#i'm sorry i keep using that tag at this point it's just consistency lol

[godslush]

A couple of expression sheets I did on Twitter for SG and Antares, based on this template translated from this template.

Very upset that Stinky Tesla Man decided to remove the ability to create/edit Moments on Twitter, so that's gonna slowly decrease in functionality as a link-back for reference purposes, ugh.

[sophieinwonderland]

Found a Hate Blog in The #Plural Tag. 😮‍💨

As I covered recently, "Plural" is an inclusive word with origins in endogenic and non-disordered systems.

If any anti-endo posts in the "#plural" tag or other inclusive tags, don't expect your DNIs to be respected.

They also are doing this knowingly. People have already tried to contact them about using the inclusive plural tag and the hate blog has stubbornly refused.

So if they're going to post in inclusive tags, I figured I might as well respond to some of their vent posts in anti-endo tags. As always, if anti-endos have a problem with this or feel boundaries are being unfairly crossed, please take it up with the hate blog I'm responding to that's invading our spaces.

Also, really weird how they just jump straight into saying "pro-endos" aren't systems either. Hate to break it to you, but there are a lot of traumagenic DID systems whose disorders and trauma are just valid as yours. And they manage to not be bigots too!

Wait... are they claiming that ALL dissociation can only be caused by trauma?

Although previous research has implicated a history of childhood trauma in the development of dissociative tendencies, insufficient cognizance (in this context) has been taken of the distinction between pathological and nonpathological dissociation. In this study, the relationship between childhood trauma and both pathological and nonpathological dissociation was investigated in a sample of 100 Australian adults. Pathological dissociation was positively predicted by dimensions of childhood trauma, but no such relationship was found for nonpathological dissociation (psychological absorption). The data are consistent with the traumagenic model of the dissociative disorders, but factors other than childhood trauma may also be pertinent.

Amazing how they compare us with anti-vaxxers while trying to claim all dissociation is traumagenic. This wasn't even hard to find. 🙄

"I don't care about any morals"

Well, at least you're up front about it.

Also, I tend to check the DID tags every now and then and you know what I don't see there? Endogenic systems!

"#Endo Safe" tags are more often than not used by pro-endo traumagenic systems.

Guess what! If you have DID, you get to post in the DID tags. Being a hateful bigot isn't a requirement! Anyone with DID has the right to post in the DID tags, and can tag their post as endo safe too!

Maybe you wouldn't get as many anons from endogenic systems if you stop posting in inclusive tags. Just a thought!

How are they harmful to the community again?

Weren't you just saying earlier that pro-endos were stealing resources? Now you're acknowledging that they're making resources for the community, but this is also bad?

LOL!

Genic labels literally only exist because of the pro-endo community. And the anti-endo community notoriously hates xeno-origins like NPD-genic. Yes, people will assume you're endo-safe when you use xeno-origins because these terms, like most resources in the plural community, were made by pro-endos.

Keep it up guys! It's working! We're spreading!

Sorry, I don't feel like rebutting anything here. I just appreciate seeing that our efforts are paying off!

The Future is Plural! 😁

Stop!

This talking point has been completely debunked.

System hopping was used by pro-endos 15 years before the earliest association with RAMCOA. The idea that it was a RAMCOA term is a total lie invented by anti-endos!

OSDD-1A and OSDD-1B are not actually official disorders. There is an OSDD. The first example, called OSDD-1 sometimes, gives two possible presentations. One with less distinct alters and amnesia, and another with no amnesia. But these aren't called OSDD-1a or OSDD-1b.

If your goal is education, this nuance is important.

Could it be because ASPEC people have dealt with a ton of exclusionism from some queer communities, and are more accepting of other people as a result? And perhaps they also recognize similarities between system exclusionists and queer exclusionists?

You're coming and posting in our tags!

That's why people keep interacting with you! "Plural" is a term coined by non-disordered systems, you've been told this, and you insist on posting in inclusive tags anyway!

You don't get to bust in someone's door, complain about them in their home, and then tell them not to interact with you! It doesn't work like that!

Funny how these are the only sources they can provide. And they exclusively deal with DID without even touching on other forms of plurality.

Anyway...

The ICD-11 says you can experience "multiple distinct personality states" without a dissociative disorder.

The creators of the theory of structural dissociation have said hypnosis and mediumship may involve self-conscious dissociative parts of the personality.

And Transgender Mental Health, written by Eric Yarbrough and published by the American Psychiatric Association (who publishes the DSM) says you can be plural without trauma or a disorder.

Sources repeatedly affirm that it's possible to be plural without trauma!

Anyone who claims it's impossible to be plural without trauma is either ignorant or lying.

And if you're going to keep spreading hate and misinformation, at least keep it out of inclusive tags!

[peachyfnaf]

I'm sorry but "MY BEAUTIFUL PRINCESS WITH A DISORDER<3" really made my day and I needed you to know

🤣🤣🤣

I can't believe Nexus is bullying peepaw war criminal.

Do you think Nexus is going to be stopped by big bro Sun or do you think the lil guy is going beyond the point of no return?

(Please talk about baby cringe Lord Nexus, I want to hear about your blorbo 🙏)

That's because Nexus IS my beautiful princess with a disorder, I'll have you know <3 they're diseased but it's okay I can give them their tetanus and flu shots and it'll all be better I GOT THIS

But. ahem, okay, blorbo yapping time. I'm not even gonna say "I'll try to keep this short" because I know it wont end up that way HAHAHAHAHA

"Do you think Nexus is going to be stopped by big bro Sun or do you think the lil guy is going beyond the point of no return?"

I... have absolutely no idea!!!1! (and also it took me an embarrassingly long amount of time to realize peepaw war criminal was Ruin KJDFHSDF)

The most frustrating thing about canon Nexus is how his morals, motivations, and goals seem to see-saw back and forth all the time. at first, he became how he is now due to Solar's death. he spiraled in his grief, identity-issues, and abandonment. but... now his motivation is to become an all powerful god??? while it's most likely that NSP is at play and affecting his thought process, it's... well, it's really hard to take him seriously as a villain because of it, lol. for an audience to enjoy, and even sympathize in some cases, with a villain, their goals and motivations have to be concrete. they have to be relatable, or at least understandable, but Nexus' whole thing is... not, Imho. and I know I'm not the only person who feels this way!!!

I see a lot of people calling Nexus "cringe", and the thing is, when it comes to canon Nexus, they're not really... wrong??? The worst thing Nexus has done so far is make Old Moon see his past victims, which is fucked up of him to do, but.. so far, that's kind of it??? other than that, his "villainy" consists of saying empty threats and cheesy evil one-liners. hell, he was supposed to kidnap Sun yesterday but instead spent the whole episode yapping and venting to him, chasing Sun around in the worlds darkest game of tag before getting some lead right in the face dkfjhsdfsd

Also, notice how he's only targeted Old Moon when it comes to actual physical violence? not Lunar, Earth, Solar, or Sun, but Old Moon? yeah, I did too. we already know that Nexus does everything because he's lashing out, but as of rn the only target he's gotten his hands on physically being O.M...? well. I think it says a lot. cause' yeah, he sure as shit scared the life out of the other Celestials, but he's never put his hands on them!! the only other one of them he harmed physically was Earth- and not only was he not aiming for her, she was just in the way- he felt immediate regret for his actions once in space, and has yet to even see Earth ever since that day.

So, I really have no idea if he's going to be "redeemed" or not. one second he's showing signs he might be, and the next he's falling further down the "pretty badly written villain" rabbit-hole. if he does get something akin to a redemption arc, he'll prolly mostly be accepted in the eyes of the viewers, considering a lot of peeps sympathize or at least understand where he's coming from, but I seriously doubt the other Celestials would take him back. the only one's who might see him as family/a close friend again are Sun and Solar, but even then, nothing would ever be the same.

I hope he gets redeemed, or at least freed from the hold Dark Sun has on him and he's able to live his own life, I really do. at his core, Nexus is a good person. a good person who was crushed under the weight of the shadow of the man he was born under. and we know this because he used to be New Moon. sweet, dorky New Moon.

New Moon, who made inventions like sentient knives and whoopee cushions. New Moon, who had matching My Little Pony stickers with his best friend. New Moon, who bought a whole ass island-luxury-house for Sun because he wanted to make him feel better and give him the proper space to heal. and New Moon- the poor freshly-baked A.I who gave his all to make sure he could do everything that Old Moon could, but it just wasn't enough. he tried and tried and tried, but it wasn't enough.

So yeah, idk if he's getting one in canon, but to me, he more than deserves a good ending, for the life he was given. let him be at peace.

[somethingsteff]

Five different fandoms, five different ships

Get to know the blogger, via five different ships from five different fandoms! Tagged by @palfriendpatine66

1. Obi-Wan Kenobi/Anakin Skywalker (Star Wars)

My current biggest obsession. I can still remember my first obikin fanfic. It was @grapenehifics Some Technical Difficulties, and it's still one that I go back to and re-read. And now it's so wild to me that I'm, like, friends with them?? Lol.

Fun fact about me, I have an obikin tattoo! I have their lightsabers tattooed on my left forearm.

2. Din Djarin/Luke Skywalker (Star Wars)

I know this is supposed to be from 5 different fandoms, but this is my other current obsession and I do what I want. Give me a fic with obikin and dinluke and I'm in high heaven. 😍😍😍😍

I don't have a dinluke tattoo, but I have a Mando helmet that I've low-key considered having Luke’s lightsaber incorporated into it.

3. Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter (Harry Potter)

One of my og ships, drarry will always be close to my heart and one that I keep going back to. This ship was a big bonding point for @batsbratsandbarbedwire and me back in the day. 💖

I also have a drarry tattoo! I have their wands on my right forearm.

4. Steve Rogers/Bucky Barnes (Captain America/MCU)

I just love them so much. The whole separation only to be brought together with a little enemies to lovers twist while Bucky is still the Winter Soldier. Amazing. And the modern!Bucky/Cap!Steve fics? A major obsession of mine.

I have a stucky tattoo as well! I have a circle with Cap's shield on one half and the shoulder of Winter Soldier's mechanical arm on the other half.

5. Jasper Hale/Edward Cullen (Twilight)

Another og fandom and ship, here! I don't remember how I got into this, because I used to be into Bella/Edward, but jaspward has been a much longer and consistent love.

I don't have a jaspward tattoo, but it has been something that I've been thinking about. Will take suggestions. Lol.

Rules are to tag 5 people, so here are my super low-key tags! Sorry if you've already been tagged, I can never keep up with that part of these games.

