#anyways uhhh fun fic fact for this chapter:

[vivi-the-sky-kid]

Sowing the Seeds (of Love), Chapter 4

Aka the Resh/OC Fix-It Fic Nobody Asked for but I’m Inflicting on All of You Anyways as Punishment for Kai’s Your Hubris

The King has always been a mysterious figure in the annals of the Sky Kingdom’s history, generating both awe and fear within the hearts of the sky spirits. Few can claim to have met them in person; certainly not Tav, a researcher of light creatures for the Vault of Knowledge. But when they discover their research may be used to harm the very creatures they know and love, Tav knows they cannot allow this to happen.

Somehow, they must change the King’s mind. If that means throwing butterflies at their royal face, then so be it.

-<◇>-

Warnings: Will be added to each chapter when necessary, but there’s not gonna be anything graphic in this (do send me an ask if you think there’s something I should warn about tho)

Rating: T (just to be on the safe side)

Pairing(s): Resh/OC

Tag(s): Enemies to Lovers, Fake Dating, Canon Divergence, Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies

Additional Tag(s): Resh and Alef are twins, Resh and Tav are both nonbinary, Resh uses he/they, Tav uses she/they, Resh is demiromantic and pansexual, Tav is biromantic and demisexual, no beta we die like moths in eden

Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

-<◇>-

Chapter 4

Word Count: 3528

Warning(s): None

-<◇>-

“Tav, sweetie, what are you doing?”

A young spirit twisted to look at their caretaker, then back to the window they had been staring out of. Flakes of snow drifted from the sky, bits of white that glittered like stars in the light of the setting sun, but they were not the white Tav had been hoping to see.

She sighed. “I’m looking for Shin.”

Clothes rustled and footsteps softly thudded behind them, and between one flake and the next, their caretaker had come to stand beside them. Though their mask of dark gray stone hid most of their expression, the dimmed glow of their eyes was proof enough of their concern.

“And why are you looking for them, Tav?” they said. Their chirpy voice should have been a comfort. All it did was remind them of what they were missing.

More snow fell before Tav answered, her head resting on folded arms. “I miss them.”

“Oh, sweetie…”

Their caretaker knelt and pulled them into a hug. She nestled her face into their neck. The contained warmth of a star radiated into them from their body, so different from the almost searing heat of a light creature, and yet so similar.

Birdsong from outside caught their attention, and Tav whipped back to the window, their scruffy ponytail nearly smacking their caretaker’s mask clean off their face. There, in the sky! Was that…?

It was!

Tav’s eyes and mouth were wide with joy as a large bird glided down to the windowsill, the upper half of their head covered by a plate of gray and golden stone. They opened their beak, and out came, “Tav? You up?”

She blinked. That… wasn’t what Shin sounded like. And yet it was familiar. Like the voice of a dear friend…

“Taaav~! Time to wake up!”

And Tav did.

The sky visible from the window over her bed glowed with the hues of dawn. Outside, distant birds chirped. The perfume of Prairie’s multitude of flowers drifted in on the arms of a light breeze. There was no sign of Shin anywhere.

They sighed, then rolled onto their side. Only a dream. It was… only a dream.

Shin had never come back, after all. No matter how badly she had wanted it.

“Tav? Are you up yet?” Kumibir called from elsewhere in the house, interrupting that particular train of thought.

Tav sat up, ruffled their loose hair with half a scowl, and called back, “I’m up, I’m up…”

“Good! Breakfast is almost done, so hurry up and get ready! You have a busy day ahead of you~”

They sighed again. What they wouldn’t give to return to their dream… Still, Kumibir was right. There was much to do, and the more she sat around, the less time she would have to do it.

Tav dressed quickly, and while their hairstyle was rather more complicated than others, years of practice had it shifting into place with one final click of the hair clip and a quick press of the feather locks. Now all she needed was her mask…

Their gaze landed on a small table across the room. Resting amongst the clutter on its surface were three masks: Resh's diamond-crested one, the plain one she normally wore, and a dark mask with two small, golden triangles beneath the eyes. Resh’s mask, of course, would stay there. They’d get it back soon. Eventually. Maybe. As for the other two…

After a moment’s thought, Tav passed over her ordinary mask and grabbed the dark one instead. Maybe it was the lingering dream talking, but today, they would wear this one. A reminder of where they came from, and why they were doing this.

This was the mask of her adoptive family, after all.

-<◇>-

True to their word, Resh was already waiting at the pier by the time Tav left the house, the zigzags of their cape glittering in the sun's first golden rays like the manta bells. Beside her, Kumibir hummed a cheerful tune. It grated against the knot in Tav's stomach, but there was no way they could tell em that.

Ey pulled her in close for a brief hug and a pat on the shoulder.

“Now, don't forget to tell that partner of yours that I want them over for dinner tonight, okay?”

Tav sighed, their shoulders and their expression sinking. “That really isn't necessary, Kumibir—”

“Of course it is! Never let it be said that Prairie’s hospitality is lacking! It may not compare to the fine dining of Eden, but I'm sure he'll appreciate it.” With that, ey raised a hand in a wave to Resh, who politely nodded back. Winking and grinning at Tav, Kumibir set off for the solar altar.

She stared after em with a long-suffering look. As endearing as eir aggressive kindness could be, it was the last thing they needed right now. Ey had the perceptiveness of a seasoned field researcher and the tenacity of one of the Valley's rising stars. If ey got too close, ey'd figure out that this partnership was a lie.

Ey'd learn the real reason behind Resh's visit.

Their hands clenched, nails painfully digging into the meat of their palms, and they scowled at the ground. Visions of Kumibir's betrayed expression, of the resulting coldness, floated before her eyes. They took a deep, calming breath, then another. In, hold, out. In, hold, out. The tension eased from her shoulders; her pounding heart slowed down; the dark cloud over her mind fizzled away.

Everything was going to be fine. It had to be.

Composure regained, they turned and walked up to Resh, raising a hand in greeting. “There you are. Sleep well, darling?”

Their eyes widened the smallest of slivers before they nodded.

“As well as can be expected, my dear.” He leveled a cool gray gaze on her, opened his mouth as if about to ask something, then closed it. Whatever they had been about to say, they must have thought better of it. Instead, Resh raised an eyebrow and nodded at Kumibir's receding back. “Dare I ask what the two of you were discussing?”

“Just... dinner plans for tonight,” Tav said hastily, before hurrying away to the waiting boat.

Resh fell into step beside them—an easy enough task, given his remarkable height—and remarked, “I see you’re wearing a different mask today. What’s the occasion?”

“It’s my family’s. I just felt like wearing it today,” she replied.

They hummed thoughtfully at that. Tav could feel his gaze lingering on them, but to their surprise, he said nothing more on the subject. Instead, they said, “So, where are we going this time?”

“Bird Nest.”

-<◇>-

Much like the Butterfly Fields, it was easy to see why Bird Nest was named that. Flying above and below and around and pretty much everywhere in this particular section of Daylight Prairie were river-like flocks of birds, with a few small manta squadrons lazily soaring with them. It would have been quite the jaw-dropping sight… if Resh’s hadn’t been clenched tooth-achingly tight. Naturally, Tav noticed (those accursed researcher eyes) and tilted their head to the side.

"What's wrong? You don't look so good."

They didn't feel good, either. Something about the ever-present, warm updraft made his skin burn softly. The motes swept up with the air currents weren't helping—every tiny flake that brushed against their bare face stung like rain in high winds.

"What… is this place?" he ground out, trying to repress the urge to shudder.

"This is the Bird Nest. Lots of light creatures pass through here, but it's mainly home to birds,” Tav declared, though the confidence in their voice was undermined by the brief looks they kept shooting him as they spoke.

Resh snorted, just a little, and straightened their shoulders. "Really. I had no idea."

"I know, who'd've thought?" They were smiling when they met his eyes, but quickly looked away and folded their arms before them. "A-Anyways, come on. Time for your next lesson on light creatures."

"Let me guess: birds."

It was, indeed, birds.

-<◇>-

Tav spoke as they walked along the central island. Gesturing all the while, they explained that, while butterflies often found themselves in groups simply because of their dietary habits, birds chose to gather together. A flock offered benefits that flying solo, so to speak, did not, such as being able to support one another with their collective heat and light. That was how long migratory streams like those here functioned. By sharing their light with one another, the flock could fly for days—weeks, even—without needing to rest. And this support wasn’t extended solely to other birds.

"They'll care for anyone they see as one of them,” she said. “Doesn't matter how different a person is—once they become part of the flock, they're there to stay."

There was something wistful to Tav's gaze as they spoke, but he couldn't quite pinpoint the cause.

Well, whatever. It didn't matter right now. What mattered was getting this accursed lesson over with. The sooner they were out of this place, the sooner he would stop feeling so weird.

Resh folded their arms in front of their chest. "And how, exactly, do you get them to see you as 'one of the flock'?"

"Let me show you.” Tav waved, and he followed their gaze to see another star wave back from a distant island. One short ride on a manta-drawn boat later, they were walking up to the two of them. Their eyes kept shifting back and forth between Resh and Tav, but they seemed friendly enough.

“Welcome back, Tav. I wasn’t expecting to see you again so soon,” the spirit said.

“Truth be told, I wasn’t expecting to return quite so soon, either. But something came up, so here I am,” Tav replied. They looked up at him. Her shoulders sank ever so slightly, but her voice was pleasant as she gestured to them and said, “This is the something, by the way. Ivox, meet Resh, my… partner. He was interested in learning about my work, so I brought him here. Resh, this is Ivox, the local bird whisperer.”

“It’s a pleasure,” Ivox said with a wave, the spike of hair atop their head bobbing with the motion.

Resh’s eyes narrowed in thought. Unlike most of Prairie’s denizens, their voice was remarkably similar to Tav’s. How curious.

He bowed slightly. “The pleasure is all mine.”

“I suppose you need me to whisper to a few birds, then?” they said, winking at Tav.

Tav nodded.

“One lesson, coming right up, then!”

They stepped away and held out an arm, chirping out a tune Resh didn't recognize. A few birds did, however, and they landed on their arm without hesitation. A couple were a solid, gleaming white, like the snows of the Valley. The others had golden markings on their heads and tails (signs of domestication, Tav had explained earlier). Ivox and the birds exchanged more chirps—at one point, they all turned to face Resh, who looked back warily—before the birds flew down to the ground at their feet. Their talk (apparently) completed, they walked back to the pair.

