#i have a bunch of stuff i need to write first but oooh

[yuri-is-online]

Aceyuu brainrot has me like: I was watching Game Grumps play the Karaoke Horror game and ended up thinking of this scenario where Ace, Yuu and friends go Karaoke on the island somewhere and as the guys are belting out to Twisted Wonderlands version of Mr Brightside, Yuu is scrolling through the song listing getting more and more dejected because they don't know ANY of these songs and are gonna make a twat of themselves infront of everyone who do know these songs and they miss the songs from their world and and and-! And Ace notices Yuu's deflating mood and takes the mic for himself, chooses a song and looks like he's prepared to sing to everyone, only to obnoxiously go right into the mic and say "can I get a price check on two bannanas? A price check on two bananas please". Some people in the booth are groaning, why can't he take this seriously? Others are laughing while Yuu is creasing up with laughter. The fear and tension of performing gone as their turn comes up and they look at Ace with a twinkle in both their eyes as Yuu says "Hi, I'm Jared, 14 and I never learned how to read" suddenly Aceyuu are menaces with the mics and Yuu's having a blast just messing around and making everyone laugh with Ace. They didn't even realise he started this for them.

Or something 💦💦

No because that's exactly the way it would happen.

Ace is almost always the first person to make fun of Yuu (actually it's most Grim he makes fun of but Yuu yuusually ends up catching strays) for not understanding or knowing Twisted Wonderland things so he would never SAY "hey can't you see Yuu's feeling left out?" That'd be lame. No he just cracks a joke because he's the Ace of Hearts, that's what he does. Everyone already thinks he's kind of a dick and annoying. Your laughter is worth their groans though. There's that smile he loves, and when you join in that makes it 100% better. He loves himself a partner in crime! Especially when it's his favorite one.

There are just so many things Ace does for Yuu that he plays off as nothing he's just so (╥﹏╥) He's so good at picking up on when they're sad or uncomfortable and immediately goes to fix it! He's got green flags! They're under 1000000 layers of sarcasm but HE HAS GOT THEM GREEN FLAGS DO YOU HEAR ME!

[insomniamamma]

Closing Time: Marcus Pike x F!reader

A/N: This is my first installment in my Year of Kisses themed creation challenge! I was invited to join the fun by @oonajaeadira and @yearofcreation2023! I have never really participated in anything like this so be gentle. This fic plays fast and loose with Marcus Pike canon. I wanted to write for our Perfect Boyfriend without watching seven something seasons of the mentalist. If Marcus is OOC that is entirely on me. Also Sherri is entirely based on a supervisor I had once. I loved that lady to pieces.

Warnings: Angst. Break ups. Language. Alcohol. Some drunken flirting and kisses. Reader has a truly shitty ex.

          This is the last place he wants to be. C'mon, Marc it'll be fun, said Danny. You need to get out of this fucking office, said Sherri. You're just gonna sit home and mope otherwise.          I'm not going to mope.          You're gonna sit home and watch old movies and pine. For that stupid Lisbon woman, or whoever's managed to break your heart lately. Sherri gives him the look.          Fine. She means well. Sherri and Danny and Big Bill, they all mean well. They know him well, too well maybe. Marcus's New Years plans involved getting take out and catching up on the Christmas movies he'd neglected. White Christmas. Die Hard. Gremlins. The classics. Fine. I'll go. For a little while.

         And now? The jukebox is playing "Hallelujah," John Cale's version. It's just past midnight and the ball dropped on the tv over the bar and people kissed each other and called their friends and Marcus's phone sits like a brick in his pocket, a fossil from when Lisbon would call, from when Dierdre and Sarey would sometimes call. Can't think of a single person he wants to call. He stands arm in arm with his friends who dragged him here, rocking back and forth with them, "hallelujah, hallelujah, Halle-loo-oo-oo-oooh-jah--"          And that's when he sees you, hunched at the bar, the only other person in this dive who isn't paired off, who isn't singing along with a bunch of drunks, your face pinched and closed off in the bleary bar mirror, peeking out around plastered on stickers and flyers for long defunct bands. He can tell that you've been crying.

         You drink and watch your phone light up with messages. Hey you okay? Did you make it home? U ok? What happened? You don't give a fuck. They can wait until tomorrow to find out if you lived or died or caught an Uber back home. Fuck. Home's not even home anymore technically. Staying the night at my Mom's. He'd texted. We'll figure out the logistics tomorrow. He'd texted. Logistics. Three years and it boils down to fucking logistics. Three years in and he dumps you at 11:50 on New Years Eve. So that's how you find yourself alone in this little pub with a bunch of drunks singing along with the jukebox, but at least it's quieter here. You catch your own reflection in the mirror, face peering over half empty liquor bottles with plastic spouts stuck in them, eyes puffy from crying. You laugh. A low and bitter sound. Who dumps somebody on New Years Eve?          "...couldn't've waited twelve more hours," you say, muttering into your half-finished drink, into the black hole at the center of the galaxy, "Couldn't've sucked it up for one more fucking night!" The last bit comes out loud, and you feel eyes on you, hunker down into yourself, into your glass, like a snail pulling into its shell, and then the noise of the bar resumes.          He'd rested his hands on his shoulders and peered into your face like he did when he meant kiss you or say something sweet. I'm not in love with you anymore, he'd said, the same tone of voice used for things like hey can you take the garbage out, or hey, we need more dish soap the next time you go to the store. Okay, so maybe bitch-slapping him in the middle of the dance floor in front of all your friends wasn't the best move, but it felt good and right. And now he keeps texting you about his stuff. His clothes and his x-box and you and the girls did a round of tequila shots before and you can't quite figure out how this all happened.          Why now? Why tonight? Things were good, weren't they? Or at least not bad, and you watch the ice melt in your drink and feel tricked, bamboozled, and oddly relieved. If he's willing to pull this shit you're better off without him, you think, but deep down you just wish it was all a mistake, that you'd just have someone warm to come home to, even if things weren't great. That maybe the both of you will wake up tomorrow and be like did we really break up last night? That's crazy. But he's texting you about his x-box and his ps 5 and how he really needs it even though you went halfsies on it. Text me one more time and you get nothing. You hit send and turned off your phone. Thank fuck his name's not on the lease. Let him stew. Let them stew. Fuck 'em.          You feel someone settle at the bar beside you.          "Hey, are you okay?"          "What do you think?" It comes out harsh and you regret it instantly. This stranger  in this dive on New Years Eve has nothing at all to do with what's happened. You turn to look and you see a tired man with his lips quirked up in a smile that doesn't quite hit his eyes.          "Sorry," you say, and shake your head, "I'm not--fuck--this has been a hell of a night. I hope you're not looking for a hookup because I got dumped at ten-till and the last thing--" He laughs, a soft low sound.          "A hookup's the last thing I want," he says and holds out his hand, "Come and sit with us. So you're not all by yourself." You eye him skeptically.          "Is this some sort of pity thing?" He laughs a little, a soft exhale, "If it is, we can be pitiful together. He glances over at a table of drunks, "I'm only here because they dragged me. I was going to order a pizza and watch Christmas movies-"          "It's past Christmas."          "I spent Christmas working," he says, "If that's not pitiful I don't know what is." You feel yourself warming to him.          "I bet you don't even have a tree up."          "I do!" He smiles, and this time it does touch his eyes, frames them in lovely crinkles, and maybe it's better to hang out with a handsome stranger in a bar than sit and drink and brood about how tomorrow you're gonna have to clear your boyfriend's shit out of your place. Ex. Ex boyfriend you have to keep reminding yourself. "It's not a real one, and it's only four feet tall. But it's there!" He offers his hand again.          "C'mon," He says, "You don't have to be all alone." Fuck it, you think, down the watery dregs of your whiskey sour and place your hand in his, allow him to draw you from your place at the bar. He is striking, leather jacket across broad shoulders, tight jeans that grip him just right, and eyes so deep and warm a girl could fall right in and drown.          "I'm Marcus," he says, and gives your hand a squeeze, but doesn't let go. You tell him your name and he leads you away from the brightness of the bar, back to where the jukebox plays a distorted love song "the curl of your bodies, like two perfect circles entwined see you feel hopeless, and homeless, and lost in the haze of the wine--" back to his table of friends, smiling and laughing, sticky shot glasses and half-filled pints between their hands. Sherri. Danny. Big Bill. Sherri has large blonde hair and gummy blue eyeliner and a cigarette roughed voice.          "You seem nice enough, what're you doing with this sad sack of shit?" She jerks her head and Marcus looks like he wants to evaporate and you laugh.          "I got dumped--let's see--" you power up your phone just long enough to check the time, lock screen lit with a tangle of missed texts --"47 minutes ago? Guess two sad sacks of shit are gonna find each other, huh?"

         The night passes in a warm blur, you and your newfound friends drinking together and laughing, Sherri's got stories that leave the table wheezing laughter and all through it Marcus is a warm presence at your side, your hands keep finding each other's, his gentle grasp an anchor in this storm of a night. You feel like you've speed-run the stages of grief over your ex. Sherri eyes you over shot glasses that have popped up like mushrooms over the course of the evening.          "Listen here," she says, pointing a pink lacquered dagger of a nail in your direction, "Keep the PS5. He paid his half in cash right? Unless you wrote him out a receipt he can't prove shit. His name's not on the lease. Leave whatever you see fit in a cardboard box by the front door and block his number. Wash your hands of him. You don't owe him shit."          "Yeah, fuck him," says Danny, and Big Bill comes back from the bar holding too many drinks and Marcus rests a warm palm on your shoulder.          "Hey," he says, those big dark eyes full of concern, "You don't think he's gonna try anything do you? You're safe, right?" And your first impulse is to laugh, the only thing your boyfriend, ex-boyfriend is a danger to is game controllers and the fifteen year olds who roast him over discord, but Marcus looks so sincere.          "Yeah. He's--I'm not worried."          "Can I give you my number? Just in case something happens--" Danny launches in to the worst mob-movie New York accent you've ever heard in your life.          "You give Markie here your number, see? One woid and your ex'll be sleepin with the fishes. We'll fit him out for the old cee ment loafers, we'll--"          "Jesus, Dan, you sound like the bastard child of Tony Soprano and Rizzo the Rat--" And everyone loses their collective shit.          "If I'm Rizzo the Rat, then you're Miss Piggy--"          "No way am I Miss Piggy! I'm nowhere near that wound up--"          "Bill here is Sweetums."          "If I'm Sweetums, Marc's that grouchy Eagle."          "No way," you say, "He's Kermit. Tell me I'm wrong."          "Hi-ho this is Kermit the frog here with a muppet news flash," and that's it. You are crying into your drink with laughter, and once you can breathe and put words together you tell him--          "You are the last person in the world I would've thought could do Kermit the frog--" And he smiles, a bashful one that pinks his cheeks and turns his face away.          "Marcus has many talents," says Sherri, "Don't let him fool you."

