#when you tag half the amount the rules say to but its the most you can do

[konstantintreplev]

tagged by @malcolm-f-tucker for a first lines of fic meme. thanks!

Rules: share the first lines of ten of your most recent fanfics and tag ten people. If you have written fewer than ten, don’t be shy and share anyway!

uhhh, it's mostly gonna be endeavour.

"a cottage on the channel," Endeavour/Morseverse, <1k

Morse will find himself, from time to time, in the spaces colloquially known as cottages among the homosexual population, just to listen.

2. "hades and orpheus," Endeavour, <2k

“You should pick one out for yourself, Fred,” Charlie chuckles, clapping a hand on his back, pointing with his half-empty glass at the assorted young men and women who crowd the room already filled with smoke from cigarettes, “Although, don’t let it be a copper, this time.” Charlie moves towards a looker of a girl, far too young, and Thursday scoffs a little at his brother’s rather flagrant flouting of good taste. 

3. "playing with your food," Endeavour, >1k

“Look at the sight of you,” Morse hisses between his teeth, both admiring the sheer amount of blood Thursday has gotten splattered with in this last fight and wincing at the multiple open slash wounds he also seems to have acquired in his latest (unnecessary) defense of Morse.

4. "come along home," For All Mankind, <5k

Karen breaks off all contact after she moves to Williamsburg and starts her business program at William and Mary. Ed’s not exactly surprised—maybe she’s just embarrassed by the whole thing or maybe she really doesn’t want to ever see him again or maybe he just reminds her of Tracy — but it still hurts.

5. "all alone in the night," Endeavour/Babylon 5, 4k

The year was 2268.

There’s a telepath coming on board the Cowley.

Shok-nali Fred Thursday had very nearly filed a formal complaint with the ISA when he heard, until Shok-na Regnald had gently reminded him that the order to house and integrate former members of the Psi Corps into both the Rangers and Earthforce came from the top itself: Sheridan.

6. "the hands of the statesman," The West Wing, just under 4k

It’s 2002, and Bruno finds himself in his library, picking through the books on his shelves. He’s nervous. Bartlet is in the thick of both an investigation by Congress and a challenging election for a second term, and as campaign manager, he is personally trying his damndest to keep the campaign from falling apart. Bartlet’s team is nervous, almost frantic. That doesn’t make for great campaigning.

7. "I can rebuild you in my brain," Endeavour, just under 4k

After being shot, after slamming up against the wall, and falling onto the floor, Thursday drifts in and out of consciousness. He hears Morse angrily yelling “Bastard!” He feels the rocky driving of the ambulance. He thinks he hears Win sobbing in the distance, before everything fades to a dull hum and after that, silence…it’s at that point he truly believes, for a moment, that’s it done, I’m gone.

8. "i've grown accustomed to his face," Ted Lasso/My Fair Lady, <8k

Professor Trent Crimm, esteemed linguist, grammarian, elocutionist, and writer is exhausted. His friend Mrs. Rebecca Mannion dragged him along to the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games, being held in London due to a volcano eruption in Italy, and the cheering of the crowd, with its mixture of both common and high accents, is just frustrating him. He keeps trying to excuse himself, but Rebecca keeps pulling him down back into his seat.

9. "message sent 11:42 PM," Law and Order: SVU, 358 words

Detective Dominick Carisi, Jr.

you didn’t say goodbye?

10. "dead," Heat, 467 words

You know why you did it.

I'm gonna go ahead and tag @terribleoldwhitemen, @reserve, @lemonistas, @kigiom, @naturaliseme, and @tiltedsyllogism! (If you see this and you weren't tagged and really want to do it, you should!! This was off the top of my head...)

[miss-windsong]

tagged by @alicentsgf yes ma’am 

RULES - List eight shows for your followers to get to know you better.

1. Avatar the Last Airbender - this was the first show I ever remember watching in its entirety, and it’s also probably the show that has had the most impact on me. From the way the world, the cultures, and the magic are all entwined, to the purely unapologetic spirituality that runs through the whole thing, and especially the fact that the main character Refuses to compromise his beliefs in the face of the entire world telling him not to - that’s my shit right there. I have this show memorized, episode for episode if not line for line sometimes.

2. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood - the first anime I ever watched (besides the pokemon and bakugan episodes I vaguely remember from 8am TV at age 5 or whatever) and boy does this show fuck. It would be good enough if the only thing it was concerned with was the main character’s loss of innocence and quest to find a reason to live (main characters, I think Ed and Alphonse both deserve that title), but it also gives you that delicious well-written political maneuvering through the lens of my boy Roy, who is possibly my favorite character ever based purely on how good his writing is. I could - and will - talk about this show for an unacceptable amount of time, so beware asking me about it.

3. Game of Thrones - I know this show has a lot of baggage surrounding the later... lets say half of its runtime, the first four seasons reminded me why I fell in love with fantasy as a kid. I didn’t watch this show until 2021 (a disgrace that I regret to this day), but between GRRM’s masterful plot and character writing and an incredible amount of dedication to making a fantasy show that looked as good as the images the book conjured (again, for the most part - we don’t talk about Casterly Rock in this house), I couldn’t help myself. This show and the books it comes from have consumed me. I hope I never get out.

4. House of the Dragon - everything I said above, but with better camera work, more gays, more dragons, and sadder (which is fucked up honestly). There’s only one season of this show out as of making this post, but to be honest if it were cancelled tomorrow I’d still feel incredibly lucky for getting to watch it as it premiered. I am so normal about the characters in this story.

5. Hawkeye - I think this is my favorite marvel property. I don’t know why. I’m an MCU enjoyer, and I wasn’t particularly excited about this show when it was announced, but boy was I wrong. Low stakes, good comedy, and Hailee Steinfeld and Florence Pugh are there. Also, shockingly good camerawork and pretty good action considering it feels like an afterthought by Disney. I want more of these characters. Fortunately it’s the MCU, so surely I will get them in more of their toy-selling glory.

6. Arcane - fuck this show. I hate it. It’s too good. Every single one of the 9 episodes of Season 1 (all we have for now) makes me cry every time I watch it. Multi-layered tragedy, lesbians, class war, a frankly illegal soundtrack, and some of the prettiest animation I have ever seen in my life. And it’s all about characters in a world I was already kind of obsessed with. If you haven’t seen this show, please give it a shot. You might hate me for it, because this show is NOT nice to its characters, but you will also fall in love with them. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

7. Neon Genesis Evangelion - I’m including the Rebuild movies in this, because fuck your rules. The 26 original episodes of this show, combined with the End of Evangelion, are an incredible experience that I think everyone should see at least once. When I watched this show for the first time, I only meant to watch a few episodes before bed but ended up staying awake the entire night and watching the whole thing in one sitting. That was emotionally devastating enough (because this is not a particularly happy story), but when I finally got around to watching the Rebuild movies, it felt like someone had pried my brain open and made a movie about what it felt like to be in there. Particularly the fourth movie. I would say on average I cry at least an hour of its 2 and a half hour runtime, every time I watch it, and I’ve seen it easily 5 times by now. This story broke me in the best way possible.