“It seems the first step is to be less intimidating. You’re a rather scary-looking person, Resh. The birds don’t even want to go near you right now.”

Resh folded their arms against their chest. “I see. And how, exactly, am I supposed to go about looking less… scary?”

Ivox and Tav shared a look. Then the two studied him with a startling intensity. Tav’s gaze drifted up towards his head, and he could nearly see the figurative lightbulb appear over their head. Sure enough, she walked up to them and patted their pizaine.

"Take this off. You don't need it. No one's gonna attack you here."

"Somehow, I don't quite believe you…" His eyes landed on Ivox, and he hastily added, "...my dear."

"Please, darling? For me?" they said, batting their eyes.

They glanced from Ivox and their birds to Tav, weighing their options, before heaving a sigh. Hewn from the same stone as the boats and floating platforms of the Kingdom, the pizaines of the Sky Kingdom's soldiers were tough but light, and Resh lifted it from his shoulders with ease. They set it down on the grass nearby with a muffled thump, then threw their arms out to the sides.

“Is this better?”

-<◇>-

As they had hoped, removing the pizaine softened Resh's silhouette—though it did little to make him seem less big and dangerous. Even without the armor, their great height and the broadness of their shoulders left them looming over Tav, Ivox, and the birds. One chirped nervously and hopped behind Ivox.

Tav said the first thing that popped into their head.

“Why are you so tall?”

His mouth fell open. They gaped at her like a fish, then waved at her own body. “Why are you so small?”

Tav looked down at themself, then planted their hands on their hips and glared back up at him. “I didn’t exactly have much of a say in the matter!”

“Well, neither did I. There’s your answer.”

“What kind of an answer is that?!”

“An accurate one.”

Tav opened her mouth to say… well, she wasn’t quite sure what she was going to say, but it was definitely going to put Resh’s smart-aleck self in their place.

Instead, Ivox’s giggles interrupted and made both of them turn to face them.

“I can see why Tav likes you, Resh,” they said, eyes crinkled in mirth.

The two glanced back at each other, only just now noticing how close their faces had gotten, and separated in a rush. Matching pink blushes glowed over their faces.

“Wh… What’s that supposed to mean?!” Tav retorted.

“Oh, they just really seem to spark your passion, that’s all.”

They and the birds now perched upon their shoulders twittered with more laughter. Several more hopped around at Resh’s feet, though they fluttered away when he shifted his stance. Without the pizaine, it was easy to see how tense their shoulders became at this. Coupled with the scowl on his face, and Tav knew he was mere moments from releasing a long-suffering sigh.

-<◇>-

Resh was mere moments from releasing a long-suffering sigh. The butterflies of yesterday were a walk in the palace gardens compared to these birds. At least those light creatures had the decency to approach him right after he removed part of his gear, and not force him to do more.

If birds were this bad, they shuddered to imagine what else lay in store for them.

“Looks like they’re still a little scared of you, huh?” Ivox said, the chirp of their voice cutting through Resh’s train of thought.

“Indeed,” he said with a nod.

Though perhaps “a little” was something of an understatement.

They hummed thoughtfully. "Why not try feeding them? It's lunch time anyways, and if you were to hand out food, I'm sure they'd start to trust you more."

Resh stared at them incredulously.

"Feed... the birds?"

The very suggestion was baffling. And yet… it also seemed familiar. Like a conversation he had once held long ago.

-<◇>-

The Palace garden was considered one of the private sanctuaries of the King, and only the Elders, certain government officials, and a few specially chosen servants were permitted within. Such measures should have ensured that a plate of sandwiches would be safe from any potential thieves.

“Hey! Get away from there!”

Such measures failed to take into account that birds can fly and do not care what star spirits allow.

Resh grumbled under their breath and glared at the rapidly shrinking forms of birds fleeing over the garden walls. Resting on the table before him, a once-pristine sandwich had been picked and pecked at. The damage amounted to little more than crumbs, but from the look on their face, Resh certainly thought otherwise.

"Little thieves. I should have them banished from the palace grounds,” he said, crossing his arms over his chest.

Someone chuckled nearby. Resh looked up to see their sibling, Alef, strolling up with a wry smile. "Come now, Resh. They're only birds, and it's just a sandwich. You don't even need it."

They turned their nose up, still scowling. "It's about the principle of the matter. They’re my sandwiches, and they can't have them."

Alef’s face fell. He looked to the sun above, the glow of his eyes a mere fragment of that great star’s own radiance. Then they looked back at their twin, wringing their hands.

"...What would Mother think if She heard you talk like that?"

Resh scoffed. "Mother isn't here. I don't care what She'd think. And neither should you, Alef. We don't belong in Her shadow, living as Her tools."

"Resh..."

"There you are,” interrupted a kindly voice before the tension could become too much to bear. The pair turned to see a familiar spirit approaching from the palace. “Spare some time for an old star?"

"Daleth!" Alef said, grinning and running towards the Elder of the Isle of Dawn.

Resh, meanwhile, followed behind more sedately, their shoulders pushed back and hands clasped before them. For all that he had been scowling earlier, the smile he gave the Elder was genuine. "Welcome. What brings you to Eden, Daleth?"

"Oh, I just came for a visit. We haven’t seen each other in quite a while, after all. I suppose you’ve been busy since you've taken the throne, what with your kingly duties and all, so I thought I’d come to you," Daleth said, rubbing the back of their neck.

To their credit, Resh looked sheepish as they said, "There's a lot to do. I just haven't had the time to go all the way out to the Isle."

"Of course, of course."

Chirps from above were the only warning they had before a few birds fluttered down to land on Daleth’s shoulders and the tip of their staff. The Elder’s eyes crinkled in a smile. "Ah, hello there, little ones."

"Watch yourself, Daleth. They like to steal sandwiches,” Resh said, their smile fading into a fresh scowl.

"Is that so? Perhaps you could set out some birdseed for them, instead."

"Hey, great idea, Daleth! That way, they won't touch Resh's precious sandwich,” Alef piped up, raising a cheeky eyebrow in his sibling’s direction. Resh stuck their tongue out in reply, but quickly returned to their previous kingly stance when Daleth smiled and crouched down.

"Indeed. Don't tell Lamed I said this, but food is one of the things I enjoy most of residing down here." With a warm, knowing look to the young King and his sibling, they waved a hand at the plate of sandwiches. "Few things bring us together like a meal."

-<◇>-

"Do... light creatures such as these birds need to feed on things other than flame?" Resh said, their voice soft as down.

Tav furrowed her brow and put a hand to her chin. "Well... no. Technically, they can survive perfectly fine on just heat and bits of light from the air. That’s what they  use when they migrate, after all."

"But surviving isn't the same as living,” Ivox continued. “They may not need the birdseed we set out for them, but it does make them happy. And happiness is nourishment for the soul."

“Yeah. What they said.”

Resh pressed a hand to his chest, where he felt the faint pulse of his inner flame. "Nourishment... for the soul..."

They studied the sack in the bird whisperer's hands, then took it and poured it out upon the stone. Resh knelt beside the piles that formed from his unpracticed attempt and evened out the birdseed with large sweeps of his hands. When they stood, a single bird descended to feed. Then another, and another, until chirps filled the air and a tiny sea of white spotted with gold spread out from his feet.

When the feast was over, most of the birds left, either to rejoin their flocks or simply to perch elsewhere. A few, however, lingered behind, and one of them fluttered up to their shoulder. Resh ran a finger over the white diamond on its golden head. He didn’t notice the slight smile on his face.

Nor did they notice that the updraft no longer stung their gray-brown skin.

-<◇>-

Daleth startled awake, having fallen asleep while tending to their birds. One chirped softly from its perch on their shoulder. They glanced around and then got to their feet. Despite their aged state of being—they were the oldest of the stars that fell, after all—they felt as spry as the Valley Elders. They didn't even need their staff to walk about their temple.

The pilgrims within the first chamber were full of the usual awe at the sight of the realm's Elder, and though Daleth greeted them kindly, their mind was elsewhere. This new bout of energy... where had it come from? They hadn't felt like this since... since Resh had taken the throne.

If they had gone outside and looked up, they would have seen that their constellation now shone brighter than before. As it was, however, they had other duties to attend to.

Like feeding their birds, for example.

-<◇>-

Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

[speckle-the-crow]

Stop sending hate for what people ship.

Don't like, don't read/keep scrolling. It's not that hard.

For those who don't know me, I have 42 fics under the Marionetta tag. 27 of those is Sahejul, 3 is Sahonny, 3 is Tonnyjul. I think it's clear I have a ship I lean towards the most, at least in writing. I like all almost equally, I indulge on all content of the three in any pairing. Sooo... yeah

Uhhh.... I mean, a lot of people liked this fic. An old fandom friend liked it. I'm not really upset if the endship is Tonnyjul, but it wouldn't make sense. I don't hate on those who ship it, I find the two quite unique and cute together. But I also love Sahejul (see: 27 fics on them + the 20+ chaptered WIP I have of them). Also, the Tonnyjul nation isn't alone? I see a lot of people who love them.

Wow, a death threat(?), how unique. Miriam wouldn't really agree. Actually, fun fact, on a stream Miriam hosted I asked her what her favorite ship was! She actually did notice my question and answer, saying she won't state it due to spoilers. A bit off topic, I know, but still fun. Also, I don't think Miriam would want people getting these types of comments but that's just me 🤷

Anyways, anon, I hope you see this and have a moment of realization. Don't get your micropenis in a twist over AO3 of all sites 😂

[otrtbs]

hii nat! just wanted to know if you have any more news on your dinner fic?

like progress, fun facts, posting date? anything really <3

omg hello!!

i'm writing chapter 3 atm 😈 there is no posting date, i'm actually breaking on writing tdf to start working on tcb! again,,, but there is sOoOo much i could share omg uhhh

one of the guiding little quotes for this fic is from Sara Ahmed in her book Queer Phenomenology where she says "The study, the parlour, the kitchen: these rooms provide the settings for drama; they are where things happen." <- literally this is what the fic all boils down to askjghdkha things happen in rooms ayeee

James Potter is an outrageously famous author and everyone is dyinggg to know what his newest book is about but he refuses to tell anyone except for Marlene McKinnon.. she's the only one who knows what it's about and for good. reason. but Marlene doesn't know what the reason is. fun. fact.

