#i went from rambling to drabbling to just listing headcanons

[pluto-supremacy]

Can I add to the Hobie dating an autistic person ideas based on my experiences? I'm autistic, my girlfriend isn't but neither of us would be shocked if she was.

Hobie understands that he has to be ultra specific when asking or explaining something to you. He can't be vague about it and say something will take a while, he knows you prefer a specific time.

He finds your stimming cute as fuck, but he's learned quickly to step out the way when you do stim lest he wants to be in the line of fire and accidentally get hit.

Same applies with hands. You gesture a lot with your hands and it gets more animated and crazy when you're excited and you wave then about. The cutest shit ever, not so much when you're eating or prepping food and you have a knife in your hand. A gentle reminder that its okay to stim, but maybe not with a knife or something stabby or fragile in your hand is all that's needed.

Yes, you and Hobie are on the same page 99 percent of the time, but occasionally there'll be miscommunication and what he says and means will be different to what you thought it meant. This is based on me and my girlfriend a few weeks ago. I suggested we "chill out" in her room, hoping she gets the hint. We go to her room and literally chill out whilst watching Bluey. Many laughs and kisses after, it was adorable

Hobie Brown Drabble: cooking rambles with a gn!autistic!reader

➼ I absolutely love these additions to the headcanons! I also talk a lot with my hands and at work and when I’m cooking that includes gesturing with very sharp knives, so- yeah I’m forcing that on our beloved gn!reader. Enjoy this little Drabble based on some of your lovely additions!

➼ I swear I did try my best on the accent-

➼ Sorry that this took a bit longer than I promised! Work has been kicking my ass

➼ No beta we die like uncle Aaron

➼ No warnings! Just fluff here

GIF doesn't belong to me! All credits to the original owner

You treasured nights like these, nights when Hobie wasn’t needed back at Spider HQ. Or just decided not to go. Either way, you enjoyed just being able to lounge around in your shared flat together, bitch about coworkers, turn on a cheesy movie, or your favorite: cook together. Nothing beat a homemade meal in Hobie’s opinion, he just…wasn’t the best at cooking. Wasn’t terrible either, more middle of the road, so he usually stuck to stirring and prepping the vegetables.

Tonight’s menu was grilled cheeses and tomato soup, some nice comfort food. Hobie was buttering up the pan for the sandwiches while you were chopping up some onions, going on about your day. “So then I’m at the counter just trying to ring up her order. Something complicated because of course she just couldn’t have the drinks how they come, each has at least three modifications” you rambled on. You always talked with your hands, gesturing wildly that you sometimes hit people. This was no different.

Apart from the fact that this time you had a knife in your hands.

“Like she wanted no whip on this one, double whip on that one, sprinkles on the other other one” you listed off, tapping the tip of the blade against your fingers without a second thought. Hobie was of course listening, but he had his back turned. At least it was until his Spidey-sense went off. But what could be causing danger-?

Cue you still gesturing with the knife, none the wiser that Hobie, who was once by the stove, had webbed up onto the ceiling and was standing there like a bat. Your eyes had been trained down as you went on. “I was losing my mind! I wanted to scream!” You raised your hands in frustration, and when you lowered them, the knife was gone and in its place? A wooden spoon. “What-?”

“Sorry luv, but I can’t ‘ave you swingin’ that ‘round. Can’t ‘ford a trip to the hospi’al” Hobie said, still hanging upside down on the ceiling but now with your stolen knife in hand. “I fancy ya a bi’ too much to let you ‘urt yourself.”

You could only laugh, setting the spoon down as Hobie finally jumped off of the ceiling, spinning around to land on his feet. “I didn’t even realize I was doing it” you replied, holding your hand out to get the knife back. He shot you a mock skeptical look before handing it back over, now sitting on the counter. “‘S alright swee’heart. Now watch where you’re cu’ing. I wan’ you ta keep all your fingers” he hummed out lowly, watching you get back to work. He always loved watching you talk with your hands and when you would stim, sometimes he just needed to step in to keep everyone safe. Anything for his luv.

[penname-artist]

I've got a long rambly pile of additional thoughts to make to this post, so, grab some snackies... :3

I absolutely love the concept of Maru having been a medic on the set for CHoPs. Though it's not even a part of my own headcanon (in part because I'm far too lazy to change it when I already break my own HC boundaries every other Wednesday) I still WILDLY support the idea as though it were fanon. And I've seen it so well portrayed in fics to want to say it's on its way to being such! Like the plane beds thing.

As well, the concept of the three of them being or having once been a thing - whether in terms of all friends, two lovers and a friend, all lovers, or just a queer-platonic hodge-podge of bros sharing braincells - is a really neat and sadly under-explored concept.

Blade and Maru do have *some* at least friendly interactive content sprinkled into fics, but romance is rarely if ever depicted, and Nick and Maru basically never get to share space together in a story (I might be blanking on some fics if any do exist though).

Having all three of them as queer-platonic bordering romantic poly-relationship is one of the most heart-wrenching fluffs ever, too, PLUS if you went the route of Nick dies, Dusty could be a much later on third/fourth addition to the couple. All I'm saying is that there is room for some INTENSE snuggling from all parties.

And the smaller side facets to the trio? Gold mine.

Nick and Maru probably get along like two bantering jokesters, though ones always getting into trouble and the others fixing him (think Dusty and Dottie, & Dusty and Chug...like combined). And of course they bond over their gushy attachments to un-gushy Blade, and they probably intentionally make him the center of their cuddling, just to make him flustered. (and in their um...other activities- *cough* I mean uhh-)

Then obviously there's Blade and Nick, the starcrossed lovebirds that I'm sure Maru saw coming a mile away, and possibly had a fork in the causation of... And they both respect Maru in such a deep way, there's no way they wouldn't be committed to paying him back for what he's been able to do for them, and spoiling him well beyond rotten.

And there's also, of course, Blade and Maru, who are both deep thinkers and hardworking sensible people, but also somewhat loners and bonded over their experiences. They likely bond over Nick together in that he's the heart and soul of their trio, a bright light to bring warmth and joy. They probably debate together how on earth he's still so cheery.

On top of aaaall of that, in my personal collection of Blade and Nick and Maru fic contents, I swear to you, I HAVE a new NSFW, WoC Blade x Maru...THING that will get made..."eventually"! It's 75% finished, and it's a request from a friend I meant to do like a year ago and just didn't.

I was actually supposed to do a whole lot more related to Blade and Nick and Maru's friend-slash-lover triangle, way back in 2021, but the ideas were cut short mid-formulation, due to some unforeseen personal events. "Doctor's In" (that Blade x Maru drabbly smut thing), in particular was typed up in the midst of that timeframe and anything I may have had getting ready to go out with it got either scrapped or pushed wayyy back. And this upcoming story is a continuation of that very piece.

But in total I definitely agree that the ideas for all three or just Blade and Maru in a more-than-friendship light is rare to see. As far as already existing content goes, I could of course immediately point over to ObsidianJade for their Blade x Nick story that got me hooked on it and Blade and Maru's close bond, or my buddy fight4me and their fic featuring Blade and Maru's close-knit companionship, or even the lovely HungryFlowers' NSFW pieces here for Blade x Maru. Anyone else I'm either not thinking of, or thinking of but I dooon't want to explain why I'm not gonna list em

But hey, could be a lot of great fic and art opportunities! Not me making side notes for future projects already... 👀

Heyo, little side note I forgot to add til the end: another thing I've seen at least in a small handful of places is Maru being headcanonned as asexual, or somewhere within the spectrum of asexuality. It's a really neat concept, and I think it'd go really smoothly with these ideas as well!

Considering how popular Blade x Nick in this fandom, it's kinda surprising to me that Blade x Nick x Maru or even Blade x Maru seemingly hasn't ever been considered (at least anywhere I can find).

It's basically near universal fanon (that was formed from the implications of some canon scenes) that Maru was on the set of CHoPs and thus knew Blade and Nick, so it wouldn't even be that hard to justify.

Blade x Nick x Maru has AMAZING potential for angst. Like imagine being Blade or Maru, happily in a relationship with the two people you hold dearest and one of them fucking dies!! It's violent, and sudden, and you could do nothing but watch as he died. Blade, canonically, was the first to the scene and literally watched him die before his eyes. Then there's Maru, a mechanic, meant to be able to save lives, who physically couldn't get there in time, and, because he might've been the first physician on site, very well might've had to be the one to declare Nick's time of death. Imagine the fucking fallout of that and how you'd even cope with not only the death itself, but the fact you and your partner watched your other partner literally die. I can't even begin to imagine how irreversibly that would change the romantic relationship between Blade and Maru.

I love Maru having a platonic relationship with Blade and Nick but like there is SO much interesting stuff that could be done with them as a romantic pairing and I am shocked no one has jumped on it! Not even once!

[mariamegale]

Ok, ok, but listen. Subby Babe is a mood but I'm feral over the thought of subby Gene. Gene, who never allows himself to relax. Who fusses and worries and takes care of everyone else to the point of exhaustion. Then, when he and Babe are finally alone, Babe takes his time with Gene. Pouring his affection over him. Making sure Gene knows how appreciated and loved he is. And the aftercare? THE AFTERCARE? I need all your HC's when you have the time <3 [Room to rent gifs did this to me, ps]

oh anon, darling dearest, you have no idea about the can of worm you just opened. first of all: room to rent, im gonna cry, i absolutely love that. also shoutout to @rillalala and @anthrobrat and @dansssks for being my discord dm headcanon babes and helping fuel the monster that is: me having baberoe thoughts (also spina/julian bc i l o v e them)

BUT OKAY. subby gene. subby gene getting taken care of. allow me to raise you, subby gene being subby as pseudo-therapy.

I'm imagining a situation like... Gene has had a really fucking long week, an even longer day, regrets going into trauma medicine after nine hours of endless backbreaking emergencies to save people's lives and he didn't even have time to appreciate the cute note Babe left in his lunch box. and then clocked overtime, because he felt bad over the night shift nurses coming in to find the store room understocked.

gets home, is absolutely exhausted, wants to curl up into a tiny aching ball and sleep forever or possibly just die a little bit. preferably on top of babe, or not, because babe is in a good mood and Eugene had promised to make lasagna. it's friday night, and friday nights are pasta nights, and it's the one night of the week that Gene isn't allowed to tell Babe that he needs to have more vegetables. Also, he should call his parents, because it's been a while, and Ralph had that thing--

But, because Babe is Babe, he takes one look at Eugene on the sofa and knows his tired lump of a boyfriend is not being soft with himself right now, and thinks maybe he could do with someone being soft at him for him instead.

Sits down next to him, and when he puts his arm around Eugene's shoulders, Gene leans in. Babe kisses the crown of his head, his temple, asks "long day, Genie?"

(THIS GOT LONG AS DICKS SO A READ-MORE IT IS)

Eugene hums a tired, "yeah," in response, closing his eyes and leaning his head on Babe's shoulder. "I'll start dinner in a moment, I just wanted to sit down for a sec."

"You could do that," Babe agrees, running his hand up and down Gene's arm slowly. "Or you could stay here with me. I missed you, baby, missed you a whole lot this week."

"We gotta have dinner." It's a weak argument, in part because Eugene is entirely sagging into Babe's side at this point, and Babe just keeps going with his plan to kiss Gene's head a whole lot.

"We can order something," he argues. The hand that's been stroking Eugene's side moves up, two knuckles tracing over the skin of Gene's neck instead. "And I can take care of you, if you want me to." There's a beat of silence, neither a yes or a no coming from Eugene, so Babe runs his fingers through his black hair, leans his forehead against the crown of Gene's head. "Are you tired, sweetie?"

Eugene nods a little bit, and Babe's heart aches in a very familiar way. "Yeah?" He continues, scraping gently at Eugene's scalp. "Want me to take you down a bit? Yeah? Tell you what to do?"

Another nod. Babe is trying really hard not to smile, because Gene is fucking exhausted, but he's also starting to show that very specific brand of vulnerability that makes Babe's heart palpitate a little bit.

"Okay," he says, moving his free hand to Eugene's legs, tugging on his knees a little bit. "C'mere, pull your legs up, over my lap. I'm not joking when I said I missed you, Gene, I know you're doing good things but these long weeks kill me a little bit."

