#I'm super excited for my project since it will be my first fic I actually plan on sharing in English

[oranjeleeuw]

Meet the author

Very new but enthusiastic member of the F1 fandom, with lots of love for all of the pilots.

I'm absolutely Max biased and I only ship Lestappen actively - that being said: Versainz is incredibly dear to me

I'm here for a good time, I care about the human side of the racing aka the drivers own personality and relationships with each other on and off the grid.

Name: Bandi

Age: 25

Pronouns: he/him

What am I writing?

A Pacific Rim AU that is focusing on the drift compatibility of the F1 drivers as Jaeger pilots.

It doesn't have a main plot, I am planning on writing what I feel like writing, there will be many character studies and relationship studies, very small amount of plot or world building.

I also plan on designing Jaegers and pilots suits based on F1 cars and racing teams.

For the fic my main focus is on Max, Charles, Lando, Danny, Seb, Carlos.

It will eventually have Lestappen in it but first I have to set the scene for how's the life of these pilots are going in this not so distant utopia.

Eventually I'll probably write more and smaller stuff so feel free to chat about writing and shipping with me, I'm more than happy to interact with you guys <3

[therentyoupay]

Hi Kris! I just wanted to say that after reading chapter 7 you and Callie have left me in utter SHAMBLES and AWE with how devastatingly gorgeous the pictures you can paint with literature are. I’m desperately excited to see how you two will be continuing the story although I do have a question that I’m unsure if you’ve answered before. After this broadway oscar winning fanfic has been completed are you and Callie thinking of possibly doing more collaborations or simply just yourself doing more collaborations with other artists and bringing more delicious stories to life?👀👀💞💞

thank you so much for taking the time to leave such a lovely message in my askbox, for saying SUCH NICE AND LOVELY THINGS, and for sharing with us the impact this story has had on you!! 🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹 calli and i have been working so hard on this project for two months, and it really means a lot to hear how much you're enjoying it. 💕💕💕

future kriscallicollabs??? we haven't answered this question before, and it's a lovely question!! currently, calli and i are 1000% focused on finishing more than you know and getting part ii of the jelsa video ready to post (SO MANY GIFS), so we haven't actively started planning any other collabs! however, when this idea was first planted back in the summer of 2023 or whatever, we braindumped SEVERAL ideas into the original majestic KrisCalliCollab google doc... (more than you know was actually only one of several ideas! 🤣)

there's a jelsa!wildward collab that we really wanted to do but didn't have time to do fully, so we made a bunch of LORE, and i made a baby fic, and some edits: one of our other ideas that we really wanted to do was a jelsa!prequel to her wildward series and establish some lore for the first aegis users! we definitely did not have time to create a full-fledged fic, but LORE WAS HAD (pages and pages on the google doc), and in the end, i made two edits and wrote a little micro-fic for it! in the time of the first keeper... maybe one day we'll expand? 🤣

when?? oof, not anytime soon, because life is upon us 🤣🤣🤣 BUT, calli and i are creative counterparts for life (TWIN FLAMES), so who's to say??? maybe sometime within the next five years?? FIFTY YEARS?? to be determined, but i do not doubt that it shall happen eventually! calli has also been pushing for a zelda/link!jelsa AU for ages and i have not forgotten 🤣🤣 in the meantime, we'll just keep supporting and devouring each other's other projects!!

(also, not sure how many people know this, but i beta-read for wildward! i have been beta-ing the series since its early chapters!!)

other collabs? i've been super lucky to be able to collab with @knightsquall (my name twin) for our kris/xris edit+fic soulmate!AU creation, not in so many words! we made it for the prompt: “the first words your soulmate will say to you will appear as a tattoo on your body at a certain age.” that two-shot is still one of my favorites. 🥹🥹🥹🥹

i haven't done any other collabs, though!! i feel like both collabs just happened organically because i was already friends with both xris and calli before we actually started working on our projects! collabs definitely require a lot of trust, for me, and so while it's possible that other future collabs might happen, i'm not actively seeking any out. 💕💕💕 there are SO MANY TALENTED fanartists out here!! so it's definitely not for lack of good company, haha, but rather just that i'd already gotten to know both people really well, so doing a collab was just, like, the natural thing to do, once we had time for it. 🤣 fic fanart? i am, however, so so so fortunate that so many fanartists have been inspired by my stories 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰 i am really lucky and grateful to have been gifted so many gorgeous fanarts, fanvideos/AMVs, gifs, and doujinshi comics across multiple fics and fandoms.🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭💕💕💕 you can find (most of) them here, or on my tumblr tag (therentyoupay fic fanart) but BE WARNED, there are massive spoilers. 🙏🙏🙏🙏 proceed with caution, haha! i also desperately need to update the fic fanart page with all the new mtyk art, too!

🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🙏🙏🙏🙏 thank you so much for this ask!!! we hope you enjoy the final installments of more than you know and part ii of the jelsa video!! 🥹🥹🥹 thank you!!! 😭💕💕

[arc852]

1. Mirth

Definition: fun and enjoyment as shown by laughter

Summary: Tango invites Jimmy on for Hermitcraft's family and friends day to show off his projects and spend time with his Double Life soulmate.

G/t: Tango is his normal size, Jimmy is only a few inches tall

Word Count: 2771

AO3 Link

Welcome to the first day of the G/t July prompts! Like I said before, I'm super excited to be sharing these fics with you guys!

Now, something about this fic, I really liked the beginning but started losing interest in the middle of it, then ended up liking it again near the end. So, basically, I think this fic has a strong beginning and end but just an okay middle. But I am still proud of this one and overall, I think this is a good one to kick things off with! So I hope you guys enjoy!

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

 Tango was up and ready in the early hours of the morning. He had barely gotten enough sleep beforehand though, too excited by what today meant. Today was one of the very few days non-members were allowed onto Hermitcraft. So any family, friends, or significant others were welcome and whitelisted for today only.

 Tango never really gave these days much thought before. He didn’t really have any family outside of Hermitcraft. So he never had anyone to meet him on days like today.

 But ever since Double Life, a certain tiny avian had met up with him on every possible day he could. Tango grinned just thinking about his soulmate, already planning on all the stuff they were going to do today. Of course, a tour will have to be first. This was the first family and friends day on season 10. He had so much to show him, he couldn’t wait.

 In fact, unable to sit around any longer, Tango put on his elytra and flew over to the world spawn, where everyone would be popping in when it was time. He landed, only to notice he wasn’t the first one there.

 “Oh, hey Joel!” Tango greeted one of the newest members of their little family. He unequipped his wings and walked over to where Joel was standing.

 Joel looked back at him and smiled. “Hey Tango!” He waved back, he looked just as excited as Tango felt. Maybe even more so. It only took Tango a moment to remember why Joel would be waiting here.

 “Waiting for Lizzie?” Tango asked, crossing his arms as he decided to wait next to Joel. Joel nodded, the smile not leaving his face.

 “Yep! I’ve seen her off and on, ya know, since I was doing SOS for a little while but…it’s different here on Hermitcraft. This’ll be her first time here on season 10 and I can’t wait to show her how far I’ve come already.” Joel explained, his eyes shining bright and determined. Tango couldn’t help but smile too.

 Joel had quickly proven, to all of them, that he was a hermit through and through. Not that he had anything to prove, of course. But the more time he spent on the server, the more he built, the more he interacted with everyone, it was obvious Joel had been meant to be here all along. And Tango couldn’t help but find himself excited for Joel to show that to Lizzie.

