#TUMBLR POSTED IT BEFORE I FINISHED TAGGING HOW DARE YOU

[mikodrawnnarratives]

Click for quality because Tumblr is being Tumblr

In one they see a rulebreaker and another they see their heart. Or maybe the first is how they always look and the second how they feel to y/n.

What kind of game of roulette is this?

A bias one.

Look at 'em! @naffeclipse I thought it would be fun to draw Eclipse this way. When I got a sketch I liked in my sketchbook, I was too scared I might ruin it with no undo so I moved it over to digital.

And look how they turned out!! The boys! With a spin that they have little star designs across their body. They got an eclipse and a galaxy.

I'm very proud and pleased about the colored spikes too, turned out how I wanted them too. You might also notice the floof additions which I purposefully wanted to look like Moon's hat 'cause ya can't forget the hat

(I posted this before but then realized I didn't finish some elements so I yoinked it off my blog but one person had already reblogged it so one version of this is still out there. This message is to that person. Love ya for reblogging. Sound off in the tags or comments I dare you)

Extra:

Here comes the boy! 

Hello boy~ 

Welcome. 

Here he is. 

He is here.

(well, two boys. Kind of. Boyo. Sweetie)

[bethanydelleman]

Thanks for the tag @firawren & @glassslippers-n-cowboyboots

1. How many works do you have on AO3? 45

2. What's your total AO3 word count? 208,023. And that's a bit surprising because a bunch of my longer fics are only on AHA or my website.

3. What fandoms do you write for? Mostly Jane Austen, all novels, Elizabeth Gaskell (Wives & Daughters), and Anne Bronte (The Tenant of Wildfell Hall). I have also technically written Oscar Wilde and My Happy Marriage, but those were very transformative.

I also have written some fics based on Kdramas, mostly for Alchemy of Souls.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

A Ride to Netherfield - Jane breaks her leg on the way to Netherfield and must stay for a month. Short one-shot (6k) and the first Pride & Prejudice variation I wrote.

Of Every Elizabeth - short and sweet Pride & Prejudice fluff, Darcy has nicknames for the plethora of Elizabeth's he's met over the course of his life (it was a super common name at the time)

Carry Me! - three vignettes of Jang Uk and Cho Yeong from Alchemy of Souls after they are married

The Fourth Bennet Sister - long fic (30k words), Pride & Prejudice variation where Kitty Bennet becomes aware that she is in a novel. She desperately tries to protect her sisters from harm.

All's Fair in Love and War - short Pride & Prejudice variation. Mrs. Bennet has weaponized compromise, men live in constant fear of being forced to marry.

5. Do you respond to comments? Yep. Every time.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? Umm.... I'm not good at writing angst. I don't like characters to suffer for too long.

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

8. Do you get hate on fics? Yes, because I dared to write Mr. Darcy marrying Anne Elliot. People get more angry about that for some reason than Elizabeth Bennet marrying Captain Wentworth in the same fic. Someone even told me Darcy would rather "throw himself off of Pemberley" rather than marry anyone other than Elizabeth. (Fic is called One Week Late)

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? I have written smut a few times, it's pretty vanilla because I am pretty vanilla. I was reading Victorian erotica when I wrote my longest one, A Little Before Their Marriage (Jane & Bingley fic).

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written? I constantly write crossovers, my first published novel is a massive crossover, Prideful & Persuaded. One of my fun shorts is Fall on the Sword, where every canonically single woman in Austen's novels decides if they want to try for the recently divorced Mr. Rushworth.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? Not as far as I know.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? No, though someone did translate one of my meta posts from Tumblr. That was cool.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? Yes, The Marriage Contest with Branch Cloudsky and two with Amelia Marie Logan, Poor Caroline and Inferior Connections. All Pride & Prejudice fics, all funny. (You need an AO3 account for that one, the other two are on my personal website)

14. What’s your all time favourite ship? Catherine Morland & Henry Tilney. They are the only Austen couple I cannot bear to break up.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? I am writing a queer retelling of Emma called "Different Ways of Being in Love", where Jane Fairfax and Emma were lovers as teenagers, Jane is bi, Emma is a lesbian, and Mr. Knightley is ace, but I got stuck on the middle part. Someday hopefully!

16. What are your writing strengths? I'm told I write some pretty hilarious farces. I am told I do characterization well, which is my main goal when writing fan fiction. I try to stick as close to canon as possible.

17. What are your writing weaknesses? I don't write enough filler or develop things well enough. I like writing action.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? I would possibly try my hand at French, but probably never. I also have a lot of trouble reading accented speech (looking at you Wuthering Heights), so I'd probably never write it.

19. First fandom you wrote for? I am fairly certain I started writing a fix-it fic for Nineteen Eighty-Four after I read it in high school. Not sure I would be able to locate it but it did exist. The first since I started writing again was a sequel to Pride & Prejudice.

20. Favourite fic you’ve written? Probably Unfairly Caught (my other published work) or The Fourth Bennet Sister. I NEEDED to write a Mansfield Park fic because I hate the ending, so it fixed my dissatisfied feelings. My goal is to edit The Fourth Bennet Sister and get it published sometime this year.

@wurzelbertzwerg, @kehlana-wolhamonao3 and @bad-at-names-and-faces

[theheightofdishonor]

That page of hinata looking back at a Kageyama that gave him the first toss ever before falling out of fever and exhaustion. Your tags were interesting could u pls break it down?? Is it a full circle of view from the top narrative or Kageyama being the first setter to give him a toss so a silent thank you?

Ngl I write so much about haikyuu and tumblr's search is so bad that I wasn't able to pinpoint the post you're talking about but i'm pretty sure it's about these panel from ch 364 during the kamomedai match. (if it's not, feel free to send another ask and i'll do my best to reply)

In a way it is a full circle moment, both for their partnership but also for Karasuno and where the two of them stand within the team? Hmm, i'l try to explain this.

So the panel on the left is the first time Kageyama's ever set for Hinata, back in ch 4 when they're practicing for the 3 on 3 match. And at the time, Kageyama was refusing to set for Hinata because well, Hinata sucks and Kageyama won't set for people who are unnecessary to win. But they're still together, practicing recieves at like 5:30 in the morning because they don't really have a choice but to work together and then this happens

And Kageyama- who has been frustrated this entire time because no one else around him understand, who struggles with being the only one who is always going for every ball with the same desperate desire- is inexplicably moved by this, by Hinata putting in this much effort and hurting himself for a ball that ultimately doesn't matter much at the end of a long practice when he's getting tossed to by a guy who doesn't even respect him. So finally, after like 3 chapters of refusing to set for Hinata, Kageyama finally does. And it's significant that he's doing it here when when Hinata's exhausted and just completed a decent receive and for once, not actually asking for or expecting a set (it's a bit of a challenge too: i'm finally giving you this but when you're in a terrible condition, do you still want it?; it's a bit of a plea: won't you show me again? that you'll try for volleyball, that you won't give up no matter how tired, no matter how hard?)

Back to the present moment, it's in some ways the same thing but upgraded, a measure of how far they've come that Hinata can make an excellent receive and Kageyama looks at him and says, nope not enough come here now and finish it, won't you? and Hinata does!! Because he will always rise to the occasion, always drag himself back up if it means he can spike and all of these are facts that are firmly entrenched in both of them now

Back then Kageyama could barely dare to hope that someone would ever be able to match him and now he knows Hinata will and look at the way he fucking revels in the knowledge of all that.

But there is something else that's changed too. Namely that it's not just the two of them anymore.

It's not just Hinata now that can rise to Kageyama's expectations, it's all of Karasuno. It would be soo easy for any of them to not jump at the end of the 6th set of the day after back to back matches but they do. All of them jump, all of them are here now, caring just as much about volleyball and putting in just as much effort and the team as a whole is in sync, they're all united in this desire and it's a measure of how far they've all come together too.

And with the look at the end,

I think it's one part that they just completed something really cool and with each other so they're like reveling in the moment together but also one part that Kageyama sees Hinata fall and he realizes what's happening before everyone else does because he already suspected Hinata's sick and because he's got this uncanny knack for reading Hinata.

I think that covered everything about my thoughts on that panel. I hope this was what you were looking for, if it's not , feel free to send another ask clarifying like I said before. Also this ask gave me a much appreciated excuse to reread the Komamedai ask so thanks for that, anon.

[toas-tea]

20 questions for fic writers

Hello. It's your girl and local toaster oven.

I was tagged by @fandomsbyladymelodrama uhh this is like the first post I've made on tumblr since forever so pls forgive.

How many works do you have on AO3? 18

What's your total AO3 word count? 106,955

What fandoms do you write for? A lot of GoT (Game of Thrones), A few for Arcane, and just recently FF7 (Final Fantasy 7).

What are your top 5 fics by kudos? imperfect, paradox, pragma, dunamis, x bombs x bullets.

Do you respond to comments?

What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? I don't think there is any. They all have a happy/hopeful ending because I know nothing else.

What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? All of them, lul.

Do you get hate on fics? The only hate I received was recently and it's not even real hate. It was just a bot-generated guest comment. I was disappointed and my day was ruined. How dare no one hate me.

Do you write smut? No because there are so many other folks who write it better than I ever could so I just mooch off of them like I'm at a five-star restaurant (thank you for the food, besties)

Do you write crossovers? No.

Have you ever had a fic stolen? PFFFFFFFF-

Have you ever had a fic translated? Not that I'm aware of.

Have you ever co-written a fic before? I have no idea if that one fic I wrote based off of @salzrand's art with the guitar counts.

What's your all-time favorite ship? Jorleesi (GoT) got me back into fanfic writing so I'ma have to go with them. Tsengru (FF7) is def a close second.

What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? I plead the fifth.

What are your writing strengths? Memes.

What are your writing weaknesses? Writing.

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? *Angry Valyrian noises*

First fandom you wrote for? If we wanna go way way back to my 14 year-old tween self, KHR (Katekyo Hitman Reborn).

Favorite fic you've written? Gotta be Paradox. Thanks to the lovely and talented writers behind GoT, I was at my lowest point post 8x03 like many others. The trauma motivated me start typing away for the first time in over a decade since my last fic on FF.net. Personally, I don't think it's my greatest piece, but it's definitely one that came from the deepest pit of my soul and jumpstarted everything for me on AO3.

[spurious]

Fic Writer 20 Questions

Thank you for the tag, @wonkyelk & @sga-owns-my-soul!

How many works do you have on AO3?

103, a number which recently shot up due to me posting all of my random tumblr ficlets to my AO3 account lmao. Previously it was, like, 70.

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

267,356

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Currently it's pretty much all SGA all the time over here. I am enjoying dabbling in Genshin when the mood strikes though, love the yuripeans <3

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Twenty Questions

Ink and Wings

Five Times Rodney (and John) Visit the Millers

Solitary in a Wide Flat Space

Abercrombie & Rodney

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

Yes! I try to, at least, though sometimes my responses are painfully delayed. I like hearing what people think about a story, I want them to know their comments are loved and appreciated, and sometimes you end up getting into a discussion like back in the Good Old Days on LJ.

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Man I really do not write a ton of stuff that doesn’t end happily /just went through all my fics

Angstiest ending of things I've posted is probably either the Kanjani superheroes AU or the apocalypse akame fic? Has my tolerance for writing lengthy angst lessened with age?

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

As I said above, most of my stuff seems to have relatively happy endings. If I were to pick I might say O I Think We Should Be Brethren, because it takes the longest and hardest journey to the ending, which makes it feel more impactful to me.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I got one "hate" comment on the Kanjani cannibalism fic from someone who thought I was sick and needed therapy, or something to that effect. Otherwise, nope.

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

Yes. I would say my smut wheelhouse is kinky porn with feelings, I guess?

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

I do not.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

I believe one or two of my fics in Johnny's fandom were translated into Russian and/or Chinese?

13. Have you ever cowritten a fic before?

Not to completion!

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

how dare you make me choose between my children

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

Story I started for a fic exchange in, like, god...2014 or so? In which Yoko kisses Hina, then hits his head and wakes up in a world that's just a shamelessly silly amalgam of J-drama tropes. Sometimes I read through the doc and go "man i wish the author would update"

16. What are your writing strengths?

Sensory description, wanky poetic bullshit, smut, scenes with no more than two people in them, banter-y dialogue

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Endings, complex plots, ensemble casts, scenes with three or more people in them, transitions, being a complete baby about taking criticism, endings, endings

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

I don't see a reason for it? You either need to add a gloss with a translation (if your POV character and audience are intended to understand it), at which point you may as well just write "Screw you, McKay," Zelenka said in Czech; or you want it to be incomprensible to the reader, at which point you may as well just write Zelenka muttered something in Czech as he stomped away. If your reader happens to understand the language you've written in and you're not confident in it, they'll be annoyed by the weird grammar you've gotten from google translating it, and even if you are, you're losing the effect of someone having said something that your POV character shouldn't understand.

......................apparently I have an Opinion on this? who knew.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Cardcaptor Sakura, when I was like 13? I may have posted it on FF.net but if there's a god it's been lost to the sands of time. I do not think it was very good.

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

Shouldn't be surprising at this point for me to pick O I Think We Should Be Brethren for this, right? I just think it's neat.

