#or you just might not want to show anyone your writing! this is entirely valid.

[lovelesslittleloser]

How To Be A Good Writer

Read a lot & have an idea of what is and is not good to you in a book/writing

Have an idea that you want to write

Allow the idea to simmer in your mind until you’re completely sure that this is what you want to write

Do so much research

Binge-write and use about 8% of said research

Write a little bit more as it comes to you

Stop writing for probably months/return to step 4

Be reminded of the thing you were writing & start thinking of it again

Mental & emotional agony

Go back to what you have written and fix it with the shame you previously lacked

Repeat until finished/stuck on step 7

This is intended to imply days, weeks, and/or months of time between each step, but please go at whatever pace suits you best! This is your writing, after all, so just use this as a guideline :)

[zephyrchama]

Listening to Magic Moment on a non-stop loop has forced me to write this.

Writing Prompt: MC giving "free massage" tickets to the brothers.

Under the cut. Gender neutral MC, second person, one section for each of the 7 brothers.

Warnings: Nothing hardcore but there is suggestive content (every person has different boundaries so I don't know whether to classify it as some or a lot?). One section almost has a violent outburst (guess who lol it's satan's part), that might be unsettling to some.

The Seven Rulers of the Devildom had expensive taste. Must be a side effect from being some of the most powerful and influential millennia-old entities around.

The student council gave you a regular allowance and there was some side change from various part time jobs, but no way could you afford a custom designer brand gift for each of your housemates. When probed for details about what they’d like, they always say they’d gladly accept anything from you. That’s surely true, but you wanted to gift something they’d actually use and appreciate.

So after weeks of thinking, you got a bag of nice craft paper and some cute stickers that reminded you of the brothers. You holed up for an evening with a Do Not Disturb sign on the bedroom door. Late at night a couple days before Christmas, you snuck into the festively decorated living room and dropped your gifts into the brother’s stockings. Those were also your idea, and technically a gift with some little snacks inside, but now they also contained an extra surprise.

On Christmas morning everyone would wake up and discover your “Free Massage” tickets. One use per ticket. Valid forever.

Lucifer ---

You assumed Lucifer would use his ticket quickly, given how exhausted he often was. Despite being as busy as ever, he showed no intention of using it. Perhaps he thought the gift was beneath him and forgot about it entirely. Perhaps he needed hints to remind him.

For days you would check in on him more and more frequently. Send him a text, inform him that you were around if anything was needed. “Don’t forget to take breaks, ok? I’m here if you need me!”

One evening you boldly slipped into his room on the pretenses of returning a book. The timing couldn’t be more perfect. A sleepy Lucifer was towel-drying his hair after a shower. He sat on the corner of the bed, clean pajama shirt folded neatly beside him.

You took a seat on his other side. The book was large enough to occupy a third space. “Thanks for lending this to me. It was a surprisingly helpful reference.”

“I told you it was, didn’t I?”

He sounded amicable to conversation. Time to go on the offensive. “Do you need any help with that? I have a nice hair dryer from Asmo.”

“No,” he stated matter-of-factly. “I have the same one. I just prefer simple routines like this before bed.”

One rejection wasn't enough to deter you. “How was your day? Did anyone cause you trouble?”

You would have known if one of his brothers had acted up, but maybe something else was on his mind you could take advantage of.

“It was particularly uneventful. Quiet, for once. I’m glad to have this evening off, I have to be up early tomorrow.”

Shot down again. Now Lucifer was reaching for his shirt. Before he put it on, you grabbed his shoulder and weaseled your arm under his armpit and around his back. Not the smoothest move, but he stopped to humor you.

“Is anything on your mind?” he asked.

“It’s just that you’ve been so busy lately, I’m worried about your health. You’ve got to take it easy from time to time.” You rubbed your palm over his back. “I’m sure you get sore when you’re overworked.”

“Indeed. However, it’s something I’m used to.”

He re-folded the shirt and got up to put it away. “Would you like to stay the night? You must miss me, seeing as I’m so busy.”

“Absolutely!”

In the spare moments it took for Lucifer to hang up his shirt, place the returned book on its shelf, and walk back to the bed, you already made yourself at home in the sheets. He chuckled, “someone’s eager.”

The lights turned off and he slid into bed by your side. After only a couple of minutes, Lucifer shifted to face the wall. He already appeared asleep. He must really have been tired after all. Under the warm blanket, you reached to stroke his back again.

A novel idea formed in your mind. If all your attempts failed while he was awake, maybe subliminal messaging while asleep would be effective. You snuggled up close and whispered into his ear, “massage ticket… Use… the massage ticket…”

You weren’t expecting a reply, but Lucifer’s deep voice whispered back at you, “why would I waste such a valuable gift?"

"You're awake?" you gasped. Lucifer's prank had been unexpected. You began softly punching his back. "I thought you fell asleep."

"I'm awake, and I wasn't planning on using that ticket. Especially when you go through the trouble to do interesting things like this.”

Mammon ---

Mammon’s ticket had been confiscated. He no longer had it because he got up early, the most excited out of everyone to receive his shiny new presents, and once he saw what was in his stocking he knew that each of his brothers had one too.

Beelzebub walked in on him rooting around in everyone’s stockings to snag their massage tickets for himself and tackled him, as he thought Mammon was stealing Christmas chocolates. The commotion attracted everyone else and Mammon’s ticket was vetoed in a unanimous vote. But he still deserved a gift from you.

Instead of letting him choose a day and time like the others, you visited Mammon’s room when you felt like it. He was still pouting.

“You know I’ve been on my best behavior all year. S’not fair!” He punched the couch in frustration. He really had been getting into less trouble lately. It felt bad seeing him so down.

“Do you want one now? A massage, I mean. Don’t tell your brothers. It’s a limited time offer since you don’t have a ticket.”

“Ya mean it?”

You nodded, and his misery turned into excitement. He literally jumped up. “Well, do I get a little somethin’ extra too? Since I don’t have my ticket, ya know. Somethin’ to make up for that. I’ve got this nice little outfit you could wear that’s-”

You quickly cut him off before the Avatar of Greed gave too many demands. “Limited time offer with terms and conditions. Take the massage right now as-is or leave it. Up to you.”

“Aaarghh alright, alright. I’ll take it. Feel honored! I’ll humor your little massage for a while!”

Mammon dramatically pulled his shirt off but kept wearing the silliest, smuggest smile. He really was cute when trying and utterly failing to act tough. He sprawled himself out on the couch, “let’s see what you’ve got!”

Since the greedy demon hogged all of the couch space, there was nowhere to sit next to him within arm’s reach. With a “don’t mind if I do,” you decided to crawl over Mammon’s legs and sit on his butt.

In a moment of shock he wiggled out from under you. You would have toppled over the side of the sofa had Mammon’s famously fast reflexes not scooped you up, now placing you atop his chest. “Whaddya think you’re doin’, huh? Who said you could do that?”

“You did! How else was I supposed to… Look, do you want this or not?”

His scowl, no matter how big, couldn’t hide the blush on his face. “Yeah, ok, but just… warn me this time… Ok?”

Leviathan ---

It had been nearly a week since you last heard from Leviathan. After Christmas, you thought you might not see him at all until the new year. There were so many holiday game events happening, after all.

“Think I’m stuck,” read the message that popped up on your DDD late one night.

“Can’t move. Requesting reinforcements. And food.”

Concerned, you popped into the kitchen for whatever palatable finger foods you could assemble on a plate and began making your way to the third born’s room. You knocked, but there was no answer. It had been a while since he gave you a password, but it didn’t seem to matter now. You just walked in.

Leviathan was slumped over in his gaming chair, surrounded by roughly ten different screens. Each had a different game and one was streaming some idol talk show. His trash can, while still relatively contained, was almost overflowing with energy drink cans and snack packages. Levi didn’t seem to notice you walk in. He had been gaming for days. You set the plate at the edge of his PC desk.

“Dang. You live like this?”

Bleary-eyed and vitamin D deficient, he still shrieked. “Whuh? Don’t scare me like that!!”

“I came to answer your distress call. You’re stuck?”

“Oh, right. I did send that, didn’t I.” He turned back to the monitors briefly to pause a few things and save a few others. It was impressive how much he could multitask.

“My back’s turned into a pretzel. I thought I’d finally take a break, but when I went to stand up I couldn’t. I think I’m stuck to the chair, lol. If I, uh, use the massage ticket, could you help me?”

“’course I will. Here, drink something.” You slid him a juice. The gamer chair was pretty tall, blocking all access to Leviathan’s back, so you started tapping away at his shoulders. He scrambled to take his headphones off, which helped.

“Sorry to call you in for such a stupid reason. I know this is a disgusting sight..”

You shook your head, though he couldn’t see it. “How’s your game progress?””Oh, about 80% done everything? 85? But it’s mostly the daily quests now, I’ve maxed out on all the top prizes from the main event stories. Look, I even got this Christmas bow set. It has trash stats but looks like a tree and fires little candy canes.”

A big burly warrior with a Christmas hat on one of the screens demonstrated the weapon.

“Uwaah, you know that really helped. I think I can try to stand now.” Leviathan made a made show of setting his legs on the ground and leaning forward, only to magnificently slide back into the chair. “Ow. Ok. That, uh, wasn’t what I planned.” He turned away. “Don’t look at me.”

“No! Don’t give up!” You spun the seat around and he squeaked In astonishment. “We’re gonna make this happen. Levi! Do you trust me?” It was all or nothing. You dramatically reached out your hands. You knew you could do it. You were going to pull this demon out of the gamer chair.

Steeling his resolve, Leviathan nodded and grabbed your hands. You asked, “ready?”

He confirmed, “Ok… Ok lets go! One!”

“Two!”

As you shouted “three!” in unison, you tugged back with all your strength. Maybe you could have pulled a little less, as the two of you went flying backwards. There would have been some real damage if Levi didn’t cushion your head from the tiled floor with his arm.

“Woaaah it woooorked! We did--”

Mid-celebration, he seemed to notice he was in a compromising position on top of you. After barrel rolling off to the side, his voice got noticeably quieter. “We did it… yeah, uh… Sorry about--”

Leaving no room for negativity, you reached around his back and hugged him before he could finish the sentence. “I really missed you, y’know? Come out of your room more often, Levi.”