@grapenehifics @underacalicosky @briliantlymad @lilredghost @renlyslittlerose

[lea-andres]

Mind if I just step in here and ask you how Bark & Jewel met? Sorry, my curiosity about BugBear is eating me up 😅 They're just so cute 🥺💖

[/gen /nf]

You may!!! Come bug me (hehe) about BugBear whenever! I'm always DYING to braindump about them to someone!!! 🤩🥰🤩🥰

They have half a thousand first meetings, LMAO, but here's the most frequent two I flip between:

1. The one utilized in my fic When the Day Met the Night (the Google docs are on my pinned post and the fic's in AO3 too, but only visible to those with an account), WtDMtN takes place in my own personal lore, about 6 years after present canon, where I like to pick apart the parts of canon I do like and throw out the stuff I don't. Anyway, TL;DR: Spiral Hill's hosting a fighting tournament, Team Hooligan are amongst the colorful cast drawn to the town to compete. Bark falls in love with Jewel on first sight, Jewel's... Totally terrified of him and the rest of the Hooligans. 😅 She comes around though, after a little careful nudging (and by that I mean Bark's idiot bestie and Jewel's idiot bestie throw a lit bomb into the Mineral Museum by accident and Bark saves Jewel, LOL). Bark's having trouble communicating his romantic intentions, and Jewel keeps missing the point of any romantic gestures pointed her way, and all of their friends are trying to help but are all EQUALLY bad at helping. The Hooligans have interestingly already reformed at this point, thanks to some... heartwrenching headcanons I have about where they were during the Metal Virus. (Poor Fang... 😭) But they've been MIA for absolutely ages so a lot of people don't know they've changed their ways. Espio spends a lot of time in my fic trying to discourage Jewel from befriending the Hooligans, for VERY understandable reasons, but everyone's gonna get REAL mad at him in the next few chapters. LMAO 😎✌️

2. There's no fic attached to this one yet, but I've explored what a more (technically, because yes I'm aware it still breaks some rules) IDW compliant BugBear would look like. I'm still figuring out what the details are, but TL;DR: Clutch hires the Hooligans to steal something from the Restoration. Job goes super sideways and Fang takes Jewel hostage so they can escape unscathed. Bark feels HORRIBLE they kidnapped her, so he keeps her safe and comfortable... And eventually lets her go when she works up the courage to ask him to because he's SO worried about her wellbeing it might actually work, LOL. Jewel ends up accidentally taking over the Hooligans at this point. Jewel wants to find out why the Hooligans were hired to steal the thing (still working out what that is), she's pretty much got Bark wrapped around her finger, Bean is technically more loyal to his bestie Bark than he is to Fang's orders so he's willing to tag along... But he's not willing to let the extremely irate Fang leave, so HE kinda ends up being the hostage at this point LMAO. They go to the rendezvous point with Clutch, the fucker had NO plans to pay them and was planning on killing the Hooligans, Jewel saves their asses somehow. Fang's singing a different tune now, especially when Jewel sweetens the deal by offering to hire the Hooligans as the Restoration's treasure hunting team. Consistent work, consistent pay, no backstabbing to get out of paying them. So they stop whatever Clutch is up to and save the day, yayyyyy~. Everyone else is VERY confused when Jewel returned to the Restoration with the Hooligans and insisting they're her new friends, but she seems to have it under control so there's little fight back, LOL. And I explained part 2 to this tale on a separate post. Bark, whenever he's got the free time to, is practically following Jewel around like a lovesick puppy and Amy has to TELL Jewel Bark likes her, LMAO.

And I have half a thousand other AUs each with their own unique first meetings, but those two are probably my most used. My next frequent usage is probably my kid!Bean AU (Bean's age has been significantly lowered and he's Bark's adopted kid now), but we'll explore that one on another post if you'd like. This got very long, I'm so sorry, but I can ramble for ages about my favorite rarepair, as I've proven. 😂😂😂

[wyattjohnston]

Free Field: Is there anything you would like to see less of?

if you are in a player tag and see this please scroll past, i’m sorry

Please read this in conjunction with the rest of the results.

With this sort of stuff, its hard to keep track of it all— I don’t like putting in all the raw answers, because some of it feels quite personal (inwardly by the answerer, not directly at writers) and it’s not my place to share it even if it’s anonymous.

Other answers are just… so off the wall.

Pregnancy – 18 individual people

Unsurprising that this came up a few times—I’ll put some of the more in depths reasons/extrapolations below, but I do remember this being something that came up last time and since 2021 I think the pregnancy output has increased considerably.

Being unable to get pregnant

Unplanned pregnancy being overused

Tokophobia, please at least use warnings/summaries

In general, but especially with younger players (came up a couple times!)

Personal reasons contributing to dislike of the trope

Kids/Babies – 13 people

I think this is a predictable second result given the first

Likes to see relationships blossom, so doesn’t feel as connected to pre-existing relationships & family life fics

Tokophobia, please at least use warnings/summaries

In general, but especially with younger players (came up a couple times!)

Enemies to Lovers – 6 people

2 people specified this combined with “There’s Only One Bed”

College Players / Minors Players – 5 people

My favourite point about this: “They didn’t sign up for a life of celebrity and fanfic, they just are attending school.”

Smut-Related - 5 People

Not being under a read more

Rough smut (i.e. rough BDSM) because consent isn’t covered enough

Every fic being absolutely filthy smut (lovemaking would be nice)

Miscommunication – 4 people

Let the characters talk to each other!

Familial Relationship – 4 people

Whether it’s being related to a player or a coach.

Cheating – 4 People

Younger NHL Players – 4 people

Some of us are old and need to read about players closer to our ages, you know?

Angst – 3 People

Especially when fewer than 3k words, doesn’t feel like it can be resolved so quickly

Specific Players – 3 people

Trevor Zegras (x2)

Mat Barzal

Jack Hughes

Quinn Hughes

Insta Edits – 2 People

Being passed off as reader insert when the large majority of the ‘reader inserts’ are blonde white women. Just make them OCs.

Abusive Relationships / Violence – 2 People

The following were said by 1 person

Age Differences

Avs Players

Best Friends To Lovers

Canes Players

Co-workers

Exes To Lovers

Famous MC

First Person

Fluff

Grumpy/Sunshine

Headcanons

Marriage as the end goal

Neighbours to Lovers

No Read More Breaks

Putting Fic in the Player Tag

Y/N being used

Less obviously blonde perfect wag readers lol

Fics that make the players seem dumb - they aren't generally.

I would like to see a little less of the same tropes for the same players being used consistently. I think there's a stagnation issue in the fic community, and a little creativity could go a long way. I realize this is difficult, and I'm guilty of it too, but I'm challenging myself to do things differently this year :)

[crestfallercanyon]

Tag Game: fandom edition

thanks for the tag, tea! and sorry for the delay, been a busy couple o'days @its-tea-time-darling <3

your name: everyone calls me crest!

your first fandom(s): Fire Emblem

your current fandom(s): most active -- maze runner, inception, the flash/legends of tomorrow (though not as much as I used to), Legend of Zelda; but I'm getting back into Fire Emblem lmao.

how did you first get into fandom? the pandemic -- I wanted Claude's story in Fire Emblem Three Houses to be better tied in than it was in the game (I found his whole angle on the war to be so interesting and I'd really wished that he had an arc where he could unite fodlan and take down the church of seiros because that would have made him less like an extra "take or leave it" character to the dimitri/edelgard King Lear story (which was also great!!) and given his ambition a real end -- I feel like he actually believed edelgard but understood dimitri's morality and I wanted him to be the bridge that he should have been) and I found a story that did give him a better story in the after the war and then I just never left!.

how long have you been engaging with fandom spaces? the pandemic. though one could argue I dabbled in it when I was much younger for the anime Naruto, but I barely knew what I was doing then and wouldn't have known that's what it was called.

how often do you read fanfics? depends. usually not a ton, but there are times where I start to read a lot

top 3 characters from your current fandom(s): I struggle with naming only three, because I feel my third favorite fluctuates with who I am currently writing -- so I'm going to name the three characters that keep me coming back to my fandoms -- Gally (the maze runner), leonard snart (the flash cw and legends of tomorrow), and Claude (fire emblem three houses)

have you ever written a fic for a fandom? if so, shout it out! the creation of this tumblr was initially to put out the fact that I was writing fanfics lol, so yes, I write quite a bit! here's my profile on ao3: crestfaller's fanfics

have you ever drawn fanart for a fandom? i've drawn sketches of the glade for the glade discord. I definitely painted the three houses logos at some point.

share a personal headcanon that you feel very strongly about: I've shared so many the maze runner headcanons on this tumblr, let's go to Legends of Tomorrow: Mick Rory knew that they were never going to become legends and that Rip Hunter's reasons for putting them on the trip were for his own selfish gains and that was why Rip immediately hated Mick and consistently belittled him to try to get everyone to not listen to him so that no one would discover that Rip didn't care if they all died if it meant he'd gotten his family back.

you’re trying to convince a friend to get into your current fandom(s) with you. what episode, clip, or scene are you showing them? the maze runner? I agree with tea, it's the opening sequence of the first movie. the flash? the episodes with Leonard Snart in them, because Wentworth Miller is easily one of the best actors to get on the flash.

and finally, what does fandom mean to you?

I think it comes down to this: it's a place for me to enjoy my stuff with wild abandon. I love the characters I love and can obsess about the stories I adore all I want. And the best part about fandom? Is I get to share my obsessions and adorations with other people who feel, in some way or another, similar to how I feel about these pieces of media! and I think that's neat.

-

tagging whoever wants to do it because I don't know who's done it anymore and don't feel like searching haha -- but thanks again for the tag tea and I hope others participate!

[mangorb]

the conversion therapy gaslighting (you're just a stupid little girl/you just feel this way because you were actually secretly raped -- extra confusing as someone who HAS been assaulted)

the invisible man syndrome. one of the oddest things I find is that people will always assume you're a trans woman if they find out you're trans. I'm sure it's because trans women get a lot more media coverage (both positive and negative), but it's just like other trans people don't exist? it's weird lol I choose to find it amusing. it does make looking for community really difficult though

a weird insistence even from professed allies that I need to consider how my transition will affect future partners. Which makes NO fucking sense to me? How and why am I supposed to worry about what a hypothetical future person will think? If this imaginary person wants a partner with boobs/fertility/[insert trait here], idk what to tell you dude, they shouldn't be dating me, straight up. it's not that deep. I'm confident in my ability to pull if I wanted to and I'd much rather do it in a body that I'm attached to.

the absolute information DESERT surrounding ftm bottom. I hold no resentment for transfems getting the bottom surgery they deserve, but the comparative absence of R&D going into transmasc bottom makes me really sad :( Allow me to demonstrate: metiodplasty was a technique developed in the 90s. It has basically never been optimised or improved on since. Extended metoidplasty is rn the closest we can get to a fully functional natal penis, but to my knowledge there are 2 whole surgeons who perform this procedure in the US - and possibly in the world as it isn't approved by the greater medical community. If you add STP ability, you can literally count the number of people who recieved it so far on one hand. Feel free to fact check me here bc I'm on shit internet and cba, but good luck because none of this information can be found on professional, easily accessible websites and is mostly moonshining and word of mouth on fuckin. reddit

I could go on about the ways ftm bottom resources is lacking but this post is getting sidetracked as it is. I feel my phantom dick syndrome very strongly I am sorry. (the response to this is generally "but how do you KNOW that's what you're feeling?" -- see point #1)

really rampant degendering/dehumanising that's only more obvious when coupled with racism. I'm asian, and besides the tendency for people to assume asian = white-adjacent (not for me, I'm dark skinned, don't come from a western culture, speak distinctly with an asian mannerism), even cis asian men are consistently degendered and emasculated, so I've fully made peace that no matter how well I could pass, I'll never actually pass in the world because of my ethnicity. I'm proud of my culture so it doesn't bother me but, like yeah it still sucks terribly

this got too long to keep in the tags whoops

❗️❗️ This is asked entirely in good faith. This post is intended to open dialogue and help with solidarity and understanding. ❗️❗️

I would like to hear specifically from trans men and trans mascs how the system of [whatever the fuck you call the intersection of transphobia, misogyny, and specifically your gender- whether transandrophobia, isomisogny, antitransmasculinity, transandromisia, transmisandry, or any that I have missed as there are a lot of words to describe similar concepts] uniquely targets and affects you. Things that you feel other demographics do not experience. Reblogs and replies are very encouraged! If you would prefer, you could dm or send an ask to be added anonymously by me.

