#i wish i had. more time to explore myself rn

[fulloflovebees]

Bruh not to out myself as a lightweight but my cbd cigs be putting me in such a sappy mood like why did i immediately get all heart eyes over a guy who has a literal date this upcoming saturday 🤪

[crazylittlejester]

RANDOM BRAINROT

OK so I got out of class yesterday and told myself "I can't forget to send this to Jes even if it seems dumb" and then I got distracted by dinosaur videos and forgot. :( So here I am the next morning.

ANYWAY I have clearly been spending too much time with philosophers because now I'm trying to figure out how to write a proper little story about how being a hero and figuring out ethics is complicated because you have to consider the consequences of your actions (consequentialism) but you also have to consider what's your personal responsibility to do (deontology). Usually in real-life, this turns into the Utilitarianism VS Kantianism debate. ANYWAY MY POINT IS THAT I now desperately want to write a fic about this, maybe causing some sort of clash between Sky and Warriors and even some of the others? Because ethics is hard, especially when you're The Hero. And especially especially if you're trying to be a good example for your younger/less experienced brothers.

Also, we've been studying Luís Camões in my Portuguese literature class, and his poetry is actually pretty good? He's like if Shakespeare was born in Portugal during their exploration era and then got an eyepatch. I had to read some of his poetry earlier this week, and I liked how he expressed the paradoxical nature of human emotions. That's one of the things I try to focus on when I write fics (and something I think you do very well).

ALSKDKDKD ITS OKAY DUDE I UNDERSTAND GETTING DISTRACTED BY DINOSAUR VIDEOS

FUCK YEAH PHILOSOPHY!! that sounds cool as hell, im in a philosophy/psych history class rn and I’ve been thinkin about ethics and shit like that too, i would LOVE to see whatever you cook up if you end up doing that 👁️👁️

oooooooh! very cool >:) i love literature and poems so much i wish i had more energy to read like i used to (and thank you!!! i really try to focus on that im glad im doing an okay job :3 )

[souverian-are-we]

my browser is acting up and im impatient so instead of an ao3 comment, it's inbox ask time:

not only because of the nb exploration in No Lifeguard On Duty, but the theme of trusting your body as your guide... that has been really meaningful to me. i was just reflecting on that idea (irl, not related to the fic) and how the body can tell us everything and how much we ignore the calls coming literally from inside the house to brush them off in favour of inauthentic course correction/repression which destroys us (lmao heavy/important stuff!) when i was thinking about that, the lines from mike saying he has to trust his body popped into my head. lol had to tell you that.

it's how ive been feeling a lot lately and, like his character in ur fic, rn it is just about the best and only route to take! surrender and trust n all that lol. anyway, have a feeling this gonna stay with me :) thank you so much for writing it that way <3

friend, everything you are saying here is GOLD. and also so, so kind. thank you.

you're absolutely right in what you say about the ways we ignore the messages we're being sent from ourselves. the call IS coming from inside the house! it DOES destroy us!! inauthentic course correction/repression YES YES YES

honestly, if think about the times i ignore the signals of my body most, and they're at times of lowest self-love. moments where i have a deep distrust of myself or my identity, or when don't feel i deserve to yield to my body's needs.

it is RADICAL to believe yourself and to trust the signals your body is sending you. it can be hard to find those quiet messages over the din of your mind lmao, or of the world. I believe in you, friend! YES! SURRENDER! TRUST! ITS THE ONLY WAY TO SURVIVE!! wishing you all the best, hoping for meaning and light and comfort for you. <3

thanks for such a lovely message. your meaning-making is always more gorgeous than the actual themes i include in fic haha.

anyway, go listen to your body!

[bardengarde]

I hope you struggle with this ask game as much as I did. Love you.

BJ: 3, 20, 22

Hawkeye: 1, 2, 6, 12, 24

God Shan you said you were going easy on me then I reviewed the questions.... I wish I had an emote here for BJ's sarcastic smile. Love you too though, and augh.... *cracks knuckles* BJ Hunnicutt

3. Least favorite canon thing about this character?

Already this isn't fair, because you know me, you know my blog title, you know my beliefs. ...The entire episode of "Hanky Panky" though. I hate that he cheated on Peg (while still recognizing the significance of it to his character arc, and the archetype he fulfills). It was a hard fall when I got to that episode for the first time. I was rooting for him, we were all rooting for him. And the fact the date the episode released on is so close to my birthday- it felt like a targeted attack.

There are maybe other things..... won't share them here though, y'all stay safe.

20. Which other character is the ideal best friend for this character, the amount of screentime they share doesn't matter?

Assuming I'm meant to answer other than Hawkeye since they're canonically best friends, I really would have liked to see his and Klinger's friendship expand more. I love the banter they have, they seem to get along great, and even if Klinger isn't a dad in the show I feel like he has dad energy and I feel like they'd be really stoked to show each other pictures of their kids in the future and be excited for one another and the milestones their kids reach. I'll stop myself before I go too far off on the deep end with headcanons, but I think their dynamic is often fun and sweet and would love to see it explored more.

22. If you're a fic reader, what's something you like in fics when it comes to this character? Something you don't like?

To be so real with you, I've not read enough fics to have a good answer for this- like down to details. I guess my thing is knowing that BJ is a very complex characters with multiple layers- I feel like I'd get annoyed if I read a fic that took a very fanon approach to BJ and made him like a malicious liar type, which I don't think he is at all. Or if he was boiled down to jealousy or anger issues. That said, I love reading a fic where someone can nail his sense of humor or puns.

Hawkeye Pierce

1. Why do you like or dislike this character?

Why DO I like him, honestly??? I'm rewatching the show from the beginning rn and god.... I landed on this guy??? Echoing your answer when I asked you, he's definitely very complex and I am always learning new things about him/ coming to a different understanding in my interpretation of him. I really appreciate his character arc and what Alan Alda did with his character; I appreciate his views on him as well. I'm also drawn to characters where just about everything happens to them, and god Hawkeye might have pioneered that trope /hj

I'd also argue that I like Hawkeye so much because he's so much unlike the majority of my favorite characters previously. Traditionally, I've been more drawn to serious, academic characters, or charming and romantic, or softer and gentler, or even clean-cut types, and Hawkeye is.... different, to say the least. Not to say he's not capable of some of those qualities... sometimes, but he's... just vastly different than say Aramis, Enjolras, Riza Hawkeye, Peggy Carter, Philippe (mitim), and so on, and so on...

2. Favorite canon thing about this character?

Hah.... This is also hard.

I like how imperfect he is. I would personally think of him as a good person (I say while wincing a bit), but I think more accurately he is a person who is trying to do his job to the best of his ability in one of the worst possible circumstances. And he tries to help people who are being mistreated along with it, and while standing up against idiocy and injustice, and being firm in his pacifism.

Despite that, he's sleazy, disrespectful, sometimes outright mean, and overall probably not someone I would want to be close friends with in real life. (At least, not at where he is in my current re-watching of the show.) He's not a 'saint in surgical garb'; he's a person. A very flawed person. And I like that. I like him. 6. What's something you have in common with this character?

I don't think I can answer this without getting too deep with it. Let's just say I like to think I'm funny sometimes.

12. What's a headcanon you have for this character?

I know none of these are new to you Shan, but you'll hear them again!!!

-I think one of Hawkeye's favorite ice cream flavors is Rum Raisin. I think he also likes splitting a banana split with someone else (as a kid- with either of his parents, does it on dates sometimes, etc)

-I'm purposefully twisting a line given in the show about him having a 'pet' stuffed owl, and saying he had a stuffed owl toy as a kid named Hooty.

-I think his favorite color is red.

