#thank you so much for the questions! these were really fun

[stardustandash]

How many fics have you worked on since January?

Worked on about 55? I think? Its hard to calculate as I posted whumptober and febuwhump as individual stories but they exist in one doc each on my computer. I've worked on 6 fics that are either as of yet unposted, unprinted in a zine, or just lost unfinished limbo (I need to work on my merrin-focused post nur fic omg)

2. What’s something new that you tried in a fic this year?

I guess I've tried to play more with present vs past tense, and finishing multichapter fics before posting. Did try out a time loop for the first time during whumptober and had fun with that!

3. What piece of media inspired you the most? (This can be the fandom you wrote the most for, the one that spawned the most ideas, the one you thought about the most, etc.)

I feel like Star Wars is the pretty obvious answer, though right at the end of the year here comes Dragon Age with a steel chair after 4 years of not really being involved in the fandom

4. How many fandoms did you write for this year?

Seven, I think! Jedi Fallen Order & Survivor, The Bad Batch, Dragon Age Inquisition & Veilguard, FFXV, FFXVI, Horizon Zero Dawn & Forbidden West, and Twisted Wonderland

5. What ships captured your heart?

As a gen writer its rare for ships to catch me, but thank you Veilguard for giving me Rook x Harding, and M!Rook x Emmrich. (Not a fan of F!Rook x Emmrich sorry yall)

7. What characters captured your heart?

As always Cal remains number 1 in my heart. I love him so much, along with the whole Mantis crew <3 For new this year, I am bewitched body and soul by the Veilguard crew. The writers were cooking with all of them, they're all amazing!!

8. Did you write for any new fandoms or ships this year?

...Does Veilguard count lol? For new fandoms I wrote one FFXVI fic early in the year.

I've got two fics for Rook x Harding and one wip for Rook x Emmrich as new ships!

9. What fic meant the most to you to write?

That's a hard question!! I think I poured a lot of my own personal emotional anguish into a lot of the fics I wrote this year. It's been a rough year for many reasons, and writing out all that angsty hurt/comfort helped a lot

10. What fic made you feel the happiest to work on?

I think finishing 'what makes a family' was honestly one of the best feelings ever! And the fact that I still get comments on it from time to time about people binge-reading it.

11. What fic was the most satisfying to finish writing?

I guess I could go with the above, but actually completing whumptober was pretty satisfying.

12. What fic was the most difficult to write?

'i do not love the bright sword for its sharpness' is at the top of this pile. i think about it constantly but actually writing it is proving super difficult, and it remains unfinished...

13. What fic was the easiest to write?

The one for the Pabu Days zine!! I wrote the first draft in just over an hour, and it was about 1k too many words lol

14. What were your shortest and longest fics posted this year?

of the ones written entirely in this year, 'take a breath before the plunge' wins with its 11k words. If we count just completed this year, 'what makes a family' wins at just shy of 70k

The shortest was one of the whumptober fics, 'where flesh and metal meet'

15. What were your go-to writing songs?

The Horizon games' soundtracks! Less of a song list, but there's too many to put in here.

What was the hardest fic to title?

...all of them. Titling things is the hardest part of writing fics

16. What's your favorite title of the year?

Love and Blood Both Run Red, or maybe Cold But For Your Company

17. Share your favorite opening line

In some way, Tech thinks, it is poetic to die for his family.

From here, at the bottom

18. Share your favorite ending line

He turned, and came face to face with a skull staring back at him. There were holes through the skull, and though everything had been decayed by time, Cal could still see that the skeleton wore Jedi robes.

From then there was nothing

19. Share your favorite piece of dialogue

ooh i don't know! If its humorous then assume its one of my favourites

20. Share your funniest line

see above

21. What's something that surprised you while you were working on a fic? Did it change the story?

I think being able to slip back into old fandoms and characters for whumptober was a surprise. it didn't change the story but it was surprisingly quick to get back into things i hadn't touched in years

22. What writing programs did you use? Did you write by hand?

I use microsoft word for all my fics. which isn't great for longform fic and probably why i don't write too much of it

23. If you had to choose one, what was THE most satisfying writing moment of your year?

Again, actually managing to complete whumptober felt really good!! I've never managed to finish a writing challenge like that so it was a really proud moment

24. Did you do anything special to celebrate finishing a fic?

I don't think I've ever done anything?? Though I am thinking about starting a lil scrapbook of comments or smth like that

25. How did you recharge between fics?

what is this recharge you speak of? I am either possessed by ideas that demand attention or left in a drought of creativity

26. Did you create fanworks other than fic?

I do playlists for myself sometimes. I have ones for Cal, Crosshair, and Omega right now. I constantly wish i had the patience to improve my art skills to do fanart

27. How many events did you take part in? (bangs, exchanges, ship weeks, zines, prompt memes, they all count!)

4 if you count febuwhump and whumptober. I'm in a Bad Batch zine that's in preorders right now - Pabu Days, and participating in a fic/art exchange for new years for Twisted Wonderland

28. If this were an awards show, who would you thank?

firstly I'd like to thank my cat for being the one to hear me talk out plot points and details. I'd also like to thank @pennflinn and @breakfastteatime for being both supportive of all my j:fo fics as well as being inspirations themselves in that fandom! And the whole j:fo fandom at large for being awesome and supportive of each other's works. And I need to mention @fanfoolishness for joining me in not one, not two, but THREE! fandoms here!! As well, shoutout to @shadowcrow for yelling on my rook x harding fics! it's a small corner of the fandom but at least it's got you there!

29. What's left on your to-do list for 2024?

Finish this fic for the new years exchange, and get another chapter of Blood and Love Both Run Red up! Though it may only be one of those that happens...

30. What would you like to write next year?

I wanna finish bright sword and get that post nur Merrin fic postable! And since I'm currently consumed by Veilguard I wanna write more of that next year too!

A slightly revised version of last year's questions! Two ways to play: Reblog and have your followers send you numbers, or answer the whole list!

How many fics have you worked on since January?

What’s something new that you tried in a fic this year?

What piece of media inspired you the most? (This can be the fandom you wrote the most for, the one that spawned the most ideas, the one you thought about the most, etc.)

How many fandoms did you write for this year?

What ships captured your heart?

What characters captured your heart?

Did you write for any new fandoms or ships this year?

What fic meant the most to you to write?

What fic made you feel the happiest to work on?

What fic was the most satisfying to finish writing?

What fic was the most difficult to write?

What fic was the easiest to write?

What were your shortest and longest fics posted this year?

What were your go-to writing songs?

What was the hardest fic to title?

What's your favorite title of the year?

Share your favorite opening line

Share your favorite ending line

Share your favorite piece of dialogue

Share your funniest line

What's something that surprised you while you were working on a fic? Did it change the story?

What writing programs did you use? Did you write by hand?

If you had to choose one, what was THE most satisfying writing moment of your year?

Did you do anything special to celebrate finishing a fic?

How did you recharge between fics?

Did you create fanworks other than fic?

How many events did you take part in? (bangs, exchanges, ship weeks, zines, prompt memes, they all count!)

If this were an awards show, who would you thank?

What's left on your to-do list for 2024?

What would you like to write next year?

[limethefirst]

im sorry i but i have to get in on this sonic movie s shadow train i love this movie so much as well! And ive been dieing for some movie shadow x readers to pop up. Is it alright if i request something? Can we have a shadow the hedgehog x reader where you also are living in the g.u.n base maria and shadow were? Your father or mother being on of the scientists and one day maria and shadow find you alone in a corner of the base writing music or playing with toys something (your marias age). Thrn they introuce themselfs and maybe you become part of their gaggle of fraggles to always being with them to the point your mother and gerald agree for you and maria both to share a room. With you shadow and maria being so close in time till your all like siblings? Idk this just sounded so cute. Thank you of your able to write this!

Birds of a Feather

pairings: Shadow the Hedgehog x reader x Maria Robotnik (platonic)

warnings: none!!!

summary: after being brought to work with your mother, Maria and Shadow stumble upon you, deciding to invite you to join their little group, from then on the three of you became inseparable

a/n: this is such a cute request! I was gonna end it with both Maria and the reader dying but I think Shadow has been traumatized enough for now…

“You stay put! I have work to do in the lab okay?” Your mother’s voice was stern; being a single mother was tough, especially because she had no one to take care of you while she did her work. You gave her a small nod, acknowledging her request.

A slight sigh escaped her lips as she lightly caressed your cheek, “Just, behave for me please,” was the last thing she told you before she walked into the door to your right, the words ‘Laboratory’ in bright white above the area.

You slowly sat down on the floor, she’d asked you to not leave and you really wanted to respect her decision, even as a child you knew her life was harder than she’d let on.

Unfortunately you were a child with a small attention span. You dug into your pockets and found a small notebook with equations, probably from your mom and a small pencil. Since there was nothing better to do maybe it was best to just draw a little bit, maybe some flowers and animals you liked.

Sitting there, you slightly hunched over, trying your hardest to draw the most beautiful roses and some bees and landscape you could. Suddenly a voice rang out from above you, “What are you doing here?” Your head snapped up, meeting the eyes of a small blonde girl and a strange black and red hedgehog.

“Uhm my mom works here..” you nervously answered her, “What are you doing here?” You asked her exact question but back at her.

“My grandfather works here!” She proudly exclaimed. The hedgehog looked between the both of you, he stood covered behind her, he had a mean face but you could tell he was more curious than anything.

The girl taking note of the awkward silence decided to introduce herself, “I’m Maria! And this is Shadow! What’s your name?”

You looked between the two, taking in who they were before you quietly responded with your name, Maria let out a big grin and Shadow silently repeated it to himself, “What are you drawing?” Maria asked, looking at the small notebook in your hand. You looked down at it and turned it over so the two could see; it looked like a small rabbit with butterflies and flowers around it, “Woah that looks really cool!”

Shadow silently nodded, agreeing with her. You thanked the two of them, fidgeting with your pencil. As Maria continued to talk you took notice of her outfit, she wore a pastel rainbow long sleeve shirt and loose pants with skates on her feet instead of shoes. She must’ve noticed you staring at them as she suddenly asked, “Do you wanna try them!?”

You hesitantly shook your head, as much as you wanted to you didn’t really know her and if she would even be okay with that. Maria reassured you that it was fine and actually really fun, before you could tell her a definite no she’d already taken them off, placing them in front of you, “Try them! Shadow can pull you around,”

Shadow looked between the both of you, clearly not having agreed but Maria nodded her head yes, leaving Shadow to only agree. Surely your mom wouldn’t notice if you were gone for a quick second.

