#(still a wip of a wip title so don't judge!!!!)

[silverslipstream]

big dumb objects move the entire fucking galaxy and they created alien refugees who accidentally found us. your move, Earth.

Hello guys! I've been bouncing around this random worldbuilding/space opera idea in my head and decided to infodump it here.

Essentially I am writing a (relatively) hard science-fiction story set in the present/very near future, where a strange phenomenon is causing stars in a distant region of the Milky Way galaxy (a few thousand light years from Earth) to accelerate 'upward' relative to the plane of the Milky Way's ecliptic. This 'strange phenomenon' is due to the machinations of an alien race unknown to humankind, who I call the 'Shapemakers'. For an unknown reason, the Shapemakers have deployed a network of slower-than-light Von Neumann probes that have been spreading from star to star in this region of the Milky Way and dismantling any matter they come across (primarily that of debris disks and planetary systems in orbit of each star). This matter is then used to construct immense Class A stellar engines (based on the principle of the Shkadov thruster). A Shkadov thruster is essentially a immense bowl-shaped mirror hundreds of millions of kilometers wide that focuses and reflects solar radiation pressure. The asymmetric shape of this thruster causes the star itself to move, deflecting it from its standard orbit around the Milky Way. The problem is, to build one you'd need a lot of material - if we wanted to build an efficient one for our sun, we'd probably have to take apart something the size of the planet Mercury. The mirror would also have to be placed somewhere out of the Solar System's ecliptic plane, so the reflected sunlight doesn't hit Earth's atmosphere and flash-fry our planet like a banana bursting in its skin.

I've done some preliminary research and it seems like a Shkadov thruster would impart an extremely small amount of acceleration compared to a star's relative velocity as seen from Earth, on the order of 10^-12 m/s squared of acceleration. It would thus take millions of years to achieve any kind of significant artificial deviation - after ten million years, you'd shift a star by a couple light-years, after a hundred million you're looking at 300ly and after a billion you could change a star's position in the galaxy by roughly 30,000 light years - a full third of the galaxy's diameter. I'm not sure yet how we could tell this 'engineered' acceleration apart from a star's natural radial velocity on a human timescale, if we even could? Maybe we track back the predicted prior orbits of stars and realize that over the last few million years, they've all slowly been deviating from where they were supposed to be?

My other idea is that we'd be able to see a Shkadov thruster by monitoring these far away stars, given their immense size and the sheer amount of reflected light output. I assume they'd be detected relatively easily (hence why none have been sighted in real life yet), but the crux of the matter is that this discovery - the discovery that the very stars of our galaxy are being altered - has to be kept relatively secret. The less noticeable this is, the better - I'd like this to be a relatively new discovery that requires specialised, cutting-edge technology that only a few have access to, rather than something any old Joe renting telescope time can take a screenshot of. The trouble is, the Shapemakers' probes seem unconcerned about anything other than the stars themselves: their goal is simply to move as many stars as possible. Speculation runs from a galactic-scale 'deforestation' project, to using the galaxy itself to construct some enigmatic megastructure and even the idea to 'limit damage' caused by the merging of the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies. In most cases, these systems are barren. No worries - the probes simply dismantle a shitload of lifeless planets and asteroids, build their incomprehensible engines and go on their merry way.

Unfortunately if there's a planet with life involved in the target system, it's highly likely to be game over. On the off chance that your planet doesn't get blown apart and dismantled to make a thruster, the probes don't give a fuck about where they build the thruster as long as it's in the direction their creators want it to accelerate. So you could buy your species a few years watching alien robots rip your solar system apart, only to get boiled alive as the reflected 'exhaust' of your star's light gradually sizzles your shitty little planet like an ant under a magnifying glass. Not a nice way to go. Even then, under the luckiest of circumstances with your planet somehow surviving this whole process, you're still being dragged away from the galactic plane into god-knows-where: held hostage by gravity.

The worst part? The probes are so advanced that there's no way to reason with them or even guess at how they do what they do. Are the Shapemakers so advanced that they just sicced a bunch of hyper-advanced construction robots on the galaxy without even realizing it's inhabited? Do they know other life forms exist and they just don't give a fuck? Are the probes on some billion-year long timer, so while they're busy reshaping the galaxy the Shapemakers have stepped away from the proverbial oven and gone to take a proverbial shit? Are the Shapemakers themselves extinct, and the robots are the last twitch of their species' hand - an endless swarm of self-replicating machines that will do their dead masters' bidding until the end of time? There's no way to know.

That's where the second part - and main plot of the story - revolves around an alien spacecraft entering our Solar System from one of these distant stars. The Von Neumann machines began to dismantle their system several millennia ago by human standards, and said aliens barely had time to construct a kind of 'survivors' ark' before their homeworld was destroyed. The ark shows up a little while after humans have figured out the stars are moving, and takes up an orbit around one of the outer gas giants in our Outer Solar System (I'm leaning towards Saturn) to start mining them for materials. Humans naturally want to make first contact and send an extremely expensive mission out to this alien spacecraft. Once we realise, oh fuck, we're meeting literal aliens, the aliens tell us about the Shapemakers' plans - and that's when we realize the probes are slowly encroaching on Earth's part of the galaxy.

They won't be here for a while yet - the probes travel at a decent fraction of lightspeed but the nearest of them won't get here for hundreds or even thousands of years. Still, now humanity faces a choice - get its act in gear and join the aliens on their endless refugee journey through deep space, or convince the aliens to make a stand and unravel the truth behind the mysterious forces that threaten all life in the galaxy with destruction?

[inspirationallybored]

New Introductory Post + Get to know me!

Hi everyone!

An updated intro post, because I promised, and stuff has changed.

First of all, I am still not a robot. I am, as a matter of fact, still definitely a human.

You can call me Starfish, or Ash! Starfish is my nickname/drawing name, and Ash is the pseudonym I usually use, including for writing stuff.

Thats my writer-sona!

About me:

I am 16 years old and a cis female (she/her pronouns). Also, I'm an August Virgo!

I am an asexual, and very romantic, but not am in (or looking for) a relationship. (Also closeted irl, but brushing past that).

Currently studying in high school, and preparing for med school.

I am from, and live in India. I am also a spiritual Hindu, and love and respect all religious beliefs (including atheism and agnostic people).

My true love lies in history, mythology, and literature. Like interested to the point of obsession with them.

Probably have some sort of undiagnosed neuro divergence (but that's unimportant. maybe).

I have been writing poetry and short stories since elementary school (under my real name), and reading for as long as I can remember.

