#not intended to be ship but eh read it how you want :

[things-arent-what-they-seem66]

More sillies because Adamsapple is <333

16. “…I didn’t drunk call you. It wasn’t a drunk call. I called you, perfectly sober.” 32. “You make me want to be a better version of myself.” 50. “I kinda wanna give myself a concussion so I can forget about you and not think about you twenty-four-seven.”

Thoughts/ideas: Adam and Angel are hanging out, maybe even playing truth or dare? Angel convinces Adam to call Lucifer and tell him how he feels. Adam agrees, but gets way more sappy than he ever intended, rambling about his favourite things about Luci (32 & 50). Adam gets embarrassed when he realises how long he's been talking and Lucifer hasn't responded to anything he said, so he hangs up. Since it was late and Luci knew he was hanging out with Angel, he assumed it was a drunk call (but he absolutely loved listening to it, it plays on repeat in his brain and is basically all he can think about, so he's disappointed that it probably isn't real). He brings up the call at some point during a conversation with Adam, and Adam admits that he wasn't drunk. Happy ending!!! Maybe they kiss??

Thriving off the casual holydust friendship so much, ever fic with them being sillies together is so good. They kind of match each other's energy, and are absolutely each other's wingman.

Indigo (*egg boy voice* hope you like it, boss!)

(*Sir Pentious voice* Fire the ship ray!)

Thank you you!! 😊

I had this half written and tumblr deleted it 😭😭 Sorry if it's not as good.

Adam clinked his shot glass with Angels, they downed their tequila. He grimaced at the taste. "Ahh, that shit fucking burns all the way down."

"That's liquor baby. Another round my good man." Angel called over the bartender who refilled their glasses. "Wanna play a game to pass the time? Truth or Dare?"

Adam made a face. "Seriously?"

"Yeah! It can be a fun way to get to know each other better. I'll even let you go first." Angel knocked back another shot.

Eh, why the hell not? This place was more of a bar than a club so dancing was out of the question. "Alright, truth or dare?"

"Truth."

Adam smirked. "Is your chest fluff real or is it just stuffing?"

Angel gasped dramatically in mock offense. "How dare you, this is all me baby. Ou natural." He adjusted it to make his point. "Truth or Dare?"

"Truth."

Angel smirked. "Are you in love with Lucifer?"

Adam choked on his drink, coughing as he looked at Angel. "What the fuck!?"

"Answer the question."

Adam felt his face grow warm. "Dare."

"You can't just change your answer like that! Haven't you ever played this with friends before?"

Adam frowned. "No." His only friends before Angel had been Lucifer back in Eden and Lute in heaven. You do the math.

Angel sighed. "Fine, I dare you to call him up, right now and tell him how you really feel."

Adams eyes went wide. "Jesus Angel!"

"Pick one."

Adam mulled it over. If he called Lucifer he would likely think he was just drunk. "If I'm going to do that, I'm gonna need another drink."

Angel smirked and called the bartender back over.

Lucifer was laying in bed, half asleep when his phone rang. He grumbled, who the fuck would be calling him at two in the morning!?

The caller ID read: ADAM <3 With a picture of the sinner, one where he had a genuine smile on his face and not flipping the bird.

Was he okay? Did he need help? Lucifer answered the phone. "Adam, you okay?"

"H-hey Luci, I'm fine. But not as fine as you are." Adam wanted to throw himself off a bridge. "Do you have any idea how h-handsome you are?"

What the fuck? "Are you drunk?"

Adam didn't answer the question, afraid he'd lose his nerve. "You make me want to be a better version of myself. Your kindness is infectious like your smile." Adam was sure his face was bright red. He was so in love with the short King it wasn't funny. "Hell, you're stuck in my head all the time. I kinda want to give myself a concussion so I can forget about you and not think about you 24/7. You plague my every waking thought."

Lucifer couldn't keep the smile off his face at Adams words. His heart thrumming with happiness. "Oh yeah? What do you like best about me?" He wanted to see where this would go.

Adam's heart was beating hard in his chest. "There's nothing I don't like about you, Luci. Your blonde hair, your mesmerizing eyes, your laugh, even all those ducks you make are endearing." Adam slapped Angel who was trying not to laugh.

Lucifer was quiet for a while just listening. Feeling bold he answered. "You have quite the captivating gaze yourself there, your eyes shine like gold." Adam had beautiful golden eyes, Lucifer hoped that Adam was drunk enough he wouldn't remember this.

Adam was sure he was going to burst into flames. "Oh, well, these eyes of gold only look at you, your majesty." Adam cringed, he never called Lucifer that.

Lucifer felt warm himself, he shifted in bed trying to ignore the stiffy he was getting. "Good to know. The feeling is mutual."

Adam's eyes went wide, his heart leaped.

He should stop before he makes a complete ass of himself. "Angel wants to do more shots, I'll see you tomorrow right?"

Oh Luci <3

"I wish we could have been together since the beginning." Adam was shocked at his own honesty. Fuck, that was way too far, Lucifer's silence told him that he had crossed a line.

Too real.

"Yeah, get home safe and have fun."

"Will do, Luci." Adam hung up, he hid his face in his hands. How fucking humiliating. He looked at Angel. "Are you fucking happy now?"

"Yeah, I didn't think you'd really do it. Proud of you buddy. Wanna keep playing?"

"I want to get drunk."

Lucifer stared at the phone, a bitter feeling in him. He knew Adam and Angel were out getting wasted. That was nothing more than a drink dial.

But oh, that didn't mean he didn't enjoy every moment. Adam singing his praises did things to him, drunk or not. The conversation replayed in his mind. He opened his phone to that beautiful picture of Adam, his other hand found it's way to the inside of his pajama pants.

He could pretend just for a night.

Adam groaned as he came down to breakfast the next morning. He had a wicked hangover, too much tequila in one night. Lucky he didn't puke.

When he walked into the kitchen he froze when he saw Lucifer making pancakes. Play it cool Adam, play it cool. He told himself. With a deep breath, he entered all the way and grabbed orange juice from the fridge. "Morning." He greeted, not looking at the king.

"Good morning, Adam. Pancake?"

"Sure." Adam sat down with his juice as he waited for his breakfast. This felt awkward.

When Lucifer handed him his plate, he dug in. They were both soft and crispy. "So, uh, how was your time out last night?"

"Good. Until Angel started a fight at the pool table." God they got so drunk last night.

"He okay?"

"Oh yeah, that prick fucked around and found out." Adam laughed at the memory. Stupid asshole, should have kept his hands to himself.

Lucifer was gonna risk it. "Do you remember calling me last night?"

Adam froze, okay bringing this up already. "Yeah...." No point in denying it.

"Okay, cause I think you drunk dialed me."

Adam blinked. This could be an easy way out. Pretend he only remembers calling Lucifer but not what he said. But.... "....I didn't drunk call you. I called you perfectly sober." He admitted, face flaring before he added. "I had only had three shots by then, I wasn't drunk."

"You weren't?" Hope filled Lucifer's insides.

Adam looked away. "No."

"Why'd you call saying all those things? Did you mean them?"

Damn you Angel. "Angel and I were playing truth or dare..... He dared me to call you about how I feel." Adam wished the ground would swallow him whole. He braces himself for the rejection that was sure to come.

Adam felt a hand on his chin turn his face to the side. "Wha-" He was silenced by soft lips on his, his golden wide as he saw Lucifer's half lidded and soft. Adam let his eyes slip shut and returned the kiss, his heart fluttered.

"You have no idea how long I've waited to do that." Lucifer said with a smile. "Maybe, we can go to dinner tonight and you can tell more about what you like about me?~" He flirted, enjoying Adams flustered face.

"Oh very fun-, Luci your pancakes!"

"Shit!"

[laylawatermelon]

Now that I'm thinking about it I wanna theorize/call for action outside of buddie (don't worry i WILL return with a vengeance) but now I'm on a bit of an Eddie Diaz kind of run.

I'm reading a fanfic now of Eddie's sisters which kind of spawned me to think about his relationship with them and kind of think about his family dynamics and expectations and what's coming up for his storyline.

Now they mentioned bringing his family in, specifically his sisters, and i think this storyline ties into Marisol (noname i swear this drives me crazy when i think about it?!??! PLEASE if you want me to care/be invested gimme a last name!) and his Catholic guilt/sense of responsibility/man of the house complex.

They've introduced how his upbringing brought him a lot of guilt and a sense of duty (to serve and protect amirite? Dang religion can be a perfect line to how modern society works but lemme save that for a thesis or something this is about 911 on abc🤣)

Back on topic though, there's a really nice post talking about how he's military family and how that affected his and Shannon's relationship. (x)

Reading that helped me to appreciate the writing and details.

I also want to talk about the beautiful work being done on Twitter and Tumblr about the Miami Vice costume theory and coincidences.

(heh throwback Tuesday and takeover thursday came in clutch with finding these x )

Yes i do ship buddie, but if I look at it not just as a romantic things but as they are written as kind of parallel soulmates who run along the same line of development.

One always spurs the next to grow and change and are heavily involved in some way even if that way it's just being themselves.

Buck being open with his sexuality will trigger something in Eddie. What it is can vary.

I think if we look at it with non shipper glasses, Buck's freedom will lead to Eddie's freedom. What I mean by that is since Eddie had came to the 118 Ryan mentioned how each year he was there the more he learned about himself and other people.

I think what Eddie would be at free from the image/expectations of what a family should look like/be.

He knows what a family could look like in a queer/unconventional way. Bathena's unit, Chimney and Maddie's family (let's say cause they're not currently married with a toddler church would pass out), and HenRen's family.

The could be and should be is the important part.

Eddie grew up being told what he should be and what his life should look like. Evidently his life went none of the ways it was intended to go.

He's a widower single father from a teen/young pregnancy and veteran. Sure he's a firefighter now but he has no "complete" family.

The way they're emphasizing the mother aspect throughout his story is still fascinating.

(i also thought of something hilarious as like he probably imagined/process mothers as like the Virgin Mary or something when they brought up how he can see woman as mothers but not really women at the same time)

(also Madonna whore complex was mentioned and it's also a fascinating way to look at it as he can either desire or love.)

Shannon seems to be the only exception and even that is iffy. I would also say that when she became a mother the desire kind of left? I think the mother aspect solidified for him when she left them I would say.

Yes they did have sex but that was a (very bad, horrid) form of communication between them. They both avoided stuff at some point in some (eh it's like 20/80 her and Eddie) cases.

