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wxndinmyhair · 6 years

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Arianna Appreciation Month- Week One: Happiness

//Y’all this got so out of control I AM SORRY. Because I’m a Rapunzel blog, I decided to write this from Rapunzel’s point of view, and I think I’ll write the rest of the prompts that way as well. But rest assured, it is definitely a story about her relationship with Arianna, and is definitely about a happy moment for Arianna- even if Rapunzel’s emotions are a little more conflicted. You’ll see what I mean ;) It’s a bit of a rough draft, but I hope you enjoy it anyways!!

Being back in the castle felt like a dream. Not just in the sense that it was amazing- which it was!- but in the sense that it really felt like a dream. Like none of it was even real. Every now and then Rapunzel would turn her head and nearly topple over, expecting the weight of hair that no longer existed to move with her. Or she’d turn a corner and see a shadowy figure- and wince- only to find it was just one of the guards. For weeks she’d wandered the corridors on her own, trying to figure out this strange new home- and how to make it home.

Right now, it just wasn’t. Rapunzel lay flat on her back, staring up at the bright canopy of her enormous bed. She shifted her gaze to the walls- unpainted and bare. She looked next to the vanity, to the delicate little figurines of horses and princesses and knights that lined it. There was even a small stuffed pony, one of it’s white ears clearly having been chewed on at one point. Then she turned her head to see the bright white armoire- and were she to open it, she’d see the tiny little outfits that had once been meant for her. On the other side of it was a portrait hanging over the fireplace- stern and austere, it was a painting of the infant Rapunzel and her parents. Two people who were effectively strangers to her, and whom the portraits still captured not at all.

At one time, Rapunzel knew this room had been meant to be her nursery. Instead it had become like something of a shrine- the portrait, the decorations, all of it had been unchanged until very recently. The armoire now housed dresses meant for a young adult alongside the baby clothes. Rapunzel hadn’t yet asked for them to be taken somewhere else- it didn’t seem right. And instead of the crib that had been there the night of her arrival, there was now this too-big bed. That had needed to be changed. Rapunzel was definitely too big for a crib.

But as much this room was hers, it wasn’t hers. Rapunzel rolled over, only to come face to face with her oldest friend. Pascal the chameleon gave her a long, knowing stare. Rapunzel sighed and propped herself up on her elbow.

“Well, what do you think we should do, Pascal?” she challenged him. “I can’t just ask them if I can paint on the walls. This is a castle, not an empty tower. There’s...rules here.” Besides, her dad was kind of intimidating.

Pascal clearly wasn’t swayed. He gestured towards the room and made a gagging motion. Rapunzel sat up, rolling her eyes.

“I know, I know it’s...not really us,” she said, staring back at the perfectly pristine white furniture. The vanity really was the worst offender- bright white with gold plating, and all those creepy little figures staring at her. The stuffed horse was fine, she guessed, but it wasn’t the same as Millie, the little rag doll she’d left back in the tower. She’d never even thought to bring Millie, who’d been long ago forgotten on the top of Rapunzel’s old bookshelf. She’d been a birthday gift from- well. Not that it mattered anymore.

Pascal chirped at her, jumping up to sit on Rapunzel’s shoulder. She stood up and crossed the room, picking the pony up off the table. She ran her finger over the chewed up ear, trying to imagine herself having once shoved it into her mouth. “I guess I must have done that,” she said, glancing at Pascal with a small smile. “I mean, I don’t think mo- my...she did that.”

Pascal frowned at her. Rapunzel sighed.

“I know, Pascal, but...it’s still weird,” Rapunzel said, setting the pony back down. “It’s like I have this whole other life now, and...I don’t actually fit in it. This room...this place...and them,” she nodded towards the portrait. “How am I going to do this?”

Pascal crawled down Rapunzel’s arm, coming to rest in the palm of her hand. He said nothing- he never really did- but he did lift one of this little feet and press it onto her thumb. And then he straightened his tail and mimicked the motion of a paint brush. Rapunzel smiled despite herself.

“You’re right. I definitely can’t be myself if I can’t paint,” she said. She looked back at the portrait, considering it. She didn’t think her dad would be much for painting, but...Rapunzel’s eyes lingered on the Queen.

“I guess we’ve gotta start somewhere, right?”

The next day, Rapunzel approached the woman who-was-her-mother-she-supposed after breakfast. She let just enough time pass so that it didn’t seem too weird, before sneaking up the stairs to the massive drawing room where she knew the Queen spent most of her time.

Pascal gave Rapunzel a look, as if to ask ‘why all the secrecy?’ But Rapunzel only put a finger to her lips and whispered “I don’t want the guards to see, that’s all.” She crept alongside the wall, pausing at the door to listen in. She couldn’t really hear anything much, except the occasional flip of a page.

“She’s reading, do you think we should interrupt? Maybe she wouldn’t like it...” Rapunzel pressed her thumb to her mouth, biting down on the nail. A new habit, now that it was harder to tug on her hair. Pascal gave her another look, before nudging her with his claws.

“Yeah, okay okay,” she said, stepping around the corner. Now standing in the doorway, she could see Queen Arianna seated on the sofa, perfectly upright, reading a book. Arianna looked up, a genuine look of surprise on her face, and then she smiled.

“Oh! Rapunzel, I wasn’t expecting you,” she said, setting the book down. Rapunzel gave a small wave, trying hard to keep a genuine smile on her own face instead of a nervous grimace.

“Hi, um...hi,” she said, faltering slightly. “I was just...walking by...thought I’d pop in.” She punctuated her sentence with a small laugh, shuffling her feet. The smile on Arianna’s face fell a little, and Rapunzel knew why all too well.

“Actually...” she continued on, “I was um...I was wondering...about my bedroom?”

“Yes? What about it?” Arianna asked.

“It’s just that...this is probably gonna sound crazy...to you,” Rapunzel fumbled, fiddling with the short ends of her hair. “But back...I mean...you know, there, I...well I really liked to paint. A lot, and we...I mean, I...didn’t really have paper. Or canvas. So moth- I mean...”

Rapunzel stopped, coloring furiously at what she’d almost said. A dark expression crossed Arianna’s face, one Rapunzel couldn’t quite read.

“Go on,” Arianna said after a beat. Rapunzel pressed a hand to her cheek, turning slightly to hide her blush. Why had she just said that? She’d vowed never to say that!

“Um...w-well anyways I would sometimes paint on the walls and I was wondering if I could do that in my room,” Rapunzel said in one breath, still hiding her face from Arianna’s gaze. She couldn’t bear to think what her real mother must be thinking right now. This was probably hopeless anyway. Princesses didn’t paint on walls, what was she thinking? And now she’d messed it up and Arianna was going to get angry, Rapunzel just knew it...even Pascal shrank back a little, though there was no hair to hide in.

She was shocked, then, when she felt a gentle hand on her shoulder. Rapunzel’s head snapped up, locking eyes with a familiar shade of green. Arianna was smiling kindly at her, as though nothing strange had happened at all. Rapunzel, if anything, was even more embarrassed. She let her hand drop, wrapping it around her arm.

“I think that’s a lovely idea, Rapunzel. I didn’t know you liked to paint,” Arianna said, and there was only a brief flicker of pain in her voice. Rapunzel, shocked to find she wasn’t in any trouble, gave a slight smile of relief.

“Y-yeah...since I was little,” she said. “I just thought it might...make it feel more like home.”

Arianna grinned at that word, the hand at Rapunzel’s shoulder squeezing just slightly. “I think I know just the thing,” she said. “Can you wait in your bedroom for me?” Rapunzel nodded, more confused than ever. Arianna gave Rapunzel one last bright smile, and sped off to places unknown. Rapunzel glanced at Pascal.

“Do you think that went well?”

It wasn’t much later that Arianna came bounding through the doors, a load of paint brushes in her arms. Behind her was one of the guards, Pete Rapunzel thought his name was, pushing a large cart with buckets of paint. They were different than the paints Rapunzel had left behind, but her heart still lifted at the sight of it. There were more colors here than she’d ever had before!

“You can go,” Arianna said to Pete, who nodded and shut the door behind him. Rapunzel, feeling more excited than she had in weeks, pressed her hands together and bit back a squeal.

“You did all this?” she asked, tearing her eyes away from a perfect shade of purple to look up at the Queen. Arianna was grinning from ear to ear, and Rapunzel didn’t quite understand why.

“Do you like it?” Arianna asked, to which Rapunzel responded in earnest.

“I love it! And I can really paint...everywhere?” she gestured around the room, which now looked less like a sterile living room and more like a blank canvas. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had this much space.

“If that’s what makes you happy, then you can paint wherever you want,” Arianna said. “Your father won’t mind. We want you to feel at home here, Rapunzel.” Rapunzel turned back to Arianna, a small smile on her face.

“Thank you, Moth-” she fumbled again, biting her lip. “Um...thank you.”

Arianna stood still for a moment. Rapunzel looked down, hugging her arms to her chest. Why was this so hard? Mother. Just say Mother! She’d said it so many times before, but...

“What about ‘Mom?’“

That was the last thing Rapunzel had expected to hear.

“Huh?”

“You called her ‘Mother,’” Arianna said evenly, a very calm expression on her face- almost too calm. Rapunzel winced, mumbling out a quick “sorry” before being interrupted again.

“You don’t need to be so formal with me,” Arianna said, stepping over to Rapunzel’s side. Rapunzel flushed again, biting her lip hard. Inside, she was so relieved she felt like crying- she didn’t have to say it after all! She looked up, and Arianna was so different. She just knew things without Rapunzel having to tell her, and she could sense that now- Arianna just knew. She knew how she felt. Rapunzel’s lower lip trembled.

“Mom,” she managed to say, and Arianna’s face split into a grin so wide Rapunzel thought it would break. “I like that.”

“Me too.”

Then, without much warning, Arianna enveloped Rapunzel into a hug so tight she thought she would break. But she didn’t- and on second thought, break was the wrong word.

This wasn’t breaking. This was healing.

#arianna appreciation month #queen arianna #rapunzel #tangled #( drabbles )#//this is long enough I could post it on ffn/ao3 lmao

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kae-karo · 3 years

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fic writer interview!

i saw @prince-liest do this and thus i will take ur 'tagging anyone who wants to do this' seriously lmaoooo (also hi btw hope ur well!!! 💜💜)

How many works do you have on AO3?

ahaha,,,,,159 lmao

What's your total AO3 word count?

fdsjkkjlsfdklj as of today, 2,089,769

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

only three fsdjkldslfkj the phandom (dan&phil), bnha, and genshin!

