#real estate writing

[dudedidujust]

Au where Damian comes to Gotham with the goal of infiltrating and eventually overthrowing Batman instead of inheriting the mantle. Not much changes from canon except for the fact that he views everything that batman owns as his. That's his future cave and his future batmobile. This also includes his robins. After all everyone knows Batman wouldn't really be Batman without them.

Cue a very bewildered Tim being lectured on his eating habits by a righteous Damian who won't let one of his people take shortcuts with their health.

[otaku553]

Ok so I have been stewing this crossover au in my brain nonstop for the past few days and. I am nothing if not committed to the bit, so. Volume cover redraws :)

Here are the originals:

If you want to read more about my one piece spy x family crossover, keep reading!

So the idea is simple! Crossover reincarnation au where ASL is reborn in Spy x Family. They’re each born separately and none of them are born with the same names as their previous lives, and with no way of finding each other, they each find their own thing to do in the world.

Sabo, too used to the dangers of being a spy, eventually finds a cause to devote himself to again, in preventing war from engulfing the country he was reborn in. Ace, drawn to fire as he was in his previous life, used arson as a means to rob rich people for sustenance and survival, and is eventually scouted and hired by Garden as a fire specialist and assassin. And Luffy, though born in perhaps the poorest condition, grows up happily and takes whatever part time jobs he wants to do.

The thing about Sabo is that, as much as he seems like a young man of good repute and high standing within society, everyone in WISE knows that he is a massive nuisance. Nobody knew in the beginning how a child less than half the age of most of their veteran agents could have the same skills and knowledge in their profession. Sabo was— and still is— hyper competent, and by the time WISE figured out just how much of a menace to society he was, it was too late.

Ace forgot for the first few years of his new life that he wasn’t made of fire, and consequently, received multiple accidental burns. This did not deter him, however, from growing up to be a very skilled arsonist, well-practiced in every which way to start a dumpster fire or house fire. As a teenage he would use this often to draw attention as he robbed rich people blind. When he was caught, he was given an ultimatum by Garden: join them and receive payment for starting fires and causing problems under contract, or face the government and authorities for his crimes. Begrudgingly, he joined Garden, but eventually comes to appreciate that he can make substantial money in his element.

Luffy is Luffy. No telepathy or experimentation, no fancy schools, no gimmicks or secret identities. But he has still lived an extremely colorful life in this world, full of fascinating and kind individuals who have helped him grow up healthy and relatively happy. He goes where he is free, and he takes whatever part time jobs he wants in order to make the minimum he needs to survive.

Ace and Sabo find each other first, in their late teens, and neither of them realize that the other remembers their previous life, but both refuse to separate. (Sabo thinks Ace doesn’t remember, because Ace didn’t recognize him. Ace never saw Sabo grow up past 10, however, so he doesn’t recognize older Sabo immediately. By the time he does realize who exactly Sabo is, Sabo has backtracked and pretends to know Ace from a dream, or from somewhere else.)

Sabo’s attachment to Ace, predictably, causes problems between Sabo and WISE, but by then, Sabo is indispensable to the organization, and they make an exception for Sabo to be able to remain with Ace, so long as Ace never finds out what Sabo’s actual job is. Ace, on the other hand, hides his job because he doesn’t want his brother, who he has just found and who does not know Ace well enough yet, to know that he makes a living from killing people.

And they find Luffy sometime afterwards, prior to the beginning of the Spy x Family canon. Luffy figures out, not long after moving in with his brothers, both of his brothers’ secret occupations and the fact that both of them remember their past memories. He thinks it is common knowledge, however, and so he never brings it up.

[bhaalergate]

Alternative first meeting AU in which 7 year old Johnny MacTavish is accidentally lost/separated from his family while they are on vacation in Manchester when he's found by a scrappy blond teenager with a shiner and a day-old split lip. The teen dries Johnny's tears, introduces himself as Simon, then buys him lunch and helps him find his family since he knows the city.

Two decades and change later, Simon guides Johnny to safety in yet another city, far from England, which he only realizes the moment his lieutenant finally takes off the mask.

[hbdttg]

“Hold the elevator!”

The elevator doors are mere inches from closing, but Steve dutifully shoots a hand out to stop them. They slide back open, revealing a flustered-looking man about Steve’s age on the other side.

He’s dressed head to toe in black, decked out in a simple black pullover with a modest V-neck, snug black jeans, and all-black leather Chucks with a messenger bag slung across his chest. The messenger bag is, unsurprisingly, also black, but covered in a collection of tough-looking patches and pins in varying shades of—well, it’s mostly red, dark red, white, and some yellows, but the pops of color still stand out against his otherwise monochrome ensemble.

His dark, curly hair reaches a little past his shoulders and he’s got this frankly outdated fringe that, despite its very 80’s vibe, frames his face perfectly. His eyes are large and expressive, and he’s got this frantic energy about him that reminds Steve of a live wire. He’s nothing like the buttoned-up suits Steve usually shares his elevator rides with each morning, and it’s a refreshing change of pace.

The man gives Steve a thankful look before stepping into the elevator and leaning against the side wall. “Thanks,” he says, a little distractedly. He’s got a pair big of headphones on and Steve realizes he’s in the middle of a phone call when he adds, “No, not you, Gare, I was thanking the guy who held the elevator for me. Yeah, this building’s crazy. There’s a whole-ass sixtieth floor—guess I’m kind of a big deal now.” He lets out a small, self-deprecating chuckle, reaching for the panel beside him.

