#i get a 2k bonus in march

[roadrunnerposting]

So i think if i dont fuck around and i just work and sleep, i could have over £12k saved by end of march. Hopefully my landlord sees the sense in selling to me? Idk. Very stressful

[sophie1973]

2024 Fic writing round-up

I was tagged by @firenation, @onthewaytosomewhere @thesleepyskipper @0npurpose and @iboatedhere. Thank you !

I wrote 17 fanfics this year for RWRB (15 oneshots and 2 multi-chapters)

JANUARY

Taking a break from all your worries (T - 1.2k)

Dinosaur nuggets in the oven and a quickie on the washing machine. Established relationship. Fluff.

You, soft and only (T-1.2k)

Girldads Alex and Henry and a storm. Established relationship. Fluff.

FEBRUARY

Writing Bloodstream

MARCH

Bloodstream (tell me when it kicks in) (M-41k)

New York, 1890. Henry is a Slayer, Alex is a Vampire. Somehow, they are not in a hurry to kill each other. Enemies (sort of) to friends to lover. Fluff, angst, smut.

APRIL

Can we take it nice and slow (E-1.5k)

Pregnant Henry, Blueballs Alex, smut and fluff.

I choose you and me (religiously) (M-1.2k)

Five Sunday mornings in the lives of Alex and Henry.

MAY

Age is just a number (G-2k)

Girldads, aged up Alex and Henry, and a lot of variations on August Moon. Established relationship.

It takes an ocean not to break (G-3.4k)

Henry gets meningitis. Established relationship.

JUNE

You are mine, I am yours (let's not fuck around) (E-5k)

College AU, jealous Alex, best friends to lover, smut.

What a wicked thing to do (let me dream of you) (G-1.3k)

Oblivious Alex, roomates/bff to lovers, fluff.

JULY

Of fried rice and galaxies far, far away (M-8.4k)

Henry almost runs over Alex with his car, drastically changing their lives' trajectory. Strangers to friends to lovers. Prince Henry, non-famous Alex. Fluff and a bit of angst.

AUGUST

Writing Wait for me to come home & a few Birthday fics

SEPTEMBER

Let me kiss and make it better (T-2.8k)

Alex and Henry are football rivals (or are they?). Fluff.

Petals and Pages (G-2.4k)

Florist Alex, Bookstore owner Henry with allergies. Fluff.

Wait for me (To come home) (M-42k)

When he inherits a lakehouse from his late aunt, Henry doesn’t hesitate and book the first plane to Texas, leaving everything behind, including years of abuse by his grandmother, ceo of a vast hotel empire.

Henry begins a journey of healing and self-discovery, seeking to reclaim control over his life and unearth a renewed sense of purpose.

And if he finds love in the sparkling brown eyes and charming smile of a handsome veterinarian, well, it’s an unexpected, but welcome, bonus. Fluff, a bit of smut, strangers to friends to lovers.

OCTOBER

And if this ain't love (why does it feel so good (E- 8k)

The plane fic ! Pilot Alex, Flight Attendant Henry, flirting at 20000 feet in the air. Fluff, fwb to lovers, smut.

NOVEMBER

Working on my December fics

DECEMBER

Si c'était ça le bonheur (simplement) (T-18k)

My December prompt for the Red Umbrella Discord collection. Christmas fluff, Single Girldads Alex and Henry, Dogs !

Excuse my French (G-9k)

Henry meets his new neighbour and loses his English.

Littéralement. Fluff, strangers to friends to lover. Arthur is alive.

Tu es mon évidence (G-2.6k)

Some New Year's Eve fluff in the same universe as 'Si c'était ça le bonheur'. Established relationship, Girldads, Dogs.

Tagging with no pressure : @stellarmeadow @anincompletelist

@thighzp @tailsbeth-writes @orchidscript @suseagull5914

@taste-thewaste @priincebutt @miss-minnelli @kj-bee

@strwbrryagcd @shesfromboston @tinyarmedtrex @whoevenknows-things

@jafffacakess @miharaikko @magicmelinoe @14carrotghoul

[steddiemicrofic]

⚡️ Welcome! ⚡️

{march prompt: 🎢 ride 🎢 | 453 words}

view previous prompts/collections here

what is this?

steddiemicrofic is a monthly drabble challenge. Each month will have a one-word prompt and a randomly-generated word count challenge between 300-600 words.

For example, a prompt might look like: ‘breakfast,’ 522 words.

how do I play?

We’ll announce the new prompt on the first of the month, and then you’ll have until 11:59 PM EST the day before the end of the month to fill the prompt (for example, if the month has 31 days, they will be due on the 30th). Your story should be a third person standalone fic with Steve and Eddie as the primary characters (or topic of discussion if doing outsider POV.) If you want us to share your story, you can tag us @steddiemicrofic and use that month’s hashtag.

Please note: word counts are strict. That’s the whole fun of the challenge, so please don’t tag us if your drabble turns into a 2k story.

We’ll use wordcounter.net to check the final word count before reblogging. (Note: your word processor might tally words differently, so be sure to run your draft through wordcounter.net specifically before posting.) WC limits only apply to the body of the story, so titles, descriptions, etc. won’t count against you.

sequel policy, updated 5.7.24

we are officially saying no sequels for microfic challenge submissions. what this means:

going forward, we won’t reblog sequel posts, whether they’re posted in the same month or across multiple months. if your story has “part 2,3, etc” in the title, or links to a previous installment, or mentions that you need prior context to understand the story, we will not reblog it

you may still fill each month’s prompt within a consistent au universe, but again, each submission must work as a standalone story (so don’t link previous installments in your submission post)

as always, feel free to do whatever you want with these prompts on your own blog! write parts 1-20 if you feel inspired, just please don’t tag us beyond part 1

is there a prize for playing?

No, but you can have a head pat and this cool rock I found outside.

are there any other rules?

Please be sure to rate your drabble using AO3 rating system [G=general, T=teen, M=mature, or E=explicit) and warn for any triggers/squicks at the top of the post so we can tag for those when we reblog. You can format your posts something like:

Title

written for ‘prompt’ wc: # | rated: __ | cw: __

can I suggest prompts?

Absolutely! Can’t guarantee we’ll get to all of them, but feel free to send prompts to the inbox and we can maybe run some bonus rounds in addition to the main monthly prompt.

can I participate anonymously?

You sure can, bestie.* To submit anonymously, please DM the mods first (so we can get in touch with you if we need you to update WC/tags or if we have any questions), then you can submit your fic as an anonymous ask to our blog. Anon asks still need to include a header with the title, rating, and content warnings, and WCs will be checked before publishing.

*For now. Not that we expect it to happen, but if for some reason our inbox gets flooded with anon hate/spam then we’ll have to update this rule.

who do I talk to if I have questions?

Send us an ask here or you can message Mickala @steddieas-shegoes or Lex @thefreakandthehair

masterlists:

Steddie Microfics 2023

Steddie Microfics 2024

Steddie Microfics 2025

[starry-eyed-adam]

OHHHH BABY WE DID IT (100 followers on tumblr and 2k hits on ao3)

DTIYS TIME.

from the most recent chapter of Head Over Boots, Chapter 19!

thank you to my mutuals!!!!!!!

@wanderinguteruspress-blog

@imdefnotvanessa

@risestarkiss

@walkinthewoodsfrolicintheforest

@notjustdragonspages

@3mutantsinatrenchcoat

@sloppy-syrup

@littlemissartemisia

@theemployees

I appreciate yall more than you can know

textless, rules, other stuff below :)

link to the chapter

rules-

- you’re free to change what you’d like, just keep the general idea of like. the photos being a terrifying revelation lmao

- you have until April 15th!

- tag me and use #starry eyed adams dtiys so I can see it!!

- be creative be silly whatever you want!!

prizes :) -

first (personal favorite): full color and shaded drawing of whatever you want (max of 4 characters)

second (most creative): full color of whatever you want (max of 2 characters)

third (best coloring/rendering): sketch/lineart of whatever you want (max of 1 character)

prize rules- nothing really! ROTTMNT related is ideal but OCs or anything else I’ll do! just no complex backgrounds (pleeease I’m bad at them)

again! you have until April 15th!

