#original works asks

[okamirayne]

Hi Rayne, I'm such a big fan of your writing! I've read the BtB series three times now and I'm always taken aback how amazing it is. Your talent is astounding! That series is one of my biggest writing influences and a safe place.

I hope this is not a rude question, but I wanted to ask you about your original work. Can you tell us readers and fans something about it (the world, the theme, some characters)? I know you're currently in a burnout which must suck and you should take all the time you need, but I (as many others, I'm sure) would love to know a bit about it. I'm a curious kitty, what can I say? Give a sis some details, I'm dying over here lol

Jokes aside, I wish you all the best. Forever a fan and an admirer! <3

...*reads, unsuspecting and unprepared*....

*processes*.....

........... *takes a moment*

.....

....

2 mins later...

So yeah, my attempt to compose a response within the same day as reading your message utterly failed, Anon. I needed more time to contain myself.

Firstly Sweetheart, I'm so thankful for your incredibly warm, personal, and downright amazingly supportive feedback. I am so chuffed you feel that way about the BtB series, and that it is a crazy ride you're happy to revisit! Thank you for giving it that love. <3

I hope this is not a rude question, but I wanted to ask you about your original work.

Can you tell us readers and fans something about it (the world, the theme, some characters)? I know you're currently in a burnout which must suck and you should take all the time you need, but I (as many others, I'm sure) would love to know a bit about it. I'm a curious kitty, what can I say? Give a sis some details, I'm dying over here lol

*gets steamrolled by her feels*

Yep. Lost that battle.

Oh my dear, Curious~Kitty Anon...please know, there is no universe, within the great multiverses of existence, in which your question qualifies as rude. I am moved beyond measure by your interest in my original works...I mean, if I get the warm glowy fuzzies from your interest in BtB....can you imagine what kind of supernova goes off inside my writer's heart when you express interest in my Original Works, worlds, and characters?

Do you know what that does to my crumbling British decorum?

*behold crumbling British decorum*

Seriously though, you're an absolute sweetheart. I NEVER presume interest in my originals, which is why when a reader expresses interest...I experience myself at the event horizon of a beautiful meltdown (the good kind)...

Wow...where to start to even begin to answer your question(s)? Tropes sounds like the easiest way to go, as it's a really underrated way of bringing clarity...ha, kind of like AO3 hashtags/tags.

The world: There are several worlds floating within the dark matter inhabiting my brain, namely three big-world series I want to write in my lifetime. Though the most present WIP is the world from which Tsubasa Hibari, Tsubasa Kitori, Mizugumo, and a few other BtB cameo OCs originate. Needless to say, it's a fictional world inspired by Far East Asia; in NO way meant to represent any historical portrayal (given that it's got anachronistic elements), though leaning heavily on, and inspired by, the relevant tropes of certain eras of those times (such as samurai, ninja, feudal society, etc.). Throw in characters enhanced by a vital-energy magical system based on Asian (namely Chinese/Taoist) philosophy (not dissimilar to many fictional 'magic' systems, such as Kishimoto's Indian/East Asian inspired "chakra" system but not as high-fantasy in nature -- which is why I'd classify mine as magical-realism rather than pure fantasy)

The theme: ragtag group of heroes/anti-heroes/questionable-moral-compass-people, unite and embark upon (a.k.a. are reluctantly thrown into) an insane adventure/quest/wild-ass-ride-or-die-mission to save a divided world that is fast going down the crapper. Time is of the essence, and all that nail-biting jazz. Loyalty. Betrayal. Love. Hate. Angst. Humour. War. Passion. High-road or low-road moral drama. Oorah! I mean, hell, you've read BtB...so you know how I roll with the glorious trainwreck of humanity and enjoy stopping at all its crazy stations.

Some characters: Well you've met one of the main characters already (albeit it an extremely watered-down or BtB-altered version), Tsubasa Hibari, along with his crazy mama, Kitori, and his power-drunk father and sociopathic uncle, Fukuro and Ozuku. Although within their own world, they are of samurai/daimyo class...which would make Hibari a rōnin, rather than a rogue-nin (lol). Mizugumo features, as a ninja, and is still peddling her various poisons, little pink-pills of paradise, purgatory, and perdition. Other OCs abound, and some monikers among the characters will be familiar to BtB readers, such as the inescapable "lovebird".

I know, I've trope-ified the shit out of things, but you know what? It works. Or maybe it doesn't and Curious~Kitty is thinking "Rayne, wtf? That doesn't tell me shit." ...in which case, I gotta revise my entire "AO3 TAG" approach...and invite you to ask me whatever you want to know (my only caveat being any non-response from me is based on the grounds of SPOILER ALERT, 'HERE THERE BE DEMONS' or "IT'S A SURPRISE"...)