As the doors close and the elevator starts to slowly ascend, Steve notices the man pressed the button for the floor above his. Both the fifty-second and fifty-third floor buttons are lit in a halo of green.

“You know I didn’t want to leave you guys,” the man continues, a bit more quietly now that he and Steve are sharing the same small space, “but shit, I couldn’t turn down the pay.” He scoffs. “Ugh, listen to me, just another cog in the capitalist machine. Man, if high school me could see me now. High school Eddie used to talk big about forced conformity and rising up against the man, and now here I am—”

Steve tries not to listen to the one-sided conversation going on beside him, but it’s difficult when a moment later, he hears his own name.

“—clocking in for my first day at fuckin’ Harrington Hargrove Hagan. The pretentious bastards can’t even shorten it to an acronym or something. God forbid they have to miss out on the sound of their own names.”

Steve manages to hold in the obnoxious snort that threatens to escape him. He’s starting to think he might like this guy—Eddie, his mind supplies helpfully—but Eddie’s next words have him freezing in place.

“And it’s nepo baby central. Yeah, pretty sure all the H kiddies are hotshot brokers with the company. All the biggest accounts—gee, I wonder why.”

Steve can feel the back of his neck burning hot with a mixture of annoyance and shame as Eddie cracks a caustic joke about silver spoons and trust funds.

“You’re kidding, one of them works at this branch? Damn, I guess I’ll just keep an eye out for the guy who most looks like he’s got a giant stick up his ass.”

This is quickly becoming the longest elevator ride of Steve’s life. He grits his teeth and stares fixedly at the floor display panel above the elevator doors, watching the numbers climb higher and higher. Thirty-seven. Thirty-eight.

“Listen, I should go, but let’s grab a drink at the Hideout later. Cool, see you then. Bye.”

Forty-one. Forty-two.

Eddie removes his headphones and shoves them into his bag, angling slightly toward Steve. “Sorry about that, man.”

“You’re good,” Steve says shortly, not looking away from the changing numbers. They reach the forty-seventh floor, and all the while, he feels Eddie’s gaze on him.

It’s not like he’s openly staring, but there’s a certain weight to his furtive glances that completely counteracts his attempts at subtlety. It’s the type of gaze Steve’s familiar with, one that he’s been on the receiving end of since his sophomore year of high school when he hit a growth spurt and actually learned how to style his hair. Assessing. Appreciative. Interested.

And in any other situation, Steve would gladly engage. He’d turn on the charm, quirk the corner of his lip up in that way Robin always rolls her eyes at but reluctantly acknowledges as ‘passably effective’, and maybe even make up an excuse to sidle a bit closer.

But he’s not giving this guy his A-game.

Instead, Steve waits in stifling silence until the fifty-second floor is announced and the doors slide open. He steps forward to exit, but at the very last moment stops in the doorway.

He initially wasn’t going to say anything—though, a past version of himself would have definitely spat something biting and bitchy to Eddie about his snark, would have snootily told him to take his little assumptions and shove them where the sun don’t shine—but sooner or later Eddie’s going to realize he and Steve are colleagues, and he’s going to remember shit-talking him in an elevator on his first day of work, and it’s going to be awkward and uncomfortable.

Steve’s just speeding up the timeline, pushing for the sooner rather than the later, when he decides to spin around and fully face Eddie.

“I think you pressed the wrong button,” he says, all sweet and helpful like he’s talking to Dustin’s mom over a sink full of soapy dishes. “Couldn’t help but overhear that you work at Harrington Hargrove Hagan. It’s on the fifty-second floor, not the fifty-third.” Then he takes a small step backward, moving out into the carpeted hallway.

“Oh.” Eddie scrambles for his phone, unlocking it and scrolling quickly until he finds something that has him straightening up and smiling gratefully at Steve. “I guess I remembered it wrong. Thank you.” He pushes away from the wall, takes a step forward to follow Steve out, but then stops dead in his tracks.

Steve gleefully notes the line of Eddie’s gaze, how it lingers at the breast pocket of his shirt, where, clipped to a retractable badge reel, his building keycard hangs. Eddie evidently hadn’t noticed it during the elevator ride up, but he’s certainly fixated on it now.

Perhaps on the abstract yet easily recognizable Harrington Hargrove Hagan logo in the top right corner.

But more likely, based on the positively mortified look growing on Eddie’s face, on the name clearly printed underneath Steve’s photo in bold, black lettering: STEVE HARRINGTON.

Slowly, Eddie drags his eyes back up to Steve’s face. He stares in silence, eyes bugging nearly out of his head, face turning a concerning shade of pink, mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water, and his reaction is extreme enough that a small part of Steve is almost inclined to take pity on the guy and laugh it all off.

Unfortunately for Eddie, a bigger part of Steve thinks Eddie looks kind of cute all red-faced and embarrassed like this. So he glances down at himself thoughtfully before turning his attention back on Eddie. “Wow,” he says with exaggerated astonishment, “now that you mention it, I guess I do look like I’ve got a giant stick up my ass.”

As if on cue, the elevator chimes in warning. The doors begin to close, but Eddie just remains rooted in place with that same wide-eyed, horrified expression.

When it becomes clear he has no intentions of actually exiting the elevator, Steve chuckles and wiggles his fingers in a cheeky little wave. “Welcome to the team,” he says airily, before Eddie’s still-blushing face disappears behind the elevator doors.

