#i will be incorporating these things once i figure out the long and short of this au

[firefl1ezz]

coroika au idea

people might have done this before but. coroika au where the shadows won. i don't see enough shadows content and i want more so why not make an au for it ??

WARNING: gets dark. i like dark stuff. so it gets dark lmao. tw's in tags.

in short the idea so far is that the shadows win the final battle and take over the square. they're not entirely sure what to do with it at first - they sort of thought goggles and his team would win based on his track record with high ranked and high powered foes - but they manage to clear the area of all the "original" (or what i like to call outerworld) inkfish. They let most of the shopkeepers stay if they please (quite possibly forcing sheldon to stay, since they need weapons if they're going to fight their own turf wars (which, what else is there to do with their time?)) but they absolutely cleanse the area of any colourful ink kids.

this lasts for a while. a decent amount of time actually. the shadows come and go from the tv screens of deca tower as they please and/or need and they have their fun. eventually though, they start running out of radio waves to suck the energy from. they try various other sources such as the splatoon equivalent of phones as a sort of mobile battery, other tv displays and even lightning, but all of what they try is temporary at best. they find ways to channel lightning to deca tower as well as other places, but lighting obviously isn't permanent, and it often comes with rain, so having inkfish biology means they cant stand around in a storm and just hope to get zapped in case it starts raining.

in slight desperation, the shadows decide to take their chances with both the splatlands and the inkopolis plaza. the shadows from deca tower form two teams of the strongest players and battle it out for both locations. the battle at the splatlands proves to be a bit of a struggle against the best 8 and their increasing skill, however their own shadows are no match for them. both areas are successfully taken over by the shadows, and it provides them with enough radio waves to maintain their existence a little longer. they figure with so much energy they can discover new techniques as well, which leads to the discovery of more than just the leg tingling throw electric waves we see in the manga. this could be anything from giving someone a harmless little electric nip to their fingers to full on electric shock.

eventually, the same thing happened as what ended up happening in inkopolis square. the leftover radio waves start running out and becoming unreliable, and the shadows find they need something more.

by this time, the outerworld population that once inhabited these now shadow ridden areas are beginning to hide out in the square again. ink kids in the splatlands and the plaza will soon follow. once the shadows find out, they're immediately pissed off. they thought they'd cleansed the area of all non-shadows! but one smart shadow realizes that they can use these freshly found terrified souls for their own benefit. the plan is to threaten to kill the original inkfish if they don't comply, whilst complying simply requires them to begin an unconsensual and untrained voiceover job. they're forced to commentate on the shadow's turf matches in order to generate more amplified radio waves. word soon spreads to areas outside of the square and barely two weeks later sees the shadow community thriving again.

skip ahead a bit and the shadows find themselves hungry again. they're thriving in terms of radio waves, but they're absolutely starved in terms of entertainment. they aren't like goggles, blue team, even other teams who have been convinced to see eye to eye with the opinion that turf wars are for "fun". sure, they could be fun and entertaining, and they kept the shadow's energy up in terms of radio waves, but they were only fun for so long. some shadows already seem to have ideas for more entertainment.

having forced some of the outerworld population into commentary roles, the shadows figure they can do more. they begin to force them into other things too. talk shows, podcasts, turf war challenge which in some way forces the participator/s to face off with their shadow/s. you name it, they've thought of it.

but it still isn't enough. they're hungry in other ways. physical ways. they're starving. the food supplies are running low in all areas, and most shadows are running on rations, if that. so they turn to cannibalism. though, can it really be called "cannibalism" if the shadows are made of radiowaves and the inkfish are made of ink? that's how they justify it, anyway. the make sure to never eat someone entirely. after all, they might still need them as commentators later down the track. if they do, however, spawn points close to eating areas have been mandated and generalized as a part of shadow society, so no inkfish will ever die. in theory, infinite food.

now where are our main characters, you ask? goggles, rider, vintage, emperor, ocho. they're all hiding in different areas. most of the best 8 are hiding out in alterna. they're convinced none of the shadows will find them there since only mitsu knows about it (and now the rest of the best 8) but only time will tell. other splatlandians are hiding in the grizzco building. none of the shadows know how to participate in salmon run, nor do they want to. they see no point, and there's always a possibility of dying permanently there. wire is the only member missing of the best 8. he's managed to mostly safely move down to inkopolis square to support rider, his older brother. they both later move even further to inkopolis plaza with the s4. they keep themselves hidden in the shoal, seeing as the shadows don't need to rest there after matches. the x blood and team emperor (including laceless) find themselves hidden in octo valley, only thanks to vintage's time as "agent 4.3". it takes them a while to get along, but they eventually have to force themselves to so that they don't get found. lastly, hachi's team and blue team manage to make it back to the deep sea metro to hide there. this is likely the safest place, since the shadows won't know how to get there. at most, they would know if it's existence, but it's so deep underground no shadow would ever think nor want to go down there.

most other background, side or less strong characters can be seen hiding out around other places of these three locations. abandoned buildings, dark alleys and abandoned shops, and very rarely abandoned turf maps. there's always a chance the turf maps will be returned to, however, so only the strongest and/or dumbest outerworlders end up there. some smaller character can also be found stuck with other groups of survivors, or even flipping between groups depending on location and safety.

by some means, most likely forms of social media, groups will form alliances and attempt to make plans to take down the shadow nation as much as they can. anything will help at this stage, or so they think.

[george-weasleys-girl]

North Star Series

NSFW Alphabet for George & Y/N

18+ only

~•~

A = Aftercare (What they’re like after sex)

George is the king of aftercare. And, while he insists on taking care of the cleanup, it's still very much a mutual activity. Showering together and taking turns washing each other. Cuddles, kissing, checking in with one another, especially if they tried something new or things got a little rough.

B = Body part (Their favorite body part of theirs and also their partner’s)

On himself - his arms. He's very protective of Y/N and loves how he can wrap them around her, cocooning her in his warmth and safety.

On Y/N - her hips. He adores the way they sway when she walks and how she knows exactly how to use them in bed to drive him absolutely crazy.

C = Cum (Anything to do with cum basically… I’m a disgusting person)

George, first and foremost, loves cumming inside her. But, he admits there is just something so satisfying about seeing Y/N covered in his seed.

D = Dirty Secret (Pretty self explanatory, a dirty secret of theirs)

It happened during the week George stayed with Y/N while she was sick with the flu. He's never told anyone about it, including Y/N. Despite knowing she wouldn't care, he's still too embarrassed and ashamed about the whole matter.

George had a nightly ritual of masturbating before going to sleep. During the week she was sick, he'd wait until Y/N was asleep, then slip off to the bathroom and take care of business. One night, he couldn't get away. She was asleep but had managed to wrap herself tightly around his arm, preventing him from moving without waking her up. After almost an hour of trying to ignore his raging hard-on, he slipped his hand beneath the covers and jacked himself off, then used his wand to quickly clean up the mess.

E = Experience (How experienced are they? Do they know what they’re doing?)

Both were virgins when they got together. It was a bit of trial and error in the beginning, but they spent a lot of time experimenting and exploring each other. It didn’t take long for them to learn how to make each other feel amazing.

F = Favorite Position

Any position that allows them to see each other's face. The only exception is 69.

G = Goofy (Are they more serious in the moment, or are they humorous, etc)

George can be a bit silly at first, but once things really get going, he's very focused on the task at hand.

H = Hair (How well groomed are they, does the carpet match the drapes, etc.)

George will trim things occasionally, but since Y/N doesn't care either way, it's not a priority.

And yes, the carpet most definitely match the drapes.

I = Intimacy (How are they during the moment, romantic aspect…) 

They're both incredibly intimate during sex, even quickies, holding each other close, hands roaming over as much of one another's bodies as possible, deep passionate kisses...

J = Jack Off (Masturbation headcanon)

They both masturbated daily before getting together. And while the frequency is less now, they still indulge and have incorporated it into their sex life, often enjoying mutual masturbation/showing off to one another.

K = Kink (One or more of their kinks)

DIY Porn - It all started when Y/N was in the US, and they sent risqué moving photos to each other. Then George figured out how to rig the cameras to make very short films, and it just took off from there.

Praise kink - This is especially important for George. After feeling second-best for most of his life, he needs to know he's doing a good job.

L = Location (Favorite places to do the do)

In the warmer months the rooftop was their favorite. But once the weather cooled down and now with Death Eaters flying around at all hours of the day and night, the bedroom has taken the top spot.

M = Motivation (What turns them on, gets them going)

"Everything Little Thing She Does is Magic." Seriously. It really doesn't take much to turn George on.

N = NO (Something they wouldn’t do, turn offs)

Sharing. Nope. Not happening. George has had to share everything with Fred his entire life. Y/N is his and his alone.

Pain. Aside from a playful slap on Y/N's ass or the occasional love bite, neither have found inflicting or receiving pain as particularly arousing.

O = Oral (Preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc)

They both love giving and receiving oral equally. That's why they enjoy 69ing so much. They will go for hours slowly teasing and pleasuring each other.

P = Pace (Are they fast and rough? Slow and sensual? etc.)

It really just depends on the situation. If they're squeezing in a quickie, it's fast and hard. All other times George likes to draw it out as long as possible.

Q = Quickie (Their opinions on quickies rather than proper sex, how often, etc.)

While they both prefer proper sex, they're certainly not adverse to the occasional quick romp. Usually, in her lab, during one of George’s breaks.

R = Risk (Are they game to experiment, do they take risks, etc.)

As far as experimentation goes, they'll try almost anything once.

George is definitely the riskier of the two, but he'd never force Y/N into a situation where she's uncomfortable.

S = Stamina (How many rounds can they go for, how long do they last…)

George can go for one, maybe two rounds. But he can last for HOURS.

T = Toy (Do they own toys? Do they use them? On a partner or themselves?)

George had invented a few things for each of them to use while they were separated, but they rarely use them now that they're together again.

U = Unfair (how much they like to tease)

George loves to tease, but he can never maintain doing it for long. The side effect of getting Y/N riled up is that he gets himself riled up as well, and one thing leads to another very quickly.

V = Volume (How loud they are, what sounds they make)

George tends to be quiet in the beginning, with little moans and whimpers, but gets louder as he gets closer to his climax.

W = Wild Card (Get a random headcanon for the character of your choice)

They set their alarm an hour early every morning so they have time to start the day properly.

X = X-Ray (Let’s see what’s going on in those pants, pictures, or words)

Everything about this man is long and slender.

Y = Yearning (How high is their sex drive?)

There's no such thing as having too much sex. Right?

Z = ZZZ (… how quickly they fall asleep afterward)

Once the aftercare is done and they're snuggled up in bed, it doesn't take long. A matter of minutes.