Once you were geared up and Maria found a rope to tie onto Shadow and for you to hold, she grabbed her timer, “Ready, set, go!!” Before you had time to really brace yourself Shadow had already set off, he ran through the base, his face held a small smile as he checked back a few times to check if you were still holding on.

He saw the wide smile you had, your laughter was echoing throughout the hall filled with the other agents. Quickly you already finished the lap and had made your way back to Maria, but unfortunately you didn’t exactly know how to stop, so as Shadow had slowed down you still held a generally fast speed. Too fast actually, causing you to trip and fall face first; thankfully the fast hedgehog was able to grab you and hold you up before you fell and ate concrete.

Maria ran over to check and make sure you were okay, feeling guilt if she somehow made you upset from almost falling. As you stood up, you turned back to look at the two, your extremely wide smile shocking them both, it was almost contagious as Maria started to smile and laugh and Shadow breathed a sigh of relief but you could see the small twitch in his lips making them quirk up.

Suddenly you heard your name coming from beside you, turning you saw your mom as well as her boss Professor Gerald Robotnik looking at the three of you, “I thought I told you to stay put!” Her expression wasn’t one of anger, more a mix of stress and lack of sleep.

“Mom! I’m sorry I just met Maria and Shadow and they’re really fun and I thought it was okay, we didn’t cause any trouble-“ You started to ramble feeling immense guilt for betraying your own mother, but you were suddenly cut off.

“Now now, I think it’s quite alright, you see Maria is my granddaughter, and I trust her and your child doesn’t seem bad” The professor interrupted and explained to your mother, “I actually think it’s good for the kids to hangout and get along” he advocated for you.

All three of you nodded your head, even Shadow was agreeing! Your mom reluctantly nodded her head, agreeing that he was right.

And so you came daily, until your mom had to start working 24/7 and so Gerald let you stay in Maria’s room, even getting you guys a bunk bed. It was nice, the three of you became like the three musketeers, you’d never see each other alone anymore.

Sometimes Maria would play music and you three would all dance and jump around together. At some point you even got your own pair of skates so that you three could race, although Shadow always won.

Life was fun, everyday was like an endless sleepover, sometimes the three of you would sneak out and watch the stars, even falling asleep under the moonlight. It wasn’t bad, not at all.

These were the best days of your life, just you and your two best friends.

[silentsamlikesham]

Cat Got Your Tongue? - Zosan Temp!Mute Fic

Thank you to @gingeralejasminetea for the following prompt "sanji or zoro somehow becomes temporarily mute and the other just *happens* to be the only one on the crew that’s able to completely accurately interpret their facial expressions/gestures, leading them to be their translator until their voice comes back" I'm not going to lie I did STRUGGLE with having only one of these idiots being able to speak. I made the brave decision to have Sanji lose the ability to talk and like- Zoro is a man of few words :'D. I'm not fully satisified with the ending to this fic, so maybe someday (not soon) I mayyy write a part 2, we'll see. OKAY ENJOY!! **Not Beta Read. Please excuse any and all mistakes**

Words: 4,350

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Sanji tugged at his red checkered scarf, glaring at the faux grass on the Sunny’s deck as he listened to their tiny doctor finish his explanation to the crew. Chopper had gathered the crew to the deck after finishing his check-up on Sanji after the crew’s last fight. The air was tense from the fury radiating from the chef and he couldn’t bring himself to look at either of the crew’s two fabulous ladies to cheer him up, lest he’s met with eyes of pity.  

It was a burst of laughter that broke the silence, the sound reddening Sanji’s face as he turned to glare at the source. Of course, it was the mosshead doubled over the railing, tears streaming down his face as he laughed at Sanji’s expense.  

“Zoro!” Chopper chastised, as Nami slapped the swordsman on the arm.  

Luffy also began to chuckle from where he was perched under the ship’s mast, Sanji slowly dragged his gaze from Zoro to his captain.  

“Sanji, you can still cook meat, right?” Luffy smiled, wide and unapologetic.  

The chef nodded his head slowly, confused by the question before he had an armful of his captain to catch as Luffy catapulted himself straight into him. His stretching arms wrapping tightly around Sanji, but careful not to wring around his neck.  

“Then let’s have a barbeque!” Luffy decided, the crew laughing and cheering as the mood on the ship changed back to its usual chaotic state. 

“Luffy! Don’t squeeze his chest, coughing will be just as bad as talking for his throat.” Chopper wailed, pulling at his Captains foot until Luffy let go of Sanji, unraveling until he snapped back onto the deck.  

“Sorry Chopper.” Luffy smiled, not looking the least bit apologetic.  

“Does that mean dart-brows can’t smoke, Chopper? I bet that would really slow down the healing process.” Zoro grins, reveling in the look of horror creeping across the cook’s face, slowly twisting into rage as he began marching towards Zoro, his foot already smoking.  

The swordsman grinned, his hand going to his nearest hilt as Chopper dived between them.  

“NO!” The little reindeer cried out, tears forming in his eyes as he looked between the two of them, knowing the danger of getting in front of either of them when they were about to spar.  

  “No fighting!” Chopper did his best to keep a wobble out of his voice, relaxing a bit as the two, unwillingly, relaxed their fighting stances. “-and, no smoking.” 

Sanji waved his hands around in frustration, pleading with the tiny doctor with his eyes before running a finger across his neck at Zoro to let him know that the swordsman is dead as soon as he recovers.  

“Sanji, your throat is really swollen...there’s nothing I can do but tell you to rest it.” Chopper bites his lower lip as it trembles, his voice cracking like he’s about to cry. “Please, just a few days, no smoking, no talking, and-” The small doctor turns to meet Zoro’s eye as he finishes “-no fighting. Okay?” 

Sanji looks briefly to the sky, searching the clouds for some strength before he nods at Chopper.  

“Whatever.” Zoro yawns, over the whole thing as he realises there’s no more fun to be had. “Not like Curly-brows ever has much to say anyways.” 

Sanji’s hands curl into fists as Zoro walks by him, flashing him a shit-eating grin as he knows Sanji can’t bite back with his usual banter and shitty nickname.  

“You’ll heal fast, Sanji.” The cook looks down at where Chopper had stopped beside him, looking up at him with his wide eyes and child-like face. “And I’ll check on you every day, so you’ll know when it’s over!” 

Sanji lets out a small sigh through his nose, wanting so badly to comfort the little doctor and tell him ‘I know Chopper, you’ve done all you can.’ Instead, all he can do is pat Chopper’s hat and motion for him to follow Sanji into the kitchen. He can’t comfort the doctor with words, but he can give him some chocolate instead.  

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

Sanji was doing his usual lunch time rounds, dropping drinks and nibbles in front of his different crew mates. He spun out of the kitchen with his customary enthusiasm and excitement. At the last island they’d stocked up on, he’d managed to pick up some local honey and he had spent the afternoon making sweet protein balls out of it, mixing the honey with oats and some with chocolate.  

He skipped over to the ladies first. Robin hiding beneath the cover of an umbrella while Nami lay out in the sun, tanning beneath the relentless rays, her skin sparkling from the sunscreen she’d lathered on her skin.  

Sanji was swooning from the sight alone. His throat was aching, twitching as he blew a heavy breath from his lungs, longing to serenade the ladies with an onslaught of compliments and small talk.  

Instead, as he approached the ladies with his usual twirling and dancing, he could hear the familiar sounds of sniggering and noticed Usopp, Luffy and Chopper hiding nearby. 

“Ooooh Nami-Swannn your skin is as radiant as the sun, let me refresh you with the coolest of drinks and the most divine snacks the new world has ever seen.” Usopp did a terrible impression of Sanji, pretending to hold a cigarette in his fingers as he spoke.  

The impression had Luffy and Chopper cackling and rolling on the floor as Sanji sent daggers through his eyes at them. Robin chuckled at the sight, leaving Sanji deflated and flustered as he left her drink and nibbles in front of her. She smiled up at him though, thanking him with a warm look in her eyes. It was enough to easily snap Sanji back from his mood and had him twirling around Nami again.  

He managed to make his way over to Usopp while the sharpshooter had his back to him, continuing his poor imitation. Sanji felt marginally better as he got to kick the sniper in the back of the head, sending Luffy and Chopper running in fear and leaving Usopp groaning and overreacting on the ground.  

He didn’t even kick him that hard, but still Usopp cried up at him and clung to his leg, begging him to stop.  

Sanji tried to shake him off, anxiously glancing at the tray of food and drink as Usopp unbalanced him, dragging him left and right. Sanji didn’t easily drop a tray, and Usopp wasn’t that strong, but fear made the sniper erratic, and Sanji would probably cry in frustration if his shitty situation with his throat led to any food waste. 

“Oi, Usopp, knock it off. Curly’s gonna kill you if he drops that tray.”  

Sanji froze at the words, startled that he was hearing his thoughts spoken aloud.  

He glanced over to the swordsman leaning against the mast, he’d been convinced Zoro had been asleep in the shade. But now the mosshead was watching the pair through his one eye, the gaze feeling more intense and violating than usual. 

Usopp squeaked in response, throwing himself off Sanji and scampering several feet back from him. Sanji frowned, glaring at Zoro who held his gaze for a mere second before he shut his eye again. Sanji wasn’t used to losing Zoro’s attention so quickly, usually the pair would be foot to blade by now. Even if Zoro had just helped him out, he would have told the Mossball to shut it and keep out of his business and they’d be several bruises deep into an argument by now. 

Instead, Sanji had to swallow the comeback he couldn’t speak and continue upon his deliveries. He handed Usopp his drink with a cold glare, earning himself an apology and flurry of excuses before Usopp insisted on helping him hand the rest out.  

He served Zoro last, as usual, and the idiot must have been using his haki because he didn’t wait for a kick to the head to wake him up. His eye opened as Sanji got close, the distance at which Sanji would have usually insulted him and called him a name to get his attention. Zoro put a hand out for his drink without being asked and accepted his plate of blander, unsweetened protein balls without a word. 

Sanji stared at him, resisting the urge to bite his lower lip in thought as Zoro eventually gave him another glance.  

“What, Curly? Cat got your tongue?” 

Sanji’s frown deepened, his brows knitting together before he let out a tsk and stomped towards the galley. Once inside, he fiddled with the scarf around his neck, loosening it and letting the fabric fall into a long loop. He looked at the dark line of bruises in the reflection of a hanging pan above the stove, willing the purple and blue skin to heal.  

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

It was day three of Sanji’s induced muteness and he felt like he was really starting to lose his mind. He’d never appreciated how often he used his words to convey things, to join in on the fun around the ship and to stand up for himself.  

The last three days had felt like a comical silent movie, chasing Luffy around the ship when he snuck into the galley, rolling his eyes at his ship mates annoying antics and last night, having to throw Usopp from his bed to wake him up to dispose of a spider in the bunk room.  

