#it's also a big factor in the AU itself let's be real

[atherix]

I’m laughing. The natural world hasn’t returned to the same level of “ankles are okay” that it was at when Grian was born. Everyone in Boatem thinking “I don’t want to sound like a prude but isn’t that Avian showing an excessive amount of ankle?”

LMAAOOOO I was wondering if anyone was gonna mention this. YEP. Because in Midnight, society is still in a transitionary period- like a transition between a fantasy medieval-esque and industrial period. They aren't 1:1 with our world obviously, seeing as Mumbo was learning and tinkering with redstone contraptions as a child/teen despite living inside the medieval-esque monarchy, BUT. That is basically what is going on lmao

Places like Aqua Town are quite a bit further along than places like Boatem (society and technology wise), just because small towns are always a few decades or maybe a century or two behind (I was born and raised in a small town I am legally allowed to say this <3) and cities with a meshpot of different cultures coming together tend to advance faster than small towns that don't often get fresh blood, so.

On the bright side, these ankle beliefs go for everybody, not just women <3 It might have a medieval and vague earth-society timeline parallel but at least everyone's equal and has equal expectations of modesty regardless of race, gender or sexuality <3 Except hybrids, hybrids unfortunately get a dose of Fantasy Racism, rip. Oh, and Turned Vampires too (you know, one of the main conflicts of the story lmao). And Turned Werewolves. Oh and Scar is also considered a hybrid and also is a victim of this too. Also humans don't trust sorcerers so-

Well. Okay. Um. :)

BUT YEAH LMAO Grian could scandalize the village and not even know, but no one will say anything. They're past the days of being able to publicly call it out and say it's wrong <3

[pearlywritings]

Alive

synopsis: the fall of your homeland is a catastrophe as it is, however, it's not only the home you and your husband lost. It's just a miracle you didn't lose each other.

prompt: 21

requested by: a lovely anon

pairing: Pierro x fem!reader

tw: angst, hurt/comfort, established relationship, pre-Fatui Pierro (he is more open and emotional), topic of pregnancy and children, a couple of my personal headcannons about Khaenri'ah and how the curse affects the body. [...] - is used in places where Pierro and reader use their real names.

word count: 1.3k+ words in total

a/n: part of my Token of appreciation writing event! Closed now, still have 1 more requests to write. Also this fic is from the same AU my other fic is - Behind the wall of falling snow we love. You can check it if you'd like some more

Bright Sumeru sun is blinding and the evergreen forests are dizzying when you look long enough. And yet [...] forces his eyes to take in the life itself blooming in front of him, tired gaze mindlessly following the movement of a red butterfly, flying by. Red. Red, red, red, r e d╴

Khaenri’ahn stars hide behind the eyelids, fingers clenching in a fist unconsciously. So much blood, everything is dirtied by the curse. To this very second he can hardly endure it - two months later and it still haunts him as if he’s back there, at the beginning of the end. Screams, cries, loud screeching of machines, rumbling of collapsing buildings and deafening booming of explosions… It’s hard to forget, he believes he never will. There is blood on his hands yet he hasn’t killed anyone. He only tried to save, but he managed to save only one╴

The one he can’t imagine his life without.

The one the healer is examining behind his turned back. This old man was tolerable, he kept his mouth shut about two refugees from the fallen nation hiding here, above the surface and under the sun. The two previous ones had to go.

“Your wife’s condition is better,” the silver-haired man shivers, torn from his thoughts and finally lets go of the blindfold, dimming the natural light inside this small house you had luck buying. Your love for wearing jewelry and the rules that dictated adorning his mage’s robes in those helped you both survive so far.

“Be more specific,” he demands, returning to the bed, gaze immediately on your body, resting under the covers. Your eyes, equally as mysterious, momentarily dart from the healer to your husband. Before you could even lift a hand resting atop the duvet, he already leans in and slides his palm under yours, squeezing.

“The healing process is complete,” you see the way his breath shakes when your beloved exhales in relief. Fingers flex around yours in a comforting gesture. “I can’t get rid of this curse mark, but I succeeded in eliminating the harm it caused to her internal organs. But,” the wise man looks at you, no longer talking to the man at your side and his gaze turns sorrowful. Your heart stops in fear, knowing what he is about to confirm. “As I said before - I am afraid you won’t have children again. Ever. From what is known of the medicine right now - the closeness of your reproductive organs to the fetus most likely made them more exposed to the damage. On the bright side, I estimate that this factor won’t stop you from continuing living your life. I am still not sure how exactly this ‘disease’ got into your body, however from my observations over you I can state with all confidence - it’s a miracle you stayed alive, dear.”

It’s a miracle you stayed alive.

Big hand squeezes around yours. He doesn’t know yet, that the two of you were cursed with immortality, he doesn’t know yet, that sooner or later even the damage of the severely cursed part of your body would’ve naturally healed either way (not completely, but still). All he knows right now is that there was a possibility of him losing you.

When the healer leaves your humble abode - this one deserves to live - you ask your lover to help you sit, which he does and immediately takes a seat on the edge of your simple bed (it groans a little under his burly mass, but you both ignore it). He still hasn't let go of your hand.

A few moments are spent in silence. You are deep in your own unease, while he is wrecking his head over the way to start the conversation. Gently. He doesn’t want to bring those memories back - how the curse targeted the weakest spot in your body - your womb, how he had to save you, to make a life-changing decision of ridding your body off what was slowly killing you - *your own unborn child*... How he used his best knowledge in healing magic to keep you stable and get you out of the falling land. Everything else is a blur. But everything else doesn’t matter.

All that matters is that you are alive.

“My heart,” he starts slowly, but these two words are enough to gather your attention, “I am relieved to know you are alright. Forgive me my selfish desires, but I can’t fathom a thought of losing you, of spending the rest of my life without you. I ask a lot from you, but, please,” he covers the hand he is already holding with his other one, “I know it’s hard, but I beg you not to forget the happy days we spent together, the love we share,” your gaze falls to the wedding bracelets clasped around your wrists and your heart clenches when you hear desperation in his voice, “and above all, do not let go of your desire to live… For any reason, understood?”

“If you tell me this one more time, I will let go.”

Your abrupt response surprises you. You didn’t mean to lash out, but suddenly it just happened. Is it the brewing pain in your heart? The dull ache and emptiness in your stomach? The settling understanding of the loss and that life will never be the same? You don’t know. You feel too much.

He is taken aback and you notice. Eyes widen and anxiety settles in your heart - have you pushed him away?

"You know you are not guilty, [...]?" Your husband reaches to cup your cheek. You hopelessly cling to it with your free one, leaning into the warm palm, closing your eyes. "At that time nothing else could've been done."

"But if I was stronger, if my body was stronger-"

"But we were not, my heart. It's a cruel reality, but every time I see you I am so glad you were spared. Even if it happened like that."

He knows his words are cruel and he says them to your face now, raw and hurting, but that is the only truth he has. And he is not going to lie to the woman he vowed to treasure.

"Sorry for being rude, I didn’t mean it,” you swallow the lump in your throat, and the man beside you reassuringly caresses your cheek. He understands. “And sorry we have to have this conversation… I am not the only one hurt after all.”

"I am not mad, [...]. And you are the one who’s been hurt the most, so we will return to this topic as many times as you need. I will remind you that none of it is your fault,” his promise is soft and you make yourself believe it. He climbs next to you, wrapping an arm around your waist - gently, almost feather-lightly, - and brings you closer to his chest.

"I just really wish it wasn't our one and only chance to have a family," you snuggle into him, diving into the warmth of his body. "You don't hate me for it, right?"

"Of course I do not. There will never be a thing I'll hate you for."

"Thank you…"

"No, thank you for being alive."

He can feel your lips pulling in a small smile against his chest. He is aware that so little time is not enough to numb the mind and heart to the memories and that this pain is hard to heal - he is sure it never completely will, and even though he is pushing his own despair to the back of his head, he fully shares your hurt. He keeps reminding himself, that you got to stay alive and you are right here, he can see, touch, hold, love you…

And even in the frozen lands of your soon-to-be-destination he’ll continue doing so.

[erigold13261]

Crack/Dark AU idea: What if the NSRtists were forced into Nueva York after the Rock Revolution, due to public backlash saying that these people were all dangerous?

Well, they probably wouldn't go.

The Megastars haven't done anything actually wrong. It was all legal. Not morally right, but it was legal (which doesn't hold much weight as NSR was the governing body but still).

Plus, they have money. Money, power, and influence.

For the most part, you wouldn't be able to get any of the NSRtists into Nueva York because of the factors stated above. And Nueva York can't just forcibly take any of the NSRtists because there is no way that could be swept under the rug of forcibly taking them unlike with people of lesser status.

Most forcible takings happen when someone breaks the law, or puts people in danger with their powers.

HOWEVER, because the NSRtists were being attacked by Bunk Bed Junction, they have the ability to use self defense as an excuse for their dangerous actions.

This defense didn't work for Hobie because it was poor, homeless, and had caused problems before in the city it lived in. This would work for NSR because of their good lawyers and the fact most of these attacks have witnesses and were televised.

NSR is a much more powerful entity than Nueva York. It is absolutely one of the most powerful companies in the world. Not just by itself, but also because it is connected to a lot of other companies as well (like J-1 Robotics, whatever the space program is that launched a satellite, and many more).

Nueva York doesn't have the power to just take any of the Megastars in and hold them forcibly against their will. Not legally, and not in the actual strength department. So unless the Megastars willingly go to Nueva York (I can only see Eve going possibly, but she most likely wouldn't still) there isn't really anything that can be done.

However, I will say this. There is no sweeping this under the rug at all. The Rock Revolution was too big, too televised, too significant that NSR could ever make the bad press go away. Which did make Nueva York become the talk of the town and helped it grow, it didn't make it a big enough to take on NSR.

There are people who can and will call for the artists to go to Nueva York (or any alternative/worse conditions) but there would also be people who will say the stars did nothing wrong at all.

I don't think the side calling for the NSRtists to be put into Nueva York would be as large as you think it would be. People need to actually know of Nueva York (it is much more known about in the Americas and Europe) and then also think that NSR was wrong (which is a toss-up depending on where you are, what you heard, and how invested you are in NSR) for them to actually want the NSRtists to be put into Nuvea York.

Now let's say there was a massive outcry for NSRtists to be put into Nueva York. Legally there is still the problem that the artists can't be forced to go as they were acting in self defense (maybe an argument of excessive force can be used for some of them like Mama or 1010).

However, most likely is that none of the NSRtists would willingly go to Nueva York. Makes me think of celebrities who have addiction (or any other kind of) problems that the public knows about. For the most part, they are legally adults so are allowed to be self destructive and are only forced into rehab/get help when they start hurting others, want to go themselves, or are tricked/forced by concerned friends/family members (and sometimes those family/friends don't have your best interest at heart).

I still don't see a way that any of the Megastars could be forced or coerced into going to Nueva York. DJSS is just straight up going to refuse, Yinu wouldn't need to go since she didn't use her powers and Mama wouldn't force her or go herself, 1010 probably wouldn't be eligible because I don't think Nueva York is set up for robots (yet), Neon J didn't show any real powers at all, Eve would most likely refuse to go but would be willing to try it possibly, and Tatiana is absolutely not going because she knows she has control over her powers and knows she was defending herself.

Sayu/the Crew might be the only ones who could forcibly go to Nueva York depending on when the outcry happens. If it is right after the Revolution, then Sayu is not sentient and the Crew would be put on the hook. However, as of right now for me, they don't have any powers. Tila might have some with her voice, but honestly none of them would be eligible to go to Nueva York because of their lack of powers, and Sayu isn't alive at the time for mer to be taken.

Once Sayu did come alive, I can see the backlash having died out or is dying out, so Sayu would be safe from going to Nueva York (also the fact that sentient Sayu didn't do anything wrong during the Revolution at all).

Also like, Eve wouldn't let any of the Sayu Crew go if none of them wanted to go. She would fight for them to stay out of that place/not do something they didn't want to do. Their families wouldn't have a say in the matter since the Crew is emancipated, but I don't see any of them wanting to send their kids their because any support they are getting from the kids would stop (maybe Tila's family would try to get her sent away as a form of revenge/hate towards her, but Eve would fight that).

So yeah. Long story short. There's no real way for the Megastars to be brought to Nueva York without them wanting to go there. Even if there was a way, the public would almost immediately want them out as the power coming from NSR would plummet down and cause lots of problems that probably span world wide (or close to world wide).

[morganofthefairies]

I'm invading inboxes with headcanon questions so:

If buddie where a rom-com who fo you this season 5 plot of Buck tell Eddie to break up with Ana would resolve itself? As cheesy rom-com as you like.

Does he show up somewhere in the pouring rain? Does he chase Buck through an airport? A big public declaration 'I'm not scared to love a man anymore' or something else?

OOOOOOOOHHHHHHH OKAY OKAY OKAY I have two answers:

(1) So I just spent last night defending my argument that Thor: Ragnarok is a romcom, so I have to say Eddie rejoins the fight club, and then the fight club boss kidnaps Buck and forces him to fight Eddie, and Buck gets all excited because IT'S HIS FRIEND FROM WORK! Anyway this is only a half-formed idea and I haven't figured out how Ana factors into my Buddie Thor Ragnarok AU but let me move on to my second (real) answer...

(2) Okay so the actual cheesy romcom moment I'm going to say Buck has his italicized oh moment at some point and he and Taylor part friends. Eddie, on the other hand, is determined to ride this comphet train all the way to the end because "Chris needs a mother" and "I can't drag him down with me" and other such hits. Eddie decides to go to El Paso for Thanksgiving (because I cannot fathom this lasting all the way until Christmas, no siree) with Chris and Ana for Ana to officially meet the whole fam.

(I'm putting a cut because this got WAAAAAAY longer than I meant)

I don't think Buck confesses to Eddie directly - mostly because I want Eddie to need some time to process but also I will not survive Buck thinking he's been rejecting by Eddie so maybe Buck is talking to Hen about his feelings and Eddie overhears and just fucking. Blue screens

Because it's Buck, and obviously Buck and Chris are the two most important people in the world to Eddie, and Buck is his safe space, and Buck is the person who knows him best, and all he wants to do with his free time is spend it with Buck and Chris. But he can't - Chris needs a mom and don't drag him down with you and his parents are going to love Ana and they're going to be so proud of him and blah blah repressed comphet mlm Eddie my beloved.

Anyway, montage cutting back and forth between Buck pacing his apartment and generally being restless, and Ana arriving at the Diaz house with her bags, and Eddie getting Chris and their bags into a taxi, and the taxi ride to the airport, etc etc, all while Eddie is looking all unsure about this whole trip.

Buck stops pacing and grabs his keys and gets in his car and drives to Eddie's house, looking all determined and purposeful. He lets himself in with his key, but of course the house is dark because Eddie and Chris are at the airport to go to El Paso with Ana. He sighs, and his shoulders slump, and he looks all defeated, and he turns around to leave...

...and Eddie and Chris are standing behind him with their bags.

Buck is like "you didn't go to El Paso" and Eddie is like "we didn't go to El Paso" and Buck asks where Ana is, and Eddie says something about "I figured out how I can follow my heart and Chris's heart" or some shit and Buck looks kind of confused because he wasn't there for that conversation but Eddie just smiles and BAM! First kiss!

(Chris cheers, but then asks him not to do that in front of him again cuz like his dads are kissing and that's super gross)

This got way longer than I meant but it was super fun!!! Thank you for sending it!!!

[the-resurrection-3d]

literally am rambling don’t feel like you need to read this lol 

Genuinely resent that I have to write novels to have a real writing career.  It’s not that I’m COMPLETELY uninterested in writing novels, but I feel really comfortable in this short story/essay space and I don’t feel like a lot of my ideas really lend themselves to full novels, you know? I’m trying to let stories take the form and length that best suits them. 

Saying all this because I’ve been turning over the idea of finally writing that Nickberto novel that I’ve been threatening to write and that, if I get into an MFA, I will probably have to write as my thesis. Of course, I have lots of different ideas regarding Nickberto, as you all know, so I’m still thinking about how best to approach it, and I think doing it by way of the tennis team au -- aka The Chocolate War (Abusive Gay Sex Edition) -- is probably the best, since there’s a little more going on in the actual plot than just Alberto being groomed. It’s also been apparent to me really since the beginning that literary fiction is the best space for Nickberto projects and now, with my hit counts falling, there’s less a reason to pretend otherwise. 

