#trying to write this chapter after taking a long hiatus was hard

[izscha]

Quick WIP preview for the next chapter of Metallic Figment

(We're gonna get not one; not two; but THREE povs in this one folks!)

[the-scarlet-witch-22]

Love and Liabilities: Chapter Four (Agatha Harkness x Fem!Reader)

Summary: As you prepare for the impending trial and attempt to find ways to relieve your stress, the biggest stressor in your life has a funny way of showing up when you least expect it.

Word Count: 2.3k

A/N: Lawyer!Agatha is back after a little hiatus! This is a bit of a shorter chapter to get me back into writing after a few months. I’m hoping to be updating a bit more regularly but I’m (sadly) growing even more busy & stressed, so I promise to do the best I can! As always I hope you enjoy, and thank you so much for reading! Please feel free to let me know what you think. My asks/dm’s are always open!

Tag List: @chiar4anna @harknessshi @neverfindmegone @aggieslittleslut @ris-ris-mind @tr333sus @sabstance-blog

Present Day

The whooshing of the wind in your ears combined with the cool air filling your lungs fueled you to increase your pacing as you ran through the deserted park. It had been nearly a week since you reunited with Agatha, and your brain had been hellbent on torturing you ever since. Nothing could take your mind off the infuriating attorney, not even work. You had spent the past few days pouring over every word in the various documents Agatha presented during the pretrial conference, hoping to find something, anything really, to solidify your case.

It was times like this when you missed working in corporate law. Although you had only been a junior attorney at Stark & Strange, you had unlimited access to paralegals and attorneys at your disposal. Unfortunately, working for the government meant not only taking a significant pay cut, but also limiting your outsourcing. You didn’t regret your decision to leave the firm, but you’d be lying if you said you didn’t miss the perks.

Since burying yourself in piles of work proved useless, your only real escape from Agatha came from running. The familiar burning sensation began to fill your lungs as your body begged for a break, but you forced yourself to continue. Your legs felt heavier than when you first started, and as you rounded the corner of the trail you had to work twice as hard to not slow down. Even though you were growing tired, the rush of endorphins was a welcome change from the haunting memory of searing blue eyes burning holes into your own.

Agatha would be far too pleased to learn how much of your time and energy was being wasted trying to forget her. However, being the soul sucking succubus she was, you wouldn’t be surprised if she was already aware of the pain she was causing. A swell of anger suddenly overtook you, a feeling you had long grown familiar with when thinking of her, and you used it to finish the final stretch of your run. The thudding of your feet on the pavement along with the loud thumping of your heartbeat acting as a painful reminder of the woman you so desperately wanted to rid yourself of.

Swirls of scarlet, orange, and yellow painted the Manhattan skyline as the sun gradually rose over the city, and the quiet beeping of your phone from your back pocket signaled the end of your run. Nearing the end of the trail, you slowed your pace down to a steady walk, allowing yourself to do some breathing exercises in the process whilst checking your email. It was early enough in the morning that there wasn’t much for you to go through, but you knew it was bound to be yet another busy day.

You had timed your run to give yourself just enough time to head back to your apartment to get ready for the day and get to the office before the rest of your colleagues. The stress of the looming trial was becoming overwhelming, and you had to be prepared for whatever chaos Agatha would inevitably throw at you. Unfortunately that meant you were working nearly double the amount of hours than normal.

Luckily you were able to take a quick shower, find clean clothes in the back of your closet, and managed to get to work before anyone else had arrived. You would hopefully have an hour or two to yourself before you were eventually interrupted, and you intended to use every last possible second you could. As you strolled the corridor, you were tempted to stop to make yourself a coffee, but decided to get settled before adding caffeine to this situation.

Absentmindedly dropping your bag to the floor after you entered your office, you refocused your attention on reading a memo that one of your colleagues had left for you. Making mental notes of what needed to be addressed, you turned to open the blinds when you stopped dead in your tracks at what was in front of you.

Agatha Harkness sat in an armchair in the corner of your office, an amused expression painting her face. You nearly fell over at the sight of her, how did she get in here? The door was locked when you had arrived, wasn’t it?

Agatha, unaware of your current inner ramblings, took a sip of her coffee before repositioning herself, recrossing her legs as she gave you a disappointed look. “Your lack of situational awareness is truly astonishing. I could have been a murderer.”

Adrenaline continued to course through your body as your heart thumped loudly in your chest. Taking a deep breath, you ignored her sarcastic remarks as you leaned against your desk, attempting to calm down.

“What-what the hell are you doing in here?” You spluttered out, unsuccessfully trying to regain your composure.

The attorney frowned, as if that was an absurd question. “This is your office, is it not? I wasn’t sure at first, but the withering plants were a bit of a giveaway.”

Typical Agatha. They weren’t dying, were they? You made a mental note to ask your paralegal to water them a bit more.

Ignoring the jab, you took another deep breath, your body still on edge. “Do I even want to know how you got in here?”

Taking a moment to think over your words, she shook her head. “No. Now drink your coffee before the ice melts.”

It was then that you noticed the untouched cup of iced coffee on the edge of your desk. Narrowing your eyes at it, you gave her a suspicious glance. “How do I know you didn’t poison it?”

Agatha rolled her eyes, as if that was the most ridiculous thing to ask her and she didn’t just break into your office. “Honestly, dear. You’re far too paranoid this early in the morning. Drink. We both know how irritable you are without caffeine.”

When you refrained from grabbing the cup, Agatha huffed, her stormy blue eyes swirling in annoyance as she rose from her seat. Taking a step towards you until your legs were nearly touching, she snatched the cup, the silence in the room disrupted by the clanking sound of the ice swirling in the cup. Hovering over you, she used her free hand to grab yours, the soft feel of her touch briefly taking you back to a time where it would have been more welcomed.

Your breath hitched as the rich, musky scent of her expensive perfume washed over you, and you fought the temptation to look into her eyes. How many times had you found yourself in this exact same position with her, you mused lightly as your brain attempted to regain its ability to function. Agatha’s fingers intertwined with yours, as she leaned in even closer, her lips grazing your jawline and you closed your eyes, fighting against the urge to lean into her touch.

Clearing your throat, you shook your head. “No. This can’t happen again.”

Agatha pulled back, her eyebrows slightly raised. “What can’t happen again?”

Giving her a pointed look, you tried to ignore the feel of her fingers still interwoven with your own. “I don’t think we need to relive that mistake, do we?”

“Oh I don’t know about that,” Agatha replied, swishing the cup of iced coffee as she lifted it up. “I seem to recall you rather enjoying yourself during that mistake, or was that someone else who pulled me into a closet and jumped me?”

“I did not jump you! You’re the one who came onto me,” you hissed as your irritation grew exponentially.

“Easy, tiger,” Agatha teased, raising the cup until the straw was nearly touching your lips. “I see the caffeine withdrawal is already kicking in.”

“Agatha…” you trailed off, ignoring your brain protesting that this would hurt even more than your last encounter.

Dropping your hand, Agatha gently cupped your jaw, tilting your head upwards until you were forced to meet her eyes.

“Sip,” Agatha murmured, raising the cup once more to your lips.

Her words were soft, but you both knew it wasn’t a request as much as a command. A part of you knew this was a mistake, that you couldn’t give into her yet again after being strong for so long. But then you looked into her eyes and found yourself getting lost in the fiery intensity she always seemed to carry. Logic and reason held no weight against the pleasure that was being at the mercy of Agatha Harkness.

Wrapping your lips around the straw, you lightly sucked, savoring the creamy, cold taste of the iced coffee on your tongue. Agatha’s eyes darkened at the sight; using one hand to brush your hair behind your shoulders while the other remained glued to your jaw, fingers brushing lightly against your skin.

“Good girl,” Agatha quietly praised, running her fingers through your hair, tugging lightly at the loose strands.

As you released the straw from your mouth, Agatha set the cup down, tightening her grip on your hair before capturing your lips in a kiss. Her lips were warm and gentle against your own, but it wasn’t long before she began nipping on your lower lip, biting down harder when you let out a whine. Moving forward, she pressed herself fully against you, while you instinctively wrapped your arms around her waist. Her tongue expertly sought out your own, and it felt like she was trying to get every drop of coffee from your mouth.

Panting, you were the first to break the kiss, tilting your head as Agatha proceeded to pepper persistent kisses down your jawline, each leaving you more breathless than the last.

“Agatha…” you whimpered, the last bit of self control slipping away even as you tried to hold onto it. “We can’t do this again.”

The attorney chuckled softly against your skin, tickling you ever so slightly in the process. She took a moment to look up at you then, with her ever blue eyes hazy with want and perfectly swollen red lips, and you remembered a moment in time where this had been easier. It was almost too easy to forget the pain of the past when she looked at you in that special way; as if she saved those intimate, sweet glances just for you. You used to believe you were able to bring out a different side of her than the rest of the world saw; that you understood who she was at her core.

Having her here now made the whole situation even worse than you previously remembered. It complicated things, and if there was one thing you hated more than anything, it was unnecessary complications. You found it difficult to remember the seemingly obvious reasons why you left her all those years ago when she was standing within your reach; the light that once dimmed in her eyes was once again ablaze. Gone were the demons of the past, in its place was the woman you had once fallen in love with.

Unfortunately, you were snapped out of your thoughts as you heard chatter from the hallway; your colleagues had arrived for the day. Agatha’s head tilted at the sound, and the moment was broken as she took a step back.

Clearing her throat, she folded her arms across her chest. “I was hoping you had given more thought to dropping the case, that’s why I dropped by.”

Annoyance took over any feelings of longing that had been threatening to emerge, and you frowned. “You do realize that this could be perceived as intimidation, right? That on top of trespassing could mean you potentially lose any upper hand in this trial that you believe you possess.”

Agatha fully cackled, which only served to enrage you further. She picked up a few files that she must have previously set on the desk. “You always were so full of pride and ambition, dear. I’m not surprised to see it still has a hand in clouding your judgment. It’s a pity. I always thought you had a lot of potential.”

Flabbergasted, you shook your head. You should have known better. Only Agatha would be capable of attempting to manipulate you over your shared past to better serve her motive. Shoving past her, you finally opened the blinds to your office, the once sunny morning replaced with dark gray skies as rain furiously poured down. As you turned around to tell Agatha to get out, you were unsurprised to find she was already gone. Typical.

Settling down at your desk, you opened your laptop and started going through your checklist for the day when you noticed something on the edge of your desk; a file folder. You quickly realized Agatha must have left it behind by accident, which was strange; it wasn’t like her to do something like that. It was unclear what drove you to opening the file, but looking back you’d blame it on your own morbid curiosity. Inside there were over a dozen pages of what appeared to be hospital records for two people, one being Wanda Maximoff.

As you settled in to read, your eyes drifted to the neglected iced coffee. A part of you wanted to throw it away, but the caffeine driven side of your brain led you to grab it. After all, it would be a shame to let it go to waste.

Flipping the page over as you sipped, you paused as you actually tasted the coffee for the first time without distraction.

This is your exact coffee order. Iced coffee, extra ice, one pump of vanilla and a splash of oatmilk. After all of these years she still remembered, remembered it perfectly.

You weren’t sure why you hated that as much as you did, but it burns in your mind as you keep reading and drinking, trying to wash her taste out of your mouth.

[cantareincminor]

Fandom Wrapped (Reader Edition) 2024!

Thanks to the wonderful @kattyelf for creating this template! Links and detailed reviews under the cut.

Disclaimer: I probably read hundreds of SxF fics in the past year, and it was not easy to choose which ones to put in the list above (or below)! This fandom is full of wonderful, friendly creators and I am so glad to be part of it. I also had to narrow it down to only the ones I read and reread in 2024, not 2022 or 2023. Finally...I also happened to read many good fics only once. Sometimes a fic is just too painful or sad to reread, especially if it's not finished.

Favorite fic and author: After peace by @unhappy-sometimes!

I could gush about unso for a whole post and not be done, but I will try to contain myself. Her fic After peace originated from an AU comic she drew where Twilight was forced to retire early due a major injury, and drifted aimlessly until WISE asked him to take care of an orphan they had rescued from Project Apple. There are several things that amazed me about this fic and cemented it in first place for 2024:

The premise. It was original and so full of potential.

How personal Twilight's journey felt to me. I didn't have a life-threatening injury, but I did put my career on hiatus in the past year and have often struggled with questions of -- what am I worth when I'm not "doing" anything? I was so used to going 150% in the rat race and coming out on top at great personal cost to health and family; even if all that was bad, how else can I get that sense of accomplishment? How can I stop wanting that sense of accomplishment?

Her style, which is both vivid AND concise. The fic was around 22K words if I remember correctly, with a well-constructed plot, character arcs, plenty of emotional beats, and a satisfying resolution. I often wonder if my writing is too verbose and when I see something like After peace, it challenges me to do better.

THIS WAS UNSO'S FIRST FIC EVER. THE HELL. It's like a freshman album that gets put up for a Grammy.

