#i'll probably beta this and put it on ao3 bc why not

[bbluejoseph]

20 questions for fic writers

thank you for tagging me @thatbluelight !! i'm not always an ask games kind of person, but This. this is perfect and i had a lot of fun with it :)

how many works do you have on ao3?

98! getting veeeery close to that big 100 lol

2. what's your total ao3 word count?

486,142 apparently. not quite as many as i thought lol

3. what fandoms do you write for?

twenty one pilots, although i do have an old wtnv crossover in the mix somewhere. i've been thinking about writing for the nbc hannibal fandom, but haven't done it yet

4. what are your top 5 fics by kudos?

bio is #1 by quite a bit <3 followed by odium, which i don't really like as much as i did when i first wrote it. after that is surrounded/hounded, spend some time (forever), and know me. oh god i forgot about that one

5. do you respond to comments? why or why not?

i try to, especially if they're longer comments, if people ask questions, if people said they liked the work, etc. i really appreciate the feedback and hearing how much people like something i've made motivates me to write more by a million lmao

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

probably home or colder bones

7. what is the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

no one's gonna love you, not just bc everything works out and they get together but bc i was really happy with that ending and with the finished work

9. do you write smut? if so, what kind?

8. do you get hate on any fics?

not that i've ever noticed

without going into detail, i've written mlm and wlw. i generally try to make it abstract/not use explicit language because i have a Normal Healthy Relationship with sex and i can definitely say the word "cock" without wanting to tunnel into the ground like a gopher. as you can probably tell by this fic

10. do you write crossovers? what's the craziest one you've written?

just the pilots/wtnv crossover one, nothing too crazy (yet)

11. have you ever had a fic stolen?

not to my knowledge

12. have you ever had a fic translated?

yes, a few times! i Need to remember to put the translation link in the author's notes and notify people in the tags that there's multiple versions available

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

i've had other people beta for me once or twice, and sometimes i've beta'd for other people, but other than that, no. a proper collab sounds fun though!

14. what's your all time favorite ship?

tyler n josh obviously but doesn't have to be romantic!! i just think they're neat :)

15. what's a wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

if i listed every wip i've ever wanted to finish here, i'd be here all day lol. off of ao3, i'd love to finish all is cold betwixt; i have the whole thing mapped out, i just never wrote it. off the top of my head, i've got another shapeshifter one that's a bit less angsty than surrounded and a bit more silly. there's another more personal one that involves growing up in a changing climate, but it's never really gotten anywhere and was mostly just a vent fic. but probably the one i'd most like to finish involves love and fire and a terrible, terrible curse (or is it) with a splash of survivor's guilt.

16. what are your writing strengths?

once i get going on a writing session i Will keep going for a while. like if i get in the Writing Mood and sit down and actually do it, i'll get a shit ton of it finished

17. what are your writing weaknesses?

too many commas probably. also lately i've been starting fics without a general idea of the ending or how to get there, which leads me to abandon them or take long ass breaks. i also have trouble actually sitting down and Writing because i get distracted by other things that are less intense and require less focus but are still fun

18. thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

nothing wrong with that, though i've never done it myself. i do appreciate when authors add a translation of the dialogue into english though so i don't have to whip out google translate

19. first fandom you wrote for?

warrior cats. i was 13, didn't have any social media, and i put several chapters to a spiral-bound notebook. not my best moment

20. favorite fic you've written?

no one's gonna love you and home are tied for #1, with surrounded/hounded and spend some time (forever) tied for #2. all my lady pilots stuff is #3; i don't think it's necessarily good but i enjoyed writing it!

tagging a few of my fellow fic writers here! no pressure to do the tag, and if anyone wants me to tag them, i'm happy to

@i-seeaspaceshipinthe-sky @rabler @edyluewho @kiitchensiink

i KNOW there's more but i don't know everyone's tumblr urls since they aren't the same as their names on ao3 lol. if you see this and you want to do this, this is me tagging you <3

[happyk44]

Legit if I ever did become a semi-popular author (and by that I mean like. 20 ppl I don't know and didn't coerce into buying my books out of family/friendship committment bought and read my stuff and liked it), I would v likely not stop writing fanfic

