#if I ever write a third chapter this is getting edited and stuck in there somehow

[ohbo-ohno]

what happens the first time Johnny comes home with some new sex toys for reader?? Cue your absolute PANIC as he pulls them out to show you, ecstatic at the thought of trying them out when Simon gets home, and then Johnny having to do damage control when he sees how he’s freaked out his precious baby :////

YOU!!!!!! Get back here!!!!!! You genius!!!!!

1.6k, nsfw below the cut. this one’s pretty long lol it really got away from me. pretend it’s a gift since i just hit 100 followers <3

Johnny’s like a dog with a bone when it comes to you - he can literally never get enough. When you don’t wake up to his mouth licking and sucking somewhere on you, you wake up to the feeling of him humping your back. On one occasion Simon threatened to “cage your little cock if it’s all you can think with, Johnny.” So like… you know they use toys. You probably should’ve expected this at some point.

But knowing they are probably comfortable using toys and staring at the goddamn spread of sex toys on the dinner table? Two very different things.

There are things you can’t even name. You spot several different types of vibrators, butt plugs of varying sizes, anal beads, nipple clamps, a few gags smaller than the ones they’d used on you a few times, several loops of rope and handcuffs, a fucking hook that you don’t even want to think about what it could be used for, and the goddamn crème de la crème - a butt plug with a fucking tail hanging from Johnny’s hand.

The bastard is smiling. Fucking beaming, like he’s found the meaning of life in a pile of sex toys.

It’s barely 9 a.m.

“Good morning, lovie!” Johnny says, pulling you towards him and placing an oddly chaste kiss on your forehead. “We’ve got a long day love. D’you know Si’s birthday is in a week?”

You can’t tear your eyes away from the cornucopia of sex toys, hardly listening to him as he prattles on.

“Bloody unfair he’s got the anniversary and the birthday so close, means I hafta get the man all sorts of gifts in just a month.” He glances down at you and shoots you a wink, twirling the tail in his hand likes it’s a fidget toy. “Some of them are for both of us, though, so I can’t complain too much, aye bonnie?”

You don’t answer, but he plows foreword anyways. “This’ll be the first part of the gift. Gonna let Simon play with you - well, both of us, but I had to buy the new stuff for you.”

You swallow dryly, hand twitching forward as if you’re going to grab one of the toys. “Play?” Is all you can manage to ask.

Johnny hums low in his throat, tucking himself behind you and wrapping both arms around you. He takes your wrists, still holding the toy in his hand, and guides your fingers across the spread in front of you. “Yeah, lass. You like playing with us, huh?”

You shake your head minutely.

“Don’t lie now,” he rumbles, and you remind yourself that he’s just as terrifying as Simon, only in a different way. Somehow you always forget to tread as carefully around Johnny, but the deep growl of his voice reminds you. “You’re soaked when we play, wailing loud enough we had to explain to the landlord what the noise was. You like it plenty.”

You whine a little, flinching backwards into his body at the reminder of your behavior at night. You don’t like it, don’t like thinking about how much you love being between the two of them, how right it feels.

“Now,” Johnny’s voice shifts back into its normal cadence, hands giving you two little taps on the front of your thighs as he steps away. “Si won’t be back until tonight, so the two of us are gonna test these out and have some fun. Excited, lass? I’m thinking we’ll start with this, work on your posture a bit.”

He picks up the fucking hook. You can’t help but lose your shit.

— — — — —

Ghost is in decently high spirits as he finally gets home. His work had been cut short hours early, and he was looking forward to spending a night in with his two precious little pets, curled up together on the couch and maybe even having a home cooked meal. He’d have to see if you could be trusted with a knife, but the idea of watching you and Johnny dance around each other in the kitchen is enough for him even if he doesn’t get to see it realized.

That all goes out the window when he steps into the flat.

He can hear the two of you, Johnny’s voice a little urgent and yours more than a little panicked. Not the most unusual thing, but the absolutely demolished living room is.

He and Johnny hadn’t decorated much - neither of them had an eye for it and once they got you they wanted to let you decorate your new home - but what little they had done is out of place. A picture frame on the floor, dining room chairs feet away from the table and knocked over, a goddamn knife stabbed into a side table next to the slightly askew couch.

And a shit load of sex toys, both on the dining room table and the floor all around it.

It barely takes a heartbeat for Ghost to piece together what’s happened. He sighs wearily, resists the urge to rub at his eyes with his forefinger and thumb so he doesn’t track paint all across the house.

He moves further into their home, heading straight for the bedroom. Sure enough, Johnny’s got you cornered. You’re slid down on the floor, back pushed as far into the wall as you can go and knees tucked up under you.

Johnny’s crouched in front of you, one hand holding both of your wrists securely in front of you and the other holding your ankles together. He’s got scratches down his face and arms, a few that are seeping just a bit of blood, and a nasty bruise forming on one cheek.

He’s also rock hard in his sweatpants.

Both of you snap your eyes to Simon when he steps in the room. Johnny’s expression is pure relief, but yours is a mix of what looks like relief and fear. There’s a little spark in Ghost’s chest at the knowledge that you see him as a helping hand here, even against what’s probably your better judgement.

He tilts his head a bit. “Johnny.” Not a question, but an expectation.

“She freaked out on me, L.t.,” Johnny says - nearly whines - eyes big and pleading.

“Because you-!” You start up, thrashing in Johnny’s grip. “You fucking bastard, I was defending myself!”

“Against me?” Johnny makes a sad noise, one Simon knows is more manipulative than it sounds, leaning in to hover over you even more. “Baby, you know I’d never hurt you. How could you think that, huh?”

“You wanted to stick a fucking hook up my ass!”

That gets a raised eyebrow from Simon. Seems Johnny’s plans for the day were far more exciting than he had let on.

Johnny can’t help but bark out a laugh, which gets a little scream of rage from you and reinvigorates your thrashing. Johnny leans more weight into you, pulling your wrists further out to keep you off balance. It just works you up more, and Ghost can see Johnny’s cock twitch in his pants.

Alright. Time to do damage control.

He steps into the corner with the two of you, lays a heavy hand on Johnny’s nape and squeezes. His boy doesn’t let go immediately, but he does go loose, leaning one shoulder onto a wall and blocking less of your body.

You’re heaving as Simin crouches down, but your eyes are dry. A good sign for the progress you’ve made.

Simon brings his other hand up to grab your chin, pulling it up and forcing eye contact. “Didn’t want to play around with Johnny, love?”

You’re a little scared - always are, when he comes home with the mask and the makeup - but you don’t tear your eyes from his. Your tiny chin quivers in his grip, but you don’t cry. He can’t help but feel a surge of pride for you and your strength

“I didn’t want him fucking with me. I’m allowed to say no,” you hike you chin in the air a little, stiff and all but daring him to disagree.

He doesn’t play into your hands, just hums and strokes both of his thumbs - one over your chin and the other over Johnny’s neck. “You are,” he agrees, fighting down a smirk at the clear shock on your face. “But did you give Johnny a chance?”

“No-“ Johnny pouts, huffing and shifting in place.

“Quiet,” Simon growls, hand squeezing just past comfortable on his neck. “You’re already in trouble for doing all this shit without askin’. Keep pushin’ and you won’t be sleeping in bed tonight.”

That gets a whine, but no more arguing. Good.

You look a little confused when Ghost turns his attention back to you, but he doesn’t bother explaining.

“You are allowed to say no,” he starts again. “But you should give new things a chance. What if you’d liked having,” he can’t resist a smirk, let’s it seep into his tone, “a hook up your ass?”

You flinch back, and Simon bites down a sigh. You’re not in a place for joking yet, apparently.

He stays crouched there for a few minutes, petting both you and Johnny and watching as you both go limp - Johnny quickly, you with a little more work.

“Alright,” he days eventually, standing and tugging the both of you up with him. “Let’s rest for a bit, get the two of you calmed down, and then we’ll talk punishment.”

You and Johnny wear matching pouts, and Simon doesn’t even fight the smile as he tugs all three of you into bed.

[simpee9000]

Not Just Friends - Prologue -

Based off this blurb + Fem Reader : Not edited : 3.2k Words : Full M.List

Childhood best friends turned into something more, at least with the label. Katsuki Bakugo, a fast-rising hero and fast-learning guy who is ever so slow in getting attached to and loving someone. Even three long years into a relationship, and your friends even forget you're even dating. Nothing happening, spare a few kisses.. like 3 kisses, during high school. Graduated and living together, and you guys have done absolutely nothing to further the relationship. Are you sure you're not just friends? (this is just a prologue, all chapters will have a different writing style) CW: Smut, brief domestic violence discussion, virginity loss, gore with pro hero stuff (lmk if i missed any) (applies to all chapters regardless if it's discussed or not)

Bakugo, or to you, Katsuki has been a huge figure in your life. Probably the biggest motivator as well. There since you were young and immature, running around in random neon clothes your mom let you wear after your 4-year-old self argued with her for half an hour.

You were the third addition to Katsuki and Izuku's friendship. Butting in on their rivalry often. Defending Izuku while shooting Katsuki a nasty glare. Helping Izuku with his bruises but also helping Katsuki with his, if he ever got any. You stuck to either boy's side, depending on who you saw first. Which, more often than not, was Katsuki. But you left his side whenever he picked on Izuku. Helping Izuku's muddy self get out of the river before considering Katsuki. 

That was in elementary school though, in junior high you stayed a balanced friend between the two. Stopping fights between the two boys, scolding the blonde boy every time. Yet you helped him clean up any time he picked a fight with anyone else. Wrapping up his bloody knuckles any time he needed, either from too much training or him being an asshole. You look back fondly on those times. Any time you so much as touched him, he sparked up, hands shooting out small explosions as he blushed. He felt bad obviously, but he was a preteen going through puberty and a pretty girl was touching him, what did you expect? He grimaced at every 'ow' that left your lips after he sparked up with your hand caring in his. He grew into his quirk and his control. So once the first year of high school hit, he was okay with small touches from you.

Thinking back on it, it was surprising he was okay with you, quirk-wise. He always gave Izuku hell for it, but never you. Maybe it's because you didn't have the drive to be a hero, wanting to stick to doing the sideline work of being a support tech. You weren't quirkless, but until the first year of junior high, you thought you were. Not having a flashy quirk or even a showing quirk at all. Only finding out because you've always aced every test and had an incredible academic ability. After a few too many recommendations of sped-up courses, did your parents take you to the doctor. Seeing that you did in fact have a quirk. Hyper-intelligence. You were basically a genius with an insanely good memory. It was an odd mutation of your parent's quirks. Your mom was able to remember everything she read and your dad was able to see the composition of anything he saw.

So along with Katsuki and Izuku, you strived to go to UA. Wanting to be in their support course, having strive to be a huge support tech in the future. Hopefully with your own company. You were well on that path as well.

You were there for that god-awful attack Katsuki dealt with in middle school. Seeing him covered in the sludge monster, gasping for air, haunted your dreams. You were walking with him after all. Watched the sludge climb up his body as you frantically tried to pry it off, your hands just slipping through the muck. Being pushed away once Katsuki started to cough violently. He didn't want you anywhere near what was happening. Looking wide-eyed at you before coughing for you to get help. So reluctantly, you did. Looking back at the blonde as he was submerged before you bolted for help, screaming for it down every walkway.

