#i'm still considering whether or not to post it on AO3 too because this ended up too short to be a full oneshot

[extralively]

I have brain worms 🤭 Has Satoru and Yura ever gone clubbing on a random night throughout the years?

If they haven't, say hypothetically that they did, what are they like when they're dancing together? 😁 I can't stop thinking about them dancing together to millennial club music because they're 90s kids 🥴

Sorry this took me a couple of days to answer! And that's because I got inspired to write a mini oneshot about it LMAO

Clubbing

Gojo Satoru/Original Female Character Gen, Drunken shenanigans, Fluff 1849 words Summary: Satoru and Yura go clubbing with Utahime and Shoko... Part of this series

This one is set in 2017 before all the bad stuff happens, so Satoru and Yura are in a (mostly) established relationship! I had fun with this ngl, drunk Yura is really fun to write bwahaha

Early 2017

Clubbing had never been one of Satoru’s favorite activities. Sure, dancing was fun, but dancing in the middle of a crowd of people grinding up against you really wasn’t his idea of a fun time, especially considering how much booze was involved in the whole concept of clubbing. Finding someone to have a good time with rarely provided satisfactory results when he’d tried to do it in a nightclub—again, there was too much alcohol involved—so he generally tried to avoid it when he was by himself.

Of course, tonight he was neither by himself nor was he looking for someone to have a good time with—because that person had already come in with him.

“Cheers!” the three women called in unison before downing their shots in one go, as Satoru only looked at them with amusement. Utahime was in town, which meant Shoko and Yura had decided to have a night out together, and they’d ended up inviting him and Nanami to come along. Nanamin had declined though, claiming he just wanted to sleep, so Satoru was the only man in their little group... and soon enough, he’d be the only one sober too.

“Aaah, it’s so nice to de-stress,” Utahime said with a sigh, leaning back on her seat.

“Your students giving you trouble, Utahime?” he couldn’t help himself. “You’ve got some pretty strong ones to deal with these days, what’s a poor little weak teacher to do—oww,” he yelped as Utahime shot him a glare... and Yura sharply tugged at his ear.

Mostly the ear thing.

“Behave,” Yura chided him, tugging at his ear again. Satoru pouted.

Then he threw his arms around Yura, whining into her shoulder because oh why wouldn’t she let him tease Utahime?

Yura heaved out a sigh and downed another shot.

The music was loud as the four of them continued chatting with each other, one of the many reasons why Satoru didn’t care much for nightclubs. It was hard for them to chat like this, although Satoru would have to admit that he was enjoying the situation more than expected when he had to keep leaning closer to Yura in order for her to hear him, and she also had to lean closer to him. Sure, Yura was slowly starting to smell like alcohol as she and the other two kept drinking all those shots and cocktails, which wasn’t his favorite smell on her... but he wasn’t really minding that a whole lot right now.

And that was because of one very special effect that alcohol had on her...

“Let’s dance!” Yura called at one point, and Satoru was trying to bite back his grin.

Because even though he didn’t care much for alcohol himself, it actually got Yura loosening up pretty fast. And a loosened up Yura was a happy—and touchy—Yura, so Satoru followed her and the other two to the dance floor with his shoulders perked up.

It wasn’t hard to get in the groove of things, even if he was probably the only sober person in this entire crowd of people. Watching Yura dance around and laugh with Shoko and Utahime did help, and Satoru grinned as he followed along—pointedly bumping away any handsy sweaty dudes that tried to get a little too close.

(Seriously, why were there so many of them?)

But overall, Satoru wasn’t having a bad time at all. Yura seemed to be having fun, and Satoru was particularly enjoying himself watching her have fun, dancing around carefree in front of him. He may have purposefully pulled out some, ahem, retro dance moves in order to get her to giggle at him, which had been all worth it when he saw Yura’s beaming (and flushed) face, even in the middle of the flashing lights of the dance floor.

See? There was no need for him to get drunk in order to enjoy things. Yura seemed to be doing enough of that for the both of them...

Satoru let himself sway around as the three women downed more shots, turning away from them slightly as he followed the beat. He’d been in the process of turning back to them when he suddenly felt someone pressing against his side, and he quickly blinked down to find an unknown woman there.

The woman smiled up at him. Satoru only blinked down at her again, even though she probably couldn’t see it behind his glasses. His Infinity wasn’t registering her as a threat, but he still activated it to keep her away, since the woman kept trying to dance against him—

That’s when he felt two arms wrapping themselves around his torso—familiar arms, this time. Satoru’s face immediately broke out in a grin as he glanced behind him to find Yura pressed against his back, and not only was Yura trying to tug him away from the woman, but she was also pouting.

His grin widened.

Was she jealous?

“Yuraaa,” he called, even though he was drowned out by the loud music. The unknown woman was quickly forgotten as Yura’s fingers tightened on his shirt, still trying to pull him away, and Satoru happily let Yura do just that.

Then his grin widened even more when Yura pressed her face against his back, then even more somehow as she started to awkwardly sway around in place like she was trying to dance without actually letting go of him.

Well, if she wanted to get touchy, they could get touchy.

Satoru let his hands cover hers from where they rested on his front, trying to match the sway of his body to hers. A sober Yura probably would have never ended up in this position in public, so maybe Satoru was enjoying it a little too much while it lasted. The thought of her feeling jealous over him also tickled him to no end, and he caught the unknown woman from before shooting him disappointed glances as she found that he was, ahem, taken.

So taken that Yura still refused to let go of him at all.

(Satoru grinned at the thought.)

The loud beats continued, Satoru and Yura’s bodies moving together just a tad bit awkwardly with the lack of space between them as Yura still didn’t let go. Not that he was complaining—he was enjoying it very much. So much so that he almost whined when Shoko interrupted them to hand Yura a drink after she and Utahime came back from the bar.

“Hate to break this up,” Shoko said. “But here’s your drink—if you don’t take it, I will drink it.”

Yura unwound her arms from around his torso, and now Satoru was the one left pouting.

“I’m gonna start cutting you off,” Satoru told Yura, shooting the drink a look. He was half-joking, half-serious, because Yura was now at just the right level of drunkenness—loosened up enough to get touchy in public, while not quite at the level of regretting it all later.

“No,” Yura replied, trying to shoot him a glare that was mostly a pout.

“Yes,” he responded. He was trying to bite back a grin.

“No,” Yura repeated, and this time she pulled her drink away from him. She might actually be crossing over to the too much level of drunkenness right now...

“Yes,” he said again, lifting a hand to grab at her glass, playfully tugging it to him. So she tugged it back, and he tugged at it again, and they locked themselves into a half-hearted tug-of-war with her drink until Satoru eventually just grabbed Yura’s hand to twirl her around instead, making her pout immediately shift into a giggle.

He would let her have this one last drink—but that would be it. Otherwise he would have to deal with a drunk Yura begging for sex and/or karaoke later and he’d be stuck being the responsible one saying no.

He hated being the responsible one. He just wanted to enjoy a drunk, touchy Yura instead.

(So he did, as the two of them went back to dancing. Not quite pressed against each other like before, but this time around he allowed himself to always be touching her one way of the other—twirling her in place, tugging her by the hand, holding on to her waist...)

He really wouldn’t mind coming to a club more often, to be honest... as long as Yura was with him, of course.

-

The car door slammed shut as Shoko and Utahime finally left, Satoru having dropped them off at Shoko’s place as the designated driver for the night (and always). And immediately after, Yura let out a sigh from her spot on the passenger seat, turning to him with a glint in her eyes before he even started driving again.

“Satoru,” she called, and he turned to her with an amused eyebrow. Yura was staring at him dead in the eye, nodding at him seriously. “Let’s go karaoke.”

Satoru snorted. He couldn’t say he hadn’t seen it coming.

“It’s very late,” he said, and Yura pouted. “Plus, we’ve got karaoke at home.”

He had bought himself a karaoke machine for this exact occasion—to fulfill a drunken Yura’s ever-present desire to sing karaoke after drinking a little too much.

“But I wanna gooo,” Yura whined, throwing herself closer to him as much as her seatbelt would allow.

And Satoru grinned, even though her pout was making him want to cave in to her request.

“We’ll go to my place,” he said, leaning closer to her. “And I’ll let you karaoke for as long as you want, how about it?”

Their faces were very close now, and Yura’s intensified pout was doing something to his insides as his eyes looked down at her lips. And Satoru couldn’t help himself; his hand reached up to cup her cheek, thumb brushing over soft skin before he finally leaned forward to press his lips to hers.

He'd been meaning to do this all night...

When Satoru finally pulled away, he ended up grinning at the dazed look on Yura’s face—dazed, but pleased, her face flushed and her lips shining, almost urging him to dive right back in.

“...Okay,” she finally breathed out, her tongue poking out to lick at her own lips. “Let’s go have sex.”

Satoru snorted. His hand patted at her cheek. “Maybe if you were less drunk,” he said before pulling away, Yura’s ensuing whine making him snort again.

It took all his willpower to not lean back in, especially as Yura let out an adorable huff.

“Then I wanna cuddle,” she said, and Satoru glanced at her to find her pouting again as he started the car.

Satoru grinned. “We can cuddle,” he agreed.

“...Cuddle and karaoke.”

Satoru let out yet another snort at Yura’s negotiating. “We can do both at the same time if we go to my place.”

Yura perked up at that, falling back into her seat with a satisfied nod, and Satoru held back a laugh.

Drunk Yura really was so easy to please sometimes...

End notes: I hope this answered the ask hehehe. Sometimes inspiration just strikes me and bam there u go, but to put it short: it's rare for them to go clubbing, but they have done it on occasion. They're more likely to go to a bar or something, but that's also a mostly Yura and Shoko activity with Satoru occasionally joining in ('cause he doesn't drink).

Speaking of drinks, I just really like writing drunk Yura ehehehe. I think the reason why drunk Yura is so fun is because when we strip away her inhibitions, we find that she's just as silly and needy and clingy as Satoru, it's like those two are just made for each other! (I mean, technically yes, she is my OC.......)

It's just really fun to have Yura be the clingy one for once!

[mithrilhearts]

My takeaway from the past 24+ hours...

There are so many of us that rely on ao3, whether you're a reader or writer. It brings us joy, it gives us an escape from the real world, and it lets us come together as a community to share stories and scenarios about our favorite fandoms and characters. The amount of posts I have seen on multiple platforms lamenting over the DDoS attacks is overwhelming - but with most of them comes a delightful cheer to the volunteers working to resolve this issue.

I've seen so many statements of praise for those volunteers, which is exactly what they deserve, and more. Can you imagine working for over 24 hours straight, on a volunteer basis, against something like this? They're the real MVPs, and I think our appreciation for them gets lost until moments like this rise.

With that said, here is my first real takeaway...

Don't bitch when ao3 does a donation drive. They work hard to keep the archive up and running, and with that costs money. Every server, every new addition or feature you want to see added to help make the site better, it costs money. The legal team that is defending fanfic authors??? MONEY. SO! DON'T! COMPLAIN!

I'm not saying you have to go out and donate your paycheck to ao3 - but I will say that, especially with this situation, if you can donate even a little bit to show your support, it means more than you probably realize, and even if you can't donate (which is totally okay), be kind to those who work on the archive. Send them kind words of encouragement, rather than flaming the archive because it's under attack - because yeah, I've seen people bitching AT ao3 for not working fast enough, or for it still being down. STOP IT.

My second takeaway...

Don't believe everything you see on the internet. Ao3 themselves have advised that the group claiming to take credit for this attack is to be treated with skepticism. And not only that, let's NOT automatically make assumptions about who is responsible just because of an organization's name. It's just a NAME, it doesn't identify a person's origin, background, etc. But I'm not here to dive into that much further. Point: I better not see any Sudanese hatred on my dash, or I will bite you.

My third takeaway...

Treat your fanfic writers with respect. We all now see first hand how much we depend on these stories. As I said above, for some it's an escape, a creative release, and a way to communicate with other people through similar interests. It's a beautiful creation, neither above nor below any other kind of literature.