"I can see that you are lonesome just like me And it being late, you'd like some company Well, I turn around to look at you, and you look back at me The guy you're with, he's up and split—the chair next to you is free And I hope that you don't fall in love with me--"

         The lights are up and Tom Waits plays through the bar. People settle their tabs and head out into the bright night. It's snowing, large flakes that catch and hold the light, street-lights haloed in whirling yellow.          "Do you need a ride?" He asks, snow catching in his hair, his hand warm around yours.          "I can walk," you say.          "I'll walk with you,"          "How'll you get home?"          "Taxi. Uber. I'll manage," he smiles, soft and sad, "Let me get you home safe, okay?"          "Okay." Marcus offers his arm like some old time movie character and you loop your arm through his. Snow falls, slow and soft and heavy, and the bars let out all around, spilling people into the streets, closing time everywhere, and people sound happy, buoyed on the promise of a better year, at least for a few days until the shine wears off and it's back to business as usual. Sooner than you want you're at your front step.          "This is me," you say, and wish it wasn't, wish for more time in the swirling snow with him, and his hand traces down your arm, his fingers find yours and lace through.          "Are you okay?" he asks.          "No. But I will be." You surge forward and hug him, wrap your arms around his broad back and snow-dotted jacket, and he grips you in kind, cradles the back of your head in his hand, tucks your face into the warm join of his neck and shoulder, "Thanks for looking out for me." He squeezes you tighter.          "It's my pleasure," he says drawing back to look at you, his hands on your shoulders, "And if your ex--"          "He won't," you say, "He couldn't even wait till midnight. Couldn't even give me a kiss. I mean, not that I'd want him to now--" Marcus reaches for you, brushes the pad of his thumb over your cheek, the question hanging in his eyes. You nod and he presses his lips to yours, waits for you to kiss back, and then his tongue slides soft between your parted lips, tender, undemanding, your face cradled in his warm, calloused hands.          "Come upstairs with me," you say, and you feel him draw back, bright line of hurt in your chest.          "I want to," he says, "I want to take you to bed if you'd have me--"          "Then why--"          "I don't want to push you," he says, "I move fast. I scare people off sometimes. I like you a lot. I don't want to hurt you, okay?"          "Okay." That line of hurt resolves itself into a dull ache, "I should get some sleep. Gotta dump Asshole's stuff on the curb bright and early." He leans in kisses your cheek.          "See you next year."          "See you."

         At some point in the deepest ditch of night you turn your phone back on. Peer bleary-eyed at the notifications, unanswered texts. You send a group text to the girls, home safe don't worry about me. You give your ex a time to come get his shit and then block his number. You drift in the dark, and your phone vibrates against your chest.

         M: If you don't feel too terrible, I know a place that does breakfast all day. Best blueberry pancakes in town.          M: I'd like to see you again.

[signiorbenedickofpadua]

20 questions for fic writers!

I was tagged by both @honeyteacakes and @acedragontype. Thank you my dears!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

7 right now. I think I had three or four up on my first account, but that one was randomly deleted by the site in like 2019? Or something? I never could get it back, and I never republished the fics, because I kind of lost motivation for writing for a while because of that, and now that I'm back in the game, it's been so long since I wrote that stuff that I either don't really like what I wrote then, or figure that I'd rather rewrite the one fic that I do still like. Oh, god. I just remembered that there was ONE fic that I actually orphaned back then, which means that it's still up. Oooh Christ... I'm not going to name drop it, because I orphaned it for a reason - the reason being that it's the crackiest crac!fic imaginable, born out of sleep deprivation and giggly group chats... I'm looking at it now, and it's apparently 10 years old. Oh. Oh no. I reread it. Oh, god. This was the first "attempt" at smut I ever wrote, and it was between a woman and a sentient inanimate edible object. 8d10 psychic damage, do not recommend.

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

At the moment: 296.290 words When I'm finished updating This Dream Is Over (Another Has Begun) it will be around 350.000 words, and I just hit 105k on the Regency fic I'm working on, so by the end of the year we might be close to 500k... written in one year...

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Just Sandman, currently. On my last account I wrote for Merlin, ACD Sherlock Holmes (a school project, believe it or not), and a LotR/HP crossover (yeah, I don't really feel like re-publishing and finishing that in 2023, for obvious reasons). I might go back to writing for Merlin again, some day. I sort of want to rewrite that one fic I did post, because I quite liked the premise...but I feel like I would need to rewatch the entire series before I did that, and who's got the time?

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

1. My Stranger, My Dream - 1507 2. Totus Mundus Agit Histrionem - 818 3. Yours for the Taking - 579 4. Body and Soul, Always and Forever - 565 5. Stay, Just this Once - or - GroundHob Day - 499

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

I try to reply to almost every comment, because I want the commenter to know how much I appreciate that they took the time to comment. I crave that validation, perhaps a little too much, but that's robably common with authors... When I'm updating a fic one chapter at a time, I usually manage to reply to all of them, even if it's just with a couple of heart emojis (if I couldn't think of anything else), but once the whole fic is up and I get one reader who is leaving a bunch of comments in rapid succession, I sometimes skip the one's that are just emojis or exclamation marks and focus on the ones I have real replies to - not because I don't appreciate the emojis just as much, but because I worry that I'd be spamming the reader with like five identical heart-emoji replies :P

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

Hm, I tend to end things rather happily, but I suppose Stay, Just this Once could be read a bit angsty, since it ends with Hob in 1889 going "Dream kissed me and then left with an implication of potential future kisses? Oh boy, I can't wait until 1989!" when, you know, Dream won't show in 1989.

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

Probably This Dream Is Over. I mean, they're all pretty happy, but that one is just so hopeful and soft... You'll see what I mean when I post the last chapter ;)

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not really. There was one reader who left a couple of comments with very much unasked-for advice (and fairly bad advice, at that) which made me feel a bit meh, but that's hardly hate. Then there was this one comment that went a bit like "Well, that was stupid," and to this day I have no idea if they meant the writing or the characters (who were, to be fair, being very stupid in that chapter). Tone can be very hard to read in text, so I'm trying to give them the benefit of doubt. But no, no real hate, thankfully.

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

Yup. When I started writing again about a year ago, I decided to give it a try, not really thinking I could make it work, considering the last time I wrote romance I had trouble even describing a kiss (which was almost a decade earlier), but it actually worked (I hope)! Then I just couldn't seem to write something without smut. I tried to deliberately leave things off before the explicit parts in one or two stories (making them "just" mature) for people who aren't into the stuff, and I also try to make all the explicit content skippable for those who want to read the rest of the story. What kind of smut? Idk, I've written M/M and M/F so far, I'll probably write F/F at some point too. I think most of it has been fairly vanilla so far, with some light themes of BDSM maybe, if you squint.

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

Only that LotR/HP one I mentioned earlier, which I abandonded when my account was deleted. I did start planning a Star Trek AU for Merlin, but I think I only wrote a chapter or so before my motivation died and I never published anything. I think I'm generally more interested in AUs taking place in other franchises than "real" crossover with actual characters from both universes.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my knowledge. Let's keep it that way!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not yet! I suppose I could do it myself, but as the only language I speak well enough to translate into is Swedish, and Swedes tend to read stuff in English anyway, I don't know that there would be much of a point.

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

No, but I'd be open to trying! Could be either super fun or incredibly frustrating, but you never know until you try!

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

I mean, I think it's a draw between Merthur and Dreamling. If I went back and started reading and writing fic for Merthur again, I'm sure I'd fall right back into it, even if Dreamling is my current obession.

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

Only the couple of WiPs I have from my first AO3 account, I think. I'm trying really hard this time around not to jump between projects too much, but finish what I have before I start something new. If I give myself free reins, my ADD is going to make sure nothing ever gets finished.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Dialogue, for sure, and characterisation - or at least I fervently hope that my readers would agree on that point.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Descriptions, definitely. What does anyone look like? I don't know, I couldn't decide, make it up yourself. I had to go back and make myself add a sentence about Hob's friend Dana being blonde in the last two chapters of This Dream Is Over, since she's an OC and my readers would have no idea at all what she looked like otherwise. It's a struggle, and I do try to practise, but it doesn't come as easy as dialogue and character.

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

Fun! I've written a few scenes with some Middle English in them, and I have this vague idea of part of a scene where Hob and Dream are walking in London or something and Hob overhears a couple of Swedish tourists discuss how to get somewhere or something, and him turning to them and giving them directions in hilariously outdated Swedish, and Dream going, "When did you last visit Scandinavia?" And Hob says, "Um, 1745, I think. Why?" and Dream is like, "...Nothing." I just don't know how funny that would be to readers who don't speak Swedish... Might still use it some day.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Technically? The Redwall series. I was like 10 and we had to write a story in school, and I was obsessed with Redwall and wanted to write something with talking animals, and I couldn't come up with a better name for the place, so in the end I straight up copied the world and wrote more or less a self-insert who ended up there, entirely oblivious to the concept of fanfiction, but I suppose it counts anyway. I won a prize for it. I have no idea if the adults who judged it knew it was fanfic or not...

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

I think it's the Dreamling Regency AU I'm currently working on. If I manage to pull it off as well as I'm hoping to, I think it will be the best thing I've written so far. I'm even considering looking for beta readers for the first time, because I think it has potential and I want it to be the best it can be.

21. CHEEKY EXTRA QUESTION BECAUSE I FELT LIKE GIVING ADVICE - What's the best advice you have for other writers?

If you write longfic, NAME YOUR CHAPTERS! My first couple of fics just had numbered chapters, and whenever I had to go back to double check some detail, or rewrite some sentence I had to retcon, I had to be like "uuuh I think it might be chapter five??" and then waste a bunch of time checking. Now, I have chapter titles which are descriptive enough to remind me of exactly what the chapter is about, and it has made my life so much easier... Also, connected to this, actually using the chapter headers etc. in your word processor so that you get a list of chapters you can pull up to navigate.

Tagging:

@pellaaearien, @arialerendeair, @hardly-an-escape, @ml-nolan

[lilaccoffin]

In the spirit of heart day tomorrow I wanna write some stuff about Vanichai from (mostly) Chai's POV

OKAY LIKE I feel like I don't talk about how Chai feels about Vanilla well...I have a joke with friends that he's getting Rose Quartz'd because I haven't been able to tell them much about VaniChai because I don't wanna spoil HFR for them but ahem...maybe I can rectify that by just talking about how he felt in college.

So, I think he's pretty chill about Vani the first time they meet because they get to talk about music for a bit. He doesn't have to say anything about himself much, just his opinion on a band's newest album! Though the conversation gets a little dizzying when Vanilla starts using a bunch of technical terms that Chai doesn't understand. He's totally the type of guy who just listens to music and goes "this slaps!" but doesn't know anything else. I mean, apparently he doesn't even know what being a rockstar entails according to info on his wiki, so...he definitely doesn't know what the hell percussion instruments are by that categorization but he'll see some cymbals and go "oh, cymbals!"

Anyway, he has to really fake it when Vani goes into those kind of tangents so he just nods and agrees with whatever he's saying and Vanilla is none the wiser. He definitely looks up what the hell he was talking about later and goes "oooh...damn this guy knows a lot about music!" And find its really impressive and cool.

So, yeah, we all agree that Chai is the type to keep people at arms length, and that's a result of bullying growing up. I agree with the folks who have said he probably had to deal with fake friends and pity friends and that also reinforced his friendship moat. So when Vanilla is here being genuinely excited to be around Chai and talk to him and hang out, it wigs him out quite a bit on the inside. He tries to reason with himself though, like, why would Vani want to pretend to like him? They're both grown adults! This kind of crap is typical of kids growing up but...this is college, it's different, right?