"Sorry," Eugene mutters while scooting over to put his legs across Babe's lap, arms going around Babe's neck. Babe shushes him.

"None of that. You're wonderful, baby, I just miss when you're not with me. But whenever you aren't, I get to know it's because you're off being wonderful somewhere else, with someone else, and that makes me happy. Got it?"

Eugene nods, and Babe hugs him very close. With a smile, he closes his eyes to just take a moment to let himself feel this, Eugene's weight on his lap, the warmth of his body against Babe's, the slight tickle where his breath ghosts over his neck.

"Good boy," he says happily. Eugene squirms a little. "But now, you're with me, and I'm gonna make you feel very good and then come on your face, because I love you and think you look great like that."

It makes Eugene laugh, which was the point, but also draws out a happy sigh from him as he leans in a little more, fully relaxing against Babe's body, letting him call the shots from here.

It feels like consent, it feels like excitement. It feels a lot like being loved, and Babe loves that.

---------------

WELL THAT GOT VERY LONG ANYWAY HERE IS THE REST IN BULLET FORM:

Eugene has a real hard time asking for things, so a lot of these scenes are centred around babe either aggressively caring for him or aggressively making him ask for things he need

imagine all the times babe has absolutely destroyed his ass with paddles or other instruments of pain in order to get to the point where eugene just cannot say "green" when babe asks anymore, and then proceeds to get VERY heavily rewarded for being a brave boy who told his boyfriend when he couldn't take anymore

furthermore, imagine all the times when eugene has asked for babe to do things to him so that the faint aches from the bruises can help him feel grounded when he does intense or taxing tasks the next day

imagine the third, eugene being forced to echo back the nice things babe say to him until he eventually start believing them to be true

a f t e r c a r e

there are SO many snuggles in the bath! far too many, their friends think! their friends can jolly well fuck off!

babe wiping or kissing the tears from eugene's eyelashes

babe telling eugene how well he did and how proud babe is of him, only for gene to cry more

babe cooing at his still-crying boyfriend as he bundles him up into a little pile

(babe just really likes it when eugene cries, alright)

eugene's incredibly soft aftercare pyjamas that he only wears for aftercare. they have happy little fried eggs and sheep on them. also a lot of novelty t-shirts because he's tired enough and happy enough to allow himself to find them endlessly hilarious

babe giving him all the kisses and towel-drying his hair after their bath-or-shower, making sure he's FLUFFY and WARM and SOFT before they go to bed (if it's late and/or eugene is particularly Tired) or the sofa (if they have a day to spend after this) to cuddle a lot

babe has a kink and it's called "making my tired anxious boyfriend forget that there's a world outside my dick and his ducky pj's"

thank you for your time

[kyberled]

MUN EMOJIS

@hxdrostorm​ asked:

Send 🔍 for something you look for on other’s blogs Send 😊 for likable quality for a role play mun to have Send 🔪 for a fandom you refuse to associate with

Send 🔍 for something you look for on other’s blogs 

First off, easy to find rules, about, etc. That’s key. If I can’t find your info, I’m not gonna want to follow you. I also like to see some certain things when I find those rules. Name and pronouns are a huge one - or at least, just name, and I’ll ask pronouns in DMs. I just wanna know how to refer to you properly. Also, triggers and things that you don’t want to interact with help. Lets me know right out what toes to not step on. As for bios, just gimme something. Point-form stats are nice, cause it lets me skim over and figure out the basics. If you include a detailed bio on top of that, great! It gives me stuff to work with. Beyond that, I look at whether or not you have things tagged. I’m gonna want to see if you frequently post or write about things that squick me out. I’m gonna see if our writing styles mix. I might check and see what kind of ooc reactions you have with people. How frequently you post. The ratio of IC to OOC. That kinda thing. Most of this isn’t necessary to whether or not I follow you, it just helps me get to know what I’m in for. Just be yourself! If we vibe, we vibe. 

Send 😊 for likable quality for a role play mun to have 

Enthusiasm! Good old fashioned enthusiasm. Let me know you want to be here. Be passionate about what you write. Come ramble to me about your characters. Scream in my IMs or Discord or notes about a headcanon you just came up with. Show me some art you just drew or a drabble you just wrote. If you have thoughts, comments, questions about things I’ve made or written, send them to me. We’re here to have fun, so if I see you actually having fun, I’m gonna be so stoked to not even just write with you, but talk with you in general! 

Send 🔪 for a fandom you refuse to associate with

Ugh, the F/M.A B fandom. Some folks who’ve stuck with me long enough - Alex, E, and Darcy - will remember why. There are only a few select people from that group I still talk to (mostly the aforementioned three). For those who might not have heard this one before, I’m putting it under a cut. TW for mentions of noncon/dubcon, pedoph*lia, attempted suic*de, general drama, call out posts, harassment, homelessness… Honestly, this list should tell you all you need to know. 

So, the long and short of it is someone got accused of writing pedoph*lia ships and noncon/duncon content of the aforementioned ships. To this day, I dunno if they actually did. I didn’t know or write with them, so, I was kind of in the dark. (I’d actually never heard of them until all this went down.) Then the person who accused them doxxed them and the fandom exploded. Half the dash was saying the accused did nothing wrong (in that the allegations were baseless) and the doxxer was fucked up, half was saying the inverse. Meanwhile, I was over in my little corner just staring wide-eyed like ‘guys what the fuck, we were just meming about kids adopting their guardians by force, what did I miss’. Then the accused said all the drama pushed them to drink a container of bleach and they were posting that from an ambulance as they were being taken to hospital and even MORE people started freaking out. Demanding to know how anyone could push someone else to that and this is what the internet and smear campaigns do, et cetera. So people were upset about that, and then someone ELSE chimed in and said that, actually, they’d had a friend who’d ingested bleach before, and it’d be virtually impossible for the accused to be posting if they were being rushed to hospital from that. So then half the people started getting upset at the accused for lying (possibly, I never stuck around to see the outcome) and the other half got mad at them for implying the accused would fake this. And on top of that, there were two friends, we’ll call A and B, who were on opposite ends of this mess, and were also pretty big players in the RPC. The thing about them is, they were both really nice people, in my experience. I talked to and wrote with them both. They seemed cool. We had a lot of threads, we talked OOC, we had headcanons for our muses together, and A even invited me to be a part of a big worldbuilding project with a few other friends. Then, being pulled onto opposite sides, arguments happened. This next bit I only heard from A’s side a while after the fact, in one of the last conversations we had before we fell out of touch (not for anyone’s misdeeds. We only had each other on skype, I stopped using Skype, you know the deal). According to A, B was supposed to be coming to live with them to get out of a rough situation (I think they were being kicked out, I can’t remember) and had agreed to pay part of the rent as a roommate, since A lived mostly on their own and couldn’t afford another person if B didn’t help out. But they had the arrangement, so everything should be good. Then B lost their job (or something, this was almost a decade ago if not more), and just assumed A would be cool with them not paying, and also didn’t get the necessary paperwork to cross the border but didn’t think it would be an issue, etc etc. And this all came out in an argument over the whole did-they-didn’t-they suicide thing. 

It got to the point where this was the only thing on the dash. There weren’t any memes, no IC content, no OOC content that wasn’t related to all of this, it was a mess. If you weren’t involved, someone you knew was, and all of us that were playing the Bacon Scale game with it were just wondering what the hell was going on. Oh, and before you ask, this all happened in about the span of a few days, then persisted in drama and echo chamber-ness for over a week. I don’t know if it kept going after that. I dipped and never really looked back. 

I don’t necessarily regret that blog: It was a lot of fun in its hayday, I met some amazing people I still talk to (Motley, Darcy, Alex, Erika, Rodi), and it was my first foray into bigger fandoms. I wouldn’t be here without it. But fuck, I’d never go back there, if you get my drift.

[boxofbonesfic]

If you don't mind me asking, how do you make your master lists? The tutorial I tried following was a little confusing and I love how you have your masterlists organized! ❤️

not at all boo!! i’m gonna stick this under a cut cause i rambled—

i’m actually in the process of revamping my masterlist, because it’s getting kinda long, lol, but i’ll tell you what i did! the first part is just making sure to tag all of your work adequately. i usually tag it with “boxofbonesfic”, along with the title, like “Pattycakes fic” or “Pattycakes 5”.

The masterlist itself can look however you want, but essentially you’re creating a little library of the work you’ve written. if you want, you can make a moodboard to have at the top, if you wanna get fancy-schmancy. (i make all my moodboards and banners on Canva—it’s free, and you can upload any pictures you want!)

i like emojis, so i just picked out some that matched common themes in my work, but other authors do cool things like different text styles on their theme etc, to differentiate those sorts of things. so that’s where i got the ❤️🖤🤍❤️‍🩹💖 system; black for dark fics, white for soft!dark, red for smut, bandaged heart for angst, and sparkle heart for fluff! you could try something similar (or just use that, if it works for you lol, i’m sure i’m not the first person to come up with it)

as for the breakdown, basically i went from general to specific. if people want to just see everything i’ve written, they can click ‘all my work’, which is why tagging is important! that ‘boxofbonesfic’ tag is what i use for every, single fic or drabble or headcanon i post. then, i get more specific. drabbles? i have a tag for that. headcanons? one for that. etc!

now that i’m starting to amass quite a large body of work, i’m going to break my masterlist down further, hopefully i’ll have it done by this weekend. i’m going to have a Marvel link, a Star Wars link, and a LOTR link, which will all have more specific breakdowns by character! i really hope this made sense, and please feel free to ask for clarification, i want to help!!

[paradise-creator]

hello hello (pls i keep spelling things wrong sjdsjdjs) can i please emergency request some haikyuu characters comforting their s/o who’s not feeling well and is just having a bad week? i’m sick and i kinda wanna just sit down and cry lmao.

i don’t have any specific characters but i’ll send a little list of my faves and u can pick from there if you’d like! <3 also, thank you, amorette. i really appreciate it, pretty!

cece’s faves —

yachi, kuroo, ushijima, tsukishima, yamaguchi, goshiki, shirabu, oikawa, iwaizumi, matsukawa, kita, osamu, atsumu, bokuto, akaashi, etc etc.

✃ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

                        ┊         ┊       ┊   ┊    ┊        ┊

                        ┊         ┊       ┊   ┊   ˚✩ ⋆｡˚  ✩

                        ┊         ┊       ┊   ✫

                        ┊         ┊       ☪︎⋆      

                        ┊ ⊹    

                        ✯ ⋆      ┊ .  ˚

                                   ˚✩

Emergency request

Type: headcanons and drabble

Characters included: Yachi, Ushijima, Goshiki, and Tsukkishima

Word count: 931

Genre: Fluff, comfort

Yachi:

- Yachi is such a sweet heart.

- At first she would panic cause she didn’t know what to do

- But, in the end, she does what she does best, comforting

- She would do her very best to comfort you with all of her abilities.

- And after the first time, she came prepared

- She had created a photo album with all her favorite moments with you

“I-I know it isn’t much! B-but I know this will really help,” Yachi said as she placed the photo album in front of you. You were snugged up in a blanket den curtesy of your blond lover. And as you both gaze in to the album she created, she explained every single thing on why she absolutely fell in love with those moments. She just can’t help but feel so sentimental in these moments that she starts blabbering about each and every moment. “OH OH! And this one,” She then said as she pointed to a picture. It was a picture of you and her enjoying the sun set view. “Remember when we went to Tokyo for the training camp and Hinata took a picture of us! It’s so pretty,” Yachi said as she laughed slightly. As she continued to ramble on, you both soon forget all about your bad days and enjoyed each other’s company.

Ushijima

- Ushijima immediately knows what to do

- He’s done his research

- He took your favorite snacks, food, and desert. Anything to eat

- And if you are up for it, it might turn into a movie date

- If not, then he’ll massage your shoulders then after that cuddle session

- He’ll always whisper sweet nothings into your ear as you both cuddle each other

“I love you,” Ushijima said as his thumb caressed your cheek and his hands cup your cheek. He gently changed your position so you are slightly on top on him. He then made you look at him, he pecked your lips gently. “I love you so much. And I know things may be hard but I’m here,” He said as he pulled you closer. He kissed your forehead and placed his chin on top of your head. “Forget about your week and focus on me. Let’s just cuddle, okay?” He then said as he started softly rubbing circles on your back. His other hand, wrapped around your waist, tightly but still gentle to the touch. As you both cuddled, he kept complimenting you, assuring you, and letting you know how much you mean to him. “I just want you to know how proud I am of you, princess,” He then said as he closed his eyes, savoring your warmth.

