#was going for a time loop thing in my 9 words does that read

[formosusiniquis]

what if i said multiples of 5 for the writing asks 👀

What if you did say that? Most of them are below the cut cause I don't know when to shut up 💕

and here are the writing asks for anyone else who wants to send some

5. What's a tag you never want to use for your works even when it applies?

Angst, like just the straight up angst tag for some reason I'm worried is going to deter people from reading so I end up softening it with something else instead. So it's always fluff and angst or angst with a happy ending.

10. Top three favourite fic tropes.

Enemies to lovers, Soulmates, Fake Dating - this was the hardest one to answer. It's like getting asked what your favorite book is and you don't remember how to read or what books look like.

15. What's your favourite plotless fic you have written?

This describes half of my catalog, plot I do not know her it is only vibes.

I'm gonna go with the bells, the joy (together in darkness) my Stobin hivemind fic which is plotless in the sense that it's more of an exploration of new Stobin unity and what a hivemind with humans would even look like. And any time I get to write Steve and Robin I have a good time

20. Do you work on a single project or many at the same time? How does that work for you?

Many at the same time, it does not work for me but it is what I do all the same. My writing tracker (where everything goes once more than 10 words have been written on a project) has 33 entries currently from the last year or so that are unfinished and in varying stages of progress. But if I start something and don't finish it immediately esp one shots they tend to get abandoned on the pile.

At least until they're lucky enough to grab my attention on a procrastination re-read and I finish them in one sitting (looking at you have your cake)

25. Is writing the whole thing beforehand better or worse than writing it as you go?

For me personally, I have unfortunately realized I have to have the whole thing or almost the whole thing completely written beforehand. I think I may be used to be able to publish as I wrote (like back in high school when I was writing The Mentalist stuff on ff.net under a pseud none of you will ever find). But with my chronic pick it up and abandon it once i'm bored disease I'm just to bad about actually finishing stuff. (RIP mi media naranja some day I will at least post the other chapters I have written that I've felt too bad about posting since it's been so long. but also i still want to finish you)

30. Describe a fic that almost happened, but then it didn't.

I hate saying it didn't happen, because if it's a Wip in my folder there's always a chance I'll finish it one of these days. And I'm so one track minded that I rarely make massive changes to fics once I start them that drastically alter the plot from what they could have been.

That said it's been so long since I've written anything for Vandal that I feel pretty safe describing this Wip that will possibly never see the light of day.

It was one of those fics where the title comes to you first, y'know. So it was going to be called intricate rituals and it was a soulmate and magic au, convoluted already I know, where soulmates amplify your natural abilities through proximity and touch. Gabi has found hers in Jenna and Sam is a little upset about it. So he performs an ~intricate ritual~ that's supposed to bring his soulmate to him. This is of course where Peter comes in and they bond interpersonally but never touch because of character anxieties and social taboos so they don't realize they're soulmates for ages. There was probably also going to be a miscommunication element where they've touched but not touched like a hand through a shirt not counting it has to be skin on skin contact.

35. Thoughts on writing challenges/contests.

I enjoy them! I always end up trying (and usually failing) nanowrimo every year. I've participated in both a big bang and reverse bang now, and am currently white knuckling my way through this year's steddie bang. I like a challenge to get more creative and a deadline and accountability to actually finish something with some plot.

40. Write a 9-word fic.

Eyes met for a first time, Steve's first time.

[rageserenity]

It's 2024. Are you still thinking about movieverse!Cherik? Because I am.

For the past several months, there's only been a very slow trickle of posts/fics in the xmcu cherik tag. Let's try to breathe some life back into this incredible pairing!

With one clear winner of my poll, here's thirty prompts for the thirty days of April. (This is a super chill, laid-back event---do these in any order, interpret them as loosely as you like! Create in any medium! Fic, art, gifs, meta, incoherent screaming about the otp…all winners in my book.)

The only rule here is to cherik too close to the sun. Alright. Here are the prompts.

Mutual Pining

Doesn't really even need elaboration! Write that horrifically slow slow-burn. Gif every time McAvoy made insane fuck me eyes on screen. Make a playlist of songs about impossible love.

2. Alternate Meetings

There are endless quotes about how these two complete each other in a way no one they'd met before or after ever did. How else could they have met?

3. Erik Has A Telepathy Kink

This is basically canon. Let my boy get freaky!

4. Canon Fix-It

All the times Fox fucked it up. There are endless options.

5. Hurt/Comfort

Put them in that Situation. Put them in that Blender. Break them apart and put them back together ❤️‍🩹

6. Canon Compliant

Draw that missing scene! Gif your favourite cherik moment!

7. Beach Divorce

Make it worse. Make it better. Show it to us exactly how it was. Break it down in a 3,000 word meta. Go wild!

8. Domestics

Sometimes you just want to see them doing normal couple things. Erik put the gun down.

9. Found Family

The real heart of x-men!

10. Time Travel

There are SO many possibilities here. Stick them in a time loop. Give them a chance to change their past.

11. AU

Love a good AU!

12. There Is Only One Bed

Had to get this one in here. What better way to amp up the tension?

13. Genosha

By some miracle, cherik actually did end up together at the end of 2019s trash bag disaster Dark Phoenix. We aren’t making a big enough deal about this.

14. Declaration(s) of Love

Who says it first? How do they say it and when? Have they said it…without saying it?

15. Jealousy

Need I say more.

16. Reunion

These two have absolutely no chill.

17. Soulmates

Classic prompt, had to get this in here too.

18. The DOFP Aircraft

The TENSION here. Break it down for me. How does Charles feel about his injury? How does Erik feel about his injury?

19. Gay Mutant Road Trip

You already know.

20. Body Swap

SO fun when people have superpowers.

21. First Kiss

When? How? Who initiated it?

22. The Mansion

Mansion!content is a genre of its own.

23. Conflicting Ideology

Give me your theses. Who’s right? Can they ever reconcile completely? Write a fic where it drives them apart.

24. Sebastian Shaw

A trope unto himself.

25. Team As Matchmaker

They had to have known something was going on, didn’t they?

26. Cooking

Charles deserves a good meal. Also, imagine Erik using his powers in the kitchen. The sheer domesticity…

27. Hurt No Comfort

Plenty of scope with these two 🥲

28. Growing Old Together

Giving Sirs Ian Mckellan and Patrick Stewart their props as well!

29. Making Up

*pushes chess board across the table* sorry babe

30. Charles Xavier Did More For Mutants Than You'll Ever Know

Rising to each other’s defense. Only I can insult this man.

I will be tracking #revivecherik to reblog stuff! Here’s a fic collection for the same. Let’s get this ball rolling! Please feel free to send me an ask if you’ve got anything to say! And most importantly, let’s all have fun 😁

*I know a few of you preferred something like a gift exchange because of the commitment factor—I’m super down to organise a tiny one for the handful of us! If this promptathon doesn’t flop horribly, we can hopefully do a whole bunch of stuff :)

If you read this post all the way through, please reblog for reach! Thank you! Hoping you participate come April.

Shoutout to @inmymagnetoera for reaching out and helping with this!

[luckykiwiii101]

Not So Sugar&Spice And EVERYTHING Nice After All…

(Read till the end!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

I HATE to break it to you but, you’re going to have to get ready to accept that you’re NOT going to live the life of your dreams.

DROP those endless list of desires you’ve piled up over the years or months you’ve spent on this app.

Those years and months speak dangerous words, words that you finally have to hear. But it’s not my fault it’s come to it.

You’re NEVER going to get what you want. Save those vision boards for nap time, because that’s the closest you’ll ever get to seeing them. Yes, in your LITERAL dreams.

Ouch, that’s got to hurt.

“I’ll try to enter the void state again tonight.” Yes. Exactly. You’ll TRY again. And you’ll try again the night after that, and the night after that, and the night after that. And it will NEVER end. You’ve been at it for a while now.

“I’ll try THIS method tonight.” Yeah, and you’ll be looking for a new method by tomorrow. And so on, and so on, and so on.

Same goes for your manifestations.

“I’ll persist later!!!” Yes. Exactly. You’ll persist “later.” Later as in, next week? next month? next Year? Seconds turn into minutes, minutes turn into hours, hours turn into days, days turn into weeks, weeks turn into months, months turn in to years, and years turn into decades, and decades turn into small little segments of your tragic little life, spent doing what? Trying? Procrastinating? Sulking? Or living the life of your dreams? Call it Russian roulette, but YOU’RE the one holding the gun to your head.

The cycle never ends. The tragic thing is, it starts with an undisciplined, lazy & hopeless person. And ends with the same undisciplined, lazy & hopeless person.

Why?

Take a wild guess. You’ve tumbled onto tumblr, figured out that you could live the life of your dreams, and did NOTHING about it, other than TRY.

Well, trying was never the answer.

All you ever had to do was just change your PATHETIC assumptions, into more….ideal ones.

Changing your assumptions are COMPULSORY! Not to rain on your parade, but this is a rain parade from hell. Purely tragic. Maybe you’ll start applying to get out of this endless loop.

And sorry to crush your hopeless little dreams, but you aren’t going to get ANYWHERE if you don’t change them. You are NEVER going to enter the void state. You are NEVER going to be a master manifestor.

Looks like that 9-5 is going to land you on highway 95.

Do I have to run you over, leave you bedridden, not able to move a muscle, for you to just PERSIST. Because your mind is all it takes. Nobody asked you to run a marathon. Yet you’re actually running a marathon, in the opposite direction of your dreams.

Well, all I can say is, keep running.

At the end of the day, ACCEPTANCE is all that matters. Accept that you will never have anything you want, or just accept that you already have everything you want.

If this isn’t the wake up call that wakes you up!!! NOTHING will.

All I can say now is, if you’re still roaming this app by the end of February, I feel BAD for you. I’m not saying that’s how long it will take, but if it does, then yikes! And we all know one thing about Gossip Girl, I LOVE to wreak havoc. But you’re already doing that FOR me. So thank you, and goodbye. Now say goodbye back, along with your precious desires.

Too bad that your dreams are going to just stay as dreams.

Bye Bye.

(So not you, by the way):

[my-rose-tinted-glasses]

Happy New Year! I've been writing too many recaps lately so this will be brief. Anyway as usual, spoilers and opinions below, read at your own risk.

QL - Currently Watching

🇹🇭 Caged Again [9/10] - I don't think the poachers escaping and going after them again was necessary, and it certainly wasn't well executed.

🇯🇵 Call Me by No-Name [1/8] - I love the visuals, it's all very deliberate, with the lighting , the colours and all the lines. I'm intrigued about no-name and the scheherazade of it all. She must be running from something, or someone. Probably the second. 🇹🇭 Fourever You [15/16] - I don't know why I'm still watching. I really don't.

