#i actually haven't written a fic where this would fit just yet

[imtrashraccoon]

As requested by my friend @superbfirnacho here are my headcanons on Monster Courting and Soul Children. Oh, and I included Heats. So yeah, mild content warning for mentions of sex but I promise it isn't graphic.

Heats/Monster Courting

Not sure if I'll actually use this, but it's an idea I wrote down for that Underfell fic, Fractured Souls, that I have yet to finish writing.

Monsters are made almost entirely of magic and are very connected to their souls. Now, there are so many different kinds of monster subspecies, that not every monster is physically compatible together except for when they combine their magic.

Generally, a soul bond is done first and is almost akin to marriage for monsters. Two monsters who love each other and want to be together for the rest of their lives will join their magic and souls together. This ritual is usually done in public in front of their friends and family so that everyone knows the two are a couple. The couple usually hold hands and then tune the magical vibrations of their souls together.

From this point on, the two souls are essentially one and there are a few benefits to doing so. One, both of their magic is strengthened and stabilized to make them compatible with each other. Two, both can sense and feel each other's strong emotions, even when apart. Three, they can sense if something happens to the other or they get hurt. Easily the most important part of a soul bond though, is that it is the first step towards having children.

To have children, if the couple isn't physically compatible, they generally perform another ritual where they combine their magic to create a child. This is often done by physical soul contact and is a private affair. After this, one of the monsters will carry the child in their soul until it is strong enough to survive on its own. Generally, this is the stronger monster but this isn't a set rule and is really only a way for the child to survive. When the child is strong enough, their soul will leave the parent's soul and the child's body will form from their magic.

While monsters are people just like anyone, they have a different reproductive system than humans do. At least once a year, most monsters experience a heat of sorts where they have the best chance to conceive a child and will seek out other compatible partners. This heat usually lasts a week and during that time the monster's magic is more active and volatile. Their body temperature also increases and they have increased libedo.

Generally, most monsters know how to deal with themselves during a heat and couples often have them at the same time. However, younger monsters have a harder time dealing with it but anyone can lose control of themselves if they aren't careful and hurt someone. Nowadays, there is medicine to help stabilize one's magic and make the heat less intense but heats are pretty unpredictable and can technically happen at anytime, especially if there is a compatible partner or if it's been a while since they actually tried to do anything with anyone.

While things can get out of turn during a heat, most monsters are able to control their desires and won't actually hurt anyone. However, there are instances of violence and assault that still happen. Justice is taken very seriously in these cases with both the monster government and individuals enacting justice and revenge as seen fit.

This idea isn't exactly original to me since these tropes are pretty common in most fics. I also love to go with the idea that since both partners' souls are connected, their lives are also extended to match the magic boost. So...a human can live several hundred years with their monster lover...

[corviiids]

THANKS @kimdokjafan you are so kind and generous. ok im cashing in the first of three blank checks to talk about faith trust and pixie dust (most recent chatfic) because the last two directors commentaries were too serious so let's do a silly one.

some p5r spoilers, and this is mostly about sumire, and it's long again. do i need to keep disclaiming that these are long? you should know me by now.

i had this written for a while before i started formatting it because i wasn't really sure if i should post it? i feel like silly chatfic is something people go to for predominantly lighthearted nonsense so i was like, maybe there's too much plot and dramatic misunderstanding and i should just keep this one for myself. but then i was like well nothing matters and maybe someone will have fun with it. it's kind of terrible how much fully or mostly completed fic there is my docs that just doesn't see the light of day lol. write for yourself etc but i like sharing! too bad it comes with the mortifying ordeal etc. anyway that was a tangent

potato counter is a neopets game. there's no deep lore i just like neopets. i guess in this universe ryuji doesn't play neopets? or maybe he's just never played potato counter specifically. i also have a different fic where ryuji DOES play neopets. it's about neopets and ryuji and goro talking on neopets.

i think this might literally be the first time ive written sumi in a fic because i haven't actually written that much fic for royal, like, now that im looking, literally almost none? and none that had a group dynamic. so it was kind of fun to find her voice for the first time in a silly groupchat like this. i was worried people would find her exclamation marks annoying but i personally thought it was endearing so i added it in there.

every time i do a gag where a character corrects their own typo i have to code more stupid little bubbles to make it happen but i think it's worth it. all the effort that goes into making tgis look as much like a real chat as possible

this obviously doesnt take place in the canon p5/r universe, but im imagining sort of a postcanon sumi personality where she's more comfortable being herself and isn't borrowing kasumi's brand of confidence, but she's visibly a really anxious person without that kasumi veneer. i also think in this universe sumire is a fairly recent addition to the friend group, and while everyone likes her a lot and she really likes them, i kind of wanted to emphasise that feeling of being in a friend group where everyone's established and you're sort of a plus-one? you don't really fit yet. part of that is her being new, part of it is her anxiety, part of it is just the kind of person sumi is where she's so polite and self-conscious she ends up taking herself out of things with her own good intentions. stuff like her interrupting the flow of an existing conversation by greeting everyone instead of jumping straight in because she doesn't feel comfortable inserting herself, which means everyone else stops to greet her even though that doesn't normally happen in a friend group, or making a point of thanking everyone for being invited to events while the others take it as a given.

idk i love that she feels a bit out of place with the phantom thieves in p5r. and part of that is a natural consequence of being a new addition in royal who can't be naturally integrated with an existing dynamic but i honestly feel like the writing team realised that and acknowledged it, and really leaned into it, and that made it work incredibly well for me. like, it's part of her character that she's sort of an outsider. it's not like p4g's incredibly clumsy integration of marie and subsequent attempt to shove her down everyone's throat as the canon love interest in p4ga (knife). sumi has that outsider vibe on purpose and it makes me really like her dynamic with the thieves as an individual

goro also feels slightly out of place in these chats, but his conversational style blends more naturally with the other thieves at this point and he even uses their codenames sometimes. i keep saying my chatfic series isn't a real Series because the lore keeps changing, but if we accept that they're all kind of following a General Continuity, assume this takes place some time after the last fic in which ren added goro to the groupchat and they made an effort to integrate him into their friend group. he's kind of there now and has settled into being the weird boyfriend. that's his role.

every time goro says something like "ren and i" assume it's the text equivalent of him talking to the group with his arm around ren's waist.

ok i got really fond of this silly running joke where sumi brings up the weather when she's feeling uncomfortable. she's so polite. i like this thread because setting it up meant i got to tie it off like this:

this just made me happy lol i liked writing this. i tried to use it to demonstrate that despite goro's abrasiveness he obviously knows sumire pretty well, he's attuned to her quirks and knows how to tell when she's having a bad time with her anxiety, so he uses her little weather habit to ground her.

i honestly dont think goro and sumire could be considered close in p5r and as much as i like the "royal trio" in canon they're not really... like... friends? with each other? they're both attached to ren, so it' more a V shape than anything else. but that said, i really LIKE goro and sumi's canon dynamic. he takes a really grouchy but politely attentive supervisory role to her during their few forays into the palace as a trio where he doesn't really know her well but clearly identifies her as a harmless little tryhard who needs some guidance and steps into that role grudgingly, and she immediately looks up to him despite being very wrong footed by his ruthlessness, which i find incredibly charming. i think given time they could be good friends, they just didn't get much chance to know each other very well in canon. so i tried to kinda do that here.

once goro stops being evil and joins the group they all kind of tiredly accept that his role is to occasionally push a cup off a bench while smirking and refuse to clean it up. emotionally, i mean.

wait i need to backtrack chronologically to talk about akeshu.

in this scene they're in the same room lol talking and snickering while typing. im trying to get at that vibe of the annoying couple who is flirting with each other, via you. you know? like ostensibly they're talking to you (sumire) but everything they say to you is part of their stupid game. sumi is incidental to goro and ren teasing each other about flirting with someone else, goro is reporting everything ren says because his boyfriend is so eye-rollingly foolish in a cute way. they're very tickled by how amusing and charming they are. gross. disgusting. sumire im so sorry for putting you through this

anyway here are too many of my favourite jokes from the fic

[senashenta]

What Foxes Like

Title: What Foxes Like

Pairing: Sterek

Rating: G

Warnings: None

Summary: Stiles and Derek have been in a relationship for over a year and still none of their friends know about it. Because reasons.

Notes: Written for Poe, originally. This is actually the sequel to a fic I haven't finished yet. I fail. I tried to make sure it made sense anyway. Also, surprise Steve Rogers and Jaskier Pankratz cameos! (I just spoiled the surprise.) You can also read it HERE on AO3.

WHAT FOXES LIKE By Senashenta

“they take their shots, but we're bulletproof I know places (Hide) and you know for me, it's always you I know places (I) in the dead of night, your eyes so green I know places (Hide) and I know for you, it's always me I know places” - I Know Places by Taylor Swift

Derek had moved in with him several months ago and there were logistical problems right from day one. Not that Stiles didn’t love having him there, but the apartment was very small, probably too small to be hiding a wanted fugitive, and whenever he had people over Derek had to hide away in the bedroom for fear of being seen.

Their friends wouldn’t turn Derek in, of course, but they hadn’t been exactly… open. About their relationship, up until this point. They had been together for almost two years and still no one knew about it.

It wasn’t like Stiles to keep secrets, especially from Scott, and in general he was terrible at it anyway. But it was really hard to tell your best friend you were in a steady, loving relationship with the man of your dreams when he was still pining for the girl he had tragically lost a handful of years before.

Besides which, the fox in Stiles privately liked that he had something special to keep to himself, no matter how inconvenient it was in reality. It was the part of himself that urged him to squirrel things away for himself, to keep all the precious things in his life close and safe. He was still getting used to those instincts, even years after the Nogitsune had left him with a bit of fox behind (okay a lot of fox behind.)

But also… there was a little bit of fear there, raw and animalistic, at the thought of being discovered. Something that he couldn’t explain or really even understand, but which was there nonetheless, and it was stupid . God, even Jackson was out! But Stiles had never actually told anyone he was bisexual before (aside from Derek, obviously) and the thought just… yeah. Yikes.