 “I’m sure she’s going to love everything you’ve done here.” Tango said and Joel smiled at him in thanks. “I’m actually feeling sort of the same way. I’m planning on this big tour to start off the day, even before we get to anything else.” Tango admitted with a hand rubbing the back of his neck.

 Joel tilted his head, his smile turning into a look of confusion. “By the way, who is it that you’re waiting for anyway?” Joel asked.

 It was Tango’s turn to be confused. “You don’t know?” 

 Joel raised an eyebrow. “This is my first season. Of course I don’t know.”

 Tango shook his head. “Sorry, sorry, I just thought it was obvious? I’m waiting for Jimmy.”

 Joel blinked, processing the name. And then his eyes went wide. “Wait, Jimmy?” He didn’t need to clarify which Jimmy. There was only one that the two of them knew. “But, why-oh. Double Life.” Joel answered his own question, remembering the season that had changed the way some people would see another forever. Like with him and Etho, for example.

 Tango nodded. “Yep. Double Life. I know the whole soulmate mechanic is long gone but…I don't know. I still feel this connection to him. And he feels the same. And…well, we get along really well. Jimmy has become one of my best friends too.” Tango admitted, a bit sheepishly. It was strange to think that without being paired up in Double Life, Tango and Jimmy might still be acquaintances at the most. Because at this point, Tango couldn’t imagine his life without Jimmy in it.

 Joel’s expression softened and he patted Tango on the back. “Yeah, the guy grows on you, that’s for sure.” Joel said, as one of Jimmy’s other best friends. “It’s kind of cute how excited you are to show him around.”

 Tango flushed a light red, turning his head away. “Heh, I’m just…you know, excited like you are.”

 Joel grinned. “I can see that. I’m sure Jimmy will love what you have to show him.” He said, repeating in a way what Tango had said to him earlier about Lizzie.

 “I hope so.” Tango was excited but still always a little nervous to show off what he’s done. But Jimmy had loved Decked Out 2 and, though not as impressive, he was sure Jimmy would love the factory he was working on as well.

 Suddenly, Xisuma touched down in front of them, a screen of code up in front of him as soon as he landed. “Ah, good! You two are here already.” He typed a few things. “It looks like you two are the only ones expecting a visitor today. All set?” Xisuma asked and with a nod from both Joel and Tango, Xisuma typed something else. “Here we go then.”

[LDShadowLady joined the game]

[SolidarityGaming joined the game]

 Tango watched as Lizzie and Jimmy finally popped in. Lizzie immediately ran over to Joel and they shared a quick hug and kiss. Though Tango was barely paying any attention to them, his focus was on the tiny avian hybrid. “Jimmy!”

 Jimmy looked up, a grin on his face. He fanned out his wings and took off, flying over and hovering in front of Tango. “Tango!”

 Tango held out his hand and Jimmy landed in it, folding his wings back in. The two couldn’t stop grinning at each other. 

 “Oh, get a room you two.” Joel said jokingly as he himself refused to let Lizzie go. Tango decided to throw it back.

 “You two first.” He said with a smirk. Lizzie laughed and Joel rolled his eyes. A small laugh came from his hand and suddenly Tango’s attention was back on Jimmy.

 “And we lost them again.” Joel said with a laugh and started gently tugging on Lizzie’s arm toward his base. “Come on Lizzie, I’ve got a lot to show you.”

 “Oh, I’m so excited!” Lizzie said with a large grin. They’re voices faded away, leaving Tango and Jimmy standing there alone. Xisuma had also taken off shortly before Joel and Lizzie had.

 “So, how have things been?” Tango asked as he started to walk back to his own base. He kept his hand held out in front of him, as Jimmy was still standing on top.

 “It’s been great! I was on SOS for a while, I think I told you about that?” Jimmy asked, trying to remember. Tango nodded.

 “Yeah, you did. And Joel talked about it a bit too. Heard you went out with a bang.” Tango grinned. Jimmy laughed sheepishly.

 “It was mostly Joel’s idea, honestly. But it was really cool. We took out ten people!” Jimmy exclaimed and Tango’s eyes widened.

 “Ten!? Dude, that’s amazing!” Tango praised and Jimmy’s feathers fluffed a bit at the praise. 

 “Heh, yeah. Of course, my series ended there. But I wouldn’t have had it any other way I don’t think.” Jimmy looked proud of himself and seemed to look back on his time on that server fondly, which Tango was happy about.

 “What about you?” Jimmy threw back. “How has season 10 been so far?”

 Tango hummed. “Amazing. Honestly, it’s been nice getting back into the swing of things.” Especially getting back into actually doing things other than working on Decked Out 2. Don’t get him wrong, he loved what he did, but it was nice to take a break from it. “I’ve actually been working on this factory, but we’ll get to that. I’ve got a whole tour planned for you!” Tango said with a grin and Jimmy couldn’t help but grin back.

 Finally, they arrived at his starter base. Jimmy’s eyes widened as he looked up at it and Tango noticed with a proud little smile of his own. “This here is my starter base.”

 “This is your starter base?!” Jimmy exclaimed and then flapped his wings and took off from Tango’s hand. Tango watched as he flew up and around it, getting a good look. “I seriously still can’t believe you said you weren’t a builder back in Double Life.” Jimmy said as he came back down, hovering in front of Tango again. After seeing Decked Out 2 and this, it was clear Tango’s building skills were very good.

 Tango waved off his praise. “I mean, I’m proud of it. But I’m still a redstoner at heart. There are still a ton of people out there better than I am at this kind of thing.”

 Jimmy crossed his arms, looking a bit annoyed at Tango’s belief. “Sure, you might not be the best. But you’re still really good! Don’t sell yourself short.” 

 Tango chuckled but was thankful for the praise. “Thanks. I’ll try not to.” 

 Jimmy nodded firmly and then went and settled down on Tango’s shoulder. The light but familiar weight was nice to Tango. “Now come on, I gotta see the inside!”

 Tango took him through the inside of his base, feeling proud when Jimmy only had nice things to say about it. He even ooh and aah’d which made Tango laugh. In fact, after not seeing each other for a while now, they were both very giggly with each other. Just happy to be together once again.

 Once Tango’s starter base tour was done, he moved on to his factory. “Now remember, I’m only really just getting started on it.” Tango prefaced and then showed him around.

 Jimmy was gobsmacked by the amount of redstone. “This is insane! You’re insane!” Tango just laughed at that, a little maniacally too, to add to the bit.

 “You never even saw the inner workings of Decked Out 2. Now that I would admit was a little insane.” Tango said.

 They continued on and after Tango finished showing him everything he had built, he went on to the rest of the server. Going from the shopping district, to magic mountain, to the neighborhood, and everywhere in between.

 By the time they had finished, the sun was just starting to set over the horizon.

 Tango looked up at the sky and let out a little sigh. “Welp, looks like we gotta start heading back to spawn.” He didn’t really want the day to end, knowing that meant Jimmy had to leave for another undisclosed amount of time. 

 Jimmy hummed, a little saddened by the thought as well. But then he got an idea and he stood up on Tango’s shoulder, keeping his balance by placing a hand on Tango’s neck. Tango frowned in confusion on what Jimmy was doing. “What are you-?”

 He was cut off. “I’ll race you back!” Jimmy suddenly exclaimed and then jumped off Tango’s shoulder and flew high up into the air and in the direction of spawn. Tango watched him go for a moment, trying to process what had just happened.

