#|| my own worst enemy || { self promo }

[fivedecisivefactors]

Alright. As I was unproductive writing-wise, tomorrow, I hope to work on my inbox and any other replies I can find that I owe. I am very much looking forward to getting these blogs rolling again.

What I did do tonight was bring back an old muse so here is an update––all FFVII [ and KH ] related blogs:

@fivedecisivefactors

@ofduskorofdawn [ where I will also be adding a few more muses ]

@theobliqueandthedirect

If anyone​ wants anything from any of these three, just let me know. I have SO MUCH muse. Where the multi is concerned, I would be especially grateful if anyone would be interested in any of the muses on my multi––especially Ari as she is particularly loud at the present moment but also Reeve, Rude, Reno, and Demyx / Myde. 

[writenowimogen]

How to gain readers on ao3:

AO3 does not have an algorithm so there are essentially 4 ways people can come across your fic:

1) The front page when they are searching the ship/fandom. While it can be filtered to kudos/hits etc, it defaults to the time that you've uploaded.

2) Searching tags. Again, it defaults to time uploaded. However, if people are looking for something specific, that's how they'll find it.

3) Promo. This is generally self-led at the start, on social media platforms.

4) Reccomendations. Usually, this comes later.

Tips:

1) In small fandoms, when you upload doesn't really matter because you're likely to stay on the front page for a long time.

However, in larger fandoms and ships - including One Direction and Larry - it's faster paced. From other sources and my own experience, the best time to upload is between 1pm-7pm UTC, Sunday-Thursday. The worst day to upload is Friday. More users are on at these times. I will come to it later.

2) Tag everything. Everything. Sure, a lot of people ignore tags, however, there are people who search out tags.

Personally, I have a favourite tag, and it's something an element that a lot of fics have but they never tag it. So, when I search for it, only a few hundred fics come up, when it reality thousands should.

Things you should tag vaguely sorted highest priority to least - kind of:

- Fandom and ship name. Obviously these are the most searched for tags. Make sure you get them right. If your fic gives equal time to over ships, include them all. A way to determine if it should be added is to determine whether anyone in that relationship gets their own POV, or if they get scenes without the characters of the other ship being present.

- The main trope: Friends to lovers, exes to lovers, Idiots in love, established relationship etc. You might find there are extra options, I.e Enemies to lovers and Enemies to friends to lovers. If your fic is both, add them both.

- The general vibe (Cant think of the right term): Fluff, angst, smut, PWP (porn without plot/plot what plot), hurt, comfort etc. You will find multiple options for most of these, I.e Angst and Fluff and Smut, Angst and Fluff, Smut and Fluff etc. Again, use multiple but keep it relevant to the fic. For example, if your fic is more fluff with only a hint of angst, don't add 17 different tags that include angst and vice versa.

- Canon side characters and side relationships. When you're uploading you have the option of putting the ship, only do this with the main ship. However, you can put side ships in the tags. I'd especially recommend doing this if it's a rare pair as readers of rare pairs are desperate to read anything that includes their ship.

- Smaller tropes. These aren't the main tropes, but things that happen in the fic, I.e one bed, found family, fake dating (if it's not the main premise of the fic).

- If it's smut/kink, tag everything that happens in it because people will search these tags. If there is rimming, tag it. If there is humiliation, tag it.

(there are also a lot of things you should tag as warnings, but I'm not going to include those here)

3) Self-promo. If you have a platform already, you can promote there. For example, you may have a large Twitter following for your fandom, if you start writing fics, it might be enough to only post there.

However, if you have no platform, start on Tumblr. There are likely fic tracking tags for your fandom/ship. Theses aren't only helpful as people may search them theirselves, but they are often connected to accounts that will reblog your fic. Find those and use them. Tumblr let's you add 30 tags but only the first 20 will work when you search - so if you want to add ones that you don't expect to be searched for, but to add more information, put these after the tracking tags.

Design and include a mood board. You will find a lot of these on Tumblr. Canva is a great site to use to create one.

4) Generally recommendations come once you're more established, however, once you get them, reblog/retweet them.

On Tumblr, thank them for the rec in the tags.

If it is on Twitter, unless you have something really important to add, thank them in a comment and then retweet it rather than quote tweet. This means if people like it, the likes are going to the orignal tweet, rather than you. This might just be personal preference, however, I just think it's more polite. They're the ones who took the time to write it, they should get the likes (again, if there is something you really want to add, you can quote tweet but make sure you thank them as well).

Hope that helps! If you'd like me to expand on any of the above, feel free to send a DM or anon!

[anadrenalineslut]

An interesting but probably inaccurate reading of seven is that the "you" she is referring to is her past self because taylor has spoken many times about "not be able to recognize yourself" in many songs- esp break up songs where she is moving on and growing from the experience.

She started music lessons at age 8, so the last time she was truly free would be age 7 if we are talking about freedom from her desire to be famous-and all that entails. I think you can read the lyrics as this kind of mourning for the last time you felt you could truly be yourself and that's kind of really sad honestly.