Fic(s) I reread (plus runners-up):

That Time Yor Seriously Thought About Leaving by peonydee: This is a WIP with one more chapter before completion, I believe. Peonydee's style is unique in how it's hard-hitting and disarming at the same time. Yor and Twilight find themselves in impossible situations, their relationship tested to the limit (and one of them in a close brush with death), yet there's still an undercurrent of wry humor, almost fatalistic due to the fact both of them have been steeped in death and dirty work for decades, yet still hopeful and reaching for each other. I also cackle every time she makes Twilight go off on a mansplaining tangent without ever using the term outright. A masterpiece of show not tell.

Is It Really All Right? by zyzy1083: This one is tender. A jealous!Loid fic with a fascinating portrayal of Loid from Yor's perspective. The imagery of a dark sea choking down any true thought or emotion from breaking for air will stay with me for a long time. There's also the fact she basically made up lyrics for an indie song as part of the plot and I had to ask whether it was a real song. Finally, there's the fact she was bold enough to portray Loid as less than a perfect, kind, smiley husband toward Yor, but in a believable way. He snaps at Yor at times. He loses his patience. It feels like a real relationship, in the awkward tension when one partner wants to talk and the other absolutely does not want to talk. I admire that courage and wish more authors would take that risk (calling myself out I guess!).

Green-eyed Monster by bigbruja: another jealous!Loid fic that's lighthearted and fun. This is a comfort reread. I enjoy seeing Loid recognize the threat of a supposed "old friend" of Yor's, questioning his own feelings and how far he needs to go to fend this guy off. The guy is a Garden assassin, unbeknownst to him. I also love Yor's own inner struggle of just wanting everyone to get along, but showing steel when she needs to.

dalliance by rosetintednerdglasses: this is a WIP, but it is HILARIOUS and I hope everyone will go encourage this author to pick this fic back up when they have a chance. TLDR, Twilight (in disguise) is sent on a joint mission with Thorn Princess and flips out internally when he sees it's Yor. Handler then orders him to ensure Thorn Princess continues to cooperate. So as Twilight, he has to sort-of honey trap Thorn Princess, while as Loid he has to keep Yor happy. Poor Yor believes she's torn between two different men and close to cheating on Loid! Situational hilarity all over the place, and fun world-building, like this other WISE agent randomly named "Steel Bunny" (LOL).

Not According to Plan by @kyrathel: love you girl! This is a gift fic for me, but that's not the reason I reread it (even though it's a WIP as well!). It's SO FUNNY. Twilight gets it in his overly anxious head that he MUST defend his wife from the bullies at City Hall, so what does he do? HE INFILTRATES CITY HALL AS A NEW FEMALE HIRE. The world absolutely needs more petty!Twilight! The latest chapter features laxative brownies. Enough said.

Let's start living dangerously by @beannoss: I specifically reread the later parts when dumb Twilight gets over his dumbness and finally talks to Yor! And they kiss again! I love the way huhwaku (beannoss) portrays overthinking Twilight AND overthinking Yor. And also, the simplicity of Yor at the same time. The voice she uses for both of them is refreshing, it really puts you in the mindset of the character. Yor's giggles ("teehee!") as she teases Twilight about his little perfectionist habits are a cute touch to a gentle, heartwarming fic about these two highly competent professionals just starting to take baby steps in how to be competent at a relationship.

Fic that made me emotional:

100% Perfect by @sometimesiship. Where do I begin? How about with the gut aversion I initially had to the premise of a futuristic AI dating bot AU, due to all the tragic, dark AI movies I have watched? But as it neared completion, someone convinced me to give it a try and I AM SO GLAD I DID. You can see my gushing comments in almost every chapter. The development of the relationship between human Yor and AI Loid is so natural, funny at times, poignant always, and beautifully written, even though from an objective standpoint not much exciting stuff happens (I mean canon-typical excitement like murders and spy missions). Sometimesiship has a way of describing emotion that is so raw -- she can portray the same emotion a dozen different ways with analogies and setups and dialogue and whatever -- and it still doesn't feel old. And the emotion that dominated the second half of the story was grief. Basically the grief of loving someone you know you're going to lose. Like being the spouse of a terminal cancer patient. I didn't cry while reading, but it was a closer call than I have had in a VERY long time. So much beauty and humanity in this story. And spoiler (?), it's a happy ending. So I hope you all go check it out!

That's a wrap! If you read this far, stay tuned for a Writer version of Fandom Wrapped 2024!

[imjustasimpxd]

My Angel (Part Three)

➬ Reiner Braun x Fem reader

Part one | Part two | Masterlist | Blog Home | Aot Masterlist

Summary : Reiner was always taught that the devils of Paradis were vicious creatures, but what is he supposed to do when he soon finds himself reluctantly falling for one? Or when he is forced to go back to Marley and leave her altogether?

Word count : Almost 4, 300 words

Warnings : nothing really, reader is upset and isolates herself, Jean comforting reader,

Author’s notes : reblogs are appreciated!! I appreciate all feedback on my writing so that I can know what you guys liked and what you think I should improve on😊

Disclaimer : this is a work of fiction and should in no way, shape, or form, be taken seriously.

Side Note : this fic, and everything else I’ve written on my blog, is mine and only mine. I work very hard on everything I write so do not, under any circumstances, modify, copy, or steal my work.

***Important Note***

Hello my dears, I’m sorry for going on hiatus HAHA, I was super busy with school and work, plus on top of that I had major personal issues that were just too overwhelming to deal with at the time; and I couldn’t even write at all until I got it solved. I was under a lot of stress and was feeling really down about a lot of things in my life so I stopped writing for a little while. But I’m doing better now and I started writing again! So here’s the long awaited chapter three :))) I’m legit just gonna be turning this into a series so stay tuned for more parts! I appreciate your support and patience! <333

“Y/n?” There was a gentle voice at your door, followed by a few quiet knocks against the wood. “Y/n, can I come in?”

Your head slowly lifted from the fetal position you had succumbed to, your vision still blurry with tears as they glanced across your bedroom to the entryway. Barely anything was visible in the dark expanse of your room, except the silhouette of a shadow under your door; a shadow you quickly recognized as Jean’s.

“Yeah, I guess.” You answered his request, quickly lifting your fingers to wipe away the tears littering your skin.

The door then opened slowly, allowing the light from the outside hallway to seep through; its piercing glow caused your eyes to squint after being in the dark for so long. Although, once you began to adjust to the brightness, you were able to make out Jean’s figure entering your room, along with a tray of food he was holding in his hands.

“Hey,” his voice was soft, a tender smile lining his lips as he walked over to your bedside; one of his hands then reached towards your nightstand to turn on the lamp. “There, that’s better. Did you turn nocturnal or something?” He teased, hoping to cheer you up in some small way.

Although, as his eyes glanced toward you, seeing no alleviation in your downcast expression, he realized it was going to take much more than a simple joke to bring you out of this fog you were enclosed in.

“I uh, I noticed you didn’t come down for dinner again.” Jean sighed and spoke with a gentle tone, awkwardly trying to change the subject. “So here, I brought you something.” He quickly stretched his arms outward to show you the tray of food he was holding, hoping it would improve your mood; even by the smallest amount.

You grinned faintly at his gesture. “Thanks, you can set it on my desk. I’ll eat it later.”

Jean’s eyebrows lowered at your words; that wasn’t the answer he was hoping for.

You said the same exact thing when he visited last night, and as he walked over to your desk to set your meal down like you asked, he realized it was foolish of him to believe you.

Already sitting there was the plate he previously brought you yesterday; the same one you promised you wouldn’t allow to go cold.

The food was uneaten, its texture now dry and spoiled after sitting out all night; even the fork he settled beside your plate was in the same exact spot he positioned it in before he left.

A disappointed sigh escaped Jean’s lips as he set the new meal down on your desk, knowing it would go to waste as well.

It’s a pity, had you not wasted it, Sasha would’ve been more than happy to eat at least half of your serving for you; just like she always did.

She used to demand to sit next to you for every meal, because you were the only one who was kind enough to let her steal your food. It started off as just a few bites of course, nothing too covetous, but, as time went by, she started unintentionally stealing almost half your plate.

She’d always apologize thoroughly for it though; she even began buying you a couple sweets from the local shop afterward to make up for it.

Sooner or later, it became a normal routine for you both. She’d eat her portion, as well as half of yours, then later she’d get you something in return. It was a fair trade, and it brought the two of you closer in the process.

Every meal since then was quite entertaining; not to mention loud. It always started with your thunderous laughter after Sasha, once again, scarfed down her food too fast that she ended up coughing. Following that was Connie’s usual “slow down, the food isn’t going anywhere,” comment that would always spark a brainless argument between the two.

Once their fight got more heated than just trivial little jabs, Jean would always step in and order them to cut it out. And every single time, almost like clockwork, Connie would call Jean his permanent nickname of “horse-face” that immediately had the whole table erupting in laughter; especially Eren.

Every meal it was something, and every single time you were doubling over in a convulsing laughter that you couldn’t breathe from. Between Sasha’s coughing, the silly arguments, and the non-stop jokes: the dinner table was always eventful, and your smile was always present.

But now, things had changed.

Ever since the catastrophe that occurred two weeks ago, you stopped attending dinner; and for once, the table was relatively silent.

With only one plate to tackle, Sasha didn’t eat as frantically as she used to. Because of that, Connie’s comments about her speed weren’t made anymore, and Jean didn’t have to play patrol officer and break up any more fights. There weren’t as many jokes for Eren to laugh at, or a noise problem that Mikasa could complain about.

For the first time, the dinner table was quiet, uncomfortably quiet.

Your seat remained vacant for the past two weeks, as did Reiner and Bertholdt’s; but no one needed to ask why, the reason for that was already blatantly clear.

It pained them all to sit at that table without you, to witness the way you isolated yourself, but they knew better than to confront you about it.

There was no point in discussing it, lest they wanted to rehash their grievances for the hundredth time.

So, Jean resorted to bringing your meals directly to you instead; that way you could still get the food you needed without having to interact with anyone before you were ready.

That in itself became a routine of its own: Jean would come to check on you in the early mornings when you’d skipped breakfast, bringing you something light to start your day with; and then at night he repeated the process.

And every single time he came to check up on you, your face wore the same grief-stricken expression as the day before.

Of course, he didn’t exactly expect you to be bursting with joy after what had happened; it was completely normal for you to be upset about it.

Reiner and Bertholdt were their friends after all; their comrades who they fought alongside for years. It was a stab to the heart to be betrayed by them, but, what’s worse is things didn’t stop there either. After the betrayal was the battle, the same battle that wiped out more than half of the military corps, including their trusted commander.

As if the betrayal itself wasn’t already agonizingly painful, the death toll that followed was more than enough reason to feel as dejected as you were right now. It was the bloodiest mission you’d ever encountered before, and the aftermath was beyond heartbreaking, especially since the enemy still managed to escape in the end.

Jean understood why you were isolating yourself; others did too for a little while. And though he wanted to, the reason he never pushed you about rejoining the land of the living was because he knew you were hurting; and the last thing he wanted to do was make things worse for you.

But as his eyes narrowed in on that plate of wasted food you promised him you’d eat, he realized he might’ve been too lenient on you.

You never ate a whole lot of what he would bring you, but you were still getting something, and that was enough for Jean.

Although now that you’d stopped eating altogether, that was officially his last straw.

“What’s the point in telling me you’ll eat later if you never do?” Jean suddenly spoke up, causing you to flinch slightly at the sudden noise.

His voice sounded stiff; almost as if he was frustrated at you. Your head tilted upward to examine the expression across his face, and sure enough, you realized your assumption was correct. His jaw was clenched together tightly, and his eyes stared you down with an irritated glare.

“Well?!” He asked once again, his tone increasing with annoyance as he awaited your response.

“I’m just not hungry right now.” You answered dismissively, as if he was foolish to even be asking such a thing. “I’ll eat when I wake up.” Your words were followed by a subtle roll of your eyes. Your hands then gripped the blanket lying next to you, petulantly yanking it over your shoulders as you plopped down onto your pillow. “Now, goodnight.”

You knew full well that you were acting a bit childish, especially when Jean was only trying to look out for you. But you were too fed up at this point to apologize for your stubbornness.

Every single time you saw anyone it was always the same “look who decided to join us” comment, or worse: a dozen or so questions that you didn’t feel like answering.

Most of them were the usual “how are you feeling?” or “do you want to talk about it?” However, there were always those irritating ones they just had to ask: the ones about Reiner.

As if you even had the mental strength to think about him in the first place, they were still expecting a full report on what you thought about his actions, or what you’d do now that he’s gone.

Their curiosity always seemed to far outweigh their regard for your feelings on the matter; that’s why you resorted to isolation. It quickly became too overwhelming to deal with the bombardment of questions they were ready to unload on you; so, you stayed away, refusing to give them the chance to do so in the first place.

But now Jean was doing the same thing: invading your barracks and asking those bothersome questions you didn’t feel like answering.

Maybe you were just emotional right now, and perhaps being a little too sensitive. Nevertheless, you just wanted him to leave; you just wanted to be left alone.

“Fine then.” You heard Jean scoff. “Just let me know if you need anything.”

