#This was all impulsively written during the night/morning lol

[huskyremix]

Hello! I wrote a short fic on how Elios and Narinder first met, this AU doesn't even have a proper name really but I've been wanting to give more attention to my wolf-sheepy. Story under the read more~

It was a Guide's duty of the spiritual plan to bring lost souls to peace, to lead and corral them to the afterlife proper. It was not always a peaceful job, however, as there were beasts whose only instinct was to hunt the souls of mortals as their prey. It is unknown where these creatures come from, if they are made by a God's hand or perhaps the corruption of a soul itself. They appeared as a mix of black smoke, controlling twisted foliage to make-up their false bodies, their "eyes" typically gleaming hues of purple, or just shining brilliant white. It was, as well as certain other workers of the plan, a Guide's job to see to it that souls are protected and brought to peace at all cost.

In all of Elios' (short) time as a guide, the only threat he encountered were these smoke-y beasts. He has not, to his knowledge at least, encountered any of the God's that reside and run the other plans of this world. Yet here was one, right in the middle of a small clutter of souls who Elios assumed just recently arrived to this side, judging by the two overturned and broken wagons who had appeared to have crashed into each other in the Mortal plan. 

This God, a black cat in appearance, had a soul pinched in between two of his fingers, and with one unabashed glance at the sheep, he leaned back his head and swallowed the soul in one gulp.

"What are you doing?"

Elios tried to keep his voice steady, grip on his staff tightening. The cat did not answer right away, and lazily licked his lips as if to savor any remaining flavor of the dead he just ate. Then, he smirked. 

"Ah, you will have to forgive me, little worker. I was just merely curious, you see," He grinned, now, facing the sheep directly "What does a mortal soul taste like? And now that I know, I must say... they're quite underwhelming. No flavor at all... and yet"

"Perhaps just one more wouldn't hurt?"

"..."

Elios ignored the shiver that crawled down his spine, wool beginning to stand on end as it went. 

"As a Guide, and protector of all souls that may arrive in this plan, it is my duty to keep them safe. Be it from the beasts that reside in this plan, to mortal or even Godly influence. That… includes you.”

The cat gave a snort, clearly unimpressed "You do not know who I am, lamb. But I am in a good mood, and so I will introduce myself to someone as low as one such as you. 

I am Narinder, and these souls will one day be mine to judge and do with as I please! 

Kneel before the future God of Death!"

Elios kept firm in his stance.

Narinder's mood quickly shifted from feeling smug to annoyance, becoming impatient with the Guide's defiance to get on their knees.

"Did you not hear me? Must I really repeat myself? I said-"

"I heard you the first time,” Elios spoke, “and as I have said, it is my job to watch out for all souls. It does not matter from who, if you seek to harm or devour any more, I will have to see that you do not do so again."

Elios moved his wooden staff from his side to be placed directly in front of him and Narinder, gripping it with both cloven hooves, then slammed the base of it on the ground. In doing so, the three bells nailed near the top of the staff rung, just below its crooked head where a yellow crystal freely swung from thin rope, and now began to let off a fiery glow.

By this action, Narinder was taken aback, a warning noise building up in his throat. Then, he couldn't help but let the edges of his lips curl into a wicked, fanged grin. 

"Hmpf. Ha... Ha HA HA...! You are quite amusing, aren't you lamb... fine then, I will gladly beat you down until you truly know your place!"

With a yowl and unsheathing of claws, Narinder charged.

---

Time passed, and in the clearing dust of the battle between Guide and God, only one remained standing victor. Narinder, on the other hand, was lying flat on his back in the dirt in a semi-unconscious state. Elios was still catching his breath, but other than a few new rips to his already ragged looking cloak, he remained unscathed from the cat’s assault.

Once steady, Elios moved towards the defeated God. He peered down through the unkempt wool that covered his eyes- more so than the wolf-head shaped cap on his head- waiting to speak until the sheep knew that Narinder could hear him.

“Have you learned a lesson today, O’ fledging God? Although I cannot ban you from coming back to this plan, if I find that you dare consume a single soul here again, I will personally deal with you once more, and I will win again.”

“Now if you’ll excuse me, I must get back to performing my duty.” 

Narinder could only groan in response.

Elios lifted his staff and summoned the crystal to glow again, calling out to the surrounding fluttering souls to gather towards its warmth. The Guide made sure not to miss a single one, and sent a silent prayer for the one lost by the gluttony of the cat. Without sparing another glance to the God, Elios turned on his heels and walked away, souls following in the glow.

A short time later, Narinder begrudgingly sat himself up, his ego more bruised than his body. He considered himself lucky, at the least, that no one had witnessed or would need to know about the embarrassing defeat. Red eyes glared after where that damn lamb had simply walked off to, but there was no one in sight to feel his sulking. 

Narinder swore, then, that it would definitely not be that last that the lamb, Guide, whoever he was, would see the last of him.

[rileys-battlecats]

I really, really love your art and art style and aspire to have the skills like yours some day!

Anywho, what dynamic do you think other apprentices has with Mudpaw?

WAAAA THABKS that’s so nice :’)

I’ve written a bit about the other apprentices’s relationships with Mudpaw in the past, but to go into a bit more depth, I think it’s safe to say that their dynamic changes pretty rapidly over the course of the story.

Pre-Wrentail’s death, White, Puddle, and Hawk are fairly distant with Mudpaw. Not because they dislike him, but because it’s what the rest of the clan has done for practically their whole lives. Because Mudpaw is seen as an outsider, he’s been subtly (and in some cases, not so subtly) excluded from the rest of the clan’s companionship and camaraderie. However, after the death of Wrentail, the clan begins to offer support to Mudpaw during his “grieving process” (briefly touched on in this post and this post if you want to read a bit more about it).

When their mentors encourage them to engage with Mudpaw more, the rest of the apprentices begin to truly try getting to know him. They have a pretty rocky start (see: the “anger issues” video) but begin to bond more with Mudpaw as time goes on and they have more opportunities to open up to each other.

Before they really get to know each other, Whitepaw starts off walking on eggshells around Mudpaw, trying to keep from setting him off (since Mudpaw tends to have pretty explosive outbursts when he’s not being completely silent), but that only really serves to put Mudpaw more on edge. This resolves when Mudpaw realizes that Whitepaw was trying to be kind in the only way he knew how, and Whitepaw realizes that Mudpaw was interpreting his tentative behavior as pity for him and his situation. Things smooth out after that (though Whitepaw will always be just a bit gentle with Mudpaw, it’s his nature) (Mudpaw tries to take it in stride and remember that Whitepaw isn’t looking down on him).

Puddlepaw and Mudpaw tended to butt heads often; Puddlepaw likes communication to be straightforward and honest, and Mudpaw is allergic to being vulnerable with people and hides behind 1000 layers of angsty angry sulking. While Puddlepaw is usually cool and collected, certain circumstances can make them just as short-tempered as Mudpaw, and the two tended to blowup at each other in the beginning. I imagine they have a night where they have an explosive argument and then have a heart-to-heart afterward while star-gazing, and they come out of it with a new understanding and appreciation for each other. Turns out they have a lot in common! The next morning the others wake up and are like “why are you guys suddenly friends???”

Hawkpaw always seemed to be perfect to Mudpaw; she was the perfect apprentice that he could never hope to measure up to, and he found her to be kind of intimidating because of that. However, once she impulsively spills her guts about how anxious she is all the time trying to live up to everyone’s expectations, Mudpaw finds her much easier to be around. She ends up using Mudpaw as her sounding board for both her ideas and her worries, and finds out that Mudpaw is an excellent listener. Mudpaw finds himself swept up in Hawkpaw’s grand ideas and aspirations, and doesn’t mind when she talks about all her troubles with him. He realizes he kind of likes being able to focus on problems that aren’t his; it makes it feel like he’s helping, even if all he’s doing is letting her complain to him lol

[lover-of-mine]

Share your thoughs I love reading them

I will assume this is about my thoughts on the ways the date you're losing me was written recontextualizes the great war for me. This has a very healthy dose of *projection* as someone who ended a 9 year relationship earlier in the year so keep that in mind lol and please assume this is about some random she, I'm not really speculating on her relationship, this is just how I like to put the 2 songs together. Anyway, ever since you're losing me came out, I am putting it along with the great war in my head, but the pipeline was the great war into you're losing me, mostly because "I wouldn't marry me either" for me never felt like "you refuse to propose", it felt like "you gave me a ring to make me shut up about it and now I'm trying to plan a wedding and start thinking about our marriage but you refuse to work with me" because getting engaged changes the dynamic of a relationship, it will expose all the cracks. So I kinda saw it as "we thought the war was over but I was wrong" song. Now though, I'm seeing you're losing me as a song written in the midst of the battle. Like, a full on plea to get in the fight with her. Something you write during the "somewhere in the haze got a sense I've been betrayed". And I still see the "I vowed I would always be yours cause we survived the great war" as something that eventually grew into "you gave me a ring to shut me up but at this point there were already too many cracks in the foundation, so the more it went on the more unsustainable it got". I see the great war as the expectation, as a "you did decide to fight for us" but at the same time I kinda feel like it has this feel of at this point is it too late to save us? They're entangled in a sense. "I drew curtains closed drank my poison all alone" -> "now I just sit in the dark and wonder if it's time", "cursed you as I sleep talked" -> "every morning I glared at you with storms in my eyes". I don't know, but the imagery I get is like, you're losing me is the "tears on a letter", that moment of indecision where you're about to pull the pin off the grenade and blow everything up because you feel alone in the fight and you need to do something to be noticed "fighting in only your army, front lines don't you ignore me", and the great war is after the moment you almost set off the bomb but he chose to fight for you so you're giving it a chance "your finger on my hairpin triggers, soldier down on the ice ground, looked up at me with honor and truth so I called off the troops". And it's interesting the way this makes the fight get turned around, because it starts off with "fight for me or else you're losing me" and it goes into "that was the night I nearly lost you" because it became a "my impulsivity almost made me punish you for something that now you're making it seem like it was all in my head", everything stop being about her feelings and it became about her reaction.

[pepperful-qt]

hello!! i saw that your requests are open so,,, anyways, can you please make a hcs of kenma, kuroo and any other hq boys u like and their reaction when their s/o sends a video of them with i love you written on their cheeks? thank u and always take care!! ♡♡

this is so cute what🥺 almost went with Suna but decided on Tendou bc i just did something for him recently! & he deserves something like this tbh

Kenma, Kuroo, & Tendou when their s/o sends a surprise video with ‘i love you’ written on their cheeks 

*****

Kenma

you don’t send it to him in when he’s in public which he is thankful for

you do, however, send it out of nowhere. no special occasion or anything, which makes it so much more special to him tbh

you guys are video chatting while playing minecraft or stardew valley if you’re like me (or another online game of your choice) and you pause yourself and say you’re going to the bathroom or smth and mute your mic

it’s not really a big deal, so he doesn’t think too much on it and just continues building his redstone mechanism or w/e 

until he gets a notification from you

his first thought is that you ran out of toilet paper and he’s like why would you text me we’re not even in the same house-

but, that’s not what he sees. instead, it’s you in one of his hoodies that you stole 

you painted your nose and drew cat whiskers, with ‘i love you’ as the top whisker on each cheek and two lines beneath so cute wth

he thinks so too

it’s a short and sweet message, but clearly something you put thought into

but-

achievement unlocked! you broke him

seriously, he stops breathing for the entire video

he’s an absolute blushing MESS currently pulling up his hoodie to cover his face. pulling the drawstrings and everything

direct affection like this always makes him flustered. always

which is why it’s so cute hehe

he’s not much for pda or anything so you take your chances where you get em

little did he know, you were hiding just off camera where you could see the whole thing and you are currently 🥺

you just hear your name in an exasperated groan from the call

“y/nnnnnn” muffled by his hoodie ofc

you’re smiling like an idiot bc✨mission accomplished✨

“hehehe did you like it?” 

you still have the makeup on and his soul leaves his body

“why would you do that to me?”

