#me opening google docs 2 start a new fic knowing full well i still have 80 more i need to finish writing: haha

[asterekmess]

A Bit of a Conundrum

I've been waffling about this for a long time, and as I've already vented about it to my discord, I wanted to open it up to a possibly larger audience of my readers. And also complain about it more. XD I write. A lot. I have. A LOT of writing. We're talking like more than 2 dozen wips sitting in my google docs, some with 14k, some with 114k words in them. Some with a specific ending in mind, some with no plot beyond what's already written. Fuck dude, some aren't even Sterek/TW! I was fortunate enough to have someone go on my ko-fi and do a monthly donation to me for a few months. They stopped, which I'll never be mad at, but having them there at all, having someone say "I'd like to support your writing just for the sake of supporting it" meant a huge amount to me, and it made me think about all of my wips.

I don't post often, or regularly, or..well at all, for months and months at a time. This is because I almost only ever post fics when they're done. it's a personal rule of mine, and not one I used to follow when i first started writing fic. It's one I came up with shortly after finishing "Wanted" bc I felt terrible and pressured when I had to take breaks during that fic and when I couldn't keep up with a regular schedule for people. And for a long time it was a good rule for me. It helped me not to feel pressured or overwhelmed by the worry of abandoning a project on ao3 and getting bombarded with comments asking where the next chapter is. But as I've continued writing over the years, my wips have gotten more numerous, while my posted work continues to trickle in. I'm a chronic long-fic writer (though my currently posted fics don't reflect that), which means it takes way more time for me to finish a fic than it does for me to get distracted coming up with a NEW idea for a fic. It's hard to finish work. But that doesn't mean I don't love my wips. They're incredible. Some of them contain some of the best stuff I feel I've ever written. Poignant words and phrases and meaningful moments. And looking around at them, I realized that anyone who goes to support me on my ko-fi, or considers following me on Ao3, or even just subscribes to a series, isn't really getting to see what I"m actually doing. They see a fic posted every 9 months, or every year. There's no real indication that anything they do is helping me regularly, that they're even supporting a Current Active writer. In light of that, I've been considering starting to post wips of mine. The problems with that are numerous and a bit overwhelming, hence wanting to hear others' opinions and vent about it ad nauseum. I've got lots of wips, and if I were to start posting them, I wouldn't want to toss the whole wip out at once. But posting a chapter at a time every few days or even once a week, while it would mean a lot of content coming out, it would be a lot of content that I haven't finished. Cliffhanger chapters, and unfinished stories that I can't promise would ever be finished. And I know I don't owe my readers anything, but it's still unsatisfying to post something without an ending. Then there's the absolute overload of possibly too Much content for people. Getting an e-mail every other day about a new chapter for a fic you've no interest in reading isn't fun. And on top of all that, is the editing. Often when I'm struggling with a fic, I find that i need to go back and change the beginning. In honesty, part of why I wait to post until I'm finished with fics is bc semi-regularly I'll get to the end of a fic, go back to the beginning and edit it all over again to make it more cohesive. To me there is no such thing as a 'finished' chapter. only a finished fic. If I posted as I wrote, then I'd either not be able to go back and edit chapters, or if I DID go back and edit my chapters, they would then need updated, and people who'd read the first 4 chapters of something would end up needing to reread the fic to get the full sense of what I'm doing. But at the same time, posting my wips would mean finally getting to share some stuff that's been gathering dust for years in some cases, finally getting to see people's reactions to them. Finally getting to know that even if I don't end up finishing it, at least people can enjoy what's already been written. And of course, finally getting to show people that when they support me through donations or comments or what-have-you, they're supporting an Active writer, supporting work being made every day, even if it's not FINISHED every day. All of these things are stuff I'm trying to take into consideration, and it's been a hell of a struggle. Plus, as I'm unfortunately trying to manage doing a part-time job rn, just getting up the energy for this stuff is a big BIG task.

If you've got any thoughts or strategic ideas, I'd love to hear them. If not, s'all good, I mostly just wanted to vent. XD

[blackhairedjjun]

flowers of every color | writer's behind the scenes!

some stuff about my writing process for the fic! be warned that if you haven't caught up yet, there are spoilers

tagging people who liked and/or replied my interest check post: @agustdiv1ne @mazeinthemoon @txtistheloml @kyaneosprincess @teletubbiesssss @banggyu0308

these are pretty long so i'm putting them behind a read-more hehe

story planning:

while we've gotten plenty of yeonjun in prince outfits over the years, the main inspiration for this fic is yeonjun's opening outfit in act: sweet mirage! i saw that and was like "oh man he would be SO DASHING as a prince 😍" and just went from there

if you've been here from the start, you might know that i didn't originally plan make a series! i just word-vomited the first chapter (well, what became the first chapter) directly into tumblr's post editor because the thought of prince!yeonjun wouldn't leave me alone, especially after seeing a few other prince/commoner and prince/servant fics floating around lol. chapter 1 is also the only chapter made using tumblr's legacy editor rather than their new one (which is also why the cover pics are one big edited photo and not 3 separate photos, i couldn't figure out how to get 3 photos to line up in the legacy editor).

i honestly did not expect people to read chapter 1 but they did!! and they liked the idea!! plus even after writing chapter 1 i STILL couldn't get the idea out of my head so i decided to write it as a full story. i've written plenty of oneshots before under my (non-kpop) ao3 account, but this is my first multichapter series! so i opened google docs and made a quick outline of the story's main events.

the original outline for foec had 6 chapters + 2 endings, but as i wrote the story, i realized that more detail and scenes were needed than what i initially outlined! chapters 3 and 4 (ball preparations + the ball / gazebo dance scene) were supposed to be one chapter. chapters 5 and 6 (y/n hanging out with the chois + getting caught + punishment + intro of arranged marriage) were also supposed to be one chapter. chapters 7-9 (end of friendship, reconciling with soogyu, y/n & beomgyu talk) were also supposed to be one chapter!

i actually started writing the bad ending first before the good ending -- my reasoning was that if i were the reader, i would want to save the good ending for last so that i could end the series on a positive note. i was very surprised when people voted for the good ending first in the poll LMAO also as far as i'm concerned, both endings are canon in a "branching timeline" kind of way. they are both the real ending! i do have a soft spot for the good ending but also i love angst too much to not write a bad ending haha.

honestly most of the story beats from my original outline made it into the final fic! the biggest change has to do with queen hwayoung's and princess ajin's roles in the story (more on that below).

character notes:

when i was first brainstorming i really wanted to include both taehyun and hueningkai in the story as well, but i struggle with writing ensemble casts and choi line + y/n (+ the supporting characters in the castle) were already enough for me to handle. soobin and beomgyu were the easiest for me to incorporate into the story since they have the same last name and i could go "oh in this universe they're part of the same royal house hence the same last name" HAHA. i do imagine that the house of choi princes are also friends with tyunning (kai does get alluded to in chapter 9), but they're off doing their own adventures.

some of little moments in the fic were inspired by actual things txt have done in variety shows! yeonjun, y/n, soobin, and beomgyu playing cards in chapter 5 is based off to do ep. 53 where they also play cards. soogyu playing badminton in chapter 8 is inspired by gbgb era idol human theater where they played a little badminton by the pool. and there are a lot more small character quirks that are inspired by gifs or fancams i've seen of them haha.

queen hwayoung and princess ajin were originally not supposed to be part of the story! my original idea was the have the arranged marriage subplot be heard secondhand by through advisers so that it feels like an invisible force pulling yeonjun away from y/n. but i needed to make the threat of the arranged marriage stronger and ended up writing the scene with queen hwayoung in it for chapter 6.

princess ajin especially was a late addition -- originally she was never supposed to appear at all, never visiting the castle and only speaking through her mom / royal advisors, so there was that threat of yeonjun being married off to someone he's never even met. but after looking through the feedback of chapter 6 i realized that i kinda-sorta accidentally made setup for her oops. people were wondering what she'd be like, and it would feel too anticlimactic to never have her appear in the story, so i wrote her in. which i don't regret because i did enjoy writing her big scene in chapter 10!

speaking of which: a friend of mine asked what happens to princess ajin, and honestly i wanted to give her proper closure too! but i couldn't find a way to fit it into the story in a way that felt natural. if you ask me though, she gains some level of political independence from her mom (represented by her visiting the castle in the good ending). she still marries for political reasons, to a prince or nobleman who is also in it for the politics, and at first they treat their marriage as a business partnership. eventually they grow close and form a devoted "i'd do anything for you" bond -- not necessarily romantic in nature, but caring in its own way. (i'm describing a queerplatonic relationship basically)

tbh i don't have the energy to write another multichapter right now, but i would love to see spinoff fics for soobin and beomgyu or even taehyun and kai as princes in their own kingdoms! so if you're reading this and you want to do it, you have my blessing <3

flower notes:

while some chapter titles were planned around a specific flower representing the events & progression of the story, others were not (because of the chapter splits i talked about earlier) and i just chose whatever flower was in it lol. the planned chapter title flowers are: yellow roses (ch2), pink roses (ch4), sunflowers (ch5), striped carnations (ch7) , purple hyacinths (ch9), red roses (ch10), daffodils (GE), and white lilies (BE). the unplanned title flowers are: irises (ch1), lilies of the valley (ch3), red and purple zinnias (ch6), sweet peas (ch8).

i mostly used this website as a reference for the language of flowers, BUT i also double check with one or two other websites to make sure i'm getting an established flower meaning and not something made up! when i started fic planning i made a list of flowers with meanings that fit the main story beats and character progressions, then picked the ones with the most established meanings (i.e. supported by multiple "language of flowers" websites) and/or the ones that were appropriate for the growing season.

even though i wrote a disclaimer not to pay attention to botanical accuracy re: seasonal flowering times, i originally envisioned the fic to take place over the spring. then when it got longer, i imagined it taking place over spring and summer, so i tried (keyword: tried) to choose seasonally appropriate flowers or flowers that bloom year-round. this is hard for me because i live in a tropical country. i have never seen a lot of these flowers in person because they don't grow in the climate here, and i have no idea what a four-season year feels like. so i decided not to put time-of-year markers in the fic and leave the season ambiguous, and added that disclaimer about the flowers' accuracy.

an example of this: chapter 9 is named after purple hyacinths. i first decided on this back when the story was only supposed to take place during the spring, since hyacinths are a spring flower. i considered naming it after hydrangeas because they mean something like "thank you for understanding" (i.e. y/n going "thank you for understanding what a hard position i'm in" to yeonjun), and also because they're one of my favorite flowers. but i wasn't sure about their seasonal appropriateness since some sources said that they bloom during early summer so i changed it to hyacinths. BUT THEN the fic got long and i started imagining that the later chapters take place in the summer SO the hyacinths ended up being seasonally inappropriate after all! and hydrangeas would have been more appropriate! especially since txt literally has a song called hydrangea love out aarghhh noooo but anyway it is what it is

other flowers that didn't make the cut + their meanings: sweet william (gallantry), alstroemeria (friendship or devotion), freesia (friendship, thoughtfulness), white tulips (forgiveness, consideration, respect), thyme (courage, strength)

other notes:

the key lime pie in chapter 6 is based on a real pie that i ate at my friend's house when i visited her there and i thought it was the most delicious thing i have ever eaten. in the original draft it was a lemon tart!

i wanted to keep this series strictly sfw, but i did consider making both the good and bad endings have suggestive, fade-to-black scenes. for the good ending, the suggestive part would have involved y/n in yeonjun's room the night after their speech / before waking up together. for the bad ending, it would have happened when yeonjun visits y/n's quarters. i didn't write them bc i... am not good with anything suggestive or nsfw klsadjfklasjd

I COMPLETELY FORGOT BUT Y/N'S FATHER WAS ALSO IN THE AUDIENCE FOR THEIR SPEECH IN THE GOOD ENDING... i have no excuse for not writing him in other than I Forgot. i am so sorry but please imagine he was there

--

that's all i can think of for now! if you have other questions about foec or my writing process please please feel free to reply to this post or send an ask <3

[hyunwoo-archive]

Amira pls pls look at @/eocnx showho fanart on twt if you havent

:) . listen ehrerhe . i came 2 have a good time ebtu this ????? this jsut . came 4 my life . an attack on ym life ? yes indeed . oh mygod d??????????????

[multi-fandom-freak0221]

If Your Done With Embarrassing Me On Your Own Won't You Go Ahead and Tell Them

Oh my god y'all have just blown me away. I was not expect so much positive feed back. I was screaming so much I could not Believe how much you guys liked that. And so many people are asking to be tagged in the next part thank you guys so much. Also can I just say moving from Google Docs to Tumblr was a bitch to do and I hated it. But y'all inspired me so much that I decided to just go ahead and type it up on tumblr and move it to Google Docs afterwards.

This part's title is from "Impossible" by Shontelle. The song in this part is "Young Volcanoes" by Fall Out Boy

This is Part 2 of my fic based on @misashabunbun 's Love of Three.

Part 1

Tagging List (I STILL CAN'T BELIEVE I NEED ONE.):

@thestressmademedoit @colorfulmongerpsychicranch @lizziejay @indecisive-mess-named-me @captainmac6 @luveverything12 @kris-pines04 @brokenwordsarehard2

To say Marinette was busy would be an understatement. Between working with Luka and Uncle Jagged producing her album as Neon Titanium and her friends insisting that they help heal her brokenheart she felt like she was caught in a whirl wind. But it was nice she had fun. Luka and Uncle Jagged knew how to turn the hard work of producing music into a fun experience while still being efficient. And her friends they had her laughing harder than she laughed in while and smiling brighter than their resident sunshine child. They did everything they could think off.

She went shopping with Chloe and Kagami. She watched horror movies with Alix, Nathaniel, and Adrien. Marc and Luka let her rant to them which turned into a crying session which then turned into a meditation session. And on top of that her and Peter hung out as well. Whether they just worked in silence together on their respective projects or they were pranking Uncle Tony, kwami did she have fun renaming the protocols on the Iron Man suit. Soon Peter easily fit his way into her group of friends abd he fit in perfectly. Everyone got along with him.

But he wasn't the last to join their ragtag group. Everyone was shocked when Felix Graham De Vanily came to their group offering Marinette condolences on her lost engagement. He was sincere and courteous so of course no one was surprised when Marinette invited him to join in the currently planned game of dodgeball, except maybe Felix himself. But nonetheless he joined in the competition and found himself hanging out with the rest of the group as well. Soon his cold off-standish demeanor was traded for sly smirks and slick humor that nobody caught at first except Marinette and Peter who would laugh openly at his responses.

Soon enough Felix was a part of the group and felt comfortable letting his guard down. It help that they didn't treat him as the Graham De Vanily heir or Adrien's asshole cousin. They treat him like Felix, the boy who while very proper cried watching Big Hero 6. Also the boy who slam dunked on Adrien without breaking a sweat. Yet he still is the master of backhanded compliments and insulting people with a smile and having them thank him. He could truly be himself and he was thankful.

And while he easily was getting along with everyone, anyone with easy could see he had a soft spot for Peter and Marinette in general. It was in the way his face would soften when looking at them. Or the way he would smile when Marinette would get excited over something. Or the way he always paid attention to Peter when he was geeking out. It was the way he softly teased them over their height, Marinette being the shortest of the group and Peter only being taller than Marinette and Alix. And everyone knew Marinette's heart was still healing, so it came no surprise when Felix and Peter started dating. And while everyone was happy for them no one, but Marinette herself missed the looks of longing both boys would send towards her.

Believe it or not Felix was not the most surprising addition to their friend group. No the last addition came soon after Marinette formally did an interview after too much press took notice of Damian Wayne's fiancee being seen for the first time in almost a year, in New York of all places.

