#if someone wrote a fic for me when I didn't have time to flesh it out I would be over the moon

[ravenvsfox]

soooo hypothetically if someone was inspired to write a fic based on someone else's 'brainworm' on twitter, posted it on ao3, credited and linked back to the original idea, sent the story to that user and offered to take it down if they weren't into it

and then. were told that that they were CARELESS and it was a GUT PUNCH to be robbed of the opportunity to write it and that it was unfair that they were being made into the bad guy by asking for it to be deleted

would that be like. a fair or crazy response

[salaimoi]

𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒔: GUYS THIS IS NOT A DRILL!! I finally wrote a fic that isn’t about GOJO?! whaaaaaaat is the world as we know it coming to an end? D:

Past lover Sukuna who originally took no interest in you being his wife, but eventually, your abiding love taught him to do so. But, it was far too late when you established that he was indeed capable of loving someone other than himself. Your demise caused him to lose the individual he held dearest in this world – replacing the affectionate sentiment that had been coursing through his heart with resentment.

Past lover Sukuna who had anticipated your fated return once more since the Heian Era, only for your rebirth to never arrive, even though millennia went by. The benevolent soul he eagerly waited for became ensnared in the depths of the underworld, unable to reincarnate into the mortal world.

Even then, he was more than certain that you weren’t at eternal rest because of the longing, the nostalgia, and the need to be together again that he felt. 

He knew your anima was among the 7 realms somewhere; all he had to do was wait for your return. Heaven could wait as long as it meant laying eyes on that precious face of yours once more.

Past lover Sukuna who noticed the spitting image of his deceased wife walking down the street that fateful day. He couldn’t pass up this opportunity to have you once more in this lifetime as well – even if it was borderline selfish. 

To bring back those good old times; to bring back what was his. 

To hold you. To own you. To conquer you. To possess you. To control your soul. To do whatever he wanted to with you. 

To be with you once again, reverting to a time when he could feel affection – the way he liked best.

Past lover Sukuna who gripped your arm vigorously out of the blue among the crowd, because Sukuna never knew boundaries – not when it came to his beloved. 

“You look familiar,” he said, “not only the uncanny face shape and the exact same expression… but also your scent.” His gaze unrelenting as he scanned every aspect of your being as if you were his property, to make sure it was you – and he was correct. 

You were the same woman Sukuna fell in love with 1000 years ago. Alas, his delicate swan had returned to him after eons of suffering, like he knew you would.

Past lover Sukuna who noticed you squirming under his grip and scolded you, sharp nails digging at your flesh. 

“You shouldn’t be acting like this; it isn’t decent behavior for the reincarnation of my cherished wife to act in such a manner.” 

But you didn't remember a life before this one, nor did you recall his name or even the fact that you were once his most prized possession. 

Past lover Sukuna who waited over a thousand years just for his beloved to reincarnate into a mortal. He knew he wasn’t capable of loving anybody nearly as much as he loved her. And now...now she's back.

When you left this world, you took all – if any – of the sense of compassion he had. No one in the history of sorcerers and curses alike could come close to comprehending the misery he endured with each passing day.

Time and time again, reliving his wife’s death in his subconscious. Powerless to intervene as he witnessed the life drain out of her and transfer onto his fingertips.

“I missed you all those years, and I can't have the same fate happening again. I'm not going to let you die the way you did in your past life, got it?" Never forgetting to conceal the anguish in his words, as to not let himself be too vulnerable.

Past lover Sukuna who was hellbent on evoking in you the sentiment of what it was like to be his spouse. Even if it meant having to recreate every single romantic scenario he ever experienced with you a second time.

“I finally have you with me again. All I need to do is make you remember the feelings you had for me in your previous life, and then you'll have your past self fully restored.”

To you, it would entail falling in love with him all over again; to him, it would be a refresher on what you once shared. A win-win scenario.

Past lover Sukuna who began to notice the essence of that past life slowly merging with your current self, fusing the two identities into one. The love she felt a thousand years ago was slowly reawakening. All while Sukuna stood there in awe of the magnificent sight he was witnessing; the sight of his beloved being reborn again. The reunion of two souls was happening before his eyes, and it was almost emotional to see.

Past lover Sukuna whose heart felt heavy from the weight of joy and relief that he felt. He finally reunited with his once-lost lover. The essence of her former life was fully restored once more as she was standing right next to him. It seemed unreal to see her with his own eyes – his beloved was back, at long last. The eternal years of hardship for the sake of his plan were finally worth it.

Current lover Sukuna whose fingers ran through the locks sprawled over his lap – calming the both of you to no bounds when his fingernails rake through your scalp. His free hand holding onto your wrist tightly, because he had to be sure no one would snatch you from his grasp a second time.

“I missed you so damn much…more than you could ever possibly imagine.”

Current lover Sukuna who finally admitted to his feelings for the first time in millennium, because he missed you more than anything in this infernal world.

Current lover Sukuna who admired you with a soft expression, shocked at how angelic you were even after a thousand years.

“You still look as gorgeous as you did a lifetime ago.” words dripping with genuine adoration as he gazed down at his wife.

Current lover Sukuna who wondered how that was possible in the first place. Surely, granting him access to a companion of your caliber – with such a pure heart and soul – was a mistake of some kind?

Current lover Sukuna who thought, “All is right in this world again.” to himself. Because it was. You were by his side once more – right where you belonged.

[chappellroansdreamgirl]

ellie with a mean gf!

(prjoecting like a mf rn...)

a/n - i have been very unmotivated to write full-fleshed stuff so i'm deciding to write drabbles/headcannons for now. also THANK YOU FOR ALL THE ATTENTION ON CH.1 OF GOOD LUCK, BABE! it makes my heart smile that you guys love it so much... also😭😭...: @sweetcici11 srry that i lied and said ur fic would be out a few nights ago. i'm really trying to finish it but i don't want to rush it and it be shitty. i really want it to be enjoyable and as good as it can be. but i PROMISE you it WILL be posted... sooner or later! i also have a few more drafts to finish too, so, i hope you guys like them when they come out!!!!!

content warnings - fluff, i'm a bitch and i want to feel loved and think that someone can put up with my cuntiness😝😝 , over-usage of commas probably, i think they're low-key kind of toxic?!?!?!?! , guys i promise i'm not this bad i've just been pretty insufferable these last few days and need an outlet 😭😭 .

i wrote way more than i thought i was going to...

------------------------------------------------------------

- you both hated each other at first. ...well actually, you hated her, and she was like, "😞😞" and then got used to it after a while and started being mean back 2 u!!

- dina introduced ellie to you when you both were hanging out with her. "you guys are going to love each other🥰!" ... you didn't 🤗 !

- ellie said hi to you and all you did was look her up and down, stare at her for a few seconds and then turn your head.

- everytime ellie would (attempt to) strike up a conversation you would give an overtly enthusiastic response or just stare at her like she had two heads or just blatantly ignore her. dina is over there like, '😟😟 . can we not have one good day...' when dina would leave for short periods of time and ellie was sure that you didn't like her, she would just talk about anything to get your blood boiling, our girl lllloooovvveessss to push buttons, we know this to be true.

- it got worse yet more tolerable after that. whenever she'd see you at gatherings or parties, you'd do your damnest to stay away from/avoid her. and she'd do her damnest to get you as upset with her as possible. it always ended with not-so-playful not-so-friendly banter!

- you were talking with jesse about something on the couch, and ellie came over and DELIBERATELY, DELIBERATELY... interrupted you 🤗 ! :

you shoot daggers at her face with your eyes, your jaw set hard and your eyes narrowed.

ellie tried to feign innocence, raising a brow at you after she looked over to see your facial expressions long after she felt them.. "what are you looking at me like that for🤨🤨?" , "i was fucking talking, you're being rude." , "if i have to get used to you being a bitch, you got to do the same." , you just huffed at her response and crossed your arms before walking off a few minutes after, realizing that the conversation you were having with jesse earlier was indeed over. ellie smirked to herself, victory was her's!

- she started calling you the nickname brat out of the blue... it blindsided tf out of you. here's the origin story!:

you look at ellie with a disgusted look on your face as she exhales smoke. her glazed over eyes meet yours before she offers the joint to you, out of genuine kindness. "want a hit?" she asked, forgetting how much of a bitch you were for, like, 0.2 seconds. you glare at her for a moment longer before plastering a sarcastic smile on your face, snatching the joint from her fingertips and dropping it onto the floor. you kept her eyes on yours as you stomped and smushed it into the ground.

now she remembered.

she stood up instantaneously, she was pissed. "what the fuck?!" she shouted, earning a few looks from some friends across the room. they strained their necks for a little bit before they saw you, it made sense now, and then turned back to the conversation.

you close your eyes for a slight second as a satisfied smile graced the corners of your lips. "you know i don't smoke, ellie." you responded with in a condescendingly sweet voice.

she didn't even argue with you. "you're such a fuckin' brat." she muttered under her breath before walking away. you had to try your very best to ignore the heartbeat in your pussy. (🤗!)

- she didn't get to see how much effect that title had on you that night, but she noticed afterwards.

- one time you didn't say anything to ellie during a hangout, distracted by someone you disliked more than her. ellie kind of missed it☹️☹️ .

you were brought out of your thoughts when you felt her cold hand touch your shoulder. when you noticed it was her who was doing it, you pulled back with a furrow of her brows. ellie smiled. there she was.

"you haven't said one mean thing to me since i've gotten here. are you dying?"

you scoffed as you pointed in the direction your anger was radiating from. it was a girl ellie saw here and there in jackson, sometimes she was paired with her during patrols, she wasn't crazy about her but she paid no mind to her existence.

"what?- what does this have to do with me-"

"what it has to do with you, is that you should feel honored that i can tolerate you... can't fuckin' stand that bitch."

ellie scoffed before speaking up once more, "oh, c'mon you're being dramatic. don't be a brat."

your eyes went wide for a second and as you turned away, she could see the cheek that was facing her turn an embarrassing shade of red. she found your weakness.

- when you guys started dating, no one, and i mean NO ONE, believed it. (i don't feel like writing how u two got together maybe if y'all like this enough i'll make a full-fleshed oneshot abt it😭.)

- joel saw you guys together... like, not arguing, and HER head on YOUR shoulder... he thought he got laced with acid for a quick second there... jesse felt like he missed a couple chapters and felt very sad that he hadn't caught onto it quicker... and dina was so proud of herself, "told you, you guys would love each other 😁." she's so smug, I LOVE HER!

- she constantly has to reprimand you like you're a child when you guys are around someone you obviously don't like for whatever reason. once whoever left the room, ellie'll pinch your shoulder or your thigh, whatever skin is on display at the moment, not too hard, just to get you to wince a bit. you'll make a face at her afterwards. "ow, what the fuck was that for ellie?" , "we can talk shit when we get home, don't make a scene🙄." you stress her out sometimes...

- just bcs you guys are together DOES NOT mean your attitude has gone away.

whenever ellie and you have gotten in an argument, you're always being extra sarcastic and EXTRA BITCHY just to get on her nerves.

"baby, have you seen my gun?" she asks you, breaking the silence voluntarily as she's two minutes from being late to patrol.

you don't look up to her, you keep on looking at the pages of an old magazine. "idk ellie, did you check to see if it was shoved up your ass."

she just stands there for a second like this 🧍‍♀️ , before sighing and walking somewhere else to find it. "i'll fuckin' deal with you later." she mutters under her breath, obviously annoyed. you smirk to yourself as you flip another page.

