#haha enjoy this epic chapter. I loved it

[slightlyanxi0us]

This is the longest chapter I have ever written in my whole life. I had a fucking blast! Please enjoy ✨

Some concept art for this current chapter ✨

[fayes-fics]

Moments: Epilogue 2

Moments masterpost

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Paring: Benedict Bridgerton x fem!reader

Rating: Teen and Up

Summary: It’s six years after the wedding. Let’s check in with James Darby and his family!

Warnings: none… domestic/family fluff.

Word Count: 0.6k (this epilogue only, 24.5k total for all chapters)

Authors Note: My loves, this is the last in the Moments story. But there will be a few one-shots set in the Moments-verse. Including an art lesson and a Christmas special :) I hope you enjoy this sweet footnote, which was actually written before chapter five haha. I always had an ending in mind ;) Thanks as ever to my beta @makaylan and to @chaoticcalzoneranchsports for suggestions on amending one line. <3

Epilogue 2: Moments from another family life

Six years later

“Please stop that,” his voice is exasperated, struggling to be heard over a toddler’s wailing, “give it back to Amelia now.”

“But, daddy, that’s not fair. I wanted it before she did,” the five-year-old girl whines petulantly, her eyes wide and pleading.

“Well, she had it first until you took it away, which isn’t nice. Let Amelia play; then you can, please,” he attempts to placate. “Besides, there’s plenty of other dolls for you to choose from.”

“But I want this one,” her pout becoming epic. 

You walk in with one-year-old Thomas balanced on your hip.

“Isobel Bridgerton, you play nice, or you don’t play at all. Do you hear me?” Your voice stern.

“Yes, mummy,” she mumbles and hands back the toy doll to her little three-year-old sister, who stops crying and whoops happily.

“How come they always listen to you more than me?” Benedict bemoans, running a hand through his hair a little harried, watching Isobel pick out another doll and start playing happily.

“Because you are too nice to them, my love,” you reply with a chuckle, bumping him gently with your shoulder. “Those girls have you wrapped around their little finger, and they know it.”

“Well, maybe if they didn’t look so much like their mother, I wouldn’t be so utterly beguiled by them,” he counters with a pointed look. 

“Hmmm, is that right?” You tilt your head and give him a playful smirk. 

He leans down to kiss Thomas' head, sleeping against you. “Besides, they are my babies; how can I ever not be nice?” He grumbles good-naturedly against his youngest son's hair.

“You can be loving and be strict too, you know,” you lecture gently. He huffs a sigh, then turns his head, this time his lips meeting yours. 

“Father, must you?” James' voice rings out from across the room as he wanders in from the garden.

“I’m allowed to kiss your mother, James,” Benedict shoots back at his eldest son as he pulls away from the kiss.

“Preferably not in front of me,” James retorts tartly, every inch the surly eleven-year-old he now is.

“James! Don’t be impertinent,” you chastise, “or we will kiss all afternoon just to annoy you.”

“You wouldn’t,” James pulls a face of disgust that is so identical to Benedict’s that you can’t help but laugh a little.

“Oh yes, I would,” you warn, raising an eyebrow, handing sleeping baby Thomas to your nanny with a smile, then looping your arms around your husband’s neck.

“Issy and Milly don’t like it either,” James scowls, trying to rally support for his cause— that his little sisters roundly ignore. 

“I’m just fine with you following through on this threat,” Benedict whispers, his hands low on your back as he shoots you a charming crooked smile.

“Yes, and it’s that exact face which got us into this predicament in the first place, Mr Bridgerton,” you scold affectionately, “so stop smiling at me like that unless you really want a fifth bloody child.” 

He spins you around in his arms, so you both survey the melee in front of you, a mess of children and toys cluttering your drawing room. His arms wrap tighter around you from behind, his breath warm on the shell of your ear.

“I’m not against the idea Mrs Bridgerton,” he murmurs. 

You huff a laugh. “Want some good advice?” You ask, running your hands up his forearms.

“Always,” he hums against your temple.

“Enjoy this moment. Because in about two seconds….” As if on cue, Thomas starts wailing. 

“How do you always know?” he sighs, releasing his hold on you. “I'll take him,” Benedict calls to the nanny, walking to pick up his smallest child. “Maybe you are right; four is enough,” he concurs as he soothes Thomas.

“Smart man,” you wink.

Benedict taglist: @makaylan @foreverlonginguniverse @iboopedyournose @wysteria-clad @colettebronte @aintnuthinbutahounddog @severewobblerlightdragon @margofiore @writergirl-2001 @heeyyyou @enichole445 @enchantedbytomandhenry @ambitionspassionscoffee @chaoticcalzoneranchsports @nikaprincessofkattegat @crowleysqueenofhell @baebee35

Moments only taglist: @queenofshinigamis @khaleesjj @starslibrary @magical-spit @honeylovemoon @justwant2read8421

[koorinokujira]

Yakuza 0 is a SPECTACULAR game and I'll shove my love for it in everyone's faces now - Chapter 2: Screenshot Extravaganza

Alright, now that I have emotionally recovered, I thought I'd share some funny screenshots I took in my first playthrough. I'll write the in-depth rambles about my favorite characters a lot later, as I got pretty sick today and I don't have any braincells left for it.

Spoilers inbound, look at your own risk! Anyway, here goes! The text above a picture is the one describing it (´｡• ᵕ •｡`)

I was wondering what would happen if I took a picture of the heat move with the nails. All I can say about it is HLBPHPHM?!

Truly the best manager we've ever had. I've seen this in a gameplay video before playing, but it still made me cackle.

I think it's just fine, Majima.

The worst best spies in the world!

This man was such a mood. Look, I know most of us probably like to think that we would be able to deck people like Kiryu or Majima if we were in the RGG universe, but most of us would most likely just be Youda-chan. But it's okay. He is best girl.

Guys I think there's something wrong with Kiryu's bro

Justice for my girl! Let her laugh like a cartoon villain!

Apart from this sub-story being ridiculous on its own, it just kills me that he was literally called "Formerly Fallen Guy" once he got up. Peak comedy

This was a great, epic moment, but I somehow managed to take a pic when Nishiki had the exact face I make when I am a guest at someone's house and they give me food that I don't like, and I have to eat it now to not insult anyone

Every single time I thought this game couldn't get funnier, it did. Big boy never got to space (｡╯︵╰｡)

Speaking of Mr.Shakedowns, I love how they just- took naps in the middle of the street. Goodnight, sweet prince

Majima? More like MOODjima.

Look, I know this isn't a funny screenshot, but I just had to flex with how I absolutely destroyed Ms. Isobe. For my Cabaret Club, of course. I absolutely wasn't pissed off because she kept beating me and I wanted revenge, no sir.

And last but not least, I tried to take an epic screenshot of Shibusawa getting decked (haha, get it, because they are on a boa- *gets shot*) but I forgot to press the button in time and it just ended up looking absolutely stupid, enjoy

That's all the funny pictures I have! I also took a lot of cool/serious ones too, but I'll use those in other posts. And like always...

Have a great day!

[korn-y-copia]

Popia at Disney World (feat. the ghouls, Sister Imperator, Papa Nihil, and Mr. Saltarian)

So I am at Disney this week, but the Copia brainrot is so real he has seeped into every thought and every scenario in my head, so here are some headcanons I came up with while in the parks!!!

Starting off with Epcot: on “living with the land,” the ghouls (Aether specifically) go wild.

There’s a section of the ride where produce is being grown, and there’s always a banana tree. Aether gets a little hungy, and jumps out of the boat to absolutely devour the fresh fruit. The ghouls follow behind, climbing out of the boat, eating edible (and inedible) plants alike until they are promptly escorted off of the attraction

Meanwhile, Copia remains seated pinching the bridge of his nose like a disgruntled chaperone.

Copia absolutely loses his shit on “Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure.” I mean, ‘nuff said, the guy loves his rats, and the idea of sitting in a rat-shaped ride vehicle while being (literally) surrounded by rats, is just the neatest concept to him.

He would definitely be all “oh, haha!”—kind of like how he is at the beach house in Chapter 13. It would definitely be his favorite ride (because, as part of the fandom has headcanoned, I wholeheartedly believe “ratatouille” is his favorite movie, or up there in terms of his favorite movies anyway)

On that note, he probably sings the song from the movie—“Le Festin”—to his rats before bed every night, but definitely stops when he finds out the meaning of the song, and sobs.

Magic Kingdom: I think Copia would get a set of Mickey ears—like the classic ones (with “Cardi” or “Cardi C.” Embroidered on the back)

He also buys all the snacks: popcorn, Mickey ice cream, you name it—and yes, it gives him tummy aches, but it heals the inner child in him who didn’t to get to have these kind of experiences with, well, anyone 🥺

Haunted mansion: enough said, this is the ghoul’s favorite ride—Copia too enjoys it. (Ghosts dancing in the mansion? Call that “dance macabre” 🥴🥴🥴)

Hollywood Studios: While it’s no longer there, Copia would’ve loved “The Great Movie Ride.” In this ride, you got to go through recreated scenes from classic movies (I’m still not over them getting ridding of it, so maybe I’m projecting just a little bit?) and I could just see him being so excited, and epically misquoting them with not a care in the world ❤️❤️❤️

In the “alien” portion, where aliens would pop out of the ceiling and the walls, I could def see the ghouls screaming their heads off, Copia too probably.

This one is kinda mean I am so sorry, but I feel like Copia doesn’t like roller coasters and I could see the ghouls convincing him that the “Tower of Terror” is not a roller coaster, despite the screams that are coming from it as they approach.

He is totally inconsolable afterwords and refuses to talk to the ghouls so they have to buy him a Mickey ice cream or a churro to make it up to him (which it does) but now he just has another tummy ache again.

Okay, now let’s add Nihil and Imperator + Mr. Saltarian to the mix (briefly)

Even though Nihil is a “phantasm,” he’s complaining about all of the walking he has to do, so he makes Copia wheel him around instead because he wants to spite him or hate him or both idk what the fuck is up Nihil

Imperator makes Copia put on sunscreen every two hours because he has sensitive skin

She also maybe, but definitely does (albeit begrudgingly) carry around snacks for Copia and the ghouls—probably Scooby Doo fruit snacks or some shit

Copia is definitely internally screaming because he can’t just get one goddamn vacation without Nihil or Imperator inserting themselves

Saltarian is there too probably, but what is he doing? I have no idea, the man is an enigma.

I hope these are okay. If they are so absolutely ooc, please let me know! I just thought of them and wanted to share, thank you for reading!

[13eyond13]

For book ask game, no. 13, 14, 18, 25, 26. Thx :D

Ooh thanks for sending me more book asks!

13. Name a book with a really bad movie/tv adaptation:

Watchmen (2009) by Zack Snyder was a pretty mediocre adaptation of the graphic novel by Alan Moore, from what I remember of both of them (haven't revisited either of them in a long time, but distinctly remember having this opinion back when I first read it... like oh ok, so THIS is what it's actually supposed to be like).

