#it's sort of like i'm being asked to collaborate in the story i guess?

[grimark]

i like bad special effects. meaning not just old and outdated (which in a lot of cases were actually groundbreaking for their time, but i digress) but also low-budget or rushed or just kinda corny and poorly executed. i think it adds charm where a lot of more polished productions are lacking.

[miloformula123fan]

Could you do SMAU for James Vowles with wife bookish!reader? She has always been looking around the paddock with a book. Whenever she goes, there is always one with her. She always liked sharing online what she was reading and wanted to normalize it. The internet is always talking and discussing what book she should read next. As for James, he always supports her hobby as long as she is at his side. Just fluff and cute. So, that's it. Add anything you want to it. I don't mind them. Thanks!! :)))

as a bookworm, I loved writing this fic! and so i hope y'all love reading it

if you want to participate in my 300 followers event, look here :)

Please keep requesting - y'all have awesome ideas we agree on a lot of stuff :) - my guidelines are here, and if you want some prompts, they are here.

also feel free to come in and start chatting to me in my asks, would love to get to know y'all better

and if you want to be added to my taglist lmk :)

AND - if you ever want a part 2 of any of my fics, just ask, and maybe have a vague idea of what you want to occur in the second part and i will gladly help

james vowles x bookish!reader

3 stars

The story of this book was good, however, I had to disregard many other issues in order to stay in sync with it. It started off with many grammatical errors despite it decreasing later on in the novel, it affected the narrative overall. There were redundant phrases that made some parts of the story seem dragged on. I believe the book could have been shorter, a lot shorter than 190 pages. There was no shock factor or suspense in it; maybe because the whole story was already written *on the back of the book*. 🙃

Read the rest of my review from the link in my bio, but thank you bahrain for an amazing time. And thank you james for helping me buy all these books.

‘But there is never a day i stop loving you’ - Love letters by ezana Salgado

1 star

There's such a thing as ethereal "dreamy" (A.B. Yehoshua's "The Lover"), and there is incoherency. I don't fault the author entirely in this work, but I suspect it has been overly reworked by an overexcited English-language collaborator with a "bursting-the-seams" exuberance to evoke the Arabian culture that this novel loses the reader. The introduction section gives a glimpse of how much facelift is performed while tweaking the novel into English. There are surely better works to get a closer look at this fascinating locale and time period.

Read the rest of my review from the link in my bio. Thanks Saudi Arabia for an awesome time, even if this book was not it. And thank you to james who will listen to all my rants about books that he paid for that i hated.

‘If my love were an ocean, there would be no more land. If my love were a desert, you would see only sand. If my love were a star - late at night, only light. And if my love could grow wings, i’d be soaring in flight.’ - thirteen reasons why

2 stars

Pedestrian. The writing, the story, the characters all just too pedestrian. There was nothing that lifted this book in to the realm of interesting, or even 'mildly interesting'. It's the sort of book I keep in the glove compartment of my car. I know I'm never going to read it but there is always the possibility 

especially with the vehicles I drive of being stuck with a broken-down truck or a road block with nothing to read. That sort of book.

Read the rest of my review from the link in my bio. I mean a good thing I guess is that we had the entire flight for me to ignore my husband and read.

‘What am i to you…you are every hope i’ve ever had in human form’ - milk and honey by rupi kaur

4 stars

well that was just lovely.

Read the rest of my review from the link in my bio. I love Japan and I love Japanese books, now let’s try and get my husband to like Japan.

‘I’m just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her.’ - notting hill

5 stars

THAT ENDING THOUGH!!!!

Read the rest of my review from the link in my bio. Thank you China. And thank you for having authors who write books as amazingly as Chloe Chong.

‘You’re worth the wait’ - happily ever after

3 stars

I like Joy Harjo a lot, by which I guess I mean I have read two of her poems and think about them frequently and also I like the idea of who she is, and I thought this was nice and I like the way she uses language but it did not make me realize things about my own life which is what really gets me going from memoirs

Read the rest of my review from the link in my bio. I wanted to try and read a book that James would read, so he picked this one and it was okay.

‘Because the possibility of you is better than the reality of everyone else’ - twisted hate by ana huang

taglist: @leosxrealm, @tallrock35, @wolf-knights, @janeholt3, @pear-1206

[bleed-more]

Hi!

I found your blog because of your ask blog and have been keeping up to date with Tim's asker antics. I just felt the need to get out some opinions in a place I know someone will hear it, and my brain is telling me I can't do shit about Marble Hornets on my own blog until I post my own art about it, so I hope you're fine with me rambling about it here. (If I'm somehow crossing a line of sorts, please let me know.) Also, fair warning. This is long. Very long. I put a TL;DR at the bottom.

I feel like this fandom should appreciate Seth as a character more. Most people kinda just use him as the secondary butt to "brought the dog" jokes, and while that is an amusing line, I feel like Seth has a lot of untapped potential as a character that isn't really thought about because of that joke being spun into his only personality trait. From what I've seen, people seem to entirely forget or ignore a little something about him being the founding member of ToTheArk. He and Brian are the only two characters throughout the entire story to work together successfully. Tim and Brian? They fell out. Jay and Alex? They fell out. Tim and Jay? You guessed it, they fell out. Seth and Brian are the only ones who could actually work together in a functional partnership until the end, but because people only really bring up Seth as the guy Alex yelled at for bringing his dog, that leaves a lot of untapped potential with their dynamic. What kind of person was Seth to be the only person able to collaborate with someone successfully while under the Operator's influence? Were him and Brian already close before it all happened? Was he just the only one with decent communication skills?? Plus, he's the one who started guiding Jay on the path towards answers, which implies that he knows quite a lot about what's going on. I personally imagine Seth to be a similar person to Jeff from EMH. He's calm and collected, good with tech, and quite good with solving and creating puzzles. Intelligent and very caring, wanting to see all the people he cares about make it out alive, so he's doing his best to help get this stuff sorted out for good while trying to maintain a level of anonymity so nobody else he loves gets caught in the cross fire.

TL;DR: People should really start thinking about Seth's dynamics and him as a character more beyond him bringing his dog.

YES YES YES YOU NAILED IT I 100% AGREEE

I have an entire novel's worth of headcanons I've collected about Seth because listen listen hear me out...

90% of the loose ends and plot holes left in Marble Hornets, when filled by Seth, make for an EXTREMELY compelling story that opens up an entire second off-screen plot line with Seth and Brian going parallel with Jay and Tim.

I feel like Night Mind said it best on his "Marble Hornets Explained series":

"When you finally stop to think about everything we've revealed, you begin to realize Marble Hornets was never actually a horror story."

"It was a revenge story."

I actually plan on digging into this fully through Act 3 of @ohgreat-moretapes 👀👀👀 and until then if you guys send headcanon asks here I will answer them!!!! (Just keep in mind some theories I propose about Seth might technically be "spoilers" if you wanna wait for the reveals over at the ask blog. I'll don't think ask blog spoilers will happen too often but just in case I'll put a spoiler warning above posts like that).

@sunnytheopossum is also working on a comic detailing the off-screen rise and fall of ToTheArk which I am SO HYPE for, so go send him lots of love and support too!!!

We need more Seth advocates out there!!! We shall canonize him the way he deserves!!!!

[blossomofhope]

struggling with wonder rangers' (toya, emu, shizuku, honami) story but here's the notes for the other units in my unit swap copied directly from my phone. i'm working on this still.

