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starlling-writes · 3 years ago

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Grimm x Pearl Fanfic WIP

Okay so... because I don't know how long it's going to take me to actually write this full fic, I've decided to post my progress so anyone who wants to can read it as I work, instead of waiting for it to be fully done. (This also will help me to be able to work on writing this while I'm away from home/my computer.)

Because I DO plan on posting this fic properly once it's all done, I'm not going to allow reblogs of this post. I'll keep a running list above the cut of when I make updates to this post, that way it's easy to tell when there is new content. Lastly, I don't think I'll do much, if any, proof-reading/editing of this fic until it's fully done, so there will likely be typos and some changes when the final fic is released. Until then—enjoy!

Updates:

June 10 : part of ch2 added

June 12 : all of ch2 added, first paragraph of ch3

June 15 : more of ch3

June 22 : second half of ch3

June 30 : corrected Grimm's rules at the end of ch3, bit of ch4, & some outline stuff (b/c writing has been tough lately but I wanna share something)

July 26 : bit of ch4, removed outline from last update

July 29 : almost all of ch4 (Word has been acting up lately for me so, to make sure I don't lose anything, I'm updating again now instead of when I fully finish ch4 like I first wanted)

Aug 7 : some missing bits from ch4 & start of ch5. Also, I realized the first chunk of ch4 was a bit wonky from a copy/paste error, so that all should be fixed now.

Sept 8 : missing scene from ch4, and the second half of ch5

~ I do have an idea for the Title, but I don't want to share that yet :P

Synopsis

The Universe has a funny way of working sometimes. Pearl couldn’t see how the Universe kept insisting that, despite being jobless and weeks away from being homeless, things were perfectly fine and she was on the right track. And it didn’t feel helpful when her oracle cards clarified to let Death help guide her. Specifically, a Death-Head. And, in a way that only the Universe would find amusing, it was specifically the Death-Head most known for murder and torture in the North. A small quick prayer led to an accidental run-in, led to a deal that would change everything for Pearl. And for the Death-Head, Grimm, that accepted her request.

— CH 1 —

Pearl felt lost in a freefall.

The Death-Head deal was made, and she knew there was a near-guarantee it would be fulfilled in time for her to keep her apartment. But the unease of what she’ll have to eventually pay Grimm haunted like a shadow. In the day following their first meeting, she thought about canceling it. The only thing stopping her was the bright red number of her bank account. She needed money. She didn’t want to have to admit defeat, to move back home so soon.

She yelled out, jumping up off her bed and striking a determined pose. “This will work out!” she affirmed to herself. She had to push aside all the little things making her worry, and trust.

Trust in a Death-Head.

Alarming on cue, her phone rang. It was him.

“You have an interview tomorrow morning at ten,” he told her with no preamble. “I’ll send you the address. Do you have a suitable wardrobe for office work?”

“I have a couple outfits, maybe,” Pearl admitted. “I’ve had to sell a fair bit of stuff to try to stay above my debts, but I should still have at least one outfit.”

He was silent for a moment. “Hmm, alright. If your interview goes well tomorrow, we’ll need to go shopping for some more.”

We? First lunch with a Death-Head and now shopping together? Pearl’s life certainly took an absurd turn. She withheld a sigh. Then a thought occurred to her. “So what is the job for? Where would I be working?”

“Deah-Head Headquarters.”

Pearl nearly dropped her phone. “Death-Head… Headquarters?” The squeak in her voice betrayed her surprise and unease.

“Is that a problem?”

Now it was Pearl’s turn to be silent for a while. She had no idea what kind of office work Death-Heads required. Would she need to paint her face, too, if she got the job? Pearl touched her cheek. Working so close to Death-Heads… could she stomach it? Should she try to fail the interview on purpose? Sure, she was desperate for a job. But this desperate?

Pearl put her back against the wall and slid down to sit on the floor. She covered her mouth to mute her quickening breaths. Panic was taking over. It wasn’t too late to back out of the deal, but could she really afford it?

“Take a slow, deep breath,” Grimm said gently over the phone. His omniscient recognition of her panic attack sent a jolt through her, disrupting it. She did as he said. “Again.”

When he was just a voice, it was easy to forget what he was. And he had a really nice voice. It took a few minutes, but Pearl calmed down again. “Sorry.”

“No need to apologize.” His voice was still so gentle. “You have a lot of questions.”

“Yeah,” she said meekly.

“Hmm. Would you prefer to discuss them over the phone, or in person?”

“You wouldn’t happen to be available for a deal?”

The words escaped Pearl’s lips before she had a chance to second-guess herself. If the cards were urging her towards this path, it was worth the risk. Right?

Grimm looked at her for a hard moment. She didn’t appear to be the type he’d normally take requests from. He’d either be surprised by her, or he’d hand her off to someone else—she sure looked serious enough to make a request. “Hmm, alright. Let’s go have a chat.”

He led the way through the small, shopping strip to a café. He claimed one of the outdoor tables and motioned for Pearl to join him. She sat rigidly, contrasting his casual demeanor. “What do you want?” he asked.

“Oh. Getting right to it.” Now to put her request into words. How specific did she need to be with this? Pearl barely knew anything about Death-Head deals; did they often try to find loopholes in wording, and mess with wordplay for their benefit? She should’ve thought about this more before approaching a Death-Head. “I’m in need of a job. I moved to Lywood not long ago and I haven’t—”

He raised his hand, palm out, gesturing for her to stop. “I meant from the menu. It’s my treat for bumping into you. We can talk work after.”

“Oh.” This… this wasn’t what she was expecting from a Death-Head. If it wasn’t for his makeup, he’d be just another polite man. It muddled her opinions of him.

She took a menu from the centerpiece and gave it a look. A waiter came over shortly after. They set a drink in front of Grimm—he must be a regular here—then asked if Pearl was ready. Deciding quickly, she ordered a macchiato and a chocolate croissant. There had been other tantalizing options, but she kept it small and simple, not wanting to overstep his hospitality.

Once her food was delivered, he started talking. “So, your request is to find you a job, hmm?”

“Basically,” she said solemnly. “I moved here hoping Lywood would be better for me; but so far it’s just been slowly whittling me to nothing. I’ve tried so much, but everything seems against me. Even the guidance from my oracle cards is starting to feel mocking. Hell—it’s because of them that I’m even here talking with you.”

“Hmm?” That got him curious.

She bristled. Did she really just admit that to him? Too late now. She sighed to herself as she fished her cards out of her pocket—it was a little comfort to carry them with her sometimes. She flipped over the top card, revealing Death. “Usually it represents change—a figurative death. Rarely it means a literal one. But right now, it seems to mean you.”

“You trust in your oracle skills that much?”

Her eyes narrowed slightly at him. “Yes,” she said with a bite.

He held up his hands up defensively. “Apologies. I didn’t mean to offend or diminish.” He took a slow drink, stealing the moment to ponder. He glanced between the cards and Pearl. There was something about her, and her situation, that piqued his curiosity. “Do you give readings to others?”

“Not usually? I divine well enough for myself. Most others tend to want more insight than I can usually see. Were you suggesting I become a professional oracle?”

“Hm, no.” He pulled out some money and slid it towards her. “Give me a reading.”

“Huh?” Wasn’t she supposed to be hiring, and paying, him? He… this was not how she thought a Death-Head would be. Was he trying to not scare her out of a deal? Was he trying to make her feel more comfortable so she’d ask for more—so he could ask for more? This felt too odd. “Why?”

He shrugged. “Depending on the cards, I’ll either take your case or recommend someone else.”

“That’s it?”

“That’s it.”

Setting aside how bizarre this all was, Pearl picked up her cards and started shuffling. “What do you want to ask the cards? You don’t have to say it aloud; just concentrate on it. And don’t half-ass this! The cards will know if you’re insincere in your request.”

He scoffs. “I don’t half-ass anything.”

It was unnerving, the coldness that crept through his words. She closed her eyes and focused on the cards, imploring them to give him the guidance he sought. Pearl did her best to not channel any of her own desires into the shuffle. But this needed to go well. Whether the outcome resulted in her working with this Death-Head or another, she needed this to work out.

The cards called her to stop. She splayed them out in a row on the table. “Pick.”

“How many?”

“However many you feel you need to.”

Grimm looked over the cards carefully. He could count on one hand the times he sought out an oracle’s guidance. Not because he distrusted or disbelieved their abilities. Just the opposite. The foresight of oracles was a powerful force—one he dared not abuse or take for granted. He pulled a sing card. The Sun.

“Well that’s a good sign,” Pearl reflexively said. She reached over and traced her fingers along the card’s imagery, taking a moment to decipher the correlation between its meanings and Grimm’s question. “The Sun is a very favorable card. Even when inverted, it still often signifies success and happiness and such—though it’s direct for you, so there’s no muted energies, delays, or back steps.”

“Back steps?”

She paused. How to explain in simple terms? “Anyone in divination will tell you that most of it is intuition based and not a firm standard of meanings. Well, one way that inverted interpretations were taught to me is that sometimes it means you have to step back to the previous card in deck and learn something from it before progressing—for The Sun, that would mean The Moon.”

“I see.”

“But again, The Sun is direct for you, so you don’t need to worry about any of that,” she brushed off. She cleared her throat and refocused on the reading. “As it stands, the situation regarding your question looks prosperous and beneficial. It’s a good sign to continue forward. Though don’t take that as a free-ride; you still need to keep up your end in order to reap the benefits.” He hummed to himself as he mulled over her words. As the silence lengthened, making her grow more uneasy by his lack of reaction, she added, “You can pull some more cards for clarity, if you’d like.”

He waved his hand dismissively, his rings catching the light. “No need. I’ll take your request, so let’s talk in more detail.”

Two emotions clashed within Pearl. On one hand, she was glad to be moving forward with her situation, relieved to know that she will soon have an income. But on the other hand… was the good tidings she just foretold to him in regards to this deal? Did The Sun, facing inverted from her perspective, actually mean the setting of her good fortune rising onto him?

She wouldn’t realize it unless she looked back on this moment months from now, but the cards were indeed giving guidance to them both; if only Pearl hadn’t clung to the negative—and highly absurd—interpretation, and instead reflected on her own words.

— CH 2 —

Pearl felt lost in a freefall.

She yelled out, jumping up off her bed and striking a determined pose. “This will work out!” she affirmed to herself. She had to push aside all the little things making her worry, and trust.

Trust in a Death-Head.

Alarming on cue, her phone rang. It was him.

“You have an interview tomorrow morning at ten,” he told her with no preamble. “I’ll send you the address. Do you have a suitable wardrobe for office work?”

“I have a couple outfits, maybe,” Pearl admitted. “I’ve had to sell a fair bit of stuff to try to stay above my debts, but I should still have at least one outfit.”

He was silent for a moment. “Hmm, alright. If your interview goes well tomorrow, we’ll need to go shopping for some more.”

“Deah-Head Headquarters.”

Pearl nearly dropped her phone. “Death-Head… Headquarters?” The squeak in her voice betrayed her surprise and unease.

“Is that a problem?”

“Take a slow, deep breath,” Grimm said gently over the phone. His omniscient recognition of her panic attack sent a jolt through her, disrupting it. She did as he said. “Again.”

When he was just a voice, it was easy to forget what he was. And he had a really nice voice. It took a few minutes, but Pearl calmed down again. “Sorry.”

“No need to apologize.” His voice was still so gentle. “You have a lot of questions.”

“Yeah,” she said meekly.

“Would you prefer to discuss them over the phone, or in person?”

Pearl felt lost in a freefall.

She yelled out, jumping up off her bed and striking a determined pose. “This will work out!” she affirmed to herself. She had to push aside all the little things making her worry, and trust.

Trust in a Death-Head.

Alarming on cue, her phone rang. It was him.

“You have an interview tomorrow morning at ten,” he told her with no preamble. “I’ll send you the address. Do you have a suitable wardrobe for office work?”

“I have a couple outfits, maybe,” Pearl admitted. “I’ve had to sell a fair bit of stuff to try to stay above my debts, but I should still have at least one outfit.”

He was silent for a moment. “Hmm, alright. If your interview goes well tomorrow, we’ll need to go shopping for some more.”

“Deah-Head Headquarters.”

Pearl nearly dropped her phone. “Death-Head… Headquarters?” The squeak in her voice betrayed her surprise and unease.

“Is that a problem?”

“Hmm. Would you prefer to discuss them over the phone, or in person?”

“Phone…”

Pearl asked her questions. Grimm patiently answered every one, elaborating when necessary. But soon they weren’t even talking about work. Without realizing it, they slipped into casual conversation, random comments strung into the next

“Take a slow, deep breath,” Grimm said gently over the phone. His omniscient recognition of her panic attack sent a jolt through her, disrupting it. She did as he said. “Again.”

When he was just a voice, it was easy to forget what he was. And he had a really nice voice. It took a few minutes, but Pearl calmed down again. “Sorry.”

“No need to apologize.” His voice was still so gentle. “You have a lot of questions.”

“Yeah,” she said meekly.

“Hmm. Would you prefer to discuss them over the phone, or in person?”

“…Phone.”

One by one, Pearl asked her questions. Grimm patiently answered each of them, elaborating as needed, without judgment. Soon the conversation led away from work. One random comment naturally strung into another. The silences ebbed and flowed just as comfortably as the chatter. He even got a laugh out of her.

By the end, Pearl felt comfortable proceeding with the interview.

That’s not to say she didn’t get nervous about it still. She arrived ten minutes early. There were a few others waiting around when she got there. Like Grimm had said, no one here wore the Death-Head mask. It was like any other office building.

There were two parts to the interview: the typical questionnaire portion—though not-so-typical, since the later questions geared towards Death-Head related things—and then a practical test. While Pearl didn’t have direct experience working in an office before, her natural computer and typing skills, and her ability to pick up their specific programs, were of great benefit. Overall, she felt it went well. Though one of the interviewer’s questions lingered like a bad taste in her mouth.

“I’m sorry, I just have to ask. This interview was set up as part of a deal. Why bother with still going through the interview when you could simply get the position?”

“I don’t want to get a job that way,” Pearl said shaking her head. Grimm had questioned that stipulation too, though he didn’t come off as judgmental about it. “I made the deal to ensure I could interview for a job. I still want to rightfully earn it.” She didn’t add that if she didn’t earn a job within her deadline, then she would, begrudgingly, accept one fully handed to her.

As this was a Death-Head deal, Pearl had the perk of having her interview results be expedited. Not that this was a one-and-done kind of thing. Death-Heads were particular about all their employees. And passing the first step didn’t guarantee Pearl a job yet. Still, she made it through the interview. And her background check was nearly done. Next was the temporary work position.

If she made it through that, then the deal would be complete.

— 3 —

Pearl was excited for her first day of work. It felt good to be doing something, to be making money again. For now, she would be training and working in the North branch’s offices. On one hand, the commute was nicer. On the other, Pearl had a lot more interaction with Death-Heads than she expected. She was marginally more comfortable around them thanks to her time with Grimm. Her deal was working out.

But rumors of a deal made with the leader of the North faction soon became a thorn.

Pearl didn’t tell anyone about her deal. So, it was quite surprising to hear office gossip about her and Grimm. Granted, no one knew it was her. There was just talk about how strange it was that Grimm accepted a non-violent deal. She wanted to ask. Wanted to know the extent of what they meant. She knew that Death-Heads often did dirty work, and someone who was a faction leader definitely didn’t have clean hands, but with how everyone was talking about it, their deal was completely out of character for him.

She couldn’t stop thinking about it…

As the days went on and the gossip developed, Pearl kept to herself. She even started taking her lunch breaks across the street in the park. A number of her coworkers noticed the shift in her personality from when she started, though said nothing to her about it.

Grimm also noticed her acting differently.

Since his office overlooked the park, he couldn’t help but notice her visits there. That alone couldn’t be called odd. But he, too, started to hear the gossip. Add the reclusive comments from her performance report, and the pieces started coming together.

Pearl learned of Grimm’s reputation. He knew it was only a matter of time until she did. Still, it left him with a feeling he didn’t enjoy. He decided to check in with her.

Grabbing his own lunch, he made his way over to the park. When he found Pearl, she was sitting alone on a bench, zoned out and pushing her food around its container absently. “Mind if I join you?”

Pearl jumped and looked up at him, eyes wide and cat-ears pointed back. He didn’t mean to startle her. She recovered quickly, shook her head, then scooted over. “Go right ahead.”

He sat down and took his time to open up his bento. Pearl eyed the three-layered box, each layer packed with delicious looking food. Her lunch was measly in comparison. “How are you doing?”

Her shoulders slumped as she looked back down at her sad, barely-touched lunch. “I’m fine,” she said, clearly avoiding giving him the real answer.

His brows knitted the tiniest fraction. He wanted to ask, but ultimately stopped himself from pressing the matter. They weren’t that close. She seemed adamant to not look at him, so he started eating. Minutes passed in silence. Aside from his concern, the moment was quite nice. Grimm ate lunch alone more often than not; and it was a nice change to eat outside.

“Why did you accept my deal?” Pearl suddenly asked with a hallow note in her voice.

The feeling from earlier crept up again, leaving a bad taste in his mouth. Maybe this was a bad fit for her after all. He did something he had never done before and reminded her, “You can still back out of the deal, if you want.”

“What?” she snapped. She turned and glared at him. “Okay first off—that is not what I said at all. Second—why would you think I’d do that to you? I basically have this job already; just because you said you wouldn’t consider the deal done until I’m no longer a temp, doesn’t mean I’d jump at the chance to get out of upholding my end of it.” She sighed heavily, looked down at her lunch again, stabbed at it quite aggressively.

Grimm stared at her. Her snap of fury surprised him—he also now had a feint understanding of the cliché of how cute someone could be when angered.

“Why did you accept my deal?” How to answer her question… Was it because of the novelty of being asked for a simple, non-violent deal? Did her being a fellow half-faced cat sway him to give her a break? Or perhaps it was all the little things—her expressiveness; her determination; how nice her voice was to listen to; the possibility she stirred with her oracle reading; the ease he felt with her—that made him want to help her.