Only to come back to watch your other best friend running in to try and help. Screaming his name as well as you ran to get to them. Being pushed back by the wind All Might made when he came to help. Falling on your back as you watched, with tears in your eyes, Katsuki being freed from the sludge, gasping for any air he could. A hero lifted you up and held you from running to your friends, despite your frantic yelling for the boys. When they were cleared from the medics, you were allowed to see them. Instantly hugging Katsuki while yelling at Izuku over his shoulder, telling him he was stupid to run in without a quirk. Even though you were about to do the same. Katsuki rubbed off on you in that way. Yelling at others all while knowing you'd do the same.

By all means, you knew that wasn't going to be the last time you saw the boys in danger. Especially after Izuku got a quirk just in time for the UA testing. You weren't worried about the exam portion, the three of you studied together for that after all. Well, you studied with both of them, but they never studied with each other. Your test had an additional few tests but you passed them with ease. Just like how you knew Katsuki would pass his. You were worried for Izuku and his trial, which you were right to be, he broke both his arms with only one shot of his quirk. And after all that, it was still unlikely he'd get in. When you did get the letter of acceptance, you were with Katsuki, Izuku told you to go with Katsuki as he would probably not get in and he wants to be with his mom. Katsuki and you yelled and jumped around his room in excitement at the bold lettering of 'acceptance,' well you were jumping, he was being cocky and acting unaffected about it. Izuku called you only minutes after to let you know he got in as well. Katsuki rolled his eyes as he heard the news. Complaining once you hung up about how he didn't know how a nobody like him got in.

Getting into UA started everything for you. You got an insanely good internship after the sports festival. You followed Mei's lead, with Katsuki's and Izuku's advice, and showed off a suit similar to the American hero, 'Iron Man' just with your own flare and adjustments. Getting scouted for Endeavor's hero agency's personal tech crew. Following under the head of their tech.

With being in UA you got some insider information about what the hero course was doing. Making the hero outfit of both Katsuki and Izuku and doing any upgrades they needed. Eventually doing their friend's suits as well. Insider information wasn't enough, unfortunately. You were aware that the hero course went to the forest for training but you only knew Katsuki was taken when you met up with a beaten-up Izuku in a hospital bed. Having got a frantic call from Kirishima the second they got phone service. Him telling you to meet at this hospital because Izuku was in bad shape due to a villain attack.

You were involved in the rescue plan for Katsuki. Bring stealth equipment for a disguise. You weren't able to get anything else due to the time frame but you were there and it was successful. Holding your hand out alongside Kirishima for Katsuki to grab. You were also there for the fall of All Might, and consequently the fall of the boys beside you. Katsuki having his lip quiver as Izuku stood in shock.

Since you were there, and the villains saw your face and technique, you were invited to the dorms as well. They were supposed to be only for the hero course but they made changes. You dormed with the Class A girls.

You saw the boys leave that one night, deciding to stay in bed and let them hash it out. They should be grown enough at this point to not kill each other. Regretting that decision when you saw how beaten and bruised both the boys were the next day.

Their Provisional license exam was at the same time as yours. Yours being a test of how effective your gear is and if it's safe enough for the public heroes. Coming back to the dorms to see a happy Izuku and a distraught Katsuki. You spent that night in his dorm room, helping him prepare for the extra course he now had to take.

Being within the top best-performing techs within UA, you were recruited to help with the War. Making sure everyone had good and up-to-date equipment, giving extra support items, but also being within the team itself. They needed any help they could get and you had a suit good for fighting. Aizawa asked you himself. He knew his two best boys trained you enough to know how to defend yourself. So you were in the evacuation crew. Only parting from that when you saw the boys running in the direction of mass destruction.

You stood by Aizawa's side as you saw your best friends get pummeled within an inch of life. You stood there, holding Aizawa up as you watched Katsuki take three stabs in the chest for Izuku. Leaving the teacher's side instantly, running up to the limp and bloody body that was Katsuki. Hands searching his body to try and stop the blood. Bloody hands ripping his hero suit to push it into his wounds. Crying for him to stay awake. When his eyes were fluttering shut you placed your bloody hands on his face, trying to ground him as you shook his face. Bringing a hand up to slap him awake. His eyes shooting open to look at you. Iida eventually pulled you off him, helping Katsuki stand, and dragged him off the battlefield.

You had to bite your lip to hold in a yell when you saw Katsuki go back into the fight. The bloody handprints you left still on his face.

The hospital trip was a rough one as well. Waited the miserable hours for either of your best friends to wake. When one was being examined you went to the other. Constantly checking on both. Luckily, the moment Katsuki woke up, you were just coming back from grabbing a drink and some snacks.

Katsuki snapped his eyes open when he heard the door open, body jolting to sit up. You dropped your food, pushing Katsuki back into bed with a hug. He was mainly confused. He remembers the fight but he didn't expect you to be here. He wrapped his IV-ridden arm around you, hugging as tight as his ribs allowed. After all, he was extremely worried about you going into the battlefield. You didn't have nearly enough training. When he finally passed out from the pain his last worry was if you'd be alive when he woke up.

His brain was foggy, he was just getting his senses back, feeling you, smelling your hair that you must have washed the night before, and hearing the small sobs of relief you were letting out. "Stop crying, I'm fine," Katsuki rasped, voice still shattered from everything.

"You almost died," you pulled back, placing your hands on his face, getting the flashed memory of your bloody hands on him as he struggled to stay awake and alive.

He really took in your appearance then, forced to look at you with your hands squishing his face. You looked like a wreck, it was obvious to anyone that you hardly slept. Your clothes were wrinkled and your hair was a mess, as if you ran your hands through it too many times.

"Kats?" you called for his attention.

"Huh?"

"You can't do that to me," you scolded, knowing deep in your heart, something like this would happen again.

He knew that too, which is why he just pulled you in for another hug. "Why's my quirk weird?" he whispered, not feeling the usual sense of his quirk.

"What do you mean?" you asked. You tried to pull away but his grip was firm, keeping you pressed into his arms.

His face reddened. The reason he felt off was because he didn't feel the normal energy rushing through his hands that came out as sparks at your touch. "Just not sweaty, y'know, like normal."

You laughed lightly, voice still fragile from how much you've been crying, "They put you on quirk suppressants, they expected you to explode with anger or something when you woke up."

Ideas flashed before his eyes. He was on quirk suppressants and was unable to use his quirk, at least right now. He wasn't sparking up at your touch.

He left his arms loosen, you pulling back once again to check his face, make sure he really was there. Placing your hands on his cheek, squeezing your eyes shut at the memory before looking at him again. He thought over his next move, looking at your expression for a while. He reached his hand up to hold yours against his face. Looking up at you before his other hand reached up and pulled you in for a kiss.

That was the first kiss between you two. Put off as the heat of the moment and never discussed afterward. Both of you knew it wasn't, but you would die on the hill that it was. Right after you parted, a doctor came in to inform you that Izuku was starting to wake up, and he needed to run some tests on Katsuki.

After that, everything was insanely busy. Preparations for the war were already taking place. Izuku was asking for your help with his suit. The last suit he asked for before he wrote a goodbye letter and went MIA. That was hard for both you and Katsuki. You spent nights awake together going through the tracker you left on his gear, keeping track of his location and health.

Those nights together feel like a fleeting moment that you could never grasp again.

When the second year was supposed to start, you saw your childhood friend die in front of you. With nothing you could do as he laid limp on the cold ground. He was beaten and bloody just like everyone else. Just like you were. You went into the fight on a whim, just having finished a suit for yourself, and after about 20 minutes of fighting for your life, you were knocked down. Laying limp while you saw Katsuki get his lifeless body thrown to the side.

You woke up in the hospital before him, body still bruised but you were healed more than most. Katsuki's room was the first you went to, after asking every hospital worker if he was alive. His room was cold, not lively with his usual energy, but his heart was still pumping. Notes from his mom littered his table, just like yours but with more. You couldn't stand looking at him for more than twenty minutes. Choking on your tears as you decided to see Izuku.

Walking was too much for you, despite your healing, seeing Izuku's entirely broken body broke you even more. You passed out after a few moments of seeing the green-haired boy. Head flooding with the reality that both of your best friends almost died, and one did.

The nurse kept you in your room from then on, you passed out and hit your head. Gaining a major concussion with the fall. You were completely bedridden and required to be in a room with little to no light. So it was a shock when a bandaged Katsuki slammed open your door, multiple people behind him telling him to lay down and rest.

You had the horrible hospital food halfway in your mouth when he barged in. Dropping it as you stared at the boy.

"Are you okay?" he asked despite the protests behind him.

"Yes? Are you okay?" you asked back, more confused than anything.

Katsuki shoved the people off his shoulder and pushed his way into your hospital room, closing and locking the door behind him.

"What are you doing? You died! You need rest," you protested, finally having your brain start working.

He scoffed, walking to your side, with a a limp, "Can't sleep, 'think I can knowing you're in the hospital room down the hall?" He pushed you to the side of your bed, making a spot for him to lay next to you.

"When'd you wake up?" you asked softly, accepting he wouldn't have it any other way.

He stayed quiet for a moment, "Like thirty minutes ago."

"Bakugo!" you slapped his arm, super gently compared to normal, "Have you let them run their tests? How do I know you're okay?"

"Relax, and don't call me that," he huffed.

"You died!"

"I know," he sighed, looking away, "They ran a few tests and said I'm fine. Shouldn't be up but y'know how I am."

You let out a sigh of relief, "You should go to bed, Kats."

"Told ya, can't sleep," he looked at you

"Yeah but they need to-"

"I'm on quirk suppressants, can I kiss you?" he interrupted you, a blush coating his face.

"Huh?" you blinked, "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Please?"

"I mean sure but-"

He didn't let you continue anymore, pressing his lips to yours after he got your consent. This kiss was more passionate than the first. Like the other just escape death, like how it was. His hand cradled your face, pushing you closer just to kiss you softer.

When you both pulled back, you let out small breaths. Foreheads resting on each other as you stared at each others' lips.

"Been wantin' to do that," he whispered.

"Me too," you smiled. Any conversation before being forgotten, for a moment at least.

You heard the door handle to your room jiggle. Keys being tested on the lock.

"You're okay though?" he pulled back, looking at you for any injuries.

"Just a concussion, you have it worse," you frowned, looking at all the cuts that were covered with a bandage.

"I've lived through worse," he said for comfort.

"You died from this," you furrowed your brows. "Let your doctors run their test, otherwise I won't talk to you."

"But-"

"Go," you stayed firm. Just in time for the doctor to unlock the room and rush him out.

About two months or so later, you two had the chance to sit one one-on-one together. No physical therapy appointments to attend or any work to do. Just time to talk. The war left a lot of cleaning up and school only started again a week ago. Everything was changed and fixed. Which left little free time other than sleep. You've seen each other between the kiss and now but it was always in groups.

You talked for a while that day. Deciding to actually become something more. To be more than childhood best friends. So you did, about halfway into the second year.

The second year was busy, with all the changes to the hero world and the world in general. You never got time alone to work on your relationship. Staying normal besides the title change to your relationship, never even kissing again. It was hard but you worked through it, too busy to even think about it. The third year was the same, just only sharing a kiss if he got injured or when you got a huge job offer. You also shared a kiss at graduation, when you agreed to live together after school.

Getting a two-bedroom apartment together, right next to where you both worked. At first, you thought that the second bedroom was going to be an office. But it ended up being his room. The two of you not sharing a bed despite almost 2 years of a relationship at this point. Yet you worked with it, if he needed more time then that's okay. He was everything to you. And you could tell you were everything for him as well. It just got a little weird when your friends forgot your relationship, asked if you were unhappy or abused, or even flirted with you.