She remembered Uncle Tony setting up the interview with someone he trusted. She was glad that this was only an interview as Damian Wayne's (ex) fiancee and not MDC or Neon Titanium. She can only imagine how big a deal it will be when she reveals. But that was future Marinette's problem. Present Marinette had to focus on what to say without giving too much details because no matter how much he deserved it, she didn't want to throw Damian to wolves like that. She settled on saying that she was going through some things and no longer was content in Gotham. She claimed that she decided it was in her best interest to leave, but she didn't want to make a big deal about which is why nothing had been said until now.

The interview went well and everyone accepted her answers. It was released about a month after she left Damian and two weeks since Peter and Felix started dating. She still got news alerts for Gotham so she was waiting with baited breath for her interview to reach the Gotham, but it never seemed to. No announcements from WE or the Wayne family in general. She couldn't say it didn't hurt that no one even realized she was gone yet. But what hurt more was when 2 weeks after her interview she got an alert from Gotham Gazette saying the Damian claimed they set a date for their wedding. She cried that day. How could he not even notice she was gone? Was he so used to lying about her and their relationship that he didn't even give a second thought to what he was saying any more? And while she despaired, she relished in the fact that her friends did not let her be alone. Her face was buried in Peter's neck, she was sat on Felix's lap, Chole was threading her fingers through her hair, her feet laid over Peter legs and settled on Marc's, Adrien sat on the floor in front of Felix a hand rest on her back and everyone gathered around as close as possible trying to physically reassure her. Luka was even humming softly. She appreciated all the love amd support she had and soon she was feeling much better. Eventually it turned into a puppy pile napping session and if she ended up curled up between Peter and Felix? Eh, nobody said anything.

It was these series of events that led to their newest and by far strangest addition to their friend group. Here it was, two days after Damian's announcement and here in front of her stands no other than Jonathan Kent, Damian's best friend.

"Hey, Mari. It's been a while, huh?" She could admit Jon looked nervous. The way he wouldn't meet her eyes and how his hand was rubbing his neck. But him bring nervous did nothing to calm her nerves about why he was even here.

Marinette took a deep breath and drew as much of her inner Ladybug as she could. "Why are you here, Jonathan?"

Jon flinched at how she used his full name. "I'm so sorry, Nette. I'm sorry I wasn't there for you. I'm sorry I didn't push harder. You were my friend too. I should have checked on you. Damian was such a good liar, I never knew. I should have known but I didn't and that doesn't excuse the fact that I wasn't there for you." Jon took a deep breath and finally met her eyes before speaking again. "But I'm going to do better, Nette. Whatever you need just say the word. Even if it means leaving. When we saw your interview Dad told Uncle Bruce to make sure his family was in order especially his youngest. He didn't give any details and Uncle Bruce got offended. I guess he did end up talking to Damian, but Damian doubled down on his lies and his family is believing him. But I know better because I saw what you said and I know even that wasn't the whole truth. So I want you to know I'm on your side."

Marinette was silent for a minute she study him and his words. The way she was looking at him made Jon feel like his whole soul was being judged, but he didn't dare look away. He needed her to know he meant it and that he was truly sorry for not being for. After a minute that felt like hours Marinette smiled softly at him. "I could always appreciate a hug from a friend." She held her arm open and Jon surged forward and hugged her tightly lifting her off the ground.

Marinette giggled a bit before he set her down. "Thanks, Jon for being here for me. I know Damian is you best friend-"

"He lost that right when he decided to lie to me repeatedly for his own benefit." Jon looked uncharacteristically upset at the fact.

"Well if you're in need of some more good friends, I know a group you should meet. Come on, we're about to have a pool day. I'm sure I have some swim trunks I've designed that you could probably fit. "

After they changed intl their respective swimwear, Mari led Jon to her Uncle Tony's pool where the rest of her friends were already waiting. "Hey guys! I'd like you to meet my friend Jon. He's in need of some good company."

Those who recognized Jon looked up surprised before see his nervous fidgeting and hearing Marinette's last sentence before nodding in understand. It was Peter who spoke up first. "Well any friend of Mari's is welcome with us. Come on we were about to play chicken fight!" And just like that their pool party was in swing. The played a couple pool games and had some snacks before Marinette decided to play some music. Soon a familiar tune was playing over the speakers.

When Rome's in ruins

It was Chole who started singing along first sitting laying on one of the pool chairs. In between Alix and Kagami.

We are the lions

Free of the colosseum.

In fields of poison

We're anitvenom

We're the beginning of the end.

Soon Alix was singing the next part as Chloe finished the first part.

Tonight, the foxes hunt the hounds

It's all over now

Before it has begun

We've already won

Luka was quick to pick up the chorus while trying to get everyone to join in with him.

We are wild

We are like young volcanoes

While everyone was distracted with singing Luka had Adrien and Jon sneak with him behind the girls in the pool chair. Each of them grabbed one and threw them in the water. Luka grabbed Kagami, Adrien grabbed Chloe and Jon grabbed Alix.

We are wild

Americana, exotica

Do you wanna feel a little beautiful, baby?

As everyone else's singing tapered off into laughing, Marinette picked up the next part solo as she walked to the diving board and climbed up.

Come on, make it easy, say I never mattered

Run it up the flag pole,

She ended her singing with a cannonball into the pool. Peter picked it up from his place in Felix's arms.

We will teach you how to make boys next door out of assholes

He sung his verse looking at Felix the whole time, who scoffed jokingly when Peter winked at him, but gave a him a kiss after he was done singing. Marc and Nathaniel picked up where he left off dueting together.

Tonight, the foxes hunt the hounds

And it's all over now

Before it has begun

We've already won

Soon everyone was singing along again to the chorus playing around splashing each other.

We are wild

We are like young volcanoes

We are wild

Americana, exotica

Do you wanna feel a little beautiful, baby?

Soon everybody had calmed down slightly singing a little quieter. Marinette her self was floating on her back towards the center of the pool. Smiling at all her support around her.

We are wild

We are like young volcanoes

We are wild

Americana, exotica

Do you wanna feel a little beautiful, baby?

As the song ended Jon was the first to speak. "What the fuck is in the water in Paris that makes y'all so talented?"

Peter laughed as he easily agreed, "That's what I said!"

Adrien chuckled at the Americans in their group antics. "To be fair, Felix is from London and Kagami is from Japan."

"Still! That is crazy. And Marinette I never knew you could sing like that!" Jon looked over towards the bluenette, his eyes softening at her.

Marinette giggled. "Neither did the rest of the world until Neon Titanium featured in Luka's last single."

"What?!" Jon exclaimed. "You're Neon Titanium?! I loved that song! Nette you're even more amazing than I thought."

Luka threw his hand up saying "Here, here." Making Marinette blush as all her friends joined in on complimenting her.

About a 3 weeks later, Marinette found herself working on a dress for her debut as Neon Titanium which uncle Tony insisted she do at a gala he's throwing. Which she suspects he's throwing just for her to debut because there was absolutely no gala planned before.

That was what she was doing when Jon, Felix, and Peter found her. It didn't take long for Jon to fit in with group. And with how often he stayed with them in New York instead of going back to Metropolis, no one was surprised when he started dating Peter and Felix. Marinette was happy for them even though it seemed like everyone was in happy relationships but her. But she knew she still had some things to work out before returning to the dating scene.

As they approached Marinette paused her sketching to look at her friends. "What's up guys? You needed something?"

The 3 boys looked at each other before Peter spoke up. "Yeah, actually. We wanted to tell you something." He rubbed the back of his neck before letting out a sigh. "We like you Marinette. A lot. And we would love for you to date us."

Marinette could feel the rejection on her tongue, but before she could say a word Jon cut her off.

"Let us finish first Nette. Please. After we're done you can tell us to never bother you again, but just let us get this out." Jon pleaded at her. Marinette just nodded and let them continue.

"We all like you a lot," Felix started his words very sincere. "But we all know that your still healing. We only told you because we thought it would be fair for you to know."

It almost seemed as they had planned and rehearsed for this because Peter effortlessly picked up after Felix. "We're not trying to guilt you into dating us because at the end of the day it is still you decision. And we know it may be some time before your ready to even consider dating us, but we're willing to wait."

Jon grabbed her hands as he prepared to finish them out. "We just want you to know how amazing we think you are. We'll be beyond lucky if you decide to date us when you're ready to make that choice. And until you are we're still your friends and we'll continue helping you heal and be better how ever you want us to. And if you decide you don't see us that way we'll still be some of your closest friends because having you in our lives is a blessing Nette."

Soon they all seemed to be holding one of her hands as they finished what they had to say. Marinette had silent tears streaming down her face, but the big smile she had eased away their worries. She pulled them into a tight hug for a moment before pulling back.

"You guys are the absolute best friends a girl can have." She smiled at them gratefully. "You're right that I'm not ready yet, but when I am, you guys will be the first people I consider dating. Promise. Now do you guys wanna see the designs I'm considering for my reveal?"

As the boys gathered around Marinette for her to show them her sketchbook she thought to herself with a smile.

I might not be quite okay yet, but with all the great people I have on my side, I know I will be soon.

[botwstoriesandsuch]

Kip v Age of Calamity

For someone who writes tough shit on Age of Calamity, you sure don’t see me writing a better story. So maybe I should stop complaining and be satisfied with what was given to me. 

...or...

...maybe we can dedicated a few hours of my time to spite an ask. 

Even though the entire argument of “why are you mad if you can’t write a story yourself” is inherently flawed and pointless considering that’s the equivalent of telling me I should chug spoiled milk because I’ve never milked a cow, I’ll fucking step up to the plate here, I’ll put my money where my mouth is. 

So here is Part 1 of your residential Kip approved rewrite of Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity. Or as I like to call it: 

Ok so before I get into it, a couple things I wanna establish. First, I know I just said I’m doing this out of spite, but I’m actually also doing this for fun. I really enjoy and am passionate about the writing process, so if you were looking for an angry rant about how terrible everyone’s opinions are about everything, this isn’t that. I don’t think that I am a better writer than anyone, or than the professionals that made this game, or that I am somehow superior to Nintendo. I am someone with the benefit of hindsight, I don’t have the constraints of producers and mandated directives and executives rubbing their hands in the story to make it more marketable or dumbed down or any of the other chaos that goes into crafting a videogame. So while obviously I think the people involved in this could have done a much better job, this isn’t a bash to say, “look how easy it is to make a story” because there’s a ton of unseen drama that goes into development that I have the luxury of avoiding, and it’s a miracle that any games are coherent and enjoyable in the first place. I’m just a lil Kip doing a fun lil exercise. 

This little series is also not going to be a fanfic. I’m going to be telling the story chronologically as if you were playing for yourself, but it’s going to be from my omniscient perspective because 1) I need to relate the story to the gameplay 2) That would take way too much time to actually make this into a fanfiction as it already takes a hell of a lot of time to even plan out the beats of this rewrite and 3) This is less going to be a telling of a story, and more of a fun little exploration on the Three Act Structure and The Hero’s Journey. In fact, I am going to try and keep the given story of Age of Calamity as intact as possible. 

The general ending is going to be the same, the characters used are going to remain roughly unchanged, (there will be no new characters, or removal of characters) and characters that live or die and where they end up are going to be mostly the same with how the original game is written. I know, I know, we all would love to see the Champions die brutally or to get us that sweet sweet Link angst or to have a game with multiple endings. And even though I personally would change some of those premises in Age of Calamity, I’m going to strive to keep it all as intact as possible, just to prove wrong the misconception that the story was only bad because of the writer’s choices for the general arc. I am a firm believer that biggest weaknesses of this game are in its methods of conveying its story, a problem in the storytelling process, and not (necessarily/only) the story product itself. 

If you want to use any of the ideas that I present, go for it! I release them into the public domain, I have no plans whatsoever to write a fanfic for this myself, in fact I already have my own separate Pre-Botw fic story that I am pouring myself into, so I give the people full permission to take these ideas off of me. 

Alrighty! With all that out of the way, let’s get into:

HERE IS THE VERSION IN A GOOGLE DOC FORM BECAUSE TUMBLR HATES YOU MOBILE PEEPS

Spoilers! Obviously. I’m going to act on the assumption that you know the full story of Age of Calamity to save myself some time, capiche?

Ok so we start out the game roughly the same, with eggbot being chased and forced to time travel into a portal. But, there is going to be some important differences in details. 

We have the part of the scene where Zelda awakens her powers, and at the same time, something else in Hyrule Castle glows with the same aura. However, this glow is not coming from the Princess’ Tower, but instead, the camera pulls back from the fields of Fort Hateno, sweeps over Hyrule (where you can see the Guardians and the sense of destruction and all that) and the camera eventually flies over Castle Town, then within the Castle, weaving through the halls, until the camera stop and focuses on the entrance of a destroyed room, slowly creeping in. It’s a room that’s been demolished, stone rubble from Guardian blasts ruin the floor and cave in from the ceiling, there’s a small fire in the corners of the room, and from the props that you can make out, it seems to look like some study or office of some sort. The room is small, but domed and circular, signifying that it’s of a bit more importance than you might think . The desks and books and all buried beneath this collapsed stone brick. But as the camera focuses on that pile of rocks, from within that rubble, you see that same glowing aura that Zelda has, glowing brighter and brighter until finally out pops, eggbot.

Now, you can have that same sequence within the game where he runs around all cute, the outter wall of the room is broken so eggbot can look outside and see the Calamity’s destruction. Then that cut to Zelda saying “I want to save...everyone,” and this is important because I need the fade in between Zelda’s line and the fade back to eggbot to wordlessly imply that he is hearing these words, something that’s already done pretty well in the original cutscene. Anyhow, then the Guardian Stalker pops from behind, prepares to shoot, and eggbot can escape into its little time portal, and then the malice follows or whatever.  

However, I’m not gonna immediately cut to the title, but instead, we have the music build to eggbot’s little jump in a pretty climactic way. But then the music still lingers slightly, and rests in suspense, camera is still looking out the window where eggbot jumped. It pulls back, turning back into this room that eggbot emerged from. Music is still relatively silent. Then, from the corner, you see some of the fire suddenly catch onto something. Flattened between the rocky rubble, just a few feet where eggbot emerged, is a purple cloak, trimmed with gold, flapping just slightly in the wind. [Said flapping being what causes it to catch] The fire catches, burning through the cloak, and underneath it, is a fallen copy of the Sheikah tapestry of 10k years ago. Camera zooms into that art of the Calamity, music suspends, merge to title card, then the music hits that climax and BOOM, “Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity.” Main Theme plays. Let the opening title roll.

Now the reason I changed this slightly is because 1) I wanted to earlier set up some of the plot points that I have planned for this (some of which you might already guess or maybe not who knows *wink wink*) and 2) I think that the original opening could have been much stronger with its hook. Yes, the element of mystery is established with eggbot’s existence and that element of time travel, but then the opening immediately goes into saying “This is the tale of champions, a diminutive Guardian who traveled backwards through time, and the Great Calamity they faced.” So...you just dampened that hook you established two seconds ago because you explained it all. Sure, it doesn’t completely ruin it, but I think the impact would be much stronger if that text wasn’t there at all, and the music and hype of the tapestry moving and coming alive is all there was. I’d much rather that element of time travel just be explained through the cinematography itself, because you can already understand that perfectly with that scene where you see the portal lead into birds flying around a beautiful Hyrule Castle.

Also, the music in this game is fantastic! So letting moments that really let you soak it in, I think would be very beneficial. So now this scene serves as a much more effective hook before we get into the actual plot. The mystery of eggbot’s identity is heightened and left a bit more unexplained, you have this mysterious circular room that you’ve never seen before, and the set up of details that will eventually serve later revelations in the plot, cough cough. 