You didn’t respond. Instead, you just closed your eyes, nuzzling your face into the blanket as you waited to hear the usual defeated sigh slip past his lips; along with the closing of your bedroom door that would follow soon after.

Just a few more seconds and he’d storm out; surrounding your ears with a jarring echo after he tumultuously slammed that wooden door behind him.

Any second now…

Just one more minute, and then you’d hear it; you were sure of it!

However, the seconds kept creeping by, and there was still no sound to indicate the opening of that door. Rather, an unexpected sound emerged from the silence instead.

You immediately turned around to see what the commotion was about, as well as to find out why he was even still here in the first place.

You didn’t exactly know what you expected to see when you glanced over your shoulder, but watching Jean pull the chair out from under your desk and take a seat was definitely not what you imagined.

“What are you doing??” You groaned in annoyance.

He obviously wasn’t getting the hint that you wanted him to leave, or perhaps he was and just refused to meet your demands.

“Oh? Did you need something?” He asked, as if this was normal, as if you were the one disrupting his peace.

“I thought you were leaving.”

“I never said that.” He leaned back in your chair, extending his legs across the floor; almost like he planned on staying a while.

You stared him down with a glare, but he didn’t acknowledge it. Instead, his gaze was fixated out the window, admiring the moon’s captivating glow from the comfort of your dimly lit bedroom.

“Fine, stay then, I don’t care.” You snapped, laying back down with a dramatic huff; continuing your sulking.

Why was he being so difficult? You just weren’t in the mood to be around anyone? Couldn’t he understand that?

Granted, you hadn’t been in the mood to be social for the past two weeks now, but regardless, why couldn’t he just leave you be? That’s all you wanted.

“It’s not going to change anything you know?

“Huh??” You immediately turned back around, quite displeased at him.

If Jean was going to insist on staying, he could at least have the decency to remain silent so that you could sleep. Evidently, he didn’t agree with that notion.

“It’s not going to change anything.” He repeated.

“No, I heard what you said,” you groaned impatiently, not knowing how much more you could take of this. “But what are you talking about?!”

Jean’s voice was quiet but stern, his eyes soon looked over at you with a sympathetic gaze. “Isolating yourself, starving yourself, everything you’ve been doing for the past two weeks.” He paused momentarily, letting out a gentle sigh before speaking once more. “None of it’s going to bring him back, you know?”

Your eyes widened at Jean’s words, your breathing coming to a halt in your lungs. You immediately looked away from him, avoiding his gaze as you stared at the ceiling; trying to hold back those tears you could feel collecting in your eyes.

Jean was right.

None of your sulking or lack of eating would ever be enough to bring Reiner back; No amount of isolation could change the fact that he was gone.

Reiner had chosen to betray and abandon those who trusted him, those who loved him, and that was all there was to it.

He was clearly never coming back, and even if he did, things would never be the same between the two of you again; or anyone else for that matter.

There was nothing left to do except move on and accept the reality of your situation.

But even so, you still couldn’t bring yourself to do it. Despite the things he’d done, you still loved Reiner, and your heart still longed to be with him.

“I know.” You finally spoke up, “but I wish it would.” A gentle sigh jerked past your lips as you quickly turned back around to face the wall again, clearly not wanting to talk about the subject any longer.

Jean eyes lowered at your response, frustrated that you were shutting down once again; just like you’ve been doing for the past two weeks now.

He quickly slumped against the back of your chair with an enervated sigh, feeling like giving up on his efforts to pull you out of this darkness.

Jean had been trying his best to be gentle with you, to make sure you didn’t feel like he was pressuring you. He’d been patient with your stubbornness, he’d been calm and caring, but you didn’t seem to recognize any of that; all you were concerned about was the agony you allowed to cripple you from the inside, and it hurt to be a witness to it.

It hurt to see the way you were torturing yourself, pretending as if you deserved to be put through this pain. It was almost as if you were acting like this was your fault, like you had done something to deserve this.

But that wasn’t true; and Jean could see now that you’d forgotten that.

None of this was your fault, Reiner was the only one to blame here.

It was cruel of him to put you through this; to make you believe you weren’t good enough to make him stay, that you weren’t special enough to be loved by someone.

What kind of monster does that to a person; a person he loves especially?!

Jean couldn’t understand it, it angered him.

Did you truly believe you deserved to be abandoned? Left unloved?

Was Reiner the one who taught you to think that way? Jean’s blood was beginning to boil at just the thought of that.

It was all so frustrating, so heartbreaking. You weren’t the same person anymore, and Reiner was the cause of it.

Ever since his betrayal, Reiner had taken away a piece of you, the same one that used to laugh so loudly at the dinner table, the same one that contained your beautiful smile.

Your true self was withering away because of the crimes carried out by a man who promised to love you; but Jean refused to let it go without putting up a fight.

He wouldn’t stand by and watch the best part of you fall to pieces just because of some idiot who didn’t realize what he had before he threw it away.

You had to be saved from this, reminded that you didn’t need Reiner to be fulfilled, that you were already enough as you were.

You needed to remember all the good things in life that didn’t include Reiner, all the people that still cared deeply for you; people you seemed to forget about within the span of the past two weeks.

If you were ever going to be able to move on, ever going to heal from this: you needed to let Reiner go.

Jean sighed quietly as he stood up from the chair, attempting to try a different approach in hopes to get through to you.

He had tried everything he could think of without breaking any boundaries, but it got him nowhere. This was now officially his last resort, his final chance to rescue you from this darkness before it consumed you fully; leaving no trace left of the person you used to be.

If this didn’t work, then Jean could at least say he tried everything he possibly could; but hopefully, it doesn’t come to that.

Jean inhaled nervously to prepare himself before he slowly made his way over to your bed; placing a tender hand on your shoulder. “Y/n?” Jean spoke in a quiet voice, trying his best not to make you feel overwhelmed or anxious. “Can you please look at me?”

You didn’t move at first, you didn’t want to.

You were fully aware he was just trying to help, but you just couldn’t bring yourself to open up again without breaking down; and that was the last thing you needed right now.

“Y/n please.” Jean’s voice was desperate and pleading, his hand gently rubbing along your shoulder to, hopefully, coax you into giving in.

You let out a gentle sigh, tempted to just unload everything at once now that the offer was standing. It was hurting to keep everything inside like this; bottling it up and hiding it away as if it didn’t matter, as if you didn’t feel like screaming until your throat became dry and sore.

It was becoming too much to bear; the burden was too heavy to carry on your own anymore, and Jean had obviously noticed.

As usual, he could see right through you; penetrating through every wall you built to conceal your true feelings.

Maybe it was easier to stop fighting him, maybe, you really should just give in.

“I just want to know you’re okay.”

Jean’s voice was kind and sympathetic; the gentle caressing of his hand against your shoulder matching that tender tone he was currently using.

He sounded so desperate, so genuinely worried about you; something you couldn’t just ignore no matter how scared you were to open up again.

“Please…”

He pleaded, and by the tone of his voice you could tell this would be the last time; that this was your last chance to accept his offer of confiding in him before he would give up.

Despite your reservations to it, you knew you couldn’t refuse this time, lest you wanted to sign the contract to submit to your grief eternally.

If you were ever going to recover, ever going to restore that old version of yourself that you missed so much, then you’d have to grab ahold of this opportunity before it slipped away forever.

A gentle sigh rumbled in your throat before your body slowly turned to face Jean, watching the way he retracted his hand from your shoulder as you moved.

“I’m not okay.” You shook your head, eyes welling up with tears already. “And I don’t know how to be okay again.” You spoke with a shaken tone, feeling your lip quiver gently as you stared at him.

Barely ten seconds into speaking and you were already struggling to keep it together; feeling your heart clench in your chest at the recollection of all those bottled up thoughts now resurfacing.

Jean’s expression lowered at the sight of you, as if it was hurting him to watch this.

His body gently kneeled in front of your bed, aligning his eyes with yours as he reached to stroke your shoulder once more. “It’s okay, you don’t have to do this alone, no one expects you to.” He said reassuringly, staring at you with a sympathetic and tender gaze.

“I just-“ A sudden sob appeared at the back of your throat, choking the words you were trying to let escape. “I just don’t understand it. Why did he leave me?” You sniffled gently in between sentences. “Why didn’t he care about me?” A quiet sob slipped past your mouth, much to your dislike.

It was pathetic, embarrassing even; the way you were falling apart over this, not even lasting a good minute before turning into a crying mess.

Your eyes diverted away from Jean, cowering behind the blanket you were now burying your face into; hoping to muffle the sound of your sobs. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean, I just…” Your words came to a halt in your mouth as your emotions quickly took over; preventing you from getting a proper word out. “I’m sorry…” You repeated, clenching your eyes shut in humiliation.

You expected to hear a sigh of annoyance right about now, or perhaps even the shutting of the door. However, your body jolted in surprise when you felt the sudden warmth of a person hugging you gently instead.

Your head quickly lifted from the blanket and your eyes widened to see Jean’s face so close to yours; almost making you blush awkwardly at the proximity.

A comforting smile painted across Jean’s lips when he saw you look up at him. “Sorry if this is weird.” he chuckled nervously and quickly let go of the hug; backing away in case you felt uncomfortable. “You just looked like you needed that.”

Your expression softened as you looked at him, feeling a sense of gratitude filling your heart at the way he was attempting to comfort you; even if it was a little awkward at first. “No, it’s okay.” You quickly shook your head in response, granting him a gentle smile in return; one Jean hadn’t seen in two weeks.

Your body quickly sat up and leaned forward, reaching off the bed to where Jean was kneeling and wrapping your arms around him to continue the hug. “You’re right, I do need this.” You spoke in a soothing tone, letting him know you were okay with what he did a few seconds ago; and that it hadn’t pushed you away.

Jean let out a gentle sigh of relief at your actions, a little flabbergasted at how well you were responding to him. Here he was prepared to face your stubborn and dismissive attitude for the millionth time and yet he was faced with a completely unprecedented outcome.

There were no more spiteful comments or hurtful glares coming his way, just a gentle gaze and a pleasant embrace he never anticipated receiving after the state you were in merely seconds ago.

For the first time in two weeks, it seemed the Y/n he once knew, the Y/n he always secretly harbored feelings for, was finally showing herself again; even if just by the smallest amount.

Jean grinned gently to himself, and his arms quickly wrapped around your back to return the unexpected hug. “We’ve all been worried sick about you, ya know?” Jean spoke softly as he tightened his grip around you, allowing his hand to gently caress your back in the process.

“I know,” You uttered quietly, your voice sounding less unhinged and imbalanced as it was before. “And I’m sorry.”

You sniffled gently, your eyes clenching shut and your arms tightening around Jean’s neck as you leaned against him; wanting to stay in his comforting embrace.

Jean chuckled as he felt the way you clung to him; realizing just how desperate your need for reassurance was. “It’s okay, you don’t have to apologize.” He said as he leaned the side of his head against yours, continuing the subtle tracing of his fingers along your back. “Just please don’t do that again, okay?”

You nodded quickly, feeling the sting of tears pricking against your eyes once more. “I won’t, I promise, I’m really sorry.” You apologized again in an uneasy tone, feeling shameful of the way you’d been acting for the past two weeks.

This whole time Jean had been here trying to help you, but you’d just been too consumed in your own misery that you failed to notice the damage you were causing; the pain you were putting him, as well as everyone else, through by isolating yourself like this.

You’d been rude, selfish even; too hyper fixated on your own agony that you’d become blind to the impairment you were projecting onto everyone else.

You’d hoped it wasn’t too late to turn things around and make amends with the people you’d been neglecting for the past two weeks; and a part of you started to grow fearful that you’d missed your chance by now.

However, by the way Jean held you close and leaned his head tenderly against yours, it was obvious that wasn’t the case.

Part one | Part two | Masterlist | Blog Home | Aot Masterlist

(I’M LEGIT TURNING THIS INTO A ACTUAL SERIES NOW, OOPSIES) More parts to come soon! :)))

Taglist: @thebadbatch @nervouslad @ah-finally @usagikookiejams @setangel @unwindwithme @milkysuck @realglittereater @cyberdollface @glactict3a @elachapelle1357 @bucky-lents @diavoloslove @be-lla-vie @maaralo @buckysgirl01 @venomfantasies @desiiisstuff @novahaitani @jadasz @viiiik

This fic, and everything else I’ve written on my blog, is mine and only mine. I work very hard on everything I write so do not, under any circumstances, modify, copy, or steal my work.