~•~

@milivanili99 @slytherclaw1978 @quackitysdrugdealer @pansexualwitchwhoneedstherapy @ladylizzieofdarbyshire @fancy-pantaloons @samberriejams @totalwitch2 @aslanvez @mrsgweasley @morally-grey-obsessed @asuperconfusedgirl @hmisa11 @superduckmilkshake @junerprsh @wolfkill16 @kaysau2510 @planetkt @thankyouforanonymity @thatonepersonwhocantwrite @smallsweetvanillabean @themaraudersslut @hanne-montana @greenapplegrass @peachesgaeass @Yoursarahg

[fishsticksloser]

Headcanon request: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTR7cBCTW/

Turtle bois reacting to their s/o being like this about pants, personally I hate having pants on and prefer just over sized shirts to cover me up so may you could incorporate their s/o stealing their shirts and that being the only thing they're wearing

Sorry with is long and kinda all over the place, and remember if you don't want to do it you don't have to <3

Pants?

RotTMNT x gn!reader

Warnings: pantlessness, fluff, aged up

A/N: I have no idea what to call this... I thought about the title "No Mas Pantalones."

Donnie

Donnie doesn't care, he also enjoys being pantless once in a while

He has a specific section of shirts for you

He has issues with textures so the ones he don't particularly like, are free game

He does let you steal his favorite purple hoodie from time to time though

He thinks you look amazing in it, but it's his favorite for a reason so please don't steal it all the time

You have to have pants on in his lab though, there's a lot of dangerous things in there

First time noticing:

You walked into his room, plopping next to him

You were borrowing one of his shirts,

Not one that he hated but he didn't really like it either

He liked having his arms around you or at least touching you while he read

So when he put his hand on your thigh and felt nothing, he was a bit confused

But maybe you were wearing shorts

Eventually you go to grab something on a high shelf and he sees

Well... no pants

He blushes, feeling like he found something he shouldn't have

Leo

He hates pants too!

He only wears them when absolutely necessary and complains

So you not wanting to wear pants is fine by him, he does it too

You have free reign of his shirts as well

Take whatever you like

Leo often leaves his favorite hoodie out where you can see it, hoping you'll steal it

First time noticing:

He'd been pretty comfortable being pantless in front of you for a while

You came into his room, already wearing one of his shirts

Before discarding your pants

He tried not to pay attention

He really did

But he couldn't help watch

He blushed a little

Scooting over so you can lay next to him

Mikey

He doesn't mind

A little nervous about the others seeing you, but that's your choice

He actually really likes wearing clothes

Still he doesn't care as long as you're comfortable

Mikey has a lot of shirts

So take any you like

You can just take them if you want

First time noticing:

He was cooking dinner

Somewhat paying attention when you came in

He noticed you were wearing his hoodie

From what he could tell no pants

But shorts exist

When you reached to grab something in the fridge

He noticed you actually weren't wearing pants

He gasped and asked if you needed any

Raph

Very anxious

Asks if you would put on pants before leaving his room

He wants you to be comfortable, but his brothers and dad live here too

He absolutely loves when you steal his shirts

But you do practically swim in them

Still all of his shirts are free game

First time noticing:

You were in the kitchen grabbing a snack

You weren't wearing one of his shirts so he figured you were wearing shorts

That was until you reached up to grab something

And he didn't see pants... or shorts

Raph grabbed the back of your shirt

Pulling it down, hiding your body with his own

"What if someone other than me saw that?"

He was very grumpy afterwards

[simplyender]

You previously mentioned that Johnathon probably had a less than ideal childhood. If you are still in the mood for headcanons, would you mind sharing your thoughts on his upbringing/childhood/adolscence? The good, the bad, whatever comes to your mind. Thank you! (I wonder if he was still roommates with Quentin Beck in the movieverse)

Thank you so much for asking!!!! Sorry about taking so long to respond, work has been exhausting for me, and I really want to give my best answer, hence why I stew over asks quite a bit, lol

ANYWAY,

• Apparently, The Spot from the comics is originally from Spokane. Yeah, I'll incorporate that one in to my personal beliefs.

• He reads to me as having come from an upper-middle-ish class family.

• Only child, but his parents were frequently busy with their jobs, and when they were around, they didn't exactly have or bother to make the time for him.

• Pretty judgemental parents in general.

• Despite that, he still spent a fair amount of time trying to prove himself worthy of their attention, a difficult task with...Mixed results, mostly leaning towards failure.

• One of my friends was once like "There was definitely a time where he wanted to show them something he made and got snapped at for bothering them.", and yeah I totally agree with that.

• Over time he became more reclusive, spent more time in his room than anywhere else. He preferred reading, learning to code, and working on his own little projects over socializing, something he wasn't all too skilled at. It wasn't like there was much to socialize with at home, anyways, considering he would either be ignored or treated like a nuisance a solid 90% of the time.

• This was a double edged sword, though, since he'd also been yelled at for "being in his room all the time" a few times.

• Was used as a scapegoat quite often.

• After a certain point he moved on to trying to get his validation through other means. High grades, impressive science projects, plans to become a scientist and making the biggest damn breakthrough ever seen, do something that will change the world forever. Because then nobody could ignore him or treat him like he's less if he managed that.

• But obviously they're not the worst in his mind because they helped pay for college, so,,,,,,

edit: actually thought about this some more and he probably got a scholarship. oops lol idk high academics.

• Saw the 1933 Invisible man at a young age and absolutely loved it, he spent a short period of time trying to figure out how to make himself invisible, and kind of wished that dr. Jack Griffin was his real dad and that also maybe he'd kill his parents, healthy and not worrying thoughts from a probably 8 year old. It's been around 25+ years since then, but he'd still get seriously embarrassed if somebody brought up his old attempts.

• Had a massive growth spurt in his early teenage years, which automatically put a target on his back for even more bullying.

• Started experimenting with his fashion and putting some more work in to his appearance close to the end of high school. Still sucked at keeping up with haircuts and remembering to shave, though.

• Was probably at his peak in college, honestly. Nicest place he's been in. Least bullying he's experienced. He even made a friend or two!

• IMO he was totally roommates with Quentin in this universe too, they were on different tracks, but all in all, they got along pretty well! John was happy to help him with with whatever he was working on, although, John mostly kept his personal stuff to himself (still appreciated the extra hand with carrying things...), or at least tried to. Whether he was listened to or not is another matter entirely. When they collaborated, they were a real dream team. Unfortunately, they kinda fell out of contact after college, so it was a pretty big surprise to John when Mysterio got caught and it was released that his old college roommate had become a supervillain.

....Which only further entrench him in the "I'm meant to be Spider-Man's nemesis" mindset, by the way.

[astralartefact]

NieR Re[in]carnation The People and the World Transmigration and the End of Reincarnation

If Red is the color of ______ then why did I ____ the ending of NieR Re[d ]carnation?

Between YoRHa:Dark Apocalypse, some of the RoD stories and now this, a pattern has been established:

If I didn't really like the ending of a NieR story, chances are 100% that given a couple hours to days I will figure myself into "This is the best thing ever written, I committed blasphemy against the god king by ever doubting his vision."

Because to be open and honest about it, right after playing it the ending was kinda boring to me - because if you paid attention to the periphery and knew the deep lore you already expected 90% of the reveals, the only really new thing is the rundown on what happened to His, Her and N2.

Let me phrase it like this: the Time Loop Theory didn't really need confirmation up until now. It was a thing because it fits the themes, but acknowledging it wouldn't really add anything because the vague sense of inevitability already exists simply by alluding to it and the previous narratives all already had it built into them without it anyways - so I think the only reason they hard confirmed it now was because it literally added to the story. Him and Her being stuck in the time loop of humanity's failure is why they despaired.

So long story short, the stuff they 'confirmed' I didn't really need to be confirmed (cries in no y:da) and as fine as it was, not having an immediate "Oh Shit!" Moment made the chapter kind of boring. So while kind of neat it didn't really do anything for me.

But I also finished Reincarnation at 5AM. So I went to sleep and Io and behold, I awoke to a revelation by the god king:

This was amazing. This story logistically paid off on the entirety of the game's narratives in a single chapter all while talking about something new. What the fuck. Once again, this shouldn't work. How did they do that??? How is the writing in this game so tightly unified despite being literally fragmented into 20-ish individual stories??? This game has the most writers of all NieR games and yet every single story is pulling at the same rope??? Like, how???

To me NieR Reincarnation is about two things: Number 1 - Reincarnation is a Cage, all humans are born into some level of agency-less-ness and wouldn't you know it, they have no agency about that Number 2 - 'Humanity' is a more complex thing than just 'Being of the Human Species' (which is basically the NieR theme)

I think the Robots in the cast illustrate this the best: Dimos and Marie and Yurie and 10H (and Noelle and 063y and F66x) were made for a purpose, but they didn't choose their purpose, their creators did for very specific reasons. But against all odds they find themselves human and humans have wishes and dreams, even if it's just to fulfill their purpose, they seek out the agency to make those dreams come true and if they pray for their dreams to come true they will find a way.

By experiencing the pain and despair of solitude He became human, because He wanted, He wished to not experience it anymore. By experiencing the pain and despair of the machine lifeforms N2 became human in the same way and She became human by incorporating N2's experience of pain into Herself.

And as Humans they pray for a better future. And maybe they can't do it on their own, because they're human and humans fail and cry and shit and die. Maybe they desperately need the help of someone who can help, even if it's just a little girl who is selfless enough to offer them an encouraging hand despite all of the mistakes they made. But by praying for their dreams to come true, by not outright denying the possibility of a better future, simply by hoping this better future exists we can reach it, because we're human. We will find a way.

So even I, from one Prayer to another, want to Thank You for Praying. Please believe in the future you want to see, because otherwise it will not happen. And remember, all Prayers lead to the Cage.

Also Drakengard symbolism because GODDAMN IT, JUST MAKE ANOTHER DRAKENGARD GAME YOU-----

They called her the second girl, but she's at least the third!!! (i think four if you count crym?) (but i'm pretty sure only i do that so let's do three)

I'm fucking pissed. You dare to leave the Drakengard Shit, MY beloved Drakengard Shit, as subtext symbolism??? How dare you. How absolutely dare you. I hope you know I am praying for Drakengard 5 (not a mistake) Yoko Taro and as I have established in this post you yourself have said that prayers come true if you believe in them so go ahead. I'm waiting.

No Seed of Resurrection talk, No word on Mother, No Accord, just the girl with One's horns doing the Manah stuff I deserve, because I called it back when Replicant Remake came out.

No but really though, I wonder if there might be a reason that we got basically 0 answers to Drakengard stuff and only answers to the NieR side of things. Apparently - and I have no quote for this, I just read some chatter about it - Yoko Taro has said that the next NieR game is planned, but will only come after another game he's making... and well... if this final chapter has made anything clear by omission it's that Drakengard isn't NieR... Just saying...

Also, this still it wasn't a Y:DA reference after all... They didn't even slightly allude to it q_q #AnoggForReincarnation is truly over...

