#<- new tag for lily edits because this is very fun to do

[lilydvoratrelundar]

Matilda the Musical (2022)

Directed by Matthew Warchus, choreography by Ellen Kane

[n0vazsq]

Till the day that I die | OP81 x Reader

pairing . . . oscar piastri x dyslexic!youtuber!reader

summary . . . Being dyslexic on social media may be hard, but your knight in shining armour is always there to defend you

request . . . yes!! based on this request

word count . . . N/A

warnings . . . none!

faceclaim . . . blanca soler MY WIFE and lily zneimer for couple posts!

alexavia yaps . . . havent written a smau in a while im afraid ive forgotten how </3 ANYHOW im saur happy ydek bc i dont have to edit this?? i dont have to read it 75 times for mistakes?? MY DYSLEXIC ASS CAN BE FREE!!!!! ps this is LITTERED with refrences! also ignore how i kind off didnt follow the request I DIDNT KNOW HOW TO DO IT. dechipher the captions yallselves im too lazy to do it

y/n l/n posted a new video !

comments !

yourusername

liked by oscarpiastri, yourbsf, lando_norris and 2.2M others

yourusername grmw vlog is out!!! had so fun filsming it and we had an ella feaure included!!! (ella is y/n's dog!)

click to view all comments

y/nfan5 WOOHOO!!!!!

oscarpiastri Can't wait to have you in my arms

yourusername aww osc youre too sweet <3

oscarpiastri Only for you <3

f1_girly are those typos in the caption or am i tweaking

y/nswifeyy. They are! Y/n is dyslexic so every once in a while we get a typo or two

username1 im looking DISRESPECTFULLY

username2 how did she misspell two very easy words? girl go back to school

oscarpiastri She's dyslexic, you're not, so go fuck yourself

username3 OSCAR???

oscarloverr. I DIDNT KNOW OSCAR HAD IT IN HIM

y/nsno1fan guys IGNORE OSCAR AND LOOK AT Y/N

oscarpiastri

liked by yourusername, lando_norris, nicole.piastri and 2.9M others

oscarpiastri With the love of my life once again tagged: yourusername

click to view all comments

username4 I CAN DO ANYTHING PLS JUST LET ME HIT

charlesleclerc Don't bully my daughter-in-law

yourusername CHARLS ILYSM

yourusername BEST FATHER IN LAW I'VE EVR HAD

charlesleclerc I'm the only one you have?

yourusername doesn't mayyer

oscarpiastri Thank you Charles

lando_norris photo credits?

yourusername up mya ss

lando_norris wow y/n i thouht we were frinds

yourusername i ony like you because we're both dyslexic don't flatter yourslef mr norris

hater2 How do you mess up the word 'yourself' so bad?

yourusername magic

oscarpiastri Do you not have a life? Or is it hating on my girlfriend?

yourusername ate

oscarpiastri Thank you 😊

username5 HELP OSCAR IS WHIPPED FOR Y/N

username6 who ISNT

username5 good point

plmvia Y/n i love you pls don't die

f1_3112 y/n ate, left no crumbs, wiped the plate clean and oscar is meh ig

yourusername i love you

oscarpiastri me more

yourusername till the day that i die i love you more

oscarpiastri MY HEART

y/n l/n posted a new video !

comments !

yourusername

liked by oscarpiastri, lando_norris, nicole.piastri and 3.7M others

yourusername small phtotdup since my boyafriend is away at war ad is begging for pcitures </3 also a new vlog is out!

click to view all comments

username7 OH. MY. GOD. how hard is it for you to spell properly?

oscarpiastri As hard as it is for you to get a life and stop hating

yourusername gnawing at the bars of my enclisure that was hit

oscarpiastri Hit?

lando_norris she meant hot, oscar. hot

yourusername H-O-T-T-O-G-O you cna tae me hot to go!!!!!!!!!

oscarpiastri Stunning as always

oscarpiastri Zak better strap me down to the car because I am so close to booking a flight back home

oscarpiastri I've watched all your vlogs thrice

username8 my wife guys back off

oscarpiastri Uhm no?

username8 OMG OSCAR REPLIED SOS

oscarpiastri Text me please

yourusername will do

lando_norris this would've been a normal post if oscar wasn't a sappy muppet

yourusername oi leave my boyfriend alone

oscarpiastri When she defends you from haters <3

lando_norris you bring out a side in him that no one wants to see

yourusername sorry?

lando_norris you better be

username9 MOTHER MOTHER MOTHER MOTHER MOTHER

y/nplsmarryme gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous omg

verchstappan we're so back

oscah.pastry SHES MY IDOL

yourusername

liked by oscarpiastri, lando_norris, yourbsf and 3.2M others

yourusername finally reunited with my beuatufil biyfriend and the love of my life <33 love you till the die that iday tagged: oscarpiastri

click to view all comments

oscarpiastri I swear to god if someone comments about the typos in the caption I will personally run you over with my F1 car

yourusername so romantic 😍

oscarpiastri All for you ❤

lando_norris till the die that i day?

yourusername FUCK

oscarpiastri It's alright I got the meaning

yourusername i hare this dysexia

yourusername LANDO I SWEAR TO GOD

lando_norris I DIDN'T EVEN SAY ANYTHING

yourusername you were about to

lando_norris sigh

superyuki22 i need this in my life

username10 mother y/n feed us some ynoscar crumbs

username11 if i was oscar id have a meltdown everyday out of stress of losing this goddess

username12 this is the best love story in the history of love stories

username13 im calling it theyre romeo and juliet

ynshoee_ this is so goals what

lawsons.lawyer parasocial relationship

charlesleclerc You two are very cute

yourusername so are you and alex!!

charlesleclerc You have my permission to propose

yourusername who said i alrwady didn?

charlesleclerc Okay.....

oscarpiastri

liked by yourusername, nicole.piastri, charlesleclerc and 3M others

oscarpiastri Happy anniversary, my love. From sneaking glances in the school hallways to cheering me on from the paddock, you’ve been my constant through it all. No matter how fast life moves, you’ll always be my greatest win. I love you forever, always. tagged: yourusername

click to view all comments

redbullb1tch max can keep his championships this is the REAL win

ynfann18 PREACH.

nicole.piastri The greatest prize Osc has ever won! Here's to many more!!

yourusername thank you mama piastri 🥹 🫶

oscarpiastri Thank you mum <3

lando_norris nothing more iconic than this relationship

yourusername not even your win?

lando_norris let's not get ahead of ourselves

oscarpiastri You said it yourself?

lando_norris well don't take it so seriously

h4m1lt0ns44 if racing is all i need to pull someone like y/n i'd be a world champion

yourbsf from delievering your notes to each other in high school to seeing you celebrate half a decade of this relationship, you two have the best relationship ever 🫶

yourusername thank you sm ml <33 hope to see you in the paddock with your f1 bf!

oscarpiastri Thank you, bsf/name!! I'll try my best to matchmake you with a driver so N/n can see you in the paddock more often

yourusername OSC

oscarpiastri Anything to make you happy ❤

lando_norris hey yourbsf

oscarpiastri Oh?

username14 THE NO.1 COUPLE ON THIS EARTH FRRRR

username15 i'm so sick i want this RIGHT NOW

username16 my fav thing about them is oscar defending y/n's dyslexia

username17 If your man isn't like Oscar then dump him

yourusername you always make me feel like the most special girl in the world, even when your life is driving 300 kilometres per hour 🥹 im so proud of you, not just for what you’ve acheived on the track but for who you are off it too 🫶 ill love you till the day that I die, my favorit boy forever 🥰

oscarpiastri You’ll always be my greatest achievement, on or off the track. I love you more than words, forever and always. ❤️

yourusername till the day that i die

fin.

 taglist . . . @barcapix ,, @f1lover55 ,, @ilovebarcaaa ,, @httpsdana ,, @paucubarsisimp ,, @justaf1girl (lmk if you want to join the taglist!)

[midnightrings]

My AO3 Wrapped 2024

As I did this last year, I thought I might do one for this year as well :)

(Like before, feel free to copy this for your own fics if you want)

Works published: 24 (22 new*) Total Word Count: 194k Total Hits: 21k Kudos: 756

-> So the general stats are quite similar to last year, it seems. Quite surprised that I managed to write that much, because I somehow felt like I was constantly taking breaks this year lol (but I guess that once I was in the right mood, I wrote a lot)

*[I took 2 stories (Paths to Happiness and La Rosa Rossa) with me into the next year last time. Because AO3 only shows the stats for the years in which each fic was last updated, I took screenshots of the stats back then and just subtracted the numbers of those fics from my stats this year]

Number of Fandoms: 4 Top Fandom: Bridgerton Top Pairing: Ned/Cat Top Tag: Sexual Content

-> NedCat being my top ship was definitely unexpected, but I guess that was because of NedCatWeek (I don't mind it tho - I constantly wish I would write about them more often). Also, 'sexual content' being my number one tag is quite funny, considering I don't really write that much smut (tho I do like for my characters to fuck in between all that angst)

Top 3 by hits:

Paths to Happiness (Bridgerton - Kate/Anthony)

A White Lily (Bridgerton - Kate/Anthony)

La Rosa Rossa (Bridgerton - Anthony/Siena)

-> Quite surprised that La Rosa Rossa made it into the top 3 tbh - tho it also took me a whole year to upload 12 chapters, so more than enough time for people to click on it lol. Also very happy about A White Lily - really loved writing that story.

Top 3 by Kudos:

Paths to Happiness

Memories of the Attic (Bridgerton - Kate/Anthony | past Edmund/Violet)

No Expectations (Fellow Travelers - Hawk/Tim)

-> No surprises here. I just translated Memories of the Attic to German and I really loved reading through it again. I almost forgot about it, because I wrote and published it within a day, but it's really such a sweet story.

Top 3 by Comments:

Paths to Happiness

La Rosa Rossa

A White Lily

-> Yeah, Paths to Happiness being number one is still nothing positive lol. Really like the contrast to La Rosa Rossa tho - it has way less comments (mostly by one person), but those comments made me a lot happier. Tho I'm obviously just as happy about all the people who actually enjoyed PtH :)

Top 3 by Bookmarks:

Paths to Happiness

No Expectations

Memories of the Attic

Top 3 by Subscriptions (multi-chapter):

Paths to Happiness

La Rosa Rossa

The Daughter of Flames (Winx Club)

-> Really wouldn't have thought to see my Winx rewrite here - neither would I have thought that I would ever get as far as to start publishing it lol. But I'm happy I finally started posting it. Let's hope it will turned into a long fun journey :)

Top 3 by Words (completed works):

Paths to Happiness

A White Lily

To Be Loved (Bridgerton)

-> If I hadn't been that lazy, La Rosa Rossa would be here as my first 100k words fic. Sadly, Paths to Happiness missed the mark by 7k words.

