#with the long title lol. because even if I can't get myself to write anything new right now I'm glad those ones encapsulate how I feel abou

[shimmershy]

Your art is already so Amasing and Then I Find Your Writing?!?!!

Oh my gods I love it soso much (I’d eat it it’s so good)

Ah wow thank you so much!! I saw you had reblogged those two Undertale fics I have on here and was really happy to see your comments; I'm glad people are still finding them and reading them because they still mean a lot to me. :)

[justmeinadaze]

Hi! I’m 23 but requesting anonymously because this is a similar situation I experienced and wished someone would have been there for me.

I was wondering if you would be interested in writing a Steddie x reader story where the reader recently lost her grandma who she lived with in a two bedroom apartment. It’s left the reader financially strapped and she posts an ad for a roommate. Steve and Eddie are looking for a place and sees the ad. Steve is a nurse and Eddie is a mechanic or masseuse (two extremes but I feel like Eddie is always a mechanic lol).

The reader is really withdrawn and struggling with grief because her grandma was all she had. She is working two jobs and not taking care of herself. She wears herself out and gets sick. She’s really resistant to letting anyone take care of her. And she doesn’t talk to Steve and Eddie much because she’s trying to hide her struggles and doesn’t want to bother them. And it’s an adjustment to living with other people. Steve and Eddie have a huge soft spot for the reader and want to take care of her.

There can be smut or no smut in this or if it would happen to turn into two or more parts! You’re a talented writer so I have no doubt you will write this beautifully!

A/N: It took me awhile to get to this because it struck a cord with me. I get this. I am this minus a Steve and Eddie.

I think I've mentioned it before but my father suddenly passed away 10 years ago and it destroyed me. I still deal with the aftermath of that to this day. Not only do I struggle with that grief but I struggle with how I was and have been treated which is why I am a big advocate on taking the time to feel what you feel and no matter what anyone says THERE IS NO TIME LIMIT ON GRIEF.

The doctor experience I write in this story happened to me and the chaos of that...I can't even... But yeah...more than anything I want anyone who's grieving a loved one to know, you are not alone, you are not broken, your feelings are valid, and I love you <3.

The title of this comes from "Guernica" by Brand New. I was thinking of this song when I got the request because the lead singer wrote it for his grandfather who was sick in the hospital.

P.S. I am more than willing to write another part to this. I wanted to focus on the emotional aspect more than a smutty aspect for this first part.

Warnings: Topic of Grief and loss of a family member, panic attack mentioned in slight detail, Steve and Eddie have an established relationship here.

"I submit no excuse

If this is what I have to do

I owe you every day I wake

If I could I would shrink myself

Sink through your skin to your blood cells

Remove whatever makes you hurt

But I am too weak to be your cure

Is this the way a toy feels when its batteries run dry?

I am the watch you always wear but you forget to wind."

“So, um, yeah the rent is $1300 including utilities and it’s due on the first of the month. You can leave it on the counter here and I can take it down to make the payment.”

Watching them go through her room was like being stabbed in the chest. When your grandmother passed, a part of you died with her and it killed you even more when you had to slowly begin removing things from her room to make space for a new roommate. Your grandma was your everything basically being a mother to you when everyone else disappeared. When she got sick it, it was no brainer to have her move in so you could look out for her with as much love and care as she had you growing up. 

For four years, she fought her disease until heaven decided it was time for her to go home. After that you began to spiral and not just personally but within life. When did everything become so expensive? Even in your rent-controlled apartment, you could barely afford the bills because everything else around you escalated to the point where now you couldn’t even take out a small loan to get groceries because your credit was so fucked up. 

You didn’t want to get a roommate and avoided the notion as long as possible but when it was becoming harder and harder to live day to day, you finally gave in. 

You were surprised when a boy answered your ad you had placed in the paper but when he told you their story, you couldn’t help but sympathize. 

“Yeah, my boyfriend and I are looking for a nice, safe place. The small town we were living in was already harassing him for the way he looks but when they found out we were together… I knew I needed to get us both out of there.”

“We can take it if you want. I don’t want you to feel like you have to take care of everything.”, the pretty boy who introduced himself as Steve responded as he leaned against the wall next to you.

“I mean it’s no problem. I work a couple of jobs so I usually leave pretty early anyway.”

“Me to. Well, it’s more like me coming in early because I work overnights from time to time. I’m not sure if the hospital over here is the same but… yeah. What, um, what do you think, babe?”

The longhaired boy who told you his name was Eddie beamed widely your way.

“I love it. Are you sure we won’t be bothering you, sweetheart? We’re nice guys, we swear.”

“No. No bother.”

Both men glance towards each other at your sullen tone before Steve extended his hand towards you with an equal large but soft smile of his own. 

“We’ll take it.”

***

You didn’t anticipate how hard it was going to be having someone in the apartment again let alone people that reminded you of her. Before she retired, your grandmother was a nurse and when the scent of hand sanitizer and hospital lingered on Steve’s admittedly beautiful hands, your mind shifted to the stories she would tell you about her late nights talking with patients in her care. 

Through smell alone, you learned Eddie got a job as a mechanic at the shop down the street and the first night when the aroma of gasoline lingered you cried at the memories of being a little girl with your grandparents, sitting by your grandfather’s truck as he attempted to fix it for the 400th time. 

Loneliness began to set in almost immediately after they moved in. They never actively displayed affection in front of you but there were moments when you were leaving for work and you’d pass by their open bedroom door to see them cuddled together. Sometimes at night when you would come home from your second job, you would hear Eddie talking to Steve over the phone while he was at work and he would giggle at something the man said on the other line before telling him how much he loved him. 

You missed having someone care about you…

Your grandparents had always been there for you through everything; every breakup, rough patch in life, or just to have someone remind you that you were loved unconditionally…they were there. 

When your grandmother lived with you, you laughed harder, smiled wider, and loved waking up in the morning. Now that all seemed so far away, so unattainable. You couldn’t ever picture yourself being happy like that again. 

To avoid that pain, you ran around constantly. It’s not like you could stop anyway with how hard things got around you. Life moves on…you can’t stop just because you’re numb. You suffer through it just like everyone else. 

“Y/N?”

At the sound of Eddie’s voice, you jumped shattering the glass in your hand.

“Fuck, I’m sorry—”

“No, no. That was my fault. You seemed lost in thought. Don’t move, I can clean this up here.”

Nodding, you stood still as you watched him run to grab a broom before your brain caught up with you.

“Wait! Wait, um, don’t…don’t throw away the glass. This was, um, someone in my family gave me this cup.”

“Oh, uh, ok. Well, I don’t see a lot of little pieces. I can try and fix it for you. Do you feel comfortable coming into our room?”

Silently, you headed in that direction, pausing in front of the bed as the metalhead shimmed around you to dig in the desk drawer by the window. Everything in the room was completely different. Where her bed with her yellow comforter used to be was now a bigger bed, higher off the ground with black sheets and blue pillowcases. Where her dresser used to be with the vanity that had photos taped to the mirror was now a much smaller 3 drawer shelf with a guitar hanging above it. On the nightstand, instead of medication and a photo of you with your grandparents, there was now a pack of cigarettes, empty beer cans, a photo of both men, and a book that was half read. 

“Ok, I knew Steve had it around here somewhere. I’m clumsy as hell so he’s always fixing things I accidently break.”, Eddie mused as he sat on the floor and began to focus on his task. “So, um, how are you?”

You couldn’t help but breathily laugh at the awkward way he asked that making him smirk at the sound as you took a seat in front of him.

“I’m alright. I just have a lot going on, you know?”

“Yeah, you come and go a lot like Steve but he gets to sleep. What do you do if I may ask?”

“I’m actually a photographer for the paper.”

“Oooo paparazzi girl!” Eddie’s grin grows as his eyes take you in watching you genuinely laugh for the first time since they met you. “Is that why you come and go at weird hours?”

“Oh, no. When I’m not there, I have another job at the mall taking photos of like families and kids at Glamour Shots.”

“Yeah? Those shiny, glimmering photos? I keep trying to get Steve to take a couple of those with me but he gets adorably embarrassed.”

“How long have you two been together?”

“Geez, uh, almost 3 years now. Spent the first couple hiding our relationship because of our town and his parents, rich fuckers who think they control the moral high ground.”, he rolls his eyes. “A few months ago, he finally told them we were together and his parents kicked him out of his house. A couple weeks later, I got harassed at my job and that was the final straw. Steve packed our things and we drove out here.”

“I’m so sorry.”

“No reason for you to be, princess. You’ve been nothing but nice to us. Well, when we see you.”, he chuckles. “Steve gets worried sometimes that you push yourself too hard.”

“You don’t need to worry about me. I’m strong. I’ll be ok.”

“No one’s saying your weak, Y/N.”

“Good because I’m not!” You snap as silence falls over the room before Eddie displays the cup for you with his palm on the bottom. 

“You may not want to use it for its purpose but keep it as a display.”

Without taking it from him, you rise to your feet and run to your room, slamming the door. 

###########

Everything was loud.

Why is everything so loud?

You were running late for your second job and you couldn’t find the polo you wore for it. You felt disgusting, not having time to shower in what felt like an eternity and you were just so fucking exhausted. You couldn’t afford to lose this job nor calling in to rest. You had to make money. It’s what everyone else does.

