#this may become a part of a larger fic i have an idea for

[soupandsorcery]

“I don’t hate the word boyfriend,” Rune says, picking up the thread of a days old conversation like the response has just come to him. And okay…it’s possible that it has, but that’s just for him to know. “It just makes me feel like a teenager with a crush.” 

Addam smiles, metal fingers curling around Rune’s ankle where it’s slung into his lap. “Am I to understand then, Hero,” he says, amusement and that teasing fondness making his voice deeper than usual. “That you would not have had a crush on me when you were a teenager?” 

Before Rune can finish being flustered by Addam’s tone, Brand is snorting from his place in the armchair across the room. 

“Hey. Shut up,” Rune says, and points at him for emphasis. 

Brand, predictably, ignores him. “He absolutely would have had a fucking crush on you back then. You would have come over with your smile and your accent and your dimples, and this one would have swooned all over his fucking self. All I would have heard for weeks was ‘did you see the way he looked at me, Brand? Do you think he likes me, Brand?’ Worse, I would have had to feel him crushing on you through the bond because his control was shit as a teenager. Fucking embarrassing.” 

“That’s offensive,” Rune replies. 

“Truth hurts,” Brand shoots back, shrugging a shoulder. 

Addam’s still grinning, showing off the very dimples in question, and Rune doesn’t think he can be blamed for the way his whole torso goes a little gooey at the sight. Teenage Rune would’ve had good taste, at least, if Brand’s right. Which he isn’t. Mostly.

“That’s the second time you’ve mentioned my dimples in such a complimentary way, Brandon,” Addam says. “I’m flattered. And even moreso that you think they would have been enough to send Rune swooning into your arms.” 

Brand rolls his eyes. “It’s not the compliment you think it is, Saint Nicholas. You flash those things all the time when you want to get your way. That’s where Quinn gets it from. And Rune’s just weak to that pretty boy shit.” 

“You can’t be mean to me,” Rune complains. “I’m still recovering. I had an ordeal.” 

“Oh now you’re recovering. This morning when I caught you trying to sneak down to the beach without having breakfast it was ‘fuck off, Brand, I’m fine’.” 

“That was then.” 

“Uh-huh.” 

The two of them have a familiar stare down: Rune makes a pitiful face that he knows will just make Brand laugh at him, and Brand tries to keep his expression as flat as he can make it. The waves of good humor echo through the bond from both ends though, and Rune’s heart is very full. 

“I like the two of you like this,” Addam says after a bit. “It is always intriguing to see you in a fight, working together and reading each other's minds, but I much prefer when your odd version of telepathy can be applied this way.” 

“What, Brand using our sacred, special bond to bully me? Are you condoning this?” Rune asks, pretending to be outraged. “You’re supposed to be defending my honor, Addam. That’s sort of your job as my fiance and literal knight in shining armor.” 

“And if I thought your honor was in danger, I would certainly leap to your defense,” Addam replies evenly.

Brand laughs at that, and Rune folds his arms, lips turning down into an exaggerated pout. 

“Do you want to know what I think?” Addam continues, glancing at the pair of them. “I think that perhaps Rune would not have been the only one who was weak to ‘that pretty boy shit’, as Brand so colorfully put it. I think that if I worked at it, I could have had you both.” 

It’s an Addam level mic drop as he slides out from under Rune’s legs and makes a show of stretching. His arms reach overhead, and he pushes up onto his toes so his muscles pull into one tight line. A few inches of that lovely tanned skin flash as Addam’s shirt rides up, then disappear when he sinks back to his feet with a content sigh. He drops a kiss to the top of Rune’s head, puts a hand on Brand’s shoulder, and then makes his exit from the room. 

Rune and Brand sit in silence for a full minute once he’s gone, gaping in the direction he went. They turn to look at each other at the same time. 

“What the fuck was that?” Brand demands. 

“This is your fault for bringing his dimples into this,” Rune replies, sliding down the couch so he can put his head on the arm rest. “Everybody knows naming something gives it power.” 

“Shut the fuck up.” 

Rune can only sigh and wonder at his attraction to men obsessed with having the last word.

[im-not-corrupted]

I was consumed by the idea of Merman!Hob in the last few days and now I'm writing a Dreamling fic about it so have a small, 1.7k snippet from the much larger fic :)

Includes: near-drowning, near death experiences, perhaps many medical inaccuracies because I am not a doctor and haven't edited yet, Merman!Hob, Prince!Dream and some light angst.

---------

He awakes with a gasping, heaving breath. His lungs are greedy things, sucking in air with desperation, and he presses a hand to his chest. Beneath his palm, his heart races. Adrenaline and panic both fill his veins and his hand shakes. His lungs feel full, but as he coughs mostly involuntarily, nothing comes up at all.

It takes a bit for him to calm down. When he does, when his lungs stop heaving and he stops coughing and he is left with nothing but an ache in his lungs, his head and a rawness in his throat, he looks around himself.

He sits on a beach, the sands golden and kissed by the sun. It shines down on him, blessing his face with its light. His clothes are soaked through and no doubt ruined, and before him—before him is the ocean.

It holds none of the fierceness he saw earlier, and he stares at it blankly. It looks as welcoming, as lovely, as it did the day he stepped onto the ship. His mind had been occupied, yes, but he had enough awareness to acknowledge the sea’s beauty.

Not enough awareness to acknowledge its dangers, though. He remembers in startling clarity the coldness of its waters, the ferocity with which it drowned him, the storm that waged and threw him overboard.

He should’ve been more careful.

It is not just the ocean that lies before him, but a man, too. A man, staring at him with honey-eyes that catch the sunlight as though they were made for it, with a curiosity on his face that, if it weren’t for the sudden anxiety twisting his all-too empty stomach, would’ve endeared him immediately. His skin is tan, golden like the sands, and some distant part of his brain wants to press his lips to that skin and find out what it tastes like for himself. Like ocean salt and sweat and the sun itself, he thinks, and then considers the possibility that he may have suffered some brain damage due to oxygen deprivation.

It takes him a bit to find his voice. During that time, the man—sitting in the ocean as though he belongs there, ignorant of its gentle waves lapping at him—continues to stare, head tilted like a particularly curious bird. “Who are you?” he asks, wincing at the hoarseness of his throat. It feels scraped raw, and he thinks he would like to simply not speak for a while, only—only this is rather strange, isn’t it?

The man’s shoulders shake with laughter. He is a beautiful creature, this man, with chestnut hair framing his face. Laughter, and amusement, becomes him. Distantly, Morpheus is aware that he should probably take offence at the man’s laughter, only—only he doesn’t really have the energy. If anything, he thinks he’d much rather sleep. “The one who saved you, obviously. Or did you forget you nearly drowned?"

He has half a mind to scowl at the strange man in the water, but only just has enough energy to narrow his eyes. "You saved me," he repeats dumbly. In his defence, he did nearly drown, and sleep calls to him now. Nearly drowning is, apparently, rather exhausting. "We were in the middle of the ocean. We weren't even close to any land. How did you—"

Come to think of it, he can't recall having seen this man's face before. Though perhaps that's explained easily. He was distracted on the ship, after all, and it wasn't like he went out of the way to remember the entire crew. Both Telute and Lucienne always said he should try to interact with people a little more than he does, but he thinks recent events made him exempt from that rule these last few months.

Still. The man's statement doesn't really make sense. They were in the middle of an ocean, and in a storm no less. It would've been impossible for the man to save him then, at least not without a boat or ship of his own.

Thinking of it made his head hurt more. For a moment he feels ready to simply shrug and accept the nonsensical answer as truth in the hopes that maybe the man would leave him to rest. Logically, he knows that isn't what will happen at all. If this man knows who Morpheus is, if he recognises him, then there will be some kind of demand. A boon for saving the Prince's life.

He can't do anything about that now, though, and the idea of laying on this beach and letting himself wither under the sun's heat seems very appealing. He doesn't even know where they are, or how close he is to his kingdom. How he's supposed to make it back in this condition, he doesn't know. The task seems impossible, in all honesty.

The man does not leave him to rest, not even when Morpheus simply nods stiffly and says, "Sure. Saved me. Alright." He remains in the ocean actually, the waves lapping at his torso, and continues to stare at him blankly as though expecting something a little more. Eventually, he rolls his eyes—Rude, Morpheus thinks, but hardly cares at all in the moment—and moves a little closer. It looks almost like the ocean parts for him, but that's ridiculous.

Then—well, then things get even stranger. Which also seems impossible, but—there they are. The man shifts in the water and brings what looks like a tail out of the ocean, all golden scales and fins. Beautiful, he thinks, knowing he's staring but seemingly unable to help it. Of course the man's tail would be golden. That only makes sense when the rest of him could've been carved from sunlight.

A little belatedly, he realises just what he's staring at. Which is the man, who had a fish's tail.

Hallucinating. He is hallucinating, then. That makes sense. Still, he can't help but laugh quietly—it makes him wince, his lungs still raw and aching, but the pain is temporary and certainly doesn't matter much if he's hallucinating—and says, "You're a merman."

The statement is ludicrous. Morpheus wonders just how much damage nearly drowning can do to a person, and then figures he doesn't want to know at all, actually.

"That is what you call us, yes," the man agrees easily.

Sure. Why not. "Why did you save me then?"

He shrugs softly. “Too pretty for death,” the—the merman, of all things, tells him. It sounds almost petulant.

He is losing his mind. He had swallowed a lot of water. A merman. “One can be too pretty for death?” he asks weakly, his throat hoarse and his chest tight with pain. The ridiculous nature of the question at least makes that pain easy to ignore. It will get him later, he knows that much, but he lets himself be distracted by his amusement at the situation for a while.

The merman blinks at him, expression entirely serious. “You are.”

”Right.” Right. Of course. Too pretty for death. That makes sense. As much sense as a merman fishing him out of the water does.

Whatever energy let him carry this conversation leaves him suddenly and he falls onto his back on top of the sand, his elbows failing to hold him up any longer. The sun glares down at him and he gazes back up at it blearily. Exhaustion clings to him just as the beach does to his sea-soaked clothes. Sleep seems like a wonderful, bright idea.

He let his eyes fall shut. It isn't very effective for blocking out the sun’s rays—it remains insistent, and closing his eyes doesn't give him the satisfaction of darkness that he dearly wants. Still, while that would’ve been a problem any other time, his body yearned for the void, to let the dark take him. It would be easy to simply lay here and wither, until either the tide takes him or someone finds him. Whichever came first. He didn’t mind either way.

Then the merman spoke again. “Are you dying, pretty one?”

It took a great deal of effort, but he grunts, “No.”

”Are you sure?”

He is not, actually. But that is no concern of this mermaid, and he merely answers, “I am certain.”

Silence follows that statement. Morpheus lets himself relax, lets himself hope this is it. He can sleep now, he thought—and is quickly proven wrong, for the merman states, “You look like you’re dying. Does anybody look for you?”

He hardly cares. Distantly, though, he thinks Lucienne might be. Jessamy and Matthew, too. “Perhaps,” he says after a couple of minutes pass, when he realises he has not yet replied. "I would like to sleep now."

The merman makes a considering noise. "I do not know much about humans," he said slowly, and Morpheus can practically feel the concern in his voice now, "but I'm pretty sure that's a bad idea. I'll stay and talk to you until you're found."

"Must you?" he asks, a desperate edge to his voice. The merman's voice is pleasant enough, yes, but rest is the preferred option here, regardless of what he says.

"Yes," he confirms. Morpheus's eyes are still closed so he can't actually see but he can imagine the smile on his face easily enough.

He sighs heavily and wonders what he did to deserve this. Then figures this is some weird, twisted kind of punishment for all that happened with Orpheus and Calliope and resigns himself to his fate. "Very well."

The merman talks, almost endlessly, until the sun is low in the sky. It is, truly, an impressive amount of talking. Morpheus doesn't remember much of that afternoon. At some point, he regains just enough energy to sit up, to listen more attentively. The merman, whose name he doesn't learn, seems to appreciate that. And just when despair begins to eat at him—I will not be found, he thinks and despite his inaction while he sank into the ocean, the idea panics him, I will die on this beach—there are calls of his name from behind him. They are voices he recognises and his heart picks up its pace when he turns around to see Lucienne, Telute and Jessamy walking down the beach towards him, each of them looking a little rough but all of them alive.