Every other woman he has dated has kind of been a substitute, for a lack of a better word, replacement for the role of mom.

Now he knows what moms should look like in all shapes and forms. He knows what dads should look like. He's knows what his family should look like.

Granted he did get rid of some of the flaws of his father and the way he was raised which also ties into the way he is.

Eddie was parentified at an early age. (I will say as a black/poc person that there tends to be adult responsibilities placed on our communities kids from young partially because of culture but mostly because of the inherent unevenness that we have to struggle to make balance worldwide in different facets and environments.)

Once again, this is about 911 on abc, not my thesis😭.

I just imagine him standing on a stool to cook food for his sisters or some other things like laundry. Or even worse the cannon car accident with his pregnant mom. (I love to make myself cry)

Eddie had technically been a parent since he was a kid. He literally became the man of the house or the father. So i guess that entailed taking on the emotional and sometimes physical burden of the father role.

I guess when he was actually a father and not just the role he felt the weight of responsibility again and panicked. It makes sense he has a habit of running since he never had the opportunity to do so as a kid (since he never got the chance to be one).

So after Chris it was once again role of the father but now with added responsibility of bringing money to provide the household which he didn't have to do in that role.

It was hard then so it became even more difficult.

So he gave his body to the military and returned wounded in mind and body, and with a disabled son who needed insurance and stability and a wife who just needed him.

And he needed to be a man. Again and again and again.

He broke out of the loop when he got to the 118 (bless the haven that is that building) met Buck, then Carla and Bobby who offered a safe place for his kid.

He was no longer alone and had distanced himself physical from the church but mentally still shackled in his beliefs.

After this Buck and Tommy things and he's not present we're going to focus on how a family could look for him.

Last season and recently they mentioned the fact that his aunt had been divorced and he didn't know.

There was also mention of family secrets.

There was also Marisol and Chris together which I'm guessing he wasn't to happy with her but it's either or since we haven't seen them together so it's a 50/50 chance. More like 90/10 he's annoyed or feels weird about his mom being replaced). Since we touched on him repairing his relationship with his mom and subsequently girls and women/relationships he wants to be in now that may shift his image of Marisol suddenly being more present.

Slight Buddie tangent (i gotta let the beat out for a sec raaa-) but the fact that he's still hanging out with Buck pretty consistently (well we can say he's his other parent who's sadly been in his life almost longer than his mom 🥺 lemme stop I'm crying) but it might decrease due to his and Tommy's relationship. (They're two firefighters with very busy schedules ofc he's not present they got work to do chop chop!/j)

In turn this leaves Chris with one less stable parent figure and it's forced to turn to Marisol who may be overeager to please him.

This can lead Chris to probably feeling uncomfortable with the changes because he's happy his dad's happy but he's not happy because it feels like his family's changing again too fast, and what if she leaves then his dad's not happy and a whole other sleet of teenage issues and angst.

So what I predict their storyline to be going it's that Eddie tries to find his own freedom from the church and maybe even the expectations of his home community would have on him.

Buck will be radiant in himself at the wedding, so will Hen and Karen, and Marie and Chimney, and Bobby and Athena.

He'll look around and look inward.

He'll stop focusing on what his life should look like and focus on what it could.

And that life could be just as radiant as the family he's apart of now.

(and that's all i could ask for 🥹)

[lol-jackles]

So FBBC is downsizing their brewer... (the one they hired after the last one left who hasn't even been there for a year I don't believe):

https://www.instagram.com/p/C1KugBlOkOA/

costhebrewer: Final grain out. I was just getting the hang of this rig. What a bummer. Oh well… on to the next adventure. #whoneedsabrewhouse #whoneedsabrewer

And when someone commented asking "Wait … what? I have really loved your creations. What I miss?" He responded with:

costhebrewer: downsizing staff and stopping in house brewing. Not sure where things go from here for the business.

So now Family Business BEER Company is just... not making beer anymore. What kind of brewery doesn't make their own beer?

My bet is they will be out of business (sold or closed) before 2025. And they are going to make good use of the fine print on those memberships that said they can cancel them at any time. (A jerk AA decided to ask Cos on this post if they are still getting their members only party... read the room dude, your party does not trump someone losing their job during the holidays...)

Also, can we just talk about the fact that they are laying him off AT CHRISTMAS?!!? Seriously read through his responses to people on that post. He even says he'll be done in Jan and is sending out resumes but that its a bad time to have to be doing that.

Also an AA was being an idiot and saying how great it was and he had to be like "I don't know if you don't get what's happening or are just being mean because this isn't a good thing"

Link. Oh noe Danneel's brother doesn't have a job, again! Won't somebody think of the chronically unemployed himbros!

Eh, not surprising. Between my predictions of FBBC sinking in about 5 years (X) (X) (X) and 2023 being the year for contraction for the brewery industry and Jensen's own lack of business acumen, honestly is anyone surprised? Anyone?

With the downsizing, it sounds like the Ackles have moved to contract brewing, meaning they're using another established brewery to make FBBC beer. In this arrangement, the contract brewer can help the "guest company" with packaging and shipping. In other words, in true Ackle's fashion, he's going to let others do the mundane day to day work.

Once I saw the bottling and canning I knew the Ackles wanted to go big with FBBC and never intended to stay a small craft brewery. In order for your craft brewery to succeed you either a very small local, owner-operator with minimal distribution, or you go really big and spend a fortune on marketing in order to compete for shelf space in stores across the state or county.

Anyways, let's have a Throw Back Thursday to FBBC's first promo picture, which completely threw me and wondered what noob thought this was a good idea because Gino and Danneel looked like happily married husband and wife while Jensen looked like the loser relative who sleeps on their couch while waiting for his music to be discovered.

[doberbutts]

Anyway the question that always gets asked whenever I reveal that I'm not actually into the Cloud/Tifa thing is who do I ship them with if not each other.

The answer is a little more complicated than all that because from the start I considered their relationship something closer to a QPR before I even knew what that meant. I was calling them platonic life partners back then. People who don't feel any romantic love for each other but have chosen to stay regardless, or perhaps because.

I think, before, Cloud thought he wanted to be for Sephiroth what Zack wanted to be for Angeal. A puppy-like affection, a mentor/mentee comradery, and a close connection. I think Sephiroth would have hated it. He was cold and standoffish to Zack until circumstances forced them together, and even then he only really opened up due to Zack's connection to Angeal. I don't think having his own "puppy" would have been welcome at all. And I think Cloud would have been forced to come to terms with reconciling his hero worship with the reality of everything.

He and Zack were friends, but Zack was actively dating Aerith at the time, and Cloud didn't know Aerith existed back then. And within the narrative, Zack and Aerith are "parents"- with how often Aerith is referred to as a mother with Zack standing beside her, and Cloud is among those who repeatedly mistake Aerith for their mom. Zack does it once within the complilation, before he meets her for real, Cloud a few times, *after* he knows who she is. Clearly even when [redacted], Zack and Aerith are intended to be read as a couple, but then that once again removes an option for Cloud.**

The others... eh. I could be pursuded with the right argument but within canon itself it doesn't hold much water. Once we eliminate those four, he's got affectionate negging with Barrett, a quiet respect for Vincent, and a mutual back-scratching with Reeve. He's vaguely willing to play ball with Reno and Rude but not willing enough to let his guard down, while he treats the other Turks with some distain. He mostly tolerates Cid and Yuffie he both treats like and calls a child- she's the youngest so fair, but still removes her from the playing field. Anyone else connected to Shinra he actively dislikes, so Rufus and his flunkies are out.

We've got confirmation that he doesn't remember Kunzel and if Tseng remembers who Cloud is, he's being characteristically tight-lipped about it but Cloud certainly doesn't remember him. The OG Avalanche crew all died, even though Biggs lived in the Remake, and they weren't close. The Remnants of course mostly wanted to kill him the entire time. Deepground barely acknowledges his existence. Angeal died before Zack met Cloud and Genesis was too deep in his own shit to care.

So like. That doesn't really leave anyone.

Personally I think Cloud has way too much unresolved grief and trauma that he still has not worked through. It's years later in Advent Children when he's finally able to begin to move on from [redacted], and despite that even more years later in Dirge of Cerberus he's still notoriously distant and moody and prone to flaking. He's still questioning who he really is, can he actually trust his own memories and senses, and how much guilt is he willing to shrug off his shoulders for his actions while under someone else's control.

And I think being a distant moody asshole that pushes your friends away because you don't know if they're actually real or not is a difficult mindset to be in while also trying to be in love. So he doesn't try. His friends do love him anyway however exasperated they may be with him at times when he shuts them out while Going Through It. But it means he's not really building anything with any of them either.

Except Tifa, who keeps a room and a bed and a desk for him when he decides to come back, whose bar he calls home, who adopted a scared little boy with him, who watches their friend's adopted daughter with him. Who takes a family photo of the four of them together, which sits on that desk. Who quietly sorts the research papers as he hunts for a cure for an incurable disease affecting their son. Who yells and scolds him not because he left and stopped coming home, but because he gave up and shut her out when he contracted the same disease rather than letting her help.

"You don't answer the phone, but I don't see you throwing it away."

Out of all the voicemails on his phone, it was hers saying Reno had dropped by the bar looking for him and being vaguely threatening with the kids that got him to go see the Turks. He did not followup on Reeve's invite to the WRO. He didn't go chasing oil with Barrett. He didn't visit Yuffie in Wutai. But Tifa says "Reno was here being his usual weird self, I think something was wrong", and he went to investigate.

I don't ship it. I think he believes he's too broken for romance. And I think she's very patient to wait for him and give him the space he needs. Maybe they're FWB. Maybe it's entirely platonic. But the compliation has shown us that it's *something*, even if it's deliberately vague on what type of something.

**I do sort of like the "first this guy [redacted] my boyfriend, then he [redacted] my girlfriend, after trying to [redacted] my childhood best friend and succeeding in [redacted] my entire village and also my mom. This Sephiroth guy sucks" paired with Sephiroth's "tell me what you cherish most, give me the pleasure of taking it away" vibes of Cloud/Zack/Aerith don't get me wrong, but also as said Aerith and Zack were dating at the time but Cloud does not know who she is (or even that Zack has a girlfriend) and it is Very Important that Cloud not know the name Aerith until after Zack [redacted] which would imply sort of shadey behavior on Zack's part. And I don't really see him as the type to cheat, so.