But let's talk about the color Red for a second, because I have a thought.

I'm not going into it too much, we all know Red is a pretty symbolically heavy color in general, but in NieR and honestly even more so in Drakengard especially - they literally just did stain a girl in white in blood again, that's the Drakengard thing - but...

Mama's Pod is also Red. She receives a Red Carnation, a common Japanese Mother's Day gift, from 10H which is the key to 10H unlocking the truth. Clearly Red isn't just Hatred... but I haven't thought enough about it to really tell you what that's about. I will have to think about that - and if I ever come to a conclusion on that front I will tell you all about it.

Anyways, that's it for now... I can confidently state that NieR Reincarnation is my favorite NieR game and honestly by a long shot. I don't give a shit that it's a Gacha, I can't do anything about that and Yoko Taro, Yuki Wada and the Rest of the Team did the absolute most with the hand they were dealt, because clearly someone up in Square Enix does not like what the silly mask man is doing and doesn't give him the budget and creative liberties he truly deserves.

Once again a sincere Thank you for Praying - please believe in the future you want to see, no matter how distant and unattainable it may seem. You will still have to look out for and grab the hand reaching out to actually reach it - but you will only see that hand if you're hoping for one to come your way in the first place.

Speaking of which, here is my Prayer for the day: #AnoggForWhateverComesAfterReincarnationBecauseIfThisWasReplicantEndingEPayoffThenY:DAPayoffHasToBeNext

[thewildsophia]

.For When I Don't Rember My Beloved. WordGirl//Dr. Two-Brains

Dr. Two-Brains/Steven Boxleitner x Reader

Word Count: 4130

"Read More" placed due to length

The henchmen Charlie and “Meatloaf” were the first to aid Dr. Two Brains in the cheese-centric havoc he rained over Fair City. Dr. Two Brains was a strange man, to say the least, but he was weird in an endearing way…ehh, kinda. But you must have thought so too since you were soon to join him, being recruited just a few days after them. 

It was strange really. One day you didn’t exist to them and the next Dr. Two Brains was strolling you into the lair stating that you would be his first in command and that they should report to you. Oh well, there's not much they can do otherwise.

At least you were nice enough. You didn’t yell and berate them like the doctor would — quite the opposite. You were kind and reasonable to them, never placing unattainable expectations on them. You were slow to anger, but they may catch you in a foul mood on a particularly awful day. Overall, you were very normal, very sane, and nothing like their boss which confused them so much about your sudden employment. Yet oddly enough you never told them your name, opting to have them address you as “Commander.” They’re not even sure they’ve heard Dr. Two Brains call you by your name either.

They figured the doctor valued you more than the actual henchmen since you were also a doctor yourself. You didn’t speak much about that fact, but the lab coat and PPE you always wore or at least had on hand clued them into the fact that you were probably an associate of his before his accident. When they asked you about what kind of doctor you were, you were very short in your response, only telling them you specialized in cellular biology and worked at the local hospital at one point.

They watched how you interacted with their boss and were shocked at your boldness towards him. You weren’t shy about voicing your concerns with his plans much to the boss’s dismay, frustrating him even more and forcing him to revise his plan twice, thrice, however many times until you were satisfied. Yet despite his irritation with your feedback, he always acted on what you said. In addition, you were the only one he let aid him in constructing his machinery. Your involvement would range from handing him tools to constructing parts of a larger machine depending on how complicated the schematic the doctor had drawn up, often time being tweaked by you before he began construction. You’d even talk to the boss about his health, pushing him to stay active even in small ways and to try and incorporate small items into his diet that weren’t just cheese. You’d even cook for the man!

To the henchmen, you seemed more like a friend to their boss rather than a worker, and they supposed that’s why you were his “First Commander” instead of another henchman. 

Yet Meatloaf couldn’t help but notice the longing looks you would shoot the doctor, an unreadable expression on your face. He listened to how you spoke firmly but gently to the boss, never once raising your voice no matter how belligerent and unreasonable he would become. Charlie saw the lingering touches you would brush against the doctor’s skin, not wanting to pull away yourself yet not having the heart to stand when the boss would inevitably push you away from him. He watched as you would care for him in small ways like organizing his tools or draping a blanket over him when he would pass out on the couch. They both figured you had feelings for their boss as strange as the man was. That would explain why you so willingly allowed yourself to be hired by their insane boss and why you did things that most certainly weren’t part of your job description.

Oh, how close yet so far they were from the truth with this idea in their mind.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You practically lived in the lair with Dr. Two Brains, so it was no surprise that you were there before Charlie or Meatloaf. What was surprising was that you were nowhere to be found when the two henchmen came in that morning. You’d usually be busying yourself with some minute task in the main part of the lair, yet today you were not there. 

Just a few minutes earlier, right before the two henchmen had arrived, you had been called over by Dr. Two Brains to help in his “office,” which was just a small back room that was mostly stable and had a partially functioning door on it. He said he wanted your input on his schematic for a ray that would turn gold into cheese. You didn’t go to him immediately, opting to finish what you were doing in the front of the lair before helping him. Your concentration drifted from that task when you heard the crashing of books and the scattering of papers coming from his office. 

You’re quick to sprint over to his office, calling out to him in worry all the way there.

“Doc?” You asked, rounding the corner of the hall, “You alright?” 

You peeked your head into his room to see it in complete disarray. Papers fluttered to the ground and the few reference books you had managed to steal get for him were scattered about without care. Your eyes were drawn to Two Brains in the corner, back against the wall, and head in his hands, his mouse brain pulsing.

He groaned as he tried to soothe his aching head, yet the pain would not let up. You slowly made your way over to him, tiptoeing over the scattered papers and open books. 

“I’m here, Doc,” You whispered, kneeling in front of him and placing a hand on his knee. If he knew you were there, he didn’t acknowledge you. His hands gripped his head harder with strands of his white hair sticking to the rubber of his gloves and slipping between his fingers. He muttered something, but you couldn’t understand him.

You scooted even closer and placed your hands on his own before gently pulling his fingers out of his hair, though they would not leave his head. You rubbed his hands through his gloves and softly spoke to him,

“I’m right here for you, Doctor. Just tell me what’s wrong and I’ll help you.”

Dr. Two Brains’ muttering stopped and his movements stilled. His hands gently gripped your own and slowly he let you pull his hands away from his face where you placed them on his knees.

His eyes were irritated and red-rimmed, much more than usual, and tears were caught in his whiskers on their way down his lithe face. His cheeks were flush, most likely from crying so hard and unable to breathe properly. He licked his lips and inhaled a shuddering breath before trying to speak again. He was unable to through his raw throat.

“It’s okay,” You whispered, rubbing your fingers comfortingly on his hands, “Just breathe.”

His dark eyes looked into your own E/C ones and for a moment you saw recognition in them. 

“Y/N?” Dr. Two Brains questioned, and it felt as if the breath was forced from your lungs. 

Eyes blown wide you’re silent for a moment, unable to force even a breath from your body. Your hands grip him harder and you feel your eyes burn from unseen tears and your face warm. Your bottom lip trembled but you forced your jaw to unclench and answered unsure,

“Steven?” And he hummed in response.

Dr. Two Brains, Steven, looked around the room and sniffed before looking back at you. 

“What’s…going on? Where are we?” Steven asked, but you were still unable to say anything in response. In an instance, you moved his knees aside and fell into his chest, wrapping your arms tightly around his torso. He groaned from the hard impact, but quickly wrapped his own arms around you and rested his chin on your head with a chuckle. 

“What’s wrong, Darling? Why are…” Steven’s question trails off as he wipes the tears off his cheek, “We both crying?” 

You wanted to answer him, but you couldn’t force a single word from your mouth, opting to press your face harder into his chest and hug him tighter. You breathed in his scent, laced with some cheddar cheese but still him, before pulling away to look at him and God…

How long has it been since he’s looked at you like this? 

Eyes soft but still that rodent red, he gazed at you with so much love you felt as if you could just die of love for him. 

You steadied your breath and brought a hand up to cup his cheek, wiping away any remnant of his tears before answering him.

“Nothing's wrong,” You sighed, hands never once leaving his body, “I’ve just missed you so.”

Steven chuckles before kissing your cheek and you shuttered at the strange yet familiar sensation. He pulled you in closer to him, moving you to straddle his thigh that was outstretched in front of him, and pressed his cheek against yours in a movement that you hadn’t felt in so long yet remembered so well. His whiskers tickled your cheek the same way his stubble used to.

“You’re such a sweetheart. I’ve been in my lab the whole time, haven’t I?” Steven chuckled, “Where have I been to you?”

You tilted your head to kiss his cheek, not minding the gentle prodigy of his whiskers.

“I know where you’ve been,” You quickly answered, “I’ve just been busy in my own lab at the hospital.” You lied. You didn’t want to risk reminding him of who he had become. 

“The long hours, plus the strange times I have to work, have completely taken me away from you. I just miss being in your company,” You whispered.

Steven shifted you in his lap, pulling back and cupping your face with both his hands and the rubber of his gloves cooled your flushed cheeks. He peppered your face with light and innocent kisses; from your cheeks, your forehead, your nose, the space between your eyebrows, and finally one last kiss to your lips. You hummed into the kiss, one hand gripping his arm and the other trailing up to brush a few strands of hair out of his face. Eyes closed, he wiped the last of your tears from your face. 

Pulling back, Steven rested his forehead against yours and sighed.

“How did I manage to end up with such a loving spouse like you, hmm?” He questioned, eyes soft and unfocused as he looked at you with complete adoration. Your hands fall to his shoulders and you squeeze them, never wanting to let go of him again.

“No, it’s me who is lucky to have ended up with you, my beloved,” You answered in a hushed tone. You pressed your lips to his in a chaste, sweet kiss, savoring the feeling of his soft yet chapped lips against your own. 

The feeling of his body against your own was one you hadn’t felt in so long, yet it was all too familiar at the same time. Hesitantly you pulled away from him and immediately felt another wave of tears build up behind your eyes. You leaned forward and pressed your face into his neck with arms wrapped around his chest tighter than before. You tilted your face to speak into his neck,

“Please don’t leave me,” You whispered, voice small from the unshed tears that burned your face, “Not again. Not ever.” 

“Ohh, sweetheart…What has gotten into you?” Steven questioned, arms wrapped around your shaking frame, “I’d never leave you. Not now, not ever.”

You tried to wipe the tears that fell from your eyes not wanting to soil Steven’s lab coat, but you knew he never minded. He always said that he could just wash it.

Steven’s hands are gentle as they caress your body, careful not to snag his gloves on your clothes or pull your hair too hard. His touches soon falter before he pushes you away from him slightly and for a moment you’re worried that he would push you off of him altogether. 

With his hands on your shoulders and eyebrows furrowed, Steven finally takes a good look at you, his eyes trailing from your head to your feet, then back up to your face.