Bc 1) um. I have way too many ideas that are not easily transferrable to original WIPs and also I do not want more original fucking WIPs okay Bc that requires more than one draft and fanfic is v much write publish and move on for me 🤷‍♂️

And 2) I just don't care. I will v likely never be Trad published BC I just dont have the energy to:

Write multiple drafts

Then shop them to different agencies with my fingers crossed

Revise and go through another draft, possibly multiple of them, if I get picked up by an agent

Shop to different publishers with my fingers crossed

Revise and go through another draft, possibly multiple of them, if I get picked up by a publisher

Do a whole bunch of marketing in between

Probably some other shit I forgot about that will take time and energy that I don't have Bc I work a day job and have chronic illnesses and spend most of my free time asleep anyway

I also just. Don't vibe with the idea that someone can look at my outline, my characters, my story, and all the work I put into it and say "actually scrub these parts out, they're not sellable". I don't like the idea of another person or company owning my story. And I don't have the capacity to write to market. I want to make weird shit that clicks with like 4 people. I don't want to have to sanitize anything.

And I take too long to write as is and with Trad publishing we've got a deadline breathing down my neck. At least if I stick to self-publishing, my drafts can take as long as they want from first to final, with all the editing and beta reading I need in between. Costly? Yeah, that's why the first round of books I've ever published were untouched by outside eyes Bc I was young and broke.

But I have a decent job now and I'm older and more confident in my skills so like. I don't mind putting in a chunk of change, only to come out at a loss in the end 😂 I just want ppl to read it. I don't need all the bells and whistles.

So, yeah, without the weight of "Trad publishers typically want you to scrub away any fanfic you might have", I don't really see the need to kick it to the curb. I like writing fanfic. If I wanna take time between drafts, or while I'm waiting for beta/editor feedback, and scribble out some drabbles or another fucking 60k masterpiece that like 5 people read because I wanna write but I'm too tired to fuck with another original piece, I can do it.

If I got offered smth by a small/indie publisher, I might be happy to take them up on it because they tend to be more forgiving of the weird and wonderful, but I don't like leaving people in the lurch because I'm a slow writer, which is why I really hate that I have those 4 ongoing fics still posted on ao3, and why my plan is to just fucking write and complete the whole series before I even hit publish on book 1 for any future series I may write Bc I don't wanna throw out book one, get at least one person invested, and then take five years to spit out book two.

(plus I get worried that I'll hit publish, start book two and realize I need to change smth in the story that requires going back and changing things in book one 😩 and like yes. I fully outline all books in a series before I hit publish, but hey, outlines are subject to change Bc stories are flexible)

Plus again 3) I like writing fanfic. I like playing with characters and settings I didn't create. I like writing meta and unhinged nonsense abt them. It's a different kind of imagination, and I enjoy it! I don't wanna have to stop unless I'm busy with other shit. And even then, I'd still like the opportunity to return if I wanted without have to orphan or plonk my shit under Anonymous. They're my stories!!

Anyway. Idk. Fingers crossed I finish a draft of smth end of next year 🤷‍♂️

[lobsterdex]

Kent trying to come out subtlety but heteronormativity gets in the way. He is continually frustrated and keeps getting less subtle each time.(Maybe Jack joins in and they compete to see who the media notices first?)

this got kind of out of hand which is why it took me 200 years to publish it?? it is also arguably the worst thing i’ve ever written and i love it. not exactly what u requested by enjoy :)

Kent is lying on his side on the couch with his head inJeff’s lap.

Jeff is watching Sports Center, and Kent is mostly justspacing out. It’s warm and comfortable, and he feels safe, and the backgroundnoise of the TV and Jeff’s hand carding through his hair is lulling him tosleep.

“Should we?” Jeff says.

“Should we what,” Kent mumbles.

“Come out.”  

Kent’s eyes snap open, and the analysists are talking toeach other with Jack’s picture in the corner of the screen. Ah.

Jeff’s hand stills. “We don’t have to, I don’t know. I don’tknow why I said that. I just. Maybe it would be better if it wasn’t just him,y’know?”