/ Now with a Part 2!

[ivvyela]

imagine with me, if you will, a nwh potential fix-it involving none other than the multiverse saving duo deadpool and wolverine.

i know, i know - but please, let me cook.

wade and logan now jump across timelines to "fix" things aka travel the multiverse for funsies and deal with the consequences later and somehow end up in a universe where peter parker doesn't exist, but spider-man does. and wade, blessed with the power of "i know this for the plot", immediately knows that is bull. shit. and sure enough, they find one very depressed, very lonely, and very jaded peter parker.

after much annoyance, light stalking, and following spider-man while he's on patrol, they get peter to spill how he ended up in this situation. and after hearing everything, logan breaks the silence with a simple, yet effective: "shit, kid. that... shit."

"yeah, well... now you know, so you can, like, leave me alone."

"nope, not gonna happen." wade shakes his head and tactfully ignores logan's imploring look of what-the-fuck-are-you-getting-us-into-now "i take my job as marvel jesus very, very seriously, so frankly, this is my job to fix your sorry little life, buddy. and if flat-out telling them you exist didn't work, then - "

"oh, i actually... i never told them."

"...come again?"

"i tried to tell them, but i couldn't. so..."

"i'm sorry... your best friend and girlfriend were crying, telling you to come find them and remind them of you, and you chose not to?"

"they're happy and safe without me! i wasn't going to ruin - "

"oh my god. you sweet, self sacrificial, idiot spider-baby. okay! we can fix this! we're no tony stark, but consider us your pseudo daddies for the time being, kid. let's get you your life back."

which is how one very emotional and determined deadpool, followed by a stoic, nonchalant wolverine (who, in all honesty, probably should be completely against this, but once wade commits to something, he can't be talked out of it, and the sooner he gets his fix from this the sooner he can go home, so fuck it we ball), end up in a certain cafe, all up in a poor barista and her friend's face with a cut-out yearbook photo of some kid, yelling "LOOK AT HIM! LOOK AT THIS BOY! HE'S SO LONELY! LIKE A SMALL, FORLORN, VICTORIAN CHILD! REMEMBER HIM, GODDAMMIT!"

(their efforts result in two confused and scared teens, and getting kicked out of said cafe.)

peter practically begs them to just leave him alone, that this was his choice, and he's fine with it, but both wade and logan know a lie when they hear one. they both know what being alone can do to a person, and peter is just a kid who got dealt the shittiest cards in life and at this point, it just feels wrong to leave him here without trying to do something. and maybe they both have a small soft spot for the teen, so what?

and peter knows both men can see through his broody, teenage angst front he's been putting up since the spell, and he's tried so hard to hate the two of them, get them to hate him so they would leave, but they're not budging, so really, there's no point in trying to push them away, right?

and so, he lets them in. he learns that while logan is stoic and intense and kinda terrifying, he's also someone who just wants to do the right thing for the people he cares about. he's also lost people, and he blames himself, but he's come out on the other side. he would tell peter about his daughter, laura, who wouldn't let him wallow in self pity because she is good, better than he has ever been. he never saw himself as a father, but she's still around, so he must be doing alright.

and at first hearing it would result in a pang in his chest, memories of thai food after walking into a smoke-filled kitchen, assurances that things will work out when everything feels hopeless, a tombstone that can never convey everything she was, but now... it's nice to hear that logan still had someone after losing everyone.

so, peter listens to logan's stories. in return, peter tells logan all about his mom.

and wade was brash and loud and conceded and really, really annoying, but he's... no, that's it. he's all of those things, but in a weird way, it's like all those bad qualities merge together to make him a good guy. and yeah, he can walk away at any point, he has absolutely no obligation to help peter, but he does it anyway.

("nonono, don't you dare make me some selfless hero type, kid. i know for a fact that every deadpool has a peter. i'm doing this for the me in your world."

"you're... huh?"

"bottom line, i'm a selfish bastard. i'm doing this for me, 'kay?")

peter didn't fight it. he's had experience with seemingly self-absorbed, deflecting type heroes.

wade doesn't replace him, not even close, but... still.

maybe peter will never get back what he lost. but, for the first time, peter sees a light at the end of the tunnel. that, maybe, he can stop being just spider-man, and he can start being peter parker again, too.

(and if there's a barista talking to her friend about how it's weird that two guys would show up holding a photo of an odd customer from weeks ago, demanding they remember him, and despite not knowing him she felt something, and her friend couldn't help but agree, well... that's neither here nor there.)

[ghostsinmachine]

putting nsfw goggles on for a sec but

idk if this is just a trope that was a lot more common in older hockeyrpf fics bc i haven't seen it around as much recently BUT. would like to see a fic about will and mack going out (maybe while in quebec bc no need for fakes lol) and goading each other into picking up girls...

