#also it doesn't look good but compare to the draft this is better

[clflowerrr]

dkos kdj

[solar-wing]

⚣ It's Not A Competition 🥇

⚣👊🏻 A/N → SURPRISE! double post today! I've been wanting to do a Clark Kent post forever but never had any good ideas. Then, this popped into my mind. Also, I'm really trying to clear out my drafts and any old requests. WARNINGS: Canon-Typical Violence | Jealousy | Established Relationship

⚣👊🏻 Summary → Dark Knight this and Dark Knight that. What about Superman?! He's also a great hero! Better than Batman, at least. The guy doesn't even have powers. But that's what makes him more interesting and cool, according to Y/N. And frankly, Clark has had quite enough and intends to show him why Superman is way better than Batman.

⚣👊🏻 Words → 4.7K

REBLOGS & replies are greatly appreciated, please! 💛

⚣ ENJOY 👊🏻

Clark just didn’t get it.

Why was it that Y/N was so obsessed with Batman and not Superman? All the young reporter ever talked about was the Dark Knight and how he was so cool and mysterious. Going on and on about his awesome gadgets and the fact that he had no powers, which made him so interesting.

Clark very much would beg to differ.

“You know, Superman can shoot lasers out of his eyes, and I heard he can move faster than the speed of sound,” Clark pointed out while walking with Y/N down the sidewalk. They decided to go out for lunch and since the Daily Planet was so close to one of Y/N's favorite restaurants downtown, he figured, why not just walk together?

“Clark, not this again,” Y/N chuckled while sipping his drink.

“I’m sorry, you just always talk about how great Batman is, and I’m not saying he’s bad, but I don’t get how he’s better than Superman?”

“You know, you’re starting to sound like Lois with all your Superman praise and comparison.”

“Well, she’s not wrong. I mean, come on. What can Batman do that Superman can’t?” Clark asked, looking down at his boyfriend while waiting for an answer.

“Batman’s quicker on his feet. He thinks of solutions faster and more creatively than what I’ve seen from Superman. Plus, he’s resourceful. The guy’s got a freaking jet. The only people I could think of that own jets and planes and all the crazy gadgets he has would probably be Lex Luthor or Bruce Wayne.”

Clark tried not to react to the irony of that statement, rather focusing on how he could combat that logic even though it was true. He had to admit that his comrade, whether in the field or in practice, was very good at analyzing a situation and using whatever he had around him to his advantage.

Still, it didn’t mean he was better than him.

“Well, Superman can also fly, and as many have witnessed, is crazy strong.”

“Yes, he is. But if Batman can afford a jet, I’m pretty sure he can afford a jetpack, too. Plus, we all know how strong Superman is, some more than others. Their insurance claims can definitely speak to how strong he is.”

That last line Y/N said was more so to himself than as a statement to Clark. However, it didn’t take away the slight sting from his words, considering how true they were.

“So you’re saying Superman is reckless and bad at his job or something?” Clark accused.

“What? No, I’m not saying that at all. Why are you getting so defensive about this? You’re acting as if you know the guy. Wait, do you know him?” Y/N asked, now looking up at his giant of a boyfriend.

Sometimes, he wondered what kind of genes ran in Clark’s family. It was a bit of a puzzle to Y/N why the six-foot-something man was in journalism rather than something that seemed more his speed, like fitness or athletics.

“No, of course not. I just don’t think it’s fair or even logical to compare Superman to someone like Batman, considering what each of them has respectfully achieved, not to mention the state of their cities and everything. I mean, have you ever been to Gotham before?” Clark asked, doing his best to not draw any more curiosity or suspicion out of the younger male.

Not that he was doing a good job of that in the first place.

Clark just wished he could’ve shown Y/N why Superman was better than Batman. They’d only been dating for a few months so it wasn’t reasonable or even smart for the Kryptonian to consider revealing his identity to him, no matter how much he wanted to.

“Clark, it’s not a competition. You know that, right?” Y/N said, placing his hand on Clark’s arm.

They paused in their steps, Clark looking down at the gentle hand lying across his forearm before looking up into the eyes that always put him under a spell. He smiled to himself, thinking of the fact that even if Y/N favored Batman over Superman, Clark was still the real winner, because he had him.

He took his hand in his own, doing his best to contain his excitement pulse at the feeling of his larger hand surrounding the smaller one in his grip. Y/N was still a male, so his hand wasn’t dainty or small by any means, but compared to Clark’s, it might as well have been.

“Yeah, I know. Sorry, I got a little bit crazy.” Clark apologized with a small kiss on the shorter man’s hand causing a slight blush to appear on the smaller male’s cheeks.

“It’s ok. Besides, I like a little bit of crazy. Keeps things interesting.” Y/N said before continuing their walk towards Clark’s place of work.

‘You have no idea,’ Clark thought to himself as he followed behind, letting himself be tugged along.

They returned to the Daily Planet to find everywhere in a buzz, chattering excitedly with each other as various individuals were either running to the bathroom with pouches of makeup and skincare and others at their desks touching up their hair and clothes.

“What’s going on?” Clark asked aloud as he strode into the office while still holding Y/N’s hand.

“Was it like this when we left?” His boyfriend asked, chuckling at the comical movements and gestures of the rushing to get re-ready for whatever was happening.

“No, it was actually the opposite,” The reporter stated before eventually spotting Lois at her desk, who was also touching up her makeup and hair. He made his way over to the desk area, narrowly avoiding multiple people rushing while pulling Y/N closer to him to keep him from getting bumped into.

“Lois, what’s going on?”

“Oh, hey, Smallville. Hello, Y/N. Didn’t you both get the emergency email Perry sent to everyone earlier?” She said in her usual fast-paced, business tone while curling her eyelashes.

“No, We were at lunch. What was the email about?”

“Oh, Clark. Must I always have to save your butt?” Lois said before handing her phone over to the man, Y/N chuckling behind him at the comment.

Clark threw him a look while Y/N did his best to keep a neutral face before reading over the email.

“Bruce Wayne is coming to the Daily Planet?”

Y/N's eyes went comically large at the mention, immediately jumping to read the email for himself, “No way!”

Lois smirked to herself before grabbing her phone back from the man, while Clark just stared at his boyfriend in jealous shock from his excited outburst. “Yep. Wayne Enterprises has announced its support of various major liberal movements and is donating large proceeds to different organizations calling for massive change in the nation. And with this being an election year, many political figures and business entities are feeling a little uneasy at this sudden new support from the tech giant. And yours truly, landed the exclusive interview with him to get all the nitty and gritty details .”

Y/N’s eyes were almost bugging out of his head, before he ran to the bathroom himself, snatching his hand from Clark’s who looked desperately after him.

“Dammit, Bruce.” The reporter growled under his breath.

“You say something?” Lois asked while powdering her nose.

“No,” Clark responded gruffly, an irritated glint in his eye before walking to his own desk.

After everyone has ridiculously made themselves extra presentable, including Y/N much to Clark’s annoyance, the pair stand outside the room with a few others, watching through the glass pane walls as the interview is broadcast live to the entire nation. Lois asked Mr. Wayne various questions, ranging from his real intentions behind his charitable donations to whether he was looking to begin any political endeavors and win the favor of the public.

Bruce answers every question with confidence and suaveness, leaving no room for questions about his actions, and denies any political motivations. Y/N watched impressed from the other end while Clark just looked around with a grim and irritated look, his arms crossed as he listened to the interview and watched his boyfriend fanboy over his secret comrade.

“Well, you certainly seem like the charming and noble benefactor, Mr. Wayne. I can see why you're known as ‘Gotham’s Favorite Son.’ I have to ask though, even if you truly have no political ambitions, aren’t you worried that these donations and announcements along with the unwavering stance you’ve taken on these political topics will inevitably place a target on you?” Lois asked, notepad and pen sitting with poise and precision, ready to take down every little thing the billionaire said.

“Wow, I can see why she’s so respected. She’s nailing this interview.” Y/N commented.

Clark nodded to that. Even if he wasn’t feeling the most agreeable at the moment, he’d always give hats off to Lois’ skills. The woman was a powerhouse when it came to this stuff.

“Well, first off, thank you for your earlier comment. I don’t think of myself as anyone’s favorite, but even I can’t control what the public says or does,” Bruce responded with his ever-so-billion-dollar smile, earning a laugh from Lois and probably every other American tuning into this broadcast, including Y/N.

Clark, however, wasn’t impressed. He’d heard funnier.

“But, to answer your question,” Bruce continued, “...any move in the business or even the political world I imagine can be considered a risky one. I’m not going to pretend that my decisions have made some very happy, and others very unhappy. That’s life. You can’t please everyone. But, to sit and accept things as the way they are for fear of retaliation or backlash is misery in itself. I believe anyone who doesn’t speak up for what they truly believe or want for fear of ‘rocking the boat’ is just content with living in their own misery. And, let me be clear before I’m canceled—I know the meaning behind that now thanks to my kids, particularly my two youngest sons—I’m not saying someone who’s genuinely content and happy with where they are is included in this. I’m specifically talking to those who want change, and want to create a better world, but are waiting for others to do it for them.”

Despite its clichéness, many in the hall gave a small clap to the CEO’s words, Y/N looking thoroughly impressed himself.

“Wow, he really is an inspiring man,” Y/N commented.

“He’s alright,” Clark said in response.

Y/N gave the taller man a suspicious side look, “Alright, what’s going on with you? You’ve been standing there pouting

since this interview started. What, do you not like Bruce Wayne or something?"

Clark sighed before looking down at his boyfriend. It was true, he wasn't really liking the guy at the moment. But, it was just because he was so jealous. He didn’t like how Y/N was looking at him, or how he was talking about him.

It wasn't fair.

The reporter wanted Y/N to be looking at him and only him like that, and he wanted his attention and affection, and he wanted him to only talk about him like that. It was petty, and it was selfish, but Clark didn’t care.

He just wanted Y/N to only admire Clark Kent. not Bruce Wayne.

Only Superman, not Batman.

Despite Y/N's earlier words about it not being a competition, Clark knew the truth. It was a competition, one he was not planning on losing.

"No, I don't not like him. I'm just not that impressed, is all. He's not a superhero." Clark said.

"Neither is Lex Luthor. But, that doesn't stop the public from making him the villain in his story. I'm sure there's a lot more to Bruce Wayne than the media is letting on."

"Oh, trust me. There's more to him than what meets the eye," Clark mumbled to himself as the interview was getting ready to wrap up.

"Well, on behalf of the Daily Planet, I'd like to thank you for joining us today. Your words are certainly ones that will not go unheard by many. I look forward to—"

Before Lois could finish speaking, the lights in the building suddenly went out, leaving the office pitch black. A few people in the hall gasp, Y/N instinctively grabbing Clark's arm, who in turn places his hand over the smaller man's own.

"What's going on?" Someone asks.

"I don't know. It's almost like a blackout, but it can't be because we have backup generators. They should've turned it on by now." Another responded.

"Clark, what's going on?" Y/N asked toward his boyfriend, who was holding the smaller male closer to him out of instinct.

"I'm not exactly sure..."

Just as he said that, the lights came back on, and everyone was looking around confused as to what the source of the blackout was.

"Oh my god!" One of the people in the hall screamed suddenly as everyone turned back towards the interview room. Inside the room, some members of the crew suddenly had masks with insignias covering their faces on them. One of them was behind Lois holding a dagger to her neck while another stood to the side, pointing a gun directly at Bruce's head.

"I'm so sorry to interrupt, Ms. Lane," The individual in the middle of the room said, "But, this interview isn't over just yet."

"Who the hell are you people?!" Lois asked, fear and anger in her eyes as the blade was held to her neck.

"Wouldn't you like to know? As for Mr. Wayne, we're going to have a little chat. I suggest you and your friends don't follow or intervene. Otherwise, this broadcast won't be the only thing getting cut" The masked individual threatened, nodding to Lois.

"Don't you dare touch her," Bruce warned, his expression serious, as he got ready to stand.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Mr. Wayne. We wouldn't want anything bad to happen, now would we? Especially with all of America watching right now."

Bruce sat back down, knowing that his opponent was right. He couldn't let them hurt Lois, and he certainly couldn't risk any lives in this room.

"Don't worry, Mr. Wayne. We'll make this quick," The leader said as one of the other masked goons went to lock the door that led inside the interview room.