My Personal Top 3 completed works:

Didn't do that last year, but thought it might be fun :)

Twelve Years Series (ASOIAF - Ned/Cat)

-> The series I wrote for NedCatWeek and I just absolutely loved writing about those two again. Let's hope I will find some inspiration to write for NedCatWeek2025 as well (it's in a couple weeks and I got nothing so far...)

Secret Dreams (Bridgerton - Siena/Kate)

-> Just started working on some more stories about them (platonic and romantic), so that oneshot has been stuck in my mind those past weeks. I really loved writing it and I hope that I will write more about them soon :)

Lost Promises (Bridgerton - Marina/George)

-> Only posted this a couple weeks ago, but I loved working on this. And I'm so glad that I could finally publish something for Marina. I'm currently editing some of my old drafts, so hopefully, I will post more about her in the future :)

Also, to conclude this post, I just realized that I have a fic with zero kudos for the first time ever: Fairytales. I know Siena/Edwina is a rarepair, but I'm still surprised as it still got a couple views - I haven't read through it since I posted it, but I guess I will have to do a re-read soon, just in case fucked up in some way lol

Anyways, love how much I've written this year. And I've got more than enough stuff in my drafts to publish just as much in 2025 :D

[practicecourts]

Fic Author Self Rec

Fic authors self-rec! ✨ When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you’ve written, then pass on to at least five other writers ❤️

Thank you for the tag @annabtg

In no real order below you'll find 5 stories that I'm proud of writing.

But first, I want to let you know how much fun it is to receive these kinds of questions that make you think about what you're writing/have written... so thanks for that!! Also, to anyone who takes the time to read any of my stories, I want to apologise for all my writing errors (if you see any feel free to point them out to me;-) If you did enjoy something it's an absolute high for me to hear about that as well. I've learned so much in the past year just by starting to write and post and getting hearts & comments. I've met some amazing people online through this that have become friends I hope, and I've learned a lot from their feedback. I also want to thank anyone who ever wrote me kind comments. You have no idea how much that has encouraged me to try new things (I'd never in a million years thought I'd be writing an alternative Animages story or anything actually smutty, let alone more than just one or two things.), and this encouragement has made writing even more fun! It's something else when someone tells you they like the world or story you've created. (another thing about going back and picking 5 works, is that it made me see some sort of growth in my writing, but also it makes me want to hide a bit under a rock somewhere or edit the hell out of my earlier posted things) Self-esteem is a fickle thing. so again thanks for this ask/tag. 1) It Was a Clear Black Night, a Clear White Moon Jily, 7k. Hogwarts jily-challenge One shot.

Lily Evans, Head Girl, sees Jame Potter, Head Boy, sneak out of the castle on a full moon. She decides to follow him, perhaps not the best idea she ever had.

I'm proud of how this story turned out quite thrilling and not slap-stick (or at least I don't think so- lol) and also has some sweetness, and humour mixed with seriousness. Werewolves & full moons are serious business after all.

2) Beggin' Jily, 7k. One-shot. A tale of Jily moments seen through the eyes of Peter Pettigrew. He tries to make sense of his life, the war and the big things in the world such as love, friendship and how to survive after Hogwarts. He also wants very much to apologise. (see the end notes for spoilers). This idea wouldn't let me go and that's why it's here. Don't read this if you don't like sad things. I feel this is bittersweet and personally, that's something I enjoy reading myself.

3) Head over Handlebars For You Jily, multichapter Muggle AU unfinished 11/15, currently 39k. My first ever Jily Challenge prompt was the following: I hit you with my car/broom and was the only one to visit you in the hospital. Because I ride a carrier bike (with kids, a dog, or groceries in;-) almost every day, I wanted very much to have this crash happen with a carrier bike. As I feel the stigma is very much a family/mother bicycle I wanted James to be riding it. This story also has evolved into something I didn't expect (It's still the general idea I once had but I severely underestimated how much more to the story there was, and I've learnt a whole lot, just from writing this. I think this story is fun, a bit sexy, has some excitement, humour and has some serious moments. And there will be romance. because it's a jily modern fairy tale after all. I'm hoping to finish up the last 3-4 chapters and post them in April/May. 4) Revelation 1,3 K One shot - microfic. I like Lily's thoughts in this, I loved to try to write something short but still have something big happen. And I'm very much in awe of all the people who do that (say a lot in little words) much much better than me! Difficult to pick the last one, as much as I want to hide under a rock, and how much I'd like to improve all of them, there was a lot of love and time put into writing them ;-) but rules are rules... 5) Not the Doctor this is a crazy texting fic that is very much based on real life facts ;-) the hilariousness of having a James Potter Face claim actually work in the gynaecology department, and the horrors of said visit were impossible to ignore and then the story basically wrote itself. It's not deep. I'm sure it's not very good either, but it was fun *to write*. Not to worry, it all ends well (both in this fic as IRL ;-)

Tagging @abihastastybeans @uncertainwallflower @turanga4 @glitterwitch1 @lanaturnergetup

[its-me-im-coraline]

am I the only one who think about dom, no, DOM!thomas

I mean yes, he's sweet clingy desperate sub, but imagine that u piss him of and he turns into incredibly dom as dom as u really can't walk normally the next day

I need headcanons 🥵 pleeeeeease

(❤ that's my heart, it's for u)

haven't thought of that before but honestly he very much seems like a switch leaning sub or at least would be open to be dom for you. now because i was painting a room with my mum (lol, also sorry that it took me so long to see this, as i said ive spend all day painting a room) ill give you this scenario

might consider a full on smut fic, yeah?😉

(omg here ❤ take mine back)

sooo you and thomas are painting around your house

it is new and empty for the time being so you two take the opportunity to paint it and make it feel more like home

and honestly, it's been really quiet, both are focused on your own thing

thomas is painting the one wall, you are doing the detailing like the corners and stuff

but you are really bored

so you think of making the whole painting thing a little more fun

"thomas," you whine, sitting on the floor cross legged, besides said man

"yes, baby," he responds looking down at you, pausing his work to listen to your

"i'm bored," you pout, the man simply laughing at that, entertained by the childishness you show

"you can put on some music, baby"

"nah, it's not enough for me"

"Well, can't help you, cucciolo. we got to finish this"

you simply sit there for a second, unsure of what to do

he is not helping very much, just focusing on doing the job

agh, stupid working man

so you decided to be a bit cheeky, i'd say

when you got up to get some more paint on your brush you brushed it past the man's arm

"y/n, what did you do this for?"

"oops, sorry, it was an accident," you say, evil smirk on your face, not even a bit sorry

he let it go for the moment, making you think your plan did not work

so you did more

'accidentally' splashed a bit of paint from your brush to his shirt

he seemed a little more mad at that but still let it go

truth be told you felt a bit hot and bothered by the strong focus he held on the painting

altering your ideas a bit

this time paint 'accidentally' fell on your shirt, you making a big fuss about it

"oh, no! I got paint on my shirt. fuck that's a lot"

your acting skills were terrible but it got his attention

eyes never leaving your body while you remove your shirt

"oh well, seem like i'll have to paint like this now"

no you didn't have to

thomas clenched his jaw at that, trying to keep his composure

"thommy, don't you want to take your shirt off too? that's a lot of paint on your back"

and there it was, the last straw

he pulled you by the hand, bringing you to his body before pinning you against a(n unpainted) wall

"Are you trying to get somewhere, puppy? I can see how desperate you are for attention"

you simply hummed in response as he gave a quick kiss to you neck

"Come on, use your words. you weren't withholding them while giving a performance just seconds ago."

his grip on your waist was strong, eyes full of fire

"i guess you need an obedience lesson, no?"

all headcannons like this will be edit later this week in order to be better written. also im almost finished with all the fics im working on so yayyyyyy

tag list: @bieberhoodforever @tabi-toast @ginny-lily @moriro-da-regina @the-killer-queenie @makapaka11

[frogsmulder]

Creator Year in Review

Thank you for tagging me @enigmaticxbee 😊

rules: choose 5-10 favorite works you created in the past year (fics, art, edits, meta etc.) and link them below to reflect on the amazing things you brought into the world in 2020. tag as many writers/artists/etc. as you want (fan or original) so we can spread the love and link each other to awesome work!

In no particular order:

Height difference: an ink drawing. I still love this piece which is saying a lot because after a week I usually hate everything. I think I finally found a style that worked but I haven't been able to quite achieve it since

You're the only one I've called: an ink drawing, pretty much the same reasons as above and I do love the doll like quality on this one

It's the little things: a fic. Mostly I chose this one because it's the first time that anything if mine has been read out on @audiofanficpod and I'm immensely proud of that although I found it very hard to listen back on 🙈

Scully bunks down with her new partner: a nsfw ish drawing, I have no shame and I still find this funny

Detective Heal Thyself: a the fall fic. I really loved doing all the descriptive writing it felt special in this one and I love Stella's character but I'm always too intimidated to write much for her, although I really want to do it again

Daughters Are Not Just for Christmas: a fic. I had a lot of fun with the structure of this one and playing around with describing emotions

Fingerpainting: art. I had so much fun doing this one and no expectations of it ever being something 'good' which is why I think I like it so much. And it's super cute

As Soon as He Calls Her Honey: a nsfw. Hoo let me tell you a little story about this one. So a real life friend find my tumblr account and this was my latest post around that time, they read it during class (I know) but now we have a nice little thing where we watch the x files together. And I thank this fic for that

Hushabye Stakeout: a fic. I love sleepy fics and I think this one some up that feeling perfectly, all fluff and no pain this time

Lily Bart in flowers: photography. It's something a little different than what I usually do but aesthetics are everything

I shall tag some incredible creators but no pressure guys: @theresanemman @guiltypleasure-art @burritoscully @silhouetteofacedar @leonardbetts @ariverofsongs

[blitheringmcgonagall]

20 questions Writer’s Edition

@of-stars-and-moon and @velvethopewrites thanks for the tag!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

30

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

508,562

3. How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

Harry Potter Marauders Era and a crossover with LOTR

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

We Can Be Heroes

(Canon Jily & Wolfstar - from The Prank to Halloween 1981)

Sirius Black seemed to have broken the Marauders after revealing Remus Lupin's secret to Snape, James Potter was failing miserably in what his friends called Prongs Pursuing Evans, and Lily Evans was realising she may have misjudged certain people. Voldemort and his followers were beginning to show an interest in the Marauders. All was not well...

