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Thank you so much for the advice!!!!! It helped me a lot.

You’re welcome! Glad I could help. 🥰

[delirific]

Hi!!!!

you're so sweet for giving so much advice on writing and helping out.

Don't know if it's silly to ask or not, but do you thinking hairpulling can be written in the context of body worship or like person A being slightly rough with person B but also worshipping their body?

Hey nonny, thanks for the ask! I’m always happy to chat about writing. 😊

When it comes to writing sex scenes, I basically think that anything goes.

As long as you’re not breaking the laws of anatomy or physics (or do, I guess, if you like… this is fandom, after all!) then just write whatever feels right for your characters and your scene.

One thing I will say is that if you are writing with a particular trope or kink in mind, I wouldn’t necessarily worry about adhering too faithfully to that. Just because it’s “body worship”, doesn’t mean that every action somebody does has to speak to that.

I actually think that the element of surprise is often what makes a sex scene feel particularly good or memorable. Like if things are all a bit rough and ready, but then it suddenly switches to be gentle and intense, that shift can be really powerful.

Sex in real life doesn’t follow rules, so I don’t think that the sex you write should have to, either.

Hope that helps, and good luck with your scene!

[delirific]

Yeehaw! Santa Fe, NM, December 2023 Shot on Minolta Dynax 5000i with Kodak Portra 400

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Scarlett Johansson, Lost In Translation, Sofia Coppola, 2003

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Clarissa Pinkola Estés, Women Who Run With the Wolves

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Photography by Nan Goldin

[delirific]

Do you mean how do you decide what those idiosyncrasies look like for a certain character? Or how do you find moments to express those?

I guess for the first question, it’s really up to you! For example, if you take worry or stress or nervousness… for Taichi I tend to have him express this through movement, like pacing or moving his feet or legs in a repetitive way. He’s a very physical character, so it makes sense to me that if he is in a situation where he is scared or anxious, this might come out in being physically jittery, even if he otherwise seems like he is holding his shit together and being the good leader he knows he has to be.

For Yamato, I tend to have him express fear or anxiety by lashing out verbally - getting cross and snapping at people. He doesn’t like feeling vulnerable in that way, so projects and takes it out on others around him. That’s step one for him. Step two is usually storming off and removing himself from the situation so that he can process things and calm down on his own.

Those are just my interpretations, though,

and you could absolutely choose different expressions of anxiety or whatever. I guess just experiment and see what feels right to you?

In terms of where you find moments to show this stuff, I think that’s really driven by plot. The moments that show character development or nuance are often perhaps the same moments that are driving the plot forward. So you know… something dangerous happens, or someone makes a confession, or they encounter something unexpected. Like, maybe for Yamato to be soft, someone has to unexpectedly show him that they care about him, when he didn’t think that they did.

Does that answer your questions? Always happy to chat! 😊

I'm pretty embarrassed to ask this, but how do you analyze the characters you write about and keep them true to their personality? I've personally never been able to coherently get characters' personalities right without accidentally turning the characters into a stereotype of their true self at some point in my fanfics and AUs and whatnot. It's like I'm so excited to get to the good stuff that I end up compressing their personality into one-dimensional charms just to get to the point. It's like really fucked up capitalist staffing-cut shrinkflation, but way worse!!!

TDLR: How do you keep a character true to their personality in canon fics or in situations they've never been in before? For example, canon-compliant, modern AU, genre change, cross-overs, etc.!

Please don’t be embarrassed! This is such a good question and I actually had to think super hard to answer it.

I honestly think the best way to get to know characters better is to just write them and write them. With Taichi and Yamato, I feel really confident and comfortable with my versions of them, simply because I have been writing them for so long (literally years and years) and so they come to me quite organically now.

But in terms of capturing characters in a way that feels authentic and well-rounded and true to their canon personalities in different scenarios, I guess I would maybe give the following advice...

1.) Establish their core vibe

Rather than thinking in terms of archetypes (eg lone wolf), it might help to consider what you see as being the character’s core traits.