I consult a lot of still life paintings for this fic (bc i can't do anything without looking at a good painting first to get inspired!) (lots of florals and banquet scenes!)

the hors-d'oeuvres are clams bc they symbolize new beginnings AND protection from predators and elements and yk,,, evil people things that are out to get you as an introduction to the evening. also according to dream analysis, eating clams in a dream means that you'll find out secret and confidential information soon <- (breaking open the clamshells to find the secrets hidden inside hmm)

also this quote from Donna Tartt "How can I see so clearly that everything I love or care about is an illusion, and yet- for me, anyway- all that's worth living for lies in that charm?"

and lastly, i will share another little blurb 4 you ⇩ ⇩ ⇩

[bonesandthebees]

okay so like i was gonna just start on this tonight and get the general ideas down and finish this when i was Awake and Functioning but then i started rambling so uhhh jazz handss

take me describing the diff energies ur fics give off, i am sorry if this is uncomprehensible fjwaewf (is that even a word?? incomprehensible? ye-)

through a glass divine: DEFFFF rainy day vibes, the au feels very Elegant to me even though glass!wilbur himself is very much not, when I read glass I get the same vibes as being in a car /pos, it's comforting but can get intense at times, sometimes with no warning. like one minute your head is against the glass (heh, pun unintended lol), and ur looking out at the streetlamps, the next the breaks are SLAMMED and u get whacked against the seatbelt lmfaoooo (this is all /pos !! i love the angst lol)

world forgetting: FOGGG, that's the first thought that pops into my head, things are unclear first and it's a little eerie but there's also something comforting about it (i will use this word a lot bc . well ur writing is comforting hehehe), the first half of wf was very exciting, it reminded me of when i used to have my mcu marathons, edge of my seat, shoving popcorn into my face, and just glee, the first few chapters with wf especially with the combat made me so fucking giddy lmfaooo i had so much fun reading it, the second half was a lot more calm and melancholy, it was defff sitting on the couch while it rains outside vibes, like MM the hurt comfort?? give me a blanket and a pillow to squeeze bc hot damnn

stars and their children: stars man . hooweeee, this fic was binging a 12 season show vibes, you invest a lot into it and wow the emotional damage?? for real. this fic was late night rants at sleepovers, theorizing n coming up with silly conspiracy theories (i think this was when i really started reading the asks, so for me it has a lot of those vibes tied to it), when i read stars… i feel a lot of Awe. it feels big, it feels important, it also feels like im reading a very fancy novel from a very big library, like i feel like i've stepped into a massive multi-tiered library and plucked my favourite book from its shelf, i can imagine the hardcover being absolutely gorgeous, it gives me the same vibes as getting assigned a book to read in class and having your mind blown /pos from it, like "damn i understand why they make us read this bc wow"

(fun fact i have ur ao3 page bookmarked on my toolbar lmaoooo)

honey and tangerines: well . this one just gives me island and coastal vibes lolll u described them very well, but okay from a reading perspective? besides indie movie lmao. i'd say… hanging out with a friend you haven't seen in a while. it's familiar, it's bittersweet, it's thrilling. honey and tangerines gives me the vibes of doing something youve been wanting to for awhile but were always too scared to. pushing your boundaries. it's all those classic "finally living life vibes", staying out till 3 am, finally getting around to decorating your room, going on a roadtrip. when i read honey and tangerines, it feels like i'm experiencing life. all the prev fics either feel like novels or movies, but hats feels like life

what the water gave me: ngl when i read this i just feel such pure emotion that i cry like idek how to explain it man. it's so all encompassing /pos it does give me staying up late in my room with fairy lights vibes though, dunno why. just gives off that same warm energy

A DUSTY TOMB OMGGOJEAWE i need to reread that anyways

a dusty tomb: straight off the bat, playing dnd. dnd is so much fun and i have so many happy memories from it and a dusty tomb defff gives off those vibes, chaos, freeing, family. it also gives off the vibe of finding a piece of old writing in a buried notebook and reading it and going "wtf?? when did i write this this is amazing" maybe that's just bc it feels like u read my mind writing it lmao it's perfect i adore it so much and i have reread it an unholy amount of times, i just get the vibes of sitting criss cross on the floor and reading it, it's not necessarily a comfy position but it's enjoyable nonetheless, just a happy moment for oneself, it feels like giving yourself a treat, self care, all of that good stufff

no time confounds me: def feels like watching a tv show /pos, it def feels like smth i'd put on w my stepmom or my birth mom and just absolutely fucking Vibe to it bro, that fic is suchhh a vibe, i'd sink into my couch and get HOOKED, it also ofc brings w it all the vibes of just where i live LMAO, and the motorcycling reminds me of my dad <333 i miss motorcycling with him dawggg it's so much fun, but yeahhh. all the vibes described in the fic just make me want to go out for a hike in a forest lmao, i love it. also hot chocolate. this fic is defff drinking hot chocolate vibes

nocturnal animals: ooohh this one is defff late night vibes, working late on hw and looking out ur window and just taking a moment to appreciate the stars n stuff, also windy day vibes, this def feels like a novel my friend would shove at me to read and i'd be like "brooo i dont even LIKE vampires" and theyd be like "no bro just trust me" and then i'd be really bored one day so i'd pick it up and then get addicted . and then in this hypothetical series that has like a billion books i'd go to the library and borrow them all and binge them in a week lmfao, i love this fic sm ngl, i would proudly display this fic on my bookshelf (well i mean, i would literally display all of ur fics on my bookshelf KING i would have a shelf dedicated to ur fics 100%)

okay… i think those are all the main fics, there're a couple more that i've read but i am . getting really really reallyyy tired and idek if any of this is comphrensible lmfaooo 😭 😭 😭

i hope u enjoyed bee <333 tldr: i love ur writing and i have core memories attached to all of these fics and they are all special to me in their own way <33

ohhhh these are so cool to read icy (sorry it took me so long to respond I've been so busy lately)

lmao love all the drama in glass being compared to a car braking super suddenly. rainy car drives is definitely not the vibe I think it has in my head but that's super sweet to imagine :)

comparing stars to a Big Fancy Book makes me so happy thank you so much. I have this absolutely gorgeous fancy version of Dune with a stunning cover and I always imagine something kind of similar as the 'cover' for stars in my head so i love that you imagine that too

in contrast you and i feel the exact same about honey and tangerines. it's definitely that kind of bittersweet reconciling friendship vibe. saying it feels like life means so much thank you <33 thats exactly what I was going for

to me what the water gave me feels like swimming in a warm tropical ocean at night which might be a bit on the nose but yeah that's what I think of. but fairy lights in a room sounds so nice I love that

awww I love that idea for dusty tomb. just rereading something nostalgic and wonderful and feeling so comforted by it. that makes me smile a lot to imagine :)

hot chocolate and watching a tv show YEAHHHH you get it that's exactly what i was going for from no time confounds me. also that's so funny that you mention motorcycling with your dad bc that's where my descriptions of riding motorcycles comes from. my dad always used to pick me up from school on his motorcycle when I was a little kid, it was so much fun

oooo windy day for nocturnal animals is interesting but I love it. also god you saying it feels like a series with dozens of books reminds me of this vampire series i read in middle school that had like 10 books it's absolutely nothing like nocturnal animals but now I'm having a nostalgia trip thinking about it lol

thank you icy this was so sweet to read :)

[plothooksinc]

for the writing ask meme, have you answered either of these?

🎬 If a movie or show were based on your fic, which fic would you choose and who would you fancast?

Do you outline your fic or plan as you go?

Hello anon! I'm sorry for the long delay-- I got into a protracted fight with insomnia (I stayed awake for 24 hours, managed to sleep for one and staggered around shrieking muuurderrrr??? for a while) so now that I am mostly well rested I have come to answer your ask \o/

🎬 If a movie or show were based on your fic, which fic would you choose and who would you fancast?

...I can really answer only the first part of this, because I'm elitist scum who will turn my nose up at the idea of live action anything for my animated fandoms, lmao. Particularly with TMNT, who are 99% not human anyway in terms of cast. So I'd be like "get me their original VAs pls and thank" and leave it at that.

But! For a movie or show, I'm going to deviate from my norm of late and say The Zaibatsu Project. Much as my love my teetles, NRFTW takes place over six days and is paced in such a way it probably wouldn't work well in film (a few days of quiet followed by multiple chapters of everyone screaming and on fire, uhhh) and Underdark definitely works much better in print, given that most of it takes place in complete darkness. Legacy would work if I ever finished it, as would the teasers, but let's not use fics in potentia, haaaa.

The Zaibatsu Project isn't finished either, but there's a lot more meat to it than my other unfinisheds and stands a better chance of being finished first, and it's... honestly the fic I've spent time considering whether I should rip it down, file the serial numbers off, and write it as original fic because the story works so well regardless. I decided against it in the end (largely because I knew I'd never finish it) but it's a Rurouni Kenshin AU in which all the 19th century characters are all in fact in 2029 cyberpunk!Japan, which was all very futuristic when I started writing it (and I sweat more and more as we approach this date), in which Battousai is in fact a Black ICE program and separate from Kenshin (his programmer, deeply ashamed of this fact and in semi-retirement), and him being called back to duty by the Zaibatsu he's contracted to in order to both update his programming and chase down the only survivor of the Battousai program, who just happens to be one unconventional hacker (Kaoru) desperately trying to find her missing brother (Yahiko) who unwittingly signed his life away to the Zaibatsu in question, whoops. Cue a lot of cat and mouse-ing, car chases, riots, street fights, politicking, underhanded dealing, corporate warfare, and currently Kaoru running for her life from Kenshin who really would like her to stop running so he can protect her already gdit get back here-- It's fun :D And it would make for a great movie/show, so that's my pick. In lieu of fancasting, I would ask instead for it to be animated by Studio Trigger to keep with the theme of things.

Do you outline your fic or plan as you go?