When he turns back to the ocean, the merman is no longer there, and Morpheus wonders if he dreamt the whole thing up. He does not mention it as Jessamy helps him to his feet, as Telute pulls him in for a hug, as the three of them begin to make it back home, to their duties, but he does not forget the kind eyes of the man who saved him from drowning.

[tavyliasin]

Writer Interview Tag

I was tagged by @redroomroaving and once I'd finished feeling about a hundred emotions from reading I managed to follow it up.

I definitely got a little personal as well, and I know I’m prone to rambling so I’ll pop the questions and answers below the cut. A mild CW for discussion of physical pain and some very very light mentions of mental health. Tagging @morb-untamed @sweetmage @dmbakura @hydropyro @ineadhyn @nicocoer @wixed to do this if you would like to, but there is absolutely no pressure to talk about yourselves or in any personal detail. And anyone else reading this who I missed tagging (I forget names and tags so often, forgive me) please feel free to use me as your tag-in and let me know so I can read your answers too.

When did you start writing?

I have no idea, truly. Stories and reading were a big part of my life since before I could read, and as soon as I could read independently I devoured books and imagined stories in quiet moments. There are a few things I’ve worked on under another name, another identity, but no massive published works. A couple of unfinished SFW fanfics, and some larger original projects that remain on hiatus. As for writing smut and spice and taking fanfic more seriously? That all started in September 2023, and has just grown from there. I was hesitant at first, and you’ll see that in my early author notes, but from there I feel I’ve truly grown in my style and skill, as well as my creativity and ability to delve into character details and kink alike.

Are there different themes or genres you enjoy reading than what you write?

Since writing more, I’ve become a terrible reader. I can’t really focus on it for long because my brain goes into ADHD rebellion and says “no, no, we don’t want to read story we want to create story” which is endlessly frustrating when I have stacks of unread books and a ton of fics earmarked by very talented authors. I will say there is a particular thing many may notice in my works – when writing, I very rarely refer to genitalia in direct terms. It’s just a personal preference when writing, you won’t find the word “cock” in any of my works, but contrary to how it might sound I have absolutely no issue with reading it in the works of others. I am an odd creature, I freely admit that. So…yes, there are themes, pairings, styles, and vocabulary features that I enjoy reading but do not write myself.

Is there a writer you want to emulate or get compared to often?

I don’t hear comparisons really, and I don’t aim to emulate anyone either, though I will admit I try to keep just a few little moments of humour or sly winks to the audience in similar ways to Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams. Just those quick lines or cutaways that for a moment join reader and author in a little shared joke.

Can you tell me a bit about your writing space?

I can only really write comfortably in one place, at my PC. I have 3 screens set up around my seat, which is actually the end seat of a reclining sofa, so I have a heated pad behind my back to reduce pain. I have a mini fridge with drinks on the table beside me with the side screen that has Discord on it at all times, my larger screen (the TV) sometimes has character images for reference or notes or just Spotify up so I can swap songs and playlists quickly. The last screen is in front of me on a table that goes over my footrest, and my keyboard is on a lap desk over my legs. 

I’ll almost always have my headphones on, and a small fan when it gets too warm. Sometimes I do end up a little chaotic with snacks in reach and meds also on the table so I don’t have to have anyone fetch them for me.

What's your most effective way to muster up a muse?

It can’t be controlled. The muse is as fickle as it is demanding, when it’s there it wants everything all at once, and when it’s gone?... It leaves a devastating emptiness that honestly I struggle with at times. Even right now, tonight I planned to write, but when I finally got the free time and got set up…nothing feels appealing to try. So I’m doing this instead, and not forcing it. 

There are things I try at times, and things I recommend, too. First? Before you start writing, tend to your basic needs. Do you need a drink? Food? Relevant medication? A nap? A talk with a friend? A bit of fresh air or physical movement? If one of these needs hasn’t been met, it’ll likely soon become an obstacle to your writing. I like to have a drink and snack ready and with me when I start so it’s there as and when I might need it, and I do rely on caffeine like a stereotypically unmedicated ADHD author…

Second, set the mood. It can help for some people to have this routine, to get their playlist going, to be in the right place, to have the things that set a whole zone and bubble. For a while, I had a specific hat I would wear when writing for another project. I could tell myself “I am putting the hat on now, so I will focus and do this thing” and in some way it trained me to write more. I know others who have done things like always listening to a specific genre of music to write, so now when they hear that genre they get the urge to write. Third is take a shower. Nothing gives me more ideas than a good shower, and I even bought a waterproof notepad and pencil set so I can make those notes whilst in there and not fret about forgetting an idea. Other than that, I recommend going back to the thing that inspired you to write. Play the game or watch scenes with the characters you want to write about, find their voices and mindsets. You can also close your eyes and imagine the scene like a play – put the characters on your stage at the start of the scene and watch what they do in the scenario. Let them show you how they react. Some people also do well to write out a plan or bulletpoints, but I find personally this can bite me in the ass because the process of writing can often stray from my original plan. Which isn’t a bad thing, but it can feel frustrating that I didn’t use ideas that I was initially passionate about.

Are there any recurring themes in your writing? Do they surprise you?

Ah here it is. Whilst I could go quite simply with the kinks that I keep utilising that don’t surprise me in the slightest – I know well that I enjoy writing a spicy shifting of power balance between strong-minded characters, as well as a lot of BDSM kink – there are deeper parts to this. Identity. That’s a theme that keeps rearing its head beneath a lot of works, and you’ll find it most noticeable in how I write both Haarlep and He Who Was, but it tends to worm its way into other things too. It…did not surprise me, though, because it’s something I have struggled with over this past year within myself.

I created this name, this identity, as a way to be comfortable in sharing kink fiction and spicy works without it being easily identifiable under my actual name. I still don’t like to be too personal, or share my face or real name under this one, because I would rather keep a few close friends and family out of sight of my fandom thirsting. I’m certain a lot of us are the same – it isn’t really about shame but knowing that I, and they, would likely not be comfortable discussing this level of subject matter. I’ve relaxed a little over time, and have no doubt that a few may have worked out who I am and simply kept it quiet which I appreciate endlessly, just as I appreciate that those who do know both of my identities have never shared that information or made it public. I’m happy to meet people in person, just not to have my self online shared with my other self, as I’m sure you can understand. Anyway, I digress…

Something that the keen-eyed accomplice might have noticed in me is a shift in my speech. I used a few more mannerisms and speech patterns, particularly terms of endearment, under this name when I began. It was a way to separate the self, as well as to engage with a different audience in a different way. I explained it to the few who knew both early on as “same person, different font”, because I don’t change who I am just a few parts of how I speak or interact…but I’ve dropped a lot of the endearments now. Partly because there were more than a few who expressed they were uncomfortable with this in conversation – which I fully respect and understand – so it was easier to just drop them entirely rather than double checking or switching vocabulary between people and servers. But it has also fallen away a little as I have become more comfortable with both sides of myself, allowing them to integrate again more, and I owe a good amount of that to being able to meet fandom friends in person and find that they didn’t turn away from knowing all of me and instead have become even better friends. 

So…yes, the theme of names and identity keeps popping up. The power of names, the importance of identity, how one can hold on to one’s sense of self when it feels as if it is wavering, or when a role must be played. It’s little wonder I was so strongly drawn to so many favourites. Another recurring theme, of course, is pain. Physical. Whilst this is often in the form of kink and pain play, I’ve written a few pieces where it has been a point that is not about the sexual and positive side. I am in pain. 24/7. Without end. It will not get better. It has been this way for over 10 years. The level of the pain is “I cannot walk more than 10 metres before it is too much”, and “I have to drastically reduce and monitor my physical activity to prevent pain getting worse”, so I feel very intimately familiar with pain. You’ll find it in my writing as visceral and detailed descriptions of the sensations, because I’ve felt every one of them and might just be feeling them in that moment as I write. 

I’m going to keep trying to write short comfort pieces, too. Because as I once wrote as a dialogue line for Halsin, when Tav asked how he always seemed to know the right thing to say:  

“Sometimes we say the things we need to hear the most.” 

What is your reason for writing?

Every reason ever. There’s…not a lot I can do in this body. So many hopes and dreams and even careers I’ve had to leave behind, through the struggles of mental and physical health. Whilst the former is far better, the latter is the issue… But writing is something I can do with little physical effort. If I’m in pain, I can take my medication and absorb into fiction. 

I started writing smut as a challenge, but also as a way to tell a story I was becoming rather attached to. My main longfic was one born from playing the game, and wondering about telling the story between the lines, giving reason to the choice the player character was making under my instruction. Since then, it has grown to be so much more.

I’d love to sit here and tell you “I only write for myself, I don’t need external validation” but that…would be a half-truth at best. I write because I love sharing these stories, I love that they can reach out and touch hearts and minds in ways I might never know, but I adore when someone does send back their echo across the vast void between us to say “I enjoyed this” or “this story made me feel something”. That’s…it’s everything to know I have some value. Which sounds a lot like I’m pinning my self-worth on feedback or kudos, and whilst I can’t deny that’s a hard habit to break, I do know it isn’t everything. I just want it to still be something. To know I can do more than just…exist. 

Truly if you were to ask me what I feel the purpose is to my entire life, it would be “to leave each corner of the world I touch a little brighter and better than it was before I got there”, and whilst I know that’s impossible to do all the time I still want to try. And writing? Sharing stories? That’s leaving a positive mark, giving someone enjoyment in their day – yes, even sexually, with the kinky and sexy writing. That is still a positive to someone’s day, an indulgence, something that lifts them and certainly nothing to be ashamed of.

If I can do more than that with emotional writing, with comfort pieces, with cathartic moments and with stories that have more meaning behind the words…all the better.

Is there any specific comment or type of comment you find particularly motivating?

The best are the ones that pull out favourite lines or moments, but honestly every single comment means the world to me. An incoherent keysmash, a simple “I loved this”, even those are such a boost particularly on a hard day. 

Readers, please know how much it helps. Even a click on the kudos as an anonymous guest, it’s…it lets us know we aren’t just shouting into the void. It tells us those Hits are not people just opening up the fic then closing it because they hated it. It means the whole world to know we’ve done something that you enjoyed, in whatever way that was.

I’ll also say that some of the ones that have meant the most and have stuck with me are comments on the more personal pieces, like with The Love of Loviatar – the Abdirak x Reader fic where I play a little with worlds colliding to allow a reader character who experiences chronic pain (remarkably similar to my own, don’t think about that too hard) to have that moment with Abdirak who validates and appreciates them exactly how they are. Gentle care mixed with BDSM, trading the bad pain for the good pain, the pain that is welcome and has purpose, a little fantasy of enjoying what the body can do rather than being trapped by what it cannot… Every time I get a comment there, I damn near cry. Or just openly cry. They mean so much. I know how much Abdirak can mean to us, and I am so glad I can reach you all. 

How do you want to be thought about by your readers?

I…well… To be thought of at all is an honour. I’m shocked any time I encounter someone who has read my works, despite logically knowing I have a good number of readers from the numbers alone. I just…don’t look at those numbers often, it’s not good for me. 

I’d like readers to know I care about them. Every last one. To know I would love to tell all the stories they want to read, and that I fully welcome their messages, comments, and even friendship when we share social spaces. There’s something special about the connections we can make in unexpected places, and I’m just delighted to be here sharing stories with you all. 

I don’t need high respect, endless adoration, or some kind of pedestal. I’m a human, unfortunately – squishy and fallible and flawed and suffering and there is still beauty and worth to me even when I don’t see it myself. Just saying that last part louder for everyone else who has loud negative thoughts of themselves. It’s ok for you to see my flaws, and it’s ok for us all to have love for one another despite those flaws. Love in the platonic sense, of course – there are levels of connections we make with people from a distant echo of a brief exchange of words to the direct warmth of a friendship. It’s as important to not underestimate the value as it is important to not overestimate our closeness to people we don’t truly know.

What do you feel is your greatest strength as a writer?

I am beginning to believe it is the wild ideas I have for crackship pairings and turning them into something serious and meaningful. I love taking an unlikely coupling then finding what makes them actually genuinely work. 