🇨🇳 I'll Turn Around This Time [1/6] - Very nice production, I really like the visuals. The first episode spanned 3 months so it was a lot but I think it was well paced. Time loop has begun so I expect a lot of heartache. Curious about this one. 🇯🇵Miseinen [9/10] - I think some of the changes they made from the source material really didn't help the story in the second half of the show. And this last episode just felt like they were more focused on continuing the visual metaphors than to actually move the story forward in a way that made sense. I'm kinda disappointed tbh.

🇹🇭 Ossan's Love Th [2/12] - I'm having so much fun. Smitten Mix is my favourite Mix, and I'm loving seeing Earth do something different. I actually like the Boss, I think the show is doing a good job balancing the more excentric side with the professional. That moment on the roof when he and Moo went from fighting to professional mode was well done.

🇹🇭 Perfect 10 Liners [12/24] - I adore them. It's the clueless puppy and the honest brooder and I'm enjoying it so much. They have very good chemistry and I can't wait for the boyfriend era. Just like with the first part, I'm really enjoying all the friends. And I love that I got so see PondSand again. They cute.

🇹🇭 Sangmin Dinneaw [3/8] - This show just went full on bonkers. I mean, this whole episode was crazy. I don't even know what to say. The hotel manager is not funny, I can't stand her. The mains are cute but I don't know if I'm gonna stick with this one.

🇹🇼 See Your Love [11/13] - It's like watching two shows in one. On one side we have the most endearing couple. They are completely in love with each other and helping each other through their individual issues. And the other...I don't really know what's happening.

🇹🇭 The Boy Next World [2/10] - Are there parallel worlds? Or is that the best thing Cir could come up with? And if he's lying, how does he know so much about Phu? Stalker? Has he been watching him since that day in high school? If he is from a parallel world, why doesn't he want to go back? Did something happen to the other Phu? So many questions...

🇹🇭 The Heart Killers [6/12] - I'm still watching quietly.

🇹🇭 ThamePo [4/12] - They are so charming and earnest. And Est is too beautiful for this world. More thoughts here.

🇯🇵 When It Rains, It Pours [1/7] - I'm very curious. I really like the setup, it feels grown up. Also I'm curious if the gay couple, is actually a couple, or if maybe they were once but now they stayed together for convenience or some other reason. We'll see.

🇹🇭 Your Sky [9/12] - That was some excellent kissing. These two continue to be too sweet for words. But I'm dreading whatever drama we're getting next week. The sides are a mess. Just talk, why is that so hard? They frustrate me. Also, not nearly enough Lee this episode.

QL - Finished

🇯🇵Love in the Air Koi - I appreciated the condensed stories, with less filler and the parallel kidnappings. And I preferred this version of the second couple.

🇯🇵 Love is a Poison - I adore them. Shiba is such a fascinating and original character. The actors did an incredible job, and I could watch them be battle husbands for 5 more seasons. Oh and the succulents. I will miss them most of all.

🇹🇭 My Stand-In - Final thoughts here.

🇹🇭 Spare Me Your Mercy - It's interesting in the context of euthanasia but not much else. The crime part of this was messy and the romance was practically not existent or otherwise not believable.

Others - Watched

🇹🇭High School Frenemy | 🇨🇳Fangs of Fortune | 🇯🇵Lion no Kakurega |🇰🇷 Squid Game 2

Coming in January: 05/01 - 🇹🇭 The Boy Next world 06/01 - 🇹🇭Ossan's Love Thailand 09/01 - 🇯🇵 When it Rains, It Pours - 🇯🇵 Call Me by No-Name 15/01 - 🇹🇼 Impression of Youth

I've finished my yearly recap by country. Korea | Thailand | Japan. I hope you all have the most wonderful year. As usual my ask box is open. 💜

[scribeforchrist-blog]

What I Really Needed Is Peace

MEMORY VERSE OF THE WEEK

=======================

+ James 4:3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your    passions

=======================

VERSE OF THE DAY

======================

+ Psalm 4:8 In peace I will lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.

=======================

** SAY THIS BEFORE YOU READ; HERE’S SOME CHRISTIAN TRUTHS **

I AM AT PEACE

I AM HEARING GOD

I AM WAITING ON GOD

I AM NOT ALONE

======================

READ TIME: 9 Minutes & 45 Seconds

======================

THOUGHTS:

======================

  I can remember thinking life was so simple because if I got my liquor on Friday. I had a good movie to watch; that was my life, something simple, nothing complicated, and a lot of times, I would think it couldn’t get better than that, and I had to learn that life could get better, as I gave my life to God he made me see that life was better with him and what I wanted to do was just be in peace.

We see our life as full with peace because we have all these things and money. We think we are at peace, but peace is only obtained when we trust God. We must trust in God for peace, but the peace he can give us is everlasting. I could remember thinking that weed and drinking could make me feel so good that nothing else is better, but as you smoke, you always have to smoke to keep your high; you always have to buy it, but the peace of God, I didn’t have to buy it , it came freely his word says “Freely you have received; freely give.” And he gives freely to us when we allow him to give.

 John 14:27 peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

  See, the world can only give us so much peace; the world can give us only what it has, which is so tiny; we can sit here and say we were in peace when we were sinning, but sinning only puts us in a loop of the same thing which is sin. Then we are back at the empty place, over and over again, but with God's peace, we don’t have to worry about it; we don’t have to worry about being in this endless loop of the same feeling, we just have to let go of the mindset that what we are doing is right to obtain peace, peace starts with us, we can allow our day to be messed up by something someone does, or we can ignore it and give it to God now when you first do this you're going to be irritated you're going to be frustrated. Still, as you do this more often, you learn this is what we are supposed to do all along.

 Psalm 4:8 In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.

  When we are in peace with God, we learn we can sleep in peace because we have the safety of the Lord. I'm not going to lie to you that peace is hard to get sometimes when thinking about finances, life, problems, and our love life, but our minds don’t know how to let go. I don’t care what you do; whatever you try to use for peace instead of God won't last. Still, when we depend on God, our life becomes easier, and sleep becomes easier because we are then leaning on God, and that is what peace is about: leaning on God for everything; peace is about knowing that we can get it from God, not from our things here on earth. There is so much out there to give us peace: weed, drinking, gummies, pornography, relationships; it all is there to help us gain something, but are we gaining something? No, we are opening doorways into our lives for spirits to attach themselves to us.

 Hebrews 12:29 for our “God is a consuming fire.

  We talked this week about the fire that God has that can consume anything that we have that’s not of him when we submit to him. His fire cleanses what in us that’s of the flesh, but this comes from time spent with God and building a stable relationship with him, not just talking to him a little at a time, but when we fully allow him to be our everything. Some might find this hard to do, as the Holy Spirit said above, because we have allowed things to be our peace, and we start to allow the Holy Spirit to be our friend, guide, and teacher; we begin to see what we are doing wrong.

 1 Samuel 1:15 Not so, my Lord,” Hannah replied, “I am a woman who is deeply troubled. I have not been drinking wine or beer; I was pouring out my soul to the Lord.

  It's different levels. I noticed that we get on with Christ; sometimes, we are on this unique level, pouring our souls into him. Then we have these levels where we don’t engage enough, but whatever season you are in, don’t give into the temptation to draw away but ; pour your heart out to him and allow him to hear you speak; allow him to hear what your feelings when I go to the prayer closet I often time am pouring my heart to him because I don’t want it to be ever a moment that I'm not showing him I do care. Yes, he knows, but when we let him know, we are doing this by doing what Hannah did, we are pouring ourselves out to him.

  Proverbs 1:5: let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance—

  We listen with our ears, but do we truly listen to the voice of God? We learned this week about how sometimes we don’t listen with our ears; we allow our habits and actions to tell us what to do, but every day, we should be listening to the voice of God, and when we do this, we will see and hear what the Holy Spirit is trying to say to us we can live our whole lives and never hear the voice of God. Still, it’s because we don’t try to sit quietly and wait for him; we allow what we think we heard to lead us. We can't allow that to happen; we must be sure that what we heard was of the Lord.

  Proverbs 27:19 As water reflects the face, so one’s life reflects the heart

  When. We look in the mirror, and it won't lie to us; what we see is what we see that’s like our heart; we learned this week that our heart reflects our true intention; it reflects what we are feeling and a lot of times, we might say no this isn’t my true feelings, but when we give ourselves to the Lord he can see into our true thoughts its nothing we can hide from him, we must be able to be real with God it's some people I can't be real with I can't even tell you countless of people that pretend to be something they’re not just to make someone happy, but we can't pretend with God.

  ***Today, we learn that we need Jesus to give us peace; a lot of times, we think other things will bring us the ultimate happiness, and it can money, people, and things can bring you happiness, but what I am looking for right now in my life is the joy I want the joy of the Lord I want the peace that doesn’t leave, I want that more than anything, we can sit and think how many times we have had pure happiness that didn’t end so quickly not so much but when we give ourselves to God we can guarantee what he gives us is real, and it's true that’s what I need

  1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.

But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.

We also discussed some of the topics of the week, and one of them was about how weak we can be and how God won't allow anything to take us over that he won't provide a way out of; we might say, oh, I got myself in a situation, but with every situation God has given us a way out he's just waiting for us to escape, that’s something I use to cry to the Lord about because I will be so overwhelmed. I say, Father, please help me, and he will because I asked him to; how many times have you asked him to help you? He might not help you the way you like. Still, he will at his timing and his speed; we must be patient with him; today, if you feel this way you go to him and say, Father, I need you to help me to be more like you, help me to call on you, it's okay to be in a place in your life where you need help. Still, we must be ready to allow him to free us from it and be willing to let go of it. ©Seer~ Prophetess Lee

======================

PRAYER

=====================

Heavenly Father, we thank you for today; we ask you to help us take what we learned this week and apply it to our lives. Father, forgive us if we have done anything to offend the Holy Spirit. Lord, give us strength today; help us to get peace from you and not from things here on earth; we love you, Father, and we ask you right now to tear down anything the enemy has for us and his plans. We rebuke it in Jesus' Name Amen

======================

REFERENCES

======================

+ 2 Thessalonians 3:16 Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all.

+ Isaiah 26:3 You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.

+ Matthew 5:9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God

 ======================

FURTHER READINGS

======================

 Proverbs 9

Judges 3

Job 12

Ecclesiastes 11

======================

[cal-daisies-and-briars]

💐💐💐💐💐💐💐💐💐💐(i’m sensing some sweetness coming! Good for May she deserves all the good things in this world!)