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

chosen (x) - zhongchi (genshin)

to love (and be loved in return) (x) - kaeluc (genshin)

little bird (x) - dabihawks (bnha)

feet don't touch the ground (x) - xiaoven (genshin)

i knew you were fire (x) - dabihawks (bnha)

honestly none of that surprises me except that little bird is still up there, although i think i owe that to sif (@the-final-sif) for sharing it around the time it got posted since it was partly inspired by her raptor stress grip post!!

the rest are all chaptered fics, which is mostly what i expected to be in the top 5 lmao

Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

yes!!! always!!!! no matter what u comment, i will respond!!! and if i don't, it's probably cause ao3 didn't notify me properly or i didn't see it in my inbox or something

as for why, it's mostly to do with like...i know how hard it can be for some people to comment, even just a bunch of heart emojis or a 'i loved this!' or something short and simple? and it means a lot to me that ppl are going out of their way to say something nice, no matter how small, and it's really really important to me to acknowledge that

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

hmm,,,,,this is a hard one, cause for a very long time, my policy was that my fic would always have a happy ending? and for a long time, that was true!! but the dabihawks interaction (during the raid) broke me, and from an emotional standpoint, i think freeing icarus (x) is probably the one that has the angstiest ending of the two or so that i wrote in that time?

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

u know i really haven't written any crossovers? it's normally not my thing cause my brain typically focuses on a single thing and doesn't really have the capacity to think about more than that, so i end up writing just au-style or fusion-style (shoutout to that one bnha but it was scooby doo fic i wrote - x)

i don't think i'd be opposed to writing a crossover but i'd have to be SUPER inspired by the idea and both fandoms lmao

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

aha yes, i have. the only straight up hate i've received was on a kaeluc fic (surprisingly not because it was kaeluc, but bc i was 'mistreating' kaeya in the fic) - to be entirely fair, the commenter pointed out something that i hadn't realized myself, and it led to a second piece of the story that helped me tie up some loose ends, but...let's just say they weren't very kind about their feelings lmao

other than that, i had someone very upset because i didn't tag which character was bottoming in a fic (valid if that bugs u!) and they read through most of it before getting to the smut (and said that they enjoyed everything up to that point) then said they were 'disgusted' by it. i have opinions on that and a few other comments they made, but i will keep them to myself lmao

and beyond that, just a few ppl on my xiaoven fic saying that they were unhappy about the background kaeluc (which is tagged lmao) - really no hate whatsoever til genshin, honestly, which is...very hmmmm :) lmao

Do you write smut? If so what kind?

yep!!! mostly vanilla or vanilla-adjacent lmao i'm not super into heavy kink, although i know if epi reads this she's gonna call me out for being a monsterfucker bc of my dragon!zhongli smut :) lmaoooo but really i tend to write pretty vanilla smut! i also prefer to avoid any noncon/dubcon or hate sex or anything particularly angsty, just not my jam to write!

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

hmm i don't think so? although i don't heavily monitor ao3 (or wattpad/ffn), so i can't really say that for sure lmao

Have you ever had a fic translated?

yes!!! i've had a few fics translated to russian (little bird is one of them!) which is very sweet and i hope that anyone who prefers to read in russian has been enjoying those fics!!

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

alksdfjklsdf only once, and it's deadass how me and rose got together. we decided to co-write a podcast au fic for the phandom (x) and ended up flirting via google docs asldkfjkldsfj

What’s your all time favourite ship?

what a horrible question, making me choose between my children like this!!!! sdlfkjdskf tbh i'm not sure i have a real answer bc it changes as i go? and 'favorite' is so vague,,,,,favorite to read? to write about? to think about? asdklfjkjsdfk i really don't know if i have an answer, but i'll maybe say kaeluc for now lmao

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

well first and foremost, with only 2 exceptions, i never post a fic unless it's done. i tend to follow wherever my passion leads my brain, so i'm notorious for jumping around between stories and taking breaks from long fic and returning later on to finish them, and i know that i would not do well under the pressure of posting something unfinished and trying to finish it in a timely manner

that said, many wips sit in my google doc folder, but one is Well Known as the one that has followed me through both the phandom and bnha (rose keeps asking who i'm gonna switch the chars to in genshin, but i think it suits bakudeku too well to do that) - only the lonely survive. it sits at like 36k in my wip folder, and i adore the story dearly and i want very much to finish it, but it never makes it quite to the forefront of my motivation, and so it rarely if ever gets worked on...i hate the idea of 'never' finishing it, but it's unfortunately quite likely that i won't 😭😭😭

What are your writing strengths?

emotion!!! and immersion!!! it's my goal in a fic to make it as immersive as possible and saturated with emotion to help convey that feeling of being in the place of the pov character, and i think i do it pretty well. also just bc i feel a little obligated to say it - another strength is actually sitting down and putting words down. i know that's a struggle for a lot of writers and i often get,,,,lovingly bullied? i guess? lmao for being able to bash out a few k in a day most days

What are your writing weaknesses?

this isn't so much a weakness i guess but i am basically incapable of treating crack fic as crack. if i have a cracky idea, it will, without a doubt, end up turning into a Perfectly Serious fic somehow (notable 'crack treated so seriously that it's no longer crack' fics include: todoroki doing the freeze-the-ocean thing from frozen 2, 'shmigaraki', todo and denki get together bc of vine references, the league sells feet pics, shiggy and natsu own a nightclub/bakery, scooby doo but make it bnha, and dabi getting his ears pierced at claire's)

but in all seriousness, i think my main weakness is that i often get comfortable? and i'm not one to typically push myself forcefully out of my comfort zone when it comes to stories that i come up with on my own, which often means that ideas inspired by discussions with others are what prompt me to branch out and try new things?

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

i think, like anything, it has its place? there are certainly stories where it makes sense to do that and even adds depth to a story, although i personally am not exceptionally comfortable enough with other languages (except maybe asl) to do that in fic myself without the assistance of someone very comfortable with that language lmao

What was the first fandom you wrote for?

the phandom! not really my jam to write rpf anymore but it definitely got me started and i'm really grateful for my time writing there, as everyone was super supportive and kind, and it was really a perfect place for a beginner to get comfortable and practice

What’s your favourite fic you’ve written?

again, forcing me to choose between my children...i really don't know that i can pick one fic bc they all exist in such wildly different spaces? i poured my worldbuilding soul into the king of disaster series (mainly dabihawks - x), exile (dan and phil - x) was my first massively long fic, our hearts are heavy burdens we shouldn't have to bear alone (chayea - x) is probably my favorite character/character dynamic study, i'm exceptionally proud of the smut in chosen (zhongchi - x), the list goes on and on and on lmao like. i could probably list half my fics as favorites in some regard dsflkjdfsjkl

anyway, tyty bellamy for putting this on my dash so i could do it as well!!

tagging: literally anyone who wants to do this, i have so many writer friends slkdjfjklsdf but please please tag me if u do it so i can read urs!!! 💜💜💜

#writing

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backslashdelta · 3 years

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@mostgeckcellent thank you so much for the tag! This is such a fun tag game! I'm making a new post because this is long and so the post you tagged me in was fairly long as well lol

how many works do you have on AO3?

I have 42 works on AO3 across 2 pseuds! That being said, one of my pseuds is for podfics only (all but one of which are podfics of my own works); the number of works on my main account where I keep all of the written versions of my fics is 33.

what’s your total AO3 word count?

250 307 words :) and I am very proud of all most of them lol

how many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

Only one, and it's Glee. I may or may not branch out in the future, only time will tell ;)

what are your top 5 fics by kudos?

It Was Only a Kiss (582 kudos). I think this absolutely deserves to be my top fic, in my opinion. It's my longest work, and it's the piece I worked on the longest, and poured the most of my love into. I'm very very proud of this one. Though, fair warning, it is an anti-Blaine Kurtbastian fic, so to my Klaine followers: you probably don't want to read it. But that's okay. Because lots of other people already have lmao

I Want the World to See You'll Be With Me (116 kudos). A sweet Kurtbastian one-shot I wrote as a Christmas present to @unhappyending last year. I'm surprised to see it so high, because I'm not really a fluff writer and this is unmistakably fluff, but... I guess the Kurtbastian fans love them some fluff!

Notes of an Old Mistake (96 kudos). It's Kurtbastian, it's angst, it's porn with plot! I feel like this fic is one of the most me things I've ever posted, which is interested since it was a gift to @pouralittlewater and very much based on what she wanted written. Guess we have similar tastes!

A Rush of Blood to the Head (76 kudos). The first pwp I ever posted, a Kurtbastian vampire!Sebastian halloween one-shot. Iconic of that to be this far up the list honestly.

The Hazards of Love 1 (68 kudos). This fic is what really got me in to writing. It's ~50k words, my second-longest fic to date, and it means a lot to me. There are some things in it that I'm iffy about, but also some scenes that I really, really love, and are very dear to my heart. When I started posting it, I didn't think anyway would read it because of the premise. Apparently I was wrong.

do you respond to comments, why or why not?

Yes. I always respond to the first comment someone leaves on any of my fics, or any chapter of one of my fics, if it's a main comment. Sometimes people will reply to my reply, or reply to another commentor, and in those cases I don't always respond, but otherwise I do; if someone binged one of my multichaps and left a comment on every chapter, I will respond to every single one.

what’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

This is an easy tie between He Forgets Me, He Forgets Me Not and Never Ask For Anyone But You (a birthday gift for @unhappyending), both of which end with the death of one of the main characters; in the first, the final scene is a funeral where it's revealed that the character has died, and in the second, the actual scene where the death occurs is described (though it could be left up to interpretation whether the character actually does pass away).

do you write crossovers? if so what is the craziest one you’ve written?

I do not, but I have an idea for one that I might eventually write...

have you ever received hate on a fic?

I received a hateful review on FFN once, but it was clearly spam. Other than that, the closest I've gotten to hate has been someone asking me to go a different direction with a fic after I had already made my intentions clear; if that's the worst I have to deal with, I am very happy. Especially since there are a lot of things I write about that some people may have a problem with lol

do you write smut? if so what kind?

Girl yes. I've already linked 3 explicit fics in this post lmao who am I if not a smut writer?

have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my knowledge!

have you ever had a fic translated?

I haven't! I'd love to translate my own fics into French though. I think that would be cool. My French is not good enough unfortunately, but maybe someday if I ever make an effort to improve it.

have you ever co-written a fic before?

I have! Last Christmas @unhappyending and I (KC you're getting tagged A LOT in this post lol sorry) co-wrote the Kurtbastian 2020 Advent Calendar. We posted one chapter per day starting on December first and leading all the way up to Christmas Day (inclusive). It was a lot of work, but also a lot of fun! I also recorded the podfic :)

what’s your all time favourite ship?

Kurtbastian. I'm a huge multi-shipper, as we all know, but Kurtbastian is where my heart truly lies.

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

Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow. This was originally a one-shot for @blangstydays, and then I decided to write another chapter, and now it's sitting there as a WIP on AO3 and I never think about it and will probably never finish it. Oops, sorry.

what are your writing strengths?

I think my biggest strengths are a) dialogue, and b) describing a character's internal thoughts/logic/whatever. These are kind of tied together; essentially, I just think I'm good at getting into the character's head and really being able to put into words what they would think and say in a way that feels authentic to them.

what are your writing weaknesses?