(For the record, when I mention falling hit counts, I’m not really bothered by this -- just that I do take audience into account when I think about what pieces should go where. I could post my big Jonah essay onto ao3 right now, but who goes onto ao3 looking for big, fragmented essays about the Bible and Orwell and suicide? When I say the EW fandom was so bad at engaging with fanfic that it drove me to traditional publishing, I’m not exaggerating.)

Sitting down to write this, though, has really led me back to the realization I had a few days ago that I can’t commit to huge revision projects when I can’t believe that what I’m doing is worthwhile. And I cannot truly believe what I’m doing is worthwhile while I’m at grad school. It’s just not gonna happen. Fall semester was the closest I’ve been to killing myself in a very long time. 

And there’s a lot I could say about that semester -- such as how many fics came as the direct result of something terrible happening in my life, like how “saint august” came directly after Noah’s grandmother’s funeral, my brother dropping out of college, and my grandmother showing up out of nowhere to accuse my grandfather of domestic violence, yes that all happened in a single afternoon-- but ultimately it doesn’t matter. Fanfic writer uses fanfic as escapism. Wow. Shocking. 

Building off of this realization, I think my reliance on the short story/essay form is emblematic of my more general inability to visualize the future much. I mean, I DO make plans, but I can’t really plan much when so many factors are far beyond my control and my industry is full of fucking clowns and academia is a nightmare hellscape. And really, this problem with struggling to maintain the faith over long projects has been a key struggle of mine since I had my huge meltdown in 2018/2019. I said this before back when I got the Best of the Net nom, but that time period really just damaged my relationship to writing itself. It’s gotten a lot better! But still. I mean the big Jonah essay I keep talking about is really about me trying to find a reason not to kill myself. 

I hope the MFA will be the reprieve I’m looking for. Gotta get into one first, of course. I just know that unless this upcoming semester is substantially better, I’m literally going to #Jonah myself if I stay here for the PhD. 

[votederpycausemufins]

Chapter three for Surprisingly Familiar. It’s time to get to the real plot of this thing!

@petrichormeraki is the maker of the hermit Tommy au, @helleborusangel likes to read these and give me their rambles which are my beloved, and then check my tumblr for my masterpost of things I’ve made.

“Hey Paul, you’re done talking with X, right?” Bdubs asked as he noticed Paul walking by.

“Uh, yeah. He said he could let a guest in for a little bit because he needs to talk with Phil and Phil’d rather stay here instead of coming to the castle.”

“Yeah yeah, sounds great.” Bdubs sad, waving it off. “Hey, new question. Paul what the heck was that back there?!” He shouted, making a number of hermits look over.

“Hey, calm down, keep things off tap.” Paul tried to calm the hermit down, but it didn’t work that much.

“Oh this is Hermitcraft. We don’t do things on tap. Except Tommy but that’s different. Now, what were you doing back there?” And Bdubs pointed towards the room Paul and Phil had talked in. From the crowd, Jrum felt a little nervous, wondering if it was something he did, but the answer calmed the bot.

“Calm down. It was something Hoodie taught me. I’m sure Zedaph can back me up.”

Behind Bdubs, Zed stopped slurping from a coffee cup that was actually filled with a slushie. “Yeah, don’t worry he’s fine. No necromancy.”

“See? I just wanted a private conversation.” Paul replied, though Bdubs still looked grumpy.

“Alright, don’t make me call in Genny.” And Bdubs signalled that he was watching Paul before walking off. As he left, Scar took his place, seeming pretty confused.

“So, what’s with him?”

Paul sighed. “He’s not a fan of certain types of magic. I did a bit of necromancy for a time and there was someone else in the world who essentially became a dark lord, so Bdubs and some others became witch hunters.”

“Huh, That’s not something I would have guessed.” Scar said. “I mean, I’m a wizard and he’s been fine with me.”

Paul looked a little stunned. “Oh really? Didn’t realize. What style are you? My friend Hoodie is coming in for a quick visit. He’s ars based.”

Scar laughed a little. “Is that so? Haven’t seen many of those. I’ve got a mix. Vex magic and crystalline. Cub’s also a user of vex magic.”

Paul nodded. “That’s nice. How many magic users you got around here?”

The hermit mayor started to count on his fingers. “So there’s me and Cub. Pretty sure Stress has some. Cleo’s definitely got some magic. Grian of course. Uh, not sure if Joe does or not. I think Xisuma’s just-”

“Xel- er, Grian’s got some magic?”

“Yeah. And I guess the kids probably do too. Not sure right now.” Scar said, before looking Paul in the eye. “You're not going to freak out about Grian having magic, right? You’ve already got him upset which gets us upset.”

“Yeah, I know.” Paul sighed. “Just been through a lot. I get overly worried sometimes, and to me, I suddenly hear that ‘kid involved in murders is now causing wars in the world my friends are in.’ So yeah, sort of thought the worst.”

Scar inhaled sharply. “Okay, yeah. I can see what made you freak out. But Grian’s fine. He’s been through a lot and while technically he’s caused chaos, it’s never something we hate and normally we’re all in on it somehow.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah, you should hear about the sewer cats.”

“Can’t wait to hear about it. Haven’t seen any letters about it.”

Scar nodded, before being just a little confused. “So, is there a reason you’re always using letters instead of other stuff? I’m sure some of the others could make you something that would work.”

Paul nodded. “I don’t doubt that they could for the most part. I just deal with a lot of factors and have always preferred the tried and true method. I’m all over the place and sometimes I can only really bring along paper.”

“What do you do?” Scar asked, interest piqued.

“Let’s see. Not sure if Phil’s told you, but he used to be king.” Scar nodded. It wasn’t Phil, but Grian had mentioned it. “Well, I’m one as well. Hoodie’s my right hand man and royal mage.”

“Ah, and you said he’s the one visiting?”

“Yeah. So I end up busy there a lot. I also spend a lot of my time visiting my kids so I’m going from world to world. Then, there’s also my wife and she’s in the world we raised the kids in which is essentially my main home.”

“And that’s what?”

“Uh, the same one I found Xe- sorry, Grian in ages ago.” Paul answered. “And I’ve got a job there that doesn’t really work with comms sometimes, but paper is easy enough to have on hand, especially enchanted paper.” And Paul took out a sheet of paper, handing it to Scar.

Scar took the paper and looked it over. As he moved it, he could see how the light caught the slightly physical aspect of the magic, much like how enchantments could be seen. “This looks good. You can hardly see the magic but I can tell it’s there. What all is on here?”

“Mostly stuff to get it to the right recipient and make it illegible if you’re trying to read it and it’s not for you.”

“Ah. That’s a commonly known one for ars mages, right?” Scar asked. “I haven’t heard much about them.”

Paul nodded. “Yeah. That’s due to the mage wars. They happened a number of years back before Hoodie was alive. He’s the main reason things are sort of getting back to normal for those guys.” Paull pulled out an old communicator which looked like it was being held together with duct tape and prayers. “He should be here pretty soon. He said he was only going to get a few books and amulets. And your admin said he would be able to get in.”

Almost as soon as Paul had said something, a message went out that someone new had joined the world. Xisuma sent a message that he would go to help the guest to Aque Town and from there Paul and Scar just waited for the two others to arrive. Xisuma was the first to arrive, gliding down on his elytra. The other person wore a royal purple hooded robe and seemed to arrive with the use of an ender pearl, but Scar didn’t see them use one.

Paul was the first to move, going over to the other person. “Hoodie! You made it!”

With the confirmation that this was the mage coming in, Scar followed along, a bit excited to meet someone new with magic. “Of course Sir. You did ask for my presence.”

Scar watched as Paul put an arm around Hoodie’s shoulder. “You don’t need to be so formal here. In fact, here. This is Scar. He’s the mayor, and based on the kind of place this is, I’d say he’s the local hedgewizard.”

“Ah, I see. It is nice to meet you. My name is Hoodie. I am King Soares’ right hand man and royal mage.”

Scar shook Hoodie’s hand, getting a slight shock. “It’s nice to meet you too. Paul already said I’m Scar. I’m guessing you’re a lightning mage or something?”

Hoodie took his hand back. “Ah, sorry about that. Yes I am. Or at least I specialize in it. Same as my father lest he’s recently changed his affinity.”

“Well I don’t know enough about your kind of magic to know what that really means.”

Paul walked away as the two magic users started to discuss their various forms of magic and wizardry. He needed to find Phil again since the main reason Hoodie was even there was so that Phil could get more of the enchanted paper. Not wanting to drag the mage away, Paul was instead going after his brother since he was the one insisting he wouldn’t take any of it without knowing for sure it was enchanted by Hoodie. After that, Hoodie would help out a bit around the world as repayment for Xisuma letting him on, then the two of them would head back home. At least, that was the plan.

. .

.

Drawing him away from the nest was almost laughably easy. Grian and Mumbo were both asleep and the chicken was theoretically trapped. At least trapped enough it wasn’t going to escape into the room itself. And then it could only see out the window and not into the room which was a big plus. Because of that, it was simple enough to have viridian magic surround the prison and really ensure the chicken wouldn’t be getting out.

“You know.” The person spoke in a whisper, making Grian twitch ever so slightly in his sleep, but not wake up. “You’re really making this far too easy. I thought it would be difficult with those guests of yours here, but it turns out everyone’s distracted by them. And they put you in such a perfect position. Let’s just move you to somewhere a bit more private, hmm?”

Grian of course didn’t wake up, but as the person left, a bit more magic appeared around Grian, and then a few moments later, he woke up with a start. Grian looked around, glad to see there was only Mumbo and a box in the corner. For a moment he was confused about it, but faint clucking from inside helped him figure out what it was. But something still felt off.

Grian went to shake Mumbo awake, but he hesitated a moment before actually waking him up. “Mumbo. Mumbo!” And Mumbo woke up from his name being shouted, looking around to see what was going on. “Mumbo, I think we’ve been up here too long. Something feels wrong.”

Mumbo pulled out his communicator to look at the time. “Oh dear! It does look like we have been here a while. It also looks like someone else has shown up.”

“Really?” Grian asked, pulling his own comm out to look at the message. “There’s no way this person would just happen to show up today of all days for no reason. What if they’re someone else with… I want to check on the kids.”

Mumbo stood up and then helped Grian to his feet. “Don’t worry. I’m sure if anything happened, the other hermits would be taking care of the boys. We can of course check on them, but you don’t want your panic to make them panic.”

Grian nodded and from there the two of them went back down to the ground floor, leaving Kokatori behind. Finding the new person was rather easy as he and Scar were both standing on the street of Aque Town facing each other. Scar was currently donning his wizard robe over his Aque Town outfit. In his hands, he held a number of crystals that Grian thought he was never going to see again.

The other person was wearing a purple robe and held a wand in one hand and a book with a yellow cover in the other. His hood had fallen back slightly, so Grian was able to see as the other person glanced over at him when he got closer. Normally the avian would assume it was just because he was getting close and was noticed, but there was some sort of emotion in the eyes that made Grian worry.

Both of them had their attention pulled away from each other as Scar moved, a yellow glow around him as he moved like he had a speed effect. When he reached the other person, Grian watched as the Scar’s netherite sword struck them, and then a ring of white magic appeared around them, acting as a shield against further attacks.

Realizing at this point that the two were fighting, Grian moved to try and stop them, but then out of nowhere, lightning struck the ground in front of him, making him stop. When Grian looked back up, both mages were looking over to him and then Scar called out. “Hey, don’t worry! We’re just doing some sparring! It was my idea!”

“Are you sure? Who even is this?”

“His name’s Hoodie. Royal mage of Paul it looks like.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Grian asked, concerned.

“Yeah, it just sounds like he was jumping to conclusions when he saw you. I’m sure it’s going to be fine if you talk to him again.”

Grian wasn’t completely convinced, but pretended enough for Scar to look back at Hoodie and then continue their sparring. Slowly, the avian started moving to where everyone else probably was, still in the party building. Mumbo followed him along, but eventually he passed Grian when the builder decided to actually watch the magic battle.

Scar seemed to mainly be using regular combat, but enhanced by his crystals which actually seemed to be doing something. Hoodie, on the other hand, was using his wand and casting a number of spells from his book. At one point, Grian watched the mage fumble a little bit to pull out a book with a green cover before casting a new spell that he hadn’t used yet.

Grian didn’t realize he was just standing there alone, and the magicians weren’t really paying much attention to him, but in the span of a few seconds, that all changed. To anyone watching, it would seem like it happened all at once, but really it was just one thing after the other.

Grian was barely aware of the space around him getting the slightest tint of green to it. As soon as that had happened, Hoodie turned away from Scar and instead faced Grian, pulling out a new red spell book. Scar was the next to react, still under the effects of his yellow crystal. He started to pull out a red crystal, accidentally pulling a pink one out at the same time. He threw them towards Grian just as Hoodie began to cast some magic aimed at Grian, but also in the direction of what would be in the path of the crystals.

Seeing multiple things coming his way, Grian started to panic, wings moving to act as a shield since he currently wasn’t holding one. As they moved, the tips of his wings started to change from red to purple, the shift in color working its way to the base of the wings. He couldn’t react fast enough to block everything, but the magic hit both of the crystals, making them shatter into dust. The pink and red dust didn’t completely stay their original colors, some of them charred by the magic attack that hit them, but each tiny piece seemed to glow with its own energy, and even with the, being broken so small, when the cluster hit Grian, there was enough force to make him crash to the ground.

For everyone not watching at that moment in time, they simply heard a large crack of thunder at the same time there was shattering glass, followed by screaming from Grian. Within a matter of seconds, people were racing out of the nearby building, there to see what had happened.

When people got out onto the street, Scar was yelling at Hoodie. “What was that?! Grian wasn’t involved! I thought I could actually- I can’t see why Bdubs actually trusted- I’m guessing he’s changed a lot since-”

“Please, I was just trying to defend myself. He was about to attack me. Didn’t you see it?”

“He was just watching us!”

“No. Your back was turned so you maybe didn’t see it.”

“I should have used a brown crystal too. What kind of spell was that?!” As they yelled, Xisuma was the first to get over to the pair to try and figure out what was going on, getting an answer from Scar. “That Paul guy’s mage just attacked Grian! If I hadn’t done something, it might have killed him!”

“What?” Paul asked, coming over. “Hoodie what just happened?”

The mage looked over to Paul, ignoring Scar and X. “Sir, the hedgewizard and I were simply having a duel to see each other's magic skills. As we battled, this avian mage came by and tried to stop us once. Of course Scar was able to prevent that the first time, but then the mage tried to cast a spell of attack. I was already using a spell to help my reaction time, as was the wizard here, so I began to cast a counterspell. At first I thought Scar was also about to assist me, but instead he seemed to try and stop my spell, causing our magic to collide. It seems to have still-” Hoodie tried to continue, but Paul held up a hand to stop him.

Paul then tried to speak himself, but then his shoulder was ground and he was whirled around by Phil. “Paul, what the fuck? Did you just have your wizard attack Grian?”

“What? No, of course I wouldn’t! It sounds like Grian was trying to attack Hoodie and he defended himself.”

“Yeah sure. Mate, just tell me the truth.”

“I’m just telling you what Hoodie told me. I know just as much as you do at this point other than what he told me.”

Again, the conversation was cut off by Mumbo speaking up, having joined the group. “Grian’s really hurt. His breathing is off and it looks like his wings were hurt enough for them to shift away. There’s also something else, but I can’t place it. Xisuma, can you look at him?”

Everyone moved out of the way for the admin to head towards Grian, but as soon as he took a step, everyone had their comms buzz with two messages. Xisuma peeked over the crowd to look where Grian had been a minute ago. He wasn’t currently lying there, but neither were any items that signified him having died and respawned. That could have been because he had nothing on him at the point, which was unlikely, but could have been what happened.

That being said, the shocked gasps from people who were looking at their comms didn’t assure Xisuma, so the admin pulled up the chat logs on his helmet. Instead of there being a death message for Grian, there were two messages of people leaving the world.

The_Grifter left the world Xelqua left the world.

[the-east-art]

Digimon 101

A while back I wrote a post explaining the basics of the Legend of Zelda, so I thought why not do one on Digimon since it's not widely popular but is sure a staple of my blog!

Let's start by clearing some air - Pokemon vs Digimon : For some reason a lot of people seem to think that it has to be one or the other, but in my experience most people who like Digimon also really enjoy Pokemon - as I explain Digimon I will at times compare it to Pokemon to show off some of the differences of the two. Both franchises are actually very distinct in their mechanics and I enjoy both of them for different reasons :)

Okay, that said, let's start getting into the basics of Digimon under the cut!