Why is everything so loud?

As you opened your door, you were met with Eddie standing at the counter in the kitchen. 

“Have, um, have you seen…”

“Y/N, are you alright?” Tears cloud your vision as you run your fingers through your hair and absently look around the apartment with your eyes. “BABE.”

You flinched at the metalhead’s loud but stern tone not even realizing that Steve was suddenly in front of you with his hands on your biceps. 

“Y/N, what’s going on?”

“Let me go! I have…I have to…to go to work…”, you sobbed before your legs gave out and the world went black. 

***

When your eyes finally fluttered open, it was pitch dark outside and your body felt incredibly drained. It felt like every bone in your body had become stiff as you carefully tried to sit up. 

“Hey, no, no, no. Don’t move to quickly or we’ll lose you again.”, Steve cooed softly as he came up from behind you and sat down on his knees to help adjust you. “Good. Here, drink some of this but not too fast.”

When he handed you the bottle of water, you gladly sipped it as his concerned eyes scanned you over. 

“How are you feeling?”

“Heavy.”

“I’m not surprised. When you push your body as hard as you have at some point it pushes back. Do you think you can eat something while we talk?”

When you nodded, a plate appeared beside you as Eddie handed it to his partner.

“I’m going to ask you some questions purely from a medical standpoint, ok? Do you feel comfortable if Ed stays? He had a bit of a panic attack to when we couldn’t wake you up.”

“That’s fine.”, you whisper. “Is that what happened? I panicked?”

“Um, kind of, honey. This kind of seems like a slow build so I would say anxiety attack. We know you work pretty much around the clock and you told me when I called that you were struggling with cash. Has anything else been going on?”

“Someone…that mattered to me…is gone. Died.”

Eddie sat on the couch next you and without thinking brushed some of your hair behind your ear so they could see your face better. 

“I’m sorry. How long ago?”, the nurse continued to inquire. 

“On the 18th it will be 8 months.”

“And you’ve been doing everything you have?! Y/N.”, the metalhead sighed as his boyfriend gave him a look of warning as if to say tread carefully. “Sweetheart, you should be taking it easy so you can grieve.”

“I can’t.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m supposed to be fine by now.”, you murmur as you shrug your shoulders. “After my grandmother died, I got 2 weeks paid leave for bereavement. Two weeks. Two weeks of fucking casseroles, sympathies, and people checking in. After that time, everyone began to slowly disappear and I went back to work but I never…I never felt whole. I didn’t understand why everyone else seemed fine while I was still felt like I was dying.”

“After two months, I went to a doctor and told them how I felt. Do you know what she said? ‘After 6 weeks, it’s no longer grief but depression.’ That shook me. I thought to myself ‘well shit. I guess there is a time limit on grieving and there must be something wrong with me because I can’t get better!’” 

The tears begin to fall at a faster pace and you let them go. 

“I still have to work, pay my bills, live my life… but no one ever walked me through how to do that. No one ever showed me how to continue existing without the person you love…without someone who meant the most to you… I wasn’t prepared to be left alone without her.”

Eddie presses your head to his chest as you sob, his arms squeezing you tightly as he whispered that you were ok. Sudden heat warmed your side as Steve leaned his head against your shoulder as he intertwined his fingers with yours while your body trembled against them. 

This had been a long time coming and you allowed the pain to wash over you till you fell asleep in their arms. 

***

This time when you opened your eyes, you were bundled up in a blanket with your head still against Eddie’s chest with one hand comfortingly rubbing your arm while the other held a book he was reading. 

“What are you reading?”

Tilting his head, his gentle eyes take you in as he grins and closes the book to show you the cover. 

The Vampire Lestat.

“I love vampires but Steve likes werewolves. Should have known he’d break my heart one day.”, he teased as the other boy comes around and places a soda with more food on the coffee table in front of you. 

“They are big dog like animals. How can you not like them? Y/N, I want you to at least eat a little bit of this, ok? You need to refuel.”

Not wanting to leave the metalheads comfortable embrace, you whine as you sit up until the smell of the pasta hits your nostrils and you realize how hungry you actually are. 

“Slow! Goodness.”, Steve chuckles as he takes a seat on floor after serving his partner and himself as well. 

“It’s been so long since I’ve had a home cooked meal. Usually, I’m eating microwaved food or something I pick up on the way to and from work. This is delicious, Steve, thank you.”

The three of you casually talk allowing you to really get to the know the men you had been living with. Eddie loved music and had been playing guitar since he was a little boy. He and his uncle had been fixing up cars since he moved in with him after his father went to jail. Steve learned in high school he enjoyed helping people and after he graduated he went to nursing school. 

“My dad gave me shit because I’m ‘settling’ and not becoming a doctor. I like what I do though. As a nurse I get more one on one with patients and make them feel cared for which as you noticed is hard in today’s society. Doctors seem to care more about the money and not the person.”

His eyes drink in your demeanor as you smile, agreeing with his words. Your entire energy seemed different since the first time they met you. You seemed to be relaxing a bit more and some of what he assumed was your normal personality began to shine through. 

“What about you, honey? Eddie told me you’re a photographer.”

Silently, you unraveled the blanket you had been tangled in and bounced to your bedroom, returning with some photos that you placed on the coffee table in front of them. 

“This man here proposed to this girlfriend by painting a mural on the side of an abandoned building that the city was going to tear down. The mayor called it graffiti and they tried arresting him for it.”

“Oh, wow. That’s gorgeous. I hope this guy is making a ton of money in like New York or something.”, the longhaired boy grins.

“This young lady saved her baby brother from a fire.”

“This are amazing, Y/N. You are extremely talented. “

 “What was this story about?”, Steve asked as he held up a photo of an older woman smiling on the couch by a window watching the rain. 

“That’s my grandma.”, you softly smile as you take it from his hands. “This was about a year before she… I remember we were talking about some trivial stuff and suddenly she turned to me and said ‘Life is beautiful. Even something as small as listening to the rain is never something you should take for granted.’”

“I like that.”, Eddie responded with a tender tone that made you feel safe. “She was right. I know it’s hard with all the bullshit going on in the world but… I think we do need to stop and take a look around, you know?”

“Y/N, honey, we hope you know that you don’t have to do everything yourself. We can help you. We have some money in savings if you need to take a break and—”

“No. No, I can’t ask you to do that.”

“You’re not asking, we’re offering.”, Steve insisted. “At least, quit your second job. You need a moment to breathe. We can help with any extra bills you may have until you really get back on your feet.”

Tilting forward, you kissed his cheek before leaning towards Eddie to do the same. 

“Thank you…so much…”

################

Over the next week, you felt more motivated to do things you hadn’t wanted to do over the past 8 months. You did what Steve suggested and quit your job at the mall. You began moving around and leaving the apartment for fun things instead of work. You accompanied the boys to a movie at the theater and took them to the lake where you basked in the sunlight all day. 

You took the time to eat healthier, home cooked meals even offering to make your roommates a meal every now and again. Sometimes when you knew Steve would be out all night, you left some leftovers in the refrigerator and wake up the next morning with a note on the counter thanking you with a big smiley face.

One morning, however, you were surprised with something different. When you opened your bedroom door to get some coffee, you noticed a box with a big red bow on the top and a piece of paper attached to the side. 

“Y/N,

There’s no bottom to the box so all you need to do is lift. I was afraid if we put this in an actual box it may break. Steve said it would be ok but I reminded him he fixes people not objects : ). 

Eddie’s been working on this for a while but we thought after how well you’ve been doing, we just wanted to show you how proud we are of you and how much we’ve enjoyed having you in our lives.

Eddie & Steve”

Carefully lifting the wrapped box and placing it aside, you picked up the glass you had dropped and Eddie had tried to fix. The blank material now had an image of your grandmother you had showed them illustrated on to it with her head turned towards the window. Instead of watching the rain, when she looked out the window there was a detailed drawing of you grinning with your fingers tangled in your hair as you were moving it behind your ear.

He had painted it with light colors, giving her an angelic glow that broke you as you began to cry.

Your feet scooted against the floor as you hurried towards their door and knocked on it a bit too enthusiastically causing it to fly open with a panicked look on the metalhead’s half asleep face. 

“What!? What’s going on? Where’s the fire?!”

You tackled your arms around his neck, not even realizing he was only in boxers. From the bed, Steve saw what was in your hand, smirking as he fell back against the pillow and slung his arm over his eyes.

“Thank you for this. You have no idea how much this means to me.”, you whispered. 

When he finally realized nothing was wrong, his arms settled around your waist.

“I know what it’s like to lose someone you love. You’re not alone, Y/N. You don’t have to carry it all by yourself, ok?” As you pull away and let him go, his hands cup your face as he dries your tears. “Now go back to bed, you fucking weirdo. It’s too early.”, he teases as he lightly pushes you away making you giggle as he turns back around and crawls into bed.

“May I—”

Before you can finish your sentence, he lifts up the covers and Steve pats the mattress between them. Once you climb in, the pretty boy lifts his arm and circles it around you to tug you closer to his side. When your head rests on his bare chest, your surprised at how warm and comfortable he feels against you, looping your arm around him as you nuzzle into his skin. Another set of arms wrap around your waist pressing you against Eddie’s equally comforting frame. 