Maybe list three or four qualities that you think are really key to defining them as a person. For example…

Taichi: Warm, brave, careless

Yamato: Sharp, self-protective, caring

This isn’t about listing every aspect of their personalities. It’s about trying to nail their core vibe. That vibe is what should always stay the same if you want them to feel in character regardless of whatever crazy AU set up you’ve got going on.

2.) Set their conventions

On top of that core vibe, there is a lot of other practical stuff that helps to bring a character to life, like how they speak, what their preferences are, and who they trust. I find it helpful to have a clear idea of what those conventions of speech and behaviour are.

For example, my Yamato curses all the time — he treats the word “fuck” like punctuation — but dislikes pet names and doesn’t use them. My Koushiro, on the other hand, almost never curses. And my Mimi will pet-name anyone and everyone.

There is some canon basis for those conventions of mine, but this isn’t so much about adhering to canon, as it is about establishing consistency for yourself and making it easier to stay true to your characters, regardless of the situation you’ve put them in.

3.) Build them through small details

I find one of the best ways to add authenticity to your writing is to think really small. Character and motivation isn’t only communicated through words and actions, but through little things like a drinks order, or the accessory someone has chosen to wear.

If a character is wearing branded shoes, what brand are they? If their shirt has a band logo on it, what band is it? These details should align with the conventions you have established, but can also veer away from those in a way that makes a point.

For example, my Jou is a big wine drinker. He’s done tasting courses and spends forever picking a glass from the menu. So, if he rocks up to the bar one night and orders a double shot of tequila, we know that’s not normal for him and says something about where his head is at.

And that brings me to my final point…

4.) Remember they are human

If your goal is to break free of archetypes, you need to be able to show nuance and contradiction within your characters, without doing it in a way that feels out of character for them.

For example, we know that Taichi is brave — but that doesn’t mean that he never feels scared. So, what is it that makes him scared? And how does he respond to that fear in a way that still speaks to his core trait of being brave?

Or, we know that Yamato is sharp. So, what is it that makes him soft? How can he express that softness in a Yamato way? Maybe he is going to try to hide the soft feelings, or communicate them through a quiet act of service that is likely to go unnoticed by its recipient.

At the end of the day, all of us are human. We all feel tired or worried or bored. We all laugh and cry. Let your characters experience those things. Let Yamato lose his shit laughing at something stupid. Let Hikari lash out and be mean to someone.

If you want your characters to feel authentic, you have to recognise that it’s not that these things would never happen to them. Instead, it’s about understanding the circumstances they would happen in.

Is this helpful? I don’t know if it is! Hopefully you can take at least a little something out of it.

[delirific]

I'm pretty embarrassed to ask this, but how do you analyze the characters you write about and keep them true to their personality? I've personally never been able to coherently get characters' personalities right without accidentally turning the characters into a stereotype of their true self at some point in my fanfics and AUs and whatnot. It's like I'm so excited to get to the good stuff that I end up compressing their personality into one-dimensional charms just to get to the point. It's like really fucked up capitalist staffing-cut shrinkflation, but way worse!!!

TDLR: How do you keep a character true to their personality in canon fics or in situations they've never been in before? For example, canon-compliant, modern AU, genre change, cross-overs, etc.!

Please don’t be embarrassed! This is such a good question and I actually had to think super hard to answer it.

I honestly think the best way to get to know characters better is to just write them and write them. With Taichi and Yamato, I feel really confident and comfortable with my versions of them, simply because I have been writing them for so long (literally years and years) and so they come to me quite organically now.

But in terms of capturing characters in a way that feels authentic and well-rounded and true to their canon personalities in different scenarios, I guess I would maybe give the following advice...

1.) Establish their core vibe

Rather than thinking in terms of archetypes (eg lone wolf), it might help to consider what you see as being the character’s core traits.

Maybe list three or four qualities that you think are really key to defining them as a person. For example…

Taichi: Warm, brave, careless

Yamato: Sharp, self-protective, caring

This isn’t about listing every aspect of their personalities. It’s about trying to nail their core vibe. That vibe is what should always stay the same if you want them to feel in character regardless of whatever crazy AU set up you’ve got going on.