He also doesn't want to admit that he wants a friend deep down. He's convinced himself he's better off by himself and he doesn't need others, but c'mon...it's very obvious Chai still yearns for something. The fact he wants to be a rockstar proves it. Being a rockstar allows you to be loved and admired by millions without them getting too close! You don't have to worry about any of the crap you had to worry about growing up because security will get those fans out of your hair, but they'll still shout about how much they love you from afar! Perfect, right?

So! Chai tries his best to push aside the thoughts that Vani is just pitying him or faking that he wants to be his friend. He'll give this guy a shot! He seems so genuine...and Chai actually likes hanging out with him, too. He's never really had someone in his life that listened to what he had to say so attentively. Well, anyone besides his parents. It's just nice being able to hang out with someone and feel like the fun is real and it's not at anyone's expense. There's never a moment with Vani where Chai thinks he's being laughed at instead of laughed with, unlike those other times growing up.

Things were going pretty well the first year they knew each other! It was especially funny when they realized Vani was delivering pizza to Chai's two years before and how he has Chai's favorite pizza order memorized from how many times he'd get pizza from their pizzeria. But, the fun goes downhill once Vanilla shares the idea of starting a band together and Chai agrees in excitement. (At this point I've been re-working the iced tea lore because I want it to make more sense and also properly convey that both Chai and Vani were in the wrong in their own respective ways!)

Vanilla runs the idea by Chai after a late night snack run. They're a bit hyper off some soda and candy and it just sounds like the perfect plan! Vanilla wanted to be vocals and Chai wanted to be guitar, but both not being able to fulfill those roles, they agreed that Chai being vocals and Vani being bass would work. They'd just have to find a drummer and a guitarist and if they wanted a keyboardist they'd work that out later! Chai was super stoked! He had a friend for the first time in what felt like ages, and now they would be rockstars together!

It all sounded perfect...until Vanilla started to go into overdrive. He'd do his best to pressure Chai to pick up on his school work, but Chai didn't really see the big deal. He was mostly here in college for his parents' sake. Chai strikes me as the type of guy to think making music should just happen and there shouldn't be a huge emphasis on school stuff to achieve the dream. Vani doesn't agree with him, but not being one to push a confrontation, he would find a way to push Chai along...by secretly doing some of his work for him in classes they shared.

Once Chai finds out about this he feels awful. He knows Vani is very serious about school and if he got caught doing this, it could get them into big trouble. He only really cared about Vani ruining his own chances, so he tells him to stop that and just let him handle it. Vanilla trusts him enough to keep his word, and Chai does put a little more effort into his work, but the shitty attitude from their professors pushes him back onto his slacker tendencies as a way of not letting them push him around. An act of defiance.

This makes Vanilla panic a bit and he tries once again to nudge Chai along, but Chai tells him to seriously not worry about it and let him take care of it! He can't let them push him around! Vanilla tries to understand but he's so bad at this kind of thing. He only knows how to be sneaky about stuff and he's horrible at standing up to people in authority! So Chai doing this with their professors is WHOA to him. He probably tells Chai to just let stuff go when professors mock him and Chai is like "absolutely not, Vani." Vanilla gets kinda mad because him back-talking and not doing his best on his work may get in the way of everything, but he just keeps it to himself and acts passive aggressive for a bit. Chai groans and does the bare minimum for Vani's sake, but not by much. He still doesn't want to seem like he's bending to his shitty teachers' insults. He hates seeing Vanilla anxious more than them, though.

Which brings me to my next point! Chai notices how much of a nervous wreck Vanilla is in college. He may need to squint to see the giant QA center sign, but he doesn't have to in order to see Vanilla's stress levels. Chai often does his best to get Vanilla to take naps and get decent sleep whenever this dude stays up all night to do homework. He also does his best to convince Vani to stop and smell the roses and goof off/take breaks. He'd take him to the record shops or arcades outside of campus or hang out casually in their dorms to get some proper down time and not overthink about essays and exams. Seeing Vanilla happy and at ease made him feel great. Really great...How could he not when this, admittedly cute guy, was smiling and laughing so much and he was the reason for it! Yeah, Chai thought Vani was cute but he didn't wanna think about those feelings too much since he wasn't sure Vani was a boy liker like him and he knew Vani was too busy with school stuff and wanting to be a musician to probably do any dating stuff. So! Even though Chai has good intentions, his actions could come across as him being a bad influence, something Vanilla's other friends misinterpret and don't like. The cocky attitude Chai has also doesn't sit well with them and they start to dislike him, even though Vanilla insists Chai is a cool dude.

It's thanks to people like their professors and Vani's friend group that Chai starts to believe that maybe he is a bad influence on Vani down the road. He starts to think Vani would be better off without him and that maybe he should burn the bridge to friendship he built for him and let the moat take over again. (Boy, I hope that sentence made sense!) He starts to act more like the douchier Chai we meet at the start of Hi Fi RUSH as a means of getting Vani to stop liking him so much. Maybe then when Vani stops talking to him altogether it won't hurt so bad. (Oh, the irony.)

The attitude plan doesn't work. Vanilla doesn't stop hanging around Chai no matter what dickish thing he says or does to him! Ditching him didn't work, calling him a ditz or making fun of him didn't work, nothing did! And honestly? Chai was kind of glad nothing worked! He didn't want to stop being friends! But the more he saw how much potential Vani had and how little he did, it all started to make his head spin. His 'fake it till you make it' attitude started to dip and he got moodier thinking about his professors being right about him. Didn't help when they'd make those jokes about him and Vanilla. Jokes about how much of a better student Vanilla was than him and how they hoped he wouldn't drag Vanilla down...Didn't help to see Vanilla sheepishly laugh them off. Then the guest speaker band in their other class came and...yeah...a mixture of Chai's insecurities and his guilt towards Vani clash and make him have a whole "FUCK" moment.

Soon enough they have the argument on their snacking roof. Chai tries to tell Vani that maybe he should find someone else to be vocals in the band. Vanilla freaks out and tells him that it has to be him! He doesn't want anyone else to be in the band if it means Chai has to go. Hell, he doesn't want a band at all if Chai isn't in it. It kinda freaks Chai out how upset he gets so he tries to shrug it off like "alright! jeez!" Vanilla apologizes for snapping like that but he just...really wants to do this with Chai. It makes Chai feel even more guilty about things, and then Vani shares a song he's been working on with him.

Chai reads the lyrics to himself and he keeps feeling all his guilt and insecurities pile up again and he decides to trash the song, still trying his best to get Vani to stop sticking around him. Chai harshly critiquing it also doubles as him letting out his frustrations with himself. Vanilla just gets embarrassed and thanks him for his feedback. Tells him that this is why he needs him in the band and now Chai wants to snap and tell him that no he doesn't!!!! He doesn't need a guy who doesn't even know what the hell he's doing to be in a band with him!!! But then he thinks about it...thinks about how Vani's friends think he's an egotistical prick...

He scoffs and nods. "Yeah, maybe you do need me! I dunno how a band with songs like these could get anywhere." Fuuuck does it suck to say something like that to Vani. Chai always really liked Vanilla's songs, even the ones with lyrics that scared him! He can tell that stung for Vani and he bites his lip but keeps at it. Vanilla asks him if he always felt that way about his songs and Chai tells him yup. It makes Vanilla panic and he asks Chai what he should fix. Chai sweats nervously and just tells him all of it and Vanilla asks how in clear distress. Being told a band with his songs would get nowhere makes him think about his parents and how they would react to his secret major. They'd definitely say something about how he wouldn't get anywhere with this too...and hearing it from Chai? He's fucking SHAKEN.

Chai instantly regrets saying those things upon seeing him freak out. It reminds him of when his fake friends growing up would drop the bomb on him that they kept him around as a joke or they only pretended to be his friend out of pity or because of some cruel bet. It sucked. He doesn't know how to backpedal after all of that, and knowing how bad Chai is with talking, he just keeps at it. He tells him he doesn't think any of his advice could do much. He can't make Vani a better songwriter. Vanilla feels like he got punched in the gut and still tries to muster up some kind of hope. He asks Chai if maybe he can still try? Still try to help him? Chai feels like shit about all of this so he just shrugs and tells him "sure" to ease some of the guilt.

So they head back to their dorms, both feeling like utter crap. Chai decides that he should just drop out because of how pointless this is. His parents wanted him to try because any good parent wants their kid to secure a job and take care of themselves in life. But he just couldn't take the ableist professors, how he didn't really know what else he wanted outside of the rockstar dream, and now this feeling that he's dragging someone who does have it figured out down with him. If Vani wasn't gonna stop hanging around, then he would. It sucks, majorly. Vanilla is even more fucked up by Chai eventually leaving and not responding to any of his calls or texts. His friends convince him it is for the best that Chai left and that he should keep focusing on his dream. Vanilla takes their advice and keeps giving school his all out of spite for his parents and now Chai. It doesn't help that when Vani told them about their argument his friends put the idea in his head that Chai probably thinks he's better than Vani and would have just used the band as a stepping stone or something for a solo career.

I mean, Chai does cope by being self centered and pretending he's the coolest dude ever after all the disasters in his life...better to fall back on a crappy coping mechanism than be miserable and let the insecurity eat at him. After the events of Hi Fi RUSH, I think he would constantly argue with himself about hitting Vani up again and explaining himself to him, apologizing even! But it's hard...it's hard when he thinks that Vani is still better off without him in his life.

Then Vani gets a job as the band that came to visit their class' songwriter. He'd normally be overjoyed over it, but it's all such a bitter experience. He's bitter about not being the one play his songs, he's bitter that he was driven by his spite and anger to get this far, and he's bitter that he did everything the way he thought he was supposed to and didn't really achieve what he wanted in the end. The band is kind to him, and they praise his work a lot, but it's just not the same. He's not a part of the band and he doesn't always write the songs too so he's just...sooo bitter. Then he goes to get an enhancement from Vandelay because his parents gave him some guff about his ice powers being the weakest in the family during a get together and he snapped over it. Seeing posters with Chai's face all over the campus because he's the new ambassador and face of Project Armstrong...oooo...when Vani finds him...

The boys will be fightiiiing...

[remidyal]

hi hi!! 3, 10, and 28 for fic writer ask game! 💙

3. What’s something you learned about yourself as a writer?

Hmm, mostly I think I learned I CAN have more than one fic really in progress at a time, especially of the longfic style. I was reluctant to start anything else longer than a oneshot for a long time because I worried it would keep me from finishing Lunacy, and while that really did slow down when I started on other stuff it was also because I needed to take my time on the finale of it. Having something much more seat of the pants like Missing as a semi-long fic to work on really helped.

I also learned that I cannot, under any circumstances, spell unconscious (or consciousness or anything like that) correctly the first try. I always forget the first s. I have made this error approximately 3 million times this year and anticipate making it another 3 millions times next year.