- she does love, however, that you've gotten gentler with her since the relationship blossomed between you two. very few people (dina and ellie... sometimes jesse.) can get you to stop, and ellie is proud of herself that she could add beast-tamer to the top of her list of many skills and talents.

- sometimes she has to calm you down, sometimes all it takes is a stare in your direction. ... well, it's oftentimes a glare... you're your own woman/person and a relationship will not restrict you from showing off your talents!!!!!

- ellie has to constantly keep you from getting into arguments that could harm you physically. although your craft of bitchery is amazing, you can't fight to save your life.

she'll be pulling you back like an angry barking dog on a leash.

"i could've fucking took h-" , "you overestimate yourself a lot, baby."

[lomlhotchner]

❛ ethereal! ❜ … aaron hotchner

warnings: plus size!reader, talks about insecurities, talks abt body image issues and insecurities, but it gets a little suggestive towards the end ;)

a/n: comfort fic for big girls like me <3 i wrote this when i was feeling a little down and i didn’t have the gut to finish it but here we go 🤍 i know everyone is probably tired of a chubby!reader fic where she is insecure but believe me when i say that every fic i write i always have a plus size reader in mind, this is just more specific i hope this doesn’t rub yall the wrong way 🫶

main masterlist!

you are bigger than what society claims how you should be. you always shop in the guys station when you're out because the large sizes in the girls area just didn't make sense. you have more flesh and fat in some areas that sometimes it makes you insecure but other times make you feel like you're pretty.

you do think you’re pretty.

sometimes.

but when you don’t, you just don’t.

to be with someone is to also accept their flaws and problems. and aaron thinks he has a lot of problems. problems that can be seen as a burden for some people.

but not to you.

never to you.

“hey sweetheart.” aaron muttered in a small voice as he wrapped his hands around your hips. head tucking in the crook of your neck. “you look absolutely stunning.” he press kisses at the sides of your neck making you flush.

“thank you, baby.” turning your head to give his lips a soft peck. your eyes moved back to the mirror in front of you, staring at your reflection. the sage green dress didn’t look the same on you as it did on the first time. a frown takes over your face.

aaron picks up on this immediately, “what’s wrong?” his rough hands massaging your chubby hips. his chin resting on your shoulder, as he stared into your eyes through the mirror.

“nothing.” you shook your head, eyes turned downwards, “i just liked the way i looked in this dress last week. now, it’s just— i don’t know. it’s different now.”

a sigh made aaron furrow his eyebrows, “what do you mean? you look gorgeous then, you look gorgeous now.” he insisted, thumbs softly caressing your sides.

you shrugged, you didn’t know how to explain it. “i don’t now, its just weird. i have this thing were if i look at myself for too long then i’ll notice everything that’s wrong with me.” inside of your cheeks bitten in frustration, you don’t like being weak in front of aaron. not when he’s so strong.

aaron’s heart dropped at your words. he turned you around, eyes determined and sharp, “you are the most beautiful, precious, prettiest person i have laid my eyes on.” he started, your mouth opened to reject but one look from aaron has you shutting your mouth, “and you’re so so sexy.” he almost whines, forehead pressing against yours. “i sometimes can’t think straight when i look at you.” the corners of your mouth curved upwards, making aaron melt, “i love everything about you.” a kiss to your nose, “and i know my words won’t probably shut those nasty thoughts in your head i hope i can at least quiet them.”

“aaron-“ your eyes widen as he went on his knees, his slacks straining against his thighs, “you’re gonna be late for work-“

he ignored you, grabbing the back of your thick thighs, scrunching the dress of your fabric up, making way for his lips to attack your skin, “you’re so hot.” a nibble on your thigh made you whimper, “fuck, i love the sounds you make.”

your hands went to tangle in his dark locks, “baby, you don’t have to do this-“

he groaned, breath hot on your skin, “i love it when you call me baby.” his fingers trailed the edge of your panties. squeezing the soft fat there, “you’re fucking ethereal. heaven sent just for me.” he whispered, leaving kisses all around your thighs. “you are everything to me.” he repeated, his brown eyes looking up at you softly, molten irises full of love and desire for you.

for you.

for you.

for you.

“everything.” he whispered softly, begging— pleading for you to understand.

and maybe these insecurities won’t fully go away, but aaron definitely did help made you feel better. so much better.

reblog for a kiss 💋

[angelicsoka]

YOU’RE SOMEBODY ELSE, t. zegras & h. brothers

part two <3

word count | 1.4k

pairings | trevor zegras x fem!hughes!reader, platonic!luke hughes x sister!reader, platonic!quinn hughes x sister!reader, platonic!jack hughes x sister!reader, 

summary | the youngest hughes sibling is slowly becoming someone she can’t recognize

warnings | mentions of self-harm, suicidal ideation, and depression. ANGST. not proofread. this is not a very happy fic, based on the song you’re somebody else by flora cash. no use of "y/n". lowercase intended. uses of the nicknames for reader include: miss sunshine, bub, & kid

a/n | i’m surprised with how my other post turned out, i definitely was not expecting that lol. here's another sad fic, based on another sad song. i wrote this at 1 am when i couldn’t sleep, so i apologize if this sucks. 

you held the balance of the time

that only blindly i could read you

but i could read you

it's like you told me

go forward slowly

it's not a race to the end

she was their sunshine. the youngest hughes sibling and luke’s twin sister was an open book. she wore her heart on her sleeve, and was the sweetest soul around. she had her brothers  wrapped around her finger, and it didn’t take long for trevor zegras to fall for her enchanting smile. he made her happy, something only her family had ever truly achieved. quinn remembered the moment she ran into his room, threw herself on his bed as she squealed: “quinny, i think i’m in love!”

quinn held a soft smile on his face as she went on and on about the date trevor had taken her on. she had trusted him to hold this secret until the couple was ready to tell the two other hughes brothers, who would more than likely overreact. “well, bub, i’m happy for you, but if he hurts you, you tell me and i’ll break his face.” quinn promised, laughing when she hit his shoulder in retaliation. 

“please, as if!” she laughed, getting up to hug quinn. “thanks, quinny. i love you.”

“i love you too, kid.” quinn watched as she practically bounced out of his room. she was so clearly in love, blinded by it even. maybe that's where everything went wrong. maybe they moved too fast, maybe she needed to learn to truly love herself before she could truly love him.

you were the better part

of every bit of beating heart that i had

whatever i had

i finally sat alone

pitch black flesh and bone

couldn't believe that you were gone

trevor zegras loved her, he loved her more than he thought he would ever be able to love someone. and it wasn’t that she didn't love him, it was that she didn't love herself. she made trevor a better person, made him want to do right by others. if she had taken the time to take care of herself like she had taken care of everyone else, maybe they could’ve made it. maybe, he had loved her too much. maybe, they were doomed from the start.

now, trevor was alone, unsure of what to do. she had left him, claiming that she wasn’t ready. that she loved him, but she could never love him like how he loved her. that she didn’t know how to love herself, so how could she love him? still, trevor blamed himself. he was angry that he couldn’t have shown her how much good she brought to this cruel world. he spent too many nights stuck in thought about her, about how things could’ve been different.

she spent too many nights stuck in thought about how the world would be better without her. about how things would be better for everyone if she was gone.

well, you look like yourself

but you're somebody else

only it ain't on the surface

well, you talk like yourself

no, i hear someone else though

now you're making me nervous

change is inevitable. it is bound to happen, yet the youngest hughes sibling feared change. she felt herself becoming a person she could no longer recognize, it was like her body was a house that had been intruded by unwelcome visitors. she looked the same, yet she had changed so much. 

she never told her brothers the real reason she had broken up with trevor, instead she simply told them they had grown apart. however, one look at trevor zegras told them it was more than just that. it was after that they began to notice the subtle changes in her: the joyous laughs that use to fill the lake house were much more quiet and less frequent, and her smile never quite met her eyes.

it was after luke caught a glimpse of the scars that littered his twin’s thighs and stomach that they knew it was serious. luke tried to talk to her, to figure out what was going on but she would find anyway to divert the conversation, to get away from the inevitable change.

luke led his twin into the basement where quinn and jack were waiting. he had promised a movie night, just him and his sister and god, did he feel guilty about what he was about to do. he quickly shut the door, blocking her only way out. the look on her face made him want to break down. the once bright, bubbly girl looked nervous and so very tired. tired like she knew she couldn’t keep going like this without telling someone.

she took one look at her older brothers before breaking down in sobs. luke was quick to embrace her, jack and quinn on their feet in an instant. the words tumbled out, the need to tell someone being so unbearably overwhelming.

“i can’t do it anymore. i can’t keep living like this. i can’t look in a fucking mirror because i hate myself! i hate how i look, the way i talk and laugh! that’s why i do this to myself because i fucking deserve it!” she rolled up her sleeve, revealing the healing scars.

 “there’s this fucking war going on in my head and i’m losing. i can’t keep going, i don’t wanna keep going! i wish that i could go back to when i was a kid, to when i wasn’t so fucked in the head.” the words just kept coming, as well as the tears. she couldn’t see it, but her brothers were in shambles at this revelation. the fact that their sister hated herself so much she would physically hurt herself, that she couldn’t see how much she meant to them. “maybe i’m just better off dead.”

“don’t say that, don’t you ever fucking say that or even think that.” luke pulled back, looking to his sister. 

“bub, why didn’t you tell us you felt this way?” quinn questioned, watching as she took the tissue jack offered her. she sat on the couch, pulling her knees to her chest. jack sat beside her, looking at her with teary eyes. luke was on her other side, his arm wrapped around her shoulders. quinn sat in front of her, a broken look on his face; he was the oldest of them all, he was supposed to protect them. why couldn’t he have protected her from this?

“i didn’t want to be a burden.” she sniffled, avoiding eye contact. jack scoffed beside her, pulling her gaze to him. 

“you? a burden? miss sunshine, you could never be a burden. your feelings are not a burden.” she felt relieved, glad that she would not have to carry this weight alone. tears began to cascade down her face as she allowed jack to hug her. she cried as her twin and oldest brother joined.

“you are so loved, miss sunshine. so fucking loved.” quinn kissed her forehead, a smile creeping on to her face. 

“thank you.” she rasped out, drying her eyes. she fell silent for a moment, deep in thought. “i was promised a movie night…” she trailed off, a smile adorning her face. this time it reached her eyes. “but first, i have someone i need to talk to.”

she stood up, walking to the basement bathroom. she closed the door behind her, taking a seat on the lid of the toilet. she dialed a number on her phone, hesitating slightly before she hit the call button. it rang a couple times before he picked up. “hey, z, you busy?”

“are you alright?”

“yeah, yeah, i’m okay. just really needed to hear your voice.” she smiled, even though he couldn’t see it.

“are you sure you’re okay?” he questioned, concern clear in his voice.

“yeah, i'll explain everything when you get here next week, i just needed to hear your voice.” she heard distant voices on his end, followed by rustling as he pulled the phone away from his ear. 

“i’m sorry, but i gotta go.” he sounded upset, still clearly very concerned about her.

“that's okay, z. uh, before you go, i’m sorry... about everything.”