8. She-Ra and the Princesses of Power - gay. Gay gay homosexual gay. If you’ve ever thought “man, I wish scifi didn’t always look like Halo” then you’d like how this show looks. It is absolutely bursting with life and light and energy, in a way I’ve never seen before. And that’s not even talking about the characters inhabiting this absolutely beautiful world. They’re all quirky, unique, and way too god damn easy to get attached to. It’s not as happy-go-lucky as it might sound or appear, but it does a phenomenal job of tackling some pretty intense issues, from parental trauma to grief to reconciling friendships. Also, it’s gay. Did I mention that?

Tagging @cuteinfodumpster, @queenwillowisp 

[rebeccabonbonarchive]

Regarding Rebecca Bonbon: Price Gouging, Price Guide

Introduction

Hello there! I, much like many others, am Chronically Online™. This means that, since I am on many websites, I see many people selling Rebecca Bonbon merchandise at unreasonable prices because people believe she has been "discontinued" and is an "e x-Sanrio character." I wanted to make a general price guide for RBB products to make it a little easier on collectors,. Please keep in mind these are my opinions, and if you want to spend unreasonable amounts of money, that is your prerogative. I don't want you to, though, if you don't want to!

I will be making a Misconceptions list a little later, so I'll link to that when I finish it!

Price Guide

Rebecca Bonbon Build-a-Bear: Unfortunately, this will be your most expensive product. Stuffed animals bought online can be expensive. Here are some general rules + prices for the B-A-B:

a. Unclothed, Good Condition, No "Flaws": $40-$50 + shipping costs.

b. Clothed, NWOT: $100 + shipping -- could be more depending on clothing amount and quality

c. NWT: I've never seen one new with tags on the market. I would say, "use your own discretion."

2. Rebecca Bonbon Hats, Gloves, and Jewelry: $10-$20 + shipping, depending on quality and amount. Prices goes up if the product still has tags.

3. Rebecca Bonbon Shirts, Purses, Apparel: $15-$35 + shipping. Purses are usually the most money. I've gotten some good tee-shirts for around $14.

Pricing Questions

What about tags?: Tags are commonly found on RBB products because RBB products are still being made today, just for different countries marketplaces. Tags don't really guarantee the age of a product or its value. I would look for the date in which the item was released in the product photos, and work on age rather than tags

2. Does age matter?: As discussed, absolutely. I've seen some old RBB (i.e. 2006-2012) and those should be priced higher than other products. Older items tend to be worth more, especially if they are in good condition with tags. Otherwise, price it fairly.

3. What about Male Rebecca Bonbon?: I seldom see MRBB on the market, especially in America. If you have something MRBB, I would pay a kidney for it, unironically. However, since there isn't much to compare to on the American market, I would price around twice the amount of usual RBB products.

4. What about Chiquita?: Again, seldom see them on the market. I would do 2x-3x the average for Chiquita merch.

5. I can't find my product online! How do I price it?!: 1) use my guide 2) compare to other similar RBB products or other Crown Creative products 3) find the year 4) does it have tags? These should help a bit.

Price Gouging Thoughts

I've made a joke before that I unintentionally raised the price of RBB by writing an article that got 5k views before I took it down. While it's a funny joke, I did, unintentionally, re-start interest in RBB. I got reposted on the official Brazilian account, Crown Creative's account on Instagram, etc. But, there is an issue with this resurgence -- TikTok.

On my feed about a month ago, I got a post from a woman around my age talking about RBB. About half of the information was correct, and the other half wasn't. Many people thought RBB was Sanrio due to this video, as well as other misconceptions that I will cover later. As of writing this (July 27 2024), that video has reached almost 85,000 views and 13,000 likes. That is no small reach!

I commented on the video correcting some of the information, and the creator seems very sweet and thanked me for my contribution (someone also responded to my comment and said, "this has to be an original experience." Which made me laugh). The video is the biggest video on the RBB TikTok hashtag, making it the most seen.

This, next to my article from 4 years ago, seems to have made people believe RBB is "worth money" because she's "Ex-Sanrio." RBB is a Crown Creative character drawn by ex-Sanrio artist, Yuko Shimizu. There is absolutely 0 connection to Sanrio other than the artist -- who hasn't designed for the company in 40 years.

RBB, for the most part, is not a popular character, and never really was in the cultural lens the same way Hello Kitty was. She was a K-Mart brand here in America. She is a "back-to-school" brand in South America; in Taiwan, she's a tweenage brand dedicated to cute makeup. She is inexpensive for the most part in the modern day comparatively to some Sanrio products (Loungefly).

This isn't to shit on Sanrio, OR RBB, but RBB is not worth a ton of money. The only product worth anything was never really released to the public -- The RBB Diamond necklace, that was worth $18,000USD when it was advertised. That necklace, on top of Yuko Shimizu's signature, are the only two things worth a good chunk of change in the RBB community -- and neither have ever come up on the market.

Moral of the story: Do your own research, and please, don't price gouge due to your own ignorance. RBB is not worth a lot of money -- and she isn't Sanrio!

[plum-pitt]

not to be that mf on main but like,,,,,

fuck multifandom one shot books, and honestly one shot books in general to some extent.

In this post I pulled out of my ass out of sheer frustration while looking for a fic to read, i will messily lay out my grievances, then make suggestions of what authors could potentially do differently to avoid these issues.

Section 1: Me Angy

First off- the tag and fandom lists on these things are ALWAYS 50 miles long and take up like half the damn page on Ao3, and istg a good amount of the time they’ve got like a single 1000 word chapter and haven’t even been updated in like 2 years

They absolutely destroy filters for things like tags and word count.

like if i’m looking for a longfic to binge read, i don’t need these books of one shots, when i’d maybe be interested in 10% of what’s in it, clogging up my search results.

plus if you’ve got even just one single oneshot in there with an icky tag i’ve filtered out, then i’m never gonna see any of it even if i might’ve actually liked what the rest had to offer!!

The fandoms are also like a whole other beast. God forbid you’re looking for an actual crossover fic between two franchises because sorry bout ur luck there kid, you’re gonna be spending a stupid amount of time weeding out random fandom after random fandom in the filters section just to get rid of these oneshot books and find what you’re actually looking for.

Section 2: Suggestions

If you’re an author just trying to keep your page organized by keeping all your oneshots together somehow, then put them in a series! That way they can all be tagged individually and more people who’d want to read them will be able to find them, and they don’t jack up the filtering system!

Kinda sorta relevant to the conversation too; if you’re making a fic for a franchise with a bunch of different iterations, and you’re don’t necessarily have a specific version in mind when writing it, or perhaps are making an original iteration all your own, then for the love of all that is good, do not put every iteration in the fandom tags.

For example, if i’m looking for say, fanfic of Zelda: Twilight Princess, and you’re writing a Zelda fanfic set in your own version of the Zelda universe. If you tag literally every single game in the franchise that has a fandom tag to its name, then your fic will come up even if it’s not at all what i’m looking for.

Most multi-iteration fandoms of that nature have an overarching tag that looks something like:

*insert random franchise*- and related fandoms

It’s there for a reason! If you’re not sure what version you’re writing for, or you’re making one up, then just use that! It can still be found by anyone scrolling through fics on that general tag, and doesn’t get in the way of readers on the hunt for something more specific.

