#we love rosieblogstuff

[appalachianapologies]

🎁 🎁

more ted lasso bc this fic has a vice hold over me and i stayed up until midnight writing it

“I know what it’s like to feel invincible at your age.” Scoffing, Jamie replied, “I don’t feel invincible.”

[lailuhhh]

A first sentence:

"Do you see anything lying around that would work as a rope?" Mac asked.

“Anything that can be used as a rope? I dunno Mac, am I able to use any of these exhibits that you specifically told me not to touch because we’re in a museum and these are priceless artifacts that hold lots of information and contribute to history? Because if the answer is no, then yer gonna have to gimme a minute.”

Mac snorted at Jack’s sass. “Well unless you want to do this without any sort of safety line, go find something that can be used as rope.”

“Okay, but don’t go blamin me if I accidentally set off a silent alarm while lookin for the janitor’s closet.”

[nativestarwrites]

RULES: Post the last sentence you wrote (fanfic / original / anything) and tag as many people as there are words in the sentence.

Thanks @jamietarttdodododododo for the tag!

I've been plagued by various ideas for a Ted Lasso AU recently and apparently the post-apocalyptic AU is the one that's sticking. I'm gonna share the last snippet for context and also because I do love Simi's last line.

“Sam still sleeping?” “Yeah, he got in late. You should be too, you know.” Roy rolls his eyes. “Not you too.” Simi shrugs, not in the least bit guilty. “Perils of living at Nelson Road. Everyone is always up in your business.” She pauses. “But it's only because we care. Benefits of living at Nelson Road.”

I'm tagging @rosieblogstuff @altschmerzes @appalachianapologies @sighonaraa @you-go-kaboom-i-go-kaboom @authorangelita and if anyone else wants to do it, go for it!

[authorangelita]

I was tagged by @rosieblogstuff 😃

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

259.  I really want to hit 100 stories in both MacGyver and White Collar fandoms.   😁

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

594,984.  That averages out to 2,297 words per work, which is actually better than I thought it would be.  I write a lot of short pieces. 

3. What fandoms do you write for?

In order of most fics to least: White Collar, MacGyver 2016, Teen Wolf, White Collar RPF, Dark Angel, Supernatural.  There are a few other fandoms, but they're related to an event I did on LJ where you wrote down 15 characters from various fandoms, and people gave you random numbers, and you had to write a drabble/ficlet that included those characters. 

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Redraw the Lines (White Collar)

Letter T: Tired (Teen Wolf)

Letter Q: Quilt (Teen Wolf)

Letter K: Kidfic (Teen Wolf)

Friendly Advice and Family Dinner (White Collar)

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

I always plan to respond, but I'm super behind at the moment.  One of these days, I'm going to catch up!

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

Listen, I'm not proud of it, but I did once write the death of Peter and Elizabeth's dog Satchmo in White Collar fic.

On the MacGyver front, it's hard to tell.  Maybe Regrets (Jack) where Jack decides they all need to leave the Phoenix. 

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

I don't know that I would classify many of my fics as having a happy ending. I think Altered Course, the AU where Jack and Diane decide to foster Mac after his grandfather dies, has a pretty happy ending. 

8. Do you get hate on fics?

No, not really.  There are a couple of White Collar fics that I wrote that some people didn't like, but I still didn't get hate for them. 

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

Nope.

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

I haven't finished one, but I've tried a couple of White Collar/Teen Wolf crossovers.  That event I did with the 15 characters included crossovers, but they were so short, I don't know that they really counted. 

The craziest one from that was probably Luc Johnston (Tru Calling), Peyton Sawyer (One Tree Hill), and Peter Burke (White Collar) In a love triangle.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I don't think so.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

I don't think so.

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

Yes, back in the post-Dark Angel days.  A friend and I did a kind of role-playing thing where we wrote a bunch of Dark Angel fic that was mostly never posted, and several Dawson's Creek fics that were CJ/Jen-centric.

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

Is the Ever Given too obvious?

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

I have a whole folder of fics called Limbo.  I've talked about this one before, but I have this idea (and I posted a ficlet of it during an event last year, I think) where Mac spirals after Jack "dies", becomes addicted to pain pills, and pushes everyone away until Jack comes back.  I would love to write it, but the amount of research needed boggles my brain. 

Another one that I probably won't finish is the one post-Regrets (Jack) where (post-Phoenix) Team Improv becomes an elite Search and Rescue team where Jack flies the helicopter, Mac gets winched down to rescue people, etc.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Oh, this is a good question!  And also a tough question.  Umm, Jack's voice, finding unique ways to twist an h/c story,  and the occasional zinger dialogue. 