... and there is a girl that's interested in mack at first, but oh, wait, who's that prettyboy friend of yours you were talking to earlier?? and mack's like. utterly dumbfounded and also extremely humiliated bc uh what. [mack voice] am i literally getting turned down for smitty. will is never going to let him live this down. this is terrible.

and the girl tells mack to invite will over and theoretically mack should just cut his losses but for some reason he does. red-faced and kind of cut up about it, he goes across the bar and mumbles something about the girl at will. and will's like ??? what do you mean she wants me. and he's a little smug about it but he can see how mack's ego is all bruised so he's like. all right i can play it chill for now but, u know. a hot girl is a hot girl. and so he follows mack over to the girl, and mack's like. um. here u go. this is smitty. have fun I Guess.

and she's like okay i think you misunderstood baby i want Both Of You. and then it's all like. record scratch. freeze frame. what??????

also bc will is way more dialed, he very clearly realizes that mack's kind of just blue-screened. he knows that mack doesn't have a ton of experience and he doesn't either but he has had a 3some before (ryan leonard haunts the narrative as per). and he turns to the girl and is like "can we have a sec?" and she very graciously gestures for them to go have their little gab sesh.

when they're alone again mack is like "what the fuck dude i'm not having a threesome with you that'd be like. gay" and will is all like. [scoffs] "it's not fucking gay to fuck a girl together lol we won't even touch each others dicks." and mack is all, shrilly, "yeah but it's still fucking weird." and will very smarmily goes "you're just chicken. and also inexperienced. bc it's not even that crazy" which of course makes all higher function in mack's brain go offline now that will's just triggered his insane competitive hindbrain where he has to win at everything, even the stupid shit. and it's all [mack voice] wait you sound like you've done this before.

and will is all false confidence: "yeah duh" except he hasn't touched that memory of him and leno hooking up with a girl with a ten foot pole since it happened. bc then he would have to confront some very uncomfortable thoughts and feelings. and he doesn't want to do that.

now mack's fired up and he's like. "okay fine. i'm down if you're down." and will is all like "okay i'm down."

and they go home with this girl and run a train on her, except. obviously this is a night of realizations. and sometimes it feels like she's not even there, it's just will and mack in the room. at some point while she's otherwise occupied, they make eye contact and mack nearly nuts right then and there. and will can see how far down mack's flush goes. and it's all just. oh noooooo. oh no no no.

[the-witchhunter]

DP x DC: Homme Fatale

Noun. homme fatal (plural hommes fatals) An ultimately seductive and dangerous man; a womanizer.

On a bit of a Film Noir kick right now, so blame that

Imagine, if you will:

Danny, a private eye in Gotham, ever the hard boiled detective, sitting in his dark office, drinking coffee you could use to tar a roof. The office isn't in a good neighborhood but rent still ain't cheap. He's fixing to get a new case on his desk soon

Enter one Timothy Drake-Wayne, CEO of Wayne Enterprizes. He walked in shirt unbuttoned dangerously low in a suit sharp enough to cut yourself on and bags under his eyes to large to be counted as carry on. Mr. Drake has a job for him, one he wants to keep quite, and one important enough that he's willing to add a couple zeros to Danny's usual rate. This job is a dream come true... almost too good to be true...

or

Tim Drake aka Red Robin(yummm) needs plausible deniability on a case tied to his civilian identity and so hires a PI and lays down a trail of clues for him. All the while playing up the Noir tropes to flirt with the cute detective.

why doesn't he just take care of it as Red Robin? Shhhhh... the detective is cute and he's having too much fun playing the homme fatale

Bonus: Immediately after wrapping up Tim's case Kon walks into Danny's office dolled up in a vintage dress, period appropriate makeup done, all to play the part of the Femme Fatale and do the exact same thing Tim did. Does he know Tim literally just did that? Maybe, maybe not

[babychosen]

save a horse (ride a cowboy)

8pm, Friday. Red dress. Booth near the end of the bar, by the dart board.

She forgot how demanding the text felt, but it had only encouraged her to want to show up even more.

[weewoo911]

Buddie prompt:

A few days before the wedding

Marisol: So do you ever think of getting married again..? Maybe… somewhere nice in the autumn?

Eddie (barely paying attention): Nah, Buck would want a spring wedding for sure

Marisol: … Buck?

Eddie: ohshit

Then Eddie shows up single and alone at the wedding and gets absolutely hammered and refuses to discuss it

[ikol-art]

I'm not a writer so don't ask me for a fic, but

I keep imagining a scenario where Merlin is holding Arthur as he's dying, but with a magical grief outburst like Morgana's over Morgause. Except for Merlin it sends his time manipulation powers into overdrive and he ends up reversing it, all the way back to the beginning. I've read several fics where he time travels back, but in this scenario I imagine Arthur ALSO knows about it, because Merlin was holding him as it happened. Imagine Camelot at the very start of season 1 and only Arthur and Merlin have knowledge of the past/future 10 years. I'd imagine it would change quite a bit (they def support Morgana from the beginning, smuggle out any sorcerers because they don't quite want to actually murder the king, maybe Arthur and Morgana end up simply traumatizing him with their stances on magic idk, they adopt mordred and also hatch and smuggle Aithusa in, gaslighting everyone into thinking she's a bird)

Now Arthur has to do the whole 'keep Merlin's magic a secret' thing.. he's terrible at it, Morgana ends up knowing within 5 minutes

I would also imagine it would change the relationship dynamics, sharing 10 years with only one person is bound to bring you even closer together (yes I need merthur to happen here, but it could also be mergwenthur 👀 or if Merthur is endgame Gwen should at least get to end up with both Lancelot and Morgana, she deserves everything)

[the-ace-with-spades]

Unhinged buddie fic idea again -- Tia Pepa starts setting up Eddie on dates but with a bit of an AU twist.

Tia Pepa starts setting Eddie up on dates. Which Buck is fine with. Obviously. Why wouldn't he be? Eddie is his best friend, he wants him to be happy. He's also straight and maybe Buck liked having him all to himself but realistically, that couldn't last forever.