His steady breath hitting your shoulder mixed with the other man’s heartbeat lulls you into the heaviest sleep you hadn’t experienced in a long time. 

#############

Steddie Asks

[shyalia]

Happy One Year Anniversary

to The Day the World Broke by @saladmix!!! She deserves all of the recognition for writing such an incredible and in-depth story, please go show her some love!!

To celebrate and show my immense appreciation, I spent the last two months working on an animatic for it. It's not perfect, but the vision is there and I'm honestly proud of myself for completing a major project like this. 100+ frames later (not all of them made the cut, unfortunately) it is finally complete just in time for the anniversary!

I'm about to ramble, I apologize in advance lol. Feel free to scroll down to the next blue text to see the animatic, please mind the spoiler and trigger warnings!

This fic is so important to me and holds a special place in my heart. I came across the first chapter the day it was posted, so early that it didn't even have any hits or kudos yet. The title and little description intrigued me so I clicked on it, and I'm so glad I gave it a chance because I was hooked from the first paragraph. Little did I know how much it would impact me that evening after raving about it to my best friend, during and after reading it. I'm not kidding when I say it has been on my mind every day for a full trip around the sun. Its AU is so unique that I haven't read anything like it before. The writing is beautiful, the storytelling is captivating, and the characterizations of the boys are so in-depth and relatable and a joy to read, the plot is insane and every chapter blows my mind... I could go on about it forever!!

I've read that first chapter more times than I can count, and the rest of it several times as well because even at 300k+ words, every single word is worth the time and energy. I'm always finding subtle details that are easily missed in earlier chapters that come up again later and I have a "WAIT HOLD UP" moment, like @saladmix is a genius I swear. When going back through chapters to locate details for my artwork to make it as accurate as I can, I always find myself getting lost reading because it just pulls me in, even though I already know what is about to happen... it's just that good.

Honestly, I can't get enough of this story, it means sooo much to me. It has inspired me to become a better artist, to have the courage to write my own stories, my enjoyment of reading has been rekindled, and most importantly, it brought friendship. @saladmix is such a kind person, she is so supportive and funny and a pleasure to talk to, I'm thankful to have her as a friend. Keep on being awesome, girl!!

Okay, I'll stop rambling and let y'all see this animatic that I worked so long on! xD

Please be forewarned that it contains spoilers up to and including chapter 23, so if you have not read that far and want to avoid spoilers, save this to watch at a later date!

TW for brief images of knives and guns, and for light sensitivity as some very bright frames come up. I apologize if you're sensitive to those types of things!

[meaningofaeons]

I like your writing so much ❗❗Can I request hcs about Gepard and his second in command who is also his childhood friend? They're reckless and disobedient but super capable. And poor Geppy can't even be too strict with them because he's pining so much and they're also pretty charming so every time he tries to be strict they're being like "aww Geppy is worried about me~ now now you know I can handle myself, I would never let my Geppy down hehe ✌🏻"

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈ long time coming

⊹ character(s) - gepard landau ⊹ word count - 996 ⊹ notes - gn!reader, fluffy but also angsty (I feel like that's just all my fics atp LOL), reader is second in command of the silvermane guards, reader is kinda a little shit teehee

this is so cute... more geppie love.... I will gladly write for him at any time. thanks for the req! also sorry again I FEEL LIKE ALL MY HCS TURN INTO SCENARIOS LOWKEY BUT!!! （=´∇｀=）

Let's be clear: you give poor Geppie high blood pressure on a near-daily basis.

Gepard is a man renowned for his calm, tactical thinking, his ability to get through any situation in battle.

You're just the variable that throws off his every calculation.

As his personal Second in Command, the Vice Captain of the Silvermane Guards, your own reputation precedes you as well. Gepard has more than enough sense to know you're capable, as befitting your title. He'd seen your ability time after time.

You two had a nice and steady relationship, if not a bit balanced in your favor.

Gepard just couldn't seem to say no to you in more cases than not.

It didn't help that you were quite the charmer, able to sweet talk your way into discounts at stores when you were meant to be on patrol, or even slip him some flowers that you had plucked from a nearby planter.

You'd been like this since the two of you were young, so it was no surprise.

You had even charmed Serval into adoringly calling you her "future little sibling-in-law", much to Gepard's mortification.

Turning his face red, while a favorite pastime of yours initially, was quickly becoming one of hers as well.

Of course, his sister knew very well his huge crush on you. It seems that even with all your flirtation, however, you... did not.

Still, Gepard would do anything for you.

You didn't even need to employ your mildly swindling tactics on him. If it was you that asked, it would be done.

However... some things you did he just couldn't accept.

"Fall back! The Fragmentum spread in this area, the monsters are stronger than before!"

"There's automatons in that sector! Stay here, wait for reinforcements!"

"Hang on while I grab some bandages! Don't rush back in with an open wound!"

Order after order, all ignored by you as you did as you saw fit.

Isn't he supposed to be your superior?!

Gepard could do little to stop you once you had your mind on the 'correct' course of action, even if it meant endangering yourself, but never others.

That one time, a horde of Fragmentum monsters had appeared from nowhere, their power heightened thanks to the corrosion.

Instead of falling back as ordered, you had led the charge with your own division, and had come through with every guard in one piece. You, however, suffered a fair few superficial wounds.

"Aw, is my dearest Geppie concerned for little ol' me?"

"This isn't the time, Y/N—"

"Come, now. I'm just fine! Let's get in there and finish the job."

He couldn't argue.

The next, it was automatons going out of control, ones that had somehow crawled their way to the surface. A rare occurrence, but an occurrence nonetheless.

Rather than let the rookie guards spend even one more moment in uncertainty behind enemy lines, you charged in, taking them out and rescuing the newbies yourself.

"Y/N, that was incredibly reckless! You could've gotten hurt, or worse...!"

"Geppie!" You barreled into his arms, affection in your eyes as always. "I love when you worry for me, but look! Fine, as usual!"

The only thing fighting off the blush from his cheeks was the indignation he felt at your disobedience.

And that third time... Well, that was now.

"Y/N!"

The weapon of the Fragmentum beast was no joke—it had dug right past your armor, leaving you panting and clutching your wound on the ground as your fellow soldiers went ahead in your stead.

Gepard, too, stayed behind. He had to make sure you didn't continue on in this state.

"Hey, Geppie... It's fine, I can—"

"No, you can't!"

You see a lot from Gepard, but the one thing you'd never seen from him was this level of hurt.

It was time for a bit of a heart-to-heart.

"You always do this...! Even when we were young!" he murmured bitterly as he tied off the bandages around your gash.

"You'd step into fights without thinking twice, steal money back from thieves even if it meant getting threats, even though you were so young!"

"You never think of yourself, nor of the people who would care if you were hurt or gone!"

"...I can't just let my underlings get hurt, Gepard. We can't let the young buds be plucked."

"That doesn't mean you need to throw your own life away!"

Silence, aside from your occasional pained grunts as Gepard finished patching your wound, filled the clearing.

"...I just... want to do what's best for others."

It was surprisingly candid coming from you of all people, but the man hung his head in response.

"And I just want to see you safe, Y/N."

"Captain Landau, Vice Captain Y/N!"

A soldier greeted you two with a salute.

"We've cleared the monsters in this area."

"Excellent work!" you laughed from your position on the ground, rising to your feet with Gepard's help. "Head on back. Captain Landau and I will join you in a moment."

Ever since you were children, Gepard was always a bit awkward. Even in this moment, it was still the same.

The man wasn't sure where to keep his hands—while still eager to assist you, he didn't want to overstep.

You crossed that boundary by pulling him into a hug, one that he gladly reciprocated once he processed what was happening.

"I'll try to be more considerate of myself," you whispered, so quietly that he wasn't sure if he heard you right.

When Gepard pulled back, that familiar mirth was in your eyes again.

Instead of making him worry or panic, however, the sight brought him a smile.

"Okay."

"C'mon, Geppie. I'm gonna start thinking you're into me if you act that worried!"

Your teasing was only met with quiet, until he reached a gloved hand out to take yours.

"And if I am?"

Well, it was your turn to be the one turned red.

[yuseirra]

Can you make a comic where hikaru and ai are having romantic physical touch, like kissing or cuddling???

I actually never seen hikaru and ai being romantically together, I always love your doodle and theory about hikaai❣️❣️❣️❣️

I hope you never stop 💖💖💖💖🥰🥰🥰

Hello~~~ heheheh.. I.. I was really surprised when I found this in my inbox today as I had my eyes open at 3am in the morning. What a coincidence because I ACTUALLY GAVE THIS AN ATTEMPT. JUST RIGHT BEFORE I READ THIS ASK. What timing, wow!! this was going to be left in my notes forever because I-...'d have been too shy to post it publicly but yeah it's dawn and I'm half-awake and dazed and all, I'm going to drop it here and slide back into the abyss

(yeah please do listen to Ruler Of My Heart btw I even translated the lyrics for you guys...it's in the link!! Imagine it's them singing them together lol. i listened to that as I drew this earlier)

I picture it's Ai who's made all the big advances, I mean that's exactly what's happened in the work. She initiated things. I think Hikaru'd have treated her very carefully considering how sweet he used to be.