2.) Set their conventions

On top of that core vibe, there is a lot of other practical stuff that helps to bring a character to life, like how they speak, what their preferences are, and who they trust. I find it helpful to have a clear idea of what those conventions of speech and behaviour are.

For example, my Yamato curses all the time — he treats the word “fuck” like punctuation — but dislikes pet names and doesn’t use them. My Koushiro, on the other hand, almost never curses. And my Mimi will pet-name anyone and everyone.

There is some canon basis for those conventions of mine, but this isn’t so much about adhering to canon, as it is about establishing consistency for yourself and making it easier to stay true to your characters, regardless of the situation you’ve put them in.

3.) Build them through small details

I find one of the best ways to add authenticity to your writing is to think really small. Character and motivation isn’t only communicated through words and actions, but through little things like a drinks order, or the accessory someone has chosen to wear.

If a character is wearing branded shoes, what brand are they? If their shirt has a band logo on it, what band is it? These details should align with the conventions you have established, but can also veer away from those in a way that makes a point.

For example, my Jou is a big wine drinker. He’s done tasting courses and spends forever picking a glass from the menu. So, if he rocks up to the bar one night and orders a double shot of tequila, we know that’s not normal for him and says something about where his head is at.

And that brings me to my final point…

4.) Remember they are human

If your goal is to break free of archetypes, you need to be able to show nuance and contradiction within your characters, without doing it in a way that feels out of character for them.

For example, we know that Taichi is brave — but that doesn’t mean that he never feels scared. So, what is it that makes him scared? And how does he respond to that fear in a way that still speaks to his core trait of being brave?

Or, we know that Yamato is sharp. So, what is it that makes him soft? How can he express that softness in a Yamato way? Maybe he is going to try to hide the soft feelings, or communicate them through a quiet act of service that is likely to go unnoticed by its recipient.

At the end of the day, all of us are human. We all feel tired or worried or bored. We all laugh and cry. Let your characters experience those things. Let Yamato lose his shit laughing at something stupid. Let Hikari lash out and be mean to someone.

If you want your characters to feel authentic, you have to recognise that it’s not that these things would never happen to them. Instead, it’s about understanding the circumstances they would happen in.

Is this helpful? I don’t know if it is! Hopefully you can take at least a little something out of it.

[delirific]

How do you deal wity writer's block? If you ever had them? I am writing a fic and I am stuck on one scene for months.

You seem to actually be able to finish your fics, I am jealous 😭

Oh, the big one! Writer’s block. Yes, I definitely get it, and my TLDR advice is that you basically just have to write through it.

By that, I don’t mean you should be able to shrug it off miraculously, but that there are some practical steps you can take to help yourself through it and break its spell over you.

Some things that help me:

1.) Make it ok to just try

Take yourself to your writing place and sit down with what you’re currently writing and find a way to engage with it. Read over what you have so far, and edit that, or read over already published chapters.

If you can, try to write a couple of lines of dialogue, or a bit of description. It doesn’t have to be a lot and it doesn’t have to be “good”.  If you’re blocked, it doesn’t matter if what you’re writing is objectively not great. What matters is that you’re writing. 

Or maybe you don’t manage to write at all! Just the fact that you sat down and tried is still you doing a good job. You’ve done your job. Pat yourself on the back for it. The next time you try like this, more words might come.

And that takes me onto point two…

2.) Write the shit you need to 

Maybe you need to feel your way through some plot points you haven’t quite worked out, or explore how two new characters interact. Just write that shit down, because it’s probably part of your process.

The great thing about a work in progress is that you can always take stuff out again! Just because you wrote it in your document doesn’t mean you need to include it in the final draft you go on to post. 

WRITE THE SHIT YOU NEED TO. It’s my favourite writing mantra. And sometimes you need to write a whole lot of shit to get to the good stuff.

Not sure if something you have written is shit? That’s fine! If you have doubts, just pop that section down at the bottom of your document, where it’s not lost, but also not getting in the way of anything else. You can make a call later about whether you need to include it. 

