#i have discovered bullet list fics/headcanons and i’m in love

[blakbonnet]

[graphic by @ofmdlovelyletters]

AUTHOR OF THE WEEK @xoxoemynn

I've loved featuring some of the most incredible artists in the fandom for the AOTWs, and thanks to Connie's (@spirker) big brain, this week is dedicated to some of the most beloved fandom authors. I hope everyone will go and check out their fics, maybe discover some new works or give extra love to older beloved fics. There will be 3 authors featured this weekend, please give it up 🥁 for the first one: Emy who we all love.

When I think of an author whose writing feels like a warm, lovingly prepared bowl of soup by someone who wants you to eat and eat well: I think of Em's fics. It's impossible to imagine this fandom without her - not just her words but everything she is and does for her friends. I also strongarmed her into answering a few questions for me (kidding, she was very gracious, I kept harassing her to send the answers over 😌 I have no shame):

What's your writing process like? Do you start with the beginning or the end? Do you write in order or as the scenes come to you?

First comes the idea, which usually presents itself as “haha, wouldn’t it be funny/weird/wild if XYZ… wait a minute. I think I might be serious about that.” Once I’m pretty confident I’m actually going to write the story, I make a channel for it in the private Discord I created to keep myself organized. I’ll start jotting ideas down — doesn’t have to be in any particular order, just tone, beats I want to hit, any particular detail that’s pushing its way to the surface that’s demanding the story be told, and also grab any links, images, music, whatever, and stash them away for inspo later. I almost always have to create an outline for myself, even if it’s just a few bullet points, because otherwise I tend to just sit there spinning my wheels. If it’s a longer story, I’ll create a pretty fleshed out outline, and may also supplement it with an emotions matrix to keep track of the characters’ evolving mindset throughout the story. Tragically, I’m very much someone who needs to write in order. I’ve tried skipping around before, but inevitably I start feeling the tension of “well, how can I possibly write Scene 10 if I don’t know exactly what happened in Scene 5?” But if there are some scenes that feel more vivid to me in the brainstorming phase, I may write a few sentences just so I don’t lose that energy.

One Ed/Stede headcanon that's very dear to you and you love to explore it when you write.

I don’t know if I have one specific one. I generally treat them as my all you can eat buffet and like to play with different ones all the time, depending on my mood. But I’d say my “tell,” if you will, is taking some kind of ridiculous concept (being horny for clocks, running a sleepaway camp for singles, tooth fairies) and sussing out the Big Emotions, which often do circle around learning to be vulnerable in front of the one you love.

Whose voice is easier to write - Ed or Stede? Why?

When I first started writing OFMD fic after S1, I would have said Ed. There was something about that vulnerability and raw heartbreak that I found really accessible, perhaps because I was finally coming out of the fog of my own recent traumatic breakup. But as I spent more time writing and in the characters’ heads, I realized it’s actually Stede. I see a lot of myself in him, and have discovered getting his voice right is a rather cyclical process: the more I understand him, the more I understand myself, and the more I understand myself, the more I understand him.

Your personal favourite thing you've written that you'd like more people to read

I’m going to cheat and list two. The first is The Merry Strays of Lighthouse Sanctuary, which is my heart story. It’s not the first thing I wrote for this fandom, but it feels like it. I wanted to write a fic with a setting that felt to all the characters the way so many of us felt about the show itself — a place of hope, where everyone is loved and accepted and celebrated for exactly who they are. The second, which is definitely a harder sell due to the subject matter, is All Of These Lines Across My Face, which is the most personal thing I’ve ever written that I think has taken on a new, more meta meaning since the cancellation. Love is eternal; it changes everything it touches for the better. Ed and Stede’s world was forever changed because they loved each other; our world was forever changed because we loved OFMD.

What is the one word that you think you use a lot?

Exquisite. But it’s NOT MY FAULT. They ARE exquisite!!! What am I supposed to do, just call them pretty? They are EXQUISITE!

Do you have a beta reader? Have they made you a better writer?

YES! My beloved Hugo (@monksofthescrew/offsammich), who I’ve been working with since Merry Strays. I used to say I’d only use a beta if there was something I was particularly worried about in the story, but honestly Hugo makes everything I write SO much better that I don’t consider a story complete until her eyes are on it. Brainstorming the initial idea, helping me get unstuck in writing, pushing me to look at a scene from a different perspective, fixing all my verb tenses… truly could not do it without her.

Why OFMD?🥹

I found OFMD at a very transitional point in my life, when I finally started to feel healed from a few big traumatic events but didn’t know what to do now that I’d emerged from the fog. I experienced some panic that I had wasted too much time and the world had moved on without me while I was still struggling. OFMD showed me that it’s never too late, that you can always have a second (or third, or 300th) chance, that you deserve to be loved for exactly who you are, and, most importantly, that there’s always hope. It was like someone gently took my hand and said “I don’t care what your brain/society is telling you, there is a beautiful future in store for you, and you deserve all that it brings you.” These days it’s rare to find something with a message like that, that’s equal parts fierce and earnest. It’s something beautiful and precious, and I’ll be holding onto it forever. ❤️

Please head over to @ofmdlovelyletters and send your love for Emy and all your favourite authors (and authors of the week 😈 watch that blog for some special letters coming your way)

[dirtyrottenraskel]

hey all!

little ~intro post~ ab me

this is a blog dedicated (mostly) to my drabbles and updates on my ao3 and sort of just my writing and headcannons in general

i’m pretty fond of posting those like bullet list fics in here, bc i have so many ideas and little snippets of stories but never time or energy or even desire really to flush a lot of them out into full length stories

i’d let u know what fandoms i write for but it’s pretty all over the place

rn it’s predominantly aftg, macdalton & atla tho

hope y’all enjoy perusing through my blog :))

wip’s & fics under the cut 

finished fics

i'm waiting on the rain to come (and wash it all away) - yueki - "In which Suki goes to the Northern Water Tribe to help facilitate international relationships, but she finally finds the space to fall apart, and maybe also fall in love.

when you are young, they assume you know nothing - jj/topper - “’You don’t have to go, you know,” he said, voice muffled by the jacket his face was tucked against.

Topper’s voice shook him loose from the memory, strained and thick with unshed tears. “I can’t, and you know it.”

“Yeah, I know. Still shitty though. I’ll come visit you on the mainland so much you’ll be sick of me, ok?” JJ whispered back.”

do they know it’s christmas - macdalton - “’Heard this was the place to get a tree ‘round here,” the man drawled.

Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, he had an accent. Something southern and easy, maybe Texan. Mac’s brain nearly short-circuited.

“Well, we got trees and we are right here, so we should be able to make something work for you guys today. I’m Mac,” he introduced himself, focusing very hard on getting his words out in the correct order. “I’m just the guy who ties things down, so feel free to look around, and give a holler when you find a tree you like, or if you have any questions.’”

if the world comes tumbling down - jj/topper - “Of course it was Topper who found him. After nearly drowning John B. it’s only fitting that the same guy would then pull JJ from the water, leaving a bloody trail up the sand before he grabbed JJ’s board as well.

Of course the guy JJ pulled a gun on is his knight in shiny fucking boat shoes.”

shake me down (cut my hair on a silver cloud) - macdalton - “It was a haircut. A goddamn haircut. Just a semi-uniform shortening of stands of keratin atop his head. It shouldn’t mean so much to him. And yet, it did.

Asking Jack to cut his hair for him felt like such an personal, intimate gesture that even the thought of it made Mac’s heart swell and stomach roll.” 

Blurred Lines - promtis - “He was sitting around the campfire with his boyfriends, half out of his chair with his hand outstretched. In it was a dagger, the blade in his palm, with the ornately carved handle facing Noct, and Prom having no recollection of how it got there.”

It’s All Yours - buckynat - “he taught her all he knew, and it was enough, but enough isn’t everything”

Sleep, Ya Idiot - stuckyony - “Tony never fucking sleeps. Even when he's in bed he never sleeps. Steve and Bucky decide to fix that.”

Just To See If I’m Alive - stony - “He froze in that ice and sometimes, it feels like they never completely thawed him out.”

posted wip’s 

about time we met, sweet cheeks - pipabeth - “Despite seeing her every single day, Annabeth had never actually introduced herself to the drop dead gorgeous woman running the tattoo shop across the street from her.”

you were more than just a dream - jj/topper - “It had been a weird couple of days.