[the-paper-monkey]

Thanks for the tag @indigo-scarf

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

7

2. What's your total A03 words count?

139,279

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Harry Potter

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

The Travelling Cabinet (1,976) - Tom/Draco

Bluebeard (1,947) - Tom/Draco

Alley Cat (1,323) - Tom/Draco

Edible Horcruxes (783) - Voldemort & Draco

Blood (413) - Voldemort & Draco

TTC and Bluebeard warring for the top spot.

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

Generally, yes. But recently I let it go for far too long so my inbox has gotten slightly intimidating. I read every comment and intend to reply to them all eventually.

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Blood is generally angsty, as all Voldemort!Wins AUs would be. Draco and Delphi have it the best of everyone in the world but that isn't saying much.

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

So far... maybe a tie between Bluebeard and A Generous Minute. Bluebeard is somewhat bittersweet, but I think that's the happiest you can get with those characters. A Generous Minute, well, Tom got what he wanted (and Abraxas got his inheritance early).

8. Do you get hate on fics?

NOT YET. But I feel like this is jinxing it lmfao. I just get the occasional hate on here for being into Harry Potter 😂

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

I don't think so, unless A Generous Minute counts (that was deliberately Bad Sex™️). I probably wouldn't write explicit sex in the future unless it was plot necessary. Or... Tomarry. I just feel like they'd fuck a lot. If your Tomarry doesn't feature fight sex wyd.

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

I used to be obsessed with reading and writing Harry Potter AUs for my other fandoms so. Idk about craziest though. Tbh they were probably crazy for their inaccuracies since I couldn't remember the intricacies of HP.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I'm aware of 🤨

Don't think I'm at the level where that would happen lmao.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes.

A Generous Minute (Chinese)

13. Have you ever cowritten a fic before?

Nope and never will. I don't collaborate well 😬

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

ALL TIME favourite hmmmmmm. God that's hard to pick. It varies wildly depending on current fandom. I have a lot of favourites. I feel like Lamen (Captive Prince) is my ideal ship though.

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

Oh God there's so many.

I have a Tom/Harry/Draco that I'm scribbling at but I cannot seem to balance the polyamory well at all so. Unsure whether that will succeed.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Probably humour and dialogue

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Plot

Porn

(what's left?)

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

Eh so long as the reader is not expected to understand the dialogue.

I used to throw slabs of foreign language in my fics when I was 12 and just expect people to translate it. I don't recommend that. I don't think I was impressing anyone with my Google Translate skills.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Hetalia...

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

Probably The Travelling Cabinet or Bluebeard

Tagging: @duplicitywrites, @cindle-writes, @pinktom, @metalomagnetic, @fiendishfyre, @crowcrowcrowthing

[bardofavon]

This is longer than I thought it would be...

Hi, you don't know me, because it's been my life's purpose to have no online presence, apparently. But I just read your latest chapter instead of writing an essay and, since I can't be anon in ao3 I'll annoy you here. So, EXCUSE ME??? you can't just drop a masterpiece and walk away casually. This is now one of my favorite chapters, because it’s such a scary thing to read for how “bland” the actual situation is. Like, talking with your partner before bed? Sure, that’s normal. Unless, you know, you’re Kaz and your partner happens to be the Darkling. Sometimes, this read like “old married couple” and other times, I’m flipping a coin to see if they’ll just murder each other right there.

“The Darkling really is pathetically lonely.” (Coming from the man who literally no longer has friends. But, I like that, even though the Darkling is trying his very best to wear the pants in this relationship, and both of them know that, Kaz still thinks of him as pathetic. Maybe Kaz is lying to himself, to make the Darkling less scary, maybe that’s how he really thinks. But nothing will ever be funnier to me than having some ungodly, horrifying weapon of a man being called “cute” or “pathetic” by his partner. Or, in this case, by his slightly less ungodly weapon of a man.)

“’If I said that seeing you on your knees begging for me is all that it would take for me to give you every part of me, would you do it?’ The world's most dangerous thought experiment, proposed while he unbuttons his kefta." (I SCREECHED)

(Also, love that Kaz reads a book an war, of all the books, and is like ‘eh, that seems interesting to read.’)

“It’s not a request. It’s a command, and Kaz obeys.” (I think I felt that one to the core. But, I really like how you’ve written the thought processes and character development in this story. Like, he’s not the same Kaz as before, because Ch. 1 Kaz wouldn’t like the Darkling order him around like that, Kaz would stab him with his own knife. But he’s always kind of slipping into the part that the Darkling wants him to play— even though he’s trying to justify it as “well I’ll just stab you later.” Kaz kinda dug himself into a hole, that he’s both happy with and absolutely miserable in, and that is so exactly accurate that it hurts.)

“The pillow stays between them, the Darkling still following the rules they’d set on the ship.” (At least there’s some respect. It’s interesting, though, that, for as much as the Darkling wants to own and control and endlessly love Kaz, he still gives him this small piece of control over the rules. It’s kind of sweet, but it also reminds me of those fancy extendable leashes that you put on your dog, that lets gets longer and longer the farther away the dog is, so it’s technically more free, but he’s still on a leash, and there’s still a limit to how far he can go.)

“Kaz should have died on that barge.” (Inej makes Kaz want to live, and the Darkling makes him want to die. The chapter where Kaz has that dream about kissing her, and he’s like “ok, yeah, I’ll fix myself and become a better man just for you” makes this scene with Aleksander look that much darker (pun intended I think?). With Inej, Kaz is scraping himself together into something worth give her, and with the Darkling, he’s being torn apart into something he has to be. I want these two to kiss to badly, but I also hope they never speak to each other again.

(Also, I’m sitting here happily anticipating the return of Baghra, I’ve love their dynamic ever since Kaz hit her with his cane.)

Okokok, that’s all I have to say— Just wanted to give you some feedback, because authoring is hard sometimes. Sorry if it’s too much feedback. This was an amazing read, I can’t wait for the next chapter!! I’ll disappear back into the abyss now.

first of all you NEVER EVER EVER have to apologizing for giving me “too much” feedback there is truly no such thing. i am sitting here with an open mouth devouring every word you say. it's good fucking good. there is no better feeling than being understood in the precise way you hope to be. the way you picked up everything I was laying down in the exact manner I meant for it to be picked up in has me kicking my feet and twirling my hair at my desk at work. (also we are polar opposites! you are destined to have no internet presence and I am destined to Demand To Be Known and my heart is SO full that my demand to be known outweighed your wish to be unknown in this moment in time– there is no higher compliment! no greater praise!)

I'M SO GLAD YOU THINK THIS IS A MASTERPIECE!!!!!!!! writing chapters where nothing happens and everything happens is something that can be so personal lol. it's one of MY favorite chapters which feels terrible to say because it's just 2,000 words of mind games and emotional abuse but i just think it goes hard as hell. this is part of what i meant when i said i was entering into my psychological horror error. it's cute! it's a bickering married couple! it's domestic! it's pillow talk! it's someone controlling every thing you do and every word you say with a gun to your head that they want you to pretend isn't there.

kaz IS both afraid of the darkling and thinks him pathetic at the same time. he built up his name to be this big thing, but really the darkling is terrifying and aleksander is just a dude. he's just a dude. the darkling is pathetically lonely (and this is the second time kaz has called him that, pour one out for the darkling) in a way that even kaz hasn't reached despite literally being alone. because kaz loves and is loved, and the darkling is not. and yes!!!! yes!!! as much as the darkling is trying, at the very end of the day Kaz will only ever see his ‘love’ for him as pathetic. the darkling is pushing every button kaz has here and a few buttons kaz didn't even know that he had, but he's also revealing just a bit too much of himself.

he says he wants kaz to call him by his real name when they're alone, which reveals to kaz just how much the darkling does want to be loved and understood for who he really is. this is something that the darkling can't take for himself. he can force kaz to pretend, but he can't force kaz to actually see, understand, or love him. he says he won't take advantage of kaz's promise to give him everything by demanding physical intimacy, but really what that's revealing to kaz is how much the darkling needs to feel wanted. he needs it to be a choice and not something he takes or it won't mean anything. he needs to be desired by this person he believes he loves. and kaz will never, ever give him that. he’s forcing kaz into this charade as punishment but it's mostly revealing to kaz all of these weird domestic wants of the darkling that he can exploit. he's slipping up and forgetting to fight, but the darkling is so determined to hear what he wants to hear from kaz that he's not hearing what kaz is actually saying. this is dangerous to the darkling as well.

GLAD YOU SCREECHED AT THAT PART BECAUSE I SCREECHED WRITING IT i put my head down on my desk and just left it there for a second before continuing with that whole scene. that wasn’t even there in draft 1 i slipped it in later.

i feel like 99% of the books in the darkling's personal bedroom library are war books. i feel like he would use that as light bedtime reading. and honestly??? kaz would too. this is why they would be perfect together if they had met in another time and another place where circumstances were different and also maybe they were both different as people. so i guess they aren't perfect together :/ but they are! you understand my pain.

YOU ARE RIGHT ABOUT HIS DEVELOPMENT! you're right about everything actually, you are the most correct person to have ever lived. i hope you can bear that burden with pride. but yeah, if this chapter were in the first five chapters of the story everyone reading it would have a “he would not fucking say that” moment with like…the whole thing…but I think we got here very naturally. chapter 78 imo showcased a lot of his more positive character development in terms of his relationships with his crows, ability to be vulnerable, willingness to do the right thing at personal cost to himself, etc. and this chapter shows another aspect of his development in a completely different way. i think out of context he might appear to some people to be weaker than he was in the beginning when actually within the full context of the story i would say he's very strong here, and stronger than he was at the start in fact. his ability to so fully and completely swallow his pride and slip into this role so long-term shows a lot about what he's willing to do to protect the things he cares about. he's going to win even if he has to lose to do it. but also, yeah, at the same time this is a hole he dug himself (with lots of help!)

your metaphor about the leash is also perfect. that's the perfect way to put it because that's exactly what's happening here. i wouldn't go so far as to say it's love bombing but he is trying hard to make sure kaz still feels safe despite feeling like he's in danger. he wants to give kaz this illusion of control. he knows where kaz's lines are and he’s doing a masterful job of stepping over them in all of the right places to cause as much personal misery and discomfort without crossing a line he can't come back from or making it so that kaz can't/won't come around. he wants to build this life where kaz is punished for wrongdoing but rewarded for following instructions, and sometimes that means giving him an extendable leash so he can wander around a bit and feel less smothered. but he's still leashed at the end of the day. (one thing that darkling is not examining, though, is that kaz is not in fact a small domesticated house dog but a wolf. and a wolf can't be so easily leashed and domesticated).

and YES about the darkling making him want to live and inej making him want to die, something else that makes me go crazy considering the darkling represents his immortality and inej represents the fleeting nature of existence. humanity vs inhumanity. inej is “i can fix him” (but actually ‘i can make him want to fix himself’) and the darkling is “i can make him worse” and they're both working overtime. “i want these two to kiss so badly, but i also hope they never speak to each other again” is the perfect kazling mood. the perfect way to see them.