-I have a very important headcanon to myself that after his mom passed away, he was given a lot of extra care and love by the moms of a few of his friends in Crabapple Cove. One would send along an extra packed lunch with their kid to make sure Hawkeye had something to eat at school. Another stopping him to fix where his hair looked a mess and straighten his shirt for him. And so, so many hugs and endearments. None of this was done because they thought that Daniel Pierce was neglectful or couldn't take care of Hawkeye, but because Daniel was grieving as well and they wanted to help where they could and ease some of the load off Daniel's shoulders with not only him becoming Hawkeye's sole guardian, but also while still being the towns doctor as well- while he's trying to pick up the pieces and get back on his feet.

I like to think even as an adult when Hawkeye sees one of his friends mom's who had helped taken care of him, he still runs up to them and gives them a big hug. :,)

24. What other character from another fandom of yours that reminds you of them?

Hehe, there's the rub because I don't know if I have one. Mayyyybe Grantaire since I have Les Mis on the mind today, but not reallyyyyy. No offense to Grantaire but Hawkeye is a lot more competent and cares a lot more about things. But drunk, comical, not straight, in love with a blond- that checks out.

[imreallyloveleee]

multiple friends tagged me in multiple ask thingies that overlapped so i'm combining them into one mega-ask! thanks @stonerbughead & @onlyalittlebookworm & @sullypants <3 <3 <3

last song I listened to: all-american bitch, i've been having an olivia rodrigo moment lately

currently watching: mr & mrs smith. my husband loves this show. i think it's fine? the first episode was very promising and there have been highlights along the way (parker posey!!) but they've been speed-running the relationship in a way i don't find very believable or compelling. the last ep we watched was the one set in italy and i won't spoil anything here but the ending of that one made me very WTF in a way i don't think they intended?

currently obsessed with: take a WILD guess what i'm obsessed with rn

three ships: mcwexler, bughead, everlark. the holy trinity.

favorite color: red

currently consuming: nothing, but we will be ordering mexican food for dinner shortly

first ship: maria & michael on the og roswell. (sidenote: NO ONE in this world was as excited as i was when brendan fehr showed up in two episodes of bcs. no one)

relationship status: married <3

last movie: american fiction. liked it, didn't love it, REALLY wished it had more tracee ellis ross.

currently working on: a "five times" fic centered around kim wexler's 40th birthday. i will probably have a very long author's note about this when i finally finish it, but for now i will say: i find it really difficult to think up canon AUs from better call saul because pretty much all of the key turning points come from decisions the characters make, and not circumstance. and they are just so well-written and in-character that it's really hard for me to imagine them making different ones. (especially different ones that lead to the specific scenarios i want to explore.)

so, it's an interesting challenge i've given myself, to figure out how kim might still be living in nebraska at age 40, or stuck it out to finally become a partner at HHM, or still sharing an office with her ex at Wexler-McGilll, or...or...

[the-owl-tree]

oh my GOD I love your isekai warriors au.... I love that the isekai trope is becoming a lot more popular, especially in anime... please tell me more about it!!

shaking ur hand rn hello fellow isekai anime/other mediums fan :3c FIRST lemme go on my tangent about this genre and my main inspo because wow this got way too long lol

isekai is total comfort food for me haha it's my go to genre of manga/manwha/webcomic reading whenever i'm feeling down and while i generally feel the genre is getting bloated and somewhat stale in anime, i still enjoy it quite a bit. It's a cute idea with a lot of potential, i just wish less of the shows went for the wish fulfillment route of things since we have so many by now.

mine is very inspired by a lot of korean manwha style stories in which the protag gets trapped in a show/game/book/etc. and has to deal with it, specifically what if you became the villain of a story. A lot of them play off the trope of the one dimensional evil villainess and how an average person would have to deal with coming into the body of someone like that and dealing with consequences. That, or it's the tragic villain, someone's who's life is marred by tragedy usually of their own doing.

The most interesting ones are those that play on how character archetypes would actually work in the story. The cold bad boy is just a shitty abusive guy, the shy guy who follows the girl is kind of a stalker, and so on.

One of my bigger inspirations was a plotline that also stuck out to me: a teen girl who died too soon and got reincarnated as the mother of the protagonist. obviously she has no clue what to do, she's a kid who wants to go home! And the only way she thinks she can is by ensuring the story goes as planned (and this of course is doomed from the start, unbeknownst to her, the villain is a reincarnater too and has already made tremendous changes). She dies and the reader never knows if she gets to go home or not. It's kind of this rough around the edges gem of an idea that I love and obviously had to steal for myself.

note for anyone getting intrigued by my descriptions uh a lot of these stories tend to be pretty shallow in their exploration. this subgenre consists a lot more of wish fulfillment/revenge fantasies comparatively to like a deep dive of "oh my god i've fucked up the narrative". Not to say they don't have interesting ideas! many are super interesting. just like. temper your expectations if you're going in

originally the story was gonna be set in a canon arc but that felt boring so i decided to just make up a whole story for it

The story is meant to be a (loving) poke at old fanfiction, common tropes in the aforementioned subgenre of isekai, and just a general ""cliche"" Warriors series (in the human universe here, I figured it's call Battlers/Battle Cats or something stupid lmao). In this story, Frostblaze is born into [ONE OF THE FOUR FAKE CLANS I HAVENT FIGURED OUT NAMES YET IM SORRY]. She's the born to an unnamed mother who tragically died of illness when she was just a young baby and has no clue who her father is.

She's isolated from her peers due to her eyes which some believe are an omen of her unnaturality. This only worsens when she is apprenticed to their Clan leader and causes Honeypaw, the daughter of the Clan leader, to become enraged with jealousy. She is one of Frostpaw's worst tormentors in the early parts of the book and eventually, during a battle, tries to off Frostpaw herself....but is killed by Frostpaw's love interest, the dashing and handsome (if a bit stupid) Eaglepaw of [INSERT RIVAL CLAN HERE].

The two hit it off (Honeypaw is an after thought at this point) and work together to stop the eeevviilll leader of uuhh eviiiiilll clan. They win, live happily ever after, Frost is actually their Clan leader's daughter and Honeypaw is her half-sister and blah blah blah.

At least, they're supposed to. Honeypaw, out hunting, is hit by a truck at the same time a human is. Human wakes up as a cat about to be buried because everyone thinks Honeypaw is dead and freaks the fuck out.

A lot of the plot points are kind of just me working through my gripes of the subgenre lmao:

"the person who is reincarnated is more adept and cool and better than their character and everyone loves them" -> Honey is awkward, neurotic, and can come off as rude to those who don't know her. Even her coolest trait, her wrestling ability, is off-putting because oh my god why are you putting a cAT IN A SPIDER GUARD THEIR SPINES DON'T BEND LIKE THAT HONEY PUT HIM BACK TO NORMAL-

She reread the story before she died but, because she has no pen, no paper, and sadly of all, no thumbs, she's unable to write it down to keep remembering it when she gets sent to this world. It's awful and she desperately wishes she had thumbs back.

she stands on two legs, makes weird comments alluding to being a human, and just is a bit of a weirdo. Honeypaw was isolated for being mean, Honey is isolated for making everyone uncomfortable (unintentionally). However, her isolation allows her to slip under the radar and do some more investigating, as she's noticed that some of the details in the story aren't adding up...

The story is strange and the characters aren't as she remembers now that they're in the flesh. Of course, her main priority is to thwart Honeypaw's assassination attempts, the spirit being intent that the way to get her body back is if she dies again. It's only from a near death experience that they realize that that's not gonna work and have to work together to change the story so they don't die!

and, as many people have pieced together, they're not alone.

[celinou]

Thanks @lenorelovesmax for tagging me 🤍

1. How many works do you have on AO3? 2, currently. Well, more like one and a half baked scene that has no context, to be more accurate.

2. What's your total AO3 word count? 194.036 words.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos? I have like the one fic, the other thing has 2 kudos. So... - A Walk in Chiaroscuro (354)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? Yes, absolutely. It's pretty rare when I don't. I like to tell people that I appreciate their support and comments or to answer questions they might have about the story or the choice I made.