Which brings me to…

3.) Do you really need to write that bit?

I’m a firm believer that fic should be fun, so if there is a scene that you are finding really labourious or can’t motivate yourself to write, ask yourself if you could just…not write it.

Could you replace it with a different scene that you actually feel excited to write? Or, if that scene truly is integral to your plot, could you have it happen “off camera” and sum it up in a quick paragraph or flashback instead?

Anon asker, if the cause of your block is one particular scene that you have been stuck on for a while, I’d be asking myself if I can find a way to do without that scene. So in this scenario, it’s less a case of writing through the block and more a case of writing around it.

I find that if I’m struggling to feel engaged myself, not only does that tend to come across to the reader, but it’s sometimes also a sign that the scene isn’t really that necessary.

4.) Put that new fic away!

Like I said, fic writing should be fun. You do whatever you want. There’s no obligation to keep writing the same fic, or to finish every WIP you start to post.

THAT SAID. If your current goal is to finish your existing WIP, and you are really serious about that, then I personally think you need to leave new story ideas alone until it’s done.

If I'm trying to finish a fic and have new ideas, I put those ideas on a list to write, once my existing WIP is done. It’s good motivation for me to finish, so I can get to the shiny new things! 

THE BIG CAVEAT TO ALL THIS

Sometimes we are just not in a good place to write. For some people, writing is a way to help themselves through a tough time. Others (like me) struggle to write if they are feeling too stressed or too down or too exhausted.

It’s ok to need a break from your writing, and it’s ok to take one. Maybe that block isn’t so much a block as a sign to step away for a bit? If writing fic isn’t serving you right now, then you can absolutely let it go, knowing that it will still be there when you’re ready for it again.

Hope at least some of this is helpful, nonny! Like I said in my other post, I am by no means an expert, but this is the stuff that works for me. Sorry to ramble on so long. Good luck with your fic!

[delirific]

This so so perfect for my TaiYama star sign headcanons. Pop punk and New wave, YES EXACTLY, FAM. 🧡💙

giving a genre of music to each sign

aries - pop punk. its fast and loud but a less serious about it than other branches of punk music. it might break something and shout a little, but nobody’s that mad about it. its here for a good time.

taurus - neo soul. easy listening but still beautiful, you can put neo soul music on at any time and it’ll fit right. stunning vocals u just have to close your eyes to fully appreciate.

gemini - hyperpop. its fun and a little bit crazy, unpredictable and not for everybody, but those that like it love it and understand it. it doesnt take itself too seriously, but it doesnt take u seriously for listening either so

cancer - bossa nova. its relaxed and flows nicely. melodic and sweet but still groovy and fun. cancer is a luminary after all, people forget it likes the spotlight sometimes too.

leo - disco of course. drama, synths, sparkles, performance. you cant help but dance, even if you dont like it you’re still gonna tap your feet

virgo - bedroom pop. easy listening yet precise and doesnt need to do too much to pull off what its trying to do perfectly. a DIY feel that is often present, a lot of effort goes into it and it pays off.

libra - contemporary r&b. most people love it, it’s catchy and stays in your head all day. has a balance of beautiful harmonies and fun instrumental. and a great balance of both songs that put you in a great mood, and songs that have you crying

scorpio - new wave. a little brooding, but branched off from the louder, more straightforward genres. melodic, introspective and personal while also feeling veiled and hidden. but theres also a good amount of fun, sparkly new wave songs.

sagittarius - ska. fast paced, fun and lively. has something important to say but just wants to dance about it. mixes genres from all over the world. its dancey and in your face but knows when to tone it down. sometimes.

capricorn - classic rock. wide array of styles under this one genre, some is melodic and precise some is heavy and dark. but all of it contains a lot of incredible talent and dedication, live instruments and powerful vocals. it paved its own way into being an iconic genre. and dads love it.

aquarius - acid jazz. a little avant-garde and doesnt need to follow a traditional musical structure to work. even tho it literally marches to the beat of its own drum, its still groovy and a little more mainstream than it would want to admit.

pisces - shoegaze. dreamy and atmospheric. introspective lyrics and fuzzy intstrumentals. can be distorted and moody while also remaining peaceful and glittery.