Goshiki

- Like Yachi, he wouldn’t know what to do at first

- But he was a natural body warmer

- So with the suggestion of Ushijima, you both cuddle the day away

- He would also let you rant about your day

- To which he will respond with sarcastically funny moments

- He really gets sappy whenever this happens

As you ramble on about you week to Goshiki, he just continued to pull you as close as possible. He placed his head on your shoulder and continued to listen and sometimes even comment. Once you finish and the silent loomed over the two of you, he smiled softly and snuggled closer. “You know, I’m really proud of you,” He started as he started caressing your hair. “You’ve been through this much but you still manage to smile? So strong, my love,” He added as he hummed softly. “I love you. If you need anything, don’t hesitate to take shelter with me,” He said as he kissed your cheek gently. “Cause you are royalty, my love, and you deserve much more that the world throws at you. Even if you don’t believe me, you are worth so much more than the world could phantom,” He added as he smiled softly at you. He rarely becomes sappy like this, but you are more important to him then what words could describe.

Tsukkishima

- This salty French fry goes soft

- He will hold you close and remind you how much you mean to him

- Usually there is music in the background as you two cuddle

- But, this man will sing to you

- He will let you sleep and by the time you wake up, he will be right by your side.

- This is the only time he won’t use sarcastic comments to rile you up

Tsukkishima placed down his book and turned to you. He gently nudged you into his embrace and let you snuggle into him. “Tell this to anyone and I’ll steal back my hoodies,” He then said softly as he savored your warmth. He then started to sing along with the soft music playing in the background. His honey voice, soothing and calming. As he sang to you, he rubbed small circles on your hips and the other wrapped themselves around you. He let you hear his steady heartbeat, wanting you to be lulled to sleep, as you do need it. Once the song ended, he smiled softly at you. “I don’t say it often but, I love you, okay?” He then said as he kissed your forehead. “I know you had a bad week so let’s just sleep,” He then said as he placed you in you in your favorite cuddle position. As you both cuddled, he held your hand and continued to sing softly till you fell asleep.

Amorette's song:

Thank you for requesting! Sorry it took so long but here is your request. I hope this made you feel better. And if you need a person to rant to, my pms are wide open! Infiltrate whenever you want and stay safe :DD

[toxicpineapple]

my (personal favourite) writings from 2019

I don’t have anything for January because I guess I didn’t write/didn’t post anything then? At any rate, here are my favourite writings from every month of 2019.

---

February:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/17764769/chapters/41916899 : “To Give Life Meaning”, a 5+1 things Hinanami fic I wrote over the course of several days, mostly at night. The honourific situation with this one is messy and there are the beginnings of a lot of good lines? Like I know what I was trying to say. But it’s not the kind of thing that I would be happy posting nowadays. (Ignore the fact that it says it was completed in September of this year; I went through nine months later and separated the different sections into chapters so that it would be easier to read. I wrote and published all of it back in February.) This was the second Danganronpa fic I ever wrote.

Content warnings: Contains talk of suicide, and mentions of being suicidal. Generally in the past tense. Nobody is proactive in this fic.

---

March:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/18232343 : “Hold his hand”, the very first Amasai one-shot I ever wrote. I got the idea for this one late at night thinking about how Shuichi would react if his mom died. I was actually going to write this with Ryoma comforting him, or Kiyo maybe, but I ended up doing Rantaro because I watched all of his FTEs with Shuichi and was like… I do like this green man. Anyway, I’m glad I did, because if I hadn’t I don’t know if the Amasai series would… even exist. That’s really weird to think about.

Content warnings: Minor character death on the part of Shuichi’s mother. The focus of the piece isn’t her dying (as it is in fact from Rantaro’s perspective) so much as it is the conflicting emotions that it stirs up for Shuichi, but it’s still, y’know, someone’s mother dying. Anyway, read with caution.

---

April:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/18468478 : “Does it matter?”, a late-night fic where Aoi is conflicted about her sexuality and calls Makoto to talk about it. I wrote a lot of one-shots in April (I actually surprised myself going through them haha) but this one is my favourite because it touches on things that I don’t see addressed a lot. Makoto and Aoi are good friends. 10/10.

Content warnings: Internalised homophobia. It hasn’t triggered anybody that I know of because it’s mostly just Makoto giving advice and Aoi coming to the conclusion that she really likes Sakura in a not-so-platonic way, but y’know.

---

May:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/18776947 : “Shuichi thinks too much”, another installment in the Amasai drabbles series, and… wow. I literally only posted Amasai in the month of May. This one is my favourite (of the ones I posted in May, obviously) because it’s the one where Shuichi realises that Rantaro is claustrophobic and then they have a messy first kiss in the wake of Rantaro’s panic attack. I like fics where Character A kisses Character B and B has to be like… slow down partner… ur panicking. I also just like milking Rantaro angst so it’s a win-win. I go back and read this one periodically :)

Content warnings: Panic attacks, claustrophobia. Shuichi is exhausted in this fic haha but at least he has his shit together enough to know exactly what he’s feeling through the whole thing.

---

June:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/19210423 : “Quiet Moments”, an introspective drabble/character study in which Peko thinks about how much she loves Ibuki. Damn, I love Pekobuki. I haven’t written nearly enough for them. I wrote a lot of things in June (including an Undertale one-shot which was a strong contender for this spot just because this list is dominated by Danganronpa stuff) but this one is my favourite because it was just me… rambling about how much I love Ibuki… and projecting onto Peko. Which I do every time I write this pairing, but I didn’t make this list to call myself out, so yeah I’m just going to move on.

Content warnings: Peko briefly mentions that Fuyuhiko had to get an appendectomy within the piece, but it’s nothing intense.

---

July:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/19974424 : “Take his soul with a kiss”, a Grim Reaper AU in which Maki is Death and Kaito is a guy with the audacity to tell her to wait a week before grabbing her soul. I’ve finally hit the part of this summer where I was eating one meal a day and spending the rest of my time on my laptop writing fic. 14k words a day, babey! I wrote all my favourite pieces in July (Shuichi’s love hotel, the one where Rantaro pierces Shuichi’s ears, the domestic Hinanami, the one where Shuichi has a breakdown and everyone comforts him, that one where Shuichi is mean to Kokichi and then apologises) but this one definitely deserves to be here because it’s my favourite. I like Momoharu/Kaimaki/Harukaito (idk what y’all call it man) so, uh. Yeah.

Content warnings: Death is talked about a lot but I don’t want to spoil anything about the ending by saying shit so I’ll just??? It’s a Grim Reaper AU, procede with caution. Oh, and Kaito has a lung disease.

---

August:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/20442290/chapters/48499868 : “Causation and Correlation”, another 5+1 things fic (I have a good chunk of them) where Kyoko can hear death and so she goes around saving people. Also, in the end of the fic, someone saves her. It’s a cute fic and I love writing Kyoko so obviously this one is my favourite. (The one where Kokichi has parents and the Kaemugi fic I wrote that month are ones I really like too… this isn’t easy for me gamers ;w;) This is one of those fics where I was feeling extremely confident about my writing abilities the whole time I wrote it, and I’m still really proud of it.

Content warnings: Again, uh, death? Attempted murder, near-drowning, sickness, head injuries, and also attempted suicide. (Nobody dies in this fic, though.) Kyoko has her work cut out for her in this one.

---

September:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/20577251 : “Cigarette smoke”, a vaguely nonsensical Saimota piece I wrote where Kaito breaks down and Shuichi comforts him. I’ve only written Saimota twice and both times it’s been Kaito angst because you guys, you just, you don’t address his sadness at all unless it’s in Oumota (and we all know how I feel about Oumota). I should start referring to September as “the month of angst fics I wrote in the middle of the night” because that’s exactly what all of it was. This one wasn’t a vent fic, but there were a lot of them. September is also the month I started doing Amami week, so there’s a lot of that, too.

Content warnings: Kaito really… berates himself in this one. His internal dialogue is hard for me to read in this one because he’s super hard on himself. He also has a meltdown and starts hyperventilating at one point (and the way I write breakdowns is always super descriptive) so please make sure you’re happy and healthy before reading.

---

October:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/21195527 : “In the forever sense of the term”, what is probably my favourite Amasai fic at this moment, where Shuichi and Rantaro are forced to address Shuichi’s abandonment issues, and also there’s crying. A lot of it. From Shuichi mainly but a little bit from Rantaro too. I was surprised at how many fics I wrote in October because I was mostly focusing on Inktober I should think? I wrote a lot of original works in Inktober (though I ended up falling off the wagon at the end due to burnout) and it was a really fun experience! I think it strengthened my skills as a writer. Anyway this one is cathartic as hell.

Content warnings: The self loathing is strong with this one. It’s one of many mental breakdown fics that I’ve written this year. And there’s obviously the abandonment issues thing. Yikes.

---

November:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/21399748 : “One hundred and twenty six tiles on the ceiling”, where Himiko ends up bailing on plans she made with everyone to hang out and instead stays at home, stewing in self deprecation, until Ryoma shows up, and then everyone else comes to take care of her. Another one of those ones where everyone is there for someone after a breakdown. I like this one because Himiko is my baby and most of the angst the fandom puts out for her is centered around Tenko and Angie, which sucks because I headcanon her as having depression. Like, depression that is entirely unrelated to the people she knows kind of depression. I didn’t write a lot in November because I had a relapse, but I like this one anyway.

Content warnings: Depressive episode, disassociating, suicidal ideation, all the ugly things that come with depression. This isn’t a pretty fic. I don’t write depression as something that’s pretty or poetic because it’s not. It fucking sucks and that’s just how things are going to be.

---

December:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/21976864/chapters/52442179 : “An Ode to Yellow Carnations”, a 5+1 things fic where Tsumugi is a florist and Kaede takes different people to her shop until eventually she goes by herself. Is anyone surprised to see this one here? I wrote it for Tumblr’s Danganronpa Secret Santa Gift Exchange 2019 and went waaaay overboard with it. Which is probably why I like it so much. It took me ten days to actually complete, and I’ll frame it like I was diligently writing the whole time, but anyone who knows me knows that I never do things in that way. In truth I switched ideas for the fic four different times and then wrote half of it all in one night when I was hit with a surge of inspiration. I was really nervous that the person I wrote it for would hate it since it’s so long, lol. (Hi Alerane, I love you.) Anyway, I’m gonna think of December of this year as the month where I spent a really long time on a bunch of fics and then posted them all at once.

Content warnings: Very minor character death, mentions of alcohol use (nothing egregious, just recreational use on an outing with friends and all the characters are of age), also Kaede doesn’t go outside in this fic.

---

I’m going to try and get out one more fic before the year ends. To be honest I wasn’t expecting to have updated Search by now so I’ve been kind of sitting around wondering what I should write. Maybe I should just start on the Aki chapter, but I’m kind of putting that off because writing those chapters takes a lot of energy and Aki’s is probably going to double Tsubaki’s in length. (Which is great, since Tsubaki’s was already a monster of a chapter on its own.) I’ve had a really great year for writing, y’all. I’ve made lots of friends and learned a whole lot about myself, and my writing style, and the characters I’m trying to portray.

I didn’t include any long-term multi-chapters in this list, like The Best Lies or my Fanganronpa (rip… I swear I’ll pick it back up again soon, I love those characters) but if you want to track my progress as a writer without reading eleven different fics, I’d really recommend reading one of those, because you can see it happening as the chapters go on. There’s so much that I’d probably write differently from where I am now as a writer, because that’s just how things work. Life is like that. You do things a certain way in the moment, and then later, you wish you could’ve done them differently. It’s impossible to live your life without regrets, or things that you’d like to do over again.

But for what it’s worth, I’m really happy that I don’t have to. Thank you guys so much for sticking with me this year. It hasn’t been the best, but it’s been all that it’s been capable of being.

Here’s to a new decade.

[mistergrass]

I Got Too Carried Away With My YukiKyo Headcanons Again

Well, anyway. 

Was asked by Shark on the discord if I had fluffy headcanons for them. And I thought about what it would be like if Kyo proposed to Yuki. And then apparently I couldn’t stop. 

