely my most popular fic (10,856 kudos, it's deeply embarrassing). then it's your crown of thorns holds roses (5,153 kudos, slightly less embarrassing); right hand on his rifle (522 kudos, still embarrassing but at least it's much better writing); kiss me like a snapped guitar string (480 kudos); and love, war, and other exit wounds (468 kudos, which is fucking news to me. i had no idea the kudos had climbed that high)

🪿 do you respond to comments? why or why not?

i do! i like it :D i like ppl to see that i saw their comment and appreciated it. i also do it cos, like, fandom is entirely abt fan-to-fan interaction. fanfic is no different. the point is that i want to engage w other fans and TALK abt stuff. i think it's fun! i've met a lot of friends this way.

🪿 what is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

100% would be altschmerz. i don't fix anything in that fic. in fact i probably make everything worse. logan still dies and he never has a proper relationship w laura and the world still sucks. and i sprinkle in some complicated relationships with latinidad while i'm at it. but i love it <3

🪿 what's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

this is a difficult thing to judge cos most of my fics have happy or at least hopeful endings, but i think the fic that has the most rewarding happy ending is keep on keeping on, dean winchester. the first couple of chapters are meant to be absolute hell. but i offset that by ending the story with everyone happy and alive and together :)

🪿 do you get hate on fics?

no i am perfect <3

🪿 do you write smut? if so, what kind?

throughout all my time in fandom the answer to this has been no. but then i did this thing where i watched iwtv 2022, and my whole world shifted on its axis. so YES, i do, in fact, now write smut. occasionally. i have no idea how to respond to "what kind." it is gay sex.

🪿 do you write crossovers? what's the craziest one you've written?

ok when i first answered this question i said lifeboat, a sense8 aftg fic in 2 (if u've read it ur eligible for financial compensation), but i change my mind. most unhinged thing i've ever written is 100% between the desire and the spasm, which, i kid you not, is an all the president's men fusion, which, in case u don't know, is a movie abt watergate. WATERGATE.

🪿 have you ever had a fic stolen?

i feel like the answer is yes, but this was in my quotev days, and that site was exactly what republicans imagine anarchists want for society: complete havoc. anyway! my point is that i think i did have a case of someone copying my work almost word for word during that era, but i was 13 and it was like 250 words worth of writing so i was like whatever.

🪿 have you ever had a fic translated?

YES, i'm very happy to say! many very kind people have translated my work. i'll list them below cos they always do a fantastic job and i'm always hoping they get more recognition for their hard work:

@ghostofair wrote a spanish translation of men abort mission!

@sadluna wrote a russian translation of men abort mission!

@bloodymelonteamua wrote a a ukrainian translation of men abort mission!

@kais_room has very kindly written a russian translation of your crown of thorns holds roses!

🪿 have you ever co-written a fic before!

yes! i actually co-wrote right hand on his rifle with my bff liv (@cabeswater). she gave me a lot of ideas while i was crafting it, so it's really just as much hers as it is mine. i'm very happy w it! i would love to write smthn properly w them someday bc they're a phenomenally good writer

🪿 what's your all-time favorite ship?

this is an evil question wtf. i don't know! amara/me.

🪿 what's a wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

my sense8 au LMAO. i try so hard every few months to get back into the groove of it but it's a doomed enterprise i think. at this point i would have to rewrite it completely, but i don't have the same passion for it that i once did. sigh

🪿 what are your writing strengths?

i don't know. should i know that? maybe dialogue. i can't say whether i excel at it but i can say with certainty that i enjoy it

🪿 what are your writing weaknesses?

i always get impatient near the end of a long project and end up rushing the ending, which is such a shame cos i'm so talented :(

🪿 thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

in huge favor of it! i love doing that. i tend to do it when i write characters that speak spanish, and when it's done well by other writers? UGH. it makes me want to eat my phone

🪿 first fandom you wrote for?

pjo on quotev writing reader inserts ✌️ that is not a joke i'm dead serious rn

🪿 favorite fic you've written?

FUCK OFF. the real answer to this question is a fic i deleted. i loved it so much i deleted it off my ao3 so i could rework it into an original piece and turn it in for my fiction class this semester LOL. trust me though this piece was already, like, 90% my own writing and less "based" on the source material rather than it was "inspired" by it. if u compare me to those writers who made their harry styles fanfiction into published novels i will fight u. if i have to pick a fic that's still up, i think i'd pick either keep on keeping on, dean winchester or a ghost is a memory

i'm tagging @keepoffthetardis, @enterprisery, @weather-mood, and anyone else who wants to do this! if any of u actually read thru this whole thing i'm so sorry

[weirdowithaquill]

WIP Game:

RULES: post the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them and then post a little snippet or tell them something about it! and then tag as many people as you have WIPS. (... I do not know this many people)

Thank you @jobey-wan-kenobi for tagging me in - here's my best attempt to categorise the various inane WIP pieces I have floating about. Oh, and cause I'm a multi-fandom writer, the fandom is at the end of the title.

Edit: Alright, so now I'm sort of using this as a check-off list for things I've written. Things people ask about generally get more progress done on them - so ask about what you want to read!

