#i don't remember much of the 100 at this point but halfway through writing this i remembered the thing about raven's mom

[savedpeople]

🎄 From Raven

Send ‘🎄’ for our muses to decorate a christmas tree together. | Not Accepting | @offeatherandbone

"Pretty fucking cool, right? The tree, I mean, though I know this whole place must look damn luxurious to you."

Compared to the rest of the Sanctuary, it is; that's because they're currently in the parlor where Negan's wives spend much of their time -- though they're notably absent now -- down the hall from the leader's own living quarters. A room of leather and velvet, fancy-ass decorative pillows and chandeliers, a selection of wines at a personal bar and, currently, a bare Christmas tree, with a handful of boxes sitting besides it.

"Told the guys I wanted to feel some damn holiday cheer this winter and look at this." He motions towards the tree. "They pulled through for once in their sad lives. Now, as you may notice, it's looking pretty fucking sad, but that's where you come in." Arms spread open wide like his smile. "You, my dear, are going to help me decorate this thing."

He spots what must be either confusion or disbelief cross her face, because he soon adds, "You must be wondering why I don't have one of my many wives helpin' me instead. Don't you worry, I've got plenty of things lined up for them to help me get into the Christmas spirit." He keeps it vague on purpose; lets her come to her conclusions. "And let's be honest, you could use a break from all that back breaking work you do for me." Not the best kind of 'back breaking,' but by some miracle he manages to keep that one to himself. "I might even pour you a drink."

Some time later, the tree is wrapped in white lights and silver garland rests across the fireplace mantel. Raven turns down his offer to have a drink -- Negan has no fucking clue why -- but he still grabs himself a beer as they work their way through boxes of frosted silver, gold, and red bulb ornaments. He encourages them to share stories of Christmas from before the world fell, and he's pretty sure he sees Raven crack a smile or two. Soon enough the tree is covered, and Negan takes a dramatic step back to take it all in after he finishes it off with a gold star at the top.

"I don't know about you, but I think we did pretty fucking good! Look at it; there's so much Christmas cheer radiating off this thing, I'm about to start singing carols."

Hands on his hips, Negan turns to her, lifting a palm into the air. And -- maybe just to appease him, maybe not -- Raven doesn't leave him hanging, and gives him a high-five.

[theminecraftbee]

hi second i started reading solving counting sheep yesterday thinking it was only 7 chapters instead of 17, realised when i got to chapter 7 that i wasn't even halfway through and had to go to bed, picked it up again this morning and read until ao3's servers were down and then had to download it to send it to my ereader and then spent the rest of the day reading it. and i just finished reading it like an hour ago and it is very nearly 2 in the morning as i send this

i have a lot of thoughts / feelings / etc. i cannot at all properly articulate BUT you are Very very good at writing grief. i think i cried a minimum of 7 times reading this (at least once over the point about three using it/its as an it/its user) and i can't exactly remember when but i know at some point in the last few chapters i just stared at a wall for a hot minute in. much more than mild devastation before i kept reading. 100/10 would read again after i recover emotionally. ❤️

man i remain so glad people are connecting with this fic. i think of my recent fics solving counting sheep might be one of my favorites because like, i don't know man, it's personal in ways that are hard to describe. i also will never stop feeling Something when someone tells me that as an it/its user they connected to three with that. and also that you stayed up that late to read it and everything else. mostly just thank you this is a very nice comment i'm glad you liked the fic, and liked it enough to download it to read it offline, and that people are still liking the fic <3

[sparklepirate]

Alright, final thoughts on Inheritance.

;-;

Eragon continues to be the guy of all time. I love him. He really displayed a maturity in this book that I think supersedes anything we've seen of him in all the previous books, and just like... His strength really is that he is compassionate and thoughtful towards everyone. Even Murtagh, now, too. He had the realization of how close he was to sharing his fate, sought to understand him, and that was ultimately what led him to realizing his true name had changed, tearing down Galbatorix's wards, etc etc. I don't know that I could properly articulate everything about him here, but Eragon definitely became the hero he needed to be by the end of the series, 100%. He is the only person who could've possibly thought of the final piece of magic to defeat Galbatorix. Even the dreams of starlings are equal to the worries of a king. Ahhh, it's so good. ❤️ I'm so proud of him.

On the other hand, Barst was some bullshit. Bro. Like, on the one hand, it was a very good climactic battle for Roran to participate in, and his triumph was the perfect culmination of his character- cunning in battle, cunning in strategy, the intelligence and charisma to sway everyone around him into cooperating and working together, sheer determination so intensely strong that he was able to crush and Eldunarí with his bare hands. His role was perfect! But Barst as a villain was kinda... Well, first of all, he came completely the fuck out of nowhere. He wasn't mentioned at all until they were already on their way to Uru'baen, and then he was only MENTIONED. They didn't hype him up enough before the actual battle in my opinion. And ONE human and one Eldunarí being enough to beat the QUEEN OF THE ELVES in hand to hand combat...? I mean, I guess that could work but... Ehhh... I dunno. It kind of felt like an excuse for Islanzadí to die, and Roran to triumph more than anything. It was cool, but it was probably the weakest part of the plot in my opinion.

That said though I think it's pretty safe to say this was my favorite book of the series. I'm having trouble recalling all the iconic shit (I took a pretty long break from reading about halfway through the book) but there was soooo much cool stuff in here. The Nasuada being kidnapped and being helped by Murtagh arc is GOLD, Vroengard was amazing, and all the battles were SO well written??? I need to study these books more closely just to learn how to write compelling fight scenes. Honestly, it's gripping stuff. I was on the edge of my seat, despite knowing how everything turns out.

Nasuada is amazing, Arya is amazing, Saphira is amazing, Roran is amazing, MURTAGH is amazing... I think I already liked basically every character in this series going in, but I somehow like them even more now that I've read it again. Everyone is so good, and interesting, and I want to be everyone's friend. I think the only character I liked less this go around was Orrin (sorry to my Orrin stan friend out there). That said, though, I don't dislike him, I think I just went from positive to neutral about him.

Orrin honestly just didn't get nearly as much screen time as I remembered? We only see him a handful of times throughout the book and each time the only thing he's doing is getting drunk and making an ass of himself, though... Idk, he also has a point? He has his own unique point of view, and his own unique experiences that lead him to his own ideas of how to conduct things, and it is definitely kind of true that like no one ever really listens to him or takes him seriously, despite being the King of Surda for w while at that point. I don't think there was a more graceful solution to the division of power/territory after Galbatorix was killed than what was decided upon, because like... Realistically, Orrin was never gonna be high king. He had good reason to assert for the throne, sure, but actually ascending to the throne? That is SUCH a far reach for power, unless the aim was to assimilate Surda in and have all of the humans under one crown. Nah, Nasuada giving up territory and ascending to the throne was the better choice, even if I do empathize with Orrin's point of view. It seems like Nasuada did as well, because even though she was persistent, she seemed to be gentle and sympathetic with him. He even had his line about like... "Why do you even want to do this?" "None of you would understand." Idk. Very interesting, but not tremendously notable compared to others, and he definitely was a bit of an asshole at times.

Murtagh my beloved my BELOVED I'm honestly just gonna make a whole separate essay post about him because his shit is Complicated™️ but one little note it was such a small detail at the end but I love that he said to Eragon "Hey check in on Arya about killing Shruikan. It couldn't have been easy for an elf to kill a dragon." And Eragon hadn't even THOUGHT of that and Arya probably would've been the last thing on his mind but he still was just so thoughtful. He is thoughtful like his brother and he cares so deeply and AHHH!!! And actually I want to see him and Arya be buds. I think they would have a cool dynamic. And also I love that he never once hesitated to acknowledge Eragon as his brother and just wanted to be with him and finally Eragon also acknowledged him as a brother too that last scene with them was just so good 🥹

Also I love how Thorn's like only spoken line in the whole series (until November) is to boop Eragon on the forehead and say "Hi. Thank you for not killing my rider. :)" and Murtagh is just like "Yeah thanks for that. 😒"

Love how quick Saphira and Fírnen hit it off lol. They really played tag and wrestled for like five minutes and then were like "Alright we're gonna go fuck like now see y'all later ✌️" And Eragon's like "Is this??? Okay???" And Saphira's like "Pfft dragon's don't mate for life 🤷‍♀️" Their little romance was so cute.

CAN WE FUCKING TALK ABOUT QUEEN AND RIDER ARYA??? That shit is by FAR the wildest endgame decision Chris made because like. That. That's so fucking. Oh my god??? Like, one, poor Arya!! She just wanted to be a rider and have adventures! She probably would've either spent her time happy herrying eggs across Alegaësia, or she would've gone with Eragon to Mount Arngor, but you can NOT convince me that she would be particularly happy as queen. She's grieving the loss of her mother that she barely had a relationship with, and denied the other eleven leaders for a full week before they convinced her to do it!!! Girlie!!! You deserve to be happy!!! And, two, the obvious point of holy shit that is such an enormous power imbalance in favor of the elves. Like, there is a REASON the riders were separate in the first place!! And, you know, Galbatorix JUST died and now there is another rider/monarch and it's the ELVES who have historically been both the most powerful race, and the race with the best relationship with the dragons. And Arya is the ONLY RIDER LEFT IN ALEGAËSIA!!! Because Eragon is gone (and stubbornly convinced that He Shall Never Again Return Oh Woe Is Him) and Murtagh is... Also gone to an extent. He at the very least holds no political power. Basically everyone hates him, and those that don't can't do more than, like, pardon him, for whatever that's worth. I just can't see this not rubbing people the wrong way, and not coming to an eventual head. Nasuada and Arya are both great, but I just get the feeling there is going to eventually be some sort of conflict between them, no matter how much neither of them want it. I do think Arya is perhaps the least corruptible person, other than maybe Eragon but... I don't knowwww maaaan it's complicated!!

Also I regret to inform everyone that rereading the last little bit did make me ship Eragon and Arya a teensy tinsy itty little bit. Just a liiiiittle bit. Like idk the last fairth and the telling each other their true names and calling each other their true names and Eragon's grief at leaving and his vow to love her forever and her insinuation of maybe one day just got to me alright???

There were a lot of cool magic things in this book! Like the pocket space that the Eldunarí were kept in? Cuaroc's body? More shit that I'm forgetting? God I would just love, like, a magical encyclopedia or something idk. Lots of cool shit. And artifacts!! I want to learn about more magical artifacts.

Also at my Galbatorix stan mutual? I'm a certified Murtagh Girlie™️ and therefore obligated to hold a grudge but like. I do get it. He is a... Very competent villain.

Alright I think that's it for now but. Wow. Man oh man. There is a reason I love this series. I'll probably think of some more things to talk about later, and I'm gonna be participating in the Big Bang, and I'll probably post about The Fork, The Witch, and The Worm as I reread that but yeah!!! Can't wait for November!!

[covfefeships]

Thank you so much @timeofjuly! Answering some of these was like taking a trip through memory lane.

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

I have 6 currently published on AO3. I probably had a few more from my FF account that I just never ported over.

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

198,093!! That's such a wild number to see, especially when I think that emergence day parade is JUST NOW hitting the halfway mark and it's still got about 70-80k to go.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Undertale, and I have one work for Hannibal that I intend on picking up again. I am supremely tempted to start writing for Fallout. I used to write a lot on ROTG and Once Upon a Time, but now I just pick at Battle of the coffee shops occasionally.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

The Emergence day parade

Battle of the coffee shops

To Sleep or Not To Sleep

The Once Great King

These Masks We Wear

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

I try to respond to comments. I feel like if someone is taking the time to leave a comment on my fic I owe it to them to respond back, even if it's just to say thank you. Sometimes I'll miss responding back, but that doesn't mean I appreciate the comment any less! I will say recently I am super behind on responding to comments. I have stepped away from online stuff a lot in the last two weeks, and just haven't made it around to some of the more recent comments. I have seen them all thought and I appreciate them so, so much!

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

Battle of the coffee shops 100%, the fic is still unfinished as of right now, but I do eventually want to come back and finish it so I won't say too much. I've had the ending scene in my head for years and by far is the angstiest ending I've ever planned.

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

To sleep or not to sleep. I wrote this fic back when I was in high school and the ending is just very sweet.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

The only really negative comment I remember receiving was on fan fiction.net, but even then it was never anything ever crazy Most notably I remember someone leaving a nasty comment on the typos in one of my fics (which To be fair was absolutely riddled with typos because I was like 12 and very little idea about grammar and formatting lol, but they were pretty mean about it.)

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

I've just recently dipped my toes into smut writing with The Emergence Day Parade and As is tradition, (and eventually These Masks We Wear) and I find it very fun to write. I'm not sure 'what kind' of smut I write - Probably more dominance focused stuff.