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Also a good question and another tough one.  Fully fleshing out scenes, not starting paragraphs with someone's name, and coming up with endings that aren't cheesy.

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

I'm uncomfortable with it because I don't speak any other languages, and everything I know about translation apps/sites makes me nervous.  I named a fic with a word from another language, and I often think about changing it because I'm worried it means something terrible in a different language.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

General Hospital.  Those fics are lost to time (or the secret FFN account that I will never share).  I was 14/15, and they were terrible.  But I'm so glad I had that brief fandom experience.

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

For White Collar, it's Redraw the Lines.  I really don't think that answer will ever change.  For MacGyver, that answer changes often, and I'm still writing stuff, so maybe I haven't written it yet.  Today, it's Wearing Your Wounds.

I'm not sure who's been tagged so far, so if you want to play, please say you were tagged by me! 😃

[appalachianapologies]

Ok SO I've got some fishes I would like to share from the aquarium we went to a couple weeks ago. First here is my very very favorite fish. I have no idea what it was, but if I was naming it, it would be "patchwork quilt fish" because it looks like somebody just jammed 3 fish together. (Also here's a clownfish.)

And then there's THIS nightmare horror from the deep which apepared to have one red mouth and like 6 white eyes. I couldn't get a very good picture of this monster but trust me, it looks like it's about to start sucking out your blood while hypnotizing you with its 6 white eyes.

I have a request for a MacGyverism (maybe gone wrong? in a whumpy way? or maybe just a fact?) related to your chemistry homework. (Ok I literally have no idea what type of chemistry you're studying maybe this is impossilble in which case just.... whatever Mac thing strikes you.)

that fish just went thrifting and is showing off its outfit!! and ofc The Horrors™️

prompts

“Shit, shit-”

“Hoss-”

“Uh-” Mac shakes his head, having momentarily forgotten that he had his earpiece in. “How much time can you buy me?”

“I got three bullets and six assholes. Probably not as much as you need.”

“Can you at least keep them occupied?”

“I’ll do my best,” Jack mutters back. “What’s goin’ on?”

Mac swallows, glad that Jack can’t see what he’s seeing. “The casing is starting to erode.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

“It means that whatever container Moore was keeping the virus in, he chose the wrong one.”

“Can you fix it?”

“Temporarily, sure.”

“Good enough for me.”

Mac gives a nod to himself. He needs chemicals, and very specific ones. If the container starts leaking, which it inevitably will, he needs it to leak into an acid. The only problem is that he won’t be able to keep the solution acidic for long enough. At best, it’ll take a hazmat team hours to arrive. 

Mac exhales, eyes running up and down the shelves of cleaning supplies. Too many of them are bases, but finally, his eyes settle on the vinegar.

Unfortunately, that’s only half the battle. Before he can use it for any type of temporary containment, he needs to create its conjugate base to keep the solution at the same pH.

“Water,” Mac mumbles.

“What’s that?”

“New plan. Let the rest of the guards do whatever they want. I need you to find me some water bottles.” Mac looks back down at the canister, now blistering and looking more than ready to burst. “And Jack?”

“Yep?”

“Do it fast.”

[appalachianapologies]

Fanfic writer asks:

(2) what fanfic do you wish you got more responses on?

(7) what's a trope you love to write?

(18) Recommend someone else fic! (And tag them if they have a tumblr!)

Thanks for asking!

2. What fanfic do you wish you got more response on?

Every single non-mac centered fic! I mean, I joke, but it's partially true. I put a lot of love into all my fics and I appreciate every interaction, but it's always a little too bad when my non mac-centered fics are pushed aside. I know this is the case for essentially everyone in the fandom though, so I try to not let it get to me!

7. What’s a trope you love to write?

Lately I've been very very into characters having to re-learn a new normal. I have literally no idea if that makes sense, but I'm talking about the vibes of Fire and Attentive Devotion, or even Episteme regarding Sam. The quiet acceptance of time changing us all (and wanting desperately to go back to how things were before) has just really been getting to me, which is weird, because I'm a young person in my 20s 😅

18. Recommend someone else fic! (And tag them if they have a tumblr!)

I'll rec one of your own fics! (do I still have to tag you? lol) Riley + Stitches + Jack makes me crave for more information we could've had when Riley was younger, and I'm such a sucker for the slow acceptance of help and trust that comes with it. Plus, young Riley just makes me feel the feels 🥺

[appalachianapologies]

Fanfic writer asks:

19. What is the most-used tag on your ao3?

22. Are there certain types of writing you won’t do? (style, pov, genre, tropes, etc)

34. Five years from now, where do you see yourself as a writer?

these asks

19. What is the most-used tag on your ao3?

to the surprise of probably zero people, it's hurt/comfort!