"Clark, we have to do something," Y/N said, his heart racing a mile a minute.

"I know. Stay here. I'll be back." Clark said before running off, leaving the smaller male alone.

"What? Clark, wait! Where are you going?" Y/N called after him, but the taller man didn't hear him, already too far away.

'What the hell is he doing?' Y/N thought to himself before turning his attention back towards the situation in front of him.

As Clark rounded the corner and made his way down the hallway, he made sure no one was watching him before he ran as fast as he could into the supply closet. Once inside, he quickly changed into his suit before taking off through the backdoor.

"So, how does it feel knowing that you're on the side of the wrong? How does it feel knowing that no matter what you do, you'll never be able to fix the mess you made? All the lives lost because of you," The masked man asked Bruce, who was sitting calmly in his chair, his eyes not showing an ounce of fear.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Of course you don't. None of you wealthy elites do. You don't know the pain and suffering your companies and your products cause to others. You don't know the misery you cause. Well, allow us to show you." The man said before signaling his partners.

One of them immediately moved and grabbed a hold of the camera, pointing it directly at the masked man in the center.

"Hello, Metropolis. And hello, America. If you're watching this, that means you're just as much a part of this as we are. if you've been sitting here listening to the lies and promises of a better world by this man and his kind, you are as much a part of his schemes as he is. It is because of people like him that we have the world we live in. It's because of people like him that so many of us suffer. It's because of people like him that the world will only continue to rot and decay until there is nothing left but a pile of ashes. But, we will not be the ones who burn. We will not be the ones who lose. We will not be the ones who suffer, not anymore. Today, we fight back. Today, we will show the world that we will not be silenced, we will not be oppressed. We will not allow the likes of him and his kind to continue to control us anymore with false promises of a better tomorrow while lining their own pockets. Today, we say enough is enough. Today, we rise. Today, we will take back what is rightfully ours. Today, we take back our freedom and our lives from the rich and corrupt." The man spoke, his words filled with conviction and determination, but also hatred and poison as he stared deep into the camera.

"And if any of you try to stop us, then you will be considered just as guilty as the rest of them. We will not be silenced. We will not be ignored. And if you think that the likes of Batman and Superman will save you, I wouldn't be too sure of that..."

As soon as the leader was done with his speech, the sound of the glass shattering was heard as Superman broke through the windows, flying into the room before stopping directly in front of the man holding the camera.

"But, I am..." The Man of Steel said, shooting a laser beam at the dagger being held by the goon threatening Lois. He immediately dropped the blade as it became too hot, giving the Daily Planet reporter the opportunity she needed to escape his hold.

"Bastards," She cursed, turning around and delivering a kick to the masked man's groin.

He groaned out in pain, falling to the floor before Lois punched him in the face, knocking him out.

Superman turned his attention back toward the masked man standing in the center, "I believe it's time for you to take a hike."

"Not yet. We still have unfinished business," The man said before signaling his other henchman. The man immediately aimed his gun at the Kryptonian, firing shot after shot into him.

Superman stood his ground as the bullets hit him, before eventually, the gun ran out.

"You're right. This is definitely the end," Superman said as he flew toward the man, knocking him out before he could reload his gun.

As Superman finished off the last of the henchmen, the leader turned back towards the camera, "Sorry, Superman. But, the damage has already been done. I hope you enjoyed this little taste of what's to come."

Before the Kryptonian could stop him, the man took out a smoke bomb, throwing it onto the ground and covering the room in a cloud of smoke.

"Crap," Superman cursed, unable to see as the man escaped.

As the smoke began to clear, Bruce took out his phone, "Alfred, I need you to track this signal."

"Understood, sir. I've also informed the police and they're on their way," Alfred responded.

"Good," Bruce said before turning back towards the room.

The actual camera crew was not out in the hall, hugging their co-workers who were all relieved at their safety. The broadcast was cut from the air, but there was no doubt every TV station from here to San Francisco was talking about it. Y/N was standing nearby, his eyes filled with awe and admiration as he stared up at Superman.

There was something oddly familiar about him.

...

Nah.

"That was incredible, Mr. Wayne," Lois said.

"I could say the same thing about you. I'm glad you're ok."

Lois smiled at him, "You were worried about me?"

"Of course. Why wouldn't I?" Bruce asked, a small smile forming on his lips.

Lois blushed slightly before turning back to look at Superman, who was now standing right in front of the two.

"Thank you for the save, Superman," Lois said, extending her hand out to the Kryptonian.

"My pleasure," Superman said, shaking the woman's hand before his attention was drawn toward Bruce who just gave him an appreciative nod. Though the look in his eyes signaled they would definitely be communicating about things later.

As Bruce and Lois moved towards the hallway, Lois spotted Y/N who was standing close to the door peeking inside.

"Oh Y/N, there you are! Thank goodness, you're alright." Lois said, walking over to him and hugging him.

"Yeah, I'm ok. Are you?" He asked, looking up at the woman.

"I'm fine. I'm tougher than I look."

"That's good to hear. And, it's good to see you’re okay as well Mr. Wayne. That was scary." Y/N said, turning his attention to the billionaire.

"Yes, I'm glad I'm alright, too," Bruce said, his attention on Y/N.

"Oh, Bruce Wayne, this is Y/N L/N. He's one of our upcoming new reporters along with Clark Kent, who you've met before." Lois said, introducing the two.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Wayne," Y/N said, extending his hand out.

Bruce took it, giving the younger man a firm handshake, "The pleasure is all mine."

As the two looked at each other, Clark was standing nearby, his gaze focused on the two, his fists clenched.

'I swear to Rao...' He thought to himself, jealousy coursing through his body as he watched the two interact.

"So, Mr. Wayne, what do you think that was all about?" Y/N asked.

Bruce turned to look at the woman, an amused eyebrow raised, "He must be getting trained by you," He said, sparking a laugh from Lois and another eye roll from the Kryptonian before flying off, "And please, call me Bruce. Mr. Wayne makes me feel old."

"Bruce, then. What do you think that was all about?" Y/N asked again.

"Well, I can't be certain, but based on their words and their actions, I'd say they were a group of anarchists."

"Anarchists?"

"Yes. They're not an uncommon group. Many people are growing tired of the way things are in this country. With the state of the economy and the government, it's only a matter of time before things begin to boil over."

"So, you think this is going to happen more often?"

"I'm not sure. But, I have a feeling we haven't seen the last of them."

Y/N nodded his thoughts on the events that had transpired earlier.

"Y/N!" Clark called, interrupting the conversation.

"Clark, there you are! You had me worried sick," The smaller male said while hugging his boyfriend, missing the sharp look the taller man was throwing at the billionaire.

"I just went to alert the building security and the police. Seems everything turned alright though since Superman showed up," Clark said, wrapping an arm around the younger man's waist while still giving a side eye to Bruce who was watching with amusement.

"Yes, thank goodness he did. I'm sure we all owe him a huge thanks for his services."

"Yes, indeed we do. But, unfortunately, I must be going now. It was a pleasure meeting you, Y/N." Bruce said, extending his hand once more to the younger man, who took it, shaking it gently.

"It was a pleasure meeting you, too."

Bruce smiled at him before turning back to Lois, "And it was a pleasure seeing you again, Lois."

"Likewise, Mr. Wayne."

Bruce smirked, "I do believe we're a bit past the formalities now, Lois. Please, call me Bruce."

"Of course. Bruce." The woman replied, her tone flirty and her expression coy.

Y/N noticed this and turned to look at Clark, whose expression was blank as he looked on.

"Will do, Lois. I look forward to our next meeting," Bruce said before stopping in front of Clark.

"Good seeing you as well Clark, as short-lived as it was," Bruce said, extending his hand out for a handshake.

Clark reluctantly took it, the handshake lasting longer than was necessary.

"Likewise," Clark replied.

Bruce nodded, his eyes giving the reporter a knowing look before he was escorted out by security.

Once the billionaire was out of sight, Clark and Y/N decided to leave as well, making their way towards the elevator.

"Well, that was a crazy day," Y/N said.

"Yeah, tell me about it."

"Do you think Bruce Wayne knows Batman?"

Clark stopped mid-step, a shocked expression on his face as he looked down at his boyfriend.

"Are you serious right now? You can't be serious?" The taller man said with an indignant expression.

"What?"

"You're still thinking of Batman after Superman just came and saved everyone?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, he's a hero too. They both are. Besides, Superman is always getting most of the credit, don't you think? It would make sense if they were working together. You know, the world's greatest detective and the world's greatest hero, solving crime and catching the bad guys. Wouldn't that be so cool?" Y/N asked, his eyes gleaming with excitement at the thought.

"No, not really. I don't see why that would be a good idea," Clark said, rolling his eyes.

Y/N sighed, "Clark, remember what we talked about earlier about it not being a competition?"

Clark looked down at the smaller man, his eyes filled with frustration, "Yeah, but it doesn't mean you have to obsess over Batman. Superman is just as obsessed-worthy!"

"Clark, seriously, what is up with you? It's not like I want to marry him or something."

"You're acting like you want to," Clark mumbled under his breath.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Look, Clark. I'm not going to say I'm not a fan of Batman. I mean, I think he's cool. But, that doesn't mean that I'm not a fan of Superman either. I'm a fan of both of them. I think they're both great heroes, and I think they both do good work."

"But, you don't think that Batman is cooler, or that he's better than Superman?" Clark asked, his expression pleading.

"I mean, I guess. But, why does that matter? Why are you so hung up about this?"

"Because, I—" Clark started before stopping, knowing he was about to give away his identity.

"You what?"

"I just want you to think of me, is all," Clark said, looking down at the ground, feeling a bit embarrassed.

Y/N's heart softened at the confession, the older man looking like a little kid who just got his favorite toy taken away. He stepped forward, cupping the taller man's face in his hands, causing him to look up.

"Clark, I do think about you. I think about you all the time and I love how protective you are of me. Whether I like Batman or Superman more isn't going to change that" Y/N said, trying his best to ease his boyfriend's fears.

"Promise?" Clark asked.

Y/N chuckled, "I promise."

"Good," Clark smiled while leaning down to place a kiss against his boyfriend's lips, "You should still like Superman more."

Y/N rolled his eyes, "Sure thing, Clark. I'll work on that."

"Thank you."

"Whatever. Now come on, we now have a celebratory date to go on." Y/N said as he grabbed Clark's hand.

"What are we celebrating?" Clark asked with a laugh as he was pulled towards the elevator.

It was always adorable watching the smaller male pull Clark around like it was nothing.

"Surviving our first criminal encounter together," Y/N said while hitting the first-floor button.

"First?"

"Honey, we live in a city with sky-high insurance because a superhero lives here. You really think this will be the last?"

He definitely doesn't.

☀️ | Clark Kent/Superman | ☀️

☀️ | Masterlists | ☀️

[kale-of-the-forbidden-cities]

Just thinking about Fitz and Keefe. They're both so jealous of each other. It spiraled into more and more talking about fitz and vacker imperfections and stuff, enjoy :>

(I rambled out the draft on discord, but I did change a few things and add on a bit at the end, so if you feel like rereading it might make more sense now)

tw: breif mentions of ed, suicidal thoughts, and implied sh, but they're all like very brief and not descriptive just want to put a warning

Remember in Flashback when Sophie and Fitz were going all Fitzphie on Keefe's mind, and they found the memory of Alden telling Keefe he was proud?

Imagine it hurt so bad for Fitz when he watched that. Because Alden never says that to Fitz even when he came out on top, no matter how perfect he was, so why did Keefe get that kind of praise?

Keefe may have come out second to Fitz with Foxfire grades, but Fitz has always felt second to Keefe in everything. No matter how perfect he tries to be or how much of a people pleaser he is, it seems inevitable that everyone likes Keefe better anyway.

And how could they not? He's funny, he's messy, he's imperfect.

Fitz could never be like keefe. His family would hate him. But they still like Keefe better.

Alvar always liked Keefe better than his actual little brother. Even though Fitz looked up to Alvar more than anyone! He admitted that in Neverseen!

Alden told Keefe he was proud of him?? for coming in second? Even after all the studying and work Fitz put into being first, being top, being perfect, people always choose keefe, Which is one of the reasons Fitz was so insecure about Sophie spending a lot of time with Keefe while she and Fitz were dating, he was scared she was going to leave him for Keefe, like people always do, because he's just better. he's nicer, he doesn't lash out at people, he doesn't have as much pressure on him because he never cared about pleasing his parents.

