#And there's a good chance I'm completely out of my depth and this whole fic will turn out Very Very Bad

[whysamwhy123]

Started a new WIP and hoooooooooo boy! It's been a long time since I've written something this ANGSTY. It's soooo MESSY and BAD and I'm sure nobody will enjoy reading this at all but I AM HAVING FUUUUUUUN!!

And I've barely started too. It's only gonna get angstier and worse and I am so here for it 🙂🙂🙂

You see, this is what happens when I write, like, five fluffy nice-nice fics in a row. Eventually, my brain revolts and goes ''Yeah, but what if one of them did something bad and then they both cried, and then none of them know what to do about it?''

[rollercoasterwords]

Fanfic writer asks — 4, 5, and/or 20!

hi!!

4. Share a headcanon about (character name) in (story title)!

left it open not sure if i'm mean 2 do this for one of my own stories or just any story...suppose i will take this opportunity 2 weigh in on the reg birthday debate & say that i see him as a capricorn. could perhaps be convinced of virgo as well...but that boy is not a cancer sorry

5. Is there a tiny detail in one of your fics that you feel goes tragically unnoticed?

not sure if it's something that's been noticed/brought up before but i don't think it has...i love a full circle/mirrored ending moment so in atydsp the very first line is him being awake + the very last line is him falling asleep <3

20. Is there anything about any one of your fics that you have been dying to discuss but haven’t had the chance to?

oooh idk...honestly zar has been getting quite a few voicenotes recently abt different parts of wfrau so there has been quite a bit i've wanted to discuss lol but some of it is just stuff abt the lily interlude + epilogue that i can't talk abt without spoiling...

i guess one thing i've wanted 2 discuss/one thing that's been interesting to see is (again) the way people have responded 2 the whole james/lily/regulus ambiguity...like i know that much of this fandom revolves around shipping etc but sometimes i've just wanted 2 be like it's not happening!!!!!!!! how can i make it more obvious!!!! but then again that's just part of putting ur writing out there in the world like someone can read something & interpret it completely differently than how u expected regardless of what u do...remember one person commented talking abt how they loved the polyamorous rep w james in wfrau & i was baffled bc in my mind i was writing him as aromantic...also was interesting seeing people expecting jegulily bc i thought i'd done a pretty good job writing reg + lily as platonic lol. also has just been interesting in a broader sense to see the different ways people think abt + interpret sex vs romance...like the idea that james enjoys sex but doesn't find it romantic isn't all that crazy to me bc sex & romance don't necessarily go hand in hand in my own life like. sometimes u just hook up for fun u don't have 2 be in love...but for some people those things r very tied together & it's difficult to conceptualize a guy who just wants to sleep w his friends! so that's been interesting 2 discuss...like the whole expectation that where there's sex romance must follow etc...

one other thing i've been wanting to discuss is like. r&s as they currently stand lol sent a whole long voicenote abt this the other day so have already gotten some of it out of my system but. it's interesting again seeing the amount of feedback from people who really wanted them 2 reconcile + have a happy ending at the point where things currently stand/the conclusion of the main story--or who are holding out for a happily ever after, etc. like to be fair their story has changed a lot as i've written it & i didn't know when i started the fic that the main story would end as it has. that being said ever since the obliviation became a key part of the story i've known that r&s simply would not be getting back together after voldemort's defeat...like sirius genuinely does not love remus anymore bc how could he! he doesn't remember him! they're practically strangers! & remus doesn't wanna give sirius another chance bc why would he! after all the hurt he already went through! knowing that the person in front of him now is essentially the guy who killed the person he loved & took his place! or perhaps more accurately is equivalent to the reanimated corpse of the person he loved...came back wrong narrative etc...u get the point (hopefully). anyway it just seemed clear to me that reconciliation would not be in the cards for them & it felt like brushing past that or trying to patch things up would detract from the emotional impact i was going for...perhaps even diminish the depth of the feelings they did, at one point, have for each other--like, it's only because they cared about each other so much that things are so unfix-able now. of course i do have my interlude + epilogue left 2 play around w but also bc i am mean + contrary + like making people sad every comment of someone being like "please make them happy :((" makes me want to not do that lol

& last thing is just a fun detail abt james that i'm not sure if anyone's noticed...putting it under a cut in case anyone wants 2 put the pieces together themself but a fun little detail abt his death:

james's recurring nightmare abt a bright light + his boggart being that bright light was him seeing his own death <3 bc he lost his ability to see color the 'avada kedavra' didn't look green to him; it was just bright light. & that was the last thing he ever saw! fun <3

fic writer ask game

[journeywynter]

Nowhere I'd Rather Be

Pairing: DreamWasTaken x GN!Reader (romantic)

Category: Fluff, a little angst maybe?

Word Count: 1,688

Warnings: Self-doubt, mentions of hate on the internet but never any specifics, a lot of dialogue; I didn't mean to make this all talking but that's kind of what happened, kisses

Summary: Dream has always been confident, not one to let internet trolls damage him too bad, or at least that's what he'd like everyone else to believe. When it all becomes too much, he turns to the one person he's sure can help him, having gone through something similar themself.

A/n: This is my very first fic, I've debated writing one for years and finally decided to just go for it, I'm not used to what I should be putting as warnings and such so if you catch anything that might have slipped my notice, please tell me! I hope you enjoy!

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"How'd you get through it?" I must've looked as confused as I felt because he was quick to add to his statement, "the hate you received online, I mean."

"You guys," I stated back like it was simply obvious, and to me it was. "If you could believe that you guys were serious, or perhaps just the right amount of unserious about the situation, to help me through it." Based on his incredulous look, however, I would assume it might not have been so cut and dry as I thought.

"I'm being serious. At first, it really did get to me, as you might have noticed." I let out a breathy laugh, humorlessly as I ran my hand through my hair. A nervous habit I picked up after I dropped the whole biting the inside of my cheek one. This one doesn't cause me any accidental pain but it does ruin any chance of a good hair day. "It was hard in the beginning when I didn't know myself enough to choose what I knew was true and what was not. I started believing things about myself that I knew deep down weren't real but then I thought, how can they be saying it and not speaking the truth? Why would they be saying it if it was fabricated with no true foundation to stand on? They must have seen something in me that I hadn't even seen before, right? Because these internet strangers had to know me better than I knew myself.

"Then I closed my phone, turned it off completely, and refused to turn it on for a while. I let myself calm down, let the emotions ride their course through me, and then came back to the situation with a clear head. I reevaluated everything through facts rather than emotions. Those people on the internet, they don't know the first goddamn thing about me. Do you know who does, though? Sapnap, my best friend since I was five. George, who I met through you but has since proved every day to me that he's there for me no matter what comes my way. My sibling that has known me and stuck by my side every day of their life. You, arguably my favorite person. Someone I didn't expect to ever have but you managed to squeeze your way into every aspect of my life, unapologetically. And I'm not sorry that I've let you.

"You guys are what matters. Why would I care about the opinions of people who see nothing but what I carefully handpick for them to see when I have you guys? People who have seen every single thing, the good, the bad, and the dirty depths of myself that disgust even me. Yet you all chose to stay. You all found something redeemable in me that I couldn't have found in myself no matter how hard I looked. And I love you all, I do the same for you all because you matter to me. If I wouldn't give the pigs hiding behind their screens the same treatment that you've given me, then they don't matter enough for me to care what they think of me. I'm dead serious when I say you guys have helped me in more ways than possibly imaginable. You guys are what got me through it. God, that was cheesy. Never let me talk this deep again." I joked to lighten the mood, hoping at least some of the tension would disperse in turn.

For a few beats, I'm met with silence. His eyebrows knit together and he purses his lips. His eyes squint as he glares over my head at the wall, an obvious sign of his deep thoughts. His face scrunched up and his fingers twiddled with the rings that adorn his hands. A couple of which I personally handpicked myself for him, each matching a different aspect of him that makes him who he is. If asked, he would tell you he isn't a jewelry person yet he wears each piece that I get him like they're invaluable.

"Yeah, I get it. Sometimes I think I just need to be reminded of what matters. It just gets in my head every now and again. I just lose myself in it sometimes, I guess that's inevitable since my job, and my life is on the internet. It's basically mandatory for me to know what's going on in the lives of everyone else as well as what people are putting out there about me. It's hard and I try my best to be okay with it, my anger hits and I reply to some comments which only adds fuel to their fire."

Looking up at him, staring directly into his eyes, I can recognize some of the same things I felt myself when in his position, the doubt, the anger, the sadness. It's raw, the only part of his face that shows just how much it gets to him when the rest of his features relax as he puts up his front once again. If I hadn't spent so much of my time getting to know all his mannerisms personally, I wouldn't be able to have noticed how bothered he truly is; what with his figure leaning into the couch, legs separated in what would be deemed the 'manspread', the epitome of confidence embodied in human form. One hand slung over the back of the couch, one resting aside his head but slowly reaching down to scratch at the stubble on his chin. His messy dirty blonde curls swept over his face, brushed slightly out of his eyes after his cat beanie flattened it down. I know it's all a rouse. He's imperfectly perfected, carefully sculpting each part of himself to seem effortless when in reality, it's anything but. I can only imagine it's a defense mechanism he built and perfected for himself after his quick rise to popularity. It's unhealthy, bottled emotions tend to lead to bigger outbursts, but maybe he never felt he truly had someone to show this to.

"I don't have all the answers and the way I deal with it might not be the best way for you to deal with it either. What I can promise you, however, is that you've got a big support system behind you. Sapnap will always be there, he will be a shoulder to cry on, a distraction, or anything in between, it doesn't matter. He's so willing to return the favor that you've done for him, no questions asked and no form of repayment expected.

"George may not be the best with emotions himself but that doesn't mean he'd be useless. He's great at listening and he'll make you some tea or something as well as some food and he'll keep you company. Acts of service might possibly be the way he expresses his love the best. He cares, he just doesn't always know the best way to show it. And you know what, while it might not have been to our extremes, they both have gone through it. You have two extra people here who understand it better than the average person and are more than happy to help in any way you need.

"And you have your mom and your sisters' support for sure. They believe in you wholeheartedly. I don't think I've ever seen so much love pour out of anyone before in the way they do for you. They might not get it, and they might not need to. Just being there might be enough. It will bring you comfort, bring you peace, and remind you that you do have a home, at the end of the day.

"And you'll have me for as long as you let me. I'm not leaving, I'm here for good. You'll have to force me out that door and tell me how you never want to see me again before I'd ever willingly leave you behind. Even then, I believe you have such a tight grip on me I'd just end up waiting around for you some more. You're it for me. I want to be there for you."

His bright green eyes, dulled slightly from his own thoughts of self-hatred that he's kept locked up in his own mind for far too long, take the time to scan my face in search of any signs I might be lying through my teeth as if I would have any possible reason to try to deceive him. They stop on my own, windows to the souls, the eyes are. I never really thought much about it before meeting Dream but ever since I've noticed his eyes have told more than his voice ever would and that's when I really started understanding the saying.

When he finds no sign of any dishonesty, his eyes begin to soften, the tenseness that's been sitting in them since the beginning of our conversation finally leaves and I notice how his shoulders unwind ever so slightly. I reach out to him, one hand grabbing the hand that was resting on his face as I run gentle circles over his knuckles and the other cups at his jaw. I can tell he's in his own head still, really registering all that's happened. I allow him this time to sort himself as I place gentle kisses along his jawline, his slight stubble brushing against my lips.

As if not being able to trust his voice, he instead brings his free hand up to cup the back of my neck, fingers twisting into my hair ever so slightly as he pulls me forward, his lips just almost brushing over mine before looking at me, asking silent permission which I grant with a gentle nod.

When our lips connect, it's like the first time all over again. It's slow but just as passionate as any other kiss we've shared. Showing me how much he loves me when his words fail him. I only hope he's able to feel the love I have for him as well.

I might not know everything, but I do know that this right here, there's nowhere I'd rather be.