I'M GLAD YOU'RE EXCITED FOR BAGHRA!!!!!!! when i tell you every scene between them is so easy to write but so hard to write at the same time. they have so many things to say to each other but none of those things get them anywhere. conversations that go no where. kaz hates the darkling AND the crazy witch who raised her. and baghra…………..has opinions about kaz too, that's for sure. they both need to start whacking each other again honestly.

Anyway, Farewell!!!! Thank you so much again, it truly means a lot. I hope you have fun going back into the abyss. I hope it's warm down there. I hope they treat you well down there in the abyss. I hope they sing to you and tuck you into bed down there in the abyss.

[ornithia]

lmao i got blocked for this

i, a living, breathing, real-life existing aroace individual, a literal example of the very category you specifically attempted to white-knight, asked a genuine question regarding the puritanical "white-washing" of the general identity to which i and several of my peers belong to - but i suppose confronting your own bigotry was just too much to handle, eh?

let's go over your "values":

so you're not a "radical inclusionist" (w/e that means) ... but by your own logic, excluding certain marginalised groups (such as the select "undesirable" and "dirty" asexuals that do not fit the pure stereotype mold) precisely means you're also not a real leftist, but a "Republican in training" (this is literally YOUR own definition in YOUR own words)

so ... people like you, then? also awfully convenient that all of this info that constitutes blocking was hidden below a read-more, btw. (also, you commented on someone ELSE's post. i'd say that's fair game - maybe DON'T comment publicly at all if you truly don't want to engage with anyone, especially not if you're requiring them to read a whole TOS essay of your "voids" and "warranties")

this one was a little further down ... buddy. MOST people who ship alastor are asexuals themselves, safely exploring their identities and analysing their experiences through a fictional proxy. i can ASSURE you the majority of us are not aphobic, we're simply diverse, as human beings are wont to be. trying to fit us all into a neat little box and weeding out those who do not fit your standards or rhetoric, on the other hand - now THAT'S aphobic as all shit

going over the DNI list now and:

lmao WHAT. please research the history of humanity and the arts, i GUARANTEE you that most people who've written/created analogs of terrible things (since the very dawn of human creativity) have not PERSONALLY engaged in horrific deviancy so much as commentated on it, in order to make a point about its horrors and use it to tell a greater message. (also "predators in the making" is literally a dog whistle used in right-wing circles, specifically the ones that embrace terf-rhetoric, are homophobic, anti-feminist, and pro-censorship with the intended goal of resetting society to the "nuclear family" aka institute a social order in which the queers don't exist, women exist purely to spread their legs and pop out babies for their masters Men, children are DANGEROUSLY isolated and taught to be ignorant of the world that exists beyond their neighborhood so that when they eventually grow up they end up xenophobic Adults unable to cope with the notions of Different and New and far less able to creatively relate, empathise, or put themselves in others' shoes, for better or worse.

also, THIS is why ACTUAL critical thinking matters, and not just lazy broad strokes of some supposed "general morality", like holy shit you'd think you'd realise this given you consider yourself a "💜Beginner Satantic-Pagan Witch" and all the maligned things that THAT would imply based on a surface-level understanding of satan/lucifer's origins without actual research into the religion, like - based on the name alone, most people would assume you have a sadistic and LAUGHABLY disproportionate desire to see humans suffer due to a petty and envious "sibling rivalry" over the fact that god doted on humans just a little "too much" for lucifer's personal liking (per the canonical texts of the abrahamic religions)

OBVIOUSLY that's not the case, as there's ALWAYS more to the picture; you criticals should try applying this philosophy more often, you all seem so miserable all the time it's hard to imagine how this COULDN'T help

as for the rest of the list ... honestly, it isn't terrible. MOST of it is reasonable. pity, as we could've potentially been friends - had you just chosen to NOT speak on behalf of ALL asexuals with 0 consideration for our varied and complex nuance and spooked yourself into blocking me over a reality check

[a-small-batch-of-dragons]

The Children

Hello hello! I absolutely love all of your stories, they're all such delights to read! Imposter syndrome and all the among us ones after it especially has my heart and have helped me through some rough times. The latest one made me think of what would happen if Cyan also was a little kid around purple's age and how different Black's reaction to them may-or-may not be, considering they're now both a kid and an alien? maybe they were hiding in the vents of the ship?(which, of course, you don’t have to write if you don’t wanna but it could be fun to see! Thank you and I hope you're having a nice day!) – anon

Read on Ao3

Warnings: implied/referenced child abuse

Pairings: gen

Word Count: 2966

In yet another timeline...

Black finds not one but two hidden stowaways in the aftermath of the Skeld massacre.

"No, no, no—please, please!" Orange's fingers scrabble against the wall in a fruitless attempt to stop. "I won't say anything, I won't do anything, please, let me go!"

Black barely falters as they haul the body up and into the airlock. Orange snivels and whines and keeps begging, even as the glass closes.

"No! No! I'll help you! You need clearance—I can give you clearance! Please! I'll do anything!"

Black pauses, hand on the control. "Anything?"

"Yes, yes! Yes, I'll do absolutely anything, anything you want—"

"Then perish."

The vacuum of space sucks Orange out of the airlock, the last of their screams cutting off into static. Black shakes their head as they turn and make for Navigation. They pass by blood splatters on the walls from earlier kills and make a note to find a mop in some corner of Storage once they're underway.

This mission hadn't been particularly gruesome, not compared to some of the others, but it had its moments. Certainly this crew of humans had taken the 'do not go gentle' approach to dying, save for Orange who…in hindsight, definitely spent too long cowering in Comms to be considered 'brave.'

No use lingering over them.

They reach Navigation and reroute to Polus, carefully overriding the automatic updates back to MIRA and plunging the ship into radio silence. They scan radar for surrounding ships. None to be found. Excellent.

Black leans back in the captain's chair, stretching their arms until they hear a small pop. They've spent longer periods in complete human form, but for some reason this body's been giving them trouble for a while. Eh, no humans anymore, they can afford to shift just to stretch. Their maw lets out a groan of relief as sloshing sounds fill Navigation for a moment, letting them stretch out properly before assuming the human form once more.

They stop.

Listen.

Their attention slowly turns to the vent in the corner.

Was that their imagination, or did they just hear another sloshing sound?

Their maw rumbles for a moment, then they go still again. After a pause, they swear they hear something rumble back. But that's impossible. There's only one Impostor assigned to this mission, and no additional life signs detected upon moment of entry. They get up from the chair, kneeling down by the vent and carefully sending a tendril through the grate.

Almost at the limit of their reach, they smell it.

Something's in there.

They stand up, quickly going from Navigation to Shields, doing the same thing to the vent in the corner. Again, just at the limits of their senses, they smell it. Some bizarre amalgamation of human and Impostor scents, but something alive and moving.

Black's not enough of an optimist to hope that whatever's in there hasn't figured out that they've been alerted to its presence. And it probably has no way of knowing that—at the moment—Black doesn't intend to hurt it. It's clever; it's picked a spot equidistant from Navigation and Shields, which means whichever end Black enters the vent, it has the whole rest of the ship to escape to from the other end.

Black sits back on their haunches, thinking. Strategically, it would be better to isolate the problem until reinforcements—or at least one other Impostor—could handle it simultaneously. They're too far from Polus for a signal to reach and if it managed to stay hidden for the entirety of the voyage so far, it would likely remain so until they docked. Black could simply block off these vents and keep it contained.

…but in those little glimpses their senses managed to get, they smelled fear.

Both human and Impostor.

While it wasn't out of the ordinary to bring humans back to Polus, Black wasn't in the habit of unnecessary risks. Better to deal with a human here, now, then risk a containment breach on Polus.

With this in mind, they get up and reach into the electrical closet next to the manifolds, removing two sets of thin metal poles and attaching them in place over the vent cover. Then they move quickly back to Navigation and check their course heading. A quick confirmation that there aren't any asteroids that'll need to be cleared and they open the vent.

Immediately, they're caught with a wave of skittering noises as whatever it is shuffles to the other side of the vent. How have they never noticed this before? They've used every vent on the ship at this point, had they just always been picking the ones this thing wasn't in? Black shakes their head as they carefully enter the vent. Something to ask, perhaps.

The smells grow stronger as they make their way toward the other side, as do the banging noises as whatever it is works frantically at the jammed vent. Halfway through, Black stops, one hand on their knife as they send out a tendril. After a moment, they hear something else.

Fuck.

Fuck.

That's a pup.

There's a fucking pup in this vent.

Black's hand leaves the knife and their maw rumbles. After a long pause, they hear a chirp back. They shift slightly, just enough so their mother tongue will work.

"Pup," they rumble, "pup, can you hear me?"

The banging sound stops. Then: "yes."

Great. "Good, pup. That's good. Are you hurt?"

"No."

Black's maw rumbles. "I can smell your fear, pup, you don't have to lie to me."

Another jolt of fear, stronger, and they quickly rumble soothingly.

"It's just me on the ship now," they add, "no more humans. Just Impostors. It's okay, pup, I won't hurt you."

"You won't?"

"No, pup."

There's another quiet sloshing sound and Black shifts on their haunches.

"Can I come over, pup? You're hurt, I can tell, let me—"

"No!"

Black jerks, almost hitting their head on the inside of the vent.

"Don't come closer," the pup repeats, the smell of their fear growing stronger, "stay away!"

"Easy, pup, calm down. It's okay, I won't come closer, I'll stay right here, okay?" They rumble and trill a few times, their maw panting a little heavier. "Calm down, now."

It takes a long while—a long while for the sloshing sounds to subside, even longer for the fear to dissipate, but after a moment, the pup chirps back and Black's shoulders relax.

"If you don't want me to come to you, could you come to me? I won't move, I'll stay still, and you can decide how close you come, how about that?"

"You promise?"

"I promise, pup."