Have a half ramble/half freeform drabble about Kyo proposing. 

SFW Warnings: This Is Cheese Central Word Count: ~2500 (because I haven’t been concise one day in my goddamn life)

So I've always had a long standing headcanon that Yuki and Kyo really like to hike together or go on long evening walks. They're just really outdoorsy people, and I imagine if they go on vacations they avoid cities and go on more nature-esque type trips. Like they would go to California and not go to any of the LA tourist stuff, just go right up north to the redwoods and spend time in those kinds of places.

Anyway, I think they have their normal walks that they go on (and really, it's a shame that they're not pet people because any dog would be over the moon to get such long walks all the time).

They've talked about marriage a little back and forth, they've been living together for a good while now. But they both agree that they're not super romantic people, and if they get married it won't be this big thing. The conversation is really..... tepid? And wildly unromantic and very "straight to the point". Anyway, Kyo and Tohru are having lunch together just the two of them as they often do, and Kyo kinda just mentions casually what's going on with him and Yuki.

And Tohru FLIPS out, she's so excited. She wants to know who proposed to who and what the wedding is going to be like when it's going to be and HAVE YOU TOLD KAZUMA YET and just bombarding him with all these questions

And he's like "woah woah, chill out, it's not like that. We just kinda decided on it. No one proposed. We're not gonna have some dumb big wedding. It's just something we're talking about is all."

"....Oh."

And Tohru just kind of deflates and pouts, and Kyo gets irritated like, "We're not romantic people, Tohru. In case you haven't noticed."

And Tohru's like "that's not true, what about the time Yuki surprised you for valentine's day at that restaurant" (Yuki found this place that served sepcifically country-style food that was close to the region where Kyo trained in the mountains that Kyo really likes -- took him there, and then surprised him with an overnight trip at a hot springs like an hour away from where they live).

"Or what about the time that Yuki surprised you at the dojo," Tohru adds. (Kyo got his official teacher certificate for karate, and Yuki asked Kazuma if he could borrow the dojo for the night, and threw a small surprise party for him with all his tolerable friends).

And she just starts listing example after example until Kyo's like -- “I GOT IT.”

Cause the difference between them is that Kyo is all about the little gestures, which Yuki isn't great at, but Yuki is much better at the grander gestures that throw Kyo off and make him feel so important and special and loved.

And Kyo kinda puts his head on the table like "fuck." And Tohru waits for a second before she's like "soooo..... you'll do something special then?"

"Yeah, yeah, get off my back."

Because Kyo realizes he's never really... done something like that for Yuki. Never done something that focuses on him so much and makes Yuki feel like the special one. And.... Yuki’s never really had that in general. Any praise he got from their high school peers or the main house were based on things that weren't true about Yuki, or that Yuki didn't like about himself. And Kyo knows that by now. (But also Kyo’s an idiot, and if you were to ask Yuki who is the more romantic one between the two of them Yuki would say Kyo without a doubt. He’s so consistently considerate on an everyday basis without even trying. Yuki’s a little insecure about the fact that his affection has to be so deliberate at times, but I digress).

So Kyo huffs, and realizes it actually would be really nice to see Yuki caught off guard by that.... and it makes Kyo feel happy to think about how happy it would make Yuki to receive some kind of gesture like that.

So Kyo does his best to plan something. But despite it all he's not great at it. Until he kind of comes up with an idea.

(Also he's acting a little weird throughout this whole period of trying to figure something out, and Yuki figures he's freaking out because they talked about getting married and Kyo's realizing he’s not ready.

Yuki actually confronts him one night, and is like "You know... things are fine the way they are. I didn't mean to pressure you into anything." And Kyo is like ???? he never even considered not marrying Yuki as an option?

And he wants to open his mouth and say that he's wrong, but all the things he wants to say kinda step on his speech he's been working on for like a week now, so he just says instead "Don't worry about it.” And kisses him, and sorta just goes to bed. Even though he knows Yuki is still feeling a little uneasy.)

So anyway, one night, he goes up to Yuki and asks if he wants to go on a walk with him -- which is a pretty standard happening. And Yuki stretches and smiles and agrees, and they walk down the path they've walked since they moved into their new place. Their first apartment was small and crowded, and they were still young and figuring things out. The new place they've moved into is more of a town house, and they've been there about a year now. It's closer to wooded areas, like Shigure's place, and they're close to a temple that goes up a huge amount of stairs (they went there for their first new years in the new place and watched the sunrise from one of the benches at the top of the hill. They both decided they were gonna invite Tohru to come with them next year).

Anyway, Kyo leads him down the path, and they're pretty silent. Yuki tries to start conversation, but Kyo's really nervous and kinda tongue tied and can't really focus so Yuki gets the hint that Kyo's probably just lost in thought and just walks by him comfortably.

Now, more backstory because apparently even random headcanons that I come up with on the spot need this kind of bullshit:

There was exactly one (1) maid that Yuki liked in Sohma house when he was growing up that worked in Akito's house. She had other duties, but once a week, she would also clean the whole house -- and often times Yuki was there while she would. She was a nice, older woman and at first they didn't interact much. But when she would clean, she would play English songs on her little radio and hum along to them -- in particular Ella Fitzgerald. It was such a nice sound, and the woman's voice on the radio was so comforting and rich — it was so unlike how people talked to him, so cold and dispassionate. So he would silently follow her around from room to room to listen to the music.

The maid thought it was really cute, and wouldn't say anything because she didn't want to scare him off. It's a few weeks of this when Yuki finally asks who the woman singing is, and the maid tells him. Yuki starts paying more attention to his English studies because he wants to understand what she's saying. When the maid comes over, instead of lurking outside the rooms, he sits in a corner out of her way as he reads a book and she does her work silently. She also starts commenting on how skinny Yuki is (he didn't eat much at the time) and would always give him little candy treats that she usually gave to her grandkids.

She tells him how she was a little girl when the war ended, and they lived in a place that got flooded by a lot of American activity, and so she was exposed to a lot of English music growing up, and how it reminded her of her family.

There's one song in particular that Yuki starts to sing along to -- Someone to Watch Over Me

When he and Kyo start dating, and they stop being spiky little shits, and become more relaxed, Yuki starts opening up a little more. Kyo is over at Yuki's place one day and Yuki puts on Ella Fitzgerald, because once he was old enough he was sure to track down all her records and CDs and plays them while he's working now.

Someone to Watch Over Me comes on and the two are just sitting, idly, Yuki working on homework, Kyo reading one of Yuki's books, and when the song plays he starts to hum it and then clumsily sing along to it. He sits next to Kyo and takes his hand and says "You know, this song always makes me think of you."

And he sings along (though he's half tone deaf and still has a pretty bad accent, despite his grades lol)

Won't you tell him please to put on some speed Follow my lead, oh, how I need Someone to watch over me

And Kyo kind of snorts, and squeezes Yuki’s hand back and goes "What does it mean?"

And Yuki hums and goes "You should have paid more attention during English class."

Back to the present day, Yuki's interest in Ella Fitzgerald doesn't go unnoticed.

He walks Yuki along the path, and it's about a mile and a half until they reach this really pretty clearing. It's almost summer so there are some fireflies around, and the bamboo is really high and creates this cool little secluded place that they've found. When they're about to reach it, Kyo takes Yuki's hand and Yuki, still not aware of anything, takes it easily and smiles.

And Kyo stops him and is like "Hang on a second."

And Kyo looks really nervous now.

And Yuki kind of looks at him and asks "What's wrong? Are you not feeling well?"

And Kyo is looking around all frantically before he kind of snarls out, "you assholes have NO sense of timing, do you?"

And there's this really faint voice off in the bamboo that goes "sorry."

And all of the sudden the area is lighting up. There's lights placed all around the bamboo, and it gives off this really beautiful, glow. And then, music starts to play. it's Ella Fitzgerald, but it's not Someone To Watch Over Me -- it's Night and Day. And Kyo puts his hands on Yuki's waist and goes "this is the one that reminds me of you."

And Yuki is already fucking floored and is looking at Kyo and goes, dumbly, "What are you doing?"

He sways with Yuki a bit back and forth in this really awkward dance, and because Kyo isn't all that conventional of a person he just says "I want to marry you. And you'd be dumb as hell if you didn't want to marry me too, cause no one else is going to take your shit other than me."

"I want to marry you," Yuki says immediately, still shocked.

"Good. But. Shut up. Let me just. Talk."

"I want to be with you. And I'm not gonna hide that. You're not something in my life that I'm gonna hide. I don't give a shit who knows I--no, I want people to know. That I love you. And that I'm choosing you. And that you're gonna be part of my life. Forever. If you want."

Yuki opens his mouth but

"Shut up, I'm not done. I'm tired of you talking. You always have to have the first AND last word, and you don't think about what I want half the time. Let me tell you what I want without you thinking you're dragging it out of me, or whatever. Because I'm about to ask you to marry me, and then I'm gonna tell you that I don't want to just sign a piece of paper, I want people you care about... and I care about with us. I want a big fucking party because I should get some kind of congratulations for agreeing to deal with you for the rest of our lives, got it?”

And Yuki just kind of nods, and his face is starting to turn kind of red and he's breathing pretty hard.

"Good."

Kyo goes on one knee, finally. Even though this is all really out of order, and digs something out of his pocket and pops up a ring box for a gold band.

"Let me marry you, Yuki. Please. Keep me around, alright?"

And before when his expression is kind of still pinched and irritated like Kyo gets when he's embarrassed and nervous, now it's completely sincere and vulnerable. And Night and Day is still playing in the background. And he can HEAR people rustling around and he has no idea who yet and he still can't believe this is happening.

He sinks down onto his knees in front of Kyo, takes the band and holds it up. "Aren't you going to put it on me?" He asks, but he doesn't sound smug he sounds winded. And Kyo nods. And he does.

And Yuki holds his hand up in front of him and is kind of holding back tears, until he slides that hand through Kyo's hair really gently and looks at Kyo.

"Can I speak now?" Yuki asks, a little teasingly, but still pretty much caught off guard.

Kyo snorts, "If you gotta."

"I want everything you want," Yuki says. "I think that's how it's going to be for awhile. And I want to marry you. I. Yes. I don't even think you technically asked, but I'm still saying yes. Kyo."

And he leans in and kisses him, and the two kiss there in the clearing both on their knees, holding each other really really really tight, and Yuki can't help it maybe ONE tear slips past.

Anyway, the people who were hiding in the bushes were Haru, Kakeru, Momiji and Tohru. Haru was taking pictures the whole time, and the one of them breaking apart after that kiss they have framed. Because Kyo's hands are wrapped around Yuki's waist, and Yuki's hand is on Kyo's cheek, and his other arm around Kyo's shoulders, and they're both smiling at each other.

Yuki keeps the rest of the photos in a photo album along with all their wedding photos.

Once the proposal is over, Kakeru and Tohru roll out a whole picnic that Kyo had prepared for them. And Momiji is the one who set up the lights and the music, so. They all fuck off and let them have their dinner together, but not without all of them hugging them first.

Kyo tried to shoo them away after they helped him set up, but they refused. Yuki seemed happy enough that they were there, so he guesses it’s fine.

[stumacherstan]

(Request) Hey, so life's been really shitty lately, my mother's death anniversary is coming up, I'm depressed, almost all of my friends kind of abandoned me. Can I possibly get a stu and 2019 Chucky headcanons where they find out reader has been trying to fight alcoholism and trying to put on a brave face and be strong when life keeps throwing bad days and bad cards, but one evening they walk in on her drinking a bottle of liquor and crying. Comfort ensues. Ty so much. Stay beautiful.

A/N: message me! We can talk about it bb. As a recovering alcoholic, I feel that pain. I know you can do this! I believe in you! You’ll one day be clean. we both will be.

Stua Macher Drabble:

Stu was a drinker himself, but not as excessive as you. In order to make you feel more comfortable and not feel tempted, he locked everything up.

You appreciated your loving boyfriends efforts. You were 3 months strong. Sure you’ve had your urges, but thanks to the support system you had and the belief you can do it, it made you feel like those urges didn’t matter. Of course, today wasn’t your day. It just wasn’t. Nothing was going right. Nothing at all.

You don’t even know where the bottle came from to or where the others came from. You were just desperate. You needed this drink. It was the only thing in the whole world that can make you feel better. You didn’t even care. Fuck those three months. Today was horrible and the bitter alcohol going down your throat slowly made you forget.