To add, at this point I'm pretty sure these guys are at least inspired from Amenouzume and Sarutakhiko, they share too many similarities with those gods; and if that's the case, then even this is pretty accurate towards the legend and the gods because Amenouzume is the one who approached and got her man to love her, legends state SHE flirted w him and they just.. get married right after that. He just took a liking to her immediately... Even better, she literally got the perfect guy being the adorable and precious goddess she is, I'm so proud of her!! He governs over so many things and is so powerful (like one of the seven gods who have the title of Okami) but most of all he's virtuous!! He's noble!! Hey if I'M Japanese and and I write stories about the entertainment industry with gods involved there is NO way I don't incorporate this story somewhere?? I'd be so disappointed if it's not going to be mentioned when Amenouzume's already been brought up.

The reply got really long because I got overboard about this ship again, I'll put a read more ;)

If you've ever seen me throughout all these years, I draw tons of cuddles and fluff but I NEVER draw anything more than a cheek kiss, ever because I get embarrassed to bits. But with these guys...UGH let me justify myself, things look really bad rn but they ACTUALLY CANNOT GET ANY MORE MUTUAL IN CANON...

One of them states they were only alive when they had the other and that they loved her from the bottom of their heart and the other says they wanted to live with the other forever and confesses they were the first one they ever wanted to love, even while they didn't fully understand what love is!!! How strong IS THAT??

I care so much about canon, as soon as those dropped I just, there is no way I can't unsee that. It's just there. Furthermore, they already have two kids between them!!! They did all the things a couple would do, wouldn't they have??? I'm sure with all the positive comments they've made about each other, I can just go on and on.

What I can infer is, if there is someone who can make Ai drop those from her mouth out of her heart.. they're definitely the one who's made her really happy. She can't get more loving than that..he managed to do it, so I see him being so precious to her, he's worth everything to her you know? She went through so much for Kamiki's sake and yet she's so warm towards him I just can't!!! That's what got me because I could already see HE would have "loved" Ai a lot may it be twisted or not. Ai is smart. She's so serious about love too. Then what they had must have been so genuine. He couldn't have hurt her or made her suffer, that's not how it works.

The way I see it, he actually used to be the really gentle and timid type(this is what really gets me; he was so kind!!;), and he totally shifted upon having lost her. HE USED TO BE SO SOFT!!; and he still kinda is. I can see how he'd have been really nice in the past, it sort of does still seep through his behavior. He's just totally broken. This guy, I'm pretty sure he devoted himself to a cause related to Ai's life after she'd been gone...his life after her death is just him struggling to do something related to her, he's written that way and that's how he broke. How did he- what happened?? I just; he's broken so bad!!; Well.

Back to you, @jusmingamba :) I'm someone who's nuts over keeping close to canon,

if canon doesn't disappoint me, I can keep going... 'v')9 Thanks for the support! I don't want to stop either, I hope the MANGA doesn't make me feel that way, it's been so rough.. I knew it was going to be a tough road ;v; BUT GOSH. It's been so bumpy and tense and everything, I keep saying this over and over, but just what kind of guy did Ai love/?? The thing is, I see many good things about him but???;;; they make him appear as if he's so evil too so. I hope that's intentional. He has/had all the potential to be this really interesting and complex character, I hope they use it. I CAN. I WOULD. I CAN DO IT. SO I can't picture the artists not doing it themselves.. it'd be such a waste!!

If anything, they have to come back to them at least once before the manga ends because I cannot see Ai's wish being disregarded. That was an important plot point and I just DON'T see the plot being that cruel to her. They've been so cruel to Hikaru, geez.. but if he's someone she loved so much, I hope what she wanted does come through one way or the other, that's the only way I see this being a "fulfilling" story in the end.

I lost sleep.. I'm going to be so tired today and also pretty embarrassed from posting this but I regret nothing!! You're welcome!! Have a nice day!!!!

[duchessonfire]

Heyyyy Duchess! 🥰 Omg, I literally cannot with how much I’m obsessed with every single Cegan fic you’ve ever written. It’s like, no matter what AU they’re in, they always find each other and fall in love (in that slightly twisted, totally them way). And honestly? We’re all here for the toxic-but-make-it-hot vibes, lol. 😂

Anyway, no pressure or anything, but I gotta ask... Is Savior!Carl making a comeback soon? 👀 Like, for real, I’ve spent way too much time imagining what could possibly happen next. After that whole condom-gate mess (iconic, btw), our ship hit that sweet spot we were all dying for: Negan lowkey obsessed with controlling Carl and making him his everything, while Carl just wants to feel needed, owned, and finally free from all that fear of being discarded. Ugh, chef’s kiss. 👌✨

But like... That balance is hanging on by a thread, and even though I remember you saying in the comments that things would stabilize by the end of Part 3, my brain is straight-up incapable of imagining how they’d get there without your genius storytelling. I desperately need your words to make it all click. 🙏

That said, if you’re cooking up something new or just need more time to vibe and create, no worries at all—I’ll wait as long as it takes. You’re amazing, Duchess, and your writing has honestly made my life so much brighter. Love ya!! 💕 Keep being the literal queen of Cegan fic. 😘

Hiiiii!

Omg thank you so much for your sweet message, you're too kind 😭❤️

I can't even begin to tell you how much space Cegan takes up in my head, it's actually ridiculous. I spend what feels like every minute of every day *obsessed* with them. A lot of it, let's be honest, has to do with how smoking hot Jeffrey Dean Morgan is, but also I'm still riding the high of the few interactions Carl and Negan had in the series. (If I think too much about the fact we could have had so much more, I'll start throwing up ☠️). They are just THE PERFECT toxic but sweet relationship.

Thank you so much for telling me your thoughts on the Savior!AU, it really means a lot to me ❤️🥺 I will get back into it soon, but it's going to take a while because I want to do a full re-read of it starting with Part 1 + re-watch TWD from the line-up episode all the way to S8 before I start writing again. That way I can really immerse myself back into this universe and into Bad Wolf Negan (which is my affectionate title for Negan before the cell). I've spent the past 3 or 4 months working on my Dead City fic where Negan was very kind and soft and a gentleman so I need a good refresher on how dark and awful Negan can be before I get back into the Savior!AU 😅

First, though, I'm going to post the first chapter of a new fic I have been planning for *a while*, because the Cegan Bingo event ends on December 4th (the day before my birthday 🥰) and I just need to post one more square to hit a bingo!! I'm VERY excited about this new fic. It's going to be super long (as usual...), and it will be set in the real world, no zombie apocalypse. It's also going to be FILTHY 🔥🔥🔥🌶️🌶️🌶️ Like, literally the dirtiest, kinkiest fic I've ever written in my life, and I'm super excited for that. I'll do my very best to post the first chapter within the next two weeks so I can make it before the end of the bingo. 🤞

Thank you again for your sweet message and I hope you'll like all the Cegan that's coming 🤗❤️🥰💐✨

[tenrousei-kuroi]

Wait, wait— so you write the most wicked Starcest smut I’ve ever seen AND you’re also just a super knowledgeable and insightful person when it comes to the series, fandom history and literature?? I’m obsessed! I just read through your page and you just seem like the kind of person I could listen to talk about their interests for hours, haha. I was curious, as someone whose been in the Starcest fandom for so long do you read alot of fanfics yourself? Do you have any recommendations— any favorites or current fixations? I’d love to see what tickles your brain 😊❤️

Nice to meet you! I'm always thrilled to find people who vibe with my particular brand of weirdness, and I love chatting! So feel free to ping me or email me whenever. And thank you for being so sweet! ʚ♡⃛ɞ(ू•ᴗ•ू❁)

Once upon a long time ago I remember keeping most of my stuff to myself, cluttering up my hard drive but never getting posted anywhere, because I was convinced there just couldn't be that many people besides me who'd want to read it. Holy mackerel was I wrong! Honestly I'm still working through the backlog, there's a lot of stuff just hiding out in random folders on old laptops of mine, lol.

Shockingly I'll actually read much more than just Sirius/Regulus, it's just that The Boys(tm) are the only pairing that holds my attention enough for me to sit down and write most of the time.

I've pulled up some of the "old school" Sirius/Regulus shenanigans I couldn't tear my eyes from as a kid. And I tried to pull ones that I haven't mentioned on here as much, so hopefully they're "new" recs. I added the links if I could find them...though it appears that LiveJournal is now requiring a login to view a lot of these nowadays...and in revisiting some of them I realized that my own LJ has finally been purged by the website lol. Fifteen years of breaking their TOS by posting incestuous underage smutfics and it was the crime of not logging in for two years that finally did me in, I'm laughing so hard!

Tenkuroi's Nostalgic Recs List:

"Untitled (O Tannenbaum)" Forsanethaec

"And in the grave I see thee beast" Forsanethaec

"A Fortnight Dead" Forsanethaec

"Idle Threat" Sabethea

"The Very Dead of Winter" Spessartine

"Liturgy" Spessartine

"Opus" Spessartine (there used to be a wonderful Spanish translation of this hanging around but I can't find it back!)