On top of that, his last relationship had been with Lydia, and after that had ended (badly), he just kind of… guarded his heart. What he had with Derek was good and going public was a risk he just wasn’t sure he was ready to take.

“You’re doing that thing where you stare at the ceiling like it’s got all the answers of the universe again.”

“Huh?” Stiles blinked out of his thoughts and turned his head to look at Derek, who was seated cross-legged next to him on the bed, hunched over his laptop, illuminated by the screen, working on either his newest article or his book. 

For obvious reasons Derek couldn’t hold down a regular job, so he wrote articles for publication online and was working on a novel in his spare time, all under the pseudonym “Tyler Shaw”, since he couldn’t use his real name. It didn’t bring much money in, but between that and Stiles’ job at the bakery cafe they managed to scrape by. (The FBI Academy? Well that… just hadn’t been a “good fit”, as his Dad liked to say. Apparently it was frowned upon for trainees to be as… insubordinate as he tended to be. The upshot of going , though, even if just for two semesters, was that he had met some of the most interesting people, a few of which Stiles figured he would be friends with for life.)

“Still staring, but now at me. And we both know I don’t have all the answers of the universe.”

“I– sorry.” Stiles shook his head, “just thinking.”

Derek grinned. “That’s always trouble.”

Stiles shot him a look with a frown, “not always .” (But often, definitely often.) “I was just thinking ,” he continued, ignoring the amused look in Derek’s eyes, “that I might invite Steve and Jaskier to come visit sometime soon. Just for a few days… I mean, if they can sneak away from the Academy for that long.”

“Mmhm.” Derek rumbled, and set his computer aside to ease himself up against Stiles’ side, one hand coming to rest against the younger man’s sternum, just feeling the rise and fall of his breath. “And where are we going to put them? This place is barely big enough for the two of us, never mind four .”

“They can sleep on the couch, it pulls out!” Stiles groused, “and besides, Jaskier has no concept of personal space.” Though he supposed Steve did , in all fairness. “Look,” a touch frustrated, he frowned up at Derek where he was leaning over him, “I know your werewolf possessiveness would love for me to just stay here alone with you all the time, but I…”

Trailing off, Stiles lifted his left arm and turned it over to show the pair of concentric circles that were tattooed on his inner wrist. The symbol of Scott’s pack– of his pack.

“You need more than that.” Derek finished for him, a tiny smile tugging at his lips.

Stiles looked up at him and, after a moment, let his True Eyes shine through, bright, almost glowing green. Derek responded by allowing his own eyes to shine, beautiful, luminescent blue, and then leaning down to kiss him firmly, decisively. “Invite your friends. We’ll squeeze them in somehow. But if they rat me out to the FBI, you’re the one that’s going to have to clean up the mess, deal?”

Stiles grinned and dragged him back down for another kiss. “Deal.”

~*~*~

Markets weren’t really Stiles’… thing. Farmers’ markets, crafters’ markets, seasonal markets, whatever. He found them innately boring (even if they were a good place to procure seasonal fruits and vegetables.) But Derek loved them and it was the time of year when they were popping up everywhere so Stiles relented and went to a few, just to make his boyfriend happy. And it did – make Derek happy, that is. He wandered around the markets they went to with a little, content smile on his face that could only make Stiles smile, too, and… okay. Maybe markets weren’t so bad after all.

It was funny, how things had kind of slowly progressed to Happy Derek over the course of their relationship. When they had first gotten together, he had been his usual grumpy self, and that had continued on, with a few short glints of lightheartedness here-and-there, for the months that they had been dating while Stiles had still been living in the dorms at the FBI Academy.

Then, when Stiles had eventually called it a day and moved back to Beacon Hills, Derek seemed to brighten and brighten until they were living together and he was just… happy. He smiled. He laughed. He genuinely seemed to enjoy life, and while Stiles was all for Happy Derek it was also somewhat befuddling at times. He wanted to ask, but every time he was about to he chickened out because he wasn’t entirely sure what the answer would be.

Now, though, Derek was looking through an assortment of decorative candles– some of which Stiles was pretty sure were made to look like zombie unicorns – with that little, contented smile on his face, probably browsing for Christmas presents (if Derek got him a zombie unicorn candle for Christmas Stiles thought he might scream.) and Stiles just. Watched him. Probably with the same tiny, happy smile on his own face.

Derek was humming and hawing over a particular candle– this time a cat with three eyes– and Stiles finally reached to catch his free hand, tangling their fingers together and tugging gently. “Hey.”

“Hm?” Derek blinked back to the present to look at him, and Stiles smiled, a real smile, and just leaned up to kiss him gently. Derek made a pleased little noise because Stiles was staunchly against PDA as a general rule, then tilted his head to kiss back with a hum.

Which was when Stiles felt eyes on him.

His hackles up, he pulled away quickly to look around the room–

–only to spot Scott and his mother two aisles down and one over. And Scott was staring at them hard , eyes wide while his Mom was completely oblivious to the entire exchange. Stiles’ eyes darted away, then back, then away again before he grabbed the candle Derek was holding and slammed it back on the table, and followed that up by tightening his grip on the older man’s hand and dragging him out of the vendor’s hall in all but a flat-out run.

“Wha– Stiles! ”

He didn’t even know if the startled voice calling his name came from Derek or Scott.

That was why Stiles didn’t do PDA.

~*~*~

“Did you at least apologize?” Steve seemed sympathetic, a few days later when he and Jaskier were crammed into Stiles’ and Derek’s tiny apartment, seated on the couch while Stiles lamented his story. Jaskier had no sympathy, instead grinning and giggling to himself because– well, because that was how Jaskier was, he supposed.

“He did.” Derek called from the kitchen where he had been working on dinner and incidentally eavesdropping, “apologize, that is. And we made up.”

Stiles had to grin at that. “ Vigorously .”

Jaskier snickered and Steve rolled his eyes and shoved at Stiles’ shoulder. Then he hesitated before asking, “okay, but not like, here , right, on the pull-out?”

“Who are you kidding, Stevie?” Jaskier laughed, “they’ve fucked on every surface of this apartment and you know it.”

Stiles just shrugged.

“Ew.” Steve commented, before adding, “and don’t call me that, Jask.”

“Ah, right, I almost forgot that dearest Agent Barnes is the only one permitted to call you that.” A grin, and Jaskier continued with, “how sad is it that all three of us have a passionate thing for older men?” Then, with a tiny pout; “and how tragic that you two have managed to snag yours, while I appear destined to pine away forever~?”

That got a quick look between Stiles and Steve because, to them , at least, it was incredibly obvious that Agent Rivia was interested. Jaskier just wasn’t seeing the signs, and neither of them knew how to tell him beyond literally smacking him up the back of the head. At this point it was kind of an unspoken thing between Stiles and Steve that they would keep their noses out of things and let Jaskier and Rivia work it out for themselves. (After all, everything had worked out for them , right?)

From the kitchen, Derek cleared his throat and interjected, “you could always start sending him random, weird gifts from the Internet in the mail.”

Jaskier and Steve both rolled their eyes, but Stiles grinned. “Worked for me!”

“I still have that shirt, too.”

“I know, you wore it last time I was mad at you.”

“Worked like a charm.”

Stiles found himself smiling fondly over toward the kitchen until Steve swatted his arm to catch his attention again. “Anyway,” The blond sighed, “what are you going to do about the whole…” Trailing off for a second, he gestured vaguely between Stiles and Derek before finishing, “I mean, you can’t keep it a secret forever… right?”

Stiles bristled for the briefest second. Then he sighed and looked down, picking absently at his jeans as he tried to come up with an answer that would satisfy his friends and not upset Derek at the same time.

“I’ve been thinking about that.”

Brown eyes lifted from the worn jean almost sheepishly. “Hm?”

Derek came out into the living room, wiping his hands on a towel as he did, to stand and look down at Stiles, expression worried and contemplative. “I’ve figured out by now that you’re not comfortable with other people knowing we’re together.” A pause, then; “except these assholes, for some reason?” He chuckled along when everyone else laughed. “But it’s been over a year since I moved in here with you, and we were dating– sort of– for months before that, too.”

Stiles wasn’t a hundred percent sure he liked where this was going, but he just nodded along anyway.

A sigh and Derek gave Steve and Jaskier an apologetic smile. “Could you guys give us some privacy for a couple minutes?”

Steve and Jaskier exchanged a glance– and then Jaskier popped to his feet and hauled Steve up with him. “No problem, we can go for a walk!” Dragging Steve over to the door, he added over his shoulder, “but we’ll be like, fifteen minutes, max, so we’d better not walk back in on anything gross!”

Steve squawked and barely managed to call out “We’ll knock!” before the door shut behind them.

And without them there, Stiles felt trapped. They were about to have a conversation that he had been avoiding for the better part of two years and he wasn’t sure he was particularly prepared for it now.

Luckily, Derek made it short and painful. He sat down next to Stiles and leaned to kiss by the younger man’s jaw gently. “The werewolf in me might want to keep you in my own pack,” he informed, and damn him for using Stiles’ own words against him; “but I also want to be able to show you off. You’re my mate, for all intents and purposes, and I want people to know that. I’m proud of it.”

Stiles stared at him, flabbergasted. When he finally found his words it was to blurt out “but I’m a fox !”

Derek snorted. “I’d noticed. But I knew that before we ever got together and it didn’t stop me. Also I scent mark you constantly ,” to make his point he leaned in to rub his jaw along Stiles’ with a rumble, “did you never wonder why I did that?”

“‘Cause you’re a weirdo.” Stiles grumbled petulantly. And then; “I didn’t say stop.”

Another little snort. Derek nibbled along his jaw and then buried his face in the crook of Stiles’ neck. “I’m possessive and I want people to know you’re mine. And Scott and the others, they won’t mind , you know that…”

“Do I know that? I’ve always been so into girls, like intensely into girls , at least as far as everyone else is concerned.” Stiles brought one hand up to card his fingers through Derek’s hair and the wolf practically purred at his touch, “not even Scott knows I’m bi.” Then, after a beat, “until a few days ago. I guess.”