“its okay, it'll all be okay.” more distant voices could be heard, “i gotta go, i love you.” he ended the call, probably not realizing what he had said. it was in that moment, she knew everything would be alright.

i saw the part of you

that only when you're older, 

you will see too

you will see too

[jarenka]

Remember this plot bunny? I was thinking about it again and I was like: Nah, Anakin wouldn't be able win against Palpatine to get him arrested. But he can kill Palpatine! So I wrote a fic where Anakin time-travels in the middle of Clone Wars, immediately kills the Chancellor and now Jedi Order need to do something about it because they can't just say: "Sorry, but Anakin Skywalker just returned here from the dark future and killed Palpatine because he was an evil genocidal wizard who planned to take over the Republic. Thank you for your attention."

“How did you find out that Chancellor Palpatine was directly connected with the separatists?”

“He told me himself”.

“Why would he tell you this? Don't you think this is a bit strange behavior for a person who allegedly has been cooperating with the separatists in deep secrecy for many years?”

“We are…” Anakin sighed. It was a touchy question. "Chancellor Palpatine and I were close friends. He proposed... to join him. He miscalculated”.

It isn’t entirelly true. Palpatine hasn’t yet invited Anakin to join him. He bent over his "dear friend", who fainted in his apartment when they had lunch together.

“Anakin, what's going on?.. I need to call a doctor,” Palpatine’s voice came to him distorted. Anakin was dead. He didn't know where he was or why he was hearing a real voice. He didn't know why he felt someone else's hand on top of his own. His lightsaber landed in his palm, and Anakin directed it to the place where the voice was coming from without hesitation. There was a smell of burnt wool and burnt flesh. Something heavy fell on him. When Anakin finally regained full consciousness, Chancellor Palpatine was lying there, completely dead, with a hole from a lightsaber in his chest.

“Why did Chancellor Palpatine invite you to join him?”

Anakin shrugged.

“I don't know.”

“Can you make a guess?”

“Perhaps he was dissatisfied with Dooku.”

Catch Dooku and ask, Anakin wanted to say, but for the past month Obi-Wan and lawyer Laila Hetty have been training him to answer questions correctly.

“So, you don't know for sure?”

“That's exactly what I have said.”

A military expert, a witness for the defense, will confirm that Dooku has failed several important operations in recent months. Perhaps Palpatine had a hand in his failures, but no one will ever know about it.

“What exactly did Chancellor Palpatine offer you?”

They set foot on very dangerous ground. Anakin needed to lie convincingly.

Anakin heard Obi-Wan's tired voice in his head, “You've been a Sith for over twenty years. You should be good at lying!"

He uttered the phrase he had memorized with Obi-Wan: “He offered me a place as commander-in-chief of the Republican army if I help him to prolong the war as much as he needs.”

“How can you, as a Jedi, hold such a post?"

Anakin sighed.

“Chancellor Palpatine wanted to get rid of the Jedi.”

There were whispers in the hall. Anakin tried to ignore them.

“Why?”

“You'd better talk to the members of the Council about this.”

“Did Chancellor Palpatine just casually tell you that he wanted to destroy the Order?”

Anakin closed his eyes and opened them again. He had to remind himself that everyone around him could see his face.

“I myself confessed to him that the Council suspected him of having ties with the separatists and was going to... take action.”

Obi-Wan Kenobi and Adi Gallia will speak on behalf of the Council. They will both say that some members of the council have long suspected that a very high-ranking official works with separatists, and some of them have already begun to suspect Palpatine. Obi-Wan won't be able to remember exactly if he and Anakin talked about it, but it's quite likely — after all, they were very close and discussed a lot of different things among themselves. Another witness for the defense will be an inhibitor chip specialist who will demonstrate that among the orders of the clone army there is an order to destroy the Jedi. He will indicate that this order was sewn in initially, during clone army creation. It’s not that important to Anakin’s case, both officials and independent investigators are now looking into clones’ creation.

“So, Master Skywalker, let's talk about why Chancellor Palpatine decided that you would agree to his proposal.”

I have no idea, Anakin wanted to reply.

“Remember,” he heard Obi-Wan say, “you need to present a convincing story to the jury. You killed Palpatine, it's quite obvious, but you can be acquitted.”

Anakin looked at the jury once again. They were ordinary inhabitants of Coruscant of different ages and races. Who do they see in front of them? The former posterboy of the Republic, pale and disheveled, with dark circles under his eyes. In the morning before the hearing Ahsoka tried to help him clean up, but she had no idea what to do with human hair. Maybe it's even better this way. The jury will think he's suffering terribly after he murdered Palpatine.

“Chancellor Palpatine,” Anakin began, “had already talked about me leaving the Order. He... he knew about my disagreements with the Council and was ready to help me settle on my own on Coruscant.”

“Were your disagreements with the Council that serious?”

“Perhaps I... exaggerated a little in my conversations with the Chancellor, and he thought that my conflict with the Council was much more serious than it really was.”

Anakin in fact remembered that the Council couldn't stand him, and everyone there didn't like him, except Obi-Wan. He thought they would hate him even more when they found out about everything he had done. Anakin was no longer one of them, he had been a Sith longer than he had been a Jedi, right before his death he turned away from the Dark Side but committed numerous crimes before it. And yet the Order came to his defense. It would be much more convenient for them to leave Anakin at the mercy of Republican justice. He would have received a life sentence for the murder of the chancellor and spent the rest of his life in prison. Anakin was ready for such a fate. It was still better than becoming a Sith, and better than losing Padme. She will stay alive, and maybe even visit him in prison.

Instead, the Council insisted on keeping Anakin in the Temple instead of handing him over to the Coruscant detention center. Master Windu came to him and said: “Anakin, you will be judged by a jury, but I'm afraid they won’t like a time-travel story.”

“I know,” Anakin replied. “You didn't have to come here to tell me about it.”

It seemed to him then that Master Windu wanted to gloat. This was a stupid thing to think.

“During the investigation, they will most likely find some evidence that the chancellor passed information to the separatists. And if you prepare well for the trial, you may be acquitted. We will help you.”

“Why would you help me? I'm not a Jedi anymore.”

“That's not true. You're still a Jedi knight, you have a Padawan, and you killed a Sith who planned to seize power in the Republic and destroy the Order. It's the least we can do for you."

Anakin chuckled.

“The least”? And then what counts as “the most"?”

“We won’t talk about it, it’s illegal”.

Mace Windu smiled with the corner of his mouth.

“I know a very good lawyer,” he said. “She and Master Kenobi will help you prepare for the interrogations.”

After that Mace Windu came to him more than once, asked about the Sith, brought datachips with holodramas and recordings of theatrical plays. Obi-Wan brought him records of pod races and his favorite books. Anakin's cell was spacious enough to train, and he had long been used to doing it alone. It turned out that even the prison in the Temple was a much cozier place than his castle on Mustafar or his personal quarters abroad of the “Executor”.”

Adi Gallia came to ask him about Palpatine's ties with different shady groups. Anakin knew about them, although Palpatine didn’t reveal everything even to Darth Vader, his apprentice and right hand man.

“Are you going to conduct your own investigation?” he asked.

“I'm afraid the Order can't afford to investigate. But we can tell someone where exactly they need to dig.”

Anakin was sure that she was talking about official investigators with unnecessary secrecy, and had no good feelings about it. Most likely they, too, were corrupted by Palpatine and would not investigate his machinations too actively, if they didn’t want to accidentally investigate themselves.

A month and a half later, Obi-Wan brought him a datachip and with a large joint investigation of The Evening News and The Point that Chancellor Palpatine was transferring money to several criminal organizations through shady firms under the jurisdiction of the Confederacy of Independent Systems. Journalists were able to trace some money to bounty hunters who carried out the chancellor's orders.

“Six months ago,” Obi-Wan said, “someone killed two The Point journalists who were investigating the creation of a clone army.”

“Has anyone reacted to this article?”

“Oh, it caused a full scale outrage. Our media was scaring us with separatists and bounty hunters for years and now it turns out that the Chancellor of the Republic is tied to both of them.”

“It won't hurt the Chancellor in any way. He's dead.”

“But it means that the Chancellor has committed treason, and you... hmm, maybe you didn't act very wisely, because the Chancellor should be convicted by the court, but at the end of the day your actions were justifiable.”

“He's a Sith, he couldn't have been arrested. He would have had time to give the order to destroy the Jedi. And besides, he could bribe investigators and judges.”

“We know that. But for an ordinary citizen of the Republic, you broke the law and killed the Chancellor instead of initiating an investigation. You need to show that you had no other choice, and you acted in the interests of the Republic.”

“So, the last question. Let's go back to why you killed Chancellor Palpatine instead of reporting him to the authorities?”

This last question was perhaps the most difficult. He couldn't answer it directly. Anakin had many reasons to kill Palpatine, but nobody would believe a time-travel story. Jedi agreed not to touch on this topic at the trial.

It's good that Obi-Wan came up with a plausible explanation for me, he thought. During the time they were preparing for the trial, Anakin even managed to convince himself that Obi-Wan has a point.

“At first I planned to do so. The Chancellor committed high treason, he should have been arrested,” he replied. “But I've known Chancellor Palpatine for a long time. He is… he was a very careful person, and he always had a backup plan. As you said, he wouldn’t just confess his crimes to me, a Jedi General," Anakin thought that here he might be suspected of insincerity. He was speaking in Obi-Wan's words, not his own. — “And then I realized that the Chancellor would not let me live if I refused to join him. Probably he planned to poison me, but I didn't think about it back then. I just realized that I would not have the opportunity to inform someone about his crimes. General Skywalker would accidentally die of natural causes, and Chancellor Palpatine would continue to act on his plans.”

To his surprise, one of the policemen later confirmed that they found a container full of lycaea extract in the Chancellor's apartment. It was a rare poison from Outer Rim that couldn’t be detected with standard tests, and the consequences of poisoning looked like a heart attack. “How did you guess he would have the poison?” Anakin asked Obi-Wan later. “If I were him, I would keep something like this in case of an emergency. Being a Sith he could kill a person with his lightsaber or strangle them with the Force, but such a death wouldn’t look natural. "Natural" deaths occur mainly from poison.”

[saruin]

I can agree that Veilguard has its issues, there are some things I’m not a big fan of and some choices that as someone who’s played through the entirety of the series multiple times and read the books/comics don’t make a lick of sense to me, but overall it’s a good game imo. I’ve been taking my time and exploring in it but to me it read like if DA2 was given time to be fleshed out properly while still being new. I think because of the lore and previous writing they wrote themselves into a bit of a corner, but that’s was inevitable at some point. If this is supposed to be a soft reboot then maybe that means the next game goes back to having that more open choice RPG feel people are saying it’s missing

Personally, I went in with no expectations because I love this franchise and I know most of my headcanons and thoughts aren’t EA’s world state, which is fine. But I’ve been really enjoying the game. The combat is a bit of a learning game curve compared to what we’ve had before but the heart of the games has always been the story and the interaction you have with your companions but that’s just me. People can be mad and upset and complain about being a “DA purist” or complain that they don’t like the art style but at its core everyone has a different experience and connection to the game and no single DA game looks like another. The styles are all different! And if something doesn’t match with your story for your player character you can literally write fix-it fics and headcanons if you’re really mad about it *cough cough all of us who wanted the Hawke/Varric romance that they scrapped*

At the end of the day, I’d say take everything everyone’s been saying about the game with a (large) grain of salt. Take your time, explore, and enjoy it. It’s a got beautiful scenery, you can pet the cats and Mabari, and the cc for both Rook and the Inquisitor made me tear up because I literally haven’t seen my girl in 3 years and here she is with pretty flowing hair and still (in my mind because I haven’t seen her in game yet) is a rebel with a cause

Sorry for the long rant and rambling also, it’s just neat seeing creators and blogs I follow on here get excited about what is pretty much my favorite game series when in my offline experience is that it’s a very niche series to like. Also love your content for sims btw! I always get excited seeing when you’ve got something new cooking

Thank you for this. I think it's easy for people to forget that everyone doesn't experience games the same way. I don't listen to critics and I ignore people's opinions on stuff I'm genuinely excited about because I want to judge it with my own two eyes. I appreciate other people's perspective but I don't have to agree with them, what fun is that.