When you started feeling the familiar buzz and airy disoriented feeling did you realize your fuck up. Your emotional drunken state couldn’t take it anymore. You started sobbing. You just couldn’t do this anymore. You drank more.

“Baby! What are you doing?!

“I’m s-so sorry!”

Stu looked at the empty bottles and took the one in your hand and put far away from you. He saw your sunken form and held you. He couldn’t be mad, not now. You needed him. You needed him right now. Stu just rocked you back and forth.

“I’m, im so s-sorry. I- I did it b-because-“

“Shhh. It’s okay. Three months, we can restart. Next time, it’ll longer than three months. Relapses happen. We know this. Relapses will happen, but you know what happens after that? Trying again. We’ll keep on trying until you’re finally clean.”

You nodded weakly. You felt so light and happy with him there with you. You still felt the disappointment but his words made you feel better. You trusted him. You trusted his words. You will get clean. You know you will. It’ll just take time.

“Let’s get to bed.” Stu stood up and pulled you up with him. Stu carefully carried you with him to the shared room. He got you out your clothes and put you in something more comfortable. He laid down next to you and held you closely. “You’ll get clean baby. You got this.”

2019!Chucky x Reader:

Chucky has been waiting all day for you to return home. He had a whole list planned for you two. He always did when you came home. Sometimes, you would add stuff in or switch things around. That’s fine. As long as you two were being best friends. Chucky heard you come in the apartment and eagerly ran to you.

“Welcome home (Y/N)!”

You didn’t say a word to him. He saw the bag in your hand.

“What’d you bring home? A fun game? A movie? Some snacks?”

You had tears coming out as you took an unfamiliar bottle out. You just stared at it with hesitation. Did you want to do this? Chucky was here, maybe.... no. Today was a bad day. You bought the alcohol to help. It was already there. Might as well. You just quickly opened it and started chugging. Tears started streaming more.

Chucky didn’t like the smell. Some of it was spilling from your mouth. He finally figured out what it was. “(Y/N)! No, stop! You don’t need it!” He may be small but he quickly climbed up the kitchen counter and took the bottle from your mouth. “Please. Just talk to me.”

You stared your Buddi doll. He wasn’t around when you had it bad, but he knew you were trying to escape the tyranny of the bottle. You told him one night. Chucky told you he would always listen. You didnt like the taste anymore or craved it after seeing the desperation in his shouldn’t be so lively eyes. You went to the fridge and drank something sweet to get the taste out. Anything to get it out.

You grabbed Chucky and swiftly went to your room. You laid down with heavy breaths coming out. You held him and started crying loudly. You just kept apologizing.

“H-hey! It’s okay (Y/N)! We’re friends. Just tell me everything!”

So you did. You told him everything that happened today. You told him about the people, the events, the little things that pissed you off, how nothing just seemed to go right. He listened to you ramble on and on. Chucky lightly patted you.

“It’ll be okay. It’s going to be okay. You dont need that disgusting stuff. You won’t ever need it. Today wasn’t your day, but there’s always tomorrow. Tomorrow will also be the day you’ll try again to never drink again. I’ll be with you every step of the way. Best friends till the end (Y/N). I’ll always be here.”

You sniffles and nodded. You kissed his little forehead. “Thank you Chucky. Play the Buddi song please.”

So he did. You both sang along to it. You sang until you finally fell asleep. Chucky made a mental note to get rid of the bottle before you woke up. But for right now, you guys can just cuddle.

[pinkletterday]

Writer's Year In Review

This year has been a revelation. I went from deeply, irrevocably believing I can't write fiction at all to knowing that I'm actually pretty good at it!

It's given me the confidence to find work as a freelance writer and editor in real life, after years of unemployment and anxious paralysis resulting from chronic illness and trauma. A lot of other factors also helped but the fic writing played a huge role in getting my shit together.

General Fic Stats:

Word Count on AO3: 92284

Fics posted to AO3: 23

Favourite Fic:

Kiss It Better (Westallen).This fic is my baby. I love little Iris and little Barry in it so much, the hurt and confusion in each other they attempted to heal, how that healing carried into their adult love and family. It will always and always be my favourite thing I have ever written. Wee!stallen is my jam, and the reason I ship them so damn hard.

Do Not Go Gentle (Westallen). Ngl, I love this for the sheer amount of truly gratifying comments. Every single one of them have been emotional and flaily. It all makes me feel like I may have finally levelled up. Hallelujah. xD

Funniest Fic:

The Care and Feeding (Queenwestallen). This is my ultimate OT3. This fic, written as a list and discussion is 95% humour and contains some of my best banter and (I feel) characterization. An element I'm really proud of is how I managed to center and include all their important non-romantic relationships in their conversations. Iris's boisterous female friends, Oliver's friends, Cisco and Caitlin's snarky commentary all shoehorned themselves into the list with hilarious and wholesome results. 

It's not a popular OT3 but I feel like it's a good first attempt to drag this ship to water. xD

Cutest Fic:

Dancing Queen (Olivarry). Even after a year this contiues to be the fic with the highest kudos ratio (except for the more recent one) and the second most bookmarked. I love getting comments on this because they are all some variation of "my teeth hurt. I have diabetes!" xD Well, I did build it around a rainbow sprinkle icing sugar donut, but there is a significant dollop of angst there in the middle. A flangst donut.

Your Vigil In My Keeping (Westallen). This fic has less than 200 hits but has the highest kudos ratio of all. I guess kid fic isn't everyone's cup of tea, but Wee!stallen is cute af yo. I headcanon the origins of Barry and Iris's steadfast partnership in this story, where her faith and belief in him is as strong as his protectiveness of her, all tied up in the language and innocence of children.

Kinkiest Fic:

WA Smut and Kink Collection. I literally just posted this yesterday lol. So far it's just a face-sitting short, but I have quite a few hard and soft kinks lined up. Westallen needs more hard smut tbh, and they have such a unique powerfully loving dynamic that every kink I'm writing has required me to come at it a little bit sideways with a whole lot of emotional focus.

Saddest Fic:

Three fics I can't choose from.

Do Not Go Gentle (Westallen). This is basically Iris's grief and fear in a raging tempest, and it's strongly implied that the future Nora has warned them of will come to pass regardless of what they do. The fact is that there already is and will be a timeline where Iris loses Barry, just as there must be one where she won't, because that is the nature of potentiality. 

The Paradigm of Uncertainty (Westallen). This was a drabble almost, that ruminates on the probability that speedsters do not erase timelines but abandon them, along those versions of their loved ones. It's as @rkwago's brilliant comment says: "Iris hurts in so many weird, cosmic ways that her life is almost an eldritch horror house," which is the most perfect description ever of what it means to be a time traveller's wife.

The Universal Constant (Gen, background WA). A lot of people find the way Barry goes off on Joe cathartic in this fic, and so do I. But it's not so simple. I don't think Joe was wrong to form the views he did, or that anyone was in the wrong really. As @sophiainspace pointed out, it's a mediation of grief and love, their parallels and continuations between parents and children and lovers. The fact that it takes Henry's death for Barry to find the adult language to articulate to Joe why he will always believe in his father's innocence is a tragedy that cuts three ways.

(This fic is also the reason I have a folder in my drive marked "how to get away with murder" and probably a likely reason to get me arrested one day. xD)

Most Popular Fic:

Strangers In The Cold (Coldflash). The Coldflash fandom is a joy to feed. This was my first smut fic which was preceded by an entire chapter of banter about nothing in particular (except it ended up establishing a background that gave birth to the Coldflash vs Olivarry polyam series) And holy wow, for a newbie writer, the response has been amazing. Looking back, I wince at a lot of writing mistakes and its undeniably rough, but it really bolstered my confidence.

(I feel a little guilty that all my other CF stories are still in my WiP folder while I update the polyam series at snail's pace.)

The Shape of Us (Westallen). I wrote this on tumblr half-asleep one night, half as a rambly headcanon...and woke up to literally one hundred freaking notes. What the hell. Now at over 260, it's the most popular fic I've ever posted on tumblr.

I never consciously intended it to be a body-positivity fic but apparently women really relate to the insecurities of growing older and watching our bodies change with marriage, children and the sheer hectic pace of life. Even my non-fandom friends reblogged it simply for its representation of "real women". Barry's response is my own wish fulfillment fantasy; the sort of total acceptance and validation that we wish we could hear it the times we can't find it in ourselves. In light of the virulent body-shaming Candice Patton has been subjected to ever since she was revealed to have gained a fuller figure in S5, I'm very glad to have written it.

Least Popular Fic:

Carry On (Gen) This character study of Oliver Queen only has 135 hits a year after posting, which is par for the course with gen. But has a solid 12% kudos ratio, which means it's probably as good as I think it is. It's one of my favourite and easiest fics I have ever written.

Love Me Like You Do (Olivarry) Lordy, if my first Coldflash smut filled me with confidence, my first Olivarry smutfic all but ruined it. I struggled with it for a long time, unlike SitC, which I suppose shows in the over-descriptions. I got carried away with the quipping and I guess Barry topping at all is really not popular with slash fans?

Still, I'm honestly toying with the idea of deleting and rewriting it. At least it was a learning experience - don't write smut unless it makes you feel horny yourself.  

Most Challenging Fic:

Do Not Go Gentle (Westallen). I think the reason stories you knock off in two hours are instantly popular while the ones you slaved over for weeks barely get any attention is because the process is reflected in the ease of reading. But this one is an exception. It was an absolute monster, taking three weeks and several revisions to wrestle into submission - and it paid off in spades!  Going by the response, I seem to have achieved the wow factor I was going for.

My only regret is that I posted it on tumblr before the last revision that finally made it work, so that too many readers saw the lacklustre version rather than the polished one.

Honorable Mention:

A Stitch In Time (Olivarry for now, eventual Queenwestallen) Baby's first multi-chapter! Admittedly chapters 3 and 4 have been languishing in my drive for a few months now and this thing has 100% more deleted scenes and outtakes posted to my tumblr than the actual story on AO3. But I'm so proud of it! I learned to write action scenes because of it, how to write climaxes, dream sequences, news articles and tell a story in several different formats. It made me rediscover my empathy for Felicity and write her as a PoV character, think deeply on Laurel Lance's losses and give voice to her struggles, and explore how a real friendship and understanding could evolve between Oliver and Iris out of their mutual love for Barry. (Centering female characters within manpain narratives, ftw! Otoh, I centered Iris so much it veered off the Olivarry rails into Queenwestallen territory on its own)

There is so much meaty conflict and delicious looming disaster in this story that I'm determined going to keep at it, even if slow and steady. If only to bring the light of Barry/Iris/Oliver into the world. xD

Holding On (Olivarry). This real-world disability AU deals with chronic and mental illness and the precariousness and personal demons of that reality. I tore out the rawest parts of my life for this fic and put them on display so that I couldn't bear to show it to anyone for a year after it was written.

I'm very glad I did finally brush it off and put it up because it has struck a chord with so many people, especially other Spoonies. The low number of hits on a fic that deals in hurt/comfort rather stings, as I can't help but think the disinterest is because of the "disability" and "neurodivergence" tags. But I still think it's one of the best things I've written and one I'll always be proudest of.

General Reflections:

Things I've learned over the past year of writing:

- Self-deprecation is not my friend. I need to be honest enough with myself to acknowledge when my writing is good, because either I self-validate and build confidence or I become a black hole of insecurity where validation goes to die. And if I think I'm a bit better than I actually am, it's not just okay but necessary to believe it.

- What I call writer's block is perfectionism, anxiety and physical and mental fatigue. If I don't eat, sleep, hydrate and acheive a relaxed mental state, I won't be able to write. 

- Momentum is more my friend than any amount of inspiration and motivation. Sitting my ass down and make it a habit to churn out X number of words a day, even bad writing, will do more to help me than polishing an idea to a high shine. 

- If I don't forgive myself for the stories I can't write I'll never write anything. I am doing this for free, to share the love and joy and therefore obligated to no one. 

- I'm capable of writing things I don't have the first idea how to write. My fingers on a keyboard can paint the picture my brain can't visualize. 

I don't believe in New Year's resolutions, but I am going to make it a personal goal to write at least 15k words per month, learn to stick to a posting schedule where possible.  and end next year with an additional 150k words posted. 