His face wasn’t visible, but you’re sure it was bright red as he stammered a soft “alright.”

Satan ---

Satan texted, asking if he could redeem his massage ticket after a long and tiring day. Said it was urgent. His presence was always in demand at social events, galleries, and book shop unveilings. After five busy events in one day he just wanted to return

home to relax with a book, but some idiots were running around the library playing war with rubber band shooters. His fuse that day was incredibly short. So he retreated to the comfort of his room, but each thudding footstep down the hall sounded irksome and brought Satan one step closer to snapping.

When you knocked at his door, wrath was seeping out the cracks into the hallway. He practically screamed at you to get inside. Satan was shaking on the edge of his bed, crushing an unrecognizable object in his hand. The room was dreadfully cold. You rushed to his side, practically jumping into the empty space next to him.

He barely acknowledged you. Rubbing slow, small circles on his back had a quick effect though. Upon hitting between his shoulder blades, his tense muscles loosened and he leaned against your side. You could hear him grinding his teeth. After a long minute passed he exhaled in relief.

You scooted back a bit and guided his head to your lap. Stroking continuous circles, one hand was in his rich blonde hair, the other against his shirt fabric. “Thank you for coming,” he muttered, rubbing a cheek against your thigh.“You really saved me there.”

“Any time. Do you want to talk about your day?” Your voice was low and soft.

“No. Just keep going.”

Gently pulling at his shirt collar, you loosened it to caress the back of his neck. He was still in his outdoor attire. He’d tell you about it in time, once fully calmed down. He tried to apologize for the outburst, though it wasn’t your fault and he didn’t quite know what to say. You brushed his hair back, combing it away from his forehead to let him know things were okay. It became your personal mission lessen the stiffness in his back. You’d work your way down his spine until he relaxed.

“Maybe I could read you a book, too?” You suggested, squeezing his shoulder. Satan shifted his hand to rub your knee in appreciation.

Asmodeus ---

Asmodeus set aside a whole spa evening to use your massage ticket. It was special. He filled his bath with high-end fragrances so his skin would be extra silky. He extended an offer for you to join him in the water, heated with magic to be the perfect temperature, but you said you’d wait in his room. Those baths can take hours. You’d be too pruny to feel, let alone massage anything. He had plenty of interesting magazines to flip through in the meantime, and you got to enjoy the plush sheets on his bed.

He waltzed out of the bathroom in a magnificently fluffy robe, another Christmas gift he’d received from somebody. “Thanks for waiting! Were you lonely? I’m allll ready!”

A brand new skincare set waited on the vanity, stocked with creams and masks for you to try together. Asmo plopped into a seat while you pulled up a spare chair behind him. “What are we starting with first?”

He rifled through the packages. “This!” A matte purple, gooey liquid. “I tried samples of this before, it smells divine. Come here!”

You let him plop a dab of the gloop on your nose and rub it into your cheeks. “There! Give it a few minutes and then wash it off. In the meantime, shall we begin? Hm?”

He turned to face the mirror and wiggled impatiently for his massage, cheekily sliding the robe off his shoulder. “I know you probably can’t wait much longer.” You both laughed. With the robe around his waist, you got to work redeeming the ticket. Pounding against his back didn’t seem to phase him at all, and Asmo hardly moved from the strength of your fists as he rubbed another cream under his eyes. He launched into a story about some fan who sent him a thirty page letter the other day.

“They described my beautiful eyes really well. It was even scented, and each page was another scent. Isn’t that wild? Do you think they did that themselves, or are the pages sold like that?” His eyes peered at you in the vanity mirror. “Hey, can you rub a little harder?”

“Oh, sure!” Knowing it would be hard for you to physically hurt him, you put a bit more force into each tap. “What scent was your favorite? Like, could you distinguish them?”

“Actually, yeah! There were lots of fruits like cherries, strawberries, one was pine scented, and a rose one of course.” Asmo glanced away from his own reflection once again and he shifted his weight back towards you. “Hey, hon? Harder?”

You obliged, squeezing his back muscles with as much strength as you could muster. “Is that… Was it the longest fan letter you’ve gotten?”Asmo let out a barely distinguishable moan. You almost thought you imagined it.

”Hm… Not by far…” He started, but trailed off. With a big breath, he moaned louder and leaned back further. “Oh, come on, harder… ” He wrapped his arms around his chest and wiggled.

“Asmo!? What the-- are you…? Gross!” You lifted your hands in shock and he burst out laughing. Without anything supporting him up, he fell into your lap in a fit of giggles. “Did you think I was serious? Ahaha! You’re so cute when you’re flustered!”

Beelzebub ---

“I ate something that didn’t agree with my stomach, can I redeem that gift for a massage? It might make me feel better.” That’s what Beelzebub asked one afternoon, stopping by your room after noticing the door open. It’s rare for something to upset Beel’s stomach. It must have been really rancid.

“Yeah, of course! You wanna do it here or your room?”

“We’re already here. If you don’t mind.” Beel walked in and made himself at home, smoothing out the covers on your bed.

You got up to shut the door, but wondered if a run to the kitchen would be useful.

“Will ice help? Or any kind of medicine?” Maybe even normal food would cancel out the bad stuff and make Beel feel better, but he declined. Beel already propped his head up on your pillow and laid down.

“You’re gonna lay face up? How am I supposed to rub your back?””My stomach hurts. I thought you could rub that, and I would feel better.””Oh.” Nobody else had been able to look at you directly while giving massages. This was more embarrassing.

Beelzebub realized he hadn’t taken his shirt off, but didn’t want to stand and repeat the process again, so he just pulled it up to his chest. His breathing did seem more labored than usual. Out of pity, you didn’t roll him over. “I haven’t done this way before, so tell me if it’s uncomfortable.”

The demon was so much bigger than you, it was hard to find a good starting spot. “You can sit here,” he said, patting his waist. “Only if you want to. I don’t mind.” So you scooted on up, placing your legs to the left and right of him. Beel is so muscled it was like sitting on a warm rock.

“Where does it feel uncomfortable? Here?” You prodded a bit around his stomach, careful not to make him sick.

“Pff, haha, yeah. That’s it.”

“That tickles?”

“Yeah.”

While Beel softly giggled, you worked your hands along the soft spots between his ab muscles. “What did you even eat?”

“A bath bomb.”You couldn’t help laugh along with him. Beel continued, “I didn’t know that’s what it was until Solomon told me though. I thought I maybe I accidentally had his cooking. It looked delicious. But I think it started expanding, and caused an ache.”

“I can’t blame you there. I almost ate soap once.”

“Really? You?” You were always the more level one when it came to food. “Did it look good?”

You nodded. “Boy, did it. And it smelled amazing, I could smell it from across the room. You probably smelled the bath bomb the moment you walked in that building, right?”

He vigorously nodded. “So you do get it!”

Beel reached up and pulled you into a big hug, catching you off guard so you practically fell on top of him. “Thanks for making me feel better.”

Escaping from one of Beel’s hugs was no easy feat, so you happily went along with it. “Any time. If you ever see one of those fake cupcakes again, maybe we can put it in the bath water and see what it does together.”

Belphegor ---

“I’ve got a fun idea. Meet me in the observatory?

When you showed up to Belphegor’s summons he was counting stars. The observatory was dark but the stars were bright enough to illuminate his silhouette standing in front of the window. He greeted you with a warm smile.

“I brought my ticket. I have a special request though.” Waving the massage ticket in

his hand, he came to meet you in the middle of the room. As your eyes adjusted you could make out that an old telescope was set up next to the fountain.

“ A special request? I guess I could hear you out since I came all this way.”

The two of you took a seat on the floor. For several moments, the only sounds were your own breathing and the soothing flow of water. When he didn’t start explaining, you were afraid Belphie might fall asleep in the peaceful silence. “Are you really gonna wait for me to ask what it is?”

“Yeah. If you wanna know, you should hurry up.” You could hear the smile in his voice.

“What did you want to do?”

He reached to adjust the telescope in front of you at your eye level while explaining. “I thought we could stargaze together, but instead of just talking about what we see, we could draw them on each other’s backs. If you draw the constellations I can tell you what they are. When it’s my turn, I can show you what they look like and tell you stuff about it. What do you think?”

If your eyes could have stars in them, at this moment they would. “That sounds like a really fun idea.”

“Hehe, right? I told you. So take a look, what do you see?”

Belphegor turned his back towards you while you excitedly peered through the telecope. It was easy to focus and you quickly found a target to study.

“Two there, and then… Ok, I think I’ve got it. What’s this?”

You started to replicate what you saw with little knocks for stars, and connected them by slowly drawing arcs between the points. Belphegor’s jacket would slide over his shirt though, messing up the curves.

“Hm…” He sighed. “I thought I would be pretty good at this, but it’s hard to tell what you’re drawing.”

“This might be easier without the jacket,” you admitted.

“Really? I’m too tired to take it off though. Take it off for me?”

His brothers spoiled him too much, just like you did, so Belphegor didn’t move a muscle when you tried to peel off the warm jacket. You had to get in his personal space and lift his arms up for him. You told yourself the struggle would be worth it when you finally wrestled it off of him and could wear it yourself. He was being too uncooperative though, and eventually suggested “how about we switch? I don’t want to take this off, I’m comfortable now.”

Dejected without your warm prize, you agreed. The telescope stand rattled against the ground as he readjusted it and you turned away from him. “Do you still really want to use your massage ticket if I’m not the one doing it?” you inquired.

He hummed and hawed, mulling it over while gazing up at the sky. “Yeah, I do, if it lets me do fun stuff like this with you. I got one, let me know if you have this star sign in the human world.”

The first couple pokes sent tingles through your skin. The stars were really far away from each other, drawn on opposite sides of your lower back, but you weren’t prepared for such a delicate touch and had been distracted. “I don’t… think so? Hold on, draw it again.”

“Don’t you know? It goes like this.” He poked again, a little lower. You let out an

“eep!” and subconsciously scooted forward.

“Wait, I’m not done.” He was clearly holding back laughter. “I haven’t shown you this other one yet.”

The next constellation felt less like the trace of a star, and a lot more like Belphegor just wanted to tickle your sides. “Do you know what this is called?”

“Khh hahaha, no, I don’t.” The laugh-riddled admission further encouraged him. He wiggled lines all over your sides and crept his way to your stomach.