I remember when I was about to start playing Mass Effect and was asking friends for input (cause I didn't understand at the time that people could be extremely biased) I was told over and over again that ME3 was the worst game ever and to not even play it, to just get the story online somewhere. Well I ended up playing it despite their opinions and ME3 is my favorite game in the series.

Thank you again for giving me your opinions and I'm so happy you're enjoying the game. Also thanks so much for liking my content 🩷

[ddarker-dreams]

Hi! I have a question, you can ignore this if you want to but I’ve found myself really loving the way you write and the range of writing you can articulate as well. Speaking from someone who is nowhere close to that level of skill you possess, would you mind being able to explain your journey of writing, if you practiced any particular methods or anything else to get to this stage you are at right now? Unless you have been gifted the talent of writing from birth and didn’t need to try for much long or long enough to call it a journey. Could you also spare some tips and advice for someone who wants to start writing stories and what to look into/practice?

I love your work a lot and I am constantly waiting for the notification of your new posts, despite not being a writer myself I do love breaking down and analysing writing and your stories are always such good options for me to look into. Thank you so much for writing and sparing your time to produce such well done pieces of work — I felt extremely corny writing this, excuse me for this language, I promise I’m not a pimp!

THIS ISN'T CORNY AT ALL!!!! ❌🌽❌!!!!

i'm deeply grateful for all your kind words, thank you so so much 😭

i don't mean this in a self-deprecating way, but i've never considered myself a gifted or super incredible writer, i just get hype about story ideas and try to make them as good as i can. due to that, i start sweating when people ask for advice because i don't consider myself qualified... i do have a writing advice tag, but take everything i say with a grain of salt!! if it's fanfic literally all that matters is that you enjoy whatever you're writing.

i'm more than happy to share my writing journey though!! it's kinda fun to reminiscence.

i've loved reading and writing ever since i was a little lock. while thinking about this ask, it occurred to me that what i've always been the most invested in are the characters. i'd think about 275894275 different storylines with them. i didn't start writing fanfic until i was around 11 though, everything was handwritten. or in flipnote hatena.

i did a lot of fanfic writing from 11-14 buuuut then my interest in it kinda fizzled out. it wasn't until i watched hxh for the first time that i took it up again bc chrollo is that powerful. that's when i started conceptualizing HWR. i looked at my early writing folder, the first HWR fanfic i wrote was in 2016 when i was 15 ?? here's a cursed excerpt:

anyway, once i started making googly eyes at chrollo, it was gg. i've been writing often ever since.

what's helped me the most is to focus on the elements i find interesting. for example, i like fleshing out my MCs, focusing on dialogue, and developing a universe around the main pairing. because i enjoy this so much it's (mostly) always easy to devote time and effort toward it.

so i think it comes down to finding out what niches you like and working with those. some writers prefer to write with heavy prose, others are more succinct, some writers like dialogue, others prefer to be more action based... etc etc. this does require a little time if you're completely new to writing, but you know yourself best. you'll eventually pick up on what part of the story you're most excited to write.

this isn't particularly mind-blowing or anything but i hope it helps some 😭 what completely Altered my mindset was when i realized i can be as self-indulgent as humanly possible. cringe is not in my vocabulary. write a MC where every single character is in love with them if you want. write a 100k word fic about your OC being isekaid into x world. post about your f/os, draw art of you with your fav, go ham.

[ghostinthegallery]

Hey there!! I really enjoyed your insight the other day about how writing a serial differs from a plotted-out-and-written-in-advance novel! As someone who's just dipping my toes into posting as I write, any chance you could give some advice or tips you've learned about that style of writing specifically? 💚

(from @inquisitor-gayfax)

Why yes! I'd love to (thank you for giving me the excuse XD)

The main thing I have realized is that experience with traditional, "complete on arrival" novels is actually super helpful for serial writing. The principles of character writing, world building, and all that still apply, but even more importantly the beats you want your story to hit are all pretty much the same. You want that into, the inciting incident, the midpoint turn, etc. Those are all vital to keeping your story on track. Especially as serials are prone to meandering. It is so easy to get lost and lose sight of the forest for the trees. For me, always checking with myself that I am hitting or actively working towards those major beats helps to keep me on track.

Also note that one big thing will be different is the length. Serials tend to get much longer and thus the beats are stretched out. The length is because each chapter essentially functions as a short story in and of itself. It has to be a satisfying reading experience on its own as well as in the context of the larger work. This oftentimes means fleshing things out more than you otherwise would and bam, longer work. (not necessarily as long as I often go! but the tendency is there). FWIW, I find editing these chapters as I got to be much easier than editing a whole novel. I do miss being able to move big chunks and scenes around (cut and paste, my beloved), but it is worth the tradeoff to me.

The nature of the chapters functioning as short stories (minus a definitive ending of course) is probably going to be the biggest difference if you are someone who writes the entire thing ahead of time and then posts chapter by chapter, as opposed to posting as you write or posting with a backlog but not a finished novel.

Now, the other biggest difference if you are posting as you go is that you will not have the chance to revise the entire story the way you do with a traditional novel. You cannot go back and change things, add foreshadowing or a character beat or anything. Once you publish that chapter, the events are set in stone.

I actually enjoy this! It is a fun challenge to work with what I have established. But...I also cheat. I have a tendency to drop little things here and there that could be hints at larger plot points or things that are setting up things later on, but they are vague enough that I am not fully locked into anything.

The secret is that your readers are unlikely to remember a small detail in chapter 3 that didn't really go anywhere. But they will remember that detail in chapter 4 that got paid off in chapter 35 and you will look like a super genius (I am 99% sure Eiichiro Oda, possibly the greatest serial fantasy writer/artist of all time has done this writing One Piece, alongside his legit 5-D chess long game reveals)

To call myself out, here is an interaction from chapter 5 of The Silence & the Storm (poster child of fics that got too long)

Before he turned to go, he placed a hand on Anrakyr’s shoulder. Anrakyr tried to shake him off, but his grip was as strong as his bulky build would imply. Through an interstitial message he said, “If you ever wish to hear of Pyrrhia, you need only ask. Perhaps you still have friends there? Perhaps not. But would you not like to know?” “What are you—” Zultanekh broke the connection. He started back down the corridor, and Anrakyr had to choose whether to chase him, or remain with this stranger.

I had no idea what had actually happened on Pyrrhia when I wrote that. I just knew I wanted to address Anrakyr's backstory and why he left his home planet, so I left myself that set up figuring I would pay it off later. And then in chapter 48 we got this:

“Do you remember back when the mot was called,” Anrakyr said. “You told me that if I wished to know about Pyrrhia I need only ask. That I might still have friends there. Was that true?” “Would I lie about such a thing? Never,” Zultanekh replied, surprisingly softly. “Did my own wanderings take me to Pyrrhia? Yes, they did. An unlucky clash with some orks left this ship in need of repairs—although make no mistake the orks were far worse off! Space debris after we were done with them.” Anrakyr flashed a glyph of impatience.  “In any case,” Zultanekh continued. “We landed, declaring our intentions to repair and leave. Had we heard rumors of lost Pyrrhia? We had, however the planet itself was quite…orderly. Calm.”

The conversation goes on as Zultanekh describes more of what he saw because 33 chapters later I, the author, now know what happened and can start giving that pay off. Sometimes I will get really lucky and find something I didn't intend as foreshadowing but that happens to work! Those are good days.

Now this is a risky strategy. You can limit your options when you do this, and you have to make the pay off make sense given whatever you set up. I've definitely wished for the power to go back and edit some of my vague hints in the past. But that is the challenge! True you could actually be good at planning and meticulously plant all your little seeds and reveals. Or you can be me, a creature of vibes and chaos.

Speaking of vibes, I think it is important to talk about the audience. And how they will influence you. When you present a finished story, that is it. It is done. The audience can talk about the story all they want, but it cannot retroactively influence how you wrote the book. With serial writing 99% of the time readers will be able to comment. And I think we writers have to be very careful about how we let that affect our writing.

The Game of Thrones writing team apparently at some point decided that "fooling the audience" and being unpredictable was more important than telling a good story, so they changed plot points when too many audience members predicted certain outcomes. This is bad. However, sometimes audience feedback is good! I personally unlocked a whole subplot because a commenter asked about a character I had included totally at random. It was a filler name! I did not realize this character was in a game, but realizing that gave me incredible stuff to work with. I'm glad I listened to them! Not to mention the incredible kindness and support that has kept me going through some rough patches in my life. By that same token, negative comments can feel awful. I have not found that to be an issue in my corner of the 40k fandom, but it is absolutely a consideration in other spaces (especially outside of fanfic) so just be aware.

I hope that answered your question! Probably too much, but as we have firmly established, I am verbose ☺️

[cellsshapedlikestars]

do you plan out your stories in advanced or do you just start writing and hope for the best? I'm trying to get back into writing but I always end up completely deviating from any plan I made beforehand

My writing process is chaos, anon.

For a tl;dr: I just start writing and hope for the best

For a longer explanation of my process, see below the cut. Also, I feel dumb saying this, but spoilers for my own fics, especially the mysteries (which are better examples for plot planning than my romcoms)

1a) I get an idea, something super basic. Like, "time travel murder mystery" or "Sansa and Jon reluctant roommates". The idea then usually forms into a series of scenes or one particular scene in my head - for example: Sansa is dead, Jon goes to her funeral, later is questioned by police as a suspect, then time travel. Or, Sansa is already having a bad day and arrives at her brother's house only to find he's also letting his friend stay there and they were both unaware & kinda pissed about it, which starts them on the wrong foot as she threatens him with a knife.

1b) OR I watch a piece of media, go "wow they fumbled this great premise hard and I want to fix all the things I didn't like" and then I take the inciting incident and build my own story from there. (See: Doona. Business proposal is different, I actually liked the show, but Jon and Sansa did not fit the main leads' personalities so I had to change everything after the inciting incident. Plus I just find it more fun to come up with my own story than following the source material to a T)

2) this idea does not leave my brain, even if I want it to. I don't think you can force this step, tbh

3) I write a first chapter to get the idea/scene out of my head so I can get back to writing the story I'm already in the middle of. I post the chapter to exorcise it from my mind

4) this does not work

5) People in the comments are excited, which makes me excited! I obsessively think about it until I have a vague idea of how I want the story to go. Usually I have an end goal and some important story beats. Nothing is set in stone, and 99% of the time I don't even bother writing an outline, because I know I won't stick to it. The only "outlines" I make are just a string of ideas in the general order I want them to go in

6) I think of scenes I want, then work backwards to how to connect them

7) when I write a chapter, I know what I want the chapter end to be/the cliffhanger, and I write until I get there. Only once or twice have I had to cut chapters in two, but I try not to do this, even if the chapter ends up being pretty long.