In Conclusion:

i ain’t trynna be a dick, but some of yall don’t know how to tag and it’s working to both your, and the readers detriment. Thats ok tho! it’s not like there’s a rule book out there that lays out exactly what to do, and thanks to that everyone has subtle differences in how they decide to label their work. i’m just pointing out some minor inconveniences i’ve gone thru as a reader and some possible solutions for authors that could circumvent them.

this is in no way a personal attack on anybody, not sure why anyone would think that it’s literally fanfic tags, but just trynna cover all my bases here. Ok bye

[staycatcher]

Get to know me better tag❄️☀️

Tagged by the lovely Opal @softbbyg0rl 💞

Rules: answer questions and tag 20 blogs you are contractually obligated to know better

Name✖️ / Nickname✔️: Brewgie🤪

Gender: Your guess is as good as mine but I appreciate gender neutral most n then fem shit thanks🥰

Star Sign: taurus 🌞 pisces 🌝 libra 📈 , gemini mercury, aries venus👀

Height: 5’10✨

Time: she’s an illusion♥️ it’s

Birthday: may 15th & a 2001!liner

Fav kpop band: 💘dc & skz ult here!!💘 I’m getting into rolling quartz n maybe stayc & secret number!! 4minute got me into kpop!!

(had  to  narrow  it  down  just  to  kpop~)

Fav soloist: Taylor Swift (my whole life basically) & bad bitches like hyuna, jamie, sunmi, chungha & also eric nam-

Song stuck in your head?: flourishing  by  chungha💐

Last Movie Watched: soul! that  new  pixar  film!

Last TV Show: am rewatching Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood💗

When Blog was Made: march 2019

Last Thing Googled: “appex predator definition”

Other Blogs: @brewgie personal I never use, @scorpinora my tv fan blog but mostly she-ra & atla / tlok😌

Do I Get Asks?: yes!! I’m very grateful and it never fails to get me excited!! [@conjunction-of-crows & @sardonicrenegade live in my inbox go  give  em  smooches🥰💞💓]

Explain Your @: it’s just to say I’m a stay who also ults dreamcatcher!! N hopefully I can catch some stays over here n be their friends!! Same for  somnies  hopefully🤪🥺🥺🤲🏻

Following: 1k people💀💀💀

Followers: enough to fill a small flower shop with flowers (i think)💐💫🥰

Average amount of sleep: 10? (i’m  not  in  school  rn)  No less than 7 to function😔

Lucky number(s): 1,11,111,1111- also anything with 5!!

Instruments: my vocal cords to do funny accents and I do a mean air drum solo😌

What I’m wearing: yoga pants, green fuzzy green  socks, mythical merch oversized shirt, tøp  concert  hoodie

Dream trip: Alaska!!, Yosemite, South Korea, France again, that one cat island-

Fav foods: I have a major  sweet tooth!! N  just  anything  in  the  carb  family🥰

Nationality: USA :/

Fav Song: currently- blaze by rolling quartz, my  current  most  played song-  true  love  by  coldplay😳😳 hELP  ITS NOT  EVEN  A  JOKE💀

Top 3 Fictional Universes: atla franchise in its entirety and lotr objectively, and  the  one  where  2020  never  happened<3

this  was  disgustingly  long  if  you  read  this  in  its  entirety  I’m  personally  shocked  eye-  lmk  how  to  pay  you  for  your  time😂🙈🙈

tagging: @kyoohyeon, @holdingthispain, @jazzbar-dami, @haseulee, I  wanna  be  pals  with  yall🥺🥺 and  i  also  will  tag @iknowyunholeeknow, @conjunction-of-crows, @handongisback, @wonpilme & @impulseislost

[koolfrogz]

Misconceptions Regarding MCC14

Recently there have been a load of misconceptions regarding many of the controversies that happened this MCC, especially on Twitter and Tiktok, so I thought I would make a giant post detailing these and why they are wrong so I can scroll through my dash in peace.

1. Hbomb purposely abused a glitch in HITW that got Illumina and Mefs banned from MCC on the practice server. 

This one can easily be broken down into three components: 1. Misinformation about the glitch itself 2. Misinformation about the Mefs and Illumina incident 3. When does abusing a glitch count as cheating?

Firstly, the glitch Hbomb used is actually very common in HITW and has been around since the game was first introduced. The devs know about it and have not made any complaints about it because the usage of the glitch itself is heavily luck based (depending on the ping of the player) and does not guarantee a win to any player who does get it. Take for example PearlescentMoon who has used the glitch repeatedly throughout many competitions (i.e MCC 11), yet has not gained any significant advantage through it because, again, there is still an element of skill required to use it. This glitch is not only known by the devs, but has been used before in HITW. It is not something new that Hbomb exploited as a means of getting ahead.

Secondly, the Illumina and Mefs situation is not at all comparable to the Hbomb one. Illumina and Mefs were using a completely different glitch which did guarantee a win to the player because it allowed the player to afk on the platform and allow the blocks to pass through them. They were not banned for exploiting this glitch, but rather reprimanded by Scott and the devs for not reporting it to them sooner. Mefs and Illumina are still allowed in MCC and only didn’t compete this time because the teams had already been formed.

Finally, in regards to the idea of cheating itself when using such a glitch, the idea that what Hbomb did counts as cheating is absurd considering past MCCs and the various glitches which have been abused as well. I’ve seen a lot of people mention the infamous Wilbur Glitch and I think its a perfect example. The Wilbur Glitch is from the game Rocket Spleef which was not played this MCC but certainly will be in the future. The glitch involves the player becoming stuck in a block and seemingly floating in the air allowing them to basically secure a win without admin intervention. This glitch is much more OP than the glitch Hbomb used, and we have even seen admins purposefully try to kill players for using it (i.e Philza MCC11). However, even when players have purposefully attempted to get it (Wilbur, Phil, Quackity, etc.), I have never seen the fandom react so negatively as to accuse them of cheating. It is not fair to accuse Hbomb of cheating when he abuses a glitch which has been in the game for ages and not do the same with your favourite creators who do a much more busted glitch as well. Personally, I don’t consider either of these cheating, but that’s my opinion.

2. They removed Parkour Warrior because Dream was too good. That’s not fair.

Okay, this one is very simple as its just not true. This falls under the assumption that Dream was the only player to finish Parkour Warrior which is not true (PeteZahHutt completed the course twice and was the first to ever complete it in MCC 6). While the reason the Parkour Warrior map was destroyed in MCC 11 is said to be that EpicLandlord destroyed it because “he was annoyed at how good Dream was at it”, this is mainly a joke (think of the Ranboo being banned from MCC situation, while Ranboo isn’t in MCC there’s no actual beef and he’s not actually banned.) Secondly, if you weren’t around for Parkour Warrior when it was still in MCC, or have only ever seen Dream or Pete’s POV, you might not know, but Parkour Warrior was a miserable game mode (think Build Mart/Bingo but ten times worse because there was no chance to improve your placement other than just being good at Parkour). The game was 10 minutes of pure rage and frustration from competitors, which while entertaining at times, wasn’t the best for content when only two POVs in the entire competition were deemed watchable. This also wasn’t good for a competition because it meant that only two teams at most were progressing (and by a large amount) due to one player while the rest lagged behind. It gave the teams which had Pete and Dream a huge advantage and made the game unfun and unfair to everyone else, so they revamped the game (to Parkour Tag) to make it an even playing field where everyone had a chance to win (in the spirit of MCC). 