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

I think I might have written an InuYasha crossover at some point, but it's been so long I really don't remember. If I do a crossover it's probably going to be something more like taking the idea from one piece of media and using the characters from another piece of media.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I'm aware of lol

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope

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

No I haven't, I think the only way I'd ever co-write with someone would just be if it was like a fic series of one-shots or something.

14. What’s your all time favourite ship?

This is hard! I feel like there's always ships that I'm like obsessed with but forget when I jump onto a new fandom. That doesn't mean I don't like that ship anymore I just have usually fallen out of the fandom.

If I had to name just one, it would probably be Albert Wesker and Claire Redfield. There's not many fics on them, but the ones that are there are all A-tier.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

There's a once upon a time fanfic I started years ago,

16. What are your writing strengths?

Characterisation, I think. And even though I mostly gravitate towards writing angsty stuff, I think humour and comedic timing is a strength of mine too.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Physical description and settings, 100%. I don't really picture anything in my head when I write, which means all that physical description doesn't make its way onto the page, and when it does, I'm just going off vibes. Particularly with setting - I have zero idea what the locations in any of my fics look like lol. Like, the house in RtC? No clue. Zero.

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

Sometime it works, sometimes it doesn't. I particularly like when the character says things in another language that foreshadow things to come.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Maybe Nighmare on Elm Street?

20. Favourite fic you’ve written?

This is a really hard question! There was a Once Upon a Time fic I would write on every now and then, but I don't believe I ever published any of it, It's just one that always stuck with me because it was so fun to write.

It's a Once Upon a Time AU - The kingdom Belle's father commands is given a request from a more powerful, much larger kingdom requesting the Belle be brought as a wife for their sorcerer.

Belle escapes her kingdom, stealing a set of armor from her castle and forging a note of knighthood with her father's seal on it. She steals away to the larger kingdom and ends up joining their army as a knight.

She quickly assimilates into her new role, able to hide her appearance through armor, but after a fateful encounter with the kingdom's sorcerer, who can sense that this knight is being deceitful, he demands that Belle be transferred to become his assistant outside of training hours so the he can keep an eye on them.

It's rocky at first, Belle trying to both not be killed by Rumple who appears just as insane as he is sadistic, and to keep her true identity hidden. - Unfortunately for Belle it all comes to a head after an accident when she adamantly gets in the way of Rumple shooting Robinhood's pregnant wife, her helmet is knocked away and Rumple finds out the truth.

He's furious, of course, that he'd been duped this whole time, and that the woman who was supposed to become his wife had been hiding under his nose the whole time, but realizes he can use this to his advantage - He has plans himself to overthrow the kingdom, and someone like Belle will prove more than useful.

No pressure, but I'm tagging @rhodophoria , though anyone who'd like to can answer these, there's a whole bunch of writers here on Tumblr that I'd love to hear the answers to these questions from!

[aurorawest]

Reading update, part 2

The Perplexing Theft of the Jewel in the Crown by Vaseem Khan - 4/5 stars

All the Way Happy by Kit Coltrane - DNF

Couldn't get past the fact that it was blatantly Drarry fanfiction that had had the serial numbers filed off. It was seriously distracting. I don't have an issue with fic authors doing that (I'M ONE OF THEM), but this read like a find and replace had been done on the names, and nothing else had been changed. If the prose hadn't been so overwrought I might have enjoyed it, but the combination of Drarry AU + purple prose was just too cringey for me.

Total Creative Control by Joanna Chambers and Sally Malcolm - 5/5 stars

Ahhhhh I loved this book. I've only read Chambers's historical fiction so I was curious what this would be like, and it was so good. So so good.

Also, sometimes my wife says stuff and I'm like 'that's not a real thing that English people say, that's probably some weird thing her family says.' But then I'll read it in a book by an English person and I am schooled. Anyway that happened several times in this book.

The Name Bearer by Natalia Hernandez - DNF

I don't mind a slow-paced book but there was just so much info dumping in the first chapter, when chapter 2 started with more info dumping, I gave up.

Crossroads by Riley Hart - DNF

This book started with a description of the main character's apartment. There wasn't anything special about it, nor was it described in a unique way. I DNFed halfway through page 2. I know I have another Riley Hart book sitting in my TBR, which I will be digging out bringing to my local bookstore's used book buyback.

Godkiller by Hannah Kaner - 4.5/5 stars

Did Not Expect to enjoy this one. I got this in an IllumiCrate and I just remember the little blurby thing you get where the author talks about the book saying something about how she loves angry women. I'm over it. Angry is not a personality! Stop writing women who are angry and thinking you've written a well-rounded character!

But actually this book was really good! Predictable, but a good read. Unusually, my favorite character was the child. It helped that she had an adorable hare/bird/deer god of white lies following her around.

Tommy Cabot Was Here by Cat Sebastian - 5/5 stars

I love Sebastian's regency romances but I might love this series more. This is a very, very quick read (right around 100 pages) but she's just so good at creating these wonderful, fully-realized characters that you love from the first sentence.

As You Walk on By by Julian Winters - 2/5 stars

So at this point I think I have to concede that Julian Winters is not the author for me. He's constantly lauded as this wonderful writer whose books will make you smile for days. This is the third one I've read and I nearly DNFed it. The only thing that kept me going, ironically, was that I really liked the love interest and was rooting for them to get together. Typically I find the romances in Julian Winters books to be very flat and un-swoony. This one was actually quite nice though.

But the main character. Jesus Christ. He's SO annoying. Him and his shitty BFF who he falls out with deserve each other, honestly. There's only so many times I can sympathize with you because you have a comfortable, middle-class life and you go to a fancy pants private school, but waaaaah sometimes your friends don't say exactly the right thing about you being queer. Also having your MC tell the teenage girl who gets slut-shamed, gossiped about, and sexually harassed everywhere she goes that actually she doesn't have it as bad because she's white was...an interesting touch.

And idk if the Youth actually act and talk the way the teenagers do in this book, but if they do, I'm very glad I don't know any teenagers.

Why did I rate this book 2 stars instead of 1? Oh! I really liked Luca. He deserved a better book. And I liked River a lot, too. And the fact that this was clearly a take on The Breakfast Club was fun, just...not executed as well as I would have liked.

Part 1

[coffeeandcalligraphy]

hey! would you be willing to talk about your short story Eat Well? I read it and loved it, though I admit (very sheepishly) that I feel like i didnt quite understand the end 😅 I'm curious to know what the core of the story is, how it looks in your mind, what the intention is etc. maybe I'm also wondering how it works in the terms of your recent short story instructional video? anyway, big fan as always. you inspire me! ♡

Ahhh thank you so much for reading it!

This story is SO up for interpretation. Spoilers here about the end so for those who haven't read it, you can read it for free first! Though I don't think this is necessarily a "spoilable" story because of the nature of the premise!

Really, a reader can take what they want from the ending. If you're not sure about the end, I think I can assume it's whether or not the couple breaks up? Lmk if I'm wrong!

I don't actually know the answer myself, haha. At one point, I did, but the longer this story sits, the less I know and the more I like the idea that it's very up to interpretation. You can see the ending as the couple getting back together (them coming together over the chowder that brought them together initially and working together as a team to finish the bowl of "gross" food which which they wouldn't do before as the boyfriend refused to eat the girlfriend's "gross" food and the girlfriend refused to take suggestions--lack of compromise both ways being made up by this act of coming together).

You can also see the ending as a breakup (which I think was my initial inclination but it's been over a year since I drafted the story so I actually can't remember--not lying when I say I don't remember my own writing, HA!). In that case, the ending is a bit bittersweet! The characters both understand the other in this moment but also know that even though they understand the other, that's not enough to save this ending relationship. The girlfriend's "This is so bad" dialogue and the boyfriend's "Now you know" dialogue indicates it that they DO get the other--girlfriend finally understands, deeply, how her boyfriend experiences her cooking, where boyfriend has finally met her halfway and is willfully eating "gross" food (and perhaps understanding why she wants to share it with him because it’s an experience, even if the food is strange).

It doesn't matter to me in this case what people take from the ending. If it's just a bizarre ending to a reader, that's fine too! Usually I'm very for authorial intent, but this story I think has taken a life of its own where people relate to it in a very personal (and therefore different) way. I remember my workshop was floored by how much they related to this exact situation (minus the weird food), AKA, how much they related to being in a relationship that's disintegrating, perhaps, but not fully gone (an in-between state where you're not sure where it's going). That experience is going to differ from person to person, and is going to depend on if you've been in a relationship before (I haven't, so I have no idea what that experience is like so was bringing in my own experience elsewhere) & what the relationship was like, etc.

It's really a story about THAT, those confusing, unspeakable points in relationships where you have no idea what something is or is not, or aren’t ready to confront that! I think the uncertainty is something I love most about it, because relationships are not always easy to understand, especially when they’re changing or ending. I wanted to capture the messiness that so many humans go through (whether romantic, platonic, parental, etc).

This story is not a “traditional” or “typical” short story, which is the type I showed in the video (and arguably the easiest to spot/understand/write). But, you 100% can still apply everything I talked about in the video!

Here's the story broken down into the structure I shared in my video (tho a reminder that short stories are moldable so IMO, as long as a story hits the essence of these points, it’s most likely fine and a writer will develop this judgement the more they write stories):

1. Character in particular predicament

A couple’s relationship has grown tense, allegedly because of the narrator’s weird cooking (Peas and Pasta)

The predicament actually happens BEFORE the story, which is a touch different to what you usually see.

2. Event unrolls that disrupts this predicament

The narrator continues to cook weirdly (perhaps on purpose)? (Grass Julep, Four Almonds, Ramen Alfredo, Raspberry zoodles)

There are multiple little events in this case--the disrupting event really is the character continuing to cook this way even though she understands (or maybe doesn’t?) her SO’s feelings about it.

3. Event peaks

Boyfriend asks girlfriend if they should break up (Granola Cheese - this is probably the most important section in the story)

This is the first time they’ve actually truly communicated in the story. It’s a moment of heightened tension in their relationship because they’re seeing each other, I think, for the first time in a long time. She’s making granola cheese because she wants to, and he isn’t participating at all because he doesn’t--this is who they are and they’re both confronting it here.

4. Final revelation that changes the predicament

This is that exact moment: “My hand was sticky. I looked at it. I’d been clutching the nub of extra licorice, hadn’t even realized he’d given the last bite to me. I looked from his shoeprints, already half-gone, to the bit of candy. I stuffed it into the glove compartment where it would probably remain, forever.”

Narrator is holding onto licorice that she doesn’t even like that her boyfriend kindly saved for her (but does she even like licorice? - she doesn’t really know). She looks at his footprints that are disappearing in the snow fast (like he may disappear fast from her life if they break up). She shoves the candy into the glove compartment because it may remain there even if she does not. (Clam Chowder)

The story does continue past this point to resolve itself, but I’d say this is the moment where the narrator has a revelation!

This was a fun story! Thanks for asking!

[nimuetheseawitch]

lol I didn't even realize this bingo post going around was an ask meme until I saw your tag.

You say I love you but I cannot stay and/or The problem with starting halfway through

I'll do both. Why not?

You say I love you but I cannot stay

I love Sometimes You Hear the Bullet. And I was haunted by the idea that Hawkeye would write an introduction to Tommy's book and make sure it got published. And because I'm me, I wanted to write the letters Hawkeye would write. And then I realized BJ would be a complete weirdo about Hawkeye having other friends. Even early on in my hunnihawk days, I was into BJ being really, really weird about it (not that this is hunnihawk - it's just BJ being obsessed with Hawkeye and not understanding boundaries). And BJ *would* be so fucked up about learning how traumatized Hawkeye is/should be, that he would freak out and Hawkeye would have to comfort him. Thinking about this now I almost want to write it again but different.

The problem with starting halfway through

I don't entirely remember where this all started, but I had a lot of feelings. I had already written Hawkeye goes to California, and I was obsessing over every little line where BJ flirts with Hawkeye, and I wanted BJ to think it was a good idea to hook up as the war was ending. This line in particular sunk it's teeth into my brain:

"I know this is an ending and not the start of something, and I wish maybe we could've started something sooner, but I want to know. I want to know what I'm missing"

Specifically because this is a terrible fucking idea and I've been there. But I was also just listening to Tegan and Sara's album Hey, I'm Just Like You, and the song Keep Them Close 'Cause They Will Fuck You Too invaded my brain and combined with my MASH brainrot and the hunnihawk and spewed out this idea of how they could keep fucking up at being together. I needed them to have a really poorly thought out last hookup that ate at BJ until he pursued something more, while Hawkeye convinced himself BJ was happy. And then I needed everyone to be gay and fell in love with gay Peg who gives BJ permission to love Hawkeye but also breaks the fuck out of BJ's heart. And I'm gonna take any chance I get to write love letters and fell hard for the idea of Hawkeye pretending to fish but just reading letters from everyone from the 4077.

