#i have now two published but barely started fics on ao3

[fox-bee926]

any tips on how to actually write instead of infinite planning

[noxi3xe]

Unfortunate turn of events

AFAB reader x Pantalone - NSFW (Minors DNI) Synopsys: You're in a tough spot and have terrible luck with finding jobs. Whatever might happen once you apply for a job at the Northland bank?

Warnings: Smut, Porn /w plot, public sex, hair pulling, overall just a quick smut scene w some plot

Words: 3.5K

Author's note:

This is also posted on AO3 HERE!!

this is a quick fic I wrote while bored, the *smut* scene is short and awkward so I apologize, but still enjoy!!

Minors dni!!

｡ﾟ•┈꒰ა ♡ ໒꒱┈• ｡ﾟ

»I— I'll fix it.. I swear!«

I beg and plead as the shop owner shoves me out the door. I was a good employee, I really was, I always tried my best and always put my everything into every shift. I slump down against the door and begin to sob. This job was barely enough to cover for monthly food rations.. and aside from food I needed to fix up my house and save up for new clothes. I was going to even look for a second job to cover all of my expenses but now I don't have anything! I do not even know what triggered that immediate reaction, I mean, firing me on the spot? After breaking a simple vase that the shop manager bought just a week ago? From what I overheard it wasn't even expensive!

I stand up slowly and make my way back home, head hung low in defeat. I wasn't sure what to do now, I mean.. I've got to find a job, sure, but that was harder done than said nowadays, especially at this time of the year. Snezhnaya was a cold country all year round but winters were especially harsh. I wonder how I'd survive this year, I mean my roof is busted, my water supply is running low due to my pipes freezing up thanks to my broken heating system and not to mention that one of my windows cracked. With no heating, cracked windows and a part missing roof my house was as cold as the outside and I was barely surviving. I wasn't sure what to do till I saw freshly hung posters in the town square as I passed.

'Looking for hire.'

They said, and I stepped closer, considering the idea without even checking for the publisher. I'm glad I did because my eyes almost jumped out of my skull. It would've been a death sentence to join the Fatui and there's no way I'd even consider taking up this job offer, even if my life depends on it. The Northland bank is looking for hire? Yeah no thanks..

I stumble along and head home, hugging myself tightly, already missing my warm.. well.. as warm as it can get, blanket.

________

I stare at the dry piece of bread and the already lukewarm coffee set before me on the table. Everyday is getting harder and I don't know if I'll have enough money to buy food for next week. I lean forward and rest my head into my palms, sighing loudly. I don't know what else to do, I cannot find a job and donations from doing community service aren't enough. It's getting colder each day and I have a feeling I'll freeze if I don't get my house fixed up. That's when I decide that enough is enough and stand up, grabbing my coat.

I step out into the cold and begin to venture downtown, ready to start my search. I couldn't continue on like this knowing I'll eventually starve without a stable income. I knew I'd have to get up and start looking this morning when I found another window cracked.

—

I shuffle through the thick snow, snow slowly falling from the sky. It's a beautiful sight, the sun rising behind the parting clouds coloring the sky a bright gray-orange-blue-ish color. It was barely 6:30 in the morning and I was already threading through the city, heading towards the commission's guild, knowing I could make a quick buck or two there. Then I'd head towards the community board in the city center at around 9 to check for any new posters. The idea was great and It worked out perfectly.. to a degree.

I stopped by The adventurers guild like I said I would, greeting Katheryne and wishing her a wonderful morning. I accepted two out of three commissions offered to me, seeing as the third involved fighting some Hilichurls and I wasn't very skilled with weapons. I barely used my Pryo vision and even that was when I needed a source of heat, having no other use for the darn thing. The other two commissions were the delivery type. Ivanka, a widow living on the outskirts of the city required a fresh batch of groceries delivered and Jasmine, a local florist required some fresh soil that needed to be picked up from the dock and delivered to her straight. The commissions didn't take long and I was done very quickly, before the clock even struck 9.

I made my way back towards the Adventurer's guild, waving towards Katheryne from a far.

»I'm back!«

I exclaim excitedly. Katheryne offers me a bright smile, opening her mouth to speak.

»Thank you for completing Today's commissions. Here is your reward.«

I grab the pouch she holds out to me and flinch due to it's weight.

»A-Ah! Thank you!«

I grin and straighten a little then look around. People were beginning to wake up, go about their day and open up shops. I turn back to Katheryne and stare at her for a second then ask.

»Do you know if anybody's offering jobs of any kind for a little income?«

She thinks for a second then nods, giving me a reassuring smile.

»Well I believe the Northland bank is still searching! Best of luck if you do choose to give it a try!«

I freeze and look around. The Northland bank? Still? It's been a week and the spot hasn't been filled yet? There's no way I'd even get the job if no other has been able to in the past week! Still I believe there's no other choice I have.. Katheryne would've mentioned it if there were any other job offers available but I doubt there is since she hasn't mentioned anything. I slowly make my way towards the plaza hoping and praying to the Tsaritsa and any Celestial force that might hear my prayers to bless me with a job that is NOT working at the Northland bank.

I round the corner, passing by the local bakery and spot a younger girl standing by the notice board, either taking something off or nailing a poster to the board, I wasn't sure. I approach her slowly before making my presence known as to not startle her.

»Hey! Morning..«

I say and she turns around to look at me then offers me a friendly smile.

»Mornin'«

I now stand next to her and look over at the board confirming my suspicions. She indeed was taking a poster off, the one for the local flower shop. I tried applying for a simple cashier job there but I was too late and the place was taken before I could even ask about the offer. I sigh, spotting the last job poster on the board and my heartbeat speeds up a bit. I groan and the lady looks over at me, worriedly.

»You alright, ma'am?«

She asks and I nod, apologizing.

»Indeed, I apologize, I'm just having terrible luck looking for a job.«

She hums, nodding.

»Good luck, hey the Northland bank seems to still have an open spot? Considered checking it out?«

»I have but I doubt it's smart to get involved with the Fatui..«

»That is true.. well best of luck!«

She wishes me a good day and I return the kind words, watching her disappear around the block. I stare at the board. Town info, news reports, missing person posters, the board was filled with crap like that yet no job offers. I snatch the Northland bank poster, ripping it off and turn towards home, deciding that perhaps this was my last chance. I'll put on my best clothes and warmest smile and hope for the best.

_____

I stand before the large doors, shuddering at the thought that if luck's on my side today there might just be a chance I'd have to pass them every day. I take a moment to collect myself then slowly push the pine doors open, taking my first step inside. The warmth hits me in the face immediately and I stop for a moment, taking in the warm air and sweet smell. The Bank smells like a bakery would and it isn't as loud as one would think. People are speaking in hushed tones and keeping to themselves, not one dares to speak up. The place is clean, and I mean clean. Even the plants look perfect!

I step up to the front desk and the secretary looks up from the papers, giving me a warm smile.

»Good afternoon! How may I help you?«

She asks in a tone so cheery I didn't think was possible.  I look around for a brief moment then back to her, forcing myself to return the gesture.

»I heard you were offering a job?«

Her cheery facade drops and she stares at me, dumbfounded. I wasn't sure whether she was about to laugh seeing as somebody like me was definitely not fit to work in a bank, or because I was ballsy enough to actually show up to the bank without hesitation and ask about the job? I mean the poster was up for a long while therefore I'm guessing nobody realllllyyy wanted to even think about taking up the offer.

»M-Ma'am?«

I stutter and freeze up when she suddenly snaps out of whatever trance she was in and her warm smile returns.

»A-Apologies..! Come with me!«

She doesn't ask for my information, for even my name nor what the job would be other than working behind a desk! She just asks me to follow after her and seeing as I hold no authority over her I do not really have the right to stop her and ask her pointless questions that have a chance of getting answered even after I follow her.

We make our way up a looped staircase onto the first floor which is connected to a balcony that overlooks the bank. Every millimeter of the bank walls is covered in golden and wooden details, gems and crystals of different kinds. Even the floor looks expensive and neatly polished. I heard that the maids get paid quite a lot and they don't have to deal with customers or any of the Fatui officials therefore I wonder how much I will get paid for doing both! I could salivate at the thought of how well I'll fix up my little house with the hard earned money but I decided to push those thoughts away seeing as there's a chance I'll jinx myself and not get the job if I think about it too hard. I focus my attention back onto the bank worker and offer her a soft smile as she opens the glass double doors for me, the ones we stopped in front of after leading me down a maze of hallways.

»One of our employers should be in right now, they'll take it over from here. Best of luck, Comrade!«

She says and turns on her heel, leaving me alone. I take a deep breath before creaking the door open slowly, dipping one foot inside the room then following with my whole body and finally the other foot. I now stand inside the room my attention immediately falling onto the circular desk in the middle of the room. Behind it sit three ladies, all facing away from each other, a slim pillar extending outward towards the ceiling stands in the very middle. Their desk looks awfully messy and they seem to be in a rush. I step over and greet the black haired one, offering her a smile although I do not get one in return.

»Make it quick please, I'm busy.«

She chews on a piece of gum rather loudly, clicking the pen impatiently. I stutter but step closer, placing my ID onto the table.

»[Last name][Name], [Age], I saw you guys were looking for a secretary and was wondering whether there was any chance it was still open. I'll be honest I have no work experience in this field and don't really know what the job of a secretary involves... b-but I learn very quickly...!«

She stares at me and sighs, shaking her head. Her demeanor went from annoyed to tired in an instant and she didn't seem so hostile anymore.

»No experience you say? Ughh... erm.. well this job requires a lot of running around and a good memory s—«

I cut her off immediately, scrambling to catch my words. She shoots me a glance but doesn't stop me.

»That's no problem, really.. ! O-Oh and I remember things quickly!«

She nods, signalling that she indeed was listening as she writes something down.

»Well you'll have to wait because we were ju—«

Just as she was about to finish speaking she gets interrupted for the second time, this time not daring to look a bit annoyed. Through one of the hallways enters..

The Regator

The doors opened by Fatui Skrimishers as they escort him into the room and he sets eyes on one of the desk workers, unfortunately exactly the one I was speaking to.

»You!«

One of the Skrimishers calls out and she yelps.

»M-Me..?«

The Skrimisher walks over, slapping a pile of reports onto her table.

»Go make a copy for each and every one of these separately, now!«

The Regator stares at us intently and she looks up at him, then at me and finally at the Skrimisher.

»But.. M-My Lord.. I was tending to this young lady, she's here for an interview..!«

His smile twists into a large grin upon hearing those words and he finally speaks, his voice silky smooth.

»Wonderful, I'll take over from here.«

He purrs and I freeze. Take over? I'll get interviewed by The Regator himself? This is a joke..

I step back towards the desk and stare at the man who takes a step closer, eyes narrowing.

»Chop, chop! I don't have all day.«

He says, his tone changing immediately. He moves past us towards the back of the room where stands an impressive set of double doors which leads to another hallway. The Regator looks over his shoulder and I jump, realizing I have to follow and not just stare! We enter another expensively decorated room which seemed to serve as a waiting room. At the very far right wall stood yet another set of doors. I wonder how many this place even has. The Skrimishers open the door for the 9th and he steps inside. I hesitate for a second but just for a second as the next moment I am standing inside of the office, doors closed behind me. I was shoved inside and didn't really have a choice.

»Well then? I sure don't have all day. Come on, sit.«

His demeanor changed immediately, his smile gone and his eyes cold, staring daggers through my form. I approach slowly and pull the cushioned chair out, cringing at the sound it makes as it scrapes against the floor. I cautiously sit down and The Regator leans back, pulling out a blank form from one of his drawers.

»Let's make this quick. I'll need a full name and age, address, previous work experience..«

He continues on but I don't really listen to him, more than what not staring at the blank form. Would my picture go there? Why do they need so much information? What would happen if I just refused and got out of here. He snaps me out of my thoughts as he clears his throat.

»Are you still with me?«

He's becoming irritated.

»My apologies, My Lord.«

»Ah so you can speak after all.«

He grins, sliding me the sheet.

»Make sure to be quick, we'll have to interview you properly.«

I nod and swallow nervously as I rake my eyes over the sheet of paper. He holds out a pen, his long slender fingers adorned with all kinds of rings and jewels. He smiles, although his smile unlike the other employees' wasn't warm and welcoming, more like threatening. I return the smile awkwardly as I take the pen, focusing back on the paper. There wasn't much to fill out except for personal information. Why would my work place need my address? My previous one sure as hell did not, so why now? Well perhaps it was to mail me the check, but still I can collect it at work!

»[Name]..«

He mumbles as he watches me write my name down. I look up immediately and he grins, waving me off.

»Is there a problem, M-My Lord..?«

»Oh don't you worry your pretty head off, nothing's wrong, continue on.«

I hum and skip through the attention notice, then finish the task I was given. I lay the pen down and look back up. He's focused on the sheet rather intently. He reaches forward, sliding it over the desk and I freeze. Oh right, he actually has to read this. His eyes scan the page and he frowns. Oh no..

»Antique shop manager? That's unfortunate.«

»I— Is there a problem...?«

»I don't think your past work experience matches what we are looking for. Quite unfortunate I must say.«

He sighs and stands up and my heart drops. Wait.. so I didn't get it? But..!

»W—Wa— My Lord! I seriously need this job I..«

I cannot believe I'm begging for a job I was at first hesitant to even apply for but at this point it is my last chance, the only means of survival.

»Oh really? Do tell me why this position should be granted to exactly you over every other person twice as experienced as you.«

As experienced as me? For fucks sake it's just some numbers! I grit my teeth and look at him, knowing I'd regret my words immediately.

»What every other person? As far as I've noticed I'm the only one applying for this job, no other was in line behind me!«

His smile falls and I freeze yet again.

»Oh?«

»I— W—«

He slams his hands onto the table and stands up, I gulp.