Thank you.

Thank you sincerely and supremely, for the amazing show of kindness, interest, love, and all-round super awesome support. And bless you, also, for your consideration of my being presently stuck in the ass-end of burnout. Messages such as yours lift my heart from that smoking black pit and grant me a flicker of the old writer's fire. That flame WILL catch again and when it does it will be in no small part thanks to readers such as yourself, who reached out like a hand in the dark. Big love here. I am an atomic wreck of appreciation. Thank you. <3

[chalkrub]

strange fellas

[chloesimaginationthings]

THE LITTLE MICHAEL SPRITE IS SO CUTE WHATT

Dare I say, biblically accurate scooped Michael Afton

[obsob]

making and weaving and loving! like we have done for millennia!!

[oifaaa]

There should be a flower that means “you’re a little b!tch” so that Jason can really express himself

Okay so I googled it and the first thing that came up was a old tumblr post so this may be completely wrong but here we go

[markscherz]

Hot damn. Great question, I'd love to tell you.

High Fantasy

Look, this rainfrog is called Breviceps bagginsi, so I don't have a lot of choice, now do I?

[src]

Also, I would go with them to the end. Into the very fires of Mordor.

Low Fantasy

Phyllomedusine hylids have a certain weird clown marionette vibe to them. Just look at these Pithecopus rohdei.

[src]

Lovecraftian

The male Rhinoderma darwinii raises his tadpoles in his vocal sac.

Sci-Fi

Gephyromantis pseudoasper sometimes wear handsome stripes—very Space Age™

But more importantly, their calls evoke a battle with laser-blasters.

I filmed this calling male in 2017 at an obscene hour of the morning.

Horror

Trichobatrachus robustus, aka the Hairy Frog, has flanks and thighs covered in weird, hair-like outgrowths that increase oxygen exchange over its skin, and BREAKS ITS FINGERS TO STAB YOU WITH CLAWS MADE OF BONE

[src]

Romance

Breviceps males physically glue themselves to the back-ends of females, and if that's not romance, I don't know what is.

[src]

Comedy

Nyctimantis arapapa are probably amongst the funniest-looking frogs out there.

[src]

Adult

The 'poly' in Polypedates may be a double entendre

[src]

Crime and Mystery

Calyptocephalella gayi is a Galaxy Brain frog.

[src]

Speculative

Myobatrachus gouldii is basically what would happen if you decided to try to build a turtle, but you only had frog pieces in the kit.

[src]

[chubs-deuce]

What was Lucifer's reaction to becoming a grandpa? And Alastor as the father of all people?

You see-

Charlie overplanned the entire ordeal because there was just no way they'd be able to hide Dawn long-term but she absolutely needed him to NOT freak out, since there would be no way she'd get any word in once he got started lecturing her on things she absolutely did not need nor want to hear.

She was going to break it to him gently, first speaking to him privately while someone else took care of Dawn elsewhere in the hotel to give Lucifer all the deets of what happened up until the ritual first, then gauge his reaction before dropping the ball that is the "end result" on him.

Unfortunately, he ended up dropping in spontaneously and ran into Dawn before Charlie could turn the tides in her favor and, well...

He needed a bit to process and it took Charlie a few tries to explain the situation properly, but he was ultimately (begrudgingly) fine.

He adores Dawn from the moment he first sees her though, so the complicated reasons for her existence thankfully didn't damage their future bond at all.

[nelkcats]

Conner Phantom, learning to live

It had been a few years since Vlad and Danny had stopped being enemies, years since Amity had been at peace with the ghosts. Danny spent his days teaching his children (he assumed they were his children) about well, everything.

Dan and Ellie had prefabricated knowledge, the halfa couldn't quite get it, but the point was that while they knew who was the creator of the chemistry, they had no idea how to do 2 + 2, so he made it his homework to fill in all the gaps.

No one at Amity blinked at the 30-year-boy-who-was-actually-12 and the 15-year-girl-who-was-actually-4, Danny guessed they had gotten used to the weirdness. One day, Vlad called and pointed out that someone had entered his database a few months ago (apparently he checked his digital security very little when he didn't make "evil" plans) and they had stolen the plans for the cloning capsule. Danny had a bad feeling.

Of course, it was after a month of searching that he found out about Lex Luthor's little "project." To say that he was angry was an understatement; he found the poor Superboy being mind controlled. He felt sad when he remembered Ellie's situation and well, he ended up stealing a clone child and destroying some laboratory. Like old times.