Right now my biggest weakness is having the motivation to write. But when I do have the motivation, my biggest weakness is probably transitioning between scenes, or scenes that don't feature much dialogue. I'm just... not the best at describing things, imo. I also don't think I'm great at scenes with a lot of people; I don't know what to do with all of them, and even if I do, I can have a hard time getting into the heads of that many different people for the same scene.

what are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

I think I've written maybe a few words in French, but only because I know a little bit of the language. I wouldn't write anything substantial in another language unless I had someone who knew that language and was willing to proof-read it for me. In general, I don't think I have an issue with it. I'd have to translate it if I was reading it in a fic. I don't know, it's not something I've given much thought to.

what was the first fandom you wrote for?

Glee. The first and only <3

what’s your favourite fic you’ve written?

The answer to this is easily It Was Only a Kiss. I have some other one-shots that have a special place in my heart, by IWOAK will forever and always be my baby, and I am so glad she gets the love she deserves in the form of hits/kudos/comments <3

Time to tag some of my writer friends! @unhappyending (figured I should tag you in this post one more time lol), @esperantoauthor, @20xbetterthanu, @awkwardcaterpillar, @useless-fanfictions, @blangstydays, and anyone else who wants to do this please feel free to do so and tag me, I'd love to read your answers!

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arofili · 4 years

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how’d u get into writing? like, writing fic and being part of the silm community, being Known, that stuff? i’m really new to being a silm cc and i’d love to know ur advice! also: how’d u build up the confidence to start posting meta/hcs? bc i have a Lot of hcs and meta ideas but also i’m really anxious abt posting them bc yknow anxiety is like that

these are some great questions, anon! I’m gonna go through them one by one :)

how’d u get into writing?

not to be like, super cliche, but I’ve...kind of always been a writer? as long as I can remember I’ve been telling stories, and when I was too young to read or write I would dictate them to my mom, who would type them up for me and help me choose clipart illustrations to accompany them. when I got old enough I would always be writing; I attempted my first novel at age 9, and while that never really went anywhere I did finish the darn thing and it had some pretty sophisticated plot twists for a 9-year-old!

like, writing fic

around the same time I got into fandom! I was deep into Warrior cats (like. really deep) and I believe I started writing my first fics when I was like? 10 or 11? my memory is kind of fuzzy on the order of things, but I know I got an account on the Warriors forums when I was 9, and that I was already posting my fic there when I made my FFN account. I believe I was 12 when that happened, but who knows. I haven’t the faintest idea of what happened with those forums, but uhhh pretty much all of my Warriors fic is still up on FFN lmao. you could probably find that if you want to but um...maybe don’t?

my first Big Fic was a self-insert of...my entire 5th/6th grade class into the then-current timeline of the Warriors books...well. I honestly think that might still be my most popular fic of all time l m a o though I try not to think about it because Hashtag Cringe. though as much as I look back on that time with a “yikes,” I am very grateful for the Warriors fandom in a way? that place was so accepting and encouraging of OCs, of AUs, of completely disregarding canon, of worldbuilding that is completely alien from canon - it was a fantastic sandbox to begin with, there were so many ways to write stories and practically all of them were accepted and had fellow fans invested in them!

and being part of the silm community,

soooo I wrote Warriors fic until my freshman year of high school (wow sdjfhkdsjfh), which was when BOTFA came out, and I was absolutely wrecked by the ending and immediately started writing my own fixit fic. I was also super hooked on Kiliel! so that was my intro to the Tolkien fandom; and simultaneously, I joined tumblr, and, well, the rest is history tbh.

I honestly do not remember when I first read the Silm, but I kind of got into the more obscure parts of the Tolkien fandom through fandom osmosis, and I do have a vague memory of doodling the Finwean family tree in geometry class so it might have been later on in freshman year? that was also the same time I was having my Queer Awakening, and Russingon definitely contributed to me unlearning my internalized queerphobia, so probably around then.

anyway - queer awakening, tumblr, Tolkien, transitioning from FFN to AO3 - all of that was happening around the same time. I know I dipped my toes in the Silm fandom then, but I was still primarily a Hobbit fic writer focusing on Kiliel. toward the end of high school I kind of shifted to LOTR and (qp) Gigolas...but somehow the Silm fandom is the most active of the Big Three within the Tolkien fandom, and I was getting dragged further and further in.

it wasn’t until @backtomiddleearthmonth 2019, my freshman year of college, that I really dove into writing Silm fic! I picked some Silm-specific bingo cards and never looked back :D that was really not all that long ago but I am obsessed in a way I don’t really remember being even with TH/LOTR, I obviously cannot see the future but I anticipate hanging out here for a long time. the Silm fandom is great overall and there’s just so much material to work with!! <3

being Known, that stuff?

so I don’t really have a whole lot of context on how “well known” I am in the fandom?? definitely within the past year and a half or so I’ve noticed that I like, get asks like this, and get a significant amount of notes on my posts, and I’ve made a lot of fandom friends especially since I joined some Silm servers on Discord (hmu if you want invites; I’m on the SWG server and 2 general Silm servers and the Russingon server) this past year. and I have 3,000 followers as of this month - and while ever since I hit 1k I don’t particularly pay attention to my follower count I can definitely say that I have more engagement now than I used to! but it took me a long time to build this “audience,” I suppose; I’ve been around the Tolkien fandom since late 2014, so nearly 6 years of this, lol.

really the best way to build a following, in my experience, is to just post a lot of stuff. when I started making edits I got a lot more engagement, because for a long time I would post one every day! (I made them in batches and queued them; I didn’t actually make one every day lol...and now I’m too busy to do that, so I just make edits for events and whenever I feel like it) And I have [checks ao3] 145 works in the Silm fandom as of today - I’m fairly prolific! I’ve come to generally expect 3-10 comments on most of my oneshots, which is a lot more than I used to have back in the day. consistency and quantity are more likely to attract people to your work - and quality, of course.

also: how’d u build up the confidence to start posting meta/hcs?

I’ve been writing since I was very young, and I’ve been writing fic for like...11 years? I think? in that time I’ve produced a lot of garbage, but imo most of that was in my Warrior cats phase, so I came into the Tolkien fandom with confidence in myself and my writing. I’m also working on original fiction on the side (I hope to eventually become a published fantasy author, but right now school takes up most of my time that I don’t devote to fandom, which gives me more immediate gratification and also is just Very Fun) and I know I’m a good writer.

basically, I’ve been doing this for like...half my life, and I’m still fairly young, so I’ve had time to build up my skill and confidence and I know I’m only going to get better with time. you will get better with practice. like I said, I’ve written a lot of terrible stuff, and it’s only through sucking for a long time that I’ve gotten to the point I am now. and I am far from perfect; I know I still have lots of room to grow!

for meta and headcanons specifically, I started with writing fic, and then when I didn’t think I could stretch something into an entire fic I would just make a hc post. I have a vivid memory of writing my first meta in a notebook during driver’s ed because it was so goddamn boring and I had Thoughts about Tauriel and Thranduil!

in my experience, meta comes from having Opinions and wanting to share them and most importantly to back them up - you need to have sources! you need to have reasons! you need to have justification! otherwise it’s not meta, it’s a headcanon or an AU. which is fine!! I love hc/AU!!! but they are not the same as meta, and I’m a stickler for being accurate when it comes to meta. if you have sources and shit to back you up, that will help you build the confidence to share your meta.

sharing disinformation and passing it off as meta instead of just coming out and saying this is a headcanon/baseless theory/AU or whatever is such a fandom pet peeve of mine; it’s not bad for something to not be Accurate! you just have to have that disclaimer - and even when you’re writing meta, you’re offering an interpretation of the text, and you need to acknowledge that other interpretations also exist and are valid.

um. I hope this answers your questions? and sorry for basically word-vomiting my entire life story, lol. this post got long; the main reason I’ve written so much fic is because I really just cannot shut up for the life of me. sooo if you can tear of that filter of being shy and just. say shit. you can go so far~!

OH and one more thing - I can’t believe I almost forgot this - but part of being a writer is participating in the community. this is code for LEAVE A DAMN COMMENT IF YOU LIKE A FIC. that’s how I made most of my fandom friends before Discord! I follow @ao3feed-silmarillion and stalk that blog for new Silm fics; I read the ones that interest me and comment on them.

I know this is not really the most common way for folks to find fic but it’s so rewarding to interact with new fic, new writers, new commentors, new stories - you can find gems that don’t rise to the top of the kudos/bookmark lists; you become friends with your fellow writers; you can watch people grow and change; you support smaller content creators. yeah, you might not be getting Just The Best Stuff, but it’s so so so worth it!!

and if you make friends in the comment section of other people’s fic - I guarantee you some of them will go to your AO3 profile and check out your fic, too! and they’ll leave comments! this is a fic community, and that’s what I cherish about fandom most of all, tbh.

anyway - again - sorry for rambling so much, but I hoped this helped! feel free to send in another ask, or to come talk to me off anon if you’d like! and definitely send me your stuff if/when you decide to share it; I would love to support you!!! <3

#silm #silm fandom #silmarillion #fan culture #tmi anna #(for real this time sjdfhdkfh)#tefain nin #long post #anon #answers

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stefciastark · 3 years

Text

"I'm sorry. I promise-" ~Webpril Day 30

A/N: Here is the final prompt fill! It's crazy to think it's been a whole month of writing every day, and thank you all so much for continuing to support me and leave comments behind and everything, it means so much. Thank you as well to @webpril for making this amazing challenge! It's my first time back into the world of writing after many many years of putting it on the back burner, and I've enjoyed this challenge so much and I'm really surprised and happy that I managed to get all 30 days done without bailing out lmao. It's going to feel super strange not pumping out one prompt fill per day, but it was fun while it lasted! I have loads of WIP that will be getting uploaded/updated after I take a couple of days off of writing, so keep an eye out for those! Hope you enjoy :) x

~Read it on AO3

~Read it on FFN

As Tony weaved in and out between the buildings of midtown Manhattan, he was keeping an eye on Peter’s suit. More precisely, the dashcam-like footage feed that relayed from Peter’s mask into Tony’s HUD. Even though he’d seen Peter navigating the concrete jungle like a spider monkey before, he still internally braced himself to see the kid crash face-first into a block of apartments or miss a web altogether and fall a couple hundred feet.

What worried Tony the most though, was watching combat through Peter’s eyes. The sheer quantity of near misses... it made Tony flinch when he was paying too much attention to Peter’s camera feed and not enough to Tony’s reality in front of his own eyes.

As Tony took a left down a nearby alleyway, he saw Steve fending off seven of the strange creatures. They looked like a cousin of the Chitauri, but instead of the skin being a sickly shade of pale green - or yellow, none of them could come to an agreement - they were a dark red. It was almost sickening to look at; their skin looked permanently slick with blood, and Tony was going to have to get his hearing checked after the piercing cries he’d been hearing nonstop for the last two hours.

Landing as gracefully as he could in the tight space, he joined Steve in the fray. Tony was having some serious déjà-vu as he used Steve’s shield to ricochet a repulsor beam into two of the creatures. They crumpled to a heap on the ground, a sizzling hole occupying the space where their shoulder joints used to be.