It was infuriating, it was tiring, and Sanji could feel a headache pulsing behind his eyes from the toll it was all taking. On top of the muteness his sore throat was making it difficult to drink, to sleep, to eat. Pain, Sanji could tolerate, but the hunger pangs he was feeling in his stomach were unnerving.  

Needless to say, Sanji was on edge. In fact, he was beyond the edge. He was clinging onto his sanity by his fingernails and right now, his current predicament might just be the final straw.  

If Sanji cries in the galley because he can’t find the knife Zeff gave him, the one he uses every day, the one that is basically an extension of his hands, then he might just throw himself off the side of the ship.  

He was staring at the kitchen island like he was going mad. His hands moving over the cold marble and brushing over the vegetables that were waiting there to be chopped. 

He’d just had it. How could a knife grow legs and walk away? He started lifting any plates and tea towels around him, sure he must have thrown them on top of it by mistake.  

A hand curled into his fringe, pulling slightly as Sanji let out a huff of pain. He needed a smoke, he needed a cigarette so badly, but he refused to make the healing process go any slower. There was no way he was going through this for more than a few days.  

Right as he was about to bang his head off the marble, someone spoke up from the corner of the room. Sanji flushed red as he jumped, he’d been so engrossed in his search and his poor mood that he hadn’t noticed the Mossball slide onto the couch the far side of the dining table. 

“It’s by the sink, Cook.” Zoro scoffed, folding his arms and tucking his chin against his chest, clearly about to nod off for a nap. He doesn’t usually do so in the galley but one glance at the falling mist of rain outside, and it made sense.  

Sanji stared dumbly at Zoro for a moment. What was the idiot talking about? Beside the sink? He turned his head, his eyes catching the glint of steel as his knife lay just beside the drying rack. He must have left it there when he threw the pans into the sink to soak.  

He looked back to Zoro with a raised brow and a wide eye. How the fuck did he know he was looking for his knife?  

But Sanji couldn’t ask and from the soft snores filling the galley, Zoro wouldn’t have replied anyways.  

Sanji picked up his knife, spinning it gently in his hand as he fiddled with the handle. He chopped up the vegetables in his usual rhythmic routine, but every time he scooped his prep into a bowl, he snuck a glance at the swordsman.  

Since when was Zoro a mind reader? 

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

By the fifth day, Sanji felt like he was really going insane. No longer because he still couldn’t speak or smoke, but because Zoro was creeping him out. Every time they were in the same room Zoro was making small jabs and comments to Sanji that were almost perfectly in line with the running monologue in Sanji’s head. 

It was unnerving to see the Mosshead so aware of someone else. Usually, Zoro brooded in the corner, unmoving in his preference to exclude himself from most shenanigans and conversations on the ship. Now, Sanji was starting to realise the Mosshead was completely aware of what was happening around him and of his crewmate’s thoughts. At least, he seemed to know exactly what was going on in Sanji’s head. The cook was used to feeling that connection with the Mosshead in battle but for the day-to-day stuff, it was startling. 

The weirdest thing to happen so far, had happened today. The crew had docked at a small island, inhabited by a group that lived in a village on the southern side of the island.  

The log pose was going to take over a day to reset so Luffy had decided they should spend the evening partying on the island and spend a night at a local inn. It hadn’t been an easy thing to arrange with the lovely Nami worried about their budget, but there was no arguing with the captain when he wanted to party, and the rest of the crew were happy to get black out drunk and pass out in a bed that didn’t sway with the ocean.  

They’d gone to the nicest restaurant on the island, mainly because Zoro pointed out that Sanji had his eyes on the building from the moment they found the center of the island. 

That had been strange enough, that Zoro was actively pushing for something Sanji wanted. But the weirdest part was when they had to order. Usually, Sanji would order for most of the crew. He was easily able to tell what each of them would want most from whatever limited menu they had to order from. Tonight, Zoro hadn’t even paused after his order when he added- 

“The curly-brows wants the spicy seafood dish, and a glass of whatever wine will go with it.” 

It wasn’t as refined an answer as Sanji would have given the waitress, but it was close enough to the mark that Sanji’s jaw had unlatched as he stared dumbfounded at the brute. 

“What?” Zoro scoffed when the waitress disappeared into the kitchen, and he noticed the cook’s eyes on him.  

Sanji looked even more pissed off then, wishing more than he had this entire week that he could speak and ask the Swordsman what the fuck was going on.  

Instead, the crew interrupted them with their own chatter and chaos and Sanji was forced to sit back in silence for the following hours.  

It was only when everyone was heading towards the inn that Sanji had a moment to confront the mosshead. He fell into step with him at the back of the group as they all made their way to the inn. Zoro barely even glanced at him as they walked, and Sanji could feel the tick of annoyance on the back of his head as Zoro stayed silent for nearly the entire stroll.  

As they arrived at the inn, Sanji grabbed Zoro’s arm and physically held him back from following the crew through the main entrance,  

“What?” Zoro groaned, glancing longingly at where a bed was waiting for him. “What do you want, Cook? Not like you have anything to say.” 

Sanji continued to glare at him, his gaze hardening at the callous words.  

Zoro eventually glared back, letting out a frustrated tsk as the silence stretched on and Sanji did nothing more than angrily huff at him.  

“Look, are we going to fight and not tell Chopper or are you going to let me go the fuck to sleep?” 

Sanji’s frown deepened. Surprisingly, he hadn’t been thinking of kicking the moron. He looked away, almost embarrassed by his persistence when he knew he couldn’t voice his frustration. But eventually his glare returned to the Marimo. 

He crossed his arms across his chest and tapped his foot insistently, giving Zoro an unamused look. The Mossball just raised his brows in response, like he was egging Sanji to try speak his mind.  

“What? What do you want Cook? I’m not a mind reader.” 

Sanji groaned angrily at this, waving his arms at Zoro, trying to convey this is exactly what Sanji was trying to speak to him about.  

“What? You think I’m a mind reader?” 

Sanji just glared in silence now, pursing his lips further.  

“Is this about dinner? I should have known you’d be fucking weird about it. You order for me all the time, what’s your problem, did you not like your food?” 

Sanji sighed, running a hand through his hair and now deciding it was easier not to look at the Mosshead. He stared stubbornly at one of the lamps hanging off the wall of the inn as he tried to come up with a way to respond.  

“That’s not it...” Zoro grumbled, earning Sanji’s attention again as the Cook whipped around to look at him.  

Zoro studied him properly then, his one good eye analyzing Sanji’s body language from his feet to his face. It was intimidating, almost embarrassing to have Zoro’s eyes so intensely focused on him, inspecting every shift in Sanji’s stance and ever bounce of his brow. 

“Curly, I don’t fucking know what you’re so annoyed about. It’s not my fault you can’t speak.” Zoro sighed, looking tired all of a sudden.  

The first mate’s eyes went to Sanji’s scarf. It wasn’t an item of clothing that was remotely needed given the climate of the island, but Sanji had refused to take it off. He didn’t want his cremates staring at the dark reminder of the bruising around his crushed throat. That part, Zoro could understand. Not wanting to show a clear weakness to a crew that often relied on you. He didn’t know why the Cook was bothering him specially though, forcing him into an awkward standstill outside the inn.  

At this stage, the pair will be forced to room together, something both of them actively avoided and argued against. By now, the rest of the crew would be buried deep beneath rented duvets as they drifted off to sleep. No one would be willing to swap or listen to Zoro complain.  

Sanji sighed loudly in response, looking at Zoro with what he hoped was an exasperated expression. Then, it came to him, the one thing he never needs words for when dealing with Zoro.  

He motioned for Zoro to stand still and then made his way around the oaf. He stopped behind Zoro, facing away from the brute and leaning his back against the others. 

He can feel the muscles in Zoro’s back tense as he leans his weight against him, can hear the sharp intake of breath the Mossball draws in. Sanji raises his leg gently, the same way he would in a fight and on instinct Zoro’s hand goes to his hilts. As Sanji changes his stance and turns slightly to the right, Zoro automatically reacts, dropping a foot back to cover the left side Sanji opens. 

They continue this strange waltz for almost a minute, Sanji almost losing himself in the rhythm as he practices his fight style for the first time since the crews fight several days ago. He pushed himself with a wide arcing kick and as he drew his knee up, he rattles his lungs, forcing an unexpected haggard cough from his throat and ruining his balance as he flinched from the pain of it.   

He sways dangerously to the side, his shoulder slipping off Zoro’s and for the first time since he was a kid he feels himself falling from his stance. Before he can crumble to the ground, Zoro shifts behind him, twisting half around until a large hand wraps around Sanji’s bicep, steadying him and stopping his fall.  

Sanji blinks owlishly up at the swordsman, holding his breath as he meets a curious but annoyed stare. His face heats up and Sanji hopes the lamp light hides whatever colour is dusting his cheeks. 

Sanji doesn’t rush to fix his stance, instead he lets himself hang by Zoro’s grip and brings a finger up to poke pointedly at Zoro’s chest. This is what I’m talking about, shitty Swordsman. He tries to convey the thought in his eyes, in the way he let himself hang there, unfazed if Zoro was going to drop him. It wouldn’t be out of character for the Mosshead, but he knew Zoro would understand the significance of the moment and wouldn’t do it.  

He was proven right by Zoro grunting and averting his gaze, a faint blush on his cheeks now complimenting Sanji’s own. He tugged at Sanji’s arm and eventually pulled the Cook to stand upright again, dropping his arm like it burned.  

“Cook.” Zoro sighed tiredly, wiping a hand over his face and pushing his knuckles against his eyelids in the hope of focusing his mind a bit. “Are you freaking out because I can read you like an open book?” 

Sanji snorted at the phrase, crossing his arms tightly across his chest in distress. Zoro could not read him like a book, Sanji was not that straight forward a man. Zoro clearly was just...just...fuck, what was Zoro doing? 

“Curly, you’re not fucking subtle. You express every little emotion in that frantic head of yours the second you think or feel anything.” 

Sanji scoffs in disagreement, his eyes narrowing at Zoro’s words as he fiddles uncomfortably with a thread on his suit’s sleeve. The Swordsman was talking nonsense. 

“Like right now, you act like you don’t believe a word I’m saying but you’re ripping your sleeve apart because you know I’m right and that makes you freak out and fidget with the nearest thing possible.” 

Zoro takes a step closer to Sanji then. His words force Sanji to drop his sleeve and rest his hands by his side, his fingers twitching at the loss. He glares up at the ever so slightly taller man and meet’s his eye without hesitation. Their chests are almost touching, their foreheads inches from one another and Sanji is swallowing every bit of panic swelling in his chest because if he backs down from Zoro now, then it’s going to seem like Zoro is right. 