“Are you alright?” He asked, voice laced with worry, “You look so much thinner than I remember.” He commented. You tried to shrug off his concern, but he persisted. 

“And your eyes,” Steven began while tracing your under-eye with his thumb, “You’ve got terrible eye bags. Not that you look bad! You just seem…tired. More than usual.”

You placed your hand over top of his on your face and smiled softly, yet you knew you had to come up with a lie.

“If I’m honest, I haven’t been sleeping well lately,” You started, eyes drifting away from his own, “The long hours I’ve been putting in have made it difficult for me to rest at night. And being away from you hasn’t helped.”

You shifted under his gaze uncomfortable at the probing but still managed to finish.

“But I feel much better now that I’m with you,” You smiled, meeting his eyes again, but a frown had etched itself on his face.

“Y/N, please don’t lie to me,” Steven whispered, and you cursed yourself for having been caught, “What’s troubling you so much? Where have I been?” 

You frown yourself, gripping him harder and sniffling. You pulled his hand off your face and rested it in his lap, rubbing the tops of his hands with your thumbs. 

“You’ve just…been away,” You mutter, tears brimming in your eyes, “Away from me. I’ve missed you.”

“But where have I been?” Steven asked again.

“I-I don’t know. You’ve been here, but you just haven’t been yourself,” You answered while using your shoulder to wipe your face, “But you’re here now. You’re yourself now! I just want to stay with you…”

Steven pulled his hands from his lap and held your waist, kissing your cheek and shushing your sobs.

“I’m sorry,” He whispered against your skin, “I won’t leave you. I promise.”

You hugged him, arms wrapping your arms around his back and hooking them over his shoulders, and rested your head on his shoulder. His hands on your waist rubbed you gently and soothed the tension you hadn’t realized had settled there. You exhaled a shuddering breath before speaking up,

“I love you, Steven,” You sighed. He holds you tighter.

“I love you too, Y/N,” Steven responded.

Your right-hand falls from where it was resting and trails down his left arm to his hand. There was still something you needed to know. Slowly, Steven lets you pull the glove off his hand and it falls to the floor.

You feel a sob bubble up your throat as your eyes lay on the simple gold band nestled on his slender ring finger. You can’t help but caress the ring, relieved that he still wore it even when he wasn’t Steven. Shakily, you lifted his hand to your face and kissed his knuckles. Pulling away, you lace your fingers together and smile at him, a smile that he returns. 

Steven’s grasp on your hand falters before his arm falls limp. He looks around the room with furrowed eyebrows and gears turning in his head. 

“Why am I on the floor?” Steven asked, voice hoarse and not the same tone he had been speaking to you with. He shifted back from you and you in turn moved away from him.

“Please, just stay a little longer,” You thought, but you knew your plea would not be answered.

“And why are you sitting on me?” Steven, no, Dr. Two Brains asked, and you’re quick to pull away altogether. The doctor rubs his hand subconsciously and quickly notices his left glove is missing. He looks around panicked before finding it on the floor and swiftly pulling it on his hand and over his elbow. He rubs where his ring is under the glove and glares at you.

“What’s going on here?” Dr. Two Brains asks again, yet you couldn’t come up with a lie quick enough, “Answer me, Commander!”

“I-You fell!” You exclaimed, moving to kneel in front of him, “You fell after you called me to look at your schematics. I was just making sure you didn’t hit your head too hard is all…” Your voice trailed off as determination seemed to die down in your throat. 

Dr. Two Brains glares at you for a moment longer before his face softens, but it’s clear his suspicion remains.

“Right…” He draws out while swatting your outstretched hand away and lifting himself to his feet, “Did you look at the schematics yet?” 

“No, not yet,” You answered, dusting the dirt off your pants and fixing your coat. 

“What am I paying you for then?” Dr. Two Brains groaned while pinching the bridge of his nose, eyes squeezed shut. He opened them a moment later, sighing and looking over to the door of his office.

“And why are you guys just standing around?!” The doctor shouted, drawing your attention to the two henchmen standing in the doorframe. 

“Just how long had they been standing there?”

From the look they gave you, it was clear they had been there long enough.

“Sorry, Boss. We’ll get right back to work,” Meatloaf said before motioning for Charlie to follow him. They glanced at you one last time before disappearing somewhere in the lair. 

Dr. Two Brains turned back to you and just as he opened his mouth to say something he cut himself off, unsure.

“Are you crying?” Dr. Two Brains asked. 

“Were you crying?” You thought as your eyelids fluttered and you tapped your undereye with your fingertip, immediately noting the moisture there. 

“Uh-” You stutter, unsure of how to answer him. You felt that an affirmative ‘yes’ would make things more awkward than it already was.

“Oh, geez. I didn’t think I was that harsh,” Dr. Two Brains said quietly, rubbing the back of his neck, “Was I?” 

“No-” You clear your throat while trying to quickly dispel the discomfort that had gathered between you two, “It’s nothing. Just…allergies!” 

You scrubbed the tears from your eyes roughly and stood up straight, yet Dr. Two Brains was still cautious.

“Um, alright,” He muttered, “Just look over the schematics when you can.” He gestured to his desk before sitting down himself. You’re quick to pick up the offending schematics and scurry out of his office with a teary-eyed smile.

His gaze lingers on you a moment longer than it should have, his hand subconsciously coming up to caress the golden band on his left hand.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You found yourself on the upper side of the lair on a “balcony” of sorts, schematics long discarded on a table in the main room. You’d look later. You pull the cigarette from your lips in your left hand, exhaling that smoke in one big sigh. 

Bad habit, you know. But sometimes you just want to forget the same way he does.

You hear footsteps approaching you on your left and aren’t surprised to see Charlie and Meatloaf peering up at you, unsure if they were allowed up there with you. With a sigh, you motioned for them to join you. They climb up and rest on the railing on either side of you. Meatloaf clears his throat as you take another drag from your cigarette.

“Sooo…” Meatloaf begins, dragging out his single word.

“Sooo…” You copy, not looking over at him.

“You and the Boss are a thing?” He asked, looking at your face for an answer. You frown and drop your cigarette on the ground, stomping out the few burning embers. 

“Do you two know my name?” You ask, fingers playing with your glove on your left hand.

“No, the Boss just calls you our commander. He never told us your name,” Meatloaf explains. Your eyes remain down as you take a step back from the railing and pull off your glove. You hold up your left hand for them to see the gold band that rests on your ring finger.

“I’m Dr. Y/N Boxleitner,” You said, dropping your hand back down to your waist and placing your glove back on, “Steven is my husband.”

Charlie’s mouth is agape as Meatloaf stutters out a few incoherent words before taking a deep breath and trying again.

“You’re Dr. Two Brains’ spouse?! I had no idea he was married!” Meatloaf exclaimed, and you chuckled bitterly.

“Yeah, he seems to forget that too,” Meatloaf is silent and Charlie places a hand on your shoulder, forcing you to look up at them.

“We noticed…” Meatloaf whispered, trying his best to be comforting. Meatloaf rubbed your other shoulder and looked over to you in concern. 

“We’re sorry about what you have to go through. While Charlie and me don’t know much, we can’t imagine how hard it is for you,” Charlie shook his head affirmatively as Meatloaf spoke. You place your hands on theirs and sighed.

“Thanks…” You muttered out quietly, “It really is hard. After the accident, I thought Steven was dead until I saw the news broadcast about him.” Charlie and Meatloaf nod as you continue.

“In a way, he sort of is. He doesn’t even remember me most of the time,” You lean forward and press your face into your hands, elbows resting on the guardrail, “Everytime he forgets…It’s like losing him over and over again.” 

The tears finally fell freely down your face and the two henchmen looked at each other panicking, not knowing what to do to comfort you. They let you cry while rubbing your back and Charlie offered you a tissue when most of your crying was done.

“Thank you…” You sniffled before wiping your face and blowing your nose.

“Does the Boss really not recognize you?” Meatloaf asked hesitantly. You shook your head.

“Most times, no,” You answered, shoulders slumped and legs tired, “But I took that vow, ‘In sickness and in health.’ How funny…”

The henchmen are silent.

“I mean, really. What horrible act did I commit to deserve this outcome?” The tears were back with a vengeance and you rubbed your eyes extra hard to rid yourself of them, ignoring the sharp sting of your lab coat rubbing your delicate skin so rough, “It’s n-not fair. I’ve don’t nothing but love Steven with all my heart, and when he looks at me-”

You cut yourself off with a sharp inhale, suddenly unable to breath properly.

“He doesn’t even remember me!” You shouted, banging your fists on the railing and noting the small dents in the metal, “It hurts…More than anything, it hurts so bad.”

The henchmen stayed with you for the rest of the night, even helping you cook dinner and having a small sleepover that Dr. Two Brains wasn’t a part of. You looked absolutely tired when the three of you sat down to watch a movie and you ended up only making it half way through it before you were out like a light. The two covered you with a discarded, mostly clean towel that was lying around -- it was the closest to a proper blanket -- before leaving the lair for the night. Charlie glanced at your sleeping form one last time, sympathy for you overflowing, before Meatloaf called him over to the truck.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Less than an hour later, Dr. Two Brains made his way into the main part of the lair, finding you passed out on the couch. As he approached, he pulled the towel off of you with a disgusted sneer and immediately noted the smell of cigarettes on you. It was faint even for the mouse nose, but it was definitely cigarettes he was smelling.

Dr. Two Brains grumbled to himself about forcing you to quit while grabbing a proper blanket and pillow from the storage area of the lair. He came back and covered your now shivering body with the thick comforter. There were a few holes in it and it smelled a little funky, but it was better than the damn towel that’s for sure. 

Ever so gently, Dr. Two Brains lifts your head and squeezes the pillow underneath it before dropping you back down. He watched you turn your head in your sleep and sigh. 

The Doctor felt odd as he stared at your face, subconsciously tucking a loose strand of hair out of the way. 

But the longer he looked at you the more you reminded him of his own spouse...

He always did wonder where they went after his accident.

[chubsonthemoon]

Long time no bookbinding! This is the wonderful right where I should be, a soukoku series by @feralrookie that makes me go, well, feral XD Heather's writing is hypnotic and heartbreaking, and the way she writes Dazai and Chuuya especially hits every single button in my soukoku-rotted hamster brain.

Some process chatter and more glamor pics, under the cut! <3

This bind underwent several design revisions in the six-month period between me asking for Heather's permission to bind in May and just this morning when I finished, mostly because I fell down hard into two other crafting rabbit holes LOL (crochet and dressmaking!). But can I just say--even though they might've derailed my bookbinding for a bit, I'm really glad I chased those bunnies, otherwise I wouldn't have gotten my hands on the fabric I eventually repurposed for the bookcloth!