When they got to the final one in the alley, Tony was able to get a really good look at it now that he wasn’t being assaulted from all sides. Its eyes gleamed a bright yellow, reptilian slits staring through him coldly. The maw on the creature was longer than its Chitauri (maybe) relative, and its teeth began to gnash with feral vigour as it approached the two men. One perfectly aimed miniature missile to the jugular had it go completely limp as the life left its eyes.

“Thanks,” Steve breathed. He was beginning to tire, especially after the two hour mark of keeping the fight going. The creatures seemed to keep coming with no sign of slowing down and while Steve didn’t want to admit that he was beginning to feel the exhaustion, Tony could tell. They’d known each other for long enough to recognise the signs.

“Anything for you, sweetcheeks,” Tony shot back, voice dripping with satire. Taking off once more, he heard Steve over the comms.

“You just had to make it weird, didn’t you.” Steve didn’t frame it as a question.

About two streets over, Tony could hear the Hulk’s angered roars and the sound of more of Tony’s money needing to be thrown at post-Avengers infrastructure repairs.

Natasha was doing some motorcycle-based groundwork, S.H.I.E.L.D having finally give the agent a vehicle with built-in weaponry. Watching Natasha at work was like watching the sea part as the waves of the alien threat were mowed down ruthlessly in her path.

At present, Clint was sitting on the back of the bike facing backwards towards the swam that was in pursuit. Each arrow fired found its mark. Tony groaned internally as Clint used an explosive arrow right down the centre of the street, and he watched as slabs of concrete went flying.

As they moved rapidly south, they entered the Financial District in the lowest portion of Manhattan. On Tony’s right, there was The Battery park, which eventually ended to become the Upper Bay. The large body of water gave Tony a distinct form of Peter-induced Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. All he could see was the bisected Ferry, and Peter crash landing a plane which gave Tony more grey hairs than he’d bargained for by his age. All good things came in threes, Tony noted wryly, and the current situation seemed like a perfect time and place to complete the Trilogy of Unfortunate Events.

The team could really use Thor. The Asgardian was off-world and the dense swarm of snarling reptilians would be disposed of much more easily with a solid bout of guided thunder from the god.

As Tony watched the erratic throng of blood-red skin surge through the streets, he passively noted that they were heading straight for him. The way that they were perfectly lined up prompted Tony to pursue what would be a very expensive course of action.

“F.R.I.D.A.Y, reroute power to the main RT.”

“As you wish, Boss.”

He felt the repulsors in charge of flight weaken slightly as any excess or temporarily unnecessary power was routed into the centre chest piece’s reactor. The unibeam that stemmed from it was powerful but would be taxing on the suit. But, there wouldn’t be another opportunity again to hit hundreds all at once as they funnelled and bottlenecked their way in.

“The power is done rerouting to the primary Repulsor Transmitter.”

Tony lined up the beam as best as he could down the road, but just before the blast left his chest plate, a blur of red swung immediately in front of him. Tony didn’t have time to panic or wonder what the hell that was before the unibeam sailed straight through the centre of the swarm and wiped out what F.R.I.D.A.Y told him was about seventy-five per cent of his target. He faintly recalled seeing his own Iron Man suit reflected in Peter’s monitor in that fraction of a second.

Turning to his left, he saw Peter staring at the slightly smoking path of alien bodies left in the street in the wake of the blast.

“Hey kid, you wanna explain what the hell that was? I could have killed you!” Tony’s helmet dematerialised, revealing an expression laced with a combination of concern and fury.

Peter immediately jumped on the defensive, hearing the aggravated undertone in Tony’s words. “I’m sorry! I promise-”

“I don’t want your promises, Pete, I just don’t want you playing Tarzan right in front of a deadly weapon,” Tony sighed, rubbing a metal-clad hand down his face. “If you die, that’s on me.”

“Sorry, Mr Stark.” Although Tony couldn’t read Peter’s expression through his mask, Peter’s eyes were downcast. As much as Tony wanted to be irritated at the kid sometimes, he couldn’t bring himself to at that moment. At least disaster number three hadn't come to pass...yet.

Walking over to where Peter stood, Tony clapped a hand on Peter’s shoulder and squeezed. “You’re doing great, kid.”

Peter watched as Tony’s helmet rematerialised once more and followed the red and gold as Tony flew back towards the centre of the fight. Peter smiled to himself behind the mask, and as he swung back towards his teammates, he softly whispered to himself: “You’re doing great, Peter...you’re doing great.”

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krosaceae · 3 years

Note

1, 3, 5, 15 :)

Fanfic Writer Questions! Feel free to send me an ask :)

Thanks a ton for the ask! I'll be answering all these in regards to Barriers, quite possibly the world's most self-indulgent Graire fic (Read on AO3 or FFN)

1. If you had to create a soundtrack for your story, what songs would you choose? Why?

Damn, this is so hard considering how much music I listen to while writing/planning Barriers. I do name my chapters after songs that inspired me while writing said chapter, so I figure my soundtrack would end up being those songs.

There are over 20 songs on that bad boy, and I already feel like this post is going to be long, so you can view/listen to the playlist HERE! I’ll continue updating it as I post new chapters :-)

As for why I picked these songs… or really why I pick any of the songs on any of my playlists. It’s all about the feels, how the music and the lyrics come together to take me to a place I need to go to be creative. You know the feel you get when you listen to a song, and it just reminds you of an emotion, a place, a memory, etc.? I’m not sure if that makes sense lol, but the mood that a song creates in my little Brain World helps me find words to put on the page. Music a lot of the time helps interface Brain Scenes into Written Word, and these songs above did just that… and happened to have names that I enjoyed as chapter titles lmao.

Either way, I do have some Barriers playlists that I will shamelessly plug here.

Gray’s playlist

Claire’s playlist

The ~Graire~ playlist

Rest is under the cut because ya girl went in hehe

3. If you had to direct a scene from your fic, what would you choose? Why? What would it look like? What techniques would you use to convey certain emotions? What would the set look like?

Oooh. Hands down Chapter 8, the Fireworks Festival, particularly when Gray finds out that Claire’s pregnant. AH. Such an emotional scene and I would love to take advantage of the fireworks in the background. I’ll be honest that I don’t watch very many movies, and I’m not a director in the slightest, so I have no idea what the fuck I’m talking about.

So obviously our set is Claire’s farm at night. I imagine everything dark and quiet outside, the only light being Claire’s house. Almost shooting that bitch like a scary movie at first because like, Gray is terrified and I’d want viewers to feel that same way.

When Gray finally finds Claire and she’s on the verge of losing her shit, you zoom in on the tears, the soaked blanket, just Claire’s general state of disarray (which at this point, is out of character for the way she's presented herself) the way she grips Gray’s shirt, etc. And once she finally starts talking I picture the camera just focused on the two of them, because Gray is on the edge of his seat waiting to find out what the fuck is going on and doesn’t see ANYTHING else. Plus the booming fireworks going off in the back just as the situation is getting more intense. Claire would say that she’s pregnant and then the screen would go black lmao.

5. What makes your main ship so compatible? Or, what makes them so incompatible? What do they see in each other?

Oooh. This is complicated, because right now where I’m currently at in the fic it could go either way. As much as I would LOVE to spoil everything, I’m going to speak only for where I’m at in the story.

Gray and Claire are quite compatible at their best, v incompatible at their worst. When the two of them both get out of their head and are real with the other, they work well together. Both are sarcastic, sassy, witty, and have similar senses of humor. They both appreciate the value of hard work and dedication to their craft, and overall, want to be successful in life by their own means. In addition to liking the way the other makes them feel and just like… generally finding the other attractive, I think Claire and Gray admire the other’s drive and passion to some degree. They feel like having someone like that around them (whether it be a friend or… y’know, something else >.>) helps them stay on track. Additionally, some of the things they experienced before moving to town, in addition to experiencing the whole pregnancy thing together, helps them connect and understand each other in ways that maybe others around them can’t. Neither of them likes to be judged, so at times this is conducive to them feeling safe enough to confide things in the other that they may not do with anyone else.

However, Claire and Gray are both also really fucking good at building walls (Hence the name of the fic lol.) and spend a lot of time either hiding, running, or pushing people away. At their worst, their relationship is a grease fire. Both have a tendency to mask how they’re actually feeling for various reasons, despite both of them ALSO valuing honesty from others. It's the hypocrisy for me. Claire’s gut reaction is usually to tell people what she thinks they want to hear, lying for the sake of self-preservation because GOD FORBID she be rejected or be perceived negatively. Gray’s gut reaction is to do or say nothing. He fears vulnerability and doesn’t want to be seen as weak, so if he’s not consciously thinking about it, he’s going to say and do whatever will keep the illusion that he’s got it together. Which is just usually acting unbothered and pushing everything down until he’s beyond bothered. The main issue is that they both also say and do things they don’t mean when upset, and it doesn’t help that for some reason Claire seems to really get under Gray’s skin, and vice versa. Their arguing styles are pretty combative, so without any framework for de-escalating the situation, shit can get pretty nasty between them. Especially when jealousy and other complicated feelings get involved. *Wink wink*

15. Pick a previous relationship (or multiple) of your character’s. Explain how that/those impact the way they navigate their way through relationships now.

Hehe. I’d love to talk about Claire’s previous relationship(s), but I’m going to focus on Gray because he’s the main character and like, major spoilers.

Gray and Mary though. Ah. What a beautifully confusing clusterfuck. There was a lot of push/pull in Mary and Gray’s relationship, and it's intentionally confusing in the fic. Idk if any of you have ever had a friend that you’re really close with, one that you’re crazy about, and you know they like you too, but for whatever reason, they don’t actually want to be exclusive or make it official? Whatever the kids are calling it nowadays. But like yeah. Both loved having the other around and hated the idea of losing them to someone else, even if they couldn’t have them. So on top of their actual friendship was a ‘relationship’ based on impulsive, desperate acts of affection, wobbly boundaries, and evading any actual conversations about it all.

For that reason, Gray is determined to be more open about how he’s feeling rather than sucking it up for the sake of not being lonely. He’s trying to be more honest and expressive instead of holding it all in moving forward, as scary as it is for him. Gray’s relatively been a man of inaction in his relationships (even before Mary), and when he did act, it was usually backed by anger, alcohol, or both. Basically the dude is just trying to take control of his relationships rather than being a passenger.

WHEW. That was a blast! I definitely wrote too much but I super appreciate the ask! <3

#askbox games #fanfic writer asks #barriers #graire #harvest moon #dougs-inn #long post #asks

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tsipasce · 4 years

Text

Same Difference Ch.17

A/N: Here is your reward for enduring last week lmao. This one is a bit long, but cutting it up just didn't seem as gratifying so I hope you guys enjoy.

Also, thank you so much for all the kudos, comments and bookmarks on AO3 and FFN-- you guys are too kind :'). I'll try posting more regularly on Tumblr too if ppl wanna read it here. Let me know what y'all think~

There was darkness, then flickers of lights and the occasional overwhelming flow of noises before it ebbed to silence and darkness yet again. First, she felt she was on a hard surface like concrete, then cold metal, then something cushion-like… a bed? Her thoughts were incoherent, presenting more as disjointed words and feelings. Anger, regret, hurt, with a sprinkle of sadness on top. Her body was heavy, every limb feeling as though the blood had been replaced with lead. Her head lolled and she heard someone suddenly shift at her side, the bed dipping under the pressure of said someone leaning on it and over her but was too out of it to open her eyes. Acquiescing, she fell back into unconsciousness.