Kent lets his eyes fall close. “Yeah.” The same idea hasbeen rolling around his head for the past few weeks, since Jack and Bitty cameout quietly via Jack’s Instagram. The entire Falcs organization and fan base isbehind him, as they fucking should be, considering he’s the reason they’ve madethe playoffs the last three years. And yeah, one player is not the team, Kentknows the spiel. He is the spiel. Butso is Jack. A single player isn’t an entire team, but one of Jack’s calibermakes a world of difference. It changes the dynamic and can turn the wholething around if the rest of the team clicks.

So they can’t really tear down his game. They can’t play the“he’s doing badly because he’s gay” angle, because Jack has a seven game pointstreak. No one is really saying anything outright, but they’re stilluncomfortable.

It would be the same way if he came out. They can’t say hissexuality ruined his game, because he’s been gay since the draft. He was gaywhen he was born, he was gay in juniors, he was gay when he won the Calder, hewas gay when he won the cup the first time, he was still gay when he lifted itthe second time. If anything, he could argue it made him better.

He’s safe in the knowledge that he won’t get traded or sentdown to the minors. He doubts he’ll lose much of his fan base, and most of theteam knows already anyways.

It’s always been something he thought would never be anoption, so he never let himself think about it too much. But now, he realizesthere really isn’t much to lose.

“Do you want to?” he says.

“If we did, I’d be okay with it,” Jeff says quietly.

Kent rolls onto his back and smiles softly up at him. “Iguess we should, then.”

.

Kent doesn’t want it to be a big deal.

It is a big deal, but he doesn’t want to hold a pressconference or make a speech.

He and Jeff sit in one of the conference rooms with the PRpeople and the GMs and the coaches. They’re in there for an hour and a half,and everyone just decides it would be best to do it via Instagram, which theydefinitely didn’t that long of a meeting to decide, but whatever. Kent isn’tthe boss here.

Kent chooses a picture of the two of them and gets PR’sapproval. He captions it with the red heart emoji, and then it’s done. There’sno going back now.

.

Apparently, it wasn’t a big enough deal.

They’re all sitting in the damn conference room again, and someonefrom PR is summarizing it for them. It’s not a lot to summarize. Deadspin ranan article about their bromance, and some tumblr blogs started speculating andpulled out receipts, but nothing legitimate enough to publicly confirm it.

“I don’t think any of us want to sit here for another hour,so how about Jeff posts a picture and we cross our fingers and call it a day?”Alex from PR says, clapping her hands together at the head of the table.

“Sure,” Jeff says. Kent nods in agreement, and they break.

.

It’s still not a big enough deal.

It’s progress, though, if you count a Deadspin articlespeculating about whether or not there’s a romantic nature to their bromanceprogress. Jeff reads it aloud to Kent in bed.

“So I guess we should go fuck in the Bellagio,” Jeff says,and Kent snorts.

“Nah, then the headline would just be, ‘Two bros arrestedfor wrestling naked in the Fountains of Bellagio.’”

Jeff laughs so hard Kit falls off the end of the bed andbolts out the door.

.

Kent doesn’t know why they’re all still bothering with theconference room; it’s just him, Jeff, Alex and some other guy from PR, and Tag,who is mostly here for “moral support,” because he thinks this is all hilariousand has nothing better to do.

Alex asks them about a press conference for the hell of it,and doesn’t seem surprised when they immediately veto it.

She flips through a few pages in her notebook, then sighsand looks up at them. “You just want to keep trying Instagram and hope someonecatches on?”

Kent looks at Jeff, who just shrugs. “Yeah. Should I captionit with two hearts?”

Alex rolls her eyes. “Whatever you want, just run it by mefirst.”

“We could do a date night or something,” Jeff suggests.

“That would work,” Alex says.

.

It doesn’t work.

They go out to dinner, and it’s been decided that Kentshould do most of the posting because he has more followers and a biggeroverall fan base. “More eyes are on him” were Alex’s exact words, but they allknew what she meant.

So Kent posts a picture of Jeff sitting across from him, fancyrestaurant with white and gold trim and potted plants everywhere, candles andglasses of wine on the table, more silverware than Kent knows what to do with,the whole nine yards.

He captions it “Date Night” with the red heart emoji, andthen he puts his phone in airplane mode and has dinner with his boyfriend.

.

It’s still not enough, and Kent is starting to seriouslyconsider Jeff’s plan to fuck in the Bellagio.