“I guess we have a lot of constellations to talk about then. Good thing the sky is so clear tonight.”

[hretoprvdthepltnx]

would you please write an ineffable husbands fic where they cook together (at Azeriphale's request of course)? It can regard or disregard season 2. Just please make it fluffy and cute

3 O'clock Breakfast

Ineffable Husbands x daughter-son!reader

Summary: Y/n stayed up late to finish the novel they were reading, and it ended sadder than they expected. Seeking out comfort in their Mother-Father, Aziraphale - a fellow book enthusiast, they didn't except him to insist upon a family Smile, Love breakfast at 3am. Their other parent isn't entirely pleased.

Content: hurt/comfort, reader is written as a teenager (can be older or younger but a teen nonetheless), tears over fiction are valid tears, Aziraphale is a sweetheart, Crowley is sour about having to get out of bed, the reader is Crowley and Aziraphale's biological child - don't ask me how that works, just sweet things with an ethereal family,

Rating: 14+ || 1.5k+ words

Their eyes burned with exhaustion and the salt of tears. Five minutes ago, they could barely stay awake - but it was only a couple more pages and they couldn't stop there, not with what was happening in the story. Now the book sat, upside down and offending, on the nightstand by their bed. The tears wouldn't stop, it was a numb sort of cry. They should have seen this coming. Everything was leading up to it they had just hoped...but no. They wanted their parents - someone they could rant to who would share in their grieving. They wanted Aziraphale. He was the one who recommended the stupid book to begin with. But they weren't mad, not really, just grieving and tired.

Sliding out of bed, they made the trek from their room to their parents' down the hall. They paused at the door to wipe their eyes and clear their airway with a sniffle, then gently pushed it open. "Are you guys awake?" They asked, feeling fresh tears block up in their throat at being so close to their parents. Why did it have to work that way? One second you think you've got yourself under control and then your parent speaks or shows up and suddenly you're crying again. The bedside lamp switched on and Aziraphale sat up, Crowley grumbling unintelligibly and rubbing at his slitted yellow eyes. "Darling? Is everything alright?"

They made their way to his side of the bed and Aziraphale opened his arms to welcome them into his freely offered comfort. Their tears were now back in full, and they wrapped themself around the softness of their Mother-Father with the need to be held. Crowley sat up and exchanged a look with his husband. "Love, are you alright?" he asked, his voice thick with sleep. "I-I fin-finished it." They sobbed into the collar of Aziraphale's shirt, and he made a sound of understanding, nodding. "The novel I lent you? Did you enjoy it? I do believe the ending was quite sad, I was rather dewy eyed over it as well."

"Wait, all this is about a book?" Aziraphale shot Crowley a look of warning. "I do believe it is. A rather emotional story, wasn't it love?" Their child mumbled something in to Aziraphale's shirt that might have been 'yes' or perhaps 'fuck you'. Crowley couldn't believe he'd been pulled out of what might have been a dream, or perhaps a memory, either way it involved Freddie Mercury, just for this. Why would anyone ever want to read if this was the result? "Do you want to sleep with us tonight, darling?" Crowley asked, flopping back down with his head on his pillow. He looked at the clock, the red lettering projected an offensive 3:07AM.

Y/n sat up and wiped their eyes, then laid their head back down on Aziraphale's shoulder, looking out. He rubbed their back soothingly, always so empathetic. "I don't think I can sleep right now." Aziraphale hummed, an upturned chipper to roll the sound from his throat. "Well," he said, a breathless excitement and loving smile that cast one identically on to the tear puffed face of his child. His little world right there, teary eyed and oh-so lovable, in his warm and inviting lap. "Why don't we go downstairs, and I make us a pot of tea? Perhaps some breakfast?" Crowley groaned and threw his arms up over his face in exhausted exasperation - both husband and his child ignored him. "Can we make pancakes? With toppings?"

Aziraphale smiled. "Why, of course! Anything you'd like! And we can all make it together!" Crowley sat up, glaring. "Woah, hold on. All of us? I never said anything about breakfast, I don't even like breakfast." Aziraphale guided y/n to stand up and then he followed suit, standing at the base of his side of the bed and glaring back at his husband while their child waited in the doorway, amused. "Well, Crowley, not everything is about you. Our child wants pancakes, now get up and come help us make them." Crowley and Aziraphale exchanged a long look, each silently daring the other to act against them. Finally, Aziraphale grabbed the bottom of the duvet and yanked it off the bed, sending pillows and sheets flying to the floor. Crowley yelled out in protest; y/n stood laughing in the doorway. He glared at them; they glared back playfully.

Aziraphale wacked Crowley gently on the foot. "Up." He demanded with an accusatory pointing of fingers. Crowley groaned in the most dramatic fashion and threw his legs over the side of the bed to stand up, cursing Aziraphale under his breath all the while. His husband and child didn't wait for him as they headed down the stairs to the kitchen. "So, what will it be? Chai? Chamomile? Earl Grey?" Y/n took a seat at the bar while Aziraphale hunted for the kettle. "Which ones do we still have?"

"Umm, let's see," Aziraphale set the kettle down on stove and searched the pantry for tea bags. "I can only find Chamomile. Will that be alright, my love? Would you prefer I made us some hot cocoa?" He waved the box of chocolate powder in the air, and y/n found themself fantasizing about tiny marshmallows. "Let's do hot cocoa." Aziraphale beamed and practically skipped his way back to the kettle. "I was hoping you'd pick that one." It was then that Crowley decided to make an appearance, now fully dressed. "Dad," they said, and he stopped in the middle of the walkway, looking at them with a raised brow. "We are planning to go to bed after this, you do know that, right?"

Crowley walked over to his kid, swaying in the way that Aziraphale and y/n often teased him for, and placed a kiss to the top of their head. "You might be, but I'm not." They looked at him with furrowed brows and confusion so obvious he could practically hear their question in his head. It was like looking into a mirror sometimes, looking at his kid - only they were every bit the angel their Mother-Father was. It was a shame, a damn shame. "Awe, it's too late for that now, sugar. I'm already awake." The clinking of mugs brought their attention back to Aziraphale, and Crowley took the seat next to y/n. "Ah, here we are!" the angel announced, setting two steaming mugs down in front of his little family. Y/n beamed at the little marshmallows sloshing against the walls of the cup, yellow eyes gleaming with delight.

Aziraphale retrieved his mug and lifted it for a toast, Crowley and y/n followed suit. "To the fascination that is human literature." Y/n echoed his toast and Crowley mumbled something about ridiculousness, they all took a sip of their cocoa, hissing as it burnt each of their tongues. "Perhaps we should have waited." Aziraphale commented, making a face at y/n who laughed and agreed. "Perhaps we should have all stayed in bed while we still had the chance."

"Yes, maybe we should have left you there," y/n teased, exchanging slitted glares with their parent. "But then you would have missed the pancakes." Crowley leaned back in his seat and rolled his eyes. "I don't even like pancakes." Aziraphale had started grabbing ingredients out of the pantry, y/n and Crowley got up to help. "How could you possibly know that? You've never even tried them." While Crowley grumbled pointless excuses, Aziraphale handed him the flour and the salt. Y/n grabbed the wet ingredients from the fridge. "Yes, yes, you don't care for human food," Aziraphale waved him off, setting an armful of ingredients on to the cabinet and nearly knocking over his hot cocoa. As soon as his arms were free, he picked up the mug and took a sip, y/n following suit. "However, these pancakes are special pancakes."

"Oh, really?" Aziraphale hummed, exchanging glances with his kid. He sent them a playful wink. "Yes, very special. Because we'll be making them as a family, Crowley. Isn't that nice?" The expectant look on his child's and husband's faces were one in the same. Crowley hated the way he never stood a chance against them. "Ugh, fine," He fought back a smile at the hugs that engulfed him immediately after he caved. "But only if the two of you will stop pestering me." Y/n and Aziraphale exchanged a grin and a nod, "Deal." they said in unison. Crowley leaned against the counter as y/n got out mixing bowls and Aziraphale began measuring ingredients, and he sipped his cocoa. It's going to be a long night, he thought and then, despite himself, he smiled. If this is what love does to a demon, it was pathetic. Yet he couldn't help but to allow it to warm him from the inside out. He was going soft.

"Hey, dad?" y/n asked, looking up at him bashfully. "I can't reach the mixer." Crowley sighed, putting emphasis in to an exasperation he didn't feel, and set down his mug. "I got it." Aziraphale looked up from his carton of eggs and smiled at the pair, his little family. Crowley pretended not to notice, and he purposefully ignored the smiles his loved ones sent each other - not so sneakily - behind his back. It would be a long night, indeed, having to keep up pretending he wasn't enjoying it. He wasn't, not really. Well...perhaps just a little.

|| masterlist ||

story by hretoprvdthepltnx©

Ineffable Husbands/Good Omens copyrighted by Neil Gaiman©

[starryjkoo]

This might be a controversial opinion but some of y’all need to learn to pick your battles and stop chasing the validation of PJMs and JJKs. Who cares if JJKs are hyping some fictional friendship and writing fanfictions because Jungkook stood next to some random dude twice? Who cares if solo fanbases crop out and don’t post the whole picture (that no one should be reposting btw)? Who cares if PJMs and JJKs don’t acknowledge their friendship? As long as they aren’t dragging Jimin or JK, or even overtly saying anything negative about their bond, literally why do some of you guys care what solos of all people think?

It’s odd to me that some jkkrs will go into solo spaces and then try to get them to acknowledge a member you know they hate and regularly drag. What are you expecting to happen? JJKs actually not mentioning or paying attention to JM is literally the best case scenario. I absolutely wish they would never look at him or talk about him or post anything about him ever again. I literally don’t care if they think JK loves random solider #2 or Mingyu or an inanimate object more than he loves JM and neither should you. They are NEVER going to acknowledge Jikook’s friendship, so stop expecting them to. That is literally one of the least offensive things I’ve seen them do this week alone and it doesn’t actually hurt Jimin or JK, it’s just annoying.