“awww can’t you read?”

more blushy blushy 

he wants to hug you or hold you so bad in that moment like it’s absolute torture

and next time he sees you, oh boy is he stuck to you like glue. good luck getting him off you ever

* * *

Kuroo

you decide to drop this on him while he’s en route to nationals. you weren’t able to come until the second day for school or work reasons, but you still wanted to show your support for your bf, esp for something so important to him!

you know he’s the type to keep his phone on dnd or airplane mode while he’s on long trips, as he prefers to sleep or read in peace

and you use this information to plan the perfect surprise! you send the video during his trip so he’ll see it when he’s going through notifications when he finally arrives

you tell/bribe Kenma to record his reaction for you too, which he may or may not do

your relationship with Kuroo has always been one of teasing and banter. for pet names you call each other ‘babe’ or ‘sweetheart’ as easily as ‘dork’ or ‘dumbass’

so it’s very very amusing to him when you start the video with “hey dummy~” while you have ‘i love you’ written in red on one cheek and ‘Nekoma #1′ on the other

the moment he sees you this guy has the biggest stupidest grin on his face. not even in a smug or cocky way, just completely lovestruck

he’s doing that thing where he covers part of his face with his hand and shakes his head a little bc he finds you so adorable

the video is actually really sweet with you hoping he got to the inn safely and wishing him good luck, and promising him a special kiss if he wins so you can see him play the second day

talk about motivation ammirite ;)

and your surprise works; he’s totally caught off guard

by the end of the video the genuine grin definitely turned devious lol, and he’s not one to blush easily, but you definitely got him a lil bit

some of his teammates heard a very ominous giggle from their captain, and his expression is even more disturbing

no one who asks is allowed to see, you're for his eyes only, but he does brag about the wonderful video his s/o sent him

excuses himself immediately so he can facetime you

if you’re still wearing it he just starts laughing again, and try as he might he can’t stop smiling

says some stupid cocky playful line

“hey baby, you got something you wanna tell me?” or “looks like you can’t contain your love for me” smh

partially scolds you for trying to catch him off guard (in public) 

“i love you too but you’ll regret that” etc

okay this mf is suggestive af fill in the rest

you better be looking forward to more than just a kiss when he sees you is all i’m saying

* * * 

Tendou

happens at like 1-2am on a school night when you’re both texting memes back and forth bc you enable each other

and tbh you’re feeling a bit delirious,, like at this point you’re actually laughing irl at the stupidest things he sends and muttering to yourself

so once the idea pops into your head your impulse control may as well not exist

he doesn’t really notice your absence too much, just keeps sending da memes. in fact he’s spamming so much he doesn’t even notice what you do send LOL

so you’re sitting there like 👉👈 waiting for him to react,, until eventually you’re like: ‘hellooo?? did you see what i sent??’

LEAVES YOU ON READ LMAOO before a keyboard smash and then silence

bc he is freaking out

like Kenma’s, it’s a cute, sweet message where you’re just gushing about how much you love him

it’s a little rambly and your words are a bit slurred but that just makes it all the more endearing

“tendou~~ look i just love you so much i need the whole world to know!!” while pointing to your cheeks

poor bby is about to cry fr he's overwhelmed

he’s just watching it over and over again like🥺🥺🥺

and you’re back to waiting for a reaction and you’re starting to feel a little silly. you’d already accepted that he’d tease you over it but now you’re embarrassed--

but you know what? he sends his own video back, with 'i love you my angel!' haphazardly scribbled on his forehead 

“y/n~~~” he’s totally mocking you “i can’t believe you love me so much you’re gonna make me cry~” doesn’t mention he already did a bit “i can’t believe i’ve been blessed with such an angel--” 

he’s just going on and on until he hits the video size cap

congratulations you’ve absolutely ruined each other at 2am and you have a test tomorrow and he has morning practice

but do either of you care? no

he cannot stop smiling the next day he’s just glowing and is just all over you

and you didn’t realize you’d written in sharpie so there’s still a little bit visible that you tried and failed to hide with concealer

he’ll never let you live that down😌😘

*****

THIS REQUEST MADE ME SO SOFT WRITING IT JFC😭

[escapewriter]

Halo

pairing : student!seungkwan x student!reader

synopsis : being in love with your best friend caused you to make some very impulsive decisions like, oh look at that, taking him to New York to watch Beyoncé perform.

genre : fluff

word count : 1.5k

a/n : can not believe i came up with this but it made my heart flutter lol. this isn’t proof read to perfection so im sorry if there are any typos or grammar mistakes.

svt written masterlist || main masterlist

~

“Hey Boo!” Seungkwan whipped his head to find you running up to him. “YN? What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be in class,” You leaned forward, your hand resting on your knee as you panted for air. “You good? That was barely a run,” standing back up straight, you looked at your best friend dead in the eye.

“You have to be free this coming break.”

You and Seungkwan have been best friends since he moved next door when you were in middle school. You both walked to school together, ate food at the convenience store together, and went to school dances together, of course platonically, for him at least.

No surprise, you are totally infatuated with the man that is Boo Seungkwan, which brings you here, standing in front of him, with Chan and Vernon behind him, concerned looks on their facial features.

“I think I am, why?” Grinning, you lifted your head a little higher, a proud smile on your face and turned around, your back facing him, “you might wanna speak to your mom Boo, she has some important news for you.”

You walked away from him, going to your final class of the day, excitement bubbling in your chest as you thought about what’s in store for Boo Seungkwan

~

The next morning, you were woken up at 5am to Seungkwan banging at your front door. You opened the door, glaring at the man who had a backpack and suitcase, “Seungkwan, I know you’re excited, but our flight isn’t until 11, so please, let me sleep!” he walked past you and into your living room, “How the hell are you not excited? We’re going to New York!” He began to sing Empire State of Mind as you crashed onto the sofa.

“YN, what are you doing? You should get ready! It’s a long flight but a big day!” You groaned into the pillow, tuning out his loud voice.

He looked at your slumped form on the couch and grabbed a cushion, hitting your back with it repeatedly. “Get! Up! You can sleep on the plane!” You sat up, snatching the pillow away from him. “As I said before, It is 5am. Our flight is at 11! Either you let me sleep or I will rip up your ticket.” He pouted and slumped down on the couch, turning on the TV.

“I’m waking you up at 7,” “Thank you.”

~

“YN,” the sound of your mom’s voice filled your ears as you slowly opened your eyes. You looked at Seungkwan who was fast asleep next to you and shot up, checking the time on the clock.

“Sweetie don’t worry, it’s only 7:15, you have time to get ready.” You nodded and kissed your mom’s cheek, thanking her, and went to your room.

As you got ready, you pictured Seungkwan’s reaction to the gift you got him. It wasn’t his birthday or anything, you just felt that he needed an appreciation gift. You haven’t been able to spend as much time with him because you’ve been working extra hours just so you could save up for this trip. But of course, he’s noticed your lack of activities spent with him, causing him to think that he hasn’t been a good friend. What a perfect way to show him how important he is to you.

You finished getting ready and brought your suitcase and backpack to the living room, Seungkwan laying sprawled out on the couch, still out like a light. Your mom came into the room from the kitchen with a tray of snacks for you both to eat for breakfast.

“Seungkwan, wake up,” you shook his shoulder as he opened his eyes and processed his surroundings. He yawned and stretched, looking at the food that was on the table, digging in.

“You didn’t wake me up at 7,” he looked up at you with wide eyes, and then focused on the clock that was behind you, “holy crap it’s 7:45.” You laughed and ate some strawberries, “My mom is gonna drop us off so we’re probably gonna leave soon.”

On cue, your mom emerged from her room, dressed and ready to go, “alright, let's get going. You both have everything? Passport? Plane ticket?” The two of you nodded your head, “Okay then, let’s go.”

~

You yawned as the two of you retrieved your suitcases from the cab driver. “Thank you Sir, have a good rest of your night.” Turning to Seungkwan, you smiled as he looked around the area, “You like it?” He looked down at you, “It’s more enjoyable because I know it’s going to be easier to get around. Thank god you speak english.” You laughed and slightly pushed him for teasing you.

“YN, where is the hotel at?” You pointed to the building that was right across the street. “We can settle in for the night, unless you want to go eat something.” He debated for a moment, “No, I ate enough on the plane. Let’s go check in and sleep, we have a lot of touring to do tomorrow.”

You smiled at him as he began to cross the street, both of your suitcases in his hands. You think that this was a good idea, but now, you don’t know how you’re going to contain everything.

~

“Does it look like I’m holding it?” Seungkwan yelled at you as you positioned the camera at an angle so it would look like he had the Statue of Liberty in his palm, “Yeah! Now smile!” He shot you a bright smile, happiness glowing in his eyes as the camera made a clicking noise.

He ran up to you, “How does it look?” You opened up the picture and showed it to him as he smiled and said, “Perfect!” The two of you continued touring the city, exploring places that you have done some research on as well as Seungkwan suggesting places that Vernon’s mom recommended.

You ended up at a small cafe, sitting in a booth by the window. You both ate your muffins in silence as Seungkwan looked back at some of the pictures that were taken. You looked at him and smiled to yourself, thinking about giving him the surprise now. Yeah, going to New York was only part of the surprise.

“Seungkwan?” He hummed, his eyes not leaving the camera but his head moving up to face you. You smiled again, “Seungkwan?” His eyes moved to stare into yours, “You can’t get mad at me for this, and you can’t top this either, but tonight, we’re going to a concert.”

His eyes widened, “Really?? Who’s performing?” You thought about keeping the secret a little longer so you twisted the truth a bit. “Jay-Z.”

~

You entered Madison Square Garden with Seungkwan behind you. “I know that this is a great arena and Jay-Z is cool, but I just don’t really know some of his songs.” After finding your seat, you sat down, “Oh please, you were literally singing Empire State of Mind before we left Korea.” He turned towards you abruptly, “That’s his song? I thought it was Alicia Keys’ song. Oh my god, do you think she’ll guest star tonight?” “Oh, someone will definitely be a guest star tonight.”

As more people fill in the empty seats, the lights begin to dim as people start to stand up. “Oooo yes, Jay-Z in all his glory. I still feel really bad because I only know one song,” laughing, you slightly shoved him, “I’m sure he’ll forgive you. But look, everyone is standing, you learn something new everyday.” ‘What exactly do you learn? That American’s stand during concerts when they have seats that are meant to be sat on?”

Suddenly, an instrumental started playing as the crowd began to cheer. The colorful lights shone the arena as the spotlight flashed onto the performer. “That doesn’t look like Jay-Z,” “Seungkwan be quiet and just look,” He focused on the big screen, the unknown performer still a silhouette until they lifted up their face and presented the audience with a bright smile.

“Holy fuck, that’s Beyoncé. YN! THAT IS BEYONCÉ! YOU TOOK ME TO A BEYONCÉ CONCERT??” Seungkwan began to shake your shoulders as you laughed at his reaction. Crazy in Love boomed in your eardrums, the big smile on his face making your heart swell.

“I can’t believe you got us tickets to watch Beyoncé! God, I could kiss you right now!” Not knowing what he said, he turned back to watch her perform as you lost your breath like you ran a marathon. You grabbed his shoulders and forced him to look at you.

“Do it, or I’ll do it first.” He scanned your eyes, trying to read you before quickly leaning forward and placing his lips onto yours.

He pulled away and smiled, “Finally, and all it took was you taking me to a Beyonce concert.” You both turned your focus back towards the stage as he wrapped his arm around you and pulled you closer. “I basically did all the work, you were the one with no balls.”

You felt his chest rumble as he laughed, “That is true, but now I don’t have to be afraid of telling you that I love you.” You smiled and looked down, hugging him tighter. Halo started playing as you leaned into his embrace so that there was no more space left between the two of you. Swaying to the music, you said, “I love you too.”

[sheliesshattered]

This Isn’t A Ghost Story extras for Chapter 6: The Future

Chapter 6 of This Isn’t A Ghost Story has been posted! You can find it here on Tumblr, or here on AO3. Spoiler-ish extras under the cut!

With chapter 6 under our belts, we’ve made it through the main portion of this fic! The next two chapters will wrap up a few loose ends -- and possibly create a couple more, of the open-ended variety -- and if I hadn’t gotten quite so deep into the world-building for this, I might have actually ended the story here. All the research I did for the world-building directly inspired the next two chapters, which were both written and finished before I had anything more than a basic sketch in place for chapter 6. 

Egyptology in the 1920s has clearly been a huge part of the world-building for this story from the beginning, and we get a bit more of it in chapter 6. The Doctor mentioned Howard Carter briefly in chapter 5, and here we loop back around to that and find out that Clara and the Doctor knew Carter well. I didn’t want to derail the chapter too much with talking about their friendship in any detail, but large portions of the timeline of when they were in Egypt in the 1920s was built around the historical events of the discovery and documentation of Tutankhamun’s tomb, and there are a few passing allusions to it in the journal entries in chapter 3 as well.