More sloshing sounds and then a small tendril flicks against theirs. They rumble, sitting down heavily in the vent. Slowly, so slowly, the pup crawls down the vent, following the tendril. Black lets the suit slip and their maw falls open, tongue lolling out slightly to allow the pup to hear it. They can smell them better now and they're young. Barely older than a nestling. How did they end up here?

At last, a small pup pokes its head around the corner of the vent, arms curled tentatively about the bolts. Black waves, their maw panting as the pup peers out a little more.

"Hey, pup," they call, "just me, see? I'm not gonna hurt you."

"You…you're Black," the pup mumbles, "are—are you the one they talk about?"

"The one they talk about?"

"Yeah. The—the shadow killer or something. Is that you?"

Oh, for—that moniker really is overdramatic at best and a gross romanticization of war at worst, but the pup seems to know who they are, so… "Yeah, pup, that's…that's me."

"Did you kill all the crew already?"

"Yes, they're dead. It's just me left. I won't hurt you."

"Are you taking us back to Polus?"

"Yes, we're on our—'us?'"

The pup shuffles. "Y-you know…the ship."

Black frowns. That didn't sound like the truth. But they let it go for now in favor of smelling the hurt still emanating from the pup. "You're hurt, pup, I can tell. Let me see, I can help."

"It's okay."

"That's not what I asked, pup, if you're hurt, we should make it better."

The pup's tendril shuffles against the bulkhead. Black rumbles again encouragingly and the pup trills back. Then they slowly move from behind the corner and oh, fuck—

"Pup," Black rumbles, reaching out for them, "pup—that's a stab wound, how did that happen?"

"Reactor. The vent cover broke."

"Come here, let me see—" they're so tiny, they're so fucking tiny, where the fuck is their nest, who let them be all the way out here alone— "you're very lucky. It doesn't look like it hit anything super important. But we need to get it patched up so it doesn't get infected, okay?"

The pup shuffles in their arms, their maw nibbling on another tendril. They're so tiny, how in the fuck did they end up all the way out here?

"I've got some stuff in the crew quarters we can use, can I bring it here?"

"Yeah."

"Stay here, okay? Don't leave the vent, then I won't be able to find you."

"H-how—" Black stops pulling away when the pup tugs on them— "how did you find me?"

"I heard you. Then I smelled you."

"You smelled me?"

"Yeah, pup, I can smell you."

The pup pulls away, shuffling a little on the floor. "Will you bring the stuff here?"

"I'll be right back. Stay in the vent, okay?"

"I will."

Black quickly climbs out of the vent and makes it to quarters, snagging their emergency tin and tucking it safely into their belt. Their mind won't stop running over and over—how the fuck did a pup manage to stow away in the vents? What the fuck happened? How did I not notice this?

They'll have to ask once they make sure the pup is safe.

They climb back into the vent, sending out a tendril and moving to where they were last time. After a moment, the pup reappears, crawling close enough that Black can start applying the medicine to their wound.

"Easy," they rumble when the pup whines, "I know it stings, just try and hold still. This will help, I promise."

"Why are you being nice," the pup chitters, "did—are—am I in trouble?"

Fuck. This is a baby, how in the fuck is Black supposed to know what to do with a baby?

"No, pup, you're not in trouble. I'm just worried, okay?"

"So you'll help?"

Black frowns. That twinge in their instincts is back. Something else is wrong. "Yeah, pup, I'll help."

Despite the feeling that something's not all what the pup says it is, the reassurance makes them relax a little more, letting Black finish applying the medicine. They toy idly with the pup's tendrils, their maw purring reassuringly as the pup begins to calm down.

…of course, as the pup's fear begins to fade, they smell something else.

Human fear.

The pup trills when their hands slow and they look over the pup's head, a tendril flashing out and down the vent.

The human fear grows stronger the further they go.

Fuck.

"Pup," they ask slowly, "is there a human down there?"

"N-no."

"Don't lie to me, pup." When the pup doesn't say anything, Black bites back a curse and reaches for their knife. How fucking despicable, that a human would hide behind a wounded pup. "Stay here."

"No!"

Black startles when the pup wraps its arms around theirs, spreading out as much of their form as they can to try and block the vent. They've got barely an akk-kitten's strength but they're trembling with the effort of keeping Black still.

"Pup—"

"You said you would help! Don't go down there!"

"Pup, you're hurting yourself—"

"Stay away from them! Leave them alone!" A tiny maw bites their arm and it—well, honestly, it tickles. "I'll—I'll fight you!"

"Calm down, pup, you're frothing."

The pup trembles and the smell of their fear begins to permeate the vents again. Black reaches out and takes them in their hands, tugging them gently off the vent and holding them in their lap. The pup still thrashes and tries to bite them. Black's maw rumbles and they take them gently by the scruff, rubbing small circles.

"Shh, pup, calm down. Shh, shh…easy, there you go."

The pup can't seem to decide whether to melt or keep fighting back, trembling in Black's hold as their maw digs into their arm. Black keeps at it, patiently waiting as the pup starts to whine, tendrils slowly curling in on themselves.

"Don't hurt them, please, they're—they're just a hatchling. They're just a hatchling, don't hurt them!"

"They're a human, pup."

"But they're just a hatchling!"

A juvenile, probably. Black sighs. At least it's not a fully grown human, that makes this a bit easier.

"Are they hurt too?" When the pup makes a noise of confirmation, Black adjusts their grip. "They'll need to get fixed too, pup, they'll have to go to Medbay."

"Don't hurt them!"

"I'm not going to hurt them, pup. I'm trying to help. Like you said, remember? I said I'd help."

"You promise you won't hurt them?"

"I promise."

The pup stills, finally, and shifts a bit toward the other end of the vent. Black glances behind them.

"If I go wait outside, will you bring them to me? I'll help."

"You promise?"

"Yes, pup, I promise."

The pup's jaw tightens on their arm in what would be a very threatening display if they were just a little bit older, but really is just terribly endearing. Then they let go, shuffling toward the other end of the vent. Black sighs, wondering how the fuck this happened for the eightieth time, and climbs out of the vent to crouch next to the opening.

The smells start to get stronger again and—really, it's worrying how much they blend together; Black's only able to separate the pup's fear from the human's after being right next to them for so long. Finally, they see a tendril poke out of the vent and flick one of their own against it.

Only years of experience keeps them from gasping audibly when the pup clambers out of the vent wrapped around a human so small it looks the length of Black's arm.

The human's eyes widen as soon as they see Black, tiny hands—fuck, they're so tiny, they're so fucking small, how is that real—grabbing onto the edge of the vent and trying to stop the pup from exiting. Their little face looks so scared and Black's rumbling before they can stop themselves.

"Hey, baby," they murmur, "it's okay. I'm not gonna hurt you."

Small. Small human. Oh, fuck, small human hatchling. What the fuck is my life?

"Shh, it's alright." They hold their hands up. "See? I'm not gonna hurt you. I didn't hurt your friend and I won't hurt you."

The pup trills, squeezing the human carefully and getting more of their arms out of the vent. The human whimpers in fear—or pain?—and Black sits back.

"Hey, hey, it's okay. It's okay, baby, look, I'm not moving, see? I'm not mad, you're not in trouble, it's okay. I just want to help."

They watch as the pup starts to chirp at the human, wrapping their arms around them and pushing them gently out of the vent. The human's fear slowly starts to fade as they carefully climb out. The pup trills at Black, holding them out.

"Can I pick you up, baby? I want to see if you're hurt."

The human curls around their side—shit, did they get hurt by the same thing that hurt the pup? Black reaches down slowly, so slowly, holding out their hand.

"Come on, baby, you can do it, it's okay."

If you had told Black they'd be cradling a human hatchling in their arms as a stowaway pup fussed next to them, they'd have killed you.

And yet, the human blinks up at them with wide eyes as their maw rumbles, letting them peer at the stained part of their side.

"You're hurt, baby," Black murmurs, "we need to fix it. We have to go to Medbay, okay?"

The human glances around, as if looking for the rest of the crew.

"They're not here anymore, baby, it's just me."

The pup chirps as if in confirmation and the human reaches out. They tangle their fingers in the pup's arms and hold on tight.

"Can we all go to Medbay?" When the human nods and the pup clambers onto Black's shoulder, they stand up slowly with the human in their arms and start the long, slow walk to the other side of the ship. "Close your eyes, baby, it's going to be too bright for you."

The human shifts and tucks their head against Black's shoulder. The pup burbles and slides over to help shield their eyes. Black has so many questions but bites their tongue.

Once we get to Medbay, they think as they contemplate just how fucking weird their life has become, then we'll figure out what to do.

[nocaptainonthisship]

twenty questions for fic writers

thanks for the tag @wyrd-syster and @bad-surprise!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

9, as of this moment, but 10 by the end of the week.

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

Just over 85k which feels both low and absurdly high.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Actively, Rings of Power, though I've also got a Captain Swan one-shot, and dabbled briefly with Reylo.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

(Artanis) -- my beloved. In which Halbrand is an international superstar, and Galadriel is the girl who broke his heart.

To Make A Queen -- the beginning of it all. I wanted to write a one-shot to remove the haladriel brain rot. It became a two-shot. 11 months later, we're here.

it will come back -- my longest complete work to date. I am immeasurably fond of it, and desire never to read another word of it again.

once, i belonged to you(and twice i was free) -- the rapunzel inspired dead-dove. in which galadriel is a princess locked in a tower, and halbrand is her jailor.

A Kingdom They Became -- what started as my own personal breakdown about my chronic pain became possibly the work I am proudest of to date. I am still overwhelmed by the response to this fic.

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

Eh. I certainly try to. However, my brain does a thing, you see, where 24 hours after I post something to ao3, the door is closed and my brain considers that fic officially DONE. After that point, responding to comments is a much steeper uphill battle. That being said- I do read and savor every single one of them.

6. What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Hands down, its It Will Come Back. I had *intended* to write a happy ending, but the closer I got to the end, the more I realized that a happy ending would not have been satisfying. I'm incredibly proud of the ending I wrote, but it definitely hits the angst pretty hard.

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

Dangerous Creatures -- silly little aussie farm-life fluff. (But its haladriel, so Gal still kills something.)

8. Do you get hate on fics?

No. I have- up to this point, anyway- been incredibly lucky.

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

I do, but what kind?? Still figuring that one out, so for now I'll say, "Whatever kind I can manage on any given day."

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

I don't. I might in the future, but I do have a hard time taking crossovers seriously as a reader- I imagine that feeling would be far worse as a writer.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I'm aware of, thank god.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No, but maybe one day!