Not that he thought Scott would run around telling everyone what he saw but it still made nerves squirm in his stomach at the thought.

“I think we should stop hiding.” Derek’s voice was muffled against Stiles’ shirt, “you know Lydia’s Christmas Party that we’re all invited to? I think we should go together, as a couple.”

Stiles stomach straight-up flipped upside down, but… Derek had a point. It would be nice to be out of hiding. And telling all of their friends at the same time would be convenient, at least. The party was a good idea.

“I guess… okay.” Stiles allowed after a moment’s thought, still playing with Derek’s hair, “but if it goes bad, it’s on you.”

He could feel Derek smile against the crook of his neck. “If it goes bad I’ll wear that shirt for you again.”

Stiles laughed . “Okay, deal.”

~*~*~

“Faith and Renfri are pissed they didn’t get to come.” Jaskier laughed without looking up from his phone as he texted back and forth between the two women in question. He was standing by the front door with his backpack slung over one arm, waiting for Steve to finish throwing his stuff in his own back so they could catch the next bus to Quantico.

“They can come next time.” Stiles bargained, “we can have a girls’ weekend.”

Jaskier feigned offense, “without me? ”

“Without~ you~!” Stiles singsonged, even as he was giving Steve one last hug goodbye and ushering them both out the door.

“Good luck!” Steve called over his shoulder.

Stiles smiled and waved. Yeah he was going to need it.

~*~*~

The night of the party Stiles honestly thought he was going to hyperventilate until he passed out and Derek had to calm him down on two separate occasions, once wrapping him up in a tight hug and the other staring into his eyes until the blue soaked right through him and eased him back to normal.

Eventually he did manage to get dressed and out the door, though the walk to Lydia’s place just amped his nerves up again until, by the time they arrived, he was nervous and twitchy– so basically his normal self. Derek took his hand, threaded their fingers together tightly, and tugged him along inside. 

When Lydia answered the door her eyes darted between the two of them, then down to their clasped hands– and then she just smiled widely and ushered them inside where–

–oh shit that was literally everyone, wasn’t it.

The party kind of ground to a halt for a second as everyone turned to look at them and Stiles began to panic, until Derek released his hand and slid an arm around him instead, his hand coming to rest on Stiles’ hip as they stood in the doorway and Stiles tried not to make eye contact with anyone. He resisted the urge to huddle into Derek’s side and looked around until he found– there. Scott. Scott smiling . Oh thank God. Okay.

And then from somewhere in the back of the room, Jackson’s voice called out “I FUCKIN’ CALLED IT! ”

“JACKSON!” Lydia protested loudly, “YOU DON’T GET TO TALK!”

And just like that, the tension melted away from Stiles and he did lean into Derek, just a little, before looking up at him with a smile. “Let’s go in.”

Derek leaned down to kiss him. “Yeah,” he agreed, “let’s go in.”

[backmarkerr]

Fic Writer Interview 📝

tagged by @brawngp2009 ! Thank you, it was fun!

Heads up, I'll be keeping this to my F1 writing only! --

How many works do you have on AO3? 7 😎 What's your total word count? The ao3 stats page tells me it’s 30 302. My writing programme tells me there's 20k more in wips but that includes notes and stuff that aren’t really fic writing What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Isn't the stats page so great? Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? I do! I don’t always see them right away, but I like to say thank you to each person who takes the time to let me know they read and enjoyed something I wrote :) What's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending? I’m not sure... I don't really have any fic that ends angstily, but I guess the closest would be either Winter Pitstop or Head in the clouds? They’re more ambiguous than angsty, though… What's the fic you've written with the happiest ending? I’d say Eyes on the prize has the happiest ending out of the current finished ones. Do you write crossovers? I don't write actual crossovers, but I love crossover AUs! I tend to draw them more than write them, though. Have you ever received hate on a fic? No. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? Hell yeah!!! I only started writing smut "properly" in the past couple of years, it can be very challenging but that makes it extra rewarding when it's done. As for what kind, just m/m so far. I’d like to diversify it one day, but who knows... Have you ever had a fic stolen? Not a full fic, but lets just say there's a reason I no longer share WIP snippets. Have you ever had a fic translated? Not to my knowledge. Have you ever co-written a fic before? No, but honestly all my fics are so rooted in what Ghost and I come up with together that she might as well be a co-writer. What's your all-time favourite ship? Simi. I was definitely not planning on being so incredibly compelled by a ship of two older retired blond drivers, but here we are. The lore is incredible and I learn something new every day, the parallels are out of this world, the reason a megapost is so hard to write is because there is truly SO much. But also their love is so refreshing! Most of my fandom life was spent stuck in ships that were doomed from the start/impossible so Simi is really freeing for me. What's a WIP that you want to finish but don't think you ever will? I sure hope I’ll finish all of them! What are your writing strengths? Not to toot my own horn, but I think I’m pretty good at “show, don’t tell” in a way that the reader can put the dots together without me spelling it out for them. For example, I think I make it pretty obvious that Seb and Kimi love each other, even if they don't say it and the word "love" itself barely shows up in my writing. What are your writing weaknesses? Grammar and punctuation, especially in regards to dialogue. English isn’t my first language and I learned writing in a different style, so it can be pretty difficult. Also prepositions like on/in/at are a nightmare. What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic? Like everything else, it depends on how it’s done. I’ve seen fics where it’s used really well in the context and heightens the experience, and others where it’s just unnecessary. Personally, I’d have to be really sure that the language is correct before I used it, and really sure that it fits the situation in the fic. What was the first fandom you wrote for? As far as you’re concerned, F1 is my first fandom ;) What's a fandom/ship you haven't written for yet but want to? Honestly I’m just here for Simi. No other F1 pairing inspires me to write. What's your favourite fic you've written? You never forget your first, right? Winter Pitstop is still my personal favourite. Maybe it will lose that spot once I finally write and post the sequels I planned last year.

-- I'm not sure who has been tagged already, so i tag @racingghost and whoever else sees this!

[saltyr3mix]

Damien headcanons Damien headcanons ! !

I saw the user name and new exactly what you were going to ask lol.

I'm agian under the assumption your looking for the same thing I did with Winnie and Sara? If you guys want like cannon head cannons. Let me know! But for now I like that format of just comparison.

so. Damiens not my favorite guy. I have said some maybe regrettable things about him in fits if anger because I struggle with writing him. But there are a few au's, not many unfortunately, where I don't mind him as much. This list will likely be shorter than the other two.

to learn from the tragedies : he's gonna show up at some point. Haven't decided if it's in book one or two yet. But the vision here right? Oliver has like, imprints of memories. Damien doesn't have any memories of the previous timeline. Lewis and the Twins no everything. Oliver starts gushing about this guy he saw and they immediately know who it is and encourages Oliver to go reach out to him. Mean while Oliver is like, "what the hell all I did was see him in the store I don't even know his name! How am I supposed to contact him!? How do you all know who is!??"

"Not many people have a singular purple eye, dude."

"that was real?..... I thought it was like cosplay or something."

"nope he can see ghosts."

"I'm suddenly a lot less interested-"

"no no no you haveeeee to talk to him! Just....trust us. We'd never lie to you!"<------ has active lied to his face 6 times today about how bad the future actually was too experience.

So yeah! Television is an end game ship for tlfft. Hopefully it will get introduced soon.

Shattered Dreams: I mean he had some cool moments. But wasn't really thought out like at all. I thought giving him a prosthetic arm was cool! I don't know why I did but I did that. This fic was written before season two and so a lot of Damiens character had yet to be explained so I took him in my own very poor direction and had no idea what u was doing with him the entire time.

I will make them create my world: ooooo this ones fun. How do I explain this with out spoilers. He's a very background character in the twins centered chapter. But I've tossed around the idea of making him more prominent as a sort of antagonist? But I'm not sure if it would work. I have so so so many ideas for this chapter and I haven't finalized an ending for it but it could be anywhere from Damien and Oliver getting married happily with nothing wrong and them being completely ok and the horror focusing more on how the world moves on and is completely fine in your absence. Or we could mess everything up and have them die or twisted into toys in the horror of another world taking over and contortioning your loved ones into freaks of nature with out you being able to stop it. Either way Damiens safety is entirely dependent on which brand of eldritch existential horror I feel like giving the twins that day.

This happens in a lot of my fics actually-

Buried masks: ok. This is going to be hard to hear for some people. Damien. Never gets taken my Sara. She actually hates him. She goes out of her way not to interact or associate with him. The only time she acknowledges his existence is if Oliver is talking about him or like hes unavoidably right in front of her. She's crazy buts she's not a jerk. Anyway she hates him because he stepped in and took her job as Oliver's support system. She doesn't like sharing. She has this whole concept with saving people and wanting to be their angel and their light and their support. To the point she will force people into a position to rely on her so she can feel like she's helping them. When her best friend turns to someone else for that help? She is not happy about it. She traits with the same way, but needs him to help keep lewis under her control.

Oliver, as much as she loves him and hates that Damien also cares for him. Still feels confident that he would turn to her first. And thats all she needs. To be his savior.

So she doesn't drag him into it. He and Damien actually get to go out and enjoy the rest of their lives together. As long as Oliver keeps looking to Sara for guidance he won't be affected. She can help him with out all the added psychological torture!

That is unless. In the same vein wiatt is dragged down to control lewis.....she needs his help in calming and swaying over some....other members.

This was supposed to be about Damien. uh oh. Can you tell I like this au a lot?

On a less cryptic lore heavy note. Yeah Damien is our main outside the basement perspective. He's running all the cases trying to find the evidence and he actually does solve something that saves a lot of people!!! He followed all the clues and cracked open a terrible terrible story. But the victims in that story weren't his friends.

Steven universe au: I kind of made a post earlier explaining all of his lore today. But! If your looking for more I'd very happy send you over to Danger/Theater who loves Su!Damien very very much and could probably come up with some more head cannons or content for you.