Then you hit Chapter 1, Link gameplay, eggbot and the tower, that’s all the same. I got no changes for the story there, it’s a great introduction. However! I know my strength here is writing and I am by no means a game developer or designer, but I need, I absolutely need to add one aspect to the gameplay.

Near the end of the first stage, where there are those three moblins at the end, I want to add something that I’m going to call, a gambit. The game already introduced you to the special meter and “press a to use special attack” thing, but I want Impa and Link to use a gambit to defeat this last horde of moblins. Essentially, you press A to use your special attack, BUT, if another character is in proximity, the attack is even more powerful. Every pair of characters has a special little attack, that does tons of damage, and during said sequence, there are voiced lines, or at the very very least text boxes that comment on it. And with this gambit, while a regular solo special attack still does a lot of damage, I’m gonna nerf it slightly to encourage players to use this gambit feature. 

Now, why did I add this? Because I need to better connect this gameplay to the story on more than an external “lets defeat this and go from point A to point B” type of way. I need something in the gameplay to better serve to the game’s main theme of “teamwork makes the dreamwork” and all that. The CURRENT gameplay, although absolutely fun and fantastic, just doesn’t do this. I need just one element to serve this theme while ALSO having the dual purpose of serving as character interaction. The current structure of Age of Calamity works where the sidequests and battle serve as your character interaction, development, and banter, while the cutscenes serve the main story beats, and important plot revelations. The cutscenes just aren’t crafted to support the weight of these dozens of characters while also giving them all interesting interactions, and that’s fine! So I’m just adding this feature to the gameplay, because being able to customize different lines for different characters for different stages that are voiced will go a long way into making the character development seem more fleshed out. And this gambit feature doesn’t necessarily change the way you play the game drastically, as you can still have four character slots and have them split up to take on the battlefield, but now you can split them off into groups of 2. And also, because I’m not completely blind to game design, the damage percentage boost of these gambit attacks will not increase as much, just slightly lower, than the damage boost of a solo attack when you level up. So what I mean is, when your character is weaker level, you are forced to rely on others in order to defeat your enemies, but, with the way the leveling up percents work, your characters can still reach a point where they can defeat big bosses all on their own without gambits. THAT way, when certain events happen in later chapters, when your character is all leveled up, (and maybe they awaken a sacred power or two) it feels all the more powerful when you can go off on your own. You can feel how your character has grown in strength because you can contrast it with your teamwork gameplay of earlier levels. AND it still highlights the importance of that theme of companionship, because you would never have gotten to this level of strength had you not relied on your friends. 

OK, so the stage 1 ends with a gambit attack, Impa compliments Link’s fighting style or something that shows her admiration or respect for him. And then stage 2 for the Road to the Royal Lab is the same, but gambit dialogue for that stage is Impa complimenting Link, Impa being protective of Zelda, and since this is Zelda’s first playable area, Zelda’s gambit lines can be about kinda brushing Link aside like “I want to capable to hold my own in battle but thank you” to Link (cause I never really got that same “I don’t really like you” vibe that is established in botw for this game) and then to Impa Zelda’s gambit lines can be like “is this thrill what you always feel when battling?” and Impa is like “yeah isn’t it great we should do it more often!” and then you can allude to that with a sidequest for Zelda’s training or something. I just want to better connect sidequest stories with this stuff. And also, gambits are obviously optional so that’s why this is all just banter and character development and not actually plot points, and I’m going to stick with just one-on-one dialogue, although it should be theoretically possible to have gambit boosts of three and four, but I feel that would be too much as I don’t want to ruin the gameplay balance and encourage you to keep all four character slots close together, because splitting them up is an important part of the game. Anyhow!

So Chapter 1 is done, my changes being almost purely in the gameplay because this is the start of the story and the character set up is important. Chapter 1 to Chapter 2 is basically the establishment of the ordinary world, and in the Three Act Structure it’s basically Act 1. Act 1 is all about set up. I need to really focus this chapter on both introducing the player to the mechanics of the game, having them connect to the characters and the characters connect to each other through the gameplay, and I need to establish this tone so that when I rip it away, and change the tone during the threshold, it feels more meaningful and suspenseful. 

As you can see from the diagrams, Act 1 has something called the Inciting Incident. The Inciting Incident is going to be the Yiga attack in Chapter 2, where our heroes first experience the true dangers of their journey, and there is no turning back. BUT I’m getting ahead of myself.

Chapter 2 is also exactly the same. I would literally change nothing about the Champion’s sections (other than my addition of gambit interaction of course) because they’re all pretty great. For the record, yes, evil egg is still a thing, and yes, Zelda and the gang can still discover those pictures of the Calamity in eggbot, yes you beat up Revali, and the Divine Beast sequences are the same. I just really need that gambit dialogue to help establish character relations. Revali quips at Link, Mipha protects him, Daruk is his buddy [I thought a cool gambit attack for Link and Daruk to better show that they are old friends could be them both chewing down on some rocks, before striking an enemy simultaneously. Because they never eat rocks together and I just want this ok] Kohga is the same, Sooga is the same, BUT, for that scene when you first meet Astor in the Yiga base, I need two things to happen. 1) The camera reveal for Astor starts at his cloak, which is intact and NOT tattered like how his design is in game. It’s a deep purple with gold trim, the camera pans up to the back of Astor’s head. Now 2) When the camera moves to look at Astors face, I need him to be standing in front of and staring solemnly at the evil eggbot. He’s frowning, and his eyes suggest something like he’s deep in thought of something in the distant past. That’s how the scene starts, and in the background is Kohga recounting the events of his failure to beat Urbosa and the gang. Then, Kohga can say something funny to annoy him, Astor’s face changes to your classic villain disgust. Then, he can get a bit pissed and go on his little rant about how pathetic the Yiga are and how the Calamity is trapped within the evil eggbot and how he will use his powers to end the Kingdom of Hyrule. Then he can take his little astrolabe and be all “My harbinger, show me the future!” and all that. IMPORTANT LINE CHANGE,  Astor’s motivation here is not “The future, as it will and must be. I will not allow anyone to alter its course.” Instead, I need to tweak it slightly to be, “The future, as it was fated to always be. The pathetic stories and legends of children and false kings cannot waver this course. I will not allow it, for my sake…” camera pans to the broken evil guardian, Astor’s voice lowers just slightly. “...and yours.” The slightest, almost silent bits of the harmonies (not the melody) of the Hwaoc Main Theme play before fully fading back to Astor’s theme. And the final shot of that scene is Astor, looking down at the heap of Sheikah tech, with a neutral expression, but then looking back up at the malice stars, and the future visions of the Calamity. He just ever so slightly smiles. 

[Also I JUST realized that the harbinger is actually slightly above Astor, because it’s supposed to show that the power dynamic is really Calamity Ganon is in control, so ignore the “looking down” parts I talked about, and just think in the broad direction of Astor looks at the guardian, and then looks further up at the ceiling with the Calamity and the future and then he smiles]

For that scene, I also need to remove any characterization where Astor is laughing and being joyous at the impending destruction, I only need that smile at the end. There is no villainous cartoon laughter, at least, not yet. Also the part where Sooga calls Astor a fool for thinking he can control the Calamity is GREAT I need that, that absolutely needs to stay in.

And then Chapter 2 closes off with that Yiga ambush. That’s the inciting incident, so I need the tone at the end to be slightly different. Instead of ending on that cute little thing where eggbot points angrily at Link, (like that part can still EXIST in there BUT) I need it to end on a more serious note. 

Referring back to the Hero’s Journey, the Call to Adventure is the parts of each of the Champion’s recruitment. They each have their initial reasons for joining the fight, whether to protect their people, to feel validated for their skill, to get closer to the ones they love etc etc that’s all established in their respective stages.

This Yiga stage, however, serves as the official barrier between Act 1 and Act 2, the threshold between the known world and the unknown world, where the heroes prepare to seek out the obstacle that stands in the way of their goal. It’s important that this threshold establishes a sense of urgency, because that better gets you invested in the stakes, and helps the story's momentum to move forward. IT shows that the journey and adventure that these characters want/need to take is outside the safety of their home/known world.

In the original game, the threshold ends with that cute scene of eggbot and Zelda and Link and the Zelink vibes. That’s not bad, but it’s also not good. The momentum towards the later confrontation in Korok forest needs to feel more important, because this is a major turning point in the story. SO, I am going to add one more scene at the end. It’s just after the ambush, after the fires have died down, and Zelda (and in the back the Champions) discussing the events with the King. I want King Rhoam to a few things. First, I need him to kinda berate the Champions for falling for the Yiga’s “splitting them up trick” and leaving his daughter vulnerable. This 1) establishes doubt within the party, which makes for better uncertainty for the future and later internal conflict. This was supposed to be the dream team but the King is already kinda telling them off. 2) This also still characterizes the King as someone who cares for his daughter’s safety. That care for his daughters safety is layered in the subtext of him saying something like “Your priority must be to protect the only person capable of sealing the Calamity. You were so concerned with victory and glory in battle that you forgot that the fate of this kingdom lies on my daughter’s survival.” and blah blah blah. The King can also congratulate Link for keeping Zelda safe, and this is GREAT because that can add further to Zelda’s slight resentment for him, as he’s getting the approval from the King that she has yet to receive. But like overall the King is like “don’t leave my daughter alone cause she almost got killed if it weren’t for Link wtf.” and then that can also be a further excuse to hurry to korok forest to find the wielder of the sword so that they can better protect “not just the Princess, but the entire world,” something something fancy kingly dialogue. 

Also when the Champions leave THIS can also be the time where Zelda gives that Sheikah device thingy to Rhoam and also where he sees eggbot. I know that happens a bit later, but for pacing purposes and for the sake of the story changes that I made, it better serves to place it here. That interaction itself can stay mostly the same as it is in the game.

So now, the threshold ends with a bit more tension. The Champion squad is powerful, but also has flaws in how they were split up by the Yiga, (cough cough I wonder if that serves the themes of the game in some way cough cough) and it’s not just “smooth sailing” into the search for the Master Sword, and the stakes are a bit rocky as we finally enter into the story’s Act 2.

= = = = = 

And that’s Part 1 of my rewrite. Not really a lot, cause again this is mainly character set up, and establishing stuff, but personally I think it’s already a bit stronger than how Age of Calamity did it. Stay tuned for Part 2 either tonight or tomorrow, mwahaha. 

Predict the future if you can...

[aiden-png]

to celebrate the end of 2020, I’ve decided to share the highlights of the writing I did this year! I’m going to share a few of my favorite snippets from 2020, and I think this could be a fun tag meme to invite friends to join in on so they can appreciate their progress and hard work too! I couldn’t have written so much if it wasn’t for the great online community supporting me and all my wonderfully talented friends!!

I’m gonna tag @freshie-writes @silverdragon-imagines-blog @st0rmy-writes @fuckit-hero-of-trains @no-themes-just-memes @timeturner-jay and anyone else who wants to join in, feel free! you don’t have to do this if you don’t want to, but you all wrote amazing things this year and I’m gonna appreciate you for them!!

snippets below the cut (please do this or make a new post if you wanna join, just so we don’t flood everyone’s dashboard lol!)

it’s difficult to count for certain, but across 7 google docs from April to December 2020, I wrote 324,782 words just of Legend of Zelda fanfic! it’s been a crazy fun year and I think my writing has improved a ton since I started writing fic again in April! thank you all for supporting me through the last 9 months!! <3

here’s a highlight of some of my favorite excerpts from fics I wrote this year! Smoke on the Wind and Dream With Me are two of my favorite pieces I wrote this year for angst, while Four Feet of Pure Flirtation and Lessons in Love are my favorites for crack/fluff :D the other snippets are featured bc I’m proud of how the fics turned out !

Dream With Me: June 28, 2020 Legend and Hyrule sat on the beach, a mere two feet separating them. It felt like much more. Farther than they’d ever been apart before. The other heroes stumbled onto the sand, frozen in shock as they took in the scene before them. Legend, knife drawn and hands shaking dangerously. Hyrule, knees buried in the sand and hands held over his chest, trying desperately not to reach out again. The sun was rising, pinks disappearing into vibrant gold and crushed purple and bright blue. As dawn broke, their vision wavered. Hyrule gasped, Legend blurring before him, the sand beneath him fading, the roar of the waves diminishing. Magic hour was ending. “This isn’t a dream,” Hyrule whispered, and Legend’s shoulders shook with silent sobs. “I’m real. I’m here. Legend, come with me.” Hyrule stretched out his arm, fingers splayed, eyes begging. Legend flinched back, dagger slipping from shaking fingers. He stared, disbelieving. Vertigo consumed Hyrule’s senses, his vision clouding with black dots. “Take my hand, Legend!” Hyrule cried, and Legend jumped. He sprung forward, hand grasping. Hyrule felt nothing as Legend’s hand passed through his. “Hyrule!” He blinked, and found himself in an unfamiliar field, reaching towards sunrise.

Smoke on the Wind: August 7, 2020 Wind hadn’t always had this ability, but before his second adventure, before the ghosts became tangible to his skin and visible to his eyes, he still had a sixth sense of sorts to rely on. Back then he’d called it instinct, but now he called it a curse. It never helped him do better on his adventure, never showed him the way, never allowed him to prevent someone’s demise--only forced him to bear witness to it in all its excruciatingly gory detail. Some spoke of death like a mercy, others like a boon. Wind knew death like an old friend and he despised it with all the rage contained in his tiny body. Some feared death, some prayed for its delay. Wind feared no man, god, or figment of imagination. There was no reason to fear something he couldn’t prevent, there was no reason to pray to something that would never hear or listen. Some ran from death, some hid. Wind stared death in the eye and spat in its face. He thrust a magical fucking sword through its head and banished it to a watery grave.

Four Feet of Pure Flirtation: June 26, 2020 Maybe he should have shared just a tad bit more with them, but that was a regret for future Four to deal with. And really, he hadn’t been expecting it himself, so they couldn’t exactly blame him when Dark Link materialized in their camp one morning and sent Four’s heart racing in an unfamiliar-familiar way. Four felt the heat crawl up his chest, felt his tongue loosen, felt his eyes trail over Dark’s lithe form just a bit too slow to be innocent. No one had told him Dark was attractive. Although, Vio reminded him, we are the only ones attracted to villains. We are most decidedly not! Four shot back. The denial was empty. They most decidedly were.

Hero Through the Ages: June 19, 2020 Wild sighed, chin resting on his knees. He glanced over at Sky, feeling anxiety buzz within him as a question pushed at the back of his mind. “Hey, Sky… does the sword still recognize me?” Sky froze at the unexpected question, eyes searching Wild’s carefully schooled expression. Wild felt his anxiety rise but he held his ground as the older hero tentatively reached back and unsheathed the Master Sword. He closed his eyes for a moment, and Wild tried hard not to notice the new eyes on them as he waited for Sky’s response. He knew what the answer should be, but when the other slowly opened his eyes and held the sword out for Wild, it was still conflicting to feel the familiar weight of it in his hands. Not too heavy. Not burning. Perfectly at home, as if he’d just begun his adventure and still had many years left before the Calamity struck. Wild felt a pit in his stomach as he handed the sword back, Sky’s concerned gaze not helping. “How old were you when you pulled the sword?” Sky asked quietly, and Wild stared at his hands as they trembled slightly in his lap. “Too young.”

A Shower to Remember: July 4, 2020 Enter Twilight and Wild. TWILIGHT     I can see thee up th’re.     Come hither.     I simply wish to speak with thee.

Enter Legend to Shower Crashers. LEGEND     all’s well that ends well, I believe our plan hath been a success. cheers to thee all. FOUR     didst thou not see     Wild running     for his life not     a minute past? LEGEND     that is’t his problem, not mine.