First, he wakes up in Topper’s arms, in his freaking room, only to have the events of the past twelve hours come (painfully) crashing back to him.

Sometime during the night, they must have ended up in the bed, which means Topper must have carried him there. Again.”

why do you care, potter? - drarry - “All Draco wanted was to go out, drink and forget everything for a change. Potter, unfortunately, had other plans.”

Blue - destiel - “Dean was a fisherman, and something kept destroying his goddamn nets.”

[hiccanna-tidbits]

this is a genuine, curious question! what's appealing 2 u about jackunzel :^] ??

Sure, I can talk about why I ship Jackunzel!!!

@gryffindorkxdraws has some posts about why she likes Jackunzel here, here, and here, so those are a pretty good rundown of reasons to supplement mine. But I’ll make a list of my own!

Why Jackunzel Owns My Entire Soul: An Essay in Disorganized Bullet Points ~I dig the sun/moon symbolism! Like Jack was chosen by the moon and Rapunzel has the powers of the sun. It’s such a nice contrast, and it also lends itself really well to star-crossed lover-type fantasy/fairy tale AUs (which I am ALWAYS a sucker for!) ~From what little we know about Jack’s preference in girls (i.e. the slight crush he seemed to have on Tooth), Rapunzel seems like EXACTLY his type--bubbly, energetic, optimistic girls with a bit of a maternal streak. I think even the RotG director confirmed Punz is the kind of girl Jack would like! ~Jack also absolutely seems like Punzel’s type--if Flynn/Eugene is anything to go by, she’s kind of into sarcastic troublemakers with a hidden soft side XD And she also seems to like guys who are good with kids, if Eugene reading “The Adventures of Flynnigan Rider” to the younger kids at the orphanage is anything to go by! ~They both seem to be naturally pretty social people who suffered a lot from being isolated for a really long time--Jack had it worse, obviously (300 years--OUCH), but it was rough on Punz as well, growing up for 18 years with no one for company but Mother Gothel and Pascal. Jack, spending all that time with no one able to see him and only the guardians (who weren’t even really his friends from much of that time) for company, would understand that pain a lot. I feel like they’d be able to connect on a really deep and intimate level about the pain they felt at being isolated for so long, and this would give them a really strong bond that I can easily see turning into something romantic. ~They’re both just such genuinely lively and fun-loving people, and I can imagine them having a ton of fun together and just genuinely really enjoying spending time together. Like imagine the snowball fights!!! The ice-skating!!! The sledding!!! Chasing each other through the forest!!! Jack grabbing onto Punz and her wrapping her hair around a tree and swinging them around Tarzan-style!!! Like literally the entire scene where Punzel leaves her tower for the first time and is goofing off and doing Silly Shit for like an hour straight??? Like man...if Jack was there, they’d have the TIME OF THEIR LIVES together. Idk I just really love couples who I think would have a lot of fun together, it’s so pure <3 ~They’re both so loving!!! Like Rapunzel goes out of her way to be supportive to an entire tavernful of terrifying “ruffians and thugs” because they have dreams, and she’s so sweet to Flynn/Eugene no matter how many times he snarks at her and tries to alienate her!!! And Jack loves loves LOVES entertaining kids, and it genuinely makes him so happy to give them snow days :3 I just feel like they’d shower each other with love, and it’s honestly no less than they both deserve!!! ~Rapunzel especially is such an affectionate person, and I can see her doing just absolutely everything in her power to make Jack feel as seen and as loved as possible after 300 years of being alone. And god, does he NEED it, too. Like no way is this boy NOT touch-starved, and with some MAJOR self-esteem issues (although he’s good at hiding them). Rapunzel would do absolutely everything in her power to build him up and make him feel wanted and validated--and since it’s in her nature to do so, it would never feel like a burden or an effort for her. And she’d love him so much that hyping him up just comes naturally! She’s just got the kind of nurturing personality that someone as affection-starved as Jack really needs, and I think she could help him feel safe, comfortable, and loved in a way a lot of people couldn’t. ~For all the fun they’d have together, I also feel like Jack needs someone to ground him a bit and provide the Brain Cell to perhaps reign in that Unchecked Chaotic Energy of his sometimes XD Rapunzel certainly has a smart and rational side--I mean, she charted STARS as a teenager!!! She figured out how to get this stranger she captured to take her into the kingdom to see the lanterns!!! Girl can be spontaneous and goofy, sure, but she’s got smarts and kind of a mature streak that I think mesh with Jack really well. He’d never feel like she was a wet blanket stifling his fun, but she’d also have a sense of when to transition away from goofing off and focus on responsibilities (princess and guardian responsibilities in this case, I suppose?) ~On the flipside, I don’t see Rapunzel as being someone annoyed or irritated by Jack’s antics. She might like...gently scold him if he takes a prank too far, but she never finds his shenanigans to be grating and tiresome the way other people might. Rather, I think she’d be endlessly entertained by him. Like in his memory reel when he’s dicking around pretending to be a deer, she’d get a kick out of that! Jack would always be trying to make her laugh and make her smile, and Punz would love that so much about him! ~They’re both searching for a deeper meaning and a deeper sense of purpose in their lives. Rapunzel entertains herself with hobbies, but doesn’t feel like her life has really “begun” and is desperate to find out if her hunch is right and the floating lights really ARE meant for her. Jack has no idea why he was chosen by the moon or what he’s meant to do, and he’s determined to find out so he can finally have a sense of purpose. Rapunzel clearly wants a sense of purpose too, since she wants to do more with her life than pass the time with hobbies. I can definitely see them bonding over this! ~They’re both just so adventurous, and love to explore! Rapunzel is curious, and loves to read and learn, and she wants more than anything else to see the world and all it has to offer. Jack loves adventuring and flying around the globe spreading winter and fun, and he could show Punz everything she ever wanted to see. A perfect match, honestly! ~Aesthetically I LOVE the similarities!!! Like they both like to go barefoot, kinda showing their free-spirited natures. And I love how they’re both naturally brunette, but had their hair turned a different color by magic. It’s a little thing, but I think it’s a really neat parallel and it helps cement me thinking they really ARE perfect for each other in every little way! Haha XD AND they both have small green companions, and as of Ralph Breaks The Internet, they’re hoodie buddies as well!!! Not that surface-level parallels like that are actually that significant BUT I just think they’re neat XD ~While I am fond of Flynnzel/Eugenzel (still my favorite canon Disney couple!), finding out their age gap is around 8 years admittedly made me a bit uncomfy and just pushed me further into loving Jackunzel as an alternative option. I still really love Eugene as a character and adore his and Punzel’s dynamic, but these days I prefer their relationship as more of a big bro/little sis type thing. Jack I think is the best match for Rapunzel romantically, and Eugene I prefer with Elsa--or poooossibly Tooth, Astrid, or Zarina, if I read a fic that sells the pairing well enough! ~On a related note, I was into Jack x Tooth the first time I watched RotG, but after discovering Jackunzel, there was no going back--I was hooked! Rewatching the movie, Tooth strikes me more as a mom figure/”fun aunt” for Jack, and I actually prefer her with Bunnymund (I am WEAK for “the grumpy one is soft for the sunshine one” lmao)

Well, I think that just about covers it!!! I’ll add more reasons if I think of them! Thank you for the ask, and I’m always happy to answer more ship asks about CGI crossover pairings :3

Also @ the anon who asked for Jackunzel headcanons--fear not, I shall provide them!!! I just wanna make a complete list and accumulate all the ones from my various fics so it’s gonna take a while XD

[anothertimdrakestan]

Damijon Christmas Present!

FOR THE DAMIJON SECRET SANTA I HAD... @nymph-patt

dear nymph:

hi love! i haven’t written in a fat minute and i’m a little rusty so bear with me hehehe. i hope you have a wonderful holiday season! all my love -elle!

I’ve got a fluff christmas fic and a lil headcanon for ya! 

Merry Stress-mas

“You can’t plan Christmas like a battle strategy Dami,” Jon groaned as Damian wheeled a whiteboard into their living room. “Actually, I’ve found it to be quite similar. Pay attention Kent, I know sticking to the plan has never been your strong suit.” Damian’s foot was tapping like crazy, Jon noted his clear anxiousness- needless to say Damian wasn’t the holiday type. Makes it a million times harder when it’s your first Christmas together as a couple. 