Maybe I waited too long

(Medical marauders - Jily & Wolfstar)

Dr. James Potter and Dr. Sirius Black had gotten their lives and careers back on track after the nightmare that followed the collapse of Slytherin Pharmaceuticals, and moved abroad to work in Dublin to get away from painful memories. But they find themselves confronted by their past, their lost loves and arch enemies.

Birthday Blues

(Happy canon Wolfstar)

Sirius is turning sixty and he is appalled...

Nah, He Didn’t

(BlackEvans broTP)

“So then as he’s so clearly not interested in me, if he ever really was-“

The dog dropped his head onto the grass and whined loudly.

“I decided the only way to address this was by us both dating other people. Excellent idea, I thought,” she said.

The dog looked at her as though she had grown two heads.

The New Boyfriend

(Medical marauders au - Wolfstar)

Sirius hears about Remus' new boyfriend

5. Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

I do, all the time, because I’m so happy when I read a beautiful comment I have to thank you! Also some comments are hilarious and need a banter-filled reply, right??

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

Halloween 1981 - Canon Marauders Ending

It’s awful, in the way “canon” is awful: first of all from Lily and James’ PoV, then from Sirius’ PoV and finally from Remus’ PoV 🥺🥺🥺🥺

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

Well, We Can Be Heroes ends with a much better ending than canon which is now my canon! Otherwise maybe Have Yourself A Merry Little Wolfnoote has very cute James and Harry moments at the end which I shamelessly love!

8. Do you write crossovers? If so what is the craziest one you’ve written?

I’ve only ever written one, for @therealrjlupin : a lord of the rings / marauders crossover called Ithildin and Silmë !!

9. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Yeah not much, only relating to We Can Be Heroes I think? Once a weirdo big rant on ff.net saying I was going to hell… pretty sure because it had Wolfstar in it. I felt a bit sorry for the person, they may have been unwell, it was a really huge long thing. I got it deleted.

Then the odd “I hate the way you write Snape” which is A MASSIVE COMPLIMENT SO THANK YOU! And the odd “I don’t like the way your Lily is such a strong woman, she’s making James look weak” which is hilarious and James Potter would be snorting at your ridiculousness and making heart eyes at Lily.

10. Do you write smut? If so what kind?

Nope, because I think in my job I wouldn’t feel comfortable if it ever got out 😂!

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

No thankfully.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes I had The Graham Norton Christmas Special - Snily vs Risky translated into Chinese!

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

Yeah a Wolfstar fic with a few great writers called All’s Well That Ends Well but then removed my name from it due to the work thing as above, lol!

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

Jily (Wolfstar is either joint favourite or a close second)

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

None!

16. What are your writing strengths?

Ugh I hate this question - Maybe understanding a character’s childhood/ psychological background and how that impacts on their personality and behaviours, why we do what we do? (I feel it helps me write characters)

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Again, very hard to know as I’m not objective! I think writing chapters that are too long!

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

I’ve written Italian!James saying a few sentences in Italian in A Little Risk (the murder mystery 1930s anti fascist fic) and Sirius speaking in French and Lily speaking (and cursing) in Irish in We Can Be Heroes but not a huge chunk of dialogue!

19. What was the first fandom you wrote for?

Harry Potter Marauders (Jily)

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

We Can Be Heroes is my baby and my favourite, closely followed by the medical marauders AU because medical Jily & Wolfstar is such fun to write, plus like WCBH, it has some real life inserts 😉!

Tagging @mollymarymarie @magic-girl-in-a-muggle-world @tumbledfreckles @stonecoldhedwig @nymphadoratonqs @corinnesamuels @chierafied @sisforsammi @letthebookbegin @missgryffin @fromtiime @moonzelle @alittlebitofeverything23 @isahorcrux @justfinishthis @booksarelife-stuff @lorrainebow @itsvioletttt @jilyesplz @oyprongs @cesays and anyone else who wants to!

[thebirdandhersong]

The Year So Far Book Ask

Tagged by @madamescarlette <3 thank you, darling!! (I DO SO LOVE TO TALK ABOUT BOOKS!!!!)

1. Best book you have read in 2021 so far?

HOW can I answer that!!!! Here is a top 10 because I cannot narrow it down!!

Middlemarch: read it twice this year (liked it the first time, LOVED it the second time)

David Copperfield: my new favourite Dickens. There is a lot of joy and compassion at the heart of this book, and I Loved it very much.

The Mill on the Floss: can’t explain the feeling I got from reading this book (tbh if you know, you know!! It warms your heart but it also makes you want to stand in the rain and cry)

The Queen of Attolia: a roller coaster. Very overwhelming. Was incredibly Shocked many times. (Also, who’d have thought?? Gen??? In LOVE??? Fantastic in concept and in execution)

The Adventures of Sally: a new favourite Wodehouse. You will laugh so hard tears will spring to your eyes.

Night Watch: this one stuck a knife in me and twisted..... but in a good way.

Anne of the Island: much-needed comfort read!!!

Leave it to Psmith: another new favourite Wodehouse. Modern rom-coms wish they could do rom-com like Psmith, Eve, and the umbrella that was Definitely Not His.

The Penderwicks at Point Mouette: A DELIGHT (speechless!!)

The Penderwicks on Gardam Street: ALSO A DELIGHT (still speechless!!)

2. Best sequel you have read in 2021 so far?

Ohohoho. All the Discworld sequels. (Especially A Hat Full of Sky, Night Watch, Thud!, I Shall Wear Midnight.)

Also, The Queen of Attolia. That book decimated me. Admittedly no one’s emotions are very stable at two in the morning, but I was an absolute Wreck that night (morning?).

3. A new release you want to check out?

I am behind on the times so my idea of ‘new’ is rather skewed.... I still really want to read Spin the Dawn, The Goblin Emperor, and Spinning Silver. And am making my way through Queen’s Thief.

4. Most anticipated book release of the second half of the year?

I... don’t follow new releases that much, to be honest. I am currently looking through the lists and don’t see anything I recognise s;lfdjsdlk;

5. Biggest disappointment?

The Hunchback of Notre Dame. I knew how it was going end, but i was still mad. (These days I like books with a hefty amount of Hope and that one.... definitely did not have that.) I also read Tess of the d’Urbervilles for the first time and remember being just... really frustrated with all the characters and about the lack of Hope in that one, too. I was also hoping to love I Capture the Castle and was a bit grumpy about the second half of the book!!

6. Biggest surprise?

The books I read because my friends loved them!! Such as The Blue Castle (Eden), The Man Born to be King (Magpie), Gourmet Hound (Eden), Queen’s Thief (Fran), Blandings Castle/Psmith (Rebekah), Discworld (I think I started reading it for the first time because of Fran as well)...... I also reread a bunch of old favourites (Lord of the Rings and a few Jane Austens) and they were even better than I remembered!! Which was just wonderful!! (though not very surprising, I guess!!)

7. Favourite new author (either new to you or debut)?

MEGAN WHALEN TURNER. I also have a new appreciation for P.G. Wodehouse (after crashing through all of his Jeeves books and most of the Blandings Castle audiobooks) and Terry Pratchett (after bulldozing through a good number of Discworld books, most of them two or three times) and Georgette Heyer (read my first few Heyers this year and had SUCH a blast).

8. Favourite new fictional crush?

In general: Ik-jun from Hospital Playlist (He’s not from a book sksfjkl ;sdfj k I wanted to mention him because I just love him a Lot)

In terms of books: Sam Vimes (sdlkfjs;kls) and Henry Tilney (I loved him before, but this year cemented him as one of the top, if not The Favourite Austen hero in my heart). I don’t know if Gen counts, because I feel very friendly towards him, and alternate between wanting to make soup for him and wanting to bonk him on the head with a cardboard tube.

Mal (from S&B) had some Really Good lines, too. Especially in the last chapter of Ruin and Rising.

9. Newest favourite character?

A whole PLATOON of them. Sasha and Lysander from @magpie-trove​‘s story, Beatrice and Romeo from @imissthembutitwasntadisaster​‘s story, Emilia and Lily from @itspileofgoodthings​‘s stories, Tiffany Aching, Granny Weatherwax, Helen and Irene and Costis from Queen’s Thief, Dorothea and Maggie from George Eliot’s books, Sally from The Adventures of Sally....

10. A book that made you cry?

Literally cried so many times this year over all sorts of stories. But a few off the top of my head:

The Penderwicks (all of them): cried from sheer joy!!!

Seven for a Secret: there are so many lines in the most recent chapters alone that brought tears to my eyes.

The Keys of Fire: which is The definitive Fairy Tail fanfic for me. I just love this story so much. And i was surprised all over again by the forgiveness and the love and the grace and the healing in this story this time around!!

The Queen of Attolia/The King of Attolia: cried out of surprise and joy at nearly all the Gen/Irene scenes (not the beginning ones sl;fksdsdlfk jd but my heart did a great leap when Gen remembers seeing Irene dance)

Ruin and Rising: cried at the ending. Also because I was so happy. (There is no such thing as an ordinary love!!!)

Crooked Kingdom: cried at what Kaz did for Inej (couldn’t help it. That moment was beautiful)

(It has been quite an emotional year. The waterworks are triggered by the smallest things. But I’m happy to say that I’ve cried out of happiness mostly in the book department.)

11. A book that made you happy?

(Nearly all of them tbh!!! I have so many new favourite books from this year’s reading list alone!!!)

The Penderwicks series. Was in bliss for the whole week. I was also incredibly happy listening to the Discworld audiobooks, and reading new installments of Emilia and Seven for a Secret and The Stars Hold No Part In This!!! All the Wodehouse and Heyer books I read were delightful.... David Copperfield was so full of joy and grace and it made me want to prance in a field. All of the Anne books I reread were comfort reads. And of course The Keys of Fire, which kept me smiling for hours: I feel like a kid being handed an ice cream cone with three scoops and a cherry on top whenever I read it. Incredibly happy.

12. Most beautiful book you have bought or received this year?

The second-hand Vintage Classics Jane Austens!! :’) especially Northanger Abbey, which was in Excellent condition. Very floppy (unlike the longer Austens..... alas for Mansfield Park, which is harder to flip through) and fits comfortably in my hands.

And the Tundra Classics edition of Anne of the Island. (I liked the way the paper felt and the text was a really nice font and size!)