I lied, one more boring tid bit as I talk about the canons/seasons. Almost every season of Digimon is a standalone series with it's own take on the mechanics of the digital world. For the sake of keeping this (relatively) concise and to the point I will be speaking about Digimon in broad strokes that can apply to most of the canons as I understand them. This guide is largely to help with understanding my au's and such on my blog, so if there's something I tend to use often from a specific canon I will make note of that.

The Digital World - unlike Pokemon, the human characters in the digimon series come from 'our' world. Digimon are NOT integrated into society like in Pokemon, instead Digimon is more of an isekai story, or a story where the main characters fall from the real world into a fantasy one. The Digital world is one that was either created or discovered by humans through the creation of technology and the internet and such. In many iterations to the internet itself is a place between the digital world and earth.

The Digital World often is like a bent version of the real world. The explanation varies from canon to canon but relatively speaking much of the make up of the digital world is like a half remembered real world with things like an entire field full of non functioning vending machines or a line of telephone booths on a beach. Much of the digital world is like a dream.

In some telling you can spend a year in the digital world while only an hour has passed in the real world, and in some the time between the two is the same. It really depends on what you prefer. Likewise, sometimes Digimon can and sometimes they can't be in the human world, or can only be in the human world for a little while.

Digimon : While Pokemon are animals, Digimon are fully autonomous beings. They are the 'people' of their world. A simple example for this is simply speech - while (most) Pokemon don't actually speak, all Digimon speak complete sentences all of the time. When people go to the digital world they find entire villages of Digimon and cities and such.

Digimon can evolve like Pokemon, however it'd called digivolution and works differently. While a Pokemon can only go up on the evolution ladder, Digmon can go up AND down. The higher on the ladder they are, the more work it is to maintain that form and the farther down on the ladder they fall when they release the form. For instance - during a big battle a Digimon may become an Ultimate level, but then after the battle they will transform into their in training form.

The ladder of digimon forms:

Mega

Ultimate

Champion

Rookie

In Training

Baby

Tbh I have a really hard time keeping them all straight and I think in some instances specific Digimon can go above Mega? They also don't always evolve along the same routes, things such as emotion, specific items, or just circumstances can make Digimon take different forms as they evolve which lets you play around a lot with them in concept, such as...

Dark Digivolution - A noteworthy digivolution as it's produced under very negative circumstances (different than just Digimon who are virus' by nature which I'll talk about in a bit). For instance if a Digimon isn't capable of digivolving but their partner is pushing or forcing them to they may dark digivolve and become an uncontrollable monster often without much of a consciousness, just pure anger.

I will briefly talk about the 'types' of Digimon, but I won't go super into it cuz it's kind of deep lore and not super relevant to what I do. A Digimon is data, and data has certain properties. They can be either just data, vaccine, virus, free, or variable. Mostly I just know that evil looking digimon are usually Virus' and angelic or 'good' looking digimon are usually vaccine. This sometimes factors into their default nature, but I find that concept boring so I ignore it lol. It mostly explains why some Digimon end up looking like a literal devil.

Special Digimon: In the digital world there are certain important Digimon. The one's I know the most about are the Core three (used as a major plot point in Frontier) which are Cherubimon, Seraphimon, and Ophanimon. They're all angelic like Digimon who try to keep the peace and usually I use them to represent a Digimon that is very powerful, or someone who tries to use this fact for clout. There's also the Knights (specific digimon who are part of a squad or whatever) I don't know much about them so I won't go into them but they're there too and I believe serve a similar purpose although more morally grey and with more in fighting.

But East, what about the humans????

glad you asked.

So in the digital world it is very hard to digivolve on your own - it takes a lot of work and time. Unless you have.... a partner!

Partners/Tamers/Digidestined - called many names these are the people that are bonded to a specific digimon. They often have what's called a digivice to help connect with their digimon and depending on the strength of the bond between the partner and the digimon the digimon can attain greater and higher evolutions. This is the aspect that is the most interesting as Digimon and their partners can either be alive or very different and how they deal with one another as well as the world and situations around them determine how they need to grow. Not just the partner either! In the best telling of Digimon the digimon themselves also have narrative arcs they have to go through. A digimon au is in many ways like a Daemon au - a version of yourself refracted through glass.

Okay we're almost done, I will end with talking about crests

Crests are only in the first and second iteration of the series. Each Digidestined have a specific crest, which is an attribute that is where their power comes from and has the most potential within them. Sometimes it's something a character always has, but often times it's something that they need to work on, and their relationship with their crest, while seemingly easy as first, is often much more complex than it may seem and they may have to re-analyze their relationship with the attribute in order to grow. For instance - a character with reliability may need to learn that sometimes they have to let certain people down to prioritize circumstances, in a way being unreliable to someone. The opposite of the crests is also considered their weakness and something they must resist - such as someone who's crest is friendship purposefully pushing away their friends.

Losing touch with their crests can prevent digivolutions or cause dark digivolutions.

(There's also armor which can create special digivolutions, the ability to merge digimon, the ability for the partner and digimon to fuse into an evolution - there are a lot of possibilities in the digimon series! That's why it's so fun to play with!)

Sorry this is so long! If you got this far thanks of reading and let me know if you have any questions!!!

[washymylifeaway]

KyouHaba Fanfic recs

Hiya! How much do I love KyouHaba? Yes. This is one of my favorite ships and one of my comfort ships <3 KyouHaba has got some amazing fics, so even if they aren’t really your thing, you should still read this :D Anyway, onto the recs!

As always, pls check WARNINGS, TAGS, and SUMMARIES for fics before reading (esp since KyouHaba usually deals with darker topics and not all of them tag/warn for it!) and make sure you’re taking care of yourselves (since mental health is key!) Stay healthy loves <3

CP:

Close to the Chest by darkmagicalgirl (T) 61.1k // THIS ONE man anyway I just love the progression of their relationship and the way this fic is written! The way we really go into who Yahaba is really what makes this fic great! Also there's some slightly ~angsty~ IWAOI so look out for that hehe.

Police Dog by surveycorpsjean (E) 34.9k // if you’re super against like any *furry* implications, pass this one LOL. But TBH I don’t like furries, but this one was pretty great (hence why it’s here LOL) and they make me laugh. Also I really like some of the head cannons for Kyoutani in this one and the writing style is super freakin’ good, so it’s definitely worth the read~~~ Pls CHECK TAGS AND WARNINGS cause there are a couple REAL spicy scenes in this one ;)

Team Mom by All_My_Characters_Are_Dead (T) 2.7k // so as I was going through this tag (because that’s what I do LOL), I remembered this fic and I love it. Like yes Yahaba is the fear factor and yes Kyoutani is the DAD. I really like the team dynamics in this one, and the first years make me laugh pls.

Camellias by kiyala (T) 1.9k // I love this fic and when I starting looking for this ship, it was the first one I thought of hehe. I really love magic and their interactions are so cute and the PLANTS ARE DOING THE MOST. Pls read both in the series, cause domestic KyouHaba is best KyouHaba ngl LOL. I love the plants, and if you read the second one, someone tell the trees to stop bullying Yahaba.

Sixth Time’s the Charm by tsumekakusu (T) 2k // ok THIS was SO FREAKING funny, please Yahaba how dumb can you get LOL. The number thing made me facepalm so hard, but the ending was cute and that’s all that matters, right?

Sleep by GangstaCrow (T) 5.5k // the plot twist…. omg…. I had to pause and take a moment of silence for the people suffering because of LL… Poor Kyoutani….. But this is a really funny but cute fic at the same time :D

a little bit funny, this feeling inside by postcanons (G) 5.4k // PLEASE THIS ONE omg crow matchmaker ftw. Like I said, I really love magic and this one is just so freaking funny. Also, very informational curtesy of one Kyoutani Kentarou.

meet me at the fucking pit (and let me hold your hand) by anyadisee (T) 5.4k // IF THE TITLE ISN’T MAKING YOU LAUGH ALREADY WHAT ARE YOU EVEN DOING????? (JK but am I really?) This was SO funny and it KILLED me,,, like all the conspiracies and how everyone was so seriously invested in it. Yes, CHAOS.

if not, winter by knightswatch (M) 54k // YES THIS FIC. THIS ONE RIGHT HERE. I love the development of their relationship,,, IT’S SO GOOD. Like when our boy Yahaba goes on that really friendly field trip and Kyoutani takes matters into his own hands? UGH YES. And when they visit? CUTE OMG. Yes this fic is it.

Isolated Parts by darkmagicalgirl (T) 3.3k // I love this fic cause old men KyouHaba are funny (fight those refs) and I love the nonlinear plot. It really adds another layer to the fic itself, and slowly unraveling the plot through the different years was SO IUAHFJF. I really loved it and piecing everything together :’)

Magicked by HoneyBeeez (T) 8.4k // CHECK TAGS, I love KyouHaba Hogwarts fics, and this one is SO good! We do love some slightly oblivious Yahaba and fake delinquent Kyoutani LOL. Though there is some violence and homophobia so if that puts you off, steer clear of this fic :)

stardust by InkCaviness (G) 1.4k // like I said, in love with KyouHaba and hogwarts fics, anyway,, this one was so short and sweet! It’s full of fluff, and honestly, if you like KyouHaba, read this entire series cause I really love these KyouHaba works :’)))))

New:

knightswatch // GREAT writer, but most of their KyouHaba works are explicit/mature, so be careful as you go through their works! My fav T one? all you have is your fire by knightswatch (T) 6.4k, but they’ve written some of the best KyouHaba I’ve read (they’re just mostly M)!

kiyala // another amazing writer and their works usually alternate between G and E LOL. But, all of their Gs are amazing, and rn my favorite was between Room To Grow by kiyala (G) 50k or Cost by kiyala (G) 1.1k cause it was either secret doggy relationship or magic LOL. But all of their fics are worth reading, and there’s a large variety of AUs!

snoqualmie // I love this writer, but they don’t have much KyouHaba (enough that I would put them here though LOL) My favorite? Mixed Signals by snoqualmie (T) 7.8k // it’s a really cute fic and I love the hc that Kyoutani has the good family! It has like a semi continuation (I think it’s in the same verse as it), but Jan. 6 features the sisters again! (Also yes for veggie fiend Kyoutani,)

tale as old as time by crossbelladonna (series) 30.2k // AHH this series is fully of such good KyouHaba fic!!!! I really love all of them but my favorite is through open doors by crossbelladonna (T) 4.3k // I love soulmate AUs and salty Yahaba is best Yahaba. Also at the end when the coffee incident happens, I love Kyoutani :’)

Words Not Spoken by Dogsocks (series) 51.5k // this is a continuous fic series (meaning all the fics are in the same verse and related to one another), but it’s so FREAKING good and I love reading it!!! It’s got some mentions of ABUSE, and things like that so please read the tags carefully!!!

kyouhaba week by InkCaviness (series) 6.7k // I loved KyouHaba week (all of them are just such AMAZING fics and tropes) and my favorite from this list was stardust by InkCaviness (G) 1.4k // I mentioned what I loved from it above, but it truly is a great fic :D

Kyouhaba Trash Week 2016 by HoneyBeeez (series) 28.9k // all three of these fics are SO good. I literally cannot choose a favorite because I loved all of them :’) Like no joke, just go read all of them because singing Kyoutani? Yes please. And also like the tattoo one was SO ajksdhfkjshdfjkln I LOVED IT AND DON’T GET ME STARTED ON THE HOSPITAL ONE. I loved loved loved the ending, and her going to the school? UGH ADORABLE. These fics were some of my absolute favorite KyouHaba fics!

Venom and Vulnerability by darkmagicalgirl (E) 48.3k // OAAJKSFNKJ I LOVE THIS ONE YES. The concept? AMAZING. Execution? FLAWLESS. This is a GREAT fic and it’s done SO WELL,,,, I realllllly loved the plot in this and their teamwork is making the dream work! WARNING check the tags and warnings cause there’s smut, (non kinky) bondage, and death!

it's tradition. by hicsvntdracones (T) 5.5k // this fic made me want to die from second hand embarrassment. GOD, the awkwardness and really the way they went HARD on those dares PLEASE. If you don’t mind feeling embarrassed (and even if you do) go read this fic cause it’s V funny and the comedy factor cancels out the embarrassment LOL (does it? That’s what I’m tellin myself LOL).

An Equivalent Exchange by Chibs (E) 14.5k // PLEASE THIS WAS FUNNY,,,, like chill Kyoutani, Yahaba is trying his hardest okay? BUT NOT HARD ENOUGH anyway it’s a happy ending in the long run and no one dies :D how nice is that <3 (but the baby agenda? yessssir.)

The Wall Thing by rideahorse (M) 6.8k // THE TENSION :0,,, but I love how many fics go based on that one KyouHaba wall slam in the middle of the Karasuno match LOL. Also, I love the dynamics they have in this one and the way fighting ~is their communication~ Some smut is here so WARNING and they do something about the tension LOL obviously :))) Constantly curing KyouHaba is good, happy Kyouhaba.

Sixteen by surveycorpsjean (E) 13.4k // Yahaba is a basic btch and Kyoutani does football LOL. Honestly, I think that’s a pretty good summary (jk) but what’s a fic without some good tension ;) Also, cheerleader Yahaba lives in my brain rent free and I would like to propose it live in your head as well :D Aren’t I such a kind soul~

Safe in Your Hands by shions_heart (T) 8.9k // um soft KyouHaba? I think yes,,,, this also do be a common trope in the KyouHaba realm, but I’m not complaining,,,, it’s a good trope :) There IS ABUSE in this fic so big warning here! Check the tags and warnings! But the real mvp is the girl on the bus and points to Yahaba for playing spot the difference unintentionally.

The Sweetest Smile by FindingSchmomo (T) 6.6k // cake making! Yes! Bakery! Yes! It’s a great time and think about it, Kyoutani, our baby, working in a bakery making cakes? UGH my heart :’D Yes Oikawa is right, a cute grumpy puppy making flowers (CUTE VERY CUTE) and it doesn’t help that Kyoutani looks like a total bad boy in this fic too :DDDDDD

wear your love like it's made of hate by parenthetic (renaissance) (T) 3.3k // we are starting this off with the alt title totally worked and I would’ve read it either way LOL. Also, the ending was funny and thinking about why everyone was wearing it would’ve been so confusing to the other teams (also shout out to Yahabas line and Kyoutani calling his eyeliner a whore). But yes to random sexual tension, this is KyouHaba nation.

captain's orders by whitemiists (G) 3.7k // okay we love Watari in KyouHaba nation (surprised I haven’t talked about loving Watari yet but better now than never right?), but also Yahaba being messenger for Kyoutani (baby first years are ajhsajdfh). I love this trope and also I love rooftop lunch crew is yes :D

Running In Place by cleiioo (T) 33.3k // GUYS OMG THIS FIC. CAUTION ABUSE AND RUNNING AWAY AND BAD PARENTS SELF DEPRECATION I COULD GO ON BUT BOTTOM LINE IS BE CAREFUL READ TAGS! This fic is UGHHH YES. First, twenty questions make another appearance, and DUCKS. Yes, ducks. But this fic is just written really well, and honestly Kyoutani might be a tad bit ooc, but it’s okay, you don’t even notice. Distracted by the amazing writing :)

Something About Fate by patteh (T) 4.6k // SOULMATES! And then they were soulmates :D I love a good soulmate denial AU, and this is no exception. I loved Yahana’s backstory in this, and I think it set up a great framework for the plots progression! Also, the ending was really cute (and we all know, I’m a sucker for a cute ending :D)

toeing the line by masi (T) 2.7k // the mcDonalds cause WE’RE LOVING IT! But this was a fun read cause a. it goes pretty fast and b. communication exists? ANyway, I like the ending cause Yahaba is one smooooooth btch! It’s just a lot of banter (playful and not), and I’d read tags jic for this fic :)

bumblebee by shizuoh (T) 1.5k // he got sht on by a bumblebee. Points for creativity Yahaba, points. But this is just a fun, random AU where pepperoni on pizza is a universal aggrievance (esp the infused on cheese kind,,, I feel you Yahaba), we disown furries (for good reason), and you confront people staring at you! This IS a flirting 101 textbook. (also yes Yahaba, murder Mattsun!)