100% make fun of them in your own spaces for being so lame and immature about Jikook enlisting together, they ARE super weird for hyping up this random friendship they suddenly invented (and yes I know they were likely doing it on purpose), it IS really frustrating and sad how dismissive so many people are about Jikook -- but I still don’t understand what some jkkrs were expecting. I sincerely hope that whenever the Jikook travel show drops they keep cropping them out and pretending they’re besties with random bartenders and camera men because the alternative is them dragging JM and JK and their entire bond nonstop. Solos are NEVER going to acknowledge their friendship and I wonder why some jkkrs seem to want them to so bad? You are CHOOSING to go into their spaces and be annoyed that these people who call JM slurs and animal names on the regular don’t want to acknowledge his friendship with JK - and some of you are literally antagonizing these people you KNOW have no morals over something like this.

This whole issue snowballed because so many people are bored and miserable right now and tkkrs especially are looking for a fight ever since Jikook enlisted together (or honestly probably since Tokyo). I see how jkkrs can make an innocent post and get jumped and tkkrs can say the most heinous shit about JM and jkk imaginable and get away with it -- but if you’re active online you should know how it is and learn to pick your battles if you actually care about the people you stan. There was no reason for JM or JK to get dragged over something like this.

Anyways this isn’t the end of the world or anything, but I did watch this whole unnecessary drama unfold and opened my twitter account this morning to see report accounts STILL trying to clean it up, so I wanted to rant a bit. I’m sure the Jikook show will unleash the most heinous discourse imaginable so I’m saving my energy for that. Obviously people can do whatever they want, and I’m not saying jkkrs shouldn’t rant or be upset about it in their own spaces, I was just surprised by some of the reactions. Jikook enlisting together makes it obvious to anyone with a brain how close they are, that’s why the people who hate them are being especially weird and petty and obnoxious. JJKs were writing about how JK tattooed ARMY on his knuckles because he knows ARMYs hurt him or whatever just the other day so idk why some jkkrs were expecting them to suddenly celebrate his friendship with JM who they literally hate more than anyone else.

[winterandwords]

Anyone who profits from your insecurity deserves your scrutiny

I am so fucking bored of "This is how to do plot structure the correct way. This is what should happen in this bit and this is what should happen in this other bit. It is correct and if you don't do exactly it like this, you're doing it wrong and that's why you hate your writing and probably every one else will hate it too. Because you're wrong and your story is wrong and no-one will like your story because of all it's wrongness. But luckily I have this thing for sale that will tell you how to make your story correct and then you will be a good writer with all the approval and validation of having bought something about it."

Listen.

I'm not saying there aren't valid and valuable recognised plot structures or patterns in story telling. Of course there are. They span books and films and TV shows and plays and whatever other ways humans create and share narratives, but they're not as universal as you probably think. There are multitudes of shapes of story from different places as well as from different times in history, and often the one true way or the 'best' way is really just the way that appeals to the most profitable market right now. That's fine if it's what you're aiming for and how you want to get there, so please don't take that as me saying that it's wrong to desire or achieve mainstream success - it isn't.

Quick aside! A lot of How To Do Story Structure stuff is based on after-the-fact analysis. The examples that are often presented weren't written following that advice, those rules, whatever. Someone came along afterwards and said, "Ah yes, that fits very neatly into the thing I'm trying to explain" and decided to use it as an example. This isn't a negative point at all. It's just easy to forget sometimes that all the people writing the cool shit you love aren't sitting down with the same roadmap and following it. OK, back to the point.

I'm also not saying that it's in any way bad, unimaginative, formulaic, or any other undesirable thing to study, learn from, or even adhere to the information in educational resources or other guidelines about when stuff happens in stories. There are reasons why some kinds of stories just work. They feel familiar. I'd argue that there's a lot of value in learning those structures and methods, the ones so common they feel like the natural order of things, and then doing them for as long as you want to. Forever, if they work for you.

But also. Sometimes you'll find yourself doing those things entirely by accident because you've spent your life absorbing stories and when you sit down and try to do them on purpose, it feels weird. Sometimes you'll find yourself not wanting to do those things at all because your story is determined to be a different shape. In this house we love experimental literature and we also support embracing storytelling techniques and traditions from every culture.

By all means, learn and explore and implement and experiment and be open and grow and progress by doing as well as by studying. There's a world of incredible resources out there. Try reading a craft book or taking an online course by an author whose work you enjoy, if you're craving something more formal and structured than internet writing advice. Hell, if someone whose work you get a kick out of offers internet writing advice and it's useful to you, devour it.

But if someone is insisting they can sell you a way to create something impressive, ask yourself if you're impressed with what they themselves are creating. Take a step back and consider what they might have to gain by presenting their absolutely essential knowledge that you couldn't possibly live without as HERE'S WHY YOU SUCK. It's not necessary to tear people down in order to inform or educate them. There's nothing wrong with making an income from teaching or from creating resources. Of course there isn't. But. But.

I'm going to say it again. Anyone who profits from your insecurity deserves your scrutiny (and probably doesn't deserve your money) 💜

[save-the-villainous-cat]

Hi Cat!! Hope you're well. I've been wondering, and I don't have anyone to talk book to, so here I am.

What do you think of reading books that might not be written very well? Like don't get me wrong I love a good book where I'm none stop thinking about it and examining it because my mind is blown on how someone could possibly write this, but sometimes, especially when I come back from a reading slump, I just like to read something that makes me feel good.

For example, Iron Wing. I skim a bunch of the parts that are boring, but for the most part, I can enjoy it. But I'll doom scroll on tiktok for a bit feeling bad because I'm apparently reading a book that sucks and everyone hates.

I'm not talking about Collen Hoover type books screw her for ruining booktok.

Hm. Hm.

First of all, thank you for the question! I’ve had this discussion quite a few times and lots of people don’t really like my opinion about it, arguing that literature is entirely subjective and as long as you like it, it’s good literature.

Literary criticism is a fundamental part of literary theory and in my opinion it’s quite important to be able to analyse and criticise texts. Simply, because with literature you cannot only communicate but also manipulate your audience.

Literature has always been more than simple communication and I don’t think that anyone should consume media without thinking about it and criticising it. Because the subtext truly delivers the message.

What is this text about? What is its meaning? Why does it exist in the first place?

Personally, I wouldn’t want to read/watch a story that doesn’t have anything to say — something that is just scene after scene with no actual meaning. That’s a waste of my time.

However, when it comes to “badly written” as in “I dislike the writing style,” that’s different to me.

I read the Spy x Family novel a week ago and personally, I don’t think the writing style was that good. It definitely felt more like a screenplay for an episode.

That could be a translation problem though since I have the English copy. However, the themes and subtext of the little stories, the character dynamics and characters themselves are so dear to me and well-written, I cannot help but enjoy the story.

All together, I think there’s a difference between a good story and an entertaining one. To say a story is good because it is entertaining doesn’t make much sense to me whereas a story obviously can be entertaining because it’s good. Story structure and character dynamics do have certain “rules” you have to obey while writing to make your story work.

I can acknowledge that particular stories aren’t good but entertaining, but arguing that a story is good because it’s entertaining isn’t a valid argument. (In my opinion)

That being said, other people’s opinions on a book you like shouldn’t matter to you. Once you have that book in your hands, the words are yours to read. The text is yours to consume and no matter how you decide to consume media (with criticism in mind or not), do what you think is right for you.

Personally, I believe it’s important to listen to other people when they have valid arguments and make a good point. And even then, you don’t necessarily have to agree with them. I just cannot consume media without turning my brain on. (Unless it’s a show that’s playing in the background because I need someone to talk or I’ll go insane)

But as always, don’t let a random writing blog on tumblr tell you what to think. You have to decide for yourself.

[heyheydidjaknow]

Seriously, what makes L so attractive to people? What makes him so attractive to you? Is it really just how fucking insanely intelligent he is? Like by all means he’s not that physically attractive unless you’re into that sickly-Victorian-dying-child-that-occasionally-lacks-eyebrows-in-some-panels thing (no judgement because apparently I myself am entirely into that), and he doesn’t look like he showers daily.

Is it just deadass because he’s that smart? And his unique personality? Because other than that he is most certainly not the most eligible bachelor out there.

I say this with more love towards L than anyone could ever dream of.

This is a totally valid question and I think we should talk about it, actually.

So, first things first, let’s take a second and acknowledge that the bar for romantically viable characters in Death Note is a bit low. We have Matsuda, sure, and Misa is obviously a goddess but, if we’re being honest with ourselves, Matsuda’s a cuck and Misa’s clearly red green colorblind, and unless you want to just completely disregard common sense and want to go with Light “Women are so simple” Yagami, the dating pool is shallow unless you want to add Soichiro or any of the characters outside of that main pool. Between the Wammy kids it’s an easy pick. Within the Kira task force it’s a slightly harder but still relatively easy pick.

Following up on that, he is solidly the second most relatable character in the cast from a personality perspective. He’s funny, sociable, and actually talks about embarrassing things that he’s done. He’s honest most of the time, clearly passionate about what he does (if only in regards to the Kira investigation) and is delightfully petty against someone that, if you like L and his moral ideals, you are going to hate. L, while eccentric, is still a relatively caring person who obviously can and is willing to attach himself to other people (albeit on a surface level) and doesn’t let that get in the way of things that need to be done, which is indicative of his strong work ethic and drive. Also he’s smart which makes the show less frustrating to watch.

Let’s talk brass tax here for a second. Let’s be selfish. Let’s acknowledge that the man has a stable job and an obvious sex drive and romantic desire. Let’s acknowledge the smoothness of “I could actually fall for you.” If you were to get into a permanent relationship with him, would you have to worry about your finances ever again? No, because even if you’re the main provider he is apparently so good with money that at the age of 26 he has enough savings to construct a building on his own and keep safety funds for the people around him. You never have to worry about him cheating, he’s gonna make sure you’re taken care of, and he is actually an active person which is just a wonderful thing to know.

Let’s not kid ourselves; L is hot. He is the alt boy ideal. That is the target demographic. He is so easy to dress and he looks so comfortable in his own skin and one could argue that his looking like that is a stylistic choice and not his just not washing. He is athletic to an extent and has proven his physical strength so you know he’s not just skin and bones under his clothes. He is very doll-like, which is my type and the type of a lot of the people who watch/read death note.