»You've got guts to bark out against a harbinger, I'll give you that.«

I melt into my chair as I watch him round the table, staring down at my form.

»Not only you decide to go against my word and my beliefs you as well try to demand things from me?«

»I—«

»So tell me, Gem. Why should a job as highly paying as this go to somebody lowly like you?«

»M-My Lord..«

He scoffs and stops before me, leaning against the desk just two or so feet away from me. I look up and he grins widely for what feels like the 100th time, knowing I'm afraid and won't even think about acting out again.

»W-Well.. a tree fell and some windows cracked.. I— I have been barely s-surviving...I—«

I stare at my feet, fumbling with my hands. I know there's no chance of redemption now but all I can do is pray. He hums, grabbing my face and I flinch, staring up at him in disbelief. The cold metal of his rings digs into my face and I grimace at the feeling.

»I have an idea how we could fix this mishap..«

I try to pull away but he grabs at his belt and I think I've got just the Idea.

___

He pulls at my hair, bringing my head back as I gasp for air. Tears run freely down my cheeks as I choke on his precum and my own saliva, barely catching a breath before he brings my head back down, stuffing my mouth.

»Yo-You know— haah..«

He bites at his lips before pulling my head off again.

»I usually don't do this but.. celestia.. I couldn't help myself..«

I sob as he brings me up by my collar, chasing my mouth with his own. He groans as our lips connect, moving together furiously, melting into each other. A string of saliva connects us as he pulls away, the scene is absolutely filthy.

»The way you looked up at me.. dear Tsaritsa.. haa—«

He groans as I trace my hand up his length and attempt sink back to my knees to finish what I've started but he stops me, gripping my arm before I could. I look up at him again and he closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. Suddenly I'm flipped around and over his desk as he grips my hair, forcing me forward. I gasp as he grips my hips, leaning over my body.

»You know... I'm tempted to sign you up as my personal assistant right about now. You'd like that, wouldn't you?«

He says as he slowly slides pulls my pants down, slapping my ass.

»I asked you a question.«

He grips my throat and shoves me further into the table and I cry out. His cold rings making me shiver.

»Y-Yes! I would love to—«

He slaps me again, this time harder before pulling my undergarments off with such force I swear to everything I own I could have heard a rip. I can hear the grin on his face as he speaks again, fingers tracing my opening.

»I'm sure of it..«

He slides his fingers inside my heat, curling them upwards and I jolt, sobbing into my hand.

»We'll have to train you then, you said you were a fast learner? Did I hear that right?«

I simply nod but he frowns, not that I could see it, of course. He removes his fingers with a whine from my side and smacks my ass again, hard enough to leave a mark.

»I expect a proper answer whenever I ask you a question.«

»Y-Yes! Ye—ees My Lord!«

He grins again, rubbing the spot he just struck.

»Wonderful, don't you worry I'll call off my next meeting then we'll have plenty of time!« ｡ﾟ•┈꒰ა ♡ ໒꒱┈• ｡ﾟ

Written by DottoreEnjoyer69 on AO3

[catladywriter]

Inotan Fan Comic: Stares in this Town - Tanjirou's Tempura Therapy

Context: The above work is a comic adaptation of a scene from my Inotan fic Stares in this Town, illustrated by the talented ReName_重名君. It's set 2 years after the main story ends. Tanjirou and Inosuke are 17 years old. Their hair has grown a little longer, they're a little taller with less roundish faces. They work in the Wisteria Garden, an eatery that the Kamados have just inherited from their neighbour. Tanjirou is the head chef, assisted by Nezuko, while Inosuke and Zenitsu work in the front of house. Inosuke doesn't wear his boar mask but he still tugs at Tanjirou's clothes when he's stressed.

If you read Stares in this Town, this scene comes after the point where Inosuke, initially reluctant to take up his new role, starts his first work day proper after mistakenly believing that Tanjirou has challenged him to do so.

Support banner by @cafekitsune

Author's Notes I'm absolutely thrilled to share this collaboration with the incredibly talented ReName_重名君, whose fantastic works you might have come across in my tumblr (ahem, I promise I haven't forgotten about this translation project, life's just been a whirlwind lately, but I'll definitely get around to it soon!). I'll spare you from my gushing (I already left ReName_重名君 a semi-essay about how incredible I thought her work was), but let me just say that seeing one of my favorite scenes brought to life in her art style and interpretation truly brought tears to my eyes. Inosuke's shirt-pulling and the feeding trope are some things I really enjoy, so I'm over the moon to see them visualized here. I barely provided any art direction beyond using my fic as a reference, so I was absolutely astounded by how seamlessly ReName_重名君 incorporated elements from canon (like the chibis and that first frame on the second page from the famous "you make me feel secure" scene) with her own interpretation of my story. Also, can we take a moment to appreciate how handsome and grown-up our boys look in her style? And Tanjirou's gentle and domestic demeanor is just too adorable - they look like such a cute newly-married couple! (though, in these scenes, they haven't actually gotten together yet). Okay, I'm getting carried away with excitement, so I'll stop gushing now. I hope you enjoy this comic as much as I do, and while this collaboration was definitely initiated for my own enjoyment, it would mean the world to me if you let me know that you're also enjoying it. And if you haven't checked out the fic yet, please give it a read here. Additionally, if there are any scenes from my other works that you’d like to see a visual interpretation of, feel free to let me know in the work’s comments. I cannot promise that it’ll happen, but I’ll certainly consider it if ReName_重名君’s schedule allows! Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed this, it’d really make my day if you could drop a like, reblog, and/or comment to let me know! This comic is also published on AO3 where you can comment anonymously! Although I mostly create for myself, your encouragement keeps me motivated to post and share my work.

[klikandtuna]

2024 FIC ROUNDUP

Oooookay I barely know what I’m doing here but I’ll give it a shot. 😁

What fandoms do you write in?

It’s allllll Good Omens. After S2 broke my brain, I started sending tiny snippets of fic ideas to a couple of friends, which over the course of a few months really snowballed beyond any pretense of control. I’m gone, y’all. This is my life now.

How many words have you published in 2024?

WELL this number is about to jump with the posting of Find Every Sky next week, but at this moment I’m sitting at

✨758,377✨

Which is pretty cool! To be fair, a good chunk of that was written before I had joined AO3 (it took those couple of friends about six months to convince me to join up), so it wasn’t all written this year, though certainly most of it was.

What is your greatest achievement this year?

Aside from actually joining the fandom at all, this award definitely goes to the TWENTY-TWO CONSECUTIVE WEEKS, May-October, in which I posted TWO CHAPTERS PER WEEK without missing a single update. Find the Light and Sky Clear Blue were written back-to-back without any break inbetween, and while the schedule for SCB got a little dicey for a while, my beta-reader and I managed to keep that Tuesday/Friday ride going allllll the way to the end. Pretty proud of that.

What are your top three favorite fics you wrote this year?

This is so unfair because they’re all my babies 😭😭 I pour so much of myself into everything I write that I really hate choosing favorites, buuuuut I’ll try.

When You Go (101k Reverse Omens, complete but there’s a sequel coming, rated E)

My human AUs receive by far the most attention (and I’m not complaining!), but I want to give some love to my Reverse-Omens fic because I’m pretty darn proud of it. Each chapter bounces back and forth between an ongoing present-day storyline and anecdotes from their past, and it was my first attempt at switching tenses for effect (which I really got the hang of in Sky Clear Blue, haha). I feel like I really nailed the characterizations here, and it was a joy to a) flesh out the Starmaker as the Seraph Baraqiel and let him be his full glorious self, and b) experiment with what the Fall might do to someone as sweet as Aziraphale; while I did give him the demon name Azazel, I did NOT make him a goat demon because frankly that’s all wrong for him. I went a different direction and it’s FRIGGIN COOL, Y’ALL ☺️

Sky Clear Blue (289k human AU, complete, rated E)

Obviously 💛 Time travel, coming out, the beautiful transformative power of love. My biggest piece to date, started as a tiny seed and germinated into something really beautiful. Also at some point I started illustrating every chapter which was a real game-changer, and makes me feel a weird obligation to KEEP DOING THAT for all of my fics.

Naked and Afraid: Jingle Hell (24k human AU, complete, rated T but only for, like, mildly suggestive themes)

Okay my new favorite thing EVER is to take an extremely silly premise and make you FEEL THINGS 🥰 "Aziraphale and Crowley are participants on Naked and Afraid" is not a thing I would have expected to be received with joy and tears, but here we are, and I'm very very happy with how this one turned out.

What was your biggest Pit of Despair moment?

...That's awfully dramatic, but I guess when the SCB posting schedule was really catching up to me and writing was more of a HAVE TO thing instead of a just-for-fun thing. But that didn't last long, and it never got to the point where I wasn't enjoying myself. Writing is a real passion of mine and I'm having the time of my life with these fics.

What have you learned?

Honestly...I've learned that I can do this. I really can. I can take an idea, just the tiniest glimmer of silver in the aether, and follow it and draw it out and spin it into something magnificent. I can write things that make people Feel (including myself!). When I reach, the story is there, and I can trust that I'll find it as I go along.

I've also learned that a good beta-reader is worth their weight in gold, rubies, mithril, any incredibly valuable thing, and that it's okay to open myself up to criticism, and that accepting suggestions from someone smart and articulate and caring makes my writing soooo much better.

What fic did you want to do, but never made it off the ground?

The Naked and Afraid piece would have been my answer here, except I found a way to make it happen 😁 I have a bunch of half-formed, nebulous ideas floating around, but really I've just been going for the stories that I want to tell. I guess we could count the When You Go sequel here, haha. As soon as I've had some time to absorb and process Season 3, the sequel is ON

Did you beta any fics? Any faves you want to give shout out?

I kiiiiinda did one soft beta-type-thing just last week, but that was my very first time! I'm usually soooo busy with my own projects that I barely have time to read anything anyone else writes, much less offer thoughtful feedback. Maybe one day...

What three fics have you read this year that you love?

See just above — I don't have the tiiiiiiime. I did read For Loving One by @thescholarlystrumpet and it was gorgeous (she even embedded a piece of fan art I did in one of the chapters, which was very exciting for me), and I read Love, Uh, Finds a Way by @heretic1103 which was a delight, annnnnd oh! oh! I stumbled upon Lay Thee Sinner, 'Neath the Cross and Pole by @thenerdalert and have been enjoying the updates!

What ideas are percolating for next year?

Okay NOW I'm excited, because as I mentioned above, I've got a brand-spankin'-new BIG multichapter human AU on the waaaaay and the first chapter is going to drop on December 31! The title is In His Hand a Burning Coal and it has officially consumed my entire heart. Can't WAIT to start sharing this one. It's tapped into some deeeeep, lifelong reservoirs of love and nerdy passion for me, and I think that comes through in the writing.

ALSO, in late February we're going to do something REALLY FUN. What do y'all think about a Choose Your Own Adventure FANFIC?? Like, I post a poll with options for the next chapter, you vote, and I write in the direction of the winning option? I'm super excited to give this a try. I do dearly love a good prompt, and if we can get a bunch of people in on the voting action I think it'll be an absolute blast. Soft and sweet? Hysterical crack? Enemies-to-lovers or a tooth-rotting meet-cute? ALL OF THE ABOVE??? YOU choose! 😃

Is there anyone you'd like to thank?

First and foremost, always, I thank @suzypfonne. A random comment on one of my fics has become a friendship I treasure dearly. She's smart, she's funny, she's deeply kind and caring and generous, and she's the best friggin' beta-reader I could imagine. She has made me a better writer, and I'm always excited to turn over a doc to her. 💛💛

Huge thanks as well to @sparklyshinymagpie, who messaged me out of the blue one day to say "hey I could help code the social-media stuff in your fic, if that's something you'd be interested in." HOLY SHIT YES. She has put a huge amount of time and work into making my stories so much prettier, and our next project will be compiling the PDFs for my big stories so I can finally make print copies available for purchase! She is VERY talented and patient and I APPRECIATE HER VERY MUCH

I'm also tremendously grateful to @e-rated-beardo for the unspeakably gorgeous gift that is this incredible recording of the titular song from Sky Clear Blue. One of the lovliest gifts I've EVER been given!

And a final thank-you to @lolalu16 for her tireless cheerleading. They sometimes get early access to chapters, just because I like them 😁

OKAY this was fun but also took forever, haha. I'd love to read others' posts on this subject, so feel free to go for it!

[artemisiasthings]

bookbinding question: how did you format the pages so that they read in the correct order when stacked and folded into signatures?

Hi! I use Word to create my signatures and typeset them to read like a book. I followed amazing tutorials from Hana Bobb on TikTok - I'd really recommend looking at her content but here's the bare bones! (If you use other applications this probably won't be as helpful for you, I'm sorry!)

First things first, you need to get your word document set up. From the top ribbon, go to Layout, then select Margins > Custom Margins which will open a page setup popup window. Here are the page size, margins, and layout settings I use:

My margins are set based on US Letter sized paper. I find that they're not too big but allowed me to trim the foredges and don't eat up the text in the spine.

HOWEVER, if you're typesetting a really large fic, you're going to want to increase your side margins! For example, I am typesetting a tandem read of TRTTD/ATWT that is 900+ pages and my side margins are .65" to compensate for the deeper, rounded spine and the amount I'll have to trim off the foredge.

If you're uncertain if you like your margins, you can do test prints of the first signature to see how your margins end up looking.

Our page orientation is landscape because, although we want our individual pages to be portrait, each landscape page will have two portrait pages.

By setting the "multiple pages" setting to book fold, you will automatically print into signatures that you can then sew and glue into a book.

Sheets per booklet is really personal preference, just in mind that one sheet of paper is equal to FOUR book pages (two front and two back). So my 32 page booklets take 8 sheets of paper. Some people do 7, others do up to 10! It's harder to punch holes in 8+ pages of signatures, but easier to sew in my opinion.