Originally, I wanted a red/black color scheme for this book, but no matter how I fiddled with the typesetting and design sketches and whatnot, everything I came up with seemed to fall short of what I was going for. But there's this gut-wrenching, beautiful scene in the first one shot of the collection, stay up through the night, where Dazai and Chuuya are sitting on a city rooftop stargazing, and that image of them just looking up at the stars stuck with me for months, even as I got sidetracked with other crafty things and design ideas. Enter the dressmaking fabric--that dreamy, faux-velvet--and everything quickly settled into place.

And because Dazai's bandages are so iconic, I just had to incorporate them into the design! Each of the title pages separating the works in the series features hand-drawn stars and a section of a very long bandage/ribbon that I drew in Clip Studio Paint. It took a bit of fiddling with the brush settings to get the look that I wanted, but I'm really happy with the results :3

Aaaaaaaand finally, even though I ended up not using this cover spread, I figured it'd be a shame if I didn't show it, because I really love how it brings all the works in the series together!

Okay, long post over for now! This was a really fun challenge, and I'm so happy with how it came out. All my love once again to Heather for letting me bind her gorgeous work, and to end this post, a line from that made me sob my eyes out when I first read it!

"I have seen you at your worst,” the tip of his nose, “and I have loved you at your cruelest,” the corner of his mouth, “and I have never once regretted it.” (Chapter 6 of in the house that you built me)

All my love! <3

[cattocavo]

Six sketch sunday

Thanks so much for tagging me @thewholelemon

I actually have something pretty exciting to share if i do say so myself!

In november 2022 i did a master study of romeo and juliet by frank bernard dicksee. I was very happy with it. But over time I’ve become less and less happy with it, specifically how baz looks :((

This is due to the fact that i traced A LOT in late 2022 (I was 15 ok, I’m sure we’ve all had one of those phases😭) I traced the whole painting, but baz was hard bc the original painting featured a woman, and her whole figure was covered by a white loose dress. 2022 me did their best interpreting the shapes and forming a new body for baz, but honestly they didn’t do it very well. Ive hated Baz’s face and body for a while now, but still loved simon and the painting in general. Which is why I came to the conclusion that for me to be at peace and happy with it again, I have to remaster it!

And again I’ve had this on my mind for a while now, mulling it over, because it’s quite a big project. But 7 days ago i finalized my decision and started looking at references and whatnot. It took me so long to find references bc I was confused of the angle of Juliet’s head in the original painting (so I’ve changed the angle whoops) and i needed to make sense of it all. Before i knew it i had spent 5 hours (according to procreates tracker) drawing, and literally nothing had changed.. but then i spent like 2 hours more and THAT did it. It was like digging a whole in the ground searching for water. You dig a little and nothing happens, and when you finally dig deep enough the water reveals itself like a goldmine.

Anyways, i haven’t gotten around to do any recoloring yet, so ill show you the sketch (ahem, traced) of my 2022 version versus what I have now

The one on the left is the 2022 version. The one on the right is the current sketch.

I’m trying to incorporate a lot more body language from baz this time around. I think the old sketch of baz was very rigid. His torso is very short 💀 my biggest issue was his face though. It was far too feminine. The bone structure wasn’t exactly giving baz, in fact the whole face didn’t look like baz to me. The expression also bothered me, it was too superficial. Like it’s exactly the predictable expression you expect him to have. I tried to spice it up in the new version by making him appear a bit more anguished. It’s romeo and juliet after all.

Im currently looking at references to what clothes he should be wearing (don’t worry, i wont cover up his sleeves. Even if it’s more time period accurate) so if y’all have any inspo or suggestions, feel free to share them with me!

While baz is the inly thing getting completely redone, I’m also touching up some other thins. Just giving it a more refined, finished look overall. The plants in the original were really messily done, so i’m gonna work a lot on those. 2022 me also slacked on the curtains, so I’m repainting those to match the original frank bernard painting.

Once I’m done with it all i think i might sell some prints. Ive gotten requests to sell prints of this one before, but never really got around to do more than research. If i do make prints, I’m a bit worried they’ll all go to waste bc they’ll have to be shipped from denmark, and shipping in expensive :(( (I’ve tried to set up middlemen and it didn’t work for me. Red bubble wont even allow me to add a credit card😬) but if y’all are still interested in prints, do let me know! Ill definitely put in more of an effort to make it happen if i know it wont be in vain :))

Thats all from me for today :3 see ya next time

(Also check out what my COBB partner @thewholelemon is doing! It’s gonna be so good!)

Tags! @monbons @raenestee @j-nipper-95 @orange-peony

Id love to see what y’all are doing!

[allastoredeer]

If it's not too much work, could you share what your outlining process is like? I always feel a little lost when I try outlining my fics and I know the process is different for everyone but I feel like it would help to know what others do. Every time I try to google help I get processes for original novel writing, and it doesn't feel as applicable to writing a short fanfic.

I would love to :3

There are actually a few different ways I outline, and sometimes it depends on the length of the fic and how complex the plot is.

I'll use one of my saved radiostatic prompts as an example (it also gives me an excuse to sit down and actually outline it hehe)

So, sometimes just the prompt itself is a good enough outline for me (this is dependent on how long I think the fic is going to be. If it's short, sometimes the prompt itself works and I don't need to go in-depth. I say "prompt" but that also can mean a specific scene in your head that you want to write, or a concept, or even a piece of fan-art that inspired you).

Here's the paragraph prompt I wrote for this radiostatic one-shot/short fic (spoilers, I guess):

So sometimes, just this is enough for me to start writing the fic (my prompts do tend to get a little big because I like to add a lot of detail - about the scene or concept that grabbed my attention - so that I capture all the vibes and emotions that I want to incorporate.

But sometimes, it helps to go more in-depth so I'm not overwhelmed trying to get to the part of the fic that I want to write (NOTE: It is totally fine if you write out the scene/parts that you want to write the most, even if it's in the middle or the end. You can always fill in the blanks after. Or you can just post the scene you wanted to write without adding more. It's up to you).

I like to figure out what scenes happen that lead up to the parts I want to write, so sometimes, I'll make a bullet-point list of chronological scenes, plot-points, and details. For example:

And etc... you continue on until you've hashed out the sequence of events that take place in the story. This doesn't have to be super detailed (it can be really brief and to the point) and doesn't it have to be super clinical either. Just have fun and write down whatever silly thoughts you have in your head.

You bullet-point list can be as simple as:

Alastor goes downstairs to do exercise.

Vox shows up to do the exercise as well (invited by Charlie)

They get into an argument about modern technology.

Vox leaves.

It's really just about putting down the sequence of events starting from the very beginning to the very end. You can keep it simple like the above example

OR

You can make it even more detailed by doing an in-depth summary of the fic, scene by scene, plot point by plot point, until you get to the end (this is what I usually do because it gets everything planned out and on the page, down to the smallest details). For example:

And then it goes on like this until I've outlined the entire fic. You can be silly with this. Just have fun. Let yourself ramble and get all you're ideas out. Don't try to stick to a rigid plan, let the story flow naturally.

Then, once I've finished my outline, I use it as a guide as I write the rough draft. The thing about outlines is that you don't have to follow exactly what you planned. It's okay to diverge or adds things or cut things out. It really is just a loose guide to help you through the events of the story and get your thoughts on paper.

Additionally: You don't even have to fully finish the outline if you don't want to. Sometimes you get half of it done before you want to start writing, and that's fine. The rest of the story will reveal itself as you go.

If I'm doing a multi-chaptered fic, sometimes I'll break the overall idea of the story into pre-determined chapters and summarize it section by section. Or, I'll just be a maniac and summarize the entire fic in one big, super long, super detailed block of text. Another staticradio fic I'm currently outlining is 16,152 words long and I'm not even close to being done. I expected this fic to get super long and complex, so writing it out in a very chronological and detailed manner helps it feel less daunting. AND now I have every plot point, twist, emotional scene, and bit foreshadowing planned out and already placed where I want it to show up in the fic. It's great. It makes me life easier when I actually buckle down and write the rough draft.

Just as a final note, I want to say that everyone's process is different. This is how I outline, but I know it won't work for everyone. It's all about finding what method works for you.

I'll say that one of the most important to do while outlining is simply having fun with it. Make it your hype list. Make every scene you jot down a scene you're excited to write. Make yourself want to write it so it doesn't feel like a chore to slog through.

Best advice I've ever recieved: If you're bored writing a scene, the audience will be bored reading it.

Have fun and write the story you wanna write 👉👉

Hope this helped!

[bunny-hoodlum]

#20, 33, 34, and 35 please!!

Sorry this is late! Wanted to think about my answers more, but I forgot to even read the original questions this whole time, so I def' didn't get to think about my answers, whups. 😅

Thank you for ask, @dayseternal-blog!! 🥰

How do you approach action sequences or intense moments?

I haven't written anything action, it makes me cringe because I don't think I know what I'm doing, but I read that short sentences are best for this and I would agree. Choppy, curt sentences would give that sense of blow for blow feeling that action needs, and it would give the sense of it happening seconds of each other, or even simultaneously. I would probably look for an action scene to copy tbh, and try to write the choreography in a choppy way. Emotionally intense moments can be the same, I suppose. Idk what I do personally, I think I'm an Intuitive writer. Once I'm in the emotion of the scene or character, I just go for it and my heart beats really fast usually and it's wrenching and it's awesome and then it just exists and it feels right. (Until I reread it a month or so later. 🙈 Jk, time isn't the problem, my inconsistent headspace is. 🤭)

How do you incorporate world-building elements into your fics?

So, at this point and as you know, I'm veryyyyy comfortable writing my modern AUs as if they were based in Japan. Even though I don't think Konoha could feasibly be as big as Tokyo with the size of Hi no Kuni, I just write it as if it is. 😅 I pull from the real world to some extent, usually Uzushio is a mix of Okinawa and Taiwan, but I also have some AU where it's pretty damn impoverished, so it's going to be a mix of Macau and Haiti. Sometimes Suna is a mix of Macau and Vegas, haha. I guess Dubai and Macau would probably be more... unique. 🤔 I focus on food and architecture more than deeper things like politics and style of governance and whatnot, because my characters only experience those things passively as ordinary citizens do. Whenever I get back to Powerless, the shady secret government program plotline will actually matter more than Slice of Life stuff, so in that instance I will have to map out history, organizations and their affiliations, how secret programs are run, etc. It just depends on what my story needs. Usually backstory kind of comes to me on its own and that informs me of the world. Can't really think of anything else. 🤔 Making things familiar is the main aim every time, though. Dango to a Japanese is like sugar-cinnamon pretzels to us in the US or whatever, it's a familiar snack you can get pretty easily. That's the kind of immersion I try to keep in mind.

Are there any fic writing tips or tricks you've learning along the way that you'd like to share?