Keep in mind that commenting to tell me what you liked, what you don’t, how I can improve, and any suggestions you have helps me A LOT more than simply liking my posts. If you’ve had the time to read my story, how much longer does it take to leave me some feedback on it? 😊

[shigayokagayama]

The Beach Omake And Authorial Intent

initially i was going to save this for a big teru analysis i had cooking however i eventually ended up deciding that it would feel like a really long tangent in its original context and probably deserves a separate post.

when it comes to the whole "teru's parents" thing i generally see two competing ideas on it

a. terus absent parents are the real villains of mob psycho and are the direct cause of everything wrong with his life and any and all teru analysis must center around this fact

b. terus parents being absent in the first place is only revealed in an omake and only exists for plot convenience and is not something that should be focused on at all when writing him

and whenever i see either of these my mind always drifts to the question of authorial intent. i know how people are reading this information, but how are we supposed to? i know death of the author is becoming more of a common thing in fandom spaces (albeit usually misused) but i feel like a better understanding of why this omake exists and how we're supposed to read it might help to better synthesize two takes that seems to be completely at odds with each other.

okay first i want to go over the actual placement of the beach omake in the update schedule of the manga because, unlike most other omakes, i feel like this ones placement in the schedule of page releases is actually super relevant

the vast majority of omakes come at the end of weekly updates. you finish reading the usually 15-20 pages ONE put out and then you get a little bonus comic at the end, usually something funny or a slice of life but but occasionally more serious. multi part omakes are usually spread out over multiple updates, making you wait a couple weeks for a punchline.

beach omake is not that. between chapters 99 (mob gets hit by a car) and 100 (the whole rest of the omake) there was a 6 week hiatus from normal pages and in this hiatus is where we get beach omake. reading it all together immediately cuts away the sort of "slice of life sunday paper comic" tone other multi part omakes have and make you read it as a part of the actual main story, since that's how you're used to reading these weekly updates.

now the actual tone. generally the multi part omakes exist to be long punchlines and the rare emotional ones are a single page for maximum impact. beach omake has a very different structure compared to, say, the haunted doll omake or the pot of happiness.

off the bat from the first two pages there's not really a joke. the tone mostly seems kind of melancholic. mobs expression for the middle section of the second page (maybe purposely) is obscured by the panel breaking off, it's hard to tell his reaction, all our attention is directed at teru. with all of the panels taken up by dialogue (primarily his own), we're being asked to focus on what he's saying:

-teru lives alone

-he lives alone because his parents live overseas

-he hasnt seen them in a while

-he doesnt like having nothing to do

-he doesnt like being alone

all of this information is delivered with an extremely casual expression from him, implying that it's not something that seems ll the out of the ordinary for him. mob, on the other hand...

the hesitation before he says anything and the way his expression is obscured seems to imply something is... off... about this information to him. this isn't a handwaved "oh mob is walking home from school after passing out because he needs to for plot reasons", we're reacting to this information like it's weird.

the next two pages are, mostly, a lot more of what we expect out of a mob psycho omake. the first one works as a standalone joke page, teru is bad at identifying animals which leads to him showing reigen a roach, something reigen is terrified of, instead of a beetle.

the second page starts similarly, we get a dumbass joke about reigen trying to pick up women at the beach (note: i think this is the singular time we get an indication reigen is even into women) but then the next two panels take on a more melancholic tone again. we get a small panel of mob and ritsu playing on the beach and a much, much larger panel of teru sitting on the beach, watching them. the dialogue bubble forces us to pay attention to the fact that he is silent.

the ending of this omake is where we bring it home. generally the last panel centers the punchline of the page, or of the whole omake, but the final panel of this isn't really what was being built to in this case.

we start our second page on teru. his expression is obscured, reigens speech bubble is shoved to the side so we can see that teru's hat is being held in his hands.

when we see his face in full view he looks... confused. he looks like he doesn't know how to react to someone going through all this trouble for him. teru is a character who, up to this moment, we have seen as extremely independent. he always rushes into things alone, he always has to be the hero, he always has to be the one to save the day. hell, this omake is immediately followed by the confession arc. where... you know.

so what are we supposed to get out of this omake?

teru's been doing everything on his own up to this point

but he doesn't have to anymore

[ddejavvu]

this is just a readout of my inner thoughts towards writing at the moment, it's not a declaration of change to come and it's not a withdrawal from tumblr, it's literally just me letting you know how writing is working for me right now:

i do enjoy writing shortform content like blurbs/drabbles, but after writing 2 a day for 2 years, I'm a bit burnt out on that posting schedule. i knew that i was going to stop pushing myself that hard because it was impossible with my work and school schedule, however lately it's been hard for me to get any out at all. i write them when i can, but oftentimes I can't, and that does not by any means mean that I'm 'quitting', or 'going on hiatus', it just means that some days are better than others; some days i will write and some days i won't be able to. aside from that, my interests have veered strongly into longform content, like series or long fics. of course, those take much longer to write, and do not possess the instant gratification of shortform content like blurbs, which I do appreciate because it helps motivate me to write more. this means that I'm highly motivated to write a series (i have several thought out, though i'm only working on one at a time (spring fling)), however, in order to keep up my presence on this blog, and cater to those who aren't interested in whatever series i'm working on, i want to keep up with my shortform content as well. that is where my problem arises. i don't want to devote all of my energy into a longer piece, ex. disappear for nine months and then come back with a finished series, it would break my heart to be absent for that long. i also don't have enough writing time in my schedule to split it even close to evenly between short and longform content. short usually wins out because of the instant gratification component; i think 'well, let me just get a few blurbs written and queued to keep up with my blog, then while those are being posted I'll have time to write more of __ series'. spoiler alert, that never happens. it takes me so long to write the blurbs that i never get any series writing done, or i don't have writing time again until after the blurbs have long since been posted and everyone is waiting for more again.

i am truly grateful for my readers and i would never want to insinuate that this is a negative thing; i am honored beyond words that you wait for my writing. i only want to be honest with you as to why you may have to wait for my writing. if i don't write blurbs for several days, it's probably because i'm working on a chapter for a series. if i'm writing a lot of blurbs, know that that was my writing time for the day and that you may have to wait for the next chapter of my series. please just understand that, even though i want to, i don't have all the writing time in the world. nothing is forgotten, nothing will rot away and die in my drafts, i am working on everything. i just can't do two things at once, and I struggle to find a good balance for my writing efforts that works best for my blog.

i wanted to say this to answer any questions you might have for me like 'when is the next chapter of spring fling coming out?' or 'when will we see more james content?' or 'when will my anakin request be posted?'. i don't know. everything is a balance and sometimes I have to choose between writing one thing and writing another. i will write what i write when i write it, and rest assured everything will be written. i ask for patience from you as i try managing my time to best suit both your interests and my own.

[corishadowfang]

2025 Writing Goals

...Did I do one of these last year?? I...genuinely can't remember. But! I'm doing one this year--mostly to organize my own thoughts, haha, but I guess also to give people some updates, if anyone's interested in that?

But, uh, 2024 was...a year. The long and the short of it is: I am very burnt out. Most of that is due to my job, but other things have factored into it, too. (There were. So many animal emergencies this past year.) Because of that, I'm going to try to tailor my goals to be...a bit gentler. In theory.

As for the individual stories...

The Age of Fairytales (And Other Assorted Myths)

This is...probably officially going on hiatus, unfortunately. I don't particularly want it to, but I think it probably needs to. I've been struggling to write chapters a lot more than expected, and have been stressed about getting things out in a timely fashion, which is. Not particularly how I want to interact with fandom, and I don't want the story to suffer because of it. Some of this I think is due to the writing style (the myths specifically, which are different from my normal style), but most of it is from the aforementioned burnout. I don't think I was actually ready to have a regularly updated fic again, even if I thought I was (How was three months not enough time?? has been running circles around my head.), and probably should've stuck with my original plan of trying to write everything out, and then starting to post it.

That said, there's a reason it's going on hiatus, and isn't cancelled or anything, and it's because I still really like the idea. So for the moment, it might be going on the backburner, but hopefully I'll be able to bring it out and do more with it in the future.

(Also, like. Feel free to ask me about any lore stuff? Because I really, really want to talk about it, I'm just currently finding it difficult to put it into story format.

...I suppose I could also just make a lot of general worldbuilding posts in the meantime, too, which would be. Significantly easier. ...I'll have to see on that one.)

On My Heart

I really want to get back to working on this one; it's probably going to be my main "traditional" story. That said, I don't have a set goal for this; basically, I just want to make "decent progress" on it, haha. I'm going to try and take it easy and hopefully get at least some content that I'm happy with! (The beginning I already have, at least, feels pretty solid; now I just have to build onto that.)

One-Shots

I have four one-shots that have been sitting half-completed in my documents that I'd really like to finish at some point, which are:

coda: A Fallen Stars one-shot, covering the first year after the end of the story.

Children of Ozymandias: An AU where the Union Leaders (plus Player and Elrena) all remain together after the fall of Daybreak Town, examined through the eyes of people who don't have much relation to Keyblade wielders.

Touch of Midas: Hoder character study.

Ghosts of All We've Known: Ven-centric story looking at his connection to Scala, his buried memories of Daybreak Town, and his complicated thoughts about Eraqus and Xehanort and their past in Scala.

Of these, "Ghosts of All We've Known" is the one I most want to complete; I really like both the idea and what I've written so far, so hopefully I'll be able to finish that one this year, at least. "coda" also has a pretty good chance of being completed, just because, like...that's what I tend to work on when I'm feeling stressed, haha. So we'll see which of those two gets finished first!

(I would like to finish the other two sometime, as well, but...we'll stick with easy goals for now, and see how I'm feeling once those are done.)

And, uh...those are basically my plans for this year! I'm going to try very hard to just...kind of take things a bit easier. Keyword: try.

[a-killer-obsession]

Wanna say real quick if you're a fanfic writer and you're looking at my page like "ohhh they hit 500 followers so fast and they have a upload schedule and post twice a week, maybe i have to post twice a week to get followers" - Stop

This turned into a whole guide for newbies so more under the cut

Please do not use me as an example! Im disabled and unemployed which means i have time to write two chapters a week, please do not put that sort of pressure on yourself!!! I only let myself have a upload schedule because i keep a small backlog of chapters, meaning i have some buffer if my health is bad or i get writers block, and as yall saw recently i will take a break if i loose that backlog. If i was forcing myself to write two chapters a week on a strict deadline i would absolutely loose my shit and probably burn out very quickly. And to be entirely honest, I haven't seen much difference in follower growth now that I have a schedule versus when I was just posting whenever I remembered to. I really don't think a schedule makes a huge difference, I just like having one because it gives me some sense of routine now that I'm unemployed.

What im trying to say, especially if you're new to posting fanfics, is please dont stress yourself out by thinking you need a strict schedule for anyone to like your fic or follow you. You shouldn't be writing for followers anyway, write for yourself! Write because YOU want to write. And if you fall out of love with that writing, dont feel like you need to force it just to make others happy! When i get burnt out writing Wavelengths, I keep going because *I* want to get to the ending, I've been excited to write it for months. Its another reason i dont start writing new long forms until i have a generic plan of where im going, which is something i highly recommend. Having a chapter you're excited to write really helps when you're trying to find motivation.

While I have you here, let me lay down some general tips for new fanfic writers, especially for those who post on tumblr:

Write because you want to write. Don't ever feel like you need to cater to someone else, that's a sure fire way to get burn out

If you do get burn out: don't worry about it, either it'll pass or it won't. Maybe you'll drop that idea all together and move to something new. Don't sweat it, write what makes you happy. Forcing yourself will only make it worse and it'll show in your writing. Writing fanfics is a hobby, it should be FUN. Sure someone might come across your fic years from now and be sad that it's not complete but they'll probably only be sad for a few days at most and then they'll forget about it. Its not a big deal. Who knows, maybe you'll find inspiration years down the line and make someone's day by randomly updating after years of hiatus. It happens 🤷

Dont worry about how much engagement your fic gets. I know absolutely incredible fics that get barely any engagement, and some frankly hard reads that have a ridiculous amount. Its all just dumb luck really. Again - write because you want to

Don't sweat typos too bad. I recommend finishing your chapter/one shot, giving it a day or so, and THEN come back to proof read. I find doing this gives me fresh eyes and I often find a lot of ways to improve the chapter while I'm fixing typos. If you accidentally leave typos in there, don't worry too much. As long as it makes enough sense for people to understand what you meant, people will still read it. Just look at the first few chapters of Wavelengths for example, they're riddled with typos from swapping from 3rd to 1st person, but people still read them (I'LL FIX THEM SOON I PROMISE LMAO)

Don't worry about being cringe. Cringe is dead, make your characters as self inserty and over powered as you want. CRINGE IS DEAD. If you think its fun to write powers and tropes that you're worried will be cringe, fuck it, write it anyway. As long as YOU have fun writing it. Do you know how many "whoops accidental pregnancy" trope fics I've written? Every single one of my long forms has either had it, or planned to, because I like that trope! I don't care if its cringe, I will continue to get my characters knocked up

Some quick accessibility things:

Please left align your fic! I've seen people posting center and right aligned because it "looks cool". These alignments should be used sparingly! As well as things like italics and different fonts/font sizes/colours! They should be used to highlight small sections only! Otherwise they can make it very difficult for people with reading difficulties to read!

If you're posting on tumblr:

Make sure the majority of your fic uses the default black font. Some people set the whole thing to a different font or the "small" font or a different colour and I literally can't read them, and it makes me so sad! I'm sure I'm not the only one with this issue! Its okay to use other fonts for things like headers and descriptions, but for the bulk of your fic use the default! Theres a graphic designer out there somewhere who spent a long time picking the best font for the body text on this website for a reason!