Consider commenting, reblogging, kudos, anything you can to let the authors know you enjoyed and appreciate their works. Everyone is free to communicate in the way that suits them best, but every little bit is appreciated - as a fanfic writer myself, I can tell you that even a little heart emoji has made my day. It's like receiving a second kudos, and tells me that someone appreciated my efforts enough to give me a double thumbs up.

Any form of communication with the authors is appreciated. It lets them know that people are genuinely interested. We live in a world where INSTANT GRATIFICATION is taking over, but creations such as this take time. Talk with the authors, ask them about their wips, tell them they're doing a great job. Do NOT pester about "when are you updating next?" or the dreaded AI option - again, I will BITE PEOPLE if I see you doing this. Just...have some respect, show your appreciation, it's more than JUST FANFIC.

At the end of the day I guess this post is about being kind. Not pointing fingers or slandering people due to a name. It's about appreciating the things we do have, and not taking them for granted. Whether it's the brave cyber warriors currently fighting these DDoS attacks on the frontline, or the authors writing for not only their enjoyment, but for others too. Let's all respect one another, and show our support when and where we can.

HUGE THANK YOU TO THE VOLUNTEERS AT AO3, YOU ARE THE REAL MVPS!!!

[testosteroneb0y]

NSFW alphabet - HABIT emH

-Cross posted on ao3-

CW: explicit/18+ content below the cut, A lot of kinks are implied but not directly mentioned and there is probably things I could add in here but I'm too lazy, just know it's kinky and smutty and all that jazz

Author's Note: this is the first thing I've written in a while and most of it is just me yapping. I tried to go over it and fix any mistakes but I've been too tired to properly proofread it. I also tried to keep it mostly in character but Habit is just such a questionable character it's rather hard to make it not end up being ooc. Gender neutral but made with afab body parts in mind.

A = Aftercare (what they’re like after sex)

I would like to think there would be a little bit but tbh it seems like a no. He'd probably make you see stars and then go straight back to murdering people or something <3

B = Body part (their favorite body part of theirs and also their partner’s)

His : hands. This fella probably has hands that would be on the larger side (which is shocking) and he just loves that, he can do so much more whether it's wrapping a hand around your wrists to hold them together or something else (that I can't think of rn😔 I'm too tired) he just loves the fact that it gives him more control

Partner : thighs, hips. I don't really have a good reason for this, he just seems like the type of guy to love leaving handprints from grabbing too hard on thighs 😇 similar to the thighs part, he probably just loves gripping onto them.

C = Cum (anything to do with cum, basically)

he cums inside, there's no denying it. He'll say things like "'gonna fill you up so good, m'kay, rabbit?" I don't even think he would be that big on breeding but my god does that man love seeing his seed dripping out of you

D = Dirty secret (pretty self explanatory, a dirty secret of theirs)

Jerked off and came into a pair of your underwear and put it back into your drawer. He would be soossososoooo obsessed with the fact that you'd end up not realising and wearing them will they were still dirty

E = Experience (how experienced are they? do they know what they’re doing?)

Habit knows his stuff and I stand by that. Evan, not so much. From being in so many different people's bodies he has to have gotten some action. He was probably pissed off when he realised Evan's body couldn't take as much as he would like to.

F = Favorite position (this goes without saying)

Literally any as long as he can grab at your ass, or thighs, or hips. Also doggy style occasionally because he just loves absolutely pounding down into you, shoving your face into a pillow and going to town.

H = Hair (how well groomed are they? does the carpet match the drapes? etc.)

(This is more my Evan hcs bcuz yk its his body n stuff !!)

Naturally doesn't have much hair down there besides a little happy trail

I = Intimacy (how are they during the moment? the romantic aspect)

honestly, canon habit probably would not give a fuck, as long as he gets to cum then he is fine but I'm a fanboy and dont care, i like that anyway :3

on the more ooc side, I think if he was truly inlove with you he would try to be more romantic but it's hard for him considering his violent nature

He would always try his best to make sure you have a nice (well...as nice as getting your brain fucked out of you can be) time.

J = Jack off (masturbation headcanon)

he is shameless. He will leave a room and go to the bathroom or something and have a wank, he doesn't care if people in the other room hear him.

K = Kink (one or more of their kinks)

CHOKING. He fucking loves choking people because he likes the way they try to grasp for air. The light leaving their eyes is enough to get this man GOING.🥰 he loves pain, inflicting it mainly. I think it would be kinda obvious considering his...occupation, if you will. He is big on corruption. He just loves turning a little innocent "rabbit" into the freakiest person :3

I could go on and on about his kinks but I'm trying to contain myself.

L = Location (favorite places to do the do)

Despite popular belief, I think he probably prefers being in his own house, but he would do it anywhere in the house.

If he is reeeally horny then he might pull you into an alley or something for a quickie

M = Motivation (what turns them on, gets them going)

Anything and everything you do will turn him on. I'm leaving it at that.

N = No (something they wouldn’t do, turn offs)

Im a strong believer that tbis man likes everything no matter how weird but maaaybe like scat n stuff, I can just see him not really being the biggest fan of things like that, he probably thinks it's too gross (and will say that while being covered in like 6 different peoples blood)

O = Oral (preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc.)

He loves receiving, Face fucking is one of his favourite things. Everything from how you look in the aftermath of it, to (going back to the choking thing) Your eyes rolling back as he just shoves his cock down into your throat.

Although he likes receiving, I think he would be pretty good at giving. It's almost like a wasted talent of his.

P = Pace (are they fast and rough? slow and sensual? etc.)

I don't even know why I have to say this but he definitely is rough ASSSSFFFFF. He will plow into you like there's no tomorrow. If he is feeling really cruel he will go super slow at first, only moving very slightly, making it almost like new form of torture.

Q = Quickie (their opinions on quickies, how often, etc.)

If he is even slightly pent up he most definitely will let it out. He seems like the typa guy that hates being sexually frustrated and he HAS to have some sort of release to calm him down or he is just rougher later on in the day.

R = Risk (are they game to experiment? do they take risks? etc.)

He is down to try everything and if I'm being honest he probably has already tried everything, and I genuinely mean every single thing a person could like. This isn't to say he likes everything, but he does probably enjoys mostly everything being the 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓴 he is.

S = Stamina (how many rounds can they go for? how long do they last?)

He could and would go all day, all night. Unfortunately, he has other business to attend to. (Brutally murdering people 😍)

T = Toys (do they own toys? do they use them? on a partner or themselves?)

oh brother, he has toys, TOO many toys. Mainly to use on other people but I can see him using a vibrator on himself on occasion. He also would own everything that could he used for bondage, which also happens to come in handy when he gets a bit silly and kidnaps people ! This is kind of random but I can see him loving nip clamps.

U = Unfair (how much they like to tease)

So much, too much. I personally would not be able to stand the amount that he would tease, and I can put up with more than the average person. He is just a cruel motherfucker.

V = Volume (how loud they are, what sounds they make, etc.)

I can't imagine him being very loud. Evan whimpers, Habit himself wouldn't WANT to but that's the price that he has to pay when he uses other people's bodies.

He will talk and whisper dirty stuff into your ears most of the time but sometimes if he has had a bad day and is just really angry he will just shut up and get it over with.

W = Wild card (a random headcanon for the character)

He loves putting you in your place, even the slightest little bit of back chat and you are done for.

X = X-ray (let’s see what’s going on under those clothes)

I think he would be pretty average in size, maybe even slightly smaller considering Evan's height, but he would make up for it in other ways.

Y = Yearning (how high is their sex drive?)

It doesn't take much to get him going so even just the simple act of bending down infront of him, whether it was purposely or not, and he will have you bent over.

Z = Zzz (how quickly they fall asleep afterwards)

Habit himself wouldn't be tired because of the whole being an entity but he would realise "oh shit this body is so tired" and he would just force himself to go to sleep.

[katnissdoesnotfollowback]

kdnfb's Ten Years of Fanfiction Mania

Featuring: Unmasked

Summary: Written under an Anonymous pseudonym ~M~ to fill the following prompt ~ Historical Katniss and Peeta hate each other. They attend a masquerade ball and for some reason end up kissing each other. Sparks fly everywhere. Katniss tries to find the man behind the mask but Peeta knows it was Katniss though he doesnt say anything. They end up bethrothed even if they 'despise' each other. How they fall in love is up to u and how katniss figured out it was peeta is up to u

Rating: E for explicit sexual content, explicit language, implied/referenced rape/nonconsensual (not everlark), implied/referenced child abuse, implied/referenced suicide, implied/referenced miscarriage, discussions of illness, war, and injury in a historical setting, ptsd, minor character death. They worst of these tags happens offscreen and is merely discussed and dealt with rather than shown here.

A/N: ~Unmasked~ is my longest fic in terms of word count (around 234k), although Outside Chance and Spellbound are not too far behind and are both incomplete. Unmasked started as something meant to be fun and cathartic, then turned into a ridiculously long and self indulgent fic that I still, to this day, have no idea if the anonymous person who submitted the prompt to @everlarkficexchange even read, let alone whether or not they liked it. But I love what I produced for this fic.

Why write it anonymously and only reveal myself later? A couple reasons. 1) Historical is not my wheel house. At least not writing it. I am a shameless consumer of historical romances. I did some research for this fic but not nearly the level I would've liked to have done. Eventually, I said screw it, it's about the vibes not the accuracy. 2) I had a pile of unfinished wips when I started this, to include Outside Chance and Spellbound (both of which are still unfinished hmmmmm) and I really didn't want a lot of questions about when I was going to get back to those while I was working on this because 3) I'd just gone through a small slice of writerly hell to the point that I seriously considered deleting my entire tumblr and all of my fanfic. Details are not important right now, the result is. That's probably the closest I've ever come to calling myself done with fandom.

Then this prompt posted to EFE and wouldn't leave me alone. Eventually, I decided that if I was going to write it, I wanted to write it with as little pressure as possible. So I chose to write and post it as ~M~ until it was finished. Plus, I thought it might make it fun for people other than me if there was a bit of mystery behind it. And I don't regret doing that.

Writing behind a mask allowed me to be as long winded and self-indulgent as I wanted to without worrying about how tight the storyline was or how accurate the historical details were, or wondering if I'd be walking into my tumblr and a barrage of the kind of messages I'd come to dread receiving. The only thing I worried about, really was if the amount and kind of smut I included gave me away prematurely lmao.

While this was my first real foray into the realm of historical fics, I am hoping it's not the last. I've got too many ideas and half started pieces to back out of it now. But those, like this one, will probably remain untethered to a specific real place, and a specific time, mainly because I just don't have that kind of time for research if I'm not getting paid to do it lol. They will be works of love if not works of accuracy.

Unmasked on AO3

[jackwolfes]

I've been reading smut for nine years so you'd think I'd be able to at least write a little bit of it, right? And yet, the minute it comes to even a kiss scene I get all uncomfy and just can't do it. Lately I've been coming up with so many smut scenes I wanna write but I keep second guessing myself and feeling all embarrassed. Any words of wisdom from a smut veteran like yourself?

i've shared some advice on this in more detail before and also here but the key question i'd ask yourself is: why

like. why are you embarrassed writing smut. why THIS and not writing fluff or whump or very elaborate longfics. because smut is at the end of the day any other type of writing, with just as much feeling and action and weird messy fluids.

"sex is taboo and shameful and i've got catholic guilt" - so fair, we live in a society. but also, sex is natural and a 100% morally neutral act. i'd be surprised if this wasn't underlying some part of the embarrassment but at a certain point, if this is the key thing holding you back, you might just need to sit down and consider whether you want the hegemonic bastards that suck the dick of advertisers and snuff out any sort of difference to be the thing holding you back from what is already a transgressive weirdo hobby. accept that if this is your biggest sticking point, you might not be ready to jump straight into writing a graphic monsterfucking piss play orgy and might have to start with heavy petting and missionary that's more feelings and "i love you"s than descriptions of genitals. and maybe you need to write 10,000 kissing scenes first to build up the courage to write the word "cock", but that's never going to be wasted time. there's no race. you don't need to jump straight in.