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? I don't do angsty endings. I'm too old and too jaded by life to appreciate them anymore. I'm at a point in my life where I need to know there's hope and happiness at the end of the line.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? I'm guessing there will be some kind of repetition since I've only published Awic... Soooo, it's a Walk in Chiaroscuro! ...but if you want to know about the ones that I keep in my drawer never to see the light of AO3, the happiest ending goes to Let's Write a Love Story (it's a Homestuck fanfic)

8. Do you get hate on fics? No. I'm writing in a mostly dead fandom so far and for kind of a rare pair so, people have been starved of content. They were so nice and sweet to me in the comments.

9. Do you write smut? I wish! I don't have the chops for it but I so wish I could write good smut! Honestly it's something I really want to push myself into exploring. Unfortunately your girl is a bit too vanilla in her taste which makes for poor reading. I don't fear being bad... I fear being boring, you know?

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've ever written? I've never done that, no. But who knows what future will lead me to write.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? No. I don't have enough reach to be the target of theft.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? Nope. And tbh I don't have the patience to translate it myself in my native language.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? Could have... but no. There was an attempt at a joined project for Dragon Age but, unfortunately, it didn't work out in the end. I'm not abandoning the idea of writing for Dragon Age but I'll probably go in a very different direction since it would be a solo project.

14. What's your all time favorite ship? I... don't have one... Yeah, I'm not much of a shipper at the core. I mean I did write for Caulscott but I practically ship Max with everybody in LIS so... I was more interested by Nathan's potential as a love interest more than the ship itself. Outside of LIS... I can't think of any ship rn, I'm afraid.

15. What's a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will? Tough question. If I abandoned a project I don't consider it a WIP. It's a dropped thing that goes in the reusable idea bin... and if I'm still working on it, I don't go into thinking I won't finish it. So, it's hard to say really. To not leave you with such a vague answer, I'll give you this: the fic I planned to write about the Hidden Object Games series Dark Parable, that never took off and never will (for I have better/much more attractive projects to work on). It's a dropped thing. But now you can see I have weird and obscure taste.

As for original projects: I have a Horror RPG project that probably won't ever see the light of day, called: The Clockmaker. (because I realized I'm shit at pixel art, tragic)

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic? Hum... No. I don't mind people doing it but I tried it myself in my pirate epic and, let me tell you, I'm not that good a multilingual as to be witty in more than 2 languages. I found what I wrote cringe af when I read back my text in the editing phase and scrapped it all out.

19. First fandom you wrote for? Homestuck. I started writing fics very late in my life. (I wrote original stuff before that)

20. Favourite fic you've ever written? A Walk in Chiaroscuro. Because it's the only fic I went into unafraid to write what I wanted without thinking about who might read it. And to this day it's the truer work I've put out. Not the most personal by any stretch but the one I indulged in the most. And I'm so proud of it. Flaws and all.

I tag @sourrind and @momochizoey if you feel like doing it. And everybody who'd want to as well, consider yourself tagged, friend!

[cathalbravecog]

long ramble, haven't had one of these in a while! if you read this, have fun. it's headcanons/thoughts on some stuff. i don't talk about my thoughts on story stuff publicly much anymore especially because 1) i'm shy 2) trust issues 3) bad rsd 4) i forgot the last point

i was writing for oNCE yesterday (some headcanon stuff, for myself, won't be posting that unless i change the wording of some of it to make more sense because i ramble a lot and it's a mess. like i am doing right now. also that turned into being mostly about hr in the end because i am ill. now hopefully this motivation will get me to write my mary and archie stuff.)

and when i went to bed i was thinking about some stuff in toontown, mostly the cogs - and how things work. these are things i ponder on very often and have talked about with my friends many time, throwing ideas back and forth and my headcanons for how things work.

though, there's one thing i really wonder about, and that's where cogs come from in ttcc exactly. in 'that' way though of course to keep things on the same rating as the game is i won't discuss anything explicit so don't worry. (besides they're robots and also are sexless to me, anything related to gender is purely cosmetic to them. you are usually assigned a certain expression when built though, but can change that later on. that's how i explain trans cogs.)

i think about how there are canonical families and children, and that they have "built" dates and places where they've been built. it's obvious as they're robots, they're not born they're built and made.

it's a bit difficult to explore with the limited info we have, which is kind of both an hassle to work with, but also beautiful because you can let your creativity go and make up your own headcanons, without things being set in too much canon. it's also difficult due to how different the suit culture is to us humans and also what we see from the toons which is by nature more familiar to us.

we also do not know much about suitopia, or other possible places where cogs live.

(i, personally, imagine suitopia as essentially a big country where most if not all cogs live. it has it's own regions, cities... all that. where as c.o.g.s. inc has built itself to be essentially it's own small country/community, if that makes sense. though cogs don't always only mention suitopia, at least once 'the whole world' is used. this is irrelevant tho so i won't discuss that but it's still a 'core' headcanon i have - as other things i may hc rely on this personal interpretation / headcanon.

but be aware i do not know everything is canon and can discuss things outside my realm of HCs and interpretations, but if i go deeper into like, let's say, analyzing a cog and imagining their backstory, instantly assume i'm using all these things. sorry for the side ramble, i want to make things clear for possible future reference.)

i wish it will be expanded upon slightly in the future, even a slightest crumb of what it's like out there and i can have a field day with it. i do enjoy the vagueness tho, again, as i've said we do not need to have all the information out there and it's not necessary to the main stories that are being told but MAN my brain itches for MORE. i demand EXPLANATIONS. and so i make up my own lol and i love that i can do that /gen (there's some stuff i do have an issue with that it was not explained better, but again, fixed that with hcs. talking abt atticus but im not getting into that rn)

there also may be things i am missing - i have known of ttcc's existence since it's early days, but i wasn't there for it and missed being there in person for any lore until i started playing for real in early 2023 and became a part of the community. like, there ARE things i have missed AND small details i am missing. that's one criticism i have about some info being more difficult to access now, but the main stuff is on the wiki an all luckily.

anyways that ramble out of the way... how the heck are cogs made? there's a few ways, that seem contradictory in some ways at first but i just see it as different methods.

we know cogs can change their appearances (their shell) and be "upgraded". we know cogs can even choose to be just their skelecogs (Atticus) and i suppose every other skelecog we see.) we know cogs have families and have their own kids. (cathal and bobby jr come to mind, and also belle's own kids and grandkids. not to mention, we have siblings too - thomas and robert. and their whole family drama DOES involve their unseen parents.) we know many cogs, mostly the managers, come into the company as their are - but also new parts are built, at least for the employee cogs in sellbot hq. (recently re-read the dialogue which confirmed this - literally as you're building your sellbot suit.)

we know cogs are more than just some working machines and do have deeper lives and desires and even relationships, though all instances of a parent/child relationship in ttcc have only one parent. makes sense after all they don't reproduce sexually to put it that way, again they're built and they're robots.)

it's easy to conclude, that, cogs are just built. which is true. but it just makes me wonder. we know they age. we have at least 1 cog who is a literal child, and bobby, in human years at least, looks no older than like, 8 years old. (we also don't know how cogs age. we also know cog's don't die like that, due to the whole deal with atticus. i will talk about this one day i have so many thoughts on it)

we know they grow up and even have schools - they're not programmed with everything. they earn experience as they live life and even have?? education systems? like they're more like people than we thought. (ttcc does make cogs more easily sympathized with and gives us INDIVIDUAL cogs and not just... 'The Cogs'. cogs are the focus of ttcc so of course they're developed more and are more 'human' despite being machines.)

so clearly, there's cogs like bobby. who are built young and eventually grow up. we have not seen a cog growing up yet, at least i don't think. but i wonder how that works. through cartoon logic, do they just grow up? their skelecog and perhaps their shell, too? or do they periodically get upgraded to be larger - wouldn't it make sense to built a cog as, well, an adult already? to program all these things? there may be more limits to this than we think, but also just... cultural things possibly.