Tagging (I've seen this one circulate a fair bit so apologies if you've been multiple-tagged): @audioletter @sparrowsarus @texasdreamer01 @luredin @alienfuckeronmain

[snowfolly]

✨WIP Whenever✨

Thank you so much for the tag @ollysoxisfree! — Olly tagged me 5ever ago and I've just not gotten back to my neglected tumblr 🥲

Here is a WIP from chapter 8 of Endlessly (I haven’t even posted chapter 7 yet omg 😂)

-

“So that’s that! Like I said before, everyone in the camp is infatuated with you! The whole of Toril watches you in awe, so it seems. Go on, find another to please you. Take your pick, just leave me the shirt as I’ve only got the one,” Astarion growled, crossing his arms over his bare chest as he grit his teeth, willing himself not to break down into a wailing mess in front of her.

Her.

The silence was awful, and when had it had gotten so damned cold? He realized that if he was cold then Tali must have been freezing. But why did he care? Gods and devils cared not about him, not one person he could remember ever gave a shit about him — so why should he care about anyone other than himself?

“So go on! Just go.”

“Gods, you’re a fuckin’ idiot, Astarion, if you think I’m going to walk away from you because you told me the truth. Do you think so little of me?”

Astarion thought too much of her, really.

He swallowed, the taste of her blood still lingering in his mouth as he bit his lower lip.

“I am well aware by your former reactions that you don’t want my pity, and I’ll not dare show it to you, or touch you — but just know that you didn’t deserve any of that. You didn’t, and I want to gut that motherfucker from balls to brains with you. That’s all I’ll say about it, unless you want me to say that I’m sorry?”

He didn't.

Astarion lay in silence, not daring to look in her direction as his eyes brimmed with tears. Fucking bard. Fucking stupid, wonderful bard. He had no idea what to say or how to continue the conversation, and for the life of him, he could not fathom why in the hells Taliesin was staying…

“If you don’t want me here, though, I’ll leave you be,” Tali said, making to take off Astarion’s shirt when he sat up. He didn’t want her to leave. He didn’t want to talk to her anymore, but he sure as hells didn’t want her to leave.

“Don’t go,” he managed, wanting to grab for her hand but restraining himself. He couldn't touch her, he wanted to… but he just couldn’t. He couldn’t even look at her. But gods, he did not want her to leave.

He was so utterly broken.

“I just want you to stay with me tonight.”

-

PS: I’ve been super super busy lately - birthdays, a wedding, a multi-day funeral, and all the social obligations that come with those things (good and bad!) - but I’ve got a LOT of wips (some of them are 90% finished), as well as two commissions that are almost done as well — I can’t wait to show you all! ;u;

[sonseulsoleil]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

I was tagged by @hmslusitania! Thanks Hayley!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

110

2. What’s your total word count on AO3?

483,852

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Whatever I am obsessed with at the moment. The last stuff I was working on was Percy Jackson fic, before that Heartstopper (and I WILL get back to those wips eventually). Oh, and Newsies is also currently in the works! Basically I have ADHD and I am all over the place all of the time. I'll go back to wips I started 5 years ago and keep working on them. What I've written vs what I've actually managed to polish and post is a HUGE disparity lol

4. Top five fics by kudos

- All We Do Is Run

- Let the Whole World Melt Away

- never saw you coming (and I'll never be the same)

- sugar, butter, flour (what a mess I'm making)

- stay in my arms if you dare (or must I imagine you there)

5. Do you respond to comments?

Yes, almost always. It takes me awhile sometimes, but I try to respond to every comment. I worry that if I don't respond, people will stop commenting.

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

I've written a couple Major Character Death fics, but they're not on AO3 because they were just drabbles so I only posted them on tumblr (also they're very old and bad)

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

hmmm maybe All We Do Is Run, just compared to the source material lmao

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I have a couple times. Mostly on fics where I've introduced OCs, which sucks.

9. Do you write smut?

Yes, sometimes. But I don't post it. I write it for myself and will maybe share it with friends if they're interested.

10. Craziest crossover?

I've never written a proper crossover. I'll write AUs where I take the characters of Property A and put them into the story of Property B, but I've never written a true crossover where characters of two properties interact.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Nope, but I've definitely had fic concepts stolen. Which sounds petty, but I've made posts about fics I'm working on and had people take them and write their own fics with the same details I mentioned and it's like. Not plagiarism exactly and it's impossible to own ideas, really, but it does rub me the wrong way.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

A couple times! It's very cool!

13. Have you ever Co-written a fic?

I tried once a long time ago and it went poorly. Turns out I am not a very good collaborator sometimes.

14. All time favourite ship?

I don't--you want me to pick ONE?! are you kidding lol

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

I have SO MANY. There's a Star Trek fic I've been working on off and on since Beyond came out. There's my mermaid!Buck 911 fic. There's my current Heartstopper fic. There's my PJO Anastasia fic. There's my angst canon divergence Psych fic. My google drive is a graveyard of partially written stories begging to see the light of day.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Dialogue

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Finishing things, clearly.

18. Thoughts on dialogue in another language?

Depends wildly. I've written this in some Heartstopper fics, because Nick speaks French. And I had a friend who is fluent in French help me get it right. I think when people take the time to find a fluent speaker to help them or are fluent themselves, it's fine and good. And when people are just using google translate, it shows. Also, obviously, being bilingual has to make sense for the character. I also especially have beef with the way people often write latine characters/Spanish specifically. I grew up surrounded by latinos and nobody talks like that. Stop it. You all know what I'm talking about.

19. First fandom you wrote in?

ABC's Castle. Say what you will about Nathan Fillion, but that show shaped me as a person.

20. Fave fics you’ve written?

All We Do Is Run (longest multi-chap I've ever written. this thing was years of my life.)

répète (the only one of my GMW/BMW fics I regularly go back to)

tin can telephones (it's all written in texts and dialogue and that was really fun)

I'm tagging @firstelevens @memequeme @galwithalibrarycard and anyone else who wants to do it!

[youmarin]

Carved Into Our Hearts | Minho x Reader!

A/N: Is The Maze Runner fandom dead? Turns out not as much as I thought it was (as I go through the Minho tag. There are posts from last yr so let's see if I'm not wrong). I watched the movies again after so long (I’m still traumatized by Newt’s death so that keeps me from watching them often) this weekend and as a result my obsession with this story returned. Whatever this is that I just finished writing down popped into my head today and I had to get it out. It is set before the maze so I made a bunch of shit up (I haven’t read the prequels so if we have more details of stuff before the maze they’re unknown to me). Also I don’t know how it never occurred to me to write for TMR  during my strong phase as a fan. It’s my first time writing for it since I know about fanfics, Wattpad, Tumblr, AO3 and all that - and I know about this since looong ago xd-. But here you have it. Surprises even me that I started the year by bringing this to my blog. And we’re starting with none other than Minho! Pls forgive me if this ain’t that good *covers her eyes*. Seriously, the toughest part was naming this T-T. 

Word count: +3.1K

Summary: After spending most of your childhood on a WICKED facility, you start to question your place in there once you reach your teens. This only increases when people start disappearing. Things turn even worse when you and your closest friend (and the boy you like) try to look for answers and come too close to uncover their objectives.

Genre: sci-fi, mystery, thriller. A dash of romance sprinkled there. It's angsty.

tw (Do I really need to put these if you know what the story is about? But just in case): Mental and physical abuse, drowning (?), death mention, cursing. idk if left smthn. 

You stared at the little boy across from you as you both sat in the small waiting room. Dressed in white, just like you, his black hair nicely trimmed covering his forehead. His arms crossed in front of his chest, he looked around, seemingly unhappy to be there. He noticed you looking, then looked towards the men in uniform that stood near every door and back at you. 

“Hey.” He whispered. 

“Hey.” 

“What’s your name?” he asked you.

“Y/N. What’s yours?” your big, curious eyes looked over at him expectantly. 

“I’m Minho.” 

“Nice to meet you.” Your dad had taught you that was what you said when you met someone. That, and to shake hands, but you didn’t dare to stand and walk over to him in case that would make the guards mad. You exchanged a smile instead. 

Then, the door to the lab opened and a woman came for you, taking you into the room. You looked over your shoulder as she nudged you inside and waved back at Minho. 

After that, he met with you in the equally white common room. He called you over to the table he sat on with other boys at the time of your meals and presented them to you. When he didn’t feel like sharing the attention of his new friend he’ll tell you to sit somewhere else and both of you would go to a separate table. One of the boys, the blonde boy, would stick out his tongue at you when Minho did that, making you giggle and as a result he’d grin before turning to his other dark haired friend and leaving you two alone. He’ll sneak into the girls section to get to your room sometimes, and you’ll talk and make up games. Before the guards made their rounds, he’ll hurry to sneak back to his room but not before wishing you a good night. 

As you grew, your relationship with Minho did too. You two were rarely away from each other, apart from when you slept, when they called you to the lab to run some tests or while you completed your assigned tasks - and even then, you’d glance at each other through the holographic screens and share a knowing smile.

The thing was, Minho had always been quite the problematic kid to the people who ran the place. It wasn’t a surprise when he reached his teens and got more rebellious, non-compliant and impulsive. You understood him, for each time things started to turn more and more suspicious. 

One day, you watched as he was pulled in by a guard into the common room. His eyes immediately searched for you, and when he did he smiled yet seeing the worried look in your eyes he hurried over to you. 

“What’s wrong?” 

Another one of your friends was missing. You had asked one of the guards about it, but they just said they had to take him somewhere else. 

“It’s obvious they want something from us. The tests, the stupid stuff they make us do everyday. I’m getting tired of people pricking and prodding at my skin and all the beeps from machines.” He said, and honestly, you were too.

“But what can we do?” No one would tell you anything besides the same words: what you were doing there will someday help the entirety of humanity. But what the hell were you doing? What was going on outside? And where the hell were they taking the others? Would you end up there too? 

First, you tried entering into the information systems during the time you were supposed to work on your daily assignment. You eyed the guards subtly and Minho kept watch for the woman who supervised you. You thought some of the others were staring at you while you worked but told yourself maybe you were being paranoid.

“I couldn’t find anything. There’s no access from our stations.” You told him later that night when he snuck into your room. 

He muttered a curse, looking down as he thought of something else. Then the idea popped up in his head.There was a room where you saw the men and women dressed in white gowns disappear into every day. It was labelled with bold, white letters as ACCESS TO PERSONNEL ONLY.  You will sneak inside. But you needed a key. 

Before he could tell you, the heavy door opened and a guard was pulling Minho to stand up from your bed. 

“What the hell are you doing here, kid?” 

Minho shook away from the guard’s hold harshly. “Get your hands off me.” Then he pushed him.

The guard didn’t like that, and smacked Minho with his baton. That was the first time you saw a guard actually hit one of you, “Minho!” you rushed to his side as the boy stumbled. “What is wrong with you?” you sneered to the guard as you noticed the small cut on Minho’s temple. But the guard pulled him away from your grasp and out of your room. 

Ever since that day, the guards grew more aware of you two, surveilling your every move and doing everything to keep you apart.  But Minho noticed how  fatigued you looked each day when they brought you to the common room from the labs. He frowned, worried and frustrated to not be able to reach you. You weren’t even looking at him anymore. They had done something to you. 

Finally, one night he snuck inside your room again. Since they had taken away your “privilege” of having the doors unlocked, he had to look for another option: the vents. 

Startled by the sound of the lid of the vents hitting the ground and sliding on the floor from under your bed, you looked down from your position, your head upside down and your hair touching the floor. 

“Minho!” you exclaimed surprised and almost smiled before your expression denoted your concern, then it appeared to go blank, “You can’t be here.” you warned him as he slid out from under your bed. 

“Are you okay?” He ignored you, grabbing your face in his hands.

“You can’t be here.” he followed your worried gaze to the door. 

“It’s alright. Hey, hey, what have they done to you?” He kept inspecting you. You had dark circles under your eyes, and a far look on your face. When your gaze focused again on him, tears were threatening to fall from your eyes. 

“I thought they’d hurt you, but then I saw you back in the common room and you were alright.” 

“What? What are you talking about?” 

“I couldn’t make out what was real and what wasn’t. I tried to protect you.” He didn’t understand what you meant. 

“I’m right here.” He tried reassuring you. “Don’t worry about me, okay? I’m right with you. I’m okay.” 

You brought your hands up to his face much like he had done earlier. It was real, he was okay. You noticed the small cut on his temple and brushed your thumb gently over it. Looking at him in the eye you smiled and he gave your forehead a kiss. 

“Listen. We’re going to find out what’s happening here, okay? ” He explained to you his plan. “And we’ll get out of here. We’ll get our friends, everyone out.” 

The next couple of days, Minho behaved himself, which got the guards and everyone pleased and as promised, he reached you again when he had succeeded in getting his hands on a key. 

You snuck into the vents and the corridors during the night, ducking to avoid the motion-activated lights placed every few meters on the walls. When you reached the end of the hall, you looked around to find the door you were looking for. Minho was about to lean to look when you extended your arm to prevent him from doing so. You placed your index to your mouth telling him to keep it quiet. Someone had come out of the room, the door locking after them. Thankfully, they went down another hall.  Next you were both dashing towards it. Minho grabbed the key and slid it on the door lock. When it gave you access, you pushed it open carefully. 