"fear of being perceived" - you are the arbiter of who sees this. you can post it anonymously, you can post this under a sock puppet account you made with a completely different email, you can wait until youve written 5 million words and post it all at once, you can literally never ever ever ever ever post it ever. but don't not write it because of an audience that doesn't even exist yet.

"fear of being cancelled for writing something weird" - the ao3 block button is a beautiful, beautiful feature. if someone reads something they don't like, what are they going to do? nark in your comments? whine? launch a smear campaign? fuck em. you should practice good internet safety to avoid getting doxx'd anyway, and if you do literally the only thing they can do is complain, which means all you have to do to get them to shut up is block them

"i like what i'm writing a Bit Too Much and don't know how to process that" - 1) self indulgence is the fucking shit but also 2) the writing is the processing it. writing is a tool that can help you identify the things that get you hot or your underlying opinions on the concept of intimacy and love. and dear god it's fucking awful to be vulnerable but the benefit is very very worth it. also no one's gonna know if you have a wank because you wrote a fic so hot you turned yourself on unless you tell them, so if that's how you gotta process it, then that's between you and god

"it's going to be bad" - it will unfortunately continue to be bad without practice.

if it wasn't immediately obvious from this answer, the only reason i ever got to 'smut veteran' stage was because i got really really fucking shameless about a lot of things, including the fact that i cannot say sexual things out loud, sometimes turn bright red while writing smut, and have still been known to get so embarrassed by a fic that i have to slam my laptop shut and put it away because i can't cope. and i think that part of writing anything that makes you feel that way is acknowledging that 1) you're strong enough to get through that discomfort and 2) a little bit of discomfort is probably worse than not writing anything at all

[afrenchwriter]

20 questions for fic writers

I was tagged by @andromeda4004, thank you dear 🥰 Always an interesting game to play, share, and reflect!

How many works do you have on ao3?

17

What's your total ao3 word count?

313,513

What fandoms do you write for?

I launched my AO3 account with a Red Dead Redemption fanfic, and then I discovered Good Omens, and then... well, you know how it goes with this fandom ❤️ That being said, I also had fun exploring the seas during the golden age of piracy (Our Flag Means Death) and the lands of a Norse God (Loki).

Top five fics by kudos:

For His Eyes Only (GO - James Bond AU, M rated, 69K)

Getting Closer (GO - fluffy post-S1 fic, G rated, 3K)

To the End of the Ocean (OFMD - post-S1 fic, M rated, 71K)

Whatever Comes After (RDR - canon divergence AU, M rated, 84K)

Ties & Other Obsessions (Loki - 5+1 fic, T rated, 4K)

Do you respond to comments?

Always! I treasure each and every one of them ❤️ But I have to confess that these past few months have been a bit hard (not much energy, unfortunately), and I'm still trying to catch up on all the lovely comments I've received.

What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Mmh, good question... I'm afraid I don't know how to do that 🙃 Even the last fic I wrote for the GO historical minisode event (Shadow & Light) was supposed to end on an angsty note, and at the last minute, I decided to add a happy epilogue! But if we're talking bittersweet ending, then it would be Sharp Endings & New Beginnings, a post-S2 Loki fic... If you've seen the show, then you know 🌳

What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Hard to say, considering my previous answer 😇 but all the long fics listed above have a very happy ending!

Do you get hate on fics?

I did, once, on my OFMD fic... It was a shock, but also an interesting experience: it pushed me to question my narrative choices (and, in the end, confirm them).

Do you write smut?

I do... And I have a second AO3 account dedicated to it 😎 (I wonder how many people will reach this part of the tag game and find this out, eheh)

Craziest crossover:

None for now... (For His Eyes Only cannot be considered a crossover since Crowley is basically James Bond 😎).

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I don't think so!

Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes! @pavel-pedro has started to translate To the End of the Ocean in Russian... and whether it will be one day finished or not (I know how time-consuming such a work can be!), I'll forever be grateful for the gesture ❤️

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I'm currently co-writing a fic, actually, with my lovely friend @sabotage-on-mercury: a GO/Fleabag AU! We're taking our time for all sorts of reasons, but we want to make sure we deliver quality content, considering the source materials!

All time favorite ship?

The Ineffable Partners, of course. How can you beat a relationship between two beings who have known each other for millennia and have gone through all sorts of ups and downs, down here and out there?

Or, as Neil would say: why? Love ❤️

What's a wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

*insert awkward look monkey puppet meme* I don't know, man... I have too many WIPs piling up lately, and not enough energy to work seriously on any of them... I do hope I'll finish all of my GO WIPs someday. But the one WIP I doubt I'll ever come back to (although it makes me sad because the outline I have for this story is WILD) is the sequel of my long RDR fic, called What We Owe to Each Other.

What are your writing strengths?

I've been told several times that I'm good at capturing a character's voice, and that makes me really happy. I'm a huge cinephile and good dialogues, "natural" dialogues, are so important - I'm glad to be able to consider this as one of my strengths! I would like to say developing a plot, too - I love writing long fics and exploring characters' arcs - but I think I'm still too close to the source material for now to consider it a real strength... Room to grow!

What are your writing weaknesses?

I'm a slow writer; I need to develop my ability to use imagery and metaphors; and I need better organization when it comes to writing drafts and editing the whole thing!

Thoughts on dialogue in another language?

Well... I'm French and I write my stories in English + I work as a translator, so... Yes to dialogues in other languages, always (then translated, of course)!

First fandom you wrote in?

I'm not exactly sure, but it must have been between those three: Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, and Artemis Fowl (ah, teenage years!).

Favorite fic you've written?

That's a hard one... Whatever Comes After will forever have a special place in my heart since it's the fic that 1/ brought me back to writing 2/ helped me prove to myself that I was able to complete a long story. Senses & Sensitivity was my first fic for the GO fandom, and 1/ it made me feel confident to write more for the Ineffable Partners 2/ I made some great connections thanks to it (hello @hasturswig! ❤️). I don't think I've ever had more fun than when I was writing For His Eyes Only (and the enthusiastic comments along the way really helped! ❤️). But, to finish, I'd like to mention When All Is Said and Done, a GO fanfic in the South Downs that just poured out of me after the S2 finale... It really made me experience the magic of writing again.

If you've reached the end, thank you for reading! Feel free to ask me anything... And to consider yourself tagged if you want to play this game, too! ❤️

[finalgirlminamurray]

alright i'm gonna do it. my tcm fanfics:

The Sawyer Sisters, Fifty Years Later. the first one i posted which i wanted to get done in time for the 50th anniversary of the events of the first movie (not the movie itself, that was this year). consider it an introduction of sorts to the setting and characters of my gender-swapped au. written as an in-universe journalistic article but the kind that someone may have written out, sat down and looked at for a while, then discarded. i wrote it a few weeks before posting and i think it came out well enough. i felt like i should do something to celebrate the date and also establish my ideas.

The Texas Chainsaw Tarot. a conceptual piece that just consists of my descriptions of what i'd imagine a tcm-themed tarot deck would look like. i'm interested in tarot from an artistic/symbolic perspective and designing fandom-themed tarot decks is always fun, but i can't draw so i have to write it out instead. i'm glad i posted it on ao3 because it got some decent engagement. i still stand by all my choices.

don't question the virtue names: the sawyer sisters saga. this is my collection of all the sawyer sisters-verse fics i've posted. i'd already had these written but i did some significant edits before posting, and i think they turned out alright. still it's a very niche thing to have written so i didn't expect much of an audience. it's possible to read these like original fiction, but it would be too much to make the necessary changes to make it actual original fiction, you know? anyway what i've posted so far is focused on chastity (chop top's counterpart) and what she was doing in 1969-1973, because i felt that needed the most elaboration in this universe, and it turned into a whole thing because i just kept writing more and more detailed lore. i'll probably post more stories focused on other characters and time periods at some point, but for now we have a three-part history. (chass has kind of become my blorbo from my brain due to how much i've expended on her story, and she's not even really my favorite of the sort-of ocs!)

features a lot of 60s-70s cult stuff, partly inspired by some of the true crime literature i read around this time for "research", and partly by just the general vibe of the era. i deliberately didn't want this directly based off of any real-life things even though it's impossible not to be influenced, just as real cult leaders were probably inspired by the tactics of others before them. also features a lot of ocs.

i actually wrote these in reverse order of how they ended up being posted. i just kept going further back in the timeline while i wrote

ace of swords, or the rhythm of life (is a powerful beat). the first in the aforementioned series. chastity goes to la, meets and eats a girl, joins a new community, meets another girl, and... this was just meant to establish how she got to the final point, but it became its own thing soon enough. 2 chapters, 14k words.

hit the floor (and crawl to your mama). chastity goes to a party and has her first negative experience with the cult, then goes home, but not for long. originally written as an interlude of sorts. the last chapter takes place later in the timeline than everything else that's been posted so far, because again, these were written in reverse order. 3 chapters, 12k words.

the flesh failures (let the sun shine in). the last part...for now. chastity does something she's not proud of and unintentionally performs a heroic action, then gets her head bashed in for it. 3 chapters, 14k words.

more to come if i ever post the rest, and then...who knows? i'd also really like to expand on this verse here in ways that wouldn't fit into a published fanfic, regardless of whether anyone else cares lol.

[peskellence]

Pairing: RK900/Gavin Reed

Tags: Post Pacifist Ending, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Slow Burn, Eventual Smut, Angst, Hurt/Comfort

Masterlist

Read on AO3 here:

Summary: A lot has changed since the revolution. Crimes against androids are now punished in the same way as crimes against humans. A reluctant Gavin Reed and his new partner RK900 have been assigned to investigate a string of disturbing murders. Despite the shift in Detroit's social climate, Gavin still holds reservations about whether or not androids are truly alive. Will his developing feelings for 'Nines' be the thing to change this?

Warnings: Graphic Violence, Depression/Self Destructive Behaviour, Eventual Smut

Word Count: 3K

Gavin and Nines stood at Fowler's desk, outlining the findings of their investigation. This mostly equated to an ongoing monologue delivered by Nines as the latter sat reclined in his chair, staring into space. 

The Captain's features were contorted into a look of displeasure. He observed Nines silently as it spoke, beady eyes peering out from the fold of his furrowed brow. His hands were clasped firmly on the brim of his desk, sizable digits twitching impatiently. 

"So let me get this straight," he finally said, cutting into the droning tedium of the one-sided dialogue. "You think these crimes are somehow connected to this 'Mikey Scott' goon. A man who, from what I read in your report, sounds like he'd struggle to tie his own shoes." 

Nines calmly leafed through the papers on the table before directing Fowler's attention to a series of chat logs. "The man lied at length during his witness statement, and we have a reasonable hypothesis as to why. As you can see, these logs suggest affiliations with a key person, or persons, of interest." 

Fowler stared at the paper, limply lifting one of the corners. "Of interest to who, exactly? Because if you're trying to spin this junk as evidence, you're out of your damn mind." 

"I understand it may appear superfluous", Nines continued, ignoring the disparaging edge to its superior's tone. "However, this is not the case. Detective Reed and I agree that use of code may have been employed by the killer to communicate with Mr Scott, as well as - "  

Fowler held up a hand, stopping the android before they could continue. "I'm hearing a lot of maybes here, but I'm still not seeing a shred of proof. You two have been assigned to this case for over a week, and all you've got to show for it is another body. What the Hell have you been doing?"

The light on Nine's temple flickered a little, albeit it refused to show any indication of frustration. Gavin was unable to deploy the same skills of emotional regulation, rising to the bait almost immediately. He pulled himself out of his slouch, folding his arms defensively. 

"Hey, we've been busting our asses. Where do you get off on telling us what we have and haven't been doing?" 

Fowler leaned forward, as if readying himself to knock some sense into his mouthy subordinate."I'm the one in charge here, Reed. You'd do well to remember that." 

"Captain", Nines interrupted before the situation was able to escalate. It placed a hand on Gavin's shoulder in an attempt to placate him. 