the only cog CHILD (not just the child of someone - cathal's an adult. also, redd mention, but redd's adopted so he doesn't count) we ever see is bobby and, he is the child of robert, who is known to be very short. we don't know if bobby's going to grow up, or if this height is what he's just going to be like. we have one image where he's way smaller than robert, and other, more recent ones, where they're a similar heights. is that just art inconsistency due to the nature of all the (amazing) artwork being, well, volounteer work and that not everything is (or has to be) perfect? or did bobby really grow up. i'm talking about the wallet picture and the comics featuring bobby, by the way.

though, as things are, i'm sort of assuming that bobby's going to grow up or be upgraded in some way to "grow up"? i don't think we need an clear explanation for that, and in a universe like this 'cartoon logic' would be enough, but it's still something to think about.

like...how do cogs go about having kids, anyways? all instances we see are visually similar as well. cathal has the same gear for his neck as allan's body does, and they have the same head lightbulbs and wires. bobby jr and robert are both furniture.

i've always assumed that it's like in robots (the movie, that i havent watched in years which would be helpful for all this, probably.) if you decide to have a child just for the experience of raising a child, to have a legacy, or due to a bond with a partner - you literally just build one. perhaps not in the same way as in the movie - in here it definitely requires more paperwork and blueprints. but again, it's interesting to think about! hey company i want a CHILD. i look like this build them like me thanks here's some blueprints. (this also explains the amount of single parents. though belle has to have been married/is married as her honorific is listed as mrs. hey fun fact, non native english speaker here. i didnt know 'mrs' means a lady is married until like this year. i've been on this earth for 19 years.)

like the concept of family is possibly just more social there than anything. duh... can't exactly have the same oil and wires inside of you as Robots .

anyways, so that explains kids... but what about the others? some cogs don't have any families mentioned but it's not hard to assume they come from families with parents and siblings as well. what about the employee cogs? who are quite literally very disposable in a way?

we do have to take into account that after all, employee cogs we see just on and about on the streets are mostly a game mechanic, and there are some individual cogs who ARE cogs who would typically be employees cogs. (jennifer comes to mind first, she's a micromanager but also a secretary and counts as a manager. same goes for judy and so forth.)

and y'know, the game won't have a personality and backstory for each random flunky on the streets you fight. but with often they get destroyed and repaired and that there's just... so many of them! of the same model and appearance... makes you think. is that why they were made? are they truly more robotic than the others, more devoid of 'humanity'? or were they different cogs, perhaps more lower class, who's appearances were changed entirely to fit into more easily fixable and replaceable shell forms? something that's less expensive for the company and for them? i swear i am missing some details on this, but that's for me to re read the wiki and cogs ink for on my own later. (i need to have full info n everything and if i dont bring up that i know one small detail i will explode bc someone will bring it up and make me feel dumb and that's the rsd part and it's often physically painful!)

very hard to tell, i'm sort of content with my thoughts on how cogs have kids, but i hope we ever get a bit more clarity on employee cogs - though it is a bit problematic as these are the guys you beat up on the daily who don't have individual personalities.

like i'm just rambling as i go here man, it was gonna be cohesive but i'm just spitting thoughts here now. like, we have 3 seperate skelecog types - all cogs come with a skelecog like we have a skeleton so that also comes into play. it can be adjusted in ways, most notably the head and also in size. though we do have a 4 arm cog. jason please i love you /p we need more jason content. it's wacky, it's tacky - it's toontown!

fun stuff to think about but i just deep fried my brain. tdlr i guess.

how cogs made. how cogs have kids. how cogs work in general. very swag very cool. guzma cathal spades spamtongender goes on 1568854 different tangents while saying they wont aka your swagesty your adhd symptoms are showing

that's it fellas enjoy 2k words of incomprehensible rambles that i am happy to finally get out! you see the way i explain things is precisely why i almost never do it publicly and i need practice shortening things.

[singsweetmelodies]

tagged by lovely @car-bo-hydrate to try this <3333

star sign: virgo

favourite holiday: new year

last meal: a hot mug of tea and some south african buttermilk rusks (comfort food breakfast!!! ❤️☕)

current favourite musician: probably taylor swift, but as always, it's hard to choose just one. OOOH! lately, dove cameron is high up on the list too

last music listened to: confetti (acoustic version) by little mix - LISTEN. ever since ms perrie edwards put out a tease that her solo music is coming soon, i have been on a big little mix high again, listening to all my old favourites and hyping myself up sooooo much for that perrie music drop 👀👀👀😍

last movie watched: my girlfriend and i rewatched shang-chi and the legend of the ten rings again last night for movie night <3 LOVE that movie, omfg. both my gf and i firmly declared all michelle yeoh's scenes our favourites 🤭

last tv show watched: you know, it's actually been really long since i've properly watched a TV show, so the answer to this is probably something silly like reruns of FRIENDS

last book/fic finished: 2 different answers here!! last book was iron flame by rebecca yarros (yes, i caved to all the hype and read it on the plane - yes, there were bits that pissed me off, but i mostly enjoyed it) and last fic was one of AO3 user venerat's landoscar masterpieces, "i'll kiss you first" <3

last book/fic abandoned: hmm... i tried to read this rom-com called "you & me: a mlm single dads romance" while on holiday in SA, and i just... couldn't make it more than 5 chapters in. the cringe (& the VERY american focus of... everything...) was just too much for me, especially because i tried to read this right after a super delightful wlw rom-com recommended to me by darling @duquesademiel. after that, this one just... couldn't compare. at all.

currently reading: well, i'm back to work, so my time for books has unfortunately dropped exponentially... all i'm actively reading rn is a bunch of f1 rpf fics, to be perfectly honest

last thing researched for writing/art/hyperfixation: "WHAT COULD CAUSE A SCANDAL IN THE REGENCY ERA" 🤣🤭

favourite online fandom memory: storytime sundays where we tell those long DM fics with @boxboxbrioche and @welightitup <3333

favourite old fandom you wish would drag you back in/have a resurgence: HMMM! i am mostly over all my old fandoms by now, to be fair, but if i really had to choose one... probably one direction?? because a proper resurgence would mean the reunion, right? (right?) ((so maybe i'm not quite as "over it" as i pretend 🤭))

favourite thing that you enjoyed that never had an active fandom: ohhhh, i can't think of a name immediately now, but it's definitely some or other book series that, if it had a fandom at all, was so tiny that i was practically the only person in it 🥲

tempting project that you're trying to rein in/don't have time for: LISTEN. i have had the most awful writer's block for months, and now that i can finally write again, somewhat, all that i want to write are the things that i should NOT be focusing on rn, because those things don't have deadlines but other things do *charles_wtf discord react*

prime example: about 2838474829 piarles smut WIPs and a/b/o and chussyverse explorations, instead of... my PWFE fic. some belated birthday fics. some celebration fics i promised nearly half a bloody YEAR ago. oops 😭😭 but, we'll get there. we will! just like this will be ferrari's year (i am delulu) xD

no idea who's done this yet and who hasn't, so i'm just going to tag some friends and hope i'm not double-tagging anyone - also, if i miss anyone, please feel free to say i tagged you anyway, because i'd love to see your answers <3 @boxboxbrioche @welightitup @hourcat @teamnick @sedicii @francophones @radiocheck, if any of you feel like giving this a go <3333

[cherryluvss]

For someone who’s never really been into other girls, and might be interested in experimenting how it would be, how do you even approach women😭 Please help someone with a huge bi panic lately, I’m so lost:(

AHHHHHHHHHH!! I don’t think I have any good advice to give here. My ex/first gf approached me, I didn’t even realise I actually liked women until her. If she didn’t approach me, I’d probably be dating a man somewhere rn clawing my eyes out, as I would never allow myself to approach a woman (long story).

Maybe take ur time for starters, get to understand ur feelings a bit more. Find the gays near u or online communities n slot urself into em, be yourselfffffffff and explore. Theres not one particular way to do it, maybe start off with a compliment.