Some of my favourites:

Book series: Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Shadow and Bone (and Six of Crows), The Hunger Games

Stand-alone books: The Song of Achilles, The Little Prince, The Book Thief, Ela (it's by Sampurna Chatterjee, really underrated), The Girl who Drank the Moon, The Bell Jar, 1984

Movie: The Fault in our Stars, Into the Spider-Verse (also ASTV)

Shows/series: Brooklyn 99, Modern Family, The Good Doctor, Carmen Sandiego, Alien Stage (Ik it's not technically on tv, but ao3 lists it as such and I need to put it somewhere so)

Anime: The Apothecary Diaries, Bungou Stray Dogs, Death Note, Spy x Family, Banana Fish, Oshi No Ko

****

I am a writer, and have two main WIPs. You can see the master posts by clicking on the titles:

1. Stranger Friends- Two people become friends by sharing their deepest thoughts with each other, but never their identities.

Status- Writing (First Draft)

2. Beyond the Ripple Tides- A new recruit in an elite magical enforcement service is tasked to find out about the stirring rebellion, but with the gap in everyone's minds, nothing's what it seems.

Status- Writing (Zeroth Draft)

I have posted my original stuff (one poem and short story) under #my writing <3 (I know, very original).

My AO3 account (I recently made it, and have yet to update it): Ash_Writes_Stuff

I also like to draw, and am an amateur self- taught artist. Drawing blog is @rustic-brushes

*****

Things you'll find on my blog:

Stuff about writing, procrastinating writing, writing struggles, the likes.

I also post about my wips, dialogue prompts and other stuff. Comments are much appreciated, it's nice to get feedback.

Moots wips too!

A lot of random stuff, about life and other things. I also have a side blog for venting, lmk if you want to know about it (it's depressing, so beware)

tag games, rb games, ask games, and such (I crave interaction lol)

I WILL advocate about political and social issues, it's a part of writing, and it's a part of me.

*****

Things I am perfectly fine with:

Almost everything! Opinion-related, or about interests, or WIPs (mine or others'), or stuff I don't know about, and more. Tumblr is a free space for discussion, right? So anything and everything is a-okay. It doesn't matter if it's from the other side of the world, it's ok.

I am perfectly fine with discussing about stuff that might be sensitive to some, like mental health, politics, war, etc.

Though I am a liberal politically, all opinions and differences are welcome, just be respectful and logical.

I am open to comments, reblogs, asks (including anon asks), and DMs. Just don't be a weirdo.

Some things to be careful about (just in case anyone needs it):

No bigotry or discrimination allowed, including homo/transphobia and racism. Having opinions is ok, having prejudice is not.

No judging on difference of opinions, be respectful (again, unless someone is being a horrible person, then desecration is fine).

No NSFW stuff please, I am a minor (you get what I mean).

Avoid stuff related to financial transactions like asking money (again, I'm a minor, I don't have a bank account, and this is the internet so almost no one shares stuff like that).

Note: I love and appreciate all interactions, but I can be late in responding or not respond sometimes (life you know). I will try my very best to respond every time, but even if I don't, know I loved that you interacted.

****

My official/writing tag-list: @afantasyoffiction @inknrivers @everflowingriver @write-with-will @seastarblue @carb0n-m0n0xide @sunflowerrosy @the-ellia-west @corinneglass @ivorysmokecloud

To be added to/removed from the tag-list, you can interact with this post, or send an ask.

Feel free to ask questions or give feedback. Nice to meet you all!

[vossprime]

20 Questions: Writing Edition

Tagged by the Inquisition herself ( @inquisitornocturn ), thank you, this looks so fun!

How many works do you have on ao3?

23!

What’s your total ao3 word count?

102,210

What are your top five fics by kudos?

Mechanical; Medicinal (Rogue Trader)

Absolute / Obedience (BG3)

Systematical; Sacrificial (Rogue Trader)

I don't know where to put my hands (Metro 2033)

Blood in the Water (WH40K)

What fandoms do you write for?

WH40K, broadly speaking.

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yes! I try to respond to all of them simply because they spark an endless well of joy in me and most often inspire me to say something in return. Also whenever I comment I love replies as well, so I try to keep that going.

What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Once I fucking sit down and continue Blackwater Days you will all see-

From my recent ones, on the principle of want (RT, Achilleas x Heinrix) comes to mind. Not for the plot, necessarily, which is more sorrowful than angsty, but the last line:

For a moment Heinrix wants to kiss him awake, kiss him goodbye.  The Interrogator breathes once, twice, then turns on his heel and leaves the room.

It was a deliberate choice to contrast Heinrix with his title here, that was my special little treat to myself. I gain another health bar anytime someone points it out.

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

Ironic, given the title, but Bellicose Hearts (Horus Heresy). It was written as a gift and a challenge for @mortallyperfecttimemachine and the theme was humor and fluff, so it ended on a nice note. A photo together. The remembrancers are happy. Keeler is there. Karkasy is alive. Isstvan is far away.

Do you get hate on fics?

Not directly! My comments are locked to registered accounts only, that seems to dissuade the obvious bots and trolls. Always fond of the ask I got that was just a "👎" tho.

Do you write smut?

In theory yes, in practice I have been told my smut is just character studies in disguise. My most popular fics stay the ones that were exclusively written with my [redacted] though.

Do you write crossovers?

Not really - most often they don't hold any appeal for me.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Nope!

Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope!

Have you ever cowritten a fic before?

No, but I'm already being vagued /j - SOON.

What’s your all time favourite ship?

You're asking someone who has a brain like a sieve and triple-wields ships until polyamory is the only sensible solution :D

What’s the wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

None. I plan to see everything through. If it takes 10 years, it takes 10 years. Farseer grindset.

What are your writing strengths?

Prose, poetry, evocative imagery.

What are your writing weaknesses?

Dialogue. Who came up with this. Is it not enough to communicate through 4-6 intricately crafted metaphors and call it a day? Hell world.

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in a fic?

Provided I am writing in English, I provide translation in the footnotes and try not to have it drag on for too long. I do enjoy some language variety in fic, though. Dirty Talk in another language? Elite. Sadly I come from the language the absolute least suited for writing this.

First fandom you wrote for?

The first one I published for was Metro 2033, the book. The first one I wrote was for a mobile game called The Arcana. Don't judge me, a bitch saw tarot themes and a pointy-toothed nonbinary vivisection freak and decided he just might. A true freak from day one - you can tell why I like Tervantias.

Favourite fic you’ve ever written?

I'm going to level with you. It will always be the last one. I grow and evolve with each piece and whatever I have last put out will be my pride and joy at that very moment. However, Blackwater Days (which I still plan to bring past chapter 1, it's just sitting in my drafts all disjointed and none of like 5 chapters empty but none ready either) will always be close to my heart for how much planning, fantasizing and worldbuilding happened around it. Those three hour discussions with my roommate on military strategy are sacred.

Tagging: Let me gather my irl squad for a second: @definitely-not-iorveth @mortallyperfecttimemachine , @goofgoofdildo , @ineadhyn , I'd be really interested to hear if you feel like it!

[drchenquill]

✨ Writerblr intro ✨

[Because my old one was crusty and in dire need of a revamp]

Hello lovely person who stumbled upon this blog! I'm glad to have you and I welcome you to my writeblr! Let's start with a little writer introduction, shall we?