An indefinite amount of time passed while she was in the darkness before her senses began to return fully. She heard typing, now able to feel a presence nearby. She wanted to open her eyes, but the task seemed too daunting still, simply listening would have to be enough for now.

“I can stand watch for now, if you’d like.” One voice offered, softly.

“What I’d like is to be left alone.” The other replied curtly.

“I see. We’re going to leave in the next few hours, I’ll get everyone ready.”

“You do that.”

Well this guy sounds like a treat… Nanami thought, her sarcasm unsurprisingly returning before the rest of her senses and memories. There were footsteps and then a soft thud, like a door being carefully shut. A couple moments passed before she heard what sounded like a laptop being closed, then footsteps coming towards her, and then silence. She desperately wanted to wake up, but her body refused to cooperate, causing her eyes to flutter behind her eyelids as she struggled in vain to move. She could sense the presence hadn’t left and she felt anxious as to what might happen next before hearing a sigh. She felt a sheet being pulled up to cover her arms, where goosebumps had been forming from the draft in wherever she was.

“I’ll deal with you when I get back.” The voice said with a hint of annoyance, though it was betrayed by its gentle tone. Hearing footsteps growing fainter, a door opened and closed once more. The words themselves were threatening but the way they were spoken, she felt oddly comforted. Falling back into the darkness, she decided to cultivate her energy and try her luck at waking up again later.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Emerging from the darkness again, the pain began immediately. Her head throbbed and she reflexively tried to groan but found her mouth and throat painfully full. Instantly recognizing the feeling, panic set in, the only other thing she could perceive being the desperate need for it to stop. She grabbed the tube, disassembling and reassembling it outside her body. The large obstruction dropped unceremoniously to the floor and she coughed, glad to be rid of it.

“Don’t be so rough with the equipment.”

She rolled her head to the direction of the voice, a bright light hitting her eyes as she struggled to open them for the first time since… Damn. It all came rushing back to her at once, the voice no longer a mystery. Her vision focused and she found herself looking at Overhaul as he sat at her bedside. His mask was on as he stared at her blankly. She stared back for a beat, not knowing how to begin speaking about what brought them to this point. Deciding she should be fully awake and rested for that conversation, she mentally tabled it, opting for their usual banter instead.

“It’s still intact isn’t it?” She cleared her throat, massaging it as she continued, “How long was I out?”

“Three days.”

“THREE DAYS?” Her eyes shot wide, another coughing fit beginning as she raised her voice after not speaking for days.

“Yes, that’s what I said.” He grimaced, moving back a bit at her sudden outburst, “Cough in the other direction.”

“No surprise that your bedside manner could use some work.” She sighed as she adjusted to raise herself up, wincing as her sore muscles tried their best to comply. He promptly rose, putting a pillow behind her as she sat up, his expression blank yet attentive, “Thanks.”

He nodded as he took his seat again and the silence continued, painfully. It felt like their first meeting all over again, neither knowing how to broach the awkward topic. Looking back, Nanami was angry at how insufferably rude he could be but couldn’t ignore her own part in this. A pang of guilt sat heavily in her chest when she remembered how easily she let her emotions get the best of her; she hadn’t told someone off like that in ages. In her mind, it in no way absolved him, but to say it was all his fault would be a lie. In that moment of rage, she… What did I do anyway? She glanced down, now more confused than anything, her brows furrowing before looking at him.

“Let’s chat.”

He readjusted in his chair, leaning back as he crossed his legs and folded his arms across his chest, “Let’s.”

His body language oozed condescension as though she was about to be scolded like a child and she hated it, “Why’d you attack me. Again.”

His eyes narrowed, displeased with how she was beginning their talk,” That was going to be my question to you. I thought we had a deal.”

“What are you talking about? We did—we do—I did not attack you.” she defended. Nanami knew they were both wrong for getting so worked up, but she wouldn’t stoop that low over an argument. “I was wrong, we both were for getting so heated, but I wouldn’t just start throwing hands like that. So again, why did you attack me? I thought… I thought we got passed all that.”

His brow furrowed at the implication, his jaw clenching uncomfortably at the hurt in her voice, “We are. We’re far passed all of that.” He intoned with a level of sincerity that seemed foreign to him. Having spent the past three days chastising himself for putting her in this position, wishing the exchange could be taken back, it was difficult to sound detached. He’d been angry, but harming her had been something he’d put out of his mind some time ago, “I didn’t attack you either…”

They both shared a moment of sincere confusion. Overhaul hadn’t come out unscathed either, having to heal his own head injury as well as a cracked vertebra from the impact once he came to. “Then what the hell happened?” Nanami asked, speaking the question they were both wrestling with. She looked around the room for her bag at the same time Overhaul reached for his laptop.

“We should run tests.” They said in unison. He handed her her notebook from the bag and a pen as they began noting exactly what happened leading up to the explosion. As she recalled the events, there were a number of theories that came to mind, as well as ideas on how to safely perform reenactments of what transpired, but she also remembered the argument beforehand. He was somehow even more quiet than usual, and she could tell his gears were turning that morning, but the hostility seemed so out of the blue. Putting down her pen, he glanced up at her, noticing the sound of her writing had stopped and she was staring down thoughtfully.

“Did you think of something?”

“…Yeah. I did. Why’d you pick a fight with me that day?”

He looked back down at his keyboard and continued typing, “I don’t know what you mean. That little tiff was a joint effort.”

“No, no, no. It may have ended up that way, but you blew up at me after an entire week of solid teamwork. I expect the snide comments and the general air of grumpiness, but that was different… What happened?” He made the mistake of making eye contact with her. She didn’t look angry, just hurt.

Taken aback, all he could manage was “… I don’t know.” He wasn’t sure how to respond to that “emotion” nor did he have any plans to discuss feelings. If he was being honest, he wasn’t even sure why he did it himself. Perhaps it was self-sabotage and he was pushing her away, but to accept that would mean acknowledging they had gotten close; that he had, at some point, made the subconscious decision to stop viewing her as a pawn or even just a colleague, and to indulge the need for far more than their formal arrangement. He wasn’t ready to come to terms with the possible loss of his objectivity when it came to whatever went on between them, but he knew he’d have to confront the undercurrents of their relationship at some point. Right now, they had discovered a possible breakthrough in their research and there was no room for delay. With a ghost of a plan in mind for how to move forward with Nanami, he decided it would be more logical to smooth things over in the immediate moment with Dr. Watanabe; separating the two identities giving him the illusion of control. He continued” But I do know it won’t happen again. That was…unprofessional. How is your head?”

She bit her lip and exhaled, seeing the switch flick in his eyes knowing the wall had been put back up. “It’s... it’s fine. Just a little—no, really sore.” She confirmed with herself, rubbing her hand over the source of the pain to find stiches. Why wouldn’t he just overhaul this? “So, you decided to fix this the old-fashioned way, huh? The stitchwork is impeccable, but why go through the trouble? You could have just—”

“I didn’t want to touch you.”

“… Ouch.” She winced, glancing away as the abrupt response hurt a bit more than she expected.

Realizing it hadn’t been received how he planned, he clarified,” I meant I…didn’t want to use it on you. I was under the impression we had somehow attacked each other and assumed you might not find the prospect of me handling you in that way all that appealing.”

“…Oh. Well, thank you... I don’t mind if you touch me now” he rose a brow at this, “—I mean like to heal or—Oh you know what I mean.” She rolled her eyes before crossing her arms and continuing, “Just… just do it, please.” The last word tacked on with a mumble.

Letting out an amused breath, he rose, motioning her to turn so her back faced him as he removed his gloves. She quickly brushed her hair to the side, missing a few strands. She tensed as he was much closer than she was prepared for, feeling the warmth of his hands against the nape of her neck as he gently gathered the stray hairs and handed them to her to gather in front. Smoothing down the part, he leisurely ran his hands through her hair, losing himself for a second before noticing the tops of her ears had reddened and her breath had quickened at his ministrations. Refocusing, he disassembled the stitches before immediately healing the wound knowing even a millisecond of delay would prove very painful. “Done.”

Cracking her neck and rolling her shoulders, she felt normal again and ready to get out of bed as her muscles had been unused for the better part of three days. Checking the time on her phone on the nightstand she saw it was only 6 am, “So, you wanna go for a run?”

“That’s not funny.”

“Fine, fine. But on a serious note, I think we should head to the lab. I know the deal was 2 weeks bu—”

“You don’t have to bargain. Get cleaned up, I’ll start preparations for testing tomorrow.”

She turned to him, brows raised in surprise, “Well okay then. I’ll see you back at the house.”

“See you there.” He said before exiting her room, shutting the door softly.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

After a thorough scrubbing and stretching, she felt ready to get back to her remaining paperwork, putting on her favorite chunky turtleneck and sweatpants effectively pulling off the lazy-but-still-fashionable look. Brewing herself a cup of tea and pulling out her workbag, she thought it best to not dwell on all the Feels ™ that had continuously threatened to surface, which was undoubtedly exacerbated by their current living situation.

She was woman enough to admit she stared just a little too long, smiled just a bit too enthusiastically, and was way too excited by even the smallest bits of physical contact with him… But it’s just a crush. She lied to herself as though he hadn’t been the most intellectually stimulating person she’d had the pleasure of talking to. As though she’d ever felt silence more comfortable than their time in the lab or simply sharing meals together. As though— Girl if you don’t concentrate... She chastised herself before attempting to neatly compartmentalize her feelings, refusing to acknowledge just how much more difficult keeping them in check had become. It’s just because you’re all up under each other, it’ll pass.

Refocusing on the task at hand, she opened her laptop and pulled out a well-worn file folder, her gaze turning somber as her fingers traced the bend of it; evidence of the many nights she’d revisited it only to close it when the answers didn’t come. In the past month she’d taken on a patient who seemingly had nowhere to go. Many of her colleagues had turned him away, seemingly too jaded to go through the trouble of dealing with such a case. Nanami herself was puzzled when she reviewed his file, but she knew there was no other option; she had to at least try.

Kenta was a very jovial, large person with a personality to match. Built much like a strongman with tusks not unlike a walrus, he was hard to miss. Before he became her patient, she’d see him making small talk with the other patients, encouraging them though he himself was on the way to chemotherapy, his weight dwindling by the day. The previous doctors told him that he had osteosarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer. It was seemingly exacerbated by his quirk that gave him dense bones; they were perfect for diving, but apparently came at this very high price. The treatment had shown mild success, but her predecessors had decided his condition was becoming too advanced and an amputation was in order. After that visit, he attempted to keep his jovial nature, but his physical appearance continued to deteriorate, the medication and tests taking their toll. Full-hardy laughs were interrupted by coughing fits, round cheeks flexed into a habitual smile were replaced with gaunt hollows. Nanami couldn’t help but feel was cruel to be given such great power and still be unable to solve this problem.