The art of fighting in heels by boxofwonder (T) 8.7k // yeah don’t question this fic. It’s like,,, you just kinda,,,, well,,,,,, I mean who doesn’t want to read about Iwa fighting in heels? Like you’re not thinking about magical guy Iwa? Maybe you should. (the way the summary has nothing to do with KyouHaba, I swear they’re a main component, but no thoughts just Iwa in sailor moon cosplay.)

yahaba vs. the miyagi captains by blessings (T) 3.7k // I love this hc and I wish there was more of it because Yahaba picking fights with everyone is fun and I like the chaos :D Like honestly, the creativity of some of the burns? Just amazing, it filled me with serotonin. I’m not kidding :0 But like, Kyoutani having to make sure that he doesn’t go overboard was askfkahf.

Love the One You Hold by shions_heart (T) 3k // f tough KyouHaba, I’m here for the soft, loving KyouHaba. Like mushy feelings KyouHaba, the kind which makes me feel singler than I already am single. Reassuring of feelings and ajsfdhla KyouHaba. The ending is KYAAA!!! Caution for implied bad parents!

a thousand and one roses by rorarot (T) 3.4k // I love florist Kyoutani and it’s honestly a crime I didn’t recommend more florist Kyoutani fics :( Points for the pun, Yahaba, points. Also, the progression of their relationship was YES, and this fic was SUPER cute :D

It Takes Two by Poteto (G) 24.1k // IT’S COHESIVE KYOUHABA WEEK! I really loved this fic and I enjoyed how they incorporated each prompt into each day! There is homophobia and running away so be careful when reading this fic, and check the tags!

So I Like Your Dog by helloyesIamtrash (G) 4.8k // FIRST, this is within a series of soulmate AU fics (all in the same verse) and SECOND, this was really good! I loved the way Yahaba’s family are a bunch of late bloomers and how YAHABA DIDN’T LET THE MF RUN AWAY. Yes communication, WE LOVE AND STAN.

but tonight i'll need you to stay by InkCaviness (G) 2.2k // the feels were strong with this one :’( Pushing my SOFT KyouHaba agenda. But I LOVE this one for the feels and also because they don’t dance around it. Just straight forward, random a confessions. It’s a great time. But also, I can’t believe he slipped LOL.

Down River Road by carafin (G) 4.4k // I love list fics, I think they’re great and I think I might just have a thing for lists in general (LOL). But also, I love the growth both of them undergo over time and the interactions with Oikawa in KyouHaba fics are always fun :)

I (Heart) You by darkmagicalgirl (T) 3.6k // I really like this fic. Like REALLY like/love. Maybe it’s the ending where Yahaba goes ham on that one guy. Or maybe it’s the magic. I think it’s just cause it’s written spectacularly. But no seriously, it’s a great fic and I really loved the AU :D

Five Times Kyoutani Failed to Say 'I love You' (And One Time He Didn't) by patteh (T) 3k // a 5+1! Yes! TBH I don’t understand the importance of saying ily to your significant others (maybe it’s just because I don’t understand romance very well LOL someone explain it to me), but if it’s important to them, IT’S IMPORTANT TO ME. Also, Kyoutani is dog agenda, full force ahead.

Baby steps (or 'Yahaba's guide to applying eyeliner on a grumpy puppy') by ghostsgf (G) 1.5k // more Yahaba and eyeliner fics! Of course :D If you can’t tell, KyouHaba nation and I really love Kyoutani + eyeliner, so yes. Eyeliner. But also, fractured arms and toilet adventures!

baby don't hurt me by orphan_account (M) 4k // LET ME BEGIN THIS WITH THE A/N AT THE END. YES I AGREEEE. Also SMUT alert but like nothing really happens? And again, while I don’t 100% get the ily thing, this one makes more sense to me and I can see why Yahaba got angry. We love crying boys though ahaha.

Retrograde by dreyars (T) 19.5k // AJFJLSFJLASD ANGST THE ANGST AND I- I love amnesia fics, they have such GREAT angst potential (which was totally used in this fic YES!) and UGH this fic. The feels you go through while reading this but ALSO THE ENDING! YES I LOVE. IN LOVE. THEY’RE IN LOVE YOUR HONOR.

restless by Crawlingthroughashes (T) 2.4k // PLEASE the petty Yahaba agenda is back and the way I ajfhdjkadshlf when he started his plan. BRB CRYING (of laughter ofc). Also the CONFRONTATION. Smooth Yahaba, oh so very mf smoooooth (very much so nailed it). Sugar high trick-or-treater in bunny slippers.

The Time Yahaba gained a boyfriend by sammysosa157 (T) 3.8k // PLEASE I saw the post for this fic and it was SO funny! I really loved this prompt, and the execution of it was done really well. Boo for weird food combinations, though ig if you’re in college and you’re broke, you gotta do what you gotta do :/

wanna give you a kiss by Slumber (T) 2.8k // kith give kithes muah muah (omg I’m so sorry you had to read that no regrets tho ahaha only shame). But this fic is SO cute and boyfriend chicken is fun :D Like the fluff in this fics is just so AJKKJAF and like Watari knows best.

Touch by tetskuroo (T) 2.4k // aihdjk PLEASE. This is SOFT! KYOUTANI! and non a hole but pushy! YAHABA! There is HUGGING cause WHY NOT! But the soft Kyoutani agenda is getting pushed hard today LOL. I mean the mans starts to turns the waters works ons. What more could you possibly need? (other than a cuddle session cause why tf not >:( and me to write normally LOL)

what the night does to the day by deathbyglamour (G) 9.9k // AHH HOGWARTS! I realized I forgot to add this fic to the Hogwarts list and I was so angry at myself. The potion version of our get along shirt :) I loved this fic and their relationship development was lovely :DDDD

Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back by Asimi_Shadowborn (T) 30.6k // I love magic AUs and this was ahdjsjjfjs. The trope was amazing, the execution was flawless, and the communication? Nearly nonexistent just how we like it :’) it’s a great read and you’ll regret nothing.

Baby, I bought a dragon by tetsuskitten (T) 1.1k // AJKSFHKJ WITCHES. I love them being witches/warlocks cause IT’S AN AMAZING TROPE DUH. But like the dragon made me laugh, the conman Kuroo is KJAFN. But yes, THERE’S ANOTHER FIC AND IT’S AJSHKJASF YES READ <33333 (why didn’t I just put it as a series, cause I forgot and then I got lazy, leave me be.)

Thorne-blessed by fish_wifey (T) 19.4k // (again, another that HAS ANOTHER FIC but then I was too lazy to transport it up to the series section deal with it.) But THIS YES. First tattoo artist Kyoutani is a sight to see. But also, Yahaba is baby. And like the ending of how it all got resolved was so satisfying and the conflict execution was really creative :D CAUTION FOR THIS ONE, some bullying and violence-ish!

what a wonderful kind of day by qingting (G) 1.2k // PLEASE. I love it when Kyoutani talks to animals, it fills me with joy. But also, ofc points to Yahaba for the new nickname, dog whisperer. Cute and I like it more than Mad Dog chan. Also, Kyoutani’s thoughts on Yahaba were funny and are worth the read LOL. I like pats too, Shiromaru.

what becomes of broken hearts by plumtrees (T) 8.1k // OOOOF some angst right here. Like I’m in paiiiiiiin. But you should read it so we can be in pain together :’D Like the way we had to witness the falling out AND the break up to be happy again. UGH. Just don’t think too much and jump in.

we both know what we know by Slumber (E) 4.7k // UHH EXPLICIT FOR A REASON LIKE WITHIN THE FIRST SECTION I THINK BUT THEN IT CONTINUES AHHAHA. But also, riling Kyoutani up and just teasing him in general? Fun times (at least Yahaba thinks so LOL). But like also, random thought but the comments on the (fake) IwaOi divorce made me laugh LOL.

new constellations by thealmostviki (G) 4.3k // reincarnation AU, but it’s like non linearish! It’s really good and the writing is very eloquent :D I really loved this fic and the ending was UGH adorable! I love references and the way they still feel things in the next lives :’) Milk and honey guys, milk and HONEY.

FINALLY DONE. WHEW. I hope you all enjoyed these fics, and ik my commentary got/was super bad but pls just pretend like you’re not seeing it. I swear once upon a time it was informational but now it’s just me writing random sht down LOL. Again, I love KyouHaba so this honestly was a lot of fun to make (even if I kept complaining about it) and I ended up not splitting the list hence why it’s so long! I hope I made all of you into KyouHaba lovers cause it’s one of my favorite ships :D

[myaekingheart]

20 [Fanfic Writer] Questions Game

Thank you so much for tagging me, @lemony-snickers! This is tons of fun, I love answering these kinds of big questionnaires 😂💕 Also putting mine under a cut because there’s a lot of questions and I like to ramble. 

Also gonna go ahead and just tag whoever wants to do this! 😅💕

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

As of August 27, 2021, I have a total of 77 works on my AO3! 

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

Funny enough, I was just looking at this, specifically, earlier today and kind of laughing about it. Right now, my total word count across all my works is 1,148,941 😬 

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

Apparently 12, but some of them I don’t really consider “big” in my fandom repertoire. Naruto is my greatest fandom with a total of 60 fics so far, followed by The Chronicles of Narnia and Rise of the Guardians. The rest are ones I either did crossover fics with or just did one-off little pieces with--The Incredibles, Tangled, Brave, How to Train Your Dragon, Arthurian Mythology, Disney Princesses, Fairy Tales and Related Fandoms, Back to the Future, and Frozen. 

4. What are your Top Five fics by kudos?

The Scarecrow and The Bell (Naruto) - 470 kudos The Day Kakashi’s Mask Slipped (Naruto) - 139 kudos Sunflowers (Naruto) - 92 kudos Sakumo the House Husband (Naruto) - 81 kudos Someone to Lean On (Naruto) - 67 kudos

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

I always try to respond to comments, because I like to acknowledge when people respond to my work. I cherish comments like nobody’s business, especially when they’re kind and reactionary. I just really love seeing/hearing what people think of the way a story is progressing, or what they thought of a one-shot. Comments keep me going especially when it comes to longfic so I want to be able to let readers know that I do in fact see their comments, that I’m acknowledging what they’re saying, and that I appreciate them. Plus, it can be kind of fun to tease upcoming events in a fic through responses to people’s comments, too. Because I’m mean. 

6. What fic have you written with the angstiest ending?

Definitely Hothouse (Rise of the Guardians/The Incredibles; Jack Frost x Violet Parr; American Horror Story AU). This was the first multi-chaptered fic I ever wrote to completion and I honestly cringe when I remember it exists both because it’s so poorly organized (and full of nasty plot holes) and because I just went ham on the gore factor. It definitely has a really bittersweet and heartbreaking ending to it, too. 

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

I think I’ll definitely have to say Temptation. The story itself was kind of a ride, and it’s only the first installment in a series, but it follows the plot of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe but remixed due to the presence of an original character, but the ending is still roughly the same as the original: they defeat the evil, the Pevensies are all crowned kings and queens, happy days. Reading the last few paragraphs of the last chapter honestly still gets me all up in my feelings. 

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

I used to be more of a crossover writer due to one of my main ships being a crossover ship. They weren’t super crazy, though, because they were both CGI-animated films. The craziest crossover I’ve ever written is an in-progress/unfinished multichapter piece, Kakashi, Enchanted, that sees our favorite Copy Ninja get kamui’d into the Disney princess dimension and has to help the likes of Snow White, Cinderella, and Rapunzel on his journey to find a way back to his own world. It’s a super weird premise but definitely one of my more lighthearted works and fun to revisit when I need to decompress. 

9. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

I don’t think I’ve ever received hate so much as I’ve received criticism. The closest I ever got to hate on a fic, I think, was someone left an overly personal and mentally disturbed comment on a chapter of my main fic that made me convinced they needed to seek therapy and deal with their own personal issues rather than take it out on a fanfic about animated ninjas. 

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

Maybe 👀 I’m super vanilla when it comes to smut, though. I think the wildest thing I’ve ever written in smut is breeding kink. 

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of, and I hope I never will. 

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not yet! I had someone ask to translate a one-shot of mine in Russian but I never got a response back when I laid out my terms and conditions. 

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

I have not! I used to do paragraph-style roleplay which was kind of like cowriting fanfiction but writing is so personal and sacred to me that I don’t know if I could ever actually cowrite a fic with someone. I like brainstorming with other people, but writing for me is more of a deeply personal and independent endeavour. 

14. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

Oh god, this is a tricky question because it depends on fandom. I absolutely love New Dream (Rapunzel x Eugene, Tangled) and have for the past ten years, and my love for them as only grown since watching Tangled: The Series/Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventure. I don’t write or even really read a ton of fanfiction for them, though. I’m also still highly dedicated to my favorite crossover crackship, Frostfield (Jack Frost x Violet Parr, Rise of the Guardians/The Incredibles) and to this day, if you search for that ship on AO3, I am the sole provider of every single fic about them so far. I’m not as active with them as I used to be, but they got me through some really rough times back in the day and still mean so much to me. A lot of my favorite ships across fandoms, though, are honestly canon x OC ships of mine because I am a self-indulgent bitch who needs to project. So Peter Pevensie x Eilonwy (The Chronicles of Narnia) and Kakashi Hatake x Rei Natsuki (Naruto) are really important to me and I’ve poured so much of myself specifically into their stories. I think it’s safe to say Kakashi and Rei is my all-time favorite ship across all fandoms, though, just because of how much their story means to me. The Scarecrow and The Bell is my magnum opus, my pride and joy, and I’m sure it will be my biggest fandom footprint of my entire life. I’ve dedicated the past three years to this story and these characters and I intend to continue doing it until it no longer brings me joy (which I hope it always will). There’s just so much I could say about this story and Kakashi and Rei’s relationship but I don’t think we have enough time or space in this post for that 😅 Just know that they mean the world to me and I will always hold them in the highest regard as a beautifully messy, flawed, passionate, soulmate-y ship that I love with all of my heart 🥺

EDIT: I also feel obligated to tack on some of my absolute favorite Naruto ships because I may not have written for all of them (yet) but they still make me unbelievably happy or I find them really compelling and enjoy the idea of exploring them: 

Naruhina is precious happy sunshine and The Last honestly felt like a wonderful Disney princess movie to me, it was so cute and the romance was so on-point, Naruhina just makes me so incredibly happy and I love them with all my heart. 

MinaKushi also gets me all up in my feels and I adore them with every fiber of my being. Their romance also gave me Disney princess movie vibes which I love, their story is just so damn sweet as is their character dynamic and I am still so heartbroken that they never got to be a happy family with Naruto because you know what? It’s what they deserved!

SasuSaku is so compelling to me and I really feel like we were cheated out of seeing their relationship develop and evolve postwar in the same way The Last did for Naruhina. They’re my favorite angst ship and while I don’t think they were written that well in canon, I love the possibility and potential of them together and am excited to explore them more in-depth in my own writing. 

NejiTen is just too cute, I really love the way Neji and Tenten’s personalities compliment each other? I don’t have much else to say about them except that I really love them together and think they have so much untapped potential that I also can’t wait to explore in more depth in my own writing. 

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

Paper Hearts and Impromptu Bookmarks, probably. I love the premise of this story a lot and I have so many interesting ideas for it but at the same time, it also feels kind of cheap and cringey to me, in a way? It takes all of these ideas I probably would have had if I had been into Naruto when I was a kid and kind of compiles them all into one big story. Kakashi and Aiko’s relationship and story is still really important to me and I want to continue it someday but for right now, I just haven’t had the motivation or desire to write any more of it. I think I’m just so overwhelmingly preoccupied with writing Kakashi and Rei’s story that I can’t imagine writing any other Kakashi x OC fics right now. 

16. What are your writing strengths?

I want to say that I’m really good at capturing complex emotion? I don’t know, I write a lot of angst and mental upheaval in my fics which can be really difficult to try and capture, but I think I do a decent enough job of it? And just writing difficult subjects in general. I think it’s really important to address difficult topics such as mental illness and relationship difficulties and everything but I also want to try and write those topics in a way that is both authentic to the experience while also still tasteful. I don’t want to drive readers away with heavy subject matter but rather present a situation that feels real and authentic while also still being digestible. I may not be doing a very good job of that during the current arc of my fic that I’m working on, but I’m trying haha

EDIT 2: I also want to add onto this to say that I’m really proud of my organizational techniques for writing longfic. It’s not necessarily a strength in terms of the prose itself but it’s something that’s taken me years to really get a grasp on and find a method that works perfectly for me and so far, it’s been extremely helpful and beneficial to me. I don’t know where I would be now as a writer without these essential tools in my pocket. 