(bonus points if you get it done before/around March 27th so I get a lil birthday present :))) )

HAVE FUN AND THANK YOU AGAIN SO SO SO MUCH FOR FOLLOWING, READING, COMMENTING, ETC!!!

[halfratsalready]

Reflecting On My 2024 Fics 💕✨

When this year started, I hadn’t published a fanfic in well over 5 or 6 years. By the end of the year, I’d published 7, including 3 one shots, 3 completed multi chapter fics, and 1 in-progress multi chapter fic (that I admittedly haven’t touched in a while, oops). I also organized my first ever fic exchange this year! I loved being able to bring people together to share stories with each other and am so glad I stepped out of my comfort zone by hosting an exchange, so much so that I hosted another one later in the year!

I’m not the best or most prolific writer here - not by a long shot - but I’m pretty happy with what I’ve done and am so grateful for this community’s response to my works! In honor of that, here’s a little reflection on what I’ve written this year :)

(Featuring a sneak peek or two at what I’m working on next…)

Breaking Down 🥀

(March 18th. 1 chapter. 2k words. 21 kudos. 1 comment.)

My first fic in 7 years, first ever Just Dance fic, and first fic on AO3! The start of my tendency towards Jack Rose angst! Based on a Florence + The Machine song! This is a short one shot that I wrote in a very stream of consciousness manner. It’s not exactly my best work, but it holds a special place in my heart for all the milestones it represented for me.

Lose Yourself ✨

(March 22nd-April 5th. 5 chapters. 16.5k words. 95 kudos. 45 comments.)

Oh, Lose Yourself, where do I even begin with you? This fic genuinely changed my year, all for the better. I was absolutely terrified to post this. I was new to the fandom, publishing a fic amongst so many other incredible works by incredible writers, and to top it all off, it was my very first time publishing a ship fic. It was also my first time publishing a series. I had debilitating anxiety for days because I was scared to publish actual ship content. The response to this fic was absolutely incredible and I am still so, so grateful to everyone who read it and left feedback. This series was also the first time I ever received artwork for any fic I’d written. Genuinely, this was sort of a life changing experience for me, as silly as it may seem.

Close to Post-Mortem 🥀

(April 12th-April 26th. 5 chapters. 17k words. 71 kudos. 39 comments.)

Part two of the Lose Yourself series and my second (and much darker) foray into the world of Jack Rose angst, as well as my first time really getting to write Night Swan. This is the fic that made me realize how much I love writing the dynamic between Jack and Night Swan, and just writing Night Swan in general. While generally the least popular of the Lose Yourself series and probably my third favorite (not that I don’t like it, I just like the other two better), this fic is special to me for showing me how much fun I have writing angst and how much I love writing these characters. Also, it’s the first instance of my personal favorite AO3 tag of mine- “turning people into terrifying mind controlled bird minions left right and center,” which gets it a ton of bonus points in my book.

Fail Me Not ✨

(May 3rd-May 20th. 6 chapters. 38.2k words. 92 kudos. 39 comments.)

This fic is so special to me. It closes out the initial Lose Yourself trilogy (because I decided that I want to continue the story through Dance With the Swan and hope to do so one day) and represents the first time I actually finished a fic series (technically not because there’s more to come but I finished the original plan so I’m counting it). The feedback I received for this fic was so kind and I’m so grateful for everyone who left a comment at any point in this series. I’m really proud of the Lose Yourself series and am so happy that so many people liked it!

To Form A New Dynasty 👑

(For Frostyblustar. July 14th. 1 chapter. 21k words. 36 kudos. 14 comments.)

This novella (never intended for it to have that high of a word count - it was supposed to be a simple one shot) is one of my favorite things I’ve ever written. I had so much fun coming up with the lore of this version of the Danceverses and exploring this dynamic. I loved writing Night Swan and her dynamic with Jack and writing Si’Ha and writing Jack and Wander in this new dynamic and wow I just really enjoyed writing this fic, as stressed as I was about the ridiculously high word count at the time. @frostyblustar’s prompt allowed me to write something I never would have thought of otherwise, and I loved working on it so much! This was also my first time hosting a fic exchange and I’m so happy with how it went and the incredible fics that came of it! Hosting this exchange was a great time and I’m so glad that so many people participated and had a great time!

The Wrong World ✨

(July 19th-Present. 1/9 chapters. 4.8k words. 33 kudos. 10 comments.)

I published the first chapter of this fic shortly before a bunch of things in my personal life erupted into chaos, and it kind of got pushed to the side and more or less forgotten, but I am working on getting back to this fic! This is probably the most comments I’ve ever gotten on a single chapter of a fic and the support for it was overwhelming. I really do love the story I’m telling and am excited to work on it more. This one is special to me, even if it’s been neglected for a while. This is my first non-Lose Yourself series multi chapter fic and I was so happy to know that people were excited about it. Thank you, everyone, for your support on this fic- I promise you that more is coming in the new year!

Gather Near To Us 🎄

(For Doodling_Doodle. December 15th. 1 chapter. 7.8k words. 5 comments.)

Despite being the calmest and fluffiest of all the fics I wrote this year, this one was somehow the most stressful. I agonized over this one and finished it with about eight minutes to spare… yeah, it was rough. Considering I’m not used to writing fluff, I’m not too unhappy with how it turned out, but I wish I’d been able to give it the time and energy it deserved without being distracted by a lot of craziness in my life. Without the adorable prompt from @doodling-doodle, I wouldn’t have stepped out of my comfort zone and tried writing fluff, so I’m very grateful that I had the opportunity to challenge myself with something new. This was also my second time organizing a fic exchange and I’m genuinely so happy to know how many people love these exchanges! I hope to organize more in the new year!

What’s Next…

I can’t promise when anything I’m working on will be completed and ready to publish, but I’m slowly but surely working on…

The rest of The Wrong World

A one shot prequel to the Lose Yourself series

One of the projects I’m most excited about!!! A dark murder mystery featuring Edgar Allan Poe references and buddy cops Brezziana and Discoball! (Don’t expect this one anytime soon, though - even if I finish it soon, I’m planning on posting it throughout October for spooky season.)

A ghost AU??? 👀

One last thank you to everyone who read any of my fics, to everyone who left kudos or a comment, to everyone who reblogged my posts about these silly little fics, to everyone who made posts about these silly little fics, to this entire fandom for welcoming me into it and allowing me to be a part of it. I’m so happy to be here and to have such kind people to share my works with! Happy New Year, everyone!!! 💕✨

[happiness-of-the-pursuit]

2023 Fic Round Up (Part 1: Fic List)

I have been tagged in about a million different round ups of sorts, so here's Part 1: A Comprehensive 2023 Fic List sorted by month posted (if a multichap, I listed it the first month it posted), featuring the major details and a single-sentence summary/quote (so a fun challenge for me).

I'll post Part 2: Favorite Quotes and Part 3: Channeling Nora Holleran to Bring You My AO3 Data over the next two days (for the data I want to wait til the last possible day).

Without further ado, here is my 2023 Fic List:

January:

Nothing, I was still a lurker.