10. What fic made you feel the happiest to work on?

Oooh, this is a tough one partly because of measuring a quick burst of creative energy, something that was done in an hour or two, or something that I crafted for a lot longer. I think I'll go for peak happiness with the least misery of fighting through any kind of blocks, and for that I'll go with Five Times Assassination Attempts were made on the Traitor Elven Oracle without a Death, and One Time with. This one took me a few hours, and was a complete delight to write - when I proposed the idea in the fic discord the rest of the group took the core idea and ran with it in a very different much more serious direction (which Tangerine has started writing here ) but I always had this almost purely comedic piece in mind for it.

28. How did you recharge between fics?

Reading fics counts, right? Also in the D20 space, something I spent a lot of time doing (mostly with people not actually involved in the fandom otherwise!) was getting together with different friends and watching some series together over discord voice chat. It's kind of a great way to do a rewatch; having someone else there means I focus more than I tend to when I'm alone, and it's a great deal of fun to see the various series freshly through others' eyes!

In terms of other hobbies, I play chess poorly and Slay the Spire a whole bunch and other games middling amounts.

[swaps55]

Let's Get ((REAL)) fic writer asks: ✨🌿💞 💥💌

Oooh, a bunch!! Thank you!!

✨What's a fic you've posted you wish you could breathe life into again and have people talking about it? (or simply a fic you wish got more credit)

Of the multi-chaptered fics in Opus, Concerto has “performed” the poorest. Cantata, Sonata, and Fugue still regularly pick up occasional Kudos (well, Fugue does because it’s active), but Concerto doesn’t. I honestly can’t complain, but there were some things in that fic that I am very proud of/fond of, and given it is the ONLY fic in that series so far that actually takes place during a game timeline, there is a part of me that is VERY nervous that I’ll only be successful filling in the blank canvas around the games, not working within the existing framework.

🌿how does creating make you feel?

Incredible. I currently do not have many physical hobbies that I can hold in my hands (something I really need to change), so writing is a thing I can look at and still feel a tangible sort of accomplishment, even it is isn’t technically…tangible. If that makes any sense.

💞what’s the most important part of a story for you? The plot, the characters, the worldbuilding, the technical stuff (grammar etc), the figurative language

The characters. The characters drive so much. They are what make the pieces connect and fall into place, sometimes in ways I’d hoped for or wanted, others in ways that I never expected.

💥find your least kudos'd fic - say something wonderful about it.

According to Ao3, it’s ‘Scars,’ which is literally the first fic I ever posted on Ao3. I wrote it for a friend I played multi with, as a thank you for all the times he revived me. XD It’s a gen story about Jack centered around her loyalty mission, and while I think I have come a long way since writing that fic, the opening line still slays:

The universe as she had known it began and ended with the same four gray walls and a window that looked down on a world loath to her existence.

And there is a moment of connection between her and Shepard near the end that still feels powerful.  

💌share something with us about an up-and-coming work (WIP) that has you excited!

I have already mentioned how excited I am about Mezzo, so another piece about Mezzo I am really looking forward to is actually getting to write about Sam and Garrus, and watching their friendship develop. For as important and powerful as that friendship is in my head, I haven’t had the chance to write about it at ALL in Opus canon, and have hardly had much of a chance to write Garrus, period.

This poor, confused turian who cannot figure out how to keep this vexing human from falling over all the time is going to be SO much fun.

[andipxndy-writes]

What made you start writing for Alex Rider ? And what do you think adult Alex would be like ?

oooh, thanks for the questions anon!!!

What made you start writing for Alex Rider ?

i actually grew up reading alex rider!! it was the first series i started reading in my adolescent years (before pjo even) and when i got to uni i bought the whole series to reread them again. because i read them a lot at school. at the time i was reading them in secondary school, i was already writing an ncis fanfic, so i ended up planning and writing a crossover fic to add in my love for alex rider (i'd also been reading a load of alex rider x ncis crossovers at the time). and that fic is MEANT to be a series (which i haven't written for in a while and will eventually get back into when i get back into ncis).

but anyway, since i slowed down on that series, i just... went into writing just alex rider stuff. i wanted to keep writing for the fandom, i wanted to keep writing fun stuff because alex is such a fun character to explore. also i got back into reading alex rider when nightshade came out, so i thought i'd test out my writing for it again. and i WILL get back to writing again when my writing increases in frequency again.

And what do you think adult Alex would be like ?

what do i think adult alex would be like? simply put: jaded. he's gone through a lot in his childhood - orphaned and never knew his parents, and the only person he really knew as a parental figure loved him but lied to him his whole life, and then died when he was 14. and then, since then, he's been manipulated by the british government into working for them. i'm a whole ass adult who pays taxes and i have very little love for my current government (and before anyone says anything, 3 PMs in 1 year??? come on). i cannot even imagine how alex feels being forced to work for THAT.

at the same time, i feel like he'd work really hard to hide being that jaded because whilst he seems like a loner, alex isn't a loner. he was made that way by not getting to go to school a lot. he strikes me as a guy who was often social, and he'd probably still crave that in a way. he'd still want friends, still want to go out to parties. he's a pretty good liar, and he can count how many people know his secret on one hand. so he'd still go out, still try to make friends, still be social. tom would probably still be his wingman, getting him into a bunch of parties and trying to hook him up with people that alex knows he won't last with because he's jaded and self-destructs.

the thing i don't know is whether he'd still work for mi6, or whether they'd release him to work for another portion of the government (they couldn't let him go with him knowing all those secrets, no way). maybe he'd work his way up the chain, making it to director or up to being tulip's most prized agent. maybe he'd get injured out in the field and be restricted to office work. maybe he'd try to leave and end up irreversibly trapped.

so many possibilities, and all of them end with alex constantly traumatised and needing therapy but still going out and self-destructing whilst tom tries to be his wingman, in my opinion. (or maybe he manages to get himself a partner by himself... but he still self-destructs, absolutely.)

[raes-writing-space]

Um hi.. I just wanted to ask that... Can you make part 2 and 3 of childhood friend reader x dogday?

It's fine if you don't want to but if you consider making one. Please tag me. I just want to know after dogday died and got reincarnated but he's still dogday but in a different universe where bigger body toys and humans live together? And dogday still remembers his past life. And dogday was like a high school student and then his teacher announced that a new student will join the class and after the new student enter the classroom. Dogday's eyes widened In surprise to see the reader in the flesh.

And yes. The reader still remembers there past life but after they saw dogday. She just thought that he doesn't know them anymore. I'm sorry if it's too much. You don't have to make part 2 and 3 if you don't feel like it.

Oooh that's an interesting concept! I actually have an AU that stays with the "childhood friend" theme but it's basically an AU where none of the events of Poppy Playtime happens, at least not exactly. Basically, the Bigger Bodies Initiative still happens, but the character I have ends up working their way up the chain, and ends up dismantling the company from the inside out with the help of the Bigger Bodies Initiative toys. So the past staff (like Harley Sawyer, and Leith Pierre) all get what's coming to them, but not in a "massacre everybody in the company" way.

And it's a more kind of slow-burn with DogDay, because after my character becomes in charge (even though she's like barely eighteen at this point), they're able to tell all the toys the truth. Which eventually makes things complicated between DogdDay and my character, because they both want to be together and the tension is obvious, but they aren't exactly sure how their relationship would be perceived. And DogDay also doesn't want to hold my character back from living a "normal" life.

This leads to my character trying to see if they can reverse the changes done to the toys by giving them more synthetic human-ish bodies instead (they can't give them their past bodies, sadly, but they can at least get close enough.) However, they don't know if it'll work because they need to test it, but they refuse to test on any living creature (rats, children, the other toys, etc.) without consent. And DogDay is the one to volunteer first, despite my character really not wanting him to because of the risks. But DogDay just wants to be with them, and is willing to take the risks. Luckily everything turns out okay, and he's now in a more human-ish body, so they can live their lives together. This leads to some of the other toys to getting human-ish bodies too later on.

BUT BACK TO YOUR IDEA. I do like that idea a lot, I've always been a sucker for reincarnation AU's. I could probably do it in like a second part, I don't think it would take three parts? I suppose part 2 could be the detailing of the reincarnation part and the reunion, and part 3 can be actual romantic fluff stuff if that's what you're referring to for three parts.

It probably wouldn't be written anytime soon, as I usually only have free time on the weekends. (My Spring Break is ending soon which is why I was able to write a bunch this week.) But I do like this suggestion, so it might be something to write about! Thanks for that!

[shadow-pixelle]

For SEW, were there any alternate versions of the fic? (From the ask game)

Oooh, SEW (aka A Shadow, an Eon, and a Worm, my Pokemon Mystery Dungeon/Worm crossover). I do miss that fic...

So yeah, it actually has been through a few different versions! I can't talk about all of them, because some of them relate to the ending and that's not been written yet, let alone posted, but I can talk about a few. Going under a cut, because this got a lot longer than I expected it to.

The first big one is, of course, the fact that it was actually meant to be a snippet thread, and not a full on fic! I started it because of a Discord conversation, which I no longer remember the full context of but involved jokes of me (at the time using the alias of ShadowVulpix) and a friend (who goes by Eon and has a shiny Ninetales as a profile) being sent to the Worm universe for some reason. The original plan was three or four snippets, I think... the introduction piece, the Lung fight, the small interlude chapter involving Tattletale of the Undersiders, and then a piece that never got written that would involve the Brockton Bay Leviathan fight. Since this was posted on SufficientVelocity, aka a forum site, that worked alright; mini chapters for snippets didn't seem so odd. But then my brain kept writing, and writing, and we ended up with a full fic instead.

The second biggest one was actually a massive plot change; the original idea had Shadow and Eon taking the place of the protagonist characters from PMD: Blue Rescue Team, which is why early chapters have references to some bits of that plot... I think the most obvious one there is a line from chapter 2;

'“Our first exploration was an E Rank, in a forest, pix.” Eon deadpanned. “Of course it was easy for a pair of Fire types.”'

This got changed again not long after, with the plan being for them to be from PMD: Explorers of Sky instead, which was changed between chapters 2 and 3;

'...or the cave in Sharpedo Bluff.”

“I thought you liked Sharpedo Bluff.” Eon queried, seating himself at the base of a tree to watch her.

“I did . It was just kinda drafty, and a bit boring in there...'

And then the third and final change made them a completely new Rescue Team that was unrelated to either of the regions from those two games, which happened... I can't actually remember when for sure, but was before the Leviathan fight. Because of that there's a bunch of early bits that seem a little wobbly, and I had to work out how to link them into my plot plan without it being too weird or obvious; I think there's actually a few of them that I've not properly cleaned up, though I was going to do it in the future before the writer's block hit.

Let's see, what else... I think the last major one is one I need to be careful talking about, because it relates to some stuff that'll be coming up in future chapters (once the brain starts working again), but the part Taylor plays in the endgame of the fic got changed quite a bit due to a comment from one of the readers on SV. They mentioned that Taylor seemed to be getting sidelined compared to her team mates, which I had already noticed and planned to try and do something about, but that comment made me realise that I needed to do a bit more with it and also start it up sooner, which has led to a couple of other changes more recently.

Obviously there's been minor changes that I can't quite remember anymore, but I wouldn't really call those 'different versions' of the fic, just small redrafts. So I think that's everything! Wow that got longer than I expected it to... Thanks for the ask, and hope you enjoyed the look into my brain and this fic's development!