[i-sveikata]

I read the chapter for several hours and now it's already late at night but I don't regret anything. I couldn't put it down, this tension between them, this chase, this passion and danger just captured me. I'm EXCITED. Pete who thought about Macau warms my heart so much 💓 Vegas my boy your father inspired you that you mean nothing and are not worthy of anything but look who is chasing you, who so desperately wants to prove to you that there is a way out and he is next to you 🥺 I’m so sorry for Vegas for what his father inspired him that darkness and hatred are all he has and all he is worth..... And Pete who finally knew the full depth of Vegas's trauma and how painful it is to realize how much your loved one is broken and breaking before your eyes 💔 I knew what was going to happen in this chapter but the way you described it, that line between fighting and shooting and Vegas and Pete being excited, it was just WOW. I was so tense the whole time. That parallel that all the time Vegas was running after Pete and begging him to be with him, but here Pete finally realizes how much Vegas means to him and runs after him all the time, please stay so WE COULD BE.....Thanks for all these emotions 🫂💙I hope Pete makes Vegas comfortable after waking up and he himself will be fine (it was too emotional for him) I want them to finally be happy, or traumatized mafia boys in love🥺But I feel Korn won’t leave them alone😭 Too many letters, but I’m so grateful for this work, thank you for your work, it’s incredible 🫶

omg sorry i always hear about everyone reading it so late at night for them and these timezones are straight up working against us!!! but to be fair i did post it like 1AM in my timezone too lol so im just as sleep deprived as you probably hahaah.

that makes me so happy to hear!! it was literally the culmination of the fic, the penultimate show down without it actually being the complete end so i really hope after all the build up and tension that it delivered!!

omg like???? so soft of him tbh i really wanted to build on that final scene on the show- like where macau is so comfortable around pete that he cuddles up to him with vegas and it just seemed to work so well. pete might be tough and practical to the point of hurtful sometimes but he does care!!!

ugh yeah we really did see the worst effects of vegas' trauma this chap, like here he has something good with pete, pete who has already given him one too many chances than what he deserves and even with him running off constantly during the coup, pete is still chasing him, still trying to pull him back from that ledge. so glad kan is dead now because i dont know if vegas would have ever made the choice to turn his back on him. not unless kan took his intentions to hurt pete further and it literally came down to the two of them in the room (like that time in the safe house when kan nearly killed him) and even if it had ended like that, and vegas had chosen pete like we all knew he would, it would have still been agony for vegas.

pete is absolutely going to take his caring up to eleven once he's fully conscious again and can get in to see vegas. he is going to be annoying so many doctors with vegas, whilst also making sure vegas follows their post op recovering instructions lol. but we all know vegas secretly loves being taken care of so the both of them will be living their best unhinged lives.

no spoilers but korn has some more tricks up his sleeve he always does but now that pete isn't restricted by his agony of not betraying the main family anymore i do think korn is going to be in for a surprise.

ahhhh youre so welcome!! im so very glad that you liked it :)

[ranger-kellyn]

tears of the kingdom has made me desperate to revisit my age of calamity fic, if nothing else so i can start working on a aoc timeline telling of totk and AHHH

idea musing below the read more, but endgame/major spoilers for totk

i've been vaguely wondering how i would work in the totk story line into the age of calamity timeline, and honestly??? i think it's going to be fairly easy. at least...leading up to it lol remembering to work in all the characters who are now still alive will be the main challenge lol

i hear a lot of youtubers saying that "zelda was a dragon for 10,000 years" but i'm pretty sure that that it was actually way longer than that. 10k years ago was the last time calamity ganon broke out, when the sheikah created the divine beasts and guardians. the founding of hyrule, when zelda turned, was an "unknown" years prior to that.

at least, that's how i'm working with it. when i am working/thinking about anything regarding breath of the wild, age of calamity, and tears of the kingdom, i am not at all considering any of the other games. to me, this is it's own contained thing within and around these three games. (mostly bc i never played any of the other games so i wouldn't be able to draw from them easily/fluidly) ((and yes i figure things that were similar to other games happened, but not those exactly))

all that to say, in my head, this is the timeline i'm working with: ganondorf, the original One True Evil™, was sealed away in the hopes that one day in the distant future, link will rise to kill him for good. (a good chance i'm wrong on some of the "canon" of what i'm about to say, but i haven't fully explored totk and won't for a while but w/e i'm Workshopping) hyrule castle was constructed atop ganondorf and rauru mostly as a way to safeguard that chamber until link could get there to take care of things. i still haven't worked out why the sky islands exist now, because rauru even makes the comment if you talk to him atop the first area with a view of the temple of time, "though in my day, this was all on the ground".

but on my initial descent into the depths of the castle to get back down to the sealing chamber, that whole area of downward stairs that seemed to just go on forever and ever, that i just...fell through rather than walked and dealt with all the monsters-- i kept that in mind thinking about how long it must have taken link and zelda to get down there. i remember in the initial trailer for the game, they had a huge ass ox and cart, so even though they got rid of that, it all still sets the tone that it took them...a while. to get down there.

i thought about it on my second playthrough that i started last night, and really looking around at the stairs and cave walls, and i just...i really got to thinking a little harder than i needed to about it.

i thought about what it would take to actually seal something like that away. it gets a pass because it's a Magic World, but realistically, good god the work that would take. our world 10,000+ years ago was nothing like it is now. we were still what? mostly hunter-gatherers. google says "pre-pottery neolithic B". so like, the world is constantly changing. the tectonic plates are always in motion. volcanoes erupt and make a whole new top layer of soil and earth. tsunamis regularly wash things completely away. earthquakes...fires...drought.........

like. hyrule has at least one active volcano, glaciers, is near the ocean--

if i played with even a few of our real world...whatever...to hyrule-- that sealing chamber probably would have caved in at some point, or at the very least, the stairwell leading down to it, along with the murals, and all the other tunnels and whatnot, would have to be rebuilt...pretty often, all things considered.

it's something i'm trying not to stress about while writing, but it will. bug me. lol i'll get over it

ANYWAYS

back on track.

thinking through the botw -> totk timeline:

i am going with the idea that like...Calamity Ganon??? didn't. exactly. Actually. exist. like, sure, ganon did plenty of damage and razed the land, but like...it was only...a manifestation of ganondorf. a way of pressing against rauru's aging seal.

the "first" time calamity ganon rose, meeting the sheikah army, the hero and princess-- getting defeated by them? that was all a part of the plan. and by that point...the general population??? completely forgot about what was actually sealed below the castle. that's well into the "nobody is to ever go down there not even the royal family--NOBODY". too steeped in tradition/fear/whatever-- ganondorf has been "forgotten" about. their focus is calamity ganon. which, at the very least, they all know will return again.

the sheikah get "too powerful" (probably reminiscent of the zonai's god-like powers--who at this point are probably nothing more than legend). the banishment happens, they seal away all their tech to appease the hylians, things...go quiet.

then, the events leading up to botw happen. calamity ganon rises again, and i honestly...think it was in the plan to lose. extra 100 years or not. 100 years is a drop in the bucket in the face of thousands. calamity ganon didn't need to win. calamity ganon needed to get the castle to fall into disrepair as a part of the final act.

zelda mentions something about if you talk to her on the way down; since the calamity, the castle fell into disrepair. then the gloom started leaking out from the depths.

ganondorf needed the ground to be shaken up enough to where the castle part of the seal would be broken enough for more of his powers to really be able to seep out into the world.

the giant pig monster of calamity ganon-- still part of the plan. tear up the ground. rip up as many of the devices that were set to contain calamity ganon as possible. (it's at least what i'm generally going with to explain what happened to all the sheikah tech)

SO.

with that in mind, i figure the "totk" events for the age of calamity timeline...happen very similarly. only a few years after the initial CG event. the castle was shaken up enough. the castle seal was broken. the gloom will start leaking.

but now thinking more in age of calamity terms. botw!zelda and aoc!zelda are....in my mind, different zeldas. very much the same in every way, but i think it's more of a "nature vs nurture" situation. their natures are the same, but i think they had different nurtures. botw!zelda was not a fighter. she was not the "take up a weapon" sort. she had different shit going on. aoc!zelda is a fighter. she's the one who figured out how to weaponize the sheikah slate. she's the one who refused to stand by while link and impa did all the heavy lifting in the breach of demise. she had just enough differences in her life that she could at least take that up while still unable to awaken her sealing powers. BUT STILL. at the end of the day, they're both ARE fighters, just in different ways. i'm honestly struggling to figure out if aoc!zelda would have the mental fortitude to take on draconification. i figure the whole 100 years imprisoned with ganon thing really is what helped botw/totk!zelda be able to do that.

so while i work through that, at the very least, on my drive home from work today, while sitting in traffic, i just...I saw the opening of my fic for the age of calamity sequel. all because i thought something along the lines of, "you know...that was an odd question for zelda to ask her father? 'what is below the castle'? why would she question there was even something down there in the first place? why would she ever wonder if anything other than like...a crypt or something was down there?? it seems like a very...pointed...question...a question that gets asked if you saw something you maybe shouldn't have..."

in my age of calamity fic, the endgame pairing for zelda is zelda/impa, so. obviously. impa will be going with them down into the depths as part of the first change. (really want to get back into drawing so i can try to explain the "future" design for impa more-- bc i'm loving what i'm seeing in my head. same hair length but braided, at least one new piercing, some more ink-- girl looks Good)

and knowing that, i've been trying to figure out "is impa staying the present with link and everyone else?? or am i sending her ass to the ancient past, too?? if i do?? how do i??? what do i??? do with her????"

as much as i would love some antics with "yOURE CLEARLY NOT MY WIFE" from impa with all the Shmelda's running around in the present...i don't think that's the route i will go. (i could prove myself wrong later who knows i haven't finished the first fic lmao)

BUT SO. i had an idea to completely change up how i have impa and zelda originally met. instead of them not meeting until their late teens, i had this idea of them being small children, right around the time of the death of zelda's mother. impa and purah are the children to the king and queen's advisors, and zelda had been good friends with them all her childhood. (for my work, impa is a year older than zelda, and purah is about four years older than impa) after the queen's death, little zelda had been inconsolable-- absolutely shut down, not taking, not emoting-- nothing. purah and impa are both desperate to make their friend smile again, so purah decides, "hey!! why don't we sneak you down to the secret tunnels! there's all kinds of cool stuff to look at down there!" and what she MEANS is the like. staff tunnels and whatnot that are all around the castle for staff to move about unseen. the secret escape tunnels-- things like that.

impa...was less keen on the idea, knowing damn well they're sneaking where they shouldn't be-- and teleporting around with the princess??? it's one thing to endanger your sister. it's another to endanger the crowned princess--

purah presses her, and when it's the first time zelda has shown any interest in anything since her mother's passing-- impa caves.

so down they go. impa's powers have always been strong, but they're definitely less graceful at that age. they "poof" around the tunnels, going down to the docks, around the tunnels, sneak somewhere where they can probably find the three of them treats. zelda has fun for the first time in...a long time. so impa doesn't really stop. they keep going, and going, and going...and going...

and eventually.

the three of them realize they're...in a part of the castle they've never seen. they're too young to be able to put into words how it's different, but it's a combination of just how stale the air is. the architecture. the color of the stone in and around everything-- in front of them is a huge slab of text. it's ancient hylian-- something only zelda can read a few words of. but she knows the words she needs to know from it.

she grabs both their hands. "it says stay out," she says with a gulp.

purah squeezes her hand, not bothered. "that just means there's something really cool behind it! c'mon, impa!"

impa hums, putting her hand on the cold slab. "i don't know...that's...really thick...I can't poof unless I have a perfectly clear path...at least, not yet."

purah, curiosity getting the better of her, needles her. childish taunts of her being a big scaredy cat, big cucco, bawcking at her until she's red in the face and is just like "FINE!!" and then smacks her forehead "but i'm stealing your energy to do it!!" in a manner similar to what she would need to do to sap energy for symbol clones.

she then is able to get them on the other side and it's....even more different. they're at that huge stairwell. the air isn't stale it's old. purah is too busy complaining about how much it hurt to have her energy sapped that it's a few seconds before she realizes that impa and zelda are both...terrified.

the endless stairwell shaft that looks like it goes down to the center of the earth-- this is where impa's fear of heights starts.