February:

Prince Henry and FSOTUS Alex Claremont-Diaz Answer the Web’s Most Searched Questions (T, 2.4K, YouTube Script Fic)

10 Things Alex Claremont-Diaz Can’t Live Without (T, 3K, YouTube Script Fic)

10 Things HRH Prince Henry Can’t Live Without (T, 2.5K, YouTube Script Fic)

March:

Prince Henry and FSOTUS Alex Claremont-Diaz Take a Couples Quiz (T, 5K, YouTube Script Fic)

The Super Six Take a Lie Detector Test | Vanity Fair (M, 7K, YouTube Script Fic)

Baby's First Pride (E, 10K, WIP Multi-Chap)

Post-canon, canon-compliant (ignoring bonus chapter) look at the Super Six celebrating their first pride after the emails—I want to come back and finish this (I got interrupted by Life) but my writing has evolved a lot since March and I'm daunted by all the editing I'd have to do, lol

ALEX CLAREMONT-DIAZ COMMUNES WITH HIS ANCESTORS WHILE EATING SPICY WINGS | Hot Ones (T, 3K, YouTube Script Fic)

April-June

Trying to survive the end of the school year as a teacher before I left my job :)

July

PRINCE HENRY SENTENCES US TO THE DUNGEONS WHILE EATING SPICY WINGS | Hot Ones  (M, 3K, YouTube Script Fic)

August

FirstPrince Sings Queen, Lil Nas X, and Taylor Swift in a Game of Song Association | ELLE (T, 2.5K, YouTube Script Fic)

Claremont 2008 (M, 26K, Complete Multi-Chap, Canon Divergence)

A world where Ellen gets elected in 2008 instead of 2016, and the friends-to-lovers path that puts Henry on. If you want to relive the early 2010s, enjoy epistolary fics, or want a glimpse of a world where Alex & Henry go to college together, you might like this.

September

How well you play...that's up to you (M, 4K, FirstPrince Week)

Grey's Anatomy-Inspired AU, where Alex & Henry are both surgical residents—currently a one-shot, but I plan on writing a multi-chap prequel for this at some point.

Keep this Love in a Photograph (T, 2.6K, FirstPrince Week)

Post-Canon: Henry finds Alex's old photo album and they take a stroll down memory lane.

The Starwand (T, 1.7K, FirstPrince Week)

Three vignettes from Alex's life (two featuring Henry) where a sparkler makes an appearance—both a kid fic of Alex and Alex with his kids.

Somebody Call 911 (M, 2.4K, FirstPrince Week)

College AU where Alex is sneaking around with Henry behind his roommate's back—until it all goes to shit.

October

Sets on the Beach (M, 4K, FirstPrince Week)

Crack Treated Seriously, Alex and Henry are on rival queer beach volleyball teams.

Water over Blood (G, 3K, FirstPrince Week)

Post-Canon 5+1 of five times Henry's niece loved Alex, and one time she loved Henry

L(ate) S(leepy) A(morous) T(exting) (M, 1K, FirstPrince Week)

Text-fic of a missing moment from the book, because I am convinced that Alex did, in fact, study for the LSAT (it's just more realistic if we're to believe he scored well enough to get into NYU)

November

Freaky Friday (I woke up in my enemy's body) (M, 9K, Halloween, Huh?)

Canon Divergence, Freaky Friday-Inspired Body Swap AU, Crack Treated Seriously: Between Cakegate and Alex's visit to London, the boys swap bodies and proceed to learn a lot about each other. And themselves.

December

Alex Claremont-Díaz Answers Your Questions | Actually Me |GQ (M, 2K, YouTube Script Fic)

Super Six and the Siren's Call (T, 111K Total, Posting Bi-weekly)

The Percy Jackson AU, co-written with @read-and-write- and @inexplicablymine. Quests and Greek References abound! Check out more @auntiepezzasupdates

(Dil)Do It Yourself (E, 16.7K, New Traditions Advent Calendar)

Alex attends a DIY Dildo Workshop for the holidays, where he meets Henry, who's helping to lead the workshop—and eventually, helps Alex in other ways. The tags will tell you all that you need to know.

Thanks to @rockyroadkylers @hgejfmw-hgejhsf @kiwiana-writes @welcometololaland and anyone else who tagged me that I missed! I was waiting to post all my fics for December before I did this :) Since I'm pretty late, I'll tag @ssmtskw @matherines @affectionatelyrs and an open tag to anyone who's made it this far and wants to do this!

[ayyponine]

might fuck around and do yotp25 btw. local woman simply can not stop writing her stupid lil stories of blorbos having hard conversations and falling in looove

in a shocking turn of events though after a few years doin 3 bang events, 3 holiday exchanges, 2 other types of collaboration and of course a whole lot of self indulgent shit just fr meee all totalling *checks notes* over 275k dedicated to one ship. at last i am moving on to smth new. or rather. an old comfort ship. and possibly also a ship i vaguely am aware of but have never written about but now figured hey. yknow what i might have some things to say. that is right i might do the challenge simultaneously fr two different fandoms. twotp event if you will.

soo anyway ship 1 i literally wrote ONE >2k gen fic fr way back in 2014 but it’s a pairing i think of fondly and still carry within me low key a little. also au’s/reincarnation was/is a trend in that fandom which allows perfectly fr me to play around w the diff prompts while making a single cohesive story in monthly bite sized bits which had me like oooo. mayhaps i Would like to dive back in fr a while and play around w them thank you very much..

ship 2 again is not smth i actively ship but! i have Thoughts on the characters and their dynamic i might wish to Share with the rest of the class. again rather than separate drabbles i wanna make it all chapters of one story hoyyeverr since i need to obey the order of the monthly prompts these are not chronological (though still evenly distributed across past present future aka pre during and post canon events as instalments of again, one single narrative thread). tryin to figure out how i can fuck around w both the actual written text and its general structure to make clear the chronological order while making it a good solid read fr the monthly updates aka the order in which every new piece of the puzzle will be published. all im gonna say abt this ship is i loved that theres prompts fr 12 months w possibility of a bonus 13 to give a multifaceted view canon can not touch on. otherwise do not even fucking look at me and my intentions

absolutely devastated i might need to drop hanahaki fr both bc problematic or no i am a sucker fr that shit. i LICHERALLYYY just did a regency hanahaki au fr a ship mere months ago and yet here i am again. can NOT be sated yet unfortunately both stories i have in mind fr this are indeed, entirely set in this world which would not allow fr that type of setup even a lil bit rip

absolutely delighted january starts w a first kiss, feb has bed sharing/this made me think of u type tenderness and november enables a touch starved/are you sure combo of absolutely devastating consent after ages of pining from both the characters and readers. in march i am absolutely canonically murdering some guys though do not get me wrong. the hurt and comfort is what i live for baybeeeee

[kangaracha]

let's just call it what it is: the march to-do list

DID YOU FINISH JANUARY'S LIST?

edit daybreak (we did it babey, posts every tuesday)

queenmaker - post ch 24 (i am SO back)

queenmaker - writing (does it ever end? no but i did enough to get to cross it off and write it again)

nevermore - ch 25 (look it's like, 1k away from the end. maybe 2. in nevermore terms, that's basically done)

see no evil (railway fic) - added 2k

cold summer (unfair fic) - didn't touch it okay there was a lot on the list

birdcage (original) - final chapter (took it out the back and shot it, hung it on the fence as a warning)

MARCH???

queue the rest of daybreak

queenmaker ch 27-35

railway fic

unfair fic

what the water brought (original), 1k per day

nevermore - yellow wood arc

BONUS POINTS

tgbyb - planned chapters

leave - part 2

FNF fic - 8/10 chapters

tsotl - edit

hymn of babylon (original)

all that is good/holy (original) - prologue

she of the garden (original)

[lente-ment]

I know I said bonus chapters would go up during March but life has been.... lifing. I did write tho. I wrote too much tho. I was so convinced I could just do a few quick 1-2k-words chapters but my mind is just hard wired to go min. 5k or nothing. 😩

I'll post something today, I promise. Also I don't think TWOEYT will start before bonus chapters are finished because... ho boi, the stark contrast between those two stories... and Laura's personality in them... Even I get dizzy.

