#hmm i guess this is more than a snippet lol

[innerslumber]

You know I'll read the hell out of anything you write, but can you post a snippit of the football au? (Also 15????? Wow, I kinda feel bad only having 4!) ❤️

Hi Lis!!! Thank you so much for the ask!!

Oh my gosh hon, you don’t have to feel bad that you have 4 WIPs. It means you have actually been finishing things and posting!! That’s wonderful!! Unlike me who is constantly drowning in them lololol!! So here is a bit of my Stucky football AU and I hope you like it!

*****

"It should be illegal to look that hot."

Bucky looked up at hearing Becca's voice and he could see from the kitchen that she had the television on. It was showing a rerun of the NFL draft and his appetite immediately soured. He closed the fridge door, no longer interested in grabbing a snack.

Becca waved her hand up and down at the screen, emphasizing the sheer size of the man smiling on the stage. His hair shone bright golden under the lights and the jersey with #1 emblazoned in white was a beacon shouting, Here I am! Steve Rogers! First pick of the draft!

"Seriously, how is even his teeth so damn perfect," exclaimed Becca. She started cramming mouthfuls of popcorn in a way that made Bucky grimace slightly as she continued to ogle the star athlete. "I gotta say, seeing Tony Stark buy an expansion team and luring Coach Fury out of retirement was not in my bingo card this year. Now they drafted the best college quarterback in the country and holy shit, I might have to jump on that bandwagon even though the team name is weird. The Avengers? What was Stark smoking?"

Bucky rolled his eyes and tried to scroll on his phone to distract himself from the television. "Don't let Dad hear you say that. He didn't indoctrinate us from birth into the Colts fandom for you to stray."

“Well the Colts are drafting like shit this year so excuse my wandering eyes. I can’t believe they drafted that idiot out of Georgia when you are so much better than him. It’s so stupid and-”

“That’s enough, Becca.”

Becca’s mouth shut together with an audible snap when she saw the look of despair on her brother’s face. She put down the bowl of popcorn on the coffee table and slowly walked toward him. Placing a gentle hand on Bucky’s shoulder, she tried to exude as much comfort as possible. “Hey come on, Bucky. It’s only been two weeks since the draft ended. You know this is the time when free agents get picked up. There’s still a chance you’ll get a call.”

Bucky sighed and crossed his arms over his chest, his whole body radiating distress. He knew it had been a long shot when he had declared for the draft but he had hoped that maybe, just maybe, he had a chance at the big times. 

It’s not that he hated his life in small town Indiana. He had a great family and a solid group of friends he had grown up with. But ever since he had shown an aptitude for sports at an early age, he had dreamed of a life beyond the borders of his hometown. A life where he didn’t end up working at the factory that employed 70% of the local population, including his father. A life where he didn’t have to drive over an hour to Indianapolis and hook up with anonymous men off Grindr because he was too scared of being outed. People can say what they wanted about how much progress the country has made but Bucky wasn’t going to take a chance on his football prospects over if a coach was a bigot. 

Not that it fucking matters how deep in the closet I am that I might as well be in Narnia. No one is going to call.

He sighed again when he saw how worried his sister looked. “It’s okay, Becca. I’ll be fine. I mean, there’s always next year, right?”

She didn’t seem very convinced by his attempt at a cheerful tone but she let it go. Bucky patted her hand on his shoulder and walked toward the patio door. He needed some air and to get away from the television that felt like a never-ending taunt of unachievable wants.

Once outside, he took a deep breath of the crisp night air and tried to relax all of his tense muscles. His eyes landed on the homemade football training equipment that his Dad had built when Bucky was in high school. They were worn and battered, taking the brunt of Bucky’s strength and speed over the many years. It was a point of pride for George Barnes that he continued to fix them up instead of having to make whole new ones, no matter how much Bucky abused them.

Thoughts of his father made him melancholy again. He knew his family was disappointed for him when the invitations never came. No combine, no draft. Just silence where there had been excitement and hope. Bucky tried not to feel bitter about the past year and how his college coach had basically cut his playing time to a third of his usual. Bucky had never been one for playing politics and he hadn’t been willing to lick his old coach's boots. He didn’t regret standing by his principles but he had paid the price. Less playing time meant less exposure and the scouts passed you by.

And despite what he had told Becca, he knew the window of opportunity was closing fast. Every year there were new prospects, younger and faster. The older he got and the farther he got from regular playing time, the chance of him making any roster was dwindling. So instead of bright lights and the cheer of the crowd, Bucky was mentally preparing himself for a dead end job, lonely nights and being just another washed out college athlete.

He was so deep in his misery that he didn’t hear the patio door opening and Becca calling for him until she shoved him from behind. Bucky whirled around and gaped at her. “What the fuck, Becca! Can’t you see I’m throwing myself a pity party here?”

“Save your angsting for later, you jackass. Here!” She shoved the cellphone he had left on the kitchen counter by his face. “Your phone is ringing!”

Bucky took the phone from his sister and squinted at the screen. He didn’t recognize the number but he did know the area code. It was a New York area code. Suddenly, his heart started beating like crazy as the small rectangle device vibrated in his palm.

“Are you going to answer or what?” Becca yelled, her voice shrill in panic.

Bucky quickly swiped his screen and placed it by his ear. “Hello?”

“Hello. Is this James Barnes?”

He had to swallow around a nervous lump in his throat. The male voice was not familiar and Bucky’s brain went into overdrive of speculation. He coughed and finally managed to respond. 

“Uhh…yes, this is James Barnes.” 

There was a momentary rustling of sound from the other end, perhaps papers being moved about. The mysterious man started speaking again as Bucky tried to keep his cool.

“It’s nice to finally speak to you James. My name is Phil Coulson and I’m the Director of Scouting for the Avengers. Do you have a moment to chat?”

[lookingfts]

Out of curiosity, but also just as someone who wants to start writing, what word processor do you use? Google Docs, Word, or…? How do you plan fics out (if you do)? Do you write chapters out in the same doc or do you have different files for each? I guess I’m just curious about your process if you don’t mind sharing the logistical bits.

Side note: I feel so awkward writing smut and I get paranoid if I try to write it on Google Docs in the small chance of me being hacked LOL so kudos to you and your steamy sensibilities. I wish I could get to that level of comfortability 😂 perhaps someday…

Lol well I've been writing smut for eight years so whatever shame or self-consciousness I had is pretty much gone. It definitely took time to get there! I'm happy that you want to start writing, and always willing to answer questions about my process.

I use Word. It's just what I've always used for work so I have a familiarity with it and Google Docs doesn't feel quite the same to me. But I do pay for Word every year, so if you're looking for something free just to start out, Google Docs is a good option. I wouldn't say there are any special features that make them different - it's honestly just that I'm used to Word.

I have different files for each chapter because I write chapter by chapter and post as I go. I also have a single Google Doc for each story where I keep notes, dialogue snippets, etc. Sometimes I have a full outline for the fic there. It's my catchall for anything related to that story, and I can open it on my phone or my laptop and quickly jot down ideas.

How do I plan out fics...hmm. I don't think any of my stories totally take the same path. For a one-shot, it's usually just: I have an idea and I sit down and let it flow. I just follow it wherever it goes. Sometimes it's a contained story, sometimes there's space for it to be continued and so I'll continue it if I have ideas for more.

For multi-chaps, I typically have them planned out more. I have the idea, and I often chat with a friend to toss plot points around - I get so many excellent suggestions that way. I'll write down all my notes into a Google doc and then start organizing by chapter. It's okay if I don't have every detail planned out - as long as I have a general idea of what I want in each chapter, I'll go for it. I always have ideas as the story progresses, and it often goes somewhere different than I originally planned. The story fleshes out as I go. Of course, some people like to finish writing the complete fic before they post, and more power to them! I'm not that patient haha.

Hope that helps! I'm always down to answer writing questions. I think if you submit an ask under your name, I can also answer your question privately (ie not posting it) so I'm happy to do that as well for anyone who would like it. And I'm open to talk about plots if anyone ever wants a sounding board.

Good luck!

[arabriddler]

I love seeing you post snippets of your writing as I go. I took a break from writing while I'm on holiday but now I'm getting back into it but it's slow going. You write so fast, it's incredible! Is there anything you've been really thinking about with your writing?

I started deciding I wanted stronger thesis statements for the writing so if I ever get lost I can refer to those if I wanna find a new direction. Are there any strong themes/ideas you connect to Penguin and the Peacock?

💖💖💖thanks :3

oh i hope the holiday was nice! Also oh I don’t think I write fast I’ve been writing it for a while while unemployed then finished up the last few chapters on those first months of employment where I just sat doing nothing lol and needed to pass the time. So now all I do is edit it on the weekends. heck wait. I think I started writing it somewhere around April last year but maybe longer than that since it’s based on my Batman AU which I’ve been building for longer. Didn’t even consider writing it down actually thought it’ll be too much to write it down but did want to write stories based on it now look where we are.

with the penguin and the peacock I kind of wanted to write riddlebird but also figure out how to get them from well, my versions of riddler and penguin, to the relationship I draw in my drawings? How to get them there? So tried to tackle some points, but well, that’s the main thing but I also wanted to tackle some themes I felt strongly about,

like hey this is what depression is like. Yeah it’s a mess. Yes it doesn’t make sense most of the time. moreover hmm, relationships with, insanely depressed people. Like Oswald’s with his mother. Oswald and Edward’s etc etc. and that’s just on Oswald’s side.

from Edward’s it was, ironically more about love. What does love mean? How do you go about wanting love and attention? When does love become devotion? And when does it become comfort? And when does it become poison?

there’s also the aspect of, taking and giving in relationships. You give and take. But that giving and taking comes from. Parts of your own self. It’s like cutting up your own flesh, no? How do you go about that?

a lot of the times I think I have questions I don’t know the answer to so, as if you’re playing the sims, I put them there and I give them the question and I see how they try to answer them. had a friend ask me how I do it and this was my answer:

IIdk . Partway being silly and enjoying and part ways it spills from a real place. Conflicts and questions I couldn’t figure out the answer to so I put it there

Ed and Oswald are fascinating together because well, Ed wants to be loved so badly he could die for it. Oswald wants something to care for or he’d go insane. It should be easy, right? It should click in place automatically, but it doesn’t because they’re not normal about these needs.

more-so, birds as a central theme is important because Oswald is a bird guy no? But an accidental theme I guess is a more religious one, idk how that came to be, actually I do, I thought well, connecting the Falcone’s with a strong religious upbringing can be interesting, wanted to write the scene where Falcone quoted the Bible to Oswald, and it clicked well, but then Oswald is the kind of guy who mimics people especially when he wants to hurt them, so he takes on for a bit, but it’s not a central theme I don’t think it’s just recurring.

Hope this helped?

[hypnostheory]

❤️🔐📝

Hey bestie 💖 okay so here we go:

❤️ How tall are you?

I’m 5’5”! This is hard to tell because I’m in heels a lot, but I also slouch, so I’m not sure if it evens out lol. I’m half a foot taller than Lamb, which I think is hilarious personally.

🔐 Something no one would guess about you?

Hmm, a hard one. I’m a pretty open book, but I guess the surprising thing is that I have a journalism degree. A lot of people guess English, but that was one of my minors - I also minored in history and political science. So basically I went to school for Writing and More Writing lol.