At some point in time, taylor wanted to go back to when she was seven and just make a different choice maybe. One that would lead her down a different path where she could be "free" to not "hide in the closet." Probably 2016 after the canceling, and that's probably why she wrote this is my trying and that's why it comes after August.

It's her way of making sense of her fame related trauma and all that entails, I think. Like I've already talked about mirrorball into seven into August and how that is a sad run about her feelings on why she lost karlie but you can actually continuing piecing the narrative together since

This is me trying -> I think this song is about learning how to be okay with being queer, being famous, accepting what being famous actually is and learning to be okay with that

Illicit Affairs -> learning to be okay with your worst decisions and learning how to see a dead relationship for what it is, letting all of that go in order to move onto bigger and better things

Invisible String -> looking back at her journey into fame and realizing that the one good thing to come out of all of that was ending up at the met gala in 2016 to meet Joe, the love of her life for real this time.

Mad Woman -> this is about her anger at the masters situation. But also it can be specifically about how angry she is that her ex girlfriend betrayed her and sold her out to her worst enemy. This is lover era grief.

Epiphany -> this is about covid forcing her into lockdown and forcing her to not think about music or her career and just making music for the fun of it helped "get the poison out" of her. But I also think this is about her realizing how her actions during kissgate etc lead to the demise of their relationship. I think covid really helped taylor process trauma but also learn how to take accountability for her past mistakes without being afraid of being labeled as "bad" for it.

Betty -> the reason I say this is because Betty is about James (taylor James) apologizing to karlie "Betty" kloss for doing "the worst thing" she ever did to her. I think this is a reference to her forcing karlie in the closet and that is why karlie sold her out/told taylor not to mention her in her coming out promo (therefore forcing her in the closet so that she knows how it feels.... vindictive speculation on my end but ouch if it doesn't make for a good story). This is Taylor learning how to accept her own role to play in her closet in and learning how to shift the blame to the proper things (her label, her decisions, homophobia in the industry) instead of pointing the finger outward all the time.

Peace -> this feels like a declaration of acceptance of things she cannot change. She feels like her fame causes her relationships to die, but here is asking if it alright if you never have peace because of me? We know the answer is yes, so this is like a song I think she wrote to remind herself that her fears about fame getting in the way of her current relationship are in her head. They're not reality, and that internal turmoil is like the perfect representation of how mental illness can affect a relationship.

Hoax -> this is the hardest song for me to interpret because it is shrouded in metaphors and I am autistic 🤪 but I think this was given to us out of order on purpose as an easter egg for like "I have more to say about this actually." Because I think hoax into evermore is an interesting bridge piece. We know she is in a good place currently but hoax is about returning us back to turmoil and leaving us there for 5 months before giving us an even clearer look into the kaylor relationship.

The lakes -> I think that's why she talks about this being the real ending to folklore because this song is a really poetic representation of learning to leave things behind that don't matter. It gives me "the secret to holding on was all that letting go" vibes and I think it's on purpose. Like, she left us on hoax but that's not where she is mentally so she gave us the lakes to close out folklore fully.

[thereisonlymaul]

IT HAS BEEN SO LONG AND MY PATH HAS BEEN SO DARK…                           DARKER THAN I EVER DREAMED IT COULD BE.

• RP ACCOUNT FOR MAUL OF STAR WARS • INDEPENDENT. PRIVATE. SELECTIVE. CANON-DIVERGENT. • WRITER HAS 10+ YEARS OF RP EXPERIENCE • MULTIVERSE AND OC FRIENDLY

[honormarred]

Growing up, we were taught that the FIRE NATION was the greatest civilization in history and, somehow, the war was our way of sharing our GREATNESS with the rest of the world.

What an amazing LIE that was. The people of the world are TERRIFIED of the Fire Nation. They don’t see our GREATNESS.

They  H A T E  us.

AND WE  D E S E R V E  I T .

RP Account for Prince Zuko and Uncle Iroh of Avatar the Last Airbender Independent // Private // Selective // 
Alternate Universes and Crossovers welcome Original Character Friendly 
 Written by Walden

[toavengedefeat]

I could not, in good conscience, add Selene Gallio––the Black Queen of the Hellfire Club––to a hero/anti-hero blog, so she gets her own. @moonlitmistress 😂

[honormarred-s]

Growing up, we were taught that the FIRE NATION was the greatest civilization in history and, somehow, the war was our way of sharing our GREATNESS with the rest of the world.

What an amazing LIE that was. The people of the world are TERRIFIED of the Fire Nation. They don’t see our GREATNESS.

They  H A T E  us.

AND  WE  D E S E R V E   I T .

Prince Zuko of Avatar the Last Airbender Independent // Private // Selective // Alternate Universes and Crossovers welcome Original Character Friendly Written by Walden

[abidinganger]

If anyone has watched Rise of the Guardians, I have rebooted my accounts for North ( @fullxofxwonder ) and Pitch Black ( @alivingdarkness ) as well. Considering the season, the bogeyman is especially loud, but North isn’t terribly far behind.