Proofread before posting. Proofread again when you wake up the next day after posting. You'll always miss something, but give yourself the first week to catch all the typos you might've missed. 😂

I guess I recommend reading your dialogue aloud? Maybe your whole fic? My inner monologue is pretty damn loud, so I like to trust my word flow is good because I'm practically reading it aloud in my head. I recommend letting characters interrupt each other. Unless perhaps both parties are really solemn about getting to the bottom of the issue or respect each other or both, that neither interrupts the other, but their emotions would be raging to speak up in the midst of all that patience. Figure out your own writing process. If outlining sucks out the fun, try writing the whole thing without guidance but be sure to analyze the story's direction with what you produce. I recommend the flashlight method for pantsers like myself, there are other methods as well, but a little organization goes a long way. I lastly recommend the "One Stop for Writers" site, their Emotion Thesaurus is such an amazing tool. When you just need to reference things quickly, it's very robust.

What do you enjoy the most about being a fic writer?

Between the community aspect and kind of being known for certain things, I think those are pretty even. I enjoy the act of creation and all that, but having something I experienced along the way and having the pride of it being mine is pretty damn cool. And the community makes that feeling even better.

[romanceandshenanigans]

Writer Q&A Game

Thanks to @clairelsonao3 for tagging me!

1. What motivates you to write?

I'm not exactly sure tbh. It almost feels like a compulsion. There are days where I simply do not feel good in my body if I haven't written anything. Then there are others where I can't bring myself to write because I'm too tired or too distracted from life. Honestly the second I get a clear head and enough time to myself, I'll start writing.

2. A line/short snippet of your writing that you are most proud/happy of. If not maybe share a line of someone else's work you love (just please credit them)

This isn't from my WIP, but from a fanfic I wrote a while ago. I want to try to find a way to incorporate it into something. Not sure where though.

“I know this seems like it’s coming out of nowhere,” he said, “but promise it’s not. I’ve had a long time to think about it.  A few years, actually. I guess, I just didn’t realize how deep I was in it until about five minutes ago.”

She kept silent, but the simple fact she hadn’t told him to get out gave him the confidence to keep going. . 

“I meant it when I said I’m crazy about you. I like that you take your sugar with a drop of coffee.  I like how you sing to yourself when you’re happy.  I like that you never seem to get cold.  I like that you never lose your head under fire, but still need me to get rid of spiders. I like that you can laugh at yourself.  I like that you can laugh at me. Hell, I like that you’re perfectly willing to slap my face if the situation calls for it.

I like so many things about you Liz, and that’s just the stuff I found out on accident.  I can only imagine the stuff I’d learn if I started loving you on purpose."

3. Which OC makes you smile every time you think/talk about them and what are they like?

I really do enjoy writing Finn. The boy just makes my smile.

Close second is another OC which I wrote for fanfic who I want to save and put someplace else, Lucy. She's my softest girl who has a lot of love to give. Might figure out a way to put her in this regency setting somewhere, but who knows.

4. What process of writing do you enjoy the most?

The first draft spree. The moment when you get an idea and you have write it down as quickly as possible. It's rough and definitely will need some editing, but that rush cannot be topped. It just feels satisfying to exorcise even the smallest of scenes out of my body.

5. What part of writing do you think you are the best at? (Yes stroke your own ego it's okay)

Dialogue, hands down. It's at least the part I've gotten the most compliments on.

6. What is something in the writeblr community is most enjoyable?

I've only just started to dip my toe in, but I really do love answering asks. I like seeing other writer's process and knowing I'm not alone. It's just fun!

7. A writing tool/device you use that helps you with writing? (It could be speech to text, a writing program etc)

I've been using Scrivener and it's really helped me keep everything organized. I have a very conspiracy board way of drafting, so having all my random snippets in one place really helps.

8. A piece of worldbuilding that you like in your own story? (It could be the magic system, a particular place in the story, a law etc)

Not sure world building is my strong suit for this current WIP. I suppose I'm enjoying expanding the world of the theatre, but I admittedly need to do more research.

9. What piece of advice would you say to encourage others to write if they are having a rough patch?

Write anyway. It doesn't have to be the scene that's giving you trouble. It doesn't even have to be for the piece you're trying to focus on, just don't get out of the habit of writing. Once you lose that momentum, it takes a long time to get it back.

10. Tag some people whose works you love/have been your biggest supporters

Gotta give a shout out to @clairelsonao3 for being so welcoming in my introduction to the writeblr community. And @janec23, for being one of the few specifically romance writers to reach out.

But I really can't begin to thank all the people who have followed me from my fanfic blog over to this one. It really means so much to know people are interested in reading anything I put out there.

@flapjacques, @jo-harrington, @can-of-pringles, @handahbear, @auroramagpie, @justanothersadperson93, @sad-cat-hours, @ghostface001, @theowlwhocameback, @mattmurdocksscars, @roruna, @everything-intertwined, @sweetjedi, @arcanerazil, @vibratingbonesbis, @delirious0pandemonium, @llovelykenobi, @geek-girl7, @mixedupanddown

Know that I love and appreciate you all.

I'm also going to leave this an OPEN tag to anyone who wants to do this, and especially invite everyone who I have tagged above. (and

[biconickyoshi]

I remember when people online pointed out in Zukos arc of him using a diverse style of bending to display his character growth such as internal heat regulation that some correlated back to air nomad techniques or when he was fighting Azula and used air-bender techniques again to evade her fire. And so on with the other elements such as with water bending that Iroh taught him when he learned to redirect lightning.

That got me wondering since Zuko joined the Team very early on in the fic that maybe he learned on a more personal and individual level with Team Avatar?

Unless the natural progression of him developing it is still going to happen in the fic then I’m all for it, however, it mainly served as a writing curve as to eventually lead him to joining the Team Avatar in the first place, defining his character growth along the way. Since we can see the progression he has taken in this fic, I’m not denying that there is still some character growth Zuko has to jump hurdles through in this story just on a different sort of arc, so maybe the case of learning the diverse bending techniques could be proved useful for something else in Zuko’s arc.

The idea of subverting that particular plot point in Zuko’s story does sound interesting. However, alternatively, with comparison to when Zuko was teaching Aang for a short while about fire-bending basics, I’d like to think at some point Aang would want to give Zuko an air bending lesson or two as a favor in return. They aren’t complete opposites but I do wonder how that will play out if it were written. Aang might as well give him at least the basics given him constantly imparting his good ol’ air nomad wisdom yo everyone in the group whether exasperated or not. Lmao.

Even then, it would be a cool Easter Egg if the slow progression in the original still takes place with Zuko learning the other element’s styles. Besides, it’s similar with he fact that Aang is literally learning the elements and they are the main figures of the fic.

Holy this was a long ask, haha i just woke up and started thinking about this and started writing not even properly thinking about whag I was saying. Hope this is okay and I’d love to hear your interpretation on the matter. Love your fic all the way!

Ooooo I had never even thought about that anon, but that is a very interesting and cool idea!! Especially when you think about how Iroh learned to redirect lightning from studying the other nations. Maybe there are some other things Zuko could learn from doing the same… like we saw in Legend of Korra that firebending can heal, or at least sense if someone’s spiritual energy/chi is out of whack. Maybe Zuko could learn to do that?

At the very least he can learn to incorporate the mentality of other bending styles into firebending. Especially airbending, since he really doesn’t want to hurt anyone with fire anymore. I think it would be a lovely way to explore/deepen Zuko and Aang’s relationship in the story at some point by having Aang just kinda give him an airbending lesson at some point (maybe once they get to the Fire Nation).

Thanks for the ask, and for reading my story! I’m so happy you like it! :)

[nuclearjacks]

4, 16 and 33 for the artists ask game

This is a long post so be warned kdjcjdkdjd vvv

4. A piece you wish got more love

Probably most of my content that isn’t TF related! Would love more interactions on my OC/Sona and other fandom content, especially my BG3 art right now, but I also understand as someone who’s interest based why that stuff usually doesn’t perform well djxndjdj

A lot of people follow an artist for one particular thing and when they don’t make that particular thing, people usually aren’t that interested unless you followed an artist for their style or something (is my assumption anyways djdjdjdj)

Some examples here below vvv (all of which you can find if you search my art tag: jaxsart on my profile!)

But I will say the non TF content that I think was really well received was my Spidersona <3 I got a wonderful fanart piece for her and I’m so happy people loved her design cause I was also really proud and happy with how she turned out. Still planning to make more content for her in the future! She’s pictured below here vvv

16. How do you motivate yourself to draw?

I’m honestly still figuring that one out lol

I usually only draw when I want to since I’m not an artist who relies on commissions or the like to keep myself afloat. But I’ve also been hitting an art funk as of late and while I do want to draw, it’s been really hard to draw cause of the skill I want to incorporate in my drawings now. It either takes me longer or I end up hating the process because of how long it takes or because of how hard it is. So that effects my motivation heavily because all the cons stated above is what makes me not want to draw 😅

I’m currently trying to find a balance of what makes me happy while drawing and how to make my art look good to myself again since I’ve been hating it so much. I’ve been looking into different techniques, learning more in depth lighting and shading techniques and need to do more anatomy studies as that’s getting rusty again and I’ve been getting lazy cjxndjdj

All in all, I still draw when I want to, but I think the big motivating factor is wanting to see the end product. I just want to be able to finish the WIPS I have and the visions I see in my head and get them out into the world so others can see them too. I wanna say that I finally made that thing or actually did it!! That’s probably my biggest motivating factor right now. But we’re still figuring it out 😊

33. Have you taken a lot of art classes?

I took a handful as a kid, got to play with pastels once, made clay art, learned photoshop, learned to paint, a whole bunch of stuff! My parents have always been very supportive of my art and really helped foster a lot of that so I went to plenty of classes through out my childhood and teen years.

When I was in college, the last classes I took were all for my bachelors (which I dropped out of later on cjcjdjfj). I think the most helpful one was my life drawing class though. I’m gonna do one of those stereotypical artist things where I *highly* recommend you take a life drawing class if you want to learn more about anatomy or different techniques to implement into your art. They’re so good for growing your skill massively in a short period of time. My first drawings we did for gesture drawing look horrid compared to my later studies!

Always always always take a life drawing class if you’re able!

Thank you for the asks! <3

[aikoiya]

How I'd Do Scooby-Doo

Since the introduction of HBO's Velma, I've been thinking about how I'd go about an adult Scooby-Doo show.

For one, Scooby is a must. He's the face of the entire franchise & there is no Scooby-Doo show without him.

Next, I'd keep the gang mostly the same as they've always been. Maybe update their wardrobes. Possibly give Velma a cute bob cut.

Something like this would be cute & would keep to her general style.

Maybe give her a red vest jacket & a beret? She'd look cute in a beret. Knit orange top with a loose pile collar, long loose, slightly puffy sleeves with buttoned cuffs that go about halfway up the forearms. Modest, but not frumpy. Keep the red skirt, possibly make it plaid; high-waisted, double button. With a pair of black bike shorts or tights underneath. Maybe give her boots with tall orange socks when she's wearing the shorts. No heels. It's impractical when your job involves a lot of walking or running around.