“Hmm, I accepted your deal because… I just wanted to. Don’t know how to explain it.”

Pearl looked at him, examining him as much as his words. His explanation eased her anger. But not her worries. She sighed again, leaning her head back to stare at the sky. “Guess I should start get ready for a hefty price, huh?”

He hadn’t given any thought yet to what he’d ask of her. This wasn’t his usual deal. None of his usual type of demands seemed right. “Payment must be proportional to the deal. Don’t worry yourself so hard over it.”

Pearl stopped herself from thinking of ways a hefty payment could still be proportionately demanded. She wanted to believe that this deal with him wasn’t a mistake to make. She took a deep breath in through her nose, then slowly let it out her barely parted lips. “Okay… Okay. I trust you.”

Days passed and Pearl’s temp position was at its end. Having worked well, she was offered to stay on full-time. “Would you like to do the honors? Since you also have to ask for your payment,” Pearl’s supervisor asked Grimm.

“Hm, yeah I’ll tell her.”

“Do you know what you’re gonna ask for as payment yet?” Grimm gave her a lethal glare, making her flinch and quickly ramble, “Sorry for overstepping. I was just curious. Considering the situa… Sorry.”

Grimm knew what payment he’d ask for. But he didn’t want it to be gossiped around—especially before he could officially declare it to Pearl. He folded Pearl’s acceptance letter and tucked it inside his haori. It’d be another hour before she arrived for work. He’d give her the letter then; if she wanted to hear his payment then too, he’d tell her. Otherwise, he was fine waiting until they had lunch, or when her shift ended—yet another unheard-of thing for him to do; yet again for her.

It's a shame he wouldn’t connect these facts and their meaning until much later. For now, he only recognized the oddness of his actions, not giving them much thought.

Ten minutes after Pearl arrived, he went down to see her. Grimm’s visit was keenly noted by the entire department. And the moment he asked Pearl to talk in private, whispers chomped at the bit for them to leave. Despite everyone knowing Pearl was at the end of her temporary position and it was most likely that Grimm wanted to talk to her about staying on, the gossip of his newest, usual deal was rekindled by the fact that it was uncommon for him to handle such a task.

“It’s time, huh?” Pearl said. “The end of the deal.”

“Yes.” He gave her the letter, then gave her a moment to process it, to ready herself for what he was about to ask of her. “For payment, you owe me nineteen kisses.”

“What?” she immediately interjected. She would have never guessed he’d ask for something like that.

He raised his brow impatiently at her before continuing. “There are rules to this payment. First, only one kiss per day will count towards the payment. Second, kisses must be on the lips.. Third, someone else must be around for the kiss to count. Fourth, you have nineteen weeks to fulfill your payment; if you fail, you’re to quit this job immediately without severance. Lastly, until your payment is complete, you will be my avec to any and all occasions I request.”

She needed another moment to process this. Why was the death and decapitation guy asking this for his payment? Was it some sort of humiliation tactic because there was nothing worse he could reasonably ask for? Ultimately… Pearl decided that it was okay. It was just a handful of kisses. And she was comfortable being around him. Though, maybe less so now that she’d be constantly thinking about having to kiss him. Nineteen kisses. What an odd number to ask for. “Why nineteen?”

“For The Sun card.”

Pearl’s eye twitched. Really? That was his reason? She screamed internally at the way her oracle reading was unfolding.

But it was okay.

She had a job now. And the payment to the Death-Head was generous, all things considered. Things were working out, just like her cards had told her.

“Okay,” she agreed and stepped towards him confidently. “Nineteen kisses. And all those rules. Though tell me.” She glanced to the upper corner of the room. “Does the security guard watching on the camera count for the third rule?”

He wasn’t expecting that. He laughed, smirking cockily at her. “Hmm, know what. Sure. Just this time, it’ll count.”

She quickly raised up on her toes and kissed him. She just as quickly turned away to hide the blush spreading across her face. She cleared her throat. “Is there anything else you need from me?”

“No. You’re free to go.”

Pearl left the break room. Instead of returning to her desk, she snuck into the bathroom. She splashed water on her face a couple times, focusing on relaxing her racing emotions and heartbeat.

Nineteen kisses. Eighteen more to go.

— 4 —

Things continued on for Pearl as they had been the past few weeks. Except now she had an income. She was slowing paying off her debts. And she was also having a lot more, awkward encounters with Grimm at work. It could’ve just been her biased perspective, but he seemed to linger around her more. Did he think she’d kiss him at work in front of everyone? She’d rather avoid that, if possible. Stealing a few kisses while they had lunch across the street at the park was enough of a risk for her.

Sixteen.

It was on another one of these days where she contemplated kissing him, that Grimm called in the last rule of their deal. “Next Friday there’s a small event I have to go to. Semi-formal. I’ll pick you up at 6:00pm.”

Pearl’s thoughts slammed to a halt. She wasn’t expecting this part of the deal to come up so soon. The most formal event she had ever been to was a school dance ages ago. Her thoughts darted in countless directions. “Is… is this a Death Head event?”

“Yes.”

So, she’d have to deal with other Death Heads too… At least it was just semi-formal. Though she still didn’t have anything suitable. She wondered if she could get Grimm to buy her a new dress for the event, just like how he bought her some new outfits for work. Did she dare ask?

“If you have any more questions, just message me,” he said, getting up to leave. Any words Pearl had caught in her throat as she watched him go.

With this event now on her plate, the coming days grew stressful. But Pearl was determined to not let it get to her. She focused on what she could control. Namely, her outfit. She spent her free time thinking about the kind of dress she wanted to wear. The color, the cut and material. She had it all figured out so that when her next day off rolled around, she was ready for a day of shopping. She then planned her makeup and hairstyle for the evening—ultimately keeping everything simple.

She was as prepared as she could be. Grimm was punctual Friday evening. He pressed the buzzer, ringing her apartment. “Be right down,” she said over the intercom. When she came out the front door, they both just… stared at each other, taken aback by the little changes each made.

“Yes.”

“If you have any more questions, just message me,” he said, getting up to leave. Any words Pearl had caught in her throat as she watched him go.

She was as prepared as she could be.

Grimm was punctual Friday evening. He pressed the buzzer, ringing her apartment. “Be right down,” she said over the intercom. When she came out the front door, they both just… stared at each other, taken aback by the little changes each made.

Overall, Grimm’s outfit was the same as it always was: a black haori over a white dress shirt, and plain black slacks. However, the subtle difference of the black-on-black jacquard haori he wore tonight gave him a refined touch. It also helped that he buttoned up his shirt more. But the haori was part of his signature.

And Pearl—she was a breath of spring. Her dress was a comfortable, rayon wrap dress with a ruffle along the hem, and short, flowy butterfly sleeves. The color matched her eyes perfectly. And her golden eyeshadow and rose gold lipstick were the perfect accents.

The soft rumble of distant thunder broke the moment.

Pearl looked to the sky. No clouds were gathering immediately, and she hoped it stayed that way. She’d hate to have to bring a coat—she only had one heavy winter coat, some work blazers, and a few casual jackets and sweaters of varying weight, making none of them ideal for the evening. “I hope the storm misses us,” she said, more so to herself than trying to make conversation. Brushing off her concerns, she turned back towards Grimm. “Shall we go?”

The event was hosted at a fancy hotel, not far from Death Head HQ. Grimm pulled to the front, handed his keys to the valet, then went to help Pearl out of the car. Not that she needed it. She was already walking around the front of the car. Grimm gave her a look. She shrugged. “What?”

“Can I at least escort you inside?” he sassed, raising his arm up in offering.

She scoffed and rolled her eyes. “You’re seriously upset over not opening my door?”

“I’m not upset.”

“Oh yeah? Your furrowed brow says otherwise.” She smiled coltishly. “Maybe I should escort you inside.” She held up her arm, mirroring him.

His kneejerk reaction was to refuse. She was his avec; he was her senior, both within the company and in age. No one dared joke with him so casually—except for Algoth, though his jokes were more often gibes. Grimm decided to lean into it. “Alright then,” he agreed, and hooked his hand up under her arm. “Lead the way.”

Pearl was not prepared for this. “What? No. I don’t know where to go. I don’t want this responsibility anymore!”

He leaned in close with a dangerous smirk. “Perhaps if you make a little payment, I’ll change my mind.”

Pearl’s face quickly turned red. Did she dare kiss him here in plain view of so many of their coworkers? His face was already so close. It would be quick. Maybe no one was looking at them, so she wouldn’t need to deal with prying questions and gossip later.

“Good evening, Sir,” someone interrupted.

Grimm righted himself and turned towards the other Death Head. “You’re here early.”

“You’re just late.” His gaze slid over to Pearl. “Since you brought an avec this time.”

“Pearl, this is my assistant, Algoth,” Grimm introduced. “But ignore what he said; we’re not late.”

“Tell that to Kahamet.”

“Hmm. I wonder what’s got him so impatient tonight.” He sighed. “Guess I better deal with him sooner rather than later.”

They all went inside together. There were far more guests than Pearl expected. She knew not everyone there worked within the Death-Head Organization. But most did. She took a steadying breath and reminded herself that, as wild as it was, she was one of them now too.

Grimm noticed her nerves. “You okay?” he quietly asked.

“Yeah. Yeah I’m good.”

And for a moment she was.

The stares started to linger as the three of them went through the ballroom. She stopped looking for familiar faces. After grabbing glasses of wine, Grimm told Algoth to keep Pearl company while he went to talk with Kahamet.

“So, you’re Pearl Helmi,” Algoth said slowly.

A little part inside Pearl started screaming. He knew her full name? Well—he was Grimm’s assistant. It wouldn’t be too surprising if he knew about their deal. But his gaze was unforgiving, almost threatening. She didn’t like it. He was even more intimidating than Grimm was when she first met him.

After a drawn-out moment, he made a soft hmph sound. Algoth reached into his jacket, then offered her his business card. “If Grimm acts out of line, let me know.”

Pearl stared at him, absolutely dumbfounded. Was he indirectly threatening Grimm? Did he know something Grimm had planned that she didn’t? She accepted the card. “Thanks?” she said meekly.

“I’m curious though… You’re not his usual type.”

She definitely misinterpreted his words. “W-what?”

“Have you really not heard about his usual deals yet?”

“Oh, our deal,” she said, realizing a little too late how revealing those words were.

A sly grin grew across his face. He wasn’t quite sure yet what was going on with them, but this little slip got him closer. “Yes. Usually, he only makes deals involving torture or murder; requesting payment equally painful, like all one’s teeth.” Pearl shivered. She had heard of this, to a degree, but no specifications about the payments he asked for. “When the paperwork for your deal first came across my desk, I thought it might be some sort of test—to see how attentive I am filing all out papers—or perhaps a joke he was playing.

“But here you are,” he punctuated by tipping his drink towards her. Then he took a sip.

His gaze had yet to waver from Pearl, and oh boy, did she feel it boring into her. Algoth was definitely worse than Grimm. She could enjoy a meal and laugh with Grimm. Algoth, on the other hand… at first he seemed to want to maybe help her—albeit in an intimidating manner. But then how the conversation changed… what was his goal with all that?

Whatever it was, she did not have the energy to parse it tonight.

“Heh, yeah. Maybe he made a bet with someone and had to take next job request he got and ended up with me?” she joked lightly, her heart not in it. She took a sip of her drink and scanned the perimeter of the room. “Do you know where the bathroom is? An eyelash is starting to attack my eye.” It was a lie. Pearl just wanted to escape the intense interaction. If Algoth realized this, he didn’t call her on it.

“Where’s Pearl?” Grimm immediately asked upon returning to the gala nearly twenty minutes later.

Algoth shrugged. “Probably hiding out in the bathroom.”

Grimm’s face twitched into a brief snarl. “And why would that be?” he slowly growled.

“Just made sure she knew the full you,” Algoth answered nonchalantly, staring dully at him. “What is you aim with her? I know what you’re making her pay you.” Grimm’s hand went up, but stopped short from grabbing him by the lapels of his coat. Algoth looked down at Grimm’s hand as it gradually balled into a fist and lowered back to his side. He snickered. "Go comfort your princess," he said. His gaze slid away from Grimm and then took a drink.

Grimm clapped him on the shoulder, took a step closer, and whispered a threat into his ear. "Give me all the shit you want. But not her."

Algoth's smirk grew smugger as his boss walked off. "Wonder how long it'll take him to realize," he said to himself.

It was easy finding Pearl out in the hallway. She was sitting on a bench, casually chatting with another HQ officer worker.

"So this is where you've been hiding," Grimm butted in.

"Oh, hey Grimm. Not exactly hiding. But yeah, taking a break from… all that," she said and gestured in the direction of the ballroom.

"What did Algoth say to you?"

The coworker Pearl was talking to—who had been stiffly silent since Grimm approached—quickly excused themself and gave the two their privacy. Grimm took the vacated seat beside Pearl.

She sighed and dug the business card out of her purse and held it out towards him. "He told me to contact him if you misbehaved. Then he proceeded to remind me of how unusual our deal is. Also—why did you ask for all of someone's teeth?"

"They're good for my bonsai."

Pearl's eye twitched. He… he actually used the teeth for something? "Ah yes, how could I not realize something so simple. Bonsai dentures."

He laughed. All the tension he was holding instantly vanished as her sarcastic joke caught him completely off guard. It was a nice change from the very… professional, meeting he just had with the CEO. And from Algoth being cheeky tonight. He gave her a thoughtful look—staring long enough to make Pearl start feeling antsy.

“Should we get back to the event?” she asked.

“Hmm, as you wish.”

They didn’t make it back inside the ballroom.

They were steps away from the door when someone loudly called out, “Oh look. There’s the cheater who bought her way into the Death Heads.”

Pearl froze. There was no doubt that they meant her. She looked at the floor, afraid to meet anyone’s gaze as attention shifted to them. If it had only been that one comment, perhaps her anxiety wouldn’t have gotten the better of her. Unfortunately, they continued ranting.

“Do you know how many times I had to apply before I got an interview for an office job? And you just waltz right past all that!”

Grimm moved himself between Pearl and the other office worker as they walked over. Judging by the stumbling stagger in their walk and the prominent smell of alcohol, they were drunk. Regardless of intoxication, this was unbecoming of a Death Head.

Others began butting in to deescalate the situation. Pearl would appreciate their help later. For now, she focused on not having an anxiety attack. One little thing after another. Cynically, she started to wonder if the Universe was determined to not let her enjoy this night. “I need air,” she said. She didn’t wait for anyone’s acknowledgement before heading outside.

Grimm watched her leave, then sharply turned back to the instigator. He grabbed them by the collar and pulled them in close. “I suggest you go sober up and never be in my presence again."

That comment earned Grimm some looks as he left, following after Pearl. She was pacing with her arms hugged tightly to her chest, her eyes closed, deliberately breathing in through her nose and out her mouth. She heard him approached and stopped.

“How are you?” he asked.

She flashed a shaky smile. “Just fending off some imposter syndrome. No big deal,” she brushed off.

“It is. Things have changed rapidly for you. Even without some drunk asshole making jealous snarks, it’s understandable to second guess yourself.” He walked closer to her and placed his hands on her shoulders. “But you did earn this job on your own. You made that part of the deal, remember? All I did was ensure your resume was seriously considered for job you’re completely qualified for.”

She laughed a little and lowered her head, hiding her smile. How many people got pep talks from such a notorious Death Head? She let his words sink in. Affirmed that he was right. She took one deep breath to clear out all the negativity, then look at Grimm with a genuine smile. “Thanks.”

He nodded, returning his hands to his sides. He glanced over his shoulder at the hotel. “Wanna leave the event?”

“Can we really just leave? I don’t think we’ve even been here for an hour yet.”

Grimm shrugged. “If they get mad at me, then they get mad.”

“Ooo, such a rebel,” she teased.

“I’m not a Faction Leader for nothing, you know.”

A pause lingered between them. “So… Do you just want to call it a night and go home? Or do you want to like, wander around the city?” Pearl asked.

“I’m fine with whatever you wish.”

Well he certainly said that in a way that stirred a little flutter in Pearl. However, she wrote it off as the champagne they had—because why would he be flirty with her?

They decided to go for a walk. Neither knew the area, so they pick random corners to turn at, no true destination in mind. They found a little coffee house having an open mic night. A lush, community garden. But most importantly, a food truck where you could make-your-own fried cheese sticks.

Grimm immediately pulled Pearl over to it the moment he saw it. He had found this food truck a small handful of times before throughout Lywood. They had a fair selection of cheeses that they’d bread and freshly fry. Grimm ordered three dozen of various different cheeses. At first, Pearl was a bit skeptical they’d eat so many. But all it took was one bite and she immediately claimed half of the cheese sticks for herself. Whatever spices were mixed in the breading was perfect; and the breading was the perfect crunchy match for the gooey cheese. She hoped the next time she went out drinking she’d have the fortune of finding this food truck again.

They found a playground nearby and sat on the swings as they ate in peaceful silence. The night had had its ups and down, but in the end, it was turning out well.

And then it started to rain.

At first, it was just a light sprinkle. They sought shelter under a nearby tree. But the rain did not let up. Only increased. They couldn’t stay there much longer. Unfortunately, they had walked pretty far from the hotel; and unless Grimm accepted the future roasting he’d get from calling Algoth by asking him to bring his car to them, they’d have to make a run for it and get soaked.

It was just rain. No big deal.

But Pearl was in a light-weight dress, and was already growing chilled as the rain cooled the once pleasant night. Grimm shrugged off his haori and gave it to her. She was immediately grateful for its warmth. Pulling it closely around herself, they started heading back.

Unfortunately, they hadn’t been keeping the best track of their path. But they laughed about it. Grimm cranked the heat once they finally got to his car. He needed it more than her—Pearl was doing her best not to stare at his completely soaked white, dress shirt. When they arrived at Pearl’s apartment, she lingered in the car, reluctant for the evening to end. Even if they just continued sitting in the car, listening to the rain—that’d be nice. And so she leaned over and kissed him.