If your fic is longer than a few paragraphs, use the READ MORE function!!! Either cut under a description or the first few paragraphs so people get a preview of your fic. You may think it's silly to hide most of your fic, but if someone, especially on mobile, comes across your fic automatically trimmed on the fyp, and likes your stuff, and they go to your account to see more and have to scroll for a million years just to get past your newest post, they're quickly going to give up trying to read your other stuff. Using the read more function makes it easy for people to browse your blog and check out more of your works!! It also makes it more likely people will reblog for the same reason.

Along the same lines: have a masterlist. This can be as simple as a pinned post where you add a link every time you post something new. This makes it super easy for people to check out more of your work!

If you have a long form/multi chapter I also recommend going to the previous chapter and adding a "next chapter" link when you post the next one. Not 100% needed though, if you have a masterlist that can be enough on its own, people just appreciate having that next chapter link for binge reading. PUT IT AT THE BOTTOM PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF EVERYTHING. I hate when I finish a chapter and have to scroll for a million years to get to the top for the link

Feel absolutely free to use the way I format my fics and masterlist as example, but like I said, it can literally be just as simple as a list of links. I recommend listing the links at bare minimum as the title of the fic, and the pairing people can expect (including if its nsfw is a good idea too)

Speaking of NSFW: if your work isn't suitable for minors please make that clear! Even just a 'minors DNI' at the start of the post is good! If you wanna get fancy there are lots of creators who make lovely 18+/minors dni banners you can use for free, just google it and plenty will come up. If you're not adding a cut before the NSFW content then make sure you mark the post as for mature audiences (idk how you do it on the computer because I'm mostly a mobile user but on mobile you can find it bottom right, the icon with the two people). Not appropriately censoring your posts can result in tumblr restricting and possibly banning your account.

Finally, and this one is oddly specific to people who use google docs, but you can use a copy of this google doc to automatically add all the html to your writing so you can just copy and paste it into tumblr or AO3, instead of having to manually fix all the formatting. Do not just copy and paste AO3 html into tumblr, for some reason it has major issues with italics and will cause you a major headache. Just use the linked doc, its a super time saver, I've been using it for ages now

Okay thanks for reading bye

[rearranged-fanfic]

(Update 6/3)

Sit down a spell, weary traveler. Come and sit by my fire; bask in the warmth of the flame and rest your aching scrolling finger. You'll be sitting a while, for I have a tale to tell:

Okay, so I've had a Toshiba laptop for the better part of ten years. Maybe a little longer. That laptop has survived being struck by lightning, submerged in a bathtub, and literally having a whole bookcase topple down onto it. I thought it was immortal...

I was sadly mistaken.

About six months ago, I noticed that the typing was getting sluggish. I'd patter away at the keyboard and the letters would appear with a bit of lag. That's fine, since I use Dragon to talk-to-text for quite a bit of my writing. I really only use the keyboard for final assembly, editing, and doing quick rewrites. So, it really didn't bother me. Fastforward to April, which we will call The Great Depression. The time discrepancy between typing and having letters appear on screen became a whopping 40 seconds. Yes, I timed it.

But that was okay, because I could still use my Dragon headset.

Until I couldn't.

It would connect, but the words wouldn't appear on screen. I made sure that all of my programs were up-to-date, and that everything was working. The headset connected to my family's computers just fine. So that meant it was something wrong with mine.

Without being sure if it was the hardware or software at fault, I backed everything up to OneDrive and Google Docs.

I factory reset.

Twice. To no avail.

Over the next few days, my laptop stopped registering any keyboard input at all. It got to a point where I wasn't able to turn it on or off.

Taking it to an electronics store to get repaired didn't help, either. No luck. They said that it would be more cost effective to just buckle down and get a new one, since the age of the laptop meant that I would probably be constantly maintaining it.

My poor Toshiba died kicking and screaming, putting up a fight worthy of an epic ballad.

I saved up for a few weeks, got a new laptop, and went through the rigmarole of getting all of my programs back on it. My files are in order. My life is in shambles (but that's normal, LOL).

I DID do some story work without my computer, but... it's bad. Like, I'd die in shame if I posted anything that I thumbed in. So. Many. Spelling. Errors. How people write on their phone is beyond me. That's a talent I simply don't possess.

At this point, I'm thinking of renaming this story "HIATUS" lol. JK. But I'm seriously peeved that this happened after my last big break. Why couldn't the Depression and laptop breakdown coincide nicely? I guess that's too much to ask of the universe *Shakes fist at the sky*.

I'm creating a damn bingo card for every stupid thing that happens to me while I try to write. Because this is getting ridiculous. I broke my fingers, there was a total solar eclipse, I had a major-ish mental breakdown, and my computer bit the big one. With a free space, that's a bingo. Let's hope I don't get a blackout before the end of 2024.

I doubted the fanfiction curse. I really did. But it's apparently real. And this writer's curse has teeth, people. It bites hard.

I have my MerMay two-shot pretty well done (because I was typing it during The Great Depression), but the next chapter for REARRANGED is still rough. Crimson Chapter 3 is halfway done, but who knows how long that'll take.

The bottom line is that I'm alive and still working on the stories. The next update on this blog will be the posting of several chapters for a few different works. Fingers crossed.

Also, I'm very, very slowly answering the comments in my AO3 inbox. Some of them were pretty lengthy, so it might take a bit. Oof.

If there ever comes a time that I drop this fanfiction or am unable to continue for whatever reason, either I or my husband will be posting the entirety of my outline, as well as anything that's been pre-written for you guys to enjoy. That way there are no questions left unanswered or mysteries unsolved.

[swiftsaltsweet]

Two Knives Interlude 3: Rangi- Damn It All!

Characters: Rangi and Kyoshi (RoK characters tbh)

Pairing: Rangshi

Rating: E (rating changed from M to E, see author notes)

Summary:

Things have been stressful for Kyoshi. First, she sang a poem and now the whole kitchen staff thinks it’s about Rangi, and is sure that there will be gossip. Then, Yun asks her to join him for the Fifth Nation treaty signing. Now Rangi’s acting strange. It’s becoming a bit much for Kyoshi’s small corner of the world.

(Canon Divergent AU- Kelsang wasn’t the one who heard the poem?….aka What if it took longer for them to realize Kyoshi was the Avatar?)

Other Sites: AO3 

A/N: First, thank you all who have stayed with this for song long, even after this impromptu hiatus. And Happy New Year! (a week late but still)

I’m so sorry for taking so long to post this chapter. TT0TT This specific chapter has been done for AGES, but the next three…..those next damn three chapters. TT0TT Blame them. Had to finish them so I could move on to Arc 2. *sob* And I wanted to make sure they were satisfactory before I posted them.

Um spoiler (not really) y’all are getting that smut scene…..if you want incentive to keep reading TT0TT just gotta…..get to that point in Rangi’s side now….. And um…..we’re just gonna change it to E rating. u_u (I’ll post in the tags which chapters, assuming I decide to write more smut in this).

If you don't read The Hunt for Kyoshi (one of my other fanfics), I mentioned in a new chapter that I am going to release a chapter a week. Randomly for different fics (wasn't gonna post any new ones and then...well...forgot there was one I wanted to start posting so :'D Hope you want a Kyoshi prequel cause that's what next week!).

Good news for people who like this one the most, Two Knives has the most completed chapters! So you most likely will see an update to this one. I've yet to technically start Arc 2 of Two Knives as of posting this tho (I did write a chapter that's a few chapters into it....I had a mighty need ok? TT0TT)

Fun fact, I talk on my tumblr (swiftsaltsweet) every so often about the fics (cause that’s dedicated pretty much to fics). So you can see me crying about aspects of my fics or how my progress is looking. (I’m usually babbling about this fic for some reason)

____

“Are you going to attend the Beifong party?” Rangi asked Kyoshi. They were lounging in the brush behind the mansion. Kyoshi, now fully recovered, was on break, and they were sharing onigiri that she made for lunch. Rangi chose to eat slower than she normally did, she wanted to enjoy Kyoshi’s cooking. 

Rangi had a feeling Kyoshi would say ‘no’ but wanted to try anyway, just in case. 

Kyoshi looked at her like she’d grown a second head. “No? Why would I be invited?”

Rangi brow furrowed just a tad. Because you’re a hero…

She was annoyed that Jianzhu and the other’s weren’t giving Kyoshi her due. They were too busy fawning over Yun, which was understandable, he was the Avatar , but… still . 

Rangi scoffed. “I mean, you were technically the one who took out Tagaka. You should be there.”

Kyoshi thought her words over while she ate a bit of her lunch. “Do you want me to go?”

More than you could ever realize. Rangi mirrored Kyoshi’s action. “Yes.”

“I don’t have an outfit.”

“We’ll get you one.” It was shameful for Rangi to admit it, but she’d already had a list of dresses she was ready to pay for if Kyoshi ever asked. Other than Kyoshi getting her due, seeing the girl in a dress was another reason Rangi really wanted her to go.

“Am I even allowed to go?”

“I’ll convince them.” She hadn’t broken any chairs or tables since she’d come to Yokoya. She prided herself on having not thrown a childish tantrum in two years, but if she must resort to such tactics to get her way. Then she must . 

Sorry, mother. But not really. She thought, smiling wryly to herself. 

Kyoshi picked at the grass in front of her, thinking hard. “I need to take care of Kelsang.”

Rangi nodded to herself. Yes, this was the main reason why she thought Kyoshi would say ‘no.’ She’d accepted it. Well, at least she tried. 

She played up her sigh, to show her disappointment. “Then that’s what you should do.”

Kyoshi snorted. “So now you don’t want me to go?”

Rangi let her wry smile play a bit broader on her lips.  “I never said that. I do want you to be there. Revel in the victory…. But Master Kelsang needs you, I won’t keep you from that.”

Rangi kept looking off in the distance, the distance being a large wall that encased the entire estate, but the distance nonetheless. Maybe next time…. HuH?!

Rangi almost jumped when she felt a weight gently lean on her shoulder, but she held her ground. Kyoshi had decided she should rest her head on Rangi’s shoulder. 

Rangi reveled in how Kyoshi’s brown hair touched her cheek. It would've been a transgression if Kyoshi was a Fire National. Thankfully, that wasn't the case. It allowed Rangi to enjoy the sinful touch.

“Thank you,” she sighed. Rangi could only hum in response. She didn’t trust her voice at the moment.

They stayed in that position, that bliss, while they ate. It only came to an end when the gong for lunch had rung out. The two sighed, not wanting to part from each other’s touch.

Rangi dusted off her trousers, and started making her way back to the barracks when Kyoshi called out to her.

“Rangi, wait!” Kyoshi yelled, crossing the distance in only a few strides. Her hand went towards Rangi’s face again, unknowingly almost giving her a heart attack.

She felt Kyoshi’s fingers pluck something gently from the corner of her mouth. 

“There you go. You’re all good now!” Kyoshi grinned like mad, proud of herself.

Rangi stared up at Kyoshi, trying to keep herself grounded as much as she could. How was it possible for someone to have such power over her? Make her come undone in a single second? 

She wondered if she should give Kyoshi a briefing on Fire Nation customs….but decided against it. She loved the unabashed display too much.

Rangi’s eyes trailed to the single grain of rice that Kyoshi held in her fingers. How could such a small thing be her undoing? 

New resolve seeped into Rangi’s being as she gazed at the grain. She was going to make Kyoshi feel what she felt. She wasn’t holding back anymore.

Rangi gently took Kyoshi's hand, and dipped her head down. She gently ate the grain from between Kyoshi’s fingers. Slowly and with intent, making sure her lips grazed as much of Kyoshi’s flesh as she could. 

As she pulled away, she felt a sense of satisfaction thrum through her as Kyoshi’s thumb made a move to chase after her lip and caressed it, wanting to keep the contact going like she did.

“Thanks,” she rasped out, making her voice lower than usual. She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and looked up with half lidded eyes. Then she smiled coquettishly at Kyoshi, enjoying how Kyoshi had formed a strong blush and how it deepened the color of her pretty freckles. “I don’t like wasting food.”

Rangi turned on her heel and made her way to the barracks, making sure she had an extra sway in her hips as she left and rounded the corner. As she did, she stole one last glance back at Kyoshi, and felt pleased with her new change in tactic. 

-------

Rangi didn’t want to be at this party. She just hated parties in general, found the whole idea frivolous. But after meeting Kyoshi two years ago, it became more unbearable. It’d be one thing if she could spend the party with Kyoshi, but they were always so close but too far at times like these.

And now? The new developments in her relationship with Kyoshi? Well this part had taken on a a new form of torture. She just wanted to be near her girl in an entirely new way now.

Sometimes, it really sucked being the Avatar’s bodyguard.

The entire time she stood by Yun as he talked to various politicians. Jianzhu and Hei-Ran stayed close by and even interjected at times. Hei-Ran moreso when the men would ask either her mother or Rangi herself about marriage. Because of those three, Rangi didn’t need to talk.

They talked about political arrangements in the Earth Kingdom, Avatar affairs, and the battle. Which was more of a disaster than Jianzhu, Yun, or Hei-Ran let on to onlookers, but that wasn’t Rangi’s concern. 