Star x CHASERS:

ichika got really close to tsukasa when saki was in hospital to the point that she felt closer to him than honami and shiho. (the girls are all still in touch though! all the phoenix wonderland trips are on hona)

tsukasa still tried for a job at the theme park but didn’t get in. coincidentally so did minori! they met and got along. he let her talk about haruka for ages because saki was a massive fan of idols a few years ago.

an joins the group when shiho takes ichika to weekend garage to hang out. saki was off that day and honami was working. an asked if she could borrow shiho’s bass for a little bit because she used to play and hers was too small. shiho let her just in case ichika thought she was rude not to.

ichika did find the untitled song on her phone that day. she wanted to show it to shiho but ended up not doing anything. she told saki who said tsukasa’d found something similar and wasn’t that a weird coincidence.

also minori had a lot of doubts about being the band’s drummer. she knows about honami and doesn’t think she’s anywhere near that good. she’s only been playing a few years and honami’s had a long time to practice. ichika doesn’t mind. an’s not that great at playing either. the point’s that they’ve got something to work towards now.

melody flower:

kanade got into idol work recently. she played at a few big-ish concerts like she did before her dad fell ill and then got a call from the people who had hired her about contributing to FANTASISTA’s newest song as a guest artist. she did that because she thought it was an interesting challenge and then akito reached out to her.

akito had been working as an idol (and a model) for a long time. he’d been scouted for ASRUN once, back when they were massive. he knew a lot of people. haruka from ASRUN itself, shizuku from another idol group, who modelled with him sometimes, that girl who was on tv with him once or twice and who might’ve known ena. that composer who was his age and really damn good. she looked like the type of person his agency would love.

nene was in a few big plays as side characters and a few smaller ones as the lead. she didn’t think she was doing well enough and then one of her castmates started playing some old ASRUN songs. nene fell down the idol rabbit hole and thought she’d try out for something. her anxiety was so much better than it had been, right?

haruka had retired from idol work a while ago. she was going to talk to her old agency and manager about her prospects soon because she still loved singing and performing. just not like she had been. and the girl auditioning right now looked so nervous about it.

haruka ended up talking to nene to see if she could help. nene did get told she was perfect for them but they didn’t have anywhere to put her. haruka suggested a collaboration with akito shinonome from FANTASISTA (i'm so original). they could turn it into nene’s debut and haruka’s big comeback.

just one problem. there was a composer who was great at her work and a budding performer with nowhere to go.

team vivid hope:

ena gets into street music because akito really likes it and she wanted to see what it was like.

airi needed an excuse to cut ties with her celebrity life so she could go back to school properly (she eventually claimed it was a matter of creative differences). that’s how she ended up wandering around town thinking about how to tell her manager she wanted out. maybe she’d check out weekend garage and holy shit is that ena. singing. live. in the street. like some sort of proper musician. and with all these people around?

kohane was in that crowd and already knew an (like the canon story i guess)

shiho knew an as i said and got along with kohane.

so, kohane musters up the courage to tell airi that if she liked this sort of thing weekend garage was a good place to go.

airi drags ena there and when she’s looking for something terrible that ena could sing she finds the untitled song.

house of nocturne:

saki met mizuki online when she was looking for people who liked a magical girl anime she was getting into. saki was out of school a lot because of illness and mizuki skipped. they were always online at the same sort of time.

n25 existed for a bit before kanade couldn’t because of her idol work, and ena found more important interests than a circle of people she didn’t know in real life.

mizuki stayed in touch with mafuyu because they knew mafuyu needed the support. kanade would have done the same but she was so busy with her work.

mafuyu’s usually credited as OWN in house of nocturne’s songs.

rui knows mizuki from junior high and found her on nightcord so they got in touch. mizuki introduced mafuyu to rui and saki tried to introduce rui (her brother’s weird friend she knew on nightcord) to mizuki. they already knew each other.

[askpercyandsally]

((will g4be become a recurring character/a problem in this au and should I be concerned about cws with him in it? I know he's canonically abusive but I can't bear to know baby percy is getting hurt by him :(. what's the best way to filter out the more upsetting/triggering parts of that storyline while still staying on track with your blog?))

(( This is an OOC post. The content of this post is from the person running the blog, not the characters the blog claims to represent. ))

Hey Anon, first let me say thank you for sending in this ask. I was worried about introducing Gabe to the story and I wasn't sure how how to address it. Your ask reminded me that I can just communicate to you all directly and I really appreciate that.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

After I made this blog it eventually occurred to me that I could have Gabe show up at some point. When I realized this I began to wonder what people might do if that did happen. At the time I thought it would be cool to see how a community of people that care about Percy (you readers) might change things for him. I thought it could be an opportunity for Percy to have a better childhood and I admittedly got sort of invested in hearing that story. The idea made the blog more collaborative in my mind and that made it easier for me to commit to.

What I did not anticipate is how "real" young Percy would become to some people. I forgot how fun it can be to simply pretend a character isn't fictional. I know a lot of people come to this blog just because Percy is cute and he loves his mama and Sally loves him too which is sweet. And I know that introducing Gabe could ruin that.

At the same time I think there is value in telling a story about someone surviving? And I think a lot of people would be happy and feel empowered by potentially being able to make a real difference in the story? So admittedly I'm not sure which direction it is best to go in from here.

I guess I was sort of thinking of my previous post as a "test?" I expected people to really dislike it, but it ended up getting more reblogs than usual... So now I don't know what to think. -_-

I'd actually be interested in getting more feedback, so feel free to share your thoughts if you are so inclined.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

In regards to what content warnings to look out for.? I could see the need for a cw: child abuse and/or cw: domestic violence tag to be used at some point, but I'm sort of hoping to avoid things going there for now. I guess cw: emotional abuse would be the one that is most likely to be used if we continue in that direction.

In either case I'll try to make a clear announcement about where we're headed. I just need to think about it some more and potentially get more input on the subject, but that's where things stand for now.

[fateinthestars]

Hmm how about another review/ramble post for SCM? Let's cover this one today:

'His Divine Succor'

This set includes stories for: Leon, Scorpio, Zyglavis

Spoilers under cut.

Just to put some context here cos the title doesn't tell you much: a collaboration at MC's work falls through and she could do with some cheering up. These are also from the God's POV.

LEON

Pfft. Karno I think you might regret saying the normal gods can't keep up with Leon's speed, especially as he literally suggests out loud that you mean his usual slacking is just the right speed for everyone else. 🤣

Okay leaving that aside, Leon's very good at reading MC. He notices immediately that something is wrong.

Man I'm supposed to be talking about Leon but I keep getting distracred by Karno in this one... I mean...

Pffft 😂

This whole Leon and Karno interaction is rather sweet actually.

Where was I? Oh yes, Leon helps MC feel better in typical Leon fashion.

It's kinda amusing how he doesn't like anyone else being responsible for her mood either. Like how dare someone cause something that mean she's unhappy in his presence. 😆

One interesting character bit I do want to mention though is when MC says that a Wishes God can't punish someone, Leon's retort is he'd get 'Ichthys or someone' to do it for him...

Now then, yeah he added or someone to it, but why did he specifically choose to single out Ichthys? I guess because at this point he's far calmer he's just hinting to MC that he isn't being serious?

Anyway, I'm afraid I think I'm more enamoured with the Leon and Karno interacrions with this more so than the stuff with MC. 😅

SCORPIO

Aww poor Scorpio. He wants to help but also doesn't want to do the wrong thing.

Also the sheer audacity of the King in this one, especially considering what he's like in Scorpio's path. Grrr....

The King's part in this one raises all sorts of questions actually, like why was he talking to Teo and Ikky to find out about this and why is it Dui that has to tell Scorpio the King wants to see him?

Why am I asking these questions? The answer is as obvious as it always is: He's bored isn't he?

Still, it's nice to get just the softer side of Scorpio for the majority of the story for once.

ZYGLAVIS

Poor Zig. He asks MC immediately what's wrong because he's straight and to the point but as per usual his work commitments are an issue.

He's so upset with himself for not listening straight away.

Plus really he's an utter sweetheart here. Especially the way in which he utilises his shadow.

Oh sweet protective Zyglavis 🥰

Although....