13. What book do you need to read by the end of the year?

OOH TONS. I’m still reading Anna Karenina (stopped because I thought: I need a happy story right now). Would love to keep reading Queen’s Thief (I’m taking it slow because they’re books that should be savoured), make some headway in Dorothy Sayers’s Lord Peter Wimsey books, read more Georgette Heyer, start on The Goblin Emperor and a Bunch of books I've been meaning to read for a while (The Eagle of the Ninth, Piranesi, Phantom of the Opera, Surprised by Joy, Crime and Punishment, War and Peace are the main ones. This is an ambitious list but I’d like to read at least two of them before the year is out sl;kffdksl;dfjslk;)

tagging: @imissthembutitwasntadisaster​ @soldier-poet-king​ @septembersung​ @lady-merian​ @called-kept​ if you would like to!! And YOU, if you think it looks fun and want to give it a try!! :D

[dayseternal-blog]

If you ever finish answering all of yours awaiting asks...

45 questions for you 👀

https://myaekingheart.tumblr.com/post/650107314353897472/fic-writer-ask-game

Lolllll BADLUCKBREBIS, you are so funny.

Inspiration and Reading Asks:

1. How long ago did you start reading fanfiction? Writing fanfiction?

It looks like I started writing in 2017. I've been reflecting recently on how there are so many regularly active writers now compared to in 2017-2018. It was the tail-end of some of my fave writer's activity within fandom. Utsus was posting less and less. The Tumblr NaruHina fandom seemed to disappear, a whole community of writers left for other things (matchaball, nekomamoru, magmawrites, cherryjutsu, spyder-m, tenney-shoes, eliphya, among others). 2018 was a very quiet year, but! I avidly read katarinahime and bunnyhoodlum's works! In 2019, quirrrky restarted things with NaruHina Week!

2. How do you spend your time when it comes to fanfiction? Are you primarily a fic reader, writer, or a perfect 50/50 split of both?

Recently I’m primarily a reader!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Because there's so many writers now!!!!!!!!

3. Are there any fics that inspired you to write what you do?

Yeah, let’s list them.  “A Special Friend” by agitosgirl inspired “Nightdreams.  “Medicine” by @grimmjowkurosakidrake​ inspired “White Lilies.  “Torch Song” by @mmmbuttery inspired “About You.”  The language in “Unless the World Were to End” by @bunny-hoodlum​ inspired the language in “That was the plan.”  “In Between Drinks” by @peppercornpress inspired “In Between Drinks NH.”

4. Link your three favorite fics right now.

“Operation: Bring Home Naruto” by Dragonwannabe - Rated T, Canon-Divergent, Multi-chapter, Complete. Hinata's been assigned the mission of getting Naruto back home safely after his last dangerous assignment. But can she handle the undercover identity as his girlfriend that she’d been given without revealing her true feelings for him?

“The Mission” by Lunawraythe - Rated M, Canon-Divergent, Multi-chapter, Ongoing. It wasn't that Hinata never expected to work with Naruto, just never on a mission quite like this.

“The Loving Type” by @peppercornpresses - Rated M, Canon-Divergent, Multi-chapter, Ongoing. A few years have passed since the Fourth Shinobi War, in which...Rookie Nine steadily advances in rank. Naruto gets engaged. Hinata leaves Konoha. And Kakashi schemes for days.

5. What are your fanfic pet peeves? Do they have a huge effect on whether or not you decide to read something?

ahhh.  I do have quite a few pet peeves.  If the fic is Canon-Compliant or Canon-Divergent, I expect Naruto and Hinata to behave like Japanese people.  Say what you want, but the Naruto Universe is definitely Japanese in my book.  So that means no shoes in the house.  Nothing rattles me more than reading Hinata taking her sandals off before climbing into bed.  Like, what?  she was wearing her outdoor shoes indoors this whole time??

mmm... another pet peeve is when the writer describes Hinata in a kimono, but it sounds like an American Halloween costume, like the slutty version, instead of an actual kimono.

mmm... and the other big pet peeve I have is when it’s Hinata’s first time eating ramen because Naruto is showing her the wonders of ramen.  lol.  why.  how.  in what world would a Japanese person make it to their teenage years without ever eating ramen.

I have a bunch of other little pet peeves regarding Japanese culture in fanfics.  But in general, it doesn’t stop me from reading the fic if I'm already in the middle of it.  I’ll continue reading it and will probably recommend it to other people anyway. If I can tell based on the summary, then it's not for me, and I don't read it. If this makes anyone feel nervous about writing fanfiction, that's not my intention! I would also be happy to be a sensitivity reader if necessary.

6. How do you find new fic to read? Where do you primarily read fanfiction?

I primarily read fanfics on AO3 and ffnet.  I find new ones by constantly checking the Hyuuga Hinata/Uzumaki Naruto tag on AO3 or looking into a writer’s favorites list on ffnet.

7. Do you prefer to read short fics or long fics?

Short fics.

8. How often do you reblog/comment on fics that you like?

I reblog pretty often. I don't comment as often as I used to😕 I used to comment on every fic I liked.

9. Tag 3 fic writers you think are underrated/unknown in the fandom/fanfiction community.

Uhh?? Idk. I think recently the writing group here is pretty tight, everyone seems to know everyone.

10. What’s your favorite fandom, pairing, or character to read fic for?

Naruto fandom and NaruHina.

Fanfiction Writing Asks:

11. How do you come up with your fic titles?

I usually take it from words used in the story or from the prompt.

12. Tell the author your favorite fic title of theirs (not the fic, strictly title). Author: what’s your favorite title you’ve come up with and why?

I think...maybe "Tell Me of Forevers" or "Nightdreams." I like those because they aren't taken word-for-word directly from the story, but touch on a theme in the story.

13. Do you outline your fics? How much of a headache would someone get if they just looked at an outline of yours without reading the fic?

Yes, I outline. They wouldn't get a headache, I think. It's usually just a summary.

14. Do you have a personal word minimum that you hold yourself too? Why or why not?

Nope. I didn't know people do that.

15. Tell the author your favorite fic of theirs. What’s your (the author’s) favorite fic you’ve written?

My favorite fic continues to be "It's No Secret."

16. Do you research for your fics? If so, how deep of a rabbit hole have you gone down by accident when researching?

Yes, I do. I've done historical and folktale research for "Little Samurai." I did area/location research for "Last Chance." I did historical research for "About You." I did fairy tale research for "Catskin." I did a ton of astronomy research for "The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl." And I did lighting research for "Inspo." I go pretty deep.

17. How obsessively do you sit and stare at your fic after you’ve just posted and wait for feedback?

I don't. I usually have something else I need to do or I go to bed.

18. Do you have a WIP that you keep telling yourself you’ll eventually get back to, but deep down you know that’s probably a lie?

I actually think I can finish all of mine if I just try.

19. Do you edit your fics after you write them, or do you prefer to just hit post and run (because it’s someone else’s problem now)?

I always edit before posting to AO3. Anything I post directly on Tumblr might not be edited.

20. What’s your favorite part about the fanfiction writing process?

Posting!

21. What’s your least favorite part about the fanfiction writing process?

Starting a new chapter.

22. Do you take fic requests? If so, for what characters and why?

On occasion. If someone sends me a request, I'll think about writing it. Sometimes I do write and post it, sometimes I leave them in my drafts for a better day.

23. What’s your absolute favorite trope to write?

From what I already have posted, probably friends-to-lovers, secret relationship/forbidden love, or high school au. I don't think I have an intentional favorite.

24. What’s a trope that you’d like to never hear about as long as you live, let alone write?

Public humiliation / public degradation.

25. Do you listen to music as you write? If possible, link your writing playlist.

No, not usually.

26. What’s your biggest distraction when writing?

Tumblr feed, all the pictures to scroll through mindlessly.

27. Do you like to give your readers some warning of what might be coming or just slap them in the face with content at random?

lol, whatever is fine.

28. How do you deal with writing pressure (ie: pressure to update, negative comments, deadlines, etc)?

Well, pressure to update is not a big deal to me. I do this for fun, so I don't think I unnecessarily pressure myself too much. With negative comments, I don't get too many of those, and I think I do my best to avoid situations where I might get negative feedback.

29. Have you ever written for an exchange or event of some kind? Which one(s)? Did you enjoy it?

Yeah, I like the events. My favorite was NH2020, the year-long one last year. I also enjoyed the Secret Santa last year since @badluckbrebis was my giftee.

30. Post a snippet from your current WIP without context - no more than 300 words.

haha😈

Ecstasy slides through his veins, blooming over his mind, cocooning him in pleasant sensations, cum shooting out in eager twitches against hot, milking flesh.

31. Of the characters you write for, which is your favorite? Has that choice been swayed at all by your followers/readers’ reactions to certain ones?

Naruto Uzumaki, always.

32. Copy and paste your top three favorite lines/jokes/sentences you’ve ever written. What fics do they come from?

Top 3 faves in order:

That was the plan: "She shifts in his arms, and cloth and cleavage come pillowing up to his face, and he’s certain that she’s scooped from the same puffy stuff his adolescent daydreams were made of."

Tell Me of Forevers: "What he wouldn’t do to inspire every blush, every smile of hers for an eternity when such moments already only speak “forever” to him."

White Lilies: "Whether at his feet, in his eyes, ears, mind, if not reaching his heart, she never landed anywhere. (It’s okay.)"

I consider "White Lilies" to have my technically best writing, so it was kind of hard to choose just one line from that fic! But I decided that one's my favorite line from the whole story.

33. What do you like writing better: one shots or multi-chapter stuff?

One-shots.

34. How much of yourself and your life experiences do you put into your writing? What do you think your readers’ image of you is?

A lot of my life experiences are in my writing. Hmm, I think readers probably think I'm...hmm...either empathetic or really perverted?

35. How much has writing fic changed your life?

I spend a lot less time on real-life social media than before.

36. Are there any fics or fandoms you’re embarrassed to have written or been part of?

I'm kind of embarrassed of "Honeymoon at the Hot Springs" lol. It's fine.

37. Give an update on your current WIP - if you don’t have one, give a sneak peek to a title or idea that you have and would like to write.

My current WIP is that A/B/O fic I started for February Smut Month Prompts: Sweet as Candy or Love Bites. I'm going to title it "Sweet As," and it'll be about how Naruto and Hinata become Alpha/Omega mates. It's really kinky, really smutty, and totally what I would want to read.

38. What does your writing process look like? How chaotic is it on a scale of 1 (very tame) to 10 (you can’t handle this kind of chaos)?

uhh???? a 1?? I've never once thought of my writing process as chaotic. Ahh, then I think of bunnyhoodlum's multiple drafts for the same chapter, and I realize that there exist types of writing processes that I would not be able to handle...

39. What’s something about your writing that you pride yourself on?

My smut.

40. How did you come up with the idea for [x fic]?

41. What’s your most popular fic (with the most notes on tumblr, most hits/kudos on ao3)?

Idk about Tumblr,,, maybe White Lilies got the most attention here. My most popular fic is Nightdreams on AO3.