3. Scott had an unfair advantage in the competition and should be removed from the Dev Team or the Participants List.

This one is slightly more nuanced and may not have a definitive answer. Yes, Scott does have a slight advantage due to being a part of the dev team in every MCC. However, this MCC was definitely an outlier in that fact. Scott has been known to share info and tips with his teammates in past MCCs, but it has not truly impacted their performance on a significant level because the players knew a majority of the information anyways (the game rules, maps, etc). This MCC was unfair because Scott had a bigger advantage than originally assumed (it doesn’t mean he did it with malicious intent, it just means there was a severe oversight when designing the maps and explaining the rules to players). Also, the idea that Scott was guaranteed a win because he was part of the Dev Team is ridiculous and untrue. 

Scott has always been treated on the same level as any other player and has not been giving special privileges because he helped work on the tournament. Take for example MCC 8. Scott was teamed with Tommy, Philza, and Wilbur, and they were doing very well! Then came (wait for it), Ace Race. Scott experienced a glitch which allowed him to remain with his Elytra activated for half the course and allowed him to skip over multiple checkpoints and placed him in first. However, by skipping over these checkpoints the game corrected his placement and put him in last. This was seen as not fair at the time and the Red Rabbits did complain, to which Noxite responded that there was nothing they could do and Scott would just have to finish the round as normal. This glitch severely impacted the Red Rabbits standings and possibly led to them not being able to compete in Dodgebolt that MCC. Yet, Scott was never treated differently than any other player throughout the glitch despite being a part of the Dev Team.

For the next MCC, I certainly think that Scott should be allowed to play as normal. I truly believe this MCC was a fluke, and although I too felt a little salty seeing my favourite go from 2nd to 30th, I believe that it is not worth getting up in arms about it because at the end of the day there is a whole season of competitions where any team has a chance to win. 

4. They should have restarted the round and allowed the participants to retry the map.

While I too would have loved to see a rematch for Ace Rae, I would like to say that I, and probably many of the people playing, knew that it wasn’t going to happen. Noxcrew is very strict about the way MCC is run, it’s why I think it works so well. However, this means that they will not budge on these rules even in the face of something such as this competition’s Ace Race debacle. In the entire time of MCC, Noxcrew have only once ever restarted a round. This was in MCC 7 during Battle Box after there were server issues causing extreme lag for everyone (and Wilbur and Magistrex blew up their own teammates). It was unlikely that they were going to restart the round due to the mistake, and honestly, it might’ve caused more trouble than good to reset the points and the entire round of Ace Race. 

5. The Spirit of MCC

This last one is more of a general statement than a misconception, but I would like to say that I have seen a lot of newer fans confused and upset about this MCC’s outcome. However, I would like to remind everyone that at the end of the day MCC is a for-fun tournament which brings MCYTs of every background to compete and have fun. Yes, there is an element of competitiveness as it is a competition, but it goes against the very spirit of the competitions to be toxic and rude in spite of not winning or placing lower than you expected. At the end of the day, it is a MC tournament that has no monetary prize other than a golden coin. It is immature to slander, spread misinformation, or send death threats and harassment over such a tournament and I wish shame upon anyone who’s first reaction to not winning or their team not winning was to do such a thing. MCC is a brilliant tournament that has changed the game for how MC Competitions have been done, and it is disheartening to see the hard work Noxcrew and Scott have done be disrespected as such. I hope next MCC the fandom can come together and make this the lovely fandom event it once was. 

[theflyingfeeling]

thank you so much @ao3userxnowimnothing for the tag 🖤

rules: list your top 5 favorites of your fics, what they're about, and why you're proud of them, then tag some fic authors to do the same!

I'm tagging @percervall @neverrepent @milirii and @rosalba-robi 🌻

(see my choices under the read-more)

1. Room for one more troubled soul

I’m terribly proud of this fic, mostly because its length and immensity. I worked for it for months and had my ups and downs (e.g. it took me aaaaaages to finish the first friggin’ chapter?!), and while I did have an outline for the full story, there were also lots of plot lines that I improvised as the story developed and ended up working out quite by accident if I’m completely honest 😂 I had previously sort of abandoned a gigantic multi-chapter fic in the ski jumping fandom so I wasn’t sure if I could pull off a work that was this extensive, which is why I’m super proud of myself for having succeeded with this one, because I’m not the most patient of people. Now that I know I can actually finish a longer multi-chapter work, I have faith in myself to do so again 😇

2. But There’s Nothing To Be Afraid Of

Despite the horrifying styling of the title, I’m still proud of my first ever BC fic that I published a year ago (in which the guys go see Måneskin at a festival, in a nutshell). I was soooooo nervous about posting it that I decided to post the first two chapters at one go because nothing much happens in the first chapter and I was desperate to show the readers that hey! hey! this is actually more than Joel being sulky! just wait!! 😅 I don’t ship Joel/Damiano anymore, but this fic still holds a special place in my heart

3. The YouTuber AU, particularly Of rock, roll and dogs

I know I’ve said this at many occasions but I’ll say it again: I loooooove writing from Joel’s point of view, because he’s equal amounts of emo and dramatic, and it’s fun to play with that combo. I’m not afraid to boast my own trumpet here and say that this AU and especially the Joel POVs are funny af, and building the whole alternate universe was so much fun too!

4. You are the sun and I am just the planets

idk man, I’m just really fond of the College/University AU and I’m a sucker for pining, and as heartbreaking as it is, I also enjoy unrequited love as a trope. The mood of the fic changes gradually the more time Olli spends with Joonas, and I kinda like that effect; at this point his whole life wasn’t as consumed by his crush for Joonas (at least not to the extent it is in the main work in this AU), but you can clearly see he’s in too deep already… Plus I love the FOB song in the title/summary 💖

5. A nameless Olli/Aleksi prompt ficlet for my Valentine’s Day Fluff series (also on AO3)

Loosely based on the movie Just Like Heaven, which I've never seen myself but after reading the synopsis I made my own adaption of it in which Olli adopts Rilla when she was put in the shelter because Aleksi is lying in a coma in the hospital. I’m strangely proud of this one because I think it’s a really touching story and I did cry a little when writing it (NOT as in “omg I’m such a great writer” but as in “OMG DOGS!! 😭”) and I must say that I was a tiiiiiiiiiny bit disappointed it didn’t get as many notes as some of the other fics in this series that in my opinion weren’t as good. Yes, the ending is ridiculous and a little unrealistic but hey, it’s magic realism! Aleksi is a half-ghost for most of if, for goodness sake!! So please, if you haven’t read it yet, grab some tissues and do so, because I’m really proud of this one and I’m also very keen on making y’all cry (ohhh just WAIT ‘til you get to read the Gran Hotel AU!)