(I can't wait to hear what you lovely readers will think of Laura in the prequel asdfhgakhg)

[knightyoomyoui]

[ONE-SHOT SPECIAL] Mina x M & F Reader - “Out Of Goodbyes”

A/N: This is just a short one-shot with 2k words. I made a bonus one-shot special ft. Mina for both my male and female readers to fill up the gap that Part 2 of CFM series left in Set 5. Like I said in my announcement, my phone got broken and currently I can't be able to send it to a repair shop yet due to financial issues. All of my plot outlines for CFM series, 1% Of Chances book and even my summary also for my upcoming and remaining entries for Set 5 are also in there so sad to say for my readers there, especially the male ones who are anticipating for the Part 2 of CFM series which is originally should be the next update of mine but due to unforeseen circumstances, I wasn't able to make one yet. Probably it might be moved instead to the Set 6 lineup rather. It still makes me disappointed and disheartened also at how sudden the bad luck just happened to me but I don't have any choice yet but to create a new revised plot for the CFM series and 1% of Chances as I apply still some parts of the original plot that I still remember in there. In addition, I'm going to focus more first on my unaffected books: The Tale Of The Bloodline and the TWICE Ships book. For now, please enjoy this very quick one-shot that I made although this one's an angst since I haven't made a full one since Doughnut series, I guess. Hope yall understand and my deepest apologies again. (This one-shot is inspired from the song "Out Of Goodbyes" by Maroon 5 and Lady Antebellum, very underrated song but for me it's a freaking masterpiece. Had me listening to it in repeat these days. Give it a listen if you want.)

7AM in the morning and you just woke up in your bed from the alarm you set hours ago before sleeping. You slammed the clock shut, stopping it from continuing to rang annoyingly before you rubbed your eyes to clear his vision for him to properly see as another day comes for him to start. Flopped back into the soft mattress of your bed, you huffed in the air before facing aside to the blank space with you where once, a certain somebody that was very special to you occupies this. As if your reflexes are still used to it, your body can't help but to react strangely when your skin gets contact in the surface; shivers and heat cursing all over just like what you've always felt whenever she's embracing you at any activities you do with her in this particular bed of yours. You frowned, a sigh escaped in your mouth as you gave the vacant area a gentle caress before you slowly stood up from the bed. Bringing the phone with you onto the kitchen, you prepared the ingredients you need for a quick breakfast that you're about to make. Part of freshening yourself up, you brushed your teeth and washed your face first before returning back to the kitchen and start cooking. As you were about to began performing the first step, your phone beeped with a notification. Phone litted bright, you peeked at it and saw the time and the date itself displayed first along with your newly replaced wallpaper consisting of just your own picture. Out of these three, the date reminded you something that even made you sadder if you'll be looking forward for this whole day. March 24 It was her birthday... and your anniversary with her. With your ex-girlfriend. With Mina. What you did with the wallpaper won't fool you also, as the location and the person who took that for you was none other than her too.

She was the person you were with on that day, and always has been. She was even included on your previous one, but what happened between you and her just hurts so much you couldn't even stand seeing her very close to you unlike how you loved it when you and her were once together. And through that, the memory flashed within your mind which clenched your chest and breaths gone heavy. FLASHBACK Tell me actions Speak louder But there's something about her words, that hurts. In the middle of the night as you are currently driving on your way home with Mina, you decided to break the unsettling silence wrapping the two of you inside the car, especially that both of you are holding unpleasant mood towards each other that neither of you can't tell enough what's behind it. "What happened to you again this time?" You asked her, eyes fixated on the road illuminated from the headlights of your car as you kept on driving carefully. Mina remained unmoved in her seat, head still leaned at the window as she stared outside to watched the bypassed surroundings of the street you're crossing ahead. "None of your business. Just take me home, please." You weren't surprised with her attitude shift at you. Here she comes again with her words that speaks louder more than her actions can tell which only results for you to feel something about these words she says to you that ends up hurtful to you. "A-are you sure? You know what I mean, I j-" "What words can't you understand from what I said, YN? I don't have time for this, okay?"

"Can you blame me for being like this to you?" You said to her, glancing at her. "I just wanted to know, Mina." "Does it even matter to you?" "Ofcourse it does!" You raised your voice higher, giving a hint at how your patience is being tested again by her unlikeable behavior. "What kind of a stupid question is that anyway? I'm your boyfriend/girlfriend, don't I have a right to take care of you?"

"Well, I kinda figured it out because I thought I'll just end up getting scolded again and you will be the one who's right here as usual." "Huh? W-what are you talking about? Is that what you really think of me treating you?" "Keep driving, YN. I just want to rest now." She ignored your plead of clarification. "F-fine. I won't force you if that's what you want." Closing up and it's too late and I'm the last one Still waiting for you to lock the door This gap of you finally giving up is inches wide remaining. You listened to her and returned your focus back on the road as you left her still silent, probably clouded with her own problems. It makes you worry, of course; but the walls she's building again is preventing you from coming closer and offer assistance to her and you just don't know why she's being like this to you. What's even worse is that, this ain't the first she's ever done this to you. This occurs every time that you and her are having problems in the midst of your third renewal of relationship with her after those previous breakups you had with her which was caused with different reasons. She was freely sharing it to you once until days come by when she turns out keeping it secret to you instead and now here she is again, deciding to cope it by herself while leaving you here still concerned about her and you are done with it. You can't allow this to continue... which is same as what you can say for your relationship with her. Your wondering and processing reached the breaking point where it now made you realize that this won't lead anywhere at all. This isn't worth it for another chances, opportunities or mercy. You are now done. You shut the door of each other's home and now you're the only one waiting for her to finally lock it and never be opened again.

Although to be honest, this is the hardest decision you've ever done in your life but there's no turning back now. You ended up here and it's no going back now, especially that you know to yourself that you can't do it anymore. On our way home I realize There's some kind of storm brewing in his /her eyes Only veiled by a thin disguise You finally reached your place with her. Parking the car slowly in front of the house, she exited quickly without even needing your help to open the door for her like you usually do and what you were about to do also. She was already in the front door as you followed her from behind. Mina turned her body to face you as she's about to lend you a way for you to insert the key to the doorknob.

There it is, Mina perceived it clearly indeed as she stared at your eyes as you turned at her with a small smile before you faced her with your side profile.

Little did you know that while Mina chose to became quiet after your almost altercation with her, she saw something right through you that tugged her heart and fill guilt inside of her. She can't tell specifically, but she knows there's something beneath your eyes that informs her that something is wrong about you, only to be hidden barely behind your mask pretending that you are fine in front of her. But, there's this possibility that she's confident enough to be sure about her thoughts, and that is she knows that you are hurting because of her from the way she acts around you. She is conscious about it because after all, it was taken effect of her falling out of love from you. So yeah, both of you were just sharing the same desire to end this relationship once and for all bringing the same perspective. Lost, confused and unmotivated to proceed guiding yourselves at what future holds for both of you together when each of you knew can see that in the end; none of you both were destined to stay together. You and her entered your house that witnessed your rollercoaster ride of memories together, and for the last time on this very night, it'll all ends here for good. You changed your clothes to a sleeping garment, so as Mina.

And now that I've done my time I need to move on and I need you to try Cause we're out of goodbyes Mina exits the bathroom, she saw you sitting alone in the bed while seeming as if you're spacing out. "YN?" She patted you on the shoulder as she stepped in front of you. Your frown and your droppy eyes made her gulp heavily. It startled you a bit as your eyes matched her beautiful face. The beauty that impressively couldn't have your heart to resist, except for this very moment where you have to let her go completely for the sake of each other. "Oh you're out now. Let's go to sleep, babe." You forcefully smiled at her. Lifting your lower body for you to lay down on the bed, you were shocked when Mina just gave you a backhug. "I-I'm sorry. I don't want to be angry and harsh at you. You just wanted to help." You felt her head shuddered before even hearing her soft whimpers of cries from the tears flowing in her face. Her affection didn't fail to brought you along with it as you also let out the emotions you're containing within you, cried as you grasped her big yet soft hands wrapped in your torso. "I know, Mina. I'm sorry too." "I'm trying, I really do YN but..." "... there's nothing in there anymore, doesn't it?", you finished her words on her behalf which surprised her. "H-how did you know?"

"I just don't feel the same too, I guess." You rubbed her hands with your fingers. "Not when I'm in love with the girl that was different from the one I used to know at all." Mina sobbed in your shoulders, her muffled sounds resonating in your ear as she buried her face to you. "I wanted to tell you already, I swear, but there's something that hold me back. I-I'm afraid to hurt you more once I tell you." You appreciated her consideration atleast, knowing that there's a glimpse of care stuck in her for you plus convinced that she did tried also to fight for each other's relationship. "I forgive you, Mina. It's not just your fault too please, we should've talked about this sooner but now that I've done my time for you... ... all I ever want now is to promise me that you'll try again as I move on, okay?