absolute silence between the three of them as they stand near the edge, zelda having a death grip on the railing.

it's so quiet, the only thing they hear is one another's shallow breathing...their own pulses-- they don't have to even see a trace of ganondorf, the sounds of their own pulses echoing in their ears is more than enough to terrify them.

zelda, tears in her eyes, "we're gonna get in trouble--"

holding back her own, impa grabs both their hands again and gets them the hell out of there, wearing herself completely out by the time they make it back to somewhere they're allowed to be.

impa almost collapses, so they all sit together against the wall of wherever, not saying a word until she's caught her breath.

weakly, impa finally says, "we can never talk about this ever again."

zelda nods.

purah doesn't even tease her a little about it.

and so they never do talk about it...but they all never entirely stop thinking about it. zelda asks one day "what is below the castle" and gets that cryptic answer from her father. she doesn't even dare try to tell impa and purah what he said.

probably around that point as well, i'm going to have the king dismiss his advisors, their presence reminding him too much of the queen. they head back to kakariko or something idk. but zelda won't reconnect with them for a long time, right up to the point where they originally did for my fic (so about 5 years before calamity ganon awakens in the game)

my fic goes how it goes, and then there's relative peace afterwards, like in botw/totk.

the kingdom is rebuilding, a bright future looks to be ahead of them--

then the gloom. the gloom that they quickly realize is coming from the depths of the castle. depths that has zelda concerned. she meets with purah and impa first. [i'll probably have terrako rebuilt by this point too] "do...either of you remember when we were children, and we went too far down in the castle? When we found that...horrible stairwell?"

impa wraps her arms around herself, visibly tensing. "i try not to remember."

purah grimaces. "i unfortunately remember..."

zelda opens her mouth to speak, but the words aren't quite there yet. eventually, "this has to be coming from there..."

and from there, they agree to meet with the others, the king is strongly against her going down there, but is eased by the fact she'll at least have impa, link, and terrako with her.

from there. i think i'm going to send impa back to the past with her. i think i'm going to use a little author liberty, and--

in the past, after zelda has committed herself to draconifciation, mineru pulls impa aside. "impa...there is something i must tell you," she says between coughing fits. "There is another secret stone. one even my brother didn't know about." (she's the older sibling--girl's got secrets i'm sure of it)

so impa learns of a stone, hidden away, deep on an island, off the southeast coast of hyrule. on a map, she will recognize it as Eventide Island. in person, it's...a completely different island. much larger, and even more dangerous, fraught with all kinds of trials for her, unlocked thanks to mineru--

she gets her own secret stone, and from there...i have two routes, and i'm not sold on either, 100% yet. the title "sage of shadows" keeps jumping out at me, but idk entirely what to do with that. i could either have her go immortal dragon as well, or...i could have her be the one who teaches the people who will become the sheikah that stasis power they ended up using to seal themselves away in the shrines to later test link for the calamity. thanks to her own prowess, and enhanced by the secret stone, maybe she'll be in a different kind of stasis. hidden away in a shrine of her own making, deep within the depths, waiting...waiting...waiting...

but shadow dragon DOES sound pretty cool.......(I like the idea of her dragon mirroring zelda's perfectly, just in the depths rather than the sky)

idk. that was. A LOT. of word vomiting. all to just be like "this is how much my brain crammed into the span of maybe 5 minutes during my commute)

no clue which way i will end up going. i kind of need to. uh. write the first fic to bEGIN WITH....but still. it's nice to like. be writing again, even if it is just word salad.

[lostinfic]

I posted 771 times in 2022

22 posts created (3%)

749 posts reblogged (97%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@gingerteaonthetardis

@darth-tella

@skyler10fic

@kahki820

@lostinfic

I tagged 721 of my posts in 2022

Only 6% of my posts had no tags

#fan art - 103 posts

#ten x rose - 48 posts

#lol - 39 posts

#dimension 20 - 33 posts

#ten - 24 posts

#nine x rose - 19 posts

#fic boost - 18 posts

#art - 17 posts

#😂 - 17 posts

#doctor who - 16 posts

Longest Tag: 102 characters

#while returning showrunner russell t. davies will maintain an “overall creative vision” for doctor who

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Just gonna throw a fem!Mickey Smith in that fic, because Martha deserves a girlfriend and I don't want to picture Noel Clarke.

13 notes - Posted August 2, 2022

#4

The Heligan Cult

-> Chapter 1 to 6 already on Ao3

Pairings: Ten/Rose, Ten/Rose/Master (yes you read that right, I promise it's good), Martha/Fem!Mickey

Rating: E

Genre: All human, college AU, dark academia, mystery and magic, mutual pining/slow~ish burn

Summary: Rose, John, Harold, Donna and Martha are students at the illustrious Heligan university. When Martha finds a coded map in an old book, it takes them to a forgotten place where their true desires are revealed. Whether it's the result of old magic or some hallucinogens in the air, once they become honest with themselves and each other, there is no turning back.

14 notes - Posted November 8, 2022

#3

✨ Complete ✨ Ao3

Summary: Oops, we're still married... With plans to leave their small town, teens Leonora and Elsie eloped, but the marriage ended before it could begin when their parents had it immediately annulled. Ten years later, as Leonora is about to get married again, she finds out the annulment was never finalized. While the clock ticks away toward her wedding, she’s forced to reunite with Elsie to make their divorce official. When romantic feelings resurface, Elsie and Leonora must decide if their unfinished love story is one worth continuing.

Pairing: Leonora / Elsie (OCs)

Rating: M | Words: 25k

Tropes: friends to lovers, exes to lovers, romance, angst with a happy ending, hallmark movie AU, sharing a bed, disaster bisexual, pacific northwest vibes

17 notes - Posted April 12, 2022

#2

You know I'm no good

Hardy x Hannah | 450 words | Suggestive themes Inspired by @gingerteaonthetardis 's moodboard 💛

This is by far the stupidest thing he’s ever had to be a part of: mixing in with the crowd, undercover, at some posh sex party.

Pretentious smut, he reminds himself, feeling out of his depths. But there's a killer at large, and if there's a chance this will protect people, he'll take it.

“Just pretend to be one of them voyeurs,” his boss had said.

Still, there is something undeniably enticing about the glow of the candlelight against the honey-colored stone, the chimes of champagne glasses, the brush of satin and velvet and silk on his touch-starved skin as he walks through the room.

When he sees her, she’s sitting on a widow seat, a book in one hand, a man’s head between her legs. She takes her eyes off the page and looks back at him. His heart stutters. She loses her composure for a fraction of a second but it’s enough to know she has recognized him.

Shit, she could blow up his cover. Blow up his whole life. He’s tried to stay away from her, to resist, he really has this time.

Hannah grips the anonymous man’s hair and raises her hips to meet his mouth. Hardy swallows thickly, but he can’t look away. A phantom flavor teases his tongue. She never breaks eye contact with Hardy, not even when she comes.

Later, when Hannah brushes by him, she slips something in his hand: a key, engraved with a room number.

He walks through the dim corridors in a daze. There are hands on him. Champagne bubbles burst against his teeth. Heat flows beneath his skin. Memories of her wash over him.

The room is mostly empty safe for a Tudor chair, dark wood engraved with patterns that will mark his skin. A coil of thick rope rests at his feet. Not a lifeline. He’s in too deep already.

“Nice suit,” she taunts.

"Nice dress."

She isn't wearing one. She’s wrapped only in midnight blue and charm.

“I’m on duty,” he says.

“Me too.”

She walks towards him. Heels on stone, swaying hips and ruby lips.

“Han…” A weak protest.

“Shhh.”

He sits down obediently and looks up at her with his big brown eyes.

“You’ve tried so hard, working and working, helping others,” she murmurs. There's a rhythm to her words that feels like an incantation. “It’s okay. You’ve done so well.”

She runs a hand through his hair, nails skimming his scalp. Shivers of delight run down his spine. The moon to his ocean, she pulls something deep inside of him. His eyes flutter shut.

“Now won’t you be good for me?”

21 notes - Posted June 1, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Doctor Who - Goncharov AU

"It's for your own good, Rose."

"Don't you dare. If you send me away, I will come back ten times stronger."

563 notes - Posted November 21, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[teebarnes]

✨ | I'm Fallin' For You, Darling.

Click [100 Followers Fic] for the rest of the 100 follower fics :)

Pairing: Chris Evans x female!reader

Summary: Both you and Chris have quite the relationship, it all started the day you gave him a marker.

Word Count: 3.5k

Warning(s): Fluffffff, Angst for sure, talk of anxiety (not a lot but also a lot).

A/N: Thank you guys so much for 100 followers! It means the world, I hope you like this one as much as I do. (Sorry that's a lotta words).

⤑ Click here for my taglist so you can be notified when my new fics are posted.

Any Likes, Comments & Reblogs are super duper appreciated :))

When Chris Evans is nervous, there is only one thing that calms him down. And that one thing is you and the fact that you allow him to doodle on your hands all the time.

The premiere of Captain America: The Winter Soldier was the first time you saw Chris so nervous. Him constantly rubbing his hands together or bouncing his leg underneath the press table and the times when he'd fiddle with the hem of his shirts. These were things you noticed Chris did when he got nervous, and it seemed that you were the only one who witnessed them.

The third day into the film's press tour, you decided to take matters into your own hands. You knew what it felt like to be anxious, the feeling settling within the depths of your stomach or the constant avoidance of looking out to an audience. Sometimes you'd excuse yourself a few times throughout interviews just to catch your own breath.

~

The whole TCA: TWS cast sat along the stage of the comic-con panel. The hosts introduced you all, crowds cheering loudly when they saw everyone.

You took your seat next to Chris, who was already fiddling with his plastic water bottle that he'd been gripping so tightly on, you could already see the indents on the bottle. You smiled, looking out to the audience waving back to some of your fans that you could see holding signs up for you in the crowd. It was, in fact, times like these that your anxiety shot right out the window, replacing that anxiety with happiness and admiration of your fan base.

Five minutes into the panel talk and questions were directed to Scarlett and RDJ. You knew you wouldn't be talking anytime soon as, of course, like all other press tours, the interviews were heavily coordinated. So before you'd have the chance to speak, Sebastian, Anthony, and the Russo brother would go first. Sitting back in your chair, you took a sip of your water, your eyes following down to where Chris was bouncing his leg. Then, setting your water back onto the table, you pulled yourself and your chair closer to the table, reaching over across Joe Russo, who observed what you were doing.

"Could you pass me the marker, please, Joe?" you whispered to him; he smiled, nodding handing you the marker. "Thanks", you whispered again.

You returned to the comfort of your seat, Scarlett and RDJ still bantering. You look forward to the audience and give a tiny little smile to the fans who were waving at you. Your eyes looked down to your arm; you wrote a little message on your forearm, so he knew what the pen was for.

You scooted a bit closer to Chris just enough so you could hand him the pen. You lightly looked over to him; your hand went underneath the table and across to rest on Chris' lap. It was right there when his leg stopped bouncing. You held the pen in your hand, waiting for him to take it from you. Chris looked up turning his gaze to you; you gave him a smile nodding.

His eyes directed back down to where your arm was. He read the note you had written for him, 'Use my arm to doodle. It helps with anxiety :)'. He let out a smile, all the while letting out the breath he'd been holding in.

You looked back up and over to Sebastian, who was now talking; you felt the pen slip out from your grip, the marker clicked and the coldish ink embracing the surface of your skin.

One of Chris' hand rested firmly on your forearm to keep it from moving, and the other used to doodle. That was the first time in the history of you knowing Chris to be calm and content. No bouncing his leg or fidgeting. He was completely aware of everything instead of his growing anxiety.

~

It was after that moment Chris slowly began to fall in love. He never expected someone to notice his worries and do something about them. But, the way you sat there while he doodled on your arm didn't phase you at all, you wanted to support him, and you showed him that you did.

Years later, It became a force of habit, the tiny hugs you'd give Chris just to slide a marker into his pocket before going on stage. The small slight movements he'd make before he took your hand into his so he could draw.