AND SHE DID! Sophie did leave him for Keefe. Even though Fitz promised to take things at her pace. Even though he said he'd wait. But it was the match lists that ended up breaking them apart. But what was Fitz supposed to do?? Not care about the match? There had never been a Vacker bad match, and Fitz beign the first one, after everything Alvar did and how much all the Vackers already hate these five in particular, it would bring a whole new level of shame on the family. Not just him, but Biana and Alden and Della too.

Keefe is allowed to not care about this stuff, because he's not perfect. Fitz is so, so, so jealous of Keefe because he GETS TO BE IMPERFECT. HE'S ALLOWED TO MAKE MISTAKES. He's allowed to feel things.

Keefe's parents are awful, Fitz's parents are fine. Anytime Fitz dares to think "hey maybe my parents are manipulating or using me or putting unrealistic expectations on me" he also remembers that he has it GOOD. He's so lucky compared to everyone else. So he has no right to be upset about anything.

In Flashback, Fitz actually says something like this to Sophie: Sophie had to grow up with humans, Keefe has his whole thing with his parents, Dex was bullied for being the son of a bad match, Tam and Linh were banished… so he's had it easy! He has no right to feel sad when his life is just. so. perfect.

And the thing is, everyone thinks his life is perfect. Especially Keefe! Keefe is always talking about how the Vackers are perfect and lucky and he wishes he was one, when inside, Fitz would secretly rather be Keefe. Even with the whole everything with his parents, at least he doesnt have to be perfect! At least he's allowed to disappoint his parents, because theyre bad parents! And people always like him more. Without fail, Fitz has always felt second to Keefe. Every time he thinks he did good, people go to keefe for being imperfect.

Why did keefe get Alden's praise when he came out second in the level? Fitz barely slept to make sure he came out on top! If Fitz had gotten 98/100, he wouldn't be yelled at, but he'd get a disappointed talk. Why is it different with Keefe, who isnt even Alden's son, why does Alden like him more?

So Fitz ends up spiraling and obsessing more and more.

He can't be imperfect like Keefe, he wouldnt dare. So he does what he can to be as perfect as possible. Maybe he just needs to get a hold on his temper. Wait till he's behind closed doors to do anything but smile. Maybe he needs to eat less, get a perfect number on the scale. Maybe then he'll be good enough.

But he's never good enough.

Nothing he does will ever be good enough.

Keefe is reckless, imperfect, and messy. but even though Fitz does his best to not step a toe out of line, he does everything he can to be perfect...... They keep picking Keefe. without fail, no matter what.

Fitz knows he shohld accept defeat, accept that he'll never be good enough for anyone because of everything he's done to try to be perfect, but he can't stop trying.

He'll keep pushing himself, he'll stay up for hours studying, looking for clues about the Neverseen, going through Alvar's old room, he'll do ANYTHING for someone to say theyre proud of him. For someone to tell him that he did good, for once in his life, but they never notice.

It's never "Wow, you've been working so hard, good job!" or "You look good, did you lose weight?" or "Thanks for helping out, thanks for at least trying"

EVEN THOUGH HE DOES NOTHING BUT TRY. HE'S TRYING SO HARD

Instead, people are saying things like "You look awful, you've got bags under your eyes" (maybe he should put on some makeup to hide that) or "You never join us for dinner, it's like you hate us" (he does. he secretly hates his family so much) or "You've gotten so distant that you're ruining all your relationships with your friends and family" (what else is he supposed to do? they dont like him anyway)

He's driving himself insane over being perfect, only to have people like Sophie say that he's "too perfect." HE JUST CANT WIN!

He's not allowed to make mistakes, but maybe the worst mistake he made was being too perfect!

But how does he stop?

He can't. he trapped himself here. He's convinced he brought this on himself, but he cant get out of this cycle,

And nobody else will get him out,

Because he's not perfect enough.

If they havent noticed his struggling, maybe they dont care enough. But Fitz has gotten so good at hiding it. Nobody will notice until he passes out in the hall or just fucking kills himself because it's too much.

Fitz thinks, why is it that Keefe's allowed to be open about hating himself, and yet as soon as he makes the slightest self deprecating comment, he's suddenly "being dramatic" or "looking for attention"?

And we're back to talking about Keefe again.

None of this is Keefe's fault but he will still feel so so guilty. He felt Fitz's jealousy and hurt when they watched the memory of Alden saying he's proud of him.

Keefe and Fitz are constantly comparing themselves to each other, but by the end of the story, Keefe will be getting the help and support he needs to move on from it. Fitz never showed it and wouldnt dare admit it. So he does not.

Alden and Cassius both seem to prefer the other's son.

Even with Fitz and Biana. There's still a bit of jealousy there, because Biana is starting to seperate herself from her family, and start her own "Vacker Legacy," whatever that means.

After Nightfall, biana has grown more comfortable with herself, she is challenging what it means to be a Vacker, realizing that their family isn't all it's claimed to be. She has no shame in being her fun confident self, and crying when she needs to, and showing off her scars, while if Fitz showed his scars, he'd probably end up in a psych ward or something (or at the very least getting yelled at).

Fitz is jealous of Biana almost as much as he's jealous of keefe. She's never been quite perfect either, but it's always in a good way, isn't it? she's managed to keep her friends (not including the earlier books) and she used to be a bit of a jerk to people, so people can look back and see how far she's come.

Fitz has only gotten worse over the years, and he knows it. he hears what people say in the halls. their whispers hardly hide it. He's presented himself the way he wanted to be - perfect. But it gets harder and harder to hide his imperfections, and people only notice the bad things, don't they? They don't worry, they only judge.

Biana's probably dealing with her own issues, as everyone in the Vacker family does, but she can be more honest about it. She's starting to break the habit of plastering on a smile and saying everything's fine. She's working on her relationship with people. She's like reverse Fitz.

Fitz fears he's going down a similar path of destruction to Alvar, but he counters those fears by being Alden's perfect golden boy like he was always supposed to be. Alden has such a hold on Fitz, he'd do anything for him if Alden worded it right. Ever since he was a kid he always knew he'd do anything to please his parents, even if it was potentially dangerous. But nobody has seemed to even bat an eye when they hear how young Fitz was when he went to the Forbidden Cities. So he must be overreacting, right? Because how could Fitz's childhood be anything less than perfect?

See, when Sophie started learning a little bit about Fitz's past and how things were actually not perfect in the Vacker house, she started to ignore him more and more. She had her other reasons, but to Fitz, it seemed like she was seeing how imperfect he really was, and he's not everything she hoped for. So he panics, and does his best to prove to her that he is the perfect boyfriend she wanted, but it didn't matter anyway because... she. liked. Keefe. better.

And Fitz hates himself so much for wishing he was keefe because Keefe has it so bad with the legacy thing, he hates how he wishes his parents were worse so he didn't feel so guilty every time he made a mistake that would disappoint them.

Not one person in Fitz's life has ever chosen him first. With everyone. There's always someone they love more.

Della loves Biana more, Biana chooses her friends, Sophie chose Keefe, Keefe chose Sophie.

Alden seemed to favor Keefe, or his work, or even just the ways he uses Fitz instead of loving him as his son or as a person. Maybe that's why Fitz is so desperate to listen to Alden, to please him, because he's the only person who seems to even care, even if he only cares when he's doing good or being perfect.

Alvar would choose Biana or Keefe over Fitz any day, even before the betrayal. Fitz still looked up to him, despite his vague dislike for Fitz. He likes Biana better because he thinks she'd understand better what the Vacker legacy is, Because FITZ IS PART OF IT. HE'S ADDING ONTO IT, WHATEVER IT IS!

Yep that's all I have, feel free to add your own ideas :3

tags:

@fitz-avery-vacker @autistic-daydreamer

[yandere-avatar]

Hello!, I hope your day/night is going well!, I thought of something to request and just wanted to shoot my shot lol!

- How about some headcanons of possessive yandere ty Lee?

- // oh and I just wanted to ask this in case your comfy with writing team up yandere scenario's if not I totally understand!-//

-Maybe a scenario where the fire nation squad/ zuko, Azula, mei and ty Lee are all yandere for the reader?

/ I totally understand if you don't vibe with these requests! No pressure to do them just wanted to stress that hgbgb, anyways have a lovely day/night :) /

I write Polygamous stuff, but I don't know if it's the best, but I can always try. This has been in the drafts since: July 14, 2022 [Almost a full year... I'm so sorry. You've probably forgot you requested this because it's been so long] (3rd oldest draft and oldest ask)

[Possessive] Ty Lee

She doesn't understand why you get so mad that she only wants you to pay attention to her

Granted multiple people flirt with her, but she always shuts them down

She watches you and uses her abilities to get to high places to see you

If you're a bender, she uses her Chi Block on you

She's very giddy and loves being with you

She loves partying w/ you and taking you places

She doesn't want you to meet her sisters, in fear of you comparing them to each other

She wants to be herself with you

She's ecstatic and always energized

She always defends you when someone tries to make you look dumb

Unlike Mai, she would trade the other nations if they kidnapped you, because she loves you more than anything else in the world

Though, she is like Mai in the sense she'll betray Azula, because she loves you more than she fears her

Azula, Mai, Ty Lee, and Zuko

You were at first with Ty Lee

Though, you two were never official

You two just bonded better than the rest of them

Zuko and Mai became protective over you, seeing you repeatedly get hurt

Azula just saw you as stupid and she liked humiliating you

Zuko saw himself in you and wanted to protect you from Azula

^Mai was jealous at first, but soon realized you weren't enemies, but friends. You deserved to be protected from the monster that is Azula

You love Azula, because you've realized that she's never really had love in her life [It's more out of pity]

You go with them everywhere, though this gets you a lot hurt

They always get you, but then Azula becomes a little more anxious about letting you come

Azula would never tell you, but she loves you more than anything in the world and that scares her

Ty Lee just thinks your fun, but she doesn't really form a complex feeling for you. She just likes that you're fun

Mai and Zuko see themselves as your protector, especially against Azula. They kind of act like your parents, but they're both distant emotionally, but you definitely open them up

The GAang [Katara, Sokka, Aang, and Toph]

Katara was the first to fall for you, but not the first to tell you her feelings

It's probably Sokka who tells you

But you don't take it seriously, because he's a flirter

Toph is mean to you and is kind of like a big bully

Aang is nice and treats you like he's known you forever

You both just click so well

When Toph and Katara fight, you are brought into their fights, because they want you to be on their side

"I think Sokka is calling me-"

You don't want to catch that smoke

You're probably the most scared of Katara, she reminds you of a scary mother, but don't tell her, because she wants you to see her as a lover not a mother

It took you the longest to get close to Toph, because she has walls up and it's hard to get them down

You bring up her being blind and she get super angry and you quickly blush in embarrassment

^ You do try and watch it and be more considerate of her, but she also doesn't want you to treat her different. Just treat her like the rest. Once you do, she'll let you in

Aang and Sokka make fools themselves in front of you, because they're not good with crushes, no matter how smooth Sokka is

Though you do all get along better than the relationship with the fire nation group [Ty Lee, Azula, Zuko, and Mai]

You're very close and it's hard to break you apart

[frownyalfred]

tips for starting out writing fics?

i honestly don’t have that much writing experience but am also a perfectionist unfortunately and know i'll criticize whatever I write. i know the only way to improve is to actually write so any tips for starting out are appreciated 🙏

Hey anon! I totally understand where you're coming from. Us writers can be so hard on ourselves when our writing doesn't come out perfect.

My usual tips for getting started with writing are below. Take them with a grain of salt, I am just a lowly fic writer, but I did complete a BA in a writing-intensive field and was a journalist for a few years, actually.

Write as frequently as you can. Even if it's just short snippets or quotes. I like to write dialogue ideas down on the treadmill sometimes.

Let others engage with your writing. Ask friends to look over drafts (shoutout to my love @musicalgirl4474) and post your fics, even if they're not perfect! Letting things sit unseen does your writing a disservice, even if it feels better.

Read as much as you can. Read fics in your fandom, and from authors whose writing style you enjoy. Figure out what they're doing that you like -- is it the pacing? The humor?

Write what you want to read. This is the best motivation, in my opinion. If you can write a summary for your fic that you would click on instantly as a reader, you're doing something right.