As this, yeah we can call it over now. No more other ways to say it. Not even goodbye once you and I became free tomorrow and head to our separate ways, because we both know that you and I are completely out of it."

You faced her again and cupped her cheeks as she raised her head to stare at you with her pitiful expression. You kissed her for one last time in the lips before separating yourselves. "But let this one for you to always remember before you go, Mina...

... I loved you with all my heart. Believe me, as much as I want you stay, I never asked you to change for you became like this. It pains me that you rather don't feel the same as me. That's why we have to do this. I want us to be happy again." Your bittersweet words made Mina form a smile along with another river of tears streaming down in her cheeks as she holds your warm hand and holds it tightly to her pounding chest. "I loved you too, YN. You are the best man I've ever known, it's such a shame that everything we had won't work for us at all no matter we try." You clutched the back of her head and pulled her closer to you, planting a kiss on her forehead as you caressed her hair while she submitted herself in your arms again, willingly wanting to enjoy this for the last time. "But you know what?"

She hummed in response. "In all honesty, despite you broke my heart, went through hard times and repeat; I just want to say that I'm still grateful atleast that with those good things you've done, it made me feel somehow that I was the perfect man who would love to spend longer times together with you. " Mina's quivering lips smiled. She felt her body being carried carefully by you as you made her join you lay down on the bed, with her head resting close into your chest as you helped her ease down her emotions. BACK AT THE PRESENT Ending the revisiting of that sorrowful final memory you shared with Mina, you weren't aware that there's a drop of tears landed on the screen of your phone as you drowned in the midst of your deep thoughts of her until you and her drift away in slumber for the last time as lovers at the same bed you were waking up everyday, now being alone. You wiped your eyes and your cellphone with your cloth before you opened the notification, revealing a message coming from Sana herself minutes ago. "Good morning Y/NN! When will you come here?" You replied her immediately, not wanting to make her wait longer as both of you wouldn't want to become late for later. Few hours later, you arrived at Sana's house and escorted your friend inside the car as you drive through the location of the event that you and her are invited in. Stepping into the yard, you and Sana caught every person that is present in the yard where the area is designated for an occasion. A birthday occasion. The celebrant looked at you. That familiar gummy smile, plump pinkish cheeks inflated by the curve and her symmetric eyes she had, a déjà vu effect on you. Seemed so real, bright and colorful just like the first time you met her.

You entered with Sana and greeted your friends one by one until it has come to you and her. It's been a while since both of you got this closer personally and it does felt a bit awkward for each sides.

"You arrived." You nodded and smiled. "Happy Birthday, Minari." She offered you a high five before all of a sudden, it got you flustered at her quick hug on you before she releases. "Thank you, Y/NN." You saw her adorable smile presented at you before she returned back to her friends and invite everyone for a picture. I wonder does your man still shudder when you touch his hand Like this man You aligned yourself with Sana and Momo along with other guests as they captured a photo of Mina and her boyfriend. Her body leaned closer in his arm as she holds his hand for a pose.

It's been months after the break-up, and with the sight you realized that she must've completely moved on already; as per the promise you requested for her. You are happy for her, but your heart that is still learning and unable to finally let go its love from her is what gives you an aching sensation. You looked at her hand wrapped neatly at his, you've been in his spot before and you know how great her touch felt often.

Then you muttered to yourself in curiosity if through that, the man Mina's with now; shows the same affection of love as much as you did. "You two look great, but does he make you feel loved as much as I did for you? Don't get hurt again Mina, please.", you muttered to yourself in curiosity. Meanwhile, Mina who's watching you from the distance; talking comfortably with the other friends of yours; was asking the same thing in her mind.

Unlike you, she doesn't harbor any lingering feelings; and she's only hoping the same that you're doing fine these days because too many heartbreaks won't make it worth it any longer. Just like goodbyes, you and her ran out of his and hellos also for one another to possibly never come back.

[thebooktopus]

the fic rec game is a rough one, I'm learning. it's time-consuming but what a labor of love. @sweet-s0rr0w absolutely kills it with her rec lists. she has a few different series going: her five favorites features specific authors and - you guessed it - SS' five favorite fics. this one of @bonesliketambourines' fics was probably my favorite, but they're all amazing. she also has a drarry around the world series that's super fun - this one focusing on road trips was amazing. and she's starting to pull on her community to build rec lists for variety - the collab rec list she did for valentine's day was pure magic. she's been super supportive of this little project of mine and I can't tell you enough how much those kind words have meant!

did you know that she's also creating insanely beautiful artwork now? this incredible paper cutting over watercolors based on one of @tackytigerfic's fics took my breath away. I can't wait to see what she comes up with next! SS is also an incredibly talented writer, and I'm so happy to provide a rec list of her stuff here. so, i humbly present my five favorite SS fics, in honor of her dedication to this community!

random superlatives and recs:

five favorites (no particular order):

1. Playing Dirty // E // 8K // the sexual tension absolutely ERUPTS in this fic. perfect enemies to fucking to hopefully more. plus, Robards treating them like misbehaving children is hilarious.

2. The One You Feed // T // 10K // the alternating first-person POV in this works fucking wonders. it was so entertaining to see them basically repeating each other's words, so much more alike than they realize or would ever admit. absolutely delicious. plus this was SUCH a wonderful look at werewolves, a lifestyle/adjustment perspective that I hadn't seen before.

3. Crash Into Me // T // 13K // a 24-hour quidditch match brings Draco and Harry together. our sweet, competitive boys, such a feel-good fic.

4. Dreaming Skies // E // 23K // Dron // co-written with @tackytigerfic, this was either the first or second Dron fic I read and WHAM did I get sucked in. dragon tamers? Weasley sibling jealousy? the will-they-punch-or-kiss dynamic of these two? GIVE ME ALL OF IT.

5. Nice // E // 2K // beautiful, desperate, hopeful - there's so much emotion packed into such a compact, concise fic. I wiped away a single tear at the end there and felt like my heart was going to break open with so many feelings.

BONUS: Nor All That Glisters // E // 110K // OK, I haven't read this one yet BUT HEAR ME OUT. I've been saving it for a rainy day and was really, really hoping to get to read it before this month was over but, you know, life and time and energy. if it's anything like any of SS' other writing, it's going to be worth a read. anyone want to buddy read this in April with me?!

SS, I so look forward to getting to know you more, and I hope you're having a great day. 💚

for more info on mutuals march and/or to figure out why the hell I just wrote an ode to you, check out this post.

[xfilesfanficexchange]

✨BONUS EXCHANGE ANNOUNCEMENT✨

The Undercover Exchange

Sign Up Ends: Saturday, January 29th at 11:59pm American Central Time

Exchange Date: Saturday, September 24th 2022 (Approximately an eight-month writing period)

Word Minimum 15K

Rules Below and sign up link below!

Sorry this exchange sign up is coming so quickly after the last, I want to make sure there is enough time for this exchange to have a big sign up and writing period while still occurring in the sweet spot after the "back to school" groove has hit and before the holidays

This is the Undercover Exchange! All you have to do is come up with a scenario where Mulder and Scully have to go undercover and you're good to go! Maybe they're undercover as a couple, maybe not, the ball is totally in your court! The world is your oyster!

Rules 

1) Word Minimum: 15k 

2) Prompts: As an author, make sure you follow the prompt you're given.

3) Post on the due date. There's a two-week grace period if something comes up, but you need to notify me if you're going to use it. If you cannot fill the story, I need you to let me know so I can find a replacement. This is very important.

Over half of the participants for last year's bonus exchange dropped out. I understand that things out of our control come up and can't be planned for, but all I ask is that you sign up with the full intentions of completing the story. It's hard to ask for a sub with a week left.