Howard Carter (pictured above in 1924) and his team of excavators found the entrance to Tutankhamun’s tomb in November of 1922, which would have been during the phase when Clara and the Doctor are exchanging letters and falling in love. One little historical detail that I sadly couldn’t quite use was that 23 November 1922 was actually a date of minor significance in the discovery of the tomb. It was the day that Carter’s financier, Lord Carnarvon, arrived at the dig site to witness the opening of the tomb, along with his daughter Lady Evelyn Herbert, who would have been about a year and a half younger than Clara. This picture of the three of them was taken at the entrance of the tomb in late 1922, and is similar to how I imagine Clara and the Doctor’s picture with Carter would have looked:

As the tomb was being excavated, Carter and Carnarvon assembled a team of experts to help with the huge task of cataloging, preserving, and translating all the many items found in the tomb, and though I never called it out specifically in This Isn’t A Ghost Story, I figure the Doctor was part of that team, probably specifically focused on translation work. In late February 1923, there was a short halt in the excavation that lasted a few weeks, which was what led, in our fictionalized version of events, to the Doctor briefly returning to Glasgow, and Clara’s impulsive decision to follow him there. After their wedding in May of ‘23, Clara and the Doctor went directly to Egypt, and the Doctor returned to work on Carter’s team.

Family members, tourists, and the press were all known to visit the dig site during that first year of excavation and the resulting media craze:

Given that, and Clara and the Doctor being ‘disgustingly in love newlyweds’ it seemed reasonable that Clara would have visited the site at least a few times, and been on good terms with Howard Carter. Carter actually got his start in Egyptology when he was hired as a young man to paint reproductions of ancient temple walls and other Egyptian artifacts:

During the excavation of Tutankhamun’s tomb, he made detailed sketches, including careful measurements, of every item removed from the tomb and where it had originally be found in the tomb. Much of what we know about King Tut’s tomb now is down to how methodical Carter was in documenting the original untouched state of the tomb, both with measurements, drawings, and photography. These are both drawings Carter did of the tomb during that period:

Chapter 3 mentions that Clara decided to learn to draw in the summer of 1923, so I liked the little detail that it was Howard Carter, with his meticulous and beautiful art, that suggested she take up the hobby. Modern Clara also notes in passing that she drew all throughout her childhood, particularly her ghost, which all connects back to those early days of their marriage in 1923.

I’ve got more up my sleeve about the world-building elements for the next two chapters, but since chapter 6 was the last chapter I finished, long after chapters 7 and 8 were done, I thought I’d talk a bit about the writing process as well. The final scenes I wrote for the entire story were near the end of chapter 6, and despite knowing what I needed this chapter to do, what needed to be in place to set up chapters 7 and 8, chapter 6 gave me a bit of trouble along the way. 

I imagined this chapter in a lot of different ways as the story was evolving, but I always knew I wanted to emphasize the possibility of future travels for Clara and the Doctor. The theme of ‘101 Places To See’ is so strong in canon that echoing it for 1920s Clara was a big part of my world-building from the beginning, and I felt like any version of a happy ending for Clara and the Doctor had to include travel. An early draft of this chapter ended on Clara’s final line from Mummy On The Orient Express, ‘Then what are you waiting for? Let's go.’ to help emphasize that travel theme -- and because I can never resist borrowing a line from canon whenever I can find an excuse.

Another early sketch for this chapter had Clara and the Doctor venturing out for grocery shopping, with the Doctor complaining up a storm while Clara tried to carry on a conversation with him without any strangers taking note of it. Originally I had planned to include more of Clara’s work week, and had scenes roughed in where her friend and fellow teacher Amy Pond found out that Clara had gotten “engaged” over the weekend, leading Clara to have to make up something on the spot about how she’d been in a long-distance relationship that had only recently turned serious, which was why Amy had never met him. There was a whole thing about how Clara and Amy (who taught ancient world history) were co-directing Coal Hill’s production of Antony And Cleopatra, and Amy wanting to make sure that Clara wasn’t going to run off to see the world with her new fiance before the night of the play. Eventually that all got boiled down to just a single exchange between Clara and the Doctor, as I decided to keep the focus tight in on the two of them and their relationship, and not even include dialogue from any other characters.

One thing that comes up again and again in my writing projects is that when I’m imagining the plotline early in the process, it always takes up a lot more calendar days than the final product does. I imagine events taking place over the course of weeks, but then find that the emotional flow works much better condensed down to a handful of days instead. Despite my stories following that same pattern in development for more than a decade now, it somehow always seems to surprise me, lol.

Really early on in working on Ghost Story, I knew I wanted to keep Clara’s canonical birthdate of 23 November 1986 and build the rest of the timeline around that, and I picked out November 2014 as the time period for the main part of the story because it corresponds roughly to when the end of s8 of the show originally aired. But in a very early outline of events, Clara didn’t have the nightmare that led to her memories coming back until the night of her birthday, a full week later from what ended up happening in this final version. 

Even as recently as a few weeks ago, I was still planning on ending this chapter on her birthday, and it wasn’t until I started digging into the scene by scene and line by line breakdown of the chapter that I realized that it really wasn’t necessary. And leaving her birthday as an upcoming event folded in nicely with the ‘Future’ theme I wanted for this chapter, so again I decided to keep the focus tight on Clara and the Doctor’s relationship as they unravel the mystery and deal with the fallout of what happened in 1927.

Figuring out what I actually wanted to happen this chapter versus what could be left on the cutting-room floor, as they say, was a huge part of the final phase of writing This Isn’t A Ghost Story. Once I had cut out extraneous scenes and meandering plot tangents (and poor Amy Pond), I was left with a very specific list of scenes and conversations, and I wrote them much the same way I write everything, jumping around to a given scene as dialogue or internal monologue occurs to me. To me it always feels like putting together a large jigsaw puzzle, filling in holes and connecting up pieces as the puzzle comes together.

I find that technique works really well for me when I’m in early and mid development of a story, but once I was down to just a couple of scenes that still needed written, progress slowed way down. I got to the point where I knew the emotional content of a scene and even most of the dialogue, and needed just a little bit of stage direction to stitch the whole thing together. Those of you who have been following along with my #process thoughts posts here may remember me posting about working on that last scene just a couple of weeks ago, trying to wrestle it into shape. 

@tounknowndestinations, @praetyger, and a few others of you have asked about it, and I can now reveal that the very last bit to get written was the sequence with Clara preparing for bed and then the two of them getting into bed. I had the awkward sex conversation and the final scene the next morning already written, I just had to connect the first part of the chapter up with those last scenes. I’m happy with how it eventually came together -- and very curious to hear if any of you could pick out that that was the last bit written? -- but not having the option to work on anything else, just those specific words in that specific place, made it more of a struggle for me than writing most of the rest of Ghost Story.

My husband and beta reader Jack was more involved with the editing of this chapter than he was with any of the other chapters, and in several places helped me rewrite individual lines or conversation beats until we were both happy with how they read. @praetyger asked how I know when writing is ‘done’, and I have to admit it’s mostly a process of reading it over and over again, and then getting Jack to read it and taking his feedback seriously. I tend towards overly long run-on sentences, so if Jack gets lost while reading a sentence, that’s one he’ll call out as needing to be reworded for clarity. 

There’s one sentence in this chapter that we went back and forth over quite a lot: ‘The feeling of what might have been that seeing their wedding photo had elicited in her wasn’t some strange, misplaced jealousy, but rather the knowledge she carried deep in her soul, buried in her subconscious, that their story wasn’t over yet.’ It was originally even more wordy, and Jack would have preferred the final version be a lot more simple, but it just didn’t read right to me without ‘elicited’ so I stuck to my guns on that bit, even as I filed down some of the wordiness in other parts of the sentence.

Both for reworking a sentence and for writing big sections in the first place, my method is generally to write it and edit a little as I go, trying to get the word choice and pacing as close to what I want as I can on a first pass. Then I’ll let it sit, at the very least overnight but often for days or longer at a time, then come back and reread it when it isn’t so fresh in my mind. At that point, sometimes a phrase will jump at me as awkward or something I used just a paragraph or two earlier, so I’ll rewrite it, let it sit, come back and edit it all over again. Sometimes what seemed like plenty of room for an emotional beat when I was writing it will go by way too fast when I reread it, so I’ll add to it, give it space to breathe. Rinse and repeat.

For the record, Jack’s favorite line from this chapter is this bit of dialogue for the Doctor: ‘“Yes,” he allowed warily, clearly not sure where she was going with this.’ I imagine it’s probably for similar reasons as why he liked the ‘she didn’t add again but knew they were both thinking it’ bit from chapter 5. I try not to put my own marriage into my writing too much, but there are some experiences of being married that I think are probably pretty universal.

@ephemeralhologram asked about my writing inspiration, and for me my writing is always driven by a kernel of a what-if idea and a desire to convey a certain emotion. I almost always start out with a ‘plotbunny’ idea, some tiny thing that I daydream about and consider from multiple angles until a plot and emotional tone starts coming into focus. 

For Ghost Story, it was actually a shitpost here on Tumblr about a real estate agent having a conversation with the ghost who haunts the house they’re trying to sell, along with wanting to try telling a Twelve/Clara story in an alternate universe completely separate from the show canon, which I had never done before Ghost Story. The emotional tone started out much sillier, more in line with that Tumblr post, but as I got into the world-building and decided I wanted to have a mystery and mutual pining at the center of this story, the tone shifted quite a lot.

The other major drivers of writing inspiration for me are that I enjoy putting words together into interesting and emotionally evocative combinations, and I enjoy conveying character emotion and eliciting emotion in the reader. No matter what fandom I’m writing in, no matter how close to canon or how AU, how short or long the story is, those two things are always at the center of my writing.

I walk around the house or do chores that I don’t have to focus on too much (dishes are excellent for this) just tossing around bits of dialogue in my head until I find an emotional beat that grabs me or a bit of phrasing that I really like. I jot those down into a googledoc -- most of my DW stories start out in a doc called “Doctor Who Bits” that is in fact just fragments of multiple stories, and then eventually a story will graduate into having its own dedicated googledoc. Figuring out the plot is just as much about deciding on the emotional journey I want to take the characters and/or the readers on as it is deciding on an order of events.

Thank you to @tounknowndestinations​, @ephemeralhologram​, and @praetyger​ for the questions! I am more than happy to answer any questions about my writing process or details about this story, or anything really, so feel free to hit me up in my ask, or in the comments on this post, or in a comment over on AO3. Thank you to everyone who has followed along with this story, and for all the support and encouragement you’ve offered along the way, I couldn’t have written this story without this wonderful little corner of the Whouffaldi fandom! ❤️

--

Extras for Chapter 7: The Museum

[peridonomatopoeia]

[worm scraps] Steven Finally Goes To Therapy (It Doesn’t End Too Well) 2/3

~800 wordcount, written before Bluebird, Greg says ass (but not hell bc that’s a four letter word)

~*~

Ever since they got here, Steven had been quiet.

Of course, it wasn't exactly the first time; Greg's eyes were drawn to a line in the brochure in his hands:

'Sudden emotional withdrawal in a once active and extroverted child could be a sign of trauma.'

'Could be' his ass.

It was still rare to see him this apathetic. Heck, just on the way here he had been quite eager to show off his driving skills; Greg dancing a very fine line between being proud of his two-wheel drifting, and having to fight the impulse to take over the steering wheel before he gave his old man a heart attack.

Reckless, death-defying behavior; another possible sign of trauma.

There were things Steven wasn't telling his father, things he wasn't comfortable telling. Greg knew that much. Had known for years.

But he never wanted to pry; he had always thought children should be able to talk to their parents on their own terms, and feel they could trust them, no matter what, especially during such difficult times as their teens.

But lately... lately, he couldn't help but wonder if he couldn't have done something about this much sooner, if he had been the one to pry. It hurt his heart so to see his son like this, his wonderful, amazing, loving, and compassionate son, who meant the world not just to Greg, but now to an entire empire.

That was the problem, wasn't it?

For years he had been saddled with so many responsibilities and burdens; far more than any single person should have to bear, yet alone a teenager!