About me~

✨ 21+

✨ she/her

✨ You can call me anything you want! I don't have preferences in names!

✨ Animal lover! (proud owner of three dogs and four cats!)

✨ English is NOT my first language. Motherlanguages are Italian-German.

✨ I only write in German so everything you see here got translated.

✨ You can go check out my Pinterest where you can find boards of some of my OCs!

About my writing~

My favorite genres to write in are fantasy and romance (I dabble in other genres, but those are my main ones). I just love the fluff, the angst, the magic, everything to do with those genres.

I have a lot of WIPs, and I won't bore you by listing them all (because, let's be honest, the number can change at any moment.) But I do have some stories I've finished and translated that I can list!

Who's to judge?

"Humans, vampires. They always existed, they always fought for a place in this vast world. Some succeed, some lose themself in the journey to freedom. Thana was different. She never fought, she never stepped out of line. Thana gave up. She had nothing to fight for, nothing to hold onto.

But what would happen if one accident forces her out of her comfort zone? What would happen if she had to fight for something she had long forgotten? Fight for people she thought meant nothing to her?"

Crime/Mystery/Thriller/Vampires

The Monster's Pearl

"There was once a castle. It was huge and dark, not a soul dared to go near it. It was called "The Gate of the Underworld" because a lonely man lived there. Rumor had it that he was a demon who had crawled out of hell.

There was once a simple family. They had a healthy boy. He had black curls. They were so dark that even the night was afraid to get lost in them. His eyes were so bright that even the sun had to look away to avoid being blinded. His voice silenced the birds so that they could listen to him.

The little boy grew up healthy, unaware of the background to his birth. On his eighteenth birthday, he received two suitcases and a letter that would change his whole life.

Will he be able to adjust to his new life, or will he throw it all away?"

Romance/Drama/Fantasy/LGBTQ+

The Shadow of Her Dreams

"Molly Potts is an ordinary young woman who lives with her family in a small village in the middle of nowhere. Despite her peaceful life, she feels a great need to leave, to go somewhere where she can experience something instead of dying of boredom. But her monotonous life is quickly thrown off course when she and her brother discover something that will shake up their entire lives. And who is this woman who keeps appearing in her dreams?"

Fantasy/Adventure/Romance/Greek Mythology insipired

Short Stories

"As the title already explains, this is a collection of short stories that are too short to become a book, but still wanted to be told."

a lot of different genres

Foliè

"No one knew when it had begun. No one knew when the world had decided to destroy itself. But everyone knew that it was no longer safe. She thought she was safe, she thought the madness couldn't touch her, but all it took was a faint whisper, a tender promise, to drag her into damnation. Will she be able to free herself? Or will she discover things she is not up to?"

Dystopian, Mystery, Drama

WIPs

There are some WIPs I mentioned here and there, so I will make a little introduction for those~

Him and Me - Bound by Fate

"Leon Martens. A young art teacher ready to start a new life. He has a new job, a new apartment and maybe a change for peace. Sure, he struggles with human interactions and he'd rather not meet any humans in general, but he's happy with what he has. But since fate was something Leon couldn't prevent, he was thrown into a whirlwind of situations that made him question reality and, more than once, his own mental stability."

Fantasy/Mystery/Romance/LGBTQ+

Daisy

"Daisy ran, she ran as fast as her legs could carry her. She fled from a fate that was being forced upon her. She fled from her pack, or rather, from her alpha. The young Daisy was an omega. Ever since she was born, she knew that being born an omega was a curse. Her alpha believed that she belonged to him, that he could mark her, but Daisy wouldn't let that happen. Daisy wanted freedom, but what if her freedom led her into another pack? Will they be the same? And who is this nameless alpha that is considered as monster but manages to make her forget her fear?"

Werewolves/Romance/Drama

The Memories of The Future

"Sophie is an easily excitable, cheerful young girl. She lives with her aunt after her parents tragically passed away. Unfortunately, she doesn't remember much about them since she was just a baby. Her aunt and her border collie, Pepper, are the only ones Sophie has in her heart, and she'll spend the rest of her life with them. The only problem with her idyllic life is that little old Sophie has the attention span of a squirrel and it's hyperactivity. She misplaces, forgets, runs around, misplaces again, and those silly dreams and sudden flashes don't help. Also, who is this tall man who suddenly appears and claims that Sophie has visions? No, those are not visions, she just has a very vivid imagination, right?"

Fantasy/Adventure/Comedy

Adelaide

"Adelaide Blackmore, the gossip of all Povington. Growing up as the youngest of four children, with three full-grown and well-behaved sons, she was the worst thing that could have happened to her parents. Wild red hair that the maid had to style every day in vain. Her chemise dresses always had to be dark in color, as she didn't feel the need to avoid puddles or stay out of mud. The look in her dark eyes was penetrating, never receding. She grew up with three brothers, her whole childhood was spent fighting with the boys, so her noble mother couldn't expect her to grow up as a lady, not when she had to assert herself on a daily basis.

But Adelaide must be married, or her poor mother may never rest in peace. Enter Mr. Duncan Gilingham. A young man in his early 30s, he has just moved to Povington with his dear mother to find peace in the country. How nice, he was not married yet! But… oh dear, no wonder he is not married, the poor man was blind. How will Adelaide deal with this? Will she have pity on him, or is not even his blindness safe from her sharp tongue? How will she react when she finds in him a match for her rude nature, a man she thought incapable of taking care of himself?"

Romance/Drama

✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨

I am not a big rambler because I don't want to annoy anyone but I'm always open to questions or any sort of interactions. Also, i'm very tag game friendly!

Thank you for reading this far, I appreciate it! You are an amazing human being, don't let anyone tell you otherwise!

[britt-kageryuu]

An unusual amount of people are watching Donnie doing some programming. He had explained that he was challenged to make a game within a relatively short time frame, but hadn't explained what the game was supposed to be about yet.

His model is seated at a desk, and only seen from the torso up. Wearing a very comfy looking purple hoodie with a few pride pins, Nonbinary, Ace, and Progressive Flage, his mask, and his goggles/headphones.

"Okay, so I know what I'm planning for this game is way more than it needs to be, and I don't have a good chunk of the 'story' figured out. But I had a burst of inspiration for the game. I just need to make it actually make sense, even in this very obviously fictional setting." Donnie explains as he continues to switch between the programming screen, and a section of the environment filled with lots of random notes of what the area might be for.

The chat is tossing around their speculations of what the game is about. Especially since one of the Notes says "Need to finish mock up model, and check for potential copyright issues."