The world did not know of Phantom; Amity was suspicious, almost jealous that their protector could be taken away if they said a word, so they didn't say anything out of the city. It's not like the League did anything when they called. Danny didn't care, less tedious meetings and contingency plans for him. Besides, he wasn't excited about going back to the field if he didn't have to, as long as Amity was safe, the world could be destroyed for all he cared.

He wondered if spending too much time with Dan was affecting him, but in the end he dismissed the thought. Upon arriving home, Superboy had woken up and was being interrogated by the Phantoms. He chose his name to be Conner (sounds good apparently) and agreed to take classes to fill in the gaps of knowledge, just like Ellie, he seemed uncomfortable with the gaps.

The poor boy looked uncomfortable, waiting for the other shoe to drop, but it never did. After finding out whose clone he was, he wondered if they would take him to Superman, but Danny just snorted. By the end of the week, Conner was a Phantom, and he was fine with that. Danny even told him that he could live normally if he wanted to, and the boy happily accepted the offer. Conner didn't want to be a hero, at least not that early, and Danny was happy with his decision.

Danny frowned thinking of all the heroes who would say that is "selfish" for someone with power to not to use it. But he believed that they were doubly selfish. Being a teenage hero wasn't fucking easy. He hugged Conner, welcoming him to the family and within days, the whole town already knew about him (they also knew whose clone he was, but they didn't really care, they weren't snitching).

Curiously, it was Tim Drake who noticed the strange family visiting Gotham (a 23-year-old seemed to be berating a 30-year-old for stealing tires, he snorted at the irony). However he froze when he saw Clark?, but much younger, speaking in Kryptonian and laughing. He called a meeting in the batcave and tried to call the family, but as soon as they saw the expression in his face they vanished from sight.

Hell, he needed to report it to Bruce.

[muffinlance]

Do you get the impression the live action is treating us like utter morons?? Like I thought that making it aimed at an older audience would open the doors for more subtle story telling, but no, they're just using monologues to tell us eveything! Like in the second episode Katara's like 'oh his power isn't that he's the avatar, it's that he ~connects~ to people'. Girl we're not idiots we can see that!! And the first episode with Aang's goddawful 'I don't want this responsibility' monologue

THIS, YES. The word that keeps coming to mind is definitely "subtlety". The show for literal children? Had it. The remake for adults? Not so much.

[temeyes]

Hey! I love your style ☺️ Can you draw Alex? if that's okay. It could be anything really. Thank you 🫶🏻

ok!!!

[poisonheiress]

Someone needs to say it: The "Heaven is actually bad" plot line that Hazbin is based around is useless when you spend more then 2 minutes thinking about Vivzie's Hell and her characters.

Besides it being much too early for this idea, the revelation that Heaven or at least the beings running it aren't good people has little to no impact when the people who are being harmed by this are all horrible people. Stay with me here. None of these people are people who were unfairly brought into hell and we are never ever introduced to someone who was either. Why should we care that Heaven is "evil" and blocking redemption when all the sinners in hell we see are the worst of the worst who would have never gotten in even if it was fair.

For the "Heaven is bad" plot line to actually work, you need people who were just one sin away from Heaven, who would've gotten into Heaven if circumstance hadn't forced them down a path that stole it from them. You need characters who aren't comedic villains but land in the middle of morally grey. Those who deserved to be in Heaven but because Heaven refused to consider their circumstances, they were tossed to burn with people much worse than them. Those are the people who should be your main cast cause those are the people who would actually be impacted by Heaven being bad/ Heaven lying.

Angel dust, for all his trauma, was still part of the mafia and likely had killed people before (showing to almost take joy in it). Husk became an overlord and gambled souls, so he had to have had blood on his hands before hell. Alastor is a serial killer, and the list goes on and on. Sure, these characters are (somewhat) interesting, but they don't make for good characters to have when the key plot line is that Heaven is a scam. Even if that fact is true, none of them were ever going to get there in the first place and this is something we also se in every single background sinner shown in Hell too. They were never close to getting there, so why would they or we care that Heaven is bad when all sinners are shown to be horrific people who are at best in the dark grey area of morality.

If you look at it from the "angel's are unfairly killing sinners" route, it still doesn't work. If the angels are killing them, what makes it different then the sinner on sinner violence that hell is full off? Why is them dying by angels this bad thing when they are just as likely if not 10x times more likely to get knifed in the back by other sinners in hell the other 364 days, especially when everyone here apparently is just as horrible as the next person. You cannot condemn the angels for killing demons and then make a joke of out sinners killing each other and never show sinners who doesn't want to kill people. Life either matters or it doesn't and when the main cast doesn't even show a care for life (outside of Charlie's who's entire flaw is her naivety), why should the audience.