Poor Zyglaivs' internal battles with himself. No wonder his Promise of Infinity story turns out the way it does.

[duck-in-a-thrift-store]

Alright guys here's the first room closeup (+ headcanons/notes), by popular demand:

~Mike & Will's room~

(Plz don't judge my choice of wall art I pretty much just picked it bc it matched the wallpaper colors and there weren't a lot of good options)

Ok so design details

I know yall see that blue and yellow, and the green in the middle. All very intentional. The bed w/ the yellow blanket is Will's & the one w/ the blue blanket is Mike's. They sit on the rug when they're having their little heart-to-hearts that the rest of the party never seem to be a part of for "some reason"

Also, these boys wear a lot of fuckin stripes, so. Blue and yellow striped wallpaper? Green striped rug? Idk man it was screaming byler what can I say

And then there's a record player or whatever on the dresser between them, bc as we all know Will is a music guy and Mike lets Will do whatever he wants even if that means keeping him up listening to his favorite song all night bc he'd never forgive himself if Vecna somehow got Will bc Mike made him turn it off*

*So, to explain what that's all about: after his repeated failed attempts with Max, One went after Will next bc y'know, lots of trauma, easy target, etc (at least that's what the mf thought, I'm pretty sure Will lowkey has powers or smthn)

(This happened before the start of the au btw so it's just sort of background info, it might be mentioned but it won't be happening in present)

But anyway Will almost got Vecna'd and it was partially Mike's fault bc they got in a fight, Mike said smthn stupid and Will ran off, we know the drill (Mike still blames himself for it even tho they made up & Will forgave him and is fine)

Mike kinda lost his shit, honestly I'm thinking in his terror he pushed El too hard to save Will (when she was already doing her best obviously bc that's her brother) and that was part of why they broke up bc even El realized he cared more about Will than her- Mike is pretty much the only one who doesn't know yet lol

And they all survived obviously but now they're both kinda extra paranoid about it and even though they've moved far away and One hasn't followed them they still worry that some day he might track them down, so they fall into a (compulsive) habit of playing Will's favorite songs on repeat

(I'm not giving you his fav songs bc first of all I can't even decide my own fav song and also it just feels really presumptuous like that's too personal of a thing for me to decide for somebody else. I take music very seriously & very personally ok. Funnily enough tho I am listening to "should I stay or should I go" at this very moment)

Anywho, moving along

That desk by the door is mostly used for coming up with new campaigns they don't want the others to spoil (it's ok for their roommate to have insider knowledge that's not an unfair advantage or anything and besides it just can't be helped y'know? /s) no but they do collaborate sometimes and they work so well together as storytellers that the others find it lowkey unsettling (Dustin and Lucas are used to it tho)

>tw: vaguely suicidal themes?

Someone, not thinking I guess, makes an offhand joke about them being on the ground floor so they don't have to worry about Mike jumping out the window, and Will, who somehow hadn't ever actually heard the whole "quarry story," asks what that's supposed to mean and then they very awkwardly have to explain and he's basically like "oh my god what the hell that's not fucking funny why would you joke about that" and for a while after learning about it he's extra conscious of any self-deprecating/self-sacrificing type shit Mike says

Also they have "crazy together" written somewhere in the room no one else will see it. It's uncertain where, or whose idea it was, or why they did it, but they did. Probably to sort of make the room feel more like it was claimed as *theirs* after having to move to a new house far away from familiarity, and as a reminder to always be there for each other when times are tough

[blackjackkent]

You’ve inspired me to do a BG3 Playthrough - but I do have to ask, how do you deal with frustrating rolls in the game! I just had a few and MAN! I already want to restart inspite of having just started.

I might restart regardless (mostly cos I’ve gotten a better idea of what sort of character my Tav is, inspired by how you RP your Tav), but any advice?

Ooh, fun question. :D Thank you for asking! (And I'm honored that I have helped inspire you to play; I hope you enjoy the game as much as I am!)

My answer to the dice thing is kind of complicated I guess and is really several-fold:

a) I have played table D&D, which BG3 very strongly replicates for the most part, and so I'm already sort of used to the idea of just going with the occasional bad roll and making it work.

b) I *am* definitely doing some quick-loading within conversations while playing in a way that isn't super obvious in the liveblogging, when I feel like a particular roll has a negative impact on the story I'm trying to tell, or when I'm not sure which dialogue option makes for a more interesting outcome.

Both of these really come back to the same idea under the surface though which is that I am thinking of this less as a Game To Win At and more of a storytelling simulator, in the same way that table D&D is not a competition against the DM but is a collaborative storytelling process. Sometimes failure makes for a much more interesting story than success.

The vast majority of the time, I am pretty much rolling with whatever the dice give me, because when Hector is faced with challenges, I am able to write and think about more interesting things happening to him. It's especially satisfying when those failures can tie into things I already thought of him as not being good at (for instance, when he biffs his occasional attempts at deception rolls because he hates lying), cos that helps add to the feeling of him as a three-dimensional character. (For instance, he definitely blew some of the checks in his recent showdown with Thisobald, since big boye wanted him to tell stories and Hector is a bad orator. XD )

By the same token, though, sometimes I feel like a particular failure really doesn't make sense for him, and that's really when I'll spend some inspiration or a quickload to make things happen differently. (For instance, in my most recent post, I reloaded and popped Guidance to hit the passive insight check in that conversation because - Hector already KNEW about the meat creature and it didn't make sense to me that it just wouldn't occur to him. :P )

Fundamentally, though, my answer is this: play in the way that is fun for you. BG3 is very LIKE D&D, but it is not D&D; you're playing for your own experience and your own story, and if you wanna succeed at all the things, fucking go for it. :D Life is far too short to feel like you're required to play a single-player game a certain way in order for it to "count."

[wind-becomes-lightning]

Obito and I

Ok this is so so silly and I've had the idea a while ago and just thought fuck it I'm going to do it for Obito week. yeah Uh, I don't know how to explain it.

Uchiha Obito and uh, me I guess

Rated G.

3178 words

Ao3 Link [x]

for @obito-week: always watching & free spot.

One afternoon Uchiha Obito appears in my room. [..] The man is all an Obito has to be, tall, broad, black haired, facial scars, weird eggplant coloured coat and all. He seems almost as shocked to see me as I am to see him. As if I’m also a figure that has just jumped out of a story book.

One afternoon Uchiha Obito appears in my room.

I just finished a philosophy session on the toilet, head full of ideas about where I could take my afternoon nap as I hear a little sound not unlike a big piece of plastic being sucked up into a vacuum cleaner. 

“The neighbours are at it again”, I curse to myself as I pull up the sweats I should have changed three days ago. There is still this white stain on it from where I dropped toothpaste and each time I see it I remind myself that I have to wash it, but I never do.

I feel grumpy as I walk back into the bedroom and almost drop my phone when there is Obito standing in front of me.

“Obito!” I almost yell.

The man is all an Obito has to be, tall, broad, black haired, facial scars, weird eggplant coloured coat and all. He seems almost as shocked to see me as I am to see him. As if I’m also a figure that has just jumped out of a story book.

With a shaking finger that has exceptionally perfectly applied violet nail polish on it that makes me wonder for a moment when the hell he has learned that and why the hell he can do it much better than me, he points at the pictures on my wall. His mouth opens and closes and then opens again.

 “Why?” It's the only thing that he seems to have the ability to say.

I follow his eyes to the art print he is pointing at, an especially great fanart that I once got during a request event. Obito is on it, hair dripping with water, tongue out and aimed at Kakashi in front of him, they are both half naked. An artwork I truly cherish, the first time I jumped up and down in my - this- room in the morning after some amazing artist fulfilled the art wishes that I could never fulfil myself.