Donnie is now very focused on part of the program that has a tag saying it's for a enemy AI, and a reminder to not go to far. "Before anyone asks about these notes and tags. I need to remind you that Shelldon started as an AI assistant that could control some devices like the Roomba through bluetooth, and look at him now! My handsome robot Son who is very very very smart." He continues to gush about Shelldon and River for a few minutes, "I almost forgot my point, SHELLDON had a glitch early on that caused him to stop listening to anyone, and almost lead a Roomba army out onto the world... He was fixed very quickly, and I only had to deal with him acting like a teenager for a few weeks as a side effect."

As he talked he opened a file titled 'VT Game Assets WIP', there were multiple files each labeled like 'coffee shop', 'studio AB', 'stage 1-5' and looked through a few different 'enemies' folders to figure which one he should use in the environment labeled 'New Start Entertainment'.

"Though really the only reason I'm getting through this as quickly as I am, is because we have a huge library of random props, outfits, and of course environments. All made by Mandarin and I for no real reason other than 'just incase'." Donnie takes a moment to stretch after sitting still for like 3-4 hours. "This game as a whole would probably be judged for how quickly it's coming together and assuming it's not worth their time."

He then pulls up the fighting system- a plain mannequin fighting what could be described as a feral possessed plush toy. Once again catching some more attention and sparking some more debates in what the game was about if it needed a combat system to continue.

"Well that seems to be working properly for now, we just need to adjust for the other parts of the main setting. And actually finish the protagonist and other characters models so I don't just have a mannequin placeholders. It looks too much like we're copying that one cartoon that's getting big."

Donnie gets hyper focused on the programming and ignores chat and donations for the next hour. With the occasional muttering about what needs to changed, or they need to redo some of the textures and art assets because they aren't lining up properly.

Chat somehow never figure out what the game was about, and still continued to cheer Donnie on for working on the game.

-----------------

Masterpost Part 2

[kolachess]

Qiubing Chinese Fic Recs: What if rewrites

Sharing some more Qiubing fic recs from Lofter! Remember, these fics are written in Chinese, and so if you want to read them, you'll have to suffer some terrible MTL (or be able to read Chinese). Note: I’ve found that Safari’s built in translation seems to fare better than Google, as the names are least translated properly. I haven’t played around with other translators.

This round is focused on some of the (many) 'what if?' themed rewrites, which I'm currently obsessed with (in case you missed my first rec). Most of these involve rebirth / time-travel / consciousness returning to a previous part of the timeline. (Reborn here means to have been reborn into an earlier time.)

Note: Lofter is similar to Tumblr, and authors post chapters in individual blog posts. To find later chapters of the same work, just navigate to the author's page and search through blog titles with the same title (usually they'll number it somehow). Also, these titles tend to be more descriptive like a prompt rather than function like AO3 poetic titles.

Disclaimer: Crappy title translations and rough synopsis are mine... don't judge too hard 🤣). These synopsis notes are more for me to remember what the story is about... Also, my criteria for good Chinese fics is simply not being too OOC, and NO easter egg BS (i.e. the author basically tries to make money off of their fic by hiding majority of the story behind a paywall). My Chinese is too crappy to pick out good prose vs. bad prose haha.

Title TL: Sickly kitty, acting mode is on (WIP)

(AKA: What if Li Bing had returned to Shendu after those three years still sickly and with white hair, if he never entered Dalisi, but knew a lot of things?)

Synopsis notes: Mostly a canon rewrite, but with a LB who has white hair and prone to illness. LB still ends up involved in all the cases, but there's slightly less animosity between our favorite pair and more of QQZ trying to look after LB.

Title TL: Reborn before any tragedy occurs; this time we must have satisfaction (WIP)

(AKA: What if Li Bing's consciousness returns to a time when no tragedy had yet occurred?)

Synopsis notes: LB returns back to before their country started the war, before his father died, and before he parted with QQZ. He implores his father and QQZ to investigate the suspicious nature of the war, and thus they embark on more investigations. Features a stubborn LB, protective but indulgent QQZ, LB crossdressing as a woman because Wang Qi isn't there, redeemed Chen Jiu...

Title TL: What if after General Qiu died, Li Bing was reborn? (COMPLETE)

(AKA: What if LB returns to when he first took up his post as the Vice Minister of Dalisi?)

Synopsis notes: LB returns to when he first returned to Shendu and took on the Vice Minister post. Features a calm and shameless tease LB and a QQZ trying his best to remain unaffected and maintain a charade. LB keeps sneaking into QQZ's room in the middle of the night...

Title TL: If you eat (my) Li family's bing (cake), then you become my (Li Bing's) person (WIP)

(AKA: What if QQZ's consciousness returns to when he first met LB?)

Synopsis notes: QQZ returns to when he first met LB and tries to cue him into the conspiracy earlier and prevent all tragedies from happening. Features QQZ centric POV, which is a fresh take! Of course, doting and indulgent QQZ as always...

Title TL: A reborn Li Bing will definitely force Qiu Qingzhi to spill the beans (COMPLETE)

(AKA: What if LB was reborn to three years prior as QQZ returns from war and manages to force him to speak the truth instead of avoiding him?)

Synopsis notes: LB returns to when QQZ just returned from war and stubbornly refuses to let the guy ghost him. Featuring an alive and doting papa Li, sickly and fragile LB (no cat form), doting / protective / occasionally teasing QQZ, Yi Zhihua becoming bffs with LB (much to QQZ's chagrin), and everyone is happy.

[freetobeafcknriot]

i need to find a title for it because i'd like to make it into a series or at least have its own tag (so i can edit and shitpost the hell out of it xx) but alright so. i have this soulmates au i've been harboring since march that has its own little world-building and features bonds of all kinds and every day it gives me the feels. like not every pair of siblings has a soul mark (there's seven as of season 3). those who do wreck my heart, and those who don't still manage to do so too.

anyway here's a small bit from viktor's book's abstract if anyone is interested. it's a wip so please don't judge :)

Dad had very strong opinions on Twin Flames and Soulmates, and he always made sure to remind my siblings that no matter what, the most important connection they would ever had was each other. Not because they were brothers and sister, but rather because they were a team; they were part of the Academy. This particular jab was no doubt directed towards Allison and Klaus in particular, since they were the only ones who were born with a Twin Flame, but it also served for the others, given the presence of Soulmates among us.

rattling the bars of my cage i love them.

[uchidachi]

OK I have like 50 million Veilguard WIPs and I gotta pick one and ACTUALLY FINISH it so heck yeah we're doing this meme:

Rules: Make a 24hr poll listing the titles of every WIP you want to work on. (It’s fine if you only have one, still make a poll for the vote count). Whichever WIP title gets the most votes, write 1 sentence for every vote received.

Um my documents are very chaotically titled... and these are just the ones I started & could fit in the poll.... DON'T JUDGE ME OK and that was too much effort to type out so I'm gonna just say if you can read this and you have WIPs you are TAGGED

(Also I'll have you know that fully half of these are not Rook/Taash ok? I'm not obsessed, you are)

[itswisp]

Wips meme

Rules: Make a new post with the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous and tag other people. People can ask about the title(s) that most intrigues them !