Alex would kill him. He would have to get his affairs inorder and write his will and whatnot if they have to resort to that. He alsodoesn’t really want to do that to his mother, but least they have a plan Z.

They all meet up in the conference room and Alex sighs andstarts a group chat with the three of them and tells them to keep trying and torun anything they come up with by her. Kent makes them all put their hands inthe middle and do a countdown and break.

“Say ‘gay’ on three!” he says, and it gets a smile out ofAlex. They break, and then Tag walks them out to their cars rambling about howridiculous the whole thing is. The media loves the gay scandals, and yet hereare Kent and Jeff giving them the second big gay story of the year, and theyjust keep saying bromance.

“If I hear the word bromance one more time, I’m skating intoour next game naked with a pride flag,” Jeff says.

“If I see the word bromance in one more headline, we’refucking in the Bellagio,” Kent says, and Tag groans and says, “gross,” but he’sa little shit who once hung up mistletoe all over Kent’s apartment, so Kentfeels zero remorse.

.

Jeff posts a picture of Kent sitting on the couch with Kitin his pajamas, grinning lazily at the camera.

It’s captioned “the Boyf.”

The next day, there’s another Deadspin article about theirbromance, and Kent texts Alex asking if she’s sure about the Bellagio plan.

Her response is an immediate “absolutely not,” followed by“this is fucking ridiculous” and “keep trying.”

.

He’s in a groupchat with Jeff, Jack, Bitty, and thePoindexter kid called “gays of the nhl.”

Bitty keeps sending screenshots of Kent and Jeff’s Instagramposts with obscene emoji combinations. He also leaves Kent a two minutevoicemail of him laughing his way to wheezing because they’re being so goddamnobvious but the whole world has decided to stay in denial.

Poindexter: Lolghost asked if you guys were dating

You:really??

You:finally

You:what did u say

Poindexter: Isaid yeah and then he said “why the fuck is no one talking about this”

Bitty: HONESTLY

Jeff: Would youguys still love us if we came out by fucking in the Bellagio

Poindexter: Thewhat

You:the fountains

Poindexter: Ohthat

Poindexter: Yeahdo it

Bitty: I mean youcan afford the public indecency charges……………so  I don’t see any reason not to

Jack: Bitty has apoint

Jack: We’d stilllove you

You:perfect let’s do it

Bitty: haha “doit”

You:fuck u bits

Bitty: ;))

You:ur not funny

Poindexter: Sexpuns are always funny

Jeff: ^^

You:et tu???????????

.

In their next game, Kent breaks the tie with a minute left,and Jeff and Tag crash into him, yelling. He and Jeff are nose to nose,grinning, and Kent decides fuck it, what does it matter anyways, at this point,and kisses him on the mouth.

It isn’t a long or intense kiss, because Tag is screaming intheir ears and Brennan crashes into them a few seconds later. The only personwho brings it up is one of the regular beat reporters who asks him about thegoal and says, “dramatic celly” with a wink. And also Tag, who laughs at themfor about five straight minutes once all the reporters leave.

The next morning, Alex texts them a link to yet anotherarticle about their bromance. The embedded picture isn’t even of them kissing,it’s just of them nose to nose, hugging and grinning.

Alex: I give up

Alex: Which meansyou still CANNOT try the Bellagio plan, but I don’t have any other ideas thatwouldn’t require a presser or a big publicity thing.

Jeff: So what now

You:I have an idea

You:But like I’m not sureif it’s possible or legal

Jeff: ????? U nevertold me???

You:You’re literallysitting right next to me

Alex: That isn’treassuring, but what is it?

.

It’s the first time in years that Alex approves one of hisideas. Granted, they’ve gotten more ridiculous with time as he needs less real helpwith PR, but still.

She says she’ll make some calls, pull some strings.

Jeff is shaking his head. “I hate you.”

Kent is grinning. “It’ll be fun.”

.

Poindexter: Kentyou’re the worst person in the world

Poindexter: Youreally did this

Poindexter: I can’tfucking believe

You::)

Bitty: ???

Poindexter: https://www.buzzfeed.com/norbertobriceno/ten-times-kent-parson-came-out?utm_term=. xmRKnqDZV #.garlzmkkr

Bitty: HSHDGGDHSHFGGF

Bitty: YOUG FUCKIN G DIDN’T WHO ARE YOU

Jack: They let you write it yourself?