I feel like as a director Zack Snyder is very good at creating epic movie trailer moments or music videos with stylish visuals (this trailer for it looked pretty exciting to me at the time it was new):

BUT then once you go to the theater and try to sit through one of his movies they usually just end up being just the most soulless drawn-out superficial and boring stuff, like watching a 3 hour long commercial. From what I remember a lot of the creative and innovative storytelling and the depth in the original Watchmen comic comes entirely from how it is presented to the reader on the page, too (with stuff like the layout of the panels and the stories-within-stories "Black Freighter" chapters that were cut out of the film entirely that cleverly parallel the present-day action, etc). Definitely recommend reading the graphic novel over watching this movie!

14. Name a book where the movie/tv adaptation is better than the original: Requiem for a Dream (2000) was a better experience as a crazy edgy depressing movie than it was as a novel by Hubert Selby Jr. to me:

I first saw this movie without having any idea what to expect when I was about 16, and even though it's pretty shocking in parts and upsetting to watch I remember really loving it back then and thinking of it as one of my favourite films at the time (I think I had a higher tolerance for certain kinds of edgelord stuff in my stories back in those days sometimes too, haha). This movie has always felt bit like a comic or a live action horror cartoon to me somehow? I think that it kinda goes too far a bit and nearly verges on comedy instead of tragedy at the end due to just how absurd and nightmarish it gets, but perhaps that almost unbelievable heightenedness of it all is kind of why it often feels a bit like a comic or a cartoon to me, too. And I still think there's quite a bit here to enjoy even despite the edginess as well. I think the acting is often very good, the soundtrack and the sound effects and the stylish visuals are great, and that the whole thing effectively creates a lot of very strong emotions like tension and dread and tenderness and wistfulness and loneliness and horror. It's maybe the only Darren Aronofsky film I actually like?

HOWEVER whenever I read the book that it was based on a few years ago I could barely get past the stylistic choices of the writer to enjoy what was being said (he wrote it in the 70s in sort of a dated stream-of-consciousness type writing style without many paragraph breaks or any quotation marks for separating the dialogue or the inner monologue from the prose, which I just found really annoying and off-putting to read). And the part about the book I liked the best, which was the colourful and extremely memorable dialogue and the slang that the characters use, was taken almost verbatim from the book and brought to life well on the screen too, so the whole time I was reading it I was just wanting to hear it said by the movie characters again instead. idk, I think it's a movie I'd definitely watch again sometime, but not a book I'd ever read again. Just more entertaining and less of a slog that way.

18. Which character from a book is the most like you?

Oh, very good question! Hmm... there are certain characters I relate to a lot for various reasons, but i don't know if anybody would say I'm extremely like them, probably? Of the books I've read more recently I feel like I'm sort of a bit of a Frodo character or something, maybe... his personality and his peaceful lifestyle before he gets sent on his adventure just feel very much like how I'd probably be living and socializing with everybody in the Shire myself, and the way he handles stuff like the burden of the ring on him and his reasons for doing things and how he worries about his friends who insist on sticking by his side and acts sort of secretive and more reserved feels relatable to me as well.

25. If you could be a character from a book for just one day who would you be and why? (Bonus: any specific day in the story?)

I want to be Wilbur the pig from Charlotte's Web getting a buttermilk bath and then eating the trough full of leftovers he gets (as a kid I remember thinking the lengthy descriptions of all the table scraps he was eating sounded really good for some reason, and the buttermilk bath sounded delicious to me as well lol).

26. If you could be a character from a book for their entire life who would you be and why?

I think it'd be pretty fun to be Lestat from the Vampire Chronicles because from what I remember he never feels guilty or angsty about much for too long, and he just knows how to have a good time no matter what. Even when he gets super bored or super depressed and then goes catatonic for a while he always eventually manages to bounce back and find something or someone new and interesting to get enthusiastic about and involved with again. He experiences things deeply and in an open-minded way while still never getting too burnt out by it or jaded about it either. If ever I were cursed to become immortal then I think his is the kind of personality that would make it the most enjoyable, anyway.

[bookish asks]

[asvterias]

𝖢𝗁𝖺𝗉𝗍𝖾𝗋 𝟧: 𝖧𝗂𝖽𝖽𝖾𝗇 𝖥𝖾𝖾𝗅𝗂𝗇𝗀𝗌

Series Masterlist || The Cast || Previous Chapter || Next Chapter

chapter warnings: minor cursing, a lot of foreshadowing, heated makeout, making of hickeys & some angst

chapter pairings: lynn loud x black!fem!reader, platonic!lynn’s baseball team x platonic!reader, ex gf!angelina x ex gf!reader

word count: 5.0k+

tag list: @sheluvv-jen

author’s note: i may have made this chapter dramatic but i don’t care, cause who doesn’t like in your feels angst?

also send me a private message, an ask, or leave a comment if you want to be apart of the taglist!

It was finally Halloween season, and you were ecstatic about the holiday. If you were being honest, Halloween was your favorite holiday, and Christmas ranged in a close second. Back in your old town, you and your sisters were partially known for hosting epic Halloween parties and you wanted to continue it in Royal Woods. You would call it a tradition, sharing an event with your sisters and enjoying them to the fullest. So you convinced your parents into allowing you to have the party and they agreed.

The week before Halloween, you and your sisters went decor shopping for party supplies. You were in charge of putting the food and drinks together. When you went grocery shopping, you stashed a trolley full of various snacks that was mainly popular with your peers. You pre-ordered dozens of cookies and cupcakes, 5 different kinds of cakes, all topped off with Halloween themes. The sodas were doubled, guessing how many people would be there.

It was a family effort to decorate the house and make everything appealing to the eye. Although it was an intense hassle to remain extravagant when it came to decorating the house yet you just love the priceless looks from the guests when they walk in.

You had texted Lynn three days in advance before the party.

new girl ☺️❤️

hey lynn, what are your halloween plans this year?

baseball girl ⚾️❤️

idk probably watching shitty horror movies and babysitting my younger siblings while trick and treating

new girl ☺️❤️

well cancel your plans

baseball girl ⚾️❤️

what?? why??

new girl ☺️❤️

oh pls don’t tell me you’d rather be at home

baseball girl ⚾️❤️

i never said that

new girl ☺️❤️

great, party at my house, you’re invited

costumes are mandatory

baseball girl ⚾️❤️

holy shit! are your parents cool with that?

new girl ☺️❤️

ofc they’re cool with it

baseball girl ⚾️❤️

well, do i get to bring anyone?

new girl ☺️❤️

ofc

just do me a favor lynn

baseball girl ⚾️❤️

and what’s that??

new girl ☺️❤️

wear a decent costume

baseball girl ⚾️❤️

haha!! haha!!!

you’re so funny 🙄

new girl ☺️❤️

i’m being fr though

baseball girl ⚾️❤️

do you wanna do a couple’s outfit?

cs if that’s what you’re suggesting then i’m down

new girl ☺️❤️

just surprise me

blow my mind

baseball girl ⚾️❤️

my current mission: surprise the fuck out of [name] with my outfit at her party, got it!

new girl ☺️❤️

can’t wait to see you!

baseball girl ⚾️❤️

what are you wearing for the party??

new girl ☺️❤️

that’s for me to know and for you to find out

baseball girl ⚾️❤️

i’m sure whatever you’re dressing as, you’re gonna look super hot in

*new girl ☺️❤️ liked your message*

That was three days ago and today was the party. It was nearing nightfall and your parents knew to get lost, spending their night at a hotel.

That was three days ago and today was the party. It was nearing nightfall and your parents knew to get lost, spending their night at a hotel.

Your fairy costume was plain and simple, you didn’t tend to go all out when costume hunting. As long as you looked decent, you weren’t worried about other people’s opinions. Madison was dressed as a witch and Cassandra as Dionne Davenport from Clueless. In the middle of getting dressed, Cassandra offered to do your makeup. She had her makeup supplies stored in an organized box on her vanity mirror.

“Oh, I missed this…” She deeply exhaled, starting with your eyeliner, “Just us two, [Name] and Cass, me doing your makeup and giving you dating advice.”

“We’re always gonna be like this,” Your eyes flutter back as the eyeliner pencil draws underneath your eye.

She stops midway, dropping her working hand and she arches an eyebrow at you, “Really? Even when we’re both gross and old.”

“Yes!! Even if when we’re both gross and old.” You chuckle as she resumes doing your other eyeliner.

She placed the eyeliner pencil down and picks up the mascara, opening the tube and starting it on your face. “No, but when you start dating, you’ll have no more time for your big sis.”

There was a beat of silence followed by hesitation in your voice. You decided to speak anyway, not allowing your first heartbreak to keep you silent. “You know that this isn’t my first time dating, right, Cass?”

She immediately shushes you with a well-polished finger pressed upon your lips. “Nope, nope, we’re not doing that. You’ll remind yourself about that she-devil and you’re grumpy for the rest of the night and if we’re being honest I don’t like a moody [name].”

“I’m just putting things in perspective, Lynn won’t be my first love.” You shrug before backtracking on your former statement, “That if she feels the same way that I do, and we start dating.”

“Promise me that you’re gonna take your mind off that girl.” Cassandra pleads, “Trust me, you’re better off without her. She hurt you too many times and that’s unforgivable.”

“Okay, fine.” You sigh, “I promise to not bring down my mood for the entire night,”

“Great, no more depressing heartbreak shit to remember, that’s all in the past.” Your eldest sister stares at you with a serious expression, clearly not buying your faux response and she moves to grab a lipstick tube from her dresser. “You are gonna blow Lynn’s mind when she sees you,” Cassandra mumbles, smearing the black lipstick across your lips.

“I’m not sure about blowing her mind.” You mutter, smacking your lips together when she finishes doing your lips.

“[Name], you look jaw-dropping in this outfit, Lynn would be a fool not to see that. Besides, if she doesn’t, you always have other options.”

Madison walks into the room, dressed in her full costume. “Stop trying to turn our beloved baby sister into you.”

“Oh, please, being me took years to perfect, I doubt [Name] can do it in one day.” She closes the lipstick tube, placing it back on her vanity stand.

“What’s that in your hand, Maddy?” You observed the piece of jewelry in her hand.

“It’s a choker and you’re gonna wear it.” She said, briefly showing you the jewelry before clasping it around your neck.

You looked in the mirror, admiring your new accessory to your costume with a warm smile. The black gothic choker adorned your outfit even more, giving it the final touch that you didn’t even know that you needed.

“Lynn will be absolutely speechless once she sees you,”Madison comments with a teasing grin. You blush upon hearing your crush’s name and that gave your sisters the opportunity to begin their teasing.

“Ohhh…she’s blushing!” Cassandra notices the flush on your cheeks.

“[Name] and Lynn sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G!!!” Madison starts her new method of taunting.

“Oh shut up!” You yell, covering your face but they continued their rambles.

Cassandra joined in the singing, “First comes love, then comes marriage then comes a baby sitting in a carriage.”

The party set off to a good start, with numerous people by the front door, waiting to enter. When the crowd entered, the party was in full swing, and the decorations were amazing. Numerous tables were prepping up the foods, snacks, and drinks all covered with frilly Halloween decor.