*super-couple. 

Jon gasped as Damian flipped the whiteboard like a school teacher, revealing meticulously drawn out plans mapped in expo-marker. “We start with my family, we stay until Jason is ten shots in, after that Christmas always becomes a nightmare so we head out. With your super speed it’ll be only an 14 minutes 37 second trip to your family where we stay for the majority of the night. At the end you rush us back to Gotham to console Dick after Bat-Christmas fails as always. Our emergency word is tyrannosaurus should anything go wrong at the drop we flee. Any questions?” Damian was flying through the plans, pointing at bulleted lists and analyzing possible flaws. 

Jon took a deep breath, a smile creeping over his face. “I didn’t think you’d care so much about our first Christmas together with our families, it’s kind of sweet.” Lazily he reached for Damian, clinging to his back while Dami shook his head, mumbling as he edited the board. “Not really our first Christmas Kent and I definitely do not care about family tt,” Jon didn’t reply, he just smiled into the crook of Damian’s neck.

“Our suits bring down our aerodynamic potential so I’ve taken the liberty of adjusting our arrival time to 15 minutes 43 seconds. Does that sound accurate?” Jon hummed in response as he straightened Damian’s tie, it was already perfect but he’d take any excuse to get closer to Dami. “Ready my love?” Jon glanced at Damian who was checking his watch. “Yes.” Damian responded, absent mindedly clasping Jon’s hand as they made their way to the mansion. 

“DAMI’S HERE!” Steph’s screech announced. She was hanging off the banister as she stole popcorn pieces from the massive tree. “Wonderful- Miss Brown I must ask you don’t eat the decorations tonight, have some festivity,” Alfred shook his head as he made his way to Jon. “Magnificent of you to join us Master Kent, I assume you will also be heading to your family’s festivities as well?” Jon opened his mouth but Damian answered first. “Yes Pennyworth, we plan on just saying for hors devours,” his curt reply brought a knowing smile to Alfred’s lips. “Always planned with you Master Damian,” his accent was playful making Jon chuckle. 

Dick descended the stairs, Damian groaned at his bright green and red striped suit, Jon couldn’t help but laugh either. “Hellllooo super boyfriends! Are-You-Readyyyy-For-Tonight!” Dick practically skipped towards the two, pulling them into a tight hug before Damian could slip away. “We won’t be long Grayson we must attend the Kent family Christmas too,” Damian nodded curtly, shifting closer to Jon who got the message and moved forward into the living room. 

“Actually, where are all the bat-siblings? And where did Steph run off to?” Jon noticed no one was around but Alfred who was preparing something delicious in the kitchen. Dick began chuckling, a devilish smile spreading across his face. “Oh, everyone is down in the batcave. C’mon.” Damian looked taken-aback but Jon was never to shocked by batfamily-antics. 

The two followed Dick to the secret door. “Now, we heard from a little super birdy [Dick winked at Jon who was now openly grinning] that you were a little nervous about having to deal with two Christmas’ this year, so we felt it’d be easier for everyone if we just-” Dick popped open the door to a winter wonderland of a batcave. A large table was put out, filled with their family members. “Merry Christmas!” A chorus of laughter broke out as Damian’s jaw dropped. 

At the table were the batfam, Kents, and even a couple speedsters littered around. All were laughing and smiling at one another. It was the biggest family gathering Jon has seen ever. “No need for crazy plans my love, just enjoy tonight with everyone,” Jon whispered to Damian as he scanned the room. “I- How did you- Thank you,” Damian settled on the last words of praise for the wonderful man who made every single day better. “No need for thanks, I’d get you the world if you wanted it, but for now let’s have a very Merry Christmas!” Jon took off towards his family and Damian would help but feel the corners of his lips betray him with a smile. Heart full he made his way down to his family.

“JASON DO NOT FLIRT WITH KARA SHE’S OFF LIMITS!”

“WALLY DID YOU EAT ALL THE COOKIES ALREADY?”

“BRUCE, CLARK, STOP FIGHTING OVER WHO GOT THE OTHER THE BETTER GIFT. YOU’RE BOTH RICH!”

very merry indeed. 

~

Okay so I haven’t absorbed much batfam content at all for weeks so hopefully my spin on the HC is still cute : )

I don’t think Jon gets enough credit for how observant he is. 

Too often Jon is forgotten, the second super boy, the sidekick, the boyfriend, the man who left everyone for space. 

It’s true, technically. But Jon is so keen at reading those around him, especially the un-readable Damian Wayne that I would argue it’s a super skill in of itself.

He gets it from his mother you know, Superman was always a little dense, but, though no one believes it, he always had Lois to help him out. Too often the quieter, smarter, more analytical side gets forgotten and that’s no different with Jon. His friends don’t see the way he checks up on them, taking in their facial expressions and reading them to know the right thing to say at the right time to help them out. They don’t realize he spent whole days memorizing their heart beats and their breaths to know if they’re ever in peril. And they don’t see the way he looks at them so fondly, beyond grateful they’re in his life.

Lois sees it.

She saw it when Jon met Damian. 

A young boy mesmerized by the wittiness and strength in the human boy. The greatest irony, the Superboy more human than the murder weapon now called “Robin”. But the two hit it off almost instantly- though Damian may not agree to that last bit. 

Lois knew Jon adored Damian, every deep red was “Robin Red” every Wayne Ent. building they walked past brought up stories of his adventures with the youngest Wayne, every Justice League trip meant begging for his dad to send him to Gotham for the weekend while he was out. He was young, but Lois knew a pair of soulmates when she saw them. 

There were these nights when they were teens. Jon would burst out of bed and rush to his mother. He never needed to say anything. There was this look in his eyes, Damian needs me. “Go” she’d always whisper, pressing a quick kiss to his forehead thinking back to when Clark would do the same for her. 

She remembers the frantic December weeks Jon spent toiling on Damian’s Christmas gift. “What do I give a trillionaire who has the world?” Jon would whine and mope around the house for any semblance of inspiration. 

Your heart Jon, all he wants is your love. Lois always thought to herself, she was quite aware of the two boy’s growing infatuation with each other, her husband was always slower in the “feelings” department and if he was slow she imagined Bruce was a damn sloth. So, she let the boys feel safe in her presence. Damian slowly spent more time at her home when Clark was out, she grew to have a sort of friendship with Damian. He’d comment on whatever news article she recently wrote, endure a three second reply and be on his way. She was always astounded at how up to date he was on all her pieces. 

Lois was always proud of the love Jon showed Damian. She’d be the first to tell Bruce he needed to hug his damn kids, but there was a special kind of caring Jon held only for Damian. A love woven only for the two of them. Like an invisible string linking them no matter where in the universe the other was at, there was a friendship, a kindness, a passion, a love.

Overtime, Jon’s analysis of Damian led him to his own feelings. And over an even longer period of time Damian discovered his own. Jon never stopped caring, he never stopped worrying, and he never stopped loving. 

Those, are the parts of Superman that Damian, and the world, need most. 

~

Merry Christmas! <3

[meetmeatthecoda]

I absolutely ♥️ADORE♥️ Scripted and would love to read your director’s commentary for it!

Oh, anon!! 😍 I'm SO THRILLED that you loved Scripted so much, that makes me so happy!! 🥰 Especially that you loved it enough to want to read my "director's commentary" (that phrase makes me laugh, you'd think I created a feature length film all by myself 🤣), so I think I'll skim through the fic - it's been a while since I re-read it - & make a bullet-point list of any special BTS info I can think of 😊 Anddd I'll also put it under a read more cause you know me, I never use one word when one hundred will do 😂

So, the fic itself was inspired by the ending of 5.08 where Liz wakes from her coma to Red reading to her in an armchair as he had been for the past 10 months, it's fine, I'm fine but she still has a ventilator in so she can't talk & instead has to write "how long?" on a piece of paper & her handwriting is super shake-y bc her muscles are so weak (I think Red even helps her hold the pen? It's clearly been a while since I re-watched the ep whoops but ugh, be still my heart.) For some reason, I just latched onto the idea of a mute Liz, really suffering with the implications of everything she went through (since her recovery was so glossed over in the show boo) & Red 1000% being there for her. Mostly, I just wanted to dive into the dynamic of Liz letting Red care for her the way he's always wanted to (without Tom & Agnes btw) to the point where their relationship is unhealthy in its reliance, but neither can see it bc Liz is blocking things out (& unknowingly falling in love with him) & Red is just so thrilled to be able to love & care for her (while already deeply in love with her obvi). So yeah, that was the kind of dynamic & closeness I wanted to explore between them & it was... really fun 😊

The idea of the coma providing the perspective Liz needed to see that Red has always had her best interests at heart & clearly loves her (in addition to the fact that he never left her side or gave up during those 10 months lol peak romance tbh) seemed very organic & logical to me.