This is in the spirit of wanting to understand. I am listening. I encourage all non-trans-mascs to not speak on this topic and let trans mascs and trans men do the talking here. Reblog the post to spread it, but please say nothing.

Any and all people who identify as trans men and/or trans mascs are encouraged to participate.

This is not bait to start a fight. I will block without hesitation anyone who is actively being a shithead on this post. I want to hear and uplift your voices by getting it directly from you.

Click this to access the trans fem and trans women version of this post.

[nyktomancer]

Hi! Do u have any book recommendations for begginers or just for skeptical witches in general? Or really just books about anything witchcraft related that u like. I don't know how much I should trust the more mainstream ones, and I usually just find a bunch of Wiccan books and I'm not really interested in that path.

Hello, thank you for your question!

Unfortunately, I have some bad news for you: there are no books on skeptic witchcraft. Or, at least, not that I know of. We really are a minority and, after all, it is understandable that most people come to the witchcraft community with very different beliefs from ours.

I can't even recommend a witchcraft-related book that I like, because, well, none of the ones that I've read fit into my views (unless you want books on tarot specifically). I understand the struggle of looking for books and only finding Wiccan ones, it's really frustrating.

But worry not, it is not a hopeless affair! Here's the trick: you read books you disagree with. It is frustrating, but it also is the way in which you truly find what you believe in. Find a book that seems attractive to you (you can use our lord and savior ;) if you don't want to spend money on things you disagree with, which is very understandable), and read the description, look up its contents if you can find them, and read reviews on it if there are any. If it is still interesting to you, look out for red flags. Since you said you're still new and you don't know how much you can trust mainstream books, I'll list some red flags here (this is not an extensive list, if any advanced practitioner wants to add more, they're welcome to!):

Uses 'Wicca' and 'Witchcraft' interchangeably

Claims that witchcraft/crystals/whatever can heal illnesses of any kind (physical or mental)

Contains culturally appropriative practices (e.g. Hoodoo or smudging)

Claims the 'burning times' targeted real witches

Contains suspicious claims about the history of magic/witchcraft

Claims that only cis women can be witches and/or that magic is stored in the womb (yes I'm looking at you Lisa Lister)

Now, these red flags don't mean you automatically have to drop the book, of course. There are probably interesting things in it, which you can gather inspiration from, but read this kind of book particularly critically.

I have found this list of recommended beginner books, which might be a good start, but I honestly don't know much about most of them.

Now, you have your book (whichever it is), what do you do with what's inside, if you're a skeptic like me? You question it. "Why would I want to include x in my practice?", "How would x work according to my beliefs on how the world works?", "How can I alter x to fit into what I believe?", and so on. It is a long process. Sometimes you won't be sure as to what you truly believe in, and you'll go through phases in your practice: that's completely normal.

It is also important to put things into practice and see how you feel in the process. I have found that there are some things I don't necessarily believe in, but that they do have some sort of effect. Don't be afraid to try out the things you find.

Apart from books, you can also try looking for other types of resources:

Youtubers such as...

The Witch of Wonderlust

HearthWitch

Molly Roberts

Warrior Witch Nike

Gather Thyme

Do The Magical Thing

Podcasts like...

Hex Positive (by @breelandwalker, who is a secular witch! She has also written some books that I haven't read yet, but they seem very interesting)

BS-Free Witchcraft

(I don't follow many podcasts, so these are the only ones I could think of, sorry lol)

You can also search on my blog for things you're interested in, e.g. "herbs", "crystals", "tarot", etc. I try to reblog useful material for myself that you can find useful too! I also try to keep the tagging system more or less consistent (key words are more or less).

And I think that's it! If I didn't make myself clear at any point, further questions are more than welcome! Hope I helped!

[junkshop-disco]

For the asks meme: 7. Your favourite ao3 tag / 26. What would you describe as OOC? / 28. Any writing advice that works for you and you feel like sharing?

Ooh these are good. I got wordy, sorry.

7. Your favourite ao3 tag

Friends to lovers, slow burn, idiots in love lol

26. What would you describe as OOC?

One of the things I look for in my own writing in terms of OOCness is whether I'm writing what I think should happen in an ideal world or what a generic version of the scene would be, or if it's actually what these specific characters would do in these specific circumstances based on what we know of them from the source material. A really common example of this is them saying 'I love you' for the first time or at a point of peril or tension. It's often used as shorthand in films, TV, books and sometimes I'm so used to seeing it at certain story beats, I'll write it and then be like... hang on. Would this person actually do this at this point? Is this actually consistent with their character or just convenient for me so I don't have to do more work? Is there something they can say or do instead that's more in keeping with their character (and potentially more meaningful than just using the phrase 'I love you')?

Normally just asking myself the question is enough to kickstart a process of finding something that's more in keeping with them and what I'm trying to achieve, which is specificity. Even if I'm writing the tropiest trope to ever trope, I want it to feel specific to these characters. Like yes it's a coffee shop AU but only these two idiots would be drawn to this specific coffee shop and have this specific conversation in it and fall in love in this specific way over these specific lattes. To me, that's in-character and OOC is when I write something and think 'this could be anyone.'

28. Any writing advice that works for you and you feel like sharing?

Most of my advice is quite practical in nature:

Don't trust yourself to remember good ideas. Write them down. Immediately. And fully. Put a reminder to yourself in your calendar that you had a good idea to solve the problem that had been keeping you up at night for when you're likely to be near your computer to drop it into the document.

Make a spreadsheet. Look, I'm a production manager. I run literally my entire life on Excel and my fic is no exception. Are you doing NaNo? Or a Big Bang? Do you need to finish your epic before the next season drops? SPREADSHEET. Divide the word count you need to hit by the number of writing days you have available to create a goal word count per writing day. It will make the whole thing less daunting and the number of words per day is probably smaller than you think. Put your daily word count in a column. Write a simple formula that totals your daily word counts and then divides the total you have left to write by the days you have left to do it so you can adjust your daily goals if you need to in order to stay on track to make your overall goal. I promise you, this is a game changer.

Scrivener. This is worthwhile investment. It allows you to dump all your research notes, all your stuff to remember, all your character thoughts and location notes and pictures and links and EVERYTHING into one document you can also write in. My go to tools for fic are: the split screen option to have my outline open in one half and the text box I'm writing in in the other, so I can easily look at the outline if I forget what I intended to write next; the cork board where I do scene notes and can easily move them around to see how they work in different places; and the notes sidebar, so I can leave myself passive aggressive comments like 'yes you already fact checked that' and an incomprehensible commentary of quotes, song lyrics, or random facts that sparked something or made me go 'that's the vibe'.

I probably have loads more but those are the ones that save my ass most regularly.

Questions here if anyone wants them.

[gingerly-writing]

hi! i'm not the previous anon, but i'd love to hear your advice on being a short story/prompt filler kind of writer if you have the time ^^ (love your stuff and your prompts btw)

sorry I'm getting to this so late, but here's some advice!

if you're Machiavelli/want to max your followers ASAP:

pick big prompt blogs who reblog people who fill their prompts, fill one of their prompts and tag them in it. rinse and repeat

write to popular tropes (hero/villain is obviously popular around these parts), preferably with a snazzy and clever twist

romance and sexual tension are more likely to blow up big

don't use names, use nouns. I don't know why saying 'hero' and 'villain' gets more notes than 'Adam and Clark' but for some reason it does (I suspect it's because nouns take less brain power to process but who knows?)

reblog + comment on all the writing you can find from people in the niche you want to join. befriend them. chat to them. chances are they will reblog + comment on your writing right back

controversial but: don't take requests unless you love it or you're being paid for it. chances are your ideas are more engaging and more enjoyable to write than anything most people will feed you. making one anon happy is fun, but if you're chasing notes you want to be pleasing the whole crowd

write short things. you can maximise your content output and keep people with short attention spans reading

strategically place your read-mores after something exciting/intriguing/snappy just happened. also, use read-mores on all long content or people will start to resent you filling up their entire dashboard

reblog your own content for different timezones and anyone who might have missed it the first time. if you feel awkward doing this, reply to people who leave nice comments in a reblog yourself as it performs the same function of showing off your content again

only post writing content. keep it as close to your core thing as possible (don’t be reblogging random WIP content and fandom stuff and memes like me lol)

keep going! it took me five years and hmmm 2700 prompts to get this far? persistence and consistency is key to getting big

if you just want to have fun:

make friends! writing is infinitely more fun when you have buddies to scream with

write what you enjoy, not what other people want you to write (in terms of niches or requests)

do! not! burn! yourself! out! taking requests and trying to write something every day are the number one ways I have seen MANY MANY bloggers burn themselves right out. (now, obviously I do both of these so take it with a pinch of salt, but I am experienced, stable, and have lots of fallback plans and coping mechanisms)

closing your askbox to anons will cut the bullshit and your non-writing blog workload by 70%+

follow lots of writing blogs and suck up all their ideas and prose quirks and snazzy styles for that sweet sweet serotonin and inspiration combo

never agree to do anything that doesn't fill your heart with joy

now, obviously there's a lot of overlap in these two sections because, surprise, having fun with your blog and your writing is a key component of sticking around long enough for your content to get big! I personally do a few bullet points from both of these sections--if I took all of my own advice I would probably get much bigger much faster, but I haven't stuck around for five years without learning how I prefer to operate!