"The Sun Burst Through in Unlooked For Directions" Spessartine

"Some Ways of Having Loving" Marseverlasting

"Brilliance" DeathJunkE

And then there's this masterpiece that I saved to my computer probably 12+ years ago...but I didn't write down who wrote it! Or even the title (teenage me wasn't the most forward-thinking). And it seems to have completely disappeared from the internet. It was a LiveJournal user, that's all I remember. But I positively love this fic! So much that I basically copied it when I wrote Ticigi's fic for HP Cest Fest 2022.

And of course "A Thousand Year's Good Wine", which is my personal white whale that I will likely go to my grave never reading again, lol. Every year I feel like I get closer and closer to forgetting just what about it was so special...

If we yank my brain out of 2010 and fast forward to today, I feel like there's a lot more delicious Sirius/Regulus to be had. Once upon a time, there was literally not a single Sirius/Regulus fic I hadn't read. If it was on Ao3, FF.net, LJ, IJ, or someone's personal blog, I'd seen it. Every Google results page for "Sirius/Regulus" had been carefully combed through. But today? I'm sure I'm missing a lot that's around. I'm not even caught up fully on Ao3 at the moment, and that's saying something! There's so much more to choose from now, although there has also been a noticeable shift in tone, and something of a trade-off, I feel.

A lot (by which I mean almost all) of older Sirius/Regulus was canon-compliant, and it was rare to find anything that didn't end with Reggie dead. (A notable exception would be earthphoenix and esc_azkaban's Sirius/Regulus/Severus fics,) So for those who like me want to indulge in pretending he made it out okay--or at least partake in some canon-divergence--this is the decade to be living in, lol.

However, RegulusLives! aside, we don't see nearly as much of the pretentious, purple-soaked goodness that saturated LJ and InsaneJournal back in the day. If only the past and present could meet somewhere in the middle! (ﾉ｀Д´)ﾉ

This might be confusing to some people but I'm also always down for some platonic Sirius|Regulus and the fastest way to obsess me is to write a fic where Sirius somehow ends up with custody of his brother. I think Riakida did a fic like that a year or two back that I fell in love with pretty quickly.

And we have so many longfics now! Sirius/Regulus never used to be the kind of pairing that got more than a one-shot (blame Reggie's death lol). So part of me is still getting used to finding my OTP in fics that I can actually follow and look forward to updates and such... "we could swim inside these crowds" by waitforthespark is one I've been following for awhile now. (Updates probably seem slow to everyone but me, the reigning champion of going literal years between chapters on my own fics.)

I'm curious, what drew you to the madness my stuff and similar works? Do you write as well, or just read? Any amazing gems you've come across in your wanderings?

[korrasamibottles]

Year-End Writer's Roundup: 2024 edition

Thank for tagging me @sweetorangepoptart !! I'm not sure who's been tagged so @ any and all writers who see this and want to participate, consider yourself tagged!!

1. Words written (published or not, WIPs totally count too!!):

18,083?? I can't believe I did that. I can't believe that came out of me. Sounds fake. Also one fic is responsible for like two thirds of that, which also sounds fake.

2. Smut scenes:

Just one, in my Korrasami Week fic Love Bites (So Do I)

3. New things I tried:

Mmm I wrote an AU? Sometimes I have trouble getting into AUs as a reader because I end up missing the established universe, so I never envisioned myself writing one, but that's the fic that wanted to be written! It was a challenge to make the characters feel like themselves (if their personality is molded by their environment and life experiences, and then that environment and set of experiences is tweaked, what happens??) and also make the world feel Legend of Korra-inspired rather than exactly like the real world as it exists except with people named Korra and Asami (not that that's a bad way for an AU to be—it's just not how I wanted this one to be).

I don't want to spoil anything, but there are a number of little details sprinkled in that I hope make the fic feel somewhat rooted in-universe even though it isn't. Anyway overall I'm pretty happy with how it turned out? If I had endless patience I might've continued adjusting things, but uhh I don't lmao.

4. Fic I spent the most time on:

Love Bites for sure. It ended up being over twice as long as every other fic I've written, and I'm still shocked by that. I did not think I had 12,438 words in me. (And I almost didn't because I wanted to quit like a dozen times shhh🤫)

5. Fic I spent the least time on:

The Space Between Heartbeats, but not because I didn't care!! Turns out it's just way easier to keep the word count lower and tie everything up relatively quickly (for me. lol. takes me a while to write anything) when it's set in-universe and there isn't any extra world-building to figure out.

6. Favorite thing I wrote: 

You would have me choose❓️🥺 I can't. The two fics I finished are so different from one another, but they're both precious to me and I'm happy with the way they turned out.

7. Favorite thing I read:

Can I tag everyone who participated in Korrasami Week? I've started going through the Korrasami Week Collection on ao3 and there's so much talent in this fandom it's crazy. Shout out to @appalesbian @ozais-lobotomist @kingwuko @madlad-link for writing things that drove me absolutely bonkers.

I also fell hard and fast into Velcinta Madness after watching Andor earlier this year and subsequently spent weeks groaning in agony and rending my clothing (many such cases!) so I want to mention what a knife measures. It packs a powerful punch into a quick read and is beautifully written, as sharp as the title suggests, and has the kind of character dynamics that make me want to pull my hair out (complimentary). I love it.

8. Writing goals for next year: 

Specific goals: Wuko Week approaches......I have a doughy lump of an idea currently rising in a warm, humid location, and soon it will be time to put it in the oven. I also think I can loosely tie it in with an older Korrasami wip (which I really want to finish. and it rhymes with shmibrator shmic.) but I don't want to make any promises because fics always take on a mind of their own at some point and things change. I'm also tempted to try writing something Velcinta-related but idk. Participating in a new fandom is always intimidating. We'll see.

Non-specific goals: I really want to reach a point where my recurring perfectionism/shame-induced writer's block no longer gets the better of me👍

[novelcain]

Please read 🙏

So. I mentioned in the tags of one of my first posts back that I had to announce a few things that'd probably lose me some followers, but like I don't blame anyone if you do skedaddle because I know most of you are here for the monkie (totally understandable tho)

That being said I am no longer hyperfixated on jttw/Sun Wukong and that likely won't happen again for a while cause main the thing that caused me to clock out for so long kinda left a bad taste in my brain. However I will eventually come back to it. I can guarantee that. It just won't be for a hot minute (maybe who knows I can't control my brain lol)

As for the 10 billion asks I have in my inbox rn I'll be taking screen shots of the ones that have to do with monkie and such and putting them in a folder so that when I DO get back into jttw I'll just immediately start with those. So yeah if you sent me a really long ask FEAR NOT!😃 for I refuse to get rid of any of them 🥰

With that information tho, I never really intended for this to be just a monkie blog that's just what my hyperfixation had been on since I started. But I also tried to force that hyperfixation to stay way longer than I should have so that I could keep making content that my followers would like which is a part of the reason why I needed a break for so long. I wore myself out, and I needed to convince myself that it was okay for me to make content that makes me happy too. 😌

Tho unfortunately that does mean all my current projects will be on hold and I'll be updating the titles on ao3 soon to On Hiatus. 😔

I ofc will still gladly interact with/absorb any art or writings inspired by or dedicated to my works even if they aren't something I'm currently fixated on because effort deserves recognition and I love seeing ya'lls stuff more than anything. 🥰 Same goes for any submissions with art or edits/videos.

Also I did finish my Triad AU Sun Wukong character sheet like... forever go and just forgot to post it. 😬 (I KNOW I'M SORRY! 😭) SO I'll be posting that soon once I'm done moving everything around and making things more manageable and ✨️aesthetic✨️ on the blog.

Tho that kinda brings me to the next announcement I'll be merging my art blog and my spam blog onto this blog (so many blogs😫) cause honestly 4 blogs is just too much and I just wanna vibe 😅🤚 lol

The last announcement is that once I'm done rearranging everything I'll be going through all my mentions that I've missed and checking out what you guys made while I was gone cause I heard from a few people that there's quite a bit 😊 *much excitement* (on god I need an emoji that looks like it's vibrating because I need visual representation of how I feel like imma explode sometimes)

[oliolioxenfreewrites]

Writer Questionnaire ❦

Taking a break from writing to catch up on my tags writing 2 books at once is not for the weak 😭 so thank you @drchenquill for the tag as always!

- how long have you had your writing tumblr/writerblr? a fast and loose estimate is fine!

At least since April or early May!

- what lead you to create it?

I wanted to connect with other writers and creatives to make new friends!

- what's your favorite thing about the writer community?

My favorite part is the absolute powerhouse of creativity and innovation. You all have this incredible knack for coming up with unique ideas that never fail to inspire me. Plus, they're hilarious! Their sense of humor adds a delightful twist to everything we do, making even the wildest ideas feel approachable and fun. Honestly, being around such talent and laughter is a constant source of my motivation and joy!

- what’s one thing you'd like in mutual to know about you?

No notification I receive on this app goes unnoticed. I'll be at work, smiling because someone found my writing and enjoyed it! It means so much to me and only makes me want to write even more!

- is there anything you'd like to see more of on your dash?

I would love more collaboration and interaction in my messages. I am open to discussing and exchanging ideas with another writer. I’m particularly interested in co-creating a planetary system and bouncing creative ideas back and forth.

