#this is double the length of the chapter's I've already posted

[lemon-mint-writes]

Well at least the fluff chapter is long to make up for the angst that follows.

[themirokai]

Never say never on returning to wips you love.

In late 2020 and through 2021, I was writing a Mystrade series called His Professional Capacity in which Mycroft is a spymaster. I had the first chapter of a sixth (and probably final) story for the series written, but I never quite figured out where to take it and I moved on to other fandoms.

Now, three years later, I’ve written a five chapter story that nearly doubles the length of the series. It’s getting proofread and beta��d now, but I hope to start posting it soon. Because the vast majority of you followed me after 2021, and I want to entice as many people to read this as possible, I’m going to start posting the stories in the series here. First up:

What He Does

Greg encounters Mycroft's security detail and comes to understand the reasons for it.

~ 2,601 words. I've tweaked some minor things from the AO3 version, which was not Britpicked, but kept the rather American conception of when someone might be carrying a gun, since it's integral to the plot. Please enjoy despite inaccuracies.

Read it below or on AO3.

~*~

Greg pondered whether he should take Mycroft’s arm. Or his hand. Or offer Mycroft his arm. Or put his hand on Mycroft’s back. This whole “dating” thing was confusing. Greg hadn’t dated for decades, and back then it had been women. Not a mature, somewhat intimidating, incredibly posh, devastatingly gorgeous man. He wasn’t quite sure how to act.

Greg would admit that dinner had been a success. The conversation was comfortable, interesting, and somewhat flirty, just as it had been for their previous two dates. And the several meals and drinks they’d shared before that - before Greg had gotten up the nerve to ask Mycroft on a real date. They had chemistry. That was certain. And when the meal ended and Mycroft had suggested they go for a walk to enjoy the fresh fall air, Greg had jumped at the chance to keep the date from ending.

He pondered the possibility of a good night kiss, but wasn’t sure if that should come before or after holding hands or linking arms on a walk. What were the procedures for physical contact with a man who made your stomach do somersaults every time you thought about him? How were those procedures different when the man in question held a highly secretive and incredibly powerful government position? Were they different? Greg settled for moving a little closer to Mycroft as they walked along, allowing the sleeves of their coats to brush against each other.

Mycroft finished the anecdote he was telling about Sherlock as a child, and Greg turned to smile up at him. As he did, movement caught the corner of his eye and Greg glanced behind them. There was a man walking half a block behind them. Greg frowned.

“Shall we take this left?” he asked Mycroft.

“If you like,” Mycroft responded with a soft smile.

They turned and Greg waited about half a block before glancing back. The man behind them made the turn as well. Greg risked a slightly longer look this time and realized with alarm that he recognized the man from the restaurant. His mind immediately ran through possibilities. Mugger. Someone after Greg because of a case he’d worked or was currently working. Someone after Mycroft for whatever shadowy reason. Someone after either or both of them as a way of getting to Sherlock.

“Gregory? Is something wrong?”

No sense in worrying him. Greg could handle this. “No, uh, no. Let’s just - do you mind if we turn down this alley for a moment?”

Now Greg did take Mycroft’s elbow to guide him into the small alley, mentally kicking himself that the first time he touched the man was out of fear and necessity.

“Gregory, what-”

“Please, just stay here a moment and keep quiet, I’m sure it’s nothing, I’ll handle it.”

“Gregory!”

But Greg was not listening, he could hear the man’s footsteps speeding up and getting nearer, and drew his gun. From his peripheral vision, he thought he saw Mycroft reaching for him, but he was already committed to whirling around the corner and slamming the oncoming man against the wall, holding him with an arm across his chest and leveling the gun to his cheek. “That’s far enough, mate. Who are you and why are you following us?”

The man slowly raised his hands, but a female voice suddenly cut in. “Drop the gun! Now!”

Greg did not drop the gun, but turned to look down the barrel of another weapon held by a well-dressed woman who Greg was also fairly sure he had seen at the restaurant. Before Greg had a chance to respond, Mycroft stepped out of the alley.

“Stand down, Ms. Bell.” Mycroft sounded tired.

“Sir, please stay back!” the woman responded.

“Ms. Bell, Inspector Lestrade is not a threat.”

“Respectfully, sir, then why is he hustling you into an alley and drawing a gun on your security?” Ms. Bell kept her own gun trained on Greg, who was frozen.

Mycroft pinched the bridge of his nose. “Because he did not know that I have security and thought Mr. Spooner was following us with malicious intentions.” Mycroft squared his shoulders, and put the tone of command into his voice. “Stand down, Ms. Bell. That is an order.” The woman grimaced and holstered her weapon. “Gregory, kindly unhand Mr. Spooner.”

Greg stepped back, but was not quite able to pick his jaw up off the floor. “They work for you?”

“Indeed,” Mycroft said, as Mr. Spooner, with a face like a thundercloud, started brushing off his clothing. “Mr. Spooner and Ms. Bell are … associates of mine and - for the time being at least - they have been charged with ensuring my safety.”

Greg holstered his gun. “Do you always have security?”

“Yes,” Mycroft said simply.

“So the other times we’ve been out together?”

“They were there and you did not notice them. Which is how it should be,” Mycroft lowered a meaningful look at Spooner, who squirmed.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Greg asked, still wrapping his mind around the fact that he was apparently trying to date someone who merited two armed guards at all times.

Mycroft sighed. “In retrospect, that was clearly a mistake. I-” he paused, looking at the three of them, then shook his head. “The bar in the hotel across the way is nice and quiet. May I buy you a drink, Gregory? I’m afraid the walk has been a bit ruined.”

“Sure… yeah, a drink sounds good.”

Fifteen minutes later they were ensconced in a booth at a swanky hotel bar. Greg had a single malt Scotch, and Mycroft was twisting the stem of a glass of red wine in his long fingers. Beautiful fingers, Greg thought. Spooner and Bell had taken a table on the other side of the bar where they were too far to hear the conversation, but had clear sight lines to Mycroft.

“So how long have those two been your bodyguards?” Greg asked, nodding at Spooner and Bell.

“They’ve only been on this rotation for about a week. They’ll spend a month with me, before moving on to another assignment and being replaced by another two. And I wouldn’t call them bodyguards. They are field agents.”

“Ms. Bell sure seems like a bodyguard.” Greg took a swig of his drink.

“Ms. Bell knows that she will be held partially accountable for Mr. Spooner’s carelessness. This assignment is meant to give a more experienced agent - in this case, Ms. Bell - an opportunity to train a less experienced agent - Mr. Spooner - in the field. It also allows me to observe agents in the field to get a feel for their strengths and weaknesses. I’m afraid tonight revealed some weaknesses.” Mycroft sipped his wine.

“It’s not their fault you decided to go out with a cop,” Greg grinned.

“Yes, but-” Mycroft stopped himself and smiled. “Yes, you’re right.”

Greg narrowed his eyes. “You expect them to be better than me. It’s alright, you can say it.”

Mycroft considered Greg for a moment before responding. “I expect them to be able to follow their mark unnoticed, even if their mark is accompanied by a particularly intelligent and observant detective.”

“Fair enough, and I’ll take the compliment,” Greg chuckled. “So is that the only reason you have security? For training and observation?”

Mycroft twirled his wine glass in his fingers again before responding. “Gregory�� I have enjoyed our time together, and if you are willing I would like to continue to see you.”

Greg grinned. “More than willing.”

Mycroft smiled. “Thank you. There are many things I am unable to talk about with you, for your safety, and mine, and that of others. And even with this I must tread a bit lightly, but … I would like you to go into,” he gestured vaguely between the two of them, “this, with your eyes open.”

“I’m listening.” Greg sat a little straighter.

“The work I do, the work I have done in the past, has risks. I… have enemies. Enemies who would prefer that I were no longer operating. While I am generally able to take care of myself, I am not as young as I was and there have been … close calls, as it were. And so now my security detail is part of the field agents’ rotation.”

“How close were the close calls?”

“Too close.”

“How too close?”

“A few centimeters from a major artery, too close.”

“Ah.”

“Yes.”

They both sipped their drinks. “Well then I’m glad Ms. Bell pulled her gun on me. She was probably right to,” Greg said after a minute. “Don’t be too hard on her tomorrow.”

Mycroft smiled and hesitantly reached across the table to touch Greg’s hand. Greg immediately took the opportunity to grab hold of the long, slender fingers. “You don’t… mind? That I live a life that requires that I am under surveillance?”

“I mean you have some privacy, don’t you?”

“Yes!” A blush was climbing up Mycroft’s cheeks. “Yes, of course! I - um - they - well, I mean-“

The sight of Mycroft Holmes stuttering like a schoolboy melted the last of Greg’s discomfort and he grinned, then squeezed Mycroft’s hand. “Can I safely assume that if I go to kiss you when we leave here that I won’t end up looking down the barrel of Ms. Bell’s gun again?”

Mycroft gaped at him momentarily before recovering. “No - um - no, that would be fine.”

“Just fine?” Greg cocked an eyebrow, leaning in to the newfound confidence.

A slow smile played over Mycroft’s features. “More than fine. Welcome.”

Greg settled back into his seat with a grin. There was one thing sorted.

Greg squinted across the restaurant. “Is Bell wearing a wig?”

Mycroft took a sip of his drink. “Gregory, kindly do not peer at her. She is more effective if it is not clear that there’s a connection between her and I.”

Greg turned his eyes front, but not before he saw Bell glower at him. “Sorry,” he grinned at Mycroft. “Is it a wig though? It’s awful. Don’t you all train in costuming or something?”

Mycroft coughed and wiped his mouth carefully with his napkin, avoiding Greg’s eyes. “I believe she dyed her hair.”

Greg’s jaw dropped. “No. Mycroft, no. Not that colour.” Mycroft cut another bite of his meal without looking up. “Did she do it because of me?” Greg asked, astonished. When Mycroft neither confirmed nor denied, Greg clapped his hand over his mouth to stifle a laugh.

“You’ve been… a little too good at spotting her,” Mycroft said after a minute. “But her new assignment starts in a few days. I believe the change in hair colour is more related to that.”

“There is no way that shade is good for any kind of undercover work, darling, you’ve got to get her to change it. It looks like it doesn’t know whether it’s red or purple.”

Mycroft started a bit at the pet name, and watched carefully as Greg applied himself to his meal. After a moment, he relaxed with a smile. “I’ll speak to her.”

“Mycroft.”

“Mm?”

“The chap on the bicycle.”

“What about him?”

“Is he your new security?”

A heavy sigh, then, “Kindly leave your gun holstered, Gregory.”

About a month, a number of dates, and many quite pleasant kisses after their first, Greg and Mycroft lay naked in Mycroft’s bed following their first time having sex. Greg was gently tracing his fingers over one of the several scars that broke the plane of Mycroft’s pale skin. He had seen the scars when he had undressed Mycroft - a lengthier affair than he was used to, with far more buttons - but had been preoccupied at the time. Now he took his time to study them.

“More of these than I was expecting,” Greg said, tracing what he suspected was the remnant of a knife wound to Mycroft’s side.

Mycroft started moving away from him. “I’m sorry. If it bothers you I can-” He was stopped as Greg wrapped an arm around his waist.

Greg pulled Mycroft close. “Don’t be daft. You’re beautiful and I want to see all of you. It’s not like I like the idea of you being stabbed,” he touched the knife scar, “or shot,” his fingers found the scar from a bullet wound on Mycroft’s shoulder, “or shot again,” the scar on Mycroft’s left thigh, “or burned,” the matching marks on the forearms, “or … what is this?” Greg fingered the vaguely triangular scar just above Mycroft’s right hip.