42. Asker: pick three of the author’s works. Author: rank them 1 (the best) - 3 (the worst) based on whatever criteria you want - this could be something totally random that isn’t quality related (like simply ranking fics based on how many trains appear in them) - have fun!

43. Talk about a positive experience with fanfiction or the fanfiction community that you will always remember.

I will always remember how people congratulated me for finishing White Lilies😭 Also, when peppercornpresses made that FIRST art of my story, I just, I just stared at it all day.

44. Rant about something writing related.

hmmm, I don't feel like ranting about anything. I just recently ranted about my pet peeves above.

45. Fic specific questions - if you have any weird questions about specific works, here’s your shot to ask them!

I did them all! Nice questions.

[that-wimpy-cowboy-doll]

2020 Faves

Rules: It’s time to love yourselves! Choose your 8 (ish) favorite works you created in the past year (fics, art, edits, etc.) and link them below to reflect on the amazing things you brought into the world in 2020. Tag as many writers/artists/etc. as you want so we can spread the love and link each other to awesome work!

@grimeysociety tagged me <3 I’m going to join in the peer pressure of tagging @idontgettechnology @snailsarecute @wheresarizona @dresupi @typhoidmeri and I’m sure a million people that I’m forgetting who are all unspeakably talented

1. how the faces of love have changed - I don’t think I’ve worked on anything else with as much time and love, and it’s the obvious choice if only because it’s the first real multichapter fic I’ve actually finished.  It’s not perfect and I plan to keep working on writing longfic, but I’m so, so fucking proud of how I channeled the angsty bullshit and smut into this one.

2. Like Lightning in a Bottle - Before this fic, I had never actively written Taserhawk outside of prompt calls, but this was a super fun one.  Also, I think, my first foray into Powered!Darcy!

3. The Rich Earth Between Us - Ohhhhh my God, I so enjoyed writing this, even though I wouldn’t say it was necessarily “fun.”  The Rich Earth Between Us felt like it needed to come out of me, and even though I got sucked into the trap of responding to a troll in the comments, this fic made me gain a new appreciation for Monica and Maria Rambeau sooooo much.

4. Branching Out - So this one isn’t technically a fic, but it could be one day, if I ever put the time in to researching how plants and florists and garden magic work.  But it was super fun, and I will always thank @dresupi for inspiring this fun li’l AU.

5. Seamus - This story is based on a real dog, whom I miss very much even after only meeting him once.  It’s silly, but putting him in a fic warmed and comforted my shriveled little pet-less heart.

6. Is This the Place That I’ve Been Dreaming Of? - Listening to Lily Allen’s cover of “Somewhere Only We Know” repeatedly back in April spawned another crackship that you can pry from my cold dead hands.

7. As chords do from the string - Speaking of crackships...the best part of this one was thinking about what it would be like to come back to life with a concept of memory, and having the words to put together what Frankenstein’s monster might have felt being ripped from the darkness and back into the light.

8. She of the Water - Written for mythology week in October!  Doing research for a mythical monster Darcy could play led me to finding the etymology of my super Eastern European last name, so how could I not?

9. I Still Have One Wish to Make - And finally, one to seal out the season with!  I let myself dive headfirst into Shieldshock this year, and writing a Christmas fake dating seems to be kind of a rite of passage in fandom, so thank you all for making it this far with me.

I love you!

[october31st1981]

Self-Promotion Edition

Rules: It’s time to 💛 yourselves! Choose your 5 favourite works you created in the past year (fics, art, edits, etc.) and link them below to reflect on the amazing things you brought into the 🌍 in 2019. Tag as many writers/artists/etc. as you want (fan or original) so we can spread the 💛 and link each other to awesome works!

Tagged by @lizardcookie. Thank you for thinking of me! <3 

2019 was a year without a lot of downtime, taking courses and new hobbies and volunteering then starting a new job. I mostly wrote things solely for events, and very few for HP at all! So I will rec the two HP pieces above the cut, and a couple of non-HP writings I did under a read more. 

The Order of Affairs - This is what I will call the fic I wrote for James’s birthday! I’m very fond of it. It’s simple, and has the exact energy I want to portray in James and Lily’s relationship. A little bit overly intimate, a little bit stubborn and proud. No hesitation. Happy, easy to write drabble. 

As Good As Gold - I like this one in its own way, despite not being my usual bag. It was a challenge to write something in half an hour, but it forced me to get creative and stretch some writing muscles! Writing about Harry as an older than a baby is a plain that I have yet to fully discover.

Borrowed, with Interest - One nice thing in writing for a smaller pairing is that a lot of simple tropes are novelties! This fic was something I’d never seen done for this pairing. And I like role swaps a lot. For this piece, there was a lot of thought about what was happening beyond what actually made it onto the page. 

Operation Scary Date - This fic is a collaboration, with my writing and Sloane’s art. Let me tell you, it was an absolute blast to write. It mixes genres, and times, and pairings, and manages to feel complete without a conclusion. It is just pure, chaotic fun. The premise actually spun out from a movie watch, which is like... a vintage internet friendship move. Plus, it is a branch out from my usual pairing monogamy. (You know what that is? Growth.)

Wolf in Leaf’s Clothing - I know the AO3 publication date says 2020, but it actually went up on tumblr in 2019, for Halloween gift exchange! Am I betraying a trope bias here with all these chaotic magical curses? As with HP, I actually rarely ever write main gen for any fandom. But when I did this piece, I actually found it hilarious, because I was able to lean into my favourite group vibe of “you-know-this-is-bananas-behaviour-right-why-no-sir-this-is-Very-Normal.” If it takes a village, then you can take this one. The whole thing. Just take it somewhere. 

I tag @fetchalgernon @ghostofbambifanfiction @bcdaily @sunshinedaisieswindmills and anyone else who would like to do it! 

[katsumi-sensei-of-iga]

Shigezane birthday fanfic

This will be an AU of sort in which Katsumi ended serving Kojuro under the guise of a page and helps the Date. Only Kojuro, Masa, Genya and Shige know she is a kunoichi. I love Shige, so I wanted him to be happy.

Most will be under the cut to save boards because I had too much fun writing this and got carried away! Enjoy! If you guys want I can try and continue this with some smut for the birthday boy.

Tagging the Shige lovers I’ve seen so far(if you don’t want to be tagged feel free to tell me): @julias1993 @coffee-kath @nefernankh @apfleur @dany-ryujin @pcyoshgurl @daeva-agas

The castle was abuzz with preparations for the young lord Date’s birthday. The maids were carrying flowers, vases, scrolls, tea sets and what could only be described as a feast for wolves. They were like butterflies, moving so fast, their fluttering sleeves made them look like dancers on stage. 

The retainers were just as busy, after all it was their duty to arrange all the things the maids brought back and fort and dust off the places the butterflies couldn’t reach. There were quite a few fights, but some were prevented as well:

In Masamune’s chamber:

 - Katsumi? - Yes, sweetheart? - Can you go and check how the Main hall is coming along? Shigezane will be here in few hours. - For Shige? Always.

Only as she was leaving did Masamune sneak a glance at her silently retreating form. He was glad she cared for his cousin almost as much as him and Kojuro, at times she would argue she loved him more than the two of them combined. Now the Dragon of Oshu had The Dragon’s Shadow and knew that she would never let anything happened to any of them, and if something did happened she would be there for those left.

-Let’s just hope she can subdue the rowdy retainers who get way too much into flower arranging every year...

Masamune allowed himself a laugh remembering the disaster last year, when the hall was so colorful and random that Kojuro had steam coming out of his ears and almost fainted and Shigezane bruised a rib from laughing so hard but appreciated it all non the less.

At the Hall:

- That flower should go there! - Are you insane!? This is not some peasants’ house, that Lilly shouldn’t be there it makes the whole vase look out of place!

- Guys! A little bit of help here!? - the poor retainer that was hanging lanterns and weaving  pieces of cloth around the beams was now left hanging from the ceiling after loosing his footing and slipping from the ladder under him. But his friends were too busy arguing, getting ready to draw their swords, about the vases in the hall to notice him.

- Excuse me, does anyone know where all the lilies wen- Ahhhh! - the poor maid that came in was no expecting the ladder that found it self in her path and conflicted whether to brace herself for the fall or hold on to the family heirloom vase in her hands, she brought the vase close to her chest and prepared for the nasty bruise that was bound to appear in a few hours. And just as the retainers scrambled to their feet to catch, some the vase, others the maid...

BAAM!

The door flew open, almost falling from it’s hinges, only for the retainers to be met with the furious glare of Lord Kojuro’s page who stalked towards them, but not before catching the poor thing that was by now scared out of her mind and kicking the ladder back under the feet of the retainer who by now had accepted his fate and was just about ready to let go and deal with having a bruised bottom for the next month.

- Give me the vase and go help the other butterflies in the garden with getting more flowers and bring me some camellias, please. - the sweet smile and secure grip on her waist was all the maid needed to gladly hand over, what could have been her death sentence had Yoshihime found out she had broken it, and leave but not before giving a chaste bow to the woman who just saved her.

- Now. I want every single on of you out of this hall by the time I return with flowers and cloth to fix this horrendous, tasteless throw up of colors you call decoration. Anyone I catch here after that I will personally deal with later.

The retainers didn’t need another warning and fled before they could find out what “deal with you later” meant.

-This will be hard... Well, anything for Shige... - Katsumi rolled up and tied her sleeves and started re-arranging all the vases, throwing the bright flowers that she deemed an eye sore in a basket near by and inspecting the pieces of white and red cloth hanging from the beams, that were actually very good looking and perfectly woven through one another. - At least one of them knew what he was doing, or in the very least wasn’t color blind. I will have to ask Masamune to reward that retainer...But that’s a job for another time.

A few hours later:

- Wow! This is beautiful! - Amazing! - Who decorated!? This is like the Hall of Amaterasu herself! - I want my wedding decorated like that! - Are we sure we are not dead and this is what the afterlife looks like...

All the retainers and maids that came in hall right before Shigezane was about to arrive were stunned. Their Lord and Kojuro soon joined the lines of gaping staff with just as stunned expressions.

The hall was a mix of red, white, orange and gold, a bright contrast to the darkness outside. The lanterns and only source of light were hanging from the ceiling making the dais and seats around it glow like a bunch of deities had come down from Heaven and were looking down upon them, giving them a divine blessing. The vases and flowers - mainly camellias, white and red tiger lilies were arranged on the tables, some flowers were tied with string and hanged up instead of scrolls on some of the walls and around the spot their Lord was soon to take up on the dais was a half circle of green, blue and orange tulips, symbolism only Masamune and Kojuro understood, woven into a braid. 