From here, you can input your text! You can post the raw html from AO3 into the document which which bring over the text and general formatting, and you can format chapters, headings, title pages, etc. from there. This is a time consuming process but is really helpful when familiarizing yourself with how typesetting works. If you do go with this option, I'd again recommend Hana Bobb's detailed tutorials - she goes over incredible info for newbies and I wouldn't be half as good as I am without her guidance.

If you're not interested in deep diving on typesetting, you can do what I do now which is use a Word macro from the macro mommy herself - Blak Books Bindery.

She has some incredible macros which allow you to quickly and easily add text dividers, drop caps, and so much more to your typesets! The one I use the most is her "Raw-Text Formatting" macro which allows you to copy raw text directly from AO3 into the word document and turn it into a formatted typeset through computer magic. I usually just use this as a starting point and heavily adjust the aesthetics from there, but it saves so much time moving author notes, formatting chapters into sections, adding title and publishing pages, etc.

After your typeset is formatted how you want it, you can print it! I typically go into File > Print and select "Print to PDF."

This allows you to save the document as a PDF. You can print directly from Word but I haven't tried it since people say it really messes up the formatting.

Your finished typeset file should look something like this:

Just print this double sided with "flip on the short edge" selected, and start folding! Even if you're super confident about your typeset, I would highly recommend test printing your first signature on paper you don't care about. I've caught misaligned page numbers, margin issues, and other problems this way and saved myself the headache and reams of paper.

That's it! I hope this answered your question, I went probably went overboard but I'm not sure what knowledge you're working with so I wanted to be thorough. If you or anyone else has any other questions, feel free to reach out through asks or DMs!

[randomnonsensedragonage]

Changing

Rora Surana & Morrigan - 2888 words

Summary: Rora asks Morrigan to teach her shape changing. This may or may not be a terrible idea.

A/N: Slowly working on uploading some of my Ao3 only fics to Tumblr as well. This one was originally published in 2020.

Read on Ao3

After weeks of travel, Rora was starting to better understand her new companions. Alistair was wonderful, an easy confidant as long as you avoided certain touchy subjects. Leliana could be odd, but she was pleasant to talk with when you caught her in the right mood. Sten was intimidating, and Rora still had no idea what he was thinking most of the time, but he was at least reliable.

Then, there was Morrigan.

Rora had tried to be friends with Morrigan, but nothing she did seemed to make any difference. If anything, it simply made Morrigan angry.

“Would you like to join us over by the fire, Morrigan?”

“Why, pray tell, would I join you when that fool Alistair is going to be there?”

“Morrigan, come with me to handle some of these bandits?”

“What, because you cannot manage on your own?”

“I got you a gift, Morrigan.”

“Shoes? Did you mistake me for some prancing fool like Leliana?”

By now, Rora was convinced that it was not just her tendency to spare their enemies or her obvious homesickness for the Circle that drew Morrigan’s ire. No, Rora was certain it was her very existence that bothered Morrigan.

Despite her failures, Rora still tried to speak to Morrigan whenever she could, as little good as it did. For whatever reason, Morrigan tolerated these interludes up to a point. Tonight, the topic had turned to Morrigan’s abilities.

“I learned shape changing from my mother,” she explained. She hardly made eye contact with Rora as she spoke, like she couldn’t stand to look at her. “Tis an old skill of Flemeth’s.”

“But how do you do it?” Rora pressed. “We never learned anything like that in the Circle. Is it blood magic or…?”

Morrigan sighed heavily. “You Circle types and your blood magic,” she said. “A thing is beyond your understanding and you jump to the same conclusion each time. Tis most tiresome.”

“A-all right,” said Rora, caught off balance, as she usually was around Morrigan. “Explain it to me, then.”

Morrigan’s birdlike eyes flickered to Rora, but her expression barely changed.

“Shape changing is nothing more than a spell,” she said. “One studies an animal closely, learns to think and move as it does, and, if one knows the proper magics, one may then become that animal.” She shrugged. “Tis nothing difficult, really.”

“Can you teach others to become shape changers?”

The question was out before Rora really had a chance to think it through. Once more, Morrigan turned her head and fixed her yellowish eyes on Rora’s. For the first time, her expression subtly changed to one of curiosity.

“Yes, I could teach such a skill,” she said. “Why do you ask? Surely you don’t wish to become a shape changer?”

Somehow, the inflection on you sent a twinge of anger through Rora. She wasn’t sure why this in particular that bothered, but when she answered she couldn’t keep the challenge out of her voice.

“Maybe I do.”

“Really?” said Morrigan. Her voice dripped with sarcasm. “The pampered little Circle mage, who jumps at her own shadow, would deign to learn the skills of a witch of the—”

“Yes!”

The word came out much more loudly than Rora had expected. It seemed to shock Morrigan as well. Her eyes actually widened. Then, her lips curled into a sideways grin.

“Well, if that is how you feel about it, we will have our first lesson tomorrow evening.”

Rora knew almost right away that she had made a terrible mistake. She was going to learn shape changing? From Morrigan? The thought filled her with dread. First, because she knew how Morrigan felt about her, and second because of the inconvenient fact that Rora was terrified of animals.

“But you’re not scared of Leo,” Alistair said when she explained the situation to him later that evening. “He’s an animal.”

The two of them sat on a log by the fire with the Mabari in question seated on the ground before them. Alistair patted the dog’s bristly back for emphasis.

“Leo is different,” Rora said. She patted him as well and he panted happily. “He’s more like a person.”

“A good point,” Alistair said. And then, to Leo. “You are like a person, aren’t you, puppy?”

Leo grunted in an affronted way, which Alistair ignored. He turned back to Rora.

“What is it about other animals that bothers you, exactly?”

Rora gave a little shudder. “Everything. The way they move and the noises they make and their eyes.” She shuddered again. “I’m not used to them, I suppose.”

“And you’re going to try learning to turn into them,” Alistair said. “Not one of your better ideas.”

“I know,” said Rora. “She just made me so angry, and I wasn’t thinking.”

“Couldn’t you back out?” said Alistair.

“I can only imagine what she’d say if I did.”

“Good point.”

“And, who knows,” said Rora, brightening. “It should at least be interesting. Maybe the two of us will finally manage to resolve our differences.”

“Yes, maybe,” said Alistair darkly. “Look, all I’m saying is that I warned you Morrigan might turn you into a frog, and now you’re letting her turn you into a frog. See the problem?”

Rora heaved a sigh. “When you put it that way…”

Despite Alistair’s warning, the next night found Rora hurrying off to Morrigan’s campsite. When she arrived, the other woman stood tall at the edge of the forest, still and watchful.

“I see you did not lose your nerve,” she said.

Her tone was cool, but her glance was almost approving. Rora nodded.

“I said I would be here.”

Morrigan looked around.

“Where is that mongrel of yours?” she said.

“Leo? He’s back at the campsite—”

“Ah.”

Morrigan paused. She pursed her lips in what looked like a whistle, but no noise came out. A moment later, Rora heard the familiar pounding of paws on the ground, and Leo appeared over the rise of the hill that hid Morrigan’s campsite. He bounded over and bounced at Morrigan’s feet, trying to lick her hand.

“No,” said Morrigan firmly. “Sit.”

Leo sat obediently. He looked from Rora to Morrigan, panting. Rora stood beside him—sitting down, he came nearly up to her shoulder—and laid a hand on his head.

“Is there a reason you called my dog over here?”

“I thought we would start with an easy form,” Morrigan said. “Something familiar. Does that suit you?”

Rora nodded.

“To change one’s shape,” Morrigan said, “one must intimately understand the movements, the very thoughts, of the animal one wishes to take the shape of.”

Morrigan unhooked her staff from her back and held it at the ready. Rora did the same.

“As with any spell,” Morrigan went on. “You must focus on your purpose and draw the energy you need to accomplish it from the fade.”

As Rora watched, Morrigan raised her staff and closed her eyes.

“Your purpose is to take on a new shape. This body you were born in is as malleable as the very earth around you. Just as you can summon fire, or make the ground shake beneath you, so can you change your form. Like so.”

Rora saw Morrigan breath in. She felt the ripple of energy that came whenever magic was done, that disturbance of the veil she knew so well and, before she could even see what had happened, Morrigan was no longer there.

In her place was yet another thickset Mabari. Leo leaned slightly forward, nose wiggling and tail wagging at the sight of the new hound. Then in an instant, Morrigan was back. Leo’s ears drooped.

“Ugh,” she said, brushing herself off. “Remind me never to turn into a Mabari again. They stink of humans.” She turned back to Rora. “Now, you try.”

Rora nodded. She held her staff at the ready, just as Morrigan had done. Before closing her eyes, she studied Leo carefully. His half folded ears, his bristly brown fur, the lolling of his tongue. Much as she loved her Mabari, she wasn’t sure how eager she was to turn into one.

“What are you waiting for?” Morrigan said. “Go on.”

Rora frowned and closed her eyes.

She tried to do as Morrigan said. She reached toward the Fade and tried to think of nothing but Mabaris. She thought of rolling in the dirt, licking faces, digging up old bones. She squeezed her eyes shut tighter, struggling to both reach into the Fade and focus on something so unfamiliar at the same time.

Several moments passed, and Rora felt absolutely nothing. She heard Morrigan sigh, and she opened her eyes.

“What is taking so long?” said Morrigan.

“I’m doing exactly what you said.”

“Are you sure? Are you thinking of the animal?”

“I am,” said Rora, annoyance flickering.

“Think harder, then.”

Rora swallowed her retort and shut her eyes again. But now, her focus was further interrupted by annoyance with Morrigan. Was this even the way the spell was really meant to work? Was Morrigan making a fool of her? Her thoughts began to race, her cheeks burned, and then, before she could stop it—

Fire crackled at the end of her staff. Coming back to herself, Rora quickly focused her energy on stopping the flames. When she looked up again, Morrigan was frowning and tapping her foot.

“Perhaps that’s enough for this evening,” she said. “We shall try again tomorrow.”

Rora’s next lesson with Morrigan went no better. She stood for what seemed like hours, rooted to one spot and trying to focus all of her energy on turning into a Mabari, until Morrigan finally dismissed her with a sigh. The next evening was the same. By the time the fourth evening rolled around, Rora was almost ready to give up.

As usual, she met Morrigan at her campsite. This time, though, the other woman didn’t instruct her to take out her staff. Instead, she gave her a careful look, and then turned away.

“Come with me,” she said.

Confused, Rora followed Morrigan, who took a turn for the thick trees on the edge of their campsite. She hurried to catch up with Morrigan’s long strides.

“Where are we going?” she said. She tried to keep her voice steady, hiding the fear that filled her as they made their way through the thick trees. Morrigan pushed a branch aside and answered without looking back.

“We are going into the forest, obviously,” she said. “Your training requires a new approach.”

Rora hurried so that she walked in step with Morrigan. A bird called in the trees, and she jumped. She wasn’t sure if Morrigan noticed.

“What sort of new approach?”

Her mind rushed back to Alistair’s fears of Morrigan turning her into something. She had never feared for her safety around Morrigan before, but wondered then if she had reason to.

Morrigan briefly paused, settled on a new route, and then answered Rora’s question.

“I have a theory,” she said. “You cannot turn into an animal because you do not understand what it is to be an animal.”

Morrigan paused again, seemed to sniff the air, then led her in a different direction.

“As a girl, I spent countless hours in the forest, observing creatures of the land and air alike. I came to understand them. That is what you must do.”

They came to a stop. Completely turned around, Rora had no idea how far they might be from camp.

She looked around. Morrigan had led her to a clearing which was, in Rora’s opinion, quite eerie. Dead leaves littered the ground, the trees rose around them like the walls of the Circle tower, and the moon shone through an opening in the trees. It looked like the sort of clearing where werewolves or blood mages might meet for dark rituals.

“This should be a good spot,” Morrigan said. “Now.” She turned towards Rora. “I want you to close your eyes and listen.”

“Just listen?”

“Yes,” said Morrigan. “I want you to listen to the sounds of the forest. Every crackle, every call, every rustle of wind through the leaves.”

“How long do you want me to do this, exactly?”

“As long as I say so,” she said. “Does that suit you?”

Rora swallowed. Honestly, the thought of closing her eyes in this dark, cold place filled her with dread, but she nodded.

“I can give it a try.”

“Then let’s begin.”

Rora breathed in. Steeling herself, she closed her eyes.

At first, she didn’t hear anything at all. Then, steadily, she began to pick up on new sounds. First came crickets chirping, oddly soothing. Then came the calls of birds. The more she listened, the more she realized how different they all sounded. Some were high pitched and long, others interspersed with chirps of various pitches. The more she listened, the less she jumped, and the more she started to relax.

“How long do I need to do this, Morrigan?” she said.

No answer came.

“Morrigan?”

She opened her eyes. She looked all around the clearing. No Morrigan. Panic filled her.

“Morrigan?!”

There was no answer. Morrigan had left her alone in the forest.

Rora tried to calm her panic, even as the sounds of the forest, which had begun to sound almost pleasant, seemed to turn menacing. She unhooked her staff and placed it on the ground beside her, holding it tightly. She didn’t know that she was actually in danger, but having it accessible made her that much calmer.

What to do? What do to? The problem was she had no idea how she and Morrigan had arrived at the clearing. She hadn’t been paying attention. How was she to find her way back?

Her ears caught something and twitched slightly. Could that be Morrigan? Rora turned and followed the sound.

Rora was glad she could see in the dark. As she walked, she not only followed the sound of crackling branches, but also the sight of trampled twigs in the brush. She hoped she really was following Morrigan and not some animal.