Lessons in Love: July 9, 2020 The offer though, that’s what truly made Legend pause. Show you the ropes, he’d said. He should be insulted that Ravio thought he was that hopeless, but the man wasn’t wrong. Legend was absolutely, positively hopeless, evidenced by the situation he now found himself in. Should he say no and move on? Should he accept--and then what? Maybe he should laugh it off, say he was joking, or perhaps he should come clean now and tell Ravio how he felt? But he still didn’t know if Ravio felt the same, those dark eyes betraying nothing in the fading light of sunset. So, naturally, Legend continued to panic. “What do you mean by ‘show me the ropes’?” Legend asked, quick, defensive enough to pass as insulted. Ravio snorted, tasting the hot chocolate, and Legend’s eyes were drawn to his lips once more as if under a spell. “I mean no offense, Link,” Ravio laughed, seeming not to catch the blush on Legend’s face as Ravio used his name. “I just figured you might want some pointers. Flirting, hand holding, relationship advice, y’know? You don’t have to accept the offer by any means!” Flirting? Hand holding? Legend gulped. He was already an idiot. Maybe he could play dumb for a little while longer…

Scars: June 2, 2020 “I used to try and cover myself in public--I didn’t like the way people would whisper or stare when they saw. But eventually I came to accept the scars as part of me. I remembered how I got them, and I realized I wouldn’t be the person I am today without the journey that led to me getting these scars. And I like who I am…” Wild trailed off, sifting sand through his fingers as Warriors listened. “I’ve come to love my scars, because they hold such important memories for me. Even if some of the memories aren’t so great, I wouldn’t be who I am today without them, you know? And I wouldn’t trade that for anything.”

Beneath the Surface: July 13, 2020 For the first few months he had lied to himself, blaming the others or the weather or Shadow or Vaati or anything rather than admitting he had a problem. But Blue did, in fact, have a problem, and fighting and yelling it out wasn’t the healthiest solution. For the others it was easy. Green had Vio, for Wind could rarely move Earth, and Red got along with everyone he was so full of love to give. But Blue wasn’t good at teamwork, he wasn’t good at strategizing, and he wasn’t good at showing affection--he was good at being angry, and that was it. He was the protector, the toughest of them all in strength and will; but when you’re always protecting others, no one protects you. Not like Blue made it easy for the others to approach him, and he didn’t blame them for giving up. They were all struggling, they all had their own issues, and while Wind was a gentle breeze and Fire a warming comfort and Earth a steady rock--Water was impossible to hold down. He was forever changing, flowing, and while it meant that he could adapt well to new situations, it also meant that every time he felt close to getting a handle on his emotions they would slip from his grasp once more. His magic ebbed and swayed and his emotions followed their tide, not his, and so he pushed others away rather than admit he couldn’t handle himself. If protecting them meant distancing himself, then so be it.

The Point of No Return: June 19, 2020 He turned back to Four, brushing the back of his hand across his cheek. He’d wanted to share a meal with his partner. He’d wanted to see Four’s small smile--just for him--as he tried Hylian food for the first, second, hundredth time. Long ago, they’d promised to travel the world together. Four wanted to share everything with him; wanted to show him the forge, wanted him to meet his Grandfather, wanted to take him to see the Minish. After the adventure, Four had promised. He’d be free to go and do whatever he wanted, right by Four’s side. Well, he was at his side now. And this was not what they’d promised each other.

A Major Test of Strength: May 7, 2020 Even being worthy of the Triforce of Courage didn’t mean he was brave enough to act on, or even think, about how he felt about Sidon. He reasoned it was better not to say anything, especially now. He was going off to a battle he may not return from. Even if he burned to know if Sidon felt the same, it would be selfish to ask knowing he may be leaving for the last time. Link would rather go to the grave with his feelings then leave Sidon alone with them. At least if he died before confessing, Sidon would be able to move on, he hoped. Sidon was his best friend, and that was enough for now.

[deery-fiction]

Something’s Changed (Pt. 3)

Author’s note: Alright! Part 3 is finally here! I’m really sorry for the delay everyone, certain scenes just really didn’t want to be written lmao. But!!! This one is the longest chapter yet! The other two chapters were about 2 thousand something words each, maybe a bit more, but this one is about a full 6 thousand! That’s 13 pages in my google doc versus the usual 4 or so, so I’m hoping it was worth the wait! A special thanks, yet again, to my good pal @7spaceace7 not only for being a general inspiration for this fic, but also for beta reading this chapter for me!

Chapters: [1], [2], 3 (you’re here)

A few hours had passed and Jackie was finally pulled from his task by the ringing of his alarm. He leaned back and stretched in his chair with a grateful groan as his joints popped and his back cracked. He should probably work on his posture, because he always got so stiff after working on his assignments for a while, but he felt good about the progress he made at least. Now, it was time to grab a snack to go and make his way to the cafe. 

After swiping a banana from the kitchen counter and putting on his coat and shoes, Jackie was out the door. He paused for a moment before turning around with a slight curse, snatching up his phone and phone charger before officially being on his way to the cafe. He could charge the device once he was there, he just needed to remember to bring it in the first place. The comic artist checked his volume as he went on his way, letting out a confused hum. The volume for his alarm was set where it always was, which he would expect since he didn’t remember fiddling with it, but he could have sworn it sounded louder than it should have been. Maybe he was just imagining it, or it just seemed louder against the otherwise silent room? That was probably it, right? It would make sense, usually he’d play music as he worked to help him focus, but he hadn’t this time so the room was quieter then it usually was. That was all it was. 

Jackie kept a brisk pace as he took the familiar path to the cafe, wanting to make good time but also not particularly worried about being late. He always made sure to factor in how long it would take him to walk there and potential foot traffic when he set his alarms, so he wouldn’t need to rush. Which he was glad for, because as he neared Top of the Mornin’ cafe, he noticed a fairly large group of people forming a loose half circle at the corner. Jackie allowed himself a few seconds to be confused, before a shifting in the crowd allowed him a peak at what they were all looking at. 

All at once, he realized exactly what had gathered the crowd at the corner. It was a street magician that would occasionally take the corner from across the shop, amazing the crowds with admittedly impressive acts of ‘magic’. Jackie wasn’t sure what, exactly, the man did when he wasn’t performing on the street corner, but he wouldn’t be surprised if the man worked in special effects. Some of the things he did, the comic artist wasn’t entirely sure how he pulled off. Then again, Jackie wasn’t exactly a magician himself, so a lot of the act was something he didn’t understand. Besides, it would ruin the magic of the moment if he figured out the cat mask wearing magician was doing it. 

He wasn’t there everyday. Sometimes, entire weeks would pass before the magician appeared again, but it was always memorable when he did. However, considering the man would start his street side shows who knows how long before Jackie’s shifts at the cafe, the comic artist had yet to be able to catch the beginning of the show. As such, the brunet still wasn’t certain what the other man’s name was, but he did know the other was fairly attractive, even with the cat mask that obscured the upper half of his face. The magician certainly dressed to impress at least; every time Jackie managed to catch his shows, the magician was always dressed like he was attending a grand formal event as opposed to performing on the streets.

The crowd was thick enough that Jackie couldn’t quite make out more than the man’s masked face, he certainly couldn’t see what trick was enchanting the crowd this time. Even still, the brunet allowed himself to linger for a few moments at the edge of the gathering of people, smiling to himself at the awe that the others were exhibiting. Still, he only had so much time to spare, and so Jackie backed away from the spectacle and made to cross the street. What the comic artist-turned-barista failed to notice was the magician turning to watch his retreating back through the crowd, a curious expression on the magician’s face that was obscured by the mask. 

As Jackie approached the store front, he could make out the figures of Angus at the counter and Silver cleaning tables through the glass. With a wide grin spreading across his face, Jackie paused on the other side and gave a jauntily teasing wave to the two. Angus rolled his eyes with a smile, returning the wave as Silver stuck his tongue out. It must be a fairly slow day if Silver is out front to help clean the tables, the more stockily built man usually in the back baking the pastries they sell in the display case. They were both pretty cool dudes in Jackie’s opinion, which was good since they typically shared the same shifts. He would even meet up with Silver outside the cafe to work out together, or even just hang out at one of their apartments. The two of them clicked very well together, and it was always a fun time. Angus was nice to be around, but in a different way. The Aussie was cool, calm, and collected where Jackie and Silver were loud and boisterous. It was honestly a breath of fresh air to hang out and appreciate a quiet moment with the other man. It grounded their antics and he kept them from forgetting that they were at work. Overall, he really enjoyed working with these two.

The brunette pulled a few funny faces, laughing as Silver returned them. Eventually though, he needed to actually enter the store, so he straightened up and finally pushed the door open. Jackie stepped in quickly, wincing as the bells attached to the door chimed obnoxiously as he entered. He cringed away as the door shut with another ringing clang, turning back to Angus and Silver with a grimace. 

“Have the bells always been that obnoxiously loud, or did we get new bells for the door? Because I swear they’re louder than they were yesterday.” Jackie complained, heading towards the counter so he could sign in for his shift. He raised an eyebrow at the confused yet amused looks the other two were sending him, as if he was the weird one.

“Well Jackie, they’re the same bells as always, so they aren’t any louder or softer then they always are.” Angus mused back at his coworker, flicking Jackie on the ear as he walked past. “Maybe get your ears checked?”

“Nah, Ang, I think our pal here just has a hangover or some sort of headache. I know loud noises are never agreeable to a hurtin head.” Silver hypothesized, giving the table next to him another cursory wipe to make sure it was all good to go. He meandered over to join them at the counter as Jackie signed in.

“Oh hardy har har, I’m pretty certain that my ears are fine. Plus, I can assure you that it is not a hangover, you both know I don’t drink during a work week.” Jackie defended, before a mischievous light appeared in his eyes, slowly raising his head to look at the both of them with a bright grin. “OR maybe you two are getting old, huh? Is your hearing going, oldies? Just a pair of old men, can’t even hear the bells!”

“Why am I the dweeb? You like superheroes too!” Jackie whined without any real heat, eventually managing to carefully slip out of Silver’s hold without causing a mess that all of them would have to clean up. Though Angus stepping in and motioning for Silver to cut it out might have helped, since Silver really had a crazy grip when he wanted to.

“Because I’m cooler than you, obviously” Silver puffs out, the mischievous grin on his face softening the arrogance of his words to something more silly then serious. “I mean, have you looked at me? I just ooze cool!”

“Uh huh, you keep telling yourself that Silver, you’re lucky you found Roxanne, man” Jackie poked back, feeling the old ache at the thought of Silver dating the blonde woman. He shoved it to the side, keeping a smile on his face. He had already moved on from that, and Roxanne is a lovely lady. There was no need to dwell on it now. 

“Oh, You’re gonna get it now, Nerd boy!” Silver teased, hopping over the counter to pull Jackie into a noogie. Jackie half heartedly tried to escape the hold as Silver messed up his hair, not wanting to struggle too hard and knock anything over by accident. Silver doesn’t let up on the noogie, teasing Jackie back. “Could an old man do this, ya dweeb?” 

“Yeah, you’re right, I’m damn lucky Rox chose to stick with me” Silver said with a dopey look in his eyes. The man was absolutely infatuated with that girl, and Jackie was just glad that his friend seemed to be so happy. Though, the stockier man got really sappy and gooey about it sometimes. It was cute, but it could get a bit much, especially since it didn’t seem like Roxanne spoke about Silver as often as Silver spoke about her.

“Careful now Silver, your sap is showing.” Jackie returned, lightly kicking the other man before grabbing the apron with his name on it from the hook and slipping the loop around his neck, neatly tying it in the back. It was just one of the perks of having worked at the small cafe for so long. “I assume it’s a slow day if you have time to be out here, gushing about your Lady Friend Roxanne. Is Seán here? Or is he still busy with that thing from last night?”

“Ah… about that… I was hoping you’d let me head out early again? It’s the last time! I promise! I swear on my mother’s grave that it’ll be the last time I ask to leave early!” Silver admitted sheepishly, giving what he probably thought was a charming grin but more so came across as nervous. 

“Aw, leave the bloke alone, Jacksie, He’s in love!” Angus broke in, still looking amused. Jackie just waved it off with a grin. He knew that, it was just fun poking at Silver about it, since the other tended to blush when people pointed it out. Angus continued on with a shake of the head, wiping down the counter from Silver’s jump over it. “As for Seán, he’s still out, so it looks like you're locking up again.”

“Ah, I see. Will the two of you be helping me today, or am I cleaning up solo again?” Jackie asked, half still joking, half genuinely asking. Last time, Angus had to rush back home because the man’s dog sitter had called in a panic about the dog getting sick, the poor teen having they not known what to do. So it wasn’t a surprise that the animal loving aussie had rushed off to check on his pooch. Silver had asked to leave early so he could prepare dinner for his girlfriend since it was apparently date night. “Also, why am I the one entrusted with the keys to lock up with, again?”

“Really? Again? But you just got yesterday off early. What’s up, is everything alright?” Jackie questioned with concern, Angus shooting Silver a similarly worried look as the stockier ravenet rubbed at the back of his neck. Silver seemed almost embarrassed and wasn’t looking either of them in the eye. That wasn’t good, He really hadn’t meant to embarrass the other. Jackie was just surprised that Silver had just asked for yet another early day, and right after getting off early yesterday too. Silver usually waited until his days off to have date nights, so he could make the most of the entire day, as the other liked to say. So It had already been out of character for Silver to ask yesterday, but to ask two days in a row? Had something happened between him and Roxanne? “You know if you ever need anything, we’re here to help you man. It’s what friends are for”

“Yeah, I know man! It’s nothing big. I mean, in the grand scheme of things, it’s not huge. I just… date night was a bit of a disaster last night is all. I want to make it up to her, and I would rather do that sooner rather than later.” Silver reassured, though it wasn’t all that reassuring. 

“Never!” Silver denied childishly, giggling a little. Angus gave an offended gasp, but before he could retaliate, the door chimed. A customer came walking in, signifying that playtime was over and it was time to get back to work. Silver straightened up from his playful slouch to wave at Jackie and Angus, disappearing into the back to make sure the back was clean. He needed to make sure everything was ready to go, even though they didn’t need anymore baked goods for the front for now. 

“Alright, fine. Yeah, you can go early, but I know that Angus is going to become my favorite at this rate” Jackie relented, but he still eyed Silver. Sometimes something just didn’t seem right, but he also wasn’t going to force Silver to talk if he really doesn’t want to talk about it. “You’re totally staying tomorrow, no ifs ands or buts. No more ditching me to hang out with your pretty girly friend.”

“You lie! I’ll always be your favorite! Uh, no offense Angus.” Silver asserted. On cue, Angus started making mock offended noises, resting a hand on his heart and going on about how Silver had no faith in the Aussie's awesomeness. The stocky pastry baker stuck out his tongue like the mature adult he is in retaliation.

“Because Seán is afraid that I’ll try to sneak an animal in overnight because my place barely lets me keep my dog as is, and he knows Silver would be in too much of a rush to get back to Roxanne to remember to lock up properly.” Angus offered with a cheeky grin, because he was exactly right. The Aussie had a habit of picking up injured animals and nursing them back to health, and it would be exactly within his character to bring an injured animal into the cafe overnight because his landlord won’t allow anymore animals. They also all knew that Silver was a bit scatterbrained when he was in a rush and had forgotten to lock up in the past for that exact reason, which is why he got out of lock up duties. Which left Jackie as the only person on this shift that could be trusted to lock up and not get the cafe investigated for health violations. There were two other people on shift tonight, one helping Silver in the back and one out front to clean the tables, but both were newbies and thus not usually trusted with something as important as locking the cafe up when everyone left. “Also, I should be able to stay and clean up, as long as Daisy doesn’t freak out the sitter again.”