I hope this helps! <3

[ersatzangel]

So you’re becoming a vampire? Sleep all day/party all night? Let us know if you develop any powers! You’re phone is trying to censor you?! How very dare it! And in an effort to not 12/? you, YOU ARE NOT BURDEN!! (Sorry for shouting.) I know in the long run this will not help, but maybe for a moment? The point of fandom is connecting with other people who enjoy the same thing. People are messy and have ups and downs. And no one has any more rights than any other. Joining on day 1 or 5 years 1/?

that’s the point. Fandom is for everyone. From the people who watched from day 1, to the people who watched 5 years after it after it finished airing. How many people came into supernatural during quarantine? 100s? 1000s? They weren’t ‘in’ fandom either, they are all still welcome. (Well, some just stuck around to cause drama, but that is beside the point. @.@) The be a part of the fandom, you just need to be a fan, you don’t have to fill a roll or complete a task. You like 2/?

the thing to enough to seek out more? Congratulations, welcome to fandom. So, whinge in one post and gush about your OTP the next. That’s fandom. I do get the alienating thing. One compromise could be a consistent tag? People who would rather be missed with negative posts, can just blacklist #negative? Tumblr does it now, so no excuse if someone doesn’t want to see a tagged post. Good luck! Did you plant classic red? Any trouble call a nursery! :p I would say you’re not wasting life, 3/?

the only wasted life is a life spent hurting others. You’re just growing at a different pace? Lots of people fell behind on suptober, don’t worry. Happy to chat ;) Feel what you need to feel. :/ Interested to see what you came up with. :D I haven’t seen anything about an exchange yet, but who knows. Long Replies are only bad on email chains, so keep on. xD tata for now. (LMK if I messed up during retyping lol) s2s2 4/4

Just realised I missed a chunk in part one which broke the consistency with the other parts that were still open in other tabs, rofl. Sorry if it sounds messed. &_&;;;

Lol, if I grow a blond mullet, I'll let you know!!! XD

Yeah, my phone gets all weird and hinky when I try to use tumblr in an incognito tab???

Heh, yeah, that's what I say about other people, but I can't apply it to myself XD I think it's because I'm so socially inept - like, people like my fic and I am so so grateful for that. But I'm still really lonely because I don't know how to really connect with other people anymore so I've stopped trying, which, you know, vicious circle right there lol ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Yeah, I do tag things with negative! But I still don't think it's fair to post that stuff here. That's for my therapist or my journal XD

I think it (the kangaroo paw) was classic red??? It's definitely red looking haha

That's true!! (about life)

I think one of the discords does a secret santa but I don't do discord (thanks, anxiety!!) but that's something to look out for if you're interested?

I think I missed some stuff you said, but I'm sooooo tired (again) and I think I might just go lie down for a while!

Hope you're having a good day, anon <3 and thanks again <333

[goldencuffs]

I'M HORRIBLE AT PROMPTS. laurent trying to do something really nice for damen&it kind of goes to hell but damen loves him so much&can't quit loving on him for it all? or laurent goes to some university&everyone thinks he's gorgeous but he's kind of a bitch&when he tells them he has a boyfriend everyone is like yeah right then damen comes to pick him up, looking hotter than anyone has any right to be&laurent melts with him? i'll read literally anything you write, it could be a n y t h i n g

@marrieddorkss​ im so so so sorry this took so fucking long lmao my god. im a mess. hopefully you still like it?? and it isnt such a fucking disaster lol?? 

Summary: Laurent decides to do something nice for Damen – and then immediately regrets it.

When Laurent comes back from his last class of the day, it’s to find Damen standing outside his dorm room, wearing a nice, oversized tank top and fraying shorts. The duffle bag by his feet is packed full; Laurent can see the sides of it are lumpy.

 “Hey.” Damen’s smile is pleasant. It transforms his face and makes him look younger, despite the stubble growing across his face.

 Laurent smiles too. “Hello,” he says, and when he’s close enough, he rests his hands on Damen’s hips and goes on his tiptoes to kiss his nose.

 Damen’s smile widens, the creases by his eyes deepening. He scans Laurent’s face intently. “I’m guessing that your presentation went well?”

“It went well,” Laurent says. He pauses. “Actually, it went very well. I managed to answer every single question at the end.”

 Damen wraps his arms around Laurent’s shoulders in a tight squeeze. “Fuck yeah!” He cheers. His enthusiasm is genuine, and it makes Laurent’s face heat.

 “It’s not that big of a deal – I’m sure there are other people who did way better.”

 “Stop that,” says Damen. He kisses Laurent’s forehead. “You killed it; I know you did.”

 Laurent doesn’t answer. He just tips his head up in a silent request. Damen’s smile softens around the edges, and then he leans down to kiss Laurent fully on his mouth.

 The kiss heats up quickly, as usual. Damen licks inside his mouth with vigour, his hand moving down Laurent’s back to grip his ass. Laurent moans into it, tugging on the front of Damen’s shirt to pull him closer.

 Damen’s cock is already hard; it presses up against the inside of Laurent’s thigh in a slow, teasing drag. Laurent shifts his own hips forward, his body tight with anticipation.

 A door slams shut at the end of the corridor and Damen detaches himself from Laurent in a measured pace, realising at the same moment Laurent does, that they’re in a very open, public setting.

 “Come inside,” Laurent tells him.

 Damen squeezes his ass again. “Here?” His smirk is sharp and arrogant.

 Laurent hates how much he likes it.

 He doesn’t let Damen know that though; instead, he rolls his eyes and drags Damen inside to his dorm room. It’s far from its usual pristine condition; Laurent hasn’t made his bed in a week, his dirty clothes are in a pile by the door and his desk is overflowing with papers, textbooks and plastic wrappers from food he’s bought lately.

 Laurent grimaces at the mess. Damen doesn’t seem to mind, or even acknowledge it; he flings himself onto the single bed with as much ease as he can, hauling his duffle bag up with him.

 “What’s in there?” Laurent asks.

 The duffle bag is an expensive, leather one. For years, it had sat alone and dusty in the Revere’s garage, until Laurent had gifted it to Damen over the summer. Now, it’s used constantly; Damen takes it with him to classes and football practice and is rarely seen without it. He takes good care of it too: he diligently cleans it once a week and keeps it stored in his closet, away from sunlight.

 Damen waggles his eyebrows in response to Laurent’s question. He sits up again and opens it with an exaggerated amount of fanfare, slowly inching the zipper in small tugs.

 It’s amusing; it shouldn’t be, but almost everything Damen does makes Laurent laugh. He likes that.

 Inside the lining of the bag, the tag is visible. It used to simply read ‘Revere’, but someone – probably Nikandros – has added, with marker, an apostrophe and the word ‘bitch’, so the entire thing says: ‘Revere’s bitch’.

 Laurent also likes that.

 Laurent doesn’t focus too long on the tag. The contents of the bag are much more appealing: there’s an assortment of treats packed haphazardly inside. Laurent can see chip packets, chocolate, tubs of ice cream and a four pack of Krispy Kreme donuts.

 Laurent taps the lid of one of the ice cream containers; it’s sea salt, his favourite. “Did you rob a grocery store? Is this your first step into the tantalising world of crime?”

 Damen’s shrug is uncharacteristically shy. His fingers are still toying with the zipper, but he still manages to look Laurent in the eye as he says, “They’re for you. I figured – depending on how your presentation goes – they’d either be celebratory snacks or conciliatory ones.”

 Laurent smiles. There’s a sudden, pressing warmth in his chest. “Really,” he says, touched.

 Damen is still shy; it’s a strange yet endearing look on him.

 Laurent’s smile doesn’t waver. He pushes the duffle bag a little, so it ends up against the wall, rather than between them. He crosses the now empty space, shifting closer to Damen until Laurent manages to straddle his lap, knees digging into the hard mattress below.

 He presses a soft kiss to the corner of Damen’s mouth. He keeps his mouth there, against the stubble across Damen’s jaw, and says: “Thank you. I love how thoughtful you are.”

 Damen swallows, eyes darkening. His hands rest on Laurent’s hips. His touch is deceptively light.

 This time, Laurent initiates the kiss. He keeps it slow, the way he favours, and Damen lets him. His hands begin to wander over Laurent’s body; even when they’re not fucking, Laurent has come to learn that Damen likes to touch him constantly.

 When Damen’s hands settle on Laurent’s ass once more, Laurent shifts his hips a little. Damen’s other hand drops to cup Laurent’s ass cheek.

 Laurent’s gasp is a quiet sound; most of it is swallowed by Damen’s mouth.

 They begin a slow, steady rut. It reminds Laurent of the first time they did this, a few months ago in a secluded booth in Route, the small club down the road from their campus.

 Laurent didn’t know Damen too well at the time, but he was always petering around the Student Life office, where Laurent had been volunteering on and off throughout the semester. He wasn’t sure what Damen did there: sometimes he volunteered to help with administrative tasks, but mostly, from what Laurent saw, Damen seemed to just want to hang around him.

 They formed a tentative, shallow relationship that consisted of very poor flirting on Laurent’s part and a lot of unprecedented confidence on Damen’s.

 It was obvious to everyone how much Damen wanted to fuck Laurent; he always looked half crazed every time Laurent so much as looked at him. Laurent found that he didn’t exactly mind it; Damen was attractive, receiving his attention was heady, and it wasn’t as though Laurent was swimming in proposals.

 So, when Damen had asked him to hang out at Route with him on a Saturday night, Laurent had said yes, fully expecting the outcome of the evening.

 Still, Damen had seemed surprised when, after two drinks, Laurent climbed into his lap. Their first kiss had been relatively innocent: just a short, chaste peck. Then Laurent, spurred on by the alcohol, deepened it. Damen responded eagerly, pulling closer Laurent and licking into his mouth with a shocking amount of indecency.

 After a while, he’d pulled back. His eyes had been so dark, and he’d gazed at Laurent with awe.

 Laurent had said: “If you’re going to keep looking at me like that, you might as well just fuck me here.”

 Damen had inhaled sharply; even with all the noise around them, Laurent still managed to hear it.

 Twenty minutes later, Laurent had been pressed down into his mattress as Damen licked him open for his cock.

 As he’d pushed into him for the first time, Damen panted into his ear, “Fuck, I don’t usually do this on a first date.”

 Laurent had laughed.

 Afterwards, Laurent had thought he wouldn’t see much of Damen anymore. He knew how one night stands worked. He suspected that now that Damen had been inside him – more than once, actually – he would stop loitering around the Student Life office.

 That didn’t happen. Instead, Damen seemed more persistent to hang around Laurent. Laurent let it happen. By this point, he’d grown fond of Damen, the way someone might feel fond over a stray puppy that constantly showed up at their door.

 Besides, as the weeks wore on, Laurent discovered that as well as being extremely sexually compatible, Damen and he were also compatible outside of bed; they became fast friends, much to the bemusement of everyone else.

 It’s amazing how far they’ve come, Laurent thinks. He doesn’t think he’s been so comfortable with anyone in his entire life.