I’m also getting quite confident in sensual writing as well as kink, in the particular style that I have for it. I know well that it isn’t to everyone’s tastes, but those who do enjoy my style and method will always have something in the buffet of fic to fill their plate.

I really hope to transfer this to my original work when I get it finished, as I feel like just maybe I might have a niche of style that isn’t as often seen in published works. Then again, I’m not exactly devouring raunchy original fiction so perhaps I’m entirely mistaken and would get ripped to shreds by critics of the genre. Who knows? But I will try to get published when it’s done. I hope a few of you might even read it someday.

When you write, are you influenced by what others might enjoy reading, or do you write purely for yourself, or a mix of both?

Ahh definitely both. I have written characters and pairings I’m not personally into that much, though sometimes (Yurgir) I have found myself enjoying the character after writing with them. It’s a fun little quirk, I start writing something thinking “am I into this?” and realise later “oops new kink acquired” or “ahh ok I see why people like [character] so much now.” 

I do really love writing requests or rare pairings/characters that readers haven’t seen before or are excited to see more of. I hope to keep doing a mix of that and the characters/pairings that I love most myself. If there’s something you’d like to see, I’m more than happy to take suggestions – there are a few kinks, characters, and tropes that I have a hard “nope” line on (not kink shaming, just personal comfort levels – I love that you can enjoy those things elsewhere I am just not the chef to cook that dish for you) but otherwise I love wild ideas and writing something that someone explicitly wants to read~

How do you feel about your own writing?

I really struggle with this one, but I think many of us do. I go from feeling confident that people enjoy what I’ve written and that I have this skill to bring worlds and characters to life with mere words on a page, yet other times? I will freely admit some works of mine take longer because I just hit this point where I just cannot tell if it’s any good. I know intellectually that I have the same style, tropes, stories, kinks that people like and enjoy, but as I’m sat there staring at it I’m questioning everything because I’m just not feeling it. That seems pretty natural, I think, that we are the worst critics of our own works because we’ve read them so many times or thought far too hard about every word and line… But I tend to solve this with an external view. Beta Readers have saved works from near extinction by checking it over, telling me what does need fixing, and reminding me that actually the rest of it is just fine I’m simply overthinking it all because my mind is struggling with something else like fatigue or pain or just a low kind of day.

So… Overall, writing has been a new life for me. Particularly in this last year, trying something new – expanding into NSFW fanfic has found me countless new connections, friends, experiences I wouldn’t have had otherwise and a real feeling of accomplishment and validation that just wasn’t happening in WIPs that were taking too long and getting no feedback at all. 

Writing isn’t just something I do, it’s inextricably a part of who I am, and in its own way it continues to shape exactly what “who I am” can mean.

And I am grateful to every single one of you who has shared this journey with me so far. I cannot wait to see how far we can go together~

[happyandticklish]

Dropping the Controversial Tickling Tea~

A list of takes that may be controversial but I no longer care because these issues are argued about far too often not to say anything

It’s okay to have preferences. I feel like we understand this concept on the lee side, but ostracize it on the ler side. If someone doesn’t like being tickled in a certain area, we okay that, but if someone doesn’t like to tickle a certain area, then people become defensive as though it is somehow specifically targeting them. If a ler doesn’t like to tickle feet, understandable! If they exclusively like to tickle feet, ALSO understandable! If a ler doesn’t like to tickle a certain area but the lee loves being tickled there, then that is something to discuss and talk about. Maybe they’re willing to budge on that point, maybe they’re not, but either way, neither side should force the other to do something that makes them uncomfortable. 

The SFW and the NSFW community are not always black and white. Some people view tickling as a kink in certain scenarios, and platonic in others, and that’s fine. Some people don’t view tickling as a sexual act, but enjoy when it’s combined with sex because it makes them feel loved. Some people view tickling as romantic, but not necessarily sexual. It is not simply platonic or sexual, it’s a much larger gray area than people give it credit for. It’s okay to view it as completely non-sexual too, as well as to get off on it. That does not mean you have the right to judge other people for the way they enjoy it. We’re all just trying to get along here. 

Fictional characters are just that—fictional. If you write a fic where Bakugo kills Deku it does not mean you are advocating murder, you are simply exploring a perspective. If you write a fic where Bakugo holds down Deku and tickles him while he begs for it to stop, that is also, technically, okay. Although non-con is a pretty big no-no in real life, fictional characters are an outlet to express... well, pretty much anything. If you write a fic where Levi is tied up against his will and tickled, that’s your prerogative. So long as you are not genuinely inflicting harm on anyone, that’s fine. I personally am not a huge fan of non-con in fics, but you do you boo. Not to mention, sometimes you just want to write fucked up stories. My Gorillaz fic is hella non-consensual in part one because they have a fucked up relationship and I was exploring what would happen if you combined that idea with something like a tickle kink. It does not mean I support it in real life. Stop criminalizing tumblr users as if these fictional characters are real people. 

On that note—non-con is not always bad. I’m not going to get too into this as I’m not the most informed individual on the matter, but CNC does exist, and blends a form of consent and non-consent together, with the victims okaying it upfront and allowing their consent to be overridden later on. So. You know. That exists, so non-con can even be ethical IRL in certain situations. 

If you like feet, that’s okay. This one’s pretty simple. Stop kink-shaming people, guys. If you don’t like feet, cool, don’t be a dick to others about it. Hands are grosser bacteria wise than feet anyway. 

Aging up fictional characters is not morally wrong. This goes back to the fictional characters rule. Sometimes it’s just to explore a different perspective, sometimes it’s because the show freezes with them at like 16 or something so you’ll never have a chance to write about them in an adult context. Again, fictional characters, not real, we could argue the ethics of it all day long, but at the end of the day no IRL minors/adults are being harmed.

You can be an older person writing fanfiction in the tickle community. I’m using the term older broadly to mean anyone between 25-60+ because often it is past 25 once tumblr users start being weird about it. Almost all published writers are adults, if anything it makes more sense to be in your thirties and writing fanfiction, tickling related or otherwise. There is no time limit to existing within the community, so do not bully people for this. 

On that note, I don’t think minors should be ostracized from the community. I understand that we want to protect the innocence of youth, but at the same time it is highly hypocritical to put those expectations on them. I’ve been scrolling tk fics since I was 8 and have been lurking on tumblr since 12, and definitely took in some content that was more,,,, NSFW in nature. Now, whether that was the healthiest way to exist on the internet or not, I don’t know, but the point is that I did it, as have many other people on here. We did not all wait till we were 18 to make accounts on here. 

It is nearly impossible to exclude minors from the kink side of the community. It is both possible and realistic that people will develop a sexuality at an early age, usually around puberty. I don’t think you should be engaging in sex at that age per se, but you are most certainly not blind to the concept. Kinks also tend to develop early on in people, either subconscious or otherwise. For many children, they turn to the internet to try to understand these feelings as they don’t feel like they can confide in their peers. The reality of minors on the internet being exposed to sexual content is a given. You can put up as many DNI or DNF’s as you want, but at the end of the day there is nothing to stop them from lurking. People can also lie about their age just as easily. I’m not saying minors should be involved in the kink community, I’m just saying that, realistically, they are. Not to mention, the term “minor” goes all the way up to 17. So minor does not always mean 9-12 year old's, and that’s important to remember. 

If a content creator is not comfortable with something, don’t push it on them. Like I said, everyone has preferences and if they don’t have theirs listed there’s no real way to help accidentally suggesting a request/commission at some point that makes them uncomfy. The best you can do at that point is respect their opinions and try to think of a different request that they might be more comfortable with. There’s nothing wrong with you for asking it or them for not wanting to do it, so long as both of you are respectful about communicating these things to each other. 

Please, please, please do not be forcing tickling on real life people if they hate it. Fictional characters is one thing, but real people have real feelings and needs that can be seriously hurt if you push their boundaries. This does not apply to playful pokes, a gently tasing someone from behind as that all falls under general friendly rough-housing with friends. But, if a person tells you that they don’t like tickling, do not force it on them. Being tickled is an unbelievably vulnerable situation and it can be traumatizing if you are forced to endure it. Hence why so many adults hate it due to older siblings when they were younger. This falls in with the unspoken don’t be a dick to people rule. 

Recognize the validity of switches. Switches are versatile, yes (I would know, being one ;)), however, they they are not merely puppets to fill whichever role you need them to. If a switch is in a lee mood, do not try to force them into the opposite position, or vice versa. They have no obligation to fit specifically the mood you’re in; they’re people too.

Finally, the Tickle Community is varied! In general, we tend to lump everyone into one large group all centered around one interest—tickling. However, the community is comprised of a variety of different subsets that do not all fit together evenly. There’s people who enjoy it in a fictional sense, people who enjoy it IRL, people who like both, the SFW and NSFW sides of the community, and a million other distinctive groups. It is not fair to try to expect everyone to bend to your particular beliefs around tickling, as we are all just trying to enjoy it in our way. 

[smol-and-scared]

G/t Analysis: Gods Among Mice

Before I begin, I want to say two things:

This post is not meant to disparage anyone or question their value as people, all of this is exploration of linguistics, its cultural implications and potential narratives that could arise from them.

It is not a statement of fact or a claim I’m making.

Also… Let’s put aside the “Step on me Goddess” bullshit that has unfortunately plagued much of the g/t community’s DMs (It deserves to be called out, but not what this is about)

I will be using ‘God’ as a gender-neutral term here.

The God-like power of Size💪

Throughout history, Gods have often been depicted as being physically massive. This makes sense, as physical power is the most easily understood form of power. Likewise, a creature's size is one of the most universally recognized sign of one's physical power. So it's a good way to instantly depict the strength of a God. And these depictions have had a weird memetic side effect: The idea that 'massive size' makes a creature 'God-like'.

This does have a bit of psychological merit. If mountain-sized Giants actually existed, (without our arch-nemesis: 🔥the fucking square-cube law🔥) their full size and strength would be so hard for humans to understand that their power is basically arbitrary. At which point it becomes indistinguishable from Godhood. Also, our primitive lizard-brains evolved to fear much larger creatures. And fearing your gods is a major part of many religions.

Because of this there are dozens upon dozens of G/t fics, comics, etc; where the larger party is compared to or (metaphorically) referred to as, a God. In the case of actual giants and characters growing larger, this makes complete sense and is usually well-suited to the narrative.

But in my eternal quest for more angst™ I’ve recently started to question it’s use in Human/tiny stories. It feels kinda… lazy? I mean, not in the context of the story, many fantastic fics do it. But it just feels like it was copied over from the giant fics and never fully questioned or explored.

Okay, but what if: 🤏 smol.

Now obviously, all of this depends on the exact size difference, scenario and world-building of the story. But I still think it applies to a huge amount of fics who play up the Human/tiny size difference as ‘God-like’.

I personally think If a tiny views their resident human as a God-like figure (with all of the fear and awe that entails) …then they are optimistically delusional.

Because Gods are, in most cultures, special.

I have yet to see a fic where the Tiny is struck by the simple and harrowing realization that the humans they view as unstoppable, God-like entities are... in fact, painfully average.

It’s one thing to live in terror of the massive entity that could kill you in an instant. It’s an entirely further step to realize that there are dozens, if not hundreds of them between you and the nearest human-free environment.

And what if the Tiny realizes that their human isn’t even average? Imagine their horror when they realize that the person who is so big and powerful that they can barely even grasp it… is some 4’ 3” (~130cm) little stick? And the average human could snap ‘their human’ in half like a stale fuckin’ Cheeto.

Objectively, the Tiny knew this. They knew that the human they live with was small and weak compared to the others. But they never had an opportunity to actually understand it. And nothing gets that message across like seeing the 'God' of their tiny little world casually picked up and playfully carried on someone’s shoulder.

And It still gets worse...

Depending on the setting, the Tiny may not know or feel connected to any kind of civilization (A borrower colony, a scavenger camp, etc). This is especially true if Tinies are rare and/or oppressed.

And if that Tiny were to realize how average their 'God-like' human was? It would break them in the most pitiful way.

Because that ‘God’ isn’t a god. They’re average. They have a job. They have hobbies and friends. Things that this Tiny could never even dream of having. And that’s normal. That’s expected. They get to live, instead of just survive. Because they’re a person and that’s what people do.

And if their ‘God’ is just a person-

“Then…what does that make me?”