“Uh huh, you keep telling yourself that Sil, now apologize to Angus for hurting his feelings.” Jackie teased, laughing at the antics of the other two, leaning against the counter. Angus looks expectantly at Silver, waggling his eyebrows as he waits as if to say ‘you wanna apologize, you know you wanna’.

There were many factors that contributed to Jackie’s migraine, but it had been okay first. It had been predictably rather slow given it was still just before the lunch rush. Maybe a bit busier due to the crowd outside watching the magician the brunette had spotted earlier, but it was nothing unbearable. That was, until the lunch rush actually hit, and then suddenly people were filtering in for a quick cup of good coffee and a delicious snack from the display. Not that Jackie could blame them, he’d prefer the cafe’s coffee over the horrible office quality stuff these people had probably been drinking until now, but the frequent ringing of the bells on the door had been grating on his nerves for awhile now. Between those bells, the constant low level of talking, and the sounds of the machines working behind him, Jackie could feel his head throb in time to his heartbeat.

That turned out to be too optimistic. 

The door chimed yet again and Jackie turned to face the customer with a strained smile, but a smile nonetheless. He was almost proud at how he had prevented himself from cringing at the way the sound of the bells made his already aching head pound harder, but he had little time to mentally rejoice. Why? Because the moment he turned to face the young woman, and it was a pretty young woman, he got a lungful of some awfully strong perfume. Jackie felt his eyes start to water at the intense artificial scent of flowers, doing his damnedest not to visibly choke on the chemical scent-taste that almost felt like it was coating his throat. Holy fucking shit, how much perfume was this lady wearing? Still, Jackie had a job to do and he really hoped that the way his eyes had teared up wasn’t noticeable.

Luckily, the dirty blonde didn’t seem to have noticed his little freak out over her overuse of perfume. If anything, she seemed more preoccupied with looking up and down what she could see of him from the other side of the counter than he was with choking on her perfume. Jackie straightened up, doing his best to keep his smile up, both to not let on how awful he was feeling and to not show how he wasn’t really in the mood to be checked out by some lady at work. While he was on the topic though, she wasn’t bad looking, too strong perfume aside. She was on the shorter side, in a pair of black jeans paired with a nice white blouse and shiny black pumps. The dirty blond was… modest in her assets and slim in the way that spoke more of a naturally fast metabolism than in spoke of a regular workout routine. Her make-up was subtle, professional, and in neutral tones, just enough to soften the edges of her face and accentuate certain features like her eyes and lips. Overall, she was a very pretty woman, but ultimately she didn’t seem like his type. Jackie was sure she was perfectly nice, and he did value personality above all, it just didn’t change the fact that he was more attracted to men and athletically fit women. He just hoped she would make her order and leave when she got it because he didn’t know how long he could last against the assault on his nose. 

Unfortunately, she seemed a lot more interested in him then she was in getting her coffee and going. Looks like he was going to be the one taking her order, as she didn’t seem like she was going to go Angus’ line. So, with his plastered on smile, he waited for her approach. He didn’t have to wait long as the business woman made her way to his line.

“Welcome to Top of the Mornin’ cafe, how may I help you today, ma’am?” Jackie intoned politely when she reached the front of the line, subtly leaning back away from the overpowering scent of her perfume.

Jackie moved to his side of the counter, sending the customer a politely warm smile as he came up. The brunette was simply grateful that the bell, though still a piercing sound, no longer made his ears ring now that there was a little distance between him and it. He could already tell though, that he would be leaving with a headache if he stayed this sensitive to the sound. For now, he’ll just grin and bear it, maybe there won’t be too many people coming in today and it won’t be too much of an issue?

“Coming right up, ma’am, what name would you like me to put on the cup?” Jackie asked, only a little amused at the slightly cheesy pick up lines. 

“Cassidy, and what’s your name, handsome?” She answered, giving him a coy smile. Jackie could feel his head pounding harshly and he had to resist the urge to rub at his temples. It wouldn’t be good to snap at a customer just because he had a migraine. Just because he knew Seán well enough to know he wouldn’t be fired over one bad encounter with a customer, didn’t mean it gave him a free pass to be rude. The brunet subtly took in a few calming breaths, ignoring the way the perfume burned his nose.

“The name’s Jackie, Miss Cassidy. Would that coffee be for here or to go? And is there  anything else you would like?” Jackie stated, pointedly not gritting his teeth against the throbbing behind his eyes as he gave a noticeable glance down to where his name was visibly embroidered on his apron.

“Oh, I’ll just take a large dark roast coffee with a bit of creamer, but I certainly wouldn’t mind a bit of sugar from you~” She purred as she leaned against the counter and bat her lashes up at him. “Though, with you around, I won’t need to add any extra sugar.”

Jackie set about making her coffee with deft, practiced motions. Luckily, her order was a simple one and after pouring a freshly brewed cup of dark roast and adding the desired amount of creamer, he set it and the blueberry muffin from the display on the counter. He accepted the money she handed him for her order and set about getting her change so that she could leave. The brunet set it on the counter for her to take, but Cassidy seemed to ignore it for a moment, taking the coffee in hand.

“Mmm, To go, unfortunately. I would love to stay here and just chat with you, Jackie.” She pouted, leaning against the counter as Jackie put the order into the register to give her the total for her coffee. “As for if there is anything else I would like? Hmmm, maybe a blueberry muffin? And I’d love to have your number, too~”

“Alright, I’ll have your coffee in just a second, Miss Cassidy.” The barista replied, pointedly not bothering to entertain that last comment with a response as he added the muffin to her total. He didn’t want to make a spectacle in the cafe by outright turning her down, or it might just encourage her to try harder. He didn’t think his poor head could handle being her perfume any longer then he needed too, so he wanted to avoid anything that might make her stay longer. So what if that’s a bad business decision, his head was aching. Sue him. 

“This coffee isn’t that hot… mind holding this for a little bit?” She winked, but Jackie just gave her a strained smile. He squeezed the edge of the metal countertop subtly but tightly to reign in his headache induced irritability before finally responding to her after a beat of silence.

“I assure you that it is a freshly brewed cup of joe, as promised. If it got any hotter it would probably be unsafe go serve, Miss Cassidy.” Jackie sidestepped her attempt at flirting with him, hoping she’d catch a hint. Luckily, she seemed to finally give in, taking her change from where he had left it on the counter and leaving, wishing him a good day with coffee and muffin in hand. Though, through the cafe windows, he could see her checking the cup for a phone number that he didn’t leave on the cup. He didn’t know why she did that, considering she had been at the counter the entire time and had watched him make her coffee. It’s not like he could have sneakily written it on her cup without her noticing, even if he had wanted to.

Jackie took a deep breath, releasing his grip on the counter as he slowly exhaled, gradually letting the tension bleed from his frame. He raised a hand to scrub at his face, continuing to take deep breaths. The brunette could still smell her potent perfume in the air, but at least she was gone. It could have gone worse, she could have been much ruder about it, but he just hadn’t been in the mood. Jackie glanced down at the counter, wanting to take a few more seconds to try and soothe his headache when he saw it. Right there, where his hand had been grasping the metal just moments before, was a dent in the same shape as the heel of his palm. That couldn’t be right… But sure enough, it was there and not even running his fingers along it to feel the indent could disprove its existence. Jackie swallowed, glancing around to see if anyone had noticed before dragging a napkin dispenser over the dent. Hopefully no one moved it and discovered the accidental damage… It wasn’t massive, but it was still noticeable and Seán still didn’t let him or Silver live down the fact that they had broken the old, nicer counter top, resulting in the metal replacement in the first place. Jackie didn’t want to give the other man more ammo.

However, that wasn’t Jackie’s primary concern right now. Jackie knew he was strong. He had been maintaining a good workout routine for years now. A life as the kid who got into fights to protect others, plus years in self defence and boxing, mixed with a regular workout routine meant Jackie was no noodle armed weakling. However, he’d never been strong enough to dent a good quality, metal countertop before. It was disturbing, there was no possible way he had gained that much strength overnight, right? Sure he had been irritated and his head hurt, but he didn’t think he had enough adrenaline to dent metal like that. Hell, he didn’t even think he had been squeezing that hard! Between this and the way the bite wound from last night had just healed up like it had never been there, Jackie was seriously starting to freak out.

“Oh, no I’m fine!” Jackie quickly protested, before wincing. Angus wasn’t going to believe that, if he really was that visibly unwell and freaked out, so Jackie was quick to amend his statement. Which was lucky, because he could see the other winding up to refute the obvious lie. “Well, my head does still hurt, so I would really appreciate whatever you got, but it’s not that bad, I promise! That lady’s perfume was just super strong is all, my headache wasn’t exactly eased by it.”

“You okay, Jackie? You’re looking a little pale and out of it… Is your headache getting worse? I should have some Tylenol or Aspirin in my bag if you really need it.” Angus offered, brows furrowed as he looked for any other signs of Jackie being potentially unwell. He didn’t like seeing his friend’s hurt, and though it had gotten him labeled as the mom friend, he wanted to help however he could. 

“Really? I was standing right next to you and I didn’t really notice it? I mean, I guess it was pretty strong if I could smell it from over the counter, but it wasn’t that bad…” Angus  queried, backing up to check his bag in the back for the over the counter pain relief. It was only a brief absence, and Angus was soon back to hand over two tablets of low dose Tylenol and a bottle of water to the pained barista. Just in time to see Jackie’s disbelieving look.

“Not that bad? Is there something up with your nose, Angus? I swear, I was practically choking on roses when she was here.” Jackie exclaimed, accepting the pills and the bottle of the water with a gracious nod to the Aussie. “Thanks, man. But seriously, her perfume was so strong I could taste it. If the people around you can taste your perfume, then it’s way too strong.”

Unfortunately, he didn’t get to freak out for long before he felt a hand fall onto his shoulder. Jackie startled, jerking his head up to meet the concerned greenish blue gaze of Agnus. His vision swam for just a second, headache harshly disagreeing with the sudden, jerky motion, but it cleared shortly after and he could see the other’s worry clearly. Oh god, did Angus see the dent? He didn’t know how to explain that, since there was no way he could say he dropped something there. Everyone would have heard the crash if he did.

“I still think you’re exaggerating, dude. Are you sure you don’t just have a sensitive nose because of the headache? I know headaches can make people sensitive to light, so it wouldn’t surprise if they also made you sensitive to strong smells.” Angus offered, brow raised as Jackie mulled it over.

Fortunately for Jackie, the hours passed and the rest of his shift went by with little further incident. There weren’t any more overly perfumed business women trying to flirt with him, and the volume remained fairly low and calm. Best of all, none of his coworkers questioned the new location of the napkin dispenser, and thus no one discovered the new hand sized dent on his end of the counter. Unfortunately, the Tylenol didn’t last as long as it normally did and halfway through what was left of Jackie’s shift, his migraine came back with a vengeance. Still, he powered through, he still had to work whether he had a headache or not. Besides, he’d suffered from broken bones growing up, and this wasn’t quite as bad as what he remembered a broken bone to be like. 

“I guess… yeah, maybe. I’ve noticed that the coffee and the coffee grounds all smell stronger to me too, but I thought it was because I was using the stronger stuff…” Jackie conceded, wrinkling up his nose. Though, he privately notes, a migraine induced smell sensitivity doesn’t explain why he can suddenly dent metal with a slightly irritated squeeze of the hand.

“See? There you go! Ya got your answer. Now you just need to push through til the end of your shift, then you can take a nice hot shower and a good long rest when you get home.” Angus announced cheerfully, patting Jackie lightly on the back before returning to his end of the counter to help another customer. 

“Are you sure, Jackie? I know you’re not feeling well and I’d hate to leave you alone to clean up again.” Angus double checked, frowning at the other. The Aussie still had a bit of time before his sitter had to leave and he had to go home, so he had no issue staying longer. Especially since Jackie had already stayed after alone the other night, it didn’t seem fair to leave him alone with the shop twice in a row.

“Yeah, I’m sure, Angs! It’s all mostly cleaned up anyways, I just want to do another glance over to make sure everything’s in its place. Maybe take a second to enjoy the quiet, see if it helps my headache calm down.” Jackie waved off, giving the other a smile. It was slightly pinched, but it was a genuine smile nonetheless. “Really, it’s nothing that requires the both of us. I’ll probably be out right behind you, even! So go home, say hi to Daisy for me!” 

“Alright, if you’re sure, Jacks. Goodnight! Make good use of that day off tomorrow” Angus reluctantly relented as he collected his stuff. However, he did pause at the door to sternly add another friendly warning. “You better use that day off to sleep in and get some actual rest, Jackie! I bet that headache of yours is so bad because you’ve been overworking and stressing yourself out, trying to do both your comics and the cafe. I bet you’d feel better if you actually gave yourself a break for once.” 

Soon enough, though it felt like an eternity after his migraine flared back up, it was time to clean up and close up. Unsurprisingly, as promised at the beginning of the shift, Silver was rushing out the door after swiftly cleaning up his work space in the back. The stocky man bid them a harried farewell before he was dashing away, the clanging of the doorbell making Jackie cringe at the loud noise. He debated double checking the back to make sure it was cleaned up properly, considering the rush Silver had been in. Ultimately, Jackie decided against it, Denise could handle it. At the very least, Angus was still there. Between the two of them, it was fairly quick work of cleaning the counter, floor, and tables. They had just finished stacking the chairs when Jackie finally motioned for Angus to go ahead and go, Denise (the lady who worked in the back with Silver) having already left just a few minutes prior.

“Yeah yeah, have a goodnight Angus!” Jackie playfully dismissed with more energy then he felt that he had. He sent the Aussie barista off with a grin before slumping against the counter with a groan once the other was out of sight. God, he felt like Shite. He was back on the barista side of the counter, having just finished checking through the cash register. So he reached over to the wall switch to flip off the light and shuffled back so he could lean forward and rest his elbows on the counter, laying his head between his hands. Jackie just let the quiet linger, letting himself soak in the silence without anything to further aggravate him. He hadn’t been lying about wanting to see if that would help. The brunet had some fairly noisy neighbors that he shared a wall with back at the apartment, so if he wanted any genuine quiet, he’d have to find what he could of it here. Admittedly, Jackie could feel something inside of himself stir and settle peacefully now that he was alone in the light of the moon, though his headache still throbbed dulling in his skull.

“Look, Sir, I’m sorry but Top of the Mornin’ Cafe is closed for the night. If you would like anything that we have to offer, you’re going to have to wait til the morning as everything has already been packed up” Jackie mumbled with a groan, not even bothering to look up at the would be customer turned intruder. Was that a dumb thing to do? Exceedingly so, but Jackie wasn’t in the mood, and he was pretty sure he could handle a fight if he had to. His self defense teacher from when he was a kid would kick his ass if they ever found out he just blatantly didn’t look at an active intruder, but Jackie couldn’t find the energy to care at the moment. Whoever it is doesn’t say anything, their soft footfalls and even breathing as they walk over the only clue they were still there. That, and the fact the bell hadn’t rung with their exit. 

Jackie just rests there for several, long moments before the silence is shattered by the bell attached to the door ringing. As peaceful as the quiet was, it only made the piercing toll of the bell even louder, and Jackie couldn’t help the soft whine of distress that left him. The lights were off, who the hell enters a cafe this late when the lights are off?

“Aww, does the puppy have a headache? Poor puppy~ Maybe I can make that pesky headache go away for you, puppy!” A soft, masculine voice cooed. Well, that was condescending as shit, even though it was said rather sweetly. Who the hell just calls people puppies? The same assholes that enter a cafe after hours when the lights are out, apparently.