Don't let perfect be the enemy of good. Spelling mistakes happen, even in published novels. So do characterization errors or plot holes. Even if you spent 40 hours on a single fic, it still won't be perfect. But it can definitely be good, or even great!

Engage with other writers. Join some discord groups with other authors! Reply to tumblr posts about writing. Discuss your fic ideas with fellow writers.

Remember: You do this for free. Improving your writing can often be a full time job. Hell, actual writing is a full-time job. If you need to take a break, or step back, that's okay! Comments, kudos, praise and criticism are all optional. You don't have to agree with anyone, or change anything about your writing if you don't want to.

Comparison is the theft of joy. Don't spend time looking at ratios, or comparing yourself to bigger authors/blogs. Everyone's situation is different, and so is their writing approach.

I hope these help, anon! I am by no mean the end all, be all of writing. If anyone else wants to chime in, it's much appreciated! I'm also happy to offer any insight on what I personally do, but as I said, everyone's approach is different.

[saturnzskyzz]

Hi! I love your fics and I was wondering if I could request you a prompt with ler!Seokjin and lee!Yoongi from BTS. Basically in their rookie days when the members are just getting to know each other and some of the members think Yoongi is scary, so they mention it to Seokjin who says something like Yoongi’s just a big softie. a few days later they hear Yoongi’s (cute!!) laughter for the first time and go see what’s up and find Seokjin tickling him and they all think Yoongi’s really cute and maybe have them join in if you want. Sorry if this is long, lol. It’s also okay if you don’t want to write it!! Have a good day!

Hello Anon! I'm glad you like my fanfics as much as I love writing them for you all!!

・I find this prompt really adorable, so thank you for your request!!

・Sorry it took me so long to get to it, I just have so many ideas for fanfics like these, and yet my motivation is usually running on a down low, but hopefully you like this one!! I really enjoyed writing it :)))

I would also like to say that any further concepts, ideas, or pairings will be drabbles, which are short fanfics, due to the lack of me keeping up with longer projects that are currently sitting in my drafts.

Don't worry though! You can request a longer fanfic from me; just let me know with your idea or pairing so it doesn't accidentally turn up as a drabble!

·˚ ༘ 𖦆 ꒷₊˚ ꒦꒷꒷꒦ ⑅ ʚ ⤜ ⨳ ࣪• ☼ ⋒ ⚡︎ 𐚱 ⊹˚˖⁺ ⤾·˚ ༘ 𖦆 ꒷₊˚ ꒦꒷꒷꒦ ⑅ ʚ ⤜ ⨳ ࣪•

・Him? Scary? ・

Summary:

Yoongi appears to be scary and intimidating according to the rest of Seokjin's members, what better way to prove them wrong by bringing out Yoongi's soft side?

Warnings:

| negative comments | tickling |

This is not a ship fanfic

Enjoy!

·˚ ༘ 𖦆 ꒷₊˚ ꒦꒷꒷꒦ ⑅ ʚ ⤜ ⨳ ࣪• ☼ ⋒ ⚡︎ 𐚱 ⊹˚˖⁺ ⤾·˚ ༘ 𖦆 ꒷₊˚ ꒦꒷꒷꒦ ⑅ ʚ ⤜ ⨳ ࣪•

The members were having a hard time trying to get to know one another now that it's been a few weeks of practice for their next album. They were put right to work to making songs rather than them getting to know each other, so Seokjin came up with a game they could all play while they had a three day break from working.

Seokjin had everyone sit in a circle with hand made cards in the middle. The rules were that each player had to draw a card that displayed two questions; one for the player, and one for the person on the player's right. The player who then asks the person on their right a question, it would be that person's turn to draw a card. Easy right?

Well.. It was easy for Seokjin and Yoongi. The rest were a bit shy through out the game. But Taehyung and Jungkook? They were more so anxious than shy since they sat from either side of Yoongi, unfortunately for them.

Taehyung had to ask Yoongi a question since he was on his right, and then Yoongi would have to ask a question to Jungkook, who was on Yoongi's right.

They didn't mean any harm for acting the way that they were with him, he just seemed like a pretty scary and blunt person in general, unfortunately.

"Okay, uh... Yoongi.. What is your favorite color?" Taehyung asked carefully as to not make his voice quiet like all the other times he tried to ask him normally.

"My favorite color is black, although white is another color I fathom to take interest of." Yoongi said quickly, and honestly. He gave Taehyung a small smile, and reached for a card in the middle.

Taehyung thought of how sweet his smile was compared to how he actually felt about Yoongi's presence being right next to him. Nonetheless, he stayed silent and just took the smile.

"Okay.. The card asks what my favorite food is.. Uhmm.." Yoongi instinctively looked up at the ceiling to think of what his favorite food would be.

Everyone was looking at Yoongi intensively. They wondered if he would give up about a difficult question like the one he was given and storm off somewhere.. What a specific way to think about Yoongi's thought process, and yet they still hoped that he would answer and not do what they had initially thought.

"Oh! My favorite food would be Galbi(Korean barbecue) because it has meat in it, eheh." Yoongi chuckled at his answer. He looked back at everyone to realize how everyone was slightly leaning a bit forward to look at him.

Upon hearing this, they all went back in their comfortable sitting positions. They all looked at each other with confused looks with how carefree Yoongi was being than the usual blunt persona he put on when practicing.

"Uhum..okay then, uh.. Jungkook, the card asks where you would want to go if you could go anywhere in the world." Yoongi asked without further question on why everyone apart from Seokjin were acting kind of weird. He looked to his right, giving the Makenae a natural look than a heavy face.

"Uhm.. Let's see.." Jungkook somehow tensed up at this, but he thought of where he would want to go quickly as he assumed that if he took any longer, then he would waste Yoongi's time.

"It's okay to take your time on that one, that question is quite hard to answer for a lot of people." Yoongi tried to reassure.

"T-thank you-or, uhmm.. Yeah!" Jungkook stumbled on his wording, instantly regretting blurting out words.

"W-where I would go would be Los Angeles, m-maybe? The beaches over there are pretty nice." Jungkook said finally. He looked at Yoongi and gave him a smile of his own.

"Ah! That's a good answer.. Los Angeles is a pretty place from what I've seen from photos!" Yoongi sparked up at that answer, causing everyone but Seokjin, who laughed at his bount of energy, to be confused by his burst of enlightenment so suddenly.

They played a few more rounds before Seokjin announced that he was getting tired. He had noticed how everyone but Yoongi looked pleased that the game was over. Not like he didn't notice anything that was off earlier, he always gave quick glances every now and then during the game when everyone would get all tensed up when it was Yoongi's turn.

"Uhm, on second thought.. Can I talk to you guys real quick?" Seokjin said while getting up. He walked over to the closest corner from in the studio, noticing that Yoongi had begun to walk over with the rest who tried to quickly walk away from Yoongi.

"Oh! Uh, Not you, Yoongi, you can go to your dorm.. I need to talk to everyone else though." Seokjin said, pointing at the door to emphasize his words. He saw how confused Yoongi's face had gotten, and without getting any response other than a shoulder shrug, the rapper left the studio room.

That's when Seokjin lowered his head a bit to look at everyone else who had to stay.

"Guys.. Are you all doing okay? You all looked like you guys let your anxiety win up until I called it quits on the game." with a worried look, the oldest started to fidget with his fingers with the thought that he must have done something wrong.

Namjoon walked up to Seokjin to get a better look at the oldest since he was standing in the back of everyone else.

"It's not the game that we were anxious about, if that's what you are thinking, hyung.. It was just that.. We all seem pretty nervous around Yoongi because of the aura he casts around the room when he's around.. I'm not really sure why, but we see him as a blunt person, to say the least.." Namjoon said, nervously glancing at Seokjin and then the wall behind the oldest.

'That's what they were anxious about?' Seokjin thought, chuckling at Namjoon's honesty, leaving the rest of the members confused. He walked up to Namjoon to put his hand on his shoulder. The leader of the group stopped himself from looking at the wall and looked up at Seokjin.

"Guys, I promise you, he's a really cool person to get to know! He's not this big bad guy you guys are forming in your head. If anything, he's just a bihig softy." Seokjin said with a chuckle. He then patted Namjoon's shoulder before taking his hand completely off of it, and started to slowly walk to the door that led out of the studio. "You guys get some rest, we are practicing tomorrow." Seokjin said, leaving the rest in the studio.

'Softy?' they all had the same thoughts. Yoongi? A softy? That can't be true.. Can it?

They all decided to leave that conversation at that, and they all left the studio to go in their dorms.

﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏

The next morning, Yoongi got up pretty early to make everyone some breakfast. He doesn't usually cook stuff for the members, but he couldn't brush off the thought of how yesterday went in the studio. He had assumed that everyone was pretty tense that day, so he considered making bacon and eggs for everyone.

While he was getting the right size of a pan for the bacon, he decided to cook the eggs first to make them scrambled instead of hard boiled.

After a few minutes, the second member to leave their dorm was Seokjin, who was surprised with himself for waking up in a timingly manner. Usually, Namjoon or even Yoongi would have to wake up the oldest for always sleeping in.

"You're up early for someone who usually favors being in bed." Yoongi said when he heard a door close, causing him to look in the direction of the sound to see Seokjin's tired face, with his hair sticking up and sideways. "Ahahand your hair! Hyhuhung, you need toho fix your hair!" Yoongi said, holding his stomach and the counter top for leverage to not fall out of balance.

Seokjin was barely paying attention due to being tired, but he silently ruffled his hair to "fix it," and walked into the kitchen to stand next to Yoongi who was infront of the eggs.

"What are you making? Is that scrambled eggs?" Seokjin said, squinting and leaning closer to the pan to see the consistency of what was on the pan, then he looked down at Yoongi who was recovering from laughing at Seokjin's hair.

"Ihihi'm, mhmhm. Ihi'm making bacon with eggs if you want some! I'm making it for everyone.." Yoongi said, clearing his throat to stop laughing. He thought of what else to say, given that he reminded himself of why he was cooking in the first place.

"That's sweet of you, Yoongi. What made you want to cook? Usually you force me to make things, or you wait for Hoseok to wake up." Seokjin said sweetly, giving a quick poke to Yoongi's side to tease.

This made Yoongi flinch and took a step sideways, away from Seokjin, covering his side on instinct.

"Dohon't do thahat.. Uhm, I kept thinking about yesterday.. I uhh, I thought they seemed really awkward with the studio's atmosphere when we played that card game.. N-not saying that they didn't like it!" Yoongi quickly held out his hands to emphasize his words.

"Uhm.. I over thought the situation, so I decided to cook for everyone in hopes that they aren't nervous again." Yoongi said quietly, going back to attend the eggs.

Seokjin realized how Yoongi's demeanor changed when speaking his thoughts. He began to worry for both Yoongi, and the rest of his members. 'If they all are going to think like this, than how can one get along with the other?' he had thought.

"Yeah.. Thats why I called them over after the game ended.. I had suspicion that they were awkward yesterday.. They told me some of their concern's, but I'm not going to discuss that for your behalf. But they aren't going to think like this forever, Yoongi." Seokjin said, putting a hand on Yoongi's shoulder to try and comfort him the best that he could.

Yoongi didn't say anything now, he focused on the eggs so they wouldn't burn and become unedible. But he let that information slowly form into a big bubble in his brain to overtake any other thoughts he might have had.

"I reassured them though.. Although they think you're intimidating, they won't think that for long." Seokjin said, trying to reassure Yoongi the best that he could.

"Reassured them.. How, exactly?" Yoongi questioned, now curious as to what he told his members.

"Weeeeell, I told them that you are a cool person to get to know about.. Aaand I told them that you are a BIG softy!" Seokjin said with yet another poke to Yoongi's side, causing the younger to flinch again, having his arm that was attending the eggs to come down to protect his side.

"Noho way you said that to them, hyung!" Yoongi looked up at Seokjin with a small smile that he was desperately trying to hide.

"Yes way! How can I not hint to them that you are very sweet with people once you get to know them?" Seokjin gave Yoongi more pokes to get a reaction.. And to hear his laugh and see his smile.

Yoongi turned to face Seokjin now. He held up his hands as a form to defend himself from his hyung's attacking fingers.

"Stohop, Jin! Ihi'm literally cohoohking right nohow!" Yoongi said, stepping away from Seokjin.

That's when Seokjin reached over the stove to turn off the heat and placed the eggs on a non-heated ring.