 “...H-Hey! No fair!” Tango laughed, jumping into action and panicking at the lead Jimmy already had. “I don’t even have my wings on!” Tango quickly equipped his elytra and used a rocket to take off toward Jimmy.

 For being so small, Jimmy sure was fast. Despite being a canary, he was more like a hummingbird in that regard. Zipping and zagging all over the place and sometimes hard to keep up with. Tango let a few more rockets go off in quick bursts and managed to catch up to the tiny avian. Tango hovered above Jimmy and Jimmy, noticing the shadow, looked up with a surprised expression.

 “Better pick up the pace tiny!” Tango yelled with a laugh over the rush of air and then let another rocket go off, sending him further than Jimmy.

 “Hey! No fair!” Jimmy repeated Tango’s words, also unable to keep from laughing. He flapped his wings even harder, pushing himself further to try and get ahead.

 Unfortunately, with Tango using so many rockets in such a short amount of time, Tango ran out and was steadily slowing down as he glided. Tango was hoping he would still have enough of a lead to win but then he saw a blur of yellow pass him by. Jimmy turned back with a grin. “See you at spawn!” He yelled and then took off even faster.

 Jimmy made it to spawn first, diving down and hovering above the ground. Joel, Lizzie, and Xisuma, who were already there and waiting for them, looked at Jimmy in surprise. “Yes! I won!” Jimmy exclaimed, a large grin on his face. 

 “Won what?” Lizzie asked, curious at how fast Jimmy had come in from the sky.

 “And where’s Tango?” Xisuma questioned, wondering where the other hermit was.

 Jimmy turned to the two of them. “Oh, Tango is-” He was cut off with a yelp as suddenly he was encompassed in two large hands that had come barreling toward him from above. Tango had used whatever momentum he had left and dive-bombed Jimmy, using his hands to trap the avian inside and also to protect him from the brunt of the collision. He didn’t want to actually hurt him after all.

 Tango skidded but managed to land on his feet with Jimmy safely cupped between his hands. “I’m here!” Tango answered, having at least heard the question. “Me and Jimmy here were just having a little race.”

 Tango opened his hands up so now Jimmy was sprawled over his cupped hands. The tiny avian gave him a deadpan expression but Tango could barely take it seriously with how frazzled Jimmy looked from the quick grab. Jimmy crossed his arms but couldn’t keep the small smile off his face, which told Tango everything was fine. 

 “I won though! Fair and square.” Jimmy said as he sat up and tried to fix his hair.

 Tango rolled his eyes and poked Jimmy on the chest. “Not sure about fair, pipsqueak.” Tango said. “Considering you had a good 30 second head start.”

 Jimmy huffed, pushing the finger away playfully. “Says the guy who used a stack of rockets all in a row.”

 They looked at each other for a moment and then burst out laughing.

 Joel, Lizzie, and Xisuma, who were still all watching, couldn’t help but smile at the sheer joy Jimmy and Tango seemed to be experiencing by just being with each other. It made Xisuma feel bad that he had to break that up, but he had to send them back to their own servers.

 Maybe, eventually, Jimmy and Lizzie could join them more permanently in a couple of seasons. He was sure Joel and Tango would stop at nothing to convince the others to let them join. And he can’t exactly see any of his hermits saying no either.

 He put away that thought for another time though, and cleared his throat to gain Tango and Jimmy’s attention. “Sorry to interrupt, but it’s time to send Lizzie and Jimmy back.” Xisuma said sadly.

 Tango and Jimmy let their laughter peter off and looked at each other at the reminder that it was time for Jimmy to leave. “I had a great time today.” Jimmy said, a smile on his face. He refused to be sad. They had been happy all day today and he refused to be sad for their last few moments.

 “So did I.” Tango said, his smile a bit softer as he gently cradled Jimmy in his hands. “Can’t wait to do it again soon.”

 Jimmy nodded and leaned into Tango’s touch for a moment, soaking it up, before standing and taking off to go stand over by Lizzie. Who had also said her last see you soons to Joel and was now standing away from him.

 “We’ll see you again soon. I’ll make sure to let you know when the next family and friends day is here on Hermitcraft.” Xisuma said as he opened up his code log.

 They nodded and then with one last wave, they were gone.

[LDShadowLady left the game]

[SolidarityGaming left the game]

 Tango was sad to see Jimmy go, but he couldn’t deny the amazing day the two of them had together. His comm dinged suddenly and Tango grabbed it from within his pocket and took a look at it.

SolidarityGaming whispers to you: Miss you already <3

 Tango grinned.

[victoriaspriing]

2023 writing gif-making round up

Rules (adapted for fic, gifs, art, etc.): Share what you made this year! It can be works you posted to Ao3, Wattpad, Tumblr, or anywhere else! You can share everything you made or just the projects you're most excited about.

I was tagged by @swearphil! thank you sm renee <33

Hii!! so 2024 is right around the corner, happy new year yayay. Actually, if I think too much about it I think I'll start crying cause like what do you mean we're less than 42 hours from staring a new year?!! 2023 doesn't feel real tbh time in general doesn't feel real but yeah anyways I'll save that convo for another time. I'm here today to reflect on all the gifsets I've made throughout this year, which let me add, has been A LOT. I'm going to start by sharing some fun stats (yes renee I'm copying you <33), and then I'll do a fun top 5 of my fave gifsets, and to finish it off I'd also like to use this to shout out some of my fave people and creators on this hellsite cause you all made my 2023 so much better and I love you all for that <333

fun statistics:

In total I made 61 gifsets in 2023

57 are heartstopper (not surprised)

3 are 911 lone star (mostly tarlos)

1 are dan and phil

In august I made 20 gifsets, which are the most gifsets I've made in a month this year

In may I made 1 gifset, which is the month I made less gifsets this year

6 of the gifsets are song lyrics edits

3 of the gifsets are heartstopper comic edits

31 of the gifsets are scenes from heartstopper

6 of the gifsets are heartstopper compilations from s1 and s2

top 5 gifsets from 2023 (in no particular order)

that one dnp gifset: I think most people know that I was and still am a big dan and phil fan, and that I spent most of my teenage years obsessing over them and giffing them and only them. Well, they went on hiatus and they stopped having a big impact on my life util they decided to come back and ruin my life again (in a good way). This gifset was the first time I giffed them since like idk 2019/2020, and it does mean a lot to me :') it's not really about the concept and the coloring, I chose this one to be apart of my top 5 for sentimental reasons, and I think that's valid.

give your friendships the magic you would give a romance: once again, sentimental reasons. when I read this quote on loveless it just spoke to me in so many levels. One of the things I love the most about heartstopper is the importance they give to friendship and I just had to make something that highlighted that and I think it turned out super good.

I think nellie loves him: well, now I think I snapped with this one akdhjahak I just love it so much. the coloring.. the heartstopper tv scenes with the heartstopper comic scenes, like chef's kiss, just perfect. of course this is not an original idea so I'd love to thank @rose-nobles for inspiring this gifset <33

mr. ajayi loves museum dates with his grumpy bf: and just like that we are back to sentimental reasons ahdhkas. well, this was one of the first gifsets I made when season two came out and it blew up. I've never had that many notes on a gifset, and honestly I think it's well deserved cause the coloring is good and I had finally just figured out how to sharpen gifs, so yeah love that for me.