8) sometimes you have to throw away ideas/scenes you thought were set in stone. Sometimes you start writing and those scenes Do Not Work anymore, and that's ok

For example, in mongrel heart, there was supposed to be this big, super dramatic showdown with Ramsay, like this big action movie scene. But when I got there, it felt totally wrong for the vibe of the story, so I went with a more intimate/personal final fight. The scene I had envisioned was totally gone. I had to add Oberyn kind of at the last minute, because I had come up with this elaborate world in the background, and needed to wrap that up.

For you on the run, I wrote the first chapter because "Sansa is kidnapped in a library" would not leave my head. I then posted it and had to scramble to come up with a plot. I knew the why, I knew I wanted it to be for Sansa's own safety, but WHO is out for her? I honestly don't think I decided for certain until she's back in winterfell.

In help me out of the shape I'm in, the bad guy was going to be ol' Bobby B, until I started writing chapter 4 when it switched to Joffrey because I had started fleshing out that case more and liked the horror of it being someone Sansa had "dated" more

Anyway, the gist is, I write as I go, and I go where the story takes me as I write. I'll be completely honest and say that a lot of the time, the excitement in the comments makes me excited to write and fuels my creativity. (this can backfire though. The few bitchy/negative comments on trojan horse kinda ruined the momentum for me on that one, which is why I'm not as actively writing it, despite REALLY liking it and thinking those comments were kinda dumb/narrow minded. And I'm not even talking about the rando anon who seems to have made it their mission to be negative on multiple jonsa fics, those people I don't even take into account. It was the ones from people who CANNOT escape a POV trap and make me so frustrated that I don't want to write anymore lol. I feel like how grrm must feel in these moments). But yes, the basic gist is: chaos and my obsessive brain that needs a creative outlet

I know this method isn't for everyone. I know there are authors out there who write an outline before they ever write a sentence, and they post their first chapter with the chapter count already out, bold and confident in their outline. This is not me. I could never aspire to this level of control

Anon, I hope you keep trying! Write those stories! Be creative! Remember the number one rule of fic: it's FUN, so have fun and write what YOU would want to read!

[thenotebookwizard]

She-Ra | Defiance (Thoughts and Rambles I: Convergence)

(Am I going to use roman numerals for every ramble about this fic? Probably not, but at least for the first few.)

A lot of the ideas and concepts for the fic are born from fanon - but a lot of fanon and my fic also come from this episode.

Somehow, it wasn't until after I started posting the fic that I realized who the writer was.

J. Michael Straczynski (JMS). He's done a lot. Comics. TV. Movies. Streaming. Books. He's the executor (inheritor?) of Harlan Ellison's estate.

He's the creator of Babylon 5.

If you want to talk about stories and media with significant effects on me as a human, you cannot avoid talking about Babylon 5. Star Trek and Star Wars came first, sure, but without Babylon 5, I don't think I would appreciate either of those as much or as a deeply as I do.

Babylon 5 came out when I was in middle school. I didn't get to see as much of it during its initial run as I wanted to. Only later, when a friend videotaped it and loaned me those tapes, did I get to really dig into it. I loved it. It was everything I wanted in a story and then some.

Learning to appreciate Babylon 5 made me dig deeper into other media. Into other stories - and shaped how I look at narrative. How I examine characters and the potential of characters. JMS created something with Babylon 5 that defied the genre of sci fi, causing me to figure out what space opera and science fantasy are.

I own Babylon 5 in several formats, and I rewatch it at least once a year.

Finding out JMS wrote the episode of the original She-Ra that helped create and define so much of the old canon that created the fanon that gives us magicats and all of the lore we have built up around Catra - because the new show didn't have the time or space to give us much.

- it was a revelation. It was the convergence of the old fandoms that shaped me and the new fandom that inspired me.

I have no idea how much JMS really created in terms of that lore or those one-off characters, but I can assume a few things based on what (little) I know about show-writing back then. He would have either been given the basics of the script and then told to flesh it out, or he just handed someone a script, and they said 'cool. Here's some lunch money. We'll get someone to draw this.'

Either way, he wrote the dialogue. He wrote the characters. He wrote the way the lore was presented. He had a hand in it.

That has meaning, in that JMS was writing and creating things that have affected me far, far longer than I knew and he has been showing me how to tell stories just as long.

[scaly-freaks]

I love love love dark stories. I don’t know why but they just itch my brain perfectly. Your stories I swear are thoughts I’ve had (let’s not get into that) and written out in a way I couldn’t fully conceive.

I’ve been practicing some writing just as a hobby and I think for me to write dark stories it feels like I need to fully cross a wall of some sort to out those thoughts on paper. Not sure how to overcome it but I’m trying.

But yeah idk why but the sadder and more brutal a story is the better and I think it’s because on an emotional level I can just connect with it if that makes sense?

Anyways this is just a long winded way of me saying that I love your work and appreciate the effort you put into fleshing out characters and having us connect with them in that way. (I also love sappy moments too but idk with dark stories they feel earned in a way like we worked for it and achieved a short lived reprieve)

Also just a quick little question, how would an interaction between Daemon and Amara go? This is gonna sound terrible but when you mentioned the stepdad au my mind went to him before our Egg boy.

No because...same. I write dark stories and revel in them the way people revel in comfort media. I understand them, and the necessity of finding light amidst the darkness is something I've lived with all my life so familiarity breeds comfort in me. Sometimes I get a little startled because someone will read what I wrote and be like wtf how does this happen? How is it ever allowed to happen? And I'm like yeah...why did that happen to me? Why was it allowed to happen? But then I turn off the switch and dive back into fiction to cope (as I think many people who create art out of trauma will profess to - it's a way of distancing yourself but acknowledging it).

That wall (I know what you mean) will be crossed eventually I think. Just stay aware that it's not a wall you want to cross often or live beyond all the time. It's somewhere to retreat to, but always remember to climb over it and return to the other side otherwise it can get too much.

Thank you so much for this ask though, it makes me feel so seen and appreciated. I often worry that I'm upsetting people with how abjectly miserable my work can get, and force myself to lighten it up so it'll be more palatable. But the AU idea I posted yesterday named 'fuck puppet' is mostly what I write well and consistently (Amara does kill him in the end, so there's no romanticisation there, it's just pure victim vs abuser, beast vs human, and she wins).

And HMMM okay, so if you asked me about Daemon and Amara two years ago, I'd be like ew no. He really irritated me as a character when everyone was defending him, but the defence of him as stopped being as cloying and the writers have dug into the pathetic aspects of his nature more so I'm open to exploring him.

Plus, ironically whenever he interacted with Amara in my fics even when I hated him, there were readers who pointed out that there was sexual tension there (which I didn't even intend!) So clearly, there'd be something there, what with her daddy issues and his ability to appear put together and intelligent in front of a much younger woman.

I think where it takes Aegon longer to identify Amara's childishness and immaturity (because his own outshines hers a lot of the time), Daemon would snap at it in an instant. Eventually, Aegon gets there and is like okay, my turn to take care of you but Daemon reaches the destination immediately and does softer things to figure out whether she sees him in a remotely romantic/sexual way. So maybe a gentle hand on her waist to move her aside, resting it on the small of her back to comfort her (but only for a second) or giving her that odd little smile when she's yapping that has a twinkle of endearment in it. I think she'd fall for it pretty fast, and get a kick out of all her friends being disgusted by the idea of her having sex with an 'old man' (because obviously to them he is). She doesn't see it as exploitation, and she doesn't have to. When she's in his bed for entire weekends and he's using every trick in his extensive book of sexual tricks on her, she barely has time to think never mind wonder if this is right. I think he probably would need Viagra though bc canon Daemon strikes me as the type to wear out pretty fast, but Amara would be the insatiable party and well...there we go.

Anyway, over time, she is a little flighty, and her friends' constant judgement does weigh on her, along with the fact that Daemon's immaturity isn't like her immaturity. He's still ahead of her in experience. He can gaslight her into believing his pettiness is actually adult wisdom. So if he doesn't like her hanging out with boys her own age, he'll cut at her intelligence and make her feel diminished and stupid for thinking those boys could possibly want her for anything more than sex. And she'd fully believe him. She'd probably be reduced to tears after screaming at him for being a dickhead, and then accept his palm caressing her face telling her it's fine, and that he didn't mean it, and has she seen herself? She's so beautiful, anyone would want her. He just loves her and is worried someone will take advantage. And then that of course leads to sex and her feeling relieved Daemon cares so much and giving him everything she's got to make sure he feels the pleasure in return. Thus, the whole cycle starts again.

I can't believe I'm saying this but...Aegon might just have to be the rescuer in this situation LMAO. Daemon would not let her go easily.

[afterdarkprincess]

Hi lovely 💕

For the sleepover questions:

- Tell us your Solo/Sami headcanons.

- Tell us your CM Punk/Drew headcanons.

- And for good measure please add your Sami/Jey & your Ambreigns headcanons as well while you’re at it.

FMK: Roman, Seth, Mox

FMK: Solo, Sami, Jey

FMK: Punk, Drew, Cody

FMK: Jade, Naomi, Bianca

FMK: Rhea, Liv, Becky

Questions, questions, questions:

- What’s an accomplishment/ thing in your life you’re very proud of?

- Name three things you love about yourself?

- What makes you furious in fandom spaces (your fandom pet peeves so to say)?

- Who was your first celebrity crush? Who’s your latest?

- Who do you adore on this website (aka tumblr crushes)?

- What do you find attractive in a person (physically and personality wise)?

- Favorite story you ever wrote?

- Favorite story someone else wrote?

- Your current favorite song?

- One ingredient/ dish you love and one you despise?

This or that:

- Cats and/or dogs?

- Coffee and/or tea?

- Hiking, cycling or swimming?

- Pizza or pasta?

- Mexican, Chinese or Indian takeout? Or something else?

- Cooking, baking or ordering in?

- Quiet night in or a night out socializing with friends?

- Cold weather or hot weather?

- Pants, skirts or dresses?

This got a little out of hand oops 😂

Feel free to answer whatever you wanna answer and skip whatever you don’t. Or answer everything. Up to you. Happy sleepover!

Hugs and kisses 💖

AHHH Thank you!!!!! I've been so excited all day to get home and hae time to answer these!!

Gonna answer under the cut because I'm sure this will be long lol 💖💖💖

💕Solo/Sami headcanons

I feel like a LOT of my headcanons on Solo and Sami come from one specific fic on AO3- The Solo Man

I love Solo as being selectively mute and/or very shy. I haven't really gotten to explore this with Solo in my fics very much, but I'm really looking forward to doing so.

I do feel like Solo has such a soft spot for Sami (I mean I have eyes) Sami was a real source of kindness for him when he really didn't have that from anyone.

💕CM Punk/Drew McIntyre headcanons

oh noooo my brainrot lol

They're TOXIC as fuck, they bring out the worst in each other. I can't find anything sweet or soft in them, it's obsession, it's raw, it's violent. Possessive and Obsessive.

And they fuck nasty obviously. I tend to prefer Bottom Drew, something so fun about subverting their size difference but I'll eat up anything.