To everyone who follows this blog, commented, reblogged and liked my posts - I see and remember and appreciate every one of you. You're the reason I feel seen and valued and why I am motivated to keep writing through all the difficulties life throws at me. <3<3<3

[rocknrollsalad-moved]

Day twenty-six of the December Prompt List: There Is a Thing As Too Much This comes from a headcanon of mine that I love, love, love and apparently decided to explore from the other side of things? I’m not sure. This thing wrote itself. Anyways, I’ve always headcanoned Bruce as a child stopped talking. After his mom’s death it was his childish way of taking control of a life he lost control of. Now when he’s overwhelmed, things are too much, he’s lost too much control, he stops talking. There’s enough chatter in his mind. This is all about Tony being left to deal with his partner not speaking and trying desperately to be what Bruce needs in this situation. (there’s so much more I could say here but the notes on a drabble aren’t the place)

Tony didn’t realize what was happening at first, he asked Bruce a typical litany of questions and each was answered without a word. It wasn’t unheard of, sure it was a lot of questions at once but Bruce wasn’t known for long-winded answers.

Something Tony used to hate until he found those early mornings where Bruce would speak for an hour straight. Or when Bruce would straighten his back and pull all the control of the room to explain an idea. Bruce spoke plenty but only when it was important. He was the opposite of Tony and his constant stream of words. When Bruce said more than a sentence it was because it was meaningful.

Or you were meaningful.

Now wasn’t one of those times and the Asgardian mark that hadn’t left the lawn in three years wasn’t something of importance in Bruce’s world. It wasn’t in Tony’s either but he wanted someone to talk to. That was as simple as taking it to who would listen.

Dinner was silent too. Bruce came up to eat with Tony as requested but despite all of Tony’s efforts, there wasn’t a single word said, not even a grunt. Head nods, eye rolls, and what Tony thought was a huff but it could have been the heater kicking on too.

Things were starting to register as weird. This was officially a strange situation and Tony didn’t want any more strange situations. Since he’d built his first suit he’d been jumping from the least enjoyable weird scenario to the next. Not like college where strange or weird was fun.

Giving Bruce the better part of twenty-four hours seemed like a wise plan. Which was harder than Tony thought. He knew he’d buried himself in projects and gone on vacation for far longer than this yet there was nothing that could occupy his mind. Tony had always been the obsessive type. Pouring himself into building, creating, learning, and apparently harassing cute scientists.

By the time Tony caved, he was ready to deliver a one-man show about all the mundane things that had happened since they last spoke. Bruce’s very own “On the last episode….” for Tony’s life. But when the greeting was met with silence as well as the question of what he was working on, Tony knew nothing had changed.

With eyes darting from side to side Tony ran through the past few days and tried to figure out when he’d last heard Bruce talk, what was it about, and hope the context was a pleasant one. He had enough experience to know the strangest things could trigger the silent treatment but this felt different. Bruce was responding, with personality even, he just wasn’t speaking.

This was new. Not fun and exciting new but worrisome and Tony didn’t want to be worried. It was all he did but he didn’t want to acknowledge that. This was something else about Bruce he had to factor in. Periodically the man would go mute.

Instantly, Tony wanted to figure out the parameters. What brought this on? How long did it last? What would Bruce do and what wouldn’t he? There were so many things Tony wanted to know and though he was ready to start work on something to help them communicate he opted for research.

A few hours later, Tony was napping on his powered down tablet when Bruce covered him with a blanket. Rubbing his arm as comfort woke Tony but he didn’t stir. Bruce took the tablet and put it on the end table. Leaving the room only to return a few minutes later with a glass of water he left for Tony.

Drifting back to sleep, Tony stored the moments that just transpired. Bruce wasn’t mad at him, here were the terms of endearment. Not spoken but still there. Anxieties lessened as Tony fell back to sleep.

The encounter also resulted in a change of tactics for Tony. Rather than see how far this went on, passively learning the variables, he turned back into who he was at his core. Tony wasn’t supposed to just sit by idly and learn things. He’d made it this far in life by doing and then learning from his mistakes.

What he knew at this point was Bruce hadn’t uttered a word in the presence of Tony in almost two days but he did respond. The knee-jerk response that he’d done something wrong and Bruce was pissed but not telling him why was sexist and outdated.

Bruce was the epitome of lashing out when angry, the silent treatment couldn’t possibly be his style. This was something else, something greater. Tony crafted a list of reasons and went full force into testing them.

Parading into the kitchen that they shared, Tony picked up telling a story though Bruce wasn’t there for the start of it. Rambling through the events of his last business meeting, filling the silent room with noise as he rummaged for a snack. Bruce barely looked up from the plate of toast and fruit he was eating.

Nothing yet meant Bruce wasn’t listening, Tony knew that and so he carried on. Bringing his own plate of food to the table still spouting words like he had a daily quota to meet. As time wore on, though, the challenge of coming up with things to say outweighed the want to talk and Tony let his story taper off.

When it was clear this wasn’t a pause to eat, Bruce looked up with a smile that had Tony hearing “I knew you’d tire yourself out eventually” though nothing was said. It wasn’t that far off from the look Bruce would give when his test results were right and Tony’s were smoldering in a pile of ashes guarded by Dum-E and his fire extinguisher. Bobbling his head to say ‘yeah, yeah, yeah’ Tony gave a smile in return.

The joy was short-lived, they were both done eating and Tony grabbed their plates. Before standing he called out “Friday! House cleaning mix!”

“Sure thing, boss.”

Her response hardly finished before Judas Priest’s Painkiller started through the speakers and gradually increased in volume. If Bruce had wanted to speak now he couldn’t be heard. Tony put the dishes in the sink, letting the water warm up a few seconds he turned to find Bruce with his hands over his ears.

He didn’t get up and leave the room, he didn’t shout about the volume or tell Friday to turn it down. All things Bruce had done before. This was new. Hands over his ears, head down almost resting on the table, and leg bouncing rapidly.

“Friday, kill the music! NOW!”

Tony knew what he was looking at, he’d been there. Not exactly there but with enough similarities, he knew. Bruce suffered in silence all too often, it drove Tony crazy but there was nothing he could when Bruce disappeared for days or took two-hour showers. Tony hadn’t had to take care of Bruce in this state.

He walked towards Bruce, stopping a few feet in front of the table. “That was too much, I’m sorry.”

Keeping his voice soft and quiet, Tony massaged his thumb in the palm of his left hand. Bruce didn’t pull his hands down but his leg had stopped shaking. Despite the lack of movement, it still looked like Bruce was uncomfortable, like his skin was crawling and it left a pain in Tony’s heart. What was left of it was crumbling. With a soft look, Tony turned and left the room.

Bruce needed time but Tony did too. The knowledge that Bruce wasn’t behaving as he normally would didn’t transfer to something was wrong. It should have. Tony should have gone there instantly and he was kicking himself for playing scientist rather than a friend.

By the time Tony went back into the kitchen, Bruce was gone. Tony assumed the worst, Bruce wasn’t just gone from the room, he’d left the city. Friday knew and Tony cursed making these programs so successful.

“Dr. Banner is in his room. Would you like me to alert him to your arrival?”

“No, don’t do that.”

The unspoken thoughts hung on the tip of Tony’s tongue, chastizing himself for learning now to keep quiet. Where was that skill yesterday?

Shuffling through the kitchen, off to stare at papers and blueprints while his brain wandered miles away, Tony gave another command to his AI. A last attempt at kindness.

“Friday, I want you to leave Dr. Banner alone. Stop all observations on his quarters. And don’t let anyone in.”

It was another stab in his heart to talk about Bruce’s room as something that existed separately from his own space. Everything had been theirs for too long.

After watching the amount of sunlight be the only thing changing in the lab, Tony carried himself off to bed. Now all the light was artificial, the cityscape was missing from the view out his bedroom window and Tony briefly entertained the thought of programming his windows to replicate the skyline he’d grown accustomed to. Even the Malibu home had traces that life existed beyond the walls of his home, here Tony had nothing more than trees.

Looking up at the ceiling now, laying on the bed with his feet barely off the ground, Tony took himself down a dangerous road. He thought about all the times he’d been isolated. Whether it was purposely shutting his parents out and longing to hear his mom’s singing along with the faint piano playing or it was when the world was taken from him. Tony dared to let his mind think about how quiet space was and thinking he’d never hear another voice again but only for a moment.

Solitude, self-imposed or not, always needed one thing; someone wanting to push through. It was Rhodey searching for days to find Tony in the desert. Mom calling and leaving a message even though she was at the other end of the same house. Someone always pushed in. As Tony reflected on the times he’d shut people out, he put the same feelings on Bruce.

[ It was nice to share breakfast with you, we should do that more often. I’m told I’m pretty good at cooking eggs. ]

This was Tony trying to show he’d grown. Not forcing himself into Bruce’s space, he sent a message to say that he was there to talk to if it was wanted. Adding in that Bruce was enjoyed and would continue to be the company of choice in the future was just a bonus. None of it required an instant response, allowing Bruce to take his time.

An hour later, propped up on pillows and subscribing to the idea that anything is pajamas if you fall asleep in them, Tony’s phone chirped with a new message.

[ Odd. I heard you were terrible at cooking eggs. ]

There was a burst of laughter, Tony relaxed against the mountain of pillows, they were all his to use tonight anyways. The creases in Tony’s forehead eased, lines showing around his eyes instead now.

[ Anything Rhodes tells you is a lie. ]

[ Rhodes could write your biography better than you. ]

[ My memory is hazy on A LOT of subjects ]

[ I’ll remember that for later. I’m heading to bed. ]

[ Goodnight, Bruce. <3 ]

Bruce didn’t reply after that which left a slight sting on the otherwise amazing conversation. With the worry lessened, Tony allowed himself to sleep as well. Far better than the night spent fretting over all he’d done wrong and would continue to do wrong in the future.

Nothing changed the next day. Bruce didn’t text, he didn’t show his face, and the one time Tony dared to check Bruce was sitting on his bed reading. He looked relaxed, which was nice to see but Tony wanted to be there too.

Before bed that night, Bruce text a simple Thank you and didn’t respond to anything after that.

The next morning Tony dragged himself and a briefcase down to Bruce’s room. With bags under his eyes, a two-day-old shirt, and an extra large mug of coffee, Tony set himself up at the coffee table in the living room area. Arranging everything as though it was a draft table or his desk, Tony set to work. If Bruce could go about things like this was normal, so could Tony.

Like a cat coming out to investigate, lacking the authority of a dog or even a big cat, Bruce took note of the changes. Crossing the floor of his own room like he didn’t belong, book tucked against his body, and still without a sound. Bruce sat down on the couch, making himself comfortable.

Tony didn’t say anything, he didn’t want to scare Bruce off as the man eased his feet behind where Tony was sitting. Letting Bruce lay his head on the armrest and get comfortable before speaking, Tony looked at how comfortable Bruce was.

“Are you still not talking?”

“No,” Bruce’s eyes fell and he pulled the book up to hide behind.

“Alright, we can do that.”

With a nod of his head, Tony went back to work. He wanted so bad to show Bruce he was supported even if he couldn’t speak but by the time he’d figured a way out, Bruce was speaking again. Tony scribbled down some notes on the press release he was reading. Taking the beat to get out of his own head. This wasn’t about him.

After writing a quick note in the margin, Tony switched the pencil to the other hand, reaching behind him to find Bruce’s forearm. Rubbing his thumb over the bump left by the bone, Tony heard the soft sigh telling him this was okay.

Bruce pulled his leg up, resting it against Tony’s back. Both continued with their busy work. Bruce had to use the back of the couch to help hold the book up when he needed to turn pages and Tony’s notes were a little harder to read but they needed this moment.

Leaning back a little, Tony shifted his attention to a new patent he’d been dying to look over. One page into he pressed back further and Bruce got the hint, pulling his leg up and resting it on Tony’s lap. The other leg soon followed allowing Tony to rest back against the coach, relaxing tired muscles.

For hours they sat their together, not a word said out loud but telling each other everything they needed to hear. Bruce ended up asleep before Tony could bring up questions of why he’d given up taken. Something Tony assumed was for the best. Talking about it now wouldn’t make anything better.