22. Are there certain types of writing you won’t do? (style, pov, genre, tropes, etc)

There are a number of things that I won't write that would take me a long time to say, but just the tip of the iceberg would be that I have no wish writing 2nd pov

34. Five years from now, where do you see yourself as a writer?

Hopefully with at least one more book 😅

[lailuhhh]

How about prompt: 29. "We're all broken in some way"

“Can I ask you something?”

“Pretty sure you just did, but I’m feeling generous so I’ll let you ask me something in addition to that.”

Mac rolled his eyes at Riley’s smirk. “You’ve been hanging out with Jack too much.”

“Sure, when I hang out with him for a day, it’s too much, but when you two hardly go a few hours without seeing each other, somehow it’s not codependency.”

“Okay, I deserved that.”

“Yes you did. But what’s on your mind?”

Mac ran a hand through his hair then crossed his arms. “Do you ever feel like you— don’t work properly?”

Riley raised a brow. “I mean, our job isn’t exactly conventional—”

“No, not like actual work but… something internally? As like the answer is staring you in the face and yet you just can’t see it?”

“I’m not sure if I’m following.”

“You just— you’re not functioning properly. Like something about you broke.”

Riley cocked his head. “We’re all broken in some way Mac. If this is about the last mission—”

“No, I mean yeah but— not the mission itself.”

Her eyes narrowed. “This is about Oversight isn’t it? Matty said you were pulled aside after and were with him for nearly an hour. What happened?”

Mac shrugged. “He just— went over everything I did and pointed out how I should’ve been able to to it better and faster, and reprimanded me for letting it go on as long as it did.”

“For the love of—” Riley huffed. “Mac I need you to listen to me; you’re not broken. Whatever he said about your ability to do the thing you do— you’re like the master of improvising. You take things, break them, and make them more useful for whatever you need to. So just because you think you might be broken in some way doesn’t make you useless. You of all people should know that.”

Mac huffed and his mouth twitched up. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

“I mean, either that or you just really love breaking Jack’s phone and glasses for no reason.”

That earned a genuine snort. “Don’t tell him.”

[appalachianapologies]

Ok I realize you’re probably asleep and not writing drabbles right this very second butttttt I missed this earlier and I love your drabbles. Would you maybe have a Mac & Jack sandbox idea in you? 🥺

I’ve been doing a good job keeping my house clean lately which might not sound like a very good compliment but it’s usually very cluttered and messy. But right now it’s really clean.

no worries! i totally get it and honestly when i write a prompt post, just assume that it's open until the end of eternity/when people stop sending asks in about it. and i get the cluttered space as well! believe me, i am the last person who is going to assume that that's a weak compliment- cleaning spaces is no small feat, especially when it comes to a whole house!

give yourself a compliment and i'll write you a drabble

The kid gets weird around holidays.

It’s something that Jack had previously clocked, registering somewhere in his head early on when he was assigned to watch over the tech, but had been since pushed to the back. Everything took second place when it came to trying to survive out in a desert that wants nothing more but to send him back in a bodybag.

Now that things have cooled down a bit, now that Jack decided to stay out downrange just to make sure that he wouldn’t be at the kid’s funeral a week later, the thought comes back to him. Mac doesn’t like holidays.

It isn’t just his birthday—which Mac has made his opinion abundantly clear about—but the smaller ones, too. While Jack and his buddies, along with nearly everyone else on the base would make the effort to have a good day, celebrate with snacks and care packages, Mac wouldn’t do anything.

He acts like every day is a normal day, that besides the shifting seasons, there ain’t no difference between one day and the next. And while it might be nothing more than a coping mechanism to get through his tour, Jack has a nagging feeling that there’s something else behind that. 

Something that puts a sour taste in his mouth and causes Jack to stuff a few more paperclips in his pockets. 

Despite what Mac thinks, Jack isn’t just some brute, and he doesn’t constantly run his mouth for the sole reason of running his mouth. He knows better than to ask all of the burning questions that he has when it comes to Mac.

Eventually, Jack’s able to draw his own conclusions. A mother that’s not once mentioned, a father only in passing. In the few times that Mac has ever told a “happy” story or anything even close to that about his childhood, there are undertones that make Jack’s stomach sink. 