I'm bi actually: I had so much fun making this one. the amount of bi coded elements and colors I included on this, I WAS ON A MISSION. the fact I made the font wobbly hsjgdjaka, I love love this gifset.

a little shout out to my faves (I hope you all have an amazing 2024)

@swearphil ☆ @barrowsteeth ☆ @narliee ☆ @cafecdramin ☆ @heroeddiemunson ☆ @nelsonnicholas ☆ @curlyhairedprince ☆ @wylanvannecks ☆ @aimeegbbs ☆ @indimlights ☆ @jelloandsugar ☆ @perrieedwards ☆ @imogen-heaney ☆ @thatwasthenightthingschanged ☆ @klinejack ☆ @birthdaysentiment ☆ @seeleybooth ☆ @sonseulsoleil ☆ @taraolssons ☆ @immortals-malec ☆ @parissquads ☆ @rose-nobles ☆ @itwasmagic ☆ @perccyjackson ☆ @naomismcpherson ☆ @neverfindmegone ☆ @charlieisverybored

Okay I think that's it, I'm so sorry if I missed someone. I'm also tagging everyone that wants to do this, just say I tagged you in it <33

[shippingmyworld]

Pigging backing on the Danny x Sam ask, but I wanna you're thoughts about Manny and Frida too and how their romantic relationship didn't work out

The Manny x Frida ship sinks a lot less dramatically than the Danny x Sam ship in my headcanon lmao

I chalk up their relationship 'failing' to Manny being autistic and Frida being adhd-coded. Also because they were 13-14 when they kissed and I believe that when you're that young you don't quite know what you want out of life or relationships yet, especially if it's your first one.

In full honestly, I don't believe that Manny held a single ounce of attraction to Frida in a romantic way. Frida was the one that initiated the kiss during the series finale, and Manny barely even reacted to that. I think his autistic mind just went 'Oh, I guess I'm dating Frida now.' and when people/his family asked him if Frida was his girlfriend, he confirmed it. In his mind, you only kissed someone if you were dating or married.

While I do think that Frida did develop a crush on Manny, I don't believe that she was serious about the kiss as a way for them to start dating. She's excitable, and gets swept up in the moment very easily, and is the jester type of character. She's the hypeman of every situation she's remotely near, even if not directly involved (my main example is the Cactus Kid episode, where she slides into the scene and makes the 'Oh, must be awkward to be you.' comment to Cactus Kid when Grandpapi reveals he's only using CK to make Manny jealous and doesn't think CK is cut out to be a real villain). I think that she kissed Manny because her thought process was something along the lines of: "Hey, this superhero just rounded up literally every villain in the area and is being celebrated by everyone. Someone should kiss him, that's what will make this moment super hype."

So yeah, they tell people that they're boyfriend a girlfriend when asked, but nothing about their relationship actually changed. They don't hold hands, they don't go on romantic dates, and they haven't kissed since that final fight. They still hang out all the time during their first year of high school, but slowly start drifting to different groups as they don't have many classes together.

The year passes normally and it's summer break. Rodolfo approaches Manny (who's just hanging out at home) all nervous like, asking a bunch of questions like he's beating around the bush. Manny thinks it's weird and asks his Dad what's up, and Rodolfo asks if everything is good with Manny and Frida since she hasn't been around recently. Manny says everything is fine, and Rodolfo keeps pushing the issue (he's projecting failed marriage with Maria onto his son). He eventually asks when the last time Manny kissed Frida was, and Manny realizes they haven't kissed since the first kiss right before high school.

So, being the direct person he is, Manny just calls Frida (in front of his father of all things) and tells her point blank.

Manny: "Hey, we haven't kissed since a year ago." Frida: "Huh, you're right." Manny: "So I guess we're not dating anymore?" Frida: "Yeah, I guess so. We're still friends though, right?" Manny: "Of course!"

And the call ends there with Manny going on with his day as usual while his Father stands there horror-struck and still processing the most chill breakup in history.

Meanwhile there's a whole soap opera level of drama going on in the background, as all the supervillains in school want to date Frida and have been waiting for her to break up with Manny, and Zoe has been trying to get Manny to fall in love with her. But that's a whole nother fic prompt lol.

Also it's cool, my posts are literally filled with typos lmao

[mcsquared789]

Update at End of May

Right, it’s been a while since I gave you guys an update. So I figure I will outline what the schedule looks like for the next slate of projects! On an essential level, things are looking really promising for wrapping up Phase 1 way before the end of the year... but we'll see. It all depends on whether I can be prepared with a good backlog of chapters.

So, here’s the rub:

Widowmaker: This was finished well over a week or so ago, and now it’s probably my biggest fic so far other than Iron Man and Hulk??? Not surprising, since sequels require a lot of context and this is... actually a really good entry point into the series. To that end, I am super happy with it — and will definitely be making more of these novella-length fics that focus on original/interim stories. I think they will balance the other fics with more stakes and more complicated plots, and the one-shots as well.

Thor: That leads me to my current project, Thor! I am in the swing of this, and having a blast — writing Jane, Erik and Darcy has been lots of fun. And I am also writing chapters from Loki's POV which have been really interesting, to say the least... hopefully, it's a nice, appropriately tortured perspective. (Can't wait for you Loki lovers to read them. 😉)

Starting in June, I plan to upload chapters regularly every three or four days — and aim to have this fic completed by the end of the month, or somewhere halfway through July. Act I is fully completed out of a planned five, and has seven chapters. As a teaser of what to expect: Act II will have six chapters, Act III will have five, Act IV will have seven and Act V will have eight. (A little uncertain on that last one, but again — we shall see.)

I am really looking forward to you guys seeing where this will go! It will be familiar, I admit. But hopefully, fresh and exciting at the same time, as there will be lots of little changes that might sprout out into big changes... but you will see how it all shapes together when I get back to it in June.

Which leads me to the next project — and the last big one before The Avengers.

Captain America: The First Avenger. Yep, I'm finally getting around to it — and considering how popular Captain America is in particular, I suspect this will find a lot of people. It will be a little dark and gritty, but also with a hint of science fiction that has made this subseries in particular so interesting... but I won't say anymore until it starts getting posted. I'm hoping that will be in the second half of June once I've written enough chapters, and then be completed after July. From then on... we'll see about where Steve Rogers goes next.

As well, I also will be working on two one-shots after both these projects... and one of them will lead directly into Avengers. But I'll talk more about that later. 😁

Alright, I think that's everything! Thank you all for being followers and catching up with what I'm doing. It's not really summer where I am, but I hope there will be enough here to create an exciting summer for you. See you soon!

— (M)

[embracetranquilityson]

Playing Hogwarts Legacy as an adult, a different POV. (Possible SPOILERS ahead, please beware)

Okay, hear me out:

When the game was announced I was super excited about the Dark Arts path, so of course as soon as I was able to play I immediately headed for that route.

But then that scene where you have to duel Sebastian happened and I thought "damn, OC is an insane duelist!" soooo... I guess my mind kind of spiraled from there because I somehow got this headcanon that OC was actually undercover at Hogwarts.

Oddly got their letter at a later age, mad skillz™️, really polite and mature... Makes sense, right?

But I don't want to be an Auror. I want to be EVIL!

So, how about an Ashwinder? Victor Rookwood is a pretty cool villain: charismatic af, kinda good looking; I can see us chilling while watching dragons fight- no wait, I hate poachers with a passion. I love magical beasts. No way my OC would ever harm one or stand by and watch as one gets hurt.

And theeeeennnnn... I met professor Aesop Sharp. 10/10 "your daughter/son/adultchild calls me daddy too". I'd like to say it was love at first sight but it was the whole "acknowledging responsibility" speech that got me.