"The eggs can wait. You however, need to cheer up." Seokjin quickly took both of Yoongi's hands and pulled him in for a hug, having the rapper's back against Seokjin's front.

"Noho! Seokjin, plehehease! Ihihi neEHEED- TOHohoho gehet back toho cooking!!" Yoongi all but screeched when Seokjin started to scribble away at his sides now instead of poking like before.

"You can get back to cooking once you've said it yourself that you're just a big softy who is sweet and caring to others." Seokjin argued, slowly pinching Yoongi's bottom ribs now to have his laugh go up an octave.

"AAH-! AHAahaha, Seokjihihin! StAHAahahaP, plehehease!!" Yoongi tilted his head down and tried to curl in on himself the best that he could. He pulled onto his hands that were against his own chest due to Seokjin keeping them there, but failed at getting any of them free.

"Quiet Yoongi~ You don't want to wake any of our sleepy members, do you?" Seokjin said, whispering into his ear that was painted with a deep shade of red.

Seokjin then pinched at his top ribs to see if Yoongi would actually stay quiet for his members. Knowing this would usually cause a big reaction, he was wanting to be evil that morning.

Yoongi squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head to try and get rid of the tickly sensations that were coursing through his body. He tried to stay as quiet as possible, but it was quite hard since Seokjin was attacking one of his worst spots, as well as his hands being held.

"Seheheokjihihin-! S-StohohoAHAahaha! Ohoho myhyhy gohohod!" Yoongi was desperately trying not to laugh out loud, but it was getting to the point where he couldn't take it much longer.

"What's it gonna be then?? Are you going to realize that they aren't going to view you as a scary dude for the rest of our lives, or are you wanting to wake them up and have me tell them why I'm tickling you half to death?" Seokjin explained, lowering his head down to look at Yoongi better.

Yoongi didn't say anything other than to laugh his lungs out by how bad his top ribs are when tickled. He nearly couldn't think straight because of how bad it was.

"Have it your way then." Seokjin said, digging his hand into Yoongi's under arm now, sending the younger to bulk up one of his legs. He completely lost his footing from slightly kicking, and took him and Seokjin down on the kitchen floor. Seokjin mainly took the fall for already knowing that was going to happen since it wasn't the first time he's had this reaction with Yoongi.

"NAHAHAahahaAHA! STAA-AHAahahaAha-! Ehehahah, mhmhEHEmhm." Yoongi used all of his strength to have one of his hands free, and decided to use his chance to cover his mouth to result any other loud laughter that came out of him.

"Awww, look at that, you can't admit something and yet you're caring enough to not wake the others up. How cute~" Seokjin said, surprised that he was able to get his hand free, but nonetheless thought it was cute by how dedicated he was to not wake the others.. But it was too late, unfortunately for Yoongi.

Jimin, Hoseok, Jungkook, Taehyung and Namjoon all came out of their rooms after exchanging texts trying to figure out who was laughing out in the kitchen. When they came out, they didn't see anything other than hearing sweet laughter coming from behind the kitchen counter.

When all of them shared glances, they silently agreed to check behind the counter. What they saw was the back of Seokjin with a head tilted down towards the floor.

They were all surprised as to seeing the one who was captured by Seokjin, laughing freely and adorably to all of them, was Yoongi himself.

After a moment of them staring, they heard Yoongi squeal when Seokjin switched from digging into his underarm, to going for the side of his neck.

"Seheheokjihihin, plehehease! Mehehercy! AHA-ahaha." Yoongi laughed into his hand. He begun to push his hand more against his mouth to keep himself from being loud, not knowing that the members were behind them.

The rapper then scrunched up his shoulders and tilted his head back-close to where Seokjin's hand was at on his neck.

The members stared in awe, watching all of it go down with out a sound with their own commentary. They wanted to keep their thoughts to themselves to watch the scene unfold adorably with no interruptions.

Unfortunately for Yoongi, Seokjin found a specific spot near the front of his neck and collarbone that had him shoot his hand that was covering his mouth, down to the attacking hand to try and get him off. Still having his head back, he allowed himself to smile and laugh freely now that he has already dug his grave from taking his hand off of his face.

That was when the rest of the members were able to see Yoongi's big gummy smile just enough. They all quietly awed even more so at how sweet and contagious his smile was to them. They began to have smiles of their own when seeing Yoongi finally being carefree.

Seokjin was right, Yoongi was just a big softy afterall.

"Seheheokjihihin, SEOKJIN! Stahahohop! Ohokahahay, ohohokahahy! Ihihi gehehet ijihit nahaahow-!" Yoongi cried out, desperately trying to pry Seokjin's hand off of him. He kicked out his legs just a bit to try and see if he could tip themselves over, but to no avail.

That was when Yoongi decided to open one of his eyes the best that he could, and was surprised to see the rest of his members watching the scene go down, seeing all of their smiles at once.

His face turned into a dark red, and quickly tilted his head down with a quiet whine, trying his best to cover his face while still swatting at Seokjin's hand.

Seokjin heard his whine, and decided to turn his head to look behind him to see the rest of his members. He smirked when seeing all of them.

"Hey guys! Don't worry about us, Yoongi hear also had thoughts about yesterday so I decided to cheer him up about it. What do you guys think?" Seokjin said, switching his attack back to scribbling at Yoongi's sides to make him giggle up a storm for the show.

"I mean.. It's just like you said, Hyung. He is just a big softy!" Hoseok broke their own little silence. He looked at the other members for validation for his answer, and every nodded in agreement.

"Well, what do you know?" Seokjin whispered in Yoongi's ear to prove his point from yesterday and earlier that morning.

"Seheheokjihihin- Plehehease stohohop! Thihihis ihis embahaharrassing!" Yoongi finally said after many giggles and suppressed squeals.

"What? It's not my fault that you are in a giggly mess." Seokjin said, earning muffled chuckled from the members.

"Wow Hyung, that's mean!" Jungkook said.

"Ihihit ihihis! AAH- NOHhoho!! Nohohoho mohohorehe!" Yoongi felt Seokjin go for his bottom ribs yet again. He twisted his body the best he could to lose the hand, but he forgot that Seokjin was still holding his other hand, and was unfortunately unable to get away.

Yoongi then tilted his head up again, and grabbed at Seokjin's attacking hand now to try and pry it off of him.

The members took in his smile again, seeing how sweet and adorable his smile really is. They've seen him smile before, yes, but they have never seen his gummy smile before until this very moment. And his giggles were probably the members favorite. Yoongi's laugh and giggles when tickled was never like how his usual laughs are when someone did or said something stupid. It was like sweet airy giggles that weren't too loud and high, but were also not too quiet and low. They truly favored this type of Yoongi, and it definitely has vanished the "scary" and "intimidating" stereotype out of their vocabulary.

﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏

Seokjin saw how tired Yoongi was getting from all the laughing and decided to call it quits, letting go of Yoongi so he can relax onto Seokjin.

"Ahaha, nehehver doho that ahagain, hyhuhung!" Yoongi said, regaining all the strength to get up finally.

"Yeah yeah, whatever. You never know the future, Yoongi." Seokjin said, pointing a finger in Yoongi's direction.

"Hold on, you've tickled Yoongi before?!" Jimin blurtedly asked, surprised.

"Well yeah! Of course I have. If I haven't, I don't think this would have happened." Seokjin said. He decided to get up from the floor, following with Yoongi as well. He had ignored the onslaught as to not get too embarrassed as he already was, and he went back to cooking the bacon and eggs that were neglected.

"You're lucky that these eggs haven't gone bad yet, Hyung. If they have, then you would've been the next to be on the floor, laughing." Yoongi threatened, causing everyone and even Seokjin to tense up.

"I'm making bacon and eggs for everyone, so if you don't want to be on the floor like I have, then you guys better sit at the table." Yoongi said, pointing at a nearby table, and gave a warning glare at everyone.

No one said a word and quickly sat at the table.

﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏

The rest of the members questioned Yoongi's nature. Him? Scary? Yeah, a little bit. But can he also be a carefree person who likes to laugh? Most definitely.

[karizard-ao3]

My reactions to Evangelion episode 17: Fourth Child

I regret ever doubting Misato. It was not her who was sus, it was NERV.

Actually, I did wonder if the Angel was trying to communicate with him.

The need for "heart" to operate the Evas is stirring some things in my head.

Toji is a good brother.

ope, my kid is home. I'll save this as a draft and try to resume later.

Okay, it's later. My kid is asleep and I'm squeezing in an episode before I also go to bed. I'm just going to start from the beginning. I think I could probably actually watch this with him because the content doesn't seem too mature for him, however he would not be able to restrain himself from talking through the thing and I would annoy him by pausing the show if I have long notes to make, so he'll just have to wait to see if I feel I must do a second watch after the first one.

I like that Misato is protecting Shinji from this interrogation.

The Angels are EVOLVING?

So I've been thinking about how Adam appeared to be a fetus in a suitcase when Kaji brought him to Gendo and how he was called the first Angel when Kaji showed him to Misato fully grown, so I wonder if instead of dying they just do a little Steven Universe thing and revert back to an embryo? Or actually maybe comparing them to a phoenix is more apt. Also, I did find it weird when the lava Angel pupae looked so similar to fetus Adam but I also take it for granted that all embryos/ early stage fetuses look the same no matter what species they are, so I didn't think too deeply about it. That should have been my first clue that Adam was an Angel and not a person.

What is the S2 drive?

So the base or whatever vanished. It disappeared into the Dirac Sea. Was it the S2 drive and human error that caused this vaporization of sorts or was it an Angel attack?

The dummy plug is very interesting to me. The Eva needs to feel like there is a pilot to sync with. Is it because the implanted personalities long to have a soul again? Or am I just thinking weird things because I'm tired? lol

Is that actually Rei in the tube? I guess it is.

Ritsuko, why so creepy?

Asuka being mean again. Oh, young lady.

Does class rep like Toji??

Rei's got medication she takes.

Rei's reaction to Shinji cleaning up after her was so cute.

She's never said thank you before?

Here we go with some Garden of Eden talk. Is Tokyo-3 the Eden? Maybe it's a space station for when they destroy the Earth.

The Marduk Institute doesn't exist? And Shinji's school seems to be involved. Maybe all the kids there potential pilots.

"But I'm not a girl" Shinji, I love you.

Kaji is a watermelon farmer.

I wonder what traits they select for when choosing pilots.

Kensuke is so nosy,

The birth rate has been falling. Hmmm.

She's offering to make you a lunch, dumbass.

I'm changing Asuka's name to Karen.

In Conclusion

I feel like things are starting to come together but I'm still no closer to figuring out exactly what the secrets here are. Soon, soon.

Toji being the Fourth Children is tugging on my brain because I feel like if I could figure out what about him makes him the candidate they've been looking for then I would have a much better idea of what's going on with the Evas. I had thought there may be some kind of psychic element to this but I haven't seen any signs that they are being evaluated for psychic skills. It seems the "heart" is the most important part, but what determines that there is enough heart? All the pilots are so different, except for that they all do have some kind of trauma. Is that the trick? I don't seem to recall any mention of Toji's parents being killed but he just mentioned that there's no one at home to make a lunchbox for him anymore, so maybe he has lost them. Shinji lost his mother and his dad's a deadbeat, Asuka mentioned she has no one left to care about (if I remember right), and Rei is also alone from what I can tell and may have lost her loved ones horrifically. We know she has no one to make her feel connected to the world with all the suicidal sounding stuff she was saying that upset Shinji. Maybe she was the one who said she had no one left? Could have been both girls. So, I guess now I'm wondering if Toji's sister has died. Anyway, I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

I have a feeling the dummy plug is going to be a disaster.

That's about all I'm coming up with right now. I have to get to bed or I will regret it in the morning and all day tomorrow, so I will try to watch another episode tomorrow night, but maybe earlier in the evening so I can fit in a couple. We'll see. It all depends on a certain dependent of mine and how fast he goes to bed.

[seeksstaronmewni]

What happened to Korean animation???

I can not stress this enough, but what is it with the Korean animation on most Burbank-made cartoons produced after 2015 looking so… slow and stiff???

There're LOTS more on 2s animation timing... and less inbetweening, while characters, props and effects are not as loosely drawn as they used to be before 2016.

Look at this example below of what a modern cartoon looks like when animated in Korea:

Bernard Williams ain't selling the acting well now; is he?