🦮🦮🦮🦮🦮🦮🦮🦮🦮🦮🦮(CRANBERRY IM SO GLAD YOURE OKAY! And i’m loving how this setup gives a new perspective to the classic Buckley-Diaz family vibes)

➰➰➰➰➰➰➰➰➰➰➰➰➰➰➰➰➰➰➰➰➰➰➰➰➰(BUDDIE TIME LOOP???? BUDDIE TIME LOOP!!!! Cal its insane how with three words you’ve already got me hooked - you’re so good with inexplicable magic as a plot device so I’m so excited for your take on this classic! I’m already sure it’s gonna be absolutely phenomenal!)

Thank you for all this my dear!! And if any of these stories are finished by the time you get to these please know that the odds are good that I’ve already read them and loved every single word!

I hope you have/had a nice weekend! Sending lots of love!!!

Okay! So since I have completed two of the fics here, what I will do is give you 63 (combined total) of my next Gotcha For Gaza prompt fic (which I might have combined with an idea from @exhuastedpigeon ), with no context once again. Here's the emoji: ☠️

---

One reads Chip N. Dales. The other, murder victim. What on earth? 

“Athena!” Eddie blurts. He sounds intoxicated. 

“Eddie?” She gawks at him. “I got a call about a possible death at this address? Please let it just be your name tag.”

“No, no,” he shakes his head. “That was me. I called 9-1-1. But I’m not really dead. It’s someone else.”

Definitely intoxicated, then. And, from his demeanor, it must not be one of his closest friends who has died. Athena feels a surge of relief. 

“Eddie, who is dead?” She asks calmly. 

Eddie winces. “It’s Captain Gerrard.”

Well. That certainly complicates things, doesn’t it?

▪️▪️▪️

Eddie, a little wobbly, leads Athena into the condo. 

“Is this Gerrard’s house?” She asks. 

“No. Tommy’s.”

“Tommy?” 

“You know? Buck’s boyfriend? Pilot?”

“No, I know who Tommy Kinnard is,” Athena replies. “Just… What are you all doing here with your fire captain?”

As far as she had heard, they all hated the man. And as far as Buck had said, Tommy’s history with his former captain was also complicated. 

Athena has a bad feeling about this. A very bad feeling about this. 

“Tommy hosted a murder mystery party,” Eddie says. “S’why I died.”

Oh boy.

Eddie leads Athena into a dining room with sleek, modern black furniture and some very strange wall art. Which is really not what Athena should be looking at. There are more pressing things. Like Captain Gerrard on the floor, swollen and lifeless, as Buck is hunched over him, performing CPR. Buck. The person with the least paramedic training in the room, other than perhaps Karen Wilson. Because for some reason, she is also here.

Athena takes inventory.

Gerrard. 

Buck.

Eddie. 

Tommy.

Hen.

Karen.

Chimney.

 Two men Athena has never seen in her life, but if she had to guess, are also firefighters. 

Everyone has name tags on. None of them say their real names. Characters, more likely.

---

75 for ➰ (OH YOU ARE TUNING IN HERE FOR A CRAZY PART!)

Tagging @steadfastsaturnsrings

---

He’s almost certain Eddie has never called him that before. Though he feels a soft familiarity accompany it. 

“How did you sleep?” He asks, voice low to avoid waking Christopher in the adjoining room.

Eddie’s lip twitches. 

“Good,” he answers. “I always sleep well beside you, Buck. You know that.”

Buck hums happily. 

“Same here.” Buck replies. “What’s the plan for today?”

“Well, whatever you want,” Eddie says. “I know you’ve got an itinerary.” 

Oh, does he ever. They’d done Morro Bay State Park and the nearby history museum yesterday. 

“So glad you’re on board,” Buck grins. “I’m thinking, estuary, let Chris see some sea otters, then head to the beach?” 

“Oh, and you have no interest in said sea otters?” Eddie teases.

“Okay, they’re cute, Eddie!” 

“I know they’re cute,” Eddie replies. “I’m certain you will both look cute gawking at them.”

“Well, then let’s get going,” Buck decides, rolling out of bed. “Let’s wake the kid!”

“You’re a brave man, Evan Buckley.”

“He loves me,” Buck waves off the concern. “More importantly, he loves sea otters.”

When Buck stands, stretching his arms above his head, he notices the old analog clock on the wall. Ugh, that thing. It looks like it’s from the 50s or 60s at least. Not at all fitting with the otherwise modern design of the hotel room. And it’s not even telling the right time. It reads 12:02. As if it’s just after midnight. Buck turns to look at the digital clock. 8:02 AM. Huh. 

“Was it telling the wrong time when we got here?” Buck asks.

Eddie coughs. Small at first, then growing. Like his throat is dry. 

Buck spins to face him. “You okay?”

“Fine. Fine.” Eddie insists. “What did you ask?”

“The clock.” Buck clarifies. “Was it telling the wrong time when we checked in?”

“I…” Eddie’s eyes dart around, like he’s trying to remember. He looks very confused. Too confused for the nature of the question. “I don’t know, Buck. I didn’t pay attention.”

“It’s weird,” Buck says. “It has the minute right. Just not the hour.”

“I think you might be too worried about a clock, Buck.”

“I’m not worried about it. I’m just curious about it. Do you think it’s for another time zone?”

“We can figure out the clock or we can enjoy our day,” Eddie says. “Starting with a big breakfast?”

Buck smirks. “You sure know how to get through to me.”

➰➰

Half an hour later, they’re sitting on a big patio eating a complimentary hotel breakfast. Chris looks mildly zombified, like he can’t believe he’s awake this early. Nevermind the fact he wakes up way earlier than this for school. Eddie is indulging in a very big breakfast - more than he’d normally go for, Buck thinks. He’s practically dumping sugar in his coffee. 

“You’re not going to sleep tonight,” Buck warns him. 

“Nah, don’t worry about it,” Eddie shrugs. 

[spybrarian]

Twenty Fanfic Writer Questions

Tagged by @storyspinner91 a while back but I was in Australia!

Who'd like to play? I've tagged a few people in the questions themselves, but maybe also... @onlyshestandsthere, @expensivefate, @jayenator565, @commanderbuffy @geek-and-nina if you like?

1. How many works do you have on Ao3? 

19, which feels *wild*! 19!!

2. What’s your total Ao3 word count? 

221,606

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Willow! Just Willow, these days. Tanthamore have my heart.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

one night at the start of the end of the world - my Shattered Sea one shot, tender tender Tanthamore, and there's only one bed, and it's the birthplace of pillbug Kit, and the fic where I worked out how much I liked writing them looking after each other. I'm glad this one is other people's favourite, too.

more than just survival - my multichapter canon story about Jade as she grows up, from when she was a kid in Tir Asleen to what happens after they return from the quest. Also a 5+1 (five times Kit made Jade blush and the one time Jade got her back).

The Pieces - kinkverse modern au short stories, a collaboration with @acre-of-wheat and @swashbucklery. I've written The Spider, The Mile High Club, The Maintenance and The Holes.

kiss me, kill me - my Bone Reaver Jade au, Jade busts into Tir Asleen to kidnap the princess and ends up getting got herself, in so many ways.

I scream at your chest for as long as I must - a post canon one shot, just after they return from the quest. Jade grieves for Ballantyne and Kit learns how to walk with her though her grief.

5. Do you respond to comments?

I like to!

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? 

I don't know - I can tell you my darkest premises (probably the very canon divergent the cellar door is an open throat aka the barbed wire, Kit Jade and Elora in a dungeon au) but even the ending of that one finishes with a glimmer of hope.

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

Huh, I think with most of my fics I tend to go for hopeful endings over happy ones. I think my most *satisfying*, hopeful ending I wrote was Samaras (an Architect of Catastrophe story) that I wrote as a present for @wigster07. I'm really, really pleased with that one. It's about rebuilding after tragedy.

8. Do you get hate on fics? 

I haven't, and am very grateful for that.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? 

Do I ever?! What kind? What *kind*?! The gay kind. Aside from the aforementioned kinkverse, I've also got a canon based smut series (my kissing fics!) called There's not a step we can take that does not bring us closer where Kit and Jade are inventing all the different ways they love being together.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written? and 11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Nope and nope!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? 

Also nope - although Juliette made [Podfic of] one night at the start of the end of the world where she read this fic GORGEOUSLY! It's there for download if you want to listen.

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

I've collaborated! I haven't done a true co-writing thing for this fandom but, there's the kinkverse series in which I'm in deep cohorts with Acre and J, the singing cowboy fic I wrote into J's (cowboy) take me away (tanthamore rdr2 au). I love them both - they push me in new directions, and the feedback loop of inspiration is an utter joy.

14. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

Tanthamore, hands down

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? 

I plan on finishing them all. Yes even Wyrm Jade/I'll be the sweetest thing to ever scare you, yes I know it's been a hot minute. I do have genuine plans to finish.

16. What are your writing strengths? 

Coming up with phrases/images that people remember, that's probably the part I get a kick out of the most. I think my pacing and character and words in general are all pretty good, but writing callbacks to earlier in the story, or getting the foreshadowing right, are two of my favourite things to play with.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I get repetitive - mostly I manage to catch this in edits, but ho boy do I know how to say the same thing over and over.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? 

I'm not fluent in anything other than English so I haven't used dialogue in other languages in any of my fics - unless you count the Ancient Angoran in 'kiss me kill me'.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Dragonball Z, an epic written by hand in double spaced lines over several exercise books ;)

20. Favourite fic you’ve written? 

I'm really proud of 'one night' and 'more than just survival' but there is a special place in my heart for Let's take a knife and cut the world in two and its follow up there is light somewhere (it may not be much light but it beats the darkness) - my Exorcist Jade/possessed Kit au. The strange not-canon, not-modern, some-mix-of-the-two world that I made for that one is my *favourite*.

[benevolenterrancy]

Fic author interview!

Thanks for tagging me @morporkian-cryptid I'm taking a leaf out of your book and being a bit late responding, oops ;;; (also, like my last one, posting this on my art/writing blog despite getting tagged on my other blog :P)

@meso-mijali @rose-of-pollux @yarrayora @sorrel-scribbles @auxiliarydetective @pazithigallifreya

1 How many works do you have on AO3?

76!

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

667,467 apparently, which feels like way more than I expected. Then again, I also didn't expect to have seventy six fics on there either...

3. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Lost In Translation (7,256 kudos) An Overwatch fic. I was baffled when it did as well as it did while I was actively posting it and frankly I'm not sure how to deal with the fact that it's still head and shoulders above every other fic I've written. I think it must be from people sorting by kudos and creating a weird positive feedback loop.