But why do I like L Lawliet? I like him because he’s smart and because he’s fun to write. I like him because he’s relatable and because you know that if he ever left the house long enough to actually get himself a spouse that he would treat them as well as he could manage and love them passionately. He’s fun to talk about and he’s fun to hang around and I’m a sucker for a good voice and that’s all I really need in a man. Is he eccentric? Yes. Do I think that there are aspects of his character which might impede his ability to be a 10/10 boyfriend/husband. Yes. Can I ignore those things because I like him so much? Absolutely.

[asha-mage]

I've always enjoyed reading your Wheel of Time meta, so I just thought I'd ask: Have you seen/heard about what Brandon Sanderson recently said about Lanfear's ending in Memory of Light, and if so, do you have any opinion on it?

I have, and I think it strongly demonstrates the ways in which Sanderson lacked a core understanding of the themes and ideas in WoT.

I eventually want to do a meta on Lanfear more broadly (probably once she turns up in the show, so I can do a compare/contrast) but the short version is essentially that Lanfear's cardinal sin has always been pride. And Jordan expends a great deal of effort to explore what that means: we're shown time and time again that Lanfear genuinely believes there is no power she should not have, no line she shouldn't be able to cross, no boundary she shouldn't be able to break. This is a neat narrative parallel to Rand, who struggles with power and pride himself as the series goes on, but while Rand ultimately has a good heart and his actions are grounded in compassion even at his most unstable and power-mad. Lanfear's desire and exercise of power is always, 100% about her own gratification.

She seeks the Choden Kal because she wants to overcome the Dark One and the Creator both, she frees the Dark One because she wants the entire world to acknowledge her superiority, she claims all of TAR as her own even though she is less skilled there then Moghedien, even her relationship and love of Lews Therin is more about what it says about her, then it is about caring for him. She desires him because he was the most powerful and exceptional man of her age, and him being with her validates that she also is exceptional and powerful. Her desire to recapture him as Rand is grounded in much the same: she needs him if she's going to carry off her 'dethrone the Creator' plan, and a part of her still views him (even if she denies it) as the Greatest Of Men and thus possessing him as rendering her the Greatest of Women.

Her plan in the end, once that falls apart, makes a disturbing amount of sense: wait for the moment that the Dark One is at his most vulnerable, then extort him for ultimate power. It's a consolation prize to her original goals, and yet still audacious beyond reason, requiring an amount of raw confidence and pride that it otherwise unmatched, even among the Forsaken. It's fitting both that her refusal to just stay out of things and lay low leads to her end, and that her end comes at Perrin's hands.

Because Lanfear, more so then any of the other Forsaken, dismisses those she considers beneath her, and unlike the rest of the Forsaken she never stops. Everyone else eventually comes to realize that not only are the 'savages' of this era capable of matching them, outwitting them, and otherwise being genuine threats, Lanfear refuses to the bitter end. Jordan hammers home again and again that pride blinds you, both to the validity of other's experiences, and the dangers they might present. But Lanfear, whose pride is greatest among the Forsaken, refuses to learn that lesson. To the very end she continues to underestimate the heroes, because her pride will not let her see anyone as a true threat to her. She turns her back on Perrin never expecting him to have the willpower to overcome her Compulsion, never thinking that a man who can not channel, a man she's already deceived and manipulated and 'tamed', could be a threat to her. And she pays for that with her life.

Sanderson's reversal of that undercuts the strength of Lanfear's entire story, and instead validates her pride and arrogance. As with so much of his writing regarding the Forsaken, it misses the point, and so, the mark.

[polyamorousmisanthrope]

Organization, Self-discipline, Distractability, and a Rant

A friend of mine re-posted this tweet. I am quite certain that because of this friend’s (VERY REAL) struggles there was a feeling of being seen and validated. And that’s a valid point of view. If something comforts you in your struggles, that’s valid, no kidding. And this article might annoy you. Scroll on by. I’m not wanting to dump on what keeps you going. Times are rough enough. Seriously…

My initial reaction before logic kicked in was nearly incandescent rage. Which led to this rabbit hole as I tried to deal with it.

Why did a little meme make me so mad?

So, remember how it took me thirty years to vacuum a closet? I could have as easily said it took me thirty years to pay my bills or cook a meal or several other things.

Oh sure, I’m organized now. I’m talking “color-coded boxes when it is time to move” level of organization, ‘kay? But even though other people don’t see it, I still remember being shamed in fourth grade because of the desk cubby crammed full of books and papers, and being asked, “You’re so smart, how come you can’t–” about So. Many. Things.

I didn’t become organized by ignoring reality

I am not naturally organized. I am not naturally industrious, and I am not naturally all that productive. I’d call myself lazy, but that invites a lecture from anyone who loves me about being too hard on myself.

I did, at some point, need to accept certain realities. Not paying bills can land one in court. Disorganization can be a big problem in one’s professional life. In my own case, I also have a big problem with depression, so I cannot count day to day being on the ball and thinking clearly. (I mean, really, this rant was because of an initial reaction of NOT thinking clearly)

So, shooting for some damn Platonic Form of “Organized and Disciplined” in my case is a recipe for failure. I’m going to bet it is for you, too.

If your plan has no way to account for delays and failure points, it’s a wish, not a plan. There used to be a fashion in self-development on YouTube to have The Perfect Morning Routine. You know, get up, do twenty minutes of yoga, make yourself the perfect nutritionally-balanced breakfast, read some Improving Literature, and bike to work… that kind of thing. To tell on myself, yeah, I’m trying to get in more stretching and yeah, I use a yoga app for that. My general idea is that I’ll get up and do twenty minutes of yoga (stop laughing at me) and then do my day. I did not, in fact, get right up and do that. It’s almost ten in the morning, I’ve been up since six, and I’m here writing this incredibly detailed rant and not getting in that stretching. So I’m failing, right? Wrong.

“Imperfectly Perfect” has a lot going for it My goal for the month is to get in ten minutes of yoga a day as an average measured over a month. I’ll throw in a few minutes today at some point. Probably after I write this. While an organized person looks like they’re doing things in a strict way and in a specific order, that may not be entirely the case. Sure, you have to show up at the dentist at a specific time, or take your meds before you eat or something. But what time you do your writing or wash your dishes has a lot more wiggle room. Let it have that wiggle room and let goals that don’t need to be exact be inexact.

“Good Enough” and “Perfect” are two different things. Good enough is better than Perfect. Bed making… I’ve heard people say that bed-making is too much trouble. When I hear that, I almost always presume another choke point — bed against the wall makes making it a pain in the ass, depression makes it hard to get OUT of bed, never mind making it, things like that. But… If the only time you make your bed is when you have the energy to make it neatly enough you won’t be yelled at on Parris Island, you have absolutely confused “Perfect” and “Good Enough.”

I took that picture thirty seconds before I wrote this. I did no adjustments on the bed. It’s just how I made it this morning. I woke up this morning cranky and wanting to punch Humanity in the mouth. So, not motivated. This meets my personal definition for good enough. It’s made. I’m dressed and doing my day.

Good. Enough.

Defining Good Enough will help you. What is “Good Enough” in your life?Ignoring real issues of executive function will set you up for failure.

Are you distractable? I am. In fact, this article is a prime example of distractability for me. I haven’t written what I plan to do for the day in my Bullet Journal and haven’t done most of my Wednesday morning chores. I got ranty and just had to sit down and write this. That yoga I was going to do? That planning out the day I (usually) do? Obviously not happening right now as I ranty, ranty, rant.

But my life is set up to account for things like this. I accept and plan for the fact that stuff like this happens! I have a means to track what needs to be done that won’t let the genuinely important and urgent things fall through the cracks. Even though I am currently caught up in the glorious dopamine hit of ranting, those things that need to be done are quietly sitting in their places, waiting for my attention.

Thing is, it’s more than just a to-do list. It’s setting up your life to account for how your brain works.

That might mean storing your extra sheets under your mattress so you will immediately re-make the bed when you wash your sheets, or hanging a mask on the back of your door so you don’t forget to put then thing on before you leave your apartment. (Yeah, I know, that looked oddly specific, didn’t it?)Being organized and disciplined is a skill. Mastering skills take time.

Think of anything you know how to do — playing an instrument, cooking a meal, writing fiction, driving, whatever.You might have wanted to master it overnight. But if you actually developed the skill instead of stopping the activity, you probably put in a lot of time and effort. You probably had failures that made you wince at yourself.

Learning the skill of organization is no different.

I know that saying it took me thirty years of solid work to get organized seems like hyperbole. It’s not. It was really that difficult for me.

Which is, I know, why images like the above set me off a little. I know the intention is to make people feel better about a mutual struggle.

But it also makes me feel like in the common cultural mind, my life’s work was mostly a waste of time.

[licncourt]

Hi!!!! I have been reading your tvc metas, and they are wonderful and I want to thank you for it!

I have been struggling to read theses books, and it really help me, I love IWTV, Louis is my fav, the aspect and style of first book is astonishing, the entire loustat dynamic is fascinating. And as much I love Lestat too, I didn't like TVL, and it left me frustrated with myself and disappointed with the book. It took me weeks to read TVL, and even more months to finish QotD. For me IWTV could stand alone, the other books seem to be part of a completely different series.

Your metas have helped me deal with my frustrations with TVC, and thank you for that, because i love theses characters (some of them) and I want to know their stories, still sad due to the lack of Louis, and I will try to read all the books so that my information about it are not all second handed.

and most important, I love your blog, I love your art and your fanfics 🫶

That's so nice of you I'm so so glad!! It's so exciting when someone likes my metas and fics, I love to write them! It's especially cool if it's made the books more enjoyable!! Book Louis is my special little guy of all time and like a small weird mangey rabbit that I keep as a beloved pet even though he bites so I'm also very happy to hear that you loved IWTV!!

As pretentious as it sounds, I was disappointed that a lot of new fans coming from the show didn't really Get book Louis or make an effort to understand his character. He's....challenging (nasty and gross) but there's so much rich character building there and it makes me sad when people write him off as boring and one note. AMC Louis is a really great character and I enjoy him a lot, but I don't like sentiment that he's a "fix" for a bad character.

As for TVL, I really do love it (even though IWTV is my favorite), but I can see how the style change can be jarring. In a way, it almost IS a different series because the narrator and POV has changed so drastically. It's in the same universe, but a totally different take on it to match a contrasting personality. I think it comes across better on a second read too because you're more prepared for the switch and have more context.