Whatever. He can get over it. Or he can at least pretend he got over it.

So Eddie is complaining at the firehouse about another set-up date and Buck tries to be positive and encouraging and says something about how Eddie could at least give them a chance - even if every word is said through gritted teeth.

And Eddie is appalled and says something along the lines of, "Maybe my tia should be setting you up, if you're so open to the idea." And everyone from the team claws at the idea, teasing Buck about being single and wanting to marry into the Diaz family through Eddie's cousin or something (which, a bit too close to the truth, ha).

Eddie finds the idea so hilarious that he tells Pepa about it. And regrets it not a minute later when she says, "Why not? I could set your Buck up with someone nice."

This actually makes Eddie grit his teeth, there's just something that makes him itch, even just thinking about Buck going out with any of the women Eddie went out with---Just no.

What he doesn't know is, Tia Pepa goes over his head on this --- just calls Buck (because of course she has his number, he's family and Eddie's and Chris's emergency contact). She sweet-talks Buck into it over the phone, telling him how Eddie told her about how he's single and how she knows just the right person for Buck and it'll be nice to keep Buck close in the family if it works out.

Obviously, Buck is skeptical --- there's just one Diaz he wants to be with and he's unavailable --- but then Pepa keeps on going how she knows just his type and how he's not going to regret it and just one date never harmed anyone and, well, Buck caves in because he's weak against most Diazes it seems.

He doesn't tell anyone about it. Not even Eddie. It's probably just going to be one date that he'll ruin like he always does and the girl will tell Pepa all about it and then Pepa won't even bother to set up another poor girl with him.

He gets a text with the place and time, a small hole-in-the-wall place that's just about Buck's thing, and an ominous message with Addy will wait for you there, look out for a red bandana.

And Buck is expecting some cute girl in dungarees and with a bandana holding up her hair but when he enters the place, it's almost dead and there's just some elderly couple, a group of teens, and a guy. A guy in jeans, a white t-shirt, sunglasses, and with a red bandana tied around his neck.

Turns out Addy is short for Adam, not Adelina or Adriana like Buck thought.

Adam is also gorgeous. Dark hair, chocolate eyes, tan skin, fit and strong. Addy has a six-year-old daughter, is no longer in contact with his ex-husband, works as a nurse in the ER, loves quiet indie places, and would love to travel the world every chance he has.

When after the date --- which goes on for so long the cafe's owner has to ask them to leave because they're closing --- Buck calls Pepa to tell her how it went and when can't really make his mouth produce words, she just tells him, "I told you I know your type, mijo."

Needless to say, Eddie finds out about that fast because Addy is his cousin and texts him for ideas for a second date with 'his friend Buck.'

His brain resets. Then restarts. Then resets again.

He did not know that about Buck. He would've known that about Buck.

He's calling his tia before he knows it and demanding answers.

Eddie, well, Eddie is fuming inside but Buck seems happy and Addy seems happy and they're both good guys so he shuts up whatever unreasonable, surprising anger he's boiling with and helps Addy prepare a date --- tells him about the water show in the aquarium he was planning on taking Buck and Chris to.

But the day of the show comes and Buck isn't answering his texts and he's just walking in circles around the kitchen table and before he realizes what he's doing, he's packing Chris into the car and, "Oh, look at that, what a coincident we're meeting you here."

He feels like an absolute madman when Addy tells him, when Buck and Chris are distracted by colorful fish, "If you didn't want me to date him, you could have just said so."

And a couple of days later both Pepa and Buck are at Eddie's for dinner and he feels like an absolute asshole when Pepa tells Buck Addy doesn't want another date. For about five minutes, that is, because after that Pepa looks Eddie straight in the eyes, he swears, and says brightly, "Don't worry, I know plenty of young single men that are just your type, Evanito."

The history repeats, obviously, and Eddie uses Chris to just 'run' into Buck on his date with another of his cousins. At some point, his cousins probably start to warn each other about it because they stop talking to Eddie about Buck's favorite activities and foods.

But they tell Buck the date places. And Buck tells at least one person on the team, always, and Eddie might be a madman but he's a madman on a mission so he always tricks the info out of someone -- Chim is usually the easiest and Hen won't admit but she likes to gossip about people's love lives. He even manages to trick Bobby into telling him where Buck is on his next date under the disguise of concerned 'Buck sure is going on a lot of dates lately,' etc. and Bobby actually falls for it and Eddie feels guilty about it until he hears Buck is going on a date with his godawful cousin Marco.

(Meanwhile, every time Buck 'runs' into Eddie on a date, he's cursing the universe and its stupid, obvious signs... Like, he knows he's in love with Eddie, the universe can shut up and stop screaming at him.)

Eddie is at Pepa's again and she comes back from where she was talking to someone on the terrace and silently sits down opposite Eddie with that look and says, "So, that was Marco."

"Yes, exactly. Marco. How could you set him up with Marco of all people?"

"Well, I'm running out of candidates because someone keeps on scaring them off."

Eddie doesn't look her in the eyes. He's truly become a madman since the whole thing started happening but like hell he'll admit it.

"You know, Eddie, if you don't want Buck to date any of your cousins, there's an easy solution that will solve this dilemma and will let us keep Buck in the family."

"Pepa---"

"Tell you what, I'll set one more date for him, tomorrow at seven at that ice cream sandwich truck Chris likes," she says, raising her eyebrows pointedly. "You decide if his date stands him up or not."

