#this is a bit more of a oneshot first draft than a snippet

[minecraftbookshelf]

And the marriage of state au is still taking up a significant amount of my heads grey matter.

So this is my request for more Ocean Alliance shenanigans bc ur versions of them have my heart and I so desperately want to hear more of what u have come up with them.

I love them all so much.

Have a snippet from the adventures of Tiny Jim! (Italics are Sea Speak, regular text is Pixandrian)

-

Their progress up the staircase is somewhat slower than it strictly needs to be, but young Solidarity is bound and determined to pull his own weight, so to speak, and so Pix is following as the codling hauls a full bucket of water up the staircase. Having to stop and catch his breath every step, resting his bucket on the carved quartz, scarred gills fluttering as he gasps, surreptitiously shaking out his weak arm whenever he thinks Pix isn't looking.

They are in no rush. Pix makes sure to stop and admire the scenery every so often, and to make a show of resting his own bucket. He cracks his back once, just to add to the effect, and that wins him a few squeaky giggles.

He keeps a careful eye on the prince for signs of true difficulty breathing, but their current observations that most of his struggles seem to appear beneath the surface is holding true and while he is breathing heavily, his lips are a healthy tint and he walks steadily, with no waver in his step beyond his habitual mild hop-swing.

Slowly, ever so slowly, they continue on their way, reaching the level that will allow them onto the walkway overlooking the harbor courtyard. The guard at the door peers at them over the haft of the spear leaning against her shoulder. She looks at Pix, at Solidarity, and the buckets full of seawater in their hands. She looks back to Pix and the twinkle he's sure is in his eye is mirrored in her fish-dark gaze.

Slowly, imperiously, she draws herself up to her full height and brandishes her spear in front of her. "Halt! Who approaches!"

Solidarity draws himself up to his full height, still well below Pix's shoulder, and opens his mouth; then closes it again and looks at Pix, suddenly unsure. Pix just lifts an eyebrow at him and waits. Time to see if he'll stick to it.

Solidarity looks back to the guard and shrinks just a little bit, but his jaw sets in determination, visible beneath the baby fat. "Is, Solidarity, Prince of the Ocean." in the careful, clumsy Pixandrian that Pix is here to teach him.

Pix makes a mental note to go over subject pronouns again. But later. Not in front of the guard. No need to discourage him like that. It's a fairly easy thing to work examples of into conversation at least.

"And what is your purpose here, Prince Solidarity?" The guard maintains her stern and official demeanor, despite the smile lurking at the corner of her mouth.

The prince squints at the air for a moment, stuttering and mouthing words to himself before he seems to find the ones he is looking for. "Official business. For the Queen!"

He beams up at Pix, momentarily caught up in his delight and forgetting the guard entirely. She waits until he remembers her presence before nodding solemnly and stepping aside from the door to allow them through.

And walk through they do, Solidarity leading the way, hauling his bucket, not minding his now thoroughly drenched clothing. And Pix wanders along behind, his own bucket in hand, with a parting nod to the guard, who is now grinning full of needle-teeth, now that the Prince could no longer see her, laughter in her eyes.

From the door it is only a short walk to the overlook into the courtyard. Solidarity heaves his bucket up onto one of the stone benches pushed up against the rail and climbs up after it. Pix simply stands beside him and looks over the courtyard to locate their target.

Queen Lizzie and King Joel are stood below them, in a squashed sort of lopsided diamond shape with the Mezalean minister of fishery and the Oceanic harbor master. Their words are inaudible from here, but Pix knows they are sorting out the fishing zones for the season, to ensure that both kingdoms are well fed through the monsoon months.

As Solidarity pushes his bucket up onto the railing, the Queen's frills twitch and she glances up briefly, meeting Pix's eyes, before looking at Solidarity's bucket, and the very tip of her brother's head-fins, barely visible over the railing. Pix sets his own bucket on the rail beside the prince's.

Queen Lizzie's smile is visible from their perch.

And King Joel's curses after they dump the buckets over the edge are audible, even as they flee, the prince laughing squeaky and high-pitched every step of the way.

-

AU Masterpost

[sechsviciado]

when doves cry

reaperken/touka ; written circa nov/dec 2022

no warnings or ratings really?

-

so after my slight reaperken/touka rambling yesterday i figured that i really have nothing to lose from posting this small snippet of a fic (oneshot??) thats been sitting in my google drafts for nearly the past two years; if this is crappy i can always just delete it but ive wanted to contribute a bit more to keep tokyo ghoul tumblr alive so i figure why not?

i felt so smart when i came up with the title since ken was a dove during that entire reaper arc until the events of cochlea. i didnt really pay attention to prince's lyrics in the song but looking back at it now i guess some apply? not really any inspiration was gained from it though, i just grew up with music from the 60s-90s so the title kind of came to my mind and it happened to be a prince reference. not really any ratings or warnings yet?? its nowhere near finished and im not sure if ill even finish it because i feel my writing heavily lacks.

anyway, without further ado

how many months had it been?

it had been months — years — since he recalled feeling this exact way. of course, haise had felt this way too, but it would never compare to the feelings he had for her before that brief period of time where he had lost recognition of everything and everyone who once meant something to him. ironically, it's when he felt most at peace with the butterflies in his stomach, beating against his rib cage and the cage surrounding the longing which could never be released. he’s regained his memories now, but he knew something was different within him even when he laid his glassy eyes on her again on that first visit to :re as sasaki haise. why did he feel so entrapped and yet so wrongly distant even when he had no recollection of her prior on that first visit to the cafe?

it would never be the same.

it would never compare to the feeling of falling in love with her and the realization that came with it. the realization that left him in a state of both a mix of surprise and agitation for days and with a feeling that could only be described as his heart skipping a beat and yet crumbling at the same time. it would never happen, would it? he had chosen to face that reality when he was still his old self, naive and too ashamed of his actions to actually face her after all the pain he caused her as a result of the pain which engulfed his entire life, too. too ashamed to accept his new reality, hiding behind his eyepatch — too ashamed to admit he had fallen in love so easily. he wasn't any different now.

haise may have fallen in love with her through the lens of a reborn figure with a fresh start and no boundaries to stand behind (apart from his obvious shyness and the weird sense of familiarity), but it just occurred by fate. the same fate that had snatched him from her years prior had found a way to bring him back into her arms and make him belong to her once again. he can't help but believe that maybe there was some future destined between them; the embittered part of his heart and soul makes him realize even that destiny would probably be cursed or filled with further strife.

though he supposed that didn't matter now.

not when he was even more distant from her than when he was an amnesiac with no recollection of her apart from the same old feeling of confusing comfort and longing. it's humorous and yet painful to think about how low he'd fallen in this aspect, not even being able to face her once again. despite his older age, he was still just a boy when it came to this same ancient rush, wasn't he? it doesn't matter. she surely didn't want anything to do with him anyways, especially not after everything that he's done. he's betrayed her and everyone who was once a part of him once again, and he’s chosen to accept that painful reality ever since he vowed to stop dreaming and flung tsukiyama off that building. facades all break down eventually.

though he supposed that didn't matter now, either.

he’d be disposed of soon enough before any of this could matter at all — before hinami was to be the one to disappear from the purgatory that was life as a ghoul. there was no heaven and there was no hell; there was no afterlife. heaven was bliss and safety on earth while hell was anguish and pain.

it was selfish of him to hope touka would feel any sort of pain after all of the grief and rage he's put her through time and time again, but he hoped he'd at least be remembered by the person he felt he loved most in this lifetime — the one who hadn't thrown him aside but who had instead built a nest for him as if though her life depended on it. he can't help but wonder… he’s had everyone he's ever known and cared for snatched from his hands by the same twisted fate that led him to await his upcoming death, he doesn't know if the puddle of both coldness and warmth in his stomach is either fear or love.

he'd truly cherish any memory he had of her before he’d be killed.

he vaguely remembers telling her, years ago, that he'd be sad if she died; he just hopes she would be saddened at his death, too.

[queerofthedagger]

WIP Snippet

I was tagged by @swanhild and @gardensofthemoon to share a bit of a current WIP, thank you so much!! <3 I've been working on a "quick oneshot" that got entirely out of hand, of Fingon in the aftermath of Fingolfin's death, with a bit of getting back together Russingon vibes. I am hoping to finish the first draft this week, even if that took roughly 15k words more than I wanted it to lmao

It is midday by the time they ride out of the courtyard, the late March day crisp but fair. They have a small guard with them that keeps its distance, and the fresh air and open sky already make Fingon feel more alive and solid. “So, what’s the plan then?” he finally asks, once they have made it down from the mountain that Himring towers on. “Wasn’t most of the surrounding lands overrun?” Maedhros glances at him, comfortably letting his horse find its way while keeping his hand loosely on the reins. He has always been a good rider, and like with almost everything else, he had only doubled down on regaining that skill in the aftermath of Thangorodrim. “It was, yes, everything but Himring. But we successfully closed the Pass of Aglon again not long ago, even as my brothers have stayed in Nargothrond. Tyelko, of course, always had hunting lodges up there, so I thought it might be a good choice. Whether we’ll be hunting game or Orcs I cannot tell you yet, but then, I have an inkling that you might not exactly mind getting to kill some Orcs.” Fingon grins, helpless against the surge of affection. “Is that your idea of an apology?” he teases. Maedhros grins back. “I don’t know; is it working?” “Haven’t decided yet; might be a start, though.” He is lying, of course. They are way past the start. He watches Maedhros, tall on his horse and armour gleaming in the early light of the year; watches him and thinks of the way he had yielded to every one of Fingon’s demands these last few days; watches him, the easy way he talks of his lands and the future and how Fingon will fit right into it, and is reminded of something he has learnt to be true a very long time ago. There is nothing he would not forgive Maedhros. It stopped scaring him just about as long ago.

No pressure tagging @kairenn-n @insane-ohwhyfandoms @melestasflight @mirkwood and @softest-punk, and anyone who would like to! Would love to see what you're working on <3

[wolfstargazer]

Hello everyone! This month has flown by. Thank you so much to everyone who has engaged with my work over January. I notice and cherish every like and reblog. I value every mutual. I catch all of those who seem to be liking quicker than I can post.

Here is an update about what's coming up in February:

I will continue creating microfics for @wolfstarmicrofic. I have a bit of a back log to upload of these onto a03 but I'm making steady progress.

I will continue with the weekly posting schedule for Patient Potions Master. The edits for this are now complete. For those of you only here for Wolfstar, I will make it clear the chapter where this comes into play.

