#it'll be 2 am and the brain will say that's a great time to write instead of sleep /lh

[anticidic]

Napped for an hour before brain said nope no more and I started thinking about writing and next thing I knew it I wrote 500 words of Chuuya being at a convenience store and asking Dazai what snacks he wants and making fun of Dazai for having a sweet tooth

[grimgoregrimoire]

I'm sick of hearing; "Writing is a refreshing way to cleanse your mind and put you onto a better path."

Babes, this path may have been paved with good intentions, but it was recently patched up with glass shards and used needles.

Also I haven't slept in three days, so here's a list of other bullshit I'm sick of bitches saying to writers.

So much for refreshing.

☆.𓋼𓍊 𓆏 𓍊𓋼𓍊.☆

Feckin Friday 22/03/24

🐈‍⬛️ 1. "Write what you know."

Okay, yes! You shouldn't bullshit your entire book, but also, don't be confined to only what you know. Do you think I know anything about corpse reanimation? Whelp, that didn't stop me! It's good to learn something new, and it's great for your writing to expand your repertoire. Hell, who knows? You might find your new niche. Besides, research is your best friend.

🦇 2. "But my friend, cousin, neighbor, cat's best friend's sister in law's spouse wrote their book in (a ridiculous small amount of time)!"

Well, good for them! They're still going to get slingshot into the sun with the rest of us anyway. Not everybody is the same, and the only thing that ALL writers have in common is that they write things! Find what works for you and tune out the rest of the bullshit, including your own. Don't bully yourself for not writing! We are only on this earth for a very small amount of time. Take care of yourself!

🐦‍⬛ 3. "You have to have a plan/outline/entire plot done before you start writing!"

This is just *ugh* bullshit. Like yeah, sure, if you're a normal person, I guess plot it! But you know what? I've got an illiterate, hyperactive squirrel behind the control panel of my brain, and he's on his sixth line of coke. All I have to say to this is JUST WRITE it'll either all come together when you go over it later or it will be cut. Either way, it's putting words on the page, and that's great practice.

🕷 4. "Writing is your only job, and you have to treat it as such."

Gross. Look, even if someone is lucky enough to be able to write as a full-time job, I guarantee you that writing isn't all that person has does.

A lot of us are parents or keep our houses, most of us are still in school, and a majority of us have to work at least part-time to afford to write!

Writing should be treated as a job in such a way that you take pride in it, but it shouldn't be something you're forced to do.

You know how people say, "If you love what you do, you never work a day."

There ya go.

🕸 5. "Follow this plan!" / "Writing’s easy!"

I have three things to say to that.

Bite me, bite me, bite me, BITE ME.

Look, I am so glad that Stephen King smokes three blunts and eats a pile of shrooms as a part of his routine, I AM SO HAPPY THAT WORKS FOR HIM! But it's not gonna work for me and it's probably not going to work for your poor stressed out little writer friend who is six months behind on sleep and is trying to catch up with shots of espresso and tall boys of redbull. We know you mean well, and we really appreciate hearing new things to try. Don't get that twisted! But I'm sorry, there is just no gospel or quick fix to writing.

What's some other shit you're sick of hearing people say? Come on! Let's trauma bond!

[echobx]

Timeloop - JJ Maybank × fem!reader part 3

summary: y/n's first day in the loop is confusing, but also one of the best days she's had in a while, if it weren't for how it ends...

warnings: mentions of death (not depicted)

word count: 1.1k

author's note: it's short again. the concept is great, I have a solid plan, all right. but my brain is very mean in letting me write it out.

masterlist part 2

I wake up panting, my diary by my side and no recollection of what had happened the day before. How did I get home? And why is my diary open with the words from the day before yesterday? 

After a calming shower, I make my way downstairs for breakfast. 

“Did you spend all night writing in your diary again?” my mom asks, and I look down at my ink stained fingers, they look just like yesterday's. “You should've finished your room instead of writing,” she scolds, and I pull my eyes from my hands. 

“I think I finished yesterday, hung up posters and all,” I say, but I really can't remember if I did. 

“You know, your diary is boring as hell,” my little sister laughs.

“It's my diary, that means it's mine and not for you to read!” I snap at her and my dad clears his throat.

“If we could have breakfast in peace, please. I'm trying to read,” he says, with his face still hidden behind the paper. 

“You could explain to me why you kept staring at those boys last night,” my mom stared at me and I furrowed my brows. 

“You mean Tuesday night when we were out?” 

“Yesterday was Tuesday, silly,” my sister laughs at me. “You're really cuckoo for cocoa puffs this morning.” 

“No, yesterday was Wednesday. I went out to get some things to finish my room and then-” The words get stuck in my throat. “When did I come home last night?”

“You came home with us after dinner. Why are you acting so peculiar, y/n? If you don't want to talk about the boys, just say it,” my mother scoffs, but instead of continuing breakfast, I jump up and run upstairs to check my room. 

There are no posters on the wall. The boxes are still stacked like they were before I left the house yesterday. And my phone screen reads Wednesday, 10:36 am.

“No, this can't be. Today is Thursday,” I tell myself before grabbing my keys and running out, towards the store where I had run into the guy yesterday. 

The employee behind the register looks at me weird while I pace the store, waiting for him to show up but hoping that he doesn't, because that would mean that this is just a very bad dream. 

It takes an hour for him to appear behind me, looking for a specific brand of beer. 

“Hi,” I look up at him, and he gives me a confused smile. 

“Hi.” The dimples in his cheeks make my head spin. 

“You were here yesterday and I nearly ran into a shelf, but you stopped me, do you remember that?” I ask and he laughs softly. 

“I think I would remember saving a pretty lady.” The compliment on your appearance doesn't pass you by, but it's still confusing. 

“But I was here and everyone says it's not true, but I know it. I was so all over the place after because I've only seen you at the restaurant two days ago and my mom has been annoying me about that ever since,” I ramble, and he nudges my chin, so I look up at him. 

“You were at the Wreck last night? With the headphones?” he asks and you nod slowly.

“Two days ago,” you correct him, but you don't feel so sure about it anymore. 

“Yesterday,” he winks and you nod a single time. 

“How is this possible?” I ask and he tilts his head. 

“What is?” 

“I'm reliving this day, I think,” I whisper, and he nods again. 

“What about we go somewhere and talk? I don't think Kenny likes you very much,” he proposes and turns to look at the guy behind the register. 

“Okay,” you nod and follow him out, his beers are long forgotten. 

He leads me to a cute restaurant near the beach, where he buys me a soda to calm my nerves, but I'm unsure that it'll help. 

“What's your name?” he asks after we sit down, and I realize how weird it must be that I dragged him into my mess without even telling him my name. 

“Y/n. You?” I simply nod and he smiles. 

“JJ. It's a pretty name. Yours, not mine.”

“I think yours is better, shorter too,” I mumble, looking down at the can in my hand. The condensation on the outside us wetting my hands no matter how much I wipe it off. 

“You think you're reliving this day?” JJ asks, and I nod, my eyes still fixed on the can, watching the droplets run down to meet the wooden table. 

“I can't remember what happened yesterday, I mean, my yesterday, but everything after I met you is blank,” I explain and in my peripheral vision I can see him nod. 

“We should figure that part out then.” JJ smiles and you furrow your brows. 

“You want to help me?” 

“Yeah. I mean, it's my free day anyway, so why not,” he shrugs his shoulders and leans back in his seat. “Was anything today different than your yesterday?” 

“I woke up the same way, my family acted like they always do. Nothing out of the ordinary but the obvious,” I sigh, and he holds out his hand for me to take. 

“I'm sure we can figure this out,” he assures you while lightly squeezing your hand. 

We spend all day talking, thinking about ways this could've been caused, but in the end we draw a blank. 

“You should write it all down, tonight and tomorrow, so you have notes for later. Maybe that will help us,” he says while getting up. 

“Us?” I look at him a little perplexed. 

“Yeah. Tomorrow, yours, not mine, you just come and find me again. And you can explain it all again, and we can look for more clues.” 

“But, you won't know who I am,” I say and he smiles. 

“That's okay, I'll believe you anyway.”

“Why?” 

“I have a feeling about this. I mean, you couldn't stop looking at me last night,” he grins, and then he walks off with a single salute. 

I can't believe that I spend the whole day talking to him, and it didn't feel like any time passed. It's getting dark while I walk home, it's rather far, and I don't know where exactly I'm going, even with GPS. 

Turning my head left then right and left again before I cross the street, but it's empty anyway, no one there but me. 

It takes me half an hour to find a street that looks like it would lead me home, and another ten for me to find my block. But before I could step closer to the street on which my new home sat, everything turned black. 