How To Torment Cats (And Witchers) (2,124 kudoes) A very light-hearted Witcher one-shot with Ciri and Dandelion

Standard-Issue (1,143 kudos) Another Overwatch fic, this one about McCree's recruitment into Overwatch

Sunlight and Sea Foam (1,102 kudos) A Witcher mermaid!au. This one I'm still pretty pleased with, it was a lot of fun to write.

Mark My Place (952 kudos) A post-canon MDZS fic in which I get to lavish love on Wei Wuxian! A pretty impressive kudo count given that it's only a few months old

4. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Generally I try to! I really appreciate getting comments and I want to let people know that <3 Fandom is the most fun when it's a community and the only way to get that is to actually connect with people. Also I personally appreciate it when an author responds to comments when a new chapter drops because it helps me keep track of fic updates, so I often do that too for on-going stories :3

5. What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

I don't really go in for anything without a happy ending ^^;; Maybe In My Hands I Held The World purely because I didn't finish it and stopped writing in the middle of the all the hurt and never made it to the comfort? Or Promises Misconstrued just by virtue of it.... well, being what it is.

6. What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

We only believe in happy endings here!! I really couldn't narrow it down, I like a happy ending... The Celestial Shell Game was a pretty recent one MDZS fic that was just pure post-canon fix-it and reconciliation and lightly bullying the juniors

7. Do you write crossovers?

I do from time to time, but most aren't ever cleaned up or completed to the point of posting -- they're just Fun For Me fics.

My only completed crossover is a Torchwood/MASH fic called An Officer's Guide to Surgery, Shelling & Pterosaurs. It was honestly just a wild ride to write. Very proud of how that one turned out

8. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

A bit, but not for years. The only one I specifically remember was someone who was very unhappy that I wasn't including individual chapter content warnings, I guess because they've never read a novel?

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Not often, I am Very Ace, but it does happen occasionally. Bound and Held was my most recent one, which was really just 20k of pure kink exploration because Geralt and Dandelion just have the vibe

10. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I don't think so...

11. Have you ever had a fic translated?

One! An old Les Mis fic got translated into Chinese years back :3 that was very flattering that someone would want to go to that amount of effort

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

Me and @meso-mijali will co-write stuff from time to time, but nothing that's ever made it to completion. I do use her relentlessly to help me solve plot dilemmas (or make new plot dilemmas, depending on how things are going)

13. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

Could not tell you, 100% depends on sort of mood I'm in sorry xD I bounce all over the place. At the moment I am deeply into wangxian, to the surprise of no one following me on tumblr at the moment

14. What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

Well, any of my three current fics I'd love to make some progress on >:/ but I'm still hopeful about getting them finished, albeit slowly and painfully. I have a Hogan's Heroes dating sim that me and @meso-mijali have been working on but the longer it goes undone the more I suspect it never will be *sigh* it took so much planning but it's hard to pick up again in the middle. I also had a Lupin soulmate au called Mosiac that I feel bad about dropping. I still quite like the concept but I'm stuck on where to go next with it...

15. What are your writing strengths?

Uhh... I dunno, there must be something because people seem to enjoy my work well enough but I'll be damned if I know what it is. I think I write high intensity, sensory-based scenes pretty well? At least I like doing them a lot. And I get complimented on my character voices sometimes, so hopefully that!

16. What are your writing weaknesses?

Pacing >:/ I will ramble and ramble and ramble and then need to go back and cull things until I have a fic that's even halfway readable. It's so hard to get good pacing down.

17. What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

Big fan, I'm always here for a bilingual bonus. Either I understand it and get a little thrill out of it or else I just google translate it real quick. As for me writing it I generally don't because I don't want to fuck it up beyond reason... sometimes I might dabble with French if it's character appropriate.

18. What was the first fandom you wrote for?

Les Mis! I'm too terrified to reread anything from my Les Mis era because god only knows what my writing was like back then, but it was such a warm and welcoming fandom it's what finally gave me the nerve to starting engaging in fandom space as more than observer

19. What’s a fandom/ship you haven’t written for yet but want to?

...I'm not sure I have one, if I want to write about something I generally do, even if I don't get it to be "publishing" worthy... Maybe Hogan/Kinch? I really like that ship, but I've never written much Hogan's Heroes fic to begin with, I think I only have one published work, and I find it a hard one to write shippy things for

20. What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

Huh... I'm not sure. There a number of fics I've written that I still really really like and will reread (the author's amazing! she knows exactly what I like!) I'm really proud of my Torchwood/MASH crossover, it's my longest fic and took the highest level of technical skill to write. I also tend to reread A Poet Under Pressure fairly often because I do love tormenting Dandelion u.u

[long-fic-tournament]

I have to cut 10 fics, so I’m doing two polls of 10 for the 20 lowest word count fics, and progressing the 5 most voted for fics of each poll onto the tournament. All word counts are accurate as of submission to the tournament.

Link to the other poll

Propaganda and links below the cut

1) Coppernaughts (series) - The LEGO Movie

it's sooo good just read it <3

2) Knight-Errant - Star Wars

He figured out a while ago happiness isn't a watermark or a beat; happiness happens in the middle of other things, a moment of perfect clarity in all the other shit. There's something romantic about the idea of being so lost or so damaged happiness is totally out of reach, but Arthur's never had the capacity for that level of melodrama.

No propaganda

3) This, You Protect - Captain America and the Winter Soldier

No propaganda

4) Minimum Height Requirement - Batman

The best Good Dad!Batman I've found. It loops all his kids into one cohesive narrative that incorporates their arcs and major story beats without Bruce being the uncaring jerk people tend to write him as in the comics nowadays.

5) Presque Vu - Inception

He figured out a while ago happiness isn't a watermark or a beat; happiness happens in the middle of other things, a moment of perfect clarity in all the other shit. There's something romantic about the idea of being so lost or so damaged happiness is totally out of reach, but Arthur's never had the capacity for that level of melodrama.

6) TALE OF A MARTYR IN XII PARTS - All For The Game

No propaganda

7) Mad Rat Twist - Mad Rat Dead and The World Ends With You

honestly i'm mostly submitting this one because it's one of the few things in my bookmarks on AO3 and a close friend wrote it. also it involves two relatively small fandoms and there have been people who only know about one reading it and wanting to check out the other one from both sides and i'm so proud of my friend!

but ugh! Mad Rat and Heart! i love them! they're zucchinis your honor! i need to read this one again it's been a while

8) ffucc - Final Fantasy XV

No propaganda

9) Our Freedom In My Sight - Shameless

This fic does a really good job of digging into canon trauma that canon just didn't bother to really address. The main characters did end up getting their happy ending in canon but when this was written, it looked very, very much like they weren't going to so this fic became canon for me (I say like I actually watched the show). It created justice and closure for characters that very much looked like they weren't going to get any. (As always, mind the tags. It deals with some very dark topics. There are definitely some triggers in this one. Actual triggers, not just squicks. Anyone that knows Shameless knows how bad Mickey and Mandy's childhood was. That's what we're dealing with.).

10) Standard Deviations - Yuri!!! on Ice

it's the BEST time travel fic i've read! it starts with just viktor and yurio, but throughout the story yuuri, mila, and more all come back and cause enough shenanigans to give yakov a heart attack lmao

it's v lighthearted and makes me laugh more than almost anything else has tbh

(tldr if u don't go here: love interest & angry son go back in time and are eventually joined by the rest of their figure skating pals. they cause enough chaos that their coach faints countless times)

[tehamelie]

Garp isn't a funny man (Community 1.3)

Previous Post index Next

It's taking a lot of energy to restrain myself from just plowing through the show at this point. Writing about it is so much more challenging than watching it. I hope at least somebody appreciates my sacrifice. (Hi @pink-squirrel ) Why didn't I become a reactor Youtuber?

Community S1E3: Introduction to film

See, people get worried about Abed cause he watches so much TV, but here's professor Whitman who's EXCLUSIVELY watching Dead Poets Society on a loop. Yeah I figure it's playing in his brain constantly. But only the happy fun parts with the unconventional teacher encouraging students to act on an impulse for once in their lives, of course not the sad parts when the boys go too far outside of the bonds of conformity and the world punishes them, or even the great but serious parts with poetry reading at night in the woods.

But let's not get too far ahead of the plots. Next we encounter Pierce catastrophically failing to use voice command on his phone and driving the whole study group up the wall with this relentless effort to adapt to new, useless technology. I don't want to be a Luddite (and the Luddites had a good cause that's been twisted around by their critics anyway) but I'm entirely on Britta's side here. Because Big Tech is not on our side, not because it's just really irritating to have to listen to someone loudly producing the same error on their device ten times in a row. Well, not only that.

Jeff enters to spread the good word of Whitman's easy A grades. Annie is against it, and it feels like it's more about how it's making a mockery of academia than a question of how much time she'd have to waste on not learning anything in this class. Except when Troy wants in she immediately sees the educational value. And Shirley joins in cause loves Robin Williams.

But Abed does not, in a shocking twist. Well, it's not that shocking. He values good filmmaking and novel stories and he correctly points out there's an element of cheap drama at the cost of credulity that fuels most of Williams' movies. But come on, suspend your disbelief a little and enjoy the tremendous force of his performance.

Rest well, Robin.

And we find out how Abed's life and education plans are restricted by the struggles of his father. "9/11 was pretty much the 9/11 of the falafel business." Britta, of course, immediately rallies to help him rebel by paying for a $70 filmmaking class. I have no idea if that's unusually cheap or expensive for community college, and it's a different joke depending on which, but both are funny so whatever.

Shirley worries Mr Nadir is going to cut Britta's head off with a "salami sword" for, I don't know, talking to Abed while being a woman? It's such an outrageously racist thing to worry about based on just the vague impression she has that the man might be fanatically Muslim, I think the group is focusing on the entirely wrong thing when they just seem to object to the term "salami sword".

But then, it does set up the great joke of Jeff setting a timer and betting Pierce will top her racism within one minute. Which he does.

"Are we going to study Spanish or keep getting involved in each other's personal lives? Hey, Troy sneezes like a girl!" Kind of an uncharacteristic tone for Jeff - caring about what other people say and do and all that - but maybe it's just to remind us he'll do anything to not have to actually study.

I started organizing a thought that these spots of marginally weak writing that seems focused on delivering jokes above all else, could be how Community has its sophomore slump in the third episode. But then the intro played and I realized I'd spent an hour picking apart just the cold open.

Next in Dead Poets Society class we learn more about Shirley. She says she's at the school "To get a degree in business to sell [her] baked goods and whatnot on the Internet," which, what does any of that mean? A highly unspecific "degree in business"? That you'll need to run an online bakery because? And wait a minute, who the heck is going to order a chocolate cake from the Internet? Are you going to send them in the mail?