4) Make an Ao3 Account

5) You'll need to leave an Ao3 comment on the story you receive as a gift. It is important you show appreciation for the hard work that went into your gift, and leaving a comment on Ao3 allows me to ensure you did that (some participants are only on Ao3)

For the bonus exchanges, I do two check-ins. One will occur in March where I will check in for 2k words. The other will be in August where I will check in for 10k words. This is not to be belittling, but it is to make sure people are working on the fic and not waiting last minute

Before signing up, make sure you know the rules. This is an event where you will write a prompt and someone will write that story for you, and you, in turn, will write a story based on someone else's prompt. It's a tit for tat situation.

Can't wait to see who all joins!! Please know everyone is welcome. We love inviting new authors to try their hand at writing in a supportive environment. This is also a great opportunity to try working on a multi-chapter story with a long-running narrative.

I can provide you with betas too if that interests you, and many people read and comment on every exchange fic, so it's a great way to get feedback on your writing. I promise you won't regret signing up! If you need details about what the exchange is, click here.

Here's the link to sign up! Make sure to do so by 11:59pm Central Time by Saturday, January 29th. Make sure your prompt is completely filled.

Sometimes it works best on a computer, but if you have issues filling it out, just send your info my way

[rainbow-scarab]

All the many WIPs

Yup XD

I. I keep saying I’m working on stuff. I’m so slow. I did write a lot last year...for my own standards anyway. But mostly just in stuff that is not published yet. So I dunno just for fun I’m writing out what I have (with current word count)

  silent.docx, started March 25th, about 5.7k words (and many more discarded), multichapter

This one is for personal ptsd reasons. I’m sorry Hollow, you get more traumas. Can be difficult for me to work on. First time I’ve ever tried to write a multichapter fic

I am self-conscious to ever post it ._. But I do want to anyway. Will have many warnings on it though

  desaturated.docx, started May 28th, 13.5k words, multichapter

The Grimm Troupe is summoned, by the Pale King. Grimm is wary, but he has his role in the Ritual, and must leave the Pale King to his.

A second attempt at a multichapter fic, this time with a very concrete plot idea. Perhaps a blessing and a curse as eventually I have to deal with difficult plot things and also to put in themes and good character moments.

(I question my choice at having Grimm try to coordinate all the Grimmkin across the kingdom in a crisis now I have to figure out leadership skills and how to communicate/coordinate across distances XD;;;)

(Also I keep thinking of this fic as “the fun one” that I’m working on, until I realize how many warnings it will need on it. But when it’s not things that I personally need warnings for sure I guess that makes it fun XD;)

  Quirrel dies in Ghost's arms.docx, started October 17th, 965 words, oneshot

;_; Quirrel gives me emotions. And gives Ghost emotions here

  embodying.docx, started December 3rd, 2k words, oneshot

I try to write horror, with the Pale King as the horror monster XDDDD I’m not even a horror fan?? I dunno, I’m having fun here

  Bonus: hornettiso.docx, started October 7th, 444 words, abandoned

NOT A SHIP FIC XDDD I enjoyed thinking of the idea for a bit but, was not inspired enough. Just started from me wondering if Hornet typically tries to intercept everyone coming into Hallownest and what she would do if Tiso was one of them

  ...so I wrote tens of thousands of words in the last year which is a lot for me! Only have published *counts* 6k words but I hope I can finish more

[brywrites]

Careless Whisper | 2K Celebration

As part of my 2K follower celebration, if you send me a character or pairing and a song, I’ll write a ficlet (roughly 1000 words) based on it. For every song requested, I’ll also do a bonus ficlet so you’ll get double the stories! Requested: Hotch and Prentiss & “Carless Whisper” by George Michael! ____

He's the first person she tells. “I’ll tell the rest of the team tonight,” Prentiss says. “But I wanted you to know first.”

“As Unit Chief,” he assumes. After all, he’ll need to complete her resignation paperwork.

She gives him a sideways glance. “That’s not the only reason why.” Oh. So he hasn’t been imagining it all this time. Hotch doesn’t even know how to respond to everything he ever wanted to believe coming true right before it’ll be taken away from him.

“Prentiss, I…” But before he can get the words out, Rossi cues a wedding march and that’s there sign to join the rest of the team assembled in the backyard. It’s a beautiful ceremony and JJ and Will are utterly delighted and he’s happy for them – after everything he’s been through he’s so happy for them – but there’s a bitter taste in his mouth he can’t wash away with wine or whiskey. Hotch watches as she dances with her friends in turn. He catches the way their smiles slowly fade as she leans in to whisper in their ears, her dark hair obscuring her face. Rossi puts on a perfect poker face. Reid lowers his head in a quiet acceptance of something he’s feared all along. Morgan holds her a little tighter as they sway and she rests her weary head on his shoulder. Garcia wipes away tears. The only one she doesn’t tell is JJ – not yet. After Garcia, Prentiss begins to make an exit from the dance floor, but he catches her hand before she can fully make an escape.

“Dance with me,” he says. Because he won’t beg, he won’t do it. Not when he knows it’s so futile. When Emily Prentiss has made a decision, there’s no changing her mind. But to his relief, she lets him lead her back amongst the swaying crowd assembled beneath the lights. One hand rests on the small of her back, the other holds her hand tight, her fingers laced through his. They step in steady circles, his heart beating faster than the rhythm of the music could ever hope to. Her breath is warm on his neck, her lips so close. He could kiss her if he wanted to. If Beth weren’t mere feet away and laughing with Reid, if she weren’t leaving, if everything were different. But it isn’t and no matter how much he thinks of all the things he should have told her, it won’t change anything.

It certainly won’t change the way he feels. After all, nothing has so far. He’s felt since she went against Strauss to save the team. Even though she is his employee and his friend. Even though she is headstrong and impulsive and a pain in the ass. Even though Beth is perfect, even though she’s lovely and kind and patient. Even so. It’s Emily.

“I wish things had been different,” he tells her.  

She pulls back to look at him with those wide, dark eyes he finds himself so easily lost in. “I know, Aaron,” she says. Because of course she does. What a fool he’s been to believe he could keep it from her. They are profilers after all, and she’s one of the best he’s ever had the honor to work with. “Maybe it’s better this way.”

“I don’t think it is.” There is no comfort in the truth, in knowing she’s loved him too. That all this time there is so much that could have been but he was too scared and too broken and too stoic to let her into his heart or believe that he could ever deserve hers. Now, his aches so sharply, a distinct pain slightly left of center in his chest. He knows he won’t feel this way with someone else, no matter how hard he tries. And so he dances with her as though he’ll never dance again, as though this song and these steps are the most important thing in all of human history. And he never will dance again, not like this. Not with her. The final chorus comes to a crescendo.

Emily leans in close to him to whisper under the cover of the noise. “I love you.”

“I love you,” he repeats. She wraps her arms around him and he holds her close for just a moment. Closes his eyes. And for a moment he can pretend they can stay like this forever. But the song ends and she lets him go. He watches as she walks away, her steady steps across the grass and towards the house. Beth’s hand finds his shoulder. He smiles at her as she pulls him near and a new song begins.

Emily glances back for just a heartbeat. And then she’s gone.

[l-ion-heart]

Pokemon Go Exp Guide! - The Race to 40 and Beyond

I know some friends who are trying to make the final push to level 40 in PoGo before the legacy event ends so I whipped up a doc with all the methods I use to grind experience! It’s not exhaustive but it’s pretty dang in-depth. You can just read the bolded sections if it’s too long XD

Feel free to share, with credit of course! Let’s get as many trainers to forty as we can!

Pokémon Go: Exp Tips for the Sprint to Lvl 40 (and beyond)!

by: bottsy ( fc: 759850632021 )  Discord: botts_y#0909

Overview:

Events - Double Catch Experience!

Friendship - Lucky Egg those Friendship Statuses!

Mass Evolution - The Rewards of Candy Accounting!

Dailies - Streaking, the Hottest Exp Grind!

