#like ok wow so this is what happens when i have motivation to write

[yaralulu]

nothing like having a really good writing idea and then hating your execution of it. like what am i supposed to do now. die??

[meracyn]

aaaahahhhj ur already one of my fav writers ur so funny 😭 reading ur work makes my dau sm better

if u dont mind can u write hcs of kaito being shuichis wingman? shuichi tells kaito he has feelings for the reader but is too nervous to ask them out, so kaito decides to take matters into his own hands and help him plan moments where shuichi can confess his feelings

also can I be mochi anon?

༊ matchmaker ! ༘

synopsis turns out other than being the ultimate astronaut, kaito ends up as shuichi's wingman to help ask you out. warnings cursing, kaito (platonic!) x reader, no love triangle lol author’s notes THIS MADE ME SO HAPPY TYSM I CANT STOP RUNNING LAPS AROUND MY HOUS TY ANON AND YES YOU CAN 🙏 btw this request is so CUTE UGH

off topic but i was about to post this accidentally lmao

ok sorry giys back on topic

when kaito hears shuichi tell him he has feelings for you, he immediately whacks him on the back, congratulating him

“congrats shuichi! you’re becoming a real man!”

cue shuichi debating whether or not he regrets ever telling kaito about his lil crush

now when they both see you around, kaito tells him to go up to you and just confess

“oh look there’s y/n! go ahead and tell ‘em how you feel!” like some dad or something

shuichi refuses, feeling too nervous to even go up to you, so he tries to avoid you and kaito’s pressure to just confess already

which might give you the wrong idea that he doesn’t want to talk to you :(( he’s just so overwhelmed with his feelings that being around you makes his heart want to burst

its ok though kaito motivates him by giving him long pep talks and support, thinking about ways shuichi can get your attention and like him back

although they both dont know you already do lmao

it does help shuichi but his confidence goes away the moment he sees you

“okay i think i got this now, im nervous but im sure i can tell them how i feel”

kaito feels so proud and pushes shuichi further as soon as they spot you nearby

“you got this! remember what i taught you!” kaito says to him before going to hide somewhere to watch the scene unfold

shuichi nervously walked over to you and took a deep breath, closing his eyes

“hey shuichi, do you need something?” you asked with a smile

as soon as he opened his eyes it all went away

poof

just freezes entirely not saying anything

“are you okay?” you asked after a solid minute

“i....have to go” ran off lmao

kaito is so disappointed 😔

“you almost had it man! it was your chance! what would y/n think about you now?” kaito sighs

so now they have to think of another plan

kaito probably turns into a secret detective, watching you from afar to see what your likes and dislikes are

has to be careful or he’ll be called out as a stalker 😭

as soon as he knows enough he gives ‘hints’ to shuichi

“oh wow, looks like something y/n would like” trying to be all sneaky about it

kaito would also “arrange” hangouts between the three of you and suddenly give some shitty excuse to leave you both alone

“you have to learn my son”

“kaito what the fu–”

jk that wouldnt happen

imagining shuichi saying that though is so funny for some reason

sorry i got distracted

back on topic

scolds shuichi for chickening out at the last moment, saying how he had a lot of work to do and stuff

eventually gets tired of shuichi’s bullshit

“alright shuichi do you want to earn y/n’s love? then man up! you aren’t some little kid anymore to run away from your feelings, today is the day you’ll confess, got it? i’ll help you out”

kaito makes shuichi write you a note and leave it in your locker, about meeting each other at the school’s rooftop

before you arrive kaito supports him by telling him what to say, and act towards you

“listen shuichi, this has to be perfect, ya hear me!? it’s now or never! if you don’t man up now, someone else will steal them, do you want that?” kaito got stressed too 😭 mans wants this to be over with already

as you got there, shuichi was standing there mentally preparing himself

“the view is so pretty from up here” you said, trying to make conversation

shuichi took a deep breath, “yeah..um, y/n, i invited you here because...well...uh...i need to tell you something” shuichi starts, trembling slightly

this guy is sweating bullets and his face feels so hot

you, on the other hand was patiently waiting for what he had to say

“..i admire you a lot. there’s so much to admire about you, really–” taking a deep breath he continued, “from your strength, to courage and kindness.. and..because of that.. i developed feelings for you...what i mean to say is i like you y/n, more than a friend”

silence

he did it

HE DID IT‼️‼️‼️

kaito can barely contain his excitement as he silently cheered, he just has a sense that told him shuichi did it

you may imagine what your response is lol

shuichis so happy now

RELIEVED ASF

‘i finally did it, they like me back what do i do now do i hug them or ask if we’re officially together or or or’ — shuichis mind rn

“well..do you wanna go out for a coffee sometime this week? just the two of us together?” you asked

“ah..of course” shuichi is so happy he doesnt even know how to act

all giddy and shi lmao

hes probably the type to scream into his pillow when he gets a text from his crush out of happiness

and acts as if nothing happened afterwards

he needs to show he can be a dominant male 🐺

jokes jokes dont hate me pls

we cant just casually ignore the fact kaito was a w wingman

so once he gets out of his ‘hiding’ place hes already whacking shuichi on the back and saying they need to go out to celebrate

kaito is w

[alaydabug2]

Secret Santa 2024

Run by @song-tam

This is my secret Santa project for my lovely cognate @wow-youre-so-pretty !

I have absolutely zero idea how I got you for it, but I had so much fun writing this!

Ngl motivation was so low it was playing limbo with the devil at first but then it finally started rolling

*cough* over 3500 word count *cough* 👀

Ummmm.... I was struggling really hard tk at least get 1000 believe it or not but... yeah

I HOPE YOU ENJOY IT!!!

(FYI this will probably be the last time you ever ask me to write you angst 😅)

⚠️CONTAINS UNRAVELED SPOILERS AND SUICIDIAL IDEATION⚠️

(Keefe pov)

The eerie stillness of the emotions in the hallway spooked him. He was hoping that by the time he went back to Foxfire, the silence of emotions would go away, and he could go back to normal. However, things seemed to be taking a turn for the worse.

Hopefully, his empathy teacher would be able to help him get to the bottom of what was happening. The lack of progress he'd made on his own made him apprehensive. If he couldn't turn his empathy back on, he didn't want to know where that would spiral to.

Then, with the other developments while he was with the Forbidden Cities, he felt like he was currently falling apart. His hands were cold, and the more walls he built around the pools of energy in his mind, the more than achy feeling set in into the palms of his hands.

He sat in the chair across from Lady Velle, his mentor. She studied him for a moment before starting the lesson for the day.

Keefe kept fumbling to pretend his empathy wasn't majorly screwed up at the moment. A cold sweat trickled down his back when Lady Velle finally held up a hand to cut him off. It had been the fifth one in a row he got wrong. Only one he had gotten correct, and that was truly just because of a lucky guess.

"What's going on with you, Keefe?" She asked. "You're usually spectacular at this."

He debated how much to say. After a couple of breaths, he said, "Say, hypothetically, an empath shut off their ability, and couldn't turn it back on. What could that empath do to get it back on?"

Lady Velle crossed her arms. He shifted his gaze away from hers.

"Hypothetically, that would be impossible," she informed him. "Abilities can't be shut off once their triggered."

"Ok. But hypothetically, what if someone did?"

She stepped closer, brushing her thumb across the back of his hand and furrowing her brows. Keefe tensed up, afraid his mental blocking might not be enough to keep from something awful happening when she touched his hand.

"Your emotions are difficult to decipher," Lady Velle murmured. "But there's a lot of uncertainty. And fear. How did you do this to yourself?"

Keefe wrapped his arms around himself, unsure of how much he should tell her.

"The human emotions, they were too much for my empathy. So, I tried to visualize a switch connected to all the emotions and shut it off. Part of the string connected to them were tangled, so I unraveled it. I haven't been able to feel emotions, even with contact, since."

Lady Velle leaned on the wall and sighed. "That... is a first I've heard of, to be honest. Quite a talent, I'll admit. But have you tried flipping the switch back on?"

He scoffed. Of course he tried flipping it back on! He gave his mentor a quick nod.

"Have you tried retangling the threads?"

He had... not. He shook his head.

"Try it," she urged.

Keefe closed his eyes. He went back to the giant switch in the back of his consciousness. The strings attached were straight and in uniform, side by side.

He tried to mix them together. Tried to intertwine them. Didn't work. Had he really shut off his empathy for good?

He opened his eyes back up. "Nothing."

"There was something else when I read your emotions," Lady Velle said. "Dread. Almost like you're afraid of your empathy. Like you subconsciously don't want it. Why is that? Because that could be all the difference to turning it back on."

Keefe shrugged. He wasn't willing to let slip that much. Besides, it wasn't just his empathy he dreaded with all the other crap he'd been putting up with. Some of which weren't his right to tell.

Lady Velle looked out the window. She started to speak, but the chimes of session ending cut her off.

"Never mind," she muttered. "We'll continue this Thursday. Go to lunch."

Keefe grabbed his satchel and hurried out the door. Saved by the bell. Big time. He'd ditch Thursday. He didn't want his mentor prying further into the rabbit hole that was his life.

He went through the line and sat down at the table beside Sophie. It felt like all eyes on him. He was suddenly glad not to feel their questions buzzing through the air. It, however, didn't take away the weight of their glares.

Sophie could see the way he shifted in his seat. He kept his eyes downcast from the others. After everything that happened, he didn't feel a part of his friends anymore. He felt like an outcast. Maybe he should have just stayed in the Forbidden Cities with Alvar.

Keefe could have been eating pancakes right now. Instead, he was back at the place of horrid memories. Especially when he accidentally caught Dex's eye.

He wanted to make a joke to lighten things up. But now that he couldn't read anyone anymore, he was afraid of making jt worse. And when he opened his mouth to risk it, his tongue was dry. He couldn't make himself to it.

He could feel himself cracking. Too many pairs of eyes were staring straight through his soul. He felt himself shaking. His breath quickened.

Keefe truly thought he was ready to go back to Foxfire. He hoped getting back in his sessions would help him make sense of everything happening with his abilities.