💕Samijey headcanons

Ahhhh I just love them- I feel like a lot of my headcanons POP out in my fics. I feel like Jey Uso is an acts of service guy. I think he does anything and everything to make sure that Sami feels taken care of. This shows up really early on in Devil in the Details and uhhh fun fact I wrote the first part of that fic before I knew that Sami was vegan, hence why there are SO many references to Jey cooking chicken for Sami. It was too integral to how I was having Jey show his affection to take it out, so for that one fic Sami is just no pork not vegan lol

Sami talks ALL the time, and Jey pretends to be annoyed but the constant stream of consciousness is actually so comforting to him. He very rarely has to worry about what Sami is thinking or feeling because he will just tell him.

Jey cut those crop tops so Sami would look at him.

From You're My Keeper (Pull Me Deeper):

“You really like my waist, huh?” he murmured. 

As if to prove his point, Sami sank his teeth into the soft flesh under his bellybutton. “Can’t stop looking at it,” Sami whispered into his skin. “So fucking perfect. Those stupid crop tops are fucking killing me, dude.”

“Really? Hm, I thought so.”

Sami’s head shot up. “You knew?”

Jey blushed. “I guess, I kinda knew you were like… Looking. I guess I thought… Nevermind, this is fucking embarrassing.” He clapped his hands over his face. 

“You thought what?” He felt Sami tugging at his fingers, and Jey reluctantly let his hands get pulled away. Sami had the worst look on his face, smug and bemused. Didn’t he know this was absolute torture?

“I don’t know, I thought maybe if I cut the shirts shorter, then like… You know… You’d look at me more,” Jey pushed out through clenched teeth. Scratch that, this was the worst look. Sami positively beamed, fondness radiating out from him in shameless sunshine rays. If he was a dog, he’d surely be wagging his tail like a maniac. Jey tried not to linger on that thought too long.

“Jesus you are so fucking cute,” Sami wheezed, burying his face into Jey’s chest.

Literally one of my favorite fics ever- I reread it all the damn time. (If the author of this fic is on here?? let me know pls & I'll tag you💖)

And I do think that Sami/Jey switch up who tops and bottoms, but I'm always here for bottom!Jey, sweet pillow princess.

💕Ambreigns headcanons

OO this is a good one- I typically go for Ambrolleigns (bc they all have two hands) or Ambrollins because of my donut sister @elementaldoughnut12 I feel like where Dean and Seth have that very turbulent high passion love, Dean and Roman have a level of like rock solid devotion?? Someone that they can always rely on, coming even closer together after everything fell apart with Seth.

Even more than Seth's betrayal, Dean leaving spurred on the creation of the Tribal Chief. Roman, alone and brokenhearted, left by the man who he thought would never leave him, turns himself into something cold and cruel. Makes himself monstrous, surrounds himself by a cheap copy of what they had.

He wants Dean back, wants it more than anything, but some part of him is terrified that Dean will reject him, will detest what he has become.

💕Fuck, Marry, Kill

FMK: Roman, Seth, Mox

Fuck: Roman (I'm gonna need that tongue baby good lord)

Marry: Mox 100%, I'm gonna need to hit that multiple times, and also I feel like our personalities are really complimentary

Kill: RIP I'm so sorry Seth, please keep serving even in Death

FMK: Solo, Sami, Jey

Fuck: Solo- and he needs to bring the gloves okay? 🥵

Marry: Jey 🩵

Kill: Sami :( I hate to kill my hubby's hubby though

FMK: Punk, Drew, Cody

Fuck: Cody (he's hot, IDK that I'd wanna deal with him all the time)

Marry: CM Punk.... listenn

Kill: Drew- would need to take him out to marry Punk anyway

FMK: Jade, Naomi, Bianca

Fuck: JADE- HELLO?? PLEASE???

Marry: Naomi- Jimmy can come too

Kill: Bianca

FMK: Rhea, Liv, Becky

Fuck: Liv

Marry: Please, please Mami, I'm-PLEASE?

Kill: Becky, RIP girlie

💕Questions, questions, questions:

- What’s an accomplishment/ thing in your life you’re very proud of?

90k words posted on AO3 as of today has me feeling really good. I challenged myself at the beginning of the year to get to 100k by the end of 2024, but even where I'm at now... a year ago I would have laughed at you if you told me that. I've been writing in spits and spurts my whole life, but I really lacked confidence to do anything with my fanworks. I usually didn't even finish them. Before this last year, the most I had written was 2 NaNoWriMo attempts, both sat at around 25-30k and were never completed. And now with the all the support I've gotten here and on AO3, I've had the most creative period in my life. It makes me tear up thinking about it honestly.

- Name three things you love about yourself?

My passion, my sense of humor, and my tits lol

- What makes you furious in fandom spaces (your fandom pet peeves so to say)?

The only pet peeve I really have is like being rude and giving people shit for what they like and don't like?? Like I've been around since the days of Don't Like, Don't Read. If you don't like something, it's not for you, it costs zero dollars to shut the fuck up.

- Who was your first celebrity crush? Who’s your latest?

Oh gosh, so many. I mean the first would definitely be Tuxedo Mask from Sailor Moon 💖💖 Daniel Radcliffe when I got a little older and realized I wasn't going to be able to marry a cartoon. Right now? I mean all of those hot Samoans first of all. Rhea Ripley, obv. Moxley.

- Who do you adore on this website (aka tumblr crushes)?

EVERYONE lol this list is gonna be so long @feelschicken who has been my IRL bestie for like 20+ years at this point, who allowed me to drag her into Wrestling via several hour long conversations in the car where I would literally yell about the Bloodline

@elementaldoughnut12 my donut sister who has inspired so many of my fics and cheered me on through so much of this last year. Love you so much punkin 🥰

@harmshake my beloved tumblr gf, a constant source of positivity in my life 💖 Not to mention she writes the HOTTEST fics omg

@southerngirl41 who's been on the tag squad since the BEGINNING and I appreciate her comments so much

@jeysbvck Shan 💙 because we're both unhinged and feral for Jey- she just gets me

@imabillyami of course you too obviously- you are so sweet and not to mention your fics are amazing

@rollinsland who keeps my dash FULL of content of all my faves, and is so so sweet

@shanie-the-komania-toyaddict my Zowens connection, and another amazing sweet person

@motherknuckers I think we share a braincell for real

@samijey because like... A Way With Words is THE Sami/Jey fic, not to mention her amazing gif skills 😍

@thlayli-ra who definitely gave me the Punkintyre brainrot

@who-do-you-want-to-be MY SWEET KOALA FRIEND

@jeyuwuso WHOSE FIC I LINKED EARLIER, literally love all their work!!!

@taydaq her ART, especially Samijey 🥹

I know I'm missing people, I could be at this all night: @crxssjae @hypno-bear-tini @rosiel77 @mzv11 @theninthwonder @dontletme--cavein @codyswhitebelt @jobikinn if I missed others I'm so sorry 😭 and if tumblr messes up these tags I'll scream

- What do you find attractive in a person (physically and personality wise)?

Humor, they gotta be funny. They gotta make me laugh or we're not gonna work. We gotta be silly goosing.

- Favorite story you ever wrote?

Ours is still my favorite

- Favorite story someone else wrote?

oooo yay it's rec time!!! Already called out a few but here's some more:

Green - my favorite Candy fic

Losers and Loss - a Zowens fic that melted my brain into absolute goo I said The Solo Man already but also Pretty which spurred on my love of bottom!jey and Jey in pretty lingerie

Sticks & Stones and also Green-Eyed Monster - both by the Zesty Bean, all of their works are great but those are my favorites

Silver Knight and Little Clover - my donut sister knows how to make a rarepair that I'll go nuts for

And I could not forget I've got you to lose ... of COURSE 💕 maybe gimme a heads up before you post that last chapter so I can get all my favorite snacks and be prepared.

- Your current favorite song?

Guilty as Sin? - Taylor Swift

- One ingredient/ dish you love and one you despise?

Oo good question- I'm a big fries and ranch girlie (the midwest in me popping out) and for despise??? mmm it's gonna be pickles, they're gross to me.

💕This or that:

- Cats and/or dogs?

Cats 🐈

- Coffee and/or tea?

Coffee ☕️

- Hiking, cycling or swimming?

Swimming 🌊

- Pizza or pasta?

Pizza🍕

- Mexican, Chinese or Indian takeout? Or something else?

For takeout specifically it's gonna be Chinese

- Cooking, baking or ordering in?

Cooking!

- Quiet night in or a night out socializing with friends?

I love a good night out once in a while, but I prefer a night in

- Cold weather or hot weather?

Hot weather ☀️

- Pants, skirts or dresses?

DRESSES 👗

---

whew.... that took a while but it was so fun honestly 😅

[plethomacademia]

hi bestie thoughts about maeve, how did she appear to you when you first started thinking about a bg3 oc? which details came first? her appearance? her personality? her romances?

Hello! Oh I love this question. I'm going to cut bc it's long and also I might use this as an excuse to post her original version from guild wars 2 :)

I have a few character types that I tend to recycle and reinvent for different games and Maeve is a direct descendant of one of my Guild Wars 2 characters. In that game, she was a noble woman who had been disowned by her family for her necromancy, not because of the necromancy as much as her specialty in flesh golem magic. She was a thin ghost of a woman who cared about her appearance and used her skills to work in a noble house, where she ended up marrying the lord and being an absolute villain in social scenes.

I knew I wanted to do a dark urge that was a bard because I found the idea of a charismatic cult leader to be fascinating. I knew I wanted someone who could slip into social situations and be undetectable, so a common race at an average height. From there I kind of clicked around in the character creator and ended up with an elf version of Aglaeca with some tweaks (Ag has no freckles and green eyes, Maeve is freckled to hell and has silver eyes, Ag wears plain makeup and Maeve wears a sharp eyeliner and red lips).

The things that are the same and are kind of the core to this character I keep remaking are the ideas of social situations as combat, the idea of womanhood and performance being interlinked, and the idea of a ice queen that is hiding a soft gooey interior at all costs.

Maeve's personality shifted a lot as I started to write her but had solidified before I began to post. The first thing I wrote about her was this chapter in the long fic where she meets Gortash. This is a very Aglaeca scene: masks on masks, polite conversation used in a combative nature, and that hint of something more. I would say though that the chapter where she leads her cult was kind of where what makes her Maeve clicked: the theatricality, the manipulation and love bombing, the use of her sexuality and desire to attract and the use of violence to keep in line. Maeve is a lot more direct than Aglaeca or any other version of this character.

I will say and this is critical to me, I did not write a single word for this character until I had finished her playthrough. If I had written my original version of Maeve, she would have been a lot colder, a lot more put together, a lot more Aglaeca. When I started her romance, I knew Astarion could turn a character into a vampire and I thought she might like that, but the romance kind of sideways swiped me and the softness of it, the echo between redeemed dark urge and spawn Astarion, it really changed what she ended up being. They are very similar and so they fell into each others orbit in a way that made her story a lot sadder, a lot more tender, a lot more full of doubt and anxiety and just trying to exist as an independent person.

And then there's Gortash.

Y'all, I didn't go in planning that one. At all. Not a bit. Maeve was my second playthrough and I was like Gortash is fine, sure. It wasn't until I started reading others' works, especially @mightymizora, that I took a moment to think about well what would it for them to have worked together? And here we are, me fully Gort pilled. Their relationship was less transformative than Astarion's but really important because he was her first attempt to break out. She can't remember it, but I do think that her almost escape is in her brain somewhere, deep in there, and the fact that she can't remember is what lets her try it again, this time more successfully. Gortash would have put her in a new cage and instead she finally freed herself.