- which wips or writing projects are you noodling about lately

I'm currently working on fleshing out a novel titled Journals from The Whitmore Estate, which is a modern/historical fiction story. The novel explores the slave and civil war era, and also delves into our near future. It centers around the actions of a power-hungry ancestor who sought to shift power dynamics, and the resulting centuries of generational backlash.

- how long have you been working on them?

Its been about a few months, I had to take a break to give myself new perspectives and coming to a decision on who the main character was!

- do you remember what inspired them/what got you started

I was looking at writing prompts and came across one that said something along the lines of “Your character inherits a manor from a distant relative. Upon moving in, they discover what lies within its walls, answering why your family has been plagued by bad luck for as long as anyone can remember.”

- how much time, in your best estimation, do you spend thinking about them?

Wayyy too much! Now rhat I've found the main character, I can't put it down!

- when someone ask the dreaded "what do you write about?" question what do you usually say?

“I write whatever comes to mind!” Or “You can read my writings to find out.” 😗

- name any characters you created. Side characters, protagonist, antagonist, characters who’ve never been written, the first original abomination you ever pulled from your ass; whomever you’d like!

Kirjani is my favorite oc to date! Her chosen family: Rick, Raelin, and Lena. The three sisters from the Isles of Aurorith! Imani, Jade and Jasmine, the first ocs I ever created, they deserve their story to be told. (I’m working on it!!) My scrapped character folder is at about 60 something, but the one I just couldn't figure out completely was their grandmother Queen Amara, those who've followed me for a while probably remember her! She was just a bit too sinister and I tried to work around certain motivations and rationality kept getting in the way 🤣 I might use her for another story of mine I've been thinking about

- who’s the most unhinged?

I think it would be between Amara or Kirjani for sure. One of them is justifiably so, the other… not so much LOL

- who comes the most naturally for you to write?

Jules a gay sophmore in high school who is grieving the sudden loss of his mother (I haven't introduced him yet!) He's the first character I've ever based on myself or someone like me rather.

- do you ever cringe at them?

Oh yeah, that’s when I'm writing his best romantic scenes. Love, especially teen romance is supposed to be cringy and awkward at times. That's what makes it so!

- how much control do you feel you have over your characters? do they ever “write themselves,” refuse to cooperate, or do things you didn’t expect? to what degree? are some less cooperative than others?

They literally form their own lives that I just go with, its their world I’m just living in and writing it! I'm considerably outnumbered lmao

- do you enjoy people asking questions about your characters? and do you have a preferred means of receiving said questions? for example, as asks, as replies, as reblogs, as tag notes, as comments on ao3, etc.

More than words can express, that's why I love sharing my characters and their personalities. I want to open discussions on humanity and how the human condition can create dynamically and perplexing people!

- what makes you want to follow another writeblr account? do you follow ‘em as you see ‘em, or take time scoping out the blog to make sure you align with its content? do you follow based on wips, or vibes?

I don't really have enough mutuals or followers, so I follow people based on their creativity and if they're on Writeblr. I don't have much discernment at the moment :)

- what makes you decide against following?

Just depends. I guess I haven't found a page I've ever said, “Oh no, can't follow that,” too.

- do you interact with non-mutuals often?

Not really, and if I follow you and you don't follow me back, I will give you 24 hours before I unfollow. We're all creatives here; no one is more creative than the next person, in my opinion.

This was so much fun to answer, I have so many more tags to do, but I’m not gonna stress ah finishing them all today 🥲 I have some short stories I wanna post as well from the weekend.

I tag @leahpardo-pa-potato, @slenders1ckn3ss, and @coffeewritesfiction. + open tag to any writer interested!

[misc-obeyme]

This was amusing to me so I feel like sharing it, CC lol I hope you don't mind the newspaper I'm about to print out here :P

So, I've recently read a couple of smut mangas and seen the titles of others while I was at it.

When I first began playing Obey Me in 2019, I thought that the titles of the mangas Levi talked about were crazy and MUST be exaggerated for comical purposes. Even during my #? replay last year I still thought, 'no way the silliness and these long-ass titles are legit in the real world.'

I wasn't curious to delve deeper or research to check whether or not the aspects I deemed to be attempts at comedy were like that in reality, so I ignored it in belief that it's a part of the humour.

Man was I wrong.

Because lo and behold, this many years later I suddenly get image recommendations from mostly smut manga on my dashboard even though I've never interacted with similar posts or accounts before maybe because I used to play 'What in "Hell" is Bad?' or perhaps I was probably just destined to find a silly answer I never looked for. Anyways, I end up liking a portion of what I see and reading the corresponding mangas as a result—only to then make the hilarious discovery that certain titles can indeed be insane in both content (many are as weird as hell) and length (how much longer can one title get?)

After that I wondered why such standards get applied to manga titles and did an immensely brief, fraction-of-a-minute skim on the information: the titles help make the mangas stand out in the saturated market, give readers a sort of 'summary' on what the manga is about, and higher the chances of anime adaptation. There was also something about how title choices will eventually run out since there are so many mangas out there, so longer titles take the cake.

Well...as a writer I thought, 'I could never.' I mean, though I know it's not the same thing at all and this a completely different scenario, I can't so much as imagine choosing for my fics such a lengthy and weird not-in-a-good-way (in my opinion) title.

No offense intended to anyone, of course, but here's the thing: the manga world is a world on its own, with its own themes and norms.

As such, while some titles may be entertaining to read, as writers there are certain things/words that don't tickle our fancy or match our linguistical preferences, so our 'writer side' doesn't deem them satisfying in general or fit for our work in specific, if that makes sense, and we hence can't bear to choose them for or include them in the fics we write. It's almost like I mentally shudder at the thought of titling my writings with a manga-style sentence or a near mini-paragraph lol

I tend to suck at expressing my thoughts, but since you're a writer yourself I suppose you get what I mean, CC?

Now I babbled a lot and announced my belated discovery, I'll see myself out :P

You know quite honestly my favorite thing about those titles is coming up with some whenever I write Levi in a fic. Like it's clearly just for humor and there is no story attached to it, but they can be fun to come up with.

HOWEVER, titles in general are the absolute worst. I find them very difficult because it's like you want something that embodies what the story is about, but you also don't want anything too cheesy? I don't know, I always struggle with the feeling that my titles are cheesy lol.

It's always I either don't come up with anything and post the fic sans title, something comes to me like a bolt of lightning out of the blue, OR I spend untold amounts of time agonizing over it before finally picking a single word.

But I have read about the trend of naming manga with basically an entire sentence. I think it's a little silly to suggest that all the titles will eventually be taken. There are so many words and word combinations in any given language that I think you could have them all be a two word titles and not end up with repeats.

Though this kind of thing tends to be dictated more by the market and how well things sell rather than how much sense they make. If manga publishing companies are seeing a spike in sales due to manga's with a sentence for a title, then they're going to keep on doing that.

Anyway, I think I do understand what you mean! Titles are tricky and if I can avoid coming up with one, I often will lol.

[afniel]

Hi there's really vague (but kinda heavy?) Third Novel stuff under the cut, so don't spoil yourself if you don't want to know anything. Because there's a liiiiittle something something in there plus some art.

Man I'm like. Writing on chapter 2(?) of I Can't Believe It's Not A Trilogy (ICBINAT...world's worst working title) and this story is gonna need such a ridiculously huge content warning for suicidal ideation, way more than the first two, and the second has more than the first, so you know this one has got it bad.

And yet this is just kinda Where X Is At Right Now at the start of it, for Reasons (that I can't say further shit about until Outcome Unpredictable is all online, lol). I have a chapter and a half of, I dunno where or when it fits, just kinda disconnected noodling, and they were hard to write in the kind of way that's warning me that I don't really know what I'm doing with a character, just kinda slapping events together without much emotional weight to any of them or any real direction.

Then I kinda had a few revelations in a row, realized I was trying to lean way too hard on X to Just Be Better Already Dammit, and he was just coming out flat because he's not better already, dammit. Reploid Grandpa is 100% a fucked-up old veteran who's barely out of the hell he came from so yeah, he makes huge strides in his mental health, but he started at the bottom of a really deep hole. That's not a quick climb! It takes real life people decades to escape that hole, and they usually didn't go through it for 80+ years without a break. He's just gonna be down there, even if he's a lot higher than he started. (IRL veteran suicide rates are absolutely dismal too, and yeah, X's mental state very much reflects this at the point that I'm writing.)

Once again all I can actually do is write down the words as they happen and trying too hard to steer it myself only makes it stop working. Am I ever going to stop writing about this old man's mental health struggles? Uhh. Well, I've tried to stop twice, if that tells you anything. I swear he does get a happy ending and keep recovering. Well, maybe not that much physically, because Protagonist Who Stays Disabled And Isn't Magically Fixed is still a primary goal, here, and the story agrees with me on that, but even given that he could stand to be more comfortable even if he's not magically fixed. I dunno why this is where it's going but I think it's just my extreme commitment to What If This Stupid Video Game Plot Was Realistic Though. It's definitely realistic now! Maybe sometimes a little too much, but honestly, that's what makes it work, I think. It would never stick the landing if I stopped short of 100% painful sincerity, even if it's hard to look at sometimes. Feeling a bit like you're being invited to see and feel vulnerabilities that maybe aren't entirely your business when you're reading fiction is the secret sauce, if you ask me.