I have completed my first draft of my fic for @remuslupinfest. This is my first ever fic fest, and I'm very excited. This will be anonymous posting at first, but be sure to check out all the stories when they drop on a03.

I will continue editing my Wolfstar mega fic Without You I'm Nothing (snippet here for those curious).

I have a couple of ideas floating around my brain for Wolfstar oneshots longer than microfics. If there is time, I will begin work on these.

I've had a couple of questions about whether I will ever take prompts. I presently have quite a busy schedule for my writing. I also work and study which, unfortunately, takes time away from more fun things like creating Wolfstar fiction! I don't want to commit to accepting prompts that I worry I couldn't deliver. So it's a no for now but I would really like to in the future!

I hope my writing continues to find a little place in your heart 💜

[mythandlaur]

5. Which WIP is first on your list to complete this year? Will you post a snippet? | 18. Do you typically post multi-chapters as you write, or finish it all and then start posting? Would you like to change your posting method?

New Year's Fanfic Asks

18. Do you typically post multi-chapters as you write, or finish it all and then start posting? Would you like to change your posting method?

On the rare occasions I've tried to write things longer than (sometimes particularly long) oneshots, I've posted as I've written...and I've never managed to actually finish a single fic. This has led to many actually abandoned or "I'll get to it someday maybe"-abandoned WIPs out there and the guilt's decidedly starting to pile up, so yes, I would like to change it. The things I've been writing recently I've been trying to finish before I start posting...but I'm also having trouble finishing those so I'm not sure it's helping, exactly, it's just added the additional "I want to share this so bad" feeling on top of it. I'll get back to you on that when I do manage to finish something and post it all. Which leads to...

5. Which WIP is first on your list to complete this year? Will you post a snippet?

(Given you chose these two questions to send together I imagine you might've been expecting this answer, that or I just really want an excuse to talk about it. Which part of the whole reason I reblogged this in the first place was to have an excuse to talk about my stuff so thanks.)

There are several Shovel Knight oneshots I worked on more recently that I probably should feel more strongly about finishing sooner, but the one most urgent in my mind is the one you know about that I've been sitting on for over a year and wrote 8k words for in one day.

Front Lines [Code Lyoko] - An attempt to make up for a social misstep leads to disaster as Aelita and Jeremie find themselves on Lyoko with an activated tower and no one on Earth who knows they've gone. As pressure mounts, they decide to take matters into their own hands, but they're quickly running out of time--and not in the way they think they are...

Basically I have the whole thing planned and mostly written, but it's been so long since I started writing it and the draft's so messy I worry I should rewrite everything to meet my current standards. That and there's still a couple of fight scenes that need to get done and I have a really hard time writing those. Here's a bit I can share without really spoiling anything.

Aelita steps fully into the room, closing the door behind her. Jeremie raises an eyebrow and rolls his chair slightly closer to her—something about Lyoko, then?

Aelita’s face pinches with worry. “I’ve been thinking about what you said at lunch.”

Jeremie’s smile drops. He glances off to the side as if his closet doors have suddenly become interesting. “Yeah, what about it?”

Aelita frowns, taking a step towards him with her hands on her hips. He knows the look well.

“Would you really rather be possessed by XANA again than go to Lyoko?”

Jeremie winces, pulling both of his legs up to sit in an awkward-looking butterfly position on his office chair and grabbing at his feet. He still doesn’t look at her, but he can feel her eyes burning into his head.

“...No,” he admits, “I’m not that stupid. I can’t afford to be compromised like that again.” And he doesn’t particularly feel like going through it again, either.

When he finally manages to meet her eyes, her lips are pursed in an expression he can’t quite read. “Then why did you lie?”

Jeremie scowls. “You heard Odd, he wouldn’t leave me alone. Imagine how bad it’d be if he knew I was going.”

“So you have been going!”

Jeremie realizes he may have made a mistake in saying that, but he’d long since figured out lying to her is an exercise in futility no matter how experienced he gets at it. “Yeah, I’ve been going. Not for very long—I have the computer set to run devirtualization after one minute. If I could get away with not sending my data to Lyoko at all, I would, but...I haven’t figured out what causes the resistance to XANA’s influence yet, so I can’t take any chances.”

“And you haven’t told anyone?”

“They’d insist on coming with me or training me or something, and the last time the three of us went, three megatanks showed up. If they got devirtualized with me, that’d be another opportunity for XANA to attack while they were recovering.”

“And you’re embarrassed.”

Jeremie grabs his desk and turns his chair back towards it so she can’t see his face. “You heard them, I look ridiculous. I don’t want to make myself look like even more of an idiot.”

Aelita huffs, grabbing the back of Jeremie’s chair and spinning him around to look at her. She keeps hold of the chair arms to keep him from turning away again, glaring into his eyes with her jaw set.

“When’s the next time you plan on going?”

Jeremie swallows hard, his stomach dropping. It doesn’t take a genius to see where she’s going with this. “...Sometime this week. Aelita—”

“You’re right about one thing, I’m not letting you go alone.” Aelita leans away and crosses her arms. “We’re going. Both of us. Today.”

“And that’s definitely because you’re worried about me and not just curious about how dumb I look?” Aelita winces, and Jeremie realizes he's talked before thinking again. He'd been trying to work on that. “...Sorry.”

“It’s not not because I’m curious, I admit.” Her tone grows pained. “But I’m also worried. What if your devirtualization program doesn’t work? Or XANA’s monsters get to you first? I just don’t like the idea of you doing something like this all by yourself.”

“Aelita...”

Her voice softens, and though she smirks at him, her eyes are earnest. “You’ve always been protective of me. Now it’s my turn to worry about you.”

Jeremie feels his face heating up. Of course, she has every right to worry—the thought of doing this frankly still scares him half to death. It would be nice to have someone looking out for him...and besides, if he doesn’t do it now, he might very well put it off as long as he can get away with it. Potentially longer than he can get away with it.

“...And you promise you won’t laugh at me.”

Aelita puts a hand over her heart, solemn. “I promise.”

Jeremie sighs, rubbing his elbow with the opposite hand. “Okay. Clearly I’m not getting out of this.”

“No, you’re not.”

“Just give me a few minutes to get ready.” And get up the nerve.

[annabtg]

James Potter the Great? What's that about?

So, funny story!

You know The Great James Potter. This one came from a first draft of the first 4-5 pages, which lived on my external hard drive and which I went through when I started writing again. I knew I'd worked more on it at some point after 2013, but couldn't find the newer file.

Well, I did find the newer file about a year ago in my emails as an attachment to a friend/beta, so James Potter the Great (working title xD) is what I'm going to do with those bits I didn't manage to incorporate in TGJP! In order not to write the same story twice, though, I decided to give Lily a different journey this time - more focused on the challenge of being Muggleborn and how she ends up with someone who the public considers "out of her league". I'm aiming for a long oneshot - I'm 5k words in it and nowhere near halfway.

Here's a snippet:

“What –” she repeats, incredulously now. “You don’t really believe –” “No, but they do.” Mary’s eyes flash. “And they’re all going to make your life a living hell if you set your eyes on a pureblood. You have to be careful.” Lily can only huff in response.  Mary is Muggleborn herself, and she has been the target of pureblood awfulness a little too often for her liking; more often than Lily, who is a prefect, a teachers’ favourite, and infinitely more likely to retaliate. It’s only natural that she’s learned to watch her back, and she cares enough to not want her friend to find herself in the same position. Yet, the fact that she’s right does not quell Lily’s indignation. They’re all witches here, Lily more capable than most, thank you very much, and quite pretty as well, if she says so herself. She should be free to fancy whoever she bloody well wants to. (Not that she fancies James Potter. But, you know. If she wanted to.)

WIP tag game here!

[howlingmoonrise]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

thank you for the tag @galvanizedfriend!!!!!!

How many works do you have on ao3? 45!

What's your total ao3 word count? 168,011 words

What fandoms do you write for? i'm an awful, awful fandom hopper :x but i write most consistently nowadays for petshop of horrors

Top five fics by kudos: 1) my dracula/barbie fic la petite mort is in first place, to the surprise of absolutely no one🤦‍♀️ 2) warrior, a post-movie shan yu/mulan oneshot 3) standing sentinel, an alien vs predator fix-it oneshot where lex goes with the predators and scar survives 4) surprising even me????? bonded, a soul eater soulmate au oneshot from 2014???? it has 8 comments total and half of them are my replies???? HOW. 5) not as surprisingly, in the woods somewhere, an ever after high cerise hood/daring charming au where daring accidentally ends up becoming the next riding hood. rare fandom/pair niche ftw!

Do you respond to comments? do you know when you reply mentally to things and then forget to actually do it irl? 😬 i have a really bad habit of opening comments on mobile, where i never type anything if i can help it, gush and draft the entire reply in my head, and then... yeah. i do eventually actually get to them all, but some will suffer through a year of no response before i pull up my sleeves and get to them. but dear gods do i try. the full answer is "yes, i do, and i absolutely love them all" but i feel very guilty about taking so long so i'll stick with "i try" 🙏🙏🙏

What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? probably see you soon, a voltron legendary defender shidge fic, or songbird, a petshop of horrors angelica/p-chan oneshot with a bit of an experimental style. i think they're probably only fics i have that have a 100% unambiguously unhappy AND undeserved ending

What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? i usually try to aim for at least an ambiguously happy ending, so most of them? buuuuut that being said, i'm gonna point to my earlier fics in the soul eater or the yuri on ice fandoms, i was a lot sappier back in those. i've gotten a taste for a bit of a crunchier ending since then.

Do you get hate on fics? not really. i did receive hate for my voltron ships directly on the blog, but we all know how rotten that fandom was lmfao

Do you write smut? occasionally? i feel like i was in my smut-writing peak back in the soul eater fandom, but i was VERY productive in writing fic in general back in those days, and that no longer holds true. i feel like i'm a lot more self-conscious in writing smut nowadays and about how badly my writing in that genre would sound - the ideas are willing, but the flesh is weak.

Craziest crossover: i hate that my writer's block has cockblocked me from going crazier since despite wanting to write even wilder ships but. once again. my dracula/barbie fic la petite mort.

Have you ever had a fic stolen? not exactly. as far as i'm aware, no one has taken it ipsis verbis, but i have seen unauthorized and uncredited translations of my works floating around.

Have you ever had a fic translated? *side-eyes paragraph above* yep! my works seem to get podficced more than anything though

Have you ever co-written a fic before? i started writing one in my old, old days in the danny phantom fandom (hello, first fandom!), but our email exchanges petered out and it never got finished or posted anywhere

All time favorite ship? how the FUCK am i supposed to chose. my dude. why would you do this to me. it changes with the phases of the moon.