And for those of you still here, this is Aglaeca, my first roleplay character ever, my beloved bitch noble, ice queen of my heart.

The family resemblance (aka I like goth girls)

[twotangledsisters]

Can we get an updated list of your current projects?

I know you've said you're prioritising the Sisters AU so I know they aren't coming out soon, but I always enjoy hearing what you're up to!

I also wanted to know if you are still working on the one where Captain raised Eugene and Lance?

Sure!

Apologies for taking so long, I was determined to find my last WIP post so as to not re-list everything but... didn't find it so we're going in with a new list! XD

But first, the fic with Captain raising Eugene and Lance is tilted 'A Chance to Raise Them', I'll throw it first onto the list and yes, it is still in the making, it's my go to for writing when I feel under the weather, last chapter I wrote Cass had a new sworn enemy, Eugene got waaay too many sprinkles on his hot chocolate and Arianna started a tickle fight that Cass lost! :D

Onto the list (in no particular order):

Chance to Raise Them

Two girls are recovered from a tower. Arianna and Frederic get their daughter back only three years after her kidnapping but she comes with a seven-year-old big sister.

A few years later Cassandra takes down a couple of thieves going by Flynn and Lance. At first Captain keeps them close in hope of teaching them a lesson, but when they thank him for the structure and security he supplies, he doesn't have it in him to send them back to the orphanage.

A Badly Aimed Arrow (Title Pending Change)

Eugene and Cassandra head into town to buy Rapunzel some paints, bickering as they do. Then suddenly Cassandra shoves Eugene to the ground, at first he thinks she's taking the bickering to a new level, until he sees the blood.

Mirror, Mirror, What You Took From Me

Cassandra was heading to the dining hall of the House of Yesterday's Tomorrow to get a snack when arms reached out of the mirror and tried to snatch her, she thinks fast and smashes the glass.

She knew this place was a terrible idea! Thankfully she handled the danger. That is... Until they realise Eugene was the first taken by the mirror and he now has no way out.

The Backup (Title possibly Pending Change)

Gothel always knew it was only a matter of time until she misstepped and lost. Because of that she had a child, a child of her blood and flesh whom she enchanted so that if ever Gothel did die, she had a way back into the world of the living.

An alternate S3 with Cass fighting for control over her own body and the gang fighting to get their friend back.

Market Day

The guards were searching for an old lady. They'd of never picked Gothel out of a crowd. But you know who would?

"Mama!" Cassandra pointed and reached out for the curly haired woman during a visit to the market.

Anagapesis

Anagapesis

Falling out of love; the feeling of not loving someone or something once loved.

Stalyan was beautiful and smart, and everything Eugene thought he desired. So why was writing some simple wedding vows such an impossible task?

Two Thief Sisters (Title Pending Change)

Cassandra is kidnapped from the cottage cause it’s a nice cottage, she’s a cute child. There’s money to be earned via ransom.

Gothel never shows up, though.

Thankfully for Cassandra, Stalyan finds this super-obedient little kid fun to keep around.

Father Tromus (Title Pending Change)

Gothel fails at kidnapping Rapunzel and dies, Tromus swoops in to take Cassandra and raise her. Teacher her magic and raises her to one day seek out vengeance for her Mother.

Partners in Crime

Neither Eugene nor Rapunzel ever realise she's the lost princess, so after Gothel's death they flee Corona to be partners in crime together. Captain loses his job after Flynn Rider's prison escape, leading Cassandra to want vengeance on her dad's behalf.

She didn't expect to find her thief alongside the missing princess.

Islands Together

Owl never went to get Rapunzel and Rapunzel never talked any sense into Captain.

Captain came home with a little four-year-old Cassandra and people in Corona just kinda let it happen, not knowing what else to do. All seems fine until Cassandra finds out.

Royalty Can't Date a Thief

Frederic doesn’t allow Rapunzel and Eugene to date because royalty can’t date an ex-thief. So Eugene gets a job as her bodyguard and they date in secret.

Queen for an Eternity

What if Arianna and Frederic didn’t make it back after the blizzard?

Rapunzel is the new queen of Corona but far to occupied mourning to do her job.

Parcial Pardon

Frederic and Eugene reach an agreement, he isn’t given a full pardon but he is given a chance to make up for his crimes.

Strongbow Along for the Ride

What if Lance never went to prison and never separated from Eugene and was there during Tangled?

Queen of Amber

Arianna became encased in the amber and Frederic tries to kill Varian.

Cass Dies in the Great Tree (Pending Title Change)

Kinda self-explanatory.

The Hostage Situation

Instead of knock Cassandra out, Hector takers her hostage to force the gang to leave his home. Eugene tries to sneak back in while the rest of the gang leaves, he fails pretty miserably.

Thankfully Hector and Cassandra are able to bond over duty and foolish royals who don't listen to your warnings.

Mother Knows Best

Magic is heavily prosecuted in Corona.

Gothel really did rescue Rapunzel.

Eugene only realises the danger his put Rapunzel in by taking her from the tower after he falls in love.

Amber Alchemist

Quirin isn't there to save Varian from his experiments. But he is around to seek out justice for his son. (Quirin Villain arc!)

Mother Zhan Tiri

Zhan Tiri reached Cassandra through dreams slowly convincing her that Gothel is an unfit mother and will eventually hurt Rapunzel. Convincing Cassandra to escape with her sister and head to the dark kingdom where she will find the moonstone.

Gothel the Guardian of the Sundrop

Before the Sundrop can be turned to tea a woman shows up claiming she can heal the queen and princess if just allowed a moment alone.

She succeeds.

Frederic is forever grateful and gives the woman a position as Corona's healer, a home in the palace garden where she can heal and raise her daughter Cassandra.

Arianna does not much like Gothel, but her husbands is too grateful to see some of that behaviours. Besides, Gothel is the only healer Corona has.

That is until the thief Flynn Rider while hiding from the guards discovers an incantation in some underground tunnels and decides he wants in on the scam.

-

I think that's most of it! Also there's a few prequels for the Tangled Sisters AU. Obviously anything already publishing.

And I did leave a few projects that are either very unlikely to be finished or I just don't know how to describe!

Oh, and Our Undying Dream with @the-writer1988 that is also a WIP...

Yeah, I've definitely forgotten some stuff xD

But those are a good few o f them!

Tell me if you'd like to know more about any of them! Some of them are very fun :D

[mlwood1498]

Bite Me Baby, So I Know I'm Alive

(AO3 link)

Hey all. It's been a MINUTE since I last posted my writing. A very lovely acquaintance of mine @hongjoongtime117 gave me this prompt and I couldn't resist trying something new. I've never had biting in a non omegaverse fic, so it was fun to test it out. I wrote this over two and a half months so I apologize for any lost continuity. It's just good to get back in the game and also into a new fandom. I hope you enjoy it! Feel free to send constructive suggestions or typo alerts to mlwoodwrites@gmail.com.

Summary: Seonghwa stared at the ceiling, lights from the street reflecting across the quiet room. He slid his fingers over the still tender spot on his shoulder, which was more of a faint bruise, his flesh protected by his shirt earlier. He always had lots of bruises from dancing, but he admitted to getting a little bit of a thrill from this one. Moving his hand further across his collarbone, he traced over what he knew to be a perfect bite shaped mark. He'd seen it in the mirror when he'd washed up. He felt the phantom wet heat of Hongjoong's breath and the momentary flick of his tongue against his skin. His tongue. That little thrill turned into a throb of heat in his belly.

Chapter 1

Seonghwa was watching several of the other members running around the practice room, playing some game he wasn't sure they even knew what the name of it was. It seemed to involve wrestling and biting, which was of no surprise. They'd had several days free and now most of them had a lot of excess energy built up. He sighed, knowing they'd regret it later once they started getting into the new choreo, but didn't put a stop to it. Hongjoong was involved anyway and despite being his elder, Seonghwa tried not to tell their leader what to do. They had tried to maintain that boundary despite the slight age gap. He didn't always succeed of course. Sometimes Hongjoong didn't eat enough or sleep enough and someone had to set him back on the healthy path.

He winced as Mingi yelled and laugh-cried as Hongjoong and Wooyoung both pinned him and bit his arm and shoulder from each side. “Stop! Assholes!” Mingi screeched, wiggling away and making right for Seonghwa. “Hyung, save me!” Mingi begged, laughing. Wooyoung was already moving on to poor Yeosang, who looked adorably flustered as he was backed into a corner.

“What are you all even playing?” Seonghwa asked from where he lounged on the small loveseat against one wall. Mingi plopped next to him and shrugged. “No idea, but they're winning I think,” he said, rubbing his arm and hissing. He poked at his shoulder and huffed. “Woo, the makeup noona is going to be pissed trying to cover this,” Mingi yelled, holding up his arm and showing the red mark on his arm. “Atiny will be mad too Hyung,” he said grinning at Hongjoong, who was on the floor, chin resting on his hands and smiling back.

“What because you'll have to cover up for once?” Hongjoong snorted. “I wouldn't worry. It'll drive them nuts and they'll get even more excited when you show a little skin next time,” their leader said dismissively, rolling onto his back and resting his hands on his belly. He had a few seconds of peace and then Woo pounced, Yeosang having been saved by San.

Seonghwa rolled his eyes and turned to look at Mingi's arm and shoulder, ignoring the other two screeching and laughing. “Let me see,” he said with a small huff. Mingi held out his arm dutifully. “Mm, I didn't think it'll leave a lasting mark. It's just a little red. Your shoulder will though. He bites hard, doesn't he?” Seonghwa said with a snort as he gently touched the bite.

“Mmhm,” Mingi said, rubbing his shoulder and then falling back on the couch with a sigh. “At least it looks kinda cool. Hyung has really straight teeth, so it's kinda perfect looking. He smirked at Seonghwa. “Too bad I'm not really into biting huh? Bet he'd leave pretty marks on someone's thighs.”

Seonghwa flushed at the remark. It's not like it was a secret they had all had sex at some point, but they didn't talk about it a lot. At least they didn't with Seonghwa and certainly not about what any of their personal kinks were if they did. He knew that Wooyoung, San and Yeosang had had some wild conversations, because they tended to spill out into the common room and frequently a bystander got roped into it, but the rest of them were pretty quiet about it in general.

Seonghwa didn't like to talk about it much. Minho was about the only one he ever said anything to, and it wasn't often. The taboo around it still ate at him even after all of these years of knowing for sure he was gay. The members all knew each other's preferences, of course. You could hardly live with seven other guys and not know a few secrets about them. They didn't care that Seonghwa preferred men, just like they didn't care that Yeosang and Wooyoung were interested in both fairly indiscriminately and frequently, or that Hongjoong was interested in only certain people and had to make a pretty deep connection first. He was fairly certain that San and Mingi were more like Hongjoong too, with the way they talked about people of interest in their conversations. Jongho and Yunho liked women, but he knew they harbored a soft spot for their ship unit.