📝 What’s the last thing you wrote?

I’m bouncing between two things right now (as is the hyp way) so here are two snippets.

Spy part 3

“I need this,” Henry says, staring down at Alex’s warm, open, too kind face. He sinks into the hand on his throat. He’s had plenty of men hold him like that, some for fun, some as they scraped something out of Henry he’ll probably never get back. “I need you to do it and still love me after.”

And my other project is a secret

Alex cards his fingers through the hair at the back of Henry’s neck and he breaks. Henry grabs Alex, clinging to his shoulders. He can’t wail, his throat too sore to make the sound, but he makes an awful choking noise. Above him Alex hums, rocking on his heels. He whispers something against Henry’s hair, but Henry doesn’t have the wherewithal to interpret the words. He soaks in the comfort and lets himself be cradled by that easy love.

I swear I didn’t mean for both to involve choking lol, but that hyp for ya

[2n2n]

CULT AND LILY!! coincidentally I wanted to post about them...

in a power outage recently, I reread the 10 physical volumes I own. Reminiscing upon... the random snippets we get of-- AU Cult and Lily, here and there. For whatever reason, their names become 'Shinonome Haru' and 'Nishizono Lily'.... ! some real, full names! here, in chapter 0....

.... where we have Cult, 'Haru' as a surgeon caring for a terminally ill Lily, who hasn't much time left. It appears to be more significantly age-difference than in their usual canon, lol? Meanwhile, even the actors playing them are in love, I guess... hmm... it's like multiple AUs stacked....

Shinonome Haru & Nishizono Lily are back again in volume 1...

again as characters in a stage play....

"Shinonome Haru-san confesses his love to Nishizono Lily-san on the spot!! her reply?" "I could go for some shrimp"

hmmm.......... this Lily kind of looks even younger... with a big cartoon lollipop... and she also has tiara's predilection for shrimp... hm.

Cult and Lily also show up as students at Kamome, in Nene-chan's explanation of exams & remedial schooling!

seems Cult is bad at 'ethics' & Lily is bad at 'english'.... here, they share the same grade and classes, though! No age difference!

and finally, in volume 15, of course we can enjoy some crane-game plush of not only Cult and Lily...

.... but also their visual novel characters on the left, Estelio Ambrose and Princess Neige!!!!!!!! (for my sanity I have to pretend Rasphard Ambrose's sleeve is seen just as he's cut off... sob sob.....)

it's so cute how, no matter how much time passes... their oldest works are still sentimental to them.

unrelated, here is an iro-sensei (the alpaca, as they used to be nicknamed....) I also found in the background of a volume...

"MISSING ALPACA RESPONDS TO BELLS"

hmm....

here's Cult and Lily from volume 0 with matching Iro-sensei alpaca keychains as well

hmm....

[bi-demon-ium]

fic in review 2022

I wasn't tagged by anyone I just wanted to do this again and I don't see it making the rounds anymore :(

anyway i'm posting this a touch early as i might write more snippets when i wake up, and it'll still be december 31st, but. oh well

Total Number of Completed Stories: total (on this ao3 account): 112. total (on this ao3 account) written in 2022: 83! wow! and that's just like works (some are compilations) and on this account (there's at least five more elsewhere). oh wait i guess this isn't. completed. it's posted. hmmmmm okay but consider i am tired

sigh okay so completed on this account total: 96. completed on this account in 2022: 68. however, this is not counting that some of the works not counted here as they're "incomplete" on ao3 are actually like, multiple oneshots in one work. i'm not going to tally them though bc some of them are kinda incomplete-ish snippets while others are just straight up full oneshots and i don't want to comb through each and decide what counts 😩

Total Word Count: total on ao3 (for this account lol) is 342,779, but in 2022 that'd be 252,803.

Fandoms Written In: The Mysterious Benedict Society, The House in the Cerulean Sea, Death by Dying, and Instinct. (On the other account, also Shadowhunters and Star Trek 2009.)

Looking back did you expect to write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you’d expect:

Hm... well, both, kind of. Less in the sense that I had hoped I would complete whumptober--both of them, rip--but more in the sense that HOLY FUCK 83 works. MBS has really reawakened me. (75 of them are MBS lol.)

What’s your own favorite story of the year?:

hmmm uh. off the top of my head, probably one of these:

cain's lament

a hope in hell

rust

shades of green

The Babygirl Incident™

pretty things

Did you take any writing risks this year?:

i let myself believe i'd actually finish whumptober 😔

also i dedicated more to nicholas/milligan which i am slowly but surely acclimating you all to, like boiling a frog. at this point i even daresay the frog is cooked

and "minotaur" is darker than i usually go, so i'm tentatively thinking about some darker aus (don't worry, still no tragedy for me lol)

Do you have any fanfic goals for the New Year?:

FINISH MY WHUMPTOBER PROMPTS :( and also all the ask prompts i have in my inbox

Best story of the year:

hmm. this is kind of subjective. "cain's lament" is a good fix-it, "shades of green" seemed to have had a strong positive impact, which i'm glad of. we'll get to stats in the next question, i guess, for that angle. uhhh "warm" has impressive length? surprised i finished that tbh

Most popular story of the year:

This year, the most kudos went to "technicolor" with 125, the most comments goes to "warm" with 25 comment threads, the most hits (987) and bookmarks (18) for "The Babygirl Incident™". Most subscriptions is "pretty things" at 18. (My THITCS works by far did the best, ironically.)

(These all hold the same for like. most [x] ever on this account, except for the most kudos, which goes to "paralleled", an old King Falls AM work of mine, at 139.)

Story of mine most under-appreciated by the universe, in my opinion:

I think most of my snippets get brushed over a little since they're compiled on one work. Particularly my daemon au. Maybe also look at these: 1, 2, 3, 5, 2

Most fun story to write:

All of my crackfics probably! They're just so fun to write; very impulsive but hilarious. I'm making myself cackle, particularly with "The Gang's Past Illicit Affairs" "The Babygirl Incident™" and "kate and her bucket sitting in a tree, S-P-Y-I-N-G". Also "dear abby".

Story with the sexiest moment:

On this account? Nothing I've published. I did, however, write some very silly smut on my other account.

Sweetest story:

Okay, I've written a lot of sweet things and I don't know if I can choose one. So here's a brief list. I've taken off a few I've already mentioned to make it a little shorter.

These snippets: 9, 12, 18, 8, 9.

holy palmer's kiss

a cacophony so immense

number two; love guru

“Holy crap that’s wrong even for you!” story:

I don't know if that's the right way to put it, but. I'd say my two darkest stories were "coward" and "minotaur".

Hardest story to write:

Genuinely, I'm not sure? I'd guess either something not published or not finished, like the sequel to "petals", finishing "minotaur" and my sleep paralysis series, ch2 of "pretty things" i've really been struggling with. Of my completed works, though, I've genuinely no clue.

Biggest disappointment:

Probably still not finishing whumptober :(

Biggest surprise:

I wrote so much!!!! Oh my god!!!!! Holy fuck!!!! 88 works!!!!! and 75 of them MBS!!!!!

I Tag:

no pressure! @peachygos @mysteriouseggsbenedict @mvshortcut @sqenthusiast @ragecndybars @tothetrashwhereibelong @thehouseofgrey @finger-lickin-fuckboy and anyone else who wants to do it!!

[starlit-dreaming]

À Toi, Qui J'adore [1/2]

Fandom: MLB Main Ship: MarcNath Minor Ship: MarcMari (implied), NathMari (one-sided) TL;DR: Trans Marc, Gay Marc, Pansexual Nathaniel, Nonbinary Alix

CW: Minor Transphobia, Dead Names are used (once)

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED to read the MAIN FIC!

This can be read as a standalone, but the purpose of this fic is to add more to the relationships between characters that I likely won't be able to write into the main fic.

Main Fic: élémentaire 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6

Side Fics: J'adore — [1/2] | 2/2

Summary:

It started off as love poems. And then, it became unsent love letters. He always wrote about him, him and the girl he loved. A girl who could never be Marc, a love that could never be his. //A series of snippets regarding Marc Anciel's friendships and his developing relationship with Nathaniel

A/N: I didn’t want to think about the main fic and ended up procrastinating by zeroing in on the side details LOL

————————————————————

À Toi, Qui J'adore (To You, Who I Adore) [1/2]

【Faction Méticuleuse】

————————————————————

Roses are red, Violets are a little blue, The smile on your face, Just makes me adore you.

—————

“Is everything alright?”

The sudden voice — familiar, mezzo-soprano tone, kind and almost concerned — startles him, and he abruptly slams his notebook shut. He jolts, head whipping up to look at the clearest sky blue eyes he’s ever seen, with the smoothest looking black hair that glimmers beneath the white school lights. She still looks concerned, her brows a little pinched, but her smile is warm and inviting. Faintly, she smells like — baked goods, cookies, bread.

Every student among Notre Dame’s Elite Elementary would know who she is the second they see her, and he’s no exception to that. If anything, he’s surprised to see her standing in the same area as him as is.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng, the Miracle Princess.

“Huh?” he asks, once, rather dumbly, because surely he was seeing things, right?

Right?

“Uh…” he blinks, realizing that this was, in fact, not some sort of daydream or a fanfiction he’s written.

This… was very unexpected.

“Um…” and it’s then, that it fully sinks in that she had just asked him a question, and he was being so rude to ignore it. His grandparents would be upset with him for ignoring someone! “Oh!” his cheeks heated up, practically hugging his journal to his chest. “I-I’m fine…” he stammered, eyes shifting to the side. “I was just… really focused. I guess.”

“Yeah?” Marinette’s smile seemed to widen at that, if it were possible. “What were you writing about, if you don’t mind me asking?” she asked, sounding genuinely interested.

Thinking about the poems only made him feel more embarrassed than anything. He never wants to show it to anyone, especially Marinette. How would she react, knowing that he was just sitting alone by the stairwell writing about one of her closest friends?

“J-just… um, poems,” he admits. He wasn’t going to lie, but she definitely didn’t need to know what about.

“Hmm…” Marinette hummed, seeming to search for something as she stares at his face before softening with a gentle, understanding smile. “That’s great. I’d love to read it someday. Do you have a favourite author?”

It’s at this moment, as relief blooms in his chest, that he smiles.

Because for once, he really did feel seen.

—————

He wouldn’t consider Marinette to be a friend, especially in comparison with the countless people in her life. However, she was a friendly acquaintance, and the closest schoolmate he has because everyone else only speaks to him when it came to classwork and answers to the homework.

The rumours about Marinette exaggerated parts of her and downplayed others, but overall, they were right. She was nice, and kind, and sweet, but she was more than that. Marinette got angry and frustrated at times — she once got into an angry rant about teachers picking shy students and calling them out just because they stammered a lot when he mentioned Monsieur Caron telling him to speak louder multiple times. Sometimes she was really intense when she talked about embroidery and designing, and he would get lost in her creative ramblings about fashion.

Don’t get him wrong, it was fascinating to learn about fashion and the process of embroidering and creating clothes from cloth and strings. It’s just that… it was also sometimes a bit confusing, and there were a lot of terms that he had to write down to look up in a dictionary later.

Still, not a lot of people liked talking to him, and Marinette would often go out of her way once a week or two, so it was a welcomed change. She would smile at him in passing and wave at him.