The room was dim litted, glowing a pale blue. There was more strange equipment inside, more holographic screens with pictures of people with records and stats at their sides, an entire wall of what looked like small safes, all of them locked. There were a couple of tables. You walked towards them as Minho glanced at the screens.

The table you loomed over was a smart table, displaying what seemed like the blueprints of a large building. More like a maze. You frowned, then heard Minho speak up, stealing your attention, “These are some of the guys that are gone.” He turned to look at you, confused over the discovery. 

“Are they okay?” You asked and went over to his side. Inspecting the screens, you were relieved to see most of them were, until you reached the last one and saw written in bold red font: DECEASED. You looked at each other, horrified. 

“Where do you think they took them?” He asked you and you turned to look at the smart table. He followed your gaze, “What-What the hell is that?” 

But as he started to make his way over it, you heard the boom from the door unlocking. Quickly, you grabbed his arm and pulled him with you to hide, cornered between the wall and the control panel under the screens. 

Minho crawled until he reached the other corner of the control panel, seeing a bigger screen appear at the end of the room, holograming a woman dressed  in all white just like them, who spoke to the person that had walked in, another woman. 

“How is the transfer process?” the woman asked. 

“We’ve reached halfway and have sent a considerable group already.” She tried to make it sound as if everything was going perfect. But the other woman, who seemed to be the one in charge, knew better.

“I’ve heard there’s been a couple of setbacks.” 

“Oh. yes. One-one of the subjects died this morning in an accident. Nothing to worry about. He wasn’t one of the brightest nor of the immune ones.”  

“What about y/n and the Minho boy?” You both grew even more wary, if possible, at the mention of your names.

“We’ve dealt with it. In fact the situation turned out to be beneficial. The tests we’ve run on her have come with promising results. Once she’s transferred I’ve no doubt the odds on her will increase. The boy is brilliant too, although he keeps growing more suspicious and uncontrollable ever since we avoid letting them be together. They influence each other too much.” She paused, thinking, before suggesting, “Should we send him next?” 

She considered it, “Not yet as long as he doesn’t create more trouble.” 

“We’ve been more cautious these past weeks in order to prevent any more incidents, but I assure you we’ll gradually resume to operate as usual.” 

Your eyes met, terrified. 

Managing to sneak out without getting caught, you started to panic once you reached your room safely.  Transfer? The image of the building you saw on the smart table was brought back to your head. Minho. They would send Minho away.

“Y/n?” He called for you for like the fifth time, shaking you a little, and you finally snapped back. 

You choked out. “They can’t send you away.”  Closing your eyes tightly and shaking your head refusing the sole idea, that’s when you noticed you had started to cry. What if you never see him again? What if he ended… You didn’t dare finish that thought. 

“Calm down. If they’re taking me anywhere, we’re both going. I’m never leaving you.” This time, he didn’t exactly believe the words coming out of his mouth. Judging by what they’d heard, they would send him to whatever that place was sooner or later anyway. Just thinking of being separated from you was killing him. Ever since that day when you were little kids and you had greeted each other, you’ve turned to be his entire world, the most important person after being separated from his family. He loved the friends he’d made here though, but it wasn’t the same type of love he felt for you. Minho realized as those thoughts flooded his mind, that you were more than a friend to him. He was in love with you. And this just terrified him more for what your futures would be like. A tear had managed to escape him. Seeing as you weren’t consoled by his false reassurance - he knew you were smarter than that- , he tried something else. He cupped your face as you sniffled, and you slowly looked up from the floor to his also teary eyes. He looked down at your lips. You noticed and nodded at him, giving him consent. Your eyes shut as your lips met in a tender kiss, as if he was scared you’ll both break, or that you would disappear when he opened his eyes. 

“I love you.” you said breathily once you pulled back and rested your forehead on his. 

“I love you.” Minho said back, “I love you.” 

“Promise me,” you started, “That if we get separated we’ll find each other again.” 

“They won’t separate us.” He tried again, stubbornly. 

You pulled back and when he opened his eyes he found you already looking at him, serious. “Promise me.” 

“Of course I promise.” 

“You won’t forget me.” 

“I’ll never forget you.” He kissed your forehead. 

The guards had stopped escorting you both away from each other a couple of days ago, but you still acted like you didn’t acknowledge each other. Minho had told you he would tell the others what you’ve seen and what you had heard. You needed as much help as possible if you planned to get out of that place. 

But one day all hell broke loose. You and Minho had noticed that it took them longer between each of the guys they took away. That’s what the woman was saying back in the room you sneaked in. 

They had started again. Today, Newt was missing. 

As Minho entered the room, you saw him throw a subtle glance over at you before getting to his table. “Where’s Newt?” He looked around, stranged. None of the boys could answer that for him. He scowled, standing up and so did you. No. no. no. 

“Where’s Newt?” He hurried over to one of the guards and stood up to him. 

“I don’t know who you’re talking about, kid.” 

“Oh, you don’t know?” he let out a dry chuckle. “You know, a blondie, about this tall.” 

“I said I don’t know. Return to your seat.” 

“I don’t want to. I want you to answer my fucking question.” Another guard came and tried to pull Minho away and back to his table. “Don’t touch me!” He punched the guard. 

“Minho!” you ran over to him as one of the guards punched him on his stomach making him double over.  “Don’t you fucking touch him!” You threw yourself at the guard that was about to hit him again. Another one pulled you away at the same time the other two grabbed Minho by his arms. 

“Let her go!” He struggled in their hold. They began to drag you out of the room going separate directions. You weren’t headed to your bedrooms. You knew what this meant. 

“Minho!” you screamed in a panic. You heard more struggle and grunts. Then he was punching the guard holding you. It was no use. More of them came. 

He was just able to grab your hands, frantic, before one of them hit you in the head and dragged you away, as he screamed and pushed and punched everyone in his path before he felt something sting him. The fight started to leave him, as his vision became spotted. Then his consciousness left him. 

You didn’t see him or any of the others the following day, nor the next, and the next, and the one after. They kept you in your room, bringing you meals you hardly touched, escorting you out to the showers, to the labs. They didn’t even give you tasks to do. Clearly they were assessing how bad the situation was. They sent a man to ask you some questions, wanting to know if you knew anything about their schemes. You gave them nothing and in return, they gave you hell. Only one thing came out of your mouth: What had they done to Minho. 

You saw him once as you got out of the labs, as they guided him out of one room to another, and you shrugged off the guard’s hold on you, sprinting and yelling his name. Drowsily, he raised his head and when finally your voice and the sight of you registered in his brain, he struggled to break free from the guards, yelling your name back. But they got to you before you could reach a section of the building you’ve never been to. 

You both had been put through so much, yet the worst part until then was soon to come. Given your uncooperative behaviour, they came up with the idea of giving things a twist, something they’ll exploit to their benefit. That night when they fetched you from your room, you didn’t know what was happening, what they were going to do to you now. 

They took you to a room with small compartments in which a person could fit, its doors made of glass. And there you saw him inside one of them, “Minho? Minho!” they had let you go, and you ran towards it. He couldn’t see you, nor hear you as he banged his fist on the door. It was a one way mirror. “What are you doing to him?!” You shrieked and then you both looked down, water coming up from orifices on the floor. Minho started screaming louder as dread took over him, and you helplessly watched and banged at the damn door, shouting for them to stop whatever they were doing. They were going to kill him. This wasn’t one of those illusions they made you go through before. They were going to kill him out viciously and you could only witness, unaware of why these horrible people were torturing you, why they were using all of you. They started to drag you away as the water reached his chin. You thrashed, screamed and cried for them to stop. And that was your last memory of him, and of you, before all of it vanished, ended, only to start again differently.

Part 1? (Edited 1/16/2023: Part 2 is out).

[phtalogreenpoison]

20 Questions for Writers

@myfairkatiecat and @nobodysdaydreams Thank you so much for tagging me, both of you!!! <33 :D

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

7! I don't have a lot, that's for sure, but hopefully people enjoy it.

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

15,936 words! Which is not that much compared to some of you, but I tend towards the shorter side of things anyways.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

So far, just the Mysterious Benedict Society and lately Bungou Stray Dogs. Which is funny to me because they are so wildly different. But! I also plan on writing for the Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern eventually because it's one of my favorite books. Nay, dare I say my favorite book.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

I'll also just list all of my fics, because I don't have many.

The Sweat Beneath One's Eyes - This is my Reynie as a Messenger/Executive what-if fic, which while I had a lot of enthusiasm, I was still new to the writing of longer form fics.

Fish Eyes - This is my Dazai one-shot. I love himb. He is quite messed up (but honestly not darker than canon)

Food for Thought - A Number Two one shot.

The Brightest Eyes - Sequel to the TSBOE and from Martina's perspective :).

I Will Not Be Swept Away - This is actually fanart of Sticky and the Whisperer, but you guys seem to like it!

Sweet as Cherry Pie - Moocho/Milligan one shot!! I LOVE THEMB. They are my sweet big guys.

The Door Opens... - This is my OC & Dazai one-shot. I am currently obsessed with the idea. I don't care if no one else likes it. This is my baby.

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

YES!! I love getting comments, but I mostly write niche what-ifs, so I don't get too many. I will respond to pretty much every comment if I am able. <3333333333

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

Probably either The Door Opens or Fish Eyes. They are kinda sad and angsty. If you read these, consider this post a free hug.

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

Probably Sweet as Cherry Pie. It's just tooth-rotting fluff and gahhhhhoaoodihfiods.

8. Do you get hate on your fic?

Not hate per se, but I've had a slightly negative comment before. I was still kinda a mess over it, but I got over it.

9. Do you write smut?

No. Just not for me! Also definitely not for MBS, and I don't have the will to do it for BSD.

10. Do you write crossovers?

I've contributed to some what-ifs on tumblr! But that's kinda it.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I don't think so? I trust that it wouldn't happen for MBS, and I doubt my stuff is appealing enough to the masses that it would happen for BSD.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No, but that would be super cool if it happened!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic?

No, but I did come up with a BTXT au on Tumblr with my friend @1001galaxygal!!!

14. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

Currently at the moment, shin soukoku. I LOVE THEM. They were enemies, they were rivals, to lovers, to everything. They would die for each other in a heartbeat. They bully each other relentlessly. I just ahiofewihofwioiomowiijedshnvgowoiwejroiweirowioefjioeewioioew. THEM.

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

I'm worried I might not finish my sequel to The Brightest Eyes, but I AM working on it. It just might take me forever.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I'd guess characterization, dialogue, and inner monologue/stream of consciousness, but you tell me!

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I can't write long fics like ughhhh I just want to write short poetic stuff, and even though I have longer ideas, I get bogged down in the planning and execution of longer fics.

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

I think I could do it but probably only for a language I somewhat understand the mechanics of (not like fluent, but just a basic understanding of how it works). Otherwise I'd have to do some research.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

MBS! This was what drew me to finally get an AO3 of my own and also what I initially posted a lot of on Tumblr!! I'm really grateful for all the support from the fandom I've gotten, even though I'm relatively new and haven't done a lot.

20. Favorite fic you’ve ever written?

Probably Fish Eyes. With Maybe Food for Thought in second. But OOH I really wrote some banger lines in Fish Eyes. LIKE. Please. Ask me questions if you're interested.

[thetragicallynerdy]

20 Questions for fic writers

I got tagged by @zombiethingy, thanks so much for the tag pal!!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

50!! I just hit 50 with my last kinktober fill, it's neat haha. Halfway to 100 XD

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

728,567. I write... a lot lmao. I would love to hit 900K by the end of the year - I've got an 150K+ fic that's unposted in it's entirety that I'd like to finish by then, we'll see if it happens!

3. What fandoms do you write for?

OFMD, UnDeadwood, Critical Role (Campaign 1), and Leverage. Mostly OFMD and UnDeadwood, though!

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

but don't you shake alone (Leverage, 817 kudos, blows my mind every time)

In Which Mr Sharpe Is In Need Of A Rescue (UnDeadwood, 252 kudos, my first fic ever written!)

i like to call myself wound (but i will answer to knife) (OFMD, 221 kudos)

every bit as feral (UnDeadwood, 178 kudos)

for my life, still ahead, pity me (CR 1, 167 kudos)

And looking at this list, I now realize that all of my top kudos'd fics are whump fics XD

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

Sure do!! I can take a while to respond because of the Executive Dysfunction but I try to always respond.

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

Hmmm. Either something from the UnDeadwood whumptober collection (I can't think of one, because I wrote them 3 years ago, but some were damn sad), or the weight of another unearned victory.

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

Oooh that's tough! I dunno, I tend to like writing if not happy endings at least hopeful endings. Three that stand out are 1) i will stay, if you dare, 2) i found love where it wasn't supposed to be and 3) Ask Me Anything OFMD SMAU - because they all start out or get super sad (bad breakup, character death, and character death midway respectively) and end super happy.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not on ao3, but I've gotten anon hate on tumblr for the ships I write after posting fic snippets!