Superhero au: where to fucking start. He was speficly designed to be the main character of this au. It was supposed to center around him.

And then they're were other opportunities involving human experimentation and angst and twins and like- come on those are my favorite tropes I had to indulge a little bit!..... Although maybe I did just actually completely switch the angle of the spot light-

STILL!!!! if consider him the core of the au. Maybe not the main character at times but everything comes back and ties back to his actions. He sort of has a lot of control over everything and so when he makes a decision the entire plot shifts with that. Even when not in focus when he decides he's going to start bothering Error on patrols that caused a whole chain of reactions that lead to Errors eventual spiral and breakdown and him finding out all the shit that's been happening and it's Ghost that comes back and takes him out of it.

And all that yapping barely actually talks about his character ok- so. I want to see HLTBM!Sara and Superhero! Damien get in a moral debate with one amoy. Cause they stand for a lot of the same things. Character was out through something very very traumatic and that manifested in ways that hurt a lot of people with out them really wanting it to. But of course there's the gray area with Sara knowing full well shocking and kidnapping people isnt very nice. And Ghost being just a straight up serial killer, homicidal, villain for the first half of the fic. Unlike Sara though Damien does get improvement. Although I personally won't call it redemption on my own morals. But he stops killing people pretty quickly once Oliver brings it up.

L to Hayden west who got in Damiens way before Oliver could bring that up.

But yeah superhero au Damien is very special to me. He's the only version of Damien i don't Loath writing, in fact I look forward to it! He's so fun!!!

this was still all very vague but I've said do much- shoot me another ask if you want more about just him because I could write essays on that man.

One shots/you will live until I die: die die die die die die . I'm sure Danger has screen shots some where of the things I've said about this man. Do you know? Do you know how fast I could have gotten any of these types of fics done. If I wrote him out?! Do you know how many times I had to go through and re-write singular lines for him!? Have I beef with this fictional character you can't even comprehend.

Buttttttttt in the end. I guess he turned out....... Ok-ish? i still want to light every scene with him in it on fire but it's not because of how he's written. UTS BECAUSE IF HIW LONG IT TOOK TO WRITE-

deep breaths. I really hope you enjoy them because when I say I dedicated an entire week to a single scene with him in it. I'm not kidding. It killed me.

For the most part I do what I always do with those fics and stick to cannon, which was the mistake, I only like Damien when he's evil and deranged. Cannon Damien does not match my writings level of freak.

maze au: he doesn't get to be cool. Sorry. Your man gets to be a sleep deprived, paid, stalker of Oliver while he's in the maze. Damien works for the maze and helps give reports on his assigned constant, Oliver! Who's actually really endearing and kind of cute .

Thinking about having him a vaguely similar role to ash and me like THE watcher, the clearing has to keep dealing with. Norman is already a Plant but like Starr doesn't actually trust him. So yeah Damien is the wall man. People just see him around on the walls and pretend that they didn't!

Maybe he'll come down and say hello today! Probably not.

The more I think about it I want to make him a half demon to. But not like full half demon. Like he has shaper nails and teeth and is scary good at seeing in the dark and can hear any whisper. But has absolutely no strength or speed or physical traits. He's a loser.

Oc au: umghhhhhfrgcadg so i play Damien. And I do really really bad at it. Cause I try to follow cannon and we've addressed that issue. Currently he's dealing with a ton of survivors guilt because he and Oliver were the only ones to make it out of the facility collapse alive. Both the kids he brought with him died, both to his own advice.

He told Shroud to stay put. And he told hunter to run. Not great for either of them.

There was a point he beat the shit out of Sara! That was fun! Their.....siblings in this au? Or at least very heavily implied that they are. And so they just started scraping.

Poor Vianca though. God if I was better at playing him maybe they could have had a cool sibling dynamic. But alas it just came of as very very awkward because for most of her lore I was playing her, Sara and damien, who all would have been siblings but I did it so bad at yeah- there are some reasons why this au is called the secret au. It's the silly one where I don't think about it like a writer just a Creator and im not supposed to care how pretty the final result is if I had fun. And I did have fun! But when it comes to Damien things just get messy.

THATS IT. IM DONE!!! THIS SHOULD NOT BE THIS LONG!!!! I DID UT BECAUSE I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE SHORTER!!! ITS NOT!!!! BUT I DID IT ANYWAY SO HA! I WIN!!!

[echo-bleu]

Curious about the Queen Nerdanel AU, if you’d like to share anything about it!

Yay, thank you!

That's also an AU that I'm really excited about, though I have written very little of it. It's (at least for now) a bullet-point fic where instead of leaving Fëanor, Nerdanel finds out early that he put too much of himself in the Silmarils and that he's ill because of it, and she stays. When Morgoth steals the Silmarils, Nerdanel is the one who goes to Beleriand to get them back, taking the role of General and Regent Queen, while Fëanor stays behind and becomes King.

It changes... a lot of things. For now I've mostly written the early parts before they leave, but some characters that would otherwise have gone will stay, and the narrative will follow both sides.

I'm not saying that it's a fix-it, but—yeah, it's a fix-it, actually. I haven't figured out everything yet, but Nerdanel is scarily efficient at putting everyone to work and resolving conflict.

For now, an early snippet:

He falls ill.

Varda’s hallowing will only burn evil, she says. Fëanáro is not evil.

The Ainur perhaps don’t quite understand how Eldar fëar work. Their own eälar can withstand any amount of abuse, and even, as the world will (or would, in a different timeline—that remains to be seen) eventually learn, the most egregious splintering.

It doesn’t burn Fëanáro’s fëa, it just exhausts it.

It makes his temper shorter, he’s prone to bouts of depression, times when he lashes out at seemingly nothing, sensory overload—all things he had before, but much stronger.

And because unlike the Ainur, he’s an incarnate, it affects his hroä as well, and he’s often lethargic, struggling to keep his energy levels constant, and he’s taken by fits of widespread nerve pain.

He isn’t successful at hiding it. The public just wonders why the Crown Prince is making so few appearances, but Nerdanel and the children are worried to see him barely able to get out of bed some days. And Finwë…

All Finwë can think about is Míriel.

As you can see, my fondness for writing disabled characters is coming through once more.

Ask me about my WIPs

[evilwickedme]

Top 10 worst Bruce dad moments?

So here's the thing. I'm not actually like. That well versed in the comics yet? Again like. Only been here for about six months. But I'll do my best anyway

10. Firing Dick

HE FIRED DICK FROM BEING ROBIN. THE NICKNAME HIS MOTHER GAVE HIM. THEN GAVE SAID NICKNAME TO ANOTHER CHILD. WHAT THE FUCK.

9. Steph as Robin

Honestly everything about this is a mess. I've only read a few pages from this arc but Tim quitting being Robin was a really difficult decision and Bruce's response was to give the job to Tim's sort-of-ex girlfriend and then treat her like crap. I believe it's canonically cause she reminded him too much of Jason, but that might just be the fandom's reading of the subtext; either way, if the shoe fits...

8. Telling Damian if he was there, Alfred wouldn't have died

What the FUCK, Bruce, that is your SON. COMFORT HIM FOR THE LOSS OF HIS GRANDFATHER

7. Robin!Tim in general

Listen intentional or not Tim is written as a character that has very much internalized needing to be useful being more important than anything else. His parents simply prioritize work over him point blank - his dad doesn't even remember his birthday, for God's sake - and Bruce simply like. Does not help with this. If anything he takes advantage of it. Tim needs to be loved unconditionally, like, STAT, like, that would fix 70% of his identity issues kinda STAT, and I'm not sure he's ever felt that with Bruce

6. Free space: any time he's hit one of his children that I don't know about

I once reblogged a post that detailed every time he hit Dick but that's long gone into the ether now, I can't find it. Anyway there's no excuse to hit your child. Don't fucking do it. They shouldn't hit you, either, doesn't make it ok for you to do if they've done it fyi. Batman can do non violent solutions, we know this, so fucking use those on your children.

5. Reviving the joker

I believe Dick isn't necessarily mad about not having murdered a man basically in cold blood, but I am. What the fuck, Bruce. You tried to kill him twice, you really wanna tell me you don't understand the urge and NEED to kill him??? And then you BRING HIM BACK TO LIFE??? Again. As I've said. What the FUCK

4. Killing Dick and sending him off to Spyral

Actually Dick shouldn't ever forgive Bruce for anything he's ever done to him ever. Have you seen the panels where they have this argument? His family GRIEVES him and for what!!!! For WHAT

(I understand Grayson itself is actually great I wouldn't know I haven't read it. Doesn't make what Bruce did okay tho. I'm also not sure I trust the positive reviews it's written by Tim Seeley and Tom King like......)

3. RHatO Rebirth #25

Penguin didn't fucking die. He didn't get shot in the face with a real bullet. You don't beat your son half to death to the point where he needs to be RESCUED from you - actually no need to qualify that sentence with the intended "over something that didn't actually happen", you simply don't beat your son half to death, should be a no brainer and YET

2. UTRH end scene

Heartbreaking. We all know at this point. Batarang to the throat. Chooses the Joker over Jason. It's enough to make a fully grown (25 next month) man (eh) cry (I mean. Yeah)

1. INTENTIONALLY TRIGGERING JASON

See here for the ask where I talked about this (and which is presumably the ask that led to this anon). Taking Jason to Ethiopia with no warning when he's cooperating anyway just to intentionally trigger him in order to try to get Damian back to life when you never did anything like that for Jason? Holy fucking shit, you know? Just betrayal after betrayal after betrayal

Anyway I'm sure this list is missing some major moments and I'd love to know what I forgot about or, more likely, simply don't know about! I love a well written good dad!Bruce fic but lbr that's just not what he's like in canon. Calling him a mixed bag as a father figure is an understatement

[maelstrom-of-emotions]

OMG YOU GAVE US A GOLD MINE. I refuse to limit myself!

ALL SIX! EXPLAIN YOURSELF!

Ahaha, I've been called to the hearing so fast, eh? I don't even have a lawyer. Jokes aside, thank you for the ask!

