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https://archiveofourown.org/works/64338445/chapters/165511690

Third chapter of my In Other Lands fic is up!

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⭐️⭐️⭐️!!

okay, i'm going to talk about hermit crab (https://archiveofourown.org/works/57592375) bc it's still one of my favourite oneshots i've ever written

play-by-play commentary below the cut!

the Ledger of Frustration was a fun joke but i remember stressing about how it needed to recur to actually be funny

kabru's insistence on calling everyone by their titles in his narration was meant to represent the emotional distance he deliberately puts between himself and his friends. the moments when he slips and accidentally thinks of the king as Laios are some of my favourite

laios deferring to kabru and kabru desperately trying to pretend he isn't was an absolute fave moment, hence putting it in the summary.

also 'minotaur at a glass-blowing festival' came from me realising that porcelain wouldn't be called china in a world where the country doesn't exist, so 'bull in a china shop' made no sense

kabru + marcille judgemental bitches for life

i always find it so hard to work out what business the characters are conducting in post-canon dunmeshi fic. what jobs would a royal sorceress do? idk, right now she's doing archeology

laios literally taking off his kingly mantle and letting his guard down to admit to kabru that he's hungry? i love that for me

this fic isn't in the same universe as the museum fics bc the timelines don't match up, but the dogs kabru mentions are absolutely the same ones bc i love them

monarchy moving faster than light mention! gnu terry pratchett the most foundational influence on my writing

hermit crab metaphor!!! that came to me in the moment and i absolutely loved it

this entire fic was based on the premise of: 'wouldnt it be cute if kabru used monsters/animals as a proxy for kingship so laios would be interested in it?' and i was so right

chilchuck's workers rights advocacy was also so hard to work out - what do you do when the foundation of your national economy has fallen out from under you? how do you support workers who aren't working? i was super inspired by the labour organisers of the 80s miners strikes when it came to his stuff (maybe one day i'll write a fic from his perspective of all of that)

i get to explain the drive-by dyke drama!!!! falin wants to see thistle (who is ailing, but still alive) and attempt to repair their relationship. she cared a lot about him while he was the dungeon lord, and they're sort of inextricably linked. marcille hates thistle and will never forgive him for the suffering he caused, both in general and to falin.

falin's tone when arguing is tina belcher in this clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLWw1cY9-DI

falin is portrayed as a sort of pleasant neutral throughout most of the series, and we don't ever really get to see her angry or spiteful. i really wanted to examine what that would look like - she deserves to go apeshit

kabru is awed and uncomfortably attracted to laios in this moment.

also if anyone couldn't picture 'making a hermit crab with his hands' one hand is the legs and antennae, and the other goes on top as the shell. kind of like the awkward turtle

izutsumi construction worker my beloved. i genuinely think she might be one of the least-understood characters in dm and that sucks bc she's fascinating! she wants so many things and her circumstances are really tragic. i wanted her to find a purpose outside of food (bc she's a picky eater) and i thought being in charge of teams of builders would be really good for her

kabru not understanding canals still makes me laugh

literally everyone who knows laios and kabru understanding that kabru is in charge is also one of my best jokes

i think i already said this somewhere, but kabru is predisposed, both narratively and by temperament, to be an evil vizier. he was built to poison the king's wine and take over the kingdom as a regent for the young heir who will one day overthrow him. he is working so hard to resist the urge to manipulate everyone but the problem is everybody else (including laios) wants him to. they trust him and he is frothing at the mouth trying to explain that they shouldn't. this is his hell.

ah return of the ledger that i forgot i wanted to be a running gag until i started on this scene. i remember worrying that everyone would have forgotten the joke by the time this happened

oh my god i forgot about the scroll. kabru trying to distract laios by giving him something he's always wanted? totally accidental as i was writing the scene but one of my favourite moments between them

i also totally made up the idea in the moment. i knew i needed something that laios would love, but the actual idea was a total blag

mickbell and chilchuck one-sided enemies to coworkers

the workers stuff only really makes sense in a society where both parents are going out to work. i didn't explain that that's what's happening bc it wouldnt have made sense in the scene

senshi and mithrun business partners (and best friends)!!!!

