#a snippet of why Three is one of my faves

[midnight1nk]

So, this week's episode...

[spoilers below cut]

I KNEW IT!!! I knew that one of the two episodes left of the year had to be a holiday one aha!! *LE GASP* does that mean the last one will be sonic 3?

*nods* respect 👏

A Christmas special with TARI, oooh! and noticeably a shorter one too, huh. alright, let's-a GOOOOOOOO

(the following is my live reaction:)

aww, look at Tari being adorable (see that's how you get me, have my favorite characters do cute little hops and my life is yours)

bringing back the side characters LET'S GOOOO

CLENCH omg you're back I hope you can stay for the whole episode

ooooh tari's christmas list just dropped. hmmm let's see...

Saiko = KFC Theme Guitar (honestly slay) Mario = Spaghetti Necklace (whether he's going to wear or eat it, he'll enjoy it regardless) Kaizo = Scythe Polish Luigi = Gardening Kit SMG4 = Body Oder Spray (my man can't catch a break, "he stinks" canon) Belle = Nintendo Switch Case SMG3 = Dog Grooming Kit (for Eggdog awwww) Melony = How to draw Manga book (nice callback to "SMG4 and SMG3 Shop For Cursed Items" episode for Christmas shopping) Whimpu = Glasses Repair Kit Boopkins = Body Pillow Cleaning Kit (...) Bob = Karaoke Machine (that's actually sweet considering he is a rapper and the obvious choice would be a gun or smth, tari's a good friend) Rob = Corn Keychain

the cliche superhero transition *wheeze*

can I just say I love the fit Mario has on

1920's spaghetti?

i did not expect to see Sonic 06 (foreshadowing, eh?) and as a sonic fan, i gotta respect the hustle

now, i know it's supposed to be disgusting and you obviously have to put gross things here to convey that but... there's that eye imagery again.... *flashbacks ensue*

oooh Christmas party! I wanna see that!

aww tari did get clench a glove, maybe she didn't want to spoil the surprise too soon

also let's take a moment for that board in the bg:

"Random Text Here Shameless Advertising Happy Birthday smg4!" then something signed by a "Fan"

gotta love the small details

gonna be using this as a reaction pic for now on

Mario, don't you guys have a basement? pretty sure no one will grab the bag in there

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA OMG OMG THERE'S NO WAY THIS IS REAL THEY ACTUALLY USED CANTRO'S OUTFIT DESIGN FOR THIS EPISODE THAT'S AWESOME DUDE (am aware that the Team used the model before in a previous ep but it was only shown for a few seconds, this is BIG)

new merch, eh?

...i'll take your entire stock

Oh Tari, it's okay to say no. Four did ask if you had time

beautiful commercial....wha? Bob, da hell are you doing? oh the usual

charity? understandable, have a good day

PFFT HAHAHAHA that grenade bit somehow got me

oh Four somehow teleported outside, chair and all

*wheeze* the way they just latch on the back of the cop car like that

BOOPKINS? ...yeah I should've seen that coming. and he's on a toddler seat too

question for the people: is UNO a board game? if not, then boopkins, you got it wrong buddy

RIGHT NOW?! boopkins she's got her hands full

GEEZ even I'm getting stressed

gonna be real here: it was actually a good choice to have the plot at a faster pace just so we could feel Tari's stress rapidly building up

oh hey Meggy's matching with Mario (love that for the M&M siblings) but Saiko, girl, please get yourself a coat :( you're gonna freeze

OH GOD Tari, i need you to breathe please! all of this is stressing you out, it's okay to say no

...oh no

i can't look dude, i know Tari's technically fulfilling everyone's wishes but this isn't the way to go :(

C'MON TARI, HOPE YOU CAN MAKE IT IN TIME PLEASE

NO NO NO *flips table* oh poor Tari

OH NO CAN I GIVE HER A HUG PLEASE? *shakes my laptop screen* LET ME INNNNNNN

WTF NO SHE DOESN'T DESERVE THIS

TARI DON'T LISTEN TO THOSE VOICES IN YOUR MIND, YOU ARE A GOOD FRIEND

...three? let me turn the brightness up

yeah that's Four's model but for some reason has Three's voice and line.... huh... (I'll come back to this later)

dude, i literally had to pause and leave the room

fuck you got me tearing up. Team, is that what you wanted from me?

no tari, it wasn't your fault :( you didn't ruin anything

YES TELL HER, SAIKO

STAWP I'M THIS 🤏 CLOSE TO FULL-ON SOBBING WTF

FAMILY IS FOUND 👏👏👏

...wha? Three?

wait, this whole episode was you were retelling what happened to Tari, to Eggdog?

...that actually puts things in a whole new context (I'll talk about it later)

*gets hit by the book*

AY Congrats to Mango for your art being featured in the end credits! 🎉 what an awesome Christmas gift from the Team honestly

.・-: ✧ :--: ✧ :-・.

This was a fantastic Christmas special! This really punched me in the gut (but in a good way). Everything, as always, was amazing. Excellent job, Team!!! Too bad Clench couldn't be in the whole episode.

Oh Tari, my girl :( I felt the emotional rollercoaster along with her and I just wanted to give her a giant hug.

Me 🤝 Tari → people pleasers with a dose of abandonment issues

Tari, I've been there and I promise your friends aren't gonna leave you. What you can offer, what you're able to, that is worth something. It doesn't need to be material, just being a part of their lives is enough. No matter how big, because to them, it could mean a lot more than what you think.

It's what I've been struggling too, that the people who have approached me only wanted what I could offer, but not as a person. And it takes time to heal and open up again to people who are worth opening up to, but you'll get there.

So, to remind you (yes, the one behind the screen): you are enough. We are enough. What you do, means a lot more to other people than what you think. You'd be surprised how much a second of your presence means to people, and they value that. It's why it's okay to say no when you aren't able to, they'll understand if they truly do care for you. I promise, time will come around for you to find the good ones.

That's why I love this show. It isn't just a "silly meme show", it's so much more than that. Yes, it does have its funny moments but it can be emotional, dramatic, exciting. And even relatable. That's the point of stories. Like I said countless times before:

Every story, no matter how outlandish it seems, is grounded in reality.

That's why I'm glad this was one of the last episodes of the year, to bring it all back that it's a story that we all can relate to in some way. That we aren't alone. Grab each other by the hand and take one day at a time.

Oh boy, sorry for that emotional stuff. Just wanted to bring some comfort 💙 With that, I'm gonna bring back what was the most interesting of this episode: SMG3

It wasn't until the very end that we realized this whole episode was Three retelling Tari's story not only to Eggdog but also to Terrance.

(If I remember the layout correctly, right in the same nook above the fireplace is where Terrance's photo is placed)

So, yes, he is reading a bedtime story to both of his sons. (just gonna cry in the corner for a second) He's such a dad 🥺

Anyway, i shall put my theorist goggles on:

Back in the part when Tari was too late to buy the Crew presents and the voices in her head were bashing her for failing, we have SMG3 for some reason come in:

To be clear, that's Four's model (notice the lack of chip of the cap) but Three is the one saying: "And I thought I was evil..." Other than being the narrator, Three wasn't in the story, so the question is why?

The obvious would be that the Team simply made a mistake and forgot that they placed this in. Ok, sure, that's if it was on accident. But what if they did it on purpose?

As Three stated in the episode "Trash Friends", he truly believes he's "the worst version of SMG4"

Think about it: the basic roles for them are Four as the hero and Three as a villain.

If Three was ever in an episode all of a sudden is because he is the negative force of the story. Recall back to the episode "Meme Hunters" when Three was forced to be "the conflict" of the episode.

Now, it may seem harmless but to him, he was afraid to be perceived as nothing more than "SMG4's cheap and worst copy"

And also in "You Used to Be Cool", people have noticed when he does lay back a bit from the usual villain/rival role and bash him saying, "This isn't you."

Hero or villain, you're seen differently by everybody

Then there was the whole "moral of the story" part:

Ofc, it's a whole thing that Three refuses time after time that he's not friends with the Crew

Now with the context that we have, we just got a peek into Three's fears/insecurities. Basically: if he opens up and accepts that he has friends, they might try and take advantage of him. So, what should he do? Close himself off, be an asshole, and deny, deny, deny.

Despite risking literally everything, INCLUDING HIS OWN LIFE, for them, he's doing this to protect himself from emotional harm when he's the most vulnerable.

There's indeed a trope that villains, especially redeemed ones, would have a sense of empathy of some kind. They know what's like to hit rock bottom, it's why they can empathize with the people who least deserve it, like Tari. (Even with Four back in IGBP.) So yes, as much as this is a story about Tari, it also relates to Three.

How can you have what you want when you're the one holding yourself back?

Three: "I also need love, understanding, and tenderness." [IGBP movie, Spanish dub] Three: " I just want the USB in that spaghetti in your stomach so I can use it to gain fame and love that SMG4 has too much of, okay?!" Mario: "...Is that it? Silly SMG3, you could of just told Mario instead of suppressing your inner emotions and your fear of being forever forgotten." [Trash Friends]

I mean, look at the last episode, he was so happy to know he got fanart.

The pressure he has, the role he has to play, what he's perceived as. It all affects him. Sure, he doesn't care that he's not perceived as the standard definition of a villain but he is really as human as he can be, with fears and desires.

Another way to see the "failure" part of the episode is that Three could never see Four in a negative light. Sure, Four has made terrible mistakes but past the YouTube Arc, Three has never seen Four as a villain (again, the role of the hero thing). Four is flawed just as he is, but since he's the one telling Tari's story, he replaces Four with himself in the narrative.

It's not confirmed it's because he cares about Four in this instant but it's obvious he has done it on purpose. All because that's the role he plays, one he absolutely fears, "an evil and worst copy of Four".

(For all we know, he might've altered some other things in the story we haven't even known about.)

AND the fact that he's telling it like a bedtime story to his son(s) as a warning, so they don't go through what he went through when he was younger (his whole parenting of reminding them that they're loved and appreciated for even the smallest things)

So, long story short: me 🤝 Tari 🤝 SMG3 → underlining abandonment issues

I've been noticing that a lot of points from past episodes are starting to resurface again (like IGBP) and I do hope we get to bring back what's going on with Three. Then, we might get Three having the same conclusion that Tari went through: as much as he wants to deny it to protect himself, he'll realize that it's okay to be vulnerable and have friends.

And he'd be surprised how much of what he did was valuable to them. That what he seeks is already right in front of him. After all, he's already part of the Crew :)

He would just have to let himself avert his view and see the truth.