I have answered this one before, but just briefly again: sometimes! I don't bother with short fics or fics that are meant to be short and suddenly turn into super long ones. A lot of the time if I outline, it's more a guidepost and me sitting down to go "okay, here is a scene I want to write, can I actually come up with a plot to get to that point?" - if i can dotpoint my way to the end, that's often the last time I look at the outline and off I go and will... probably mostly stick to the outline but do casually change things as ideas occur (or my beta enables me with horrendous cackling, not looking at you @shadowbends). (NRFTW, for example, has held reasonably well to the outline, but Donnie said "fuck you I do what I want" and went off script some time ago and honestly, good for him, you go you ex-spaghetti monster, see where that gets you! Like all writers, clearly I have no control over the characters. None. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯)

Thank you for the ask! And again, sorry for the delay ♥

[carcinized]

TELL ME AB YOUR.FAVE THIGNG IN C-17

OKAY UHHH THATS VERY HARD TO PICK ITS PROBABLY JUST LIKE THE DIFFERENT PLANETS AND WORLDBUILDING OF THAT ASPECT !!!!!!!! the different planets also make for very cool symbolism stuff i can do, which i also complain bauot bc its more difficult, but its also really cool i think

like i studied weather symbolism specifically for a little while in school so i know a lot about earthly weather in literature, ie snow means cold and death and misery unless its in like a holidays sense or sometimes a sense of wonder, rain is cleansing (unless you bring mud into it), etc etc. ALSO FLIGHT SYMBOLISM I USE A LOT IN THIS BUT THATS VERY STRAIGHTFORWARD. but anyways its cool how like, well in chapter 4 you havent actually seen this yet but they visit another planet & well tubbos from C-17, thats the super tiny light-gravitied planet (fun fact its gravity is roughly the same as that of irl earths moon) so like when tubbo goes there this HUGE planet makes him feel super heavy, which reflects how hes feeling!!!! i made my own symbolism :D

but no i mostly just think that all the different planets are really cool

my favorite thing in the entire series might be the political aspect of their world, or at least that comes close, and while you get hints of it in C-17 it will be covered a lot more in the sequel and final fic :] N-10 is gonna be the second fic i think, from ranboos pov i think, and well hes this revolutionary syndicate guy shit gets done!!! tubbo knows the science/space aspect of their world but next to nothing about the political things at play, so i think itll be really interesting to see ranboos pov for the next fic!! because Boy there is a lot of political stuff going on even in C-17, just you guys dont know it yet bc tubbo doesnt and he isnt telling you oh i cant wait for thsi ONE reveal in N-10 of an event from C-17 actually having been (x) ACK its just really cool i think!!! you guys have no idea bc i have to be Secretive but there is a lot more at play than meets the eye and i just think its very cool tbh :]

[essektheylyss]

what luminous worlds await — chapter 8

Chapters: 8/12 Rating: Mature Word Count: 112,215

Characters: Essek Thelyss, Fjord (Critical Role), Verin Thelyss, Caleb Widogast, Deirta Thelyss, Leylas Kryn | The Bright Queen

Summary: After a thousand years, a divine champion awakes in a lightless cave above Port Damali with little memory to speak of and a beacon in his hands.

Even as he struggles to piece the past together and process what he has lost while he slept, the future demands he answer for the crimes of his elders. It offers little in return, but perhaps there are fragments of possibility awaiting him.

—

(This chapter we've got more questions, another planet, and finally? Maybe? Some answers, perchance? Perchance!)

[wildflowers-of-trolberg]

How about a directors cut (if you haven’t already down them) for Get Out, YNMM, and uhhh… any wildflower fic of your choosing. And I supposed it would be neat to know if there’s anything I don’t know about Swim Until You Can’t See Land :3

Okie so:

Get Out I think I have talked about before? But I'll talk about it again, cause it is interesting - while a lot of the final fic's inspiration came from the song Good For You, from Dear Evan Hansen, which I initially connected to Hilda because I think it really fits her worst fears in the Runaway AU, it wasn't the origin point; it just provided a lot of the vibes for the nightmare scene. This entire fic actually exists specifically because of two things, the first being this fanart of Luz:

Which made me think about wanting to put Hilda in a similar amount of hurt; I actually directly referenced it for the description of Hilda right after her nightmare, and sent it to @sarasplenda (yes I know you sent the ask :)) as reference for the comic version of this fic.

Hilda was sitting up in bed, hunched over, the covers around her a crumpled mess of red fabric. She was outright sobbing; her mouth hung open, her face twisted with horrible pain, tears running in rivers down her face.

The second thing that inspired this fic was a meme, specifically this one:

I think the specific version I saw had Hilda saying "Terraria is just 2D Minecraft"; I know it's just for fun, but I just couldn't stop thinking about this, and about what it would be like if Johanna had actually reacted to that moment in the Stone Forest by kicking Hilda out. And once I had a thought about hurting Hilda, and a way to hurt her, the fic was inevitable.

Looking back, though, my feelings on Get Out aren't perfect. I don't hate any of my older works, but I think it's probably the weakest Wildflowers fic. That being said, there's really only one line in it I don;t like, and I can see why it's so beloved :))

You're Not My Mum was a weird one, because I think a lot of people have the order of events confused. I actually didn't come up with the idea after reading the Hilda tie-in novels; I came up with the idea after asking @walruses-hilda-variety-hour about his experience of them, because I'd already seen that one bit from Hilda and the Nowhere Space, and was worried about the books' portrayal of Johanna. When he said she was genuinely abusive, I started making plans, and I bought the first three novels specifically to reference for this project.

I didn't expect the situation to be even worse than Walrus had mentioned, but it was, and I ended up having much more to address than I planned. But I think the fic came out really well - the only thing it doesn't really get at is Novel Hilda has a tendency to sass her friends more than Show Hilda, but since Novel Hilda spends the whole thing distraught, and her friends really suck anyway, I don't think it really matters; if she does ever get a sequel where she interacts with David and Frida, and comes out of her shell a bit more, we'll see more of that side of her.

My final fun fact about YNMM is that it's technically not the first thing I made for this AU. That honour goes to this image:

Which is a fairly shonky edit of my mental image for Novel Johanna after losing her daughter (thanks to some comments I got on this, in my head she's now Norwegian Crime Drama Johanna).

I think you do already know everything about Swim Until You Can't See Land. I came up with the thing by combining two of the ideas your headcanons gave me (Summoning Sickness, a Wildflowers about dispelling the Tide Mice making Hilda sick, and Big Sister, a fic about Alfur using his nickname for Hilda and her having to ask Kaisa what it means - I might actually still have to write that, as a sequel to Swim...)

I will say that the final chapter is much longer than the others because my plans changed; originally, Chapter 4 would have ended with Hilda deciding to come back to shore, and then there would have been a separate Chapter 5 from either Alfur or Johanna's perspective, about the final reconcilliation. But I just never can get away from Hilda's POV, so this was the result.

Also - I genuinely have no idea who recommended me the song, which ended up inspiring the whole fic. I'm sure it was somebody, but I asked all the friends I could think of a while ago and none of them had.

And finally, I'll take that Wildflowers offer to talk about When She Wasn't There. That fic basically only exists because of the scene in Mountain King where Trylla shuts Johanna outside; the thing is, in the graphic novel, I don't think it's clear whether Trylla actually saw Johanna, so I wasn't able to acknowledge it in There Was A Kindness In Her, and wanted to retread the concept as a result.

That meant a greater focus on Johanna and her trauma from the incident; because she goes through an awful lot (I would genuinely argue a couple of moments actually go too far for the tone of the show, although it's not as bad as The Fifty Year Night and it being a movie helps it get away with more). The original concept was actually to have her be out when Hilda got home, because she'd gone to talk to a potential therapist, and didn't want to tell Hilda. But I just couldn't get the scene break between Hilda deciding to wait for her and her returning home to work right, so I recycled what I'd written and turned most of it into the start of Hilda's nightmare.

And that's the other thing I wanted to do. There are some fantastic fics about Hilda coping with Mountain King (this fic was a gift specifically because @sarasplenda wrote what I think is the absolute best one and one of the best Hilda fics, period), but one thing I wanted to explore myself was the idea of Hilda getting Separation Anxiety. Especially for a kid like her, who's very independent and really doesn't like imposing on her mum, it would be really hard for her to feel like that, I think. I actually took a lot of inspiration from the graphic novel version of Bird Parade, where Hilda actually does get really worried when she comes home and her mum isn't there, and it ends with Johanna offering to join Hilda on her adventures at the end of the Bird Parade (both versions of that story have Johanna at her absolute best, even if the Johannas are very different characters and good for very different reasons) so I stole that directly (I am still annoyed that the graphic novels never really made good on what was implied to be a change for the better in their relationship).

Still, part of me genuinely thinks this might be the most spiteful fic I've ever published. I have similar bitter feelings towards Infinity Train, and Forests of Oregon does address those in its final Book, but it's never been written; the Afraid series gets some of it, especially in the second part, and so does Authorisation Void, but who would've thought Hilda would be the show to really get it out of me?

[the-hero-of-jk-its-len]

A Flower by Any other name. - Chapter Four: The End Begins.

A.N: So, it's been a while, uhhh, listen, I'm going through a legal process rn so, writing at all kind of, well it got hard, but now that I'm the waiting part of that well, I got enough time to finish this chapter, I'm trying my best to make them at least 5-6 pages long, and hopefully longer. but uh, yeah. anyways. enjoy.

Reminder: Aster uses he/him pronouns!! You can exchange his name if you want and i won’t mind, and also this isn’t beta’d at all because I have no friends in the LOZ fandom.

Disclaimer: I don’t own The legend of zelda (gods I wish), the linked universe au or any of the franchises and works I may reference in this fic, this is a work for fans by fans and all credits go to the respective owners.

Summary: Aster has feels, Link has a duty and The beasts awake.

Word Count: 2231 (oh hey new record)

Warnings: Angst, mentions of death,

So, here’s what people won’t tell you when reading about characters in new worlds, it’s basically going cold turkey from all of those little vices you used to have back home, and it’s even harder to remember you are not at home in the mornings.

Which is why every single day I wake up looking for the glasses I don’t need, feeling around on my bedside table for a phone that isn’t there and waiting for the steady noise of a nonexistent computer turning on, I have the sheikah tablet of course, but I can’t very well read the latest instalment of my favorite fanfiction in it, nevermind the fact it’s been well over a decade since I came here, and if time flows back home like it does here then it has definitely been wrapped up for ages now.

So yeah, being Isekai’d is not all that fun.

And that was just things i have had to get used to going without, another matter entirely is the fact every morning a whole team of maids wait for me to wake up and then work themselves to the bone trying to make me look good, mind you these are all people who were assigned to me as a kid so I don’t actually worry too much about it but still, sometimes it’s just…

“So what do you think, your highness, should we add gold thread to the new coat, or just order a silver one instead?”

A bit much.