It left things for Tony to fill in the blanks. Unlike so many times before, filling in the worst possible scenario, Tony opted to take from this that this is what Bruce did on the run. Of course, the other guy was part of that but when everything got to be too much, Bruce took off. Now, he was sticking around.

Tossing the papers he’d been rereading to the coffee table and taking Bruce’s book to read instead, Tony rubbing a calming hand along Bruce’s thigh. Two days ago everything looked like it was heading towards the worst possible destination but Tony sat there reading, knowing everything was going to be alright.

At least for now. 

[seenashwrite]

The Nail: August 2017

The Nail isn’t about perfection. It isn’t about award-level contenders. It’s about seeing focus and effort and hard work radiate off of the screen.

And The Nail’s purpose isn’t to highlight genres of fics or specific ships or pieces written during a certain time frame - the sole focus is quality.

Character dimension. Writing with clever readers in mind. Solid world-building. Tension through boundaries. Crazy crisp dialogue. Incredibly tight plotting. Big emotion.

And though yours truly - nice to meet you, new folks, I’m Nash! - is editor of the list, the goal is for YOU to curate the content.

Read more about how all this came to be, find past editions, see what factors are considered when constructing the list, and how to get your recommendations in/be a curator HERE.

Hey, ramblers? Let’s get ramblin’.

For your reblogging convenience, here’s The Nail Master Post of Editions!

Quickie Nash Note:

As this project evolves, I'm still determining the best way to present it for easiest reader use.

And so, faithful followers of The Nail, you'll notice a touch of a categorization change-up. The lengths are still the m.o. vs. type ["angst", "fluff", etc.], but are now listed in order of word count, low to high. The rest of the categories remain the same, plus a new one that may or may not appear on every edition [you'll see why!].

I've also put a new page on my blog, mainly for authors, with explanation for things they may question regarding this format - things I’ve mentioned prior, but it takes up too much space. Some of the current FAQs are....

- Why did someone make up a summary/why didn't you use my summary? - Why did someone make up a title for my story/poem? - What are those Q comments? - Is Nash actually reading all of this?

One last thing: The Nail is meant to go out the first full week of each month, and was mostly ready this weekend, however I just wasn't in a jovial, woo-hoo mood, I made a brief post why, I've no doubt each and every one of you understand, but you have my apologies nonetheless as poor time allocation on my part meant this wasn't out at some point during the past week.

XO - Nash.

* ~ * ALL FROM THE WORLD OF "SUPERNATURAL” UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED * ~ *

- SUPERNATURAL SUPERSTARS - Organized by length.

THE BOY KING'S DEMONS  -   @rex-daemoniorum / @vengeuse WORD COUNT - 279

Sam understands that there are exceptions to even his own rules. 

Q: Nice detail, pertinents given painted the picture effectively/no belaboring; through-line present of Sam's ability to relate without spelling it out/written for intelligent readers; complexity of situation related in short amount of space

[Nash Note: Additional shout-out to @azazelsocks, who provided a high-quality prompt, as - if your humble editor may be blunt - most fic prompts are beyond lame. Well done, 'Socks.]

--> I cannot tag these folks, if someone could kindly let them know or give it a go in your reblog

CIRCUMSTANCES -  @jessmoorechesters WORD COUNT - 347 words As years pass, the Moores have often found their thoughts turning to Sam.

Q: While perhaps started as headcanon, reads third-person omniscient; emotional, rambling, almost panicked cadence/style/lack of caps/punctuation absolutely works for this subject matter; nice full-stop short sentence toward end; inclusion of poignant details/no unneeded detail

[Nash Note: I already had this on the list, had a couple informal suggestions to check it out, spotted it more than once in my feed - overall, this resonated with many of you, and rightfully so.]

DESIGNATED DUTIES  -  @fanforfanatic  WORD COUNT - 412

A tale about the seemingly ordinary things we do for one another.

Q: Moves at a crisp clip; heartfelt without bending sappy; several great lines/points of humor, prevents getting too heavy given the short length/action in question; nice cap-off/prompts reader to use imagination while not ending on a proverbial cliffhanger

HELLO, DARLING  -  @whispersandwhiskerburn  WORD COUNT - 789

Crowley and Billie have a little chat.

Q: Excellent use of vocab in descriptions; quick, crisp dialogue; spot-on characterization; kept story moving/pacing well done; didn't waste time on explaining things/rehashing things readers already know from watching the show/written for clever readers

SHAPE OF YOU  -  @winchester-family-business WORD COUNT - 1K [minus song lyrics]

In which Dean walks into a bar, has a drink, meets a woman, and whether it's for now or forever, it's definitely meaningful.

Q: A get-in-and-get-out in the opener, setting the scene with just enough information and moving on to the actual story/no wasting time with a long set-up; excellent use of a "gimmick", re: initial communication; nicely fleshed-out protag who has her own thing going on, which he respects, which is in line with the character we know; took a commonly used set-up and took it to a thoughtful but not belabored/shmoopy place

GOOD NIGHT, LITTLE KING  -  @moonlightcas WORD COUNT - 1.6K

At the age of six, Sam is visited by Lucifer.

Q: in medias res; excellent pacing; perfectly plausible in canon; slightly chilling and pressing and foreboding without being suffocating; timing of the name reveal is Absolutely. Spot. On.

ONE, TWO, THREE  -  @kathaswings  WORD COUNT - 3.4K

A trip to a bookstore turns out to be more than you - or Sam - could have imagined.

Q:  in medias res; structure that would please any screenwriter; meet-cute without being immature/shmoopy/saccharine, specifically - protag didn't turn into a pile of weepies or gigglies/displayed strength; nice choice to include action; solid ending/author knew when to step away from the keyboard

[Nash Note: author's inspiration is revealed post-story, however they kept a light hand/did not merely re-hash source material bit-by-bit & just throw SPN atop it, instead made it their own - points and gold stars for this, always]

SUNDOWN, SUNDOWN  -  @thayerkerbasy  WORD COUNT - 6.2K 

"Crowley was done. After hundreds of years and one last sacrifice, he was done. Except, somehow, he wasn't."

Q: in medias res; spot-on characterization; tackled character departure in unique manner that could have easily gone shmoopy/author demonstrated restraint in walking the emotional line/kept that slightly off-kilter tone; moved at quick clip/efficient structure/fluid; touched on things/events seen in show but did not belabor/used as tool vs. crutch; phenomenal end dialogue/last line

- POEMS & POETICAL PROSE - Mostly quick reads, these are actual poems of any structure & short [< 2K] stories that have a poetic feel to the narrative with appropriate use of poetic verbiage given the subject matter and / or setting; pieces in the less-than-300 words neighborhood are considered quality in their entirety, therefore no "Q" notations; organized by length.

SECOND FALLING  -  @vintagesam  WORD COUNT - 135

"Despite the silence in the church, the earth is deafening."

INTOXICATION  -  @copbydayfangirlbynight  WORD COUNT - 199

"Out of nowhere, these two guys you’ve never seen show up and slip onto the bar stools next to you."

THE LEGEND  -  @quailpower  WORD COUNT - approx. 300 words

Exploring the costs of immortality, and what one angel chooses to do with his time.

JULIET  -  @roxy-davenport  WORD COUNT - 1.7K [minus song lyrics]

A night in the life of Crowley's beloved hellhound.

Q:  HERE [Nash Note: Short version? Knowing when it is appropriate to inject "flowery" verbiage into a narrative. Hint: fits the time period and/or character, is kept crisp, to-the-point, and used sparingly, regardless]  

- MULTI-PARTERS - Stories with a minimum of 2 parts, max of 3-to-4, with modestly sized [1-to-2K] chapters; completed as of this list; organized alphabetically by title. 

None this time! [but I’ve got a couple bookmarked whose wrap-ups appear to be en route]

- SERIES SPOTLIGHT : SUPERNATURAL & SPN CROSS-OVERS - Works that are completed series, as well as ongoing / in progress series, with at least 3 parts published as of/prior to the edition of The Nail in question; unfinished series must have been updated within roughly 6 months of this post;  these are lengthier than multi-parters, getting into a 5K+ range per chapter; organized alphabetically by title.

MISE EN PLACE  -  @sp-oops  

A look inside the ways you  - and the rest of the family - help Dean deal with the effects of the Mark of Cain.

Q: in medias res; quick, crisp dialogue & pace; no heavy-handed/laborious descriptors of setting/emotions, whether internal or verbal; nice character development/casual, easy feel to character interactions; sex fit into plot organically/didn't feel forced; plausible reactions by Dean/Sam/protag regarding the complexities of the residual impacts of the mark; witty humor throughout; nice cap-off/author knew when to step away from the keyboard  

Curated by @smi727 , who said: "Stumbled upon this little beauty of a series recently. I was seriously blown away by the plot, the writing, the reader’s personality, everything! Please Nash, share this wonderful writer with the world!"

- RANDOM FANDOMS -   All types, all lengths, all the things that aren’t SPN but are still pretty damn super; organized alphabetically by title.

AGENT 15  [series in progress]  -  @bellamysgirl

[MARVEL - AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D.]

"Agent 15 was one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s top agents - that all changed when a mission went terribly wrong... but Coulson found a way to drag her back."

Q: in medias res; moves at a quick clip/no time wasted on extraneous detail; well-done characterization of both known/O.C.; reads as if watching episodes/movie; nice format/use of time flip vs. heavy exposition telling another character about those events; keeps intensity while splashing in moments of camaraderie

VERY MUCH FAEBLOODED [drabble]  -  @mickeyrowan

[POTTERVERSE]

"She knows she’s different. She’s always been different... No place lets her forget this."

Q: Introspective without taking the reader on a deep, angst-filled dive; even-handed character portrayal; tone consistent; nice choice of event highlighting vs. a traditional narrative; well done on complementary kick-off/wrap-up

WHO YOU ARE [one-shot]  -  @blackcaptainrogers

[MARVEL - AVENGERS]

Bucky knows showing love takes on a variety of forms.

Q:  HERE

[Nash Note: Short version? Your audience consists of such variety, it’ll take your breath away. And, well...]

On that piece of white paper, Sam wrote, "Write about me sometime." And I typed something back to her, standing right there in her bedroom. I just typed, "I will.”  ― Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower  

- ORIGINAL WORKS - Anything from haiku to novella; pieces in the less-than-300 words neighborhood are considered quality in their entirety, therefore no "Q" notations; organized by length.

IT IS SO TIRING TO BE DIVINE  -  @mythaelogy WORD COUNT - 52

"The architecture of your bones was built by conquerors."

MYSTERY GIRL  -  @inkskinned WORD COUNT - 111

"[A] girl who convinces you of magic, who flickers just a little on the edge of reality..."

I HAVEN'T LOOKED AT THE STARS IN A MONTH  - @poemsforpersephone  WORD COUNT - 125

"It’s an easy thing, to open a window, to step outside."

A TRADITION  -   @wakor-rising / @wakor  &  @sonatagreen   WORD COUNT - 189

"In peacetime, the ruler grows their hair long. In war, they cut it short."

--> I cannot tag these folks, if someone could kindly let them know or give it a go in your reblog

NEW YORK CITY TO RICHMOND  -  @haleyincarnate  WORD COUNT - 269

"I wonder if he knows that I can see the trying part of him..."

THE HOUSE OF GRUMLY  -  @erinnightwalker  WORD COUNT - 553

"Everyone knew that the Widow Grumly’s granddaughter was a werewolf."

Q: Sharp start with a phenomenal choice of an opening sentence; took a "historical fact", ran with it, and created a captivating world / plot in an incredibly short span of time; formatting, flow, verbiage crisp; nice & layered/written with a clever audience in mind

THE ADVENTURES OF ROXY AND JUJU   - @wheresthekillswitch  WORD COUNT - 2.4K  [part one/series in progress]

"JuJu finally relents and hands over the car keys to Roxy. It couldn’t possibly go more wrong than it did the last time Roxy drove…. right?"

Q: in medias res; crisp dialogue; absolutely engaging, witty characters developed in a short amount of space; vivid descriptors without being heavy-handed; leans into a vignette [character study] feel vs. hashing out a distinct plot; nice intro/kick-off for a series, though if author opts not to proceed, works just fine as stand-a-lone...

[...which is why I broke my own damn series criteria rule, so sue me. -N.]

- STUFF SO CREATIVE & UNIQUE, IT JUST CAN'T BE CATEGORIZED - What it says, organized alphabetically by title.