1: Jinty, Pug and the Ffarquhar Branch Engines (RWS) 2: Bowler the Redeemed Engine (RWS) 3: Arry the Churlish Engine (RWS) 4: Murdoch the Mighty Engine (RWS) 5: Seaside Engines (RWS) 6: Duncan the Disagreeable Engine (RWS) 7: Sir Topham Hatt and his Engines (RWS) 8: Ivo Hugh the Young Engine (RWS) 9: Arthur the Midland Engine (RWS) 10: Mixed-Traffic Engines (RWS) 11: Mid Sodor Engines (RWS) 12: The Caledonian Twin Engines (RWS) 13: Very Important Engines (RWS) 14: Silent Engine Bert Again (RWS) 15: Duke's and Duchess' Engines (RWS) 16: The 2004 Special: The World-Famous Engine (RWS) 17: Edward; a Requiem in Steam (RWS) 18: Mavis the Quarry Engine (RWS) 19: History of the Sodor Highland Railway (RWS) 20: The Island Song (RWS) 21: Five American Engines (RWS) 22: TATMR Horror Story (RWS) 23: The Reject Railway (RWS) 24: Tales From the Other Railway (RWS) 25: Tidmouth Train to Hell (RWS) 26: RWS/World Trigger Crossover (RWS, World Trigger)

27: Hyuse & The Iron Horse (World Trigger) 28: Crash-Course in Meeden (World Trigger)

29: In Orwell's World (Voltron) 30: Comfort Food (Voltron) 31: Pidge & Dr Strangelove (Voltron) 32: Keith and the Wolf (Voltron) 33: Grandma McClain and Adam Join the Voltron Crew (Voltron) 34: Planet Obscure (Voltron)

35: TDWT Rewrite (Total Drama) 36: Total Drama Grand Tour (Total Drama) 37: Pull Your Weight (Total Drama) 38: X-Treme Torture Rewrite (Total Drama) 39: A Night To Remember (Total Drama) 40: In the Hold (Total Drama) 41: Total Drama King Lear AU (Total Drama)

42: BirdFlash story (DC) 43: Jingle Bells, Nightwing Noel (DC) 44: Red Hood Reading Club (DC) 45: WikiHow Does Not Have An Article For That! (DC) 46: Manor on the Hill (DC) 47: Swear Jar (DC)

48: Malevolent Spirit (Saiki K) 49: When You Fall, I Will Pick You Up (Saiki K) 50: Dark Reunion's Anti-Love Ray (Saiki K) 51: Rome (Saiki K) 52: How to Win Over Saiki K, or a Rhapsody of a Man Not in Love (Saiki K) 53: Saiki K Europe Trip (Saiki K) 54: Kusuo's Christmas (Saiki K)

55: Jinrao (Naruto) 56: Obito, Father of the Jinchuuriki (Naruto) 57: Akatsuki Parents (Naruto) 58: Naruto & Nazis (Naruto) 59: Sakura Out-trains Everyone (Naruto) 60: Dogs Shouldn't Be This Hard! (Naruto) 61: Refuelling Shouldn't Be This Hard! (Naruto) 62: Work Shouldn't Be This Hard! (Naruto) 63: Barbeques Shouldn't Be This Hard! (Naruto) 64: Snorkelling Shouldn't Be This Hard! (Naruto) 65: Adoption Shouldn't Be This Hard! (Naruto) 66: Children Shouldn't Be This Hard! (Naruto) 67: KakaObi Regency Story Part 2 (Naruto) 68: Sasuke/Naruto Story (Naruto) 69: The Club (Naruto) 70: Atomic (Naruto) 71: Only Love Can Hurt Like This (Naruto) 72: The Railwayman AU (Naruto) 73: The Hidan Story (Naruto) 74: School Shenanigans (Naruto)

75: Just Ask Him Out Already! (Assassination Classroom) 76: AssClass Yearbook (Assassination Classroom) 77: The Theoretical Sequel to 'The Informant' (Assassination Classroom) 78: Lost in the Night (Assassination Classroom)

79: Britain in the AtLA World (Avatar; The Last Airbender) 80: Picture of Sokka of the Water Tribe (Avatar; The Last Airbender) 81: Night at the Fire Temple (Avatar; The Last Airbender) 82: Fast Car (Avatar; The Last Airbender)

83: Stay Away From Minnemeny Island (One Piece) 84: Kaoru and the German (Ouran High School Host Club) 85: Romantic Killer AU (Romantic Killer)

86: The White Elephant *The Sherlockverse* (Various)

Right... so that took way longer than expected. Originally, it all seemed fine - I have most of my things in a single, neat folder. And then I remembered I have a Microsoft Account... and a WordPad full of old fics... and several workbooks with their own things in them. I think I'm still missing one workbook, all truth be told!

@lswro2-222 @predawnrex04 and that's all the people I know who aren't @jobey-wan-kenobi

Edit 2: When I get down to like... 60 or something WIPs on here, I'm going to overhaul the list to take them off and put up the new ones. Until then, remember to ask about the WIPs you're most interested in!

[dangerous-advantage]

(yagi-no-eda here~)

Totally would circle back /pos. I’m also pretty new to the fandom!

My wife has liked Usagi Yojimbo and associated stuff for years but it’s only this summer that my brain has allowed me to really get into it, and make it past the first 2-3 comics. Not for lack of trying - it was just never the right time in an ADHD way*. Something always would distract me. I’ve inhaled all the comics I can in just the last couple of months and yeah, Stan came at me with a steel chair too. I did not expect …this whole situation. I’ve been a fandom lurker since 1999 and yet suddenly I have blog I use near daily, a sketchbook, and bunch of fic WIPS...

Mainly because I am Unwell over UY.

I have accepted my fate. This is always going to be a Thing now.

Though I did admittedly also inhale TMNT 2003 and Rise.

Travels with Jotaro is one of my favourite volumes, but I’m also weirdly into Bridge of Death rn and just….in general having a moment over Usagi’s time with Mifune. To the point I’m doodling intros for a fake show called The Mifune Years. He had this whole expected future and friends - denied.