It was almost too effective. Gavin marvelled at how delicate the gesture felt, despite Nines' established capacity for overwhelming strength. Had it wished to  restrain him, it could have, but there was nothing forceful about the weight of its grasp. It handled him as though he were a friend. Without any intent to intimidate or harm. 

Despite this, Gavin pulled away from the hold as though it were causing him searing pain. Nines' hand was left suspended in the absence of its partner before its slowly retreated.

"Consider the bigger picture," it said, directing its attention back to Fowler. "We are no longer observing the actions of a single madman. This is an organised hate group, one which may prove to be exceedingly dangerous. If we turn a blind eye, who's to say what the consequences may be?" 

"I think it's you who needs to consider the bigger picture", Fowler seethed. "You want me to drag this department through the mud more than it already has so that you can test what? A hunch?" 

Nines' throat bobbed visibly, as if it was struggling with a non-existent breath. "We have established a link, the use of code is synonymous with our suspect profile." It stabbed its finger onto the desk, perhaps with more force than intended. Tracing the digit across the page, it underlined a passage of interest.

Fowler growled, snatching the page from under its hand and bringing it close to his face. His eyes trailed up and down, becoming lost even further in the folds of his brow.

"You mean the 7-letter cypher?", he said lethargically "The same code I used to pass notes to my crush back in High School?"

"It is not a matter of decryption method. It is the context in which it was used. CLHQ is clearly a code in itself. No doubt a location for - " 

"Are you seriously prepared to die on this hill?" Fowler ran his fingers down his face, pulling the skin taut. "A pair of goons with decoder rings. That's your smoking gun. An arrest requires probable cause. Or did you miss that part of your training?" 

Subtle twitches slithered their way through Nines'  otherwise neutral expression, as its lips curled downwards into the ghost of a scowl.

"We have both evidence and probable cause. Even if we didn't - there is certainly a case for reasonable suspicion." The displeasure was palpable in its low, commanding tone, as the cracks continued to form in its visage of composure. "With consideration for my model, Captain, I ask that you trust my judgement on this."

"Are you saying that my judgement isn't enough?" Fowler pointed a finger to his subordinate, beginning to sweat from exertion. "Do not get smart with me. I'm warning you."

"It's not getting smart," Gavin interrupted, tiring of the Captain's belligerent attitude. "It's trying to make a point, and you don't wanna hear it." 

Fowler seemed to let this particular outburst slide as he remained locked in his standoff with Nines. Gavin watched on, intrigued, as the partner who typically approached their superior with the utmost respect vehemently refused to yield. 

Ultimately, Fowler was the first to back down, sighing as he addressed Nines with an uncharacteristic level of softness. "...RK900, there's a reason I hired you, and it has nothing to do with your model. I can see you've got potential, but you have been with the department for less than a year. There's still time to screw it all up."

He then turned his attention to Gavin, and any hint of warmth dissipated. "Case and point: I trusted you to keep this genius supervised, but all you've done is let him play 'Choose Your Own Adventure'. Again." 

"It was a good adventure to pick. We've made fucking progress", Gavin argued back hotly, "Not only are these freaks local, but they're following our investigation. 'Organic + synth'? I mean, come on, it's hardly subtle who they're talking about." 

"Subtle or not, it doesn't prove their involvement in anything. Other than shit-talking police." 

"Jeff, give us a break here", he sighed, hoisting himself up in his chair. "We pay this guy a visit, ask him some questions, and all of sudden he's arranging an emergency clan meeting? If he didn't have anything to hide, he wouldn't be worried."  

"Who says he's worried?" Fowler replied, "'CLHQ' could stand for anything. Hell, what about that new coffee house that's opened up on Renaissance Drive?"

"Coffee Lovers - Harbour Quarter", Nines monotoned.

Fowler snapped his fingers, smugness exuding from the gesture. "That's the one. Last I checked, it wasn't illegal to meet up with friends for coffee. Unless that's something you take personal issue with?" 

Gavin felt his temperature rise, heat burning to the tips of his ears. "Are we seriously going to give these bastards a hall pass for all the dangerous and illegal things they've been saying? I thought inciting violence against androids was a criminal offence."

"Well shit", Fowler brought his hands together in a silent parody of applause. "Look who's finally decided to read up on the current legislation." 

"Do you even care about all the sick shit these people are saying? All the twisted shit they might try to do?" 

"Since when do you, Reed?"

Gavin stalled, his mouth dry. Well fuck. 

It was a dirty move on Fowler's part. After all, it had been him who insisted Gavin undertake the obligatory 'tolerance bootcamp'. The detective didn't know when his position had changed and had no desire to grapple with the broader implications of this.Throughout his crisis, Nines was staring at him with sharp, inquisitive eyes. Demanding the truth.

"It doesn't matter how I feel", Gavin blurted out hurriedly. "The law is the law, and that's all there is to it."

The android leaned forward expectantly, as if waiting for an elaboration on this before slumping back into its chair with a dour look. Gavin wondered if it was disappointed in him - if it was even capable of that - before firmly shaking his head, expelling any doubts over his decision.

You don't care about these damn machines. You never have and never will. 

Fowler closed his eyes, nostrils flaring in vexation. He clearly didn't appreciate Gavin using his noncommittal stance against him. "We'll look into the activity you've presented. At the very least, we can have the forum shut down. Slap Scott a fine for hate speech -" 

How considerate. 

" - but you can't let yourself get distracted." He reopened his eyes, straightening up the papers that were littering his desk and sliding the pile back to the partners. "The longer you waste time, the more androids die. You have one more week to gather up some real leads and evidence. Don't let me down"

Before Gavin had a chance to respond, Nines stood to its feet, hands folded behind its back. "Thank you for your consideration, Captain. I can assure you we will not disappoint." 

With a diplomatic nod, the android made its way to the office door, patiently waiting for its partner to join. Gavin shot Fowler one final, simmering glare, snatching up the papers and reluctantly dragging his feet to the exit. With the door closed, and once they were clear of Fowler's earshot, he allowed himself to vent.

"Why does that old fucker have to be so stubborn?", he mumbled bitingly, rifling through his pockets. "The pieces are there, if he'd just give us a chance to put them together." 

"While frustrating, I can at least somewhat understand his position", Nines replied, "The Homicide Department has been facing significant scrutiny relating to these crimes. Consensus is that the police are treating the victims as low priority, given they are androids." 

"Bullshit" Gavin continued his search, his efforts rewarding him with a crumpled packet of cigarettes. "The bastard killing these bots is tricky. They've got no idea how little we've been given to work with."

Nines narrowed its eyes, LED spinning yellow in thought. "The lack of forensics is troubling. However, It is obvious our killer wants us to follow the trail he is laying out. This is more than just killing. It is a game." 

"I'd hate to think what this guy was like as a kid. If this is his idea of a game."

Gavin placed a cigarette into his mouth as the two made their way outside. For the first time in days, there had been no rain, with whatever moisture remained on the ground hardening into ice. Hands shaking, he brought his lighter to his mouth and ignited the smoke. Taking a drag in an attempt to warm up, his teeth chattered involuntarily. Nines huffed in response, something it often seemed to do when it was amused.

"Don't know what you're laughin' at", Gavin grumbled, hot breath swirling into the air. "It's not my fault that I get cold and you don't." 

"On the contrary, my biocomponents experience reduced functionality in extreme weather conditions. While I may not face the same physical discomfort, the cold has its impact." 

"So stop being an asshole about it, then" Gavin blew smoke towards the sky, letting out a contented hum. "I don't know what works for you androids when you're freezing your balls off, but this works for humans."

"Biologically speaking, it does the opposite. Smoking constricts blood vessels, exacerbating the feelings of cold" Nines looked Gavin up and down, scrutinising his attire. "You would be better off purchasing gloves. Or a decent winter coat." 

"I really wish they'd built you with a fucking mute button." 

"Perhaps we should stick to discussing the investigation", Nines suggested with another small huff. "I have a theory I wish to share, pertaining to the CLHQ -

Assuming the code is an anagram, I have considered the probability of all local landmarks and businesses. The prevailing solution is that the letters refer to 'CyberLife Headquarters."

Gavin pursed his lips, shrugging. "I mean, that makes sense. All the victims are androids, could be some kind of statement." 

"That is not the only reason for my deduction", Nines informed, its eyes losing focus as its LED transitioned to yellow "Having studied Mr Scott's online behaviour, I thought it only perfunctory to conduct a background check."

"I'm guessing you found something?"

"Indeed. It would seem our friend has a long history with the company, dating back to early 2028. He found success as an android components trader - issuing supplies to the local warehouses" Nines gaze returned to normal, as its LED turned back to blue "The revolution called for the dissolving of his business, with no new models planned for production." 

"So he would have gone bust around the same time CyberLife did." 

Nines nodded. "It wouldn't be a leap to assume that this resulted in a hefty amount of resentment. Not only for Mr Scott, but for his contacts who were also made redundant. Perhaps they have been back in touch." 

The detective took a few final drags from his cigarette before stubbing it out on the rail of the steps. "So what are you thinking? Our killer worked for CyberLife?" 

"A knowledge of robotics and android manufacture would explain much of the killer's skillset. In all the cases we have investigated thus far, they seemed to possess an understanding of how best to neutralise their victims. Exploiting the MJ100's hearing fault and winning the trust of the Traci, convincing them that they were a client."

"I wouldn't say those things require a degree in Advanced Cyber Engineering," Gavin retorted. "What's to say the same thing couldn't be done by a schmoe like Scott?"

"The hearing fault of the MJ100 was only known to affect the models in its specific batch number. This was not widely reported. In addition, while a male Traci is not invulnerable, they are built for strength and durability. To take one down single-handedly is an impressive feat." 

"...So why didn't you tell Fowler any of this?" Gavin questioned, "For fuck's sake, Nines, it might have helped when we were trying to make our case." 

"I outlined my findings very clearly in my report. Perhaps you should read it at some point." 

Gavin groaned, tucking his hands into his pockets as a strong gust of wind caught him off-guard. "So what gives? Why doesn't Fowler want us looking into Scott?" 

"The Captain has made it clear that he is unwilling to accept any doubt relating to this case. While the details surrounding Mr Scott are suspicious, his connections to CyberLife mean nothing unless we can prove that our culprit also shares these connections." 

"Yeah, but with our primary witness now off limits, how are we supposed to track down a suspect?" Gavin began trailing down the fire exit steps, careful not to slip on the ice. Nines followed behind, maintaining a close distance between them. "CyberLife Detroit must have had hundreds of engineers. Where do we start looking?" 

"Our search needn't extend beyond those terminated within the last few months. Using what we already know about our killer, we can further narrow our list to those who fit the profile." 

"How do we get the list in the first place?"

"Simple. We go to the Headquarters directly." 

Gavin stalled in his tracks, causing Nines to halt behind him. His foot hovered between the final step and the pavement as he looked back at his partner incredulously. "I don't know if you've noticed, but CyberLife is in deep shit right now. Up to its neck in damage control. They aren't going to make it worse for themselves by implicating any former workers." 

The android nodded at its partner before its lips curved into a cryptic smirk. "What if we weren't seeking to procure the names for legal purposes?" 

Gavin paused, allowing his mind a second to catch up. His incredulous expression only grew as he realised what Nines was implying. "Are you saying we go undercover?" 

"If you are up to the challenge, then yes." 

"Fowler would never - "Gavin stopped himself, shooing Nines away from the steps and into the station's parking lot, ensuring no one could hear them. "I can't believe I'm the one saying this, but we could get in a lot of trouble. You sure you want to do this?" 

"I can assure you, we are unlikely to face any severe disciplinary action. Should our actions prove justifiable", There was something bright in the android's eyes as it said this. A faint sparkle that betrayed mischievous intent. "I trust you won't give the game away." 

The change in dynamic was surreal. It seemed absurd to Gavin that an android so practically minded was willing to take such an intense gamble. "You know, when you first joined the force, I had you pegged for a little plastic suck up. But you aren't like that at all, are you? You're a devious little shit." 