Alright, in order:

10% rule: I know there are two of them, but the ideas are different, I promise! I based this off of the thing we learned in Botany. The 10% rule which states that only 10% of the energy from one trophic level (like plants) is passed on to the next level (like herbivores), while the rest is lost as heat, waste, or used by the organism itself. And my stupid brain got another idea.

I haven't worked out all the parts yet, but it follows Naruto and Sasuke, where Naruto is emotionally burnt out by giving too much of himself and Sasuke's been hurt by the world. Naruto's always been the one to carry the emotional load, always overcompensating, but never receiving the same in return. Sasuke's tired, and he's developed a a certain numbness to giving and receiving love - a poorly written metaphor for this rule of ecology, like the energy lost at each trophic level.

The story is just about the realization that love is all about balance. That even though some energy is lost in the process, the ten percent they choose to give can build something glorious, something sustaining, a garden worth growing. Where you realize that love doesn't drain you, but can fuel you in the right proportions.

dressed to disaster: This is actually a Boy Meets World Shory fic, where it's based off the fact that I don't know what the story is about, but that I have a first line, which is: You'd think that after causing disasters and being a disaster himself, Shawn would know how you dress to one.

I have no clue where to go with this one, I wrote a bit more about him attending Cory's wedding, and going somewhere with it. I'm entertaining time travel, but nothing solid yet.

THOUGH, this story has another branch where it's SasuNaru, where I thought about how after someone makes a comment about how Naruto always dresses like a homeless street urchin + how he always wears orange, do you not know another color, Uzumaki? He's used to it, but when they mention it's weird how Sasuke hangs out with him as Sasuke is always in fashionable clothes (and rich, in this story) it's a very stark difference.

The comment nags at him, and so then, Naruto starts to panic. Especially as he somehow - for plots reasons - starts to think that Sasuke will never see him as a romantic partner, if Naruto doesn't dress up like it. And so, he ends up on Ino's door, wailing his little heart out, and she and Sakura decide to help him. Woo-hoo, everyone's love to hate it makeover montage.

And Naruto hates it from the very beginning. He's used to baggy clothes and these are all form fitting and the jeans fucking itch and the shoes hurt. And it's such a pain to make sure they don't get ruined. And, well, while that crisis is going on, Sasuke's jealous because Naruto's dressing up for somebody and he doesn't know who and whoever made Naruto think he had to change himself was going to die—

And so, idiots in love, everyone's favorite. Very cliché, I know. But Pinterest is the reason it happened. Blame it. Don't come for me, I will cry.

shory and no sailors: I have nothing to defend myself with. Literally a crackfic idea because ever since I heard the ship name I thought about sailors on shores, leaving the dock. And well, I just wrote that down. God knows what I'll do with it.

serpents in eden's embrace: Ooh, so this one is interesting. Because it is FNAF W.I.P and I have two different-but-also-the-same-thing-kinda idea for it.

a) The Bite of 83 does happen, but it doesn't happen to Michael's little brother, but instead, the brother of an OC who needs therapy. This changes everything. Michael is thrown for a shock, as they had been planning it and now he's dealing with the guilt that his brother would have died. This sets off the domino chain as Michael will do anything to keep his siblings alive, even if it means turning a blind eye to missing children's reports and all evidence pointing towards their own basement.

b) Michael gets thrown back into his past body, where he swears to save everyone. But day by day, his priorities dwindle. For one, William is suddenly so much more nicer now that Michael is becoming the golden son, and his tasks falter. So maybe he can't save all the kids. What does it matter? Until the last tackles down to Henry's daughter and his own siblings. I just wanted to delve into the toxic household. When people do back in time, when we wish that we, ourselves good go back in time - because for me, reading Time Travel Fix-It is about taking canon to the back, sure; but also fulfilling that urge to go back in time and fix all my past mistakes, to try to prove myself that if I could just go back, everything would be fine - and the truth is, we romanticize it. The situation sucked, but now that you're out of that situation or grown from it, you can see all the ways you would do it now. But, if you're placed back into it, wouldn't you crumble? I wanted to explore that aspect.

the ten percent rule: Not to be confused with 10% rule, I didn't even realize I named it the same thing until I was taking screenshots.

Three ideas for this:

a) The deep seated trauma that makes up the behavior to give just enough effort to maintain relationships—friendships, romantic relationships, or family bonds—but never truly committing beyond 10% of themselves.

b) My parents own saying which is: always give just 10% more than what’s expected of you, and you’ll be successful - causes 100% more burnout.

c) 10 percent rule is a part of an underground code used by criminals, and people of the black market. It's a law, only revealing 10% of the truth to keep people guessing or safe. Which makes it worse because as you try to unravel a mystery, the rule means that nothing is ever as it seems—every truth has a hidden layer, and every person holds something back.

we're fated to unravel, love: Most self-indulgent. Magic AU! Where Sasuke and Naruto are in an arranged marriage and have been married for a decade. In this, Sasuke is the leader of a clan and is known for his battle/ destructive magic (shut up, no one talk about the name) and his strategies.

He's married to Naruto, the person everyone thinks it just wasting life way, tinkering with paper and runes. Naruto's an inventor, and he makes magic do what he wants to do basically. But, Sasuke thinks Naruto is childish and naive due to his sunny disposition and brash manners - and due to the public poisoning his view, his own advisors thinking that the marriage is to “put Naruto on a leash” - and since the idiot doesn't talk to his fucking husband, or spend time with him, the misunderstanding stays.

Naruto's hurt. Because he wasn't expecting love, but he thought he could have friendship. He feels lost amongst the ugly glares and even uglier rumors. And just stays away tinkering with his inventions, feeling hurt with every moment that passes, with every dismissing word that passes Sasuke's lips. He gives back good as he gets at first, but that doesn't do anything but worsen the rumors. And Naruto doesn't want deranged-fangirl assassins to kill him on a mission to “save their Sasuke-kun” so he withers away. Closing himself off. Losing hope. And thinking himself foolish to believe that there could be love in the first place. After all, isn't it the hopeless romantics that carry the most hope.

And then a war happens. And a bunch of people die. And they win nearly, by the skin of their teeth, thanks to Naruto's inventions - and oh, look, Sasuke's paying attention now - but it's a pyrrhic victory. So, Naruto creates a seal that'll send them two years back into the past, just before the war begins, so they can be prepared and stop it. Only, something goes wrong, and they get send back ten years instead of one, to their six month wedding anniversary. Naruto is disheveled but resolves to make the situation work, focused on stopping the war.

And Sasuke, being the whipper than whipped cream fucker that he is, is just besotted by his husband, and wants to fix everything. Because fuck the war, he wants Naruto to love him. Cue Naruto just interpreting everything Sasuke's doing as "part of his efforts for the war" even though it makes no sense.

Like, oh, Sasuke's hanging out with him now in his messy workplace? Well, it must be to plan about the war.

Sasuke offers to make Naruto dinner? Naruto, squinting at the strange ingredients on the counter, assumes it’s a working model for cooking up a strategy for the war. Sasuke buys Naruto flowers? Naruto, deep in thought, believes they represent the nations Sasuke wants to ally with.

Sasuke rubs Naruto’s shoulders, trying to ease his stress? Naruto, staring into the distance, mutters about how Sasuke’s clearly practicing pressure points for war interrogation techniques.

Sasuke literally pins Naruto to the wall, about to kiss him. Naruto, thinking he’s about to hear a covert mission briefing, goes, “Oh, is this an intimidation technique. Cause I have a device that'll work.”

Sasuke proposes to Naruto in the middle of a crowded square, flowers and a ring in hand. Naruto, completely stone-faced, whispers, “Ah, I see. You're making me the figurehead of a new war alliance."

I'M SORRY, THIS WAS LONGER THAN EXPECTED. YOUR HONOR, I'M A FOOL. I DEMAND MY LAWYER.

[hertwood]

Please elaborate on ttpd being a sargewood album 👀

hi thank u so much for caring abt the rot in my brain 💖

ok so. mayhaps i am talking out of my ass here, i havent rly fathomed the whole album yet, and there are songs i associate w/ a variety of ships/fic ideas. BUT more songs fic sargewood than any other ship so. allow me to explain.

this is all speculative to taylor swift’s life so its not #confirmed but allegedly this album is abt leaving long term relationship she felt trapped in (joe), and then rebounding in a short term fling (matty). if we look at these songs through the lens of joe=f1 and matty=indycar, therefore kyle, this is how i fathom these songs in a sargewood way.

OBVIOUSLY this does not work for many of the songs, but for the ones it does it is so compelling. also she broke up with matty anyway and he allegedly SUCKS so i’m only rly considering “early relationship” songs here.

Fresh out the slammer is probably the best example: leaving a relationship and immediately knowing where you’re going next. if logan doesn’t have a future in f1, indycar /is/ the place to go, and kyle is his connection. if he gets dropped, you KNOW kyle is one of the first people he’s calling 

Fresh out the slammer, I know who my first call will be to

NEXT SONG lets talk Florida!!! the original song I claimed as sargewood for obvious reasons!! ofc, its great bc Florida is there home state. But if we can go back to joe and matty for one second (i’m sorry)

In So Long, London, London not only represents the place, but also Joe and their relationship. I did not come up with this, but I saw people on tiktok saying that while joe=london, matty=florida. the entire song is abt being trapped monotony of her old life (london/joe) and escaping to the new exciting florida(matty).

this fits logan just as florida proper—he can always go home and relax to take a break from the stress of f1. BUT if u wanna see it in a sargewood way--they can both escape their stressful racing lives, come back to florida, to EACHOTHER. this song makes me insane abt them fr. I also like to hear “fuck me up, florida” as “fuck me in florida” AND YOU CAN TOO

I need to forget, so take me to Florida I've got some regrets, I'll bury them in Florida What a crash, what a rush, fuck me in Florida

LAST SONG i’m using for this thesis, but i’m not ruling out fathoming more as sargewood through the joe=f1 matty=indy/kyle lens. it’s a long ass album, i’m employed, i can only do so much

BUT LETS TALK FORTNIGHT

this fathoming was key to me liking this song. HOWEVER while the last two can be fathomed as sargewood in general, fortnight fits a specific fic idea i have where i need to explain some lore first.

logirlie historians will know how after the 2020 f3 season, logan was in a sort of a limbo career wise before he got the call from williams and we know where it goes from there. in this time he was testing for indy, thinking his european racing career was basically over.

so the fic idea. kyle & logan have always had a bit of a ~non platonic connection~ but neither has acted on it due to the distance etc etc. but in this short period of time (a fortnight, perhaps 👀), when its looking like logan might be heading to indycar, the dam breaks and they have a short fling that is more serious than either will admit after, when it ends when logan goes back to f3.