[fastandcarlos]

Mr Steal Your Girl » Lando Norris ft. Charles LeClerc

summary: the little sister of the leclerc’s catches plenty of attention, but what happens when she particularly catches the attention of a man in papaya

˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊

liked by charles_leclerc, carlossainz55 and 349,281 comments

ynleclerc: another week of travelling round the world pretending to be the most popular member of the leclerc family ❤️

42,291 comments

username1: you’ll always be the best leclerc sibling imo 🥰

username2: oh to be able to travel around with those three handsome faces

carlossainz55: lovely to see you y/n, same time next week?

ynleclerc: @/carlossainz55 you know charles won’t let me miss a race 😂

username3: you’re the most popular leclerc to me!!

arthur_leclerc: are we just going to pretend I wasn’t racing too? 😭

ynleclerc: @/arthur_leclerc what’s to say this is my only post about this weekend 🤔

username4: you must be such a proud sister y/n!

landonorris: you’ll be my favourite if you convince charles to let me win 😉

username5: lando wtf

username6: is lando tryna impress a leclerc 🤯

charles_leclerc: you always manage to find the most flattering photos of me 😂❤️

alexandrasaintmleux: don’t tell charles but you’re secretly my number one 🤐

ynleclerc/ @/alexandrasaintmleux secret is safe with me 🥰🥺

˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊

liked by landonorris, arthur_leclerc and 428,903 others

ynleclerc: a few snippets of yet another week with my fave trio ☺️

42,328 comments

username7: I just want to be part of the family too 😭

oscarpiastri: you seem to have forgotten your favourite brother…

ynleclerc: @/oscarpiastri dedicated post to my fave brother coming up 😂

username8: it’s not fair for one family to have so many good genes

landonorris: you guys are a bit cute 🌸

ynleclerc: @/landonorris we try our best 😇

username9: charles does not look like he wants to be part of these photos at all 😂😂

arthur_leclerc: number one spot belongs to me 🤔

ynleclerc: @/arthur_leclerc whatever helps you sleep at night bro

username10: are we all just going to ignore lando in the comments again

username11: protective brother mode incoming…

pierregasly: stop feeding all your brothers’ fans with these kinda photos y/n!!

˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊

liked by oscarpiastri, danielricciardo and 1,392,340 others

landonorris: thank you montreal for a lovely week, a wholesome week doing my favourite things 🌸🏎️

88,321 comments

username12: isn’t that the same emoji he posted on y/n’s post yesterday

username13: move the glass lando!!

alex_albon: something you want to tell me norris 🤔

georgerussell63: well the last photo is a bit of a surprise huh

username14: soft boyfriend lando is back ladies and gentleman

username15: petition for a face reveal asap

ynleclerc: that’s a big smile you’ve got there ☺️

landonorris: @/ynleclerc I just seem to be around someone who makes me pretty happy right now

username16: @/charles_leclerc @/arthur_leclerc come get your sister pls

username17: don’t say it…don’t say it…I think lando and y/n are dating

charles_leclerc: why are so many people sending me this post, what’s going on here sir?

˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊

liked by ybffusername, arthur_leclerc and 428,003 others

ynleclerc: the best week with you! 💕🥺

63,291 comments

username18: more pretty pink flowers omg

arthur_leclerc: idk where in the world you are but I expect you back at my house asap

ynleclerc: @/arthur_leclerc im not a child anymore fyi 🙃

username19: no one can convince me that this isn’t lando

username20: all the signs point to a certain tanned brit 🤯🤯🤯

charles_leclerc: is this how you tell your brother that you’re with a boy, I refuse to accept this until you let me tell whoever they are exactly what I expect of them

username21: @/charles_leclerc luckily for you you’ll be seeing lando on thursday

oscarpiastri: I second what charles said, as your brother I expected better than this 😡

ynleclerc: @/oscarpiastri don’t you start as well

username22: if this is true…they might just be the cutest couple in the world

landonorris: 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺

˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊

liked by oscarpiastri, landonorris and 539,403 others

ynusername: I can be a mclaren girl for a week…right? 🏎️🧡

43,829 others

landonorris: you can be a mclaren girl every week as far as I’m concerned 🥰🤩

ynleclerc: @/landonorris my brothers aren’t happy that you’ve stolen me just so you know

landonorris: @/ynleclerc just call me mr steal your girl 🥰

username23: patiently waiting for charles to appear

username24: don’t tell your brothers, but papaya suits you more y/n 🧡

oscarpiastri: nice of you to come to the better team and support the better brother 😂

username25: y/n avoiding the ferrari garage for the foreseeable

charles_leclerc: um no…you’re a leclerc therefore you cheer for ferrari

ynleclerc: @/charles_leclerc I can support two teams, right?

charles_leclerc: @/ynleclerc no you cannot, why do you even want to support mclaren anyway?

ynleclerc: @/charles_leclerc I think you might no why 😝

username26: charles’ heart secretly breaking as his sister slips away

username27: preparing for lando to tease charles for the rest of his life

danielricciardo: you’re a brave girl…very brave

arthur_leclerc: we’ll be having words little sister

˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊

liked by ynusername, carlossainz55 and 1,392,507 others

landonorris: live footage of charles leclerc officially welcoming me to the family 😂🏆

104,228 comments

arthur_leclerc: congrats on the podium finish lando…charles might welcome you, but I’m the tougher brother 😂

landonorris: @/arthur_leclerc I already know that you adore me 🥺

username28: you just know charles is giving lando the sternest warning of his life

username29: are we potentially seeing a new bromance??

ynleclerc: charles told me what he said to you…I’m so sorry 😂

landonorris: @/charles_leclerc don’t worry love, I’ll take the rant if it means being with you 🧡

username30: charles tryna act all protective when deep down he’s the soppiest brother ever

username31: can’t wait to see endless interactions between lando and the leclercs

username32: @/username31 don’t forget brother piastri too

charles_leclerc: you’ve not got the seal of approval just yet norris…👀

˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊

liked by georgerussell63, alex_albon and 493,017 others

ynusername: my brothers keep asking me what I see in lando…I’m hoping this post will shut them up ☺️

58,201 comments

charles_leclerc: nothing will ever make this make sense to me 🙄

alexandrasaintmleux: @/charles_leclerc that’s not true, @/ynleclerc you should’ve heard him gushing about lando last night

charles_leclerc: @/alexandrasaintmleux I thought you loved me…that was between us 😡

ynleclerc: @/alexandrasaintmleux I knew I could rely on you for the truth 💕

username33: please just keep posting more and more boyfriend lando y/n

username34: thank you for feeding us fans what we want

alex_albon: well this is a little bit cute 🤩🩷

landonorris: thank you for finding all my best angles 🥰🧡

username35: how can anyone resist that smile??

arthur_leclerc: stop guilting us into public acceptance 😂

ynleclerc: @/arthur_leclerc idk what you’re talking about 😂

username36: the leclercs are officially my favourite family ever

oscarpiastri: if it counts for anything - I approve ☺️

ynleclerc: @/oscarpiastri fave brother 🏆✅

˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊

liked by charles_leclerc, landonorris and 732,049 others

ynusername: a girl can have more than one favourite can’t she ❤️🧡

84,030 comments

username37: imagine having four people in your life who adore you as much as these guys adore y/n

username38: it’s the all white coordination for me

carla.brocker: I thought that I was your fave 💔

ynleclerc: @/carla.brocker you are…it’s top secret

username39: I don’t think my heart can take anymore

arthur_leclerc: I guess we all just love you so much 😂

username40: the photo with charles omg

charles_leclerc: what can I say? I adore you little sis ❤️🥰

username41: the love between y/n and charles and lando is the sweetest

landonorris: I’ll happily be one of your favourites if it means getting to spend the rest of my life with you 🌸🧡

arthur_leclerc: @/landonorris 🤮🤮

ynleclerc: @/landonorris I can’t wait for forever with you!!

˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊

liked by ynusername, danielricciardo and 1,492,503 others

landonorris: officially stole your girl…

104,852 comments

charles_leclerc: I will never let you truly steal my little sister 😡

username42: you just can’t help yourself lando 😂

username43: waiting for the day a leclerc knocks lando out lmao

arthur_leclerc: sharing is caring lando norris!

ynleclerc: @/arthur_leclerc im a human not a pizza fyi 🙄

oscarpiastri: you really weren’t lying…mr steal your girl 👏🏻

username44: secretly charles is seething seeing this

alex_albon: that first photo looks like you’ve just been caught out by charles 😂

username45: still my favourite leclerc in the world 🌍

danielricciardo: congrats on cracking the leclercs!!

ynleclerc: you’re lucky I (and my brothers) love you so much 🧡 thank you for the best holiday 🌸

˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊

 ˗ˏˋ 𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓 ! ´ˎ˗

[brynnmclean]

in the core of everything drums a beat - snippets round up post

Actually, not a bad idea to have some kind of post with all the Hellblade fic fragments I've posted so far. In vague order of how they should fit together chronologically in the fic (ETA 21 May 2025, adjusted to accommodate the latest chapter count):

Chapter one -- now posted on AO3

Rough draft of chapter one where Thórgestr is having a lot of fever dreams (there was an earlier post with a small section that I think is still my favorite in the chapter)

Also from chapter one, but I think @eisoj5 asking me for "and" as a word in that WIP meme remains hilarious, so here's that post

Chapter two -- now posted on AO3

Part of chapter two and the introduction of my Irish healer OC Iseult

"She owes me nothing. I owe her everything."

Thórgestr awake and making a very bad joke about getting stabbed, my beloved

First Senua Giantsbane name drop!

"Is my father dead?" "He's alive. He's an exile."

I'm really fond of Fargrímr and I do think he cares about Thórgestr, so this is a nice little moment for that

Chapter three (once upon a time I said I could finish this in 3 chapters, lol) -- now posted on AO3

Intro to the chapter where half-asleep Thórgestr eavesdrops on a conversation between Senua and Fargrímr

There is so much in the game about Thórgestr's dad so why not feature a dream of his mother, here's her introduction

I gave her some very specific spirit vibes :)

You know, lot of emphasis on being your father's child, but Thórgestr is also his mother's son and I think that's important. Also I know surnames are patronymic, but there was that whole thing in the game about the importance of names, chosen names included, and so I really dig the idea of Thórgestr privately thinking of himself as Eindridson. (Also I like prophecies and love the idea of Eindrid as ghostly fate-spirit predicting how Áleifr will die... Honestly, chapter three is a fave!)

Thórgestr probably forgot what his mother's face looked like, so of course he's afraid to look away from her when she appears in his dreams

You ever write a bunch of fun images and then have a friend brainstorm plot developments with you later when you're at a loss on what kind of object you might need characters to go find, so of course your friend is like, "hey, you already wrote what you need." Just me? (thanks @allatariel <3)

Chapter four

The beginning of the chapter

Part of a midnight conversation between Senua and Thórgestr, early in the chapter

A moment I think is cute at the end of that scene

Chapter five

The beginning of an important conversation between Ástríðr and Thórgestr.

"Your father is gone. So is mine. But I’ll have what I’m owed. Tell me, Thórgestr," Ástríðr says, "what is your regret worth? What of your word?"