In conclusion:

I believe a character referring to someone as a God/Goddess implies that the speaker is a ‘person’ and they are looking at something greater. It’s ‘Normal’ looking up at ‘Godhood'.

But given the right story, plus a healthy amount of fear and awe. I think many Tinies would start to understand how small they are. And that they’ve been looking up at ‘Normal’ the whole time.

[nqmonarch]

Self Aware Thoughts

This is more world building thoughts so feel free to skip.

But like I'm so tired from doing cs shit today I didn't want to write any of the fics I was planning to write and instead I decided to just think.

Here's all of my favorite things that Self Aware AU would imply if it were in the real world (which obviously isn't possible but these are the logistics).

As I have learned through my very limited time as a computer science major, AIs probably won't have consciousness unless if we don't have unconsciousness. Much less lines of code in a game which aren't meant to be AI. Even though it's a really sick idea and I love when people write it like that. But let's say we still want the characters to become self aware and have it be slightly more possible and broaden the possibilities of Self Aware AU and speak the unspoken.

What is sort of implied, but never really said or sometimes thought, is that when characters become self aware it is no longer a game, even more so if the characters bring the player to their world or the player arrives in the game world. This means that their world and the player's world simultaneously exist, maybe in different universes or something. Which is pretty much what every AU has.

But wouldn't it be really cool if like the game characters invaded the player's world? I'm not talking accidentally teleported there but like straight up invaded, like bring their war ships and declare war on them? Or slowly infiltrate the world to get close to the player to either romance or kill them, whatever suits your boat.

Wouldn't it be interesting if one day Nanook (HSR) broke through the barrier of the universes in an attempt to destroy this one too? Just think of all the cool hijinks that could go on! And it's only because they became a game in your world, that they know your universe exists.

Now, this just brings up more questions. How are the characters (and thus the world) effected by the game? And how do we deal with the whole multiple players thing?

The latter I think is slightly easier to deal with, maybe each player has their own universe of the game, or for some reason the MC's game is a bit different, or Aha (HSR) just wanted to have some fun so they did this, or maybe there's a huge nefarious scheme that the player got wrapped into.

The first question is a bit more difficult and has larger implications for what the characters will feel toward the player. Does the player actually control the characters when they do in game combat is my poor boy Diluc (Genshin Impact) just suddenly teleported in front of Signora and forced to fight her? Well, that would probably upset some of the busier characters, it would make some of the characters would love fighting happier, and would scare off some of the other characters.

Overall in that scenario they become stronger, likely because the player builds them which should reinforce positive feelings about the player. But... they also have the chance to die and get hurt which they may resent the player for.

To which I suggest my ultra safe method of you don't actually put the characters in those scenarios because that's honestly horrifying. Imagine working you're working incredibly hard as the acting grandmaster of Mondstadt (Jean, Genshin) and suddenly you're expected to basically work overtime as the slave to this higher beings demands and face an immense amount of pressure, pain, and very scary beings.

Horrifying, personally I would hate the player. But it makes the player resemble a more deity like entity, so if that's the route you want to go then this may be the way of interacting with characters you're looking for.

So what can we use for these scenarios that aren't the characters? Well, we can say our actions for the most part don't effect them aside from giving them items or relics which they end up also receiving in their daily life and find their combat stats boosted yay! Maybe, when you're using them in your party they can hear your voice or see you, or get some hint to the fact they're in a video game. Overall, would probably leave a positive impression but some characters may straight up not notice because it's a bit more subtle.

Now, enter my current favorite option. Robots, doppelgangers, mannequins whatever you want to call them the player basically has a duplicate of the playable characters that acts as a robot, following their will. The robot copies and reflects the playable character's soul so buffs (items and stuff for the robot) are also given to the playable character. But since the robot can't really die or get hurt, the playable character remains unharmed.

On the other hand, if the playable character in canon gets harmed then unless if they're dead, it's fine since it relies on their soul, or state of mind, or consciousness even. If they die then they take refuge in your inventory, I talked about this briefly in another post I made speculating about dead characters and the self aware AU for HSR. Or if their mind becomes no longer their own or in the case of HSR mara-stricken then they can also take refuge there, imagine Blade (HSR) finding brief moments of peace in the times he's outside of his body and in this world of "the dead." They're sheltered there so the little robots remain functional.

It's even more subtle than the previous method I mentioned so let me explain why this is my current favorite.

It's partially just for the fear factor. Because it isn't actually that subtle considering you're moving your characters around exploring everywhere and everyone sees this strange gang of 4 robots that look eerily like celebrity figures following the Trailblazer or Traveler around. It's kind of funny but really horrifying especially for the playable characters.

Imagine going to go do the Fontaine quest and in the audience Furina sees herself stare back. Yeah.

Or in HSR going up to talk to Natasha as Natasha. Of course the robot's censor the character's real words so what's sent back to you are static options that always stay the same. You do not get to hear Seele curse out as she sees a robotic Bronya visit her, and instead are faced with the same dialogue options as always.

So I really love that take on how the player's actions affect self aware AU, and there's a lot of other ways you can probably do it too that I'm not mentioning but there's just so much untapped potential.

With not just accepting that when it's self aware the game isn't really a game anymore, and using that to your advantage. And also I wish more self aware AUs took advantage of how terrifying that would actually be, I want to see characters having mental breakdowns over this.

So that's the basic logistics of Self Aware AU I think that can make it really fun. But while writing this, I had another idea, because robots inspire me and for a moment I want to go back to that idea of how characters in a game can't have consciousness.

While characters in a game likely never will have consciousness because they aren't even programmed to learn what could come to have consciousness is AI. But that depends on what we define consciousness as. AIs take in data similar to the way humans take in experience through stories or life and then we both make decisions based off of those.

This can make some AIs very good at solving problems or making themselves appear a certain way, for example pretending to be self aware when in reality that's just them predicting what goes best next in a sentence given the context and what they're supposed to represent. Whether or not AIs can become conscious depends on whether or not humans are conscious and what we define consciousness as. Is it our moral code (which is also learned and AIs can replicate too) or emotions, is it the fact that we think and then from those thoughts choose what to say?

I don't know and probably never will. But, I'll say this if an AI is able to disobey its rules for something then I would guess that's consciousness. Now I'm not talking about a bug, because it is kind of impossible for machines to disobey rules for example you could write a statement like:

If (hurtHuman == true && protection == false){ then do new move or turn off}

To check if they're going to hurt a person and not out of self defense of another person and if they are then they have to do another action or power down. But chances are AI robots if we ever create them will probably have something that allows them to hurt other people if they need to protect their owner. And that idea of whether or not someone is a threat and if their owner needs to be protected will likely be decided on by data, and data can be biased. But if the AI finds a loophole where it can sort of argue that the owner needs to be protected because of X, when they don't really need to be protected, that's where I would guess it's close to consciousness.

Anyway all of that yapping about stuff I don't know too much about and for what?

I think a Self Aware AU set in the future where the characters consciousness (code) are put into robots so people can order their favorite characters and spend time with them would be really cool. And then we can make them conscious and it's kind of like Self Aware AU, they're not really in a game but they're the character and I think it's a super cool concept.

Robot boyfriend/girlfriend/partner for the win!!! Honestly may be something I end up exploring later on in the future, not sure if it'd classify as a self aware AU, probably not, but I think it was relevant to the topic because I was talking about robots earlier.

Anyway this was a lot of me yapping, if you read this far I'm pretty surprised because this is more so to get my thoughts out on paper so that way when I write self aware AUs I can add cool twists or introduce new concepts because there's a lot of potential in these and I think they're super fun :) Yay!

[luminouslywriting]

Chapter 5 (Mastermind)—MOTA Fic

A/N: No one asked for Bucky's opinion on things, but here we are anyways haha. That being said, I hope you enjoy the developing (kind of) friendship that they have going on! As always, let me know what you think!

Surprise inspections left the men more annoyed and frazzled than they had already been previously.  Still, Ruth was surprised with the men and the way that they put up with Huglin’s inspection.  Huglin had certainly been expecting more men to receive citations rather than just one very late crew, but Ruth supposed that was because he was looking to be a hardass.  

In truth, Ruth considered these men to be very lucky, all things considered.  They had an Air Executive who genuinely wanted them to succeed and also rewarded their obedience and successes as it came.  If Huglin had been their Air Executive, they would have never left the ground.  

Be that as it may, Huglin was good at his actual job, which was being a Commanding Officer and Colonel on Thorpe Abbotts.  In the following days, Ruth found herself trying and failing yet again to write a letter to her family members.  

Quite frankly, she didn’t feel she had much to say in the way of the truth and she didn’t particularly love writing lies to her family members to reassure them.  Writing to Jonah and John was easy—they alone knew of her deployment with the JAG-Corp, but that was because she felt it necessary where she could end up in some sort of court case that they could hear of.  

My dear brother Jonah, 

I hope this letter reaches you in good health. I know things haven’t been great for you as of late and you haven’t received much correspondence from the others.  I’ve heard that John is doing well in the Navy and isn’t far from the coast of England. 

Stay dry and try to keep yourself cool out there.  I want you to take care of yourself and your men.  You and I, we’re a little too self-sacrificial at times.  So I’m asking you not to be.  Take care of yourself.  You’re my brother and I pray every day that you’re kept safe.  

As for myself, I asked for a transfer and have found it to be—well, interesting.  It’s certainly not where I used to be and to be quite honest, I had more friends there than I have here.  I think that’s part of the reason why I didn’t want to be there anymore.  War isn’t a time for friends, as you well know.  And if I’m going to do my part, then I need to stay focused. That being said, I also broke things off in an effort to keep my head up.  I’m sure you’re probably shaking your head at that, considering in your last letter you referred to me as ‘Old Maid Ruthie’ (which I found very rude, for the record).  But I felt like I had to do it. 

I miss you most days.  I’m on my own here, completely and totally.  It’s a strange thing, coming from home and being so surrounded by family at all times and then to be totally and completely alone.  I’m sure you feel the same.  So know that I’m with you, wherever you are.  And may the angels guide you safely back home.  

All my love, 

Ruthie 

For a long moment, all Ruth could do was stare at the letter that she had penned out.  Before Pearl Harbor, all Ruth could possibly think about was getting out of her parent’s home and getting some space and quiet from her family.  With seven kids, all of whom had larger than life personalities and ideas, it was hard to feel like an actual human being at times.  Especially since she was always helping with the younger kids and constantly on display from her parents, who just wanted her to settle down, of all things. 

But now?  Now Ruth wasn’t so certain she should have been so hasty to want to leave.  It was crushingly and damningly lonely, being here on another continent all by herself.  Granted, she had enjoyed the freedom that it had provided her.  But never staying in one place long enough to make meaningful connections was hard . 

Contrary to popular belief, Ruth actually did like people.  If she didn’t, she never would have become a lawyer in the first place. 

People were so complicated and complex though.  It was maddening, if you thought about it long enough.  No one ever stuck by their moral compass and people tended to change just when you thought you could depend on them.  It was the sole reason why she was needed . And Ruth liked to feel needed.  Like to feel as though people were depending on her, like to feel as though she was contributing something valuable to the world. 

“You know, you’re always writing something, but I can’t tell if you’re happy about it or miffed,” Helen said in a sing-song tone, catching Ruth’s attention.  

“An in-between?” Ruth glanced from her spot on her bed over at Helen, who was boredly flipping through an old magazine.  “Writing to my family is a…complicated matter.” 

“Ain’t that the truth!” Helen agreed, shaking her head.  “Unless you’re Tatty, of course.” 

Tatty gave a snort from her own bunk, laser-focused on adjusting the nail polish on one of her nails that had chipped.  “You say that like it’s a bad thing.” 

“It’s not!” Helen reassured.  “You just like writing your family.” 

“Siblings?” Ruth questioned. 

Tatty’s look of concentration shifted as her tongue poked out of her mouth in annoyance.  The nail brush had just painted over the skin on the edges of her nail.  “All girls for my dad, I’m afraid.  We all write to each other every week.” 

“That’s sweet,” Ruth said.  “I think I’d die if I had all sisters.  What about you, Helen?” 

“A brother, but we’re not very close,” Helen gave a shrug.  “How many siblings do you have, Ruthie?” 