What's a wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will? i am 97.89% made of wips. 😬😬😬 there's just. so many. the first ones that come to mind is a magicstone (magica de spell/gladstone gander from the donald duck comics) angsty-ass oneshot, and also a jane darling/peter pan fic from peter pan 2 return to neverland, both of which i only ever posted snippets for a wip ask game years ago 😭😭😭 i also very much want to finish my shan yu/mulan longfic to the victor, the spoils and i have every intention of doing it but then i look back and. it's been half a decade already. rip.

What are your writing strengths? uhhhh. i find interesting dynamics and ways of bringing characters together? i'm a rare/crack shipping bitch so i need to find a way of really selling what i'm writing so that people will read it, so i guess i've honed my skills in that direction. i also usually get comments complimenting my writing style, though my own taste for it varies wildly. i also think i'm good at adapting my own style to fit the source material one.

What are your writing weaknesses? apart from being in a semi-permanent state of writer's block and never finishing anything, you mean? where do i START. action scenes. comedy. not doing run-on overly-wordy sentences no one but me will understand. too many italics. FUCKING PLOT. why can't i write solely vibes and pining, WHY does plot have to haunt me while blowing raspberries at me for not knowing how to plan anything more complicated than a fairytale-level quest.

Thoughts on dialogue in another language? english already IS another language for me 😂 that being said, i don't generally like it unless it's an untranslateable pun term or plot-relevant, in which case footnotes are appreciated. exceptions are titles/honorifics/actual names of things.

First fandom you wrote in? danny phantom, all the way back in like... 2009? it was how i learned to speak/write english beyond the basics. it was very, very bad, but i'm glad i got to go through that and experiment so wildly in such an encouraging fandom.

Favorite fic you've written? cinq d'épées, my princess and the frog dr facillier/charlotte la bouff 15k oneshot LITERALLY EVERYONE IS SLEEPING ON. why do people keep gushing on the dracula/barbie fic when that fic is RIGHT THERE with far less views than most of my other fics and way better writing quality. i honestly hate reading my own writing and even i enjoy rereading that one, villain/heroine morally grey ships my beloved.

--

thanks again for tagging me!!! tagging @sandmancircus @acernor @nemainofthewater @produdfctititty @starfishride @malgraw @olderthannetfic if you guys feel like it!

[crackinglamb]

I posted 7,159 times in 2022

That's 1,391 more posts than 2021!

248 posts created (3%)

6,911 posts reblogged (97%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@lilbittymonster

@ir0n-angel

@sorrelchestnut

@pip-n-flinx

@bitterotter

I tagged 5,578 of my posts in 2022

Only 22% of my posts had no tags

#sound on - 774 posts

#always reblog - 349 posts

#*snort - 342 posts

#this - 310 posts

#cats - 245 posts

#no lies detected - 241 posts

#awesome art - 239 posts

#hahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!! - 210 posts

#solas - 151 posts

#lamb writes - 128 posts

Longest Tag: 136 characters

#... & to all y'all that have to watch could have been better spent monies get pissed down the drain of an overblown funeral & coronation

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Til It Squeaks, a Series

Today, on the anniversary of its beginning, Da'Fen Carly Mayers Lavellan's story came to an end. Two years, 337,909 words, 7 works. So I thought I would put together a masterpost of the series, with links to AO3, for all of you.

Twist

The fic that started it all. Carly Mayers, a woman from Earth, gets transported to Thedas and becomes the Herald of Andraste. And she decides that canon needs a hammer. A Solavellan fix-it with a happy ending. Rated E for sexual content. Also contains canon typical violence. ~197K words.

The Cutting Room Floor

A snippet fic, full of little bits the main fic had no room for. Includes screenshots of the ensemble cast. Also includes 'deleted scenes' and versions of the first draft that never got off the ground. Rated T for occasional swearing, adult themes and canon typical violence. ~27K words.

Choice, Pride and Trust

A oneshot of Carly and Solas defeating Imshael at Suledin Keep. Rated M for graphic depictions of violence. ~2300 words.

Waiter, There's a Fluff In My Soup!

A multi-ship collection of prompt fills for Fluff-uary 2021. Pairings include Carly and Solas, Varric and Marian Hawke, Dorian and Iron Bull and more. Rated E for sexual content. ~28K words.

Twist Some More

A sequel to Twist. Carly and Solas continue their work rebuilding the Dales, taking down the Veil and having a surprise baby. Incorporates events from Tevinter Nights, but is overall self-indulgent and fluffy. Rated E for sexual content. ~67K words.

Earth Pizza and Qunari Street Food

Takes place four years after the events of TSM. Carly and Solas welcome Dorian and Iron Bull for a visit. Cooking and family fluff ensue. Rated T for some adult themes, but with a happy ending. ~4600 words.

Make It a Good One, Peaches

50 years post-canon, mortality affects Carly's inner circle. A final send off including the generation to follow that of the Inquisition. More sweet than bitter. Rated T for major character death. ~1700 words.

Thank you to everyone who has read these fics and come to love Carly as much as I do. My heart is full. 💕

18 notes - Posted March 3, 2022

#4

Six Sentence Sunday

Tagged by @noire-pandora, thank you! 💕

Tagging @about2dance, @a11sha11fade, @sinsbymanka, @mrscullensrutherford, @dreadfutures, @mogwaei and @espressocomfort. No pressure!

R&R grabbed the Muse this morning. Have some Lark Cadash in Skyhold.

---

Something had happened here, some cataclysm that broke the magic of this place. That sundered it.

The Veil.

What she felt under her fingertips and saw in her mind's eye was like the aftermath of a shockwave. A burst dam of energy, exploding outwards from a central point deeper in the bowels of the Stone. Traces of the spell lingered like a taste on the back of her tongue. She didn't recognize it, but felt like she should.

19 notes - Posted March 27, 2022

#3

WIP Wednesday

Tagged by @noire-pandora, thank you!

Tagging @fiadhaisteach, @lilbittymonster, @sinsbymanka, @serial-chillr and @about2dance. No pressure!

It's Fluff-uary, folks. I am neck deep in somft and silly. Have a peek.

---

As often happened, a bolt of inspiration hit Varric while he was bathing. He gave a rueful sigh, wrapped himself in a towel and rushed to his desk without even bothering to swipe his dripping hair out of the way as he jotted down the idea before he lost it. He was never more grateful to Imogen than in that moment, since having his own suite meant having his own bathing chamber in it. He didn't have to traipse halfway across the keep to get back to his room, the mad gleam of words in his eyes. He didn't need that kind of blow to his reputation.

He got lost in the idea after a while, eventually snagging his reading glasses so he could see the page better. His hair stopped dripping onto his bare shoulders and he didn't even notice he was getting chilled sitting there in nothing more than a damp towel. He never heard the door open.

He certainly didn't hear the low, needy hum that Hawke made. If he had, he might have been warned.

Her sharp teeth sank into the ball of his shoulder and he jumped, thoroughly startled. “What the...Hawke!”

She cackled, leaning on the back of his chair. At least she'd bitten the off arm, so the only splotch on the page in front of him was his own fault. He glared at her over the rim of his glasses.

“Oh, your face! That's a weighty look, serrah.”

“What are you doing?”

She smiled at him, warm and loving and he almost melted. Almost. Then she spoke. “Haven't you ever just wanted to bite someone? You looked so delicious sitting there, I had to have a taste.”

Half his blood rushed southward. The rest seemed to have taken up residence in his cheeks. Either way, it left none for his brain and he gaped at her like an addled nug. He scrambled to find anything to say, anything at all.

“Andraste's flaming knickers,” was what came out. Hawke laughed again.

“No, I don't think I'd want to bite those.”

21 notes - Posted February 9, 2022

#2

WIP Wednesday

Tagged by @noire-pandora, thank you!

Tagging @lilbittymonster, @natsora, @blueboxness-art, @whataboutbugs-art, @espressocomfort and @serial-chillr. No pressure!

While The Fluffs(tm) have been keeping me busy, I've still been working occasionally on new chapters for WG. I made myself very emotional with Cole's personal quest recently. And by emotional, I mean angry. I could rant forever (and will in the author's notes), but here, have a snippet.

---

“You!” Cole shouted, advancing on the man. “You killed me!” The Templar scoffed and tried to push him away, but Cole wouldn't be deterred. “You forgot. You locked me in the dungeon in the Spire, and you forgot, and I died in the dark!”

“The Spire?” the man replied. Imogen heard the others behind her.

“Cole, stop,” Solas commanded. The Templar took advantage of his hesitance and ran.

“Cole,” Imogen said gently, reaching out but not quite touching him. “He didn't kill you, he killed the human Cole. You came to him, as a spirit, to give him comfort at the end. He was not you, not the way you are now.”

“A broken body, bloody, banged on the stone. Guts gripping in the dark, dank. A captured apostate. They threw him into the dungeon in the Spire at Val Royeaux. They forgot about him, and he starved to death.”

“Yes,” Imogen said. He turned to her, his watery blue eyes boring into hers with all the power a fully realized spirit possessed. “And you crossed the Veil to help. But you couldn't make food out of nothing, so all you could give him was yourself. Your compassion. You became him when he was gone. Cole.”

“Let me kill him back. I need to.”

Imogen cupped his face in her hands, the Anchor flaring against his skin as it touched the Fade within him. “No, baby. That won't help you.”

“Then what do I do?”

“You need to forgive him.”

“What?” Varric sputtered. “He can't just forgive the man who killed him!”

“You can't,” Solas said. “But Cole is a spirit. His nature works differently.”

“Stop it, both of you,” Imogen snapped. She focused back on Cole. “Make him forget, it will remove the ties that bind you together. You will remain you, and he will no longer carry the pain of his guilt. Can you feel it? Cole, concentrate. Can you feel his pain?”

“'Don't worry, we'll erase his records'. They clap him on the shoulder, smell of oiled metal and blood. They smile at him like Louis did when he made him drown the kittens...”

“Go to him Cole. Help him. He's in pain, and you are a spirit of Compassion.”

She let him go and watched as he disappeared down the path the Templar had run. Varric was staring at her like she'd fallen from the sky – always that look, she thought idly – while Solas looked at her more pensively. She wondered if he guessed that she'd taken his words and spoken them herself.

“I hope you know what you're doing,” Varric muttered.

21 notes - Posted February 16, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Dash did a thing.