As she walked, she was encouraged by a faint smell of smoke, which she suspected was the campfire. It could be a forest fire or some strange woodsman’s campsite, but she wouldn’t think about that too hard.

She turned corners, stopped, backtracked, following her ears and her nose as much as she could. She was so focused she didn’t have time to be afraid. The only indication of nerves came from her racing heart, though that could also have been her anger at Morrigan.

As she walked, she became slowly aware of another noise. It sounded like there was something behind her. She stopped, listened. The noise ceased. She resumed walking, and then she heard it again.

Rora gripped her staff. She could still smell the campfire. She kept up her stride, speed increasing until she broke into a run. Just get out of the forest. She just had to get out of the forest and she would be fine—

She burst out of the trees, into the glow of Morrigan’s campsite. Morrigan sat by her fire, warming her hands,

“Ah,” she said. “I see you made it back.”

Rora stood by the woods, breathing hard.

“How was your walk in the woods?” Morrigan said.

Rora looked into Morrigan’s yellow eyes. She felt hot and cold all over. She clenched her fists.

“Morrigan,” she said. She struggled to keep her voice calm. “If you didn’t want to teach me to shape change, you could have just said.”

“Hmm?” Morrigan’s face registered surprise, but Rora went on.

“I know you don’t like me,” Rora said. “But you don’t have to be so… unkind.”

“Whatever are you talking about?”

“Morrigan, you know I’m afraid of the woods, and you left me in there alone,” said Rora. “That’s cruel even for you. If you wanted to discourage me—”

“I didn’t want to discourage you,” Morrigan said. “I left you in the woods as part of your training.”

“What?”

“If anything, I was trying to encourage you,” said Morrigan. “I wanted you to think as an animal does. About survival. I had no intention of truly frightening you.”

Rora stared at Morrigan. For the first time since she’d known her, Morrigan looked contrite.

“Why didn’t you just tell me that was your intention?” Rora said.

“It didn’t occur to me,” she said. “When Flemeth trained me to shape change, I was lost in the woods for much longer than you were.”

“Flemeth left you alone in the forest?”

“Oh, yes, often,” said Morrigan. “From the time I was very young.”

“Weren’t you frightened?”

“Very,” said Morrigan. “But it taught me to be strong, just as I hoped it would teach you.”

Rora was silent for a moment, considering.

“I can see your point,” she finally said. “I suppose it did help. Just, please. Warn me next time?”

“If that is what you wish,” said Morrigan.

Rora smiled. Morrigan looked away, but she didn’t make any snide remarks.

“Let us resume our training,” she said.

That night, Rora successfully transformed for the first time—into a rabbit. Morrigan didn’t comment very much on the change, but Rora thought she caught an approving look on her face. Their lessons went much better after that.

[chaionthemoon]

An Endless Existence

Prologue and Chapter 1

Opener: So to start off for those few of you that do read this fic or are even interested in it:

If you've previously read any White Diamond x Original Characters on AO3, you may be semi-familiar with a really old Fanfiction that I wrote back in 2018, and only had 6 chapters total (Title: Its my life!). When I wrote that I was barely in 9th grade of HS, I was writing on my old ass Ipad, and I was writing it right into AO3 rather than a separate document. Not only that, but it was my first ever fanfiction that I ever wrote, so I was writing with literally no experience at all.

Only recently have I gone back to the Fanfiction and have re-read it and wow… thats all I can say. Over the 6 years since publishing that story, I've matured (obviously) and Orange diamond’s story has changed EXTREMELY. I've always wanted to go back to the story and rewrite it, however back in 2022 when I started getting serious about writing and fanfiction, I orphaned the fanfiction, as I didnt want my new readers to read whatever I had wrote back when I was younger, especially since i've tried to hard to really change my writing direction, my approach and become more professional. I have an AO3 account that I publish frequently from, however I created this separate account to write whatever I want about my own original characters from fandoms and their stories, not because I am ashamed or anything, but because i've been detached from fandoms such as Steven Universe, The Arcana and ect. That I no longer feel comfortable publishing these Fics to my bigger account.

By rewriting this story, Im hoping to reclaim it for myself, as well as bring back my old childhood interest in Steven Universe. There will be some similarities between the two stories such as both stories will have similar characters, Similar ships and a few similar topics (Such as abuse within romantic relationships, power dynamics in relationships, manipulation, ect.), however will completely abandon many of the original concept of the story (Such as the arranged marriage, gemlings/the diamonds having biological kids, any ship with Pink Diamond, ect.) just because looking back at the fic, it just doesn't feel right to write about it, and I want to keep it semi-accurate to the show with adding just a few of my own twists (Such as there being Minor diamond that serve as “Apprentice’s” to the major diamonds (White, Yellow, Blue, and Pink), and there being a competition between the Minor diamonds to prove to the diamonds their worth to hopefully monitor a full colony (Not their own colon, but one of the diamonds colonies).

Im in college now, and in a major that requires me to write more often, so hopefully my grammar and writing is 1000% better than whatever I wrote 6 years ago. Feedback is always encouraged, and I hope you enjoy whatever dumpster fire this will be...

Maybe it was bad luck on Orange’s part, that she should have the misfortune of being the only gem to come from the cursed planet. After all, there had to be something terribly wrong with her or her gem if she was able to withstand such a merciless planet for years. If Orange had not been tested and checked relentlessly after coming to Homeworld to ensure her gems perfection and been cleared as a legitimate diamond, then she also would have been sure that she had a faulty gem.

She remembered the day she had formed, though it had been very long ago at this point. She couldn't see her hands in front of her, winds constantly whipped her face, the atmosphere weighing down on her and her gem, as if it would eventually shatter her. Tme did not exist, and Orange was constantly dissociating from what was real and what wasn't. What was this existence? And where was she? Would she forever be alone? All these questions circled her mind, and that would be her existence for the next few years until a scout ship would come across her and alert the diamonds of her existence.

By the time the Diamonds retrieved her, she had been sure that everything and everyone wasn't real. It couldn't be real. How could she go from being stranded in the middle of a planet with no vision, no noise but the wind, and no voices but her own, to then being surrounded by bright lights, loud mechanic noises, and a million questions from gems surrounding her. It made no sense, and wouldn't for the next few hundred years.

Looking back at it, How could Orange Diamond could have possibly have hoped for a peaceful existence when she was born in the middle of a storm? It just was not in her fate, she was the diamond of storms after all.

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

Orange shook her head as she tried to dispel any thoughts on her life before coming to Homeworld. If she thought bout it for too long, she would start to disassociate again, and Yellow hated when she would have to repeat herself to Orange if she didn't hear her the first time. Orange really tried to be in some state of awareness, as to please yellow diamond, however it was difficult for her.

Orange still struggled with being able to understand what was happening around her, and how much of it was her mind playing tricks on her. Some part of her gem still believes that this is all a hallucination, and that Orange can’t possibly have the fortune of being able to directly serve such an authority as those in the Diamond Authority. But then there were moments were the light hit her eyes wrong, or when Canary nudged her with her foot to alert Orange of something, that would bring her back to reality.

“Orange.” Yellow diamonds voice rang out in the large room where the golden gem sat in her throne. Orange was still deep in her thoughts when she felt the small nudge from canary and immediately snapped back to the current reality. She knew that Yellow had called her name, and couldn't remember anything else but that, so she decided to go off of that,

“Yes, Yellow Diamond.” Orange answered back, as she stood up and knelt before Yellows chair. Orange kept her face down, looking at the floor.

“I want to discuss an important matter with you before its released to the other diamonds at the upcoming ball that we will be hosting.” Yellow Paused. Orange grew concerned at the break in between Yellows thought. Usually long pauses did not equal good news, at least not in Orange Diamonds experience. However, Orange was pleasantly surprised when the next words fell from Yellow’s mouth: “I want to officially name you as my apprentice. You've served me well these past few thousand years, and I trust no other minor gem more with my colonies than you.”

Orange let out a small gasp before quickly closing her mouth. She kept her face looking down, at her own foot. “I- Thank you my Diamond, this is such an honor. Im unsure what else to say…”

“Say nothing then. Just continue to do your job well.” Yellow responded shortly. “While you've been diligent in your work, you still have much to improve upon. Not yet the idea of perfection, but you are getting there…” her voice sounded as if she was considering it, considering Orange’s position, and how she was of some value to her. It was softer than her usual tone of voice, and Orange was grateful for it internally.

“Thank you, my diamond.” Orange took the compliment. Compliments from Yellow were far and few inbetween, with the only compliments Orange being able to recall being directed towards White Diamond.

“I warn you though. So far, the only diamond to take an apprentice has been White diamond, and even then, the idea is simply unprecedented and still being tested to see if it works. You will be presented to not only Pink and Blue diamond, but White herself. She will evaluate you, test you if need be, to see if you are fit to assume the role as my apprentice. Orange, I need you to impress White, and calm any concerns of hers.” Yellow urged “You have been a great help to me, and I would hate to lose a gem such as yourself all because you could not meet White Diamonds standards”

“I will try my best my Diamond.” Orange responded, her tone as monotone as she could muster it. There was still a slight quiver in her tone, shock still processing in her system and adjusting to the news.

When Orange returned to her work station, it took her a few moments to remember what she had been working on previously. Whenever her bouts of concentration were broken, she always struggled to regain the same energy she had had before being called upon. Despite being able to open up her screen to her previous mission, she remained unsuccessful in continuing her productivity. Too many thoughts and ideas stirred in her head. Too many questions, too many scenarios to the unknown. What if she couldn't meet white diamonds standards? Would she be shattered? That hardly seemed like the worst punishment to her. Would Yellow Diamond be Punished? That seemed much worst to Orange, and Orange chalked it up to her loyalty to Yellow.

Dissociating had its perks. It allowed for time to pass faster for Orange. It allowed for her to get her word done with little to no thought behind it, completing it at faster rates and with ease. It came as second nature to her, and when it came to nature, there was not much to think about. It also helped her to ignore the feeling of any worries, any questions, and simply just exist without being present. Unfortunately for Orange diamond, she was stuck in her mind for the remainder of the planets cycle, left to get nothing accomplished and be stuck in her own thoughts.

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

After being dismissed by Yellow Diamond, Orange had headed back to the Minor Diamonds residency to stew on the new information that had been provided to her. She found herself seated in the main area of the palace, typing furiously on her screen, trying to catch up on the previous days work. Nearby, Crimson Diamond worked. Crimson and Orange had always been friendly towards one another, though their acquaintance had its limits. To start: Orange believed Crimson a gossip. Crimson usually associated herself with Moon and Teal diamond, two of Blue Diamonds personal minor diamonds, and therefore, anything Orange diamond said to Crimson, she was sure would get back to Moon and Teal, and then so on and so fourth until it reached Yellow Diamond, and then Orange would be punished for “gossiping” as well. Second was that Crimson was extremely childish in Oranges eyes. She held little reasoning, and debating with her was like debating with a pebble. There was no argument against her. And lastly, Orange firmly believed that because they were both so opposite of one another, their was no way there could be a genuine friendship between them.

However, that didn't stop Orange from trying to fish for information from Crimson. If there was one thing that Gossips were good with, it was having updated information. Though how good Crimsons information was remained to be determined.

“What do you think the diamonds are like?” Orange questioned out loud and then turned to look at Crimson. She quickly became aware of the silence, and how her words had pierced through it. Luckily, it was only her and Crimson in the area for now, though the confused look that crimson gave her when she looked up from her own work had Orange thinking that she should backtrack a bit. “I mean specifically Pink, Blue and White Diamond.” Orange added quickly.

“Well… Who do you want me to start with?” Crimson leaned in, and slowly closed her own tablet to converse with Orange. Perfect- this was what she needed.

“Lets start with White. What can you tell me about our ruler?” Orange asked as she set aside her own work as well. This could in terms, count as working, as this was researching for her next big event.

“White diamond is a perfectionist” Crimson spoke softly, though her words carried in the main room. Orange thought to Cullinan and Black Diamond. Both worked closely with White Diamond, although they never spoke of her, and the only things Orange had heard were rumors fueled by Crimson Diamond, who got said rumors from things Pink Diamond had said. “I heard she can control gems as her power-”

‘Thats impossible” Orange had countered “There has been no record of any other gem, let alone our queen White Diamond, having such powers-”

“And thats why she is the ruler of the universe and Diamond Authority, it is said that she is everything that we are not.” Crimson motioned around her to all of the Minor diamonds. “I don't doubt for one second that she could mind control gems and make them do her bidding. If that weren't the case, then why not go against her command?”

With no warning, a voice grunted out, her voice deep and disgruntled with every word she spoke out: “Watch it Crimson.” Both diamonds flinched when they heard Black Diamond’s call out. Black diamond was White diamonds personal apprentice, a Title that the rest of the Minor Diamonds could only dream of. She had a dark and demeaning aura to her, that made her not very approachable, much less, sociable. Orange couldn't recall ever having a proper conversation with her, and in some aspects she was rather glad about that. Black Diamond seemed to dim any room she walked into, sucking all of the light out of the space. It made almost any common gem weak, and cower from her.“To question White Diamonds authority is considered treason, even for a gem of your status and station.” Black growled out.

“Im sorry, You misunderstand though Black, I meant it rhetorically.” Crimson gave a sly smile, not affected by Black’s presence. “We follow White Diamond and her Authority because she has been nothing but merciless letting us exist and serve the diamond authority, despite us being less than an actual diamond. We follow her because she guides gemkind to do what is necessary…” It sounded rehearsed, like Crimson had prepared for this, and Orange almost bought the sincerity in her words, if only she hadn't been smiling while she spoke. There was something about Crimson that had always put the other diamonds at ease, weather it was her casual demeanor towards everything, or her cheerful personality, no one could stay mad at Crimson.