Chapter six

please I want the beginning of this next scene to be down, I've been struggling

“I am worried that I will be of no use to you. So I am angry with myself. I have many things to answer for.”

working on another conversation between Senua and Thórgestr, but also this is a post where I ramble about some things I want to accomplish in this fic!

Senua first talks about Dillion

Senua finally gets a hug LIKE SHE DESERVES

It sounds simple, but Thórgestr and Senua talk a little bit about being friends and that is important to me

Chapter seven

Another spooky dream :) this one heavily referencing the beginning of the game in Reykjanestá

Thórgestr waking up from the above dream

Chapter eight

Chapter opener -- Thórgestr is finally getting out of the sickroom!

More than just Iseult survived being a giant sacrifice :) here is the intro to a couple more :)

Small paragraph referencing the voices Senua hears

“I know your fear. But we both want peace—so much that we have bled for it, him most of all. He is my friend.”

my bi!Thórgestr agenda makes its first appearance :)

Chapter nine

originally there was going to be two dreams in this chapter, but this one is getting cut: a battlefield nightmare -- now separately on AO3

Druth Dream Sighting :D

More of that dream

His heart is tangled up in the threads of her story, pulled from his chest and into her grasp like a fish from the sea.

Dillion reference -- I miss him :(

“It’s not you I doubt, but myself. I wish I were whole again for you. I don’t like feeling like the weak arm in a shield-wall.”

Chapter ten

something something Tolkien fandom hair obsession got me thinking about Thórgestr needing a haircut

he's trying to be so chill and it is absolutely not working, lol

Thórgestr starts talking about Druth :)

And the dark rot!

I miss Dillion, okay? Senua has gotta talk about Dillion. And then she asks Thórgestr if he's ever been in love before. (He has!)

Chapter eleven

"Senua Giantsbane, Senua Truthseeker"

A funny part of a conversation with a Bjarg skáld OC who pitches a marriage of convenience between Senua and Thórgestr to his utter bewilderment

Technically this comes earlier in the chapter, but here is another fun moment from my girl Solveig, can anyone tell that I love bards

Hey, remember that one guard that Thórgestr has some friendly antagonism with during the Borgarvirki section of the game? First mention of him over here. He'll be back. :)

Solveig's eloquent yet dismissive hand gesture about Ástríðr makes me laugh okay?

“You want power.” “No, I want influence.”

Many things are out of his hands. But he’ll move forward. He must.

Chapter twelve

I struggled with the intro to this chapter for awhile, but here is a little from the conclusion to Thórgestr and Solveig's meeting

working on a gap-filler / interlude from Ástríðr's POV

That feeling when you have to break up tasks into very small pieces in order to even start getting yourself up out of bed--

Viking Age Area Man has no idea how to say "same hat" to Irish friend

"Is my presence on the negotiating table then, Northman?"

Stuff from later in the series

One of my favorite parts I've written for the whole damn thing even now -- Thórgestr doing sword drills alone on a beach near Bárðarvik

Thórgestr and Fargrímr conversation snippets one and two that are actually part of a larger scene

Multi / Misc:

Sections from multiple chapters: intro descriptions of OCs!

There was a WIP Excerpts meme going around late Dec 2024, so here is the tag for my responses to asks about that

WIP Word Train posts: SWEAR and then WHALE / BEAST

Two kiss prompt fills: a kiss where it hurts and a kiss in a rush of adrenaline

Other posts:

My fanmix / fic playlist post

Others Narration transcription posts (6 total)

My video games screenshots tag

The overall tag for this fic is hertan writing tag

... also for my own reference, first mention of the fic, dated 04 June 2024 (sighs so heavily about how slow of a writer I am)

LAST UPDATE ON THIS POST: 24 June 2025

Feel free to author subscribe on AO3 if you want to catch the fic drop whenever that happens in the future

Chapter One Tumblr Post | Chapter Two Tumblr Post | Chapter Three Tumblr Post

[sflow-er]

For YR Faves Fest organised by @youngroyals-events Prompts: 2. favourite teen side character (Henry), 7. favourite (not-quite) friendship, 9. favourite season (S1)

To accompany my Henry & Simon analysis post, I thought it could be fun to post a selection of scenes from my S1 longfic Other people's secrets as Sunday snippets!

These three scenes consist of 1) Henry observing Wilmon on the night of the Society party, 2) him trying to small talk with them the next day, and 3) him apologising to Simon after rowing practice some days later. They should be easy to follow and enjoy even if you haven't read the entire fic.

The first scene is under the cut, and I will reblog this twice (later today) to add the others!

1: The night of the Society party

When a cold breeze touched Henry’s ankle, he realised he had failed to close the window after climbing in. As if on cue, there was a noise from outside – it sounded like someone falling down, followed by muffled voices arguing.

“Fuck, not again. Get up, Wille!”

“Sorry, sorry! Just need to catch my breath.”

“On your feet now, come on!”

“It’s nice here, sit with me for a bit.” Sounds of a scuffle again. “I want to sit with you, come on!”

“No, you’re going to get up and point me in the right direction. Unless you want me to just leave you here.”

“No, don’t leave me! Everything’s spinning and I just, uh. I need a minute to – ungh…”

As more struggling followed, Henry gradually unfroze to look over at his roommate, who seemed to be fast asleep still. He wondered if he should wake Walter up for this but decided not to waste time. This sounded like a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it type of situation. He curiously approached the window and peered out through the corner pane, hiding behind the curtain to avoid being seen from the outside.

It was dark, but Henry could make out two figures on the lawn. One was pulling the other to his feet, but the one reluctantly getting up – Wilhelm, obviously it had to be Wilhelm – threw his arms tightly around whoever was helping him and slumped against them.

“Damn it, Wille, get a hold of yourself! We’re almost there.”

“Don’t be mad,” Wilhelm slurred, still hanging on for dear life, even though the object of the hug tried to pry him off. He sounded desolate saying, “Don’t leave me, Simon, please don’t leave me.”

Henry’s eyes widened as he mouthed the name: Simon? His thoughts were a whirlwind in his still slightly inebriated brain. Why was Simon bringing Wilhelm home from a party he had not even attended, and more importantly, were they really this close?

This was best-friend territory. Not something any two classmates would do for each other. Henry for one couldn’t imagine other than Walter dragging him home like that. Simon didn’t even live here, so he was really going out of his way to do this.

Henry squinted his eyes to see better as Simon let out a stifled grunt and heaved his clingy friend off. It was too dark to see their faces, but luckily there was enough moonlight to catch their silhouette.

“Of course not, I just said that to get you moving again.” Simon held Wilhelm by the elbow as the prince almost lost his balance from the push. His other hand was gesturing towards the windows. “Now, focus: which one is your room? How do we get in?”

“That one over there. I left it open. I’m clever like that.”

“Just not clever enough to say no to whatever junk they put in front of you,” Simon muttered, lifting Wilhelm’s arm on his shoulders and starting in the indicated direction.

Wilhelm groaned and signalled his reluctance to move. He grabbed a handful of Simon’s jacket and whatever he was wearing under it, most likely a hoodie knowing how Simon dressed. Then, he actually nuzzled his face into the crook of Simon’s neck.

Simon, who was quite clearly at the end of his wit, tried to push him off again.

“I don’t need this from you, okay? I know you’re hurting, but this is not the way to fix that. I can’t be dragging your ass home high in the middle of the night, it’s not fair. Okay?”

“Please don’t be mad,” Wilhelm whined again. “I don’t want you to be mad at me.”

“We can talk about this when you’ve sobered up,” Simon said, obviously mad.

Henry was holding his breath, transfixed. This was a much more private conversation than he had expected. He tried to get a better look, but all he could see was Wilhelm’s frame slumped against Simon while the shorter boy insistently dragged him along.

“Will you stay until then? Please stay.”

“Well, somebody has to make sure you don’t choke to death in your sleep.”

Henry stifled a giggle at the similarity with the sentiment Walter had expressed earlier about him potentially dying in the woods. Yes, definitely best-friend territory, although he couldn’t really imagine himself being quite that physical, even with Walter. Hugging, sure, but the nuzzling was a bit much. But then, Wilhelm was obviously high out of his mind, so it was no wonder he was acting strangely.

“Thank you, Simon. Thanks for coming. I can’t believe you came.”

“Of course I came.”

“I don’t know what I’d do without you.” Wilhelm sounded sincere, his voice small and broken.

“You have a funny way of showing it,” Simon replied a bit more bitterly than Henry expected.

“I didn’t really want what I wanted.” It was getting harder to hear Wilhelm’s slurred words now as they were getting further away. Henry silently pushed the window slightly further ajar to catch the rest. He couldn’t risk looking out anymore for fear of being spotted, but at least he could hear better. “I’m sorry.”

“I know. Now, is this your window?” Wilhelm did not say anything in response, but he must have made a gesture to that effect, because the next thing Henry heard was the window creaking open. “Get in, and don’t make any noise unless you want your bodyguards to rush in.”

“Quiet as a mouse,” Wilhelm proclaimed at a volume that was anything but. He proceeded to knock something over on his way in, then cursed as that something clanked against the floor. His bodyguards must have heard, but they probably had enough tact to avoid catching the crown prince in the act.

Simon laughed quietly despite himself, and Henry could imagine him shaking his head in exasperation. Wilhelm muttered an ’oops’ and shushed himself, still extremely loud in the absence of any other noise.

When Simon spoke again, his voice sounded less angry. Instead, it was laced with affection. “Real smooth. Now get out of the way.”

Henry heard Simon climb in and close the window. It was quiet again, and he turned back towards his sleeping roommate in disbelief. He really should have woken Walter up for this, because he had no idea what to make of it on his own.

“Well, I guess that’s what happened to Wille,” he whispered to himself. Rubbing his wrist on his cheek, he realised he had blushed vigorously at the awkward excitement of watching and eavesdropping on something he so clearly wasn’t supposed to witness.

He shook his head to snap out of it, then he shut the window and curtains. He lay down to contemplate the discussion he had just witnessed, hands behind his pillow.

Obviously, Simon and Wilhelm had to be very close friends based on everything they had just said and the touchy-feely nature of it all. But if that was the case, why were they hiding?

[---]

He lay awake for about an hour, listening to Walter’s steady breathing from the other bed and feeling low as conflicting thoughts swirled around his slowly sharpening mind. Witnessing that interaction had made it abundantly clear how different Wilhelm was with a true friend than he was with Henry and the others – and if Simon had been able to get through Wilhelm’s seemingly impenetrable walls, there had to be something special about him.

The more Henry thought about how wrong his approach to them both had been, the larger and heavier the ball of guilt inside him grew, until he had to clear his throat in an effort to move it. Thankfully – or unfortunately, he wasn’t sure which – Walter didn’t seem to stir.

And so, he whispered quietly into the dark, “Maybe we should try to be nicer to Simon.”