Oh, and I was having thoughts and feelings about Hawkeye's inconsistency around messing around with married people.

I also wanted to fix BJ Goes to Maine (which I have a soft spot for, but BJ is too into his family and California to go to Maine, and he'd have to be 100% sure of Hawkeye, which he does not have the confidence for).

I promise I will get back to this series because honestly, I have outlines for several more fics. Even though my brain wants to give them a happy ending, none of the stories I've started give them that (although I have a self-indulgent little Peg/Miriam (my OFC) happily ever after planned because sapphic joy). Just lots and lots of misunderstandings and complication.

In the end, it's a story of two people who have wildly different interpretations of what point of the relationship they're in, and they never really got a start, so how can they have a beginning? And did they start at the end? Keep Them Close 'Cause They Will Fuck You Too is a post-breakup song that I decided to apply to a ship I thought I wanted to give a happy ending, so we'll see what happens.

Caveat to everything I've said here: my memory is shitty, and I probably talked about everything over on discord, but I'd have to track down late night conversations and rants from over a year ago to make sure I got everything.

I enjoyed thinking about this and wow do I wish my wrist wasn't as shitty because I feel like writing things down on paper but it is so fucking annoying to hold a pen with my wrist brace. Maybe I'll type some things. Also, this introspection reminded me how much I like to slowly rotate BJ as I consider what a hot mess he is and how much he can manage to hurt the people around him while he flails figuring himself out.

Thanks @marley--manson, I love answering your questions.

[weird-is-life]

Amnesia ( sneak peek)

Steve harrington x fem!reader

A/N: Let me know what you think :) this fic will be long, i'm not even halfway through writing it and it's already 4k 💀

✨✨✨

"Hi, hi" he softly said. You finally opened your eyes and made a confused face at him .

"Harri-?" you tried to sit up, but Steve stopped you. "You shouldn't move too much. How are you feeling?"

"W-what's going on? Why are you here? Where are my parents?" you started asking him so many questions, looking very perplexed.

There was something off about you, but Steve couldn't pin point what it was. You were looking at him very weirdly and it made him fidget in his seat and feel uneasy.

" They went home to change, they should be back soon. D-do you remember what happened?"

"I-I-I.. no" you looked around trying to remember anything, but you remembered only some small bits of your mom's explanation from earlier? You weren't sure, if those memories were even real.

"You got hurt. The Mind flyer threw you against the wall, it was h-horrible" Steve tried to help you remember, but you looked so so lost.

" The mind flyer? What the are you talking about?" you asked, hand on your forehead, because your head started to hurt.

"What do you mean?" You winced in pain," shit, are you in pain? I should probably go get the doctor -"

"No, i'm alright, i just... Why are you here Harrington?" you glared at him and pulled your hand from his grasp.

Wait, what? You glared at him, called him Harrington and pulled your hand away from him? Steve didn't know what was happening. This didn't seem like you at all. He really hoped, you were just still confused.

"What do you mean, sweetheart? Where else would i be, if not here with you?" Steve smiled nervously at you.

"Sweetheart? Whoa Harrington, i don't know why are you here or why are you calling me a sweetheart, but you should probably leave. My parents can be here any second" you stated, still wincing from the pain.

"W-what? Y/N, this isn't funny" Steve heart was literally breaking from your cruel words. He hoped, that it was just a nightmare, that he would soon wake up from.

"Yes, i agree, this isn't funny. If you think that just because i had some kind of accident and you came to visit me to the hospital, i will go on a date with you, you can forget it" every single word was like a hard punch to Steve's guts. He felt like couldn't breath.

"Baby, what are you t-talking about? We've been dating for a while now" he said with wide eyes.

"You can't be serious right now" you laughed, you had no idea what was Steve Harrington doing next to you, but you were 100% sure, you weren't dating him.

Steve felt terrified. You were talking absolute nonsense. It was like you didn't remember him.....

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[well-its-not-human-anymore]

Hi Hi!!!! So I've been following your account for a little while now and I love every single comedy bomb you drop on what you write so I was wondering....

How would the boys react to their S/O who is usually reserved when at the lair, doing a full 180 when at April's? Like they could be April's roommate or something?....

Like crackhead energy, dishing out memes and vines and literally having a duel with Casey about leftovers in the fridge?... Yeah I know it's very specific 💀

I don't know.....the idea just popped into my head but I lack the creativity and comedy skills for that...so I was wondering if you could do something with this?.....

It's totally fine, if not 😁😁

This is... 100% me. I love this and I'm gonna pour my soul into it. Also I have started mentally referring to these as comedy bombs and I refuse to stop.

Also, I hope you don't mind that I wrote these in oneshot form instead of bullet points. It just made more sense for my brain.

TMNT Oneshots

The boys with a partner whose reserved at the lair but an absolute crack gremlin at home 🤣

Donatello

Donnie may have been a man of science, all logic and facts and numbers and things. But he absolutely believed that everyone had three separate faces, you were direct proof of that theory. While the purple terrapin had known you for nearly a year you’d only started dating a month ago and it shocked him that he was still uncovering new things about you. He loved it, sure, but it had a tendency to give him figurative whiplash.

He’d always known you to be calm and collected, maybe even a bit shy. He swore you’d explode if more than one person tried to talk to you at the same time. So it wasn’t an over exaggeration for him to say that your behavior at home nearly made him break his neck.

He was only there to help April fix a bug in her laptop and to confirm your next date, he was excited to see you since you’d had no contact in person for a week because of your schedules. Just lots of phone calls and exchanged text messages. You both missed each other like crazy and your roommate had neglected to inform you that your boyfriend was coming over.

Hers was already there and he was driving you up the wall, you’d never actually thought about committing a murder but Casey was pushing you very close to the edge of snapping. And he might as well have crane-kicked you off your cliff of patience and into the rushing river of “you little fucking shit I’m gonna piss on your grave” below. You hadn’t even heard Donnie come in through the window much less his conversation with April over her computer.

All you knew was that Casey had come parading into your room like a tyrant eating the leftovers in the fridge that you had specifically put your name on. That did it. Your eyes had skimmed over the top of your textbook to meet the asshole in front of you.

“Casey?”

He couldn’t speak through the mouthful he was trying to chew and grunted in pathetic response.

“Is that my cheeseburger?”

You’d never seen a living person imitate a pug’s facial structure so well, the man’s eyes bugged out of his head and he tossed the takeout box on your desk before turning and bolting out of your room. You followed about two steps behind with a bottle of shampoo in your hand. No, you weren’t entirely sure where you’d grabbed it from, all you knew was that it was your weapon. And it quickly became a very messy problem when it missed your target (Casey’s head) and slammed into the wall, exploding on impact.

You didn’t think you’d thrown it that hard.

“April April help help help helpppppppppppppp-'' The two on the couch had looked up during the chase throughout the apartment, Donnie was mostly curious at what Casey was screaming about. Not a lot usually made the guy make that noise. He was then distracted by April grabbing the laptop and passing it to him, she then clambered over his legs to sit behind him.

“YOU UGLY ASS CROISSANT! FUCKING PANINI HEAD- IT HAD MY NAME ON IT YOU DAFT AVACADO!”

Your boyfriend almost went vertical upon watching you tackle Casey to the floor and knee him in the groin. You shook the terrified man under you and slammed him a little harder into the rug.

“Touch my shit again and I’m gonna make the beaches of Normandy look like a goddamn family vacation.”

Then you climbed off of him and stood, brushing your disheveled t-shirt off with a huff. Donnie caught your attention and you raised your head to grin excitedly at him.

“Hi Dove! April didn’t tell me you were coming over,” you practically skipped over to the couch to peck him on the cheek, “I missed ya, are we still on for Saturday?”

He nodded in complete shock, his gaze flitting from you to Casey, who was still wheezing on the floor and clutching his dick.

“Uhhh yeah! Yeah, yep, Still good for Saturday. Uhm, completely unrelated question, where the hell did you learn to grapple like that?”

You shrugged absentmindedly, already walking to the hall closet to grab cleaning supplies for the puddle of shampoo in the walkway.

“Just kinda picked it up I guess? I’ve watched you guys train enough.”

Leonardo

See, Leo had always known that you were hiding something from him. Be it your true personality or some deep dark secret. He wasn’t really in a rush to find out, you’d tell him when you were ready. The leader enjoyed your quiet disposition anyways, you gave good advice and liked to meditate with him, what more could he ask for? What more could he want?

Well, maybe if you got along better with his family, although he supposed that wasn’t your fault, you always had been a bit shy. Even six months into your relationship with him, Leo only hoped that you’d warm up to his brothers eventually. You seemed to do alright with Splinter, that was a plus for the situation. It wasn’t that you were mean or impolite to the others, you were just… avoidant. Distant, quiet, whatever word you wanted to use. You just didn’t seem comfortable at the lair.

He was excited that April had asked to host a game night though, maybe you’d come out of your shell (haha, see what I did there?) and socialize, even for a little bit. They’d all shown up a few minutes early to make sure April didn’t need help with anything, she’d assured them that everything was handled and made sure to inform Leo that you would be back shortly with Casey from your snack run. Mikey had joked that you’d ditched the get together to avoid them but they all knew it ran the possibility of not being a joke.

You unlocked the door and held it open so Casey could get inside without tripping himself before entering yourself and kicking your shoes off. Leo looked up to meet your eyes and you sent him a wild grin, your entire face lit up with amusement.

“Hi babes! Are you ready to get your ass kicked at Monopoly?”

All the poor turtle could do was nod.

“Good. I did grab drinks by the way, April there should be a mixer in the cooler bag, Donnie there’s some of that lemon lime stuff that you said you wanted to try, Mikey, orange crush as usual, Raph I tried to go for Dr. Pepper but they were out so I figured that root beer was a safe second. And Leo they had a new boba flavor that you haven’t had yet so I grabbed one. If you don’t like it then you can have mine, I just have the peach royal.”

Beverages were tossed and they were lucky that their surprise didn’t throw off their catching skills. You and April shared a quick word in the kitchen as you took your coat off and ran a hand through your hair.

After some arguments team captains were decided and Donnie nearly had a heart attack when you picked him instead of Leo or either of your friends. He even went so far as to point at himself to make sure you weren’t joking. You declared that while you loved your boyfriend his morals were too strong to be competitive, Donnie’s were not, he said so himself.

They were all surprised that you’d remembered that conversation.

It wasn’t until halfway through the game that things started getting heated, you and Mikey were nearly jumping across the table at each other. And it visibly took all of your strength to not burst out laughing when he started yelling.

"YOU KNOW WHAT? THIS IS CHEATING! YOU'RE CHEATING! GET ON TOP OF THE FRIDGE!"

April and Casey were snorting into their arms as you got to your feet and walked towards the kitchen, making a poor attempt at climbing the appliance.

"THIS HOUSE IS A FUCKING NIGHTMARE!"

Raphael

Raph had always been under the impression that you were never really 100% yourself around him, he knew for a fact that you weren’t when you stayed over. He’d never seen someone so aggressively avoid someone, except himself of course. You were his partner of almost a year and it seemed like you were never going to let your true self shine. However you did seem to lighten up when you were alone with him, he supposed that was normal, but you may as well have been a pair of old earbuds that only work when you held them a certain way at the lair.

He honestly hadn’t expected that to change tonight, not given the text that Casey had sent him informing him of April’s recent breakup with whatever guy she’d been dating. So when he climbed in through the window and saw both you and Casey sitting on the floor in front of the bathroom he really didn’t think that the words out of your mouth would be-

“April you’ve got another twenty minutes of this then I’m ripping the door off the hinges!”

Casey shot you a look and you shrugged nonchalantly before getting to your feet and walking over to your confused boyfriend.

“Hey, sorry about this. Casey only texted you as a last resort if he needed someone to stop me from tearing the door off.”

Raph found that peculiar, “Uh, couldn’t he do it himself?”

The man in question looked up from his spot on the floor.

“Nah dude, they’re crazy. Last time I tried stopping them from doing something they nearly knocked my damn tooth out while screaming, and I quote, “If you put your hands on me I’m gonna fucking rip your face off” and quite frankly I don’t have the balls to test that.”

“No no dude, that’s valid. I wouldn’t either. Babe, why are you so-”

You raised an eyebrow at him over a glass of water, “Violent? I’m not Raph. These two just have little bitch feelings.”