It was… nice, he had to admit.

——————————

Everyone treats me like a mouse, Because I’m small and quiet. But you smile and nod at me, And you make me feel inspired.

——————————

His mère and père had both sat him down, both of them smiling awkwardly as they tried to look reassuring. He knows that they love him, and they start the conversation off with that reassuring statement.

“We love you,” his père — tenor, gentle, and almost amused, yet awkward — stated, placing a hand over his. “And we will always support you, Marcie.”

“Marcille, is there anything you want to tell us?” his mère — alto, stiff, and even more awkward — abruptly prompted.

Frankly speaking, he felt that this was a bit… random. And sudden. Very sudden.

“What?” he blinked, feeling somewhat bewildered.

“Well… your mère and I, we realized that perhaps… we haven’t made it very clear,” his père wryly smiled. “You will always be our child, and we will always love and care about you. It’s okay if you like girls, too, or if you only like girls.”

“I still think you should wait until you’re older to be thinking about relationships,” his mère firmly stated, but her eyes soften as she looks at him. “But your father is correct. You’re allowed to like girls, too.”

“Um… sure,” he blinked, still feeling very much confused.

“The Dupain-Cheng’s daughter is very kind, and I’ve performed at many events they’ve catered to, in case you ever want to tag along and spend time with her at these events,” his père added, giving him what appeared to be a knowing look. “And just so we’re clear, your mère and I both approve.”

“Um… okay…?”

(It won’t be until years later, long after figuring out that he was a boy, that he realizes what his parents were implying during their little Reassurance Talk.)

——————————

I like the name Mars, And we never really talk. You’re always nearby her, Like a key and lock.

[The rest of the words are scribbled out.]

——————————

He’s not sure how he didn’t notice it sooner, as months pass on by. It’s only after he happens to see Marinette again in the park nearby the Dupain-Cheng bakery.

She’s talking to someone sitting beside her, her sketchbook in her lap as her eyes lit up like clear blue skies. And he can’t help but smile, raising his hand and just about to call out to her when he catches sight of dyed reddish-orange hair. Familiar reddish-orange hair.

Slowly, his hand falls to his side, and he stares at the duo sitting on the bench.

‘Oh,’ he thinks. He could see it clearly, the way Nathaniel looked at her with soft eyes and pink cheeks.

Nathaniel has a crush on Marinette, that was obvious.

She was amazing, after all.

He… doesn’t like that.

‘Oh.’

——————————

It doesn’t make sense, Marnie thought, face red as Nathan tugs her hand, pulling it up to give it a kiss. She stared, surprised by it all. He had no reason to speak to her — she didn’t personally know him, she didn’t know any of his friends, and—

“May I have this dance?” he asks, looking up at her with twinkling turquoise orbs.

—and, he sounded exactly like Nate, the commoner painter.

[The bottom half of the page has been ripped out.]

——————————

Marinette was one of the most amazing people Marc knows, so it comes to no surprise that she was popular and well-liked.

She was the sunshine after long days of rain, the rain after long days of drought. Her positivity was infectious, and her smiles were heart-warming. With such a vibrant and bright personality, how could Nathaniel not fall for her?

It wasn’t her fault that he was feeling this way.

Marc knew that.

Marinette wasn’t at fault for being so lovable and kind. It wasn’t her fault that Nathaniel’s eyes would always linger on her longer than anyone else. He shouldn’t blame her for having his attention because they were both just friends and Marc hardly even knows Nathaniel, much less spoke to him outside partnered classwork. It’s not her fault that he feels so jealous of her. It’s not her fault, and it’s not her fault that she doesn’t even know how lucky she is.

Even so, it does hurt. Marinette talks of finding true love, and her eyes will always trail over to Félix if he’s ever in the same vicinity. And then, that ugly and bitter feeling rises up and he has to bite his tongue.

Because it’s not her fault that Nathaniel likes her, and that she likes someone else.

Just as it’s not her fault that Marc likes Nathaniel.

So… that’s that.

(And it feels infinitely worse, because in the comfort of his room, as he writes in his journal, the truth is that he does blame her. He hates that she’s yearning for something more when Nathaniel is always there for her. It’s a comfort that at least she likes Félix, because then, he can allow himself to hope.

He’s not sure if he can bring himself to talk to her if she were to ever turn around and reciprocate Nathaniel’s feelings.)

——————————

With a smile as bright as the sun, You envelop me in warmth. Everything you do catches my eyes, like a brilliant star, high up from the north.

Your hair reminds me of autumn leaves, Steady, red to brown, brown to red. And your laughs are brilliant and bright, Oh, there are so many things better left unsaid.

——————————

“Are you ever going to tell him?” Marc asks her, one day, months after coming to terms that his feelings might never be returned and he’ll forever be stuck pining.

It’s a bit out of the blue, and Marc’s cheeks redden at the surprise on Marinette’s face as she stares at him in silence for a minute or two.

“Your crush, I mean,” he clarifies.

It was something of an open secret, really. Everyone in Méticuleuse and Fondamentaux knew that Marinette and Félix had something going on, but everyone held their breaths on it. He’s not sure if it’s because Bridgette Canh, one of the Quantic Kids, had a very obvious crush on Félix and was very much jealous of Marinette having his attention, or if Marinette wanted to feign ignorance because it would screw up the faction dynamics.

“What?” Marinette asked, almost dumbfounded that he would ask her that outright.

“I just… are you?” he hesitated. “Are you, um… ever going to tell him?”

“Why would I?” she asked, clearly confused by his question. Or maybe she was surprised that he even thought to ask. “He doesn’t even like me.”

Which, he admits, was most likely true. Félix never seemed to care about Marinette apart from business-type situations. From what he’s seen and heard of their interactions, Félix didn’t actually care about her, but he was nice to her for his benefit and/or to annoy Chloé.

Marc couldn’t even disagree to try and cheer her up on that.

“Oh! Are you planning on telling Nath, then?” Marinette asked curiously, eyes sparkling with interest and excitement. One of the things that came up in their past conversations was the topic of love. Marc was more interested in comic and heroes, but Marinette gets starry-eyed about soulmates and finding soulmates. She adored fairytales of princesses and princes, which doesn’t really come as a surprise.

“Wh-what?!” Was it obvious?

“Don’t worry, only me and Rose know — she was the one who noticed it,” she sheepishly explained, rubbing the back of her neck. “I wouldn’t have picked up on it if she hadn’t asked me about it a few weeks ago.”

That… was mortifying, Marc thought. It was a relief that nobody else seemed to know, at least. The fewer people who know, the better.

How did Rose figure it out, anyway? He’s never spoken to her, either!

“N-no, I don’t really… want to,” he weakly says, wincing as he remembers the countless times he’s caught Nathaniel looking at Marinette with blushing red cheeks. A confession from him to Nathaniel wouldn’t really bode well for him. Not right now, anyway.

She didn’t look too surprised, seeming to expect his answer to be what it is and accepting all of what it entails.

“For what it’s worth,” she softly said. “I hope that things will work out for you.”

“You too,” Marc quietly nodded, finding it really hard to look at her at this moment.

She really didn’t know, despite being really socially aware.

—————

Sometimes I hate you, I hate how I feel— I hate—why— Why can’t these feelings go away? Why did you have to be my friend?

[The rest of the page is harshly scribbled out.]

——————————

The only times that he ever meets Marinette outside school in the rare moments she hangs out with him are during events that her family happens to cater at.

One time in particular, it was a charity gala held by Chloé’s father, the Dupain-Cheng’s Patisserie were the caterers, and his father was a musician for the event. His mother was off to speak to a few of her clients and coworkers, and Marc was left to interact with the other few children at the event, most being people he recognized from school.

Félix was there, standing by his father’s side as he smiled politely at every person his father spoke to. Nathaniel was hanging out with Alix, Marinette, and Rose, looking rather awkward and out of place as Rose and Marinette seemed to have a rather animated conversation. Alix rolled her eyes, crossing her arms and practically glaring at the floor in a cutesy blue dress that matches her eyes, but nothing of her fiery personality.

Marc could understand how she felt — Alix in a dress was odd and out of place with what he knew of her. He didn’t care much for dresses, and he was fine wearing skirts, but his parents never had an issue with him wearing slacks and a blouse.

“Mars!”

It was still weird to know that Marinette of all people had given him a nickname, but it was infinitely better than Marcie as his parents so often use. He loves them, but sometimes he hates how girly his nicknames would get. Mars was nice, and it was more commonly used by their peers after Marinette started calling him that.

Marinette approached him in a cute pink dress with white lace lining the bottom of the skirt length and her sleeves, her hair braided and wrapped around her head, strands of hair framing her face.

“Hi,” he meekly responded, face heating up as Nathaniel glanced over in his direction.

“You look great,” Marinette smiled. “I love the blouse.”

“Y-you think…?” he nervously smiled. “I was a bit worried, since everyone always wear a dress…”

“Ugh, lucky!” Alix groaned. “If I could wear pants, I would.”

Marc stared at Alix, surprised that she would actually speak to him. In his momentary distraction, he didn’t realize that the girls had tagged along with Marinette and Nathaniel.

“W-why didn’t you?” he tilted his head.

“Cause the old hag’s here,” Alix huffed, jerking a finger at the group of socializing elderly.

“Alix,” Marinette huffed, almost disapprovingly.

“It’s true,” Alix wrinkled her nose. “I wish my dad was the one attending these events because he doesn’t care about me wearing dresses.”

“Alixandria, darling,” an old woman had called out, waving them over. “Come over here, won’t you?”

Alix had done a complete 180 — her posture straightened, no longer slouching, and a polite smile formed on her face despite the previous blatant displeasure as she turned around.

“Coming, grandmother,” Alix politely replied, walking over to the older folks to stand by her grandmother’s side. Alix was the very model of a polite granddaughter.

“Her grandma’s very traditional,” Rose giggled, surprising Marc as he whirled around to see the blonde dressed in a pink dress with a tulle skirt, rose embroideries were etched on the top. She had on a floral headband, her long blonde hair glimmering beneath the lights. “My name is Rose Lavillant! It’s nice to finally meet another friend of Marinette’s. I’ve heard so much about you! Would it be okay if I called you Mars, too?”

“Oh… um. Sure?”

Rose was very… vibrant. And friendly. She smiled a lot, she asked a lot of questions, nodding along to show she was still listening.

It was very overwhelming, more than when he first spoke to Marinette.

Rose eased up, eventually, seeming to notice his discomfort several minutes into their conversation. Almost as abruptly as she had appeared, she practically gushed as the song changes, eyes glimmering bright beneath the lights.

“Do you like to dance, Mars?” she asked.

“I’m… not much of a dancer,” he awkwardly admits.

���That’s a pity, but it’s okay,” Rose said, nodding in understanding, looking over to Marinette. “Are you in the mood for a dance, Nettie?”

Marinette looked amused for a moment as she smiled, “Sure, I could go for a dance.”

“Great!” Rose beamed, peering around Marinette to look at Nathaniel who was taking a sip of his drink. “Nath, this is Mars. Mars, meet our friend Nath. Marinette and I are gonna go dance now!”

And with that, Rose cheerfully takes Marinette’s hand, the two of them heading off towards the damn floor.