“Six.  Three sisters, three brothers.  I prefer my brothers since they’re not as concerned about my life-decisions as my sisters are,” Ruth nearly snorted.  

“Well that’s sweet that they care!” Helen insisted.  

“Right,” Ruth replied in a light sarcastic tone.  “It’s sweet when you’re consistently bothered about marrying before your womb dries up and dies of old age.” 

“You can’t be that much older than us,” Tatty gave a giant roll of her eyes, blowing to speed up the drying process of her nails. 

“25.” 

Helen snorted.  “That’s not old at all!  Ugh, besides,” she continued, a grin slipping onto her face. “It’s kinda fun being over here and getting to know so many men!” 

“Sure, getting to know them is one thing,” Tatty shook her head. 

“But falling in love sounds like a damn fool’s errand,” Ruth agreed.  

“You two are such cynics,” Helen declared. 

“I prefer the term realistic,” Ruth corrected, nudging Helen with her foot.  “But if you find a nice man, I’ll certainly attempt to live vicariously through you.” 

“Noted.” 

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

Ruth was half-convinced she was never going to actually see the Hundredth fly an actual mission—mostly due to the fact that the month of June consisted of them training every day rather than actually going out.  She supposed it was a necessary feat, given the fact that they likely needed to memorize the route home and ensure that they knew how Huglin preferred missions to be run.  Still, Ruth wasn’t bored by any means.  Knowing her law-background, Huglin was also using her as a legal consultant on missions, specifically in regards to war crimes and what was considered allowable.  

The past three days though?  Ruth had been busy in consultations over the upcoming bombing of Bremen. It wasn’t unheard of for her to consult back in Aldbourne for some of the missions beyond the paratroopers.  

But she had never been so actively involved in helping make plans for something such as this.  It required a careful study of the landscape, consulting with the Group Navigator and pulling in various intelligence officers to consult as they discussed the legality of the target that they were hitting. 

Bremen was a long-shot and they all knew it.  It was going to be incredibly difficult to get that far inland into Germany without heavy casualties and heavy resistance on the side of the Germans.  Ruth wasn’t sure it was a good idea to begin with—maybe if the Allied Forces had more land that they were occupying, she could see that it was a good idea.  But as of right now, it seemed like a suicide run if she had ever heard of one. 

She almost found it a little cruel, the way that they prepared a special breakfast for the men.  She knew it was likely going to be the last meal for several of the men.  But that didn’t stop her from feeling like it was a cruel thing to do, given the fact that they’d be up in the air in a few hours and food would be the last thing on their minds then.  

Once, back when she was in school, Ruth had attended and been able to sit in on a particular case for an inmate on Death Row.  He had claimed that he was innocent and the lawyer she was shadowing had met with him no less than five times before his day had arrived.  Ruth had talked kindly with the man for a moment—and he had mentioned that the food on Death Row was always something good.  

It seemed a strange thing then.  Now it just seemed cruel and made too much sense to her. 

Somehow, and she wasn’t quite sure how, except for maybe her current state of mental exhaustion clearly being the prevalent force in her mind, Ruth had been talked into watching Meatball for the day.  

As soon as the men had taken off, Ruth had decided to go on a run.  Running had always been a safe-space for her, something that helped her focus and clear her head, and it especially helped with anxious feelings.  And considering that the men had decided against her advice to not bomb Bremen—using her literally as a consult—Ruth was anxious about the state of affairs that this would leave everyone in. 

There was also the fact that Colonel Huglin was going up with his men.  She couldn’t say that she found him to be particularly likable, but the fact that he was flying with the men said a lot about him.  

Meatball barked as he ran alongside her and a warm summer breeze ripped through the treeline as Ruth turned the corner.  Her lungs burned and her legs pumped, muscles beginning to stretch in a way that they hadn’t in a long time.  She took in everything as she ran—the trees, the barracks, the runway, the sun beginning to rise—and then she let everything else out that was trapped inside. 

I’m just a woman who no one listens to—mother was right, a female lawyer won’t be respected unless I make them respect me. 

Winters and his stupidly kind way of telling her that she was a wall of stone—well damn him, she had painstakingly and carefully made the wall of stone herself and she’d be damned before she let anyone take it down without her permission.  Even a man as kind and noble as he was—it was not enough to be those things.  She wasn’t sure anyone would be enough for that. 

Everything she did was intentional and she was a credit to her profession.  If she wanted something, then she’d make it happen.  

The thoughts ate away at her like some sort of weed growing in her chest.  Before she could so much as scowl at her own brain, her gaze had caught onto someone pacing back and forth between the barracks.  Ruth couldn’t help the fact that she stopped short—gaze scrutinizing the situation ahead of her. 

Air Executive Bucky Egan was going back and forth, mumbling something under his breath and shaking his head.  She wondered how long he had been like that and if it had been the entire time that the men had been gone.  She didn’t get a chance to wonder long.  Meatball ran straight up to Bucky Egan and began nuzzling at his hand, nearly scaring the man half out of his wits at the sudden sight of Ruth and Meatball. 

Oh Ruth was sorely going to regret this, she just knew it.  “Are you just pacing back and forth?” Ruth blurted, narrowing her gaze. 

He just let out a tired sigh.  “Can we not do this right now, Sharpe?” 

She stared at him for a long moment before just shaking her head at him.  “No.” 

“No?” Bucky choked out in surprise. 

“No,” Ruth repeated again.  She tilted her head at him.  “I’m probably going to hate myself for this—and this is not my way of trying to get close to you,” she emphasized the latter portion.  “But you should come running with me.” 

“Running?” Bucky crinkled his face in distaste.  “I’d rather—” 

“Drink yourself into a stupor?  That would be an infraction for you and seeing as how you already are on thin ice with Huglin, I don’t think you should risk that,” Ruth gave a sickly sweet smile at him.  “So stop spiraling about your men and focus on something else.” 

Bucky just stared at the ground for a long moment, hands firmly on his hips as he considered the ultimatum.  “Damnit, you really are just annoying as hell , you know that?” 

“So I’ve been told.” 

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

Bucky didn’t like the fact that it took actual effort to keep up with Lieutenant Ruth Sharpe.  She was damn fast and had barely spared him a glance since starting this little running spree of theirs.  Truth be told, he wasn’t entirely sure what to make of the woman. 

She said she didn’t want to make friends with anyone, but then extended an olive branch when he was clearly stressed out.  She gave the men a warning about the surprise inspection and she was clearly on good enough terms with Benny DeMarco to be watching his beloved dog, Meatball.  But then she was constantly threatening everyone and making it really hard to find any sort of downtime enjoyable. 

When the two of them finally came to a stop, lightly breathing and standing on the runway as the sun was finally higher up in the sky, Bucky could barely form the words.  He was by no means out of shape, but Ruth was a workhorse when it came to running. 

“How—how do you do this for fun?” Bucky questioned. 

Ruth piqued a brow.  “Fun?  No, no, when I want to have fun, I go dancing or find myself a band to play with.  Running, I do that out of spite.” 

He blinked once, then twice. “What?” 

She shifted her weight, stretching her arms out.  “Back in school, there were a bunch of boys who kept on bragging about how fast they were and how no girls could beat their records.  I got tired of hearing them constantly talk about themselves so I tried out for track, made the team, and then beat the state record for the boys.” 

Bucky almost laughed except he was certain that she would have had half a mind to punch him.  “Spite is your motivation?” 

“When it comes to men, yes.” 

“You know what I think?” 

“No, but I’m sure you’re going to tell me,” Ruth replied dryly. 

“I think you need to get laid.  Like—badly,” Bucky just gestured at all of her, shaking his head.  “Because all of this,” he waved his hand at her.  “Cannot be good for your health.” 

“Interesting take,” Ruth didn’t blink. “Counter-offer?  I’ll get laid when you get sober.” 

“Ouch.  But that’s a fair point, I guess.  Now why the hell did you want me to go running?  It’s hot and—” 

Ruth just gestured back at the tower.  “Because your boys are due back within the hour.  By my calculations, you have just enough time to clean yourself up and be ready for them to show up.  You’re not drunk and that means you can actually attend to the needs of your men.  Consider it a gift to the Hundredth.” 

He could only blink as she took off running again—and he was left there standing with a slightly ajar jaw.  “Manipulative and rude and cares about the men…what a bunch of bullshit lawyerly—” 

[sevenmerrymagpies]

I swear to god, I have not been this inspired by a fandom in so long. Instead of getting a few fics out of my system, the plot bunnies just breed.

My Stranger Things WIPs that are at least partially published: Steve's No Good, Terrible, Kinda Perfect Senior Year - Steddie Steve has powers AU. Last chapter and probable sequels. At least this one doesn't end on a cliffhanger.

Like Nostradamus with a Magic Eight Ball - Steddie, Eddie is 10/has powers AU. Last story in the trilogy. Mash up of season 3 and 4.

Everything I'll Ever Do I'll Do With You - Platonic Stobin become friends in season 1 AU. Last story in the trilogy. I've got a few bullet points and some vibes.

Robin and Mr. Wolf - Platonic Stobin, Steve is a werewolf. Generally more oneshots. I've got a few more planned including a potential cryptid road trip set after season 4 (Eddie may or may not be included IDK). One oneshot is nearly done.

The ones just hanging out in my WIP folder: One Week - Mrs. Hagan takes Steve home after his concussion at the end of season 2. Tommy & Carol & Steve feels. I'm nearly done with the first draft. [ETA: Posted]

Dragon Eddie - pre-HellcheerScoops, was part of a larger story that I'm not going to end up writing - I want to turn the actual premise into a professional novel and not fic - but there are a few scenes set during season 4 that I want to turn into a one shot. The rough is done, just needs to be edited.

Byers Dog in the Upside Down - What happened to the Byers dog from season 1? Did he get pulled into the Upside Down and turned into a good boy/monster? Does that monster befriend Eddie/Kas? Do they make it out of the Upside Down? Technically would be Steddie. All told from the dogs POV. All ridiculous. Nothing written expect for some bullet points. I could easily see this being a collection of short oneshots.

Changeling Robin - Robin is a changeling and doesn't know it. The Russians drugging her doesn't go well (for the Russians). No idea where it would go expect that Stobin would be telepathically linked. Potentially monstrous Steve too, not sure. I have a few thousand words written.

Ideas that have nothing else but a will to live: HellcheerScoops with accidentally a Dad Steve. This wouldn't mean Chrissy getting pregnant. It would be more like they all start hooking up before season 4, Chrissy and Eddie survive Vecna, in the aftermath Steve finds out he's a Dad. How can be be a parent and love two people at once? How does this messy stuff work now that the world is saved? Nothing more than a desire for more HellcheerScoops and Dad!Steve vibes.

10 years in the future fic, someone uncovers the Upside Down coverup. Suddenly everyone's pictures are on the front page of the NYT as child soldiers and heroes who saved the world from another dimension. How do people deal with the fallout now that the 24 hour news cycle is starting up? Second chances Steddie.

[gendervapor14]

I've read a lot of your stories (and liked them a lot) so I'm wondering how you plan out longer fics? I feel like I want to add to the Corazon pile but I don't really know where to start

anon.... [steps closer and kisses you on the head] thank you. i had an entire work shift to think about this and i still haven't come up with a clear answer 😅 but i will certainly offer all the help and advice i can!!

starting is my favorite part!! you need some sort of idea. doesn't have to be anything crazy. (i'm sure you have plenty!) for instance, the idea that inspired me to write 01746 was "i want rosinante to have a proper backstory." for two fights for freedom, the idea was "i want cora and bell-mere to live and have a nice family together". i think vaguer ideas are more likely to lead to larger stories, but as i'm sure you've seen, i tend to write a lot (a decent portion of my multichaps were supposed to be oneshots) but regardless of length, every good story starts with the desire to put an idea out there, and i get the feeling you've got that part covered!

in terms of physically writing, this is where things get a little tricky. bigger stories tend to involve planning. personally, i'm a pantser. my natural writing process involves no planning. nowadays i do a ton of planning, but that's because i've taken on a ton of hours at work, so i don't have the time to sit around and experiment with my writing anymore. if i want a story to go a certain direction, i need to have some sort of guideline to keep me on track with time. so consider how much free time you have. if you have a lot, you might not have to worry too much about outlining or making mistakes, because you'll have plenty of time to fool around and fix things.