Nines let out a noise that Gavin could only define as a laugh. Not a huff or exhale, but pure joy and amusement at its partner's teasing assertion, "I believe you said it yourself, Detective. I am full of surprises."

[throughalleternity]

Hi what is your writing process like for your one shots?

In the past it was mostly riding on spur of the moment momentum lol, tho I've been taking more time to plan more recently.

First I figure out why I'm writing the fic and what I think is interesting about it. That can take a while! I like to have a general sense of the entire fic or where it's going (not as bad to plan bc these are short). Once I have a theme or emotion or idea I want to capture, I think about a scenario or scenes that I think would convey that well. I also consider whether I know of a similar fic in the same fandom/ship and try not to adjust my fic to be less similar since it helps me to not compare and to feel motivated that I'm writing something more different (just a me thing, def do not be afraid to write similar scenarios as in other fics). I might reread other fics with similar vibes to help me pick the mood.

Sometimes (often?) I briefly outline those general ideas and/or specific lines, especially if I'm writing multiple scenes, or tackling a topic that's harder for me to write where I might be brainstorming and writing down multiple preliminary ideas. That keeps me organized and prevents me from forgetting things. I might also reference the general character notes doc I have to figure out how the characters will behave. And if I know I need/want to do any research because it goes beyond my own experience/knowledge, I also start that before writing. I usually don't go back to canon (the exception is like, Pool Cues because I wanted it to be very close to canon).

Then I write! Usually in bursts, from beginning to end. I'll be thinking about what makes sense next and what I would like to read in a oneshot (mostly relevant for the unplanned parts). With really detailed stuff, like body positioning/blocking, I'll just wing it based on what feels right. And I do try to keep a mental image of where the important people and things are so that there's continuity. I use OneLook for finding better/different words when wording feels off, and otherwise just try to focus on maintaining the focus and tone I want to capture the right emotions. I've written pretty intuitively from reading a lot, but I've definitely picked up some educational writing tips along the way too.

If I'm procrastinating/stuck, I might plan out the AO3 tags, but I always wait to do the summary and title until right before posting (and then get annoyed that I still need to write those too before posting lol). And then sometimes for the fics I'm more stuck on, they sit as outlines... or I make new docs to start writing fresh... Usually this happens when I'm not super set on the idea or where I want to take the fic, so being confident from the beginning definitely makes things easier. Also, for any long/interesting sections that get deleted, I try not to completely discard them, but instead move the cut lines into a designated doc so that I can repurpose them for something else, or as outtakes for myself.

Once it's done, I might let it sit overnight and then go back to do some light editing, usually just line edits for better phrasing and clarity etc. (Sometimes I post and then reread and frantically edit before it's been up for a while 😅) And that's it!

[fountainpenguin]

Recent 'Fic Progress 'n Stuff

I'm in a very busy period of my life right now, so updates may become sporadic, but here's some news I have for now!

Fandoms discussed: MCYT, Total Drama, WordGirl, Fairly OddParents

MCYT - Typically updates Tuesdays

- Aiming to post something for the Pixels Imperfect series on Tuesday, but don't be alarmed if it doesn't happen.

-> I'm in this weird zone where my chapter for Herobrine's Guide to the Between Dimension is complete except for the map I'm almost done with, but I'm having some artist block getting the map where I want it, so... I might hold off a bit until I'm happy with it. It's not bad, but I'm struggling with clean-up and labels.

-> Really good progress on my next Dog's Life chapter. In a weird zone of hesitating over whether I'm going too far with X or Y. Needs more attention, but I'm really happy with what I have so far. Very exciting! I did some doodles that I'll post under the cut :)

-> High likelihood of skipping this next Tuesday of posting, which gives time to let Collector's Fee sink in anyway (Plus I did a double update for Dog's Life at the start of August for its anniversary and that was probably too much for me), but we should be back the week after :)

- Herobrine's Guide will go on hiatus after Chapter 14 (the next chapter to post is Chapter 11) because that's where the buffer runs out. At that point, we've finished all world lore (except the Hels stuff that goes in the Additional Info final chapter). That's where we enter the bestiary, and they're huge chapters I want to ensure are consistent all the way through. So... I need to finish all the bestiary chapters before posting the first one :'D. A lot of work is done, but a lot still left to do!

-> Since I've been posting Herobrine's Guide during Dog's Life's intermission, we just won't have Tuesday updates for a bit. I think I'll switch to finishing The Candles We Light (and Should Regret) & Top 10 Hanahaki Life Hacks (#8 Will Shock You), which I started during Guess the Author.

-> Comparatively, they're shorter projects and it would be nice to finish them instead of leaving them hanging. That should work well, but we may have a period of no Tuesday updates during this adjustment period.

- Dog's Life is still on soft hiatus through to January or February 2025. It's between Sessions 2 and 3 right now and that hasn't changed. At this time, it posts once a month (although as mentioned, there may be a slight delay in the next chapter, but we had a double update on August 1st, so no surprise :))

-> When Dog's Life resumes, it will most likely be once every two weeks instead of every week. I really enjoyed posting weekly, but I have to admit it's A Lot. I was able to do that when hyperfixating on it as the only fandom I was posting consistently for, but I'd like to roll it back for 2025. Considering I post chapters above 10k words, I think it's fair; weekly updates was a lot. Final decision will be made when we actually reach 2025!

- We know Grian's working on Life Series Season 6 and that he said it would be a while. When that drops, I expect to do liveblogs and maybe one-shots depending on inspiration.

Total Drama - Currently updates Wednesdays and Saturdays

Life of a Loser is getting close to its end! Once it's done, we'll switch to posting one TD 'fic a week (probably) until they're all posted. Leaning towards posting on Wednesdays or Thursdays. Subject to change.

You can subscribe to the Riddle's Drama AO3 series if you want those emails. If you are only subscribed to Life of a Loser but you want to continue seeing more of my TD work, now is a good time to subscribe to the series, as basically everything from here is one-shots.

Reminder: I wrote these works between 2013 and 2016. I'm moving them to AO3 for archive purposes. You can leave comments or send me Asks if you want to chat about these works or their worldbuilding, but my knowledge of the show ends after Ridonculous Race; I didn't watch Total Dramarama and I don't know anything that came after it.

My Total Drama works will continue posting for the rest of 2024 and into 2025. I don't anticipate writing more works for this series, although if I had infinite time, I'd be interested in finishing the ones I started and left unfinished (because Leonard, my beloved).

WordGirl - On hiatus

Still on hiatus for now! Was hoping I'd be able to post more for it before the end of 2024, but that was pushed back by a very busy summer, which led to me not getting the Frayed Knots buffer where I wanted, and Frayed Knots has priority.

These works are not discontinued (I've been working on Factor It In since 2018 and I'm not dropping it now, lol). They're just on break, because I'd prefer leaving them on break and returning with a buffer over random updates.

I do have some one-shot drafts I've been sitting on, and I might clean and post those, but my attention's pretty divided between IRL, MCYT 'fics, and FOP right now, so this isn't super likely.

Factor It In has a serious vibe, as it's a realistic exploration of superhero life and biology, and there's also, like... no death or serious injury in it. I'm currently interested in things that are either wackier or angstier, but I look forward to coming back to it when I'm ready to be serious again. I genuinely like these 'fics a lot, including my WIPs, but it's an exciting time for FOP fandom right now and I want to enjoy it :)

If you want updates for my WordGirl 'fics, you can subscribe to Heroes' Journey or 28 Million Degrees. And you can always send me Asks if you want to!

Fairly OddParents - AO3 updates on Fridays, plus I've been posting on the blog any day of the week

- New cover arts for Frayed Knots and Origin of the Pixies are done! Their new announcement posts will go up soon, as I wanted to get all the 130 arc covers done first (for reverse tag scrolling purposes).

I did these two first and I think they're my favorites <3 These will replace their existing covers in their respective 'fics, and these are the posts that will be linked to when discussing these projects (Ex: I need to clean my FOP 'fics page and these will go there).

Reblogs always appreciated for cover / announcement posts, but no pressure! These are messy 'fics and not to everyone's tastes.

- I've committed to the name City Lights AU for my New Wish works. I'm REALLY excited for the "arranged marriage & not in love but we're going along with it anyway because this is what we do as upper class kids" trope I've set myself up with... for reasons...

- The AU guide is complete and will be posted after I finish Hadley's full sideblog profile, as I want her to be linked on it.

- I... emotionally cannot post Hadley's profile until I clean the freakin' blog, because I HATE what the update years ago did to bullet points, so I'll see if I can make some time for the sideblog. I have to go back and change them all to indents with dashes, like I've been doing in my posts over here... and I still have to fix all the broken masterpost links (which broke during the same Tumblr update from years ago). Gonna be a pain, but...... :'D The things we do for love.

- I went through my drafts and it looks like I do have some lore and reference posts that can be cleaned and posted for the sideblog, which would be nice; I have more to work with than I thought.

I can also do things like post the Fairy School Schedule on the sideblog instead of on a Google Doc. Up until now, it was relying on the doc for color coding (for ease of reading), but now we have color-coded posts, so it can go on the blog directly. - Also ?? it turns out I never actually compiled my multiple posts on Fairy aging into a single post, and thus the detailed info never made it on the sideblog. -> I compiled an age chapter for today's "So, You're Studying the Cloudlands..." update (i.e. I'd had the development charts there as placeholders since the start, but I really wanted actual info too) and that will become a sideblog post in the future.

- Somewhere in the depths of my literal 2,400 drafts on main blog is some sideblog stuff that I saved as drafts here instead of there, and one day... I will find it. But we'll talk about that again after my A New Wish liveblog is done.

I'm also going to change the sideblog's mentions of Riddleverse Classic to Cloudlands AU, now that it has a real name. Just... finally coming back and power washing everything before I risk posting anything new that attracts new eyes while the blog is messy, haha.

Technically the term Riddleverse 'fics covers all my AUs, so some mentions will stay (like things that say "contains Riddleverse spoilers"). However, this should make things more clear.

I had a lot of self-censorship internalization and general nerves when I was working on the sideblog back in the day, but I'm a lot more "cringe and free and I'm gonna make it everyone's problem" now than I was a few years ago, so it'll be nice to move on from those memories and learn to enjoy the blog again.

- I also feel happier with my art and writing styles now compared to where I was in recent years. Looking forward to blowing the dust off and polishing stuff nicely! I'm not going to try to keep future profile arts consistent with the old arts, so it'll be what it'll be.

Heavily leaning towards redesigning my adult Chloe, as I was never that attached to her, and I want to slightly tweak my Timmy and Cosmo to better fit my current art style. Debating whether to add Anti-Wanda's scars. Also need to do a scar ref for H.P. since he has a huge one on his cheek I rarely draw because I always seem to draw him facing the other way, sdklj... Someday...

- I had a lot of IRL stuff happen in recent years that was similar to things happening in my FOP 'fics and I wasn't able to truly enjoy them for a while. A New Wish brought back a lot of my excitement for the series and I feel like I'm healing a lot in regards to being able to enjoy FOP :)

I'm excited to share the arc guide and start outlining 'fics.

- As previously mentioned, I've cleaned the 130 Prompts summaries page so it's up to date with 2024 plans. Also, I've finished all the arc guides and made a new cover image for the project!

- I'd like to kick off Arc 3 of the Prompts with a piece about Dale shortly after "Nectar of the Odds" - "#96 - You Deserve It." The piece after that will loop back to the "Am I adopted?" drama Poof went through in Arc 2, and it'll be fun! I'm really excited :)

- Frayed Knots is high priority, but it's also a massive project requiring lots of brain power, so it'll be nice to sprinkle lighter one-shots in between.

- Great progress on Frayed Knots! Things are really coming together. Might post one chapter soon, but the next few need more attention. Still hoping to build a proper buffer, but it's a slow process.

-> I... think I'm going to take the plunge and commit to dropdown chapter warnings for Origin and Knots, the way I do for my MCYT multi-chapters :'D Will this be exhausting and require a lot of rereading? Yeah, but it makes me feel less self-conscious (and it helps me quickly check each chapter to confirm I know what's in it). So... That'll be going on in the background, but expect it to take a while. It will not be fast.