He found it hard not to laugh at that and fifteen minutes later when you left his side to approach the door again it sent him reeling.

“This shit’s temporary April. You’ve got nice teeth and a fat ass, stuff your feelings down!”

Michelangelo

There would never be a time where Mikey wasn’t a prankster with you, it was just simply non-negotiable. You were cool with that and he was aware, he was also aware that no pranks were to be pulled at the lair. So he’d reign it in while you visited, just for a short while. But you’d never said anything about the apartment and Mikey was a creature of opportunity.

Unfortunately Leo talked him out of it and forced him not to pull anything while they visited. The leader was already on edge so when he walked in with the others following closely behind you were the first person to see him. Your eyes caught Mikey’s instantly and you might as well have been telepathic at that moment. But you took one look at Leo’s solid, angry face and seized your moment.

They weren’t at all ready for the scream.

“GET YOUR FUCKIN’ DOG BITCH!”

And they also weren’t ready for Mikey’s response of, “It don’t bite.”

And Leo was not ready for the pillow that got whipped at his face at incredibly high speed.

“YES IT DO-”

So when Leo finally realized that they were yelling at him his mood did not improve at all and in fact declined sharply into a pit of “oh fuck”. And that was how you ended up on Mikey’s shoulder getting dragged away from any sort of repercussion for your actions.

These got a little short near the end but I hope you like 'em and I hope I was able to capture what you had in mind! 😁

-Mars 🌠

[brokenmimir]

I just finished reading Supernatural Affairs (again). It's probably my favorite work of fiction and I think it's an absolutely amazing work, and it served as my introduction to the lovecraftian genre. A few questions:

How do you get the idea for it? What inspired you to write a lovecraftian RWBY story?

Did you have problems keeping up motivation to write the story? If so, what did you do to counter them?

It's been a couple years since you've written anything (at least one AO3), would you consider writing more? Did something convince you to stop writing? (This isn't meant to be pressure to write, more curiosity)

I remember in some comment you saying that Supernatural Affairs is a retelling of RWBY (in some ways) in a lovecraftian setting. Did you ever feel a tension between sticking to the RWBY plot/canon and telling the story you wanted to tell? If so, how did that play out?

Did you know it was going to be as long as it turned out to be when you started?

Follow-up, did you write all 410k words in the year and two months that Supernatural Affairs was publishing?

What is your writing process like? How did you get ideas for Supernatural Affairs?

What advice would you give to writers who are wanting (or in the process of) to write something as grand as Supernatural Affairs?

Dust Trader was one of the first fanfics I ever read, and also one that I enjoyed immensely (and really shows off how amazing a writer you are). I don't want to make you choose between children (so to speak), but which story do you like better? How they differ in your mind? Did you have a different process for them?

Apologies for the long list of a 'few' questions. Love your stories and I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Thanks!

Wow, I'm happy that you love my story so much, and I'll try to answer your questions as best I can.

I love Urban Fantasy with Supernatural Police -- I've seen it a few times, but it's pretty rare. I decided if I wanted to read one I might as well write one, and after a little thought I decided against using Vampires and Werewolves since they're a little cliche. I've read all of Lovecraft, so I decided to use that as the starting point for my setting.

It was very hard at times -- around the 20k word mark I realized how big it was getting, but it got easier after that until I was in the last case, which was _hard_ to push through. I decided early on that I really wanted to tackle and complete this project, and I decided to use a Stephen King quote as the basis for my writing -- "Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us get up and go to work." Basically, even if I was feeling uninspired I forced myself to sit down and write 1000 words a day every day no matter what.

The Quarantine did a number on both my motivation and my writing process. I know I need to just start writing again, but... it's been hard to do anything the past couple years.

Not too many. When I started planning the story I came up with a list of about 15 or 20 cases that would be fun to write. I then laid out the major events of RWBY seasons 1-3 that I wanted to re-tell. Then I looked at my two main characters, and decided what character arc each was going to experience, as well as what the relationship arc was going to be like. I then set down those 3 arcs in order, added the RWBY plot points I wanted to hit, and then divided all of that up into 9 segments. Then I looked at my case ideas and picked the 9 that would most easily tie into those arc segments.

I knew it was going to be longish (I had an outline written in advance as part of my plotting) but I expected all of my cases to be about as long as the first case -- 4-6ish chapters each, so maybe 30-50 chapters max, or around 100-150k words. Obviously I underestimated how big things would get as I got more comfortable with the story.

I started publishing when I had about 60k words written, and I wrote 1000 or more words a day every day going forward. I finished Case 9 about halfway through posting Case 8, so not too far off. I think the final tally was 1 year, 1month all told.

I start by taking my overall story outline and writing a much more detailed case outline. In the morning just after breakfast I sit in a comfortable armchair with no one around and the house silent so I can really concentrate. It usually takes around an hour to write and edit 1000 words, and I won't stop for anything until I finish that much, though I'll keep going if I have time and am in the groove. Every chapter (which usually takes 3 days to write) I give a second edit when I finish it. After the whole case is done I give it a third edit all the way through, and before posting I edit each chapter one more time. I like to write in the morning because before I go to sleep at night I think about my story, and I try to daydream out how the whole next scenes would unfold. In the morning I can usually commit those ideas to paper pretty easily.

I think the two biggest things that helped me are (1) have a very thorough outline! I spent weeks writing my outline, and I had an even more thorough outline for each case just before I started it, but it was still barely enough to keep a giant story like this wrangled. Feel free to follow your muse on details as you go, but an outline is super important. And (2), I will reiterate that Stephen King quote I lived by -- "Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us get up and go to work." Writer's block is just an excuse. You can write something no matter what. Maybe it'll suck, but if you try it'll usually be better than you'd expect.

I used the same writing process for both. I think my favorite is probably Supernatural Affairs because I like Urban Fantasy more than Sci Fi, but I really enjoyed both. Dust Trader let me play with my own plot structure since I wasn't borrowing RWBY's, which was nice. Supernatural Affairs was my baby, though.

[laora-ryn]

Fanfic Review

tagged by @sapphireswimming, @ninthfeather, and @hawk-in-a-tree ! went back in the thread a little to get some extra questions, because I could lol

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How many works do you have on ao3? 100 ahhhh. I posted #100 in August, and apparently my brain liked the round number enough that I haven't posted anything since ;0;

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What’s your total ao3 word count? ...1,143,375...jesus christ

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How many fandoms have you written for and what are they? 18! "main" fandoms: Gundam 00, Harry Potter, Fullmetal Alchemist, The Hobbit, The World Ends With You, Persona 3, Supernatural, Danny Phantom, Kingdom Hearts "side" fandoms (only one offs, or crossovers): Bleach, Final Fantasy 13 + 15, Persona 5, Lord of the Rings, Van Helsing, Legend of Zelda, Doctor Who, Octopath Traveler

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Are there any new fandoms you want to write for? Of fandoms that aren't in the lists above, I have fic ideas for Assassin's Creed, Gnosia, and The Hunger Games. P5, DW, and OT will ideally be in "main fandom" list at some point lmao

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What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Byzantine (HP/FMA)

Desiderium (Hobbit/LOTR time travel)

Symbol (Danny Phantom)

Chrysalis (FMA)

Yggdrasil (Hobbit)

Honorable mentions go to Penance (HP/FMA) and Men and Angels (FMA), which were wildly popular on FFnet, but since they got back-posted years later to AO3, their numbers here are lower.

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Which of your fics do you want more attention for? Every single one of my 00 fics, tbh. It's a tiny fandom but it still makes me sad because I'm really proud of them :(

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Do you respond to comments, why or why not? I try to! except sometimes my brain is an ass about it

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What sorts of things do you normally write? I uh got a little infamous in a few fandoms for the angst/tragedy side of things lol. Anymore I tend more toward angst with a happy (or at least not terrible) ending, found family, trauma recovery, dramatic irony/revelation fics where the reader has more info than many of the characters (looking at you, Bring Down the Sky)

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What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending? Oh lord, hope you were looking for a list lmao, because it's impossible for me to pick. in reverse posting order, going down my ao3:

our fury burns, a TWEWY haunting AU that I guess isn't angsty so much as Dark As Fuck

Empty Promises, a DP fic where Danny dies in chapter 1, and the rest of it is people dealing with the aftermath. it is, i have been assured by many people, awful

this is the way the world ends, a Gundam 00 AU where [redacted] survives their death in canon, only to die horribly a few months later. [other redacted] blames themselves and there is, um, all sorts of trauma to unpack

Phantasm, a Supernatural fic that I don't even remember the details of anymore except it is Dark As Fuck and Sam dies at the end

Ash Like Snow, an old Harry Potter/Fullmetal Alchemist fic set in an HP Dark Timeline, where Ed, Ling, and half of Al's blood seal show up in the Great Hall during their fight with Gluttony.

Honorable mentions go to Promised Eternity (FF13) and Asymmetria (FMA). They're both grimdark fics I started and then decided were Too Much, Even For Me, so I abandoned them halfway through.

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What’s a fic that pushed you out of your comfort zone? Idk what it says about me that?? I don't know?? the only thing I can think of is my 100 word drabble collections (Gundam 00, TWEWY) since i, uh, don't know the meaning of brevity lol. But yea other than that, nothing I can think of? And I can't tell if that's a testament to my comfort zone being Very Big, or me limiting my fics to things I'm familiar with lmao

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Do you write crossovers? What’s the wildest one you’ve written? Occasionally yeah! I wrote several Harry Potter/Fullmetal Alchemist fics back in the day that were pretty well received. I think the latest crossover I wrote was a TWEWY/Gundam 00 fic that I'm particularly proud of (but got next to no traffic, since neither of them are huge fandoms OTL)

Wildest?? i mean the crackiest one was probably Dimensional

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Have you ever received hate on a fic? yeah back in the day on FFnet, tbh I'm just glad the concept of 'flames' isn't around much anymore, it's so pointless

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Do you write smut? if so what kind? i am way too ace for that

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Have you ever had a fic translated? A lot of them actually!! I have them (+gift fic art) all archived on this page

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Have you ever co-written a fic before? Hooooooo boy this one takes me back. Yea, ten years ago I had 3 friends on a forum on FFnet, and we made a joint account to post all our co-written HP/FMA stuff. Playing God was the biggest one, but there were a bunch of oneshots too. You can read them here

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What’s your all time favorite ship? Lockon/Tieria and Christina/Lichty from Gundam 00. they deserved better

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What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will? Yggdrasil, and I feel awful about it ;0; I had big plans for it, but it's definitely a case of "bit off more than i could chew, and found plot holes, and got overwhelmed" so :(

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What are you currently working on? Currently, the main one is the next installment in Bring Down the Sky. It's taking so long since I don't know how the next several blocks are gonna be split fic- or chapter-wise, so I'm pre writing a lot of it to figure it out as I go Px I've also got a set of character studies of the season 1 Ptolemy crew from 00, but that's uh 2.5 / 11 done so that's gonna be a while There's more in my WIP folder but those are the ones that are probably at the front of the line for posting!

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What are your writing strengths? I've been told by several reliable sources that I'm very good at The Angst lol. I also pride myself on characterization and character interaction in general! My fics are definitely character-driven

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What are your writing weaknesses? Action scenes are a WIP for me otl. I'm also very bad at like, describing visuals for people? Since I'm 100% one of the people who doesn't visualize things in their head at all, so I forget a LOT of the time that people appreciate that lmao

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What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic? I mean, depending on the fandom, it's kind of inevitable? For multilingual characters, I only write out the dialogue if the POV character can understand what's being said Main example right now is Lyndsay Dylandy (Lockon's mom in 00), who I write as severely deaf and speaks in Irish Sign Language. The people around her are fluent, but randos around town (and the kids' friends, the first several times they come around) aren't When it's in those people's POV, I just write that Lyndsay is signing, and if the friend need to know what she said, one of the kids translates for them. For Lyndsay's POV, if the person's vocalizing, she does better if they're facing her, and talking louder, and is patient if she needs something repeated. She can read lips okay but it's not fool proof, so in non-ideal situations i tend to write vocalized dialogue from her POV with gaps in the parts of speaking that she would miss (ends of sentences, hard-to-parse words for lip reading) Tbh it's been a really interesting thing and I'm working hard to get it right - I've got mild hearing loss myself and am learning ASL, and I'm modeling Lyndsay's progressive loss after a close friend with the same condition. She wears hearing aids, but still has a lot of issues with hearing/understanding if she's not on her A game.