Fifteen.

“That doesn’t count, you know?” he said.

Fifteen. Sixteen?

“What? How does that not count?” she defended.

“It’s not daytime.”

“You never specified that rule.”

“The first rule was once per day.”

Were they really going to get into an argument over semantics? Yes. Yes, they were. “Yeah, but you didn’t make it clear that you meant during the daytime. Most people would assume that meant once per calendar day.”

He raised a brow, in both a challenge and in amusement. “Very well,” he smirked. “I’ll count it. This time. But don’t think you can get away with such mischief next time. I’m clarifying now to mean daytime—between sunrise to sunset.”

She blew a raspberry and rolled her eyes. “Oh sure. Change the rules partway through.”

His eyes narrowed at her. “Clarifying, not changing.”

“Hm, yeah no, sure,” she teasingly brushed off. Two months ago, she would not have dreamt of being this playful with a Death-Head, especially not one like Grimm. But she knew him now. Somewhat. She could see the softer sides of him that barely a handful of people got to see.

“Fine then. Day, night—kiss me whenever you’d like.” The small smirk that played on Grimm’s lips made her anxious—but not the negative type of anxious; the eager kind. The kind that made her want to lean forward and kiss him again for no other reason than wanting to.

Fifteen.

Before such emotions could betray her, Pearl hopped out of the car with a quick goodnight called over her shoulder. She suddenly had a lot to think through. Once in her apartment, she leaned again the door, pressing her eyes closed. Her heart was racing. And not just from running up to her apartment. Was she… was she falling for Grimm? No—surely this was just the illusion of infatuation caused by them becoming closer, as friends, mixed with the necessity of having to kiss him.

Right?

She slowly slid down until she was sitting on the floor. Looks like there was still quite a bit to sort out in her life. Not to mention, she just realized she was still wearing his haori.

— 5 —

GRIMM: I can’t come in today. I’m sick

ALGOTH: How did you get sick?

GRIMM: Rain

ALGOTH: You were out in the rain long enough to get so soaked that it made you sick?

Algoth gave his phone an accusatory glare as the minutes added up since Grimm read his last message. He doubted Grimm was sick enough to be unable to respond so soon after initially texting him. Grimm was hiding something. Or, more accurately, not disclosing something so that he wouldn’t be roasted over it.

That meant it likely had something to do with Pearl.

This new relationship his boss had formed with his latest client was… odd. He was curious to see where it would lead. At a glance, they were an unlikely duo. He knew Grimm. He knew him better than almost anyone else. Hopefully, Pearl would keep her wits about her as the two toed the blurry line they established between them.

His peaceful morning’s work was interrupted by a knock at the door. He was surprised to see Pearl. But not surprised by her question.

“Good morning, Algoth.” Her eyes quickly scanned the office. “Is Grimm around?”

“No. He’s not in today. Was there something you needed from him?”

“Oh, no. Not really, I just…” She bit her lip and adjusted her arms behind her back. Her overt nerves got him curious. That was when he noticed the bit of black cloth she was now hiding behind her back. He also caught the sheen of a familiar pattern on the silky fabric.

The puzzle instantly came together.

“He’s home sick today,” he said, cutting off her floundering for an explanation. He returned to his desk and started writing something on a scrap piece of paper. “Since I have to cover both my and his work for the day—you can go deliver his medicine for me.”

“Wha–?”

“The medicine is already paid for; you just need to pick it up from the pharmacy. Here are the addresses—the order is under my name—and codes to get into Grimm’s place.” He handed her the paper. His mischievous expression made Pearl’s ears flatten back a bit. This felt like a damned if she did, damned if she didn’t sort of situations.

“O-okay,” she accepted.

After watching her leave, he shook his head, sat back down at his desk, and shot a text to Grimm.

ALGOTH: Your wife will be stopping by later.

He never got a response—Grimm wouldn’t get around to reading it until late that night—but it amused him all the same.

Pearl stood outside Grimm’s house, staring up at it in awe. She wasn’t surprised that he had such a nice place. Still, the large, finely maintained house loomed as intimidating as the man who lived in it.

Well, best to get this done with—mainly because her shopping bags felt heavier the longer she stood there. Besides the medicine, she bought ingredients for soup. She felt responsible; he had to have gotten sick from being in the rain for so long without a coat. She wouldn’t be surprised if Algoth made the same connection and that’s why he sent her on this task.

“Hello?” she called after unlocking the front door. “Grimm? It’s Pearl. Algoth sent me.” No response came. Tentatively, she went in search of the kitchen. The interior design was impressive. Immaculate. To be able to afford all this… She stopped herself from contemplating the deals he’d done for all of this. “Kitchen,” she quietly reminded herself, getting back on task.

It was immediately to the left of where she stopped to gawk.

After unpacking all the groceries onto the counter, Pearl paused. Did she start cooking first, or find Grimm first? Probably find Grimm. She’d feel more comfortable being there once he knew she was there. He could also help tell her where everything was in the kitchen. She went back into the main room and through the only other doorway. There were a lot of closed doors—which was to be expected, given how large the hose was. “Grimm?” she called again, hoping for a hint about which door he was behind.

But apparently, he was behind her. “What are you doing here?” he groggily asked.

Pearl jumped, letting out a little scream. “Where the hell did you come from?” He lazily motioned over to the kotatsu in the room. On the side opposite the foyer, a was a pillow. He’d been there the entire time; she just hadn’t seen him. “Oh… Well, Algoth sent me to bring you medicine.”

He yawned and scratched the back of his head. “Ugh. Please tell me he didn’t get something grape flavored. He always picks out the worst flavored medicine.”

“I think it’s cherry.”

Grimm gave her a curious look. “So. Where is it?”

“Oh, still in the kitchen. You should take it with food, so I was going to make you some soup.”

If Grimm hadn’t been so sleepy still, perhaps Pearl would’ve been able to notice the intrigue that sparked in his expression. “You’re making me soup?”

“Well yeah,” she said and shrugged. “You caught a cold because of me; it’s the least I can do to make up for it.”

“You didn’t give me a cold.”

“Maybe not directly. But since I wore your haori yesterday, you got soaked in the rain and caught a cold.”

“Yes. My decision caused this outcome.”

She pouted a bit at him, narrowing her eyes slightly. “You must really be sick, you’re starting to sound delirious,” she sassed, turned away, and walked back into the kitchen before he could respond.

He chuckled to himself then followed her.

When she told him she was making soup, he didn’t process that to mean ‘from scratch’. So seeing all the groceries she had set out surprised him. He stared dumbfounded at her.

She stared awkwardly back. “Sooo… Where is all your cookware? I’d like to start cooking, and while I could just open every cabinet and drawer until I find the things I need, it’d be easier for you to just tell me.”

“Hm? Ah, right.” He shook himself from his stupor, and started helping her.

But then he started to help her too much. “Go curl up under the kotatsu again,” Pearl gently ordered as she started to guide him over to the door. “I’ll bring you some soup when it’s done.”

“You sure you don’t want help?”

“I just watched you nearly cut off your own finger. Twice. So go rest and stop trying to add your blood to my soup.”

He obeyed.

Pearl turned on music on her phone and continued cooking. She was enjoying working in Grimm’s large kitchen with all its high-end appliances. Much better than her apartment’s kitchenette. About half an hour later, the soup was ready. She portioned out a serving, buttered a few slices of bread.

Pearl gently shook Grimm awake. “Food is ready.”

He stretched, then slowly sat up. As the smell of the soup hit him, he snapped fully awake. “This smells absolutely delicious.”

She blushed a little in pride. “Thank you. I hope you enjoy. Do you want me to put all the leftovers away now? Or I can leave out a second serving if you’d like.”

“You’re not eating?”

“Oh. Well… no,” she said awkwardly. “Algoth didn’t really say I had the whole day off, so I was gonna go back to work now.”

“Stay.”

Pearl froze. The soft way he said it plucked the heartstrings that had shaken her the night before. Granted, it came out that way absolutely because he was low energy from illness. Still…

Then he added, “You’ve come all this way, and did all this work—relax and eat with me.” When she bit her lip, still hesitating, he continued. “As the Head of the North Faction I can and will order you to take the day off work.”

Something about him pulling rank while he was such a miserable, sickly slump made her want to laugh. And so she conceded. She got herself a bowl of soup and joined him under the kotatsu—damn it was cozy; no wonder he kept passing out.

When they’re done eating, Pearl cleaned up. Grimm made some protest, saying he should be doing all the chores since she was his guest; but she argued back that he’s sick and threatened him to rest.

As she got ready to leave, she noticed his haori she left in the entryway. She traced along the fabric. Picking it up, she returned to the other room and set it beside the once again sleeping Grimm.

She lingered.

There was such a softness to him. And she was probably one of the few who saw this side of him. Unconsciously, her hand moved to brush his hair. But she stopped short, noticing just in time what she was doing.

“Fuck,” she whispered under her breath. She immediately stood up and left the house.

There was no way to deny it anymore.

She had feelings for Grimm.

#fanfic wip #DHD #grimm x pearl

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gildedmuse · 4 years ago

Text

Sora: Warrior Of The Sea

(A RedHawk Production)

Cavendish's constantly flirting with Law, because hey if it gets him a bigger role....

Zoro isn't sure why exactly, but he wants to punch Cavendish in the face. He's suggested (to Luffy, in private) that his character gets to do so multiple times. Luffy thinks it's hilarious. Of course Zoro wants to punch Cavendish.

Zoro: No, I mean our characters...

Luffy: Shishishi that doesn't make sense, Zoro. Why would Daichi punch Cavendish when Torao isn't even in the show.

Zoro: *grumbles* It had nothing to do with Torao.

Luffy: Unless---!!! Did Torao put himself in the next show? Who does he play? Does he have a costume? Is it awesome?

Zoro: What? No, of course he didn't -- You know you can read the scripts, right?

Luffy: That's boring. I'd rather see what happens. Although I'll bet I know what part Torao would give himself if he did!

Zoro: Someone with puppet string powers so he could force Ace and I to act more like the manga?

Luffy: Shishi, Zoro's always so funny. Noooooo, stupid. *Beaming up at him, like he knows a secret* I know what Torao would do. Torao would play a character that got to kiss Daichi! Shishishi.

Zoro: W-what?! *Under his breath, as if anyone cares about their conversation enough to listen in or would be surprised by this* Stop messing around, Luffy! Idiot! Why would you say something like that?

Luffy: Cause then he'd get to kiss ZORO. And in front of everyone, too, just like he wanted to- mmfff!

Zoro: Luffy! *jolts forward to cover Luffy's mouth* H-he does not want to--! No one wants to--! *Sighs, letting go before Luffy gets bored and starts licking his palm. He totally knows him too well* What a stupid thing to say.

Luffy: *Pouting beacuse it was NOT a stupid thing to say and he doesn't understand why Zoro is being so mean and weird when Luffy is being so helpful!* No it's not! Torao watched all - *Makes a longing sort of face, but tries to glare as well, the way Law does* - when Ace and Zoro kissed at the party last year. *Frowns at the memory, pointing an accusing finger in Zoro's face* Zoro is the stupid one for making Torao spend the rest of the party pouting in the back. He wouldn't even come watch me and Carrot have an eating contest and that was super fun!

Zoro: *Eye twitching* You moron, that's not the reason Law didn't want to watch you two eat. Anyway, he's always like that. He probably didn't even want to go to that stupid party in the first place.

Luffy: Everyone loves parties. Torao was probably having tons of fun until Ace and Zoro kissed, and it's worse because everybody saw!

Zoro: *Starts to ask why that’s so important but stops because Luffy logic* What does it matter? It was just some stupid party game. And Torao didn’t seem to mind when Cavendish kissed him earlier!

Luffy: But Torao didn’t go all red after and tell everyone how good at kissing Cavendish is.

Zoro: *Flushes all over again just at the memory. He might have been slightly tipsy. and as luck would have it Ace IS a really, really good kisser. In a way Zoro had not been expecting,*

Luffy: *Eyes go wide* That's why Torao wants to kiss Daichi! Then maybe Zoro will think Torao is an even better kisser than Ace AND everyone would see it so then they’d all know that Zoro belonged to Torao and likes Torao more!

Zoro: *Knew that he’d regret learning Luffy’s logic behind the importance of everyone seeing him kiss someone* That’s not how tha-- Wait, no. *Shakes head, not believing he’s been dragged into this* I told you, Todorao didn’t write himself in the show. And if he did, he wouldn’t make a character who kissed Daichi. It wouldn’t be “like the original”. I, uh, flipped through the manga just to see if there were some better fights coming up. *Will die before he admits he read the whole series because Law seemed so upset he’d heard of it before* Daichi already has a love interest. It’s....*Shudders* Poison Pink. They even kiss this episode. *Looks like a man condemned at the thought that he’s going to have to kiss Perona of all people.* See it's right.... *Skimming the script, frowning when he can't find the page.*

Luffy: Shishishi. Only Zoro could lose his way inside a script!

Zoro: I didn’t get lost! It was here in the last draft I swear. *Flushing less out of embarrassment more of anger* Perona made me practice. Apparently my kissing isn’t “cute” enough for the princess.

Luffy: Hmm.... *Thinks about Perona threatening Zoro to practice so he doesn’t gross her out while everyone is watching*

Luffy: *Thinks about Perona being all gleeful cause she gets to boss Zoro around, even if it’s just telling him how he should kiss her. She’d probably make him do it again and again just so she got to keep bossing him around.*

Luffy: *Pictures a mini Law peaking into the dressing room and seeing Perona get kissed by Zoro*

Luffy: You should practice the kissing scene with Torao! *said loud enough that any crew member that hadn't picked up on the tension definitely knew now*

Luffy: *Pictures Law at a typewriter angrily slamming down on the keys, furiously rewriting the scene*

Zoro: *an interesting shade of red* Wh-what are you talking about! And keep your voice down!

Luffy: Well, usually I help you remember your lines, because you're terrible at it.

Zoro: I am not! They just change too much that's all!

Luffy: But what if I couldn't help with the kissing scene because.... Hmm.... Because I was busy helping Ace!

Zoro: *Sweatdrop* I'm not sure that sounds right.... You should probably just say you don’t want to.

Luffy: So you'd have to ask Torao!

Zoro: Why would I--!! And besides *Shakes script in Luffy’s face* the kissing scene is gone. *So fucking relieved*

Luffy: Oh, right.... Oh, I know! I’ll bet Shanks would put it back in if we asked!

Zoro: No!

Luffy: But then you'd have a reason to kiss Torao! Though I guess you’d have to practice where everyone could watch, but we practice out on set all the time so just so that. And you wouldn't have to punch anybody!

Zoro: ...... I'd still want to punch Cavendish.

Luffy: Hmm… Well, maybe you could kiss Torao then punch Cavendish.

Zoro: *Doesn't reply, because this seems like a pretty good deal*

There's one time Luffy convinced Law to give in and try on the Sora costume. Bon Clay adores Luffy so it's not at all difficult to talk him into letting the two of them borrow it. Admittedly, Law feels a little ridiculous about how excited Luffy gets over playing dress up, but also.... He /does/ kinda want to try it on. Just to see. Still, he's determined to be seen as professional and not like a total fanboy at work so he makes Luffy swear not to tell a soul and promises himself he'll only try it on for a minute.

So naturally the second he's done up, Luffy runs off to get Zoro so he can see how cool Torao looks as Sora. Zoro gets pulled out of his trailer half dressed in his own costume - he's used to Luffy grabbing him and dragging him places with no explanation - only to be shoved into a small dressing room with a very flushed, embarrassed looking Law all dressed up like his childhood hero.

Luffy has to prompt him to tell Torao how badass he looks, seeing as Zoro is just /staring/ at Law. Not even at the costume, just at Law. That's wrong and boring as far as Luffy's concerned so he finally jumps in telling Zoro what to say. Which Zoro still managed to screw up by replying to, "Doesn't Torao look totally cool as Sora?" With, "Mmm, so cute." Before realizing, shit, said that outloud

Fellow writer Robin just happens to peek into the room while looking for Law in that moment and catches Zoro stuttering a correction while Law goes from embarrassed to full on smug, leaning closer to Zoro and flirtatiously asking "But what do you think of the costume?" enjoying the way Zoro's skin goes all flushed.

Robin decides she doesn't need Law that much at the moment, but she does secretly snap a photo on her phone. She's a total Daichi/Sora shipper. She has a secret account online where she writes fanfic of the two. She somehow managed to get a picture of Ace and Zoro in full costumes making out that no one can explain.

She watches the two of them for a moment before quietly backing out, smiling the whole time. She has so many plans for these two now.

I feel like Zoro would not care about awards at all, but notices that Law gets a bit more bitchy when award season comes around. Which means it does matter to him (even though he hasn't cared about them with past projects, the Sora show is very important to him. He just wants to see it get the recognition it deserves). So when there is a surprise upset and Zoro ends up winning Best Supporting Actor In A Drama Series, he doesn't even give a real speech but whatever. But when they end up landing Best Drama Series and all his co-workers erupt in excitement, Zoro can't help getting caught up in Law's barely hidden gleefulness and without thinking grabs him, pulling him in for a kiss.

Not even like a /good/ kiss. Less "I'm going to absolutely devour you", more "I'm so happy for you" mixed with a touch of, "God you're so cute when you get all over excited you dork". He has to lean down two rows, over Luffy's head, to grab Law by the back of his jacket just to pull him in for a quick, sloppy kiss. But it still managed to shock the fuck out of Law. He's so used to being the one to flirt with/tease an embarrassed Zoro that the kiss is more surprising than the win.

Luffy totally gives him a thumbs up of approval and well done high five that Law does not remember at all. Luckily for him, he accepts the award alongside Mihawk, Shanks, Hiyori, Jinbe and Benn so he isn't actually expected to speak at all. Which is a good thing, because even by the time backstage interviews start he's still a little lost. Not helped by reports straight up asking him about the kiss.