[thereisonlymaul-s]

IT HAS BEEN SO LONG AND MY PATH HAS BEEN SO DARK…               DARKER THAN I EVER DREAMED IT COULD BE.

• RP ACCOUNT FOR MAUL OF STAR WARS • INDEPENDENT. PRIVATE. SELECTIVE. CANON-DIVERGENT. • WRITER HAS 10+ YEARS OF RP EXPERIENCE • MULTIVERSE AND OC FRIENDLY

[fivedecisivefactors]

❛ SUCCESSFUL WAR  FOLLOWS THE PATH OF DECEPTION. ❜

❛ THUS WHEN YOU ARE ABLE TO ACT, FEIGN INCAPACITY; WHEN DEPLOYING, FEIGN INACTIVITY; WHEN YOU ARE CLOSE, APPEAR TO BE FAR OFF; WHEN YOU ARE DISTANT APPEAR CLOSE. WHEN YOUR ENEMY SEEKS AN ADVANTAGE, LURE HIM FURTHER; IF HE IS IN DISORDER, CRUSH HIM; IF HE IS ORGANIZED, BE READY FOR HIM; WHEN HE IS STRONG, AVOID HIM; WHEN HE IS ANGRY, GOAD HIM FURTHER… ❜

–– THE ART OF WAR, Sun Tzu ––

promo template

[ailec-12]

The rules: post a link to 3 of your own works that you like, and if you’re up to it, explain why. Then tag a few more artists/writers to help everyone self promo and find that excitement in what they do.

Tagged by @thatawfulsnapeboy. Thank you so much! We should all do some shameless self-promo once in a while.

1. Anatomy of a Home (OUAT, 161k, complete series)

Summary:Regina saw a lot of herself in Zelena, but no one ever said giving second chances was easy. And, sometimes, love does not seem to be enough. Zelena neither wanted nor needed a family, but living in Regina's home tugged at her heart in a way she could not understand. Actually, there were lots of things about her new life she could not understand, let alone believe. Becoming a family is a process and they will have to fight for it. The thing is, a person is their own worst enemy.

I’m going to cheat a bit here and choose a whole series, but I’m so proud of this one. I could see my own growth as a writer as I edited and moved it from FF to AO3. The Mills sisters have taken up my writing for years and I regret nothing.

2. December, 17th (MCU, 4k, complete)

Summary: December, 1991. Christmas is coming closer and Tony has no intention of spending it with his parents. He is set on going somewhere warmer than New York. However, Jarvis's idea may be even warmer. And who can resist celebrating Christmas in the middle of December? Besides, he has not seen his favourite aunt in some time.

I don’t know why, but I’ve always felt quite proud of this little piece. It’s probably all the angst. Also, Aunt Peggy, Jarvis and young Tony.

3. House Potter for Children in Need (Harry Potter, 50k, in progress)

Summary:Eight-year-old Severus Snape wakes up alone at home only to be later dumped in another house. There, he must put up with an annoying toddler, a creepy cat and two adults that cannot be trusted. The place is Godric's Hollow and the year, 1981 —except for the fact that Severus thinks it is 1968.

And I couldn’t forget my current WiP. I’m a firm believer that creators need to love what they’re doing and I adore this story. Sometimes, it’s quite hard to write and, other times, it seems to write itself, but so far I’m pretty satisfied with the way is turning out. Besides, it makes a lot of people happy and I don’t mind admitting this makes me even happier.

.

Tagging all the creators I can think of right now, mutuals or not: @hklnvgl, @mariagvogel, @thefangirlsnewgroove, @thisverybadartist, @volant-endeavor, @likelightinglass. If I forgot you, I’m sorry and please, feel free to do it and tag me so I can see it!

[wistfulcynic]

Self-Promo Sunday: Four Christmases

Merry Christmas everyone! I wrote this fic last year for CS Secret Santa so I thought I’d share again. Enemies to friends to lovers with family moments and ice skating!  

SUMMARY: When Emma Swan first meets Killian Jones at her sister’s Christmas party, she is not impressed. Over the course of the four Christmases they spend in each other’s company, Killian does his best to change her mind. 

On Tumblr: The First | The Second | The Third | The Fourth

On AO3

-

THE FIRST: 

They say first impressions are important, and Emma had always been a believer in this. It was essential for her job; if the skips weren’t convinced that she was there for a date with them, they’d never fall into her honey trap.

Of course, in her line of work she never spent enough time with anyone for there to be a second or third impression, so the first was pretty much all you got.

Her first impression of Killian Jones, formed about two hours into Emma’s sister Mary Margaret’s annual Christmas party, was not favourable. Of course she noticed his handsome face with its bright blue eyes and very kissable lips, but at the moment of their meeting those eyes were fixed on the naked breasts of her friend Ruby as the lips descended to latch onto her nipple and suck it hard as Ruby leaned back against the bathroom sink and moaned.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” shouted Emma.