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What was the first fandom you wrote for? Most recent? First, a bad Harry Potter fic from when I was 14 - most recent, a much better Gundam 00 fic from August lmao

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What’s your favorite fic you’ve written? how dare you make me choose probably Nodus Tollens (TWEWY post-game trauma recovery) or the endings of stories that never got to be told (Gundam 00, an exploration of the Dylandys' backstory and the impact the war had on their family and friends)

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What fic are you most proud of? Same answer as above??? I guess I'm pretty proud of writing our own secret ceremonials for TWEWYtober 2020, 33k words within a month for 31 separate oneshots was impressive

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anyone who wants to Do The Thing can consider themselves tagged! @the-stray-liger, @neildylandy, @tieria-erde maybe??

[gallavichthings]

The author we’re spotlighting this week is one with nearly 100 fics on AO3, the awesome Tanya (@magneticdice / @ghostofgallavich) aka magneticdice. Her most famous fics include Home, a/s/l, Company Man and Classified.

GT: Tell me about your nickname, magneticdice. Where does it come from?

T: Back in the days of AOL and instant messenger (showing my true age here!), I wanted a screen name that was made of actual words so that it’d be easy to remember. Dice are random, like life, but they are almost always in pairs... so I think of it like, even though there’s this randomness in life, you are still drawn “magnetically” to your perfect pair... I know it’s lame/corny, but I’ve married my soulmate who was from a different country than me so why can’t I believe in fate within all of life’s chaos?

GT: Ok, now tell me a bit about yourself.

T: I don’t think much of myself. I’ve dealt with depression and weight issues for 25 years, pretty serious health problems for the last 10 years... I’m just tired. I want a loooooong vacation. I want to quit my job and write a novel. I had this fantastic Gallavich fic in the works but about a quarter of the way through, my little brother passed away from cancer and suddenly I lost the will to write. For the last 2 years, I’ve had an office job, giving me the perfect environment to write, but nothing comes out. Work, family, life... everything is exhausting.

Other than that, I have two adorable kids. I swear they are really cute, despite my husband and I not being that good looking. Somehow our kids came out beautiful! They’re 7 and 5 now, and growing so quickly. I joined the Gallavich fandom about 4 months before my first kid was born, so that puts things into perspective! I remember being in the delivery room and writing a fic on my phone! 😂

GT:  I remember you had your daughter in a onesie I think? And it said Gallavich or something like that?

T: Noel Fisher fan in training!

GT: Tell me about fanfiction. Do you remember when you started reading it?

T: I remember exactly the moment I read it for the first time. I watched episode 3x666 and my heart broke. I couldn’t wait until the following week—I needed to fill the void. I did a search on google for Ian and Mickey, found a story on fanfiction.net by themintsauce, and then I fell deep down that rabbit hole... That was literally the first fic I ever read.

GT: Was it The Halfway House?

T: YES. And there was one more, the one where Mickey loses his memory but he remembers that Offspring song “so dance fucker dance, you never had a chance…”. It is my all-time fave fic.

GT: Is it Amnesia? 

T: hahahahahahahahahaha. Thank you. Yes, that’s it. I’m gonna read it again tomorrow

GT: Ok, so you told me about the first fic you ever read. What about writing? What made you want to start writing fics?

T: Thinking about Ian and Mickey being in such a shitty situation, I thought to myself... what if they could escape the south side? How would they all change? Would Mickey even be the same person? And because I couldn’t read a fic about something like that, I decided to write it myself. So my first fic ever (Home) was an AU with Mickey and Mandy leaving Chicago and finding someplace new to call home. It was insanely long for a first fic and kept switching points of view. I would have done things very differently if I could go back, but people still read it and like it (according to their comments) so maybe it wasn’t as cringe-worthy as I think it was!

GT: What's the most fun thing about writing Gallavich? What's the most difficult thing?

T: The most fun thing about writing Gallavich fanfiction is that I get to constantly give happy endings to these characters that I am so invested in. I don't need them to constantly suffer or deal with hardships like they do on the show. I feel like the writers don’t even respect them. They just want a laugh, no matter how bad or unbelievable the hijinx are. I can only think of two fics I've ever written that I didn't give a happy ending in. Out of [almost] 100, that’s not a bad fail-rate. The most difficult thing is the hate. I guess I don’t need to elaborate on that. I wish people could separate it from constructive criticism, which I would actually welcome.

GT: Have you ever written for other fandoms?

T: Ummmmmm, i want to say no; technically no. I've written two crossover fics that used elements from another ‘verse. “the dresden files” was one of them [for Club Zero], and I believe it was for a crossover challenge YOU set up! lol. [It was Gallavich Week 2013] I remember that I borrowed some elements from “Dead Like Me” for my fic “Company Man” (which is by far the fic I am the moooost proud of).

GT: It's my favorite of yours too. So good!!

T: One time I also tried writing a crossover with the Tortall universe by Tamora Pierce, but I stopped after a few chapters. - it felt like copying so I stopped.

GT: Would you ever consider it or are you done with fanfiction in general?

T: I like reading fics from a couple of other fandoms, but I would never write for any other ship. Gallavich moves my heart like no other. But I used to like reading Sterek fics, Thor/Loki omegaverse (I know, SO taboo!) and now the only thing other fandom I read is Captain America/Winter Soldier - romanticalgirl writes some amazing stuff that i just inhale within a matter of hours. I still want to write. I want to finish my 100 ways to say I love you series, and the sequel to Company Man.

GT: I will be excited to read both, whenever that happens. Do you prefer writing Ian or Mickey?

T: Mickey. 100%. He is my love and needs to be protected at all costs.

GT: Who are your favorite characters aside from Ian and Mickey? Do you write them too?

T: The only other character I enjoy writing for is Mandy.

GT: What kind of fics do you write the most? 

T: I enjoy writing multi chapter AUs the most, but they usually include fluff, smut AND angst in them! The only thing I suck at is canon! I tried writing a long canon fic for one of the Shameless Big Bangs one year, but I deleted it a week in and started another AU from scratch. That’s more my comfort zone.

GT: What does your writing process look like? Do you outline? Do you post as soon as the chapter is done or do you accumulate chapters before you start posting?

T: I neverrrrrrrr write without a plan. The inspiration for a fic hits and I already know the setting and the ending, as well as key plot points. Then I outline it and fill in the gaps to get me from one plot point to the next. I try as hard as I can to wait until a fic is done before I post anything because I can't handle the pressure to finish with people depending on me. But you know what? I feel like part of the reason I stopped writing is also because I lost touch with some of my fandom friends. Without the daily chat about writing for these characters (and without my beta), it kind of got less exciting. It is muuuuuch more difficult to write when you’re alone. For like 2 years, I used to chat about Gallavich on a daily basis, not exaggerating.

GT: How much research do you typically do before or during writing?

T: Never any research beforehand! But usually it’s about recreational drug use and stuff like that (which i do not have any experience with) or mobs/murder/prostitution and that only pops up mid-writing when I realize i have NO idea what i’m trying to say. I jump in and flounder. I had to look up the gods of the underworld for Company Man and I read up on tarot cards for another short fic.

GT: What are your favorite type of comments to receive?

T: Dude, anything. Just knowing that someone read what I wrote and took the time to write a comment is exciting enough! So one thing that is kiiind of annoying is when people comment after every chapter and ask questions. Like, I wrote it so long ago that I don’t remember what happened in chapter 3?! haha sorry but without more context I can not help youuuu! But I still love that you’re excited by the fic ❤ Lately any comment for Company Man makes me happy. So many readers asked for the sequel.

GT: You said CM is your favorite that you've written too. Is it your favorite because of the response it got or is there another reason?

T:  It’s my favorite because I took a whole 2 months to plan it out and get it written. I was extra motivated because of the amazing art that accompanied it by @theunforgivngminute​! The positive reception also helped. But yeah, it was one of the last things I wrote and I like to believe my writing was better at that point than when i had first begun.

GT: Ugh, I love theunforgivngminute's manips! They're perfect! Aside from Amnesia, what are some of your favourite fics in the fandom? Do you have any favourite authors?

T: We mentioned amnesia and halfway house. there’s also shitw. Meganface, stitchandrepair, romanticalgirl… There was one fic where [redacted]  ended up being a serial killer or something?

GT: Teenagers scare the living thing out of me.

GT: I know I've read this one, but I can't remember the name of it.

T: YES. That’s it. That was a classic. There is also the fic where Mickey moves to NY (I think?) and he has these awesome friends and then ian comes to visit as Mandy’s boyfriend but he and Mickey hook up, but Mickey is oblivious to the fact that Mandy is just Ian's beard? Then Ian also moves there and becomes a personal trainer and they bond more and eventually they hook up at the gym in the locker room and there’s so much drama but it all works out in the end. I mean, I know that is a terrible summary, but those were the highlights I remember.

[EDIT: It's A Move Too Far]

T: Okay also another favorite of mine is a fic that I co-wrote, because the half that I didn’t write myself still gives me all the feels. It’s called When one closes, another one opens and all that shit.

GT:I've never co-written a fic. Always been curious about it though. How does that work?

T: This was one of the best writing experiences ever. I had this idea, but I wasn’t feeling confident enough to write it. There were a lot of dark parts. and my friend who wrote it with me was SO good at writing those. So we talked it out, came up with the format (many flashbacks) and wrote it in a shared google doc. I could see what she added and vice-versa. We just wrote each bit as we went along. She is in the UK and I’m on the east coast so it worked out that we took turns. Paragraph by paragraph, always building on what the other wrote. I wish I could do it again. And it didn’t seem like two distinct voices in the fic — at least i hope not! It meshed very well. Also, it’s a kid!fic so that was new for me too! Just so much fun overall, being excited about making something with such a talented writer as Billie is.

GT: What are your favorite tropes? Friends to lovers, enemy to lovers, meet cute, meet ugly, bed sharing, soulmates...

T: Okay okay, all of those. I love it all. Gimme all the fics. Soulmate fics are a guilty pleasure when done right, like the one where they saw color once they met. Enemy to lovers.... isn’t that canon for us? hahaha

GT: What's a fanfic pet peeve of yours?

T: Using the same expressions over and over, Ian being called firecrotch, anyone referring to Mickey as an ex-con can gtfo... talking about Ian’s “shit-eating grin” — who came up with that?? I hate it. I hate when people write “the brunet/the redhead” over and over and over. I know I was  guilty of this in the beginning but I tried to stop as soon as I was called out on it. :) Also, I know I am probably alone on this one, but any fics that include Frank just annoy the crap out of me. Annnnnnd I to this day think Lip is an asshole and hate reading fics where he isn’t portrayed as the dick he is, it gets on my nerves. 

Can we go back to an earlier question? Hardest thing about writing: not to sound repetitive when writing smut.

GT: What’s your favorite season of Shameless? Do you have a favorite episode?

T: I loved the vibes of the beginning of season 5. Like the first 2 episodes of that season, this idyllic modern family, before the mental health issues and jealousy kicked in. But really season 3 was my fave because it was the most gripping for me, and brought me to the fandom. 

GT: Do you have a favorite Gallavich scene?

T: Mickey saying sorry it took so long and hugging Ian in bed and kissing his forehead. Or when he called Ian his boyfriend. Actually, when Mickey kissed Ian for the first time, I pick that. The little peck in the van - it was so genuine, so carefree.

GT: If you could go back and change one thing in canon, what would it be?

T: When mickey said “don’t”. I would make him finish his thought and tell Iian his true feelings. Or maybe 3x6, don’t let Terry catch them?

GT: You mentioned you'd like to finish your 100 ways to say I love you drabbles and the sequel to Company Man. Is there anything else you'd like to write someday?

T: hahaha I have another AU in mind but I will most probably make it into a regular fiction novel! Just need to create a new Mickey and Ian, somehow!

GT: Ok, that was it! Thank you so much for doing this!

[whosaskingwrites]

Forever Is A Long Time (Akaashi x Reader)

A/N: I'm alive. And finally starting my soulmate one-shots. 😔 sorry if you've been waiting for these i wanted to get the angst ones done first. Also im almost at 100 followers which means ill be having a follower special soon! So be ready for that. Anyway have a good day!

Date: Tuesday, November 24th, 2020

Details: 6.3 pages 2,308 words

Theme: Red String- There is a red string tied around your ring finger that connects you to your soulmate. It becomes visible when you are close to each other. You can also tug on the string so your soulmate feels it. When far you only see it as a red ring around your finger.

Warnings: cursing. Barely implied sexual stuff its just one sentence and its nothing explicit.

Soulmate masterlist

For as long as I could remember I had a pale red ring around my finger. I never asked questions about it since I knew what it was. My soulmate was out there somewhere but I was never curious about them.

I would have been but my mom stressed to me that I needed to be successful. Not worrying about some silly soulmate so I did. Every thought about my soulmate was pushed to the back of my mind and I slowly forgot about them. My friend Hinata always tried to get me to find them but I denied.