- What do you think? I personally think this is some of my best work yet. I hope the young Lord likes it. - The last person everybody expected to appear from behind the folding screen on the dais with an armful of lanterns and flowers sticking out of her sleeves and a camellia behind her ear was Kojuro’s page, the scariest woman the staff have ever seen. And yet, here she was, fretting like a mother on her daughter’s wedding day, making last minute fixes. More lanterns, less lanterns, less flowers, more flowers...

- You did this? - Kojuro was the first to find his voice, knowing she had an advantage with her...training... But this was still something he had never seen.

- You see anyone else? Originally I wasn’t supposed to have anything to do with this, but after I saw the way the hall looked earlier I couldn’t leave it like that. Now if you will excuse me, I have to go change. - As she passed them Kojuro could swear he could smell camellias and lilies with every flick of her hair.

Just as the door behind her closed, another opened.

- Wow! This is all for me? Guys, you didn’t have to! - Shigezane! How could we not hear him come in!?

- Happy birthday, Lord Shigezane! - all the servants said in unison as they had trained for the past week. - Thank you all!

After everybody took their seats and the feast began it was time for the most special presents.

-Happy birthday, Shigezane. I wish you all the best in this life and the next. - Kojuro patted his head as he gave him his present, making sure no-one else saw what he gave the young man- The Lover’s Guide: Deluxe Edition.

- Happy birthday, Shigezane. This is a present from Katsumi and I. And you are no longer disowned until you do something stupid again. - Masamune’s soft eyes betrayed his cold tone. His presents was simple but from the heart, both their hearts - a new cream-colored haori with the Date sigil on the neck and sleeves, the colors fading from orange to green, and a protection charm he sewed himself, with Katsumi’s help of course, huh, who knew the rules to sewing wounds are the same as sewing fabric.

Speak of the Devil.

- And this is something special from me personally. - The last thing Shigezane expected was a kiss on the back of the neck that made his skin crawl, at which he turned around and got another kiss, this time on the forehead. - Happy birthday, darling. - Shigezane was stunned. She was beautiful. Wearing a dark purple kimono with a silver water and mountains and the green obi with the image of a dragon coiling around her waist with two different eyes, something she made for Masamune’s birthday. And she was wearing the silver hairpin he bought for her on her own birthday mere 10 days ago. She was the personification of everything great about the Date - strength, intelligence, kindness shown only to those who deserve it, protection to the innocent and love to those most precious.

Surrounded by his family and loved ones, Shigezane suddenly understood he wasn’t alone and instead of the usual wish every year to find someone and never be alone, this year he wished for health and happiness for those around him.

[sincerelymarinette]

A Recorded Life - Miraculous Ladybug (5/50)

Words: 1046 Chapter Summary: After the last video with Adrien, Marinette was amused at how her fans reacted to the "If We Were Dating." There was one person Marinette was surprised to see enjoy the video: Chat Noir. After a busy day, Marinette has Ladybug duties to attend to. Author's Note: I really wanted to update every Sunday, but I missed last week because of how busy I was and I didn't want to post on another day and mess up the schedule. Oops! But here's this!!

Prev / Next 

You Can’t Just Be A “Casual” Fashion Fan

---

Alya was right, Marinette's fans loved seeing Adrien in her videos. Her comments blew up, and the video was high on the trending page, views growing by the second.

Marinette reads the comments! She knows Adrienette- and I'm sure she supports it! They would make such a cute couple.

At first, I didn't think Adrien liked Marinette that way, but after seeing this video, it's so clear they're meant to be together!!

I still think Marinette doesn't need a man, but Adrien is very attractive and quite funny.

Alya is the hero we need but don't deserve! All hail Alya!

I've never shipped two people more. I don't care if it's a platonic or romantic ship, just do more videos together! You guys have such an awesome dynamic that just plays off one another, and I love it. And Alya's interfering comments are literally me, and I love her. Third wheel Alya for the win!

Yin and yang. They're so different but so alike. Maybe it's fate they're together. I just know it's perfect.

If you guys start dating, I demand a couple vs. couple video. Adrien and Marinette v. Nino and Alya!

Marinette snickered behind the screen as she scrolled through the comments. While her crush on Adrien was still very relevant, she has learned how to deal with it. Even if Adrien himself made it very hard to hide it, she thinks she hides it well enough. And she was sure the comments were mostly jokes, as people will ship any two people they see together in an instant. Frankly, Alya was just asking for it with this video. But luckily, the video turned out well, and her fans were loving it.

But she was exhausted. With pumping out videos almost every day, school, and helping a specific cat, she just wanted to sleep for a week straight. Of course, she loved everything she does, but at times it was a little much for one girl to handle.

Alas, she still had to meet up with Chat Noir tonight. She had spent all Sunday editing videos, and she had already rainchecked on Chat Noir last night, she couldn't do it again.

Against her sleepy self, she called out her transformation words and left her house, running around to check on Paris and the cat. Honestly, she was expecting to find him messing around like normal. He's mentioned before he doesn't get out much so when he gets the chance as Chat Noir, he goes a little overboard. But recently, he's been more reserved with his messing around.

Instead of finding Chat Noir pretending to right rope walk or jumping from roof to roof, she found him sitting on the Eiffel Tower, giggling to himself.

"Chat Noir?" Ladybug said, careful not to scare him as she approached.

"Ah, my lady!" Chat Noir smiled at her. "Come sit; I'm watching a video. It's so good," He complimented.

Ladybug's eyes widened as she peered over into his baton playing the video. "Marinette Dupain-Cheng, again?"

"Yes!" He replied. "This one's still pretty new; I love it."

She furrowed her eyebrows. "It's about if she were dating a guy...?"

"Yeah, it's adorable. They seem like really good friends."

Ladybug chuckled and sat down next to him. "So, are we going to watch over Pairs tonight, or watch videos?"

Chat Noir shrugged. "Honestly, I'm perfectly fine just watching videos."

Nudging his shoulder, she rolled her eyes. "I don't think watching videos is in the description of superhero or protector of Paris."

"There's a description for that? Why didn't I read it before accepting the job?" He smirked.

Groaning, Ladybug was about to give up. "I'm still surprised you find her videos interesting. I've never taken you as someone interested in fashion."

"What, I can't be a casual fashion fan?" Chat Noir asked, a joking tone in his voice.

"Casual?" Ladybug asked. "I don't believe there's a casual way to be a fashion fan. You're either all in, or not at all," She played back with his joking.

"Then I'm all in!" Chat Noir stood up. "I could model for you someday, my lady,"

Standing up, she chuckled. "I'd love to see you be a model."

Chat Noir shrugged. "I could do it. I think I'd be the best out there."

"Yeah, right," Ladybug replied. "Should we, I don't know, maybe watch over Paris?"

With a groan, Chat Noir turned off the video on his baton. "That's so much less fun, but I guess you have a point. I'll be back here in just a few minutes!"

"It's not a race, Chat!" Ladybug yelled as he ran off in his direction, Ladybug going off in the opposite direction. They've been friends for a few years now, and they may be closer, but their dynamic is still the same. They would be considered best friends, yet they still barely know anything about each other.

Ladybug's yo-yo began to ring with Chat Noir's picture showing up. "What? We just saw each other."

"Just thought you missed me," Chat Noir joked. "No, I found something kinda...weird; wanna come take a look?" He asked.

"Be right there," Ladybug said and got to Chat Noir as fast as possible. She was expecting an Akuma, something Miraculous related, or just an ordinary citizen having issues.

She was wrong. Instead, she followed Chat Noir's tracker all the way back to the Eiffel Tower. "I won," He said with a smirk, sitting on the edge, and had the video playing again.

"We are not here to mess around!" Ladybug groaned. "Look, I'm so sleep deprived right now. If you're not going to take this seriously, then I'm going home to get some sleep. I have school tomorrow."

Chat Noir nodded. "I do, too," He closed his baton again. "Sorry, Ladybug, I've had a long week. It's been good, just long, and I was treating this as a break. You go home; I'll finish your route."

Her eyes widened at his sincerity. "Are you sure? I can finish my route, but-"

"I'm sure," He stood up with a smile. "If I hadn't played games, you'd be done by now. Go home and get some rest," Chat Noir shooed her, his smile growing.

"Thanks, Chat," She grinned. "I'll see you around."

---

tags

@lady-of-the-roses-and-lilies@bookishserendipity03@avatheexceed @gkz10  @coccinellegirl@kat-thatoneweirdo@strawberryblondish @snow-swordswoman

[marshmallowgoop]

Ramblings

A list of my story analyses and other commentary.

Some notes:

A ☂ beside a post is a warning for especially critical writing. That post is probably very negative. Proceed with caution!

Posts marked with a ✈ are quite old and may not accurately represent my writing style, thoughts, or opinions now.

I encourage disagreements and discussions!

This list is only updated periodically. Check out the ramblings tag for the most recent content.

If I’ve linked a response of mine to an ask/post/etc. of yours that you don't want on this list, please let me know, and I will remove it immediately.

ANIME

AMVs (Anime Music Videos) and Video Editing

#amv-talk Tag

About Lip Flap...

AMV Process: Breakdown of Effects, DaVinci Resolve

Basics of DaVinci Resolve (Bottom of Post)

Compiling Clips?

Mixing an Old Anime Dub with HD Footage

Short AMVs Aren’t Inherently Effortless

General

Anime and Feminism

Oversexualization

Belle

Thoughts On

BNA: Brand New Animal

BNA: Brand New Animal Thoughts, Speculation

BNA: Brand New Animal: A Disappointing Series

Cutey Honey

Re: Cutie Honey: “Your father loved you without a doubt”

DARLING in the FRANXX

Goop Watches: DARLING in the FRANXX Episode 1: Alone and Lonesome, More Episode 2: What It Means to Connect, More Episode 3: Fighting Puppet Episode 4: Flap, Flap, More Episode 5: Your Thorn, My Badge Episode 6: DARLING in the FRANXX (Outline Only)

Codependency in DARLING in the FRANXX

Do You Think DARLING in the FRANXX Will Have Several Tone Shifts?, DARLING in the FRANXX Has a Lot of Heart

Do You Think the FRANXX Will Only Operate with Certain Pistils?

English Simuldub

Ending Thoughts, Thoughts on Endgame Couples, Thoughts on Hir02

Episode 1: “And you weren’t frightened by my horns.”

Episode 3: “The hand she held out and the smile she offered to me alone came at a price.”

Episode 12 Quick Thoughts, Responses

Episode 13: Amazing Piece of Animation

Episode 13: Does Zero Two Recognize Hiro?

Episode 13: Zero Two Biting Hiro (and Hiro’s Response)

Episode 14: Reaction

Episode 14: Thoughts on the Ichigo Hate Train?