Which he’s not. He’s not freaking out over what Zoro is saying. There’s no way it’s true, Sanji may have his heart on his sleeve for the ladies but otherwise he’s a secretive guy. He’s hidden his upbringing from the crew, hiding his surname from the entire world, fooling even those who print the bounty posters. He’d lied effortlessly in the past, getting the crew out of some tough spots. Sanji was clever, he could be sly, secretive, a mystery.  

No one knew what was going on in his head. They might think they do but no one could guess what he was really thinking most of the time. Except apparently, Zoro could. Zoro who hated Sanji most days and who he had thought only understood him when Sanji’s shoe was buried in the side of his head.  

“You can deny it all you’d like, Sanji.” Sanji choked on his own spit, coughing brutally as Zoro just grinned, leaning in closer as he reveled in catching the Cook further off guard. 

“But I see you. I see right through the bullshit.”  

With that, Zoro flashed him a chesire grin, ruffled a hand through Sanji’s hair and brushed past the red-faced cook without another glance.  

“Don’t wake me up when you come into the room, or I’ll skewer you.” 

The sound of the inn door opening and closing echoed through the empty street. Sanji stayed standing in the center of the cobblestone lane, trying to catch his breath after his mini coughing fit and doing his best to will the flush from his face.  

Maybe he could blame that part on the alcohol.  

I see you.  

Sanji groaned, grabbing a fistful of his hair as he doubled over on the street. What the fuck did that mean? Also, using his real name like that? The bastard had to have known that would get to him.  

What an asshole. There’s no way Zoro was intelligent enough to understand a fraction of how Sanji felt or thought about things. He was just getting lucky and using the coincidence to rile the cook up. You can deny it all you’d like- That fucking smug- Sanji wished he could scream at the twinkling stars above. 

Sanji spent far too long loitering in the street before he could force himself to march into the inn and face sharing a room with the guy. Hopefully, he was asleep by now, and Sanji knew for a fact he’d be gone long before the oaf woke up in the morning.  

He decided the next time he was willing to face the Swordsman, was when he could speak again. Then he could give the asshole a piece of his mind, put the brute in his place and let him know just how wrong he was about everything.  

That, or he could just smother him in his sleep.  

That would be easier than admitting to himself that his entire perception of the brute had been flipped on its head tonight.  

[bambisnc]

can you write something about winter????? write harever you want with gn!reader. thank you!!!

apple cider [ft. k.mj]

pairing : winter x gn!reader genre : everything i write is crack honestly. some fluff cw/tw : swearing + uneditted af xx + reader is js confused <3 wc : 0.7k?

your first time meeting kim minjeong had entailed a bruised hip, a spilled drink and a late pass.

it was almost as if the universe had had it pre-determined; made up its mind, even, for you to not like her.

... sure, it might've slightly been your fault that you were late and scrambling to find a seat in the already pretty hectic classroom that caused you to bump into said girl,.. which in turn had the equal and opposite reaction of her managing to push you and your (now bruised) hip with a loud thud! towards one of the tables.

which lead to you spilling your entire drink all~ over your shirt.

your favorite shirt.

before you even knew her name, you had decided you were not a fan. and even now, having spent considerable time in roughly the same friend group,.. you really don’t get the hype around her. 

okay, yes, you admit she’s, like, really nice and pretty and helpful and cute, but it’s whatever.

hence, obviously, the only liable course of action then was to take advantage of the fact that your teacher announced a project to be done in pairs and end up being minjeong’s partner because you don’t really like anyone else in that class which somehow ends up with you having to break her out of a literal, physical fight with some girl whose name you couldn’t even be bothered knowing.

huh? 

“let’s meet at the library.” she had suggested, “it’ll be quiet – it’d be easy for us to focus and get our work over and done with as fast as possible.” 

you had taken a little offense to that. but hey, at least you knew your (slightly) bitter feelings towards her were just as reciprocated. 

so naturally you were surprised when you walked straight into a crowd in the otherwise quiet hall, and happened upon the previously mentioned scene. 

the tense scene was captivating, to say the least. both girls involved showed no apparent signs of remorse or stopping. it even took you a while to manage to pick up your jaw off the floor and move to intervene, albeit your actions being mostly on instinct.

you’re not quite sure why you did it. maybe because your project was at stake? yeah that was probably the only reason.

… doing so was shockingly easy, however. the minute minjeong felt your touch on her, she paused, quietly. a strangely herculean feat on her part, considering how fiercely she’d been fighting merely seconds ago.

but her opponent didn’t have the same mindset. despite the comparatively much more bruised appearance (minjeong barely even had a scratch on her, really), she still found the ability to paste on a sneer and speak out. “wah~ your beloved’s here for you, huh? here to rescue you? just like you were trying to keep their name clear from the rumors-” 

at which point, the girl previously in your grasp all but leapt out to land one last (rather satisfying) punch square on her opponent’s face. 

and then, wordlessly, effortlessly, she walked out;... with you trailing behind, mind chock-full of questions but not being really sure how to express even one of them.

you could only watch as she walked all the way to the courtyard with all the casualness of the world before sitting down on one of the benches .. and soon find yourself stopping in front of her, offering her the bottle clutched in your hand all this while, surprising not only minjeong but also yourself. 

“...you’re probably tired out after all that .. exertion. plus dehydration’s never fun.” is your flimsy, offhanded excuse.

she smiles, then, and accepts it, but both you and her know that she doesn’t really believe it. 

your eyes meet hers, finally, asking if she’d mind company. she shakes her head, no, shifting to make space for you. 

the warmth of the late evening embraces both of you with an orange haze. from where you’re sitting, a disarmingly comforting scent invades your senses, your mindspace even. 

it’s somewhat fruity. and it’s so inexplicably kim minjeong that you feel like you’re almost going crazy for thinking about it like that.

when minjeong hands you back the bottle, you notice rather grimly that she’s finished almost the whole drink, “i didn’t know you liked apple cider too. it suits you, weirdly.” 

her words only barely register, but her voice manages to crash your reverie completely. 

what exactly was that bitch girl saying earlier in the library?

why are you even here with kim minjeong right now? it’s not like you owe her comfort or anything, it was her fault for getting into an unnecessary fight (over you?....) in the first place  –  god knows you don’t even like her that much.

…

wait. fuck.

notes : tysmmm for requesting lovely <3 im sorry it took like. almost exactly 6 months (june 24th.........) :( + [m.list] song rec : ill edit link in later but apple cider by queen bea

𐙚 . regulars : @brocoliisscared ⋆

[superkooku]

Have you listened/watched epic? And if you have what’s your thoughts?

Personally I think it’s a good thing to show to a friend new to Greek mythology. I just finished watching the last saga and I have to say I loved it, beautiful. Sad it ended tho :(

It might not be very accurate but I love the hardwork the cast put into it and so I love it very much

My thoughts on Epic the musical

So yes, I know about Epic. I even participated in the secret santa thing and am what we may call 'a winion'.

I just finished watching the livestream too ! I especially loved seeing the cast members were reacting to the sagas (Luke Holt was so funny in this 🤣. Also, Jorge carrying Mico like a baby in 'Just a man' and Mason being extra the whole time... so many gems in that livestream)

Since Epic is finished AND I have animatics of the Ithaca saga, I'll use this opportunity to make a more in-depth review of the musical. Instead of separating it in "good" or "bad", I'm reviewing it criteria per criteria.

The cast

Like I previously said, I LOVE the cast chemistry. They're all so fun and lively. I follow some of them separately, like Janani or Troy Doherty, and they're just delightful. Especially Troy as Hermes, he always manages to make me laugh. Every single time 😂.

Also, he gives me a bit of Mettaton vibes since he's extravagant, always over the top and a bit self-absorbed (the Hermes persona, I mean, not Troy Doherty himself). Maybe that's why I like him so much :3

And of course, there's Jorge, mr. Jalapeño, the man with the plan. I love how both passionate and humble he is, how he takes the time to thank everyone and just how much of a bundle of positive energy he is. I know it's an internet persona, but what I can see from him is some hopefully really nice guy in real life too.

Anyways, awesome cast chemistry, everyone made me laugh and they're all having a good time.

The music

This music is so beautiful 🥰. All the motifs, the emotions, the instruments, the voices ! If I had to rate Epic from the music alone, it would be 5 stars. I'm not saying this in a professional angle or anything, it's my personal feeling.

Seriously, I don't really have that much to say about the music because, to me, it's just that good. I love the variety, how different instruments synch themselves and, yeah.

The characters

Annnnd that's where the blind positive praise stops, unfortunately 😂.

Don't get me wrong, it's not awful either and there are good points. My favorite Epic characters are Hermes and Athena.

The rest ? It's mixed. In order not to make this too long, I'll focus on only some of them.

The story is very character-driven so I won't really delve into it in detail.

Odysseus : he's a good protagonist, especially in the first act. His dilemma is interesting, he has a strong personality and I like that he is just a broken man and not some mighty overlord... except in the Thunder and Vengeance sagas. I feel Jorge exaggerated the monster message a bit too much, imo. Odysseus is supposed to be a witty liar, a warrior of the mind. Not someone like Achilles who solves problems by fighting or fights gods like Heracles, much less freaking Poseidon.

Poseidon : okay ! I liked him in the first act, because FINALLY Poseidon isn't a surfer dude. He's a terrifying force of nature that was angered by mortal hubris (though the hubris thing isn't explained by Epic). In Get in the water, he kept his intimidating side. Because he's, yk, the king of the oceans, one of the most powerful Olympian gods. But his defeat partially ruined him for me 😂. It just doesn't make sense. Why is Odysseus afraid of Scylla and even tip-toes around Hermes, who is friendly, when he can stabby-stab Poseidon ? Why didn't Poseidon counterattack? So many questions.

Zeus : my problem with Zeus is easier to explain. Again, he was awesome in the first act, less so in the second. What I loved initially is how regal he was. Powerful, intimidating, kingly, but not evil either. He warns Odysseus of the gods' will and of fate, which always realizes itself in mythology. In Thunder Bringer, he's fine. His lustful and flighty side is shown, but we could interpret his intervention as avenging Helios and punishing the ones who ate the cows, instead of "Zeus is evil". But in God Games ? He's so pettyyyyy and childish. Where is the kingly attitude ? This "Beast Zeus" should come against Kronos or Typhon, or maybe when Athena and the others threatened his position. Not after a freaking game ! He just strikes Athena with thunder because she won fair and square. At LEAST Luke Holt absolutely killed it, so it's cool to listen to.