“Ems!” shrieked Ruby, pushing Killian away and yanking up her dress.

Killian turned to glare at her, clearly displeased by the interruption. “Are you fucking kidding me,” he growled. “Barging in like this…”

“‘Barging in’? To the bathroom of my own apartment?”

He regarded her more closely, interest sparking in his eyes as he took in her habitual honey-trapping outfit of tight red dress and sky-high heels, her blonde hair in loose curls tumbling down her back. (“It’s— maybe a bit much for a friendly Christmas party?” Mary Margaret had said, but Emma knew that if she were going to survive a whole night with her sister’s very friendly friends then she needed her armour very much intact.)

“Ah, you must be Swan, then,” said Killian, his blue gaze now fixed on her as though Ruby and the party and the entire rest of the world didn’t exist.

“Emma Swan, yes.” She resisted the urge to squirm under his intense regard. The accelerated heartbeat and sudden hot flush across her skin she attributed to outrage. She simply wouldn’t allow them to be due to anything else.

“And do you not knock on bathroom doors here in your apartment, Emma Swan?” he inquired mockingly.

“I did knock,” hissed Emma, unconsciously moving closer to him. “You clearly didn’t hear me.”

“Well, I was rather occupied, love,” he said with an arrogant smirk that made her blood boil.

“I am not your love!”  

“No, indeed. Although that could certainly be remedied, should you wish it… Swan.” His smirk turned lascivious as he leaned into her space, his gaze roaming her body. His tongue flicked out to wet his lower lip and Emma actually shivered, suddenly overcome by images of that tongue and those lips on her skin.

What is wrong with me?

“You’re disgusting,” she hissed.

“Bit harsh, love.”

“Coming on to me in front of your— of the—” she gestured angrily at Ruby, who had been watching the interplay between Emma and Killian with extreme interest.

“Chill, Ems, it was just a bit of fun,” she said, “I took the opportunity to get some hot pirate action, but now that you have completely killed the mood, I’ll be getting back to the party. Maybe another time, Captain.”

“Aye, love,” replied Killian, his eyes still locked with Emma’s.

Ruby shook her head and squeezed behind Emma to get to the door, forcing her to take another step closer to Killian, who favoured her with a smile she would have found charming on a man she didn’t loathe.

“Now then, Swan, care to pick up where she left off?”

“I would rather rip out my own fingernails,” she retorted, the breathiness of her voice revealing the lie of her words. Why couldn’t she breathe?

He laughed, completely unperturbed. “I’d heard you were a tough lass.”

“Woman.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Lass means girl, right? I’m not a girl.”

The smirk returned. “That you certainly are not,” he purred, his voice dark and velvety and dripping with sinful promise.

There was that shiver again. Emma ground her teeth, struggling to think over the pounding of her heart, barely aware that she was biting her lower lip and shifting on her feet, squeezing her thighs together in an attempt to quell the tingling between them. What the hell was happening? There was no way she could be physically attracted to this jerk.

Killian closed the remaining distance between them, leading with his hips, one thumb tucked under his belt. With the other hand he reached up to grasp a lock of her hair, rubbing it between his thumb and forefinger.

“So what do you say, Swan…” Maybe, she thought wildly, maybe I could… just this once… “…shall we see just how much of a woman you are?”

And the spell was broken.

Ugh, he was the worst, and now she was furious. Furious with him for ruining his gorgeous face by being such an asshole, with herself for being prepared to overlook it. How could she ever have even considered letting him touch her?

Quick as a flash, she grabbed his hand from her hair and whipped him around, twisting his arm behind his back, smiling in satisfaction at his grunt of pain.

“I would not fuck you,” she hissed in his ear, “If you were the last man on earth and the last hope for continuing the human race.” She wrenched his arm higher. “Do you understand?”

“I do,” he replied, through clenched teeth, “You needn’t press the point, Swan.”

She released him, and he immediately stumbled away from her, wincing as he reached up to massage his shoulder. He turned towards the door, twisting the knob and opening it a few inches before suddenly pausing and closing it again.

“I’m sorry,” he said.

She blinked in surprise. “What?”

He turned to look at her for the first time since she’d released his arm, his expression free of suggestion or innuendo. Instead he looked… ashamed?

“My behaviour just now, it was… uncouth. Bad form. I apologise.”

“Oh.” She had not been expecting that. “Uh, fine. Thanks. Still not gonna fuck you.”

The smirk returned, this time merely a wry twist of his mouth, an eyebrow slightly quirked. “I’d never dream of suggesting you would,” he said. “See you around, Emma Swan.”

And with a small, slightly mocking bow, he was gone.

She saw him several more times that night, watched him actually, if she was honest, as he chatted and laughed and charmed his way through her friends and acquaintances. She waited for him to slip up, to show them the nasty, leering side of himself she’d seen in the bathroom, but he never did. In fact, they all seemed to love him.

It really pissed her off.