55 notes - Posted November 30, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[thecrusadercomrade]

Do you have any tips on how you stay inspired and motivated to keep writing/finish writing a piece? I have an issue where I have a ton of fic ideas and wips sitting in my drafts, but I only write about halfway through the chapter or write a bunch of snippets before I lose my drive to keep going.

I know exactly how the story begins and ends, but getting it all out of my head and down on paper… it’s hard to keep my motivation long enough.

(I ask because you have such a consistent writing schedule and always write such good fics and one-shots!)

I can offer some advice on how I personally do it, though sadly I'm not sure how helpful it'll be to you.

For me, it's all about setting quotas for my writing. When I sit down to write, I try to get about 500 words done. Then I take a break. Then, if I feel like it, I do another 500 words. I usually get several of these sessions done in a single day. Breaking up the work into manageable chunks makes it a lot easier for me. If I tried to write a oneshot that was 3000 words all at once., it would definitely be overwhelming, so I do a little bit at a time. Telling myself "I'm gonna write 500 words" is a lot easier than saying "I'm gonna write this entire thing in one go." I actually get MORE writing done in a day with this system than I used to.

Another thing I do is set... not deadlines, but little goals for myself. I say, "I want to have this chapter done before the end of the week." For me personally, it makes me more willing to keep writing if I feel like I'm trying to reach some sort of goal. It's not the end of the world if I DON'T reach that goal in time, but it's motivating to give myself those little challenges.

Finally, one thing I do is alternate between stories. First I'll write for one fic, then I'll outline a chapter for a WIP, then I'll write a new oneshot, then I outline another chapter, then I'm back to the first fic. It helps keep me fresh that I'm not constantly focused on one project to the point I get sick of it.

I hope some of this helps. Thank you for the kind words! It's funny that you say I have a consistent writing schedule, because I used to be TERRIBLE with that sort of thing. It used to be that I'd post one thing every few months. The only reason I'm posting so often now is that I'm done with university, and I'm currently not working, so I have nothing else to direct my energy towards XD. That's probably another thing that allows me to get so much writing done. But again, thank you! I really appreciate that you think my fics are good!

[preciousfawn02]

Short snippet of 'Last Words of a Shooting Star' (640 words), I'm probably gonna work on my oneshot drafts for the rest of this month because I'm really busy with my sister's musical😀

Jackson fit Ellie like a hand-me-down.

 

Ellie didn't talk to anyone but Joel for the first month they were there. When someone would ask her something, she'd frown and tug at Joel's sleeve.

Ellie didn't smile at people. She just stared, her eyebrows furrowed. She'd move away if anyone came near her, eyeing them in case they tried anything. They never did.

Ellie woke up every night screaming. She was always exhausted because she couldn't sleep for more than a couple hours every night. She dreamt of David, of the fireflies, and sometimes of nothing. But even the nothing made her cry for Joel as she wept.

Ellie hated Jackson.

***

  “Breakfast is ready, Ellie!” It was Tommy. She didn’t know why he kept coming over. It irritated her. He sounded too much like Joel, and he kept tricking her when he called out. Because it wasn’t Joel, it was Tommy.

She lay silent in her room, hoping if she didn’t answer he would assume she was still asleep. Of course he wouldn’t. This was Tommy.

  “Ellie?” He called out, knocking on the door as he opened it. It was pretty stupid of him to knock whilst opening a door, surely that defeats the whole purpose of knocking. She refused to speak, pressing her lips together as he walked over.

  “I made you pancakes, Ellie.” He said, crouching down to her size by the bed. She wished she could just punch him to make him go away, but Joel would be angry. She could deal with Tommy for a little bit, for Joel.

  “I was sleeping.” She mumbled, pretending to wake up and yawn. Clearly, she was destined for stardom as Tommy smiled, ruffling her hair.

  “Get yourself all together, those pancakes ain’t gonna eat themselves.” He told her, before finally leaving her alone. Thank fuck. Tommy was quite stupid in that he never got the hint that Ellie didn’t want to be around him. He just creeped her out.

He was a wax model of Joel. When Tommy spoke, he had a stronger southern accent than Joel. He was shorter than Joel by a good few inches. His hair was longer and darker than Joel’s, too. He looked like a cheap imitation of her favourite person.

She knew if she didn't hurry up, Tommy would just be back more incessant than before. She slipped her socks on, pulling her shirt on over her vest. Even though Tommy knew she was immune, she still hated him seeing the bite mark. It made her feel bare.

The smell of pancakes had wafted through the entire house. It made her feel nauseous. Joel was always weird about her new lack of appetite, despite them both knowing fine well what caused it. It was just typical of her to lose all desire to eat when they actually had access to unlimited food.

Ellie tiptoed down the stairs. She enjoyed sneaking up on Tommy, even more so when she would scare him by yelling. It was one of the few times she was able to fuck with Tommy without being told off. She had tried other ways to make his day slightly worse, but they had always been met with a stern telling-off from Joel.

  “Ellie, your pancakes are on the table.” Tommy called out. Damnit, he had noticed her. It must have been the creaky step; it was always catching her out. She slowly walked into the room, keeping her head down. Tommy beamed at her, his own plate positioned across from hers. There was only two plates on the table, and no Joel in sight.

  "Where's Joel?" Ellie asked Tommy, her voice harsh and cold. She didn't give too much thought to how she talked to Tommy. She could berate him and shower him in curses for all she cared. But Joel cared, so she watched her tongue.

[chaoticspacefam]

Tell us about You’re In My Veins !

[This one was from a “WIP Ask Game” a while back where I listed titles/placeholder names for my current WIPs and y’all got to ask me about any that interested you! I don’t have the link anymore but yeah, context sjkgjdg]

CW: there’s a snippet at the bottom of this ask which has some suggestive/raunchy connotations. No direct actual smut (that’s already happened prior to this bit at the end 😏) but this is very much an argument about their sex life

Hoooo boy where do I start with this one? It’s one of the ones that’s been stuck in WIP hell for the longest goddamn time. Not even because I don’t like it or anything. The bits I have written of this one are still pretty solid, if anything they need some minor polishing (I was awful at paragraphing when I started this and it shows lmao 90) and it’d prolly still be post-able. But at this stage I’m not 100% sure exactly where it’ll fit into the Creeping Shadows timeline. I know its somewhere mid-to-end of Balmorra, and definitely before Voss but you know...that’s an awful big gap rn :’) I’m sure I’ll figure out where it goes eventually, but till then its stuck in WIP hell 💀 hahaha Anyway the first draft of this was meant to be like make-up smut but in true Aria fashion, she had to ruin it by deciding “nope I’m not ready for feelings yet” and she turned it into a fight (but that said, it does end with Aria seriously reflecting on said feelings even if the overall “tone” of it is that she hates that she’s having them 🤣🤣) so it’s a milestone for their relationship which does, in the end, lead to them actually fixing it for real later on down the line. As a joke I like to call it “make up sex but backwards” bc that’s basically what ended up happening with this one I can’t remember if the rules of this ask game said to include a snippet but I kinda feel bad this one was sat in the askbox for so long so have a lil snippet as a treat 💖

>> SNIPPET STARTS HERE, last warning that it gets a lil suggestive from here on out! also quite a lot of swearing, this is very much a lovers’ spat and both of them went for the THROAT XD <<

Vano’s jaw tightened. “Nice to know you were so concerned with my safety. You know, just a simple ‘hey Va, I’m not dead but I can’t be with you right now’ would have sufficed!” The Mirialan growled, sitting up on her hands, her eyes narrowed into a dangerous glare. “And just for the record, I'd GLADLY die for you, even though you don't fucking deserve it.” “I never asked you to!” Aria snapped back on impulse, not thinking of the effect the words would have on Vano. “I never asked for any of this. I never asked for you to pad after me like a helpless Kath pup!!” The Marauder drew back, and Aria felt the reaction to her words sting Vano like a slap to the face. “Well, I never asked to fall in love with a self-centered bitch either, but here we are!” she yanked her robes back on sharply and sat back on her haunches to glare at Aria. “The only thing I'm sorry for, is that I was stupid enough to think that if I gave you enough time, this would be more than just fucking to you!” “I never promised you flowers and poetry, I told you it was just sex and you kept crawling back anyway!” Aria shouted after her as the Sith stormed away, grabbing her discarded equipment as she passed it. “Fine, then you can find someone else to go to bed with, because I'm DONE with you!” “You always say that, and a week later your head's between my legs again!!” she retorted, knowing the Mirialan had left the ship when no further reply came. The Jedi sank down onto the pillows and choked on the involuntary sob that left her as Vano's last words spun in her head like a swarm of angry hornets.

There’s some more filler/exposition-y stuff between this snippet and the last line but it feels prudent to mention the last line is a bit of internal dialogue (I seem to do that on occasion, first this oneshot, then Strikhedonia...guess its a writing quirk now? /jk) from Aria and it’s just: I hate how much I need you!!

[rw47vr-key]

ONESHOT Contains Duskwood Ep10 spoiler!!⚠️

☆Snippet: "You've been stabbing yourself, MC" "*desperate chuckle*That's my line, Richy. When are you gonna realise? "

☆Genre:Angst, fluff, love, enemies to friends ☆Characters: JakexFem!MCx Richy ☆Warnings: Mention of blood, depression, swearing,weapons, intimate(?) (No no it's not what you think.I swear,yet I'm leaving a warning just in case, also Feel free to tell me if I forgot to mention something here) ☆A/N: Before diving in, @spookycolorpeanut a huge thank you for supporting me dear!! <3 I would have cremated this in my drafts if it weren't you :P.Also the post here of @renneiscent is basically the plot I wrote, Thanks a lot to you too,dear!! <3 I know this fic went illogical.My writing skill is 0% and so is my confidence, but here I am. The story is set with 3 different timelines,I'm sorry that it may confuse.Please don't hate me for this,english isn't my first language.I'm talking too much..*bows down ,wishes you a good day/night and sprints*

»»——⍟——««

Morning 11.07 am , dd/mm/2025

※MC's POV※

"What took you so long,Mr Alan? I've been waiting here for more than an hour.,"I say, as I hear him whispering an insincere apology to me and shutting off his walkie talkie.

"He's not here with you, is he? ", he glanced at the parking lot from the second floor of Terrendale police headquarters, where we stood near the windows. Phil, who was leaning against the car, waved at us.

" Jake is not here ,Mr.Alan. Well, I didn't want to put him in a tight spot", I shrug while he points that we should go to the adjacent building . "Don't look at me like that! I'm really sorry that I kept you waiting,Mrs Donfort, but I honestly didn't know about the change of his imprisonment site", he said for which I sighed and followed him.