He hoped being back with his friends would boost his morall and give him more motivation. No. The opposite effect was occurring. All of them staring at him like he was an alien creature made him realize how much him running away affected him. His friendships. His perception of life. The awful things he couldn't let slip. Not Alvar. Not Eleanor. Not his new healing ability.

He had never felt so outcasted. Not even his first few months at Foxfire, before the Great Gulon Incident that earned him his street cred. At least then he had Fitz. Not that he'd ever admit it out loud, for a while, they were the weird kids in the level.

This felt like a deeper kind of isolation.

One where he didn't know if there was a way out. One if he even thought living on to see another day was worth it. With the mixture of hopeless doom spiraling him into a darker head space and his mother's plans for him. He was genuinely considering the unthinkable.

The only thing stopping him was not having the stomach to do it himself. Sure, he was better with violence than most other elves. But taking his life with his own hand was too much. As much as everything hurt. As much as he couldn't stand to stay on this hopeless planet anymore. The thought made his nauseous and dizzy.

Keefe shook out of his dark train of thought when Jensj across the table told him, "Long time no see." A grin. "Glad to have you back!"

Keefe plastered wobbly, unconvincing smile onto his face. "Glad to be back," he lied.

Since when had Jensi been back sitting with them? Every time he thought he knew how much time had passed since being at school last, he was proven wrong once more. How much did he miss?

Keefe followed along the conversation best he could, more things he didn't understand being brought up, reminding him of how far left behind he was. He tried to stay out of the conversation.

That was until Jensi asked him, "Hey, Keefe, could you please pass me a napkin?"

Keefe glanced beside him to where the little black napkin dispenser was. "Uh, yeah, sure."

He stretched his arm across the table. But as he passed the napkin, their fingers brushed. Keefe froze.

No. No, no, no, no. No!

Keefe had built thick mental walls to keep this from happening. Why else did his hands feel so freezing cold it ached?

But it was unmistakable. The empty hollow feeling of someone who would never manifest. Of someone who was talentless.

He never wanted to feel that ever again in his life. But now, he had. And he felt sick.

He didn't even know whether Jensi had manifested or not yet. Now, here he was, with the knowledge that He. Never. Would.

Another burden on his shoulders. Another secret to carry. Another straw on the camel's back.

It was too much.

Dex gave him a look, sensing the wild look in his eyes. The quick nod Keefe gave in response said it all. Dex's face dropped.

Keefe was shaking. He excused himself to the bathroom and ran off into the hallway. He slid back against the locker and placed his head between his knees. Breaths came quick and short

Not again. Not again!

Another life he had ruined. Was he supposed to tell Jensi? How was he supposed to do that?

Jensi was close to the manifesting cut-off age. Could Keefe pretend to not know until he inevitably finds out. Did he already know?

Probably not. If so, he likely would have been kicked out of Foxfire already.

If it's going to happen anyway, would it be cruel to keep it from him? It's not like with Rex, who had years of hope left. Jensi was very well close to the age where, if you haven't manifested, they weed you out of the system.

Should Keefe rip off the bandage for him?

Keefe clutched his hair. Tears finally escaped. This was a nightmare. He couldn't deal with this. He didn't want to be the one deciding someone's fate.

He wanted- needed -it to end.

Maybe Ro left some lethal microbes back at the Shores of Solace. That mixed with a sedative would make it bearable.

Steps echoed through the empty hall. Keefe didn't have the willpower to pull himself together. He already decided he wouldn't be here much longer.

"Keefe?"

Keefe whipped his head up to meet Dex's eyes.

"It's not your fault." Dex sat beside him. "It's still going to end the same way if you hadn't found out."

Keefe sat on that for a second. "I have to tell him," he whispered.

"No, you don't," Dex assured him. "Sometimes oblivion is better."

"He's already to where they can take him out of Foxfire. If that's going to happen, I don't want him to think, 'What if?', you know."

Dex didn't speak for a moment. "I suppose you have a point. But are you sure you want him to know about your ability?"

"Not really. But... he deserves this more than I deserve privacy."

"I'm pretty confident that, if you ask him to, he won't say anything to anyone about your ability."

"You think?"

Dex pondered for a second longer. "I believe so. Question is, when do you want to do this?"

Keefe thought of his little microbe plan. "As soon as possible."

"So today or tomorrow?"

"That would work."

"If you want, I can be there when you tell him," Dex offered.

Keefe shook his head. "This is something that I need to do alone. I won't say anything about your brother in case you're worried about it."

"If you're sure he truly won't say anything, you can tell him about Rex if it helps soften the blow."

Keefe nodded. He dried his eyes before leaning his head back against the locker.

"Do you plan on heading back to lunch?" Dex asked.

"No. You can head back, though. I'll be fine here."

"Nah." Dex pulled his knees into his chest and wrapped his arms around his legs. "I think I'll stay."

Keefe closed his eyes, wishing he was a telepath so he could give Dex a silent thank you. Instead he settled for trying to gather his thoughts in the quiet of the hallway, grateful to not feel totally alone.

The next day, Keefe waited in the same hall during lunch. He had asked Jensi during orientation to meet him there to talk.

The sound of someone heading down the tiled floor had his heart skip a beat. The curly headed boy appeared from around the corner.

"Sooo," Jensi drawled out the word. "What did you want to talk about?"

Keefe's mind drew a blank. He was regretting deciding to this plan.

"I wanted to talk about... ability detecting! How's it going?"

"Ability detecting?" Jensi asked. "That's what you wanted to talk to me in private about? If that's it we can talk about that at the lunch table." He turned to go back from where he came. "Cause I'm hungry."

"Wait!" Keefe squeezed his eyes shut. "It's not just about ability detecting. Has anyone told you about me manifesting a new ability yet?"

Jensi turned back around. "Kind of. They've mentioned it. But it was always vague, so I don't know what it is."

"Yeah... about that." Keefe's heart pounded against his ribs as a warning. "I can tell what people will manifest. And trigger it."

Jensi's eyes widened. "You can?" He got an overly giddy grin on his face. "Are you going to do that for me?"

Keefe needed to choose his next few words very carefully.

"I already did. Yesterday when I passed you the napkin."

Jensi tilted his head. "You did? When will it kick in? Is that why you left lunch? Does it take a toll on you or something?"

Keefe closed his eyes and swallowed. "You could say that. And... it's usually overnight when it kicks in."

Jensi furrowed his brows and studied his hands. "I don't feel any different. What was it?"

Keefe leaned against one of the lockers for support. He could already feel his knees shaking.

"Yeah. Before I tell you this text bit, can you promise me to keep this a secret? My ability can be mentioned at the lunch table. But this... you can't tell anyone. I got permission to tell you this as long as you can keep quiet. Can you do that?"

Jensi nodded.

"Ok," Keefe continued. "Yesterday, when I touched your hand, it felt... hallow. Empty. I've felt this twice before that. When I touched Rex's hand.... and Kesler's."

"But... Kesler never manifested."

"I know."

"But Rex..."

"I know."

Realization set heavy into Jensi's usually happy demeanor. He bit his lip hard.

"So your telling me... I'm talentless?"

"I'm so sorry. I wish I knew how to control this ability, and I thought I did, but-"

"It's ok," Jensi cut Keefe of from his downward spiral. His chin wobble. "I... had a feeling this was coming. Usually if you haven't manifested by level four, your not going to. I've just been waiting for them to finally give up on me and pull my classes."

Keefe nodded solemnly.

"I'm gonna head to lunch," Jensi told him. Keefe could feel the broken truth in his eyes even with his empathy screwed. "Are you coming?"

Keefe chewed his lip. "I'll be there in bit. You go ahead, I'll meet you there."

Jensi nodded and took a breath before heading back down to the lunch room.

Keefe went into the bathroom. He splashed his face with water. When he looked back at his reflection in the mirror, he could hardly recognize himself.

He was sixteen. But the heavy bags under his slightly crazed eyes mixed with his unusual palor made him look like an ancient. When he ran a hand through his hair to try and refresh its usual fluffynes, he half expected sharp points on his ears to poke through the blonde.

This wasn't a life he wanted to live.

He'd go straight to the Shores of Solace after school to look through the remainder of Ro's microbe stash, he'd decided. He already knew there was slumberry tea in the kitchen. He'd go out to the patio on the swing out by the ocean, somewhere quiet and peaceful, and do it there.

The end of the day rolled around. Keefe tried his best to separate from his friends to get to the leap master alone. Just when he thought he was in the clear, Sophie seemed to have materialized behind him.

"Keefe, where you going?" She asked him.

"I'm just going to get something from my dad's," he responded a little too quickly.

Foster's face fell. "You're not... leaving again, are you?"

She thought he was running away again. But... it was better for her to think that. She'd never let him out of her sight if she knew what he was planning to do. She cared for him. Way more than he knew he deserved. This was just another way he was letting her down.

Was he selfish for this?

Maybe.

But he wanted nothing to with his mom's plan. And he wanted nothing to do with these abilities. All of the secrets he was keeping from his friends would die with him.

This would be the one smart move he'd make in this game of life and death.

Making sure none of the information he had would live on and had the chance of slipping free. Making sure no more people's lives were ruined.

"I'll be back." Keefe leaned down and kissed her forehead, taking a moment to drink in her warmth as she wrapped her arms around him. "Promise."

A lie.

Like all of the other things he told her after coming back home. What was new.

But he found peace in knowing it would be last one he'd ever tell her.

One more thing bubbled in the back of his mind. One thing, if he didn't know what he was about to do, he would probably come to regret.

"I love you, Sophie." He closed his eyes, too afraid to see the look on her face.

"Keefe," her almost angelic voice rang out. Her hand ruffled through his hair, eventually coaxing his eyes open.

Her's were filled with tears.

"Please don't go again," she begged. "We're supposed to be team, remember?"

Her hand moved from his hair to cupping the side of his face. He couldn't help but lean into her touch, resting his hand atop hers.

"I have to go." Tears quickly welled in his eyes. When he blinked, they slid down his cheeks. "I'm sorry."

Sophie brushed them away with her thumb. She closed her eyes for a couple moments. Her eyebrows scrunched together.

When she opened them back up, they were almost pleading. "Come to Havenfeild. Just for the night. To make a plan. To help you pack." She paused for a breath, a fresh batch of tears brewing in her gorgeous gold flecked eyes. "Please?"