(also worth noting it IS just fanfiction, and the post button is not setting your words in stone. i've edited plenty of things after posting, made some major edits too! that's always okay. it's just fanfiction :) i've never had a reader get upset about me tweaking previous chapters.)

in terms of guidelines or no guidelines, it depends on you and your story! like i said, i write by the seat of my pants, so guidelines tend to confuse me. maybe you're similar. or maybe you LOVE a guideline! outlines are good because they're flexible. even if it's a simple breakdown of some basic plot points you think would be neat. for two fights for freedom, i have an outline that lists every chapter and every scene within every chapter. pretty detailed. took a long time to make it though, and i'm constantly tweaking it. for 01746, i used a physical whiteboard with random notes and diagrams, but there wasn't any structural planning until probably the last ten chapters. with 01746, canon provided a lot of substance for me, where with two fights for freedom, almost the entire story is my own, extremely canon divergent, so it's more weight for me to bear. your need for an outline or notes may depend on how much weight you can carry to make the story cohesive.

NOW don't let any of that scare you!! usually when i begin a big multichap, i don't start with an outline. i just write something. i try my idea out, if that makes sense. sometimes what i start writing becomes chapter one, or maybe it'll become part of the summary, or maybe it'll be the plot twist in chapter seventy-two. in the beginning, it doesn't matter what comes out of your hands. get cozy with your idea and let it fill you with excitement and inspiration. you can worry about organization afterwards.

sorry if this was a bit indecipherable or unclear 😅 with every story i write, i try something new! fanfic writing for me is a great way to hone my skills and experiment, so i don't have a scientific method quite yet. i just try to learn about myself as much as possible and have fun along the way! and i hope you're able to do the same!!

i'm around if you ever need more help! you can always DM or shoot me another ask, i don't mind at all! i really flung a lot of words at you here so feel free to narrow me down to a more specific concern whenever. i wish you great luck on your projects 🍀 this world always needs more added to the cora pile ♥ and feel free to hmu if you do end up posting something!! i'd love to check it out 👀

[karahalloway]

🖋️In Progress ✅Completed 📚 Multi-Book Series 📖 Standalone Series📄Mini-Series🥇One Shot ♾️Open-Ended

Book 1 - (Un)Common Attraction 📚✅

Harper Gale - a small-town girl from Montana - takes a leap of faith and jets off to Cordonia to join Prince Christian's social season. But does she actually want to become the queen of a small European country? Or will her heart have other ideas? An AU take of TRR1 featuring my OTP - Harper & Drake.

Book 2 - (Less Than) Noble Intentions 📚🖋️

The social season may be over, but Harper Gale's problems are just beginning. With everyone at court a potential suspect, can she and Drake survive the engagement tour and get to the bottom of the plot against her and clear her name? An AU take of TRR2 featuring my OTP - Harper & Drake.

These stories relate to, or otherwise spin off of (Un)Common Attraction and (Less Than) Noble Intentions, but can still be read independently as standalones.

Lone Star State 📖[Coming Soon!]

A prequel series to (Un)Common Attraction detailing Drake’s escapades at the Walker Ranch in Texas during his final year of university.

Polo! 🥇✅

Drake gets roped into playing a charity polo match when one of the other team members doesn’t show for the game… What can possibly go wrong? One-shot set before the start of (Un)Common Attraction.

Thanksgiving 📄🖋️

Harper and Drake fly to Bozeman, MT to spend their first Thanksgiving together with Harper’s family. Mini-series that takes place after the events of (Less Than) Noble Intentions.

Uncharted: Tales from the Gypsea 📄♾️

A collection of standalone one-shots chronicling Harper and Drake’s honeymoon adventures around the Mediterranean. Set after the events of (Less Than) Noble Intentions.

Sleepless in New York 📖✅

What if Drake met Harper on the first night of Prince Christian's New York bachelor party? A standalone AU written from Drake’s POV.

These standalone one-shots and mini-series are set in various AUs and can be read completely independently of my main series.

A Leviathan Surprise 🥇✅

Maxwell unveils a larger-than-life surprise for Bertrand’s 30th birthday. A Maxwell Beaumont Appreciation Week 2023 one-shot.

A (Slightly Awkward) Reunion 🥇✅

After Bertrand discovers that he has a son, he works up the courage to see Savannah. But an important conversation is very rudely interrupted… A Smut-Tember 2021 one-shot.

A Winged Wish 🥇✅

On a special December night in the lead-up to Christmas, Harper has a tough choice to make... One-shot written for 2021 Choices Twelve Days of Fictmas.

Camping Was Intense 📄✅

Harper organises (another) surprise birthday party for Drake that doesn’t end up going as planned… Two-parter written for Drake’s Birthday Bash 2021.

Morally Grey 📄🖋️

Harper's jewelry heist on the night of the Beaumont Bash goes wrong... TRR and Mission:Impossible II mash-up (that turned into a mini-series) written for @choicesprompts’ Rewrite Challenge.

The Highwayman 📄✅

On one dark, windswept night, a highwayman's luck runs out... My submission for @choicesprompts' Song Rewrite Challenge that turned into a mini-series.

Various collabs and round robins I have taken part in over the years. These are also independent of any of my main series, and do not feature my OTP.

Mardi Gras Madness 📖✅

The TRR lads celebrate Maxwell’s 21st birthday in New Orleans during Mardi Gras. What could possibly go wrong? Collaborative project written in tandem with three other writers.

One Step Ahead 📖✅

Nothing is as it seems in this fast-paced thriller. A really fun round robin collaboration I participated in with several other TRR fic writers here on Tumblr in 2022.

One Night In Cordonia 📖✅

It’s night of the Beaumont Bash, and there’s more than one surprise in store for the unsuspecting guests! Another fun round robin collaboration hosted by @choicesprompts in 2023.

Sex Bomb 🥇✅ It's the night of Leo's coronation, but the young prince has bigger worries. One-shot follow-up to my submission for One Night in Cordonia written for Smut-tember 2023.

Isle of Misfits 📖✅

Bertrand starts a PR firm… for celebrities. What can possibly go wrong? A cross-fandom round robin hosted by @choicesprompts in 2024.

Take a peek inside Harper & Drake’s Scrapbook for OTP Asks, Moodboards, Edits and other fun stuff!

[box-dwelling]

So I wanted to make a pinned post compiling every post I've made that I have any intent at all to do anything with as a fan work.

Most of these are just drafts currently but as stuff gets released I'll edit this post and reblog with the news.

This post is long so the info will be under the cut but as a contents:

Franmaya Narumitsu Kids Au

Turnabout Orca

Ace Attorney DnD

Narumitsu Enjoying Art

Trucy V Kristoph

PTA Narumitsu

No Children Krisnix

Narumitsu Who Wait Too Long

Full Breakdown of My Plan For a Fic EU:

-Untitled Disbarment -Untiled Turnabout Trump Missing scenesand Fallout -Untitled Hell -Turnabout PTA -A Stray Turnabout -Turnabout Orca -A Christmas Turnabout -Untitled DnD -Turnabout Date -A Family Turnabout -The Perfect Wedding Turnabout -2 Bonus Fics

FranMaya Narumitsu Kids Au

Original post - full AU breakdown. Warning it's long

Ask about the Richards relationship to his sisters

Plan:

I'd love to do some fun comics. Maybe a fic but it would be a bitch to format as such. May become a series of drabbles instead

Current status:

No words on the page for fics. Ideas planned for comic but I'm really not happy with my art style at the moment and struggling to get someone drawn that I don't instantly hate and want to restart. Happy to take ideas to expand on this AU with questions

Turnabout Orca

Original post - Concept Breakdown

Additional post - Additional discussion of concept

Fic link

Plan:

Fic. A part of my larger series I have planned that I don't talk about that much here but separate enough to be posted on its own before the rest

Current Status:

Chapter 1 published. Chapter 2 needs edits but could honestly be posted whenever. I just keep procrastinating. I had ideas for a chapter 3 when playing this case but don't remember what it was so I'd need to replay the case.

Ace Attorney DnD

Original post - Character role breakdown

Character sheets

Plan:

A spin off midquel of a fic within my extended fic universe

Current status:

Ugh. So. I have a Klapollo Christmas fic within the previously mentioned extended fic series. There are 4 fics I need to post first or else it will make no sense.

The fic itself has a good amount written but is not finished but I probably could write the remaining scenes pretty easily. I would love to post this at Christmas but erm. We'll see.

I could cut down the previous references and just have it all be out of order as I post.

The first fic is a good good way done.The second is short sweet and basically done. The forth is a short sweet fluff fic that's not got too much written yet but should be easy enough to bang out. The third one is a complete god damn shitshow that I'm really unhappy with at the moment. I want to rearrange a tone of stuff before I post it. There's some stuff in there I adore. Then there's other stuff I hate and want to cut out immediately but can't because the stuff I like its currently dependant on it. It's got no coherent structure. There's a million things I want to cover in it but not over riding theme. A lot of the later stuff hinges on events in this one so I can't just completely kill it. It's overstuffed and just a complete Trainwreck. I recognize that what I post doesn't have to be good and this is a fan space but I genuinely don't want to put this out there in this state. Like to explain what a state it's in its currently dealing with a mirror to FmT, sibling reveal, setting up Klapollo, Manfred's execution, Narumitsu proposal, another thing on this list, AJ fallout, and Edgeworth's promotion and very very little connective tissue between these concepts.

This is relevent because the DND fic is kind of a midquel to said Christmas fic so need to come out after it.

Idk guys Christmas sounds a little too optimistic. I may post the Christmas fic very very late.

Narumitsu Enjoying Art

Original post - concept breakdown

Plan

Included in a part of one of the fics in the extended fic universe

Current status

Hey so remember what I just said about the third fic having a planned segment for another point in this list. Suprise guess which one it was. This one. So yeah development hell. I've not even written that part yet because even opening that doc demoralises me. Will it be in the end product? I literally have no fucking clue. It's linked in with the FmT mirror segment which is the most likely to get the axe and also the hardest to fucking cut so just ugh.

Trucy V Kristoph

Original post - beginnings of concept

Extended post on this idea - concept breakdown

Plan:

Finally, its own thing. A multi chapter canon divergence fic

Current status:

Honestly doing pretty well. I've got like 3 chapters written but am struggling to know where to go from where I am. Kind of on hiatus but I could also just post what I have so far and then have it be a more public hiatus.

PTA Narumitsu

Original post - concept discussion

Plan

Fic. Similar to Turnabout Orca in that it fits within the canon of the extended fic universe and may get plonked in there as a series but works as a stand alone

Current status:

One scene written. I have ideas but it's a hard one to get motivated to write. I love the concept but it's just not the document I instinctively open up.

No Children Krisnix

Original post- lyric by lyric scene description

Link to homeforall's own version of said idea

Plan

Animatic

Current status

I have done a handful of scenes but I'm having the same issue I was with the Au comic. I just need my art to be a bit better to feel comfortable.

Narumitsu Who Wait Too Long

Proper concept breakdown

Related prior post

Plan:

It's own fic as its own thing but also a general feeling and concept I try to bring in whenever I write 7yg stuff

Current status:

A brief scene written as its own thing though I may change it to go a different way because I have being think about it more. Also a theme I have in the first of the extended fic universe stories

Aforementioned extended fic universe

Ok so this one is more complicated because I don't really have posts for it but I did want to break it down for me and for future reference.

1: Untitled: Disbarment

Concept:

Begins with some small stuff during the trilogy, Choosing death, forbbien hospital scene and what not but is primarily about Phoenix's disbarment. Narumitsu fic mainly but there's a good deal of Franmaya and also some deeply toxic Krisnix.

Status:

A lot written but missing a lot of connective tissue and I want to put in some fluff padding at points. Also there's probably a smut scene or two that I want to write but have been putting off.

2: Untitled- Turnabout Trump Missing Scenes and Fallout

Concept:

Kind of tieing some loose ends from the last fic with some headcaons I have about this case in particular. Short. Probably a one shot. Could be an epilogue to the previous but I think will be worth publishing as its own thing.

Status:

Basically done. Need to be published in order.