-Next Part-

In them m.list of this fic comment if you want to be added into a tag list <3

I'll no longer add people to the taglist if they haven't commented there. It's too much to keep up with all the new part. Hope you understand <3

[genericpuff]

I saw your "hades and apollo looking at Persephone the exact same" post and like honestly??? This series would be so much better if Hades/Persephone were intended to be toxic and Hades was MEANT to be a manipulative asshole. There are so many panels where everything is designed to make it look like Hades is the bad guy (hades following/"rescuing" persephone during the proposal) and like... ugh if it was INTENTIONAL it would be so much more interesting for the story. But it's not and it bothers me so much.

Also your "Thanatos yelling at Hades with Hades speech to Kronos" edit made my whole life, I was literally liveblogging my reading of the chapter to a friend on discord and i was telling them that everything Hades said to Kronos is something Thanatos deserved to tell Hades and I wanted someone to make an edit. So thank you for reading my mind somehow and making it 😂💖

Right, I've been dying over the same thought for ages now, if the whole point of LO was to showcase a girl being groomed and manipulated into becoming a worse person due to a richer and older man taking advantage of her... then maybe I'd be singing praises about what it's accomplished because as it stands, I really can't celebrate LO as being a "romance" in any way shape or form.

Either that, OR it should have stayed as like, a feel-good fluffy office romance story. Like if it had stayed in the territory of S1 with Persephone going to university and working in the Underworld without delving into any of the crazy supernatural fertility goddess / Kronos returning BS. Sure, considering it's Greek myth obviously it wouldn't be as 'fun' to have the characters not be actual gods who get into supernatural tussles, but LO just... isn't being written by someone who's capable of writing stories to that scale, and it's especially evident throughout the entire third season. Rachel should have just stuck to the character-driven plotlines with the grounded and intimate story beats (slice-of-life type stuff).

That's not to say she shouldn't ever try to write a bigger story with higher stakes and more intricate plotlines, but like... she's clearly not ready for that yet and I hope at the very least LO has been a learning experience for her so that her next story will either be more grounded or at the very least organized better if she can't resist doing a larger-than-life story.

also ur welcome LOL though honestly I can't take credit for that because that was basically ALL of us reacting to that scene like... wtf, this is what Thanatos should be saying to Hades fr LOL so have some confidence in knowing that you weren't alone in feeling that LMAO

[claudiajcregg]

Tell Other People About Your WIPs

make a list of all your WIPs with a brief description of each and then people can ask you questions about them and then tag other people.

Tagged by both @onekisstotakewithme and @miabicicletta 💜💜💜 Thank you, guys <3 I don't know who to tag that hasn't been tagged already. Interested? Tag, you're it! :) (Please do know that there are no set sections. Pick whatever you want. I went the deranged route.)

I have an outdated WIP list, and many others unaccounted for. This is just a selection of stuff I could see myself posting or editing/retooling to write something new. I love talking about my WIPs, about as much as I hate being perceived because they are not remotely interesting. (I also love knowing which ones people are interested in! I have an incentive to work on them!) (Instead of snippets, part of my feedback loop is sending actual rough drafts to get a sense of whether it's worth working on more.)

Multichapters, different levels of completion.

S5 Pregnancy AU. My main WIP. Can you believe I’ve had this idea for a year… almost to the day? I’ve been stuck since November bc I don’t know how I want this one to end, beyond a birth. (As I’ve mentioned in the past, I feel like this has legs to become a fluffy universe. I have ideas! Timelines!) Gist of it: CJ gets pregnant circa Zooey's kidnapping. How does it change S5? It's less angsty than you think.

Campaign bars, aka campaign conversations sometimes happened at bars in the 1998 campaign. Fun stuff. I need to pick it right back.

What Once Was Ours or the IM AU (2021), aka IM ends with a breakup. Not a WIP. Not a UFO. A secret third thing. (“Finished” but not edited, and I’m doubtful people would be interested. Probably bc of some bittersweet ~memories~ attached to it. I mean, I shared a third of it to discord and people couldn’t care less, at least after a while. Now, better IM AUs are being posted these days; I'm not in a rush.) 33 chapters. 150k words. I do reread it every once in a while, and I cannot put it down. But its 'age' takes me aback. If things had been different, I'd have posted this in H2 2021/Q1 2022 (or even the planned Q2-3 2021). But alas.

The “Almost Ready, question mark” Category

Another SVD prompt meme claim: what if CJ has the crush first. The thing is, I tend to write her as having a relatively obvious crush on him at first until something makes her wise up. So this is just some ridiculous, post-first-meeting thoughts. Most of it was written in one sitting! It kinda fits with something in the campaign bars fic, too.

Post birth, hospital story: A couple of hours after their bb girl is born. Pure fluff. Recently reworked it to make it less wordy. Still failed, but it’s better focused now.

Many ficlets – the few I did post on Tumblr that haven’t been posted to the story I’m collecting them in, plus a couple more. I'm thinking the ice skating one, Jan 22, a few post-eps I wrote last year, etc.

Ambitious Projects I don't think are happening right away (or ever), but probably have a detailed outline somewhere

(I put this up instead of last, because the next category has faves, but it's also a long one.)

Danny is back a bit earlier on s7. Toby leaks (or tries to leak? I always wavered) the shuttle to him, as he and CJ are getting closer.

Simon lives. How does his relationship with CJ evolve post-honeymoon phase? What is it like when Danny returns?

You’ve got mail AU. This outline had two ways the climax could go. I had fun.

Epistolary collab (?) fic. Probably an X + 1 fic. The only one with nothing written; don’t rule out writing it individually at some point.

And because this is so long already (but not as long as it could be)… A few more under the cut – more "I just want to make sure I like them" and "this meme reminded me I meant to pick those back up." And they are still not all. (How do you summarize seven years of writing?? I've only posted 20-something of them, lol.)

“Almost Ready (but I feel like I want to make changes to them) (might just redo them altogether)”

Haunted by the Notion, 2007 edition. My beta Ruth suggested this when she edited the other story, and I wrote it around then. It’s another Christmas dinner at Filomena, and, eight years later, things are different. I feel like it hits expected beats, and is just missing some oomph. Maybe. (As much as I do like it, half tempted to make it 2009. Or later.)

Heaven’s here…: A interrupted proposal. I’ve written many proposals over the years, and I love toying with different ideas and setups. Danny takes the lead here, but I’ve been intrigued by the idea of having CJ do the final twist.

5 to 6 am 'me' time. Another story inspired by last year’s rewatch that I wrote right at the start of it (so Jan 2023?). It has five short parts with five different years of what CJ describes in the pilot as her “me time.” This is one when I think one per year would be fun, but I don’t want to repeat myself.

One bed, “sexy” edition. An AU to a sort of AU (one of the drabbles from this summer) and… it's what it says on the tin. The world does not need to read my attempts at smut. If I didn’t put it in the previous category, it’s because I am not sure that I want to post it. (All the previous attempts are locked somewhere; unfortunately, someone loves this one and noticed when I tried to do that, lol.)

First baby kick: I remember writing this while in grad school (so, late 2017? First half of 2018) but I lost it, along other fic, when my laptop had to be reset because I used Bear to write back then, but didn’t have sync across devices. I rewrote it, and I feel like it's not the same, but still. It's sweet! Includes: Danny talking to the baby, domestic fluff, and… baby kicks!

“This meme reminded me they exist and I love them, so don't be surprised if they are posted before anything in a previous category”

(Lbr, if I added something about them in this post at all, it’s because they sparked some memory.)

Mosaic broken hearts: CJ, circa S4, jealousy. Prompted by a former fandom friend, back in my productive era (first half of 2021; before that friend just ghosted me.)

I can’t believe I captured your heart (pancake breakfast, three words and eight letters). For a while there, I edited it so much but then I fell off. iirc, it was part of some morning-related prompts I saw around that I tried to fulfill in 2018? 2019? And they had like internal progression. But this one was the best of the 3-4, and I kept tweaking it.

Green light of forgiveness (IM-ish) — there are many other IM/IM-Tomorrow snippets I’ve written over the years. I’m not sure if this one makes much sense, but I liked it enough.

Distance — I recall liking this one! Might have to bump it up. CJ is in Africa, Danny is at the Farm and sulking because they left off on some sort of argument. There is some Danny-Abbey friendship goodness here. I even have a second file that is “Distance - shorter version (it’s not)”

Danny writes fiction, shows it to CJ during her pregnancy and she’s into it. Technically written. I would probably try to take another stab at it. Third time might be the charm?

San Andreo phone call/fallout from ID. I just had the idea of CJ reaching out once things calm down. This is one of those fics I’ve written a version of every year or so, but I think there was one I liked quite a bit.

Terrible taste in men — a run-in with an OC ex of CJ. It was so dumb.

Fka Impatience - actually beta’d three years ago (by that fandom friend I've mentioned twice before… actually, three times) and “done”. I just think I’d change so much about it these days. It started being something else but ended up being a CJ-Toby friendship story in which they have lunch and catch up. But I would want to rewrite most of it now, and not just because it’s from like… 2019 (but finished in 2021).

I forgot this one initially! he's passing by, rare as the comet in my sky - 2? 3? times CJ thinks she sees Danny somewhere, and one time she does. (Which tried to work in the 'I remember shunning you' line.) I even wrote some sort of sequel later! Probably useless.

I said I would post a lightning round with fics that are either also done but not ready for me to mention them, or just… not done at all. The length of this post and how much I've spent on it is embarrassing. To give a general overview: in line with the nonsense I've been mentioning, includes phone calls at the end of S7, also a few friendship-focused fics around that time, too; present-day stuff; anniversaries; Hollis fundraisers; weddings; many ficlets, introspective thoughts, a “yes day” fic that's super sweet but needs better dares, the third memoir idea (the original one!!!!) that I had three years ago… And those are mostly the ones I had preselected, lol.

If you're interested, I can screenshoot this part in the notes app if you message me!

Anyway, this is embarrassing, and the worst part is that it's not all. fml.

[intrepidacious]

time after time: reread edition [2]

series summary: After what starts out as a fairly normal mission, you find yourself stuck in a time loop. Which would already be bad enough in itself if it didn’t also mean having to watch Bucky die over and over again.

pairing: bucky barnes x f!reader

word count: 8.2k

chapter warnings: canon-typical violence, the angst continues, another reminder to read the fic premise; a couple of guest appearances; flashbacks are my establishing shots and i’m going to make it everyone’s problem. please note that my blog is rated 18+. minors dni. ageless/empty blogs will be blocked without warning.

read the full chapter here | series masterlist | reread masterlist

welcome back everyone!! just a reminder that this is a reread of already published chapters, so if you’re new to this story, maybe don't start here. it probably won't make a lot of sense. please be aware that by clicking the read more you’re gonna see spoilers for chapters one and two 💚

twice upon a time – tl;dr:

in the flashback, set sometime during the blip, we see twelve meeting natasha and steve and offer her abilities to the avengers. after a short demonstration of her powers and (non-existant) combat abilities, she’s taken on as a new recruit. twelve accidentally breaks her own nose during training and reveals that her time powers don’t include the ability to heal herself, as she stays the same when going back in time.

in the loop, twelve panics but tries to get through the day again. she attempts to nap on the living room couch, but gets disturbed by alpine and bucky. she settles down on her bedroom floor, but gets yanked to the astral plane and berated over her creation of a time loop by stephen strange. during their third mission, bucky lightly hits his head when getting hit by the explosion and ends up getting shot again when twelve overcompensates for past mission mistakes. she tries talking to sam about the loop, but gets shut down. alpine follows her over to the other couch, making a nap once again impossible; the movie bucky turns on is eerily fitting for their situation. all the way through the chapter, bucky keeps asking her what’s wrong, but she evades his question.

behind the loop

finally!! our first chapter with flashback brackets!!! i’ve really been loving the structure of these because they allow me to give a little more context and background on the characters gradually instead of a long info dump as well as just lighten the mood a little. also, i just love writing nat and steve!! god, i miss them so much.