[draftingteacups]

Hello about your post about human version of happiny could we see how everyone would react to that since we had a scenario of happiny talking so why not in human version ignore if you want or are to busy

there was an ask that has Happiny as a human, but I don't mind writing more about it!

We all know how Deuce reacts to Happiny becoming human: tears from seeing his baby. It really makes him feel like a dad when Happiny clings to him with excitement.

He does his best to put Happiny's bow on, but he introduces little barrettes in the form of card suits to make things a little easier when her hair doesn't want to stay up in a ponytail. Happiny trails after her Daddy and sees Uncle Ace.

Happiny: "Uncle Ace!" *hugs his leg*

Ace takes one look at her: "Again? What happened?"

Deuce: "We'll talk about it after school. C'mon, Happiny, let's get you breakfast."

When Riddle sees the little child beside Deuce, holding onto his pants leg like a familiar little bun that wasn't around, he just tells Deuce to go and find Soni to figure out what to do.

Happiny waves: "Hi, Mr. Riddle! How are you?"

Riddle: "I'm fine, Happiny."

Cater takes pictures of Happiny acting silly in the dorm and saves them to the Happiny folder. Trey just handles Happiny very well, ensuring that she was well-fed and clean as she played in the rose garden. As expected of an older brother.

When Deuce finally showed up at Ramshackle with Human Happiny, Soni just took one look at him and just took Happiny into her arms. "Okay, you're going to stay with Mama until you return to normal."

Happiny: "Huh? Why?"

Soni: "You remember the last time you became a human? You couldn't fit in Daddy's bed and you had to stay with me?"

Happiny grabs her Mama's jacket: "Can't Daddy stay here then?"

Soni: "Ask your Daddy and Riddle for permission."

Safe to say, Happiny was giving Soni puppy dog eyes the whole way to class. Because Happiny is a human child, she needs protective gear for the stuff that they're using for potions. She does clap whenever something goes off in the classroom, usually an explosion.

Mob Student adding something to the pot: KABOOM!

Happiny: "Oooh! It's pink!"

One of the things that I don't know if I talk about enough with Happiny as a human is her abilities as a Happiny. I don't know if she's retaining her original strength, but if she is, then she's the strongest child in PE.

Vargas just laughs jovially as Happiny lifts him up like he's nothing and they actually do some exercises together. Whenever they go flying on brooms, Happiny has to put on a helmet. Because Ace was banned from flying Happiny by himself, he makes an argument that because it was PE Class with a whole bunch of other people, he should be able to fly with Happiny.

Deuce flies right behind Ace, just in case and Grim just zooms through the sky.

Grim blasting through the sky: "Nyahahaha!"

Happiny stares at the cat monster: "Why's Grimmy got the zoomies?"

Ace snickering: "I think you need to play with him more."

Happiny sees nothing wrong with this. "Okay!"

Grim doesn't really care much about Happiny's change into a human. This only means three things: his little henchman has opposable thumbs and can open doors more easily for him, she can open tuna cans for him, and the little henchman can carry him whenever he got tired.

Although if someone picks on Happiny and tries to take her lunch, someone's gonna get vibechecked immediately. Deuce is always nearby and Soni readying the ammunition to smack some sense into these high schoolers.

Sebek is the most surprising out of the first year group because he instantly puts Happiny to sleep with his storybooks & his reading. I feel like Sebek would treat Happiny like a little sibling when she's a human. Never as outwardly as the others, but he does care in his own way.

Just imagine some Diasomnia students wanting to pick on Happiny because of the oddity of a Pokemon having powers that are stronger than magicians.

Sebek is behind them: "Is this how Diasomnia students are supposed to act towards others?!"

Mob: "Wha-?! What's the croc doing here?"

Sebek crosses his arms: "ARE YOU WILLING TO MAKE A MOCKERY OF THE CHILD WHO'S RECEIVED THE INVITATION OF WAKA-SAMA?!"

When they run off, Happiny is scooped up into Sebek's arms and she just cries a little bit because of how scary they were acting.

Jack is the same, although in Savanaclaw, the students there know not to mess with Happiny because of the repeated instances of Magishift practice and what happens in Episode 2.

Crewel and Vil do team up to make Happiny clothes, which leads to a fashion show of sorts. Vil's not going to put makeup on Happiny because children's skin is very sensitive, but he does try to put her hair into different styles.

If there's one thing Happiny shares with Soni in human form, it's the expressions and she's unamused as her ribbon is removed from her hair.

When Happiny has to stay over at Ramshackle, the little bun goes up to Riddle and goes, "Can I sleep over at Mama's with Daddy?"

Riddle honestly can't deny Happiny's requests and allows it.

"Yay!" Happiny hugs him. "Thanks, Mr. Riddle!"

When Silver sees Happiny roaming around the Stables during the club times, she calls out to him as "Big Brother Silver" and Riddle just has the immediate urge to be called "Big Brother Riddle" in that instant before he thinks of it as a foolish thought to have.

Later when Happiny goes over to Riddle, she goes: "Let's go back to Daddy and Uncle Ace!"

Riddle: "Happiny, why do you call people by nicknames?"

Happiny does not know what Riddle means by that: "Because I wanna?"

Riddle wants to say something, thinking about earlier, and sighs. "Let's go."

Happiny takes his hand as they walk back to Ramshackle for the evening. Little mini events.

[finchleaf]

howdy! sorry i've been away for so long; i've been visiting family here in turkey but i'm gonna try to start this blog back up :) for now it'll mostly be journal pics

24th july - would you prefer your summer to be shorter or longer?

honestly? maybe a bit shorter. i feel like the days tend to blur together during summer break and not having school to focus on seems to make my mental health even worse :/ anyways! i'm very excited for senior year as you can tell haha

answering the rest down below!

1st July - What are your plans for this summer?

lots of traveling, working as a camp counselor in august, makin some sweet sweet money to save up for college, playing the new sims expansion pack (!!), and hanging out with friends as much as possible before schoolwork begins to bury me alive again :)

2nd July - Do you have a specific goal for this summer?

i want to study really well for my sat in late august!! (i’ve already made some great progress) also i want to get a lot of college app stuff out of the way (write some more practice essays bc i don’t like my current one, get my letters of rec in place, figure out my major, etc)

3rd July - Do you have a lot of work to do for school, university or your job this summer?

ooo ok we have to read a book and write an assignment for it for ap lit this year (except i think we start that once we get back to school?). also i need to do a bunch of summer hw for ap calc, but that’s pretty much it! and then i have a job for 2 weeks in august (as mentioned above hehe)

4th July - What is the most important task that you need to complete this summer?

probably college app stuff ahhh don’t want to even think about it anymore

5th July -  Do you have any special plans or activities for this summer?

traveling to turkey to see my family!! staying in a couple of villas (there’s a lot of us!) and then my grandma’s old summer apartment for ~5 days

6th July - What do you usually do during the summer? Is anything different this year?

going to turkey! a lifelong tradition since i was a lil baby :) last year we couldn’t go so this year’s extra special. also my first time doin a summer job!!

7th July - What did you do during the summer when you were a young child?

^^^ same as above haha

8th July - What’s your happiest summer memory from your childhood?

ooh probably one of the many from my grandma’s little summer apartment here. i have an 11 yo cousin so we share a lot of memories like running to buy our anneanne her newspaper in the convenience store downstairs, finding fish underwater at the local beach, staying up late gorging on magnum ice cream bars :)

9th July - Do you usually go on vacation during the summer?

yup

10th July - What is the best vacation you have ever been on? (note: doesn’t have to be a summer vacation)

oooh one time after flying into istanbul to stay with aforementioned cousin and my aunt, we all traveled to london for about a week! i loved that so so much, we never could really afford to go anywhere else for vacation so that was super memorable for me.

11th July - What is your favourite vacation memory?

swimming with my family in oludeniz, (called “blue lagoon”) a super pretty beach area. we swam to a little island and then jumped off its cliff :)))

12th July - What is the worst vacation you have ever been on?

oh god ok vomit tw for this one but one time my aunt, cousin, mom, and i traveled back to istanbul after staying at my grandma’s in ayvalik and we had to take a boat for a couple of hours. everyone on the boat (and it was a big one) for some reason started vomiting everywhere. i was i think the only one who wasn’t sick so it was hell haha

13th July - What is your dream vacation?

like a month-long roadtrip around france!!!! i’ve wanted to go there since i was in elementary school

14th July - Would you rather stay in one resort for a month or travel across the country for one month?

definitely travel cross country omg

15th July - Are there any special events for you in the summer? (for example, birthdays, festivals, etc.)

bayram!! bayram is sick you get money for kissing the older people in your family sjfdsjj

16th July - Do you have any summer traditions?

renting a villa with the entire family!

17th July - What is your typical daily routine in the summer?

at home, i usually wake up anywhere from 7am to 10am, take my dog for 2+ walks, read a ton, and avoid work ;)

18th July -  How do you stay motivated during the summer? (for example, to study)

it’s pretty tough! i’m hoping to study daily in my town’s library for my sat once i get back home in august. i think that’ll be pretty handy!

19th July - Do you stay indoors or outdoors more in the summer?

oh outdoors there’s no ac here so we’re constantly heading over to the beach

but at home in the us, probably indoors

20th July - Are you a ‘summer person’?

nOOOOOO i love any season/month that allows me to wear sweaters and pants, so obviously i’m not a big fan of summer

21st July - What is an unpopular opinion that you have about summer?

oh hm i’m not sure... most of the women in my family always wear bikinis when we go to the beach and i just really hate them? idk haha

also i think summer camps are kinda weird but that’s probably because i never went to one as a kid

22nd July - What does summer feel like where you live?

rather cool in the later afternoon. i also love how it smells there-- lots of freshly-cut lawns, grills constantly being used, the hydrangeas in our backyard

23rd July - Would you prefer summer to be hotter or colder than it usually is for you?

oh huh it can get reaaally hot midday so it would be nice if it was a bit cooler 

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Moe Moe Mallekei Kyun~

In which Malleus and Cater go to a maid café, and shenanigans ensue.

... I’ve been wanting to write this for a long time.

***Warning: mild spoilers for Malleus’s PE Uniform personal story!***

Imagine this...

“Lilia-sama.”

Two bodyguards fell into line, saluting simultaneously to their vice dorm leader.

“We just finished combing through the prime gargoyle locations around campus,” Silver reported. “Unfortunately, there was no sight of Malleus-sama to be found. The accounts of the various students we interviewed also corroborate that the Young Master has not recently been spotted in the area.”

“I see. Thank you, Silver.” Lilia sighed, cupping his cheek in one hand. “Hm, this is a bit odd. Wherever could he have wandered off to this time?”

At that moment, a ping! sounded off. Lilia fished his phone out of his pocket and, with one glance at the screen, his expression softened.

“You don’t suppose some dastardly villain has… kidnapped the Young Master and is holding him for ransom, do you?!” Sebek’s eyes nearly bulged out of his skull at the thought. “If that is the case… THEN WE HAVE FAILED AS MALLEUS-SAMA’S KNIGHTS!!”