13. Have you ever cowritten a fic before?

Cowritten- no. I am a beta on a fic (this is not a come-on* in any way shape or form by the lovely @ophidion) which is a process I've more than once compared to being a midwife helping someone bring new life into the world.

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

All time fave seems like a great way to get me to change my mind tomorrow(no, I'm not commitment-phobic, you are!) so I'll just say I like pretty, bitey girls and bad men who want to change but don't know how. In any permutation.

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

Everything that is out there currently, I am confident I will finish. The things I've thus far kept to myself? Only time will tell.

16. What are your writing strengths?

This question feels like a personal attack. Yikes. I think- I hope- the way I write sweeps you up like a raging river, uses rhythm and verbiage to transport the reader entirely into a different world. I'm good at the mechanics behind making you *feel* something, of manipulating an emotion to transport you inside what a character is feeling.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Speed. They say you shouldn't care about your first draft, because you can always fix it later. Well, jokes on them, I NEVER fix it later, so I damn well better do a decent job on my first pass. This makes me slow, and makes the thesaurus app on my phone one of my top used.

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

I do not do this, other than perhaps a words here or there(and that word is almost always going to be a pet name I make no apologies.) I think it has it's time and place, but it can also pull you out of the story entirely.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Lost (Skate Lives, bby!) beginning wayyy back in the summer of 2005. I was 12, so I thank the gods every days that lost-forum is dead and I never cross posted to ffn. (I also wrote for twilight back in the day, but we don't talk about that.)

20. Favorite fic you’ve ever written?

The A Kingdom, An Empire, A Home series has, I think, my most beautiful writing to date, and despite being incredibly difficult to write(or perhaps because of it) it is also the most satisfying. It is a complex exploration of pain, redemption, and the complicated feelings towards parenthood. If I traveled back in time to just a year ago and showed past!cap that prose, I don't know that she would believe herself capable of it. Turns out she is wrong, and there is only better to come.

tagging: @alicuntismswrites, @lisenberry, @pursuitseternal, @hazelmaines, @mostlydriedmango, @maironite

(I do not know who has already done this, sorry!)

(Also, if you've tagged me in one of these games at any point in the last couple months and I've ignored: I'm sorry, don't hate me. My brain has been a mess, and these sometimes seem intensely overwhelming.)

[mssf-milk]

ABOUT

♥︎ What is this?

This is a blog dedicated to the promotion of an ao3 fanfic called "depravity", which you can read here.

I also use it to share our official or bonus art, reblog stuff, and just ramble about it.

♥︎ Who runs this blog?

Me, AKA mssf_milk, or just milk for short. I am the one and only author of the fanfic.

♥︎ Do you also make art?

I do! From time to time, at least. You can find it under the "#milkdraws" tag.

♥︎ Why do you ship this?

I'm glad you asked.

It all started with ao3, and a certain fanfic by the name of DEFORMOGRAPHY introducing me to the concept of a messed up relationship between the human and Sans, stemming from hate, violence, and intrinsic power imbalance, due to the nature of the Undertale world. It was implanted into my brain from the get-go.

I wanted to see more. And I did find more. But it was never enough. That's what "i didn't choose chans" in my bio means, it wouldn't let me go. I needed to see it play out, needed to breathe and live this thing, wanted to see everything it could offer, even... and hell, if no one's gonna do it, I will.

I'm a very emotional person, and I love experiencing the full emotional spectrum when I submerge myself into art. Joy, confusion, horror, the creeps, sadness. The disturbing is very intriguing to me.

With this fic, I wish to explore how dysfunctional dynamics fester, grow, and impact the psyche, decisions, and personality of both parties in a forced relationship. It's a mysterious adventure full of twists and turns even for me.

TL&DR: I love edgy and dark stuff.

♥︎ How often does the blog update? When is the next chapter???

There is no fixed update schedule for this blog or for the fanfiction itself. I am also very busy with college stuff. Please be patient, and stay tuned for the "#chapter update" tag. I am always glad to see how much you like my work!

♥︎ Is this an ask blog? Can I ask a question to a certain character?

This blog isn't intended to be one, but for bonus art, we might draw something if we think it's interesting, funny, or is just a cool idea. Although, all responses to possible questions directed to the characters themselves are strictly non-canon. I'll always try to answer your questions directed at me, though! (As long as it isn't spoiler territory.)

♥︎ Why do you make Sans suffer like this?

Because he's my favorite character. My lawyer has advised me to not continue this response.

♥︎ Why do you villanize Chara? / I disagree with your (insert character here) characterisation.

After Sans, Chara is actually my second favorite character! I just adore them, and there's nothing wrong with liking bad guys in fiction. Although, I do not think of them as absolute evil (since it erases any possible nuance), and do acknowledge the Player's part in the genocide run. What I stand by, though, is that Chara's participation during the Genocide Route is done out of their volition, with no possible corruption shenanigans at play. Just my take on their character, won't get into the details here. But if the way I write Chara/Sans/etc. bothers you, or doesn't fit your vision of it, please keep it to yourself. Nothing good will come out of arguing about fictional pixels.

♥︎ Chara's sex/gender?

Chara is a biological female in this fic, and they/them is always used for them and by them. Although, I am not against other sexes or genders for other Chara's/Frisk's. If you use a different pronoun, I won't correct you.

♥︎ Can I draw fanart of your fic? Can I draw a male!depravity!Chara?

I'd be honored. Please use the "#depravity fic" tag when posting so I can feast my eyes upon it, or just tag me, and I'll reblog it. It would make my day.

♥︎ Chara's age?

Chara was born on 09:09 o'clock, September 9, 1999. They died at 21.

(Get it? Because 2020 affected even the Underground? Eh, thought it was would be funny).

♥︎ Sans's age?

idk. But he is a fully grown adult, and was born way after Chara died.

♥︎ Will (character) do this/that? What happens next? / (Any kind of question that I plan answering in the work itself down the line).

Stay tuned for future updates to find out ;)

[shiroganeryo]

20 Questions For Fic Writers

Thank you for the tag @ofdemonsandangels! Finally got me to babble about writing, eh 😂

As always, I won't be tagging anyone but if you see this on your dash and feel like doing it, feel personally tagged by me!

⭐ How many works do you have on AO3?

Currently twelve. All finished, but there's one in particular that's part of a collection of stand-alone one-shots that I'd like to add more into sometime, hmm.

⭐ What's your total AO3 wordcount?

102,279 words.

⭐ What fandoms do you write for?

At the moment, it's mostly Bungo Stray Dogs (it only took me 7 years to realize I could write fanfic for this one), but I also have some Genshin Impact works and one D.Gray-Man work posted. There's a long, looong doc (38 pages, 16,700 words) in my WIPs for DGM.

⭐ What are your top five fics by kudos?

The Meaning of Sharing Happiness ➡️ To Hold Dear and To Own ➡️ God's play ➡️ Just a Short Break ➡️ A Moment to Cherish

⭐ Do you respond to comments?

I might take a while to get to it, but I always read all the comments I get and am always extremely grateful that people took their time to write something; so I usually worry about giving each reply the proper attention and if my gratitude is translating well into my words whenever I get to reply.

⭐ What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Hmm, I haven't one of these. I only wrote mild angst once and even that got resolved within the specific work. I don't see myself writing anything like this but it might depend on your definitions of what's an "angst ending"?

⭐ What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Definitely New Pages in Our Very Own Novel - my three-chapter wedding and honeymoon fanfic written for dazatsu week this year. I was pressed by time constraints to make it in time, but I poured a lot of love and care into this one, merely because they deserve to be happy and at peace; so many of the moments in this fic are light or meaningful in some way, but still lovely, all the way to the ending.

⭐ Do you get hate on your fics?

Not that I know, thankfully!

⭐ Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I do, have some posted and I'm still rather proud of them! Describing "what kind" is a little hard (no pun intended) because my ideas usually stem from the thought of "I want to see this specific thing happening so I'll make it". I went into kinkier territory once, but in general, I think what drives me to write smut is having the people involved getting down and dirty but in a passionate way, if that makes sense? I like to make their love for each other show in how they handle each other but I also like the couples to be unapologetically into it, show off their sensuality and personality while at it. A good mix of sexy and lovely.

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

My brother in Christ, I already have trouble managing people from one universe in only one work. So, no 😅

⭐ Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Hopefully not?! I'd be very upset.

⭐ Have you ever had a fic translated?

If it's been translated by myself, does it count? I translated one of my fics to my native language (Brazilian Portuguese) via voice call with my little sister once, she's still studying English but she was adamant on reading something from me, so I translated that one for her. It was a very fun experience, actually!

⭐ Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Not yet and I don't think I ever will; I have such a demanding pacing for writing that I'd overworry about inconveniencing the other person.

⭐ What's your all-time favorite ship?

No matter if it's in regard to posted fics, or in my general opinion, my answer is the same: Dazatsu (Dazai Osamu x Nakajima Atsushi) means the world to me.

Story with this ship began years ago but like I mentioned in question 3, it took me a lot of time to realize I could write for them as well. Every single fic I write for them has a dedication to my spouse in the notes, but that's the most I'll say because trust me, this story is LONG haha

If we're talking about the amount of rent-free living inside my head, then it's a tie between them, ChuuAki (or ChuuSano, not sure which ship name people use mostly nowadays for Nakahara Chuuya x Yosano Akiko) and ZhongVen (Zhongli x Venti from GI). I definitely plan to write more for chuuaki at some point; they all live happily in a three story building inside my mind 😂

⭐ What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

There's a rather extensive GI WIP (for Lumine x Noelle) in my folder that I feel doubtful toward purely because I'm so uncertain about it; when I started writing that one, we were only at the start of the story of the game so things looked very different from now. I'll need to rework and scrap many things in that one...

⭐ What are your writing strengths?

One thing that I put a lot of attention and care into, and that has been praised time and time again, much to my happiness, is character portrayal. I've been told on various occasions that my characterization of the characters felt close to the original to the point people were able to easily picture them doing and saying the things described in my works, how I got their "voice" right and how enjoyable it was to read because of it. It never fails to put a smile on my face, and I've replied to comments more than once saying that these are the best kind of praises I could get from anyone.

⭐ What are your writing weaknesses?