She agonized, sincerely perplexed as to why someone as healthy and active as Kenta could have developed such an aggressive and rare form of cancer so quickly. It didn’t helped that after the first doctor’s diagnosis, the subsequent three doctors took little to no efforts to confirm said diagnosis, so she remained thoroughly unconvinced. She was a prodigy in her own right, but that alone couldn’t negate seniority. To go against the other doctors, she would need substantial proof of her theory—and also a theory to begin with.

Nanami was stirred from her thoughts by the sound of the silo being activated, as Overhaul stepped out. It had been hours since she had last gotten up as day turned into late night, too engrossed in her task. She glanced up for a moment, giving an absent-minded “hey” before returning to her work. It was unlike her to brush him off so quickly, and he assumed there were still hard feelings from earlier. Approaching her, he was about to speak before he caught a glimpse of her screen and notes, the file folder and its contents now haphazardly splayed on the coffee table, a few with drops of moisture on them.

“Didn’t I tell you no drinking in the living roo—” he stopped short, hearing a small sniffle escape her, before she attempted to cover it up by clearing her throat.

“Sorry, yeah, no drinking in the living room.” She laughed emptily, gathering the papers that were stained.

Seeing people cry was usually... uninspiring to him, to say the least; he couldn’t understand it, the need for such dramatic displays as an adult. But he found himself making exceptions more and more; she wasn’t one to throw herself on the floor in a tantrum—at least not seriously. Her tears were stifled, indignant, and his curiosity—yes, we’ll call it “curiosity”— got the better of him.

“What are you doing? Crying?”

“No!... Maybe.” She stubbornly corrected, further averting her gaze, hoping to use her hair as a curtain to obscure her face. Pausing for a beat, his attention turned to what he presumed was the source. He read over it as she attempted to fix her face. His brow furrowed, and Nanami turned back to see what he was doing. “Why do you care?”

“Osteosarcoma seems like an odd diagnosis for someone with his age and history.” He noted, choosing not to answer her question.

“That’s what I said!” she instinctually replied before remembering herself, “I mean quit snooping, this is patient-doctor information. It’s illegal to share.”

“Yet you brought it outside your office, to a yakuza base.” He deadpanned, pointing out the hypocrisy, taking a seat next to her on the couch. She pursed her lips, continuing to mull over theories, assuming he’d get bored and leave her be. “If not osteosarcoma, what do you think it could be?”

Knowing discretion was one of his strong suits, she decided to humor him. “I’m not sure. The tumor grew extremely fast and they began chemo almost immediately, so I didn’t get the benefit of a fresh diagnosis. He’d been perfectly healthy otherwise and his line of work kept him pretty active.”

“What’s his occupation?”

“He’s a commercial diver, it’s pretty fitting since his quirk gives him a lot of walrus-like qualities.”

“Sounds hazardous.”

“You’re one to talk. He’s practically made for it so drowning or being crushed under the pressure is near-impossible for him.”

“I was referring to all of the equipment. The fact that he’s kept all of his limbs up to this point is impressive.”

Slowly turning to him, a tired look on her face, she replied “… Your compliments are so very strange.”

Shrugging he continued, “It’s not that odd. The number of divers and sailors I’ve seen at port with mutilated legs is not small.”

Nanami was mid eye-roll when an epiphany struck her. Her eyes went wide, and she began frantically rummaging through the paperwork. "Shit-- wait, online!" grabbing her laptop, she began typing in a frenzy as Overhaul watched calmly. Finding Kenta's online records in the hospital database, she read a file from a month before his diagnosis stating he had been in a diving accident that severely fractured his leg where his tumor now was. She let out a shaky breath of excitement, "MO. It's fucking Myositis Ossificans! This explains why the 'tumor' grew so quickly. It's because it wasn't even really a tumor, just his body's response to a traumatic injury-- This is amazing!"

He felt the corner of his mouth tug upward, as she practically wiggled in genuine excitement. “That diagnosis sounds much more appropriate.”

Facing him on the couch, she reflexively grabbed him by his shoulders, lost in excitement, before realizing what she was doing. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to just grab you like that,” she hurriedly removed her hands before he waved it off. “It’s just... I’ve been poring over this since I got this case but hadn’t thought to make that connection since he never mentioned the injury.” Thinking back for a moment, it dawned on her, “... how did you know to ask?”

“What do you mean?”

“Don’t play dumb, it doesn’t suit you.”

Smiling, he rose, walking to the kitchen, “Would you like a cup?”

Very aware he was evading her question, she rolled her eyes smiling in kind “Sure. Of what?” She wrote down her final notes before putting away the files, tucking them and her laptop away as she waited for an answer.

Bringing over two cups of sake and the bottle, he sat next her with his own before sliding over her cup. She gave him a look and he sighed, “Consider it your reward for your work today. But don’t get used to it, my living room consumption rule still stands.”

She raised her hands in surrender, chuckling before taking a sip. “Oh! Let’s play a game.”

His brows furrowed as he continued to face forward still enjoying his drink,” Do I seem like a man who plays games?”

“Well, judging by the shogi board, I’d say yes.”

“… Just set the board.”

They sat in comfortable silence for a bit before starting the odd conversation, chatting and playing until they were on their fourth cup. Nanami was admittedly tipsy by this point and decided to ask something that had been on her mind for a while now with the aid of her liquid courage. If ever there was an opportunity, it was now, “Hey, why didn’t you ever become a doctor?” The question caught him off guard as he stopped drinking and peered off into the distance thoughtfully. His lips parting for a moment to speak before closing again to consider his answer.

“It would be difficult to treat people you can’t touch.”

“Hm… sounds like a copout. I wear gloves on the job at least 80% of the time and a lot of the non-surgical work that requires touching could easily be done by a nurse. So, what’s the real reason?”

“Well, you’re awfully bold tonight.”

“Eh, it’s your fault anyway,” she reminded him, toying with the sake glass. “So, are you gonna tell me or not?”

He considered her for a second before answering, “Win this game and I’ll tell you.”

“Easy.” She shot back before considering another outcome, “and what if I lose?”

He smiled easily, her stomach flipping as a glint of mischief was evident in his eyes, “Just try your best to win.”

Nanami was determined, or at least she convinced herself she was, not wanting to confront her curiosity at what he would do if she lost … or what he would do to me… Ok, let me put down this sake before I get a life sentence to horny jail. Recomposing herself a bit, she observed the board, stifling a smirk when she saw her path to victory. It was a moderately long game, but the outcome was in her favor as she took his king. Raising the piece betwixt her fingers, she smirked, “Now spill the beans.”

He stared into the proverbial abyss, slightly peeved at the loss, priding himself as a more-than proficient player before tonight. “Give me a moment.” He said casually raising a finger as he cleared his throat. Taking a measured sip from his cup before locking eyes with her, “I have a duty.” Nanami shot him an unsatisfactory look before he clarified, continuing, “Pops took me in when I had nothing to offer. This,” he began as he leered at his hands, recalling the destruction they regularly wrought, “is what I was meant to become in order to repay him. Bringing the yakuza back to their former glory and carrying on his legacy are my primary objectives. My time is limited since he’s not as young as he used to be. The years of schooling it would take to reap the benefits he deserves would prove much too long. Indulging in a dream like that is not in my nature, even if I did have the time. That is why.”

Her smile dulled as she processed his response. She wasn’t self-righteous enough to impose her own ideals on him, but it seemed like such a waste. His leading questions tonight were just one of many examples of his expertise. Even without the formal schooling he had a level of mastery that could easily earn him a degree, and coupled with his research skills, he could do a world of good. But instead here he was, content with just the opportunity to pay his debts. For someone so arrogant, he thought surprisingly little of his own nature. Maybe someday someone could convince him he didn’t have to carry around this weight all the time. Still very tipsy, she responded,” Well, if it’s a dream of yours to begin with, your nature can’t be all that bad now can it?” At this he knitted his brows, trying to accept the possibility. Seeing his hesitation, she continued, “You can do both, you know. Give yourself some more credit, bird brain.” She slurred the last insult, finishing her sake off with a gulp, not wanting to sound too soft. Feeling the consequences of her actions, she swayed sleepily in her seat before closing her eyes.

The next thing she knew, she felt herself being nudged awake, “Come on, get up. You need to get into bed.”

“But it’s sooo comfy here. Why are you being such a buzzkill, Kai?” she whined as he grasped her forearms, encouraging her to rise from her seat.

Stopping in his tracks, he asked a bit taken aback, “Where did you hear that name?”

“Your Poppy Pops told me” She almost sang, a grin plastered on her face.

“…Do not ever use the phrase ‘Poppy Pops’ again. Also, if couches were meant for sleeping, beds wouldn’t exist.” He responded irritated, though he handled her like porcelain, still remembering how unpleasant the last three days had been. Guiding Nanami to her room, he finally got her to lay down after tuning out a slew of other ridiculous nickname proposals, the drowsiness setting in as soon as her head hit the pillow. Knowing it would be too much work convincing a now drunk Nanami to get under the covers, he begrudgingly put a spare blanket over her. Before leaving, he looked back at her sleepy form. As much as they could grate each other’s nerves, no one had ever thought to encourage him or challenge his own thinking besides his father. He had never been a warm or sentimental person, having to try thrice as hard to grasp emotions that came so naturally to others, but she had planted a seed of doubt. Having always been so confident in his own lacking, he found a part of himself excited to be proven wrong for the first time. Before closing the door softly, he spoke “Thank you, Nanami.”