When I woke up, my diary was lying on my face and I was panting like crazy. With trembling fingers, I pulled the pen from my sheets and scribble into my green book. “Run over. Don't tell JJ.”

please don't copy and/or post my work onto other platforms! ~e©ho

taglist: @redhead1180 @spideysimpossiblegirl @drwstarkeyy @princessmaybank @ijustwantttoread @kys4-20 @immyowndefender @julczimozart @m2m2m2 @th3eternalersi @chiaraanatra @yourmumstoy @mochimms @dorkyfangirl24 @itsme-again

[bts-hyperfixation]

Outside of the fox

Chapter 10 of maybe 30ish (2186 words)

Y/N longs for a new life when the one she'd been living comes to an abrupt stop. Without much thought to those she is leaving behind, the little fox packs a backpack and disappears. She stumbles across the shelter and makes an interim home for herself while she works out exactly what she wants from her second chance.

Last

"Day 1 are you ready?" Jimin asks as he hands you a brown bag.

You sneak a look inside to find it filled with snacks to get you through the day along with a post-it note that you can't quite read from this angle. You fold the bag closed carefully and thank Jimin for the lunch.

"Yeah, I'm ready, at least as ready as I'm ever going to be."

"It'll be great I'm sure. You said you already kind of made a friend right?"

"Taehyung? I'm not sure he was a bit hot and cold, but I'll be okay, I'm a big girl."

Jimin sweeps you into a hug before you can even reach for the door. You indulge him, allowing yourself to enjoy the feeling of being held close. He sends you off, standing at the door as you walk down the drive and around the corner, standing there until you can no longer see the door.

____________

The office is still relatively empty when you walk through the doors. The same severe-looking lady is standing at reception. You offer a smile which she returns.

"Y/N welcome back. Glad to see you got the position. I don't think I introduced myself the other day. My name is Ronnie and we will be working closely together."

Ronnie shows you officially around the office pointing out various essentials that you would need to know within your first few days. It feels as though you should have a notepad to write down all of the information you are being fed at lightning speed. Only about half of the information sticks in your brain.

It's not a humongous office. Maybe 10 cubicles and 3 offices with real walls. 2 conference rooms sit at the far end of the space. The company specialises in helping foreigners to move to the country assisting in work placement and visa procurement. You are introduced to the other two people that have already arrived in the office and then Estelle is setting you up with her at the front desk.

She hands you a brand new company-branded stationary set with your company ID tag and login information. Then she leaves you to breathe, fetching a drink from the break room. Slowly people filter in through the main doors, introducing themselves to you as they go. Everyone is extremely welcoming but you can't help but notice the absence of the asshole from the other day and Taehyung.

You set about answering phone calls and forwarding emails as Estelle had shown you, it was boring busy work but it certainly beat hanging at home alone doing nothing at all. Sometime just before lunch Taehyung finally strolls through the doors. He grins cheekily at your colleague as she chastises him for being late.

"Don't think you're special just because of how you got the job Taehyung-ah, you have to get here on time just like the rest of us."

"I know Estelle, I just didn't fancy getting out of bed this morning." He shrugs.

The panda grabs a handful of candy from the dish in front of Estelle and sauntered into the main room. The older woman grumbles under her breath about disrespect but the look on her face is one of pure adoration, not dissimilar to the look a grandmother might have when her grandson plays up.

"Don't go around getting ideas from him, that boy's trouble." She says to you.

"Am not!" Taehyung calls from behind the half wall that separates the main room from reception. "Hey Y/N we are going for lunch in thirty minutes okay?"

You don't respond to the disembodied voice as it calls out to you, opting to focus on the work you'd been assigned instead.

True to his word he reappeared in front of you exactly 30 minutes later carrying your brown bag and a bento box of his own.

"Come on there's a lovely little park for a picnic across the road. You get an hour for lunch."

You glance at Estelle but she just shakes her head and signals for you to go with him.

__________

The park is a very short walk away. Almost directly opposite the building, if your offices had been on the opposite side it would've provided the cutest view. Taehyung produced a blanket from a tote bag you hadn't noticed and laid it on the floor for you to sit on together.

It was a really beautiful day with no clouds, but it was a little chilly. This close to winter an outdoor picnic was an interesting choice. The breeze makes you shiver just a little. Before you even get a chance to shield yourself, Taehyung has produced another blanket to drape over your shoulders.

"I love the cold, my DNA is built for it, but I sometimes forget others aren't as accustomed... But this time I remembered!" He claps his hands together clearly proud of himself.

He opens his bento box and produces 3 courses worth of meals. He has white rice with some kind of marinated tofu, a salad with balsamic vinegar, and cookies. There is also a small Thermus from which you can smell the tea as soon as he twists it open.

"Go on then what did you bring for lunch? Maybe we can do swapsies, I don't really fancy tofu." He reaches eagerly for your bag, not giving you a chance to snatch it bag.

He pulls out your chicken sandwiches that Jimin had wrapped messily in the last of the tinfoil roll. Then he reaches in for the apple and crisps, coming back with the note that had been sitting in the bottom.

"Y/N have an amazing first day we are so proud and can't wait to celebrate again when you get home, Jimin." Taehyung reads aloud. "Who is Jimin? You're boyfriend? I'm hurt you would lead me on this way Y/N"

Taehyung mocks being shot through the heart, dramatically falling back onto the blanket as he clutches the pink note in his hand.

"I can't have led you on in less than two conversations Taehyung. And Jimin's no one... just a friend."

You reach to grab the note back from him but he keeps it just out of reach causing you to tumble into his lap.

"Well maybe I should try to make him my boyfriend, I want little notes in my lunch too." He pouts.

His breath tickles your face as you try to scramble back up without flattening him in the process. He just laughs at your efforts and makes no effort to help you get off of him. Although he does hand you the note back.

He takes your crisps and gives you his cookies as a consolation prize. He asks you various questions and you strategically avoid answering them directly the same way you'd done with everyone else. What you didn't expect was for him to be doing the same. You couldn't tell why exactly but you were fairly certain there were things he was omitting from his story as he told you how he came to work at the firm with you.

Lunch comes to an end very quickly and you help him pack up the blankets that don't seem to want to fit back in the bag they came from. Eventually, he just punches them until they are in enough to carry them back. He deposits you back at your desk dead on one hour after you left and then disappears for the remainder of the day.

_____________

Apparently, it would seem working takes a lot out of a person. By the time you trudge back into the cottage at 6:00 pm, you are shattered. It seems impossible not having done that much and yet you can't keep your eyelids from drooping and your ass hurts from sitting for so long.

Jungkook is the only one home when you walk through the door. The only part of him you can see are his ears peaking up over the sofa trying to determine who just walked through the front door. You expect them to droop a little when he realises it's you but instead they twitch excitedly.

"Hey Jungkook, did you have a good day." You ask, approaching the living room slowly.

"Yeah, iI didn't do much." He answers.

"Do you want some dinner? Or shall we wait until the others are home?"

You peer over the back of the sofa and watch him playing on his switch until he is at a point where he can pause and speak to you.

"I wanna wait." He glances up at you briefly and then back to his game.

"Okay in which case I'm going to change, work clothes still feel too weird to relax in."

You go to the study and change into sweats. You're pretty sure the front door opened at least twice since you went upstairs signalling the arrival of some of the others. Jungkook's caramel scent wafted happily around the house as it started to mix with Namjoon's campfire. No other scent came to you though leaving you confused as to who else might be in the house.

Hoseok is sitting in the big armchair in the lounge when you come back down. Yoongi wasn't due to be home for another half an hour but clearly, that didn't matter.

"I got lonely at my house, so I thought I'd wait for Yoongi here." He shrugged when you sent him a questioning look. "Anyway, how was your day? we are all dying to know."

He shuffles forward to literally be on the edge of his seat and Namjoon and Jungkook stop the conversation they were having to listen.

"It was nothing special. I didn't realise how tiring working was though."

"Surely you've had a job before though." Namjoon scoffs.

You shake your head and are met by three very surprised faces.

"Even I had a paper round when I was a teen." Jungkook baulks.

"I haven't really had the opportunity to pursue a career until now I guess... I studied a lot." You try to shut down the conversation before they go any further, still not ready to divulge a lot about your past.

Luckily Jimin and Yoongi make it through the door together. Each of the homeowners exchanged kisses before the two new arrivals made themselves comfortable.

"Are we supposed to be working on something today?" Yoongi asked Hobi, confused by his presence, although clearly not disappointed you notice.

"Uh-oh busted. I just had a lot of fun hanging out yesterday... I can leave if you want." The human's usually cool and collected facade cracking a little.

"No of course you can stay." Namjoon answers. "Now what are we thinking for dinner?"

______

Again the night goes on, Hobi is invited to stay once more, this time Yoongi offers his and Namjoon's room so Jimin can have his own bed back for the night. Although you suspect there may be alterior motives involved when Yoongi suggests they share the room and Namjoon share with Jungkook. Hoseok doesn't flinch, and happily finds his own way upstairs.

"Yoongi, darling, you seem to be getting a little... protective of your new friend." Namjoon points out carefully.

"So? I'm protective of a lot of my friends, I'm protective over you guys aren't I?" Yoongi gets a little defensive.