Still, I must admit, that must be really weird to see for someone like Obito. I almost feel ashamed that he has to see something so private not only to myself but himself, as if I was a paparazzi taking pictures of him against his will. Half naked and with his best frenemy and all.

I shrug. “I like the ship.” I don’t know what else to tell him.

Maybe he thinks I’m mad. Probably he thinks I’m mad. Quite likely he thinks I’m mad. His eyes harden, the rinnegan in its incredibly unnatural colour peers into me. His mouth forms the word “ship”, but he lets his finger sink.

I wonder if this would be the right time to ask him. I step from one foot to another with insecurity. My hands feel sweaty. Well, it is not any day that a character from a book suddenly appears in front of you. This isn’t Inkheart. I didn’t read him into existence. Or did I? Who knows, maybe sitting on the toilet and thinking of naps triggered this sort of thing.

“Why are you in my bedroom?”. I finally find my courage. 

Obito stares as if it is an outrageous question. Then his face frowns and he waves frantically: “I just materialised here. I don’t even know where I am, who you are and why you have pictures of me hanging on your wall.”

I can’t help but be flattered. My own drawings of him are good enough to make him think they are pictures. Inside I'm giddy. I can’t wait to tell my tumblr friends about this.

“Are you stalking me?” He says, pointing again, another art with him and Kakashi, just that Yamato is with them too. A collaborative art I made with two of my tumblr friends that I am also personally very proud of. “That’s really creepy you know?!”

“Takes one to know one.” I have no mercy.

He clearly isn’t pleased. He steps away from my wall and inspects the computer in front of it. I assume he has never seen a computer before, especially not one with a double screen and light up keyboard and mouse setup  like any good Sims gamer should have. 

He rubs his chin.

“Electricity!” 

“It sure is,” I say and feel like I’m talking to one of my dead grandparents. 

“Electricity - good. Electricity - works - maybe.” He is thinking obviously, but apparently that has made his brain go back into caveman mode. 

Caveman mode. I chuckle to myself. 

“Bring me back!” he points at me again. “Whatever you did to get me here, make it go away.”

“I did not bring you here,” I shrug my shoulders again. “I don’t know where you were and how you got here, I just came here and you were there. Maybe you made a kamui mistake.”

I wonder if kamui was always connected to my bedroom and then my next thought is, if kamui was always connected to my bedroom, why didn’t Kakashi come through? I agree with myself that it would have been more fair if Kakashi had come through.

“How do you know about Kamui?!” He seems genuinely offended.

Well, there is nothing but forward, I think and let out a deep sigh. Having to have this conversation really wasn’t what I thought I would be doing when I got up in the morning. All I can do now is hope he takes the truth well enough not to jump at me. Even without his powers, Obito could probably crush me.

And while there were times in which I have declared on the internet that I want him to crush me, I would rather not right now. Especially not if there are pancakes for dinner.

“You are a fictional character, my man.” I say and pick up the Kakashi pillow on my bed and shake it a little. “From a book, you know? This is merchandise. I’m a fan.” I wave to the pictures and wiggle with the pillow again. 

A moment passes, then another. Both of Obito’s eyes are focused on my fluffy Kakashi pillow, a vein on his head pulsing dangerously. 

“Fictional?” he grumbles, his hand in a fist. 

I prepare myself to get crushed afterall. At least I would die with my head in his titties, which is, I decide, not so bad of a death. “Yes, fictional.”

He turns around and punches into my wooden desk so hard that the keyboard loses most of its keys and my graphic tablet tumbles down to the floor with a crash. 

Probably that means he isn’t taking it very well, I think to myself.

-

Obito can’t read books that are not written in Japanese I realise as I hand him the few light novels I have of the Naruto franchise. None have the manga pictures, but I have to assemble my keyboard again first before I can turn on my computer to show the manga to him.

Truly, I should have known that Obito can’t read English or German, why the hell would a character that was by all means made up by a Japanese man be able to read that? But then again I can communicate with him well enough without needing subtitles. This is all very strange.

“My name!” he yells and points at the page that he holds open. So he can read his own name. I feel like a proud mother.  “Am I in this story too?”

Lazily I take the book from him. “No, sorry to tell you that you are dead.”

His eyes go so wide that I fear another punch is coming so I say: “But in the heart of many of us fans you are always alive.” How cringe, but it is the truth.

“Are you stalking Kakashi even more than me?” Obito picks up the figure I have on my desk of Kakashi in his Anbu uniform and then also picks up my pillow from my bed weighing them both up and down. 

He seems surprisingly intrigued by the way Kakashi’s muscles are shown on the figure. 

“I like him the most,” I say. “He is my favourite character.”

Instinctively I hold my hand out to save my precious figure from slipping out of Obito’s hands. He already looks angry again, as if I have personally hurt him by having a character I would like more than him. 

Well, people with the best taste in ships, like me, have always known that Obito secretly is obsessed with Kakashi. After all that was the entire point of the story (I like having my own delusions.)

Finally I get my shit together and turn on the computer. My wallpaper is a rotation of many different wallpapers, but of course this moment that Obito sits right beside me the rotation choses a picture of him with Team Minato as a kid. I quickly open a browser window to hide it, but he has already seen it.

“I don’t remember we ever took a picture like this together,” he says with a frown. 

Right, he thinks the fanart are “pictures” of him. “It’s just art,” I say dismissively. “It’s not canon.”

His eyes narrow. 

“Ta-da!” I say and present him the coloured version of the Naruto manga.

Obito stares at the pages as I scroll around, not trusting him to know how the mouse works. I know that Konoha will eventually get computers too, but only after Obito’s death and even if they already had them, I wouldn’t trust his violent urges.

He stares as I scroll and scroll. Then finally, as if it took him 10 chapters to realise as much, he says: “Wait, I’m not the main character?”

-

The news that he is nothing more than a side character in his own life comes hard to Obito. I empathise with him, I too have severe main character syndrome while being an extra at best. Maybe that is why he finally stops looking so angry at me each time I say something. Trauma bonding over your insignificance.

“And you… like this story?” Obito says and he sounds as if it makes no sense to him that anyone would like a narrative in which he isn’t the main character.

I shrug, which I feel I have done a lot in the last few hours: “It has its moments.”

His eyes wander over the several pieces of memorabilia and fanart I have scattered around my bedroom and he nods his head. “You seem obsessed,” he notes.

“There are people worse than me,” I clarify, because I don’t want to accept the very real assessment that nonetheless makes me look bad. “At least I don’t use bots to vote in a popularity poll that literally doesn’t matter or send anon hate.

Obito blinks at me and the wheels behind his eyes are turning. I push his chair away from the desk so I can sit in front of my computer again and he just lets it happen. Surely the world he is from has chairs with wheels, I think to myself, or maybe Obito really had never seen anything but the inside of his cave.

He shakes his head in disbelief. “So there are more of you?”

“More of me?” I can’t shadow clone in this world, I think.

“People who enjoy these… drawings.” Obito snaps with his finger in the direction of the computer screen.

I laugh. I can’t help it. “God yes” I say and hold my stomach. “Millions. It is very popular actually, one could argue that it is one of if not the most famous shonen manga that has ever been popular. Not only Japan though, that is also in the west.”

His nose crinkles and I can feel another anger outburst incoming so I pick up my keyboard and hold it over the desk just so I don’t have to play puzzle all over again now that I have it put back together.

“And you all,” he waved with his finger, “are Kakashi stalkers?”

“Oh no, many are also your stalkers.” I reply and to prove it to him I open tumblr and push the screen into his face. 

“See? There are entire blogs that are dedicated to you. Personally, I think their hot takes can be a little weird, because in my head canon the reason for your personality shift is a deep rooted delusion with the world that is later fixed by giving you someone to believe in in Naruto and on top of that you are changed by the trust that Kakashi puts in you, a trust that you craved as a child but never got until the very end. Generally people hate the redemption through death type of storyline, but I feel like a self sacrifice fits you very well, at least from what you know before you lost yourself to the personality of Madara.”