[alicanta77]

Finale: Glitter and Gold

Pairing: princess!y/n x prince!Chenle

Themes: royalty au, fluff, angst

Warnings: arranged marriage, violence, war, character death, injury, descriptions of injury and blood

Words: 11.5k

Inspiration: BTS - Blood, Sweat and Tears - orchestral cover

Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter 3 - Chapter 4 - Chapter 5 - Finale

tag list: @hiqhkey @jaeshatshop @lebrookestore @honei-n @cheonsa1004 @haechans-sunflower @crispy-chan @rvse-hvvck @chezzontop​ 

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Note: This is it! The final chapter of Royal Blooded! I want to say a MASSIVE thank you to everyone who has read and supported this story. The first chapter of this story was published before I had 100 followers on here, and now, as we celebrate the finale, we have over 1500. I have grown so much throughout the 9 months of my life that I spent creating this world, and every word of support, every message, every ask about it means so much to me. I’m a little emotional that it’s ending because of how long I spent on it and how much I put into it, but I am so excited to look forwards at everything that’s coming next. Thank you for the love on this, and enjoy the finale!

Felix xox

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~ 6 months later ~

You held your head high as you walked towards the throne room. You had your main servant walking behind you and two guards escorting you on either side. Your shoes made small tapping noises on the stone floor with every step you took and your clothes and hair gently flowed in time to the repetitive movement. Your lady in waiting was smoothing out your dress as you moved, trying to make everything look perfect. You paused as she quickly adjusted one final piece of hair before giving you a loving smile and hug and wishing you well.

Your chest felt tight with nerves and you took a deep breath. Your dress was beautiful, the most expensive one you owned and you were made up to look more beautiful than you think you ever had before. Your mother had bought this dress for you and, as soon as you had seen it your jaw had dropped, the scarlet red colour complimented your skin tone perfectly and the gold details that swirled around to form the shape of dragons were captivating.

You knew that a dress like this would only be wearable on a day like today, the most important day of your life.

You approached the grand doors, nodding at the two knights guarding the entrance with a smile, both of whom bowed back before moving their spears and opening the grand doors for you.

The throne room appeared in all its glory. The metal chandelier hung from the ceiling, dangling above the engraved stone floors that were currently stood on by the entire court. The court and knights of your kingdom were all in neat rows on the left of the room, framed by the sculpted columns that ran up the walls, engraved with detailed patterns. On the right side of the great hall stood another court entirely. One which you had met once and had recently had the pleasure of getting to know better. Their red and gold emblems were proudly on display on their cloaks, letting everyone who saw them know that they were the court of the royal kingdom of Shanghai.

You remembered doing this over a year and a half ago, only then you had been meeting Chenle for the first time. If someone had told you just how much he would come to mean to you in such a short amount of time, you would never have believed them. You had thought it would take you years to fall for the boy you were arranged to marry, but life is funny like that. You look back now and you don’t see him as the boy you were arranged to love, but rather the boy you were destined to.

However, even with all this going on around you, you couldn’t take your eyes off the boy waiting for you at the end of the hall. He too was dressed in his finest clothes, the dark green and silver colours of your kingdom decorating his outfit. As you walked down the hall, dressed in the representative colours of Shanghai, his face split into the largest smile you had ever seen.

His eyes never left your face as you moved closer to him with every step, in fact, it took all of Chenle’s self restraint not to run towards you right there and then. You finally reached the front and Chenle offered a hand to help you up the few steps.

You accepted, your hands slotting together as if they were jigsaw pieces. You lifted your dress with your left hand, making sure not to step on it and accidentally rip it or, god forbid, face plant. You would never recover from the embarrassment if that happened.

Luckily you made it up the three stairs without any problems, but now you faced the challenge of speaking. You knew Chenle was going to speak first so you had time to mentally prepare yourself, but deep down you felt an overwhelming sense of serenity. You knew that you would be fine. You had been taking public speaking classes since you were young and you’d addressed more people than this in one go before. Just as with the stairs, you knew that nothing would happen, but your mind went to the worst case scenario. You just wanted this day to be perfect, after all, you were only doing it once.

You and Chenle tore your eyes away from each other as you turned your attention to the front, where your childhood tutor, now a well respected member of the court and keeper of the archives, was about to speak.

“We are gathered here today for the wedding and coronation of Prince Chenle and Princess y/n.���

~ flashback ~

“Will you marry me?”

The words left Chenle’s lips and it was as if they kick started your brain into action. You threw yourself at him, his arms catching you as the two of you hit the ground in a heap.

“Yes.” You cried repeatedly. “Yes, with all my heart.”

Chenle rolled the two of you over so that you were lying on top of him, the laughter that was emitting from the two of you radiated pure happiness. You sat up, kneeling next to Chenle as he gently grabbed your hand.

He held you so softly, his thumb gently caressing the back of your palm as he slipped the diamond onto your finger. A second passed in which the two of you stared at the jewel, the symbol of a silent promise to love each other until the end of time.

You looked up at him, eyes shining and his hands came up to cup your face. He pulled you in and you kissed him with everything you had.

You’d lost count of the amount of time you’d kissed Chenle, but this was different. This held so much more to it. It was as if it was a kiss that made all the other kisses on the planet seem pathetic. Love exploded between the two of you, your love, the kind of love that would last a lifetime.

You both pulled away, the need to breath breaking the captivating spell that Chenle had cast on you with that kiss. He leant down, resting his forehead on yours as you both closed your eyes and enjoyed being so close to the one you adored.

“I love you so much.” He whispered, afraid that if his words were any louder they would shatter the perfect moment.

“I love you more.” You whispered back, grinning as you heard Chenle chuckle quietly.

He pulled his forehead off yours only to replace it with his lips for a soft kiss.

“That’s not possible.”

~ flashback ends ~

The great hall was decorated with banners of both your kingdom and Shanghai. Ever since the engagement announcement, the castle had been in full on planning mode, preparing everything for this day to be perfect. There had been banquets, feasts and balls thrown in your honour, with gifts from kingdoms far and wide coming to the two of you in congratulations.

Word had been sent to Chenle’s family in Shanghai and they had announced that they would be coming to visit for the wedding. You had never felt happier than when you saw the smile on Chenle’s face when he was told he was going to see his family. His parents and three older brothers, Kun, Sicheng and Renjun, were all leaving Shanghai to attend, and they were planning on staying with you for a couple of days either side of the monumental event.

However, the good news about Chenle’s family came with bad news about yours. Your mother was frail, ill and barely eating anymore. She spent her days drowning herself in work so she didn’t have to focus on the cold empty space in her bed beside her. For the past 6 months she had worked diligently and done everything she could, but one night she came into your bedroom and quietly asked to speak to you and Chenle.

She told you that she didn’t think she could do it anymore, she didn’t think she could rule the kingdom. She explained that she had only managed to take on all the duties because she had had her husband, your father, by her side. But he wasn’t here anymore, and she couldn’t go on with the burden, it was simply too much for her to bear.

After a long and heavy conversation, your mother announced the next morning that she would soon be stepping down from ruling, and allowing you and Chenle to ascend to the thrones. She addressed her people, admitting to them that she was unfit to govern them and that she felt it was unfair to keep herself on the throne and deny them a better pair of rulers. She then proceeded to inform them that the wedding would be combined with the coronation so that you would be married and crowned on the same day.