But instead of stepping in, Greg had just watched, watched his only son slip deeper and deeper into depression and anxiety and who knows what else, hoping in vain he would come to his father for guidance on his own accord, but he didn't, just kept soldiering on without respite, all while Greg stood by and did nothing.

Well, not nothing, he always, always made sure to let his son know he was there if he needed to talk, hoped that he would get the hint, that it would be enough.

Turned out it wasn't.

Turned out he had to watch his son nearly die (again) from willingly taking the fate of an entire planet on his own shoulders (again) to realize that he wouldn't be able to live with himself if ... if he one day lost Steven for good without ever making an attempt to help him.

~ ~

Steven felt the warm weight of a familiar hand on his shoulder, and turned his head.

“Hey, uh, how're you holdin' up, buddy?”

Dad was smiling at him, but it was the kind of smile that didn't reach the eyes; his forehead, brows, even his emerging crow's feet, were all deeply furrowed in worry, and the knot in Steven's stomach twisted in response.

“I'm nervous”, he admitted, then forced a little smile, to mirror his dad's. The pang of guilt that came with it was uninvited but still expected, and he looked down at his feet again; couldn't bear to look his dad in the eyes anymore.

It hadn't been a lie, of course, just an... understatement, but it felt like he was lying nonetheless, for all the things he wasn't saying; and he hated having to lie to his dad (he hated having to lie to everyone), but not as much as he hated giving him even more to worry about.

Steven could have said that he had some trouble falling asleep that night; Dad would nod sadly at that; he already knew, unfortunately, of his son's sleeping problems.

But he could also have said that he'd tossed and turned in his bed the entire night, in the end never even getting a single wink.

He could have said that he skipped breakfast that morning because he wasn't really hungry.

Or, he could have told him that he hadn't eaten at all the past two days, because even at his hungriest he was too nauseous to keep anything down.

He could say both those factors was why he maybe seemed a little spaced out at the moment.

Or he could say that at this very moment he was just barely getting enough oxygen to stay conscious, and had to fight the impulse to gasp for air to pour all his focus in making his breathing seem calm and level instead, all while it felt like a corrupted quartz was stepping on his chest, slowly crushing his ribcage under her weight.

All of these were truths. But they were ugly, painful truths, that would hurt to speak out loud, and hurt his dad to know.

Or, he could just say he was nervous, and simply leave it at that. A tiny, carefully cropped, perfectly trimmed truth; all his dad really needed.

It was barely even a choice.

So why did it still hurt?

His stomach churned and twisted again.

It was funny.

He hadn't eaten for days, but he still felt close to bursting.

~*~

Together with the first part this would have been so close to being a full chapter, but i never found a satisfactory way to bridge Greg and Steven’s POVs, and so it just languished in WIP hell forever... until now.

There will be a third, and final, part, taking place after the actual therapy session, posted tomorrow. It will be much, much rougher, both quality- and content-wise. But there’ll also be an illustration, so woohoo! (which will also be shit, but w/e lol)

[suhyunfmd-blog]

   hello everyone ( good morning, afternoon or night depending on your timezone, i have to wake up really early tomorrow because of college so this post will be queued, i hope it posts at the right time lmfao ) . my name is chloe ( 18 years old, college student & she/her. english is not my first language so if you see any typos or weird sentences that’s why ) and this is my baby kang suhyun, 1/5 of fuse, just trying her best despite being hated a lot. i thought i’d have time to make a plots page but no ( i had time but got lazy, i’m sorry. exposed. ) so below i’ll leave a few basic connections and a little tl;dr?? on suhyun since it’s easier for most people especially if you’re using your phone. please give her a lot of love ♡

   [ her profile ; her biography ]

   tw: mentions of death, eating disorder (if you see a [ * ], it means that those topics and mentioned there, please skip if you don’t feel comfortable reading, even tho i don’t give any triggering details. a second [ * ] means that what is written afterwards doesn’t mention anything related to those topics)

basic things: she was born on january 31st, 1999 in seoul, south korea. has a younger brother, her father is the ceo of a hospital and her stepmother is a housewife.

[ * ] her mother died after giving birth to suhyun. her father doesn’t have a super close relationship with suhyun because of that, seeing suhyun reminds him of her mother so yea. [ * ] always gave suhyun everything she wanted as a way of making up for the lack of attention. suhyun didn’t turn into a cold sad bitch because her stepmother always took care of her and gave her tons of love. tried really hard to be the perfect girl, was on the top of her class and always did what her parents wanted but her father likes her brother more lmfao

just like her father found his escape in his job, suhyun found an escape on music and kpop groups. started taking dance classes and would spend her days in dance studios. dad was quite dissapointed in suhyun’s dream but she wasn’t going to take a no as an answer, like always. auditioned for bc in 2011 but got rejected. auditioned for happy ent. mid 2011 and left the company late 2011 since they weren’t thinking of debuting any ggs soon. auditioned for gold star media in 2012, saw impulse and origin debut and thought that maybe they’d be like her old company and wouldn’t debut any gg soon. fuse happened.. but she wasn’t part of it. was about to leave the company until she heard some rumours about adding a new member to fuse, she ended up getting called and was informed that she’d be the new maknae - it was something along the lines of wanting the group to look younger and fresh so they needed someone her age

i’m pretty sure most of u are aware of the amount of hate yerim got once she was added into red velvet so i guess you can imagine what suhyun went through. [ * ] she fell into a really bad place, lost a lot of weight because of the stress she was under ( her relationship with food was really bad, she’s currently recovering from her eating disorder but it’s not easy ), [ * ] her personality changed so much she went from being a super stubborn ready to fight girl to being shy, scared and reserved. suhyun really had to find help in order to change her mindset (slightly) and that’s when the whole fake extra personality on camera started

so basically: she wanted to deleted the whole victim image she had, she didn’t want to be the one who ruined fuse or the shy kid around, she wanted the spotlight and the love the other members had so she started to act all bright and extra on variety shows, people thought she was over the whole negative feedback bUT GUESS WHAT that’s a lie. while she’s better now and all that jazz, suhyun is not as energetic as she shows - she’s quite easy to befriend, she loves attention and feeling loved but deep down she’s been hurt so many times and is still seen as the bitch in the eyes of the ot4 stans. her smiles might not be real at times but she’s caring and is truly there for everyone even tho she can’t be nice to herself lol ( she hates expressing her feelings, just a ps ).

   as for the connections ( really basic ones )

the whole best friends thing. i don’t think i need to add anything to this

crushes. males or females, suhyun is into both

ex s.o from trainee days. must be around her age, ‘98-’00, i’ll open it to any company

current love interest. same requirements as the ex s.o

even tho i don’t see suhyun having enemies i think that would be fun to try

a muse that is like her mom and was with her during hard time. cute.

and idk more, i’ll be more than happy to read everyone’s plot pages and help fill all the wanted connections so feel free to send me something! 

[zutaralesbian]

Luke/Han, Max/Anne, Fiona/V

Oooh thank you! 

Luke/Han: 

So this is going to be set in a modern AU where Leia/Han wasn’t ever a thing. I like Skysolo but i’m also not too into the idea of Luke dating Leia’s ex)

Who said “I love you” first: Luke did, but Han said it back pretty much right after he got over his momentary shock. Han had been wanting to say it for a while but he was afraid of rejection. But Luke saying it casually during one of their date nights opened up the floodgates.

Who would have the other’s picture as their phone background: Luke! Well, it’s not really just a picture of Han but a picture of both of them. Somehow he convinced Han to take a few selfies with him and chose his favorite as his phone background. Han isn’t really into customizing his phone so his background is just the generic one that the phone came with. (But secretly, he does have a few photos of Luke stashed in his gallery that he clicks on to look at.)

Who leaves notes written in fog on the bathroom mirror: Luke leaves cheesy jokes or pick up lines on the mirror every morning that he’s able to for Han to find after he gets out of the shower. He rolls his eyes at them but he also smiles. (A few of them have even made him laugh, although he’d never admit that to Luke). 

Who buys the other cheesy gifts: Luke is a notorious cheesy gift giver. Some of the things that he’s given Han are things that Han would never like had they been given to him by anyone else, but he treasures everything Luke gives him.

Who initiated the first kiss: Both of them swear that the other initiated it. It’s unclear.

Who kisses the other awake in the morning: Luke is usually awake before Han is, so him.

Who starts tickle fights: Tickle fights aren’t really their thing. Han tried it once during the early stages of their relationship only to discover (embarrassingly) that Luke wasn’t ticklish. 

Who asks who if they can join the other in the shower: Han! Luke is normally up before him but if he wakes up on time and hears the shower running, he’ll slide into the bathroom and smoothly (at least in his mind) ask Luke if he can join him.

Who surprises the other in the middle of the day at work with lunch: Luke is really impulsive and always forgets to pack his own lunch before heading out for the day. So Han has made it one of his daily responsibilities to stop by and bring Luke food.

Who was nervous and shy on the first date: They both were but Han more so. He likes to believe himself to be smooth but gets the jitters really bad if it involves someone that he really likes. 

Who kills/takes out the spiders: Han can’t stand spiders, so Luke. But Luke is definitely the type to prefer to catch the spiders and put them outside rather than kill them. Han allows this as long as Luke stays at least twenty feet away from him at all times while he’s carrying the spiders (i’m kin with Han). 

Who loudly proclaims their love when they’re drunk: Han! He’s a super warm and affectionate drunk, and Luke loves it.

Max/Anne: 

Again, modern AU lol

Who said “I love you” first: Max did. But it took them both a little while to actually say the words, even though they felt it for a while. Max had trust issues due to past experiences and Anne was just coming to terms with loving women and feeling genuine romantic love. But after the dam breaks, they both say it to each other all the time.

Who would have the other’s picture as their phone background: Anne! She doesn’t normally care too much about that sort of stuff but her girlfriend is gorgeous and she likes having a way to look at her all the time. Max’s phone background is the generic one but she does have a framed picture of Anne sitting on her desk in her work office. 

Who leaves notes written in fog on the bathroom mirror: Neither. But Max leaves little messages on sticky notes on the kitchen counters for Anne to find when she wakes up. Sometimes they’re reminders of something but they always have something cute about them as well, Max telling Anne she loves her or wishing her a good day.

Who buys the other cheesy gifts: Anne, surprisingly. It took a little while to get over her initial awkwardness over it but she loves getting Max little gifts like flowers, chocolates, and occasionally jewelry. And Max loves everything she gets her, and always makes a point to put the flowers Anne brings her in a vase on her desk when she surprises her at work with them.

Who initiated the first kiss: Max! Anne was a nervous wreck and didn’t really know what to do. 

Who kisses the other awake in the morning: Max. Anne is not a morning person at all but Max has discovered that waking her up with kisses or some other form of affection is a good way of preventing her from being cranky. Physical affection turns Anne into puddy in her hands. 

Who starts tickle fights: Max. She discovered fairly early on in their relationship that Anne is very ticklish. And she loves the completely out of control and loud laughs that Anne makes when she’s being tickled. 

Who asks who if they can join the other in the shower: Max. And’s she’s always very smooth about it. Anne flushed like a tomato the first time they took a shower together. 

Who surprises the other in the middle of the day at work with lunch: Anne. Max is always so busy and doesn’t always have time to make herself a full lunch for work. So it’s sort of a ritual that Anne always stops by and brings her one. Both of them like it because it gives them a chance to see each other before they’re both home. And Anne secretly loves seeing Max in her office environment. 

Who was nervous and shy on the first date: 100% Anne. Max was a little nervous too but she’s much better at hiding her nerves. 

Who kills/takes out the spiders: Max doesn’t like spiders and prefers to not have to deal with them, but she can kill them if she has to. Anne is firmly on spider-killing duty if she’s around though. 

Who loudly proclaims their love when they’re drunk: Anne! Max doesn’t get drunk too often, which is good, because she likes being sober and with Anne to make sure she gets home safe when they go out to party. She doesn’t mind though, because Anne is a very affectionate drunk. 

Fiona/V:

Who said “I love you” first: There was never really a big declaration. They both just kind of started saying it casually to each other. Considering they were best friends before they started dating, it was a pretty smooth transition. 

Who would have the other’s picture as their phone background: They both have a cheesy selfie that they took together as their backgrounds. 

Who leaves notes written in fog on the bathroom mirror: Neither of them. It’s not really their thing. 

Who buys the other cheesy gifts: With V having as many kids as she does and Fiona having the background of growing up in poverty, neither of them are too loose with their money. But once in a while, they’ll both see things that remind them of the other and they impulsively buy it.