#overhaul #kai chisaki #chisaki kai #bnha #mha overhaul #overhaul fanfiction #mha fanfic #overhaul x oc #bnha fanfic #mha oc #overhaul x nanami #nanami watanabe #same difference #mc fanart #multichapter #fanfiction #fanfic #overhaul fanfic

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thinkingisadangerouspastime · 4 years

Text

author interview tag

i was tagged by @ambivalentmarvel!! thank you so much!! all the love to you my friend 💕

name: amy // thinkingisadangerouspastime // faerialchemist on ao3

fandoms: in terms of what i’ve written about… well, in chronological order, it was teen titans, a dash of winx club, fairy tail, a dash of ohshc, fma/fmab, mcu, ml, good omens, tdp, she-ra, a dash of fruits basket, pjo, and finally atla. im most active with atla and tdp right now, though fma/fmab will always be my favorite and i sporadically jump in and out of the mcu lmao.

where you post: ao3, ffn, wattpad, and quotev lol. idk why quotev too tbh but i started writing fic in middle school (which is why you should not. Never Ever. go to my ffn lmao) so i guess i just wanted to cover my bases?

most popular one-shot: on ao3, Inevitable (Avengers Endgame fix-it) has the most hits but There’s a Fine, Fine Line (Flash Thompson character introspection) has the most kudos.

most popular multi-chapter fic: i don’t really have a lot of true multi-chapter fics? i only have a couple multi-chapter fics and a few oneshot collections (back when i was worried about posting too many stories; now i have no shame 🥰). No Ordinary Exchange has the most hits (Rayllum College!AU and a true multi-chapter fic) while certainty has the most kudos (Catradora fluff prompts; a oneshot collection)

favorite story you’ve written so far: oh man that’s so hard? i have things i like and things i dislike about all of my fics where once they’ve been posted for long enough it’s hard for me to pick a favorite. i guess No Ordinary Exchange, because it’s the longest fic i’ve ever written (and possibly the only multi-chapter fic i’ve ever completed? lmao) and i just had so much fun writing it. i got to explore a lot of rayllum fluff, angst, and hurt/comfort while also delving into soren’s strained relationship with viren and even introducing some of my ocs, just as a way to explore them! i also got to make everyone queer which y’all know i love

fic you were nervous to post: Sigh No More (Maiko Much Ado AU) because it’s so niche and keep the paper lantern lit (zutaraang week oneshots) because i’d never written an ot3 before

how you choose your titles: mmmmmm song lyrics, randomly thinking of them, texting my best friends in our group chat, and using a significant word/phrase from the fic

do you outline: yes? for shorter fics, i usually just think it through in my head, but for longer fics i’ll either write down an outline (bullet-point style) or type it in the notes app on my phone (i KNOW, pls don’t judge me)

complete: if we go to ffn, where all of my fics are, 21/30 are strictly complete. if you include oneshot collections that are always in limbo between complete and incomplete since i can update them but don’t have to, 25/30. some of those remaining five will probably never be finished 😳

in progress: five fics, two of which are 99% abandoned, another two of which could be completed one day (although the change in my writing style might kill any readers who come across it), and then No Ordinary Exchange, which is written in full and updated weekly.

coming soon/not yet started: a katara-centric fic about her path to forgiving zuko (with a heavy focus on her guilt regarding kya’s death and aang’s near-death, meaning there’s some nice kataangst, too); two sequels to fire lily (young!maiko fluff and hurt/comfort), the first of which will be kinda angsty can’t lie; mai and sokka content (i have a few ideas for mai&sokka and maixsokka babey!!); an aang-centric drabble-esque fic or two; possibly some “outtakes” to my rayllum college!au

do you accept prompts: technically, yes! my ask box is always open. but my rule is very concrete that i am not required to write any prompt i receive and i will only write what interests me.

upcoming story you are most excited to write: im technically already in progress of writing it but my katara-centric fic,, AHHHHHHHHH. and then the sequels to fire lily!! i can’t wait to work on them 🥰

tagging: @justoceanmyth, @penguinsledder, @the-last-cuddlebender, @korvidaee, @irresistible-revolution, @praetorqueenreyna, and anyone else who wants to do this!! just say i tagged you :) and no pressure to those i tagged - only do it if you want to

#amy gets tagged

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ld200 · 5 years

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I love this blog of yours and I'm really happy there's people out there who are still into DBH! I've been browsing thru fanfics lately and I'm looking forward to reading your fic 'eternal winter' (I'm waiting until it's complete incase you don't end up finishing it) but I'm curious as to what your favourite scene/s in the game are. I have multiple but I'd probably say (one of my 'high on the list' faves) would be after Connor saves Hank and awnsers his questions correctly in CL tower. Thanks!

Oh hey thanks! :D Definitely still into DBH. Fixations tend to hold onto me for at least a couple years lol

Hah, I’m absolutely finishing Eternal Winter (on ao3 anyway; kinda abandoned ffn altogether) but I know I’m not the first one to say that about a story, and I won’t be the last, lmao. Honestly, it’s a huge fic so waiting until it’s done makes sense anyway bc it’s probably easy to forget about the details otherwise

Ooooh favorite scenes HMMMMM this might get long, bear with me

Well, let me at least mention Connor’s end-of-game scenes, for starters. Walking toward Hart Plaza with an army of androids behind him is so damn epic. Doesn’t mean anything on its own, but with everything Connor’s learned and done to get this far, it’s just so fucking satisfying

And then standing up there while Markus speaks, the blizzard in the garden & wondering What Would Have Happened post-game in either scenario (doesn’t escape & Amanda takes over = is he a machine again? reaches the stone & escapes = will it keep happening? is he truly free? etc. this was a good half of why I wanted to write that story to begin with)

BUT I think my actual favorite scenes have to be any and all of those developmental moments that really capture Connor’s character

Connor saving Hank on the roof. The stunned look he turns on Hank when Hank says “You’d have caught him if it wasn’t for me,” as if he’s never considered that anyone other than him can take the blame for something going wrong

On the flipside, the scene you get if you fail that sequence entirely and run out of time... I don’t remember the dialogue EXACTLY but god I loved it when I first discovered it. Something to the effect of:“That shouldn’t have happened. I wasn’t programmed to fail.”“Yeah, well, you fucked up, Connor. Welcome to the club.”I like that Hank doesn’t say it with anger, maybe a little annoyance, but overall it seems like he just thinks it’s ridiculous that Connor’s so upset with himself. Connor’s SO AFRAID OF FAILURE, like. It just permeates the whole game, and I really like that in this version of the scene Hank says something that’s just so humanizing and validating about it

The one scene in the zen garden when it’s pretty late in the game and Connor tries to ask Amanda SO MANY GOOD QUESTIONS that I had been wondering as the player as well, about who made the zen garden, what Cyberlife really wants, Elijah Kamski, whether Connor’s a unique model. etc. Depending on your choices in the story, I thiiiink (but am not sure) that it’s the same scene where he slowly admits to Amanda that he thinks he may be compromised, his LED going from blue to yellow to red as he says it, and then Amanda basically tells him “You’ve been in some difficult situations. It’s okay that you’re troubled. That doesn’t make you a deviant.” (again that’s probably not the exact line) I really like the visible conflict Connor has about coming to terms with it, and the way Amanda seems like she’s in denial of it just like he is

Absolutely fucking everything about the Meet Kamski chapter. I love some of his dialogue choices with Kamski too, he can really bite back. (Come to think of it I like any scene where you can choose options that have Connor in conflict with someone, whether it’s Kamski, Amanda, Gavin, or even Hank.) I prefer the version where he doesn’t shoot Chloe - his worry Hank is going to be upset with him for failing (there’s that again), the defensiveness about why he couldn’t shoot her, Hank’s lil smile and assurance that Connor did the right thing

THAT SAID there is one thing I also really like about the scene after he shoots Chloe: when Hank is all pissed off and having a Hank moment (rightfully so, this time, I mean Connor just killed someone, but anyway) and he moves in like he’s gonna grab Connor or shove him or something, and Connor pushes him back before he can. Again, Hank’s right to be pissed, BUT considering Connor gets literally and figuratively pushed around by almost everyone he encounters in the game (up to and including Hank), it’s nice to see that even a mission-focused Connor is deviant in his own way and will eventually push back.

The Hug (tm)

“Statistically speaking, there is always a chance for unlikely events to take place” + “Don’t worry. I always accomplish my mission” + the whole marching downtown with an army of androids thing = CONNOR POST-DEVIANCY EXUDES SO MUCH CONFIDENCE and I live for it. You asked about scenes and this isn’t a scene, just a combination of things I like, but now u got me talking about Connor and I can’t stop ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I like the scene you mentioned as well! It’s the culmination of everything Hank sees in Connor, everything he hoped Connor was and could be. And I like it just as much for Hank’s sake as I do for Connor’s - it’s good to see him come to terms with his own shit about androids. And “maybe you’ll be the ones to make the world a better place” is just such a hopeful, charitable thing for him to say given the darker edges of his personality and I’m glad that he maybe sees things a little brighter than they were before. I don’t talk about Hank nearly enough but I really do love him as a character as well and I believe he’s an idealist at heart, even if it’s buried under a lot of grief and outward cynicism

I knew this would get long lol, thanks for asking, there’s so much fan content out there that I haven’t actually thought about the specifics of the game in a while and it’s nice to reconnect with it a bit

#dbh connor #dbh hank #detroit become human #Anonymous

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thetourguidebarbie · 5 years

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Name: Angie

Tagged by: @itsnotacrimetoloveyou and @klarolinedrabbles

Fandoms: Mostly Klaroline to write as of now, but I aspire to write for iZombie, For the People, Superstore, Hart of Dixie, B99, etc.

Where you post: Tumblr, FFN & AO3.

Most popular oneshot: I have like eighty bajillion drabbles so I’m not sure what the *most* popular one is, but this one has more than a hundred notes so that seems popular enough and I’m too lazy to scroll back further.

Most Popular Multi-Chapter Story: Travelers, probably. Sadly. It’s old and I hate it now because I was a baby writer and I experience retroactive embarrassment at the tropeyness and writing quality. Or Circuit Break, which I very much want to rewrite because I love the idea and think it’s solid but the execution/subplots were not as great as they could have been (again, because I was a baby writer).

favorite story you wrote: Eonar’s Gift is one that I’m really proud of even though the stuff I love most I haven’t finished yet. Spitting Image is my aspirational fic. I love it SO SO MUCH in my head and I desperately want to write it because it’s my favorite plot I’ve ever done and probably my best Klaus so far, even if it’s *mostly* just in an outline right now. It’s just....so long.

how you choose your titles: I wildly grasp for something that is either punny or at least slightly related, slap it on there, and then try not to think about it.

do you outline: I don’t outline the smaller stuff, but if I’m starting to write something and I reach for a physical pen to outline I know it’ll blow up. It’s my indicator lol

coming soon/not yet started: Ooof sooooo much stuff. I’ll go with my AU week plans (though I have midterms, which is interrupting my writing time). I’m setting a reasonable goal of three. These have all been started but aren’t done yet (not in order):

(Canon-ish) S4 Stuck in a safehouse AU for @itsnotacrimetoloveyou

(Fusions/Crossovers) Loosely inspired by Hart of Dixie AU (Zoe!Klaus, LemonWade!Caroline, VeryTiredOfThis!Bonnie), coming to you courtesy of @honestgrins and @outfieldlove‘s enabling and a classmate’s v distracting arms

(Different time period) Space AU II (just the smut to go thank god) also for @itsnotacrimetoloveyou and everyone else who asked for it.

do you accept prompts: Sometimes! Keep an eye out for events (usually me needing fluff and asking for help).

upcoming story you are most excited to write: lmao I’m excited for Some Body to be over. Does that count?

#personal #my fanfiction

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inexchangeforyoursoul · 6 years

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... remember when I had that good swing on that long self-insert fic going? Yeah, me too. Good times. [ffn] [AO3]

Well... I sat the fuck down and finished up the next one. Joke is... 33 will be the hardest to do lmao I’m so not ready

Anyway, this instalment takes a Definitely Spoopy turn; wanted to publish it at Halloween for a reason, but, uh, as you can see... it’s mid fucking December. Not even the Robin time can rectify that.

32. White noise

“Oh, my, what pretty flowers have sprouted here overnight,” comes the amused voice of Robin from behind them not two seconds later.

Law’s eyes shoot up immediately, and he also sits up post-haste, almost headbutting the railing himself. “Nico-ya…” he starts with a wary drawl; “since when have you been here?” She's the nosy type, too… might have heard fucking everything. Shit.

Kat also turns towards her with open arms. “Ah, Robin!”