“And why would we want to have you?” she asked. As if she were interviewing you for a job. Which, technically speaking, she was.

there’s a lot of fun tidbits in this part of the chapter, but i love this one in particular. her nonchalance when meeting this powerful, terrified stranger is just so charming to me.

“Oh, great, am I volunteering?”

steve is … god, steve. sometimes the fact that this fic is canon-compliant (for the most part) absolutely kills me. that’s something i’ve had to wrestle with in every single flashback, and it’s just never getting easier.

back to the loop!! i didn’t talk about the mcfly thing last chapter and that’s mostly because i actually haven’t seen back to the future in many, many years. i do love them, though, and i feel like they’re something sam would enjoy, too. i constantly want to give him more to do in this story but instead i keep sending him off on cap duties. sigh. we love a responsible man.

So it appears you’ve gotten yourself stuck in some macabre version of Groundhog Day. Alright. Cool cool cool. You can work with that, probably. Maybe.

the most unsubtle nod to brooklyn nine-nine ever, but i’d completely forgotten i put it there and i love it. that makes it at least two references to this show over all of my fics now, and i’m probably forgetting something!!

“Did you just kick me?” “I wanted to see if you’re still alive.” “Horrible. I’m quitting. You can go spar with Bucky again.”

what can i say? i love their slightly different banter each and every time. it’s so funny because twelve still hesitates to call sam and bucky her friends in her inner monologue but at the same time—look at them. i love unreliable narration.

also, this is the chapter where i really start leaving gaps to fill in the rest of the day later. it’s just fun to keep some thing that are going to be repeating anyway open for now!! that brings us reveals as glorious as alpine, who couldn’t even feature in the first chapter even though i love her more than life itself. also, i have no idea where i got the headcanon that sam’s allergic to cats, but it’s simply a fact to me.

“What time is it, anyway?” “Thirteen twelve hours.” “Please stop just saying numbers when I ask you that.”

is this me making a dig at military time or the fact that it’s not used in the u.s.? who’s to say. also a fun little twelve reference before the nickname actually gets used in chapter!!

“Last dates played. Friday, July 4th 2025, 07:50 a.m. Playtime: forty-five seconds. Thursday, March 13th 2014, 02:49 a.m. Playtime: one hour, twenty-seven minutes, eighteen seconds. End of record.”

i was so proud of this little inconsequential easter egg at the time!! that date is the day of the winter soldier movie premiere, and i’m pretty sure the amount of times the song got played was the same as the amount of mcu movies that were out at the time the chapter got posted. this is an actually fun fun fact for a change <3

ooh, the astral plane and strange. i’m not gonna lie, i’m pretty sure i’m writing his character a little more sherlock holmesian than he is in canon, but sue me. both are smart assholes in their own rights, and it’s fun to have him and twelve snark at each other. they both just hate every second of being in each other’s vicinity, and i find that hilarious.

Third time’s the charm, right? About as charming as a kick to the face, you think as you find yourself delivering just that.

you know, sometimes "writing for yourself" just means line connectors that will make yourself snicker. and i think that’s beautiful.

Shouldn’t he insist on leaving?

ugh, i love this scene!! i love that no matter how hard she tries, other people (and bucky in particular) will just do things she doesn’t expect, and for reasons that are certainly what i’m telling you within the inner monologue. mhm. surely. (i know i said spoiler-free but i’m giddy. also you’re reading bucky fanfic. you must know.)

trying to tell sam about the loop and him not really taking it seriously here was certainly a choice. i’m not sure i love this when thinking about his character, but it had to happen this way for plot reasons. to be fair to him, he’s hungry and stressed, and the people around him are all weird (affectionate). give him a break fr.

“I just run cold.” “That you do.”

i’m obsessed with them, have i mentioned that? also, fun fact about spellbound, i’m never again mentioning movies i haven’t actually watched within a story again because i did end up watching it and one of the character’s initials were straight up JBB. i wish i could make this up. maybe i’m the one who’s stuck in a time loop. anyway. love alpine, love bucky knowing something’s up but not what it is.

“Don’t be dramatic. She’s made of stronger stuff than that.”

did you catch that one?

You’re made of stronger stuff than your doubts, you know that. (ch 1)

have i mention that i pay attention to a lot of little details? because yeah. i do.

the reveal that twelve stays the same during her redos is probably one of the more essential ones!! i mostly wanted to include this because i haven’t really seen any other time loop stories do it (unless i’m forgetting something) and also because, well, drama is fun.

how it’s going

alas, chapter seven isn’t quite done yet. i’ve written around 2.5k for it, i think, but i find myself once again taking unexpected detours. it’s fine, though. the bonus chapter is mostly done, and it’s actually pretty short for a change. (because spoiler alert, chapters are only gonna get longer from this point. somebody sedate me.)

as you’ve probably seen in my schedule, next week is gonna be an off week for me!!! please manifest me meeting sam wilson in the parks as i will be on holiday this time next friday. which is a much more fun thing to do than getting stuck in a time loop. in the meantime, take care of yourselves and don’t do anything dumb while i’m gone (like getting stuck in a time loop). also please leave a comment on the chapter if you enjoyed it, come scream at me in my inbox etc etc 💚

[mister-e-muss]

Time for another backlog report, August 2024 edition. As always, thoughts are below:

Mega Man X:

Both this and X2 I beat as part of the Legacy Collection bundle. At first I stuck to the idea that each ‘collection’ counted as a single game, with individual games being more like chapters. That’s why I didn’t write my thoughts on Battle Network 1 when I finished it. I realized however that if I thought that large-scale, I was never going to actually finish it, or any of the individual games.

So what exactly do I say about this game? It’s Chrono Trigger levels of revered. Even Arin ‘I refuse to read more than three words consecutively’ Hanson of Game Grumps fake calls the intro stage genius for how it visually teaches the player about wall jumps.

I can hardly say a bad word about this game, not just because it’s so enshrined in the top tens of SNES games ever, but because I genuinely agree that it’s a great, tight action platformer with some kick-ass music.

Mega Man X2:

Okay, Capcom proved they could innovate the Mega Man formula. Could they follow up?

Turns out yes. While I generally hold the music as overall inferior to X1, I still think that there’s some great tracks in here. (My personal favorite is Flame Stag’s Stage btw.)

As for the story, I think the tension of Zero’s lost parts is both a good way to add more personal stakes and a clever way to justify reviving a character that had died in the last game. Believe me, it happens more than I’d like it to. Also, I took a screenshot of this specific dialogue because it is both a brilliantly dick-ish move and really stupid of Sigma to try and guilt trip X about his supposed failure. . . After he’d already beaten the X-Hunters and recovered Zero’s parts.

The stages themselves are a lot of fun to go through, with the exception of a few of the X-Hunter stages.

Trails of Cold Steel:

When discussing the Trails series, Cold Steel is the arc that everyone points to and says “Trash Anime Harem game.” That is not my issue with this game.

I think where I generally take issue is the scope. I know that’s a weird thing to say about these games considering just how grandiose and meticulous they are about every single detail, but it’s the most general way to put it. The cast is large, the maps are large, the grand tale of political intrigue is large. The strange part is that for all of its largeness, it could have been cut down by a quarter and still be able to do a lot of what it sets out to do.

Having the cast split themselves in half is an effective way of rotating the spotlight so that almost everyone gets a turn, but if they just compressed one or two character ideas they could have ensured that everyone had more room in their niche.

For that matter, the gameplay has also been expanded and shrunk down. The addition of combat links is a fun idea that makes you think about party comp and which characters pair well with others, but in this first outing, they don’t really do much. The fact that the game hides the two extra payoff options until a third and halfway through the game also doesn’t help. Where the series shrinks is in the orbment system. The master quartz return, and they’re just as fascinating as ever, but the quartz themselves have taken a turn for the bland. Rather than have each gem hold an element value, and arts appearing on characters as you build them, arts and passive bonuses have been divided in two. Except not really because high-level quartz give both. What this means from a design perspective is that players don’t have to keep track of seven different values building up a cast of 11 total playable characters. (Again, you could have cut that by half.) What this means from a gameplay perspective however is that orbments are much less interesting to tinker around with, turning what was a miniature puzzle into a simple best-in-slot. For a 60+ hour game to have one of its core systems be stripped like this, it makes the game feel more monotonous than it really is.

Despite all these general complaints, I honestly can’t recommend it enough. The soundtrack is just as good as it’s ever been, the plot does in fact try to strike a balance between zoomed-out political intrigue and zoomed-in character drama, and the combat is still among the best turn-based systems.

I even liked the bonding points for what they were. Having to chose which characters were worth your investment was a bit itchy, but the one-on-one spotlights were nice. That they also increase Link levels is also a very nice gameplay-story-integration that I will never say no to.

[romanromulus]

hey!! I just wanted to say that I absolutely love your works. Something about your style is so smooth, and enrapturing to the reader! I was wondering if you could share any tips on how you write?

you don’t have to, of course. But i’d love to hear any advice that comes from you.

this says it better than I ever could, with special emphasis placed on this bit:

thank you so much for your kind words @dracularus! I don’t really feel qualified to give advice, but since you asked, I’m happy to share what I’ve learned/address your ask in a little more detail below!

this is incredibly long-winded which is why I stuck it under a read more, but I hope you at least find it interesting to read even if it’s not super helpful!

Disclaimer: I am completely self-taught and I’ve never taken a single writing course or had my work formally critiqued! (I probably never will, either, but that’s a whole ‘nother can of worms)

okay, you asked how I write, by which maybe you meant my process (?), but I want to first touch on a more literal interpretation of how (which relates to the “mind’s ear” that Le Guin talks about). so I’m not particularly visual when I write—that is, I’m not “picturing” anything; almost every good paragraph I’ve ever penned was dictated by a clear “voice” in my head.