resurfacing from a research bubble is something i have deep familiarity with. you literally finish working on something and start blinking like a newborn foal in the daylight

the night market was inspired by the ones in tokyo! when i wrote this i had been in japan like a month before

i am an incredibly sensitive eater. basically everything premade is going to be rough on my stomach and i'm ridiculously picky about textures and flavours. when other people respect your food boundaries it is so validating kabru i SEE you

italian marcille is a headcanon i find so unbearably funny i have to include it in my fics

trying to understand something you aren't interested in is literally a circle of hell. i need to know about VISION??? as a PSYCHOLOGIST???

also laios loving animals in general and monsters as an extension of that is so important to me

shrimp colours reference in my dunmeshi fic

the autism to autism communication in this section is REAL. kabru fucking loves finding out about people and understanding their behaviour. he's just reminding laios that humans are animals too.

elves having victorian levels of stupid social fluff that you need to learn is a favourite headcanon of mine

milsiril calling kabru 'my lamb'... mithrun and the goat... idk idk

ah, that final scene is so nice. what a nice ending

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Fanfic Writers: Director’s Cut

Reblog this if you want readers to come into your ask box and ask for the “director’s commentary” on a particular story, section of a story, or set of lines. 

Or, send in a ⭐star⭐  to have the author select a section they’ve been dying to talk about!

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hellooooo i have a question (linked to a wip? maybeeee)

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sometimes a theme recurs in your work without your permission. and sometimes it reaches a threshold where you're like. well now i think this is saying something about me against my will. don't know what though

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Anna-Marie Molloy is a journalist, and her next article might be the one that makes her career. But first, she has to speak to the father she wrote it about.

surprise! i wrote an iwtv fic! im very proud of it

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my next fic should be ianthe’s diary of her time with ejg and kiriona in the style of my immortal

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day two of @roudiseshipweek: growth !! under the cut

also on ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/61209589/chapters/156472543

“This is not happening.”

“Uh, I think it is?” Rudy asked more than said, looking down at himself. “But just to be sure, what is ‘it’?”

“Oh, you know what you’re doing,” Louise said, bending down to examine his shoes. “Hmm, they look normal.”

“They’re the same as the last time I saw you. Louise, are you mad I went on vacation with my mom? Because I asked when I was leaving and you specifically said you weren’t.”

She had said it in that classic Louise way, through gritted teeth. Of course she wasn’t mad that Rudy was leaving to go on a cruise for a whole month in the middle of their summer break! Of course she wasn’t jealous that he was going to see most of South America when she’d hardly ever been out of state! But when he’d called - his mom’s phone to her dad’s - Louise hadn’t seemed mad at all. In fact, she’d almost seemed happy, only yelling at Gene to get out of my room when he tried to cut into her story of how she and her siblings helped their Aunt Gayle break into her ex’s condo to steal back a letter she’d sent him while drunk. Perhaps it had been naive of Rudy to take that as forgiveness for abandoning her.

“What? No, obviously not. Switch places with me.”

He frowned, but obediently took her spot on the sidewalk. From here, he could see into the restaurant, where her siblings were braiding each other’s hair - or trying to, anyway. It was kinda hard to braid someone’s hair while they were braiding yours - a lot of arms. He caught Mr Belcher’s eye, who nodded before shooting a worried look at Mrs Belcher. Louise’s mom gave Rudy a feeble thumbs up and turned to talk to her husband.

“Huh,” Louise intoned darkly, frown deepening. “Sidewalk isn’t crooked.”

“…Nope. Are we gonna go inside?”

“Not yet.”

“Oh, okay. You wanna ride bikes? My dad has mine but he can bring it over.”

“Nah, I’m good,” Louise shot back with a grimace. “Hey, Rudes?”

“…Yeah?”

“Just relax, huh? Feels like you’re kinda tense, like maybe you’re holding yourself really tight or something?”

“Maybe a little? Because you’re being really weird?”

Louise finally met his eyes, squinting critically. He fought the urge to back away. (Louise would pounce on any sign of weakness.)

“Urgh! Fine!” She grabbed him by the wrist and dragged him into the restaurant.

“Oh, hey, Rudy!” Gene said, looking away from Tina and accidentally getting his hair pulled for his trouble.

“Hi.” Louise gripped his shoulders and positioned him to stand still.

“Stay there. Mom,” she demanded, “you know what to do.”

“Honey,” Mrs Belcher said, mild panic in her eyes, “it really doesn’t matter. You know that.”

“Mom!”

“Uh, what’s going…?”

Mr Belcher met Rudy’s eyes and shook his head, making a slicing motion across his neck. Behind him, he felt Louise’s back press against his. He fought the urge to move.

Louise’s mom sighed and came around the counter, menu in her hands.