-> Next chapter gets a standalone E-rated version, like we did for "Cageflight" back in the day. As previously stated, Frayed Knots maintains it's T and/or mild M rating despite now being classified as Not Rated; E-rated content will always be posted separately. And this one's pretty intense, so prepare emotionally before reading.

/whispers loudly - It's the big "raised in a culture where sex is done for ceremony" vs. "longing for passion and ready to ask for it" clash we've been waiting for... I finally am happy with my blocks for this scene. Just pulling it all together. It feels SO FUN to finally write the ceremonial bits of their culture as a proper ceremony explored onscreen. It's always been hypothetical... sdfljksdflkj...

This chapter is called "House of Cards." The standalone will be titled the same, and these are the AO3 series that will get the email notification:

Rainbow Train -> Not in the 130 Prompts

Red Train -> Suggestive / explicit

Orange Train -> High fantasy (Deep-dive into Anti-Fairy culture)

Subscribe or ignore at your preference, but there's your heads up. And obligatory reminder that this is a 'fic about a protagonist who has hypersexuality and we explore that more now that he's an adult than in the earlier chapters when he was younger.

Anti-Cosmo being hypersexual, bipolar, pan, AND ace, AND carrying trauma from a past life, and VERY confused about attraction, you will always be famous to me <3

As we know, Origin of the Pixies is all the way up to the war chapters, so it's on hiatus until Knots catches up. From there, we'll alternate between H.P. and Anti-Cosmo POVs through the war! Very exciting.

Knots still has to get Anti-Cosmo through his first meeting with Cosmo (who still has to hit Wanda with his car in line with "Cosmonopoly"), then through godparenting schooling & into a high rank in Anti-Fairy World (in line with his appearance in the truce flashback of "Balance of Flour"), but we're getting close!!

Also as previously stated, I might get around to posting some sensual / sexual stuff for FOP that I wrote as character studies and warm-ups back in the day, but...

I cannot emphasize enough that these delve into really heavy topics like consent violations, setting up a plot about being underage and desperate that will later crash and burn, and sexual trauma, and they're not necessarily sexy or fun to read, so just... [obligatory I Write Trauma & Morally Gray Characters In 'Fics For The Show About Trauma & Morally Gray Characters reminder].

But I do think there's really interesting stuff in here in terms of character studies and I wouldn't mind having them available, if for no other reason than because I've lost them multiple times and would enjoy having a place to find them.

-> Those all go in Red Train and Rainbow Train. Again, subscribe or ignore at your preference. They are not part of the 130 Prompts (which are strictly G and T works).

-> These are certainly not necessary reads in order to "keep up with what's happening" to the characters. Anything you need to know for their plot arcs is in their G and T stories. This is just bonus stuff for people who're interested in... The Horrors.

That's all I have to say for now! Thanks for reading!

Doodles for the upcoming Dog's Life Chapter 41 and/or 42 depending on where I cut it

Mild spoilers depending on how good you are at deciphering these out of context:

[to-proudly-go]

Fic tag game!

Thank you @mischievouschan4 for tagging me! 💛💛💛 It looked fun and I'm glad I got to answer these questions!

How many works do you have on ao3?

I currently have 8 works in my account!

What's your ao3 word count?

Only 5871 words! I only write ficlets so it's not a surprise (but honestly longer than my school essays...😂)

What fandoms do you write for?

Only 2 with published fics for now: One Punch Man and Star Wars! (mostly because I focus on fanart more than fanfic though I do wanna write more, the words just won't words sometimes 😅)

What are your top five fics by kudos?

Welp I only have 8 works so I guess I'll just give the top 1 if that's alright??? And it's a Saigenos fic - Sleeping Sensei with 230 kudos!

Do you respond to comments?

As much as I can! Sometimes I see the comments late so I dither on whether I should give a response or not...(but I cherish every single one! 💛)

What's the fic you write with the happiest ending?

Oh lordy (I cry as I realize I only wrote 2 happy fics including the wips)

But I think this one! - Kisses before chores (another Saigenos)

Do you get hate on fics?

So far no! Everyone's been sweet actually 🥹

Do you write smut? What kind?

Ehe (yes and it's mlm and wlw though both are unfinished 😭 I despair)

Do you write cross-overs?

I haven't tried but I wouldn't be surprised if one day I get an idea, I guess

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Nope! Thankfully

Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope! Though I'd be very happy if someone did

Have you ever cowritten a fic before?

I haven't but that would be exciting!!

What's your all time favourite ship?

Don't ask this of me I'm begging you (though on swordpoint I might answer Obikin because that's my current fixation and I love them so much they give me life)

What's your WIP you like to finish, but doubt you ever will?

Oh damn too many to mention actually I am scared of opening my gdocs again 😂 And most of them are original stories, not fics (may my OCs forgive me for abandoning them I still love you and think of you fondly every now and then)

What are your writing strengths?

Angst angst very descriptive and poetic angst and more angst (a friend of mine who is also a writer neary threw away my phone in pain after reading my star wars fic and meta post. I considered it a compliment, coming from them who also writes beautiful angst)

What are your writing weaknesses?

Writing long fics! I write mostly based on vibes and feelings that I want to express in as few words as possible, mmmaaaybe because I was a poem writer first before trying on fics (what is plot I don't know her 😂)

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I'm all for it! English is not my first language and I think it'd be fun to insert some jokes and cuss words from another language 😅 (although I haven't tried it yet)

First fandom you wrote for?

I think it was for Kingsman! Although it's still a wip until now in my docs and I may never publish it, idk yet!

Favourite fic you've ever written?

Probably my first ever published OPM fic In the aftermath (I hurt mysef writing this 😭)

Thank you again for the tag my dear!!!! I had fun 💛💛💛

If you've been tagged already or don't want to do the game then don't mind me, darlings! Anyone interested can also join in the fun!!!

@virahaus @isinnedforcake @tideswept @spikybanana

[koinotame]

\o/

hi! it's me, nana / koinotame!

if you're wondering why i went inactive and then deleted, my mental health kind of (really) tanked... and i ended up deleting my blog in a fit.

it's getting better bit by bit though! and i've been wanting to get back into writing (and talking abt my unhinged/yan ideas i can't really talk to anyone else abt), so. here i am! for now, at least

as for my previously posted writing, there's some good news and some bad news: the bad news is that everything i wrote directly into tumblr (99% of snippets, a lot of ask answers, most exact content warnings, etc) is gone. the slightly less bad news is that iirc there were very very few posts of mine that weren't reblogged by anyone at all, so they're probably still out there? feel free to send them my way if you find any and i'll rb them. @/midnight-remembrance also has reblogged a couple of them! there's a couple snippets i have saved in some places, so i might repost those on my own as i find them, but there's very few of those. the good news is that anything longer (proper writing — oneshots, hcs, yan alphabet responses and so on, prompt responses, etc) is safely backed up where i originally wrote it! some of it is also on my ao3, which is the same username. feel free to send me asks about any you'd like to see again and i'll repost them! i might not post them if i feel too embarrassed about/wish i hadn't posted them, and i might rewrite/heavily edit some of them, but i think there's only a handful that fall into the former category and none of them were particularly popular. either way, no harm in asking!

as for some other updates: i'm a little divided on whether i want to keep posting explicit nsfw or not so we'll see. i might just keep it out of main tags. idk yet. regardless of what decision i make, this blog is still strictly 18+ and that will not be changing. since we can reply from sideblogs now, this is a sideblog and not my main now. why? sometimes i prefer to check up on a blog frequently instead of following them for a couple of reasons, but this felt very awkward when they were following me. so this being a sideblog relieves a bit of that stress. if this makes it sound like i have severe brain worms, it's because i do. to that effect though, if we interact every so often feel free to consider us mutuals regardless of whether or not i'm actually following you =w=b tbh i.............. am not really into genshin anymore. i might post about it here and there but i just Do Not (really) Care about it anymore. scara aside to some degree i also have no clue what's going on post inazuma lol whatever projects or commitments to writing or etc i had made beforehand. i forgot all of them so just pretend that never happened ok? ok i'll also probably be posting more sparsely, but we'll see! and (this is obviously the most important bit) i have no clue where i put the mika edit so we're back to my og classic pfp. the header scales terribly and is temporary, please ignore that too

all that aside, as a treat for anyone who sees this in time,

*roughly 6/22 done, but fairly quick to write. roughly one paragraph per character (sneak peek line: "it's not too hard to be discreet with his unique magic when someone really deserves to fall face down a flight of stairs. or three. oopsie. odd they don't remember it, huh? well, he had nothing to do with that.") **more realistic isn't quite the right word(s)... probably won't post this one to the main tags regardless. won't be doing all of the characters (only important/relevant ones) and won't be writing more about/expanding on, so this one is just like. a one off experiment sort of thing. overall less violent than most takes on the au + leans a bit (or lot, depending on how you look at it) more on the religious aspect of self aware aus. i wrote a couple paragraphs a while ago, then rewrote them, but i'll only finish/post them if there's interest for it (sneak peek line: "aether has deluded himself and cast You aside entirely on his own—and when You finally grace them with Your real presence, zhongli is certain aether will be the first to fall from Your grace.")

i have one other new thing immediately ready for posting that'll get posted in a couple of days but that one's pretty silly

[abovetherainandroses]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Storm here! 🌩 Tysm for the tag @27-royal-teas! <3 I haven't done a tumblr meme thing in forever! And I don't really have any friends on this blog so I don't have anyone to tag, but if you're a writer who follows me, consider yourself tagged! (And also come be my friend)

This got long! I talk too much! Answers are below the cut!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

So I have two accounts lol, because for some reason I decided to make a separate RPF account even though I have other embarrassing things on main account anyway?? Anyway, I currently have 100 fics on my main and 5 on my RPF account.

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

Across both accounts, 379,693 words for an average of 3.6k per fic. Longfic? I don't know her.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

I usually write for one fandom at a time, but I will revisit/cycle through fandoms. Currently it's Fall Out Boy. Previously, I was writing some MCU stuff (mostly Spider-Man). Also wrote a handful of Good Omens stuff back when S1 came out. I have the most fics posted for Haikyuu (volleyball manga/anime) lol.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Oops I only have 5 fics so far on my RPF account and I'm still debating whether I want this account directly linked to my main.

But I will take this opportunity to tell anyone who needs it not to put too much stock into kudos!! Kudos count relies on a lot of factors, but a big two are fandom/ship size and when you post the fic relative to the height of the fandom's activity. (Getting in early with a fic right after a new movie/season/etc. comes out so you're one of the first fics for the New Thing can be huge too.)

External validation is obviously very nice but if you rely too much on it, you're not gonna have a good time.

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Comments make my entire life and I always want to respond to them, but I inevitably fall off because the brain energy isn't there, and I keep putting it off, and putting it off, and putting it off, and then it feels too late. But seeing as I only have 5 fics on my RPF account, I recently went and responded to everything, even if it was years late. In the past few weeks I've actually gotten responses to some comments I left on fics like 3 years ago so it inspired me, haha.

I myself am not always good at leaving comments (continuous goal to get better at it), so I really appreciate the people who take the time to leave kind comments for me and I want to express that appreciation.

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

I don't usually write angsty fic... I'm too softhearted. That said, I have made a few forays into angst, but Your Mileage May Vary on which one is the angstiest. Is it the major character death? Is it the one where they're soulmates with the last words they'll say to each other written on their skin, and in the end it's not death that separates them, but their own inability to have a functional relationship with each other?

Or is it the one I didn't even think was super angsty and tagged "bittersweet ending" but then it made a bunch of people cry? I'm still like "...my bad" about that one lmao.

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

Fluff is my lifeblood and almost all of my fics have a happy ending. I couldn't tell you which was the happiest, haha. Again, I'm incredibly softhearted, and also a big sap. I cannot deny this!