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A while back, I was playing with ElenaA's amazing kiss meme generator. This thing is so insanely addictive, and after I made about a thousand TaiYama kisses, I got sucked into making one for each of the main ships that I have written fic for in my time. SEE IF YOU CAN SPOT THEM ALL, lol.

(Disclaimer, there are no good options in the generator to represent Taichi's hair, which is simply not a normal person's hair)

[delirific]

Ask me about writing!

If you like. I have been writing fiction forever and writing fanfic specifically for an embarrassingly long time now.

I am by no means any kind of expert, or the best writer in the world, but I have reached a point where I feel comfortable with my voice and my process and know what it takes for me to get a piece off the ground and see it through to completion.

I think there is this assumption that you can either write well or you can't and while that's true to a point, writing is something that everyone has to work at, and there are always things you can do to improve. I certainly have stuff to improve on!

So, I don't know. If you struggle with something in your writing, or are just interested to hear about how I go about any part of mine, my ask box is open and I am always happy to chat about the process!

(Basically, I just love to chat about anything haha. I am definitely not a shy fandomer, so never feel like you can't reach out).

[delirific]

Ooooh I like seeing them all lined up like this!

Hmm, Jou does look shorter than I thought… but he is def inclining his head there. Maybe Yamato did wind up slightly taller than him, though?

Idk. Yama usually seems to have a nice chunky boot on him, so maybe gets a boost from that. Jou’s probably in sensible hospital shoes.

Never caught dead in sneakers, haha, I love that Yama’s such a canonical diva. 💙✌🏻💙

So this is the canon height of the chose children!

I'm interested in this for my fics to be honest!

Taichi would've been the tallest if we counted his bird nest of a hair as a part of his height lol😅

Is it just me... or does Jyou look shorter that Takeru, Yamato Ken and maybe even Taichi! 😲 Is Jyou leaning? Is that the reason?

Takeru is almost the same height as Yamato!😲

Ken and Yamato are the tallest in the group. Look at those "cool boy™"😂

Taichi's height is hard to tell, where is his head and what part is just his hair? I assume he is shorter than Yamato based on their shoulders lol😅

The girls all look similar in heights lol

[delirific]

Someone who knows about these things should absolutely make one! (I do not.)

Is there an active Taiyama discord around?

[delirific]

Happy Odaiba Day, chums! I couldn't let today pass without posting fic, so here is a partial fill for this prompt. It's another that I might return to and continue, if I find the time.

Taichi slips his key into the lock and levers open the apartment door. He’s bracing himself for shouts, but the place seems to be perfectly still and silent.

He lets out a breath and pushes the door open further with a palm. “Coast is clear,” he tells Yamato, over his shoulder.

They step into the apartment, which, until a couple of days ago, Taichi called home. Both of them unlace their shoes and tuck them neatly into the rack. Pointless, really. They’re planning to be in and out in a matter of minutes.

“This place looks spotless,” Yamato says, standing in the living room, turning slowly, to take it all in. “I can tell you don’t live here anymore.”

Taichi glares at a neat stack of mail on a side table. “Looks like it’s had the soul ripped out of it, you mean.” He reaches out and nudges the stack crooked. “I miss this place.”

Yamato completes his assessment of the room and faces Taichi. “Get a grip, it’s been two days. And if you wanted to stay here so badly, you shouldn’t have done whatever it was that made Nagi throw you out.”

It’s the last topic Taichi wants to get into right now. He’s still reeling from how things ended with his boyfriend of two years - the longest relationship of his life so far - and he can sense that Yamato’s tolerance on being kept in the dark about what happened is starting to wear thin, especially now that Taichi has diverted their plans to hit the city’s gay bars (a rebound mission for Taichi, which Yamato is graciously wingmanning) to run his own personal errands. 