Penelope : she's underdeveloped :( . Okay, her bond with Odysseus was respected, they're adorable together. On her own ? Eh, she's fine. Which is a shame because she simply didn't have enough room to exist outside of Odysseus. Also, the fact that she doesn't interact once with her son is criminal imo.

I do have some other issues with characters like Circe and Calypso (basically they're declawed compared to the Odyssey), whereas I'm completely fine with others like Eurylochus, Telemachus or every god except Zeus and Poseidon. Though they're not perfectly accurate either but I don't have problems with them.

The crew in general is also underdeveloped, so I didn't feel much for them (until discovering the scrapped Elpenor and Perimedes songs/lh). They played their roles correctly.

I hated the suitors (that's a positive in Epic) and laughed when Antinous died. Though I wished they were more pathetic and less threatening. Musically it'd be worse but story-wise more fitting.

The story

Overall, it's fine. Most of the best points come from the Odyssey itself, the one change I liked the most was having Odysseus and Poseidon meet (not the way it ended though).

Also, story-wise, I prefer act 1 over act 2, because it's less over the place and more grounded.

But emotion-wise and music-wise, forgetting about the Odyssey, act 2 wins the cake.

Those were my thoughts on Epic :3

I tried not to judge it too much according to the Odyssey and some of my friends are more demanding on that plan (for perfectly legitimate reasons btw). But it's hard to separate Epic from the wonderful work of Homer and it's lacking in some areas.

Still, this journey was very fun, I love all the passion Jorge, the singers and the animatic artists put in, there are a lot of good things about it (I can't mention everything). I don't want to rate it because it's too rigid of a system. I listen to the songs on loop and, ultimately, I'm thankful Epic exists :)

I may come back to this post and reblog stuff if I have new relevant thoughts to add. I'll probably rank the sagas in another post.

[emsprovisions]

❄️ Day 24 - A Very Royal Christmas ❄️

🎁 Today’s fic is dedicated to the Tarlos Fandom 💕

Summary: A modern-day prince au where TK and Carlos were childhood friends, who have become estranged until now.

Word count: 1244

Dear Tarlos fandom,

We have reached the final day! I have had so much fun crafting these stories to post each day and I love seeing all your reactions to being gifted a fic and just all your sweet encouragement in general. You have all been so wonderful and welcoming to me and I see how kind you are to each other as well. I feel so lucky to be in such an amazing online community with so many other kind people who love tarlos. I am so grateful for the friends I’ve made this year because of this show. You all made 2024 a much better year than it would’ve been for me, and for that, I want to say thank you. Happy holidays, everyone!

With love, Emily

24 Days of Tarlos Masterpost

Prince Carlos has been staring at Prince TK all night at the winter ball, hoping he just might catch the eligible bachelor all by himself.

Carlos just wants a moment of the prince’s attention for a dance. Just a simple dance. TK is the crown prince of his country, and while Carlos isn’t next in line for the throne of his own country, he would be remiss to assume TK would ever spare a second glance at him.

He hasn’t since they were kids anyways. 

They used to be best friends, the two young princes were inseparable as playmates when they were children. Now however, one would think they hated each other for the lengths they’d go to avoid one another at functions such as these. 

Carlos doesn’t really understand where it all went wrong. One day, TK was his best friend, and the next day, he wasn’t. 

The prince in question is currently laughing with a few dukes and duchesses, picking a canapé off a passing tray. Carlos watches him from where he stands with Lady Iris, one of his other longest friends. 

“Stop staring, your highness,” Iris teases. “You might burn a hole right through him.”

Carlos rolls his eyes, grabbing a glass of champagne from a waiter’s tray and turning to his friend. “I’m not staring,” the prince insists. “I’m trying to find my nerve.”

“Your nerve?” Iris raises an eyebrow at him.

“You know,” Carlos glances around to ensure no one is listening to their conversation before he hisses, “to ask him to dance.”

That makes Iris raise another eyebrow at him. “You’re going to ask the prince to dance?”

“Shh!” Carlos’s eyes widen. “Not so loud.”

“Oh my god, Carlos,” Iris grabs Carlos by the sleeve and drags him to a quieter area of the ballroom. “You are grown and acting like a child. TK doesn’t want to be your friend, he’s made that very clear. You need to get over your schoolboy crush on him and move on.”

“I deserve to know why he hates me,” Carlos huffs. “It’s been ten years and he’s still ignoring me. He can’t ignore me here.”

Iris just shakes her head, raising one of her hands. “You know what, I can’t watch this trainwreck. You are my best friend, I can’t watch you make a fool of yourself over a boy.”

Carlos rolls his eyes. “I’m not going to make a fool of myself. It’s a winter ball, you’re expected to dance with people, even if you don’t like them.”

Iris’s eyes only widen and she stares at Carlos like he’s grown two heads. 

“What?” Carlos scowls. 

It’s only then Carlos realizes Iris is actually staring at a point over his shoulder. He whirls around and comes face to face with Prince TK himself. 

“Oh, your highness, I didn’t see you there…” Carlos stares into bright, green eyes he’s been in love with as long for as he can remember.

TK just smiles at him, all suave and charismatic. “Prince Carlos,” he says, holding up a hand. “Would you do me the honor of a dance?”

Carlos stares at TK, stunned, he glances backwards at Iris who shoos at him with wide eyes. “Um, sure, yeah.”

TK leads Carlos out onto the dance floor before pulling him in by the waist and beginning to lead. Carlos’s own hand settles at TK’s elbow as their remaining hands clasp together. It’s the closest Carlos has been to TK in years and it’s making his head spin in a way neither the champagne or dancing ever could.

“I heard of your father’s passing earlier this year, I’m so sorry, Carlos,” TK says softly.

Carlos furrows his brows. “Thank you, but is this just a pity dance?”

TK’s eyes snap back to Carlos’s. “Is that what you think of me?”

“I don’t know what to think of you, TK,” Carlos shakes his head. “You’ve refused to speak to me for years when we used to share everything.”

 “I didn’t cut you out,” TK looks away sheepishly. “I ran away.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Carlos huffs.

“Look, you have every right to be pissed,” TK shakes his head. “You have every right to hate me. But it wasn’t until your coming out story this year that I thought…”

“Thought what??”

TK’s gaze finds Carlos’s once more as he softly says, “That I might have a chance with you.”

Now Carlos is even more confused. He’d always known TK is gay. He wasn’t shy about admitting it, unlike Carlos, who always kept that part of himself locked up tight. This year, he felt brave enough to come out on his own accord, because he was tired of the endless marriage proposals and requests from advisors for him to find a nice girl to marry. People get antsy when a handsome prince nears his thirties without a ring on his finger, evidently.

Carlos stares back at TK. “I still don’t understand.”

“Carlos,” TK smiles at the prince sadly. “I’ve been in love with you forever, and I never thought you could even possibly like me back. So I ran. It wasn’t right, and I hate that I lost such an important friendship over it, but I was terrified of losing you regardless.”

“So you made the choice for me.”

“I made the choice for you,” TK agrees.

Carlos glances around the noisy, crowded ballroom. “Can we go somewhere more private?”

TK nods and leads Carlos from the dance floor and towards a quiet balcony that overlooks the grounds, beautifully lit up with Christmas lights over all the shrubbery in the gardens.

“Wow, it’s beautiful out here,” Carlos remarks as he leans up against a stone railing. It’s cold, but he’s warm from the drinks, and dancing, and the man beside him.

TK leans against the railing next to him, head turned to look at Carlos. “It sure is,” he murmurs softly.

Carlos catches TK’s gaze and shakes his head. “You’re impossible, you know.”

“I wouldn’t deserve you.”

“I’ve been in love with you since we were kids,” Carlos finds himself admitting.

It’s TK’s turn to stare at Carlos in shock. “Come again?”

“It’s true,” Carlos shakes his head with a soft little smile. “Maybe I’m crazy, but even though you walked out of my life, I’ve still thought about you. I’ve never been able to get you out of my head.”

“What does that mean, Carlos?” TK shakes his head, staring at Carlos.

Carlos thought he needed to be brave to ask TK to dance, but the real show of courage comes from this moment. 

“It means, I’d like to kiss you, your highness,” he grins, biting his bottom lip to try and contain his smile. He takes a tentative step forward. “And I hope you might allow me to.”

TK’s eyes dazzle from the glow of the moonlight and the Christmas lights all around. He nods, stepping into Carlos and circling his arms around his neck. “You’re really giving me a chance after all I’ve done to you?”

“I really am.”

The kiss is pure magic, like something out of a movie, as Carlos presses his lips to TK’s. Butterflies dance in the prince’s stomach as he pulls the other prince ever closer, wondering if he’s possibly crazy. He’s unsure how this will even work, or where they’ll go from here, but Carlos decides to be brave anyway. Despite it all, he just can’t let TK go.

[starhvney]

Hello! I would like to go with PDH Zane, Gene, Dante and Travis. Tea is my favorite so I would like that too. Oh! And with some cream and a delicious jelly donut 😋

Just to give you an idea of what I want, they take the reader to somewhere special that they only shown to the reader! I think it would be really cute. Thank you, and I hope you have a wonderful day 🤭

𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝟎𝟐: 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐮𝐩 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐫!!

𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐬: romantic tension, fluff, hidden location

𝐚/𝐧: it was, in fact, super cute! thanks for the request! i had fun writing this hehe. have a wonderful day as well!!

𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓 ☆ 𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓

𝐙𝐀𝐍𝐄

“How long have you been coming here?” you whisper, warily glancing across the silent graveyard for any grieving visitors that you might be intruding on.

There wasn’t another soul around in sight though, at least not in your sight. You suppose no one comes here around this time of day, as the sun set and set an even colder chill in the bones of anyone who was still outside.

Zane was quiet for a moment, instead focusing on making sure the stone bench you’ve both stopped at wasn’t going to soak into your pants and really make you cold. He sits after a second, nodding for you to sit as he rests his elbows on his knees.

You don’t talk again, instead waiting for him to respond as you take the spot next to him. He’d been acting so different lately—actually getting into bad stuff and rebelling instead of just being all talk when he looked up to Gene back in freshman year. It worried you, but you didn’t feel like arguing about it in this peaceful moment between you two.

Despite the eeriness, you couldn’t deny it was pretty peaceful here. There were no voices, no expectations placed on you. Perhaps this is why he liked this place so much. Not that he’d admit it out loud, of course, but you’re sure a deep part of him just wants to be acknowledged for who he is.

A cold breeze rushes through the tall cypress trees as they sway above your heads, leaving a trail of goosebumps in its wake and making you shiver.