Keefe swallowed. "Ok."

He'd go through the motions. And then he could get back with his original plan.

Foster hooked her arm through his, pulling him into the beam of light to Havenfeild. As soon as they glittered into the pastures, Sophie turned and tackled him with a bone crushing hug.

"Keefe Sencen, I swear," she warned, "If you kill yourself I am going to murder you."

Keefe's jaw went slack. "How did you-"

"I read your mind," she admitted. She pulled back to look him straight in the eyes, keeping a firm, almost painful, grip on both his biceps to keep him from twisting from her grip. "I'm sorry, I truly am, but I had a feeling I needed to. And I'm glad I did."

She threw her arms around his neck, pulling him down. "People care about you, Keefe. I love you," she whispered.

Keefe felt his throat become thick. He had to clear it several times before answering, "But that isn't why I'm doing this." He tried to pull away. "This is because of my abilities."

Sophie yanked him right on back down to her. She cradled his head down on her shoulder. Resigning to his predicimen, he buried his face into her neck. He inhaled the soft scent of her panakes perfume, giving him flashbacks to the clearing in The Grove. It only succeeded in making his heart heavy.

"We'll figure something out. I promise," she whispered.

"And how many people will I hurt in the meantime? I can't do this anymore, Foster," his voice cracked. The pitiful sound made way for the gut wrenching sobs that wracked his body. "I! Can't! Do! This! Ok?"

Sophie held him tighter to her. She carefully lowered them down to the soft grass. She kissed his shoulder.

His own cries of mental anguish drowned out any of the other noises of the world. Slowly the sobs slowed into hiccups and whimpered. However, not by his own accord.

Soon a warmth filled it's place. Like the crackling of a fire on a cold winter night. Brightening up the chilling darkness. Comforting his aching soul.

Was Sophie... inflicting on him? Positive emotions, that is.

She untangled herself from him to look him in his icy blue eyes. "Hey. Can you talk to me now?"

He wiped at his eyes, nodding.

"Swear to me, Keefe. Swear to me that you won't even consider doing that again before talking to me. Before we can actually come up with a plan to help you."

He looked away, ashamed with his awnser. "I can't-"

"No, Keefe!" She snapped, startling him with her tone. "Swear. Swear on Silveny's life!"

Keefe squeezed his eyes shut and pursed his lips. He tried very his best to mean it when he awnsered, "I swear."

He'd try. He'd try his absolute hardest. For her. She deserved that much.

She must've been able to tell he meant it. That or she was reading his mind again. Either way, she pulled his face closer and kissed him. He melted at her touch.

This. This feeling was worth living for. If nothing else, this.

This amazing girl in front of him cared for him like no other person did. He'd do everything in his power to fight off the dark thoughts deep in his head.

For Sophie.

She finally broke away. She studied him for a minute.

"Come on," she told him. "Let's go inside and get comfortable. There should still be some mallowmelt left if I recall."

Keefe pulled himself to his feet and started to follow her in. Just as they entered the threshold, she turned back and smiled at him.

"It will be ok," she whispered.

And funny enough, he believed it.

[a-memory-a-distant-echo]

ok! so i know that you're not to try to motivate yourself with punishment, however: i cannot argue with the results. also, @failonade asked, and who am i to deny the people in my phone the right to make fun of me?

most of this is under a cut because i cannot imagine it will be interesting to most people, but two or three of you will think it's hilarious.

why am i using a silly wip game to organise my stuff? well. because i am, generally, not much of a writer. when i'm working on things—like, for work, etc—they always end up with a standardised name, and i take notes as needed in either a notebook or a text file entitled 'work', as the vibes suit. this is not especially descriptive, but ctl-f for keywords gets me where i need to be, and it's fine!

unfortunately. this meant that when, for the first time in nearly a decade, i considered writing something, i thought to myself, 'it's fine! just stick it in a file called fic!'

it's worth taking a moment here to tell you that one of the things i enjoy about notepad++ is that it autosaves your tabs. they're not saved saved, but when you open the program again, they're in the same state. unless something went catastrophically wrong at some point. but usually they're in the same state! i mention this only because i have a bad habit, especially with work-related things, of simply closing notepad++ and telling myself that it will preserve things for me, something that works well 99% of the time and completely loses all the information that i'd made note of the remaining 1% of the time.

and so, for a minute, i did fic notes more or less the same way i take notes for work-related things: just an unsaved text file with no real headers or organisation, and nothing to mark the transitions between projects, because i can obviously tell that by keyword.

you may, at this point, have spotted the error that i did not: if one is writing several fics about the same show, there are not, in fact, easy keywords in the text that will tell you which bits were intended with which fic.

so i again, cleverly, thought, well, the solution to this is to use more text files, obviously. simply make one for every project.

an interesting thing about living in the future is the way that everything's so connected. people move seamlessly between locations and devices and you never even notice it happening, because everything is so connected. is my friend on the train while we're talking? on her sofa? at work? quite possibly all three, and on my end, this is entirely unnoticeable.

however, i am, it turns out, also a people! but do you know what is not connected? that's right. text files, especially if you are the sort of person who simply does not believe in saving text files, and believes in your heart that if the contents disappear, it's a sign that you should just let it go.

at this point, some people might stop and think, 'are all these text files really necessary? maybe there's a better way!'

that's quitter talk, tho. what i thought was 'yeah, i mean, i'll just add bits in my notes app or in my private discord server and then paste them into the text files later!'

which is a thing you can do. but at some point you find out that discord only likes to scroll back so far, and also that your notes app has a character limit, after which it tells you to get the fuck into the docs.

which you do, because what other choice is there?

a skilled observer, someone who's good at math and counting, may at this point notice that there are now four locations involved in this process. a skilled observer, or simply someone who is smarter than i am, which is a very low bar, might think, wow, that's kind of a lot of locations you've got there, buddy! sure would be a shame if things got all nonsensically jumbled together!

i, on the other hand. i found out about ellipsus, and i thought, oh, i'm just going to try this, i'll just throw a couple things in there and see how it goes. and so i did.

here is what i did not do: stop writing in the text files. or in the notes app. or in discord. i also did not transfer everything from the text files to ellipsus, or anywhere else. i also did not transfer everything from gdocs to…anywhere.

unfortunately, at some point in the past week, i've realised that at this point, i have a truly horrifying number of versions of some files. they're not labelled or even saved, in many instances. i keep finding things that i thought i'd fully deleted, or things that i have three versions of, and they're all within a couple hundred words of each other, but the most recent scenes have nothing at all in common.

which is to say that currently, my notepad++ tab bar looks like this.

if there's a .txt in the name, it means that it was, at some point, saved. when? well. that's not my business. i am now down to twenty-two open files. some of them have literally tens of thousands of words; some of them have work-style notes about medical appointments and bills and random phone numbers; some of them have notes about fics my friends are writing; some of them have as many as two or three sentences with absolutely no further context.

one of them contains, in total, the words 'not actually dead'. that's it, that's the file. 'not actually dead'. the period is outside the quotes because it is not in the fucking file. what did i mean by that. why did i feel that it needed its own file. what the fuck does this mean. we may never know! there's certainly not gonna be any insight from this corner!

another uninteresting fact about me is that i am, in many regards, sort of a minimalist. there are three open tabs on my phone. i have never accessed ao3 except in an incognito window. my search history is empty. i feel like having a dozen tabs open is a lot of tabs. (not you, text files, you're perfect.)

however, right now, i have seven tabs open (normal! fine!), and then…i have. this.

i am sitting here, three in the morning, waiting for a storm to (please please please) roll through, picking at a fic that i'm writing and also sieving through all these goddamned files (yes, the ones in notes and gdocs, too) and consolidating.

questions you may have, at this point, because they're certainly questions that i have:

is this productive? i don't know.

will this fix me? almost certainly not.

is this a good use of my time? i honestly could not tell you; never before have i been in this position, and i don't quite know what to do with it.

will this make it slightly less likely that i have to spend between three minutes and three hours skimming files and looking for the one thing that i want to work on? possibly. hopefully. perhaps. god i hope so.

[ao3fujoshevik]

two of my moshang fic ideas come from the same premise.... im kind of weighing which i want to flesh out and outline.

basically. ok. og!mbj kills himself or otherwise dies after killing og!sqh, and instead of going wherever demons go, transmigrates to a svsss timeline where the Airplane has already landed, so to speak. except he actually just reincarnates as a random disciple. both vague ideas i have are making him an ding. and also he has no system unlike the other two moshang ideas i have.

the options:

(poll is above cut for formatting reasons)

also. MBJ's name asa normal Human disciple.... (family name wang, bc.. king; personal name.. 朔 shuo —- reasoning — idea of shuo as literary term for north, and the idea of “turning again towards to meet” bc it’s mbj’s re-meeting of sqh?…

but that seems like someone w that name has a wikipedia page. so how ab out 王希朔 (wang xishuo, name pending approval) which w those characters at least doesnt pull up any real person's personal page on google... idk. i'll work on it.

awakens as an an ding disciple a bit younger than shang qinghua (like… 22 to his 27 or smthng).. sqh has just become peak lord (and already working for mobei jun), and a lot of their cohort is taking on other roles (basically working in house at various businesses). perhaps og!wang xishuo originally would have. but mbj wants to see what sqh is like here. he seems so different when he's not trying to manipulate a demon... sqh is like. wow wang-shidi has suddenly learned how to use his height to great effect to glare at me imposingly!! Aren't i his shizun now??? why is he so scary (and hot)?????? System???? Mbj sets out to woo sqh; to outsiders, their power dynamics are reversed from og!world; once it’s revealed sqh is a spy ppl are like, poor wang shuo, fool in love. Except wang (xi?)shuo / og!MBJ has his own unhinged binghe shizun arc, even if the vibes are completely different lol. just happens a few years ahead of bingqius in this story and resolves quicker 

Still an ding disciple mbj , but — start time. they’re teens and the same year or just mbj being one or two years older, and “wang xishuo” is on the mission where sqh meets mbj. Stands aside and observes. Helps sqh rescue mbj more to try and understand sqh's motives. Sqh is like system wtf did i fuck UP. maybe wang xishuo, still grieving his own sqh, tells mbj: Dont trust him. you cannot, can never trust him. maybe mbj doesn’t, maybe this colors how svsss MBJ forever views sqh? Or else…idk. maybe even svsss!Mbj in a love triangle w himself, not realizing it. Sqh panicking and desperate bc mbj isn’t . trusting him, and system keeps deducting points., even if it adds points when he spends time w wang xishuo. when he finally does missions w wang xishuo again, it turns out system still counts wang xishuo as mbj for mission purposes, which sqh (oblivious!!) takes as a rare glitch in his favor !! maybe his personality made this extra he doesnt remember writing like him more than the original goods!! with how cold and cruel hs Favorite Character is to him, it's nice to see his cold shixiong and fellow an ding disciple melt a bit and actually act protective of him, even if he walks down the spy road with him...?