On top of that, Vivzie's whole overpopulation aspect and the Heaven plot line would connect better if she actually had people like those I mentioned above, people who stole to survive but got tossed out cause stealing is technically wrong, people who killed another to protect someone else but were still sent to hell because even though they saved that person's life that person wasn't supposed to be saved, people who passively engaged in sins but never really did anything harmful under them. This would add into how Hell is so overpopulated and highlight why its so important that Heaven is evil/ why Charlie's plan isn't just a naive pathetic fever dream.

In the end, Vivzie should have never made Heaven the central plot of this show nor tried to assign this blatant good vs evil to that conflict. Neither her characters nor her writing choices are able to respond to this conflict in a way that will end or even tell the story in a satisfactory manner.

[okamirayne]

Hi Rayne! Totally stalking your ASKS ( ͡ಥ ͜ʖ ͡ಥ). You mentioned a character of yours suffers from internalized homophobia? omg. how does this play out? or is it spoiler territory? arrrr!!! *Crai* I notice in BtB there's not much focus on the struggle of being gay/bi etc. so I'm sooo stoked for how you'll tackle this in your original works. Merry Christmas wishes if you celebrate! Woot! ʕ•́ᴥ•̀ʔっ♡ *kisses*

Hiya Anon! 💜

Ooh! Thanks for your message!

You mentioned a character of yours suffers from internalized homophobia?

omg. how does this play out? or is it spoiler territory? arrrr!!! *Crai*

Aw. Well, thumbnail sketch of this poor bastard instead? Hard-line Soldier Boy staring down the barrel of a former 'money-and-fame' limelight life, one that belied his heavy religious and political upbringing. Chuck in some shady as shit conversion therapy and the whole shame-shebang and we've got some solid gut-rot in the belly of this beast. Oh yeah, now throw another military guy into that 90 proof mix, shake it up, and...pour neat over the steamy rocks. *knocks back that shot*

*dramatic plot composition unfolding in over-heated brainpain*

I notice in BtB there's not much focus on the struggle of being gay/bi etc. so I'm sooo stoked for how you'll tackle this in your original works.

True! That didn't really come up or feature that predominantly/overtly whilst writing BtB, did it? Yes. I go blindly where they take me.

[...] so I'm sooo stoked for how you'll tackle this in your original works.

Ha, me too, as I have no idea what's gonna come swirling out of the abyss when I get back into that character's world. I do look forward to telling his story though. Thanks so much for your interest in it, luv!

Aw. Right back at you! Wishing you a wonderful Christmas season, Anon. 💜

[activatethis]

Raiden, God of Thunder, Protector of Earthrealm, Designated driver

[strawbrryval]

CAN U WRITE FOR SUKUNA IM BEGGING HJFJFJRR

Never Lose Me

you knew sukuna would kill you if he knew where you were right now, but you didn't care. you had it in your airy little head that he was a cheater because of what one of your 'homegirls' told you.

it all started when you were in your shared apartment laid on the bed scrolling through instagram waiting for 'kuna to come home when your 'friend' sent you a picture of him hugging this girl.

you never were the smartest, so you never second-guessed the photo. you on the other hand immediately broke down into tears. sukuna never liked her and always suggested you get better friends for a reason.

he always got weird vibes from her because she continuously tried to make passes at him whenever you weren't around.

you could only imagine your boyfriend's surprise to get drunken texts and voicemails of you telling him to 'go fuck himself' and how you 'don't need him'.

my supersoaker🫶🏼💞: [ forwarded an image ]

my supersoaker🫶🏼💞: nigga FUCJ you

my supersoaker🫶🏼💞: i thoguth we had somethgin anf you trwest me like thid??? i hste you!

hubby💝: ??? baby? who sent you that???

hubby💝: and are you at the fucking club??

you stared at your phone through teary eyes as you blocked his number and turned off location sharing. you shoved your phone into your purse and continued drinking your feelings away.

sukuna had been watching from across the bar for probably 20 minutes now. he watched you flirting with the guy you were talking to for maybe the same amount of time. he studied the way you held onto his arm and laughed at all his jokes. it made his blood boil.

“what do you say we take this a step further hm?~” his hand slipped up your thigh and you giggled when he started nibbling on your neck.