As it turns out, she's really here to start her life after 15 wasted years. That story she had to tell herself to get out of the house and go to school evaporates. She really does become fully alive, alive with intention and earnestness, and she deserves her A for that moment of truth.

Only when we stop stopping our lives can we begin to start starting them, indeed. Okay, I'd fail Whitman here for that tremendously uncreative line. Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping couldn't do it worse.

Cue the standing on desks and accidents with collapsing desks. Ah, impulsivity is fun.

I like that Whitman sees right through Jeff. For being a word class lawyer, he's consistently terrible at being convincing. But it's nice Whitman wants to give him a chance anyway. He believes in Jeff, he wants him to have a genuine emotional moment in his life.

And the reveal, that the class is actually supposed to be accounting. That's comedy.

Over to Abed shooting a documentary. "It's like a movie but with ugly people." His dad shows up but doesn't talk to him, rather focusing on having a ridiculous argument with Britta, Could it be he has trouble speaking plainly with his son? No no there's never been a dad with that problem.

He seems to jump at the chance to disown him, in fact, and leave the mess of Abed for someone else to take care of. I guess he may just be speaking in anger.

Britta crying "They day I cut myself loose of my father was the day I finally started being *choke* happy" makes me feel such mixed emotions. One, great joke, II, I just want to hold her close, and C, also kind of just want to squeeze her.

The next day, I'm guessing, finds Jeff going into overdrive with his carefully calculated efforts to demonstrate his spontaneity. A Christmas tie with flashing lights, rainbow suspenders and bunny face slippers with bells on? The only thing matching his obnoxious tryhardness here is Whitman, who shows up to complain about Jeff drinking boring normal coffee before ordering a wedding cake. Yeah the act is getting pretty worn out. I'd like it if we saw at least a moment of him like, trying to listen to people, or just being sad, instead of giving the impression he spends every moment of every day relentlessly pursuing the most whimsical impulse.

And we get a whole scene of Pierce teaching Troy about deliberate sneezing. He wants to know more. This can't end well.

Back to Jeff flying a rainbow pattern kite and running through a finely choreographed scene of children playing. I think he'd actually have fun doing these things if he wasn't so desperately, overtly looking for Whitman's approval. And as Whitman continues to see right through him, wouldn't it be time to rethink this approach? Maybe Jeff genuinely doesn't know how to let his guard down and let the world in, even for a moment.

Cut to the study room where Abed gets everyone pizza. There's a whole subplot with Abed acting suspicious and spending too much money that's going to come together in a moment when he finishes the movie so I'm not worrying too much about relating it here, but in a vacuum this is a super weird scene where Abed seems to have fully disconnected from reality, barely interacting with people as they (well, Britta) desperately beg him to explain himself. Love the coffee delivery guy who has to stand there for what seems to him like an impossibly cruel, far too intimate family argument.

At last, everyone's there to see Six Candles just as Abed finishes rendering it. It's like he directed the whole series of events. Get it, because he's a movie director, and he spent the whole time directing his unwitting actors into giving the exact performances he needed to put together this movie to tell his dad he makes him feel neglected, unloved and guilty about his mom leaving them.

That would be a difficult thing to say in words, but it had to be said, and the men are now able to reach each other in a way that maybe neither thought they ever could, and they establish a level of trust, of compromise. That all happens immediately after the end of the film, before the tears dry, while the bright colors and snappy high-energy jingle of the COOL ABED FILMS logo still echoes in the room. Ah, the contrasts.

Cut to Troy sneezing like a big man, making Shirley jump while Pierce looks upon him with approval. Wait a minute, wasn't this episode about learning not to fake spontaneity? Yeah I realized that parallel just now.

But as this corruption of the innocent plot goes, I think the story of Troy's sneezes has the lowest stakes of any piece of dramatic storytelling ever written. I completely forgot how the show does that. Like, I remember the fun of all the extremely low stakes conflicts ("The stakes have never been higher" "Shut up Leonard"), but not how they make it work.

Like Jeff and Britta's kiss here. It's funny because Whitman is completely correct in his assessment that it's a turning point for their relationship (which is why he takes it as an acceptable act of day-seizing and gives Jeff the A), it does feel unexpectedly important for both of them, but where are the stakes? We may be led to believe this will be a Significant Romance, but that never actually happens. Their relationship gets more emotional involvement from Annie than from either of them. It's aggressively medium stakes drama all the way and it's beautiful.

The stinger, with Jeff teaching Troy and Abed about krumping, also beautiful.

[meggie-stardust]

20 Questions for fic Writers!

Tagging myself via @lucky-bishop because I'm half bored, half a bit loopy on benadryl... And same suggestion; if anyone else wants to do this, say I tagged you <3

1. How many works do you have on AO3? 73?! Wow that surprised me.

2. What’s your total AO3 word count? 403,636

3. What fandoms do you write for? These days, mostly Teen Wolf, but I've written a lot for Merlin, Percy Jackson, BBC Sherlock, Gundam Wing, and assorted others over the years.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos? 1. Acts of Man (Merlin/Arthur, Merlin): On the morning of their Annual pre-Christmas Dinner, Merlin is shocked to find out that Gwen thinks his boyfriend, Arthur, isn't good enough. But after a glimpse into Merlin's quirky flat, Gwen realizes that she might not have the whole story. 2. Nightmares (Jason/Percy, PJO): Percy feels lost and alone after returning from Tarartus. And if that's not bad enough, he can't sleep without having horrifying nightmares. Luckily for Percy, Jason is the one person not avoiding him, and the one person that has offered to help. 3. Looking for the Thing We Lost (Stiles/Peter, Teen Wolf): But the thing is that Stiles had already been forgotten by everyone. 4. Here I Am (Stuck in the Middle With You) (Jason/Percy, PJO): Percy and Jason's mission gets derailed when they find themselves trapped in a room with no way out. Luckily, they find a way to pass the time… 5. Know How A Man Becomes a Beast (Stiles/Peter, Teen Wolf): Peter took a steadying breath and stepped into room. He held up his hands and walked forward slowly, the way he would approach any wild animal. “Stiles. It’s gonna be ok.”

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? Yes, I try to, even it take a while -- at least on my newer fics. I haven't gone back to things from like 10 years ago to reply to old comments that I missed, but I try to keep up. I want people to know I appreciate the time they've taken to read and react to my fic, and you never know if you're going to connect with someone new and make a new fandom friend.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? Give Me Pure Energy (Stiles/Peter): the alternative season 2 where Stiles craves some normalcy and befriends a new kid in his econ class, only to realize that maybe they both want more from each other than just a simple friendship. This is a super darkfic anyway, and has the kind of ending that's happy only if you're ok with all the awful things that Peter does during the fic... but generally, I like my angst with a happy ending so this is the best I can do.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Oh gosh, so many of my fics have happy endings... that's how I like em... uhhh. I'm going to go with one of my all time favorites:

Stuck Between Stations (Stiles/Peter): the one where Peter and Stiles are stuck in a time-loop inside The Wild Hunt.

8. Do you get hate on fics? I have been so lucky to not get much hate. If people are talking about my work behind my back, it's not getting back to me. And aside from an odd comment or two, I've gotten through about 20 years of fandom without having to deal with random hate.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? yes. I've written m/m, m/f, f/f, and, I think an m/m/f once... but I'm into all sorts of things and have fun writing about it

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written? I have in the past; a Harry Potter/BBC Sherlock x-over that got abandoned. I've also done a few prompt challenges that lead to crossovers/fusions like SPN meets MJN Air, etc.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? god, I hope not!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? Yes, I have been so lucky to have a few of my fics translated into different languages. It's always such an honor, and I give full permission for people to translate my work as long as they connect it back to mine on AO3.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? I have but it's been ages. And I think there may be someone *cough*@punchedbymarkesmith*cough* that would be great to collaborate with if an opportunity presented itself...

14. What’s your all time favorite ship? Steter it would seem. I've been reading and writing it since 2016...!

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? I fully intend to finish It's Only Forever, but I've used some of the ideas for it in other things, so I know it will be hard to get back into where I was going with it. I don't want to abandon it, but it's been a few years... le sigh.

16. What are your writing strengths? I think I'm pretty good with dialogue, especially banter. I think I'm also great at taking a small detail from canon and using that to world build something different.

17. What are your writing weaknesses? Oh, that's easy: action and mystery. I really wish I could write a good casefic or mystery plot, and I just can't. I have to distract and misdirect at the end... I have to do the same with the action, too.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? I don't trust myself. I might confer with someone who speaks that language if it was really needed, but I would probably do something like:

"Wow, I can't believe you survived that helicopter crash," he said in Spanish.

19. First fandom you wrote for? Gundam Wing, followed my Newsies and Harry Potter.

20. Favorite fic you’ve written? I already gave a call out to Stuck Between Stations above, so I'm going to have to go with:

At This Truth We Have Arrived (Stiles/Peter): Five years after the death of Laura, Peter returns to Beacon Hills only to be confronted by the truth that the pack has moved on without him. But the fact that everything he once knew has changed isn't necessarily a bad thing; not when there is someone like Stiles who is so full of possibilities.

OR as my WIP notes for this fic say: "Peter is curious. They do something. Murder murder. Sex sex."

[invisiblegarters]

23.5 Episode 9

Last week: sapphic teachers, Aylin and Luna being adorable and confessing in morse code, kisses!

I dunno man. Eight hours a day could mean that we work two of them. I feel like I could handle that.

I say this every episode, but Sun and Ongsa really are cute.

Latte is still best dog.

I would snatch up the chance to do an exchange program if I were Ongsa. I did not have the opportunity as a teen but man, that would have been so great.

Oh Aylin. I love her. Those awkward smiles i'm dying.

Ongsa absolutely can't ride a bike.

I am so glad that Sun decided to start with a bicycle instead of a scooter.

Okay I know they gotta do their advertising thing so I'm not gonna say a word about the makeup ad. I'm not.

Okay one thing: I do think it's cute that Aylin wants to look cute for Luna. Not that she need the makeup for that, but you know.

Hahaha Sun I love you. I love that she's like "well my girlfriend moves faster than you two, I'm so lucky."

...is that not how it went?

Aw poor Alpha. I bet she feels so out of the loop.

I do love how concerned they all are for her. This show is so damn cute and lovely.

I'm sorry but can they just keep putting Ciize in those sleeveless shirts? Please? For me?

Aw that advice was good.

Okay this looks like an intervention though.

Dammit, Alpha! What did your teachers just tell you? Although to be fair I get her feeling cornered.

Oh my gosh this girl is so cute. Is she making octupi out of the sausages? ADORABLE.

Aw this family stuff is so great.

LOL okay this is hilarious. I think it's great Ongsa isn't going to have more time than one day to prepare. Girl is gonna stress herself into a heart attack if she gets any more time.