 Now, in the silence of his bedroom, Damen’s lips drag across Laurent’s neck. Laurent shivers, fingers running over Damen’s shoulders. He’s careful as he tugs off Damen’s shirt. Damen’s chest is marvellous – it’s all sculpted pecs and hard planes. There’s a tattoo of a lion roaring on his right pec. It’s the most obnoxious thing Laurent has ever seen, and the first time Laurent had seen it, he’d licked it. He might’ve felt stupid about it at the time, but that feeling quickly evaporated when Damen’s hips stuttered, and he’d spilled his release inside Laurent.

 Once Damen’s shirt comes off, the need to get naked becomes a priority for both of them. Damen rolls Laurent onto his back after Laurent takes off his own shirt, mouthing over his collarbone, his nipples, his bellybutton, and then his hipbone.

 Laurent is quick to unbuckle his belt when Damen kisses the waistband of his jeans.

 Damen is always meticulous in preparing him. It doesn’t matter if it’s been five minutes or five days since they last fucked, Damen never rushes. Laurent’s given up on trying to coax him to be faster.

 Laurent’s knee jerks a little when Damen’s fingers, covered in cold lube, circle around his rim in sure strokes. Damen kisses the inside of his thigh, then the crease of his groin as Laurent pants. When his finger breaches Laurent, Laurent turns his head into the pillow, moaning against the silk fabric.

 “Please,” he says quietly, and Damen groans, long and loud. He likes it when Laurent begs, a fact that makes Laurent flush.

 Damen continues fingering him. The sounds are disgusting, wet and sloppy. Laurent doesn’t understand why he likes it so much.

 Finally, finally, Damen pulls away. Laurent’s fingers twist the bedsheets in anticipation. He knows he’s flushed all over; he can feel the colour vining across the bridge of his nose and down his chest.

 Damen’s cockhead drags down his crease. It makes Laurent delirious.

 “Yeah?” says Damen. His hand grips the base of his cock and his eyes are fixed on Laurent, like he can’t bear to look away.  Laurent knows the feeling; Damen looks so good like this.

 “Yes,” says Laurent, in Veretian.

 That makes Damen groan again. He only gets louder as he pushes into Laurent. Laurent’s eyes go cross eyed at the initial stretch. He loves this: the initial pain of Damen’s cock entering him.

 “God, Laurent.” Damen grunts as he starts thrusting, biting down on the column of Laurent’s neck.

 “Yeah, fuck me,” Laurent says. His hands slide down Damen’s sweaty back. “Harder – please, I need it.”

 “Fuck,” Damen gasps as he complies. He lifts his head from the crook of Laurent’s shoulder and kisses him.

 Laurent keens into it. He wraps his legs around Damen’s waist, murmuring encouragements in Veretian against Damen’s mouth.

 Damen’s thrusts start to get shallow; his rhythm isn’t synced, but it still makes Laurent’s toes curl.

 “Good?” Damen says. His biceps are straining with effort.

 “You know it is,” Laurent says.

 “I like the confirmation,” Damen says with that terrible smirk, and Laurent closes his eyes and lets himself take it.

 Damen comes first. He’s loud when it happens; Laurent is sure his neighbours hate him.

 His cock is straining against his stomach when Damen pulls out. Laurent flushes when he feels the wetness inside him, and he darkens further when Damen pulls his ass cheeks apart, watching in awe as his come dribbles out of Laurent’s hole.

 “Don’t touch your cock,” says Damen.

 “Fuck, fuck, fuck!” Laurent arches his back when Damen’s mouth seals over his hole.

 Damen slips his tongue in easily, licking into Laurent with enthusiasm. Laurent shakes under his grip. Damen’s stubble rubs against his skin, and Laurent knows it’s steadily pinkening.

 He feels on edge. His cock is so hard it hurts. He pulls on Damen’s curls desperately, and Damen buries into him deeper.

 Laurent’s mouth falls open. His quiet panting fills the room, joining the cacophony of sounds Damen’s mouth produces as he eats him out.

 Laurent feels like crying. He almost asks Damen to stop because it’s too much, too much, too much.

 Then Damen slows down to short, tiny licks. When he resurfaces, he gives Laurent a filthy wink. His chin is wet.

 Laurent comes.

 *

 Every Thursday, Laurent and Damen have lunch at a small brunch place just outside campus. It’s usually packed, but Damen always manages to secure them a table. Laurent suspects this is because Damen has slept with one of the baristas. Damen has never explicitly denied this detail.

 Today, their table is outside, along the gravel path leading to the campus gardens. The weather is nice; a rarity in Marlas, and Laurent enjoys the sunshine on his face.

 Initially their weekly lunch meetings had been a habit borne out of practicality: last semester, one of the only days they could meet up was on Thursday mornings. After a good, thorough fuck, Damen always needed a cigarette, and Laurent always got hungry, so their solution was to head out to this particular brunch place.

 Now, though, it’s become a fixed tradition between them. Damen also refers to it as their place – which Laurent still doesn’t quite understand.

 Damen orders his usual – the everything breakfast – and Laurent, pleasantly reminded of this morning’s activities when he moves in his seat, decides to order the same thing.

 Halfway through their meal, they’re interrupted by Nikandros, one of Damen’s teammates. Nikandros is wearing his letterman jacket, but he shrugs it off as he pulls up a seat at their table. He steals a chorizo sausage off of Laurent’s plate, despite Laurent’s protests.

 Nikandros starts talking to Damen about the statistics of their latest game while Laurent finishes up his food. Once he’s done, he pulls out his pack of cigarettes. He manages to finish half of it; he offers Nikandros the rest. Nikandros eyes fall on the cigarette, then Laurent’s mouth, before he forcibly tears his eyes away and shakes his head.

 He addresses Damen again, his voice slightly hoarse, “Hey! I just remembered – guess who I saw coming out the law library today?”

 “Who?” Damen takes Laurent’s cigarette.

 Nikandros pauses for dramatic effect. His smirk is not as attractive as Damen’s. “Lykaios.”

 Damen drops his cigarette. He doesn’t pay it much mind; instead, he leans forward in his seat, eyes alight. “Wait – seriously? You’re not messing with me?”

 “Nah,” Nikandros shakes his head, looking pleased. “Asked her what she’s doing here, apparently she’s starting postgrad law this semester.” Nikandros pauses again. “Like you.”

 “Wow.” Damen’s expression is brittle with disbelief. “What are the chances?”

 “Seems like fate.”

 “Who’s Lykaios?” Laurent asks.

 “Oh,” says Damen. “She’s an old friend from when I still lived in Ios.”

 “A friend,” says Nikandros. His expression is amused. “Oh, come on, you two were practically together.”

 “That’s not true,” Damen says quickly. He casts Laurent a reassuring look. “It honestly isn’t.”

 Laurent doesn’t understand why Damen is being so defensive; it’s not news to him that Damen has been with other people.

 “You were pretty much in love with her, dude.” Nikandros picks a sausage off Damen’s plate this time.

 “Oh,” Laurent says before he can help it. The statement takes him by surprise. One of the first things Damen had told him when they’d first started hooking up was: I don’t know what it’s like to be in love. In the stillness of the night, Damen had been vulnerable and open; it was the first time Laurent realised the person in his bed might be more multifaceted than he let on.

 “No,” Damen gives Laurent another reassuring look. His foot presses against Laurent’s underneath the table. “I wasn’t.” His voice is firm. “There was a time I thought I was, but I was wrong.”

 Nikandros clearly doesn’t believe him. He rolls his eyes and utters a small, “Whatever.”

 Laurent pulls out another cigarette, thinking.

 *

 Later that night, Laurent is contemplative. It’s late: almost two in the morning and the rain outside is a welcome, soothing noise.

 Laurent is so sore, he almost regrets the last round, as short as it was. It doesn’t keep him from draping himself over Damen’s chest, fingers lazily tracing over the tattoo on his pec.

 Damen keeps running his fingers through Laurent’s sweat soaked hair, his fingernails gently scratching against his scalp. It’s so relaxing, Laurent feels like he could fall asleep like this. Practically, he knows he shouldn’t: there’s dry come on his stomach and between his thighs. He’s also sweaty, and Damen is too.

 But instead of getting up, Laurent asks into the stillness of the night: “What is she like?”

 Damen jerks a little; his eyes have been closed for a while now.

 “Hm?”

 “Lykaios,” Laurent says. “I want to know what she’s like.”

 There’s a small pause. Damen shifts again. “Why?”

 “I don’t know. It seemed like she means a lot to you – and I’m interested.”

 “She meant a lot to me. As in, past tense.”

 “It didn’t seem that way during lunch,” Laurent points out. He doesn’t know why Damen is being so evasive and why it’s bothering him so much. “You seemed excited to hear about her.”

 “Well yeah,” Damen says. In the darkness, it’s hard to read his usually expressive face, but Laurent can still sense a growing tightness in Damen’s body. “But that’s only because it’s been a while since any of us have heard from her. She sort of disappeared after first year.”

 Laurent pinches Damen’s bicep. “Tell me.”

 Damen sighs. He rolls over, so Laurent is unfairly jostled aside. He turns on the lamp on the bedside table. As the room is washed in a dull yellow light, Laurent can see how matted Damen’s hair has become, as well as the fingernail indentations along his shoulders.

 “There’s honestly not much to say,” Damen says. His voice is very quiet, mindful of the neighbouring dorm rooms. “We were family friends for years, and in my senior year I realised I liked her a lot – more than I thought I did. But she had a boyfriend, so I never did anything about it. And then she dumped him because she liked me, but this time I was seeing someone. So, in the end, nothing happened.”

 “That’s it?” Laurent frowns. In his mind, he keeps replaying Damen’s reaction at lunch; surely, there must be more to the story. Damen huffs. It almost seems like he’s pouting. He pokes Laurent’s stomach, hard. “You’re being very annoying.”

 Laurent swats his hand away. “Are you still in love with her?”

 “I already told you I never was. I just thought I could be because I was a horny eighteen year old.”

 That makes Laurent laugh. It’s an unintentional sound, but it makes Damen smile.

 “I’m not interested in anyone but you,” Damen says, too sincerely. The words hang heavy in the air.

 Laurent doesn’t know what to make of it – not just the words, but Damen’s tone as well. It makes his stomach clamp up. He thinks Damen is making a point about how attractive he finds Laurent; in bed, the subject of Laurent’s body is always a welcoming topic.

 So, Laurent says, a little awkwardly, “Thank you.”

 Damen snorts. He looks fond. He kisses Laurent, and Laurent gladly welcomes it.

 It’s a slow, sensual kiss. Damen keeps mapping out Laurent’s body with his hands, fingertips tracing over the veins across Laurent’s wrist, his chest.

 “Think you can go again?” Damen says against his mouth. Pressed to each other like this, Laurent can feel Damen’s erection. It’s hot, he thinks to himself, how Damen physically reacts to him, even when Laurent hasn’t done anything to particularly excite him.

 He’s still sore, sweaty and gross, but Laurent says: “Yes.”