I ended up becoming the manager for the MSBY Black Jackals. I considered it the perfect job I wasn't as successful as my mom wanted me to be but I was happy with what I was doing.

I was always busy so my soulmate had never crossed my mind. My days were spent corraling Bokuto and Hinata while keeping Atsumu away from Sakusa's stuff. The rest of the team members like Meian and Barnes didn't need watching but they also never helped me.

Today was no different of course. Well unless you counted the fact that it was the Black Jackals versus the Schweiden Adlers. Hinata was bouncing around in excitement and Bokuto wasn't much better. Currently I was helping Sakusa fix his knee pads deciding to let Hinata be excited this once.

"Y/N!" I jumped throwing a hand over my heart as I stood up. I looked at Bokuto who was staring at me eyes wide. "Don't do that Bo!" I yelled smacking him on the back of the head. "Owww sorry it's just your hand!" I looked down at my hand and looked back up raising an eyebrow.

"What?" I asked in confusion Bokuto sighed reaching forward and raising my other hand. There around my ring finger was a thin red string. "Y/n's soulmate is here!?" Hinata yelled rushing over to see the string. "Oh cool I guess," I took my hand from Bokuto's grasp bringing it back down with a shrug.

"You're not excited about it?" Atsumu asked "Not really? Mom raised me to not worry about my soulmate so," I trailed off before I felt a strong tug on my hand. Looking down I noticed Hinata pulling on the string before someone pulled back.

I smacked his hand as he went to tug it again "quit doing that," I said moving to pick up my clipboard. "But thats how you find them! The stronger the tug the closer they are!" He shouted while I shook my head. "Hinata I'm not worried about my soulmate. The game is in 10 minutes so let's get you guys to the court," I stated looking at them.

"I don't get it how the hell are you Omi and Samu not interested in your soulmates!" Atsumu shouted as we left the changing room. "I'm just not big on the soulmate thing," I said with another shrug "I don’t really care if I find them or not," Sakusa added on with his own shrug.

"You guys are so boring! Y/n you're the first outta of the five of us to be close to your soulmate and you don't wanna meet them!?" Bokuto shouted in exasperation. "I dont see what the big idea is. I'm not interested in meeting my soulmate right now. Now go warm-up," I gently pushed the boys towards the court while I went to the bench. 

I shook my head as Hinata mouthed "Find them," at me. I sighed as I watched them feeling a gentle tug against my finger my eyes drifted to the red string before I cautiously tugged back. It brought an odd sense of comfort to feel every tug on the thread and it almost seemed like a habit for them to nervously tug the string.

My eyes shifted back to the court as the game started. My hand made notes that occasionally got messed up when a tug shook my hand. I quietly hummed when I realized they were trying to find me.

Halfway through the game the tugs had become annoying. They started hindering my writing the closer they got and the boys had most definitely noticed my annoyed state. They had come over for water and towel during a short timeout while I was finishing a note for Bokuto when my hand was suddenly tugged sharply to the side scratching a mark across the sentence id just written.

"Son of a bitch!" I quietly cursed though it was loud enough that the four boys heard me. "You alright Y/n?" Atsumu asked and I glared at him. The boys froze at the icy gaze.

"No I'm not okay. Everytime I try writing these damn notes my soulmate tugs on the fucking string and ruins it. I'm fed up with it and quite frankly I really don't want to meet them at this point," I stated angrily. "Come on Y/n its just notes-" my glare shifted to Hinata as he spoke causing him to shiver.

"Just notes? It is my job to write notes. If the notes are unreadable I have failed at my job and you know what these notes are?" I held up my clip board before slamming it back down on the bench. "Unreadable!"   I yelled before taking a breath. "Now finish your game boys and if you lose. Ill kill you," I sent them a threatening smile before they ran off to the court in fear.

___________________________________________

"I just don't get it man! How is she not excited!" I paused as I entered the shop. Hearing Bokuto yell as soon as I walked in. "I mean I get it. If my soulmate kept me from making Onigiri correctly I'd be mad," Osamu supplied waving to me as I walked in.

"Whats going on?" I asked looking at the guys Kuroo rubbed his forehead while Bokuto looked at me. "Please don't get him started on his damn manager again," Kuroo mumbled while Bokuto spoke up. "Hey Akaashi what's your idea of a soulmate?" I blinked at the sudden question "Someone who will be with you forever I guess," I said after I thought about it. 

"Our manager doesn't care about meeting her soulmate!" Atsumu yelled out throwing his hands up while Kuroo groaned. I came over and sat down across from Bokuto. "You guys are making a huge deal out of it," Sakusa said rolling his eyes.

"Well she should care! I can't believe she went home instead of celebrating just to fix her notes," Hinata stated with a huff. "What happened?" I asked my eyes flickering to Osamu when he placed a tray of onigiri down in front of me.

"Y/n's soulmate was at today's game! They even kept tugging on the string but she said she didn't care!" I paused as I processed Bokuto's words. I had been at the game when my string appeared. I tugged on it whenever I got nervous during the game.

I had eventually followed it during break only to discover it led me to the doors on court and suddenly it all made sense. "Oh," I said when I realized. "What?" Hinata questioned and I shook my head. "Nothing just...my string also showed up during the game," I stated looking back at Hinata. "Oh," he said but then his face lit up "oh!" He stood up suddenly and Bokuto joined him.

"Oh my god! You think-?" Bokuto trailed off excitedly looking at me. "You guys saying he's her soulmate?" Atsumu also stood up in excitement. While Kuroo sent me a look that screamed 'What have you done?' "Guys there was a lot of people at the game," Osamu said rolling his eyes.

"Yeah doesn't mean Y/n is his soulmate," Sakusa also said with an agitated sigh. Bokuto snapped his head over to me with a wide excited smile. "Did you follow the string?" He asked bouncing in his spot. "A little bit during break yes," I said as I automatically started playing with my fingers.

"And?" Hinata drawled out leaning towards me. "...It lead me to the doors leading on court," there was a brief moment of silence before the three boys started screaming. "Someone get her over here right now!" Atsumu shouted while Hinata pulled out his phone.

It went dead silent as he called the boys seemed to freeze in place staring at the phone that was on speaker. "What the hell do you want?" All four boys flinched at the angry tone and Kuroo shivered at it. "We think we found him Y/n!" Hinata excitedly yelled.

"Found who?" She asked in confusion causing Atsumu to sigh in irritation. "Your soulmate Y/n!" He yelled in exasperation. "Fascinating. I don't care," She had responded back in annoyance. "Y/n come on! Just come to Onigiri Miya please!" Bokuto begged his eyes got big as he stared at the phone.

"No. And don't throw puppy eyes at the phone I know you're doing it," Bokuto sighed when it didn't work frowning as he tried to figure out what to do. "Please Y/n! Five minutes! I'll do anything you want!" Hinata joined in with a frown. 

"I already said no. Now leave me alone or I block you," She stated before hanging up the phone. The three boys turned their gazes to me after staring blankly at the phone. I looked back at them slowly "...what?" I asked nervously before Atsumu smirked at me. 'Oh boy' I thought worriedly.

___________________________________________

'How the hell did I get here?' I thought as I stood infront of an apartment door. I assumed it was Y/n's since Bokuto had shoved me here and rang the bell. I was still getting my bearings when the door swung open revealing a girl with h/c hair and shiny e/c eyes.

She was wearing a black jackals hoodie and a pair of leggings. I noticed the red string trailed from her hand to mine confirming she was my soulmate. "Can I help you?" She asked with a sigh.

Her voice snapped me out of my reprieve and I gave her a shaky smile. "Hi um I think your my soulmate?" What I said came off as more of a question as she blinked at me. "Who are you?" She didn't check the string before she asked. Establishing that she wasn't lying on the phone she really didn't care. "Im Akaashi Keiji," I said holding out my hand.

She hummed as she took it shaking my hand as her eyes finally traced the string. "So. You're Bokuto's elusive friend and the one who made me ruin my notes," I flinched as she let go of my hand immediately going to play with my fingers.

"Sorry about that. I tugged on it whenever the game made me nervous," she was watching my hands before she suddenly reached out and took one. I froze at the unexpected move as she held my hand. "Sorry you were distracting me. Continue?" She asked as she laced her fingers with mine.

"I..um," I had lost my train of thought looking at the pale pink flush that had appeared on her cheeks. "A-anyway why are you against soulmates?" She shook her head at my question. "Im not it's just...my mom raised me to put finding my soulmate on the backburner and focus on my career so I did,"

She continued after a brief pause "She focused on her soulmate and ended up working as a waitress as her career. She wanted me to be successful and that meant no room for a soulmate," She shrugged like it was the most casual thing in the world to not care about a soulmate.

"So...Where does that leave me?" I questioned quietly while she hummed. "Depends...are you gonna ruin my notes again?" She asked with a small smile. I smiled back when I realized what she was implying. "Maybe. Maybe not. Depends on the day," She laughed as I spoke her eyes drifted to the side sparkling in mischief as she spotted something.

She leaned forward to whisper in my ear "Seems the three musketeers stayed to keep watch," She mumbled tilting her head as she pulled back. I turned my head slightly seeing Bokuto, Atsumu, and Hinata hiding around the corner. They were excitedly holding on to eachother and I shook my head looking back at her.

"Unfortunately," I supplied while she giggled. "Im sure you already know but my name is L/n Y/n," She said and I nodded confirming I did already know. Her eyes still held mischief as she leaned forward again. "I think we should give them something to watch," she whispered lowly.

My face flushed at the implication of what she said. "Y/n-," She cut me off with a kiss. They were soft and fit against mine perfectly much like her hand did. My eyes slipped closed as I kissed her back. I vaguely heard the screaming of the three guys.

She slid something into my free hand before pulling away. She smirked at me letting go of my other hand "Have fun with that," she threw a vague hand gesture to the boys before going inside and closing the door.

Looking down at my hand she had left a small white business card in my hand. Her number was stretched across the front and I pocketed it before walking away. As I got closer to the three guys I was suddenly tugged backwards and fell.

I looked at my hand to the string following it to see Y/n holding the string with a smile on her face. She winked at me before disappearing while I quietly chuckled.

'This was gonna be an adventure'

————————————————————————

TAGLIST: @wonhomarshmallow

[alliterative-albatross]

So, I sent you (@disgruntledspacedad) a pretty long ask a while ago (back when you had anon on) and I'm decently sure Tumblr ate it (or maybe you ignored it, in which case, feel free to ignore this one as well). But then I saw one of those "writers appreciate feedback no matter how long" posts, so I'm back here. Here is my mediocre attempt to rewrite my original review of your work. Bear in mind that English is not my first language, so if at any point my phrasing sounds weird to you, you know why. Mandatory disclaimer/apology: this might get a little too long 😅

RULES OF ENGAGEMENT

I remember being SO mad at myself for not finding this sooner. I binge read it one afternoon with no thoughts for any real life responsibilities I might have had (and no regrets). Javiears is one hell of an unconventional relationship in the beginning, and I really love what you did with them. The whole premise of your story is quite refreshing, and you somehow manage to convey the trust and mutual respect there two feel for one another without explicitly showing us the beginning of their "entanglement".

Also, fuck you for what you did to poor Emilio, that man was a saint and he deserved better! I honestly can't believe that I got so attached to a character that appeared so little in the story, but it happened, and his death kind of broke my heart.

But the Javiears reunion + mild confession was lovely, and felt completely deserved. And of course the sex scene. I won't lie, I expected a bit better from Javi there, but I did like how utterly /human/ it was. Capturing that humanity, the imperfections in each character is something you're really good at (more on that later).

AFTERSHOCKS

Ah, my emotionally constipated babies who really need to work out their communication issues. I do love them, though. And this short series did a really good job of delving a bit deeper into Ears's and Javi's psyche. Kudos to you for dealing with the medical "aftershocks" of living through an explosion AND using that experience to move your emotional plot forward. These two need to grow a lot before they can get to a stable point in their relationship, and you really manage to convey their insecurity and fear of commitment/intimacy while making it clear that they're in it for the long run and that theirs is a relationship that WILL work out so help them God.

IF I FALL

Ouch. Punch me in the gut while you're at it, why don't you?

But seriously, "If I Fall" is SO FUCKING GOOD. Don't get me wrong, it's angstier than an image of Jesus on the cross (don't judge me, it's Holy Week and I just got home from accompanying my grandma to church), but it somehow works beautifully. You, my dear, play heartstrings like they're a fucking guitar and I AM HERE FOR IT.

You're doing an amazing job at making me feel everything these characters are feeling, which is both awful (bc pain) and impressive.

Also, if anything happens to Ana I will cry, because she is adorable and wonderful and has suffered way too much already and really deserves a break and some cookies.