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

Yes lmao. It is the majority of what I write right now. As for what kind - ehhh that's hard to say! I write a lot of different stuff! But mainly: smut featuring Jim from OFMD or Clayton from UnDeadwood. I write a lot of trans/nonbinary smut for both characters.

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

Nah, not really my thing!

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my awareness? Honestly I'm not a big enough fic writer/don't write for popular enough ships/fandoms to really be worried about it.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope!

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

Sure have! Three published, and another few in the works. I really enjoy co-writing, it's always a fun experience.

@askmeanythingofmd (ao3: ask me anything ofmd) with @yerbamansa

a grave softer than your end with @eldritchjackalope

i found love where it wasn't supposed to be with @lovewithagirl

@lovewithagirl and I are also currently co-writing a really long sad Jim/Ed post s1 fic, and have a few other ideas we're messing around with really casually! We co-write together pretty often <3

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

Oh this is a tough question haha! That I write for: Jim/Olu and Jim/Ed or some combo of poly ships with them (OFMD), Clayton/Aly/Matthew, Clay/Aly, Clay/Matthew (UnDeadwood).

Other faves include Arthur/Eames (Inception), Parker/Elliot/Hardison (Leverage), and I'm blanking on any others lmao. But those are the big ones!

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

Oh man, so many. I have a lot of WIPs that get abandoned tbh. The big ones are both for UnDeadwood - The Lighthouse AU and The Nemesis AU. Both sitting at pretty high word counts (50 and 90K respectively). I'd love to finish both, but not sure it'll happen. Maybe someday, though!

16. What are your writing strengths?

I think I'm good at adding in details? Specifically details around what characters are thinking/feeling/experiencing. Or at least I try to be lol. I find writing dialogue pretty easy, and I think I'm decent at smut and whump writing.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Worldbuilding my beloathed lmao. I find it really boring, so basically never do it.

Detailed settings are also pretty hard for me to write - I don't picture places in my head easily at all, so I basically do as little work as possible with it. Which is something I'd like to work on, because I really enjoy very place/space heavy writing.

Also conciseness XD I am a wordy bastard, and always write way too much lmaooo.

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

I've done it using google translate, I try to keep it pretty minimal because I don't actually speak any other languages and I know it's not going to be very accurate.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

UnDeadwood my beloved <3

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

Ooh, that's really tough. I've gotta go with i threw stones at the stars but the whole sky fell - it holds a really special place in my heart. (If we're talking smut, then probably we both go down together XD) For unpublished stuff, the long sad fic I'm co-writing with @lovewithagirl is probably my favourite thing I'm currently writing.

---

Thanks so much for the tag, this was a lot of fun!! Neat to look back, too.

I'm gonna tag (but only if you feel like it friends!) @yerbamansa, @dragonmuse, @yourlocal-charlatan, and @alfalfairy.

If you didn't get tagged but see this and want to do it, consider yourself tagged!!

[ohmyoverland]

Fic Writer Questions

Thanks for the tag @anything-thats-rock-and-roll :D

1. How many fics do you have on AO3? 26

2. What’s your total AO3 word count? 25, 570

3. What fandoms do you write for? Except for a few one-offs and my 3 Anne With An E fics, I write Lockwood & Co. 💚⚔

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

After Chameleon, an unbetad Miraculous Ladybug salt fic written before the actual episode had come out. It accidentally blew up asldkfjhjkl

On My Mind, a Detroit: Become Human rk1k ficlet where Connor can read minds.

All the Words I Don't Have, pure grade A Locklyle fluff

are we out of touch, are we out of time? AWAE Season 3 speculative fic that is actually an expanded version of a tumblr post I wrote after the penultimate episode of the series premiered.

wavering, my cot3 pining + character study fic. I'm really proud of it and I promise chapter 3 is coming eventually lmao

5. Do you respond to comments? I don't 😭 I want to but I never know what to say and before I know it, the comment is 2 years old oops. I reread comments all the time ❤

6. What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? That's tough to say for sure but I think every lessons forms a new scar ending with an off-screen character death is probably the most angst I've ended with so far.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? That would have to be All the Words I Don't Have again. Everything is beautiful and nothing hurts. And Lockwood writes some really bad poetry.

8. Do you get hate on fics? Not so far.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? I do sometimes, and it's not published yet.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written? Another Change of Plans is the most tumblr WIP I have lol. It dares to start asking the question, "What if the Old Guard adopted Adam Young, the antichrist from Good Omens?"

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? Not that I know of.

12. Have you ever co-written a fic before? Sort of? There was one collab fic I wrote a scene for but it never got finished. Someday I might post my part, because ngl I'm pretty proud of the Skull/Lucy banter in it.

13. What’s your all time favorite ship? How could I ever choose??? By bookmark stats, it would be Marinette and Adrien from Miraculous Ladybug. But cot3 (Lockwood & Co) and Superbat (DC) are up there too.

14. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? A better question is what isn't a WIP I'll never finish??? I have dozens 😭 Though one that stands out is an old Frozen fic I outlined in I think 2018(?). The premise is a canon divergence where Anna's death is faked when they're children and she's raised in the village instead of in the castle. There are two full acts that are just set up for a The Prince And Me/Princess Diaries-esque rom-com between suddenly-a-princess Anna and just-a-normal-guy Kristoff.

The outline on its own is about 8k words, and frankly I've considered editing and posting the outline itself before because it's detailed enough. This fic is actually a drabble I wrote to take place within my AU, but it reads canon compliant enough of its own so I posted it.

15. What are your writing strengths? Ideas. I am always getting new plot bunnies, always getting excited about the next great idea, always thinking about new aspects of these worlds and characters I want to explore.

16. What are your writing weaknesses? Dialogue and volume. That's why I write so many descriptive, very short fics XD

17. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic? I'd only do it in a language I've studied for a couple years, and even then I would want a native speaker to read over it for me. But it hasn't come up yet?

I do really like Superbat or Star Trek fics where the author sparingly includes Kryptonian / Klingon / Vulcan with a translation at the end.

18. First fandom you wrote for? My Little Pony, or maybe Percy Jackson?? I'm too scared to check my old accounts to see which came first, if I ever even posted the fics I remember writing then at all.

19. Favorite fic you’ve written? building glass castles for sure!!! I love the atmosphere in it, and the monologue from Skull. That monologue came to me in the middle of the night once, so I had to type it up immediately and build the fic around it later.

No pressure tags @sabetha @synestheticwanderings @abumperprize @lenacarstairspotterstewart @woahpip @flythesail @shizuoi

[theothermaidoftarth]

I was tagged by @gwenllian-in-the-abbey. Please keep these writing tag games coming, they’re so fun! 

How many works do you have on AO3?

3 works

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

56,829

3. What fandoms do you write for?

House of the Dragon/Fire and Blood/ASOIAF

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

I only have 3 fics so far and from ascending to descending order, the kudos count is: Sorrow, The Favoured, and Song for Evermore

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

Yes. I like to engage with my readers, especially as I’m not writing niche areas so don’t get very many (the reason I dusted off this tumblr a couple months ago, in fact). So I like to show my appreciation of their appreciation

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

Sorrow, sort of. It’s just angsty all around (poor Baela)

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

It has to be a tie between The Favoured and Song for Evermore — they have the same ending in the sense that both sets of couple have gotten together and have the world ahead of them

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I haven’t on ao3 (ff.net though…)

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

Yes. Non-explicit (not too sure how to answer this one, haha, I’m not big into the smut scene generally #justacethings)

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

I haven’t on my ao3 (unless blending book! and show!canon could count)

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No

13. Have you ever cowritten a fic before?

No

14. What’s your all-time favourite ship?

Daeron “the Daring” Targaryen x Baela Targaryen — I’ve said it before on here but they are my reverse gender Braime! And (book!)Brienne x Jaime is hands down my top otp of all time, in any fandom

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

Not related to a published fic (yet). But an ASOIAF au where Brienne of Tarth was born into House Baratheon, canonical blonde looks and all. I’m a massive Brienne fan and I wanted to see what would happen if I took her and made her one of the foremost ladies in the realm, in the public eye even more than other noble ladies due to being the king’s sister after Robert’s Rebellion. And how I could do it while retaining as much of her canon personality as possible, and incorporating the inevitable butterfly effects of a blonde Baratheon girl born while Aerys was on the throne. Such fun. I have about a third of it written and sort of know how I want to finish it but I’ve stalled majorly on the middle parts of the story — the butterfly effects are quite something to wrangle through and make a reasonable, logical plot out of. As such it’s been sitting in my notes for about two years (long before HoTD aired which I mention as some people in-world in the fic believe Brienne is a bastard and she’s compared to the Strong boys — she’s one hundred percent trueborn but genetics just kinda let her down: she looks like a blend of various relatives, and does look like her parents but, aside from eye colour, build and height, the resemblance is subtle and overlooked by most). It was originally supposed to be a oneshot (story of my life). Something tells me I should just write and post that oneshot but I do like the expanded themes that I’m able to explore in a multi-chapter (which is why I have so many unposted, half-finished wip multi-chaps in general clogging up my notes, and why I mostly write and post oneshots). Right now I’m working on a long oneshot which follows the basic premise but takes one of the Brienne pairings from it in a different direction to the original. So an AU of an AU. (The pairing is Brienne x Willas Tyrell for anyone interested.)

16. What are your writing strengths?

My character work. 

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Being concise. I sometime ramble a little as I get into the character’s head too much and so it takes away from the plot sometimes, from the punch of the dialogue, so I’m trying to improve on that while still keeping the gist of what I want to convey

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

I do not usually (as I’m far from fluent in High Valyrian) but if I was writing from a real-world language, I would give context clues as to what was said nearby.  As a reader I’ve always found it confusing and immersion breaking to see untranslated dialogue in the body of the text, especially if there isn’t a translation provided in the endnotes. So I don’t like to do that myself since I like to write what I’d like to read.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

House of the Dragon (ff.net is a different story)

20. Favourite fic you’ve ever written?

Song for Evermore. I just wanted more show!Baela appreciation (and honestly more depth to her as a character since hotd so far is not it) and I was intrigued by how Daeron could be introduced and incorporated while keeping relatively to show!canon where he hasn’t even been mentioned once. I wondered why that was in-world, and how things would change if he had been introduced in s1 — the boy described as the gentlest of Viserys’ sons, the one who was charming and kind but not a leader and with a dash of darkness beneath the surface, pulled out when those he loves are in danger. What were the family dynamics at play around him, both in the Red Keep and Oldtown? How would his presence potentially change things? 

Add in my love of crack/rare pairs and my idea (and word count, haha) snowballed from there. I didn’t incorporate or fully develop every idea or headcanon I had as I’m saving that for other Baela fics, in particular another Baela/Daeron fic and I didn’t want to be too repetitive (though since they are in a hinge poly with Aemond in the other one, things are already quite different there, that’s for sure).

Tagging: @richardsthirdnipple @mejcinta @daylander1000

I’m not sure who else writes on ao3 who hasn’t been tagged already by another mutual (which happens so much with tag games, so I never know who to tag, haha) but whoever hasn’t been and wants to participate, feel free to tag me in your post! 

[beej-juicy]

Tumblr is eating my tags so I figured I'd post on ao3

Beetlejuice x you

Snippet:

“If you aren’t topless in thirty seconds, I’m breaking shit.”

The Deetz family asked you to housesit for them. Adam and Barbara would be there to reign in Beetlejuice, but Charles knew he liked you best.

Of course, they hadn’t figured out why yet.

It had nothing to do with the fact that two weeks ago you rode his cock for the first time.

Nope, nothing to do with that.

Last time he’d made demands, you weren’t tipping the pizza delivery guy fast enough so he broke one of Delia’s favorite wine glasses and then fucked you on the kitchen counter.

Considering this, you were frantic to follow orders now. Trying to glue that thin glass back together had not been easy. Thankfully, Beetlejuice offered to use his powers to fix it…for a price. Your knees were bruised from how long he kept you on them.

Slipping the shirt off, Beetlejuice watches with a hungry expression. His jaw tightens when he notices you’re not wearing a bra. Calmly leaning against the dining room wall, he licks his lower lip, pretends he isn’t gawking.

“The pants. Unbutton them.” At his words, you gape at him. “Now would be ideal, toots.”

You’d worn a red lace thong…maybe in hopes he’d see it…but now your nerves got the better of you and you hope he just gets distracted and rips the clothes off instead of making you a spectacle.

No such luck.

He hums, two steps forward, inspecting. Index finger hooking under the elastic band on your right hip.

“Now, what’ve we got here?” A hand grips your hip, yanking the jeans down slightly to reveal the bright red fabric. “Well fuck me…you came prepared. Oooh, look at you.” The glee on his face is gone moments later. “Strip.”

You want to protest, but you’re kind of turned on by the proximity. His gaze is alluring.

“Slow down,” he urges when you grab at the jeans and start removing them. “Let me take you in.”

As you undress, he walks around you like a predator. There’s a low rumble in this throat and you swear he’s growling.

Naked except the thong, you peer over your shoulder to see him ogling at your ass.

Two swift movements and he’s got you bent at the hips, pinned against the dining room table where Delia hosts all her dinner parties. You feel filthy. You love it.

Beetlejuice is hard and he makes sure to let you know by grinding himself against your ass.