In fact, give them all shoes or boots built for running or hiking. Yes, even Daphne. Just because they're functional doesn't mean they have to look ugly.

Keep the same overall rounded design of Velma's face with freckles.

Other than that, make the whole gang like a mix between What's New Scooby-Doo, Mystery Incorporated, & the episode ScoobyNatural.

Except, make Fred a little less oblivious & maybe less obsessive over traps. Instead, add to his fascination with it by making him also very interested in Rube Goldberg machines, mechanics, & even a little bit of engineering. Not necessarily in a scientific way, more so a 'he can see how it all fits together' way. And the strategizer of the group.

He must also be a himbo & dadfriend! I will have no arguments!!

Keep Daphne as resourceful with a mind for guerilla science & combat. And the karate muscle. Now, that doesn't mean that she won't get kidnapped every once in a while, because even masters of combat can be caught off guard sometimes.

Fred & Daphne are in a steady relationship, while Shaggy & Velma had tried it for a bit, but instead of it ending in a fight like in Mystery Incorperated where, let's be honest, Velma was being a control freak; here she's a mature adult, so they just broke it off amiably after realizing that they just didn't mesh in a romantic way. They joke about it & rib each other every once in a while.

They also poke fun at Fred & Daphne too when they get shmoopy doopy. Meanwhile, Scoob snickers in the back. There's no shortage of good-natured ribbing in this group. Maybe even have a few episodes where Fred & Daphne just go on a date in the beginning & don't really come back until later. Like, when shit's serious, of course the rest of the Gang calls them & informs them what's happening & Fred & Daphne make a b-line to their location, but if the case doesn't seem to be too dangerous, they'll try to handle it themselves.

Keep Velma the levelheaded momfriend & a lover of mysteries, puzzles, riddles, & all that. Keep her loving mystery novels while maybe Daphne's more a fan of true crime novels.

Velma likes broad-shouldered men & let her like them, but absolutely don't make her a simp like in that one movie where she was so dumb over that super villain. *shudders* No.

Maybe she wants to become a detective or private investigator? I'm not sure. I could see her taking classes in the day.

No! A forensics detective! She carries around a waist bag or fanny pack full of investigative supplies such as liminol spray with glasses, a blacklight, finger print powder, a magnifying glass, things like that. Maybe she has a microscope tucked away in the van?

Also, a hacker/programmer. She's the software girl, while Fred & Daphne are the hardware guys. They work together to do some pretty amazing stuff.

And the rest of the group get pretty good at this stuff too just through osmosis. Same with figuring out the mysteries. I don't want it to just be Velma. They've been doing this stuff for years, let them all get good at it. Sure, Velma's the best, but have the others pick up things that she misses just due to their minds working differently.

Shaggy & Scooby are damn near perfect. Shaggy being a skill monkey like in the old show with lots of little talents like ventriloquism & throwing his voice.

Also, someone had the idea of Shaggy being a war vet & I'm just like??? That's awesome???

Now I'm like, what if Scooby was a K9 Unit? Shaggy could've been his K9 Handler. Like, Scoob has been with Shaggy since he was a puppy, but he enlisted at the same time as Shag.

They're actually both super deadly in a fight, but they've both chosen to avoid it whenever they can. And are super protective.

Dude... what if they're not actually cowards & instead they react the way they do due to PTSD? Hell, maybe Shag has a cannabis prescription to help with his nerves & he's trying to get to a point where he doesn't need it anymore?

That could be a very interesting arc to focus on.

And, yes, I think that Fred, Daphne, & Shag would all have varying types of engineering knowledge. Fred's more the traditionally knowledgeable one while Daphne & Shag are more the ones who can make shit outta anything. Though, Daphne is more so due to just having the head for it. Meanwhile, Shag knows so much because of a combination of redneck engineering & Marines just being absolutely batshit, ya'll. One of their mottos is "If it looks stupid, but works, then it's not really stupid."

I'm serious, man. A redneck marine would likely be borderline mad scientist & I don't know why this absolute reality hack hasn't been exploited the shit out of yet. I've watched redneck engineering vids & it's like, "Why does this work?? Just... HOW?! What kind of technoturgical voodoo is this?!?!"

---

Moving on, as the show would go on, bring in the Gang's relatives like in the old shows every once in a while.

But more than that, in season 2, bring in Scrappy-Doo as part of the gang.

He needs to be scrappy & brave, if naive. Remember that he's a puppy. He's going to make dumb decisions & be annoying sometimes. He loves & idolizes his Uncle Scooby, but he quickly has to learn that his uncle isn't exactly how he thought he'd be.

If we go with Scooby & Shaggy having been in the military, we could say that part of the reason that Scrappy looks up to his uncle so much is due to the stories he heard about him. Both as part of the Scooby-Doo Gang & as a K9 Unit/war hero.

But the thing is, both Scooby & Shaggy are traumatized from the experience. (I actually kinda wonder how many confirmed kills they have.) Maybe they're both working through it, but it's just really tough. If something legitimately dangerous happens, then they act instinctively to protect those around them, but if it's just them alone even together, then it triggers their flight response. Like, they do this because they implicitly know they can trust the other to not only be able to handle themselves, but also to protect them should the other need it.

Like, they aren't just best friends. They're brothers-in-arms. Soldiers from the same unit. This is a relationship that's been forged in fire. Thier trust in each other is absolute. And their teamwork is outstanding even when they're running on pure instinct.

Maybe the reason why they rejoined the Gang is a desire to face their issues through exposure? I see the rest of the Gang as being hyperaware of this & are always there for them, frequently giving the pair outs if they don't think they can deal with it & maybe Shag & Scoob actually take it a couple of times, but always come back due to a desire to keep trying?

Anyway, highlight how the creators tried to make Scrappy more like Daphne, Velma, & Fred when they were gone from the group, but make it clear that it's because he's a kid & really admires them & wants to be more like them. He messes some things up acting this way, but the Gang are supportive & start teaching him how to do better.

That way, he can learn how to figure out who he is & what makes him special.

I'd also like to see Scrappy get grounded by Scooby or one of the others for being too reckless & running into things without thinking.

Maybe if he does something really stupid, they threaten to send him back home if he doesn't straighten up? Same when things get really risky.

Like... I just don't want to see anything like what happened in the 1st live action Scooby Doo movie.

The Gang were complete sacks of shit in that for what they did. They didn't even take the kid back home to his mom! They just... left him on the side of the road in the middle of the freaking desert! For getting too excited & peeing on someone!

That pissed me off! Like, dude! He's a puppy!! What's wrong with you!?

Worst part is, I'd never minded Scrappy & never even knew that he was so hated, so when I saw it, it was just... It was very bad, ya'll...

---

Now, onto the actual show. I'd mostly keep with the old formulae, but do it more like Mystery Inc in that there's an overarching plot. Still some episodic episodes, but also plot.

However, it wouldn't just be guys in masks & thefts & business fraud. It'd also be actual murders where there is no ghost or ghoul to take the blame & also instances where it really is the supernatural causing problems. I mean, it wouldn't all be murders either, but ya know. Just a bit of variety is all I'm asking for. Hell, maybe have a cereal killer or 2?

Don't shy away from the dark stuff or the blood, but don't be overly gruesome either. It feels too much like you're going for shock value if you do that.

This way, it'd have more of a ScoobyNatural & murder mystery feel to it. Initially, the first instance of the gang learning that spooks & spectres are real, they react like they did in ScoobyNatural. (Maybe they speculate a bit at some point about how maybe that's the reason that so many criminals use ghost stories to get away with their crimes? Because there's actually a grain of truth to some of them?)

Anyway, nervous breakdowns, denial, but eventually they realize that people are relying on them & all crying & whining about it does is put more people in danger. Maybe make the episode a direct reference to ScoobyNatural & have hunters there teach them how to fight the baddy?

Like, 1st season, just regular Scooby-Doo shenanigans but with more adult themes, 2nd season, introduce real supernatural activity & monsters.

Make it a REAL making of a hero moment! One of those moments where their decision, right then in that very second, makes them or breaks them! Showing all around exactly what they're made of! Forged in fire! In fact... wouldn't it be the most interesting if, despite everything, it was the most "cowardly" of the bunch that ends up stepping forward first to be the bravest?

After all, courage is not necessarily the absence of fear but the ability to forge ahead to do what's right in spite of it.

Make it sort of a metaphor for growing up & becoming adults. Things aren't always gonna end so well as they're used to. Maybe have some of the perps escape sometimes to come back later? Just to change things up a bit. Maybe... some of them even succeed in their plans...

From then on, they slowly settle into being both freelance private investigators & paranormal investigators. Slowly, over time, they get better at both.

And, yes, I do think that it should be an actual job that they get paid for. Like, most of their cases should be a result of being hired. However, some should also be a result of them walking in & being, like, "We've got a mystery on our hands!" Because they're good people.

But in the cases where they just sort of walk in without being hired, their policy is to do it pro bono. Because it's not fair to charge someone for a service that they didn't ask for. On the other, other hand, there would still be people who'd insist on paying their service fee, if for no other reason than because they are very grateful for their help.

Moving on, it turns out that Shaggy has a mind for languages & research, especially old languages. This helps them with researching whatever they need to. And I wanna go deep into culture & mythology & folklore & legends.

Just different, but the same.

---

I also kinda want there to be an arc where Shaggy is turned into a werewolf a la Scooby-Doo & the Reluctant Werewolf. So, the Gang spends, like, a season trying to find a way to turn him back & it's about Shaggy's character growth. He goes through some things, trying to get used to all these new instincts, especially the predator ones & the not being able to be a vegetarian anymore without dying slowly thing.

Because wolves are carnivores with werewolves being obligate omnivores in human form. They also absolutely require meat. Especially, red meat. Red meat once a day to keep healthy. In the end, Shag settles on mostly pescatarianism, only indulging in other meats on occasion beyond daily red meat.

At the same time, maybe the Gang meets another werewolf who's going through an even tougher time than Shaggy & they join the gang for a while in hopes of finding a cure, but when they do, there's only enough for one of them & Shaggy, realizing that being a werewolf isn't so bad for him, he gives the cure to the other character & accepts that this is just part of his life now. Maybe it's Shaggy's girlfriend, Googie, from the movie & she ends up joining the gang!?

And maybe it turns out that he had a dormant werewolf gene & then something happened to activate it. Maybe something like a full reboot of Scooby Doo & the Reluctant Werewolf? Like, 1st generation werewolves always slowly go crazy over time & can't control themselves, eventually becoming feral, but Legacy werewolves are born with the gene & so their bodies & minds are better built to handle it. So, technically, Shaggy is a Legacy werewolf with a dormant werewolf gene, while Googie was a new 1st generation werewolf who only recently got bitten & that's why she's having so much worse of a time of it than Shaggy.