(At this rate I'm gonna have to update the author's notes at the end of Outcome Unpredictable because I'm making myself a goddamn liar. I straight up say I have no intent of writing a third one, but here I am, evidently doing that before the author's notes even hit the internet.)

I'm not gonna explain shit past that at the moment, so just feel free to conjecture amongst yourselves at the one thing I've kinda drawn in the ICBINAT era. This is about a year and a half from OU and 2 years from FtC, for the record. It is a truth universally acknowledged that if you leave an AU running unattended for long enough, even the canon characters will eventually turn into OCs.

(Also that if my coloring style gets any more rim light I'm going to be in Sonic Adventure style coloring territory...which would fuck severely, actually.)

[crehador]

for asks, 5, 11 and 30

for 11, I mean longest maybe not time wise, but which daily stumped you the most overall? maybe an idea took a while to finalize but after that it was fast to write?

thank youuu for the ask! (っ˘ω˘ς )

5. what work of yours got more feedback than you expected?

honestly i think i will have to go with the one with the clones for this one because it was just. such a ridiculous crackpot fever dream idea that spiraled wildly out of control all thanks to the encouragement of my lovely horny regulars

i definitely didn't expect to spend as much time as i have with the clones (and would have probably tackled their story in a different format if i had) and i probably wouldn't have if not for the feedback! so thank you to everyone who has been following along with that hot mess lmao

ALSO HELLO ARKNIGHTS AU?! i mean that didn't get a ton of feedback or anything but it definitely got more than i expected, which was none. it is such a niche fusion that honestly i didn't expect anyone to like... read it while also knowing what arknights is, so i was thrilled to see you there lol and i want to write more of it one day!! snow leopard samatoki distant cousin of the silverash clan my beloved

11. what work took you the longest to write?

so whenever i sit down to start a daily, i create a new page in scrivener and title the page with the number. so if i'm working on daily 123 for example i'll title it "123." then start writing and add a more descriptive tag to the title after it's complete

but if i start writing something and don't finish it on the same day, i'll often just add another page above it and make that the new 123 without changing the previous one...

which is basically to say sometimes, when one idea stumps me for a while, my numbering system ends up looking like 156, 157, 158, 159, 123 lmao

anyway all this is to say, this has definitely happened a few times throughout the year, where one number just kept getting pushed down and down. i can't say for sure which one took the absolute longest

BUT ONE THAT I KNOW took a heinously long time was the prince/pirate request from a beloved mutual! i wanted to write that like as soon as the prompt came in because prince/pirate! what could be better!!

it wound up taking months, i think. (once again sincerest apologies dear mutual who had to wait. for. months.) i went through a whole bunch of different ideas, i think largely because each one wanted to be something bigger than a daily. something longer, more plotty, more substantial

(and so there may be at least one prince/pirate au coming next year lol)

so to answer the actual question here, it might have been that one, but more broadly speaking when a daily took a long time it wasn't usually for lack of interest in the idea, it was usually just Too Ambitious ideas that got me hung up

30. biggest surprise while writing this year?

honestly just... the fact that i actually did it. one fic a day. for samaichi/ichisama. every day. FOR A WHOLE YEAR. i mean okay the year is not quite over yet and i don't want to jinx it but it's pretty much mid-december already and i haven't missed a day?!

like. i had covid for the first time this year. and i didn't miss a day. not even god could stop me at this point. i'm fine. i'm normal

i've done "write every day" challenges before and even challenged myself to write and post every day before this at one point, but my longest streak lasted 50 days. and i'm coming up on 350 now so... yeah. definitely a surprise and a pleasant one at that lol

in terms of specific works... i'm a little surprised by my whole, like. high school au fugue state from earlier this year. where i committed to writing high school aus only for the entire duration of the samaichi high school au event in arb (which wound up being even more samaichi than it originally seemed WHAT DO YOU MEANNNNNN IT WAS ICHIRO'S DREAM ahem. anyway)

like i have nothing against high school au and i find it generally cute and occasionally fun to write, but i don't think i would say it's one of my top favorites. so a bit of a surprise that i was able to keep it up, and i remember having a ton of fun with it too! yes i cheated on occasion and had them as teachers instead of students BUT IT WAS STILL IN A HIGH SCHOOL SO. i say it counts lol

ao3 wrapped asks

[legend-of-cupcake]

Thank you for the tag @krispyt <33

1. How many works do you have on Ao3?

I have 7 under my name and 1 anon, although I'm just going to put it back under my name I think.

2. What’s your total Ao3 word count?

147,865

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Mostly for TBHK, but I have a couple for Genshin as well! However writing for TBHK is more comfortable for me

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

Red String of fate (1,159)

Clean Slate (357) ((This is the fic under anon but I'm going to change it probably lol))

I love you, please don't go (204)

Under the Red Crescent Moon, I Could Hear the Demons Whispering (195)

Kindness from the Devil (185)

5. Do you respond to comments?

I used to, but honestly I'm terrible at it now. I don't go on my account very often anymore and I don't receive emails when I get comments (personal choice), so it can be a long time before I see if anyone's left anything. But I do always try to get back to them!

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

I love you, please don't go wins this I think.

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

Uhhh, I'm not really sure? But I'm going to go with chapter 20 of Red String of Fate. After so many near kisses throughout the fic, having HanaNene finally get their kiss makes this the happiest ending... Probably idk XD

8. Do you get hate on fics?

No, thank goodness.

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

Welllllll, I've tried to write smut. But I just don't have the knack for it, I can't handle the cringe while writing it and I can't read it back.

10. Do you write crossovers?

No and I never will. Nothing personal but I hate crossovers.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

My fics aren't good enough to steal lmao

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No.

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

No, but I'm open to it!

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

HanaNene, HanaNene, HanaNene!!

If the day ever comes where no one supports HanaNene, it's because I've died. I will never not love those 2.

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

I don't even have a proper name for this WIP, it's called Possession AU in my documents. It was a KouNene fic, but you could also see it as HanaNene although they are not end game :// It's a real shame, the fic almost has 8,000 words to it, but I just have no motivation to continue.

I also have another WIP called Boundary Bound Nene-chan, but I only got a few paragraphs in and never touched it again :// The concept was pretty cool as well, Nene wakes up inside a mysterious place (later discovered to be a boundary) with no memories. She meets a boy named Tsukasa, who informs her she's dead, and together they try to find a way out. This was leaning very heavily into Yandere Hanako, which is usually right up my alley, but yeah again no motivation.

Last one I'll share is a Scaramouche fic, the temporary title was 5 times Scaramouche failed to be human and 1 time he didn’t. It's self-explanatory I think, but I started it before his backstory cutscene was revealed, and I lost confidence and motivation since what I was writing didn't match it at all. This one will 100% never be finished sadly.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Hmm, it's hard to say. I think I have good ideas and concepts, and I can keep the flow of the story moving at a decent pace. I also think I do well with character interaction? Maybe? Idk.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Descriptions. I am so so so bad at describing things, I think I find it hard to actually put myself into the scene, so I struggle to really get into the details of the environment and such. My paragraphs usually are on the smaller side, which I hate because I really want to immerse my readers.

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

English is the only language I know and I do not trust Google Translate ^^;

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Technically speaking, it's Sonic The Hedgehog lmao, I wrote fics for that fandom in my very early teens on Fanfiction.net. No, I will never reveal my account or share what I wrote, I will actually die before I do that.

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

Hmm... Since the vamp au is unfinished, I will say it's chapter 21 of Red String of Fate. It is the only fic I have ever written and actively decided to go back and willingly read multiple times without dying of cringe... I just like it I suppose aha

Once again, thanks for the tag Krispy!! I'm not really sure who to tag, but I'll go for @milkteamoon @insipidenvy and @wingsonghalo. Obviously no pressure!! And anyone who reads this is free to join in ^_^

[blackidyll]

for the asks, 🎶🍦 and ✅!!

from this set of writing questions!

🎶 Do you listen to music while you write? What song have you been playing on loop lately?

oh i 100% need music when i'm writing! i listen to a lot of instrumentals, osts, and also vocal-less (karaoke) versions of voiced songs because sometimes I do find lyrics a bit distracting. i've been writing a lot of fic from honkai star rail lately, so naturally the songs i have on loop were from the Svah Sanishyu (Xianzhou Luofu) album: namely Serene Stroll and Warden of Jade. in general i've also been writing a lot (cross fandom) to Stories of Remote Antiquity which until today still remains my favouritest soundtrack from genshin.

🍦 What’s the sweetest fic you’ve created so far?

okay i'm gonna cheat and put two, because i think they're sweet in different ways. please also note that they're both fics that are around 1000 words - this is the only way my fics can stay sweet and fluffy, or else angst inevitably sneaks in 😂

daybreak, GiyuuTan, Kimetsu no Yaiba/Demon Slayer.

Giyuu is asleep on his side, head turned towards Tanjirou, close enough that Tanjirou would barely need to stretch to touch him. Tanjirou just looks— —and the wonder sets in slowly, like dawn gradually seeping colour into the darkness of the night.

Chasing the Starlight, 00Q, Daniel Craig!James Bond films.