“Stabbed, I suppose you could say,” Mycroft replied quietly. “It was an ice pick.”

“An… ice pick.”

“Indeed. The result of an error in judgment of a much younger man.”

“Just to be clear, you were the younger man with poor judgment, right? There’s not some young tosser running about who caused you to get ice picked?”

“That’s correct. I read a situation erroneously and suffered the consequences.”

“With an ice pick.”

“Just so.”

“Any chance I could get more of the story behind that?”

Mycroft considered for a moment. “If two governments were to permanently fall… no, even then it wouldn’t be unclassified in either of our lifetimes.”

Greg leaned up to kiss Mycroft’s chin. “You’re fascinating. Does anyone actually believe you work for the Department for Transport?”

Mycroft chuckled. “Yes, Detective Inspector Lestrade. People from whom I have not had to take away investigations, and who have not had to deal with my brother, and who have not seen me in a state of undress - essentially everyone in the world who is not you or who has not otherwise encountered me in my professional capacity - generally believe that I am a minor government official.”

Greg planted a kiss on his chest. “People are daft, then. You dress too well to be a minor anything.”

Mycroft’s lips twisted into a wry smile. “Thank you. I think.”

“Anyway,” Greg picked up his prior thought. “I don’t like the idea of you being hurt. I hate it in fact. But the scars are part of you. And I like you. I like all of you. Very much.”

Mycroft drew Greg up so that they were face to face and kissed him deeply. “I also like you very much, Gregory,” he breathed when they finally broke apart.

Greg pulled himself tight against Mycroft’s side and rested his head on the other man’s chest. The angle put the bullet wound on Mycroft’s thigh in his line of sight. “This is the newest one,” he murmured, touching it gently.

“Very astute, Gregory.”

“Not a youthful error of judgment, then?”

“No. That one is the reason I have a security detail.”

Greg covered it with his palm. “A few centimeters from your femoral artery.”

“Mm,” Mycroft acknowledged. “The circumstances were such that if my assailant’s shot had been better - or worse, I suppose, given your perspective - I likely would have bled out before assistance could reach me.” Greg hugged him a little tighter. “That caused my superiors to insist that I be under guard,” Mycroft finished.

Greg frowned. “You have superiors?”

“One or two. It’s a bit … complicated.”

Greg huffed. “I bet it is.” He planted a kiss on Mycroft’s chest. “You’ve certainly led an interesting life.”

“I believe the corollary to the traditional curse is ‘may you live an interesting life.’”

“Do you feel cursed?” Greg asked, craning his neck to see Mycroft’s face.

“On the contrary,” Mycroft smiled, “the fact that in spite of all this, or perhaps as a result of all this, I have ended up here, with you, has me feeling incredibly fortunate at the moment.”

“Me too,” Greg grinned.

~*~

Thanks for reading! The next story is now up over here.

[dracarialove]

📄 F it, I'm posting my finished fics here, too 📄

*Check the 'rouge's heart' tag if you haven't read previous chapters

[Chapter 5: Violence]

Blaze was clipping up her hair in her signature ponytail when the doorbell rang; before she could call out to Silver, he was already telling her he would answer it. The white hedgehog opened the door and greeted Rouge, inviting her inside.

"Lookin' sharp," she said, pointing to the teal blazer and black bowtie he was wearing.

Silver tightened his tie and smiled. "Thanks. Blaze should be out in a minute."

They chatted briefly until the lavender cat walked into the room, her slim figure presented in a knee-length magenta dress with a single ruffled strap crossing over to one shoulder. Red strappy heels covered her feet, and she had applied a nude gloss to her lips.

"Wow, Blaze!" Rouge exclaimed, impressed. "I've never seen you so stylish."

The princess shot her a sly look as she slipped one gloved hand around Silver's arm. "It's not often that I get dressed up. Besides, we're not all like you, hoarding outfits for every occasion!"

The bat rolled her eyes and swatted the air, grinning as she turned back toward the door. "You guys ready to go?"

The couple followed, Silver grabbing his keys. "Let's hit the town!"

***

Shadow's stint at the coffee shop was almost over, the grumpy hedgehog having worked a rare morning shift. His mood was sour as he and his coworker blasted through a rush of customers. The hour of repetitive labor left him irritated and ready to clock out, continuously checking the time once his coworker had gone outside for a short break.

He let out an aggravated sigh when another customer walked in only a few minutes after the rush had subsided. The red echidna stomped his way over to the counter, a steamed expression plastered on his face.

Shadow's eyes narrowed slightly as he watched the angry patron approach the register. Knuckles stopped at the counter, staring across at Shadow with an unflinching frown stamped across his tan muzzle.

Hyper-aware of the echidna's hostile body language, the neutral hedgehog remained on his guard as he held eye contact, then dully mustered a customer-friendly phrase. "Can I help you?"

"Stay away from Rouge," Knuckles growled.

Shadow responded with the furrowing of his brow and a quiet scoff. "You're looking for trouble, threatening me. I don't care who you are – if you think you can scare me, you're sorely mistaken."

"I'm not trying to scare you, tough guy. I'm warning you. You back off of my woman if you don't want a problem!"

Knuckles raising his voice set off Shadow's growing frustration, the dark hedgehog refusing to accept the disrespect. He replied in a sharp tone, "You're the one who needs to back off. You must have a death wish – or maybe you're just stupid – to challenge someone whose capabilities go beyond your comprehension."

The echidna started to ball his fists, the two men staring each other down. Shadow continued, "Besides, if Rouge is 'your' woman, and she's taken a liking to me, what does that say about your inability to keep her interest?"

He didn't know if it was true, if Rouge really was in a relationship with the angry stranger in front of him; but he hated being talked down to, and had easily pegged Knuckles' weakness when it came to insults. The redhead's frown turned into a toothy scowl as he suddenly raised his fists and swung.

"Chaos Control!"

***

The telekinetic hedgehog was the driver for their night out, all three of them hopping into the silver Camaro that boasted two bright teal stripes down the hood. They headed downtown, soon being surrounded by countless bars, clubs, and restaurants – all brightly-lit with energetic music pouring from the windows. Per Blaze's suggestion, they pulled into the parking lot of a restaurant bar, Silver scooting his car into an empty corner spot.

A human hostess met them when they walked through ruby-colored double doors, then led them past a number of tables filled with a mixture of diners; some human, some Mobian, all enjoying their meals and drinks with their personal groups.

She sat them at a booth near the back, Blaze and Silver sitting on one side while Rouge took the other. The woman handed them menus and offered to provide a pitcher of water for the table, which they graciously accepted before she left them to decide on entrées.

"The salmon sounds good," Blaze commented, drawing Silver's attention to her menu, "but it's kind of expensive."

He skimmed the price and smiled up at her. "Get whatever you want – it's a special occasion. I think I'll have the pasta salad. See anything you like, Rouge?"

"Hmm..." the bat wondered, tapping an index finger against her chin. "Maybe fettuccine, that's always a safe choice. Although, it might be worth it to try the grilled chicken."

Blaze perked up as she closed her menu. "Oh! I can vouch for the chicken. Certainly worth it."

"I'll take your word for it, then," she responded, snapping the menu shut with one hand.

When the waitress came by to place their pitcher of water on the table, the triad put in their orders and each poured a glass for themselves. The uplifting orchestra music playing through the restaurant's speakers coupled with the soft orange lights to set a positive mood for their evening, even as Silver brought up a subject that was still considerably sore.

"Hey, so, I know it just happened," he started, addressing Rouge, "and you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to... but I wanted to ask how you're holding up since the whole debacle with Knuckles."

Blaze lightly slapped his arm, but the strong-willed bat was determined not to let the breakup get to her; if she was going to get over him, she did need to talk about it. No amount of crying alone would help her completely heal from the pain, so Rouge smiled and made eye contact with Silver.

"You know, it still stings – and maybe it will for a while – but I think I'm coming more to terms with it as the days go by."

"I don't think I've ever met another woman as emotionally strong as you," Blaze commented, picking up her water. "Already starting to get over Knuckles, when Amy bursts into tears every time Sonic doesn't answer her calls!"

Silver chuckled and Rouge shrugged. The bat didn't want to mention her new love interest just yet, thinking it would be better to get her frustrations out first. She could save the good news for last and close out their dinner with happier thoughts.

So, while they waited for their food to arrive, she recounted the hurtful events while sprinkling in complaints about both Knuckles and Julie-Su. A cathartic experience, it allowed the treasure hunter to fully enjoy her meal once their waitress came around with the dishes and drinks.

***

Time was frozen, Knuckles' balled fist hovering in the air above the coffee shop counter. His mouth was agape, canines exposed in a display of aggression, fierce eyes alive with rage. The powerful hedgehog walked around the counter, trying to remember if he'd seen the echidna before.

The only instance he could pull forth was a mere possibility; a red BMW speeding down the street as he and Rouge enjoyed warm beverages outside the shop. Although it could've been anyone driving such a vehicle, it was the only conclusion he could draw, as there hadn't been anyone around the first time he'd spoken to her.

"Pathetic," Shadow mumbled to himself as he rolled along his skates to stand behind Knuckles.

As time began to speed back up, the Ultimate Lifeform hooked one foot under the echidna's legs and pushed them out from under him. Knuckles dropped, the forward momentum of his punch slamming his jaw onto the countertop as he fell. He let out an agonized shout as he tumbled to the floor, then clutched his muzzle and grabbed the counter to pull himself up.

Shaking, the echidna's eyes watered and he continued to groan in anguish. A splitting headache shocked through his skull and he remained kneeled on the floor while Shadow stood away from him, his baritone voice cutting through the otherwise quiet coffee shop.

"Get out of here. I don't want to have to expend any more energy on you."

Knuckles turned and glared up at him, attempting to speak but immediately clutching his mouth again before finally standing. Shadow remained on the defensive as the echidna chose to leave, his crimson gaze following the attacker until he was out the door.

He watched Knuckles climb into the same BMW that he had seen the evening before – initially invisible as he had parked in the farthest spot from the entrance – and made a mental note to speak with Rouge about the enraged echidna.

***

As the three of them were eating their respective meals, Blaze prodded Rouge about where she had run off to the previous day. "You said it would be good, so let's hear it."

"I met someone interesting the other day," the bat answered, trying to keep her smile from turning into a grin.

Silver's eyes widened a bit. "Woah, already? I knew you were quick about picking up new guys, but that has to be a record."

"Hey!" she retorted playfully, stabbing a piece of chicken with her fork. "This one doesn't count, okay; probably the first time I wasn't trying to find a lover after a breakup."

The hedgehog argued through a mouthful of pasta salad, "Well, it's extra impressive, then."

He covered his mouth when Blaze made a disgusted face, using his telekinesis to pull a napkin from the dispenser. The lemon-eyed cat turned to Rouge and said, "So, tell us about him."

The bat swallowed her food as a faint pink shade flushed across her cheeks. "He's this hedgehog who works at a coffee shop in town; small place, never been, so I'd never seen him before."

"Right, because you only go to clubs," Blaze interjected, chuckling.

"Exactly," Rouge smirked. Her gestures became more expressive when she started describing Shadow. "Anyway, he's kind of mysterious and moody – has 'grump' written all over his face. But he seems like a quiet guy, sort of reserved. Black hair with bright red highlights, the most striking cherry-red eyes I've ever seen; and handsome like you wouldn't believe!"