Also also, if anything happens to Ears I will cry, because she is badass and wonderful and has suffered way too much already and really deserves a break and some cookies.

Also also also, if anything happens to Javi I will cry, because he is loving and wonderful and has suffered way too much already and really deserves a break and some cookies.

Basically, I am really invested in the well-being of these characters and can't wait until they're happy and safe again (please tell me they will be, my heart can't handle much more pain).

A quick note on the angst complaints: yes, this story is way angstier than most other fics out there and it can be a bit too much at times, especially considering how many chapters of pain it's been. BUT it's obvious that "If I Fall" NEEDS this amount of angst to get where it's going, to send the message it wants to and to properly develop its characters. The pain is as important to this story as flour is to bread. You may not like eating flour on its own (I don't think anyone does), but you love bread (because bread is amazing) and you must recognize that bread NEEDS flour to work. It wouldn't be bread otherwise. And eating the flour as part of the bread even makes you like the flour because the bread is just DELICIOUS.

I fully understand and sympathize with the people who have elected to table "If I Fall" until it's completed so they can binge read it knowing there's a happy ending in sight, but in case you're feeling a bit self conscious about all the angst, please know that your story is beautiful not in spite of the pain, but rather /because of it/.

PS: No, I'm not high/drunk, I just really like bread

AUTHOR'S NOTES

Silly thing to comment on, I know, but I do feel like it's important that you know how useful your ANs have been. There are many details in the story that I simply wouldn't fully get without reading your comments at the end of each chapter, and I appreciate your writing a hell of a lot more knowing how deeply you understand and care for each one of your characters. Plus, it is obvious how much work you've put into researching a country and a time period that are (from what I gather) unfamiliar to you, and I really do believe you've done an amazing job of it.

JAVIER PEÑA

My boy. I love your characterization of this complicated character, and I have eagerly read each and every one of your headcanons about him. I can't really say if your version is fully faithful to the source material because it's been a while since I saw Narcos, but your Javi most definitely reads like a real person. He's fairly consistent as a character, and I feel like everything he does is perfectly natural for him to do as a character. He makes for an unconventional yet deeply interesting romantic lead, and so far I have thoroughly enjoyed all his POV chapters/scenes.

OCs

I know you've gotten some flack for making her into an OC halfway into the story, and while I get why the sudden change may have felt like a disappointment for some, I don't share that sentiment. I firmly believe that this fandom is unfairly harsh towards Original Characters and their creators, and I don't really understand why. Listen, I love Reader fics, and consume many Reader fics. I have read dozens, maybe even hundreds, and I can safely say that I've only ever "inserted" myself in approximately 10% of those stories. Reader characters are not as blank as their writers may want them to be. They can't be. They're characters, and character have personalities and moral values and senses of humor and a bunch of other things. Reader characters may not have a backstory or a physical description attached (and even that's not guaranteed), but they're still characters.

And on a more personal note, pretending they're actual blank slates is naive at best and insensitive at worst. Reader characters are American coded 99% of the time, and white coded 95% of the time. Not every readers is white nor American, even if that's the predominant demographic on Tumblr. When I read a JavixReader fic about a woman who speaks exactly zero Spanish, I know she's not me. The story may be beautifully written and have an amazing plot and character development, but the Reader *isn't me*. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that, and some of my favorite xReader stories feature a "reader" who couldn't be more different from me, but it's something that enemies of OC fics should take into account. Particularly if they are white and/or American. But I digress.

HANNAH AARONS

Your character is amazing. She's strong, smart, confident, independent and an all-around badass. She gets kidnapped while pregnant and still focuses on problem solving and survival. But she's also overly guarded and mistrustful, and really needs to work on her communication skills. There are times when I absolutely love her and even admire her, and other times when I want to whack her with a slipper. She's no Mary Sue, but remains interesting and likeable throughout the story. She feels wholly human and real, and that's no easy task. I like her, I am invested in her, and I can't wait to see what's next for her. She's a compelling and three dimensional protagonist in a complex story who never fails to draw me in. I love her. She's your baby, and you should be proud of her.

Also, quick question about personality types: I know you've typed Javi as ESFP and Ears as ENTP (100% agree on both, btw), but have you given any thought to their enneagram types? I personally have always seen Ears as being somewhere on the thinking triad, maybe a 7 or even a 6w7, but I'm not too sure about Javi. 9w8 maybe? He could also be a 6w5 🤔

PARTING THOUGHTS

Basically, I love your story, your characters and your writing in general. You are a fantastic storyteller and wordsmith. You get into the heads of incredibly different characters personality-wise (Ears, Javi, Berna...) and manage to capture all of their complexities and quirks every single time. And it doesn't feel like it's something innate for you either. To me, it seems that you have put a lot of work and effort into understanding each and every one of your characters, who they are, why they do what they do and what they want. And let me tell you, all that effort has been more than worth it. "Better Love" is a fanfic, but it wouldn't be out of place in a regular bookstore, if I'm honest. I don't know what you do for a living or if you've ever considered writing professionally, but you clearly have the skills and the drive to create some masterpieces.

You are amazing and your writing is a gift. Thank you for sharing it with us, and have a nice day! ~ 🍪

~

My friend, I apologize for hoarding your first ask. I’ve been sitting on it because I’m not gonna lie, I enjoy going back and rereading it. It gave me a lot of comfort when I was in a pretty dark place, both personally and in regards to my writing, and I was reluctant to send it out into the the abyss of Tumblr where I might never see it again. 

That’s not fair, though. You put just as much effort into sending me that review as I put into my writing, and I apologize for never responding to you.

Okay, anyway, so twice now, you’ve made me cry. In a good way, I promise! 

I absolutely love your bread/flour metaphor. It made perfect sense. I want the emotional release of Javi and Hannah’s reunion to be earned, and in order to do that, the angst has to come first (there are also a few plot “ingredients” that have yet to make their appearances). Thank you very much for understanding that, and for voicing it so eloquently.

I appreciate your comments on my research and characterization. You’re correct that I’ve put a lot of time and effort into crafting a universe. In a lot of ways, I’m doing my best to stay true to the source material (regarding culture and timelines in particular), and in others, I’m branching into my own territory. 

On that note, I’ve never once regretted fully embracing Hannah Aarons’ identity as an OC. She’s stayed consistent in my mind from the beginning, and it was a relief to finally share my vision of her with the audience. And for the record, I totally agree with you regarding “reader” characters. Every reader insert echoes the perspective of their author, no matter how vague the physical description. I can only imagine how grating that must be from the perspective of a non-white, non-american reader. Thank you so much for sharing your insight! I will certainly keep it in mind the next time I write a “reader insert” fic.

Okay, enneagrams! I am much less familiar with enneagram than I am MBTI, but I agree 110% that Javi is a 9 with a strong 8 wing. I waffled back and forth on Ears a little, but eventually landed on 8w7 for her. It came down to the eight’s deepest fear, which is being controlled. That’s Ears all over, and the fact that she and Javi share that eight willfulness means that they might butt heads a little, which also seems very appropriate for them. Big thanks to @remusstark for her insight into the eight frame of mind - our conversations helped solidify my decision on this. :)

Anyway, I’m just rambling now. The big take-away point that I want you to get is that I am so, so grateful to you, both for your insightful feedback and your dedication in making sure that I actually saw it. You are an absolute gem and a deep thinker, Cookie-Anon, and if you ever feel like sliding into my DM’s, I’d welcome the opportunity to get to know you better.

Mad love and soft hugs, 

~ Jay

[vanillann]

flashback iv (spencer reid x f.reader)

warning: swearing, mentions of gaslighting ans parents death, mentions of crime, and slow burn

word count: 1.2k

flashback masterlist

“You are so going to regret giving me this sweater.”

Spencer looked up from the book in his lap, his eyes quickly looking me over.

He said nothing as I gave him a dramatic spin, the plaid skirt spinning as I held my hands over my head.

“It’s my favorite.”

Spencer looked at me, an innocent smile on his face.

“What?”

“The sweater, it’s my favorite.”

I looked down at the navy blue sweater, the smell of new books and cinnamon was comforting considering the problem we were all in.

“Y-you look n-nice in it.”

I smiled, a light chuckle fell past my lips. I looked up at him, the book now held close to his face. He was faking, watching the same page for longer than a few seconds.

“You know you read faster than that.”

I moved to the couch, kicking his leg gently to move over. He did just that, just me way more room then I needed.

“What’s wrong?”

Spencer placed the book on the side of the couch.

“Did you know Kevin Mitnick is the most famous hacker in the world with a 100% success rate?”

I only shook my head, playing with the wire from the ear piece I was wearing.

“No I didn’t.”

Spencer turned on the couch to look at me better, his face serious.

“Why didn’t you ever mention Shane?”

I went to play with the selves of the sweater, stopping halfway through.

“I don't know, I just never thought of it.”

Spencer nodded, reaching for his book again.

“Penelope's parents and mine died the same night, the same accident. We both snuck out to meet this boy, Shane was supposed to cover for us.”

I watched out of the corner of my eye Spencer stop the mission to pick up the book, turning and looking at me again.

“After they died, all I had was Shane and Pen.”

I felt a lump in my touch, the memory of the happy childhood coming in flashes.

“Pen is obviously the closest thing I’ve had to a sister, but Shane loved mind games.”

“What do you mean?”

I looked up, seeing the calm face of Spencer Reid watching me as if everything was normal, like me telling someone other than Penelope how I feel.

“He loved gaslighting Pen, all the time. He’s the reason I learned how to interrogate so well, I learned how to see right through people from a young age.”

I didn’t even feel the tears slip down my face until Spencer handed me a tissue.

“I don't know how I’m going to last seeing him again.”

“I’ll be right in that ear piece the whole time, Morgan will be too,” Spencer pointed to the ear piece in his ear also.

“Can we have a safe word, you know a word so you know when I get scared?”

The crack in my voice made me flinch, I was never one for emotions and now I’m telling my crush my deepest darkest secrets.

“Of course, have any in mind?”

Flashbacks of memory with Spencer came rushing in, trying to find a word that meant something.

Oscar Wilde? No.

Watermelon? No.

The War of 1812? No.

The flashback in my head felt like nothing was working.

Flashback?

“How about flashback?”

“You want the safe word to be flashback?”

Spencer looked at me strange, his jaw slacked and his eyebrows raised.

“You told me on the way to this case not to give myself flashback’s, so help me remember that.”

Spencer only smiled and nodded his head, holding on his opened hand.

“Shake on it?”

“Spencer Reid wants to shake hands with me?”

He laughed, quickly looking down into his lap before looking back at me with a wide smile.

“I’ll risk twice as many germs if it makes you feel better.”

I only smiled, ignoring the handshake and fist bumping his out-reached hand.

“You told me one time that first bumps were safer.”

I watched Spencer smile, a slight blush forming over his cheeks.

Suddenly a loud cough was heard from behind me, I turned to see Pen standing in the doorway.

The old black corset and fishnet had made a comeback, it felt weird seeing it 10 years later.

“I missed you Pure Empress,” Penelope said with a curtsy.

I stood from the couch and held out a hand from her, a light chuckle leaving my lips.

“Oh how I’ve missed the Dark Queen so much more.”

Penelope smiled as she grabbed my arm and wrapped her own around it. She turned back to Spencer as he stood from the couch.

“Ready Boy Wonder?”

He did a quick nod and followed behind us, walking to the large dark van in front of the police station.

Morgan stood in the back with another man, pointing at different brightly light screens.

Suddenly Morgan looked up, laughing as Pen and I hoped into the back with him.

“Polar opposites I see.”

Penelope laughed as she looked over the tech, double checking the professional.

“I miss my band tee shirts,” I pouted as I took a seat on one of the benches.

“I don't, I like the sweater look,” Pen said over her shoulder.

“I don’t, sweater (Y/N) let everyone walk all over her.”

Spencer closed to the back of the van, moving over to sit beside me. Morgan and Penelope sat across from us, laughing about some joke that was made.

“So how did this guy become your step-brother Mini Reid,” Morgan pointed over at me.

Reid threw something at Morgan, him easily dodging it.

“My mother died in childbirth, my dad married Shane’s mom soon after.”

Penelope looked over at me, mouthing the words “I love you” which made me smile.

“I’m sorry.”

I smiled over at Spencer seeing the way he patted my leg, looking back up at the two across from us.

“Eh it’s all good, I’m the living embodiment of ‘it could be worse’ anyways.”

Penelope gashped beside Morgan, a small hit of disappointment across her face.

“You’ve been friends with me since you were 5, your life has been blessed since then.”

I laughed, going to play with the end of the sweater. I stopped, looking down at the soft navy blue sweater.