You'd become someone who knew him better than he knew himself. The many dates he took you on lead to you moving in with him. The small moments you both had messing around on set and loving him in the silliest of moments meant eternity to the pair of you. You knew that you had fallen in love with Chris Evans, and so was he. You both just didn't realise that the moment would be a forever moment. If you hadn't offered him a marker that day, where would you be?

It was now the premiere of Avengers: End Game and the last press tour you'd have for a while. Today's interview consisted of a comic-con panel, the same panel you happily let Chris doodle on your arm five years ago.

You both sat together, his hand protectively on your thigh. You were speaking into the mic as a fan had just asked you a question about possibly seeing your character in the future of the MCU. Chris sat there attentive to your voice while he drew on the top of your hand. It was a little duck with a Boston Red Sox hat holding a heart.

Once you had finished answering the question and someone else began to speak, you looked back down to see what Chris was drawing. You squinted in wonder; looking back at Chris, you wondered why he was drawing this. Coincidentally, you had drawn a duck on him one day in between an interview—a duck holding a heart wearing a NASA cap. Chris looked at you with his cheesy smile. Oh! he was up to something, you thought. Chuckling, you watched him colour in the small heart with a red marker. He was, in truth, quite a good artist; you managed to take a photo of all his doodles over the years. But this one, this doodle was a bit different; it meant something more to you.

After you had both finished the panel, you were set on getting a new tattoo. Kissing Chris' lips, you told him that you'd see him at home. Chris had asked you where you were going, so you said you were going out to dinner with your mum in town, which was true you just left out the part of you going to get another tattoo. Your parents were in for the weekend for reasons unknown and wanted to see you before they left, so you had already planned to see them. He nodded, kissing you once more before departing ways.

You both were always so sentimental, and you knew as soon as you saw that duck in a red sox cap holding a heart on your hand that you wanted it to be a forever doodle. That day, when you had drawn a duck on him, he went and got it tatted on his hand the same day. The first tattoo visible on Chris' body, the only tattoo that wasn't hidden under his shirts. In contrast, most of your tattoos were on your arms and wrists; this was another tattoo among the few others you had on your hand, others being the original six symbol and some writing of your favourite quotes.

Before you knew it, you were sitting on the chair in your private tattoo artist's studio, getting the duck tattooed on you forever. The tattoo was a reminder of memories both you and him had experienced together.

~

The red sox hat, being where he took you on your first date five years ago. To a Red Sox game, of course. You didn't have anything to wear to represent the team, so Chris kindly offered you his Red Sox cap to wear; five years later, Chris had to purchase a new hat because you kept his one. Of course, he didn't mind; he loved to see you dressed in things that were his; the hat was one of them.

"I don't have anything to wear", you sadly pouted at Chris, looking at him in his Red Sox jersey and cap.

He looked down to you as you stood next to him, holding his hand softly, looking out to the stadium. He smiled, taking his cap off and placing it over your head.

"Now you do", he smiled, leading you down the stairs to your seats. You weren't really a fan of baseball. Still, once you had experienced your first game, oh man... it became a routine for both you and Chris to attend every game the Red Sox were playing at.

~

The duck, the furry little animal you had brought home a few months after you had first moved in with Chris two years ago. In all honesty, you wanted to get a turtle, but as soon as you saw that slight yellow fluff waddling around at the pet store, you wanted nothing more than to take it home with you. Chris couldn't say no to you, so the duck became your baby.

"y/n?" Chris came around the corner where you'd sat yourself talking to the little duck... Chris had been looking for you for almost fifteen minutes when he found you sitting there with the pet shop worker.

The excitement in your eyes told him that you had forgotten all about the turtle. You looked up at him smiling, patting the empty seat next to him. He sat watching you pet the small baby duck with your thumb lightly. "I'm naming him Alfie" you smiled brightly, looking back at Chris.

He took the duck out of your hands and chuckled, "Alfie, it is".

~

The red heart...

A reminder of how much you both loved each other. Something that had never gone away, the love both you and Chris had continued, it grew stronger over time, of course with a few hiccups here and there but never enough to break that love. But this, the tiny little heart being tattooed onto you, was one similar to the heart that homed your middle finger on a ring. The rose gold ring he gifted you when he asked you to be his girlfriend four years ago.

You rested your head on Chris' shoulder as both of you watched the office. A new series you'd been watching together, it was a few months after your first date with Chris, and you both were head over heels with each other.

"Hey y/n", he whispered.

"Mh?"

"I'm fallin' for you darling."

You lifted your head from his shoulder, looking up at him, "You're what", you whispered softly, you heard what he said, but you just needed to hear it again.

He brought the small box out, opening it to reveal a rose gold band hearts making up the band. "I said I'm falling in love with you", he smiled before continuing ", Be my girlfriend?" he sweetly asked.

You chuckled, letting him slide the ring onto your middle finger. "Of course", you whispered back to him before cupping his face. You both looked at each other, you saw it, you saw the life you'd been wanting. It was with him.

"I love you".

~

Sitting at the dinner table with your parents, you briefly looked down at the now wrapped tattoo on your hand. You had thanked your tattoo artist for another fantastic job; the new ink was precisely how Chris drew it on you earlier today. Your parents were eating away and so were you.

"It's great to see you again, Hunny", your dad spoke.

You smiled, nodding. "I've missed you guys so much."

"What's on your agenda for this weekend?" you spoke again, taking a bite of your food. Your mum and dad took one look at each other before your mum stopped to talk.

"Your dad and I are going to old friends party", she smiled at you. "party", you chuckled. "Since when do you guys party".

"it's an engagement party, I mean... do you have some parties we could go to" your dad joked.

"First of all... no." you laughed, cringing at the image in your head of your parents dancing and drinking. "But that's nice. I hope you both have fun, wish whoever a congratulations for me" you smiled.

"Oh, we will", your mum outwardly said. You took a second to squint your eyes in curiosity to your mum's tone. "Mhkay".

~

It was the end of dinner, and you had parted ways with your parents, taking a Cab to the home you shared with Chris. "thank you, driver," you smiled, hopping out of the cab walking up to your driveway. You giggled, seeing Dodger patiently waiting for you at the front door. "Hey buddy", you smiled, opening up the door for him to jump all over you.

Closing the door behind you, kneeling down to cuddle your pup. Dodger wagged his tail giving you kisses. "Shhhhh", you chuckled lightly, "were you waiting for me, huh?" you watched Dodger roll around on the floor. You stood up, taking your shoes off, leaving your keys on the hook. "C'mon, baby", you whispered, gesturing for Dodger to follow. You both walked down the hall, Dodger by your side.

You could hear the snores coming from your room and knew Chris was already sleeping. You opened the door, looking down at Dodger "go keep my spot warm for me, please", you sweetly asked your pup, who did just that. You watched him gently jump up onto the bed and curl up on your side of the bed.

Walking further down the hall, you went to take a shower. Changing into the PJs you left on the warming rack in the bathroom, you followed back out to check on Alfie, who would be sleeping in your office. Once that was done, you head into your and Chris' room. You took off your slippers and ushered Dodger to sleep in his bed. You kissed his head before he left. "night, bubba".

You slide in next to Chris, who had his back to you. Covering yourself with the blanket, you slide one arm around his bare torso pulling yourself closer to him. He was so warm, and you loved it. Chris groaned, turning over. He smiled sleepily. "Hey hon, how was dinner?" "It was good", you kissed his lips, "That's good," he said, pulling you into his arms to cuddle.

"Hey babe"

"mhhh", he mumbled in a sleepy voice.

"I love you."

"I love you too".

~

The next day you were doing a panel with the marvel cast. Like any other day, you answered questions, so why did you feel this one would be different. You were a bit nervous today, like you had woken up wrong, or you were waiting for something to happen. You didn't know if that was a good or bad thing.

You were talking to your audience. It was a large panel today consisting of the MCU cast, if not all of them. Maybe that's why you were so nervous; the bigger the cast panel, the bigger audience to speak to. "Make eye contact and hand gestures y/n," you thought to yourself right before you begun to answer the fan's questions. You start to use your hands gesturing when a fan had asked you about your character's personality.

Chris smiled, watching you intently; fans noticed. But as you were gesturing, he noticed the tattoo. He had to double-take when he saw your hand, leaving a small on his face. After you finished your question, he leaned in. "I love your tattoo, babe", he whispered; his comment calmed your nerves a bit as you chuckled ", just following your lead."

You both lean back into your seats as Joe and Anthony Russo began the next half of the panel. You were already forty minutes through... only another forty to go.

Anthony spoke, "As you may know, this will be the last you'll see of your favourite actors and actresses for a while..." Joe turned to the entire panel. "So we put together a little something of your time over the last decade" Joe turns back to the audience. "So sit back and relax."

The panel turned their chairs to watch the big screen, the lights dimmed, and the video rolled. It was a decade gag-reel of everyone in the MCU; Chris had pulled your chair closer to his; he knew you were nervous, for what reason? He didn't know, and neither did you. He should've been the nervous one; he was about to do something in front of the entire audience he had been planning for months.

Your head rested on Chris' shoulder, laughing with everyone else as the embarrassing footage rolled through. There was more footage of you and Chris than anyone else, but again, you were too clouded in worry. You didn't overthink about it.

Then there it was, a clip you didn't know existed—a video of you dancing with Scarlett and Jeremy on the infinity war set. You were being videoed from afar, but Chris comes into the frame making funny faces before pointing at you. You blushed a bit, laughing lightly.

"You see her", Past Chris spoke to the camera. "One day, I am going to marry her" he wiggles his finger over to your past self, who was still dancing around like an idiot. You swear your heart stopped, so ultimately, you started bouncing your leg. The video stopped, and the lights came back on. There were hushed voices; you knew they were looking your way, but you couldn't tell why.

You turned your chair, trying to avoid whoever was looking at you. Not noticing anything, nobody was talking. You had turned your head to look down to the end of the panel where The Russo brothers were. They were all looking in your direction, including the whole cast panel. You jumped slightly when Chris caught your leg mid-bounce; you turned to look at him, his eyes dazzling before you. Oh, that smile, you knew that smile all too well. Chris was smiling like a little kid.

Chris tapped you on your thigh, which caught your attention, so you looked down. This is it; this is the same feeling you felt when he first asked you to be his girlfriend. You burst into tears after reading the message on his arm; Chris' forearm rested in your lap while holding a black marker in his hand. You sniffed, looking softly at him. He was now in tears too. Taking the black marker from his grip, you clicked it; resting your hand on his forearm to steady yourself, you answered his question.

'Will you marry me, y/n?' the question written in his bold writing stared right back at you.

You always had your answer 'of course.'

You closed the lid on the pen, and Chris opened his hand; your engagement ring sat in the nook of his palm. He slides it onto your ring finger right next to your rose-gold one. You smile blinking through the tears, you turn to him, and Chris had already stood with his arms in the air.

"SHE SAID YES"

The whole audience got up cheering; he leaned in, cupping your cheeks, both of you laughing through your kisses. He had lifted you into his arms, spinning you around. He set you back down; you wiped the tears from your face laughing while wearing your t-shirt. At that point, you knew everyone was in on your proposal; you turned to your cast members, who were all clapping.

"Give a round of applause for the future Mr and Mrs Evans!" Joe spoke.

You went around hugging everyone who had gotten up just to congratulate the pair of you. One by one, your friends embraced you in their arms.

"Congratulations", two-voice spoke from behind you, "oh my god, you idiots", you chuckled, pulling your parents into a big hug. Chris stood next to you as your dad pulled him into a hug. "Your fiancé sends her congratulations", he laughed, referencing the conversation you had with them last night.

Chris looked down at you, "They had texted me last night what you had said. I'm surprised you didn't catch on", he laughed. "I- I didn't know... I was curious after mum said it so suspiciously but didn't think," you mentally face-palmed yourself.

And like that, the panel was concluded. Everyone congratulating you and Chris before leaving. Chris had set up a little engagement party back at your house; everyone was enjoying their time having fun. You sat on Chris' lap still in shock, his arms wrapped around your waist "you didn't see that coming, did you?" he smirked, looking up at you.