"Aw," the princess piped, her expression softening as she placed a hand on Silver's arm. He continued eating and nodded along to Rouge's story.

"I met him right after I dumped Knuckles. Just stopped at a random shop for a cup of tea." She purposely lowered her energy and took a sip from her champagne glass, then chuckled a little. "He made the most awkward small talk while I was sitting there; just had my heart broken, and there was a guy I would've never expected to approach me, talking so calmly that I actually felt like the world was slowing down. He had invited me to go back, so that's where I went after Knuckles picked up his stuff."

"Sounds like a connection to me!" said Blaze, returning to her meal. "Are you going to see him again?"

Rouge couldn't stop herself from grinning while she stabbed another chunk of chicken. "We have a dinner date tomorrow. It would've been tonight, but I already had plans with you two."

"Well, Rouge, you could've gone out with him tonight!" Blaze protested supportively. "We would've completely understood."

The bat shrugged and rolled her eyes in lieu of a response, her mouth full. Silver took the opportunity to cut in with a comment of his own.

"I'm glad things are looking up so quickly for you. You really deserve it, after the shit Knux pulled?" He shook his head. "Man, I'm just glad he got double-dumped."

Blaze laughed, making the hedgehog smile and chuckle as well. Rouge thanked him earnestly, then the three of them finished the last bits of their meals. They decided to order dessert, and the jewel hunter shifted the conversation over to Silver and Blaze. They discussed new developments over tiramisu, talking about the renovations they were making to their home, as well as a trip they were planning.

At the end of the night, Silver brought them home again and made sure Rouge was alright to drive. Her single glass of champagne hadn't impaired her enough to crash, so they said their goodbyes and the bat drove home with the window down. She enjoyed the rushing wind flicking through her hair as the radio played a smooth jazzy beat accompanied by inspirational lyrics; and when she arrived home, she pulled out her phone and quickly deleted every picture of Knuckles from her gallery.

[ssa-dado]

hiiii hope you're goooood. I'm so in love with your incredible Symposium series!! I just wondered if you ever considered putting it on ao3?

It's obviously your decision how/where you post anyway but just curious because well frankly, I'd love to put it on my kindle to read/re-read it and if I'm reading a new chapter, my tumblr app closes and I have to find my place again haha sorry to ask and I hope you don't feel pressured by this - it's honestly just curiosity.

I'm normally late to the fandoms and only seem to join them months/years later but I'm so grateful I'm here to same time as Symposium ❤️ being able to see the excitement from your teasers, moodboards, timeline and then the new chapters make me feel so included in this Hotch world so thank you so much for writing. I love seeing your passion for Hotch and especially for writing, it makes me so grateful to be one of your readers here for the journey with you ❤️

Thank you!! xx

Hi gorgeous!!! Sorry for letting you wait so long!!!!!

Premise: this is me - an absolute boomer in spirit, and yes, I’m cringing at myself for being so ignorant. And sorry for using the smaller font, but this is going to be a lenghty one.

First of all, WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU WANT TO RE-READ THE SHIT I POST?????? WHAAAAAAT? HOW. WHY? But seriously, thank you for even saying that, I'll be crying for 10 minutes straight because of it.

Alright, straight to the juicy part. I’ve always been someone who rambles - it's who I am at my core - and that shows in how I write (I'm thesis, antithesis but without the synthesis... ok that was the worst joke I've ever made in my life).

I chose from the start to lean into fewer chapters but make them more substantial, rather than splitting things into double or even triple the number of chapters with fewer words per part (I mean, let’s be real, as much as I love a good slow burn, even I’d feel embarrassed to hit chapter 40 without so much as an “on-screen” kiss). It’s not the most user-friendly choice, I know.

The reason I waited so long to post on AO3 is, well… I’ve been hesitant maily because I’ve never used it before. I’ve also read about some really awful experiences people have had on that platform, especially with reader-writer interactions, and it honestly scares me. Tumblr feels like a safe space, filled with amazing, supportive people, and I never want to jeopardize that.

Navigating AO3’s tagging culture feels overwhelming, and as a people-pleaser, the thought of messing up or disappointing someone genuinely stresses me out. I already struggle with knowing if a chapter has enough fluff to warrant the tag or if the angst is really angsty enough to qualify. It's just feels like too much...

But I hear you about the tracking issue, and I want to help. What if I start breaking down the chapters into smaller parts? For example, a longer chapter like c.11 (which I think is around 8k words?) could become 11.1, 11.2, and so on?! That way, it’s easier for you to find your place without getting lost in the length.

And if your Tumblr continues to crash, I post them on Wattpad. I know my way around that platform - it’s familiar, less stressful for me, and I’d feel more confident posting there than on AO3 for now.

I know already it’ll be tedious to reformat and re-edit everything (because Wattpad loves to strip all my italics and bold text whenever I try to copy-paste) but if it feels easier for you to navigate, I’m more than willing to put in the work. I just want to make it as accessible as possible for you.

Let me know what you think, and if the deal works for you.

Now, onto the second part of your message - YOU'RE A CRAZY HUMAN BEING. Symposium... a fandom? Oh no no no no no no no. That would be way too overwhelming. Just the thought of it makes me want to crawl under a blanket and never come out, I’d have a breakdown before I even opened my laptop. I barely know what I’m doing as it is HAHAHAHAH

But seriously, thank you.

I wouldn’t have half the courage or energy to sit down, fry my brain cells, and try to string together the right words, themes, philosophers to butcher, or storylines if it weren’t for you. Your interactions, your input, they mean so much more than I could ever properly put into some stupid words.

It might sound a little strange, but I genuinely remember every single account that pops up in my notifications. Whether it’s a like, a reblog, or a funny comment, I notice it all, I'm the panopticon. I’ve definitely stalked every one of you at some point (in the most wholesome way, I promise)

If I could, I’d send every single one of you 3kg of handmade pizza to even begin to express my gratitude.

Truly, thank you.

For everything.

I'm sending you the biggest hug AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

[turtles-allthewaydown]

4, 14, 28, and 30 for the ask game!!

4. How do you know when a chapter is done?

It's a combination of word count and pacing.

When I first start a fic I just start writing without worrying about chapter breaks. Eventually I hit a point where I've written enough to figure out what the fic is about, and then I can outline the rest. At that point I usually figure out the general shape of pacing, scenes that can mirror each other, recurring themes, etc. Then I look at what I've already got written and what I've got planned and figure out what the first chapter should be. That generally determines the size of later chapters. All of my fics have a general rule-of-thumb for how long a chapter should be, which I freely ignore when I feel like something needs to be included.

For example a chapter of My Body Is An Orphanage (Hazbin Hotel) is 6-8k, except the latest chapter is actually over 9k because I wanted to reach a certain point in an emotional arc. Nothing Ventured (Dungeon Meshi) has much shorter chapters, generally 2-3k, but I know there are some that are a bit longer because a scene just wasn't finished in fewer words.

The point of having a word count goal for a chapter, for me, is to 1) keep things approximately the same scale so readers aren't surprised, 2) keep things moving, and 3) give myself a goal to aim for, so while I'm working I can say "I just need 500 more words before I can post this chapter, maybe I'll write that scene now so I can post tomorrow morning!" The goal is never to make myself stretch something longer than it needs to be or cut something short to make it fit an arbitrary length. Sometimes it does help me realize when something is dragging on for too long, though!

14. What's one word you can never spell/use properly, no matter how hard you try?

Oh, there are so many. I'm hopelessly reliant on spell check, which is unfortunate since a lot of them are getting worse with AI ;_; Brainstorming some words, one of my big struggles appears to be with remembering whether something uses c or s (license, spouse, sauce, etc.) and single vs double letters (below vs bellow, apologize, etc.)

28. How do you make sure your plot points are there while also making them blend in with the story?

My fics tend to be more about character arcs and emotion than about plot, but I do have a method here. It's all about outlining -- it's way easier to reach your destination if you know where you're going!

When I outline a story, I'm essentially writing bullet points of the major plot and emotional beats, plus any side scenes that I know I want to write. Generally one sentence summarizing a scene, with a line break to indicate moving on to the next part of a scene and two line breaks to indicate shifting to a new scene entirely. I then bold my outline and gradually replace the bolded sentences with the scenes they describe. For example, at one point a portion of To The Dogs (Dungeon Meshi) looked something like this (italics instead of bold because I bolded the questions lol):

Meeting the orcs pt 2

[flashback scene]

Traps are always dangerous, keep your guard up and don't get cocky

He gets cocky [partially written scene]

Then as I worked I figured out what "traps are always dangerous, don't get cocky" would be, and made sure to end it with that sentence so that I could start the next one with "he gets cocky" and keep the flow I wanted to have when I was outlining. (To The Dogs was a really important fic to outline because I was blending three different timelines. As I wrote I was constantly jumping around the outline, sometimes adding new scenes or rearranging them, making sure things made sense and that Chilchuck's emotional journey tracked within each separate timeline.)

What this effectively means is when I sit down to write a scene, I'm starting with a focus on the major plot points or emotional beats that need to happen. Everything else springs from there. So I'm not writing aimlessly hoping to get to a plot point or trying to cram a plot point into a scene, I'm starting from "okay, I know this scene needs to end with Chilchuck telling someone not to get cocky and warning about traps, how can I get there?"

Sometimes after I write all the bits I'll go back and realize there's some connective tissue missing and write something to link two scenes together, but generally I find jumping straight from important part A to important part B works fine, and readers can be trusted to follow.

By the way, those of you waiting for the next chapter of Nothing Ventured? There's a little bit I've already written and then the next line of the outline just says "Chilaios in the Dungeon"

30. How do you edit your stories?

hahaha edit? nah

In all seriousness, this is the thing I am weakest on. Once I've written the scenes my outline told me to write I want to be done! I did the thing, time to post it already and get to those lovely comments!

Generally I skim over whatever I've decided is a chapter to make sure it all connects, do a spelling/grammar check, and then up on AO3 it goes. Sometimes I re-read my fics and will go back and edit typos and formatting errors if I find them.

In the case of something like My Body Is An Orphanage, which recently got a partial re-write, I knew some of the changes I wanted to make so I went in and did that first, then I read the whole thing from start to finish and made smaller changes as I went -- fix the phrasing here, add a little extra detail there, correct the spelling of a character's name over there, etc. The sort of thing I should probably do with all my works, but just don't have the patience to.

[kelyon]

TMI Tuesday!

Hello Tumblr!

It's been a while since I had actual expectations for a TMI Tuesday. I guess since I finished up Dark Mistress last June. Don't get me wrong, people were great about asking questions for my fics from the Summer of WIPs, but it's different when I'm doing a long-form serial story. It'll be especially interesting to see what the reaction is when I'm posting every week.

Yes, Courtship: A Golden Rings Story is going to get new chapters every Friday from now until the end of May. This was supposed to be a shorter fic. I thought like 10 chapters or something, but so far it's double that length. I've been looking forward to telling the story of how Lacey French became the Mrs. Gold we see in Golden Rings. This Friday I'm posting chapter 2 ("First Date--Restaurant.") If anyone wants a snippet, I'm more than happy to provide.

(I really am looking forward to seeing what questions you guys have for Courtship, and what I've already planned to answer in future chapters.)