I liked the idea of Red & Liz playing board games as a way to pass the time & get to know each other better. It's the kind of casual interaction we were never gifted with in the show & I think they're both competitive in the right circumstances, even if its playfully so.

I liked the idea of Liz being urged to learn ASL, as I'm deaf in one ear & would dearly love to learn it at some point.

The detail of Red sleeping on a cot close enough to Liz's hospital bed that they can hold hands in their sleep was a total guilty pleasure addition & I'm not sorry.

I loved the scene in the beginning where Red is talking to Dembe on the phone in the hallway & Liz is practicing her letters. She's purely doing it so Red doesn't worry & I loved the idea of her being apathetic to everything except Red's concerns, plus I added in the parenthetical of (Red sometimes squints at her k's.) bc I thought it represented that well, but also bc it was just cute af. I also added the little detail of him waving at her through the window at the last minute bc I thought the scene needed something else & once I pictured that, it was too adorable to leave out.

Red handling all the details of Liz's care & transportation without asking (bc he instinctively knew that's what Liz wanted) only to turn around & panic about excluding her seemed like a very RED thing to do & I like how it emphasizes his well-meaning intentions, respect for her preferences, & desire to see her happy, even if she did actually want to leave him lol as if.

I liked the visual of Liz stumbling into Red's arms as she stands from her hospital bed to leave with him (sets a precedent for later) & I also loved the visual of a pen in her ponytail & of course Red using it to flirt a little bc come on.

I remember struggling to write the car ride transition to the lake house. I usually get ideas & visions for specific scenes, moments, or bits of dialogue, so those kind of transition moments are hard for me sometimes. But I liked that I settled on Red helping to ground Liz through touch (again, sets a precedent for later).

Red & Liz playing hangman in the car with Red using the word "fedora" & drawing a suited hangman made me giggle.

I can see the lake house very clearly in my mind, complete with the willow tree, bench, & tiny house (included bc I desperately want a tiny house in real life) & I really enjoyed describing the interior & imagining the joy Red would get out of decorating it with Liz in mind.

Their first night in the house where Liz has her nightmare & Red comforts her - that was a scene I had in mind very early on & I love how it turned out, especially with Liz mouthing "stay with me" into Red's neck, that part gave me All The Feels™.

The "morning after" scene where Liz realizes on some level that she's too dependent on Red is an important moment in the fic & the off-hand detail that at least "she's not going around murdering people & calling it therapy" was a bit of shade to Ruin (which I don't think I ever saw bc I was kind of appalled with the idea lol) I think I posted Scripted after Ruin aired... if not, I guess I'm psychic?? LOL

The breakfast scene - & the fact that Red is preparing every breakfast food known to man bc he's nervous too - is near & dear to my heart. I think that's a pretty pivotal scene since they kind of reach an unspoken agreement & peace &... "things settle after that first breakfast."

I liked the teeny little parenthetical section that comes next as well, which acts as a sort of middle point for the fic.

The next large chunk of the fic was pure indulgence for me. I LOVED writing about all the different things they would do together when it was just the two of them, it was basically a collection of Lizzington headcanons & that's how I sketched them out LOL Here's some notes on them:

I came up with the jigsaw puzzle headcanon (that Liz is bored by them bc they're easy for her bc she's a trained psychologist & easily sees patterns in things) late in the editing process but loved it so much that I included it.

Liz's sandwich preference is actually mine LOL

The Monopoly banter was fun af to write bc I love that game.

The love notes Liz leaves around the house for Red is still an all-time favorite headcanon of mine.

I loved the idea of Red reading to Liz in a foreign language, holding the book only for looks, but not actually reading from it at all & instead professing his love for her. I think I've even used that headcanon in another fic LOL

Their movie nights were also something I was dying to include, especially since they include snacks & cuddles.

Their co-sleeping habits were also something I wanted to include & Liz's newly tactile nature is both a symptom of her dependence on Red & also a guilty pleasure thing for me bc we all wanted more of Red & Liz touching on screen, plus I felt obligated to explain through Red that it wasn't sexual in nature (though if I ever get around to writing part 2, that will change 😉)

Dembe being the one to observe & interfere in their situation was an early scene I imagined as well, that was always going to be the climax of the fic (or at least part 1). I so enjoyed writing about Red & Liz's relationship through his eyes bc he just loves them both & only wants to help them.

Another pivotal scene I imagined early on was Liz having a panic attack with Dembe when she discovers Red has left & that was super engaging to write, as well as the reunion between them which... I pretty much wrote the whole fic with the goal of getting to that lovely angst LOL

Red's resolve to finally urge Liz to speak was heart-breaking to write (so naturally I loved it lol what's wrong with me) & in particular the detail of them eating fruit for lunch before he broaches the topic with her & the parenthetical about it being "a sign from the cosmos that they are meant to be together just because they don't eat each other's favorite fruit" made my heart happy even tho it's stupid LOL & when Red asks her if she would ever try to speak again & she responds with a simple written "Why?" that was a huge moment that I loved the angst of, of course. As well as the absolutely gutting: "Lizzie, I miss your voice."

I liked that Liz needs some time to think & accept everything Red forces her to realize at the end, that was super important to me in the resolution of the fic/part 1 & I tried really hard to include both their mentalities there at the end.

The fact that Red hasn't had a drink since he started caring for Liz also made my shipping heart happy.

And - lastly - the fact that the only thing Liz actually says in the whole fic is Red's name? Yeah 🥲🥲🥲

Welp, there you go, anon, I'm not sure if that was interesting to you at all, but I certainly hope so!! I know that was a lot but... it's a long fic, my longest ever, so I figure it's warranted, right?? 😂 Anyway, thank you so much, both for the compliment of loving Scripted AND for wanting to read more about it, anon, you are so sweet!! 🥰 I hope you enjoyed this & much, much love to you, my friend!! ❤️

Fanfic Writers: Director's Cut

[pynkhues]

Hi ! I just wanted to say that I love your writing and I wanted to ask how you go about doing research for all your au's. Thanks!

Hi! Thank you so much, anon! And what a fun question! I could talk about researching all day, haha. My undergraduate degree is actually in history too, so research is something that’s sort of fundamental to my education in a lot of ways. 

To talk about researching is kind of hard though, because while the steps are more or less the same, the approach is really different depending on what it is that I’m writing. For instance, the answer’s pretty different if I’m writing a modern day au where I can shorthand certain things because my readers know what I’m talking about vs an historical au where I really have to think pretty deeply about everything if I want to submerge a reader in a storyworld. 

So I thought it might be fun to answer this question using my two biggest au’s as sorts of case studies! This is probably an extremely nerdy answer, I don’t know, haha, and it talks about both researching and incoporating research into the creative process while writing, so I hope that’s okay! 

Generally speaking, all my writing starts with a question: 

What’s the story that I want to tell? 

This is always a process that tends to vary for me, but I rarely actively ask the question to myself prior to getting ready to write it? Usually it ends up as me sort of thinking over a concept then getting to a point where I know I’m going to write it, and it’s only when I really start to think seriously about that that I ask myself that question. 

In both of these cases, it was pretty typical for me, haha: 

And well, then we get to the next question.

What background do I need to know to be able to tell that story? 

While this question might seem AU specific, it’s something that’s actually a step in everything I write. I was working on the second part of the Christmas fic today, which is technically canon divergent, but has made me think a lot about Beth and Rio’s canon cultural backgrounds. 