* to be fair this is also the summer I found out its def ADHD driving this media analysis machine I call a brain

Hope this was an okay way to get back to you! /lil anxious

Feel free to network (or share thoughts) in my tags anytime, I love hearing what other people think. Also happy to chat anytime. Or feel free to tell me to back off and that's chill too :)

(been waiting to answer this for when i had more time but gave in; should be working on my fic(s) but you know how it is lmao. stay tuned for a very long post, because i love talking about things with people, especially things i like haha

very cool to see another person very passionate about this series! i grew up on 2003 (and the 90's movies-- my parents had the third one on cassette and i remember i wore that fucker out lmao) but it was always more of a "scattered interest" rather than something i was fully pulled into

i started getting into rise (read: The Algorithm came for me) probably mid-July of last year, but didn't fully fall into it until after the movie came out. it renewed my interest in tmnt overall, and i've been here ever since!

i did attempt to watch the usagi chronicles a couple of times, and i remember thinking they were fun but not really my thing. (i definitely want to revisit it, even though i know it won't hold a candle to usagi yojimbo. it does look fun in a silly way, which i can get behind.)

i knew vaguely about how big usagi yojimbo was, and that it was a commitment, but i'm surprised how quickly it sucked me in. i've never been super interested in stuff within the genre, but damn if it doesn't satisfy the autism. entire chapters devoted to infodumping about the edo period of japan? sign me the fuck up!

i especially did not expect how much it would make me feel. like. wow. ouch. usagi is just Some Guy but he is also so well characterized and you really feel for his internal conflict, 10/10.

i've been looking for series with older protagonists, especially those more focused on the familial/platonic aspect rather than romantic (i am just an nd queer on the interweb, can you blame me for yearning for found family?), but hadn't found any i really liked other than the tarot sequence by kd edwards (very good read, would highly recommend.)

also not to be a nerd but ohhhh my god i am so obsessed with the plot with mifune.

like i know the series takes place after that, and after the fallout of that, but just. wow. imagine devoting your entire being to another, to the point where you would readily die for them and their word, and then they die. they die, and you did everything you could to honor them in that death, but they're still gone.

like... that emptiness stays with you. you don't just get over that. maybe it's the "being raised in a cult" but wow, do i empathize with that.

idk if we explore more about the fallout/exact history with mifune/immediately following mifune's death but there is so much writing potential there. if i was not embroiled within turtle hell and 50,000 words deep in a multi-chapter fic already, i would absolutely write something for it.

like. this is adjacent to your interest in the topic, but can you just imagine (/rhetorical /general you.) as far as we know, he spent five days on the battlefield before he made it out to the tangled skein.

(which is one of my favorite additions like good god holy shit. that is so cool and angsty. your lord, days after dying, appears as a fucking ghost and saves you. like, if i were to be silly and funky, i would absolutely headcanon that as the reason that he was able to stand up and continue on. because i mean... what else? what else could motivate you to stand up once more after something like that?)

(well. honor. but mifune is the physical manifestation of honor in the narrative, so same difference? it's like both thematically significant and emotionally significant and-- ok im shutting up now. but i could talk for days, istg.)

but like. how do you reconstruct yourself from that? we see him holding tight to this sense of honor, even after his lord is gone, sent reeling (adrift in the waves) with only his soul and moral compass to hold to.

which makes it hurt so much more when we see these ideals of honor-- this ghost of a man, of a life, still haunting him years after the event-- still woven through the narrative, made to specifically conflict his deepest wants.

i joke about it a lot on my fic discord (i have a whole channel called 'father-material' devoted to just pictures of him hanging out with/taking care of kids), but something that seems very important to him is wanting to be a father figure, and wanting these connections to family and friends.

but that is contrasted against these ideas of honor, the very thing he built and rebuilt his foundation off of after it was torn away from him. and it's just so incredibly painful but also it makes sense, because he can't just give up the side of himself that is a samurai. too much of his person, his characterization, is built off of this.

to see it constantly clash with this want to settle down and finally rest, devote himself to his relationships/family rather than the code of bushido-- the very essence of honor itself-- ourgh ourgh ourgh its so good

(put aside the fact that he once said he could never serve another lord, and we know from the story that the idea of a "lord" can be more than just a person... he never stopped serving mifune, not truly. he still upholds the ideas of honor that mifune stood for/represented. as if his lord never truly left him.)

...i was going to say more, but then i realized this turned into a whole-ass mini-analysis, so i'm forcing myself to stfu. but basically: i have feelings about this series, man (/gender neutral).

anyway. if you ever do put something together, i would love to read/follow it! if i ever wrote something, it would probably be exploring the direct fallout of losing mifune, so hey, different niches but similar (:

also: never be anxious about talking to me ever in any way possible. i will probably be even more annoying than you in tags/asks/everything under the sun, and i do genuinely love talking to people who share my interests (typically about those interests.) i like to pretend i am an internet Cool Guy, however, it is a flimsy veneer to hide all the cringefail swaglessness and unending mental illness about my blorbos

(...i am so tempted to just invite you to my og turtle discord server so i can annoy you about usagi on the regular. also about what my reimagining of yuichi would be, because i have so, so many ideas.

i will refrain, but if you would be interested, it has been kinda dead as of late, so it would be nice to enrich the ecosystem a little by slowly collecting other usagi-interested individuals and slowly taking it over, one by one (/j /lh).)

anyway, same thing goes for me with my posts/asks/reblogs/messages/whatever. i am so very earnest, so if that puts you off, that's very chill and fine. however, as long as you're down to vibe, i am similarly down to vibe >:D

i once more apologize for this monstrosity of a reply. i would say it won't happen again, but my reading comprehension apparently does not extend to the "all things in moderation" maxim. instead i choose maximalism (to the max)

(sorry for that joke. yeah that will also happen again. sorry. /lh /pos)

[emptyofdust]

Tag Game - First 10 Lines

Rules: share the first lines of ten of your most recent fanfics and  tag ten people. If you have written less than ten, don’t be shy and  share anyway.

hi @picnokinesis and thanks for the tag! let's pretend it hasn't been an entire month since you tagged me, and that i didn't spend a whole 15 minutes trying to remember my password to this account before giving up and resetting it. sounds good? sounds good.

i don't exactly have 10 doctor who fics, i don't think? we'll see how far we get with the wips floating around my onenote, and if it's not 10, i'll pad it with other fics -- it'll be a guess the fandom sort of thing, fun for the whole family (although, if you do guess the fandom from one line, i'll be genuinely impressed). starting with the completed ones:

you're the one that i need, i'm the one that you loathe ; nebulously mid s12 thoschei one-shot

“I think it should be me who kills you.”