And before you call me weird... I'm in my twenties and as much as I love the "companions" that the game lets you have, I can't physically bring myself to ship my OC with a teenager. Big no no. Weirds me the f out.

So behold, the ultimate headcanon that has been living rent free in my head since the release:

OC is a rogue ashwinder who betrayed the - organisation? Cult? Club? Ah whatever you get it - and somehow found a way to disguise themselves as a student to avoid repercussions. After all, hogwarts is a pretty safe place. They could easily stay under the radar until things had calmed down a bit.

Unless... Unless some students decided they were tired of poachers and ashwinders and decided to take the matter into their own hands. So what was oc supposed to do? Just look the other way and hide while kids got slaughtered?

Nope. Their conscience was screaming enough as it was, they couldn't let it get any louder. So they help Poppy and Nat and try their best to keep Sebastian safe while he dabbles in the dark arts (after all, they know first hand how futile it is to try and smother that fire. You need to get burnt to learn.).

Until they go too far, they become a problem. Rookwood is pissed. Avada Kedavra pissed. Life or death. Their young and foolish friends or them.

It's an easy choice, really.

They drop the spell/potion/ancient magic/whatever that made them seem younger, so the focus is on them. Rookwood's rage is on them.

The shock, the drama.

Your trusted hogwarts companion was an Ashwinder all along. Former ashwinder, but does it really matter to a teenager who only sees the world as black and white?

Would it matter to the professor OC fell for? To the other professor, the one who guided them through the keepers' trials? Or to sweet professors Weasley and Garlick, who went above and beyond to teach them everything they knew?

Would it matter to the aurors who would eventually capture them?

Ladies, gentlemen and fine people, this is my headcanon. This would be my OC (if I was a skilled modder).

Thank you for coming to my -delirious- TED talk.

(and if you have similar or opposite headcanon, please drop them below. I would love to read them!)

Edit: I actually wrote a fic inspired by this! It's gender neutral (You POV) and I had a lot of fun with it!

Here's the link:

[27dragons]

A Dreamling Fic

It is really really really unusual for me to get a fic fully-formed in my brain all at once, but I was enjoying this post and I got to the one that was Hob and Dream labeled with "well-read jock / buff nerd" and this high school AU just kind of exploded on me, and I just wordvomited it at the Cohort and they did nothing to discourage me, and it's been quietly refining itself in the back of my brain since then. I have no idea if I will try to actually write this but if anyone else wants the idea, please take it! And link me when you're done because I definitely want to read it!

Okay, so Dream is done with elementary/primary school and he's about to start the 6th grade (or whatever the equivalent is for UK I guess but if I write it they're going to be surprise usamericans because I'm not doing that much research). It's a new school, one of those grade 6-12 academies. It's the first day of school and all the students are kind of wandering around in the schoolyard waiting for schedules to be handed out (which yes is totally unrealistic, just shhh go with it). Dream is terrified; the older kids are like three times his size and everyone is very loud and boisterous and there aren't any good corners to hide in here.

His big sister, knowing him as she does, rolls her eyes and takes his hand and drags him over to the area where most of the other new 6th graders are congregating and says, "Look, you're going to be with these people for the next 7 years, you have to make a friend."

Dream glares at her but she just glares back, so he turns to the nearest other kid and says, "We're friends now. What's your name?"

And the kid's name is Hob, and he's like super excited to make a new friend and maybe this won't be completely terrible.

Except that Dream and Hob are not in the same classes. Or the same lunch block. Or anything. And they don't really see each other at all.

But the next year, when everyone's wandering around waiting for schedules, Dream spots Hob and walks over like, "Hello Hob" and Hob just goes with it, he's like, "Hey it's my friend, awesome!" And that year... they also do not have any of the same classes or lunch or anything.

And so it goes. Every year, Dream finds Hob on the first day of school while they're milling around, and every year, that's the last time they really see each other. And in the meantime, Dream is a quiet nerdy goth introvert who never talks to anyone if he can help it, and Hob is getting into trouble and charming his way out of it and he has a bad patch one year but then pulls himself out of it and tries a whole bunch of different clubs and sports and pretty much everyone likes him.

And then sometime over the summer before 11th grade, they both realize that they, you know, LIKE-like each other. And while Hob is now immediately excited to see Dream again, Dream is having a horrible case of "oh shit I'm GAY" panic because despite being a moody introvert he's about as good at understanding himself as a cabbage.

School starts and Dream locks it down and comes over to say hi to Hob like always and Hob is suddenly like, "Hey! You know what, we get to learn to drive this year and after I get my license how about we get together away from school and go do something! Like a date!" and Dream (who is still firmly in the closet and panicking about it) massively overcompensates and is like "How dare you I'm not gay and even if I was I wouldn't even like you!" and storms off.

And, you know, same thing, they don't see each other for the rest of the year. Hob broods about it some and figures he'll just apologize when he sees Dream and they can go back to their weird friendship, it's all cool. But 12th grade starts and Dream... isn't there. Hob looks all over, but. No Dream. Fuck.

And then, halfway through the year or so, Hob's in the library working on his senior project and the chair across from his pulls out and he looks up and... it's Dream.

And Dream is like... his folks split up the previous summer and there was a whole custody thing and he had to go live with his crazy Uncle Roderick and horrible cousin Alex in another state and he absolutely hated it. But he just turned 18 and told told Uncle Rod to fuck off, and he moved out and switched back to this school and they can still be boyfriends now right?

[cuubism]

wip update

since I have a good number of actively-posting WIPs that some lovely people have been very kind about and invested in (and which I am very slow in updating), I figured it might be only polite to post a little update on where those are.

the melting press of the sun (dreamling) - Never intended this as a longfic, there may or may not be more than the 2 chapters it has now. I have a bit more written but it's disjointed and incomplete. I intentionally didn't leave any brutal cliffhangers on what I did post for this reason. We'll see if that one comes back.

Deja vu, Deja connu (dreamling) - The slowness in updating probably belies how deeply emotionally invested I actually am in this fic. Chapter three is just a major challenge--it's very long, covers a lot, has lots of fluff in the first part (fluff is kinda my Achilles heel, though not quite as much as wedding scenes, which this chapter also has) and a lot of heavy content later. But I have the whole fic outlined, a bunch of chapter 4 and 5 written in advance, and I'm super excited about the stuff that comes later, so it will definitely be finished, just... slowly. At least for this chapter.

In Waking Dreams (dreamling) - My current priority for an update. Chapter 4 just hit 10k and will probably hit 15k before its done (god help me), and I feel somewhat obliged to finish chapter 5 as well so I can post them in quick succession. Chapter 4 necessarily ends on a cliffhanger as it catches up to the events of chapter 3, but I feel bad about two cliffhangers in a row. But that one soon, I hope. (chapter 5 has a lot of the juiciest, long awaited scenes promised by the fic's premise, so I hope you will like that one when it's finally done 😅)

IRL (malec) - Fic that I have a tendency to get stuck on for 15 months, then write a ton of all at once, repeat. But I actually picked it up again the other day for the first time in ages, and I think I know all of the events of the chapter now, so who knows! Maybe I'll actually manage an update!