"Jake threw a huge tantrum during one of the trials, I understand. But I wonder how he left you with his rival",asked Alan .

" Beats me. Besides there was no one free to accompany me.Jessy was there but", I lowered my voice a bit and said, "She doesn't know about his change of imprisonment. She saw him yesterday, but not here,you know".

Alan mouthed an "Oh yeah" and continued, "It wasn't easy to bring him just for a day here. I had a hard time convincing the higher officials ", he grumbled,by the time we reached the investigation room.

Alan stopped me with his hand and looked quite bothered. He took out his gun from the holder. " Do you need this? ".

" Ashhh! You're mocking at me ,right? ",I shrieked for which he returned a grin. He patted my shoulder and said, "Just call me if you need my help, ok? ".I thanked him,he smiled and walked away, probably to talk to the chief police of Terrendale.

I've waited for 3 whole years for this one to one conversation with him.I've been strolling back, afraid of this to happen, but not anymore.

I greeted the officers on guard, and entered the room.Surprisingly I was not anxious nor shaking.I was full of rage, hiding it with all my effort. There in the seat, I saw the guy sitting and staring at the floor. He slowly looked up, as he sensed me coming towards him. Slower and slower his lips curved. That smile, the smile that is like a soothing beam of daylight,which makes your entire worries disappear, had me only ready to slap that wretch of his face. It was Richy, the man without a face in a prison dress,one of his hands cuffed with strings.And I did hit him, my effort to hide was all in vain.

※3 years ago at the Ironsplinter mine※

" My goodness! Ms. Donfort, are you okay? "

"Please save Richy! ", MC could here Hannah crying and Alan comforting her.

MC let out a deep sigh of relief;Hannah is saved, finally. But it didn't stop her from running, since she had two other tasks to do. She cut the call, removed her headphones, and looked around , catching her breath. It was pitch black;and she could clearly hear Alan screaming repeatedly, who was facing the other side, " Put your hands up! , whoever you are! " , Alan was ready to shoot the person in front of him.

It was Jake who also got caught to Alan.The black masked guy stood there, about to rise his hands.Suddenly a gun was pointed at Alan's forehead.Hannah was in shock but didn't have enough strength to scream, and Jake stood there perplexed, with his hands up. "Lower your gun now! , Mr. ALAN BLOOMGATE! ", yelled MC, who was wearing a mask and suited in all black.

" Who the hell are you? ", Alan spoke aggresively, he didn't change his target of shooting nor moved an inch. MC pressed her gun a little harder in his head, " *clicking sound of a gun* It's loaded, I'm not playing games, Mr. Bloomgate.I'll take care of him.I'm fom the FBI", MC showed an ID and quickly pushed it back into her pocket.

Realising the situation, he slowly put his gun down, while Jake fled away immediately.

"Sh#t", MC ,shoved her gun into her pocket,and chased him in the direction he ran. The mine was dark and had eerie vibes, just like Jake told. MC followed the sound of his steps and stood swiftly in front of him. There was a light source a little away from them, so she could see his movements somewhat, and vice versa. He was about to hit her, but MC dodged it.

There was 1-2 minutes of 'who was the upperhand in the fight' . MC did her best not to get hurt and also not hurt him harder,and in the middle of it she was screaming to get his attention, "Jake!..Wait! .. Listen to what I have to say!", but he was persistent to get rid of her. He was a lot fit and faster than MC, and finally pinned her to a wall ,grabbing both of her hands with one of his hands.

Before knocking her down, he got strangely curious and pulled out her mask, only to get shocked to see who it was. MC kicked his knee and freed herself,she slid down the wall and leaned against it.Jake winced in pain but the astonishment hasn't left his eyes.

"Yes, it's your girlfriend,Jake Donfort", MC said, under her breath.

※ Few seconds later ※

MC got up staggering, and lent her hand to Jake, who was lying on the ground, breathing heavily as much as her. He stared at her hand, and then stood up on his own, patting the dust on him. He was dead silent, picked up his bag and checked his essentials.

"Jake?….Are you angry?"

He glared at her and averted his eyes to his bottle of water. He yanked his mask and started drinking it, as if he was trying to calm down his burning emotions. MC blurted a "Wow" and before she could savour his beauty, he stepped towards her and grabbed her wrist, eyes fixed to hers.

"Angry? Do you have any idea how I feel right now? What happened to the promise you made!?What if it didn't go according to your f**king plan? , " Jake's temper raised.

" Give me a second, I'll treat your wound, Jake.I told you to be careful while climbing, but you didn't",MC looked at his unproperly bandaged leg, and tried to change the topic, despite knowing it won't change.

" This isn't about me, MC! Look at my eyes and answer me!.Why did you come here?",He pulled MC a little closer, his voice hasn't gone down.

"What do you want me to do? Wait at home until I hear the news that you got caught to the FBI? Or that you died? You sound like you hate me for saving you a few minutes ago.Hate me,scold me all you want! ,but I'm not going to apologize for breaking our promise.Why did I come here? Because I love you,I love you Jake!I don't want to lose you, I was so scared, I was worried about you! . Is it so hard to figure out?", MC screamed, tears ready to flow down her cheeks.

He squinted his eyes, losing balance and clasped his injured leg and let out an "ahh", as low as only both of them could hear. MC's silent tears ran down,she slowly made him lean comfortably on the wall, and grabbed her bag to find the emergency kit. She quenched her thirst and handed him her water bottle and he calmly watched her mending his wounds.

" Did I hurt you..during the fight? I'm sorry, MC", his soft voice yet quavering, made her smile a little. She shaked her head, and sat beside him." It's only bruises. Don't worry,Jake.I should be the one apologizing *looks at the swelling in his hand*. That must hurt a lot. I'm very sorry, Jake",she said and looked at him genuinely regretful but he started giggling.

"What's so funny, Jake? " ,MC asked blushing. He restrained his laugh, "Sorry,its just..I didn't know you were good at fighting".

" I have a lot of hidden skills like you.I would love to show you all of them, once we get out of here, deal?", MC said and beamed a smile. He winked and gently interlocked his fingers with hers,for which MC pecked a kiss on his knuckles. His cheeks turned red instantly and then he sulked after seeing her tear-strained face.

He pulled her for an hug and said, " What would've happened if I hurted you a few seconds ago? Do you think I would've lived with that? I don't hate you , I will never hate you, MC. Even now, I don't believe if you're really here. Do you think it was easy for me to live every second, assuring your safety ,miles away from you? When you said you've imagined a life with me, I wanted that to happen no matter what even if I have to face hell. But my life is not what you expect it to be.It has unpredictable dangers,and I'm afraid that I'll kill you because of that.Let's be honest here, I only troubled and hurted you, by pulling you into this mess, am I right?. I'm the worst boyfriend one can ever find.Just let go of me. Atleast then, you will be at peace", he started talking without a break that he didn't realize he was tearing up.

MC wanted to cry along with him, but she wants to make him feel safer, to be loved, and not to hate himself for the mistakes he didn't do.

She hugged and brought him a lot closer to her, "I am not letting go of you, Jake, I want you to be in my life.And please, stop blaming yourself. It's not your fault Hannah getting kidnapped, it's not your fault that I'm here,not your fault that this mess happened. I feel miserable when you always apologize for everything.What do you mean by worst boyfriend? You've hurt me sometimes, I agree, but the happy moments I've experienced,only you can give me that, Jake. And whether it's right or wrong,best or worst,let's do it together .I know,you've faced so much difficulties in your past. It must've been so hard to go through it alone.Your past,present and the future you hold, let me be a part of it, Jake.You don't have to face them alone, Jake,you never have to", she cried and released her hug.

He was still crying, she cupped his face in her hands and caressed him. "I'll stay with you, ok? I'm not letting you go", she said again looking right into his (colour)eyes, and reassured him. "Thank you for being here, MC", he placed his hands on hers and continued sobbing.

But they didn't have time for this. They have to get out of here, and also save Richy. With MC's help he got up. He was able to walk, thankfully. He gestured her to follow him, but then suddenly halted ,looking at his phone.MC could hear him saying "Gotcha!",and tapping some numbers on his phone. Then he turned around with a doubtful expression.

" What do you mean by FBI Agent?Why did you lie to Alan? Are you planning to stay in jail with me? "

She was ready to apologize again, but widened her eyes, "You did a background check on me? How dare… "

"Umm.. I'm .. I sincerely apologize for doing that. I didn't mean to… ", before he could finish his words, she pulled him by his hoodie, and kissed him.The surprise kiss caught him off guard, that he looked frozen. " I didn't know you were this much talkative,Jake", MC cackled.

"You look more pretty when you're blushing, MC", Jake backfired.

As he was about to kiss her again, MC moved her head sideways, " You don't have anything to say to me? ". Jake looked puzzled ,then moved closer to whisper in her ears, " I love you so much, MC", he pressed his lips to hers.It started gentler but his whole body was lost in her presence,and by the time they parted to catch their breath,he met her lips again, as if he will never again get the opportunity to taste her lips.

Now, it was MC's phone that vibrated. They chuckled as they pulled apart. "Ah,you still didn't answer my question,MC",Jake asked. MC texted Alan and looked up at Jake to respond.

" Ok, long story short, I went to the house in forest right after Mwaf got shot by Dan, asked him the gun and staged my plan. I used the route that you told about,the entrance in Terrandale.That FBI ID is my driver's licence", MC's reply made Jake speechless.

He was about to start his lecture but MC showed him Alan's message and the one text that caught his attention was "FBI agents are here". MC looked worried because she knows very well Alan wasn't telling about "the fake FBI MC".

" Don't worry MC.I took care of them. My strategy was to guide them to a fake location, they'll probably head there in no time.Just wait here for me. I'll quickly look for a path to find Richy.Please don't go anywhere. I'll be right back, MC", he kissed her forehead and vanished into one of those paths in the mine.

She took the ointment to treat her bruises, but there was someone in the shadows,heading towards her. She quickly took her gun and held it ready, but she lowered it as soon as she recognized the person.

"Oh my, Jake, that was quick. What is it now? ", asked MC. She saw him holding on to something in his hand, and staring at it intensely.

" Sorry that I surprised you, MC…. I..I found this on the ground. This is my late mom's ring. I carry this around wherever I go….Seems like I lost it while you chased me", Jake spoke like he wanted to share a lot regarding that , but she could see his heart was not ready,especially because of the situation you both were in.

"Ah, I see", MC didn't know what else to say.