…I cant remember the other peaks i had ideas for lmao so ig hes gonna be random an ding disciple 王朔 / 王希朔 (wang (xi?)shuo* (*name pending approval) and the issue is . where the story starts.

these are clearly v rough sketches. posting curious if moshang nation has thoughts; also handy to have this typed somewhere

[bodycountgame]

Hello! I was a big fan of the series a while a go and it is lovely to see that you are back. I'm terribly sorry that other anons put you through a lot with the voting aspect of the game. Absolutely no one deserves death threats for a story that they are bringing to us for free. However, I am not going to lie, I always feel a bit worried when a fandom majority vote is what has long lasting effects on character life/death. It was ok when it was everyone voting with an equal effect. Now there will be a wealth gap to vote. Only people that pay can contribute. And at least where I'm from wealth looks a certain kind of way.

Since you have characters that are in a minority it feels... Bad. Maybe I'm projecting how racist and transphobic my home country is on the vote for this game. I also don't want you to feel like this is an attack on you because that is not my intent at all! I love the diversity in the love interests and it was what brought me to the game initially. I am worried that if you do a majority vote on Patreon that characters that aren't white/cis will face a harsher vote. Trans lives are in danger and I was not surprised when a nonbinary character died first. I was part of the fandom and people treated them very grossly (it actually made me step away for a bit as well). There were many options but the vocally out and proud person got the boot first. What I'm saying is I trust you more than your Patreon supporters. If the people can't all vote as one, due to the actions of some terrible people, then maybe we shouldn't vote at all

anon, i totally understand your concerns because i absolutely shared them. to be completely honest with you, i had totally misjudged which characters i thought were popular or not and watching the three non binary cast members struggle through that first vote felt Bad. my personal disappointment about ellis being the character to receive the least votes in the vote contributed in no small part to the twist in chapter 3 and their revised arc (which was Not planned when i set out writing body count hahaha). howeverrrrrr, i did learn a lot from the process.

my main motivator behind making the vote patreon exclusive was that the voters would be genuinely invested in the game and that the polling would be much harder to game or manipulate. selfishly, i also think it will reduce a certain amount of the absolute barrage of wild anons from the first time around haha!

in addition to that, though, i think its important that i reaffirm what i have said from the start: i am acutely aware that in interactive fiction in general and particularly on tumblr there is a strong preference for white male characters, and i am not here to write some kind of gross POC/women/nb slasher. as much as i want the audience to have a say in the direction the story takes, i ultimately have final say on what happens in the story that i am writing.

the main way that i intend to have oversight of the voting process is by who appears on the polls in the first place; the first poll was the last time the whole cast will be available for a vote at the same time. since ellis, one of three NB cast members, was the first character to die, i've said that neither of the other NB cast members will appear on future polls. if it's women and POC suffering in the next vote, then i'll be applying similar logic. if that means we get towards the end and we need a white boy only poll then so be it!

that said, if people cannot behave then i will simply take away their toys. although i consider the voting mechanic to be one of the things that makes body count unique and fun, i'm absolutely not above doing away with it if there are Shenanigans that spoil it, ya know?

anyway, i hope that assuages some of your concerns! sorry for another giant wall of text wow i simply cannot answer a question concisely atm

[half-dead-writer]

|| Best Pals ||

[ John Doe / Joker x masc Reader ]

After John figured out he likes you more than Harley, he's determined to swoon you over. Discreetly, of course.

🌈 || John Doe / Joker [Batman: The Telltale Series] 🌈 || 1,8k words 🌈 || masculine (& mlm) reader

sequel to this. wow ok I wrote like the half in one go some time ago, lost all motivation/inspo, just now finished it altho I still feel like it could be better, I cannot be such a perfectionist or else it will never be posted thank you everyone who was so patiently waiting for the final chapter of my stupid writing 😭 who doesn't know how to end their fics? me. (crossposted from AO3)

"Y/N! Just the face I wanted to see" John's sudden voice behind you caught your attention.

"Oh- Hi John." You quickly responded with a friendly tone, although some hesitance inside was pulling you away from being so casual.

You weren't sure what it was, as the last time you two spoke he quickly left without an explanation and didn't bother to elaborate further. His behavior remained casual, albeit now less irritable by you standing close to Harley. It was as if nothing ever happened. Which only made you even less sure of what you and John were. Well, at least you were aware he thinks of you positively, but that's about it.

"What's up?" You pushed your thoughts about the confusing situation away, instead pointing your focus on his grinning expression.

"I'm glad you asked!" He was quick to respond. "I was just thinking- We haven't hung out much lately, did we?"

"Uh... I guess not?" You remained neutral and casual, but you were curious whether John had a reason to mention it.

"Yeah! You know, we had this whole discussion about me being jealous over Harley and whatnot, and I just wanted to show you that's not a thing anymore." He explained happily, leaving you even more curious. "So- I wanted to celebrate that with some ice cream, maybe? What do you think?" He looked at you with the eyes full of glee, waiting for your approval. He was sure you'd agree.

"Um- Yeah, alright." You shrugged, keen on the idea, yet still unsure of John's true intentions behind the offer. "Why not."

"Great! Let me just get-" He stopped for a second "-my cool guy glasses." He showed you a silly grin as he rushed to his Ha-Hacienda. After a few minutes he came back, now truly looking cool. 

John looked somewhat happier today. Did he really achieve his nirvana when he realized he wasn't in love in Harley anymore, and just wanted you as his best friend?

Well, you weren't about to make things weird by asking possibly awkward questions for the both of you. Things were fine as they were, John didn't hate you, you still got to hang out with him. Nevermind the fact that you were forced to now carry a constant mix of emotions around him.

. . .

"Great, it's all going how I imagined it!" John thought to himself.

He finally got you! He was sure of his feelings now! And it wasn't like with Harley. 

He had a hard time coming to terms with the thought that he did, in fact, liked you more than her. And that you was the reason why he was feeling so miserable all the time. John's feelings might have been a mess past this few weeks where he has been confused, but now he knew it.

You were made for him. And you even said you liked him! Well, you liked boys, you liked John to the point of being best pals... He didn't just wanna assume you're into him, though. That's why he took you out to that pal-hangout. To get some answers. But of course, he didn't wanna make you uncomfortable if you weren't into him at all. That's why he didn't tell you that when he had the chance.

A voice in his head was telling him that there's no way you'd ever love him back, even if "all the clues were pointing to that". But he was determined to proceed with his plan.

While he was babbling about unrelated things, he kept observing you. How you reacted to his jokes, his topics, careful to see if he ever bored you. But seemingly he didn't. You were just casually listening to him, never making him feel not appreciated. That's what he loved about you. He didn't see it sooner, as his usual fixation on people was, well, usual. He couldn't deny that he was starved for attention. His therapist told him that, hence why he didn't wanna assume everyone he likes is whom he loves. But now he was sure his affection for you was greater than previous one he had for Harley.

After a deep, long and meaningful session of thinking to himself, he concluded that he'd rather spend the rest of his life with you than with her. If only you'd reciprocate the feeling...

"Well, here we are!" He proudly pointed to the Café Triste.

"I am dying to get my favorite drink. Coffee, with ice cream. Can you believe what they come up with nowadays?" He said, playfully starting the topic.

You saw him looking at you, smiling politely and amused, yet still casual as ever.

"John, I think it's been a thing for some time now..." You reciprocated the playful remark.

"Damn, Always smart as ever!" He didn't hesitate to give you the compliment and grinned even wider, making you involuntarily smile from lighthearted flattery.

He carefully thought about saying it ever since he left his house. And a day before. Okay, he planned this whole thing from A to Z, ever since he figured out he had a crush on you. There was no room for fails, and so far it's all been going perfectly. 

He saw you shaking your head in amusement, to which he grinned widely and proceeded to finally buy you both whatever you wanted. "His treat".

Once you both received your orders, you sat yourselves at the nearby table. You couldn't deny the meeting felt somewhat like a date, although you quickly shunned yourself for thinking like that - you really didn't want to disappoint yourself if it wasn't.

"Y/N, so, I was thinking... Who's the closest person to you, right now? No, too weird. But I've been told to just be myself, and Y/N likes me for that... What if he doesn't like the true-true me, though?"  The flashbacks from his thinking session kept haunting him as he watched you carefully sit down on the opposite side of the table. He couldn't ignore how much he liked being around you. And he wasn't able to tell if you knew. The fear in his mind about being perceived as too obsessive or "creepy" towards the person he saw as the most precious was slowly eating him out from the inside, which he tried to shut down by casually taking a sip of his drink.

You noticed a smallest change in his demeanor, which wasn't uncommon with John, although you had a feeling he seemed somewhat worried. His gaze was just out of it for a moment, which you could only assume signified that he was in deep thought. After hesitating for a while, you decided to speak your mind. Calmly, of course.

"...Is there something on your mind?" You slowly approached the topic with a soft, patient, and a bit unsure smile.

John rapidly straightened up, almost yelling in response.

"Yes, actually!" His hurried words mixed with the volume made you flinch slightly, you didn't expect him being so open about it - but nothing out of ordinary when it came to John.

"Oh-" You quickly pulled yourself together. "Go ahead then, I'm listening."

You saw his face melt into a mix of anxiousness and giddiness, and by this point, you were at the edge of your seat, awaiting what he's gonna say.

John cleared his throat and started fiddling with his hands.