Thank God Shanks can talk about anything for forever. Benn mercifully removes Law from in front of cameras and let's Shanks dazzle/annoy them with another "When RedHawk Productions was just starting out....." story that he has an endless supply of

Corazon - the show runner from the first show Law ever worked on, who took Law under his wing - finds Law almost immediately and pulls him into a hug. Law finally starts to shake out if it and thanks Corazon for his support and believing him, congratulating him on the success of his miniseries Dressrosa, etc.

Corazon is immediately in there with, "Why didn't you tell me? Who is that boy? I mean I know who the boy is. Why didn't you tell me you were dating Roronoa Zoro!? Oh my God, is what they said about him and those two actresses true!? Is he going to do that to you? How could you not tell me!"

@randommouseclick

Law: Boa's trying to get into Mugiwara-ya's shorts, Perona's along for kicks and Zoro's a fucking himbo who's interested in neither.

Law: Do you REALLY think I'd let him get away with that shit, if it WAS true?

@gildedmuse

Corazon just WORRIES. Law is so innocent in certain ways. Cora doesn't want him to be taken advantage of.

Anyone Who Has Ever Met Law: Umm......

Corazon, Prior To Meeting Zoro: Anyway, *lights a cigarette while calm and collected* I'll speak with him first to make certain. No point getting attached to a bad element.

Corazon, Upon Meeting Zoro: Oh my God! *Pulls Zoro into a hug, tears streaming down eyes* Thank you so much for loving Law! I'm sure you two will be happy together for the rest of your lives.

Corazon making some poor camera man take pictures of the two of them like it's fucking prom.

Nami is Zoro's agent. Switching from representing a Stunt Coordinator/Performer to an actor with a starring role in what eventually turns out to be a hugely popular series had not been in her plans. On the one hand, her cut just went from 6 to 10 percent, and on top of his general pay raise that makes for a rather good take away. On the other hand, her job just got way more complicated. Stunt guys rarely have whole sections of the internet dedicated to them. They certainly don't end up with their picture in the trades alongside names like Boa Hancock. She's definitely had to earn that additional 4%.

Her main goal is to convince Zoro to keep taking similar (paying) roles while keeping him as far from the press as possible. Because every time you put this boy in front of a camera without a script it's a goddamn disaster. If he somehow managed not to piss off the media establishment due to him not giving a fuck then his fans - when the hell did Zoro get fans? She took this kid on as a favor! It was supposed to be easy - are probably throwing an absolute fit.

When this phenomena first starts happening with Hancock she calls up in a panic. WHY is Zoro always being photographed around her? Please don't say he's trying to hit on Boa Fucking Hancock. Do you know how fast that woman could sink his career? Possibly even Nami's!? That's how powerful this woman is and for god's sake won't Zoro just stay away. The press is having a goddamn field day wondering what their relationship is and Nami is shocked Hancock's personal security hasn't escorted him off the set of his own TV show.

By the time he kisses Law, Nami has learned to just roll with the punches. She's watching the ceremony live. Less than thirty seconds after it happens her phone blows up. This time it's the fans who are wondering who this mysterious sexy stranger is (a question that is answered literally less than a minute later when the show introduce who will be accepting the award, but that doesn't stop the topic from somehow trending), freaking out about Zoro maybe being gay, and theorizing about Hancock and Perona helping him stay in the closet by manufacturing all that drama. This is almost three years since he was hired for the show so by now Nami just shoots him a text like, "You're probably going to be asked about kissing that man since you did it on camera in the middle of the award show".

She is a little afraid when she gets the reply "laws realt cute when hes all happy huhh??" But only because it means Zoro's drunk. She's never actually seen Zoro drunk. She's not sure how much alcohol it would have taken. But she just texts her friend Robin to let her know if Zoro dies of alcohol poisoning and then heads into bed. That's how chill she's gotten over the last three years (also it's 12% now that he's won an award).

#so this is my crazy #maybe people shouldn't engage me in conversation #conversations with internet people #sora warrior of the sea #the tv show #zolaw #one piece au #donquixote rosinante #trafalgar law #trafalgar d. water law #roronoa zoro #monkey d. luffy #a whole lotta drama #one piece #sorry i'll shut up now

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pepperf · 3 years ago

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Consider this me asking you about DVD Extras, I fricking LOVE that fic! What do you wanna tell us about it? (And when Intro to Recycled Cinema aired, I was totally like, 'hey, wait a minute...I've read this fic!'😂)

Ahaha, now you're asking, and I have no idea! XD Other than, holy crap, I hope no one ever asks me to explain the plot to Abed's movie because that does not exist.

Okay, behind the cut for me rambling!

I loved the ep 'Pillows and Blankets' SO MUCH, it was goddamn art, I think it's one of the best examples of why Community is actually such a good show, they did some brilliant things. So I thought it would be fun to try it in text form. Which is a weird step even further back - from live action TV, to photos and narration, to descriptions of photos... I was going full-on arthouse, let's-play-with-the-form there. I think that only works for short pieces though, for Community it worked because they do 22min eps, and for me it worked because it's like 5.5k words.

It was also kind of my tribute to a Stargate fanfic I read a long time ago (following the adventures of Jack's clone, and the clones they make of Sam, Teal'c, and Daniel) that has a description of a photo in it, which has forever stuck in my head, a weird kind of visual that I will never see. It's funny how doing that, writing it rather than actually depicting it, sometimes fixes something in your head (or my head, anyhow) more perfectly, because it's the ideal version and not an interpretation, like how characters from a book you read first never quite translate into TV or movies. I am more on the writing side of this equation, I am not good enough to make visual representations of my ideas (for the record, I think both are equally valid, it's just that's not my personal strength), so I am fascinated by the techniques of making a piece of writing really visual. And I grew up reading Terry Pratchett, who is an incredibly visual writer, all his things read like movies.

I am also really into the mechanics of filmmaking, the way it's a cooperative effort - but of course this is Community, so for every one of Abed's filmmaking eps, everyone else is in their own head about the part they're playing. Abed will be trying to do one thing, and Troy generally works really well with him and riffs on his ideas, makes them more fun and less inwardly-focused - but the others all have their own agenda and will yank at the edges until it all collapses. Abed sometimes seems to make it happen on purpose, or at least has an idea of how to channel the chaos - or maybe he's just really zen and prepared to see where it takes him, idk.

And and and! I liked the idea of making something that was the written version of all the miscellaneous crap you get on a DVD, all the bts videos and bloopers and production stills...a lot of the time, they feel like no one really knows what they should contain, it's just a huge grab-bag of whatever they had lying around. There's no consistency, so you never know if you're going to get absolutely every inch of how it was made, to the nth degree, à la LotR, or if you're just going to get the theatrical trailer because fuck you, you've got the movie, what more do you want?! And these have only come up since we got DVDs, you didn't really get this with video, it just wasn't practical - so it's this weird, confused, relatively new situation, sort of an unintentional art form, of how much or how little you're told - and what that tells you about the people behind it, if they're oversharers or purists. Commentaries are the same. I've tried to listen to the notorious Blake's 7 commentaries, which, oh my god, they are the worst, it's like sitting in a bar with a bunch of drunk luvvies, thirty years after they were in a play together. But currently I'm listening to the commentaries for Leverage, which are amazing and informative and perfect.

Hmm, what else... Oh, so, things I got right for what they did in 'Intro to Recycled Cinema': scifi setting (duh), chaotic script changing on the fly (also duh), death scene (although I think I got that idea from the bit in 'Ladders' where Annie is hurt and Jeff rushes to her side), Jeff having a meltdown (double duh). I like to think that mine had the edge, because it a) had Troy, and b) had an emotional resolution for Jeff and Annie that was long overdue. But maybe I'm biased. And I am violently against crossing the streams, but if ever I was in a social situation with Dan Harmon and it somehow wasn't weird, this would be the one piece of my work I'd want to give him.

Also, I still make myself laugh with the Titanic-scene-turned-horror-movie-moment with Pierce in the car, at the end. XD

#community #fic by pepper #writing #mememe #the first edit of this shows how I'm in fic-posting mode bc instead of actually just italicising I put in the italics tags instead #d'oh!

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theoniprince · 4 years ago

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If you had to pick one name/alias/moniker to go by, fandom-wide, what would it be?

Where, besides Tumblr, can people find you doing fannish things? (Obviously only mention sites and usernames you actually want to be found at. Don’t expose your secret identities on my account.)

What other names have you gone by on these platforms, including Tumblr, if any?

When did you join the IT fandom? And what got you into fandom, to begin with?

What are your favorite ships, or characters, if any, and why? What do they mean to you?

In what ways do you participate in fandom? (ex. Posting memes, reblogging/commenting on content, writing fanfic, making fanart, creating fanmixes, etc.)

Do you have any in-fandom inspirations? Other members of the community that drive you? (And if you have the time/energy, in what ways do they inspire you?)

Name and link some of your favorite works, please!

Do you have any works of your own that you feel particularly proud of, or wish more people would’ve consumed? Please provide links if possible.

Have you ever participated in a fannish event (ie. IT Week, a fic Big Bang) or applied to be a part of a fanzine? If so, which ones, and can you please link them?

Without any form of bashing or lashing out, what is something you feel this fandom is missing?

First of all thank you so much for asking me!!! 8D It was a pleasure to answer all these questions. During this I got quite emotional (haha Stanpat, Eddie). It showed me again how much I love this 8DDD

( I apologize in advance for all misspellings and my sloppy English =_=)

If you had to pick one name/alias/moniker to go by, fandom-wide, what would it be?

Oh, what a start XD I'm not that into nicknames. Generally people using my first name to address me or my username which is mostly onyprince (in reference to a character from Hakuouki) ID Sometimes they say Oni or J(ay) (Nickname for my first name). Do as you wish (though I like ‘J’ the th most) 😉

Where, besides Tumblr, can people find you doing fannish things? (Obviously only mention sites and usernames you actually want to be found at. Don’t expose your secret identities on my account.)

Twitter. But everything I post there is also here. Feel free to follow my account, but you don’t have to. https://twitter.com/oniprince_

What other names have you gone by on these platforms, including Tumblr, if any?

Oniprince_ (Twitter) yeah… you see, I am pretty boring XDDD

When did you join the IT fandom? And what got you into fandom, to begin with?

Actually 23 years ago (haha I am old XD) When I was eleven I saw the miniseries with my cousins for the first time. The horror factor wasn't that important to me or maybe I didn't see it that way. It was more like an adventure story with an unfunny and nasty clown. A group of friends who had to endure an adventure. In any case, it entertained me well, even if I was not aware of some elements like that it’s a story about growing up, friendship, love and all these issues around becoming an adult XDD Then with 13 I read the book. It was a new experience, and I loved every single word. Over the years I talked with friends and Kingsianer (XD) about it and read it for a second and a third time. At this point I could start a list with things I don’t like about the movies, but I’d rather mention on thing I really appreciate about them: they are a good opportunity for a new generation to explore this universe. Every adaption like the book itself is a reflection of a specific decade and what is more yeah… immortal, universal and diverse than a story about growing up. It was a discussion with a dear friend about book to movie adaptions some weeks ago that probably brought me back to this fandom

Nevertheless there are things from the book I would have loved to see in the movies. Let’s be honest at this point if you want to adapt such a brick of a book you simply have to cut some elements. You can’t please everyone

What are your favorite ships, or characters, if any, and why? What do they mean to you?

Ships:

Stanpat - orz q__q they are such a sweet couple and it is so heartbreaking, they never ever had a real chance to become parents. They would have been excellent parents. Imagine them on a beautiful summer day. They have a picnic with their children and Stan would watch birds with them. He would tell them all about the birds and keeps a journal about their observations with his kids

Reddie - Despite the constant teasing their realtionship seems like a natural, casual und easy thing from the start. And Eddie likes the nicknames. These secret names are like another identity. He can be someone else. They take care of each other. Their relationship is a deeper friendship that runs mostly on an emotional level and is sometimes expressed through small, physical gestures. The chemistry between them is indescribable. It is cute when 90s Eddie immediately starts to giggle as soon as Richie makes a dumb joke at their reunion. And thing about the little moments when Richie pokes Eddie and calls him cute. I am won’t quoting this one passage in the book that leaves much room for speculations, but there is no doubt their special bond is official. In any case, the decision to make Richie gay in the movies gave the ship another push. I don’t complain. I love it. Though I still think Eddie would have been a better option. There are already some scenes in the book which are like an invitation to speculate about his sexualityTheir chemistry is very obvious and believe me, there is nothing I would more appreciate than a happy end for them Q__Q

Benverly „Your hair is winter fire

January embers

My heart burns there, too

This is one of sweetest things I have ever read in a book and that is all I need to explain why I love this ship.

Fav, Characters: Hmm when I read „IT“ for the first time I had a crush on Bill. He ist the born leader and in my childish, pre-teen way found his stuttering cute. There is something about him that cast a spell on you. It is perfectly understandable that he was a role model and an inspiration for his friends – especially for Eddie. In my personal opinion book!Bill ist the best Bill.

Richie - I love this chaotic megane dude. He is this silly type who use jokes, pranks to protect himself. His voices are like safe heaven (the same goes for Bill, whose stuttering almost disappears, when he pretends tob e someone else). He hides himself and his insecurities behind them. It is a shame that he doesn’t know what an impact he had on his friends. Richie seems to never ever shut up and sometimes his trashmouth is still talking, when he better should be quite. And I am famous to fall for funny characters. He can lights up the mood immediately ( and OMG…. I love Harry Anderson in the miniseries. A real entertainer, BUT BILL HADER…. Bill Hader…just to make it clear BILL HADER did such an amazing job. He rocked the movie and I still think, not just because I love this dude since over a decade, without him… the movie wouldn’t have been so entertaining)

Eddie - He is in these abusive relationships. First with his mother, who keeps him small and makes him believe that he is weak. At the end her own fears of beeing left behind prevented her son from becoming a self-confident adult. Eddie always thought he is weak and fragile. Although he knows that he doesn’t need all this medication, his childhood experience were the reason for his coping-behavior as an adult – he still uses his inhaler. He married a woman who is like his mother. Mike's call was something of a turning point. Until this call Eddie could not overcome his fears and had to face them again as an adult. I can remember. While reading the book there were several moments of silence and I stopped reading and thought: poor Eddie.

Ultimately, his story is about a hero who surpasses himself, overcomes his fears and by sacrifice himself he protects what is most important to him - his friends. It just touched me. Eddie gave his life for his friends and I think you can say he's my favorite character. His death may be a tragedy, but it was necessary for his character arc. My theory is that Eddie represents someone who has lost track in his life and prefer to stick on old but unhealthy patterns.It is almost like Eddie stands for missed opportunities, but at the same time it is never to late to change something. He is a hero. There are so many things I would like to talk about, therefore I should start an own thread XDDD

Oh and Bev - I could always identify with her (not bc of abuse or domestic violence. My childhood was amazing). She is the only girl around the losers and I was the only girl in my favourite clique too. We spent most of our time outside - it was great. Of course I had other friends (female) as well, but with my boys… it was always special).. As you know as an adult she falls back in old patterns. Her husband is tyrannical man like her father. Again Mike’s call is a turning point. Maybe the Benverly arc is the most satisfying. I was… I am very happy that Bev got her happy end.

Last but no least - I like Ben, Mike and Stan too. They have all there unique character treats and you sympathize with all of them. The Loser’s club is bunch of adorable idiots who just doing their best to become adults. I think it is normal that their friendship feels more intimate in the book – I highly recommand the book.

In what ways do you participate in fandom? (ex. Posting memes, reblogging/commenting on content, writing fanfic, making fanart, creating fanmixes, etc.)

Mostly fanarts, but recently I thought about posting my own theories and sharing my hcs and random stuff about the characters and the different relations.

Do you have any in-fandom inspirations? Other members of the community that drive you? (And if you have the time/energy, in what ways do they inspire you?)

The fandom is full of amazing artists and writersand actually it would be a, but i want to name those who inspired me the most (mainly artists – hopefully I copied the links correcty):

https://tonyofthetrees.tumblr.com

https://meowsteryyy.tumblr.com

https://slashpalooza.tumblr.com/ ( you have to check out ‚Loose Ends‘)

https://coldcigarettes.tumblr.com

https://vvanini.tumblr.com/

https://eggocrumbs.tumblr.com

https://twitter.com/10_sgan

https://twitter.com/kasphacked

https://twitter.com/tac_nor

(oh.. the list got longer than expected IDDD)

Do you know this?

https://ragnarozzys.tumblr.com/post/189890790551/those-early-hours-after-a-sleepover-when-you-wake

Have you ever seen something as cozy and cute before I///D? – me neither XD

Trust me they are all worth a visit and I am sure most of us already know them 8D

Do you have any works of your own that you feel particularly proud of, or wish more people would’ve consumed? Please provide links if possible.

My art I provide on tumblr can be found here:

https://theoniprince.tumblr.com/tagged/myart

Honestly I like these the most:

https://theoniprince.tumblr.com/post/649446311120273408/my-first-reddie-sketch-now-scanned-the-quality

https://theoniprince.tumblr.com/post/649548606679007232/close-to-you-now-scanned-with-coloured

https://theoniprince.tumblr.com/post/650697175346593792/hammock-iconic-richie-is-reading-a-monthly

Have you ever participated in a fannish event (ie. IT Week, a fic Big Bang) or applied to be a part of a fanzine? If so, which ones, and can you please link them?

Oh… unfortunately I am not feelin‘ very confident about my own artworks. Sometims I have the feeling I am not creative enough and that my ideas are more or less boring. Nothing special ID Totally dumb – I know. As I mentioned before I came back lately to the fandom… I guess I missed many amazing IT weeks. I participated in some weeks/mainly shipweeks in other fandoms (Yakuza/Ryu ga Gotoku, FFXV) If I find an interesting annoucement I can imagine to participate in the future ; )

Without any form of bashing or lashing out, what is something you feel this fandom is missing?