He never ever again wants to see Buck going out with any of his cousins.

Which doesn't mean he isn't a coward. He doesn't tell Buck. He tries to leave the house three times, changes his clothes about six times, and by the end of it, he's late.

Buck is easy to find between people, towering over most.

Buck smiles when he sees him but it doesn't quite reach his eyes. "Let me guess, he decided it wasn't worth it and backed out last minute," he sighs. "And Tia Pepa sent me a personal cheer squad to humor me up and pay for my ice cream."

"No, he's here," Eddie says because the it's me doesn't want to leave his mouth.

"Oh," Buck says, and his shoulders don't look so slumpy anymore but he still doesn't look, well, happy. "Where is he then?"

Eddie makes an elaborate wave with his arm and deadpans, "Ta-da."

There's a moment when those big baby blues blink at Eddie dumbly and Eddie swears Buck stops breathing for a few seconds before finally managing to push out, "Oh."

[unhonestlymirror]

[stop-breaking-my-heart-dragonage]

my greatest achievement in DA2 is maxing out Carver's friendship

and all it took was begrudgingly kissing a little templar ass in act 1 because Carver didn't want to plan a prison break if my Hawke got his ass arrested for being stupid.

[youchangedmedestiel]

Destiel AU idea (again)

Dean is searching for a flat because he recently divorced Lisa. He wants one that is big and comfortable enough to welcome his children, Ben and Emma. It's been months since he started searching for one. Fortunately, Lisa is understanding enough to let him stay in their old house until he finds something.

They actually aren't in a hard and conflicted relationship right now, their marriage stopped because there wasn't love between them anymore. They still care about each other.

Dean knew he wasn't in love with Lisa anymore and he suspected the same for Lisa, but he was fine with it. Lisa though thought otherwise. She asked for divorce because she said that they both deserved to find love and be loved.

So, Dean is doing his umpteenth visit for a flat that he spotted on Internet. This one seems really nice and clean, his children will be able to have their own rooms. And the kitchen looks awesome with enough place for him to cook.

The real estate agent who give him the tour of the flat isn't bad either. He has blue eyes, which looks surreal, long and dark eyelashes that match his hair and his growing beard. Dean listens to him attentively and can't help but look right into his eyes when he speaks. Dean wants to confide in him and he does that naturally actually.

He tells him that he is sick to search for a home for his family. It's been months, and he's exhausted to be disappointed each time he thinks he found something. But at the same time, he wants his children to feel good in that new home so he is demanding.

That real estate agent, Castiel, is compassionate and doesn't understand why Dean doesn't find one with his solid, complete application. Castiel tells Dean that maybe it's because others real estate agents are struggling right now. There's a lot of people searching for a new home at this time of the year, so a lot of work. Castiel admits that he, himself, is buried in work all day long.

He works 6 days a week constantly. Since Dean is really attentive to what the man in front of him says, he notices that Castiel doesn't seem to have someone in his life to get back to. So, he goes for it. He asks Castiel if he wants to go and get a drink with him once they have finished the tour.

Castiel seems surprised by the offer and looks away. He fumbles with his pen and papers and puts them on the kitchen counter. He takes a deep breath. So, Dean fears his answer.

"Are you asking me on a d-" Castiel starts asking hesitantly.

"Yes." Dean cuts him, because he somehow fears that word. It sounds too official and he's still living with his ex. Plus, it's been a while for him.

"O - okay. Yeah." Castiel agrees, and neither of them is able to look at the other.

[aphel1on]

20k deep into writing this au i am forced to admit that i actually do ship chiscara rather severely. the problem is i ship them in an extremely specific way and simply do not vibe with like 95% of existing fic for them

[twosides--samecoin]

hey! i appreciate you offering me some advice!

i’m workin on my first ever fic (and creative writing for that matter lmao) and i keep running into the same issue

i’m really struggling to come up with plot/story. if i have like key moments or anything i have no issue writing it. i have a few pivotal moments that i want to happen but filling in the moments between them is super hard for me. is there any way to get over this?

Most people have a few key scenes they want to see when they think of writing a story, and it's normal not to know how to link them together. My longfic was my first try at creative fiction. Here's some of the thought process behind how I took my fic from an idea to a story arc!

Planning a story arc is about developing the journey. How did your main character get from Point A to B?

There's so much that goes into this answer, so here's a table of contents for this post:

Writer mental health: Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Process

Planning Documents

Question Everything

Study [Part 1] Themes & Motivation

Study [Part 2] The Source Material & Your Inspirations

Study [Part 3] Storycraft

Sidequest: Questions, themes, motivation & storycraft for a story about nothing

🧠Writer mental health: Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Process: I've written a post or two about perfectionism and writer mental health. Stories are sort of like plants; writers are like gardeners. No plant or story is fully formed from the jump. If your idea is a plant, then it grows from a seed. If a writer is a gardener, then they're tending a plant that grows over time. Allow yourself to make changes. Be willing to draft the story, edit, then sleep on it for a day or two and edit again before you post it online. You can always press the edit button after publication. I'm starting with this because the sooner you develop a growth mindset, the more likely you will avoid common writer mental health pratfalls. Treat writing like an oil painting in a museum: it began from a sketch and wasn't done all in one go. This point might not feel relevant until you have a bad day as a writer.

