#this started out as a prompt and morphed into a ficlet idk idk idk

[the-angst-chronicles-fanworks]

Wayne comes home one day to Eddie behaving unusually - loudly narrating everything every time he leaves his room, playing his music quieter than usual but making abrupt loud noises when he’s in his room, checking on Wayne every ten minutes or so to make sure he’s enjoying his shows and asking if he wants tea, and generally bearing his biggest, wettest puppy dog eyes.

Now Wayne’s done this song and dance a few times, so after a few hours he gets up and makes his way to his nephew’s door, takes a moment to stop and listen-

And sure enough, he can hear the hushed whispers and giggles. Heaving a sigh, Wayne raps his knuckles against the flimsy wood. It’s immediately met with a flurry of scrambling from the other side.

To Eddie’s credit, it doesn’t even take until Wayne’s count of 10 before the door swings open, revealing his very ruffled nephew sporting a sunny grin and doing his best to look like he’s not taking up the entirety of the doorway on purpose.

“Alright, what’re you hidin’ in here this time?” Wayne asks, glancing at the bed. It’s a favourite hiding place of Eddie’s - where he’d hidden the stray cat, the raccoon, and any number of other strays he’s picked up.

“Hiding? I -uh - what are you talking about?” Eddie says it smoothly enough, but he’s eyes dart to the left briefly before he catches himself and looks back at Wayne, pulling his hair in front of his face in a display of nerves. Wayne glances over. The closet this time then.

“I ain’t born yesterday kiddo,” he says, shaking his head. “Now why don’t you quit bullshittin’ and open up that there door”

Eddie’s gaze follows his gesture to the closet, and then he turns back to Wayne, giving an indignant huff and puffing up like he’s gearing for a fight.

Wayne meets his gaze with an even one of his own and, after a moment, Eddie deflates. "Fine," he huffs and makes his way to the closet, shooting Wayne betrayed wounded-bird looks over his shoulder. Wayne just crosses his arms and raises an eyebrow.

He's prepared for a lot of things, but what he's not expecting is for Eddie to swing the cupboard door open to reveal some fancy-looking lad, looking sheepish as all get out.

"Ed-" he says, slightly lost for words. Eddie and closet-boy exchange a glance, and Wayne feels shock go through him as he suddenly places that face. "Is that... is that the Harrington boy?"

Immediately, a guilty look crosses Eddie's face and Wayne groans. "Jesus H. Christ," he groans, putting his hand over his face.

When he looks up again, Eddie is giving him that wide-eyed pleading face of his that always comes with the strays. "Eddie, he ain't some stray you can just take in!" He protests.

Eddies face hardens just a little with that stubbornness he got from his mother. "C'mon Uncle Wayne. His parents are terrible when they even bother to be around!” he argues. "And I mean it’s probably for the best that they’re not there because they’re the worst kind of people but it's almost Christmas and he can’t just be there alone on Christmas! Did you raise me like that Wayne? Did you?"

Harrington seems to get past his surprise at Eddie’s sudden rant and he frowns, opens his mouth to protest. Eddie, apparently sensing this, claps a hand over his mouth and turns to Wayne , his righteous indignation switching right back to his best puppy-dog eyes cranked to full effect at Wayne.

And Wayne... well, he's never been able to say no to any of the strays Eddie's brought home yet.

[bibliosexxual]

Do you have any place where you get your prompt ideas. I'm at a loss.

I wish I could point you in one direction, but tbh I get them from all sorts of places. Here are a few examples of things that have led to me writing a fic:

My prompts tag — usually, I go through this deliberately when ideas dry up. 

On several occasions I’ve been sent a prompt from a prompts list I just reblogged. I probably would’ve just reblogged the list and forgotten about it, except they asked for me to actually write it and not just briefly daydream about writing it. Thus, the writing happened.

A movie or youtube vid has sometimes sparked something, such as when I did my 13 Going on 30 AU, the ficlet based on a video I was watching for French language practice, or my fic inspired by a buzzfeed video. Usually this sort of inspiration is not planned; I’m just wasting time and, surprise, turns out my subconscious was busy thinking about Sterek 24/7.

Real life places/events. One time I was wandering around the Biltmore House around Christmastime and got this strange, intense craving to write something set in that kind of environment. It was like having a song stuck in my head, except it was a piece of architecture?? My brain is weird. Anyway. The fic ended up morphing into my Beauty and the Beast AU. 

Real life relationships. I doubt I would’ve started my pen pal AU if, a few years earlier, I hadn’t experienced a long-distance friendship with a guy I met in China. The fic has very little in common with that real-life friendship, but that’s where the initial idea came from.

Just thinking about a trope I like and how I could apply it in a slightly new way has led me to writing several fics, such as little spoon (trope: bed-sharing) and flawless (trope: insecurity in an established relationship).

Idk if this will make sense outside my head, but... Sometimes it’s been as simple as thinking, “What if?” and being prepared to be bold with where that leads me. In improv there’s this rule that you don’t reject what the other person says; you HAVE to go along with it, however outrageous, and that keeps the scene going. One day I was thinking, “What if Stiles said/did this thing, and Derek unexpectedly just went along with it? What would happen next?” and the story grew from there.

I feel like being creative is something you exercise, like a muscle. Ideas can really come from anywhere, so above all I’d recommend having that in the back of your mind as you go about your day. It’s a mental habit you can build up, and the more you do it, the more you’ll start to view all sorts of things in your life as opportunities for ideas. 

Hope that helps. Good luck and happy writing!