"No... no, I didn't" you laughed sweetly. Your hand ran over Chris' forearm where it still had both his and your writing on it. "That was the best proposal ever" you looked at him, smiling, "I'm glad, darling" you both leaned into each other, lips connecting softly.

"I've fallen deeply in love with you, Mr Evans".

"I'm still falling for you".

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

Chris Evans Taglist: @buckyswintersoldiermask @lharrietg @buckyfan12 @afraid-to-be-me @fairityretro

[scottiedeux]

CaitVi Fic Rec Friday - 4/15

Coming at you from my Ao3 Bookmarks List (Ao3 handle Scottie2) - It's Fic Rec Friday!

Read about the logic behind Fic Rec Friday here

This is the first EVER fic rec post so naturally I had to start with: Fic Name: Shades of Us by yourkilljoy

Ao3 Summary:

Reckless enforcer Vi and uptight sheriff Caitlyn have always been the perfect pair. How such an unlikely pairing came about is the subject of wild rumor and tavern speculation.

A series of vignettes all over Piltover and Zaun paint a picture of Piltover’s finest in an attempt to set the record straight– once and for all.

Keep reading for my gushing about this fic and Ao3 tags/details

Why this fic: This fic for me was a warm hug of an introduction into the CaitVi fandom. Back in December post watching s1 I was wading through a sea of fics that focused on immediate post s1 canon, or smutty hookups - and trust me I love that shit.

But Shades of Us was like - hey - take a closer look at this whole CaitVi thing.

We canonically have this established Sheriff & Deputy partnership with major hints of more than just a professional relationship. We then get a prequel Netflix show that gives us backround on relationship dynamics based on legitimate sources of tension - one being Rich Piltover Heiress vs Undercity Zaunite; one with unbroken optimistic drive to right wrongs vs one cynical but will do anything for their loved ones, etc. There is also a tension between the intensity of what Caitlyn and Vi have with one another vs all the outside expectations placed on them due to their status, position, circumstance, etc.

This fic opened my eyes to this meaty dynamic and did it with an EXCELLENT setup of looking at Caitlyn & Vi's relationship from the outside in. Then - its not just having a good idea like this one - but yourkilljoy NAILS the delivery.

After reading this fic i knew I was hooked on this fandom something fierce. There is depth to the Caitlyn Vi pairing and dynamic which is I'm sure why you are hooked like me and reading this long ass gush about a CaitVi fic.

Its got plenty of Kudos so many of ya'll have read it but if you somehow missed it please do NOT sleep on this fic.

More by this Author:

The very talented yourkilljoy has written some additional fics in this universe so after reading Shades of Us, check that out. She also has two other ongoing fic that will likely be on my bookmarks list once I get a chance to read or when they complete.

If anyone knows if yourkilljoy has a Tumblr handle please let me know so I can link! The author is on the Discord channel - so maybe say hi if you love this fic as much as I do 😁

Ao3 Details:

Chapters: 5/5 Fandom: League of Legends, Arcane: League of Legends (Cartoon 2021) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Caitlyn/Vi (League of Legends) Characters: Caitlyn (League of Legends), Vi (League of Legends) Additional Tags: Vignettes, Fluff, Piltover's Finest, Romance, basically a look at Caitlyn and Vi's relationship through different POVs, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Post canon, Slice of Life Series: Part 1 of Shades of Us

[becca-e-barnes]

The "minors DNI" posts that I've been seeing crop up everywhere by fic writers are always so interesting to me.

First and foremost, I 100% support your decision to post a "minors DNI" for your safety and their safety. You're being responsible, doing your due diligence as a responsible adult, and trying to ensure that everyone enjoys what you put out there in a safe way.

And I know you specifically have not said this so this is not a slight on you by any means, but I think you'd be more open to the discourse of such an interesting topic like this—the problem I have with some fic writers is that is them saying they will block anyone who does not have their age posted in their blog.

This, I believe, is an incredibly dangerous precedent to set. On the one hand displaying your age if you are over 18 seems like a non-issue, right? Sure. But setting the precedent that people should display their age in their blog encourages minors to share their age on the internet which in turn can make them an easier target.

Personal preference for me—I'm a thirty-two year old lady (plz sing this appropriately) and do not share my age in my tumblr because, well I don't want to.

We're all technically violating TOS anyway, so it doesn't really matter if a minor interacts with your fic or not at this point—by interact I mean like/reblog/comment, not DMing you to talk about sexual stuff. That stuff you should absolutely block/delete for obvious legal and safety reasons.

And while I understand the legality thing, if you are not explicitly engaging with said minor, there's not a whole bunch that could hold up in court. How many lawsuits do you think E.L. James gets for 13 year olds waltzing into a bookstore or buying 50 shades of grey off amazon and reading it? There was actually an interesting article written about the "common sense" engagement with this book back in 2012.

Anywho, you are right to ask and set a boundary, and do what you feel is right to protect yourself and using the DNI minor blanket statement is ultimately a good thing, especially if it's a personal uncomfortableness with minors reading your work. However, even if a minor just decided to lie and say they were 21 and read your stuff anyway, unknowingly interacting with a minor is just as bad legally as knowingly doing so so at the end of the day, we're still just taking risks. The safest thing for all of us would probably be to not interact with anyone or ask everyone to use anon, but there's not fun or friendship in that. Your mutual who has stated they're 25 could still be 16 and you wouldn't know it.

My perspective may also just be entirely outdated as well because I grew up in the internet age of it being a lawless wasteland and everyone lied about everything, so I don't see the value in trying to police my work when people will just read it anyway and I don't have any control over that at the end of the day other than to tag appropriately and/or not post anything at all ever.

This was long and not necessary to answer, I'm just always fascinated by the rigor at which fanfic writers are so quick to banish people for not putting their age in their bios when I think it is inherently more dangerous for minors to do so because it puts a target on their back.

Before I start, I recognise that we’re of the same line of thought! I saw this long message and panicked thinking that someone had taken an issue with my stance on it and I’m glad that’s not the case 🙈 Anything I raise here is in the interest of discussion and I completely respect your point of view. 💗

This is really interesting actually and truth be told, I’ve avoided any discussion on this topic for a very long time for fear that I won’t adequately explain my stance on it. I feel like I’ve had a chance to do that and I hope it’s been taken up by everyone as I intended.

I will admit; as a minor, I read smut. Without going into detail, it entirely warped my perspective on how relationships should look. To provide a little context on my stance, at 14/15 (and younger), I had no business reading the things I was reading. Unfortunately, I was in a “relationship” at the time and I fully believed that I had to engage with my boyfriend in ways that mirrored what I was reading. I ended up in situations I didn’t want to be in. To me, it’s my responsibility as a writer and as someone who learned the hard way, to ensure that younger people don’t make the same mistakes I did.

I do fully agree, minors stating their real age on their blog raises all sorts of different issues, as you rightly said. You’re absolutely right, to a minor there are no advantages to displaying your real age on here. Fic writers will block you, creeps will be more likely to engage with you. So I fully understand that this might seem like a reason to lie or provide no age at all.

Leading on from that though, if a minor lies on their profile and claims to be over 18 and they interact with my smut, from a legal perspective, that is not going to have any repercussion on me. I have put my disclaimers up, I vet as many profiles as I can and I do everything I would be reasonably expected to do in the eyes of the law. (This isn’t an area of law I studied in significant depth but that standard of reasonable expectation would still apply). I do as much as I can to protect myself and them.

You brought up 50 Shades and I understand your point but the issue here is not just the fic itself. If anyone comments/ reblogs my fic, I like to send a little reply back! I love when people take the time to give me feedback and I want to thank them for it, as a lot of other writers do! The issue here being that if the blog commenting is a minor, the writer would be engaging in a conversation about sexual material with a minor. And that’s fucking messy. This is mainly where fics differ from a teenager buying a copy of 50 shades. In that situation, there’s no interaction there between the author and the underage fan so it loses that personal element.

On the issue of blogs with no age, I see where you’re coming from and I see that you both read and write fanfiction. But I also see it from the other perspective given that a lot of writers like to do as much as possible to protect themselves and potential minors.

I totally support that’s a boundary that you set and it’s your choice. In the same sense that it’s a fic writer’s choice to protect themselves by blocking you. It’s a matter of boundaries clashing at the end of the day. I really do see both sides here. I’m a really organised person so honestly, if anyone wanted to send me a private message just confirming they’re over 18, I’d put them all into a list to make sure I don’t accidentally block them for interacting. But of course, not every writer would be able to do that and I’m sure many readers would want to do that either! I just see it as the only way to compromise on that issue and keep everyone happy.

Thank you for sending me this! I hope I covered everything and if I haven’t been clear enough in some areas, feel free to come back to me! 🙈 And I really appreciate actually having a discussion on here! It’s so great to hear others’ points of view in a nice, respectful way. Tumblr loses that sometimes! Have a lovely evening 💗

[lokisprettygirl]

I've only followed HMBOMT and now MoLM and some of your one-shots, but I agree with Consistency and Imagination, plus you do a good job of making your characters more than one dimensional and fleshing them out by giving them pasts that inform their reactions, emotions, motivations. And thinking of HMBOMT, that helps them organically develop and play of each other and overcome their conflicts with each other, because they have substance, and it's more satisfying to read.

First of all thank you so much for this detailed ask, it honestly made my day. I read it like five times before I decided to answer it 🤧

I try and make my characters as humanly as they could get, and mostly I'm interpreting them based on my life, what I have seen and my own experiences. So I'm glad people are actually able to connect with them because that means it's not in my head and I'm actually making them the way they are in my head.

Even my reader or y/n have a personality because I'm sorry but I can not write multi chapter fics about a wooden box, whenever I read reader based stories I put myself in the shoes of reader instead of just being like "oh this is written especially to cater to me". That's the whole point of imagination and fantasy.

HMBOMT was started as dom loki x sub reader type fic (lmao) and some of my mutuals who I know would absolutely love HMBOMT because they enjoyed Lisik but they don't read if because they think it's about sex and bdsm. News flash - No. Thank you for giving wrestler loki a chance even though he didn't appeal to you at first, he's magic and it's one of my best loki I have ever created. Such depth , such pain and I'm someone who's very critical about my writing but I'm so proud of HMBOMT.

I remember HMBOMT's readers hated his guts in the beginning, but then he lost a fight, and we saw a flashback from his childhood, and he became sympthetic in that very moment, his callous nature made sense all of a sudden. The way everyone turned to his side after that was so satisfying to see (gah I really do miss writing wrestler loki)

And it's completely new for me, I always used to daydream but never wrote, somehow I had this urge to write for loki, I don't know what finally made it happen but I'm glad. Again thank you my dear 💚

[bloodyspade0000]

30-day knb challenge: Day 1- Favorite Male character

↳ Haizaki Shougo

I am not justifying Haizaki's behaviour. I think he needs a tall glass of respect woman juice and therapy. This is just meant to explain why he is my favourite character and help you better understand him as a character. Do not send hate or take my words out of context. You will be reported, deleted and cancelled. Thank you and enjoy. :)

My favourite character is Haizaki Shougo *dodges tomatoes* a lot of people in the fandom hate this guy for many reasons. It's kind of funny how many people hate him and the amount of hate he gets just for existing. Like bruh; he's sixteen, leave him alone. 😂

His whole existence is just sad. He was literally created to be hated.

Like straight up, Tadatoshi Fujimaki even admitted that he hated Haizaki. Haizaki's sole purpose of existing is to make the Generation of Miracles look better even though they’re just as problematic as he. No one is fucking perfect and is about time people woke the fuck up and realized it. Your faves are problematic move the fuck on.

Yes, the Miracles are redeemable but so is Haizaki. Yet, unlike the Miracles, he does not get redeemable. No, he disappears and is never seen again. Like bitch, what the fuck!? if you’re gonna introduce a character to only have them disappear for a long time and either have them show up again or just never mention them again. Wasting the potential they had to be a very good character or not having them redeem themselves while the other characters who were just as fucking problematic get a fucking redemption arc because they’re fucking main characters!? What’s the point of that character even existing in the first place? What kind of bullshit is that? Just to have them exist to make the main characters look good? How the fuck does that make sense? Like where is my Haizaki redemption arc? Do I have to write it on my own? I will write it. I am writing one.