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I feel like I do a really bad job of the “show, don’t tell” thing. It can be really hard to balance descriptive prose with straightforward writing that moves things along. I don’t want to dwell on mental dialogue to the point where you lose track of what’s going on, but I also don’t want my stuff to read like “Character A did xyz. Character B said abc. They went to 123″, whatever. Another thing I struggle with is sentence variation. I always fall into the same patterns when I’m writing prose and I get really self-conscious about it because I don’t want to sound repetitive or disrupt the flow of the writing. One of my favorite things about prose is focusing on the cadence of the words, I think it’s one of the most beautiful things about writing in general, but it can just be really difficult to get a good grip on that. I’ve been told in the past that I apparently have a really good grasp/control of the language or whatever but sometimes I just find that really hard to believe when I look at my work with such scrutiny. I think one of my biggest pet peeves with my own writing, too, is feeling like I start all of my sentences the same five different ways. I’ll read other people’s works and they’ll write sentences like “Glass-blue water lapped against the shores of a deserted beach as a lonely woman gazed off into the distance” and I can just never figure out how to realistically write sentences that start like that in the context of my prose and it drives me fucking crazy, like I’m definitely jealous  😅

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

I’ve never really thought much about it before, but I think there are pros and cons! For bilingual/multilingual readers, I think it can be a really enriching reading experience because they know what’s being said in both languages. For people who only know one language, however, unless a translation is provided, I feel like it can be really alienating. I think the best use of that for both worlds is using it as a means for miscommunication humor. Other than that, I think it can be a slippery slope that depends on what kind of reader you are and how it’s written. 

19. What was the first fandom you wrote for?

The Chronicles of Narnia! My very first fanfiction was a Narnia fanfic that I barely remember except that it laid the basis for Temptation and my Narnia fanfic series as a whole. I never posted this first iteration anyway, but I remember it was 2008/2009 and I wrote a solid 80 pages (which was wild for me at the time) and had gotten halfway through remixing the events of Prince Caspian when my computer crashed and I lost absolutely everything. I’m still heartbroken that it’s gone forever, not because I’d want to go back and read it necessarily (since I’m sure it was actually hot garbage) but at least for nostalgia’s sake. Either way, like I said, this long-lost fic laid the basis for the very first fanfiction I ever posted, the first published (and never finished) iteration of Temptation back in 2011 on deviantART and the since-defunct Figment. I fell out of the fandom around 2012/2013 and left the story alone for a while before ultimately deciding to completely redux and rewrite the story when the fixation swung back around again between 2016 and 2018. 

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

Despite the fact that it’s still in-progress, definitely The Scarecrow and The Bell. This fic just genuinely means so damn much to me and I will cherish it for the rest of my life because of how much it’s given me, how much love and passion and time and even parts of myself that I have poured into this, and also just how expansive of a story this is. Not only does it touch on some very dark and heavy topics, but I’ve also created so much of my own characters and meta for this story that it’s almost an entire universe in and of itself. I’ve just contributed so much additional world-building and created so many new OCs to fill important roles in this story and in Rei’s life, and they’ve all become so deeply important to me as they’ve developed further over the years. I’ve come up with so many interesting ideas for everyone and their lives, which are all slowly becoming so rich and varied. Not to mention that it’s my most popular fic to date as well as my longest fic at 632k and counting. I’ve really just genuinely poured so much of my heart and soul into this story, it’s my absolute favorite thing I’ve ever done and I really mean it when I say that I will cherish it for the rest of my life. 

[kakyoinryoko]

Hiii I love your takes on jjba characters! I was wondering about your thoughts on why Jotaro was such an asshole towards women during part 3. Every interpretation of Jotaro I’ve seen just kind of ignores that part, so I’m curious to know what you think about it.

Seriously though, you make great character analyses and AUs. You somehow got me to stop thinking of Kakyoin as a cardboard cutout, and now I think of him as the epitome of being 17. Thank you!

hi oh wow first of all thank you so much. i’m glad you appreciate my thoughts because god knows i will pass away if i don’t air them out them somewhere.

personally i read jotaro’s misogyny in part 3 as a result of the whole gay trans situation i headcanon for him, especially since it never comes up again afterwards. like, without spoiling too much, as of the beginning of part 6, he’s come so far from where he was that he’s willing to pass on his role to jolyne with certainty that she will do just as good as or better than he did, and without any qualms about the fact that she’s a girl. so i do definitely think it’s something he got over and grew out of once he was an adult. i think the closest we get of any indication that it continues is at the beginning of part 4 when he calls some of josuke’s classmates annoying for screaming, but that seemed like it was because they were screaming rather than because they were girls.

that said i basically read it as a combination of two things. the first is compensation for the fact that he is trans. this is something that i think is unfortunately pretty common in real life as well, where trans boys will adopt misogynistic attitudes in order to “make up” for being trans or in order to better blend in among cis peers. jotaro is a big guy, he’s very visibly masculine and (given he is trans, which i say he is) has no problem with “passing” in the traditional sense, but he’s also a pretty insecure person deep down, and i think a lot of the way he is in part three, what with coming across so abrasive and rebellious, is a result of that insecurity. being shitty to his mom and generally disrespectful to the women he encounters is probably a part of that posturing, particularly because a lot of his actions make it clear he doesn’t really feel that way, especially when it comes to his mom, but also just in general (though i will say the fact that he feels women inherently need to be “protected” is still pretty shitty in itself).

i think the other factor going into it is just the fact that he’s really repressed and gay. i’ve honestly been going back and forth about how i think he felt about being gay as of part 3 lately; for a long time my gut instinct was just that he’s deeply closeted and probably unaware of it himself, that it’s the kind of thing he doesn’t even let himself think about. but honestly, lately, after i’ve thought about it, there’s an awful lot of part 3 art of him where he looks like he’s wearing makeup, so i am at least a little fond of the idea that he’s aware of it to some degree when he’s 17 and being around the crusaders (many of whom are themselves gay/bi men) helps him come a little closer to being comfortable with himself, only for that to come suddenly and terribly crashing down when half of them die, leading to another decade or two of repression. this might seem like it has nothing to do with girls but what i mean to say in all this is that jotaro is repeatedly stated to be handsome and well-liked and admired among girls; he’s flirted with or at least stated to be crushed on by pretty much every girl he interacts with in part 3 (barring his own mother of course). if he’s a young gay dude just barely starting to discover himself, having all that romantically charged attention directed towards him from girls he has absolutely no interest in is bound to be very uncomfortable for him, but he might not have a frame of reference for understanding or articulating that beyond “shut up leave me alone you’re so annoying i hate women.”

so yeah. none of this is to say his actions are justified, obviously him being shitty and disrespectful towards women is of course still inexcusable, but i think this is why it happens, at least. *points down at him* pathetic

[marvellouslymadmim]

Hey! Aspiring fanfic writer here; I was wondering if you could talk a bit about your writing/editing process and how long it all takes.

Thanks!

Welp, roughly the same extremely long amount of time it takes to actually answer an ask, tbh 🙃

So...I only know how my brain works, and I can only tell you what works for me might not work for you, and that's OK. I'm breaking into two separate bits, because I almost never do writing and editing at the same time.

And as far as a timeline, honestly it just depends. On life factors, what my hormones are doing at the time (jfc like the week before my period, I have zero creativity, motivation, or attention span), if I'm having trouble with a particular scene, if I'm getting consistent positive feedback (yes, I can totally admit that I write faster when I know a particular reviewer is following along with every update), etc.

WRITING:

First, you gotta just...be fixated, I guess. Particularly if it's an AU, I sit with it for a long time before I ever write a word. I go over scenes, think about how the world changes, what stays the same, what *has* to stay the same to keep the characters true to their canon personalities. I sit with the characters for a long time, too--not just the main characters, but the supporting cast, too. In order to predict someone's future, you have to know their past. Most of our present actions are actually reactions to past events, when you think about it. The better you know your version of the character, the easier every other aspect of writing will be. I don't know how it is for other people, but I don't ever "feel" like I'm writing. I feel like I'm "witnessing", and the characters are simply doing whatever they wish. (***this is gonna be a thing during the editing process, too, so hang on to that)

Then once I have a general idea, I choose a title. Generally, I do not even start a word document until I have a proper title to put on it. The title is part of the theme and aesthetic to me, and it grounds me in the overall arc.

Once that's done, it's time for outlining. I generally wait until I feel this weird almost tingling in my left arm (weirder still bc I'm right handed) and I'm practically vibrating with a need to WRITE THIS STORY NOW. Then I put on some Bear McCreary (honestly, any videogame soundtrack will do, as they are literally designed to help you maintain focus and keep pace) and fucking go to town. For me, it helps to do this with pen and paper, so that I can go back up and squiggle little notes in the margin, rearrange the order, etc, far faster than I could on a computer.

Important note: the outline is not the end-all be-all. Some things don't make it to the final print. Some minor storylines get tossed or characters simply...take a different path than I expect. I will continue re-writing and updating the outline as I go along. On average, I usually have 5-8 outlines per story, and they're often 3-10 pages long. I also have a posted outline, which is a log of all the scenes that did make it to the final product. 

Then, it's the actual writing, at long last. I have found that I write best at the start of my day, before the noise and static of daily life comes in. So I wake up around 5am and spend 90minutes writing before beginning my workday routine. I have the Word app on my phone and may continue adding bits in throughout the day at work, if I get a moment. However, after 5pm my brain is usually fried and no more creativity happens. On weekends, I try to have one morning where I "sleep in" til 6am, and then write until at least 10am, sometimes 2pm, if I can get away with it.

The hardest part still is knowing when to transition and when to skip to the next chapter/scene/whatever. This is like...zero percent helpful, but I liken it to Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart's definition of pornography: "I know it when I see it." It may seem like a scene is circling, and sometimes it means you gotta leave the room a bit earlier bc the scene has already served its purpose. Other times, it means ya gotta stay with it a bit longer, because there's something the character is trying to say. Give them patience, and give yourself patience, too. Explore the scene and its dynamics. You won't know til you know and even then, sometimes you won't be entirely sure. That's ok, too. Part of the process. Remember editing will happen and you can decide then (hell, you can literally re-edit after it's been published, I've done that before too and added a note on the next chapter for any readers who might have read the first version 🤷🏻‍♀️ not ideal but still functional).

EDITING:

I do simple edits (spelling, grammar, etc) just about every morning as I reread what I wrote the day before, which is a refresher course for the day's writing session. But big "real" editing generally doesn't happen until right before posting.

Now, here's the ***issue from writing: sometimes, something just "doesn't work" in a scene. Again, you'll know it when you see it. The words a character is saying feels clunky. The pacing feels off. Something just...ain't right. More often than not, it means either I haven't truly sat with a character long enough to know their true motivations/backstory, or I am not giving characters the proper time/space/impediment to make the actions or say the things they're currently making/saying. I'm trying to force the flow, rather than letting it ebb and breathe when it needs to.

Absolute ProTip: You spent HOURS writing this scene. It's got some REALLY GOOD moments and lines in it. It doesn't work but you can't just delete it. It's your LIFE. I struggle with this A LOT, and I have found a solution: create a second "outtakes" document to cut and paste those scenes into. Sometimes I still keep moments or bits of dialog. Sometimes I later use bits in a later scene. Sometimes I never look at it again but I still feel secure in knowing that if I wanted to go back and use the original scene instead, I totally can. I don't think I've actually ever gone back to the original, tbh, but it reduced my anxiety about deleting the scene and starting over.

So back to the scene that doesn't work. I take it apart, figure out *at what exact point* it stops working, then work back up a few lines to see where the shift actually begins. More often than not, it's because I'm having characters express their feelings in ways they actually wouldn't. (people very very very rarely actually say what they're thinking/feeling, and you have to relay it in other ways). So I have to keep the internal monologue of what they're actually feeling/thinking, while figuring out how that actually translates via tone, body language, and what they do and don't say.

The "something ain't working stage" can take LITERAL WEEKS. I sometimes have to walk away for awhile, or tackle it only on days when I know I have hours upon hours to truly work on it. I keep circling back around, and eventually, the knot works itself out. Persistence, and insistence that "good enough" isn't actually good enough, are key. (this is why you have to fixated on the story you want to tell--because some days, it's going to take every ounce of that obsession to keep you going and keep you on the track of telling the story you wanted to tell, rather than settling or switching to an easier tack)

Sometimes, editing is a breeze. I don't change much, I may go a little more into the character's inner world here or there. Once you've been doing this for awhile, you'll just know when a story hits all its marks--and you'll also know when it's not, when it could be more or do more, and you can figure out how to get it there. There isn't a precise formula for it, it's more like cooking without an actual recipe to follow--a dash here, a bit there, you'll know it when you taste it.

And I'll leave you with this unsolicited bit: just write. Write often, write about everything, write what makes YOU passionate and happy, and absolutely write for yourself. Edit the fuck out of it, if you need to. Get a beta reader, if you need to. Get someone to just bounce ideas off, if you need to. And don't post it until you're truly ready and it's something you genuinely want to share. If someone gives constructive criticism, take in on the chin and move on (keep the notes, if you think they're valid, and toss em if you don't--you'll never be everyone's style of writer, so know that sometimes, people just won't be the target audience). Know that you'll grow and you'll learn and you'll find your own voice and like any skill, you'll develop a second nature about it--all those parts where I say "you'll know it when you see it" or "you'll feel it" absolutely come from spending a literal lifetime (28 years) writing stories, and thirteen years of writing fanfic in particular. It's ok if you don't see it or feel it right away. It takes practice. And you will have an audience at every skill level, no matter what (finding that audience? different story altogether...).

All totaled, this process can take anywhere from 3months to over a year. Stories are like children, I've found: they each develop at their own pace, and some may need more time and assistance than others. But they're still pretty wonderful. (except the bratty stories. they're the worst 🙄)

[basementdwellercreaturefeature]

Current  DA2 Thoughts

Per usual, I have thoughts. 

TL;DR Anders fucked up but that doesn’t make him irredeemable. 

Jennifer Brandes Hepler said, “Personally, my view of it is that Anders wants to blow up the Chantry AND wants to die for it -- that way he gets the revolution he/Justice believes is necessary, but still gives justice to those who died in the Chantry.”

First, yes. People died in the Chantry explosion. Not like, 5 people. A lot of people. Not up for debate. Second, it didn’t start the revolution or the mage rebellion, it was a tragic loss of life. Also not up for debate. The following events of Inquisition confirm this, even if you don’t read any external Dragon Age content. Anders’ actions did not start a mage rebellion.

What Jennifer Brandes Hepler said here touched me though. Anders, like Solas and Loghain, and other controversial characters in the canon, walks his own Din'Anshiral and believes his death is the only atonement he can offer to the victims. With the prompting of Justice, he moves toward violence as a catalyst for his revolution. It’s an illogical move rather than a strategic move toward mages’ freedom. It really is not even discussed in DAI as a significant plot element regarding the Mage Rebellion. Frankly, Anders... it was dumb. Love you the most, but it was dumb.

So I am never going to argue that Anders was right in his final solution because I think the political climate of DAI objectively shows us that he wasn’t. Was he right regarding mages rights? Different topic, one too dense for one post. To me, his final decision doesn’t really matter when it comes him being redeemable/empathetic or not. You want to talk about the merits or issues of the Circle? The potential crimes of Kirkwall’s Chantry specifically? Fine, then whether or not he was “right” matters in the context of those discussions. However, in regards to character study and the merits of his redemption, I feel that him being right or wrong is irrelevant. Here is why.

Kirkwall is a dumpsterfire. Weakened Veil, wealth disparity, alienages, blood mages and Abominations running rampant, poor control of both the Circle AND the Templars, abuse of both, overwhelming refugee influx from the Blight, both Orsino and Meredith and their own brand of crazy, etc. What we have here is a chaotic clash of both magic and material. Basic, real world problems and fantasy RPG elements. Let’s throw fucking Anders in the mix, see what happens.

How would a mage joined with the spirit of Justice not go a little batshit being there?

And that’s just Justice standing alone. With the kinds of injustice present in Kirkwall? I mean, think about it. We aren’t even factoring in a traumatized ex-Warden whose blood may have tainted Justice (or his anger, we don’t know for sure) into Vengeance. Just Justice in itself would have been difficult. Frankly, I am amazed that he was even sane for as long as he was and able to do as much good as he did in his clinic.