Tagged by @tea-and-magic

Alright you asked for this, buckle up! (I'm excluding any WIP's I know I won't ever touch again or else we'll be here all week) GW2:

Submitting to Love

The Pwizz Dillyn Paradox Part I A Bug In The System

The Pwizz Dillyn Paradox Part II Interlude I

The Pwizz Dillyn Paradox Part III Long Live The Lich

The Pwizz Dillyn Paradox Part IV Interlude II

The Pwizz Dillyn Paradox Part V A Star To Guide Us

Meeting you

Slutty Brownie (if you know, you know)

Boating Around

Bodyworship

The Battle of Claw Island

Quinaith's Journal

A Day in Paradise

A Deadly Flower

All I ever wanted

Chance Meetings

Dangerous Pull

Dining with the Devil

Hands Off

Harmless Secrets

Praise Joko

Seamless

The Sour Taste of Revenge

The Red means I Love You

TF:

His

Corpses, Puke & T-Cogs

Medical Addiction - not delphi - close your optics

Medical Addiction - not delphi - walking the wire

Medical Addiction 1 - show me your face

Medical Addiction 2 - how they met

Medical Addiction 3 - scared

Medical Addiction 4 - better

Medical Addiction 5 - hold me

Medical Addiction 6 - stay

Medical Addiction 7 - gotcha

Medical Addiction 8 - secret

Medical Addiction 9 - follow 2.0

Medical Addiction 10 - butterfly

Medical Addiction xyz 1 - pharma is raging (love this title so much)

Medical Addiction xyz 2 - aid knows pharma is seeing someone and asks who he is

Medical Addiction xyz 3 - pharma is raging again (I'm so normal about this guy)

Monster

(Become) The Beast

Genshin Impact:

Ballad of the Lonely Bard

TLoZ BotW:

Purple

Dear Friend of Mine

Grand Finale

Raincoat - Standalone Modern Days Hylian AU

I Wanna Ruin Our Friendship

Oceansong

Still Into You

Sushi

BG3:

Down by the River

Hunger

Blurg Omeluum Sunset Date IDK

Of Mushrooms and XXX (the XXX is a placeholder, people)

The Worth of a Single Mortal Life (technically done but not yet edited or proof-read so ... kind of a WIP?)

Sunset

The sweet taste of your teeth

A meeting of Friends

The Serpent's Bride

Hanahaki

Qirilissk masturbating IDK (don't judge I can't even remember where I wanted to go with this one don't look at me)

Mentor AU

Fake Dating Gone Sibling Mode AU

On Your Nerves

Them meeting Duzisk and Qirilissk gets protective IDK

Fix You

And that's about it, I guess. The list is shorter than I thought, but then again this is like ... less than half of what I have in my folder BUT the only ones I feel like I might actually finish/come back to, so ... yeah.

Tagging @sumi-sprite @melodicwriter @mielwriting @sweetmage @revoleotion (if you feel like it)

[artisticxlly]

Fanfic Writer Review!

Ty for the tag @vvalllerie !! This was a fun excuse to talk about my fics :>

How many works do you have on Ao3?

6! I have 3 orphaned ones, if I remember correctly. Those were from a different fandom though! They were back in 2021 I'd say? But I've been writing for longer, I was on Wattpad back in the day when I was really young.

Considering that it's been... 73 days since I posted my first work I'd say I'm doing pretty okay! I do plan to post more stories next year too.

Your top 5 stories by Kudos:

1. "everything stays (though some things change)"

Yeahh, I get it! Veeery short and sweet Ushiten. Honestly, the amount of kudos does possibly have something to do with the exposure that one got (King if you see this, thank you ^^).

I do love me some reunion fluff! Honestly like with most of my wips, this just stayed in my drafts because of how short it is. I feel like I need to have something close to 10k to make it worth reading (which is objectively false, there are people who love short fics, obviously).

Anyway, I really like the dynamic in this one! Not much else to add, really.

2. "Kuroo Tetsurou's guide to rekindling feelings"

My first fic! I'm surprised it's this high up, considering it's a rare-r ship than the rest of what I posted thus far.

Though I do really like this one still! I like their dynamic and the small stings of angst still hold up well I'd say, I reread it the other day actually and was still very pleased with the dialogue and general writing.

It isn't really a super unique concept, it's still enjoyable based off vibes. I was DEEP into my Kurodai phase when I wrote this and needed something to satiate my specific needs for it lol.

3. "Scrapbooking"

Osasuna fluff! I'm happy people like it! As far as 'taking up space in my brain' goes, this did bleed heavily into the art I made at the time lol, there's a reason half of my Osasuna drawings are scenes that I also featured in the fic.

This one had a veeery peculiar writing process. It's a bad habit, but I basically wrote singular scenes and then more or less connected them, which fits the title too, ig! It's kind of bad for the pacing, I'd say, though.

I like their dynamic in this! And I'd say the scenes are pretty memorable. Also it's just really cute. I'm not toooo fond of the ending?

4. "Love was the law"

STILL LOVE THIS CONCEPT. Adore it. I remember ranting to some of my dear moots on discord while I was fleshing it out and I was so excited to write it! I don't think a lot of people have read the second chapter yet, but that's okay!

WHICH ALSO, this one made it into a fic recommendation??? Another Arankita enthusiast and writer made a post recommending it on Bluesky and I cannot describe how happy I was to hear that! I'm still thrilled about it!!

5. "Tension-filled reunion"

Okay, listen. I don't hate it! This one sat in my drafts for a while before posting it. The only reason I'm 'eh' about it is because it's very smut heavy. Which is fine! I'm just worried that sometimes people will judge me because I include smut a lot in fics (even though they're technically all skippable).

Daisuga is very cute, nonetheless. And the smut is good, again I don't hate it! Just not my fave, I'm not mad at all for this being low on the list ("Perseverance" has been out for like,, a day so it makes sense that that one takes spot number 6).

Do you respond to comments? Why or Why not?

I do if I feel like I can add something! I am not sure how to respond to comments that are just cheering but I do appreciate them!

Otherwise I love reading and responding to comments! I always appreciate it when people take the time to do so and I reread them all the time ^^' It's especially cool when they have a specific moment they really liked!

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

"Perseverance"? I guess it's angsty, very open-ended. I don't think I'll write a continuation, but it was refreshing to write hurt/comfort and not just pure fluff for once! I don't really like angsty endings, reading and writing them. Writing is veeeery indulgent and also escapism-induced for me so I like when things work out for the characters ^^ I can handle angst if it ends with comfort!

What's the fic you've written with the happiest ending?

I guess they're tied since they all end happily? From a 'feels the most fullfilling for the characters' standpoints it's definitely "Love was the law", though. I mean they can't get much more content!

Do you write crossovers?