That episode of Craig of the Creek, "Creature Feature", was made in 2020; it was animated by Rough Draft Korea Co., Ltd. — an animation studio founded by Gregg Vanzo as a cheaper means for quality animation on none other than The Ren & Stimpy Show (Don't believe me? Thad Komorowski will tell you).

He's moving too slow. This shot is all on 2s. His arms move stiffly, and his head bobs up and down just a little bit. It doesn't sell the specific emotions he's expressing as richly as they could... compared to something like classic Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon shows of the past. The overseas animators should listen to the audio track, the recorded dialogue. That's what they did on on Ren & Stimpy!

Now let's go back 10 years before Rough Draft animated that episode of Craig of the Creek... to the Sym-Bionic Titan episode "The Phantom Ninja":

LOOK HOW LOOSE AND SMOOTH THIS LITTLE BIT OF ANIMATION IS!

This level of Korean animation quality was normal for TV cartoons back in the 2010s.

This one shot has a healthy balance of on 2s animation and on 1s animation.

It's just Ilana Lunis and Octus doing a bit of a... I don't know... a shrug... giving Lance a certain look. Not even talking in this shot, nor is it an action sequence, and this little bit of acting looks far better than Craig of the Creek ever animated in general.

Rough Draft also animates on Spongebob and they're struggling but usually excelling on the animation quality overseas.

This applies to cartoons made and aired before 2016 where post-2105 episode/content are the same quality as most post-2015 cartoons shows these days that're animated in Korea; examples are Uncle Grandpa, Samurai Jack Season 5, The Venture Bros. Season 6 onward, We Bare Bears Season 2 onward, and even later Disney TVA shows as Amphibia Season 3 and Hailey's On It!, though mostly it involves Warner Bros. Discovery-owned properties (Turner ones namely).

May be that Korean animators just need a break. The Phillippines can deliver better animation (a bit roughly but still better than Korea for the most part)! Perhaps the Korean overseas facilities need more money... more direction... more communication (as if we could actually afford that with today's gas prices?)

Why not animate domestically here in America? In Burbank? What about rigging (puppetry in 2 dimensions)?

The future of quality TV/non-theatrical 2D animation may be in the hands of Canada's and Ireland's finest riggers. Mercury Filmworks, Boulder Media, Lighthouse Studios, Snipple Animation, and Jam Filled Entertainment can deliver better animation through rigging than Korea can do for most hand-drawn shows!

That is unless it's the Spongebob Squarepants franchise of course... that and Scooby-Doo and Guess Who? and... pretty much anything animated by Yearim or Yeson (most of which are adult cartoon sitcoms with rather restricted animation so as not to distract from their comedic wordplay, since those shows are more script-driven anyway).

I asked some people about the current condition of Korean animation to see what they think about that. Maxwell Atoms had a good bit to say...

The What's in My Head? podcast interview with Randy Myers largely benefited from a question I suggested about the animation quality differences classic Powerpuff Girls and 2016-2019 PPG episodes.

Ariel Vracin-Harrell tweeted that overseas animators often follow the storyboards "religiously", and tiny little micro-poses in storyboards can result in the animation looking "laggy and odd". (Perhaps those Korean animators view the storyboard animatics as key animation?)

Lauren Faust says that you shouldn't animate you storyboards.

I'll expand more on this post later.

Tweet thread version here.

[delurkr]

More Little Hope models 🤩

This post has been in my drafts for a long time lol but HariboStixx on deviantart posted a bunch of extracted LH models! I come bearing some pics and commentary but go look at the rest of them because there's quite a few.

YOUNG VINCE MY BELOVED. I love him and his corduroy coat. You can get a hint of the western style seams on the front, and now I see that's a denim jacket under the coat instead of a shirt. I LOVE. Unfortunately his pants and shoes are just the ones from his funeral outfit (which is clearly a duplicate of Anthony's funeral outfit, a true fashion faux pas) so unfortunately that doesn't say what he was "really" wearing.

Passerby seems to be wearing a suit under that coat. And btw only recently did I come across a playthrough bright enough to notice that his coat has a belt that's undone and dangling at the sides. I really want to know about him and what he was doing on that night 😂 Also his pants are a good 20 years out of date but we love him in spite of it (or maybe because of it).

About time we get a full view of Wyman lol. Lookit all those snazzy buttons 😁 (They must catch on things all the time.)

Is Taylor's watchband red in the game? I don't think so but if it is it's a nice nod to Tanya's red bracelet.

David was executed because he's been flaunting his collarbones in public. Tsk tsk, David. Cloth hose though instead of the other guys' knitted ones, fun detail.

Joseph's top layer thing looks like it was a pretty fancy garment at one point. There's a lot of (faded?) detailing down the front and around the armholes, which would have to be done by hand and that's a lot of effort for something a farmer will be bumming around in. And something was ripped out of the armholes (which shows better in the game), maybe sleeves that wore out before the rest of the garment and didn't get replaced. I don't know much about clothing in this era but anyway it's such a deliberate design choice. I love Joseph's outfit and I wish the devs would post his model so we can get closeups of the proper textures on it.

I need help. Is Abraham's outfit actually blue in the game? Obviously some of the colors aren't accurately represented here but other extracts I've seen of his model are blue. It just kind of looks brown in the game to me.

DENNIS DENNIS DENNIS

Anne with red hair again. Honestly the more I look at it in-game with enough brightness it looks like a shade of red there too. I'm slowly starting to consider that Anne's hair may be red enough to be related to the fact that they adopted a red-haired kid 🤔

Lastly, vehicles. Words cannot express. How much I LOVE the Clarke's station wagon. Just, them, in that car. (Imagine road trips.) Anyway I finally have a clear enough view of it so... yes, I tried to find a real-world make, and, just like Vince's car, I don't think it exists. The lights and grills are never comparable, but ignoring the structure the vibe works for a good chunk of the 1960s, which means I get to imagine at least some of the Clarke kids learning to drive in it 😊

[tamelee]

thanks for that delicious read tamalee! You ate with that!🤭

No disrespect to that anon, but their entire vibe gives off a Sakura fan in disguise. Cause ain’t no way they truly believe 90% of the fandom dislike her simply because she “rejected” Naruto for sasuke lmaoo. Canonically it was Naruto who rejected her ass ( even if she was fake confessing) like the king he is. Ignoring how shitty she was for that, let’s talk about how her character was written to be unlikeable. How are they shocked that the readers reacted how the author expected/wanted them to react to her? Also, why do people get so obsessively defensive over her? She never had anything good going on for her. One of the first introductions to her character was her hating on a kid for being an orphan to another orphan. And she never truly changed. Ask yourselves if how she reacts and treats Naruto and Sasuke is okay/acceptable why don’t Naruto and sasuke treat each other the same? Why do they literally do opposite of what she does every time? and in the end she gets away with it all without improving and becoming a better character and yet y’all still think she’s a victim. Be so for real!

sorry for the long post. I hate Sakura apologists who love to act like everything we know of her character is just collective delusions, but all their lies and fantasies about her character is who she truly is. Honestly quite impressive how even after almost a decade they’re still fighting tooth and nail for a character whose own creator dislikes. And he is so loud about it too💀

<this?> aaah~ glad you think so Nonee, I have so many posts in my drafts, but I've been typing way too much getting off topic for majority of them because I feel like rambling, but I don't want to spam posts all day.

idk if it was 'fan-in-disguise' tbh, I thought I was good at recognizing them, but maybe not xD I think Sakura has some really great moments. I think in general things would go differently in the fandom if her fans focused on highlighting these few selfless moments. For example, when she showed a genuine interest in Sai's drawings, or when she tried to help him understand the complex relationship with his brother. Or her act of sacrifice for Chiyo a woman she just met. Which raises the question: how do her physical feats, like punching, or arguing whether she's pretty or not even compare to that?

These good moments have little to do with her 'badass strength' or her idealistic 'love' for Sasuke, which are often used as points of argument. The fans you talk about seem preoccupied with defending her character against the widely acknowledged criticisms shaping Sakura into a character she isn't, all the while overlooking her flaws or attributing them solely to the writing. Selective reading we call that and it doesn't help the intention to make her look better one bit.

[openstorygames]

On Editing and Ego

Nothing is quite as humbling (for a writer) as handing your work over to someone for feedback.

To be completely honest, that is a good 70% of the reason none of my novel drafts ever turned into anything readable. Even when I finished them, I wasn't brave enough to have them shredded by another's opinion.

In school, I excelled in language classes. I wasn't going to be the next great bilingual writer or anything, but languages click for me, so even when I wasn't working in English, I got decent at writing prose and even tried my hand at some poetry.

Writing in my first language (English) came to me like I'd come into the world doing it.

Like many students, I found myself in peer review groups quite often.

The trouble with being naturally talented at something is that you don't get challenged.

My teachers compared me to my classmates, and I was always towards the top of the curve. I was writing at or above the expected level, so that box got checked. No problems, no need to push.

My peers compared me to their own level of effort, to other students' skills. I got a few rude comments and some ribbing for being nerdy, but nothing to challenge my pride in my skill. That might have been good for my grades, but it was terrible for my ego (and my editing skills). I was so confident in my writing abilities that I rarely wrote more than a single draft. 'Editing' became proofreading. Checking for typos.

Of course, eventually you grow up. And in the broader world, there is always someone who is better, more skilled, or further along their path.

My writing hid for many years.

You know the great thing about games? They're only playable if the rules are readable.

This is doubly true for TTRPGs.

Guess how you discover if your game is playable.

That's right. Suddenly, I couldn't write off feedback.

Add that to the fact that game design is an entirely different medium than the typical school projects, and I found myself quite humbled.

I don't have editing skills.

I've got a degree in literature and nearly 2 decades of writing (if you count childhood attempts, which I do!) under my belt. But my editing skills are hardly better than when I was in middle school!

Fortunately, I've found a community that looks for the good and nudges me toward that. I have colleagues who are already learning my weak points and offer support and suggestions.

The lovely thing about learning as an adult is that we're all a little more mature about helping each other out (usually).

Doesn't ease the ego much, though.

I'm embarrassed to say I never really learned how to take that critique with grace. But I hope I'm getting there.

My ego still twinges when I'm reading feedback, but I'm able to read the genuine care that my community pours into my games, into my development as a designer.

I might be well-practiced at writing, but I'm still a beginner in this medium. And that's okay. I'm learning to be less full of myself, to ask more questions, and to take instruction.

Giving up the comfort of a puffed-up ego is the best way to move forward as an artist, but it's also a great way to be a considerate, compassionate human.

Join me in letting that ego go a little bit. Be a beginner! Try something new. Adapt your art to a slightly different medium. Take a class that sounds interesting but intimidating. Ask for feedback. Listen with open ears. Look with clear eyes.

[mytvd]

ok, i'm still watching, i've just gotten very ahead of myself and haven't been keeping track of thoughts for every episode. i don't really want to post out of order so everything's in drafts until i feel the holes in.

i was typing thoughts about a much later episode but this bullet point re: stefan vs damon, which turned into "more reasons i like stefan," got super long, so i wanted to post it on its own:

based on my history of engaging with similar media, i should be on the damon train, and stefan should seem really boring to me. but like, he's not that boring!! and a big part of why he chooses to be good (ie, boring) is because of his history of being a murdering psycho (even though even in ripper mode he wasn't really having fun, as evidenced by his corpse reassembly). maybe it's an age thing and maybe if i had watched this as a teen (i mean, impossible because of it when it aired) i would prefer stefan -- i know i found peeta boring in the books/movies at first, because i wasn't going to like teen drama media for like, thoughtful characters and ptsd healing and stuff -- but at this point in time, lol, i just love seeing his consistent patience, gentleness, and general respect for women on a tv show. a popular mainstream tv show!!! like, he treats not just elena with respect, but all of her friends, even before he gets to know them, and he never "objectifies them until he gets to know them better" as happens a lot in other teen media -- he starts out respecting them from the beginning. sooooo much of the time on tv/in movies, women characters have to be considered hot/attractive (particularly by the men characters) first and foremost to have value, and whatever other qualities they possess are secondary and only valued because their hotness means they deserve a closer look or a chance to prove themselves. i mean, there aren't really any non-hot people around (which really destroys the "southern small town" illusion) to observe this with, lol, but at least on this show, a man in the main cast treats all the women with respect, even when there's no concrete benefit for him to do so, even when no one else (ie, his girlfriend) is watching. he sees something worth getting to know in almost anyone he encounters (which is in line with his journaling habit) and he doesn't see people as expendable, even though their lives are so short compared to his, and he can't really rely on people being in his life long-term. i am honestly kind of surprised stefan has remained so consistent in this way, even as the show continues to brutalize women (of all ages, lol, and elena back-to-back-to-back) and kill them off in spades. like, the writing has obviously gotten worse and worse over time, and stefan has had some poorly-written moments for sure that felt like they bent the universe in order to make the plot more convenient instead of digging deeper to make the story make sense, but on the whole, his character is pretty consistent, and he has the ability to evolve/change (like being unable to be in a relationship with elena, but still being in her life [without being a lil bitch about it, like damon is within moments of their breakup], and still caring about all of her friends/the people that are only in his life because of her). i literally haven't seen paul wesley in anything else so i have no handle on his acting abilities outside of this show (although i think he does a great job on this show), but of course the performance adds a lot, but i mean, unless paul wesley is making script changes on set, lol, it's just kind of interesting how consistent the character has been written [most of the time] compared to other parts of the show.