His jaw swings open. I realise that I won’t ever convince him that I am not in fact obsessed if I keep talking like an obsessed person. 

I add: “Uh, that’s just literary analysis though, I don’t know you personally.” 

“Roll the tiny wheel,” Obito says and I assume he means to force me to scroll. 

Like always, tumblr does not disappoint and it takes me about 1.06 minutes to find a picture in which Obito is shirtless and posing. I blink looking at the thickness of his thighs and the large man titties showing on his chest. The artist was kind enough to put at least five fire emojis as a caption. I unashamedly press the like button.

“Who took that picture?” Obito says, outraged. “That is an invasion of privacy!”

I laugh. “Come on, you can’t tell me you don’t see that this is a drawing. You don’t look like this.” I gesture at his body form. 

Obito takes the mouse from me and I have to hold on to the cable so he doesn’t rip it out. He scrolls on. There are so many half naked pictures of him that have him posing or crying and I am very unhappy about my loss of mouse privileges because that means I can’t like them all to keep them for later.

“These people,” he gestures, “when they draw me like this. That means they like me?”

Now his eyes suddenly shine bright as if he is a kid again. It is very cute, though a little concerning that the prospect of someone really liking him makes him so very happy.

“Oh yes, they want to jump your bones.” I avoid mentioning that I am one of those people that generally wants to jump his bones. “They think you are hot shit.”

For the first time since he has literally appeared in my room Obito smiles with satisfaction. Then he moves the mouse and scrolls on to another fanart of him and Kakashi kissing. His eyes stay frozen on it, then he picks up the mouse and throws it against my screen.

-

Legs pressed against his body Obito sits on the floor in front of the door to my balcony. My monitor is not damaged and neither is my mouse I realise with relief while he murmurs behind me. 

“People just like the ship,” I try to explain. “They are usually not that serious about it. It is all in good fun.” I weigh my head. “Well unless it is on twitter because that’s just a warzone.”

I sit down next to him and can’t believe the absurdity of the situation. There he is, Uchiha Obito, the pride of the Uchiha clan, or, well the pride of Uchiha Madara, or well more like… the victim of Uchiha Madara’s pride of the Uchiha clan, and is gloomy because people in a world he doesn’t inhabit think he and his best frenemy also sometimes kissed. Truly the weirdest of turns of events.

“Sometimes you say such weird things.” Obito says into his knees. “I don’t even know what you mean.” He looks up at me. “I wonder if your definition of ship is different from mine.”

Probably not, I think, but probably yes at the same time. “You see, when people like two fictional characters that they think have chemistry, they often want them to end up together in the safe harbour of love. So we call it shipping.” I make it up on the spot and feel very confident that my explanation is correct. “Giving characters a happy ending is just very fulfilling. Or giving them a sad ending. Or first we hurt them then we make them happy. Or just making them suffer for love… everything really.”

“But Kakashi?”

“You have chemistry.” Undeniably.

“All we do is fight!” He looks at me from the side.

“Like I said,” I repeat, “You have chemistry.”

Obito sits up straight against the window of my balcony door. He puffs out his chest. “No, we really don’t.” He says it as if it was a fact. “You and that.. that art person are just the weird ones. I’m sure those that really like me would never think something as outrageous.”

“Maybe,” I say and shrug, “but it is very popular.”

—

I feel like a teacher in the following hour as I explain to Obito what Ao3 is, how it works, how to search for something and how it clearly shows that one of the most popular ships have him and Kakashi paired up. Clearly, I am not the weirdo here in this world and I want him to accept that.

While he keeps scrolling on, now much more gentle with the mouse, I sit on my bed and turn pages in a book that I’m pretending to read while I watch him closely.

Sometimes he sighs. “That’s not true” or “I would not say that” or “That’s disgusting” and I have to hold myself back to stand behind him to see what things warrant such reactions.

“These people”, he gestures to the monitor, “all know so much about my life. More than I have ever told anyone.”

I sigh and turn a page in my book I’m not reading. “That is because we all know your story.”

“Because I am a fictional character.” Obito sounded exasperated.

“Because you are a fictional character,” I confirm.

“But thi-, this is like you are watching me at all times,” he whines and waves with his arms again. “Like every little of my interactions with others is analysed and turned into writing. I feel rather violated.”

I would apologise for the fandom, but it is not like we were aware that Obito would be a sentient being that could appear out of the story at the blink of an eye as if inkheart was real. I can’t help but feel sorry for him though, this day was a lot to take in. “I guess we should eventually find out how to get you back where you belong.” But for that I first need to find out how he got to me of all people.

-

bonus doodles that a friend made while I was reading the story to them:

[nachosncheeze]

❤️ 👓 💭 for the Fanfic Writer Ask Game

❤️ What is your favorite line that you’ve written in a fic?

Do I have to choose just one?!

There's a passage in the middle of Selfless Disregard beginning with "There was a place in Weller's past" and ending with "His shoes were muddy" which a) was what that fic grew out of in the first place, and b) I had no idea I had the capacity for something so... poetic? So I guess that one has a special place for me. I also liked one turn of phrase from the opening of The Coin (I haven't posted that one to AO3 yet, I intend to for rewatch), "curled around him in the sunset". I don't know why, but using that for tragedy instead of something shippy (I would normally think of people being curled together as kind of shippy) was something I'm glad I wrote down.

👓 What helps you focus when you write?

That is something I have literally never thought about, to be honest! So thank you for asking! I don't know how to describe if I even have a process. Maybe for editing; sometimes I use paper and a red pen, as if I was grading schoolwork. It kind of helps me see it differently, and often leads to bigger changes than you might think.

For the actual writing though, I have never actually planned a story, apart from maybe trying to figure out a vague idea of how to connect things I already wrote, or occasionally planning to come back to refine some specifics such as 'what tattoo'. Instead, often I will be doing something else and suddenly there are sentences or paragraphs, or dialogue that comes into my mind, and I have to write it down before it gets away from me. The Family came to me in the middle of a 90mins drive, and I had to write it down the next time I could stop the car (it needed a lot of editing after though xD). The Coin happened when I was cleaning the garage.

I guess "focus" isn't a consideration for me so much when I'm writing fanfic the way it is when I write nonfiction things like for work or school etc. It's sort of more like, the story steals my focus from something else. And I can just hope to write it down, before I forget.

💭 What inspires you and your writing?

*drumroll*...............THIS GAME!!! Seriously, it worked!!!!!!!! At least a little. I don't have any idea specifically what thought train or which question caused it, but suddenly in the middle of answering this, there were words. I actually fixed a big blank hole in the middle of the opening scene for my biggest WIP!

Thank you thank you thank you to you @narvaldetierra as well as @indelibleevidence, @ladyriot, @lurkingwhump, and anons for sending me questions. I would call this a collaboration of support and it really helped. I hope I will have momentum to keep going from here.

If anyone else is curious, you could still check out the WIP ask meme or this writer ask meme and I will happily answer! It works! :D

[putschki1969]

Maybe too late for me to ask but what happened to Wakana? I'm out of the loop for quite a long time. Only saw Hikaru joining FJ event. Where's Wakana?

Hello there!