The only thing that irked Rangi, that threatened to make her talk, was when someone described Yun as the one who personally took out Tagaka . It took all her effort to not boast about Kyoshi’s prowess, because in doing so she’d undermine the Avatar.

Yun, however, surprised her, and gave Kyoshi credit. Jianzhu, however , decided to undermine said credit by stating that Tagaka’s real power came from the fleet of ships. Which he and Yun had destroyed. Thanks to Yun’s masterful display of raising earth from the sea floor.

Rangi rolled her tongue in her mouth. She wouldn’t speak. She wouldn’t talk back. She wouldn’t go home and break a chair. She would meditate. Or find Kyoshi. 

She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. Yes. Kyoshi. Even just the thought of her relaxed Rangi. She would go home, and find a way to entangle their time together. Without being too much of a bother to the maid. 

Maybe she would even show off the dress she was wearing. She wondered what Kyoshi's reaction to it would be.

But first, she needed to get away from some very persistent man who kept trying to get her attention. He didn’t even flinch when Hei-Ran’s demeanor changed from politely annoyed, to dragon mother when his intentions to bother her daughter were made clear.

Rangi excused herself to the drink table, allowing the adults to sort the issue out.

She grabbed a glass of wine, and went outside to the garden for a breath of fresh air. It smelled like mossy dew, another earthy Kyoshi type smell. The one she’d get when she’d tend to the gardens sometimes.

Rangi had only taken a single sip of her drink, when a figure saddled up beside her. She was contemplating roundhouse kicking them, risking dropping wine on her dress, when she realized it was actually Yun.

“You shouldn’t sneak up on me,” Rangi said coyly, putting the glass to her lips again. “I could’ve killed you.”

Yun grinned and laughed. “Ooooo scary !” He shook his hands out in front of him in mock terror.

“ Your funeral,” Rangi smirked into her drink. 

“Ah, well, then I guess the world will get a Fire Avatar sooner!” he laughed.

Rangi frowned, she didn’t like that for a number of reasons. Mostly because it’d be a very bad look for not only her, but the Fire Nation as well.

Yun bumped her shoulder, visibly happy he didn’t have to worry about voiding her spiked armor at the moment. “Oh, c’mon you! I was just joking .”

“Yeah, yeah,” she waved him off.

Yun sighed after a moment of silence. “I wish Kyoshi was here.”

Rangi hummed in agreement. 

“You didn’t ask her to come?”

Rangi finished her glass. “I did.”

“You didn’t try to force her to come?”

“No,” Rangi said. “She needed to take care of Master Kelsang.”

“Ah,” Yun nodded. He understood, Master Kelsang was like a father to Kyoshi. It wouldn’t have been right to rip them away from each other.

Yun reached down and picked up a rock from the garden, and rolled it in his hand. Inspecting it. Rangi wondered if it was an earthbender thing. She’d have to ask Kyoshi. Though she wondered how much the girl could or would tell her. She’d never seen the girl bend even a pebble, despite being listed as an earthbender in the staff's ledger.

“It’s a shame,” he said, rolling the rock expertly between his fingers. “I was going to ask her to be mine at the party tonight.”

Rangi’s glass slipped out of her hands and shattered on the deck below. What did he just say?

Yun sucked air through his teeth. “Rangi! Be careful , you could’ve hurt yoursel–oh, too late. You're already bleeding.”

Rangi barely registered the pain, the nick from the glass hitting her….shin? Foot? She didn’t care. What did he just say ?!

“What….did you say?” Rangi’s voice came out as a strangled rasp.

Yun whirled his hands in the air, and the glass formed into a neat ball above his hands. Then he made a crushing motion, and the glass grounded back down into fine sand. Then he let it fly onto the ground of the garden.

“I said, I was going to ask her to be mine.”

He was looking at her, but Rangi couldn’t move. Her eyes were transfixed over the flowers and pond that was in the Beifong garden.

“What about Master Jianzhu?” 

The entire reason on Yun’s side, from what she could sparse together; for why Kyoshi and him hadn’t gotten together officially, was because Master Jianzhu had forbidden it. Partially because Kyoshi was a servant. Partially because he didn’t want Yun to follow the same escapades as Avatar Kuruk. 

Yun never went against Jianzhu, not when he laid down the law like he’d done with dating. So why now ?

When Yun spoke again, it was a hushed whisper. “It doesn’t matter what he thinks. I’m the Avatar. He shouldn’t get a say in what I want .”

A wave of disgust ran over Rangi as she heard his words. What he wants? What about what Kyoshi wants? Then a new wave hit her. Am I the same as him? Is this how I sound when I think about her too?

“Why the change?” she forced a gulp down. “It’s just…so sudden.”

“ Perspective ,” he said. “What happened at the iceberg, I realized… It can all end in an instant. I don’t want to live or die with regrets.”

Rangi changed a glance at Yun, he stared head on at her. No humor could be seen on his face. Something in his demeanor, something made it feel like they were two animals about to go at each other.

“Perspective?” she questioned.

“Perspective,” he clarified with a nod.

The poem. It wasn’t just the iceberg, Kyoshi’s poem had also influenced Yun as well. It had lit a metaphorical fire under both their asses.

Yun tapped his foot on the ground once. The motion was familiar.

Rangi’s eyes widened in realization, remembering the day she was willing to beg him to keep Kyoshi from going with them. No, not just that. Could it be… could he have seen that they were getting closer since the iceberg? How Rangi was becoming more bold, and Kyoshi was accepting each action? Was Rangi’s reckless behavior her own undoing?

Yun closed his eyes, and inhaled. Then he cocked his head to the side and gave Rangi a lopsided smile. The same one her mother said Avatar Kuruk had. 

It made her sick.

“So what are you going to do about it, Rangi?”

Rangi widened her eyes at him. “What?”

“Are you just going to stand there and let me take her?” Rangi's response was to stand stock still. She was still in shock. “Because when we get back to Yokoya, I’m going to carry out my plan. I’m not going to wait .”

“What if she says no?” Rangi asked hurriedly.

“She might,” Yun nodded. “But then again, I am the Avatar . Not many people want to say no to me.”

Rangi’s heart quickened. Was Kyoshi really so shallow she’d only be with Yun because of his status? No. No she wasn’t. Either Yun didn’t understand Kyoshi as well as he thought…..or this was a different kind of threat. Rangi could only hope it was the former.

Rangi turned to him, shoulders square now. “What if, what if she says no because she’s with me?”

Yun cracked his neck side to side. “Then I guess it’s my loss?” He stared Rangi down. “Or, I’ll steal her. Guess we’ll see.”

He smiled at her one last time, and clapped a hand on her shoulder. “Ah, too bad we’re stuck here for a few more days. Apparently it’s supposed to storm.”

He released his hand off her shoulder, and walked off. Leaving Rangi to pick up the pieces of her falling world.

No. No no no no! She’d just gotten a light of hope that Kyoshi might like her back! The world couldn’t do this to her! Not now…. Especially when she almost lost her once already!

Rangi stumbled to a nearby wall, her head in her hand, and started hyperventilating. 

She was happy to be by Kyoshi’s side but… not if Yun took Kyoshi from Rangi. She wouldn’t be able to withstand it. 

All that grandstanding of just wanting to be by Kyoshi’s side. Saying she didn’t need anything from Kyoshi. It wasn’t the full truth. Only a part of her thought that. 

Rangi wasn’t a wholly selfless person, she was also selfish. She wanted Kyoshi, all of her. She didn’t want to share with anyone. She wanted Kyoshi to only look at her. 

If she didn’t then….then she…. She was sure she wouldn’t be able to handle the heartbreak.

Rangi pulled away from the wall, taking big gulps of air. She knew what she had to do. And she realized she may have to burn some bridges just to do it.

Rangi needed to find her mother.

_______

Rangi bobbed and weaved through the bodies in the party, looking for a familiar face. She found her mother, leaning against the wall, attempting to ignore more nobles asking for her hand. 

Rangi ran right up to her, not caring about who she might’ve snubbed.

“Mother!” Rangi said.

Hei-Ran looked up from the floor she had been preoccupied with staring at, and her eyes widened. She shoved her wineglass into some noble’s hands and walked over to meet her daughter. “Rangi, what on earth–”

“I need to talk to you, now !” Rangi said in a rushed whisper.

Hei-Ran nodded, and the two Fire Nationals hurried to a private room. As soon as the last one entered through the door, Hei-Ran turned and shut it tight. Then whirled over to her daughter.

“Rangi, what is going on? Did something happen?” The sternness of her voice belied the softness that was resting just underneath. 

“Mother, I need you to watch Yun for me,” she pleaded with urgency.

Hei-Ran visibly relaxed. “Is that all?” She let out a sigh and pinched the bridge of her nose. “If that was it, there was no need for the theatrics. Yes, I can do that. For how long–”

“Until you go back to Yokoya.”

Hei-Ran stiffened. Rangi knew the older woman probably only assumed she’d take on the role for maybe a few hours at most. Not days . She was basically asking to abandon her duties, and at a public event no less. 

Hei-Ran finally looked up at her daughter. Stern wariness in her eyes. “Do you understand what that means ?”

Yes, her reputation would take a hit. The Masters at the mansion would look down on her even more. It’d be harder to rise up the ranks with this kind of mark on her record. But Rangi didn’t care, there was something more precious at stake.

“Yes,” she responded with hardened resolve.

“And you’re willing to take that risk and responsibility?”

“Absolutely.”

“Can you at least tell me why ?”

No she couldn’t. Not the whole truth at least. “There’s something I must attend to back at the mansion, it cannot wait any longer.”

Hei-Ran looked away, her face wavering with different emotions. Finally it steeled, in the same fashion she would use to scold the children at the academy. Panic shot through Rangi.

“Mother! I need to go back to the mansion, now , it’s an emergency!”

If Hei-Ran said ‘no,’ then….then…. Rangi would just run off! She was ready to disobey her own mother if she had to! She didn’t care. She needed to–

“Go,” Hei-Ran said, a look of stern fire in her eyes. 

“W–what?” Rangi looked at her in surprise. Her mother was allowing her to be dismissed from her duties? Why?  

“Why are you asking questions? Is it not important? Go! Now!” Hei-Ran waved Rangi off. “And take the ostrich horse with the blue reins, it’s the fastest. Go now and you might only have to endure the storm for half the journey!”

Relief swelled through Rangi, and before she ran off, she hugged her mother tightly. “Thank you…”

And then she bolted out the door to the stables.

______

Rangi stumbled through the mansion in the dead of night. Tired, drenched, caked with mud. She’d laugh at how Kyoshi would probably scold her tomorrow for making such a mess, but she was so raw from the ride over she couldn’t process any humor at the moment.

Yun’s words hung over her being like a sword ready to fall. There was no time for humor. There was almost no time at all. Rangi had to act . 

She reached Kyoshi’s door, and then looked at herself. She tried to smooth her hair, and readjust her waterlogged dress. But it was in no way presentable. She could only hope Kyoshi would take her as she was, mess and all.

She began rapping at the door, it took awhile before Kyoshi came and answered it. The taller girl was in her night clothes, her night robe barely on and hugging her body. Rangi had seen Kyoshi in a similar state a few weeks earlier, when she’d delivered the gloves she’d had custom ordered for Kyoshi. The sight made her breathless then, and it made her breathless now.

“Rangi?!” Kyoshi said aghast, a worried expression permanently set on her face. 

Rangi couldn’t hold back. She lunged at Kyoshi, tackled the taller girl through the door, burrowed her face into the girl’s chest, and wept.

Rangi could hear the sound of a door closing, and then Kyoshi’s warm and strong arm on her back. Rangi gasped as Kyoshi’s soft hand touched Rangi’s exposed back. It was like a balm to the raw wound of her nerves.

She felt Kyoshi guide her body, and she complied. 

“Rangi, what happened?! Is everything alright?” Kyoshi asked, and Rangi felt the feeling of cloth fall around her shoulders. Kyoshi had gotten her a towel. Thoughtful as always.

“No,” Rangi whispered through gaps in her cries. “I mean, yes. Everyone else is alright but… I’m not .”

She wouldn't be fine. Not until she made her feelings known…. Then the next hurdle would be if Kyoshi accepted them.

But it was so hard. Now that she was at that moment, she didn't know what to say. How to say it. She had so much time, the entire long ride over here. Hell, not even that, she’d had two years to mull over this. But she still couldn’t get her words formed, let alone out .

She felt Kyoshi wrapped her arms around her, trying to comfort her. It brought Rangi comfort…and worry. Stability, yet instability at the same time.

“Talk to me, what happened?” Kyoshi whispered in her ear. 

Rangi’s resolve started to come undone. What was there to say? “I wanted to beat Yun to a confession!” Yes, such a selfish declaration would surely win over Kyoshi's heart. 

“I know this is sudden and it's the middle of the night and I just barged my way into your room… But I'm in love with you and have been for the past two years! Take me!”

It was the truth, but it sounded pathetic. She wanted to confess to Kyoshi in the right way. But she'd run out of time and options. She didn't know what or how to do it. So she just sobbed into the other girl's chest.