Black seemed to accept Crimsons words with nothing more than one more glare, and simply turned away and out of the room, leaving Crimson and Orange alone once more. The fact that Black had overheard them of all the times that she could have came, had to be one of the most unlucky coincidences that Orange had experienced. To fill in the awkwardness left in her wake, Orange Diamond cleared her throat and turned back to Crimson. “Well, whats Pink diamond like then? Perhaps you'll have more facts rather than rumors this time.”

“Pink? Well shes simply wonderful.” Orange chuckled now, and Crimson became defensive “Im not just saying that! Its true. She has a bad temper, though she has gotten way better about it recently after an unfortunate incident with one of her pearls. Whenever I'm with her, she treats me as if I'm not…lesser than…”

“Even though we are?” Orange countered, and Crimson groaned. “You get angry, but we all know its the truth. How bad is her anger though?” Orange goaded on, clearly seeing that Crimson was getting irritated with the intrusion on her diamonds information.

Crimson sat quietly for a second before answering. “She… well, she broke her own pearl recently.”

“Are you kidding?” Orange’s eyes widened at this revelation “You mean she shattered her?” She had not heard of this from yellow, but then again, yellow rarely spoke of the other diamonds and their personal issues with the minor diamonds. It was that lack of knowledge that divided the Minor diamonds from the diamond authority, and from one another.

“Well, not exactly… She’s broken but, not shattered. After she reformed, one of her eyes had a scar remain on it. White diamond took the poor pearl and replaced her with a new pearl, one of the basic ones.” Crimson shrugged, as if it was nothing of importance, and Orange found herself wondering if she was over exaggerating with how she found the whole situation ridiculous.

“Ah, well, that makes sense then. If she cant take care of a custom pearl, then why not just give her a generic pearl.” Orange sighed “Still though, the poor thing. She must have been terrified.” Crimson hummed in agreement, and then finally asked the question that was on her mind since the start of the conversation.

“What’s making you question about the other diamonds now? Is it because of the Ball that Yellow Diamond is hosting?” Crimson spoke.

“Well, yeah.” Orange says casually, or as casually as she could. She didn't want to appear too interested in it, otherwise she was afraid that Crimson would catch on.

“Why would that concern you though? Us Minor diamonds are not allowed to attend balls unless we are officially granted Apprentice titles.” Crimson questioned further, repeating the rehearsed rules that Orange was all too familiar with.

Orange knew she had to come up with something quickly, and so she opted to say “well, Im assisting Yellow with the ball and wanted to know the other diamonds better so that I know how to properly set up the ball. I want to exceed Yellow Diamonds expectations of me, and by having this chance, I hope to prove myself even more to her.” it was basic, but did the trick as Crimson lost interest in Orange Diamonds words.

“Oh-” Crimson propped her head on her hand and leaned on it “I was so hoping that there was something else on your mind-”

“Like what?” Orange shook her head incredulously and turned to Crimson again. There was no way that Crimson knew anything.

“Well, you've served under Yellow diamond for quiet a while. The third longest minor diamond to work for the diamond authority. Not only that, but Canary is quiet young, and stands no chance on your age and wisdom, so… I thought that Yellow Diamond would have made you her apprentice by now…”

“And what of you? Has Pink spoken about making you an apprentice?” Orange countered, and Crimson turned a bright red. It was almost comical how dark she became in a matter of seconds.

“Pink knows she doesn't need to talk to me about my position in her court because it is secured. My only competition being Daria, and Daria is barely one thousand years old. She barely figured out how to fly a dropship a few moons ago, much less having the knowledge on how to assist our diamond in conquering a planet. I've been working tirelessly though to assist Pink when the Diamonds graciously allow her the opportunity to prove herself to them.”

Orange nodded her head, not genuinely listening to Crimsons ramblings, however picked her head back up at the mention of Pink having a colony. “Do you believe that she is ready for a colony?” Orange asked, genuine in her question, and Crimson nodded.

“I firmly believe that she could be a great ruler, a great diamond, because she already is one. She just needs the chance to show it…” Orange pursed her lips, but accepted the answer.

“Ill… Ill let you know if I hear anything about it.” Orange said and excused herself from their conversation.

Talking with Crimson left her with a nagging feeling in the back of her mind. What crimson said could have some truth to it, or it could all be lies, told to Orange to make her look like a fool in front of the diamond authority. She supposed she wouldn't know until the Ball.

(This fic is also posted on AO3 under the name Chaionthemoon. Ao3 is more frequently and accurately updated rather than Tumblr, so to get the next chapter faster I recommend going there first)

[xoniarainforest]

Got tagged by @kiki-shortsnout and this seems fun, so let’s do it!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

Great question! None! Mainly because I started using AO3 last year and I have natural anxiety towards the publish button.

(You may not understand, but that button… that button scares me.)

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

I have a very prideful zero. My goal this year is to try publish at least a 1k word count fic? I think it’s a fair step towards conquering my fear with that publish button.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Various Minecraft YouTubers (MCYT). I’ve been in this fandom for years, wrote about lots of peeps, but my current obsession is GeminiTay o/ (and maybe a little bit of Ethoslab. I never watch the guy before and I’m finally discovering his charm whoops)

DanganRonpa. As in writing OCs in the killing game aspect. I barely written anything about the characters other than my top 5 favourites though.

Undertale and its AUs. Especially the AUs, I remember being so crazy about it. Still do, but a bit more tone down in these past years. I write them during my need of comfort days. I have this one incomplete story from the fandom that I intend to finish it one day.

Marvel. This is my current biggest obsession. Specifically FrostIronStrange, following up with the Avengers.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

I’m gonna answer this based on other websites that I’ve published since my AO3 page is empty. I don’t normally publish my fics cuz I’m a bit awkward in sharing, but amongst the ones I do share to public (they are mostly taken down at this point):

Méng Yǒu

Five Nights at Team Crafted

Three Peaks Castle

Colours

Dream. Glitch. World.

5. Do you respond to comments?

Most of my comments are from my friends so yes!

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

Probably that one Marvel series about an immortal child entity who travels through the multiverse determined to help solve the universal problems/threats in every universe/dimensions that they visits. It’s a series of never ending one shots because she never stops travelling. Obviously there are bound to have some very angsty endings where they fail to save the whole universe. Or she saved the universe, but she had to make hard decisions that affects them deeply.

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

Uhm… the world is saved from not being converted into a coded game? If you don’t consider fluff fics about typical daily life. Now that I think about it, there’s never a ‘true’ happy ending with my fics. I usually write the ‘to achieve the ultimate win, you lose something along the way’.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Nope. My fics typically don’t get discovered by people. Let alone by haters.

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

When I’m feeling horny. I write very questionable porn with plot fics. Don’t ask. I swore to never share them.

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

Yes! I love writing crossovers between two of my favourite fandoms! I think the craziest would be MCYT x FNAF. Cuz it’s my first ever crossover fic and it holds a special place in my heart.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Nope. I think people prefer stealing works that are both great and completed. Sadly I’m neither great nor have I ever publish a complete fic to the public.

12. Does not exist apparently

Like my works? I have a ton that I have completed but never share to anyone.

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

Does co-writing a comic counts? I’ve co-written a short comic series with an irl friend before. It was only shared amongst my group of friends.

14. What’s your all-time favourite ship?

FrostIronStrange is definitely at the top. It’s one of the very few romance shippings that I do since I normally do platonic or familial ships like Gemtho, SansxToriel, CharaxFriskxAsriel, Grian and Pearl etc.

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

Most of my long fics. Don’t get me wrong, I love all of them and I’m not abandoning them, but I have this problem where once I finish outlining the plot of my fics, my brain automatically files them as completed and places them at the easily forgotten corner even though I didn’t finish writing them. Plus I have a habit of jumping around between different stories… listen, I write for fun okay? I enjoy writing for the sake of writing so I don’t really care if it gets complete or not. Thinking about ‘must complete’ gives me stress and I don’t think it’s worth carrying that pressure when life itself is already stressful.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Worldbuilding, plot making, character backgrounds.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Grammar, dialogue writings, endings.

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

I constantly writes in both English and Chinese, so that’s not an issue for me.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Team Crafted from the very old MCYT fandom

20. Favourite fic you’ve written?

I like all of my fic. Case closed.

(You are never gonna force me to pick one. NEVER)

Who to tag next for the game?

I’m tagging everyone who has seen this post and hasn’t done the answers yet. So TAG, YOU’RE IT!

[griefabyss69]

07 hot mug please

Hot mug is something I started back before I even published my first fic on AO3 - it was originally a vent fic about being too broke to eat and turned into a "Steve is taking care of Eddie post-Vecna" fic with a fun little twist. My writing wasn't nearly as coherent back then and so while I have 8K in this fic, I need to rewrite it from the ground up to make it into something I can continue writing and finished. I haven't visited this fic in MONTHS, the last time I even touched it was in September and that was to rename it to my current organizational system. I love it, even if it needs some work <3 A big snippet of it, a fully coherent scene and everything: (contains: canon level injuries, painkillers, hospital mentions, rated like T for that stuff)

The first mug of coffee he has after getting ripped apart by the horrible (cool ass) bats in the horrible (sick) alternate dimension is at Steve Harrington's house.

Freshly released from a rushed hospital stay in an underground bunker, forced into Steve's guest room by circumstance and because Steve had been roped into being his nurse of all fucking things, he sat in Steve's kitchen. The stool at the island counter was completely unsupportive and so he mostly just slouched onto his elbows, trying to keep the pressure off of his injuries, but apparently if he popped a stitch or two then Steve could just fix it right up.

The bunker hospital was so much worse than Steve's house – as creepy as it is at night, like he's in the world's most boring art gallery after closing – but at least they had trained medical professionals there.

Hunched over the hot mug clutched in his hands, groggy in a way he never really feels, both the pain and the painkillers making him slow and still, he brings his face down into the steam. He took it black, just like he does at home (wherever the fuck that is now), but he's not sure if he even wants to drink it. He's had this feeling since he first woke up that anything he eats or drinks will just leak out of his sides, even though the doctors told him that the damage to his organs hadn't been so bad. He was all fixed, everything working just fine apparently, but he still checks his bandages after meals for signs of anything weird.

Inhaling the steam with a slow, deep breath makes him feel even sleepier, and his head starts to nod forward, making him jolt when the world tilts a bit.

"Don't fall asleep in that, you'll drown."

Steve sounds wide awake, full of life, almost chipper. Like a sitcom mom making eggs for her family. Eddie's mind supplies the laugh track.

"I'll grow gills," he mumbles, forcing himself to sit up straighter. He can't tell if he's blushing through the general haze he's in, but Steve's barely looking at him, spreading some jam on toast.

He watches Steve's hands as his own clench around the mug even tighter. The burn of it on his skin almost satisfies whatever the back of his mind is doing, the itching and gnawing in his muscles. The heat doesn't compare to the feeling of ambient warmth that he feels when Steve gets close, helping him change his bandages or look over all of his demonic body modifications, but he always takes what he gets.

"Eat this, I'll make you some real food in a while," Steve says, a plate with the toast on it in his hands, then on the counter in front of him. Steve and his hands go back to where he's making more toast, watching Eddie while he waits for it to pop up. "I just need to get groceries, it's been a while."

Eddie doesn't say anything, his sides throbbing even as his brain seems to get fuzzier. He woke up with the alarm that he had set to take more painkillers, and so he took more painkillers, but so far they're just killing his ability to think. He knows he wants to drink his coffee and eat the toast that Steve (lovingly, for sure) made for him, but all he does is watch Steve's hands. He doesn't know how to unstick himself to use his own.

His eyelids blink slowly and he feels like the air is swimming around him.

"Eddie?" Steve's good at staying calm, or sounding like he is anyway, even as he rushes over to get his hands on Eddie's shoulders, that beautiful warmth almost pressed up against his back. He's radiant with it, and despite the hot coffee, Eddie feels pretty cold.

Another slow blink, this time it feels like it takes forever and all of his energy to open his eyes again.

When he does, the world is tilting a lot more, with Steve's arms around him, supporting him as he carefully lays him out on the floor. Hands gentle on him, Eddie tries to keep watching them, checking his bandages for blood. One of the hands goes up to his periphery and brushes some of his hair aside to check his pulse. The other comes to hover over his mouth and for a second Eddie thinks Steve is going to cover it, like he wants to shut him up.

But he doesn't, Eddie doesn't really get what he's doing, but he seems satisfied after a minute and now Steve has his hands back to himself, fingers drumming nervously.

"Can you speak?"

Eddie can. He knows how, is super great at it. His mastery of words and ability to manipulate the world around him with his presentation of them is one of his greatest skills. He opens his mouth to inform Steve of this, figuring out how to make things move through the haze, ready to pretend he's offended to get Steve to stop looking so serious, but all that comes out is a reedy groan.

"Right. I'm taking you to the hospital. I'll be back in ten seconds, stay awake."

Steve disappears for, Eddie counts, seven missisisisipii's. He forgets how to spell it, but remembers how it sounds. He's got the cord from the kitchen's phone stretched over to where he crouches beside him, listening to the line ring.

Eddie knows he should’ve still been in the hospital, there's been a gut feeling from the moment they told him he was being discharged, but he doesn't want to go back. He'll never admit it to anyone but the place is scary, an eerie place like how in a horror movie a haunted house looks normal until the brand new family is all moved in. At least the Upside Down was honest about it.