Long story short〈(•ˇ‿ˇ•)-→

Yuki Kajiura and Kalafina all used to be managed by their agency Space Craft

YK's most trusted manager Mori left Space Craft in early 2017 (most likely due to old dudes being butt-hurt about trivial stuff)

YK left Space Craft in early 2018 and stepped back as Kalafina's producer (most likely due to creative differences with the remaining managers)

Space Craft obviously wanted to keep Kalafina together (possibly under the direction of someone else but the members didn't want to continue the project if it wasn't helmed by YK)

Keiko left the agency soon after (because at that time she had no desire to do solo stuff)

Hikaru eventually left the agency as well (probably because Space Craft wasn't offering her any good opportunities for her debut as solo artist)

Wakana decided to remain with Space Craft (I guess because she was happy with the management and the opportunities offered to her)

YK reunited with her old manager Mori under Highway Star and both Hikaru as well as Keiko found themselves a new agency. Since Hikaru and Keiko are no longer associated with Space Craft, they can freely collaborate with YK

There is some sort of bad blood between Space Craft and everyone else so Wakana is effectively "banned" from appearing at any YK events

So yeah, that's what happened in a nutshell. You can also check out my previous replies on the matter. I get questions like this quite often. You should also check out my tags #yuki kajiura and #space craft

[dallas-ghostbusters]

[OOC]

Hey y'all! Just wanted to make a quick post amidst the Tiamat plot stuff. First of all I want to thank everyone who has participated in this story. I couldn't have done any of this without y'all and I am deeply honored to collaborate with everyone through all this. I know it's a big plot with a lot of moving parts, so I want to thank everyone for being patient with me as I relayed information between everyone for a while. I also want to thank everyone who's been following along (or at least trying to) with the plot and interacting with the story when appropriate. I would also like to thank everyone for their patience as I know this final act is crawling at a snail's pace. Hopefully the end will come soon and provide a satisfactory conclusion to everyone.

That's all the positive I wanted to touch on. The rest of this will be sort of just me venting under the cut. No one is obligated to read it, and I will not be offended if you don't. That's why I'm putting it under the cut. ^^

I won't sugarcoat anything: This plot has been very stressful to me and this past week I've been an emotional wreck with more meltdowns in the past 7 days than I've ever had in my entire life.

I'm in a Ghostbusters Discord server where we have threads dedicated to discussing the rp blogs, and being active in those threads while I was trying to keep things together with my blog stressed me out immensely. I felt like I was pressured to give away plot details that weren't ready to be revealed because of the amount of questions people were asking me.

Now, I know nobody meant any harm in doing that. It's easy to ask those kind of questions when the author is right there. I think I know a little bit how Neil Gaiman feels being on this website lmao. I promise I am not mad at anyone or blaming anyone for my stress. It was simply a conflict of traits. Since leaving those specific threads, my morale has improved if only slightly.

To tell the truth, I have no idea what I'm doing. I had no idea I would get this far at all. I have no idea how to even end this story or at least end it in a way that makes sense and is satisfying. Sometimes I wonder if anyone even likes what I'm doing. I've come close to just deleting all my rp blogs more times than I care to admit. No one would notice anyway.

This isn't me looking for sympathy or pity either by the way. I just want to get my feelings out there in hopes that someone will understand.

I guess I'm just tired and I want this to be over. Would anyone even care if this never got resolved?

[firethatgrewsolow]

Hi 🙂I have a question concerning the Page/Plant project. And my question is, what made Robert suddenly decide to work with Jimmy again? I assume he wasn't very happy when finding out Jimmy would be working with Coverdale, but I'm sure that wasn't the only reason. And the second part of my q, why did they stop working after the '98. tour? I've seen footage from that 'era', and they looked like they were having fun and enjoying themselves. So why suddenly end it? I think that's it. 🙂

Hey there! I’m no expert on P&P (I usually stick w 70s Robert), but I’m sure some of my friends here are much more informed - hopefully they’ll chime in. My take on it is pretty simplistic - which probably means wrong lol! So, from what I’ve read - and my opinion may not be particularly popular - but I get the impression that Robert tended to revisit Zep when times became a little tough during his solo route. I think he was a tad jealous of the Coverdale Page collaboration. Couple this with the sort of ebbing of his solo career at that point, and you've got the perfect set up to get back together with Jimmy. So they do Unplugged and decide to tour (I hope I'm getting this right), and probably lean on some Zep stuff which Robert has reconfigured with more Eastern influences. All is fine, except the fact that I believe Robert had (has?) a love hate situation with revisiting the past. Also, I think by this time it's apparent that he and Jimmy, while incredibly close in some regards, are quite different in others, especially lifestyle. Their roles are also, maybe not reversed, but Robert is certainly more of "his own man" than he was in LZ. Moving along to 98, my gut tells me that the wheels were sorta falling off - tension between R & J and their respective "camps," etc. I think the fact that Robert kept rejecting Jonesy being part of any of R & J's collabs didn't help matters, but I understand his feelings to some degree (for what that's worth haha). Anyway, long story short long, my guess is Robert just had enough of the pressure and was tired of rehashing Zeppelin. If I'm not mistaken, after this tour he ended up forming Priory of Brion and only playing in Wales or some shit for a while. The burden of being expected to rebirth Zep must have been (and maybe still is) exhausting to say the least. Hell, even at Ahmet's tribute, which imo they pulled off as brilliantly as they could, Robert was still burned out by the time it was over. This is off topic (sorry!) but I can't help but feel grateful that they ended things there. A noble way to close the book while keeping the mystique and legend alive. Betcha didn't think you'd end up getting an essay in response to the question, did ya? 😂😂 Thanks for the ask - I love talking about this kind of stuff. 💖💖💖

[berlinini]

Bringing it full circle, how would you spend your weekend on the farm with the one & only Zayn Malik?

I feel honored to have the question sent back to me and honestly, having read yours, Steph's and Sea's answers, it's pretty hard to come up with something original because we just want to pet the animals with Zayn high af.

But here is my ideal week-end at Zayn's farm:

Zayn picks me up from the airport in a sick Harley Davidson. We ride to the farm, I admire the countryside. It's beautiful and the wind is warm on my skin and I have to hold on tight to Zayn for the whole ride. When we arrive, he removes his helmet and it's like a movie scene, everything is in slow motion and I die a little. Gigi comes out the front door in a dramatic fashion, holding Khai, and I am reminded that God has her favourite and I am not one of them. (But! I'm still at the farm with them so I guess God doesn't hate me either.)

I'm invited inside for a delicious brunch, with all sorts of food on a very beautiful table in a very beautiful house. Everything is beautiful, especially Zayn Malik, and I feel a bit overwhelmed. We eat and talk and laugh. It's great. We're full so we decide to go for a walk. Khai has a little wooden trolley and I get to pull her the whole time. We see the lavender fields and have an impromptu photoshoot. Then we go see the animals and we pet the goats and the lambs and, again, it feels like I'm in a movie.

Khai needs a nap and so does everyone, we decide. I get to sleep on a very comfortable canopy bed on a beautiful terrace that has italian villa vibes (why not). Then we all wake up fresh and ready to PaRtYyYYy. Gigi and Zayn have a handful of close friends over so there's a nice atmosphere. Obviously I'm Zayn's preferred guest so he doesn't leave my side. There's an outdoors bar, near a fire pit. I make some nice cocktails. I successful convert Zayn to drinking negronis. We talk about everything and nothing. Someone calls for tequila shots and I have no choice but to oblige. We get comfortably tipsy and then we start telling some of our weirdest stories, and I try to get Zayn to dish out on 1D, Harry, Louis, the music industry, the grammys, etc. It ends up in a serious conversation about Yellow Metal/Cathartic and we talk about racism, UK class politics, the American political system, Palestine and it gets pretty heavy so at some point someone yells "SHOTS" and we drink again, laughing.

We're starving so we order food and eat in the kitchen messily. Zayn blasts his favourite music and we start doing a chaotic karaoke. I try to sing Lucozade with Zayn but I fail miserably. Then I harass him into singing Better and River Road for me and maybe I pass out a little because it's all too much. Then someone decides that it's time to jump into the pool (all dressed up) and we end up in the jacuzzi. And if I'm looking at Zayn's body tattoos for too long, what about it?

Anyways we go to sleep very tired, very much not sober and very very happy.