The ACTUAL fic would be years later, where logan leaves f1 and goes to indycar in 2025(?). years have passed, and they've stayed friends this whole time so it /should/ be fine, but now that the distance is no longer an issue all those old feelings come bubbling right up to the surface. they could, of course, just communicate and get together easy peasy but that wouldn't be a fun fic would it? of COURSE it'd be messy.

I haven't written anything, it's more of just a nebulous concept rn and idk if it'll ever go anywhere but it is ALL i think abt when listening to fortnight. The florida and car reference in the bridge is just the cherry on top

And for a fortnight there, we were forever (Back in 2020/2021, what we had was real)

Run into you sometimes, ask about the weather (We talk sometimes (2021-2024) like it's normal and nothing happened)

Now you're in my backyard, turned into good neighbors (Now (2025) we see each other all the time and pretend it's all platonic)

I love you, it's ruining my life (My career would be so less complicated if you weren't in it)

Move to Florida, buy the car you want But it won't start up 'til you touch, touch, touch me

[jinxquickfoot]

20 Questions for Writers

I was tagged by @16woodsequ. Thank you!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

82!! And that's counting the one-shot collections as 1 fic.

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

1,572,787

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Still in Marvel, although I've had a few ideas around Hazbin Hotel/Helluva Boss that I probably would written if my MCU WIP list wasn't so impossibly long.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

The One Where Peter is Bucky's Weakness

Let's Whump the Spider-Kid and Friends!

The One Where Peter is Tony's Weakness

You're Always Spider-Man

The One Where Clint is Tony's Weakness

You guys really like it when I kidnap Peter Parker.

5. Do you respond to comments?

Of course!

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

The Worst Thing, it's the only ending I wouldn't call 'happy'. I labelled it 'bittersweet' instead, which I think is fitting. Actually Dollhouse also is a strong contender.

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

Let's Whump the Spider-Kid and Friends! teeters on the edge of soppy. Everyone is alive post-Endgame, Peter gets a prom with all the Avengers and his high school friends, and the Spider-Kid in question gets a whole month of rest.

In hindsight, I wrote that fic during pretty extreme burnout (that I am now thankfully over), and I can see my need for rest and care just bleeding through Peter in those final chapters. I'm so grateful we both got what we needed.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not for a long time, since the debates over Civil War have... if not settled, maybe don't hold as much interest as they used to.

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

Not yet, but I think I might be brave and include some Winterhawk smut in the Heart of Stone series.

10. Do you write crossovers?

Nope.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of. I've come across one or two with eerily similar premises and wondered, but I've never followed up. Tropes are tropes for a reason.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not a translation but Hair is Everything has a podfic!

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

Many! And tried to many at the same time which was a mistake, but I'm so glad I've gotten to work with so many incredible authors:

The One Where Clint is Steve's Weakness with @16woodsequ

The One Where T'Challa is Shuri's Weakness with @fluencca

The One Where Bruce is Thor's Weakness with @onwardmeteors

The One Where Peter is Peter's Weakness with @spagbol99

The One Where Bucky is Steve's Weakness with @usaonetwothree

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

Winterhawk aka Clint/Bucky has my heart forever and ever, but I have a soft spot for Clint/Matt and Wanda/Vision as well. Outside of Marvel, I love reading for Stede/Ed, Husk/Angel, Caleb/Essek and Buck/Eddie.

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

If I've posted it, I'll finish it (I swear, I know I haven't touched the Whumptoberverse in three years). I do have an outline for something called the Amendment trilogy which I thought had some promise, but I've done so many Civil War Fix-Its now I doubt it has anything original to say these days.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I don't think my plot twists are too shabby, and I like to think that I find new things to say about well-worn characters and tropes. I'm also pretty damn good at structure, but that's because I studied and practised the hell out of it. Oh and occasionally I like to think I'm funny, especially when writing for Tony.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Sometimes I focus too much on getting a fic done than letting it breathe. I've been told several times the ending to The One Where Peter is Bucky's Weakness is disappointing, and I agree. I was ready to get out of there so I Game of Throned it instead of spending a good 5-10 chapters wrapping that fic up properly.

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

Short bits are fine if you pop the translation in the end notes. If not, I like to just say something like, "He switched to Russian [continues dialogue in English]."

19. First fandom you wrote for?

MCU and we're still going, baby.

20. Favorite fic you've written?

AH okay I want to include all those I co-wrote but that feels like cheating, because what I like about those fics is often what other people brought to them.

I used to say Budapest and that's still a strong contender. But I actually love The One Where Clint is Sam's Weakness, specifically the final chapter. The idea of mistakes and regrets and choices not making you who you are is a very personal thing for me. Clint saying "You’re my hero, Kate." might be my favorite line I've ever written in a fic. Sometimes the simplest ones are the best.

Low pressure tag: @fluencca @usaonetwothree @queenofalotofdifferentworlds @spagbol99 @teeelsie-posts

[courtney-deserved-better]

Hi!! I'm a huge fan of your writing, and I've been wondering: how did you plan long fics (like slippery slopes) in the past, and how are you doing it now with amicus curiae? :)

thank you! and that's a great question! for slippery slopes, i used canon very much as a blueprint and plotted out the changes episode by episode until i had an outline of all the plot points and moments i wanted to write. and then as i was writing it some of that stuff went completely out the window (courtney was originally gonna be eliminated in the china episode and cody was gonna make it to the final four but courtney and alejandro ended up unexpectedly developing this great friendship so courtney stuck around for a lot longer than i initially planned but i loved how it worked out) but because i had my outline i was able to still hit the most important parts of the story as well as develop new ones that fit into the overall fic. as for amicus curiae... i made an outline for the entire season, struggled to write it, got like 2 drafts and 10k words in and was like "nope" so i completely abandoned the outline and started writing episode by episode with no real plan. which worked for about 40k words until i realized that courtney and emma's dynamic would work so much better if they were class rivals before the fic started (in the first 3 drafts they didn't know each other prior to rr and i wasn't vibing with their dynamic) and so i started a new draft, rewrote those previous 40k words but with courtney and emma's new dynamic, and then kept going, and that's how we landed with the amicus curiae that's actually seeing the light of day (aka ao3). i had a few small things planned out for each episode, mostly just eliminations so it could logically track and a few ideas for conversations/interactions but i was very much going chapter by chapter watching the canon episodes and writing along with my own version. which took me to a lot of places i didn't expect, but also created some logical inconsistencies that could be a pain in the ass to work out. i had an idea of which team was gonna win when i started but that has changed three times by now (i think) and i haven't written the last three chapters yet so who knows how that will turn out. in the original stuff i've been writing for, yknow, my career as a writer, i've learned that writing very freeform and not starting with an outline is actually really helpful with not only motivation but creativity and discovering new things about characters and where the story can go. i've been writing the courtney time travel au pretty similarly, but because that is focused on one pov and this is focused on six, amicus curiae has been a lot harder to write spontaneously. but it's been a great challenge and i've enjoyed not constraining myself too much with outlines and povs and whatnot!

[coffeebanana]

Enemies au ft. Ladrien for the ask game 👀 (hehehehe)

@heartfulselkie @ladyofthenoodle @rosie-b

i see this is was a popular one (which is good because i'm actually dying to talk about it 😂). i haven't written much of this yet, but i DO have a complete 26-chapter outline (that i made during my writing "break"), and even though i'm trying not to get too deep into it yet because i have so many other projects, i also not-so-secretly want to be enabled. do with that what you will this fic would take place in an au that diverges from canon at some point early season 5 (post-elation at the latest but i haven't quite decided), and it's my rendition of sentiadrien being forced to help monarch. i want to play with how sentiorders might work and what loopholes might exist. but also the fact that adrien doesn't know he's a senti yet. he doesn't even understand WHY he keeps agreeing to help his father, and he hates himself for that and ladybug...is understandably not in a great place either. obviously she has more support than adrien, but she still feels the weight of the burden. she misses her kitty 😢. and even alya has some stuff going on in her life, so she can't be as available to marinette as she has been in the past

then ladybug and adrien run into each other after an akuma attack one day. and it's sort of an echo of strikeback, where she's at her lowest point, and even if adrien knows he should run away and leave her, he can't. not when she's hurting. and he starts to realize maybe he can still help her. maybe he's not useless.

and ladybug also starts to see adrien in a new light (because he's still allowed to go to lycee, he just...doesn't really talk to any of his friends anymore). she's been so distracted with her own stuff that she's pushed her feelings about him aside, but even if she can't overthrow monarch, even if chat noir is lost to her, maybe she can at least help someone she loves

so basically it's ladynoir enemies with ladrien helping each other pick up the pieces. where they both start at rock bottom but maybe they (with some help from their friends!) can start to help each other heal

i'll share the intro scene under the cut (since this is getting long) with the caveat that this is an early version i might still want to flesh out/rework/possibly rewrite completely

thanks for the ask(s)!! 💜

...

It was barely October. It shouldn't be cold enough for the air to burn on the way down, for each breath to feel like ice crystallizing in Ladybug's lungs. But it did. 

It felt like she'd forgotten how to breathe.

Gigantitan toddled down the street, clapping his hands and using the occasional stopped car as stepping stones. Car roofs caved in as he advanced, bringing muffled screams from those who hadn't been lucky enough to flee  in time. And Ladybug could only stand there, backing away unsteadily as she failed to come up with a plan. 