Nathaniel looked at Rose as if he were a deer in the headlights, slowly turning to look over to him in silence. Marc wasn’t sure if Rose was being nice, or if she wanted to make things awkward for him, or if she just genuinely didn’t realize what the situation she had just created for him.

They both stand there, awkward.

Neither of them say a word, and Marc watches the two dancing among others.

The night is a blur of sparkling lights with people sparkling just as bright. Dresses twirling, others laughing in fake tones amidst idle chatter, and the steady rhythm of the music. A glance to his side tells him more than enough, because Nathaniel stares at Marinette who was dressed like a princess straight from a fairytale.

When the duo returns from their dancing, Rose seems a bit disappointed and Marinette wryly smiles, yet she stays silent on the matter.

And Marc… feels very out of place here.

(In the end, nothing changes.)

——————————

“I think I love you,” Marnie admits in the night sky, beneath the bright moon and the twinkling stars.

“I love you, too,” Nathan said, grasping her hand and pulling her closer to him.

[The rest of the page is blank.]

——————————

Like seasons come and go, Marc’s feelings finally fade into a near unnoticeable simmer. His mother gets a promotion, so they move to a different school district, and he transfers to another private school where nobody knows him.

He still sees Marinette every once in a while at parties his parents play at, but none of the others except for Alix.

And then, Méticuleuse is disbanded.

And then… nothing.

He doesn’t hear much of it in the months after, he’s not even informed right away. Marinette acts the same as ever, with passion in her eyes and excitement over fashion. She still calls him a friend, and they still talk whenever they see one another, and he’s grateful for it.

It’s everyone else who acts differently, but he’s not sure why.

——————————

He figures out that he’s a boy. His parents don’t really understand it, but they still love and support him.

Marinette was still the same person she’s always been, even if everyone says that she’s so much more different. Maybe it was because he was now an outsider looking in, someone uninvolved ever since he stopped being a Notre Dame student.

From what he can see, Marinette is still vibrant, but only a bit more subdued. He thinks that maybe she would be happier if she was still a faction leader, but he bites his tongue, because she lights up when she talks about finding her prince charming and the world is a little more colourful from how she blooms. She wants to fall in love with a guy who treats her kindly, a boy who completes her — whatever that means.

But sometimes, sometimes it’s hard for him to talk to her. To understand her. Because she asks him if he still likes Nathaniel and he will smile, and she’ll look at him as if he’s hiding things from her. She hates liars, but she won’t confirm or deny if she knows it.

He doesn’t tell her that Nathaniel still likes her, in the instances he catches a glimpse of them whenever he does.

So, he tells her: not anymore.

(It feels like a lie.)

——————————

Everything is complicated. Am I a bad friend for saying nothing? I don’t like him anymore, but saying that I don’t feels like such a lie. I hate this.

Am I lying? I don’t think I am.

Why am I like this?

——————————

Collège Françoise Dupont is his next school when he moves onto sixième. It was the best collège in the school district, and it was right across from the Dupain-Cheng bakery.

Seeing everyone again was… very jarring. It was almost as if Le Jardin never existed, as Marinette opted for being a loner than anything else due to Chloé’s tyrannical tendencies. Nino and Nathaniel seemed more withdrawn, Alix was more uncaring and indifferent, and Rose kept to herself with Juleka always at her side.

Fortunately, he’s able to avoid all of that by being in a separate class.

He’s in the same class as Claude Sainté-Pierre, his class president, who was more known as Félix’s second-in-charge. It was a strange normality, with Claude who was open like clear blue skies and as cheerful as sunshine — his outgoing nature was very overwhelming.

But, even more surprisingly, is Bridgette Canh.

Oftentimes, she’ll poke her head into the classroom once school lets out, donning a uniform that belonged to a more specialized private school, with her now longer hair tied up in braids. Her school lets out a half hour earlier than Dupont, and she deliberately goes out of her way to wait for Claude just so they could walk home together. As months pass, they start holding hands together when they walk home, with bright smiles and red cheeks.

(From a distance, it’s easy to mistake Bridgette’s silhouette for Marinette’s, and thankfully, the braids and uniform made it obvious who was who without a second thought.)

Everyone always assumed that Bridgette and Félix would end up together.

But they didn’t.

Instead, Bridgette moved on.

Still, two of the friendliest people, with a sunny disposition? Two halves of the same coin placed together, with similar views and values? Maybe that was why, when Marinette talks to him about Adrien, about how he’s kind and sweet and open-minded, he thinks that maybe she’ll be happy like how she’s always wanted to be.

——————————

Being a victim of Papillon is worse than what he expected.

Marinette apologizing in the aftermath is… well, he’s not okay, but she’s still one of his only friends. He was mortified and humiliated, and it broke his heart to have Nathaniel react that way to his work — he’ll never be able to forget that experience.

Nathaniel apologizing? That helped, but he still can’t stop thinking that their comic collaboration was a pitying gesture. Did Nathaniel actually enjoy working together with him? Was he actually having fun brainstorming ideas and comic book plots? Or was it all Marc’s imagination, for thinking that Nathaniel would ever want any part of Marc’s life?

His therapist suggests he continues writing out his thoughts. They say that perhaps if he spent more time with Nathaniel, he would be able to have a better understanding of him as a person rather than someone he’s placed on a pedestal for so long.

And he… doesn’t really know what he wants anymore.

——————————

I’m not sure what to feel. I’m happy that I became friends with Nathaniel through this, but I still wish that there could’ve been another way to go about this then what Marinette did. I know that she’s apologized, and that it wasn’t entirely her fault since Nathaniel had a misunderstanding.

Am I petty for still being just a little upset…?

——————————

Alix Kubdel was always a friend of a friend — Marinette and Nathaniel’s friend, but not his. That’s not to say that they almost never talk to each other, but some part of him will never feel comfortable with her.

“Are you ever going to tell them?”

Marc flinched at the question, whirling around to stare at Alix with wide eyes. They were both inside the art clubroom; Alix shaking a spray paint can in front of a large canvas, and him waiting for Nathaniel to show up.

“T-tell who—what—uh,” Marc stammered.

“Marc,” Alix shot him a flat look. “I know.”

“…oh.” Well, that’s mortifying.

“Not that there’s anything wrong with that,” Alix awkwardly stated, quickly backtracking. “I mean, I personally don’t get it, but it’s whatever. You do you and all that.”

“…”

“Look, we may not be friends, but we’re both friends with Marinette and Nathaniel,” Alix continued nonchalantly. “Now, I’m not Rose, but I’d like to think that I’m pretty decent at reading people. Are you worried about your friendship with them, if you confessed?”

He doesn’t say anything, looking away from her. Silence was enough of an answer.

“For what it’s worth, nobody’s gonna judge you,” Alix said, trying to be reassuring. “Nath would understand; hell, I think we all do. I’d probably be down to date Marinette too, if I didn’t think dating was a hassle and annoying.”

“What?” Marc blinked, dumbfounded. What’d she just say?

“If she doesn’t feel the same, she’ll at least let you down easy and still treat you like a friend; Nath and Nino would understand and they would be better to talk to about that since they both had a crush on her before. I know that she’s obsessed with Adrien right now, but I bet if you made her aware of your feelings, it might make her stop to think it over.”

“You… you think I want to date Marinette…?”

“I mean, practically half the people in Méticuleuse do,” Alix shrugged. “No shame in that. Apparently, a lot of girls figured out that they were either bisexual or just really into girls cause of Marinette, y’know? Oh, but Juleka and Rose aren’t a part of that, though, but that’s a whole other story.”

“Alix, I don’t like Marinette like that,” Marc covered his face.

“What? No way,” Alix blinked, looking at him with confusion written all over their face. “You really mean that there’s nothing going on between you two? Not even a little bit?”

“No, she’s just a friend.” Part of him didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He thought it was mortifying, but now he’s just not sure what to think. If Alix thought something was going on, then did that mean everyone else thought so too? “I like redheads more.”

At his admittance, Alix seemed to be going through quite a range of emotions. At first she stared at him, a bit stumped, a bit confused. Gradually, it shifted to confusion, a raised brow and a questioning tilt of her head. Something analytical, observing him as if he had the answer written plainly on his face, before her nose scrunches up. Clearly, she reached a conclusion that she didn’t like much, but then, a thoughtful look of consideration popped up.

She taps her chin, “Uh… redheads? Are we talking about genuine redheads? Maybe with, like… glasses, goggles, or something?”

Marc tries to shove away the image of Nathaniel in glasses.

What was this? What has his life turned to?

“…do I have to answer?”

“Uh, no, scratch that, I don’t actually want to know,” Alix wryly stated. “Uh… does Marinette know? About this whole… thing,” she gestured to… all of him, basically, which. Great. He was really feeling the support here.

Not.

“Because I’m not gonna lie,” Alix continued, after a moment of silence. “It’s a bit unexpected for a crush. Not that there’s anything wrong with it.”

“Yes. She knows,” he gritted his teeth, his face burning from the mortification. He was lucky that Papillon already victimized someone earlier that day, otherwise Marc might be well on his way to being one of the emotionally embarrassing victims at this rate. He really wasn’t in the mood for having his feelings out on display for the news and the Ladyblog’s audience.

“And she uh, she thinks it’s a good idea?”

He shot her a withering look, to which Alix immediately puts her hands up to try to wordlessly placate him, which personally feels very mocking at this moment.

“No judgment,” Alix slowly said, like a complete liar. “I thought maybe you’d be more into someone more… artsy…” she mumbled, more to herself than anything. “Which was why I thought it was Marinette.”

“They’re plenty artsy,” he shot back, feeling offended that Alix thought that of Nathaniel.

“What? No way,” Alix paused. “Actually, maybe? I don’t know, Marc…” she gave him what seemed to be a pitying glance. “Ondine and Kim have been dating for a while now… I don’t think they’d be open to polyamory, but I guess there’s always a possibility, but still…”

“Ondine? You think I like Ondine?” Marc asked, eyes wide. How could she think that?

“No judgment,” Alix quickly reiterated.

“Alix, please, I’m gay,” Marc groaned, covering his face once again as he slumps over in his seat, willing the table to just end him here and now. “Now can we please stop talking about this?”

“Stop talking about what?” Nathaniel asked, walking into the classroom at that exact moment.

“Marc’s just embarrassed because I keep teasing him,” Alix shrugged, looking back at the blank canvas as they resumed shaking the spray paint can. “Remember Claude? He’s the class prez for Mendeliev’s class.”

That was a quick excuse. No wonder Marinette tasked her with distraction back in their faction days. She didn’t have to lie, but Marc was thankful nevertheless.

“Sainté-Pierre?” Nathaniel raised a brow, looking back and forth between him and Alix. Marc refused to lift his head off the table.

“The one and only,” Alix nodded, sounding incredibly bored. “Hang on a sec, gotta open the windows before I start painting, otherwise Monsieur Lumiere’s gonna ban the spray paint again,” she muttered, quickly getting up to slam the windows open. “Anyway, Marc and I were talking about Claude and Bridgette. We both thought Claude totally had the hots for Félix.”

Well, he didn’t, but now that Alix brought it up, maybe that was why he was so surprised about Claude and Bridgette?

He looked up at her, and Alix simply raised a brow at him.