📝Planning documents: Take notes on anything and everything. Most writing software will have an outline/table of contents feature to help you organize. One document could be character notes, another might be a timeline of events. One could be scene ideas. Don't feel pressured to explain yourself too much. Treat these documents as scrap paper where you can write down quick ideas and move on; use a bullet point format. As my fic grew, my documents and the contents changed. Mine are now quite messy, and I don't feel the need to use them every chapter. I've outgrown them to a degree, but I still have them for my own reference.

I encourage you to avoid deleting large sections, even if you retcon an idea. Instead, move them to a cutting room floor document. You never know what you're going to need, and though it's in your head right now, you never know what you might forget.

❓Question Everything: While you know who your characters and what some big pivotal scenes are, you need to ask Who, What, When, Where, Why & How about these people and events. If you're from an analytical background such as law or journalism, you were trained to think this way when you learned issue spotting.

Asking these questions about the pivotal scenes and characters will spawn further questions you need to answer, which will then help you figure out what to write in-between the big scenes. If your pivotal scene is a fight between the Hero and a Big Bad, or the Love Interest proposing to the main character, you should ask questions about how the characters got there. What is the conflict between the Hero and the Big Bad? How did the MC and Love Interest meet? What challenges did they have along the way?

The genesis of my fic began with these questions. I thought:

"[What] would I do to fix the canon Fallout 4 [Who] RJ MacCready story?" I was then granted a vision of RJ hiking in the snowy mountains of [Where] Banff National Park. The [Why] was "Med-Tek didn't work out". That partly answered the [When] (North America in the post-apocalypse, over two hundred years since the bombs dropped; at the end of RJ's canon story). [How] did they figure out he needs to go to Banff?

After this idea took hold of my brain, I kept asking questions. As I answered them, I kept notes.

[What] happened at Med-Tek? [How] does RJ get from Boston to Banff? If this fic begins at the end of his canon story, [Who] is the Sole Survivor who helped him through it? [Where] are the key locations in Banff RJ should go and [Why]?

Some questions are more pertinent to explain than others. For example, travel was a big question I had to solve given my story is set in a post-apocalyptic version of our world. Distance travel- unless you're a caravan or the Brotherhood of Steel- is a luxury for your average Wastelander. So I looked up the closest real world equivalent to a vertibird (a tiltrotor aircraft such as the Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey), spent time researching forums and roughly figured out how much fuel and how many stops a vertibird would need between Boston and Banff.

Another writer in the Fallout fandom might not find that pertinent or put in the same research. I value being able to point at something and say, "Oh, I figured that out" to help me better inform my writing.

📗Study [Part 1] Themes & Motivation: Ok, so you're thinking about how the Hero got involved with the Big Bad and the conflict between them; you started with the proposal and marriage between your MC and Love Interest and are now thinking of how they met and how their families react to their partnership.

What are your character's goals and objectives?

What is their background? What makes them think or feel a certain way? Keep in mind that people are complex. A traumatized person isn't always "acting" traumatized to the other characters or the audience.

What are some activities you've observed in real life relationships?

What do your characters like to do when they aren't working?

Who are your characters outside of the events of the story? Who are they before the story? Who are they after? If the story events didn't happen, who would they be instead?

What does one character observe in a room that another will not notice? If one character turns their nose up at a concept or idea, why or why not?

How does your character react under pressure?

What classic literary tropes apply to your character/story? Can you mix and match, or subvert a classic trope?

A love story is rarely ever just a love story. A superhero movie is rarely ever just about superpowers and fighting. What themes, concepts or ideas do you want to explore? Do you have any intellectual curiosities or side hobbies you want to bring to your writing? I really love studying philosophy and enjoy hiking. I am a big fan of works that examine the relationships humans have with nature and each other, as well as the nature of power. These are two things that make my fanfiction different: my characters react to their environments. They observe differences between Banff/Boston and remark upon what happened to Earth when the bombs fell. One of the best compliments I ever had on my fic was from a reader from Alaska who saw their childhood home reflected in Banff's boreal forest; who almost felt as though they could smell the environment by reading the story. My wife @edaworks is a multihyphenate and autodidact- statistician, sociologist, attorney, hobby archaeologist and cosplayer among many other things. In her fic, she brings completely different ideas to Fallout than I do.

📙Study [Part 2] The Source Material & Your Inspirations:

If you struggle to think of ideas relating to the central conflict, you can always return to the source material.

Are there details you notice that you have questions about?

Is there a character interaction that intrigues you?

Is there something you feel the original creator didn't explain? (For me, I wanted to figure out how resource-intensive travel like flight is possible in Fallout.)

Outside of the original text, think about works by other people that inspire you to make your own work. What intrigues you about what they do? How does your fave author or director handle the moments in between the pivotal scenes?

What literature outside of fanfiction do you enjoy? (Some of my fave books are House of Leaves, Infinite Jest, Walden, Le Petit Prince, The Catcher in the Rye, The Road, Ulysses, Blood Meridian and The Lord of the Rings.)

Do you enjoy comedy? Do you have a particular sense of humour because your parents raised you on Laugh-In and Richard Pryor? How can you infuse your story with jokes?

What movies or TV shows had an impact on you as a kid? Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill is a love letter to the stories he was inspired by. In turn, Kill Bill inspired my own story. I'm also influenced by stories about courageous kids navigating a corrupt adult world as well as industrialization vs nature, such as in Laputa: Castle in the Sky, Akira, Princess Mononoke. A lot of what I like is hyperdetailed in some way, be it via dense themes, immaculate cinematography or intricate set design.