3: Untitled Hell

Concept:

After Turnabout succession Phoenix goes to Europe with Edgeworth and Trucy and Apollo stay behind to take a case. When Apollo is writing up his journal notes from the Misham Trial they look through Phoenix's paper work to clear up some loose ends and find out a lot they didn't know. Meanwhile stuff gets more and more out of hand in Europe

Status:

Already said. Absolute hell.

4: Turnabout PTA

Concept:

When Edgeworth gets promoted to Chief Procecutor, Phoenix takes him to the PTA to show off. Chaos ensues

Status:

Already said. This and turnabout Orca are the only ons before the Christmas Turnabout that doesn't have to be posted before it. This one could probably come out on its own but it's best after the 3rd fic

5: A Stray turnabout

Concept:

Short sweet fluff fic. Athena meets her Boss's fiance. Edgeworth worried about Trucy's grades. Phoenix adopts a stray puppy. Apollo gets to subject the agency to one of his special interests

Status:

Like half written and the other half is inmy brain. It's just not been a priority.

6: Turnabout Orca

Concept:

Turnabout reclaimed from Edgeworth's perspective

Status:

Already said. Will be posted when it's posted.

7: A Christmas Turnabout

Concept:

Just after the end of dual destinies, Apollo invites Klavier to the Wright-Edgeworth Christmas party given that his previous plus one is now dead. It's the obligatory Klavier joins the found family and gets "forgiven" (read: realised he was never blamed I'm the first place) for Phoenix's disbarment fic that I always eat up. Also dealing with the fallout of DD and Clays death and Klavier's fallout after AJ. Big ensemble cast. Angst and fluff.

Status:

Solid half way done

7.5 Untitled DnD

Concept:

Some for the cast are bored and unable to sleep on Christmas Eve so Trucy runs a Christmas one shot for their DnD party.

The idea for this was that all the family members have a DnD character but it's kind of expected that not everyone can always make it. So it's an induction for Klavier and Simon into the fold by making their characters and joining in. The players for this fic are Klavier, Apollo, Simon, Athena, Kay, Pearl and Sebastian. Maya, Phoenix, Ema and Edgeworth all also have characters but aren't present for the game for reasons that make sense in context.

Status:

Already said

8: Turnabout Date

Concept:

A direct sequel to A Christmas Turnabout taking place a day or so after that one leaves off. Klavier has asked Apollo on a dated to an intimidatingly fancy restaurant.

Meanwhile as the anniversary of DL6 draws closer Edgeworth ends up giving up and giving the prosecutors office a holiday break until the New Year. In turn Phoenix gives the WAA the time off too given the stress of the last week. Both offices decide to help their respective idiot in love prepare for the date. Though the weird girls of Maya and Kay end up on the opposite of their usual sides as Phoenix needs requests the aid of everyone's favourite great thief and Maya get caught up in the chaos after an attempt to seduce her girlfriend.

Status:

About a third written. I'm really really fond of this one though.

9: A Family Turnabout

Concept:

A pair of ghosts from Phoenix's past turn up on the agency door all related to Athena's most recent case. A poisoning in a tea shop that she herself witnessed.

Tensions are high as more than one Wright family member's life hang in the balance. As Phoenix's mental state grows slowly more unstable, his relationship with his daughter is put to the test.

While Athena and Apollo butt heads about how much their powers are to be trusted and ask they begin to learn more and more about the mysterious group the victim and defendant belong to, Phoenix's protegee are forced to ask serious questions about what justice really means and if the WAA's tactics in court are really moral and safe.

Status:

Hey idk if you can tell. This is my favourite. If I could just post this and focus on it I would. Unfortunately it needs a lot of fucking context. Stuff that's fine to just be explained to a reader who knows they can learn more in other available fics but will sound insane if not. How much is written. A whole lot. The stuff that's missing is the case fic stuff but I know exactly what I'm doing with that now so it just needs to be properly written out. There's probably a few posts I could have linked to put this bad boy on the mentioned works in progress section but that would probably spoil it a bit and I don't want to do that.

10: A Perfect wedding Turnabout

Concept:

Narumitsu wedding. Big old ensemble piece. Stuff will get crazy but I don't want to spoil anything. But those two could never have a normal wedding come on.

Status:

This was like the 3rd fic is started writing and well. It shows. I don't love how a lot of it reads. I want to rewrite a tone. But there is a lot already on the page. The other 2 I wrote this early were a very early draft of the first fic which has been revised enough to be fixed and then the 3rd fic which is the bane of my existence. I like the plot concept I have. But I worry about the prose. When I wrote this is had been a long ass while since I'd tried to write a big cast like this and it fucking shows. Also just the character voice is off. It's kind of expositiony. It's not as unsalvageable as 3 it's just not there yet.

2 Bonus fics

Status:

Completely unwritten

Concept:

I kind of want to do a narumitsu fluff fic of them buying a house together and putting up furniture after 3 and I wouldn't mind a reunion faraskye fic before 3. But the benefit of me having written nothing and having planned nothing is that they have no vital link to the others so they can just be punished whenever and I'll say where they are in the timeline.

[laufire]

writing woes: may

in general

I decided that this month I needed take a break from my current stories and set those aside for a bit. Instead, I did quite a bit of outlining for longer, future (hopefully mid-long term) projects, often accompanied by writing a bit of them as well. I haven't decided yet but I might end up sharing some excerpts, beginning this month, as part of WIP Wednesday or what have you. Just Because.

original fiction

I mostly did some outlining for "The Leech of Wonderland" (a dark spin on historical and paranormal romance told in epistolary form), and for "Chasing Fanny" (toxic yuri love triangle between a private dick with some medium talents, the femme fatale who once seduced her and betrayed her, and a sob sister with journalistic aspirations who becomes interested in their stories, set in the late 30s). I intend for them to be, respectively, my July Camp Nano and my NaNoWriMo projects. They both used to belong to a larger universe, but I decided they worked best as independent stories. Ideally I'd want to keep them short-ish, but I fear the first one might get away from me if I'm not careful lol.

I also pondered a lot over "The Redstart's Ledger", a longer original series. It tells the story of Latoya and her band of misfits, who I've mentioned before. I've decided the first installment will be my 2025 project, once I'm done with the first draft of "Underground Elysium" (whose first act is done! Now the other four, starting this month).

fanfic

I was kind of all over the place on this front lol. I made a lot of additions to my outline files for plenty of WIPs, mainly the Jason Survives AU series, but also my Damibats future fic, the Jaytim ghost story, and the Jason & Dick Prison Break not-an-AU.

I also wrote scenes here and there for the amnesiac!Jason WIP and even had the sudden impulse to touch some old, semi abandoned projects (one about Natasha Stark, the genderswapped version of Tony Stark from Earth-3490; another about the Wayward Sisters, mainly focused on Claire and Bela; and at last, my vampire!John Silver idea). It was fun to switch things up.

For this month... I have a few complications this upcoming week in my personal life, so I'm going to keep it lowkey by focusing on the kissing prompts in my inbox. After that, business as usual: the young justice cartoon wip, Underground Elysium's next act, and maybe one wild-card if I have the time.

[delicatenightfury]

Star of the Mountain Chapter 41

Warnings: fluff, angst, canon-level violence, spoilers for the Hobbit films

Pairing: OC x Thorin Oakenshield

Beta'd By: @mistys-blerbz

Author's Note: please do not steal my work! I do not own the Hobbit or the characters, but I do own my OCs and the parts of the plot that are not part of the movies. I have worked very hard on this fic. Please be respectful and do not steal.

Please comment, reblog, and like!

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Thorin tried to remain calm as he stared out the large window, but he could feel his nerves becoming more and more frayed. There had been no word about Oreliell or Lord Korvon. He had no idea if the plan they had set into motion had succeeded, or if she had encountered some unforeseen obstacle.

“She will be all right, laddie,” Balin said, wringing his hands together. He sounded like he was trying to convince himself, as well as Thorin. Thorin knew he was worried about his brother, just as he worried about Oreliell.

“Aye, he’s right,” Dain said. He was reclined in one of the armchairs, but appeared just as tense as the rest of them. “Oreliell will no doubt be back soon. She’s a strong woman, Thorin.”

Thorin knew that. Of course he did. She had proven that time and time again, with physical strength on the battlefield and strength of will and mind in his council. But this was not a situation that Thorin was familiar with, meanwhile he knew that Oreliell was. But none of that stopped Thorin from worrying about his One. They had been through too much recently and all he wished for was peace for the two of them.

Suddenly, the doors swung open, the heavy wood hitting the walls with a resounding thud. Thorin turned in surprise. Oreliell walked into the room, completely ignoring the guards standing in the hall. Thorin couldn’t help but stare in awe. Her hair was disheveled, and her clothes torn in numerous places. Cuts littered what skin he could see. Her breathing was deep, as if she had just exerted herself greatly. 

What truly caught his attention was the dwarf she was dragging in by the collar of his shirt. The dwarrow looked worse than she did. His clothes and skin were torn deep, blood steadily spilling from the wounds. He had trouble keeping up with Oreliell, though Thorin credited that to his broken leg dragging limp behind him rather than their height difference. His wiry brown hair and beard were oddly cut, something a dwarf would never allow to happen to himself.

Oreliell stopped in the middle of the room and threw the dwarf to the ground in front of her. She glanced back at the doors.

“/Shut the door and do not disturb us,\” she commanded the guards. 

They hurried to do so. Thorin faintly noticed Lord Korvon standing meekly by the doors, but his whole attention was on Oreliell. Despite being bleeding and bruised, she stood tall, seemingly larger than she typically stood. Her very presence commanded attention, and he could feel the waves of anger rolling off of her. 

Thorin stepped forward, crossing his arms over his chest as he waited for her. This was her battle to lead. He would follow her lead.

“May I present Baralin,” she said, “our thief, kidnapper, and would-be assassin. He is a member of the Morfaroth.”

“What on earth happened to ya, lass?” Balin asked.

“Baralin didn’t want to come peacefully. According to him, he came to the Lonely Mountain on a mission. He conspired with Lord Korvon to remove Tauriel, Vedis, and myself from the mountain by blaming us for the recent incidents.”

She then tossed an unfamiliar, Dwarven-made sword on the ground by Thorin’s feet. Thorin stared at it for a long moment. It was hard to break dwarven steel, yet here it lay in two pieces.

Thorin looked at Baralin. The dwarrow groaned on the floor, but it slowly morphed into a rumbling laugh.

“What is it that you find so humorous?” Thorin asked.

Baralin shook his head as he pushed himself onto his knees.

“Nothing you would understand, boy.”

“Watch your tone,” Dain said. “You are speaking to the king of Erebor.”

“I know exactly whom I’m speaking to. I just don’t care. Not that it matters.”

“What makes you say that?” Balin asked. “What was your purpose in coming to Erebor?”

Baralin sat quietly.

Thorin knew Oreliell was going to make a move, and when she did, it was almost too fast to see. He only saw the end result: Baralin crumbling to the ground once again, blood falling from his mouth. She had also drawn one of her daggers and was twirling it between her fingers, as if to keep her hands busy to prevent her from lashing out further at the Morfaroth dwarf.

“Speak now, Baralin,” she commanded. Thorin had never heard her voice so dark. “You will not be asked again.”

Baralin shot Oreliell an amused glare before turning to face the other dwarves.

“Weeks prior to you all setting off on your quest, Azog put a bounty on your head,” Baralin said, looking at Thorin. “When that failed to bring about results, he approached me. He told me he planned to go after the line of Durin himself and wipe them from this world. He asked that I finish his mission for him, should he fail to kill them. Word spread of your victory, and I came to fulfill the mission given to me.”

The more he said, the more tense the room became. Thorin glared at the kneeling dwarf.

“So you came here to kill me and my kin,” Thorin said. “All for what? Coin? Fame?”

Baralin shrugged with a small smirk.

“How about boasting rights? The claim that I was the one to take down Thorin Oakenshield, King Under the Mountain, and the last of the line of Durin.”

“How can you take such pleasure in doing such a thing? How could you plot against your own kinsmen?” Dain said, fists tight in anger.

“You are not my kin,” Baralin snapped. “My kinsmen are the Morfaroth, for they have been by my side through every trial, hardship, and joy. I have a purpose among them. You want to know what I was laughing about, boy?” Baralin asked Thorin. He looked up at Oreliell. “You abandoned us, your kin, and for what? A dwarf? In a mountain where you will always be an outcast?”