(when I listen to music, I do have highly visual, movie-like daydreams that help me ‘storyboard’ fics or original works, but I consider this part of the planning stage and rarely summon up those images when sitting down to do the actual writing. the voice brings the scene to life, not the picture.)

anyway, to address the question of how—the storytelling voice in my head springs from a rhythm I’ve picked up while reading.

for context, I’m very selective with the books I read. very selective. I don’t read “for fun” (though I very much enjoy everything I read!), I read as homework. I truly believe that the quality of your output depends on the quality of your input. if you only read colleen hoover, you’re going to write like colleen hoover and you’ll never progress past her skill level (though if this is your goal, godspeed my friend!).

anyway, what I look for in the things I read are books where the rhythm, the current, the melody of the prose grabs me and carries me seamlessly from the first word to the second, to the third, the fourth, the next sentence, the next paragraph, the next page, the next chapter—and then suddenly the book is finished and I sit up and blink like I was just released from a spell. I only read skilled prose like this because, after I’ve been reading for a while, I get a feel for the rhythm of the prose and the voice in my head tries to match the melody. in this way I borrow momentum and receive a charge that helps my own melody flow out.

when I first started writing, most of what I wrote was in someone else’s voice, usually whoever I was reading at the time (like I was doing an exercise along the lines of: write a fanfic in (insert author’s name here)’s style). this is a very common practice among novice writers and I still sometimes do it today. over time I’ve begun to develop more of my own distinctive voice, but I’m not all the way there. sometimes my voice grows faint or I lose access to it as my creative spark wanes and then I have to step into someone else’s current again and write in their voice. that’s how I write—by reading. this is also how I account for the smoothness you mentioned—I’m following a rhythm I can hear with my mind’s ear.

in terms of more tangible advice, my main piece of advice would be to figure out what your specific goal is when it comes to bettering your writing and then focus exclusively on that goal and pursue it relentlessly. it’s pretty clear that I care about melodic prose above everything else, and because you specifically mentioned smoothness + a feeling of being enraptured, I’m going to assume that those are qualities that matter to you, too—so, to tie it all together:

read shit that inspires you and try to copy it. figure out why it inspires you. if there’s a paragraph that you think is cool or is using a technique you like, try to write your own version of it. one of my little ficlets (breaking point of the average pilgrim) was an exercise in trying to capture the specific vibes of a chapter opening in the sound and the fury. if, while you’re reading, you stumble upon a word or a phrase that has resonance, pause and use it as a jumping off point and scribble something down. if you like my writing, borrow my voice! it’s yours, find its rhythm and let it tell you stories until your own voice rises to overtake it. if you can already ‘hear’ your own voice (awesome, congrats!), then let it keep murmuring and try to note down every word it says without self-censoring. your voice needs to know it can be good or bad and, either way, you’ll still listen and take it seriously. once your voice knows it’s going to be heard, it will take you where you want to go!

[stopthatfool]

Concerning getting to know one's fic writer, inquiring minds must know: 8, 16 & 18

Inquiring minds would also like you to choose one question you're hoping someone will ask and answer it! (It always pains me when I desperately want to discuss something, but the prompt is never picked! So, pick that question! :])

Thank youu, I can't wait to learn more about your writing process!! <3

Woodsy!! Thank you so much for the ask (omg i'm so excited to answer these)!!

8. Do you prefer the beginning, middle, or ending of a story?

Hmmmm... I think when it comes to fic writing I like the middle. Because i can just keep adding things and I don't have to worry about tying it all together to actually mean something. And the beginning is very intimidating. It's like the first page of new notebook or sketchbook. And the ending is very scary too, cuz that means it's over!

It's interesting though because whenever I watch movies, TV shows etc., etc., I always like the first movie/episode/season the best!

16. How many fic ideas are you nurturing right now? Share one of them?

I have kind of a one track mind when it comes to writing, so I'm pretty much only thinking of Your jeep. Your teeth. The coffee that you bought me. and that 'universe' (omfg why did i pick such a long name). BUT! I have been playing around with the idea of telling this story through the perspective of Ice... I would love to get up all inside his head and figure him out!

I've also been thinking about like a 'prequel' to this story. Like what happened in '86 and when 'my' Mav and Ice taught at TOP GUN together. I, of course, have ideas and I have alluded to what their relationship looked like in flashbacks and some of Mav's internal monologue, but I think eventually I would love to actually put it in writing and map it all out.

18. Do you title your fics before, during, or after the writing process? How do you come up with these titles?

I came up with the title of this fanfic during the writing process! And all of the titles are lines from Richard Siken's Crush-- which i had just finished rereading as I was writing the first part of the first chapter. The line "Your jeep. Your teeth. The coffee that you bought me." really stuck out to me as I was thinking about IceMav, because I've always really liked Val Kilmer's teeth (which sounds weird as i type it out.... but it's purely from an artistic standpoint and fascination). So the jeep that Ice has in the fic, along with the coffee scene after Mav is let out from the hospital were really inspired from this line!

As for the chapter titles, I decided to keep going with the Richard Siken theme. Whenever I need a break from writing, typing, or editing, that's when I begin to brainstorm chapter titles. I'll look back at my fav lines that I wrote down, or I'll just straight up reread poems to find something that fits whatever things are happening in that chapter.

Initially, chapter 6's title was "Dear Forgiveness, I saved a plate for you" because of the first scene when Mav holds out a plate for Bradley. It wasn't until guns were brought up for like the third time that I changed the title to "It's a down right shoot-em-up."

Anyway! Long story short, it's just a process of going back and forth and reading poetry!

14. How do you write emotional scenes? Do you ever feel what the characters feel? Do you draw from emotional experience?

(the question i picked myself) I absolutely feel what the characters feel and draw from my personal experiences!! Most of Bradley's expressions of anxiety and sadness is inspired from my own teenage self (which was absolutely traumatic to look back on). Along with Bradley wearing Carole's old bracelet and Nick's old t-shirt!

One of my biggest goals within this story (along with other things), was to make these characters more human and really focus on their struggles-- therefore i write about things i know, aka my own personal experiences. Which can sometimes make things difficult to write, but usually it's okay!

Thank you so much for the ask Woodsy!! This was so much fun!! <333

[boinin]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Thanks @redrocketpanda for tagging! ❤️

1. How many works do you have on Ao3?

Just three! All from this year.

2. What's your total Ao3 word count?

64,235

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Just Blue Lock presently.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos? 

Skewed given I published two just last week, but at time of writing it was:

Cassis Orange (132)

The Witch With Sunlight in His Hair (19) and

Between us and the trees (16)

5. Do you respond to comments?

I do my best to!

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

None of them... yet. 😈 But chapter 7 of Cassis Orange has the angstiest cliffhanger I've ever written.

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

My latest, Between us and the trees!

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Never; everyone's been very positive and lovely.

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

Yes, but nothing I've published. Yet...

I like porn with plot/porn with feelings, so there's usually a lot of set-up. For me, there has to be a reason the characters are getting together. It's payoff for something.

I'm fairly vanilla in terms of the actual smut, but my writing tends to focus on the sensations the POV character is experiencing, as well as their desire for their partner. All five senses get utilised!

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

Nope! But never say never...

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my knowledge.

12. What's the longest you've ever spent working on one fic? And the shortest?

I started working out a plot for Cassis Orange on 18 March this year. So it's been eightish months at time of posting. Reasonable for a longfic that'll end up around 80,000 words long.

For The Witch With Sunlight in his Hair, I'd been sitting and thinking about the idea for a couple of months. The actual writing took maybe two or three writing sessions, the editing just one, beyond the pre-posting review. Overall, I think it was finished within a fortnight?

This is unfortunately as quick as it gets for me 🥲

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

Not outside incorporating suggestions from beta reading. It sounds fun, but co-writing involves a lot of trust and understanding between the writing partners. I'm wary about the pitfalls personally. That said, I co-wrote original fiction once or twice during college in a low stakes setting, it was good fun!

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

I'm actually not a massive shipper outside bllk! Hard to believe, I know. Anyway, it's Kunigiri.

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

*checks list* this is depressing. I have a lot of WIPs.

There's an angst fic I started, which is set after the ending of the third rounds of NEL matches. The hook is Chigiri gets injured by Shidou, leading to a reconciliation with Kunigami, but the anger he experiences creates additional motivation for him to go kick Shidou's ass.

My drive for this one was tied to figuring out Kunigami's deal. I'm unlikely to return to this one, given how the manga is progressing.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Horrible thing to ask a writer! We're too stuck in our heads to be objective. But here goes.

I think my best strengths are writing dialogue and characterisation. For Cassis Orange, I've heard frequently from readers that my versions of early thirties Kunigami/Chigiri feel authentic to their canon personalities.

Description is another thing I handle OK, thanks to my own need to be able to visualise the characters and setting from my writing. I also have a decent knack for foreshadowing.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

For me, it's writing action. A lot of my work involves characters' inner monologues, or conversations between them which drive the plot. Basically, not a lot happens. It's something I'd like to improve on.

I'm also a maximalist author. If an idea could be executed in 1,000 words by another author, expect 3,000 words from me. Drabbles are anathema. Not necessarily a problem, but this tendency does make it difficulty for me to actually finish my WIPs/ideas when the initial novelty wears out.

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

It can be a nice detail—but the need to translate foreign dialogue for the reader can be clunky. It breaks immersion more often than not.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Blue Lock!

I also dabbled in writing for Persona 5 prior to getting into football Squid Game this year, but never got further than making notes/outlines.

What's the thing I'm most likely to write fic for next? I'm really vibing with Undead Unluck this season, and there's barely fics for it on Ao3. If I continue to enjoy the world and the characters, and get hit with inspiration, I might write something for it. But for now, Blue Lock is keeping me busy.

20. Favourite fic you've written?

Cassis Orange is my first and favourite child 🥹 I can't wait to wrap up this story over the next couple of months—it's been a journey, as someone new to fanfiction writing, and as a Kunigiri stan.

I have a few fic writer buddies here, so I'll leave this open to anyone who reads this/follows me: if you'd like to have a go at this, please do! You can put me down as the tagger.

[cielpansyhive]

I haven't checked my stats on AO3 in a year or more. I know people rank things different ways. Some people go by hits, others kudos, some by comments, bookmarks, subscriptions, ect. You get the picture. Hits are tricky, I've heard of people getting hits by bots. Which throws everything off, you see 50 hits and zero kudos, like, "fuck, these people read and hated it?" Maybe, but also it could have been a bot. For me hits can be more discouraging than helpful. I go by everything other than hits. So, with that in mind, I want to talk about my most successful works. (This is in no way meant to be me boasting. I'm a small-time writer. My point is, if I can do it, YOU can do it.)

-

I believe my most popular work is Revamp, it has the most subscriptions and comments. It's the work I'm known for. It's a little on the lower end for kudos and bookmarks, but it's not finished. The very fic people know me for is also my first work. (Because of this I'm working on revising what I have before updating another chapter. No worries, it's not abandoned and never will be.) That said, I was terrified to post it originally. Not only was it my first but there were maybe ten other fics at the time with trans Ciel and that was it. I didn't know if there was a reason for that. Lack of interest? People getting hate? I was clueless. But I had a story to tell so I sucked it up and posted and I'm glad I did! I've talked to so many people and befriended some because of that fic. I take forever to update and people still get excited over it when I do update. It really means a lot! My life changed because of posting it and it gave me the courage to pursue writing and share my stuff.

My highest bookmarked and work with the 3rd most kudos is a smut one-shot (That Butler, Sensitive) that I was worried would be "too weird" for people. I know way more people who think hand kinks are weird than ones that are neutral or into it. It was another I was reluctant to post and bam people loved it. I'm still shocked by the feedback.

My highest kudo work, the first couple chapters were awful. They were quick little things I wrote for tumblr, I got enough feedback I decided to post them on AO3. Chapter 1 I wrote drunk, I'm not even joking. Did I have fun with it? Yes. Was it to my standard? Fuck no. I have since revised the first two chapters. The third chapter, Sebastian is so OOC, but once again I did have fun with it. The last chapter has figging, a kink I don't know anyone of really having...at least in my personal life. The work as a whole (Canon Divergent SebaCiel) is just fun debauchery. In the beginning it was difficult for me to post smut. It was difficult to write too, I'd get stuck in my own head. But if you write whatever thoughts flow out, it's so simple! Because I became more comfortable, I was able to write my second highest kudo work (Clathrus Archeri) that was inspired by a fungus. Yep, we get that freaky with it. My readers enjoy it, it's all good.

My fourth highest bookmarked and fifth highest kudo work (Relax) is one that I stated was "the worst smut I've ever written." It was extremely self-indulgent but at the same time I spent so long editing it that at the end I hated it. I thought in comparison to my other smut it was low level. It also had trans Ciel, so I'm glad one of my works with him made it in the top 5. Yet, I wouldn't have that had I not posted.