Gabriella’s costume was one of many Harley Quinn famous outfits, the black and red one. Lynn is dressed as a cheerleader with the colors of black, red, and white, the fake blood splattering across her legs and face. Her friend, Margo was dressed as a biker girl with the colors black and white.

“You’re a cute cheerleader,” You flirt, “But where’s your two poms-poms, it’s required for a cheerleader to have them.” Lynn shows you two matching pom-poms, tickling them in your face, hearing you giggle made her blush.

“And you’re a very hot fairy.” She winks, playing with the synthetic wings attached to your back. “Might have to be by your side for the whole night because I’m not the only one who thinks so.”

Gabriella pulls you away from Lynn, dragging you into the foyer of the kitchen.

“I want you to meet someone.” She says before stopping in front of a boy.

“Hey, I’m Marcus.” He was of average height and had a slim figure with decent looks and hairstyle.

“Hi, I’m [Name]!”

“I’ll let you two get to know each other,” Natalie disappears, leaving you and Marcus to converse.

“Woah, isn’t that your girl snatched up with some dude?” Margo taunts, pointing in your direction. Lynn turns her head so fast, that she could’ve gotten whiplash from it. From a few feet away, she noticed you and a raven-haired boy talking. Her heart fumes with jealousy and possessiveness, observing your interaction with the boy.

“[Name] isn’t my girl, Margo.” The brunette corrects her best friend, finally breaking her gaze away from you.

“Well, if you don’t make her your girl soon, then she’ll be somebody’s else girl.” Margo counters, taking a sip from her drink.

That was the ticking words to set Lynn’s jealousy off and she stormed over in your direction, shoving people who managed to get in her way.

Margo screams over the music, watching her best friend head towards you, “Hell yeah, Lynn. Go get your girl!”

When Lynn finally reaches you, she hastily inserts herself into your conversation.

“Oh, hey Lynn.” You greet her for the second time today. She releases a scoff and nothing else as she glared down at the boy.

“Can I talk to you for a second?” Her question was aimed at you yet her gaze never falters from the raven-haired boy.

“Well, can it wait!” Marcus sharply responded instead of you, “If you didn’t know, we were having a conversation before you interrupted us.”

Lynn got up in his face, her tallness intimidating her demeanor, “Ok…listen here, buddy boy—“

You grab Lynn by her arm, tugging her away from Marcus as he backs away as well. You harshly glared down at the both of them and shouted, “Let’s play seven minutes in heaven, everyone!” There were yells of agreement as Marcus scoffs, looking Lynn up and down, and walks away.

“What’s your issue, Lynn?”

“What’s my issue?” She looks at you shocked, “What’s your issue?

“It’s a party, Lynn, it’s supposed to be fun, why can’t you have fun?”

“I’m having fun.”

“Almost starting a fight is not fun.” You cross your arms defensively.

“Depends on which perspective you’re seeing from.” She continues.

“Wanna tell me the real reason that you were hostile with Marcus.”

“Fine,” she groans, dropping her head back before looking back at you. “I didn’t like how Marcus was looking at you. I would rather you hang out with someone you knew, like me and my friends.”

“I thought you didn’t want me hanging around your friends.”

“What gave you that impression? Of course, I want you to hang out with my friends, I just didn’t want you to feel obligated to.”

“Aww…I love sweet Lynn.” You coo, bringing her in for a cheek kiss. “Come on, let’s go. With your luck, we just might end up in the closet together.”

She blushes at the possibility of you and her in the closet.

Everyone started to file into the huge living room, you and Lynn being one the last to enter. You sat on a beanbag with Lynn squished beside you as everyone else gathered around in a huge circle. To give it a rocking twist to it, you combined another party game favorite: Spin the Bottle. The rules were simple, you spin the bottle and whoever it lands on, you spend 7 minutes in the closet with them.

“Ok, I’ll go first then.” Gabriella offers, spinning the bottle with a nifty grip. The bottle finally halts, landing on Margo as the crowd cheers.

“Well shit, let’s do it then.” Margo nonchalantly smiles as she gets up, letting Gabriella drag her into the closet as the door shut behind them. There were multiple cheers, mainly coming from the baseball team and Lynn.

You started the timer on your phone, everyone anxiously awaiting the two girls. When the timer was finished, the two teen girls walked out. Their hair was disheveled and faded marks of Gabriella’s lipstick across Margo’s neck.

“Since when were they together?” you whispered over at Lynn who looked just as shocked as you. Finally looking at you, she shrugs and they leave the living room, heading outside for privacy.

“Totally beats me.”

“Okay, who’s next?!” Luna shouts.

“I’ll go,” You suggest, grabbing the bottle and steadily spinning it. The bottle chooses its other person and horrifically lands on Marcus.

“Let’s get this over with.” You mutter, rising from your beanbag chair and heading to the closet with Marcus. You failed to notice Lynn’s clenched hands.

During your time spent in the closet with the boy, he tried to make conversation but you only responded with short answers. The raven-haired boy decided to flirt with you instead, moving closer to you as you backed away. Eventually, you ran out of space to maintain distance and you felt trapped. Out of instinct, you slapped him across his face, pushed him away from you, and stormed out of the closet.

Everyone else waits for Marcus to reveal himself and when he does, a handprint was embedded on his right cheek. Lynn smiles at his new bruise, aware that you rejected his advances.

Quite frankly, you were getting tired of this game and randomly felt like taking a swim in your pool with Lynn. However, you spun the bottle, eagerly watching it slowly down to settle on Angelina. Your small smile instantly dropped at this revelation. This can’t be happening to you. There was no fucking way that you were going to be trapped in a small closet with your ex-girlfriend for an entire seven minutes.

Angelina Ross is played by Siena Agudong and she’s wearing a pirate costume.

“Nope, I wanna redo.” You grabbed the bottle, ready to spin it but her voice stops you.

“Rules are rules, [name].”

“In my house, they apply for you, not for me.”

“Never took you for a quitter.”

“Oh, I’m anything but a quitter.”

“Sure doesn’t look that way to me now.”

“Listen he—“

“Then why won’t you accept that you landed on me and go in the closet with me? I just want to talk, [name].”

“Okay, you can talk, everyone’s listening.”

Everyone’s eyes were on the brunette girl, eager to hear your business, no doubt, probably turning it into gossip when school opens.

“Do you really wanna do this in front of all these people, no less, complete strangers?” She had a fair point and you couldn’t disagree on that. “We have history together, it doesn’t matter if you try to erase it.”

“Yeah, and that’s all we’ll ever be.”

“History? What kind of history do you two have together?” Lynn asked you. Her question flew in one ear and out of the other as your eyes remained stuck on Angelina.

“You need to leave!” Cassandra announces, her tone filled with detest for Angelina. “You’re not welcome here and you never will be!”

She ignored Cassandra and patiently looked at you, waiting for an answer.

“One thing about you is that you sure know how to suck the joy out of people.” You tiredly got up and made your way back into the closet with Angelina following closely behind.

Once the door closes, Angelina was quick with her statements but you were faster.

“What are you doing here at my party?” You question, hostility in your tone, “No, better, yet, how did you know where I live?”

“I’m here visiting my grandparents for a mini Halloween holiday.” She explains, “And I saw the invitations around and decided to pop by, to see how you were doing.”

“Well, glad you popped by and now you can pop leave!”

“I swear, that I didn’t know that you were moving in Royal Woods, that’s just a coincidence.”

“Cut the bullshit, Angelina. Why are you really here?”

She stepped closer to you, a defeated sigh escaping her lips when you back away from her. You were already in a confined space, you didn’t need to be in forced proximity to your cheating ex-girlfriend. “I totally deserved that…” she mutters, looking down at the floor shortly before her eyes adjust back to you, “I wanted to say that I was sorry. For everything, with what happened to us. I know that I can’t take it back bu—“

“You’re right, you can’t take back any of it. No…no, sorry is when you forget a birthday or anniversary. Your messed up version of a sorry involves berating me and my sexuality, leading your boy best friend on thinking that you’re interested in him, and cheating on me, knowing that you were a lesbian.” you snapped at her, “You really hurt me, Lina.”

“I know and I’m sorry…nothing that I do can change my horrible actions.” She held her head down shamefully, not daring to look into your eyes.

“I’m gonna need a lot more than sorry from you, Angelina.” You concluded with a heavy sigh. You heard Lynn shout about the time being finished and her tone was hasty.

Both of you exited the closet and Angelina left the party as you took your seat next to Lynn.

“What did you guys do in there?”

“Nothing that mattered,”

She examines your facial features, seeing the gleam in your eyes and your upbeat personality vanish. She wanted to brighten up your mood, and she knew exactly what to do.

Lynn spins the bottle and it lands on you, excitedly she gets up and drags you to the closet. As soon as the door closed, Lynn pounced on you like a wild animal, pinning you to the door. She had trapped you in her arms, and you didn’t put up a fight against her, rather liking the position that you were in. In her eyes, jealousy and possessiveness were floating around. Who knew that jealousy made Lynn so hot?

You stared each other down, both of your pupils dilating from lust, practically urging the other to make the first move and take control of the heated situation. There was something about Lynn’s eyes that you made weak in the knees and completely at her mercy.

Those seconds of silence felt like minutes without the use of movements as well. Without breaking the intense eye contact, Lynn gently let her arms go and placed her own hands at her side.

Inhaling sharply, Lynn’s hand cups your face, pulling you into an electrifying kiss. You were rendered speechless, eyes widening momentarily before melting into the kiss, letting yourself drown in the bliss as you closed your eyes. Trailing your arms down to Lynn’s waist and wrapping into your embrace, sealing your closeness. Her lips were so soft and gentle against yours.

Her hands found the clip holding up your fake wings and snapping it off. Once they hit the floor, Lynn grabbed you by the waist, slamming you into the door, loud enough for everyone else to be aware of what was going on. So without further hesitation, her lips discovered yours in a hot minute and you unloosed her ponytail, tangling your fingers through Lynn’s free hair.

She mutters in your ear, “Jump!” And you were quick to follow through with her instructions. You jumped up and Lynn catches you with ease, her hands resting underneath your thighs, feeling the bare flesh.

“You are so gorgeous,” She pulls away, admiring your blissful state and dilated eyes. Examining your swollen lips and a cocky smirk appears on her lips. “My pretty girl, I get to have you all to myself.”

During your makeout, you manage to undo your choker, flinging the jewelry away, not finding its purpose anymore.

Just then, her kisses started to travel further down to your neck, placing open-mouth kisses there. A tiny whimper escaped your lips when you felt Lynn briefly bite down on your exposed neck, creating a bruise. Soon enough the pain turned into pleasure as you noticed her sucking on your neck, giving you a noticeable hickey.

“Oh, Lynn…” You moaned out.

Your hand gripped the back of Lynn’s head as if your life depended on it. She continued to ravage your neck, almost feeling a primal instinct. She sucks harshly on your neck, marking you profoundly to her liking.

Her overwhelming thoughts had different ways of this current situation and they all lead up to the same conclusion. You and her, all alone at last. There were no more judging eyes, just your [eye color] invested into her brown-amber eyes. And that’s how Lynn liked it, in the privacy of her mind, not worrying about another’s reaction. All she cared about was your reaction and that was all she needed.