Favorite Moment from Kill la Kill and DARLING in the FRANXX?

Human/Non-Human Romance

Third Ending Sequence: Lily Flower Symbolism and Ikuno

Why Watch DARLING in the FRANXX?, Would You Recommend DARLING in the FRANXX?, Would You Recommend DARLING in the FRANXX and Kill la Kill to Someone Who Dislikes Fanservice?

X Symbolism

Zero Two: Manic Pixie Dream Girl? Detective Conan

Ai and Heiji: Should be BFFs

Ai Haibara: Will She Choose to Remain a Child in the End?

Danger Sense

DetCo DVD Saga: DCMK Blu-rays, Detective Conan Ads and the 10th-Anniversary “Conan Taisho,” Detective Conan versus Case Closed Packaging, Don’t Buy the Japanese DVDs Individually, DVD Selection 4: Formal Ai and Conan Art, Episode 425, Blu-ray Quality, and 10th-Anniversary Quiz Questions, FUNimation Art Box Releases, FUNimation S.A.V.E. Bootlegs, Image Quality Comparisons, Japanese DVDs versus FUNimation’s DVDs, Mixing an Old Anime Dub with HD Footage, Non-Chronological Episode Ordering of Japanese DVDs, Textless OPs and EDs Included on Music Albums

Episode 36: “The Monday, 7:30 P.M. Murder Case,” and Why Detective Boys Fillers are Good, Actually

Episode 48: “I wanna see if Kudo Shinichi’s really worthy of being compared to me.”, Heiji and Shinichi’s Friendship

Episode 49: “He told me there was a new detective in town, and that I should come see for myself.”

Episode 118: “Heiji’s always talking about you [Kudo].”

Episode 118: “Because some idiot told me... after cornering the culprit with your detective work, you can’t let them die.”

Episode 174: Heiji Falling Overboard

Episodes 406-408: Toning Down the Tsundere, Heiji Doesn’t Realize He’s in Love with Kazuha?

Episode 479: Conan Defending Heiji

Episode 479: Respect Women Juice?

Episode 1,089: “A kid’s lunch is still just a kid’s lunch.”

Favorite Episodes

File 1090: That Heiji and Momiji Scene

FUNimation’s English Dub: A Loose Translation But Fun Production, Naturalistic Scripting, Officer Tome in Countdown to Heaven, The Over-Localization is a Shame

Heiji Hattori: The Initial Push to an APTX 4869 Antidote

Heiji’s Relationship with Shinichi/Conan: Looking Beyond the Surface, I... Like That Heiji Says “Kudo” So Much?

HeiShin: “Don’t Fall in Love”

HeiShin: Is It Really Onesided?

HeiShin Masterpost: Things I Love About Heiji and Shinichi

HeiShinRan, HeiShinRan Love Triangle?

HeiShin Ship Bingo

KaiShin Ship Bingo

Magnum (Misao Yamamura): Thinks Conan is Shinichi’s Younger Brother?

Most Narratively Tragic Ending for HeiShin?

Opening 56: The Focus on Heiji’s Alcohol

OVA 9: Shinichi’s Conception of Heiji’s Future (And How He Thinks Heiji’s So Attractive That He’ll be Called “The Lady-Killer of Naniwa”)

Prelude from the Past Prologue

Protective Objects: Hats, Glasses, and Lucky Charms

Ran and Shinichi’s Best-Friendship (Three-sentence Ask)

Shinichi and Heiji: Rivals?

Shinichi and Heiji’s Parents

Shinichi Kudo: Hiding His Trauma, Episode 426

Thinking About English Translations of Detective Conan/Case Closed

FLCL

Referenced in Kill la Kill? Naota’s Lemon Pop

Gurren Lagann

“The Sense of Wonder”

Kill la Kill

Has its own page

Kiznaiver

Flower Symbolism in Kiznaiver's Ending Sequence, Revised

Kiznaiver Episodes 1 and 2: Thoughts and Impressions

What is Kiznaiver About, Exactly?

Magic Kaito

Magic Kaito vs. Magic Kaito 1412

Neon Genesis Evangelion

Thoughts On

Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Exact Opposite of Kill la Kill? ☂, Oversexualization in Madoka

SSSS. Gridman

AX Premiere Thoughts

Studio Trigger Anime

Thoughts

Promare

Gushing About Promare (Mega Spoilers!)

Promare and Greek Mythology

Promare: Quick Thoughts

What Kumoricon’s Promare Panel Told Me About Kill la Kill Space Patrol Luluco

Episode 7

Space Patrol Luluco and Kill la Kill Crossover Idea

Space Patrol Luluco’s Finale vs. Kill la Kill’s Finale ☂

The Ancient Magus’ Bride

Concerning Premise

Wolf Children

Choosing Between Two Worlds, More, Yuki’s Choice

CARTOONS

Disney

Beauty and the Beast: “Please don’t leave me.”

Beauty and the Beast: Stockholm Syndrome Jokes Aren’t Funny

Star vs. the Forces of Evil: Glossaryck as a Distanced Immortal

Miraculous Ladybug

“Glaciator 2″: “I’m so afraid I’m not the good person I thought I was.”

SheZow

Concept  ✈

Steven Universe

Character Meme: Lapis Lazuli

Lars’s Character Development

Parallels Between Ryuko and Amethyst

“Sworn to the Sword”

The Legend of Korra

Character Rant: Bolin ✈  

Character Rant: Pema ✈

Eska Speculation  ✈

LIVE-ACTION MEDIA

The Shape of Water

Elisa’s “F U” to Strickland

Elisa/The Asset and Ryuko/Senketsu (Kill la Kill): Similar?

More than “Fish Dick” Jokes

Seen as Worthy of Love

WRITING AND ART

A Good Story Matters Way More Than Pretty Prose

Consider Creator Intentions?

Devaluing of Fanfiction

Favorite OSTs?

Including Japanese Honorifics and Titles in English Writing, More

Reblogging Fic Instead of Liking

Unethical to Like an Anime Dub That Makes Dialogue Changes?

OTHER

Being Thankful to Online Creators

But Do You REALLY Want to Be Internet Famous

Children’s Shows  ✈

Monetizing Hobbies

“Not Enough Love”

“Something’s Not Worth Doing Unless You’re Good at It”

“Wholeness” and Relationships  ✈

Why Are Monster/Human Romances Your Thing?

[dayseternal-blog]

Hi days! Since im currently under quarantine, I've been meaning to write my own Naruhina fanfic and i think this is the perfect opportunity to start! im just wondering if you have any tips with writing and also on using AO3 since I'm pretty new to the site :) Thank you so much and I hope ur doing well!

AHHHH HAVE FUN!!!!

I have so many tips???  For planning, editing, posting, and general thoughts.  I’m sorry, it got out of hand 🙈  Also, everything below the cut are just my own opinions (even if they’re phrased like laws lol).  Other writers will have differing opinions.

Planning Tips 🗒:

1. First to make absolutely clear, you don’t have to plan.  You can write whatever you want because it’s your story.

2. But it’s useful to have a detailed summary or general outline.

3. And it’s useful to choose your verb tense & POV before you start.

4. It’s easier for most people to write from just one perspective (limited 3rd Person).  An example of this would be “Nightdreams,” for which I only wrote Naruto’s thoughts.  Limited 3rd is useful to build angst because everyone can only guess at what the other character is thinking!

5. But if you want both POVs shown, that’s fun, too!!  I’ve done that in diff. ways.  “Undercover” and “Catskin” switches throughout.  “White Lilies” has half/half of the chapter.  “Inspo” switches each chapter.  Whatever you choose, do it deliberately for the amount of information you want to share with the reader!

6. Keep your verb tense consistent!  It’s easier to write in present tense, even though we were taught in school to write stories in past tense.  If your character is having a flashback, you can easily make that distinction between present and past by switching to past tense.

Editing Tips ✅:

1. Each new paragraph belongs to only 1 character’s thoughts, words, and actions.

2. Vary sentence length!  Short sentences and fragments are wonderful to indulge in.

3. Try to keep each paragraph short (no more than about 4 lines).  A bilingual reader told me it’s easier to process.

4. Try to open a chapter with a description of the environment (sounds, space, or feelings) rather than talking or conversation so that you can immerse the reader in the story right away.

5. If you want a beta, set clear parameters for what you want the beta to look for.  Be specific.  Examples: you want the beta to check your spelling and punctuation, you want the beta to check for clarity in a certain section, you want the beta to be like a soundboard for you to bounce ideas off of, you want the beta to check for sensitivity.  Btw, if you don’t want a beta, that’s absolutely fine.

6. If your story is set in a Japanese-influenced world, please don’t italicize Japanese words.  That just draws attention to a word that doesn’t need attention.  Italics should be used for emphasis, thoughts, maybe words in a letter or newspaper the character is reading.

7. If the characters all have Japanese names, like in Naruto, please find appropriate names for any OCs you make.  This is arguable for an alternate universe.

Posting to AO3 Tips 👊🏼:

1. Write your story on a Google Doc, then when you’re ready, copy&paste into AO3′s RICH TEXT (Not HTML) BOX. 

It’s always defaulted to HTML.  So make sure you click that Rich Text button before you paste the story in, otherwise your formatting’s gonna get all funky.

2. Before you Post, read through your story!  AO3 sometimes doesn’t “return” your paragraphs properly, so just make sure your spacing is all good.

3. Also check your words that are italicized.  AO3 sometimes adds extra spaces between italicized and normal words.

4. Look at similar stories to yours to see how they tagged ships, triggers, and genres.  The wall of tags is very important!  

5. Keep your story summary simple.  If your story follows a popular trope, you might want to highlight that in the summary.

Miscellaneous Tips 🌻:

1. Have no shame.

2. If you learn by following examples (like I do), study your favorite stories and take mental notes on what makes that story so good to you.  Is it the formatting?  Is it the subject?  Is it the characterization?  What did the writer do?  Turn an analytical eye on those stories.

For example, while I was writing Nightdreams, I studied the formatting (transitions, verb tense, point of view, etc.) in @katarinahime‘s “Serenity Prayer” and the use of description in @missa-chua‘s “Unless the World Were to End.”  I reread them several times.  I tried to emulate their styles in my own writing.

3. For the love of ramen, please don’t make ramen seem like some foreign food that Hinata has never tried before.  Please.

4. Follow @ao3commentoftheday to get a whole writing community’s tips!!  The moderator responds everyday to asks on a wide range of writing concerns.

5. YOU CAN FORGET EVERYTHING HERE IF YOU LIKE AND JUST DO WHATEVER YOU WANT.  It’s your story!

You are your own #1 Reader.  Write what you want to read because literally no one’s going to read it as often as you do!  This is allllll about what YOU want!