2. it makes me who i am (i burned it all but i'm doing fine) ; canon divergence where 13 thinks to dive into the matrix mid s12 and sort of uh. breaks her own mind, it's fine, she's alright. thoschei one-shot.

She stands alone, and watches the flames dance.

3. on the catfish and its adaptive capacity in adverse temporal conditions ; you guessed it, mid s12 thoschei one-shot. 13 pays a visit to O for ScienceTM. it doesn't go great.

This is arguably not the most brilliant plan the Doctor’s ever come up with.

and now for the wips. titles are temporary and, were i to finish any of these, would probably change 3-6 times before actually being posted

4. i've loved you for a hundred years (certainly fucking feels like it) ; human au spydoc one-shot that got away from me a bit and that i never ended up finishing.

There's a star in his kitchen.

5. the enemy of my enemy, and other cautionary tales ; i don't even know what this was going to be, but it was going to involve a team-up with Jack and the Master, and some shenanigans. maybe even some hijinks? hard to say.

"So," Jack says, wondering why the hell he's still standing here, "explain to me again why I should care?"

6. driving lessons ; a tentatively thasmin one-shot set between s12 and flux, exploring how yaz learnt to pilot the tardis as well as she has, aka 13 teaches her something instead of apologizing every time she behaves like a dick. might still finish this one, actually

"Want me to show you how to reset the chronion collector brackets?"

7. help is on the way ; a jack/13 one-shot set after once, upon time, because how could i not bring jack into the aftermath of whatever the hell happened in that episode

She holds it together for a remarkably long time, all things considered.

8. another night and i'll see you (another night and i'll be you) ; power of the doctor one-shot, exploring whatever the fuck happened with that doctor/master combination. got distracted from it, but honestly would like to go back to it at some point because seriously, the implications

He— she— they— are bleeding.

the other doctor who wips are not at a stage where they have opening lines, so bonus round!

9. a day in the life, and other team building exercises ; okay, this one's an easy fandom guess, but it's not about to be posted any time soon, so shouldn't give me away

"Warden," Camilla says, with all the neutrality only a lifetime can teach, "is that a knife?"

10. quick study ; teaching one's teammate to drive when one's teammate also happens to be an alien with a bit of a kleptomaniac streak

"This just seems so unnecessarily complicated."

and that's 10! this was very fun, thank you again for the tag! I don't really have many mutuals on this account, but if you see this and are interested, consider yourself tagged! i love reading these tag games

[rosesradio]

I gotta question: When uploading a fic to Ao3, which do you struggle with the most

Title

Tags

Or summary

uhh all of the above lol

i would probably say title, my titles are pretty mid tbh. i have a method to my magic that i use that's debatably handy though. (can you believe i have almost 50 fics on my ao3...i've been writing for so long...). i'll start backwards & work my way up, like i usually do before i post

1.) summary

for this i pick out an exerpt of the fic. it can be any part, as long as it's somewhat self-contained (as in, the reader can pick up a bit of what you're putting down & they're not left just '???'), & as long as it's not a bit that like. spoils everything (like those trailers that spoil the movie...otherwise why would they watch it?)

for example, the summary to my fic a proposition in montauk (i had to search for a minute for a non-explicit fic to use as an example...which did feel a little sad lol). anyways, it goes like this:

Something strange had happened to Luke in California. After his failed quest, he had encountered a force like no other. This force was also tired of complacency. This force could tip the scales in the war, in their world, just the same as Percy could. This force was in the room with them. or: percy fails the quest, and he meets luke in a familiar montauk cabin as the world succumbs to war.

so you have your Exerpt, & then your Or statement, & your Or statement is just there as like a one sentance clarification/synopsis. it's not always necessary, though i like to use them just to be clear on what the reader is getting in to

speaking of

2.) tags

tags are important. they help let the reader know if they're stuff they like & stuff they don't. please use them, but don't stress yourself out too much about tagging every little thing. tag what's relevent—categories like "fluff" or "smut" (or, my beloved "fluff and smut"). tag your warnings—"panic attack" or "underage drinking". don't not tag something because you're worried people won't read it—having someone read something that triggers them is worse than them not reading it at all. you will find your audience, it just might not be everyone (i say, being very self aware that i'm the pjo fandom's Most Problematic Creator. or something)

does that make sense. tag things. be thorough, but don't worry about the little things. add in your own non-ao3 tags if you think it's relevant (example: i tagged a fic "half dark fic half rom-com" because that felt more clarifying than individually tagging "dark fic" and "rom-com")

or whatever

3.) title

this is usually done with a sigh & a "screw it", friend. i just sort of tell it how it is, with a titular object or sometimes a song lyric if i have one in mind. i'm sure other authors are experts at coming up with titles, but if you ever do need help with any of these three things, feel free to come to me anyways because i like to be helpful :-)

[sinterblackwell]