Haizaki is the only character I could relate to. Being second best, struggling to find somewhere to fit in and overshadowed and replaced by someone everyone thinks is better than you. It's fucking depressing, okay? You spend your whole life thinking you’re not good enough, and it hurts. I don't feel like going too deep into it because I don't owe you a detailed explanation of my trauma, okay?. So I'll save that for my fics where I self-project half of it onto Haizaki. It’s a coping mechanism, okay? Therapy is fucking expensive.

The anime ruined his whole character, got rid of his whole arc and shorted it down, and made him worse than he really is.

A post explaining how the anime did him dirty and goes more in-depth about his character

I am not trying to justify his actions, i.e. him manhandling Alex and beating Himura up. He does terrible shit. We all do lousy shit sometimes, but that doesn't make us bad people. Making mistakes is a part of being human, and we're supposed to hold people accountable for their actions and help them realize what they’re doing is wrong, allowing them to grow and change. Not condemn them and ostracize them, which leads to isolation and a lot of psychological trauma and self-hatred, and as someone who has dealt with—is still dealing with all three. It is not fun. It makes living painful. Highly unrecommended.

Haizaki does not have a positive role model in his life nor anybody he can turn to, everyone has already given up on him. Even Nijimura and Kuroko didn’t even try to help him, being more focused on the Miracles. (Yes, I know kuroko tried to stop him from throwing his basketball shoes away, but that doesn’t fucking count because after that Kuroko just gave up on Haiazki too). Haizaki has probably grown grew up knowing only violence and not a single ounce of kindness, turning him into the bitter and angry little boy he is.

Haizaki had so much potential. But instead of making him a great villain that potential was WASTED on fucking Kise.

Also, the Kaijo vs Seirin match in the winter cup was completely useless because Kise already got redeemed and he literally got no character development from it.

And Seirin was gonna fucking win anyways because duh thier the main characters. 🙄

Now some headcanons I think about a lot:

1. He gets abused. Some psychological behavioural consequences of child abuse are unhealthy sexual practices and juvenile delinquency, and Haizaki exhibits all three which are some external behaviours of most (NOT ALL) male abuse victims. Haizaki's a womanizer, aggressive, hostile and violent. Yet, he backs down when someone stronger than him comes around and puts him in his place i.e. Aomine and Nijimura.

a factsheet explaining the long term consequences of child abuse and neglect

How to help a friend dealing with family abuse or neglect

How to Handle Abuse

2. He's a victim. And when you're a victim, you either become angry and cynical with everything and everyone around you, swearing never to be a victim again and struggle with gaining back control of your life. Not wanting anyone to see you being vulnerable because being vulnerable makes you weak. Being weak makes you shatter. You always shatter like glass, cutting yourself every time you pick up broken pieces, watching as blood trickles through your fingers.

Your body is constantly on high alert. The default is flight or fight—survival to the fittest.

Or you bite your lip and keep your head down, bottling everything inside and looking for escapes or seeking validation. You want to be wanted and loved because you struggle with loving and accepting yourself. There's always a voice in the back of your head telling you, you're not good enough or that it's your fault. That everything is your fault. Self-hatred and self-doubt are your tormentors.

Or it's a combination between both—a constant struggle.

And I believe Haizaki portrays both from the way he acts and presents himself. Especially since his motto is literally "Survival of the fittest,” and he had once told Kuroko, " there are bad guys and then the really scary people," or something along those lines, which I believe he is talking from experience. You learn from your experiences. They either make you or break you.

3. He's touch-starved.

What Does It Mean to Be Touch Starved?

4. He's bisexual and has a lot of internalized homophobia. I can just feel his internalized homophobia rolling off of him. Bruh, I just know cuz I am bisexual, and I have struggled with internalized homophobia and still sadly struggle with it cuz I grew up surrounded by homophobic people.

I still live with them. 😭

Also, we live in a society that thinks straight is the default.

What internalized homophobia is.

5. His sexual awakening was probably Aomine or Kise. Could be both 😂?

6. He cries himself to sleep every night.

7. He's observant and a great judge of character. It's a fact. This guy literally predicted the downfall of the Miracles. Straight up warned Kuroko too. Too bad Kuroko didn't listen to him.

8. He's hilarious. When he first appeared in the manga, he literally called Himura a loser, lol. XD

9. He's a closeted softie and a total tsundere.

10. doesn't know how to react to kindness and will think you're threatening him or will feel really awkward and uncomfortable but will cover it up with his scowl, or he'll have a breakdown.

11. needs a lot of reassurance and head pats

12. swears a lot. Has no filter.

13. His bother is in the yakuza or some high position of power, and he feels inferior to him. It also explains why Haizaki gets away with things because he would have been kicked out of school if his bother wasn't either-or. I'm talking about his bother being in the yakuza, lol. XD

14. He and Momoi dated for a while but broke up on a mutual understanding that thier relationship just didn't work out. They're best friends and hang out sometimes.

15. Haizaki's good with kids and just genuinely likes them. He would be a great father and try his best to raise his kids right.

16. He gets sick really easily

17. He's clingy

18. He has no friends, mainly because he doesn't want people to get close to him because he's afraid of getting hurt again. Also, everyone in knb hates him.

19. He watches cartoons cuz he was never allowed to watch them when he was a kid. His childhood is trash, okay?

20. He hides in the closet because that's where he feels safe the most—rhetorically and literally.

21. Sleep-deprived and only runs on caffeine and spite.

List of fics that portray Haizaki better than the anime:

Heavy is the head by extrastellar

Idle Hands by DarkWoods

Another Chance by regretting my username_ (777imou_offline367)

What Matters is that We're Together by StrawFairy

06:00:00 of Haizaki Shougo (4) by ReiClien

This Is Happening by SharkGirl

What is Love by voices_in_my_head

A completely uncalled catharsis by oddball

One-shots

intertwined, under a spell by kornevable

ԼƠƔƐ & ӇΛƬƐ by Arthuria_PenDragon

delirium by extrastellar

me with you by doublejoint

Turn My Camera On by wordsliketeeth

At Summer's End by doublejoint

Taste by Hibari1_san

I Can't Get Enough of You by HisDarkSecret

I don't care if it hurts by llowsywriter

Ashes by doublejoint

broken things by lowsywriter

Series:

Finally found each other by suzakukills

This Is Happening Universe by SharkGirl

DNA by flowerway

My WIPS:

Isn’t it lovely?

Broken Crown

Love me, Love me, Love me

Grey skies

Rabbit hole

A playlist of songs that I believe fit Haizaki

Kuroko’s basketball’s manga

In conclusion, You can hate Haizaki as much as you want. But just keep it to yourself. Haizaki is my baby and I will protect him with my life.

[mckinlily]

So, I'm legitimately curious: What did you think of Kuron? I mean, I have my own AU ideas about him, and one I'm trying to write right now about how he can 'survive' the whole fiasco of his fate in V6, but I'm curious to know other opinions. :)

I’m happy you asked! The clone arc spawns so much fandom creativity. Though I’m not sure I’m the best person to answer this. Mostly because my feelings about Kuron aren’t informed so much by Kuron himself as by where I was at mentally and emotionally when season 3 dropped.

When I first got into Voltron, I was a young twenty-something in grad school, overwhelmed by adult and personal life, no idea what I was doing, far away from my family, and terrified that I was replaceable and forgettable to the people I loved most as well not even cut out for the career that I was going into debt for. (I’m glad I did it, but grad school kind of completely destroyed my mental health and only that I’m writing this now am I realizing exactly how bad it was). 

In the midst of all this, I met Shiro. Here’s was another young twenty-something, completely out of his depth, trying so hard and so scared of failure. I especially remember realizing that Shiro was scared of being rejected and replaced by the people he loved and sacrificed for. But he was Shiro. He was competent and strong and so, so good. Obviously HE deserved his team and family and every good thing in the world. And he had a team that (I thought) recognized that in him. So I told myself, if Shiro can handle being responsible for Voltron and the entire universe, I can survive grad school. And if even Shiro doubts his worth to his friends and family when he’s Shiro, then my own fears about my loved ones were unfounded too.

And then season 3 hit, and I have to hand it to them, I don’t think they could have triggered every single one of my worst fears better if they had tried. Yes, no one will really care if you’re gone. Yes, all your loved ones will just move on if you disappeared. No, you aren’t capable or worthy of what you want to do. You are literally replaceable.

And Kuron was a big part of that. I pegged immediately that he wasn’t the same Shiro I had fallen in love with in the earlier seasons, and although I never hated him or thought he was at all at fault for whatever Hagar had planned for him, I could never get over the feeling that I was being lied to. That was not my Shiro, but the story kept trying to convince me it was and it wasn’t. And I was projecting HARD onto Shiro, so I didn’t just react to Kuron as the clone of my favorite character but like if Kuron were a clone of ME that was taking my place in MY family and everything was trying to convince me it didn’t make a difference. Your family still gets a version of you (and maybe even, less deep and struggling version of you, one that’s a little less in all the ways that just make you palatable), so why should you have a problem with it? They’re good, possibly even better, and so they never needed you, right?

Meanwhile, I felt so guilty about reacting like that. Because for all that I hated everything Kuron represented and seemed to say about me, I also knew he was a victim. I could see how hard he tried and that he was also struggling in an impossible situation he didn’t even understand. Kuron deserved love and support and a family just as much as Shiro did. But for Kuron to get the things he so desperately wanted, it seemed Shiro would have to lose those exact same things, and I couldn’t figure out a way to get out of the zero sum game. Particularly because they both needed so much intense personal and emotional support from their team. And as much as it isn’t fair, I knew from long personal experience that emotional resources are not infinite, and if you can fake being reasonably okay, the people with the most obvious emotional needs will always be taken care of first. And I couldn’t see in such a situation, and with Shiro being the self-sacrificing person that he is, Kuron not winning that unspoken competition. Meanwhile, if I tried just putting Shiro first anyway, I felt so guilty because Kuron deserved all the love and support too.

Which isn’t to say that a story can’t manage to be fair to both of them. I think a few fics have even managed to do it (The Monster in the Mirror by squirenonny is perhaps the most satisfying one I’ve found, and I continue to be astounded by how it manages to cover so much while also staying relatively short. How???! What did you have to sell???). There are also plenty of fics that are still good, and some that even enjoyed, even if they don’t strike the balance that I really want. I’ve just never managed to find the balance I feel like I can write. I still feel some guilt about that because Kuron deserved so much better, but I’ve also accepted that fanfic for me is self-indulgent and about writing the stories I need. So, for instance, there is no clone or clone arc in Stars From Me which is 100% a story that I needed to tell for me.

I will say, that until they killed Kuron off in a move I did not see coming at all, I fully expected to embrace Kuron once the truth came to life and I was able to interact with him as himself instead Not Shiro (Stop Lying!). But that never happened, and he was never given that chance. I’m...honestly still shocked that didn’t happen. (I also have gripes about how the clone arc makes no sense from the Galra/Hagar POV, but that’s for another post and also assumes Voltron was trying to have a coherent plot at that point which is demonstrably false.)

Anyway, all that is probably WAY more personal information than you were hoping for. The TL;DR version is I think Kuron is a good character (and a good person) who tried so, so hard in circumstances that, narratively speaking, are extremely interesting. I just never managed to latch onto him the way I did with the rest of Team Voltron, and there’s a little part of my that irrationally and unfairly resents his existence. I am even sometimes very interested Kuron stories, but I am very, very picky. And I’ve had to quit some otherwise good stories because they inadvertently threw me into a bad headspace.

So how’s that for an answer? XD

[randomestfandoms-ocs]

What usually helps me with motivation is asking myself "what is making me excited about this chapter." So I'm turning that to you. What is making you excited about the chapter to Wayward Daughter you're working on? -Riley

Thank you so much for this!!!  I have a lot of things that I’m really excited for so I broke it down to a top 10 haha!