Before him, the magician he had seen earlier in the day stands. The other man was a fair bit shorter than him, though it wasn’t hard to be shorter then Jackie, who was fairly tall. Even still, the other seemed to be on the shorter side of average. That didn’t detract from the air of power that seemed to surround the cat mask wearing individual. He was certainly dressed to perform too, now that he could get a clearer look at the other’s outfit. Though, as he had noted earlier on in the day, it looked more like he was ready to perform on a stage, then on a street corner for the entertainment of the passing masses. 

Now that there wasn’t a crowd blocking Jackie’s view, he could see the magician was wearing a long sleeved button up white shirt, with a royal blue vest over top. Coupled with that, the other was wearing what looked like a pair of double button split hem pants, since from what Jackie could tell there were three silver buttons going down either side of the man’s hips. To top off the ensemble, a deep midnight blue cape was draped over his shoulders, the inner side of the cape sparkling in the moonlight like stars. Of course, there was also the man’s signature porcelain white mask with green and blue accents, grassy green eyes practically glowing through the mask’s sockets. His hair was vivid green, bright and vibrant, and so fluffy and soft looking that Jackie caught himself wanting to run his fingers through it. No, Jackie mentally scolded himself, it was a bad time to be thinking like that, considering the man was trespassing and literally just running his hands all over Jackie’s head without warning a few moments ago.

The magician leaned against the counter flirtatiously with an amused tilt to his lips as Jackie mentally processed everything, seeming to be waiting for Jackie to catch up. The barista steadfastly ignored how the other’s mildly flirtatious actions were much more welcome to him than Cassidy’s earlier attempts.

The Brunet momentarily startled as the footsteps paused just in front of him and suddenly a hand was running through Jackie’s hair. Unthinkingly, Jackie let his head tilt back to follow the soothing touch as if on instinct. He felt the fingers of both of the other man's (he assumes it’s a man, they sounded masculine when they spoke earlier) hands follow the sides of his head and curve gently behind his ears until the other’s palms rested on his temples. There’s something about the other that’s keeping him from panicking, some hidden instinct telling him that it’s okay to trust the other. There’s a soft warmth at his temples and a faint glow that he can make out through his closed eyelids and then his headache is easing away. Jackie finally opened his eyes as the man drew away and he blinked back to his senses, quickly stepping back away from the counter as he realized that he had just let all of that happen without protest. 

“Hello Handsome, it’s a pleasure to meet you~ My name is Marvin, and I think there’s something we need to discuss.”

[tomionekinkmeme]

Let’s get to the point here.

I know I said I’d be announcing the news from the Tomione Big Bang poll on the first, but I’ve checked the results as of late and to be honest, I’m satisfied. 

There will be a 2019 Tomione Big Bang!

If interested, curious, whatever, just read below for a preview of the event!

1. FIRST OFF: What is a Big Bang? Some of you are probably wondering that. If you aren’t you can skip on down to the next section. 

A Big Bang is a specific type of challenge usually involving long fics and accompanying artwork. This type of challenge is a reprise of the old zine tradition of collaboration between artists and writers for internet fandoms.

- https://fanlore.org/wiki/Big_Bang

*Please note: Every Big Bang has a different minimum wordcount goal in their rules. Some 50k, some 30k etc. For this one, it will be 25k.

*Another note: Every Big Bang also has a specific time period it spans over. Anywhere from just a few months up to 6. Depends on the time of year as well as the min. wordcount goal chosen. For this one, it will be 4 months.

2. Over the length of March, I will be putting the final touches (because I already created them because I’m excited and I can’t wait) on the Google Forms I’ll be using for the Big Bang. I’ll be making sure they’re ready by April 1st, which will be the day sign-ups will open and I’ll post the full detail post for the event! (Yay!)

This also includes a favor I’d like to ask you guys! Would someone like to make a banner for the event? I’d love to have one for the official Big Bang post on the first.

3. Everything will be commencing on Archive of Our Own! You can find the link to the challenge/collection for the TKMBigBang2k19 here: https://archiveofourown.org/collections/tkmbigbang2k19 The challenge/collection is already created, but just like working on the Google Forms, I will be adding more and more to the page each day up until April 1st. I’d be happy to post updates on when I add things like faq’s since I know that might become an important factor for people still not 100% sure on participating. 

4. Now, things to expect just so you can prepare yourselves: 

First, we’re all gonna start off with sign-ups. This will be for everyone: artists, writers, and betas. It will be a Google Form that’s extensive as far as info but nothing completely personal. Everyone is expected to include at least one prompt to submit for the event in the form at the end. 

Then, soon after and even during, there will be a separate Google Doc everyone will be free to view. This will include a list of beta’s and artist’s with their info for people to choose from as well as a list of prompts to choose from. How the prompt choosing will go, I’ll include on the intro post on the first.

Throughout the months leading up to the due date of your pieces of writing, there will be what's called “check-ins”. They will be special Google Forms for ones to fill out once a month for me to personally check in to see how you’re doing as well as making sure you’re still participating.

With that said, any suggestions, questions -- whatever, you can contact me through Tumblr, email, or Discord. Thanks everyone! See you on the first with the official post!

<3 TKM Admin

[annerbhp]

What’s your writing process like?

A hot mess.

No, seriously. It’s a complete mess, but it’s my mess, tailored to me perfectly, and I think that’s the big battle with writing–coming up with a system that works for you, and being able to deal with it and modify when it stops working for you.

Here are my current eleven painful steps to writing a fic:

1. Conception - I daydream a lot. Like, while I’m falling asleep at night, while I’m doing the dishes, taking a shower, commuting to work, running an errand, sitting through boring meetings, I’m constantly running scenes and imagining snippets in my head. This is usually when a new story idea hits me. So I daydream about it for a long time. I start collecting emotions and visualizing moments. A lot of ideas die at this point, getting lost in the chaos of life or just not capturing my attention long term. The ones that do though, eventually crystallize enough that I feel compelled to start actually writing it down.

2. The Mad Scramble - At this point, I open a document and word vomit. It’s a scramble, to try to purge all those various imaginings and scenes and snippets of dialog and feelings and just get them down as fast as possible before they fade or I forget them. Totally out of order, totally unconnected, just vomit, vomit, vomit. Interspersed with brainstorming, since most of my stories are AU, I’ll just write long narratives of where are we, what has changed, why, and often the ideas change and evolve as I am writing them down. That doesn’t make sense, what about this instead? What would happen if that happened? In this phase I try very hard not to edit myself. I always know I can come back later and massage and edit. Again, a lot of stories die in this phase. Or fizzle out and get chucked back in the writing file as another idea starts taking over my daydreaming.

3. Rough Skeleton - After a lot of word vomiting, I usually pull back a bit to try to wrest some sort of logical order. Usually this just means shifting things around so there is a Point A: where the story starts, a Point B: what is the big dramatic beat where conflict erupts?, and a Point C: where are we when it ends? Often these specific three scenes are the first to get written, even if never in their final form. This starts to crystallize the overall journey of the fic. What is the plot change? What is the emotional change? What is the character change? And since I write mostly ship fic: how has the relationship evolved by the end? This is usually the point I can start imagining titles, which lets me know that I kind of know what the point of the fic is.

4. Useless Puttering - Now I descend back into my favorite past time: daydreaming. I imagine scenes, once again totally out of order, but that fill in between Point A and Point B, and Point B and Point C. Other important beats get established. I just dream up dialog and scenes and imagine emotions, and things just happen. Some of them get down on paper again. Not necessarily in their final place, but I get the most important dramatic beats in between the main points. The story is now full of unhelpful notes like: Have Hermione show up here and say something that makes Harry think about blah blah. Or, don’t forget that Ron is still mad at Ginny here. Was blah blah ever explained? And my least favorite placeholder: kissage. Stuff I will go back later and deal with but don’t want to now. I pretty much let myself write whatever the hell I want at this phase (the ‘good’ bits), knowing I can come back to things later. Momentum is too important here.

5. Rereading - Now comes the phase I get stuck in endlessly. At this point, I start obsessively rereading what I’ve already written. On a good day, that means I will start editing and filling out and toning some things down (my first word vomit versions are usually over-the-top DRAMATIC), pulling threads through the fic as I go along, making sure the emotional beats are going in a believable and satisfying way. Chapters start to form if there are going to be chapters. But more often than not I just re-read and re-read with very little changes. This is another big stall out point for me.

6. Walk Away - With almost every story at this point I feel the need to walk away from the story. I get bored with it after re-reading it so many times. I get frustrated. I run out of ideas and I generally stop caring about it. I have to admit, quite a few stories die at this point. And sometimes for good reason. (This is also where I start whining to people who are kind enough to listen, as I am sure @bethanyactually and @weatheredskies and @runawaymarbles can attest.) This is a really good point to put it away and just ignore it. My daydreams go somewhere else (and inevitably this is where my next story is born). When I was writing The Changeling and hit this point, this is where the majority of the Armistice Series was born. When I was stalled out on pick it up, this is where my coffeehouse AU was born. It’s good palette cleanser. Sometimes this lasts a few days, a week, a month. For The Changeling that one time, it lasted A YEAR. (Though there were other Real Life considerations influencing that as well.) I fill out a lot of memes at this point. Get caught up with asks and comments. I read other people’s fic.

7. Hello, Old Friend - If I’ve been away long enough, coming back to the story for a fresh re-read is like coming home to an old friend. Hey, this isn’t as bad as I thought! I really like this bit here. And this new wave of energy comes up. I start daydreaming again, I re-read and modify as I go, and the story starts to fill in more and more. I start getting antsy to share it with people. I might give small snippets to my long-suffering friends who listened to all my complaining.

8. Pen and Ink - At some point the second honeymoon ends, and I start getting frustrated with the document, feel overwhelmed trying to wrap my brain around things. Depending on the size of the story, this might be post-it notes and outlining time, where I use color coded paper and/or pens to make sure there is balance between narrative POVs and plots and themes and whatever threads are being dragged through the fic. I will also hit a point when I can’t edit on the computer anymore and I print out a chapter. I will take that chapter with me to a coffee shop, pull out obnoxiously garish pens, and write all over it. This is how I know I am very nearly there. I will scribble that print out to death. I take a break again here, and then come back and input the edits on my computer. Sometimes the process has to be repeated, but more often than not, the chapter is now in rough draft format.

9. Betas Are a Writer’s Best Friend - At this point I upload the chapter/story to a google doc to share with a beta. For Armistice, I am spoiled enough to have four (!!) people looking at chapters for me right now. One is a literal Squee Beta. She reads it and squees at me and helps me believe that it is not complete garbage. Another is a beta who is very willing to completely disagree with all my life choices, which I find hugely helpful because I have to justify my choices and admit when I’m being lazy–this often leads to disgruntled rewrites that make the story better. My two original betas are great at not just grammar (which boy do I need) and catching mistakes here and there, but discussing character beats and plot points, and asking me questions, and being endlessly willing to just talk about the story with me. (How are there people this awesome that exist?)

10. Final Edits - Sometimes the final edits are painless, but often there is some melodramatic whinging on my part at this point and some rewrites, as I battle the need to just be done with it and getting it done right. Though I am also known for sitting on a final draft far too long. Like, maybe not making a single change for a week, but still not just POSTING it. Again replying to asks and getting caught up on comment replies is my best stall tactic. (hmmmm…)

11. Posting - I usually do this when I am completely sick of the chapter/story. That lets me know I am done. I am no longer daydreaming about that part of the story. I don’t want to talk about it anymore. It becomes this immutable canon-like thing in my head that can’t be changed anymore. So, I post it. And then spend the next day a total and complete wreck as I wait for validation of some sort. If I’m lucky, I get some, ride a high for a few days, and then back to Step 5 for the next chapter, because, boy, if they liked that, I can’t wait to share this next bit with them.

The End

[hydrospanners]

Justw ondering what your writing process is like?

It’s me, ya girl, coming at you with an answer twenty years after you asked the question!!! Sorry for the delay; I’m actually really excited to answer this! And I’m excited to be excited to answer this!!!

I am a Perfectionist, Anon. It is not a good quality. For most of my life, I was so petrified by the possibility of someone seeing something I hadn’t polished within an inch of it’s life that I wouldn’t even acknowledge I had a process. I wouldn’t mention I was writing something until it was completely done out of fear that they might want to talk to me about it when I hadn’t finalized everything and I might not represent my very best possible creative work. Also I never really thought of myself as being enough of a writer to have a process. That seemed too good for the likes of me!

But here we are now, in the Year of Our Thor 2019, and I am psyched to tell you every detail of my process and show you a side by side of my first draft and final product!!! That is so much progress for me, Anon, and I didn’t even realize I’d made until you sent me this so thank you!!!

(This is going to be long--please hold your gasps of surprise--so I’m putting the rest under a cut. Seriously I just finished writing this post and it’s an absolute BEAST.)

So my process!! I’m actually trying to make some changes to it to be more supportive of my efforts to kick the Perfectionist habits, but right now it basically looks like this:

1. There is an idea. Often times it comes from a question, like “How would Rea deal with what I’m feeling right now?” or “Is this a problem in space?” or something like that. Other times it comes from a snippet of dialogue that occurs to me while I’m listening to a song or watching tv or driving or in the shower or something. Sometimes it’s as minor as a gesture or a mood. Sometimes I’m just trying to exercise a certain muscle as a writer. This fic sprang up out of me wanting to work on describing settings. Wherever it comes from, I have the idea. I open a new Google doc and I slap down as much of the idea as I have developed.The lines of dialogue or the question I want to answer or just a few sentences about what I want to show or what I’m trying to achieve.

2. Time passes. I might work on the fic in feverish fits and starts, obsessing over it for three days and then ignoring it completely for three weeks. I might not look at it at all. The fic sits fragmented in my WIP folder and marinates. Usually this happens for about 1-3 years after the fic’s initial conception. I’m not joking about this. I think my average time for completing a fic is 2 years. The reason for that is the aforementioned Perfectionism.

3. I get tired of looking at in my WIP folder and/or I commit to some kind of special event/holiday thing. Fictober rolls around and I go on a kick of completing and editing the stuff in my WIP folder or I just get annoyed with myself for not completing things or it’s suddenly Arbor Day again and I have that tree-related fic I started two years ago that I could finally finish! This is when I buckle down and Write The Damn Thing. Once it’s written, I do an immediate edit and then I try to sleep on it for at least one night before going back and editing again. After that I usually like to sleep on it at least one more night before hitting publish. Sometimes I don’t have the self-restraint for all of this or I’m doing an event where I’ve committed myself to publishing something every single day, so the timeline gets compressed to a few hours between edits instead of a full day.

As for my writing set up, I’ve really leaned in to writing wherever I am and whenever I can. That’s more or less why I only write fic in Google Docs even though I passionately love Scrivener. (All my original work, which is more involved, is done on Scrivener.) 

I do a lot of writing in the quiet, early hours at work when I don’t have work to do. I do probably my most efficient writing when I hit a diner or coffee shop after work and settle in with my iPad and a snack. I can’t distract myself with doing chores or playing games like I do at home, and working on my iPad makes it annoying to switch tabs and apps and do other stuff while I write. Plus I’m eager to get home and take my pants off so that motivates me to let Perfectionism go and write something bad just to hit my goal so I can leave. At home, I’m usually on the couch with my iPad because I get too distracted at my desk on my PC with two enormous screens making it so easy to do other stuff instead of write while telling myself I’m doing other stuff at the same time as writing.

As you can see!!! I spend most of my “writing time” just trying to make myself at all!!!! It’s really daunting to overcome the fear of writing something bad and big parts of me would rather not write at all than endure the pain of failing at creating what I want to create so thanks Perfectionism!!!