Ton is killing me with the second hand embarrassment my god. I am beginning to think that he only wants what he can't have. Or that he deliberately pursues girls that he knows aren't gonna ever take him seriously. I read a theory that he might be ace (or aro, or both) and my goodness I'd love that but I'm trying not to get my hopes up because I still feel like TonCharoen is gonna happen.

Welp that went well. I don't think Ton was being malicious because he's just not that type, but also Aylin just isn't comfortable. I don't think that Luna is in the wrong to want her to open up to her friends a little, but poor Aylin must feel so pushed.

Although a part of me does wonder if part of Aylin's thing is that she does want friends, but she's so used to being treated like shit for just being herself that she's ultimately decided not trying at all is better.

Oh hey this is very sensual for this show. Good for them!

I'm sorry I just got all caught up in my Aylin feelings again. She's hands down my favorite, I feel for her so much.

Next week: MORE NIDA AND BAMBAM. Bambam please get hit with a clue by four before this show is over I am begging you.

[oakashandwillow]

20 Questions for Writers

Tagged by @bywayofmemory

1. How many works do you have on AO3? 91. A couple of those are 3SF compilations.

2. What's your total AO3 word count? 115,642

3. What fandoms do you write for? Narnia, mostly. Used to write some Supernatural, Doctor Who but mostly in crossovers. Once we get into 3SF or "i've written this like once" - Star Wars (Mandalorian & Andor/Rogue One in particular), Battlestar Galactica, original stuff, Alex Rider, The Locked Tomb, Mass Effect, DC Comics, Middle Earth (movies, all books, Rings of Power), MCU - a lot. Twilight because of my "what if Renesmee was not... what Meyers wanted her to be" series.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Whose Other Side Is Salvation. Narnia/Doctor Who. Susan and the Doctor run.

we have to go on living. Young Justice. He can't hold it together forever. Robin, post-Failsafe.

to go nowhere with you. Torchwood/Narnia. "Minotaur," Edmund corrects automatically. Edmund/Ianto, time loops, minotaurs, coffee, and rift archaeology of sorts.

give me a world, you have taken the world i was. Hardy Boys. Joe wakes up alone in the dark. Things get worse from there, which sucks, because Frank is supposed to be home from college for Christmas break today.

Secrets Kept. Young Justice. Artemis knows Robin's secret. Spoilers through Young Justice 1x08.

5. Do you respond to comments? I... am nowhere as good as I would like to be at it.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? ... considering all the Narnia and specifically Susan Narnia stories I write that is a hard call. Probably we have come to our real work. AU. When Peter and Lucy hunt the White Stag, Susan and Edmund are in Archenland. Things go downhill from there. It's pretty early in my fic career so it could be a lot better in terms of quality but it is probably the saddest ending I've written. In terms of saddest story that I'm actually proud of? Probably we should take warning, we should forgive each other. Narnia, Prunaprismia, the bitterness of loss and pride and decisions it seems like are the only ones you can make even though they aren't.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Do I.... do I write happy endings.

I suppose my Renesmee series has a pretty happy ending! between one June and another September. Twilight, Renesmee/Leah. Renesmee Cullen comes full circle and falls in love. Does not make much sense without having read the previous works in the series though.

OH wait i gave edmund/bacchus (Narnia) a happy ending in one year since i've seen the mountains. I can write things that are happy!

8. Do you get hate on fics? I am extremely under the radar for almost everything honestly so no! And tbh I just don't have patience for that so would probably just delete and block if it was properly hate.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? I've written some, though it's pretty mild!

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written? Look, what haven't I crossed over with Narnia. Merlin (BBC), Doctor Who / Torchwood, Mary Poppins, The Dark Is Rising, The Library Trilogy. I've done Leverage/Supernatural and I don't even know what I've done in various 3SF rounds. If we're counting my RP days I had some WILD character interactions while playing Padme Amidala in particular.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? I doubt it? Never checked.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? Once or twice! And podcasted once.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? Several times! Only one is actively published and available as a fic though. Winds To Catch, Narnia/Mary Poppins, with @siterlas and animus in the city on A03. A Very Long Time Ago @bedlamsbard and I did like... an alarming amount of words on a BBC Merlin/Narnia crossover in commentfic. (Alarming for me who mostly writes like, maybe 1-2k a fic, not for Bed who's chapters number easily in the multiple thousands of words.) @siterlas and zempasuchil and I once wrote a bunch of AU BBC Merlin RPF commentfic where we wrote both the actors as if they were in a show about Marx and Engels instead and also parts of the fake show that they were in. Definitely various Supernatural and Narnia commentfic across the years. Probably more? Have also written friend fic for Las with Animus and Z. I also did a lot of RP stuff over the years! Which is cowriting though not in the sense we think of with fic.

Actually I really miss commentfic. It's so fun. I sometimes get to do it a little in 3SF but most people don't even know it's a thing you can do these days I think alas. Very informal collaboration is delightful!

14. What’s your all time favorite ship? Yeah I can't answer that. I'm very bad at picking favorites, ever. If we're talking ships I actually write, Susan/Edmund (Narnia), Bo-Katan/Din (Mandalorian) and Kara/Lee (BSG) are probably my top three? But I love... so many ships.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? I started a follow up to my Hardy Boys story and I've noodled with it occasionally and don't think I'll ever properly finish it.

16. What are your writing strengths? I have been told I'm really good at ending lines! I like to think I'm good at just character study.

17. What are your writing weaknesses? Plot. Who needs a plot. What is a plot.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? I do not trust myself to get it right at all so I just don't overall.

19. First fandom you wrote for? Depends if we count doing RP in which case it's Lord of the Rings. If it's straight fic, Narnia.

20. Favorite fic you’ve written? My favorites land in very different categories, so I think I will pick the first fic I wrote that I properly felt "wait, I think I can be good at this writing thing" and still gets received well. this temporary flesh and bone. Narnia. Susan/Edmund. Susan, Edmund, and the zombie apocalypse in England.

I shall tag. @svgurl410 @lyntergalactic @liminal-zone @callowyn @ravenlilyrose

[stardustandash]

How many fics have you worked on since January?

Worked on about 55? I think? Its hard to calculate as I posted whumptober and febuwhump as individual stories but they exist in one doc each on my computer. I've worked on 6 fics that are either as of yet unposted, unprinted in a zine, or just lost unfinished limbo (I need to work on my merrin-focused post nur fic omg)

2. What’s something new that you tried in a fic this year?

I guess I've tried to play more with present vs past tense, and finishing multichapter fics before posting. Did try out a time loop for the first time during whumptober and had fun with that!

3. What piece of media inspired you the most? (This can be the fandom you wrote the most for, the one that spawned the most ideas, the one you thought about the most, etc.)

I feel like Star Wars is the pretty obvious answer, though right at the end of the year here comes Dragon Age with a steel chair after 4 years of not really being involved in the fandom

4. How many fandoms did you write for this year?

Seven, I think! Jedi Fallen Order & Survivor, The Bad Batch, Dragon Age Inquisition & Veilguard, FFXV, FFXVI, Horizon Zero Dawn & Forbidden West, and Twisted Wonderland

5. What ships captured your heart?

As a gen writer its rare for ships to catch me, but thank you Veilguard for giving me Rook x Harding, and M!Rook x Emmrich. (Not a fan of F!Rook x Emmrich sorry yall)

7. What characters captured your heart?

As always Cal remains number 1 in my heart. I love him so much, along with the whole Mantis crew <3 For new this year, I am bewitched body and soul by the Veilguard crew. The writers were cooking with all of them, they're all amazing!!

8. Did you write for any new fandoms or ships this year?

...Does Veilguard count lol? For new fandoms I wrote one FFXVI fic early in the year.

I've got two fics for Rook x Harding and one wip for Rook x Emmrich as new ships!

9. What fic meant the most to you to write?

That's a hard question!! I think I poured a lot of my own personal emotional anguish into a lot of the fics I wrote this year. It's been a rough year for many reasons, and writing out all that angsty hurt/comfort helped a lot

10. What fic made you feel the happiest to work on?

I think finishing 'what makes a family' was honestly one of the best feelings ever! And the fact that I still get comments on it from time to time about people binge-reading it.

11. What fic was the most satisfying to finish writing?

I guess I could go with the above, but actually completing whumptober was pretty satisfying.

12. What fic was the most difficult to write?

'i do not love the bright sword for its sharpness' is at the top of this pile. i think about it constantly but actually writing it is proving super difficult, and it remains unfinished...

13. What fic was the easiest to write?

The one for the Pabu Days zine!! I wrote the first draft in just over an hour, and it was about 1k too many words lol

14. What were your shortest and longest fics posted this year?

of the ones written entirely in this year, 'take a breath before the plunge' wins with its 11k words. If we count just completed this year, 'what makes a family' wins at just shy of 70k

The shortest was one of the whumptober fics, 'where flesh and metal meet'

15. What were your go-to writing songs?

The Horizon games' soundtracks! Less of a song list, but there's too many to put in here.

What was the hardest fic to title?

...all of them. Titling things is the hardest part of writing fics

16. What's your favorite title of the year?

Love and Blood Both Run Red, or maybe Cold But For Your Company

17. Share your favorite opening line

In some way, Tech thinks, it is poetic to die for his family.

From here, at the bottom

18. Share your favorite ending line

He turned, and came face to face with a skull staring back at him. There were holes through the skull, and though everything had been decayed by time, Cal could still see that the skeleton wore Jedi robes.

From then there was nothing

19. Share your favorite piece of dialogue

ooh i don't know! If its humorous then assume its one of my favourites

20. Share your funniest line

see above

21. What's something that surprised you while you were working on a fic? Did it change the story?

I think being able to slip back into old fandoms and characters for whumptober was a surprise. it didn't change the story but it was surprisingly quick to get back into things i hadn't touched in years

22. What writing programs did you use? Did you write by hand?

I use microsoft word for all my fics. which isn't great for longform fic and probably why i don't write too much of it

23. If you had to choose one, what was THE most satisfying writing moment of your year?

Again, actually managing to complete whumptober felt really good!! I've never managed to finish a writing challenge like that so it was a really proud moment

24. Did you do anything special to celebrate finishing a fic?

I don't think I've ever done anything?? Though I am thinking about starting a lil scrapbook of comments or smth like that

25. How did you recharge between fics?

what is this recharge you speak of? I am either possessed by ideas that demand attention or left in a drought of creativity

26. Did you create fanworks other than fic?

I do playlists for myself sometimes. I have ones for Cal, Crosshair, and Omega right now. I constantly wish i had the patience to improve my art skills to do fanart

27. How many events did you take part in? (bangs, exchanges, ship weeks, zines, prompt memes, they all count!)

4 if you count febuwhump and whumptober. I'm in a Bad Batch zine that's in preorders right now - Pabu Days, and participating in a fic/art exchange for new years for Twisted Wonderland

28. If this were an awards show, who would you thank?

firstly I'd like to thank my cat for being the one to hear me talk out plot points and details. I'd also like to thank @pennflinn and @breakfastteatime for being both supportive of all my j:fo fics as well as being inspirations themselves in that fandom! And the whole j:fo fandom at large for being awesome and supportive of each other's works. And I need to mention @fanfoolishness for joining me in not one, not two, but THREE! fandoms here!! As well, shoutout to @shadowcrow for yelling on my rook x harding fics! it's a small corner of the fandom but at least it's got you there!