ENTRIES  - @cardinaleyes

An inside look into the journals of Team Free Will:

DEAN

SAM

CASTIEL

Q: an ongoing pseudo-series with a creative concept; keeps distinct style for each; bonus points regarding convenience for the reader by having a "home" for each character vs. all together in one blog

JEOPARDY

In which Team Free Will plays a game.

It began with a piece of fanart by @lastlabyrinth  ....

....which got some dialogue by @phantomrose96  ....

.... which got a follow-up by @casonly, and a nice wrap-up from  @guntheramvs 

Q: Written with sharp, quick-witted audience in mind; spit-take worthy humor; great characterization, spot-on in fact regarding our host for the evening; crisp, fun dialogue; excellent collaboration by all involved

[h/t  @waywardafbabygirl ]

JOURNAL OF A MAN OF LETTERS  -  @petite-madame

From the creator: "[This is] a diary in first-person narrative written from Sam's point of view. Once a week, I post an art and a ficlet inspired by an episode or a scene. I'm following the show timeline as close as I can but I'm taking liberty with canon here and there."

Q: Extraordinary, above-and-beyond, clearly evident care, devotion, countless hours put into this project, and it has paid off many times over - there is some of the most beautiful art you'll ever see, there are stories [have a sample] that will hit you right in the feels, there are moments ranging from light-hearted to introspection, and you even have an option of platform - go HERE for the LiveJournal headquarters. Phenomenal, top-to-bottom. I am not over-selling this.

TWO AGENTS MISSING, PRESUMED DEAD - @bohoartist & @piecesofscully

[THE X-FILES]

Two agents are missing - follow the twists and turns as clues are examined, leads are followed, and information is exchanged.

Q: The planning and execution throughout was nothing short of excellent; written/developed with smart audience in mind; methodology of storytelling unique and, more importantly, appropriate for how the authors chose to unfold the plot; format/use of images was spot-on; clear through-line and tone; mystery that was engaging, teasing but not frustrating  

[h/t @itssteaksauce ]

*~* Shameless Self-Promotion *~*

Happy Reading!  XO - Nash.

* Authors, I encourage you to express your appreciation to your curator(s). Readers, if you enjoy curator selections & found them to be of quality, I encourage you to not only give the authors feedback, but also thank the curator(s) for bringing the story/series to your attention. I suspect they’ll dig it. *

[thememcry]

THE POSITIVE & NEGATIVE; Mun & Muse - Meme.

fill out & repost ♥ This meme definitely favors canons more, but I hope OC’s still can make it somehow work with their own lore, and lil’ fandom of friends & mutuals. Multi-Muses pick the muse you are the most invested in atm.

My muse is:   canon / oc / au / canon-divergent ( potentially ) / fandomless

Is your character popular in the fandom?  YES / NO. 

Is your character considered hot™ in the fandom?  YES / NO / IDK.

Is your character considered strong in the fandom?  YES / NO / IDK. (apparently there are youtube comments circulating about how boring or weak aerith is. if an explanation needs be provided for how strong of a woman, character, and fighter she is in her own regard then the point of the character is missed entirely.)

Are they underrated?  YES / NO.

Were they relevant to the main story?  YES / NO.

Were they relevant to the main character?  YES / NO / THEY’RE THE PROTAG.

Are they widely known in their world?  YES / NO.  (the big baddies know of her, the little baddies know to look for her and the heroes just learned of why she’s important).

How’s their reputation?  GOOD / BAD / NEUTRAL.

How strictly do you follow canon?

      it depends entirely on the person / character i’m writing and what verse they’re in. when someone approaches me and doesn’t specify a verse i give them main verse (ff7r) and follow canon as closely as i’d like. but most of my threads diverge from canon for exploration or other purposes. i’m not concerned with how close to canon my aerith is ------obviously i’d like people to hear her voice when i have her speak, or see her performing the actions i have her commit to but i’d also like this interpretation to be my own. so when someone reads a piece of my writing they say oh yes, that’s kay’s aerith definitely.

SELL YOUR MUSE! Aka try to list everything, which makes your muse interesting in your opinion to make them spicy for your mutual.  

      i could make an entire post about all of the things i love about aerith gainsborough on its own, so i’ll try not to let this be too rambly.

      she is such a three-dimensional character and she always has been. people expect just to meet the damsel in distress, to rely on cloud and company to help her out at every twist and turn. square even did a good job selling her appearance: soft pinks, gentle features, and when she was given a voice actor the first few times they always went the route of someone who had a lighter lilt. to the first glance she is very much all of those things. except it’s not all she is.

      aerith wears masks to cover the horrendous things that happened to her as a child: experimentation, the shocking loss of her mother after escaping it, crushing loneliness, an awareness that she was different and nobody around who understood the properties of that difference to explain it to her in a way that didn’t terrify her. she heard the planet, could tell when people passed away and rejoined the lifestream, surrounded by all of these voices yet so fucking alone. and did she let it make her bitter? did she become angry or cold, jaded or cruel? no. aerith is kind and giving without being too self-sacrificing and without making her boring. she’s not as innocent as people are made to believe.

      look at her first interactions with cloud. she flirts mercilessly with him, and then you discover she did it to zack, too. she’s not afraid to express herself in any fashion and she’s unapologetic about how forward and positive she is. despite all of the shitty things that happened to her, she’s still all of these great things. she’s scrappy, she can be a brat (ask the turks!) and she blooms under the cover of oppression that she lives. sure, she’s in a beautiful house with a loving mother figure but she’s in the slums and she’s being watched constantly by some part of the company that wants to see her dissected or worse.

      and she’s divine. no, literally. of course it takes her death for the realization of that divinity to really be understood by the fan base and even by her own party, but once aerith dies she becomes an actual deity. it’s sad that you don’t get her in your party any more but it’s obvious how much she affected everyone she worked with (and even those she didn’t). they spend the rest of the game avenging her, they spend the rest of the game explaining their grief over her loss, promising her death won’t be in vain. and once that’s done? there’s an entire movie where cloud deals with his grief over everything, but mainly his self-appointed guilt over her death. as if he could have changed it? i mentioned to @seraphicwiing​ in a conversation (an au one) about sephiroth and aerith ------he didn’t kill or break her. he gifted her divinity.

      so this sweet flower girl goes from a first appearance damsel in distress to an actual conduit of the planet, watching over her friends and everyone else from the spiritual plane of it. controlling the lifestream itself to rise up and crush back meteor.

      if you don’t like her by this point, it’s a lost cause. honestly, just go play pacman or something.

Now the OPPOSITE, list everything why your muse could not be so interesting (even if you may not agree, what does the fandom perhaps think?).  

      maybe strong female leads aren’t your cup of tea? perhaps you really wanted aerith to maintain her softness and have none of the bite or edge that i argue make her interesting?

      some people want a strong woman to be something like paine in ffx-2, or lightning in ffxiii, or even lulu in ffx itself ... dark and perhaps a bit brooding, angry with someone or something. they can be gentle but they’re mostly a razor sharp edge threatening to slice anyone who tries to get close to them. aerith is arguably a hot take on the stronger female leads ... even compared to tifa. you don’t doubt that a woman who fights with her fists is a tough, bad bitch ... but aerith isn’t physically strong. she’s the image of a princess honestly and that’s just not what some people want to see or deal with.

      arguably her personality can come off a bit strong. she’s snarky and, as i said, a tease. she can be bratty from time to time and that can absolutely be read as irritating, especially to someone whose looking for negative personality traits to focus on at a first glance.

      and a lot of people just see her as a love interest to cloud. and she is, i won’t deny that. it’s been further addressed in the remake with her dream sequence that cloud absolutely has feelings for her. it dredges up the age-old argument from 1997 of: tifa or aerith. why does it have to be or? why can’t he love them both in different ways? or the same way? it’s not like aerith has a lot of time to be the love interest, anyway. we all know how disc 1 ended, by this point.

      perhaps people see her end-game divinity as a deus-ex mechanic. sure, it kind of it. but the game never hid its intentions of why aerith was there. she was always special, we just didn’t know how. she always had holy, we just didn’t know what it meant at the time. but it does seem a bit convenient that right as the meteor is going to crush midgar ------here comes the lifestream, holding it back so holy can stop it! wow, amazing! darn that aerith and her connection to the planet. how awful. maybe cloud could have just braver’d it.

What inspired you to rp your muse?  

      i love her. it’s just that simple. she’s so complex and so different from other characters i tend to gravitate toward. she has a darkness but she’s good, genuinely. i usually go for people who are deeply seeded in some kind of trauma, or are just generally a piece of shit. and aerith certainly has her trauma, but she’s risen above it. she chooses to live her life as much as she can before the ultimate doom clock ticks to 0, you know?

      i admire her beauty. not just her physical beauty (and she is), but the beauty of her as a person. i wish i could be as endlessly positive as she is, even faced against such awful odds. i wish i could be the kind of person who surrounds themselves with people who love them, despite their flaws. but i am very much the opposite of aerith.

      i consider myself endlessly lucky to be a mouthpiece of some kind of version of her. this is a character i’ve had a connection to since i was like, 7 or 9 (and i’m 30 now). the very fact that i get to log in every day and express some form of this wonderful character keeps me connected to her. she has a loud voice in my head, and i think she always had. i think that remake just re-lit the flame for her.

      i wrote her a long time ago, during myspace rp days. but we all know how myspace ended. so i choose to write her now because it feels right. and i really do enjoy having someone who shines so brightly in my head.

What keeps your inspiration going?  

      the same as everyone else, i think: music, clips of the character, art of her ... but mostly? my writing partners. i wouldn’t be anywhere without the people in this site who come to me every day with an interest in my interpretation of aerith. i never expected so many lovely humans to want to see what i can do with her. but i have people dm’ing me on discord every day with ideas or thoughts, with musings or what-if’s ... and it really just keeps this muse so alive for me.

      even though i have a backlog of drafts and inbox things to answer, i can know that they will get done ... it’s just up to me as a human to write things out.

Some more personal questions for the mun.

Give your mutuals some insight about the way you are in some matters, which could lead them to get more comfortable with you or perhaps not.

Do you think you give your character justice?  YES / NO. 

Do you frequently write headcanons?  YES / NO.

Do you sometimes write drabbles?  YES / NO.  (i’d prefer to write out a reply to a solo drabble).

Do you think a lot about your Muse during the day? YES / NO. 

Are you confident in your portrayal?   YES / NO. 

Are you confident in your writing?  YES / NO.

Are you a sensitive person?  YES / NO.

Do you accept criticism well about your portrayal?

      in the proper context. i don’t want someone coming on here and telling me i play aerith wrong because it’s not what she would do canon. that’s cool, i don’t write her strictly canon. but if i’m having doubts and i ask for the feedback, i’m open to it.

Do you like questions, which help you explore your character?  

      always. i am 100% always accepting development questions.

If someone disagrees to a headcanon of yours, do you want to know why?  

      nope. i don’t care if you agree with my headcanons or not. i’m sure there are people who don’t like that i have a ship with a sephiroth, or a reeve, or that i’ve had her mess around with rufus or biggs. i’m sure there are people who despise the way i make her speak to people ... and that’s fine. they’re allowed to. but this is my interpretation of aerith and so far i’m loving everything that i’ve gotten to do with her. especially those things that include character building with others.

If someone disagrees with your portrayal, how would you take it?

      they’re allowed to disagree. they’re also not beholden to follow me. i won’t be upset if they unfollow me. it’s their comfort, after all. and i’d rather spend time on here enjoying myself than either having someone voice their dislike of my interpretation or get vocal about how they’re uncomfortable.

If someone really hates your character, how do you take it?  

      people have really hated aerith since 1997. they’re allowed to have their silly opinions of her. and i’m allowed not to entertain them.

Are you okay with people pointing out your grammatical errors?  

      please do. i’m human and i make mistakes. i’d love to fix them.

Do you think you are easy going as a mun?  

      yes, but i’ve had people mention that i seem a little unapproachable. please approach me. if you want to write with me let me know. if you want to chat ooc with me talk to me. i promise i’m an absolute dimwit on my side of the screen. i’m spacy but i try to be as nice and welcoming as possible. somehow i’ve conned a few friends out of this rpc already with my idiocy, so please please please come chat with me.

That’s about it, congrats for filling out!