“Anyway, he was getting embarrassed because of a little hand holding between Claude and Bridge,” Alix stuck her tongue out at him, and Marc groaned, letting his head hit the table once again. He can’t really refute it, otherwise the lie would get unraveled “They’re both so lovey-dovey and clingy with each other. I’m happy for them, but it’s a little cringey.”

“I-it’s not cringey, it’s romantic!” Marc grumbled out in a protest.

“Right…” Alix drawled, looking at him skeptically. “You’re better off having that kinda conversation with Rose.”

“Hmm,” Nathaniel hummed in thought. “Personally, I agree with Marc. It’s cute how they always gravitate towards each other, but Claude was super close to Félix.”

“Sure, whatever,” Alix waved her hand dismissively. “Anyways…”

And just like that, the conversation moves on.

It’s only hours later, when the sun begins to set and Alix had left ages ago. They leave when Monsieur Lumiere comes by to lock up his classroom, and by then there’s barely anyone in the school. He could hear the sporty students cheering in the distance, see a few students leaving the library.

Walking side by side with Nathaniel, he finds himself eyeing the distance between their hands. If he reached out, their fingers would brush against the other…

…how would Nathaniel react?

[erigold13261]

Hmm do you think Shoko would have entity versions of its loved ones around after they start to die? (Be it ghost pokemon like entities or Rika-style entities)

Probably not, no.

Especially after it gets turned into a ghost elemental, it doesn't have enough passion to turn others into entities with it's love or hate similar to how Rika and Yuta did (even though they made entirely new entities instead of cursing each other with their love).

I mean, I guess they could become ghost pokemon actually, as I do love the idea that the only real way a human can be turned into an entity is by becoming a ghost pokemon (which can then be reborn into a different pokemon if it died, but probably only if it has a second typing, so that is an explanation for another day).

So no to the Rika-style entity from Shoko, but possibly a pokemon ghost entity is something that could happen. Though the entity born from the life of a human don't really connect other than small memories or snippets of the past coming into their mind, so it would be difficult for a pokemon entity to really connect back to its past life.

That being said, this is just my knee-jerk reaction to this ask. I don't really want to bring over too many characters of the past into the future era with Shoko, Mana, Steven, and Luna. I kinda want to try and make a different but connected story.

Also the fact I want some characters who die to stay dead and have their death have an impact on the story and the characters in it.

Though, if you really wanted, I can see Satoru or Suguru doing the Rika-style entity creation when the other dies. So Satoru making a Suguru entity after Suguru dies, or the other way around with Suguru making a Satoru entity, which now Shoko will most likely have to deal with because by that time whichever one of the two is alive should be old (as I want them to live a fairly long life).

Kinda thinking of Suguru being the one who dies first and an entity is created of him considering he has a LOT more people who love him unconditionally (Satoru, Nanako, Mimiko, Kiw1, Ber1, probably some other characters who have just a higher love for Suguru than Satory who has more people but also those people don't have as much love for blue as these ones do for Suguru. Which isn't to say Satoru isn't loved, blue is, but I like the thought of Suguru having more love overall for him than Satoru lol).

[shirogane-oushirou]

🩷,💌, and 🎁 for the emoji asks? :D

tysm caitie for the ask!!! ☺✨💕

gonna go for a change of pace and talk about my main man oushirou, my beloved freak of almost 15 years. gives him a little kissy. mwah.

🩷 for a headcanon about f/o.

the desire to seem non-threatening is what got him to start experimenting with things like his looks and his weird-funny-guy personality... then he crossdressed for the Funnies once and realized it was fun, actually... then he started being a little more flamboyant because it came naturally to him... and this was all in the gender-rigid environment of the all-boys-except-tsukiko seigetsu academy.

so as soon as he graduates to go to college, get an internship, enter the journalism field, travel all over the world... he realizes how even HIS view of the limits of expression are... well... limited. he feels more free to try new things, wear bold patterns, paint his nails, do his hair in even more interesting styles. as he learns new languages he also learns all new ways to describe gender and expression and sexuality. in the end, he realizes doesn't really need defined labels; he's simply oushirou, and he's going to look beautiful and handsome and charming and sexy and flirty for anyone and everyone who's willing to give him their time.

when he shows up at the 10 year seigetsu reunion, wearing a zebra stripe suit with polkadot tie, red aviators, black nails, and an intricately styled hair-do, it catches everyone a little off guard... but they quickly lean into the bold changes when they see just how much more comfortable and self-assured he seems.

(tl;dr: i hc him as genderqueer and pansexual lol. and he has a VERY nonbiney fashion sense ksjnkjnsf which is canon but like. they didn't INTEND for it to be typical nonbinary fashion, they just wanted him to be a little weirdo man. no, sorry, i'm The Oushirou Guy (tm) and i declare he's Gender.)

💌 for a snippet of a conversation we had.

(ngl i'm extremely brain empty, so i'm actually going repurpose and rewrite part of a prompt i did in... uh... 2012????? jfc i'm a selfshipping grandpa.)

“Kehe! What, are you afraid to show a bit of leg, sweetheart? You know I’ve already seen them before right?”

The door closes, and the red-head strides over to the bed and, with a grunt, plops himself down where Ro’s feet end under the covers.

“Doesn’t mean you just get to see 'em for free, you know! B'sides, if I ran around half-naked all the time I don't think it'd stay entertaining for long.”

“Oh, you doubt the power of a true pervert? Kuhihi~”

He begins to move, and Ro closes their eyes and tenses, preparing for the usual onslaught of wriggling fingers and wet, sloppy, gross kisses...

The weight on the bed shifts, and two warm arms wrap around their waist.

A quick kiss at the corner of their eye.

“…Did you get a lot of work done?”

Their shoulders relax, and a sigh escapes them as they look up into his face, much closer now than it was before. “Enough…I guess. It’s hard to say at this point.” The work of a freelancer is never done, after all.

“So then,” his hands slowly, gently travel up and down their arms, “how about a nice, relaxing, eight-to-ten-hour sleep break with me, hmm?” He moves his head to the crook of their neck, nuzzling into it. Ro brings one hand to his long hair and begins running their fingers through, the other rubbing his shoulders and back. “Just you, me, and this big ol’ comfy bed. Ah, and your pants-less legs, of course~!” He grins against their neck.

“As long as you don’t look at them, mister.”

“Oh c'mooooon, don’t pull the ‘mister’ thing on me right before bed! It makes me feel so oooold and formal. You’re so mean, sir.” He looks up from his comfortable neck-crook long enough to wipe a fake tear from his eye and pout at their serious face.

A few seconds pass, the two staring intensely at each other, before Ro huffs and breaks into a small smile. They lean forward and give Oushirou a light peck on the lips, and as they lean back to lie on the bed, his lips eagerly follow theirs, wanting more.

🎁 for a gift f/o has given s/i (or vice versa).

he travels all the time, all over the world, so he tries to bring back little trinkets from all of the places he's been. just tiny painted keepsakes. i keep them displayed on a shelf as a reminder of just how much he's been able to do, how far he's been able to go, and how many people he's met.

and while bringing back cooked food with him would be... difficult, he does sometimes bring back interesting recipes from those who are willing to share. when we meet up again, he buys some ingredients, borrows the kitchen, and cooks something to allow me to experience a small taste of the places he went to.

[kittymsmithwritesstuff]

1, 7, and 23 :3

1. Describe your comfort zone—a typical you-fic.

Hmm comfort zone is probably intimate, deep conversational type pieces and off-screen type content. I've always loved the soft, quiet moments between the action in a show/book/game, etc. I feel that's where you find out the most about characters and they're usually the most fun to write. It's a break from the conflict, and I've never been very good with conflict so it's definitely my comfort zone lol.

7. Share a snippet from one of your favorite pieces of prose you’ve written and explain why you’re proud of it.

I Am as Human as You (moicy) Chapter 19:

Moira kept laughing, like a thundering cloud, like a woman mad, like someone who had held the sun in their hands, kissed it, and landed safely on Earth. That’s what she made Angela feel like when she fell to her elbows on top of her and kissed her, like the sun. Like the moon and the rain and every significant, ceaseless thing in the universe.

I'll admit I loved this when I wrote it and still do. I read I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson back when I graduated high school and I've really admired her writing ever since, and this was one of the few times I felt I kind of got her vibe and, I dunno, that was something that made me happy.

Also, I always feel like I have trouble getting the full feeling of a scene across. Show, don't tell and all that, but I always feel like I'm feeling more about the importance of the scene than I'm able to write down. The word choice and cadence or whatever you want to call it with this piece I just...really jive with, feel like I got the depth of feeling across I wanted. And I guess it's kinda poetic and I like that? IDK.

23. If you were to revise one of your older fics from start to finish, which would it be and why?

My instinct is an old Frozen fanfic that was about 70k words and finished. I wrote it when I was about 15 and it got REALLY popular. I still get 500 or so views a month on it and I finished it in mid 2014 and it is still the most popular by the numbers thing I've ever written.

I'm proud of 15 year old me, but I did re-read it recently and tbh it is pretty good for something I had literally no outline for and just kept the 'outline' in my head but nowadays I feel I could do so much more with it. I had some OC's I still like and I could smooth out the plot and keep the characters more in character and all that. I just think it would be interesting to see the then vs. now on something that was so significant when I was younger.

Questionnaire thing: https://www.tumblr.com/kittymsmithwritesstuff/724011744410943488/40-questions-meme-for-fic-writers?source=share

[themerrypanda]

2022 Fanfic Review

(I was a little busy with the last few weeks of the year. Better late than never lol)

Number of stories posted (to AO3): 29 (plus 4 Stardew Valley fics since last year)

Published word count: All time: 239,748. Year 2022: 43,460. (Another 3,952 words can be added to both for fics published exclusively to Discord for now.)

2022 fic-writing goal: Publish at least ten more chapters of Rusalka before 2023.

Met?  No, but eight out of ten chapters published isn’t too bad.

Fandoms written for this year: Stardew Valley and Fire Emblem: Three Houses (no big surprise).

First fandom ever written for: Darkwing Duck, written over ten years ago and before I knew it had a fandom.

How many kudos total received this year: 180 (565 from 2021, 292 from 2020, and 157 from 2019, a total of 1,194 since starting in 2019).

Work with the most hits: Rusalka (FE3H) with 3,493 hits and Dinner Date (Stardew Valley) with 2,181 hits.

Work with the most comments: Rusalka (FE3H) with 41 comments, followed by I Was Your Man (Stardew Valley) with 8.

Most popular stories (this should be top five by kudos/likes, but to cover a work written this year, AO3′s top five, and the top five Stardew fics (across both sites), it’s a top eight this year):

That Summer, That Night (Stardew Valley) with 88 kudos and 139 likes.

Always. For All Time. (Loki TV Show) with 157 kudos.

Luau Mayhem (Stardew Valley) with 49 kudos and 82 likes.

Dinner Date (Stardew Valley) with 107 AO3 kudos and 20 Tumblr likes.

Rusalka (FE3H) with 96 AO3 kudos and 7 Tumblr-snippet likes.

Dearest Companion (FE3H) with 91 kudos and 8 likes.

I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues (Stardew Valley) with 22 kudos and 70 likes.

Home (Stardew Valley) with 28 kudos and 61 likes.

Quickest work to write: I Was Your Man (Stardew Valley), probably four days for writing and editing.

Longest work to write: Rusalka (FE3H), 29 months and counting lol.