"I should hope we are more than friends." Jimin points out.

"Do you want to pursue Hobi?" Namjoon asks seriously.

"I don't know, maybe? I don't know it's been a long time since I've actively pursued anyone. And I'm not sure you even count Joonie." Yoongi contemplates.

"I think even if maybe you haven’t thought about it you should, clearly your hybrid parts are already starting to think of him as ours, or at the very least yours." Namjoon reasons.

"Yeah, you're right. I have definitely been feeling more anxious when he isn't around me." Yoongi stands and says he good nights, following Hoseok upstairs to probably work out exactly how he feels.

"So you guys consider new mates then?" You ask tentatively, although you aren't sure why it should concern you.

"When the right people come along who are we to turn down more love?" Jimin asks in reply, looking off dreamily.

"That makes sense I guess, I've always been told that more partners just results in more jealousy." You say, thinking about the things your ex used to say.

"Why would someone you love experiencing more love ever make you jealous? It always makes me so happy when everyone else is happy." Jimin moves on to the sofa next to Namjoon and Jungkook and cuddles in closely.

"That's... that's really lovely." You answer, and then fake a yawn. "I think I'm going to head to bed, goodnight."

You thought you'd be asleep as soon as your head hit the pillow but find yourself struggling to fall asleep. your eyes keep blinking open as thoughts of a pack of your own swim through your brain. A group of people who love each other so much that jealousy isn't even a thought in their minds.

Next

Series masterlist

Masterlist

Please send asks, reactions, most to least, and general smutty thoughts to my ask box to keep me writing they do not have to be connected to this story. I just like giving myself extra work to do so. Please join in

[cosmerelists]

True Confessions of a Cosmere Blogger

[There's a Stormlight spoiler in here! For Oathbringer specifically]

Followers, friends, people who ended up here through tumblr's broken search function: it is time. Time for me to lay bare all of my most terrible secrets as a Cosmere blogger. I am ready, and I hope you are too, for these very honest and real confessions.

1. I don't fucking know how to spell Gavinar Galivar Gavilar's name

Real talk: I had to look up the spelling to make this joke because I couldn't remember which was the right spelling and which were the wrong spellings. It's the grandson, I think. It's not fair to have Gavilar (I had to look at the wiki again) and Gavinor (I had to look this up too) have such similar names, not to mention Dalinar (I'm good there) making me forget whether it's the L or the V first in that dude's name. Seriously, this guy's name is the hardest part of writing any Roshar list.

2. My wife came up with my most popular list

I think my very first post is still my most popular: "How Other Cosmere Characters Would Convince The Stick to Become Fire." And who came up with this awesome idea? My wife! I was hemming and hawing about whether to actually start this blog, and she was like, "Hey, what about a list where everyone tries to convince the stick to become fire?" and let me tell you, that list wrote itself--I couldn't type fast enough. The jokes may be mine, but the idea, which is the funniest part, was all her.

My wife had another really good list idea that I still haven't written, since I haven't found a way to do it justice, but when I finally write it, I bet it'll do great.

3. I don't watch Brandon Sanderson's videos

I don't know. I just have trouble watching Videos On The Internet. I had to FORCE myself to watch the Secret Projects announcement since nobody would say what it was, and that was super hard.

4. I don't read fanfic

I think my blog would classify as fanfic, so it would be fair to say that I write it but I don't read it. I've only read like two fics in my life, and they were both because the girl I had a crush on at the time ordered me to (and yes...it was Wincest). No real idea why I don't read it; just something about my brain, I guess. It does mean that I am trying to understand shipping dynamics and fan preferences through tumblr osmosis, which is why my shipping-based lists may occasionally just leave out some huge pairing I was entirely unaware of (like Navani & Ialai, apparently! Whoops)

5. This is my third list blog

I like to pretend that "list blog" is a genre. It actually worked for a while! I had atlalists first--I joined tumblr because I was writing lists for my own amusement and my roommate at the time told me they thought it would do well on tumblr-- and then bleachlists. Bleachlists was the height of my success; I got so many asks & list requests that I had to create a whole separate blog, askbleachlists, just to handle them. I wrote three lists...A DAY. And some other people made their own "list blogs" inspired by bleachlists, which was wonderful. People made art--I still have some of the bleach art people made hanging in my office. It was fun! Then I left tumblr for a while, and now I'm back with cosmerelists.

6. I thought about making this blog a LONG time before I did it

It just felt really scary! The Cosmere has so much lore and so many characters and so many magic systems and I do NOT have a handle on it all. I read Stormlight Archive 2 1/2 times in preparation, hoping to at least have a handle on that part. But what helped, actually, was going to the Cosmere DragonCon panel last year, listening to the questions, and realizing that nobody really understood the majority of what was going on. So that made me feel better. And in the end, it was just something I wanted to do, and it's my way of enjoying a fandom, so I thought I'd give it a try.

7. Sometime I forget major plot points (Oathbringer spoiler)

I put Demid in a poll as a Bondsmith candidate and people were like, "isn't he dead?" I still don't remember him dying. I'm so sorry, Demid.

At least I can spell your name...right?

[66sharkteeth]

Hey there, 66! Hope you're doing great. I have been going through your account for the past few hours (this reminds me of that one time I stayed up till 2 am as I appreciated all the artworks on your Instagram) so I know you've heard this several times, but I wanted to say it myself too: your work is wonderful. Believe me, I absolutely love it!

I found City of Blank years ago, during its first season. I read it all, and was quite impressed with the concept, intrigued by the plot, and in love with the characters. But before the next season started, I dropped out of reading Webtoons completely, as far as I remember. Long story short, I revisited Webtoon recently, read a few episodes of City of Blank, and was hooked. Yep. I binge-read the entire rest of the episodes in... three to five days?

So I want to commend you on your amazing concept, beautiful and eye-catching art, plot that keeps me reading late into the night (and at the dining table, between my studies, every single chance I get), the characters (really, they're very well-written — please don't doubt that — and unique, with different stories and personalities, I just love them), and the themes too (incorporated nicely, and it does make me wonder what it means to be a human). The way you write grey characters is one of the best things in your story, I feel.

(I feel like I should give you specific examples of what I like, but I have a tendency of talking too much, as you can see, so this will get way too long, I think... and sorry about the already huge chunks of text. but I hope this make you feel happy somehow)

Alright, now onto my actual questions. They're actually not related to the webcomic itself, since I really can't think of anything interesting... But your story is really good, so here are some queries I have about writing in general.

Do you have any tips for thinking of ideas? About concepts, plot, whatever; how to really get your brain in that mode, you know.

How do you create such vibrant characters? My characters are so similar... there are at least three pairs of nearly-identical characters. And how do you make them flawed yet still so likable?

They are pretty general questions, my apologies. It's just that, you know, since I'm getting to interact with the creator of one of my current favourite stories, why not learn something from them? You can just answer with your personal processes or whatever, I just wished to know how you do it.

I'm really looking forward to the next episode (but take your time, I'm okay with waiting). Pretty sad that this is the last season though. I'll miss it. Could you maybe tell me the estimated date of return and how many more episodes we'll have? Just a rough idea will do too.

That's all. (At this point it'll come as a relief to you 😂) Have a wonderful week ahead, lots of love, and know that there are lots of people who genuinely enjoy your work, you adorable shark! ❤️

(also, don't know why I'm telling you, but this is my first ever interaction on Tumblr with literally anyone) (cool site, I like the easy formatting)

(If you've read this entire thing, thank you. Did I bother you too much? I hope not.)

Hey there! Gonna do my best to answer this since it's been in my inbox for a while, but apologies if it's not the most coherent as my head's still in a bit of a fog from a cold.

First off, thank you for the kind words. I remember they made my day when I first got this ask, but they made it again as I'm waking up w/ a throbbing head ache and coughing my lungs out from the NYCC 2023 Con Crud™.

Anyway, gonna answer your questions the best I can, especially because I'm not entirely sure what the best way to answer these kinds of questions are-

Do you have any tips for thinking of ideas? About concepts, plot, whatever; how to really get your brain in that mode, you know.

I think one thing I like to shape a lot of my concepts around is making something unordinary ordinary. I've talked about it before, but one of the inspirations behind blanks is shadow people, like the ghosts. They're so horrifying and creepy to me, and I thought it would be neat if I made a world where the most creepy and scary thing to me was just...super ordinary and mundane. Like a world where you go into your living room and you're like "Man, that shadow person is still standing in front of my tv. How obnoxious."

A lot of my upcoming ideas kind of focus around this concept too. What if we lived in a world where demons were just every day citizens that went to work and school with us? What if we lived in a world where nobody feared death and was excited for it? What if we lived in a world where half the population was in prison? I can't say every single story idea I have falls into this, but I'd say a lot of them do and I find it's often a kick off point for a lot of my ideas.

How do you create such vibrant characters? My characters are so similar... there are at least three pairs of nearly-identical characters. And how do you make them flawed yet still so likable?