In general… the fandom is really friendly – I hope so. Lately I have seen some salty comments on different stuff, topics… and well.. I have just an advice: life can be exhausting enough and time is always running. Don’t spend time on things you don’t like. Discussions can esclate quickly and worde can hurt too. So, just thing about before you jump in.

Thanks again! <3

(Special lil sketchy piece of art I did for this ask)

#ask me stuff #personal #it book #stephen kings it #be nice to me #this is my opinion and I like to talk about this stuff

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acrispyapple · 5 years ago

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why do you watermark official pics that aren't yours? i'm honestly shocked cybird hasn't had you banned for dcma laws + spoiling paid stories and epilogues, but you do you. you made it so i never have to pay money for any of the cybird games + mlqc. also i read why you aren't posting the sprites which is cool and all but you shouldn't be posting game elements either way. that's super shitty of you to do because spoiler THE ARTWORK ISN'T YOURSSSSSSS. the pic of victor on your twitter isnt yours 2

heya! i’ve already answered an ask like this recently and ignored the follow up ones because i don’t really wanna keep repeating myself. but since you’re very persistent and it’s still the same thing, here i go! putting under a cut because it’s long and has images – with stuff written on them! dun dun dunnnn (¯▿¯)

to start things, i’m the wrong person to accuse of being irresponsible with my posts because i’m very mindful of posting etiquette. have you not seen all my campaigns about not stealing from artists, from blogs, etc. i ask for permission for everything, even for random text i want to translate from someone’s post. even for cosplay i’ve seen other people freely post, i always go to the source and ask. i hope my answer clarifies things for you because i don’t really wanna have to repeat it again! (*^^*)♡

re: watermarks (complaint mostly about mlqc because i don’t really do it for cybird)

re: cybird

i’m not exactly a hidden secret blog, so i’m pretty sure cybird is well aware of me. plus, they’ve left comments on my blog in the past. sooo, there’s nothing shocking about it at all! maybe what’s shocking is you somehow expected cybird to not have noticed my blog all these years. do you actually know what the digital millennium copyright act covers? (dmca not dcma btw) as long as i know how to read and understand rules and i’m always within its boundaries, there’s nothing being violated. always post obstructed cgs / never full, snippets of 10 for screenies, never in consecutive order, etc. you should read the rules tbh, you seem unfamiliar with it. ☆

re: you never having to pay money for any cybird game

again, snippets = not full stories. everyone can post snippets. paid or not. that’s so weird that you feel you don’t need to pay for ~any cybird game~ anymore because of my blog. i haven’t been consistently posting paid content for so long. even ikesen epilogues. because i don’t have the time. and i’ve skipped posting a couple of events on my blog too. i don’t post ikerev / midcin consistently either. i’ve posted from two ikevam events in the past months with epilogue snippets. i guess you only played those? that’s hardly everything. nice attempt at creating an issue about me making cybird lose money tho! for someone who thinks i do dodgy things, you sure do like reading from my blog– if what you’re saying is true. but you seem to not know my blog content either. (⌒_⌒;)

i have another answer for this from an ask from 9 months ago:

re: not paying for mlqc

they allow posting everything from their game, i even verified with their team! but even i don’t have the time or post slot to post everything from it. i mostly post about victor soooo, i guess that’s everything you need to know about mlqc then? yay for you only needing victor! ♡

re: game elements

what?

anyway, moving forward to my twitter header:

it’s from this post i made, where i screenied scenes (and edited them a bit to look brighter and prettier) from the pv of the new chapters in the ch version.

now, i just put my username there as a marker and it was already covered in the first part of this ask. (how it helps me keep track of my posts, helps me when people are able to identify it’s from my blog and alert me of it being posted elsewhere, etc.) but i wanted to show it even clearer so you can finally let go of whatever it is you’re burning with. ( ˙▿˙ )

it just says acrispyapple on this screenie i took (that’s right, it’s just a screenshot lmao), it’s a random word or name. i made it small and inconspicuous so it wouldn’t distract from the image. the weibo watermark is bigger and clearer but i don’t use it– i can, but i don’t. when people see it, they know it’s official art and that’s it. there’s no “made by acrispyapple™©®”

(thanks for visiting my twitter btw! it doesn’t really have a lot of followers haha)

sooo, there’s weibo and its automatic watermarks (location can be changed).

“damn, all the users on weibo are claiming stuff as their own!!!! it’s not just a marker that a certain thing was posted from a certain blog!!! they’re claiming it as theirs even tho it’s clearly very easy to see that it’s one of many free-for-all official images!!!” (≧◡≦)

and i’ve seen people use the cards as banners for fanfics and other stuff, or even memes where they put random stuff on it like this:

but writing a random word on it, just because you know my blog is somehow a great sin? it’s not even acrispyapple.tumblr.com ✿

would it maybe make you feel better if it wasn’t just acrispyapple? i can use random words and it’ll still serve as a marker for me lmao

anyway anon, it pays to actually listen and read before you get mad and accuse. i’m not breaking any rules and i’m very much aware of what’s not allowed and what’s allowed. (^ ^*)♡

edit:

i kinda like it. (^◔ᴥ◔^)

side note: if you have a vendetta against me, you’re free to have one. but please don’t try to make stuff up just to yell at me. you can hate me quietly from afar or just avoid me altogether. or if you want to find a reason to yell at me, at least try to educate yourself about what you’re planning on yelling at me about. it’ll save me time trying to explain stuff! i also don’t like wasting my post slots for the day. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

i would suggest looking at my actual content first, so your lack of knowledge of it doesn’t give you away. also, try asking yourself if you really think cybird’s en team would miss me after all these years and if you’re somehow the only enlightened one who can see all my ~misgivings~? are you aware of mlqc’s rules?

it’s funny because i’m not even close to covering everything for mlqc and there are blogs that cover far more than i do. i answer a lot of asks (i wish asks were paid content, as in i get paid to answer asks), but game content-wise, i’m faaaar from covering everyone. unless you really consider victor the whole game (♡). in which case i’m still missing his ch11 and ch19 screenies and one date. oh and the recent rumors&secrets! if you take a look at my posts, it’s mostly announcements, asks, fanart, general info, avatar posts, etc. i think you blindly went in with salt. ( ˙▿˙ )

i don’t really interact with people unless i have to talk about reposts and fanart-related stuff. i also just talk about games on my blog. so i don’t know what i could’ve done to merit your hatred. maybe you dislike that i ask for basic courtesy or that i enforce rules given to me by artists? i’m always polite tho. hmm, mystery-desu! ✩‧₊˚

#asks #anon #personal #saltier than the dead sea #plz come because i have watermelon #(っ˘ڡ˘ς)#showing comic sans some love

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thinkingisadangerouspastime · 4 years ago

Text

Which of your fics…

i was tagged by @praetorqueenreyna! thank you!! 💛

Did you think would get a bigger reaction/audience than it got: hmm maybe banished? but it’s a definitely a more niche and darker sort of maiko/mai-centric ficlet, so i probably shouldn’t have had such high hopes 😂

Is your funniest: uhhhhh almost a tie but probably see you again! it’s the first (and probably will be the only) modern atla fic i’ve ever written, and i had a lot of fun developing platonic zutara and the kataang meet-cute with plenty of comedic beats. i mean,, it’s funny to me at least 😂 i still laugh at the mental image of aang sprinting towards zuko and zuko having to drop everything to catch him, what can i say?

Is your darkest/angstiest: probably banished (for now 👀). i mean,, it’s automatically impossible to write a “mai learns zuko was banished” fic without angst, and i kinda pushed to see just how far that wound might cut her, wink wink nudge nudge if you’ve read the fic (i swear i love mai y’all 😂 i don’t know why i make her suffer so 🤧)

Is your absolute favorite: yes i’ve talked about them a hundred times,, yes i will do it again!! There’s a Fine, Fine Line (my Flash Thompson introspection) and all i know is gone (but i am not alone) (my aang-centric fic revolving around his grief as seen through his friends’ eyes) were fics i put my entire soul into and the fandom reception was wonderful,, i wouldn’t be who i am today if i hadn’t written those stories!

Is your least favorite: hahahahahaha anything from middle school,, bye (none of which is on my ao3 thank goodness)

Was the easiest to write: honestly?? probably keep the paper lantern lit (my zutaraang week 2020 collection of oneshots) because i’d been DYING to write some zutaraang and every prompt sparked an idea right away except for like one which i still eventually figured out. aang having two hands for zuko and katara OWNS me (as it should)

Was the hardest to write: oh my god Sigh No More (my maiko much ado au) was SO hard to write,, adjusting the language while still keeping the rhythm of Shakespeare’s lines was the most difficult thing i’ve ever tried to do 🤦 fanfic truly is a labor of love 😂

Has your favorite line/exchange/paragraph (share it): bruh,, my memory is not that good,, i forget everything i write once i post it. uhhhhh,, okay. this is one of my favorite snippets i’ve written from a recent fic, because i feel wrong calling it my Favorite when there’s probably other things i’m just as proud of but can’t recall lmao:

And then he was kissing Mai, his hand resting at the curve of her neck atop her collarbone as he pressed her back against the trunk of the tree. She wrapped her arms around his waist in response, pulling him into her body to deepen the kiss before one of her hands rose up to entangle itself in his hair. Zuko regretted nothing more than when he had to pull away to breathe.

“Don’t think this means you’re off the hook,” Mai whispered, her chest rising and falling with a rapid speed that told Zuko she’d enjoyed the moment as much as he had. She touched their foreheads together. “Just because we’re on kissing terms again doesn’t mean my expectations have lowered.”

Zuko was simply grateful she was willing to give him another chance. He pressed a gentle kiss to her jaw. “Ask me to do anything for you.”

There was a long pause. The air seemed to grow heavier in the silence.

“Kill my parents.”

(from Sigh No More, my maiko much ado au)

shakespeare aus just hit different, what can i say?

Have you re-read the most: mmmmm i guess There’s a Fine, Fine Line? i like rereading those comments bc they’re all the sweetest so sometimes i reread the fic too bc im there lmao (generally speaking i don’t reread my fics once they’re posted 😂)

Would you recommend to someone reading your work for the first time: probably meeting mai! it’s just a soft little ficlet of the gaang all welcoming mai into their friend group like she deserves 💛

Are you most proud of: i mean,, it’s gotta be No Ordinary Exchange (my rayllum college!au). it’s the longest fic i’ve ever completed (it’ll be around 175k when fully posted!!) and honestly i just had so much FUN writing it. i was able to write pretty much every scene i’d ever dreamed of for rayllum in a college!au, of course, but i also ended up diving into subjects i never thought i’d approach, like soren’s relationship with viren and even introducing a few OCs. it was a massive undertaking, lmao; i wrote it over the course of 8 months and a lot of it was completed in early quarantine and my last summer before college. so it’ll always hold a special place in my heart for helping keep me motivated and happy even after so many things i’d been looking forward to senior year were cancelled, yk?

tagging: @drowning-in-cacophony, @ambivalentmarvel, @korvidaee, @penguinsledder, and @itsmoonpeaches if any of you are interested! no pressure 💛

#amy gets tagged

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miyu-hyperfixates · 5 years ago

Text

Water Ghoul Pet Owner! WWX AU

[Part 1: Meeting the Water Ghoul]

Okay so in this one, it all started basically the same, except Madam Yu was the one finding WWX instead JFM... and it changes everything, because obviously YZY can’t blame JFM and WWX for everything since she was the one who brought WWX back .

She is the one basically in charge of WWX training and while she is still harsh and strict and pushes him to surpass himself, she also allows him a lot more of leeway than in canon, because she realizes quite quickly that he is a prodigy and a genius...and that the way to make him improve is to give him freedom.It gives WWX a lot of time to pursue whatever pick his interest ( experimenting with talismans and other stuffs).

One day, when he is eleven, he is working on modifying/improving talismans at the edge of some lake in Yunmeng. (He actually creates a very, very weak and incomplete version of the evil-attraction flag) and accidentally lures a water ghoul which tries to drown him, dragging him down by the ankle. Panicking, he slaps the first talisman he can reach on the water ghoul (which happens to be a variation of some purifying talisman) and something very, very weird happens. The ghoul makes a sharp keening sounds and after a few struggling and trashing moment it just stops moving. Then, the grip on his ankle relaxes and he finds himself being gently plopped up back on the edge of the lake. He splutters, spatting out a few mouthful of water and when he looks back the thing is staring at him.

Then he notices that the water ghoul is slowly moving closer, so he panics and slaps another purifying talisman on its head. But thing just tilts its head to the side, looking very confused, before it unstuck the yellow paper and politely put it back on the wooden pier, right in front of WWX.

So at this point WWX is like “??????”

The thing then moves back and suddenly smashes his forehead on the surface of the lake, splashing water everywhere.

“??????”

It does it a few times before WWX understands what it is trying to say. And the following conversation went approximately like this:

“.... Are you trying to thank me?”

Nods.

“Right... for purifying your resentful energy?”

Nods.

“Did it hurt?”

Shakes.

“But you have not been completely exorcised... do you want me to help you pass on?”

Shakes. Shakes.

“Ah... hmm... if I let you go... are you going to stay here, in Yunmeng?”

Nods.

“Are you going to cause trouble?”

Shakes.

“Are you going to try and drown people?”

Vigorous shaking.

“Oookay... then I’m going to let you be... but if I hear that you did something bad... I’ll track you down and exorcise you. Do we have a deal?”

Nods. Nods.

And so WWX gathers his stuff and goes back home. He deems the whole thing a weird accident, commits the talismans part to memory for further experimentation and promptly forgets about the freakish water ghoul.

That is, until he notices that that thing seems to be following him around whenever he is near the lakes... it doesn’t do anything, just creepily (forlornly/ shyly) peeks at him.

After a while WWX starts to interact with it and because water ghouls are very intelligent, even start to teach it so tricks and play with it... ( he stills conveniently forgets to mention it to any of the Jiangs) ... and really that thing seems to be inoffensive enough so WWX doesn’t see the harm of keeping it....

that’s what he says to JC when his shidi catches him one day, a few weeks after that, playing in Lotus Pier’s ponds with his pet Water Ghoul.

Predictably, JC blows a few thousands fuses, but out of sheer exposure to WWX’s usual antics only rants for a few minutes and is willing to listen to the explanation. At the end of the explanation, JC just blanks for a minute before very slowly saying, “Okay so let me get this straight... you experimented on the lake and nearly got drowned because you’re a dumbass... then you did something to that thing that made it save you instead... and then it kept following you so you just decided to keep it?”

WWX, “That’s about it, yeah.”

“... then tell me this... WHY THE HELL ARE THERE TEN WATER GHOULS IN OUR PONDS RIGHT NOW?!”

WWX, “It’s eleven actually, the little one is a little bit shy so it’s hiding under that lotus flower over there.”

JC, “That’s not the point!!! Answer the question!”, then as he sees WWX open his mouth, hastily and preemptively warns, “And don’t you dare tell me that your pet gave birth to more or I’ll throw you in the pond!!”

WWX closes his mouth and pouts. Before laughing dryly and scratching at the tip of his noise with one finger, “ Well funny story that... One day the water ghoul just dragged another one in, and sorta asked me to purify it too... so since it was there I took the chance to experiment and try to reproduce the effect... and then that new one brought another and...” He stops and waves helplessly at the pond filled darken with the presence of so many water ghouls.

JC: “...”

Then inexplicably he snickers, “A-niang is so going to kill you when she finds out.”

WWX’s mouth opens wide in shock, as if it had only occurred to him now and look nervously back and forth from the house to the pond as if afraid that Madam Yu would suddenly appears, “Maybe we should play a little further away in the future.”

JC in the background, “When you die, do you think A-niang will finally let Jasmine, Princess and Love sleep in my room?”

WWX throws water at him.

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

Status Progress

>> WWX has been upgraded to pet owner !

>> Water Ghouls have been upgraded to cute(?!) pet !

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

(part 2)

“Author’s” rambling: Okay so this AU idea was random as fuck, but would absolutely not leave my mind until I ‘wrote’ it down. And because I didn’t want to write a full fanfic about it, you end up with this weird ficlet/notes format.

The whole thing started because I wanted a scene hilariously contrasted moment where WWX would have rose-tinted view of the water ghoul, going all “OMG it’s so cute! And amazing, look, look!” while everyone else looking at him would only see him playing around with a pond full of corpses at worse and balls of eldritch horror at worse and be like “WTF is wrong with your brain?!”

I drew some “arts” of WWX getting rescued by his new friend and JC catching WWX playing with the water ghouls in the pond, if you guys wanna take a look. Yup seems like I’m quite invested in that AU *sigh*.

#mdzs #cql #the untamed #wwx #jc #Water Ghouls AU #my shitty au #throwing MXTX thoughts in the void #mine #madam yu is a good mom #wwx's survival instincts are pretty much in the negatives

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schrijverr · 5 years ago

Text

Behind the Scenes

This is a story that developed from a small peek into my brain whenever I write the stories you read into a thinkpiece about writing and posting fanfiction.

On AO3.