" I may lose it again, so I'm entrusting this to you,MC", he took her hand and the moment he wore the ring in her finger, he just smiled innocently and headed to his mission. MC was too stunned to function.

How much ignorant her hacker boyfriend can be? Yes.

After that, the only thing MC remembered was the video call with the man without a face.

※Evening 7.12 pm dd/mm/2025 (same mentioned date at the beginning)※

MC and her Duskwood friends were having a barbeque party ,to celebrate the two Donfort sisters' weddings that took place on the same day.The party is happening in Hannah's Dad's guest house.

MC kept remembering all such little ,funny conversations that she had with Jessy and Richy in her mind. It felt like the three of them were together for a long time than one could imagine. The trio were wandering merrily in a garden holding hands and teasing each other.Then suddenly one of them pushed the rest two into a very deep river.MC and Jessy scream and try to come up ,only to see Richy wearing the mask, with the red blood and raven feathers. They both think it's better off drowning than facing the horrible truth. That's how it was, and it would always be.

※Jake's POV※

The truth, about who Richy really was, made MC feel nothingness . She wasn't able to process completely for a week? a month? Or more than that, that I couldn't even tell exactly. Sometimes, when she's right beside me,holding my hand,her head on my shoulder, she speaks languages with her tender touch that only I can understand,but her eyes kept searching for something.She was fighting a figure that wasn't visible to me.

"Don't leave me suffering alone,Jake!.I know what you feel about me. I don't care about what this world expects from us. All I want is to be with you forever", she cried when I was at the hospital, in a situation of life and death,and that made me fall for her even more.After surviving the tragedy, I thought I could solve what's eating up her soul and mind. I was afraid that I would fail in doing that.

" MC's behavior has changed a lot ever since she came to Duskwood.Please take care of her ,Jake",her brother/sister/best friend, when they came to see her after the mine incident,told me worriedly. But today, it was different.

She looks like a weight has been lifted up from her shoulders. Maybe Phil was right about allowing her to meet that maniac. I didn't entirely oppose about the meeting.Moreover, MC said she needed time to think. And it delayed for a very long time because of Hannah and Jennifer case. Fortunately, Hannah was punished with 2 years of imprisonment, and Dan and MC got charged for using the gun.

Nevertheless,I'm amazed how Alan didn't accuse MC for playing thevrole of"the fake FBI".And he also helped me to live a normal life, thanks to MC's request. The whole thing with my dad went a bit smoothly because of her. Where would I be without her?

I asked the reason to Alan and he told me that he didn't want to make the situation worse and he'd have done the same if he were in her shoes. But what irks me is ,he told me that " MC is interesting " followed by that crooked smile of his.Hah,I know that she is interesting,that's why she is my wife(officially a couple since 2023).Arghh he is driving me nuts.

"What are you deeply thinking about, Jake?You don't want to play ? ", MC asked ,holding Thomas's guitar.

He snapped back from his thoughts and smiled at her. " You want me to play this ? " She nodded with excitement all over face and the Donfort sisters too urged him to play.

He looked at MC'S eyes as if he said NO, but MC handed him the guitar and stood along with him in the centre of everyone.

"Well then, MC will be the singer! Come on, you said you were good at it", Jessy cheered her.

"Yayy I didn't know that, come on boo, sing a song to congratulate our wedding", Dan said holding on to his wife, Lilly.

" Stop calling her boo, Daniel!", Jake and Lilly cried in unison.

"Oops, but heyy, I'm not cheating, that's how I used to call MC".MC nodded in response to Dan, to prolong the fun in the drama.

Cleo , on the other hand,sipped her drink while enjoying the show. " You are awkwardly silent today, Phil", she asked the bartender who was staring at the motionless huge trees in the forest.

He looked at Cleo, then shifted his gaze at Jessy. Cleo understood what he might be concerned about, and handed him a drink, which he got without hesitation.

"You're not the Phil I knew before", said Cleo, glancing at Jessy.

Phil emptied his glass and asked raising his eyebrows, "Was I that much of a nonchalant brother? "

"You were", Cleo said and added "Are you worried about her and… Richy… ".

" She met that guy yesterday, MC told me", he paused and continued "She wants to give him a second chance? What does she think of herself? An angel forgiving a devil? All he did was LIE! Why doesn't she listen to me? And MC is also siding with her. Ack.. I don't know ,how this will end, "

"Love makes one blind, Phil, you wouldn't know that", Cleo remarked and poured him another 2 glasses, " Try to take care of yourself first, I heard your bar isn't having much visitors at weekdays".

Phil choked on his drink, "It's not! I close them from time to time, since I also do another job. Are you interested to know about that? ", Phil's tone was a bit cheerful.

"I'll pass. By the way, what did MC talk to Richy today? ", inquired Cleo.

So that's what you wanted to know from the beginning, Phil murmured and then responded with a forced smile, " MC panicked and didn't talk properly to me. We must give her some time.Don't you agree? "

She just hummed and asked "Shall we meet tomorrow at the Aurora? ", without making an eye contact with him.

"Oh yes ", exclaimed Phil.

※Roughly 8 hours ago※

"Haha,MC, this feels good.You came all the way just to hit me? "

"You're so funny Richy, I'm here to talk", MC said dragging the chair, and sat facing him.

" I have a question before that ", Richy asked MC. He seemed serious.

She just blinked her eyes in agreement. " Why did you wait for three years,MC? Why? Why didn't you approach when you saw me everytime you visited the court?", Richy's words were emotionless, yet MC could feel the severity of his words.

During those trials in the court, MC would see him, sometimes she would give him a death stare, some days her eyes would be red, but she won't shed a single tear in front of him.Some days she yearned to forget the truth, and live on believing the lie that he was only Richy, the friendly mechanic; MC was struggling to intertwine her heart and mind's decisions' in one single string.

"What type of question is that? Does that mean you missed me?", she got up from her seat and stood at the closed door, with her arms crossed.

"You've been stabbing yourself, MC", Richy mumbled. "Things wouldn't have gotten out of hands if you have just listened to the mwaf", he pointed at himself and gave a devilish smile.

*desperate chuckle* "That's my line, Richy. When are you gonna realise? ", she took little steps towards him , "And that smile doesn't suit you Richy Roger, don't play 'the bad guy' before me, I didn't come here to kill him."

He rolled his eyes sceptically.

" And the answer to your question is simple. I wanted Hannah and my friends back. What I mean by that is, I … "

"You wanted them to go back to their normal lives", Richy concluded her line, she wanted to say something but silence conquered her words.

"Not bad, you are right.And the jury didn't allow the main victims(Hannah,mc, jake) to confront the culprit.Also,We were especially worried about Hannah. She started believing that her survival was meaningless.I thought the group would lose another friend",MC and Richy exchanged looks and he immediately stared down,she bit her lower lip and continued, "But Hannah understood that the more she tried to run away from her mistakes, the more she ruined her own life and the people she care about. She forgave you long ago,Richy. *a pause* She only wishes that you don't hate her for this".

Richy stood up from his seat, and banged the table with his hands yelling, " Stop it MC! Everything is over between us .Practically speaking,it didn't even exist from the very beginning.So Get out! "

"When you meet Richy tomorrow, remember that he will only try to fight against you",MC recalled what Jessy told her, and somehow it made her remember of someone else too.

"And your parents,Well, I think Jessy might've told you(Jessy and Phil take care of them). Anyway, Paul wanted me to say this to you, he wants his son back.He regrets so much for failing as a father. Mom is fine.You should've already introduced her to me,Richy Roger.She's simply sweet, she also loves the cakes I prepare along with Cleo.Sometimes she reminds of the Richy I know", MC was now only an inch away from him.

"You can't fix what I broke, MC", Richy roared in laughter.

" I damn know that very well, Mwaf. I and Jake almost died during the fire and I will never have the heart to forgive you. You said it wasn't easy for you to do all this, remember? What makes you think it wasn't difficult for others? You were fu#king selfish and single minded. But I have to appreciate your acting skills. Haha.You should apply for acting in a movie, you'll probably be selected. "

MC came closer to hit him again, but instead hugged him. Richy stood their startled , but his legs were shaking without his will.

"I really felt happy when Richy said we could have a clubhouse. I agree that we were kidding about that, but I trusted and loved him as a fellow friend. I felt proud of the guy who didn't give up on his garage business , who took care of his parents despite the state he was in. I don't know if any of the feelings he showed me were real,whether he really considered me as a friend, but Thank you Richy. I had fun enjoying that part of you, in my life. And you also showed me that I will never see him again. But if he's still there, just let him know I miss him,we really miss him.

"Yeah, he died a long time ago, what you saw was just a ghost of him. "

She raised her head to see him,a melancholic smile spread across her face, "I know that Richy, but why are you crying? ", she asked him not releasing her hug.

MC used the key and released him from the handcuffs, so that he could hug her. He finally wrapped his arms around her and weeped till his cheeks were swollen.She patted and whispered that everything will be alright.

※a while later※

"I'm not going to be forgiven, but…I'm sorry MC. I am so sorry for treating you like that."

MC released her hug and handed him a tissue,"Before that, can you tell me what is that shining in your finger? I've seen a similar one in someone else's hand", she questioned looking at the ring that he was wearing.

"Uhhh, that.. MC it is… A gift from Jessy, nothing else,haha, " he diverted his eyes to examine the empty room.

MC smacked her palm against her forehead, "Phil is gonna kill us.No, me"

"Speak of the devil, he's texting me. I better go. Ahh what am I going to do with you and Jessy! ", she rambled and when she was reaching for the door, he called her.

" Is it okay.. To start again? Do you think I deserve that, MC? "

"I do not know for sure.I honestly feel like I can't be the judge of that. Well, wait for another 4 years. Let's hope for the best to happen. See you later, Richy", she bid him goodbye and stepped out. She gave the key to the officer and he rushed in to see Richy.

The air that she breathed felt no longer suffocating and her regret and sorrow departed from her heart little by little as she moved away from the room.

Everything is going to fine in the end. If it's not fine, it's not the end. -writer of Everbyte Duskwood

◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇♡◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇

A/N: Thank you so much for those who reached the end of this fic😆❤. And let me know what you think about this🤭 The law and order etc,I'm not familiar with it, I'm sorry if I have mentioned anything wrong😅I realised it very very late that I the ring concept is repeated omg😭 just ignore it haha

Take care and much love! 💕

✿MASTERLIST✿　　

[whataperfectwasteoftime]

Okay, so, I’ll preface this with the fact that I don’t normally read threesome or poly!fics with a few exceptions (it’s just not my thing) but OH MY GOD PENNY you’re killin’ me over here with Intimidation Tactics!!!