After clothes there is breakfast, which I take with the king, the only meal we actually spend together, afterwards I take my lessons, have luncheon and then just disappear into the garden.

So many years have passed since my mother passed away, and yet, her rose garden is as lively as when she took care of them. For my part I’ve mostly settled on the other side of the greenhouse, a place forbidden for any servants to enter.

Unlike me who has spent most of their life around these plants, building up a slow immunity, the servants have never been exposed to poisonous plants and flowers like these, and I would much rather keep it that way, no need to give the king one more reason to shut down more of my pastimes.

There is of course still a lot more to do but, at least, looking at the steadily growing berries of the nightshades gives me a bit of hope, even if I know that these will all be destroyed in the future, my flowers, my mother’s roses, all withering away, their watering canals full of malice.

It isn’t a pretty picture.

It’s one I’ve been thinking of more and more often though, the truth is up until now despite measuring things I had just lived freely, naively even, the calamity afar thought, now? Not so much, the talk with Hylia only a month back reminded me of it, reminded me of the fact I had to make it so an entire kingdom was evacuated in under a day, of the fact my closest friend would have to wither away on a battlefield, The death of the champions I had not even met, that of a soldier who would answer to a call from the castle in the next year and would die leaving a house in Hateno vacant for a council of people to demolish.

Every so often I couldn’t even look at Link, much less his father or the little sister I had seen hiding behind her grandfather’s legs every time we visited Deya village, the fact was that the place would be in ruins next time Link went through it, without memories, and without knowledge of what would be lost to him.

The only thing left behind, a diary of a thief, telling him the location of the tunic another hero wore in ages past rescuing his own family.

“..ster, Aster!” Well, that was a nice voice to come back to reality for.

Link was in front of me, closer than had been in a month, holding back my arm from where I was definitely going to over-prune the plant closest to it, several branches of it already laying on my feet.

“You are back.” I said, putting down the scissors and taking off my gloves.

“You say it as if we didn’t see each other daily.” he tried to say jokingly, that face of his relaxing into a sad smile.

“Certainly didn’t feel like it.”

“Aster I-”

“Look -” I interrupted him, “I understand, It couldn’t have been easy to look at me after that, I can’t blame you for needing time,” Hylia knows I often have the same problem. “But I have a feeling things are going to keep changing and I-”

I looked at him then, really looked at him, with all his scars and beauty marks, to the hero I had so devoted myself to in a past life, the last true link (and wasn’t that ironic) to whatever I could remember of who I used to be.

“I can’t lose you, so please, please, next time something like this happens, yell at me, rage if you want to, but don’t just disappear for a month”

To his credit, Link did seem a bit regretful even as I got closer to him, my height short in comparison to him, much to the discredit of the actual height zelda had in the game, still enough to hold his face and make his eyes look to me instead of the floor. “But I don't blame you for doing so, please know that it was my mistake that forced you to such a sight.”

“Now, how about we get out of here, the smell can’t be good for your lungs, and I am rather hungry” I said taking a step towards him, eyes wet and emotions wild, holding the face of a surprised knight, close enough should anyone see us a scandal would arise, but comfortable enough neither of us wold back away “besides, we are late, and our beloved cook won’t stand for it.” The smile in my face didn’t offer a hint of lies, Giovan would undoubtedly try to get food to us if we didn’t get there soon, and Link knew it too, smiling at the memory of the old man running all the way to the training grounds the one time we had been two hours late for a meal.

We left the poisonous garden together, and as we walked there was this feeling of loneliness between us, not everything was resolved, but knowing what would happen, it was probably better that way, as it was, the fact I was so close to Link worried me sometimes, the original Zelda and Link had nowhere near as much a friendship as we did, Link bound by duty to protect the ungrateful princess, and even when it’s hinted at the fact Zelda might have had feelings for the knight, the closest friends from the flashbacks were more than likely Mipha and Daruk.

But I knew for a fact Link only ever saw Mipha on rare occasions, even as a childhood friend whe barely ever spoke of, between training and aiding me on other experiments I doubt he had enough time to keep up with something like that, and it worries me, what if this meant that because of the lack of closeness Mipha never made him the zora tunic he would desperately need to defeat ruta in the future?

Was two years enough time? The efforts to uncover the divine beasts would bear fruit soon, and by this time next year I have no doubt the champions will be chosen.

By the time we had reached the kitchens where a grumpy chef gave us our food, relieved but angry at us for our lateness, I had made a decision, if the reason Link and the others had grown so close was the lack of companionship in the form of Zelda then there was only one choice.

I had to start making more space between us, an emotional barrier, and unfortunately for my heart and mind, I knew exactly how to do that.

So when the meal was over and Link went off to do something or another I stayed behind, a visit to the king was in order, and I for one couldn’t dread anything more than that.

.

.

.

.

.

.

It went well, surprisingly, though weirded out by the sudden request he had indulged me after seeing the benefits, starting tomorrow I would be seen by priests and priestesses, trying to channel the holy power inside me to the best of my ability.

But this would also mean something else, the new lessons and teachings would leave little room for leisure, room I would use to care for my plants and little more, there would be no time for Link anymore, actually going through with it hurt, watching Link’s face fall as I explained we would not see each other regularly anymore though, was heartbreaking, but ultimately goodnights were said.

And If I cried myself to sleep that night well, that’s my business isn’t it?

But let me tell you this, and I never thought I’d say it, but meditating can be exhausting, over the last week of lessons I’ve been put to meditate most of the time, trying to find that magic which guided the princesses of the past to their destiny, but by goddesses it was just not working out.

Day after day, week after week, nearly three months passed when the slightest bit of progress had happened, a small shine from the joint hands on my lap, and while the priests and priestesses celebrated, a knock came, a winded out soldier saying the king called for me.

The Divine beasts had properly reappeared.

And in a small room where only my father, his advisors and I had been previously welcomed, there was the golden hair of link, who looked as tired as I felt, sporting a new scar on his cheek still red from healing, I hadn’t seen him in weeks now, sent away with the rest of the knights in some hunt the king ordered, by the looks of it, it hadn’t gone too well.

By the end of the meeting, letters were being drafted, one to each of the free people of Hyrule, so that the riders of the beasts could be chosen.

But I knew who it would be already, and went to bed that night with the knowledge heavy on me.

Not one week later the four candidates had arrived to the castle, and for the first time since the funeral of my mother, I was face to face with her best friend Chief Urbosa of the Gerudo, and Princess Mipha of the Zora, who in ten years hadn’t changed a single bit.

Alongside them was Daruk of the Goron, a great strong man with a fatherly voice, and Revali, the Rito’s greatest warrior

And though I welcomed them with a gentle smile, my leather-clad hands shaking their own, as I saw them talk and interact not only with each other I see only the teal and fiery versions of them, spirits trapped into the vehicles they had been brought to ride, in a year and a half’s time, all the people in front of me will be dead, and in Link’s case, asleep.

But I can’t save them, I know this much, though sad, and one of the things I knew would forever haunt me, saving them was just not something I could do, how could I? Even with my all powerful player knowledge I knew no future where things went well for these champions, certainly nothing short of a miracle.

But there was work to be done, and moping around people who I couldn’t afford to be attached to wasn’t going to make it go away.

So I left them alone, walked away, the feeling of cerulean eyes watching me as I did, knowing if I turned around to meet them I wouldn’t be able to go.

So I did as I had for the last three months and a half, I didn’t look back, and ignored the stare of the one person I actually loved in this whole world, knowing every minute like this would just bring more strain to a frail relationship.

It was necessary, this, this was for his own good, for Hyrule’s own good, in any case, he wouldn’t remember this in a hundred and two year’s time, too occupied by trying to figure out how to get a good photo of the dragons to bother with trying to remember the silent prince who yearned for his company.

So when the months passed on, and I saw behind glass windows my childhood friend turned hero be healed not by me but Mipha after training I was happy, prouder than I had ever been, I swear I was, so then, why is it I can feel water dripping from my face, why was it that it was this what finally brought me to tears.

Why did I have to fight for a future I was never meant to be part of, to give up the one person I’ve ever loved to the hands of a fate so cruel I choked up even thinking about it.

Why?

[our-flag-means-death-ao3feed]

cruel professor, studying romances

by pleasesupplymewithyourwahoos

“He comes in, blatantly disregarding my usual ‘back off or lose a finger’ stance, and asks me if the Captain… is single.”

Frenchie spit out a mouthful of water as they all gaped at Jim. “He what?”

“That’s what I thought!” Jim replied, “Cause 1) He’s too old for Twiggy Micheal, 2) He’s way out of Twiggy Micheal’s league-”

“And he’s married!” Frenchie sputtered, “Did he forget that the Captain is married?”

“I’m getting there, I’m getting there!” Jim continued, “So I say; ‘Why’re you asking, kid?’, cause I’m curious. And he says ‘Well, I’ve just noticed some stuff lately, and I think that the Captain might have a crush on Professor Bonnet from the English department’.”

Pete gasped, “No.”

“Yes.” Jim nodded, eyes glinting with mirth, “See, the underclassmen think that the Captain might have a little crush on his best friend Stede Bonnet, because of all the time he spends hanging around the literature lectures and giving Bonnet the gushiest goo-goo eyes known to humankind.”

“The Captain.” Wee John said.

“A crush.” Swede repeated.

“On Professor Bonnet?” Oluwande deadpanned, “You mean to tell me they don’t know?”

Words: 4419, Chapters: 1/4, Language: English

Fandoms: Our Flag Means Death (TV)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: Multi

Characters: Lucius Spriggs, Jim Jimenez, Oluwande Boodhari, Blackbeard | Edward Teach, Stede Bonnet, Mary Allamby Bonnet, Alma Bonnet, Mother Teach (Our Flag Means Death), Mary Read, Anne Bonny, Crew of the Revenge (Our Flag Means Death), listen if they're in the show they are here i'm too lazy to list them all, Original Characters, aka students who exist for plot progression purposes because i'm fun like that

Relationships: Blackbeard | Edward Teach/Stede Bonnet, Blackbeard | Edward Teach & Mary Allamby Bonnet, Blackbeard | Edward Teach & Alma Bonnet, Stede Bonnet & Crew of the Revenge (Our Flag Means Death), Blackbeard | Edward Teach & Mother Teach (Our Flag Means Death), Oluwande Boodhari/Jim Jimenez, Black Pete/Lucius Spriggs, Anne Bonny/Mary Read

Additional Tags: listen, I HAVE NOTHING TO SAY FOR MYSELF, other than the fact that i have to write this au for every thing i enjoy, and i had a Good Time, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, this does not follow the canon timeline in anyway shape or form, don't question it we're here for a good time not an accurate one, this is just my excuse to write a vignette fic ft the revenge group chat, also me furthering my good dad ed teach agenda, idk what to tag this uhhh, Domestic Fluff, Team as Family, Crack Treated Seriously, anyways yeah i have nothing to say about this have fun ig, title from campus by vampire weekend, because what do i have if not puns and a dream, also ed is trans it's not important except it is to Me, me when brown queer disabled men in the comfort piece of media, the working title of this fic was and i quote, hashtag blackbeard husband and father of the year, make of this what you will

source https://archiveofourown.org/works/38589579

[littleladymab]

For the meta ask game - 3 and 20!

wah-heyyyyyY!!!!