I’ve always liked the headcanon that Beth and Annie are Jewish, but disconnected from their heritage (Marks is a traditionally Jewish surname, Annie’s used some yiddish slang before), and Rio’s obviously Latino, but of Mexican heritage if we apply Manny’s background, and wears rosary beads on the show which indicate that he’s Catholic. I wanted to embrace both of those things, so I’ve tried to thread them through the story where it’s appropriate to do so. For instance, there's a scene of a Las Posadas celebration at Sainte Anne de Detroit which required a LOT of research on my part and hopefully reads well! 

The point is that those things felt important to me to include in a Christmas fic about Beth and Rio in the C&C ‘verse because the entire series is about their lives entwining and getting to know each other fully. I want to include detail that feels specific to what we know about them and embraces and (with any luck) deepens our connection to the characters in my fic. 

What I’m getting to in a really roundabout way is that once I have a story idea, I start to think about what I’m going to have to understand if I’m going to do the story justice.

In the case of the pornstar and pirate aus, this couldn’t look more different: 

Annnnnd so on, haha. 

As you can see, sometimes that background research is really clear and straight forward, as it was with the pornstar AU. I looked up how it worked, and because I knew that I wanted it to steer clear of the seedy and toxic parts of porn, I basically researched ideal environments and best practice, put those in place, and then focused on how to get Beth from her suburban home into a legitimate studio. 

The pirate AU was extremely different and much more of a mutable process. Without a clear sense of the era from the get-go, I had a much wider scope to explore when and where the story could take place, and when I realised that dating the story would inevitable force me to contend with parts of history I might not want to (i.e. the lead up to The Civil War), it let me re-shape a world around an era, but not feel entirely beholden to it. 

In that sense, the research process for both of them involved me choosing fantasy over reality – I negated certain realities to focus on the things I wanted to write (I highly doubt you will find a porn set anywhere near as ethical as Thank You Ma’am after all) – but if I can’t do that in fanfic, where can I? The aim still is for there to be enough that is real that you feel grounded in the story even if I’ve taken certain creative liberties for the sake of telling the story I want to tell.

That’s the beauty of research. Once you know enough about it, you can make informed choices about what you use to shape your storyworld, and make it feel authentic even as you’re fictionalising it.

The point of that though is that this background research is so fundamental to the DNA of the story itself, that it can’t even begin to exist without it.

Loose plotting

It’s usually around this point that I’ll put together a loose plot. This is generally pretty thin, but I’ll start to put pieces into a bit of an order. 

The pornstar au is, again, a really easy example of this. Three parts felt right for it, the shooting of the porno itself was always going to be in the final part, which gave me two chapters to get Beth there. I knew she was going to submit herself through an amateur talent callout which I’d discovered in my background research, so the question of it was more around why would someone like her sign up? Canon plot points help – Beth needs money! Fantasy kicks in again, haha – because she and Dean are finally divorcing.

On the other hand, the pirate au is pretty much unrecognisable from it’s first loose plot.

In it, I’d pencilled in Beth travelling on a ship with Dean and the children, pirates boarding, and Rio kidnapping Beth as collateral to help him escape. 

My loose plots change a lot and usually grow in detail, evolve and change shape as I start to ask myself why, and there are a lot of reasons why the pirate au changed so much, but I’ll get to that a bit later. 

The point is, once I have a loose plot, I’ll usually throw some more words down, see what I’ve got, and then get to the part of the research process I like to call: 

Question time

With background research done and a loose plot and some draft scenes written, I hit a much more specific part of the research process where I don’t need to know broadstroke background detail, I need to know the answers to really specific stuff. I usually write a list and try to do it all at once so that the writing process isn’t too much stop-start. I bullet point the answers in my creative doc then too, so the information is right there when I need it.

Again, the questions I asked of the pornstar au and pirate au were pretty different (although there were a few similarities, haha). Some of the questions I asked were: 

This is actually a case where the pirate au was, in a lot of ways, easier. History is well documented and fact checked after all, but current porn industry standards are, y’know. Not quite as transparent, haha. I’ve mentioned it before, but I actually started to fill out an amateur porn application (with a false identity of course, haha), so that I could see the full form and get a genuine sense of the questions they ask, which is hilarious, annnd brings us to sources. 

Sources

In researching, there are definitely things I’ll just Google, but I also like to utilise sources pretty widely. In particular, Google’s not really going to give you a great sense of what - say - the life of a pornstar’s like, but there are some great podcast series where performers talk about their lives in their own words. Similarly, Google searches are great for the cliffnotes of an answer, but don’t hold a candle to era-made drawings, letters and newspaper clippings. 

For the two, I’d probably say my sources looked something like this: 

How do the answers to these questions affect the story that I want to tell? 

Annnd of course, the answers to these questions frequently end up re-shaping and re-framing my story, both directly and indirectly. Originally for instance, I wasn’t going to have condoms at all in the pirate au, because I naively assumed they wouldn’t be invented yet in a loose 1800s-set fic, only to discover that some version of a condom has been around since Ancient Rome (it was made using the bladders of animals! Gross!). 

Other times it’s indirect. The idea for instance in the pirate au to have Beth realise the houses that the men had robbed through certain items they were wearing came really from looking a lot at antique store sites and image archives and seeing how much was custom made for families and individuals. That in turn made me think how for someone who’s ability to think on her feet and observe are her strengths, that could really come into play as a plot point. 

Re-Plotting and Writing

It’s usually around this point that everything comes together and I start to really map out a fic in a firmer, more meaningful way, and also just throw myself into the writing of it. I generally feel like I’ve got the tools at this point in the process, and start to talk to the story in a bit more of an informed way. 

It’s also really where I start asking myself why? and what does this mean for the next scenes? a lot. 

Jumping back to the original pirate au plot, this was really where it pivoted as drastically as it did. There were too many tropes in that premise that I didn’t like. I didn’t like that Beth had no agency in the act that connected her to Rio, I didn’t like the trope of the MOC kidnapping a ‘helpless’ white woman, I didn’t like that Beth would be taken from her children by force and how that would impact any connection her and Rio formed and ensure that a major part of the story would have to be devoted to Beth trying to get back to them.

Immediately that made it a case where Beth had to choose to go with Rio, but why would she leave her family? And why would Rio let this upperclass lady onboard his ship? So she snuck on. So she had to, because Dean lost everything again. Okay, but would Beth just leave the kids with Dean after he’d done that? No way, not with the implications of the time, so who would she leave them with? Annie or Ruby - no, I want Ruby on the pirate adventure. Annie. But what on earth could put Annie in a secure enough position that Beth would willingly entrust her children to her? 

Thus the subplot of Greg wanting to legitimise Ben was born! Which I doubly liked, because it kind of mirrors canon, haha. 

In that case, the research really helped me flesh out a story world that let me explore character storylines in a way that I wouldn’t always do, which is insanely fun to me, haha, so I forever am left hoping it’s fun to read too. 

But yes! In a nutshell, that’s my research process. :-) 

[genevievemd]

Can I ask you some questions about Ethan and Genevieve I discovered your page a week ago just finished all the fics I'm interested in your version of the characters

Oph MC is usually seen as flawless and perfect (like every other MC in choices) what are some bad habits or flaws your MC has and we know Ethan's flaws he is one of the few li's who have actual flaws but still I'd like to know your Ethan's flaws which are personal or you have imagined them. (English is not my first language can't explain my request more clearly than this)

Do you see them married with kids in the future ( ik the marriage part you have a fic about it but here is what I specifically want. both of their opinions on this matter before meeting each other and after spending a year or two dating)

Does Ethan have extended family that you have created like a cousin he is very close to or a best friend (if yes can you make a fic where Genevieve meets this best friend or cousin?)

Any hobbies or skills Genevieve has?(like sketching or piano or something idk why Genevieve gives me piano vibes)

Which med school did you have Genevieve go to?

Are they fresh air kind of people or city air kind of

Do they believe in aliens

Opinions on pineapple on pizza

And last but not the least body language ( signs their body gives off when they are anxious, scared, happy and excited)

Ik they are a lot of questions and you probably hate me for making you answer this question air but either way love your work♥️♥️✨💫

Yes! You can always ask me questions and I LOVE these questions. I’m very attached to Gen lol so I’m always willing to talk about her! 

Thank you for reading all my things! 