I wish I had a better answer for you😭

[kurjakani]

Random intials, just go with whoever comes to mind first :)

P. L.

Ok so. Ik you prolly meant seperately as two characters. But thast Peter Lukas thats Plukas thats my Actual Husband thats. Hehheh hoo boy. So im doing Plukas TEEHEE

send me a character and i’ll list:

favorite thing about them: old salt who is themed around isolation and loneliness? Idk do I have to even explain it further (aside from canonical facts- I really really love playing with the ideas of him fooling himself about his absolute desire for loneliness. This is me mirroring: due to various reasons I isolated myself for years, and I had truly convinced myself I hated everyones company, and wanted to live as far away as I could- however this was a coping mechanism. And Plukas does have a lot to cope with, let's be real. He seems 2 have like. a startling amount of apathy abt a lot of things, which i find at points relatable, alluring and concerning) (additionally w how much he seems 2 talk endlessly when he actually gets the chance. Id imagine he would be way more to the point if he truly wanted 2 get tf out of there asap.) (I also do find his voice acting incredibly soothing. Could listen to him for ages.)

least favorite thing about them: I can't even comprihend such a thing. The fact that he's not in my arms rn?

favorite line: Ok i could listen 2 him for days but i think this one got me in some way: "I had no time for books or television, or any of the escapes and artificial friendships of fiction. No, I was myself, and that was enough. I would spend my days exploring the wide grounds and forests of our estate, finding the hidden corners I thought that none would have found before me –" He comes off almost as spiteful towards the idea of company of others. So insistant of his intentions.

brOTP: Salesa :3 Also Martin but like in a toxic yuri way.

OTP: prolly also Salesa?? mayhaps???

nOTP: shrugs i haven't seen a lot of ships for him in general tbh!

random headcanon: I tend 2 think he is rather immature. Socially and emotionally. We do kinda see that in the ep the last, his little tantrum when things don't go his way- but imagine what a childhood of isolation from all people and a cold shoulder from your parents does to you?? I dont have 2 imagine im that person girl its me im the problem its me. I imagine he's surprisingly easy to upset. You prolly wont notice it bc instead of bursting w anger he'll sulk, which is also not great. bottled up feelings etc.

unpopular opinion: idk what ppl think abt him eerally SOBS

song i associate with them:

Martin: (echoing) His only wish was to die alone. Also in general one of my favourite songs in all of existance so!!!

favorite picture of them: no offical peter jpegs but i always think of the every peter lukas line video on youtube it makes me so happy

[lynne-monstr]

hi, it's the anon who's stopping by! how have you been?? I hope you're having a nice week. this last month has been very hectic for me, work was very busy, which both helps with my situation and doesn't. on the one hand work is pretty much the one thing that's going okay in my life rn so focusing on that helps distract from everything else. on the other hand, when all of a sudden work becomes a struggle too, it's tough. but as always, it's best to focus on the positives (easier said than done lol). for example: it's summer! I was actually able to wear a dress to work today, finally!!

I wanted to ask: I remember you mentioned a while ago that you recently cracked the code to making salads tasty, and I was wondering if you could share some tips that worked for you? I'm trying to eat more healthily bc I haven't been doing a very good job of that lately, and I struggle with vegetables tbh. I like the idea of a salad in theory but when I try it it's either bland or straight up acidic (looking at you, lettuce). I don't mind making it "more unhealthy", veggies are still veggies. I just want to be able to eat them without the experience being absolutely miserable 🥲

as always sending you good vibes! I always enjoy seeing you on my dash! have a lovely week!! 💞

hi anon, it' good to see you again! I've been super busy lately, mostly work stuff. we're gearing up for a big deadline and so the meetings and the business travel have ramped up. my flight home on friday got super delayed and I got in late, and i think it's a sign that I'm getting older because the late night really threw off my whole weekend. I had plans to get out and explore but i just bummed around for 2 whole days, which was admittedly pretty nice.

I totally feel you on the busy work stuff being both a blessing and a curse. work was a great distraction for me when I needed it but lol I wish it came without all the stress and the pressure and the rest. it sounds like you're hanging in there, and I am sending lots of good vibes your way! looking on the bright side is SO HARD but ughhh it's one of those things I've found actually pays off. I hope work stays relatively chill for you.

and yay for summer! (it's my favorite time of year). dresses are the best! it's always so fun to break out the summer wardrobe. i've been living in long flowy skirts for a few weeks now!

okay salads! I love tasty salads. I should probably preface this with the confession that i genuinely enjoy vegetables. but i hope you can still find some of this useful. my biggest issue with salads was that i'm lazy and also hate spoiled browning salad mix, so those were the two big problems i was looking to solve for myself. i'll put my process in bulletpoionts because i love bulletpoints.

chopping the lettuce! game changer.

baby spinach stays fresh the whole week. also i can use it in morning fruit smoothies to get extra veggies.

i chop all my veggies (usually red bell pepper, cucumber, tomatoes, feta cheese) at the beginning of the week because i'm lazy. also, i roast extra veggies at dinner and use the leftovers in my salads for variety

i supplement fresh veggies with canned: heart of palm, artichokes, baby corn, roasted red peppers

carbs in the salad! couscous, pearl couscous, orzo, rice. it makes it more fun and gives good texture

also beans! (omg butter beans in salad is amazing!). canned because i'm lazy

crispy tortilla strips! yum

for protein, i braise a batch of chicken thighs and shred them up , and pop them in the salad as needed. also i keep grocery store frozen fried chicken in the freezer for if I run out of fresh.

i don't like completely cold salads so i gently reheat the chicken before i use it to give it some temperature variation

homemade tahini lime salad dressing because it's delicious. also I will 100% take the leftover salad dressings from catered work lunches.

I guess that's a longwinded way of saying that i make sure to actually put stuff I like eating in my salads. I switch things up for variety, but the combo of chopped lettuce, carbs, protein, veggies and a good dressing goes a long way. tbh, a good dressing is 100% the most important part of a good salad. I stopped buying those crappy low fat salad dressings because they taste like cardboard. I either make my own or splurge on the nice full fat ones and use them in moderation.

good luck with your salads! i've definitely felt a lot more energetic since i got better about eating more fruits/vegetables. (granted, some of that might also be the vitamin supplements I started taking on the advice of my doctor.) i hope it works for you!

thanks for stopping by, I was wondering how you were doing and I'm so glad to hear the updates!

[hirukochan]

Hi!! I love your writing so much I was just wondering what do you plan to do in the future? I’d love to live in your brain for like one minute because the ideas you have and the way you write is so amazing and unique.

Hi!! <3 

My brain is a very crowded, forgetful and cramped place, zero out of five stars would not recommend lol.

I have a few ideas for the future!

Of course A Servant of Death. I have four parts in total planned for that series and there is a vampire arc coming up in part three I am so excited for! It’s a huge project and I try not to stress myself out to prevent burn out. The first part ended up being longer than the HP book it was based on 😅. So that - even though it’s updating slower rn (I might have gotten a tad too excited and published too many WIPs right after one another 😅) it’s my baby, my love, my passion project. It’s not getting abandoned, it’ll just need some time to grow 🥰.

I am being strict with myself to finish my WIPs before I publish anything longer than a oneshot. Your tears is nearing its end though I am beginning to fear it’ll be longer than I anticipated because I’ve had a few more ideas (cramped and crowded brain and terrible planning skills + a lack of self control 😬). A most unexpected turn of events won’t be too long (she said optimistic for the fourth time now???) and with Carrying Atlas I honestly have no idea. I could spend forever developing their relationship and ignore the plot I have planned. I’m avoiding sitting down and fleshing it out for now in favour of writing smut!

As for oneshots:

I have a second part for Ministry Documents planned!

A Snape/Reader/Voldemort oneshot, the reader is either an Auror they trap and ‘punish’ together or a new recruit that has to prove her loyalty, haven’t decided yet, might write both. 