Ships: none (unless you wanna ship me with my keyboard lol)

Warnings: none, I suppose, but it does get a little down in the end, I was having a rough day when I wrote this, sorry.

~~~~~~~~~~

I sit on my chair before my laptop. I’m curled into myself as my fingers glide over the keyboard and my thoughts flow out of my fingertips onto the screen.

It isn’t all that late, just past midnight, but it’s already dark outside and in order to see the keys properly I have to turn on the lamp I have on my desk. With the light it’s kind of cozy here in my little nook of the world.

I look to the screen and try to make sense of my own words. I don’t have a fully fledged idea yet, but a vague idea that floated through my brain at some point during the day has inspired me enough to open a new document and start typing.

I now know how this story begins and I see where I am going and how it will end, but the question of how I get there sits heavily on my mind.

I stop typing for a moment and think. If I introduce this character now, it might set some other things in motion and that’ll be good for the plot, but I don’t know how to write that character at all and I’m afraid that if I do it wrong, people won’t like me or my story.

I sigh and realize I’ve started almost every new paragraph with the same word. I hate it when I do that. The story starts to feel repetitive and as a non native English speaker I want to prove that I have a bigger vocabulary than that.

How to proceed?

A synonym, maybe? But I’ll have to look that up and I don’t think there is a good synonym for I. Sighing again I scan the page and think. Maybe I could start with a verb to shake things up a bit or a question. No, not a question that would feel out of place here.

Now I’ve written a few paragraphs again, so I could use the word I used before, but since I used it so many times already I want a bit more space between now and the next time I use it. So a synonym it is, I guess, I think as I open my browser to look one up.

…

There is no synonym for I.

Goddammit, I think. Well, it’s no use now anyway. I’ve decided to write this story in the first person, despite knowing I’m horrible at it, and now I have to deal with the fact that I don’t have another word for I.

I start my next paragr- no that’s not right. Backspace, backspace. Moving on to the next- No, not that either. Backspace, backspace. I look at what I’ve written last and wonder why I’ve written something upon which I can’t, hmm, what’s a good word there?

I know I have a good word in Dutch ‘voortborduren’, but when I translate it, it gives me elaborate, which doesn’t fit in the sentence at all. Mentally groaning I recline in my chair as I try to think.

Maybe it’s the sentence itself? Lets see what did I write again? Oh yeah: I look at what I’ve written last and wonder why I’ve written something upon which I can’t- and then I need to find a word. Hm, funny, I don’t know how to go on by the sentence about not knowing how to go on.

‘I look at what I’ve written last and wonder why I’ve written something upon which I can’t’, I whisper it to myself in the hope the right word comes to mind.

First there is nothing, but then! Expand! Not perfect, but it fits, which is good enough for now, maybe when I proof read it a better word will come to me and I can use that.

So, expand. I wonder why I wrote something I can’t expand upon.

Fuck, I’ve spend so much time finding the right word that I have forgotten what I was talking, well writing, about in the first place. Softly swearing under my breath I scroll up and read what came before the sentence with the stupidly hard word to think off.

Ah yeah, it was about the other stupid thing, namely that I am writing this in the first person, which I still cannot do, no that skill has not come to me in the time it took to look up a word. What a pity.

But I have started the last few paragraphs with something other than I from time to time. That at least is something. Wait, should I add punctuation there? That, at least, is something. Looks better, but maybe that is just my love for commas talking. I mean, why write a boring sentence with a dot in the middle, which makes it short and doesn’t give you enough space to play with it, when you can also add unnecessary punctuation, so that you can play with the cadence of how something is read out loud or in someones mind?

Whoops, now that whole paragraph is long, if I want to make this story easy to read I’ll have to make this one shorter. Hmm, is this good? Yeah, probably. Enter.

Now, I’m suddenly wondering, if paragraph is even the right word. In Dutch the word is ‘alinea’ and the word ‘paragraaf’ also means chapter, but not really, only in a school book. It doesn’t really make sense, because you also have a chapter in a schoolbook and that’s divided in paragraphs and each paragraph has ‘alinea’s’

Aaand I’ve distracted myself by thinking about the differences between each language instead of looking up if paragraph is actually the right word and it means what I think it means.

I look it up on Google translate, not the most trustworthy source for sentences, but for lone words it’s alright.

It is the right word, along with indention, but I’m not really familiar with that word, although I can see where it comes from with the paragraphs creating indentions in the text. Still, I decide to stick with paragraphs, cause ��if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” and I live by that.

Looking back to the clock in the corner of my screen I realize that I’ve now been writing this for 40 minutes. It isn’t all that long, but I don’t know where I’m going with this anymore. I had a point when I began and now I’ve forgotten it.

I stretch my arms, by pushing away my chair, leaning forward until my shoulders are at the same height of my desk is. My right shoulder cracks, it has always done that, but the sound snaps me out of my musings and makes me pay more attention to my surroundings.

It is raining outside and I hear people screaming. They sound happy, probably celebrating something and drinking, but I still wondered what they’re doing up so late (ignoring the fact that I am still awake too.)

Right, my word document. I was trying to remember what my point was. No wait, not remember, recall sounds better. I double click remember and replace it with recall: I was trying to recall what my point was.

Although I have found a nice sentences with the best word to describe the action, I still don’t know what comes next. I suddenly begin to doubt myself. Maybe this was a dumb idea. Maybe I’ve read this somewhere before and I am unconsciously copying someone. Maybe I should just delete this and move on to something else.

I mean, come on, who wants to read this? No one. I’m just going to post it, knowing that no one cares and no one will read it. People don’t go to AO3 for original works, you don’t, so why would anyone care about it? It’s going to get five hits tops, with maybe two kudos, three if you’re lucky.

And now I have accidentally switched to a second person perspective, can’t even stay consistent. Maybe if I play it off as an introspection or and internal dialogue no one will notice or think it’s an artistic choice.

Pff, artistic choice. You can hardly call what I’m doing artistic. It’s just fanfiction, a hobby. Yeah, I know that is still good and can be great, even amazing and artfully written, but this isn’t. I have a too direct writing style for that. I’ve only been getting English education for six years and it’ll take so much more practice until I ever reach that level.

I’ve gotten off track completely now. I faintly remember that this started out as a mock internal dialogue of what happens when I write a fanfic, but now it turned into a self deprecating shit parade.

I blink long and hard, trying to get my head back on track and write something better, or at least more consistent.

Realizing that in order to do that I should probably scroll up and read (lets be honest scan) how I started. I don’t have the energy for it, but I force myself to do it with a sigh.

Scroll, scroll, scroll.

Ah, yeah, I began with where I was and then that discussion about language and looking things up. Oh, but I’ve also reflected on what I’ve written before, well, before. Then it was about re-finding what I was doing after I had to look up a word and now it is desperately trying to remember what the actual fuck I was doing in an attempt to make something cohesive, but still. I decide to not do that again.

I still don’t know what my point was when I started this, but I’m making a new one up right now. I think I’m going to call the work ‘behind the scenes’ or ‘the thoughts of a writer’, since I have now decided that this is a way to get readers a peek behind the curtains.

As a reader, I can respect people so much for all the work they put into a story. And of course I’m not saying you can’t do that if you don’t write, no, that would be pretentious, but I do have more respect for them than before I started writing all those years ago.

It is really easy to forget that something you read in a few minutes has taken hours to write. This is not even 2k words long right now. I know I can read that in a few minutes, not even blinking and mostly forgetting, before moving on to the next story, but I have been writing almost nonstop for over an hour now.

I am lucky that I can usually keep the words flowing long enough to make some bullshit up that I can reason into a coherent story in the end, but that has taken practice. A lot of practice.

In order to become a good in writing a story you have to do it so many times and you won’t even notice you’ve gotten better until much later. I know this, because I recently went through all my works and made them better. Got all the typos out there, I fixed vague sentences and I made the lay out better. I also cringed a lot.

Well, I think I have to go with a ‘behind the scenes’ now, because I don’t think I can claim this is my internal monologue when I’m writing. Instead this has turned into a think piece about writing and appreciating it or something.

I don’t even know anymore.

I recall I had a point when I started this, probably thought it out and then my brain decided to throw it away and throw up this garbage instead. It is interesting, I suppose, but not at all what I was going for in the beginning.

Oh well, maybe I can fix it when I proof read it, because I am tired and I think I’m going to bed. I have half the mind to just fuck it and throw it on AO3 without glancing over my own words even once. It’s very tempting to leave others to deal with these honest words and pretend they aren’t mine, but I don’t.

However, I don’t think I will edit this that much, because it was nice to get some frustrations on, well not paper, but on screen. Just order my thoughts, you know?

It is hard to stay motivated when it seems that everyone around you is doing so much better than you. It is disheartening and it makes you want to stop.

I don’t.

I can’t.

Writing is what I do, it helps, it’s nice. I love writing and I don’t think I will stop loving it. But one of the reasons I love writing is because it can get the constant thoughts and ideas to stop swirling around in my head.

Today I needed it to stop, so that I could just go to sleep properly and I feel like this helped. It was honest and I feel better now. Tomorrow can come at me and I will face it like I did today. Maybe my last few fics weren’t to everyones taste and that’s okay, they were my taste and I love them and I am proud of them. For me that’s enough.

I would apologize for ranting, I usually do, but since you could stop at any time and leave, I don’t think I’m going to do that, what I am going to do, is thank you.

Thank you for reading this, despite the fact that it is not a fanfic. Thank you for allowing me to just dump all these thoughts on you. And thank you for being here and clicking it, your support, even if it is only an extra number by “hits”, means so incredibly much to me and I cannot put in to words how grateful I am that you are here.

Since it is now 01:18 and if I recall correctly it was 00:02 when I started, I think I am really going to stop now. Goodnight, or good-whatever time a day you’re reading this!

Goodbye :)

#RR writing #just me thinking #think piece #internal monologue #writing fanfic

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recurring-polynya · 6 years ago

Text

It is time for the most important meta I have ever done:

When, Exactly, Did Rukia and Renji Hook Up?

When we first meet Renji, he and Rukia haven’t spoken to each other in 40 years. Seven months after the Thousand Year Blood War Arc, they get hitched. We’re… we’re missing something. Somewhere in the middle there, they started kissing, and to be honest, it could have been anywhere. I’m gonna run through the possibilities and give my personal rating on their likelihood.

We will not be considering whether or not they hooked up prior to their separation, that is a topic for another time. Out of respect for your dash, I shall put all of this under a cut.

Let’s go:

1. Very Quickly. Just Right Away.

Look, this is not as unlikely as it seems. We know Renji already had Big Plans to resume contact. They had motive, for sure: A bunch of jail-related emotional tension. Rukia feeling Renji’s reiatsu go to dark not once, but twice. The Catch. Running down all those steps. ‘I’ll never let her go, you bastard.’ Unfortunately, all this ends with Renji getting carted off to the Coordinated Relief Station and Rukia fussing over Byakuya, so we can’t really imagine a big, romantic, off-panel “We lived!” smooch.

HOWEVER, we do get this (with bonus: Byakuya’s faaaaaaace):

Ichigo has lost Rukia, and the first person he asks is Renji. It would be generally in-character for Renji to reply with “How should I know where she is?” but he doesn’t, which implies that someone demanding Rukia’s whereabouts (in front of Byakuya, no less) of him is very normal and reasonable. He didn’t talk to her for 40 years, and within a week, he’s the go-to guy for finding her? Hmm. Hmmmmmmmm.

Likelihood: It could have happened. Look, I love slow burn, just, like, an unreasonable amount, but I am also utterly charmed by the idea that they’ve been apart so long that they decide not to waste any more time and just straight-up start making out in the waiting room while waiting for Byakuya to get out of surgery.

2. Between the Soul Society Arc and the Advance Team Arc

Something happened in this period, because when they show up in the Human World, they have all these...joint moves? Look at this adorable crap:

They’re always together and they... touch each other a lot? Also, look at this friggin’ smoulder!!!

Likelihood: Not actually very high, but I’m into it. The main thing that makes me skeptical here is that they actually act less like a couple in later storylines.

3. During the Advance Team/Hueco Mundo Arc:

Nah, brah.

For starters, they are only in the Living World together for about three days before Rukia goes back to Soul Society and A Lot happens during that time. There is a short period between when Rukia and Renji get recalled to Soul Society and when they show up in Hueco Mundo, but I imagine they were pretty busy sneaking around and also Rukia in particular was pretty stressed out about Orihime’s kidnapping, not very conducive to romance. Also, their dynamic doesn’t really change throughout this storyline. So either they were already hooked up, or it happened later, but it didn’t happen here.

Likelihood: Low.

4. During the Timeskip:

A lot of people go for this one, and it’s hard to argue with, because we’ve got a year and a half of not seeing them and when they show up again, it’s clear they’ve been Living Their Best Lives: Rukia has gone from unseated to Vice-Captain, and Renji has grown out his hair and started showing off his pecs.

The shinigami only show up at the tail end of the Fullbringer Arc, but even so, it’s clear that Renji and Rukia are close-- when Byakuya brings Rukia back from her fight with Riruka, he immediately hands her off to Renji, although to be fair, I feel like Byakuya hands things to Renji all the time when he’s tired of dealing with them. All the other captains go home at some point and they tell Rukia to stick around with Ichigo, and Renji just stays, too, without fanfare. Later, though we find out that Renji was the one who brought Ginjo’s body back to Soul Society (why is it utterly unsurprising that “moving bodies” a thing Byakuya makes Renji do???), so maybe he was sticking around for that.

Why am I so skeptical about this? Mostly because Renji is tremendously weird during the Fullbringer arc. First, he starts talking about what a nice guy the Captain-Commander is??? And then he gives that awful, terrible, ‘I don’t hit women’ speech while fighting Jackie. UGH I HATE IT.

There’s an episode of the Bount Arc where Rukia, who has been injured, gets out of bed and makes Renji take her to Ichigo’s fight where she then gives the Karakura kids a ten-minute speech about not interfering in other peoples’ fights. I honestly like to think that Renji has a bad head cold in the Fullbringer Arc, and he’s on the same medicine Squad 4 gave Rukia in that episode. It is the only explanation I will accept.

Likelihood: Sure, I guess? Insufficient evidence.

5. Before Thousand Year Blood War:

The first time we see them in this storyline, they are definitely Old Married Coupling it up:

After the Quincy show up and start taking names, both Ichigo and Byakuya worry about the both of them in one breath. They’re shown lying in the rubble together in dual shots, even though they’re halfway across the Seireitei from each other, and then they share a hospital room. Wait, what? They share a hospital room? Jeez, yeah, they’re together.

Likelihood: It’s highly likely that they’re together at this time, but I don’t see any particular evidence that it would happen after the Fullbringer Arc but before the TYBW. More like retroactive evidence for “in the timeskip.”

6. In the Royal Realm

Welp. This happened:

These pages are a goddamn gift.

They very awkwardly refer to each other as “a friend,” which indicates to me that they are not, in fact a couple at this point. I will extremely defer to anyone who has read this in the original Japanese.

BUT AFTERWARDS, they show up in matching outfits, and start wrecking people. God, I love them as a power couple. I love it when they swing into action together. I love that they trust and depend on each other enough to just be like, “Okay, babe, you take care of this guy, I’ll see you later.” I love it that they know each so well that they know each other’s weaknesses.

There’s a brief interlude where they split up so they can each have a big Signature Fight, but aside from that, they share panel time constantly up until the end of the arc, when Renji hauls Ichigo back onto his feet to go fight Yhwach. Renji’s speech to Ichigo makes more sense to me if Renji and Rukia did just get together in the Royal Realm, rather than having been together for some time.

Likelihood: It’s honestly hard to believe that they haven’t gotten together by this point, but they are both kinda boneheads. And narratively, I love the idea that they get together at this point. I’d say it’s my fav, but maybe they’re all my fav??

7. After the TYBW

We Do Knot Always Love You is lame.

There. I said it.

HOW is there an entire NOVEL about them getting married, and it is not romantic at all and we never find out how they got together and there’s no proposal scene and like, it’s funny that Byakuya can’t seem to process any of this, but it’s also profoundly UNSATISFYING?!!?

Anyway, I feel like WDKALY would have us believe they got together after the war, and I GUESS, but unless you’re willing to do the work of providing some romantic story out of it, this is the lamest possible point for them to get together. I disapprove.

Likelihood: Canonically, high. In my heart, very low.

So what is the upshot, Polynya? When did it happen?

The answer, friends, is that it is unknowable. In the epilogue timeskip, they basically haven’t changed at all. They’re just a couple of salty goobs who make eyes at each other all the time and express their love for each other by punching other people in the face. This is a huge part of what makes them so compelling to me-- you could write 1000 fanfics of them getting together at literally any time in their relationship, and it would work and be canon compliant.

Feel free to send me your opinions, I am willing to talk about this topic until I die.

#renruki #rukia kuchiki #renji abarai #bleach meta #otp #the infinite jest of bleach metaposts #this would have so many more pics if tumblr would let me #is this...a fanfic punch list?#if this isn't your jam please just move along

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jovialyouthmusic · 5 years ago

Text

The Many Lives of Drake Walker

A Royal Romance Multiple AU fanfic

What is it like for the virtual characters when the worst that can happen is not all it seems?

Word Count 124

A/N You really need to read the previous chapter - and a whole load of other stuff. If you just read this on its own it probably won’t make a lot of sense.

Warning - just a little smutty, not much, no under 18s please

Many thanks to @fromthedeskofpaisleybleakmore whose fic ‘Snatched’ inspired this work and the previous one. She has read and approved both pieces - thankyou darling xx

Termination Part 2

The next day in the evening I checked in again. Bastien answered

‘Hi Les, he’s sleeping right now but come over, it’s about time he woke up’

‘Okay, let’s hope the journey isn’t as rough this time’ Bastien grinned apologetically