Who initiated the first kiss: V did. Fiona realized her feelings first but she hesitated when it came to actually doing anything about her feelings. Both because she feared V might still love Kev even after their messy breakup and because it was her bisexual awakening, and she was freaking out about it a little. Eventually, though, V also realized her feelings and took the plunge. 

Who kisses the other awake in the morning: Fiona. She tends to wake up earlier than V. Sometimes V will grumpily pretend to be annoyed by it but Fiona knows it’s the best way to wake her up. 

Who asks who if they can join the other in the shower: They both do! It’s pretty much a given that they shower together every morning. The person who makes it into the shower first pretty much expects the other to pop in there with them eventually. 

Who surprises the other in the middle of the day at work with lunch: It largely depends on their work schedule. If one of them is working while the other isn’t, they can usually make time to surprise the other with lunch. It gives them a chance to see each other for a little extra time throughout the day. 

Who was nervous and shy on the first date: Neither of them were too nervous. Once they got past the initial awkward ‘does she feel the same way?’ phase, it was for the most part pretty smooth sailing. They both wonder why they didn’t think to try dating each other sooner. 

Who kills/takes out the spiders: V always screams for Fiona to come kill them. She doesn’t fuck with spiders at all. 

Who loudly proclaims their love when they’re drunk: Both of them. They are the very definition of the handsy and obnoxiously affectionate drunk couple. It’s manageable if it’s only one of them but if they’re both drunk together, someone from their circle always has to make sure they don’t go off to go do something stupid. 

[oopsabird]

1; & 3, 5, 10 for take my heart &/so much like stars

1. Of the fics you’ve written, which is your  favourite and why?

Of all of my fics, that award I think would have to go to “I have loved the stars too fondly” (my Hamlet fic). Partly because I’m exceptionally pleased with how the prose and story/visuals execution turned out (in the most recent edited edition, which I think was last spruced up in 2016), and partly because since Hamlet is public domain, it technically sits on a sort of par with The Lion King in terms of canon-ness (or at least that’s what I say to boost my own ego lol). Of my WW fics (completed ones), I like “And In The Morning” best - it executes exactly the imagery and mood I intended it to, and I like it so much that I actually frequently forget that the hug it adds to the airfield aftermath scene isn’t actually canon, despite me carrying it over to all my other fics (it happened off-screen and I will take that headcanon to my grave). gambit, that wonderful whumpy collection of historical anachronisms, medical bullshitting, and tropes, is a very close second there, purely because I designed it to be a collection of things I enjoy in fic so of course I love it.

3. Which part of [title] was hardest to write?

take my heart clean apart if it helps yours beat: Trying to convey exactly the physical positions and body language I was picturing in my head while maintaining prose and mood was probably the toughest. I tend to picture my fics like films in my head beforehand, complete with camera angles and cuts and mood lighting and a lot of minute physical/action detail, so trying to cram all that information into a sentence that still reads nicely and gets the intended feeling across is my most frequent struggle in writing. This was a fic that to me carried just as much of its mood and angst in things like the touch of a shoulder or the intonation of a word as it did in the prose, so it was tough, but I think I struck a pretty good balance.

so much like stars: I know the answer to this instantly, and you may know it too since I mention it in the end note of the fic: the undressing scene. Like, I basically worship Lindy Hemming for her costume design work in this movie and legitimately think she deserved to at least be nominated for an Oscar for it (product placement: the Wonder Woman Artbook is well worth its $50 price tag for the incredible insight into the crazy amount of craftmanship and work that went into making this movie. Must-have if you are fascinated by film-making and Wonder Woman. Hence why I have it.) All that being said, the (truly excellent) costumes for Sameer and Charlie have an INSANE amount of layers and pieces, and because I am a stickler for prop continuity I took it upon myself to keep track of each and every one. Except for a few I omitted because I knew nobody else is enough of a nerd about this movie to know the difference lol. It was a nightmare of my own making but in the end also a good writing exercise for managing prop pieces in a scene. But still. SO. MANY. JACKETS.

I really do go on in the rest of these answers, so please find them tucked under the cut!

5. Did you make an outline for [title], and if so did you stick to it?

I have what I would call a very ADHD writing technique, in which I will generally impulsively write the scenes I have visualized most clearly first, regardless of their place in the fic; then I spend possibly weeks jumping around and filling in the patches between scenes whenever inspiration strikes, generally working either from a vague “it will go like this overall” plan stored in my brain, or a placeholder in-text like “[they leave the bar and travel home. Charlie falls asleep in the cab]”. I almost always write my openings last, after having built the rest of the fic together bit-by-bit and now needing a way to segue the reader into it. That’s process is basically how I wrote both of these, except these were essentially written as a moment of hyperfocus rather than over a long period of time - each of them developed very quickly from initial idea to publication in a short period because I didn’t do literally anything else during that time (take my heart over a period of 12 hours, so much like stars over a period of three days). The only fic I have that really has a concretely written formal outline is The Big Fic (that mythological creature from my WIP list), and that’s because I’ve spent months actively workshopping the shit out of it and treating the damn thing like a novel (which is probably why finishing it escapes me).

10. What are some facts that readers may not know about [title]?

Ooooooo this is a delightful question, because as you can probably tell from my lengthy author’s notes on AO3, I looooove giving “director’s commentary” and spilling extra-textual info about my fics!

take my heart: 

I don’t like that this is yet another WW fic I’ve done where Diana appears but doesn’t speak, but couldn’t (yet) find a way to give her even a passing line that didn’t feel shoehorned. 

The choice to use present tense was made on a whim.

Though the fic doesn’t actually mention it explicitly (the one that I borrowed my own headcanon from does), the injury Charlie received to his shoulder and was put on leave for is that he “froze up” during their last mission and got shot (it was a graze), fell off his sniper perch and hit his head (a version of this incident is detailed in To Burn And Keep Quiet).

I worry that I write too many fics where Sameer is just a lens for processing Charlie’s trauma and emotional arcs in the text, and want to do more pieces that give Sami other plots and motivations and have him operating as a character more independently from his relationship to and feelings for Charlie.

Originally the idea was going to be Sami saying “I love you” knowing it will be forgotten in the morning, but then when I was writing it I was like “wait, I’ve thought of something worse! how delightful!”.

The “over breakfasts and newspapers” line is intended as a reference to Steve’s in-movie explanation to Diana of what people do when there are no wars to fight.

I decided to have it rain at one point because in the movie when Diana enters the pub with Steve the pavement is shown to be wet so I figure it must have been that kind of day, and also because it was raining all day while I wrote so I was really feeling it.

so much like stars: 

I went to painstaking googling lengths to find a French-language song  for the opening that was both period-accurate and suitable to the mood.

I actually omitted at least one costume piece: Sami wears these absurd-looking knit legwarmer-looking things over his boots and the bottom of his pants (these can be glimpsed in some scenes), and not only do they really look strange with just the suit (less so with all his coats and everything on), but I have no idea what they’re called and was sick of writing costume pieces, so I left them out knowing nobody else is enough of a nerd about it to notice.

I originally wanted to give this fic a fade-to-black/”soft focus” They Done Fucked romantic get-together conclusion (hence the setup with the windowless room, the creaky bed, the washbasin), but as the fic progressed I decided against it because it didn’t feel right for the tone/situation or the fact that that’s not my actual headcanon for how that night would’ve gone (and I was shooting for canon-compliant). An unfinished draft of that alternate ending does exist, but it’s not as of yet in any shape to be shown to anybody. Yet.

I worried while writing (still do, a bit) that this fic wouldn’t be liked/read by other fans because I know that the version of Charlie I have developed/analyzed out of my repeated close readings of the film and headcanons is a much more likable character than the impression of him you get after just one or two viewings of the film, so I worried that more casual/less obsessed fans reading this (and indeed, several of my other fics) wouldn’t be able to suspend their disbelief enough to accept me saying “yeah, Sameer is very in love with him. attacted to him, even.” without having been along for the ride on my entire crazy obsession with this movie and these characters. Luckily the way Sameer’s interactions with him in the film are acted and shot do the vast majority of the heavy lifting in-canon for this ship already, so readers are more likely to take “Sami is in love with Charlie, secretly” as read without me having to do too much extra stuff to back it up or make it plausible. “Charlie is in love with Sami” doesn’t require nearly as much work to “justify” because Sami is extremely handsome and charming and much of the fandom seems to adore him anyway, so its more like “yeah obviously, who WOULDN’T be in love with him in some way or another?”

I watched the entire “Night In Veld” set of scenes (through from Sami bringing Diana and Steve drinks to that wonderful Wondertrev fade-to-black scene) probably about 8+ times during the process of writing this fic, just to keep myself in the right frame of mind/mood; at this point I could recite it word-for-word.

Sami’s list of “Reasons Not To Tell Him” is pretty much my favourite part of the fic.

The “Sami wears undershirts with sleeves, Charlie wears sleeveless ones” distinction is my own little bit of costume design and also a headcanon that I carry through almost all of my fics.

I had a lot of trouble trying to balance my dedication to the principle “write non-English dialogue in the correct language” with “you can’t subtitle this, there is a LOT of French, and it needs to be comprehensible for an English audience”. What you see in the fic is my version of a happy medium, which I think works rather well.

Thank you for asking this!!!! And thank you to anybody who stuck it out to read this whole damn thing and indulge my infodumping!

[callioope]

Hello, you have been identified as An Awesome Writer™! Congrats, you rock! So that all of your readers can shower you with some extra love today, please tell us your favourite five (or as many as you want) stories of yours and why you like them and then send this to another five fic authors you think deserve this title!

Thank you @thestarbirdfromtheashes & @thenewleeland for sending me this! I’m so flattered! I know I’ve taken forever to respond.

if i wait (will you stay?)

Excerpt: She’d made the decision then, when he’d leaned down towards her, so close she could see his eyelashes, and she leaned up towards him, so close to feeling like she belonged. She’d made the decision with the conviction she used to have, before Saw abandoned her in a bunker.

Summary: Just after Scarif, Jyn waits for Cassian to wake and debates whether she’ll stay.

Notes: This just came to me one night when I was falling asleep, and I was still thinking about it when I woke up the next morning. It flowed out really easily, and I’m really proud of the prose, style, etc. It’s probably one of my favorite things I’ve ever written. I’ve thought a lot about ‘when do Jyn and Cassian get together after Scarif,’ and this is the result of that. 

I’ll Find You in the Morning Sun

Excerpt: They stare at each other, at an impasse, neither of them willing to disrupt the balance, to take the first step towards a lighter world. Both of them know, at least in some hidden capacity, that something floats between them, something could lift them, could show them how to fly. But they are not dreamers, with their heads in the clouds, and the talk of war weighs heavy on their shoulders. And falling from such a great height hurts; they’ve borne such bruises since they were children.

Summary: A World War II AU for csectumsempra, for Rebelcaptain Secret Santa. Told in a series of meetings (or not meetings) each December, spanning 1939 to 1945.

Notes: Before I wrote this, I didn’t have a huge interest in WWII AUs, and I was even a little intimidated by the idea (there are already so many wonderful WWII AUs out there, and it’s such a complex time period to get right, I think). But this setting gave me an easy angle for the “mutual pining” prompt, and once I found a satisfactory role for Jyn (I wanted her on the front lines!) I took it and ran and had a blast. (I also learned a ton! And learning is fun.) I do think it’s a little rougher around the edges and would have liked some more time to polish it. Still really like how it turned out though.

Whatever I Do (I Do It To Protect You)

Summary: When Orson Krennic landed on Lah’mu, Lyra Erso made a choice. She chose her daughter. Now they move from planet to planet, identity to identity, rebel cell to rebel cell, until they wind up at the center of the rebellion.

Notes: My first rebelcaptain fic! I started writing this on January 15, 2017. Holy crap. It started as just an idle daydream and turned into this huge thing. It took me nine months to finish – much better than my ASoIaF Gendrya chapter fic, which took a year, exactly. (And WID has a higher word count, too.) So a great opportunity for me to practice writing more consistently. This was also an exercise in planning and outlining. Halfway through, I completely changed the ending and had to rework it (which is why it took as long as it did). 