2023 - mid-year book freak out tag

yay to getting into danmei. yay to my current read, qiang jin jiu, that’s wrapped itself around my brain.

yay to turning 22, and so as a gift to myself, i wrote to my heart’s content about some of the reads that have stood out to me this year so far.

it was really fun <3 and long lol enjoy

best book you’ve read so far in 2023?

the grandmaster of demonic cultivation (vol. 3) by mxtx

this is actually a much more objective answer, like scum villain would seem the most obvious choice being that it’s my new all-time comfort series but genuinely, the plot and character arcs of mdzs were so truly well-done and completely mind-bending to me, i was obsessed with it through & through.

best sequel you’ve read so far in 2023?

the scum villain’s self-saving system (vol. 2) by mxtx

this is the volume where shen qingqiu/shen yuan really gets himself in deeper trouble as despite how adamant he is that the people he’s contending with, including luo binghe, are simply fictional characters, he twists the story so much that he finds himself enveloped in it. and he soon has to come to face that his actions do have serious consequences that affect the emotions & actions of others.

also the angst….luo binghe was so goddamn heartbroken the whole time and sqq couldn’t even understand it, it was a lot. i loved it.

new release you haven’t read yet but want to?

ascension by nicholas binge

this story reminds me so much of echo by thomas olde heuvelt, one of my top 3 reads of 2022, and while things certainly will be different, i am very excited for what the premise is promising.

most anticipated release for the second half of the year?

the husky & his white cat shizun (vol. 3) by meatbun

this official english translation by seven seas entertainment was set to be released much sooner, im recalling maybe around the first half of the year?? and then it just got set back even further, which absolutely pained me with the way things ended in volume 2. it was definitely probably for a good reason since it promises that the translation will give the story a lot of justice by being more thorough, but damn 🥲

imagine starting this series in late january and then finding out you won’t get to know what happens next for about seven whole months. i’ve had lots of experience at this point, you would think i’d be used to it, but i simply am not. what makes it worse is that there are already fans out there who know what happens, they know the story from beginning to end. and for those who couldn’t understand chinese, there were fan translations to help include those better with english into the fandom, but now that’s gone, since seven seas has taken the rights of the official english translations.

this volume isn’t set to come out until september. i wholeheartedly cannot wait another moment, and yet i am simply here….waiting :’)

biggest disappointment?

maniac (necessary evils, #7) by onley james

you know….this series is not perfect by any means. the writing can be pretty average every once in a while, the dialogue cringey at times and almost juvenile, even, despite how dark the content is. but the author writes one hell of a case for each book, and it’s a very unique premise for the story as a whole. this is the same author who completely changed me after reading asa & zane’s story in headcase, making me break outside of my comfort zone when it came to what i consume in romance; and the fact that i actually enjoyed it??

as someone who has just recently experienced this same thing with danmei, this is something i’ll always appreciate her for because it was a huge jump out of my comfort zone that i would’ve never given a second thought to before but i was already five books into the series so there was no turning back, i was committed.

with this very interesting take on the found family trope, and the clear care that the author took regarding the subject of these psychopaths handling these grim cases, i was very much sad about having to say goodbye to the characters because i don’t think this is something i could’ve read by anyone else, and i don’t think there’s anything similar. so it made it even more disappointing when with this particular relationship in this final book, all the build-up that had been written of this dynamic from all the way back to unhinged, just suddenly collapsed and didn’t feel nearly fully resolved. the subject matter, especially with thomas’ painful backstory, was just as dark and difficult to read as the others, and it felt personal because of course it was, he was the center of this entire project that made this story. but….it was hard to reckon with knowing how the plot itself actually was pretty solid but then just kinda tied itself up way too neatly by the end?

i like this found family, i really really do, and it’s nice to know that they get their happy endings, but the way it was written felt so easy. what these characters were doing were pretty huge on a national scale and all eyes are on them due to their fame & popularity, and yes i can believe that the system maybe is just that oblivious, maybe that’s why they’re even doing this in the first place, but a part of me was hoping to see much more tension, more stakes built that puts these characters all in all in a very precarious position. this final book hints at that in the synopsis but it doesn’t follow through that well, because again, everything just seemed pretty rushed and a bit lackluster in execution once this final mystery was solved with a bloody red bow. the closest to these characters getting into any trouble was when zane in headcase, as a budding crime reporter, was actually pretty damn close to completely unraveling all the secret dealings that the mulvaney family were involved with. but then he meets asa, and well…here he goes becoming a part of the mulvaneys and easing into their operation with his own skill set as a reporter, which you gotta love for him.

if i look at this from a different angle, i can see another reader possibly enjoying this because again, this series could just be a nod to how fucked up the justice system is that a group of psychopaths are the ones to rid these terrible people off the streets. what they’re doing isn’t evil at all, it’s just as a minor character tells zane in headcase, that if what the mulvaneys were doing was to be revealed to the whole goddamn world, a great majority would probably be thankful for it because these people they’re taking out are genuinely awful and completely irredeemable. so no, i don’t wish for the mulvaneys to get punished, they’ve already been through enough in their own pasts and they deserve to get to live this very unconventional and comfortable life with each other; especially noah and zane.

is this an outcome that any good therapist would wish for these two in particular?? hell no….but they’re happy and they’ve been through enough neglect & abuse in their childhoods, let them be pampered by their psychopathic lovers and be part of a family that has well and done proven they would literally kill for them to secure their protection….because they already have.

at the end of the day, i guess for a finale…i just expected more, personally?? and it felt a little flat for me is all. the more time goes on, the more i don’t feel all that positive about my enjoyment of the final book. but i still have soft feelings for the characters, and it does kill me to think i simply don’t understand the story as well as i wish i could’ve.