Lynn didn’t know how long she truly craved this part of intimacy with you, but she knew that it was rooted deeply within her. You dreamed of this moment ever since you saw her in the navy blue blazer back at her house. That blazer made your thoughts run wild, and you felt ashamed wondering if Lynn was a definite girl kisser and if she was, what kind of kisser would she be? Rough and demanding or soft and sweet. Somehow, she combined all of those methods and still made you feel heavily desired.

Your touch gently grazes the sides of her skirts, being extremely careful of where your fingers might linger where they’re not supposed to.

Eventually, you both had to pull away as you pressed your foreheads together, trying to regain your breathing and composure. The sounds of heavy pants filled the tiny closet.

“I don’t know what came over me…” she mutters, forcefully removing herself from your embrace. She recognizes the shocked expression on your face, and she couldn’t help but felt guilty and slightly ashamed of her self-control when she was around you.

“It’s fine, Lynn.” You chuckle, trying not to take her shove to heart. Ignoring the way that your heartbeat is erratic as your thoughts were still hazy. She made you feel this way, and she knew that you loved it just as much as you did to her. “Obviously, I liked it very much since I didn’t reject it, or else this night would’ve gone way worse.”

“[Name]……”

You talked over her, “Who knew that we’d be here?”

“[Name]……”

“Guess it is kinda ironic that we’re making out in a closet even though you are still in the closet.”

“[Name]……”

“What does this make us now, Lynn? Like, are we a couple or just friends who randomly makeout from time to time?”

“[Name]!” She yells, having the chance of voicing her thoughts in the conversation.

“Oh, I’m so sorry, I totally forgot th—“

“[Name], I need space. Space from me, space from us!”You shook your head, bewildered by her sudden outburst towards you.

You swear that you could have blamed your hearing for being faulty at the moment. What did she mean by that? Was she being for real or just joking, wanting to get a rise out of you? She wanted space, being more specific, she demanded space from you. So what was the reason for her upbringing demand? Her words hit you like speeding bullets, all coming at you all at once, in every direction, and it wounded you like a bitch.

Does she want to break up your situationship before it can officially start? Or did she realize what you and Angelina were, wanting no part of being a rebound for you. Because that was ridiculous, your relationship with Angelina was in the past, and that’s all it will ever be, you weren’t heartless to rebound with Lynn.

Did she realize in the kiss that she needed space from you, that you weren’t the person that she needs at the moment?What did you do wrong to make her feel like this? Was it you or was it her? Did she actually have plausible reasoning for this?

“Space? Why do you need space?”

She remains silent, rehearsing the words in her head, but not speaking out on your behalf. If she, somehow, had the perfect words to soothe you, she wouldn’t waste a second to make things right but she didn’t…and it was eating away at her agonizingly. She felt her heart break at the miserable sight of the pain overtaking your features.

That was the last thing that she wanted to do, that she wanted to witness, to see you in pain. Lynn hated herself for being the one that would be causing you to feel upset.

“I need to figure out my sexuality.” She managed to say. “And I can’t do that with you around.” She didn’t mean for her statement to come off as blatantly rude, but it did and stung you, hard.

“I want you to leave, Lynn.” Tears clouded your vision, avoiding her remorseful gaze as you pointed to the door.

“[Name]…” She tried to convince you to think this through. “Let’s go upstairs to your room, and figure this out.”

“No, I don’t want to figure this out in my bedroom! I want you to tell me the truth!”

“I can’t tell you the truth right now because I don’t even know myself.” She scoffs, slapping her hands at her sides.

“Shit, I need to wrap my whole head around me liking girls- well a girl. Trust me, it isn’t anything personal at all, it’s just that I want to explore my sexuality before we start to date. After I do figure out my sexuality, I need the time to come out to my family.”

“I’m not rushing you to discover your sexuality or give you time to come out to your family, I would never do that to you! I just hated how you kissed me like that, and that you’re gonna leave me high and dry for a couple of days, probably even weeks!! Why would you kiss me so passionately and….I don’t fucking know, Lynn! You have these glorious soft magical lips which work wonders but your brain’s too stubborn to act accordingly.”

Again she didn’t answer you, and this time her silence was running your patience very thin.

“Fine, then!” You sniffle, wiping the ongoing tears, “Then I’ll leave so you can get extra space from me.” Your hand hovers over the doorknob, hearing movement from behind you.

Before you could have comprehended your senses, she swiftly spins you around and passionately kisses you with her hands cupping your face. Fighting the temptation to reciprocate the kiss, her lips were pressed against yours before you finally detached yourself from her. Lynn’s tears were running freely down her face, and you felt too numb to reassure yourself, you could barely comfort Lynn.

“I can’t help you figure out your sexuality, Lynn. That’s all on you.” Was the final statement that you could’ve mustered up at her, harshly pushing her away from you. You opened the door, storming out of the closet, ignoring the many eyes directed at you. On the way upstairs, you ignored your sisters calling out to you.

She had to discover herself, you couldn’t blame her for that but all while putting you in the middle of it, tore you apart. You were beginning to truly love Lynn as she aggressive as she is.

You just hated how her kiss was filled with passion that would keep you dreaming about it for days.

This wasn’t her fault and you understood exactly what she’s going through right now. You were dashing through sexualities like it was hopscotch, the entire ordeal was completely haywire.

You angrily made your way to your bedroom, not caring about your reputation now. Jumping on your bed face first as you scream muffled through the pillows as you cried. You cried, hoping to relieve yourself from this pain, but your mind replays back to Lynn and the conversation. To be honest, you wanted everyone to leave, including Lynn. No loud music to hurt your aching headache any further, just pure tranquility.

The tears didn’t stop flowing, they just began rushing at a faster pace, faster than you can handle. There was a knock at the door, interrupting your crying session. You ceased your tears, suppressing your sniffles as a way to keep silent, hoping that the person will leave you alone.

Although, the knocker was persistent and opened the door, revealing to be your best friend, Gabriella. She walks in and closes the door behind her.

“Didn’t you ditch with Margo?” You lift your head from your pillows, watching her with blurry attentive eyes.

Sitting on your bed, scooting over to you, “Yeah, but you’re more important right now.” A beat of silence wafted after her sentence, leaving you confused about your next words.

“Will you just hold me?” You mumble, tears prickling your eyes as you sit up.

“Yeah, yeah of course,” She opened her arms for you, sighing when you instantly hugged her tightly as if she was leaving you as well.

And she held you as you cried your heart out, feeling numb as you think about recurring events that lead up to your argument with Lynn. Were you too harsh on Lynn, refusing to see her side of the story, leading up to the ruin of your whole relationship?

Gabriella whispered nothing but meaningful words into your ears as she rubbed your back soothingly. Hopefully, tomorrow will be a better day because today felt like hell, and you were too exhausted, both emotionally, mentally, and physically.

© asvterias, 2023. please do not plagiarize any of my works.

[winterscaptain]

hi there! I've just discovered AJF on ao3 and omg it's incredible. Like epic EPIC. I've just started Berry Hill after binging part 1&2 in a day and fuck, I'm so invested. It's the best type of slow burn and I loooove the silent communication between Hotch and reader scattered throughout and how they've organically gotten closer over the years.

I've checked out the faqs and masterlist etc and seen that there's so much more to read (yay!) but I wondered if you were still planning on moving the tumblr-only fics onto ao3 still?

Sorry to be a pain as I know it can't be easy to transfer it across - I only ask because I've been reading it on my kindle via ao3 download as I knew it was going to be an epic and Tumblr is so awkward to read on sometimes haha

I'm so grateful for what you've written and shared with us, it's truly amazing and I've loved every part so far ❤️

my darling thank you so much!! there is SO much more to read and you've just inspired me to take a whack at a few more fics that i need to move over there. you're right - it is super labor intensive and life has been a liiiiittle crazy in the last few years, but i definitely want to make it more accessible for you and other folks who enjoy it!

thank you so much for your kind kind words!! i will post here again when i finish some chapters and let you know which ones have been updated!

[kuromori4]

A friend showed me this and it made me want to do it!

Opening line patterns 📝

List the first line of your last 10 posted fics and see if there's a pattern.

Now I actually only have 9 works posted, so as a bonus the 10th fic is a sneak peak at my current WIP. (Almost finished, coming soon!) In no particular order:

Friends who kiss-

Shadybug and Claw Noir were perched on a rooftop, silently basking in the light of the moon, neither one really willing to start up any lame small-talk.

This fic is about the Re-verse kids trying to figure things out after they decide to be good guys. But being nice is harder than they think.

No More Friends who kiss-

It had been over two months since Shadybug and Claw Noir had become traitors to the Supreme and joined the resistance.

This is the sequel to Friends who Kiss, In which the Re-verse kids are still having a hard time navigating their lives and relationship dynamic, And Adrien, (for once) has a lot to say.

Ashes to Ashes-

Marinette Dupain-Cheng fussed over her hair in her bedroom vanity.

My current longest epic fic, (19 Chapters) This one is a bit of a gut-punch. Not for the feint of heart! But if you like Trauma, emotional damage and suffering... This may be for you. An emotional rollercoaster told as an unraveling mystery, in which Adrien accidentally uncovers something he was never meant to, and things do not go well for him.

The First of Many Nights-

Muffled giggles could be heard some distance from the shore, a sound that scattered faintly across sand and silt until it died against the dull roar of crashing waters.

A mature content/NSFW fic. My first published fic of this kind and reads more sensual and romantic than smutty. (Though it is absolutely adult content.) Post-reveal Adrien and Marinette Enjoying a beautiful night on the beach.

Two steps forward-

Adrien lay on his back in bed, staring at the popcorn ceiling of their bedroom. 

I wrote this as a fan-sequel to Buggachat's Two Steps Back (one step forward)  (And silly me being totally new to the online/fic/fandom, Had no idea who they were when I naively wrote a sequel to their story. It just resonated with me, and I had to write what I thought might happen next.)

Mixed Signals-

Silence had settled in the room as they lay in their bed, both wide awake but each unwilling to admit to it; the soft breaths they took the only real sound loud enough to hear.

Our fav duo go to bed angry after an argument. But it's very hard to stay mad at someone who's so good at making you feel good. (It's not exactly Adult content, but it is suggestive and contains very mild things.) I wrote this on Christmas when I was supposed to be doing Family Holiday things, haha. Oops.

Taken-

Having freshly defeated the Akuma of the day and righting the world once again with the healing magic of the Miraculous Ladybugs, it wasn’t long at all before Ladybug and Cat Noir found themselves inundated with fans who began to crowd around excitedly.

Ladybug gets a little possessive and protective of her Chaton. I loved writing this angry/sassy Ladybug, it was so much fun!

A Bad Touch? -

Chat Noir sat on a peaceful rooftop, his back resting, not wholly uncomfortably, against a brick chimney. 

Shenanigans. Pure Shenanigans. Ladybug and Chat Noir find themselves in an awkward predicament. So what to do? Make it more awkward, of course! Probably the most fun I've had writing a silly little oneshot haha.