Do I make them likable? Sometimes I can't tell when I look at characters like Lyss haha. Because I think she's a victim of how I write characters, which is just... I dunno, write them like they're real people. Everybody is mad at the decisions Lyss made but... I'm sorry. I'll forever die on the hill that everyone are hypocrites and 90% of people would have done the same thing in her shoes. Only a flawless, benevolent, and frankly kind of stupid, person would have just...let Rex go in those circumstances, evil other half be damned. He was still a danger who proved he couldn't control himself, and the same way you'd probably report your best friend who was driving raving drunk after he just smashed into someone, she reported a dangerous person. Even if people hate her for it, I wrote what any person would have done in that situation. And that's how I try to write all my characters, for better or for worse. A lot of Rex's stupid decisions are dictated by his anxiety and depression, and I know from firsthand experience how being in that state of mind can influence your decisions and overall outlook on life and the people who love you, despite what you may think. I guess my advice is just to give them human flaws. A lot of people don't like Nia because she's manipulative, but I write her as a character who 100% practices what she preaches. Yeah, she "gas lit" Rex into joining Blan Corp, but she also 1000% believed it was the best thing for him.

Desmond probably comes off as the more "flawless" characters, but his own self-loathing and... catholic blank guilt is a big part of what pushed Rex away. In the time when Rex was questioning and hating himself for being a blank, why would he ever go the one person who hates himself for being a blank more than him? When he could go to the person (Nia) who celebrates him being a blank, and reminds him he can be loved for being one.

Anyway, that's enough rambling for now. Hopefully that gives you some to chew on.

[lumosatnight]

20 questions for fic writers!

Thanks for the tag @acnelli (x), @schmem14 (x), and @indigo-scarf (x)!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

I just reached exactly 100 works! Low-key so happy that my Pansmione soulmates fic was #100.

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

301,754!! I am actually shocked by how high this is.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling (97)

First Kill (TV 2022) (1)

방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS (1)

Wednesday (TV 2022) (1)

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

What is this, fucking Jeopardy? [Drarry, E, 20.4k]

White, the colour of flowers [Drarry, M, 3.2k]

A Heart So Colourful ♡ [Viktor/Ron, E, 1.5k]

Impervius, Not [Drarry, T, 5.0k]

7 Days of Halloween: I Don't Feel Like Myself Anymore [Wolfstar, E, 29.7k]

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

Oh heck yeah! I love getting and responding to comments. I've met some wonderful people in the comments section of fics.

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

Your Cigarette Smell [Sirius/Narcissa, E, 9.7k] with canon-compliant character death, so I think you know where this is going.

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

Any of my fluffy fics? Maybe Lavmione in Lavender for Morning or Nottpott in Silver Surprise.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not yet (*crosses fingers*). I've had some mildly annoying comments (like saying how they disliked background Dramione in a Drarry fic I wrote), but nothing to make me wanna bash my head against the wall.

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

Umm... yes. I am currently in the middle of posting the smuttiest, most depraved series I have ever written for this year's Kinktober.... so check it out ig?

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

Not so much crossovers but heavily inspired by other stories. I wrote Dronarry in a Sandman AU and also Hermione/Daphne in a Twilight AU 😂

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of...

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes! My Nottpott fic was translated into Russian. How cool is that??

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

I have done art collabs but never co-written a fic. Definitely something I'd love to try. Maybe it'll happen next year!

14. What’s your all time favourite ship?

Idk there's too many to choose!! I probably read Drarry the most, but I think that's mostly because there's just SO MANY amazing Drarry authors. I can honestly be convinced to like any ship if I like the writing style and the story. I'm a huge rare pair and femslash shipper!!! The communities are just so wonderful 💖

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

Never say never! But I'm really lacking motivation to finish my Squid Games AU Drarry fic. I love the concept, but the plot is just not flowing.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Emotion. I like my fics to pack a punch. I think I'm getting pretty good at it.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Longfic. It's hard for me to sustain motivation for one idea. I have too many running through my brain at once, and I always get distracted by the shiny new headcanon.

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

I've seen it. I've done it. I'm ambivalent, mostly. I think it can be a great way to show cultural differences between characters. But I also think 90% of the time it unnecessarily confuses the reader because if you don't know the language, you're just going to skip over the dialogue. And if you do know the language, then you'll notice if it doesn't sound natural. Yeah... not a fan when it's just google translated and copy-pasted.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Harry Potter!

20. Favourite fic you’ve written?

Anything on my Author's Favorites list! From recently though, maybe my Perciver strip chess fic 😉

Tagging (no pressure): @crazybutgood, @anaxandria-writes, @sugareey-makes-stuff, @givereadersahug, @orange-peony

[ladykettlechips]

20 Questions for Fic Writers!

I have been tagged by @suspendingtime to participate in this fun little questionnaire, so let's do the thing I love most, and write some bullshit!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

I went to count, but AO3 luckily has the amount of works in a bracket, so, 6!

I thought I had more but, nope. Those are just the WIP's that have no endings or a first chapter written now gathering dust, lol.

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

I had to break out my calculator for this, because it's hefty. Anyway, it's 98,934, and now I'm mad it's not 100k exactly. 1,066 words to go!!!

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Bridgerton, and that's it. I don't know if I will write for others just yet because no other show or series has that kind of chokehold on me yet.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Sugar Spike (568)

Made to Be (369)

The moments in-between (337)

Playing Dirty (219)

I sin (because of you) (144)

It's weird looking at the kudos as they stand currently, only because I see them in my inbox and just think 'oh, yay! Kudos!' but seeing them in one go is pretty fun? It's weird (in a nice way) to think so many people have read or engaged with a fic.

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

I do my best to, and it's because I genuinely like the engagement with your readers and other authors. It's something I did during my original fanfic era and one I wanted to continue when I started writing for Kanthony.

In part, it's due to my gratitude for a person taking time out of their day to read what I have written, and also because I personally enjoy receiving a message from an author who created something that resonated with me, or simply made me giddy.

Speaking of, I need to reply to some comments for Made to Be... be right back.

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

Have I had an angsty ending yet? I don't think so.

I'm not in my angst era of writing for Kanthony just yet, but it'll happen. It always happens...

OH, WAIT! Maybe the crack!fic of the table Anthony and Kate do the deed on constantly. Poor table! There is no happy ending in sight for it 😂

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

My fanfics are mainly smut, so they're all happy endings 😂 but for the sake of answering this, let's say Sugar Spike as it's the only complete one with a concrete ending.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I'm waiting for that to begin with bated breath, mate 😂

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

I'm convinced it's all I'm gonna write at this point, and it's usually the banter-fuelled type with lots of Anthony worshipping Kate. Probably a bit vanilla for some, I'm not one for anything too out there, but I enjoy the fact they kinda pine for one another and will be hungry for each other an then tender when needed.

(My brain thought of the word tender, and I promptly thought 'mmmmm, chicken tenders. Brains be weird)

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

So, I haven't in a while BUT when I was a looot younger, think pre-teens and early teens, I actually wrote a fair few crossovers. I think the weirdest was Xiaolin Showdown with anything from Teen Titans, to various anime characters and such making appearances. Pretty sure I still own the notebook I wrote that in.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Yes. I laughed when it happened, but this was years ago. If people are gonna steal, they will steal. It sucks, but people prove time and again they're not all that great sometimes.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope!

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

Nope to this, too! I'm unsure how I would go about it tbh, I am so easily confused sometimes... but I love when authors partner up and create something beautiful together to share with the world.

14. What’s your all-time favourite ship?

Kanthony, duh 😂

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

I think it'll probably be one I have had in the works for AGES, and is supposed to be like 4 or so chapters long. It was my first foray into a slightly possessive Anthony, which was fun, but unsure if I managed to capture him correctly.

Do I want to finish it? YES! If I post the first chapter, it might actually force me into gear with it, but for now it sits in my drafts, gathering cobwebs and dust in WIP jail.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I had a hard time coming to terms with it, but dialogue. I actually considered this my weakness at one point, but I've come to realise it's where my strength lies mostly.

I think detail is also a strength. I love writing surroundings and feelings, and detailing everything. Of course, this can also be one of my greatest weaknesses.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I have a hard time fitting other characters in outside of the main couple. I seem to have a lens on one thing at most times, and that can hinder things in regard to progress of the greater story. Of course, Bridgerton has a giant cast of characters which makes things difficult at times.

I am also far too wordy, and I have a bad habit of repetition and over-using the em dash (—). I suck at grammar too, and can info-dump a fair bit. I also have this terrible tendency to edit while I write, which means I don't create a plan or outline or general skeleton, and that hinders me greatly sometimes.

I also swear a lot in fics, which can be seen as good or bad, but I rely on it too much sometimes. Also, I take too much time to write or edit sometimes and hate that aspect of myself when writing. I just wish I could write without a worry and then edit later, but nope! I have to take time, and if I'm in a really bad mental slump, it can take ages to write.