What music do you listen do? Are there musicians who explore themes that resonate with the story you're writing?

📚 Study [Part 3] Storycraft: Learn about story structures and basic plot types to help you figure out how to build the overall story arc. Get to know your genre.

Note that you're not required to choose a story structure/plot type/genre. Approach to story delivery depends on cultural tradition, genre and the means with which the story is told. An awareness of them will help you understand how you can build your story.

A radio play, college graduation speech and a bedtime story are all part of the oral tradition. Despite being different stories intended for different audiences, all three could be told with a variety of story structures, or the same one. This chart from r/screenplay compares different approaches to story structure. There's even an entry for the Scientific Method.

If your story falls somewhere in the action/adventure genre, a story structure that might help is Joseph Campbell's monomyth; a three-act structure that watches a hero move from a known to unknown world and back again. Published in 1949, The Hero with a Thousand Faces posited that many heroic works can be boiled down to a similar story structure. You might know it as The Hero's Journey. A good movie for examining The Hero's Journey is Hercules (1997).

(The above image is from Bookfox. <- The linked page has similar graphics & explanations for other structures.)

After acquainting ourselves with the Ordinary World of Ancient Greece and Hades' meddling, Weirdo Freak Whom Do Be Too Strong Hercules visits the Temple of Zeus, who tells Herc he can earn his godhood- the Call Of Adventure. Hercules now wants to go the distance and find where he belongs. Zeus sends him to Meet The Mentor, Phil. After a training montage, Hercules and Phil go to Thebes and cross The First Threshold into the Unknown World. Herc wants something, encounters trials & a massive ordeal, then returns to the Known World a changed man.

Let's say one of your pivotal scenes is a huge fight between the Hero and the Big Bad. You could place that almost anywhere on the right side of the wheel. The Call to Adventure could be the first fight. The fights and conflict could get worse until a major fight happens at The Ordeal. Whatever you do, the audience needs to see the pivotal scene contextualized in some way. Whether you begin the story with a fight or are leading up to one, we want to see why it happened. You want to lay the groundwork and context for the pivotal events.

The pivotal events don't mean anything without context to support them, and the audience will not root for your characters if we don't see them struggle and/or aren't given reasons to care or get to know them.

Keep in mind it's not all about drama. Ideally, The Hero's Journey helps an author deliver layers of information that ranges from telling us about the characters' journey/everyday lives to showing the audience details that leads toward the central conflict. Maybe your characters are having a casual lunch and they see people running and screaming down the street. It's out of context in the moment, but it tells the audience, "Something's going on in this story that isn't right". Setup, payoff: the audience learns the reason why things aren't right when you contextualize them through supporting evidence.

These videos [1] [2] by Extra Credits explain the monomyth through an analysis of the video game Journey.

"But Tumblr User twosides--samecoin," you ask, "I'm not writing a heroic journey. What if I want to write a story about people just hanging out?"

���Sidequest: Questions, themes, motivation & storycraft for a story about nothing

While your Hero doesn't need to slay monsters, some degree of conflict is necessary in most stories. Even the slicest of stories in the slice of life genre like Lucky Star have at least an episode or arc that has some problem to solve.

Seinfeld is known as being "a show about nothing", except that's not quite true. It's a slice of life comedy series that explores the misadventures of a friend group. Many episodes are predicated on telling a certain joke, gag, or are about seeing how the characters act in absurd situations. It's never about nothing. When the show was pitched to NBC, Seinfeld said: "We want to show how a comedian gets his material". The show is about mundane/everyday situations and turning people's worst tendencies into comedy gold.

Example: Seinfeld, season 5 episode 2: The Puffy Shirt

Who: is Jerry Seinfeld? Jerry is the titular character and a comedian. Also-ran are Elaine and George, as well as Kraemer and his new girlfriend, Leslie.

What: the fuck is that garment? The puffy shirt in question is considered a MacGuffin.

When/Where: Early/mid 90's NYC. Jerry's apartment, a photo studio, a restaurant, The Today Show.

Why: It's funny to see a grown-ass man act a fool about a bad fashion choice because of a miscommunication. He has to go on The Today Show and the host mocks the shirt, leading Jerry to snap about it, which then offends Leslie.

How: Jerry mishears Leslie, who has a very quiet speaking voice. In an effort to be polite, he accidentally agrees to wear the puffy shirt on The Today Show while pretending to understand her.

Themes: Miscommunication, humiliation, consequences arising from false politeness, awkward situations

Motivation: Jerry was motivated to be nice in an effort to accommodate Leslie's low talking volume in order to move the conversation along. He didn't realize he was agreeing to something he didn't want to do. This episode is not just about the humiliation Jerry suffers in the A plot- there are also B and C plots containing their own jokes that add to the tension of the episode, which all fall apart when Jerry snaps. Several plots and character arcs create pacing that feels like a boiling pot by the end of the episode: It's layers of mini jokes that support the main joke, which doesn't get a full punchline until the end. It's still one of the funniest 30 minutes of television ever produced, over three decades later.

Hope something in this ramble helps! Thanks for the ask, @publikoccurrences :)

All of my consultation, beta editing and screenshot commissions are free, but if you find what I share helpful: Consider reblogging, buying me a Ko-Fi, or check out my writing on AO3! You can send me an ask about any writing topic and I'll be glad to answer.