You would be lying if you said that this hadn’t had an effect on you. You were already feeling the stress of your title, and you had been working closely with a group of advisors and your mother to introduce you to the world of being Queen. But, still, you were terrified. What if you weren’t a good ruler? What if you made a bad choice for your people? What if this affects your relationship with Chenle? You wouldn’t even get a chance to get used to being married before the role of King and Queen would be thrust upon you. But you forced yourself to ignore the growing voice in your head that filled your being with doubt. You had been preparing for this day your entire life, and now that it was here, you refused to let down those people who had helped you along the way. You would do your best, and make them proud.

So here you were. Standing next to the man you loved, about to promise your everything to him forever. Even though you had been filled to the brim with nerves before entering, as soon as you had locked eyes with Chenle, all of that had melted away. You knew that, as long as you had him by your side, the two of you could handle anything.

While the wedding was only attended to by family and members of the court, the celebrations ran throughout the entire kingdom, with all your people overjoyed at the beautiful ceremony.

You listened as the officiant went through the traditional wedding procedure, both you and Chenle replying with the rehearsed statements. His hand never left yours and you couldn’t express how relieved you were that it didn’t. The physical reassurance that he was there grounded you.

You turned to face each other, holding your joined hands out for the gold ribbon to be wrapped around them. The officiant continued to speak, his words about unity and strength reminding you of your father’s speech when Chenle first arrived with his family. So many things about this day were taking you back to the beginning, and the similarities were making you miss your father more than anything.

You felt a small squeeze on your hand and looked into Chenle’s soft brown eyes. He gave you a nod, one so minute that it would be unnoticeable to anyone who wasn’t you. You repeated the move to him, another reassurance that the two of you were there for each other, no matter what.

The officiant moved on to the vows, Chenle going first before you followed, saying the words you had recently memorised. Due to you both being royals, you couldn’t write personal vows and you had to stick to the scripture, but that didn’t mean that you didn’t mean every word. You meant it with your whole body when you promised to stand by him for as long as you lived, to look after him as best you could, and to support and love him no matter what. And from the look in your soon to be husband’s face, he meant every word he said too.

“Chenle, do you take y/n as your wife?”

“I do.” He spoke, sincerity strong in his voice and you didn’t bother to fight the smile that grew across your face at his certain words. The only thing you didn’t know, was that Chenle had never been so sure of anything in his life. 

“Y/n, do you take Chenle as your husband?”

“I do.” You repeated Chenle’s answer, your voice just as steady and sure as his had been, your mindset reflecting that as well.

You were still scared out of your mind at what was going to happen after today, but the thought of having Chenle by your side for the rest of your life, that didn’t scare you at all. No, that thought was the most comforting thing on the planet.

And that thought was just about to become your reality.

“I now pronounce you husband and wife.”

Chenle wasted absolutely no time, moving forwards before the officiant had even finished speaking, gently grabbing your face and pulling you in for a kiss. You smiled into the kiss, your hands coming up to rest on his waist.

The kiss wasn’t long, the awareness that your families and courts were watching you not quite having left your mind. But it held everything, the past years that you had known each other, your entire journey together into who you were now was told in the few seconds that Chenle’s lips pressed against yours. The clapping and cheers brought the two of you fully back to reality as you pulled back. You leaned back in for an even shorter kiss, officially sealing the eternal bond between the two of you.

“I love you.” You whispered, Chenle chuckling.

“That was my line.” You opened your eyes to look at him and he smiled down at you. “But I love you too.”

You both pulled away, as the claps gradually died down and the ceremony began to progress. The two of you barely had time to register the giant step you had just taken before you were being instructed to kneel in front of the thrones and the crowns were held above your head.

You were sure that it had taken longer than you realised, but you were so wrapped up in the feeling of loving Chenle, and how much he loved you, that it felt as though not even thirty seconds had passed.

And yet, here you were, repeating yet another set of responses that you had been taught, promising to protect and fairly govern the people, vowing to follow the example set by those who ruled before you and do whatever you can to live according to the traditions and customs of your kingdom.

As the final vows left both your lips, you felt the gold crown land on your head, the heaviness of the metal it was made out of, and the title it represent, weighing you down already.

“I crown you King Chenle. I crown you Queen y/n.”

With those words, you pulled your legs underneath you and stood, turning around to face the people of your courts. Chenle reached for your hand once again, this time you interlinked your fingers, intertwining your hands as a physical sign of the link between your kingdoms.

The throne room erupted in cheers and clapping once again, this time to an almost deafening volume. You and Chenle began to walk back down the middle, waving and smiling at those closest to you as you passed. You walked all the way out of the throne room and straight onto the balcony, ready to greet your people as their official rulers.

---

You stood just outside the balcony together waiting for the words that would signal the two of you to step outside. You hadn’t spoken to anyone yet, just waiting for you final duties of the day so that you could celebrate with your friends and families.

“Did you feel as though that went really quickly?” Chenle asked out of nowhere, making you jump slightly at the sudden noise before your eyes widened in agreement.

“It did! Leading up to the ceremony felt like an eternity, but then as soon as the ceremony began, it went in a flash. I’m not sure I was even there for half of it.” You muttered the last part, but Chenle’s sharp hearing caught your words none the less and he chuckled whilst muttering out a softer reply.

“Me neither. It kind of feels as though it hasn’t happened yet.”

“Exactly.” You didn’t realise how nervous you had still been until the realisation that you were both feeling the same way. You both fell into silence, it was comfortable but it still felt as though there was a lot that the two of you were leaving unsaid.

“You know-” Chenle paused his words to swallow his nerves, he hadn’t been this nervous around since the two of you met. “I’m starting to remember why I was so nervous for this marriage when I met you.”

You looked at him, the short distance between you suddenly feeling like a million miles.

“Me too.” You admitted softly. “It doesn’t matter how long we’ve known each other, there’s still a pressure for this marriage to be successful and for our kingdom to flourish.”

Chenle whispered a quiet “Yeah”, showing you that he was feeling exactly the same way.

“Chenle?” His eyes shot up from his feet to yours and you could see the nerves bubbling in them. He was chewing on the inside of his cheek and you took a step forward to grab on of the hands that he had behind his back. “Listen to me, I thought you weren’t nervous at all. Honestly, I thought I was the only one freaking out.”

“Trust me you weren’t.” Chenle said dryly, moving slightly so that he was facing you full on.

“I know that now, but I didn’t when I really needed to.”

“What are you saying?” Chenle asked, his brows creasing with worry at your soft words. He knew you only spoke with this tone of voice when you had something important to say to him.

“I’m saying we need to communicate. We need to tell each other the truth, talk about how we feel, both the good things, and the bad. We’re in this together, and that means we don’t need to be perfect for each other. We just need to be there.”

Chenle nodded, a small smile finally making it’s way onto his face as he pulled you closer by the hand that was already in his. His arms came to wrap around your shoulders and you fell into his arms for a hug. You felt his scent overcome you and drown your senses and you let out a deep sigh, feeling some of your worries and concerns leaving you with it.

“You’re right. I know you are and I promise to tell you when I’m stressing out of my mind or nervous to the point where my knees are shaking, especially if I can’t tell anyone else. We’re married now so that means you’re stuck with me no matter what.” Chenle looked down at you, grinning that signature grin of his that you fell in love with until a look of shock suddenly shot across his face. “Holy shit, we’re married!”