Subject: I Love You (malec) - Fic that I shamefully left with ONE CHAPTER remaining for a full year now. Honestly not sure why. Someday I will pick it up tho, I swear to god, or maybe I'll just cut the chapter short and make it an epilogue. (Actually maybe I do know why. It's another damn proposal/wedding scene. My absolute weakness and failure, I should stop writing them entirely)

mind & heart, body & soul (malec) - This fic haunts me, it follows me around 24/7 like a vengeful spirit that can't find rest. I can't wrangle it back into making any sense in my head, but for the sake of both my own sanity and the story's frankly frightening number of readers (I love you but you scare me), I've been trying to do one final chapter to offer some kind of wrap-up. Hopefully I can manage it.

Leviathan (malec) - My long held passion project that I have, in classic form, not touched in months. In fact I've been stuck on the same chapter I'm on now since probably 2020, when I first started writing the fic. This particular middle part of the fic is just vexing me to no end. At some point, I will decide on a course of action, inevitably flawed, and just power through that chapter (I say, for the 2nd year in a row). Why did I give this story two big villains again? Or think having a whole separate story arc in the middle of the fic was a good idea? Ah well.

in the palm of your hand (malec) - The one and only multichapter I finally caved and marked abandoned. I learnt my lesson with this fic about letting a oneshot expand into a completely unplanned longer fic. Boy did I...

----

I feel like I don't express it enough, but I really appreciate everyone who's ever read one of my fics, commented, kudos'd, chatted with me about them on tumblr, made podfics or art or translations, shared headcanons in my inbox or your own fics with me... I'm always blown away by the kindness and interest, and love getting to share little (or big!) stories with you and am so happy when you enjoy them ❤️ I love doing fandom with you.

[hardly-an-escape]

20 questions for fic writers!

thanks for the tag @signiorbenedickofpadua! gonna put this under a cut since it's a little long :)

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

22.

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

Just under 77,500.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Right now, just Sandman – but I do have an unfinished MCU story that I'd like to get back to, and there are definitely other fandoms I'd like to play around in at some point. I'm pretty unfocused, it just depends on whatever tickles my fancy.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Kind of Blue, a kind of fire (443) In the February Sun (437) let your heart be light (381) Headache (356) First Time (322)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I try to respond to every comment! (Although I'm super behind right now. Sometime soon I'll have a nice long self-indulgent afternoon of re-reading comments and finally responding.) I like to respond mostly because, as someone who reads a lot of fic, I get really excited when an author responds to my comments, and I want people who read my work and take the time to leave a comment to have the same feeling :) Also, I just feel like it's polite to say thank you when people say nice things!

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I... don't really write angst. Like, at all. I am all about fluff and disgustingly happy endings. I have a WIP that has a fairly angsty beginning/middle (the shellshocked WWI veterans one which I swear to God I will finish), but even that will still have a happy ending (maybe a little bittersweet, but not angsty).

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

Ummm all of them?? Like I am genuinely not sure that one rises above the others in terms of its happiness.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I never have! I'm grateful to be active in a fandom that is almost universally kind and supportive! Also I don't really write the kinds of pairings or subjects that might draw the ire of the general public, tbh, so that's probably part of it.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I do! At the moment mostly M/M since I'm still very Dreamling obsessed, but also F/M. I don't generally get too kinky or monsterfuckery with it, though. Pretty much just regular-degular sexy times around here.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

Not really! Nothing against them, just haven't gotten a spark from that kind of idea. Wait, I take that back. A while back I started a Clintasha fic set in the Station Eleven universe. I never finished it, because I feel like I need to re-read the book in order to do so, and I haven't done that yet. But I'd definitely like to.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope. I would love it if that happens someday! I've considered translating my own fic (I speak fluent German, so it's not outside the realm of possibility), but I'm not sure I'm up to that kind of project at the moment.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

No, I've had some fun brainstorming sessions and just back-and-forth reblogging with mutuals and trading ideas, but never actual co-writing. I'm open to the idea, but I would hesitate to inflict my writing process on anyone because it is extremely slow and piecemeal. I feel like a lot of co-writing relationships these days are developed on Discord, and try as I might I just cannot become an active Discord user.

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

Oh, lordy. Genuinely not sure how to answer this. If you go back to like... my very first childhood OTP, it'd have to be something like Han/Leia. But I've never been active in online SW fandom and never written that ship. I mean, Dreamling is obviously a contender. I do also love Stucky and Clintasha, although I'm not really into the MCU these days. I've recently been jumping on the Steddie train, but it remains to be seen if that will last or not. Going back a little farther, I'll never not be a Spuffy shipper. And I'll admit to Nine/Rose and Ten/Rose, and (wince) some JohnLock tendencies. But I really don't think I can point to a single all-time fave!

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I don't think I have anything that's published (or at least begun publicly) that won't ever be finished – hope springs eternal – but I certainly have things I've started and abandoned in my personal WIP files. I've got several Dreamling-related bits and bobs that may or may not ever come to something, and maybe 2300 words of a Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries fic that will probably never see the light of day.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I think I have a good ear for dialogue, and I'd like to think I come up with some nice metaphors/similes and descriptive language.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Actually writing lmao. No seriously though, just sitting down and getting a first draft done is the most challenging part of the whole deal for me.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I think it's fine and can add some interesting color! Just make sure there's a way for people who don't speak the language (or who are using a screen reader) to understand what's being said.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

First I ever wrote was Star Wars Expanded Universe (now Star Wars Legends) fic in elementary school. First I posted on AO3 was a Lizzie Bennet Diaries 5+1 – which, looking at it for the first time in many years, is actually pretty okay! I did something kind of interesting with the form, I think. I think I must have had a fanfiction.com account at some point but I truly cannot remember if I ever posted anything there... I can't remember my username and I don't even think I have access to the email I used to sign up with.

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

Among the Stars We are Reborn, for sure. I'm really proud of what I accomplished with that story, and to be honest I wish it had gotten as much attention as some of my other fics.

this was fun, thank you! I know this tag game has been going around and I'm not sure who's done it already and who hasn't, but I'll tag @valeriianz @landwriter @teejaystumbles @tryan-a-bex @cuubism and @tj-dragonblade (and as always, no pressure, just for fun!)

[schizosamwincester]

what fic are you most excited about working on? ❤️

Hmmmm. That definitely changes by the day. See the thing with schizophrenia is that you are bad at staying on topic. I have really let myself embrace that tangenting and bouncing around a lot is just my nature. Sometimes I'll get into this weird schizophrenia getting things done mode, where i just kind of lean into the way I'll constantly go "okay let's do this! Now let's do this! Now let's do this!" So I'm very much the same way with fics. I'll go wherever the wind blows me. So like two weeks ago? I was really really into my schizophrenia fics. Now, I haven't touched the schizophrenic!John since September first. Lately I'm on a trans girl!Dean kick again. I was really, really into that around June and basically forgot about it until someone reblogged my post about it and that got some traction and now I'm beyond obsessed again. I'm also itching a bit to write some more Samjohn. We'll see if that goes anywhere. Oh, and also schizophrenia means terrible memory, so I also will be super excited about an idea and then just completely forget I ever had it until one day I'm reminded of it and go "oh my god that was so great! I'm a genius!" and go back to writing it again.

I could be the kind of person to beat myself up for not just sticking to one project and finishing it, but like... why? I do this for fun and creative fulfillment. I do finish things eventually. Yeah, sure, I know damn well I won't finish all of my WIPs. I currently have 21. But this way I don't have to kill anything just on the basis of "I already have too many projects" or "I just need to focus on this right now" or whatever.