Finally, on a wider Rumbelle note, the Chipped Cup Awards are in full swing. They are accepting nominations for fics written in or before 2023. I made a post of what fics of mine are eligible. If you read any Rumbelle this year that you think should get recognized, send in a nomination.

I hope you all have a wonderful day! Let me know what you think of my writing or just anything you want to know from me. Take care and stay warm!

Courtship is here

My inbox is here

[bigfrozenfan-fanfics]

About tough decisions to use the right music track to a specific scene

Not all readers of "The Broken Bridge" listen to the hand-selected music tracks for my scenes(*), but I want to go into a little more detail in this particular post so you can see how much effort can go into just one scene.

As you may know, HeinrichVSA, my beta reader and friend, and I work closely together to select certain music tracks. I write and he finds the music tracks that I end up choosing to use. It's not always easy, because on the one hand the length has to fit the scene and on the other hand it has to support the mood as perfectly as possible. I listen to the music while I read the scene at the same time, checking whether the dynamics match certain actions precisely and then I determine the sentence in the story where exactly the music should start. A perfect result would be if the track stops exactly at the end of the scene and the dynamics in it can emphasise certain actions. This doesn't always work, but sometimes it is desirable for the music to cover several scenes.

I can't use many titles simply because they involve singing or speaking, or because there is clapping from the audience at the end. This distracts from reading. So far I've only used two songs with vocals in "The Broken Bridge", but only as bonus tracks at the end of the chapters. With the exception of titles where the vocals are untranslatable and part of the music (Sámi Joik, for example). Watch a film and see how the score is used in certain scenes to heighten the drama, then you'll understand what I mean.

In the last chapter, "Corona", I wanted you not only to read about Fabian's joy at being back home and reliving a childhood memory, but to literally feel his emotions. Everyone knows the scene in Tangled where Rapunzel dances with joy in the square in front of the church and draws other people around her into it. In my opinion, it's one of the best scenes in the film and I love this song.

My only problem with it was how to integrate the relatively short song into the already written scene in such a way that it both emphasises Fabian's thoughts and feelings on the way through the town and ends exactly when the dance is over. The increasing speed of the dance also had to fit in as closely as possible with what had already been written. So I started looking for alternatives over the next few days after finishing the chapter. Some YouTubers extended the song, but either it lost its original dynamics, or you could hear too clearly where the song was edited or it was simply extended in the wrong place. There were also two very well-made remakes from fans to choose from, but either just as short as the original (2 min 20) or unfortunately with adverts at the end. In the end, I decided in favour of an extremely well-made extended version that met all my criteria.

(*) Many Frozen fans on Tumblr don't read fanfics on a computer, but on their smartphone. Tumblr unfortunately has the stupid habit of simply stopping embedded songs in posts when you read with the app. This doesn't happen if you read my chapters in the blog on a laptop, for example.

Here are the songs from Tangled Fans that I sorted out, but which are still great:

Heinrich's 1st choice, the Tavern Edition:

My find, as a violin duet, unfortunately with adverts for more of their videos at the end:

My previous favourite to use song in the chapter, 16 seconds longer than the original, but still extended in the wrong place:

And an alternative track that would have worked in theory, but was unfortunately too long and had applause at the end:

The remaining alternatives with edited originals are only given here as links:

youtube.com/watch?v=d6o9u0a3GJ8 (Kingdom dance (extended, doubled and tripled chorus)) youtube.com/watch?v=81GocqvwTMg (Kingdom Dance crossover with "How To Train Your Dragon" at the end) Someone even came up with the idea of editing this track for a real dance with a length of 4:02, but the dynamics are totally lost in the process: youtube.com/watch?v=cGnhmA3BNbI

The following were also up for selection:

youtube.com/watch?v=VI-JynUarrs (Rapunzel's Exordium by Frostudio Chambersonic) youtube.com/watch?v=sMCwW0TcBYk (Reels, irish dance music, good but far too long) youtube.com/watch?v=u9veEEnax-k (Reels traditional, by Katie Grennan, same as above) youtube.com/watch?v=tIQjHeMYBfg (Slip Jigs, by Katie Grennan, too long, wrong instruments for the scene) and a few others This one is funny for the dance performance starting at 4:19 (Apollo's Fire - O'Carolan Dance scene), but too long as well, laughing in the audience plus applause and too slow over all: youtube.com/watch?v=1OD4jAOp5So youtube.com/watch?v=givlwY9d9UQ (animated movie excerpt, but sadly with spoken words in it)

Last find for the Tangled fans here, a video with animated Corona scenes for relaxing Tangled music to study & relax, with a length of nearly one hour!

[neon-hell]

Alright, I've been planning out the chapters of Alastor's Aroace Adventures (The Murders) (title pending) and I already know if I commit, this thing will be the longest thing I've ever written (my personal record is just around 30K and I feel like this will end up at least double that). And, Tumblr likes clicking buttons, right?

I see this fic divided into two or three "arcs". The way I work is that I usually don't post anything until I'm at least halfway done with the final edit (I'm a control freak). But considering the length of this thing, I'm starting to think I'd write and edit each "arc" separately and posted them in waves, each wave being a period of weekly updates of the finished arc followed by waiting time until the next arc is written and edited. Or... I could just write the whole damn thing and post weekly as I do the final edit of the entire fic.

[d6b-onion]

(thanks duo for finally making me take the plunge and getting an account on here)

That means I can talk about writing even when I'm not publishing anything! I'll take the opportunity to talk about my current plans and ideas. Right now I have two projects I actually have stuff written for.

The first is a continuation to A Void in a Mystical Land, my lipogram collection (that means it never uses the letter E). It's an intermission about mystia that is lighter in tone. Haven't touched it in a bit, and I'm considering writing in some RiguMysti because I know how much y'all love that. However, it's tricky writing without E's, all the more so when there's a character named Wriggle.

The second is a crackfic. The good stuff. I want it to be a surprise so I won't say too much, but I assure you, you cannot remotely guess what it is. I already have one chapter written, but I'm waiting on the second chapter to publish it, you'll understand why.

As for stuff I haven't begun yet, I do want to continue "Sometimes All it Takes..." at some point in the future. However I've written myself into something a bit complicated and I don't exactly know how I'll resolve it. That's what a lack of forward planning does to you. It started as a short oneshot idea and it's now 2 chapters and 13k words long and might double in length before it ends.

I want to write about Momiji some day. I really like her character (and design), but she gets so little representation in writing, and zun doesn't seem very willing to give her a single line of dialogue anywhere.

I also want to do more character study stuff in the future. The character I'm most interested in writing about is Junko. My pipe dream is making a long, psychological and progressive exploration of her character that has her grow out of her constant fury, and perhaps find more at the end. But after taking a look at canon, that's a monumental task.

And hey, some other random idea might just pop in my head, so this isn't exhaustive. Be also aware that I write in bursts and that I don't hold myself to any form of schedule, so all of my writing has a permanent lack of ETA.

don't worry the silliness comes back after this post

[tripstitan]

It's All a Haze During Demon Daze

... Yeah I can be more than a little bit corny. I'm an author who's been writing a series for years that's nearing 6000 pages in length. Come on, have a laugh, live a little. Hm, you don't suppose the Gorillaz would be upset about my vague reference/nod through the chapter title on my latest chapter of AAoMM would you? I'd rather not upset 'em. I still listen to half of their discography every few months.

Chapter art's getting harder and harder to get accurate depictions of my goobers from AI, so I'm probably going to cut back so that I can go back to focusing on writing, since it's my writing month. I've already got #NaNoWriMo2023 finished(and have since the 6th of the month), but I like to aim for 5x the challenge, and haven't been writing at all the last two days trying to create chapter art. Just Writer Things, I guess. Oh, anyway, yeah, double-length chapter posted up over at RoyalRoad, free as always!

(Grumbling, apparently Tumblr can't be trusted to link via tinyurl, full link at: https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/50464/an-age-of-mysterious-memories )

[fragmentsofsorrow]

2, 4, and 9 for the fanfic asks?

2. What fanfic do you wish you got more response on?

I'm gonna have to go with (Nothing Is) Whole; not that it's been ignored or anything—it's honestly been pretty well received—but I have to pick something. I've put a lot of work into both this fic and the much larger AU it belongs to over the last four years and it's definitely the favorite child, so I'm always going to want to share it with more people

and yeah, when all there is so far is a single introductory chapter posted just shy of a year and a half ago, it's understandably not gaining much new attention, but also consider: I love that AU so much

4. Do you prefer writing multi-chapter or oneshot fanfictions?

in general, I prefer writing multichapters. I like to write scenes and even lines out of order for my multichapters, and I really enjoy the whole planning process for my larger AUs

but it also depends on what works best for any particular story. if I have a fic idea and it works best as a oneshot, trying to write it as a multichapter regardless is not going to go well for me

9. What’s your favorite line(s) or scene(s) that you have written?

okay, look. I'll be honest, the entire 2000 word Memory's Skyscraper scene in the first chapter of Not Your Sacrifice is my favorite thing I've written. there's a lot of different things I love about it and I'm not about to quote the whole scene to talk about all of them

but that's a short and boring answer, so I'll talk about one of them!

there are two parts of that scene that involve Xion summoning a keyblade; one with Oblivion, and then another one later on with Oathkeeper. taken individually each one is some of the best writing I've ever done, and I'm really proud of having written them

but they're also intentionally very structurally similar to each other and are meant to mirror each other in a few ways. I'm really happy with how well it turned out

I'll throw the two excerpts under the cut because they about double the length of this answer and it's long enough already (plus, y'know, the fic link is right there anyway)

the Oblivion part:

There was a flash as Xion summoned their keyblade, and moments later one of the heartless exploded into darkness as the black blade cut an arc through them. Oh. That was new. Xion looked down at their keyblade, taking in its unfamiliar new form. Instead of the silver coloring they were used to, this one was mostly black, though some silver remained in the handle and at the tip of the keyblade. Two bat wings served as the guard, with a purple gem inlaid where they met at the base of the blade. A chain ran the full length of the blade, which ended with ornate teeth more detailed than the ones on their Kingdom Key. Somehow, they knew this keyblade was called Oblivion. A fitting name for a keyblade wielded by someone who wasn’t supposed to still exist.

the Oathkeeper part:

A flash of light accompanied Xion's last few words as they readied Oblivion, and when it faded, Xion held another keyblade in their hand. In their left hand. It wasn’t Xion’s keyblade. That was still in their right hand and once again pointed at Riku. In several ways it was the complement of Xion’s keyblade. While Oblivion had a pair of bat wings, the wings that made up this keyblade’s handguard were feathered. While Oblivion was primarily black, this one was mostly colored a silvery white. And while Oblivion had a single blade, the blade of this new keyblade was split into two. The name Oathkeeper came to their mind, but Xion barely registered it over the realization that this was Roxas’s keyblade. It was all they had left of him; a reflection of who he was, one last echo of his— They let out a pained scream, both keyblades falling to the ground and dematerializing, as the realization from earlier that day finally caught up with them. Roxas had a heart.

[celinou]

The dedication! I'm blown away. I don't think I've been this thorough with any of my research for awic (cause I'm lazy and writes these fics mostly with vibes and coffee)

I've not seen Detective Conan but I know the anime by its popularity and I still haven't read TBOSAS (my tbr list is too long) but I'm extremely curious about it since I saw it all over my dash. I really like the hunger game series. I must have read the books 3 times so I just need to find the right time to get into tbosas.