"So- Y/N, you're not seeing anyone, are you?"

The question stuck in your head for a few moments. You got your hopes up, yet your face looked like a deer in the headlights, which John took as a negative reaction and continued.

"Just asking, out of curiosity- I mean, you can tell your old pal, right?" His rambles started getting quicker. "I- I need it, for a dating advice."

The last sentence made you rethink your thoughts again - was he really asking for a dating advice?

"Uh... no, I'm not seeing anyone." You responded truthfully. "Can I ask how does this relate to, uh, dating advice?"

"Hah, of course, of course-" His focus travelled from his drink, you, to all of the environment around him. "So, you see, I was thinking-"

He stopped talking for a moment to take out something out of his pocket. You carefully watched as his hand pulled out a rectangle shaped object and held it to you closer so you could see it. It was a card with the picture of a door and text under it saying "I A-DOOR YOU".

You tilted your head a little, but the card made you involuntarily smile at how cheesy the line was. Before you could say anything, John quickly intervened. 

"Do you think it would be a good way to show someone you wanna date them?"

"Uh..." You took a moment to respond. "Well, it depends on a person."

John waited a moment before clearing his throat.

"What would you think of it?"

"Personally, I think it's cheesy - cheesy, but cute."

"Okay, that's all I needed to know-" He quickly took the card back into his pocket, making you want to ask what was the point of all of this, but you were interrupted.

"Now, pretend you see it for the first time!" And so the silly thing was on the table again, this time closer, he passed you the card instead of just showing it.

You took it into your hands, processing what happened in every possible way, you weren't sure if you got his shenanigans right - was it for you?

"Well?" The anxious grin plastered on his face made you confirm your thoughts.

"Oh- Is- Do you really, like, like me?" You couldn't help but reciprocate the anxious smile of his, you didn't expect such turn of events, but it was warmly welcomed.

"Yes, buddy!" He beamed, stretching his arms, but there was still a slight hesitation in his voice, since you didn't say you liked him back yet. "Is that, uh-- alright?"

The expression on your face turned playful (or bashful, some could say) as you held onto the object with adoration.

"Shit- I'm not prepared, I don't have a card with me-" You watched as John intently listened to your words, his smile growing even wider - which you weren't sure was possible at this point - and you put the card behind your back, before showing it to him "anew".

"Pretend you see it for the first time." You repeated his words, hoping he'd catch on what you did.

John's face turned into one of a simulated surprise, looking at the card and holding his palms together in a gleeful gesture.

"Oh my, Y/N! It must be destiny, because I feel that way as well!" He played along, already overwhelmed with thoughts about how he's gonna reminisce about this moment for a long time.

[krafterwrites]

Ok, time for the one post I'll make about Sonic 3 itself now that it's out. Since there's already a full recording of it available online, I'm going to write down my "live reactions" (I already know basically everything that's going to happen, but I'm sure there's at least one or two small surprises left) below the cut so I can get this movie out of my system and move on

The first lines of dialogue are a "Cops love donuts" joke. Off to a great start

A gambling ad popped up right as Shadow broke out and started attacking people gljkdfgh

4 minutes in and they've already used the leitmotif of Live And Learn 3 times

Shadow being sopping wet and miserable is pretty cute

Ace already said this but wow they really did ruin the "Talk about low budget flights line", Sonic saying it feels soooo unnatural and shoehorned in

Unless it's for a really good sequence, I don't understand the point of playing a licensed song for literally 10 seconds

Wow the opening fight with all three of them against Shadow is super short

I'm glad that the gun isn't just for show and he actually gets to use it

I seriously cannot get over how stupid Shadow coming from a meteor is, the entire POINT of his character is that he was created. He was born to be the ultimate lifeform, to be a cure for Maria, to bring hope to humanity. Him just randomly showing up instead of specifically being created undermines his entire identity. Also, Gerald creating Shadow is incredibly important to his identity as well. It's almost impressive that they managed to fuck up so much with a single decision

The dialogue has already made me cringe a few times but that was definitely the worst instance so far. I wish they would stop

YIPPEE OFFICER DOWN!!!

Walters having a photo of Team Sonic in his jacket that was taken like 5 minutes beforehand so Rockwell can pick it up to illustrate that she thinks Team Sonic killed him is kind of strange and unnecessary

I thought that the show Eggman was watching was another gambling ad for a second

Eggman said boobs. Sure why not

I forgot that they're allowed to swear a bit

I thought they were going to reference Among Us when Stone said imposter. I wish they did, it would've been an actually acceptable pop culture reference

I'm kind of torn on the flashback montage with Maria. It feels a little too silly and lighthearted, but it is cute to see her and Shadow do a bunch of childish stuff together

However, her not being terminally ill and also not spending her entire life in space is dumb. Those are both very important to who she is, and consequently, who Shadow is (he was initially made to be a cure for her, and her love for the planet that she never got to see is what motivates him). I know both of these are consequences of them making Shadow come from a meteor, but there was literally no reason for them to do that, especially considering it messed up him, Gerald, AND Maria. Why would they make that choice when it doesn't add anything and has such a high cost

The Biolizard puppet is cute, though. They should've actually included it (along with Rouge, Amy, and all the other things they omitted), but I guess it's better than nothing

Oh god Gerald is here. I was thinking "So far this isn't as hard to watch as I thought it would be" but it's probably going to get significantly more painful soon

That was a Family Guy cutaway gag

How is a bunch of loose popcorn still in pristine condition after 50 years of sitting out in the open

That was a bad fourth wall joke. Also get on it, this has been going on for like 2-3 minutes

So if we're meant to believe that Shadow's quill is what kept Gerald alive, can Shadow basically just grant people immortality at will? Or is there really just no explanation for him living longer than any human should be able to

I'm glad that the scene of Eggman and Gerald doing stuff together in VR didn't go on for that long, because it felt like the scene of them meeting felt so dragged out

For a split second I thought the music was using the leitmotif of Dreams Of An Absolution, but then I realized that its Green Hill

The puppet only has like 15 seconds of screentime but it's still SO unnecessary

Shadow saying "revenge guac" is stupid but it did not make me cringe like some of the other lines have so far

Tom using the hologram tech to disguise as Randall... Not my place to speak so I'm not going to say anything, but I don't think that was a good idea

Pointless extended bit of Jim Carrey doing comedy with himself number 3. And I know there's at least one more after this. Why did they have to focus on him so heavily

YESSSSSS thank you Shadow, we all wanted to see that happen. Keep up the good work

I hate that Wade got to appear at all, but at least his screentime is brief

It sucks that we just get Gerald saying "It's not about what Maria wanted, it's about what they deserve" to convince Shadow to get revenge, because that's the opposite of how he motivated Shadow in SA2, he made it seem like revenge is what Maria wanted

When I first saw the commander trying to wrestle away the gum through a leak, I laughed my ass off. It's so stupid. Also I knew they would be cowards and not actually show her getting shot, but it's still annoying

Maria not actually getting to say her last words to Shadow, on top of him not being made by Gerald, really is a one-two punch of completely destroying his SA2 characterization (and his characterization in general). It's insulting to Maria too, how do you manage to take away agency from a character who's entire narrative purpose is to die for the sake of another character's backstory

Also, now that the plot has moved into space, I can say with even more certainty that there truly was no reason for them to use Tokyo and London instead of San Francisco. The only thing gained from using Tokyo is the Chao cafe, and the only thing gained from using London is about a minute or two of basic pop culture references. I'm pretty sure they only picked them because they're two of the most famous cities in the world, which is dumb

I hate that Shadow's arc is about letting go of anger and not seeking revenge, that's completely different from what his story is in SA2, they're barely comparable even on a surface level. His actual arc is about being unsure of who he is and why he exists, being used as a tool for revenge by Gerald, and eventually breaking free of that programming to discover that he was created to bring hope to humanity

The Eggman vs Gerald stuff is the stupidest shit ever, and it's made even worse by the fact that it keeps interrupting the Sonic and Shadow scenes

I hate to say that when I first saw Gerald's death through a leak, I (involuntary) burst out laughing. It's supremely stupid and I do not like it, but it's just so absurd that it's hard not to react in some way

The moon thing kinda makes me mad tbh. This movie loves to make references to iconic things from SA2 instead of actually adapting them

The finale is pretty cool visually, but conceptually, it's a really big downgrade from the original. It's comprised of a super form battle between Sonic and Shadow, a cartoon slapfight between Eggman and Gerald, Sonic and Shadow easily blasting through a bunch of GUN Hunters, them blocking the laser while it gets steered away with an actual steering wheel, and then Shadow physically pushing the ARK away by himself. SA2 featured everyone except Shadow working together to reach the deepest part of the ARK as it hurtled towards the Earth, Shadow rushing in to fight the Biolizard while Sonic and Knuckles neutralize the core's energy, and then Sonic and Shadow being forced to go super after the Biolizard fuses itself to the colony in order to continue Gerald's plan, ending with them both using Chaos Control together to put it back in place

I was going to write a summary after I finished watching, but honestly, Eggman took the words right out of my mouth when he said "It's been a real drag. Thanks for nothing" and then died in an explosion

[thedeathdeelers]

I’m loving your “first kiss” fic and I’m loving your “wife reveal” fic

And now I’m gonna be a nagging parasite asking you to visualize and write other scenarios regarding this couple cuz I want more

And I’ll be asking you to write a “fix it” fic in case the show derails which is not uncommon for a lot of shows these days…..

So tell me, how do you think Heejoo’s first willful verbal conversation with him will go?