So currently? There's a trans girl sex worker Dean fic that I started ages ago and am itching to wrap up and finish because I really like it, there's one with trans girl Sam AND trans girl Dean that I've been thinking about, and I'm really into writing more sequels off Sissy and Sister... But I could end up on a different kick before either of those actually get done. Who knows? And I honestly don't care as long as I'm writing something. I just feel like shit if I don't write at all.

... I just realized I absolutely proved the whole "schizophrenics ramble and go on tangents" thing by turning this very simple question into a big explanation of how my brain works.

But basically, there's always a good chance that you'll be surprised by what fic I end up posting next because I am too.

[angst-in-space]

july '24 writing progress

words written: 13.5k

most words written in a day: 1,115

least words written in a day: 0

yearly total: 79.1k

projects worked on:

ya sci-fi book rewrites

finished a draft of the soukoku oneshot!

started writing the bsd regency au!

finished editing & posted the last chapter of sylvix dreamscape fic!

sylvix pacific rim au

works published in july:

you're a dream (i'm never waking up) - chapter 10 (fe3h / sylvix)

july goals

meet my camp nano goal of 30k words for the month / approx. 1k a day

finish ya sci-fi book rewrites? haha? *laughs through my tears*

finish first draft of soukoku oneshot

start a first draft of bsd regency au

implement beta feedback for sylvix dreamscape fic ch 10 and post

august goals

f-finish ya sci-fi book rewrites?? for real this time?? 🥹

keep up with goal of approx. 1k per day for 40k in 42 days challenge

edit (maybe post?) skk oneshot

make some progress on bsd regency au

maybeeee update one of my other multichap fics that i haven't updated in a long time?

perhaps work on some other fic?

notes:

july was pretty hectic for me... i went on 3 trips this month (a family reunion, a family vacation, and a wedding) so there was a lot going on, plus work was busy etc. etc. so honestly i'm patting myself on the back for getting anything done at all. i did not reach my goal of writing 30k or even getting halfway to it but THAT'S OK!! this was (i think?) my second-most productive month of the year so far, so that's impressive!

i stiiiiillll am working on ya sci-fi book rewrites, but am just finishing up the big climactic chapter. and the three remaining chapters after that are fairly short and not as complicated, sooo maybe i can get those done this month? 🤞

i actually got quite a bit done fic-wise during july! most notably, I FINALLY FINISHED EDITING AND POSTING THE LAST CHAPTER OF SYLVIX DREAMSCAPE FIC!! which took me over a year to post, oops. it had been about 4 years since i started that fic, so posting the final chapter was an emotional experience—but i'm really glad i stuck with it, and seeing people's reactions and kind comments has made me really happy. 🥹

i also finished a draft of my soukoku oneshot! it's about 7k and there are a few parts i want to edit, but i'm hoping i can get that done & posted sometime this month. i also started writing the bsd regency au (which is a joint soukoku & shin soukoku fic)—really excited for this one bc i've been planning it for months. probably will not be done with it for umm a Very Long Time but glad to have at least started it, and hope to get a chunk of it done during august.

i'd also like to work on a few fics i've had on the backburner... both in terms of writing and editing/posting. i hope to continue writing some other fics, mainly the sylvix pacific rim au (which i did work a bit on in july!) and i hope to maybe update some older fics as well since i have a huge backlog of stuff i haven't posted... oops. i'm trying to kinda just have fun posting my fics again and not let my perfectionism get to me too much. after all, i write fic bc i want others to enjoy it!

oh yes also some friends and i are taking on the 40k in 42 days challenge which seems super fun and helpful! i'm not sure if i can write the full 40k but i am definitely gonna try and hope some good progress comes out of it!

thanks for reading and wishing everyone a wonderful august 💖

[whumptimebaby]

Happy One Year to Turning Red!

I can't believe it's been a whole year since Turning Red released to the public, that is actually crazy. There are no words for what Turning Red has done for me as a person, but you sure as hell know I'm gonna try to explain 😎

I went into Turning Red as a new University student, at a huge transitional period in my life. I had a whole four friends, and more emotions than I knew how to deal with. I'll never forget the feeling of sitting next to two of my IRL's in my Pixar class, and scream singing Nobody Like U as the credits rolled. It felt like middle school again. It felt great to be Canadian, and neurodivergent, and queer, and it felt especially great to be in fandom.

I knew from the moment I walked out of that room that I was going to write fic for 4*Town. I'm a sucker for a boy band, it was bound to happen, but God, I didn't know what was going to become of it. I thought I'd write one or two fics and move on to the next fandom, you know?

I wrote You Know What's Up (It's Us), and about halfway through I had another idea for a fic. It was a commitment, a 15000 word monstrosity that took a month's worth of planning and writing, but finishing it meant the world. To this day, I've never been so nervous to publish a fic.

The plane crash fic changed everything for me, because now I had a universe to play with, not just an interpretation of some characters, so I sat down to work out how everything worked. I created a story spanning from 1995-2014, and chipped away at little moments from it. There was the beach music video, that time Aaron T got kidnapped, that time Jesse got in a car accident, all little snapshots and character studies that were part of something bigger.

I've been wanting to tell the whole story for a while now. There are so many aspects of it that I've been so excited to share, but for a while I just... didn't know how.

I know I haven't been posting fics like I used to, but I promise it was for a reason. I've mentioned a super secret project a couple of times now, and I think today is as good as any to reveal what that is. I've been working on it since July for fuck's sake 😭 It's been killing me not talking about it.

But first! I want to say that the thing I'm most grateful for from this whole thing is meeting @5town and @wondero28. I love both of you so much, and you've really made this community a home for me. Thank you for putting up with my bullshit 🫶🫶

Now without further ado, have a teaser, a sneak peek, a tiny glimpse at 4*Town: The World's Most Tragic Boy Band

A documentary on 4*Town's career spanning from 1995-2004, and taking place 10 years after they officially disband. The boys talk about the things they've gone through year by year, with behind the scenes footage from their tours, music videos, and rehearsals.

The current plan is to finish the damn thing (💀) and then release each year one at a time with releases twice a week, Wednesdays and Saturdays, which means the whole thing will be out over the course of five weeks. The format is... to be determined. I have a feeling formatting this for AO3 is going to be hell, but I'll figure it out!

So yeah! That's the super secret project! I'm so excited to show you all the whole thing, because I'm really, really proud of it!

[disdaidal]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers (except me because obvs I have done it). Spread the self-love ❤

D'aww thank you hun! I'm not sure I can answer with five because all my favorite fics written by me don't even exist on the internet anymore. 🙊 But I can always try~

To the Moon and Back is something I'm currently working on and very excited about. It's a multichapter Final Fantasy 7 fic, Cloud/Zack, omegaverse, rated E etc.

Since it's my very first FF7 fic as well as my first published omegaverse fic ever, I was initially quite nervous to even start writing it let alone publish it. It has three published chapters on ao3, all of which have gotten positive feedback so far (and subs, I see ya <3), which obviously inspires me a lot. I'm already having lots of ideas for future chapters and also few good ideas how I'm going to end it, something which doesn't always happen to me (I just go with the flow, most of time). The story also has some non-traditional omegaverse elements because well, omegas and alphas don't always have to be so stereotypical, I think, and... truthfully... I just had a mighty craving for some sloppy bottom/omega!Zack the fandom is feeding me absolute crumbs in that sense and seems to think cloud's dick is just a pretty accessory XD I'm feeling like I can actually make my own rules here and it feels pretty damn good right now.