“Louise,” Mr Belcher said, ducking into the kitchen slightly, “are you sure you want to do this?”

With the tone of a man at the gallows, Louise said, “I have to know.”

Louise’s mom placed the menu flat on Rudy’s head, and recognition suddenly shot through his synapses. Uh oh.

“Well,” she soothed, “with the ears…”

With a rustle, Louise tore the hat off. “Measure again.”

The menu slid from his head to Louise’s. Down to Louise’s. Oh no.

“Uh…” Mrs Belcher bit her lip. “I… I think Rudy might be kinda… taller?”

Louise said nothing. Rudy held his breath.

“Okay, definitely,” Mrs Belcher continued. “Rudy’s definitely taller.”

“How much?”

“Oh, I don’t have a tape measure-“

Louise handed her mom a ruler that Rudy recognised from Tina’s pencil case. “How. Much?”

The bell above the door rang and Teddy the handyman walked in.

“Hey, Bob- oh, I…”

“Get out, Teddy,” Mr Belcher warned just as Louise yelled,

“Get out, Teddy!”

“Uh, okay! I’ll be back… in a year.” The handyman ran away as Louise’s father murmured,

“We’re gonna have to call him when it’s safe.”

Mrs Belcher sighed and held the ruler up, sliding her hand onto Rudy’s head to read it.

“How much, Mother?” Louise intoned.

“…Trmunfles.”

“Mom!”

“Two inches, honey. I’m sorry!”

Rudy didn’t need his inhaler - and was a million times too frightened to reach for it either way - but took comfort in the weight of the holster on his hip.

Finally, Louise spoke.

“This is so unfair.” Rudy had expected anger, had been preparing for it. The sadness was a total surprise.

He turned to see Louise, hat in her hands, downcast expression on her face.

“What?”

She turned to him, sighing in frustration.

“I didn’t grow at all this summer. Gene grew an inch and a half, Tina pubed out and grew three inches, but I’m exactly as tall as I was in May. And like, who cares if Tina and Gene get taller? No offence, guys.”

“None taken,” Tina said.

“I’ll forgive you if you give me your dessert,” Gene shot back.

“Not happening. But they were already taller than me. Big whoop. But Rudy? If even you’ve beaten me, I’m gonna end up the shortest kid in school. I bet even Pocket-Sized Rudy’s taller when we go back.”

“No…” Her eyes started glistening and Rudy started to panic.

“And it’s dumb! I know it’s dumb! I just thought, I dunno… we’d be shorties together.”

“Oh.”

“Oh my baby!” Mrs Belcher choked, grabbing Louise by the waist and pulling her into a hug.

“We didn’t know you felt like that, Louise,” her dad said. “We all kinda thought you were mad Tina and Gene got new clothes.”

“And I love you this size,” her mom added. “You think I could pick up Gene or Tina anymore?”

“You could at least try!” Her son shot back.

“I wanna hold you as long as I can,” Mrs Belcher continued. “Maybe this is the universe giving me that.”

“Or it’s the universe realising we can’t afford three new sets of clothes in one summer. I mean, we can’t even really afford two,” her dad added.

“Besides,” Tina said, “I had my first growth spurt when I was ten. You can see my midriff in my fifth grade class photo.”

“Sexy!” Gene shouted.

“Gene.”

Louise bit her lip. “Okay. But if I’m not taller than Dad by the time I graduate, I’m cutting him down to size.”

“Oh my God.”

She turned to Rudy, pulling her hat back on. He breathed for what felt like the first time in minutes. “Did you… still wanna ride bikes?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay, let’s go call your dad.” He followed her out of the restaurant up to the apartment.

“Cool. I’d ride on your bike, but I’m probably too tall for it.”

Louise stopped on the stairs and shot him a look. “…You get one.”

“Yup, no problem, lemme call my dad.”

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day 1 of @roudiseshipweek: suspended below the cut

also available at https://archiveofourown.org/works/61209589/chapters/156421999

Louise inhaled slowly, feeling the sun warm her skin. Her dress clung to her skin, heavy with salt water. The ocean dulled her senses, narrowing her world to nothing but the pleasant hum between her ears.

Then a hand grabbed her ankle.

“Argh!” She tipped backwards under the water with a scream, flailing and kicking in every direction as she fought to right herself. When she finally resurfaced, spitting salt water, she saw a familiar face. “Rudy! What the hell?!”