I can understand being partial to one style or the other (plenty of people prefer TVL to IWTV which I understand for sure), but I hope that even if the book itself wasn't for you that you enjoyed the insight into Lestat’s character. The first two books combined make for such a fantastic relationship dynamic in top of great stand alone characters, even better than just IWTV on its own in my opinion because now we know so much about them both.

This might be somewhat controversial among VC fans (?) but I don't really care for QotD either, with the exception of the Devil's Minion chapter and the ending with Loustat. I think it really shows the flaws beginning to emerge in AR's writing, but it's SO much better than what comes after that it gets more praise than maybe it deserves. Then again, I'm extremely partial to character-driven stories, so maybe if you're a plot guy it's a matter of preference.

If you've read my metas I'm sure you know that I don't really recommend anyone read past QotD, but I also see it as kind of rite of passage if you really want to be in the real trenches of the book fandom. It's miserable and you won't be the same afterward but the curse of forbidden knowledge is kind of a unifying factor, the ties that bind. If you choose to proceed then I wish you best and hope you'll come back to commiserate later.

Either way, I'm really glad you got some value from my metas! I love some of these characters so much and I'm super happy they were validating for you as a reader and maybe enhanced the experience in other ways! I aim to provide only the best VC Sparknotes.

I always have more to talk about (in meta and in fic), so I hope you enjoy everything that's coming just as much!

[butterflyslinky]

AO3: How to Get Your Fic Seen

I was going to put this on a reblog of another post, but realized it would get too long and distracting for OP, so I'm going to write my own post. This is in relation to people who seem to think that AO3 has an algorithm that determines which fics get seen, and are thus making life more difficult for everyone by trying to game a system that doesn't exist.

The way to get your fic seen on AO3 is through the tag system. Not for algorithm purposes, because there is no algorithm, but because tags are how people find things! That's how the site is organized and how people decide if they're going to read a story.

Let's say that I have a fanfic where Blorbo and Dinkus from My Guilty Pleasure Show fall in love in a coffee shop, have no problems, and then there's smut. I, an attention-whore fanfic writer who craves validation, want to make sure that people find my story and that they're the people who will enjoy the fic.

So I start with the rating. I have a very explicit scene at the end, so I rate the fic "Explicit." This means that people who want to read smut will find my fic, and the people who don't want to read smut can see the red E marker and decide to skip it. I might add a tag saying the smut is only in one chapter--put a pin in that.

Next are the Archive Warnings. In this story, everyone's happy and nothing bad happens, so I will select "No Archive Warnings Apply." This means that people who don't want to see Major Character Death, Underage Sex, Graphic Violence, or Rape/Noncon can look at my fic and know it's safe for them.

Or, if there's a scene with a warning that I feel would spoil the entire story, I can select "Creator Chose Not to Archive Warnings." This means that there could be a situation that someone might want to avoid, and they can use the additional tags and their best judgement to help decide if they want to read the fic.

After this is the Fandom. Blorbo and Dinkus are both from My Guilty Pleasure Show, so I'll enter My Guilty Pleasure Show. This might bring up multiple tags, but I want the one for the TV show that ran from 1970-1982, so I'll find the one that says "My Guilty Pleasure Show (TV 1970)". If I have a character from That Awful Thing You Hate play a major part, I'd also choose "That Awful Thing You Hate (TV 2004)". This will categorize the story as a crossover, and let fans of both shows find the fic.

Next up is the Category. My story is a romance, and Blorbo and Dinkus are both male characters, so I will choose the M/M category. This is fairly straightforward for anyone who's ever written fanfics, but just in case, the options are F/F (a female/female pairing), F/M (a heterosexual pairing), Gen (a fic not focused on romance), M/M (a male/male pairing), Multi (if there are a lot of pairings of several types), or Other (if you aren't sure or your story doesn't fit any of these).

Next is Relationships. My story is focused on Blorbo and Dinkus falling in love, so I'll put in Blorbo/Dinkus, so people who liked that pairing can find it. But there's also a subplot where Blorbo's brother Gulp falls in love with another guy named Shitto, so I'll also tag Gulp/Shitto so those shippers can find the story. If Gulp/Shitto is a very minor part of the story, I can also put that tag into the Additional Tags field--put a pin in that.

Next is Characters. This is where it gets complicated, but generally speaking, you should tag every character *who plays a major part in the story.* If Blorbo's bff Thingie is the one pushing Blorbo and Dinkus together, Thingie should be tagged here. If Thingie only gets mentioned for one line, they should be put into the Additional Tags.

Which brings us to Additional Tags. This is where I'd tag everything that doesn't fit into the above categories to make it easier for people to decide if they'll like my story. I'd start with Alternate Universe-Coffee Shops and Cafes. That lets readers know this is a coffee shop AU. Since it's a happy, feel-good story, I'll tag it as Fluff. It's a story that goes on for twelve chapters and the smut is at the end, so I'll tag Eventual Smut. And then I'll tag everything that comes with the smut.

This is also where you put the minor characters or pairings. If I want to let people know Thingie is mentioned in the story but they don't play a big role, I'll put Thingie in here so that Thingie's fans aren't disappointed that they don't play a bigger role. If I mention Thingie in conjunction with their girlfriend Whatevs, I'd put Thingie/Whatevs in this field.

Finally, the Additional Tags field is where I put things that aren't Archive Warnings but that I think might be triggering to some readers. So if Blorbo and Dinkus go out to a bar and get drunk, I'll tag "Alcohol" and "Drunkeness." If Blorbo and Dinkus have sex while intoxicated, I'll tag "Dubious Consent" or "Drunk Sex." This lets readers decide if they want to engage with what I've written or if they'd rather go find a story without these elements.

Keep in mind, though--you can only have 75 tags between the Fandom, Relationships, Characters, and Additional Tags. This means you should only tag the things that are super important to your story, potentially triggering to readers, and common enough to draw readers in. You don't want to tag every minor detail or passingly mentioned character, as this will only eat up your tags, meaning you might miss something that really needed a tag, and frustrate your readers, who will wonder why you bothered to tag the blue rug that shows up in one scene.

Remember, there is no algorithm on AO3. While the results for a tag default to "Oldest to Newest," readers can change it to be alphabetical, or by the number of hits or kudos, or anything else. The people who want to see your story will see it if it's tagged correctly for them to find it.

Happy writing!

[crowley-the-1-true-king-of-hell]

#The Crowley tour is the tag

Event is once a year

Who can join?

Anyone who loves Crowley

Is Cas included?

It is really hard to align their episodes because of how much Cas has over on Crowley 🙈 but a separate Cas bus is something that you can do

Do I have to watch every episode?

No. I understand that some of my followers have Crowley episodes that are too painful to rewatch like Beyond the Mat or All Along the Watchtower

How does it work?

You watch an episode and you entirely OPTIONAL share something inspired by Crowley in that episode. Here are some ideas but even just doing one is enough

• A quote of something they said in the episode

Like even the quote by itself is valid. This is to make it clear that the contribution doesn't have to be big. Like if all you do is write "They ate my tailor!" and that is your entire post apart from the tags. That is a valid contribution

Everything in these bullet points is inspired by Crowley in that episode

 • Fan art

 • Fan fiction

 • Meta

 • Venting [ maybe you need to vent about how Crowley was treated in a particular scene ]

 • Gushing or happiness

 • Screenshots

 • GIFS

• Episode reviews and what you would rate the episode out of 10

Incorrect quotes

Liking and reblogging other people's Crowley tour content

• Etc

As long as those things are inspired by Crowley. If other characters are involved, it's because Crowley is in the scene with those other characters. Those other characters are spoken about in relation to Crowley

But what if I can't finish the parts of those suggestions I want to do on the same day?

All good you can always share later. The point is we are all on this tour together. To use a metaphor, we are all in Europe taking photos of different locations, but some people might spend more time editing the photos than other people. The point is we all "took the photos" or watched the episode on the same day. We all went on the journey together even if we don't share "photos" of that journey together. Just make sure to tag the episode

What time does it start?

April 16th UTC +0

Can I skip parts of the episode and only watch the parts with Crowley in it?

Sure! It is about him after all. However I do suggest reading the transcripts to make sure you aren't missing any voice overs, where because Crowley doesn't show up on the thumbnail you mistakenly think he isn't in that scene and end up unintentionally skipping by it

I had to miss a day and had to watch the episode later is it okay if I contribute to the relevant tag anyway?

Definitely!

I don't like a particular episode or scene within the episode even though Crowley is in it it's too painful can I skip the episode or that part for that reason?

Yes! absolutely. See on a hop on hop off tour bus you don't have to get out for every single location. But we are on the bus together. We might not be together for every single one of the same destinations but we are together for the journey

You might want to filter out Spn 11x15 tag or whatever episode really grinds your gears

Is the bus gatekeeped?

No. That just causes unnecessary animosity when Tumblr filters exist. As long as you tag your ships and relevant characters. Also you might have your own bus in mind for character & character

Remember to tag the episodes e.g #Spn 11x15 all ships and relevant characters e.g #Drowley, #Spn meta, #Spn gifs, #Spn art, #Spn vent, #Spn review etc. People may be on the journey for different reasons

The episodes for the Crowley bus tour

What is up with the episode order?

Possibly most amount of Crowley to possibly least amount of Crowley by CTRL + F'ing Crowley in the episode transcript

Why season by season? So you can hop off the bus once you hit a season you don't like. You aren't any less a fan if you can't rewatch Crowley get butchered

Why out of order? If you're a Crowley fan you have probably seen all of his episodes already so this freshens up the rewatch

How often?