There wasn’t much time for play in Mac’s life, and Jack quickly realizes that that included holidays as well. Mac never got a day off as a child, and now that he’s working EOD, he ain’t gonna have a day off anytime soon, either.

[appalachianapologies]

WAIT NEW IDEA. It's still St Patrick's Day soooooo could we get a "There's no such thing as luck, Jack" drabble?

🍀 ☘️ 🍀 ☘️ 🍀 ☘️ 🍀 ☘️ 🍀 ☘️ 🍀 ☘️

Mac rubs a tired hand over his face. “How many  times do I have to tell you, Jack? There’s no such thing as luck. It’s all…” with his free hand, Mac waves in a random direction. “Statistics. Math.”

“Your face is math.”

“Your face is math.”

Looking more than a little offended, Jack counters, “One hundred percent luck. Daltons know it when they got it.”

Mac murmurs something back, unintelligible to both himself and Jack. “No. Nope. This is random chance. Cairo day is… another random day. Just random.”

“Nuh uh.” Reaching for his bottle, Jack takes another swig of beer. “You’re tell- you’re telling me that out of every possible day in the entire frickin’... year. Millennium. The baba ganoush place we’ve been going to just happened to burn down? Hell no!”

“Random chance.” Mac holds steady, reaching for his own bottle. 

“Up in flames.”

“Probably an old stove.”

“Smoke visible for miles.”

“That’s what smoke does.”

“Literal seconds after I call to put in an order.”

“Luck of the draw.”

Immediately dropping his bottle back on the counter, Jack points at Mac with glee. “There! There, see, you said it! Luck. Luck. It’s all luck. Or- or lack of. No luck. Misluck. Unluck.”

Mac shakes his head as if he didn’t admit a single thing. “Math, Jack. Math.”

[lailuhhh]

Angsty prompt time!

"Were you ever going to tell me the truth?"

Mac knew it would’ve come to that. Somehow, between the time Jack first told him and getting that last handshake in the war room, he knew it would’ve come to that.

“Were you ever going to tell me the truth?”

“Bout what bud?”

“Jack— I really can’t take any sidetracking right now. Just— please.”

The line was silent for a moment. “No.”

Mac sucked in a breath. He knew it would be the answer, but hearing it just made it real. “Why?”

“It’s dangerous.”

“Our whole job is dangerous.”

“Not like this.”

“Jack—“

“Mac.” Jack’s voice was so soft it hurt. “I can’t. This whole thing— it’s so much bigger than we could’ve imagined. Just talkin to you makes you a target, and you know I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if somethin happened to you.”

“Is that why you had Matty destroy every piece of anything that had your name on it? You they couldn’t trace you back to us?”

“That’s somethin I wasn’t goin to take a chance on.”

Mac tried to suppress a shaky breath. “So that’s it?”

“Mac—“

“You’re just not coming back?”

The words stung coming out of Mac’s mouth. And Jack’s calm reply did nothing to keep the tears at bay.

“No, I’m not.”

Send me a prompt

[appalachianapologies]

You seem to have run out of prompts so like a bad guest taking extra cake at the dessert bar, I'm back with a prompt:

"Make it stop-"

you're always welcome to send as many as you want!

“Oh God, make it stop!”

“Please, for the love of everything, Jack-”

In tandem, Mac, Bozer, and Riley all lift up their hands and cover their ears. If there’s one thing that should be counted as a cruel and unusual punishment, it’s listening to Jack try to hit the chorus on a song that he has absolutely no right trying to sing.

Riley makes an exaggerated grimace, wincing as soon as the high notes begin. “Jack, c’mon. We’re in a car.”

“No way to escape,” Mac agrees, though, like the rest of them, there’s a smile behind the words. After going through mission after mission, barely getting out by the skin of their teeth, it’s nice to have a little normalcy. A bad situation that doesn’t constitute a national emergency.

“Not even spy school could’ve prepared me for this.”

With a grin, Mac agrees, “I’ve gone through actual torture and it’s nothing compared to this.”

“Alright, alright.” Jack glances around the car, a smile matching everyone else’s face. None of his kids need to know that he butchers the high parts on purpose just to see their reactions. “When did it become ‘make fun of Jack hour’ and why did no one tell me?”

“Uh, that’s every twenty-four hours,” Riley replies. “Didn’t you hear, old man?”

“Okay, now you’re just bein’ mean.”

With a mock seriousness shake of her head, Riley shrugs. “The truth hurts.”

Beside her, Bozer leans forward into the middle console. “Not as much as Jack’s singing though.”

While all of the kids laugh, Jack’s cheeks are stretched in his own smile. If he could, he’d capture moments like these and plaster them up all over his walls.