You:yeah isn’tit great

Jeff: Lol yeah sure whatever helps u sleep at night babe

Jack: I honestly wish I was more surprised by this

Jack: I would’ve never come up with it on my own but now that it’shappened it’s more like “oh yeah fucking of course” instead of “wow I can’tbelieve this”

You:awthanks jackie boy

You:youare my oldest friend after all

Jeff: It’s a really stupid article but at least we got to point outall the stuff no one noticed

Jeff: That part was fun

Bitty: “I can see how the first one or two could be taken as a joke,but date night? The Boyf? Really?” this is the best thing I’ve ever seen thereare actual tears in my eyes

Poindexter: Iconic

You: thanksboys i try

[uc-fakeadoption-au]

herói do futuro: chapter 2

read on ao3:

chapter count: 2/?

rating: teen and up audiences

category: gen

warnings: no (archive) warnings apply

relationships: Nathan Drake & Victor Sullivan, Nathan Drake & Samuel Drake, Samuel Drake & Victor Sullivan

additional tags: fake adoption au, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, also titled just a dad and his two sons, Young Nate, Young Sam, aka hes not balding yet lmaoo, “young” sully, Team as Family, Fluff and Angst, pretty good amounts of fluff tbh, Family Bonding, accidental family acquisition, There will be headcanons, content warning for sully bc he’s young and hot, dare i say…dilf sully?, yes beta we DON’T die (like sam!!!), place-filler ocs (they don’t mean shit to the story I just needed someone for certain roles)

no summary for this chapter! sorry,,

alternative to ao3 under the cut:

Victor had to admit, that had been a pretty good save. It was a bit suspicious if you knew what to look for, but it seemed like it fooled the social worker. Or maybe she knew of their troublemaker reputation and just decided to not bother with it. Probably. She beckoned the Morgans over, trapping them close by putting a firm hand on each of their shoulders. Yeah, she definitely knew what was up.

"Boys, why don't you introduce yourselves to Mr. Smith here?", she squeezed their shoulders to drive the point home. Nathan couldn't hide a wince, while Samuel just rolled his eyes, batting her hand away.

"Yeah, whatever. I'm pretty sure the old man here already knows 'bout both our names. I mean, you were yelling around earlier".

"Well, I'm Nate, uh, Nathan. Nathan Morgan". The poor kid looked pretty uncomfortable. Well, that was his brother's fault, though.

"Yeah, no, I've got an old man's memory, you know. Please do tell me both your names, kids". Samuel seemed pretty annoyed at that. Good.

"Nice to meet you, Nathan. How about you, kid?"

Samuel just stayed silent for a moment too long, crossing his arms.

"Well?", Reed nudged him with an elbow.

He huffed, "Watch what you're doing with that arm, lady. You could have put a hole in my back acting like that, geez".

"Okay fine, it's Samuel. Happy now?"

She gave him a look.

"Very", she retorted.

Kid really didn't want to do any of this, huh. Brought this on himself, being a little shit like that.

"Very nice to meet you, kid", he jested.

"Uh-huh. Can't say the same, though".

Nathan, who had been pretty quiet during the whole thing, finally did a little pretend-slap-and glare routine at his brother, complete with a drawn-out whine of "Saaaaam!". It was kinda adorable, actually. Who was he kidding, it was really annoying. But the kid was like, 8, so it was probably normal, he guessed.

"Can we go now?", Samuel pointedly stared at Reed.

"Sure, you are dismissed. Just don't go set anything on fire or anything like that ".

"Sure thing, Miss Reed", Nathan gave his best mock salute before running after his brother, who was already somewhere in the very back of the courtyard.

Well, that was interesting, for lack of a better term.

"Well, now that you got to talk to the boys, shall we go to the administration office, Mr. Smith? We still have to discuss paperwork and some other details".

He mumbled some vague affirmative, following the woman inside. He still had to get his wallet back.

"Actually, can you point me to the bathroom? I'll come up to administration in a second".

The social worker didn't seem surprised, "Sure Mr., Smith, take your time".

Going for the scenic route, he actually went in the way of the bathrooms before circling back right to the courtyard. He found the Morgans perched on a tall tree.