(Also mothers die way too much in Star Wars and this needed to be rectified. One day I really want to see a fic with Padme, Lyra, and Mothma just running the rebellion because how awesome would that be?)

this is the way (we move)

Excerpt: This is the way they run: They push each other, drag each other, carry each other. Bodhi waits and they sprint to him. All they ever have to do is find Bodhi, and he will carry them the rest of the way. They sprint through jungles, fat green leaves smacking them, blocking them, whipping them. They dash across sand, burning through the soles of their feet, sucking them back each step as they stumble in the shifting dunes. They scurry across rocky cliffs, slip and slide across icy plateaus, squelch through swamps, and it doesn’t matter the terrain, they just muddle through it with only one goal in mind: Bodhi’s ship. Home.

Summary: Vignettes of the post-Scarif Rogue One team. For the Rebelcaptain Week Tumblr prompt “Family.”

Notes: My favorite out of my Rebelcaptain Appreciation Week fics. (Incidentally, also, the first one I wrote.) This plot bunny attacked me during the two-hour car ride home from my sister’s; I was of course listening to the Cassian Andor spotify playlist and “The Way We Move” by Langhorne Slim & The Law came on. What a fun and upbeat and positive song in what is mostly a mellow playlist! This song just implies so much movement, which is very fitting for the RO team and that’s what I wanted to evoke here. Really fun to write.

when did you last let your heart decide?

Summary: When Cassian runs into Jyn Erso in the marketplace on Jedha, the rebellion can’t resist the opportunity to convert the daughter of an Imperial weapons scientist into an asset. But after years of recruiting, of coaxing others to give in to their own impulses, Cassian hesitates. Can he bring himself to persuade the first person he’s loved in years to risk her life? (Canon divergent, Imperial!Jyn, Aladdin AU)

Notes: So here is a fun fact about me: for four straight years in a row, I was Princess Jasmine for Halloween (K - 3rd). Then in 4th grade, I was A New Hope!Princess Leia (incidentally, I met Mark Hamill almost 20 years later to the day and was dressed as Endor!Leia so that came beautifully full circle). When I realized this, it just seemed kind of obvious that I’d write a Star Wars/Disney princess crossover, lol. Lots of fun with: Cassian’s immediate heart-eyes for Jyn, exploration of Cassian’s commitment to the cause and subsequent self-sacrifice, and Imperial!Jyn. 

I had more ideas for this that didn’t make it in (K-2SO filling the role as Abu, in a ‘skeptical of Cassian’s crush on Jyn, but still totally has his back’ kind of way;  more montage scenes of Jyn and Cassian exploring the galaxy a la ‘A Whole New World’; and an actual confrontation with Krennic when Cassian and Jyn return to Coruscant). Also I got several comments regarding an expansion SO one day I just might write that. One day.

[bentchcreates]

Take Me Now by CJ Edmunds

If you’ve been following me on Twitter the past 24 hours, you’d already know that I started this last night after I dozed off on a different book and a few paragraphs in, I was hooked!

I tried so hard to not finish this quickly, but I kept wondering what would happen next, and what’s in store for Alvin.

First things first, let me tell you what I think needs more work on this. I would’ve wanted more dialogue. I don’t know if there was a word count limit and I understand using the narrative instead of banter to conserve precious words, but as a somewhat Paranormal Romance, I would’ve loved more banter between the protagonists. Even when it was just Alvin, on the throes of passion, I would’ve wanted to hear him moan and groan in my head, rather than Alvin telling me in the narration that he moaned and groaned.

Another minor irk I found is the swift development of Alvin and Dennis’ feelings for each other is a little too fantastical. Maybe it’s because I’m more familiar with Romance books that take time to develop the characters’ emotions and take time to trust others. Or maybe the pacing was perfectly fine, but it felt unrealistic for me because I’ve never been emotionally attached to someone I just met.

In any case, these two things do not undermine the rest of the book. :)

NOW LET’S GET TO WHY I LOVE THIS SO MUCH!!!

Top 1 reason is the Filipino Gay representation, specifically, the gay bear fetish representation! If I said I didn’t get the deeply-emotional-toward-people-I-just-met situation, the attraction to stocky, chubby, hairy men situation, i totally dig. You’d think that tells a lot about myself, but I’m not denying or confirming anything. hah. What I’m saying here, is that CJ Edmunds realistically wrote what happens when someone into bears, actually meets a potential. :)

And as if quality Filipino Gay Romance stories in English aren’t difficult enough to find, this has a bit of magic in it! Enough for me to fangirl about this for the rest of the week! I mean, there’s Tarot Readings, a “Diagon Alley”-esque District (that’s literally in the book!) and, ehem, incubi. *winkwink*

Which brings us to the next thing I love about this: STEAMY SCENES!! Do even have to explain why I love this? haha.  I also loved that this was set in the Metro Manila area. I miss home, and reading about the places I used to frequent (Cafe Adriatico, ftw!) somehow fills the gap in my heart. I rarely read about Malate, especially in a treatment as endearing as this, so this was a nice touch.

Lastly, the monologues. This is written in the First Person POV so there’s bound to be a lot of that, but I kind of...heard myself in the narrative(?) LOL. Because even though I’ve never been in situations like Alvin went through (and I don’t think I’ll ever be...) I imagined myself acting and reacting the same way he did. Like, being impulsive with my decisions; throwing a hissy fit and then kicking myself in the balls for acting like immature; referencing TV shows in dangerous, real-life situations. Alvin is my spirit animal! XD 

5 of 5 Stars. Because this is really good. All the ingredients were there to win me over and the writing is pretty sound. I may have some problems with the romance-y parts but maybe I need to read more PnR stories to get my bearing calibrated? LOL.

I highly recommend this! (*I’m practically shoving this to my FB and Twitter friends already and that’s how you know this is one of my favorite reads this year!)

I can’t wait for Book 2!! 

BLURB:  Imagine a place where you can hide and no one will ever find you. Imagine a place where rules can be broken to serve your needs. Imagine your needs and darkest desires met and fantasies fulfilled. Fuse these conditions with a little magic and you have entered the Dark District. Alvin has been looking for love in all the wrong places and when he is finally brought to the District, he finds himself getting more than what he bargained for. But such things of and from the District are never what they seem. From nocturnal visits to sensual surprises during the day, Alvin may have just found the right condition in his search for love and sex, to take him...now. 

BUY LINKS:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Take-Me-Now-Tales-District-ebook/dp/B01E1W1D9O/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

ABOUT THE AUTHOR :

C.J. never thought he'd be an author someday but he always loved the feel and the comfort of having a book in his hands. Whether it be hardbound or paperback as well as his e-reader, he never leaves home without one. By day, he is a voice actor. By night he is a DJ at Mellow 94.7, and along with his show partner, Indi, handles the evening program called Mellow Nights. In between that, he tries to squeeze in his writing and reading as much as he can, on top of singing and hosting gigs over the weekend as well as cosplay conventions as he is also very much a Geek at heart. Hit him up over Twitter (Cazedmunds947), Facebook, as well as Instagram (Cazedmunds, AnneRicePhils) and he'll probably launch into a geeky conversation with you till the wee hours of the morning. Founder of his own reader's group, Anne Rice Philippines and a member of Justice PH, a DC cosplaying group in Manila, as well Philippine Tolkien Society and the Philippine Lightsaber Guild, C.J feels that his love for these different fandoms fuels his creativity and imagination and hopes that in turn, it fuels yours.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/cazedmunds947

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CJEdmunds.Writer/

Tumblr: @cazedmunds

[charliedayofficial]

do you have any fics that are JH and after s8 where they like get back together?

Hi, anon! Sorry for taking so long to respond but I’ve been scouring all of my previously read fics and the ones in my TBR folder to see what I can recommend to you. While I haven’t read all of these, I've skimmed them all enough to the point where they’re written in a style I like(I’m not big on script format or first person fics). Anyway, here is what I was able to dig up for you!

Nowhere But Lost by Zenkindoflove

Author Summary: Hyde is cynical, depressed, alone, and would really like to keep it that way. But what happens when something inside of him resurfaces and is more than unhappy about his current living arrangements? JH, ED COMPLETE!

My Thoughts: This is seriously one of my all-time favorites. Characterization is great, the plot is great, JH is so fucking cute, and there isn’t much to complain about when it comes to the writing. While this plot isn’t THAT unique, it really doesn’t matter. PLEASE READ!

Outside Looking In by rebeldivaluv

Author Summary: Interconnected vignettes telling key moments in Jackie and Hyde’s relationship, as viewed by the people who know them best.

My Thoughts: Out of all the fics I’ve read, this seriously might be my absolute favorite. The characterization is really spot on, the characters are funny, the writing/story is amazing, and I get everything I want to see with JH. This one is pretty fluffy, which I can’t complain about. I’m really impressed that the author was able to craft a fluffy fic where JH have to get back together, but there’s no angst that makes your heart hurt. I really enjoy reading from other characters perspectives and how they see JH interact in different situations. Cannot recommend enough!

Steven Who? by kezztip

Author Summary: Set just after Misfire Season 8 – Jackie’s world tumbles in on her when she realizes it is really over for her and Hyde and seeks to escape how awful her reality has become. The method of that escape is pure Jackie

My Thoughts: A perfect mix of angsty, funny, and sweet. kezztip is the queen of writing season 8 fics

Come Clarity by Zenkindoflove

Author Summary: Twenty years is a long time to stay gone…

My Thoughts: I personally find this to be the most accurate post season 8 fic where more than 3 years have passed. I’ve never found it believable in other post-season 8 fics where Hyde has a significant other that isn’t Jackie. Jackie changed the game for him so I don’t see him able to fully/truly commit to someone else. This fic is beautiful, cute, funny, and JH is in their purest form. I also enjoy that the author didn’t have the story focus on them talking through their issues from their last breakup, it was more so on reconciliation and finding each other. I wouldn’t say this fic is fluff, but I also wouldn’t say that it’s angsty. Please read it though lol

20 Questions by ShanghaiLily

Author Summary: Just after New Year’s day in 1980, Jackie Burkhart decides to disappear from the basement to save her sanity. When Xmas rolls around and the Formans beg Jackie to attend their party, she ends up involved in an elaborate game of 20 Questions with Hyde that could change both of their lives. T-rated w/ some M chapters. Story is COMPLETE! This one is for the Zennies who hate Season 8!

My Thoughts: This story is really enjoyable, but not perfect. This author tends to be really hit or miss with the characterization of the characters so it can be slightly irritating. Even though how JH and their relationship is described can be frustrating, the story is good enough to look past it. This story just has a really creative way of getting JH back together

The Morning After by ShanghaiLily

Author Summary: Jackie goes to Las Vegas for Fez’s wedding, drinks a little too much, and then wakes up in married to the last person she ever thought would commit to her. This is what happens the morning after.

My Thoughts: Like I mentioned earlier, this author really has hit-or-miss characterization. I really like this fic though because I’m a sucker for Hyde not only being a complete sap over Jackie, but it’s nice to see him kiss her ass. Let’s be real, we all deserve it after the travesty of season 8

That’s My Baby by kezztip

Author Summary: This is a JH story with a twist instead of the wedding and baby being the happy ending, it’s going to be the rocky start. All of you who love to watch Jackie outzen Hyde will be on board with this one.

My Thoughts: This is definitely my favorite kezztip fic. Jackie is so strong in this fic, which I can never get enough of. The author really has Donna grovel to Jackie as well because Donna is TERRIBLE to her in season 8. The writing and characterization are just so well done in this story. I seriously cannot stress that enough! I find it to be the most realistic JH reunion fic post-season 8 because of Jackie’s attitudes towards the gang, her new life/job, and her new outlook on life. After Fez, I can really see her shutting down her hopeless romantic side so she can focus on something she can control; like work. The middle of the fic kind of drags because it’s very clear what the author intends to do, but it quickly picks back up once that part of the story is resolved. This is a must read, especially with what you’re looking for!

The Right Road Lost by zpplnchick

Author Summary: After a car accident, Hyde wakes up to a twisted version of reality he comes to find is actual hell and with no memory of how he got there, a hell that Jackie’s been living in for the past few months. Set during Season 8, shortly after “Sweet Lady”.

My Thoughts: A more detailed, drawn-out, and angstier version of “Nowhere But Lost”

The Tough Get Going by kezztip

Author Summary: What if Jackie went back to her job in Chicago instead of sticking around Point Place to take Hyde’s crap? Say hello again to the strong, determined Jackie we saw glimpses of in Season 7 as she finds a new love but then is pursued by her old love JH AU

My Thoughts: !STRONG JACKIE! and the plot kind of reminds me of a rom-com

Made Bare by mistymountainhop

Author Summary: A heartbroken Hyde considers his relationship with Jackie kaput. Too bad Jackie sees it differently. She intends to get a proper resolution with him, but breaking through his hostility—and getting past his wife—may well prove impossible

My Thoughts: Noone understands JH better. Period.