[truly-hopeless]

Honest Question About A Fic

So not too long ago, while at work, I was thinking about a story of mine that I haven't updated in almost two years. The story is titled "I Move the Stars For No One," which is a retelling of Rumpelstiltskin with L/Light Yagami as the main ship that I started writing after reading other LawLight fairy tale rewrites, namely eleonoraw's Merman and Totoroto's Snow Moon. It was my first story published to AO3 near the beginning of the pandemic and was my first LawLight fic. It currently sits unfinished at seven chapters (there was an eighth, a scrapped prologue, but I moved it to "The Dead Darling Graveyard" since it had little to do with the story) and was last updated December 2021. While I like parts of the current version (such integrating other fairy tales into the story since I'm a sucker for that kind of thing), I feel dissatisfied with the story for several reasons:

It's taking too long to get to the main conflict of the story (Beyond disrupting Light and L's arrangement and the two needing to find a way to stop that from happening) even without the long hiatuses and that smaller conflicts (L hiding he's a goblin from Light, Light feeling conflicted about what to do now that he's not going to be executed, and Misa's jealousy) are getting resolved too easily.

The story barely resembles Rumplestiltskin at all. Sure, it was always going to be a different story from the original fairy tale since the protagonists' identities and circumstances that make them desperate enough to ask a magical stranger for help and who they fall in love with are not the same (while the miller's daughter can definitely do better than the greedy king demanding she spin straw into gold on pain of death, never in a million years is she going to consider the man who demands she hand over her baby [presumably to eat it] in exchange for his help marriage material unless there is serious tweaking done to his character), it still feels off.

The main characters feel out of character. Light and L became too familiar too fast (even for a ship fic) and there's no real tension after L's deception is revealed and Light forgives him (too easily, I feel). And while I don't necessarily want to vilify Misa to add conflict (especially since I just complained about how awful the king in the original fairy tale was), she should be a little more unwilling to share Light with L (even if she is the one that gets to marry him) and push back more.

I just hate the title. It was taken from lyrics of a song from Labyrinth, but outside of L being the King of Goblins in this story and the memory-wiping peaches there's nothing in common with Labyrinth either; it could have been, if I wasn't afraid of adding more conflict and making L more dark grey when it comes to morality, but that wasn't what I wrote.

So I'm thinking about rewriting the story, to make it more in line with both the original fairy tale and in the spirit of LawLight. But that comes with it's own problems:

If you've been following me for any amount of time, you'll know that I'm not the most consistent when it comes to updating my stories; it could be anywhere between a week to four months to a whole year before I update something due to a combination of burnout, stress when I think about how I'm almost thirty and nothing in my life is coming together, and being distracted by other story ideas. Speaking of...

I have too much shit going on as is when it comes to writing. I was tagged for that WIP ask game a few weeks ago, where I had to list out all the stuff I've been working on. The list has 31 drafts and I found out today that I still forgot to list a couple (not going back to change it now) and then there are ideas that play out in my head during work or when I'm trying to sleep that I haven't brought myself to write down because I am trying to keep the new WIPs to a minimum.

I have yet to finish a long story (I have the same problem as the protagonist from Dave Made a Maze: I start all these projects, but never finish them) and will feel slightly guilty for abandoning yet another one, even if it's for the sake of a rewrite instead of abandoning it altogether and trying to forget they exist like the stories on my FFN account.

So what should I do?

[whysamwhy123]

✨Fic Writing Review 2023✨

Tagged by the wonderful dynamic duo that is @aerodaltonimperial and @perhapswhoknowsvamp and it's very fitting that those two lovely people tagged me because they're a big reason why I wrote much of anything this year! Took me a while to get this done because I wanted to get my last fic of the year out the door first. I'll put the rest below the cut, and fair warning - it's loooooong. This bitch doesn't shut up, so I rambled on. A lot.

Words and Fics

76, 222 words published on AO3 in 2023

15 fics published on AO3 (16 if you count that one kinkmeme prompt I filled and posted anonymously)

2 little tumblr ficlets

Top 3 by Kudos

Voice in the Dark - Hookhausen (not super surprising, considering it was a popular pairing at the time, and it was the fic I wrote for the anniversary event)

Kids These Days And Their Darn Phones - Hookhausen

Half Your Age Plus Seven - OrangeHook (I continue to be incredibly surprised how well this fic did, like...huh?!)

Top 3 by Hits

Voice in the Dark - Hookhausen

Voice in the Dark, Part Two - Hookhausen (how fitting, LOL)

Half Your Age Plus Seven - OrangeHook (Seriously, what was it about this fic that drew people in? More so than any of my other OrangeHook fics? Like, I'm grateful and all but also confused, like this fic is way too long?! And weird about the age difference?!)

Author's Favourite

As much as I'm loving writing OrangeHook now, I think Voice in the Dark, Part Two is probably the best thing I've written? Even though it's also overly long and gets weird at the end (very much did not expect it to go in that direction when I started writing it), I'm actually pretty proud of how that one turned out. I had a clear vision in my head for how each scene would play out and what I wanted to get across, and man, I remember how most of the Hook/Evilhausen dialogue popped into my brain late one night when I couldn't sleep, so I spat it out into a doc and then about a month later when I actually wrote the scene, I don't think I changed a single word? I just added everything else around it, all the not-dialogue parts. And it was just a lot of fun getting to carry on that story, especially as someone who hasn't managed to crank out a proper multi-chapter fic yet. Who knows, maybe I'll return to that world someday...

Fandom Events in 2023

Uh, well, I guess I did the whole Hookhausen Anniversary thing? And...that's about it. I'm pretty disconnected from the fandom at large, whoopsie daisy 😬

Upcoming Projects

Hoo boy.

I have over 5k words of a Ricky/Christian Sugar Baby AU thing written already. I haven't posted it because it kinda needs some smut and that's still not something I can really do. I might post it someday, if I can make something work, or alternatively do what I normally do and put an annoying fade to black in there. Or maybe I'll think better of it and never post it because it's very self-indulgent and I highly doubt anyone else would really be interested or want me to continue it or anything. But I have Ideas for it...so many ideas...

Also, in my ill-fated quest to try and make myself write smut, I kinda started a Ricky/Bill championship celebration fic. Maybe I'll revisit that? Try to get it done?

And then there's that one fic I really want to work on, but have barely started. I've vague-posted about it here before - it's an incredibly fucked-up Dead Dove fic about Daniel Garcia and a Very Bad, Not-Good thing that happens to him, and the subsequent complete mental breakdown that follows. I've had the idea rattling around in my brain for the better part of a year at this point, despite not making much actual progress on it. Every time I think about it though, I have new ideas for scenes or dialogue. I'd like to make it work, but I don't know if I have the writing chops to handle it, plus it would probably end up being super long and nobody would want to read it, so it'd feel like a huge waste of time on my part? And I've had the idea for so long, it's out-dated too. But still, the urge remains...

Oh, and I still have a ton of OrangeHook ideas I'd like to make happen. Some are, of course, about their age difference. Some would (ideally) involve smut. And others... *nervous laughter* Others would likely result in an ''Everyone disliked that'' situation...

Writing Reflection

I was thinking about making a sappy post about this and whoops, here's my excuse! I don't talk a lot on here about my tragic backstory because honestly, who cares? But I will say this - before January of this year, I hadn't written a word of anything in years. Fic or otherwise. I used to love writing, but Stuff Happened and it killed all enjoyment I got out of it, and I thought that's how it would be forever. Then, for reasons I can't even remember, I started reading fic again, specifically in this wild little fandom of ours, and y'all are just so talented that it made my untalented ass want to give it another shot. So...I did.

I remember when I posted my first fic in ages back in January, I thought ''Maybe about three people will read this and no one will leave a comment or anything, but whatever, I wrote a thing and that's something I haven't done in years so that's enough for me!'' And to be honest, I still think that whenever I post stuff now? It's crazy to me that anyone actually reads my stuff and gets some kind of kick out of it. But every kudos and comment floors me and brings me so much joy, I can't even express it properly. I have to say a huge thank you to anyone who's ever read one of my fics, left kudos or dropped a comment. Whoever and wherever you are, you made my day!

And look, I ain't delusional. I know that calling myself a small fish in the fandom would be too generous. But I'm fine with that - because I'm genuinely enjoying writing again and that's what matters most to me. Even though I've also rediscovered how stressful writing can be (🙂🙂🙂) when it comes down to it, there's joy and happiness in my life that wasn't there last year and that's all because I started writing again. And because some lovely folks here decided to let me know they liked what I was throwing out there. The years have not been kind to ol' Sammy Sam-Sam and this year was no exception, but getting to forget about all that shit and write my silly little wrestling fanfiction has been a great distraction and a comfort through this whole year.

So...yeah. Thanks to everyone who's ever commented on my writing, thanks to the folks who follow me on here (I don't know how you manage that though, I'm such an annoying bitch, aren't you sick of me yet?) and thanks to anyone who I've had the chance to chat with about writing and ships and whatever silly little ideas pop into my head (any of y'all feel free to message me at any time, I am always down to blab about whatever blorbos/ideas take your fancy). I'm hoping I can keep this train a-rollin' a little more next year. Still thinking back to when I started writing again, I made my new AO3 account expecting to write Dustjim only, but then I quickly decided I couldn't write those two well enough, and since then I've bounced around a bunch of different pairings, with a few rarepairs shoved in between for good measure. God only knows where my head will be at this time next year, LOL. I'd love to finally be able to attempt some of the bigger ideas I've been cooking up for a while now. Maybe I'll even write a proper multi-chapter fic? We'll see, but this bitch can dream, at least.

Rules:

Feel free to show whatever stats you have. Only want to show Ao3 stats? Rock on. Want to include some quantitative info instead of stats? Please do this. Want to change how yours is presented? Absolutely do that. Would rather eat glass than do this? Please do eat glass, I’ve heard it’s good for your gums.

I'm not going to tag anyone because I'm pretty sure everyone I know who writes has already been tagged? So if you're reading this and you haven't, go ahead and do it! By which I mean, eat glass. Eat all the glass that you want. Accidents happen in the dark.

[astridthevalkyrie]

do you actually agree that fics depicting child r*pe should be allowed? do you not think that having media as that so accessible can de damaging? like i’m actually seriously asking not trying to give attitude

sorry i just pulled an all nighter so if this sounds incoherent it's because i haven't slept for the past 22 hours. thank you for seriously asking and not giving attitude lol

it's not about what i think should or shouldn't be allowed. fics depicting that aren't exactly my cup of tea. i don't read them, i don't write them. but authors are going to write dark content, whether that be fanfic authors or published ones. i've written dark stuff that might be totally fine with one person, but not fine with another. your local library might have stuff that makes the worst of ao3 look tame. dark content has existed and will always exist. the problem is, as that post put it, is saying authors can't or aren't allowed to write disgusting things means that now anything anyone dislikes can be labeled a disgusting thing. the slippery slope of authoritarianism.

there are published books that i would never ever want a child to accidentally happen upon, but it is the job of their parents to monitor what their kids are getting access to, the job of the librarians or booksellers to organize things in a way where it's not just open and easy for kids to read. the same thing applies with fics, it's parents' jobs to monitor their child's internet activity, and saying that children can access something is not a good enough reason to say that it means that the writer should never have brought it into existence.

fic writers have a responsibility to tag their fics and if you see someone incorrectly tagging (if you're on ao3 PLEASE be aware that "no archive warnings apply" is very very different from "author chose not to use archive warnings") or it's purposely misleading to get people to click and be traumatized, then yeah, in that case, it's absolutely the author's fault. send in a report!

but if a person as an adult sees warnings, registers them, reads the fic that has exactly those warnings, and then proceeds to say the author shouldn't have written it....it's just so much effort for a mistake on the reader's part. fic is about making yourself happy. why are you reading things that make you upset?

i was 13 or 14 when i joined tumblr. i was 10 or 11 when i started reading fanfic. at that time i barely saw minors dni stuff. i read smut, including dark fics and art that absolutely left me scared to sleep at night. not once did i ever tell the author they were at fault for writing it. i knew what i was about to read. i knew what i was consuming. it was on me and me alone (and i suppose my parents for not monitoring my internet activity). i have two younger sisters who both read and write fic. they weren't online for ff.net and they don't go on wattpad. their fanfic experience is almost entirely ao3 and the first thing they do when they go into a character or fandom tag is take out tags they don't like.

and i'm not naive. they have both most certainly read fics that they shouldn't have read. teenagers always do. i obviously did. very few teens see a minors dni and actually just stop reading the fic. but again—if the author has done their due diligence, on sites that are not meant for kids (tumblr and ao3 both), sites where freaks were promised to be allowed to be freaks, they are not responsible for minors who come into their space.

so that's one part of the argument. the other is the debate over whether writing fictional dark content makes someone as bad as actually participating in that dark content. this is an age old debate. the first time it got really big after i joined tumblr was around the time voltron 2016 came out, when people were being called pedos for shipping shiro and keith. it's gotten much worse since tiktok has become a thing. there are other people who have talked about this and explained it better than me, you can delve into the tags for "anti" or "anti anti" or "proship/antiship" or whatever it's called now.

but calling someone who ships, say, eren and levi in aot, a pedophile, is absolutely off the walls insane. first off, a loooot of people shipping age gap or adult/minor relationships are very likely to be minors themselves. secondly, it absolutely diminishes the meaning of the word. it's the same thing with incest. i've seen people say that shipping characters who are best friends is the same as incest. it's.......not. and you might think, well, yeah, that one's ridiculous, but the stuff that i'm arguing against are legitimate. and i get it. but like i said before, slippery slope. people equating someone's fictional interests to them as a person spells a very bad future for fandom.

i think a lot of this started when people were like "oh your ship is just the character you relate to and the character you have a crush on." and i'm begging people to realize that is not the case at all. a ship can be that, but it can also be "their color palettes compliment each other." it can be "they never interacted but i think they'd be interesting to see together." it can be "oh that makes a hot pair." it can be "oh this would make both characters miserable and i love it muwahahaha."

so just. please reserve the word pedophile for real-life-harming-children-and-minors pedophiles. not for people who write about fictional characters engaging in morally dubious or criminal acts. they are not the same level of crime. i think people need a reminder about why pedophilia is bad—it's because it harms children and minors, not because it disgusts us. and incest is an even more tricky subject when it comes to fiction so i'm not going to delve into it, but in the same vein, fictional incest ≠ actual incest.

i wish i had blogs to recommend that could explain this better, but you're better off just going through the tags (and anything you can find on fandom and specifically fanfic history) because my brain is super fried. and since i am not an expert i'd like to not answer more questions about this, i'm a bit too old and tired for the anti vs anti anti debate, thanks. i hope this helped 👍��

[sssammich]

🌀Post the fic summary for a fic you haven't written/published yet. It can be hypothetical or something you really plan on releasing...

ahh sweet, thanks for always sending one of these!

well i'll give you two as a treat. both of them have considerable words written for them but are maybe about halfway done so who knows when they'll show up on ao3 but i'm hoping not too far from now!

also i give my summaries as snippets of fics and a short line so that's what i'll be doing here

title: for all that it's worth

supercorp (kinda)

post-rift, canon-ish

"Lena was there."