the ending just wasn’t entirely for me, sad to say. and the writing, didn’t do a lot as i hoped for.

so yeah….there’s that 😅 (i’m definitely using this as my goodreads review)

biggest surprise?

hawk mountain by connor habib

see, the writing style was pretty interesting, which was a bit of a surprise on its own since it was just so completely unlike a lot of what i’m used to reading. but even more so, the big surprise lied in a plot twist that happened in the story. and now, with this twist, it was something i already had predicted, but it happened so much sooner than i had thought and so to see how the author wrote the aftermath, the next 200 or so pages that were still left in the book, it was very impressive, making the story that much more intense to me, and it also made me appreciate what he was doing at all.

i also would say another surprise is just the fact that i even read this book at all since i literally read it in the spur of the moment after first hearing about it in a booktube video where the creator was being recommended this title and the words “an English teacher is gaslit by his charismatic high school bully” immediately made me check out this story on libby, which!! would you look at that?? it was available.

i wasn’t reading anything else at the moment since at the time, i had to wait to read the next volume for tgcf, so that definitely made for a memorable reading experience :’)

new favorite author?

rou bao bu chi rou, aka ‘meatbun doesn’t eat meat’

if we’re looking at the numbers, mxtx would actually be the one who’s a new favorite since i’ve read all her translated books up to this point. and while i do respect her a ton as an author, meatbun just really stands out with only two of the works i’ve been able to read by her: dumb husky & his white cat shizun + yuwu.

yuwu especially, even though i’ve only read the first volume in the seven seas eng. translation, it made a huge impression on me because of how much i loved the way this particular author writes her characters. there’s a different brand of humor that’s unlike mxtx, which makes it difficult to compare, but the relationships meatbun has her characters involved in in particular, especially the main pairing, really throw me for a loop because they’re like the definitions of tragic lovers, but there’s still so much more going on in the story, so much deception and political struggles going on, i deeply enjoy every bit of it. yeah there’s a lot of angst, but the yearning….i can’t get enough. especially being in mo xi’s pov.

newest fictional crush?

i….do not have one. the closest ones i can come up with are michael stirling from when he was wicked by julia quinn + wyatt mckinley from how to say i do by tal bauer. and this is just because they’re definitely my most favorite love interests i��ve read this year so far :’)

newest favorite character?

- jiang cheng from grandmaster of demonic cultivation by mxtx

it’s as i said to another reader friend of mine (i’m doing this word for word lol):

he has anger issues. a bitter human being. he lashes out pretty quickly because he doesn’t like being seen as vulnerable. he turned out very closely like his dead mother, who was abusive, but it wasn’t written all black & white, at least the story didn’t make it so but the fandom took it upon themselves to do as such. he lost a lot and the way cultivation society manipulated that to make him turn against his own brother, was very hard to read.

he’s so complicated, i love that in characters. i love characters who get so many chances to be better and they have that potential but their own vices make them fall short, they just…feel so bittersweet, and they have these moments where the sweet shines through a little, but it’s not permanent. it’s there, but it’s fleeting.

book that made you cry?

ahem….heaven official’s blessing (vol. 4) by mxtx

TWO words: blackwater arc

book that made you happy?

- sent to a fantasy world and now all the men want me (vol. 1) by jaclyn osborn

no, this is not a manga, but it has all the tropes seen in a book where the mc is “isekai’d into a fantasy world and magically gets into a harem” (as said by a friend when i was speaking to them about it). and they were right!!

at first, i was going to list the true love experiment by christina lauren as the winner but just a few days ago, i finished this story, and it was so ridiculous and fun and heartwarming and had such an interesting world for evan & me to dive into, i couldn’t help myself putting it on here.

it’s so incredibly self-indulgent, and it just makes the story even better. i already miss kuya and can’t wait to see him & sawyer get their happy ending in the future because it will come. same for lake, lake is a sweetheart who deserves better.

most beautiful book you bought this year?

- all the sinners bleed by s.a. cosby (x)

literally just bought this book and i gotta say, 75% of the reason was because of how stunning the blood moon is on the cover :’)

books you really need to read by the end of the year?

- dark heir (dark rise, #2) by c.s. pacat

- all the hidden paths (the tithenai chronicles, #2) by foz meadows

technically, these books don’t even come out until the end of the year. but i know damn well that is there no way i’m not reading them before the world turns 2024.

dark heir i have been waiting for for about TWO years now, and all the hidden paths was a pleasant discovery since the first book read pretty much as standalone; but with how expansive the worldbuilding was and same for the court intrigue, plus all the drama that happened near the end, it only makes sense that there’s still a lot to uncover in this universe so i am very much looking forward to it.

[bonesbuckleup]

So I’m new to reading comics. I’m not someone who grew up with access to them, and no one in my immediate or extended family really were into them, and, to the best of my knowledge, most of my friends were in a similar boat. Basically, I’m an adult, and I’m new to comics, and I’m really enjoying exploring them.

I’m bringing this up because I found my way into DC comics via tumblr, which is arguably still the most centralized hub of fandom life, which means I entered through the recent issues. Because I’m me, I also immediately started making shitposts. Inevitably these shitposts have broken out of my dumb curated little enclosure to interact with bits of the fandom I’m generally unfamiliar with. Namely, gatekeepers.

Throwing this under a cut so it’s easily bypassable 👍

It has happened with literally all of my Batman posts that break ~500 notes. People show up in the tags to rant about how sick they are of people on tumblr getting characters wrong, or not understanding canon, or getting mad because of something getting ignored that happened in canon 20+ years ago. They start off by attacking immediately, and getting angry, and ranting about how new fans are so awful/annoying/stupid/etc.