But of course I'm the culprit!! It's me! I'm the machiavellian author!

Honestly the best feature of your fic is the unreliable narrator pov and it works so well being in 1st person. You could have gotten away with a 3d person close but it gives such a perfect vibe with Sussy telling the story.

I know what it is to have an idea brewing in your mind and when you try to put it to paper it becomes a behemoth and you're no longer in charge of the length. Honestly, awic was supposed to be 25 chapters long... it was supposed to be a "short" story. Well...

Ah! The "surprise" flew right over my head... I'm not good at understanding things sometimes. And my memory is doing her best but her best is somewhat faulty so I forget things very easily. That's the problem when you're a mom and get interrupted 25 times an hour. If I don't write it down, it's forgotten to the realm of lost thoughts. I'm sorry I wasn't more inquisitive. But it served as a really good surprise in the end! I was blown away to see your fic appear now! What a treat! I must have shown it to everyone at home!

The Polaroid procedure is a very clever use of Max's time powers to loop back to the beginning. When Max took the photo I was like "oooh! That's gonna come back with time shenanigans later!" I was right.

I'm pretty sure I went and stripped them off their powers at the end of awic because if they kept them I could see them, like you said, get drunk on the power it gives them over everyone else or disconnect them from reality all together. So it gradually fades with time. But as an AU where it doesn't fade, having them open a detective agency is a wonderful idea. I can see them open a gallery with the photos taken from their solved case. They'll get famous! It's funny because for my current fic (Time in Fugue) I also questioned what to do with Max's powers at the end of the story (Nathan and Rachel don't have any - for the sake of simplicity - this one is 3 times more convoluted than awic was). And then Double Exposure makes me think about the what if scenarios of adult Max and Nathan post Bay ending... and I'm realizing I'll be writing for this fandom for eternity if I don't stop at some point.

I love me some color symbolism indeed! The grey fits very well for them as they thread the fine line of morality in their new line of work. Suits them well.

Ah! He's quoting Dale Cooper! No wonder where this love for coffee permeates through. Aaaah Dale Cooper, a man after my own heart. It's the whimsy and coffee loving, it's like catnip to me. Ahem... what were we saying? It's kind of too bad I only began to watch Twin Peak after I already finished awic. I'm sure I could have put soooo many reference in there but alas... Now I can do it in my next fic.

After that you talked about Nathan's gloved hands and I forgot what I was talking about. Black gloves... hum...

Ah! Yes! Demurrer! I didn't know the word, so it's a discovery on my part. I'm also shit at anagrams so you could have (and actually did) write he's the murderer and I would miss it and be bombarded with the twist and be like *gasp* "I didn't see that coming!" so it worked well on me.

I feel like Nathan wouldn't go as far with his powers as he did in chapter 39. That was pure vengeance on his part and it was very personal. I like to imagine that after he got back at his father for all the trauma he inflicted on him and after spending a good amount of time in therapy, healing from it, Nathan would be more at peace with himself (and his demons). Thus not needing to unleash them in terror vision. He could however show the murderers a taste of their victims' suffering and fear. Enough to break them into confessing their crimes, probably.

Anyway sorry, I've been ranting on your post. But I truly was thrilled to read your fic and it's always so delightful to have some behind the scenes talk and see how it came to be. I'm always so afraid of talking about the process of my own writing and rarely share anything about it except the final product. I really appreciate all the time and effort you put into it. I'm so glad you shared it here!

Fun facts about the Crack because I love to yap-yap, yackety-yack:

Obviously HEAVY spoilers to the Crack if anyone hasn't and wanna read it lol (Edit: I accidentally posted a post too early again. Gah. Whatever.)

This is inspired by Detective Conan (because it's the first murder mystery story I consumed, The Organisation is NOT the Black Organisation, btw), Sherlock (Max's way of solving the mystery, kinda), TBOSAS (the unreliable narrator), Agatha Christie and Sherlock Holmes (the narration vibe, kinda, I scanned them before I started writing it), Ace Attorney (the ridiculous names), and etc.

This is not the original idea. The original idea was...I think it's just a variation of the opening of my comment to AWIC. So it was supposed to be a short thing in AWIC comment section, but instead of a full blown case, Max and Nathan are solving MY death and the culprit is Céline @celinou LOL

THIS plot is inspired by my convo last October with Puni @riverinkfics while I was talking about maybe writing it as a oneshot instead. Out of nowhere, I got a vision of an unreliable narrator murderer POV but Max knows about it because she just jumped from the future. Then my brain just flowed to Max snapping Sussy's photo and bombing him with a murder accusation out of nowhere. And, there, I just got my plot bones.

I got the idea last October but I only started writing it in March because I think I had other things to do. When I posted it yesterday, it was minutes after I just finished writing it lmao

In the first plot draft, it's supposed to have soooo many rewinds, but, damn, I don't have the energy to do that. So I decided to cut it. Behold my notes and my handwriting! I wrote these in a Chinese family restaurant at Sunday noon.

My early struggle was how to involve Nathan and his powers in this oneshot, but then I got the idea to use his powers to scare interrogate people. And I figured that, huh, I didn't have to write it at all lol This is months before AWIC ends so it's a coincidence. My next struggle was figuring out why Sussy was there in the first place lol

I actually don't like first povs (both reading and writing), but third pov didn't agree with me when I started writing it so I tried for a first and I found it easier to write.

I tried to base the Max and Nathan in this crack on Céline's Max and Nathan, characterisation and all. (I mean, since this is a fanfiction to AWIC.) But I only base it on my memories, so I dunno how accurate it is. But this is Max and Nathan who have grown up and put on a detective persona so lol They are only truly themselves in the banter part.

This crack was supposed to be funnier, but the longer and longer I wrote Sussy's background and narration, the unfunnier and the more serious it was. That guy is such a dramatic theatre kid. Kinda a shame, but I rolled with it.

I didn't mean to post that teaser that early actually xD I meant to post that teaser when the fic was finished but alas…I accidentally posted it. "Surprise" for Céline's word was not randomly generated at all. I clicked 'Generate' on the Random Word Generator a lot to have the word I wanted. It's actually to say "Surprise!" I didn't expect Céline to really treat the post as a WIP Game xD That post was all crafted as a teaser from head to toe lol

At first the deadline was "As Soon As Possible", but then I didn't touch it for months. Coming back to comment on @weer02 Ver's chapters got me into a writing groove (lol I was so thankful), so for a week I was on the roll at that rate I could post it at the end of November. But then I got distracted by Life™ and I lost the groove again. The deadline had been "After Céline's Birthday", "Before Christmas", "After Christmas", and "Whatever You Have to Do, Finish It Before 2024 Ends, Kris!" lol I made it, yay!

In this world, Max and Nathan are a successful detective duo the sleuth world known as "The Photographing Detectives", because they always take photos everywhere with an expensive ass camera and a vintage Polaroid. Max DOES take a photo of their clients immediately when they enter the office. It's a legit procedure so Max can go back whenever and wherever when it's necessary. So yes, Max does bring a pile of relevant Polaroids everywhere with her. They are her weapons lol

There is a conspiracy theory because they are so good at their job that they use money (because people know Nathan is a rich boy) to make up all these cases they solve to build their image. But there is no evidence. (Duh.)

Nathan and Max's powers are so powerful now that they are drunk in it. They use their powers for power tripping. It's kinda fucked LOL

"Psychic detectives? No, no, just time-traveling ones" is Max's catchphrase that people never remember because she immediately rewinds that.

Max's office uniform is a T-shirt and jeans because she likes comfy. The grey blazer is to compromise with the professional detective world. (When Nathan found out that she just replaced her jacket with a blazer, he rolled his eyes and gave up.) I wrote that part months before the announcement of Double Exposure so yes, I've rejected Max Caulfield's fashion sense in DE from the start.

Despite him rolling eyes at Max's grey blazer, he then follows suit because they need to match, yeah? So yes, he wears a grey suit too with a black shirt inside.

Because Céline and I love our colour symbolism, this means this duo is treading on grey morality lol Because their investigation ways are not really that moral. Yep.

Max and Nathan are still great at photography. People who know them are actually amazed at the casual photos they sometimes share on the internet.

Of course, the interior design of the office is a combination of their respective aesthetics. The name board is Nathan's design.

I think it's obvious but Sussy quotes Agent Dale Cooper in S1E2 of Twin Peaks when he drinks the coffee. For some reason, it's the one thing that's different from the previous loop so Max is genuinely entertained. I got the idea to include this two days ago when I watched the episode while washing dishes. (EPISODE 2??? Okay, yeah, so I haven't really continued Twin Peaks, mmkay. I rewatched E2 because I forgot what it was about.)

Because Max has heard all the sob stories Sussy told her, she zones out while waiting to drop the one-liner. What she thinks about: "When will he finish? Have I done my laundry for today, do I have underwear? Should I just go make a sandwich but still pretend to listen? When will he finish so I can drop my killer one-liner? Ha. Killer one-liner. I'm so punny." When she does drop the bomb, she is so giddy inside like: "Holy crap, I feel like Sherlock. This is so fun ksjhisjcwe"

When Max bombards Sussy with the details of his murder, it's a half bluff deduction and half the information Nathan got from the case remains. Not the corpse tho. Nathan refuses to take time memories from human remains. It's really bad for his psyche after a while and we know his is quite fragile. Basically, you experience the deaths in first pov so. Even more so when their powers got even stronger. So if Max's nerf is still the intervals between time jumps, this is the one that nerfs him. Sure, it'd be the easiest thing, but do we want him to be in the psych ward? I don't think so. (This is the reason why Nathan wears gloves. (Black btw, because that's sexy ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)) Not that he can't control it, but…just in case.) Also, you are not the greatest detectives ever if you just see it, not solve it. They should have been a psychic duo instead, but that's less fun, maybe. (Nathan watching Psych: "Ha! Look, they are our opposites!")

Technically with their powers, they could have been a vigilante duo to save people left and right instead of solving crimes that have happened but that's in another alternate universe, I guess lmaooo

They have fans and shippers. Like us. But cue the moment when they found out their backstories and did a witchhunt on Nathan.

Mr Sussy Murderer and Ms Lily Dead. Silly names and anagrammed last names. Sussy's last name can be a reference to "demurrer".

It means nothing for Sussy because he didn't "so what" any of them anyway. Btw, I thought his name gave it right away that he's the killer? lol That was my worry. I guess I distracted people well.

Whenever Max calls him "Mr De Murrer", it's actually her calling him "Mr Murderer".

There was this one line I couldn't include in the final form because I didn't know where to put it, but it was: “My first case was a missing girl turned dead, just like this one.”

After Sussy runs away, Max is actually lmao-ing in the office and still lmao-ing when Nathan finally arrives.

In this AU, Nathan and Max have relied their life on their powers so much I imagine if the powers suddenly are gone for good, they are fucked. They will have to re-learn how to walk in a world full of uncertainty. Walk as mortals, mwahahaha!

I know I shouldn't explain unreliable narration, but while Sussy lies to Max a lot, or like almost all the time because of course, Sussy's inner narration is always truthful to how the whole thing really went, except for when he omits the details. But there is one point when his dialogue and inner narration agree with each other.

If you think about it, Sussy and Max are performing a theatre play for each other in that room, the difference is Sussy's is scripted while Max's is an improv. Sussy performs right after he enters the office and ends when Max drops the bomb. Max performs from when she says, "Yes, of course I've heard of you, Mr De Murrer" til Sussy runs because it's fun for her and she's a prankster. So yes, this fic is just a huge prank from her.