1. Kevin and Amy friendship

Kevin and Amy have been friends since the very first chapter, and Amy has always had a soft spot for Kevin for being “Joaquin’s boy”, but a lot of their friendship has been superficial up until now, mostly because of Amy’s reluctance to ever risk being perceived as vulnerable.  In this chapter though, Kevin is the first person to really notice how not okay Amy is and is the one who goes out of his way to help.  It took a long detour from my chapter outline but I think it really developed their friendship, and I finally got to explore some elements that have been building behind the scenes for Amy but that no one has addressed until now!  It also introduces their ship tag, which is “he asked if I was okay”, which comes from the scene I’m currently writing – Amy is bitching a bit about Jughead and Toni and “their northsiders” and when she’s asked why her being friends with Kevin is different she explains that a) she’s not dating him, b) he hasn’t historically treated them like shit, and c) when she was completely falling apart, it wasn’t her partners or even her brother who noticed, but Kevin

2. After several chapters of people letting Amy brush off major trauma, they’re finally acknowledging it!  

This actually ties in the most with her scene with Kevin – Amy says some stuff while having a panic attack and Kevin has a moment of confusion before realizing that “oh hey, she’s actually mentioned this stuff before but she says it so casually that I assumed it wasn’t a big deal but clearly it is”.  The problem with Amy is that she keeps the important stuff to herself and when she’s forced to acknowledge it she’s always extremely dismissive of it, so everyone else assumes that she’s not bothered (hell, she mentions that she was raped and then just goes back to watching Glee, and everyone is like “well I guess she’s moved on let’s not upset her by talking about it”), but really she’s just internalizing it and not coping at all, but since no one ever really pushes her to talk, it also leads her to feeling like it’s not important – but finally we’re starting to lay out the groundwork for when Amy is finally forced to start talking about things and has to acknowledge that she’s not nearly as okay as she pretends to be 

3. After 75k of just not really talking about it, we finally get some actual definition on the Serpents’ relationship!

From the beginning, the narration has always used the term “partner” and the phrase “ride or die” to describe the relationship between the teen serpents, but they’ve never really talked much about what they are!  In this chapter we finally get a bit of that, which starts with Amy finding out that everyone at Riverdale High thinks that she and Sweet Pea are dating.  After that, Amy finally explains (one again in that scene with Kevin, that could really be a chapter in and of itself with how much goes on in it lmao) what exactly their relationship is, what Jughead’s involvement is, and even what Joaquin’s involvement was before he left town (finally going back to chapters 1 & 3 where Amy mentions having had some sort of relationship with him but never explaining what that relationship was).  I’ve wanted to start to explain this for a while, and while I’ve talked about it a bit here on tumblr and in depth with some friends, it’s never really fit into the story

4. Honestly just the actual writing!

It’s been a while since I’ve worked on Wayward and the last couple of chapters felt (to me) very rushed and definitely not my best writing.  The episodes that they followed weren’t ones with a whole lot going on for Amy (I’ve plotted out all of season 2 and basically every scene I could think of adding would have thrown off bigger arcs) so they were just... short and rushed and felt very forced.  This chapter on the other hand has gotten way too long just because there’s so much going on, but it’s given me an opportunity to really delve into things again and I think that the actual writing (technically and in terms of content) is a lot better than what I’ve gotten to do in a while and I’m really excited to share that!  Also, clearly, there are a lot of scenes that I’m really proud of and really excited to share with readers (hopefully they like it as much as I do!) 

5. Just, angst

So I’ve definitely never been nice to Amy, but the angst in this chapter makes me really happy (and very sad).  It’s not all big showy angst, or even as extreme as other parts of the story, but it feels extremely poignant.  There definitely are some bigger pieces of angst in this chapter (Amy falls asleep in tears multiple times, for example), but I think that my absolute favourite angsty pieces are actually two of the most subtle ones.  What I love about them being subtle (aside from just how much I love the scenes) is that Amy is a character who we see repeatedly go headfirst into danger and go through very painful situations, but she always gets through them and maintains her illusion of being completely okay all the time (even though she is so not okay someone please get her a therapist) because she can absolutely handle physical pain and she’s gotten used to psychological trauma, but the one thing that Amy cannot handle which is prominent in both of my favourite scenes is being rejected/feeling unwanted, and while she hasn’t had a lot of that yet, we finally get to see something actually break through her walls 

6. We finally start to actually acknowledge Amy’s unhealthy coping mechanisms

This sort of goes with #2 and #6.  Ever since chapter one, we’ve seen Amy having extremely unhealthy coping mechanisms (namely alcohol and sex and trying to ignore her problems) and in this chapter we see that she actually can’t ignore her problems forever, and we finally see people actually looking at Amy and going “hey this is definitely not a good way to deal with shit” instead of the usual “oh yeah that’s just Amy being Amy”, and it’s very satisfying!  Archie has called her out on it once before, but he’s the only one – her partners are so used to it that most of the time they don’t even realize what she’s doing because to them it’s just part of her personality and Jughead has generally hesitated to comment on it because he worries about pushing her away.  As a writer it’s been a bit frustrating to see how much no one seems to realize how self destructive Amy is, so it’s very satisfying to finally get to address it! 

7. Amy & Fangs relationship

So much of the story so far has been very focused on Amy & Sweet Pea, Amy & Jughead, and the poly squad, with a moderate amount of Amy & Toni, but Amy & Fangs hasn’t gotten a lot of exploration so far.  Amy and Toni also explored a lot in this chapter but it’s very much for the worse as Toni begins to prioritize Cheryl over the other Serpents.  Amy and Fangs, on the other hand, have much more positive development and we really get to see them being best friends in one-on-one situations, as well as Fangs being the one who can actually handle Amy’s extreme emotions.  I’ve always had it in my head that they’re sort of two sides of the same traumatized coin, and that Fangs understands Amy better than the others (in part due to his own trauma and in part because Amy, Toni, and Sweet Pea are all just very strong and very stubborn personalities and it tends to be a bit of a 50/50 on whether they’ll actually help each other or just set each other off) and I’m really glad that I finally get to start putting that into the story

8. Amy & Fred!!

I stan one father-daughter duo and that is it.  Granted, Amy has only called Fred her dad as a political move (usually against Hiram) and once in the immediate aftermath of being arrested and severely injured, and is just emotionally not prepared to call him “dad”, but Fred is absolutely his father and absolutely adores his chaotic mess of a daughter!  They’ve had some good scenes throughout the fic but Amy is reluctant to spend too much time around Fred because she’s terrified that one day he’s going to reach his limit and decide that he doesn’t want her anymore, so I haven’t gotten to write them nearly as often as I’d like.  But finally we get to see them interact again, and Amy finally gets the love and support that she deserves and we get a bit of backstory on Amy’s childhood post adoption!  

9. Malachai is finally back

Look, I know that I say this about every dynamic, but Amy & Malachai is very genuinely my favourite dynamic in the entire Wayward universe!  I’m super proud of my personal Malachai in general (as @lorettastwilight and I like to put it, Wayward daughter has “Mal” and Riverdale has “Malachai”) but his relationship with Amy is my absolute favourite thing.  It’s really hard to work him into the story sometimes, in part because talking to Malachai would solve all of Amy’s problems in like 20 seconds, but now there’s finally a chance to do it!  I haven’t actually written it yet, it comes right after the scene I’m currently working on, but Amy is a lot more open with Malachai than she is with anyone else, and I love it!  It’s also a lot of fun to write because it combines vulnerable!Amy, who looks at Mal and sees safety and sees the man who had a completely blackout drunk teenager proposition him and not only turned her down but protected her from anyone who might have tried to take advantage of her, with Serpent Queen!Amy who is political and cutthroat and sees Malachai as as the Ghoulie King and as possibly the only person in town as calculating as she is, and it creates a dichotomy that I really love to explore!  And even though only one other person actually knows their backstory, I’m extremely proud of it and it’s really fun to explore how to build that into their dynamic without ever actually acknowledging it 

10. FIFI THE GIRAFFE

No offence to literally any other character, but Fifi The Giraffe is the absolute best part of the entire Wayward Universe, and I finally get to introduce her to the story!  Not only does introducing Fifi make me happy because Fifi is just like, the best, but it also gives me a chance to really focus on the fact that Amy is fifteen and still a child even though she never shows it around other people, and to get to explore a bit more of nine year old Amy immediately post adoption, and her relationship with Fred and Archie!  Both of those are things that I’ve wanted to explore for a long time but that have never really worked with individual chapter arcs or with the pacing of the larger season arc, so now that I can finally write that, I’m really excited to share it with everyone!

I know this turned into a really long essay and I’m so sorry about that, but thank you again so much for sending me this ask!!! (and you’re totally right, this got me super hyped to get back into the chapter!!)

PS: please enjoy this gif of Amy, Archie, and Fifi!

[themikewheelers]

I didn't start watching the show until after season 2 was released, so I'm wondering, how accurate did the fan theories about season 2 end up being? Was there any major theory that ended up being totally off-base, or did people manage to guess what would happen pretty accurately?

There were a LOT of wild theories tbh. There were some rlly good ones too. I remember a rlly popular one was that after someone leaked some set pictures of Millie filming the scene where El gets off the bus in Chicago, a lot of ppl started theorizing that Eleven was hiding out there with some friends Hopper had there or smth (Now we know that “the city” Hop used to live in was New York, but we didn’t know that pre-s2 so ppl figured it might be Chicago and he had an old apartment there or smth). There were also a LOT of theories centered around the tunnels, bc that was some of the only plot hints we had going in to the season. People caught on pretty quickly after the trailer came out that the drawings in the Byers house were a map of the tunnels, and stuff spiraled from there. I remember one theory I personally believed was that the tunnels were what Will used in the Upside Down to get around and hide from the Demogorgon. Another big theory was that the red cloud that the Mind Flayer appeared in in Will’s visions was going to be an actual physical storm coming to Hawkins, which came p much from the few shots of it in trailers alongside the fact that the show originally released some fake episode titles when they announced s2, and one of them was “The Storm”. The old title for “The Lost Sister” was actually “The Lost Brother” and a LOT of theories came from that, ranging from pretty accurate like it being another experiment, to completely off base, like one I remember was it being about a 4th Wheeler sibling (Mike’s twin) who died (p much just came from the fact that Mike has a bunk bed). OH and if you remember the DnD scene at the end of season 1, aka everything with the proud princess, the lost knight, and the weird flowers in the cave? Everyone was CONVINCED those were supposed to be clues for season 2. Literally 99% of s2 theories mentioned those 3 things, and in the end they were complete red herrings. I’m still bitter about that, and if u ask any blog who was here pre-s2, chances are they are too. A lot of theories also came from Dragon’s Lair, as the Duffers hinted a lot that there would be symbolism in the game. Now we know that “symbolism” was rlly nothing more than foreshadowing that Lucas would end up with Max and not Dustin (”Princess Daphne is still mine!”) but for a long time we thought it was PLOT foreshadowing. And lemme tell you anon, I personally did SO MUCH research on that game and watched the gameplay so many times making theories. The plot of the game is about a knight rescuing a missing princess from a dragon, and a lot of us thought that was going to foreshadowing for Mike saving El from whatever was the reason she was still missing. For a LONG time ppl thought El was going to be in the Upside Down for a full year. If you read any pre-s2 fics, there’s a good chance that’s going to be referenced, bc for so long we didn’t have ANY clue where she could be so we just assumed she was stuck in the Upside Down as a default. It wasn’t until a year after the show came out that it was confirmed she’d been out of the Upside Down since the beginning. So yeah for a long time there were a LOT of theories about the kids doing a rescue mission to the Upside Down. Another theory that came from Dragon’s Lair was that Dustin was going to die, bc his character dies in Dragon’s Lair and people thought that would be similar foreshadowing to how in s1 Will’s DnD character was taken by the Demogorgon, then that’s what happened in real life. Speaking of character deaths, a LOT of people thought Steve or Hopper were gonna die. There wasn’t rlly explanation behind it, but everyone kinda agreed, their character arcs as of the end of s1 were set up well if the show wanted to kill one of them off. Another big plot theory that I remember was that the Upside Down would be spreading to the real world, bc the tag line for season 2 was “The World Is Turning Upside Down” and people connected it back to Mr Clarke’s line about how the gate could swallow everyone up whole. That theory KINDA became true and the gate was spreading in s2, but it wasn’t the plot of the season or anything, and it wasn’t near as serious in reality as people theorized it to be. There were a also LOT of theories about Will too, and a lot of them were some variation of Will having powers. Oh and since one of the episode titles is “The Spy” there were a lot of theories about who the spy was, the most common ones I remember were Max, Billy, Bob, and Hopper. The first 3 bc they were the newbies (no pun intended on Bob’s end) and Hopper bc we kinda knew he had some connection going on with the lab, but didn’t know the nature or what was going on or anything. OHMYGOD and how could I forget the Thessalhydra. The FREAKING Thessalhydra. Another DnD related theory that I spent HOURS of my life dedicated to researching only for it to amount to NOTHING. The Thessalhydra is another DnD monster, and it was also mentioned in the campaign at the end of season 1, and everyone was convinced that would be the new monster from s2. There weren’t a lot of theories about the Mind Flayer going into season 2 just because we didn’t know enough to even have theories, but almost every theory that did exist assumed that the shadow monster was the Thessalhydra coming to Hawkins following the Demogorgons defeat. Another one I remember is since we got shots of Joyce, Hop, and Bob wearing scrubs in the trailer, people thought they were going undercover in a hospital to either 1) kidnap Will out of it or 2) steal medical files.