3) What is that one scene that you’ve always wanted to write but can’t be arsed to write all of the set-up and context it would need? (consider this permission to write it and/or share it anyway)

Okay I still can't be arsed to do it because I am getting ready to play DND and I know myself, it will turn into a whole thing but there are two that I'm currently rotating in my head. One I will tell you about, because the "star wars but fantasy au" has been shoving itself into the forefront of my mind thanks to big bang group chat. Specifically!

A More Civilized Age pod brought up an AU idea that I'm absolutely obsessed with and it's "what if, after the whole 'Boba Fett tries to kill Mace Windu' arc of TCW, Bail Organa goes "what this kid needs is a positive parental influence in his life' because lord knows Aurra Sing AIN'T IT and so just in addition to an ENTIRE au in which Boba Fett grows up in the Organa household and then gets to become a protective older brother to Leia, I really wanted a conversation between him and Ahsoka. Because she was part of the team that brought him in, and while I can't remember the bulk of the conversation that I wanted, Here's Ahsoka, just 4 years older than Boba, but look at how differently their lives were shaped and altered by the existence of the Clone Wars and also the idea of being child soldiers/weapons.

Anyway, my dream is to one day write a fantasy au which will have Boba as Leia's protective older brother who will absolutely give Han shit but will absolutely side-eye Luke so hard when he finally comes into the picture but I don't have anything but the Desire and Vibes right now. Maybe for next SW Big Bang

(don't hold me to it)

20) Tell us the meta about your writing that you really want to ramble to people about (symbolism you’ve included, character or relationship development that you love, hidden references, callbacks or clues for future scenes?)

It was funny because when I was reading over these prompts originally I was like "oh no if someone asks me 20 then I'll just have to confess that I don't know what the fuck I'm doing what are THEMES" but that's kind of a lie, I just never really recognize them myself. Especially because I have....... so many different things i'm doing at any given point.

So Here's just like, a general sort of list of things I do and like about my writing! I'm not a particularly clever author, imo, I plan everything well in advance so I don't feel like there are any surprises? but also that's because i get too into what I'm doing that I can't see the forest for the trees or w/e anywho

I think one of my fav things about writing for SW is that there's so much content everywhere, that I can pull a reference from a source and add it into a fic as a throwaway reference. For Phoenix Suite, I did reference the fact that Kallus likes to wake up early because it is the quietest part of the day -- a fun little tidbit that I pulled from the jr novel adaption of the S1 finale. For far from the home I've made, I referenced the fact that in one of the Rebels comics, Kallus mentions that he arrived on Courscant for training, implying that he came from off-world (who actually knows, but I took it and ran with it). I also wanted to include the fact that Ezra was friends with someone who moved to Alderaan, but I wasn't able to fit the conversation of what happened to Alderaan into the chapter because it was already uhhh way too long.

I absolutely looooove to make the inhuman experience human emotions, while also expressing their inhumanity. I use 'inhuman' extremely loosely here, mostly for just 'anything beyond the mundane'. Far from the home I've made has Ezra being sad and scared while at the same time coming from an experience in which he sacrificed himself to save an entire planet. My place to land has Signet giving away pieces of herself in order to ensure that Echo doesn't lose their eye, though it results in both of them being half-blind for a bit. every open eye has Sasha fully ready to surrender herself to the Stranger in order to save Jon. I had an answer for Mwyr, but I forgot what it was, but that's OC content and we don't have time to unpack all of that lolol

I LOVE PEOPLE BEING A MESS. BEING AWFUL TO REMEMBER TO DO THINGS, GETTING INTO RELATIONSHIPS THEY SHOULDN'T. This adheres more to OC stuff, here's to all these normal people being normal messes, amirite???

One of my favorite uhhhh not really tropes but like, identifiable "mab" things in my writing, is I love the physicality of an intimate moment. Like, non-sexual acts of intimacy, and just residing in the physicality of it. A friend left me a comment about how they noticed it in my writing before and love it, and I've been riding that high for like, two and a half years LMAO

I also just love writing friends being friends and being in love with each other like there is nothing better to me than found family and also just a pair of friends being non-romantically in love with each other where you can look at them and go BESTIES!!!!

that's all I got time for, time for dnd, but HEY!!! Feel free to ask me more meta writing questions if you'd like, everyone :')

[ranvwoop]

so! disclaimer, i used to read withering hope before the reboot. mostly because it was still updating and also kind of phenomenally written. (i did also read that one tc danganronpa fic on wattpad i'm pretty sure).

anyway fun fact about the WH author! they actually uhhh. helped find a formerly lost media mcrp series? specifically, most of Redstoner's S2! and actually that's how i found out they were on tumblr. kind of wild to see someone whose fic you've been following for like 5 years go "i'm not into mcyt anymore by the way but i DID recover a majority of this lost rp series on a whim here you guys go"

~@betweenlands

That's super cool!! I think I've vaugely seen mentions of redstoner (probably on your blog ^^), but it's funny how that worked out! I saw they were here on the just like, reccomended blogs thing and had to follow bc. though i couldn't remember much i saw that it was still going (didn't know it was rewritten, but still) and that is a commitment. very much respect.

And yeah, I think i read at least 30 chapters back when I was a kid?? And was like. :0! But I couldn't quite remember much other than. Seto mc. Very long. But I am actually pushed even further to go reread the reboot bc... why not :D.

[wovenstarlight]

YWBK update: chapter 25 + liner notes

yesterday will be kinder has updated! you can read chapter 25 here, or start from the beginning here

okay, on to notes and commentary! first time i’m doing these, let’s hope this works out. commentary under the cut to save people’s dashes

Hamin laughs. “Given how bad you are at not being suspicious, that’s understandable.” “Oh, come on, I’m not that bad.” Hamin screws up his whole face in a squint. “Okay, so maybe I’m a little bad.”

this part was really funny to me when i wrote it because i was like “hmm reasons for DHM to understand why HHJ wouldn’t work in the guild” and then i was like Wait. Their Whole First Meeting, Dude. DHM was lowkey convinced for the longest time that HHJ was like, on the run from the KR version of the mafia, and got plastic surgery to look like his little brothers, and is possibly in some sort of witness protection program??? or something??? how else does he not have cops on his ass this man is so suspicious all the time

“I don’t think… They said the dungeons were, like, different worlds? Did they find people there?”

mafia theory second place. dungeon theory first place

“Like, humans? Um. No, no humans.” “So then you can’t be from there. Okay.”

dungeon theory shot down. mafia theory back in the running

“Hey,” he says cautiously. “I’m— I’m gonna go get us some water, okay? Why don’t you… take a minute.” “Okay.” “The bathroom is over there, if you need it.” “Okay. Thank you.”

after four years working alongside a guy you start to notice when he’s feeling a little out of it and needs a bit of a break... but as JHW mentions later you also learn to be a little subtle about giving him one

jung heewon What’s with your typing? It reads like Jihye’s [HYJ]’s fine. Very energetic Too energetic? He’s going to burn out. How do I make him calm down

Epic Burnout Man makes a reappearance! when translating sclass one of the things that makes me want to shake HYJ most is his habit of constantly adding things to his to-do list while he already has 1 billion things on his plate. and all the time he’s whining about “UGH there’s SO MUCH WORK to do” No One Asked You To Do It

Anyway. the point is. HYJ isn’t about to be beat by HHJ at Developing Issues 😔

jung heewon I haven’t spoken to him directly about this because if he’s anything like you he’ll take it as an insult You wtf whts tht supposed 2 mean quit typing jung heewon Better not say shit, mr “No, I can’t take days off and cater to my interests or go out with friends or on a date, I’m too busy taking care of the kids and making sure their needs are met, no I don’t care that there are thousands of people out there balancing personal enjoyment and romance and work AND kids at the same time, are you suggesting I be a BAD GUARDIAN to MY KIDS?”

see above re: not being too direct with pointing out when HHJ’s having Issues because he doesn’t react well

You wht but our eyes r fine jung heewon Even if having glasses doesn’t run in the family, you should still get him checked, just in case

top 10 funny time travel moments: referring to you and your past self as “us” (our = my eyes are fine), but other people think you mean “our family” (our eyes are fine = no family history of long/shortsightedness)

Also. Sooyoung-ie says hi [Attachment: 20XX1213_144516.jpg] 

ok no lie this was one of the parts that pissed me off the most, even though it’s Literally One Line, because. i love chat exchanges. i really do. when done right they’re a lot of fun to read. But Do You Know How Long It Took Me To Figure Out A Calendar For The Events In This Fic. now everything’s TIMED i have to count HOW MANY DAYS IT’S BEEN since XY event so i can CORRECTLY NUMBER the FILE ATTACHMENTS!!! this sucks!!! it took me fucking forever to pin down a timeline just so i could write this chapter plus the few before and after it!!!!

anyway i gave up when i reached year. i just put 20XX. fuck it. we are running on fairy tail time now. (actually i think that’s XXnumber number? XX76? or was it X796. something like that. Who cares i stopped watching fairy tail forever ago)

Fuck it! Hamin will understand!! “If you Awaken you should come work with me,” Han Hyunjae says all in a rush. 