[akabane-sousei]

hello again!! thank you so much for gathering the iketeru illustrations for me (and translating them too, which i greatly appreciated), cause your post really made my day :')

it's funny that the author's got a whole book of fanservice for us lmao, but i love it! do you have a #1 favorite illustration (of anyone) from the whole book? (sorry if this sent twice btw, crap was glitching lol)

lovely anon, I must tell you that I once again went absolutely over the line with pictures I took. There are so many good ones!! I knew a few illustrations from sensei's twitter and knew how well it worked for me so I ordered this book from japan and yes, that is why I can never pick favourites I just like all of them (exception is the series in which the characters are teachers and you are supposed to be their student, not a big fan of those lol). Once again I put them under cut together with my chitter chatter about them asdhjflas

anyway im glad i made your day!

yes its amazing that this fanservice exist. In the interview at the end of the book sensei says they often drew their characters as practise (without lines) and then uploaded them to twitter to find out the people responded so well!! so they continued with it! More snippets from the interview:

they consider this a kind of alternative world that has no space in the manga (since its a gag manga).

they claim they didnt try to make the characters hot on purpose, it just turned out this way. in their head usao and kumao always had old people voices. but now they are glad the characters are hot because of the voice actors choosen.

they come up with a line and then assign it to a character, rarely the other way around.

Every one of their characters has one thing they think is special, something they like to show off when they draw them. for Uramichi its the chest, for Iketeru the slender neck, for Usahara the shoulders and Kumatani the arms!

and shockingly to me: since this manga is running 10 years now they said when they started they felt like Uramichi is so old, but now they are the same age! I cant believe how someone in their twenties wrote such an accurate manga about being in ones thirties.

gosh anon i wish this was more popular, i only have one friend to talk to about this story and i have so much in my soul dhkasdflsd so please come back if you feel like it!

ok so some of my faves under cut from here

first of: my favourite has always been ushara. he is cringe fail and i love cringe fail so much. but that also means he has almost no COOL lines because he is kind of an idiot (lovingly said) tho all his illustrations are so cute. so he wont show up here much tho i love everything about his arts of course!!

now you asked me for my favourite and ive known this one for a while, but I think my unbeaten favourites of everyone are the love confessions:

I love the different way they all do it. Uramichi pretty much goes "I love....you" (cries), Iketeru of course quotes it, Usahara just YELLS at you "HEY I LOVE YOU" and kumatani is like ".............. iloveyou" haskdlfh

generally kumatani has so many cool lines because he is so stone cold. this is also specifically heart wrecking for me because his voice actor Nakamura Yuuchi is my favourite thing since strawberries so if I imagine him doing the voice I want to die.

Three times Kumatani is an absolute tsundere about white day:

"you are chattering so much... well, tell me what you want now. I'll get you anything."

"What do you want? Tell me clearly"

"I told you to get over here"

another white day illustration i love is this one from usahara

he says "the present is me, hippety hop", which i find ultra cute with the little bunny and the hairclip!! but my friend said it sounds like he forgot white day and just brought the first thing he could find, which would be in character (adding this picture was a nightmare tumblr did NOT want me to upload it?? you hate cute boys? tumblr you hate cute boys??)

uramichi's face when he realises you april fooled him is so funny to me somehow

" You say "Im sorry".. that is also a lie, is it not?"

ok from now on the pictures will be low quality because tumblr wont let me upload the photos direclty anymore i need to screenshot them first. rip im sorry

ok there are a few here of uramichi saying somehow sexy things (to me at least) and it makes me go hrgnlkhdflk

""Good big brother (onisan)" you said. Who do you mean?" idk why that gets me so hard but why you asking .. wha...what you mean

"... Isn't it ok? You don't have to go home yet." (this is from the stayin the night portion)

"A promise from big brother. I will protect you well" T_T

this thing which can only be described as ship art:

is this bickering idiots to lovers sensei? is that what you mean to tell me sensei?

this usahara from the staying the night section

"Come play with me today!" (............ h.......how...)

this image if kumatani because of THE LOOK? um HELLO

unfortuantely the translation is kinda tricky because i cant read most the kanji and google lense is like?? but its something like "Do you think you have the guts to betray me?" or something like "Do you think I have the guts to betray you?" idk he looks good so its fine

almost done i swear!! there are a few kuma usa double pages i love

Kuma: "Don't look. Its hot." (sidenote, he is shirtless a lot. not that I complain or whatever)

Usa: "Where would you like to go? The ocean? My house?"

sorry i tried to keep my fingers out of all pictures but clearly failed xD

Kuma: "Shut up. Shut up and look at me."

Usa: "I understaaaand. Get over here." (crying, i want to)

this is a part of the book extras. I showed it to you with Iketeru already. I think the meaning is sort of the moment they realised their carreers are over, sadface

Kuma: "I never really liked it. I thought I would just throw it away. Damn it, I lost."

Usa: "The wind suddenly stopped. Ah, thats how it is. Its over"

of course there are a lot more other characters shown in the book, but much rarer and since they dont interest me too much they dont have my favourite lines asdhfklasdhf anyway anon I hope you liked this

[zanarkandfayth]

WIP ask! I've actually got three I'm curious about. First, as your local Ignis Enjoyer I'm legally obligated to ask about the WIP that's just titled ignis, lol.

Then I'm also interested in promptowreck, and in lost in the lucian countryside because me playing the game be like 😂

lol understandable XD as a local Noct Enjoyer I would have to do the same with anything just titled noct. so according to the file creation dates, the ignis wip is actually the first thing I ever started for the ffxv fandom, on february 4 2017. the first fic I posted for ffxv I didn't start until february 10th. at some point in my head I started thinking it was the other way around.

buuuut it's a fic that was meant to just be backstory about ignis, about him and noct first meeting (cos this was before episode ignis remember) and becoming friends because of the random ass headcanon I have about his parents being murdered gjkdkglskjgs and the trauma he had from that. I got 2.2K words on it but I got distracted by other fics and I was never sure what I wanted to fully do with it and now at this point I've just incorporated mentions of said headcanon into other fics and I just don't care enough to go back to it. I'll probably never finish it, but it's a shame because I do like what I have written of it, even though they're maybe acting a bit older than they're meant to be lol. little kids are hard to write XD

promptowreck is... well idk when you got into ffxv fandom or if you noticed this, but I swear there was a period in 2017 where everyone and their brother was writing a fic where the boys wrecked the regalia? and I really wanted to write one too 🤣 so this was my attempt at that. it was during my brief period where prompto was my fave instead of noct, creation date has it at feb 19 so a reeeeaaally early fic, it was intended to whump prompto but this was one of the fics that helped me realise I didn't actually enjoy whumping prompto or writing from his pov much. I abandoned it at 1.8K words basically right after I'd written the wreck happening, and while one day I would still like to maybe write a regalia wreck fic, it will for sure be noct's poor ass that I whump instead gjkldjkgls

the last one you asked about, the lost fic, is actually one of my three active WIPs which I think I've talked about on tumblr before so if it sounds familiar, that's why XD it's inspired by a fic by @quartzguts called Lost Signal, and there is a part where noct is fleeing through parts of lucis trying to make his way back to insomnia and gets some clandestine help from an unexpected source, and when I left my comment I said something to the effect of how I could read an entire fic just about noct fleeing through the lucian countryside, and, well... ideas happened XDDD

so yeah, it's gonna be a fic where he gets kidnapped and they take him out of insomnia intending to bring him to niflheim but they wreck the car in the rain while going through lucis and they all die and he survives and then spends a week just making his way through the lucian countryside back to insomnia, and a lot of whump happens to him along the way 🤣 he's meant to be all of fourteen in this fic I believe??? and I fuck up his bum knee multiple times pretty bad, and there's a point where he's gonna be chased by deadeye near wiz's ranch and in sheer desperation figures out how to warp despite not having been formally taught, he steals a chocobo at some point after that, he gets practically mauled by voretooth at one point, etc. etc.

the whole fic is plotted and I started writing it last summer and got the first chapter done but I just got into a bad writing slump around that time and was struggling with it and didn't like what I was writing. and now I've been slowly coming out of my writing slump but for the moment I've turned my attention to my main WIP, but I definitely intend to go back to lost fic and actually write it, preferably some time this year XD

(slightly longish) snippets from each under the cut if you're curious! anyways thank you for the ask!! hope I didn't ramble too much haha.

snippet from ignis:

Prince Noctis is a small, skinny boy of three with bright eyes and a cheerful grin. Ignis looks at him intently as they're introduced, looking for any trace of red in his eyes, but the only colour that shines back at him is a deep blue.

"Wanna colour?" the prince asks him once they're left alone, smiling up at him from his spot on the floor. For reasons Ignis doesn't understand, he has three colouring books open in front of him, and crayons are scattered all around.

Ignis shakes his head. He doesn't feel like doing much of anything. The lump in his throat is still there, and the echoes of his nightmares are still ringing in his head, the thunk of heavy boots and the quick burst of bullets, the quiet thud of flesh smacking against hard wood. He shudders, and squeezes his eyes shut tight.

"Are you okay?" Noctis asks, and Ignis opens his eyes again, considering him. The prince looks concerned, having abandoned his colouring to peer worriedly up at the older boy through the fringe of his black hair. "Are you sad 'bout your parents?"

It's the first time someone's directly asked him about his feelings. The neighbour who'd found him had set to fussing about him straight away, cooing and clucking and making him feel smothered with affection. Others have shown pity or sorrow, and done their best to coddle him. But they've all just assumed how Ignis must be feeling. The prince is the only one who's asking.

He takes a moment, trying to decide if he is sad or not. He thinks maybe part of him is, but mostly he just feels blank. It's hard to believe they're gone. Finally, he shrugs his shoulders.

"My mom's gone too," Noctis offers then.

Ignis knows. He'd seen it on television a couple of years ago, the funeral procession for the Queen, and the flash of King Regis' face a camera had gotten, etched into a stony emotionless mask, though Ignis had seen the grief lurking in his eyes. His parents had been beside him, murmuring about how horrible it was for the Queen to die so young, and how would the poor prince cope, growing up without a mother? At the time, Ignis couldn't imagine anyone having to grow up without their mother. Now he'll know all too well.

He doesn't respond, gazing quietly at the young prince.

"You can share my Dad." Noctis tries again, sounding endearingly earnest.

Ignis looks at him a moment longer, and then slowly, he nods. He knows it won't work that way, that King Regis can't be his dad, or any kind of a parent to him, and that even if he could it wouldn't replace his own dad, but it's the kindest thing anyone's tried to do for him so far, and the only thing that's taken his feelings into consideration. Noctis smiles, satisfied, and holds out a red crayon to him. After a brief hesitation, Ignis takes it, and at last settles down on the floor beside him.

snippet from promptowreck:

Prompto sighed, bored once more. He wished he could pull out his phone, but Ignis would complain about the glow on that too, even if he turned the brightness all the way down. So instead he just closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the seat, feeling the weariness of the day settle into his muscles. He really couldn't wait to get to the motel and just collapse onto the nearest bed.