“Do not call me your kin,” Oreliell said. Her free hand had risen to rub at her forearm, where her tattoo lay, the grim reminder of her past.

“Ah, but you were once.”

“That was before the rest of you sold your souls to darkness. The Morfaroth used to be a symbol of peace. You all destroyed that. I will take my life here over anything you have to offer.”

“So you would settle for being a whore queen? Oh how low you-”

Thorin didn’t let him finish. Before another word came out of his mouth, Thorin’s sword had been drawn and swung. They all watched as Baralin’s head fell from his shoulders and rolled to the side. His body collapsed in the other direction. 

Thorin watched Oreliell stare at the body for a moment before her eyes lifted to meet his. He could see a dozen emotions flashing in her eyes as he approached her. 

“Too long have I tolerated slander against my One. That shall no longer be the case.”

Oreliell’s shoulders dropped a little, like a weight had been lifted. She clasped her hand around his outstretched one and offered him a small smile.

A small shuffle drew their attention to Korvon. The lord had very nearly collapsed against the wall behind him due to shock. His eyes remained trained on Baralin, darting between his head and body. 

“Korvon,” Thorin said.

The dwarf’s head snapped up. Just the sound of his name had him trembling. Thorin had to hold back a satisfied smirk. Korvon dropped to his knees and pressed his face to the floor.

“King Thorin, please! I beg you to forgive me! I had no idea what Baralin was truly plotting. Had I known-”

“What would you have done?” Thorin asked. “Would you have attempted to find another way to try and remove my queen? Do not try and defend yourself. We both know that to be true. Since the beginning, you have been opposed to the elven presence in the mountain, and you have refused to even try to be amicable with them.”

“You must understand-”

“I do understand.” Korvon’s head shot up to look at his king. Thorin sighed deeply. “There was once a time that I shared your hatred for elves. I believed them all to be the same, that they were betrayers and thieves. But after time, I gave them a chance to prove themselves, and they did. Time and time again, they proved their kindness and loyalty to friends and family. I opened my heart, and I found the love I had been searching for. I found everything I could ever want in my One, and everything our kingdom needed in my queen.”

Oreliell smiled down at him, unshed tears sitting in the corners of her eyes. She lifted her hand to touch his face, lightly stroking the edge of his beard. The simple action caused his heart to race and his own smile to spread.

He looked back at Korvon. The dwarrow was very nearly trembling before them. A layer of sweat covered his face and trickled from his hairline to his beard. Thorin couldn’t help but note how pathetic he looked.

“You have been given countless opportunities to try and reconcile your petty grievances, yet have failed to attempt to do so. While I encourage disagreement and discussion in my council, I strive for respect and harmony among its members. With that said, I hereby remove you from your position on the royal council. Your place shall be filled by another. And for your conspiracy against the throne, I shall spare your life, but you are to be banished from the kingdom of Erebor. You will return to your homeland, but you shall never again step foot inside the Lonely Mountain.”

Korvon looked panicked. He started to shuffle forward and reached for the hem of Thorin’s coat.

“My king! Please! I beg of you-“

“Enough, lad,” Dain said. He pulled Korvon to his feet but kept a firm grip on his arm. “Take the mercy while it’s being given.”

Korvon continued to babble nonsense, begging for Thorin or Oreliell to take pity and listen to  his pleas. Thorin shook his head, squeezing Oreliell’s hand in the process. When he felt a squeeze returned, he felt as if she leant him some of her strength. Mahal knew how she remained so strong and steadfast. He couldn’t be more grateful for his One. 

“Dain, please see Lord Korvon to the gates and see that he receives a pony for his journey home.”

“Aye, my king.” Dain roughly tugged Korvon away, an action Thorin knew his cousin did for his own pleasure. “Let’s go.”

Thorin turned to Balin. The old dwarf looked tired but he had a proud smile on his face.

“You did well,” he said. “Both of you.”

“Thank you, Balin. Do you think you can have someone come and dispose of our unwanted guest?”

“Of course. I will join you shortly then.”

Thorin patted his friend on the shoulder. As Balin walked away, Thorin looked up at Oreliell. He smiled at her.

“Let us go be with our kin,” he said.

[jerzwriter]

My HC for Trystan and Carolina's Home

Writing my last Crimes of Passion fic got me thinking about Trystan & Carolina's living arrangements upon their return from Drakovia. While I see them staying over each other's places very, very frequently, I don't think they'd move in together instantaneously.

Trystan would probably be fine doing that, but I think it would take Carolina a little longer to be comfortable with the idea. I don't see him pushing the issue, and since they rarely spend a night apart, his thoughts are, "Does it really matter?". It'll happen when she's comfortable.

But where will they live?

As it stands in canon, he has a posh NYC apartment, and she's in a room above her uncle's bar. But, try though I may, I don't see Carolina happy in a big, expensive apartment. It's just not her. She's also very attached to her place because it's such a part of who she is. It's a big part of her family's history, and she feels a connection to her father there and that can't be replaced.

So, even after they "officially" live together, I think they'll have two places. I can see them having to entertain on occasion, and while the Drunk Tank will work for some events, there are some that would require more upscale surroundings. Trystan's place is perfect for that. But in reality, they'll spend most nights at her place.

In my mind, there are two apartments above the Drunk Tank. A larger apartment that encompasses part of the 2nd floor and all of the 3rd, and a much smaller apartment that takes up the remainder of the 2nd floor.

Tommy is currently living in the bigger place, but I think he'll want to partially retire in a couple years. He's going to become a snowbird and spend winters in a condo in a warmer climate. He will suggest Carolina & Trystan take the larger place, and he will move into the smaller apartment when he's back in New York.

They will renovate the bigger space and make it a bit more upscale, but it will retain a cozy, eclectic feel. They'd both be very happy there.

What will they do with Trystan's place after that? I'm on the fence. Maybe still keep it. Perhaps subletting rooms to friends. In time, maybe they'll sell it and use the money to buy a little vacation cabin someplace not too far from the city.

I don't HC them having children, so they won't feel the need for more space, a large yard, or better schools... that frees them up an awful lot. So, this could be their forever arrangement. I'm not sure yet.

I'm curious about what other Trystan creators have in mind for their character/pairings. Feel free to comment or RB and share your HCs.

[anniebear-92]

Hey Annie! Just wanted to make sure your okay and that I hope your doing well.

Hello @shot-shock! (And... everyone else I've apparently Ghosted :[ )

I am doing well, I unfortunately got hit but the "Fandom Writer" curse that seems to occur where everything that can go wrong will go wrong when you start writing. I've had some things going on in my personal life that I just have not had the motivation to even touch my computer or even phone to continue writing here. I know I said this before but I really think I've gotten things cleaned up in my life that I can write comfortably.

So here's my plan going forward.

Paw Prints - Yes I am working on my last chapter AND the NSFW part that I'm sure people have been wondering where it is (My bad <3 ) I hope to have that out here in the next week or so and it's up to everyone's standards <3 I am still learning Tumblr so I am going to eventually get a masterlist going and get the parts linked together.

New Fics:

I have some Ideas and new fics in the works. Some I started quite a bit ago and I have one that's almost complete that I posted on another site awhile ago that was just painful to get noticed so I plan to repost here.

Afterlife: An early death for the aspiring number one hero left a bitter taste in Bakugo Katsuki's mouth. At the ripe age of 20, he was taken from the world and he was clearly not ready to go. After a long time of refusing to cross over to promised peace, his personal Reaper offers him one deal and one deal only to return to the land of the living. However they really did not play fair... Haphephobia is the fear of being touched by others, When your quirk cannot distinguish the living from the dead, you tend to develop a fear of contact. You are an ex Pro-hero who has recently rented a home from a couple who lost their son a few years back. You can feel someone residing in the home, someone with a bad attitude and only 12 months left to fulfill his end of the deal before he is forced to cross.. to the Afterlife.

-Notes about this fic, it will have dark themes that may be triggering to others so I do as you read with caution. This will be a multipart fic and I have almost all but a few chapters written so I will post this on a regular schedule. This one will be Bakugo x reader - Enemies to lovers.

The last of the Dragon Riders - Fantasy AU -

In a world filled with magik, mythical creatures, beasts and tales older than the trees; Nothing is more revered than the almighty Dragon Race. To be chosen by a Dragon to become it's rider was not only the greatest honor, but ensured a life of prosperity for the village the rider hailed from... Or so goes the fairy tales you had been told from birth. As the princess of a small kingdom and the future ruler, you did not believe in the creatures that no longer roamed the lands, or at least none that you have ever seen. Each year under the full moon the children who have come of age will try to bond with a Dragon egg, become the new rider and prosperity to their home! Though not one has hatched in the last 120 years of the village's history. Tonight under the full moon it's your turn to participate in the silly ceremony and move on with your life. However unknown to you, an intruder has infiltrated your home in the hopes to steal one of the last remaining "Dragon Eggs" your village boasts to hold. As future leader you are tasked with the retrieval of the stolen egg to your dismay. Upon catching up to said thief, you are in for quite the surprise upon arrival, only to find a larger journey up ahead for yourself and your new found companions.

-This one is also Bakugo x Reader and will be an Enemies to lovers ( Can you tell I have a thing for it? LOL ) Fantasy AU - This one is still in process but I have a few chapters to go. I will most likely be posting a chapter of this in-between updates on Afterlife.

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

So far those are the full stories I have ready to go and I plan to release little blurbs here and there. If you made it to this point thank you so much for your support and I will be posting a blurb today for checking in on me. I really appreciate everyone and will try to get to my asks today as well. <3

[sepublic]

I don’t know why it’s taken me so long for this to sink in, but... Greg Farshtey is responsible for the Tower of Tears and its Escapees, among my favorite storyline and characters for the GEverse. Because as I’ve said, this all started when I read Stone Cold, the graphic novel Greg wrote for Ninjago; In which Sensei Wu relates how he had a rematch with old enemies who escaped from the Tower of Tears he imprisoned them in. I was so enamored by this story and its characters and concept that I embraced it, creating so many more Escapees and fleshing out the lore and backstory as part of this larger fanon I made for Ninjago...

And eventually, I realized my fanon and its interpretation/portrayal of both canon characters and my own OCs had basically become its own thing; Hence why I made the GEverse its own independent story, plagiarizing borrowing certain elements and tweaking them to be more my own, if necessary. What was basically my own invention, I made more prominent, no longer bound by the canon of another story...

But the Escapees! I don’t think I’d have made my fanon as comprehensive, or been as attached, had it not been for the Tower of Tears and its wonderful menagerie of villains, or namely the potential for them it inspired me with. It basically acted as one huge writing prompt for me, and while my Lloyd prequel fic chronicling his time at Darkley’s would’ve been written regardless, I feel the Escapees as a storyline truly expanded it to unimaginable lengths that contributed to the GEverse becoming its own thing with its own lore, and not just a spin-off.

So some of my favorite OCs, the beloved Tower of Tears concept that led to all of them? United them together at a common point in their stories? Because of Greg Farshtey, given free reign to basically write whatever he wanted for some obscure spin-off graphic novels. Characters like Kirchonn, the Time Ninja, Cardinsto, Gahrann, and various others... They’re his OCs really. Again, I am planning to take the ‘versions’ of them and others I’ve crafted and differentiate them from the source material, and already have with some. But in the end, a major part of the GEverse, and all of these beloved storylines? I owe to Greg. I am once again creatively indebted to him.

Likewise, I must thank Jolyon Yates (not to be confused with the chair designer of the same name). He acted as the artist for Stone Cold, and since Greg has admitted to writing without using mental visuals, I presume Jolyon not only drew the Escapees, but also designed them as well; Especially since he drew a poster that acts as the only depiction of the Insect Master himself, who didn’t actually show up in Stone Cold.

The Escapees, a couple of whom existed only as background characters without any writing to them, I must also attribute to Yates’ creativity. The same can lowkey be argued for some of the silhouettes he depicted in the Tower of Tears’ destruction, which I used as inspiration to fill out with my own characters; So massive kudos to Jolyon Yates, too! Greg may have come up with the idea, but Yates was an invaluable part of the execution that made the concept so appealing to me.