Elements of Justice improved Anders, ironically. In DAA, we see a something of a fuckboy who loves his cat and runs away from responsibility and who probably likes Nickelback. In DA2, our first introduction to Anders is in his free healing clinic in an impoverished area where he is offering aide to refugees and Kirkwall’s maligned and he has definitely moved on to Nirvana. Big difference there. Would he have remained a non-violent advocate for mage freedom outside of Kirkwall’s magic influence and internal chaos? Unclear, but I find it interesting to think about. Sometimes in my personal head canon AU Hawke got him out of there and they moved to a farm with cats before it all went to shit. 

JFK said, “Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.” BLM taught me that when a group is oppressed long enough, when screaming from the rooftops and offering peaceful solution for decades doesn’t work, when years go by with no change, people get mad because they’re fucking human beings. So, when some protests engaged in looting and rioting and violence (even though it was minor and the news harped on it like a bunch of assholes) it didn’t invalidate the movement. What else do we expect when we ignore their cries for justice for so long? 

You shit on people for years and get surprised when it bothers them?

The question to me is not whether or not Anders was right... but is it fair to not expect this from him? In so many ways, that boy was setup to be a disaster. Childhood trauma, Circle trauma, becoming an Abomination after the taint, then the horrors of Kirkwall... Look at all these red flags we all ignored! But still, he works to improve the lives of refugees and mages in Kirkwall. Did our other companions do the same? No, they laugh off his pleas for mage freedom and dismiss him as a fanatic. What does that say about them? 

It���s strange to me that there is such a cry for empathy for Solas and not for Anders. People dismiss Solas’ actions because “he hasn’t done it yet” but he is advocating for the eradication of entire races knowingly and has already been partially responsible for hundreds of deaths in Haven and at the Conclave. Solas does this without being possessed by anything. Less of the argument with Solas I have noticed is whether or not he is “right” but more so if he is worthy of redemption because of player affinity, empathy, love in some cases. There’s a desire to save the Dread Wolf from himself, despite his past and future mistakes. Because his "intentions” are good and he wants to restore Arlathan. But with Anders, him being “right” often is the most discussed... as if redemption and grace has anything to do with that. Less popular is discussing the value of intentions. It appears to be a minority that want to reach out to the fucked up apostate idiot cat man and offer atonement despite all these external factors, which I think make mercy more... amiable? At least it did to me. The dissonance here is confusing and sometimes I wonder if it comes down to player preference. Solas is pretty damn smooth. Anders? Not so much. Complete dumpsterfire.

When romanced, Anders might be given the chance to live and atone, to come to terms with himself as an Abomination. Hawke can provide a more stable atmosphere and offer grace and mercy in the moments when he curses himself for joining with Justice and the chaos that decision wrought. Whether or not that is healthy or justified is up to the player to decide. But, I have to wonder what it would do to him seeing the mage rebellion prompted entirely by something else years later and the lack of revolution his actions caused. Mages reject him and his own self-hatred may be all-consuming at this point. While I love the idea of my favorite sewer-dwelling apostate and my kick-ass Hawke growing old together, it very likely would be an agonizing journey, ripe with toxicity and painful dynamics for both of them. Frankly, I have yet to decide what my canon decision is there. Thank the Maker its a video game and I can change my mind as often as I want to.

I see a lot of myself in Anders in a way I have yet to experience with other Dragon Age characters, so I can recognize that this factors into my level of empathy. But all the same, I wanted to share my thoughts. Even as someone who loves the guy, I can see that he is a complete fuck up who may be better off dead... then he is at least free. Unsure. What are your thoughts regarding fandom empathy and objectivity towards more controversial characters?  Now excuse me as I return to my Sewer Apostate Spotify playlist and cry for a good two hours looking and Handers fan art like an idiot I just feel for the guy.

[hunnybel]

Can you tell me more about your incubus AU? At least that’s the one Au that I think you’re talking about with the erigiri art dump (first image w demonic Tegiri and human eridan) :0

Indeed that first image is my Incubus AU and I'm happy to talk about it! I won't go too much into the NSFW details because I know I have minors following me here.

This is gonna get a little long and I dunno how to Read More on mobile so Apologies in advance 👀💦

Tegiri is an incubus but he's not at all into the idea of pursuing energy like that. Too much work. He has better things to do like watch anime. And its becomes a larger problem the longer he waits to do anything. Like he doesnt think he has the charisma/doesn't wanna expend the energy on seducing anyone and so relies on pheromones to find partners. But the longer he waits, the less powerful even that is, but he's reluctant all the same. Because its not Enticing to him. He has his waifus and husbandos, not that interested in the real thing- until he absolutely needs it or he'll die.

So like the only partners he can really get are just Desperate because otherwise the low levels of pheromones he can produce isn't enough to catch any attention. So usually it's like... a necessity thing and he's like Not into the people he gets energy from

Eridan being desperate enough to get pulled in, but its not necessarily a desperation for sleeping with someone but Intimacy, and that plays a big factor in it. Tegiri isn't used to finding his targets Attractive but Eridan sure is and then also Eridan's Desire for Intimacy makes itself known in how he reacts and also Tegiri's own actions being influenced by his partner's desire. He's not used to this kinda stuff, its usually just Lust, so this is New. And... he likes it.

And intially Tegiri doesn't reveal his true nature, his true appearance, so Eridan doesn't know the exact nature of this person he's met and slept with. Because usually it doesn't matter, Tegiri never looks for repeats because, again, he's not into his partners. But this time, he would like to see Eridan again. Maybe even before he's starving to death. And at that time he would reveal his true self. So Eridan learns that Tegiri is an incubus who feeds off sexual energy and desire and Tegiri is... kinda embarrassed to let him know that this is the first time hes ever wanted to be with someone twice.

And of course it makes Eridan more heistant because, well, the first time he's gotten the intimacy he wanted it was from a demon who just wanted him for Energy. But... he liked the intimacy, and Tegiri would give it to him again and he's Craving it. So he agrees, now knowing the truth. And yeah, the second time is just as fulfilling. Tegiri wants to make this a regular thing and Eridan agrees.

Eridan hates the fact that he develops actual Feelings for Tegiri when Tegiri is just Using him. And he was aware since the beginning so this isn't like... offensive that he's just being used, but it still Hurts. He wants to be more than an energy source for Tegiri, but he doesn't think he even really has a right to say. They're... exclusive? He thinks? Tegiri did say he never slept with anyone else twice and that he's not super Needy for energy. And they meet up enough that it's probably exclusive. But that doesn't mean Tegiri actually thinks anything more of him.

Meanwhile Tegiri is Confused by being Smitten. He's never felt this for anyone? Acquaintances, friendships, sure. But this Desire to be with someone, and not just for feeding, which he never used to have the desire to do before either. Even if it's just... watching stuff together and cuddling or whatever else falls under Eridan's Desires for Intimacy. Tegiri Loves it. He.... loves? Eridan? Maybe? Is this what those romance shows were talking about?

They're both bad at communicating their thoughts so they're sort of in this place where Eridan hesitantly settles for being used as a food source and Tegiri is sort of conflicted because Incubi aren't supposed to have Feelings for any of their partners but Tegiri only wants to be with Eridan. And he has discovered that he can gain energy by fulfilling Eridan's desire for intimacy over the usual methods.

Eventually it sort of reaches the point where Tegiri shows his affection in ways that wouldn't directly result in him being fed and Eridan is confused why he's doing this. And Tegiri manages to finally get it across that he cares for him as more than an Energy Source.

It's a frustrating romantic slow burn and I love them 😩💕💕 Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk

[beca-mitchell]

Can you give us another sneak peek of the mafia!au 🥺

here’s 3k words of it 

i’m too lazy to upload to AO3 because it’s still incomplete but i might later. I’m sorry that it’s really bad and incomplete. I’ve just been too tired to really look at this AU for now.

for context: beca is the daughter of a crime lord and chloe is a university student. they meet by chance on a night out and fall in love.

Warning for smut.

* * * * *

You’re the fear, I don’t careCause I’ve never been so highFollow me through the darkLet me take you past the satellitesYou can see the world you brought to life

* * * * *

Oddly, the fear that rushes through Beca as she faces the plain wooden door is not because of the lingering adrenaline from just under an hour ago, facing down the barrel of a gun, but rather, what she knows lies behind the door. 

Who she knows is behind the door.

She raises her hand to knock, wincing when her sore shoulder makes itself ever known once more. It is a reminder of being pinned against the floor wherein she had seen a brief segment of her life flash before her eyes. It isn’t necessarily a new occurrence, but these days—

Beca inhales deeply, steadying herself.

These days, Beca feels like there is so much more at stake.

(And, the pressing matter of Chloe not even fully knowing her entire history—all the reasons why Beca hates herself; why Beca hates that this is even her life at all—still lingers over Beca like an impenetrable cloud.)

She knocks, finally and keeps her eyes trained straight ahead, knowing that the wrath she’ll face from Chloe is likely going to be the most frightening thing she experiences tonight, but she kind of hopes it’s quick because all she wants is a warm shower and Chloe’s arms around her.

Chloe pulls open the door after a few moments—moments that stretch like eons for Beca—and it takes a few moments while Chloe rubs the sleep out of one of her eyes before peering at Beca in confusion.

“Beca?” she questions, voice rattling with tiredness. Beca realizes with a pang that she likely woke Chloe up unnecessarily. The reminder that the apartment complex’s hallway remains eerily empty and quiet is also an indicator that it is a lot later than Beca had expected.

“I—” Beca swallows when she feels the strangest tightness in her throat. “I’m sorry,” she whispers instead, forgetting what she had even intended to say. Likely something stupidly suave and not-at-all appropriate for the gravity of the situation at hand. She realizes how much she wants to step into Chloe’s arms, but something holds her back, like she recognizes that she is exceptionally tainted and unclean. “I’m sorry,” she repeats, but she just needs Chloe to—she needs Chloe to—

“C’mere,” Chloe rasps, pulling her securely into her arms when she takes in Beca’s rattled state. She pulls a little harder than Beca would like, but Beca reminds herself that Chloe doesn’t know of the aches and bruises littering her body. She’s fine, she’s fine, she’s fine, she reminds herself. 

She’s alive and she came back to Chloe just like she promised. 

Chloe’s heart pounds as she holds Beca, unable to shake the feeling that something is terribly wrong. Beca had mentioned that she needed to do some business-related things and that vague descriptor had been enough for Chloe despite all the questions she wanted to ask. The fear and curiosity still war with each other constantly in Chloe’s heart ever since learning of what Beca really did for a living. 

All the demons in her closet. 

All the horrors in her sleep.

Chloe wonders if she can pull some of that pain from Beca. If she can seep some of it away, somehow. She squeezes Beca a little tighter, sighing into the crook of her girlfriend’s neck as she does so. It is then that Beca stiffens and her back tenses uncomfortably, but she relaxes quickly enough. Chloe catches it however and pulls back, eyes narrowing suspiciously.

“What was that about?” she asks, pulling Beca further into her apartment. She debates whether to draw Beca towards the bathroom or towards her bedroom. Before she can really decide, Chloe notices the way Beca’s hand comes up to her shoulder almost unconsciously as her eyes lift up to Chloe’s in a guilty manner. Chloe’s small apartment seems even smaller as Beca looks up at her with nervous, anxious eyes. Incredibly even then, the bedroom, where she so desperately wants to cuddle with Beca now more than ever, feels too far away. “Are you hurt?” Chloe asks, reaching forward to cup Beca’s cheeks as gently as she can. “Did you hurt yourself? Did somebody—” the thought rattles her “—did somebody hurt you?” 

Beca attempts a smile, but it’s weak. “I didn’t hurt myself…” she trails off, pretty much confirming every last one of Chloe’s fears. 

(Since Beca’s big “reveal” just under two weeks ago, Chloe had spent many sleepless nights staring at her ceiling while she remained tortured by her own imagination.

It was difficult reconciling the fact that the woman she had come to develop very real feelings for in such a short period of time was also susceptible to the very awful reality of her own line of “work”—a life that she had been forced into more than a life that she had chosen.

It was heartbreaking more than it was terrifying, but the fear played a factor regardless.)

Chloe desperately wants to roll her eyes, but she refuses to take her eyes off Beca’s face. “Beca, you promised,” she whispers, her heart clenching with renewed pain and fear. “Is it bad?” She reaches up to run her fingers through Beca’s hair. She smiles, ever so slightly, at the very subtle way Beca leans into her touch. “Show me,” she urges. “I can help.” 

“I don’t…are you sure?” Beca asks, looking like she’s afraid of something. Probably Chloe running away. “I don’t want you to be like…grossed out.” 

Chloe would laugh at Beca’s ever-present hard-headedness if she weren’t concerned at the possibility of Beca legitimately needing some kind of urgent care.

“I’m not going anywhere…no matter how reckless you are,” Chloe declares. She draws back, placing her hands on her hips and stares hard at Beca, eyes searching across Beca’s face. Her stance doesn’t last long and Chloe deflates. “You promised, Bec. You weren’t going to do…that.”

“It…it got out of control,” Beca admits, thinking about the flash of fury that had slid across her father’s business contact’s face before her back had thudded hard against the ground. “But it’s not bad, I promise,” she assures quickly when Chloe’s eyes flash with emotion once more. A mix of anger and concern. “I just…hurt my shoulder and back really badly. And,” she continues, rolling up the sleeve of her jacket, showing Chloe her bruised wrist. “Just this.” 

“I’m so mad at you,” Chloe whispers. She too is cognizant of how late it is—how thin the apartment walls are. Not for the first time, she wishes that she lived in a more upscale place—somewhere to call her own. Still, her actions contradict her words as she lifts Beca’s hand gently to press a kiss against her palm. “If you can promise not to injure yourself anymore, we can go take a shower.” 

Beca’s heartbeat speeds up as she tries not to think immediately of what she so desperately wants to do with Chloe in the shower, still something they haven’t done together, but she’s still kind of unsure if she’s on the hook still or if she’s allowed to think about having sex with her girlfriend. Whether Chloe sees anything particularly telling in her eyes she does not make it known and instead dips her head to capture Beca’s lips in a soft kiss.

Beca pushes into Chloe immediately, responding in kind. She trembles at how tender Chloe’s lips are—how gentle Chloe is in the way her hand grips her waist, holding her firmly and securely against her body. Beca sighs, tilting her head to properly capture Chloe’s lower lip between her own and stepping further into Chloe’s space. 

“I would love that, Chlo.” 

* * * * *

“Don’t be scared,” Beca urges, tracing Chloe’s cheek with her nose. She parts her lips, dipping her head to kiss along Chloe’s jaw and neck. 

Chloe shudders. “I am,” Chloe murmurs, grasping Beca’s jaw gently before tilting her head up for another kiss. “Only of losing you, though.”

Beca’s entire body warms—even more than it had been from standing under the warm shower spray. The heat is a result of the passion and desperation in Chloe’s voice. Beca has never been wanted quite so earnestly and honestly like this. She had never dared to dream of it either, especially 

“Please,” Beca pleads. All she wants is to feel close to her girlfriend right now. “Can we…I just need to feel you, Chlo…” She wants nothing more than to be reduced to just feeling Chloe’s body against her—she wants to feel nothing except the sensation of Chloe breaking her and tasting her. She wants to forget in a way that only Chloe knows how.

Chloe muffles the almost desperate whimper that escapes Beca’s mouth by covering her lips with her own. The previous tenderness, while still present, is no longer at the forefront of Chloe’s kiss. Instead, Beca feels, with a surge of arousal, the insistent probing of Chloe’s tongue into her mouth and the warmth of Chloe’s wet body against her own. They’re entirely wasting water at this point, but it’s late and Beca intends on making full use of her private bathroom. 

Chloe tears her mouth away eventually, breathing heavily against Beca’s mouth and chin as she gazes at Beca from beneath long eyelashes, water dripping off their ends. Beca trembles at the sight of Chloe’s excessively blue eyes, more gorgeous than ever. With her eyes still trained on Beca, Chloe begins to descend, lips trailing a blazing path down Beca’s neck, her collarbone, between her breasts—Beca whines unexpectedly when Chloe teasingly skips her aching nipples—then down the plane of her stomach before slowly parting Beca’s legs.

“Can you…” Chloe trails two fingers up the inside of Beca’s thigh. “Up?” she asks, breath hot and heavy against Beca’s skin. Beca nods, lifting her leg up over Chloe’s shoulder while she reaches down to sweep Chloe’s messy, wet hair away from her face. “So good,” Chloe murmurs, kissing the soft skin of Beca’s inner thigh closest to her. Her lips trail closer to Beca’s center, where she can see Beca throbs and wants for Chloe the most. The visual of Beca’s wanting, open center—all for Chloe—sends the headiest rush of arousal through Chloe, a visceral want that she attempts to alleviate by pressing her own thighs together. Pushing forward, she leans in for a soft, intimate kiss to Beca’s wet folds, committed to her show of affection and care for the woman pinned to the wall.l 

Beca tilts her head back against the panes of the individual shower stall, groaning quietly when Chloe’s tongue flicks sharply against her clit. The aches in her shoulder and all along her back are all but forgotten as Chloe begins to thoroughly slice her tongue in and around her cunt, slowly building Beca further up from where she was before.