Kyoshi hugged her harder, and Rangi gasped from both the comfort and closeness. If she wasn't such a mess she would be enjoying this so much. 

“Are you hurt?”

No, not in the physical sense. Save for a shallow cut she may need to treat. 

“No,” Rangi forced out. She realized her behavior was worrying her friend. 

She felt Kyoshi's shoulders untense, but not by much. “Then, what’s the matter?”

That I love you and you don't know it.

“Oh, Kyoshi …” Rangi lifted her head from Kyoshi’s chest, to nuzzle into the crook of Kyoshi’s neck. 

She felt Kyoshi react to her touch. Her shaking, her pulse quickening, her breathing becoming more ragged. 

Like flame to coal, it reignited Rangi's resolve in an instant.

“ Please… ” she begged. To Kyoshi. To herself. To the spirits. Whatever gave her the strength to do what was next.

Kyoshi gulped.“W–what do you need me to do?” she stuttered.

And like that, her spark caught like a wildfire. There was no going back. 

Damn it… Just… Damn it all!

“I can’t do this anymore,” Rangi whispered. She couldn't keep running. Waiting for the right time. Trying to find the right words. 

She was a girl of action. So she would show her love with that action.

She lifted herself away from Kyoshi, and took Kyoshi’s face in her hands. 

Kyoshi’s wide eyes stared right into Rangi’s tearful ones. 

“ Please , Kyoshi,” Rangi pleaded one final time, praying the girl she loved would accept her. Then she pulled Kyoshi’s face down and pressed their lips together. 

It was the most amazing feeling in the world. Her entire being felt like it was glowing, pulsating. A warmth radiated from Kyoshi that rivaled Rangi’s own inner fire, igniting her more. Fanning her flames. The best part? Kyoshi hadn't pulled away. There was nothing that could break Rangi from this moment.

Except for the sound of the towel hitting the floor. 

Strange. Kyoshi wasn't holding as tightly as she was earlier. In fact, Rangi couldn’t feel Kyoshi’s arms around her at all now. Rangi pulled herself out of her reverie, and opened her eyes. 

Rangi iced over by what she saw. Kyoshi, eyes screwed shut and still as a statue. She was…. She was… Petrified !

Petrified by the kiss. Petrified of… her ! Of Rangi !

Kyoshi was repulsed by her. She….she….

She was just withstanding Rangi. Like the earthbender she was. Like the Earth Kingdom citizen she was. Withstanding, persevering, waiting for the unpleasant thing to pass. Neutral jing.

Rangi took a step back and her hands flew to her mouth. As if it was a weapon that needed to be contained.

“I–I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that.” 

She'd been wrong about Kyoshi's feelings. She'd been wrong about everything . She…she caused that reaction from her friend. She had ruined it all.

She grabbed at her dizzying head and retreated backwards. She needed to leave Kyoshi's presence. She'd done enough damage. “I–I’m sorry, I should go–.”

Rangi turned and ran for the door. She couldn't bear to see Kyoshi's reaction anymore. 

She had just started opening the door when it slammed shut, and she could feel Kyoshi's body flushed behind her. Her arm extended over Rangi, keeping the door shut in place.

Of course. Rangi couldn't just run away from her act like that. She needed to face the consequences of her actions.

Rangi closed her eyes and stiffened, bracing herself for Kyoshi's rightful wrath. Kyoshi's body moved again, and wrapped her free arm around Rangi’s waist.

Rangi panted through in between held breaths. Unsure of what Kyoshi's next move would be.

Finally, Kyoshi spoke.

“Rangi, don’t go ,” Kyoshi said, leaning down to nuzzle her face into the crook of Rangi’s neck. 

Rangi let out a shaky and silent sob. Once, twice. Then finally, a shaky laugh of release escaped her lips, almost like a sigh. She couldn’t believe what she just heard.

She leaned into Kyoshi’s touch. If this was a cruel joke, she wanted to enjoy it for just a moment before it blew up in her face.

“I don’t want you to leave.”

Rangi turned her head as Kyoshi lifted hers. Rangi saw it, the same wanting in Kyoshi's eyes that she felt. It wasn’t a cruel joke the world was playing on her. She hadn’t been mistaken. Kyoshi…wanted her as much as she wanted Kyoshi.

She waited with baited breath, as Kyoshi finally kissed her back.

____

A/N: Fun fact! This is where I thought Rangi would like chill out. We'd move onto Arc 2 and everything would be gucci. :D But that wouldn't be fun now would it?

:3c (Sorry Rangi, you're just destined to spiral. u_u Be it with high stakes or low ones)

Second Fun Fact! This was my favorite chapter of the fic so far! (besides the one chapter in Arc 2 I jumped the gun on writing).

I really like exploring Hei-Ran and Rangi's strained relationship. And I wanted to explore a more...ummm....antagonistic relationship between Yun and Rangi. ;D

[presidenthades]

Is it difficult to get back into writing after two months away?

Yes!

(I thought about being cheeky and simply ending my answer here, but I’ll elaborate.)

There’s a saying I’ve seen other writers espouse: you write for yourself, but you post/publish for other people. Some writers have a lot of internal motivation that makes it possible for them to write and publish even if they never get a single comment. More power to them.

I am not one of those people. Like many writers, I love getting comments and feedback. When I’m on a consistent writing and posting schedule, I usually get a steady stream of comments that fuel me to keep writing, and readers keep getting chapters. It’s a virtuous cycle.

I knew that when I took my hiatus, the comments would decrease a lot. Statistically, very few readers leave comments at all, and even fewer readers comment on a fic that hasn’t been updated recently. (PSA: AO3 is not social media, it is an archive. It is more than OK to leave comments, no matter when a fic was updated or completed!)

It makes sense, right? I’m not posting chapters, so I don’t get comments. The virtuous cycle stops. Boo!

But I needed to take a hiatus to a) focus on Real Life obligations and b) decompress from writing. If you’ve been following my HOTD fics for a while, you may notice that I try to take a month-long break whenever I finish a longfic. Since I was posting Compromise and Lavender concurrently, my usual break was delayed, which meant the stress built up a lot more.

So I take a break from writing to focus on other things. Those other things come and go, and suddenly, I’ve become accustomed to a daily routine that doesn’t include fic writing. It can be difficult getting back in the habit of regularly writing. There are other hobbies and interests (like bookbinding and Comic Con) demanding my attention. I also had a lot of headaches the entirety of September, which didn’t help.

This is the part where a lot of writers who go on hiatus might make the hiatus indefinite. Once momentum stops, it’s hard to get going again. What helped me keep going were the people who did leave comments and send Tumblr Asks during the hiatus. Whenever I started thinking, “HOTD stopped airing, the fandom is going quiet, people probably aren’t interested in my fics anymore,” I would look at my most recent comments and Asks to remind myself I was wrong.

Even though I don’t answer every Tumblr Ask (I try to respond to every AO3 comment), ALL the Asks and comments positively contribute to my enthusiasm to keep writing this series. As long as I know there is an audience for these fics, I am motivated to continue writing and posting.

So yes, it is hard to get back into writing after a two month break. But comments, Asks, kudos, likes, reblogs, and general reader interaction make it a little easier.

[writtenonreceipts]

hey! I love your writing so much <3

I’m curious how you find / make time to write fanfic?

I’ve been on a long hiatus after realizing that I can’t rly find the time to write during college but now I’m wondering how to navigate it all after I graduate so… yeah. Any tips / advice?

Friend!! Hi!! How are you???

Oh my lands, its so good to see your username!!

<3<3<3 Thanks so much, you're too kind to me :(

Minor backstory because I can't stop talking: When I was in college, it never felt like I got much writing done. Really, the only original writing I did get done was when it related directly to a creative writing course I was taking. And by that point I'd already made the decision that I would be a published author. So, I made goals. I set aside time specifically during the day (and night) to write. I got to class early? Pulled up a document. I finished a reading or study session? Pulled up a document. It wasn't until I was enrolled in a few higher level/intense workshops that I was able to find a rhythm. I joined a critique group and for the last six (maybe seven?) years we've been meeting consistently sharing chapters of out work and giving feedback. I've learned so much and I still have a ways to go

Truth be told? I'm the worst. HA!

The biggest thing that I have learned to help me when I am trying to write, to meet a deadline, to see a change or improvement: goals. Give myself goals and a timeline. Especially out of college. You don't have as much pressure (some, but different types). And being out of college I've done my best to hold myself accountable for my writing and the progress I make on my stories. With my writing group, I have to have something ready, so that gets me writing.

I time myself and check word counts for a given period of time. Usually I do half hour to one hour writing sprints. I look at my project and think about what needs to happen in this scene and where I'm going with it as a general guide and then go for it! I look at my project as a whole and see where I want it to go. I try and get an idea of when I can reasonably have it finished.

It's so hard. I fail a lot of the time. But I keep trying. I surround myself with good people, good authors to follow (and many authors either have podcasts, tips and sites, books etc). I give myself grace. I try again.

I am nowhere near where I wanted to be. Am I disappointed? Yeah. Do I beat myself up? Constantly. But I try again. It takes practice to meet goals. It takes practice to love yourself. But you can do it!

You don't have to write thousands of words a day. YOU DO NOT. Wasn't it Terry Prachett who only wrote like 300 a day? If you find extra time to write extra? Go for it! But don't hold yourself to a standard that is not feasible for you and where you are. You do what works for you. Always.

I rambled tooooo much. SORRY. IDK what came over me. Did any of that help??

[bronx-bomber87]

Happy Saturday :) We have reached S2 Finale. I can’t believe we are here already. Feels like I just started on S2. This has really helped me get through this unusually long hiatus. Fun we can do this together. Thank you all for lovely likes, comments, and re-blogs on last one. I had a lot of fun writing it. Not a ton of Chenford in this one sadly.

So it'll be a lot shorter than our content heavy ones. It is closing an important chapter for Tim though which is important to go over. This is a fairly Nolan forward ep and its good but low Chenford. It’s time to close out this season so let’s get started.

2x20 The Hunt

We start off with our couple just starting their day. Tim confides in her about an informant he has a beat on. Love him confiding in her about this BTW. They are a slow burn with a lot of little pay offs like this we get to see along the way. I love it. Tim tells her about vice having an informant for the last 9 months in the Derain organization. A man named Cisco. Lucy gets excited cause means that he could give them Serj. A much needed win after losing the weapon that killed Chris. They don't have much on him right now. So this would be huge if they could track him down. I love how intently she listens to him knowing him sharing this is a huge show of trust.

Although this is a great lead for them Tim is worried he’s been killed. Says he hasn’t replied to a meet since yesterday. Before we continue I must note I will forever and ALWAYS love him opening doors for her. Like second nature habit with him. He never allows himself to go first. Makes my shipper heart happy. Chivalry is sexy af with Tim Bradford. He shows that constantly with her. I've said before it's the little things that make me happy. I also love them having their own secret op. I need more of this in S6. They’re going to try and track down this informant and see if they can find out where he’s hiding if he's not dead.

Their secret op is going to start with trying to see if he can be found at his normal places. Tim mentions checking their new sex trade businesses and a karaoke bar. Lucy makes a joke how she can’t believe a karaoke bar could be a front for a brothel. Tim and his jaded cop ways saying it’s LA of course it could be haha I mean where’s the lie? Ha That anywhere in this city is a cover for a brothel. Her reply and facial expression is priceless LOL

Lucy mentions it’s Rachel’s last night. Asking if Tim has anything planned? Tim doesn’t say much just dinner and taking her to airport. He is being very detached about the whole thing. Defaulting a little to his old ways with this. Lucy can’t help herself and give him a hard time about the airport though. Let’s note the smile he’s flashing in the first gif when she’s teasing him. You know that man loves it when she does.

She also calls him out on his ‘visiting’ plans. Clearly Rachel told her Tim would come see her after she moves. Tim continues his further detachment. Says no that he’s just going to be straight with her. Rip that emotional bandaid off about this. Insisting just like he did in 2x18 that long distance doesn’t work. (Also this scene continues my love of their height difference. These shots are my fav. I must comment on them every time ha)

Lucy can't help herself in trying to help him see it could work. She hates him having to go through this. The look on her face says it all. She hates the idea of him just giving up. That continued guilt of setting them up and watching it fall apart. Tim is decided and says no it’s not going to and he doesn’t see it happening at trying. Now we all know if it was Lucy he would wait for her. Make the effort. Show her she’s worth that effort. But this is Rachel and she is not that person for him.

Hell it’s why in 5x08 when Tim tells Lucy ‘She deserves someone who’s worth the effort’ was him saying she would be for him. That he would be willing to make ANY effort for her. Rachel was not that for him and this just shows in this episode. She helped him heal a lot post-Isabel but not deep enough of a connection for that kind of effort. Lucy finishes their convo out with saying she’s going to miss Rachel. Tim cracks a little emotionally and says me too…

They’ve reached one of the spots they’re checking for Cisco. Once again Tim opens the door for her. She even says Thank you *be still my heart* I love these two so much. They use the guise of their ABC’s to check out this place. To be able to get eyes on everyone there if possible by doing this. The lady who runs this place is a real peach. Tells them to kiss her ass. That she follows the rules. Even the dumb ones. Tim doesn't care about her attitude they are there for a reason.