 *

 Laurent is late to his study session with Damen on Wednesday. They normally don’t study together; tonight is an exception. Damen is apparently tired of being cooped in his room alone as he pours over his essays.

 Outside the study room, Laurent pauses. Through the clear glass, he can see Damen is already seated, textbooks placed carelessly over the wooden tabletop. But he’s not alone. There’s someone seated on the edge of the table, in the one corner free of Damen’s things.

 It’s Lykaios. Laurent knows it must be; Damen’s face is exuberant, creased with warmth. His smile is filled with teeth, white and straight, and there’s a lingering softness there. Laurent’s chest clenches with a foreign feeling. He’s unsure what it is, but then deduces it must be relief at seeing Damen so happy.

 Laurent almost turns back. He wants to give Damen and his not-quite ex-girlfriend time to catch up. The thought of intruding on them with his presence fills him with anxiety. But he remains rooted on the spot because, for some strange reason, the thought of leaving them alone also fills him with anxiety.

 Luckily – or perhaps, unluckily; Laurent still hasn’t made up his mind – Damen spots him through the glass. His smile, now directed at Laurent, changes instantly; it dissolves into a steady kind of fondness. His eyes seem to shine brighter.

 It completely baffles Laurent.

 His chest tightens again; this time, it’s much more pleasant.

 Laurent supposes he should enter now. Damen seems to have forgotten about Lykaios; his eyes remain on Laurent as Laurent fumbles with the doorknob and steps into the room.

 “Hey,” he says. His smile – and voice – wobble. “Sorry I’m late.”

 “Don’t worry about it,” Damen’s smile, impossibly, widens even more. Laurent’s gaze is helplessly drawn to it.

 They stare at each other for a few moments longer than necessary until Damen seems to remember they’re not alone. He fumbles over the introductions, face flushed.

 Lykaios is unbelievably gorgeous. Like most Akielons, she’s very tall; even wearing flats she’s a few inches taller than Laurent. Laurent tries not to be bitter about it. Her hair isn’t as blonde as Laurent’s, but it’s long and shiny. Her eyes are amazing; long lashed and an intriguing colour, somewhere between green and blue.

 Standing next to Damen, the two of them look like a regal painting. They look good together. They complement each other.

 Laurent – unexpectedly, painfully – feels inadequate.

 Lykaios rounds the table and shakes Laurent’s hand with vigour. Her smile is kind and open; her enthusiasm is genuine. “It’s so nice to finally meet you! Damen has managed to mention your name about a hundred times in the last half an hour.”

 Damen flushes at that, suddenly busying himself with rearranging his textbooks.

 Laurent smiles. He can feel the heat travel across his face. “It’s nice to meet you too.”

 “I’m sorry for interrupting your study session.” Her voice is so sweet, Laurent thinks he could listen to her talk all day. “I was literally just walking past and saw Damen in here. I almost couldn’t believe it.” She turns to Damen and gives him in an assessing look. “It’s been what – six years?”

 “Fuck off,” Damen says, with little heat. “I don’t want to be reminded of how old I am.”

 Lykaios laughs at that. Her laugh is sweet too.

 Laurent says, “You guys will probably see more of each other now. You’re in the same course, right?”

 Lykaios beams. “Yep! Another weird coincidence.”

 “Or fate,” Laurent points out.

 Damen gives him a strange look. “Definitely just a coincidence.”

 “Ah, who knows the mysterious ways of the universe,” says Lykaios. She gives Laurent a wink.

 Laurent decides he likes her, despite the twisting in his gut.

 It’s why he says: “Did you want to stay and study with us? We were also going to grab some dinner afterwards. You could join us for that too.”

 Damen gives him another strange look; this one is brittle with disbelief.

 Laurent ignores it. He keeps his eyes on Lykaios, who smiles at him.

 “Thank you for the very kind offer, but I’ve already got plans tonight, I’m afraid.” She seems genuinely sorry, and it makes Laurent like her even more.

 “Maybe next time,” Laurent says.

 Damen frowns.

 Lykaios doesn’t stay too long after that; she claims she needs to start getting ready for her night out. When she leaves, she kisses Damen’s cheek. Laurent bristles a little at that.

 But his annoyance morphs into pleasantness when she hugs him goodbye – like Damen, she is very touchy, Laurent notices.

 As soon as the door closes behind her, Damen kisses Laurent, hard and open mouthed. It’s a terrible kiss; Laurent isn’t expecting it, and he almost topples backwards with the force of it. Then he starts laughing, so Damen’s mouth mostly meets his teeth.

 The second one is much, much better.

 “I’ve been wanting to do that for the past ten minutes,” says Damen. “Next time, kissing first, and then we move on to having a conversation.”

 “Shut up,” says Laurent. He pulls out his textbooks, trying not to laugh. After a few moments, he says, “She seems really nice. I can see why you liked her so much.”

 He imagines Damen at eighteen, maybe a little naïve and cocky, completely enamoured by Lykaios’ sweetness.

 Damen rolls his eyes. “Yeah, yeah.” He squints at Laurent. “You’re not still hung up on that are you?” His mouth deepens into a smirk. He waggles his eyebrows. “Need me to prove my loyalty, baby?”

 Laurent flushes. It’s not the first time Damen has used that endearment – he mostly says it in bed – but it still catches Laurent off guard every time.

 His mouth is suddenly very dry. The only thing he can manage to say is: “Shut up.” And then he gets to work, smiling into his shoulder when Damen’s foot wraps around his underneath the table.

 *

 Lykaios’ Instagram is an explosion of colour: she likes wearing a lot of red and green and purple. Her entire profile is filled with her travels, charity work, her friends, and some shots of her eyelids coated in glitter. The more Laurent scrolls, the more careful he is not to like anything.

 There are plenty of pictures of her from high school; Damen is in most of them, fresh faced and youthful. It’s strange to look at: nothing about Damen is boyish, but these pictures prove otherwise.

 Laurent comes across a photo of Lykaios and Damen from six years ago. In it, Damen has his arm around her waist while Lykaios rests her head on his shoulder.

 The caption is: hbd to this guy aka my soulmate #finally18

 Soulmate, Laurent thinks. His mouth purses.

 Damen’s comment is the first comment. It reads: love u ly!

 Laurent puts his phone down.

 His thoughts come too fast: he starts to think of all the ways Damen and Lykaios fit together, how connected they seemed even after so much time apart. He thinks of how nice they looked together.

 Then, Laurent starts thinking of all the nice things Damen has done for him over the last few months. The duffel bag full of his favourite snacks comes to mind, as does the time Damen took him to a fancy restaurant when Laurent had averaged a high distinction last semester. Damen had even driven him almost forty minutes to the dentist once, even though he had an assessment due in the afternoon.

 Damen is always doing nice things for him, and Laurent realises, guiltily, that he’s never quite returned the favour. His own gestures have often been small and unnoteworthy; they’ve never possessed the grandeur of Damen’s actions.

 Laurent knows exactly how to change that.

 *

 Laurent isn’t the most forthcoming person. It takes him an embarrassingly long time to gather enough courage to message Lykaios on Instagram. But once he makes it past his awkward introduction – hey this is laurent in case you don’t remember me – to which Lykaios had responded ofc i do silly!, their conversations are light and easy.

The more Laurent talks to her over the week, the more he’s convinced of his plan. Lykaios is everything Damen needs and vice versa. It’s crazy how similar their personalities are: they’re both incredibly sweet, intelligent and interested in almost all the same things, from okton to hiking.

 The next week, Laurent invites Lykaios to his and Damen’s weekly lunch outing.

 Damen smiles when he sees him. He doesn’t lose the smile on his face when he sees Lykaios, but his eyes snap to Laurent’s in confusion.

 “This is a nice surprise,” he says, although his tone is dry.

 Laurent pretends not to notice it. Lykaios kisses Damen’s cheek in greeting and Laurent scratches at his chest as he sits down.

 Damen leans over the table to kiss him, but Laurent quickly picks out the menu and starts to read it, even though he’s practically memorised it by now. He doesn’t want Damen to kiss him now – especially in front of Lykaios – and ruin his plan before it’s had the chance to even formulate.

 When he puts the menu back, Damen is openly frowning.

 It disappears as Lykaios begins talking. The transformation is amazing; Damen is instantly captivated by her. Laurent swallows. This is good, he reminds himself.

 Laurent waits about ten minutes. He’s started to notice that even though Damen is laughing along to all of Lykaios’ jokes, he’s still shooting Laurent glances every few seconds.

 The question on his face is clear: why is she here?

 Laurent plays with his phone for a while. He tries to make it look like he’s texting something important; he keeps his brows furrowed in concentration.

 Laurent isn’t the best actor, but even he’s proud of himself as he lets out a small gasp.

 “What is it?” says Damen, instantly alert.

 “Nothing,” Laurent waves him off. “It’s just that I completely forgot I had a study session right now.” He stands up, grabs his bag. “I should go.”

 “Wait –” Damen’s face pinches. “You’re leaving?”

 “I’m sorry, but this is really important.” Laurent turns to Lykaios and smiles. “You two stay and have fun.”

 “But –”

 “Bye!” Laurent says it too enthusiastically, cutting Damen off. He walks out of the brunch place with hurried steps. He turns back at the end of the gravel path just to check if –

 His chest tightens with pleasure – yes, pleasure, although he’s not sure why it doesn’t feel like it – when he sees his absence has made little disturbance. Damen and Lykaios are laughing together, mouths open in delight.

 Over the next few days, Laurent organises more and more outings with Damen and Lykaios. Damen never seems to stop looking confused whenever Laurent invites Lykaios, but he also seems happy to see her, so Laurent counts it as a win. During each outing, Laurent manages to come up with a different excuse each time as to why he needed to leave early. Damen always looks disappointed. Laurent is weak for it; he can’t count how many times that look has almost made him stay, but he doesn’t, because it would be detrimental to his plan.

 Laurent makes sure to text Damen whether or not he enjoyed his time with Lykaios. Damen’s responses are pretty much the same every time: Yes, but it would’ve been better if you were there too.

 It frustrates Laurent. Damen isn’t supposed to still be thinking of him while he’s hanging out with his potential soulmate.

 Lykaios is the first to grow suspicious. She confronts him at the next outing. They’re in an idyllic little bar in the city, with a cosy atmosphere. It’s a perfect date venue.

 Damen heads to the bathroom, and Laurent stands up, ready to leave, when Lykaios stops him with a hand on his arm.

 “Laurent,” she says. “Is there a reason you keep depriving us of your company?”

 Laurent manages a sheepish smile. He wonders if he should say anything at all. Then, he decides he should: he feels like Lykaios would appreciate his directive.

 Laurent plays with the little sugar packets on the table. “I’ve been trying to get you and Damen to spend more time together. Alone,” he adds, when he sees her confusion.

 “Why?”

 “Well…” Laurent hesitates; he’s just now beginning to realise how awkward this is. “I think you two would be good together…romantically.”