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Thinking very hard... I have been posting fic for............. several years so it is possible I am forgetting something but nothing comes to mind! I have always felt too relatively unknown for haters, which is just fine by me.

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

"What kind" lol. What does that even mean. Listen, my kink is holding hands during sex and being ❤️ in love ❤️ (I mentioned I'm a softhearted sap, right??)

Sometimes I might explore some light kink but nothing too hardcore imo.

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

Again, I've been writing/posting fic for several years, so I could be forgetting something, but I don't remember ever writing a true crossover. Though in my personal definition of fandom terms, crossover = characters from fandom A meet characters from fandom B. I have written a few fusion AUs in my time (characters from fandom A existing in the world of fandom B), which you could say falls under the crossover umbrella. For example, I've written Kingdom Hearts characters in a Pacific Rim AU and Haikyuu characters in Dragon Age AU.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of. Though I did once see (this was a SUPER long time ago) someone repost my fic on tumblr the same day I posted it on FFN, even though I also posted the full text of the fic on tumblr myself. They credited my FFN account, at least, but like. Hey. Don't do that.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes, I've had some fics translated into various languages! It's definitely an honor that people want to share some of my stuff in other languages and take the time to do that translation work. I try to ask people keep translations on AO3 but it hasn't always succeeded so there are some translations of my works floating around on foreign language fic sites... Ah well.

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

I successfully co-wrote one (1) fic with one of my friends years ago. I've tried a few other times to co-write fics (including with the same person) but none of them ever finished... Co-writing fic is hard! Idk how to do it effectively. I've done a handful of fic/art collabs with my wife though!

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

I don't know that I have a single all-time favorite ship, but Peterick is definitely the current fave. I........ adore them. So much.

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

Listen, I am a hoarder of WIPs and a clinger to delusions that they will one day be finished. But okay, one of my peterick WIPs from 2016-2017 that I really liked but highly doubt I'll ever finish is a no-band, dating show AU where Pete is the eligible bachelor on a queer offshoot of the Bachelor/Bachelorette and Patrick (through machinations by Joe) ends up as a contestant on the show. Patrick is camera shy and does not want to be there, but he made a deal with Joe to stay til he was eliminated. Pete, who just went through a public and messy divorce with Ashlee, does not want to be there, but he was guilt-tripped into using his moderate fame to help bring viewership to the underfunded little queer show.

Pete finds out Patrick never wanted to be there in the first place and offers to eliminate Patrick. I will copy/paste the next bit from my gdoc:

"[...] pete’s like what if…i didn’t eliminate you and we just stayed friends and hung out and stuff and patrick finds himself agreeing bc pete’s a really nice dude and they have a lot of interests in common

But then Patrick keeps sticking around through the weeks and Patrick and Pete fall in love and both end up having separate private crises because they agreed to be friends. Patrick sees Pete spending time with other candidates and clearly being attracted to them and it sucks because now Patrick is in love with Pete and Pete isn’t considering him at all. Meanwhile Pete is having a good time with the other candidates and sure there’s lust there and even some like but he can’t stop thinking about how perfect Patrick is for him except for oh wait Patrick doesn’t even want to BE here and Pete was the one who convinced him to stay and now he’s fucking in love with him."

Blah blah blah, stuff happens, Pete eliminates Patrick in the last few weeks then when he has to make the choice between the final two candidates, calls Patrick and confesses to him instead, blah blah blah, happy ending.

Anyway. I wrote 11k of that fic and I was about 1/3 of the way through. It will never be finished. But now I've told you all about it and that's good enough, right?

16. What are your writing strengths?

Internal narration and emotions. Tightly focused fics that span 1-3 scenes. Spelling and grammar.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Longfic or fic with several scenes that take place over an extended stretch of time. Related to that, coming up with external plot events rather than just internal conflict HAHA. Describing the setting/environment so the characters don't just exist in a nebulous empty space.

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

As with most of my preferences re: fic, it depends on the execution. It can feel clunky and maybe even cringey, or it can feel natural and realistic. Just be intentional about how you're using it. Also, it always helps if you know a fluent speaker who can review it for you but understandably you may not always have someone like that.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Warrior... cats...

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

This is impossible to answer hahahaha. Certainly if we look at my main AO3. But if we're looking at my grand total of 5 (as of yet) RPF fics, I can say that I'm still quite fond of get us right (quitters never win), a fob AU fic where everything is the same but they all have minor superpowers, featuring empath!Patrick and telepath!Pete.

Aaaaand we are done! If you got this far, I am giving you cookies.

[mimisempai]

Jump

What has Hob done since he first met Dream except jump without worrying about the consequences?

On Ao3

Rating G - 600 words

Hob looked up slowly until he met the familiar and at the same time new face of his stranger.

One hundred and thirty years later.

Should he once again jump in without considering the consequences?

Or should he take time to think?

But since when was he ever cautious when his stranger was concerned?

**********

"A hundred years' time, on this day?"

The stranger nodded challengingly.

That was enough for Hob to jump in without a safety net, "I will see you in the year of our Lord 1489, then."

**********

"So you still want to live?"

Hob answered without taking the time to think, "Oh, yes."

The stranger looked down on him because he had stood up and continued, "Hundred years, then?" 

Hob did not hesitate and answered with all his heart, "Oh, yes."

**********

"I've hated every second of the last 80 years, every bloody second. You know that?"

He wondered if the stranger felt so sorry for him that he had tears in his eyes, as he asked, "So do you still wish to live?"

As usual, it didn't take long for Hob to respond, "Are you crazy?"

The stranger gave him such a surprised look that Hob almost laughed before replying, "Death is a mug's game. I got so much to live for."

**********

Hob glanced at Dream, did not take the time to evaluate the situation and, after throwing his cup in the faces of the mercenary, he threw himself into the fight. 

And although in the end his life was at the tip of Lady Johanna's knife, he did not regret his rash decision, not when it came to protect the life of his stranger.

**********

Nor did he think about it a hundred years later, when he told the stranger, "I think I know why we still meet here, century after century. It's not because you want to see whether or not I'm ready to seek death. I don't think I'll ever seek death. By now, you know that about me. So, I think you're here for something else."

But he didn't immediately notice the change in his companion's attitude when the latter asked him, "And what might that be?"

Hob didn't hesitate there either and answered truthfully, "Friendship." then added softly, "I think you're lonely."

The stranger was now looking at him with a harsh, though seemingly tearful expression, "You dare..."

Then Hob tried to explain, "No, look, I'm not saying--" but the stranger continued, "You... dare suggest one such as I might need your companionship?"

Hob had already jumped, it was too late to back out so he replied, as genuine and straightforward as ever, "Yes. Yes, I do."

**********

Today he was there in front of him.

After so many days of waiting, his stranger returned.

So Hob didn't have to think.

He jumped up and simply said, "You're late."

When his stranger smiled back at him in a way he had never seen before, he thought that the feeling of jumping into the void, without a net, was worth it.

Even more so with the words he said to him next.

"It seems I owe you an apology. I've always heard it impolite to keep one's friends waiting."

Yes, Hob had been right to jump.

The reward in the end was worth the risk he had taken.

So a few months later, squeezing the small square blue velvet box that held a simple gold ring in his pocket, he thought back to all the times he had taken the risk.

Then he didn't hesitate and, taking big steps towards his smiling lover, he jumped.

Again.

_________

Still not beta'd

Still not my native language

Still hoping you'll enjoy this story  🥰

Still thanking you for bearing with me 😝

Main post here

Dreamling Masterlist here

[cookinguptales]

I promised I'd update on the efficacy of blazing that post once it was done and I... think it's done. So here's some thoughts on the experience. Put under a cut for length, but maybe some of you will find it interesting, especially if you're interested in trying to market your own art.

Now that the blazing is done, it's a little difficult to see how much good it did. I actually got more impressions than they promised, so I can't say that they didn't hold up their end of the deal. And I certainly got more attention on the post than I did just by putting it in the tags or posting it on my own blog.

I got 45 likes on the post, as opposed to the 1-2 I often get when I just post things to the sideblog. Five reblogs from strangers. It seems like Tumblr would release it in little bursts, so I'd see nothing for like 6 hours and then I'd get like 10-15 notifications all at once. That made it really difficult to tell whether all of those likes were people who'd seen the blazed post or whether one or two people were reblogging it each time and that was driving the likes.

I'm apparently supposed to get a report about the campaign, but it's been 12+ hours and that's not here. It also still says the post is blazed when I look at it, so I'm not really sure what's going on there. The impressions aren't still going up so I don't think it's actually blazed, but maybe it just says that until the report is assembled and emailed to you.

I'm assuming that the report isn't automated? And that's why there's a delay. Which I suppose could be a good thing, if it means an actual person is looking at it.

I got quite a few hits on AO3, but I'm not sure it's many more than I would have been getting already. I've already been getting a surprising amount of momentum on AO3; I was already getting 100+ hits a week on the fic before I blazed the post. (Which is kind of shocking, compared to other original fiction I've posted on AO3, and I'm very pleased with it.)

I'm also not sure how many of the people who liked the post intended that as a bookmark so they could come back and read the story later, perhaps over the weekend. (Weekend readers happen a lot when you post long fic on AO3, and considering about 32k is up on AO3 now, I suppose that qualifies.) So it's hard to say whether the blazing gave the post (and project as a whole) actual legs or not.

While I'm happy to get 45 likes, especially if even a fraction of those people actually read the story, it's unclear whether that's actually going to translate into more readers going forward. Like blazing got a lot of likes but very few reblogs, and that could just be because people haven't had a chance to read the story yet, and it could be because people wanted to be supportive but don't actually want to read the story.

One thing that's true about fiction (and art in general, I guess) is that word of mouth is pretty imperative. The best book in the world simply will not move if people don't know about it. And advertising might get the project to more eyes, but one person telling their friends/followers about it would probably have a much further reach than paying for a few thousand impressions.

Look, I might be shitty at marketing myself, but I have actually worked with authors who are better at it lmao.

What I'm saying is, I think it's too soon (or too difficult) to tell whether doing this got me 45 new readers or 45 people who stopped scrolling enough to be like "yeah, I'll like that" or potentially many more readers than 45 if any of those people read it this weekend, enjoy it it, and tell people they enjoyed it.

I know that any creative on tumblr kind of pulls their hair out about the likes/reblogs thing if just because we're always mindful of how many people even know that we created something in the first place, but... idk, I have hope that this at least got a few more eyes on this project than it would have otherwise.

That said, actual money was involved here, so... ROI? Hmm. I mean, there might be a few more readers, which is what I really want. Monetarily, unless there's a big influx of subscribers or something this weekend, probably not. I did actually get two new Patreon subscribers over the last 24 hours (something I'm thrilled about, tbh) but I don't think either of them were from the campaign. One explicitly told me where they'd found me (bluesky) and one was anonymous but intimated that they'd been wanting to read this for a while and only now did so, which tells me that they were already aware of it prior to the campaign.

I'm not doing all this for the money, precisely, but money is a consideration when you're spending money to advertise a project. I love this story and I desperately want other people to love it, too, but I'm not made of money, either. I can't keep spending money on this if it's not making any, after a certain point. I'll just have to let it do its own thing.

So would I blaze this post again in the future? Hmm. Maybe. I'll wait a few days and see if this actually translates to people who read the story, keep reading the story, and maybe tell their friends about the story. I'm not opposed to funneling the money I get from Patreon back into a campaign once a month, if the campaign actually does anything.

Like, I'm not exactly making much from Patreon, but running a low-level blaze campaign with what I get isn't the worst thing in the world. Feels kind of like an easy-come, easy-go situation, financially. At least this hobby won't be costing me money, if you get me.

I unfortunately have to be pragmatic about my hobbies lmao. But at the same time, if I think about it like "well, I spend money to get thread for embroidery" I guess it's not a terrible expense for, again, a hobby. Just maybe not a lot and not often -- and only if advertising actually results in people reading it!

I guess you really only need to hit the right person at the right time once, though... On tumblr, if the right person reblogs something, you can go from two notes to two thousand notes in an hour. And if the right person talks you up on any social media site, that could lead to an explosion of new readers in a way that none of your own efforts ever could.