Chloe fucks her with a moderate amount of determination and excessive amount of precision. The firm grip she has on Beca’s thigh and the way her forearm is pressed across her lower abdomen as she tilts her head every which way to continue her ministrations between Beca’s leg—all of it feels especially excessive tonight as Beca rests against the wall, at Chloe’s mercy. 

She slackens her grip in Chloe’s hair, groaning when Chloe begins to suck gently on her clit. The gentle pressure and warmth of Chloe’s lips and tongue and her mouth only make her clit throb more with the extra attention on it. She wants to feel all of Chloe, however—wants Chloe to possess her and make her forget.

She wants nothing but Chloe all around her and in her, filling her up literally and figuratively until her emotions well up and spill over, like all the desire, love, and affection she has for the woman down on her knees in front of her. Opening her eyes hazily, she tilts her head back down with a heaving gasp and a quick flex of her fingers in Chloe’s hair to get her attention. Chloe slows her kisses and pulls back, face glistening with water.

“Are you okay?” Chloe rasps thickly. Her tongue darts out to lick her lips. “Did I hurt you?” 

“No,” Beca murmurs quickly. “No, not at all. I just—” her breath catches in her chest as Chloe’s fingers trail a quick, succinct path between her legs where her fingers gently begin pushing through Beca’s folds. “Yes,” she moans out, unable to keep her leg up on Chloe’s shoulder any longer. Chloe adapts quickly and stands with shocking swiftness so that she is holding Beca’s body up against the wall with her own. With her free hand, she hikes Beca’s leg up around her hip, eyes trained intently on Beca’s face for any sign of discomfort.

“But you’d tell me if I hurt you, right?” Chloe asks quickly, puffing out quick breaths against Beca’s neck as she begins a slow, steady rhythm with her fingers. Beca’s eyes nearly cross as she nods weakly. Forgetting about the pain in her shoulder, she lifts both arms to wrap around the back of Chloe’s neck, pulling her in for a deep kiss.

The only way you could hurt me is by leaving.

The reality of Chloe one day leaving—by choice or otherwise—makes Beca’s eyes fly open. Her breathing stutters and she gasps along with Chloe’s thrusts. She grips tighter, nails scrabbling against the skin on Chloe’s back as she tries to prolong her impending orgasm. Chloe’s breathing is laboured against her ear and Beca’s sensitive hearing picks up the minuscule whines that Chloe emits every now and then, audible even over the sound of rushing water. She closes her eyes, reaching for whatever bit of skin she finds available, and finally sinks her teeth gently against Chloe’s shoulder to muffle the sharp cry that she knows will escape as she comes hard around Chloe’s fingers. She clenches tight, like her body is already desperate to keep Chloe inside her and pressed against her. She aches terribly, in both a pleasurable and painful way, but all of it is so, so worth it.

Chloe is pressing slow kisses against the side of her head and along her shoulder as she comes down slowly from her high. As Chloe moves to pull her fingers out, Beca shakes her head once before lifting her gaze to Chloe’s. “Stay,” she implores. “Just a bit longer.”

Chloe’s brow furrows before her expression softens and she leans in to nuzzle her nose against Beca’s before capturing her lips in a kiss.

Please don’t leave me, Beca thinks, but she does not say it aloud. She trembles at the weight on her shoulders, nestling closer to the one person who could very much break her altogether in a million different ways.

* * * * *

Back in Chloe’s room, Chloe closes the door, eyes trained intently on Beca’s movements as she settles back in Chloe’s bed comfortably. Chloe’s bed is significantly smaller than Beca’s bed at her father’s house—perhaps it might even be considered tiny—but Beca isn’t complaining as she settles under Chloe’s heavy comfortable and watches Chloe tidy up. She winces when Chloe gingerly picks up the small pistol that Beca had laid on top of her jacket and moves it carefully into her drawer for safekeeping. She hangs Beca’s jacket up in her closet among her own clothes. The simple act warms Beca’s heart long enough that she momentarily forgets about the worries clogging her mind. They return in full force however when Chloe’s gaze returns to her.

“Are you sure you don’t need the hospital?” Chloe asks, her brow furrowing in concern.

Beca tries to smirk. “After what we just did in the shower?”

Chloe frowns further. “Beca…I don’t…even know what happened to you, still.” She slowly climbs into bed next to Beca, cuddling in close. Beca can tell Chloe is still concerned with how carefully her hand comes up to rest on her chest. “Was…was what we did okay?” 

Beca winds her arm gingerly around Chloe’s head, reaching up to tangle in Chloe’s damp curls. “It was,” she promises. “I needed to feel you, Chlo. You make it all…go away.” 

Chloe worries her lower lip between her teeth. “I do?” 

“More than you know. I’ve told you this,” Beca reminds her gently. 

“Tell me what happened to you,” Chloe requests softly.

Beca swallows, flashes of pain and hurt returning to her with full force. The weight of Chloe’s head settles on her uninjured shoulder. She knows she ought to get it checked out as soon as possible, but she feels warm and safe in Chloe’s bed; in Chloe’s arms.

“I’m scared,” Beca admits finally after a few moments of playing with Chloe’s hair. 

Chloe lifts her head slightly, propping her chin up. “Of what?”

“Losing you.”

It isn’t the first time that Beca has admitted it aloud—the first time, tears in both their eyes, still echoes in her head like a permanent reminder of the burden she has to carry with her forever. This is, however, a moment that Beca feels like it is more and more a reality.

“You won’t,” Chloe promises, as steady as ever. “Bec, I keep telling you—”

“I know,” Beca says hastily. “I just…this is my life,” she admits forlornly. “This is my life and how I have to live…and I don’t want you to get hurt, above all.”

Chloe leans up to kiss her, surprising her with how soft and passionate the kiss is. Beca cups the back of Chloe’s head tenderly, eager to let the conversation fade away and continue this if anything, but Chloe pulls back too quickly for Beca’s liking. She whines in protest, but quietens at Chloe’s expression.

“I’m an adult, Beca,” Chloe mumbles. She reaches up to trace Beca’s lips with her index finger. “I know how to handle myself.”

Beca closes her eyes. It’s what every person in her position would dream of hearing if this were some kind of romantic movie where danger was rather limited, but she knows that no matter how many assertions Chloe makes, Chloe has absolutely no idea what the reality is. Or how bad it is.

“I could have died tonight,” Beca admits. Chloe’s hand slows before it drops away. “I could have died because I was stupid and I wasn’t thinking…and that means something. But…” she inhales deeply at the frozen expression on Chloe’s face. “But all I could think of was you. And how I couldn’t bear to lose you. Or what it would be like to never see your face again.”

fin for now.

[theshinsun]

1. as far as im concerned Kagami never left at the end of last game, that was an extended dream sequence... 2. i also totally agree with you that Kagami is prolly vers, if anything, and it was also MY PET PEEVE when people pinholed him into being a forever bottom at the peak of knb hype. 3. you keep teasing your long list of ships for Aomine PLEASE do him for the character thing lol. So far all your opinions are sending me into a realm of GOOD VALID VIBES

Omg thank you!! (I agree end of Last Game is not canon… or if it is he came right back the next year or smth I refuse to accept he just left forever. And I’m really glad to see the problem of Uke™ Kagami seems to be in decline these days… fewer people are writing for knb in general, but those that are seem to have an idea what a real gay relationship is or at least make him a fucking person and not a walking stereotype, and that’s encouraging to see). 

Also thanks so much for sending Aomine! …Strap in for this character essay tho I’ve been known to never shut up about this boy once you get me started.

How I feel about this character

I honestly… can’t even explain it anymore or even try to justify it but Aomine has had a bigger impact on me than, I think, any other character I’ve seen to date. I don’t even know what it is, I do relate to him (and project on him *cough*) but like, there are other characters out there that I have more in common with, and I like his whole arc and aesthetic but it’s nothing revolutionary, so… your guess is as good as mine. 

Whatever it is, I’ve been obsessed with this guy for over half a decade, and lately even as the KNB fandom falls into decline, my feelings are not they’re just getting stronger. His development over the course of the series is one of the most satisfying things I’ve ever seen, (that one bit at the end of the Touou/Seirin game with “I want to practice” and his later conversation with Kuroko hit me in the fucking chest every time), and I love how even though he’s portrayed as cold, uncaring and rude, it’s still understood (at least by anyone with some nuance) that that’s not what he’s supposed to be like, and underneath the distant, kind of dickish front, he’s hurting a lot. I’ve talked about the degree to which he cares about people before too, but I still have to give a mention to the ferocious level of protectiveness this guy has for his friends. I could go on about him for ages, tbh, and maybe someday I will write a for-real structured essay to try to get it out there, but the bottom line is I love this character, I have for a long time, and likely will continue to do so long into the future.

All the people I ship romantically with this character

Okay here we go… I ship this guy extremely liberally, even with people he’s never interacted with (hell you could mention any random character and I could probably see my way clear to shipping them with him somehow, I’ll still try to explain my logic if I can). Prepare yourself.

Kagami (of course, AoKaga is the OTP and definitely the one I’ve devoted the most time to, they’re just the best together I’ll never get tired of seeing them figure their shit out over and over)

Kuroko (I may be AoKaga on main, but I’m still such a sucker for the tragic romance between these two, and sometimes it just hits me over the head like a sledgehammer how much I love their relationship. I’ve also got a lot of feelings for AoKagaKuro, they’re such a perfect trio and I need to invest more of my time in the OT3)

Kise (I was a bit late to the game on AoKise, but I definitely see it now. I love their dynamic and how imperfect their relationship would probably be, the complexity of it. sign me up)

Momoi (I don’t see a lot of AoMomo love anymore, but I’ve still got a soft spot for it, childhood friends are my weakness okay)

Midorima (they’re so different but that’s what makes it interesting, and I love the idea of neither of them knowing how to show/tell the other their feelings and being awkward stubborn shits together)

Murasakibara (they almost never interact but I just think they’d have such a soft cuddly relationship and be really chill together… lazy Sunday mornings sleeping in and hanging all over each other that kinda thing)

Akashi (kinda same as Akashi/Kagami, I think the difference between polished upper-class Akashi and scrappy city boy Aomine would be hella interesting… though I’ve also got some angst ideas for them as a couple, after how things went down at Teiko… abandonment and whatnot)

Imayoshi (I got pulled into this ship HARD by Lysapadin’s A Firm Hand series and now it’s no longer a guilty pleasure ship and is actually something I’ll talk about in the open, just… the power dynamic fuck me up)

Sakurai (I fuckin love the idea of an anxious Sakurai crushing hard on Aomine and not knowing how to tell him but when he finally plucks up the courage and prepares himself for imminent death Aomine’s actually pretty chill about it… plus they’d be adorable together tbh)

Wakamastu (you know it’s gotta be enemies to lovers. not just bc I’m intrigued by the love/hate relationship itself but if you look past the attitude issues these two would actually probably have a lot in common. also I’m really interested in how their dynamic might change with Wakamatsu being captain and all)

Susa (idk but there’s one throwaway line in season 3 where Imayoshi says about Aomine “actually maybe he likes you” and that’s enough for me. bring me the rarest rarepair my body is ready)

Kasamatsu (it wasn’t supposed to be SERIOUS but they got me. That moment in the Touou/Kaijo game where Aomine helps him up and “you’ve really done it now, senpai” is legit, plus these two would be such a good-looking couple, honestly.)

Mibuchi (give me the pretty boys. I have no excuse for this except maybe their interactions in my own damn fic again)

Nebuya (sometimes shipping can be as simple as hey I want them to bang right. also they’re both humongous dorks under their respective rough exteriors and I love them)

Moriyama (they bond over liking girls at first and then they’re simultaneously like wait a minute… more Touou/Kaijo ships pls)

Nijimura (I have this idea of them reuniting late into/after high school and Aomine still calls him captain out of habit and Nijimura’s like relieved and impressed to see how he’s developed since the mess at Teiko)

Himuro (they Never interact but they’d be so Petty and Snarky sign me up)

Haizaki (twisted, but I’m interested it’d be so unhealthy and awful bring it)

Hanamiya (even more twisted tbh but there is that moment where Aomine confronts him… and I’m here for hate sex just as much as your typical romance)

Inoue (who, you ask? I know he’s such a side character and no one remembers him, but he’s a big reason for Aomine’s downfall at Teiko and they seemed to be buddies before that, I’d be interested in some kind of reconciliation between them, or a romance, ya know whatever works)

And then we get into crossover territory… MOST of these are not my fault they’re just things I’ve seen and adopted for myself

Kuroo Tetsurou (someone made a moodboard for them, and now I can’t stop thinking about them in a relationship, like damn… it’d be such a beautiful mess I wanna see more of it)

Oikawa Tooru (I’ve seen art, and also the light. These two damaged angsty prodigies, one sharp as a whip the other dumb as bricks, but both of them sassy and nerdy as hell. I could see myself getting addicted to this ship if I took the time to write it out, and I just might)

Yamazaki Sousuke (can’t lie, they look good together. I’ve seen more than one art piece of them interacting and I have a Mighty Need.)

Matsuoka Rin (angry lonely talented boys finding solace in each other’s company? you know that’s my shit. also shark teeth and cop AUs hells yeah.) 

Tanaka Ryuunosuke (I don’t know where the fuck this idea came from but I thought of Tanaka trying to pick a fight with “shitty boi” Aomine while in Tokyo and then losing his shit and here we are)

Terushima Yuuji (this one is purely physical… they pretty, I have no other reason, but also this absolute fuckboy, these two would be such a train wreck and I’m here for it tbh)

Yachi Hitoka (okay picture this Giant Terrifying basketball player trying to be less giant and terrifying to tiny shy Yachi and tell me you don’t just want to see that happen. I get Legosi/Haru vibes.)

I’ll spare you the rest of the ideas I’ve tossed around, because past this point it becomes pure crack (if it hasn’t already) but you get the idea. Throw a character my way and I can probably talk myself into it that’s the power this guy has over me. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

My non-romantic OTP for this character

K considering the List… it shouldn’t be surprising that I also consider this person a romantic candidate, but you know when it comes to non-romantic OTP it’s gotta be Momoi. Platonic or romantic, the way she’s stuck with him all those years and his obvious protectiveness and love for her and how (even though he claims to like big tits) he never even once starts to objectify her in any way, it’s so important to me. Momoi is Aomine’s redeeming factor when he’s at his worst, and she goes to bat for him even while he’s actively trying to shake her off and still tries to protect and help him when he refuses to accept it, even when it means they fight. (Also Kuroko saying “Aomine’s probably looking for you” after their argument puts to mind Aomine running through the rain calling Momoi’s name and that is just… pure). These two have the kind of unshakable long-standing friendship that’ll probably last them the rest of their lives, and no matter what context or form it takes, I can’t get enough of it. 

My unpopular opinion about this character

I’ve harped on enough about the fandom’s portrayal of Aomine as a one-note asshole who doesn’t care before, so let’s see if I can change gears a little bit here. 

I honestly don’t agree with… the persistent idea people seem to have of Aomine being a narcissist or obsessed with himself? Like yeah, he’s self-absorbed and egotistical, no question, this is not to say he hasn’t got those flaws and others besides… but that’s not the same as being like, physically attracted to yourself. Part of me suspects it was a “the only one who can fuck me is me” joke taken too far, so that now the idea of Aomine being in love with himself is just ingrained into the fanon culture, but if you look at the show itself, personally I don’t see it. If anything, I would think he’d have some self-loathing issues to work through (and that’s part of the reason he gave for skipping practice, he doesn’t want to be the way he is, and specifically says he doesn’t want to increase the difference between him and everyone else). But hey, that’s just my opinion. I’ll get off my soapbox now.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

I mean he says he and Kagami are postponing their match, after their brief one-on-one when he gives him the shoes, and then we never get to see it… Tbh just more street ball with this guy would be great, since it’s what his whole style is based around. Even if he’s just playing by himself… or hell, maybe since he thinks no one at the high school level can beat him, we could get a scene of him trying to go up against adults. Maybe he still beats them and his despair worsens after that, but then it’d have more meaning, and at least we’ll have seen that he’s tried and is not just giving up before he’s seen all of what he could be up against in the future. Plus, picturing Aomine going five-on-one like Haizaki did against grown-ups and still slaughtering them is something I’d pay money to see. 