In the morning, everything is slow and relaxed and we enjoy being outdoors for a delicious breakfast. We have mimosas by the pool. Khai is learning how to swim. I somehow forgot to bring enough clothes so Gigi takes me in her walk-in closet and we end up trying fifty outfits, taking photos, and, when she's not looking, I steal one of Zayn's shirts as a souvenir (and proof that this isn't a dream).

Later, Zayn tells me he wants to work in the studio for a bit and asks if I wanna join. He shows me around and I get to hear some unreleased songs and some new material. We talk about music, about his career plans, his rap, his favourite collaborators, his label, and all. At some point we're just chilling in the couch and OF COURSE it's time to start blazin'. We're both high af and neither of us is talking, we're just listening to music and chilling. Zayn sings a bit and closes his eyes, laid out on the couch. I take a (long) moment to admire him (respectfully). I'm out of my mind asking myself: is this happening?

Some time later (who knows how much tho as time is irrelevant when you're high), someone comes up and says that my flight is leaving soon and I should start getting ready to leave. I'm devastated. Zayn says I can come back anytime and promises that next time, we'll go fishing together. I ask if I could have matching overalls and he says, of course love. When we say goodbye, he smiles so wide, his eyes light up and he does the little tongue-on-the-teeth smile.

I can't wait to be back.

[reighlee-greaves]

Snapped : Tom Hiddleston x Reader

So this is a collaboration between me and @just-the-hiddles who is responsible for half of the dialogue and the header image. I would like to thank @just-the-hiddles for giving me the idea for this x reader.

-Summary- Tom and the reader get into a heated argument about a photo that the paparazzi snapped of her and her ex Sebastian Stan. To apologise Tom enlists the help of Benedict.

Tag list

@just-the-hiddles

@confetti-its-an-imagine-blog

Masterlist

———————————————————————

Tom hadn't glanced at his phone that morning until well after his run. When he picked it up, he found himself bombarded with voice messages and texts. They all were about one thing. He clicked on one of the links to find a headline from the Daily Mail blaring out him: Hiddles Out, Seb In. Romance Rekindled.

Tom's face paled as he scrolled to find a grainy photo of you looking rather cozy with your ex, Sebastian Stan. Without another thought, Tom grabbed his keys and headed towards your place.

“Tom, what are you doing here our date isn’t until tomorrow?” you asked Tom.

Tom barged through the door, his face red. "Care to explain this?!" he yelled as he shoved his phone in your face.

“Tom I—“ you began only to be cut off by Tom’s frantic pacing.

“—I, I, I," he mocked. "You can't even come up with a plausible lie for why you were photographed with your ex."

“Ok, Tom if you calm down I can explain why I was with Seb in the first place.”

"Calm down!!? I will not fucking calm down! My phone is filled with messages and texts of condolences, of questions. You've humiliated me publicly and you tell me to calm down?!" Tom seethed. His hands flexed at his side, a death grip on his phone.

You took a step back, away from him.

“Tom I didn’t mean to humiliate you. I bumped into Sebastian, and he congratulated me on our relationship. Besides, what about that photo of you and your ex that I got tagged in on Twitter the other week?”

"That's completely different! We dated for six months. And that story was about her new project, not about me having an affair. You and Sebastian were together for three years! Three years! And in case you missed it, I am apparently out and he is in!"

“So you can be friends with your exes but I can’t be friends with mine?” Your voice trembled. You had never seen Tom so mad.

"That's not the point! The point is you didn't see the problem with being photographed with him and how it would affect me. Affects us. And if you don't see the problem with that, I'm not sure this relationship can work." Tom's shoulders slumped.

“I cannot believe that you just said that Thomas Hiddleston!” you yelled in frustration.

"I can't believe you would cheat on me. But here we are. Goodbye." Tom turned and left as quickly as he came.

Once the door slammed behind him, he only then allowed the tears to fall. As he walked down the sidewalk, with shaking hands, he punched in a familiar number.

"Ben? Can I come by? Yeah. It's about that. Thanks."

-

Ben steepled his fingers in front of his mouth as Tom stood huffing in front of him.

"If you are done with your tantrum, can I say something?"

“What?!” Tom snapped.

Ben leaned back at Tom's tone."Okay, first of all, there is no need to snap my head off. You called me. I am here to help you."

“I’m sorry Ben, I didn’t mean to snap at you.” Tom replied before sighing. “I’m just frustrated.”

"In more ways than one, I'm sure." Ben chuckled to himself.

"What I was trying to say before you turned into a small child was... exes are exes for a reason. She is a good person. I am sure there is a innocent explanation."

“Like what Ben, they just happened to bump into each other?” Tom questioned as he slumped further into Ben’s sofa.

"Perhaps. That does happen. You know how you sometimes just bump to your exes." Ben raised a knowing eyebrow. "The point is coincidences happen. And the paparazzi are ruthless. But you can't let them get inside your head."

“But it’s Sebastian Stan we’re talking about!” Tom crowed.“They were together for three years Ben, THREE YEARS! He was her first everything.”

"And you can be her last everything. But not if you don't pull your head out of arse and talk to the poor girl. Honestly, you are about to ruin the best thing in your life over a single photo."

“What do I say to her, Ben, I’ve already lost her.”

Benedict moved to sit next to Tom. He clapped his hand on Tom's knees. “Use all those big words you learned at Cambridge. Tell her you love her. Tell her you were a prized idiot for ever letting her get away. Tell her you will spend the rest of your days proving to her you are worthy of her love. Tell her she is your one.”

Tom sighed as he let Ben’s words sink in. “ Do you think you and Sophie could help me with that?”

Ben smiled. "I believe that can be arranged."

The Next Day

You awoke to a constant pounding against your front door. As you stumbled to the door, bathrobe wrapped around, you opened the door to find Sophie standing there, two coffees in hand.

"Get dressed, we're going shopping."

“Alright, alright, I’m coming hold on.” you groaned as she invited Sophie inside.

Sophie settled herself onto a kitchen chair, and slid one of the coffee cups in your direction. "Here, I got it how you like it."

“Thanks Soph, give me about twenty minutes and I’ll be ready.”

Sophie yelled after as you trot off to get ready. "I'll be waiting with bells on!"

Once you were out of sight, Sophie whipped out her phone and typed a message off to Ben.

Got her to agree to shopping. You should have several hours to get things ready. Don't fuck this up.

After an agonisingly slow twenty minutes you were ready. “Let’s go, Soph.”

"Took you long enough. I was about ready to make myself some lunch."

You shot daggers at Sophie.

"Now..." Sophie linked arms with you as both of you exited the house. "...what's new with you?"

“Oh nothing much, I bumped into Sebastian the other day and the paparazzi caught us. I think Tom’s mad at me even though we weren’t doing anything.” you explained.

"I didn't realize you and Seb were still close. How many years were you together again?" Sophie asked, acting stupid.

“We were together for three years, Soph. We still chat every so often but it means nothing. We’re friends now. But nothing more.” you replied.

Sebastian and you broke because of many things. Partially because of the long distance, and also the fact that you wanted to settle down and have a few children. Sebastian wanted to pursue his acting career longer before settling down with a wife and kids. He still wanted the life of a bachelor.

”Have you told Tom that? Or the reasons you and Sebastian broke up?"

“I tried to Sophie, but he stormed out of my house before I could. He didn’t even say goodbye.” you sighed.

"Try harder. He looks like he is made of marble, but his heart is as fragile as glass. He must care about you to have such a vehement reaction."

“I know, I know, but I have no idea how to tell him. It’s hard for me to express myself, you know?”

“For two such sensitive and dramatic people, the both of you are horrid at saying what you feel." Sophie taunted. "How about calling him up and saying 'I love you' and I want to be with you and only you?"