Trying to reach that one person kind of feels like trying to win the lottery, though. lmao. Like I said, I don't have the personality for marketing! I feel guilty and annoying when I talk myself up and gambling stresses me tf out. I do not have the hustler mentality. I just wanna write stories. haha.

This is long and meandering and I gotta go take a shower, so I'm gonna leave it here! But I'll update in a few days when I get my report and when people have had a few days to read!

[nowoyas]

Edible Arrangements 32

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A/N: this isn't late it's still sunday don't look at me I was debating whether or not to put a baby in the cake I'm baking don't LOOK at me

short chapter today, but unrelated oneshot coming next weekend! I ended up wanting to polish it before posting.

Chapter Summary: Life isn't just the romance genre.

Warnings: mild angst, murder talk, serial killer talk

Word count: ~2400

“P-pardon if this is a weird question, Detective, but do you have some kind of truth-detection quirk, by chance?”

Damn. Izuku’s gone in for the kill. You sit nervously on the far armchair, still cradling Sbeve to keep him from flinging anyone’s drinks or any mischief of the sort. He’s content to stay there, which is a blessing in itself.

The detective raises his eyebrows. “I do, as a matter of fact. How did you…”

He’s telling the truth.

Fucking hell, he’s telling the truth.

You’re suddenly tense as all hell, wondering how best to approach any word that might leave your mouth. You’ve done nothing wrong, to your knowledge it’s not like you murdered the girl, and you’re tense all the same.

Does everyone feel like this around you all of the time?

“O-oh, I just know someone with a similar quirk! You both do the same thing where you just kind of visibly accept stuff people say without worrying too much about it. I know I can be hard to believe sometimes because I have a bit of a nervous stutter, so it’s actually reassuring to know that you don’t think I’m lying!”

Well, Izuku sure feels the pressure.

“Especially about the tenancy thing,” you add with a sigh. “I agreed to rent the room from him before either of us realized he was a professor at my school. You would not believe the shit my best friend gives me about it.”

Detective Normal laughs. “Well, I believe it, if it’s any consolation. I’ll admit it looked a bit strange to me, all things considered. I’m Detective Tsukauchi, [name], in case you missed it, and this is my partner Sansa. I’ve just got a few questions for the two of you, if you’re willing to answer them.”

You nod, thumbing at Sbeve’s ears to soothe your nerves. “Yes, of course! You’re, um… You’re here about Momo, right…?”

He nods. “I’m afraid so. But let’s not worry about jumping into that right away—are you an Ossenfelder student, Mx. [name]?”

You nod. You can’t help but run your brain over exact activation requirements for his quirk. His partner is keeping quiet—does it only work on questions he directly asks, perhaps?

He hums. You’re watching his face carefully—his eyes narrow just slightly.

You have to be speaking, then, you’re guessing. Verbal responses are necessary.

“What’s your major, then?”

“Quirk studies and theory,” you parrot automatically. “I wanted to go for something more practical at first, like business, but, well, you know. I just didn’t like it.”

There. The subtlest wince. How you’ll know he senses your lie.

“I have to admit, I do believe that the pair of you are just roommates, but it is interesting that you and Dr. Midoriya are living together and he teaches courses in your major.”

You blink slowly. Tilt your head.

“…he does?”

“Sometimes!” Izuku pipes up. “Mostly senior-level stuff. They kind of have me fill in wherever there’s gaps. I was going to bring it up if I actually ended up teaching another Quirk Theory course while you were still living with me, since it’d be really questionable if you ended up in my class.”

(Tsukauchi writes something down.)

“Well, that answers a few questions,” he jokes. “How did you end up living together?”

You sigh, long and tired. “I was desperate. Got fired, got evicted, wasn’t getting work, tuition payments were getting ever closer. Had a very public panic attack in a bookstore cafe, and Izuku ended up comforting me and offering to let me rent a room from him. We didn’t figure out until my boxes were already in his driveway that he taught at Ossenfelder and I went there, but I really haven’t had any better options in the meantime, and we make great roommates, so I haven’t been looking. Rent’s basically nothing, and I earn it back by keeping the place clean and making Izuku’s house not feel so completely empty.”

He nods. He doesn’t ask where you get the money to pay him with, which is fantastic, because you’re not sure “blood money” would go over well with the pretense of a joke being thrown out the window. “I see. So, less about you, and more about what brought us here today: Did you know Momo Yaoyorozu?”

You go carefully, silently still.

You knew, of course, that they would ask. That's why they came here to begin with, it would be stupid to assume that they wouldn't, but the directness, the frankness of it has you feeling hollow all over again.

And it's stupid! Because you didn't know her well enough for this! But this is what's happening all the same, and so you sigh and snuggle Sbeve a little bit before you answer. "Um, yeah. I did. But not all that well. We had a class together last spring, kind of. Or, uh, she TA'd one of my classes. We weren't particularly close, but she was really understanding about my, uh, ongoing mental health issues. I'm... guessing that if you guys are going around asking questions about her, then it wasn't, like, a car wreck that did it."

The cat man, Sansa, grimaces. "Not exactly, no. But we aren't really at liberty to discuss details."

"But—" You suck in a deep breath through your teeth. You think you know how to do this.

Izuku is watching you with mild alarm as you appear to deliberate your next words, when really, you're realizing something.

This is familiar.

It slips, just a little bit, against your brain, one of those things that must not be important, but—

"Please. I just, two years ago on campus I was attacked? By a girl posing as my roommate? And I don't, I don't think they ever caught her, just identified her as a serial killer, and then I never heard anything back?" The tears come unbidden.

Crying on command. Fucking score.

"I just... if she was killed by the same person, because that girl got away because I didn't notice I was living with a serial killer for months, I don't—I don't—"

Tsukauchi shares a look with Sansa. Tsukauchi nods.

Additional score for a near-death experience being used as fuel to pry information out of the cops.

"I actually remember your case," Tsukauchi says. "I didn't recognize you at first, I apologize. Have you been well?"

A short, wet laugh. "I live with a rich college professor who took me in entirely out of pity for me because my entire life has just continued falling apart ever since everything happened with her, and now a girl I know—fuck, knew—"

The pity between them. Izuku, nearly vibrating in his seat with his usual distress at seeing you upset.

You wipe away a tear. “Sorry, sorry. I just… please. I need to know that it’s not… not her.”

Tsukauchi’s lips are pursed tight. You know nothing you said was a lie, so you’re sure he’s thinking, thinking how much to tell you.

“We don’t know enough to say whether or not it’s a related incident yet,” he says finally, the faintest glow to his skin. They have something. “What I can tell you is that several of the circumstances are similar.”

You perform your best recoil. “Y-you think it could be—“

“There’s a possibility. Miss Yaoyorozu was found with stab wounds and strange marks on her body. But listen, that’s all we can tell you, okay? If you see her, or notice anything strange, give us a call.” He slides a card towards you—his number, most likely. Contact information, in case you run into her.

You’re aware of that.

But this has suddenly become very, unbearably, real.

You set Sbeve aside, shivering at the thought of it all. “I, um… I-I need to go, if that’s okay. I don’t think that I can—that I can continue this conversation anymore.”

He considers it, then nods. “Will you be alright, left alone?”

“I’ll be alright long enough.”

It’s not a lie, and so he doesn’t raise any protest. You steal one last look at Izuku before retreating up the stairs, away from the conversation.

When, at last, you’re behind a closed door, you don’t know whether to smile or cry.

You think you might do both.

~

A knock at the door. It sends vibrations against your head, gentle, where you’ve sat with your back against the door since you closed it.

“[name]?”

Izuku.

You take a shaky breath, crawl away from the door far enough that he can’t hit you when he opens it.

“Are you okay?”

You’re not. You’re exhausted. He has to know that. How, you don’t know, but he has to.

“I’m going to open the door, okay?”

You don’t move. You’re sure the image of you is unflattering when he does open the door, and he jolts and nearly leaps back when he sees you, numbly sitting there, back facing the door because you couldn’t be assed to turn around.

It takes less than half a moment for him to recover, and then he’s sitting on the floor beside you, thigh pressed up against your own. “I see you are not okay,” he says gently. “The police left, so if you need to… I don’t know, break or anything like that, feel free.”

“I was just saying true bullshit to get him to talk,” you mumble, leaning your full body weight against his side. “I didn’t realize how much I needed to hear him say that it had nothing to do with her.”

An arm winds around you as your first tears finally fall. You shrug it off, lay on the floor so instead you’re resting your head on his lap. “I’m not okay,” you say at last. “You’ve been scaring me and she’s dead and that serial killer might be back around or else it might be the one you’re hunting and I still haven’t healed from the last fucked up shit I had to go through and—“

He shushes you gently, a hand coming to comb through your hair. “I never meant to scare you.”

“You’ve done nothing but work on finding that man for two months now. If I wasn’t fairly sure you couldn’t die, I’d be terrified.”

“You know why this is important to me.”

“I do,” you whisper. “But… What are you going to do when he’s gone?”

He smiles. It's weak, doesn't reach his eyes. "I'm not sure that you want the answer to that."

"Izuku. What are you going to do?"

Silence. "You know, we as real people don't know much about actual vampires? They're a relatively new phenomenon, at least where definitive research is concerned, rather than just as a figure in popular culture. We really know almost nothing except the basis—vampires can be created, they drink blood, and they're basically undead and have to be killed specific ways. We don’t even know whether this counts as a quirk or something else entirely."

"Izuku."

"I'm—I'm going somewhere with this. Trust me.”

He really is, so you purse your lips and feel his hold on you tighten. "I've done a lot of scouring. Trying to find whatever shreds of truth I could to understand what the hell I had become. But the thing is just that—we don't know. In some interpretations, once you're a vampire, you're a vampire forever unless some intrepid hunter manages to kill you. In others..." He sighs. Suddenly, his arm around you doesn't feel comforting anymore. The more he speaks, the more the warmth in you curdles. "In other interpretations, lines of vampires can be taken out by destroying the original. If you kill a sire, all of his offspring will die with it. In a lot of them, that's true, actually. Basically most of them outside of the—the romance genre. So really, it’s impossible to tell whether—“

“What are you saying?” The words come out cold.

“I don’t think we’re living in the romance genre, [name].”

You can’t help the way you recoil. “You’re saying that by hunting him, you might…”

“It’s a risk I’m willing to take to destroy that man.”

“Izuku, that’s—“ The anxiety rushes your veins, leaving your hands numb as you jerk away. to look at him. To search for any hint of a lie.

“I’m sorry,” he says, and the wild rage rears up in you in response.

Because there’s the lie.

“Y-you know you can’t—“

“I know,” he says, defeated. “I can’t lie to you.” A pause. “M-maybe we shouldn’t have this conversation—“

“No. Izuku, you need to—“

“[name]. This isn’t about—it has nothing to do with you. I have been living entirely to see him again, to destroy him for what he’s done, what he continues to do. Longer than you’ve been alive I have been living to kill him. I’m sorry it upsets you. I-I am! I never want to do anything that would put you in distress. But you have to understand that nothing you could say to me is going to stop me from this. He killed my parents. He killed my mom, right in front of me, just for having been there. I've had to slip into the background to watch everyone I had ever known either die or grow unrecognizable, while I stay here, alone, stagnant! I'm not just going to give up on stopping him, on getting m-my—"

"If you really think you're alone, then I have to ask what we're doing here."

He freezes, eyes wide, a veritable deer in headlights. "Y-you know I didn't mean—"

"No. No, you were right. I think... I'm going to go to bed. You go... grade papers, or hack police databases, or whatever it is you've been doing to destroy yourself instead of sleeping."

You stand, brush past him.

"Where are you going?" he asks weakly.

"I left my phone downstairs."

When you come back up, your recording stopped at last, he's gone. Your room is empty. The light is on in his fucking hidden office.

For the first night in ages, you sleep in your own bed. If the pillow is stained with tears when you wake up, that's between you and Sbeve.

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