"It was a nice lift back there. You boys are pretty good".

At that, both of them whirled around. Nathan almost fell right out of the tree.

"I dunno what you're talking about, old man", spat Samuel from his perch, his brother nodding along.

"Again, don't call me that. Your technique was actually pretty sloppy". He pointed at Samuel, "You couldn't come up with an engaging enough conversation, couldn't distract for shit", gesturing vaguely at Nathan, "And you were telegraphing all your moves".

The brothers exchanged astonished looks.

"Yeah? I guess you figured me an easy mark. But you kids picked the wrong guy".

"You're crazy", piped the younger boy.

Both of them looked ready to bail.

"Hey, before you get any ideas. My wallet".

They just stared.

"Fine, maybe I'll just call Reed to handle you. Maybe even one of the nuns — Sister Catherine seems to have taken a real shine on you two".

"Sure, do whatever you want, old man"

"But of course", completed Nathan, "Miss Reed could wonder what you're doing back here now that she already took you back inside".

They both dismissed him, Samuel with a sweep of a hand, Nathan with a half-hearted shrug.

Oh, it's on. "Well, you two sure are crafty little beggars, aren't you?"

"Anyways, I'm sure you don't wanna get caught in a mess just because of a misunderstanding, right Smith?", rebutted the eldest brother. "I assume you don't wanna get in trouble more than we do".

"Good point".

With a smirk, he turned back around, his brother following his example.

Nathan scoffed and tossed the wallet back down, while his brother just rolled his eyes and shook his head. As Victor left the courtyard, he could still see two little figures perched on the distant tree, swinging their feet around.

"Kid!" They barely glanced back, the little shits."The wallet".

~

Fortunately, Reed didn't insist on escorting him out, "trusting" him to know the way back out. Well more like she was busy with something and/or done with him, and couldn't be bothered.

He narrowly managed to get back inside and on route to the administration office before Reed came looking for him. He played it off as just a long bathroom break and gave his best half-baked excuse as to why he had to leave, right now, it was very urgent Miss Reed, the paperwork will have to wait.

While the visit hadn't been so good in terms of reconnaissance, he had found something (or someone) useful indeed.

Surely, that wouldn't be too hard.

The Morgan brothers were clumsy and untrained but had good instincts. Obviously, he did not want those boys to pursue it to a life of crime — he knew how that was, firsthand — he was sure he could negotiate to use their "talents" and knowledge of the place, work as scouts for him. He just had to figure out what those kids could possibly want in turn.

~

Okay, turns out it was a bitch getting any kind of clue from these boys. Just what he needed.

Out of the three times he tried to go back and talk to them, he only managed to get actually face to face with them once — and they bolted the second they recognized him (though it did look like it was Samuel who was calling the shots and dragging his brother around). While he wasn't as closely watched as the first visit — the social worker didn't really follow his every step anymore — the nuns sure were nosy. Nothing he couldn't handle, but it just wasn't worth the effort, getting them off his tail.

Another big problem was that he kept having to make up excuses not to go up to administration and those were getting worse by the second. At some point, maybe at the third visit, they got a hold of him long enough for the paperwork thing. At least the client had enough foresight — and money to throw around — to actually set up some kind of "backstory" along with the fake name. Thankfully, thanks to that Victor didn't get into trouble with the background check.

He was sure that if the kids could stay still and actually listen for once they'd consider his proposal, hell they might even enjoy it if pickpocketing random strangers was their idea of a fun afternoon.

Maybe, if he could get through to Nathan, the kid would listen and get the message to his brother. It was almost impossible to get the brothers separated long enough, as Samuel himself had told Reed earlier, his brother was always close by. Goddammit, this was looking worse and worse

And the main, most troubling point still remained: what the hell could possibly want in exchange for spying for him? It just really looked like they just didn't want to be here…

Oh.

He had to hope he lucked out and found the kid by himself for once.

~

Guess he can have nice things for once. He found the kid balancing on the edge of a lowish roof, trying —  and failing — to pretend he wasn't trying to look through a higher window.

"Hey kid, what are you doing there all alone? Your brother abandoned you?", the boy just gave him a dirty side glance, going right back to his anxious window watching.

From the muffled half-yelling, he assumed that their troublemaking ways had caught up with the brothers. Maybe Samuel had taken one for the team to spare his brother the sermon?