Longest work of the year: Rusalka (FE3H) even with just the 35k words published this year, followed by As Ships Sailing Past At Night (Stardew Valley) at 3.8k words.

Shortest work of the year: I Was Your Man (Stardew Valley) at 1.5k words. From all time: Our Friend Linus (Stardew Valley) at 666 words. Of FE3H’s all time: Until The Bitter End at 1.8k words.

Work I am most proud of (regardless of hits/kudos): I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues (Stardew Valley) and Rusalka (FE3H).

Work with more feedback than expected: I Was Your Man (Stardew Valley). It turns out, lots of people like a girlboss-Marnie and Lewis-getting-what-he-deserves fic.

Pairing written the most for this year: Ferdinand/Dorothea (FE3H) and Harvey / a farmer OC (Stardew Valley). No new pairings this year beyond a brief Marnie/Marlon (Stardew Valley).

Favorite pairing written for this year: To my surprise, Seteth/Manuela (FE3H).

A pairing I wish to explore next year: Sebastian/Abigail and Harvey/my OC Kim (Stardew Valley), followed by Claude/Hilda (FE3H) if by some miracle I get around to it. Honorary mention to Twilight/Yor (Spy X Family) which I adore, but might not write.

Number of WIPs in docs for next year: At least five.

Rusalka (FE3H)

Thirteen Meetings (FE3H)

That Summer That Night Chapters 5-6 (Stardew Valley)

When You Come Back To Me Again (Stardew Valley)

Harvey/OC Kim story (Stardew Valley)

Favorite character to write this year: Hmm... Maru? (Stardew Valley). Ferdinand (FE3H) has been fun too.

Character who gave the most trouble in writing this year: Any characters in my years-old unpublished WIPs lol, so primarily Kim (Stardew Valley OC) and Ignatz (FE3H).

Any collaborative works this year: No. I haven’t ever co-written a fic before.

Written any gifts this year: Two gifts for Stardew Valley, each Harvey and Farmer OC fics. The farmers are word-ghost’s Peach and elleasinwoods’s Elle.

Received any gifts this year: One art and one fic (yet to be publicly published), both for Stardew Valley.

Most common category: Gen (19), followed by F/M (11). Lots of overlap erring into Gen.

Most common “Additional Tags” tag: Platonic Relationships (occasionally followed by can be romantic). It’s a low number though.

Ever written a crossover: The closest you get is video game characters (Stardew Valley’s Maru and Sebastian) in one game experiencing another video game together (Subnautica).

Ever received hate on a fic: Nothing with great vitriol. I’ve had occasional corrections when I mistakenly used an incorrect tag or an opinion on how I should have worded an idea, but nothing rude.

Ever had a fic stolen or translated: No and no. I’d faint from shock the day someone asks to translate a fic of mine into another language.

What I listen to while writing: Nothing; I prefer quiet and isolation. Sometimes I listen to music before I write to get in the mood, but usually I find music distracting.

Artists’ songs used most (if any at all): I don’t often use song lyrics, but I did use three this year; a couple chapter titles from musicals, one short fic title from Elton John, and another short fic title from Bruno Mars.

Own work I reread the most: Rusalka (FE3H). I reread and edited earlier chapters for polishing up and the sake of getting a word count of 69,420 after publishing Chapter 16.

Favorite fic written this year: Yes??? I love all five!

Favorite title used: I Was Your Man

Favorite line/passage written this year:

I Was Your Man (Stardew Valley): ‘ “Do you, Marina Cabrera Armenta, take Marlon Ward, to be your lawfully wedded husband?” Marnie didn’t even pause to glance to see him in the crowd. Her eyes were only for Marlon. Without hesitation, she said yes. “By the power vested in me as Pelican Town’s former mayor by the Ferngill Republic, I hereby declare you, Marlon, and you, Marina, husband and wife. Dear nephew… kiss your bride already.” The others in town laughed and cheered as Marnie removed her veil and Marlon brought a hand to her cheek and they kissed tenderly. Marnie never looked so happy. This Marnie was not the one he had known, but had he ever really known her at all? And now Lewis has his whole empty retirement to ponder this. ’

Honorary mention to a Rusalka (FE3H) excerpt published this year, but first drafted in 2021: ‘ Ferdinand craned his neck to better look at her face. There was only a trace of the tears that dried on her cheek. Again, his heart ached. That is enough, he chided himself. He must not fall under the delusion that someday Dorothea may grow to love him back. The woman under his arm is not one falling in love with him. No; this was a dear friend who is simply tired, tired of facing the great challenges life relentlessly gave her. A dear friend of whom he could only dream of being more than a friend. His own feelings were not worth compromising what has slowly become a wonderful friendship. She may never return his affection, and he already learned to accept that fact. The memory of her like this would forever haunt him, like a shadow burned into his side, but that did not matter. What is most important is that she feels comforted and safe. Ferdinand shifted ever so slightly in his seat, to make himself more comfortable. He managed to resist the urge to kiss her forehead, but chanced on brushing some strands of hair from her face, gently tucking it behind her ear. Dorothea exhaled deeply, and the ghost of a smile crossed her beautiful face. Who knew that a heart could feel so heavy and yet so light at the same time? With a puff of smoke, the candle beside them went out, casting them into darkness. Ferdinand closed his eyes, and allowed himself to drift to sleep. Come what may, he would protect the queen who many years ago won his heart. ’

Biggest surprise while writing this year: I hadn’t been too greatly attached to Manuela’s character when I first started writing Rusalka, but even with the little excerpts this year building up to a bigger moment yet to be published... dang. She has excellent angst potential.

Top scenes from anywhere you would choose to have illustrated(TM): I listed two last year. The Stardew Valley one came true in the form of a gift art. The other is a now published scene of Rusalka (Chapter 16) of Ferdithea dancing together at a masquerade ball.

Story I haven’t written yet, but intend to: For Stardew Valley, a Hallmark-esque Sebastian and Abigail story in which years later for a Winter Star, Abigail returns to Pelican Town from Grampleton divorced and with a son and reconnects with Sebastian, who had moved to Zuzu City and is visiting his family for the first time in years and just after a nasty breakup.

Writing strengths: I tend to apply grammar rules correctly on the first draft. I also enjoy doing research for my writing, and I like to think it shows in my stories if you’re looking for it. Character details briefly mentioned in its canon? Referenced. Character from a culture I am less familiar with? Culture researched so I get a better idea of the character’s upbringing and how it affects their personality and thought processes. Affliction I haven’t dealt with personally? I research the symptoms from a scientific standpoint as well as testimonies from fictional and real life people.

Writing weaknesses: I like to be as canon compliant as possible. If a story has not yet ended, then it is difficult to write my own ending. At best I can think of a scene that could plausibly take place with what has been established in mind. (Sorry Twiyor!)  Also, I err on being overly concise with my prose and occasionally mixing up verb tenses.

Fic-writing goal for 2023: Finish Rusalka (another ten or eleven chapters). For every Rusalka chapter not published in 2023, write and publish another short-story or a chapter of a new story from any fandom.

[fernweh-writes]

You could ask my question, if possible, of course. With the Slachers (Michael, Jason, Brahms, Vincent and Bo) with her beloved looking innocent and even angelic, but she is extremely jealous and possessive when a victim or survivor flirts with her slachers to the point of saying something in context: " he is mine !!" (while the reader embraces Slachers). What would be the reaction of the slachers, about the corpotamento of his beloved?

I don’t write for Jason, sorry but I can definitely do the rest. Since I don’t write for many slashers, with requests like this one I usually do a little snippet for all of the slashers I do write for. But I like this idea a lot so without further ado…

P.S. this took me so much longer than I expected, I definitely got a little invested in these lol. I left out Thomas and Jesse but I may go back and add them at a later time idk yet.

-Fern🌿

Slashers x Possessive S/O

Michael Meyers

Your innocent and kind nature would be one of the things that made Michael interested in you. You were the first person to take the time to actually figure him out rather than checking him off as Evil™️ and treating him as such. He also likes the fact that he can easily make you flustered, it feeds his need for control. Knowing that he can simply press himself against you and leave you blushing both pleases and amuses him.

We all know that Michael is very possessive. He often stalks you while you’re at work or out in town running errands. At this point, it’s no longer because he feels the need to be predatory, he’s just making sure that what’s his is safe from any harm.

One night you had decided to go out with a few friends, which Michael wasn’t very excited about, but eventually he allowed it. It was one of those busy clubs/bars that had opened recently, so of course the place was crowded. This left Michael with no choice but to ditch the mask while he followed you, another thing he wasn’t happy about.

He ended up sitting on the other side of the place by himself with his eyes glued to you. He didn’t like you being around so many people. Michael was so focused on watching you that he had barely even noticed the woman walk up and make herself cozy in the seat opposite of him. Now his attention was on her while she grinned at him like the Cheshire Cat, pushing her cleavage together to make it more apparent in her already low cut dress.

Michael could’ve sworn that you had teleported, after all he had only take his eyes off of you for a second. Now you had your arms wrapped around him with your head resting on his neck. “Can we help you,” you asked the girl in front of you. Michael had never heard your voice sound so cold.

The girl began to twirl her hair, not deterred by the fact that you were running your hands over Michael. “I was just wondering what such a handsome man was doing here all by himself,” she purred. She attempted to reach forward and grab his hand but you were quick to smack it away before Michael could even move.

“He’s not here by himself he’s with me. And if I were you I would keep your hands to yourself and away from what’s mine.” After you said that it didn’t take long for Michael to drag you back home. To him it was your way of saying that you were in fact a permanent part of Michaels life. Plus you threatening someone when you’re usually so polite was a change of pace that left Michael wanting. You can definitely expect the girl to turn up missing on the news soon after that night as well.

Brahms Heelshire

Brahms adored your innocence and kindness. You never hesitated to follow the rules and care for him, which is why he kept you around. After all he needs a nanny that is actually going to take care of him. Brahms also had an easy time revealing himself to you since after the initial shock of it all you were delighted to find out you weren’t being haunted and that you weren’t in a huge countryside mansion all by yourself.

Seeing as Brahms is a major introvert and goes absolutely feral if there’s someone new in his house that he hasn’t allowed you usually have nothing to worry about. However, suppose something happens where Malcolm has to leave for a few weeks, meaning that a new girl is assigned to deliver the groceries until Malcolm returns.

You were in the kitchen chopping up ingredients for lunch when she arrived for the first time. You had to admit that she was pretty, she was tall and athletic looking with perfect curls. It was hard for you to not notice that she was blonde, Brahms had a thing for blondes…

“So Malcolm told me that Brahms isn’t dead or a ghost, is that right?” You didn’t like the fact Malcolm had told this random girl about Brahms but you muttered in agreement anyways. She helped you put up the rest of the groceries in silence, not speaking again until she had opened the door to leave. “So is he hot? Usually people with this much money that aren’t old are always hot. If he is I might just have to stick around for a little while longer.”

That struck a nerve. “He’s not available,” you said sharply and she faltered. “What do you mean?” It was easy to tell she hadn’t expected that kind of answer, much less the attitude you had suddenly adopted. “He isn’t single. So although he is hot, trust me, I would know, you can’t have him. He’s mine.” She quickly apologized and left, slamming the door shut behind her. You could also hear Brahms moving around in the walls nearby, letting you know he must have heard everything.