Alex pauses mid-punch, holding the bag steady in front of her. They're in the DEO training room, Kara perched on a few mats with her back pressed against the wall. "Where?"

"The summit."

"You talk to her?"

"Hardly. We said hello, though." She doesn't know how to describe coming face to face, sitting side by side, parting with a silent wave to each other in a span of a few days, the conference hall barely big enough for her thoughts and emotions upon seeing a woman she'd loved and lost six years ago.

"You alright?"

She shrugs, but she means it, though, when she says, "Yeah. It was nice to see her."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

OR

lena walks away from kara after kara reveals her supergirl secret. it's six years later and they see each other again at a conference

swan queen:

post-marian rescue, canon-ish

Emma doesn’t cry when she reaches the town line. It seems that well has run dry, at least for now. Her eyes focus past her steering wheel and onto the faint red line etched onto the pavement. 

It would be so easy to cut her losses, to start over, to prove them all right. 

But for however much she wants to, she can’t. Not anymore. Not like this.

She struggles to erase the vivid image of everyone at the park; a life that she had always wanted to be a part of, but was shunned from. They had been laughing, there was food, they had prepared this in advance. Foresight. Intent. 

Her own son had been made to carry this burden on their behalf to alienate her. She’d been trying, she swears, but maybe it hadn’t been enough for him either. 

OR

after being iced out by regina for bringing marian back, she discovers the people she loves, her family, having a picnic without her. so she she runs and figures out a means of escape while still staying in storybrooke

thanks again for asking!

fic ask meme

[thesakuragarnet]

His Ocean Eyes (first chapter)

Disclaimer: This is just the first chapter! The full fic is ongoing and is posted to AO3! Link will be posted below.

FULL FIC IS 18+ ONLY!

Summary: Dusk is just another outcast. Just another child for Ujiko to exploit once she reaches her full potential. The only difference between her and the others is that she's been plotting her escape since children started disappearing one by one. When the mysterious boy who's been asleep for three years wakes up, allowing her to break free, how will her life change now that she finally has someone she can count on?

Tags: Dabi X Female OC, MHA CH350 spoilers, swearing, strangers to friends, friends to lovers, fluff, hurt/comfort, angst, smut (as of right now, there is no smut published in the fanfiction), canon-typical violence and Dabi-typical body horror, alternate canon, found family, slow burn until it isn't

Word Count: 2,048 words for the first chapter (full fic word count is unknown as it is ongoing)

AO3 link

Chapter 1: Runaways

“HE’S AWAKE! HE’S AWAKE!”

I can hear the children shrieking at the top of their lungs as they run by my room, and I jolt up in the small cot as the thin hospital gown clings to my lithe form. My name is Dusk Ryuuzaki, and I am fourteen years old with green eyes and pale skin. My dirty blonde hair hangs in my face, hiding my eyes like it has most of my life as I exhale upward, blowing the strands out of the way so I can see. My hair is long ; I’ve always been told to cut it, but I’ve never wanted to. I’ve been in this hospital for almost two years. I was twelve when Sensei “rescued” me and brought me here. I was living on the streets for only a day after my Quirkless parents threw me out. My Quirk is…complicated. I can painlessly transform myself into a dragon, yet the senses stay with me at all times. I have increased vision, sense of smell, sense of hearing, strength, and agility. Furthermore, I can breathe fire for about a full minute before it starts to hurt my throat. My Quirk times out in hour intervals, but they’ve gotten lengthier as I've gotten older. I’ve been practicing with the other children, honing our Quirks during our time at the hospital. Every now and then, one kid will disappear, never to be seen again. Sensei’s flower-faced friend assures us that they found a good home, but…I have to admit…things seem…suspicious. The one thing I’ve learned: don’t ask questions. Anyone who asks questions goes missing. Anyone who defies even the slightest order goes missing. Anyone who gets… too good at their abilities goes missing. So, I’ve swallowed my pride by deliberately messing up, taking careful note of every potential exit. I wanted to leave. I didn’t feel safe anymore. I decided to mask my curiosity. That is…except for my curiosity about the boy who just woke up. 

He’d been in a coma for three years. Whenever we received breaks, the children would crowd around him, poking and prodding at him, wondering when he would wake up. They said the surgery took days; his skin was so badly burned that the doctor had to transplant practically all of it. Rumors circulated that he was some kind of Frankenstein's monster, but he didn't seem very monstrous to me. He seemed…peaceful…in an exhausted way. Oh, to be asleep for three years dreaming one’s life away. It sounds like a dream come true.

My bare feet hit the cold tile as I run down the hallway toward the large playroom. I stop dead in my tracks when I look through the open door to see the flower-faced friend speaking to him…and Sensei’s voice speaks through the computer screen in the playroom. I can’t see the boy…I can definitely hear him arguing with Sensei…no one ever argues with Sensei. 

“No way…am I getting trained by anyone else.” 

The voice is raspy and harsh, and the specific timbre chills my ears in a way that only particular sounds resonate. 

“Well, you see. I’m afraid…we can’t let you do that,” Flower-faced ‘friend’ mutters, and, suddenly, his sunshine face contorts into an eldritch horror of a scowl. 

‘This is what happens before the kids disappear.’

Flower-face lunges forward, and I watch as the kid dives beneath his legs, sliding and pushing himself to his feet as he breaks into a sprint, looking over his shoulder and not paying attention. 

SLAM! THUD!

I cry out briefly as he runs right into me, knocking me over as we both fall to the ground. That’s when I see his eyes for the first time. 

This boy has the most beautiful eyes I’ve ever seen; they're the most brilliant mix of sapphire and turquoise, like staring into the ocean itself. There’s no time to admire him; I can already hear Flower-face turning around. 

“Get off me!” He shouts, shoving himself up as I jump to my feet, brushing off my gown. 

“ You ran into me !” I retort before he starts running down the hall without a sideways glance. 

“HEY!” I call after him; I know he’s running in the wrong direction. “COME BACK!” 

I turn the corner and see him panicking at the dead end, staring up at the green and white checkered walls as if he’s about to have some sort of mental breakdown. He pulls at his hair, and, I swear his skin looks like it’s smoking. 

“Hey, hey. This way! I know how to get out of here!” I call, waving him forward as I steal a glance over my shoulder. Flower-face slowly trudges down the hallway like a zombie; it’s like some kind of scene out of Stephen King.

“You’re just a stupid girl. What do you know?” he suddenly blurts, and my eyes narrow. 

“Well, this stupid girl , is gonna get us both out of here. Are you in or do you wanna go to whatever fresh hell they have planned for us?” I snap, and he groans dramatically before dashing toward me. I run down the hall as I process the map I’d drawn in my head. Right as he catches up to me, I take a sharp left, using my draconic strength to break through the locked double doors as I force all of my body weight into the shove. 

“Whoa,” the kid mutters under his breath as he follows me, and we burst into the courtyard. They only let us out here at night, but what I hadn’t considered was the enormous electric fence and barbed wire above the pillars. 

“SHIT!” I hiss under my breath, and the boy raises his eyebrows. 

“What do you mean shit ?! I thought you said you could get us out of here!” He screams, and a spark of anger flares in my chest. 

“I CAN! LET ME THINK!” I shout back, and, suddenly, a sizzling sound creeps through the air; the boy’s tone shifts from rage to sheer terror. 

“NO! NO! NO!” he stammers, and I realize that his skin is literally smoking. 

“What’s wrong? Are you okay?” I stammer, registering the fear on his face. 

“Get back! I don’t wanna hurt you!” he stutters, “Get away!” 

Before I can blink, brilliant azure flames pour down his arms, leaping directly through the open double doors as they start to spread up the enormous compound. Within a few seconds, the flames only lick at his hands, and his eyes well with tears, only for them to evaporate within seconds. The blue flames remain in his palms as he thrashes his hands about.

‘He can’t control his Quirk.’ 

“HEY!” I shout, braving the heat and stepping closer as I shield my eyes from the blinding blue light. 

“STAY BACK!” He screams; it’s a sound of pure anguish and confusion. 

“HEY! I CAN HELP!” I snap, and, in a few steps, I’m right beside him. He looks at me like I’ve gone utterly insane. Another Quirk I inherited from my grandparents; my skin is fireproof. 

I carefully take his hands in mine, pressing until our palms touch, and a faint hissing sound pierces the sky above the roaring flames in the hospital buildings. His eyes widen, staring into mine as if I’m some sort of alien life form. 

“What…Who are you?” He stutters, a faint blush spreading across his cheeks as I stare up at him. He’s about half a foot taller than me, and his white hair is dusted with ash as the building continues to burn. 

“Dusk Ryuuzaki. My Quirk is Fire Dragon; it’s three in one. That’s how. And…who are you ?” I smile, and he gulps as I release his hands, staring at his slightly singed palms. 

“Touya. Touya Todoroki,” He stutters, and I nod. 

‘Even his name sounds beautiful.’ 

“Nice to finally meet you. Now. If we’re going to get out of here-”

‘I CAN FLY US OUT! It’ll just be a little embarrassing…I need Support Gear clothes like that dragon hero.’ 

“How are we getting out? I’ve torched our only other exit?!” He exclaims, scratching his arm, and I slowly walk behind the lone tree in the courtyard. 

“I said my Quirk is Fire Dragon. Do the math, Todoroki,” I snicker as I hide from him and, in one smooth motion, slip out of my gown. I ball it up and throw it around the tree straight for him.

“WHY ARE YOU GETTING NAKED?” He shouts, and I laugh. 

“Oh, grow up. I don’t want to not have clothes whenever we get where we’re going. Can you hold onto that for me?” I call out as I begin to activate my Quirk. Painlessly, the change occurs; my skin turns over into dark purple scales, and my hair turns silver and forms a spiky ridge down my neck and two curved horns on my head, and a pair of silver wings sprout out of my back. As I’ve gotten older, my dragon form has gotten larger. I should be as big as Ryukyu when I’m an adult. Right now, I’m as big as a horse. I emerge from behind the tree, and Touya’s blinks, processing what just happened. 

“Get on! We’re getting out of this place,” I growl, my voice coming out in a gravelly garble. He hesitates for a second, stealing one last glance at the blazing blue before hefting himself onto my back. 

“Hold on to the spikes on my neck! It’s gonna be rough! I’ve never flown with anyone before,” I mutter. 

“You wha- AHHHHH! SHIT!” He screams as I take to the air, flapping as hard as I can. He’s not too heavy, but it’s still like I have some cumbersome random weight on my back. He clings to my neck for dear life as I sail into the night sky. 

“I’m gonna be sick,” He groans. 

“If you puke, don’t get it on me,” I snort as I glide through the fog. 

“Okay, I’m okay. I’m okay,” He slurs slowly, and I can feel his staggered breathing on the back of my neck. 

“So…where…where should we go?” I ask as I steal a glance over my shoulder at him. 

“I…I need to go home. I need to apologize to my family,” He murmurs quietly, and I cock my head. 

“For what?” I pry, but he chews his bottom lip as he traces his hands over the lines on his face and neck from where they transplanted skin. 

“I…don’t wanna talk about it,” He sighs. 

“Well…where is home for you?” I yawn, and Touya sits up straighter. 

“Suburban Musutafu. Do you know where that is?” He asks. 

‘That’s where I used to live.’

“Yeah,” I mutter, and Touya pokes at the back of my neck. I look over my shoulder back at him once more; his cheeks glow a dull shade of pink in the moonlight. 

“Hey, uh. Thanks…for…all that…back there. I know we just met but…I…I appreciate it,” He stutters, and I smile. 

“Well…thanks for trusting me to get us out. I don’t know how much longer I would’ve let myself rot in there,” I remark as I return my attention to the horizon. 

…

Touya’s been in the house for longer than he should’ve. He said he’d go inside, touch base with his family, and then they’d help me get home…I hadn’t told him that I didn’t even have one anymore. I'd already stopped using my Quirk and pulled the ratty hospital gown back on; I'm gonna need to find some real clothes to steal.

Wordlessly, Touya slips out of the back door, stalking back to me with his hands balled up into fists as tears stream down his face. 

“Touya?” 

“They thought I was dead. They thought I was dead…and nothing changed…,” He mutters to himself. I wouldn’t know anything about what he was referring to until later. He wipes away his tears. 

“I guess, now, I’ll help get you home. Where is that for you?” He sniffs, staring at the ground. 

“Nowhere,” I say without missing a beat. His eyes lift up to meet mine. 

“Nowhere?” He echoes my words with a pitch at the end. 

“Nowhere.”

His lips curl into a sad smile. 

“Well…we both live nowhere now.”

[jplupine]

Day 17: Muramasa ~ Oral

Pairing: Muramasa x Wynter Hughes [Nonbinary OC] Word Count: ~2.2k Date Published: October 17, 2023 WARNINGS: 18+ Minors/Ageless get blocked, Sub!Muramasa, Established Relationship, Small Dom/Big Sub, Oral Fixation, Teasing, Finger Sucking, Biting, Hair Pulling, Fellatio, Cum Note: Terms such as pussy/cock/dick/etc. get used. Wynter also uses terms like 'sweetheart' and 'love' to refer to Muramasa. If that makes you uncomfortable, you might want to skip this fic.