**note: i'm only on season 5 and also outside of really the one vpd youtube video and princess weekes's excellent confederate vampires vid i really have zero idea what like, popular opinions about these characters are, lol, and i'm trying not to read anything until i'm done with the show

**edit: i'm halfway through season 6 and as soon as he was shown lying to ivy i regretted posting this but he had a good run, especially compared to most of the other characters on this show

[shivasdarknight]

Fic Writer Interview

I was tagged by @sheepwithspecs for this! Looks fun, let's go! 🙌 I'm only tagging @starswornoaths and @fiercynnhere because I really lost track of who still writes and who doesn't 😅 So blanket "do this if you see this" statement here - also this goes for any AO3 alternatives people have bailed for given the state of that place right now.

How many works do you have on AO3?

20, though two are exquisite corpses so 18 are all me

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

259,190, though that's bound to jump up because a chapter I've been working on is ~22k rn, and that's just one draft

3. What are your top 5 fics by kudos

I gave you dirt, I gave you water, you gave me uncontrollable horniness (108) - this is the second exquisite corpse that I did, and it's a rosemary fic that was more coordinated so I'm not surprised tbh? I wrote two sections for it, but it's so old. title is a reference to Little Shop of Horrors

The Shape of Water (2017) (53) - the first exquisite corpse, both were the same group and this was nonsensical. I wrote after the coordinator, and it devolved fast it was fun to work on. More Homestuck - but this was dirkjake - but it's also old and doesn't reflect my current writing. Take a guess why it's named that.

spare a moment, would you? (47) - oh hey this one's all mine. Yeah is it any surprise that the top 3 are all smut? wolysayle stuff, still like this one, though being a long fic writer and seeing the 4k word one do well is. Something alright.

how long you would wait for me? how long I've been away? (28) - wolestinien for wolestinien week, and this was a higher rated fic because yeah vague smut. I still like it, don't misunderstand, but I've got a different favorite lmao

don't test the tank (25) - the noncanon one because g'raha is no longer in the polycule lmfao. I'm pretty sure that's entirely why it got attention, since all of my non-exquisite corpse fics that have high kudos feature male characters in them and that's just not my focus rn. So it's really unsurprising that my favs have like. 12 and 2 kudos compared to all of the ones above, given they center Ysayle.

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

I respond to all comments! At least most if I can lmao I like getting them? I also like giving them when I read fics, because idk. Acknowledgement that you saw something, discussing something dear to someone. That kind of thing.

5. What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

I think probably somehow, silence hurts the most? There's not really any good resolution besides Surkukteni recovering. Ysayle's dead (as far as she knows, shh), she tried to kill someone who used to be close to her and couldn't go through with it, and she's being shuffled off to another conflict while she's still not healed from the last one - even if it's where she had wanted to be, she's still stuck with the wounds from the war she didn't want to get involved in.

6. What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

Oh, easy: i had a dream about you. It's a fucking rollercoaster of a fic, it's one of my favorites, and I managed to make someone cry :D It's definitely the one that has the happiest ending, because I wouldn't call one-shots really...that? They're set in their tone unless it's a longer fic. Multi-chapter is really the only way I actually like getting a happy ending from something because you had to work to get there.

7. Do you write crossovers?

Well, I used to. FanFiction Dot Net was just...better for crossovers than AO3 tbh? Even though AO3 is better set up for it, most people on there hate crossovers unless it's an AU of something (y'know, like the old -stuck fics). I've still got some of those mentalities from that site in that I've used adjacent crossovers to fill out the cast of things, but most notably would be Inkspill. It's a Bleachstuck fic, but there aren't any Bleach characters whatsoever. It's just the setting and Rose is the main lead. It also epitomizes the fact that I don't like crossovers/AUs where people stick to the OG plot beat-for-beat? Like if you're coming to it as a fan, why do you want to see it exactly but with new faces. Bending the plot to the characters is a lot more fun and you get more stuff out of it (see: a ffx/homestuck AU i was plotting at one point that saw Jake replacing Yuna and Dirk replacing Tidus). But Homestuck was one of those weird fandoms where this kind of thing was encouraged and thrived. Being in XIV, I'm kind of loath to step outside of it because the setting itself has so much going for it that I don't really need to supplement it with anything else - which is hilarious, since this is the game full of crossover events! With those, it's like...I'll supplement other FF titles in the same vein as the game does already (eg: you can tell what era of Allag's rule tech is from based on if it's Pulse or Cocoon tech from FFXIII; Garlemald uses FFVI and FFVII stuff, while older stuff they've appropriated is things like Tactics and FFXII; the FFIV stuff, etc), but all the non-XIV stuff (sans tactics ogre, because POTD is Staying), that just gets a passing reference and not a main focus. The most notable instance of this is how Nier is handled, because while the storyline is canon, it's more of a joke. Everyone talks about it, everyone is confused by it, but I'm never going to actually write them dealing with the crossover because they don't really add much? It's just more funny having a bunch of medieval fantasy heroes trying to grapple with Yoko Taro-ness and breaking their brains over it.

8. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

...hm. I mean, the worst I've gotten on a fic was on Inkspill, where someone decided to get snippy with me because the second chapter is ~10k words. I'd love to find them to show them the word counts of my current drafts lmfao. But actual worse stuff was role play, which involved people tearing apart my writing in private and using it as an excuse to try and get me kicked. But considering I lost the receipts from the person who leaked it, I can't say shit despite one of them being a large ffxiv account who runs an anti-bullying schtick here and on twt so. Yeah.

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

I definitely write smut, but good god is it difficult to work on. Like, I don't have issues visualizing it, it's just the language. And actually writing the scene out. Makes me so gd awkward, even if it's arguably vanilla shit. Which is admittedly really frustrating, because part of why I do write smut is to try and reclaim that facet of writing from some pretty nasty stuff from a past relationship (no details; very few people actually know the details). So much of it comes from trying to be able to write stuff for myself, but that hesitation is still there. As for what, it's predominantly female focused. As in, you're not really going to see a lot of shameless smut focusing on men (be it m/m or m/f). If men are involved, it's predominantly service stuff for a female partner. Cunnilingus tends to be my go-to, obviously fingering and w/e, but I'm trying to also expand what that means because Surkukteni frankly has had a fair number of flings with trans women and fems. So muffing is on the list of stuff to write (the surkie/cylva fic, stuff with heustienne and venat...), but in general just trying to get away from this pervasive idea that trans fems always have to be tops and have to penetrate their partner. If you're looking for this kind of stuff, I recommend Fucking Trans Women. But either way, most of what I write tends to be a response to stuff I've had to go through + wanting to see other depictions in fanfiction since it's. So often so samey.

10. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not really, but I did have this weird encounter on an AU server where they said that people could just set up channels to discuss their AUs and whatever, but I wanted to distance myself from that group and they really did not want me to delete my stuff. Like, they got aggressive and snapped at me for not wanting people to to use an AU that was fairly personal to me. ...Like, they said it was just a place to talk about AUs, I was never told that their intention was that if you post it, it stays, and free reign for everyone else to do stuff in it. This and the role play server have just really made me never want to engage with Kingdom Hearts ever again.

11. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope, but I'm open to the idea.

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

Well yeah, I'm part of two exquisite corpses that I linked above lmao Those are seriously fun, y'all should try it sometime. But aside from that, I tried to with my ex gf but that was. Less actually co-written, and more me doing all the work.

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

If we're talking about normal definition of ships, probably Edelgard/F!Byleth. Like, don't get me wrong there's a lot of stuff in XIV that I care about npc/npc wise, but something like Ryne/Gaia is like how I feel about NamiXi in that...I adore them, but I wish they'd been around when I was that age? They're cute, but I was introduced to them as an adult and there's still that disconnect. Love queer teen stuff for the queer teens, but I'm nearly 30 lmfao Obvs I'm extremely deep into stuff like Ysayle/Venat, Ysayle/Heustienne, etc. but that's like. So minor that there's not a lot of community around them like there is with edeleth. But that's what happens when you're a f/f shipper 💀💀💀 But in all honesty, the actual answer is wolysayle. I'm blanket including other peoples' dynamics because I just really like seeing people actually use Ysayle and give her further purpose, but also I'm super deep into Surkukteni/Ysayle and all the nonsense that surrounds it - especially how partners like Venat are involved. I care them, I'm very emotional over them.

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

As much as I would like to return to Inkspill, I'm never going to. It's an old fic and if it wasn't clear already, I'm not super interested in writing exclusively about teenagers. I'm also working on a fic that has been shown in snippets and whatever, but I'm hesitant about it because it's. This frustrating fkn thing of the fact that it's Perfectly Goddamned Normal, but people are so weird about it online - both the people who are way too into it, and the detractors. I just want to write about what Surkie goes through from post-shadowbringers to endwalker (which, iykyk what that entails), especially since this Scenario actually allows her to slow down and focus on other aspects of her relationship with her now-fiances, but people get so genuinely nasty about this topic. So even if I enjoy writing it and how it has her navigate her relationships - romantic, familial, and platonic - I'm not sure I'll ever finish it because of gestures.

15. What are your writing strengths?

I've been told I'm very good at writing dialogue, and I can't really argue that because I really do enjoy writing conversations between people. I know people are sick of the Marvel irony that shows up in dialogue and so it makes everyone leery of sarcastic exchanges, but sarcasm and banter are genuinely my favorite things to write. I like obnoxious assholes who know what the other's boundaries are, so they can just be as blunt or snide as they like without a wrong word causing things to get contentious. It's a stark contrast between Surkie and Estinien dialogue and Melisande and Ysayle, because the former is two people who deeply understand the other and know when to stop, vs the current stuff which is Melisande picking at every way she can upset Ysayle because she just does not like her. I try to keep speech habits in mind when writing, I also keep track of how frequently someone curses and what expletives they use, and it's just...really fun trying to make it so distinct that you don't need tags to tell who's speaking? Means I've done something right. And - at least, according to my mother (because she does know about my writing) - I'm apparently good at descriptive prose, because it's "very evocative" and "paints a good mental image".

16. What are your writing weaknesses?

Writing smut, tbh? Like, I know it's similar to action, but I just can't get it for the most part. I'm also not very good at writing stuff that skims over things to cover a long span of time because I like idling in moments and having things go slow. Jumping from place to place and scene transitions are the bane of my existence.

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

I think it's important to at least try. I've run into this issue because my WoL is a polyglot but also has the Echo. Like was mentioned in the tag's post, I use Writing with Color a lot to inform me about how to better handle accents from other languages so I don't wind up with how people like Lovecraft write (because that's embarrassing), but I also try to use what I know to inform sentence structure because people kind of just...ignore that? I'll be more specific: I incorporate various English accents and dialects into what I write to get a better idea of what their voice sounds like, but nowhere in there is that used as a signal to view them as unintelligent the way that XIV (and frankly most English-speaking media) does. Kitase has a thick accent, but it's more Lominsan so it's reflected in his speech. However, both he and Surkukteni speak Hingan (japanese), Doman (ig japanese as well because fkn stormblood), and Rural Doman (chinese). I don't know if anyone's picked this up, but Surkie and Kitase both tend to drop the subject of who they're talking about after a while, and very rarely use self pronouns if talking at length. "You" is also fairly absent compared to a native Common (english) speaker, more so in Kitase than Surkukteni due to exposure. These habits come from Japanese sentence structure and how a lot of context is dropped if it can be clearly inferred. Obviously, it's a habit in English, but not to the same degree. Sign language is in here and a version of it used with the dragoons is prominent to Surkie. That led to a long research stint into trying to figure out how to portray that - and there's no good one answer? So I settled on using [Stuff like this] to show that it's talking, it's formatted as talking, and doesn't have the same flourishes as other speech. This is mostly because of how I format dragonspeak, internal brain buddies, and other things. It's treated exactly like normal dialogue, it just has different tags and punctuation. Otherwise, it is exactly the same to not make it seem like it's lesser to spoken languages.