Sometimes, it feels like times like these are the only things that are able to hoist him out of the dark recesses of his mind.

these asks

[appalachianapologies]

*cackles* let me be the first to throw these emojis at you:

🍄 Decriscribe your wip/one of your wips in the format of “___ + ___ =___”  

♻️ A scrapped idea for your current WIP

these asks

🍄 Decriscribe your wip/one of your wips in the format of “_ + _=__”

ah okay so this was straight up made for macgyver authors, right? 😂

Juvenile Detention + Illegal Activities = Unlikely Friends

♻️ A scrapped idea for your current WIP

In False Dawn, my original idea was for Matty, after getting no check-ins from Mac, to send Desi and Sam to help him in the search for Jack. No longer the route I'm taking now!

[appalachianapologies]

Maybe a stabby drabble? 🔪

always ready for a lil stabby stab

Mac is used to his SAK being a life-saving device. While it’s no IED or anything similar, it’s gotten him and his team out of otherwise deadly situations more than a couple of times. In Mac’s hands, it’s easily the best tool that he has to keep himself safe.

Unfortunately, it’s also the same tool that’s currently lodged into the outside of his thigh, red blood mimicking the color of the handle.

Still fueled on adrenaline, Mac doesn’t hesitate to slam his attacker against the wall, forearm pressed confidently against his neck. Even when sweat beads on his forehead, Mac keeps his arm steady. Uses the other to keep the man subdued. Doesn’t think about the fact that there’s a red handle literally sticking out of his body.

After what feels like hours, the lips of his attacker turns blue, and with bulging eyes, he slides to the ground.

Mac follows him a second later, a whimper echoing out in the small office space.

With a gasping breath, Mac looks down at his leg, fingers on both hands outstretched, yet too scared to go within a few inches of his thigh. Now that he’s not actively fighting, the pain well and truly begins.

Mac clenches his eyes, teeth grinding together.

He has to get out of here.

Has to help Jack.

If it were just him, Mac would allow himself another few minutes on the ground. Maybe prepare himself for the immeasurable amount of pain that he’s about to give to himself, but he can’t. Not when Jack’s still out there.

So, with a shuddering breath, Mac reaches a shaky hand out. Mac cries out when his fingers wrap around the handle of his SAK, but he doesn’t dare let go.

“One,” Mac whispers to himself, “two,” closing his eyes, Mac’s left hand curls into the hem of his shirt. “Three.”

[lailuhhh]

Send me a couple of characters: Mac & Jack

Pick a setting or situation - AU or canon: on an airplane!

We got them sandbox thoughts

“Did you ever think this day would actually come?”

“What? Us on a cargo plane with dozens of other guys, finally makin it outta that hellhole?”

Mac smiled slightly. Most of the guys were asleep, or at least attempting to. “Yeah.”

“I mean, it was only a matter of time right?”

“I— never really expected I’d be up here. Always just kinda thought I’d be horizontal and— stowed.” His eyes drifted to his hands, unwilling to meet Jack’s stare. His voice was barely a whisper. “Almost wish I was.”

He could feel Jack’s glare on him, and definitely didn’t expect him to smack his head. “Ow. What was that for?”

“I know I’ve told ya before that I’ll beat those thoughts outta ya. And I aim to follow through on it. I don’t wanna hear you sayin those things, not after everythin we’ve been through and survived.” Mac finally met his eyes. “We made it out. You made it out. Now the only thing left for ya to do is live, and I’m gonna stick by yer side to make sure ya do. Now why don’t ya try to get some sleep on this flyin death machine?”

Mac snorted. “There’s a one in eleven million chance of dying in a plane crash. This thing is more safe than the sandbox ever was.”

“Maybe but until we land, I ain’t gonna believe it.”

“Do you want me to list statistics and the math of what would need to happen for a plane this size to actually be taken down?”

“Please, don’t.”

[lailuhhh]

While I’m on a roll 😂😂😂😂😂 what did Jack mean in 3x02 when he implied Mac had firsthand experience with a (I’m hoping I’m remembering this bit of dialogue right because it’s too late at night for fact checking) “grisly tour”?

Oh boy so like

Jack was probably referencing either a bad past mission, maybe some with Murdoc because both kidnap/prisoner things, but most likely a very bad tour hint hint nudge nudge something from Army Days

But it had to be something that was like b a d

One of them nearly dying, both of them nearly dying, mainly Mac nearly dying, something that had like a large amount of casualties that left Mac feeling like oh god I should’ve done something and Jack’s the only one to snap him out of it