I love how well Dave, Marcus, and reader mesh together, and how you’ve really developed the ways they each soothe each others insecurities. I adore the version of Marcus in this as well—there’s something different that I just can’t put my finger on.

Most of all, I am absolutely in love with your beautiful characterization of reader. She’s tough, she’s a badass, she’s been through a lot of shit, AND she has many moments throughout the chapters where she is also scared and soft and submissive. I love seeing female characters who are allowed to be both tough and soft at the same time; it’s something that I don’t see often in writing and you executed it beautifully!

Can’t wait to see what happens next for this disaster throuple

🌸 anon

Omg 🌸 anon this made me tear up 🥺

I am the same way, I don't always go for poly fics but the combo of Marcus and Dave together has been my kryptonite for quite a while! I was so excited to dive into it myself.

I'm so glad you like their dynamic!

I wrote Marcus both a little bit more assertive than I usually do, and also paradoxically a bit more 'switchy' as well.

I wanted him to be hot-headed enough to butt heads with Dave in a big way, willing to go toe-to-toe from their first interaction. Like, he was 100% ready to punch him in the face. He definitely wanted to.

But then on the other hand I wanted him (and Dave) to be capable of caving, to be good foils to each other where they can both have the ability to give up the reins to someone else for a while.

And my always subby reader just gets to enjoy two switches with top energy.

And speaking of her!!! Yes!!!!! She's strong and capable in her own right but is also soft and vulnerable with the right people.

As for what happens next, it might be a while before I'm able to share that with you! I've transitioned back into book-writing mode as I attempt to sift through the first draft edits of Control and make some changes that will improve the story SO, SO MUCH. Everyone thank @frannyzooey and @leslie-lyman for being such supportive, insightful people with so many amazing ideas and suggestions.

BUT-- just for you, 🌸 anon, here's a little snippet for a oneshot after the main series where reader and Marcus meet Dave's kids for the first time 🥰

"Daddy?" Molly says quietly from the door.

"Yeah, baby?" 

"The grill is on fire."

Dave curses and shoots up, dashing out of the sliding glass doors to the back porch, where you can see an alarming amount of smoke in the corner. 

Molly calmly pads over to the couch and sits where Dave had vacated and looks the two of you over. 

"That should buy us some time," she remarks. 

"What? Did you cause a fire?" you ask disbelievingly.

"Oh, you don't need to worry about that," she says, her cadence coming out exactly as you'd imagine Dave saying the same sentence, and you press your lips together to keep from laughing.

"When Daddy says 'together,' he means boyfriend and girlfriend, right?" Molly asks seriously. 

Oh. You can't imagine how hard it must be to see their dad with someone new–and, not just that but two someones, a man and a woman. It must call up so many questions that she just simply can't comprehend the answers to.

"It must be really hard to understand," Marcus begins gently, but Molly interrupts.

"It's really not that hard," she says disparagingly. "I'm almost eight. I know what 'poly' means."

"I–oh," Marcus says dumbly. "O-Okay."

"I just wanted to see if you really meant it," Molly says, her eyes fierce and burning.

Your heart melts. You grab Marcus's hand, and, trying to keep the waver out of your voice, promise, "Yeah, kiddo, we absolutely mean it."

"Good," she says, pursing her lips in an adorable imitation of her dad. 

"Do you have any questions for us?" Marcus asks, his lips quirking up in an amused smile. 

"No," Molly says thoughtfully. "I guess I just don't understand why you can't all get married. Daddy said only two people can be legally married," she recites, over-pronouncing the words. "It makes me sad."

"Oh," you murmur. "We haven't really thought about it, or–"

"But Daddy says he's going to buy three rings anyway, and who cares about the paperwork," Molly says proudly, folding her hands in her lap.

Marcus's eyebrows shoot up. "Did he," he remarks.

"That was supposed to be kept between us, bug."

You and Marcus whirls around to see Dave standing, disheveled, in the doorway. He levels a pair of tongs accusingly in Molly's direction. 

"Stop. Starting. Fires."

"Technically, it was already on fire," Molly says. 

"Is this a common thing?" you ask, laughing. 

"She's a pyromaniac," Dave mutters as he goes into the kitchen to wash the soot off his hands. 

"I'm practicing," Molly insists. "I'm going to be a rocket scientist."

"You're going to send Daddy to an early grave, bug." He walks into the living room and kisses her on the forehead. "Thought you had homework to do."

Molly groans loudly and stands up. "It's so boring," she says loudly. "I already know it all."

[lostmykeysie]

Thanks for the tag @theonlywolfpants, I am extremely excited about ALL of your WIPs, but Bites Through the Bone??????? I nEED it.

WIP Challenge 😁❤🧡💛💚💙💜🤎🖤🤍❤😁🤩🤩 Rules: tell us the titles of all the WIPs you are currently working on right now and a little about them. Then tag five other writers.

The Horcrux Hunt is my current live WIP that I am having SO much fun writing. It's a First Wizarding War canon-divergence/fix-it fic (I'm not certain on the differences of the terms, sorry) where Regulus doesn't commit suicide via the cave and instead reluctantly goes to Dumbledore for help, who partners him up with Remus to go (yup, you guessed it) on a Horcrux hunt. As is my typical style, it's mostly humour and fluff with a bit of angst and a bit of smut.

As Of Yet Unnamed Horcrux Hunt Sequel is getting drafted as THH is written and I am really excited for this!!! It's a sequel (obviously) that focuses on Remus and Regulus as they attempt to pick up the pieces immediately after the war's end, and it's JEGULUS!!!!! MY FIRST TIME!!!! Think slowburn enemies-to-lovers, except more I lowkey resent you for stealing my brother away-to-lovers, and Wolfstar trying to sort their shit out.

Trust is Earned is my other live WIP that's currently on the back burner whilst I pour all my energy and lifeforce into THH. It's a follow up to Meeting with a Stranger (my first fic that I'm too scared to read back lol) that is nothing more than fluff and smut, following Sirius on his courageous journey to get his sexy hunk of a boyfriend Remus to say ILY back. (I'm also scared to read this back, mostly because I left it hanging on a sex scene that's going to make me cringe so hard I just *know* it)

For The Map was supposed to be a Christmas fic that I wrote but didn't finish - I actually posted a snippet way back when - that at some point I will have to decide whether to keep it for next Christmas or slightly rewrite. It's a Hogwarts era fic with oblivious Remus wondering why Sirius is acting so strange, and why the hell they keep getting stuck in small spaces with each other.

Buy A Bachelor AU is also as of yet unnamed (and I am terrible with naming fics so don't expect anything good) that's based on this prompt that I've fully outlined and half written. It's a oneshot from Sirius's POV - he's taking part in a fundraiser for Hogwarts Museum of Art alongside some familiar faces, but after Alice goes into labour and Frank has to pull out, a certain sexy young PhD student/new museum employee has to take his place. Sirius finds him very distracting.

And if y'all wanna have a crack (apols if you've already been tagged, I'm technically in a work meeting right now lol) @impishtubist, @limetimo, @sheofthebookandsong, @de-sire-blog, and @signifiquint my darling

[fanficwritersinterviewed]

ITWW, willowcrowned

<<This post is a part of a longer conversation about fanfic writers, how they view fanfic, and their writing process. All views are the fanfic writers’ own, and whatever fanfic they choose to write is entirely their own decision. No judgment value will be placed on fic content. These conversations are meant to provide insight for other fanfic writers in whatever stage they are at in their writing life>>

In the Weeds Wednesday (with willowcrowned, @willowcrowned​ )

Okay. Let’s get into your writing process. You get an idea, it’s itching at your brain. What’s the first thing you do? Notes app! Usually ideas come to me in the form of one-off lines or snippets of dialogue that then develop into scenes. I'll put whatever the line(s) is/are down in the notes app on my phone, and if I'm not busy I'll usually start expanding on it immediately. If the idea gets big enough (think a paragraph or two—maybe 150 words), I'll open my laptop and copy paste it into a Word doc where I start writing for real. I'd say about 25% of my ideas get past the notes app stage. Another 10% of that 25% actually makes it through an entire draft, and sometimes a fully drafted fic never gets finalized edits and posted.

Why is that? What kills your fic before they see the light of day? Usually, I'm just too busy to finish it before I get preoccupied with other things. Short, comedy oneshots only get done if I do them in one or two sittings. Longer fics I tend to end up committing to fully (regardless of loss of interest) when they've hit either two scenes or 4k words, whichever comes first, and those two scenes/4k also really only get done if I do them in one to two sittings. I hesitate to call it waning interest, because it's not—I'd still be happy to read those things if they were written, or write them if I felt excited about it—but I do feel very strongly about only writing when I'm excited to write, and if they don't make me feel excited to write then I don't. I think it's probably to do with my ADHD—if it's not giving me the dopamine I need, and it's not giving it to me  now, it's physically painful to write. So I just... don't put myself through that anymore.

Do you outline? Outline? What's an outline? When I write something, I usually know where it ends, where it starts, and have a sort of idea of how the middle will go. When I outline, it's only when I've gotten stuck midway through the process and need some concrete guidelines.

Do you write in or out of order? I tend to start with a scene in the middle—that's usually where the initial line/bit of dialogue comes from—and then I'll write either starting from that scene (eventually adding a beginning when I'm finished), or starting from the beginning. That's as out of order as I can go without confusing myself

The middle? Why there? Because that's where the idea comes from! I don't really get ideas for the very start of a scene—I don't know why, but I just don't—and I need a jumping off point to really start writing. The line/lines I have give me a tone to start with, and a conflict to work off of immediately.

Do you write every day? Hah! No. I have a life.

Okay that was mean. But like... no. I'm very adamant about only writing when I feel good about it. The times in my life when I have forced myself to write even when I desperately didn't want to, especially when I didn't have the spoons, led to burnout so bad I stopped writing for months, which made me miserable because I like writing. I just—ugh, we ascribe so much importance to the idea of "getting better" at writing that I think we forget you're supposed to enjoy your hobbies above all else. Writing shouldn't be a punishment. It should be a reward! And funnily enough, now that I don't force myself to write, I've produced ten times more than I did when I was forcing myself. I know the 'write every day' advice works for some people, but it was just about the worst thing on earth for me.