While most of my works are obviously Kuroshitsuji, I do have works for Voltron too. I have almost zero interactions with the Voltron fandom. I will reblog things and read (kudo, bookmark, subscribe), but besides comments on my own fics I haven't talked to anyone. A big part is that I'm shy. Another is that I'm too old for fandom drama, ship wars, and what have you. If someone wants to chat with me, I'm glad and I will talk, but I'm not putting myself out there. The same will go when I start posting Vanitas no Carte fics. I'm very ship and let ship and that will piss off some people. It's easier for people to approach me rather than me trying to figure out if someone will hate me for my ships or not. Okay, very long intro for my next point. My third highest subscribed work (Atlas Ocean Rescue) is for the Voltron fandom. They don't know me from anywhere, exception the kuro people that also like Voltron, but apparently my work has readers. This fic is super self-indulgent, I love mermen okay? I'd say overall my Voltron works aren't doing too bad considering I basically just post and run. As anxious as I get to post anything, posting for another fandom was really hard. There wasn't the pressure of people knowing my work, but there's the very real feeling of, "oh fuck, this could flop terribly." A few Voltron works have already surpassed my "worst" Kuro works...so success? I think so!

-

For anyone who read all my nonsense, you get a gold star. I hope you also noticed the patterns here. That is, write for yourself and your audience will find you. Don't censor yourself, be true to you and go with the flow, have fun! Write characters how you want to write and read them. Indulge in your kinks, I swear you aren't the only one that has them. Step out of your comfort zone every once and a while. If you post a fic and it flops, so what? It's not the end of the world. What if the fic you think will fail ends up being your best one? You'll never know what will happen unless you post it, it might surprise you. As your skills improve it's okay to go back and revise and edit. But don't let your skill level hold you back from posting in the first place, we all have to start somewhere. You can engage with fandoms as much or as little as you want. (I do encourage reblogs, kudos, bookmarks, ect.) But if you are too shy to talk or don't know anyone in a fandom, don't let that stop you from creating for that fandom. If you only have one work in you for a fandom, do it! If you have multiple? Do it! Rarepair? Go for it! Someone else will probably thank you for it! Vent writing? Dead dove? Extremely therapeutic for you and for others that are more so readers than writers. (Note writing dark stuff just for exploration and entertainment is fine too!! Horror is a well-loved genre for a reason. Fiction is fiction.) Bottom line: don't let you get in the way of yourself.

Will you get hate? You might, I won't lie. That said, people troll everything, any hate you get just shake it off. Odds are it's nothing personal or about your writing, it's they don't like the ship, or any AU, or the dynamics with smut, or the kink, or they're phobic, or if you write intense stuff it's too dark of content for them. If you tag things, it's on the reader if they ignore the tags or they purposely expose themselves to content they know will upset them. I highly recommend if you are concerned about hate, only let registered users leave comments. That's what I do with all my fics and I have had zero negative comments. People are less likely to leave nasty comments if they have to show their face, it's so much easier for them on anon. Some hate I've got on here (tumblr) could be from AO3, but I honestly think it's mostly just other tumblr users that have never read anything of mine.

I'm not as active as I once was on here. It's been years since I updated or posted a kuro work on AO3. I don't have the spoons (energy) to do as much one-on-one as I used to, but know I am cheering on all the creators, new and old. I am here if anyone needs some extra encouragement. But honestly, just write. Even on the off chance you're the only one that likes your work, you have at least one fan. If you don't write for yourself, then who are you writing for? I swear readers can tell the difference when you write something you're into verses something you think will be good, but you don't care about as much. Your best writing is the writing that YOU would read. Don't focus on what you think others will think. Your people will find you.

We all start as that person that's afraid to post our works, it's natural. Tackling that fear was one of the most difficult but best thing I've done for myself. If you want to post, do it! 💖💖💖

[moodybluemood]

I did the math and I have about 7k of additional chapters of DINTE written, which is more than I initially thought. This is spread out across about four chapters, the most important of which is closeish to completion...but it's also the one I've been stuck on for two years because it's very important and I keep writing and rewriting it. The next most important is about a third done.

For the sake of my mental health, if I want to ever finish this fic -and I do- the chapters have to be much, much shorter or they're never getting done. The same goes for There Is A Town because it became much harder to write once the chapters started getting longer than 2k max. I have semi-treated ADHD and there are simply things that I can and cannot do.

I'm going to start going back and editing the fic, both to reread it and also because I hate a lot of the stylistic choices I was making. Also, someone pointed out years ago that I double-space after periods and it turns out that's not standard anymore. That's some typewriter thing I was taught.

[danceswithdarkspawn]

Howdy meowdy howdy meowdy, friendo! For Le Ask Game:

2) What is your favorite fic of yours?

7) How do you edit your fics? What do you look for in your edits?

11) What perspective do you write from most and/or least and why? (1st, 3rd limited, 3rd omniscient, deep pov, etc)

15) If you could only write one type of fic (angst, fluff, etc.) for the rest of your life what would it be?

17) Do you have any wips that you can tell us about? What are you most excited for in you wip?

21) Writers choice - pick any of these questions that you want to answer. (Take the opportunity to answer any other ask!)

Have fun! I'll be in your walls if you need me!

Hello, Watermelon Bastard (affectionate)

2: I'm very partial to Two of Swords. Don't know why.

7: What I used to do (back when I was writing on a regular schedule) was do it in chunks. I might do a little bit of cleanup when I started writing for the day, but nothing major. Once the doc was done, I'd sit down, read like, a scene at a time, fix any wonky-ness etc. until I was finished.

If a sentence needed rewriting, I did it in the 1st draft doc; if something major needed to be rewritten, the old went into a scrap doc and the new written in it's place. If there were really big (as in, we're starting over) changes that needed doing, entirely new document.

Now that I write sporadically, I do a lot of rereading and editing in the downtime between sessions, even on unfinished pieces. Once I'm done I come back to it again and again over a week or so until I feel like it's done.

11: probably a toss-up between first and third limited. As for why...when I use first person I want a closer view, but I've only ever done this with my characters, and it doesn't fit right in all situations. for third limited, it's just what I've been using the longest, and that's just kinda my default at this point.

15: I mean I'm already an angst monster, so. That.

17: God I have so many scraps of things lol. I have the Eran/Morrigan vignette series I want to do, a few missing scenes here and there, new longfic idea and works related to it. It's all just A Jumbled Mess. What am I excited for though?

GETTING THROUGH THIS CHAPTER OF BROKEN BIRD I'VE BEEN STUCK ON FOR ALMOST A SODDING YEAR.

I'll get there eventually. *ugly sobbing*

21: I'm going to pick "Are you a fast or slow writer?"

Most times I write at a glacial speed. Other times I write like a squirrel found the coke stash and can hear colors.

[uraberika]

Paparazzi

Rating: T Fandom: Inazuma Eleven Chapter: 1/? Relationship: Domon Asuka/Urabe Rika, Ichinose Kazuya/Urabe Rika Characters: Domon Asuka, Urabe Rika, Ichinose Kazuya Summary: Domon Asuka is a twenty-something fashion journalist stuck between last-minute speed-running articles at midnight and editing photos of fashionistas who think way too highly of themselves. But when he accidentally ruins the career of celebrity model Urabe Rika, he finds his life suddenly turned upside down as he is forced to help the insufferable fashion icon (quite literally) get back on her feet. On other platforms: AO3

A/N: This work is inspired by a model!Rika AU by @inazuma-art from like four years ago (check her art of model!Rika here). The recent actor!AU by @misfitmiska and @irisviel101 might have also inspired me to create this celebrity/model!AU. :D I first had this idea years ago and then completely forgot about it, until @frosty-tian asked me about DoRika and now I have the urge to turn my idea into something written. I have some ideas as to where I want this story to go but I have yet to write most of it so updates are most likely going to be sporadic.

To put it plain and simple: Domon Asuke was fucked and he did not know what he had done to deserve this. Everything started great when Domon woke up in the morning, fresh and well-rested, a feeling he rarely encountered in his busy life split between last-minute speed-running articles at midnight and editing photos of fashionistas who thought way too highly of themselves. So when Domon woke up energized in the morning, he should have been more suspicious, really. But it only occurred to him after he had brushed his teeth and had his lazy morning coffee to glance at the digital clock on the coffee table which was… in the simplest of terms… not working. The numbers 04:32 were blinking on the screen accusingly, which could only mean that there had been a power shortage at around dawn. The third fucking time this month. Domon stopped dead in his tracks (and in his pajamas) to take a look at his phone. Shit, it was already 8:30. The journalist cursed, throwing his phone in his bag while trying to strip off his pajamas at the same time. Shitshitshit, he elaborated further to himself as he haphazardly threw on a shirt and plucked his camera’s battery from its charger on the wall. He hoped that despite the shortage, the batteries still had some juice in them. He quickly tossed the camera into its textile case, pondering his options. If he managed to catch the metro leaving in seven minutes, he might just make it. He cursed his stupid decision to have moved the digital clock into the living room, but the bastard machinery made such ungodly alarm sounds that it would give him a heart attack if it would go off in his bedroom. Hit by a sudden burst of determination, Domon slipped on his loafers and closed the door behind his apartment with more force than it would have been necessary. His shoulder bag was practically holding onto dear life as he made a run for the station, ignoring the curious stares he earned along the way.

He just cannot fuck this up, not when this was his biggest opportunity ever since he entered the scene of fashion journalism, just fresh out of college. Domon has been working as a fashion journalist for four years now, and maybe that was the problem: maybe his content started to lack originality or it was just due to the sudden rise of self-proclaimed tik-tok influencers, make up artists and thrift girlies, but Domon was not doing so well in terms of money. His agency paid him by his articles, but also by the popularity of his articles which left a lot to be desired in terms of engagement. Domon was sure that it was the internet’s fault: these youngsters raised on five minute make-up tutorials would never be able to understand the fine details of the honored craft that was fashion, let alone read about it!

But this gig, he swore to himself he wouldn’t fuck it up. It was Tokyo Fashion Week and every reporter worth their salt from teenage girls on social media to world famous fashion moguls fixed their gaze (and pens and keyboards and cameras) onto the imposing catwalks of the capital of Japan. Domon, being a mid-tier journalist at an averagely acclaimed journal with a dwindling fanbase, failed to snag a press pass (not that anyone expected him to get one in the first place). Luckily, his best friend came through: Ichinose Kazuya, world-renowned football player, fashion icon and the object of adoration of many adolescent girls had managed to pull a few strings and get him a press pass. Ichinose could convince the hot model chick he was currently seeing to put in a good word for Domon’s agency and the next day, Domon found a velvet black lanyard on his desk with his name and “PRESS” on the tag. Domon was most grateful for his best friend’s help which made the fact that he might just miss the whole shabang starting at 10:00 am even more so embarrassing. 

He tried not to cringe too hard as he stepped out of the metro car he luckily managed to catch, and took off, taking the escalator two steps at a time, ignoring the other passengers' scandalized stares. Of course this would happen on the only day when everything hinged on him being in the right place at the right time! As he quickened his steps (he still needed to cover ten minutes of walking within seven minutes, or ideally, within five) he tried to make a mental list of any potential disasters. He had no clue how long his camera’s battery would last, but if push came to shove, his Iphone made decent pictures enough. Since live streams were forbidden during Tokyo Fashion Week, novelty preceded quality: the first ones to report on the event got the most views, not those who had the most perfect pictures. Domon would try to take perfect photos anyway, but he was not in a position to aim higher than “good enough” at the moment. 