Shaggy actually thinks it's pretty cool because he finds that he has an even closer connection to nature than he ever had before & understands it in a way that he'd been unwilling to beforehand. Like, he'd been unwilling to accept that nature needed predators & death & that it could be as cruel as it was beautiful. He now totally gets the whole hunter vs poacher argument that his southern cousins used to have with him.

He also understands Scoob on a fraternal level now & that's super cool, man.

He still has issues with his PTSD, but not as much as before as being a werewolf makes him feel more protected & secure. More prepared to handle things. Not to mention his instincts.

So, the next season's sideplot would be about Shaggy learning about what it really means for him to be a werewolf. All the history & culture, & all the baggage that comes with being a werewolf. Like, do not sugarcoat, but also do not demonize. Perhaps being a werewolf opens up the world a bit for them? Giving them a new perspective? Like, supernatural society.

It isn't until, like, mid season that he realizes that he considers the Gang his pack & Fred as alpha, which is just wild for him to consider, but he quickly acclimates to the new line of thinking & becomes comfortable with it.

Yes, he's more aggressive than before & he's learning how to handle that & he tends to wolf out a little bit when he gets angry, but overall, he's still the same chill, laid back dude he always was, just seen through a new lens.

Also, going full wolf on the full moon, he turns into the wolfed out form from Wednesday. I really like how they did it in that show.

At the same time, any other time besides the full moon, he just grows claws & canines to show his wolfish side.

Which, BTW, it'd be super cool to have crossovers like with Guess Who Scooby Doo. Including a Wednesday crossover where they meet Wednesday & possibly the other Addamses after several years.

Or Ghostbusters (original recipe) or Batman or, to mix things up a bit, Danny Phantom!

Which, btw, I feel obligated to remind people that Scooby-Doo & Batman canonically exist within the same universe...

Let that sink in. (Also, it means a possible Constantine crossover.)

Cool would also be an introduction to monster/supernatural society like I mentioned before, where there is a monster underground. That not all monsters are evil beasts. That the ones they fight are generally rogues or special cases or criminals or radicals or have other extenuating circumstances.

There's still a lot of these rogues, mind, but that's just the way of it sometimes.

Also, reboots of Ghoul School, 13 Ghosts of Scooby Doo, Zombie Island, Witch's Ghost, & stuff like that.

These, of course, would only take place after the ScoobyNatural reference episode.

Aikoiya's Writing Tips Masterlist

[screadingchallenge]

Behind the Keyboard, Volume 34

Behind the Keyboard is a series of interviews with different Schitt’s Creek fanfic authors. The series will last as long as there is interest (from authors) and capacity (from me). If you are an author from the Schitt’s Creek fandom who would like to participate, send a DM to this account.  

Each author was given ten questions. The first five questions are the same for every author, the last five will vary.

Let’s meet our next author:

(Yes, it's me. I was strongly encouraged that I had to do this.)

@mostlyinthemorning / houdini74

How many fics have you written?

131 under my houdini74 name. 

When did you publish your first fic on AO3?

February 1, 2019

Describe your writing process from “Oh, I have an idea” to pushing publish on AO3. 

If it’s a short fic, I usually just start writing and hope I don’t get tangled up. For the long fics, I usually do what I call a ‘spark sheet’ which is throwing out all the ideas I want to put into the fic. This can be anything from bits of dialogue to scene descriptions to plot points. Then I take that mess and try to organize it into a rough outline. And then I start to write. As I go along, I’ll inevitably stir up new ideas that I want to incorporate, so those get dropped into the outline. Once I have a first draft, I do several rounds of edits. First, I go through and build out all the scenes wherever they need it - this usually adds 10-25% of my total word count. Then I do an edit to clean-up my word usage and tighten up the flow/even out the rough spots. Finally, I do a grammar check. Then I send it to my lovely betas and they catch more things. After that, I post it to AO3.

Tell me about your most recent fic? What do you love about it? Is there anything you think you could have done better?

My most recent fic is The Feelings Closet which is a meta-crossover fic where David and Noah have a conversation. I love that it’s different and a little bit weird (which is probably my brand). I might have built out the ending a bit more, but I’m happy with where it landed. 

What advice would you give to someone who’s thinking about publishing their fic for the first time?

Be brave. I often think that if the Schitt’s Creek fandom hadn’t been so small when I started that I might not have had the courage or the motivation to write anything, which would have been a huge loss of something that I love doing. So be brave! This is a great fandom to put yourself out there - it’s fairly small and it has the best, most supportive readers. 

Where do you get your ideas?

I get asked this a lot (which probably says something about the level of weird I’m involved in), and I don’t really have a good answer. I read a lot of magic/fantasy themed books, so I’m definitely drawn to ideas that are out of the ordinary, but really, there’s just part of my brain that wants to take normal things and make them different. I love things that are out of the box, and I definitely get a little happy boost if I can figure out how to twist an idea into something that’s never been done before. 

Tell me about a story that you wish you could write but that you’re not quite ready to tackle.

I really want to write a Miss Marple style murder mystery (or maybe magicky-Miss Marple???), but I haven’t had the headspace to plot it out in the way I’d like. Sebastien will be the victim, obviously. 

Is there someone(s) who has made your writing better? In what way?

I have to give a shout-out to @missgeevious who has been my beta since Sometimes Home is a Person, and who not only catches all of my misplaced commas, but is also the biggest cheerleader and idea-bouncer there is. She’s a star and my words would be worse without her. 

What is the favorite scene you’ve ever written?

This changes a lot, depending on what I’ve written recently, but one of my current favorites is the opening scene to Chapter 8 of my most recent long fic, No Mountain High, No Valley Low where David and Patrick are reunited. It’s a spin on canon (which I love doing), and it’s got some good feels and my favorite-ever characterization of Rachel.

What does a successful fic look like to you?

I wish I was pure enough to say that a successful fic is one that makes me happy. Which is true…to a point, because I love validation as much as the next person. So, a successful fic to me is one that tells the story I wanted to tell and that other people respond to. It shouldn’t shock anyone that I do track a lot of stats about my fics and look for certain benchmarks. No, I’m not going to say what they are. 

[ambitionsource]

I was just wondering, you guys have always said you had the series and where it was going mapped out from the beginning. Is there any storylines or characters that you changed from your original plan as time went on?

omg i absolutely love this question, thank you for asking!! while es and i have always had the general plan and arcs sketched out (literally, we were talking about S3 stuff in the early days of S1 lol, we are crazy), there were definitely things that caught us by surprise or unexpectedly emerged -- one of the most beautiful and baffling parts of the writing process i think.

also in full disclosure, while we definitely do have a lot of big tent poles set up from the very start -- which allows us to make so many early, long-term plants (josh being mentioned in season 1, the lucas patron plot point, brandon and missy both appearing in seasons much earlier than their main storyline), many things still develop organically as the story unfolds. to sound a bit like an insane person (or maybe just a writer -- synonyms?), i have genuinely had moments where it feels like the multiverse is sending me messages through the ether about this story. when an idea that had literally never occurred to me before suddenly hits me like lightning, and i think about it more and then realize it has been perfectly set up like it was just waiting to be incorporated into the story, those moments always feel like multiverse conduit dylan is sending me urgent mental morse code to make sure i get the storytelling right in this world (there is a BIG example of this i'll share later after season 5).

ANYWAY, to your actual question. here are just a handful of moments where i think this applies:

charlie gardner, end of sentence. es and i cop to this all the time, but we legitimately thought of him as an non-entity in season 1 and more of a prop for zay's character and arc than his own fleshed out persona. i feel like compared to other seasons, you can kind of see shades of that in early season 1 -- but once we hit "the miserables," that started to change, and now he is not only one of the most essential ensemble members that we love to write, with one of the richest and most fleshed out character arcs, he is also both es and my's favorite character LOL. it's really remarkable how things like that develop. so as a writer, to any other writers out there -- listen to your characters, and give them the room to grow. they truly might surprise you.

dylan and asher, end of sentence. they also apply in a similar vein as charlie. they were mainly interchangeable comedic relief in season 1, sidekicks to lucas who just happened to be boyfriends too, and now they are such a quintessential... essence of the vibrance of ambition. they literally weren't even going to have individual storylines until we were in the middle of planning season 2, when i randomly decided out of the blue while listening to the grinch soundtrack that i wanted to do a holiday special featuring the two of them. i figured it would be mostly comedic (mostly remained), a short like theoretical 10 minutes in length (definitely did not remain), and that would be that. what it did instead was fleshed out their characters and individual quirks so much in my own head, and from there the whole storyline of their complex dynamic with lucas throughout season 2 just emerged organically and i became obsessed with it (it's one of my favorite parts of season 2). from there, they've become such a seamless piece of the main ensemble -- and, like charlie, very beloved by readers as far as i can tell (which i'm grateful for 😊).

haverford's involvement. again, since we kind of wrote off charlie early on -- big mistake! huge! -- we knew he would transfer but we didn't have a big picture as to what haverford would be like. this led to some admittedly pretty cringe storylines that briefly floated around the idea map, one of which involved zay hooking up with a havie (i think dweezil?). it was needless drama, and it made no sense. i cringe to think about it now. another tip from one writer to others -- you do not have to keep every idea. it's good to have them, like don't scratch out an idea before it gets the chance to breathe, but god, toss the ones that just ain't fresh anymore. anyway, much happier with the story role haverford ended up having instead.

nigel, yindra, and jade. much like dasher, these three were promoted going into season 4 when we realized we felt like they had a lot of story to tell in them (and i'm super glad we did). theirs was more of an organic, natural progression of an ensemble and shifting the nature of the series though going into college, unlike dasher and charlie where it really was like boom suddenly they are everything to me and they were trying to tell me the whole time. but these three are such great additions to main ensemble (individually and with their dynamics) and i am very happy they evolved that way.

rosie and uri. there wasn't any point early on where we set out to be like omg let's have the junior gardner and minkus date, but once the opportunity arose it was just too funny not to (and also a great story vehicle for examining certain elements of the gardner family dynamic + charlie's growth). (and also, i just love the idea of the small ways our lives are interconnected and the extension of the definition of family, etc. etc.) (but again, also, it's just too funny).

like the above, there's another duo that fits into the nearly the exact same category of "we didn't plan for this to be romantic but now i've stumbled upon it and somehow it's the best thing i've ever thought of and i need to follow through immediately," but i won't be able to speak on that until season 5. stay tuned.

the depth of vanessa's character. we always planned to have vanessa be a major character in s4, and we long planned to explore her rivalry / potential feelings with zay. what we didn't expect is how easy it was to expand her world, dig into her insecurities with her family, intermingle her with the main ensemble once the quincy rivalry was set aside, and discover some of the natural characters she just clicks with (one big one is nigel -- writing her scenes with him in 409 was actually so much fun and something i didn't expect to like as much as i did). there's another one that will fit into that in a big way (an endgame, you could say), that shifted slightly from our original plan, but again, will have to wait until s5 is wrapped.

-- Maggie