Seconds feel like minutes from the time he unzips to when you feel him rubbing the head of his cock against your cunt.

“God, please…” you huff out.

“No Gods here, darlin’.” His gruff voice is against your ear as he shifts the thong to the side, shoves himself inside with no prep.

The stretch is painful yet glorious, the way he says your name burned into your memory. You can feel his facial hair against your back as he lolls his head forward, grumbling about how wet you are, how he’s not going to last, how you should’ve never agreed to this weeks ago.

“You better get off before I fill you up, princess. Else you’re not cumming all night.”

It’s a threat you know he’ll follow through with. He has before.

A race to the finish always gives you a bit of a jolt. Being caught does also, but not by the Maitlands.

The slam above startles you, but Beetlejuice grips your neck, forces you back against him, groans when his hand cups your ass cheek.

“Those deadbeats are doing another aerobics thing or some shit. I dunno,” he mutters against your neck. “Hey! Don’t. Stop.”

“You know this position isn’t my favorite,” you dare to groan out.

“Well you better figure it out quick, sweetness, because my balls are tightening and I’m not holding back.”

You practically weep.

He snakes his hand around you, offers a harsh finger against your clit. His rubbing is sporadic and slightly distracting.

Slapping his hand away is probably not the best idea but you’re acting on impulse, eager to cum with him stretching you so good.

He bites you - hard - draws blood. As you’re about to yelp out, his hand covers your mouth, breaths coming out as gasps around his fingers.

“I’m not fibbing, honey,” the growl is ever present in his voice. “You don’t cum - now - you’re not all night.”

He knows - he knows - the urgency always gets you. His thrusts sloppy now, hand still over your mouth, you buck back against him to catapult yourself over that proverbial ledge.

“Oooooh, fuck, babe. Fuck. Fuuuuuuck.” His thrusts are smooth now, hand pulling away from your mouth so he can grip both of your hips and slow his pace.

Your slick sounds are loud with every movement but the pace feels good, him hitting you deep and slow.

Clawing at the table runner, your breaths come out as gasps, quiet screams, praising him as your orgasm peaks.

Recovering and overstimulated, you’re shocked Beetlejuice hasn’t cum yet and with every thrust, he grips you tighter.

“Hey. Hey, no, toots. Stay there - just like that,” you hear him through the ringing in your ears.

Throwing yourself back against him again, you almost feel the edge of the last orgasm prickling still and when he pulls out to just tease his tip, you’re manic for a moment; enthralled by the sensation.

“Fuck fuck fuck fuck, slam back on me, babes. Slam back on me!” He cries, forcing you backwards.

The pace he’s thrusting into you has you breathless again and in mere seconds you feel him filling you up.

The sensation is overwhelming. Another orgasm rips through you. He holds you upright so you don’t careen over the table, his strong hands another sensation on your sensitive flesh.

Breathless, you glance back at him.

“Not a fan of this position, huh.” He chuckles, choking you momentarily before lazily pulling out of you.

“Guess I’ve just never been fucked proper in certain positions.” It’s a total bait.

A wide grin, “we can fix that.”

As you’re dressing, you notice the vase centerpiece is tipped over, a chunk missing from the lip.

Mouth agape, you realize you must’ve knocked it down.

“Get on your knees for me. I’ll make it worth your time.”

The devilish smirk on his face is hard to say no to.

[onedivinemisfit]

2022 Creator’s Self-Love Extravaganza

Rules: It’s time to love yourselves! Choose your 5 favorite works (fics, art, edits, etc.) you’ve created this year and link them below to reflect on the amazing things you’ve brought into the world in 2022. If you don’t have five published works, that’s fine! Include ideas/drafts/whatever you like that you’ve worked on/thought about, and talk a little about them instead! Remember, this is all about self-love and positive enthusiasm, so fuck the rules if you need to. Have fun, and tag as many fellow creators as you like so they can share the love!

Tagged by @bubblesthemonsterartist tho I daresay I am fashionably late at this point, more than two weeks into the new year. Did I forget? Maaaaybe. Which brings us right to the main problem;

I barely remember. Like. 2022. At all. Things happened, I’m sure, but it’s as if there’s a fine layer of mist atop my memories, stopping me from really seeing them. Last year wasn’t really very kind to me. For every up, three downs followed, and between two failed surgeries, a bout of covid, and then whatever the hell kind of flare happened in the autumn… yeah. Idek. It is what it is.

As such, I can’t really comment on my art as like, a whole process, this year. It just existed in the ‘now’, which is presently the ‘then’. I know I beat my submission record from last year, but it felt like a meaningless victory. Despite everything, I can feel it in my hand now, when I draw, that some progress has been made. Subconsciously perhaps, but it’s there.

Onto the ranking then! (I just had to pull up the archive cuz fuck if I remember what I posted, and when)

1.

*deep sigh* we all saw this coming, didn’t we? As much as I love, I curse this image, for in hindsight it felt as if all my creative energy for the entire damned year went into this one piece! Like how dare! But yes it is one of my best redraws ever, and more so than the characters, I feel like I added to the background something even better than the original. There, I said it.

2.

Omigod this entire thiiiiiing. Were it not for the redraw, this would be the top spot. I can’t explain, so many ideas are left in the brain for countless hours, days, months, YEARS. This was two years in the making, and never before did I manage to recreate something that had the exact same vibe as it looked in my imagination. Especially because I’m not a comic creator, hashtag compulsive disclaimer lol. Also while I was drawing it, seeing people go from “hmmm what’s this?” to “wait is that-?” and then “ooooooh it is the lead-up to The Thing” was priceless.

3.

A last-second outlier comes in third. I admit to making this in a hurry, just to have something really nice to show for december (a month which is usually a highly productive month to me, but 2022 didn’t let me have that either) and as such, since I was struggling, both with a deadline, and a lack of real inspiration, I feel like. I managed to improve, somehow. Call it magic, but this looks noticeably different to many of my other colored pieces.

4.

To be perfectly honest, this was a sketch. People might not think it one, for it has details, a color scheme, and even effects - but at the time I posted it, this was just a colorized sketch in my mind. Tumblr disagreed. And I was left in awe watching this first get reblogged within the fandom, then beyond, then go through a hanfu appreciation blog, and finally reblogged with a truly tender chinese poem attached that said person felt gave them the same vibe as what I had drawn. The people spoke, and I was both awed and humbled, and I learned a valuable lesson in humanity relating to art.

5.

Unlike the others, this was a conscious attempt at something different. I can’t really say why it should go in the fifth spot, but it does; i spent a lot more time than usual on composition, colors, and most importantly, mood setting. And putting characters so solidly into the middleground can be a challenge in itself for me, as I run the risk of getting storybook-ish. Which would’ve been disastrous for a scene like this.

Honorable mention;

Coping through art. @bubblesthemonsterartist has the honor of inspiring this, or like, being the one to “give me” the go-ahead to channel some of my experiences through the characters and story-telling in general. Back pain is something I know all too well, and it was well and truly therapeutic. I also got to do another test of “can I retell this scene, even if I switch part of the cast and premise?” And it seems I did. I will always remember @what-plant-metaphor-am-i ‘s tag; ‘# I feel like I just watched an entire episode XD’ <- never has my inner storyteller been more validated.

There, that wasn’t so hard! Sometimes I’m really thankful for the internet, and timestamps, and kicking my memory back into gear etc… anyway, since I am so woefully late to the party, I’m not tagging anyone specifically; if you wanna be fashionably late too, you know who tagged you~

[bisexual-horror-fan]

Bex's Blossom By Kate Winborne Annotations.

Hello, hello, hello! SO! This has been a project that I have been working on since August of 2022. I have been re-reading and annotating Blossom by Kate Winborne or @xmichaelmyers here on tumblr. I love Blossom, it is a fantastic book and when the hardcover update came out I just had to get it! So I did and when I did I thought why not write my thoughts out as I go? I have never annotated a book before. Kate didn’t ask this of me, I am not being paid, this is purely out of the sheer love I have for Kate, her work and these characters. So! Settle in and watch me scream in a spoiler heavy annotation of Blossom. Seriously I talk about spoilery things, if you haven’t read it and want to than please read the book first. 

I am going to annotate the next book After The Lamb Bites Back in smaller chunks as I go when I start reading it soon and will post them here on my blog so you can experience my going insane as it is happening! I will give notice and give this a tag if you wanna blacklist for spoilers! Now, under the cut, let’s get into it! Warnings for me being horny on main and discussions of heavy topics and violence and gore. (P.S. Food is a big thing in this book so I outline what I ate before and during and after my reading sessions to be extra.)

—

Starting at 7:41 PM on August 5th. Blossom Re-read of the hardcover edition. Dinner: Chili lime fish tacos with pickled red onions, salsa and chipotle mayo, drinking whisky and ginger ale over ice, snacking on while reading, salted caramel caramilk bar. 

What Kate wrote inside the cover is still so sweet. As is the foreword, so much love and so much excitement. 

Prolog:

The opening of the women watching their daughters in the park, still hits. That is the first thing from the book I ever read when Kate started posting and it still stands out so well. I want white wine and cheese now. 

It is wild how Kate can drop a fucking line about a throw away character, one we just meet, overdosing three hours later, someone we know nothing of and should not give a fuck about and are made to feel and care. Amazing, haunting, I feel bad for his son. 

THE WHORE IS HERE.

THE TREES KNOW MORE THAN THEY DARE SAY INDEED!

–

Chapter One

–

I love the description of us truly seeing him, it is so evocative. Also. I am weak. Professor Williamson, has such a good ring to it. 

Henry in the showerrrr. All of that is good but the man just going for it and getting off. Amazing image, ten outta ten. 

The man eating one packet of oatmeal and not even finishing it and whiskey for dinner while watching a nature show. This man. He needs someone to cook for him. I am that someone. 

The first sex scene of the book, Henry taking home a woman from Happy’s is short but vivid. A great insight into him. Henry is not satisfied by this encounter, to me, when reading it, the impression that she is seemingly so into it, so close and intimate, doesn’t make him feel comforted or seen, but rather the opposite. It makes him feel more hollow, more aware of the hunger inside of himself. This is one of the parts I kept thinking about knowing this re-read was coming. Henry is entirely unknowable, this woman and her illusion of closeness only serves to remind him of that. No one can know him, there are things about him that no one could ever understand and so he has to hide them, forget about the fact that he does NOT have the ability to allow someone so close to him or tolerate such vulnerability and honesty and emotional intimacy. What a lonely fucking guy. 

The detail of a single hair left behind that he curls around his finger until it breaks really stands out.

He’s got a new casssse!

—

Chapter Two.

—

The casual and consistent use and description of colours is one of my longest standing faves in this book. So effective! 

Henry shoving the bible into the nightstand out of sight? Fucking same dude. My guy!

The man packing the alcohol in his bag so fucking neatly to make sure it is safe. To then get drunk and pass the fuck out. He is not okay.

Ahhhhh this discription of The Town is so fucking good!

“-residing alongside the trauma that coated her tongue like honey, sweet as ripe tangerines, but bitter against the back of her throat like coffee grounds.”  I still think of this line often. It will pop into my head unbidden frequently.

—

Chapter Three.

—

Henry looking down at his medication with disdain before swallowing them down with cold coffee making me like, hey king you need to talk? Need your dick sucked? You know my number get at me.

I would eat at this hotel's breakfast. I really would. 

Blossom is officially here! Vanilla almond milk latte, as someone who has worked in coffee shops since seventeen on and off, reads as a very her drink. 

I have always really loved the description of Bethany. The detail of her avocado socks always stuck out. Considering the use of colour Kate applies throughout the whole book I know I should think of them being just the colour avocado, but part of me likes to think of them as printed with little cartoon avocados and that is cute as fuck and I love it. 

Blossom sees Henry for the very first time! God, the excitement I feel from this is far too much! 

“She wanted to crack him open like an egg, spool through his brains, his guts, burrow herself deep inside his roughness. As if there was a safety to it all. A home in all that damage.” The first line that really hooked me my first read and it still hits. It is a line just so full of, God, promise of so much shit to come.

Henry met Sophie and this time around, I feel differently about it just her saying that nothing bad has ever happened in this town is just, infuriating? On a deep level. Nothing bad has ever happened here? Really Soph? Not even in your own home? You fuck.

I am begging, begging the people in The Town to acknowledge the horrors in front of them as if I am Charlie Day in It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia ranting about Pepe Silvia.  

Sophie seeing Blossom staring and being like “Please, for once, PLEASE-” and Blossom being like “Ahahaha, no! <3.” Adore it.

—

Chapter Four.

—

Norman has arrived. He wants a steak before seven thirty. This man is an animal and not in the good way. Henry’s reaction is appropriate for once, I too, am disgusted.

Stop judging Sophie! The man BARELY eats, he needs all the nutrition he can get! Let him have his fucking raspberry pie and ice cream!

Discussion of the first two murders. Henry is much too excited by the prospect of a serial killer, which bitch, same?!

Henry going into the detail of the first real gruesome crime scene he was sent to like damn, DAMN! FUCK KATE!

Henry talking shop! About the pattern, how confident, talking about the killer being addicted, the parallels. Mannnn. 

PROLONGED EYE CONTACT!