“So who is this Killian guy anyway?” she asked Mary Margaret when they went to the kitchen together to get drinks for everyone.

“Uh, he’s a friend of David’s.” Mary Margaret was distracted, trying to remember all the drink orders.

“Yeah, but how do they know each other? They seem… kinda different.”

“They met during David’s year abroad. You remember he studied in London? Killian was there too, I think they met in a pub or something.”

“Yeah, he seems like the kind of guy to hang out in pubs,” said Emma, wrenching the cap off a bottle of beer with perhaps slightly more force than was strictly required.  

Mary Margaret gave her an odd look. “Killian is definitely a character, but David says he was miserable in London before they met. Killian helped him feel more at home, introduced him to his friends, invited him to parties and stuff. He’s really a nice guy, Emma.”

Emma snorted. Nice guys didn’t come on to strange women in bathrooms.

“David’s been trying to get him to Storybrooke for Christmas for years now, but he’s always busy. He has to leave again tomorrow, actually. Something to do with his work.”

“What does he do?” Why was she interested?

“I don’t know exactly, he works on some kind of ship. Modern piracy, or something, David said.”

Ruby had called him a pirate too.

As she helped Mary Margaret carry the drinks, Emma found her attention drawn back to Killian, who was sitting on the arm of the sofa talking to… well, everyone, it seemed. He was telling a story, illustrating it animatedly with his hands —nice hands, she noticed, damn it— obviously coming to the punch line just as she arrived because the entire room burst into laughter.

Emma gritted her teeth as she handed him a beer.

“Thank you, Swan,” he said, with a polite smile. She nodded brusquely and turned away. She did not stomp off. She didn’t.

“So you’ve met Emma then,” said David.

“Aye, though I fear I’ve made rather a poor first impression,” Killian replied.

“Yeah, that’s not hard to do. Emma can be a bit prickly. She wasn’t my biggest fan at first either.”

“She’s Mary Margaret’s sister, you say?”

“Half sister, yeah. It’s a sad story. Their dad had a fling with Emma’s mom right after Mary Margaret’s mom died. When Emma’s mom found out she was pregnant, she freaked out and ran away. Their dad tried to find her, but she’d completely disappeared. Emma was found abandoned on the side of a road when she was less than a day old, and no one ever saw her mother again. She got swallowed up by the system then, spent years in foster care before their dad finally tracked her down.”

“Bloody hell.”

“You said it.”

Killian watched as Emma distributed drinks to the rest of the guests. Although she wasn’t unfriendly, her body language was decidedly closed off and unwelcoming, a clear warning to anyone who might try to get too close. Yet she couldn’t quite hide the yearning in her eyes as she watched the easy way the others interacted. She wanted affection, he realised, longed for intimacy, she just couldn’t open herself up to it, couldn’t bring herself to let anyone in.  

Fascinating.

He wished he could tell her that he understood, that he’d also been abandoned by a parent, and that after his brother’s death followed closely by his girlfriend’s he’d closed himself off from people too. It was hard to let anyone in when your only experiences with intimacy had ended in loss and betrayal, no one understood that better than he. Unfortunately, he feared he’d destroyed any chance to connect with her before he’d even really known he wanted to.

Killian kicked himself mentally for what must be the hundredth time in the past hour for having been such a boor in the bathroom. He didn’t know what he’d been thinking.

Although no, that wasn’t quite true. The problem was that he hadn’t been thinking. At least, he hadn’t been thinking with his brain. With his body already worked up by his dalliance with Ruby and his wits dulled by alcohol he had simply not been prepared for Emma, for the sharp green eyes that had pierced clear to his soul even as her soft gold hair had begged for his fingers to sink into it and pull her mouth to his. Immediately Ruby and the party and the fact that they were in the bloody bathroom had flown right out of his head, leaving only Emma and the hitch in her breath that he could feel on his cheek, the way her eyes had darkened as she bit a bright pink hue into her lower lip completely overwhelming his common sense and all his filters.

Oh, and he was a complete arse. That hadn’t helped matters either.

If only he didn’t have to leave early the next morning, he thought in frustration. Given enough time, he might be able to salvage the situation —salvaging wrecks was his job, after all— but instead her negative opinion of him would only solidify in his absence, and she’d probably spend the rest of her life thinking he was a creepy jerk.

He had no idea why this troubled him so much. All he knew was that he’d never felt so drawn to a woman before; even beyond the sexual attraction he sensed a kindred spirit in her and he couldn’t bear the idea of her despising him. Even if they never saw each other again.

He managed to speak to her once more, as he was leaving the party. She had fetched his coat for him (at Mary Margaret’s request and clearly under protest, he couldn’t help noticing), and he allowed his fingers to brush hers, lightly, as he took it from her.

Her sharp intake of breath and the way she snatched her hand away was balm to his soul. Whatever else, she wasn’t indifferent to him.

“So, you’re leaving tomorrow,” she blurted out, as he was shrugging the coat on.

“Aye. I have to get back to work.”

“On Christmas Eve?”