What will it be about

hahahaha thank you! that's good news cause I feel like im just flooding the tag at this point....cant help it tho. I just wanna talk about this show 😌

youre more than welcome to pop in with wtpr discourse whenever, I love having people to talk to about this! but I can't always promise I'll have useful or even good comments to make or motivation to write lmao but I'll try

hmmmmmmm. I can see it happening two different ways:

(this got long so my answer is under the cut>)

1> the first scenario is simple and oh so sweet: they're both asleep in the same bed after a traumatic event or know..just sleeping in the same bed lmao and heejoo wakes up before saeon-

she turns to face him, getting close but not close enough to wake him up, and takes a moment to just...appreciate him, his face his presence., his love and efforts and all the different ways he's been trying to protect her and keep her safe and take care of her

and she gets so lost in the moment, in her memories of him of them and in her feelings, that she reaches out to trace his cheekbone and very quietly whispers "I love you"

which is of course the moment saeon opens his eyes, easing them open as he looks at her, holding onto her gaze as her eyes widen. and off this is when she tries to move back, to shuffle away as she slaps a hand over her mouth, only to immediately be stopped by her husband, who is still in absolute awe.

he pulls her hand away from her mouth, kissing the palm of her hand and then wraps his arms around her, pulling her back in and keeps her there as he whispers an I love you back :')

2> wow ok that got long but the second scenario would be: saeon in a hospital bed after the kidnapper almost killed him, and heejoo sat at his bedside, tears flowing down her cheeks as she grips onto his hand and praying for him to wake up - and suddenly she starts talking, begging him to wake up. that she will stay with him if he does, that she loves him that he's her saviour and that she will talk to him every day, every second and every minute if he were to just...open his eyes

andddd....he does :) and asks her to say I love you again and yeah

(a secret third option: or it could be the inverse and its heejoo who's in bed unconscious and its saeon begging her to come back to him, his head bowed and suddenly he hears hi name and his head snaps up and yeah)

I LIKE MY CHEESY FLUFFY TROPES WHAT CAN I SAY-

[bathsaltsmcgee]

Ok, I need to tell you what happened to me when I was browsing for new fanfictions to read Thursday night. I've been fighting my overturned sleep schedule and loosing. Relenting myself to reading in bed instead of going back to my studio and resume my work. Rest is rest in whatever form I can take, right? I stumble upon this fic of yours. 40 chapters in, in the front page of Kudos. So, I decide to commit. To say I was hooked would be an understatement. Your story DEVOURED my interest and turned it into obsession. I couldn't stop reading. Only stopped for basic needs and unwavering responsibilities. The rest of the time, I devoted to this magnificent story. I didin't sleep, I turned my room into a hovel where I took water in a thermos and some snacks. I did not come out of my room until I caught up. I am not exaggerating when I say I think this is THE. BEST. AU. HH. RADIOBELLE. Fantiction I've ever read. Your world setting, character description, scene work and overall pacing are impeccable. Impeccable. You must be writing this for fun/practice while you're working on other books of your own I assume? If not, you should. It's been a very long time since I've seen someone take existing characters and make them their own without loosing their essence like you've done. You are making magic for me. Soothing, inspiring, wonderful magic that fed my tired artist soul and reinvigorated me to continue my work. It was a really good break. I am eager to continue reading. Excited that I can't tell who's doing what in terms of the mystery and starving for more fluffy scenes filled with tension.

I don't really know what else to say. My words still falter a little, even though I spent about 4 hours after I finished catching up processing the whole story as I finally stood up and took care of my dishes. But I think it's appropriate to say that I love this fic. I love your writing and I am so happy, elated even, that you're updating it still after 4 years. You've got magic in your head. Thanks for giving it words and sharing it.

O.O Wow, what a compliment! Thank you so much! I'm thrilled that you're enjoying my story that much. It's always a true joy for me whenever I hear that people are having themselves such a good time reading what I wrote at 2 am. Feedback, especially like this, is such a great motivational boost for my creativity, and it helps keep my drive to proceed with the story, and all the characters therein, alive and well.

As to whether this story is practice for me when I start writing my own books, you would be most correct in thinking that it is.

My main goal with writing, once I'm through with the fan stories that I've already planned out, is to write my own original book series, that is entirely of my own making, full-time as my main profession, and delving into fan works while I get myself established is a fantastic method of practice for me so I won't get rusty.

I want to make sure that when the time comes to publish my original works, I'll be properly prepared to handle it with enough requisite grace.

Plus, I also get to have a lot of fun with other story's already established characters and experiment on them for science.

It's really fun to pit all the characters against other varying personalities and situations, and see what facets of their own personalities spring forth as a result. :D

So, I'm elated that you've been enjoying BtM so far, thank you for taking the time to read it, and I also hope that the future chapters will entertain you just as much as the already published chapters did, if not more so.

I do hope they will.

Things have only just gotten started, after all.

And I'm barely warmed up.

Happy reading! :)

[bullet-prooflove]

How do you stay motivated to write?

I usually write one shots but would love to create a longer series/story.

So my series usually start out as a one shot and then continue because I feel like there's more of the story to be told.

If you're a fan of my blog you know I usually work from prompts, sometimes a string of them just kind of work to form a series. That's why I love prompts it takes you in a different direction from the norm and people quite enjoy that aspect of my work.

If I do 'plan' one it usually starts with a specific scene or idea in mind.

I think Dean Archer's The Study started with the idea of what would Dean do if Jack Dayton fell in love with his wife and then I start putting together the parts of how that happens and that usually generates the conflict. Like how do they end up in close proximity - ok so they're working on this study together, it's very important to Isobel, ok... why is it important to Isobel, does that override her ability to see straight when it comes to Jack. What does Dean do about it? That's the kind of thing that builds up the additional parts and formulates how it progresses.

I usually have an ending in mind that I work towards but as the story develops the characters usually change it and that's fine, it's having the goal that helps, like a little guiding star. I never start with this piece is going to be six parts. I never know how many parts it's going to be.

As for the motivation I try to live and breathe it, usually it will be the only thing I work on for a few days. I usually have the show on in the background, so I'm not distracted by something else. I think that plays a big part.

I try not to release a series before it's completed or it has at least five parts. If I'm around five parts usually I need a little break from it so I immerse myself in other stuff. That gives me five weeks to work on the next few pieces when I'm ready, depending on where they are in my schedule. I usually come back to it after a few weeks, read through it and continue because by that point I've had the brain space for it to be fresh again.

Main Tips to Take Away From This:

Have an ending in mind, it doesn't have to end up being the actual ending but it gives you something to work towards.

Live and breath it for a few days, make it the project you focus on. Give it the time it deserves.

If you need to take a break, that's fine, come back to it in a couple of weeks with fresh eyes.

Be wary of release pressure. If you start releasing it straight away you can’t go back and change something if the character reveals something new later on. Also the pressure of releasing it straight away is that when people want more, and you’re having an off day, that pressure can cause writer’s block and you feel like you’re disappointing people. What you really need is brain space so reframe the thought like  - wow people are interested in this story, they’ll wait for the next part. Reframing takes that pressure away.

Use Cause & Effect to build conflict, if your character is doing A, question why and what led them to this moment and consider how it effects their actions moving forward. Do this for all characters. The Study is an excellent reflection of this because each character has their own motivations which causes them to react the way they do.

- Isobel becomes obsessed with the study because of her history, effectively ignoring her husband and putting her in the proximity of a man who is in love with her.

- Her history is the reason Dean chide her about the situation, but he’s also going through his own shit and is struggling to tell his wife about it because of the distance, which creates more distance. What will Isobel do when she does find out about Dean’s illness?

- Again her history is one of the reasons she’s so kind to Jack regarding his situation, which makes him fall in love with her because no one has ever understood him before. It’s that love that leads him to come clean to Dean about the why and take drastic steps regarding Dean’s condition. So many fics fall short because they don’t use cause and effect, it gives you a deeper, more realistic insight into the characters and shows you what path they’re going to take without coming across as contrived or stilted.

[nishipostitz]

hi i really liked your 'haikyuu boys seeing you in revealing clothing for the first time'. could you write the same prompt with noya, kageyama, kenma and iwaizumi or whoever u want, really. i apologize in advance if you don't take requests, feel free to reject this

ive actually been wanting requests bc i dont have any inspo to write rn 😭 so this was a god send 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏 alright lets go 🤠

IM SO SORRY HOW LATE I POSTED THIS 😭 ive been so unmotivated to write lately 😣✌️

part 2 to ‘how haikyuu boys would react to you wearing revealing clothes’

iwa, noya, kags, and kenma x gn!reader

tw! it’s gonna be suggestive if im being honest. uh the gn!reader turned into a fem!reader in noya’s.. sorry yall. yall im sorry kenma sounds like a perv 😔

iwaizumi

- if im being honest, he goes to the gym regularly

- so hes used to it… but

IWAI SAW YOUR LATS!! and he loves them. also bc youre only wearing short shorts that show off those quads and he just. wow. he loves them. bc yk him

noya

- this man has never seen the real deal

- bc i just know he has posters and magazines

but noya never actually took initiative to see the package for himself. so when he saw you wearing an oversized sweater with booty shorts on, he literally had steam coming out of every pore on his head bc of how flustered he was. yeah kiyoko was his crush, but he never imagined himself to be interested in another woman. especially asahi’s sister 😟. bc how could jesus asahi have a sister like you? noya didnt even intend to look at you. he just so happened to look in your direction when you were walking up the stairs. and asahi noticed.. surprisingly. “i can hook you up man. my older sister has been quite lonely lately. but you have to do something for m-“ noya didnt even think twice. if asahi could help him land a date with you, he’d do it. “asahi hook me up!”

kageyama

- you already know

- this man is so handsome but he has no game

ok so.. to sum it up. he was happily enjoying his lone time, watching highlights from his play, and he heard a noise from outside. it was you, washing cars on the driveway. kageyama was so shocked to see you washing cars, because a, who does this in february, b, why on a driveway, and 3, why are you wearing barely anything. kageyama was literally so flustered, but like why dude… 💀 y/n cant even see you. but yeah…. lets say kageyama dirtied up his parents’ cars so he could see you again………….