‘No promises, but practice makes perfect’ I closed my eyes and touched my hand to his on the screen. It was a little smoother but still unpleasant. Still, that meant I had a good excuse to lean into the handsome guards’ arms and linger for a moment. I smiled up at him, and he arched his eyebrows. We stood in the cabin in front of the fireplace, a warm log fire on the go.

‘It’s good to see you again’ he said ‘I’m waiting for the next chapter you know’ he winked ‘can you give me a teaser?’ I gazed at him – his handsome profile, his dark hair neatly pushed back, his freshly laundered shirt and immaculately pressed suit. Reluctantly I drew myself away. Drake needed me, and I’d never do anything to hurt him. Bastien was too utterly perfect, I could perhaps hold on to him for a short while, but I’d exhaust myself living up to him. With Drake I could be myself, be comfortable.

‘I – uh, you know I could swear you were trying to lead the storyline. Sophia definitely was, I tried to write something fluffy but…’ I sighed and inclined my head ‘She’s a determined woman, and absolutely besotted with you’ Bastien laughed

‘Thankyou for building up my reputation, and for writing such a wonderful companion’ he said ‘I look forward to playing the next scene, whenever it comes out’ I pulled myself together.

‘Okay, I’d better go up and see him. Has he eaten or drunk anything?’

‘Nothing to eat since you were here, but he’s had plenty of water. When you come down I’ll make something – you can take coffee up though, I just made some.’ He went into the kitchen and reappeared with two cups, and I carried them out into the corridor and onwards to the door of Drake’s room. Putting one down, I knocked softly and opened the door. The curtains were drawn shut and I heard him stir in the darkness. He switched on the light and sat up, blinking.

‘Les!’ he said ‘come on in – can I smell coffee?’

‘Mmm hmm – Bas said he’ll make something to eat if we go through to the lounge. Drake rubbed his eyes and I sat on a chair with my cup after setting his in the bedside table. He was bare chested and my heart lurched a little at the sight.

‘Why don’t you join me?’ he asked ‘I promise not to take advantage of you’

‘Well then what’s the point?’ I joked, glad he was feeling more himself. He grinned

‘Seriously, come and cuddle’ He threw the bedclothes back and I saw he was wearing boxer shorts. I felt stupidly shy, but I took my shoes off, went over and climbed in next to him. It felt heavenly as he drew me close and pulled the duvet up over us. He smelled of pine smoke and leather, and his bare skin was warm. I couldn’t recall ever feeling so safe and happy as I snuggled into him.

‘How are you feeling?’ I asked

‘Better for you being here’ he said, and suddenly caught his breath ‘You’d better brace yourself, another chapter just came out.’

‘Oh, I can’t read it from here. Do you feel it?’

‘I can ignore it but I still get the feedback’ he replied ‘I think – just stay with me, please’ His arm around me tightened and I listened to his breath. It was unsteady, as if he was trying not to cry. ‘She – it’s a scene by the – my – graveside’ he said unsteadily ‘I’m not there obviously, but I can still feel it because she’s talking about me, talking to me… it’s very touching – but rough.’

He let go of me suddenly and drew away from me, curling into a ball. I crouched over him, holding him as he shuddered. ‘It’s over’ he said blankly, and again a tear squeezed out of his eye.

‘It’s okay, you’re here, I’m here. I’ve talked to her, she doesn’t like hurting you’

‘But why?’ she said, his voice cracking ‘why?’

‘I can’t tell you’ I said sadly ‘and she doesn’t know why either’ He drew a long breath and grabbed my hand, holding it tightly. We sat in silence for a while, and suddenly I felt him twitch.

‘Hold on – there’s something else.’ He lifted his head ‘he – I – he’s back – he’s – uh it’s weird’ he sat up. ‘It was – it was something that was going to happen, but now it’s not.’ I sat back, looking at him, watching his face changing, clearing.‘I’m back. He’s alive’ he started to laugh ‘They’re changing the future and – and he doesn’t die. He – I’m alive!’

‘Wow’ I said ‘Oh my god. Will that happen every time it gets read?’

‘No, it’s just more intense the first time. It’s more like acting after the first time.’ He beamed ‘Wow, well that was a turn of events.’ He shook his head ‘That was a rollercoaster’ He turned to me, taking my face in his hands and kissed me full on the lips, enthusiastically. I looked back at him, a little shocked. It wasn’t our first kiss, but…

‘Drake…’ his expression changed – it was serious, tender. He kissed me again, softly, and I melted into it. It was soft and short and sweet, and he repeated it, little kisses that started to roam across my face to my cheek, my neck, and I let my head drop back, sighing with bliss. He stopped and looked at me again, hands holding my face.

‘Is this okay?’ he asked ‘I want to…’

‘I know’ I whispered ‘So do I’ He nodded, and our lips met again, this time with his hands going to the hem of my tshirt, lifting it up and I struggled out of it, lips parting only long enough to take it over my head…

Dear reader, I do find myself writing more smut than I ever thought I was capable of. You will forgive me if I gloss over what happened next, because – well, that’s me in bed with Drake Walker. I could write the most sublime mind blowing scene I’m capable of – but I don’t feel I should. Of course I want it to be perfect, but it feels – personal, private, and effectively I’m also (virtually) cheating on my SO. Let’s just say that it wasn’t the most perfect moment ever, but it was pretty damn close, and maybe it was because of the release of emotion from what he’d just been through – and me too if I’m honest.

Let’s just say (after suspending disbelief) that we both enjoyed it, without guilt or shame, that there were a few fumbles and hiccups along the way – just like it really is. I’m no sex goddess and maybe Drake isn’t a sex god, but as he’s virtual, we can make him any way we like. And I’d like him to be funny and sweet and gentle, passionate and loyal and considerate. And slightly imperfect, because perfection is not achievable IRL. Because when you’ve done something perfect, what next? It doesn’t mean we should stop striving for perfection – for me the journey is just as important as the goal – and the goal may change…

@emceesynonymroll @sirbeepsalot @katedrakeohd

@carabeth @cora-nova @bobasheebaby

@stopforamoment @annekebbphotography

@drakeandcamilleofvaltoria @burnsoslow @missameliep

@debramcg1106 @fromthedeskofpaisleybleakmore

@indiacater @livingthroughchoices @mfackenthal @notoriouscs

@pug-bitch @ritachacha @classylady1234 @furiousherringoperatortoad

@ladyangel70 @kenaxval @crookedslimecreatorpasta @dcbbw

@be-still-my-aching-heart @hopefulmoonobject @pedudley

@endlessly-searching-for-you @aworldoffandoms @tornbetween2loves

@drakesensworld @iplaydrake

#the many lives of drake walker #many lives of drake walker #drake walker

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madamrogersstorytelling · 6 years ago

Text

Fan Fiction Ask Game

@suchatinyinfinity tagged me some time ago, and since I really couldn’t decide which ones to answer to, I took all of them! Yes, I really did. Worry about me... This is going to be a long post, so I’m putting everything under the cut and tagging some of my fellow writers at the bottom. I also am going to answer with all of my fics and not only one of them, that way you can get more perspective.

Thank you for reading!

A: How did you come up with the title to [insert fic]?

I’m not going to answer about how I named one fic, I’m telling how I usually name my fics. Most of them get their titles if I listen to a song and it has a nice name or a line, sometimes I read quotes or just think of a word and taste it for long enough to decide could it be the title. Sometimes I read the piece before naming it and decide a line it has as a title; this can be seen in most of my drabbles. The title can be found. With my current series Aura, Of New Beginnings, You, Dark Passion Play and I’ll Make a Man Out of You; they either got their titles from the names of the characters, aspects of the story or songs.

B: Any of your stories inspired by personal experience?

Actually, You. Not all of it, but most of the first chapter is. I took some artistic freedoms to describe some things but it indeed is inspired by my very shitty day during last December. Some of my friends know about this, it was horrible. But the young man at the stoplights (who looked really different from Ben but still) still inspires me very much.

C: What member do you identify with most?

Member... This question confuses me, all in all. I identify with a lot of things and can really tell you as soon as someone tells me what kind of a member this question is searching for haha.

D: Is there a song or a playlist to associate with [insert fic]?

I don’t really do playlist for my stories, I listen to whatever I feel like. Sometimes I want to listen to one specific song during one scene. It really depends.

E: If you wrote a sequel to [insert fic], what would it be about?

I’m bad at sequels. And most of my fics are not even ready, aka they’re series that will go on and on. But! One fic that possibly could have a sequel one day is Irresistible. It’s one of my favorite pieces of my own fics and it would be fun to see did the reader really catch him or not ;)

F: Share a snippet from one of your favorite dialogue scenes you’ve written and explain why you’re proud of it.

“The knife?”

“That was Reep…”

“The apples?”

“No, I didn’t touch your apples…”

“Someone ate them while I was picking up those flowers I gave you.”

Caspian shook his head, still humming his laughs.

“Apples don’t walk away, Caspian!”

He showed you his hands as if he was surrendering. “Maybe not, but it wasn’t me.”

You pouted. “If you have to say it, you’re not telling the truth.”

“Maybe you didn’t have any apples with you on that day? I don’t remember seeing any.”

“Yeah, because you ate all of them. I was away for ten minutes!”

“Okay, I just might have eaten one…”

King of Thieves, Caspian/Reader

I think this is really sweet. I had so much fun writing this and it can really be seen, I think. I’ve always struggled with real-like dialogue, as I’ve told countless times before, but I think that with this drabble, it became quite real after all.

G: Do you write your story from start to finish, or do you write the scenes out of order?

It depends, really. I usually write from start to finish but if I suddenly get a scene in my head, I write it down. It’s easier for me to write from start to finish, that way I can stay on track and don’t lose the balance of what I’m doing.

H: How would you describe your style?

Someone once said I have noticeable style, something that is... part of me. I guess I like descriptions? I use a lot of adjectives and different kind of sentences; long and short, both to describe and rhythm the story a little. I also like beautiful words very much haha. My style may be a bit dreamy and I like to go slowly more than quickly. Sometimes I speed things up a little, only to tell the more meaningful parts but all in all, I think I describe more than use dialogue.

I: Do you have a guilty pleasure in fic (reading or writing)?

Haha! I truly do have! Especially in writing. I love to use quotes and song lyrics in my stories as dialogues, parts of them. It’s really funny for some reason. When I read, I don’t think do I actually have a guilty pleasure. Hmm... I don’t think I have?

J: Write or describe an alternative ending to [insert fic].

Goodness! Well, ok, let’s take Irresistible again...

Billy either left without leaving a single note or... Maybe he didn’t leave at all? I almost wrote that he stayed but... Then I thought of the note and I let that come to the story. Well, we can always play ;)

K: What’s the angstiest idea you’ve ever come up with?

Something that had to do with Billy having to kill the reader either because the death was inevitable or because he had been told to. I’ve tried to think of this but as I have felt a bit bad myself, writing angst hasn’t really been on the top of my mind right now. Maybe one day?

L: How many times do you usually revise your fic/chapter before posting?

Sometimes more and sometimes less. I often read it twice; once right after reading and then I let it be for a moment, I got to eat or take a shower or play with my cat for a while and then come back to read it. You kind of become blind to your own text; I still have typos, I’m not saying that but it’s easier to see everything that needs to be corrected or revised before posting. Once or twice, usually.

M: Got any premises on the back burner that you’d care to share?

Not more than I will never probably get it done because I keep getting stuck haha!

N: Is there a fic you wish someone else would write (or finish) for you?

Not at the moment. Even though, I always love to see people writing something I’ve talked about with them.

O: How do you begin a story–with the plot, or the characters?

The plot, usually. The characters come with it. While writing fanfiction, I kind of have some characters “ready to use”. The reader creates itself. I try to describe them as little as I can, so everyone can relate to them, which is why I go with the plot and not with the characters. But with something like Aura I try to get the plot with the character or the other way around.

P: Are you what George R. R. Martin would call an “architect” or a “gardener”? (How much do you plan in advance, versus letting the story unfold as you go?)

I’m more like “one rose is my whole garden” type of person. I make some plans and write down some important plot points but for me, planning the whole thing from chapter to chapter and all the way to the ending kind of means it’s written already. Then I don’t even write it. So, I try not to let my ideas die with something like this but every time I get some important plot points in mind, I write them down because I’d forget them otherwise.

Q: How do you feel about collaborations?

I have nothing against them. Collabs are just fine. Although, they can get a bit hard, can’t they? You need to have very profound talks about what you want to write and what should happen and all. It can get stressful. But it would also be very interesting thing to write! I’ve actually talked about one of these with one person once.

R: Are there any writers (fanfic or otherwise) you consider an influence?

Sure. And I think that to be a writer, you have to have influences. You know what I mean? To see different ways to do some things and how the person X does this thing - but the person Y does it differently, so I’ll do it like this. You know what I mean?

The people I’m going to tag (also the one that tagged me) all have some kind of influence on me, in good.

My favorite writers, I’ve tried to learn something from them. Stephen King, Marcus Zusak, Joël Dicker, Tolkien, Rowling, Lewis, Wynne-Jones, all of them.

S: Any fandom tropes you can’t resist?

I’m not good at this trope thing anyway, I think. I don’t even think about them too much. But, you know, I just opened a list and I definitely can say that there are some I reallyreallyreally like hahah!

Shapeshifting is always nice, all kinds of AUs are really close to my heart, crossovers are fun, timetravel, fix-it is my go to... I have quite a lot of these!

T: Any fandom tropes you can’t stand?

Hmmmpf... I don’t like to say I don’t stand something, these are just things I’m not exactly a fan of.

I’ve always been bad at anything that has to do with comedy (I’ve only recently learned to live and watch comedy films, I used to hate them a few years back), so maybe... crackfics? Ok, good crack makes me cry my eyes out because I’m laughing so much but it’s pretty hard trope for me.

I’m also either so decent (or at least try to think I am, which is a lie, I’m far from it haahah) or old-fashioned that I’m very bad at PWP as well.

U: Share three of your favorite fic writers and why you like them so much.

@padfootagain she writes so good fluff! You can always trust that whatever she writes will cheer you up - and I often read her fics if I feel a bit down. She’s also one of my closest friends.

@something-tofightfor I love her way to tell the stories, her characters. I enjoy her style a lot. And she is also very cute human being.

@banditthewriter quite a lot like with the previous. I like the way she develops her stories and characters and always gives us something to wait for. She also seems so nice and genuine as a person. We don’t interact much but I still appreciate her a lot.

V: If you could write the sequel (or prequel) to any fic out there not written by yourself, which would you choose?

Whoa, this is hard... This is really hard because most of the fics I read already tell the stuff I’d tell in prequels. Maybe sequel... To @padfootagain‘s A Recipe For Love, to see the life of Caspian and the reader. But I don’t even dare to touch that masterpiece!!

W: Do you like more general prompts, or more specific ones?

Both are fine. I like prompts a lot, they help me but sometimes they also set me a trap haha! I tend to use more general ones myself and I’m fine with that. But if I find a list of some more specific ones and find it inspiring, why not?

X: A character you enjoy making suffer.

WHAT?? I hate to make any character suffer!! Ok, I’m a mascohist so maybe a bit but... No, that tells that I like to make the reader suffer? Because I’m not a sadist (even though, some of my friends might say so, they always say I’m killing them, so...).

Y: A character you want to protect.

Caspian. Ryan Brenner. Steve Rogers. Billy Russo. Yes, you read right - Billy might not need my protection, but I’m doing it anyway. Paul “Jesus” Rovia is my dearest and I’ll fight for him. Tom Ward. Magneto. Athelstan. Sirius Black. Sam Winchester. All my actor babies. There are so many of them, they’re all my babies, I want to protect all of them!! (Logan, don’t look at me like that - yes, I’m protecting you too.)

Z: Major character death–do you ever write/read it? Is there a character whose death you can’t tolerate?

... I hate the fact that every time I watch a movie or a show or even read a book, it’s 100% sure that my favorite character dies. Or if not 100&, then at least 85-90%. But, the happy thing is that most of the characters are not killed in fanfiction! I can read deaths, yes, but... They’re not nice things to read. I can also write deaths, still not my fave things to do.

Want a list of these characters? Sirius Black, Billy Russo, Logan Delos, Kili, Fili and Thorin, Steve Rogers or any of the Avengers (don’t come at me, I know we all have been thinking about this)... This list could go on and on.

Tagging: @padfootagain @jennareedus @carol-damn-vers @something-tofightfor @dylanobrusso @suchatinyinfinity @whostheblondegirlwriting @loriwrites @breanime @princerussoand everyone else who wants to do this. Sorry for the double tags.

#i was tagged #tagged #on writing

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negativehysteria · 7 years ago

Note

Can you write a timeless prompt where Lyatt is a thing and Lucy is pregnant and they time travel but accidentally get left behind in the past?

Here you go, anon! It’s also posted here on my fanfic account. Enjoy!

Lucy knew she would look back at these past few weeks as one of her bigger lapses of judgment in her life; if not the biggest. Staring at the ceiling all night and all morning seemed like the simplest solution to this issue. That was, until the routine morning sickness forced her out of bed to the creepy and rusted bathroom. It had become a daily challenge for Lucy to throw up as covertly as possible, never forgetting to place a chair in front of the metal door. She did all of this in secret, for as long as things stayed the same, no harm could be done. And all Lucy wanted was for things to stay the same.

That morning was no different than the rest. She glanced at the blinking red numbers of the alarm clock, reading the time as 0700. 7 AM and she’d already been awake for three hours. She sighed as she adjusted her body ever so slightly, just barely brushing up against the hand at her waist. She heard a low grunt as she stopped in her tracks, careful not to wake the sleeping soldier next to her. She resettled again only to be disturbed by a flipping feeling in her stomach. No, she groaned to herself, Is it too much to ask for a single reprieve? One day?

She complained to herself as she rose from the bed. Carefully shedding the blanket, she shrugged on the white t-shirt that had been strewn along the bedroom floor. She took two steps forward before a hand caught her wrist. The sudden lurch of movement shocked Lucy enough to make her stumble back, inhaling a sharp gasp,

“Jesus, Wyatt,” She breathed, drinking in the smirking face before her, “You gave me a heart attack,”

“Hmm that’s uncommon for a woman your age,” Wyatt grumbled, his voice muffled by the pillow below him, “You should see a cardiologist. I can refer you to a guy.”

Lucy scoffed, batting his hand away from her wrist,

“Your sarcasm is not so funny at 7 in the morning,” Lucy said, turning to leave,

“Would it be funnier at 4 AM?” He called after her, his voice suddenly more clear, “Or would you be equally as unreceptive?” Lucy stopped in her tracks, caught off guard by what she could only fathom was an accusation,

“What do you mean?” She turned around, mustering up the most convincing confused face she could make. Wyatt sighed, running his fingers through his hair,