A sudden noise in the road had him jerking upright again, eyes flying wide open. He could feel his mouth going dry, his throat closing up in fear as adrenaline suddenly began coursing through him. Though they'd only encountered it a handful of times, as Ignis did his best to keep them off the road after dark, Prompto recognised that sound easily—it was the sound of an Iron Giant, and more often than not those particular daemon types gave them a good run for their money.

His hand automatically fumbled for the door, preparing to jump out as Ignis brought the Regalia to a stop, but—

The Regalia lurched forward, racing ahead towards the daemon, and then swerved suddenly, sharply, swinging wildly across the road, and then the loud screeching crunch of metal on metal was ringing in Prompto's ears, dragging across them and making him cry out, reaching up his hands to cover them, only—

Only the sound was gone in an instant, and it took him a moment to realise the Regalia had torn through the guardrail and gone off the road, tumbling down into the hillside. He barely registered Ignis yelling "Brace yourselves!" He was too busy shrieking as trees suddenly began whipping past him, their low-hanging branches smacking painfully into his face and arms. Cold wind rushed around him, and the force of it kept him pressed painfully against his seat as the Regalia easily gained speed on the downward incline, and he tried to look out, tried to see what was in front of them, but it was so dark now, the headlights having been shattered with the initial impact, and he couldn't see a thing. Behind him, he heard Noct cry out, his voice muffled, and then Gladio's pained grunt followed shortly after. He couldn't hear anything from Ignis, but he also couldn't stop himself from screaming—

Metal scraping against rock, the shattering of glass into millions of tiny shards, and the sound was horrendous, and loud, echoing all around him even as the car jolted to an abrupt stop, rocking forward forcefully, and the next sensation was so disorienting that it was only after Prompto had landed with a hard thud that he knew he'd been thrown from the car and flying through the air. The sudden impact with the ground was jolting, making his head bounce, and then his world was nothing but pain. He had one fleeting, crazy moment to wonder if his camera okay, and then finally there was nothing as at last he passed out.

aaaand last one from lost fic, I DO actually like this bit even if I'm not happy with the whole chapter overall:

Noct looks towards them to catch the woman—Curls, it has to be a nickname, probably from the loose curls in her fiery red hair that goes down past her shoulders—rolling her eyes as she stretches her legs out on one of the beds, getting comfortable. It shouldn't, but it pisses him off. The casual, cruel way Asshole—actually, fuck that, he's calling the man Stab-Happy, Asshole is too close to the 'Az' the others keep calling him, and, well. He is stab-happy.

But it angers him, to be stabbed and then have it treated like it was nothing. He's being ignored, left to bleed, left to sit here tied up while sick and in pain, and he's even more thirsty than before, and now he's hungry, and worse than all that, he still has to fucking pee. And they can't even do him the basic decency of telling him what they want with him.

"Hey," he snaps out before he can let himself think about what he's doing, "I asked a question. I want an answer to it."

Stab-Happy freezes for a second, and then turns around slowly, raising an eyebrow at him again as one of the other men behind him barks out a sharp laugh. "You want an answer?" Stab-Happy asks, stalking back towards him. "Sorry to tell you this, pretty-boy, but no matter how much of a pampered prince you are, we don't always get what we want."

"Obviously you don't, or you wouldn't be pathetic enough to kidnap a fourteen year old just to get some money," Noct fires back. His brain is shouting at him, telling to shut up and stop being stupid before he gets stabbed again, or worse, but he ignores it. "Taking me was really stupid, you know that? Dad's not gonna let you live once he finds me."

"Shut up," Stab-Happy says, and then delivers a rough kick to his ribs. It hurts as much as the earlier ones to his stomach had, and he bites down on his lip to keep from crying out. "Gods, you're a mouthy little shit, ain't you? You're assuming your precious prick of a daddy is gonna find you, and lemme tell you, kid, that ain't happening."

"Says you, but we've already proven you're stupid, or I wouldn't be here."

The man who'd laughed before lets out a second one, getting up from the bed he'd been sitting on to come over and join them, hands on his hips as he looks down at Noct, pale blue eyes studying him. There's a prominent scar on his face, running diagonally from the far corner of his right eye to the corner of his mouth, and Noct easily dubs him Scarface. Some character in a movie that Gladio had shown him once. "He really is a mouthy little shit. Kid's got spirit. I like that."

Noct stares up at the men, his anger and fear warring within him. Scarface is the taller of the two, but only barely, and even though they're both fairly slender, with Stab-Happy more lithe and Scarface the slightly stockier of the two, they're toned, visible muscles attesting to their strength, both of them looking as if they could easily crush him if they wanted. He really should shut up.

"We'll see if he's still got spirit when I'm done with him," Stab-Happy says, glaring darkly down at him. He aims another swift kick at Noct's ribs. Pain blooms as a heavy black combat boot connects with his body, knocking the breath out of him, but he sinks his teeth into his lip again, refusing to make a sound.

"Hey, we need him in one piece," the woman says. "Don't fuck him up too much. You're already treading a thin line with the stabbing."

Stab-Happy rolls his eyes, kicking him again. "He's a big boy, Curls. He can handle it." Another kick, and Noct digs his teeth in until he tastes blood.

"You kick like a girl," he says once he catches his breath, because his mouth doesn't know when to quit. "My Shield's little sister can kick harder than you, and she's only nine."

A boot slams into his stomach, intense pain igniting within him at the impact, and he cries out before he can stop himself. Another quickly follows, and then a third, and then a second boot jams itself painfully into his hip, Scarface joining in, and he can't do anything but turn his head away, twisting his body in a pathetic and useless effort to shield himself from the abuse raining down upon it.

[fayedartmouth]

Too many but im a curious person <3

🥸 🫘 🦷 💥 🛏

I'm gonna put my answers beneath a cut because whatever. I talk a lot, lol.

🥸 Does anyone in IRL know you write fanfic or original fiction? If not, do you plan on telling anyone this year?

Yes! Though KNOWING is not the same as letting them read it, and I've gained a significant amount of comfort in telling people that I write and that I write fic over the years. I'm old enough now that I know who I am and what I like, and I'm not super keen to apologize for it. So I've told my sister-in-law that I write it but when she asked to read it, I politely laughed it off and she never brought it up again. I told my daughter (who is 13) I write it, but I'm definitely not ready for her to read anything.

My husband knows and he's read a limited amount of it. If he had the wherewithal, he could easily find my stuff online but he hasn't for whatever reason. He would like me to talk more about it, but that's just hard for me to do. I think it's not so much that I write fic, but like the very specific type of fic that I write. I don't feel like having to explain why I'm obsessed with whumping my faves.

I have one coworker who knows and he does seem to read my stuff from time to time and talk to me about it. Which is surreal and kind of neat. He's been very chill about it and doesn't seem to think I'm a complete weirdo for the fact that I write as much as I do or what I do.

But like people like my parents? They will never know. LOL, never.

🫘 Spill the beans. What's a new project you're doing this year?

I wish I had a new one to talk about it! But I think I've blathered about the big ones already. The fix-it is a huge project for me, and that will preoccupy me for a while. At some point, I have to get back to Best of a Bad Deal Book Three, but I think my goal is to finish the first fic of my fix-it series.

Beyond that, there's nothing "big." I'm writing a Sarah and JJ as siblings fic for a friend, and I've got a bunch of other WIPs. I also have like two-three other really pressing ideas for shorter fix-its I'd LIKE to write but it is unclear if I'd ever have the time.

But yeah, I don't think I have anything dramatically new I haven't talked about.

🦷 Is there a chapter, scene, or WIP you're dreading to write (but is necessary to your plot)? Share a snippet or tell us about it!

Yes, I think so. With the fix-it, I ended up basically supplementing all of the back half of S4 because I just needed to for context and balance and in my head it was the only way to approach it. My problem is that I don't want to rewatch those episodes at all. In fact, at this point, I don't want to rewatch anything. Writing fic is great -- I'm good with that. But watching the show is still just too hard and I'm not sure I'll ever get to the point where I'll enjoy it again, even in small sections. Which kills me. To never watch Midsummers again? To never watch JJ's hot tub scene again? But it's just hard.

That said, I will do it because I need to ground the fix-it in what we saw on screen. I'd post a snippet but this answer is getting kind of long anyway. If you want more snippets, just ask. I'll share anything.

💥Is there a chapter, scene, or WIP you're most excited to write? Share a snippet or tell us about it!

Always! I'm excited about so many things. Most of the time, I tend to be most excited about upcoming whump. There's a scene in the second fic of the fix-it that I'm obsessed with but I feel like I shouldn't share it yet because I don't know. It seems like it gives too much away.

So I'll post a snippet at the very bottom here from JJ's recovery bit of the fix-it, when he's holed up in Morocco without the Pogues. Let's just say he's not doing well and his self destructive tendencies become a lot more overt as he takes a knife to his own stitches.

This fic is largely about JJ's downward spiral. The scene below isn't even his rock bottom, the poor guy.

🛏 Is there a new trope you'd like to write this year?

I don't know! I haven't actively thought about it. I think I've been doing fic a long, long time so I feel like I've been there and done quite a few things. I'm also guilty of going back to the same tropes that I love time and time again. So nothing is on my mind right now? But I'm really easily persuaded and I love new idea and new things. I love writing, so being challenged to do something new is always up my alley, even if right now my focus is nearly exclusively on making sure JJ isn't dead.

Here's the snippet:

It wasn’t as much a conscious thought as it was an inevitability.  His fingers were unusually steady as he reached the blade down, catching the first stitch and teasing it out–

And with a single, hard motion, he jerked his hand up, slicing clean through the stitch with surprising ease.  For a split second, the shock was all.  Then, blood welled up almost in protest.  And finally – belatedly – the numb echo of pain as it shuddered through his body.

The pain felt different, though.  It felt good.  It felt <i>right</i>.

At the very least, he decided, it felt real.

His lips twitched up with an unfamiliar rush of satisfaction.  The relief felt like the best kind of high, and it took nothing to catch the second stitch and rip it clean, too.

These quick fixes.  These temporary patches.

They didn’t work.

If they saved his life for a day, two days?  A week?

Even a year?

What did it matter?

They were just prolonging the inevitable.

Everybody knew it.

<i>Everybody</i>.

Luke couldn’t raise him.  John B’s friendship couldn’t save him.  Pope’s sacrifice was lost on him, and Kie’s love would never be enough to redeem him.

His mama had left him.

Groff had seen him, small and needy, and knew it wasn’t worth it.

Now, all JJ could do was let it bleed.

He had to let it bleed out.

There was no one left to hold him together.  He was alone, just like he was meant to be.