"Get down, son. I gotta ask you something".

"Shh, I'm busy. Get back later".

Victor huffed, amused, "No can do, kid.  I swear you're gonna like it if your little pickpocketing lessons are any indication".

At that, he looked back down, an excited spark in his eyes. He did manage to catch himself pretty quickly, putting on his best poker face. Which sucked, honestly.

"Sam told me not to talk to you at all. And he meant it".

"Oh yeah?".

"I think he's mad because you called his tactics shitty. Also, you insulted me, that's a big no-no". He shrugged, "So, no talking".

"Well he isn't here right now, is he? And anyway, what's he gonna do? Noogie you to death?"

He paused at that. Wow.

"Come on kid, I can see you're itching to hear it, come on down. What your brother doesn't know won't kill him. You can always tell him everything later".

"That's uh, a good point", that's right Sullivan, you almost got him.

~

At that, the boy finally jumped down from the roof. Finally, He made a vague "follow me" gesture, lighting a cigar as he walked a little ways over.

He told the kid about how he had been lying about a lot of things, how the name he knew him by wasn't even the real deal. He made a big show out of revealing the true one, giving the whole "my friends call me Sully" spiel.

The kid really tried his best to seem unmoved. In all his 8-year-old glory, tried to ask what was his angle, to which he replied with a simple affirmation of his and his brother's talent, which could only be improved with training, which he could provide if they helped him do a little something. Plus, they'd get another little thing in the end which was clearly way more to his and his brother's benefit, anyway.

Appeal to their ego, lay out the preposition, simple. It was obvious the kid was already sold on the idea. Now, he just had to hope the kid managed to do the same with his brother.

[beloved-child-of-the-house]

Fic Writer Questions! (you can find me here on AO3 if you're interested!)

tagged by dear @theburialofstrawberries mwah!

1) How many works do you have on AO3?

112 yowza!

2) What’s your total AO3 word count?

750,421 kinda tempted to go delete one word so it can be 750420 which is a far more Pleasing number

3) How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

12ish but some of them overlap: BBCS/Sherlock Holmes/ACD (these are all different bc my bbcs fics are not the same as my own modern fem Sherlock Holmes adaptation are not the same as my ACD Holmes fic; Good Omens; Harry Potter/The Werewolf Draco Malfoy Cinematic Universe; Captive Prince; The Hobbit; Fleabag (it was a crossover with BBCS but Fleabag is the perspective character so it still counts as a separate fandom imo); Doctor Who; The Office; Parks and Rec; Broad City (one a piece for those last 5 but I AM going to write a Parks and Rec polycule fic for @gaykagome)

4) What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

They're all Good Omens fics from the 2019 Summer of Good Omens! Susceptible to Summer, Fragments Shored Against My Ruin, Something So Magic, Enter Serpent, and Anything We Like

All of those have over 2k except the last one, but average engagement for me is like 400 kudos or so

5) Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

I try! It depends on what's going on with me. Sometimes I just don't have the energy, and I figure people would rather I spend my brain power on writing new fics than on writing replies to comments. Wish I had a fave button tho so I could let people know I read and reread comments, because I do!

6) What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

Oh I wrote this ficlet series called A Chemical Defect about John and Sherlock's relationship in s3 of BBCS, and it's WILDLY unpopular. People don't read my fic to cry sad tears I guess! John and Sherlock are having an affair in the story, and it ends with the implication that their relationship is unsustainable and that Mary knows about it anyway. I intended to come back to it after s4 and write a more optimistic ending but LOL! Didn't have the heart.

7) What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

I know this answer is kinda up my own ass, but like. I think stories that feel true to life sort of feel like they end on a beginning if you know what I mean? You don't really consider a chapter of your life closed until you look back on it from the next? SO that said, I think I'd have to say that it's my big BBCS serial The Only One in the World. I spent 2 years writing it, and it ends with John retiring from medicine to solve crimes and write books full time.

Could also be my WDMCU (werewolf Draco Malfoy cinematic universe) series Moonrise, which starts with Draco isolated in his abusive mother's house, trying to cope with lycanthropy essentially alone and ends with him in love and surrounded by found family in a cozy cottage in Hogsmeade, having gotten some lycanthrope rights legislation passed after working at it for years and talking to Harry about whether they want to have kids. Oh man I feel warm and fuzzy just thinking about it

8) Do you write crossovers? If so what is the craziest one you’ve written?