I have a half finished Snape/Reader/Crouch jr professor-student oneshot lying around where the reader has been sleeping with both her professors but neither knew about the other and they punish her together.

I am writing on a Snarriet oneshot, Snape is a demon Harrie summons but something goes wrong.

I have a few more ideas for Snarriet, including one Muggle AU where James and Lily are alive and Snape is Uncle Sev 🤭 (no blood relation!!) Questionable but it’s intriguing me.

Then I would love to rewrite an old fic of mine. It’s a Snape/OC story that’s very dear to me. It has its own magical society within the wizarding world. It follows Snape and Theodora O’Brian who has to attend Hogwarts against her wishes. She experiences racism, discrimination, classims, cultural genocide and the literal murder of her relatives because they arn’t ‘real’ witches and wizards.

It takes place during the first and the second war. They both join Voldemort after school, both get sucked into this cult and soon realise it’s not what they were promised it would be. Voldemort takes advantage of them, he seduces them and they have to navigate their life together, their complicated feelings for Voldemort, Dumbledore’s questionable morals and many more challenges. So it’s teen!Snape and adult!Snape. And there is an irish wolfhound named Duchess!

I have a Severitus fic with fem!Harry planned! Snape has to care for baby Harrie after the war. Voldemort is dead once and for all, no Horcruxes. It’ll be a bit of a character study I think, exploring Snape’s trauma and his struggles with reentering the ‘normal’ society after a horrible time among Death Eaters, his struggles as a parent, his wish to do better for her than his parents did for him. I think Snape reconciling with one of his parents during his journey as adoptive dad would be nice too. 

Another old story I’d like to rewrite is about Snape suddenly having to take a far more active role in raising his baby sister. It takes place before Harry comes to Hogwarts. She is sixteen (or fifteen??? I can’t remember lol) and a whirlwind of chaos, anger and some underlying issue she isn’t talking about. She went to Ilvermorny because Eileen moved to the US with her when she was a baby, leaving Snape alone with their father. After their mother dies Snape lets her stay at Ilvermorny. She gets expelled and Snape brings her to Hogwarts to finish her education. They bump heads all the time. It’s a lot of chaos 🤣 but also a fiercely protective older brother!Snape 🥰

I have probably more ideas that I forgot about and are now rotting in some notebook I’ll rediscover in a few weeks 🤣

But these are those stories I have lined up to write once I have cleared some things off my plate ☺️💚

[alexandia03]

what is ur greatest wish when it comes to an imogen-fic? do u crave imogen w friends? w dragons? w garrick? what scene do u want to see most that u haven't (or don't intend) to write?

do u want "current age" imogen or "past" imogen?

I will begin by resending my request notes (because I saw multiple people stating they had problems seeing their giftee's notes)

Long story short, anything about the marked ones and Imogen centric will make me jump up and down excitedly. I make no secret of Imogen being my favorite character (and basically my alter ego) in this entire series and I love seeing people exploring her relationship with Garrick or her friendships with other characters, especially with Bodhi and Quinn (I am not against reading about her relationship with Violet either, but tbh it is not my favorite thing in the world - but if you think you can bring something new to the table, by all means!) And if you decide to dive into her backstory and family history with the Apostasy and her sister and everything? I will probably die of happiness. I am not big on crackships and I don't particularly love seeing my pink menace coupled with anyone aside from Garrick. Although... if we are talking smut, I wouldn't mind seeing her in a threesome or fooling around with her best friends (but please not with Dain or Xaden). Friendship wise though? Go wild! Show me Imogen having a sleepover with Quinn and Bodhi, her and Dain bonding during IF maybe, Imogen and the rest of the squad going out for a drink, Imogen and her dragon being menaces to society... I really love the hc of her, Garrick, Bodhi and Xaden being childhood friends... really, I am open to anything on the platonic front! Please no OCs, I have a hard time relating to them and there are tons of characters in the FW universe to explore instead. And if you decide to tackle the dragon romances... I would absolutely love to see Glane and Chradh bonding and developing feelings of their own while watching their riders being idiots in love. Just saying. Gods, I never realized how picky I could be. Sorry. I am sure I will enjoy whatever you come up with in the end and I am SO EXCITED to see it!

What I can add to that, hmmm... Well, I surely enjoy Imrrick content (but please don't torment me with them being angsty and frustratingly dancing around each other, my thesis is torturing me enough rn and I am running around in circles enough for the entire cast of characters) and I would sell my right kidney to read more about other people's takes on her friendships/her sister/Glane. The only relationship I am not really excited about is her and Violet, really.

I think her past is heavily underrated (like little Imogen and Bodhi chasing after Garrick and Xaden and the four of them being menaces to society? Priceless), but I am very content even if such scenes are only alluded to or presented as flashbacks between scenes (after all, that is how I use them myself). So that is entirely up to you, whatever makes you more comfortable and you feel most inspired for!

Honestly, I can't talk about scenes I intend or not to write because... I am a chaotic person and I make up my mind as I go and I go into new chapters with no plan usually. And I am very much like Penelope in the sense that I am going back on my chapters to add and rewrite scenes. So don't feel constrained to that kind of stuff, really - anything is on the table!

Again, so excited about anything you decide on and my DMs are always open. I am sure I will love anything you come up with (my excitement shows in how long this post is lol)!

[ghastlybin]

Vampire! SuA 02

Pairing: Vampire! SuA X (GN) Reader

Feat: Handong, Siyeon, Rest of Dreamcatcher mentioned, & Co-worker! Yunho (Ateez)

Word count: 3k

Genre/contents: Vampire! AU, Angst, fluff(?? I really tried), A little bittersweet?

TW: Blood, Starvation, m u r d e r, kidnapping, all I can think of rn :((((

Note: May or may not have rewritten this multiple times. Also been feeling kinda meh this week so apologies for dragging my feet (hands*) ily, hope this doesn’t flop or s u c k and so sorry if it’s a bit dialogue heavy. I fcking love dialogue though. I really do piss myself off sometimes though lmao goodnight y’all

Part 01

THE GIF I HAD TO USE IT HHHHHHHHHH REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE- sorry.

It was a secret, your regular visits to Castle Bora.

Not that anyone ever asked.

Not that you would ever tell anyone anyway.

Every day, like clockwork, Bora would be waiting by the front door, for you. The excitement of seeing you again boiled over her.

Bora hasn’t felt this alive since, ever.

“I renovated the dining hall!”

“I added new furniture in the study!”

She loved how intrigued you were when she’d add to her already beautiful castle.

The truth was, you loved her style.

The gothic feel, how you knew most people would see it and find it questionable.

It was a unique type of beauty.

Bora learned more recipes meant for humans. She kept the blood out of your sight and created entirely different dishes just for you and you alone.

“I don’t mind trying blood at least once.”

Of course, you were joking, only trying to get a laugh out of her.

Bora did not. She stared at you, a little shocked despite her needing blood to live.

She could eat all the food in the world, but if there wasn’t a decent amount of blood, she would starve the same way humans could without food for a long period of time.

She never told you, but she had blood stockpiled.

And it was slowly beginning to dwindle.

Seeing you, your bare neck at times, your arms, even your legs, she would feel an insatiable amount of hunger.

And she fought it. She needed blood, but she could always find blood from an unsuspecting victim- a curious tourist, like you, who wanted to sneak into her castle.

She could find, restock, and drink new blood.

But she couldn’t replace you.

If she was lucky, you’d only turn into a vampire like her.

Bora knew that wouldn’t be the case. With the hunger she felt, she wouldn’t hold back long enough to leave you alive.

It was a flaw she wished she could correct. She wished she had the self-control Handong had.

Every day, you were as happy to see her as she was with you, even bringing her gifts- trinkets from the ‘new world’.

She displayed them proudly, genuinely fascinated by them, even if she never cared for them before you had arrived into her eternally long life.