 Lykaios raises her eyebrows.

 Laurent continues, fingers still fidgeting. “It’s just…Damen mentioned how much you two liked each other a few years ago. And I think Damen still regards you very highly. Plus, you two are so alike – I just think it makes sense.”

 Lykaios’ eyebrows don’t lower, but she casts a backward glance towards where Damen has disappeared to.

 “I can’t say I haven’t thought about Damen and I…” she begins, and Laurent’s gut twists with…relief? Yes, he’s sure it’s relief. It’s a good – great – thing that Lykaios is interested in Damen. “But I thought –” Lykaios pauses for a few seconds. “I mean, I was under the impression that you and Damen were together.”

 Laurent laughs, and then he realises she’s being serious. “You – no. We’re not. We’re friends.” Friends who spent a lot of time sleeping together, sure, but Laurent doesn’t think mentioning that now will do him any favours.

 Lykaios’ face instantly changes. Her smile takes up her entire face; it’s stunning. She’s stunning.

 Laurent shifts in his seat. He clears his throat. “So – you…you want to date him?”

 She flushes, and it only makes her look more beautiful. “Like I said…I’ve definitely thought about it.”

 “Oh – good. That’s awesome. Damen will be so happy.” He stands up. “So, I’ll leave you two alone?”

Lykaios nods. “Thank you, Laurent.”

 “Don’t mention it.”

 He turns around to leave. Everything in his body is screaming not to.

 He keeps reminding himself that he’s doing something nice for Damen: that Damen will appreciate the fact that Laurent set him up with someone like Lykaios, a brilliant woman he has a past with. His mouth is dry, and Laurent’s palms are suddenly sweaty. Briefly, he wonders if this is always what happens when people do nice things for another. If it is…he might have to limit his niceness.

 *

 Laurent doesn’t mean to start ignoring Damen’s calls or texts. It just happens. He isn’t in the mood to listen to Damen go on about Lykaios; Laurent already knows she’s amazing.

 He’s also confident that they’re dating now – or at least getting there. Lykaios posted a lot of snaps from the last night Laurent left them alone, and all of them had been of Damen smiling, drinking, smirking at the camera. They’d been there until three in the morning; Laurent knows because he’d stayed up until then, refreshing his Instagram feed to see any updates on Lykaios’ story.

 What had they even been doing for so long anyway? Damen had called him until eleven, before he presumably gave up. Had Lykaios pulled a move on him? Had they gone back to Damen’s room, fucked on his bed? Had Damen thought of how he’d fucked Laurent on that same bed just last week? Or had he been so consumed by Lykaios and her pleasantness that Damen hadn’t even thought of Laurent?

 Laurent had had the worst night of sleep.

 And then a few nights ago, Nikandros had posted an image of the football team hanging around at his dorm room. (Laurent vaguely remembers being invited to that). In the photo, Laurent’s eyes had immediately been drawn to Damen in the corner, his head bent down as he said something to Lykaios, who had been smiling widely. It had looked very intimate. Laurent had turned his phone off when he saw it.

 Alone in his room, Laurent lies on his bed, heart constricting. He should be happy for Damen. It’s frustrating him that he isn’t. And worst of all, he doesn’t know why.

 He thinks it might be because he’s gotten so used to having Damen around all the time. If Damen starts seeing someone, then he’d obviously start spending less time with Laurent.

 Laurent doesn’t want Damen to spend less time with him. If anything, they should be spending more time together. He only sees Damen about four times a week! That’s too little. Laurent should talk to Damen about that. He should tell him, Damen, even though you have a girlfriend now, I still want you to spend all your time with me, and I still want you to take me to fancy restaurants and then fuck me hard when we get home.

 Horrified, Laurent rolls over and screams into his pillow.

  *

 A few hours later, while Laurent is trying to clean out his desk drawers, there’s a knock on the door. It’s a rapid set of knocks, loud and urgent.

 Laurent frowns. He opens the door and his heart jumps when he sees Damen there, wearing a shirt Laurent had gifted him in the summer. Damen’s face is annoyed; it’s not an expression Laurent has seen often on Damen - and even rarely directed towards him. 

 Damen pushes past Laurent into the room. He takes up most of the space in it. Laurent’s heart still hasn’t calmed down. 

 “Tell me,” says Damen.

 “What?”

 “Tell me what I did wrong. I don’t like this passive aggressive bullshit.”

 “What?” Laurent says again.

 Damen crosses his arms in front of his chest. “You haven’t returned a single one of my calls or texts. You don’t want to hang out with me anymore. And I waited all night for you to show up to Nikandros’ and you didn’t.” When Laurent doesn’t say anything, he presses on. “Well? What did I do to piss you off?”

 “I – nothing,” Laurent shakes his head, shocked. “I’m not mad at you.“

 "Please,” Damen scoffs. “You -”

 "I’m not,“ Laurent says. “I was just giving you some space.”

 ”Space. Why?“

 "Well…” Laurent finds himself hesitating. “So you and Lykaios can spend more time together.”

 “Why the fuck would I want to do that?”

 “Um. She didn’t tell you?”

 Damen’s eyes harden. His mouth presses into a tight line. “Can you please just give me a straight answer?”

 “I’m – I’ve been trying to set you and Lykaios up.” Damen’s mouth drops open. Laurent quickly adds, “I talked to her about it and she said she’s been thinking of dating you too! So you know…” He trails off weakly.

 There’s a sudden, pressing silence. It engulfs the small space of Laurent’s room.

 In a very quiet, measured voice, Damen says, “What makes you think I would want to date Lykaios?”

 “She really likes you Damen. And I think you two would be a good match. I mean – you’re so compatible.”

 “No.” Damen’s voice is hard. “I meant: why the fuck do you think I would want to date Lykaios when I’m already dating you?”

 Laurent’s eyes widen. His breath stutters in his chest. There’s a strange ringing in his ears. “We’re not dating.” His voice is too quiet; he can’t bring himself to repeat himself any louder.

 Damen’s eyes bulge. It would be a comical expression if the atmosphere in the room wasn’t so deadly.

 “Not. Dating.” Damen repeats between his teeth. “You – You really believe that?”

 Damen’s mouth loosens around the edges. He looks like he’s received the worst news of his life.

 “I –” Laurent fumbles with his words. The back of his neck prickles with discomfort. “We’re friends.”

 “Is that what we are?” Damen scoffs. “My mistake, then.”

 Laurent still feels wrongfooted. It’s almost like he’s not even experiencing this conversation, just watching himself have it.

 “I don’t understand,” says Laurent. “I was just trying to do something nice for you. I thought it’d be good for you if you had a girlfriend like Lykaios.”

 “For fuck’s sake, Laurent.” All of Damen’s anger melts away. His tone now is sullen.  “I’ve literally been obsessed with you for the last six months – are you seriously just realising this now?”

 “I’m –” Laurent swallows. “But you’ve never asked me out or called me your…boyfriend.” His tongue dries up around the world.

 “I asked you out to Route all those months ago!” Damen says.

 “No. You said: ‘do you want to go out with me to –’” Laurent cuts himself off. Now that he thinks about it, he’s sure that Damen did ask him out on a date. He’d also said, I don’t usually do this on a first date while they’d been in bed together, hadn’t he?

 The realisation stumps Laurent.

 “Oh,” he says.

 Damen sits down on the edge of the bed, groaning. He buries his head in his hands. “Oh my god, Laurent. How can someone so smart be so stupid?”

 Laurent supposes he should feel offended by that. He isn’t, though, because he genuinely feels stupid.

 “You still didn’t make anything official.” Laurent says after a while.

 Damen looks up. “Fuck you.” His eyebrows furrow. “What was stopping you from asking me?”

 “Why would I say anything?! I thought you were only interested in fucking me!”

 Damen groans again. He sounds like he’s dying. “If that were true, then why would I –” He gestures around the room. Laurent knows what he means. He thinks of all the…dates Damen has taken him on, all the gifts he’s been given, the fact that Damen doesn’t leave his side when they go to parties together.

 Laurent closes his eyes. This is too much. He’s shocked by the anger that overtakes him – anger at himself.

 “I’m sorry,” he says. “I can’t believe how stupid I’ve been.”

 Damen looks at him steadily. He gathers his thoughts. “Do you still think I should date Lykaios? Because you seem pretty invested in the idea and I –” Damen sighs. “I don’t want to – I don’t think I can be with you if you don’t feel the same as I do.”

 “How do you feel about me?” Laurent asks softly.

 Damen’s gaze is burning. Laurent is pinned beneath it. “Laurent, I love you.”

 Laurent gasps. It’s a soft sound, but in the stillness of the room it rattles against the walls. His throat closes.

 When a few silent moments pass, Damen sighs. He stands up, mouth drooping and fingers tense by his thighs. “Alright…That’s.” He stops. He gives Laurent a small nod. “I’ll just go then.”

 Laurent blocks his path with a shrill, “Wait!”

 Damen stops.

 Laurent’s fingers twitch. He wants to touch Damen. But he knows he should – “I don’t want you to date Lykaios. I don’t even know what the fuck I was thinking, alright? You just – you seemed so into her Damen, and I thought it would be nice if I did you a favour and set you up with her because you’re always doing nice things for me but then I got so sad and angry and confused every time you were together and then I felt guilty for feeling those things and I just –”

 “Okay, slow down,” Damen’s hands grip his shoulders.

 Laurent shakes his head. His chest is bubbling with all these emotions he’s refused to acknowledge. “I don’t want you to date Lykaios,” he repeats. “I want you to date me.” He pauses. “Only me.”

 Damen snorts. “Easy. I’ve already been doing that.”

 “I’m sorry I didn’t know,” Laurent says. His throat is still tight with emotion.

 “We’ll work on communicating better,” Damen says. He peers down at Laurent until their eyes meet. “I only want you, Laurent.”

 Laurent collapses into Damen. He buries his head against Damen’s chest, weak in his relief. He even sniffles a little, something Damen thankfully ignores. “I only want you, too.”

 Damen’s body loosens; he exhales and squeezes Laurent in his embrace. He kisses Laurent’s temple. “That makes me so happy.”

 “Me too,” Laurent says.

 Guiltily, he thinks of Lykaios. He remembers her excitement at the thought of being with Damen. Laurent needs to make it up to her, somehow, if she’ll let him. Maybe he could buy her flowers? Laurent has never bought flowers for anyone in his life, but he thinks Lykaios might like roses – unless that’s too romantic? Or maybe he could –

 “Hey,” Damen says, interrupting his thought process.

 Laurent looks up at him. Damen’s smile is radiant; it’s all white teeth and creased eyes. “Yeah?”

 “Do me a favour.”

 “Anything.”

 Damen kisses him. Laurent smiles into it as his entire body fills with an unparalleled warmth. He’s not sure if he loves Damen back…but he’s confident he’s getting there.

 Damen pulls back. He assesses Laurent with a stern frown. “Don’t ever do anything nice for me.”