Finished reading for tonight at 10:11 PM. 60 pages covered this first session. 

—

Wednesday August 10th. Second session. Starting at 9:20 Pm. Off tomorrow. Dinner: Peanut and sesame noodles with chilli oil and green onion. More whiskey with ginger ale over ice. Snacking on hot cheetos and a crispy caramel kit-kat while reading. 

—

Chapter Five.

—

Oh the HOSPITAL! YES!

Tv is on a cooking channel because of course it is. 

Henry just cutting the small talk short asdfghjkajshglakhdg, “Take me to the bodies FRANK-” And Frank being like “If you got the stomach for it.” Like Frank. Honey. You know nothing of this man. 

Henry being totally unfazed by the smell of the dead. This man is not okay. (This will be said many times throughout this.) 

Why, why, why do I love this passage so much? Talking about how Henry looks over the body? The image is so crystal clear. It is almost like I am in the room. Like I can smell the bleach as I look over his shoulder, watching as he inspects the cadaver below him, watching how the bright harsh lighting catches on the cold thick blood clotting between his gloved fingers? I can see Henry at this moment. Like I could just reach out and touch him. How can something like this be written in a way that is so telling, so intimate yet so detached? It is captivating as hell. Just like Henry himself.  This was another moment during my first read though that made me want to know more about him.

“Coffee, yeah. Thanks.” That is such a human moment that just reeks of reality. A phrase I have heard uttered a million times in my line of work and I can hear how it was said perfectly. The little details really make this. 

Shit coffee indeed, let me make this man a good cup of coffee PLEASE-

He needs a fresh body!!!

—-

Chapter Six.

—-

Man is so particular about his coffee honestly I love what it adds to his character. It says SO much by saying so little. 

Oh my God and Mr.Clemmington was a cook.

Henry hating small talk makes so much sense. What an asshole. Love him.

Name drop! Blossom James ooooohhh.

“Anyway, I hope no girl in this town is capable of such a thing…” Oh giiiirlll. You don’t know shit about shit. 

Henry taking his pills with leftover coffee with cigarette ash in it like SIR can you PLEASE take care of yourself even just a little?!

Henry, you need more than dry cereal for dinner. 

—

Chapter Seven.

—

Henry’s breakfast, coffee, cigarettes and fucking twizzlers apparently. 

Watching him at work is captivating. Henry rattling off what should be done and in what order is justttt a sickening delight. What a freak.

Ethan is missing. And Henry is a little too defensive. “I didn’t say anything.” Mmmhmmm. You didn’t have to. 

—

Chapter Eight.

—

Henry deadass like “We are looking for a body-” and Norman just, “Oh you’d like that sooooo much wouldn’t you?!” Uh. Yeah. Duh dude, he’s the worst. 

Ethan and Blossom went out, eh? Oooh boy. 

This chapter is short but so fucking gooood. I love how they haven’t even formally met and he is getting frustrated by her! The build up and teasing before we really get to know her is just so fucking delicous.

—

Chapter Nine.

—

The description of the hotel’s restaurant is another stand out. I can imagine myself sitting there, smelling the vanilia of the candles and partaking in the food, almost as if I can taste the vegetable medley myself. 

I love Blossom's dress, periwinkle is an underrated colour and the meaning of her wearing it here, tonight, during their first official meeting is not lost on me and the impact is strong.

They are sitting, they are talkING-

Blossom clearly has thoughts about Ethan. I can hear the bite of the way she says ‘Golden boy’ and it is telling. 

“Henry.” Whore. Him. Not her. He is the whore. Like call me Henry, the fuck IS that?! Asking her to use your first name? Mmm? Already so informal? Like a slut? Have you no shame?

“Picky with your food.” “If you’d call it that.” The TENSION! I’ve already read this before but I am still so like !!!!

“-he just didn’t fuck me anymore.” girl fucking say it. 

“Do you like me Henry?” I mean fuck how could he not?

Oh mannnn another masturbation scene hell yeah baby! Unlike the first one this one lingers for longer and it is good. The idea that he doesn’t even necessarily enjoy the act of this, it is a means to an end, an annoyance, it’s a mix of anger, of disgust, of maintenance, of hatred, it’s this balance that is just so fucking right. The idea of hating the act of this is just, so interesting to me. Not just from a narrative perspective, not just for the way it lets us into Henry’s mind, but because it is so utterly different and conflicting from my own personal feelings about the act. Not even the act as he is doing it but my own relationship with it on a deep and personal level, the differences between he and I, they don’t divide me from his character, if anything, they intrigue me further, beckoning me to know him. 

“The taste of her name as sweet as the frost-glazing of a strawberry filled cake, flowering in his chest until it choked him.” Pure poetry. Gorgeous. Perfect. Another stand out line. Makes me think of so much, the images of digging my fingers into a pretty little decorated cake, of ripping and tearing and splitting it open simply to destroy something beautiful, to mirror what Blossom is already doing to Henry in such a short time, to then just lick the mashed and sugary strawberry mixture of the filling from my fingers, just because, flit through my mind while reading this line. What is this book capable of? The things it can conjure up cannot be understated. 

Hot, hot, hot. Love he was still half dressed and just spills himself onto the sheets. 

—

Finished second session at 10:53 PM. 45 pages covered in the second session. Word count over 2K now. 

—

Such a large break happened because of me leaving my previous job, moving into a new town and starting a new job, better late than never, I am back on it!

Starting this session at 11:02 AM on January 17th, a Tuesday, I have the day off today. Breakfast was cereal, I am having ice water and no snack because I will break for lunch soon. 

—

Chapter Ten.

— 

 I adore the description of Blossom’s house, it is so clear that just like all things Kate writes, a ton of thought was put into every detail. 

More food, this reminds me I should make meatloaf again soon,

“Seeing the Agent made her hungry.” I fucking LOVE. 

“Breathing out with the softness of a flowering bruise, tender and hesitant.” Kate I simultaneously want to kiss and punch you for always doing this! You throw out just the best fucking lines so damn casually. As if we are roommates, I finished a long day at work, sitting at the kitchen table and you just stride into the room, drop one of the most profound things I have ever heard and then just waltz off back to your own space as if it were nothing and I am not left changed and struggling to contend with what you just forced upon me. That is what lines like this feel like and do to me. Does that make sense?

And here it is, another real heart stopping and revealing moment of what makes Blossom her. You just know from the jump that there is something more to her, and this passage makes it abundantly clear and makes you feel for her. While I personally have experienced my fair share of this sort of thing in my own life it is of course, like a lot of stories, different from what she has but my heart goes out to her. Why can’t Blossom use, abuse, and take from these men as they have taken from her? Why not?

This chapter isn’t long but it doesn’t need to be, it is honestly very necessary and I love the look into Blossom alone and at home. 

—

Chapter Eleven.

—

Man fell asleep still dressed and cum covered. What a fucking whore, what an inspiration, what a guy. How down bad am I, do you ask? So bad that I read this and my first thought was, “I could fix that. Fuck the shower, I have a mouth-” With all the coffee he drinks, his alcohol problem and the smoking his cum must taste terrible. Still wouldn’t stop me.

I love this so much. Having Blossom showering in the last chapter towards the end and Henry at the next towards the start and difference in how they do even down to the temperature they prefer, amazing. 

Back at the diner, another meeting, more tension and of course, more food. It is impossible to read this and not get hungry and also slightly nauseated at points, it is beautiful. 

“-reached for more, satisfying herself in front of him.” I fucking canNOT. 

I love any scene with them talking back and forth.

This is so fucking good, she is getting to him so easily and just how unapologetically she is eating. Also, “But you’re not sorry. Why would you be?” Might be one of my fave quotes so far, it stuck out my last reading as well. 

Interrupting Henry when he immediately assumes the killer is a man and her fighting him on it. 

“Don’t underestimate the rage of a woman, Special Agent.” YEAH HENRY! And maybe it WAS a threat. What are you gonna do about it? 

Invite Blossom to the search part apparently.

—

Chapter Twelve. 

—

I feel it is important to mention at this juncture that I cannot read in silence so I have on a thunderstorm in the woods audio going and it feels just totally perfect for reading this

Henry runs through the details of the practised lie of what happened between him and his wife with a shocking amount of detachment, but not that shocking for him.

Mr.Whitmore you should learn to like, I dunno, lie better. 

The cropped tea and pink bell bottoms is unironically one of my favourite Blossom looks described in this book. 

This conversation, the back and forth and talking about favourite colours, their characters really shine here, another stand out moment. After having read this once before Henry saying “Blue” and knowing what will come later, I had to put the book down for a moment, and not just to type up this annotation. 

“How old are you, Blossom?” “Eighteen.” Old enough to legally...Vote. But on the real again the tension in this scene, sharing the cigarette, the closeness, just THIS. 

A body has been discovered! 

Blossom admitting she doesn’t feel anything upon seeing the disgusting corpse is just so fucking good. 

Chapter twelve was fucking great, I forgot how much happened in this one chapter, a total fave. 

—

Chapter Thirteen.

—

Blossom and Henry are just lying to police now, alright, alright. 

Short but to the point, I enjoy the small details in this one. Describing the grotesque nature of the body especially was very effective. 

Also the forgetting a clipboard and letting Blossom write on his back, cute, realistic, adore it.

Course you can’t pass up a fresh corpse Henry you fucking freak. 

—

Chapter Fourteen.

—

The entertainment centre! I remember simply adoring this next chapter, I am excited!

Grilling Mr.Whitmore on why he works here occasionally. Henry you are so, so transparent and projecting really hard here. Being so critical with him being so close to the teenagers when what are you doing with Blossom? You woke up splattered in your own cum after passing out post-nut, post-jack sesh thinking about a certain eighteen year old blonde, remember? 

More Henry and Blossom talking <3

“Oh, come on. You can’t deny that…You don’t look at all these…Preppy, skimpy seventeen and eighteen year old girls and don’t think about when you were that age with the impulse control of a twelve year old.” HENRY! 

“No. I don’t. Because I’m not seventeen, or eighteen anymore, Henry. And neither are you.” “Doesn’t mean I still can’t look.” He is so fucking gross. And yet…

I do feel for ol Norm here but at the same time he really does need to let Henry do his damn  job. 

“We’ll see if the Coopers are ready to talk and resume the work on Monday. I’m sure the killer will understand.” What a note to go out on Henry damn.

A knock on the door? This late? Who could it be? I ask having fully read this book before.

I was right by the way, this chapter was so good and so engrossing.

—

 Chapter Fifteen. 

—

Of course it’s Blossom who is here. Obviously. Who else?

Naturally she comes in. 

Absent mom and a dead mom. Gotta love two people with mommy issues getting together. 

I find myself unable to pull away during their conversations, they are just still so engaging to read. That being said, “Why don’t you like white wine?” “I’ve always preferred something stronger. Something that bites.” Oh I bet you do.

She’s making the move, SHE’S MAKING THE MOVE-

The description of Henry here, hands up, not looking at her, trying very, very hard to maintain his composure and will and not touch her. Oof. 

They are kissing! This is where it all starts to really go tits up and I am so here for it.

“We shouldn’t be doing this-” Oh but you’re gonna Henry, you are, we all know it just do it!

He really is trying here, and he does make a good point, they shouldn’t get involved with each other like this but that is part of what makes it so good!!!

She isn’t wearing any panties. 

Man is done for. 

And he gives in! Get it Henry! I wish that were me. Who in this scenario? Like a true bisexual. Both. 

Just going for it and with no protection! Henry, you animal. 

His garden. This whole section is phenomenal. People could learn a thing or two about writing sex scenes from reading how Kate does it!

Kate’s work is just mind blowing. It is incredible how she writes the differences between Henry and Blossom post their first time together. For him feeling like he can breathe for the first time in years and her imagining becoming one with the forest, consumed with rot and dying like the way they view sex and each other is so intensely fascinating. It just so interesting too because I have felt like Blossom has, chest feeling scooped out and hollow and empty but never relating to sex, reading this book with just how different my perspective on physicality with another human from there's never bores me.

“RISE AND SHINE, ASSHOLE, NEW DAY! AND LOOK AT WHAT YOU’VE DONE NOW!”  That is just this book and Henry’s life all over, huh? A good alternate tagline. 

Ahhhhh a dream sequence and such a fucking good one! The imagery in this is immaculate, the one that stands out to me the most is the mention of Blossom’s hair in a high ponytail tied with a pink ribbon, so fucking good and so clever. Blossom becoming a literal monster and tearing him apart, what do you think it means Henry? C’mon, THINK!

Another fantastic chapter, of course.

—

Chapter Sixteen. 

—

He is making her breakfast. Also blueberry pancakes are in fact the best, I will not take criticism at this time. 

“Colour me impressed.” My gesturing to a board covered with papers and tacked with pins, red strings connecting seemingly random things and moments, “It all comes back to COLOUR! IT’S ALWAYS ABOUT THE COLOUR! DO YOU SEE-”

“Yet, there was still nothing ever as tooth-rotting as Blossom James.” I am punching the air!

—

Chapter Seventeen.

—

Her being so excited to see him oh my GOD. “I missed you.” “You always miss me.” Things that happen between me and my husband all the time, no word of a lie.

Planning secret meetings ooooooh.