“Much of my work is… time sensitive. And I’ve no family anymore, so there’s not much point in taking the time off when I’d just be spending it alone.”

He had no idea why he’d told her that.

Perhaps he just wanted her to know that he too knew what it felt like to have no one.

Understanding and a hint of sympathy flashed across her face. “You could spend it with David,” she said, in a friendlier tone. “The holidays, I mean. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind.”

“Aye, so he keeps telling me. But I don’t wish to impose.” He hesitated a moment before adding “Perhaps next year.” He zipped up his coat and slung his satchel over his shoulder, then turned and smiled at her, offering his hand. To his surprise, she took it.

On impulse, he lifted hers to his lips and pressed a kiss to the back of it. Her eyes widened, and she swallowed hard, licking her lips as she did, and Killian cursed the gods and the fates, and his own idiot self for ruining whatever chances he might otherwise have had with this woman.

“Happy Christmas, Emma Swan,” he said.

-

[honormarred]

I’m going to set up her blog and probably add more bio stuff today once I’m home or the day after but I am going to add an AtLA OC I’ve been mulling over since my rewatch.

Her name is Xinyi, and you can learn about her here if you’re interested!

[emptymasks]

sleep comfort for both of you // illinois x reader

So How About That Date? ( A Heist With Markiplier x Reader Collection [SFW])

Pairing: Illinois / Gender-Neutral Reader

Words: 1446

Rating: General Audiences

Read on Ao3

Tags: gender neutral reader | Comfort | Fluff and Hurt/Comfort | Hugs | Everyone Needs A Hug | Fluff | POV Second Person | Mention of insomnia

Notes (more notes at the end): credit and thank yous to people in the @yancy-support-group​ discord server (come and join us) for giving me lots of inspiration for this

Sleep sometimes felt like your worst enemy.

You'd just be laying there at the end of the day all ready to rest and your body would just say no, no sleep for you. No matter how busy or active you had been that day, sleep just wouldn't happen. You'd just lay there staring at the ceiling, tossing and turning in the hope your body would find a position it liked. Laying there for who knows how long and checking the clock to realise you'd been awake for hours at that point. You could often tell when it was going to happen after about the first five minutes of laying down. You couldn't really explain it, but even if you were tired you could feel when your body and brain were just not going to accept sleep that night.

And then on the nights where insomnia wasn't holding you hostage, you'd find yourself kept away by noises and rocks digging into your back in forest shelters and caves and deserts as you stuck by Illinois side. You'd be trying to get to sleep but the slightest wind or dripping or water could keep you awake.

Not Illinois though, that man could sleep anywhere. You supposed he was used to it by now after being on so many adventures and journeys and having to sleep in all sorts of conditions and weathers and climates. He wasn't a heavy sleeper though. Though you were incredibly easily disturbed whilst trying to fall asleep, not everything woke you up once you were actually asleep. It was probably for the best Illinois wasn't a very heavy sleeper as on more than one occasion you'd been awoken by him dragging you awake (and one time giving up and you woke up slung over his shoulders) as the cave ceiling decided it didn't like you anymore and started to rain in on you both.

So he wasn't a particularly heavy sleeper, but he could fall asleep in the tightest and most uncomfortable places, which is why it was such a surprise after laying inside in your nice, warm bed with him, it had been over an hour and you knew he still wasn't asleep. Of course he hadn't said anything, he liked acting all self-sufficient and independent. It had been wonderful to watch that act fade as he got more comfortable around you and you started spending more time together and for you to realise that deep down he's soft and does care (though he still has that bravado). He's just lost so many partners he tries to push people away nonchalantly so that there's no risk of anyone else getting hurt. But you made it clear you were staying and there's no way he could get rid of you now.

You rolled off your back and onto your side to face him. He didn't move, just kept laying there with his eyes closed. You knew he was awake, his body was too tense and rigid.

"Ow," His eyes shot open as you jabbed him in the waist. He blinked up at you while you glared down at him. "Alright darlin', you caught me. I'm not keeping you awake, am I?"

"Only thing that's keeping me awake is my stupid brain. But what's keeping you awake, huh? I've never seen you having problems falling asleep. You know if you're worried about anything you can tell me."

He smiled at how earnest you were being. "It's nothing, you just try and sleep."

"It's not nothing. If you're going to lecture me about how sleep is necessary then I'll fling that right back at you."

You stayed staring at him, eyes locked as if he was challenging you to drop it. He sighed.

"It's nothing, alright. I suppose I'm just not used to all this. I'm so used to sleeping outside I hadn't realised how quiet things can get indoors. The bed's softer than what I'm used to, but it's not too bad. It's the silence I think. It's like it's just itching under my skin. But don't you worry your pretty little head about it, you can get enough beauty sleep for the two of us." And of course he winked at the end.

"Hardly," You scoffed. "I don't think I'm doing any sleeping tonight. I'd offer to open the window to help if it wasn't freezing outside."