[eltanin-malfoy]

Life Kills (Kill Or Be Killed I)

pairing : draco/fem-collegestudent!y/n (not that romantic.. or platonic)

word count : 3.4k!

warnings : smoking, swearing, mentions of murder/violence/poisoning, angst!!!!

a/n : this is set in an original modern non-magic AU, and the story is based off of (MAJOR SPOILER ALERT, DO NOT CHECK OUT THE PROMPT UNLESS YOU WANT TO SPOIL THE REST OF THE STORY lol) this prompt on @writing-prompt-s. there is no real romance between draco and y/n in this chapter, and i’m not exactly sure there will be. the premise of this story kind of makes that a little crazy. for now, it’s pretty much just animosity. there is the slightest possibility of this turning into a slow burn fic.. so hold on, i guess. this is definitely not your typical x reader. at all. i would appreciate any and all feedback from you guys! requests are open as well :) also i hate smoking irl but it just fit here, sorry.

Chapter 1 : Life Kills

Smoke. 

That beloved scent filled Draco’s lungs as he took a drag from the wrinkled brown stick in his hand, his steely eyes shutting as its end glowed red. He held it away for a few seconds as he exhaled, white clouds slipping out of his lips into the cold air in front of him. His eyes followed his own exhalation into the sky, his fingers fidgeting with the green lighter he’d used to ignite his toxic addiction with. 

He grinned, then brought the cigarette to his lips for another puff, then another, then another, till slowly, the tube of tar was finally used up. He folded up what was left of his papery weapon with his thin fingers and finally tossed it to the ground. He reached into his pocket for his pack, searching for even more release.

He lifted his gaze to the scene in front of him, the concrete jungle that was Bond Street. The expensive logos were practically calling out his name. It’s just my fucking luck, isn’t it? He scowled at the crowds gathered around the area. My lovely parents just had to go get themselves arrested and leave me all by myself. He instinctively grit his teeth as memories of his awful father fluttered through his brain. At least I don’t have to associate with that.. that.. tyrant anymore. 

“Draco? Two minutes left in your break, son.”

The pale blonde rolled his eyes as he stared out front, but looked back and flashed his elderly boss a (fake) smile. She nodded and stepped back inside, arms crossed around her portly frame as she shivered. 

It had only been a few months since his parents had been arrested by the government after being convicted of illegally possessing and smuggling famed works of art, literature and the like. When the authorities first began their investigation, Lucius had said that it would all work itself out, even though the police’s suspicions were absolutely correct. He had connections everywhere, after all. But, alas! A search warrant had made its way to Malfoy Manor before his parents had the opportunity to sweep everything under the rug, and.. even their very expensive defence lawyer wasn’t able to hide the fact that they were caught red handed.

This had led to a crapload of problems in Draco’s own life. To begin with, he wouldn’t be able to see his mother for at least another decade. His parents’ fortune (and his trust fund, of course!) was seized by the government, leaving him absolutely broke, and forced to drop out in the second year of his Chemistry degree at the very prestigious Oxford University. He’d tried hard to find some kind of a placement in any of his parents’ friends’ companies, but no, they’d decided to stop associating with any member of the Malfoy clan. So, he managed what he could and left his old grand life in Wiltshire for some kind of meagre lifestyle in London. Working as a cashier at Tesco probably wasn’t the worst thing he could be doing.. It was minimum wage, but, it wasn’t hard. Didn’t require much energy. 

Draco, for one, had never understood his parents’ motivation to undertake that.. that.. stupidity. 

His parents’ family fortune had had practically no purpose in the first place. There wasn’t a glint of compassion in his father’s heart, and all he wanted to use it for was to satisfy his own wants. Illegally purchasing stolen historical artifacts? Of course. Selling them off to others for even greater profits? Sure! But giving a beggar even a single pound? Absolutely not. This total greed and attitude of disgust his father had had used to interest him when he was younger, back in secondary school. He’d made a habit of showing off his wealth and talking down to those who didn’t have much in comparison. But as he grew up.. he’d realised how awful it was.

Especially now that he was only twenty, absolutely alone and having to live off of four hundred pounds a week. It seemed like a lot, at first, but once you factored in rent, food and basic needs, he was barely left with a handful to work with. His heart practically broke every time he caught sight of a homeless person and somehow, so different to his former self, he’d find himself searching in his wallet for spare notes to hand them.

He quickly opened up the pack of cigarettes and pulled out one to satiate himself, stress bubbling up in his veins. He shoved the box almost haphazardly back into the pocket of his coat, then held it to his lips and flicked his lighter, the brilliant orange flame lighting the tip of the cigarette. He took a drag and looked around again, slowly turning to walk back to his place of work. He took a few deep puffs and was just about to trash it when he heard.. what sounded like a struggle? 

He headed down the alleyway, to a bit of a darker turn, instinctively slicking back his platinum blonde hair. He finally got a glimpse of what was happening. There was a girl, probably around the same age as him, having a dynamic disagreement with a.. homeless old person? His protective instincts kicked into gear as he saw her swatting at him with the umbrella in her hand, yelling at him for what sounded like.. attempting to trip her?

The old man was shielding himself with a blanket, his arms over his head as he called for help. Draco, feeling almost like his saviour, pushed the girl away, which, he realised was not the best move with his tall figure, made her fall to the ground with a loud squeal. The old man set the blanket down and looked up at the lack of commotion, then gave the lanky blonde a smile. He even mouthed a soft ‘thank you’ and Draco waved his hand, reassuring him that it was no big deal.  He took a deep breath, about to turn on his heel to leave, but found himself scowling down at the girl, who was slowly getting up again.

“Why did you do that?” She panted, her hair messy as she got back onto her feet. She wasn’t exactly well built herself, her face was a bit pale and there were hints of shadows under her eyes as she glared up at him. She dusted herself off and placed her hand on her denim-covered knee, wincing the slightest bit. She quickly rose up again and brought her hands to her hips. “Don’t need to look at me like that.” She clenched her jaw and Draco realised that he’d been silent all this while.

“Don’t need.. idiots like you treating helpless people the way you did. Fucking awful, that was.” He looked her over quickly, his gaze pausing at the straps of the backpack on her shoulders. “You.. you students think you can just get away with anything, don’t you?” He found himself getting a bit more heated, his cheeks slowly beginning to turn purple. 

She opened her mouth to speak, but Draco rolled his eyes and finally turned to leave, walking back down the alleyway without a word. “Well, we don’t need pricks like you defending these oh so helpless people when they try to steal something from someone.” She called out after him and he stopped, staring to the front, before looking over his shoulder. Instead of locking eyes with her, he saw the same homeless man, staring into space as he huddled up with that blanket. Draco felt the slightest pang of guilt in his gut, but ignored it and continued, still choosing to believe that she was just.. an embodiment of his own father. 

Nasty and entitled. He thought to himself as he slipped off his coat, setting it on a rack in the Employee’s Only room. Bet she hasn’t known any real problems in her life. Bet she’s not even a fucking good student. He felt his rage boiling up within him again, but stared at himself in the small mirror by the door. He placed his hands on his reddened cheeks and forced himself to calm down, taking deep breaths and reassuring himself of his own ability. Looking very flustered wasn’t exactly ideal for a cashier in a supermarket, after all.

***

Draco ran the carton of milk over the scanner. Beep. He passed it over to the red haired boy to the side of him, who began to stuff it into a plastic bag. He tried his best not to glance at his customer, but his curiosity bested him and he reluctantly flashed the dark middle aged man a smile. He shook it off and stared at the monitor in front of him. “That’ll be ninety four pounds and thirty pence, sir.” He looked over at the man as he pulled out his wallet and ruffled through it to hand him a few notes, along with a few coins. 

“Oh, and I found this in the Car Care aisle.” He pulled out yet another wallet from his pocket, a black, leather one… just like Draco’s father’s.. He let out a sharp exhale and gently took it from him, setting it on the counter. “Thank you, sir. We’ll announce that it’s missing right away.”

The boy then stuffed the notes into the drawer of the cashier, pulling out the one and returning it to the man. “Here’s your change! Thank you for shopping at Tesco, have a nice day!” He forced the words out of his mouth, his voice dry. He could act well, back in the day, but now, he wasn’t exactly willing to try. The ginger opened his mouth to speak. “Hope to see you again, sir, thanks for returning the wallet you found!” A bright smile on his stupid face. Ugh! Always got to suck up to them, doesn’t he? Draco grit his teeth as he shut the register, looking up to see that there was no more customers queuing at the counter. 

He opened up the wallet and looked it over, then noticed the name on a credit card in one of the sleeves to the front. There were a couple of ID cards in the others, but.. he couldn’t exactly be bothered. He leaned down and pulled out the small microphone wired to the counter, thought his announcement up, pressed the button besides it and opened his mouth to speak. 

“A black leather wallet belonging to a Y/N Y/L/N was just found in the Car Care aisle. Kindly approach counter number 4 for more details, please.” He called out, almost monotonously, closing the wallet up and setting it away. He turned it off and set it away. He looked over at the wallet again and goddamn Lucius’ face flashed in his mind again. 

“Can’t seem to learn to act a little nicer, can you, Draco?” Draco lifted his gaze to look over at him, eyes flitting down to the name tag by his collar. Ron… what a bloke to be forced to spend these hours with.. Draco furrowed his brows and just shook his head. “No, I can’t. And that’s the way it’ll be. I’m saying what I have to say, and I shouldn’t be judged for not feeling like a chirpy little bird all the time.” “Okay.. whatever.” Ron rolled his eyes and fiddled around with the bags attached to the hooks by the counter, then looked around. “Not a very busy day today, is it?” 

Draco looked down as his eyes widened, somehow Ron had mastered getting on his nerves. “No, it’s not. Not a lot of people out this late at night on a Sunday, Ron.” He looked over at the digital clock by the exit of the store, tilting his head and rolling his shoulders lightly. ‘10:47’  The clock read. Less than a quarter of an hour until my shift ends and I can get out of this shithole. He stared into space as he bit down on his lip, grateful that Ron had finally decided to remain silent. It wasn’t too chilly inside, but it was unbearable for every other reason. This forced happiness with every single customer, the annoying radio somehow constantly playing only the songs he seemed to hate, his annoying bag packer.. maybe retail really wasn’t for him. He shook his head and fiddled with the edge of his blue uniform shirt, staring at the clock and waiting for time to pass. 

Easy money, isn’t it? He continued to think to himself. Have to press a couple of buttons, say a couple of words, stay in my place, everything works out. He took a deep breath. Good cover too. No one’s too careful with managing who does the shifts either.. Great alibi, Draco. Could just lie and write my name up in the lists.. No one even cares. A small smile grew on his face. No one would even know if it was me.. Not one. Murder isn’t that hard when you’ve got control of the inventory as well. Change a couple numbers, bag a couple of items and take them out with you through the employee’s exit, no one would even know a thing. 

After having to leave university, Draco had grown very, very confused as to what direction to steer his life in. Money wasn’t exactly what he was after.. and it seemed like any past hopes of his of being a research scientist were pointless without some kind of a degree. Chemistry had been his subject of choice, much to his father’s great disdain. He was fine with Draco not even going into tertiary education at all, he had the family business going for him, didn’t he? If you could call it that, then yes. But.. it wasn’t for him. Smuggling wasn’t what interested him, really. It was murder, now.

Draco had liked reading about true crime since he was a child. The horrors, the mysteries and everything else had fascinated him to no end. He thought it had just been some kind of juvenile interest of his, some way to satisfy his curiosity. He could never have seen himself attempting any of that. But that was until he was forced out of his lush lifestyle, this whole change had not only upped his anger and generosity towards the rich and the poor, respectively, but also his desire to get rid of the stress inside of him. Nicotine had soon become his drug of choice but.. 

He craved something more.

Roland Hoyt… oh boy.. That was the one serial killer Draco had truly been fascinated by. That absolute genius had managed to kill eight people in an old English town with the use of chemicals. It was some mixture of cyanide and barbiturates that he had managed to feed to most of his victims which lead to their death, but what had truly drawn Draco in was the few cases in which Hoyt managed to use his own version of the famed lethal injection. It was beyond wicked, truly. Draco felt like it would be one hell of an insane mission, had felt crooked to the bone even thinking about doing it, but truly, there was no better way to get out his frustration than to just.. do the same. He couldn’t exactly afford any kind of games, or gym membership or as such any longer. And even his most recent ex, Pansy, had seemed to lose any interest in him once he lost his fortune. Talking to girls wasn’t exactly his forte to begin with, anyways. 

He just wanted to try it, really. Out of curiosity. Just someone who no one would miss, would even know they were missing. He knew it was absolutely awful of him to even try.. But he’d studied up enough to know how to get away with it, and try he very well would. Or at least try to try, right?

He was snapped out of his thoughts with a nudge to the shoulder from his accompanying bag packer. His head shot up and looked over at him. “What is it, Weasley?” Ron pointed over at the other side of the counter where a new customer was stood.

“Not you again..” 

Draco suddenly froze, instantly recognising that voice. He looked up hesitantly and locked eyes with her. It’s that bitch from earlier! Should bar her from coming in here, really! He grit his teeth and pursed his lips slightly, but soon opened his mouth to speak. “Good evening, miss.” His tone seemed a bit cheery, but was obviously rich in sarcasm. “The wallet’s mine.. “ He almost snarled at this, but placed the wallet on the counter. “Are you sure? Or are you just trying to..? You really Y/N Y/L/N?”

She rolled her eyes and took the wallet, opening it up delicately. “Do you really think I’d steal a wallet? You shouldn’t be allowed to work here, honestly.” She pushed a single bottle of antifreeze forwards, fiddling with the ends of her hair. Draco quickly sized her up as she moved forward. The backpack was gone, replaced by a small satchel bag over her shoulder. She seemed to have changed as well, while he couldn’t remember what kind of shirt she was wearing, the jeans she had on were replaced by some shorts.. and what seemed like a small plaster over her knee. He took the bottle of antifreeze and brought it up to the scanner.

“Well, good thing I have a kind manager, then.” He rolled his eyes as the machine beeped, passing the bottle along to Ron, who almost dropped it at first. Draco looked over at him and his eyes were practically stuck on the girl as she glared at Draco. She suddenly looked over at Ron as well, launching into another attack. “Has Tesco seriously started employing assholes who push customers around when no one else is looking?” She bit down on her lip, awaiting some kind of a response.

“Well-well..” Ron stuttered out and Draco couldn’t help but cringe for him, pressing a few buttons on the register. “He’s just the one.. Really. The rest of us are.. not bad.” The girl seems unsatisfied with this response, but continued to look at him, studying his reaction. “So.. you’re not bad then?” She asked, eyeing the redhead quizzically now. “I can be great for a pretty girl like-” “That’ll be seven pounds.” Draco looked over at Ron to see him staring back disapprovingly, arms crossed over his chest. He could feel the slight snarl growing on his face, but snapped out of it, knowing he couldn’t have this girl actually complain about him to his superiors. “Paying by card?” He flipped a card reader over to her, then pressed a few buttons on his own register. She nodded and fit it into the slot, waiting patiently as it flashed an ‘Approved’ sign. “There..”

Draco rolled his eyes yet again, reaching over to grasp the receipt that had just finished printing out. “Miss, you need to sign and write down your contact number here. Just for verification purposes.” He placed a pen right next to it and took a slight step back, studying her for a second. She seems.. easy? A bit violent.. But easily taken care of. Fell like a twig. He shook the thought from his head for a second, looking down as she finished up.

Almost unpredictably, she looked up and flashed Ron a smile, whose ears immediately flushed pink. Sure enough, the signatures matched and he handed her her bag, after which, she soon stepped out. “What the hell was that, Ron?” Ron just shook his head and looked over at her, before glancing back at the Employees Only room.

Y/N Y/L/N. He thought. How convenient. He looked over at the girl exiting, making a mental note. He quickly closed up the register and placed a ‘Next Counter Please’ sign for the next employee to take off. Ron had already cleaned up his area and had started heading back to the Employees Only room, probably to change. 

Y/N. Draco finished up and put his hands in his pockets, heading back himself as he noticed a few other employees shuffling over. Physically, she’s an ordinary female, but mentally, just as spoilt and awful as Father.

Think I’ve found myself a first victim, haven’t I?

Chapter 2