In Hot Pursuit-

Ladybug cautiously kept her distance as she followed Adrien Agreste.

This was actually the first oneshot I ever wrote in the MLB Fandom. (Please be kind! Haha) This was written purely for being silly; don't take it too seriously! LB's stalking tendencies have come round to bite her.

*Bonus!* Sympathy Pain- (Coming soon!)

“LADYBUG!” Chat Noir roared, his baton twirling away overhead.

This is my next longfic/Epic, (Currently 22 Chapters and going!) And I am SO HYPED for it! It's a mature content fic, filled with Relationship drama, angst, emotional damage, pain and trauma; While simultaneously being full of hot and steamy tension.

Ladybug and Chat Noir find themselves sharing more than they bargained for after an Akuma battle goes awry. And the results could be dangerous.

OK now let’s talk ✨ statistics ✨

1 of these fics start with dialogue

4 or 5 begin in medias res (it really depends on your definition of the term)

POVs: 2 for Shadybug&Claw Noir, 2 for Marinette, 3 for Adrien and 3 for stories that contain both Mari and Adrien POVs

2 are sequel fics

2 are mature/adult content fics and 3 have somewhat (mildly) suggestive themes.

Thanks to @beatrice1979a for showing me this post and @fandomofone You should do this too!

[civilight-eterna]

Fanfic Writing Questions

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

Looks like 17, incidentally my lucky number!

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

204,980 so far!

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Right now, Arknights. If Ex Astris gets any more content though I'll probably lunge for it again. I'm also always open to writing Vocaloid stuff even though I'm a little embarrassed looking back at some of my earlier works. I don't write for RWBY or Danganronpa anymore. I've been kinda hurt by people in those fandoms and I'm baby (or was baby) so it kinda killed my heart for it.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos? 1. From Hell to the Moon - 953 kudos My gigantic Touko/Komaru fic from back when Ultra Despair Girls had me in an absolute chokehold. I still love them but I kinda fell off from updating because I got a lot of comments like 'ughh i'm so sad this will never get updated' and the pressure got to me. 2. Between the Li[n]es - 425 kudos Another one I left on a massive cliffhanger for Danganronpa V3, my Miu/Kokichi/K1-B0 fic. I appreciate the support it received so much. I do enjoy writing robot sex. I fell off of updating because I made a friend in the fandom that kinned Kokichi pretty hard and seemed to feel like he was a much 'softer boi' than the way I wrote him and implied that my Kokichi was OOC and even though I didn't really believe it...well, you become your actions, so, by kind of, tolerating their interpretation it kind of neutered my own. We haven't talked in years. Sometimes I think about writing a quickie update chapter but I'm too into my other writing. As one comment put it: "came to nut, stayed for the feels", so I felt pretty damn good about the naughty scenes in this one. One of the more vulgar things I've published.

3. Other Side - 288 kudos My first fic for the RWBY fandom! I wrote it right after the Weiss trailer came out and we knew nothing, so a lot of the story is nothing like how the characters act now. I look back on it pretty fondly because it got me out of a pretty bad writing rut, but it's kinda bittersweet because I've moved on from RWBY. Still a sucker for Ruby/Weiss and I was overjoyed when Ice Queendom came out and gave them some spotlight. 4. Amor fati - 188 kudos My beloved golden child chenmiya fic. It makes me so happy to see this one climbing high into the list even though it's the most recent. A lot of tender love and care went into writing this and reading this is the key to my heart. Nothing excites me more than comments on this or any of my other chenmiya fics. It's basically my love letter to the ship. 5. Secondhand Smoke - 177 kudos One of my early entries into the ~problematic yuri~ genre from when Cinder/Ruby from RWBY had me by the throat. I got a lot of much-appreciated appreciation for writing these two and I remember this being the year that a bunch of my artist friends drew me Cinder/Ruby for my birthday! I'd never had anything like that happen before and I felt so loved.

5. Do you respond to comments? Sometimes! If you leave a lengthy comment I try to at least pop in and cry about how much it means to me haha.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? Sour Grapes, easily. But is anyone surprised?

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Definitely dodecatheon meadia. If ever I've written something I can consider to have a true fairytale ending, this is the one. This one really healed my heart too! I felt like I had a real fire under me while writing it and these girls have deeply affected me. I don't want to say too too much about it since some people are very likely still finishing the game. But it's also a new feeling to be the first fic in a tag!

8. Do you get hate on fics? Thankfully not really.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? Yeah, I sure do, almost exclusively-but I tend to have myself in this hostage situation of, "please make a 50k-100k epic to perfectly justify the characters having sex" that I occasionally escape containment from. I've gotten a little better at just laying the foundations quickly and getting to what I like to write, but it can still be a struggle because I get a little perfectionist with it. Which is funny because to me the 'perfect' smut doesn't exist, and it's made 'perfect' through the imperfections. I think the little bumps and hiccups and misunderstandings along the way are a lot more compelling to me than having everything go without a hitch, but there's definitely exceptions and different circumstances! Like when that's a big part of the story-like a character really really in control for another character's safety. When I write robot sex or medfet there tends to be a bit more detail about the safety side of things because I like to take the reader through the experience of safety too. I never turn right to the camera and go 'and now the safe way to do it is x' but I rely on the characters to express their expertise to each other, and their reassurance, and for the trust of the other character to speak for itself. haha, i rambled.

this is why for the lin/chen/amiya bondage i'm working on writing that i have a notebook with several pages of questions that lin goes through before tying people up. things like 'if you start to cry, does that mean you need to stop, or is that just what you need?'

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

Not really, the only one I've kind of written was the Ex Astris/Arknights one in dodecatheon meadia, based lightly off the fact that the games did a collab and I wanted to acknowledge them with the outfits of those girls from another world that they didn't quite get to know.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? Oh, just once. But it was SO long ago and the person was pretty young I think and they were ashamed and took it down right away, so live and let live.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? Some kind folks translated Sour Grapes into Chinese! I asked them for a link to where it ended up but I don't think they totally understood what I was asking. I was flattered nonetheless.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? No, I haven't. I do a lot of rping though still, though less publicly than I used to. I think if I co-wrote anything and published it it would have to be with @lanymme because she's my most trusted peer! When we talk about writing things and whenever she gives me feedback, she is so kind and spirited about it in a way that pushes me to do my best. Her encouragement is truly so earnest and even though I can be a little protective of my writing she has a really nice way about her of discussing how to make it stronger without making me ever feel like I'm not 'enough' as an author. I can't overstate how much I value her companionship; as an editor and a good friend and just lovely person overall. And when she leaves huge comments on my fics spotting all the little painstaking details I put in and mentioning them-what better satisfaction can there be as a writer? I always intend to do the same back but I am always just so floored and wiped out by the quality of her writing that I atomize before I can form cohesive thoughts. It just makes it all the more impressive that she can put together a fucking. bibliography of the story's moments and her reactions. So lanymme I hope you know how much I adore your style. /)///(\

14. What's your all time favorite ship? Chenmiya. I sort of felt inklings of it all throughout the beginning of the story and then chapters 7 and 8 sealed my coffin shut. Amiya sort of represents, I think, the idealism that Ch'en had wanted to believe in growing up. The world was really cruel and Ch'en adapted in her own ways, but she...rejects Amiya a bit because I feel like in her heart she can't let herself get too attached. She knows-or thinks she knows-that Amiya will lose hope and she'll feel that heartbreak all over. But slowly, her optimism and continued efforts to just...keep going, in a world that is cold, a world that shows her cruelty-it reaches Ch'en. And even though Ch'en puts up her front at first, Amiya's ultra-high empathy helps her understand who Ch'en really is, and she has the maturity to not begrudge her for the way she's processed things up to the events of chapter 7 and 8. As she puts it, "I saw the color of her heart", when talking about how Ch'en interacted with the kids in the slums that didn't have anyone else. And then she launches a rescue for Ch'en, and ends up so linked up with her memories and emotions that she just like. Becomes the other half of her soul in that fight. Amiya arrives with her optimism and hopes on the sheer chance that Ch'en is still alive and still needs her help and goes up the tower alone to find her and she does even against all odds. She talks about how she wants to cry when she sees her. In Ch'en's hour of need, Amiya arrives carrying the hopes of what she wanted to be herself, and they fight a battle where they are alone, saving each other, promising each other that they can do it, and they come out alive.

There are so, so so many more details about them. Ch'en's wishes for Amiya to call her by first name in a closer way, the way that Amiya shyly, obstinately continues to add some form of honorific for her. The way Ch'en inherited her abusive father's rhetoric and echoed his lines to Amiya to try to get her to distance herself from her in the beginning, only to apologize at the top of the tower and tell her she wishes she'd met her earlier.

But the main thing I always think about, at the top of the tower, is where black-snake-controlled Talulah puts Amiya in a prison of fire specifically to goad Ch'en. She wraps her in flames and says "I wonder how her melting flesh will smell"/something akin to that and Ch'en loses her mind and yells as her to "don't touch her!" and says "I'm the one you want, let her go!" etc., you know, all the good shit. So my interpretation of the scene is this: since the black snake can't make Talulah do something she doesn't actually want to do, I've always felt that the feelings behind that scene were of Talulah wanting someone close to her to really, truly understand how it feels to lose someone you love, and she saw Amiya to Ch'en as being someone analogous to what Alina was to herself. I think even if you read Ch'en's feelings for Amiya as non-romantic, Amiya was still so so dearly important to her to make her react that way, and that the black snake being cruel enough to try to leverage their relationship to, ultimately, kill Ch'en, who was Talulah's last tether to not losing control of herself fully-was so outrageously heinous. Ch'en could have killed herself trying to get Amiya out, which would have been what the black snake wanted most of all, since it couldn't quite urge Talulah to kill Ch'en directly, and it would have done so by preying on both Talulah's love/sorrow for Alina and Ch'en's love for Amiya.

scrolling up and seeing the wall of text i wrote and. yeah. there's still so much more.

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? Between the Li[e]s. Danganronpa fandom just hurts too much.

16. What are your writing strengths? Aside from dialogue, I think my other big strength is that I'm not afraid to write what I want even if and especially if it's fucked up. I also feel like another strength of mine is that the characters will take over for me, and get me to write them truly as they are without letting me change them. Even if that results in me writing things I'm very embarrassed and shy about writing.

17. What are your writing weaknesses? I lack discipline. I need to get myself consistently writing more, but it's hard for me to make time to do it.

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

I don't tend to do more than a few phrases, and only then if it's a character's native language and I want them to call someone a cute nickname or something.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Princess Tutu. I was 13. it was the 4th of July. I was supposed to be in bed asleep. But I was using the string lights illumination to light up my journal and it was then for the very first time I felt the feeling of realizing that I could make anything happen that I wanted.

It was not very good at all! But I treasure the memories of having boundless energy to write with because I was just so excited to see something become real from something that had only till then been inside of me.