“I’ve been giving you space, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t noticed how you’re barely sleeping at night,” He maintained eye contact with her, trapping her stare in his own, “I’m not dumb, I know something is bothering you. I just hope you will talk to me about it when you’re ready.”

Lucy held his stare, biting the inside of her cheek. She knew the best response to his words would be to thank him for his concern, or to assure him that she was completely fine (though that would be a lie). But some part of her just couldn’t let the words escape her mouth; or any words for that matter.

She smiled shyly, nodding her head as she fled the room. She just barely made it to the bathroom before she released the contents of her stomach into the toilet for the second week in a row. She hated doing this alone, but that was the only way she could fathom doing it. At least for now.

The blaring alarm of the computer system snapped Lucy out of her thousand yard stare. It wasn’t until the signal sounded that Lucy realized Rufus had been talking to her. The last words she remembered hearing were ‘Tatooine’ and ‘Vader’, so she had confidence in knowing her mind wasn’t 100% into the conversation to begin with.

“What do you got, Rufus?” Wyatt appeared behind the engineer, placing a hand on the back of Lucy’s chair,

“Looks like the mothership is in New Orleans, January of 1918,” Rufus read the coordinates. All eyes instantaneously turned to Lucy, who had been only half listening to the conversation. As the lull of voices hit her, she shot a puzzled look at the faces around her,

“Huh? Oh, well January of 1918 is the beginning of the first Influenza epidemic. It’s said to have wiped out anywhere from 50 to 100 million people worldwide,” She finished, hoping the team would be satisfied enough with that answer to not question her momentary disorientation.

“Well, alright then,” Wyatt smiled, placing his hands on his hips, “Guess we’re headed to Bourbon Street!”

Lucy swore that this was the happiest she had ever seen Wyatt. His eyes were bright as they stalked through the center of the town, listening to the blaring of saxophones harmonizing in the distance. The houses were vibrant, along with the joyful people passing in front of them. Lucy smiled at the scene, only to remember that, very soon, most of these people will be overtaken with illness. Lucy always viewed this as the most painful aspect of the job: seeing people, caught up in their lives and in their hopes for tomorrow, only to bear the burden of knowing that tomorrow is rarely worth hoping for.

“This is everything I imagined it to be!” Wyatt practically hopped from store to store, lifting his head to the sky,

“Yeah, well I hope you both have your flu shot. In a few days from now, these streets will be a lot less lively,” Lucy lowered her voice, “Literally.”

Rufus looked at Lucy with concern, glancing at Wyatt for a moment before continuing to walk,

“Right…well, we should look for Emma and find out what their endgame is here. Any thoughts?” He asked, drawing the trio into the corner of an intersection,

“I’m thinking maybe they’re pulling another Nicholas situation. Saving someone from dying from a catastrophe to bring them back to the present? Or they could be pulling a Flynn, just saving someone from dying period. Why else would they go here, at this time?” Wyatt finished as Rufus nodded in agreement. The two men looked to Lucy, who had been staring across the street to a very pregnant woman walking from the store. Her lime green dress cascaded around her ankles, her belly seemingly painfully protruding from her body. Lucy winced at the idea that this could be her soon. Though the thought of having children made her more excited than she could articulate, for the moment, the small ball of terror in the back of her mind overcame her joy. How could she possibly do this?

“Earth to Lucy!” Rufus waved his hand in front of her face. She shook her head, clearing her voice,

“Yeah, sorry. I agree with Wyatt. It’s either that or they’re trying to wipe out the entire city, which would be stupid and unnecessary,” She sighed when she finished speaking, confronted with worried glances from both Rufus and Wyatt. Before she could address them, a gunshot rang through the streets, echoing off the buildings and making it impossible to determine the origin.

“Get Down!” Wyatt yelled, grabbing Lucy and pulling her into a divet in the stone building behind them. Before she could call to him, Lucy spotted Rufus running away, back to where they had come from,

“Rufus, no!” Lucy called, moving to chase after him as Wyatt reached for her hand, pulling her back into him,

“It’s safer here,” He whispered into her ear. She was breathing heavily, so worried for her friend that she hadn’t realized that the gunfire had grown distant. Distant in the direction of Rufus. One glance at Wyatt told her that he was thinking the same thing,

“We have to-” Lucy started,

“I know,” He cut her off, grabbing her arm once again and practically dragging her along the streets, “Just stay behind me,”

Lucy sped up to run next to him, punching Wyatt in the shoulder,

“I’m not letting you be a human shield for me. Not now,” She said through labored breaths. He glanced at her with a puzzled look,

“What do you mean ‘not now’?”

Before she could evade the question, the two caught up to the action, spotting Emma running towards the Lifeboat.

“Oh, Shit,” Wyatt whispered. Peering around a tree, Wyatt saw Rufus sitting in the lifeboat, hesitant to close the door to leave Lucy and Wyatt behind. But they had a rule: if Rittenhouse finds the lifeboat, take it home before they can apprehend it. No matter what. Knowing this, Wyatt waited until Rufus spotted him. Wyatt gave a small nod as Rufus hesitantly nodded back. Seconds later, Lucy and Wyatt heard the familiar pop of the time machine, leaving them behind in 1918.

“So we just wait here?” Lucy asked when they settled into their room at a bed and breakfast. Wyatt nodded, shrugging off his gun holster,

“Yup, we wait for the date that he comes back to get us. Could be a few days though, remember we’re stretching apart these visits as much as possible so we don’t run into ourselves-”

“Yeah, yeah, time machine rules,” Lucy muttered, playing with a loose string on her skirt. Wyatt sat down next to her, reaching for her hand. On impulse, she flinched back, feeling guilty about lying to him for these past few weeks.

“Lucy, what is going on with you?” Wyatt asked, brushing stray hairs away from her face. She inhaled deeply, standing to make her way to the balcony. She had to do it. She had to tell him.

“You can tell me anything,” Wyatt continued, following her until she felt his heavy presence behind her on the balcony. Lucy took another deep breath,

“I never used to trust people much,” Lucy closed her eyes, leaning her hands against the railing, “Even before all of this, trusting people never came easily to me. That’s why I was so sure of my mother all this time; because she was the one person in the world who I thought had earned it,” She opened her eyes to look at Wyatt, “And now I’ve learned to trust you and I was just… I was so afraid that telling you might scare you away. And I couldn’t stand to lose you, too.” A tear trailed down her cheek until she tasted the saltiness on her lips. Wyatt shook his head,

“Tell me what?” He whispered. It took all of her courage to look him in the eyes and she was afraid she would have none left to tell him. However, the words came out as easily as the tears streamed down her face,

“I’m pregnant,” she said. Saying the words out loud felt like a release of the longest breath she’d ever held.

Wyatt’s face could only be described as someone who simultaneously heard the best and most inconvenient news of his life. Lucy held her breath as his mouth crept into a smile. A burly laugh escaped his lips as he scooped her into his arms and twirled her around the room. She laughed like she hadn’t laughed in months.

“So you’re…you’re okay with this?” Lucy asked once he had calmed from his initial celebrations,

“Okay? Okay!? I’m great! This is amazing, Lucy,” He reached up and took her shoulders in his hands, “Don’t you dare think for one second otherwise,”

“But we’re a few days away from the deadliest pandemic in histo-”

“Shhhh,” Wyatt cut her off, “Let’s just pretend for a second that we are a normal couple in 1918, who are in love and just found out are having a baby?” He smiled.

“I don’t know,” Lucy sighed, “Normal is a little far-fetched.” They laughed and hugged once more, forgetting their past, present, and future,

“Just one question,” Wyatt asked. Lucy looked up at him, nodding for him to continue, “What the hell are we gonna do now?”

#timeless #nbc timeless #timeless nbc #lyatt #lucy preston #wyatt logan #Lucy x Wyatt #wyatt x lucy #wucy #Rufus Carlin

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youreallyshouldtalkmore · 7 years ago

Text

How to enjoy a Fanfic that does not include you...

....Because apparently we still need to have this conversation.

Seriously, it's 2018 and four months since Black Panther has come out and I still see posts about the lack of other BP/Readers so I thought, being the kind soul that I am, I would try to help you out.

(Though I think this can apply to any fandom....it’s just for the sake of this piece I will use Black Panther because it’s what prompted this blog...)

Now I'm going to disclaimer this: If you are a bit sensitive, you are free not to read this post. I am trying my hardest to be as nice and kind as I can be but, given this topic, people will want to come for me no matter what I say. But we gonna have this conversation anyway because apparently we still need to. Try to read this as me HELPING you rather than me trying to hurt your feelings. Then perhaps this won't sound as harsh or bad to you.

This is a guide on how to enjoy a fanfic (or other media) where the reader (or character) does not look like you. There are those of us who have been doing this for years and upon further reflection maybe it's a difficult concept to grasp. So I will attempt to break it down and hopefully demystify this concept.

I briefly mentioned this in my other blog post, " Black Panther Fandom Inclusivity aka Where’s the Spotlight?" so I will use that as a jump off point:

" Since the dawn of Hollywood, we African-Americans have been dealing with the same problem: "white people are excluding us and are being mean" but we couldn't do anything about it.

So, here is the art that minorities have mastered and have been doing when reading fanfic that does not default to them...make up an alternative persona. In your case, as a white person, make up a black persona in your mind and engage in the fanfic in that way."

I will now take the time to further break down exactly what I mean by this.

I'm African American....

When I read a fanfic....let's say Legolas/Reader I do not imagine myself as an African American woman reader. I actually imagine myself as a white woman reader. Just on default, if I read a Legolas/Reader, I automatically assume the reader is white. If they mention descriptions then I add those to my "white female persona"

Sounds simple, yeah?

I personally don't find the concept to be hard but let's look at it further.

This would apply to everything in my life that I have had to enjoy that was not defaulted African.

Count with me exactly how many personas I actually have.

I love K-dramas. Sometimes I like to imagine that I'm in a K-drama but I'm African American. So what do I do? I imagine myself as a Korean woman who is in the drama. Hence I have a "Korean" persona.

I love Wuxias and other Chinese dramas. For example, I love watching Eternal Love (the web drama) and I have often imagined myself in the relationship with Mo Lian Cheng. So, I put myself into the body of Qu Tan Er to enjoy it. Sometimes I even change or alternate plot points just so that I can get my own story idea in there. Hence, I have a "Chinese" persona.

I love Bollywood. There goes an "East Indian" persona.

On occasion, J-dramas crop up. So, I have a "Japanese" Persona.

When I watch the movie Apcalypto, I take on an "Aztecan" persona.

I'm sure I have a "Native American" persona as well.

How many is that? That is 6 personas that I imagine myself as; and that is just off the top of my head. Now let's try not to read this as stereotyping; I know that someone will want to go there. Let's try to stick to the point I'm trying to make here. This is not about trying to be another race; this is just a mind thing...pretend, if you will... in an effort to find a way to enjoy something that is not of your own culture.

Whenever I wanted to enjoy a story I made a persona for myself that fit into it. I have done that since the beginning of my time. Shoot!! At one time I had an anime version of myself because I loved anime! I had a cartoon version of myself because I loved... I don't know....X-Men Evolution! We can get really "silly" here. I'm sure I had a lion version of myself because I wanted to enjoy the world of Lion King! I loved Kovu so I would imagine myself as Kiara!

You see where I'm going, don't you? You get it?

Now, that being said.....I admit that in the last couple of years I have felt this "weight"; especially in the last year. As much as loved my K-dramas and C-dramas, there were times when I could not watch them because even with my personas I still did not feel included. I wanted to be there. I wanted to be cool. I wanted to fly. I wanted to wear the cool clothes. It was becoming a bit burdensome to have to interact within a persona in order to enjoy some media. What I wanted was to be able to enjoy it while still being myself! But did I complain? No!! There was nothing I could do to change what was on my screen.

But now we have Black Panther and it has opened and closed so many doors in my head until it's not even funny!!!... but that's another post.

So...Honestly? I have no sympathy for you because you now have to do the same things we had to do for so long. You (white people, in this instance) have had a looooong time to enjoy being yourself in every type of media. Now, here we have one movie to come out that is not all about you and already you are ti'ed? Please!!! Talk to me after you have had to deal with this for decades...or close to a century!

In addition, do you even understand what we feel when see our BP husbands with white lovers and, therefore, why we aren't going to interact with those fanfics? This is not those 1930's movies where the white woman comes to the jungles of Africa and all the Africans think she's a goddess. (And don't talk to me about Elizabeth Taylor in Cleopatra, either!)

But we don't even have to go that far....let's just stick with Black Panther. Because in fanfic we usually ignore the pairings in the movie for the sake of our personal enjoyment. So if we take M'baku's words seriously, he's already married, if you heard or watched the deleted scene you’ll know about W’Kabi and TChalla/Nakia is my movie ship, ya'll! But in fanfic....we’re the Nakia, thank you; but I digress...

That being said, if you will, allow your mind to fathom these hypothetical situations and work with me here:

Let's assume a white woman gets into Wakanda and let's say T'Challa meets and marries her. Since T'Challa works with the Avengers, perhaps this could happen. (Though personally, I have no interest in the other Avengers; never have. So in my fanfics I don't even deal with T'Challa as an “avenger”...) So, T'Challa's white wife becomes Queen.....of Wakanda! A white woman as Queen over all these black people? That doesn't strike you as.....hmm....? Well,.....okay....!

Let's assume that a white female could meet M'Baku. Let's ignore, for a few minutes, the fact that he's a traditionalist. He's back up in Jabari Land and to get there she'd first have to get into Wakanda. So, ok... let's just say she managed to get there and they meet and get married. Ahh, but we'd have the same problem....M'Baku's wife would be Queen/Lady/Mother/Chieftess of the Jabari Tribe. And here we are.... back again to that 1930's trope of white woman having rule over those black African people....people who see her as a goddess!

It seems now that every eye is on Erik Stevens, aka Killmonger, waiting to see what kind of lady he will choose. So, you say that surely he'd could have a white lover...okay....but let's think about this. Erik lost his family and he cares enough about his own people to want to free them from their oppressors. I think he's quite a bit concerned with how colonization has swept across the world. And who exactly did the colonizing....? Yeah.....

And somehow as a white woman you would be okay with Erik?

Frankly, he scares me and I'm an African American woman... but okay. He's hot. I get it. The brotha is finnnnne! Now, personally I do feel some kinship with him. We'd be able to talk about identity and many other things. We could go to museums and explore African culture. Shoot, I've done head cannons and fanfics about that. But I digress....

Now, W'Kabi isn't my husband. I see him as more a big brother figure to me but let's think about him. He seems to be the leader of the Border Tribe or at least he carries some weight there. So, his wife would have some weight too. And if she is a white woman.... again over all these black people.....?

Please understand the general reaction of the African and African diaspora every time we see this is:

And you seriously cannot see why we won't have it? A white woman with all this power over a black nation?

Now, don't whine....I can hear your protest now: But it's just our imagination!!

It's YOUR imagination! And the rest of us don't have to hear it or interact with it if we don't want to. You are not entitled to come to us and tell us what we should or shouldn’t write in our fanfic. You have eyes and hands....if it bothers you look away and click off of it. It’s that simple.

I think that no matter which angle you come from you are going to have problems writing any of the BP men with white women. But, hey, we aren't saying not to write your fanfic. We are just saying that we don't want to interact with them.

The rare times I saw an T’Challa/WhiteReader fanfic.....what’d I do?

I politely scrolled on past.

The author didn’t hear a peep from me.

Which reminds me...answer me this. What are you having problems with? Is it the fact that you ask us to write a T'Challa/WhiteFemaleReader and we won't do it? Or the fact that when you write a white female reader you don't feel like enough people are reading it? Or you don't get enough likes on it? Or is it that you don't feel like people are interacting enough with yours because of all the above mentioned stuff? I'm just curious, actually.

So I would suggest that you learn to master the concept of enjoying fanfic with the alternative persona of your choosing; because we aren't going to let go of our black kings and queens. Us sistas aren't going to stop writing our Black Reader fanfics.

I already have fanfics coming out. I don't label them as Black Reader until the subject requires me to do so. But I think when you read it, the Black female reader will be obvious.

And if you think that Black Panther is the beginning and end of phenomenal stories from and about Africa and the African Diaspora.....you're sadly mistaken.

So recap....

You're white. Imagine yourself as a black woman and then read that T'Challa/Reader fanfic .

You're Latino. Great. Imagine yourself as a black woman and read that Erik/Reader fanfic.

That being said, let me quickly speak to the other POC's of the world. I'm a little disappointed with the posts I've seen from some of ya'll with complaints that you feel excluded as well. I would expect that you would understand the need and desire for a nation to have its own oasis. I understand you haven't gotten yours yet.

We want you to have your own Wakanda. It's not that we don't, so don't go there. We want you to have what we of the African Diaspora are feeling now.

You just can't have ours!

I'm sorry if that sounds harsh but it's true. And before you say, "Well, you just don't care about us either", let me say this:

Let's be honest, if you had gotten your Wakanda before we did, I'm sure you'd feel the same way. At least don't lie to yourself. You'd want others(whites and other POCs included) to interact silently and let you have your paradise.

So if your soul answered a resounding "YES!!", as it should, why then are you having this problem and why am I having to do a PSA to POC here as well?

Now, I personally want to get my own ideas out one day and build an Oprah like empire. Not just for kicks and giggles but because after I've said what I wanted to say, I want to help other people say what they want to say.

God as my witness, if I had an Oprah Empire right now, I would hand you money and get the devil out of your way and let you go make your own Wakanda. (Provided that it doesn't go against my morals because sista has a reputation to maintain; like when you think of Disney there is an image behind that brand....hmm?)

So before you think that I'm being mean, I'm not.

But I am disappointed that even POC's don't get it.

I'm annoyed that I even have to write this blog post because we are still having this conversation.

I get it. Black Panther ushered in a new concept of blackness. Reality has been bent to an angle of indefinable proportions and we did not see it coming. We all have to get use to this new reality.

It’s just this is taking longer for some of us than others, it seems.

So again, I write this out of love.

And I hope you receive this in love.

Thank you and as always Wakanda Forever!!

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