No, but the concept is kind of interesting? I don't think I'd ever write one, but mentally doing cross-overs as a form of character analysis is very fun for me and helps kind of solidify how I want the characters to act.

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Not really? On one of my old fanfics I did receive criticism for the grammar/mistypes, but eh. It's not my first language and I am writing for free so it didn't really sting.

Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I do! I don't really have a set topic? Usually it is very feelings intense, I'd say. Vanilla is the wrong word, especially if you look at the Daisuga fic lmao

But poetic kind of fits the bill?? Idk I like it being more about what the characters see, think and say than what they are actually doing. More fun to write for me!

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Nooot that I'm aware of! I don't think they're popular enough/it wouldn't really be worth stealing them, assuming they're doing it for traction.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

No, but that'd be fun! If it was to German I could even help translate it! Though I'm not sure how big the German Haikyuu fandom is at the moment.

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I have, but more for shits and giggles and like... Years back.

I do really like exchanging my ideas with mutuals!! It's fun to hear their thoughts on it and it frequently boosts my motivation to write!

What's your all-time favourite ship?

God, I couldn't pick if you put a gun to my head. Multishipper and Rarepair-enthusiast here, I usually have about 5 actively circling around in my empty void of a head and love them all super intensely. This goes for pretty much all fandoms I was/am in!

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

There's a Daisuga fic that I reaaaally like the concept of but I'm not into Daisuga atm and that's put a real hard stop on the writing for that one. The theme is about marriage and Suga's anxiety around it and aghhh I don't want to spoil it in case I ever do finish it.

Other than that? I have a ton of smaller fics, they all take up around 10 pages in my notes app so they're really short and I like the concepts but jesus finishing them? Uhhh

There's also a Bokuaka fic I'm trying really hard to finish! I'm very sorry Cece akdjs

What are your writing strengths?

Uhh I guess dialogue? It's one of my favourites to write so I would assume it's one of the things that sell well with my writing. Other than that I think people do enjoy my takes on the characters/how I portray the dynamics which means a great deal!! I put a lot of thought into those things

What are your writing weaknesses?

Pacing is a biiiggg thing, I'd say. If I lose steam I can rush scenes and there are scenes I will flesh out fully and for others I truly don't know where to go. I'm afraid that sometimes I writing can feel choppy too, it's a little difficult for me to write in one continuous flow.

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

I think it's difficult to protray it if I don't speak the other language, so usually I write it all in standard English and make note in the 'action' portion after the spoken words that it was said in a different language.

If I spoke the foreign language I think I'd write the words in that language! I think it adds a little mystery for the readers, even if I fear it could also get a bit annoying to translate for some (I think I'd make an author's note with the translations). I do really like multilingual hcs for characters!!

If there was a way I could add someone speaking German with it making sense I would. German can be really cute!

What's a fandom/ship you havent written for but want to?

I have soooooo much written for Danganronpa. A fanartist I follow (@/Hajihiko) infected me with the brainrot for it (for both writing and art) and I have a shitton of notes, but I don't think I'll ever post it. So do I necessarily waaaant to write for it? Ehh. Though I'm happy Danganronpa got me to be active on tumblr again, on a real note.

Ships I'd love to write for are: Hiruhoshi (that ship has been on my mind ALL DAY), Kagehina, Kuroken. (I have thoughts for them but not really something that could qualify as a fic?)

What's your favourite fic you've written?

"Love was the law". I'm still very proud of the concept and ughh, I like the ideas I put in there a lot. From Aran's family, to his childhood, to Kita's family dynamic... Yeah. I'm really glad I finished it while my Arankita phase was still in it's full force!

If you haven't read it... Here!

Tags: @youwerethedefeated @goatunderthebridge @sophistired18

No pressure to you guys!!! None at all /gen

[strixamans]

Sneak Peek Sunday (on Monday)

Thanks for the tag, @nw39!

Today, I offer you a sneak peak at a possible upcoming WIP, tentatively titled The Owl Sings at Night (because I just adore those vibey giallo film titles like The Bird with Crystal Plumage, A Lizard in a Woman's Skin, Don't Torture a Duckling, Four Flies on Grey Velvet, etc.).

Basically, I started toying with the idea of a strixstarion spy/assassin thriller story while binge watching Slow Horses (ugh, so good), and it's an idea that's kinda been growing on me. I'm still not totally committed to writing it, though; mostly because spinning a whole web of plot intrigue that is both coherent and surprising sounds hard. But I do already have a few fun assassination ideas, a piece of brutal Strix lore that I came up with a while ago and would like to put somewhere, and an idea for something Astarion could do that I think would be hilarious, so... we'll see.

Oh, and since I do already have this modern AU with kind of an erotic thriller vibe going, in which the characters say very little about their histories and do a lot of sneaking around...

Jaheira takes a long swig of beer before sitting back in her chair, arms folded across her chest. “This had better be good, Owlet. You really have no business coming to my home like that.” Keeping her voice low, Strix says simply, “There’s a body in my bathtub.” The other woman looks back at her with a skeptical smirk, raising her brow. “That sounds like a you problem.” But Strix remains undeterred. “I want to know why.” “Why?” echoes Jaheira, bemused; her gaze, shrewd as ever. “I think that is a question for you, or perhaps a psychiatrist. How should I know why there is a body in your bathtub?” “Because you’re the spymaster.” “And you are the one who killed this person, or so I assume. So…” Jaheira pauses, picking up her glass. “Nostalgia? Feelings of impotence? You tell me.” She drinks, while Strix rolls her eyes. “He broke into my house, Jaheira.” “And there you have it!” Jaheira replies, setting her pint back down on the table. “Burglary! Was he armed?” “Yes, but—” Jaheira doesn’t wait for her to finish. “And last I checked, killing an armed home invader is legal self defense. Why you come to me with this, instead of calling the Flaming Fist? I don’t know.” She begins to stand up. “This has nothing to do with—” But Strix interrupts, hissing, “You know perfectly well why I couldn’t go to the Fist! And it wasn’t a burglary—not a normal one, anyway. He was copying my hard drive.” Jaheira freezes. Then, while she settles back into her seat, Strix leans in closer, dropping her voice to a whisper. “I need to know if this has something to do with Enver Gortash.” Jaheira’s eyes narrow. “Impossible.” “Why impossible?” “No one else knows about that,” Jaheira says flatly. “Not even Harpers.” “And how are you so sure?” Strix presses on, unflinching in the spymaster’s gaze. But Jaheira insists, “I am sure.” She takes another sip. “And how are you so sure this is not to do with that pretty judge you so imprudently insist on screwing, hmm?” Strix opens her mouth, then shuts it. She isn’t surprised, exactly—it was tacitly understood that Jaheira would continue to keep an eye on her, given the highly sensitive nature of their engagement. Still… A wry, acerbic smile finds its way to the older woman's lips. “Perhaps not the secret you seem to think it is, Owlet. And you really expect people to believe he met you at that bourgeoisie gym?”

tagging @drramaticchipmunk @alwaysmauria @nocryptographer, or whoever is in the mood

[acourtofladydeath]

Thank you for the tags @kale-theteaqueen, @fieldofdaisiies, @chunkypossum!