And I don’t hate you for all the questions, I answered every single one, under the read more because they got lengthy. lol 

First Question: 

I definitely don’t see Gen as perfect. I’ve kind of put a lot of myself in her, which I’ve never done with any other MC I’ve played. I kind of see Gen as as a perfectionist, to the point where she gets in her own way. She also, like Ethan, tends to put everyone’s problems on her shoulders and feels responsible for thing that are way out of her control. And though Gen is patient, sometimes too patient, she can hold a grudge. It’s unhealthy and she knows that, but she has a hard time over coming it. Like with Landry, deep down Gen wants to let it go and move on. But there’s a small part of her that will always feel angry and betrayed. Gen’s also not one to put her own needs ahead of others, it’s rare that she’ll ask for what she needs, unless she 100% trusts the person she’s confiding in. (I have a headcanon where her dad cheated on her mom when she was in high school, they didn’t get a divorce, but Gen was the one who discovered the affair and it left a sort of trust/abandonment issue.) She can be rather clingy in a relationship, at first, something Ethan was annoyed with, he’s rather independent I think, but once he understood where that was coming from it didn’t bother him as much. It was just Gen’s way of reassuring herself that Ethan was hers, that he wasn’t going anywhere. Plus her love language is physical touch/affection and spending time together. 

As for Ethan, I think he’s a very closed off person, has a hard time trusting people. He absolutely will push someone away, not because he necessarily wants to, but in order to protect himself. For me, I think one of the main reasons why he didn’t dive 100% into a relationship with MC was his fear that he’d lose them. That they would walk out the same way his mother did. I also think he’s way too stubborn and has a hard time admitting when he’s wrong. He won’t be the first to back down in a fight, even if that means it makes him unhappy. 

Second Question: 

I absolutely see Ethan and Genevieve married with kids. Gen has always wanted to get married, always wanted to be a mother. She’s had a pinterest board since high school thats dedicated to her dream wedding lol. When she found out Ethan wasn’t 100% on board with marriage, she was bummed. But at the same time, she was/is willing to let that go if it meant she could be with him. As long as she has Ethan, she doesn’t need a ring. Gen’s also always believed in soulmates and fate, she knew after their kiss in Miami that Ethan was her soulmate. 

As for Ethan, I think deep down he’s always wanted kids but never saw them as an option because he never thought he’d find the right person to settle down with. I think that also ties into his past with his mom. Same with marriage, when he wasn’t in love, it didn’t make sense to him. But once he was, realized he never wanted to lose Gen, he understood it. Once he recognized how much he loves Gen, he wanted everything with her. Marriage, kids, all of it. With MC/Gen he realized he could be the parent he wanted to be. 

I have a scene in chapter 3 or 4, I can’t remember which, in Love You Home where Ethan and Gen have the marriage/kids talk. 

Third Question:

I think Ethan has an extended family. We don’t know much about his parents, if they are only children or not, but I think either his mom or dad has a sibling or two. They’re definitely not close at all, he probably doesn’t see them. But they exist. Gen’s influence definitely persuades him to reach out, in the same way she influenced him to give his mom a second chance. 

As for a best friend? I don’t think he has one, I think Naveen is his closest friend at the moment. But I would love for him to get back in touch with maybe a childhood friend or friends from collage. Maybe even become friends with some fellow attendings at Edenbrook. Again, I think have Gen/MC around has really opened his eyes to different things and realizing how important friendships and relationships really are. 

And at some point I may write something for that. 

Fourth Question: 

I love that you see Gen as a piano person because I also see Gen as a piano person. She doesn’t play much now, lack of access to a piano and too busy with work but she does know how to play. She also speaks a baby bit of french, not enough to be fluent but enough to understand her maternal grandparents (they’re first language is french, so they speak it interchangeably with english). I also think she’s a pretty decent singer, she did choir in middle/high school.

As for hobbies, Gen is super into photography. She’s not the greatest, but she loves it. It ties into her being a super sentimental person, she likes to have tangible memories. She also loves journaling, she definitely has a bullet journal that she does herself. It’s relaxing for her, after a stressful day. And I don’t know if you’d count make up as a hobby, but Gen is super into it. On the daily, she really only wears eyeliner, mascara and a light lipstick, but on her days off she experiments and does more intricate looks. I have a headcanon where Ethan comes home and sees Gen in like a super dark lip with a kickass winged liner, very femme fatale, and he’s shookith. 

Fifth Question: 

I go back and fourth on what med school Gen went too, I googled top 100 med schools when I started open heart so I could pick a good one for her lmao Its a toss up between University of California or University of Pennsylvania. Gen is from New England, she grew up on the coast of Maine - not too far from Providence actually. So I sometimes think UPenn because Gen would want to be close to her family. But then sometimes I say Cali because she wanted the adventure of going off on her own. At some point I’m going to have to choose obviously but where not there yet lol Still a toss up. 

Sixth Question: 

Genevieve is absolutely a fresh air girl. She loves the beach and being outdoors. Boston is a bit of a change for her, being a city but it doesn’t take long to find some country air here in New England so she gets both. lol 

Seventh Question: 

LMAO I love this question. I never thought of this but you know what Gen absolutely believes in aliens. Not in a weird conspiracy kind of way, more in a scientific kind of way. There’s no way Earth is the only planet in the galaxy to have life. The galaxy is freakin huge, scientifically there is no way we’re the only planet with life. 

Eighth Question: 

Pineapple on pizza is a crime. End of story. No one should ever have pineapple on pizza. No just...no.

Ninth/ Last Question: 

I’m going to answer this for each of the things you listed in your question. 

Anxious: It’s very easy to see when Gen is feeling this way, at least to Ethan and her friends. She retreats inward and does this like twisting motion with her fingers. Like cracking your knuckles but not actually cracking your knuckles. She’ll also bite the corner of her lip. 

Scared: Gen doesn’t scare easy, but when she does she kind of hugs herself, makes herself smaller. Will hide behind things or run away. She’s a flight not a fight when scared. Especially if its like a spider, bug or snake - she’s terrified of those. That’s a freeze or run and scream situation. 

Happy: Super easy to tell when Gen is happy. She gets really smiley, a little bouncy. One of those people that does that little happy dance of swaying back and forth. 

Excited: Same as happy, big smiles. Jumps around. a little dancing. Lots of giggling. 

I’m gonna add one more here, for shipping purposes lol 

In Love: Gen is affectionate af, very touchy. She’ll show you how much she loves her way before she ever says it. Ethan realized she was in love with him months before she said it. Just by how much more open she was with physical affection. Always gently touching his arm, or kissing his cheek, always willing to hug him or snuggle in close. 

Thank you so so so much for the questions, these were so fun to answer! Feel free to drop in any time. I love Gen and Ethan so much, I will always answer any questions you want to ask me about them.

[toushindai]

I originally drafted a post about how "reach out and grasp" came to be, but then went "no, this is far too self-indulgent" and resolved not to make such a post

but then I remembered that this is my blog and self-indulgence is literally the entire point

so!

Where did the idea come from?

Depends on which part of the idea you're talking about!

On December 24, 2018, 18 days after EA began, I first encountered the "Fury" remembrance screen ("One thing the mortals have on us is how quickly they become men. This is the Fury Megaera. She will accelerate the process in your case.") Within twenty-four hours I had committed myself to an "arranged marriage" interpretation of this line. I have not significantly wavered since. (When I have wavered, I have remembered that Zagreus claims he originally tried not to get emotionally attached to Megaera, which fortifies my certainty that Hades did indeed intend a relationship between the two rather than Megaera just being another tutor.)

Eventually, sometime after Thanatos existed and it was clear he was also a love interest, I concluded that at some point during the engagement, he and Megaera got in an argument about...... uh...... "which one of them is a better influence on the incorrigible Zagreus." Definitely not "which one of them better deserves to spend time with Zagreus and be romantically associated with him." No way, definitely not. And then didn't speak until after the MegZag breakup. After the MegZag breakup, their friendship "returned to normal." Of course it returned to normal, why would either of them resent each other over a thing like Zagreus? Now that's just ridiculous. (If you've read "reach out and grasp," you have seen that I do not think their friendship entirely repairs at this point.)