You stared at him in confusion.

“What did you think the wedding ceremony meant?” You asked him as Chenle waved you off.

“No, no, I mean, I knew we were married but I guess it’s starting to sink in that we’re really married. Like I get to have you by my side forever...” Chenle trailed off, his eyes never leaving your face.

You leaned up to him, pressing your lips together softly, before pulling back slightly and whispering:

“Well you better get used to it, because it’s you and me for the rest of time now.”

A trumpet riff interrupted your moment, signalling that your time was almost upon you. You and Chenle got into position just as the doors in front of you opened and you prepared to greet your people.

You walked out into the sunlight, the sound of cheers and shouts overwhelming you as you waved to the citizens you had just promised to govern. Chenle’s hand found you once more, holding onto it tightly and pulling you slightly closer as he waved with his free hand. His grip remained tight, and you squeezed it reassuringly leaning in so that only he could hear before saying “I got you” and he seemed to relax. His grip loosened slightly and his smile faded into a genuine expression of joy and awe and you grinned, knowing that you loved him more than anything else on this planet.

The announcer lifted his hand, calling for momentary silence as he uttered the words that were followed by the largest cheer and celebration of them all.

“May I present, for the first time, the King and Queen of Ivairis!”

---

You laughed as Chenle twirled you around in time to the music, before pulling you back in and dipping you gently. You’d lost track of how long the celebrations had been going on for, but the music and lights had hypnotised you into staying longer and longer to enjoy the night. 

You’d had the pleasure of meeting Chenle’s brothers as well. Kun was first in line for the throne, he was also married and honestly was the epitome of a perfect heir. Sicheng was second in line for the throne and, before you had met you had been slightly intimidated by him. After meeting him, however you had learnt he was one of the nicest people and so easy to get along with. Family was everything to him, and he spent most of his time working with new recruits for the Shanghai army.

Renjun was closest in age to Chenle, with only a year and a half separating them, and it was clear that they were closest to each other. Chenle had previously confided in you that, since he had three brothers, he hadn’t had much attention from his parents when he was young, and it was Renjun who was there for him. It was Renjun who had essentially shown him how to learn to grow up. Their casual bickering provided you with huge amounts of entertainment, but it was clear that they cherished each other dearly, and Renjun was so proud of everything Chenle had accomplished here.

The most bittersweet moment however, came when Chenle’s father approached you and asked to dance. He had the same kind smile on his face that he always wore and you easily agreed. He led you out onto the dance floor, just as he did the day Chenle first arrived at Ivairis.

“You two have come a long way since the last time we met.” King Zhong commented, a twinkle in his eyes that made you smile.

“You gave me some good advice.” You admitted to him. “When you came here, and we danced you told me: don’t rush this. And that was the best piece of advice anyone has ever given me. I feel like I married my best friend.”

King Zhong smiled down at you, blinking twice as he tried to figure out the best way to say his next words.

“Y/n-” You looked up at him as he paused, before swallowing and continuing. “I know how much you must have wanted your father to be here, he was such a brilliant man and I’m so sorry he couldn’t be with us today.”

“Me too.” You whispered, just loud enough to be heard over the music and people chatting in the background.

“I know that no one else will say this to you, so I will.” You looked up once again, to see him looking down at you with an expression that reminded you so much of your own father that it brought tears to your eyes. “I’m proud of you.”

You felt even more tears gather rapidly in your eyes at that, and you blinked repeatedly to keep them at bay. Chenle’s father’s hands came up to rest on your shoulders and hugged you. You hugged him back, feeling the fatherly warmth from his hug calm you down slightly.

“Thank you.” You said as he pulled back and smiled at you. He nodded at you, patting you on the head gently before the two of you continued to dance. You couldn’t quite describe the comfort that his words had brought you. Deep down you knew your father would be proud of you and all you had accomplished, you just wish he had been here to see it happen.

The song that was playing came to a stop, and you stepped away to clap for the musicians. You and Chenle’s father smiled at each other, before you excused yourself to the sides, needing a short break. You stood quietly and just observed the scene in front of you. There were countless members of the courts of Shanghai and Ivairis dancing together, you saw Chenle’s parents dancing in the middle as well, Renjun was speaking to Jisung by the side, saying something that caused Jisung to stare at the older boy with his eyes wide in amazement. Over on the other side of the hall were Taeyong, Jaehyun, Sicheng and Kun, all immersed in deep conversation and you could see both Jaemin and Jeno heading over to join the conversation. In fact you could see everyone except for-

“Hi love.” You felt a soft kiss on your cheek as you turned to your left and saw how Chenle had snuck up on you without you noticing.

“Hi.” You replied, smiling up at him.

“I was thinking, do you remember the celebration when we came back from the battle against Odin’s kingdom?” You nodded at his words and he carried on. “Well, what would you say about going back into the town again? Not just us though, opening the doors to the palace and courtyard and bringing the musicians outside so that the court and citizens can all celebrate as one?”

“Chenle...” You breathed. “I think that’s an amazing idea.”

His face split into a wide grin at your words and you both immediately moved to put his plan into action. You split up to find different guards who were on the doors, and explain to them what you would like to do. They seemed slightly hesitant, as this had never been done before, but they couldn’t disagree with their new King and Queen so they did exactly as you asked. You walked back into the hall, finding Chenle there waiting for you and the door remained open after you had arrived. 

You slipped your hand into Chenle’s and he squeezed it gently, while signalling the musicians to stop playing. An air of confusion came over the room as every single pair of eyes came to rest on the two of you.

“Whenever we have a celebration, it seems to be split in two, with a chosen few celebrating in the castle, and the rest down in the town. The Queen and I would like to change this.”

“Indeed.” You took over from Chenle, your voice strong as you addressed the courts. “The whole emphasis of this marriage and alliance is on unity, and so, as we stand united in two different kingdoms, we will also stand united with all our people. We would like to invite you to join us as we go into the lower town for the rest of the night.”

There were a few murmurs amongst the crowd, but most people nodded and smiled in agreement, understanding your point on unity. You gestured for the musicians to come first, allowing them to be set up amongst the others playing in the lower towns before the rest of you began to move. You and Chenle were amongst the last people to leave, with only Jisung behind you.

He was grinning at the two of you like the Cheshire cat, shaking his head slightly as he chuckled.

“What is it?” Chenle asked his friend, rolling his eyes jokingly.

“Only the two of you would do something like this. In your first few hours as King and Queen, you break up an age-old tradition because of the separation and divide it causes. Only you would realise that and take the step to do something about it.” Jisung shrugged, brushing off his own words as if they were meaningless, but you knew he knew how much they meant to Chenle and yourself. If your marriage was supposed to bring unity, you had to make sure that you were making sure that it did. “Come on then, let’s go dance!”

He stepped in between the two of you, throwing his arms over each of your shoulders as the three of you burst out into laughter and headed into the lower town together, ready to dance the night away.

---

Both you and Chenle relied heavily on advisors during your first months of ruling. You mother stepped down and completely away from royal duties and, even though you felt as though you needed her guidance at times, you couldn’t ask her for help. She barely remembered who you were anymore, much less how to rule a kingdom. You visited her everyday, as did Chenle, and each time hurt more than the last. Watching the clouds pass over your mother’s mind as she struggles to place the face of the child who she cared for and loved all her life, was an indescribable pain.