I’ve been in fandom spaces for Far Too Long, so I’m used to dealing with input like this. But if 14/15/16 year old me was met with the kind of vitriol that shows up in my notifications sometimes? She would’ve disengaged with the material entirely and never interacted with the fandom again. She would’ve actively told people to stay out of those spaces because of how mean and unwelcoming many of the people were to her.

Listen: I do get it. It’s frustrating when someone misunderstands a thing you love. I really truly do understand. At the same time, though, we’re talking about characters who have been appearing for 20, 30, 50, 80 years. Characters who have had hard resets and retcons done 3+ times. Characters who have been written by tens or hundreds of different writers and drawn by just as wide a range of artists. It is next to impossible to pick one version of any of them that is The Definitive Version.

And to use myself as an example? Like I said, I’ve been reading these comics since March-ish. I work full time. I hang out with friends. I am querying an original book. I’m reading other books. I need to cook and clean and grocery shop and take walks and get writing done. Most weeks, I spend 1-2 hours reading comics, if that. I had to start somewhere, so I went with some Tim-centric runs (Lonely Place of Dying, the Contagion arc, Battle for the Cowl, Red Robin and related issues, and am now right around where Steph has the baby in his Robin run) and am now wading into Nightwing (1996). So the versions of the characters in my head are related to these moments in time, the early/mid nineties and 2009/2010ish eras. Those versions of the characters may also directly contradict your version, and that’s okay!

What’s not okay is how people immediately see a post and assume the worst instead of taking the opportunity to introduce a new fan to your version of these comics. Taking 2 seconds to be kind is the same amount of time it takes to rip someone’s head off. Like, instead of “jfc, I can’t believe this is framed as a joke when it’s canon, I’m so sick of this, try opening a comic,” try, “Hey guys! This is actually in canon! If you like this concept, check out these runs/issues for how it plays out.”

You all have a really great opportunity to expand your fandom in a dynamic and interesting way. It just makes me sad and a little frustrated to see people moaning about how comics aren’t appreciated enough, and then actively chasing away people who are new to them. No one is going to be able to absorb nearly a century’s worth of content overnight, and expecting them to stay out of fandom spaces until they have a sufficient knowledge base (whatever that means to you) literally defeats the point of fandom.

EDIT: also, just a quick note, for every interaction I’ve had with a gatekeeper in some way, I’ve had 3 interactions with wonderful and helpful people who have directed me to runs/issues that I may enjoy. This is definitely not an “all fans” complaint. There are just some very loud voices that sure are yelling a lot.

Anyway.

Those are my Monday thoughts.

Do with them what you will.

[neondiamond]

✨ 2022 Writing Self-Evaluation ✨

I was tagged by @so-why-let-your-voice-be-tamed @hellolovers13 and @onlythebravest

1. Number of stories posted to AO3 this year: 26 (How did that even happen? 🤯)

2. Word count posted for the year: 132,344

3. Fandoms I wrote for: One Direction

4. Pairings: Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson, Louis Tomlinson/Liam Payne, Liam Payne/Zayn Malik (as a side pairing)

5. Story with the most:

Kudos: I’d Walk Through Fire For You (Just Let Me Adore You) (I don’t often look at the amount of kudos my fics have so the fact that this has gotten just over 600 kudos in half a year is insane to me!)

Bookmarks: I’d Walk Through Fire For You (Just Let Me Adore You)

Comments: One for the Books

More under the cut!

6. Work I’m most proud of (and why): 

I think I have to say Here You Come Again. This is the second longest fic I’ve ever written (after my advent-ish fic from December) and I think the one I spent the most time working on this year. As someone that’s usually all about the fluff, it’s definitely a bit of a different one for me. It’s got a bit of angst, lots and lots of feelings, and I’m so proud of the way it turned out. It takes you a on bit of an emotional rollercoaster reading it, but I absolutely love it.

7. Work I’m least proud of (and why):

I’m going to take the easy way out here and say none. I can honestly say I’m proud of every single fic I have put out into the world this year. <3

8. Share or describe a favourite review you received:

I love every single comment I get on every single one of my fics. I guarantee you I smile every time I get one! But there is one ‘review’ in particular this year that just touched me so much. It’s something @lululawrence said in her podcast about my fic Baby, Don’t Apologize. This fic is so close to my heart, and hearing the way she described how it made her feel seen just made my heart so so full. This was exactly the intent I had with this fic and hearing her words definitely made me cry a little bit. 🥹

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

The last few months have been pretty busy and a lot has happened in my personal life that has made it a little more difficult for me to find the time and inspiration to write as much as I would like to. So I’d say from like mid-September to now-ish.

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

The smut scenes in On Thin Ice were a big surprise to me (which make up about half of the fic if I were to guess; which is another surprise in itself lol). Writing smut is something I struggle with a bit, and when I do write it, it usually ends up being pretty… vanilla, I guess? Nothing spectacular and I don’t usually play with kink… except for this fic, apparently. I knew I wanted to have smut in this fic, but I wasn’t really planning anything different than I usually do. And then I started writing the first scene, and Harry suddenly had a praise kink. It came as quite the surprise to me haha! But I do like the way it worked out!

11. A favourite excerpt of your writing:

It’s so hard to pick just one!! I’ll go with this tiny exchange between Louis and Harry from one of my Wordplay fics, Waiting by the Tire Swing. It’s short, but I feel like it really conveys what this fic is all about:

“We can take it with us to the new house if you want,” Harry says softly, pulling Louis from his thoughts. “There are trees in the back garden. I’m sure one of them will be sturdy enough to hold it.”

Louis appreciates how patient and considerate Harry has been through this whole moving ordeal, and he actually considers his suggestion for a few seconds before shaking his head.