They have everyone step out into the hallway. Clearly seeing if they can get eyes on Cisco if he's there. This is a pretty slick way of getting him to show himself. To be able to get to him without exposing the real purpose of their visit. I love watching them work in the field for this reason. They are a well oiled machine at this point. Very fun to watch them in action. I will say it is sexy to watch Tim dissect this business with his cop eyes. Walking through the hallway as Lucy follows his lead. Ready to follow any play he has in mind. Lucy finds the one door still shut. Alerts Tim and he knocks on the door to get them to come out. That’s where they find Cisco thankfully.

Tim pretends he is coping an attitude with him and shoves him back into the room. He "searches" him so they can talk. Cisco says after the shooting everyone's phones were taken. So Tim gets him a new phone since his old one was taken. Slips it into his pocket during his "search' Tells him to text him Serj’s location. Not gonna lie love watching him in this mode. 'Take no shit from anyone' mode right now. He’s already suppressing how he’s feeling about Rachel leaving so he’s a little pent up. It’s coming out here just a bit. Tim ends their convo and says he’s clean to the hallway of people. Then he and Lucy leave having gotten what they came for.

Rachel calls Tim expecting him to be at the station. She’s on speakerphone so Lucy can hear everything. He says the day got away from him he can be back in 20 minutes. Clearly having forgotten the time for their dinner. Lucy interrupts and says Cisco texted them a location. You can see the regret on his face he apologizes he won’t make it now. Rachel is also devastated he can’t make it. He apologizes profusely.

She tells him she’ll text him when she lands…In New York…Poor Tim looks so sad he’s disappointed her. He’s such a loyal person to not come through for someone is going to weigh on him. Before Lucy can say a word he says ‘it’s better this way’ her face though... Lucy has learned when to say something and when not to. This is one of those times. Doesn't say a word let's him be. She’s hurting for him though. It's written all over his face how upset he is about this. Not the way he wanted them to end.

Luckily they’re able to get to converge on Serj quickly and arrest him. Tim is able to catch her before she leaves. This is a huge moment for growth for him believe it or not. Instead of just shunting away his feelings about her leaving. (Which he was doing this entire ep and ever since she announced she was leaving really) And ignoring everything their relationship was for him he faces it. Tim's way of showing her this relationship meant a lot to him. Honestly It did she was his first real one since his divorce. It was an important chapter for him. I’ve said it all season. I am grateful to Rachel. To everything she helped him heal over.

Showing him he could open up again and have a healthy relationship. One with the possibility of a deep future. She helped heal that portion of himself. Show him he was capable of it. Which ultimately opened him up for Lucy in the future. Tim tells her he’s willing to actually give this long distance thing a go. He can't predict the future but wants to try. Now we all know they don’t make it past this episode. Because she was not his person. The growth is him pushing past his usual M.O. of suppression.

By facing what he was feeling and trying to make it work instead of being stubborn and not even trying. Lucy set them up because she wanted him to get past his S1 trauma. To push past all the crap Isabel dragged him through last season. To see him happy. That he deserved that so much in her opinion. So I’ll always be grateful for the role Rachel played in his life. It helped him eventually get to where he could be with Lucy. After this episode this chapter with her is now closed. I would get a kick out of her finding out about them now. Be interesting what she would say. Alrighty that’s all she wrote for s2 finale.

~~~~~

Side Notes-Non Chenford

Not a ton of chenford the episode mainly focus on John and his terrible decision making skills LOL I would've done things so differently than he did my god. Pained me to watch his terrible choices through out the episode.

Only good thing he does is go to Roslyn for insight. But the rest I would've done so differently. Harper put her career on the line for him and he just did most of it with out her. Loved Armstrong saying 'You know your problem John? You think you're better than people.' He was a dirty cop but damn if that isn't true LOL

Kills me every time to watch him tear apart that beautiful home looking for the evidence though.

Unreal we’re done with s2. Thank you to everyone who’s been with me since the pilot, to the newer ones who’ve joined me in s2, I appreciate you all more than I can say. The likes/comments/reblogs are the best. I shall see you in s3 :)

[chrysanthemumgames]

i've been having an itch to write an if game, do you have any tips? i feel like its a very bad idea to jump straight in head first yk?

Honestly, anon, that very much depends on the type of writer you are. I know people who do everything they do by the seat of their pants. The upside is, they can get into it really quickly. The downside is, sometimes you hit a wall and have to figure your way past it, which can be a struggle, and is where a lot of people who take that approach give up and leave their story incomplete. (Of course, hitting a wall can happen to anyone, but it's more likely to happen to pantsers, the delightful 'technical term' for such a style of writing.)

Then there are planners, who write outlines, and sometimes character sheets and do at least some worldbuilding on the side and generally have things much more set up and laid out in advance before they go. Upside to this is, well, a lot of the work is actually already done. Downside is... in my experience I've found that if I plan too much, the actual writing can feel a bit more like a chore, or I end up wanting to change things, or I've dithered too much time on worldbuilding and now I just kind of want to think about something else.

For me, personally, the right balance is to begin with a basic sense of what happens in the story; at least a couple-sentence summary for each chapter, so I know what events need to be covered. Then, as I go, I begin by outlining the chapter with its code (though this sometimes leaves big gaps like [they talk about dream stuff here]), and then go through and fill that in from beginning to end. This allows the particulars of character interaction and even how things happen to still surprise me a bit, which makes it much more fun for me.

What works for you probably won't be exactly the same as what works for me. If you have previous writing experience, definitely draw on that to inform your approach. Remember that an IF is a long term project, and that there just will be times when you're not excited to write. And, to say something perhaps a little controversial: if what you want to do is write an IF, you don't have to write at those times. If what you want is to write and finish and publish an IF... you probably do. It is very, very hard to come back to a project after a 'hiatus,' and I say this as someone who has actually done so, though the thing was never on hiatus in my head, just in terms of physically getting written.

That's the project I've been working on since... I dunno, 2016 or something. FoA, where I have not allowed myself to stop, even if my daily progress is almost nothing, is the same amount of words and I've been writing it for two and a half years.

Of course, all this is just my experience. I'm sure you'd get as many different answers about that as people you could ask. Either way, it's a pretty big commitment, and if you're new to writing or have to learn code simultaneously or just aren't sure you're going to like it, I'd try a small project first if you can, just to give yourself a feel for it.

I'm... actually not sure if you meant this sort of tip or something more to do with characters or story, so I took a guess. If I'm wrong, please let me know; I'm sure I can talk way too much about that stuff also.

Of course, what it ultimately comes down to is this: do you want to write an IF game? If you do, write it. If you don't, no harm no foul! Not every project needs to be completed or even shared. If it's a story you want to write, then you absolutely should. Writing, as an activity, is good for the soul, and I firmly believe that.

[nouklea]

Fic Tag Game!

I was tagged by @beri-allen, @writerrose1998, @cosmic-lullaby and @wileyonce. Thanks! <3

20 questions below the cut:

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

16

2. What’s your AO3 word count?

136,228

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Wednesday for now. I used to write for StarWars (see question 12) but no traces remains from that era.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Woe of Wrath

I'm on my Way

Variations on a Main Theme - 1

A Second Chance for a First Impression

Five Minutes Earlier

5. Do you respond to comments?

As much as possible. Usually I respond to every comment, even if it's just to say a quick Thank You. The only fic on which I haven't done that is Woe of Wrath, if fell into limbo and I have a hard time focusing on it right now. And I feel kind of weird to answer comments after several months of silence, but the more I wait the weirder it gets...

6. What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Doomed is a Dead Dove Do Not Eat fic. The entire text is dark, including the ending.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I will go with Double-Date With Dad. Farewell Xavier Thorpe ends on a really good note too (if you are not a fan of Xavier).

8. Do you get hate on fics?

It never happened. Fingers crossed.

9. Do you write smut? What kind?

I try. I find it difficult for two reasons. First, it's tough to avoid clichés. When you read smut, you end up noticing some general patterns, and I do my best to stay away from those. Second, I'm not a fan of some popular kinks, for instance I can't stand the expression "good girl", and therefore I'm not interested in writing it, even if I keep reading authors that use them. Some people probably think my smut fics are boring, too soft, too ordinary. But I don't care (yeah, I do, but shh).

10. Do you write cross-overs?

No. And I have a really hard time reading cross-overs too. And I hate cross-overs in tv shows. Complete respect to authors, however. It's just not my thing.

11. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No. I guess I could translate my own fics in French since it's my native language, but for now I don't see any reason to do so.

12. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

A long time ago in a galaxy far far away, I did. It was a weird kind of toxic partnership. The other person was responsible for writing the general plot (because my ideas weren't good enough), and I had to turn every page he wrote into a three-pages long section, adding descriptions and filling the blanks. And correct the spelling and grammar, and add better vocabulary...

13. What WIP would you like to finish but doubt you ever will?

I hope I will finish every WIP I currently have, even if they tend to pile up (WIP bunnies...). My biggest challenge is to go back to Woe of Wrath. It is my first fic, it is a multi-chapter one, and I started to write it just to let the steam out after a twenty-years-long writing hiatus, so the outline was not super clear, there are many plot holes I try to fix, the sentences and vocabulary are bad... I know where I want to take the story and how it ends, but it's hard not to want to start over.

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

For fanfics I'll say Weyler because it's the only thing I've ever written. Now besides that... For those who read Guy Gavriel Kay, I'm forever bound to the Diarmuid/Sharra ship, followed by Paul/Jaelle. Quite fond of the Clary/Jace ship in The Mortal Instruments (The books! Don't talk to me about the movie or the tv show!)

15. What are your writing strengths?

No damn idea. I've been asking myself the same question since I was thirteen.

16. What are your writing weaknesses?

Probably not being able to answer question 15. Imposter syndrome.

17. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

In French it's not a problem, of course. I've done it in Impulsion. I have studied Latin for two years in highschool so I felt comfortable enough to translate a few sentences in Woe of Wrath. For other languages, I would only do so if I can find a beta reader fluent in this specific language to correct the grammar. I cringe everytime I read English fics with badly written French dialogs, it makes me loose the focus on the story (Same for tv shows, by the way. Come on, you have 2 millions $ to produce an episode and you can't find someone to double-check your French sentence?). It's really hard for me not to comment with a correction (AO3 etiquette: do not provide corrections unless the author specifically asked for it). I don't want to inflict that on my readers by butchering their native language.

18. First fandom you wrote for?

Star Wars. It was a long time ago (in a galaxy far far away), when there were only three movies and a few books (Timothy Zahn forever!). And for those who wonder how old I am, I used to write with WordPerfect, DOS version (it was the pre-Windows era). It had a blue background (terrible for the eyes) and some keycodes you had to use to change the font to bold or italics. Since you can't visualize anything in DOS (it's not a wysiwyg), it used colors, so you had to remember what it meant (yellow letters meant italics...). And I used to save those texts on a floppy my mom took to her office to print.

19. Favorite fic you’ve ever written?

It's not a popular one, but I really like Monologue for a Hyde. I like the tone. Pretty happy with Fuck Me Once Shame on You, Fuck Me Twice Shame on Me, too.

20. What fic would you want to rewrite one day?

Woe of Wrath without a doubt. With a proper plan, and a lot of plot holes avoided (that damn cellphone...)

I will tag the Death Metal and Glitter Club members whose Tumblr ids I know, aka @anotherbluesunday, @tastethesetears, @darling-gemini, @darlingfuego,

As well as @broken-everlark, @persephoneed, @bithablu, @allergictocolor and @insomniac1994.

[fantastic-wiles]

hiii! i love ur writing, ur fics never fail to make me smile. tbh i enjoy basically everything you post <33 (im kind of a damian fanatic lolll) i just wanted to ask what you think of the fanfic "your curse in reverse" by BattleAngel, I recently read it and i think the concept is pretty interesting and i havent seen many fics exploring it. The dynamics and drama honestly got me on the edge of my seat lol, im just glad there was an happy ending :D

I think it's interesting too, not because of the concept, but because of the way Jason was written. It was a different take on him that I hadn't seen before. I was mostly paying attention to how Jason was behaving. I think he really outshined everyone else with his character, Damian included. I wonder how he would act after the ending, if the story had been extended. Speaking of the ending, I thought it was great. Writing short stories isn't easy, especially when you want to compile everything into only a few chapters. They can be left unsatisfying, but I think this fic executes the opposite perfectly.

So I'm glad it got a happy ending too. I have a hard time coping with tragic, loose endings. I tend to avoid those altogether. 😭😭

I like Jason as Damian's father figure, but realistically, I think they'd be terrible for each other. I just like to live in delulu land and make them work in my fics 😂 My Red Pup series specifically comes to mind. I also recall an AU I read not too long ago with a similar concept, and it was very cute. Jason was Damian's dad, but he forgot about it because of memory alteration.

Also, does anyone know what happened to the fic that went on hiatus that was about Jason trying to figure out if he was Damians biological father or not? I cant find it. It was terribly cute and very funny. Eapecially about Dick being Damian's tooth fairy.