Bora let you decorate her castle with hints of you, no matter how small or big.

“What is this supposed to be?”

“That is a candle.”

“Why is it in the shape of a… Um…”

“A demon?”

“That’s a demon? I remember them to be a lot different back then.”

Soon, everywhere in her home had a reminder of you until you visited the next day.

“I will see you tomorrow, Bora!”

And when tomorrow came, you never showed.

Then tomorrow had turned into days, days into weeks, and weeks into months.

Still, Bora waited.

And waited.

And waited, the ghost of you lingering behind throughout her castle.

Bora held the last bottle of blood, half full. The hunger ate away at her, though she was strong enough to smartly ration it out.

She had the opportunity to ‘restock’, seeing, hearing, and smelling explorers and tourists. None of them were you.

Besides, she somehow felt wrong to just take from them.

Their blood or their lives, it felt wrong to her, strangely enough.

“Bora.” Handong snapped her fingers, bringing Bora out of her mind. “Yoobin’s castle is getting demolished.”

“Really? Why?” Bora straightened her posture, the news shocking her.

“It’s being linked with missing person reports. And the worst part, authorities have hired hunters.”

“Hunters?” Bora stood up from her spot at the dining table and walked over to the window, peeking out into the night. “Wait, Yoobin? She’s against harming humans? That can’t be right!”

Handong joined her, as Bora peeled back the rest of the velvet curtains to let the moonlight in. “That’s what we are concerned about.”

“You didn’t clarify what you meant by hunters.”

Handong put her hand on Bora’s shoulder, pushing her slightly to face her with a serious look.

“Vampire hunters. They are called something else, but the humans in town are paranoid. They’ve come up with harmful legends about us, some are true but no one has actually known of our existence!” Handong closed the curtains over the window.

Bora remembered what you had told her, the stories about when you were a kid, the speculations they had.

“They thought I was a cannibal?! Ew!”

“I know! The morons didn’t know the difference between that and a witch!” You laughed.

“What is a witch?”

“You’ve never met a witch?”

“When would I?”

She missed the sound of your voice.

She missed you, and the worst part was she didn’t know if you were still alive or what happened to you.

Bora felt an aching in her chest that made her body run colder than it already was.

Handong let out a small gasp before she collapsed to the ground, unconscious. Bora was slow to react, wide-eyed as she felt a sting in her neck before she too had fallen unconscious.

The vampire hunters arrived, unbeknownst to Handong or Bora.

“Search the castle. Leave no stone unturned.”

“On it.”

The trinkets you had brought Bora before your mysterious disappearance had adorned the castle, blending in as they would match the style of Castle Bora.

The vampire hunter’s search had turned futile, almost.

In Bora’s bedroom had been a letter she had meant to send to you, had she known your address.

“Y/N.”

“Y/N, you’re late.” Your co-worker, Yunho, checked his watch. “Again.”

You frowned, “you’re very observant of me lately.”

Yunho beamed with a shrug, “hey! I’m only looking out for you. But the boss won’t like it.”

You had just clocked in for the day, having barely slept. “Boss can-“

Yunho covered your mouth, wide-eyed as your boss entered the room. You slowly lowered his hand off of your mouth, grinning at your boss.

“Good morning!”

“If it were a good morning, I’d be rich.”

“If it were a bad morning, Y/N would be late.” Yunho crossed his arms over his chest, a wide grin on his face. You awkwardly laughed, discreetly nudging Yunho.

“I have a meeting in an hour. Think you two can open the store normally for once?”

“Yes sir!” You and Yunho simultaneously replied enthusiastically. Your boss sighed heavily, mumbling under his breath as he walked away.

As soon as he left, you turned towards Yunho.

“I have a favor.”

“Again?” Yunho chuckled.

“During his meeting, please keep heavy tabs on him. I need to do something.” You kept your voice in a hushed tone. Yunho nodded, albeit unpleased.

“Again.”

You reached into your pocket to show him a picture of you and Bora, “she’s worth it.”

“Sure. I will cover for you so you can surprise your girlfriend.” Yunho smiled. You frowned again, lowering your phone.

“She’s not my girlfriend.”

“Yet.”

“Yet… I also haven’t seen her in months-“

“Months?!” Yunho blurted, louder than both of you were comfortable with. You glanced at your boss’ office, hoping he wouldn’t come out again.

“Y/N, please, explain. Months? You basically broke up with her before you even dated!”

“Yunho!” You whined, clutching the locket Bora had given to you as a token of your friendship. “She might forgive me! You never know!”

“Months, Y/N.”

“It’s because-“

“Good morning, is Y/N here?” The monotonous voice of a man interrupted their conversation. You and Yunho turned to face the man- men, seeing as there were two of them, confused by their sudden appearance.

“Nope. And we’re closed.” Yunho pointed at the ‘closed’ sign on the door. The men looked at you, seeing your nametag.

You mentally cursed yourself, remembering how you always put your nametag on before arriving at work.

“Y/N.”

���Yeah. Caught me. Who are you?” You asked.

You saw one of them bring out an envelope with your name on it and you recognized the handwriting.

Bora.

“Do you know Bora?”

“She’s my girlfriend. Why?” You confidently spoke, knowing you told a small lie.

Yunho snapped his head towards you, his eyebrows furrowed intensely. “You said-“

“Shut up.” You cleared your throat, “why are you asking about her?“

“We need to speak to you outside.” One of the men continued. He looked at Yunho, then back at you. “Alone.”

That’s how they got you.

Something was wrong, you were correct about that.

They knew you’d be reeled in by the mention of Bora, they were correct about that.

Somewhere in an unknown underground facility, were Bora and Handong along with Minji, Siyeon, Yoohyeon, Yoobin, and Gahyeon.

And Bora didn’t think she was ever going to see you again.

She was wrong.

Your head throbbed as the dim lights hummed in the empty room you had been dumped in.

You took a moment to let the panic set in.

You had just been kidnapped.

You wondered if anyone had witnessed you getting kidnapped, the memory itself was fuzzy from whatever you had been injected with that made you fall unconscious.

There was only one door in the room and the lock seemed to have a simple padlock on the other side of the bars.

You felt calmer, reaching for the locket around your neck. Everything had been taken from you, all except the locket.

With a slight smirk, you took the locket off and opened it, then twisted it, remembering how Bora had taught you exactly how to use it in case of an emergency.

Sliding your arms through the bars with the locket-turned lock-pick, you successfully opened the cell door, catching the padlock before it could fall to the floor and cause unwanted noise.

The long concrete corridor contained more cells. You walked by a few, some empty and some with sleeping women.

“Y/N?”

Your heart dropped into your stomach, turning towards the familiar voice.

Bora.

She was gripping the bars, fearful and seemingly weakened. “Please let me out.”

You were quick too. The lock-pick in your hand as you were able to successfully pick the lock.

Now face to face, she roughly pulled you into the tightest hug you’ve ever experienced.

Her cold, bloodless arms around you felt the warmest it has ever been.

You had never experienced a hug from her either.

She ignored that her face- Her mouth, was in the crook of your neck. The smell of your blood was more enticing now than ever before.

She was starving.

Bora’s mouth watered but her eyes watered more, shoving you away as you lost your balance.

“Where have you been?! I waited for you for months!”

You sat where you had fallen, staring up at her in shock. “I didn’t have enough money- Or time to make the trips anymore! I promise you I was going to visit later today! Or…“

You stopped talking, having lost all sense of time. Whether the sun was out or not, if someone was looking for you, or if you still had a job, any information about it had all escaped you.

“I thought you were dead!” Bora yelled, her voice echoing through the corridor as she pulled you to your feet.

“I know that’s dramatic and an awful first thought, but everyone who has disappeared from me suddenly had turned up dead!” Bora cried hot tears of anger.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize it would be such a long-“

“You could’ve written me! You know where I live! I don’t know where you live!” Bora wiped her face on the sleeve of her shirt. You hugged her again, cautiously this time, wondering if she was capable of being violent.