Not sure how much of this is a weakness or simply a personality defect, but: obstination and self-imposed pressure. I won't be able to relax until I have finished a work I feel I must finish, because I'm so used to not having free time for my hobbies that I have this - usually extremely self-destructive - mentality that goes "I must do all of it now while I still have the chance since I don't know when I'll have time again"; which means I tend to get no breaks at all, will sacrifice sleep hours to work on it, and destroy my back all for the sake of a condition my head imposed on me.

Probably not the answer you were expecting, but it's what I struggle with the most; this ride or die mentality born from perfectionism and a little (?) pinch of anxiety.

⭐ Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in a fic?

If it's a language I can speak, then it's not a problem, though I haven't had the chance to do so (yet).

But here's a random language trivia for you: I tend to think a lot in Japanese for all my BSD fics to make their dialogues as accurate as possible even with the work being written in English - for example, there are certain puns/jokes that exist in English but either don't work or don't exist in the Japanese language, so I avoid adding them; things like these. It's small attention to detail no one but me would know about, but it's something I do because it matters a lot to me.

If it's a language I can't speak, or a cultural aspect I'm unsure of, I either ask a friend or delve into those "Ask A (insert nationality here)" subreddits. It's always a riveting learning experience!

⭐ First fandom you wrote for?

Officially published and first ever: that would be D.Gray-Man. Though Jesus Christ, I would not show my 15 yo's crazy DGM fic full of nonsense and OCs. There were even ships in there that I can't bear to listen the name of nowadays. How the times change 😂

⭐ Favorite fic you've written?

I'll cheat my way on this answer, because I can't pick just one.

SFW: New Pages in Our Very Own Novel & Healing Touch These two are undoubtely the ones I've gotten the most praise for as well as very, very long comments that had me giggling and kicking my feet like I was a teenager again; but what I like the most about them is, respectively: New Pages: I did a lot of research for New Pages. I actually used Google Maps to trace their routes during their stay in the Ginza Prefecture for the honeymoon, just so I would know if they'd need to take the train or if they could just walk to their destinations. One thing that I've always loved in BSD are the real-life places references, so I went for that: I referenced real-life places as well, and even the hotel I picked was also inspired by a real-life one, located in the same place. I paid a special amount of attention to landscapes and their descriptions and it was as fun as it was exhausting! haha The contents of the fic are still the most important, but the experience of writing and doing research for it, learning more and viewing so many pictures to describe things, was one of a kind. I'll never forget it. Healing Touch: This fic was born from a wish of mine to do a certain character study, and I'm still proud of how it came out. Dazai as a character is extremely complex and we all know it, but I wanted to, at the very least, scrape at the surface of his humanity hidden underneath all those layers - all the while I worked on Atsushi's perception of things and the way he dealt with his own sense of sadness and grief and used those to try and understand Dazai's. I can't really say much about it because it'll just sound like a lot of babbling out of context, but I feel like I did a good job on those bits (it's not the entire focus of the fic).

NSFW: Baring Stripes and Bandages I'm sorry, I'm just a furry. Jokes aside, this was the one time I went for an approach that explored some kinks that aren't too vanilla and I'm still quite proud of how it came out. We - my spouse and I, this fic was born from a headcanon of his - often joke saying it's my magnum opus, and then it's just a kinky fanfic 😂 But I'm still so proud!

[tvitr]

Here have some more Grusha hc

Because he's taken over my blog and my brain by this point.

So let's talk about how he gets on with his fellow gym colleagues eh?

Under the cut because I can't shut up apparently.

-As you've probably seen from some of my previous shitposts, he has a massive crush on Katy, though this is purely superficial and nothing more. Partly because she's happily married, and she neither wants to leave her husband for some pretty toyboy, and he doesn't exactly want to be a homewrecker either, but also because she's way too overbearingly mommy-like for his liking. Like she found out he gets a sore back every now and then because of his snowboarding escapades and basically treats him like he's made of glass. If she didn’t mean well, he probably would've told her to fuck off by now.

-As an Artazon native in my hc, he's always kinda known Brassius; first as "that weird guy who sleeps on a bench underneath the windmill and yells at people as they walk by", to "that guy who lives next door with another guy and dad says they're 'gay' (whatever that means)". So he's familiar with who Brassius is long before they're actually colleagues. In term of how they'd actually get along, I... honestly think they'd get along pretty well? Like Brassius is a bit weird and offbeat, but he's also the only other Paldea leader to have canonically gone through some kind of heavy trauma in the past, and (unlike Grusha) appears to be past it enough that he seems comfortable talking about it. Can you imagine them actually having a deep heart to heart about their feelings?? I'm gonna write it.

(No really I actually do have a fic WIP right now about Grusha spending a night with Brassius and Hassel and having a proper deep conversation about his fucked up emotions so see you when that thing spawns)

-At first, he wouldn't have pissed on Iono if she was on fire. She annoyed him big time. Her high energy is a lot for anyone to handle, but combined with her begging him for weeks after they became colleagues for an interview on her show about his accident (as though his accident were the only thing he was famous for), and he just straight up despised her for the longest time. They eventually do smooth things over, he still dislikes her to some extent and avoids her when possible, but it's nowhere near as bad as it was when they met.

-Kofu is Kofu. I don't have much hc about him and I don't think anyone else does :')

-He knows Larry from living in the same town as him, and he probably likes to hang around him at the Treasury most evenings (if Larry's still there after his evening workout, which he usually is). Not sure what they'd talk about but they definitely appreciate each other's company. Probably involves a lot of slandering their jobs and colleagues though. Geeta and Iono are their usual targets.

-Ryme he gets along with pretty well, even if they don't hang out that much. I love the idea that she's actually helped him get to hospital after one of his (many) crashes, like she's out walking her dogs on a hiking trail when he careens out of nowhere and into a tree or something. Bonus if they don't recognise each other at first. Also also I like to think she makes lunch for him occasionally and gets one of her Pokémon (usually DJ G. Rave) to drop it off at his gym. Needless to say, he likes her.

-Tulip, oh boy Tulip. I will confess and say I never intended on shipping them, but I was trawling AO3 for actually readable fic when I stumbled into one of him and Tulip and it was really great and I've read it like a hundred times and now my shipping criteria for Grusha is "unbelievably hot women with lots of money" which Tulip fits pretty well. BUT. I honestly see them being friends with benefits more than anything lol, Grusha really doesn't give off much shippable energy to me.

I need more time to smooth this one over lol

[coleoffduty]

tysm @sapphireblueye for tagging me and for all the wonderful things you do for this little corner of the fandom!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

9! [but i have 17 wips breathing down my neck rn]

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

282,695

3. What fandoms do you write for?

only hotd rn but i really wanna try writing for marvel (nashuri) or dc (batriddle)!

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

- brutus - The Watcher - The Realm's Sweetness - phantoms & fishbowls - legacies

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

yes! i think it's so sweet and intimate when someone takes the time to not only read and kudos my work but also leave an appreciative response,,,, i reciprocate a lot and as a reader, commenting is a bit intimidating so i rlly value the initiation!

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

i don't think anything i have out yet is too sad (but i'm angst tone deaf at times) although 'The Realm's Sweetness' is def the one that comes to mind. it's based on canon/my take on a lore accurate asoiaf storyline for lucemond so,,,,, yikes,,,

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

'love in the dark' and 'brutus' are a tie for that one. rhaenicent get to run away together and live domestically while lucemond get to rule and start their own little family despite,,, the horrors.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

actually not really. i've gotten condescending/backhanded comments but the only fic i've gotten a crumb of real hate on is my fic concept art which was.... interesting....

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

i do! i write the bad kind <3 no but srsly it's just nothing crazy or fun (imo)

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

no,,, maybe when i was like younger but as of now, no,,,

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

nope! but i think most of the ideas/plots i make up are really out there and abstract so if anyone tried-- good luck. i can barely keep up with some of my fic lore and that's because i have it all written down in my notes app.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

no, but i was thinking about translating my english stuff into spanish myself,,, and then i realized how much work that is so,,,

13. Have you ever cowritten a fic before?

nah. i've thought about it... i just feel like my writing process takes a while and anybody stuck writing with me would end up regretting it lol

14. What's your all-time favourite ship

i ofc love my hotd dumpster fires (lucemond, rhaenicent, luaena, alysmond, jacegan, etc) but the first pairing that forever has a special place in my heart are soul&maka from soul eater,,,

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

i have this rhaenicent fic that was in the works but i just sort of lost any new plot to add to it. that tends to happen and my brain randomly picks things back up, but this one has been radio silent for a while,,, nothing i've teased or already have a preexisting work out for though!

16. What are your writing strengths?

detail. foreshadowing. outlandish things galore. you could give me an inanimate, random household item and i'd probably come up with a rlly intricate backstory for it.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

probs smut and the amount of writing i do. average trs and legacies chapters are 5-10k and that leads to slow updates. but hey, i'm trying to learn about quality over quantity.

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

hmmm the only other language i'm fluent in is spanish but none of the characters i write speak it so,,,, valryian is rlly the only language i write dialogue in for fics but that's generated through a translator so eh. things get lost in translation or don't come across with the initial intended meaning. at first, i used to think high valryian was such a nice, intimate undertone for fics but now as someone writing the dialogue and sourcing the translations-- i've become a bit immune. i just use it for plot reasons now.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

b-bts ff- on wattpad- [gunshot] (this was actually a really nice experience and intro into fic writing so,,, army borahae asf)

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

probs 'is this fate (or is this fear)'! i love black mirror and the actual premise is based on one of my own nightmare sequences, so how fun <3 no but yeah i wrote it in a week and felt so immensely pleased with myself for having stuck with the idea and then completing it,,,

tagging @droppofsaltt, @spiderlilac, @unohanabbygirl & anybody else who sees this and feels like doing it <3

[ourflagmeansgayrights]

man by the nature of the circles i follow i generally don't see a lot of takes from izzy stans, but both the notes of the post you reblogged and the original twitter thread just make them look like their izzy brainworms have destroyed their reading comprehension and situational awareness. 'hehe there's two ways u could take that' clearly only one was intended. 'ur so right izzy is fucking blackbeard and he can build a pillowfort' YOU'RE SO EMBARRASSING. the show's creator is annoyed enough to actually voice some push back against the racist idea that history's greatest tactician needs this wet purse dog of a man to do basic tasks. these people really said 'i'm gonna ignore the actual issue being pointed out here and make this about my blorbo and my ship instead' and i don't know how anyone like this is gonna get through season two when they find out izzy isn't the main character they think he is.

ok tbh as amused as i am at the interpretation of that tweet as david jenkins getting so annoyed abt people thinking ed is an incompetent imbecile and is tweeting “ed knows how to build a blanket for on his own for fuck’s sake” i dont actually know how much of The Discourse david’s seen or if he’s aware of how many ppl genuinely believe shit like “izzy is the brains behind blackbeard.” it’s possible he just logged onto twitter and saw that tweet at the top of his mentions or whatever (idk how twitter works) and was just casually like “wtf obviously ed can build a fort by himself” and it’s not meant as an @ at any particular fans. and quite frankly i wouldnt want it to BE an @ at any fans. as toxic as parts of this fandom are, if david or any other showrunners started directly @ing people like “hey your headcanon is racist” it would only make shit worse. if i was a writer for ofmd i frankly wouldve stopped looking at ofmd twitter after a month bc it got so choked with rampant racism and it would make me go insane. like i hope jenkins et al have some distance from the fandom discourse for their own sake.