“Now, now--let’s not jump to conclusions. Even if that were true, I’m certain that Malleus would be able to easily fend off assailants on his own. Perhaps he has simply lost his way, or headed off campus to run an errand.”

“... Without warning us in advance?”

“I would have happily accompanied the Young Master wherever he went--EVEN TO THE ENDS OF TWISTED WONDERLAND ITSELF!!”

“Kufufu. Malleus is still young at heart. Let us allow him this moment of independence, just this once. He will find his way home eventually.”

“Welcome home, my masters!!”

Malleus skidded to a stop in the doorway—for beyond it laid unknown territory. The interior sported cream walls, with fairy lights, streamers, and paper flowers strung up. A number of tables and chairs, populated with people, were set against flowing white curtains.

Young ladies flitted about, balancing trays of food and drinks, cameras, and microphones. Each wore the same outfit, consisting of a frilly headdress, an apron, and a black dress with lace trim and ribbons.

And now, one of those uniformed girls extended a hand to him and a warm, welcoming smile.

Malleus frowned and turned to the orange haired young man beside him. “... Diamond. What is this strange establishment you’ve brought me to?”

“Mm? It’s a maid café,” Cater chirped, glancing up from his phone. “You said you’ve never been before, right?”

“Well, yes… However, when you invited me to join you for an outing, I did not expect this to be our destination.”

“It’ll be fine~ We’re already here, so let’s get seated!” Cater insisted cheerily, ushering the fae through the door. 

“Right this way, my masters!” The greeter giggled and led the way, eventually stopping at a vacant table set for two. As the duo slipped into their seats, she handed them menus and moistened towels. “We have a wide selection of special services and delicious dishes for your enjoyment!”

Malleus hesitantly flipped open the (very pink) menu and ran his eyes down the page of available items. Along with the expected offerings of desserts, savory foods, and beverages were odd listings: massage, ear cleaning, karaoke, game, arts and crafts, picture, spoon feeding, live song and dance...

He stared quizzically at Cater, who seemed to be taking everything in stride.

“I’ll take a plate of omurice! How about you, Malleus-kun?”

He stared back at his menu, trying to make rhyme or reason of the unique names. What in the Great Seven was a Pyon ❤ Pyon Sunshine Bar…? Or a Lucky☆Happy☆Cookie? Malleus’s brows furrowed in both concentration and confusion.

“I… I shall have the local specialty, whatever that may be,” the fae prince declared at last.

“Excellent choices! And would you like a bunny, or a kitty?”

“You hand out animals at this eating establishment? Is that not a health code violation?”

“Aaah, Malleus-kun, she doesn’t mean real rabbits and cats. Look--you’ll see when she brings them, okay?” Cater laughed awkwardly. Then, turning to the waitress, he held up his index finger. “One of each, little lady~”

“Of course!” She scribbled down a few words on her heart shaped notepad before prancing off.

“... Diamond. Are you certain this is the fabled maid café of which you spoke of?” Malleus asked, folding his arms. “I find it difficult to believe that every patron here is descended from a high class lineage. Furthermore, the servers are wearing attire entirely unlike that of a traditional household servant.”

Cater blinked once, twice—then chuckled.

“Maid cafés are like normal cafés. Anyone can go to them to play pretend and chill for a while! The difference is that the waitresses are dressed cutely and offer fun services. Singing, dancing, playing games—that kinda thing!”

“I do not understand.” Malleus swept a hand at their surroundings. “The purpose of this establishment is merely for… amusement?”

“Yup! People get tired of the daily grind sometimes, so they go to places like this to see cute stuff and just take a load off.”

“I… I see.” Malleus tucked his thumb and forefinger under his chin. “We do not have anything like your maid cafes in the Valley of Thorns.”

“You don’t? What sort of things do you do back home for fun, then?”

“I was not allowed to venture far from the palace grounds. Most of my time was spent indoors, studying spells or honing my magical abilities.”

Cater inclined his head. “Oooh, right! Because you’re a prince and all, you weren’t able to do much—but hey! Things are different now! You’ve got Cay-kun to show you a good time!”

“Ah, yes. A ‘good time’...” Malleus attempted at a smile, which came out more wary than he had intended.

“Thank you for waiting!” a girlish voice chirped—their waitress had returned, wearing a tray of food in one hand and two headbands in the other. “Here is your omurice and Nyan ✨ Nyan ✨ Kitty-chan Parfait, plus one pair of kitty ears and one pair of bunny ears!”

She handed Cater his dish—a bed of ketchup flavored fried rice, sealed by a wobbling omelet and garnished with a sprig of parsley.

“Mm! Smells delicious. Thanks a bunch~” Cater grinned, winking at his server.

The maid giggled and placed Malleus’s dessert before him, along with the headbands.

“Would you like me to draw or write something special for you on your meal, master?” she asked, gesturing to Cater’s omurice.

“Sure thing! Could you write ‘Mallekei’? Oh, and a couple of hearts would be cute, too!”

“As you wish!”

As the maid set to work, Malleus marveled at the sight of his parfait.

Colorful scoops of ice-cream, granola, and sliced fruits were layered inside of a tall glass cup. A generous crown of whipped cream and a drizzle of strawberry sauce topped it off. Sticking out from the whipped cream were two wafer triangles and dots of chocolate candies, forming a cat-like face.

How adorable.

… But not adorable enough to be spared.

“Thank you for the food.” The fae raised his spoon to demolish the poor parfait kitten—

“Stop, stop, Malleus-kun!!” Cater cried, frantically waving his arms. “N-Not yet!!”

Malleus lowered his spoon with a frown. “Food is meant to be consumed, Diamond. Is there an issue you have with my table etiquette?”

“Well—no, but…” Cater played with a lock of his orange hair and sighed. “There’s certain rituals we need to do first!”

“Rituals? Oh, my apologies. I was not aware. Please proceed with your regularly scheduled… rituals.”

“Ahaha, you’re a quick learner! First thing’s first, let’s put on our headbands!” Cater swept up the cat ears and passed them over. “Here, to match your parfait! I’ll take the rabbit.”

Malleus gingerly nestled the cat ears on his head, copying Cater’s movements. It was a bit tricky maneuvering around his horns, but somehow, he managed.

“Oh!! Those ears suit you so well!” the waitress said, glancing up from decorating the omurice. Carefully placed splotches of ketchup spelled out ‘Mallekei’, hearts and little sparkles littering the space around the boys’ combined names.

“... Do they?” Malleus doubted it.

“They do!!” Cater reassured him with a laugh. “Ne, ne, miss! Can you take our picture so my friend here can have a souvenir to take home with him?” 

“Certainly!” She replaced the bottle of ketchup and hurried off, returning shortly after with a polaroid camera. “Are you ready, my masters?”

“Ready, Malleus-kun?”

“Hmph. Of course. I will have you know that my posing abilities have improved considerably since our last encounter. Do not underestimate me.”

“Oh, that’s great! You’ve been practicing! Then… on the count of three, we nyah, okay?”

“... What is ‘nyah’?” Malleus inquired, his confidence suddenly waning.

“Eh?” A blip of surprise crossed Cater’s face. “Like, y’know… nyah!”

The influencer curled both of his hands into balls and made a pawing motion at his friend. “Now you try!”

“Like this?” Malleus mimicked him. He was more stiff—definitely not as practiced—but the general motion was still recognizable.

“Very good, master!!” the waitress gushed, raising the polaroid up. “On three?”

“1, 2, 3… Nyah!”

A flash went off, sending stars into Malleus’s vision. As he rubbed the daze out of his eyes, Cater’s voice called out to him.

“Are you okay there?”

“I am well. There is no need for your concern,” the fae insisted. “This ritual… it is more confounding that I took it to be.”

“Eeeh? It’s not meant to be hard or anything. Just relax, relax!” Cater paused before adding, “It’s part of the ritual’s requirements! You need to be nice and loose for the last step!”

“What is this last step?”

“We need to cast a magic spell to make your food taste extra tasty!” the waitress declared cheerily.

“Hoh?” A smirk found its way onto Malleus’s face. “That can easily be arranged. Allow me to do the honors.”

He put his hand before his parfait, an eerie green glow emulating from his palm. The sinister light engulfed his dish and Cater’s, sending them floating midair. Radioactive ice-cream and omurice hovered above their heads, causing both Cater and their maid to recoil in shock.

Other customers stared at the spectacle from their own tables. One man’s jaw dropped, the forkful of spaghetti bolognese in his mouth clattering onto the floor.

“You, who provides sustenance to the masses, become that which is delici—“

“H-Hold on a sec, Malleus-kun!!” Cater practically leapt over the table to seize his friend’s glowing hand. “Not that kind of spell!!”

Eyes wide with surprise, Malleus allowed his magic to settle down. The parfait and omurice gently floated back onto their table, and the maid sighed with relief.

“Is there a different spell needed for this occasion? I assure you that I am well-versed in practical magic—you need only speak its name, and I can conjure the proper…”

“No, no! It’s—“ Cater casted a look at their server and nervously chuckled. “Ne, Maid-chan~ Think you can give us a demonstration of the right spell?”

“Yes, master!” the girl, ever professional, flashed a perky grin. “Please watch carefully!!”

The maid set down her polaroid on the table. She then arched her fingers into C-like shapes, thumb extended straight. Pushing her hands together, she formed a heart and aimed it in the direction of the boy’s dishes.

“Moe moe kyuuuuuun!”

“What an odd spell. In all my years, I have never heard of such an enchantment…”

“Well, there’s a first for everything, right?” Cater flicked one of his floppy rabbit ears. “Plus, it should be no problem for the great Malleus-sama to pull off this spell, right?”

“This is child’s play,” Malleus’s laugh was like the earth itself rumbling. His lips quirked into a small smile. “You will join me in performing this sacred ritual, will you not, Diamond?”

“Of course~”

“Very well.”

They made hearts and thrust them upon their meals. And together, they uttered those three magic words.

“Moe moe kyuuuuun!!”

“Welcome back, Malleus,” Lilia greeted. The vice dorm leader nonchalantly hung from the ceiling, his raven and magenta bangs suspended midair. “Did you have fun on your outing?”

“Lilia. You knew?” Malleus slowly shut the door behind him, chasing away the cool air of the night. He spoke softly, knowing that sounds carried in the dusty hallways of Diasomnia and could disturb its residents.

“The wonders of modern technology,” Lilia trilled, expertly landing beside his young master. He brandished his phone in a gloved hand, a text message displayed on the screen.

hey hey lilia-chan! gonna steal malmal-kun for the day~ he’ll be back later, but do me a solid and keep it a secret from s&s til then, ‘kay? thnx!! (✿˶˘ ³˘)~♡

“It looks as though I have been exposed.”

“There is no shame in making new friends. In fact, I’m proud of you for expanding your horizons.” Lilia beamed. “Though what a shame it is that I was not present to grab a few pictures. Hopefully Cater fulfilled that task for me.”

The ancient fae tilted forward in his toes and peered up at his prince. “Soooo? Where did you sneak off to?”

“Fufu. Wouldn’t you like to know?”

“My. Is that any way to treat the man that kept Silver and Sebek from hunting you down?” Lilia teased, wagging a finger.

“Such loyalty,” Malleus smirked, hands on his hips, “deserves to be rewarded.”