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

I've tried it once and honestly, I think it's great if you know the language or have done some research into it. I didn't know the language well enough when I tried it once before, so I haven't returned to it again.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Teen Titans! The OG cartoon series, not the newer one.

20. Favourite fic you’ve written?

'The moments in-between' and 'Made to Be'. I can't really choose, but all of them have a special place in my heart for various reasons.

°❈° ≫≪ °❈° ≫≪ °❈° ≫≪ °❈° ≫≪ °❈° ≫≪ °❈° ≫≪ °❈° ≫≪ °❈°

Now I gotta do the difficult thing, which is harassing another poor soul to attempt this fun little questionnaire. SO, let's tag these poor unfortunate souls...

@doodlingawaits @iwishyouwouldstop @misstwentyynine @folklauerate @pineberrysins ... AND ANYONE ELSE WHO WANTS TO DO IT! If you wanna take part, just do it!! Okay, I need to chill now. BYE, THANKS FOR READING :D

[goblin-face-sucker]

grumpy shit under fold

Feeling so fucking crushed tbh. Maybe it's the 2:30am insomnia (which isn't that bad I know). Maybe it's the general feeling of having Too Much to do.

I had like a genuinely really positive day at work - a client fed back how great I was, in front of my head of department. My juniors said they were happy how the project went. This is genuinely huge, because I love love this job, and I am still in probation and I want to pass.

And I tried to celebrate myself! And it gets met with "well duh of course you'll pass probation" like okay haha yeah probably but. I haven't sold anything in, and I'm about five skills behind everyone else on my level. I've never managed anyone before, and it's been over a year since I worked with advertisers directly.

Then we had a great MOTW game, but I felt like I was struggling with my character class cause it didn't feel like it fit the character I wanted play. The keeper said we could change characters at this point, so I was looking, and my friend was looming over my shoulder and I felt so pressured and stressed

I know it's really stupid to get stressed about a ttrpg. I like doing them with my friends, DND is amazing, but I am finding it difficult to relax at all right now, and feel loads of weird pressure.

I also just straight up can't fucking read - no glasses, no energy, and background noise of people talking and I literally stop being able to follow lines horizontally. I can read the individual words, but it's like my eyes won't move side to side anymore.

So I was like struggling to read the different options and I felt embarrassed about it, and they were looming and I love this friend but they can be Very opinionated about what other people should do so I was like "I'm just looking right now" like dude I'm sick, it's after midnight, I don't own a rulebook of this and I can't fucking read so it's taking all my energy. He gets rejection sensitive

So he leaves me, everyone is chatting, I'm looking. I decide now isn't the time and I can stick the class out and maybe the character will die soon, and I can start again anyway. It'll be fun.

But then everyone is like convincing me I should change?? And then my friend just says "you just can't be bothered"

And it just flicked the switch in my brain and now I'm lying awake in The Hole like

Yeah I'm lazy piece of shit.

There is so much stuff I haven't got done. And everyone knows. Like. I haven't painted the ceiling yet, or rode my bike, or cleaned the alleyway, or combined my pensions, or booked a holiday, or vacuumed the bedroom since last week, or changed the sheets, or sorted the laundry, or finished my privacy certificate at work, or emailed that client about their backfill, or worked on my novel, or contacted the Brighton writing group, or meal prepped that chicken, or been to the gym three times this week.

And people keep asking me, and I haven't done it, whatever it is, cause I'm a lazy piece of shit.

[bettsfic]

2022 in writing

whoops, i wrote this at the end of december, put it in my drafts, and forgot about it. this is my seventh year writing a recap and i just read through all of them again. part of me thinks, "it's been 7 years and i haven't accomplished a fraction of what other writers have in that same time." but then the other part of me remembers 1) other writers are on their own path and working at their own speed, and 2) it's unfathomable to me how utterly mentally fucked i used to be. and i mean, i'm still mentally fucked but at least i'm working on getting better. the point is, i had a different starting line than others.

anyway, it's a new year and that means it's time to think to myself for the 7th year running, "dear god when am i going to publish a book." every year i think, this is going to be my year! every year it isn't.

overcame the worst writers' block i've ever had

"overcame" is making it sound more dramatic than it was. i went on a medication that fucked with my brain and then went back off it. but i worry that when i think back on 2022, i'm not going to remember all this cool stuff i did, i'm going to remember how utterly miserable i was for six months. how terrifying it was to feel like someone else was living in my body. i wrote a little bit about it in october's newsletter.

some of this post i've copied over from my newsletter.

but also i have to acknowledge that when i came back to writing, it felt like my brain had been totally rewired and i feel capable, creatively, of about 10x more than i used to be capable of. i'm still trying to articulate what changed and why.

published some things

“shut up and kill me” -- featured in issue 41 of Barren Magazine. the editor who chose it said it was his favorite of the 700+ submissions they received. very happy this weird story has found its home. please heed the warnings!

“coping skills” -- featured in issue 1 of Flossy Lit Mag, a magazine my friends started and which has some great work in it already.

("not if, when" was published january of this year, so it'll go in next year's update)

published other people's things

in 2022, ofic magazine published 33 prose pieces and 3 art pieces! over half of what we accepted came from not yet published authors and you have no idea how happy that makes me.

won a grant

i’m very very excited to say i won the Barbara Deming Memorial Fund grant to help offset the travel expenses of the residency i attended! i’ve been applying to this for years and it’s amazing to have been awarded it. the judges had a lot of lovely things to say about my work and it was a big confidence boost.

did a residency

i spent a month in beautiful Wyoming at the Jentel Arts residency. i met some wonderful artists, got a lot of work done, and had an amazing time. definitely the highlight of my year.

made the top 10 of a big contest

i submitted "Not If, When" to a screenwriting website hosting a prose contest, and out of what seemed to be a lot of submissions, i was a top 10 finalist, and now my story is being pitched to production studios to see if they want to buy the film/tv rights. i've also had a few phone calls with hollywood people wanting to talk to me about my work (i'm still confused about that) and i think they've gone well. no idea what the endgame is here though.

ran other workshop

i intended to run two fanauthor workshops but i only managed one, because of the whole "just gritting my teeth trying to stay alive" thing. but the one i ran i think went really well!

coaching/editing is my job now

i didn't think too much of that until i met with my thesis advisor to get caught up and she was like, wow that's the dream. and she invited me to be a panelist for the annual publishing symposium at my alma mater.

i'm not getting rich or anything, but i've picked up enough commercial copywriting work to make ends meet.

applied/submitted to a few places

totals:

11 residencies (8 rejections, 2 rejections with encouraging feedback, 1 acceptance)

4 publications (1 encouraging rejection, 3 acceptances)

1 award (1 acceptance)

2 screenwriting-ish contests (1 rejection, 1 finalist placement)

this has been far and away my most successful submission year. 6 major wins!

wrote 421k words

what's extra wild about this word count is that ~400k of it was across 6 months. from january 1 to june 16, i wrote only 22k words. and then from june 17 to december 31, i wrote the rest. and for the finished works, this doesn't include their respective trash docs (where i put everything i cut from a story). if i add in those, it's an additional ~90k.

year over year word count comparison:

2022: 421k

2021: 183k

2020: 375k

2019: 430k

2018: 450k

2017: 150k

2016: 343k

2015: 250k

2014: 311k

nine year total: 2,913,000

& other stuff

i really advocated for my mental health this year and i'm super proud of that. i mean dealing with my brain was basically a full-time job and i've come to accept i'll be spending my entire life micromanaging my own head, but for now things are okay

unfortunately i got a diagnosis that wasn't what i expected, that seems mostly correct, and which i'm having trouble accepting

i moved into an apartment with my best friend and it's going really well so far

the only travel i did was to missouri to visit family, and to wyoming for my residency

2022 goal recap (from 2021)

sell a book any book dear god -- got close, but nope

finish a draft of a new novel -- big nope

get an apartment -- yep! and it's great

publish 3 issues of OFIC -- yes and i'm very proud of them

publish 12 newsletters -- no, published 5 newsletters

register OFIC Press as a nonprofit -- not yet, working on it (this is far more difficult than i thought it would be)

run a successful Fanauthor Workshop -- yep! 2 sessions out of my goal of 4

write a proposal for a fanfiction craft book -- no, but i talked to my agent about it and now we're working on it together

write a script (pilot or feature) and submit to contests -- yes but it was Bad and i've gotta, you know, make it not bad

2023 goals

these are going to be remarkably similar to last year's, considering it's all just stuff that's been set in motion.