November Rain by luvcali76

Author Summary: JH Post Season 8. A torrid encounter on Halloween night, 1984, leads ex-couple, Jackie and Hyde, to spend the next month reevaluating their past.

My Thoughts: *sigh* I really hesitate adding this to my list because I really hate this fic. The only thing I like about it is the last chapter, but even that is eh. This is a really popular fic in the fandom, but it’s definitely not for me. I find it too angsty, I don’t buy Hyde in another serious romantic relationship, and I don’t buy Jackie cheating. There’s a trend in some JH fics where they have Jackie cheat on whoever she’s with so she can have these one-night-stands with Hyde. It’s not in Jackie to cheat, no matter who it’s with. It bothers me and the plot isn’t good enough for me to look past it. It’s super angsty too, which also aren’t my favorite so maybe that’s why I don’t like it so much. I’m adding it to the list though because many people do like it, and you may be one of them!

Imagine by heatherlea75

Author Summary: 1980 has been a lousy year for the entire gang, particularly Hyde and Jackie. When a beloved cultural icon dies, the two take an impulsive trip to New York, together. While there, they remember old impressions of one another and discover new things about themselves

My Thoughts: While this is a JH classic in the fandom and a ton of people love it, I’m not the biggest fan. One of the main problems I had with it was I found Jackie acting way too desperate to appease Hyde after all he had done to her in season 8. It is important to note that the writing is solid and there were parts of the story that I did enjoy. While it may not be my cup of tea, you may like it!

Chasing the Time by pastelpink

Author Summary: Everything was different apart from one thing: Jackie still loved Hyde. (Set during Season 8)

Cliches and Things They Say by heatherlea75

Author Summary: Jackie is looking forward to the new direction her life has taken. Hyde is happy with the same old, same old of his. But when once faces a familiar and seemingly inevitable situation, and the other an unexpected dressing down, both reevaluate their lives.

My Thoughts: I’m surprised that I haven’t read this yet, but I found it buried down deep in my TBR folder. The writing is solid, there’s definite angst, and you’ll definitely get the ending you’re looking for!

Misguided Ghosts by JoyfulHeartEO

Author Summary: The gang has left, Jackie and Hyde are the only ones left. But after Sam left they stopped talking. When something happens to Jackie will Hyde be there for her? Or will he be selfish and only help himself. Its time to grow up, but will he?

My Thoughts: While this fic is incomplete and not the best written, there’s a super sweet Hyde in it which is always a fun thing

Life As A House by kezztip

Author Summary: A Crossover with the movie - Jackie’s Uncle George invites her to spend the summer with him to help with a ‘special project’. She agees but she will get more than she bargained for when she finds out the real reason behind her Uncle’s invitation.

My Thoughts: kezztip is one of my favorite fanfic authors for season 8 related fics. She usually crafts a strong Jackie who stands up for herself, something that we didn’t get to see in season 8. While this isn’t the best fic she’s written, it’s still worth a read!

Friends or Lovers? by JoyfulHeartEO

Author Summary: N/A

My Thoughts: This fic is super long and the author is known for their sugary sweet fics. From what I’ve skimmed, this looks to be her attempt at an angsty fic. This could be a hit-or-miss, but it should be pretty decent 

Pain Without Love by YouLivexYouDie

Author Summary: Three-shot. Jackie Burkhart is about to experience something life changing. She will never be the same afterward nor will the people who love her. Eventual JH

My Thoughts: This actually looks really good! The writing looks pretty well done and what I’ve seen has definitely intrigued me. While this place during season 8, it’s still basically what you’re looking for

Happy Holidays by YouLivexYouDie

Author Summary: Three-shot. Jackie planned on spending the holidays alone, that was until Eric Forman decided to come back from Africa early. JE friendship, eventual JH.

My Thoughts: I love fics with Jackie and Eric friendship, especially when Eric helps JH and their relationship. This also takes place during season 8 instead of after

All It Takes Is Love by SwanseaGurl

Author Summary: Jackie Hyde post season 8, two shot

My Thoughts: Also takes place during season 8(Sam is still there so it’s season 8 no matter what the author says) and it’s pretty short. Regardless, I think it’s one of the better short season 8 fics that I’ve read

For Her Sake by heatherlea75

Author Summary: Jackie and Hyde’s final break up is brutal, though all is not as it seems. When his involvement in certain activities forces Hyde to take drastic action, the fate of his complicated relationship with Jackie appears doomed. But is it?

My Thoughts: This is such a good fic! There’s romance, crime, mystery, and plenty of drama! I’m really picky about season 8 fics, especially if Sam is in it. The author was really creative with this story, so I highly recommend! 

Let me know if y’all want any other fic recs

[purplesurveys]

1204

What does the song you're listening to remind you of? No music for me tonight. Have you ever written anything on your walls? No, I have absolutely no reason to write directly on my wall. I have a corkboard should I ever have the need to put up a note. Do you brighten and contrast your pictures? Only if I post photos on social media, which is very rare to begin with. Have you ever attended a private school? That’s what I attended from kindergarten to high school. What do you do when you need to relax? Fix myself a cup of coffee, or take a nap.

What thing(s) annoy you the most? I feel like my pet peeves are always changing but my biggest one at the moment are local bloggers (that I engage with for work) adding me on Facebook. I usually ignore their requests, but 100% of the time they end up sending a message insisting that I add them, leaving me no choice but to oblige. I hate that my supposed personal space is now intertwined with work as well. They’re also the type to send me questions or messages late into the evening or on weekends, which absolutely grinds my fucking gears. Who is your favorite cartoon character? Mr. Peanutbutter from BoJack Horseman. What do you usually order from Starbucks? Iced caramel macchiato, though I might also start ordering iced Americano regularly because I had no idea it actually tastes pretty good until I tried it out last week. The food I order differs per visit, but the last time I got something from Starbucks it was their salmon dill sandwich. What did you look like when you went out today? I didn’t go out today but I miiiiiiiiiiiiiiight have to tomorrow to finally get a new pair of eyeglasses with updated lens for my ever-deteriorating eyesight lol. I just realized Angela, Reena and I will be heading to Mega next Saturday for the BTS pop-up store, so I will be needing new eyeglasses so that I can drive properly. What's a habit that you wish you could break? Impulsive buying. I can already tell it would potentially be an issue if I don’t get a grip soon so I’ve made a promise to myself to calm down on the merch. I won’t be buying more albums for now and will just save up for them so I can get one big bulk order as a Christmas gift to myself instead. What is something you're really good at? Not needing an alarm to wake up on time. My body clock always just knows. What's a song you could listen to over and over, and never get sick of? Sweet Night by V. What are you looking forward to? Continued from last night. For all my merch orders to arrive one by one heehee. What is something you really need to do? I have a press release to write and a Powerpoint deck to do this weekend, so that’s dandy. At least I’ll be paid for it, but still :/ What kind of cell phone do you have? I have an iPhone 8, still. What is your favorite color scheme? Any pastel combination works for me. What is the last thing that you watched on TV? I watched an episode of Run BTS through the TV last night even though I technically played it through the YouTube app of the PS4. Do you wish anyone was still in your life? I think this way about several people, but I never feel sad or regretful about it. It just makes me think what life would’ve been like if they were still a part of my life. What color are your nails painted right now? They are never painted. Are you more factual or random? I’m struggling to find the connection between these two but I suppose I’m more factual.  What is something you do often that annoys people? I dunno. I definitely don’t seek this information from people, lmao. You would have to ask others.

What is the worst movie you have ever seen? I don’t know if it’s the worst but The Notebook can definitely be a runner-up for being one of them. I was really excited to see it but was so crestfallen when I had to acknowledge it was terrible barely 10 minutes into the movie. What are you going to do after this? I want to look for another survey but looking at my pattern these days it seems like I only take one a day during the weekends now, so I’m not so sure if I’ll actually fulfill this. I might just go back to watching BTS content, idk. How many windows are open on your computer? I have 7 Chrome windows open right now. What is your desktop background at the moment? BTS. What is something you say a lot? It’s a local phrase but I always catch myself saying, “Ayoko na,” which basically means “I give up,” or “I don’t want/like [this] anymore,” usually by the end of my shift hahaha. What's in your purse right now? I don’t have a purse. Do you still have feelings for your ex-boyfriend/girlfriend? Not at all. It’s situations like ours where I feel grateful for my ability to cut off people in a snap of a finger, regardless of the bond we shared. How many CDs are in your house? Too many. Favorite music group of all time? Paramore. What are you wearing right now? I have a black halter top on and a pair of shorts. Have you ever had hair extensions? I don’t think so. Do you have a last.fm account? I think I had in the past, but I wasn’t excited by it so I never used it. Do you have a good memory? Yes. What is something that can't be joked around about? Rape. Have you ever been in love? Sure. Do you take vitamins? No. What kind of pets do you have? Two dogs. In your opinion what is the best car? I don’t know enough about cars to make such a bold opinion. What song are you currently listening to? Still no music for me this morning. What is your favorite kind of ice cream? Cookies and cream or ones with cookie dough chunks. Have you ever bought anything off the internet? That’s how I mainly purchase stuff now. Have you ever talked back to a teacher? Not that I remember. Do you get excited when you get a text message? No. What's something that freaks you out? Cooking and doing things in the kitchen. Have you ever met anyone famous? Sure. Have you ever whitened your teeth? No. What was the last interesting thing you learned? I read Reena’s ballet-themed thread on Twitter explaining the choreography of BTS’ song Black Swan that got crazy big and viral it apparently made it to Korean national news. Her analysis was beautifully in-depth and was written so passionately I had to ask her if she was a ballerina, which she confirmed. Have you ever had a bad feeling about someone? Sure. What's your favorite way to wear your hair? Ponytail. Do you miss the way things used to be? No, I like where I am.

[qohesive-blog]

so we’ve got some catching up to do - obligatory college reflection // 170712

Not. Letting. This. One. Slide.

Yes, I am aware that it’s been almost exactly a year since my last post here, and I’ve got no one but myself to blame. It’s not because omg, college kept me so busy (it was), it’s not because I deleted tumblr from my phone (because I can still go on desktop), it’s not because I was so happy and satisfied with my life that I don’t need a creative outlet anymore (couldn’t be further from the truth; if anything, I need to write now more than ever); in fact, I’ve probably lost count of how many times I lied cozy in my bed, no plans on a Friday night, thinking to myself hm it’s literally been 6 months since I’ve written something even though I made a huge deal about writing consistently. oh well, can’t be bothered and then gone to watch yet another episode of Jane the Virgin. Unlike most things in my life, I won’t spend time here trying to overanalyze the specific reasons why it’s so dang hard for me to commit to writing, if there are any subconscious fears or personality traits that drive this. All I can say is that I’m exceedingly thankful for the people who God have gifted with the power of words that inspire one to move, and that I am a lazy ‘lil pooper, and that I will continue to fight the good fight. Moving on, let’s get straight into business:

Obligatory First Year College Reflection

So school officially ended over two months ago, and needless to say, I’ve been given plenty of time to reflect on my first two semesters of college. Gosh, where do I start….

The Good

I’ve had the opportunity to meet a handful of kind, genuine people who made my day brighter whenever I saw them, as well as a handful of hilarious people who make me laugh, understand my humor, make me feel comfortable, and who I just generally “click” with. And it’s been really hard for me to find those sort of people in college. 

(Angela, Claire, Tracy: in a place where I felt like I had to constantly put on at least some kind of act, you guys let me feel like myself. Thank you.)

HSM!! Composed primarily out of all the freshman people who met at AAIV. I’m thankful I was able to connect with a good group of Asian Christians who I know can support me and who I can support as well. I love you guys! 