20. Favorite fic you've written?

dodecatheon meadia. maybe it's surprising because it's not one of my headliner chenmiya fics, but-it's a secret chenmiya fic if you squint!

and honestly even though the story of ex astris is a little patchy at times, by the end you feel just...gripped by the world building and by yan and vi in particular. so i remember writing for them, desperate to see the happiest ending i could make, weaving it in with the canon with as many of my favorite details as possible, and it felt so good. i wrote pretty much nonstop for a week straight and finished it. the feeling of just-DYING to write was burning under my skin after finishing the game and the satisfaction of finishing the fic was magical, even if it came with the usual...idk, 'fanfic post-partum' of sending your writing out into the world when it's all done.

tagging: @lanymme, @annierosaart, and anyone else who wants to do it!

[gamesception]

lets read rgu chapter 16.5 extra

I'm not sure what the point 5 extra is about. It's not a separate chapter from regular old chapter 16. Are we doing a comedic side story? I'd like that. This chapter header promises some Utena/Anthy time, & I'd also absolutely be down for some time spent building up their relationship, something the manga needs to put some more time into before introducing Akio, if indeed manga Akio is going to be a thing.

After not really enjoying the duel with Miki, i'm honestly looking forward to whatever we're doing next.

We've referenced this a couple times, but yeah a lot of decisions that went into the anime weren't made with Saito nor was she even informed of them until pretty late. This is a cute little side comic about Anthy's dress, but I imagine other changes in direction were more frustrating.

A cute little story from Chuchu's perspective. Also I like the detail of Anthy being a terrible cook, something the manga shares with the anime, and a fun little humanizing detail, of exactly the sort I've been saying manga Anthy needs.

In the anime Anthy's terrible curry was eventually revealed to be to blame for a freaky friday style personality swap episode, that was pretty fun. Are we doing a version of that here?

Anthy cooking is soo cute. Mayo, haha.

Anthy tastes the curry and thinks its coming along well, Chuchu disagrees and takes it upon himself to add some curry powder, but...

He accidentally ALL of it?! ...chu...

I'm crying. This is great. The manga absolutely needed more of this. Come to think of it, this kinds of plots generally involve Nanami in the anime, and the lack of these comic asides to this point is the main reason I was sad that she wasn't here.

But making room for Anthy to be a bit more of a goof is a fantastic trade off. She's needed to be more of a character for a while, and in particular we need to hget to know and like her as more than just the Rose Bride before all the Akio stuff kicks in.

So anyway, yeah, we are doing the freaky friday thing, and it's every bit as fun here.

Yeah, this is great.

But of course they decide they have to switch back, and quickly hone in on the Curry as the cause, but in manga land Chuchu not Nanami was responsible for the added spice, so instead of Nanami & her friends traveling to India to find more Chuchu has to venture to the grocery store - a trip of roughly equivalent epicness for a creature of Chuchu's size.

But oh, no, that villainous Saionji has purchased the last of the curry powder! And he'll only hand it over in exchange for getting Anthy (Utena) to meet with him, since she's been avoiding him ever since he lost her to Utena (Anthy).

As in the other version of this story, Saionji wants to continue his love journal with Anthy.

In the anime, Utena as Anthy wrote a big 'fuck you' to Saionji, but here neither Utena nor Anthy want to deal with it, so it's up to Chuchu.

Yeah, if anything this is funnier.

But Saionji already gave Chuchu the curry powder before reading the note, so...

And yeah, we end more or less on the same note, with Anthy and Utena back to normal but Chuchu and Saionji swapped.

I do miss the anime-only joke where in the end it wasn't the super hot curry powder but rather Anthy's bad cooking that caused the explosion & personality swap, but overall this little comedic side story was every bit as fun and funny here in the manga, and a wonderful palate cleanser after all my Juri and Miki complants.

[em-writes-stuff-sometimes]

I hope i can provide you with even more happiness and i wish it goes easier for you with the kids going forward ! 🩷

Omg chapter 7 blew me away, i loved the smut i had to move away to read it considering i was at family gathering 👀, i loved the blazing hot anger that i felt in chapter 6 but in this chapter, it is exactly what Daemon described of Babey's anger as it is freezing cold, not like the anger the burns through him or any other targaryan and honestly i genuinely felt chilled with the way the conversation went with Alicent. I really hoped for her to be understanding but then again her conviction towared her belief was not so surprising. I feel so bad for babey, the betrayal she felt from both Senna and Alicent was just 🥺 poor babey

Thank you for another new chapter Miss Em ! Loved it as always and can't wait for the next chapter ! But please make sure to take your time and take care of yourself !

- 🧇

Thank you so much, 🧇!

I'm so glad you enjoyed Chapter 7 - it frustrated me a bit as there was a lot of dialogue I needed to get through, so it felt like not a lot happened, you know? It looks like the next one is also set to be a bit dialogue-heavy, but I suppose for my writing style that might be a good thing; I've noticed I tend to do a fuckload of expository narration, so the switch is tedious but likely overall worthwhile. Oof, I am SO SORRY about the whole 'starting with the smut' thing, haha - Daemon had to prove his limpdik was a one-time thing.

Babey is an icy sort of angry, which is interesting to play against all these hot-tempered Targaryens; I reflect on this sometimes and note that her annoyance (especially while preggo) exhibits itself as this sort of heated rage akin to that of Daemon, but that it's quite low-stakes so feels fairly performative. On the other hand, when she's genuinely angry, she's quite wintry, detached. Total accident that that came about, but I like to think she's picking up behavioural cues from Daemon in the way that younger people emulate their elders (which lends some more creepiness to this dynamic, lol).

Alicent was a dodge-ball of epic proportions, haha; as much as I like her and sympathise with her, I also believe that she has a great capacity for self-delusion. I don't want to come after religion necessarily, but I feel like the level to which she's retreated into the Faith has propped up her sense of righteousness to extremes, and so in her own mind she really does feel as though she'd been doing 'the right thing' by making that choice for Babey. Senna was a little more sympathetic here, but not by much. She's gone at any point, and we'll be introduced (albeit a bit circumstantially, because Daemon's NOT really paying attention lol) to Babey's new ladies-in-waiting next chapter!

I'm so glad you enjoyed this one! Feeling a bit sick at the moment, so my writing speed has gone to shit. I hope the next one doesn't take as long as this one did, but it looks like it probably won't be ready this weekend. I've just drafted the outline for it, and I'll need to tighten it up a bit before I write as there's some gaps in the narrative I need to bridge for it to all come together cohesively. Thank you so much, 🧇!

[fayes-fics]

An AMA night, yesssss!

So my question: I know that you mostly do requests but your WONDERFUL fic It Had to Be You was something you wrote in tribute to one of THE BEST rom coms of all time.

Do you have any other ideas for fics knocking around for either A or B that aren't requests that you'd maybe like to write in 2024?

Hi lovely!

Always love your gif choices hehe. TY for taking part in my ama night 🫶

Aww you are so kind about my fics 🥹🥹🫶 Yes indeed It Had To Be You was a slow burn project, but I really enjoyed writing it. Agreed on WHMS being the best romcom ever 😁

So far, no, sadly, I do not have any non requests I’m working on (as you can see on my wips page) or even planning for in 2024. I only have a couple of vague ideas for short one-shot fics that I might do - an Anthony version of the same premise as A Welcome Intrusion, and a fleeting idea about Byron/Benedict slash - but nothing epic or multi-chapter in the vein of IHTBY.

Tbh I feel sort of exhausted and like my muse is not as reliable as it used to be, so taking on a non request project, certainly a large scale one, just doesn’t seem likely. My main focus is to deplete my request WIPs pile before Season 3 starts and then see where I am.

Sorry my answer is so boring lol. But at least it’s honest haha.

Thanks for your ask my dear 😁🧡🧡

[quinloki]

Hi hi! If the One Piece self ship rambling is open, I would love to throw my hat (haha straw hat) into the ring! I recently got into the show (and yes I am making my slow journey across 1000 episodes) and have been falling in love with it quickly. And uh… I may have fallen for a certain blonde pirate cook. As I like to put it. I am currently Sanji for Sanji haha! I just don’t know! The way he genuinely can be a kind and badass dude but also be hilarious has my heart. Not to mention, someone mentioned in the anime that he first fell for Nami upon seeing her being silly with her friends. Not prim and proper nor stellar. Just herself. And I just… I NEED THAT!

This led to me creating a sona for One Piece! Since I’m still working through the show, my sona lore (I tend to treat them like OCs but based off of me and my own growth throughout the years alongside other self indulgent stuff like “mmm… I’mma be a pirate”) is still up in the air. And I probably won’t talk about all the lore here since gosh it would probably be… way longer then I’d like to admit… I made a species for this (specifically an One Piece version of selkies cause I discovered One Piece did nothing with selkies yet and upon discovering Sanji had a thing for mermaids, my brain went “hmm… seal mermaids”), I just gosh I’ve been enjoying this show so much and creating this sona. So far she is a member of the Strawhat Pirates, having initially joined to get passage to her home island due to being kidnapped from it by pirates and being utterly lost only to find family in the crew and become their chronicler, recording their adventures alongside any important information they should keep in mind while sailing such as supplies and current plans. I think so far my favorite thing for planning her has been designing her cause I decided to have her face initially covered for backstory reasons so she looks intimidating only to be a crybaby failgirl who is quickly charmed by Sanji but is too nervous and caught off guard by these feelings to say anything cause expectation subversion. And I don’t know, I’m such a sucker for the trope where the hopeless flirt actually gets a win without knowing it cause the other person is struggling to convey it. And so I’m excited to explore the duo that is the “looks like she could kill you, is actually a cinnamon roll” mess and this malewife cook I adore who simp for each other

And yeah! Thanks for providing this opportunity and I hope you enjoyed the rambling! And consider me a follower of this blog since you seem epic!

\o/ I love it!! And welcome to the fandom! I hope your experience is as great as mine has been!

I've fell in with really solid people and I cannot actually hype them up enough to be honest. If you do come across someone cranky, just block 'em and more on honestly - it's a huge fandom so there's all types wandering around.

Sanji's a good choice! He's got a heart of gold as far as I'm concerned. I have plans for a multi-chapter fic for him soon ^_^ (soon being 2024 at this point, but still). He's not one of my mains, but only because he's a little too much for me xD

I love the addition of a Selkie and everything that entails. It is a solid set up for a really good romance between your OC and Sanji =3 And you can adjust it as you want in the One Piece world - have fun with it \o/

I hope your story develops, and you feel compelled to write it down, even if you don't share it! \o/ May all your words and arts for it be just as you want them. <3

[patheticlittlemen]

ALL ABOUT ME

[Kurt Kunkle x Female Reader]

Chapter 3- One Look and I Couldn’t Breathe

Words: 1711

Warnings: None

Looking up the boba shop on your phone, you see that it’s not far from your house so you decide to walk. It’s a nice day outside so you don’t mind putting in your headphones and enjoying the fresh air.

After a short stroll, you come across the boba shop that starred in Kurt’s video. You walk in and look over the menu for a bit before ordering a small taro milk tea. After getting your drink, you decide to walk to a park nearby but before heading out, you take a picture holding your drink up with the logo facing out and send it to Kurt on instagram. You go to Spotify and scroll through your playlists, but before you can even decide which one to listen to, Kurt responds to your picture.

kurtsworld96> You actually went?

doodlesgalore> Of course, I wouldn’t lie haha

doodlesgalore> It’s such a nice day too, I’m probably even gonna go to the park

kurtsworld96> What park? I’m filming a video and need some good ideas, maybe you could help 😋

The emoji makes you laugh. Normally your friends only use them as a joke, but it seemed perfect coming from Kurt. You send the address and start walking toward the park you had in mind.