“Let’s just get the passport and get out,“ he mutters, head lowered, starting to make his way towards the bedroom.

Yamato follows, right at his shoulder. Taichi’s soccer instincts clamour to edge out a foot and trip him up. He’s never tolerated being marked too closely.

“What did you do? Why won’t you tell me? It must have been really bad.”

“It’s stupid,” Taichi says. They’ve reached the bedroom. He starts yanking open drawers. 

He’s booked on a flight to LAX in two days. If he doesn’t leave here with his passport, then he’s fucked. He’s senior enough now to be able to pull foreign office strings to rush a new passport if he really needed to, but wants to avoid that, given the only honest explanation he can give is, I’m sorry, I just broke up with my boyfriend.

Yamato stands, watching, not helping. Taichi can feel the weight of his gaze on the back of his neck, as he pushes clutter back and forth, none of which appears to be his.

“He’s moved it,” he says, giving up on the drawers. “I swear it was here. Where’s all my stuff?”

“You sound paranoid.” Yamato folds his arms. He’s looking at the top of his game this evening, in form-fitting jeans and a black t-shirt, with his hair perfectly styled.

His outfit is completed by glimmers of silver to catch the attention of anyone who might not already be looking: that dog-tag necklace, which guys in Tokyo’s gay bars always seem to think is so damn sexy, even though none of them knows what it means to Yamato; and a rock-star clutter of rings on his fingers. He’s got an earring in tonight, too – just one, something abstract and spindly that Taichi can’t quite make out.

“What is that?” he asks, squinting, reaching out to touch it, right there on Yamato’s earlobe, because physical boundaries stopped meaning anything to them a long time ago.

Yamato swats his hand away. “It’s a constellation.”

Taichi laughs at that. “Dude, you’re such an unbelievable geek.” He gestures Yamato up and down, indicating the flawless exterior that successfully conceals so much. “You’re seriously so fucking lucky that you got hot genes.”

He turns his attention to the beside cabinets, not caring that Yamato will get an eyeful of lube and condoms and related paraphenalia, because that’s Yamato’s fault for still being on his back about everything.

“Why didn’t you just call him and ask him if you could come here and get it?” Yamato presses, standing behind him, not at all phased by the sex supplies. “You afraid to face him?”

Taichi slams the condom drawer closed. “It’s not a courage thing, ok?” he says, looking Yamato in the eye. “This is a violence prevention strategy.”

Yamato just blinks at him, not comprehending, and Taichi sighs, realising that he’s going to have to explain just enough of this.

“Nagi and I cannot be under the same roof right now. If we are, one of us will wind up being carried out of here on a stretcher. Most likely me.”

“What do you mean?”

“Yamato, I’m not kidding, that last fight was horrendous.” Taichi rubs at his forehead with his fingertips, temporarily back in that moment. The way Nagi had yelled. The crackle of violence in the air between them. “It was the worst. I’m serious. I have never in my life had someone be that angry at me before.”

Yamato drops his folded arms. “Not even me?”

“So much worse than you.” Taichi turns and points to the big, framed landscape print on the wall, showing the Rainbow Bridge at night. There’s a huge crack in the middle of the glass, which covers the picture. “That? It’s from the fight.”

“Fuck,” Yamato says, staring at the splintered glass. 

“Socked me one, too.” Taichi taps a finger against his jawline, where there is still a lingering ache. “Right here.” 

Yamato is standing closer now, peering at his face. “I did think you looked kind of knocked about,” he says, quiet. “Did he hurt you? Are you ok?”

His concern does something strange to Taichi. It always does, these days. He wants to lean into it, in a way that he never has before. 

“It’s not like that. You know I can handle myself,” he says, matching the sincerity in Yamato’s voice. “It was a warning swing. Telling me to get out, and stay out. Which I did.” 

“We could take him easy.” Yamato is getting a dangerous glint in his eyes. “Between us.”

Taichi shakes his head. “I can take him myself, but I don’t want to come back here and start anything. Stand down, ok? It’s better that me and him don’t see each other. That’s all.”