So he would take himself apart, stitch–

He cut the next one, slicing deeper with a grimace–

By stitch–

The pain hitched and his breathing tightened as he cut through the next–

By stitch–

The blood was weeping now, covering his abdomen.  He could feel it, trailing down his back and soaking into the sheets.  He watched, morbidly fascinated, as it left him, and the thrum of his heart rose tremulously in his ears.  His cuts were getting sloppier, reopening the wound and cutting into the healing skin.  He didn’t stop, though.  He couldn’t stop.

He grappled at the stitches, pulling the threads clean out of the skin until there was nothing left for his bloody fingers to grab.  His vision began to swim, and he had to put down the bottle to finish the work, pulling out the frayed edges until the blood made it too hard to see and there was nothing left to grab.

JJ exhaled, feeling light headed again.  His fingers were like lead weights as it slipped away from him, and he narrowed his focus as best he could, but it was a fleeting, impossible thing.  It hurt more than he thought it would, but the pain was part of it.  It defined him, and he held onto it as long as he could until he exhaled again.

His bloody fingers fell away.  The sound of his heart grew faint, and he lay there, open and exposed.  It was okay now.  He’d held on too long, he’d fought too hard.  He could let it bleed, let it go.

Until there was nothing left at all.

[louisisalarrie]

What do you think of the current setlist for the festival performances? Do you think it's as bad as solos are saying?

solos can eat my ass like their fave does to harry

(sorry, that was crude, wasn’t it? hahaha im just mad that solos are getting mad about louis’ setlist)

so, let’s talk about it once and for all. anon, welcome to the show!

alrighty, so, let’s start off with having a squiz at the harry.

harry sticks with one cover, WMYB, at the end of every show (prior to encore). during LOT last year, when he was in Denmark in May, he did a snippet of BSE and also the entirety of Stockholm Syndrome, and he has previously done SOML once or twice. He has also sang If I Could Fly a bunch of times, which his solos thought was his song and not a 1d song which is just hilarious. anyway, his fans always carry on like “he reinvents the covers!!!! he only does one usually!!! 1d was his thing!!!” anyway.

the thing is, is that harry is bigger. he has bigger hits, and more of them. But more importantly, he has a wider fanbase demographic that doesn’t require him to perform 1d covers because a lot of his fans don’t stem from the 1d days. they learnt about him through his solo music alone. now… radio play obviously has a massive effect on that (which we know louis isn’t getting), but, why are Louis solos so angry about him playing 1d covers?

weeeellllll

look. it comes down to what all louis fans want, which is for him to keep playing bigger stages and doing bigger tours and solidifying his solo presence and career in the wider industry. but his career is different to Harry’s. he had to find his footing and part of that is pulling in people who know 1d (they were literally the biggest band in the world) and so they can already connect him to that, and then hear his own personal music. “Former 1d star” gets more clicks than “louis Tomlinson” when people have no idea of his name. even people who used to be casual 1d fans back in the day, but aren’t part of the scene now, will connect the first headline far quicker than the second. So it’s all about interconnection and recognition and association that dings the lightbulb for people and encourage further digging.

And this becomes even more important when performing at a festival in front of people who haven’t heard your name before/aren’t a fan. It gives him, like, almost name cred ya know? Like “hey I was in a band that conquered the world, and I’m still out here doing shit, I’m not another washed up ex boyband member, I’ve got my own name and my own sound and I also wrote the majority of 1d’s discography” ya feel? Which is something I also don’t get about solos. Like… louis wrote those songs. He’s proud of those songs. Why should he not sing them?

anyway, I get it, I do. We all wanna see louis play his whole discography, and share that and build more fans from there. We love his music, we wanna see those tracks that we love live on stage. But, he’s gonna play 1d covers because he wrote them, he loves them, and it helps with his footing.

Robbie Williams who was in Take That, Justin Timberlake who was in NSYNC (who have just done a reunion show!!) and a bunch more ex boyband, or ex regular band members, continue to do covers of their old music for so many reasons. But also, they continue to do these covers for their fans. Their older fans, who watched them grow and listened to this music in real time be released and nostalgia and… it should be celebrated of a time that they created this music and memories with fans.

Mind you, artists do this because they want to. There’s no critical binding clause in their contracts saying they have to do a cover of their old band, there’s nothing saying they have to do this only in countries where people don’t know their name as well, there’s no one holding a gun to louis’ head and saying “bro you gotta play three 1d songs or you’re fired”. At the end of the day, he curates his setlist for what he wants to play, what he thinks the fans will love, and what he thinks will encourage people to enjoy his sets and dig into his other music. He doesn’t owe any of us anything.

So, if we move on from 1d covers and talk about Catfish and Post Malone, it again, pulls that recognition in. However, it can make him seem a little unsure of himself and his faith in the music he writes. Which isn’t the case, like, Harry does covers from different artists, but just not as often as Louis, it would seem. I think particularly at his own shows, louis doesn’t need to do 7, 505, or Chemical or whatever else, because the people are there for him. 7 is loud and we love it and I would never discourage him from that hahaha, but I do find chemical to be kinda meh (I’m not a posty fan, mind you), and unnecessary. But, again, he doesn’t owe us shit and can sing whatever he wants and feels right. It seems like he’s in a much more secure place right now, so it’ll be interesting to see where his set lists take him in the future, but yeah. I don’t see it necessary to do a cover from a different artist at every show, but definitely encourage 1d covers at every show (and not just because I’m an ot5, but because he clearly loves it and for all the reasons I’ve already said above).

So I guess, before I keep on nonsensically rambling, I’ll break this down simply:

Do I think louis should keep doing 1d covers? Yes.

Do I think Louis should keep doing non-1d covers? If he wants to, but it’s not necessary anymore.

Do I think it’s a smart career move to include 1d covers? Yes

Do I think doing 4 covers out of a 13 song setlist at a festival is overkill? Kiiiiind of… I think he could’ve stuck with 2 or 3 max, 4 is a lot and can take away from his original music.

Do I think louis leans on covers to help his nerves? Not so much anymore, but it can be seen as somewhat of a crutch if he does a bunch of them (a bunch meaning anything more than 3).

Do I think Louis owes us anything? No.

Would I love to see louis perform all his songs that he hasn’t performed before instead of covers? Sure thing!

Am I bothered that he plays covers? Absolutely not.

Do other artists of varying calibre (including Harry) play songs of their past ventures and other artists’ music? Yes.

Do solos need to take a good hard look at themselves and get a grip because supporting their fave artist should also include supporting their choices of setlist and their prior bands (regardless of a dislike for said prior band)? Yes.

Am I saying that solos need to love 1d/1d covers? No, but they need to respect it because that’s how louis came to be himself today.

Is larry real? Yes.

Can solos suck it? Also yes.

[wandering-nushroom]

Can I please request Goalposts? I love that story so much!

@aftgphoenix

omgggg THANK YOUU I'm so excited I'm going to give you two excerpts

The first one is from the upcoming chapter I'm working on! I had SUCH TROUBLE choosing which one, but I wanted to share a snippet of the Andreil in it. There is way more Andreil (finally) in it, but this is one of my fave paragraphs at the moment:

“What date does it expire?” Andrew asked. His patience for the conversation was running thin, the talk of court dates and restraining orders reminding him too much of Aaron’s trial. Of how he had to stand up in front of too many strangers, too many friends, Neil, and tell them– “November eighteenth.” At that, both Kevin and Andrew looked sharply at Neil.  “Their twenty-first birthday?” Kevin asked in disbelief. “That would mean–” “Either they submitted all of the information for a restraining order when they were seventeen or someone did it on their behalf,” Andrew finished. He stubbed out his cigarette into the pot of sand that Abby set out, the only way she’d allow them to smoke in the backyard. Andrew got up, exchanging a silent glance with Neil to let him know to stay there for a few minutes.  Andrew went into his and Neil’s room, flopping down on the bed. He closed his eyes, taking deep breaths and willing away the thoughts of court. He opened them again when the door creaked open, Neil quietly closing it behind him. Andrew let his eyes trail over Neil’s form as he got into his pajamas – strong back, strong legs, comforting scars all still accounted for. Neil hesitated at the foot of the bed until Andrew scooted over, back against the wall. Once Neil had lain down, Andrew carefully placed his hand on Neil’s chest, feeling his heartbeat. 

And then bonus excerpt that I'm not quite sure where I want to put yet:

“Do you want me to stay?” Kevin asked awkwardly after a minute. “Stay, go, I don’t fucking care,” Spencer said resignedly. “I have no expectations of you, Kevin, except to be who you are.”  The other deck chair creaked as Kevin sat down. He said nothing as Spencer finally looked away from the stars and down at the knife they were fiddling with. “Do you regret signing me yet?” Spencer asked after flipping the knife through their fingers three more times. They couldn’t find it in them to regret someone finding them with a knife in their hand. It’ll be a failure for later.  “What?” Kevin said. “I won’t regret signing you, I don’t know why you keep saying that.” 

[rs-hawk]

I was literally half asleep when i sent in that ask, i vaguely remember i said "someone who is researching dragons" but as i also mentioned in that ask, youre the author, do whatever you want with my suggestion. Glad to see youre happy to have a story for Dianthus.

And coincidentally last year i wrote a fanfic (it takes a lot out of me to write, so not bothering to have a writing blog + a bit insecure of my writing) for a friend that is the immortal x reincarnated lover. Pfffft did i wreck his feelings there, especially since it was a character who is immortal and a fave of his x him reincarnating.

One, you did and I’m going to but it’s such a cute idea! I’m going to make Dianthus suffer because why not 🫶💖 Sorry in advance. Lol

Two, I’m going to need a link immediately if you have it posted anywhere, fandom irrelevant, because I eat up that trope. One of my faves!

Three, I’m insecure about my writing too. It’s one of my favorite things in the world but having written professionally and for fun, for the better part of two decades, I have seen people that even in my own niche blow my pieces out of the water. The thing is, someone is always going to be better than you. Someone is always going to be more creative, more detailed, more technically correct, more whatever. The thing is though, that no one is going to write what you write!

Having a writing blog can be a lot of work (if you’re a long time follower, you’ve seen me disappear for months on end) and you shouldn’t feel pressured to have one if you don’t want to- not trying to convince you otherwise!- but it’s also really rewarding. For me I need feedback to be able to continue, which is why I love my multi part stories, sharing snippets of novels, etc. I want to eventually get back into professional writing, and this blog is helping me. If you want one but are nervous about your writing, you should try it out. I bet more people will enjoy it than you think. Just food for thought 🫶

[lulamadison]

11, 32, 39

Thank you so much for sending this and I'm so sorry it took me so long to answer it!