“I called your name,” the boy choked back, eyes squinted against the onslaught she had splashed him with. “You didn’t answer.”

“My ears were underwater!”

“…Oh.”

She sighed, swimming back towards the shore until she could stand facing him in waist-deep water.

“What did you want, anyway?” She forced herself to speak with a little less venom.

“I was at the Wharf and I saw you in the water.”

“…And?”

“I wanted to say hi. Because we’re friends.”

“Right.” She kicked at shell by her feet. “Hi.”

“Hi.” Rudy smiled sheepishly and then, for no apparent reason, waved. She fought a laugh. “Where are your siblings?”

She shrugged. “I dunno. I think Tina’s got some Thundergirl project about making cookies? Which probably explains where Gene is, too.”

Rudy nodded, looking down at his feet. “Why are you out here, then?”

“No reason. I just… like the water.” He nodded again, painfully earnest.

“Yeah, me too. I was gonna go scuba diving with my dad this summer, but he got indigestion.”

“Indigestion? How does that stop you scuba diving?” Rudy’s gaze darkened.

“If it’s bad enough, indigestion can stop you from doing a lotta stuff. A lot.” Louise decided not to pull on that thread.

“Well anyways, I like… it’s dumb.”

“No, it’s not.” Rudy replied immediately, folding his arms across his chest.

“You don’t even know what it is.”

“If you like it, it’s not dumb. And remember, you’re talking to a cymbal-playing magician. I have a high threshold for things other people think are dumb.” She bit back a laugh.

“Fine! I like floating. It’s all peaceful and crap. My room is literally a closet, and my family are the loudest people on earth, and sometimes, I like floating in the ocean and imagining I’m the only person who exists. Okay?”

Rudy dropped his gaze again. “That sounds… nice. I mean, my house isn’t exactly loud, but still. I can see the appeal of being the only person who exists for a while.”

A weird, amiable feeling surged in Louise’s chest. She fought the urge to grin. She battled down the urge to look away or run home soaking wet. Instead, she regarded Rudy’s slightly sunburned head and said,

“You could do it with me, if you wanted.”

Rudy looked up, eyes wide. “Really?”

“Yeah. I mean, we’d both do it alone, obviously, but… next to each other? Only if you wanted to, which you probably don’t.”

“I’ll do it.”

She bit her tongue by accident. “Oh, cool. Well, you just swim out a bit and then… float. You’re good at swimming, right?”

Rudy gave her a double thumbs-up. “Yeah, my dad made me take advanced classes after the whole bounce house thing. I think I’m technically a registered lifeguard.”

“Okay. So… let’s go?”

Floating beside Rudy was both stranger and less strange than she had expected. On the one hand, she was painfully aware of the boy suspended only a few feet away from her, of the currents gently dragging them closer together and further apart. But something about it felt natural, like this little bubble of calm had always had space enough for two within its walls.

Besides, with him here, she could convince him to pay for ice cream on the way home.

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"Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings" is a warning.

It is a warning that there will be no further warnings. That's what it means. It was designed into the structure of AO3's tagging system for a reason. If you only want to read fic with specific, distinct content warnings, you should not read "Chose Not to Warn" fics. Period. If you choose to read them, that is on you.

Regardless of whether you think the author is an asshole for any other reason, regardless of what you think of the fic they wrote, they're not the asshole for using that tag correctly and as it was designed.

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The rest of the thread is here.

tl;dr: Don’t monetize AO3, kids.  You won’t like what happens next.

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pet play but it's you putting me down

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girlposting

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“You know,” Kabru forced out through mead-sweet lips, “I thought about killing you?” “I know,” said Laios. “How would you do it?” Kabru drunkenly mentions his past violent thoughts about Laios. Laios is very into it.

labru weird freak sex!!!!! yay!!!

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So, FYI you guys, sometimes if you go to your favorite writers and flail at them a lot about how much you love their fics with lots of specific examples, they will let you read thousands of words of their unpublished WIPs and you can flail even more. Also sometimes after that you get to be friends, too, and help them come up with ideas. And vice versa! This is pretty much the best thing in the world and it is called fandom.

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me, the motherfucker with over 50 abandoned works in progress: i have an idea

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reccing someone else's fic for the first time bc you KNOW i love daemon AUs at the worst of times (hence the users) but this is. literally the best dunmeshi fic i've ever read. it's introspective, it's creative, it's perfectly characterised, it's hilarious, and best of all, it's still ongoing!! go read this IMMEDIATELY