The opportunity to get closer to Hannah and Jon! I first met Hannah at winter retreat like 4 years back, but we haven’t really talked until we were paired for STM last summer. Being able to see her every week and grabbing the occasional meal together has honestly been such a blessing this year. She’s a brilliant, hilarious, beautiful sister in Christ and I’m really really thankful she’s here at OSU. For Jon, we got closer senior year of high school, but this year we were able to actually hang out more since he’s more involved in the asian community. He’s probably the guy friend that I have the most fun with just because whenever we’re around each other we both get super goofy and it’s just a nice, refreshing breath of air from all the other stress in my life when I’m able to be around someone who I don’t have to pretend to be someone I’m not. Through both Jon and Hannah, I’ve been able to have some pretty meaningful conversations about faith that made me reflect about my life when I otherwise would have just went with the flow of school and work.

A satisfactory relationship with my roommate. Natalie and I…..we’re not best friends, but we also don’t hate each other’s guts like most roommate horror stories I hear about. Sure, it was awkward at first because we didn’t really talk that much outside of typical pleasantries, but after a while I started to realize that it was simply her personality: Natalie is, like me at the core, introverted, a minimalist but efficient conversationalist, and one who doesn’t usually initiate conversation. And although it’s a bummer that I’m not coming out of my first year of college, locked arm-in-arm with my newfound soulmate and a binding roommate for the next three years, I appreciated the pocket of peace and quiet that Natalie offered me whenever I came back to the room, exhausted from networking events and club meetings and talking to people I didn’t want to talk to, to some much appreciated solace. Nevertheless, throughout our time together I was slowly able to see some of Natalie’s hidden quirks that she conceals underneath a seemingly stoic exterior; she spends her Friday nights baking cookies for us, she refers to herself as a “free bird”, she blasts country music in the shower and sings along with it when she doesn’t know that I came home early. 

Expanding my circle of people I usually interact with. All throughout high school, I’ve mainly just kept to my comfortable Asian community. Not that there was ever anything wrong with that, and not that I’ve completely changed from that, but I just wanted to put myself in situations in which I wasn’t used to, just because I think it’s important for me to do so since I literally can’t socialize with non asians lol. 

(Jon, Natalie, Alex, Jess, Erin, Truman, Tyeal, Gitu, Emma, Shiyuan, Ros, Joling, Dillon, Johann: you guys really didn’t have to keep talking to me. I know I’m super awkward, weird, and just generally not the typical person you’d hang out with, but you guys tolerated me at the least and made your way into my life at the most. Thank you for talking about your favorite books with me, and letting me show you my favorite youtube videos. Thank you for acting disappointed when I said I was going to go up to my room at because my shift ended an hour ago and I wanna sleep, dangit, and then being genuinely excited to see me reluctantly agree to stay a little longer. Thank you for showing me your collection of sketches when I showed you my own, and then drawing your own sketch of me for me to keep. Thank you for stopping at my room, knocking frantically at my door at 2am to freak out over relationship drama, and even though I may have answered the door all grumpy, mouth set in a scowl because I had an 8am the next morning, secretly I was relieved that I had been able to reach that level of closeness with a new friend.)

Really good grades!!!! Like, realllyyyy good, like I got all A’s!!!!!!! I’m actually pretty excited about this one, since in high school each semester was usually tainted by one bad grade. To be fair, first year business students don’t exactly have the most difficult of schedules, but I’m gonna choose optimism over cynicism this time and take the opportunity to feel proud of myself. I maintained a pretty good work ethic throughout the two semesters, and the best part of it? I think I’m falling in love with learning again. Seriously, I’m excited to learn. High school was different; in high school, I got the A not because I learned the material well, but because all I had in mind were collegescollegescolleges. Now that pressure is off- I’m at a mediocre state school with a lot less competition and a lot less toxicity, and that’s really given me the chance to reexamine my  relationship with education and place it under a whole new light. It helps that most of my professors were pretty amazing (Writing for Engineers and Anthropology professors come to mind) and the courses I choose got me absolutely PUMPED to get to class (Chinese Film, Korean). Of course, perhaps I’m speaking too early and I’ll actually find myself hating school once again when I’m drowning under accounting and statistics next year, but I’ll enjoy the feeling while it lasts…..

Tried new things. This year, I joined a J2K group that was doing Seventeen’s Aju nice. The last time I performed dance was in 3rd grade during my fleeting one year relationship with ballet. I’m not a horrible dancer by any means, but I’m also far from the best; in fact, I’d probably place myself slightly below average. Nevertheless, I’m pretty proud that I was able to try out this new experience, and all the hours we put in each week practicing never felt like work; it was always a fun time dancing with the other people on my team and learning how to make our moves look better. Spring semester, I also joined a fraternity. Phi Chi Theta is a professional business fraternity, but it was still something that was way out of my comfort zone. I unfortunately did not realize this fact until a few months after I joined since I jumped into it rather impulsively, but I have too much pride in me to drop it (and I also already paid $150 for two semesters). I don’t want to shy away from this just because I’m not comfortable, though. Most of the people here in PCT are really different than me. They party, drink, make jokes that I’m not used to, and are just a group that I would not have associated with if it not had been for a) a few of my friends in PCT who told me it was a good group b) my pride c) the stinging rejection of not making it past the final round of BUCC interviews (a topic for a later date) d) my pride e) my pride (sensing a pattern here? once again, a topic for a later date). Given the second chance, I honestly would not have chosen to rush PCT again, but….I’m here. And even though most of the people here are intimidating, there’s also a few handful of people that I’m curious to get to know a little better, so for the time being I have to work with what I got. 

There’s probably a lot of other good stuff that have happened, but for the sake of cutting this short, I’m gonna move on. Hopefully I can revisit this topic later!

The Bad

Social anxiety. Not actual, diagnosed social anxiety, but…I don’t know. Looking back at it all, I was very, very, very naive when I applied to colleges. I thought just because I enjoyed talking among my little bubble of friends back home meant that I was a social butterfly and thus suited for business. WRONG. I’m not a social butterfly, as I quickly learned within my few first months here. Maybe I’m just really good at hiding it or something because literally the amount of people who have been shocked when I say I’m an introvert….(which is actually extremely disturbing to me lol because I’m like the biggest insecure introvert in the entire world what the heck) I hate talking, people make me nervous, I constantly recite conversations in my head before I say them, I freak out over me messing up on a word which makes me mess up even more, I hate frat parties, I hate it when I have to leave my room, I just hate hate hate hate social interaction I DON’T LIKE IT. It scares me and I can literally feel my skin crawl thinking about how awkward I am. The thing is, none of these fears really came to light until this year; I, at one point, even questioned if I were an extrovert back in high school. You know what, though? It was because home was familiar. Jerome friends were people who I literally spent 4+ years growing up with. Church friends, some twice as long, even longer. I was “social” because I was comfortable, and I also thrived within the subcultures that I was familiar with. But coming here? Everything is different. I’m not in the Dublin bubble anymore, I can’t make the same jokes around my asian friends as I do around other people. This literally broke me lol I had an identity crisis. I stopped speaking up, I feel constantly self conscious about everything, my face turns red when I’m the slightest bit embarrassed (I’ve never had that happen to me before), and I stutter when I talk. But even with these things, I look pretty much normal from an external point of view; I don’t think people think this way about me when they first meet me as much as I do. I feel like these things are so big just because I’m hyperaware of everything but I’m scared that if given enough time, they will become so big that other people start to notice too. I’m actually mildly bitter towards high school and Jerome because I was so sheltered there; people have told me Jerome was weird but this is the first time I’m actually understanding the meaning of that lol. Jerome is weird, we don’t socialize with people the way you typically socialize with people in college, and I really should be more than mildly bitter at both the environment I grew up in and myself for not being more proactive, but at the same time, I’m not sure if I would change it. Weird. Need more time to think about this.

Slightly related, a crippling anxiety that business may not be the right path for me. Yeah, so I hate talking to people and speaking up. Literally the opposite of business. A part of me wonders if me taking AP Chemistry freshman year at Jerome was a contributing factor in me not wanting to pursue science. A big part of me wants to say yes. I wasn’t bad at Chem or Bio, not bad at all, but the pressure of forcing myself to take an AP class as a freshman really ruined learning science for me and left a bad taste in my mouth at the mention of science ever since then. Now, I realize that I really wasn’t horrible at those subjects and am familiar with a more efficient way to learn and I can’t help but feel that my personality is more suited for science, maybe biology or something? I value school and I value education and genuity and kindness and I’ve met some business students who don’t really meet that. Of course, I’m sure there are business majors who are the most amazing people you could meet, but I can firmly, 300% say that I’ve statistically clicked better with non-business majors. Once again, though, I’m too stubborn to drop this, and  part of me is hoping that things will get better when my classes get smaller and I get to know Fisher students a little better. Fingers crossed.

I don’t really feel connected to church. I wanted to take both semesters off from 4c and try out some other churches in Columbus for the sake of expanding my comfort circle, and because I really needed a break (once again, a topic for a later time). Well, I didn’t exactly do just that. Whether it’s because I did so out of guilt or out of my own free will, I still went to 4c. Not every week, but enough that I didn’t really fully immerse myself in a different church for the duration of last year. As a result, I was neither fully committed to 4c nor other churches. I’ve given it some thought though, and though I’m a bit disappointing that I didn’t get to spend as much time with the Veritas congregation as I wanted to, I think I should still stick to 4c for now. There’s resignations that I have about 4c, but at the end of the day, it’s my home church, and I feel like I should stay and take time to build its community.

The Things Yet to Come

Of course, it would suck to end on such a depressing note. here’s a few of the things to come in the future, some potentially good, some potentially bad; I hate having my expectations crushed so I like to keep future thoughts mostly ambivalent.

I’m gonna be a membership chair for KSA next year! Equally mixed feeling about this. Considering my earlier rant about ihatetalkingithinki’mawkwardnoonewantstotalktome, and considering family heads are basically the forefront of internal communications with the club, I’m extremely, extremely nervous. Thomas and Lisa know what they’re doing though, and they’ve done a good job so far about getting all of us to help prepare the basic details for next year. I just really, really don’t want to disappoint them and I don’t want the disappoint the rest of the e-board who picked me to be one of the four family heads out of all the rest of everyone to apply. KSA is a really cool organization, and I’d love for me to be able to personally get to know a small portion of its members, and I really, really hope my anxiety doesn’t get in the way. I’ve got a few things prepared to hopefully make the experience memorable for my future family: I got a new camera that I’m planning on vlogging with whenever we go on outings, I ordered a bunch of stationary so I can write cute birthday notes to people, and I wanna make a survey to hand out to everyone at the first meeting to gauge everyone’s expectations and get to know them on a basic level (aka taking a picture of everyone’s faces and memorizing them because I’m horrible with names). I’m praying that I won’t be too awkward to my family next semester

asl;dfjalkj ROOMING WITH HSM GIRLS AHHHHHHHH I’m so excited for this yes yes yes!!! Meeting new people has been quite the experience last year but I’ve been absolutely hyped for the opportunity to finally be able to be on the same floor as the ladies who I feel most comfortable with !!! I’ll be rooming with maddie, Claire with Hannah, and then Jesse with a random roommate and we’ll all be in one square. I myself have spent the past month pinning and buying home decor for me and maddie’s room (at the expense of my poor wallet) and last week I made this really sweet flower pressed picture frame! This is the first time I’ve actually been this involved with home decor lol; my room has always been a hideous amalgram of  clippings, notebooks, trinkets, just everything that I’m too afraid to throw away. Planning for next year’s room has really changed me lol. I’m even thinking of going back and reorganizing my shelf (!!!) once I get home to make my room look more ~minimalistic~ lol.

New freshmennnnnnnnn hehehehe I’m actually kind of eager to see the new freshmen that are gonna be on campus next year. Pretty stoked that Hannah and Jenna will still be here; hopefully I’ll use this opportunity to get closer to them! It’ll be nice finally graduating from the #new2osu rank hahahaha.

Classes! This one is also kind of mixed lol. I’m really looking forward to Korean, I’ve been practicing over the summer and kind of miss seeing my classmates every day. Accounting and Stats I’m absolutely terrified for since I’ve never been good with numbers, but after the events of last year I’m filled with a determination I’ve never felt before to tackle tough academics and maybe turn them into my strengths???? For what it’s worth, I bought a bunch of new notebooks from IKEA and new highlighters and that always motivates me to take real good notes.

So there’s probably a million things that I’m missing, but I’ve been sitting here typing for the good majority of 3 hours and my fingers feel kind of funny hahaha. I got the basic stuff for the most part, and it feels really really satisfying to have finally been able to lay something down on this blog after a year hiatus. There’s definitely topics that I still wanna write about, so here’s to the continued battle against inertia and an ever inspired heart!