He produced a polaroid photograph from his breast pocket and presented it with a flourish. The image, forever captured in time, was that of Malleus and Cater—the former with cat ears, the latter with bunny ears—with hands balled to resemble paws. Cater cheekily winked, while Malleus looked slightly bewildered.

The edges of the polaroid were dotted with stickers—smiley faces, flowers, and hearts. Marker had been used to scrawl on whiskers and blushes over both boys’ cheeks.

Overall, cutesy—overwhelming so.

But the Malleus and Cater in the picture were happy.

Their eyes shining like jewels.

Nyah-ing their hearts out.

[mediocrevideopodcast]

Long Haired! S/O

Request: I love your stuff to much. its exactly what I'm in the mood for right now. whenever you feel up to taking request or something let me put this idea out for you if you like it: Any of the Turtles (Plus April but I'm mainly here for the turtles) with an S/O with long hair? Or maybe even the opposite way and an S/O with short hair. like I personally prefer the long hair option but I know someone out there would probably love to see the short hair option so that would be nice too.

either way you write them so well I'm sure it would be sweet.

A/N: Assuming that it’s straight hair, by the way! Although if people are interested, I’d love to do a curly-haired version as well <3

Characters: All! Separate, Non-Poly {Raphael, Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello, April O’Neil.) 

Content Warnings: None! 

Word Count: 1149

Raphael:

He loves your hair so much! It takes a lot of patience and dedication to grow your hair out that long!

He loves to braid your hair so much! He likes it when you sit in between his legs during movies so he can braid it.

He’s so gentle too: You can’t remember a single time where he’s tugged on it while brushing or braiding it. You’ve fallen asleep so many times while he plays with your hair.

He googles so many intricate designs to try out. Although, he usually defaults to a waterfall braid if he’s tired and there’s nothing in particular you want. He also likes to weave in flowers, if you’re not allergic to them!

He always has a bunch of hair ties on hand for you. (Most of them are in red!)

If you fight with them, he always makes sure your hair is tucked away and safe before engaging. Long hair is too easy to grab!  

He loves to play with your hair while cuddling, especially. There’s something so calming about laying on his plastron while he runs his hands through your hair.

Bonus! He’s so fucking tall, that he’s actually exempt from being suffocated by your hair while spooning. Love wins <3

Leonardo

Low-key jealous </3 Just kidding, he loves it.

He loves to brush your hair, but he hits his fair share of tangles. Please teach him how to hold your hair properly.

He’s also one to look up cool braids to put in your hair! He takes a lot of inspiration from fantasy hair styles. (Specifically, he really wants to do the Legolas braids.)

He carries scrunchies in your pocket for you because he thinks they’re cute.

He doesn’t get that hair just falls out sometimes? He’s so confused and concerned when he finds a random strand of hair in his room. He thinks you’re dying, lmao.

He’d love to dye your hair someday! He’s instantly mind-boggled at how much time it actually takes, but he’s still super stoked anyways.

Absentmindedly plays with your hair during movie nights. He doesn’t even realize he’s doing it half the time, but it feels really nice.

He loves to pet your hair while cuddling. It’s so gentle and sweet, and it puts you to sleep really quickly.

Donatello

Oh, long hair? Cool. He thinks it’s impressive that you’ve managed to grow it out so long, and keep it healthy as well!

A lot of the sweet routines you form in regards to your hair actually takes a bit of time to develop! It’s something that certainly grows over time.

One of the first things is simple. He installs a little hook next to the entrance of his lab where he leaves a bunch of hair ties for you. (Always in purple, unless you ask for more colors.) He doesn’t want your hair to get damaged, or for you to get hurt, if there’s a stray spark in the lab. After a little while, he starts carrying some on his person as well.

He gets overstimulated really easily when it comes to texture, and having hair in his face while cuddling really hits all the checkboxes with that. But obviously, he’s not going to give up cuddling time, so what does he do? He starts braiding your hair before bed! And that’s when he finds out he really likes to play with your hair.

Every night before bed, he braids your hair. It’s a really sweet routine that you share with him. (And you get to listen to him talk about his day! Brothers, inventions, WOW lore, it could be anything really.)

When you’re watching something together, he’ll absentmindedly play with/pet your hair. After a while, he doesn’t even realize he’s doing it.

Michelangelo

TIME TO BUST OUT THE HAIRSTYLE MAGAZINE... HE’S BEEN WAITIN’ FOR THIS ONE

For real though, he loves long hair. (And short hair! He thinks it’s all super pretty…)

He’ll bust out the bobby pins, the hairspray, everything. People will literally ask you who does your hair, and your brain fucking fries trying to think of how to describe your non-human boyfriend in a human way. Halo braids, half-up bows, flower braids… he’ll do it all.

He’s a little rough at first, but he gets the hang of it pretty quickly. He’s not immune to the stray tangle, though.

He likes to carry bobby pins around for you, which is a contrast to the rest of his brothers! (Bangs are Hell, and you never know when you’ll need one! For your hair OR for breaking into someone’s house! <3) He also carries around little butterfly clips and stuff. If you ask he’ll start carrying ties around though <3 King.

Loves to screw around with your hair at the randomest of times. He loves to hold your cheeks when you kiss, and sometimes when you part he’ll lift up your hair a little and make silly monster noises. It’s so dumb but it makes you laugh so much.

He’d be so good at dyeing your hair, please let him!! He’s really patient, and his eye for color is great.

He loves to play with your hair while cuddling. He does a really specific thing where he’ll part your hair into a bunch of different sections before scooping them all back together and running his hands through it. It actually feels really nice on your end (and helps combat tangles), and it keeps his brain busy. You fall asleep super quick every time.

April O’Neil

Oooh, pretty!! She has super long hair herself, her’s is just really curly. So she has a lot of respect for long hair!

Loves to play with your hair during movies, if she’s the big spoon that night. She usually twists the strands around her fingers, or gently pets them. It’s really relaxing, and her touch is so gentle. You can’t count how many times you’ve fallen asleep like that.

She always has these really nice hair ties on hand, it’s great. Her hair ties are super stretchy and never snag, which is awesome. She has like, three on her wrist at any given point in time.

Loves to run her hands through your hair after kisses.

She’s never actually dyed her own hair, just because bleaching natural hair is such a process. (Plus, she does NOT want to deal with teasing from the boys during the early stages of bleaching. They would never let it go </3) However, she’s really good at dyeing hair once she gets into it! She’s meticulous, and there’s not a single strand left uncolored. Her hands are steady as she works, and it’s so calming. She has the best hair-dyeing playlists too. She always makes you laugh too, so sometimes a little dye will get on an un-vaselined patch of skin, but honestly? It’s just a cute reminder of her.

[aimmyarrowshigh]

2021 Fic Roundup Meme

Total Fics Posted: 1,036, but that will be out of date by the actual end of 2021 because I need to do daily drabbles and finish the Steve Bingo drabbles by the end of the 31st! Total Words Posted: 147,576, which ironically is the lowest annual total, I think, since I started doing these roundups back on LiveJournal. Although I don’t think I even bothered to do a 2019 or 2020 roundup because I’d posted virtually nothing. Total Words (of Anything Excluding Blogs) Written: Somewhere between 250,000-300,000, I think. The first quarter of 2021 was dismal for writing -- not just for me, I think, but for most of the, like, writing world. So I can’t be too down on myself about it. Most of what I’ve written this year, I’ve posted right away because it’s been drabbles, but I do have probably 50k of unposted Old Guard WIP stuff and 70k so far of unposted Stucky. And 7k of unposted Wanda Maximoff smut that may never get finished, haha. My favorite fic story this year: I mean, the only one that “counts” that I posted this year is Wish You Were Here, which is on an extended hiatus at the moment. I do like WYWH and I think it’s not bad, but I definitely struggle with writing it -- vignettes are essentially a bunch of short stories and I forgot that I massively struggle with short stories (ironically, given drabbles). And I still haven’t figured out what happens character-growth-wise during one part of it and it’s killing me. My best story this year: It’s hard, because I’ve posted so fucking many drabbles and most of them are like, “well, this exists” but every once in a while I get a turn of phrase exactly right. I can’t remember any in particular that I’m particularly proud of, but there aren’t any that I’m NOT proud of, either. Story most under-appreciated by the universe, in my opinion: It sticks in my craw a little bit when someone requests a drabble and then doesn’t give it a kudo, especially if it’s for a more rarepair or niche fandom where, you know, no one else is going to, either. But that’s just me being crabby. I do feel like maybe I would feel more urgency with regard to WYWH if I felt like there were an audience for the story, but I also knew going in that it was a minor, non-canon pairing in a fandom with a MASSIVE canon ship that dominates EVERYTHING in the fic sphere, so I can’t actually be rightfully disappointed by that, either. I would love anything I write to grab people’s attention in a way that made them want to reach out and comment or message or kudo, but I also know that we’re moving into a post-feedback internet era, so again, I can’t rightfully want more than I get. I was spoiled by 1D fandom and, more than that, hugely spoiled by web 1.0 fandom and LJ fandom when it comes to feedback and attention. These days I’m just flattered anyone reads at all. (Although I will be Literally Devastated if no one reads my stucky when it comes out, I’m ngl.) Sexiest Story: I don’t tend to write sexy drabbles very often because it’s hard to build sexual tension in fewer than 100 words, so the payoff to a sexy drabble is always a little... premature. (Ba dum bum!) But here are the E rated drabbles if you want them! Most fun story: Oooh... honestly, pretty much every day, there’s at least one drabble that is particularly fun for me to write, so I’m not sure. The Continuing Adventures of Cap & Molly tickle me (thanks @therebeccaw) and I love writing Yelena/Kate. I love dunking on Booker in Booker/Nile fic. I love writing Darcy. I love writing the Peter Parkers and MJ. I love writing Gomez/Morticia. I think probably some of the Addams Family drabbles were the most fun, maybe. Maybe. Story that shifted my own perceptions of the characters: To coopt myself from the 2012 meme, “if I write a fic and it doesn’t change my feelings on the characters or fandom in some way, then I don’t think I wrote it correctly.” Hardest story to write: WYWH. Biggest surprise: Actually sticking to the drabbling! In the past when I tried Three-Line Fic Thursday and Five-Sentence Friday, I failed miserably, and I’ve failed myself at drabble challenges, too. But for some reason this time it’s stuck and is genuinely working to remind me that I can get words out, I can have ideas, and I can get those ideas out in words. Yay! A story I want remembered: I mean, if I wrote anything this year that anyone remembers fondly, that makes me happy. Resolutions for 2022: FINISH LENT FROM TOMORROW (TODAY WAS TOO SMALL FOR US). BE A FINISHER. FINISH THE THING. Also, do Femslash February and a drabble March Madness, probably.