"Now you don't have to do that on account of me. Why don't you just lie back down next to my big, strong, warm body," You laugh and drop your head onto his shoulder. "And you can at least get yourself some rest."

It was a shame you couldn't open the window though. It might help him to at least be able to hear some sounds of wind or nature or... You felt like an idiot, why didn't you think about this before?

"Now where do you think you're scampering off too?" Illinois questioned as you crawled away from him and grabbed your phone from your bedside table. "You know those things don't help you sleep right? Those screens aren't any good for you."

You ignored his complaints as you broughtup Youtube on your phone. "We're not going to be looking at it, we're going to listen to it. Sometimes when I can't sleep and I'm on my own I play ASMR videos, whether it's someone talking or often just soundscapes and sound effects. The noise helps my brain focus on something that isn't my biggest worries and fears creeping into my head at the worst possible time, you know. So, I thought, there's lots of videos of forest sounds and cave sounds and nature sounds... all sorts of sounds really, and we could play one and maybe it would help?"

His brows furrowed and he looked confused for a moment before pondering whether to trust your phone.

"I'll put it face down on the table so they'll be no light and no looking at the screen," You said trying to convince him.

"Alright, if you think if might help. Can't hurt, I suppose."

You tried and not look too excited as you pulled up a video of cave sounds (water droplet effects and wind and ambience) and reached back over to put your phone back on the table, turning the volume up so he could hear it from the other side of the bed.

You laid back on your side, facing him, watching and studying him as he closed his eyes again. Ever so slowly his body started to relax into the mattress.

"So maybe your phone isn't completely evil."

"It's helping?!" You forced your voice quieter as you were too excited to be able to be helping him.

"Yeah, sapphire, it's helping," He murmured and you blushed at the pet name.

He seemed fine for a while before he began shuffling a little.

"Do you mind if I..." He glanced down at where his hand now was, stretched outwards towards you and hovering next to your own. "I just want to... know you're still here..."

Your heart ached. You were slowly working out how touch-starved he was and how long it had been for him since he'd last experienced physical affection. "Of course."

He slowly intertwined his fingers with yours, pulling your arm over his stomach as he settled your joined hands there. You nuzzled into his shoulder. His thumb stroked over the back of your hand and he chuckled.

"It's adorable how you're smaller than me," You looked up and he was just staring at your joined hands with the goofiest, softest grin on his face and he sighed and he just looked fucking dreamy and you could have sworn he was blushing.

You moved to place a kiss along his jaw. "Well we can't all have 'big, strong hands' like you," You lowered your voice in some poor attempted at imitating him and you both laughed. "I'm glad though..." You muttered. "That you're fine with me and all."

"Darlin' I am so much more than 'fine' with you, you know that."

"Yeah, I know."

"And it is helping, it seems to be at least. The noise and you, holding your hand like this... sort of embarrassing to say, but of course Illinois doesn't get embarrassed by anything, but... it's nice, grounding even."

"We should do this more often then," You said around a yawn that broke out of your mouth mid-sentence.

"We should... But for now, sleep, for both of us."

You mumbled some form of agreement into his shoulder. "G'night Illy." He would groan and complain about that nickname, but he'd never actually asked you to stop using it.

"Good night, sweetheart."

Tag list: @thehalfdemonwitchfromamestris @rats-this-username-is-taken​ @hamiltrash1411​ @line-viper​ (let me know if you’d like to be added to the tag list for my ahwm fics)

More notes: credit and thank yous to people in the yancy-support-group discord server (come and join us) for giving me lots of inspiration for this:(a collection of messages I took inspiration from)

Starship: Illinois: .....i didn't know you where this strong sapphire

Tinam: but Illinois exclusively using gemstones names as petnames with Y/N

Mars: Does Illinois hold Y/N's hand when he sleeps? I feel he'd do Illi loves that Y/N has smaller hands than him. He'll just be a blushing mess because "holy????? fuck??????? Whenever they hold hands he just has the biggest fucking heart eyes, the goofiest grin and can't stop sighingthank you all for saying it was okay for me to take these ideas and be inspired by them and write things based on them

 i know it's been a little while, but my mental health took a dive but now i'm working on getting myself better.

huge thank you to everyone who's been leaving comments and kudos and requests, it means a lot.

big thanks to starship in the yancy-support-group discord server for giving me most of my inspiration for this, more on that in the notes at the top of this chapter. 

and if you guys could please help me out and and reblog this promo post for the heist charms, stickers and pins i'm making and selling that would mean the world! there's also the link in there to my Etsy shop where you can buy them

also if you want to see the heist art i keep drawing you can follow me on instagram and twitter

[icharchivist]

Also not to like self promo or anything but I wrote about Ramuda softening up to Fling Posse and it really becoming a part of him solely through analysis of the eyes in Stella. I thought "Maybe I'm looking too much into this" but after your last response, FP really does mean something to Ramuda. But it's also the best because before FP, each member didn't have much. Gen had his intl friend who he was losing, Dice has nothing and Ramuda had lost a lot. Ugh FP is just 👌🏻👌🏻 ~ Haze

Ooooya? 👀👀👀👀 interesting interesting 

but oh my no i’m 100% with you there and I don’t think it’s overreading, Ramuda is COMPLETELY softening to the Posse in general and i think he didn’t expect how much he’d end up caring for them.