I also have a really, really bad habit of editing while I write. I won’t say I’m the world’s worst editing-while-writing writer but I’m definitely top 100. (Bottom 100?) It’s a huge reason why I have those 1-3 year gaps between start and finish and why my first drafts come out so choppy. My inner editor has me rewriting before I’ve even finished writing and redirecting and it’s so disheartening I can only do it in fits and starts and you can clearly tell the places where I took a two month break before coming back to a fic.

But I’m working on this!!! Like I said, I try to go out and write as much as possible because the desire to be at home without pants on often overpowers my fear of Being Bad and makes it so much easier to give myself permission to write badly. That is the goal. Write Badly. I’m working on it and I’m making progress but I have a long way to go still. For now I have to rely heavily on supports like controlling my environment but one day I will be able to write absolute drivel on demand!! The dream!!!

And now, for your entertainment and to celebrate the fact that I am now somehow able to do this at all, I give you the first draft of the forsythias chapter from fill my lungs with sweetness, including the masterful original title:

??oil?????

Doc slips his hand from the inside of his jacket as he rounds the corner and walks straight into the steel-melting heat of Kira’s glare. Or maybe that’s just the extra sun. Hard to tell on Tatooine.

“Done shopping, Your Highness?” She asks, rolling her eyes at him before she’s even finished asking the question. “Think we can fit saving some lives into your busy schedule?”

Doc just laughs, patting the little bulge in his breast pocket. “People expect a dashing hero when they’re being saved, Junior. I’d hate to disappoint.”

“No one cares how waxy your mustache is when they’re bleeding out,” Kira says. “Ugh. Let’s just go.”

Vii is waiting for them by the speeder, having an improbably good-natured chat with a Gamorrean at least three times her size. They seem to be actually smiling at her, which is something he knows from medical school is technically possible but never expected to see. Kira’s inching her fingers toward her laser sword, always ready to leap headlong to the worst possible conclusion, but Doc waves her off.

He congratulates himself that, despite the withering look she gives him, Kira lets her hand fall. She trusts him at least as far as Vii’s well-being is concerned.

(He isn’t sure how he feels about how everyone seems to know just how deep his interest in her well-being goes.)

“Making friends?” He calls out, keeping his walk casual and slow and his hands clearly visible and clearly far from the blaster at his hip. The Gamorrean’s smile fades at his approach, replaced with the kind of slow-moving suspicion Doc is more used to seeing there.

Vii, however, does not stop smiling. Instead, she turns that smile on him. Brighter and more blinding than both of the suns combined.

“Gorzzak was just telling me about some problem spots in the canyons,” she says, her voice as light and tinkling and utterly sincere as ever. “Nice of them, isn’t it?”

And the thing that he still can’t believe, no matter how many times he sees it, is that it really is nice. Because he’s sure that Gorzzak really did point out all the spots he would normally use to lure unsuspecting travellers into ambushes. He’s sure that Gorzzak, even with only three neurons to rub together, has been absolutely dazzled by the obvious shine of Vii’s heart, just like everyone is.

Doc swallows, his throat starting to feel unbearably thick. Probably from all the sand.

“Very nice,” he agrees. “But I’ve got something even better.”

“How is your mustache wax a gift for—“ Kira stops as she catches sight of his eager grin, her face screwing up in an expression he’s starting to think she saves just for him. “Disgusting,” she mutters, her voice low enough that Vii won’t hear. It isn’t the best-kept secret, but Kira, for all her faults, loves Vii too much to shatter her illusion of secrecy like that. Not even to make a dig at Doc.

Vii watches as he reaches into his breast pocket, her expression openly anticipating the surprise, her glowing eye wide and perfectly prepared to be delighted with him. It’s such a refreshing change of pace, how eager she is to be happy with him. To like him. She never makes him work for it and honestly he doesn’t always know what to do with that.

But right now he does.

He produces the little flask of oil with a flourish and his signature self-satisfied grin. Kira would call it his sleazy smirk, but how can he be expected to think of Junior when he’s got Vii in front of him, beaming like this wretched planet’s third sun.

Doc doesn’t entirely understand everything that happens to him when she radiates like this. When she unleashes the full force of her joy on him and he feels thoroughly cooked from the inside out.

“It’s the good stuff,” he explains. “Imported from Corellia. I’ve only been once, but I remember everything was coated in a fine layer of oil so they probably know a thing or two about making it. Anyway, I know how the joints can lock up with all this sand around. Thought you could use some… lubrication.”

This last point is made for Kira’s benefit, and her revolted snort does not disappoint him.

“The doctor is on call, Gorgeous. Anytime you need oiled up, my hands are ready.”

[menalliha]

This Life

Summary: Y/N moved out and away from the boys due to an unexpected surprise. But almost a year later, a case comes up bringing the boys to her.

Pairing: Dean x Reader (Eventually)

Word Count: 1.7K

Warning: Angst, fluff and also Daddy!Dean towards the end. 

A/N: This is my first Supernatural fic and I have a lot of unfinished ones in my Google docs. This one I was able to finish and actually like. So please enjoy!

A/N #2: I also wanna mention that here this coming week I will try to type when I can, I am having dental work done for like 2 days and probably won’t even be able to type. 

Ever since I moved into my new house with my newborn daughter, strange things have been happening. A supernatural being has been feeding on single mothers. A woman next door to me was killed after she got back from a date night with her new boyfriend. She has the blood drained from her body completely. A vampire for sure. But why was it feeding in young women? My parents feared I would be next and this would attract the attention of two other hunters they didn’t want to see.

I walked next door and looked around the crime scene. I carried my fake badge with me Incase anyone asked who I was. The house reeked of blood and death pretty much. The smell made me so sick to my stomach. The last time I felt that sick I had morning sickness. I hurried back to my house and tried hard to think why this is happening.

I made myself a fresh cup of coffee and watched my daughter sleep soundly in her bassinet we moved to the living room. That way we can all keep a close eye on her. She always looked so peaceful. Her dirty blonde hair and her emerald eyes always took my breath away when she decided to open them.

“Y/N,” My dad said softly. “You realize he needs to know. As much as I love having him as the father of my granddaughter, he needs to know. This case will attract them here especially since it’s next door.”

I set my coffee cup down and sighed. “He made it clear he didn’t want a family or a future that involved children… he slept with me knowing I had higher intentions. I left before they both knew what was going on. So it’s just me and my daughter.” I crossed my arms.

A knock on the door started me and my dad. He reached for his gun and me for my knife I kept hidden with the other kitchen knives. I kept it behind my back while he answered the door.

“Hello uh Ms-“ The deep voice started then stopped. “You’re not a lady. Wait, Mr. Y/L why are you here at the house next door?”

My dad opened the door more for me to see the two brothers I’ve been trying to avoid well… one in particular. Sam knew all about his niece, I called and told him I wanted out of this life but this followed me wherever I went.

Those green eyes met mine and I swear… I felt sick to my stomach. This man knew what I wanted and made me believe I could have it then ripped it away from me.

“No I’m not a woman but this is my daughters house. Her mother is on her way here. I’m here keeping her company and safe since the incident happened next door.” My dad moved out of the way. “But we can sure tell you what we know. Y/N make another pot of coffee did the boys. They’ll be here a while.”

As I made my way to the kitchen, a small cry echoed through the living room. I looked at my dad and rushed to my baby. I picked her up and rocked her a bit. “I’ll get her fed, you make the coffee.” She started to fuss less and calm down.

“Oh you have a kid now? Or is that the one from next door? You haven’t been gone long enough to have a baby.” Dean asked looking at me. I only glared and continued to the kitchen.

I reached for a bottle from the cabinet and tried to make her bottle one handed. It wasn’t working very for me. Why couldn’t I have be able to breastfeed…? Bottle feeding was harder in my opinion.

“Uh here Y/N.” Sam walked over. “Want me to hold her for you? I can tell your struggling.” He smiled softly. “You know kids love me.” I smiled softly and handed Sam his niece. “You never told me her name.”

I poured the powder in the bottle and started to shake it. “Mary,” I said softly. “After your mom. She deserves a name with a purpose.” I smiled and grabbed an old rag and threw it over my shoulder. I took Mary from him and started to feed her.

Dean walked over and looked between Sam and I. “Wanna tell me what’s going on?” He looked at me then the baby in my arms. I swear I heard him take in a sharp breath when he saw her eyes.

I looked at Sam then back to Dean. I caught my dad looking at me from the corner of my eye. “When I left the bunker, I had just found out I was pregnant. I knew this wasn’t what you wanted as a hunter and I wanted more out of life. We both never saw eye to eye that night when we wanted to be more.” I looked down at my daughter and tried so hard to not look into his matching eyes. “Sam knew the whole time. He was worried about me. So I kept in contact with him and kept his updated.

Dean shoved his hands into the pockets of his pants and leaned against the counter. He looked at Sam and clenched his jaw. “There is no running from this life. As you know now. We’re in this for life. I didn’t want to start a family and lose everything I had from a monster.”

“Dean,” I stared at him. “Look Dean, I know your concern. You forget that I am a hunter and can hold my own. You deserve all the happiness in the world. Now that you know, I won’t deny you anything when it comes to your daughter. Look, it’s late in the day, I’ll make dinner and you guys can stay the night. I have a spare room and a pull out couch in the living room. I promise the bassinet won’t stay in here. I’ll go in my room.” I placed Mary on my shoulder and started to burp her.

Sam decided to take the couch while Dean slept in the spare room across from mine. He kept the door closed to the spare room. Maybe he was scared Mary’s crying would bug him. I really didn’t care anymore. This is my house and he can just deal. She just wasn’t much of a crier at night. So i usually got a full night's sleep.

As I laid in bed, I peeked at the spare room door and couldn’t help but wonder what Dean was really thinking. I sighed and laid down, facing the bassinet while Mary slept. She looked so peaceful and didn’t understand the issues at hand. Before I could even think anymore about this case or Dean or Mary, I fell into a deep sleep.

I woke momentarily to a clicking sound, not thinking much about it, assuming it was Dean closing his door after using the bathroom or getting a late night snack. But what really startled me awake was Mary crying. It wasn’t her normal hungry cry. It was her screaming her head off.

I sat up quickly and it took me a moment to adjust my eyesight but it wasn’t either of the boys. It was hunched over Mary’s bassinet and definitely male. I rubbed my eyes and tried to blink the sleep away.

“Shhh, hey there little miss, we woke mommy up.” The voice was all too familiar. He looked at me with the matching green eyes our daughter shared with him. “She was fussy so I walked around with her, uh changed her diaper and sang to her. You were pretty much out cold. Now when I lay her down she keep crying very hard.”

I looked over at Mary who was content at having Dean near her. “In one night, you managed to be a father. I am impressed Dean. Also sorry you had to do all of that. I don’t usually sleep that heavily.” I rubbed my face and felt the bed dip down.

Dean sat down and held Mary in his arms. “My singing really calmed her down. I guess she gets that from you.” He smiled softly. “You know, seeing her react to me this way… I really think I can handle being a father. I will admit, the thought of having a family scared me when you told me that was what you wanted. Then you left and I was scared I’d never see you again. I realized my mistake and I wanted to admit this earlier today. This is earlier that I wanted but you are right, you can handle yourself.”

I scooted closer to Dean. “Mr. Winchester, are you saying you want this life?” I saw Dean smile for the first time in a long time. The wrinkles formed by his eyes as he smiled. I loved seeing him this way. Granted he was still here on a case, I am very glad they came. “I’m ok with it but I don’t think I want to up and leave this house. So further talk will be discussed after the case. I’m ok with you and Sam being here. Or even just you. I know I was the on who up and left and I will say I am sorry.”

Dean looked down at Mary and then at me. “I don’t blame you. I did give you a reason to leave. I made you feel uncomfortable and like I took the future you wanted away. But I sure can get behind this little cutie. I can make this work.” I couldn’t believe the words Dean was saying but I didn’t want to ruin the moment.

I laid my head on his shoulder and must have fallen asleep because I woke up to the sun shining in from the window, Dean alseep next to me while Mary slept on his chest. I sat up and smiled at this sight. A sight I could never get enough of so I grabbed my phone and took a quick picture to remember it. I even sent it to Sam, who, even though he was downstairs, responded with a thumbs up and a ‘finally he came around to that life.’

“He sure did Sam, he sure did.” I leaned over and kissed Dean’s forehead and nestled under the covers again while curling up against Dean’s side, feeling him wrap his arm around me and pulling me close. I saw the smile form on his sleeping face.

This was definitely the life I have always wanted.

Any feedback is lovely! :) I am trying hard to dish out good content! 

[vannahfanfics]

Hey, it's me again!! First of all, thank you SO MUCH for youe advice. It's very true that starting is the hardest!! I was even stalling reading the advice cuz i felt like i had to start immediately after, and like when i lay in bed, my mind comes up with these scenario's and i have conversations going between the main characters, but idk how to actually write it down. I was thinking maybe i need to write some key points down on paper or maybe i should just start right away. -> see part 2

OMG! I'm super happy you responded! Don't worry about it being long LOL, I like to talk too! So, lemme address all the points you brought up here :)

I use a lot of ways to record my ideas! I have a document in Google Docs that I use to keep all my snippets and random ideas! Even if it's 2 a.m. and I think up a reaaaaally good idea, I'll grab my phone and jot it down to return to when I wanna make sense of it. I don't always expand on these ideas right away! I'll let them simmer to see if I think up more. Or, when I have available time, I'll get super inspired and flesh it out in its own doc! It just depends on where my mind is at the moment.

In that vein, a recording system is your best friend! For all my long fics, I make full plotlines before I start the story. I HAVE to know my endgame or it's hard to weave in foreshadowing or just have a direction in general. Outlines and plotlines can be your best friend! And I don't always stick to that outline- later along down the line I'll think of something new. But, because I have that armature, I can more easily weave it in. That's my system for long works, and it may or may not work for you!

Oneshots are easier for me. I can take a pairing or a prompt, open a blank document, and craft a story. But you may even need a plotline for your oneshots! I know people who outline their oneshots before they right them. You just have to try and see.

As far as whether you should go one way or the other, I think both are viable ways to start! I actually started with long fics and used that to practice plotlining and character development. In long fics, you have more time to learn how to do that; it is very hard, like you said, to condense a full story into a oneshot. Drabbles are good practice to learn how to do singular scenes, and oneshots are good practice to learn how to do full chapter-structure. Both are also good for honing in on character studies. They really all teach you different ways to craft stories and really go hand-in-hand rather than exist for separate purposes. Regardless, you need to do what's most comfortable for you and not overwhelming! If a long work seems too daunting and ambitious, try drabbles and oneshots first! Learning how to construct scenes and chapter-like scenarios will help you later on with long fics. Or, start a long fic if you feel ambitious, and learn those skills alongside things like plot and character development. You really can't go wrong either way!

Your compliments are very sweet, but I only got to where I am through good old-fashioned practice! 😊 Character work in particular has always come easier than plot, so that's maybe way the characters shine through more in my works. I consider a lot of psychology in my character work- as an author, you have to get in their head and see through their eyes and understand how they'll react to situations, not how you will. It's a hard skill to learn, but can really make a story and a character! There will be things that you excel at that will give your stories that special spark! All the rest you have to home through practice and hard work. Because I am worse at plots, I take more care in plotlining and thinking about how to get from point A to B and C, and more importantly, why you're going through those events. Events serve to either further the plot or reveal something about the character (hence why a lot of my oneshots are love stories or character studies!) You just have to find your strengths and your weaknesses, and use them well. The payoff is well worth it!