“You can pull at it.”

I looked up at Spencer as he smiled down at my hands.

“You said it was your favorite,” I tried to not let the way he smirk get to me but it was so beautiful that my heart couldn't help but race a little.

“I was willing to give you a handshake, then I’m definitely willing to let you mess the ends up a little,” he grabbed the arm closest to him, pulling at the yarn so it came out slightly.

I gasped as he gently placed my arm back where it was earlier. I moved my hand back to his forehead, giving him bewildered eyes.

“Are you sick?”

Spencer only frowned as he looked at me.

“No, I haven't been sick since February 4th, 2010.”

I rolled my eyes, looking over at Penelope and Morgan who were laughing at the two of us.

“Oh you were being sarcastic!”

Spencer looked at me, a small hint of pride on his face. I smiled and laughed, liking the way he was watching me in that moment.

“Here,” the driver yelled from the front of the van.

“You two ready?”

Penelope and I looked over at each other, nodding our heads at the same time.

“Remember, flashback.”

please let me know if you enjoyed this chapter, i wanna know how you all feel about where the plot is going!!

part iii part v

flashback tag list:

@summer-writes @snitchthewitch @mortallythoughtfulgurl @l0ve-0f-my-life @101donuts @siwiecola @eldahae @hot-mess-express99 @itlittlefangirl @afuckingshituniverse @mollygetssherlockcoffee @tinylumpiaa

[black-widowfics]

My most used writing Prompts:

(There's a lot)

1. "I love you... baby"

2. "God, you're adorable"

3. "Hey, cutie"

4. "I promise to love you for the rest of my life"

5. "I don't care if you're sick, catching a cold from kissing you is worth it"

6. "You are so perfect"

7. "You're the best part of me"

8. "Stay here with me. Please?"

9. "I'm speechless you're so beautiful"

10. "Aww! You're adorable"

11. "So romantic"

12. "I'll love you until the end of the universe" "haven't we been there before?"

13. "Do you need a hug?"

14. "I love you, my dearest"

15. "Come here, I need to hug you"

16. "When everything's wrong, it's you that makes it right"

17. "You're the one"

18. "Have i ever pointed out how beautiful you are? " "Yes, all the time"

19. "I'm bored" " then why don't we do something more interesting?"

20. Forehead kisses

21. Hand kisses

22. "That tickles!" Kisses

23. Kisses that make them smile

24. Breathless kisses

25. Cheek kisses

26. Nose Kisses

27. "God, i love you" Kisses

28. Kisses that end with laughter

29. Never wanting to pull away kisses

30. Multiple face kisses

31. Big, long kisses

32. Long Awaited Kisses

34. "Finally, you guys kissed" Kisses

35. Goodbye kisses

36. Kisses accompanied by happy tears

37. Kisses accompanied by sad tears

38. Kisses that get interrupted

39. Kisses to distract them from winning

40. "Just woke up" Kisses

41. Excited Kisses

42. Long awaited kisses

43. "I missed you so much" kisses

44. Sneaking up behind them and surprising them kisses

45. Kisses to help them concentrate

46. Kisses as a reward(passed a hard exam, won a game, etc)

47. "No! No! No! Wake up! Please!"

48. "Please don't leave"

49. "... I love you"

50. "You killed someone, do you really think they'll still love you?!"

51. "They were my world, but now they're gone"

52. "I miss you so much, please come back"

53. "I know you're gone, but i feel you here"

54. "Tears are all I see without you"

55. "You're happy, with someone else. And that hurts"

56. "Just leave!"

57. "Promise me you'll live a great life, without me"

58. "I don't need you"

59. "The world is dull without you"

60. "I miss being in your arms"

61. "Get out of my life!"

62. "I don't love you anymore"

63. "Goodnight, i have always loved you "

65. "I may be dying, but please, don't cry over me"

67. "Thank you, for helping me live the greatest life i could"

68. "These tears will never stop falling"

69. "You were so perfect, but now you're gone"

70. "You were so perfect, but now you're moved on"

71. That's the way to break my heart"

72. "You're happy in someone else's arms "

73. "Take me back to the good old days "

74. Billions of people in the world, and I chose you, how stupid was that"

75. "I wish i didn't have to lose you"

76. "I wish you didn't have to lose me "

77. "I wish that could be me "

78. Character A and Character B, sworn enemies, are chosen to prepare the company Christmas Party.

79. Character A's best friend rigs the Secret Santa, because they know Character A has a crush on Character B.

80. Character A's ex will be at the A is attending. Character B poses as A's fiancée.

81. "Don't look at me, I was still dead at the time."

82. "....Aren't you a little young, to be here?"

83. Character A and Character B meet in the ER on Christmas Eve.

84. Character A can't wrap gifts to save their life. Character B is their neighbor and can help.

85. Character A vows to do something nice for a stranger. Character B is that stranger.

86. Character A and Character B both sign up for a Pen Pal project to exchange postcards.

87. Character A and Character B broke up, but now they meet at a _____ party.

88. Character A is stuck working in a coffee shop on Christmas and Character B is the lonely soul spending their whole day there.

89. Character A's little sibling/child wants to meet their favorite celebrity/writer/person for their birthday. Character B is called "birthday present".

90. Character A can't travel to see their family on Christmas, so they invite their grumpy loner neighbor Character B.

91. Character A and Character B compete in (some kind of) house decoration.

92. Character A bakes too many ______ so they share it with Character B.

93. It's Character A's first Christmas since a tragedy.

94. Character A returns to their birth-town for the holidays. Character B is their estranged childhood best friend.

95. Character A is pretending to be their friend's lover for the sake of the friend's family. Character B is said friend's sibling.

96. Character A loses a bet and has to wear_____ . Character B won the bet.

97. Character A owns a _____ store. Character B is looking for a present.

98. Character A doesn't feel the Christmas spirit but Character B, who lives above them, keeps playing Christmas carols really loud.

99. Character A overhears Character B's birthday wish and decides to fulfill it.

100. Character A was planning to leave dramatically after their confession but character B unhooked their batteries when A wasn't looking so I guess they have to talk about it now.

101. Your doomsday device didn't work but it did put me in the hospital so what are you doing in my room?

102. We've been roommates for seven years and we had a fight but you left me a note right after you moved out saying you were in love with me.

103. "If we get out of this mess you and I are going to have a serious talk about the appropriate time for emotional conversations."

104. "According to these screenshots I need to leave the country immediately."

105. Spontaneously confessed to crush while under the influence.

106. Tried to have a conversation with a cardboard cutout after surgery.

107. "That's it I'm never leaving my room again I can't live this one down."

108. Gave a brutally honest opinion and doesn't remember it.

109. "You said you had the best idea ever and then proceeded to write [extremely stupid thing] as a note to yourself."

110. "tried kissing once and it wasn't for us."

111. We make out at parties and clubs so other folks will leave us alone.

112. "Of course I'm in their lap where else am I going to sit?"

113. Their constantly orbiting around each other.

114. "just because YOUR friends aren't affectionate doesn't mean that there's a problem with US".

115. platonic cuddle puddle.

116. Not so platonic cuddle puddle.

117. "So what we go on friend dates, don't make it weird."

118. Always carries the other's favorite snacks.

119. "I thought I told you to stop calling me 'Your Majesty'."

120. "Lower you weapons!"

121. "I...I am not worthy of this crown."

122. "People are fighting– dying for their kingdom! What kind of Ruler would I be if I didn't join them at the front lines?"

123. "You know I am a prince/princess/royal, right?" "Well yes-" "Then do me a favor and stop telling me what to do."

124. "Since when do you know how to wield a sword?"

125. "Go! If this kingdom goes down, then I will go down with it as it's Ruler"

126. "All the fine silks and perfumes in the world won't mask what a pompous jerk you are."

127. "After all this time, you still don't trust me?"

128. "Get me out of this dress!"

129. "Why so serious, Your Highness?"

130. "How does a walk through the gardens sound?"

131. "I do believe I've proven that you are more than a mere guard to me, ______."

132. "This kingdom cannot go on without you! Please, it's time for you to take your rightful place at the throne."

133. "Your Majesty, is that blood on your dress?"

134. "Walk with me, please. I can't stand another second in that room with their intoxicating pride and old perfumes."

135. "At ease, _____, I know I'm safe with you by my side."

136. "I see we're back to 'Your Highness'. "

137. "A moment with you is far more exciting than a lifetime of cheap conversations and corsets."

138. "...is that my crown you're wearing?"

139. "Promise you'll come back to me." "As long as you promise to wait for me."

140. "Let go of me– that is an order!"

141. "Forgive me, my love."

142. "No, no, it looks far better on you than it does me."

143."This is the part where I kiss the extremely beautiful princess, right?"

144. "how could I ever love someone else?"

145. I'm dancing with my demons

146.I just can't imagine how you could be okay now that I'm gone

147. "I wanna fall wide awake"

148. "You tell me it's alright but its not!"

149. "Tell me I'm forgiven... please."

150. "Nobody can save me"

151. "I don't wanna let you down"

152. "Only I can save me"

153. "There's no getting through to you"

154. "You say I can't understand"

155. "When you leave me, where do you go?"

156. "I'm just talking to myself"

157. "Can't you hear me calling you home?"

158. "You keep running like the sky is falling"

159. "I've got a long way to go and a long memory."

160. "If my armor breaks I'll fuse it back together"

161. "Please just don't give up on me"

162. "I know the words we said"

163. "This is not black and white"

164. "I was not mad at you"

165. "If you ever felt invisible, I won't let you feel that now"

166. "You just wanna know you're being heard"

167. "I don't like my mind right now"

168. "There's comfort in the panic"

169. "I drive myself crazy"

170. "Why is everything so heavy?"

171." I'm pretty sure the world is out to get me"

172. "I know I'm not the center of the universe"

173. "I only halfway apologize"

174. "I'll be sorry for now"

175. "Sometimes things refuse to go the way we planned"

176. "There will be a day that you will understand"

177. "After a while you may forget"

178. "I never wanted to say goodbye"

179. "I've never been higher than I was that night"

180. "Now I remember"

181. "I don't know what I want"

182. "Were there signs I ignored?"

183. "Can I help you not to hurt anymore?"

184. "Who cares if one more light goes out in a sky of a million stars?" "I do"

185. "You're angry, and you should be"

186. "It's not fair"

187. "You're gonna hurt someone"

188. "Watch the friends you keep."

189. "Sharp edges have consequences"

190. "Every scar is a story I can tell"

191. "I loved you like a house of cards, and let it fall apart"

192. "It made me who I am"

193. "We all fall down"

194. "We live somehow"

195. "I can't live without you."

196. "You're the only one for me."

197. "I've never loved anyone the way I love you."

198. "The things you do to me..."

199. "You're too good to me."

200. "I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

201. "You're the most beautiful person I know."

202. "Stay with me... please."

203. "Nothing has ever felt so right."

204. "You don't know how much you do for me just by being there."

205. "I wouldn't want it any other way."

206. "No matter what anyone says, I'll cherish you forever."

207. "You make it so easy to love you."

208. "I want to hold you and never let go."

209. "Kiss me."

210. "My only wish is to see you happy."

211. "You make me a better person."

212. "I love you more than words can express."

213. "Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, I just wish you had kept yours to yourself."

214. "I don't know how to tell you this, but yelling at someone to, stop panicking, isn't going to stop them from panicking."

215. "It's not your fault. Sometimes you can do everything right, and things will still go wrong.... This just happened to be one of those times."

216. ".....I'm going to pretend I didn't see that."

217. "Why am I the one who always ends up getting targeted by the creep of the week?!"

218. "Fuck.... I knew I should have bought those light up sneakers."

219. "None of this, seems healthy."

220. "....Should I be concerned?"

221. "I said pass it to me, not 'throw it in my general direction'!"

222. "It is my deep pleasure, to inform you that I am not the one in charge here."

223. "Quick! You hide the equipment, I'll hide the grenades!"

224. "Should I call someone for you?"

225. "Did you take anything?"

226. "Do you want to tell me what happened?"

227. "When was the last time you ate anything?"

228. "Can you walk?"

229. "How do you think this will all end?"

230. "Do you need an ambulance?"

231. "Where you crying?"

232. "Should someone help you get home?"

233. "Do you know where you are?"

234. "Can you tell me your name?"

235. "Where do you want me to take you to?"

236. "Do you need my help?"

237. "How do you feel now?"

238. "Can I do anything that would make it better?"

239. "Do you want my jacket?"

240. "Can you let me see your eyes?"

241. "Should I stay a bit longer?"

242. "Will you be alright?"

243. "Do you have someone who can look after you?”

244. “An interesting crossover”