Part of her wondered if she should just give up. It would be fitting, at this point, to be taken down by a toddler. If she barely had the strength to get out of bed every morning, she certainly didn't have the energy for impromptu babysitting—even if the fate of Paris hung in the balance.

Maybe it was someone else's turn to care.

The voice in the back of her head—the one insisting she didn't really want that—wasn't loud enough to spur her heavy limbs into action. Instead she found herself wondering what the end would be like. When Monarch won, when he made the wish, would she feel the force of being torn apart, cell by cell? 

Or maybe her end would come sooner. Gigantan was getting close now, and the silhouette of Monarch's mask flash across his face. But maybe he wouldn't be swayed by Monarch's words. Perhaps he'd keep smashing through the streets, and she'd be crushed like the cars he'd already left in his wake. Or maybe—

Someone slammed into her side, protective arms wrapping around her as they flew through the air, landing roughly and rolling until they slammed into the side of a building. Even with the suit, her hip was still throbbing from the impact when they stopped, her assailant hovering over her. She kept her eyes shut tight for a moment, breathing in his familiar scent and taking comfort from the arms bracketing her body—keeping her safe, the way they always used to.

The way they shouldn't. Not anymore.

Chat Noir's breath warmed her face as he pushed himself up, and Ladybug forced her eyes open to meet a pair of wide, worried eyes. Ones that sucked away any remaining breath she had left.

How dare he look at her like that? After everything?

"Ladybug, I..." He squeezed his eyes shut, his whole body stiffening momentarily. "I'm sorry."

A shiver travelled down her spine, zapping some life back into her. By the time she noticed his hand twitching in her periphery, she was already moving. Her fist connected with his cheek as claws grazed her earlobe.

Grunting, Chat rolled off of her. She sprang to her feet, hand moving to her yo-yo as she glanced back and forth between her two foes. Adrenaline coursing through her veins, she was starting to cobble together some semblance of a plan. But she needed more time, so she tossed her yo-yo around a nearby chimney and took off through the streets. 

When she was certain she'd gotten enough distance from the fight, she stopped on a rooftop, resting against a chimney as she caught her breath, remembering the shock of green eyes boring into hers.

It shouldn't be cold enough yet for her body to feel so numb.

...

[empressofthewind]

haiiii 4, 12, 17, take your pick or answer all for the writers asks please? ^w^

hiiiii 🫶 thank you for these!! they're all great questions :-)

4. a story idea you haven't written yet

i have quite a few of these, but i think my favourite is in a no-Kira AU, 4 years after Mello and Near's graduation from Wammy's House. L is terminally ill with a very poor prognosis, so he puts Mello and Near through emergency "training" to determine who is the best fit to be his successor. essentially this training involves plonking them both in a hotel room with no means of escape and one provided case file, with the intention of letting them out only after the case is solved. the plan would be to write this from Mello's POV; Mello has spent the past 4 years studying criminal law, while Near has been doing detective work under one of L's aliases, which Mello assumes will place Near at a very unfair advantage. what he doesn't realise is that L has no intention of picking between them, and the ultimate goal here is actually to force them to work together.

honestly i haven't written this yet because it would require me to come up with a case, which i'm absolutely terrible at 😭 but i have SO many case fic ideas that i would someday love to write once i feel confident enough in doing so!

12. a trope you're really into right now

most of my writing plans recently have centred around kinktober so all i can think of for this one is smut tropes 😵‍💫 but in the interests of keeping this response sfw, i will very vaguely and nonchalantly state that i have very much enjoyed playing around with power dynamics lately, specifically placing Mello in positions of weakness and vulnerability. also security cameras have been featured a lot. scream.

17. talk about your writing and editing process

it really depends on the length of the fic! for multichapter works, i always do a chapter by chapter outline and work off of that. i use it mostly as a springboard for ideas rather than a rigid guide. i've never had a fic that hasn't strayed from its original plan, so i usually rewrite the outline several times as i go depending on where the story takes me (case in point, Carnations has jumped from 4 chapters to 8 chapters to 9 chapters + an epilogue). i usually write chronologically unless there's one scene i'm particularly excited about. although sometimes if i'm REALLY struggling, i will break down the chapters into multiple sections, write them based on whichever one comes most easily, and mash them together. again, to use Carnations as an example, this was my outline for chapter 5:

i typically run 2 main edits when it's on the google doc - one for plot/wording and one for SPAG - then i reread 5000 additional times out of paranoia once it's pasted into ao3 often until it becomes virtually unrecognisable. i'm pretty sure my fic Expectations was about 1800 words when i first pasted it in there, and ended up just over 2100. most of the time i write in the mornings and edit + post in the evenings, but this changes depending on my schedule!

~

for the fic writer asks :-)

[kingsleytealeef]

Self Rec Tag Game

tagged by the wonderful @hello-eeveev!!

Rules: Share five of your own fanworks (fic, art, etc.). Then, tag five more people to share the things they've made.

1.something you absolutely adore

a winter's crest detour [mature, caleb/essek]

the idea for this fic actually went through two different fandoms before coming to light in critical role. i'd signed up for a christmas hallmark movie prompt thing and sadly didn't get my pick, so i left cause i got unreasonably attached to this one idea and so it came with me as i moved into another fandom where about 10k got written before the muse abandoned me until shadowgast ate my life and here we are. its probably the most self indulgent fic i've ever written, purely created for moi and i love it, bonus other people seemed to like it too! woo!

2. something that was challenging to create

the edge of the blade [teen, caleb/essek]

a full YEAR in the making, this is my biggest, longest, most EVERYTHING fic. i love it, i had so much fun writing it but boy was it hard work. the time, the energy that went into this. i really challenged myself to dig deep for essek's emotions and insecurities and i'm really proud of how it turned out. i definitely improved as a writer because of the challenges this fic liked to throw at me

3. something that makes you laugh (or smile, if that fits more comfortably)

long may they reign chapter 3 [gen, caleb/essek]

not gonna lie this is one of my comfort fics that i re-read of my things that always makes me feel better. i love the dynamic of being so comfortable and in love that the simplest acts of affection become automatic and the realisation of those acts can lead to a deeper sense and understanding of that love. i'm a sucker for the old married couple troupe.

4. something that surprised you (in how it turned out, how much other people liked it, etc.)

keep me warm [explicit, caleb/essek]

listen i am not a smut writer, it is not one of my strengths, it's very difficult for me and even the smallest scene requires days/weeks/months of writing cause i just struggle with it so damn much, (maybe she's (gnc) born with it, maybe its maybelline the aroace of it all). the idea for this fic just grabbed me by the throat and wouldn't let go so i put word to document and it actually came out alright, i was pleasantly surprised that i actually managed to put what was in my head into the fic in a very good way so very proud of myself for it

5. something you want other people to see

act i. the interloper [gen, caleb/essek]

ok ok ok i know i haven't finished parts 2 and 3 yet, YET! but i love how this series is shaping up even though it has grown beyond the teeny tiny wee fun little three part fluff ball it was meant to be into something so big and with feelings, think fluff ball the size of one of those stupidly big plastic tourist attractions they've got out in america. i love looking into old courting practices and seeing what would fit and connect with the culture of the drow and just being able to explore different aspects of their relationship and the important moments to them as well. part three especially has me a little teary cause its gonna be so gosh darn sweet so yeah, stay tuned i am writing it, its just bigger than originally designed lol

tag you're it: @aithilin, @mollymawkwrites, @ruvigapo, @mardyart, @glossolali mwah! show off your goods and wares darlings!!

[eleanorbloom]

Home (Trystan Thorne x MC)

Book: Crimes of Passion Pairing: Trystan Thorne x F!MC (Amelia Rose)

Rating: Teen Warnings: Language. Words: 2,100.

Summary: What happens inside Trystan's head when Amelia found belladis for him (Book 1 Chapter 11).

A/N: I can't believe I'm doing this. I told myself I would only play some Choices books and not write any fics because life is messy enough, but I just fell in love with Trystan Thorne (hard not to) and loved the belladi scene so fucking much, that I had to write something about it. Honestly, that scene is one of the most beautiful things a MC has done for a LI. It was so sweet and considerate, I just needed to add the proper sappiness, as usual. This is my first fic outside Open Heart, and I haven't written something in English in about a year and a half, so I apologize for the rustiness. Whoever takes the time to read this, thank you so much! I can't wait to catch up with the content you have written for this gorgeous person ❤️

Tagging @choicesficwriterscreations to get some boost. I'm not sure who else wants to be tagged in future works, if there's any.

____

Home.

Even after eight years, New York has never felt like home. 

A penthouse crammed with people. With music, laughter, booze, men, women, sex, poker, gambles. Not even all the fun in the world has made Trystan feel it like home. 

Not even her sister. Mag’s the only thing he has left from both his family and Drakovia, and yet, even if he adores her, he can't remotely feel close to home when she’s around. She only evokes the melancholy of not being at home.

  The Agency, on the other hand, feels like a community to him. A place with an unusual sense of belonging. Where people appreciate him for him, not for what his title is or where he comes from. The banter, the shared coffees, the theories, the mutual help. It’s all a comfortable space that makes him feel useful for the first time in a long time. It has given him a purpose.

And Amelia… Amelia soon has started to feel like something he had never experienced before. A warm and enveloping sensation every time he sees her. And it’s not just because of the fire that lights up her eyes in every action she does seeking justice,  or because they have been spending an incalculable amount of time together in the past weeks, so it could be said he’s been getting accustomed to her presence.

No.

It's because of the sincerity in everything she does and says. The purpose in all she does. This is not just a job, it’s her true calling. And the confirmation just keeps appearing before his eyes day after day. With every theory she makes, with every risk she takes.

And it’s also in the sincerity she calls him out every day. The way she calls him annoying at least ten times a day and the ten times a day he silently agrees, but keeps doing it because he likes the way his brown eyes roll in weariness, but a moment later melt into subtle amusement, letting him know she actually likes how annoying he is. Her smirk confirms it.