 Laurent huffs. He hides his face in Damen’s chest again. “Shut up.”

[dayseternal-blog]

Hi days! Since im currently under quarantine, I've been meaning to write my own Naruhina fanfic and i think this is the perfect opportunity to start! im just wondering if you have any tips with writing and also on using AO3 since I'm pretty new to the site :) Thank you so much and I hope ur doing well!

AHHHH HAVE FUN!!!!

I have so many tips???  For planning, editing, posting, and general thoughts.  I’m sorry, it got out of hand 🙈  Also, everything below the cut are just my own opinions (even if they’re phrased like laws lol).  Other writers will have differing opinions.

Planning Tips 🗒:

1. First to make absolutely clear, you don’t have to plan.  You can write whatever you want because it’s your story.

2. But it’s useful to have a detailed summary or general outline.

3. And it’s useful to choose your verb tense & POV before you start.

4. It’s easier for most people to write from just one perspective (limited 3rd Person).  An example of this would be “Nightdreams,” for which I only wrote Naruto’s thoughts.  Limited 3rd is useful to build angst because everyone can only guess at what the other character is thinking!

5. But if you want both POVs shown, that’s fun, too!!  I’ve done that in diff. ways.  “Undercover” and “Catskin” switches throughout.  “White Lilies” has half/half of the chapter.  “Inspo” switches each chapter.  Whatever you choose, do it deliberately for the amount of information you want to share with the reader!

6. Keep your verb tense consistent!  It’s easier to write in present tense, even though we were taught in school to write stories in past tense.  If your character is having a flashback, you can easily make that distinction between present and past by switching to past tense.

Editing Tips ✅:

1. Each new paragraph belongs to only 1 character’s thoughts, words, and actions.

2. Vary sentence length!  Short sentences and fragments are wonderful to indulge in.

3. Try to keep each paragraph short (no more than about 4 lines).  A bilingual reader told me it’s easier to process.

4. Try to open a chapter with a description of the environment (sounds, space, or feelings) rather than talking or conversation so that you can immerse the reader in the story right away.

5. If you want a beta, set clear parameters for what you want the beta to look for.  Be specific.  Examples: you want the beta to check your spelling and punctuation, you want the beta to check for clarity in a certain section, you want the beta to be like a soundboard for you to bounce ideas off of, you want the beta to check for sensitivity.  Btw, if you don’t want a beta, that’s absolutely fine.

6. If your story is set in a Japanese-influenced world, please don’t italicize Japanese words.  That just draws attention to a word that doesn’t need attention.  Italics should be used for emphasis, thoughts, maybe words in a letter or newspaper the character is reading.

7. If the characters all have Japanese names, like in Naruto, please find appropriate names for any OCs you make.  This is arguable for an alternate universe.

Posting to AO3 Tips 👊🏼:

1. Write your story on a Google Doc, then when you’re ready, copy&paste into AO3′s RICH TEXT (Not HTML) BOX. 

It’s always defaulted to HTML.  So make sure you click that Rich Text button before you paste the story in, otherwise your formatting’s gonna get all funky.

2. Before you Post, read through your story!  AO3 sometimes doesn’t “return” your paragraphs properly, so just make sure your spacing is all good.

3. Also check your words that are italicized.  AO3 sometimes adds extra spaces between italicized and normal words.

4. Look at similar stories to yours to see how they tagged ships, triggers, and genres.  The wall of tags is very important!  

5. Keep your story summary simple.  If your story follows a popular trope, you might want to highlight that in the summary.

Miscellaneous Tips 🌻:

1. Have no shame.

2. If you learn by following examples (like I do), study your favorite stories and take mental notes on what makes that story so good to you.  Is it the formatting?  Is it the subject?  Is it the characterization?  What did the writer do?  Turn an analytical eye on those stories.

For example, while I was writing Nightdreams, I studied the formatting (transitions, verb tense, point of view, etc.) in @katarinahime‘s “Serenity Prayer” and the use of description in @missa-chua‘s “Unless the World Were to End.”  I reread them several times.  I tried to emulate their styles in my own writing.

3. For the love of ramen, please don’t make ramen seem like some foreign food that Hinata has never tried before.  Please.

4. Follow @ao3commentoftheday to get a whole writing community’s tips!!  The moderator responds everyday to asks on a wide range of writing concerns.

5. YOU CAN FORGET EVERYTHING HERE IF YOU LIKE AND JUST DO WHATEVER YOU WANT.  It’s your story!

You are your own #1 Reader.  Write what you want to read because literally no one’s going to read it as often as you do!  This is allllll about what YOU want!

If you have any questions about something I didn’t cover or you’d like me to expand on a tip, let me know :)  Thank you for asking!  And I am so excited!

I hope you love your fanfic!!!!!

[goodson]

Hello, I remember a while back you mentioned you used one of the meal kit delivery services. I was wondering if you had much luck with them? And how they were in terms of cost + amount of food in your opinion? I'm curious b/c with my history of depression and disorganization related to my adhd meal planning / cooking is hard for me. If you or anyone else has any opinion on any of the meal kit delivery services I'd love to hear ^^

hey!! this is going to be long i have a lot of feelings about depression + adhd + trying to eat consistently and thoughtfully

i find them really useful and honestly, if you have the means to pay upfront, they can be comprable to what i would spend in the grocery store. specifically — home chef is super affordable and easy, like $40 a week maybe. i stopped using it because i didnt love the recipes but thaaaats because im a picky bitch

at my most depressed is when i started using mealkits and it was amazing because it created structure that made sure i would actually eat. also, when i get in a really dark place, i become really afraid of everything even when it isnt logical. like im afraid to cook because it takes energy, maybe my back will hurt/spasm, maybe i’ll screw it up and i’ll have wasted my time, etc. meal kits are helpful because they remove so much of the guessing. most of them are three meals a week, and i typically got at least three servings out of each (unless it was like a burger kit or something of course). so thats at least nine guaranteed meals a week, then you can supplement with like. canned soup, frozen burritos, cereal, other easy serve meals

i will say i no longer use them but i still DEEPLY struggle with food prep/meal planning and honestly it absolutely does not work for me at all. what i do instead is block out time on my calendar for cooking/follow the occasional whim, and ill go grocery shopping for ONLY those ingredients. i found that if i tried to plan a full week i’d get way overwhelmed and give up and then end up with the ingredients going bad. i also easily get sick of leftovers so ive been concious of making meals that i could freeze without drastically reducing quality.

to lay it out more clearly: so i usually end up shopping smaller amounts twice a week and then immediately cooking when i get home, these grocery hauls are usually like $30 max. ill usually get ingredients for two meals im excited about (i genuinely love cooking! and i personally prefer cooking something exciting over more traditional/easy meals because i get passionate about it and then feel super proud, which reinforces this behavior) and then a few apples, bananas, some snacks, etc and thats been treating me really well. it also helps me stick to my budget which is great because im making a reduced wage right now and it is hitting me hard lol

last thing - to tag on to my point of how its been helpful for me to harness my passion for cooking: i have not been satisfied with any methods of keeping recipes so i experimented with ways that would make it easy to find things in a way that make sense for ME. most apps either lack features i want or, worse, lack recipes im interested in and have annoying features that make it difficult to add in your own shit. and i lose written recipes no matter what and i find looking through them really tedious. so i started using my notes app to record recipes that excite me so that when it comes time for me to cook i can scroll through or search like. “vegan” if im cooking for me and my partner, “quick” if i know ive been exhausted recently and dont wanna push it, etc. ive just been screencapping recipes and uploading the pictures and i know objectively its like a very Basic solitude but lowkey it feels mind blowingly useful to me

ok jeez sorry for rambling this is just something ive been spending a lot of time and energy on and i have a lot to say. good luck!!! its hard but u got this. find ways to hold yourself accountable. use a calendar or set a timer or draft a friend to do it with you - one of the benefits of the mealkits specifically is u can hook people up with that entry discount and then make it a Thing you do together. or if you have roomates, you could all pitch in to a family meal plan so it can be a shared experience. set yourself up for success in as many ways as you possibly can!

[zulies-doodles]

Okay I scrolled through the tags for a bit, can you tell me more about Tanya, Ari, and Leon (especially Tanya I'm lobe her) like their powers/family/personality/back story?? anything really just to get a jumping off point .o. (also a webcomic in your style would be awesome)

This got long so i’m gonna put info under the cut lol

So lets start with Tanya! For powers she can basically turn her body into any earth-derived material she touches, so like stone, crystal, metal. I’m basically going with whatever an earthbender in A:tla could bend, she can turn into. Once she’s in that form she can morph her limbs into different shapes, typically weapons or create growths of that material onto her body. For visual reference I made a little guide here.   She also has some psychic abilities she inherited from her telepathic father, but it’s mainly that telepathy and mind control don’t work against her, and at the moment she’s not aware of them. She was born with her powers.

Tanya’s the leader of an elite superhuman team that works for the WSPA (an organization in my universe) that consists of Santiago and Thomas. She becomes very close friends with Ari when she temporarily joins the team. She’s very protective of her team and but often puts a lot of pressure on herself to be a good leader cause she thinks she doesn’t deserve it. Despite this she carries an air of confidence. She’s Intellectual, perceptive, a strategist, and also very curious. Can seem a bit closed off till you get to know her.

She’s also the daughter of an extremely dangerous criminal Victor Dane, with the power of Telepathy so she kinda has to deal with that hanging over her. Not fun. He hasn’t been seen since she was 15 though.

For Ari, you can get more details about the energy she controls here. She got her powers from a relic that fell from space, it was storing the energy which then latched itself onto her. She struggles to control it, especially since her strong emotions can trigger her powers. 

She’s passionate, caring, Doesn’t know when to quit persistent, reckless with a strong protective nature, especially for those she cares about. Either way she’ll fight, break rules and sacrifice her own well-being for what she thinks is right. The story follows how she adapts to her powers and struggles to rebuild her life after losing her family to a villain and any sense of normalcy she’s had, while also using her powers to do what she can to try and help others and keep that from happening to anyone else. She’s not good at planning-ahead, instead she excels at thinking on her feet, in the moment. Takes action instead of waiting for something to happen. Whether this is a downfall or not depends on the situation. 

Leon has telekinesis which can also manifest as telekinetic daggers or forcefields. He’s a notorious thief, and manages to be well known while also always being a few steps ahead of those trying to take him down. Nowadays he makes a living stealing high value technology or weaponry and selling it off. Working together with his closest friends, Cole and Andrew. On the surface, He has a cocky laid-back attitude, mischievous, likes messing around and throwing quips. Only looking out for himself and his few friends, doesn’t really think about or realize the consequences his actions might have. That’s mostly cause he thinks that’s what it takes to survive: worry about yourself, don’t get attached, do what you gotta do cause its not like you have other options. He cares about things more than he lets on though. 

Agh sorry about how long this got;; I got to rambling