Shortly after you found Brahms wrapped around you while you finished making lunch. “So now I’m yours hmm?” You could hear the amusement in his voice. You turned and wrapped your arms around him, pulling him in for a kiss, one hand finding it’s way into his hair. After pulling away you told him, “You’ve always been mine Brahmsy. My good boy.” He let out a small whine at your praise, pulling you back in for another kiss.

Vincent Sinclair

You were Vincent’s muse. He absolutely adored you from the way you acted to the way you looked. To him there was no aspect of you that wasn’t perfect. In other words he was absolutely obsessed with you. After all, you did take care of him and even helped Bo keep Ambrose up and running.

It’s no secret that Vincent was shy, but he was definitely intimidating as well. So you knew that the girl in front of him that was doing a terrible job of flirting was only doing so in a poor attempt to make it out alive. Still, watching her twirl her hair and smile at him made something inside of you snap.

“Come on handsome, you got to want some kind of company. I’m sure you’re so lonely here all by yourself… I could help with that.” She attempted to touch his chest but you grabbed her before she could. “Sorry,” you told her as you held both of her arms behind her back, “he already has someone keeping his bed warm. Didn’t your mother ever to tell you not to touch things that belong to other people?”

Vincent made quick work of knocking the girl out and carrying her down to the workshop. However, after dwelling on the thought he decided to just let Lester dispose of her body. He didn’t want to make you angry by turning her into a permanent wax figure for the town. Doesn’t mean that he won’t allow her to regain consciousness before killing her though, after all she needs to know her place.

Later on Vincent will make sure you never forget that he is yours the same way that you’re his. You can probably expect to have some trouble moving around the next day as well.

Bo Sinclair

Everyone knows that Bo is a major flirt. He enjoys watching the girls throw themselves at him, he just blames it on his “southern charm.” Although, he usually keeps you safely tucked up into the house whenever victims stumble into town. After all, “I can’t have my sweet angel in harms way now, can I?”

You never dwelled on how Bo dealt with victims, that was his business. Sure he had flirted with you a lot when you first showed up. Even now he was heavy on flirting and making inappropriate comments all the time. It was one of the things that made him Bo after all. So walking into his shop unaware of the newest batch of victims in town was a shock for you. Well not so much the victim part, it was finding Bo flirting with the girl leaning over the counter to display her cleavage that pissed you off.

She was smiling and blushing like she had a high school crush on the man in front of her. Not to mention Bo was unashamedly staring at everything she was flaunting. So yeah you were pissed, especially since he didn’t even seem to notice you were there. You quickly remembered the lunch you were holding in your hand, your reason for coming down here, and decided to use it to your advantage.

Instead of saying anything you just walked up behind him, setting his lunch on the counter right in front of the girl, effectively blocking his view of her boobs before wrapping your arms around him. Bo still didn’t shut up and acknowledge you so you decided to interrupt. “I brought you lunch baby.” The use of a pet name quickly made the girl Bo was flirting with falter.

“Oh, uhm, is this your girlfriend or something?” Before Bo could jump in you answered her. “Or something, I guess you could say. After all, he is my husband.” You looked up at Bo with the most lovesick expression you could put on your face as you pulled him in for a kiss. One kiss turned to two, to three, to a whole make out session in front of the poor girl. Bo’s hands began to roam around your body as well, making sure to squeeze all of his favorite parts of you.

When the two of you broke apart the girl was gone but Bo didn’t seem to notice. He was still to busy feeling you up. “Have I ever told you how fuckin’ sexy you are when you’re jealous? I’d never have guessed you had a possessive side to you angel.” You smiled knowing you now had his full attention, “Well surprise.”

He kissed you one more time, long and hard. “I promise we’ll continue this later up at the house. But right now I gotta go find that bitch n’ kill ‘er. You better be waitin’ on me when I get home darlin’.”

Billy Loomis

Billy was highly sought after by many girls due to his bad boy reputation. He always had girls throwing themselves at him wanting to be the one to fix him. You knew you didn’t have to worry, Billy wouldn’t leave you for someone else. He made it very clear that you were permanent. But still you couldn’t help but be irritated when they would flirt with him right in front of you.

You two were planning a movie night which meant a trip down to the video store. Apparently, Randy had the night off because some new girl was behind the counter. When the two of you first arrived she had been reading a magazine, not caring about the handful of people milling about. That was until she noticed Billy, not seeming to care that you were wrapped around his arm. She was watching him like a hawk.

You shifted uncomfortably, not liking the way she was staring down your boyfriend. Billy was observant and quickly noticed your discomfort. “Don’t worry about her babe, you know you’re the only person I’m into.” He wrapped his arm around your shoulders and pulled you into him, “Now, do you want to watch Friday the 13th or Nightmare on Elm Street?” You groaned, “Billy we’ve seen both of those movies a million times.” He smiled and held up Nightmare on Elm Street, “Well now we can watch this one and make it one million and one times.”

You rolled your eyes as he drug you to the checkout counter. The employee quickly perked up when she noticed Billy. “Will this be all for you hun?” She asked completely ignoring you. She didn’t even look down at what movie Billy had set on the counter before saying, “You have good taste, this is like one of my favorite movies ever. It’s a shame your little girlfriend doesn’t seem to like it though.”

“Cool, so who’s the main character?” You knew exactly what Billy was trying to do, elbowing him lightly. “Oh, uhm,” she finally looked down at the case, eyes lighting up, “oh, yeah it’s that really scarred dude!” Billy rolled his eyes, “No shit, what’s his name though.” You decided to have pity on the girl, “Ignore him, he’s a horror movie fanatic.” The girl mumbled, “Yeah no kidding.”

You smiled at Billy, using this as your chance to brag on the fact he’s yours. You knew him like no one else did. “He’s such a dork when it comes to the cinematography of these things but he’s my dork.” Billy hugged you from behind, “Yeah, whatever, you know you love me.”

Stu Macher

Stu absolutely loved throwing huge parties at his house. He was well liked and well known so it wasn’t unusual for a lot of people to show up, many of which you didn’t even know. Because so many people knew Stu, it also meant that they knew his family was pretty wealthy. It was pretty common to find girls hitting on him and since Stu loved attention he was prone to playfully flirting back.

Usually you would hang out with your friends during these parties, not being big on socializing with new people. Most of the time you didn’t worry about Stu wandering off, he would always show up at your side again at some point. Half the time when he would reappear you would have to pry him back off of you. He could be quite handsy at times.

Now the party was winding down and mostly everyone left was on the couch getting ready to watch a movie. You excused yourself, and headed to the kitchen to get another drink. You froze when you saw a girl running her hands all over Stu, he wasn’t making any move to push her away. You decided to help him out with that.

“Do you need something,” you asked her as Stu wrapped himself around you. “Are you his girlfriend?” Stu laughed, hopping up onto the counter. He pulled you up onto his lap, “Yeah she is dude. Isn’t she hot?” The girl scoffed, “Don’t you think that she’s a little… beneath you, Stu?”

That set you off. “I think that slutty little bitches like you need to keep your dirty hands away from what’s mine.” The girl rolled her eyes before storming out of the kitchen. You hopped out of Stu’s lap and turned to face him. “If you let mother whore rub all up on you like that again so help me I will be the next one to commit a murder in this house. Understand?” Stu stopped smiling, his goofy personality faltering for a second. He then saluted, “Yes ma’am.” You nodded. “Good.”

Stu jumped down and threw you over his shoulder, causing you to yelp. “You look extra hot when you’re fighting over me babe.” He quickly climbed the stairs and you pounded against his back. “You’re going the wrong way, the movie is downstairs.” He made it quickly to the bedroom, throwing you down on the king size bed with a huge grin. “We can make our own movie babe. I don’t know about you but I’m thinking romance,” he rambled, crawling on top of you. “Rated R of course.”

[k-s-morgan]

Oh, Sebastian you really do have it bad. He really is like a cat. What is it with wanting to give body parts as gifts lol. There's something so darkly romantic about your blue eyes offend me, because they aren't like my Master's, only he should have blue eyes. I guess these blue eyes are only a pale copy. To get there to hmm I wonder if he'd be darkly amused if I presented the eyes. Subtext: I love my Master's crooked smile, I would do anything to see it. Laughed at, at least they make good cups

Ask 2: I can picture Sebastian looming over the employees, saying in a low voice that this is the most important tea set they have ever made, it must be beyond perfect. The last line of as long as it meets my Master's standards no harm will come to you, you have my word. I loved that he's gotten used to challenging ( ie interesting), opponents with his Master, Lau and Under taker; that these souls were so pitiful he wouldn't eat them if he was starving. He really is a snob lol. He's proud of himself.

Ask 3: I can see Sebastian looking so pleased with himself as he presents this tea set to Ciel. Look young Master, I did it, aren't you pleased? Though he has to know this was a challenge to punish/ keep him out of the way. Sebastian really is a mix of cat/dog and full on love sick demon lol. He just wants to raise to the challenge and maybe give his master additional gifts.

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

Thank you, I’m happy you enjoyed that short snippet!)) These descriptions are perfect and made me laugh  so much :D Sebastian certainly has his own idea of how to express affection. And he doesn’t even fully understand what it is yet. The first chapter from his POV has a lot of his interactions with different people - maybe there are even more scenes with them than with Ciel, but Ciel remains a part of each such conversation because he’s constantly on Sebastian’s mind. Sebastian can’t spend a minute without thinking about him and bringing him up. 

Also, here’s one more short teaser of Sebastian deciding to discuss his wonderful idea of giving Ciel someone’s eyes as a gift:

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

His Master huffed.

“I don’t care about eyes. Why are we talking about eyes in the first place? Did you like someone’s so much that you want to steal them?”

Sebastian’s jaw slackened in surprise. Then startled laughter escaped his lips, and he had to press his hand to them to stop it.

Young Master didn’t share his amusement. His own lips tightened, a clear sign of dissatisfaction, and his voice got colder when he asked, “Did you?”

What an endlessly puzzling boy. Even if Sebastian did something as incomprehensible as liking someone’s eyes enough to want to collect them, why would it displease his Master?

“I didn’t,” Sebastian assured him. “No one’s eyes intrigued me enough to entice me into preserving them. Except, perhaps…” his voice trailed off as he stared at the boy, examining the vivid blueness of his iris, the multiple layers of shade upon shade. If he had a chance to look closer, uninterrupted, to hold it in his hands…

His Master let out an outraged gasp.

“You’ve just said you weren’t talking about me!” he exclaimed, scandalised. Sebastian shrugged, not feeling particularly guilty.    

“I wasn’t,” he said. “Not at that moment, at least.”

The boy growled.

“Get out!” he snapped. “And don’t bring me anyone’s eyes, I don’t want them!”

[penrose-quinn]

Hi Pen 😁

I'm thrilled you rb the writing ask post! I was secretely hoping you would so I could ask you some questions 😳. If you're not too busy and you still feel like it, I'd be super interested in 6), 11), 13), 50) and 58) (I hope it's not too much, feel free to skip some questions if you want)

I hope you're doing okay, please take good care of yourself and have a nice day ❤💗!