In February 2020, I decided to investigate the game files for funsies. There, I discovered several very interesting things about what jealousy-flavored lines become available and unavailable when. You can see some of my analysis of those discoveries here, but it was at this point that I really became interested in writing how Megaera and Thanatos worked out their jealousy, because I was still frustrated that they were obviously jealous early on in the romance progressions but blow Zagreus off if he asks about it once he's dating them. Relying on the conclusions from various line requirements, and working exclusively in a "Thanatos first, Megaera second" version of things (thanks to the blurse of my own RNG), I settled on a headcanon that at some point, around the eighth gift to Megaera, she and Thanatos had a conversation that resolved the lion's share of the awkward resentment they'd been feeling since the above bullet point, which resolved Thanatos's jealousy (hence locking his "you sure have been seeing a lot of Megaera lately" line) but did not fully make up Megaera's mind (which is why her "I'm sure Death will welcome you with open arms" line stays open a little longer). Therefore I envisioned a second conversation after the completion of both romance arcs where they actually got on the same page about things. (Again, if you've read ROAG, this should be sounding intensely familiar.)

Over the course of several months, several attempts were made to write either of the conversations described in the above bullet point. All ended in failure and frustration.

Additionally, I spent much of early quarantine settling on a headcanon in which Meg and Than have never been romantically/sexually interested in each other, but have often been perceived as such throughout the Underworld, to some degree of discomfort. Then Blood Price (June 2020) swoops in with some Official info about how Than and Meg became close (over Sisyphus) and also adding the the canon threesome scene, which I am on the record as not being terribly fond of for various reasons. That I had just spent three IRL-unusually-miserable months deciding that Meg and Than are slightly repulsed by being thought of as romantically attached is a significant part of this as well. Blood Price was a time!

Anyway. Shortly before 1.0 I stumbled across a list of ship domesticity questions, which got me thinking about marriage between the MZT trio. This was when I decided "well, I don't think MegZag want to get married after what they've already been through with each other, but what about ThanZag? Oh for sure. And what does that feel like for Meg when they do, then?" Again this should be sounding familiar...

A fic?

As I was thinking about that last bullet point above, I began to push a series of several headcanons together: I envisioned a series of events in which Megaera, half-sarcastically, asks Thanatos where her congratulations for being engaged to Zagreus are; in which Meg apologizes for not congratulating Than on getting together with Zag a bit quicker due to being slower to resolve her own jealousy; in which Meg sincerely and easily congratulates Than at his wedding to Zagreus.

Parallelism being an irresistible catnip to me, thus was born the first inklings of what I for a very long time called "hinge" or "hinge fic." A fic focusing on how Zagreus, placed at the "hinge" between Megaera and Thanatos, allowed them to become closer friends. The original idea, which I did attempt to start writing before 1.0, was going to be formatted as a series of narrative passages covering a wide period of time alternating with three specific tension-filled, or tension-relieving, conversations between Meg and Than. "Isn't that just ROAG" you may ask, if you don't understand just how brief I meant to be with the narrative passages. I will allow you to look at the first one (the only one I really wound up writing) here but you're not allowed to judge me for it because I'm already telling you it's not very good. This was meant to be followed by another paragraph or two about "OK actually Meg and Zag kind of like each other" before leaping right into the Meg-Than argument about which one of them should get to marry Zag would be a better influence on the irresponsible prince.

Then 1.0 happened and not only was I consumed with actually playing the game a whole lot and writing fic responding to the game's ending, but then I hurt my hand and couldn't write at all for a month and was miserable etc etc etc

Then I started seeing the Big Bang advertised and thought that an external commitment and a deadline might be just the things I needed to get these damn headcanons into a fic already.

So how was the writing process?

It was absolute hell! Thank you for asking.

I mean, when I started writing while considering the Big Bang, back in December, I hadn't even 100% made up my mind that it was a Meg character study. I did decide on that much pretty quickly, but where should it start? I wavered on including the Sisyphus chapter and originally thought I was starting with "Hey Meg you're engaged now :)". But I wanted to have a bit about Meg and Than's friendship so as to make it more emotionally charged when that friendship starts deteriorating, which meant I had to write the Sisyphus chapter, and my first several attempts at the Sisyphus chapter (December-February) had no sense of emotional uniting theme. Oh my god they were so bad. Oh my god chapter 1 was so hard. I suffered. The turning point was when I stuck a bunch of post-it notes on a wall to track the emotional arc of the entire fic and wound up concluding that I needed to start with Meg and Than meeting over their Chthonic Companions--thereby pretty much tossing every word of chapter 1 I'd written so far in the garbage can. I could immediately, within seconds, tell that this was going to be much better, and I swore copiously about it.

Even after that, it took me several drafts of the entire fic to figure out what the emotional theme was, to figure out what specific story I was telling about Meg. And with each theme I tried on, I had to rewrite entire conversations so that they were on that theme. Several times over. The conversation between Meg and Than just before Zag escapes for the first time--which, you remember, I had wanted to write since February 2020--took much wrangling.

But how satisfying when it actually started to come together!

The thing is I have never before written something that the first draft was so bad and had to rewrite it over and over and eventually turn it into something that was actually good. Something I felt proud of! I've never had this happen before. If I hadn't committed to the Big Bang, I would have given up. And ROAG wouldn't exist. I am considering this experience with great seriousness and trying to learn from it.

[justwritingscibbles]

The Request List

Hey dolls, so everyone can see what fics that are going to be written I made this list.  If you don’t see your request, please notify me so I can add it. Only if you sent it in when the requests were open. 

Thanks everyone!!

Darkiplier: 

-Male x Male!Reader wedding

- Dark talking a female reader out of suicide. I think after antagonizing her?

-Could you write a sequel to A Battle of Seduction where the reader manages to seduce Dark?

-I have a... dirty request... What about a Dark x Reader where he shows ownership with a collar and even has a leash for the Reader when he really wants something. Sorry I just... need more stuffs like that (>//<)

-For requests, could you do smut where the (non gender specific) reader is in a romantic relationship w/dark and they have a celebrity crush they always gush over and say how amazing the celeb is and one day dark *ahem* portrays how he feels about his S/O liking someone else so much. I hope this makes sense and I don't mind what you choose for the ending and if it's sfw/nsfw.

-Getting a request in because your writing is awesome! Female reader and Dark nsfw with some fluffy aftercare would be cool. Thanks!

-For requests, could you do smut where the (non gender specific) reader is in a romantic relationship w/dark and they have a celebrity crush they always gush over and say how amazing the celeb is and one day dark *ahem* portrays how he feels about his S/O liking someone else so much. I hope this makes sense and I don't mind what you choose for the ending and if it's sfw/nsfw.

-Getting a request in because your writing is awesome! Female reader and Dark nsfw with some fluffy aftercare would be cool. Thanks!

-Since you accidentally got rid of the request list. I would like to see a sequel to the Tea Party fic, where Mark explains to (Y/N) who Dark is, and when he takes over again (Y/N) asks him if he wants to play Hide and Go Tag and makes him change before they go outside because (Y/N) doesn't want his nice suit to get dirty

-Could pls do a bullet fic about what it would be like to be the daughter of darkiplier I feel like he would spoil her so she always choose him over her uncle Wilford...if ur not busy it anything I just kind of want another opinion before I write a fic around this idea

Antisepticeye: 

-How about an angst fic with a fem reader and Anti where the reader witnesses one of Anti's complete meltdown/glitchouts for the first time and tries to help him, but ends up getting hurt.

-Oh my god my ask cut off I'm so sorry If I could make a request, Anti with a S/O who is typically very tense and anxious but completely melts when someone plays with their hair? Like he discovers that and now constantly plays with it

-Can we get more SO (nonbinary) fighting with Anti please? The end is up to you though. Whether it turns out okay or not.

-High-key need HC's for Anti dating someone who is super awkward (if you do spontaneous HC's -help me fuel my love for him. I need all the ideas I can get when I start writing about him- I really love all your stories by the way omg.)

Natemare: 

-Sequeal to ‘Caught with your pants down’

-OOOOOOO REQUESTS ARE OPEN!!!!!!!!! Can i request a NSFW with Natemare with a female reader!!! Maybe like Natemare kidnapped the reader away from Nate because he's lonely AF. Idk just an idea!

-Ho, requests are open? Lovely! Since you turned me into natemare trash (thanks for that btw), natemare using dirty talk on s/o while she's relaxing, or whatever seeing if he can use his voice alone to make her come. Afterwards he just has that smug look on his face like "told ya so :)" cause you know hes one kinky boi. Why yes, you can make this as NSFW as you want! Please and thank you!