Eventually reaching a bench next to a tree that was shaded enough to keep you cool, you sit down and pull a sketchbook out of your bag. You aren’t anywhere near a professional artist, but you love to sketch people and landscapes. Settling on a view of a nearby lake, you start drawing.

Spending a little extra time on the scenery, you become engrossed on trying to draw the ducks near the pond. They keep moving around so you decide to try and draw from memory but can’t seem to get it right.

“Hey Y/N!” You hear a voice call, pulling you out of your fixation on the ducks. Kurt runs up to you, holding a camera in his hand. You wave to him, taking your last sip of boba.

“Got any ideas for the video?” He asks.

“I’m gonna be honest, I have no clue what to do.” You admit.

“That’s fine, sometimes the best thing you can do is turn the camera on and wait for something to happen.” Kurt hits a button on the camera and lifts it up, smiling at you.

“We’ll start by introducing you to the fans!” He says.

“Oh, uh… I’m Y/N, I’m 23 years old, and I’m one of Kurt’s…friends?” Kurt nods eagerly, urging you to say more.

“I don’t really know what else to say,” you laugh nervously. “Personally I’m not a content creator but I’m glad to be making my debut on Kurt’s channel.”

“So viewers, that’s Y/N! Hopefully she’ll be in more of my videos soon.” Kurt turns the camera to face himself, grinning. You laugh a bit at his awkwardness.

Nothing eventful happens for a while, so far the video is mostly you and Kurt walking around and commenting on things at the park, speaking about memories and making up stories about the people at the park.

“You see that lady in the purple jacket? I think she writes werewolf romance fiction and is one chapter away from finishing the book that will make her famous.” You say and Kurt laughs. This had been happening back and forth for a little bit, becoming more absurd the longer it went on. Kurt is about to say another one when he stops in his tracks.

“Y/N look, a playground!” He says excitedly. You laugh, a little confused.

“Yeah this is a park, there’s probably gonna be-“

“Y/N hold the camera,” Kurt says, pushing it into your hands and running off before you could do anything. You’re a bit surprised by the sudden action but follow him and hold the camera up to try and capture whatever Kurt is doing. Kurt approaches the playground, stopping next to the monkey bars and turning around, smiling.

“What I’m gonna do is something called epic parkour. Now, if you’ve seen my Draw my Life video, you know that last time this didn’t end too well, but this is gonna be different. Watch this!” Kurt says, turning around and attempting to climb on top of the monkey bars.

After a couple of weak jumps and you hyping him up, he sprints over to the slide and tries running up it, which proves to be more successful than the last attempt. He stops at the top of the slide for a second, panting before crawling through a tunnel and swinging across the monkey bars. The whole time, you’re laughing and cheering him on. He runs back to you, breathing hard and grabbing the camera. He turns it towards himself, face red and a bit sweaty. Something about the flush in his cheeks made your stomach do flips and you cast your eyes to the ground.

“Wasn’t that so cool?” he speaks to the camera but looks at you, beaming with pride. “What should we do now?”

“Well, you seem like you need water. I have a bottle in my bag and there’s a drinking fountain over there.” You say, walking towards the table to retrieve it. After handing it to Kurt, he runs away and you sit down on the ground next to the tree. You pull your sketchbook out and try to finish the lake drawing, but your mind is filled with thoughts of Kurt. You turn the page and start a new drawing as Kurt runs back and plops down across from you.

“Perfect time to take a break and talk about my music! I’ve been working really hard…” Kurt’s voice fades into the background as you get absorbed into the drawing. After a few minutes of cleaning up the sketch lines, you realize Kurt had stopped talking. You look up at him and see the camera facing toward you.

“Y/N show everyone what you’re drawing!” Kurt says. You wordlessly turn the sketchbook around and Kurt’s eyes widen.

“Is that…is that me?”

“Yeah,” you say, smiling. “I haven’t worked on a portrait in a while so it was good practice.”

“Do you know what this means, Y/N?” Kurt says excitedly. You shake your head, a bit confused as Kurt turns the camera to capture you both in its view.

“Guys, it looks like I officially have fanart!” The comment makes you laugh. You quickly sign the bottom of the page and tear it out, handing it to Kurt. He looks at it in awe, turning towards you and grinning. The genuine joy on his face made your heart beat faster.

“Thanks for joining me and Y/N today, have a great day Kurties!” He turns the camera off and sets it down, smiling at the drawing once again. Your phone buzzes and you check it to see a message from Rick.

Rick&lt;3: Bobby’s gone u can come back now

You look up at Kurt who is still staring at the drawing. All good things must come to an end, you suppose.

“Hey Kurt, it’s getting kinda late. I probably should get going.” You say. Kurt looks up at you with a sad expression but agrees.

“I can drive you home if you want.” He offers. It is getting quite dark, and walking anywhere at night as a woman isn’t always the best idea. You agree and he leads you to his car, where you notice a “Spree” sticker on the back.

“You’re a Spree driver?” you ask and Kurt nods. You have only ever been in a Spree once, but it was such a bad experience you swore off ride services forever.

You get in the car and Kurt’s phone connects to the radio as he starts driving. It’s a song you don’t fully recognize but know is popular on tiktok. It’s a bit quiet but you’re enjoying the music when finally a song comes on that you recognize and you start humming along. You’re still jamming when it reaches the chorus.

You said that he did you dirty, so what’s the harm in flirting, baby? ‘Cuz your boyfriend’s a bitch, he ai-

The song quickly gets cut off as Kurt skips it. You look over, a bit confused. Kurt’s eyes are wide and he is gripping the steering wheel, but his gaze is glued to the road. You brush it off and recognize the next song playing, humming along to that as well. This time you barely get through 15 seconds.

You know I’m grade A, your boyfriend wanna be me. You go out of your way to make sure you don’t see me. You should break up with your boyfri-

“Sorry, I just…” Kurt stammers as he skips the song. He settles on some hyperpop song as he pulls into your apartment complex. You thank him and step out of the car.

“Hey,” Kurt calls as you start to walk away. You turn around and walk back to his car, leaning into the now open window.

“Can I get your phone number? I just get so many DMs that I don’t want yours to get hidden.” You knew there was no way that was true as his Instagram had about 20 followers (mostly bots) but you’re not going to turn down the chance to get his number. You nod and Kurt hands you his phone. You open his contacts and type in your name and phone number, adding a smiley face next to your name. Handing the phone back to Kurt, you wave as he drives away and you walk into your building.

Kurt’s behavior was very strange regarding those two songs, but the lyrics give you a theory. Both of them are about telling someone to break up with their boyfriend, but they were also popular online so Kurt didn’t need to get so awkward about them. Unless he has feelings for you too.

“Too”.

You didn’t mean to think that. You know deep down it’s true, despite the fact that you just barely met Kurt and you have a boyfriend. But Kurt makes you happy, more than you have felt in a long time, so you don’t bother fighting the feelings.

[searchingwardrobes]

Scarborough Fair: 1/?

I know I said that I was going to wait until I finished this to post, but I changed my mind. I spend tons of time thinking about this story - way more time than I've spent actually writing it. So I thought going ahead and posting may give me a kick in the pants. I'm hoping to post weekly, fingers crossed.  

I wanted to be extremely clear in the tags what this story entails, but I hope some of you will give it a chance nonetheless. Yes, it's going to have heavy parts, but there will also be swooning and epic true love. You'll also see in the tags that this angst, though heavy, will have a happy ending. So . . . trust me? I hope? Haha. This is a CS AU of the Nancy Werlin book Impossible, so if you're familiar with that book, you know what I mean. When I read it, it broke my heart, put it back together again, and gave me massive CS vibes. 

Impossible itself was inspired by the folk song Scarborough Fair. Though the most famous version is by Simon & Garfunkel, there are many versions out there. I tweaked the lyrics to fit this story and the world of Once. Enjoy!

Summary: Seventeen-year-old Emma Swan has had a charmed life, despite being a foster child. She has a wonderful family who loves her, and the best friends in the world. The only thing that mars her idyllic existence is her birth mother: a homeless woman who mutters nonsensical rhymes and claims to be Snow White. One fateful night, however, Emma’s world is shattered. Perhaps her mother’s rhymes aren’t nonsense after all. 

Rated: M for date rape, dubious consent, teen pregnancy, and sexy times (the good kind!) 

Words:2k+

Also on Ao3

Chapter One

“O, where are you going?" "To Scarborough fair,"

    Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme;

"Remember me to a lass who lives there,

    For once she was a true love of mine.

 And tell her to make me a cambric shirt,

    Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme,

Without any seam or needlework,

    And then she shall be a true love of mine.

 And tell her to find the town which no one knows,

    Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme,

And reunite the lovers there with a kiss ,

    And then she shall be a true love of mine

 And there she must sow an acre with but one kernel of corn,

    Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme,

Upon the seashore before the tide comes,

   And then she shall be a true love of mine

Emma saw the rusted shopping cart rattle past out of the corner of her eye. She tried to keep her gaze mostly trained on her friends or on her lunch, but she couldn’t help glancing over towards the fence that surrounded the lunchroom courtyard. Mary Margaret’s long dark hair was matted as usual and laced with drooping, dead dandelions. She had a thing with flowers. And birds. She liked to swipe lawn ornaments for that reason. Propped sideways in the front of her shopping cart was the same chipped and faded bluebird, missing one eye, that she’d had for as long as Emma could remember. The giant pink flamingo was new, though. It rattled against the sides of the cart, banging against the bottles and cans littering the bottom. A whirligig painted like a giant sunflower leaned against the garish flamingo. It spun in the breeze with a faint whir. 

Emma forced herself to look nonchalant as she nibbled at her peanut butter and jelly. Maybe it was only a coincidence that Mary Margaret was just outside the schoolyard fence. 

“That girl right there! She’s a princess! Princess of Misthaven!”

So much for coincidence. Emma’s gaze lifted and caught Anna’s across the lunch table. Anna arched her brow as if to ask what she could do to help, but Emma was frozen like the proverbial deer caught in the headlights. 

“That woman is so weird,” Lily muttered, watching Mary Margaret let go of her shopping cart to clasp the chain link fence in a white knuckled grip. 

“Don’t forget who you are! Princess of Misthaven! Daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming!”

Her voice had risen to a shriek, and the teenagers around Emma started to laugh at the homeless woman. A few boys yelled at her to shut up, and one threw his can of soda at her. It clanked against the fence, spraying brown liquid all over Mary Margaret, but the woman didn’t even flinch. 

Please don’t say my name. Please don’t say my name. 

“Hey, hey you! Emma! I’m talking to you!” 

Emma pressed her eyes closed tight. Mary Margaret was so hysterical, it was difficult to understand her, and besides, Emma was a common name. Right?

“Is she yelling at you?” Lily asked, leaning across the table. 