“I want you to do exactly what you wanted to do the day we found Ethan.” Blossom. Have I told you lately how much I love you?

Also I love the little jump here. The few weeks and the mention of just how many times and places they have fucked thus far, they have clearly been very busy. 

Fucking right next to the scene of the crime, extremely risky but also, extremely hot.

This is all fucking amazing. The depth, the feeling, Blossom’s and Henry’s worry and doubt and hungry fervour for one another being so all consuming constantly. The question of how does this end is a good one to leave the chapter with.

How will it all end?

—

Chapter Eighteen.

—

Kate describes kisses in a million ways and I am here for all of them. Preppy and sickening or otherwise. 

This man smokes. So fucking much my God. Third read I should do a cigarette counter. 

Henry drinking and getting sloppy and good ol Norm comes to the rescue. 

Bro. Dude. Asking for Blossom in your drunken stupor is not going to help anyone or anything my GOD DUDE!

He is such a fucking messss.

—

Chapter Nineteen.

—

Yeah you forgot your shit at the bar you fucking walking embarrassment of a man Henry.

I’m part of the Abby fanclub. 

I really like Sophie and Norm interacting. It totally reads that they have known each other a very long time and I love the easy and playful air between them both very much. A joy to read. 

The suspensions are not misplaced Sophie, not at all.

Blossom comes by to bring a lot more than just coffee in this scene that is for damn sure. Norm is really trying to give Henry the benefit of the doubt and struggling. I think he is almost trying too hard to convince himself but as he told Sophie before, what else can he do?

Another great chapter with more tension. I am stopping for now to break for lunch. I am thinking of an egg salad sandwich. It is 1:34 PM. I covered 110 pages this round, over halfway through the book. This has been the longest session so far and the doc is now over 4,000 words. 

—

It is January 29th, a Sunday, it is 12:31 PM, I have the day off and the laundry going as I sit down for this session. I had a sleep in and a late breakfast of an open faced sandwich consisting of egg and honey ham with chive cream cheese and hashbrowns. Water and no snack again. 

—

Chapter Twenty.

—

Blossom is having a party and again, I love the outfit described here, it is one of the first ones I think of, totally iconic and so her. 

Blossom in the bathroom with some fucking guy and this guy, Kyle, God, I hate him. Hated him the first read, hate him this one too, what a complete shit stain. 

I hate and love how real this is. It is just so fucking sickening because it is so common and happens all the damn time and has happened to her how many times? I wish Blossom would, I wish she would rip his teeth out, or scream or something but I know all too well what can happen in these scenarios and why she doesn’t. God, Kate, stop being such a good writer all the time damn it!

This is the kind of part that makes me want to reach in the pages and kill Kyle myself. Reminding myself he is a fictional character means nothing because Henry and Blossom are fictional too, you know? But the feelings they make me feel are real, what I get from reading this book is real and while they aren’t real living breathing people, Kate writes them so well they feel like they are. Even if they are fictional and I am real and I cannot touch them in a tangible way, this asshole, Kyle is fictional just as they are and therefore can and chooses to do harm and the threat of Blossoms hurt by him feels so sharp I could cut myself on it. 

“Did you cum?” Kill yourself Kyle you pathetic rapist fuckwad. 

Mr.Whitmore why are you at a high schooler’s party exactly???

“Rather, there was a tenderness to his bruising touch.” Kate. Girl. I am eating this line. Crushing it up and snorting it, need it in my bloodstream. 

The drama of it all, neither of them can communicate properly at all like just please can you for once be normal. I say as if I don’t love them at their absolute worst. 

—

Godddd what a fucking chapter, so good, so much happened but not enough to feel like overwhelmed by it, you know? Stellar as to be expected.

—

Before. Technically Chapter Twenty-One.

—

The wife is here. Cindy, poor, poor Cindy. Love the pjs tho.

Siiiigh, you too Henry? I say as I read him about to force himself on his wife as if I have not read this before.

This scene is so hard to talk about but I want to talk about it, you know? Like it is very intense how unintentional it seems to be, he didn’t come home planning to kill his wife, it isn’t a big premeditated thing, also I love how real this is. How he is so comfortable, so sure everything will be fine and cares so much about what he wants or feels he needs that he has no regard for her and pays the heaviest fine for it, her death, being the one that killed her. But also, even though we see him leaning on booze and pills and the rest, the man is still alive, he still goes on living, walking free after he did that.

RIP Cindy, we hardly knew you and you definitely deserved better.

—

Short chapter but it is deff supposed to be, gets across just what it needs to and it hit hard and is insanely effective.

—

Chapter Twenty-Two.

—

Blossom got into the car and now after a short but tense drive they are having a conversation and this conversation my Lord! Henry is totally upset that Blossom is right by the way, she knows he likes how she looks next to him and how she makes him feel but he’s all “oh I’m so much older, my job, my station, my morals-” WHAT MORALS HENRY?

Also Henry has a point, Blossom James does have main character syndrome and is just constantly inserting herself into the narrative but she is fucking interesting as hell and I wanna see her all the time so damn Henry let her live!

“You know nothing about me.” Mmmm don’t be so sure Henry.

Blossom is again correct, you wanted to fuck her from the moment you saw her, don’t deny it you mess of a man!

Him hitting her !, her nose bleeding and her smiling up at him with fucking red teeth, !!, the description I never get tired of reading ever of her being a predator of equal conviction !!!!!!!!!

Like I could go on and on about this section just it is so fucking good! Henry’s complex and swirling emotional state consuming him so thoroughly and being unable to control himself around her! The conflicting wants and feelings and him being just thoroughly unequipped to deal with it all! They are a car crash I cannot look away from, nor would I ever want to. I stare and let the images of them tangled up in a gory flaming pile burn into my retinas until the fumes of spilled gasoline make me literally pass the fuck out. 

Me dancing in my chair as I read how Henry wants to kill and main Blossom, just a nice Sunday afternoon.

Henry saying he doesn’t want to fight her. Like I don’t believe you again Henry,

They are fucking in the carrr! Which like yes, hot, get it, but also, Blossom are you good?

Henry chasisting her over smoking, like, dude. For real?

Blossom calling him Daddy, him calling her disgusting and shotgunning smoke into her mouth, her being so fucking coy and pleased with herself, “And you love it.” Like yeah he does and so do I! Do it again!

Blossom asking him to the fucking dance! THE DANCE IS COMING! AH!

Henry of course you can’t go to the dance you old fuck but also her teasing him about going with a boy her own age and him getting so angry over it has me so amped, like the playfulness on display here it is just all a game to her!

—

I want to make this chapter breakfast in bed and then smash the coffee mug over its head before giving it a big ol kiss.

—

Chapter Twenty-Three.

—

Chinese food late at night in a hotel room sounds so fucking good right now it is unreal.

Okay but now I need a disgustingly detailed section of how exactly Henry eats pussy or do I gotta do that myself? I can do it myself! I just need to know, we know I can deliver it too. I just gotta think on it.

Blossom asking to get choked by him like girl you don’t know what you are asking of him! He CAN hurt you! He wants to! You are meddling in forces you do not understand!

Every little piece and look into Blossoms past is so fucking sad. She has been through so much I hate it. 

Must every guy in Blossom’s life suck so fucking hard?

Also the milk and honey thing coming around and around again is so fucking perfect and apt and slots into this story fucking amazingly well.

Blossom making him breakfast! I would eat what she made, it sounds fucking good honestly.

Another amazingly described kiss that is so fucking perfect I ache.

—

Another banger of a chapter my God I feel so full and spoiled during this re-read.

—

Chapter Twenty Four.

—

Why are all the suspects older dudes? Hum. I wonder.

Also Henry dressed like a total slut today, we love to see it!

Someone who hangs around the younger guys and girls. Man, I wonder who he is thinking of!!!

I could listen to Henry go off about this kind of thing forever, Freud or otherwise.

Stacy do be Stacy though that is for damn sure Norman.

Norman inviting Henry for dinner and asking him for a smile that turns out to be so unsettling that he is just straight up like nevermind please don’t ever do that again oh my God. Perfection. Hilarious. Whenever and I do mean WHEN, not IF, the movie or tv series or whatever adapt of this happens, that detail needs to be left in.

Blossom out alone with a bunch of boys in the woods and drinking, a horrible idea really.

I can hear the “I wasn’t gonna let them do anything, I was just playyingg-” in my head and it is great. Also sure, Blossom.

This girl will not stop running her mouth to save her life. You are gonna get you and Henry in so much trouble!

I don’t blame Sopher for hating Henry, man is always acting suspicious.

And so it comes out again! Henry I think you do have it out for Whitmore and I think it is because you see an uncomfortable amount of yourself in him at times and refuse to acknowledge it. But also yeah Whitmore is really weird, keep an eye on that guy.

Ooooof. Norman laying it down, like he knows what is up! He isn’t dumb Henry! “I hope to fuck I don’t.” Hits so fucking hard.

Man I do not like Sophie but that is totally a ME and my issues thing because she is right about a lot of this.

—

Another fucking awesome chapter, the scene with her in the woods and Henry coming by is another stand out in my mind I find myself thinking of often. 

—

Chapter Twenty-Five.

—

Henry finding the old pictures of Blossom on the fridge and wondering what made her so “hard” like man if you only knew.

God, the imagery you describe Kate everytime it gets to me. Reach into her brains and feel around, discover what is really wrong Henry do it!

The girl was just fucking waiting for him! Also the lingerie sounds cute as fuck.

C’mon Henry we both know you are gonna fuck her, just do it my guy. 

The give and take between them both, the constant fight and unease and just inability to just exist without conflict. Man do I love it. 

Blossom calling him daddy has me feeling some kind of way.

The choose to kiss me thing has my in knots just it is fucking fantastic Kate just truly something else.

The softness and the not wanting to be so vulnerable but being unable to help it.

—

Finished this session at 2:31 PM. Stopping at page 288. I covered 73 pages this time around. The doc is over 5.5K words. Less than 100 pages left to cover. The next annotation session might be my last. Excited to finish strong!

—

It is January 31st, a Tuesday, once again it is my day off. I have less than 100 pages left to cover in Blossom and I am going to attempt to complete the book and the annotations this session. For breakfast I had a fried egg sunny side up on a single slice of buttered toast, topped with green onion and everything bagel seasoning. No snack as I am planning on lunch today, perhaps mac and cheese? I am drinking a country peach herbal tea out of my mug Kate sent, “The Trees Know More Than They Dare Say” stares back at me as I put on more thunderstorms in the forest sounds at 10:56 AM and this new reading session begins.

—

Chapter Twenty-Six.

—

I don’t think I have mentioned it until now but Henry smoking Marlboro’s just makes like way, way too much sense. I can see him holding the classic iconic white and red and gold pack in his hand very clearly.

Henry staring into the forest and wanting to lie down and rot and let it all overtake him in many a similar way that Blossom has is so interesting. Also it makes me wonder like are they just this similar? Or is something up with this forest in particular? But then I remember all the time I have spent in forests and that they are just Like That.

Henry plays nice at the dinner with Norm’s family and I love the honesty of him telling Norm when asked, that he doesn’t give a shit what he thinks but what Stacy thinks actually matters. Good shit, consistent with his character and just an awesome detail. 

Norm filling in Henry on the ‘rumours’ and him brushing it off as just that. Henry is understandably very upset as am I!

Another shower, him gripping the sink and staring at himself in the mirror, again, reminiscent and similar of Blossom earlier. 

Talking about her perfume being on his coats and his pillows, and then this, “She was everywhere. Infecting him.” She so is! I love how slowly it happens but how clear it is here, how much she is burrowed inside him and has affected him so heavily, she has set up camp inside him and he isn’t even fully aware of how much she has. I am obsessed. 

“He felt as if she was the biggest mystery of all.” Fucking cut, print, beautiful note to finish on. Another moment I can see put to screen.

—

A fantastic chapter, seriously so many good smaller details, thoroughly enjoyable yet again,

—

Chapter Twenty-Seven.

—

This chapter is only about two pages but what a two pages. 

Two pages of Blossom breaking down after expecting Henry to reach out and him not, her sobbing, clawing at herself and drinking. The descriptions here at the end, of so desperate for relief you hurt yourself immensely in the process, willing to tear till you see bone just hoping for a moment’s peace, goregous. 

—

Ethan, or, Chapter Twenty-Eight.

—

Another very short chapter, describing Blossom in the cemetery and Ethan following her there. The conversation is brief, him saying she shouldn’t be out like this, him affirming that it’s not girls like her that are dying, it’s boys like him and him assuring her that he can “bench 200” so the guy will have his work cut out for him. Okay, nice attempt to flex Ethan /s. But this last line is the stand out to me, “-and Blossom let her head fall back, snaking her arm around his shoulders and closing her eyes, engulfing him.”  Phew. Truly a banger.

—

Chapter Twenty-Nine.

—

Oh my God this is it, this is the chapter, the long, extended dream sequence. I dunno if I am ready again! This part is so intense but so good. Okay, okay, be cool, here we go.

We kick off with a wonderfully descriptive scene of Henry eating, frantic, hungry, desperately trying to satisfy himself, right? Eating meat, drinking red wine, eating pomegranate, and it’s all fine until we pull away to see that he is actually eating Blossom. And not in the way we have seen before, we are talking full out, full on, raw, animalistic, cannibal style consumption. 