Hi Obsidian 💕

Thank you for asking! Ohh, I’m really not sure if I have interesting answers, but I’m flattered that you want to ask me anyway!! RL failed me so I’m actually bailing it atm haha. Dw not too much at all, I enjoyed the questions! I just hope I’m not overbearing with my answers. They’re a bit lengthy 👉👈

Likewise! Hoping you always have an awesome day and take care!! (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*✲ﾟ*｡⋆

6. What’s the last line you wrote?

Turned out to be more than a line, but I’ll just let this one slip! This one is from GL chap 11, just a snippet between Shin and Izana.

No one ever told him that nicotine shouldn’t be something he was supposed to crave – he didn’t mean to poison you the way he did – though he would to his little brother back then and it spared him a few more years until he could flicker one by himself on the same harbor, the same shade of night. Someday, the Black Dragon embroidered on his back.

11. Do you write scenes in order, or do you jump around?

I never write things in order lol. I jump around so much that any poor soul who takes a peek of my notes will be so confused. I see it more as stitching up a bunch scenes together and then hoping it makes sense in post-editing. I'm sadly not organized enough to plot down what'll happen point for point. I go with the flow and what feels right 😔

13. Do you listen to music while you write? If yes, what have you been listening to recently?

Yup! I rarely work in complete silence in anything. My thoughts are too loud and it's hard for me to concentrate without music or some form of noise in the background. Currently, well mostly, As It Was by Harry Styles since I'm planning to use that as a header for the next chapter in GL. Somebody to Love by Queen because I'm thinking of Shin lol. Was even debating whether I should put this as the header at first. Ship to Wreck and Delilah by Florence + The Machine for GL!MC because nothing beats a soulful song about love and self-destruction. Hmm, a few songs from Metric, POWERS, and The Smiths in between. I'm sorry this is a lot of different genres 😅 but I usually run through multiple songs to find that specific mood for scenes.

50. How would you describe your writing style?

Oof, this is a hard one. I’m not sure how to describe it, though I suppose when it’s comes to my writing I cull out as much words as possible but still try - emphasis on try :’) - to make it vivid, evocative, and surreal in a sentence. I guess this comes from attempting to emulate Japanese writers and poets since they're such masters at capturing the right words while being so descriptive and subtle in a few, simple sentences. 

Though I rely more on how people describe my writing because I don’t want to think too deeply about it haha. A friend and mutual of mine once described it as something that should be read multiple times because after every reread, they find new meanings to the words and actions of the characters, that there are these hints they have to work to find, just the 'blink-and-you'll-miss-it' nature of it. This comment always made my heart skyrocket ever since. That, and the stream of consciousness one from three respected writers (Hi Obsidian 💓) from three completely different fandoms. That one surprised me the most because all of you literally said the same thing and it made me happy :)

58. Do you have a favorite piece of figurative language you’ve written?

It's hard for me to cite a certain piece because I've already written a lot to recall something specific to be a favorite and I like my writing, even though I still think it's amateur. When it comes to figurative language, a pattern I like and notice is 'lost and found', death, distance, tenderness and violence, ghosts or whatever supernatural entity really, the act of bleeding, the act of devouring, and eyes that reveal more about the observer than the object of their observation.

It's the setting too! Seasons, surroundings, places, and even history/time as a way to convey the innermost emotions, sentiments, identities, and gradual changes of the characters and their relationships. Everything blends in so much that what's happening is surreal and a little vague which is which, what's tangible or not, is it really the rain or the sound of someone's heartbeat. That kind of thing 😊

[1d-discourseoftheday]

Thurs 7 Jan ‘21

Z3 Z3 Z3 Z3 Z3 Z3 Z3!!! Firstly Zayn posted a teaser of a red curtain, labeled 'tomorrow', beginning to rise with a snippet of a song-- it's Vibez! Vibez is HERE! NEW ZAYN MUSIC! And hell yeah that's super exciting (and the curtain is reminiscent of the filming at the theater last month I'm hopeful we're about to get that video) but THAT'S not the half of it-- Z3 listings are UP! 'Nobody is Listening' (friend we are ABOUT TO BE and I CANNOT WAIT) is out Jan 15 and has 11 songs (titles unrevealed with the exception of Better, already released, and Vibez). The cover art is a painting of a bright colorful sea of staring faces; everybody looking, nobody listening? Spotify also has Vibez cover art- a cool blocky noir looking painting- and a new photo of Zayn smouldering in a tank top. Happy almost Zayn's birthday to US, and thank you very much!

Liam did a long live today with an also long BEARD (oh shush on his FACE you guys) to talk about Saturday's show, but then he ends up talking to Ben Winston for most of it which is, as you can imagine, a mixed blessing. I mean all that 1D reminiscing is great for dredging up unknown tidbits for us but otoh Ben: the part where Liam puts manager Steve on to say hi to Ben and it's just the two of them is the worst content I've seen in a minute and I mean... Holivia is current..? ANYWAY, before Ben, Liam has his cousin Ross on and tells us Ross will also have cousin Luke playing drums for him at the show Sat, and snippets of all the openers' music are played. They discuss accents, and Liam, as usual, says that he was just on the phone to Louis (relatable I too immediately think of Louis when discussing strong British accents). And then the Ben chat: they talk about the We Are 1D Family fan project at San Siro and how the band didn't know it was going to happen, Liam talks about not wanting to do the Leroy piece for the BSE video (“haha remember I had a meltdown but you made me do it!”:/), and they talk about the two Midnight Memories videos-- we learn that Ben didn't have anything to do with the scrapped first one so he can't release it sorry, and “you guys didn't like it so we had to make a new one in like a week”. Liam: “no I preferred the first one!”, lol. Ben talks shit about not liking You and I (no wonder he did her so dirty), Liam: “WHAT??” and “didn’t Zayn’s high note turn you on a little bit? It had to!” sksksjfa okay calm down there, and then he turns me into the 'had me in the first half' meme when he says his least favorite 1D song is I Would! CAN YOU BELIEVE. He quickly realizes though that no! He means I WANT! Yeah okay that makes more sense but jeez Liam, don't mess with me like that! He also says (not about I Would or I Want), “when I was younger I didn't really understand the songs as much as I understand them now, they mean so much more to me later on in life than they ever have done before, the feeling, the emotions that come through, the lyric as well for some of them.” Oh and Ben mentions the Grammy awards being pushed to March 14 which btw I forgot to say yesterday so there ya go. New date. And last but not least, new LP Act 4 merch! RAINBOW HOODIE! Omg it's so good! The rest is great too but that rainbow hoodie (uh 'hoody' that is hmm why) is soooo nice.

9 am PST came and went without a single Holivia pap pic, but don't worry (darlings) they were just a little late today, though you'll be excused if you didn't realize there were new ones, as they are simply more of the same batch as yesterday's- it was a very exciting parking lot after all, they needed a lot of documentation! Harry grabbing Olivia's arm SO AWKWARDLY is a gem though, I'm starting to have doubts that they're even really friends now that I'm seeing them interact so much tbh. I think the press time excitement was supposed to be the 'candid' pics of them drinking coffee together with Harry in the spa robe (taken... maybe you can guess... YES! it was over the weekend!) but aside from being memed they didn't seem to get much traction. Even so, the press is still all over Holivia ofc and if you only read one article about it PLEASE make it the Harper's Bazaar one that marveled at today's pics “Wilde happened to be wearing the same outfit from last weekend” oh SO CLOSE YOU GUYS, defensively states that Harry was wearing a mask (in response to the many articles out there about people being mad at him for not wearing a mask which yes are very much still up and not being suppressed by HSHQ, btw) but some enterprising layout person placed a picture of him without a mask right under that line, and tells us twice in a row that their relationship is 'very organic'-- definitely 100% truly oBvIOusLy ORGANIC, 'a source' says so. So you can see that clearly it's all very organic. In case you were wondering! STRONG honorable press mention for Vogue though, who declared that Holivia were “already 2021's most stylish pair” with a picture of Harry in his paint splattered merch hoodie and pushed up sweats; but then they also said the other day that larries were people “who ship Harry with Liam Payne”...hey Vogue I really recommend getting an intern if you're struggling, so helpful!

[greycappedjester]

for the ask game!

F, J for tooru n the triwizard tourny, and M?

Thank you!

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

Honestly, Flash Facts is one of my favorite fics I've ever written for dialogue. I'm really proud of it. I really love showing a darker, more scared side of Bart. He's such a different member of the Flash family.

“Bart,” Len says quietly, “no matter what you think about me now, if you stay around long enough, you’re going to get hurt. That’s just how these things go.”

Bart sighs, looking down and there’s a long moment where Len thinks the words have finally sunk in. That Bart will leave and go on to live a safe, somewhat normal life and Len will still be here, playing cops and robbers with meta humans. The way things are supposed to be.

And then, Bart looks up and there’s something dark in his eyes now, not something added, more like...like absence. Like dropping a mask.

“Len…,” Bart says, smiling ruefully, “being around you is so low on dumb things I’ve done in my life that it doesn’t even count. Don’t worry about me, I’ve survived….well, a lot worse than anything in Central. You’re not a bad guy. You’re my friend.”

Len stares at Bart, suddenly feeling a weight in his gut that is so much worse than the one a few moments ago.

Unaware, Bart grins at him, seriousness evaporating like clouds on a sunny day. “See you at the museum next Wednesday, okay? Don’t make me track you down?”

And Len...Len nods, mind already stuck on Bart’s last words.

Bart’s not normal.

Len knew that. He knows that. And yet, abruptly, Len comes to another realization. The jagged pieces fitting together to form something larger and far more worrying.

At some point in Bart Allen’s life something went very, very wrong.

Wrong enough that he hides in museums, almost kills his friends, and talks casually with super criminals as if it’s normal.

So, no, it’s not just that something went wrong in Bart’s life. Len has the gut feeling that it’s still happening.

Len’s not the good guy.

He’s not. He’s not.

But...he’s going to find out what. Even if it means sticking around long enough for the kid to tell him.

Len nods. “Yeah, kid, see you Wednesday.”

J: Write or describe an alternative ending to Triwizard Tournament.

[WARNING FOR SPOILERS]

Hmm, I guess the big on would be Ushijima's death. To be honest, I can't imagine any scenario where Ushijima touches the cup, gets portkeyed away, and survives. I think it's because he was hit behind; but, really he just never stood a chance which I think is a large part of what makes it such a tragedy.

So, I guess the big one would have been if instead of eliminating Korai from the tournament, then Oikawa had a bit less pride and eliminated Ushijima. If that happened, then Korai would have "lost" pretty soon after that since he was literally Imperiused to help Oikawa get to the Cup. Without Ushijima there and Oikawa alone, I honestly don't see a future where he survives it. I think the distraction of Ushijima's death gave him the mental shock he needed to think of a way out where as--without it--he would be going in completely unprepared.

So, in other words, I'd say the fourth book comes down to either Oikawa or Ushijima's death. I don't see a future where they both survive once the final task started.

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

....too many, lol.

Um, probably two of my favorites that I haven't talked about much is I've got a fun idea for a fae! AU with the Batfamily--I think it would work well with the whole darkness of Gotham vibes.

For Hq, I've been working on this one for years and still haven't gotten around to finishing it but I WILL...one day.

Here's the synopsis, it's an AU as apparently I'm always destined to write:

Kageyama had expected he’d be haunted. He hadn’t expected those ghosts to be literal.

And he never expected Hinata