Now that I think about it, Nathan in AWIC is a theatre kid too loool? "One theatre kid walks into a detective agency of two theatre kids'..." Sorry he didn't get to perform lol

What would Nathan do to Sussy in the end? Something like Chapter 39 of AWIC lol

Feel free to ask anything if any, I maybe can answer pfft

[sw1mmingfoolz]

A SLIGHTLY DISJOINTED LIST OF WRITING TIPS

hey peeps 😌 a whole zero people asked or showed interest and true to my style I'm posting anyway lmao :) this is a collection of writing tips I remind myself of all the time! some are from online (mostly reddit), some are from writing workshops and classes i've taken, some are just commonly traded around by famous writers and some come from my own experience! i've been writing for 15 years, since i was a literal child, and i think it's safe to say i've learned a lot since i wrote 15 pages of what i was absolutely sure would be my debut novel "The Ratticator" when i was, like, 6. so i think ik what i'm talking about 😎 without further ado, here is the list!! it isn't very organised, for which i do apologize :')

If you have writer’s block, change your document font to Comic Sans. No idea why this works, but it’s a known tip and it really does!

DO NOT edit as you go. If you just can’t seem to stop yourself, set your document to Wingdings. This is especially helpful in your first draft. I personally call my first draft document WORST VERSION JUST PURE GARBAGE or some variation to take the pressure off.

Treat all writing as practice. It’s better to write pages and pages of pure garbage than to be too paralysed by fear of failure and not write at all as a result. At least with garbage you can edit it, see what issues you have with your writing, etc.

If you struggle with editing, try writing everything longhand on paper or printing out a particularly hard chapter (double spaced so you can annotate it) and rewrite it. Also, run your work through text-to-speech to catch typos or little errors you might otherwise overlook!

Google “filter words and how to avoid them”, especially if you write in first person. Focus on showing and not telling, and be wary of using too many adverbs (I’m so guilty of this) and verbs after dialogue. Also avoid epithets! By all means necessary! For example; “the short haired man”, “the brunette”, “the [job title]”. These are common in fanfiction but do not sound good or flow well. They’re often used by novice writers. (I’m guilty of this too! Again, these kinds of things take practice).

If you’re struggling to plot, it can help to write “draft zero”, in which you write out chapters in the least words possible without needing it to sound good. This can give you a skeleton to fill out. You also don’t have to write chronologically; write the fun scenes first or whatever scenes you already have in your head out and build around those!

Speak your dialogue out loud. If it doesn’t flow well, it doesn’t read well either.

Similarly, come back to a chapter / work after a minimum of a day has passed. Looking at it with fresh eyes after a break away can help immensely with weeding out awkward parts, errors or parts you’d like to change.

“Said” is not a bad word; don’t go to insane lengths to avoid it!

Not every piece of dialogue needs a tag; trying to add one to everything without having dialogue by itself makes writing clunky.

For both dialogue and inner monologue, have your characters miss the mark just slightly on what they're trying to say. In reality none of us express ourselves perfectly off the cuff, and you can even communicate a lot about a person through what they omit or avert or misread. (from u/frozenfountain on Reddit)

Usually when people talk, they’re not just talking. What facial expressions are they making? What are they doing with their bodies? Are they just ‘saying’ something or are they stuttering, shouting, or whispering (don’t go overboard with this kinda description, though). You also don’t always have to specify who is speaking; you can establish the people initially and, especially if they speak in distinct ways, it should be clear. Also, learn correct grammar for dialogue. A new speaker should be on a new line.

Vary sentence structure. This is probably the main cause of people feeling that their writing feels "off." A lot of people try to solve repetitive sentence structure with epithets or with unnecessary synonyms, but it only masks the problem, it doesn't solve it.

For example:

"What's going on?" said Bob.

"I don't know. Jill just stormed out of here," said Abigail.

"That's weird. She seemed fine this morning," said Bob.

"I think the stress is finally starting to get to her," said Abigail.

It's boring, right? How NOT to improve it:

"What's going on?" said Bob.

"I don't know. Jill just stormed out of here," said the blue-eyed woman.

"That's weird. She seemed fine this morning," pondered the older man.

"I think the stress is finally starting to get to her," surmised the greenette.

Instead maybe something like:

Bob looked around at the confused faces in the room. "What's going on?"

"I don't know," said Abigail, fidgeting with her necklace. "Jill just stormed out of here."

"That's weird. She seemed fine this morning."

Abigail shrugged. "I think the stress is finally getting to her."

The other problem I see: unless you understand what third person omniscient is and are using it intentionally, it's probably best to pick just one point of view per scene and stick to it. (u/DemyxDancer on Reddit)

Don’t focus on stuff your character wouldn’t just to fill a word count.

Try not to use the same word twice in a paragraph unless they’re connecting words or names/pronouns. At the same time, try not to overuse the thesaurus and use a million synonyms for something - find different ways to describe things. 

Write as though there is no formatting available to you. Adding bold or caps or images or footnotes is cool, but the story should be understood exactly the same without them. This is also an accessibility consideration, since screen readers will miss this extra context if it’s purely visible.

Localised spell check! I use British spell check on Google Docs because I am British but sometimes accidentally use the American versions of words. This can also be immensely helpful if you’re writing dialects / a different form of English than what you’re used to. 

Let go of perfectionism before it kills writing for you. Coraline took Neil Gaiman over a decade to write. Ursula K Le Guin banged out three Earthsea books in 4 years before taking a 12 year break between the third and fourth books in which she took a big interest in feminism and entirely changed the way she wrote female characters. Nothing is going to be perfect initially, and expecting it to be so dooms you before you can start.

Paragraphs!! Punctuation!! So many times I have clicked on a promising looking fanfiction but backed out because I couldn’t read it properly - commas, semicolons and hyphens (and em dashes!) are your friends :)

If possible, shut out everything else during a designated time period and just write. I know this isn’t possible for everyone but should you be able to set a window and have a schedule you’ll find writer’s block to hit you less!

Starting with a lot of exposition can be boring. Short, snappy first lines and/or coming right into the action at the beginning can help hook the reader better. Or alternatively, have a prologue if there’s important exposition that needs to be established at the start!

Writing is inherently hard, even for well established writers. Accepting that will help you more than you’d expect.

Read as much as you write, if not more! Reading makes writing a lot easier. A lot of writing is being inspired by other writers. NOT copying, or plagiarising, but drawing inspiration from them. For example (as we spoke about a couple of days ago), my lovely mutual Livvie @greenlivvie has a colder, more direct and more formal writing style as a lot of what she reads is nonfiction, whereas I read so many gooey romance webtoons and poetry anthologies that my style is extremely warm, probably too descriptive, and rather poetic.

Find the joy in writing! I know engagement is extremely important, especially in fanfiction, but if it’s your only drive you’re destined to burn out. You should write first and foremost for the love of writing. That’s not to say you shouldn’t want engagement, however, and that readers should not give it (PLEASE readers, learn that likes on Tumblr are absolutely useless compared to on other platforms and start reblogging, tagging, and commenting! Here are some relaged posts with creators expressing their frustrations (x) (x) (x) so you can understand WHY it matters so much to us. On AO3, comments mean the world!)

Bad writers tend to think they are amazing and infallible, while good writers tend to think they are terrible. It’s about not letting that self doubt stop you from creating entirely! Also, if possible, find someone to beta your work and give their concrit, especially if you find yourself hating your work but not knowing why.

“Abandon the idea that you are ever going to finish. Lose track of the 400 pages and write just one page for each day. It helps.” - John Steinbeck

Write through the eyes of the character, not the lens of a camera (for third person).

“No matter how worried you are about that chapter, no matter how badly you think you botched something, do not tell your readers this, and if you can't help it, put your notes/concerns at the end of the chapter. If you tell a reader at the beginning of a chapter "this chapter is not my best", they will read it in a different light than if you had said nothing at all. If you're looking for feedback on the chapter, put your notes at the end. Let the reader read the chapter "fresh". They'll form their own thoughts and opinions, and then only after that, they'll read your comments/concerns/questions and are more likely to respond to them candidly, rather than having the chapter flavoured by worry or doubt. Your work is good, don't tell people otherwise.” (from u/Panoramic_Vacuum on Reddit)

Don't write your scenes/chapters differently than you originally wanted just for the sake of ''censorship'' to be able to maybe target a larger/different audience! Always write stuff exactly the way you always imagine(d), no matter how dark, bloody, sexual, whatever it might be. A story that is deliberately ''pruned'' will never have the same significance an ''uncensored'' one has. And for characters, always remember the one tenet:

''It doesn't matter how small or unimportant a character might seem at first, they always should be interesting and compelling in their own right, not just be means for the purpose of another character.'' (from u/JokeyZockey on Reddit)

Always remember the five senses as you write

Note down ideas or lines you think of when you think of them. You will probably forget them otherwise. I am totally not talking from experience 😭

In writing fanfiction, you’re writing for free! No apologising for slow updates, no apologising for hiatuses, again Coraline took OVER A DECADE to be finished and published yet you feel bad for not pumping out work every day? Readers do not get to be entitled, they are consuming free content from you and that in itself is a privilege. Readers, please be mindful that we are regular ass people with school and work and other commitments, and also be mindful that if you do not interact with our work that’s only going to serve to motivate us even LESS.

Reward yourself! Wrote a chapter, or hit a word count goal, or finished a plot? Watch a film you like, or buy your favourite snack, or have a long ass bath with a bunch of shit from Lush that makes your house smell like a perfume shop for years afterwards. Rewarding ourselves pleases our primal little monkey brains and makes it a lot easier to get past writer’s block, knowing there’s something in it for us at the end. 

AND FINALLY! Ignore everyone as much as you want to. You should be writing for fun, for yourself - hell if you wanna ignore these points that’s entirely your prerogative. People will tell you not to write certain tropes, or leave unnecessary criticism, or be demanding when they could totally just go write the fics themselves if they care that much. Write because you like to, and you will find your audience :)

i hope you could find even one tip in this list helpful! reblogging with your own tips is encouraged actually :) much love to my fellow writers, it's thankless sometimes and difficult basically all of the time but it's fun and i meet absolutely lovely people on here doing so 💞

[antidotefortheawkward-art]

I just got into the Lego Monkie Kid fandom recently, and I must ask. How do you feel about the Wukong/Macaque shipping? I've seen a lot of people say it's inappropriate because they're commonly interpreted as brothers. But others say it's okay cause it's not set in stone and lmk has changed some details on the original story, including Wukong & Mac's relationship.

I will be frank and say that Sun Wukong x Liu'er Mihou (Six-Eared Macaque) shipping grosses me the hell out, and it is one of the biggest reasons I'm hesitant in involving myself with the Lego Monkie Kid fandom, due to its domination of the fandom.

This will be a long post, so here's a bulleted TLDR:

I feel it is unfair to consider LMK independent from JTTW, given just how much LMK draws from JTTW.

I feel that the fandom's earnestness to detach LMK from JTTW does not consider how LMK is a Chinese piece of media and is thus insensitive of JTTW's place in Chinese culture.

JTTW functions as a Buddhist allegory. Within this, Six-Eared Macaque represents Sun Wukong's flaws and strife, and is literally created from him. Therefore sharing the same DNA while being two separate people, functionally siblings. Which is what has led Chinese popular culture to commonly interpret these two as such.