“HAMIN WILL UNDERSTAND” => he literally was cool with me giving zero context for half a dozen absolute balls to the wall nonsense bullshit things i’ve done before. he’ll be fine with this too. dog_in_burning_house_this_is_fine.png

“You already know about the guilds, those are going to be for dungeon Hunters, but I was thinking of forming something like an independent group of contractors. Awakened people with skills that aren’t useful for combat, but that might… that will be generally useful. It’d be you and me, and maybe one other guy I met recently. Probably more in the future.”

given that HHJ has no idea currently that peace exists (i’m so sorry baby i’ll find a way to shoehorn you in soon i miss you so much) he’s got no intentions to start a kiseungsu business yet! he mostly wants to live quietly while just acting as a manager for other Awakening-related services, like YMW’s forge and DHM’s tracking service, along with the information exchange/lowkey spy ring that he’s planning on setting up with JHW and the bar. since HYH is fine associating with him in this timeline, HHJ’s thinking he can get a foot in the door that way, then eventually spread out into dealings with most major guild leaders

RIP to this plan. you were well-made but you will not last long.

“Please, I can’t tell you how I know that, I really can’t, it’d put me and my brothers in danger if it got out. But—” “No need.” Hamin looks slightly alarmed, and Han Hyunjae feels himself settle at the obvious concern in his eyes.

MAFIA THEORY RAPIDLY RISING TO PROMINENCE??? THIS IS NOT HOW DO HAMIN WANTED HIS GUESS CONFIRMED

“I spoke to the Task Force Head and she said that there’s been discussion about hosting a meeting for the nearby high-rankers, where they’ll announce the guild proposal and see who else is interested in trying it out.”

“they’ll announce” i’m sorry king 💔 you deserved a nap

(OH ALSO FUN FACT choi eunyoung is a canon character, not an OC of mine! she appears in uhhh i think late 140s? 150s? something like that)

“I think there’s… probably only one other S-rank who’s Awakened right now?”

Hehehehehehehehehehehehehhehe

Hamin beams. “No, they’re doing great! Spookie’s taken really well to the new housing situation, but I think Spots might miss the store…”

shoutout to @daemonic-dawn​ for letting me borrow a pet name, love u king. i had a much longer ramble about pet names here but i finished typing and realized it was all entirely off topic so i removed it for convenience

Hyunjae makes an annoyed noise in the back of his throat. “Don’t— I mean.” He huffs, visibly taking a deep breath, and Yoojin frowns reflexively. [...] “Is everything alright?” Yoojin kind of wants to be annoyed at his tone on principle, but he forces his shoulders to relax, matching Hyunjae’s posture. Though he can’t stop himself from being a little short when he answers.

things the brothers have learned in four years living together: getting confrontational often leads to arguments that just fizzle out anyway, so it’s way fucking easier to consciously tone down their combativeness in advance when talking to each other about things they have problems with, instead of screaming their heads off and then having to calm yoohyun down afterwards to boot

“I guess. Whatever.” Yoojin slumps. “Can I…” “Hm?” Hyunjae blinks at Yoojin as he gestures to the spot on the bed beside him, then jolts. “Oh! Yeah, sure, c’mere.” He opens his arms, and Yoojin goes over and flumps on the bed, head in Hyunjae’s lap. Almost immediately, Hyunjae starts stroking fingers through his hair, and Yoojin relaxes into the touch, listening as Hyunjae continues speaking.

cuddles 🥺🥺🥺 sorry i don’t have any other commentary here just. cuddles. extremely and overwhelmingly comforting for a man who spent the better part of 8 years(?) with no major positive relationships, and a kid who spent 12 years of early life basically abandoned by his parents. you had best bet they gave up on not hugging each other 1 year into this whole mess

Yoojin hums in acknowledgement. It’s not like he’d ever let himself get hurt; he has too many responsibilities to his family and friends. If he wants to be good enough to keep up, he can’t afford to fuck up like that. But… hyung will worry if he keeps working so hard. He can slow down a little for him. 

Problems disorder man when will you stop. the way he sees “getting hurt” as an inconvenience and an obstacle to his duties rather than a danger to himself. the way he doesn’t really care if he himself gets hurt, but if it’ll worry his family, then it’s a no-no. it’s just. wow. i know i wrote this but i hate him

“Not really. I talk to Myeongwoo about it sometimes.” “Ah, right, Myeongwoo.”

haha gays

“Don’t be weird about him,” Yoojin warns[...]. “I won’t, promise.”

if the “i won’t” line had a dialogue tag it’d be “Han Hyunjae lied”

“Is Eunwoo still in his relationship?” “Mhm, happy as ever. Apparently they’re trying long-distance, now that Eunwoo’s gone off to university abroad.”

three guesses for who eunwoo’s dating and you won’t need the first two

Hyunjae raises his hands like he’s going to deny the accusations levelled against him, so Yoojin seizes him by the collar and shakes him until he cries for mercy

oh my o/rv ass struggled so bad with not writing “shakes him like a man betrayed” here. it killed me not to. but in the end i prevailed (against, uh, myself. don’t think about it too hard.)

“Jeez, okay, he’s an F-rank!” “Eh?! Then why—” “He’s also got an SS-rank potential skill,” Hyunjae admits[...].

play-by-play of this scene because god if i draw any scene in this fic it would be this one just for the sheer hysterical nature of HYJ’s reaction:

YOOJIN: I HATE YOU WHAT THE FUCK WHY. TELL ME HIS RANK

HYUNJAE: HE’S AN F

YOOJIN: WHAT? WHAT THE FUCK?

HYUNJAE: he’s also got an SS-rank skill,

YOOJIN:

[mallowstep]

I wanna hear about the PO3 au's the anon left out! skyclan, loner, po5. Im guessing loner is Crow/Leaf raising the 3 outside of the clans. I love hearing you talk about your au's!

aww thanks! okay, same plan as before, details below the cut.

skyclan po3: it's, uh, pretty on the nose. crow and leaf run to skyclan with their kits.

loner po3: this is a catch-all term for three aus with similar premises, but i don't have a clear/short title to differentiate them. one is leafcrow, one is mothpool, and one is just leafpool. i'll talk about each of them.

po5: this is my internal name for the jaywing au. this, if you don't remember (and why would you), is a bit of a parallel to the dovefeather/med cat dovewing au where jaykit and dovekit are siblings.

skyclan po3: "they move on tracks of never-ending light" (title song)

the au title for this in my notes was "whitewater," but i think i'm going to save something else for that. (if you're confused why i have two titles for all of the aus: when i make a big au, it usually gets a temporary title that's short and easy to search, but i replace it with a permanent title later. sometimes they stay the same, like ashes, but usually i change it.)

so my only notes on this is

crowfeather and leafpool make it all the way to skyclan with a trio of newborn kits.

and like yeah, that's basically all i've figured out.

uhhh i know skyclan will come to the lake sooner, obviously, and i know that jay's character arc plays out really differently because there's less ableism.

(even in the windclan au, jay is intertwined with ableism: in that case, it's "either you're the same, or you're not capable." but leafstar is a sensible leader who doesn't have that problem.)

otherwise, yeah, i don't really know where i'm going with this, other than i think it'll be fun to explore, since leafpool is firestar's daughter and named after leafstar.

loner po3: the common thread in all of these is what happens to thunderclan's medicine cat after leafpool leaves?

(tbf, that's a common question in quite a few aus. but it makes itself a central conflict in these three.)

loner po3 I: leafcrow. "on and on we run in loops"

uh, yeah. they run away, and stay away. this one isn't supposed to focus on the kits that much, but rather, leafpool's struggle with duty and desire.

i've got this:

“There’s a loner,” the kittypet said, her voice languid, claws extended, but with an air of ease, “named Leaf. She’s been helping out loners for, oh, a season or two.”

as a quote from it. it's my least favorite of the loner po3 aus.

loner po3 II: single mom leafpool. "between us, i'd trade you for them every time"

i've talked about this one actually quite a bit, but it's probably going to take me a while to write it. it's inspired by "butterflies and hurricanes," but instead of leafpool dying, crowfeather dies.

also, the chapter titles come from "marjorie" which is basically 90% of why it's going to take me a while to work on it, that song makes me cry a lot and uh, things are a lil Much right now.

i've got a few scenes sketched out, from holly running away, and leafpool panicking, to leafpool worrying about bringing her kits to thunderclan.

loner po3 III: mothpool. "to make a choice in all this mess"

this is the au competing with divided po3 for next po3 au to write, and i'm...i love it. (as a note, i won't write two aus for the same time period at the same time. that's why i was waiting to finish wfmisus before i got back on doahins. now it's all messy. but i get confused lmao.)

anyway, i have the least written for this, but i'm very excited. in my first warriors fic ever, "if you love me any, let me know it now", leafpool thinks this:

(Leafpool should have left. She should have found Mothwing and told her and left. Maybe pause to say goodbye to Squirrelflight. Mothwing would have gone with her, and things would be alright. Not like they are now, all tangled and impossible.)

and well. i'm weak.

i don't have a ton of concrete stuff to say about it, especially considering it's so high on the list, but i mean, i'm excited.

po5: "wing and feather"

alright, this is an old one. since it's also high on my list, i want to explain where it came from rather than what it's about, because that will cover what it's about in a broad sense, without tempting me to give away the details.

(also, w&f is a working title. much like "feather take flight," i may change my mind.)

anyway. i started getting into warriors with "cloudtail's daughter," an au where dovewing and ivypool are brightheart's kits.

in a post so old i had to go to my main blog to find it, i said this:

i also want him to be dovewing’s brother. but the au where brightheart gives birth to dovekit, anxiety child, and jaykit, blind, and feels like a failure despite the fact that its not like her half-blindness is genetic, is not this au. that is another au.

and the seeds were planted.

so right, i'm writing up ctd around when i'm first reading "flightless dove, poison ivy," which will go on to inspire dovefeather (med cat dovewing au, but as you'll see, dovefeather is the assigned working au name. after i decided i didn't like feather take flight, i reverted back to its initial working title, dovefeather.)

so i've got these two things rolling around in my brain.

dovefeather comes first, because i reread fdpi so many times and i just. i want dovepaw to stay in riverclan. i don't want her to leave. i want her to be happy. (also please! i'm still finishing ch 2 of fdpi no spoilers it's taking me embarassingly long to finish.)

but anyway, consider this a bonus au talk because explaining what po5 is, imo, requires me explaining what dovefeather is. like, in an au talk scenario. they're unrelated aus, from a reader perspective.

so i come up with this list of "things i want to be different in oots":

dovewing should be cloudtail's daughter

dovewing and jayfeather should be siblings

dovewing should be a medicine cat

dovewing should go to riverclan

ivypool should be the fourth cat (but i'm not revealing which aus this applies to bc big time spoilers)

and this creates a bit of an au matrix. pick and choose, you know? ctd is (1).

dovefeather is (3) and (4).

but i still wanted (2), and so it seemed pretty natural to make a (1), (2), and (3) au.

but that's a retrospective analysis, what really happens is, i get like fourteen "what ifs" deep, until i'm writing fic for my fic for someone else's fic. kind of.

dovefeather diverges pretty sharply from fdpi, especially based on what i've read of ch2. it takes the same core idea, and because my idea of riverclan was inspired by fdpi, there are plenty of similarities, but i think it's functionally very different, and superficially similar.