Yeah, that's such a good point to make. A lot of the time advice–especially for writing–gets regurgitated and when it works for some, that’s great, but for the people that it doesn’t help there's not much counter-advice. Honestly I have a really negative reaction to writing advice in general—barring when it's applied to a specific thing I've done in a specific thing I've written—because so much of it has been actively detrimental to me. There's a reason I skip past every writing advice post I see and it's because every time I've tried to take that advice, I've started hating writing and hating what I've written. I mean, I think the advice can be important and useful, but I also think there's this tendency to take it at face value and not think about what it's really trying to say. The "said is dead" stuff, for instance, is alarmingly stupid when it tells you to stop using said. But the point it's trying to make—vary the rhythm of your dialogue so it doesn't get dull, and add in action so the reader can picture the characters—is good.

Absolutely agree. When it comes to reading fic do you find you read more than you write it? Oh, I read WAY more than I write. I mean if we're just talking Teen Wolf, which someone [*cough* it was Dark] got me into a little under a month ago, I've read well over 300-400k of it, and I've written 12k.

As you read, are you aware of things that other writers do that you want to include in your writing? How is that process going? Oh, ugh, I mean. I've been SUPER insecure about my own writing lately, to the point where I blocked another (very talented, and I'm sure perfectly nice) writer out of sheer, petty jealousy because every time I saw their name it made me feel awful and mean. I know I really have trouble with serious, character-driven narratives—especially longer ones—and I have recently produced something that is serious, long(ish), and character-driven! But because so much of what I write is comedy, I feel—I hesitate to say inferior, but inferior might be the best word for it—to writers who seem to effortlessly be able to produce amazing fics that are exactly the kind of thing I spent eight or so months struggling with. That jealousy and pure feeling of shame at not being good enough are pretty decent deterrents for not writing in general, let alone trying the sort of writing (character-driven, serious, full of motifs, and long) that that specific other writer (and other writers in general) do so well.

I really appreciate you talking about that. I feel like these feelings of insecurity and envy are SO common and I don’t think they’re spoken of honestly enough. In private pretty much every writer I’ve ever talked to, regardless of where they are in the fandom landscape of popularity, has moments of spiraling insecurity and doubt. It’s just part of being human, to value other people’s abilities sometimes more than your own. Which leads well into our last bit, I think: say something nice about your own writing. I think I have a talent for comedy, and I know my writing is good at translating the rhythm of a joke spoken aloud into text. I guess I know I’m capable of switching my prose style and that’s cool.

Okay, we already talked about how a lot of writing advice is kind of bullshit… but any writing advice for anyone out there struggling with it? Writing shouldn't be a horrible burden that you dread all the time! It can suck, you can hate it sometimes, it can make you want to tear your hair out with frustration occasionally, but it should only make you feel that way because you care about it. If you hate it not because it's hard and you're stubborn and you want to make it through because you like writing, but because you don't want to do it... then maybe you should reevaluate your approach. Writing shouldn't make you miserable. It should make your life better, even if it's only by a little.

[durotoswrites]

For the writing meme thingy: 🍄how do you get yourself in the mood to write? 🍑 do you/would you write smut? 📒 any fics planned?

🍄 How do you get yourself in the mood to write?

Getting in the mood to write and actually wanting to sit down and start writing are two very different things, but they're connected, so I'll explain both.

To set into “creative mode” it helps me to do these things:

Listen to music that makes me think of a character/situation in my story/stories. I've got playlists separated by character and pairing. Sometimes I also just work on curating those playlists for fun and get my brain going.

Bounce overall ideas off of my friends and husband/editor (but he's my best friend, too 💗)

Reread old chapters or recent ones and future snippets based on what I want to do.

Once I actually want to put words down, I get a little more strict with myself. I get distracted verrrry easily sometimes and I have to fight the urge to open a million more tabs when researching a small detail.

I move to instrumental music (I have playlists for different moods like “emotional”, “soft”, “sad”, etc. I usually listen to “soft” as a general soothing background sound, as I can get pretty dang emotional when I write, especially with the stuff I've been churning out lately.

So, yeah, I need tissues within reach if I get upset. (Wow, I'm not making this sound fun at all, lmao)

After sound has been established, I like to eat a snack (something with protein) because I can be under for hours, lol. Eat it and finish it. Otherwise, I get distracted.

I also like to have drinks available. I always have a bottle of water, but I also like having a hot cup of tea. I think it's the time of year for me to switch to cold barley tea.

I write while seated on a recliner with my feet up. I have my laptop on a lap desk and it's a pretty cozy setup.

I basically try to remove any excuse I have to get up once I start writing, because I am the worst procrastinator I know.

🍑Do you/would you write smut?

Heheh... heck yeah, I do. Waaaaay more than most people realize. Stuff I've actually posted? It's pretty limited. I posted a couple pieces (Let Me Love You and You're Like the Sunshine) a few years ago, but I've been practicing ever since. One of my planned stories literally has what I refer to as a “smut dump” in the draft where I've been experimenting with writing different moods. I like the intimate scenes to play a role in the overall plot or have it be a bonding experience.

Despite that, I do have a shameless Gray x Mary story I should just get out there that has zero plot, just two cuties in love. In my mind it's so naughty and kinky and I get flustered thinking about it (Mary is hot, okay?), but it's probably hella vanilla, lmao. I really am grateful that people have been really supportive about my writing smut despite what I usually write, and they've been so encouraging, too! I honestly feel like the smut I've posted is really stilted because I was so self-conscious about it. I don't feel like they are terrible for first attempts, but I have definitely grown more comfortable writing it.

Will The Shy Newcomer become explicit? I kinda really want it to, but I might separate the chapters for those who don't care for that content. Overall, I'd like to write more and post more, and I want to write more than just male x female smut as well. I have some of those in my planned pieces (more about them later).

📒 Any Fics Planned?

Firstly, I'm super tickled more than one person was interested in this. I copied the answer I wrote earlier.

Short answer: Yes. I also plan to bring more of my stories over from ffn to Ao3.

Long answer under the cut, heheh. I rambled quite a bit.

Ask me about my writing processes and stories!

I have so many WIPs that haven’t been touched in years that I’d like to finish, so new planned fics aren’t posted yet. Some of them have more adult themes than most of the stuff I’ve been writing, so I get flustered sharing them. I’ve been at a crossroads, as I feel that you can’t have growth without changing things up. On the other hand, I feel like a lot of my readers associate my works with a specific “wholesome” feel-good mood. It’s kinda nice to be known for something, although that might just be my ego talking, thinking that people recognize my work as a “type”.

Regardless, in the end, I feel growth is necessary.

I don’t want to leave a lot of unfinished WIPs waiting because they stress me out and I have too many of them already, so I’d like to have a bulk of my new stories with a good chunk written before I decide to post them.

Among those include:

A longfic featuring Pete’s farm in Forget-Me-Not Valley (A blend of HMDS with the FoMT plugin and AWL). It takes place in the same universe as The Shy Newcomer (Claire in Mineral Town) and there are a few overlapping moments, although Pete’s story starts first. Pete’s personality is verrry different from Claire’s, and his story was kind of supposed to be the yang to TSN’s yin. Pete’s best friends in his story are Ruby (not sure if I’m adding Tim yet), Nami, and Rock. Readers will be treated to a poorly-socialized pre-Mineral Town Cliff (if you think he was bad at the beginning of TSN, well… heh… he’s a wreck here).

Another planned unpublished story is a crossover of Harvest Moon and the movie “In This Corner of the World”, based on a manga of the same name by Fumiyo Kouno. It was written as a gift for a friend. I have the entire outline figured out and have slowly been filling it in. My friend asked for an AU where Claire and Cliff have an arranged marriage and live with his family in Akiyama, the hometown I had created for Cliff in The Shy Newcomer. I took the opportunity to expand the characters in his family. I have it written during the same time period and society as “In This Corner of the World”, but had decided to write a spreading disease as an allegory for war, but then COVID happened and some parts of it just got really hard to write. There are also a lot of sexually explicit content as Claire slowly grows and learns from her spouse that it’s okay to express what she wants despite sex being a taboo issue. If there’s enough interest in the story, I’ll post it, but I worry it’s a little too niche for there to be many people into it.

Pastor Carter and Doctor Trent are one of my favorite rare pair ships. I’ve had a partial draft for a story about them for a few years now, especially focusing on Trent growing up and acknowledging that he has an unhealthy addiction for things that he knows he can’t have. There are some more adult/sexual themes in this piece, too, including the main character lusting after a married woman (who also happens to be his patient) and some lemons. (Does anyone call it that anymore or is it just referred to as “smut” nowadays? Haha) I always feel so bad for neglecting the folks at the clinic in-game and wanted to write a piece that focused more on them, Trent specifically. It’s a multi-chap fic, but I don’t think I’m going to let it get as long as some of my other pieces.

I also really want to write a short romantic oneshot for every marriage candidate in Mineral Town, around 1,000 words each. So far, I have one for Cliff and one for Gray. I want to write Claire with everyone, because I think it would be fun to explore all the different personalities.

I have more installments planned for A Single Day, including a day in the life of the following characters, all with drafts in varying degrees of progress:

Anna

Doug

Nora (yes, I’m writing from the point of view of the cat living at the inn)

More to come – I think Lillia and Thomas would be especially interesting to explore

I do still have that Legend of Zelda Majora’s Mask piece I’ve been pondering where Link befriends the soul of the deku scrub child while possessed by the mask. I don’t have much written about it, but I really love the world of Majora’s Mask. Such a fun game.

I also think about the lead carpenter’s son in Ocarina of Time and that weird side quest involving the blue chicken and the son being lost to the forest. Then that unique-looking kokiri girl explaining that all who get taken in the lost woods become stalfos. Like, did the guy die? Was he sick? Did he want to die? There’s just so much going on there that would be fun to explore.

I also have played OMORI recently and have like… A LOT of feelings about it. I don’t know what I’d write, but I’m still damn impressed at how well the characters are developed in such a short game.

Other games I’ve had vague ideas about writing for include the following:

The Flame in the Flood: I’m thinking a survivalist/action story fleshing out Scout’s backstory a bit more and her thoughts as she’s traveling. I feel like she’s a very lonely person, but isn’t given the chance to really dwell on it.

Night In the Woods: I’d love to write more about Mae’s dreams and what they mean to her. She doesn’t really talk to anyone about them openly, so it’s really hard to tell her feelings about them in some regards. We know that she’s distressed about them, but I’d like to dive a little deeper. Do the nightmares end after the games does? What about Bea’s new nightmares?

Hades (Supergiant Games): I think it would be fun to write more about the events that take place before the game starts, like Zagreus’s duties in the house of Hades, and expand on the strained relationship with his father.