If he was really honest with himself, for all the glitz and glamor, Domon was not fond of fashion weeks anyway: they tended to center around female clothing too much, while his main interests lay in men’s streetwear. But obviously, Ichinose’s chick asked the lanyard for Domon specifically which might have earned him some jealous glances from his female colleagues in the office who would have been much more suited for Fashion Week, but he felt little remorse: fashion was a dog-eat-dog world after all, just as much about connections as craftsmanship.  

Domon’s lungs were begging for mercy but he was not in a merciful mood at the moment. The building was a glorious tower of glass windows with multiple stories and it seemed to be shining condescendingly down on him as he pushed the glass doors open with much less grace than the occasion would have required. He waved his pass at the security guard, then scanned it at the electric gate: he was lucky that his show was on the ground floor. As a good journalist, he had done his research before the event: he knew that the collection presented by the fashion brand Aldena would be centered around buzzwords like “chic”, “formal wear” and “postmodern” which honestly gave him no clue on what to expect other than it was surely to be way out of his comfort zone. 

The door was already closed but thankfully it gave when Domon pushed the silver handle down. He glanced at his watch: 10:02. He barely just made it. The commentator was already on stage surrounded in the sharp white halo of stage lights, and he was in the middle of introducing the collection. Thankful for the dimness, Domon made his way among the rows of seats, whispering soft sorrys and trying to ignore the low grumbling of those who were forced to stand up to let him through. He peeked a glance at his pass to find his seat: A22, the letter corresponding to the row and the letter to the seat. In regular shows the lettering of rows usually started from the back, A referring to the furthest row, and the one closest to the end of the alphabet would mean the closest one to day runway. To Domon’s shock and surprise, Tokyo Fashion Week did the reverse: the journalist tried to calm his heartbeat as the realization hit him that he was going to be sitting in the first row. 

Shit, Ichinose’s girl was not fooling around, that’s for sure! The poor woman must be smitten with Ichinose if she arranged a seat in the front row for his best friend, someone she could have only heard about. Ichinose was very adamant about keeping his love life and professional life separate, and Domon separate from both of those things. Despite Ichinose’s good appearance and charming personality, the football player failed to keep a girl for more than three months and he did not want to risk his friends getting way too attached to any of his girlfriends for that reason. The tabloids called him a womanizer but Domon suspected that his best friend might have some underlying issues concerning commitment and that was why he was secretive about his partners, even in front of Domon. The journalist humored Ichinose for his nonsense, understanding that this was his way of regaining some control over his life. Not that Domon would not instantly side with Ichinose if he had any sort of conflict with his girlfriend: their friendship ran deeper than that, he made that clear to Ichinose a long time ago. Bros before… supermodels, or something like that.

The presenter now moved aside and the stage light increased tenfold the same time as the lights above the audience went out. Right, time to get to work. Domon took out his camera and angled it towards the stage.

The first model to enter the stage was a petite girl with bubblegum-pink pigtails. Her hair was styled in small little bubbles and the orange eye makeup only further enhanced her youthful features. To snag a position at a brand like Aldena so early on in one’s career can only mean that she was especially talented, Domon knew this much at least. He did not know whether to be impressed or feel pity for the girl for dropping into the fashion scene at such a young age. Shaking himself out of his thoughts of sympathy, he turned his head to observe the outfit. The model was wearing a two-piece set made of black satin that glistened under the white stage lights.The legs of the dress pants were exaggerated to absurd proportions, exceeding the size of regular flares; Domon could almost hear the swooshing of the material as the model passed him. Embroidered fire lilies climbed up her pants’ legs in orange and salmon threads; her blazer had the same pattern on the lapels. The model wore a comically ruffled white blouse under the blazer and the whole outfit was topped off (if Domon could afford the pun) with a top hat. The journalist broke out in cold sweat. The outfit was no doubt pretty but this style was way out of his league; he did not know if he could do it justice in his writing. He felt dread climbing up his throat. What the hell was he doing here anyway? He looked around himself in panic; the guests seated were all dressed in over-the-top outfits with crazy accessories and here he was, just regular old Domon in a black t-shirt and cargo pants. The realization hit like a punch to his gut: he was severely underdressed and severely underqualified for this event.

By the time the girl reached the end of the runway, Domon managed to gather his bearings.  The journalist rarely felt small but the atmosphere of the crowd emanating such high class and professionalism started to mess with his head. However, he would not fuck up this up; he had promised himself he would not. Most importantly, Domon could not put his childhood best friend to shame after he went so out of his comfort zone to help him. He reached for his camera and quickly snapped a few shots only to fight back an exasperated groan. Ichinose’s girl might have managed to snag a spot in the front row but the seats were arranged in the shape of a U around the catwalk and his place was the last chair at the end of the U, almost at the jut of the stage. It was impossible to get a good shot from here, by the time the model would be close enough for Domon to capture the outfit, she would be obscured by the expensive-looking velour curtains on the two sides of the stage. Domon grumbled and got out of his seat. He would need to move closer to get a better shot. Getting up seemed like a rude gesture at an event like this but Domon's previous experiences at fashion shows were that photographers with little inhibition would do that every now and then. And oh boy did Domon not give a fuck about these mighty ass fashion moguls at the moment! He still crouched down to avoid causing an uproar amongst the people sitting behind him: there was brave and there was foolish and Domon prided himself in usually knowing the difference. 

The next model appeared on stage and Domon’s heart jumped in his throat. The woman was tall, taller than the previous model at least and her height was further played up by her hairstyle: she was wearing blue-black box braids twisted into a large bun on top of her head. A few braids slipped their confinement (or, more likely, intentionally left out by a hairstylist) and showed off how the model’s own blue hair transitioned seamlessly into black extensions midway through the braids. The contrast was striking, especially with her vivid purple makeup, complimenting her dark skin. For a moment Domon, forgot to look at her outfit, completely enthralled by the extravagance of the model herself. Then he was all professionalism again, observing the clothes in front of him. The model was wearing a form-fitting lilac dress, satin ruffles cascading down the neckline. The dress was most likely an off shoulder one but the woman’s shoulders were obscured by an oversized dark blue tuxedo jacket ornate with digitally printed roses. The influence of Y2K, his brain helpfully supplied, as his writing gears finally started kicking after much delay. The homage to the early 2000s is clear in this design of Aldena’s: the digital floral print gracefully mingles with the sleek and clean style of formal wear. The overexaggerated, floor-length swallow-tails pay a respectful nod to the high-fashion of corporate dressing as  while doing justice toAldena’s personal style that is usually characterized by the enlargement of garments to an almost disproportionate degree. Yes, that definitely sounded professional in Domon’s head.Engrossed in his own thoughts about his article, Domon almost forgot to take pictures, yet again as the model finished her poses at the end of the catwalk and turned to leave the stage on Domon’s side. The journalist crept a few steps closer again and his loafers bumped against the ridge of something hard, causing his stance to waver in his awkward crouch. To save the precious cargo, Domon raised the camera in his hands up above his head on instinct as he tried to regain his balance. He looked down at his feet and realized that he had gotten too close to the stage: he managed to bump into the large cables running along the foot of the elevated platform of the catwalk. He let out a shaky breath in relief: he had almost tripped over them and mentally chided himself for his unawareness. He could have fallen! Just as the thought crossed his mind, Domon felt a tug at his hands and suddenly, the camera was abruptly jerked from his hold by the strap of the machine that Domon should have been wearing around his neck. He turned his head in fear towards the catwalk, towards where his camera disappeared but the stage lights were too blinding for him to see anything. Unfortunately, his hearing was working just fine: he heard the sound of lens shattering as well as the deadly silence that fell onto the ridiculously large room afterwards. Then, the woman on the stage fell over with a dull thud and a sharp scream. Chaos erupted.

[bi-buckrights]

Fic origin story

Thanks for the tags 🥰 @alyxmastershipper @monsterrae1 @spotsandsocks @rogerzsteven @prettyboybuckley

What was your first fandom (reading and/or writing)?

I have been on this godforsaken site for so long and I don't even remember what fandom I joined for... but I quickly joined the Superwholock fandom. I didn’t get into reading fic right away bc i made the mistake of reading a Dan and Phil fic (cringe I know) on watt pad and it SCARRED me. After recovering from that particular experience I read so much destiel fic

What was the first story you ever wrote (even if it was never posted) and what made you decide to write it?

I didn't start writing anything until a few months ago. Before then, stories just lived rent free in my mind and I would play them like little movies while falling asleep 😂

Then I shared a buddie dream I had and my lovely friends encouraged me to turn that dream into a fic 🥰 (Sometime Around Midnight)

What piece of advice would you give your younger fic-writing self?

Just write the damn fic if you want!

What's an early fandom interaction that stuck with you (be it a nice comment, a friend you made, a fic that got a lot of feedback etc.)?

This is the first fandom I ever started creating content for, first edits and now fics too, and the support I have received has just been so surprising and amazing 🥺 and I never expected to find real friends but I did ❤️

Post a sentence or two from an older fic and a sentence or two from a newer one (if you want).

From Our Love is Like a Storybook Story, my third fic but first multi-chapter fic!

The kiss feels like nothing has changed in all their years apart. But things have changed, and the kiss is a reminder that their love is strong enough to persist despite that. Here, in Buck’s arms, Eddie is safe, and each kiss feels like it holds their future.

And another from my most recent fic Bottled Poetry

Eddie can’t help but think about how these grapes were being grown and harvested the year he met Buck, followed by several years of waiting patiently until the perfect timing. In all this time that Buck has been in his life, becoming a part of his family and making Eddie fall in love with him, this wine has been aging to perfection – to be poured into glasses for Buck and Eddie to drink together.

I think most people have done this already but tagging a few just in case! @swiftiediaz @lostinabuddiehaze @ajunerose @spaceprincessem @bekkachaos

[tortoisesshells]

2, 27, 37, 58?

2. Do you plan each chapter ahead or write as you go?

Plan ahead! Then again, to paraphrase Moltke, no plan ever survives contact with the enemy. I don't think I've ever written a chapter or a one-off that stuck, point-by-point, to the original outline/idea.

27. What is your most and least favorite part of writing?

The least favorite part of writing is, hmm. Probably rereading the second or third time after posting and finding all the typos, and clumsy transitions, and weird dialogue that I managed to forget or ignore when posting in the first place. My favorite part of writing is probably those one or two incandescent moments where you get a line of dialogue perfectly, or write a perfect metaphor or description, or - rarest of all - you write something that clarifies something about the characters or source text for you that you'd previously struggled to enunciate for yourself?

37. How do you choose where to end a chapter?

Wherever is within my given word limit (~5,000 words, though I've dumped some 15,000 word chapters before) and where it has achieved the objectives I set out with. I think I tend to end chapters a little abruptly, but I suppose - excusing my bad habits - I'm so convinced of where the next chapter is going to start that I ... don't really polish or buff the last bits, because I've already made the transition in my head.

58. What part of the writing process do you enjoy the most? (Brainstorming, outlining, writing, editing, etc)

I think the joy of the writing process for me is twofold: the possibilities - I'm always chasing the thrill of something being as good as it is in my head. It never is, of course, but in brainstorming and outlining it's fun to think it will be; and the social aspect - in brainstorming and outlining, it's talking to friends about the plan.

get to know your fic writer!