Summary: Muramasa likes Wynter's mouth quite a bit....

You can also read it on AO3!

Kinktober 2023 Masterlist

  Looking up when my office door opened, I saw Muramasa walking in while going through envelopes. Leaning back in my chair, I waited as he got closer. Muramasa stopped beside my desk before handing over the envelopes.

  "The ones on top are bills."

  "Thank you." I smiled while taking them and noticed Muramasa's hands. He usually wore gloves but wasn't this time around, making it easier to notice how he had changed something. "You had your nails done? They look nice."

  Muramasa averted his gaze to look at his hand. His nails were much shorter now and styled more like claws with a purple polish that matched the markings over his eyes.

  "Given they grow so fast, I stopped caring about maintaining them. However, I thought it would be better to start doing so again. You humans also have many methods of decorating your nails that I find....intriguing."

  "Oh? What made you want to do that?" I asked while opening the envelope on top of the small pile. Muramasa went quiet, making me look his way again. His cheeks were dusted pink as he was still looking at his nails. "Muramasa?"

  "Having them shorter makes it easier to touch you." He muttered while brushing his knuckles over my cheek. I felt my ears get warmer as he cupped my face in his hand and ran his thumb over my cheek. Muramasa then cleared his throat while pulling his hand away, but I grabbed his wrist.

  "That's very sweet of you." I watched as his blush deepened when I kissed his fingers. His expression only barely changed as he stood so still by my chair. "Was that really your reason?"

  "....Yes." He swallowed while watching my lips brush over his fingers. Turning his hand over, I kissed his palm and nuzzled my face into his hand. Muramasa couldn't look away as I smiled.

  He then gently held my chin while brushing his thumb over my lips.

  "You like this?"

  "I do. I like being touched." I chuckled before kissing the pad of his thumb. Muramasa slightly tilted his head to the side.

  "I think I like this, too."

  "Good." I couldn't help but smirk before parting my lips to lick his thumb. His eyes widened as he froze. Watching his pupils expand as my tongue wrapped around his thumb, I noticed how his other hand twitched.

  Muramasa's eyes were glued to my mouth as his thumb vanished past my lips. His long nail lightly scraped across my tongue. His mouth hung open in surprise, but he didn't seem opposed to what I was doing.

  Releasing his thumb, I then licked up his palm and along his fingers while holding his hand. My tongue went between his index and middle finger as I looked up at him. His expression was rather cute, and I kissed his fingertips.

  Seeing how he wasn't pulling away and instead enraptured, I slid two of his fingers into my mouth. Grabbing his belt, I pulled him closer to stand between my knees.

  "Are you giving me another reason to keep my nails shorter?" Muramasa questioned with his voice barely over a whisper. I chuckled around his fingers without saying anything. He pressed against my tongue and began to explore my mouth. His fingers went over my teeth and around my tongue as I opened my mouth.

  Muramasa's pupils were so wide, and his blush spread to his ears as my hands went up his thighs. He was careful with his nails since they were still like claws while stroking my tongue. His fingers were glistening with my saliva as my hands squeezed his inner thighs.

  Glancing down, I saw that he was already hard and straining against his pants. Scoffing in amusement, I let my hands wander closer to his erection without actually touching it, and his hips rocked closer. Muramasa's breath faltered as I traced the outline of his cock, and his fingers slid deeper into my mouth.

  "What are you planning to do to me?" Muramasa muttered, knowing all too well the way I was looking at him was going to lead to something. I only grinned while gently biting his fingers and undoing his belt. He visibly perked up as his gaze dropped to watch my hands.

  I pulled him closer and pushed him to sit on the edge of the desk. Moving the mail and my laptop further back, Muramasa was now trapped between me and the desk. He took in a sharp breath when I yanked his pants down his thighs.

  Muramasa pulled his fingers from my mouth with a string of drool stretching between his fingertips and my bottom lip.

  "I didn't think you'd get this excited just playing with my mouth." I smiled while hooking my fingers behind the waistband of his underwear. He looked embarrassed and grabbed the edge of the desk as I pulled his underwear down. I then moved his shirt higher to expose his stomach. "Hold that there." Muramasa did as told.

  Kissing his stomach, I ran my hands up his inner thighs. His breath faltered as his stomach twitched. He didn't move from where I positioned him, allowing me to kiss a trail down his abdomen. Licking beside his happy trail, I looked up to see him biting his bottom lip.

  Kissing down toward the base of his cock, I listened to every breath and sound Muramasa made. Curling my tongue under the shaft, I could feel his heart beating so quickly. Licking all the way to the head, I ran my tongue over the tip while making eye contact.

  "Look at you. Making the cutest face." I grinned as I held his hips.

  "I'm not." His voice shook, and I chuckled.

  "Sure, sweetheart. Try that with a more convincing tone, and I might believe you." I kissed the head of his cock just to see him shiver. His eyes were glued to my mouth as my lips parted and my tongue slid out to lick some more.

  Muramasa leaned against the desk more, and my hands lightly squeezed his hips before going down his thighs. I spread his legs more to give me room to move lower and kiss his inner thighs. I nipped and heard him softly whimper. Licking the bite to soothe it, I moved higher back to his dick.

  He was leaking precum from the tip, and I cleaned it off with my tongue. Teasing him more with kisses, licks, and nips, I managed to pull his shoes off to get his pants and underwear off all of the way. I dropped the garments to the side and pushed his legs further apart, forcing him to sit on my desk more with his feet barely on the floor.

  He was panting with his face flushed as he looked down at me, having one hand on the desk for stability and the other still holding up his shirt. Hearing his low voice becoming so husky and breathy had me littering more love bites on his thighs and hips.

  "W-Wynter, please."

  "What? You're just too delicious." I smirked and licked one of his balls. Muramasa jolted so harshly that he nearly jumped, and I caught one leg by the back of his knee to lift it higher. His expression while being spread in such a way drove me wild. "Maybe if you say 'please' one more time...." I looked him in the eye while resting my cheek against his thigh.

  Licking my lips hungrily, his lustful eyes followed the movement of my tongue.

  "Please." His tone was so desperate and needy, sending a spark of excitement up my spine. Resting his leg on my shoulder, I licked from the base of his cock to the head, curling my tongue around the corona of the glans to make him squirm. Muramasa gave a breathy moan as his thighs tensed.

  Closing my lips around the tip, I sank lower while feeling his racing pulse against my tongue. His grip on his shirt tightened until his knuckles turned white. Wrapping my hand around what didn't fit in my mouth, I began to bob my head.

  His moan shook me to the core and made sparks dance across my skin. I didn't think I would ever get used to the sounds he could make. The man was already a mess from the teasing which had also made him even more sensitive.

  I let my drool leak down his shaft to help lubricate it and make stroking it easier. Muramasa's head fell back with his eyes closed as he bit his bottom lip and groaned. I could feel my own arousal soaking my underwear as I sucked his dick.

  There was just something about turning Muramasa into a moaning, needy mess when he was usually so calm and serious. And hearing he had gotten his nails done specifically so he could have an easier time touching me made my heart flutter. How could I not take advantage of that?

  I hummed around his cock, sending a vibration along the shaft that made his back arch. Muramasa moaned and moved his hand from the desk into my hair. Feeling his fingers run through my hair excited me more. His nails scraped against my scalp, and I went lower until he hit the back of my throat.

  His back hit the desk as he moaned and his thighs shivered in delight. Muramasa rested his other foot on the arm of the office chair while his other leg was still over my shoulder. I couldn't help but watch his body writhe on the desk as his grip in my hair tightened.

  Swallowing as much as I could again, I moaned, making his hips buck. My hand between my lips and his pelvis was the only thing that kept him from going deeper. I lightly squeezed my hand as drool leaked over my knuckles and pooled around the base of his cock.

  Pulling off his cock with an audible pop, saliva stretched thin between my mouth and his glans. I kept stroking my hand over his shaft and gently took his hand off my head. Licking my lips, I spoke up.

  "Don't hold back, Muramasa. I want all of you." I purred and bit around one of his fingers hard enough to leave a mark but not break the skin. The bite mark was almost like a ring, and I licked his palm while hearing him whine at the back of his throat.

  Opening my mouth again, his cock slid across my tongue and hit the back of my throat. My other hand not on his dick caressed his thigh and squeezed the soft flesh beneath my palm. His back arched as his fingers tangled in my hair again, this time with more enthusiasm and less hesitance.

  Running my hand higher up his thigh, I traced the crease of his hip and made him twitch. Finally palming his balls, I lightly squeezed. Muramasa's spine arched clear off the desk as he let out such a loud, broken moan. His other leg was now on my other shoulder with his ankles crossed on my back.

  I moaned around his cock again to get his hips to buck. I was feeding off of him falling apart because of me. I gently squeezed his balls again, and he shot up to look down at me while having both hands in my hair.

  "More! Please, more!" His thighs shivered. I could feel his claws against my scalp as he tugged on my hair in desperation. Looking up at him, I saw his red face and blown pupils as drool was leaking from the corner of his mouth. Muramasa was so lost in the pleasure and likely getting close based on how needy he was sounding.

  I continued to moan and swirl my tongue while massaging his balls. He groaned over me as his muscles tensed. His thighs crept closer to the sides of my head as he whimpered my name.

  Oh, he was so close. His squirming and shaking moans were undeniable signs I'd come to recognize. I could feel the drool smearing on his balls with each squeeze and caress. And, when Muramasa's grip in my hair became almost painful, his thighs clamped around my head as he cried out.

  His balls twitched in my hand as his cock pumped cum deep into my mouth. I could feel each spurt against my tongue while he was shaking. Having my head trapped between his soft thighs was bliss as I listened to him moan.

  Muramasa slowly relaxed, panting as he came back down from the high. Raising my head from his dick, I tried not to spill his cum filling my mouth. I swallowed when Muramasa's hands dropped to hold the sides of my face. He then leaned in closer to kiss me.

  It was slow, sensual, and messy from the drool. Without breaking the kiss, he crawled into my lap with my back pressed against my chair.

  "I want to touch you more." Muramasa panted while looking me in the eye. "I want to please you." His hand slid between my thighs to slide his fingers over my pussy through my clothes. His trimmed nails allowed him to do such a thing with ease, giving me more ideas of what he might be able to do now.

  "How about we take this upstairs then, love?" I smirked before kissing him again.

[enbyhoshi]

ao3 wrapped 2023

hello again! i only ended up writing (+ posting) two fics this year (total of 16,033 words) compared to the staggering seven of last year - so i went back and forth a lot about whether i should even make this post, but i ended up doing it anyways! here we go!

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from the start

wonhao, 7.4k, G, library co-owners to lovers

minghao fest fic! to be honest, i wasn't really planning on joining the fest as i hadn't written minghao before and was too nervous to, but after seeing this prompt i just couldn't pass it up. and thank god i didn't! one of my favorite types of fics is where the story takes place or focuses on the main pairing's (along with the rest/some of the other characters in whatever media is being written about) workplace, especially when it's super specific lol. and who doesn't love a lil library romance? wonhao were made for this. another favorite thing of mine, this time more on the writing side, is sneaking small references to other loved medias hehe. this time it's a reference to the dimension 20 season the unsleeping city: chapter 2 episode 1 with minghao cleaning up the orange juice in the romance section. very random but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

favorite part:

“Oh,” Wonwoo mumbles. He looks a little out of it, like he’s as shocked about this whole situation as Minghao is. “Cool. I mean– that’s good. I didn’t have a plan if you ended rejecting me.” “Quit your job and move to another country?” Minghao jokes, despite the fast beating of his heart. “And what about our child?” Wonwoo jokes with him, voice a little weak. Minghao tries not to think about how he’s the cause of that. “We can’t have it travelling between countries all the time.” “I can’t believe you just told me you love me while I’m covered in orange juice.” Minghao says, trying to swallow down the huge smile that wants to break out. “This is the worst possible place for a love confession.” “Well,” Wonwoo says and his eyes dart to something above Minghao’s head and when he looks it’s the label of the particular section they’re in. It’s the Romance section. “I’d say it’s pretty fitting.”

2. untouched

soonhao, 8.6k, M, gg!bss & their stylist hao

girlies.... another minghao fest fic lol! this fic was somewhat of a surprise, since i came up with this prompt on a whim and just kinda put it on the ever-growing wip pile. and then the 2nd round for mhf happened and thought you know what! might as well! in my mind, this fic was supposed to be way different than what it ended up being tone-wise. think more angsty, more toxic, more i-just-broke-up-with-my-boyfriend-and-i-know-you-desire-me-carnally-so-i'm-gonna-use-you-as-a-rebound. basically toxic yuri but make it soonhao. unfortunately it got lost in translation and it turned out more like a typical fic but maybe its for the better lol.

favorite part:

“I did,” Minghao says. “It was good. Do you really have the acorn hat in your bag all the time?” A bashful smile breaks out on Soonyoung’s face. “You know I don’t. I just thought it’d be a fun anecdote.” Minghao smiles back at her. Her hand reaches out to move the hair from Soonyoung’s eyes but then she realises what she’s doing and draws her hand back. “The jeans too?” she says like nothing happened. “That was more…” Soonyoung looks away like she’s thinking about it, her smile turning into something softer now. “More of a personal moment that I wanted to share, I guess.”

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and that's it! truthfully, i was trying to finished at least one more fic before the year ended - and then i got sick (still am) and could barely look at a screen for more than 20 mins (still can't) lol. hopefully that fic gets published early next year then :) thank you for reading this far! see you in 2024!