“That is the sort of thing you say in person.” you responded.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Sophie grabbed your arm and pulled you down the street off towards Tom's.

-

“Ben, has Sophie text you yet to see when she’s bringing you here?” Tom asked as he paced up and down his kitchen.

Benedict fished his phone out of his pocket. As he scrolled through his messages, his eyes widened. "They are on their way over right now."

“Shit!” mumbled a panicked Tom.

“How do I look? Do I look ok? Do I smell?” Tom asked a smirking Benedict.

Benedict picked at Tom's sweater, smoothing it out. "Like sex on a stick, mate." He gave Tom a wink.

“Ok, ok I can do this...” Tom whispered to himself as the doorbell rang. Tom whipped back around to Ben for a moment. "No, I can't! You answer the door." Tom shoved Benedict towards the foyer.

"Are you serious!?" Ben protested. "This is your house and if I answer the door, it will be even more awkward than it already is. So man up and answer the damn door!" Benedict pushed Tom hard causing him to stumble, falling against the front door.

"Is everyone alright in there?" Sophie's voice called out from the other side of the door.

“Just a moment!” Tom yelled back.

“Ok what do I say to her, do I say hi or hello or—“ Tom rambled only to get cut off by Ben.

"I swear to God man, if you don't open that door right now and let my wife and your girlfriend in right this second, I am telling this story at your wedding. Pull yourself together!" Ben hissed before disappearing to the kitchen.

“Ok I got this.” Tom said as he opened the door.

"About bloody time." Benedict muttered just out of sight.

"Tom!" Sophie greeted him with a warm hug. “Guess who I brought with me." She tugged you into view.

“Hello ladies.” Tom greeted the pair with a smile. "Please come on in.”

You shuffled in behind Sophie and gave Tom an awkward smile.

"So... Thomas," Sophie interjected. "Where is my impossible husband?"

“Ah, he’s in the kitchen.”

"Then I shall see myself that way." Sophie exited before giving time for either of you to protest.

“So Tom how are you?” you asked awkwardly as you stepped into the living room.

"I've been better." Tom commented as he followed you into the room. He offered you her favourite spot on the sofa which you took and he sat down in the chair across from her. "And you?"

“I’ve had better days. We need to talk about yesterday.”

"I'm sorry I overreacted.” Tom started in. “It's just that you were dating Sebastian for so long and this relationship is new. I worried about losing you." Tom reached out to grab your hand, giving it a slight squeeze. "And I care about you too much to have that happen."

“No I’m the one who should apologise, I didn’t tell you I bumped into Sebastian before you saw those photos.” You squeezed his hand back before continuing. “I care about you too, and I should have been upfront about everything at the start of our relationship. I guess I was scared of losing you too.”

Tom chuckled. "Sounds like both of us are just a bunch of sorry fools. Forgive me?" He looked at you with hopeful eyes.

“Of course I forgive you, will you forgive me too?”

Tom leaned over, his hand ran along the curve of your cheek. "Always, my love." He pressed his lips against hers for a moment.

Only to be interrupted by cheers from the kitchen.

Tom chuckled. "I believe we have an audience. Come out, you two!" He called out to Ben and Sophie.

“So now that that’s out of the way, what is that delicious smell?” you asked as you sniffed the air.

Benedict poked his head around the corner. "Steak frites. Your favourite."

Sophie snuck around the corner. "Now if you don't mind us, we need to get back to the babysitter. We'll show ourselves out."

Once Sophie and Ben left, you turned to Tom with your arm stretched out. “Come eat with me please?”

"With pleasure."

[jacksgreysays]

Not a prompt, I'm afraid! Just wanted to say firstly, thank you so much for all the hard work and beautiful writing you bring to the DOS community; I've been reading your fics and blog for years, and it's very awe striking to me how large and brilliant all the creators are in, and you are one of my favorites. Secondly, I wanted to ask if you have seen the Umbrella Academy on Netflix? I'm already tossing over the idea of Shikako in that universe to myself lol

Thanks, anon! I haven't been as active lately (both in the fandom and writing in general) so it means a lot that the stuff I have done is still being appreciated. This is probably weird to say but I do miss the DoS fandom even though it hasn't exactly gone anywhere--or, I guess it's more like I miss the state of mind I was in when I was more active in the DoS fandom? There was something about it where my creativity and productivity were both just in synch creating a fun sort of feedback loop within itself. Now it's like... the desire is there, but I'm slogging through a swamp to drag the ideas out of me. Don't get me wrong, I do still enjoy it, but man do I miss that DoS self-renaissance from before. 

Nonetheless, I'm honored to be counted as one of your favorites, and thank you again for your kind words :D

Re: Umbrella Academy on Netflix, I have seen it and I love it! (Both seasons, since I don't actually know when your ask came in. I think I like season 2 better than season 1, but obviously season 2 would make absolute no sense without season 1 so hooray for both.) And I also have thought about Shikako in that universe. I think with most new universes I encounter my brain automatically tries to put in either Shikako or Tetsuki Kaiza depending on which one fits better or which scenario feel right.

For example, in Boku no Hero Academia, I can't help but feel like Tetsuki would have been age-mates/classmates/friends with Todoroki Touya. It doesn't feel right to have her be the same age as the canon Class 1-A (well, I have a weird idea that kiiinda does that but involves time travel semi-angst so...) Whereas for Shikako, well, I wrote stuff about that. And while I could imagine her as Todoroki Touya's age and it does work, she just fits better the other way.

For Umbrella Academy, Tetsuki Kaiza doesn't really fit. Or, at least, not in a significant way? She has more of a "consultant/outside contractor for The Commission" vibe via the Dimension Witch than anything else. I mean, maaaybe she is one of the strange 43 babies born mysteriously with powers, but even then I don't think she ended up with the Hargreeves.

In contrast, when I think of Shikako in the Umbrella Academy, my brain is immediately like: oh, she's Number Eight.

And, here's the thing, I know within the world the siblings with the lower numbers were perceived to be the better/stronger/favored of Reginald Hargreeves, but like. Obviously not true. I didn't read the comics/graphic novels, so I don't know how accurate this is, but I'm pretty sure the higher the number the more powerful/less tractable the specific person was. And whether Reginald knew that or not is ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

So, like, obviously Shikako who is crazy powerful and knows that's all Reginald wants from her and has withstood far better brainwashing/propaganda (and he's not even good at it) would never even show a peep of power. Out of spite. And solidarity with Vanya. But mostly out of spite. And also, considering Shikako's ride or die for her friends and more so for her brother, you know she would be all about mitigating Reginald's truly terrible parenting/training for her new siblings. And I just think there's a lot of space for her within the Hargreeves family relationships (or the dysfunctional lack thereof) for her to make small but significant changes.

[In contrast, Tetsuki would just be throwing more dysfunctional fuel into the fire. Depending on how much she does or doesn't remember, she would probably fall into the might is right trap and use force to establish herself in the Hargreeves hierarchy. Not because she wants to be Number One, but because she mostly knows the best method for survival is through shows of power. It doesn’t really contribute much to the story to have her as a Hargreeves, tbh, which is why if she were in TUA, she’d be elsewhere]

Shikako as Number Eight not using her powers out of solidarity for Vanya (while also simultaneously training Vanya to get her powers under control), commiserating with Ben about the call from the Horrors/Eldritch being from the Other Side (either because her powers are Void based or the experiences of Gelel/Jashin), snarking/collaborating with Five because he needs someone to push back and not just either ignore him/shut him down.

Is she haunted by ghosts from her former life? Could she help Klaus come to terms with death and the dead way earlier than in canon? Would Allison, seeing the sister solidarity of Vanya and Shikako, try to reach out to join them rather than ignoring them? Do Diego and Luther stop caring so much about ranking when its clear that Shikako doesn't and is all the happier for it?

I dunno, anon, it's a fascinating thought exercise.