If only you knew what she needed to survive.

“No, don’t.” Bora pushed you away again, only less harshly.

She was angry, upset, and felt abandoned- And still, she forgave you deep down. The locket- Lock-pick in your hand offered her reassurance that you hadn’t forgotten her either.

“Help me get my friends out and then we can talk.” Bora adverted her eyes from your neck, feeling drawn to the red dot on your neck from the injection of the needle used to knock you out.

She was upset, but she fought the urge of risking your life for the sake of saving hers.

Bora guarded you as you picked padlock after padlock, releasing each vampiric woman contained behind bars.

Bora stood between you and the hungry girls, “don’t. They are not our enemy.”

Somehow, that was enough to convince them not to lay their fangs on you.

She protected you throughout the maze-like facility, the other girls fed on the hunters that kept the captive, but Bora?

She still felt something wrong with it.

Not in front of you.

You had barely found your way back to her.

She didn’t want to ruin it by scaring you off.

And all this time knowing you, you’d think she would remember who you were.

The fanatic of all things creepy, occult, and gothic styles.

You noticed Bora weakening, stumbling into the walls, her hands gripping the walls that helped her steady herself.

“Bora, are you okay?” You asked, trying to help her walk. She pushed you away in response, gritting her teeth from the pain.

“Stay away…”

“Bora.”

“I’m hungry!” She shouted, sliding down the wall and onto the concrete below her.

“What do you need? I can try to find some for you!” You offered, worried about her.

“Blood! I need blood, but it feels wrong-“

“Bite me.” You cut her off, holding out your arm. She shook her head.

“No. I can’t do that to you.” She groaned, holding her stomach.

“Bora,” you stepped closer, your arm extended. “Bite me.”

“What’s going on? We have to go!” Siyeon wiped the blood from her mouth, seeing her weak friend. You stared at Bora, waiting for her to give in.

“She’s starving.”

Siyeon stared at your arm, her hunger satisfied, yet her vampiric instincts urged her to take your blood for herself.

She respected Bora’s wishes and decided against it.

“I’m not… Biting you.” Bora weakly pushed your arm away. You sat against the wall beside her, a small smile on your face.

“If you’re worried I will spend eternity alone, watching my loved ones die before me, you shouldn’t.” Your smile faded as you said that. You took Bora’s cold hand into yours.

Bora looked at you through her blurry vision.

“I am fine with spending an eternity of pain as long as it’s with you.”

You meant it.

Whether you died or had to suffer the same fate as Bora- And the other girls, you were okay with it.

Death never scared you.

But the possibility of becoming a vampire?

Being with the woman you had feelings for, someone who listened to you, let you indulge in your interests freely and without judgment.

That for sure didn’t scare you.

“You don’t mean that,” Bora muttered. You Reverted the lock-pick into a locket and opened it like normal.

The picture inside had unfolded and looked as good as new. It was the first picture you two ever took together.

Bora had somehow inserted it into the locket and you had wondered how she managed to make the picture small enough, yet still maintained most of the main details of the original.

“Bite me. Please, I don’t want to live the rest of my life without you.”

“Months…” She looked at your arm, fighting a battle against the urge of giving in.

“Yes, but I want to make it up to you.” You frowned, your arm getting tired, and yet you kept your arm up.

Bora thought about it.

She still thought it was cruel to you.

Cruel to turn you, cruel to kill you, cruel that she was worried about you finding someone new.

It was cruel.

And eventually, she gave in.

You were consumed by the dark.

The style, the literal darkness, everything you’ve loved or known.

It consumed you and you weren’t afraid of it.

The dark never scared you.

Every morning, you were shut out from the world. You had to.

The sun would obliterate you within a second without the right amount of shade and coverage.

Every night, you came out. The moonlight shone down on you as you’d make the trip into town.

Following the scent of blood to the blood bank.

Stealing was wrong, you acknowledged that.

But you had a new way of living now. You and Bora, finally together.

The kisses you both once fought the urge against, the late-night talks you’d have to make up for lost time, the dancing together in the ballroom now and then, and the late-night walks around the outside of the castle.

The feasts with Bora and the other vampires.

The initial pain from being turned into a vampire was worth it, in the end. You were no longer a member of society, but that didn’t bother you much.

They never accepted you as you were.

Bora and her friends?

They accepted you, respected you, and treated you as their own.

“My verdict on the taste of blood is,” You squinted, a small smile on your lips as you looked at Bora to make sure she was listening. When Bora looked up from the letter she was writing, you continued.

“It’s kind of gross.”

“That isn’t very vampiric of you.”

“Hey, I have been a human most of my life. What did you expect?”

“I love you, dork.”

Castle Bora, your new home, was a secret that you would never tell.

Everyone knew about it, but only as a myth or a legend.

They knew about Kim Bora, but only from the past. They suspected she was a vampire, a cannibal, or a witch.

They didn’t know the full story or about the eternally youthful couple that resided within the grand walls of the castle.

You would never speak of the castle to anyone inside the city. Doing so might endanger Bora.

You as well, now that you joined her in her vampiric lifestyle.

She was your home, and you, hers.

You knew you would never leave again but you were okay with that because the dark never scared you.

[jackiezenauthor]

WIP questionaire (tag game)

self-tagged from @simonnebethel

I'll be using 'I only want a dragon' since it's the one I genuinely plan on publishing as soon as I finish writing and editing it.

What was the first part of your wip that you created? A personal vendetta erotic scene. More of a vent against a toxic romantic trope that I kept running into because of some ads. Wasn't planning to write the behemoth that it had since become, but guess what, I got curious about the characters, wrote it, so here we are... (+18 warning, also changed the names, if you're curious)

If your story was a TV show, what would the theme song/intro be? Speaking Japanese by Shiny Toy Guns the story has nothing to do with japanese but the song itself

Who are your favorite characters you've made? Why? Chase because he's an absolute ointment for the heart. Made him as a temporary aid, but he decided to stay, and I couldn't say no.... Maya because she's an absolute brat queen and I wish she'd play more of a part in the story because she has so much fun potential, but maybe in part 2.

What other pieces of media do you think would share a fanbase for your story? well, shifter romance for sure, because the whole story is influenced by my absolute love for the genre, although mine's a bit far from the standard itself... I expect monster f*ckers to enjoy it as well, although I don't actually have scenes of the kind, I think... anything more mainstream.... maybe Twilight fans? tbh, idk, I'll need to think a bit more about this... hmm...

What has been your biggest struggle while writing? Concluding an arch. Things keep staying too unresolved, I think I'll have to restart writing it all over again with the new lore discoveries integrated, maybe then we can reach a satisfying part 1 ending...

Are there any animals in your story? Talk about them! There are in the world, but not in the story per se. In the story, most of the characters can shift to different animals, so there's that, I guess.

How do your characters get around?(ex: trains, horses, cars, dragons, etc.) Cars and motorbikes, but there are busses, planes and such. Plus the dragon shifters can put a few teleporters around the world, but only they and their people hoard can use those.

What part of your wip are you working on? mentally preparing to restart writing it all over for the 2nd time, but rn still exploring the after-major-event wrapping up.

What aspects (tropes, maybe?) of your wip do you think will draw people in? My friends are very into the worldbuilding and the crazy conspiracy behind it, but it's probably be the romance and erotica that'll draw the most attention, since that's what had me writing it to begin with XD

What are your hopes for your wip? honestly? It's gonna sound delulu af, but I hope ppl love the world I built so much that they start writing their own characters in it or even with the characters I already made myself. Might actually release full character sheets at some point, just to help. :)) Ah, and fanarts of any kind. I hope there'll be a lot of those too. Yeah, if people would have fun with my story I'd be absolutely delighted.

Tagging @whatwewrotepodcast @moonandris @laurasimonsdaughter and anyone else who wants to give this a go