BUT ANYWAY about the izzy fans. as much as i personally am an ed stan first and a human being second i DO understand why izzy fans would make the joke abt “oh so youre saying izzy is having sex with blackbeard AND he knows how to build a blanket fort?” and i also think the majority of izzy fans KNOW theyre making a silly joke. like they know what david is actually saying. as far as im aware Not All Izzy Fans are the type to believe the “izzy is the brains behind blackbeard” headcanon so im not gonna assume every fan making this joke are doing so to intentionally downplay/ignore ed’s intelligence. i think a lot of them are just making a joke abt their favorite blorbo and while yeah i think the main focus should be on MY blorbo and how smart he is, this joke is so low on the list of shitty things ive seen izzy fans do that im basically just like. eh. whatever. definitely SOME of the ppl making this joke are the type to think ed is stupid and who warp the whole show to focus on izzy but i have no idea who or many so im not gonna worry about it. the joke is kinda annoying to me but im ALSO kind of stretching the tweet jokingly to be like “David Jenkins HIMSELF said that izzy is a useless first mate” (which i DO believe, but im not gonna use this tweet as proof that dj himself confirmed it)

that being said i dont think it’s a funny joke bc izzy obviously has never gotten laid before in his life and also izzy’s never experienced any joy so he obviously DOESNT know how to build a fort. and also of course youre right that there are izzy fans who will not be able to cope with the next season of the show not treating izzy like a special little main character but again this tweet is a single line from david abt a silly headcanon im not gonna get mad at ppl for not using it as a talking point abt racist fandom discourse. idk if david meant that line to be lighthearted or not so im not gonna take it too seriously except to say that ed’s blanket fort had better structural engineering than half the boats he’s ever raided. if the Revenge came under attack or if a huge storm blew through, stede’s cabin would be a disaster but the blanket fort would be completely unharmed

[rosietrace]

Boop Imagine Azure is just focused on a book and Carol just pokes his cheek.

Could also apply to Emil frisk cause he is focused on his work

You bet! I shall do my best!

OC's: Azure Ekoms, Frisk De La Rose

Ships: Carol x Azure, Emil x Frisk

Fitting song for this request would be "boop" from the show RWBY(Don't watch it, the show didn't age all that well, the music is good tho)

{ Apologies for any out of character moments }

{ Azure Ekoms } { Boop }

Resting against his shoulder, Carol felt relaxed as Azure continued to read the book they recently discussed.

They both liked this book and recently decided to review the current parts of the series before the upcoming spinoff, and naturally, Carol wanted Azure to read the first book since.... Well, his voice was soothing to her.

She chuckled when he awkwardly mispronounced one of the words and coughed awkwardly."A-Apologies..." He murmured, before continuing on to the next page.

I think I lost count.... Its a bit surprising how fast he can read... , Carol thought as she looked up at Azure. Smiling to himself as he managed to read 2 whole paragraphs in one breath.

She chuckled before eventually, an idea came to mind.

"Azure..." She called. The latter perked up and looked to his side to stare into her eyes.

"Yes?" He responded, somewhat curious on what Carol had to say. And he only got even more curious when she smiled somewhat more playfully.

"Carol... What exactly are you-"

"Boop."

Azure paused. One moment, Carol's head was resting on his shoulder. The next, he felt his nose against hers for a few brief moments before Carol pulled away with an amused smile.

And in just a matter of minutes, Azure's face had gone into a completely flustered state.

Carol chuckled in amusement as Azure concealed his face with the book, somewhat embarrassed by his expression.

"W-What... Exactly was that?" He managed to question despite his embarrassment. Azure decided to lock eyes with Carol as she was about to respond.

Carol's amused smile changed into a grin as she rested her head on her hand.

"Something called 'affection'."

{ Frisk De La Rose } { Boop }

Deciding to spend time with Emil, Frisk wanted to know more about his general hobbies. Not only because she was curious, but also because she intended to use such knowledge for future gift giving.

Quite honestly, Frisk's timid smile widened as she listened to Emil carefully explain his hobbies.

Sure she was somewhat confused on some parts, but other than that, she felt enjoyment in seeing him so happy while talking about things he loves.

Then, Frisk had a lightbulb moment and her eyes sparkled a bit. Emil managed to catch the moment when it happened and he'll admit, she looked adorable.

"U-Um.... Emil?"

"Yes?"

"W-Well..."

Emil rose a brow, waiting for her to continue. Frisk chuckled awkwardly as she still contemplated for a proper response.

"Can you... Demonstrate how you do your hobbies? Its just- I'm pretty curious..." She asked, somewhat nervous for the upcoming response.

Emil thought for a moment, before eventually sighing and giving Frisk a nod of agreement. She even received just a sliver of a smile on his face. Maybe even a bit of blush too

As Emil began demonstrating, he began to lose track and almost forget Frisk was in the room. Mostly because of how quiet she was, but she's only like that cause she's desperately trying to keep focus.

Bu then....

"Frisk, are you okay? You're awfully-"

Boop.

I mean, it was merely unintentional. It just happened that Frisk was close enough for her and Emil's noses to touch.

But at the end of the day, Frisk always ends up becoming a blushing mess.

"I-I AM SO SORRY! I DIDN'T KNOW I WAS T-THAT CLOSE SO I-"

"Its fine."

".... Eh?"

Frisk's face slowly washed away the redness of her cheeks as she looks at Emil with confusion.

"Its... Fine?"

Emil turned to Frisk, smiling.

"Yes. It is."

[dorothy-webring-resorce]

[ Let's face it--you were never a clothes horse, and you actually believed it when the other kids on the playground said, "You're ugly and your mother dresses you funny!", especially when you may have been forcibly subjected to wearing knee-highs and frilly dresses.  Well if you're here, then you've obviously broken away long ago from that nightmare, but the question is, what do you do now?  In this section, no matter what stage you're in, I'll give you some tips on how to dress like a manly man--strike that, a respectable man.  No, strike that too--a well-dressed man who need not spend what he should be saving for surgery on a pair of elevator shoes.

Okay,  you've bound yourself (or have already had the fortune of having had surgery), you've shaved and slapped on the aftershave & cologne, and you've had your T shot (or even if you haven't, again, this is for guys in all stages).  What next?  Shopping!  Ahh, the smell of commerce and sweatshop-made garments in the morning.  Hold on a sec, guy--you say you have a budget the size of the change in MC Hammer's wallet?  Not a problem.  I can take you to several places where you can get the goods.  But first, we've got to decide exactly what you want and need.  Let's start from the bottom up (Dale's favorite way to go).

Shoes (plus socks and underwear):  If you're a tall transman, your biggest worry is getting shoes that fit your growing feet (your feet have a tendency to grow once you're on testosterone, and it's not unlikely that you could go up a half size.  Captain Johnathan did.).  For some short guys, transmen and biomen alike, their vertically challenged bodies are a source of frustration and low self-esteem, and they'll do anything short of a Bobby Brady stunt to appear taller (The Artist Formally Known as Net Unfriendly wears huge heels to add to his 5' 4" stature).  The way I look at it, you can either do one of two things:  get over the dang hangup because you've got bigger (no pun intended) things to worry about, or do something and find a way to soothe yourself by actively modifying your height through your shoes.  Either way is work, but for this page's sake, let's try the latter.  Onward and upward...

Pants, Jeans, Dress Slacks:  Again, if you're tall, no real worry.  If you're short, though, you may have trouble finding pants with an inseam that fits (ones that you don't have to cuff or hem up).  What's an inseam, you say?  Well, unlike women's pants and stuff (measured in a ridiculous system of "Size 5" to "Size 13" and so on), men's pants are measured by your waist size--the first number--and your inseam length (the inches from the bottom of the crotch to about the ankle or so).  A very common measurement is 36W/34L.  Short men, however, measure anywhere from a 34L to 26 or 28L.  This can be a plus in some ways and a boon in others:  sometimes the sizes that are produced by some companies (like Levis) are so unpopular that they get shipped to discount department stores (a plus), but other times the sizes are of such little value to the clothing manufacturers that they don't even bother making them (a boon, sort of a slight [sic] against the shorter man).  Well, enough of this, let's get to it...

Shirts, Jackets, Coats:  Well, picking up the size lingo here is also a lot like learning how to read pants tags, as men's dress shirts aren't as simple as S-M-L-XL anymore.  Men's dress shirt sizes, namely the ones embroidered on that little tag just under the brand name go by the size of a guy's neck.  Yep, you heard me.  A 15 1/2 will fit a guy whose neck measurement is 15 1/2" around.  Simple, eh?  Of course, be wary of the "LONG" tag (which means if you're a regular guy who buys a 15 1/2 LONG, you'll end up with sleeves dragging along the floor) or anything that says "One Size Fits All" (as many heftier guys will attest that one size does not fit all).  Keep your shirt on...

Ties, Accessories:  What male wardrobe would be complete without at least one tie (save for Charles Manson's...or Marilyn Manson, for that matter).  Even Dale has a crap-load of ties.  The matter is picking the right tie to buy or wear, and not something that looks like you could use as a potholder (basically, a throwback to the wild bright psychedelic WIDE ties of the 60's...unless you're striving for the look).  Of course, you don't really want to go 80's either, with the thin "Is that a tie or a belt you're wearing around your neck?" look.  Okay, tie me up.

Now that you've explored those links, I hope you can keep in mind and put to use what I've suggested here, but this is by no means a definitive rule-book on what you should do.  Heck, if you have the cash to go spend at Macy's or Saks Fifth Avenue, go forth and spend...just make sure to remember that Dick sent you, and wouldn't mind seeing some of that trickle-down economy at work...]