“Since middle school,” he finally admits, the thick layer of the outer coat he brought landing over your shoulders. “I like the quiet. Used to sneak out when I was annoyed by my family. No one else but you knows about it.”

You nod slowly, glancing over at him from the corner of your eye as you gratefully pull the jacket over you. A part of you wanted to question why he wanted to take you here, but you think maybe you already know when he glances back at you, his eye drifting up and down your face with a reserved susceptibility in it.

Yeah, he may have been trying damn hard to toughen himself, but you know damn well that emo dork is still in there wanting approval; especially from you.

𝐆𝐄𝐍𝐄

A distant creak from the hall behind you makes you jump, your hand clutching onto Gene’s sleeve as your head whips around the empty room. A vine that had grown down from the stained ceiling tile

“Are you sure there aren’t squatters here or something…?” You whisper, legs tense and ready to make a run for it—whether the punk calls you a wimp for it later or not.

A scoff echoes against the broken tile beneath your feet, and the arm you were clinging to suddenly wraps around your shoulder, tugging you into his side. The smell of cologne and cigarette smoke hits your nose, but something about it is a bit comforting—especially compared to the musty building you were in.

“You’re gonna be just fine, kitty. You really think I’d let something happen to you?” he says, not bothering to lower his voice like you did.

“Well if a murderous crackhead comes busting through a door? Then what?”

He cackles, seeming highly amused by a pretty valid worry you have. “I come here all the time. Not even they know about this place.”

You swallow, trying to reassure yourself by the fact he had to help you navigate through overgrown shrubbery to even see this place. As your eyes trail along a deep crack in the wall his fingers suddenly pinch your cheek, forcing you to look at him as a disgruntled whine leaves your lips.

“Hey, you look cute with your eyes all wide like that, but I don’t want you to actually be scared.” he glances over your face, briefly licking his lips as his eyes linger lowly. “Are you really scared? You trust me don’t you?”

Not completely. But regardless you nod, the butterflies in your stomach fighting against your instinct. He hums approvingly, a smirk tugging at his lips as he squeezes your shoulder.

“Good. We’re here.”

A wave of cold, fresh air washes over your face, clearing your head and the wild thoughts that had started

“Look. You can see the whole city from here through the trees, but they can’t see us.” he says, his husky voice brushing against your ear. You’re glad the cold wind rushing past the two of you through the broken window gives a good excuse for the way your shoulders tremble. “Pretty, huh?”

“Mhm…”

A chuckle brushes against your hair. “Cute.”

𝐃𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐄

“C’mon. I promise it’s not as far of a jump as it looks,” Dante gestures with his hands for you to leap forward, encouragingly leaning forward over the creek. “I’ll catch you, sweetie. Promise.”

You raise an eyebrow at his blatant flirtatious nickname, but knowing he wouldn’t relent you instead focus on the task at hand. He was right, you probably could make this jump, but damn is the water cold and deep enough to soak your shoes through.

Shaking your head, you decide to go for it, backing up a few paces before taking the leap of faith. His hands catch onto you and tug you the rest of the way onto dry land, though a splash still meets your ears when you see Dante’s eyes widen and shoulders get thrown off kilter.

“Damn!” He yelps. “That’s cold!”

Looking down, his foot is now soaked as he lifts it out of the running creek, his face gritting into a “whoops” expression. His shoe, likely his socks, and his jean leg are dripping with the icy cold water. He doesn’t seem upset, but you feel partially guilty for the boy’s misfortune.

“Sorry…”

“Ah, it’s okay. It’s not like you threw me in. C’mon,” he waves it off, taking another moment to shake off his foot before guiding you forward again, slinging an arm around your shoulder. “We’re almost there.”

You stumble at first as he drags you along, but it only takes a second for you to accept your fate and fall into step with him. All you can focus on as the two of you walk is his warm arm around your shoulder and the scent of his rather strong cologne and deodorant. Honestly, despite it being a little overpowering, it was better than him smelling like some of the other guys in the high school, that’s for sure.

Over broken roots and dead leaves crunching under your feet, the boy lightly squeezes your shoulder as you come to a stop.

“Here we are.”

Up ahead is a tall, thick tree, the roots gnarled and twisting out from the ground. It held up huge branches that were weighed down by their own weight, drooping across a large expanse that overpowered the younger trees around it. Around the trunk is a fort made of long sticks, a ladder coming out from the top and reaching up to a platform of random old planks that were patched together.

“This was a fort Gene and I made when we were younger,” he says, sounding a bit nostalgic and proud. “He doesn’t uh… ever come here with me anymore but I still come here to make sure it doesn’t fall apart and to chill for a little bit.”

“Woah.” Is all you can return, eyes wide as you take in the rather elaborate fort for it being built by young boys. “This is really cool…”

“Thanks.” He grins, taking his arm off from your shoulder to grab your hand instead, sending a wink your way as he drags you to the entrance. “Why don’t we picnic here as a first date?”

𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐕𝐈𝐒

“How do you even find a place like this?”

Travis looks back to give a braced tooth grin at you, waggling his brows as he gestures at the old—likely highly out of regulation play set. Old mulch is overgrown by weeds and bushes, even some vines climbing up onto the slide and across the monkey bars. It wasn’t the right season right now, but you’re sure it would be even more beautiful with the spring and summer wildflowers.

“Ah, I didn’t have many friends except for Dante in middle school. So when I couldn’t hang with him I’d get pretty bored,” he explains sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. “Anyways, I ended up going out wandering while trying to learn how to skateboard and after busting my kneecaps twenty times I just… found this place.”

“Well, now you have more than just Dante as a friend, you have me!” you chirp, walking closer to the metal playscape.

“I wish… we… more…” he murmurs, just out of your earshot as you kick at some rotten wood chips.

“Hm? What was that?”

“What? I said… I wish uh…” Nervous chuckles suddenly burst from his mouth as he looks around, before pointing at the old merry-go-round to your right. “I wish we could try out that thing!”

You blink, looking at the hunk of metal with raised eyebrows. With a shrug, the two of you dash over to it, a sudden mischievousness forming on your faces.

“Wanna see how fast it spins?”

“Hell yeah.”

On either side, the two of you grab onto the rusted handles, the squeaky metal groaning in protest as you begin to push against it. As soon as you gain enough momentum, you both hop on, your mingled laughter overpowering the unpleasant sound of the squeaking and scratching beneath you.

Travis must’ve let his foot down to keep pushing, because soon your head feels like it’s spinning as fast as the contraption, everything around you melting into simple colors rushing by—with Travis’s grinning face in the center of your vision.

Before you know it, your side meets the mulch, and the teen boy responsible for your wood-chip demises can only continue to laugh, his head landing next to yours as you both try to regain your vision.

“I’m still spinning!” He cackles, eyes trained on the sky as the clouds above him likely swirl and mesh together like they are in yours.

You can’t help but laugh along, his stupidly contagious cheerfulness hard to be irritated at, even if you feel a little sick to your stomach now.

“That was kinda fun,” you smile.

Travis stares at you wide-eyed as you continue to giggle, his chest heaving with a big contented sigh.

“Wanna go again?”

“Hell nah!”

©starhvney 2024. do not plagiarize, feed to any AI, or repost my works to any sites.

taglist: @wasting-away-on-the-internet @angelhyperfixates @valentique @arienic @dazedbydeath @theaquaticplant @starsbrightly @kalegrinch @izzybella1807 @marst4rz

[alicenpai]

🌟 ART SUMMARY 2024 🥂

this was a year where i didnt draw a lot, despite that, i tried to make every drawing count. thank you all for the support in 2024, here's to 2025 ! 🫶

⭐ [read more starts here]

i continued my goals from last year with regards to perfectionism. the tldr is that i strongly feel my perfectionism kept me away from completing as many drawings as i could, and i had to make an effort to just finish drawings no matter how lukewarm I felt about them. 2024 was a strange year, it came and went in the blink of an eye, even more than previous years! life has been stressful, so i've been trying to focus more on myself and taking time off drawing. ironic, although i think i succeeded in that above goal, i expected to get more drawings out of it, but ended up taking more time off drawing anyways. towards the end of the year, i started feeling more burnt out, and drawing became a slow and arduous process. i think part of the reason was because 2024 was my first year doing 5 events - 2 full weekend conventions (anime north and otakuthon), and 3 single day events (bamtori fall aapi market, toronto game expo, bamtori jinglebam market), when in the past 2 years i'd just opt to do 1-2 local cons. it was also my first time doing single day events, which were super chill! although you have to both set up and tear down on the same day, i felt more casual at those events, had more time to chat and look around. back to my point - despite being fun, doing so many events took its toll on me - especially during the colder months of the year, where i wasn't so used to going to events haha! usually i take fall as the time to rejuvenate and recover from summer events, but i couldn't really do that this year. i kept questioning myself, "does this drawing have appeal? will people buy this?" "is my art hireable?" and it's just not a healthy mindset to have. next year i'll try to draw more of what i enjoy and what's on my mind, instead of worrying too much if it's sellable! *feeling like the HAHA YES sickos meme* - 2025 art goals outlined below: - oc zine (aiming for a character guide with some test comics) - character interactions & poses! e.g. dancing, hugs - generally stuff that's more difficult to draw. my art is more illustrative, but sometimes i wished it was more engaging emotionally? like i want people to smile and cry with my characters... - illustrations that challenge me. when i say illusts that challenge me it's pretty abstract - do research and gather inspiration for every illust.. compositions that are difficult/complex and take a while to draft.. strong theme.. it's more for me to understand AHAHAHA. as the years go by you can see my art becoming more unified in theme and self indulgent... i want to keep going, i want to make art that is uniquely mine. less priority: - get used to sketching! truly miss how i used to fill up sketchbooks every year - sticker sheets (this is on the less priority list bc i will probably fulfill this goal regardless) - oc merch (happy with the stickers i made in the last 2 yrs, let's keep going!) - silly things! e.g. 4koma, silly doodles. comedy is an art, it IS a skill you can study and chip away at (e.g. comedians and comedy writers). make sure i take notes on really stand-out jokes i find funny & why

other various things to try and draw more of: - group pictures - animals - layouts and props. i find layouts and anything with hard surfaces difficult to draw, which is why i draw a lot of flowers and fabric LMAO. one thing i gotta do is start by either drawing characters holding props more (easy baby steps!) and/ or start drawing props around them and make my way towards harder things (e.g. practice drawing a character sitting, i'll start by drawing a simple chair, then a table, then objects on that table). this is also one of my weaknesses - draw the ground they're standing on if possible, e.g. characters standing on a grid - vehicles, if i can. i mostly draw stuff from fantasy series where cars don't exist LOL but i'll try...