That being said, even if LMK makes them beyond a shadow of a doubt not siblings, I still think it's gross to ship people who were siblings in the source material. Shipping is not the only way to interact with media.

Why It's Important to Consider JTTW in Relation to LMK

While Lego Monkie Kid has changed details in the original story, I do not think it's fair to consider it as independent from Journey to the West. As a Chinese person, I feel the fandom's earnestness to separate JTTW from LMK is insensitive at best.

Journey to the West is one of the 四大名著 [Four Classical Novels of China]. Not only that, it is arguably the most accessible of the four, and as such, it occupies a very special place in Chinese culture. JTTW is a story everyone grows up with, whether it be the actual text, adaptations, or even just a bedtime story from a family member. Nearly everyone can name the main pilgrims, notable antagonists, chapter titles, and weapon names. The story is basically a backdrop to everyday life due to how much it's casually referenced, whether it be in pop culture or even food names. As such, much of the story is considered general knowledge. Changing details and rewriting parts of JTTW for an adaptation is expected because everyone's already so intimately familiar with the original story. It doesn't make an adaptation any less of an adaptation. With the case of LMK, I don't think you can reasonably consider it independent of JTTW. Not only are the majority of the cast lifted directly from JTTW, but Qi Xiaotian makes a point to directly quote chapter titles in the literal first and second episodes. If you want to call LMK anything, it's honestly a fan continuation.

Similar to how I've spoken on my discomfort regarding people using the Arthur Waley names for the pilgrims, I'm uncomfortable with people detaching LMK from JTTW because it feels like an avoidance of the original Chinese culture and context. LMK was originally produced with a Chinese audience in mind. As such, the target audience would have gone into LMK with the cultural context JTTW holds. Detaching JTTW is insensitive to the original intent of the producers, insensitive to the fact that LMK was produced for an audience that isn't just white westerners, and insensitive to JTTW. Therefore I think it is disrespectful to consider LMK without considering JTTW.

It will take time to understand Journey to the West, especially if you're not a fan who grew up with the story. However, I believe that if you're interacting with media from a culture not your own, you hold a responsibility to take measures in order to interact with said media and its culture respectfully. If creators are going to share an important part of their culture with you, then it is common decency and courtesy to interact responsibly. It's better to expend the effort to familiarize yourself with JTTW than to act insensitively, watering down its significance for the sake of digestibility.

Sun Wukong and Six-Eared Macaque within JTTW

Before going into my JTTW-grounded reasons for being uncomfortable with Sun Wukong x Six-Eared Macaque, I'd like to make a point in bringing up how JTTW is, at its core, a very Buddhist story and that you cannot, in good faith, separate the religious aspects from this story. JTTW is often read as a Buddhist allegory, and as with any allegory, thoughtful analysis and interpretation is a must.

(Chapter 58- Photos from my copy of 西游记 and screenshots from Vol. 3 of Anthony C. Yu's translation)

Please note the title of Chapter 58 uses the wording 二心 for "two minds" and that these are the same characters for 二心, the Buddhist concept of double-mindedness referenced in the screenshots below.

(Screenshots of Anthony C. Yu's JTTW footnotes regarding the Buddhist thought behind Six-Eared Macaque, provided by my friend @uwukong -who has xyr own post with further reading on interpretation of Six-Eared Macaque functionally being Sun Wukong's brother)

It is commonly accepted that Six-Eared Macaque was literally created from Sun Wukong and is a personification of his strife, his flaws, and the things generally holding him back from the true path to enlightenment. Some adaptations go as far as to depict Sun Wukong in genuine pain when killing Six-Eared Macaque since the act of killing Six-Eared is actually hurting a part of himself. While "sibling" may not be the completely technically correct term for their relationship, Six-Eared Macaque shares DNA with Sun Wukong, since he was created from Sun Wukong. However, as a separate person with identical genetics, Six-Eared Macaque is functionally his sibling. If you have to pull the "technically it's not incest" card, then I don't really think there's ground to stand on. The "grey area" this ship resides in is too thoroughly debunked by the text.

That being said, even if LMK decides to change Sun Wukong and Six-Eared Macaque to be explicitly, unequivocally, undoubtedly unrelated, I still find it really uncomfortable to ship characters who were brothers in the source material.

Please don't go through such lengths to ignore the original text and its significant Buddhist context just to justify a ship. There are other ways to interact with media other than shipping. I'm a gay Chinese man and I too want to see more gay rep in Chinese media, but let me tell you, the monkey brothers are not a healthy place to look for them.

[punkgrogg]

Doorway Duo pt.5

Pairing: Hybrid!Taehyung x Reader, Hybrid!Jungkook x Reader

Genre: Hybrid!BTS, Non idol AU, fluff

Warnings: Pregnancy

Summary: Y/n was abandoned by her long time boyfriend and moves back home to help prepare for the baby. She’s surprised to find two unfamiliar hybrids at her house.

Length: 3,085

Notes: Lol sorry it took so long to post, I thought I did like two weeks ago but I apparently did not. Well anyways I'm thinking a spicy chapter might be joining us soon but I've never written that kind of stuff before so I'm a little hesitant. Also, I have a lot of School shit piled up but I hope to write another chapter within the next two weeks.

Date Posted: 10/14/2021

Seokjin was staring at me with a mildly amused expression from across the dinner table. Jungkook was leaning his head on my left shoulder, his eyes closed as he waited for Taehyung to bring us our dinner plates- something the snow leopard insisted on even more vehemently after our talk a week ago. I knew what he meant by the staredown- he wanted to tease me for going from a single mother who swore off men to turning around to fall in love with the two hybrids being housed with our parents. The day after the big talk was a bit awkward for us all as we decided to break the news to my parents who were wholeheartedly accepting and my mother was downright giddy at the fact that her daughter now had two men to take care of her. My father on the other hand had thought we were already together and merely shrugged at my announcement. They both helped me file the paperwork for adoption and helped me with breaking the tension between my brothers and my boyfriends.

You see, Hoseok and Namjoon were very upset with both of them for ‘taking advantage ’ of their pregnant little sister. While that is probably the farthest thing from the truth it had been the source of some tension in the family but a couple of days was all it took until everything settled. It was a big help that the twins’ confirmation was probably the most exciting news in the house and they all seemed to use the excitement as a way to bridge the gap. Well, that was with Seokjin’s exception. Jinnie didn’t bat an eye at the news of my love life but instead doubled his texts when he found out he was getting both a niece and a nephew.

We were having a celebratory family dinner- all thanks to Mom who was excited that the two were officially adopted by me yesterday but Namjoon, Yoongi, and Seokjin weren’t available to come until today. Hoseok sat to Seokjin’s right and was animatedly talking to Dad about his favorite show that had released another episode that morning. Dad was nodding along to the chattering with an endearing look on his face. Mom sat at the opposite end of the table, at the head, Yoongi at her left and Namjoon at her right. Hoseok sat sandwiched between his two brothers and dad occupied the other table head.

Taehyung finally made his way into the dining room with Namjooon on his heels, both balancing two plates in their hands. Namjoon set a plate in front of Yoongi who sat next to Jungook and was silently observing us all. Taehyung laid both plates in front of Kook and me before rubbing his cheek on top of my head at my soft thanks. He happily trotted back to the kitchen to retrieve his own plate. With all the seats filled Tae had to pull up a mismatched chair to sit on my right side.

“Darling we’ll need to get a new table by Christmas.” Mom commented as Taehyung made himself comfortable at the table.

Dad surveyed us all before nodding along at the request. “Especially if Hobi finally confesses to that boy by then. Maybe we could get matching high chairs for the twins.”

I choked at that comment, I wasn’t used to the idea of twins even though it had been confirmed several days ago. Apparently, they were laying back to back and it was hard to detect her, especially her heartbeat that was quieter than the boy’s own. She was smaller than him too, something that concerned me but the doctor said that it wasn’t uncommon with fraternal twins. He did say that while I was carrying large for one baby, I was smaller than average for carrying multiples. He advised me to take it easier though, something that the family had come together more forcibly than before to enforce.

Jungkook patted my back softly as I chugged at my glass of water. Seokjin broke out in laughter across the table. “Y/n, you good?” he asked with yet another teasing smirk.

“Yeah, just went down the wrong pipe,” I bit back, tonight I will not let him get a rise out of me. But when Seokjin got it into his head- it was practically impossible to stop him.

“Now that we’ve mentioned it, how are the twins today?”

“They’re good, been kicking a lot today.” My responses were perfectly monotonous, something that will instead get a rise out of him.

“Ah, you pick any names out yet?” At my silence he continued, “for one, I think having a niece or nephew named after me would be so endearing. How else would you show your appreciation for your eldest brother?”

“Good thing you’re not on the naming committee,” Namjoon chimed in from down the table, my eyes darting to the speaker to convey my gratitude at being saved from his trap answer. Knowing him I would be tricked into committing to whatever name he suggested. ‘It’s just how older brothers work,’ he would repeat growing up whenever he weaseled his way into getting his way.

“Mom, don’t you think that another little Seokjin would be adorable? Imagine another Jinnie running around.” He pouted at Mom who laughed at his pitiful expression.

“When you have my next set of grandbabies you can give me another Jinnie. For now, Y/n is still figuring out what sounds good for them herself so don’t give her a hard time.” She then turned back into conversation with Yoongi and Namjoon, asking her oh-so-typical motherly questions about their new romance. She was insatiable when it came to getting the answers she wanted from us. Jin didn’t look like he had been subdued though and he quickly turned his attention away from me and to the man on my right.

“What about you Taehyung? You got any names you’ve brought up to Y/n?” His tone was verging on accusatory, what he was accusing? I hadn’t the slightest clue of what went on in the drama queen’s head.

“Well, we talked about the name Minseok but Jungkook vetoed it.” Taehyung shrugged and shoveled another bite into his mouth. He was more focused on the turkey leg than any conversation Seokjin could provide.

“Minseok? What’s wrong with that name?” Dad asked while Jungkook and I shared a look at the can of worms Tae just opened. I had been clear to everyone that I wasn’t ready to settle on a name just yet and they all respectively had kept their distance from the topic until the shit-stirrer across the table finally showed face.

“Y/n wants the names to match and we didn’t like the options for a girl. Taehyung also suggested Yongsu go with it. Of course, I vetoed.” Jungkook explained as he pointed a fork at the said name murderer.

My Dad nodded along at the explanation before rubbing his chin thoughtfully. Oh gee, I could feel his brain churning out a million names before he opened his mouth. “What about Yoomi?”

“That’s worse than Minseok Dad. Have we considered Soohyun?” Hoseok butted into the conversation, and I couldn’t help but grimace at the suggestion. I knew a Soohyun, she was the girl Mark was cheating on me with. I’d rather not recall walking in on infidelity every time I called for my daughter.

“How about they have renditions of the same name? Like Joohyun and Hyunjoo? Those would be hella cute.” Namjoon was the new naming murderer and he seemed to be proud of his contribution. Even his boyfriend grimaced at how cliche the names were for twins.

I shook my head and leveled them all with a lifeless expression.“This is why I never talk about names with you guys.”

Joonie took that personally and he frowned at me before exclaiming: “Hey I picked out your name!”

“Out of a list we gave you Namjoon,” Mom reminded him quietly with a sofy pat on his arm and he scoffed at it before turning back to his plate with a grumble.

“Speaking of, I was the one to come up with all of your names.” My dad supplied before turning his attention to me once again and mouthing ’Yoomi’ at me.