29. What's left on your to-do list for 2024?

Finish this fic for the new years exchange, and get another chapter of Blood and Love Both Run Red up! Though it may only be one of those that happens...

30. What would you like to write next year?

I wanna finish bright sword and get that post nur Merrin fic postable! And since I'm currently consumed by Veilguard I wanna write more of that next year too!

A slightly revised version of last year's questions! Two ways to play: Reblog and have your followers send you numbers, or answer the whole list!

How many fics have you worked on since January?

What’s something new that you tried in a fic this year?

What piece of media inspired you the most? (This can be the fandom you wrote the most for, the one that spawned the most ideas, the one you thought about the most, etc.)

How many fandoms did you write for this year?

What ships captured your heart?

What characters captured your heart?

Did you write for any new fandoms or ships this year?

What fic meant the most to you to write?

What fic made you feel the happiest to work on?

What fic was the most satisfying to finish writing?

What fic was the most difficult to write?

What fic was the easiest to write?

What were your shortest and longest fics posted this year?

What were your go-to writing songs?

What was the hardest fic to title?

What's your favorite title of the year?

Share your favorite opening line

Share your favorite ending line

Share your favorite piece of dialogue

Share your funniest line

What's something that surprised you while you were working on a fic? Did it change the story?

What writing programs did you use? Did you write by hand?

If you had to choose one, what was THE most satisfying writing moment of your year?

Did you do anything special to celebrate finishing a fic?

How did you recharge between fics?

Did you create fanworks other than fic?

How many events did you take part in? (bangs, exchanges, ship weeks, zines, prompt memes, they all count!)

If this were an awards show, who would you thank?

What's left on your to-do list for 2024?

What would you like to write next year?

[emma00fin]

Week 43

Reading Edible Economics

I had a bit of a break from reading the book, but now I finished a few new chapters of it. One of them, called Banana, was about developmental economics which I enjoy studying, so it was even more enjoyable to read about. Here's some new words that I picked up while reading: propagated, meagre, cog, perishable, subsidiary, laden, deftly, imbibe, steeped in, sublimated, retrenchment.

Listening to Anything Goes with Emma Chamberlain

I really enjoy listening to podcasts on my free time, but I have had a really hard time finding any interesting podcasts in English. I decided to give Emma Chamberlain's podcast a go, and by doing some nit-picking with the episodes (by not starting from the first episode as my perfectionist self liked but choosing episodes with interesting themes) I am still content with the podcast series. Here's some of my thoughts:

Celebrity privacy (39 min) - Emma claims to offer a new perspective by being a B-list celebrity, but does really not state anything unheard of. All things said a layperson could have thought of.

Seasonal depression (50 min) - A very relatable episode. Emma was listing how she copes with seasonal sadness; as one of my coping mechanisms, I just started taking multivitamins with vitamin D and others in there. She also made an important note to remember to loosen up on the over-achieving during the winter hibernation time, as that will eat you up quicker than during the summer. She also brought up excluding yourself from friends & activities during the winter time as a side effect of seasonal depression: I was thrown a loop as I realized that has been a somewhat consistent problem of mine during the winter time, but I have never linked it with seasonal depression. The more you know!

HOURS

Listening: 42 h

Reading: 8 h 30 min

Spoken interaction: 3 h

Written and online interaction: 1 h 45 min (included the time it takes to write these posts, about 15 min each)

Spoken production:

Written production: 9 h

Total 64 h 30 min

[chvoswxtch]

hawkins high class of 1986. (9/9)

pairing: eddie munson x fem!reader

summary: eddie munson desperately needs to graduate this year, and you're the only tutor that hasn't turned him down. (this is the final part of this series!)

warnings: cursing, lots of fluff, implied sexual content (minors dni)

word count: 3.6k

a/n: I might have cried writing this. I never imagined that so many people would enjoy and become invested in my writing when I put the first part of this fic out. like you guys, I was just obsessed with eddie munson and had a cute idea I had to write down. to every single person that has read this series, reblogged, commented, loved, or messaged me about it, thank you so much from the bottom of my heart. it really does mean the world to me. please enjoy. ❤️

tags: @uraveragequeer @rosaline-black @willowss055 @lovsersclub @bellegirl16 @boeutiful @starryeyedkoko @korkisobsessions @fckyeahlames @mybeautifulprincess @softxmunson @superflannel

Today was the day. I was graduating. Eddie was graduating. I had hardly slept a wink last night, partly from buzzing with excitement about graduation and also because I hadn’t convinced Eddie to sneak out of my bedroom until around three o’clock this morning. He had insisted on coming over last night to help me rehearse my speech since he knew I was nervous about it. However, he also insisted on helping “calm my nerves” first before we began. Needless to say, we never got around to practicing my speech. Once I felt Eddie’s skilled fingers dip below the waistband of my panties, the only thing I wanted to practice on was him. 

My eyes nearly bugged out of my head when I read the red numbers glowing on the clock on my nightstand. 2:47am. I gasped loudly and grabbed onto Eddie’s shoulder, gently shaking him awake. Fifteen minutes ago he had been awake going on about how waffles were superior to pancakes, but at some point he had gone silent, and I smiled when I realized he had finally passed out with his head on my chest. I laid there silently for a moment, admiring how peaceful he looked when he slept, and took the opportunity to play with his messy curls. However, when I caught sight of the time, I started to panic.

“Eddie! Eddie, wake up!”

Eddie mumbled a quiet complaint, nuzzling his nose against my neck and wrapped his arms even tighter around my waist. I giggled softly at his reaction, gently tapping my index finger against his nose.

“Eddie, wake up. You gotta go! It’s almost three in the morning. If my mom catches you in here, she’ll kill us both. And your uncle will definitely be pissed if he wakes up and you’re not there.”

Eddie let out a final dramatic groan as he rolled off of my chest, leaning on his elbows beside me. I tried my hardest not to giggle at the adorable pout on his lips. I leaned in to gently kiss it away, gasping against his mouth when I felt him swipe his tongue along my bottom lip. I grinned as I shoved at his chest and shook my head.

“You are insatiable, Munson.”

“Only when it comes to you, sweetheart.”

“C’mon. Up. Let’s go, bubs.”

Swearing under his breath, Eddie slowly managed to untangle himself from the blankets and began to get dressed. He cocked his head to the side and looked down at me as he slid his belt through his jean loops.

“Do we really have to go?”

“Eddie! It’s graduation, of course you have to go. You are finally walking that stage. I’m not letting you miss it.”

A lazy grin appeared on his lips as he slipped his worn sneakers onto his feet, leaning over me on the bed to nuzzle his nose against my own. As Eddie brought his hand up to cup my cheek, I leaned into his touch and smiled.

“I’m proud of you, you know.”

“Proud of me? You’re the Valedictorian here, baby. I’m proud of you.”

“Eddie, I know how hard you worked for this. You should be proud of yourself, too.”

Pressing a soft kiss to my cheek, Eddie sat down on the bed beside me and grabbed onto my hips to pull me onto his lap. I couldn’t help but smile as I wrapped my arms around his neck, leaning in close to press our foreheads together.

“You know I couldn’t have done it without you.”

“Eddie-”

“I mean it. You believed in me. You believed I could actually do it so much that..I believed it too. You kept me on track, you did more than you had to for me, and you’re the reason I’m graduating today, angel. I owe it all to you, my love.”

I pulled Eddie in impossibly close, hugging him as tight as I could. He had a way with words, whether he would ever admit that or not, and always managed to make me melt every time he opened his mouth. I felt so lucky to be loved by him. I often thought back to the first time we met several months ago, and everything we had been through since that day. I would go through it all a million times over again knowing we got to end up like this. 

“I love you so much, Eddie.”

“And I love you so much, my sweet girl. Get some sleep, angel. I’ll see you in a few hours.”

I always wondered how I would feel the day of my high school graduation. I always thought I would feel anxious, but mainly about tripping on stage and falling flat on my ass in front of everyone. I thought I would feel sad, leaving familiarity and everything I had grown used to behind. I thought I might even feel heartbroken as I packed up my life to move far away to get a fresh start. But right now, all I felt was excitement. I was excited to see Eddie. I was excited to see Nancy and Robin. I was excited to see Steve who had promised to bring the boys with him. But mainly, I was excited for the future. Today was the last page of this chapter of my life.

After I managed to get my mom to stop sobbing over my baby pictures and help me get ready for graduation, we finally made it to the high school’s gym. It was absolutely packed with students, parents, and Hawkins residents alike. It was crazy to me how different the gym looked right now compared to how it had looked a month ago for prom. The memory caused a smile to cover my lips and heat to rise to my cheeks as I remembered how that night had ended.

My knee bounced uncontrollably as I sat on the stage, eyeing the sea of students nervously. Principal Higgins was still going through his opening speech and announcements, and as soon as he was finished, I was up. I clutched the paper in my hand, eyes scanning over my words for the millionth time. I practically had it memorized by now, but I was terrified I would trip over my words. Or just trip in general. I tried desperately to find Eddie in the crowd below, he should have been easy to spot. I wondered for a moment if he was able to even get his cap over his hair, which made me grin like an idiot. I could see it now; Eddie cursing and grumbling as he tried to force the cap onto his mess of curls, Wayne complaining to Eddie to “just get a damn haircut, kid”, both of them trying to figure out a way to get the cap to stay on.

“And now, please join me in welcoming your class valedictorian, Y/N Y/L/N.”

I froze immediately, anxiety barreling in at full force like a runaway train. I took cautious steps towards the podium, giving myself a pep talk along the way. Just breathe. Don’t trip and fall on your face. Relax. I suddenly heard a voice cut through the crowd and squinted to find the source. I instantly erupted into a fit of laughter finally finding Eddie who was standing on top of his chair, hands cupped around his mouth, shouting “that’s my fucking girlfriend!” at the top of his lungs. Taking a deep breath, I placed my speech down on the podium and smiled.