18. What was the first fandom you wrote for?

Kingdom Hearts, but we don't talk about that.

19. What’s a fandom/ship you haven’t written for yet but want to?

Fire Emblem Three Houses, but HEAR ME OUT. HEAR ME OUT. Yes, I would love to contribute to the femslash edeleth, but my main motivation for an FE3H fic is a New Game+ meta fic. I got the idea from starting a new route and finding that supports and skills could transfer over, so it got me thinking about a looping story involving Byleth - an ever changing person, in presentation, name, and relationships - having to relieve the story of FE3H and trying to figure out how to break out of it. They're more cognizant with each loop, more manic, until it finally splits into the femleth and guyleth. Femleth remembers the fact that this isn't right, Guyleth stands in opposition to her. Femleth ends up with Edelgard and the Black Eagles, Guyleth ends up with Dimitri and the Azure Lions. And it's going to get messy. But I havent really had the energy to write it because it means finishing all the other routes, and doing Black Eagles first has made it very hard to go through Azure Lions. I'm sparing people my feelings on it, but omfg. I just want to go back to Crimson Flower.

20. What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

i had a dream about you and you want a better story. who wouldn't? Like, they were the most fun to write (the latter is my active draft), and I just care them. Very proud of these two uwu

[toburnup]

Slams into your inbox and throws a candy heart at your face. 

1. I have had "but he doesn't classify eddie as an ex so that just makes it weirder (whereas eddie definitely would, oof)..." stuck in my head ever since I saw that in my inbox and the things you've done to my heart w that sentence….. it's So Good. If (!)you ever wanna expand on that, I'd be stoked.

2. Is there's anything that you're particularity pleased with re: the last few (delightful) iYLO chapters? 

3. It's Vday so it's Vio Day which falls on a Tuesday of all things so it's just me saying that you always make me laugh BC you're a absolutely charming gremlin and you do a lot to be like, mindful of the people you interact with (even if you're looking at things differently). Plus, I'm so glad you're sharing your stories (your writing, your take on things when asked) bc I've had an absolute blast seeing what you've created/changed/shared along the way. So idk have a good week raisin nerd 💙

VIO DAY? 😭 oh my. i love this. i love all of it. and i adore the questions!!

i ended up writing more than i planned, so - iylo meta below!

1. "but he doesn't classify eddie as an ex so that just makes it weirder (whereas eddie definitely would, oof)..."

ahhhh, the issue that is, in a lot of ways, at the crux of their issues. eddie seeing the thing between them one way, steve seeing it another. for eddie, it was the closest thing he'd had to a relationship so he had nothing much else to compare it to, whereas for steve, it was ? hooking up? oh-so casually. even though the depth of his feelings obviously push past fwb.

it really comes down to this moment from eddie's pov:

"Maybe you thought of me as your boyfriend, or something."

Eddie didn't know shame would fill him with an icy dread. And Steve keeps glancing around the empty trailer park when it's just them. Just Eddie.

because that says that steve never thought of eddie as his boyfriend. but eddie definitely, definitely thought of steve as his (omg, why am i so mean to eddie 😭)

2. Is there's anything that you're particularity pleased with re: the last few (delightful) iYLO chapters? 

i'm so glad i finally, FINALLY was able to post eddie's birthday party scene! it's one of the scenes from the original oneshot draft, so it's always nice to see something i wrote 6 (!!) months ago finally being read. like i've been holding onto these fun scenes for SO LONG and god, it is so satisfying to put them out into the world.

and. for 3.

RAISIN NERD? wow, say you like raisins once (ONCE) and apparently you're branded for life.

i really do like them though.

i feel like all the moments you've pointed out eddie's most gremlin-y moments are when i write him doing things that i've done at some point (the wine cork thing, the button thing, lmao). so, i will take it on the chin. i am a gremlin 🥰

and i'll just say, i appreciate you saying that i'm mindful. i feel like i was overly concerned about being interpreted 'correctly' at the beginning, but now i'm like. getting better at being open to all interpretations and also knowing that i'm bringing my own bad habits and biases to my work, so everyone else is doing that too. we've all got our shit. and i love that!

[inkspellangel]

2022 Writer Year-In-Review

I was tagged by @eccaiia! Thank you!<3

Tagging: @elijahrichardwrites @gokustormofficial22 @spuddlespud @crypticcodexcreations & Open Tag! (Clean set of questions at the bottom)

Total number of completed works:

One, first draft. :'D

Total number of WIPs worked on this year:

5, I think...

WIPs neglected this year:

Not so much neglected as avoiding to use as motivation. But I have one WIP that I've been telling myself I can't work on until Keep Me Breathing is done. Only one person knows about it as of now, but I'll probably dig into it a bit more this year

Fandoms I've written in:

Inkheart and Tangled :'D Though it took ages to upload the Inkheart one to AO3, and I basically only did so to challenge myself because that was scary. :'D

Total word count:

around 145k I think

Looking back, did you write more than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you expected?

Looking at the numbers now it's absolutely more than I thought I did. And a lot more than I thought I would.

Did you take any writing risks this year?

Counting the fact that I published what I have of my Inkheart fanfic, that was probably the scariest. Also, a lot of things regarding the Strong, the Stray & a Punk was new for me.

Do you have any goals for the new year?

I do want to finish Keep Me Breathing. Like really be done with it. I also want to get into my pirate romance WIP and introduce it here when I know a little more. And if i get the first draft of SSP done I'd be happy :D

Biggest disappointment?

Not finishing NaNo. I was so exited and managed through half of it, but new job and a lot of other thigs made me just tired of writing. Maybe I'll be better prepared for next year. Maybe.

Biggest surprise?

That I actually finished the first draft of Keep Me Breathing. Me actually finishing something isn't usual so it felt good. A bit scary, but still good.

Most popular story of the year?

Keep Me Breathing, absolutely. Pretty closely followed by SSP. So The Infernal Cave Stories:'D

What's your own favourite story of the year?

Keep Me Breathing! I've worked on this for so long that I missed it during the months after the first draft, until I allowed myself to begin draft 2.

Story of mine most under-appreciated by the universe, in my opinion:

I'm included in the universe so... the pirate WIP... as I said, only one person knows about it and since I don't know too much, I haven't talked about it. (also the motivation thing but yeah)

Most fun story to write:

A side story for KMB. Where Fuki is asked out by her former crush, but doesn't understand it and Gikel is super jealous :'D

Most unintentionally telling story:

The fact that both Sakura & Fubuki compare themselves to each other. Their relationship is very much based on my relationship with my childhood best friend :'D (Not the sketchy parts, though I'm absolutely sure that both of us would do it the same as they do if we were in those situations)

My favourite part of fandom this year:

Can I count the fact that @writingpotato07 basically owns the Bing & Bob fandom? Not a fandom I'm part of, but her passion always makes me smile!

--

(Clean set of questions for ease of copy-and-pasting!)

Total number of completed works:

Total number of WIPs worked on this year:

WIPs neglected this year:

Fandoms I've written in:

Total word count:

Looking back, did you write more than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you expected?

Did you take any writing risks this year?

Do you have any goals for the new year?

Biggest disappointment?

Biggest surprise?

Most popular story of the year?

What's your own favourite story of the year?

Story of mine most under-appreciated by the universe, in my opinion:

Most fun story to write:

Most unintentionally telling story:

My favourite part of fandom this year:

[pbandjesse]

The air hurt my chest today. When we went to bed last night the air quality was 158. Not good but not horrible. When we woke up it was 258. What the hell. The apartment seemed pretty good compared to outside. There was a noticable difference.

I didn't sleep great though. I had a lot of pain in my chest and the back of my throat and woke up every couple hours. So when my alarm went off I wasn't thrilled. But there were things to do.

James was getting ready to go. Came and gave me a hug and made the bed and waited to leave until I was done getting dressed. So they could give me another hug before they left.

They would wear a mask and I would as well. It was scary how smokey the outside world was. It was horrible and it's not even like it is in New York. It's not as orange. It is for sure noticably hazy. And the shadows were casting a bit red. But man. Not comfortable.

I would head to camp and the whole ride I was like. I bet this group is going to cancel. The kids should not be in this apocalypse air. And if they do come I hope they have masks.

But less then 5 minutes before I got there Heather texted me and Elizabeth that all city schools canceled outdoor programs and feildtrips.

I was not shocked. I was a little annoyed but it's fine. I would have had to come and clean up the program anyway but it was just a little. Sad. It's just another thing that had its last one for the season, like me doing BMI trips, that went past without me knowing it was the last one.

But it's fine. I got to camp and got to work putting things away. I wouldn't rush. No need.i would head to the Hogan and and dump the water from the cooler and packed everything up over in the woodlands.

Once I put that that all away in the art building I would drive over to the office and chatted with Heather and Elizabeth. Brought the cornbread to share since there weren't any kids to have it. Asked how their apocalypse was going. And then headed to the lodge.

The kitchen staff was over there getting their first food delivery. So maybe good the bus wasn't there because that would have been a bit of a traffic jam.

I would pack up all my stuff but had to wait for the truck to move to finish. I would chat with the guys and would just enjoy how nice it felt out even if the air hurt my eyes. I was still masked though and that helped a lot. The guys did not know anything was happening and said they were all smokers so they would be fine. I disagree but they are adults.

Once the truck was gone I finished loading my car and went back to the art building. I tried to get everything put away as nice as possible. And then went back to the office.

Heather asked if I could try tidying up the attic like I had in the fall. It looked very bad but actually was mostly just empty boxes and some misplaced stuff. Took me less then an hour to put it back together.

I would go up the the art building after Heather printed me my lessons for the summer. And I would make notes about what would need to get done. Examples, boxes, materials. And then I started working on my posters. I got half of them done and I'm very pleased. I also started working on some examples. I got a stick loom made and start figuring out how to weave on a rock. Which took me a minute but looked pretty cool!!

I worked until 1230. And then headed to the office to heat up my lunch. The air was much better. Back down to 160. Still bad but I could comfortably lose the mask to eat on the porch.

And when I was done I checked in with Heather and she said I should make a document for my workshop for specialty staff. So I would work on that on my phone and for a first draft James said it was really good and doesn't need much change. Pretty proud of myself.

There wasn't much else to do inside. And my chest still hurt. So I would say goodbye and headed home.

I thought about stopping at the thrift store but went straight home instead. My head was very itchy and I felt gross from being in the smokey air.

When I got back here it was more hazy then camp had been. I got inside and showered basically right away. Washed my hair with a clarifying shampoo. My hair is grown out weird and I have been a bit self conscious about it. I'm trying to leave it alone. But at least it was clean.

I decided it would be fun to play animal crossing. The first time in a year and a half!! It was fun to say hi to my villagers. And give gifts. But I was there to build a room. I have been watching a lot of Sims builds.

And I wasn't as good as I had been before! But I was having fun! The second one went better then the first. And it was a really good time.

James got home while I was doing that. They told me about their day. And made me nachos because they love me. And soon they would get on their podcast and I went to lay down and watch video.

Eventually I would move to the living room and start working on a small knitting project. I want to use the tiny loom to make a bunch of squares. See how it goes. It was nice to just have a little thing to work on.

James came and joined me once their podcast was done. Someone messaged me on Instagram and I'm mostly sure they are a catfish but it was fun talking to them for a bit.

I am tired and dehydrated though. Despite drinking so much water. Apparently the smoke makes you dryer. My skin is very dry. So it's a battle for sure.

I am going to work on some computer stuff here tomorrow. I may go somewhere but will mostly stay home. I hope it's a good day. I hope you are all having a great night and are breathing well. I love you all. Goodnight!!