I write pretty much all the time- at work or at home, from the time I get up to sometimes the time I go to bed. It's my favorite hobby. Sometimes, when burnout starts to creep in I lighten my workload and watch movies or play some videogames or read. But, most often than not, I'm writing! I'm the kind of person that needs background noise to focus. So, I'll either turn on the TV to watch true crime dramas (sometimes I'll get distracted hehe) or put on some music! I have varied taste but usually, I put on things I can't jam too hard to (because then I'll wanna sing and get distracted LOL) like movie or videogame scores! I'm more often in the mood to write than not, so I don't have to take special care to get in the mood, so to speak. If I'm finding myself struggling to write a piece, I usually switch to another one, because that'll keep me from agonizing over one 3000-word oneshot for a week.

Thank you so much for all your questions and compliments! I'm really excited that you're taking an interest in writing, and I am always willing to help in any way I can :) Honestly though, everyone operates differently and you just have to take the time to find your system. My system is still evolving to this day. Any art form is a fluid process with lots of periods of growth and stagnation. It doesn't happen overnight, but there are people who love to watch you grow and evolve in your work! Good luck dear! I wish you all the best and come talk to me anytime! :)

[sawamura-daichis-thighs]

get to know the author

I was tagged by @yaoyoroses :D thank you En!

Tag | @l1nkp1t​, @astersandstuffs​, @eccentrick-stardust​, @amajikies​, & @hajiiwa​ (if any of you would like to!)

1. How did you come up with your username and what does it mean? i wanted a Haikyuu!! themed username since i fell deep so here we are :3 in terms of my ao3 username, Miah_Kat, it’s a mashup of my nickname & a name for an old OC; i use some variation of it as a default whenever i make a new account somewhere bc i’m bad at thinking up usernames on the spot. ^^”

2. Which fanfic of yours has the most feedback? (bookmarks/subscriptions/hits/kudos). what if i told you...? is at the top with 734 hits & 133 kudos (!!!!! holy crow) on tumblr, Cafuné is the most popular with 46 notes :”D

3. What is your AO3 profile icon, and why did you choose it? it’s of megane Oikawa! ^^ i chose it because he’s one of my favorite characters & he looks damn good in glasses

4. Do you have any regular/favourite commenters? @l1nkp1t, @wallynorthbynorthwest, @ninja-spacenerd, & @littleop always leave me wonderful comments/tags that never fail to brighten my day!! ❤❤❤❤

5. Is there a fanfic that you keep going back to read again and again? hmmm i can’t think of one off the top of my head but y’all should def check out my bookmarks & fic rec tag for some awesome works!!

6. How many stories are you subscribed to? How many do you have bookmarked? i’m subscribed to 46 users, 20 series, & 127 works. I’ve bookmarked 257.

7. Which AU do you find yourself writing the most? i don’t stray far from canon-compliant stuff but i find myself writing a lot of getting together, first kisses, or domestic fluff kind of stuff. If I’m going to go full-AU though I lean towards fantasy.

8. How many people are subscribed and bookmarked to you in total? (you can view this on the stats page) i have 8 user subscribers, 17 unspecified subscriptions, & 111 bookmarks total ^^

9. Is there something you’d like to write about but are afraid of people judging you for it? (Feeling brave? If so, share it!) mmm well i think every writer has some general fears of being judged, regardless of what’s written. for me, maybe smut since i just don’t write it often (& i’ve only ever posted one fic that has it)

10. Is there anything you would like to be better at? Writing certain scenes or genres, replying to comments, updating better, etc. writing in general?? lol idk i’d like to be more...dedicated, i guess? i can’t seem to finish anything without it taking months. i also have a hard time with details, so i’d like to find a good middle-ground with that. oh, and world-building when writing fantasy (it’s just so much work aslkdjfk)

11. Do you write rarepairs or popular ships more often? i write popular ships more often but i’m absolutely open to writing rarepairs! i know it can be disheartening to really love a ship but not be able to find much content for it, so i don’t mind getting rarepair requests. i like making people happy if i can :)

12. How many stories have you posted on AO3 to this day (finished and unfinished)? 33 on ao3

13. How many stories do you have saved in/with your writing program? 18 WIPs in Google Docs & probably...10+ in my laptop files?

14. Do you write down story ideas, or just keep them in your head? oh, definitely write them down! i can keep them in my head for a little while but there’s a 95% chance of not remembering them after something distracts me lol

15. Have you ever co-authored a story? kind of? back in high-school my best friend & i used to write stories together. it was all for fun though, nothing that ever made it to a site. i think it would be fun to do a collab with someone though! :D

16. How did you discover AO3? i think a post from tumblr linked me to it & i’d seen a lot of people talking about it, so i gave it a shot.

17. Do you consider yourself to be a popular or famous author in your fandom(s) on AO3? HAH no way lmao  😂😂😂

18. Do you have a nickname or fandom name for your readers? not really. i just think everyone who reads my stuff are wonderful, lovely people ^^

19. Was there an author who inspired or encouraged you to write? i’ve read basically my whole life and fanfiction led me to writing. there wasn’t a specific story or author though; just the realization that i could also put my own twist on characters/fandoms i enjoyed. i also have an amazing best friend who supported my passion when it first began, so she’s definitely a huge part of why i continued to write.

20. What writing advice would you give to a beginning author? read. a lot. write, even when you don’t want to or think it sucks. as with any kind of art, experience and practice is the only way you’ll get better. be open to constructive-criticism but don’t let the “rules” overwhelm or suffocate your passion. most importantly: write what you like! what you want to read! have fun with it!

21. Do you plot out your stories, or do you just figure it out as you go? oh jeez, it’s a mixture of both? i usually start with a scene in my head that makes me go “i wanna write that” but then i have to find a way to get to the scene? so i either wing it, if the idea was clear enough, or i scribble down an outline to get my base ideas down but leave wiggle room for inspiration during the writing process.

22. Have you ever gotten a bad comment on a story? If so, what did you do? i’m sure i have, back when i first started; i likely commented back that if it wasn’t their preference, there was no need to read the fic or leave a rude comment behind.

23. Is there a certain type of scene that you have a hard time writing? (action, smut, etc..)  a c t i o n, definitely. i also get kind of stuck on kisses? idk how much detail to put into them lol

24. What story(s) are you working on now? even tho i’m slow af about it i’m currently working on 2 actively:

a makoharu gift exchange fic!

a klance fic with which i’m taking my first steps into writing for VLD (i’m jumping on the bandwagon where they’re somehow physically stuck together (via alien handcuffs in mine) for a time & grow closer as a result)

i’m always sorta-kinda working on my various iwaoi fics; the nipple-piercing fic is near completion & i’ve recently remembered my single dads au that i hope to work more on soon ^^

25. Do you plan your next project(s) before you finish your current ongoing story(s)? pffftt all the time. the ideas are definitely more forthcoming than the Muse & motivation like to be.

26. Do you have a daily writing goal set for yourself? nope. i tried that for a while but it didn’t stick.

27. Do you think you’ve improved as a writer since you first started? absolutely! although i sometimes have mixed feelings about it, concentrating in creative writing definitely helped me improve in many ways.

28. What is your favorite story that you’ve written? i don’t...really...have one? ^^” i guess i am particularly fond of with a hoarse voice, under the blankets just because i feel i managed to get the atmosphere & imagery i wanted

29. What is your least favorite story that you’ve written? anything from when i first began lol

30. Where do you see yourself (as a writer) in 5 years? hopefully still improving & enjoying what i write (as well as finishing what i start aslkdjfk). i’m not aiming for publication or anything; i just want to write for fun.

31. What is the easiest thing about writing? getting the ideas!

32. What is the hardest thing about writing? to quote En: “e v e r y t h i n g”

33. Why do you write? it’s fun! i enjoy making the ideas i have in my head come to fruition on paper. i like experimenting with styles and imagery & characters. i enjoy the happy dance my heart does when i know i’ve described a scene or a character just right. i’ve made a lot of amazing friends through writing & i love knowing something i’ve created might bring a smile to someone. ❤

[akaanonymouth]

Things I’m Working On...

List all the things you’re currently working on in as much or little detail as you’d like, then tag some friends to see what they’re working on. This can be writing, art, vids, gifsets, whatever…

I’ve not been tagged, but I was making a list of things I’m writing because I’m driving myself insane opening 43 docs and forgetting what idea/ story/ whatever goes where and then spending more time reading and cutting things than actually writing so…. what better place to make a note! (It may be a loooong note! I mean, like, I’m talking through my ideas here because nothing’s actually finished, so feel free to wither jump in and provide input, or just keep scrolling now!) Berena

Berena and the Fletchlings: As you may know, one little “Berena dancing in the kitchen” idea escalated into a 7,000odd word fluff fest involving the Fletchlings, then Berena took them all swimming, and now my brain seems to insist on inserting some Fletchling interaction at almost every opportunity, so I named it a series, and since I named it a series, I haven’t managed to finish a single idea, haha!  But, here’s what I got in the pipeline: (Actually I will put this under a cut to save people’s dashes, because I have a lot of ideas to work through and I’ve apparently lost a verbal filter alongside gaining a mental health issue, who knew! Sorry! Anyhoo:

-Evie’s Birthday:  She wants to attend a festival. Fletch is dead set against it, Evie’s obviously having a meltdown, so is Fletch, Serena steps in. Decides to throw a mini fest in her house/ garden, and gets most Holby staff involved. Bernie convinces Charlotte to come, because Charlotte can play guitar and sing, and Elinor is also persuaded, because she can sing and play piano and Serena’s set up a gazebo like a stage, but there’s also a piano in the living room, and it turns out Bernie can also play the piano because have you seen her hands?! Anyway, they have mad fun all day, Ric and Sacha do an ‘oldie’ set, etc etc. I’ll stop there with all the details otherwise no one will want to read it when it finally gets done properly! But it’ll include Bernie and Serena dancing, to new and old songs, and Ellie is all like “eww” but Evie’s all moon-eyes and explains what she sees to Ellie, and Charlotte is persuaded by Cam to play an acoustic version of his favourite song and…. basically a lot of Bernie and Serena  eye sex, slow dancing in bubbles they create for themselves, and Evie just being crazy about her OTP. I haven’t decided yet if Berena are established, or whether it should be another sort of “intervention/ dawning realisation” type thing, so if anyone wants to add their thoughts, or message me for more details, PLEASE feel free to! 

- Bra shopping: I was going to keep the “fletchlings” series relatively angst-free, but this one, canon-compliant with Elinor’s death, is bugging me. Serena promises to take Evie bra shopping; does take Evie bra shopping on the following Saturday. Bernie goes with them. It’s Mother’s Day the next day, and they see shops full of Mother’s Day paraphernalia etc. They have a lovely time shopping but towards the end, melancholy/ anger/ grief sets in, so Bernie does little things to keep them in the here and now, not really knowing what else to do. When they’re heading home, they detour through the park, and come across Mikey in an altercation with a few other older boys. They’re picking on him, and Bernie steps in (BMAM!) and they start to take the piss, but she sends them off, then Mikey turns his anger onto her, and she encourages him (a bit like the speech she gave Serena in the toilets) and he fights her; breaks down; they head back to Serena’s. There’s silent cuddles, angst, but loving. Etc and all that. 

- The as-yet-wholly-unformed-idea whereupon Evie still wants to move in with Serena, is in love with Berena, as in, the actual ship, as well as them as individuals, and loves spending time with them. She’s made aware that maybe she is intruding, so she tries not to encroach so much, but Bernie messages her asking if she wants to go to the cinema one night, and she just… Yeah, The One Where Evie is the Berena Fandom Incarnate (and gets to bask in their presence for weekends at a time). May tie this in with the drabble I wrote about Evie giving Serena a friendship bracelet after Elinor died, with green for Bernie weaved through it, then she does the same for Bernie.

If anyone has any Berena + Fletchlings ideas they’d like to see written, pop me a line, and I’ll try my best :)

Untitled WIP:

1) Comedy of sorts. Half the hospital staff are sick to the back teeth of Serena and Bernie tiptoeing around each other, because please, as much as they both liked to preach from their pedestals that they were only being professional and didn’t want the hospital, the trauma unit, AAU, the patients, the bloody agency nurse who turned up now and again to suffer, suffer they were. Especially those that kept stumbling into the middle of serious eye fucking sessions and half-finished sentences. It had to stop.  In which Zosia’s taken it upon herself to be Bernie’s fairy godmother (and if she gets a good few snogs out of Jac along the way, all the better), and the staff come up with, frankly, ludicrous ways to get B&S together, even employing Mrs. B as a seductress. Why no one just talked to Jason, I don’t know…

2) If Holby writers can steal Doctors on The Roof from ER, then I can steal Stinky the dog from it, and give him a storyline with Serena and Bernie. (Or, The One where Serena gains a dog and a Wolfe). Kerry Weaver ended up taking home a dog called Stinky from a tramp that died, and I’ve apparently based a whole story on that idea. Also I love Kerry Weaver.)

3) In which Serena loses the point of Texas Hold ‘Em because she’s too busy wondering what Texas holds, exactly? Bernie tells her to add it to her Google list….. And I’ve lost the plot a bit with this one, but Im sure it’ll come back (or it is already here, trapped in the wrong document!)

3) Smut fic. Pure smut. There is nothing but smut. I mean, at a push, it could be described as character exploration through sexual situations, character development via sex…. basically I’m just writing a multi-chap fic about Serena and Bernie having sex in the here-and-now, and harking back to various ‘first-time’s’ as it comes up in their conversation.  (Can I work “fight on your feet or die on your knees” into this? I think I can. I can see Serena saying this.) 4) Smut fic. Yes, like the above. But, I found I was thinking about their lives post-Elinor death, and what impacts that would have. This is a bit darker. Not harrowing, and with as happy ending as anyone could have with a dead child, but still, dark enough to warrant being a separate story.

5) The obligatory stuck-in-a-lift-fic that I have never written for any of my OTPs before, so feel it’s beyond time that I give it a go. Mingling it with the “sweaty, vigorous passion” episode, substituting Raf for Bernie :) 

6) Angst. In which Bernie uses Jason to determine Serena’s mental state, because whatever is happening, Serena does not lie to Jason.  Wrote the idea for this when Elinor first died, so I don’t know if I’ll finish. Just a one-shot, to try to explain to myself where their relationship was, where Bernie’s level of concern was at, at the time.

7) After a whole day of being majorly, ridiculously excited about the post, I am writing a perfume-based story haha!

8) I’m not technically working on this one, because I don’t watch Dr Who religiously, and I’m not a massive, massive fan, but I couldn’t get rid of this thought: Serena is all bitter and sad, and Kate Stewart turns up like “Somewhere in your memory is a woman called Bernie Wolfe….” In order to be happy and save herself (and Holby or the world, if that’s your bag) Serena must remember Bernie, must remember her timeline for her actual reality to realign again, because Bernie is Serena’s soulmate, but not only that, Bernie and Serena’s relationship has a direct impact on Kate’s lineage (or something, it’s all about the timey-wimey shit that I haven’t figured out) and so Serena absolutely has to remember that Bernie was wiped from her memory, because it’s the only thing that’ll bring her back.  I’m probably never going to even attempt to start this one, but I would read the shit out of it if anyone could do it?!

9) I nearly forgot about this one!  Actresses AU. Whereupon Serena and Bernie, and the rest of the cast, are the actors in a medical drama. Serena and Bernie’s story remains theirs, but there are eerie similarities between them and their character storylines. Bernie remains married for much longer, her character is written out of the show they play in for an indefinite amount of time because she does a moonlight flit, etc. Angst, slow burn. Not entirely sure how this will play out; it’s one I think I’d like to finish completely before posting.

Aaaand I’ll end there. Maybe I’ll do a separate post for the HP, DWP and ER fics that I’ve either temporarily (does 7 years count as temporary?!) abandoned,  completely lost, or thought so much about that I think they already exist and am horrifically surprised when they do not (hello, me Voyager fics, too, haha!)

Not tagging anyone, but I’m always grateful to read what other people are up to! God bless anyone that’s made it this far!