11, Link your three favorite fics right now

Hmm this is a tough one. I'll be honest I haven't been reading as much fic as I would like lately. I've been spending all my spare time writing, but thankfully I have actually read 3 fics in the last couple of month🤣

Even though I've recced it before I'm going to recommend The Recidivists by @vimesbootstheory again. This is SUCH a good fic! I look forward to reading it every weekend 😃

Mexico by @usaonetwothree - I love a good whump fic 😃

17 Years Later by @kbaxxy is a sequel to one of my fave stories from last year, so I just had to read this one and it is a great opening chapter!

32, Name three of your favorite fanfic writers.

There are WAY to many to name, so I'll go with 3 writers who's works I loved the longest and they are @an-sceal @backinblack-80 and @secondclassfangirl . I love their fics!

39, Share a snippet from a WIP

I'm going to share this snippet from a future chapter of Undefeated, which is also the DUMBEST typo I've made since that time I wrote that Daniel had EARS running down his face lol

Johnny, why are you putting your hand on your own cheek when it should have been on Daniel's 🤣

[canonicallyanxious]

Favorite Non-2024 Album Finds

This is my first year making a proper list for albums that were not released in 2024 but i wanted to do it because, as i mentioned in my 2024 albums post, this year i started using a spreadsheet to track my album listening and logged a total of 200 (!!!!!!!) albums for 2024, 130 of which were NOT released in 2024. So it only felt right to make a new list!

My other reason for making a special post: about a year ago i became a co-mod for the album poll blog @haveyoulistenedtothisalbum-poll and it's seriously been a great time getting to know the other mods, researching user-submitted albums, and getting exposed to music i've never even heard of before. ya boi helps maintain the playlist which is how i found the vast majority of the albums that made it onto this list - not all of them, but you can find polls for all of them over there if you want!

And thus in commemoration of my time as a co-mod for a blog that has become very special to me, pls enjoy! full list and notes/ramblings under the cut:

10. Wabi-Sabi - Cross Record (2013) / snippet from my spreadsheet of doom: "This album caters so aggressively to my personal tastes and preferences idek what else to say about it"

9. Process - Sampha (2017) / rec from a non-tumblr friend that i loved so much sampha cracked my top 5 artists list on my spotify wrapped

8. Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!? - Mckinley Dixon (2023) / rec from the beloved @boxesfullofthoughts with incredible flow and lyricism, lush and layered instrumentation, and layers of literary references that all make this a very rewarding listen

7. <I°_°I> [Robot Face] - Caravan Palace (2015) / Caravan Palace is probably one of my favorite artist discoveries from hyltta and this is my favorite album of the three i listened to from them (really saying something, they're all incredibly fun and unique in their own ways)

6. Phantom Rhythm 幽靈節奏 - 工工工 (Gong Gong Gong) (2019) / we love an iconic af partnership between acoustic guitar and bass that creates some seriously interesting and textured rhythms and melodies, punctuated perfectly by distant vocals and atmospherically moody vibes, in this house

5. Blue Weekend - Wolf Alice (2021) / I knew a couple of wolf alice songs before this, but this was their first full album i listened to and probably my personal fave of the line-up (again really saying something bc i think their whole discography is stellar!), there's just the right amount of polish to really make the vocals and lyrics shine but still maintain the raw grittiness of their sound that makes them so appealing

4. Fountain Baby - Amaarae (2023) / had i found this when it first dropped last year it would have absolutely without a doubt made my albums list, the thing i'm most impressed about this record is how it never loses momentum, Amaarae is so lyrically and musically dexterous, i love how effortlessly she switches between vibes song by song and her voice is seriously unreal

3. 加爾基 精液 栗ノ花 [Karuki Zahmen Kuri No Hana -Kalk Samen Chestnut Flower-] - 椎名林檎 [Sheena Ringo] (2003) / really and genuinely i think this album is a work of art

2. Seychelles - Masayoshi Takanaka (1976) / honestly amazed an album from the 70s made it onto this list and this high up to boot, not bc 70s music isn't great but bc my personal tastes tend toward the more recent, but what can i say, the vibes of this album are simply immaculate

1. Demon Days - Gorillaz (2005) / i know i'm disgustingly late to this but like this is one of the best albums of the 21st century and you can't change my mind

HONORABLE MENTIONS

The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess - Chappell Roan (2023) / people are going to come for me for not putting this on my proper list and i don't even know that they would be wrong for it but all i can say is i listened to a lot of albums and this record which is pop perfection is basically why the honorable mentions section of this list exists at all okay??

Transangelic Exodus - Ezra Furman (2018)

Madvillainy - Madvillain (2004)

Vows - Kimbra (2011)

[chronicallyday]

Saturday Sneak Peek of Life Was a Storm Chapter Two

you may read the first chapter of this modern au/2000s au in the link above. I am absolutely showing my age by referring to VampireFreaks as a social media site lol also the name drop of a band whose founding members went on to create my fave band (PTV)

Here’s a snippet from Chapter Two below:

It was completely accidental. Serendipitous.

Finn had not gone looking for Annie Cresta. She had fallen into his lap. Or more specifically, his inbox.

He didn’t post selfies, despite everyone else posting them. Finn had mostly started using VampireFreaks as a recommendation from a guy he had smoked with outside of a show to post some of his poems on a forum. He wasn’t even goth, but the alt scene had appreciated some of his work that he couldn’t share with Rio.

Finn hadn’t expected someone to message him about a photo he posted to his account. It was a stupid photo he took at Point Pinos. He hadn’t expected someone to comment on the post.

But he almost had a heart attack when he saw the username HeartThiefOfTheSea. That stupid song kept playing his head.

The message wasn’t anything special. They had only sent a less than carrot symbol plus the number three to make a heart emoticon. But Finn clicked on the account anyway and his heart almost stopped again in less than a minute when he scrolled through the photo gallery for the account.

Some punky-bohemian chick that looked like she could be Stevie Nicks’ edgier daughter had sent the comment. The blue and purple streaks in her dark hair had thrown him off for a second, but he would know those green eyes anywhere. They had only been haunting him since he was two months shy of fifteen.

He didn’t have to respond. It was just appreciation for the photo.

But he responded anyway. And that led to them private messaging each other.

“Someone’s up early,” Finn muttered as his desktop pinged with a new email notification for a private message from Annie.

HeartThiefOfTheSea: guess who’s in trouble

FindingEmo: clearly not u if ur messaging me. what did u do?

HeartThiefOfTheSea: snuck out, trespassed to go swimming, but my greatest offense was calling my brother to come get me at 3am from the side of the road cuz I was too lazy to walk LOL

Finn laughed under his breath. As the eldest of his siblings, he was sure there could be a day that he would be getting those calls. For now, he was glad that his sisters were eight years old. The most trouble they got into was eating the sweets and pastries meant for the BnB guests.

HeartThiefOfTheSea: so…what are you doing up? It’s getting late over there isn’t it?

FindingEmo: ur joking right?? I’m not the one that is up at 3am

HeartThiefOfTheSea: yeah but you’re only 3 hrs behind right?

FindingEmo: yeah. so why r u messaging me at 3am

Serendipitous. They had been messaging each other since May and the messages had been mostly small talk about bands they liked until Annie took the plunge and started asking him for some advice and then they got more personal while being cautious of what they shared with an Internet Stranger.

Although Annie could have been more wary. Not that Finn was one to talk. He was sure his parents had considered putting an ankle monitor on him at some point in his mid teens.

Finn had lots of fun turning her into a fan of a band from San Diego called Before Today. He really hoped their plans to tour the East Coast came to fruition so Annie could go to one of their shows.

He really liked one of the lines in one of their songs Pierce The Veil.

We’ll try, still strong in our chains.

Something about the line reminded him of that dream version of himself. Finn still didn’t have the full picture about that Finnick, and while sometimes he couldn’t say he liked that version of himself, there were more days that he felt for him.

HeartThiefOfTheSea: my ex ambushed me while I was hanging out w/my friends. I ran away lol he tried to tell me he wanted to be “friends”

Finn frowned. He hadn’t liked Annie’s boyfriend when she was dating him and his dislike for him only grew after she dumped him.

Nothing rankled Finn more than guys that wouldn’t take no for an answer and tried to guilt their girlfriends into sleeping with them by using their love against them.

Finn had told Annie that she didn’t need to love the guy to have sex with him. If she wanted to have sex just because she wanted to, that was reason enough to take the plunge. But if she was hesitating because she wasn’t ready or because she didn’t feel that kind of attraction to him that she needed to do what was right for her.

Annie had confessed that she had been using the fact that she was Straight Edge as one of the reasons to ward him off. She had to explain to her ex what that even was, but Finn had snorted as soon as Annie told him that she was actually in fact Straight Edge.

Finn and Annie couldn’t be anymore different.

[ can’t say I wanna wait for marriage but idk it feels preferable than losing my virginity to a HS bf that my friends had to convince me to date ]

FindingEmo: pls tell me u kicked him in the balls

HeartThiefOfTheSea: lol no I didn’t do that but I should have. he yanked my arm pretty hard when I was underwater and it kind of scared me. I dipped as soon as possible and I just know my friends are gonna give shit for just leaving

FindingEmo: if u had to bounce u had to bounce…but next time kick him in the balls

HeartThiefOfTheSea: aye aye captain! now why are YOU up late?

FindingEmo: date

HeartThiefOfTheSea: like a date date or a “date” lol

FindingEmo: the latter

HeartThiefOfTheSea: heartbreaker lol

[cosmicalily]

nayeon - 'na' mini album review + ranking

'something' - when i heard the audio teaser for this, i was immediately SO excited. then when i heard the start of this song, i was even more excited. 'SAY MY NAME' who?? that guitar SCREAMS iconic y2k track. i love this genre for twice (see basics & rush) and i feel like the way this track was produced works SO well for the overall vibe of the album. liquid drum and bass (at least the very simple, dreamy style of it) has become almost a bit overdone in my opinion due to the newjeansification of kpop (not dealing with that here) but the use of the guitar in the background gives it that iconic y2k feeling similar to destiny's child and tlc. i think overall this is a really easy to listen to track, however i definitely did expect a little more from it after listening to the audio snippet. would've loved more of the nayeon rap because that's what i was most excited for!

'count it' - this is so dreamy, it reminds me a bit of 'wishing on you' from jihyo's solo album, which is one of my favs. i love a slow nayeon song that solely focuses on her super sweet, smooth vocals and i feel like it's nice to hear her lower voice for a change too, especially bc jyp absolutely makes her (and jihyo) work overtime with those high ass adlibs in their group songs. this was honestly everything i wanted from this song; slow, an easy listen, beautiful, minimal production that still doesn't feel boring or repetitive, and that ending was honestly my fave thing EVER! could listen to it on repeat, and most definitely will. it felt like the perfect outro song for this album too.