(guys im sorry kageyama’s sucked 😔)

kenma

- my bro is literally gaming

- he turns and he sees you walking past his door

*shiver me timbers did i see that right???* he thought. first things first, he was on a twitch stream so he cannot possibly act up rn. and two, why were you in his house? wasn’t just kuroo supposed to come over? but its fine. he got some good views, but he was very flustered and shy. but that really motivated him to win many of his games. after he finishes his games, he went downstairs to see what you and kuroo were doing. kenma couldnt look you in eye after seeing you wear such a small amount of clothing. a tank and shorts. kenma almost got a nosebleed… 😔

[macawritesupdates]

Wow so many updates you're killing it! I loved the latest chapter of cuddle it had so many great moments. Yuuji and Sukuna nesting together was adorable and I loved the scene where he pulled Yuuji into his domain for cuddles. The heat was beautiful go get that comfort Yuuji you deserve it. I also loved so many of the descriptions you used like Yuuji wiggling like a cat to get close to Sukuna. Yuuji thinking about how Sukuna has a relatively simple technique but has mastered it to such a degree that he is far more dangerous than sorcerers with much more complex techniques was really cool. It made me think about how some techniques are only as good as their user. Like how mei mei has a "weak" technique but she figured out how to use if so well that she's a first grade (I don't like her at all I'm just sayin). Or how Yorozu has basically the same technique as Mai but she's so much stronger because she puts so much more effort and thought into it. Or even Kenny who's technique is non combat based on its own he's so dangerous because of how well he plans things out. Sukuna's technique is simple and easy to understand but that just means he's got way more freedom in how he can use it. It's like having a highly specialized tool vs a simple but versatile tool. It's fun to think about. It's a little like how you can do basically anything in Minecraft because it's so simple but you have a lot less freedom in big complicated aa games which are more complex but offer fewer choices because theres a certin path the player is expected to follow. Of course all that freedom is completely useless if you aren't creative enough to make use of it. Not everyone can figure out how to build cathedrals or working calculators in a game. Not everyone could take a technique of cutting and earn the title of the strongest. Hmm went a little long on that bit lol. Anyway love Yuuji still being down to roast Sukuna but wanting to avoid any bigotry when he does. It's perfectly OK to throw shade at the man lord knows he deserves it but we will not I repeat not torment him over stuff he has no control over especially when his poor life choices offer so many other options for ridicule. I am such a sucker for a good cuddle so this chapter has definitely been my favorite so far 💗. I love Sukuna being such a bastard about affection he's figuring this shit out on the fly but he's got to be a bit of a dick about it. He can learn all kinds of stuff from Yuuji AND murder him in the domain apparently.

Hmm, as for suggestions for what happens next, I'm thinking we could have a fun morning after the heat. Yuuji seemed to think in the last chapter that his heat would end quickly, so where we go from here depends on whether he's right about that. If he is then I think next chapter should definitely have Sukuna teasing him about how clingy and cuddly he was during his heat while, and this is key, absolutely cuddling the shit out of him. I'm talking holding on with both arms purring and somehow still looking so smug while completely ignoring the hypocrisy as he refuses to let his brat leave the nest. Making fun of Yuuji for being a clingy little octopus as he does his best impression of a creeping vine clinging to a tree. If Yuuji's wrong and the heat is still going then I suggest some spice. I kinda wanna see pushy Yuuji domming from the bottom so to speak. He's in heat he knows what he needs and he's damn well going to take charge and get it. Sukuna can be along for the ride of his life. After that ends I wouldn't mind looking into these curse users some more are they working for Kenjaku? I almost want them to be an unrelated group just for the fun of adding a completely new group of unknown enemies for the plot but that would mean adding a lot of world building and motivations for these guys and this fic is a collective effort so other people would have to be interested. Until next time, thank you for writing and sharing with us!!

It always was fascinating to me that Sukuna's techniques were rather simple but used to a point they were so powerful. Also just the name of it "Shrine" always made it seem like there was so much more to it than just slash and burn. It makes me wonder if Sukuna was capable of a LOT more when he was at his height which makes it feel like Heian sorcerers had to be damn powerhouses compared today 8I

ALso good cuddles are nice and this fic had to earn its name at last with all the cuddles packed into this one! Had a TON of reader comments wanting cuddles hehe!

As for adding worldbuilding and plot...I'm ALWAYS excited when a reader adds something like that to the story! Helps to give it more direction and is often a very unique take <3 it adds things like the creep sorcerer and giving more room for bonding c:

Glad you are enjoying the fic dear reader!

[cyclone360]

Well, I finally got the motivation to actually write this damn thing (wow), and I did the first chapter in a few hours, it’s still a bit messy, but I figured that if I can’t post on A03 yet for a while, I might as well post it here.

A few changes from one I posted a while ago, with it now being completed (yippee)

With that being said, I don’t have a proper title for my work (yet) but enjoy the first chapter!

Chapter 1: Andante

The alarm sounded at Korsica’s desk, announcing the end of the security head’s day at work. Dressed in her usual work uniform, her blaze red jacket, thigh-high stockings, blue shorts, and the shoes Peppermint lended her.Korsica groaned, stretching out of her chair, tense after another hard day at Vandelay. Not as hard under former CEO Kale Vandelay, especially during the “defect” fiasco, but still, a stressful day. Changing passwords, massive paperwork, finding possible security breaches, and so on. Before logging off her own computer, she made sure to quickly change her passwords, and shut off her computer, and walked out her office.

As she passed through the doors, she was surprised to see a CAR-11E bot, with food she ordered from the cafe.

“How long have you been waiting here?” The Scottish redhead questioned.

The robot responded in a worried voice, “About 4 hours, 37 minutes, and 12 seconds”. Korsica cringed at the thought that the bot was here, holding up her food, nearly all day, all because she was so caught up in her work.

“I am surely to be fired” the CAR-11E exclaimed.

“I assure you, that won’t happen.” Korsica reassured the bot, grabbing her food and paid a bit extra for the CAR-11E’s inconvenience.

As she stepped foot on the elevator, she wondered how Chai managed to get up here, when he invaded the tower. Even though he destroyed a major part of security, technically got her fired from her job, and maybe hit her head on multiple doors, she couldn’t help but commend him on making it up the tower, fighting against Roquefort, Mimosa, and Kale, and fixing the data nodes faster than any of the TEC-78s could do. She couldn’t also help but think; what is Chai and the rest of the gang up to? She quickly opened up her phone, looking through the small chat Chai added everyone in. While she was looking through the dry chat for that day, she got an email on her phone, from the CEO herself, Roxanne Vandelay.

Peppermint walked up to the door of the hideout, dressed in her white crop top, denim jeans and jacket, and her ripped thigh-high sock on one leg and her prosthetic as the other. ready to relax after helping her mother with work, by doing some more work. As she turned on the light, she was surprised to see Chai, the Armstrong ambassador, sleeping on the couch, again. Not even in anything comfortable, just the outfit he called his own, his classic yellow-ripped jacket, red scarf and shirt, and his jeans which made him get called a hipster by one TEC-78 he helped a while ago.

She sighed, not because she was angry or disappointed, but because he had to stay over at the hideout again. It was really the only place he could stay so far. She walked over to the couch and shook the sleepy rockstar awake.

Chai yelped, surprised and in the middle of a pretty sweet dream.

“Geez ok, ok, I’m up mom”. Chai exclaimed, before promptly yawning. He hadn’t realized what he said until he could finally focus and see Peppermint's confused expression.

“I-uh-I mean-.” Chai stumbled over his words, embarrassed over what he said.

“Mom?” Peppermint questioned, with a little chuckle. “Wow, didn’t know I was like that to you.” She stated.

“What? No of course not, just reminded me of her! That’s all!” Chai explained, desperate to correct what he said.

808 woke up from her spot on the couch, listening to the commotion going on. Despite being a robot cat, she yawned and stretched, kneading her pillow in the process, her ear flicked, hearing footsteps, leading to the hideout. She sat down, tuning out Chai and Peppermint’s discussion, and turned to the hideout door.

“Chill out Chai, I’m just messing with you.”

“Okay, fine. Can we stop now?”

“Sure, son” Peppermint said with a smirk on her face, teasing Chai for the final time for now. The latter groaned.

They both heard a knock on the door, the two turning their attention towards the entrance. Peppermint made her way over to the door, 808 jumping off her pillow to follow her owner/creator. Peppermint opened the door to see two very familiar faces standing there.

“Macaron!” Chai shouted, hopping off the couch to greet his friend.

“Hey, Chai!” Macaron responded, happy to see him nice and well. Dressed in his lab coat, khaki pants, and helpful implants on his major joints and arms. They both attempted to do their secret handshake that Chai came up with, and although it was a bit messy at first, they eventually got it, much to Peppermint’s surprise.

“How’s it going CNMN?” Peppermint asked the psych robot. “New parts treating you right?”

“Good afternoon Miss Peppermint, Sir Macaron and I are doing just fine, and these new parts fit well!”

Despite CNMN being nearly destroyed sacrificing thierself destroying Zanzo’s robot Kale briefly controlled , Macaron repaired CNMN in his free time with bits of scrap he found around his workshop, and was looking a lot better

“How are you and Mister Chai getting along so far?” CNMN responded.

Chai had been staying in the hideout ever since Peppermint recruited him, and he hasn’t found anywhere else to stay since then. Roxanne, Peppermint's mother, was a bit too overwhelmed with the damage Kale had done to the company to find a place for him to stay.

Peppermint did have her own room in the hideout, but the last thing she wanted was Chai to be snoring in the middle of the night in her own room. Either way, Chai was comfortable enough to sleep on the couch he always rested on between his earlier missions.

“Oh, everything’s going as fine as it can be right now. Chai is a bit messy, but hey, until my mom can figure something else, I’m fine.”Peppermint answered.

“So, what brings you guys over to the hideout?” Chai asked with curiosity.

“What? I can’t pay a visit to some friends?” Macaron said jokingly. “I just got an email from Roxanne, and she gave us some time off in preparation for a festival celebrating Project Armstrong!”

Chai was confused.

“Didn’t the festival already happen a few weeks ago? You know, when I fought Mimosa, did a cool performance and everything? My face still hurts from her slapping me!” Chai stated, rubbing his cheek where Mimosa slapped him, multiple times.

“Well this is a bit different,” Macron chuckled, putting a hand on Chai’s shoulder. “After most of the department heads, well, disappeared,” He chuckled with some hesitation. “Roxanne is setting up a small party, to look and announce new department heads for Quality Assurance and Marketing, and because she is taking finance under herself, we only need two people to fill in the slots ”

“So, who’s invited?”

“Well,” Macaron looked around. “Everyone! You, me, CNMN, Peppermint, Korsica and 808!” He said with a warm smile.