“No,” he says, giving the swing a gentle nudge and watching as it sways slightly. “This is where it belongs.”

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

I think this year I really sort of let go of the idea of writing things to please other people. A LOT of my fics this year were really self-indulgent, and I didn’t really care much if other people read them or not, because at the end of the day, I write for myself first. I also wrote a lot of short drabbles and ficlets this year that I would bang out and post within a day or two, which isn’t really something I ever used to do because I used to think my shorter fics weren’t as good or worth my time as my long ones… but I fell in love with writing little fic babies whenever I want and that’s definitely something I want to keep doing next year!

13. How do you hope to grow next year:

Going into next year, I’d love to continue writing whatever I want, try my hand at slightly longer fics, and expand into writing new pairings, perhaps.

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

If you’ve read, left kudos, commented, bookmarked, reblogged, or rec’ed any of my fics this year: this one goes out to you! I feel like there’s always a lot of love for writers, betas, etc. (and it’s very much well deserved, don’t get me wrong) but I feel like giving readers a little appreciation today. You all rock! 💕

15. Anything from your real life show up in your writing this year:

Whether I like it or not, there are always little parts of me that slip into my fics, often in the form of a habit or personality trait I give a character. The one that stands out the most though is for sure Baby, Don’t Apologize, in which I made Harry ace just like me. 💜

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

I’m pretty sure this is what I said last year but: Just write what YOU want to write. Have fun with it, and the rest will work itself out!

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

I’m surprisingly not bringing a whole lot of wips with me in the new year. I have one nesting fic I’ve just started writing for the Omega Harry fest, an outline for a potential Narry fic I’d like to write, and a few smaller ideas/prompts for shorter fics. I do also have my eye on a few upcoming fic fests I’d maybe like to sign up for, but apart from that, I’m keeping things fairly open to fresh new ideas in 2023.

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

@disgruntledkittenface @wabadabadaba @larrieblr @littleroverlouis @alwaysxlarrie @lunarheslwt @brightgolden @thinlinez and whoever else feels like doing this! ❤️

[thesunandmoons-blog]

MOON I GOT AN IDEA

So, like, the damn gang, right?

Yeah, the damn gang playing LASER TAG

Except is just Gavin shamelessly flirting with Lasko and Freelancer, while Damien WANTS TO WIN, and Huxley DOESN'T LET HIM, so at the end the other group of players end up winning

LISTEN I LIKE THEM PLAYING GAMES OKAY

MORGAN!! this was so much fun to write! i added in a little surprise to the opposing team, just for u <3

cw/tw : all love!!! so good!!

Word count : 653

Fandom : redacted asmr

Pair : n/a, but gavin teasing lasko is there lol

if you wanna read on ao3!! 

This had been the most infuriating game of lasertag that Damien had ever played. However, this had been the absolute best game of lasertag that Freelancer, Gavin, and Huxley had ever played. And this had been the most embarrassing game of lasertag that Lasko had ever played.

Damien was trying so fucking hard to tag the other team. He was being stealthy, moving quick on his feet, but making sure to abide by the game’s rules. There was one problem that stood in his way- one big problem that literally and physically stood in his way. This problem’s name was Huxley!

Huxley did everything in his power to fuck Damien up. Not out of malice, of course not, but because it was absolutely hilarious watching Damien stomp off or tell Huxley to, “respectfully, fucking move!” It only made Huxley laugh that deep, gutteral laugh that he only ever did when something really tickled him good. He would press a hand against his stomach while calming down from his fit of laughter, follow Damien, and block another shot from him. Huxley didn’t hit a single person the entire game, and was loaded up with tags, but he didn’t care.

Gavin, Lasko, and the Freelancer all grouped together in a corner on the upper level of the arena. They were pretty well hidden, but doing the same thing Huxley was doing and throwing the game. They didn’t care about winning or losing. Gavin cared most about making Lasko as red in the face as possible and Freelancer cared most about watching Gavin make Lasko red in the face. Typical voyeur behavior. 

***

Milo, Asher, and David found tonight to be the night they needed to play laser tag- correction: Asher found tonight to be the night they needed to play laser tag. He took this shit seriously, and it almost concerned David that Asher was more serious about getting the three of them to laser tag than he was about some of the pack meetings. Oh well, nothing he could do now that they were already mid-game with 2 random people on their team.

David and Milo stuck together the entire round, and as much as they would try to admit they didn’t want to come out tonight, the pair of wolves were having a really good time. 

Asher took this shit like Damien- way too seriously, but in the best way possible! Kind of.

The Beta was taking out the opposing team left and right, mainly camping on Huxley and the triple threat upstairs, but it's not like they had been putting up much of a fight anyway. Asher could practically smell the frustration coming from Damien and could smell the embarrassment all the way on the first floor from upstairs.

With how red Lasko's face was, there was nothing anybody could do to hide that. He was squirming and stuttering, and Gavin almost had him pinned up against the wall, but he knew that this probably wasn't the greatest area to do something that risque. He had no shame getting his dick wet in the 7/11, but a laser tag area? That crossed some kind of line in his mind.

***

"You guys didn't even try, and Huxley- you kept standing in front of my laser! On purpose!" Damien threw his hands in the air, not bothering to keep from crinkling up the score sheet the staff had printed out for everybody. Everybody was doing their best to contain their laughter as they approached their cars, Damien sighing and shaking his head. "Even though we lost, not by any fault of my own, I still had a really great time. I'm... glad we got to spend tonight together." His arms were crossed against his chest, but sappy words left his mouth. That could only mean one thing-

"Group hug!"

"Wait wha- hmmpff!"

"Awh, hell yeah!"

"O-Oka- mmf!"

"Anything for the big number 69."