For a moment, Taichi thinks that Yamato’s compassion for him might win out, over his need to know, but then he says it.

“You fucked somebody else, didn’t you?”

Taichi huffs out a breath. “No.” 

“Nothing else would make him that mad.”

“I didn’t fuck anyone.”

Yamato clicks his tongue against his teeth, not satisfied. He looks away. His gaze runs across the room, eventually settling on a robe hanging on a hook on the back of the bedroom door. Suddenly, he walks towards it.

“What are you–?” Taichi asks, but before he can even complete the question, Yamato is holding up a passport, which he has pulled from the robe pocket. 

He returns to Taichi, and hands it over. “You’re always booking shit last minute,” he explains, “late at night, in your pyjamas.” 

Taichi takes his passport, stares at him. “Thanks.”

Yamato nods towards the picture on the wall, with its broken glass. “Whatever happened, I assume you deserved it.”

“Probably,” Taichi admits, “Yeah.”

It’s at that moment, that the sound of the front door opening rattles through the apartment. Yamato’s eyes go wide, and Taichi feels a jolt of adrenaline. 

“Quick, hide,” he says, and before he can even think about other options, he has seized Yamato by the arm and forcefully wrestled him over to the bedroom closet, Yamato half tripping over his own feet in surprise at being bundled about like that.

“Taichi–” he starts to say, but Taichi has already yanked open the door and shoved him into the space inside. He’s planning to pick out a different hiding place for himself, but he can already hear voices travelling through the living room, and where the hell else is there to go? Making a panic decision, he steps into the closet, too, crowding his body into Yamato’s, as he pulls the door quickly and quietly closed, behind them.

It’s dark in the closet, and for some reason, Yamato is still standing right beside the door, instead of moving further in, meaning that Taichi is pressed into him, practically head to toe. “What are you doing?” he snaps, in a whisper, “back up.”

“I can’t back up,” Yamato growls back at him, through his teeth, “there’s no space. There’s a load of fucking boxes in here.” 

“What?” Taichi reaches out a hand, past Yamato’s shoulder, to feel a flat plane of cardboard, the top of what must be a small tower of boxes. He moves his hand around, feeling out the shapes of them. They are indeed taking up most of the space in the closet, leaving only a small gap for the two of them to stand in. “Damn,” he whispers, “guess I found my stuff.” 

Taichi’s socked toes are nudging against Yamato’s and, as he withdraws his arm from feeling out the boxes, he finds that he can barely squeeze it past the hard bumps of Yamato’s hips. 

They are close enough for him to be inhaling the scent of Yamato’s skin, the spicy, woody fragrance of the fancy hipster soap he uses, overlaid by the nighttime tingle of expensive cologne. It’s dark enough in here that Taichi for once feels comfortable letting his eyes slip closed, to really breathe in that smell.

“Taichi,” Yamato whispers, and his hands come up to touch Taichi’s shoulders, steadying himself as he leans in. Caught up in the scent of him, Taichi lets his hand drift to Yamato’s waist, but it turns out that Yamato is only leaning in so that he can put his mouth closer to Taichi’s ear and so make his point more aggressively, as he adds, “what the fuck? We can’t be in here.”

He’s giving the energy of having far more bitching to add to this, but Taichi shushes him, digging his fingertips into Yamato’s hip for emphasis, because he can hear the footsteps of people moving around the apartment, now. Nagi, along with somebody else.

“Please,” Taichi says, his lips just grazing Yamato’s ear, as he speaks. “Soccer practice starts in, like, twenty minutes. He’s probably just here to grab some stuff, then he’ll be gone again.”

Sure enough, the sound of footsteps travels into the bedroom, and then Nagi’s voice, calling out to someone, “Two seconds, let me just grab my strip. It’s in here.”

There’s the sound of drawers opening, and a rustle of cloth. Taichi drops his forehead to Yamato’s shoulder, picturing Nagi pulling off his shirt and sliding the silky soccer strip over his toned chest, before his head with its short, dark hair emerges through the shirt’s neck hole. He’s still sexy. Taichi wouldn’t have been with him otherwise. 