(also, hollowflight ends up in a completely different trio lmao dovepaw hangs out with rushpaw, troutpaw, and mossypaw.)

but anyway, i'm trying not to write another au of the same time period, but i just finished writing out the full outline for ashes, and the next chapter (i.e., ch 12, which i'm hopefully posting today if all goes well) gets me thinking, and i can't let it go: i want (2) to happen.

so i look at my outline for dovefeather, because the rule is, it has to be very different from this.

since dovefeather is like 70% drafted (altho that number seems low, because i suspect i'm going to end up adding a lot into the fourth chapter), i now know that was never going to be an issue, but at the time, i was very worried.

so i was like! well, that means i'm going to fuck with every part of po3, and we're going to get ivypaw and hollypaw roped in, and jaypaw is always going to be a warrior, and i think i made squilf his mentor? or maybe sandstorm lmao.

either way, it ended up being defined by jaypaw, which i didn't initially plan on. but that's po5: squilf's litter lionkit, hollykit, ivykit & brightheart's litter dovekit and jaykit grow up together.

it's got a similar vibe to ashes IMO.

okay wow that ended up being a lot i've been hyperfocusing on dovefeather all weekend, and in my head, it's inextricably linked to ashes, ctd, and jaywing/po5, so uh. yeah.

hope this was what you were looking for?

<3

[king-finnigan]

top 5 of 2020

thanks for the tag @persony-pepper! (sorry it took me a while, i forgot lmao)(also let’s ignore the fact that it’s 2021 already)

Rules: it’s time to love yourselves! choose your 5 (ish) favorite works you created in the past year (fics, art, edits, etc.) and link them below to reflect on the amazing things you brought into the world in 2020. tag as many writers/artists/etc. as you want (fan or original) so we can spread the love and link each other to awesome works! 

i can’t believe i’ve only started writing in, like, february and yet i also feel like i’ve been writing for ages? 2020 was a weird year time-wise, let’s just say that. anyways, i do really feel like my writings’ improved a lot since then (little egg me at the start of last year really thought i was amazing at english. turns out i was Not) and i can’t wait to see what’s going to happen to my writing next year.

also can i just,,, talk about the sheer quanitity of my writing? ao3 says i’ve posted 371,000 words and that’s not including the oneshots i’ve only posted on tumblr and the fics that are stuck in my drafts?? who is he and where does he get his energy, what the fuck. anyways, here’s my list.

All You Have Is Your Fire

I never ever thought that this would blow up as much as it did. I also never thought that I would write so much of it (it turned out to be 17 chapters instead of the planned 4) and I never thought I would enjoy it so much. Really, writing it was a lot of fun.

Beyond the Treeline

This one started as a oneshot on tumblr and now it’s *checks ao3* 30k words. It’s really become my Silly Zone Fic, which makes it very fun to write (and yes, I did put it on hold for like 5 months but it’s back on track so please don’t mention it lmao).

The Walls of Kaer Morhen

I wrote this one right after bingeing both of the Haunting series and uhhh.... you can tell. What can I say? I love a good ghost story.

And It Echoes When I Breathe

WHAT CAN I SAY? I LOVE A GOOD GHOST STORY.

To the Moon and Back

This fic sprouted from a prompt on tumblr and while it has a whopping 500 hits on ao3, it’s still one of my fav fics I’ve ever written and I regularly come back to reread it cause it just makes me so so happy. (even though i hate rereading my own writing once i’ve posted it)

Okay, so as far as I know literally everyone has done this thing already and also it’s 2021 so I’m not sure if it counts anymore? Idk. I’m definitely tagging @do-androids-dream-ao3acc and i guess everyone else who wants to do it! If you haven’t done it and want to, feel free to blame me because i love getting tagged in shit and also no one ever checks if you were really tagged so there’s no shame in just going ahead.

Anyways, happy new year and let’s hope 2021 is better than 2020 cause jesus, what the hell was that

[doitwritenow]

I'd ask all 35 of the ask game, but I feel that might be a little too much. Instead, I'll choose: 2, 5, 6, 7, 12, 23, 29, 31, 33, and... oh that's way too many. Uhhh, feel free to not answer some if you feel overwhelmed. If not, go ham! I'd love to read more about your writing/writing process. :)

Oh WOW thank you! These are so fun. Hm...

2. Why do you write fanfiction?  Recently answered this one! Here’s what I said: I write fic because of the spaces between the lines of a story. The gaps and unanswered questions in canon encourage me to come up with deeper mechanics, more complicated lore, and complex character motivations in order to explain. Sometimes, one of those pieces will click into canon so well that it becomes inspiration. And then there’s nothing else to do but write! Lol. Stories are so wonderful because of what we can do with them, individually and all together, and I really like being a part of that. 

5. What’s the fic you’re most proud of? While EoI is kind of my magnum opus, I really really adore Sunrise Loves To Go Down. Something came together in that fic, some tone and some thread of style, and I am immensely proud of how it turned out. I started writing it when I had been evacuated from my house due to a wildfire, lying on a hotel bed and typing on my phone in the middle of the night, and so it felt different to write than my other works. Maybe that’s why it feels different to read, too.

6. What element of writing do you find comes easily? Easily? I have to say dialogue. It’s often my favorite part of any scene, and I love the way it determines tone and establishes character. Though it’s not my absolute favorite part of writing, I dance through dialogue scenes feeling like I’m on a caffeine high. Of course, lots of times getting dialogue right is a lot of work, but there’s an ease to it that some things don’t have. 

7. What element of writing do you struggle with most? Hnnnngk the answer is pacing. It’s pacing. I struggle to pace things. I do enjoy long projects and feel proud of my ability to commit to them, don’t get me wrong. But I’d love to get better at structuring a plot to allow for the same tone without needing an overly generous amount of words. My go-to answer with pacing is always ‘write more’, but I don’t think that’s always strictly necessary. I want to be able to use the other tools in my arsenal to tell a story that’s just as complete but even more gripping.  Me: *challenges pacing to a death battle* Me: *dies*

12. Tell us about a WIP you’re excited about. Okay so a friend and I were laughing about how funny it could be to write about what happens to Odin after Loki sticks him in a retirement home on Earth. The Mystic Artists would obviously know he was there, what with all that cosmic threat sensing bullshit, and things would devolve from there. Like, can you imagine? The Adventures of Odin Allfather and the Home for Elderly People. Series of one-shots. Each titled something like: Odin vs. Thursday Bingo. Odin vs. His Roomate. Odin vs. the Grumpy Wizard. Odin vs. the Craft Store. And slowly other characters start to show up. Ned’s grandma is in the same nursing home, and he and Odin hit it off, so obviously Ned introduces him to Peter. Stephen comes to check up on him occasionally and Odin stages the most dramatic escape attempts of all time with no real intention of going anywhere. Now I dislike Odin in canon but how comical could that be I’m serious--

23. Do you prefer prompts and challenges, or completely independent ideas? I like prompts and challenges, but generally I work best with completely independent ideas. I can’t force my one-shot muse, so whenever it strikes I buckle down and write there and then. So yeah, prompts and challenges are really fun, but the inspiration has its own plans for my hapless self.

29. Have you ever gone outside of your comfort zone for a fic? How did it turn out? Comfort zone? What comfort zone? Lol. I suppose I do have bounds of what I’m willing to write and share, but they’re not particularly limiting. Each story I write extends the limits of what I’m used to; I try not to hesitate. And most of the time, I like where things end up! 

31. Do you have any OCs? Tell us about them! OCS YES I DO HAVE OCS THANKS FOR ASKING. Most of my Marvel OCs show up in EoI or were created specifically for it. But I have some other lovelies floating around, my three favorites being: - Silas Ewyn, a necromancer detective. He’s basically a vigilante archeologist, using his abilities to interact with bones to solve the mysteries of foul play victims. Silas doesn't care about politics or reasons; all he cares about is facts and bringing voices back to the dead. In the lawless Roughs (yeah, he’s a cowboy, fight me) he takes that justice back into his own hands. Though he doesn't kill, he'll go to great lengths to punish perpetrators, and he always takes a bone of the murder to bury with the bones of the victim to ensure the victim gets their justice in the afterlife, too. Which bone depends on the severity of the murder. During one of Silas’s investigations, however, he was murdered himself. Oops. But he woke up three days later with his soul rattling around in an entirely different body with no memory of the event. The only way for him to discover the truth is if he finds his old bones and solves a whole new murder... His own.  Anyway I love him and I could talk forever about the truth behind his murder and all the details of the Roughs and everything but we’ve got a limited amount of time and I still have to tell you about: - Sohcahtoa and Pemdas! If their names look like math acronyms, that’s because they are. Sohcahtoa and Pemdas are kind of children’s comic book characters in my mind? Sohcahtoa is a superhero; she travels through the Sciverse bringing people together and solving scientific and mathematical problems between others who are concepts come to life. With her meter-stick sword and her protractor throwing star, she’s a force to be reconed with!  Pemdas is her trusty sidekick. He’s a cuttlefish with immense knowledge of operations and formulas, and Sohcahtoa keeps him in a cube on her belt. Pemdas checks her math and gives her any theorems or formulas she might need.  Lol I’m a nerd next question.

33. Is there anything you wish your audience knew about your writing or writing process? Just want to say: I’m not some sort of warlock, I promise! The reason I can post so consistently for EoI is not always because I write consistently; it’s because I have a cushion of chapters between what I’m writing and what I’m posting. Sometimes I’m completely barren of words and I can’t write for days on end, and sometimes I just fly through things in hours. But all that inconsistency balances itself out in the end and keeps the chapter cushion intact, so my readers get to see only me looking like I have everything under control. I’m just as chaotic as you, I promise.  (Prophets is not like this with the chapter cushion. I am a bad girl when it comes to Prophets. XD instant gratification is my arch nemesis.) 

Anyway! This was super fun Ish. Thanks for the ask!