SELL A BOOK

finish a new novel (it's february and i've already kind of done this, but still putting it on here)

publish 4 issues of ofic mag

publish at least 6 newsletters

build the 2024 ofic press catalogue

apply for nonprofit status

run 4 workshop sessions

submit nonfiction proposal

build a script portfolio (feature, pilot, spec)

find a healthy balance between writing and living

annual thank you!

despite how badly i derailed for the first half of the year, i'm really grateful to fandom, readers, and all the friends i've made here for your support and encouragement, without which i wouldn't have been able to do any of this.

prior year recaps: 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021

[brick-a-doodle-do]

It's been forever since I've been on tumblr so have an ask for the ask game thing, 1, 2, 3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 10, 121, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50

-Small brain anon

sb. you've struck again. just for you, since i haven't seen you in a while, i will answer all of them. except for the ones i have asked: 2, 3, 8, 12, 15, 18, 19, 22, 23, 27, 33, 39, 44, 45, and 50!

answers under cut,,,

1 : if you have a lighter, what color is it?

i have one, but i don't really use it. also i have no clue where it is. it's blue tho!

4 : how often are you on tumblr?

oh god. i have a horrible addiction to like constantly checking it, which i am not proud of and it's really annoying. but i'm not on tumblr for longer than 5-ish minutes before i decide to close the tab. but that cancels out when i open the tab again a few minutes later. trying to fix it. but i am pretty much always on tumblr and check it at the most every 5-6 hours :/

5 : are you only doing this because you're bored?

mmhh when i rbed it, yes, but now i want to do something with my fingers and this is a good fix :D

6 : what blogs do you mostly interact with?

depends on what "interact with" actually means but in terms of actually interacting with blogs that also interact with me, (moots, essentially), it's really only becky and squishy on a day-to-day basis. sometimes 3d and sloth pop up tho. i interact, (in terms of liking, rb-ing, etc.), with a whole bunch of ppl tho ,,,,

7 : can you swim?

yes!

9 : which do you prefer, cotton candy or funnel cake?

if i've had funnel cake, i don't remember it. so cotton candy. but honestly funnel cakes look way better ,,,

10 : have you ever used a fork as a bookmark?

no i have not! i'd easily consider it though ,,

11 : bass or drums?

god both are so awesome. but i'd say bass. BUT my exception for that is mark boardman that man makes their songs so fkn amazing have you HEARD the drums in golden hour or oyygc? LIKE MCXMCMXN his drums with wil's voice is just so lovely.

13 : can we be friends?

yes!

14 : do you admire the clouds and the color of the sky?

all the time. being in a car is so lovely because MMMM SKYYY !!!

16 : a netflix series that's your favorite?

the haunting of hill house/bly manor and midnight club are all beautiful shows and i fkn love them ,,, i also love orange is the new black even tho it isn't a netflix original ,,

17 : an earliest obsession you can remember?

g/t. it's a basic answer but looking back on my life, all the way from when 4-year-old me asked my dad what he would do if i shrunk, to writing a story about a giant when i was in 3rd grade to whatever the hell my fanfiction writing has turned into which started in 2018—it's a BIG part of me and has been for a while

20 : have you listened to the crane wives?

UGHMGDS,VXMCM qasdvkmdscMDFFSDVCX I LOVE THE CRANE WIVES. I AM CONSIDERING ASKING TO GO TO ONE OF THEIR SHOWS CAUSE IT'LL BE IN PHILLY !!!!! I LOVE THEM SMM

21 : your first celebrity crush?

aiden gallagher . don't ask. and it only worsened with tua. but i am out of that phase now ^_^

24 : what have you learned about yourself?

that i'm more like my mother than i ever thought i'd be eueue (in a /neutral way cause she's a great mom i just find myself doing the habits of hers that i never liked)

25 : can you tie a cherry stem with your tongue?

ah, no. i've tried once and gave up ,, i hope to eventually be able to do it tho !!

26 : do you believe in aliens?

in a way, yes, because there is a lot in the universe and i refuse to believe there isn't some type of life out there, but it's my same response with ghosts: i want to believe

28 : an unusual song that's your favorite?

LOTS. to narrow down on one, any of my favorite broadway songs. in any scenario i would never put it on a playlist but i fucking love broadway sm it itches something in my brain. probably something from heathers cause that's such a dark humor-ed thing,,,,

also a tv show called earth isn't my favorite but it's really sweet idek why i enjoy it sm <3

29 : the last thing you ate?

candy cigarettes !! the chalky ones

30 : do you have a favorite time to write?

mainly at night, from the hours of 12-1 when i really want to sleep but there's a scene in my head that won't leave >:)

31 : have you gotten bitten by a dog?

of course,, but nothing dangerous just when they accidentally bite while playing

32 : do you write better with a pen or pencil?

my handwriting is better with a pencil but it's easier to write with a pen imo

34 : when you hear "peace" what do you think of?

mmhghh satisfaction on everyone's person.

35 : a school subject you're good with?

honestly i'm pretty good at math. i'm not the best and it gets overwhelming but it always does ,,,,

36 : how many alarms do you have set?

one, (for 9:40 am), and i don't follow it. i mean not usually. i'll either wake up before it, sleep through it, or wake up to it and then fall back asleep eueu

37 : do you shop at thrift stores?

when my mom takes me to one, yeah !

38 : what's the meaning behind your url?

mm i have good stuff for this. my name is brick, of course, and then in the show derry girls one of the characters is constantly saying 'fuck-a-doodle-do' for a few episodes and then i decided to combine the two. it has NOTHING to do with cock-a-doodle-do, chickens do not deserve my respect.

40 : who's your favorite character to write?

i feel like tommy is my go-to, and yeah the narrator for him is fun asf but i like writing techno. he's fun. i like him a lot more than i did before which i'm really happy about because i found his character very intimidating to write :D

41 : you gotta have a favorite beatles song, what is it?

this may change, but it's twist and shout. it reminds me of my dad :D

42 : earphones or a speaker?

earphones for the quiet me-time, and speaker for the times when i'm feeling extroverted or when i'm in the car w my mom :)

43 : what do you remember from your childhood?

this is such a vague question. i uHNMM remember lots of stuff, but mostly my annual trips to disney world with my family !!

46 : a christmas song you secretly like?

there is no secret here, but i LOVE ¿dónde está santa clause? it's mildly racist but i love the ending sm 😭

47 : book stores or record stores?

book stores !

48 : how weird were these questions

i found them pretty neutral eueueu and fvcnhcjfdbbcx ahhhh finally i am at the end !!!!!

49 : what scents do you like?

gasoline and chemical-induced markers...i'm not ashamed to admit that. they're so bad for you but they SMELL SO GOOD why ??????? also i love pinapple scented stuff :D

50 : are there 20 new aus i have to catch up on?

ah, YES. yes there are. they should all be on my masterpost! but that's just the names of them, altho i'm sure if you searched on my page you could find them easily ,,,

,,, ah. well. i'd say thank you for the ask....but am i really thankful? /j of course i am. hope you are having a good day and are doing good ! <3<3

[kcscribbler]

I meant to send questions earlier but I saw the post in the morning on my phone and was too lazy to memorize all of the emojis I wanted to ask, whoops.

ANYWAY, please brag about yourself with 🥕! And to share the encouragement you gave teenage me many years ago, how about 🍩? Or maybe just something fun with 🍔. Feel free to do any or all of them, if you want! :D

Full Ask List Here

🍔What's a headcanon that hasn't made it into a published fic yet?

Oh, this is a fun one. So I created a minor OC for my Loki AU. Mostly because plot device (needed to show what Hunters grew into if they're not really hunting variants anymore), but also I wanted to show that post-S2, the TVA agents get names if they want, instead of numbers.

But I headcanon that she was the gal in the elevator during this scene:

Obviously this character's dressed as an analyst, not a hunter, but it's what I had in mind while writing her.

More questions under the cut!

🥕What's your favorite fic you've written, and why?

It's been well over a decade, but I still love However Improbable, my crossover between ST:TOS and ACD Sherlock Holmes.

It was my first NaNoWriMo experience, and why I chose to do a difficult/rare crossover back then I have no idea. But it was so much fun, and I like to think I did both universes and the plot justice.

Of my more recent fics, I am proud of Coda in E Major. It definitely wasn't as well-received as my other TOS oneshots for some reason, but it was personally cathartic for me, so I'm happy with it.

🍩What advice would you give to aspiring fic writers?

I wouldn't say I'm necessarily qualified to advise anyone, given how the fanfic world was a totally different place back then, lol. But I think the biggest three pieces of advice I'd have are:

Find your people. In retrospect, I have zero idea why the talented folks in the early-aughts Sherlock Holmes fandom tolerated my over-eager cringe, but they did, and were super kind about it. I built a network at that time that was critical to my development as a writer. Read, comment, DM, interact.

TLDR: Don't lurk, when you're first starting out. If you do, it'll build a habit of lurking, and while there's nothing wrong with that, it's not going to benefit you in those formative years.

2. Write something everyday. Whether it's a page or a word. If you are excited about it, or if you're dreading it. If you love it, or if you hate it. If your characters won't talk to each other, start writing in great detail about how you're going to chuck the computer out the window entirely if they don't. If the words aren't coming, start making vocabulary lists or writing down headcanons. Write something, however silly or small.