"I didn't take you for an astronomer," James says, his voice coming out soft and secretive in the vast open spaces of the outdoors. Q huffs out a breath, wisps of condensation coalescing in the cold. "I'm not, not even remotely. I know very little of the stars – I can't even track the North Star." He tips his head towards James, and the smile that graces his lips is tender, intimate. "But that's the allure of a mystery. You don't need to understand it to be fascinated by it."

✅ What’s something that appears in your fics over and over and over again, even if you don’t mean to?

gosh, i have to think about this. i think "hope" as a theme is definitely one, also anything to do with long distance relationships (friendships too) and moving countries and stuff because that's a topic that's personal to me - if the fandom/pairing in question is related in any way to those topics, i will address it in my fic. also the importance of chosen names and titles and stuff like honorifics/ nicknames/ diminutives. like it's obvious in some fandoms (looking at you, James Bond fandom), but also, please know that i've actually draw a chart to remind myself how the five main characters in my MP100 gen fic address each other so i can write that accurately.

but also i just looked at the last bunch of fics i've written and they all have the same two characters drinking beverages in different ways but mainly as a comfort/togetherness sort of thing. this is kind of hilarious to me are my readers sick of me writing jy and dh like this? too bad you're getting more. maybe one day i'll write them actually eating food instead lol

[mareenavee]

Similar ask to yours! How does music play into your creative process? Can you share passages written to specific tracks? How do they tie together? And is there a difference between how your write when there are words/lyrics vs instrumental music?

Hello again!!! AHHH I love this. Thank you for returning this question to me. Music and creativity go hand in hand for me, and I definitely have some snippets to share. By virtue of the question, this one is gonna be a LONG post lol

So first, I'll preface this by saying most of the perfect-music-finding happens after writing because I can't always pay attention to the lyrics of what's playing in the background while I'm writing. I use music while writing for the most part to drown out other sounds that are more capable of distracting and/or annoying me. (Usually other people speaking, which might be mean but it's true. That and tv sound effects.)

I'll also just blast music with the intent on singing at the top of my lungs if I'm going through a relatively mindless task for work, and sometimes will need to pause and throw songs on a project's list. I'll get into that below the cut. It's mostly just a way that I can create space for myself to be creative in a normally noisy environment.

ANYWAY. Songs will start to remind me of things I've written and sometimes fit so perfectly, they get thrown on a project's playlist and I'll go back in to read the lyrics later and decide what order they'll go in or if they'll be tossed on another playlist as well. Most of my projects have their own list. I have two general fiction lists -- one contains songs with a sort of different mood than the other -- and another specifically made with my fic in mind. I also have a campaign inspo list for dnd things, and a folder of character-specific lists regarding dnd things, too. In the same way that artists might collect references to inspire them, I save songs that inspire me and remind me of my projects. And sometimes I'll listen to the list I made for a project while working on it, which is just pure happiness lol

So in regards to finding perfect songs for specific chapters or scenes, it's less "perfect" than it is just a close reminder of the mood of said chapter, I think. Sometimes a song is closer to perfect than others. Sometimes a lot of songs fit the mood I'm going for in a chapter.

Here's a small snippet of chapter 8 of The World on Our Shoulders, already published, and one of the songs I paired with the chapter. (I know you guys love Sad!Athis from the last snippet of the chapter, and I do too, and this is one with a particularly good song match. In fact, I used the lyrics as part of the chapter title.)

Tears began to well in his eyes. He missed her badly. Even if she didn’t care that he wasn’t there with her, he cared deeply that she’d been missing from him for so long. He used to have such a full life, always traveling. Always fighting. Maybe he had slacked off with training, but he felt strong, then. At the moment, he felt nothing of the sort. The best memories he had ever had in his life were now tinged with this darkness. With this loss he could barely explain. It had been his fault, he knew. There was blame, and it was his. He could have said anything other than goodbye. He could have begged her to say. He could have gotten off his ass and ran after her. He could have done any number of things, but instead he watched her go. He watched her, and never inserted himself into the adventure. Part of him knew, even then, that she didn’t want him there. She said she wanted him to stay safe. Between the lines, she had really said she’d been disappointed in him. That he had been a distraction, if anything. That, perhaps, hurt worse than the rest of it. That so suddenly, she could decide such things. That she could inflict this kind of pain. That Nyenna, of all people, could be so venomous.

She had been his whole world at the beginning. He had been so taken with her. He had watched her decide to be strong, after he had saved her, that first day. She made the choice every day to do her best. While he had been waiting for her to catch up with him, she had flown by, surpassing his skills in every way. Especially after the first dragon. She…didn’t need to be saved. Didn’t need to be rescued. How long had he held onto the notion that she did? He didn’t know how to be anything else but her rescuer. And she didn’t even see him that way anymore. And he never really clarified what she did see. Never asked her what she wanted. What her goals were. Nobody ever did anymore, not since the Greybeards had called her to her destiny.

Athis was exhausted. The weight of his thoughts, his worries, his sadness had him crumbling. Once, he could have turned to her and she’d take it all away. One kiss, one glance, and he would be okay again. She was his home, his shelter, his safety. He thought he’d given her that, too, but like with everything else, her path had taken this from her as well.

And the song:

This is one that fit particularly well. Like I said, I used some of its lyrics for this chapter's title. I think it embodies the emotion Athis is feeling here, terribly missing the whirlwind closeness he and Nyenna shared before destiny took that away from them both. It has this visceral sort of regret in the lyrics, especially "And then I can tell myself / What the hell I'm supposed to do / And then I can tell myself Not to ride along with you." And it just kind of worked when I heard it again after I'd written this chapter.

For a happier fragment, have something out of the WIP, Chapter 47. Out of context, of course (:

The giant Khajiit came into view. He held Nyenna close to his chest, breathing heavily as if he had been running. Her shirt clung to her, skin slicked with sweat, despite the chill in the air down here. Her hair was damp and loose, and she was paler than death. She lifted her head from Ma’jhad’s chest and inhaled sharply. She tapped his shoulder and he threw her a concerned glance, but stooped to lower her to the stones. He supported her as she tried to stand on unsteady legs. She took a step and her knees collapsed, but the Khajiit warrior held her firmly. She looked at him and nodded, about to try again, but Teldryn sprinted and closed the distance. He lit the torch on the wall and dismissed his spell. Nyenna let out a weak chuckle as he collapsed onto his knees and scooped her into his arms. Ma’jhad stood tall again and leaned against the wall, crossing his arms.

“Are you real?” Nyenna asked softly, placing both of her burning hot hands on either side of his face. “Am I awake?”

“I’m here,” Teldryn said, finding he was weeping. She wiped his tears away as he grabbed onto her wrist with one hand and gently ran his knuckles down her cheek. Tears welled in her eyes. There was so much grief there, but still she smiled. He pushed a sodden curl away from her face.

“I never thought I’d see you again,” she breathed as the tears started to overflow.

“I’m here. I’m alright. I’m so sorry it took me so long to get back to you,” Teldryn whispered. He tried to wipe his eyes on his shoulder but she held onto his face firmly. He just let his tears keep falling. “Can you forgive me, merdekhes?”

She smiled, her own tears still running freely down her face, and ran her hand through his overgrown hair.

“I never blamed you, not for a second,” she whispered. “There’s nothing to forgive. I apologize for putting us in danger to begin with.” Her eyes went dark, and she closed them against the obvious wave of sorrow. She opened them and ran her fingers through his hair once again with another tear-streaked smile.

“Don’t,” Teldryn soothed. “None of this is on you. We’re here together. It’s going to be okay. I’ve got you now.”

He pulled her into a tight embrace which she returned as she shook with sobs that mixed with relieved laughter. What madness it was to be reunited, that all the horrors they both faced could melt away at one touch, to fill the spaces left behind with joy. He could hear the gathering crowd. Niranye gasped as she stopped halfway down her basement stairs. Nyenna pulled away and gently placed her hands on either side of his face again. She lightly traced his tattoos with the tips of her fingers, almost like she thought he would disappear on her in between one blink and the next if she did not check again. When she spoke, her voice sounded like something ethereal, like her words had been granted gravity by Mara Herself.

“I love you, Teldryn. I should have said a thousand, thousand times by now.”

She wiped away more tears from his cheek. For half a second, he thought maybe he was still walking between reality and dreams. But he took both of her hands in his and they were solid, and warm, and he had never been more sure of anything in life before.

And the song:

I just love this song. It's *chef's kiss* anyway for me. But particularly for Teldryn, after everything the two of them had been through, the past didn't matter anymore. They'd been reunited after some difficult events. Distance, maybe, brought clarity. And Teldryn realized fully what the implications of this meant. That he was worthy of being loved. (backstory things here.) That his love mattered to someone. And damn the consequences, right? At this point, anyway. There's more to it, but spoilers and all. (:

And for the last part of the question -- there's no difference for me while writing to music with lyrics or without. It depends on what I feel like hearing at that particular moment. To be fair, sometimes I won't listen to anything at all, especially if I am closely editing something. But as I mentioned above, music is definitely mostly intertwined in being creative. It's a source of inspiration for me, and a reminder to always be thinking about my stories (: Never know when song lyrics might call back to them unexpectedly!

Hope that was comprehensive enough :D