[ihavenoideawhatiamdoingjustgay2]

On the second day of Christmas

Summary : Work Christmas

Notes : You have beef with Pantalone? Alcohol, real fluff comes in chapter three, there are more notes on chapter one so pls read that if you haven't already

Chapters : Chapter 1 > Chapter 2 > Chapter 3

Take me to AO3

The pine trees passed your small window quickly, so quickly that you couldn't catch them even if you tried. Your eyes slowed them down by pining on each one, each one that grew colder and colder, untill there were only icicles left.

"Do you enjoy the scenery?" Arlecchino breathed, stroking the back of your hand with her thumb. Her gaze was curious, a bit lowered, nearly hungry, which confused you, half a fatui coat and the rest of your clothes didn't leave much to the imagination.

"It's icicles here and there....nothing much to enjoy, what about you?" you put your legs across the seat, across her legs, leaning into the carriages wall.

"I don't feel much admiration for it, but considering that I have seen it over a million times and that it is moreover work related. It does make sense, doesn't it?"

A rethorical question. You leaned to Arlecchinos side as the carriage rolled in, across the court. The palace was wide, cold, made of ice of course. Arlecchino held your waist as you admired.

"I have forgotten how big it is."

She chuckled. "It is not as if you are here often."

You nod along, barely listening, burying yourself with the craftsmanship. It looked bigger than you remembered. More gleaming, more pretty.

The carriage stopped abruptly and if it weren't for your Husband, you'd have kissed the floor goodnight.

"Thanks."

"Anytime love." She went out first, holding you the door open, helping you with the steps, you jumped into the snow that nearly filled your shoes up.

"What does the Tsaritsa even want of you...or us?"

"It is tradition, second day we celebrate as colleagues, but it pretty much is just there to talk about this years achievements and of course to discuss...the plan."

"The plan?"

"The plan."

She went on. "But your job is only to hang on my arm and look nice," she lifted your chin up and stopped as you stood before the big wooden doors. "does that sound good to you, love?"

You sighed in relief, burying your face within her hand. "And if I hear anything, I'll run to you rigth away?"

"Exactly. I will handle it from then on." The soldiers opened the door for you and she led you through the vast expenses of empty rooms and huge floors, keeping her arm interlocked with yours, keeping you as close and protected as the ball of her eye. "Ok darling, we will enter the room soon, stay by my side."

"I will. You don't need to worry about me.", you kissed her check, the last one for until after the meeting, when she'd tear you into a corner at home and kiss your lips sore. You smiled at the thougth, not dreaming to have it any other way.

She opened the door, slipping into the room as if this was any other room, as if this was just any other house, as if there weren't the most important people of the Fatui in this library. You latched onto her arm, not intending to let go.

Both Capitano and Tartaglia stood in front of a big shelf, while Sandrone was sitting alone on a couch in the next room, her robot behind her as she fumbled around with a new invention. The Rooster was sitting across from her, moving his mouth, you couldn't make put what he was saying. Signora stood with Pantalone at a window, though there conversation seemed to have stopped when you came in. Pierro, too was there, talking with some figure in the shadows, before turning to Signora and Pantalone, talking in hushed tones.

"What a festive atmosphere." You mumbled into your husband's ear.

She leaned down a bit. "Just wait untill they get the spiced wine, then it'll be really fun." She said it with an annoyance, but it made you smile. Tartaglia then catched you with his eyes and excused himself from the conversation, moving towards you two with a steaming cup in his hand, his cheeks had a rosy tint. "It seems they already did."

She greeted the redhead with a nod, ge smiled. "I see, the Knave has come too now, how has your Christmas been?"

His eyes went between the both of you.

"It has gone quite well, the children all liked their gifts and I am thankful for your cooperation."

"So El liked the set of knives?"

"She did."

He smiled, drinking a bit from his cup. "That's great to hear." His gaze swept over to you. "And how did you like your gi-"

He stepped back with a hiss, you looked down and just saw as Arlecchino slipped her heel back down under her coat. You crocked a brow.

"My spouse and I will celebrate on the third day." She stated with a hiss, her eyes were closed. "Also, you reek of alcohol, Tartaglia, get yourself together."

She led you away, to Capitano who skimmed through a book on warfare. He seemed quite surprised when you approached him. "Hello there, Knave."

"Capitano, good evening, how have your holidays been?"

He nodded, putting the book away, taking a small cup with a bit of whine in it. "Quite well, we were able to ambush some of our foes, a few days before the celebrations, of course."

She nodded, then her gaze swept over to Marrioneta. "Excuse me, I need to talk with her real quick." She addressed you both, looked at you while passing by. You nodded at her and she went away, though your gaze lingered. The Captain was already skimming through books again as you decided to look back.

"So..." you gulp. "...for how long have you been with the Fatui?"

His shoulders laughed as if he was laughing. "Very long, I was here before you or your Husband were born."

You counted in your head, though you had the feeling that he was moreover...ancient. "Hmph, interesting."

"What about you?", he put the book back, ctached a new one, about Natlan.

"I was born into it. My mother was a Mirror Maiden, my Father a debt collector."

He nodded. "Have you ever been to Natlan?"

You chuckled. "I just wanted to ask you that question, but no, not yet, the traveling wouldn't become me well." You leaned against the shelf.

"I have been. Though it has been too long for me...I will most likely be back by next year however...business." he talked about 'business' like Arlecchino talked about the Plan, you decided not to dwell on it, esspecially since she was coming back.

Her hand found your waist rigth away, slinging around it, there was content upon her face.

"It all went well?" You asked.

"Very much so, did you two have a productive conversation?"

The Capitain answered with an agreeable "Hmph", before shutting the book. "I have to get to Pierro, I hope that you may have a good new years and wonderful remaining holidays."

"You too."

He passed by and Arlecchinos whole attention turned to you. "I think of him as rather sympathetic."

"I trust that you wouldn't leave me with someone who isn't."

She had her hand stroke your waist and noticed your shiver. "Do you want a drink? There is spiced whine."

You think, then nod. "I'd like that very much, will you get me some? I want to look at some of the books."

"Of course, darling."

Ever the angle, wasn't she? Your angle of death. You smiled, having your fingers cun over hardbook covers, each engraved with silver writing, they all wore blues and blacks, perhabs terquis. The Tsaritsa seemed to have her tastes in that regard.

"They are pretty, aren't they?"

You shock back at the ligth voice, recognizing the figure next to you as...the Regrator. You gulped, feeling nervousity sweel up inside of you. "Uhm...yes. Very."

"But even the most beautiful books are useless if they are empty." He pulled one out, only to reveal empty pages. It made you blink, trying to decifer what he was insinuating.

"You can always fill books."

He tch'd "How do you know that they are good ideas? Profitable ideas? How do you know that they won't ruin the publisher?"

You stepped back, were going to say something, untill you noticed the Jester looking at you. Then you took another breath. "I will look for my Husband. It was nice to see you again, Regrator."

You went away before he could insult you even more. You remembered when you were younger, remembered hiding behind a door, listening to their conversations, not understanding a word and you remembered the running as they heard you. Back then he had just put a finger in front of his mouth as he left, you returned the gesture.

"Arlecchino.", you smile a bit feverish, interlocking your arms, she looked you up and down, then back to where you came from. Where the Regrator was stepping out of.

She sighed, handing you the drink. "I shouldn't have left you alone."

"I'm fine." You promised, sipping a bit. "Let's just...go on with the evening."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Arlecchino didn't leave you alone anymore that evening, either leaving you at Tartaglias side or maybe Sandrones, Capitano has gone early and Signora did too.

"Ok, but I will have to admit...this is some good stuff.", he said, while talking about the whine.

You snorted. "The one in Mondstadt is better..." you also have to admit that the man supported you in getting drunk, or atleast tipsy.

He waved it off. "I mean for here. But there isn't...it's good, but other things are not."

You nodded with a dense expression, watching him get up and mumble about "Gnome.", which seemed to have been a cue word for Arlecchino too, who all of a sudden stood behind you.

"We should go home too, dear." She pushed some hair out of your face, observing your drunken blush. Her gaze seemed to soften as she extended an arm and got you up.

"Thankm..." you said, leaning into the fluff of her coat.

"None needed." She kissed your head when you were out the door, standing in the floor, being free to adore. She led your wobbly self down the corridors, ready to take her carriage home, untill her name was called that is.

"Lord Arlecchino! Lord Arlecchino!"

She stopped, turning halfway to the man who was huffing his soul out. "The Tsaritsa...has...a room ready...for you...considering..."

"My appointment in the morning."

He nodded, seeming to have caugth his breath. "And because of your spouses....situation."

You blinked. "Because I'm drunk?", you said it a bit to loud, thanked the gods there was no one here but you.

Arlecchino cleared her throath. "We'll take the room, since they are with me now."

The man nodded, urging you to follow him.

Arlecchino turned to you mid way, observing your hazy gaze, your slured speech and, again, the blush.

"Let's get you to bed, love."

[halfagone]

For Lex Luthor's Ascent, what made you decide to do the social media chapters and keep them going thru the fic? They're probably some of my favorite parts, just because of how the outsider perspective shifts and varies wildly compared to the usual characters that we know. Also thanks for sharing your writing, it's really good! <3

sjhdfjghfgh I don't know why I always get so flustered when people mention that the social media parts are their favorites, they're my favorites too. Thank you so much, I'm glad you enjoy those chapters. 🥺

But onto your question! There are a few reasons for the social media chapters. On a more personal note, I just. Really like social media aus, so it was absolutely self-indulgent on my part. 🤣 I also really like outsider POVs and social media aus are one of my favorite ways to depict how outside characters, even OCs in this case, view and look into our characters and the things happening in the world.

On a more meta note, I liked how it made the world feel so much fuller and alive. The scope of LL's Ascent is absolutely massive, and it can be hard to truly show that properly. And I may still be missing the mark on that, but it still suited my purpose and that's enough for me.

I like the way social media aus can help us fill in the blanks for what the in-universe world looks like. We see through these chapters how Lex's actions have consequences and colors people's perspectives of him. There were times where I felt like I made Danny or Lex or, any character really, too good and too perfect. As if nothing they do is suspect. So these chapters are my way of acknowledging that, yes, this is suspicious. Yes, I know-as the author-how this looks like to the audience.

It's also just a helpful avenue to disclose cover stories and cover-ups for Danny's (and other heroes', ofc) secret identity without having to monologue about it. (Which is a shame because I love a good monologue, but this is still for the best lol) Chapter 52 "Road to Recovery: Two Steps Back" is probably one of my favorite examples of this within the fic. The news reports and trending hashtags tells us all we need to know just how big the situation has blown up, how many eyes on our protagonists. It puts pressure on the characters with very little dialogue and prose. Low volume, high reward.