Don't be afraid to write things that'll never see the light of day, because all of it helps you develop into a writer, not just someone who likes to write.

3. When writing, stop in the middle of a sentence, not the end of a scene. It's an old trick, but a useful one. Finishing a scene makes it more difficult to start again; stopping mid-sentence will help your brain jump back into things when you next return.

Thanks so much for the asks and your lovely words! <3

[furibond]

Most/Least Tag Game

Rules: give us the links to your wonderful works with the Most hits/Most kudos/Most comments/Most bookmarks/Most words/Least words

i was not tagged i just saw this on the dash and stole it

Most Hits & Most Kudos - these two have the same top two so i'm putting them together

#1 - :) - some fluffy figure skating rpf about xinyu liu's habit of princess carrying yuzuru hanyu. pretty sure its popularity is owed mostly to good timing since i wrote it just after olys but it is p cute

#2 - Are we still sisters? - arcane league of legends fic, ngl i just wrote this as proof of concept for male Vi, and as such it turned out a bit weird, but once again i think fandom popularity at the time contributed to it doing well

Most Comments - a new challenger appears! Two Trucks Having Sex - I wrote this for a group game about sentient cars, where we were challenged to explain how car sex works. trying to figure that out absolutely broke my brain, so instead i went for something much easier: figuring out how car bdsm works! probably the weirdest thing ive ever written, which is probably what led so many people to want to say something about it, but honestly, i had a great time writing it and brainstorming car kinks with a friend. the trucks are called brad and chad

Most Bookmarks - We're back to :) on the top spot, but number two for this is Supergirl: Year One, a joke fic i wrote to canonize the delightful tag Kara Danvers Doesn't Know Kara Danvers is Supergirl. it is honestly still funny and i'm glad other people appreciate it

Most Words - Seconds and Second Chances - once again with the group game fics! we were playing a batman-themed group game, and each day we were given a question/prompt to answer. after 10 days of this, we were told to write a fic featuring at least 3 of our answers. overachiever that i am, i decided to include all my answers, which resulted in 1800 words, over 500 words more than my second-longest fic. anyway it's about jason (because i was playing him in the game) and surprisingly decent if i do say so myself

Least Words - Empty Spaces - clocking in at 20 words, i dare say it'll probably stay my shortest fic forever. some post about reverse tropes was going around and i got to thinking about what "too many beds" would look like, and it sparked off some extremely short george weasley angst

since i stole this, pls steal it yourself and say i tagged you!

[whoseafraidofliloleme]

I. AM. HERE!!!

OK SO first of all srry abt literally ghosting for like a month. now we're gonna pretend that didn't happen and i'll send here what i would have sent for each chapter so. get ready for a BIG wall of text.

29– tf??? free yn and soobin like???? don't get me wrong i'm glad beomgyu didn't appear again but not like this 😭😭 also hee's friends liking yn more than him. AS THEY SHOULD!!!

30. i'd kiss hee rn if he wasn't dating yn bc HE SAID WHAT NEEDED TO BE SAID!! i love how non-threatening mama kim sounds bc it's all through text but in my head i'm imagining the typical k-drama rich mom getting more and more pissed until her face is so red it looks like it'll explode (kinda wish it did 🤭)

31. love the hees sm. literally the chillest ppl alive. it's so funny how mama kim's plan just. didn't work and she's acting all high and mighty already like??? that's now how it works honey 😊 you're going down AS YOU SHOULD

32. MAMA KIM PRISON ARC??? IDK WHAT I EXPECTED BUT DEF NOT HER GETTING A LIFE SENTENCE 😨😨😨 deserved but like stillll!! also heeyn marriage pls <33333 i love them

NOW ONTO THE FINAL NOTES.

first i have to ask. is soobin ok? and like his family?? bc idk if mama kim was being dramatic when she said his family NEEDED the marriage and i'm kinda worried :(

second. i just love sm how dramatic you made this smau 😭 the way i could picture so many of the scenes cristal clear even though i was just reading texts??? even the dramatic bg music that escalates when things get more serious and ppl start shouting

finally tysm for another great smau <33 i WILL SAY unexpected partners is still my fave bc it was how i started to know you but it's amazing how you can just. make such different stories but have both of them be so great??

PD: i will be checking out other smaus some time in the near future. might be tomorrow might be in 2 weeks bc i clearly have NO concept of time 😨

PD2: i wrote all of this at once and didn't reread it so sorry if it's a bit jumbled together but that's how my brain works </3

Hey, sorry I took some time to reply. I'm on holiday 😂.

I love a long ask let's get into this 😊.

29 - Free Soobin and YN 😂😂😂. So true, they needed to be freed from Mama Kim. Ngl, Beomgyu was gonna make a comeback but then I thought that Soobin would be a better option, low level drama ya know 😂. Obviously Hee's friends like YN more they see the difference in their friend. They see how happy they make each other and they just love to roast Heeseung 😂.

30 - I loved Heeseung taking Mama Kim down thru texts 😂. He did not hold back and I love him for it. Originally I planned for the confrontation to be a written chapter but then changed my mind and I love how the texts turned out. No I love that 😂😂. Mama Kim very much was inspired by kdrama villain mothers. She's a mix of kdrama rich moms and Indian soap opera evil mothers.

31 - The Hee's were my favourite too. I just loved writing the family dynamics this fic. The sibling bond between the Kim's and the Lee's being the chillest ppl in the world. They don't care abt anything as long as their son is happy.

32 - Mama Kim is going to prison for life and she's never coming back 😂😂. The villain gotta be taken down somehow neh. I always planned for marriage to be the endgame for Heeyn and I'm happy with how it turned out.

Final Notes:

Soobin and his family are completely fine. Mama Kim was exaggerating. Soobin's family was going thru it but not to the point that they needed marriage to save the family 😂. Ur like the only person who cared about Soobin, I really have been doing my bias dirty in my fics and I feel so bad abt it 😭😭😭.

That was always the goal. I wanted this smau to be dramatic and over the top. It honestly makes me so happy that you could picture the texts. With the BG music and everything, really makes me very very happy 🤗🤗🤗🤗.

Ah thank you so much for reading my fics 😭😭😭. I love your asks, they make my day whenever I get an ask from you so really I love them more than you do. Unexpected Partners does have a special place in my heart too ❤️❤️.

PD: Check them out whenever you have the time. No rush honestly, if you don't like the story don't read it. Please don't force yourself to read something you don't want to 🥺🥺🥺. All I ask is if you do read any one shot or smau that you send asks, I love them so send those my way please but again no pressure to read everything all at once. Whenever you want, my smaus and one shots aren't going anywhere.

PD 2: It's fine, my brain works that weirdly too. Everything made sense and as I said at the beginning. I love a long ask 😂.

Again sorry it took me some time to reply, I'm on holiday and finding free time and WiFi is a struggle 😂.

[chaseadrian]

"you've never kissed anybody before?" with the one and only steve 'the hair' harrington 🤘😫

hi <33 hope u like!

steve harrington/f!reader 943 words an. they don't kiss but maybe i'd be down to write a part 2 at some point

You almost didn't take the job. Robin had to plead and prod when you came back into town after one semester at a shit college with shit professors and a shit roommate. You'd been slumped on the couch for weeks, no direction, no motivation, feeling like you'd been chewed up and spit out by the world in a matter of months. And then someone got fired from the Family Video for spending a bit too much of their shift behind the curtain in the adult section.

Working with Steve seemed like a nightmare, despite all of Robin's exclamations that he'd changed since high school and was a better dude now and okay yes, she'd admit maybe he flirted a bit too much with the girls that walked into the store but he wasn't mean anymore.

So you took the job.

Robin was great, always had been, always would be, but she couldn't bridge the gap between you and Steve.

Until the night she'd called out of work for food poisoning, leaving the two of you to close up shop alone.

Steve was taking his sweet time restocking the shelves while you worked on a new window display. Standups of Keifer Sutherland and Jason Patric flanked you as you threw fake fangs and rubber pools of blood on the shelf between shiny new VHS tapes.

"So you going back to college next year?" Steve asked, breaking the usual silence that lingered when you and Steve were without Robin.

"Dunno." You shrugged, groaning as a blood pool dropped to the floor with a splat. It had hair and crumbs stuck to it when you picked it up, carrying it with an outstretched arm to the bathroom sink.

"Gross." Steve followed, leaning in the doorway of the bathroom with his arms crossed, "Just throw it in the trash."

You looked up at him from the mirror, "This was the only medium sized piece, it'll balance out the whole display."

He rolled his eyes, "Sure. Anyway, tell me more about college."

Drying the rubber off with paper towels, you turned your head to him with furrowed brows and a frown, "What?"

"Well, I mean I thought I'd get the scoop when Robin graduated but she's at community, not much night life at a college half comprised of senior citizens. So?"

"So, what?"