I have written one crossover. It's BBCS/Fleabag, because me and @loudest-subtext-in-tv were laughing about how John seems like one of the horrible guys Fleabag sleeps with basically out of self loathing, so I wrote this fic to make Nattie laugh, and you should read it bc it's so good and so underrated.

9) Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Not really, but people don't seem to know that authors can read bookmark tags unless you private the bookmark, and someone once put in the bookmark tag on one of my fics 'writing was meh but it was okay.' Okay so why bookmark it then??

10) Do you write smut? If so what kind?

Fuck yes! I'm not sure what 'what kind?' means? People fucking? Sloppy, silly, and awkward, with lots of laughing. I also really like writing afterglow scenes which are even sillier and gigglier and often involve one character cooking for another. Food as love language is a very distinct pattern of mine tbh

11) Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I'm aware of, but occasionally I'll write a post on here where I make some elaborate head canon, and I'll see people in the tags talking about how they want to write fic of it, and it makes me breathe fire out of my nose like a dragon like PLEASE DON'T. The WDMCU came out of a ficlet post I made on here like a year before I actually wrote the 60k series so like!!! Please don't do that!

12) Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes! To Russian and I believe Chinese. Not my entire oeuvre but a handful of BBCS and Good Omens fics

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

No, but I wrote a fic inspired by an RP I did with my gf right around when we met (actually now that I think about it, it's two fics), and I waaaaaaanna do a WDMCU collab with my beloved Sally @clytemenestras at some point if he has time bc he inspired me to even write werewolf draco with his original lesbian werewolf story

14) What’s your all time favorite ship?

favorites are hard for me? I always think I'm currently doing my best writing lol so I'll say drarry

15) What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

I don't post fics unless theyre finished, so I don't have any WIP up on AO3, but I did intend to continue with my fem Sherlock Holmes series, Your Many Tendencies. I just haven't been in a Holmes mood for a long time. Maybe I'll come back to it idk. This particular series is honestly very unpopular? People will just straight up say they don't read femslash, and it hurts a lot. This series feels really personal too, bc it's about a Black autistic nonbinary lesbian, so it does hurt my feelings that no one seems to care, yknow? I mean the people who read it are extremely kind and thoughtful in their engagement with it, but it has vastly less engagement than my m/m fic, and that's painful. It gets literally 1/10 the attention my fics usually get.

16) What are your writing strengths?

Almost all of my writing is romance, but I tend to write concurrently about recovery and found family, and I think I'm very good at doing that in a way that connects with my audience. I once had someone ask if they could use my words in their wedding vows, and I've had people tell me they started doing things with their spouse that my characters do with their partners in order to express love. I think about that all the time. My Impact. It makes me feel like I have a real duty to my audience yknow?

17) What are your writing weaknesses?

This question is hard for me like I've been writing so long and so much that I'm literally always happy with my final draft! It's always exactly to my taste, yknow? I suppose I could say that my fics tend not to be terribly plotty but so WHAT? That's beside the fuckn point for me. Plot who? I don't know Her. Also honestly like. Stories feel more True to me when they aren't ruthlessly devoted to plot bc like life isn't like that yknow?

18) What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

If you're not fluent in that language, get a beta who is!!!!! That said, I have written scraps of very simple dialogue in French using mostly Google Translate (sometimes I check w Sally bc he speaks French but I am usually too impatient), and I am perfectly well aware that I take my life in my hands each time!!! Also don't do that bullshit thing where it's in italics? That shit is weird and exoticizing. Just write it in quotation marks like normal dialogue.

19) What was the first fandom you wrote for?

BBCS babey back in 2012. Ended a 5 year dry spell for me after I got my writing degree.

20) What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

Hmmmm I think it's probably gonna be the fic I'm working on now that I haven't posted yet, but I know it's called Names for a House, and here's a tiny bit of it

Thanks again Shreya for asking me to do this bc I really love talking about myself. I tag @the-moon-loves-the-sea, @clytemenestras, @tomiano, @gaykagome and @totallysilvergirl

No pressure <3