“I see you’re in a much better mood than before…. good for you,” she smiles at Kat immediately upon seeing her enthusiastic, flushed little face, and sprouts a hand on her back to give her head a scratching, which she seems to enjoy quite a lot. “As for your question… five minutes, maybe?” she shrugs then at Law as the moaning watering can in her hands is put to work. “Your vivid duet was hard to miss,” she continues with a chuckle. “You shouldn’t lie around in this weather, though, lest you catch Miss Kat a cold for next week.”

He feels blood rush to his face again. For some reason, getting caught laughing by her is as embarrassing as anything else. As is getting talked to like a toddler.

“I wasn’t planning on staying here much longer anyhow,” he grumbles with a huff. “We have business to attend to, not to mention that you being out gardening equals to everything getting wetter and colder, anyway.”

Next thing he knows is that she’s holding the can directly above him for a quick shower; he’s just dumbfounded, and Kat snorts as soon as the action registers.

“You’ll be the one to give me a cold this way, Robin,” she giggles then just as the woman moves on.

“Sorry, couldn’t resist… do you want me to get him one, too?” the archeologist asks then, offering the business end of the object.

“What’s with all of you today, I swear…” Law shakes his head, and the curly hair sprays everyone with the water that’s stuck among the curls. “Are you standing in for Nose-ya, or what?” Him, Carrot and Luffy are the only ones up for this kind of bullshit at any given time. And Chopper, whenever they can rake him into idiocy.

“I suppose someone has to,” she hums, pouring a little of the leftover water on Kat while passing. “It gets mundane without the kids around.” The can sinks into a barrel of water to refill.

“It sure was too peaceful out here to be true,” the man mumbles standing up, then bows down to shake out whatever water is left and willing to drop. “Or inside, for that matter. I’m missing a bunch of my crew for sure, and by the looks of it, so do you,” he says then, straightening up. He’ll need to fetch a towel, goddamn. Also, he’s officially really, really cold.

“Oh… everyone’s being scarce?” asks Kat while wiping the water off her face, then also swishing whatever possible out of her hair. Nami kept her company, but she couldn't help notice the empty seats during breakfast.

The archeologist nods. “Yes… I went ahead and checked the other ship on my way up myself. Nary a soul. And, as you may have noticed already, our wacky musician and sniper, as well as little doctor are yet to be accounted for. Since Franky just left with Sanji and Carrot to shop for odds and ends, this ship is as good as dead,” she states, pulling the filled container out of the barrel. She stops to think for a second. “I am a little worried, though,” she notes then, looking out towards town. “The boys may have gone out together, but Chopper is not one to stay out for an entire night. As an animal, he needs plenty of rest. I doubt he has that luxury out there… the commotion died off early in the morning, and the music is already starting up again.”

“Yeah, it's always pretty noisy on this weekend,” agrees Kat while Law murmurs something that sounds like a ‘thought so,’ likely referring to his crewmates. The ruckus is bad enough that she’s decidedly happy over being able to stay over for these two nights specifically.

“If they don’t get back soon I’ll have to assume they got themselves lynched in a dark alley,” the woman declares as the moaning ghost starts spewing water again.

“… even Brook?” muses the girl two seconds down the line with a raised brow and half a smile.

Hearing that brings back Robin’s, too. “Even though he’s already dead? Yes.”

Law finds the idea less funny. “Don’t jinx it, Nico-ya. I doubt they would have any problems with some ragtag thieves, but we know for a fact that there are some shifty folks out in some alleys,” he informs the woman while pointing towards Kat with a thumb, then starts rubbing himself for some warmth. He could have lived his entire life without having been reminded of that situation, really.

“… oh. Yeah, there was that, too, huh.” She… forgot about that, despite the adventure freaking her out quite a lot at the time. Thinking about this, she also stands up at last, patting the dirt and whatever there is off her dew-soaked thighs.

The tense focus returns. “Oh my… then I better get looking as soon as possible, don’t I.”

“I’m about to send Jean Bart out to collect our entourage, too. Might as well join him.” He’s there for sure, heard him cursing on his way up. Also the only other person to keep people on task on board of the Polar Tang, so there’s noone better to get those sad excuses of pirates moving again.

“Would you be so kind as to ask him to look for our lost ones in my stead, then?” Robin turns to Law after short consideration.

“Huh?” Backing out? Nico-ya, of all people? “Why that?”

She sighs. “I would prefer not to spend more time out with all the bushoo around is all… They make me feel uneasy, even despite the cute costumes.” She still thinks it was silly to miss out on most of the fair on Tuesday because of the minute weakness of being reminded of what happened in the city of water when she was alone with Chopper for a little, but last night, the entire flocks of them really made her nervous for some reason. She constantly felt like being watched by those vacant, painted-on eyes. All in all, soon after Nami and Carrot left, she also excused herself.

“Well, fine by me,” the man sighs then, giving his freezing self one last rub. “I guess you’ll be willing to come practice now, too?” he turns then to Kat while wiping a stray drop of water falling out of his hair.

“Um… yeah.” She’s getting unsure again, and can already see today becoming extremely awkward with the two of them just… being stuck in the same, cluttered room. Alone. Just… don’t think about it. Don’t think about it.

“Thank you,” Robin nods with notable relief, with the once more empty can in her flailing hand. “And you do your best, alright?” she smiles then at Kat, who’s also starting to get cold by the looks of it.

“No need to, Nico-ya,” Law replies while moving back direction hellcave, with Kat tiptoeing backwards in tow with a wave and hum.

Pretty much as soon as they enter the metal staircase, it becomes obvious how few people are around. Not because they are not physically present, but rather… the silence is too big for this to be a ship with twenty plus people on board.

Hearing someone make a racket under these circumstances sticks out like a sore thumb, though. As is the one making it in general.

Law turns a corner Kat has never taken before. She follows him awkwardly after a second of consideration, then takes a quick look around the humid room they arrive at; the showers are about as utilitarian as a place like this can get. There's four stalls, and a metal bench and shelves across them where some people have left some clothing articles and soap lying about. She also notes some pipes on the floor next to Jean Bart, who is standing in the middle in a small puddle and fills half the midspace himself… they must be for that leakage problem from the other day. Explains why he's ripping off half the metal ceiling, if nothing else.

“Jean, sorry to bother you right now, but would you be so kind and, uh, ‘collect’ our idiots from town?” asks Law without beating around the bush.

The burly man sighs. “Did think it right when considering it myself, ey? Will do, capt’n. I’m not the man for the rest of this, anyway.”

“Thanks,” Law waves with a nod, already turning around to trod deeper down into the submarine. “Oh, and… keep an eye out for the other bunch, while at it.”

An unwilling grunt. “… if I must.”

By the time they arrive at the bottom, a total silence sets in. And soon enough Kat has to admit that unfortunately, she cannot concentrate to save her life… exactly as she’s feared, she has difficulty paying attention. Only after five minutes, she becomes sickeningly aware of the fact that she’s all alone with Law, or, occasionally, it’s her imagination that starts tugging her away to other times and places. It’s all bad or embarrassing memories… no matter which happens, however, it’s on the uncomfortable side of nervous. Instead of butterflies, there are barely not cramping muscles on the menu. Not sure whether this is the better of the two worlds…

Just to make things harder, the ambience really seems off today. Like, yeah, the buzzing is still there, but at any other time, there’s the crew up and about every now and then on this floor, not to mention their voices can echo down here all the way up from the dining hall. But today… there’s nothing. Apart from her grumbling stomach, that is. Like in the evening, she couldn't get much food down her throat at breakfast, and it's finally catching up with her…

After an hour or so, the silence itself has grown into just another reason to be on edge, and soon enough, it’s Kat’s main concern. Instead of wanting to be in another room altogether, she gets the feeling that there’s some monster lurking outside in wait, making this room with Law in it the safest place available. Whenever the bells ring outside, it’s like thunder rolling in the dead of the night.

As such, she gets especially nervous upon him leaving said safe bubble after one of these ghastly tolls; if nothing else, it’s extra relieving to see his return in a few minutes. He doesn’t look all that happy with the situation, either.

“This is getting… weird,” he states upon arrival.

“… are they still not back?” That does not sound reassuring. Also, she does need her usual background noise to be somewhat less useless.

The man just hums. “A few of them are, including my three idiots… but something is definitely fishy about this. According to Bepo, they haven’t seen most of the crew since around 2 am when they wobbled back home, not to mention that they have apparently not run into Jean Bart this morning, either.” He sighs with worry, putting up his right to the chin in contemplation. “Maybe they are planning something stupid, since the other crew seems to be involved… but Clione and Uni are not the types who would participate in that, and they’ve been the first to bail.” In their case, it’s been nearly a day by now, too…

Kat also groans. “The submarine is really spooky with nothing but random noises down here… if this is supposed to be a joke, it’s not funny.”

“Same here. Those three just left again, so I asked them to keep an eye out… we’ll see in an hour or two. Until that… might as well have lunch? Or a very belated breakfast… while Fugu is still in.” He’d rather not tempt his luck twice.

As such, the girl gets to be in the dining hall once more. It is a very different experience with only eight people around, counting her, Law and the cook. Latter doesn’t even stay, but packs up to go grocery shopping as soon as they get their servings. Overall, the eerie silence persists. Once three other people leave to go fishing, it becomes nigh unbearable; it’s pure luck that she’s finished up by then. She pours another mug of the tasty, warm tea before descending back into the panic room.

Then the seconds, minutes, then likely multiple hours just pass, and pass in the same vein, until there is quite a racket, first upstairs, then quickly closing in as the staircase is indicating. Almost immediately after, the door bursts open, with three very familiar faces.

“Thank god, you’re still here,” sighs Penguin and nearly collapses from the relief.

“… I’m going to skip the ‘learn knocking’ part, and go straight to questions,” Law insists, his hand nervously grabbing onto the back of the chair. There’s officially a problem, and by god, is he in no position to be of use right now.

“Noone’s here!” cries Shachi; “First it was just weird, then weirder… since we saw literally no friends out in town…!! But then there was one of the fishing rods just lying around outside, and now we didn’t find anyone in the hall, either! I poked my nose into the kitchen while Pengu and Bepo had a look at the bedrooms, but not even Fugu is around! Half of the soup has gone and evaporated already… he should have been back ages ago!” By the time his rant comes to a close, he’s on the verge on tears. Bepo has been at it since the second line, and is sobbing into Penguin’s hat, who’s not even in the mood to scold him for getting it all bear snotty.

Without another word, Law is already outside, busting up door after door.

They open every single one of them, one by one, but there’s no life to be found. Wherever they look, the hallways, Ikkaku’s room, back door of the dining hall, engine, or even the cold room… it's all fallen silent. Not a single soul around apart from Kat, Law, Bepo, Shachi and Penguin. They don’t hear any noise until they enter the showers, where the faulty pipe is still dripping from above through the removed panels. The pulsating darkness gives Kat, who’s been following the boys around in panicked silence, the chills; were she alone, she’d get spooked by her own shadow.

There’s but a ringing in her ears. And it’s deafening.

#KMKY #Kate writes #opfanfic

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