It isn’t enough and it will never be enough as he feeds and eats until there is literally nothing left of her, going so far as to consume bone, marrow and cartilage. 

He reaches back in and instead of finding warmth and hopefully more food instead he finds a nest of baby spiders and I get a chill every time I read this part ugh!

This image is the best. Henry trying to fight to get the spiders off, almost tripping and then Blossom, still dead, reaching out, catching his wrist and holding him there, mouth opening and dark legs of a much larger spider reaching out from the darkness just- my GOD. Horror, pure, horror, goodness.

Tea update, I have gotten so distracted reading and annotating it has now gone cold.

The dream shifts suddenly to Henry being in front of and then going into Blossom’s house in search of her, the hope that he will find her safe is one that I cannot share with him because Henry, awake or asleep she is never safe with you.

The description of the room in total disarray is fantastic and also again something that one can picture so easily. 

Blossom is dead and Henry is holding her and sobbing and I am FEELING!

Him crying and apologising is everything. 

But, it was all a joke because all of this is a big fucking joke to Blossom, even pretending she is dead all for him to discover. 

“Does it make you feel good? Tearing those around you apart? Destroying those that care about you?” Go off Henry. But also yeah Blossom, does it?

“I’m sorry.” “No you’re not.” - “You never are.”  Fucking snaps Kate. 

This moment still fucks me up, Henry realizing that he is dead on the floor, has been watching himself this whole time. 

“Are you going to hurt me like you hurt her?” She asked. “Do you want to hurt me Henry? Do you want to kill me too?”  This whole scene, this whole sequence is indescribably good. I wouldn’t want them to cut a single moment or movement from this pure gold. 

Words are failing me.

He’s awake!

The bitch is back and she is drunk.

I have read a few reviews that claim the work of Kate and this book in particular to be ripping off Gone Girl, calling it plagiarism, especially for this next part. Blossom, drunk and a mess giving a speech, a rant, going the fuck off about the awful treatment of men and expectations thrust upon her and all women and that just pisses me off. The reviews, not her speech, her speech is great. I hate that reviewers see a woman giving a speech about mistreatment, and the entitlement of men and look at Kate and her work and compare her to Gillian Flynn negatively.  Because don’t you know there can be only one book like this? Only one story delving into the rage inherent to the feminine? Only one book can have this kind of character, this kind of story, everything else is clearly a copy, a cheap imitation, instead of insulting and making unfair and frankly incorrect claims, looking at the broader picture. These reviewers look at this and compare instead of seeing that both these stories and many more like them can have their own spot in the conversation, and can co-exist. And the biggest point of all, maybe, just fucking maybe, the reason there is multiple stories, conversations, rants, characters like Amy and like Blossom is because what they are talking about, what they preach has distinct truth and basis in the reality of the experience of tons and tons of women and that is why it hits and resonates. 

Also Henry thank God you stopped yourself from saying that shit because holy fuck no one is ever asking for it ever.

Henry not believing female rage, like alright bud, sit down.

Blossom’s feelings are so valid here. The want for people who have harmed you to see how they have and understand it and share that feeling. It is fucking powerful, this whole section is!

“Would you kill to take back your power?” Henry, you are getting closer to getting it. 

The way I need this whole scene filmed yesterday.

Blossom’s got a fucking gun. The first time I read this my stomach dropped. 

This scene with her holding the gun to him is so tense.

Kate you could write about the issues with women only becoming empowered in media through abuse and hurt from men for hours and hours and I would eat it up. Oh shit, wait, I already have. I’d do it again. 

I like to think for sure a part of Blossom wants to stop this, wants to be ‘normal’ wants to love as Henry describes but again, the constant mistreatment from everyone all her life prevents that. How can she just swallow back all this hate and not let it poison her? How can she just move on from that? It IS like saying that they won, she becomes another person standing idly by, a part of the problem. 

Finally she falls asleep and the chapter ends.

—

This is my favourite chapter in the book by far. I could scream on and on about it more than I already have, the dream sequence I could read it and go line by line diving in deeper I swear to God. I gotta hold myself back in some places though. 

—

Chapter Thirty.

—

A hard and tense conversation is had once Blossom wakes up in the morning.

Henry keeps on choosing her, she didn’t ask for it, true but he isn’t unreasonable in wanting her to choose him back and some proof of this. 

She clearly doesn’t want him to go, but he does. 

She usually has cold showers but takes a hot one in an attempt to understand. I could never take a cold shower so Blossom girl, I do not understand you in that respect. 

—

A shorter but extremely emotionally driven chapter that hits the spot after the last one.

—

Chapter Thirty-One.

—

Blossom asking for some help with her photos.

Oh my God Mr.Whitmore you fucking creep. Yeah I will look over your photos for the end of year project, how about I bring a bottle of wine along?! You sick fuck I hate you.

She is eating once again, drinking once again, watching a nature documentary and wishing she as the wolf and the prey all at once and I am still just so fucking captivated by it.

Yeah those Barbie commercials suck, I’d turn off the TV too.

—

Chapter Thirty-Two.

—

We finally got another body hoooo boy! 

Again tied with a pink ribbon, again many, many stab wounds, throat slashed this time, leaving him to choke on his own blood. 

I afforded myself a ten minute break at this time to grab an ice water and make lunch, I sit back down with my mac and cheese ready to eat and read. 

The killer is being unorganised and cocky, in broad daylight no less?

A school ID at the scene of the crime!

A frantic call from Blossom oh my God!

Mr.Whitmore is with her and when Henry gets there he is dead and she is holding the knife.

Her sobbing about how she lost control is haunting knowing what we know. Knowing how important control is to her and this is why she is doing this, convincing herself whenever she is being hurt or used she is still in control it is like what happened? The tension!

—

My mac and cheese threatens to go cold at this rate because this book, again even on the second readthrough, is so captivating. 

—

Chapter Thirty-Three.

—

Blossom is in the hospital and Henry is there with her.

The girl has been really fucked up my God. 

Norman is totally a bit salty and mad at himself that Henry was right this whole time about it being Mr.Whitmore. 

Love Henry describing the motif of the pink ribbon representing Blossom, just, real good.

I really, really like Norm and Sohpie’s interactions, again the air of how long they have known each other hangs heavy.

Of course it actually happened Norm. Come on. What kid lies about that?

—

Another chapter in the books that I love, a big smooch for this one.

—

Chapter Thirty-Four.

—

We are finally at the dance hooo boy.

The theme of the dance being love, gag me. 

Henry is here like she wanted! 

Be still my heart she is wearing fucking blue. SHE IS WEARING BLUE!

It’s all like a dream, an actually good one for once Henry, a rarity for you I am sure. 

They dance and yeah all the parents watching on like uhhh? Hilarious, like shut up you don’t know them like us the readers do!

And they leave the dance togetherrrr. God I love them way too much for how bad they are for each other.

Back at the hotel, much making out and getting drunk together.

He wants to rip away the blue and bury himself in her pink oh my fucking-KATE! I love you.

Blossom is that girl. Drunk all like, “I wanna go swimming!” And fuck I felt that. 

Kate could write something just listing colours over and over and I would love it. 

Of course he doesn’t want her in the pool. She wants him in the pool with her, so she drags him in, naturally.

The build up of what you think is going to be a steamy sex scene poolside ends up with Blossom breaking down and man my heart hurts. 

—

This chapter is just so well paced AND well placed, you know what I mean, it is just mwah, amazing, very needed, tonally it flows so well.

—

Chapter Thirty-Five.

—

It’s summer, a month after the dance and Henry pays Blossom a visit. 

We get to hear some of her statement and mannn. It is just, fucking pitch perfect, immaculate. 

“I want to love you…So badly…” - “But?” - Blossom didn’t answer.  I am ripping my own hair out oh my God. 

Blossom is so empty inside, nothing there at all and so she instead of dealing with the internal pain, she seeks physical pleasure.

Okay this next sex scene, so fucking good, just I love the juxtaposition of the flowery language with harsher terms thrown in there, it is through the whole book and it feels like it sums up Blossom the character insanely well. 

“In return, Blossom gave him exactly what he needed, at the same time, taking exactly what she wanted. A perfect balance.” Can I get this line tattoo’d on the inside of my eyelids as well as marry it?

—

Chapter Thirty-Six.

—

Post fuck our fave creep Henry Williamson watches Blossom shower and I wish that were me.

Oh he is smoking less look at him!

“He wondered if this could last forever.” Doubtful. A nice thought though. 

You’ve been here how many times and you only look around her room now? Alright. 

Of course you go for her underwear drawer you little freak of a man! 

Henry finds an envelope and in it a series of pictures of the bodies, of the crime scenes but they aren’t copies, oh no they are originals and very different from the ones he has seen previously.

A delectable little cut back showing Adam Hall from the start going to the woods for a run and Blossom following after him oh my God.

—

And just like that the book is over. It is, amazing, truly a gripping read even the second time. I noticed more, picked up on more and really loved it even more. Blossom being the real one behind all this is fantastic, well played and woven without it feeling shoved in your face or obvious and reading it now after the first time knowing she did it was a trip! This book is fantastic, I could read it over and over and I intend to! It plays like a movie, I love the characters and it is just phenomenal. I cannot recommend it enough. Seriously everyone needs to read this and then review it afterwards I am begging! Kate, this book is just, ugh, so special and something so different and I am just totally enamoured with it and you and how you write. In case this 8.6K document didn’t express that already. Thank you again so much for this story and now I can’t wait to read After The Lamb Bites Back!

[hergan416]

AO3 (Writer) Wrapped 2022

Not sure where others are getting this, but I'm just aggregating it myself because I should have all this data anyway. I know how to get it and I don't write that much.

Alright! So far in 2022 I've written 25,107 words of fanfiction and posted it on AO3.

I also archived 12,438 words of Dorian Gray analysis, originally posted here on tumblr on AO3. (I haven't advertised this yet, but if you want to see the full tag archive it's here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/43362990/chapters/109003806)

I feel comfortable with this. Last year I posted 22,881 words of fanfic alone, so I'm up, and that doesn't include the fact I've gotten back into roleplay and have been having some SERIOUS word count a paragraph at a time, no-pressure, no editing fun between friends in the last two months. (Or at least it feels like it. I don't really want to dig through discord and/or tumblr to verify.)

(Did I mention 2021? Look at last year's metrics.)

I posted 6 new stories (2 One Piece and 4 Yugioh) and continued 2 stories from last year.

Of the WIPS I mentioned last year I added to Seek and Ye Shall Find, posted the smut addition to my kidlaw one shot Conquest, and posted 3/4 chapters of the fic that had been delayed due to my concussion (the only part that hasn't been posted is what I had started pre-concussion, actually). I didn't update "The Fic That Shall Not Be Named" but I do still plan to... When I have spoons to deal with the graphic design elements of writing it.

I participated in two Yugioh fandom gift exchanges, and had a blast. I absolutely adored my prompts this year, especially the Dark Valentines of Dimensions exchange which I hadn't participated in before. I hope to participate again in 2023, but have to get time to read the prompt list and sign up.

I've seen people put their top fics by kudos/hits/etc. on these, but that's not really what I want to focus on. I'm going to put my top fics by my own metrics, how I feel about them now, regardless of stats.

Heartsick Rated: G(eneral) Prideshipping (Yami Yugi | Atem/Seto Kaiba) When Kaiba finally manages to pull Atem out of Aaru, they come back ten years later, in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. This was an absolute blast to write. I got to play with Sugoroku's character, write some playful banter, and add in some Mokuba angst on the side.

Chronology: A Case Study Rated: M(ature) Prideshipping (Yami Yugi | Atem/Seto Kaiba) This was meant to be Kaiba's birthday fic last year, and I had to abandon it due to getting a concussion. I'm so proud of myself for not only having an outline of what happened when, but sticking to and with it. Granted I don't have the last chapter posted, but I have a fair amount worked on, and expect this fic to be finished early next year. The fic bounces across space and time, but only ever occurs on Kaiba's birthday, October 25, which is where it gets the title. While the fic suffers some minor continuity issues, the fact that I even stuck with a multiple chapter fic, even a short one is such an accomplishment for me.

Seek and Ye Shall Find Rated: M(ature) Chapter fic with no "main" pairing. There is, however, Violetshipping (Jounouchi Katsuya | Joey Wheeler/Seto Kaiba), Heartshipping (Ryou Bakura/Yugi Mouto) and unrequited Prideshipping (Yami Yugi | Atem/Seto Kaiba). This is my self-indulgent, Katakuri-centric Yugioh/One Piece crossover fic and honestly, I'm still super excited and stoked about it. It's the thing I have written the most for me of anything this year, even if it hasn't been updated in a minute. I do know how I'm pulling Katakuri out of Aaru and some of what I want to happen between him and Atem before I do. I just need to spend some time sitting down and writing it.

Thanks for reading, and for all the positive feedback on my writing. I feel so blessed to be a part of the fandom, especially the Dark Pride of Dimensions Prideshipping Discord server, the Truth or Dare Yugioh RP group, and a pair of small discord communities of One Piece fans. Thank you for being a part of my life.