A Touch of Cinnamon, Gallahir/Witcher. Roommates, Friends to Lovers, multichapter, rated E. I answered in another tag game already why this story was such a passion project for me last autumn, but yeah. It was inspired by OneofWeb's Buttercup Tattoo series (some really nice works there <3), and I genuinely enjoyed writing and planning it. Like I also mentioned before, it's still a work in progress but never say never. :D

There Must Be An Angel (Playing With My Heart), Harringrove/Stranger Things, Homelessness/Guardian Angels, multichapter, rated E.

How this story originally got its inspiration, well... once upon a time I watched a Japanese gay porn movie with a plot (gasp) and uhh, I might've expanded on that a little bit. *hides* Sadly the story only has one chapter that's been lying in wait for almost two years now, but... I am still thinking about it sometimes. I really liked the original idea (:P) and I still like the following story idea that I came up with, so hmm. Maybe if I get inspired to write something for this ship again, I could be tempted to continue this.

As for other two... I used to write plenty of rps bandfic back in the day and that one AU one-shot (or was it two-shot? anyway) I wrote somewhere around late 2008 I think, got a little bit smutty, a little bit 'problematic' as well, and man... what can I say, I still like that one. A lot, actually. The ship I wrote that fic for wasn't super popular in that band either but didn't matter to me.

And the fifth? One of my future works perhaps? :D

As for tagging... I already tagged a few people in previous tag games and I don't know how many of you actually care about doing these things, so... feel free to take this from me if you see this and want to do this. <3

[thisfairytalegonebad]

Writing Meme: First Line Patterns

Rules: List the first line of your last 10 (or however many you have) posted fics and see if there's a pattern!

Tagged by @zanarkandfayth, thank you so much - this is such a cool concept for a tag game and I was super excited to do it, but by the time I would've been free, I'd totally forgotten, lol. Really appreciate the tag <3

I considered my Love List project one of the "last 10" fics because it's the latest I updated, but I'm going to pick the opening line from the first chapter even though the chapters are technically all just oneshots - but I wanted to have at least one older thing in there since the other 8 are just going to be Whumptober which was written last October.

I also added a honorary +1 because I wanted to include something not FFXV and there's really only one fic I've written recently to which that applies, lol

Ignis brought his hand up to his face again to rub at his eyes for what must’ve been the third time within the past fifteen minutes. Gods, he was so tired, all he wanted was to lie down and get some sleep. if something comes on the way (we face it as one)

Prompto learns a lot of new things about his friends once they’re stuck practically in each other’s laps twenty-four hours a day. at first light

Noct isn’t quite sure how they ended up like this. Prompto’s his best friend and arguably the person he feels most comfortable discussing stuff with, but Noct’s famously terrible at talking about his feelings in any way, even to Prompto. Emptiness

The sight of Ravus crouching next to Ignis makes Gladio’s heart skip a beat. His hand itches to reach for his sword, but Ravus rises and stalks past him without a word. Bridal Carry

Prompto awakens to a world of pain. "What happened to me?"

Gladio is a protector, born and bred. "You'll have to go through me."

Gladio has had scars for as long as Noct can remember. Scars

“What the hell is up with you?” Gladio snaps when Ignis loses his footing and just barely avoids Gladio’s blade, for the third time. “If you’re not up for training, just say so! Better than letting yourself get cut in half by my sword.” Working to Exhaustion

Noct wakes up in darkness and blinding agony. Buried Alive

It would be a bit self-centered to say Ignis and Gladio were the ones who raised Noct. His mother passed away when Noctis was less than a year old, but he still has his father who loves him dearly. He had nannies, tutors, people who took care of him and made sure he was fed, clothed, and prepared to handle anything that was expected of a young prince. Neglect

Yuki frowns. if you're here, if i'm with you

Lmfao, there's a pattern here alright - 8 out of 11 start with a character's name. That's really interesting actually, I never noticed I was doing that! Unfortunately most of these were written very recently and a lot of them within the same month, so there's not much change to be observed here, but it was still neat to see that there is a pattern, even if it's an unconscious one.

This was super fun, thanks again fayth for the tag! Had a blast with this <3<3

Tagging: See, here's the thing... there's not all that many people I talk to anymore, and I'm not at all sure anymore who is and isn't a writer at this point, so I'm not going to tag anyone specifically. BUT! I really, really enjoy reading these because it IS super interesting, so if you want to do this, please do, and please please tag me in it so I can read it!

[callioope]

What's this? An update?!

Is anyone else experiencing an onslaught of bots following them? Whenever I see that happen I wonder if it's because I've been so inactive lately; sometimes there seems to be a correlation there. So maybe just maybe it will help if I post something.

So here's an update.

Free time is a rarity for me these days -- offline life is busy! When I do have time to myself, I usually spend it stuck in the YouTube vortex (unfortunately, but it's the honest answer. I go there to watch Critical Role and get sucked sideways by the darn algorithm. I need to sign up for Beacon and just stop having a reason to go to YT in the first place). IF I can pull myself away from that blackhole, then I'm probably also avoiding writing by doing the NYT Games. And if by some miracle I dodge both of these digital traps, then I'm actually (gasp) reading or writing. (Or playing DND on the weekend.)

The Writing I signed up for Get Your Words Out this year, and even if I haven't been as productive as I might have dreamed, I'm still loving it because I do feel like it is working to get me writing more than I otherwise would have. And it doesn't feel as daunting as NaNoWriMo. So, here's my progress:

Pledged as a backpacker (honestly the lowest and easiest goal but I'm being practical about my time availability this year)

Wrote 33 days this year so far

Worked on 11 different projects -- this is a big oof for me; I feel a little adrift. I'm trying to console myself by likening it to an artists sketchbook (I think I saw a post about that on tumblr). Any writing is better than no writing! Nine (nein!) of the projects are shadowgast fics and two are original works -- something I might combine into 1 idea, we'll see. 

I've been focusing on the original idea lately, which is exciting!

I got a new laptop, and I'm able to go back to using Scrivener! Sadly had to pay for the upgrade, and still migrating story notes back into it, but excited. Anyone have any good tips for using it? Character templates, etc?

The Reading I have been able to get back into reading this year, which I am super happy about. This year I've read:

Our Bloody Pearl by D.N. Bryn (loved it)

A Power Unbound (The Last Binding #3) by Freya Marske (loved it)

The Magician's Daughter by H.G. Parry (enjoyed it)

Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel (loved it)

The Bird King by G. Willow Wilson (enjoyed it)

Alif the Unseen by G. Willow Wilson (it was fine)

Uprooted by Naomi Novik (enjoyed it)

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke (it's complicated)

Crown Duel by Sherwood Smith (third read; comfort read)

Remalna's Children by Sherwood Smith (it was fine)

Silver in the Wood (The Greenhollow Duology #1) by Emily Tesh (loved it)

Drowned Country (The Greenhollow Duology #2) by Emily Tesh (loved it)

Every Heart a Doorway (Wayward Children #1) by Seanan McGuire (did not like)

Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher (loved it)

Spellbound (Magic in Manhattan #1) by Allie Therin (disappointed)

Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey (loved it)

Edited to add: Currently reading: The Hexologists (The Hexologists #1) by Josiah Bancroft. Healthy, loving, established middle age couple protagonists in a fantasy setting, where have you been?! I've been looking for a book like this forever.

I haven't read more than like 2 books a year ... probably since 2016 (thank you rebelcaptain and shadowgast for all the wonderful fics i read instead)