Besides his sister, Trystan has never met a person who confronts him the way Amelia does, and much less that the same person who does it, still chooses to spend day after day with him. 

He has never met a person who had trusted him with her life. Even after telling her his fault in Juliana’s death.

Being around Amelia makes him be the closet he is at heart. What he truly is. Without pretending, without showing off to prove something. Without having to slow down to be taken seriously. Or having to do grand gestures just to fit in the Prince stereotype. Even if they bicker, even if Amelia groans at him every two seconds, he knows she appreciates him just for the way he is. Otherwise she would’ve gotten rid of him the very first day he hired the Agency.

That’s why Trystan prefers to take a walk by Central Park with her instead of resting at his penthouse, or partying with some ‘friends’.

That’s the reason why just strolling by her side is enough for him. Just walking and bantering about his million qualities and fancy abilities, or watching Amelia twirling around him while Fiera races behind her. It’s simple but it’s everything to him right now. 

And that’s why having a bagel with avocado and a fried egg sitting on a bench, is the best lunch he has had in a long while. Topping the most fancy shit he had ever had.

 “Do you ever miss it?” Amelias asks, seeing the subtle longing in his eyes as he talks about  Drakovia.

“It’s not worth thinking about”, he answers, shrugging.

“So, yes?” She insists.

“...Sometimes.” He confesses. He does miss it, but for once in his life the answer doesn’t sting like before. For once he prefers to be precisely right where he is instead of somewhere else. “This just reminded me we have a place like this in Drakkos. The People's Garden. I used to get belladi there as a child.”

“Belladi?” She inquires, curiously. 

“It's a Drakovian dessert. A bit like  a scone, with sort of a melty Cadbury egg in the middle, topped with a dusting of sugar.” Even if there have been years, he could taste the sweetness of that first bite every time he tried one. 

“Sounds delicious”. 

Trystan sighs wistfully, watching some kids racing a few feet from them. His feelings haven’t changed, he prefers to be right where he is, but he does wish to have a belladi right now in his hands. 

“They are. But I've never found them anywhere else. No sense brooding over it…”

Trystan can see from the corner of his eye how Amelia looks silently at him for a moment, thinking. 

“You know what? I agree,” Amelia says as she hops to her feet, “No sense brooding over it. I'm gonna get you that dessert.” 

Trystan turns to her, taken aback with her declaration. He would've expected a change in the topic to make him feel better, probably an invitation to try some new pastry to satiate his thirst for something sweet. But not this. 

“I’ve just told you. I have looked” Although he is surprised by her intention, it doesn’t crack the hopelessness he feels about it. There’s no way he will try a belladi ever again.

“If it exists, you can find it in New York. You’re just not looking hard enough,” she gives him a wink, “Lucky for you, you're in the presence of a detective” she adds playfully, pointing with her head towards the path that leads back to the food stands.

But the glint in her eyes tells him this is more than some detectivesque challenge, a treasure hunt. This is a different kind of fire than the one that drives her daily. There’s something else. And for some reason it makes his heart flutter.

Amelia makes him go back to the vendors and asks every single one of them if they have heard about a place where they could make drakovian food. For about half an hour, they only encounter shook heads and apologizing looks, until finally a woman at the end of the park, clues them in of a food truck in the 82nd. 

Trystan hadn't had his hopes high in all that time. He didn't want to be disappointed. Yet he was feeling very grateful to Amelia for trying. But the moment the woman tells them she had heard there was a truck with drakovian food but that had moved out of the park, something warmed up inside him just like when he was a kid. 

The sun is going down by the time they make it to 82nd Street. Trystan cannot contain his smile when the man behind the window recognizes him and then, after taking a selfie with him, starts to prepare the pastry.

“I must admit that, even if I have never doubted that you are an impressive detective, I really thought you wouldn't find it" he confesses somewhat regretfully, “You can add “dessert hunting” to your resume now”.

“I know, I'm truly impressive, am I?” Amelia says, almost only to herself, “I never doubted myself, but making this happen feels really, really amazing”. Suddenly, Amelia giggles, clapping her hands in excitement. “I'm so glad you are going to get that belladi you so much wanted”.

Trystan grins, amused, because he had never heard her laugh like that, like a child. And that sole view touches him deeply in his heart. To be able to see another side of Amelia. A side less tough and more effusive. And he feels somewhat more grateful than he already was.

A few minutes later, the man behind the window reaches to give them the belladis plus some bitter drink to enhance the flavor of the pastry. Both content with the food, take it to a quiet stoop a few feet away and take a seat to enjoy the much awaited delicacies. 

Trystan groans full of pleasure the moment the belladi melts in his tongue. 

“Oh my god, this is even better than I imagined”.

He feels shivers down his spine as the sweet flavor invades him along with some of his best childhood memories. 

Happy and truly thankful for the gesture, Trystan turns to thank Amelia for the crusade she put herself in just to get him a belladi, absolutely convinced she would be wolfing down the pastry just as he was. But instead, he caught her watching him with a wistful smile and warm eyes.

The moment their eyes meet, Amelia hurries to take the pastry and engulfs her mouth with it.

“Woow, yes, indeed, this is amazing,” she says, hastily, her cheeks evidently blushed. 

“Yeah”, he sighs, trying to contain a chuckle. 

That was just the confirmation he needed to convince himself that all that wasn’t just about proving herself being an amazing detective. A personal challenge.

This was for him.

Who would walk almost the whole damn Central Park just to prove a point? Well, she would. But no one offers to find it in the first place just to prove a point. She could prove herself with anything else. But something that seemed too personal for him? 

Only Amelia would take the challenge just to get him the damn belladi and calm his homesickness. 

She might look tough and cold, but she was the most considerate person when it came to the people she cared about. So, acting like that meant that she… Trystan stops himself right at that moment, trying not to jump out to conclusions. 

But he just cannot shake the idea off his head. So he searches for her hand and takes it in his.

“What?”

And then lifts it to his lips, as Amelia doesn't seem to oppose. 

“Thank you”, he says, staring directly into her chocolate eyes, charged with intention, meaning and candor. 

She blushes again, more profusely, then shakes her head, "It’s nothing". 

 “Uh-uh,”  Trystan stands up and turns her body to him, still holding her hand, “You know how difficult it is for me to be away from home. That I can’t go back there. You saw that I miss it, and when you found there was a tiny chance to make me feel like home, you took it and made it possible. It's not nothing, Amelia.”

She looks at him, serious, her eyes glistening. 

“I hate to see you sad, missing home, because you don’t deserve it, you don't deserve anything that has happened to you, so I had… I had to try at least, to find you this something that you were missing so much, even if it was a goddamn pastry”. 

He gives her the most dazzling smile she has ever seen, it was almost blinding.

“Thank you. Thank you, Amelia. I really mean it.”

And without giving it a second thought, he embraced her, tightly but delicately, his arms around the small of her back, his cheek pressed to her head, his nose feeling the critic scent of her chestnut hair. Amelia stands frozen for a few seconds, petrified, before giving in to the embrace, crossing both arms around his back, grasping the silk fabric of his shirt, smiling softly. 

“You're very welcome, Trystan,” she says in a tiny voice. 

What if he was wrong all along? Or maybe he was just looking in the wrong places. About home.

Maybe he thought home would always be the same place, that place in the past he couldn’t return. Drakovia. But even if someday there was a chance he could return, he knows it will never be the same. It was now tainted with bittersweet memories and grief.

Maybe home turns into something different once he finds a new place with happy memories.

Maybe home is not always a place but a person, or a pastry.

Maybe a truck with belladi.

Or maybe a person leading him to a truck with belladis.

Or maybe a person who would do anything to get him a belladi, just to see him happy. 

As the sun goes completely down and the purple sky reflects on the skyscrapers of 82nd Street, Trystan sighs happily, contendly, peacefully, for finally being home. 

The Detective Amelia Rose had helped him to find more than belladis that afternoon. 

She helped him find his home. 

Her. 

Amelia.

[toast-the-unknowing]

4, 5, and 14 🥰

a story idea you haven’t written yet

THERE'S OH SO MANY OF THEM, HELP, THEY HAVE ME OUTNUMBERED AND THEY DON'T LIKE HOW I HAVE TREATED THEM THE LAST MANY MONTHS.

At least, the ones I haven't finished yet outnumber me. In terms of things I haven't written at all, actually, I don't know that I have any? I'm keeping an eye out for new fic ideas because it feels weird to not have any new ideas in the hopper. Just don't tell the WIPs.

first sentence of the fifth paragraph of an unpublished WIP

The stranger screams trouble as soon as Adam lays eyes on him.

(Girl, you know that stranger is Ronan.)

where do you get your inspiration?

Lately it's been a little thin on the ground, not gonna lie! But I figure that's a muscle that can be stretched and got back into shape. Or like, when people say a batter has a good eye? I'm wanting to train my inspiration eye again. And an eye is a muscle, right? Nailed it. This metaphor is flawless.

I love getting prompts from other fans. Events and exchanges can be fun, but I really love (and miss, with not having been active in an active fandom in a while) just the natural exchange of ideas? I remember reading a Community fic once where there was a throw away joke about Britta the Vampire Slayer and I left a comment like PLEASE CAN I WRITE THIS I WILL GIVE YOU CREDIT - that kind of thing is the best.

Also, I love an idea that comes from a question. I accidentally mistyped Adam's name once as "Adam Lynch" and initially went "lol like Adam would ever change his name" and then thought...well, I don't know, what would it take for me to find it plausible that he'd change his name? Can I sell that idea to myself?

My other favorite place to get ideas is when there's just one moment of something that gets stuck in your head and won't go away? I think there's three different fics in the LA verse that were inspired by throw away lines from other fics in the LA verse. The Boston verse was inspired by a joke in a true crime podcast. A friend of mine said she dropped her phone while reading on the treadmill and I was like "hm what if Ronan did that." I think it's like, when you're into a fandom and suddenly ~*~every song~*~ is about your blorbo (even when it doesn't actually fit at all)? Weird thoughts that get attached to characters and then turn into fics, I love that shit.

fic writer asks