Once a year

Episodes

5.20 The Devil You Know - April 16th UTC +0

5.10 Abandon All Hope - Apr 17

5.21 Two Minutes to Midnight - Apr 18

6.04 Weekend at Bobby's - Apr 19

6.20 The Man Who Would Be King Apr - 20

6.10 Caged Heat - Apr 21

6.22 The Man Who Knew Too Much - Apr 22

6.21 Let It Bleed - Apr 23

6.08 All Dogs Go to Heaven - Apr 24

6.07 Family Matters - Apr 25

6.19 Mommy Dearest - Apr 26

7.23 Survival of the Fittest - Apr 27

7.01 Meet the New Boss - Apr 28

7.08 Season Seven, Time For a Wedding! - Apr 29

7.06 Slash Fiction - Apr 30

7.22 There Will Be Blood - May 1st

8.23 Sacrifice - May 2nd

8.07 A Little Slice of Kevin - May 3rd

8.21 The Great Escapist - May 4th

8.01 We Need to Talk About Kevin - May 5th

8.02 What's Up, Tiger Mommy? - May 6th

8.19 Taxi Driver - May 7th

8.10 Torn and Frayed - May 8th

8.17 Goodbye Stranger - May 9th

8.22 Clip Show - May 10th

9.11 First Born - May 11th

9.16 Blade Runners - May 12th

9.10 Road Trip - May 13th

9.21 King of the Damned - May 14th

9.06 Heaven Can't Wait - May 15th

9.02 Devil May Care - May 16th

9.23 Do You Believe in Miracles? - May 17th

9.17 Mother's Little Helper - May 18th

9.04 Slumber Party - May 19th

10.14 The Executioner's Song - May 20th

10.10 The Hunter Games - May 21st

10.03 Soul Survivor - May 22nd

10.23 Brother's Keeper - May 23rd

10.22 The Prisoner - May 24th

10.01 Black - May 25th

10.02 Reichenbach - May 26th

10.17 Inside Man - May 27th

10.09 The Things We Left Behind - May 28th

10.16 Paint It Black - May 29th

10.21 Dark Dynasty - May 30th

10.07 Girls, Girls, Girls - May 31st

10.12 [ Crowley voiceover ] About A Boy - June 1st

11.18 Hell's Angel - Jun 2nd

11.06 Our Little World - Jun 3rd

11.10 The Devil in the Details - Jun 4th

11.03 The Bad Seed - Jun 5th

Sorry but I have to put Beyond the Mat last because it just sucks that bad and if it wasn't for the Crowstiel parallel I would pretend that episode didn't exist

11.09 O, Brother, Where Art Thou? - Jun 6th

11.02 Form and Void - Jun 7th

11.23 Alpha and Omega - Jun 8th

11.22 We Happy Few - Jun 9th

11.01 Out of the Darkness, Into the Fire - Jun 10th

11.14 The Vessel - Jun 11th

11.15 Beyond the Mat - Jun 12th

12.15 Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell - Jun 13th

12.21 There's Something About Mary - Jun 14th

12.12 Stuck in the Middle ( With You ) - Jun 15th

12.07 Rock Never Dies - Jun 16th

12.23 All Along the Watchtower - Jun 17th

12.13 Family Feud - Jun 18th

12.08 LOTUS - Jun 19th

12.02 Mamma Mia - Jun 20th

12.17 The British Invasion - Jun 21st

12.03 The Foundry - June 22nd

12.01 Keep Calm and Carry On - June 23rd

12.09 First Blood - June 24th

I have had this planned for awhile now

[fairyofthehollow]

just me screaming and yelling into the void.

i feel like i’m going crazy sometimes. specifically regarding the literal genocide of palestinians being documented and broadcast online right now. i don’t know how people have gone so long, literally nearly two months (!!!!!!), without knowing what’s going on. how? how is that possible? and let’s say they do know about it, they might say “well, it doesn’t concern me” or “i’m neutral” or “it’s too complicated”. WHAT? i’m so so sorry? what was that? what on earth is complicated about apartheid, occupation, colonisation or GENOCIDE. and it does concern you, actually!!! like it really does!! it should enrage you that the world is watching an occupying power murdering en masse. it should enrage you that human beings are being subjected to such horrific acts of violence. it should enrage you that children are writing names on their arms so people can identify them if a bomb drops on their heads. it should enrage you that palestinians have to scream and cry and shout and hold up their martyred loved ones to validate their suffering and get the world to even glance at them. it should enrage you that a group of children had to stand in front of the tv, say a speech in english, to get the world to listen. it should enrage you that nurses, doctors, and surgeons had to hold a press conference in front of the martyred to show the world what is happening — because telling the world wasn’t enough. it should enrage you that the president of the united states accused people in gaza of releasing false numbers of people killed, to which the palestinian ministry of health had to release tens of pages of names — entire families aged 0-100 — of the palestinians murdered. to justify their suffering. it should fucking enrage you beyond belief that even democrats and progressives in the u.s don’t give a shit about marginalised communities or brown people or arabic people or muslims because they just signed a bill declaring any condemnation or criticism of the “state” of israel is anti-semitic. the list goes on and on and on and on. so many people don’t care. they don’t care or they’re okay with it or they support it. from people in incredible positions of power to celebrities to the every day person — so many people don’t give a shit about what is happening in gaza and the west bank. people are refusing to hold any person with a platform accountable and for what? they’re refusing to boycott (such a simple thing to do) and for what? for WHAT? is your life going to end when you don’t get your overpriced starbucks drink? or your shitty mcdonalds? is it going to end when you put your critical thinking caps on and start looking at celebrities for who they really are at the end of the day: money hungry capitalists? is your life going to end if you acknowledge that people don’t want to vote for joe biden for committing genocide? is it???? is it???!!!!! when will people wake up. when will they open their eyes and pay attention and do the right thing. when will people have a backbone. when will people gain empathy for an entire people being erased from the planet. when when when when when when when.

like do people not see it? the terrorist occupiers are erasing an entire people. an entire group of people. they’re destroying their historical documents, their schools, their neighbourhoods, their olive trees. they’ve colonised their food for fucks sake. they’ve killed doctors, scientists, journalists. they’re targeting anyone who speaks up against them. they’ve taken thousands of hostages. they’ve berated and beaten and tortured those hostages. they’ve bombed mosques and one of the oldest churches in the world. they’ve raped women and left babies with pieces of their skulls missing. they’ve made parents carry pieces of their children in bags. they violated a “truce”. they didn’t let them have funerals or celebrate or dance when they were reunited with loved ones (freed hostages) they’ve arrested palestinians for throwing rocks at tanks. rocks at tanks. rocks. at tanks. they ran over rachel corrie with a bulldozer for protesting the demolition of palestinian homes in rafah. they shot and killed a nine year old boy for standing in the street. they beat orthodox jews for standing in solidarity with palestinians. they shot a jewish man pleading for his life. they’ve stolen they’ve murdered they’ve beaten they’ve colonised they’ve done nearly every unimaginable, horrific act of violence under the sun to palestinians. where is your anger. where is your grief. where is your empathy for palestinians. where is everyone? where is the world?

[ninjakk]

I can't understand why people like WWX...

He's exhaustingly hyper active. He bullies people at school and gets them in trouble just for funsies. He breaks rules just because. He sasses back and disrupts classes and conferences. He murders people and then sends their corpses back to murder their families. He shows off. He's oblivious to the others and when/how he hurts them. He gets everyone awesome killed.

Honestly, if people hate WWX so much why the actual @#?$ are they even bothering to be part of the fandom or read the novel in the first place?!

I try to be as open minded and respectful of everyone's opinions - but this is a little insane! I know there are a lot of people out there who argue that WWX is a little morally grey. MXTX didn't intend for us to read him like this, he was meant to be the hero, the moral compass that everyone else should follow. WWX and LWJ are meant to be the moral ideals. He is a hero ❤️

But I digress.

Firstly, he's not exhaustingly hyperactive. He can be calm and steady when he needs to be. But even so, his energy is infectious and endearing. I don't usually bother with this stuff, but because you asked so nicely, I will hand your ass to you on a plate answer your question.

You are calling WWX a bully because of the way he treated 'people' - who?! Unless you are referring to LWJ...Which wasn't bullying - it was teasing, because, and this might shock you.. but, he FANCIED him!!! Subconsciously, yes, I know. But he was acting like a lot of silly boys do with their crush. He just wanted his attention, and when he didn't get it - he teased, because getting a reaction out of him was at least something. It was harmless teasing. WWX would not bully anyone, he's empathetic and sweet natured. If he thought he'd actually upset LWJ, he'd stop. Oh, and apparently he only gets people in trouble for 'funsies'... If you're refering to when LWJ got disciplined as well, that was his choice, WWX didn't expect him to actually do it! It's a pivotal point in their relationship!!! Firstly, as soon as he realised that LWJ was about to punish himself as well, he tried to stop it all and take the full punishment himself. He was horrified LWJ was about to be hit also. After this, when he saw him in the cold springs he couldn't help but gush over how much he admired him. Because, WWX has always taken the punishment himself. It's always just been just him and he's always thought it was unfair. It's a poignant moment.

'He sasses back and disrupts classes and conferences.' Lmao! Sorry I had to take a moment. Alright, nerd! 🤣 Sorry, lost my composure there... But seriously, he didn't sass back, he was making a valid point. He goes on to use this later in the book. LQR picked on him. Besides, what's wrong with a bit of sass! He is sassy! So what! As you're about to find out for yourself, so am I!

The conference...He only disrupted a conference because he wanted to know where the Wen refugees were. Sorry you think that the lives of innocent people should wait till the end of the conference...

'He murders people' - okay... Well he did, but it was revenge. His whole entire sect was brutally annihilated. He was left to DIE in the burial mounds, a period in his life so awful the author refused to write about it because it would be too depressing. There are a lot of hints throughout the novel that it was mentally and physically torturing for WWX. He was there three months. Three whole months of absolutely god knows what. Fighting for his life, fighting to control the awful things that resided there and fighting to become more powerful - all while recovering from having his golden core ripped out of him not long before. So excuse him if he's a little bit peed off. Excuse him if he kills the absolute psychopaths that caused the whole thing. He lost control and killed people, yes, but this was in self-defence and he was pushed so much he couldn't control his emotions or the corpses. Sorry he was so traumatised he couldn't keep control...

'He shows off' - I think someone is jealous 😂 He's confident in his abilities, he's worked hard to get where he is. If you're referring to the time he took one third of the prey from the competition on Phoenix Mountain, he only did this because he can't stand JZX and his showing off. He wanted to bring him down a peg or two. And he did, in the most epically understated, yet cool way. He's protective of his shijie and still holds a grudge for JZX's rude behaviour back at the CR.

'He's oblivious to others and when/how he hurts them.' - He's the most empathetic, caring person in the novel, as I said earlier. Yes, there are misunderstandings - that's another major point of the novel - but he never intentionally hurts others. He isn't aware of LWJ's true feelings, due to so many different factors I'm not even going to explain. He is always trying to make others happy and respect their feelings. He even tries to get on with JZX for his shijie in the end. If he's ever hurt anyone, it was due to lack of communication from both parties. And the minute he realises he's hurt someone, he always tries to clear it up.