“I’m done,” Anna proclaimed, a bit louder than necessary as she jumped up from the table. “Let’s go to the restroom before the bell.”

“Okay,” Lily shrugged and stood up, gathering her tray of barely touched cafeteria food. 

Emma followed suit, Anna looping her arm through hers after they’d both tossed their brown paper lunch sacks. Emma’s sister practically dragged her into the school building, and Lily hurried to catch up. 

“That blonde right there! The really pretty one!” Mary Margaret continued to yell. “Stop her! I need to talk to her - warn her! You’re too pretty, Emma! Too pretty for your own good!”

That had been Mary Margaret’s obsession this past year and a half - that Emma was too pretty. For some reason, it stung worse than every other crazy thing she had ever said. 

“Why was that homeless lady yelling at you, Emma?” Lily asked. 

Anna laughed and waved her hand dismissively. “We saw her at the park a couple of weeks ago. We tried to be nice and talk to her, but that was obviously a mistake.”

Hm. Anna was a much better liar than Emma would have expected. Lily seemed to accept it, too.

“Well, I’d go tell the front office if I were you. Maybe the secretary will call the police. That’s harassment.”

Emma only had time to nod at Lily’s suggestion before the bell rang. When the brunette turned her back, Emma mouthed a silent thank you to her sister. As much as Anna could run her mouth, no one in the family would ever breathe the truth about the local homeless lady, the one who claimed to be Snow White. 

Because the ugly, embarrassing truth was - “Snow White” was Emma’s mother. 

************************************************************

 Ingrid Jones grinned as she saw the name flash across her phone screen. If he was calling her, that could only mean two things. Either he couldn’t reach his brother, or he wanted something. Something he didn’t think Liam would agree to.

“Killian!” she said blithely as she answered. “It’s nice to hear from you.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” he replied, and Ingrid’s lips ticked up into a smile. Yes, he wanted something. 

Ingrid closed the files littering her desk and leaned back in her office chair. “How did finals go?”

“Well, I think. I mean, I felt pretty confident about everything but statistics. That class was tough.”

“You’ve always been too smart for your own good. I’m sure you did more than fine.”

Killian chuckled in a self-deprecating way. He was an odd dichotomy of cockiness and insecurity. It was part youth and part the tragedy he was born into.

“Listen, Ingrid,” Killian transitioned, clearing his throat nervously, “there’s been a slight change of plans, and I’m afraid it’s going to throw the entire summer off.”

Ingrid laughed merrily at his typical melodramatics. “Which is it, Killy, a slight change or an atomic bomb to the entire summer?”

Killian ignored the nickname that he only - rarely - tolerated from Ingrid and Anna. “If I wanted someone to tease me, I would have called Liam.” 

“Sorry, sorry, what’s the issue?”

“Well, you know that on-campus summer job my roommate helped me get?”

“Yes. The job that broke all our hearts because you wouldn’t be coming home.”

 “Broken hearts?” Killian asked, and she could practically feel his smug grin through her phone. 

“Of course! Melodramatics are apparently a family trait.”

“In that case, maybe I worried for nothing. The job fell through, which means we have to move out of the dorm. I’ve already gotten a new summer job, it pays even more, actually. It’s just -”

“You need your old room back?”

“Please?”

Ingrid laughed again, able to hear the puppy dog eyes and pouting smile in that one emotionally laden word. The boy could charm his way into - or out of - anything. 

“Of course you can, Killy.”

“Liam won’t mind?”

“Not if I tell him I already told you yes. And the girls will be thrilled. If only Elsa wasn’t interning on the Titanic.” 

“It’s a research ship in the North Sea, Ingrid.”

“Still sounds like she could hit an iceberg or something.”

“Nope, that’s the Atlantic.”

“It’s really annoying having such smart kids, you know.”

Killian laughed, and Ingrid found her heart filling up at the thought of him being home. Truth be told, she had been a little down lately over her college kids foregoing summer break at home. Summers and holidays were supposed to ease the whole “letting them go” thing. 

“If Liam’s not mad about it -”

“You really think your brother will be pissed that you’re coming home?”

“I know he loves me and wants to see me, but we argued over that on campus job when I applied for it. I don’t know, I guess I just didn’t want to hear him rub it in. Or find out he’d finally changed my room into a music room.”

“He’d have to get through me first. I’m the sentimental one, remember? So, what was your other request?”

“Help moving out this Saturday? It’s probably gonna take all four of you, but I really need Liam’s truck.”

“First of all, I find it hard to believe a nineteen-year-old college student has that much stuff. Second, the girls and I can’t help. We’re prom dress shopping this Saturday.”

“Emma’s going to the prom!”

Ingrid thought she heard a thud followed by scuffling noises. “Did you just drop the phone?”

“Uh no, of course not.”

“And you did hear me say girls, plural. Anna’s going too.”

“Oh, like a group thing.”

“No, they both have dates.”

“I knew Anna was seeing that idiot, but since when does Emma date?”

Ingrid sighed and turned her chair towards the window. A spring breeze tossed the leaves of the trees. “The idiot’s name is Hans, and for Emma it’s just a date. She’s a junior. She wants to go to the prom. A guy asked her. That’s it.”

“What guy? I mean, Emma’s always gone on and on about how foolish girls get about boys in high school, and how that’s never gonna be her.” 

“His name is Neal Cassidy.”

“And?”

“I don’t know. He goes to school with Emma. They have a few classes together.”

“You mean you haven’t met the guy!”

“Well, no” Ingrid frowned as she watched sparrows flit amongst the branches of the tree. Did Killian have a point? Should she have invited this Neal kid over? It was amazing that after seventeen years, she still second guessed herself at this parenting thing. Even a college freshman  seemed to be more concerned about prom than she was. She shook her head at how ridiculous that sounded. Killian had always been over protective of his sisters. He’d gotten into his share of fights over Elsa in middle school when she’d been bullied, he’d crawled through a thorny bush on a camping trip to get to Anna when she sprained her ankle two years ago, and then there was Emma. Perhaps because of the specter that was Mary Margaret, he was particularly protective of Emma. 

“Listen, Killian, I know you take the over protective big brother gig very seriously, but I really think you’re making a big deal out of nothing. Emma told me she has no romantic interest in this guy. Common interests, those were her words. Honestly, she sounded like she was picking out a sensible car instead of a prom date. She’ll go, she’ll dance, she’ll eat, she’ll come home. It’s not quite the crisis situation you're imagining. This is Emma we’re talking about. Now Anna with that creep Hans, on the other hand . . .”

Killian let out a shaky breath. “I suppose you’re right. Emma’s the smartest girl I know.”

A voice behind her chair made Ingrid whirl around. Linette, her level-headed yet compassionate human resources director stood there looking a bit dazed, her hands fluttering nervously at her waist. 

“Um, Killian, I need to let you go okay?”

“Sure. And thanks, Ingrid.”

“We’re family. No thanks needed.” She ended the call, then focused her gaze on Linette. “Everything okay?”

“More than okay,” the woman replied with a dreamy sigh. 

Ingrid narrowed her eyes. In the past twenty years working together, she had never seen her like this. “Just spit it out, Linette.”

“I hired someone.”

“For what? We have no openings!”

“I know.” Linette blinked, as if trying to focus, “but when you meet him . . .”

“I assume this is the lovely director?”

The man standing in the doorway was in no way a heartthrob. He was older, for one thing, with shoulder length, messy gray hair. He also walked awkwardly, leaning heavily on a cane. Yet there was something about him, an aura. Ingrid felt light headed, and a silly giggle tumbled from her lips when the man leaned over her hand and kissed it. 

“Charmed, dearie,” he said to her in a dulcet voice.

Ingrid’s gaze was drawn to the amulet about his neck which he touched with long, thin fingers. The longer she gazed upon it, the hazier her thoughts became. 

“Now,” he said, putting an arm firmly about her shoulders, “let’s talk about my new position here. More importantly, however, I want to know all about you and your family . . .”

Tagging:  (let me know if you wish to be removed or added):  @snowbellewells​ @teamhook​ @kmomof4​ @jrob64​ @xhookswenchx​ @winterbythesea​ @thisonesatellite​ @welllpthisishappening​ @spartanguard​ @ohmakemeahercules​ @tiganasummertree​ @sparlecorn93​ @sals86​ @pirateprincessofpizza​ @xarandomdreamx​ @zaharadessert​ @huntressandlioness1​ @jamif​ @undercaffinatednightmare​ @onceratheart18​ @sparlecorn93​​ @sals86​​ @pirateprincessofpizza​​ @xarandomdreamx​​ @zaharadessert​​ @huntressandlioness1​

[yoonia]

You are a phenomenal writer! The way your words flow so...eloquently is fascinating. The amount or times I've read writings considered 'advanced', and not understand a single thing was so extremely discouraging. It's almost seen as shameful for being so lost and confused. Then the day came where I came across your book 'Carousel', and suddenly I'm reading this rich and vibrant journey of what started as an arranged marriage that slowly becomes unravled into something much bigger and dangerous than I anticipated in the beginning! I had become so immersed and enamored by your writing, that it took me a while to realize that I read thousands of words in so little time, and I didn't have to step back and wonder what you meant. (Plot wise I did because I was like 'She knew???!! Pardon?? And oh wait he..okay he...okay...we're doing this now, huh...just wait next chapter then karma will come and bit you in the-!) Once I was halfway through your writing, I realized that this type of writing is top-tier! I could read this easily and become fully immersed into it, and not feel embarrased that others can understand it and I can't. I...words can not describe how powerful your writings are, and not just for me. I noticed many had likened your writings to a published book. And I was like....well yeah? The sky is blue, water is wet, yoonia's writings are heaven sent creative funtastic jaw dropping emotional rollercoasters of epic porportions, you know? Obviously. I want to thank you for allowing me and many others the chance to experience your creativity, and follow along with you and your character's adventures. I especially want to thank you for changing my perspective on professional writing. They can be a fun read too! You're an amazing author, yoonia!

I am...completely speechless after reading this that I needed a moment (or a whole night) to gather myself before I can give you a proper respond 🥺🥺

First of, thank you so much for finding my writing, and thank you for diving into the journey through Carousel. That story is such a dear to me as I grew with it as a writer as I was writing it. It brings me joy each time anyone comes to me and tells me that they have read and enjoyed the story, because it means so damn much to me that people love reading what I worked on for a long time. And I especially love it when someone tells me what about my writing that they enjoyed so much.

I know I'm nowhere perfect as a writer yet, but it's a relief to me that you had fun going through the plot and everything that happened in it. I know that not everyone expected to find all the twists and turns throughout the story if you came in just by its original prompt but I just simply couldn't help it haha

Secondly, I really appreciate you for sending this message to me and for it to come at the right time. I've been pondering about my own writing journey lately and how I want to carry on. I even lost some motivation to write a while back and have only now begin to find my pace again so reading through this felt more reassuring. I think you've just given me some affirmation that people are still enjoying what I write 🥺

Lastly, I just want you to know that I've been slowly building Carousel and another story into original novels. In a way, your message is truly motivating me to keep going through it and to grow further with my writing, and I really want to thank you for this.