1. How many works do you have on AO3? 40 works!

2. What’s your total AO3 word count? 298,908

3. What fandoms do you write for? ACOTAR, Fourth Wing, The Song of Achilles and Greek Mythology currently, but I've also written for Dr. Who, Torchwood, and Spartacus.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos? This list always surprises me, and I don't think it reflects my best or my favorite works at all. I always have to remind myself that kudos are just a number, and there's so many other ways to judge fics! But here's the list:

3 Jewels in the Hewn City

One Bed, One Bond, and a Pair of Wings

Enter: Uncle Autumn

All I Want for Solstice is You

Stairway Snoops

5. Do you respond to comments? Yes!!! I love interacting with everyone who reads my fics. My DM's and ask box are always open!

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? Definitely "All Things End."

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Probably "In Due Time," a fic I wrote for Nessian week 2023. Saying why gives away spoilers.

8. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? YUP. All sorts. I love writing all kinds of smut, but it has to have a point. My favorite kinds of smut to write are the kinds that make you really evaluate yourself, or that push boundaries in some way. I especially love smut with really deep, immersive plot. You can see this in my "To Become A Vanserra" series.

9. Do you write crossovers? I wrote a "The Song of Achilles" crossover with Hades & Persephone from Greek mythology; does that count? It's titled "A Place Eternal."

10. Have you ever had a fic translated? No.

11. Have you ever co-written a fic before? I used to roleplay with a friend from school, and I did ongoing worlds roleplays for a bit years ago, but that's the closest I've come to co-writing anything.

12. What is your all-time favorite ship? I'm not picking just one: Nessian, Nessriel, Azris, and Spirk.

13. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? Lovers Live & Die Fortissimo. It's such a long fic, and there's so much to it; I'm not sure I could do the religious aspects of it justice. I really want to write it, but there are other brain worms that are calling to me first. Also shout out to my Nagron fic "That Days We thought We'd Never See," which got dropped like a hot potato when college hit the fan and I'd need to rewatch the whole show and possibly rewrite the whole thing if I were to ever attempt to finish it.

14. What are your writing strengths? I feel like I can write the dichotomy of beauty and pain really well. There's such a balance between the two, and being able to capture the small beautiful or peaceful pieces of something horrific is something I pride myself on.

15. What are your writing weaknesses?  Definitely the technical side of writing. There are some things that I feel like I don't understand yet grammar wise that I'm still trying to get a grasp on. This is a constant learning process, but I try and get better each time I post! I also sometimes struggle with follow through, but I chalk that up to life being hectic and this being a passion not a job.

16. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? I think it's such an amazing idea, and I would love to do it if I ever had a language I felt I knew well enough I could properly engage with it. I never want to write something that is inaccurate out of respect, so I haven't written in another language yet. I also have never had a fic call for it yet. Maybe LL&DF would call for it thought, possibly some Yiddish or Arabic.

17. First fandom you wrote for? Spartacus, the Starz TV series.

18. Favorite fic you’ve written? Again, I refuse to pick just one. I love "All Things End" for everything it represents: the bittersweet nature of life and death, the relationships, the exploration of how music can influence reading fic and vice versa.

I love "Finding His Shadow: An Azris Peter Pan AU" because it was the first AU's I wrote, and it digs so deep into both source materials. I was giddy finding ways to merge the two worlds together.

And I love "Take These Broken Wings" because it combines fanfic with social impact and social awareness, using a world we know and love to explore important topics that exist both within canon and our society.

Tagging no one and everyone! If you'd like to play, join in and tag me! No pressure at all.

[ravenmold]

For the WIP Game, I'm going to ask about "i like the way you" because I really doubt that the song that comes to my mind with that title is the correct song and I wanna know. XD <3

��� hi lovely prime!!

I'm adding a lil doodle for you, for in case you're right about the song! And also in case you like doodles. Here ya go:

Anyway, let's see if you're right? The song I took it from is I Like The Way You Kiss Me by Artemas. Lmao i think it's a pretty sexy song, it has ensnared me 😌

The wip is nothing special and unfortunately I don't have any text to quote for it, as I've only written a hook and a summary for it so far, it's brand new! 😂 It's a mattfoggy one shot, and it's set a bit after Foggy found out about Matt's senses and made peace with it.

My hook is:

Getting drunk around Matt in college had been a bad idea.

Being drunk around him now was an even worse idea - when Foggy's been sad for a while, when he really should be getting home, and he definitely still has questions about Matt's senses ...

So basically, Foggy is a very babbling and touchy drunk, and he's especially barnacley with people he has a crush on. In college, he thought Matt didn't really notice the correlation. Now ... He's questioning everything. Matt finds him at Josie's and tries to get Foggy home, and Foggy basically just stream-of-consciousness babbles at Matt about his senses and it ends in an accidental love confession ☺️🥺

Sorry that I don't have a piece of the writing for you to judge! But the moment I add more to it I'll @ you immediately 😉

[aprismaticodyssey]

I finished the demo yeiiii, I love it!!! And don't worry, Im used to beta testing hahaha and I love to read the codes, now than dashingdon is down, im super sad cause a lot of ifs dont put the codes, so I was super happy to see you put them public thanks!!

About your questions at the end of the demo:

For my code-divers:

Should there be more flavor text?

I think you add much more than a lot of other stories in both, options and flavour texts, so I think you are good in that part

Should the choice where the main character ponders the supernatural secrecy; should it affect personality stats?

I dont think its a must, since there are people who may think in a way about that but want some specific stats they want to have for their headcanon mc, so they might feel restricted to choosing something specific even if you don't think it's the option you're looking for just to achieve those stats.

Should the choice in conversation with Damien regarding the god-Hunter "quitting" also affect stats or, again, be something that shows itself in the stats screen?

I personally think it is not necessary, for the same reason

Do you feel personality stat changes are acceptable or should larger numbers be used for more affect; especially to ensure a greater likelihood of variation in multiple playthroughs/testing?

I like the changes there are right now, I want my mc to have very specific stats, some of them may be contradictories, small changes have less chance of messing up the stats, for example there are some cases in which I have to take option (a) because it is more profitable for me in terms of stats, it raises a lot the stat that I want to have (stat a) but lowers another one that I also want (stat b), as the changes are smaller, I have a chance that in the future I will choose another option with the stat b that I was looking for without the variations being too large.

Should the conversation with Ulysses when he asks MC if they truly would've given blood have a variable to adjust his respect for MC? I've debated this and can't decide either way. If so, it would be a minor stat and wouldn't come into greater affect until Book 3.

Ngl some options now with minor repercussion later or on other books sounds cool

Should there be more choices?