“I’d like to start by saying congratulations to the entire Hawkins High graduating class of 1986. Four years ago, we walked through those doors as freshmen, having absolutely no idea what was to come. They told us it would be over before we knew it, and to enjoy it, but also to be prepared for this day. Some of you may have had your life after high school mapped out on that first day of freshman year. Some of you might have been just trying to make it to today. Either way, I think everyone here should be proud of the milestone they’ve achieved. Over the past four years, we have all grown tremendously. We’ve made new unlikely friends, or we may have lost friends we thought we’d have forever. Some of us fell in love for the first time, and some of us experienced our first heartbreak. We learned a lot about who we were, and who we wanted to be. I don’t know about you, but I am definitely not the same person I was that first day, and I’m proud of that. Even though my plans for the future have completely changed, I’m proud of my growth, and I’ve never been more excited about the future. I don’t think we’re supposed to have everything figured out. You could try to plan your entire life out, step by step, but none of us are ever really prepared for what life throws at us. Today when we walk out those doors, we’re supposed to be adults, but at heart we’re all still just kids. We’re going to fail. We’re going to make mistakes. Some of us might end up places we never expected. But we’re all doing it together. We’re all figuring it out together. Some of you I’ve had the pleasure of knowing over the past four years, and some of you I’ve only gotten to know recently. But even for those of you that I’ve never spoken to, I know you’re all going to do amazing things, because you made it here. So when you walk through those doors today as a Hawkins High graduate, don’t panic if you don’t have a plan. Don’t feel pressured to grow up so quickly. Just go find your own magic. Thank you, and congratulations again!”

My cheeks hurt from smiling as I grinned at Eddie. His mouth was stretched into the biggest smile, and I giggled as he blew me a kiss. I sent him one right back with a wink, and took my seat as Principal Higgins introduced the next speaker. After what felt like hours, they finally started to call names, and reality began to sink in that this was actually it.

“Hawkins High class of 1986 valedictorian, Y/N Y/L/N.”

I smiled brightly as I crossed the stage, taking my diploma from Principal Higgins and pausing to shake his hand for a picture. My eyes found my mom in the crowd, and I gasped in excitement when I saw Steve was sitting next to her along with Dustin, Mike, and Lucas. I waved frantically at all of them, giggling at how loudly they were all yelling. As I took my seat again, my knee bounced in anticipation as I waited for Eddie’s name to be called. I stood up and cheered loudly when I heard Robin’s name, flashing her an excited grin. Slowly but surely Principal Higgins made it halfway through the alphabet, and I could see Eddie waiting at the other side of the stage. Principal Higgins glanced down at the paper in his hand, and then over at Eddie who was wiggling his brows and grinning mischievously. Shaking his head with a deep sigh, Principal Higgins waved Eddie over.

“Edward Munson.”

I screamed so loud my lungs hurt, and my palms stung from clapping. I was filled with an overwhelming sense of pride as Eddie ran across the stage. He snatched his diploma from Principal Higgins and held it up triumphantly, sticking his tongue out and holding his other hand up in a rock ‘n’ roll salute. As Principal Higgins held his hand out, Eddie promptly shoved his middle finger in his face, rushing over to the side of the stage where I was to plant a messy kiss on my lips before taking off into the refuge of the crowd. I looked over at Principal Higgins with wide eyes, trying my hardest not to giggle as I shrugged my shoulders. Rolling his eyes, he turned around to read off the next name completely unphased.

“There’s my girl!”

I giggled as I ran into Eddie’s arms, wrapping my arms around him tightly as I pressed my lips against his. We were both grinning like idiots when we pulled away.

“I can’t believe you did that.”

“What? I said I was going to.”

“Yeah but I thought you were joking!”

“What were they gonna do, not let me graduate?”

“I don’t know, maybe. Edward.”

Eddie’s grin fell at the mention of his full name, throwing his head back and groaning as he rubbed his large hands over his face.

“I can’t believe they used my government name. And now you know it.”

“Mm, I think it’s cute. Edward.”

“I can’t believe your name is Edward. That’s the most...unmetal name ever.”

“Shut up, Henderson.”

I beamed when I saw the boys, quickly enveloping all of them in a nearly suffocating hug before I got to Steve. He held out a bouquet of purple violets and peonies with a timid smile.

“Congratulations, Y/N/N.”

I quickly wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him in close for a tight hug. 

“Thank you, Steve. For everything.”

“Can all of you quit hitting on my girlfriend, please. Jesus Christ.”

Nancy, Robin, Eddie and I all had a big joint graduation party at the Wheeler’s house, much to Nancy’s father’s dismay. I couldn’t recall a time I had ever felt so..happy, and so fulfilled. Looking around and seeing everyone laughing, dancing, and having a good time made me somewhat emotional. Robin and Steve were arguing over which John Hughes movie had the best soundtrack. Dustin and Eddie were competing to see who could fit the most marshmallows in their mouth. Jonathan and Nancy were going up against Mike and Lucas in a game of charades. My mom and Mrs. Wheeler were gushing about the hot new lifeguard at the local pool. I decided to step outside for a moment and snuck out into the backyard.

The summer breeze felt nice against my heated skin. It was quiet apart from the party going on inside. Even though I felt content, there was a slight pang in my chest as I thought about how much I would miss this. I was so entranced in my own thoughts I didn’t hear the backdoor open.

“There you are. What are you doing out here by yourself?”

I glanced up to see Eddie making his way over towards me and smiled softly.

“Just cooling off. Who won?”

Eddie scoffed as he sat down beside me, leaning back on his palms as he shook his head.

“Little shit had an advantage. He hustled me.”

“Oh? And what did he get?”

“My red set of D&D dice.”

“Eddie!”

“I overestimated myself! I forgot he has more room in his mouth than I do.”

I snickered at Eddie’s pout, leaning over to kiss it away softly.

“It’s okay, you still have like four more pairs.”

“Yeah, but those were my favorite.”

We sat in comfortable silence for a minute. I closed my eyes when I felt Eddie’s fingers languidly tracing up and down my arm. He leaned in closer and rested his chin on my shoulder, tucking a loose strand of hair behind my ear.

“What is it, sweetheart?”

“I just..I’m gonna miss this. I..I always wanted a big family, and I feel like now I finally have one. I just wish I had found it sooner.”

Eddie stroked his thumb along my cheek softly, pressing a light kiss to my jaw as he tilted his head to the side and smiled.

“They’re not going anywhere, angel. It’s not like we’re going to be super far away. It’s what, a two hour flight?”

I knew he was right. I knew I was being emotional and dramatic, but I couldn’t help it. I’d decided to apply to Emerson College with Nancy. We were both going to be studying liberal arts, and had graciously been assigned a dorm together. Eddie was ecstatic when I showed him my letter, even though Emerson was in Boston. I was admittedly apprehensive considering how he had reacted to my last acceptance letter, but he just kept saying over and over that we would make it work. 

“I know, it’s just-wait. What?”

“What?”

“You..you said ‘we’?”

Eddie’s mouth split into the biggest smile I had ever seen. He grabbed onto my hips and pulled me onto his lap, taking both of my hands in his and giving them a gentle squeeze.

“I uh..was gonna wait and surprise you. But, I’m coming with you to Boston.”

“Eddie-”

“Since you did Mrs. O’Donnell the absolute solid of getting me the hell out of her classroom, she wrote a rather convincing letter of recommendation, and helped me get into a community college near Emerson. Helped me fill out the financial aid forms and everything. I’m gonna be studying music. Even got a job lined up at a record store, and a place with Jeff and Gareth. Corroded Coffin is coming to Boston, baby.”

I didn’t bother trying to hide the tears that were now freefalling down my cheeks. My heart felt so full I thought it was going to burst. I couldn’t believe what Eddie was saying. 

“Eddie I..I don’t know what to say. You..you didn’t have to-”

“No, no angel I wanted to. I want to be wherever you are. For the first time in my life, I know what I want. And I know I can do it, because I have you. None of this would have ever happened without you. You are the love of my life, and I would follow you into the depths of Mordor.”

I didn’t know what to do other than wrap my arms tightly around his neck and bury my face into his chest. Eddie’s large hand slipped under my shirt, rubbing soothing circles onto my back as he held me. I pulled back slowly to cup his cheeks, smiling as I looked deeply into his eyes.

“I love you, Eddie Munson.”

“And I love you, Y/N Y/L/N. With everything I have. I promised you, whatever life throws at us, we’ll handle it together.” 

“Together.”

“Now, with that being said, I would like to officially hire your fine ass as my tutor once again because God fucking knows I’m gonna need it.”

I giggled as I leaned in to kiss Eddie’s lips, running my fingers through his curls as I moved closer on his lap. 

“Mm, I think that can be arranged, Mr. Munson.”

There was a low groan that sounded in Eddie’s chest and I felt his hands grip onto my hips. I smirked as I pulled back slightly to get a better look at his face.

“I suppose now, we can do strip pop quizzes.”

Eddie’s eyes widened immediately, his lips parting open in surprise as he blinked a few times.

“Wait..what?”

“Oh you know, for every question you get right, I take something off. But for every question you get wrong, I put something back on. I have a feeling it will really help with your retention.”

Eddie gaped at me, a light twinge of pink coating the tops of his cheeks. His grip on my hips tightened as a soft whine fell from his lips.

“You mean we could have been doing that the entire fucking time?”

“Well, not the entire time. But by the time we could have been playing, you decided you didn’t need my services anymore and broke up with me not only as your tutor, but also as your girlfriend.”

Eddie groaned loudly and let his head fall against my shoulder, which earned another round of giggles from me.

“For fucks sake. I’m never breaking up with you again, I swear.”

“Eddie-”

“No, I mean it. Not as my tutor, or my girlfriend. I hope you’re prepared to spend eternity with me, because the only way you get to stop being my girlfriend is when you start being my wife.”

My heart fluttered at Eddie’s words, and I gently pulled him away from my shoulder to look at him. There were no traces of playfulness on his features. I bit down on my bottom lip and smiled shyly.

“Eddie..you can’t make promises like that.”

“The hell I can’t. You’re mine, sweet girl. I told you, this is permanent. I meant it. Someday, when we’re both ready, I will marry you, and we can have that big family you want.”

I could feel warm tears pricking at my eyes again. Eddie stared at me with a goofy grin, cupping my cheek in his large hand as he traced his thumb along my bottom lip.

“Come on, how good does Y/N Munson sound, hm?”

“Pretty damn good.”

Eddie surged forward to press our lips together. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him as close as I possibly could. Not many people can say they found the love of their life in high school, but I knew without a shadow of a doubt that I had. Eddie was meant for me. We belonged together. And no matter what the future held for us, we would always face it together. In that moment, I realized I had finally found my magic. It was Eddie Munson.