'magic' - that prechorus is SO delicious oh my god! nayeon and julie is literally giving the kpop version of every iconic collab in the 2010s between an insane vocalist and badass rapper (i'm thinking nikki minaj, ariana grande, iggy azalea before she got cancelled lol) however, i actually don't love the chorus as much as i was hoping! it definitely fits the vibe of the song but i feel like it didn't entirely live up to my expectations for it. of course, julie's vocals are absolutely insane, i'll never not go on about them, and nayeon absolutely ate! i feel like this track again matches the late 2000s vibes i'm getting from the album, with a little more this would have 110% been my favourite song.

'abcd' - NAYONCE WHO??? i'm actually not joking at all, this was absolutely what the kpop industry needed. that very typical young, teenager-y y2k concept has honestly been entirely overdone (yk what i'm talking about, every girl group and their mother's been a victim of it welp) so i'm SO GLAD that icons like kiss of life and now nayeon have decided to bring back mature y2k! we need trashy! we need camp! we need intense instrumentals and sassy raps and lyrics! pop was so cute and i adore it for her, but i love seeing the more adult concept for nayeon too, esp bc she's almost 30 now and i feel like she needed something a little more. this feels very very very much like crazy in love by beyonce, which kind of does unsettle me a little, it's not a bad thing but that song is VERY iconic so it feels like a very tricky song to try and replicate even when its done a bit differently, because there's always gonna be comparisons regardless and a song like that just cannot be outdone, no matter how iconic nayeon is. however, it's different to all the recent releases we've had in kpop so imma let it slide. also, i was VERY disappointed by the fact that this track, the TITLE TRACK, was less than three minutes. why tf are ALL of the bsides longer?? the math is not mathing. i was really hoping short song syndrome wouldn't hit 3rd gen kpop but apparently it has, which is actually so sucky. also i highkey hate jyp's promotion methods bc y'all did NOT need to spoil the entire chorus?? like i would've enjoyed this so much more if it was a suprise yk. that felt like a really dumb move especially when there wasn't even a super different crazy end chorus so that felt like a bad decision but oh well. solid title track, 9/10 (-2 for the shortness of the song and promotions). and final thoughts, i feel like jihyo also would've eaten this concept up. after seeing namoji perform 10 minutes, i've been needing them to do a song as a subunit and i feel like this would've fitted them as a trio SO well.

'halligalli' - she's cute, she's bubbly, but not too childish either. she JUST fits into this album's concept in my opinion, and it feels like the classic twice bside recipe (this isn't a bad thing, but it does sound like something i've heard before from twice and it fits into their discography well). however, sticking to the classics isn't a bad thing at all, often if you have all new genres an album can feel daunting and too diverted from the identity you felt the artist was originally showing. so i think this is a very safe but cute track. it'll go on my playlist, but i feel like she's a tiny bit forgettable.

'butterflies' - can someone explain to me why this wasn't on the 'im nayeon' album? because this SCREAMS that concept. it's super cute and very nayeon-esque, but i feel like it takes away from the more mature concept this album was leaning towards? it feels very teenage y2k lovesong, which is super cute, but this album was gearing more towards iconic y2k artists in their adult prime so i feel like this doesn't quite resonate with that. i'll definitely listen to it because it's a good track, but probably not in conjunction with the rest of the album since it doesn't fit my mental vibe for it lmao.

'heaven' - out of the two slow tracks, 'count it' was honestly my favourite. i think its also because this song was fully english and it felt like an overload of entirely english songs in this album, which is lowkey weird for me to say as an international fan, but it feels like twice is trying too hard to globalise its audience and is forgetting about their initial fanbase. like twice has been doing one english track in their albums for a bit now, but even the title track for this album was very english heavy and so were most of the bsides. three out of six bsides were english, and the others still have a lot of english lyrics. anyways, it just didn't stick out to me as much as the other songs, still very sweet and nice to listen to but not particularly outstanding in my eyes. it'll definitely end up on my playlist though!

let me know your opinions on this comeback. i personally adore this image for nayeon and think it was overall a solid album!

[kazuyummy]

🎀 ani's new follower matchup & drabble event !

hi friends, i'm ani, a new blog here and looking for new moots! so what better way to do so than host a follower event? i'll be doing matchups for three of my fave fandoms, so read the rules below. i'm aiming to do about 10 for now depending on interest.

all you have to do is send me a few words per below and i'll match you up with someone from your chosen fandom and write a small paragraph on why i made that choice. people who follow me get an added bonus of a mini-fic as well! talk to you all soon. 💞

event status: closed (15/16 done, 1/16 in progress) - as of september 20, 2023

request: here

rules

fandoms: haikyuu, daiya no ace, attack on titan - please choose only ONE for now (i'll do this in the future again hehe) followers: anyone can request a matchup in part 1 but only those who follow me can request part 2 (so you gotta be off anon for that lmao) dms: feel free to dm me as needed w additional detail or answers to any of these questions if you are not comfortable putting them in your ask !

part i. matchups

1. one word you would use to describe yourself 2. one word your close friends / family would use to describe you 3. one word you'd like to be described by 4. one word a stranger would likely describe you with

part ii. drabble - followers only

🍎 apple - song - give me a song and i'll base the drabble of of it 🍉 melon - text - i'll make a screenshot of a text b/n you and your matchup 🍊 orange - imagine - i'll write a mini bullet fic, you can specify scenario if you choose, otherwise it's author's choice! 🍑 peach - nsfw - i'll write you a snippet of a small steamy scene!

part iii. additional detail

gender/sexuality: let me know if you have any preference otherwise i may match you up with (almost) anyone up in the fandom characters: let me know if there are any chars you absolutely do NOT want to be matched up with in the fandom genre: if you want angst, romance, smut, etc. please specify and i'll do my best to accommodate misc: anything i missed, just feel free to ask! pls try not to be TOO specific so i can have some creative freedom but if ya really wanna see something, i'm probs down

example request

fandom: haikyuu matchup: curious, open-minded, unique, outgoing drabble / detail: 🍊 orange - imagine, can i get my character comforting me after a hard day?

completed matchups (orange in progress)

haikyuu // 1 ✩ 2 ✩ 3 ✩ 4 ✩ 5 ✩ 6 ✩ 7 ✩ 8

daiya no ace // 1 ✩ 2 ✩ 3 ✩ 4 ✩ 5 ✩ 6

attack on titan // 1 ✩ 2

... and that's all there is to it! even if you don't feel like participating, feel free to drop by and say hi, reblog to spread the word, or ask for a follow. love you all already! 💝

[thetragicallynerdy]

20 Questions for fic writers

I got tagged by @zombiethingy, thanks so much for the tag pal!!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

50!! I just hit 50 with my last kinktober fill, it's neat haha. Halfway to 100 XD

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

728,567. I write... a lot lmao. I would love to hit 900K by the end of the year - I've got an 150K+ fic that's unposted in it's entirety that I'd like to finish by then, we'll see if it happens!

3. What fandoms do you write for?

OFMD, UnDeadwood, Critical Role (Campaign 1), and Leverage. Mostly OFMD and UnDeadwood, though!

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

but don't you shake alone (Leverage, 817 kudos, blows my mind every time)

In Which Mr Sharpe Is In Need Of A Rescue (UnDeadwood, 252 kudos, my first fic ever written!)

i like to call myself wound (but i will answer to knife) (OFMD, 221 kudos)

every bit as feral (UnDeadwood, 178 kudos)

for my life, still ahead, pity me (CR 1, 167 kudos)

And looking at this list, I now realize that all of my top kudos'd fics are whump fics XD

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

Sure do!! I can take a while to respond because of the Executive Dysfunction but I try to always respond.

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

Hmmm. Either something from the UnDeadwood whumptober collection (I can't think of one, because I wrote them 3 years ago, but some were damn sad), or the weight of another unearned victory.

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

Oooh that's tough! I dunno, I tend to like writing if not happy endings at least hopeful endings. Three that stand out are 1) i will stay, if you dare, 2) i found love where it wasn't supposed to be and 3) Ask Me Anything OFMD SMAU - because they all start out or get super sad (bad breakup, character death, and character death midway respectively) and end super happy.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not on ao3, but I've gotten anon hate on tumblr for the ships I write after posting fic snippets!

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

Yes lmao. It is the majority of what I write right now. As for what kind - ehhh that's hard to say! I write a lot of different stuff! But mainly: smut featuring Jim from OFMD or Clayton from UnDeadwood. I write a lot of trans/nonbinary smut for both characters.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

Nah, not really my thing!

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my awareness? Honestly I'm not a big enough fic writer/don't write for popular enough ships/fandoms to really be worried about it.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope!

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

Sure have! Three published, and another few in the works. I really enjoy co-writing, it's always a fun experience.

@askmeanythingofmd (ao3: ask me anything ofmd) with @yerbamansa

a grave softer than your end with @eldritchjackalope

i found love where it wasn't supposed to be with @lovewithagirl

@lovewithagirl and I are also currently co-writing a really long sad Jim/Ed post s1 fic, and have a few other ideas we're messing around with really casually! We co-write together pretty often <3

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

Oh this is a tough question haha! That I write for: Jim/Olu and Jim/Ed or some combo of poly ships with them (OFMD), Clayton/Aly/Matthew, Clay/Aly, Clay/Matthew (UnDeadwood).

Other faves include Arthur/Eames (Inception), Parker/Elliot/Hardison (Leverage), and I'm blanking on any others lmao. But those are the big ones!

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

Oh man, so many. I have a lot of WIPs that get abandoned tbh. The big ones are both for UnDeadwood - The Lighthouse AU and The Nemesis AU. Both sitting at pretty high word counts (50 and 90K respectively). I'd love to finish both, but not sure it'll happen. Maybe someday, though!

16. What are your writing strengths?

I think I'm good at adding in details? Specifically details around what characters are thinking/feeling/experiencing. Or at least I try to be lol. I find writing dialogue pretty easy, and I think I'm decent at smut and whump writing.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Worldbuilding my beloathed lmao. I find it really boring, so basically never do it.

Detailed settings are also pretty hard for me to write - I don't picture places in my head easily at all, so I basically do as little work as possible with it. Which is something I'd like to work on, because I really enjoy very place/space heavy writing.

Also conciseness XD I am a wordy bastard, and always write way too much lmaooo.

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

I've done it using google translate, I try to keep it pretty minimal because I don't actually speak any other languages and I know it's not going to be very accurate.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

UnDeadwood my beloved <3

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

Ooh, that's really tough. I've gotta go with i threw stones at the stars but the whole sky fell - it holds a really special place in my heart. (If we're talking smut, then probably we both go down together XD) For unpublished stuff, the long sad fic I'm co-writing with @lovewithagirl is probably my favourite thing I'm currently writing.

---

Thanks so much for the tag, this was a lot of fun!! Neat to look back, too.

I'm gonna tag (but only if you feel like it friends!) @yerbamansa, @dragonmuse, @yourlocal-charlatan, and @alfalfairy.

If you didn't get tagged but see this and want to do it, consider yourself tagged!!