-I heard requests were open, and i love your writing. I would love if you could do NSFW with Mare and a female reader? Ive became Mare trash and need more of him in my life. It can be romantic or just fuck buddies. Thank you in advance

-Hi, I sent the request about comforting natemare about his scars before. I guess I might as well add the specifics now: sfw, fluff/hurt and comfort, no gender preference, either platonic or romantic (my view of what constitutes as platonic is broader than most people's, so it would probably be easier to just write romantic)

-Never requested a smutty thing but fuck it let's make sure I'm going to hell as the new queen. Anyways, I've read an old ask talking about Mare fingering the reader with his smoke in public and I was wondering if you could do this (if you haven't of course). NSWF with female reader and maybe having dinner in public. And the relationship is romantic.

-I'm Natemare trash and darned proud of it! It's a female reader paired with Natemare. Reader has a bad day, Natemare picks at her, reader warns him to stop, the little hellion doesn't listen, reader explodes at him and really hurts his feelings. He's sensitive, you know. So, now reader must make it up to him. -Chinadoll

-I'm not sure if I want SFW or not. If it were to be NSFW, it would be the reader showering Natemare with affection and focusing on his pleasure, not her own. If you can make NSFW work for you, by all means, add it. However, if you think the fic would be better without it, that's fine too. Is it okay to leave it up to you? If you'd rather it be solely my decision, I'll decide :) So random question: have you ever watched the anime "Rurouni Kenshin"? -Chinadoll

- Gender Preference: Female NSFW or SFW: SFW Fluff/Smut/Angst/Other: Whatever you wish to write so long as it is not fluff or smut. Characters: - Yin Embodiment of my negative emotions. She is mostly calm and patient but if provoked, she will attack ferociously, either with shadows (she's a umbrakinetic) or with her weapon; a curtain pole. There are things from me or my childhood that I have applied to Yin: ☯ Dislikes dresses and skirts. She'll wear anything but dresses or skirts. She mostly wears a shirt, a jacket over the top and black pants/leggings and boots. - Natemare (I'M NATEMARE TRASH OKAY I'M SORRY PLEASE FORGIVE ME) Description of Story: (Feel free to make up your own story. I like to give creative freedom to people I request to/commission.) Relationship: None please.

The Host:

-Because I am utter garbage for him, can we get some love for the Host? Can we have the host and a newly blind SO fluff, with him assuring her that just because she can't see anymore doesn't change anything about their relationship? Please and thank you!

-Can we get host angst? Like, recently after he lost his sight and he breaks a little because he can't see his (nonbinary) SO anymore and it makes him sad.

-Could you do a Host x reader where the reader had a bad day and breaks down, and the host helps to comfort her? Sfw, fluff, romantic relationship, and female reader please! Thank you!

Apocalypse:

-Could you do something of where it's A x fem!reader but reader's dating this jerk who abuses her but she keeps it from A so he wouldn't worry or yell at her until one day she doesn't go see him and he takes it to his own hands to see her only to see abusive boyfriend hurting her?

-Honestly I just need some more A in my life so I was wondering if you could do A and a male reader, and how they first met??

Gear:

-Can I request an asexual female reader getting aphobic comments from someone (asexuality isn't a thing, you just haven't met the right person yet, the classic "i could change that" implying sex could fix them, that sort of thing) and A/gear ((both would be nice or your choice if you don't want to)) help them out? Platonic would be great, but romantics cool too

Poly-Relationships: 

-Could you make a story with a poly with dark and anti where they find out that the reader was physically abused by their parent when they went to visit them again? (Gender neutral pronouns) Thank you hun

-What if you wrote a fanfic where Darkiplier, Anti, or Natemare (your choice) was chilling out around the reader- just anywhere in the same house- and the reader is on their phone. But what the twist is- is that the noises of adoration the the reader makes whenever they see a cute or cool post- sounds like different types of sensual moans, and since the reader has never done this before, this is the first time one of the dark!bois is discovering it and they hear it throughout the house.

-I fell in love with the idea of the big poly relationship between the reader and the dark boy and I was wondering if you have any more headcanons?

 -What would a poly relationship between Wilford and Anti include?

-Dark/Anti sequel to ‘Intellectual Jealousy’

-How about a fluff story where Anti and Mare are snuggling with the reader, who gets up for a glass of water or something, but the boys are so comfy they don't immediately notice and cuddle with each other for a little bit. (And maybe the reader snaps a photo to prove it happened)

-Maybe poly anti and dark helping a nb SO through a panic attack? Or just helping SO calm down and relax in general please? Thank you! female reader, poly romance with Dark and Anti, something sfw and fluffy? Idk? Cuddles? 

-hi, so this request is based off an ask that i saw another ano post. could you write a story about Anti and Dark suddenly switching personalities and how Mark and Jack react. IDK it could be cool

-Could you write something (sfw-ish?) where anti and dark are trying to out-do each other for the reader's birthday and they both buy her expensive lingerie sets in their favorite colors, and insist she 'pick her favorite'. So she goes to change and they're both good, but to avoid the argument either wears bra from one and panties from the other, or comes back just stark naked. (Please dont publish this as to spoil it for readers). If you want to.

-Nsfw poly relationship with Dark and Anti with a non binary reader?

-Since requests are open and I hope you accept this. Female, SFW, Fluff, Natemare and Anti having a prank war and poor Reader got in the middle and takes revenge on the two by making it seem like the other until she pranks both at the same time, and Poly relationship.

-If requests are open, could I see a gender neutral reader with a poly Anti and Dark relationship and the reader likes to walk around in their shirts? What do they do the first time they see them do it? (Can b nsfw, I love your writing either way xx)

-Google and Bingsepticeye having a debate to impress their gender neutral s/o if requests are still up

-Also idk if I sent this already before but Bingiplier and Bingsepticeye poly-relationship hcs with a female reader

-Is requests open? If they are could possibly do a poly relationship with Natemare, Dark, and Anti? Hopefully a bullet fic? Swf or nwsf (I totally spelled that wrong I'm sorry) or both. And gender neutral? Sorry this is choppy with my ask, I'm trying to stick to the rules as best as possible. (And if requests are open, you can ignore this!)

-Can you write a thing plz where the reader is super sensitive to sound, and has been overstimulated, and dark and Anti are being too loud? Maybe it leads to a panic attack or something? (Bonus if they haven't seen the reader in a panic attack-y situation before?) Poly!ship, plz!!

-Hi! I'd like to send in a request pretty please. I hope I'm sending it in the right format. Nonbinary reader, he/they/it pronouns please(specific, I know, but hey), SFW, angst. Poly for the win, reader being with Natemare and Dark. Reader is going through a really tough time, to the point that they barely wanna get out of bed, and one day, either Mare or Dark finds a notebook filled with drafts of really disturbing goodbye notes. What happens next?

Teamiplier:

-Can I request fem!reader fluffy platonic tickle fight with mark and/or teamiplier? Also your writing is so good and adorable and I love you byyyeeee!!!! Also sorry if I did this wrong! Sorry!

-Fem!reader, high school au? Were she gets bullied and MET sees, Mark and Tyler run to the bully aggressively while Ethan goes to comfort you. It's SFW and a platonic relationship. If you need anything else just let me know!

Preference: 

-You should do a preference thingy like the jealousy one you did. Except it's like, what they boys do when the reader cries. Gender neutral of course!

Wilford Warfstache:

-You should do a preference thingy like the jealousy one you did. Except it's like, what they boys do when the reader cries. Gender neutral of course! 

Yanderelplier:

-I need more yandereplier so... Him with a gender neutral s/o who is very outgoing and is very flirtatious

-If your taking requests would it be ok to ask for another "dating would include" with yandereplier?

-Would it be ok to request something with yandereplier? Like his SO is spending a lot of their time with Dark/Anti/Natemare (your choice) and he get jealous so he tries to win them over/show them that he can do so much more for them than the others? (I sorry if it's to specific and weird! I just really love your writing ;^; ) Thank you!

Ethan: 

-Hey can you write an Ethan × fem reader imagine where she shaves her legs and shes like excited and just like makes Ethan feel then and she's just really excited and not in a sexual way but Ethan gets all blushy bc I live for that cute shit 😪