Research - Hoarding Isn’t Just for Stardust

PokeCoins - Buying Your Way to Legacy

The Legacy Challenge: Leaving Dec. 31st

Postscript

Events:

Always keep an eye out for current and upcoming events, especially those that boost experience (although nowadays they are rare). Even if the event isn’t explicitly related to an experience boost, it might still present a more efficient chance to gain experience. For example, they just boosted incense spawns again so incense is now a great tool to supplement catching a ton of Pokémon quickly when you can’t be out and about or nothing is spawning nearby.

Current Event: Thanks to the 2x catch experience bonus until the end of the year and the rework on catch experience, catching Pokémon is the best way to grind exp on your own - especially if you can get some excellent throws (they now net you 2k exp on catch). With a lucky egg, you can also turn that 2x bonus into a 4x bonus and rocket up to 40.

So, catch as much as you can between now and the end of the year, and when you can’t play, plan ahead by thinking about how upcoming events or bonuses could be most efficiently used.

Friendship:

Even with a double catch exp event, friendship bonuses remain the largest source of experience: 100k for best friend, and 50k for ultra. By coordinating with a friend if you can communicate, or by planning ahead if you cannot, you can use a lucky egg before acquiring these bonuses and walk away with a giant lump sum of experience. 

The safest way to do this (even with someone with whom you can communicate) is to ensure that when you are 1 day from your bonus, you have a gift from them and they do NOT have a gift from you. This means that you will be in control of when the friendship bonus pops because it will not do so until you open your gift from them. This is how you set up multiple bonuses for a single lucky egg - pop the egg and then open all the relevant gifts. If you are able to communicate with the person, it is good practice to give them notice and plan together when you will do the bonus so that they can lucky egg as well.

*In the weeds: little details, with big impact*

Setting up so that you have one day left before bonus and only you have a gift means that 2 days away from bonus you are HIGHLY reliant on the other person to open one of your gifts and send (or have already sent) you a gift. Sometimes people aren’t very engaged in gift giving or have other friendships they are already working on, and may not send you the gift you need. At that point you have to weigh the risk of not getting the friendship bonus in time (if they never send you the gift) versus the loss of exp you may face if you aren’t in charge of when the bonus happens and as a result cannot use lucky egg. Just something to be aware of! Also beware that when in a shared PoGo community, if you raid or trade with that person, it will progress your friendship. It’s a good idea to keep a list of who you have bonuses ready for so that you can avoid these interactions until you are ready to activate bonus.

So, right now it would be a good idea to look through your friends list and make note of any friends you have that have ultra/best friend bonuses attainable by the end of the year. You can mark them with a specific nickname so that they are easy to sort and identify over the next month as you prioritize getting and sending gifts to them. If you can communicate with them, reach out so that you can prioritize leveling the friendship together and make plans for using lucky egg on the bonus. If not, do your best and try to take control of when the bonus happens to ensure you get lucky egg bonus.

Mass Evolution:

A popular and effective, but intensive, strategy is mass evolution. Evolving a Pokémon earns 500 exp (and a bonus 500 exp if it is a new dex entry). As a result, you can pop a lucky egg and then evolve as many Pokémon as possible within the half hour to net 1k per evolution and as much as 50-70k+ total experience, depending on the speed of the phone and player. The effectiveness of this method is that it makes consistent, predictable use of a lucky egg and only requires unwanted Pokémon and candy - making it popular with free-to-play players. The drawback of this method is that it is intensive in terms of planning time and storage space required. 

In advance of a mass evolution you need to have 60-some(+) Pokémon ready to evolve and you need to know which Pokémon they are so that you can efficiently move from one to the other when evolving. For those unconcerned about PvP options, maintaining a living dex, etc. simply searching “evolve” is enough prep, but those more concerned about PvE and PvP relevance or keeping a living dex will need to go through and determine for which species they are comfortable burning candy and which specimens of that species they are going to evolve. That’s up to your own priorities and discretion, but it would help to mark those Pokémon or make a list for reference. Nothing is worse than trying to mass evolve and then losing time because you didn’t mark which weedle you were saving to max and mega evolve or which eevee was going to be your great league umbreon.

Between mass evolutions you need to acquire the candy and Pokémon necessary for the next set of evolutions. The best Pokémon to mass evolve are always where the candy cost is lowest - ie, the lowest evolution stage of a species with naturally low evolution cost and little use in your relevant metas (Raids, Gyms, Rocket, PvP, etc.). Examples of this are the birds, bugs and normal types of most generations like pidgey, wurmple, and patrat. Still, these aren’t the only Pokémon worth mass evolving. Any Pokémon for which you have the extra candies to evolve is worth doing, but the Pokémon discussed above are worth prioritizing catching in the wild (or even pinapping) for the purpose of evolving. It is a good idea when clearing out unwanted Pokémon to do a quick accounting of how many evolutions of that Pokémon you could do based on how many candies you have. Then, hold onto enough individuals of the species to do that many evolutions. 

We still haven’t discussed when is the best time to mega evolve, and as always it depends on events. Right now, because of the double catch exp event, your lucky eggs would likely be better spent on catching if you have the balls and Pokémon storage. If not, it might be time to clear space with some sorting and evolving! HOWEVER, on Dec. 29th between 6 and 7pm local time the bonus hour will feature  double evolution experience! So if you did mass evolution during that hour, for the whole hour, with 2 lucky eggs you could easily get 200k+ exp. That would be an exceptional time for mass evolution.

This also highlights events that don’t give bonus experience but can still play a role in efficient leveling: the two prior bonus hours on Dec. 15th and Dec. 22nd grant double catch candy and double transfer candy respectively. You can use these prior bonus hours to prepare for the big event on Dec. 29th by getting more candy for evolutions!

That’s A LOT to take in, so let’s break the whole process down by examining a single, relevant species. In the Northern Hemisphere, the Season of Celebration brought along boosted snover spawns so we are seeing a lot more of our frosty tree friend. He has niche use in both great and ultra league, and a brand new mega evolution, so you might want to hang on to one for great league and one to max for both ultra league and mega evolving. Beyond that he isn’t a raid showstopper so you won’t be making a team of abomasnow like you might mamoswine. Any candy and specimens you acquire beyond the needs of those two snover would be perfect for mega evolving. So, you mark your useful snover (maybe even favorite so they don’t accidentally get shipped off) and start tracking your snover candy. Let’s say you have 125 candy: snover’s evolution cost is 50 candy so you would save 2 additional snover to evolve down the line. The rest you would transfer once an appropriate time arrives - like the event on the 22nd. If you are out of space, transfer right away because you’ll make more candy getting out there and catching than you will sitting around for an event. Once you acquire 150 snover candies, you would save 3 snover and so on as your candies increase. Then when it’s time to sort and mega evolve your snover will be ready to go! That’s the mindset to adopt if you want to mass evolve efficiently!

The Mega Evolution Process Summarized:

Identify good fodder species (low evolution cost and low use).

Acquire candies by catching and transferring while saving enough individuals for the number of evolutions you are able to do.

Before a mass evolution, identify and mark or make a list of all the Pokémon you intend to evolve.

Pop a lucky egg and do the evolutions as fast as possible, preferably during an event that boosts evolution exp like the bonus hour on Dec. 29th.

Dailies:

No mobile game is complete without dailies, and PoGo’s recently got a boost! Back in March daily bonuses for first catch of the day were tripled, meaning now for days 1-6 of a streak trainers get 1500 exp and 500 exp for first catch and first stop spun respectively. Then on day 7 trainers get a whopping 6k exp for first catch and 2.5k for first stop. That’s 20.5k exp a week just for popping in to catch one Pokémon and spin a stop each day!

Now don’t forget events! The daily bonuses for first catch also get doubled meaning that until the end of the year you’ll get 39k a week for daily bonuses. On day 7 alone the catch bonus becomes 12k and combined with the spin bonus and a lucky egg, on the last day of your streak you could earn 36k in just a moment! Save your mass evolutions, friendship bonuses or even just some pokeballs for catching till then and you can follow that massive burst of exp with your usual grinding methods!