Stella is a huge indicator of that, with sooo much stuff tho, i’m just so soft about it like -

So Ramuda called TDD a Posse in the TDD Drama Track, and he obviously genuinely cared about them? But it broke apart, for reasons and it left him sour. so sour that what does he do the moment he gets to have a new Posse, people he definitly picked so he could use them? He calls them a Fling, setting a distance with them, readying himself into it eventually ending. Like he fooled himself by getting attached to TDD and he’s Not Going To Do The Same Mistake Twice. 

But he picked the two worst people for that because if anything, both Gentaro and Dice seem to be starved for this sort of significant friendship. 

If Gentaro’s song is only a little right, he had closed his heart to people when he was being bullied in school and once he met with his one friend, he became very clingy, he mentions snuggling with him, and multiple elements points to him shapping his current life for the well being of said friend who “had forgotten how to smile” as of now, as his intro rap goes.In general when you look at the rest of his interraction he doesn’t seek out others people a lot, but he does seek out the Posse. And then what does he do? does a fanfic about how he would be devasted if the Posse broke up (while they all signed for it to be a FLING) and if he could, he would bring it back together after all. And he wrote Stella, who’s the big “even if life puts us apart we’ll find each other again and we will walk our own path together” (which echo also his fanfic, which is relevent since the fanfic is Pre-Know your Enemy and Stella is Post-Loss of Battlex3)By all account, Gentaro had showed multiple times that he wants the Posse to find strength with one another - that he doesn’t want to give up on it. 

and Dice meanwhile, well, aside from Riou he doesn’t seem to have a lot of friends, probably not with his living and all. We see him distance himself from his responsabilities in important choices like *joining the posse* by relegating it to luck, he was ready to pass down the possibility of Once In a LifeTime friendship because he valued that.  Which makes me think Dice isnt exactly used into being *close* to people, or at least not now with his current lifestyle.

And let’s not lie to ourselves, Dice is extra self destructive with his habits, but look at how he was devasted when Riou fought him in the last drama track. He didn’t want to face a friend, but Riou was against him, because Dice made A Wrong Decision (and well, Riou’s loyalty first extended to Juuto).  But still that one scene may have been a specific stab for Dice to realize that the Posse had his back even when he was doing something Unbelievably Stupid that both Gentaro and Ramuda called him out about. Dice lives an unstable life, yet the Posse supports him, fight for him, defends him, gets in trouble for him. 

And it plays in Dice’s loyalty for them, how willing he is to fight for Gentaro, how he’s associated to Hachiko (the loyal dog who was waiting at the station for its master to come back home even after his death) in Hoodstar, and more specifically how he brags about how great His Posse is in said song. 

Ramuda freaking played himself.

He was planning a band with a group of outcasts and it ended up being two who were just as alone as he was. Two people who would relate to Ramuda’s self hatred and destructive and chaotic habits. (Gentaro and Dice both have comments about how they are trash, and I feel like Ramuda’s verse in Stella extends that Ramuda thinks just as much of himself) which is why Gentaro and Dice ends up litterally breaking down the defenses of Ramuda’s planet in the MV by telling him “well, we’re alike all three of us, we’re not good people, but together it’ll be fine”.

Ultimately Stella is full of Ramuda’s self hatred and how much he is TRYING to keep his distances from the posse but the MV shows us litterally how Gentaro and Dice breaks down the walls he had created. Before they do so, in the colors of the MV, Ramuda’s color is a light, lifeless pink - but once Gentaro and Dice starts to walk with him, the pink becomes bright, full of life - Ramuda is finding a reason to be lively again thanks to the Posse.

And if all of this sounds like overreading (it probably is bc i think about the Posse much more than i should) let’s not forget that Chapter 4 of the Manga ends with this:

(source of the translation)

“A true ordinary smile for just a moment”

and it was just after the second drama track with the Posse

Ramuda IS softening to the Posse. That’s a canon fact. He cannot help but care for them in the end. 

To which extend? With Stella i’d say a lot. I’d say Ramuda isn’t even realizing it, nor admitting it to himself.

But I stand by what I said - if he wanted to keep distances, he made a grave mistakes hiring Gentaro and Dice. 

Because those two are not really ready to just leave Ramuda alone just yet. They’re a Posse after all, an unvaluable bound. Can’t run away from that.

[abidinganger]

❛ Anybody can become angry — that is easy, but to be angry with the right person and to the right degree and at the right time and for the right purpose, and in the right way — that is not within everybody's power and is not easy. ❜ ― Aristotle ––

RP account for Bruce Banner of Square-Enix’s AVENGERS game. Independent. Private. Selective. Original character and crossover friendly. Written by Walden.

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