“Huh?” Chai said with surprise. “Wait, why me? As far as I know, I’m just the Armstrong Ambassador.” He pointed to the pin on his jacket, which he always proudly wore.

Macaron chuckled, “Well, that, and you helped bring down Kale, so why wouldn’t she?”

“Oh, makes a lot more sense now, doesn’t it?” Chai answered sheepishly. “Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s get-”

“Hold on,” Peppermint jumped in, “Where’s Korsica?”

As soon as those words left her lips, everyone could hear footsteps coming down the hallway, as if someone was jogging down the dark hallway leading to the hideout. As they all looked down the hall, they saw the familiar figure of the head of security in the dark.

“Hey everyone” Korsica said, breathing a bit heavily, “How is everyone doing?”

Everyone greeted Korsica, with Peppermint gesturing her in.

“Macaron,” She started to say, “ I take it you got the email Roxanne sent?”

“Yep,” he responded “Just told the rest of everyone here about it.”

“So, what are we doing today then?” Chai eagerly said, “Hope something cool today, that's always nice.”

“Actually, CNMN and I were planning to go out for dinner tonight to celebrate, anyone want to come with?” Macaron asked, hoping for someone to accept his invitation.

“That would be great!” Chai exclaimed.

“My lunch was a bit cold, so I could go for a meal.” Korsica answered with a smile.

“Well…” Peppermint trailed off, turning to her computer, expecting to do a bit of work.

‘Peppermint,” Korsica said, turning to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. “I’ve had enough work today, and I’m sure you did too. Kale’s gone! Spectra is unplugged! Chai taught me the importance of relaxing, and I feel like you should too, join us.” she said with a smile.

“Uh- yeah, I-I guess I’ll go,” Peppermint stuttered, blushing slightly at Korsica’s gesture.

“Great! Let’s go everyone, dinner’s on me!” Macaron smiled.

“Oh, at least let me pay for my meal.” Korsica chuckled.

As Macaron, Korsica, CNMN were leaving, Chai pulled up next to Peppermint, with 808 on his shoulder.

“Yeah Chai?”

“Told you so.”

Peppermint rolled her eyes with a soft smile, “Come on, Chai, they’re waiting for us.”

That concludes the first chapter, a bit rough around the edges but it’s mine, and hopefully as I further write this story, my writing gets better. I hope you guys enjoyed.

[victoriadallonfan]

um, so, first of all, I want to say that in general, I really really love reading your thoughts and essays on wildbow's writing, especially the parahumans series. It's genuinely enlightening and interesting a lot of the time.

However, I've noticed this kind of pattern where you see someone making a meta-textual argument ("doyalist" reasoning, commentary on the story in the context that it is a work of fiction), and you respond, or attempt to dispute the argument with a textual argument ("watsonian" explanation, talking about the story as events that happened, without the context that the story is fictional).... which ends up not actually addressing the metatextual point?

It's like, ok, one example would be something like magneto: there's an argument that the X-men stories are loosely inspired by the civil rights movement, with Professor X and Magneto being archetypically "moderate" and "extreme". This presents a significant issue when Magneto is depicted as unreasonable, needlessly violent, and antagonist, as, deliberate or not, this sends a negative message about figures perceived as more extreme (with Malcolm X being the most common example).

The is a meta-textual argument.

A meta-textual counter-argument might be "there are other characters in the X men universe who are 'extremists' but who are portrayed relatively positively, and additionally, the fact that (the hero) Prof X's name is similar to Malcolm X indicates the creators might have felt more generous to Malcolm X and similar people than the idea suggests".

However, a textual counter argument would be to ignore the real world connections and context of the original X-men context, and simply double down on talking about how much a villain Magneto is.... which is irrelevant. It doesn't actually address what the original argument is talking about.

melancholy-jouissance was talking about Tristan as an example. He acts in a shitty way towards Byron, crosses Byron's boundaries, and crimes are motivated by a desire for sex and romance.

What's worse is that there's a stereotype (both in fiction and in the public consciousness) of gay people being more sex-motivated and sexual than straight people are. Depicting Tristan as being more sexual, and more sexually motivated than his identical twin brother plays into this stereotype in an extremely damaging way.

Deliberately or not, it sends a bad message, and is a bad representation of gay men.

(on top of this, separate from the representation thing, it's just extremely unpleasant to read as a bisexual person)

However, instead of addressing any of this, your response was to point out, with a sequence of excerpts, what Tristan did wrong, as if he was a real person on trial?

Which, is like, those are well researched, well formatted points, but you aren't actually engaging with the argument being presented to you.

If anything, bringing up these other things that Tristan did wrong kind of proves melancholy's point... doesn't it?

I don't know. I do enjoy reading your ideas and analysis, and this ask isn't meant to be calling you out or anything like that, but I do think that there's a lot here (and in similar debates) that you're missing.

Let me counter argue this in your Magneto way:

Let’s say’s that there is a panel where Magneto is on trial for trying to murder a human. And the human is saying he needs to face justice for his attempted murder. A tumblr post says, “Wow, I can’t believe Marvel thinks that Magneto was wrong for fighting back against his oppressors!”

Now, let’s say that the panel was cut out of a larger strip* and we see that he was actually going to murder another mutant before the human pushed the both of them to safety (the mutant does not know he saved his life). And we learn that said mutant was and is prominent Mutant Rights activist, who was targeted by Magneto for associating with human allies pushing for their cause.

The panel is taken out of context of a particular scene so that Marvel is made to be promoting something that isn’t true. The reality is that Magneto is framed as wrong because he was being a murderous asshole, not for wanting mutant rights.

There is a BIG difference between “Hey, Wildbow is ignorant on tropes and needs to be more world weary before tackling such heavy topics” and “Wildbow is a massive homophobe and the text clearly points to him hating people who want gay sex!”

I agree with the former, but the latter is just dramatization and dishonest to be blunt.

[shastafirecracker]

4, 6, 17, 20?

oooh well this got long so I'll do a break to save everyone's dashes

4 a sentence or paragraph that you’re proud of oh man, I’m proud of a lot of what I’ve written, especially lately. I feel like a lot of the stuff that hits hardest only hits right within its larger context. I love a sucker punch sentence after a long, slow buildup. I was really happy with the bit with Nick walking into the lake at the end of “don’t stop if I fall”:

It felt so strange, but also like a need as primal as human touch being met for the first time after an eon of starvation. His whole body was a raw burn and the water that rose up around him was a cool compress. His hands, cracked and callused from a lifetime of abuse, drank up the moisture and grew soft. He kept walking.

I mean, how bizarre would it feel to have never been submerged in water? if your only contact with water had ever been via sinks and showers and maybe a tepid, cramped bath?

I’m really proud of a lot of my comedy moments, too. I think my comedic pacing and timing has gotten better over the years and I’ve always loved to write banter. But I think I’ve gotten better at structural comedy via the narrative also, not just funny dialogue, particularly for characters who would not say funny dialogue - like in “I’ve seen all the demons that you got”:

Vash came back into the shop stinking of cigarettes[…] Knives sprayed him with air freshener and retreated to his office while Vash spluttered. […] he told Vash where he was going, and Vash's eyebrows did a little dance. Knives was sorry he didn't still have the can of air freshener.

6 what character do you have the most fun writing? ok there’s recency bias happening here obviously, but I fucking love writing Zazie. they’re so fun. y'all won’t know why I’ve had so much fun with them until November but it’s just refreshing to write a chaos gremlin who doesn’t have baggage, lol.

17 do you think that readers perceive your work differently to you? what do you think would surprise your readers about your writing or motivations? until fairly recently I would have said that readers would be surprised to know that I’m asexual but then I found out that apparently aces who write smut are, like, the backbone of society XD but seriously, my go-to answer for “why does someone who doesn’t want to have sex write about sex” is just why would someone who doesn’t want to go to space write about going to space. why would someone who doesn’t want to commit a murder write a murder. stares directly at the stupidly massive quantity of speculative fiction ever written and then looks into the camera.

other than that uhhhh I have no idea? a few times I have had readers leave reviews like “oh wow, you must have experienced [thing] because you describe it so accurately” and I take that as a huge compliment because it means I’m a very good study of human character and psychology. but no, to those specific commenters in the past, I have not been a member of a cult, grown up on a farm and/or killed chickens to cook, nor had any transcendent group sex. thanks for thinking my life is that exciting tho! <3

20 tell us the meta about your writing that you really want to ramble about (symbolism, character or relationship development, hidden references, callbacks or clues for future scenes) ok there’s a big one in the big bang fic that I can’t talk about yet but I HOPE people see what I did there. and are just like “I see what you did there”

yes I love these!!! generally it’s wordplay or symbolic references that I just don’t know if anyone picked up on because no one said it in any comments… argh I’m struggling to think of a lot right now but in “I’ve seen all the demons that you’ve got” I really hoped that when I used the phrase “dose makes the poison” that people connected that all the way through Knives’ past work refining ricin and him having been dosed with ketamine (which is, like, a legitimate and important medication but the dosage is SO important)… ummmm also in “don’t stop if I fall” there’s just so many. I hope people grokked every usage of the lyric that the title came from - every time the words “don’t stop” were used in that fic it was very deliberate (including the extremely dubious consent sex scene).

one small one in that same fic that I hope someone/anyone caught was this sentence: “He remembered this ground like an old friend, this stained glass landscape.” because Wolfwood remembers the grounds of the orphanage as stained (with his own blood, with the attempts to water the seedlings when he was a kid), and because the ground is glass (sand, silicate) and therefore contains no nutrients, and because of the obvious religious connotation (but which doubles back on the other two as meaning, you know, a bright thing with no substance). I was happy with that sentence.

a bit of a character note that I cling to at all costs is that if I’m writing something post-canon, any version of canon, even my own AUs’ iterations of “canon,” then Vash WILL miss Knives and grieve him constantly. and he’ll feel a lot of guilt about feeling like he shouldn’t grieve Knives, shouldn’t be allowed to feel grief because Knives was so “evil” and Vash “won” and blah blah blah, and that every time someone celebrates the world not ending it is another twist to the knife in his guts. look up pyrrhic victory in the dictionary there’s a mugshot of vash. it just matters to me to always be clear that vash is not actually okay with how it all shook out in the end.