Completing a research task each day can be harder, but will earn you 3k exp on your seventh completion (doesn’t need to be a steak). Raids are a valuable source of exp as well if you can pull daily tier 5’s at 10k each. But even if not, it’s worth it to raid something daily because if you don’t, that daily free pass is gone. Remember you can pair your raids if doing them at once is more convenient - ie. by saving your free pass from the day before you can complete a raid, pick up your new free pass and complete a second raid all in one day. Do what fits your schedule!

So, make sure to play at least for a moment each day to catch one Pokémon and spin one stop. You’ll secure 36k exp each week for minimal effort - and gain much more if you lucky egg your final bonus on day 7 (just make sure to make good use of the egg afterwards)! Otherwise just research and raid when you can.

Research:

Speaking of daily research, there is a whole other set of research you should be a little more patient and deliberate in completing: special and timed research. These are the multi-step, 3-piece bundles of research tasks that give a nice little set of rewards after each step. If you can stand it, save completed sets of research that reward experience until you are using a lucky egg for another activity. Then at the start of the egg you can quickly tap through your rewards and enjoy the double bonus. This is especially powerful when you are on the next to last step of a research. In most cases the final step is autocompleted, meaning you can get double experience for both steps at once! This strategy is a little harder to pull off with timed research due so be a little more lax in saving those - after all, double rewards on one step is rarely worth abandoning the entire rest of the research. In that case move fast and if there final two steps give experience, consider saving them for an egg once you’ve secured task completion.

So, don’t forget to make progress on your special and timed research tasks and save collecting steps that reward experience for when you are planning on using a lucky egg! Then burn through your research with time to spare for your usual experience grinding!

The Legacy Challenge

Even if you reach level 40 before the end of the 31st the race isn’t done! You’ll earn your Legacy 40 medal but you still won’t acquire the exclusive avatar item, Gyarados Hat, along with some choice item and Pokémon encounter rewards. To get those rewards you need to finish the timed research Legacy 40 Challenge which also expires after the 31st! The steps are below, and include catching at minimum 30 Pokemon and doing 3 raids, so if you’re pushing though to 40 in the final days or hours, know that you’ll need to grid through these steps fast if you want to get the rewards in time.

Step 1 of 4

Power up Pokémon 10 times

Catch 15 Pokémon

Make 5 Nice Throws

Step 2 of 4

Catch 15 different species of Pokémon

Transfer 10 Pokémon

Use 15 Pinap Berries while catching Pokémon

Step 3 of 4

Make 3 Great Curevball Throws Stardust

Win 3 Raids

Give your Buddy 10 treats

Step 4 of 4

Autocompleted!

The fight doesn’t stop at 40! Be prepared to rush through these steps before the new year if you want to get the last bit of bling that shows off your legacy achievement!

Postscript:

Thank you so much if you took the time to read all this! It was a ton of info and will take time to digest and put into practice, so be kind on yourself if you find yourself revisiting for a refresher. I hope it helps you and brings more joy, excitement, and success to your gameplay! If you enjoyed a peek into the nitty gritty fun of min-maxing and meta in PoGo try checking out these resources I use to stay informed:

Leek Duck - Great graphics and up to date event info!

Gamepress - Analysis and meta discussion on the existing dex and everything on the horizons!

And don’t forget to get involved with your local community through social media and especially discord! At Silph Road you can find any local discord groups or even get to work on starting your own if there aren’t any yet.

Good luck and stay safe, fellow trainers!

- Bottsy

[thesunnyshow]

Name: Sam 

Writing Blog URL: @neochan

What fandom(s) do you write for?: NCT (OT21)

Age: 18

Nationality: I am flavorless white

Languages: English and beginner level Korean

Star Sign: Very much a Leo

MBTI: ENTP-P

Favorite color: Baby blue

Favorite food: Tacos!!!!

Favorite movie: Either The Outsiders or the 1996 version of Romeo and Juliet

Favorite ice cream flavor: Strawberry

Coffee or tea? What are you ordering?: Earl Grey tea with lots of milk and sugar

Dream job (whether you have a job or not): Criminal Prosecutor

Go-to karaoke song: Recently changed to Inception by Ateez!!!

If you could have one superpower, what would you choose?: Mental Manipulation

If you were a trope in a teen high school movie, what would you have been?: The one where everyone is on a race to lose their virginity.

Do you believe in aliens/supernatural creatures?: I like to believe I do. 

When did you post your first piece?: March of 2019

Why did you decide to write for Tumblr?: I honestly have no idea. I was on the site early one morning and thought, “hey, why don’t you make a blog” and then I did. 

What inspires you to write?: Music. I will always answer this question with music. The tempo, melody, lyrics, it doesn’t really matter. Almost any part of music will inspire me. 

What genres/AUs do you enjoy writing the most?: Mafia AU is always fun to work with, but really over done. 

Do you write fluff/angst/crack/general/smut, combo, etc? Why? : Originally I started out as a smut blog, but then I transitioned into writing everything because once you start writing the same things over and over again it gets boring.

What do you hope your readers take away from your work?: I hope they look past the fanfiction aspect. At the end of the day these are our own story lines and original plots, we’re just using a ‘character’ people in the fandom are familiar with. 

What do you do when you hit a rough spot creatively?: I watch a lot of netflix and hope an idea pops up.

What is your favorite work and why? Your most successful?: My favorite work is one that is unreleased as of right now. I haven’t mentioned it on my blog yet so I kind of want to keep it quiet, but my most successful is a reaction I did for the dreamies.  It reached over 2k likes, which is insane for me to even think about. 

Who is your favorite person to write about?: As I write for a 21 member group, it’s less about favorites and more about who I’m feeling that day, but it’s mostly Yuta & Haechan.

Do you think there’s a difference between writing fanfiction vs. completely original prose?: There’s only one difference and that's the characters in the story. Take fanfiction and replace the names with original character names and BOOM, it’s original prose. 

What is your writing process like?: I don’t outline, ever, so I usually just sit down with a blank Word document and wait for the first sentence to write itself. 

Would you ever repurpose a fic into a completely original story?: If I could write one long enough, yes. 

What tropes do you love, and what tropes can’t you stand?: I LOVE LOVE LOVE enemies to lovers, and I can’t really stand strangers to lovers. 

How much would you say audience feedback/engagement means to you?: It means everything. If I don’t get a lot of feedback from a fic then it makes me not want to write more of it. 

What has been one of the biggest factors of your success (of any size)?: Tagging my work properly, and interacting!!

Do you think art can be a medium for change?: Art is always used as a medium for change. This is one example, but with the Black Lives Matter protests, a lot of professional  photos have been posted which make people want to join. I’ve seen rather chilling paintings of various matters that make me want to advocate for change. On tiktok people who have taken the AP art exam have been showing their portfolios, and they are all amazing and touch on topics that need change. 

Do you ever feel there are times when you’re writing for others, rather than yourself?: Yes. I rarely write for myself which is why i’ve taken a break. 

Do you ever feel like people have misunderstood you or your writing at times?: Yes! Sometimes I try to be creative with my wording but then what I actually mean gets lost. It feels like you have to spell out what you’re trying to say sometimes. 

Are there any times when you regret joining Tumblr?: Sometimes I wish that I had joined a place where I could make money more easily, but I get over that once I realize how good of a community is on the site.

Do your offline friends/loved ones know you write for Tumblr?: Just my best friend. 

What is one thing you wish you could tell your followers?: I’m not as intimidating as some have told me. Please talk to me LOL.

Do you have any advice for aspiring writers who might be too scared to put themselves out there?: Go for it. Even if you think you might suck, just go for it. Honestly, you’ll get to where you want to be in time. 

Do you have any mutuals who have been particularly formative/supportive in your Tumblr journey?: I have so many that have come and gone, and so many that have stayed. I can’t name just one without naming the others! I just want them all to know that I appreciate and love them. 

Pick a quote to end your interview with: “Make your life a masterpiece; imagine no limitations on what you can be, have or do ” - Brian Tracy 

BONUS: K-POP CONFIDENTIAL

Interested in your very own episode of The Sunny Show? Find out how to apply HERE.