"So, anything! I am wasting away here in Hawkins, gotta have something to look forward to when I finally get my shit together. Sooner or later..." He trailed off, pursing his lips and following when you pushed past him back into the lobby over to the display, kneeling in front of the shelf.

"Uhh, it sucked, I guess. Hard classes, mean professors."

"Yeah yeah yeah school's shit, we knew that, but did you at least get a feel for that great 'college experience' everyone freaks out about? Tube topped babes, dudes headbutting each other over beer, people passing out on the frat lawns."

You looked up at him with squinting eyes, "Have you seen any movies other than Animal House?"

"What's that?"

"It's a—" You paused, "We literally work at a video store. Rent it. Either way the party scene wasn't really my thing."

"Seriously. Not a single one? No dudes whose names you didn't remember in the morning? Nothing?"

You shrugged with a frown, eyebrows raised, "What can I say? You knew me in high school, did you ever see me at parties? Did you ever invite me to parties?"

He smiled and started to rebut, "Well I—"

His brain kicked in and he thought for a moment, "No."

You turned back to the display, pulling candy bars from a box and setting them on the shelf, "Exactly. Not a liplock in high school, and the tradition continues in college. Well, the six months I was there."

He crouched down to meet your height, "Wait wait wait. You've never kissed anybody before?"

You didn't look at him, didn't indicate you'd heard what he'd said at all other than a short shake of your head.

"Like not even a nervous spin the bottle seven minutes in heaven my-upper-lip-is-way-too-sweaty-to-kiss-you-right-now-but-here-goes-nothing peck?" He gestured with his hands, forearms resting on his knees, voice laden with a tone that said he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Nope."

"Huh." He stared at the carpet.

"Like that's so hard to believe. I had exactly one friend in high school."

"W—well I just thought you band geeks all intermingled."

"I wasn't in ban—" You reevaluated the entire conversation, setting the last chocolate bar down and standing up with the box, "You know, why am I even talking to you about this? You had your first kiss at what like, two years old?"

Steve matched you, a smile on his lips, "Actually, I was one. My grandma couldn't keep those purple-lipstick laden lips off me."

You stared at him, and he reached forward to grab the box from you, ripping the bottom and flattening it into a sheet of cardboard.

"There's a framed photo of me with old lady lip prints right by the front door."

That earned a laugh, and his eyes flicked around your face.

"Didn't mean to pry, I know the only common denominator we have is Robin so I barely have any right to ask you shit like that. Sorry." He offered, reaching a hand out.

You took it, accepting his truce with a shake, "I appreciate it."

"Friends?" He gave you a half smile.

You pulled the corner of your mouth down, "Ehh."

"Acquaintances with the potential for friendship?"

"That's more like it."

He slapped your shoulder, "I'll take it."

Maybe Robin was right after all.

[residentbunburyist]

for the askbox game: I know roughly where you stand on a good chunk of these I think but I like to pick brains anyway so I'm just gonna: ocelhira, bbkaz, snakemeryl (sn... sneryl??), vkaz, otasune (I just wanna know the answer to 3 in particular for this one eheeh) takes a bow

aw hell yeah. i'm gonna do ALL of them!!

but maybe under a cut because it'll go for a bit

OCELHIRA -

1. What made you ship it?

love it. one of my favorite trash ships. 10/10. hatefucking their way through a decade of warcrimes

i am a huge sucker for angry, twisted, mutually angry relationships, and this has everything that i want: they're forced to work together towards a mutual goal for the man they both love while he sleeps, and they're angry, and jealous, and both awful people in their own rights. i love it

2. What are your favorite things about the ship?

i like seeing the multitude of ways that people fill the 9 years that bb was asleep with the two of them, and how they explore how they worked with each other and maybe started relying on each other more than they wanted to. but most importantly, i love the deceit and the knowledge that ocelot was still lying to him the entire time with the full intention of just dropping him like a rock for bb once he needs to, like ocelot always does.

3. Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

i've read a few fic where ocelot really does switch allegiances and falls truly in love with kaz, and betrays bb for kaz and v. i can't jive with that. i'm far too dedicated to ocelot's single-minded obsession with bb to let him ever fully change his allegiances. only work up some lovely lovely regret and conflicted feelings.

have my wonderful Ocelhira playlist

BBKAZ -

1. What made you ship it?

also love it. 100/10. 2 men, 1 braincell, 1000 war crimes.

what made me ship it is just all of their AMAZING interactions in peace walker. the relationship between the two of them just progressed in such a weird, but also weirdly natural way, and i can absolutely believe in their comradarie and affection

2. What are your favorite things about the ship?

i love how these two get along together like an oil fire. they drive each other to new heights, and new ideas, but also enable each others' worst tendencies. in the peace walker tapes, you can really see how well they feed into each others' self-involved echo chambers, and convince each other that the things that they're doing are not only good, but GREAT ideas. i wholly believe that bb would not have become who he was without kaz egging him on, both feeding his grandiose view of himself and his world-view. plus of course i adore how it all falls apart in the end and the end their lives as bitter enemies. perfection

3. Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

i always really really hate when people flatten kaz down to some sort of... battered housewife and bb into a manipulative, abusive husband. because bb was physically stronger and so came out on top of their fights, that must mean that kaz must be reduced to a quavering waif who doesn't understand that he's actually being abused and that's just... missing the mark on their relationship in so many different ways and i fucking hate it.

have my wonderful bbkaz playlist

SNAKEMERYL -

1. Why don’t you ship it?

I like thinking that they briefly got together after Shadow Moses, but obviously they didn't canonically work out. I'm going to say I don't ship it, just because I like working within those confines. i like thinking that they stayed together for a few months, but due to just... their mutual bad coping and disinterest in talking about their problems, Snake didn't have enough support to not fall back into his drinking and closing himself off, and Meryl got frustrated both with Snake not meeting any of her standards in a 'never meet your heroes' sort of way, and way too cooped up and lonely because she wasn't ready to wallow and write off her whole life.

2. What would have made you like it

i kind of like it just the way it is, honestly? like, i really like that they didn't work out, and that the spark that they had during Shadow Moses was based more on danger and adrenaline than actual compatibility. If anything i think i would have liked to just see a little bit more of what their time together in Alaska post MGS1 was like before Meryl left

3. Despite not shipping it, do you have anything positive to say about it?

i really like all of the interactions between the two of them, both in mgs1 and mgs4. also i just adore Meryl in general. she's perfect.

VKAZ -

1. Why don’t you ship it?

this is a really hard one. like... I DO ship it, but... I'm going to say no, just because i only like it under VERY specific circumstances and i very rarely see it done in a way that i like. i'm incredibly picky when it comes to vkaz

2. What would have made you like it

it's one of those ships that i theoretically go ham for, and when it IS done right it hurts in the best possible way. i think... i can never get into it when it gets TOO tender, and they actually fall for each other, or become...healthy, in any way? Like, v and kaz don't communicate. basically at all. throughout all of mgsv, we only see kaz fluctuate wildly between codependently thinking that v is the only person he can trust, the one who can fix everything, the reason he's been putting himself through so much hell for the last decade... and then being vicious and vindictive when v doesn't meet the standards that he's worked up in his mind over that long period. and v, lacking any and all of the charisma that bb had, completely fails to meet kaz at any point. his reactions tend to be anywhere between confused, hurt, or upset but patient, but never... connecting. they have none of the spark, romantic or destructive, that bbkaz had. they are two husks of people who used to exist, but don't any longer (in v's case much more literally so), clinging to each other because of a sunken cost fallacy and because they're all that the other has. but there's no point in mgsv where they actually seem to connect in nearly the same capacity as just bb and kaz ranting excitedly about international politics and their plans for the future. it's tragic, it's empty, and when people explore it like that, i love it. basically... for having chosen to say i don't ship it, i sure do have a LOT to say about it

3. Despite not shipping it, do you have anything positive to say about it?

i've seen a few fanworks that depict them in the absolute perfect way, and when it threads that needle, it becomes one of my favorite things. it's potentially the most poetic and painful pairing in the series and the people who can make it work KILL IT.

have my wonderful vkaz playlist

OTASUNE -

1. What made you ship it?

as opposed to all of the others, which i enjoy for their unhealthiness and tragedy, snake and otacon are perfect for each other and do an amazing job at learning and growing and healing together and it's absolutely one of my favorite pairings ever. the both of them had hard lives, and had made bad choices, and were having a lot of trouble connecting to other human beings in different ways. But they do such a good job of like... not perfectly, not without difficulties, but very realistically helping each other to become better and happier people

2. What are your favorite things about the ship?

watching their relationship develop between mgs1, mgs2, and mgs4 is so good. watching them become more comfortable as partners, and then become the person that the other understands more than anyone else, is just so heartwarming to watch.

3. Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

the next person who depicts otacon as a perpetually sobbing but also tender and understanding uwu softboi who needs big strong david to hug him and solve every problem for him gets both a kick in the teeth and a full transcript of every time that otacon has been kind of a sarcastic or passive agressive dick