Nagi coughs, and there’s the squeak of mattress springs. Taichi pictures him putting on his shorts and then sitting down to tug his socks up over tanned calves. A moment later, they hear the gentle brush of the kit bag, being lifted from the floor, the boots and shin pads inside clicking together.

They are almost home free. Taichi finds himself holding his breath as he hears Nagi start back towards the bedroom door. 

But then, somebody else’s voice cuts in, and Nagi’s footsteps stop.

“We could skip practice, you know.”

It’s a guy’s voice. Frowning, Taichi tries to place it. It must be someone else on the team. Could it be Masaru? Second striker, tattooed and loud and never afraid of anything? He’s always suspected that Masaru was gay, too.

“He’ll stay away,” Nagi says. “I’m not worried about seeing him. I made it really fucking clear.”

“That’s not the reason I had in mind,” Maybe-Masaru replies.

In the closet, barely audible, Yamato breathes out, “Oh my God, they’re going to fuck.”

“What?” Taichi whispers back. “No.”

But with the sinking inevitability of a scene playing out in a horror movie, the next thing they hear is the sound of Nagi’s kit bag dropping back down to the floor. That’s followed by the wet suck of kisses. And then the mattsress springs of what used to be Taichi’s bed let out another squeak.

Yamato’s knuckles collide hard with Taichi’s bicep, the mild pain jolting him out of his frozen alarm at the situation that is unravelling around them.

“We have to let them know we’re in here,” Yamato says, urgently. “We can’t just stand here and listen to this.”

It’s already too late for that. Taichi can hear the gentle moans and muttered curses of the two men making out just feet away from them, interrupted only by the sound of the drawer to the beside cabinet being pulled open. There’s not a chance in hell that Taichi is about to step out into the middle of that scene. 

“Cover your ears, then,” he hisses back, stern, and even in the dark, he can feel the rebellion in Yamato’s stare.

“Taichi, you can’t expect–” he starts to say, not quietly enough for Taichi’s liking, so he reaches up and clamps a hand over Yamato’s mouth, to show him that the matter is not up for discussion. 

“If I can take this,” he says, “then you can, too. Cover your ears, I said.”

For a moment, it seems like it could go either way. Taichi can feel Yamato’s muscles, tensed against his own, the quick rise and fall of his angry breathing. Caught like this, between the pile of boxes and Taichi’s body, he can sense his friend’s fight or flight instinct thrumming. He’s rarely this helpless, and Taichi’s not sure if Yamato will tolerate being kept that way for long, or if he’s going to accept the powerlessness, for Taichi’s sake.

Inappropriately, he feels his dick twitch with interest at that thought.

“Fuck, yeah,” comes a voice from the bed, Nagi groaning out those words, in pleasure. 

That’s the moment Taichi feels Yamato’s whole body go slack against his own, with a warm rush of defeated breath, sighed out against his palm. 

Taichi’s dick twitches again. He kind of wants to wind his arms around Yamato, put his lips to his neck, and make the most of the way that he’s just given into their position. 

But, of course, he doesn’t do that. Cautiously, he removes his hand from Yamato’s mouth.

Still angry, Yamato hisses, “You owe me everything for this,” as he lifts his hands, and uses his index fingers to firmly plug his ears against the ongoing moans of the couple on the bed.

forced proximity, that's the prompt

Ooh, a classic! I love it. Thank you, nonny!

[delirific]

Digimon 2020 is on TV and I have never seen it before and omg these cuties! I love all of the original chosen so very much. 😍

Like literally all of them. There is not a singlre one I don’t think is amazing. ARE THESE THE GREATEST CHILD CHARACTERS EVER? MAYBE THEY ARE.

Should I watch the rest of canon beyond adventure, also? PERHAPS I WILL HAVE TO.

Why am I doing this fandom so backwards?

WHY AM I LIKE THIS. Someone tell me why.

[delirific]

non-writers will never understand the mental illness of writing an entire conversation in your head while doing dishes and then forgetting every word the second you open a blank doc