As for theories that were accurate, there was a surprising lot. Honestly in reality a LOT of stuff that happened in season 2 was stuff ppl either theorized about, but their theories went WAY more in depth & went beyond what actually happened, or it was smth ppl figured was too obvious to be true. So honestly in the end we definitely OVER-theorized a lot for s2. El and Hop was one of them. Hopper hiding El in a secret cabin in the woods was one of those things that everybody in the fandom thought about, but most of us thought it was too predictable to be true (especially because one of those original episode titles was literally “The Secret Cabin”). Everyone pretty much assumed that Dustin’s pollywog was really the slug Will threw up, and there were even a lot of theories about it being a baby Demogorgon (though I don’t think ANYONE anticipated the demodogs). Or like I mentioned before, a lot of theories about El going to Chicago, but none of them were even CLOSE to what really happened. Kali’s original name in the show was Roman, and they kept her SUPER secretive. When the final trailer of the show came out, they included a shot of the gang wearing masks, and I remember someone was able to figure out that one of them was Roman/Kali, and that’s rlly all we knew about her going in. I actually remember someone sent me an ask back then thinking that the girl next to her might be El in a mask too, and I specifically remember looking at that picture thinking “Nah that’s not her” bc I mean, no one expected anything like episode 7. They had announced there was going to be an independent episode, and I remember our theories ranged everywhere from a musical episode to flashbacks of the year between 1 and 2 to a whole episode dedicated to Terry and MKUltra. But at no point did anyone come even close to figuring out the truth. There’s a lot of smaller details ppl anticipated too, like the Stancy breakup or Bob’s death, and even a good chunk of the plot honestly, even if no one rlly theorized the exacts, the whole kinda premise and concepts we had brought up a lot before and we had loosely figured it out. But there was also so much stuff no one ever thought of before, like the Demodogs or everything with ep7 or the lab shutting down or Will getting possessed.

All in all honestly we did a pretty good job. Everything we COULD figure out based on the information we had we did for the most part, to the point where honestly this time around the show is being WAY more secretive in s3 because they don’t want us to figure stuff out again. Like I said before, honestly we over-theorized, we took all the information we had and definitely overthought everything a LOT and ended up going a lot more intense with it than what ultimately happened in the show lmao

[athina39]

wowow senpai i saw that you have posts about symbolisms in your harem!chuuya fic. do you have some more? i'm interested to see if there's anything i missed!

i’m very honored (and excited!!!) that there are folks like you who want to discuss my fic ahhhhh. it gives off the feeling that i’m actually writing something really worthwhile hahaha. so thank you!!! :D :D :D

so here are some of the (major) ~symbolisms, ~themes that i added to the fic. (i may have missed some lololol pls feel free to ask me more questions :D)

- chuuya’s character song. the things i got from it are: (1) chuuya thinks that he’s imprisoned by the world (he’s a bird in a goddamn cage) - and the key to this cage is in dazai’s hand; (2) he knows that he’s imprisoned, but he doesn’t want to keep on lamenting it - he wants to keep going until the end, until he falls apart. he goes on with life, laughing off whatever’s happening to him; (3) even if he tries to “leave” his cage - dazai is there to, presumably keep him locked in; (4) chuuya thinks that even if he manages to get out, he’d rather *fall* rather than return to a cage alone; (5) he views dazai as someone who: (5a) is a view worth more than 10-billion, (5b) has the same philosophy as Kierkegaard, (5c) has said the line ‘in langour dreams of death’.

(5c) expanded - the line is from chuuya’s poem 'For The Tainted Sorrow’, so did chuuya write that line after dazai said it? or did the line actually come from chuuya himself? the line seems more in-tune with dazai’s way of thinking but it’d also be interesting if chuuya actually shares the same apathy/hole when it comes to living…?

- Søren Kierkegaard’s philosophy - so this is technically an expansion from (5b)! the guy is a proponent of a loooooooot of philosophies/ideas. the idea that i chose to expand on in the fic is about the “leap of faith”, which is, as per wiki: “No such evidence could ever be enough to completely justify the kind of total commitment involved in true religious faith or romantic love. Faith involves making that commitment anyway.” his idea is that people doubt things, but real love means that believing in something/someone, despite the doubt, despite there being no evidence that one should believe/love that something/someone. so in this fic, it’s a clash between dazai’s philosophy (the love needs no evidence) and chuuya’s (you’ve hurt me before, how do i know that you won’t do it again, you have to give me proof that you won’t leave).

other things of note about the kierkegaard’s ideas: (6) man must understand himself inwardly before his life gains peace and meaning; (7) once man is at the bottommost despair, thinking “ah, things can’t be changed”, that’s when they’ll start to be reinvigorated; (8) absurdism: in which humans try to find value and meaning in life, but are unable to find any; (9) authenticity: in which stays true to their real character despite everything that happens to them - the real self is achieved when one realizes their own character amid the outside world;

chuuya & dazai both go through this internal struggles throughout their life where they try to find their true self amidst what’s happening to them, as well as how well does their “real character” survives against the external influences (their Abilities, the Port Mafia, each other, etc).

- dazai & apples have been expanded here - but basically, there’s a lot of symbolism re: apples that are just so dAZAI

- the people chuuya’s dating all possess characteristics that (10) he likes and dazai’s also showing those traits OR has traits that are the complete opposite of dazai’s, as a contrast; AND (11) characteristics that chuuya has already. i made a table that has a list of those traits here!

- chuuya’s quest to find self-worth - since chuuya’s not particularly important to the plot (urgh), i know he won’t really get an in-depth exploration of this - but he’s just like kyouka (and lucy/q), in which since he’s fairly young, he’s had this Ability that’s super powerful, but is out of his control. kyouka’s had angst about the 35 people - and she’s had angst about her Ability being out of *her* control and is instead dependent on some(one)/(thing) else - and she’s had angst about her self-worth being killing only. chuuya’s Ability matches all of those - and to think that kyouka’s in the mafia when mori’s already the Boss - who’s considered an *improvement* on the previous Boss. based on the general timeline from the backstories, i believe that dazai & chuuya joined the mafia before mori’s the boss - so if kyouka’s treatment is already considered “an improvement”…. just think of what chuuya could have gone through before.

- chuuya’s quest for normality - linked to the self-worth quest is the conclusion to having your entire life generally weighed as your contribution based on your abilities. he’s a very strong piece on the chessboard (it’s been alluded to, multiple times, that he’s considered a one-man army; ranpo in ch49 even says that just chuuya’s joining the fray is enough to drastically alter the odds of a fight; mori says in ch…24? iirc, that chuuya’s a force that’s enough to subdue the whole Agency) so i doubt that he’s had a normal upbringing or that he’s considered normal, at all.

- Abilities being gone from the world - as a plot point, i like this setting because it gives a chance to “level” the playing field for all characters. they’d all be on equal footing - because some Abilities are so OP that it changes the game. it’s a great chance to have chuuya, whose worth has been resting on his abilities, suddenly losing something that makes him so worthy. it’s also, in a way, a good chance to have chuuya be free from dazai - without corruption, he doesn’t *need* dazai to save him. without dazai’s 'no longer human’, he no longer has an insurance, because he’s not needed to stop the powerful ability users from going berserk (chuuya, q). it’s a good way to explore how the 'tainting’ actually works - chuuya’s chant, while very chuuni, is also interesting, because is it implying that his ability is actually somewhat more otherworldly? who are these 'grantors of dark disgrace’? what happens if chuuya’s link to them is severed? it’s also, esp in chuuya’s case, a good… parallel? to how you can have something your whole life, taking it for granted, shaping your life to accomodate it, and then one day - it can just go away.

- chuuya being a good boss - port mafia is said to be a very individual-centric organization. the previous boss likes powertrips, doesn’t really care about the people as long as he gets the destruction that he needs, as long as the mafia is feared. mori calculates everything as a game. chuuya’s very different from those 2 bosses (as well as dazai, since we have the dazai-is-considered-as-next-boss thing). he cares deeply for his squad - to the point that he doesn’t mind q dying if it means retribution for his nameless redshirts’ deaths. he’s able to act differently when he’s interacting with different people (e.g. suave and deferential with mori/kouyou; motherhen towards akutagawa/kajii; drinking buddy with hirotsu/kajii and tachihara in that one chapter). he’s respected by people - the black lizard squad, who work closely with akutagawa and mori, two very frightening and powerful people, treat him with respect. yes, his temper (esp when dazai is involved) could use a lot of work, but he’s someone who could be a very good boss, who actually *knows* the people he’s working with, treats them as people, treats them as individuals who are important to the organization. (not to mention, chuuya helping the granny even tho he knows it doesn’t match being a mafia!)

- date locations - whenever chuuya goes on a date with someone else who’s not dazai… they go to “usual date places” (i use the dating/tourist spot suggestions for yokohama). whenever chuuya spends time with dazai… i try to make it so that they do more “domestic” things (they spend a lot of time in chuuya’s house, or doing things like grocery shopping, buying food, etc). my goal is to have a contrast of how chuuya’s more about “showmanship”, when he’s with others - he cares for them, but he’s expending extra effort to make it so that it’s all ~~~date atmosphere~~~, while with dazai, he doesn’t exert much effort in trying to interact with him.

- in addition to the above, of course, is the concept of home - chuuya’s lost his home multiple times in his life, where home is both a literal home, as well as a representation of a place for him to belong. he keeps on losing the place he finds stability, so he keeps on searching for it. the goal is that he’ll eventually realize that dazai is his home. as a side-note, chuuya’s never referred his apartment as his home…. yet.

- chuuya’s view of romance - i was thinking - chuuya grew up (lol not in his height tho) in the mafia. the people that we’ve seen him with re: childhood are: kouyou, dazai, mori, q. those people don’t seem very good mentors when it comes to romance/emotions. kouyou’s… the main proponent of the “we’re beings of the dark, we can’t go for the light”. &she’s got that traumatic romance thingy going on. dazai… NO. mori… NO. q… NO. so not very good influences when it comes to healthy emotions. i also doubt that the port mafia gave much weight to actually having their members learn about romance. so how would chuuya learn about romance???

- weather - so the cold weather is because (a) good excuse for coat sharing (esp since soukoku coats/matching outfits!!!); (b) sign that something “different” from normal is happening; © WINTER FYODOR IS COMING

- the tell-tale heart - edgar allan poe's short story that has elements of (a) unreliable narrator, (b) insanity vs logic. the narrator/main character in the story spends the entire story insisting on one thing, but the more he insists, the more we learn that it's the opposite of what he's insisting. a pretty good parallel for what chuuya's doing too.

- the things that chuuya mentioned in ch1 (the opera, music, etc) all have some sort of significance too :D

that’s all i can get from my notes as of the moment haha! thanks again for the ask - i’m sorry i rambled too much lol