[floralovebot]

How would you write Flora instead so that she isn't perfect? Because I noticed the same thing and I was thinking about it.

oooh i’ve definitely thought about this too! hng this may be a little long but TL;DR: just highlight some of her flaws in a way that doesn’t immediately make people sympathize with her! and make sure it happens early enough that fans can’t latch onto Perfect Flora right away.

the “problem” with winx club is that,, they have six main characters and 5-6 extremely recurring side characters which makes characterization a little hard when you have two different teams working on the same show. another problem is the show not letting the other winx shine and almost always focusing on bloom instead. personally, i don’t hate bloom and i think some of the fandom’s hate for her is a tad extreme, however i do understand the frustration with her always being in the spotlight despite her story arc ending a long time ago.

flora in particular really gets the short end of the stick with all of this combined. she’s setup to be the Nice One and the Shy Girl so early on characterization isn’t going to focus on any flaws. but then later seasons changed personalities around so much that even when her flaws do come up, it’s still like. nothing compared to other characters (aka that ones that got even worse characterization. rip stella).

in order to actually bring up flora’s flaws properly, you first have to understand what her main flaws are. throughout the series, we get self doubting, non-confrontational, anxious, and a bunch of other stuff they never focus on. understanding her as a character is essential to bringing up her flaws. i hate to say it and i know some people will disagree with me, but i think the best way to bring up flora’s flaws is through relationship drama. but! not just romantic drama. you need a mix mash of familial, platonic, and romantic.

the thing is, with other characters like bloom, stella, and even tecna, it’s easy to spot their flaws on their own. we don’t need another party to bring them out. on the flip side, a lot of flora’s flaws only come out when another party is involved. for instance, her fear of not being good enough and eventually getting drafted to the side by her loved ones. or her extreme reluctance to start or finish confrontation. even her quick to annoyance attitude tends to be started by other characters. almost all of her flaws throughout the series are ones that require another party to really bring them out in an interesting way. otherwise, she remains the Perfect Girl.

the best way to highlight her flaws is literally to just,, do that. just focus on that a little more instead of rehashing the same old drama in skoom or muri land. but again, the best way to do this is by bringing in different relationship drama. something that brings out her flaws in a way that‘s noticeable and doesn’t make people feel really bad for her. because that’s another problem with flora’s flaws. almost every time her flaws do get brought out, it’s in a way that makes the viewer sympathize with her instead.

for example, take that one episode in season 1 where flora’s plants are all over the dorm and she can’t control them. not only is this extremely inconsiderate for her flatmates, it also poses a risk for harm (tecna being trapped in a closet for hours). instead of framing this in a Let’s Learn How To Be A Good Roommate kind of way, it gets framed in a Flora Was Just Vibing And Now She’s Sad And Trying To Move Away Because You Made Her Sad kind of way which is just,, really weird! Instead of having Flora immediately get Sad and try to move into the swamp because the other winx got (rightfully) mad at her, you could highlight how she was being inconsiderate and how she’s bad at confrontation. you could focus on flora wanting to be a better roommate and understanding their frustrations while also being scared that they hate her and don’t want her around. and then, you could have the winx vent their frustrations while also reassuring that they don’t hate her, they just don’t want her plants all up in their stuff.

flora’s flaws almost always get written in a way that makes the viewer sympathize with her instead of the other party. like every time she doesn’t want to hurt the Evil Controlled Animal of the week. instead of highlighting how this is dangerous for everyone involved, they focus on flora’s feelings of not wanting to hurt nature. or when she gets into a fight with helia. flora has little to no pressure on her to talk about her feelings and that actively negatively impacts her relationship. but it’s done in a way that makes the viewer feel bad for her, instead of recognizing that the problem lies with both of them and that flora could do something about it.

and that’s one of, if not the biggest, reasons why the fandom is so insistent on Perfect Flora. they bring up her flaws plenty! but they don’t do it in the right way. instead of it being something that flora has to learn negatively impacts others, instead of it being something that she could grow from, instead, it’s something that makes people sympathize with her. but this makes fans that recognize this resentful towards flora, because she’s the perfect example of someone that can never recognize their own flaws and never gets called out for them.

the best way to bring up flora’s flaws in a way that truly makes people see them, is to highlight her flaws and not make them the Other Person’s fault. so instead of having miele have to prove she’s capable of being a fairy, have someone call out flora for not trusting her. instead of having the winx be the bad guys for being okay with hurting the animal that’s trying to kill them, have someone call out flora for being okay with her friends getting hurt if it means the animal is safe. instead of putting the blame on just helia for not talking to flora, put the blame on Both Of Them for being bad at initiating dialogue about their relationship. just,,, highlight that she’s a good person that cares about others but that she still has her own unique flaws. and when bringing those flaws up, don’t make it seem like she can’t “fix” them or do anything to compromise with others. because that's what makes Perfect Flora seem so prominent.

[lucy-sky]

luucccyyyy luuuceee if you havee timeee,,,,, i have,,,,, a zaphod request,,,,, like,,, the reader and zaphod just dancing like dumbasses in some outer space club, having fun and mayhaps it leads to a love confession? it can come from either person like in the heat of the dance (or after) they just confess how happy @ other person makes them sumn like that??? [you can 100% take ur time/do this whenever u wanna, ik u're in your shea era ;))) ]

Bri, love!!! HAPPY TOWEL DAY TO YOU!!!

Thanks so much for this request (it was highly motivating!!) and also I’m sorry - I haven’t written anything for almost 5 months so I became super rusty and it took me ages to write this small thingy.

The Longest Party (Zaphod Beeblebrox x Fem!Reader)

1,133 words, no warnings; see a couple of notes in the end.

Where did you meet Zaphod Beeblebrox? At the party, of course! Where else? It’s a good question what brought him on your planet, in your country and your town, in that same nightclub you went with a bunch of friends that night. No one can tell, even Zaphod himself. All you know is that the attraction was instant and mutual, probably because you both have always been a little bit crazy and adventurous.

He was fun and charming, and slightly (okay, not slightly) weird, but being normal is so boring, right? After quite a few drinks he decided to tell you where he’s from, and of course you didn’t believe him at first, but still chose to play along.

“This party is getting so boring, baby doll! I know a much better place for the both of us…” he said, leaning closer to you and smirking as if he was telling you a secret.

“I bet you have an eye for really good parties, huh?” you raised your eyebrow.

“I sure do,” still smirking, he grabbed your hand. “Look, my ship’s parked nearby…”

“Ship?..”

“Yeah, the spaceship I told you about! Wanna see it?”

He was truly ridiculous, that guy. But at this point you got adventurous enough to say “Why not?”

Honestly, you expected to see anything, except… the actual spaceship. Maybe you just drank too much, fell asleep at the party, and it was your dream?.. No, y/n… You simply couldn’t be that drunk. It was really happening.

“You coming, doll?” Zaphod waved at you. For a few moments you hesitated. Some of your girlfriends considered leaving the party with a stranger already extreme enough, and you were about to go to another planet with a guy you knew for only like a couple of hours… Insane! Then again… When else you could possibly have a chance like that?

“Darlin’?”

“I uh… You know, I should be at work on Monday morning,” you blurted.

“So? It’s Saturday night, doll, we’ve got plenty of time,” he shrugged. “It’s not that far anyways. Oh, and don’t worry, you won’t need to hitch a ride back - I’m a gentleman after all,” he laughed, and then extended his hand. “Come on, it’s gonna be fun, promise.”

You took his hand, not knowing yet this decision was about to change your life forever.

How many parties have you attended with Zaphod since then? One wilder than another, in different parts of the galaxy, places you could never imagine even in the craziest dreams. You sang, danced to all kinds of music until you could hardly stand, drank all sorts of cocktails, and saw so many gorgeous sunrises together. With him, it was never boring, you really enjoyed his company, and he seemed to enjoy yours as well.

Beeblebrox wasn’t perfect though. You found out very soon about how much he loved himself. You also couldn’t imagine talking to him about any serious stuff. Zaphod hated to be bored and didn’t like thinking too much. And it was okay, until you started to realize you were growing a bit too fond of him, more than you wish you were. It wasn’t good at all. Zaphod was fun to hang out with, but falling for him? Nope, he was far from being boyfriend material. You decided that if he doesn’t take anything seriously, you shouldn’t either. Just have fun while you can. You’re such a lucky girl after all! Not that many people from the Earth have a chance to see the galaxy.

The party you attended that night was by far the most epic event you’ve ever seen. The Longest And The Most Destructive Cocktail Party* - that’s how it’s called. People say it’s been occurring for four generations at least! And it started with a bunch of drunken rocket scientists - who knew the nerdy guys could party that hard?..

“So, who was that guy you’ve been talking to, huh?” Zaphod asked casually, twirling you around.

“Oh, you totally won’t believe it! That was Loki** himself!”

“Who?..”

“Loki, you know, scandinavian god of mischief. Come on, Zaphod, don’t tell me you’ve never heard of him!”

“Ah, that Loki…” He shrugged as if it was some random guy next door. “How do you know that’s really him anyways?”

“Well, he showed me how he can shapeshift, he turned into his brother Thor, and then…”

“Ugh, can’t believe you’re that easily impressed,” Zaphod rolled his eyes and you frowned.

“Hey, what’s the matter with you? If I didn’t know you, I’d say you’re pretty jealous,” you told him teasingly.

“Me? Jealous? Ah, come on! I know that there’s no one like me in this Galaxy,” he laughed.

“Yeah, of course you do,” you muttered. It’s just Zaphod being Zaphod, what else to expect from him after all?

“What’s wrong, doll?” As much as Zaphod could be a complete dumbass at times (or most of the time, to be completely honest), he was quite good at noticing the changes in your mood, so you tried to shake it off. What did you tell yourself? Just enjoy partying while you can, there’s no need to ruin it.

“Nothing,” you beamed at him. “See, I’m smiling!”

“Oh good!” he grinned back at you, reaching your chin with his fingers, “‘Cause I want the girl I love to smile, yeah?”

“Wait, what?..” your eyes widened as you stopped dancing.

“Huh?..” Zaphod seemed pretty confused.

“What did you just say? I mean… I probably misheard you, or did you say the uh… L-word?..”

“The what word?...... Oh. Oooh…” You could see the realization hit him, and for a little while you were just staring at each other, standing awkwardly in the middle of the dancefloor. “Well zark… Guess that just slipped from my tongue, doll,” he giggled a little nervously.

You blinked for a second, and then… You couldn’t really tell how it happened, who exactly made the first move, but all of a sudden your lips were on his, his lips were on yours and you kissed each other so passionately as if your life depended on that. And honestly? It suddenly felt just right.

“Zaphod,” you breathed out after what seemed like forever, when your lips finally parted.

“Yeah,” he murmured dreamily, cupping your face with both his hands.

“Are you… squeezing my butt with the third hand?..”

“Oh, that…” he giggled again, releasing you from his embrace. “I thought you were about to trip so I just… caught you.”

“That’s okay, I don’t really mind,” you smirked, taking his hand and letting your fingers entwine. “So, Beeblebrox… Are we dancing or what?..”

“We absolutely are, baby doll,” he grinned and pulled you closer, swaying to the music.

And it was just right as well.

The Longest Party kept going.

◤━━━━━ ☆. ☪ .☆ ━━━━━◥

* “The longest and most destructive party ever held is now into its fourth generation and still no one shows any signs of leaving. Somebody did once look at his watch, but that was eleven years ago now, and there has been no follow up.” ― Douglas Adams, Life, the Universe and Everything

** In Life, the Universe and Everything, Trillian met Thor at this party, so I just thought why Loki couldn’t be there too? He totally could, right?.. :)