[joltai-showa]

naruto reread third edition chapter three woohoo

welp, it was a good run, manga sucks now lmao

just kidding, of course, but Sasuke is by far my least favorite character in the entire series. He's okay in OG Naruto, but literally every arc with him in Shippuden makes me want to bash my head against the nearest wall. And no, the fight with Deidara isn't the main reason for my passionate hatred of this prick. I've never agreed with a Sasuke fan once in those almost 10 years since I read the manga for the first time, but I do agree that Sasuke's fate is justifiedly dramatic and it's not surprising that he lashes out against those near him, but acting like he's some paragon of virtue and was right in all of his unhindged endeavors, particularly after the Itachi reveal, is first degree clownery at its finest lmao

(also the Uchiha clan sucks too. Not necessary from in-world perspective, but from writing perspective, mid-Shippuden Kishimoto really lost the sauce with those assholes and starting giving them any possible powers that he could think of)

another fun fact but I never found any of the Uchiha members attractive lmao. if you're wondering how the hell did I manage to write 35k from Deidara's pov having hots for Obito, listen, it's her pov, not mine, I just locked the fuck in and did it lmao

last thing before continuing with the chapter, main Uchiha guys from least annoying to most annoying accodring to me: Itachi > Madara >>>>>> Obito >>> Sasuke. Itachi mostly never gets on my nerves, so gotta love him for that, Madara sucks at times because he happens to appear on the stretches of manga when Kishi stopped caring about the plot and started the Uchiha bootlicking 24/7, but at least he didn't get a shitty "rEdEmPTioN ArC" (i guess i should be thanking Kaguya for that, bleh), with Obito I am stuck in a perpetual cycle of "there is no way he is that bad in canon, I must have been overdramatic when reading" -> *rereads the manga* -> "oh my fucking god he is not just bad, he is simply awful", he is just the ultimate victim of Naruto being written backwards and Kishi making a cool twist but never actually properly working on his motivations, a real shame, he's got a lot of potential, but canon Obito has one of the worst character arcs in the entire series, so I can only enjoy fanon Obito and fans' work that actually utilizes many many things this character has to offer. I already said a lot about Sasuke, but at times his writing is much better than Obito's, so he's a little less annoying to me (that's generally not an achievement on his part, it's Kishi writing Obito so badly LMAO)

bish you live like this?

but also again WHY THE FUCK NARUTO LIVED HIS ENTIRE GODDAMN LIFE ALONE??? HIRUZEN WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING? IT'S A FUCKING CHILD, WHY IS HE UNSUPERVISED? DO YOU REALLY EXPECT HIM TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO MANAGE THE MONEY, COOK AND CLEAN AFTER HIMSELF? YOU SORRY PIECE OF SHIT, YOUR GRANDSON HAS A PRIVATE TUTOR, BUT THE CHILD OF KONOHA'S HEROES WHO PRETTY MUCH ENTRUSTED HIM INTO THE VILLAGE'S CARE LIVES LIKE THIS?

Kushina has a full time job of wooping Hiruzen's ass in the afterlife, I swear to god

also let's talk about the absolutely horrendous conditions orphans in Konoha live in? There are more obvious cases like the kids that Root takes in, they are raised into emotionless killing machines since the first moment they become their training (child abuse🥰), but even kids who didn't catch ANBU's eye are just... Obviously, we've got Naruto and he's a case of straight up neglect from both his supposed caretakers (literally any of his future teachers, but particularly Jiraya who is supposed to be his goddamn godfather) and Hiruzen, but this is Kishi rewriting everything there ever was and by Mid-Shippuden Naruto is suddenly a literal prophesied hero, a messiah and loved by everyone and everything and those who hate him are either irredeemibly evil or poor little babies who are waiting for a pep talk by Naruto to turn good again (c) Anyway, we've got some bigger fish to fry and it's cases of Kakashi and Sasuke in particular. I am not really worried in cases of Obito and Neji, because both of them lived somewhere near their clans (even if their clan sucked absolute ass, sorry for your loss, Neji), so we can at least assume that some of the older members of their clans could keep an eye on them and, y'know, fucking FEED them, but Sasuke's and Kakashi's living situations are... oooof. I might be misremembering stuff, but in the manga Sasuke is never shown to move from his house, he in fact is shown to return home and cry over the bloodied floor of the room where Fugaku and Mikoto were killied (Hiruzen is a cleaning service really this fucking expensive jesus christ), so what we have is an orphaned kid who lives in the same house his parents were murdered, in the same house his big brother tortured him psychologically, in the same district where piles of his relatives' corpses were lying. Also completely alone.

Do I need to say anything, Hiruzen?

Kakashi is even worse, because not only he lived alone in the same house his only other living family member aka his dad ended his life, I believe that the blade he carried later also happened to be the family relic that his dad used in his final moments. On top of all that, he continued to live alone in that house even after his teammate sacrificed his life for his sake, gave him his eye and this eye happens to be the only thing that remained of said teammate because he was crushed alive. He continued to live alone in that house even after he accidentaly killed the girl he promised to protect with his life, but ended up using the jutsu he managed to develop after aquiring a Sharingan to end her life. He continued to live alone in that house even after his only remaining team member aka his teacher died in a freak accident when half of the village got destroyed.

God damn. Like, Obito's fate is absolutely horrendous, sure, but you gotta admit at least he had a reason to continue living. The only thing I can say about Kakashi is how the fuck did you live to 27 years.

tl; dr Kakuzu should've opened a therapy service for shinobi and Akatsuki could have simply bought off all of the Beasts simply with that money LMAO

Kishi could not draw girls for the life of him at the beginning of the manga and it shows lol, she's so scrunky

honestly relatable Naruto

also Sasuke's haircut looks like a duck's ass and the resemblances only grows stronger in Shippuden

fucking hell I really am just Naruto, aren't I...

oh look it's the canon event kid :D

the following 697 chapters will be spent attempting to explain to the readers that this scene does not in fact allude to the endgame ship. unsuccessfully, of course lmao.

seriously Kishi is so terrible at writing romance, the only believable and toleralable ship he had managed to produce through the entire 700 chapter run of the manga is MinaKushi and they're fucking dead

i think I'll be mentioning extensively later what I think about Kishimoto writing women in general (spoiler: I really don't think that most of Naruto female cast is even good, most of the time they are decent at best, even if my heart is filled to the brim with love to some of the girls, they simply can not compete with women written by other mangakas), but after 10 years since my first read of Naruto I still stand by the observation that my 13 year old self made at the time: sometimes it feels like Kishimoto not only never talked with a woman, but never even seen them in the first place

"why are you so homophobic Sakura-chan😱"

I swear I'm gonna have an aneurism if these 13 year old numbsticks are called "full-fledged shinobi", BRO THEY'RE GONNA DIE AFTER 5 MINUTES ON A SERIOUS MISSION

Okay, so another weird thing that I'm really not sure if is a rewrite/plothole/whatever, BUT

jonins aka the highest ranking you can be given unless your Kage happens to have a tragic untimely accident and you are chosen as the replacement are supposed to be really rare, like "you can count the number of them on your fingers" rare. Of course, Naruto's plot is constantly revolving around at least one jonin-level character, so we as readers see them in overabundance compared to what realistically should be taking place within the universe

here's a terrible illustration by yours and only on how the shinobi rankings should be spread out in general lmao.

Coming back to what Iruka says: why is it that jonins are supposed to be teaching the three-man teams of full-fledged shinobi children? Jonins are cream de la cream of the hierarchy, they are pretty much the highest ranking officers in the villages, save for the Kage, of course, I'm pretty sure they should be busy with something more important, like leading their own fully trained squads/divisions, not looking after little Timmiemaru and making sure that he doesn't accidentaly stab himself with a kunai. And come to think of it, the entire system is weirdly skewed, because Iruka is a chunin who teaches Academy kids who are below genins in the hierarchy, so at the end of the day we have Kages who (supposedly) work 24/7 on the external and interal affairs of the village and probably the country, jonins who do the missions and train genins, chunins who do the missions and train Academy kids and genins being genins. Now I am not advocating for 13 year olds to be teaching 7 year olds, but considering the fact that you need to pass a murder exam the chunin exam to get the rank, I think there should be quite the number of people who never pass/don't want to pass in the first place, so genins can be quite old and experienced enough to teach (hi Maito Dai).

Anyway, there's certainly more than 9 students in that room when Iruka announces that they are getting divided into teams. Did the remaining 18 guys got shafted? "We've only got three available jonins, so only the most talented kids/kids from important clans will be trained"? Or did the 18 guys got some sane teachers that didn't decide to send them to the murder exam after 6 months of missions? Wait, the kids are getting paid for the missions, right? I am not sure whether I should be worried about the unpaid child labor or the fact that 13 year olds (who should really be like 10 year olds judging by the amount of times Naruto flunked the Academy exam) have to enter the workforce at such an age.

(now these are the questions that should be raised by people hating on the shinobi system, Kishi, and not twenty flashbacks in a row to the girl they liked 17 years ago)

that's really awfully convinient that the new generation of InoShikaCho happened to have abilities approximately equal to the ones of other teams, huh, Iruka

(Konoha is built on Hashirama's wood and pure fucking nepotism lmaoooo)

jesus fucking chirst that's some choice of words from the translator

was the translator aware at the time that this is a 13 year old girl's monologue they are translating? i know teenagers are freaky, but this is supposed to be the official translation, why are we getting to the upper bound of PG rating

what even in the world is this dialogue

bro really be laser focused on Naruto since his first appearance huh

nevermind Sakura's bashing on Naruto's status as an orphan (which is really weird to me, because not only that 5 years before she and others in Kakashi's, Kurenai's and Asuma's teams were born there was a giant World War and realistically quite of few kids their age should've lost their parents there, but there also was this little incident with Nine-Tails running over everyone in the village the year they were born, so there should be A LOT of orphans of Sakura's age, yet she's being this... mean? I guess, I wouldn't call her cruel, to Naruto), I've got a bigger question: how the hell did you miss the news of Uchiha massacre and Sasuke's living situation? The kids were like 8 at the time, they should have heard of it, I mean, ONE OF THE FOUNDING CLANS AND A LARGE ONE AT THAT got murked in a single night, yet in the 5 following years Sakura never learned about it, being Sasuke's #1 fan? Maybe it's me misremembering stuff, buuuuut...

(anyway Kishi I've got a bigger question but where the fuck is the Senju clan? The poor repressed Uchiha clan by the time of the massacre stiil had dozens of members if not hundreds, but Senju clan, the other founding clan of similar size, just went poof?)

(my personal headcanon regarding this is that Tsunade during her 20 year long depressive episode took all of clans money and gambled it away :D so the remaining members of the Senju clan just kinda scattered through the countries trying to find the money for themselves and just distanced from the whole shinobi business)

THE MYTH THE MAN THE LEGEND!

Holy fuck I almost died laughing at his first interaction ever, like what the fuck is this.

Kakashi: his milk's expired. Hiruzen, nervously wiping away sweat: he's just clumsy! Kakashi: he's 13 and grew up without adult supervision, I'm not even sure if he can read the dates on the milk. Hiruzen: why are you being such a hater, Kakashi?🥺 Kakashi: not as much of a hater as my sensei and his wife are going to be to you in the afterlife, I guess.

also, Hiruzen, you know what is Kakashi even better choice for? VISITING FUCKING THERAPY

"You have a talent for sniffing things out", sniffing out what, the expired milk on mini-Minato? Gods Hiruzen you suckkkkk

that is a fucking threat and you know this, Hiruzen

LMAAAAAAAAAOOOOOO

you've got no idea, Kakashi

raising these dinguses is already an A rank mission bordering S, but how about accidentaly stumbling upon the guy who you assumed died over 15 years ago after being crushed into meat paste? :D