'He gets everyone awesome killed' - .... Who? You mean the mass murderers, the psychopaths and the general villains of the story? If you mean his own Sect, that wasn't his fault and this would have happened regardless. It was only a matter of time before the Wen Sect came and annoyed them either way.

Honestly, who the f wrote this - sounds like LQR, XY, JZX and JGY sat down and composed this 😂

I don't usually do this. But hey, you asked for it! Why don't you go hide back under your bridge and read something else, maybe a nice picture book with less words and a basic plot 👍🏻🧌

[skz317cb97]

Hiya love could you write a fluff with Channie? 🥺

Keyword: stargazing

I will leave everything else to your imagination. You can add angst or smut if you want to as well I don't mind.

Thank you, lovie 💞

🦋

Hey beautiful! Here is your Channie stargazing fluff! I hope you like it! ❤️

Stargazing

Chan x Female reader

Word count: 1400+

Warnings: Just fluff maybe a little suggestive but nothing explicit, strong language/cursing

(Pic not mine credit to bucket_with_skz)

You and Chan had been best friends your entire life. You both shared lots of similar personality traits, one of which was you both HATED your birthdays. It’s not that you disliked getting older necessarily you just didn’t like being the center of attention, no matter how small the gathering. You’d rather just watch movies with Chan and gorge on snacks and candy, which is what you did for both of your birthdays most years. Since Chan also hated celebrating his birthday he was always understanding about your not wanting to do anything, so to say that you were surprised and a little apprehensive when Chan said he had something else planned for you this year would be an understatement. The fact that he refused to give you any details other than what time to be ready made you even more nervous. When Chan came to get you he could tell you were a bit on edge.

“Come on baby girl. Its me here! Do you really think I’d drag you to do something you’d hate for your birthday?!” He made a valid point that you couldn’t argue with but it did little to calm your nerves. As you drove the sun set further and further down in the sky creating the most beautiful shades of blue and purple. That slowly morphed into pink and orange as the sun sank lower and lower until finally it disappeared completely leaving a clear black night sky. You were going further and further out into the country side, Chan taking turns here and there that seemed to be random to you. Just as you were ready to ask him when you were going to be there he turned down a private gravel road that ran along a corn field and parked.

“Uh Chan? WHAT are we doing here?!” Chan just waved you off and got out of the car. You sat there for a moment as he grabbed a duffle bag out of his trunk and walked to your side opening the door.

“You coming or what?” He said as he headed towards the corn field with the duffle thrown over his shoulder. You watched him in disbelief. If he’d been a stranger or anyone else you might have thought he brought you here to murder you considering the seclusion and the duffle bag. Chan stopped at the edge of the field and turned giving you a look as if to say ‘well!?’ You got out of the car and looked around expecting the farmer that owned the property to appear any time to shoo you and Chan away, or shoot you, who knew really.

“Chan lets just go, I’m getting serious children of the corn vibes here.” Chan laughed and stepped into the first row of corn. You sighed heavily. You clearly weren’t going to be able to talk him out of what ever he had planned here. You threw your hands up in surrender as you made your way towards the field.

“Okay Channie boy but if he who walks behind the rows shows up I’m sacrificing you to save my ass.” Chan’s smile grew even wider across his face as he shook his head in understanding. He grabbed your hand and lead you further into the field until you came to a little clearing where the corn had been stamped down. Chan let go of your hand and dropped the duffle down.

“We’re here!” You looked around and then you looked at Chan incredulously.

“And where exactly is here Chan?” He smiled and shook his head, lips sealed.

“I have a surprise, close your eyes.” You bit your lips nervously. You knew Chan would never do anything to get you in trouble or put you in harms way but you were having trouble just doing and not knowing. Chan realized if he wanted you to comply with the rest of his plan he had to give you something. He stood in front of you and grabbed your hands rubbing small circles on the backs of them with his thumbs. You instantly started to calm down.

“Relax Y/N, it’s my uncle’s farm okay? He knows we’re here, he’s the one that cleared this spot for us. Don’t worry, now just close your eyes for me baby girl. Trust me.” You did, trust him that is. More than anyone and you felt more at ease knowing you weren’t trespassing on a strangers property, so you closed your eyes like he asked. You heard the zipper of the duffle and rustling. You were tempted to crack an eye open and look. As if he could read your mind Chan spoke as he continued to prepare what ever his surprise was.

“No peeking.” You scrunched your eyes tighter as Chan finished his preparations. After another minute or two you could feel the warmth of Chan's body as he came up behind you. He placed his hands over your eyes as if they weren’t closed already and lead you forward a little.

“Okaaayyyyy…. NOW you can look!” He said as his hands came away from your face. You opened your eyes and looked down to see a blanket spread out with all your usual favorite snacks, a glowing bluetooth speaker, and a telescope. Your jaw dropped as you tried to find words.

“Chan wh-what is all this?!” He smiled sheepishly as he began to explain.

“Well I heard there was supposed to be this once in a life time meteor shower on the night of your birthday, so I talked to my uncle and borrowed a telescope from a friend… I know we normally just stay in and watch movies but I thought maybe we could have snacks and watch this instead.” It was clear Chan had put a lot of thought and effort into this.

"It's perfect Chan." He smiled and looked down at his feet happy and relieved that you liked the idea. You both spread out on the blanket and started eating snacks and picking songs to play each other while you waited for the meteor shower to start. When it did Chan pulled the telescope closer and peered through the lens. After a few minutes of him looking through the lens and moving the telescope around you started getting impatient. You wanted to see too.

“Chaaaaaannnnieeeee…” He laughed at the whiney way you said his name and shook his head.

“Patience baby girl I’m just getting it at the best angle for you to see everything.” With one more adjustment he moved away from the telescope and let you finally take a look through the view finder. To say that it was breathtaking would be an understatement. You were in awe and totally speechless for a moment.

“Chan. Oh my god, it’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.” Chan’s eyes were fixated on you watching every expression on your face as you looked up at the night sky.

“It sure is.” His voice sounded like he was far off in his mind. A million miles away. You looked over at him and your eyes met. You froze. You stayed like that, looking at each other for what felt like forever. You were just about to ask him if he was okay when he leaned in, cupped your face, and placed the most tender kiss on your lips. When he pulled away your fingers found your lips and traced where Chan’s had just been. You looked at him wide eyed and speechless for a whole other reason now. After a moment Chan finally spoke.

“I have loved you since the third grade Y/N maybe even before that. I will ALWAYS love you and whether you feel the same or not, I had to tell you, you had to know. I’m sorry I know that’s selfi-“ You cut Chan off by pressing your lips against his again, this time with more passion. You laid back and pulled him down over you as your lips parted granting his tongue access to explore your mouth. Chan made love to you for the first time that night in the quiet dark field, soft music playing, under the stars. You laid there in his arms after in complete bliss. He squeezed you tighter as if you would evaporate if he even thought of letting go. He kissed the top of your head and whispered softly against your ear.

“I love you baby girl.” You sighed completely amazed with how the evening had gone. Even though it was not at all what you had expected you were so happy. You nuzzled in closer to Chan basking in the warmth of his body, the smell of his cologne.

“I love you too Channie.”

Please do not repost or translate any of my works. My blog and stories are NSFW and 18+ ONLY! Minors, ageless, and blank blogs will be blocked!

[script-a-world]

Submitted via Google Form: Follow Up to Ungendering Religious Words

Very interesting. Thank you for your answer regarding religous words. I have to ask this because I find it quite curious you immediately went to Catholicism and Western culture and only that. Why? Solely because of word origin and Greeks were mostly Catholic?

It is totally valid as I just found out that 'monk' is also used in Catholicism as well, but until now, I never heard that 'monk' was used outside of East Asian religions. For Western religions I always heard words more like 'priest' even if that doesn't specifically describe the hermit types, or even 'eremite' a couple times. So that really threw me.

My fictional religion definitely takes a lot more inspiration from East Asian religions. I am Asian American and Buddhist but I grew up in Asia since my teens. I do have some relatives who are Christian-no denomination-but they never associated monk with anything closer to Christianity either. That is one reason thus I very much landed on the word 'monk' as I wanted context to land in this direction.

A made up word is great, but it also wouldn't land anywhere in context and I don't want to immediately dump paragraphs of world-building describing the religion. Or maybe if I do write it well, people can pick that up from other brief context, whereas you had absolutely none. Perhaps that's a writing issue rather than world-building though...?

Feral: Indeed, monastic orders are pretty common the world over. And if you’re writing in English and want to refer to your monastic clergy in English, Tex’s etymology lesson and how the word has developed in English and Licorice’s advice on finding other English words is true and relevant regardless of the inspiration. 

While most folks, especially fantasy fans, from Western countries will be more or less equally exposed to “monk” referring to Western and Eastern traditions, nearly anyone in the English speaking world without a personal cultural tie to Eastern traditions will default to “nun” in reference to Catholicism or Anglicism (or maybe Orthodoxy) depending on where they live if there isn’t any preface or context, eg. “Buddhist nun.” This is very important cultural context for you to be aware of if you’re trying to have the broadest possible English-speaking audience. 

Now you don’t mention your ethnicity or where in Asia you live, so forgive me if I use the wrong language, but hopefully, you’ll still understand my meaning. If you’re not drawing inspiration from Christian/Western monks and nuns and instead are drawing inspiration from bhikkhu and bhikkhuni, you could use the term most appropriate to your world’s specific cultural inspiration. I certainly couldn’t give you advice on ungendering the terms, but it might be a good starting place - either use the term that’s most correct to the religion you are worldbuilding or conlang a name using the real world term as a jumping off point.

Using an unfamiliar term absolutely does not need paragraphs of explanation - a single dashed off phrase like this one - or just context will tell your audience what they need to know when you introduce the word. As you guessed, though, that is a question of writing and not of worldbuilding.

Ebonwing: If you don’t want to make up an entirely new word, then you could just repurpose an existing gender-neutral English word that doesn’t ordinarily have religious connotations and show through context that that’s what it means here. For example, if you wanted to name your monk/nun equivalent Servants, you could introduce the Servants tending to a temple or doing other things that fit into your religion.