But so did Seonghwa. Hongjoong was his assigned ship, so of course they'd had to figure out how to connect in a way that was at least natural looking. They'd had a hard time at first, remaining ridiculously awkward around each other for months, years. Sure, they were friends, but skinship was incredibly stilted between them in the beginning. Even now, with Hongjoong's aversion to casual touch it was sometimes awkward. But the close quarters, the ups and downs, the laughter and tears…it had eventually morphed into something at least less forced and easy. Hongjoong was easy to be around and could be cuddly if he was in the right mood. He was funny and insanely intelligent, making him interesting to talk to.

Hongjoong gave a loud war cry and tackled Wooyoung.

He was also crazy and a little violent.

“You're thinking about it aren't you?” Mingi teased, startling him out of his thoughts and pulling his eyes away from Hongjoong tickling a shrieking Wooyoung.

Seonghwa blinked, realizing he had probably looked totally spaced out. “Sorry? Thinking about what?”. He looked at his friend curiously, blinking again at the smirk he was receiving. He blushed and didn't even know why.

“About him biting you,” Mingi said grinning and letting his head fall back. “And you do have pretty thighs.”

“I wasn't!” Seonghwa protested, turning darker pink at the implication and the teasing comment about his legs. “We're not like that.”

“Mm I know, but you should be. At least someone would be getting some action around here besides Youngie and Sangie,” Mingi huffed. They both turned as Wooyoung squealed, seeing that San had thrown him over his shoulder and smacked his ass. “Do you ever wonder?” he asked, nodding his head at the pair.

“Mmhm, about as often as I wonder about you and Yuyu,” Seonghwa teased, smirking at his chance to get back at him. Mingi gasped in shock, sitting up, but never got a chance to protest as four of the BBTrippin hyungs filed in cheerfully greeting them and telling them to bring it in.

Seonghwa ended up next to Hongjoong, off to the left side, smiling at his friend as the dancers started to tell them about some of the things they wanted to start on today. Hongjoong grinned back cheerfully and suddenly all Seonghwa could think about was Mingi's teasing, because dammit his teeth were perfect. And unlike Mingi, Seonghwa could fully admit he liked a little biting, and honestly a little pain now and then. Fortunately, before he could wander down that road very far, he was torn from his thoughts as he was called to the front to begin to learn his part.

***

Seonghwa tried not to make a sound as a blindfolded Hongjoong tripped over him, and managed to catch himself on the couch next to where Seonghwa had tried hiding. They were playing a game where one side was zombies and the other survivors trying to…well survive. The survivors were not winning and Seonghwa was the last. He just needed to hold out for five more minutes according to the digital timer on the wall.

Hongjoong would be able to tell he'd just tripped over a person though, so Seonghwa tried to slip away quickly, but was met with a wall on one side and Hongjoong on the other. The chuckling leader righted himself and reached out, trying to feel whomever he'd just run into. Seonghwa scrunched up as small as his lanky form could, hoping Hongjoong would think he moved. Of course Hongjoong just went for it and went to his knees, grasping. Seonghwa squeaked as Hongjoong grabbed for him and caught him first by his ankle and then by the hair.

“Ha!” the younger man crowed, tightening his grip and immediately going in for the game winning bite. Seonghwa was the last man alive, so to speak, but not for long. He completely froze up as hot breath caressed his neck and then teeth bit hard against his shoulder. Don't cry out, don't cry out. That was the rule. Just don't cry out. Zombies wouldn't cry right? Hongjoong growled at the non-response and bit harder, yanking his head back slightly by his hair.

Seonghwa gasped and then reflectively yelled as another bite landed near his collarbone, teeth to skin. Hongjoong pulled away and grinned, as the other guys cheered and laughed. He plopped down right in Seonghwa's lap as the older man flopped down in defeat. “You okay Hwa?” he asked, pulling off his blindfold and realizing who he'd captured. “Sorry, I think I bit too hard.”. He touched the redded teeth marks and looked apologetic. Seonghwa could already see this game going on the banned list because of them getting a little too serious about it.

“It's fine,” Seonghwa said softly, smiling, desperately ignoring the warm weight on his lap and the fact that Hongjoong had just been manhandling him by his hair. It wasn't something he wanted to analyze too deeply with the man practically sitting on his dick and cameras being all around them.

“Let's go see what my penalty is.” Hongjoong grinned and nodded, climbing to his feet and helping Seonghwa up. Turns out the four members on the human team got to clean the practice room and wash all of the sweaty towels, which wasn't the worst penalty they'd had, but it would take a while. He sighed and headed for the supply closet to help the other three collect cleaning supplies. He'd check on the bites later.

***

Later came much later that night, more morning to be honest, after hours of scheduled practices, vocal lessons, and a pop live with Atiny. He made sure to wear a hoodie instead of his increasingly common black tanks. Them seeing a bite would bring out every reaction from teasing, to flirty, to murderous. And Atiny thought Hongjoong was possessive? They were nothing short of feral sometimes.

Seonghwa stared at the ceiling, lights from the street reflecting across the quiet room. He slid his fingers over the still tender spot on his shoulder, which was more of a faint bruise, his flesh protected by his shirt earlier. He always had lots of bruises from dancing, but he admitted to getting a little bit of a thrill from this one. Moving his hand further across his collarbone, he traced over what he knew to be a perfect bite shaped mark. He'd seen it in the mirror when he'd washed up. He felt the phantom wet heat of Hongjoong's breath and the momentary flick of his tongue against his skin. His tongue. That little thrill turned into a throb of heat in his belly.

He yanked his hand away and folded his fingers together on his belly again. He was being ridiculous. Clearly it had been too long since he'd had a decent hookup. The last he could remember was another idol at KCON LA and fuck if it wasn't almost time for that again. He didn't even find the time at the festival. Too many eyes and way too many cameras. And now they had their North American tour to get ready for, not to mention another festival, and several local fan meets and music shows.

Seonghwa sighed. He blamed Mingi for this. It was a little thing Woo and Mingi teased him about now and then. He couldn't figure out where they had gotten the idea that he liked being bitten. He did but how did they know? Had he reacted strangely when one of them had bitten him? Search history maybe? Maybe one of his past lovers. Wooyoung was friends with everyone so anything was possible.

He was sure Minho and Juyeon wouldn't have told them anything revealing. Sometimes he'd mention whom he thought was attractive, but certainly not who he wanted to fuck nor which extracurriculars he was into. Besides that, he had so much dirt on them, they wouldn't dare say what they did know. Seonghwa knew exactly which Stray Kids member's ass was Minho's favorite and it was surprisingly not his baby quokka’s.

He reached up to press on the mark once more and closed his eyes, again imagining hot humid breath on his skin and then a flash of pain. Then as Hongjoong had pulled away, the slight tease of his tongue, like an apology. He didn't know if it had been intentional or reflex, but the sensation was burned into his skin.

Fuck it. What did it matter if he indulged? It's not like anyone would know. That was the best upside of his own room. Well that and having his own closet and his display cases.

Seonghwa allowed the heat to flow through him this time, feeling it settle warm and full in his groin. He didn't plan to jerk off to Hongjoong perse, but he was going to allow himself to fully enjoy the punishing marks on his skin. Hongjoong just happened to be the one that put them there. He pulled off his shirt and set it aside as he lay back down.

He breathed in deeply, relaxing into his bed as he slid his hands into his pajama bottoms, cupping his half hard cock. Seonghwa was so glad they had their own rooms for this alone, and he could just enjoy the moment as he slowly squeezed and stroked himself to full hardness one hand on his dick and the other caressing his balls.

He pushed his pants down just enough to free himself, then reached into his bedside for his lubricant. He slicked up his hand and moaned as the dry rub of his hand became a smooth glide. The placement of the bites were awkward to reach, both on his left side and with his dominant hand already occupied, but he could stroke over them with his left thumb and that was enough to light up his brain. The tender bruising and slight sting that indicated the surface had been broken at least a little made his cock twitch in his hand.

Seonghwa stroked slowly, letting his arousal build higher, as he imagined this sensation on other tender places on his body. Maybe on his thighs or hips. Mingi hadn't been wrong, it would be beautiful. He thought about his nipples angry and red from teeth teasing them mercilessly. Nips at the underside of his jaw or the back of his neck.

He groaned low, trying not to be loud. He was in his own space, but still had San and Mingi close by in their own rooms. “Fuck,” he hissed, digging his fingernail into the bite to feel the sting of it on his collarbone and speeding up his strokes.

Without meaning to, he thought of Hongjoong grabbing for him earlier that day, gripping his hair in a carelessly tight grip in his enthusiasm for the game win. Only instead of blindfolded and laughing, Seonghwa could see his full face, eyes and grin joker wild like he often did on stage. He imagined Hongjoong's grin widening in cruel satisfaction as Seonghwa cried out, his first tightening in his hair and pulling his head to the side. Seonghwa dug his fingernail in hard again and half shouted as he came across his belly at the imagined sensation of teeth biting hard against his shoulder.

He whined and panted as he came down from his high, groin pulsing with the fading heat of arousal. He lay there, softening cock wet in his hand as he sighed and relaxed into his bed. Shame and guilt started to filter into his afterglow as he realized what he'd just done.

For all their public skinship play, he and Hongjoong had never crossed any boundary lines in private. The younger man was always respectful of Seonghwa's space and rarely even initiated hugs. Sometimes on touch starved days Hongjoong would lay on his lap on the couch or perhaps put his hands on Seonghwa's shoulders when he was sitting in front of him, but that was usually the extent of it. He frowned and grabbed a wet wipe to clean up.

It's not that he didn't think Hongjoong was attractive. He was incredibly good looking and had a nice body he masked with his fairly conservatively cut clothing. He was small and slim, but very well toned, with powerful legs and a sculpted chest. Seonghwa had been actively pushing down his attraction to the other man for longer than he cared to admit. Being in a group with such a mixed bag of sexual preferences, there was a danger of mixing business with pleasure. He was pretty sure at least San and Wooyoung had toed that line already or perhaps even crossed it. He was fairly certain Yeosang and Wooyoung had as well, but they were keeping it quiet at least. He was trying very hard to keep it professional, but he was considering today a failure in that respect.

He startled a little as his phone buzzed as he pulled his pants back up. Nervously he reached over to pick it up, half expecting it to be Mingi telling him to keep it down. Seonghwa felt his heart lodge in his throat. It was from Hongjoong. Blushing violently he opened the message.

Joongie: Sorry I know it's stupidly late.

I was just thinking and I feel a little bad

about today.

Star: What do you mean?

There's nothing to be sorry about.

Joongie: I got a little too into the game

today and I was kinda rough.

Joongie: I shouldn't have grabbed

you so hard and I'm pretty sure I

broke skin when I bit you.

Star: I'm not fragile Joongie.

I'm completely fine.

Joongie: Are you sure?🥺

Star: Promise.

Hwa: I'm a full grown man Joong.

I can handle a little roughness from

another.

Joongie: …

Joongie:

Joongie: …

Seonghwa watched his phone as the dots appeared and disappeared several times, wondering what Hongjoong kept writing and deleting. He smirked a little knowing that he'd probably flustered his friend a little bit. It was as close to suggestive as he had ever come with the other, as their conversations definitely never strayed into topics about sex, but with today already a wash he didn't care. Finally there was a simple “okay good, still sorry” from the other man.

He replied back with another, “don't worry about it” and then set his phone down on his chest. He sighed a little when he got another text and looked back at the screen.

Princess: 😏💦

Hwa: 🖕

Princess: 😘 sleep well hyung

Hwa: you too princess

(Chapter 2)