It's such a fun way to relieve the tension. I like showing how beloved Danny is, how Danny has made a name for himself. I put Danny through so much in this fic, it's good sometimes to show how it is better here, how it can be better here.

And yeah, sometimes social media isn't pretty. Sometimes there is nastiness and hate that you absolutely don't deserve. I've seen it too, I see it all the time. But social media also helped me meet some of my closest friends. There is good in the bad and bad in the good. There's nuance in everything. I wish I could say all the social media chapters are just for the laughs, but there is some realistic points it's based on, and I like to think that also helps ground some of the more eccentric elements of the plot.

Sorry, I kinda got carried away for a second there. But thank you again so much for your kind words. I'm so happy you enjoy my writing, and I hope I can continue to provide it. ❤️✨

[kaylinalexanderbooks]

2024 at a glance

Been inactive as I try to find more motivation. Thank you all for your patience.

This has been an exceptionally hard year for me. Lost loved ones, questioned life choices, and a mound of personal issues.

However, I want to focus on the positives. That's the tone I wanted for this blog. Specifically, let's look at my writing:

I want to shout-out all of my lovely mutuals. You guys are amazing. I've received so much joy from y'all's positive comments.

Specifically, @illarian-rambling beta read TSP to its end, and her comments were exceptionally helpful. I've made so much progress on TSP. Many new chapters, scenes, revelations - even helped with Part Two! I got much more drafted than I thought.

I have begun making the database of powers for Alii. Man, it's nowhere near done, but it exists and will be helpful eventually.

Alium has a calendar! Mainly a time and date system. I've made so many revelations about the world!

The amount of character revelations I've had from playing ask games and tag games is insane. Thank you everyone for helping me figure out more about my story even when you didn't intend it.

I did some background thinking for other WIPs. This is just really fun even if they're just ideas. I like expanding those ideas.

Also beginning planning for IWAJAD. That just is so awesome. I thought I'd finish TSP and SOTL first.

This was a good year for writing.

On here, I used to post, in spurts, twice a day because of my desperate need for validation... I'm trying to find validation and fulfillment elsewhere, without attempting to get people to notice me here. The break was largely for my mental health.

Still tag me and interact with me and maybe drop an ask - I love it so much. But I won't be posting as often as I used to so I can avoid falling into the habit of relying on notes and asks for a self-esteem boost.

Love all of you guys so much. Thank you for making this hard year better 💞

[sskk-manifesto]

Bungou Stray Dogs: Dead Apple and how “ability users” (opposite to “normal people”) learning to accept themselves through the acceptance of their own abilities is a queer metaphor of acceptance of own's sexual orientation and gender: an essay by me

[basketobread]

What is the inspiration behind your art style?

OOOHHH THIS IS A FUN QUESTION... honestly it's really hard to say but i'd say some of my greatest art inspo's would be...

Adventure Time! (weird line up of characters i know but the style here is so cute)

The Venture Bros! (for when i draw non-chibi characters tbh)

The Devilman manga specifcally!! (I just really like the style and use of linework in it lol)

And then finally... Osomatsu San. For my more chibi-ish style... I'm not even big on this anymore but I feel like my chibi style was totally influenced by this show specifically LOL

[moe-broey]

Idk if I'm gonna be able to articulate this on the fly like first thing in the morning, but. I think my ENTIRE body of work is This: Examining how family ties, bonds or lack thereof, the good and bad AND ugly, seep into every facet of who we are and how we come to interact with others. How sometimes, a family tie (or again, a Lack of one), will sometimes bleed into how you act and treat specific people. Will bleed into how you CONNECT with those people (or, will be the very reason you fail to do so).

HOWEVER. HOWEVER. THERE IS A DELICATE LINE. A BALANCING ACT. You CANNOT just simply attribute fanon flavored ideas of found family to such characters. That's too simple, and sometimes, is a complete disservice to the specific character you're working with. I am once again bringing up Chilchuck. YES, him being a dad Absolutely seeps into how he treats his party. But if you call him the party's dad, you're Insane. Do you know ANYTHING ABOUT THAT MAN???? He would prefer you didn't. But I digress. He strikes a fascinating balance, between having The Qualities and ESPECIALLY expressing his care for his party in a Really Specific divorced (separated.) father of three fashion, but that does Not make him a "dad friend". He's a professional. He's on business. He's going home at the end of the day, and at the end of this adventure he's thinking of setting up a shop. I wanted to keep this more vague and broad but like. The Chilchuck example REALLY DOES perfectly articulate What I'm trying to get at, here. He's the perfect encapsulation of How his family shapes him, how that bleeds into his relationships with others, vs Who he is as a person.

How we were raised, our family ties, whether you adhere to it or you've fallen FAR from the tree -- you still fell from that stupid fucking tree. It's in your blood. Literally. It gave you shape, whether you liked it or not. And sometimes some things just set off weird domino effects, that also affect us irrevocably forever.

WHICH IS. TO SAY. I have no fucking idea what I'm talking about. I'm always trying to figure that out. Found family is/can be real, you're not strictly bound by blood if you don't wanna be. BUT. The bullshit I'm constantly on, is trying to figure out how to balance all that without slotting everyone into reductive roles. I'm gay and I seek to destroy the nuclear family. Not attempt to recreate nuclear family 2.0. You CAN reconstruct What Family Is/Means from the ground up, but you have to accept that things are going to get Weird. Because you're Queer. You are fundamentally incompatible with the status quo and normalcy, the solution is NOT assimilation and palatability, the solution is to just. Get weirder. And be fluent in canon. Okay. I love you

[gingermintpepper]

what happens with achilles in your story if the Trojan war never happens?

I am so glad I saw this before I fell asleep (And thank you very much for the question!!)

The short answer is: Achilles (along with a few others like Diomedes and Odysseus) is one of Athena's champions and one of the leading generals in the combat against the creatures of Erebus! Each god has their favoured champions/heroes and each of those people play a key role in maintaining what little order is left in the world.

The long answer is: due to the whole 💫 completely impromptu, unplanned and unprophesied apocalyptic situation of the Divine Light of the World completely disappearing 💫 Hera, Athena and Aphrodite had to completely squash their argument started at Thetis' wedding because there was simply too much to do. Achilles, therefore, is set down a completely different path to immortal glory, same with many other familiar faces from the Iliad (and wider greek mythology). On the bright side, he still hates Agamemnon's guts considering Agamemnon, even in this world, is his direct superior. Likewise, he also still spends an inordinate amount of time getting banged by Patroclus (who is one of Ares' champions) despite the whole literal apocalypse occuring around them. So really, Achilles will always be Achilles 😀👍🏾

[quatregats]

POWERFUL OC ASK BEAM!! 🦪, 🛡️, 🌫️ mats, 🪰 ander, ♟️ hamide?

Thank you!!!

MATS

🦪 how would this character describe their gender, if asked?

You ask Mats this question entirely innocently, and before you can finish, he has flipped you on your back with his thumb on your jugular vein. The only way to escape this is immediately clarifying that you’ve just been asking everyone in the room by matter of protocol, and even then he might not let you get up for a bit.

Mats performs toxic masculinity so hard you could register it with a geiger counter so calling him anything less masculine than "boy" would probably get you killed. In his defense, though, he is 16 and has not been allowed to be a boy for most of those 16 years and is constantly paranoid about being misgendered, so I think he’s allowed to inflict a bit of violence if he wants to. When he gets older, he settles into himself more and lets down the armor (and the toxic masculine act) somewhat, and becomes more “grumpy man who lives in the house down the street in a movie where the child protagonist needs to enlist his help to save the neighborhood.” He would not describe himself that way, though.

🛡️how does this character protect themself and others?

Mats is always the guy to leap to violence as the answer, and will go at someone for the smallest thing. He’s very good at fighting, having absorbed some combination of his older brother’s martial arts training, getting into street brawls constantly, and also gaining magical anger issues yippee! (OG Mats that I wrote in fifth grade had some unhinged quote about violence which alas I don’t have on me atm, but you have to understand that I’ve actually toned him down in this version even though it sure doesn’t feel like it.) He doesn’t show his love for people very well, but if he does love you, he’ll take people to task for what he perceives as even the slightest insult – even if he’s simultaneously behaving like you’re dirt to him. He is definitely a good person to have on your side if the other option is him being against you, and he’ll certainly (over)protect you, but idk if I can say anything else positive about how he goes about personal relationships for most of the story.

🌫️ how does this character feel about lying?

So, brief geography which might be subject to change, but Mats is from a small continent in the southern hemisphere of this world. He’s from the northern part of the continent (the southernmost part which could be considered “north” but for all intents and purposes he is Northern – this is the part slightly closer to the equator, just for those not used to thinking in this orientation), but when he runs away from home he goes south into the Southern parts of the continent. There’s a continuum of cultures, but North/South is a somewhat salient historical/cultural/political/etc divide. In Northern cultures lying is not super taboo, you shouldn’t make a habit of it but it’s okay to play fast-and-loose with the truth, while in the South, lying to people is one of the worst things you can do – omission of information is okay, but deceiving someone is possibly a worse transgression than murder, depending on where you are.

That explanation aside, Mats has very few compunctions about lying, he’s not a compulsive liar but he’ll do it if he needs to, which definitely gets him into hot water in the South. He has a lot of things to hide and he’s also a trickster/strategist sort of character later in the war, so he’s certainly not the Southern model of honesty, and that creates complications when he's trying to enlist the help of Southern groups.

ANDER

🪰 what is the worst thing this character has witnessed but not experienced?

Subject to change because I haven’t fully planned everything out, but as things stand, I think the worst thing he sees happen is Mats murdering his own (Mats’) family, which is possibly one of the worst things to happen in the story overall (Mats does not do this intentionally, but it is also enough of his fault for him to carry that guilt with him for the rest of his life). But also, Ander is literally starting a decolonial continental war with Mats of all people, so needless to say he is witness to far more violence than he deserves (he's my babygirl so the amount of violence he deserves to witness is None in my book).

HAMIDE

♟️describe how they would play chess, if they would.

I suspect that Hamide would be interested in it but would be far too autistic to actually pay attention or get invested, and would instead be much better at occupying herself for an entire afternoon making up her own alternate version of the game involving all kinds of complex storylines that are completely inaccessible to everyone else around her. This is, in fact, how she plays chess with an entire fricking continent, so y’know. (Fun fact, an older version of Hamide was very into a Southern Continent version of solitaire because I was writing this in Pandemic Gap Year and obsessively playing like ten games of solitaire every day with my lunch, so it worked its way in there, and was very similar actually to just taking a chess set and playing chess with yourself.)