“nah fuck this.” your boyfriend slammed his drink on the counter and stormed towards you, angrily shoving people out of the way but he didn't care. his main focus was you.

he didn't say anything as he heaved you over the shoulder like a sandbag, ignoring your protests and the weird looks he got as he exited the bar. he practically threw you in the passenger's seat and locked the door.

the car ride to his house was dead silent. except for your protests and complaints about your boyfriend's behavior.

“Bitch why the fuck did you do all that for?” you stared at him with your arms crossed over your chest in annoyance, glaring at him for an answer that never came.

the rest of the ride was just you looking out the window and light curses underneath your breath of “cheating ass”, “hoe ass”, “worthless ass”.

once you got home, sukuna parked the car and dragged you into his house with a tight grip on your arm.

he walked into his bedroom and threw you down on the bed before locking the door. then sukuna finally spoke after what was hours after not speaking.

“you gonna explain your sudden little tantrum or do i have to fuck the attitude outta you first?”

sukuna chuckled when you still had your arms crossed over your chest, not looking in his direction. your eyes were puffy as you let out little hiccups and sniffles. you were still mad at him for spoiling your fun. how cute.

just then he harshly gripped your chin forcing you to look at him. “it’s really rude to not look people in the eyes when they’re talking to you.”

his hands traveled down to your neck and he squeezed it tightly, you felt a breathy chuckle in your ear before he began to speak.

“so that’s how it’s gonna be, huh ma?”

it was about 20 minutes later and your brain was so foggy to the point where you couldn’t remember how you got into this position.

your boyfriend had you on all fours, one of his hands pulling your hair back into a makeshift ponytail, the other wrapped around your neck pulling your head back to whisper the most disgusting things into your ear.

“you think what you said t’me was nice? you thought it was funny to send me those voicemails and texts while i was working? huh? y’had me worrying my ass off you dumb. fucking. bitch.”

he emphasized those last three words with harsh thrusts, before pulling your head back to tap his fingers at the side of your cheek. “open.” he mumbled before spitting roughly in your mouth. “swallow all that shit.” he spat before shoving your face back into the pillow before you.

he took this time to analyze how small your figure was compared to his. you were so much smaller… so vulnerable… so much easier to manhandle.

sukuna decided to tease you. fucking you slowly, working every inch of his thick cock into your little hole as slowly as he could. he wanted you to memorize every vein and inch. he wanted to make sure you never forget tonight and you should never disobey him ever again.

“wouldn’t have to be this way if you were just a good little girl who followed the rules. tsk.” this had been going on for hours now. the rough fucking, the degradation, even after what? 4 orgasms? he still hasnt had his. you figured out by now that this wasn’t a punishment… he wanted to torture you.

“p-pleasee ryo.. i’m- haa~ s-sorry! wan’ you t’fill me up. please!” he chuckled darkly. “ y’want me to fill you up? huh?” “please! hnghh- m’sorry!” “you never did have any shame did ya hun?”

sukuna’s thrusts began to get sloppier as he was nearing his release. you whimpered for him to slow down as your tear stained face was pressed into the pillow. his balls slapping against your clit with each harsh thrust.

“i won’t f-fuck- i wont slow down. you’re grown right? if you can go to the bar on your own then you can take this shit like a big girl too. right?”

before you knew it hot ropes of cum start spurting out filling your tight cunt. your boyfriend’s thrusts began to slow down until they came to a complete stop.

he slowly pulled out of you, replacing his cock with his fingers to keep his seed in. humming lowly before getting up to get some towels from the bathroom.

you woke up the next morning in his shirt. you tried to get up before feeling an immense pain in your back. you groaned before you felt a large hand rubbing at the small of your back.

“y’wanna talk about your feeling now? if you don’t want too then we can always go for round two. i still have some energy left over.” he smirked down at you.

“this was supposed t’be a surprise but… the girl i was hugging in the picture you sent wasn’t anybody baby. remember when we were apartment shopping and you mentioned you really wanted the one in shibuya?”

you nodded as sukuna pushed some of your hair behind your ear to see your face better.

“it’s ours now.” sukuna thought that nothing could compare to your smile in that very moment as you hugged and peppered kisses across his face while murmuring little ‘thank yous’ in his ear.

“yeah, yeah.” he chuckled and hugged you back. “you could never lose me that easily.”

a/n: thank you so much for this request anon!!! it took me a little while but i really enjoyed writing it. hope you enjoy!! </3!!

© strawbrryval, 2024. do not copy, steal, or repost my content without permission.

[baby-girl-aaron-dessner]

question...? // t.s

[seafoamsol]

I made a 3D version of MFK93579217’s cute Prowl keychain!