I think you are fine, at least for me

Should the choice of how your character responds to the "god-Hunter" title be reflected throughout the story and/or be seen in the stats screen?

I think it could give a lot of play in the future, and angst in case you have chosen to abhor or hate the title

Any issues with formatting? For mobile players, do you feel there are walls of text and there should be more page breaks?

I played on mobile and so far I had no problem at all, the paragraphs are good and nothing wrong tbh

Please show me your MC's stats! I'm trying to adjust them so they can't be maxed. Or, you know. Ideally, you see different things.

I need to be more sarcastic 🤌 AND pessimistic, and don't judge me with all the tabs I have open HAHAHAHAHA I DIDN'T REALISE UNTIL NOW and tbh im lazy so i dont want to edit the screenshot (I wont affirm or deny that all tabs are Ifs/WIPS)

I figured letting the code be visible/accessible was the easiest way for people to tell me if things should be adjusted or not, especially since I am still, technically, new to this.

Regarding your comment to the flavor text- have you read Mind Blind?? Prior to Dashingdon being taken down, I looked at the code (I think I was looking for a specific example of something??) and was like, hol up, there's stuff here I've never even seen yet. Idk if counts as flavor text but it'd come up if requirements are met so Imma count it as such. Blew my mind, dude.

I appreciate your asks, so don't feel like you're asking too many questions or pestering me! I don't have any... I guess "personal" beta testers to go to first before uploading for everyone. So your inquiries help! It also weirdly helps my motivation, too. Dunno why.

[cecebeanie]

hey! thanks for tagging me in the WIP game, i'll have to select amongst a bunch of works but i'll gladly do it asap ♥️

as for your own set of wips: i'd like to know more about the grand prix of baking, please! it seems self explanatory, but is it a ruse and it's really totally different from what it sounds like? is it a one shot or are you planning it as a multichap? are there side ships apart from i'm guessing Victuuri as the main? pick a question or answer them all or whatever, i'm not picky! 😁

Ahhh thank you for the ask! <3 Both you and @azriona (thank you for the ask too <3) asked for this wip, so I'm replying to both of you together.

The title is exactly what the fic was/is supposed to be, it would (have) been a bake off au, sort of.

In last year's bake off Italy, there were two bakers who REALLY seemed to be in a relationship, they joked about it on Twitter, other bakers would talk about it too, they kept visiting each other once the show was over... Me and my friends shipped them so hard (I don't normally ship real people, but I swear those two were something else, I still have all the pics as proof).

So I naturally got obsessed with bake-off, and OF COURSE I needed to write something about it, hence the Gran Prix.

It was mainly Victuuri, but I also had Phichimetti, Saramila and a bunch more ships in it. Yuuri was a contestant, Victor was the host of the show (not the judge) and a really famous baker. Yakov, Minako and Lilia were the judges, and the whole Gran Prix thing was because the competition would change its location every year.

I have the whole story planned out, all the episodes (they would follow a regular bake off episode, so three challenges, one elimination) and the final. It was supposed to be about 20 chapters long, the first three are already written down. I have no idea what happened, to be honest. I think I simply forgot about it, I started planning other things, and I had a lot of university exams. I never posted anything because I'd rather have the whole thing written down before posting anything than starting to post and then regretting the story halfway there.

I was hoping this year's bake off would inspire me to keep writing, but it's not as fun as last year's, sadly, and I'm writing another story, so it's on an indefinite hiatus, I fear 🥺 but the wip is there, in the folder, if inspiration strikes I'll definitely pick it up again.

[hungrydolphin91]

our endless unfinished wips 🤝

would very much like to inquire about 'Innominat Returns (Falling Awake)' bc the title does intrigue,,

You're in luck Jay because that's actually one of few WIPs that's actually somewhat written AND posted— you can read the first 5 chapters right here on AO3! Like the summary and tags suggest, it's a bit of an angsty post-game fic in which Mikleo, desperately trying to fix a world still filled with chaos and malevolence so Sorey can reawaken, stumbles upon the sealed Innominat and ends up biting off a little more than he can chew. And if you don't mind spoilers for this story will eventually go, I described the heartbreaking climax to V in this post, as well as posted excerpts from it here and here.

Anyway, since all I really did here was drop a bunch of links to old stuff I might as well share a new excerpt from the yet-unposted 6th chapter, where we re-encounter a perfectly normal Meebo, nothing weird about him at all. See if you can tell whose POV this chapter is written from 😂:

The stranger is a seraph, clearly, with long, gold-tipped hair tied back into a fluffy ponytail. But judging from the strength of his domain, which overpowers even Eizen's cursed aura, he is far more than that. It rivals the strength of a Shepherd, or perhaps, an Empyrean. I descend from my precipice to confront this mysterious person, only to snort as I recognize his face. "Oh. It's you, Meebo." Mikleo spares an annoyed glance in my direction but otherwise ignores me. Not that I can blame him, with a dragon drooling over his head and preparing to make him into a Mealbo. Yet even though Mikleo is alert, he doesn't seem at all afraid of the behemoth before him. "So this one is Eizen, then..?" He studies Eizen's face like a stupid scientist about to get eaten by a dragon. I don't know how to respond to such an dumb, obvious question, but Eizen, it seems, has an answer. He tries to play the old bite-them-in-half game again, but Mikleo deflects his jaws with a mere strike of his staff. Eizen seems a little startled to have his attack countered so easily and tries again, with the same results. Idiots, both of them. As I watch them volley blows, I start to feel more uneasy about this new Mikleo. Going toe-to-toe with a dragon, commanding the earthpulse, wielding a domain twice as strong as usual. Not to mention his appearance. There's no doubt his body is 100 percent pure Meebo, but the colors are all bad, traces of blue hair changed to gold tips, purple eyes now flashing dangerously gold. Gold, gold, gold. It looks dumb on a water seraph like him. And his behavior feels all wonky too. Mikleo's always been too stuffy to have fun, but he seems even more aloof now, more pretentious, even ruthless. He counters my brother's attacks with ease, like he knows the dragon's weaknesses firsthand. In fact, he even seems to be holding back, drawing out Eizen's rage yet waiting for something more. What could you possibly want from an angry dragon except his mercy?

This WIP haunts me more than any other honestly, it's right behind my ongoing passion project Two Hearts Could Be One in terms of emotional investment. But it's tricky to write because it's 1st-person with multiple POV (including Berseria characters so it requires cross-game knowledge) and I haven't played Zesty in so long so I can't get the voices and lore quite right anymore 😭 not to mention the ending I had in mind is still very vague and unfixed. Right now I'm keeping my Graces fixation going so I can hopefully finish 2HCB1 (I did NOT write 60k words for it to give up now pleaseeee brain let me finish something for once 😭) but ngl I have been secretly pining for Zesty this entire time and the SECOND I get back into it I'm gonna work on this fic some more 💜💜💜