“What about Minso and Chunso? I saw those names on a tv show before.” Said Yoongi, his face showing apprehension.

I could tell the apprehension was twofold- he hadn’t been able to establish his place in the family and I was shutting down every suggestion so far. I made sure to smile at him softly as I replied; “You know what, I actually kind of like that. Thank you Yoongi.”

“I like the name Minso. It’d be lovely for the little princess.” Dad spoke around a mouthful of broccoli and quickly held a hand up at Seokjin’s disgusted face. Minso for my little girl? It didn’t feel quite right for her but it was a good suggestion and I hadn’t the heart to negate him.

“Chunso is kind of a mouthful though,” Hobi interjected and proceeded to mutter it while exaggerating the lip movements. I knew I could count on Hoseok to be on a similar wavelength as me so I wouldn’t feel guilty for eventually brushing off the names from the list. Jungkook and Taehyung kept quiet when we’d discuss names, claiming I got the biggest say and they didn’t want to discourage any exploration. With that, I knew they wouldn’t dare speak out against any names I complemented halfheartedly.

Joonie leaned out to the center of the table and turned his phone to me. “I’m looking it up now and Minso means one of a kind.”

Wanting to distance myself from the conversation at hand, I glanced over at the thorn juxtaposed to me before suddenly recalling another name suggested by Taehyung the night prior. “Well, I was thinking of naming her Duri, since it can mean two. She just so happens to be labeled baby number two on the ultrasound.” I smirked at the pun enthusiast across the table to watch his face morph into one of horror.

Mom clapped her hands at the joke; “Then what are you thinking of naming him to match?” Her genuine excitement at me finally picking a name made me feel a little guilty. Naming a small human is hard and nothing has really felt close to ‘it’.

“That is such a pun- you can’t name my niece after a pun.” Jin slapped his hand down on the table before I could respond to Mom and I had to fight myself to keep from laughing at his expression. Never had I seen such pain on him but before I could tease him some more mom was snapping for our attention.

“As the matriarch of this family- I have lovingly thought of two names that could be cute for the babies.” She declared proudly as she crossed her arms in front of her.

“Oh, you have?” Jin stole words out of my mouth but unlike me, he had tangible doubt laden throughout his words. She nodded at the snarky man before turning her attention to me.

“Yes, and since you’re forming your own family with those two lovebirds then I would like to suggest Taehee and Junghee.”

Jungkook had been silently observing the discourse amongst us all as he rested his head on my shoulder but perked up at Mom’s words. “Those are beautiful names Mom, I can't believe we hadn’t considered those.”

“Because it’s insane to name them after you both.” All eyes slowly turned to Seokjin in various degrees of anger and shock. Hoseok had leaned away from him at the comment and Namjoon was coldly staring at him.

I was one of the shocked, what could he possibly mean by that comment? Was it a racist implication? From our family? We have a hybrid brother and both of his human siblings were dating hybrids. Was it against the polyandry? The monogamous-centric views were a bit dated even for our parent’s generation so it wouldn’t make sense. Was it because Mark was their sperm donor? Seokjin hated their biological father so that didn’t make much sense either. In the tense air, I leaned into Jungkook’s side- almost as if I was trying to hide in his embrace.

“Seokjin. I would carefully watch your next words.” My mother’s voice was cold and you could slice cake with how sharp her words came out.

The offender held his hands up in surrender before defending himself. “It’s not what you’re thinking, it’s because Jinhee is obviously a better name and should be considered first.”

The room was eerily silent for a hot minute before Hoseok turned and almost shoved Jin out of his chair. There was a playfulness that masked the lingering bits of anger in his face. Mom let out a breath of relief at the joke before going back to her dinner.

There was an almost silent scoff from down the table on my left, I turned to see Yoongi pushing his food around on his plate. “If we’re taking their dads’ names into consideration we could go with Yoontae or Yoonjung.”

“Those both have a part of your name in it too.” Hoseok pointed out with a small pout.

“That’s obvious, since I got invited to this family dinner, I’m now part of the family. I’m obviously going to be the favorite uncle.” He dramatically shrugged his shoulders and flicked his hair out of his face. I couldn’t help but smile at the declaration.

“Oh hell no you’re not, I’ve been vying for that spot since she told me,” Jin argued, his cheeks puffed out in anger.

“Must suck to have that spot pulled out from under you. I’ll make sure to send my condolences to your place later.” Yoongi shrugged yet again with a smirk before taking a big bite of the broccoli.

Namjoon gently reached out across the table with a placating expression on his face as he placed a hand on top of Yoongi’s upturned one. “Honey, I love that you’re feeling comfortable enough to joke with my brothers but I need you to know that it’s literally impossible to get that title while I’m still alive. I am the favorite brother so I will be the favorite uncle.”

Hobi’s ears perked up atop his head, he turned to Joon and shoved his harshly at the self-proclamation of the favorite brother. “Oh hell no you’re not. I AM.”

“Oh, Nams I’ll make sure to let your doctor know that you’re going senile.” Seokjin snarked from behind the angry canine hybrid, he too looked insulted at the prospect of not being the favorite. Mom and Dad both joined in the bickering to try and keep them from bursting into a full-blown brawl.

“I like the idea of the name Sujung,” I commented quietly and only the two hybrids glued to me noticed. Jungkook perking up visibly at the name suggestion. Tae leaned into my side more and I could feel his warm tail wound itself across my lap.

“It’s very pretty love, have you thought about one for the boy? I know you’re always tied up with the names for him.” He complimented me with a blindingly bright smile and pressed a soft kiss to my cheek.

I could help the blush that was threatening its way across my face so I pressed more into his touch. It was nice to have them both curled around me, especially now that it was growing colder. “Well, if I name her after Kookie, wouldn’t you like to have him named after you?”

Tae shook his head quickly at the question before resting his chin on my shoulder so he could talk to me in an almost whisper. “ I’ll love them no matter what we name them. You could name them both after Jungkook and I’d love them all the same.”

“I know you’ll love them, that wasn’t the question.” I reached a hand out to lace out fingers together.

“Baby, in the end, it’s your choice, maybe I’d like him to be named after me but if you choose otherwise then I wouldn’t care.”

“What about Taewon? I knew a man with that name before and he was very kind.” Jungkook decided to suggest suddenly making me jump slightly at the surprise. His mouth was centimeters from my ear and I could feel his warm breath fanning its way down my neck.

“I used to know a Kitae. What about that instead?” He suggested when I didn’t respond fast enough for his liking. I guess my hesitation spoke volumes.

Kitae was much cuter, cute enough to rival Sujung. “I like it, Kitae and Sujung. How cute.”

At my grin, Taehyung pulled away with excitement, “So we’ve settled on their names?”

“For now, they may change. Mom said she changed her mind a couple of times throughout her pregnancies.” I reminded him as I pulled him back into my embrace.

“For now, they’re perfect. They are going to be so cute! Now I can use their name when I talk with them.” He was almost shaking with excitement at the prospect. I didn’t know he’d be this enthusiastic about their names. “Love, we can use their names in their bedtimes stories from now on.”

I nodded at the exclamation and smiled as he rambled on about how he was going to write out the classics with their names so they can be the heroes of their stories. While he continued to chatter Jungkook curled an arm around my waist- well as much as he could with my growing stomach. I glanced over at the rest of the table and couldn’t help the smile that stretched across my face, My family was all happily broken into small conversations and they all seemed to be enjoying themselves. Jin and my dad were chatting and Jin was obviously fighting back his laughter. Hoseok and Yoongi seemed to be talking about Jimin if the raging blush on Hobi’s face was anything to go by. Mom and Joonie were quietly talking before she reached a hand out to ruffle his hair while he whined at the action. I turned my attention back to my still rambling boyfriend to catch on to the tail-end of his rant.

My family was here, together and happy. And my newly forged family unit fit in perfectly- something I was ever grateful for.

Hi! if you want to be added to the taglist lemme know!

@jelly-fishy-babie @nomimits7 @littlewolfieposts @fangirl125reader @xeirisarax @ghostkat23 @gayitachiuchiha @forever1313 @nellaphine @kooky-mysterious @rainbow-realm @xanny91 @demonslover @inumorph @uraveragefangirlsposts@alex–awesome–22 @akacamiworld @fangirling-all-the-way-tbh

@btsizlyfe @sevenpersona

[dp-marvel94]

For the 'fanfic writers asks':

(I tried to ask not so many, but I've got curious :) )

7, 17, 20, 26, 28, 32

In reference to this. Thanks for asking, my friend! I've got a lot to say so see below the cut.

7. What story/headcanons do you feel the proudest of?

I see you picked a hard first question. XD I'm proud of all my stories. Double Discovery is special to me because it's my first multi chapter story. I'm proud of my Invisobang story from last year because I thought the idea was really unique. A lot of emotion went into that story too; it tackled difficult topics for me. I'm really proud of Hope too, because of the thoughtful and careful foreshadowing I put into the story. And of course, Face to Face is really special to me, both for the length and the content. I haven't talked about this a lot but I've drawn a lot from my experiences as a autistic person and dealing with ablest attitudes from my family and internalized beliefs. I wasn't diagnosed until I was almost an adult and it's taken me years to be able to say that I'm autistic and not feel ashamed or like I said something taboo. Writing Face to Face was a big step in getting there.

17. What fanfic tropes do you gravitate to writing for?

I have said that my favorite genre are stories where Danny talks to himself. XD So I'm gonna write all the split Danny/ separate Fenton & Phantom and Clone content I want.

20. What feedback makes you the happiest to hear?

I love hearing if a particular line really struck someone. Also, comments about the characters' arcs. It's really nice to know that the reader can clearly get where I'm trying to take the character.

26. Are titles for your stories easy to come up with?

Generally no. I love events like DannyMay and Ectober because they make coming up with titles so easy. XD But I also use a lot of song titles and lyrics. It's excited find a song who's lyrics or message really fit with the story I'm trying to write. As long as that happens before I name the story at least. XD

28. Is there a part of Face to Face you’re surprised no one has picked up on yet?

So I picked Face to Face for this because it's my darling. It's not a content thing. But I've posted about the song (Face to Face by Wolves at the Gate) that the titles from multiple times and to my knowledge no one's listened to it! I'm really excited about how well it fits, especially now that I'm getting close to the end of the story.

Here's the chorus:

"Listen closely, every seed must die before

Die before it can grow

Sinking slowly, to be planted in the dust

Long before it can grow"

I touched on it in the latest chapter but Danny's really grown a lot over the events of the story. That theme of death and rebirth goes hand in hand with the story I'm trying to tell.

"Standing at the great divide

I fell into the ground and died

The taste of death was bittersweet

I fell into the ground and died

But death made me alive

Death made me alive"

And the bridge! I mean, do I even need to explain?!

https://youtu.be/jN-nfjQA1sg

Seriously, please, I'm begging anyone reading this to go listen to the song. I even posted the link to the acoustic version. 😅

32. What story do you think showcases your signature style the most?

My signature style... well, that's probably a story with lots of crying and hugging. The central conflict is an emotional one and it ends one a happy or hopeful note. And oh yeah, there's probably more that one version of Danny in it. 😅 I've already talked about a few so I'll pick out something that isn't one of my long, multi chapter stories.

From Phic Phight 2021, The First Night.

A sixteen years old Danny Fenton helps his fourteen year old counterpart through his first night as a ghost.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/31122332