If you have any questions about something I didn’t cover or you’d like me to expand on a tip, let me know :)  Thank you for asking!  And I am so excited!

I hope you love your fanfic!!!!!

[tejoxys]

Play House

Eldritch blacksand, finally. I’ve been wanting to try my hand at this for years; I actually started this piece when I was house-sitting for friends of the family in... 2014. Damn.

----

The Dark comes down when the Light calls, down into the house where the Light wants to play. The humans are gone; the house sits far back on its long lawn redolent with sleeping flowerbeds, its peaked rooftops shiny with the rain tapping at dark windows.

-windows!- The Light leaps into them at once. The Light loves these gooey spans of sand bending light, sand flowing, sand made liquid pretending to be solid. In the temporal sea where the Light and Dark swim, the glass has already completed its crawl to the ground, the ground reclaimed by lava, the planet dashed into the sun—but here, where they focus their attention, the spans hang rain-kissed and shimmering.

The Dark is delighted to find that this house is full of wires, the new, clever wires that talk inside the walls—that talk across the world, distance less and less a barrier, edging closer to the way the Dark and Light talk to each other, close enough and strange enough to be oh so interesting—and dives for the nearest outlet.

A clear ringing reverberates from the windows, -wait-

Image of sparks, image of fire. The concept that this is bad. Bad means no. No means don’t do it.

The outlet hums back, -Why?-

-humans-

-The humans are gone.- Hesitation, a question.

-yes/no-

-Define instance of gone.-

The Light pulls down like an overhead projector screen the concept of linear progression, applies it to the house, narrows its scope to encompass the humans’ projected ownership of the house—do we know ownership? yes/no, disregard that part—, sets tags at either end to mark the boundaries of when the Dark is absolutely not allowed to cause damage to the house. A vague allusion to the concept of vacation, which is relevant, but so specific as to be painful, so they both drop it.

Something very like a sigh. -Yes.-

The matter settled, they race through the house like dolphins at play, the Light and the Dark.

They rejoin inside a lamp, at the twine of glass and wire. Abruptly, the Light leaps comet-sprightly to the center of the room. Calls for a game they last played where/when there were no wires or windows, where/when there were no houses. This game is a few strange rocks in the sea, raising their sun-bleached heads above the water, seldom visited.

The Dark hangs back. Unease. Concept of like and dislike, concept of novelty, dislike applied to novelty. This is one of the few differences that make them two, not one. The game will separate them further still, the fragments of themselves that are here/now cut off even more, if only for a time, but time will matter; that’s the point.

The Light sends out a call to the dirt below the house, and offers, -but fun-

Materials gather; in moments, the Light means to seal itself away, whether the Dark chooses to join in or not. Unease. U N E A S E. The Dark relents.

Two human bodies build themselves on the living room floor, amid dust mites and animal hairs on the glossy wood. Scanning up and down the house’s timeline for clues, they build themselves in the owners’ images. It takes several tries to iron out a workable nervous system, lungs that feed both heart and throat, and something like blood that flows. They don’t need to get so fancy, but the game is more fun when it’s realistic. Agonies crackle, spark-white behind eyelids wet as newborn butterflies, and then it’s done.

To pull a mask over one tiny spark of oneself and leave only tiny holes through which to gather sense, to leave the rest outside, pulsing, calling in muffled tones, waves breaking on rocks—it’s incomprehensible. Maybe their hearts first beat in response to how terrifying it is. But the first thing their bodies do, on opening their eyes, is laugh. The wild glint of teeth in open mouths is so shocking that the laughter redoubles on itself. Limbs flail; they both forgot proprioception. They edit accordingly, and engage in a messy fight with gravity to stand.

The bodies lurch around the darkened living room. They sit on every piece of furniture, laugh, open and close every drawer and cabinet, take turns trying on a pair of fleece slippers by the overstuffed chair, laugh some more. One stumbles, begins to fall; the other automatically reaches out and steadies. Marvels that the drive to help is built into the neural wiring. The one who nearly fell is mildly disappointed; was curious to feel gravity’s action on the glass-topped coffee table. They are both distracted by hands on skin.

The Light is fascinated, just as every time before, running hands slowly up and down long arms. These forms built of matter, the same as the house and everything in it, nothing but molecules that vibrate and collide but never collapse into one. Nerves that insist someone is there, someone is touching me, but they’re only ever right in the way that bodies can be right.

The Light is sad. The Dark knows what the Light would say, if they could hear each other now: -they never touch-

But the Dark likes it, the screaming contradictory signals. Pulls the Light closer so they lean together, twining wires that bounce their voices into orbit and back down to other wires waiting across the globe, but can’t speak to the ones running parallel beside them. So strange, so interesting. Sways the two of them, gently; sways again. The Light looks up, smiles like sunshine—expression of delight built-in. This game! Yes!

Spare photons tumble down to roll across the walls in diamonds and whirls. Static charge gathers in the basement to come rumbling up through the floor in rhythmic spikes. The bodies clasp hands, and begin to dance. A strange scent rolls out from the house, too-sweet stargazer lilies thrown on hot coals, scorched metal or blood and a breath of the sea; five deer grazing on the lawn bolt for the woods; a neighbor half a mile away across a field sees lights flashing in the empty house, and reaches for the phone.

The vastnesses of themselves they left outside know all of this, but the two sparks inside the bodies sway and spin, smile and know nothing else. The bodies gain grace with every step, balance improved a great deal when the Light and Dark pause to craft delicate aquifers deep inside the ear canals they forgot to connect to the outside, wincing through the crackle of drums and hammers forming, leaning on each other, laughing. Their blood is warm, the room is spinning.

The slick hissing of wheels on wet gravel never reaches them, but the slam of car doors does.

More swiftly than brain matter can react, the swirling lights are gone, the pounding music quenched, and the Light and Dark flat on the floor.

Knocking. More insistent knocking. Harsh rattling at the doorknob. “Hello?” Footsteps outside the windows and an arcing flashlight beam. “Police! We know you’re there.”

The Dark and Light look at each other; the whites of their eyes glint in the beams being swung through every window. To disperse these forms, or not? It’s a knife’s-edge of a question, such a precarious thing that more of their greater selves bleed through unbidden, but they silently agree not to. Besides, there’s still something the Dark wants to do; information running through hands, concept of limited time, fondness, sparkling eyes. Meanwhile, the voices outside are already descending to an uncertain murmur amongst themselves: Had the lights been inside the house, or behind it? Had they really heard music in the fast, unpolished rumble? Had they seen or heard anything at all?

The Light grips the Dark’s hand tighter for a moment, grins, and takes a breath.

“Well, there’s no footprints. No signs of a break-in—look at that!”

Murmuring and scuffing noises on the driveway.

“That was ball lightning. Swear to god, ball lightning. That’s rare.”

“Shit!”

A few seconds of silence drip by, measured in the raindrops still sliding from the shingles.

“Well, I guess that answers that. We came all the way out here for a little thunder and lightning.”

“But there’s no storms in the area I’ve heard of. No one else got any, just rain.”

Someone rattles the doorknob one last time. “Look, there’s nothing here. House is secure. Let’s go on back to the car...”

The deliberation moves down the driveway. It is decided that someone will drive by the house later on, maybe stay and keep watch if there’s nothing else to do. Car doors again. Tires hissing on wet gravel. The night closes around the house once more.

The bodies sit up very slowly.

-Stay here?- asks the Dark, taking advantage of the lowered barriers between them to speak directly.

-yes/no- Despite having answered in the same way, the Light frowns at the Dark. -spoiling the game. turn it off-

-Want use speech? Ears? Really?-

The Light tries several times, mouth working, before a passable, if squeaky, “y Es” plops out.

Heavy sighs come naturally to the Dark. -Miss you,- the Dark complains.

“On e  niG ht,” the Light says, beginning to smile.

-Yes.  Miss you.-

The Light reaches out and twines both arms around the Dark; hands find and cradle a skull, strum soft hair; the Light quivers when the Dark does the same in return. “Wh a t?” the Light asks, referring to the thing the Dark wanted to do. The Light has a pretty good idea, because the Light has been waiting for a chance to try it, too.

It’s a smile and a breath, this thing that some humans have begun to do, not as recently as wires inside houses, but not so far back that eternity has taken much notice. It’s a tilt of heads, like flowers following the sun, and the sun is the other’s face. They lean their foreheads together, pulses still hot from the dance; it’s a slow, delicate roll, and mouth finds mouth. Strange, so strange. Shivery touch. They have to learn teeth, learn pressure—not too much of either one—until nerves sing pleasure. Lips are so good at the illusion, so, so good at pretending that they touch for real, much better than hands, better than other kinds of touch they’ve tried before; and still the knowledge is there, made painfully sharp, even, that there are empty fields of static between everything capable of touching and feeling, but this touch, this touch is the one that promises that if it can only last long enough, if they can only press close enough and love hard enough, the two of them can become one.

The bodies are weak when they finally lean back, such a curious thing, so much more tremblingly vulnerable to time rolling heavily over them – they could do this forever, but they don’t have it. The humans will return; the dawn will break. Already a greasy golden line on the horizon sets an ache growing in the hollows of their eyes.

They climb the stairs slowly, to where there is a bed – they are familiar, at least, with the use of a bed, for sleeping is a most exciting game – pausing to kiss on the stairs. Again. And again. There will be more kissing the next time they play, it is decided. And at the top of the stairs, to sleep—only sleep? Speech bleeding away in anticipation of sleep, image of rolling raindrops, of rain-drenched irises in the garden nodding heavy purple heads that smell like licorice, golden light in the first window of the attic, a question?

The question is weighed, and the question is dropped, heavy as bodies into the welcoming billow of comforters. They ready their senses for the plunge into sleep, arms wrapped around bodies, touching-not-touching, closing the eyes and the ears and all the rest, one by one, alone, more alone. Once they have finished sleeping and concluded the game, the bodies will dissipate and leave nothing for the homeowners to find but silver dust in the sheets and a ghost of metal in the back of the throat.

But now, now they come to the reason that sleep is so exciting. They have found nothing else like dreaming—and perhaps they do not get it quite right, as those who dream regularly might tell them. Or perhaps they, being what they are, are able to know something that mortal dreamers only sometimes feel to be true—that dreaming is a place inhabited by all, beyond molecules, beyond plurality. As they retreat further into deadening flesh like nesting dolls, they dive toward it like desperate fish leaping from a ship’s deck—the water sparkling below them, and once they reach it, nothing will keep them apart, no barriers of flesh or time or difference. They never dream alone.

That would truly be asking the impossible.