She always remembered you eventually, something that you counted yourself very lucky for. You remember sitting by her bed, holding her hand as you spoke to her late one evening, telling her about a successful conclusion that you had come to during a council meeting that day.

“You’re doing so well my dear.” She spoke, her voice gravelly as if her throat was constantly dry.

“I’m trying.” You replied, forcing a smile on your face so that she wouldn’t see how tired you were. “I’ll make you proud.”

Your mother tightened her grip on your hand, encouraging you to look her in the eyes as she spoke again. 

“You already have.”

She passed away that night.

You were almost relieved that her suffering was over, but her loss hit both you and Chenle very hard. She had become a second mother to him, and you knew how much he loved her. The night you both lost her, you stayed together, hugging each other and crying, just allowing yourselves to be vulnerable before you had to put on another strong appearance for your people when you appeared for the funeral.

Her funeral was identical to your fathers. She was laid, in her best clothes, softly in a long boat, decorated with flowers and pushed down along the river. You held Chenle’s shaking hand in your own as you both whispered your goodbyes into the lanterns and let them fly off into the sky. Allowing your mother to finally be reunited with the man she loved.

You walked back into your shared room, breathing out a heavy sigh as the doors closed behind you and you could finally drop the act you’d been holding all day. Sitting in those meetings, talking with different noblemen of the court about petty details, you had never felt more alone.

You were struggling to come to terms with the fact that you held the entire responsibility of this kingdom on your shoulders, and you didn’t have your parents to show you how to do it anymore. You rested your back against your door, and allowed your knees to give out and for you to sink to the floor.

Once you softly hit the ground you just sat there. You didn’t cry, you didn’t speak, you didn’t move. You just sat there, listening to the sounds of the kingdom around you. You shut your eyes, allowing yourself to get lost in your mind as time passed you by.

A knock on your door forced you to open your eyes and pull yourself back into reality. You stood up and quickly opened your door, finding one of your main advisors there with the paperwork for tomorrow’s sessions. You thanked him, accepting the documents and closed the door once more.

You stepped further into your room, placing the papers down on the desk you had before turning around, planning to lie down on your bed, but your gaze was caught by a figure standing on your balcony.

He had his back to you and was leaning over, but you knew without needing to see his face that it was Chenle. From the way that he was hunched over the balcony to the way he rolled his scarred shoulder every so often to keep the injured muscle moving, you knew he was deep in thought. You debated whether you should go out to see him, wondering if it was best to just leave him thinking, and eventually you turned away, deciding to leave him to his thoughts.

You pulled off your shoes, removed your jewellery and combed through your hair with your fingers. You looked at the small pile of jewellery on your dresser,  before reaching down slowly and picking up the silver ring that bared the royal seal of Ivairis. Your bottom lip began to tremble as your mind was flooded with memories of your parents and your childhood. From your mother gently tying up your hair in the mornings, to your father bringing you along to meetings and you hiding behind his legs.

You dropped the ring, your head falling into your hands as you finally let the tears fall. Your breath shortened as you quietly sobbed into your hands, hiccuping as you tried to catch your breath. You needed to see Chenle. You stood up, whirling around to run out to the balcony, but instead you were greeted with him standing in front of you. He had come back inside, and you had been so lost in your sadness that you hadn’t realised. 

The two of you stood there, staring at each other, both having red eyes and countless tear tracks down your faces. Chenle said nothing, and instead just opened his arms and you ran into them, the force of your bodies colliding making him take a step back to steady the two of you, but it didn’t matter.

You completely broke down, sobbing into his shoulder as Chenle tried to console you. He gently stroked your head with one hand, the other resting comfortably on your waist as he whispered soft words of comfort into your ear. It didn’t seem to be helping as your crying wasn’t stopping at all.

Chenle’s voice broke more as he tried to talk and all it took was you tightening your grip on him for him to give up on trying to hold it together. He buried his face into your shoulder and let the grief overcome him, crying for the people who took him in and gave him a home.

You both held onto each other for dear life, as if the other would slip through your fingers if you let go for a second. It took a while for you to calm down, feeling as though you only stopped crying because you ran out of tears. You brought your hand up to the back of Chenle’s head, running your fingers through his hair and placing a feather light kiss to his temple.

Even after the two of you calmed down, the sadness was still there, drowning your every thought.

“I’m not ready to be Queen.” You admitted, your voice so quiet, as if you were scared for the words to come out. “I thought I’d have more time, I thought I’d be able to get used to the idea of doing it by myself but I’m not. I’m not ready for any of this, I don’t know what I’m doing.”

“I’m not ready either.” Chenle croaked back, his voice sore from the amount of crying he had done already that night. “My parents may still be alive, but they aren’t here, they aren’t close and I can’t contact them easily enough to ask for help when I need it. I just feel... isolated.” Chenle voice broke once again as he pushed his head further into your shoulder.

“Me too. I’ve never felt this alone.” You whispered, not trusting your voice to speak any louder.

This time Chenle didn’t reply, instead just silently nodding as he held you close. You both understood that you didn’t need advice, or a solution. At least, not yet, right now, all you needed, was to tell the other how you felt. Finally saying the words, admitting the overwhelming emotions that had been weighing you down for the past few months, had already made you feel lighter. 

He pulled his head out from your shoulder to rest his forehead on yours. You breathed out, leaning into him as he kept his comforting grip on you. Your eyes were closed, as your mind focused on the one fact that Chenle was standing right there with you, and he understood how you felt.

“I’m sorry.” His quiet whisper making you open your eyes in confusion.

“What for?” You asked and Chenle sighed, as if he was preparing to get something off his chest.

“For not telling you. We made a deal on our wedding day to always be honest with each other about how we were feeling, and I didn’t tell you, and now we’re both here breaking down...”

“Chenle... I’m sorry too. You weren’t the only one keeping things to yourself.” You swallowed, before finally pulling your forehead off his and losing at him straight on. “We aren’t used to this. And I don’t just mean being King and Queen, I mean all of it. We aren’t used to being married, we aren’t used to be sole rulers, we aren’t used to being alone. We had just got married when we then got crowned what felt like five minutes after.”

“We need to figure out who we are as a King and Queen, and who we are as husband and wife. And they don’t necessarily need to be the same people.” You nodded at Chenle’s words before adding onto them with your own.

“There’s so much pressure on this, and I think a lot of that is coming from us. We need to take a step back from being this groundbreaking alliance, and just be us. Chenle and y/n, just two people in love, not the King and Queen of Ivairis whose wedding united lands for generations to come. We don’t need to be our titles, we just need to be-”

“Us.” Chenle finished and you nodded. “And we need to mean it this time. We can’t just say that we’re going to be honest and open with each other and then keep things to ourselves. We’re a team. It’s you and me y/n, and nothing is going to change that.”

You leaned up, closing the small distance between the two of you and pressing your lips to his. He kissed you back, sighing into it slightly before you both pulled away. The kiss was short, but it was enough. It was a promise.

You weren’t just these young kids in love anymore, trying to figure out the best way to spend time with their crush. You were grown adults, married, ruling a kingdom, but no matter how far you went, or how much you grew, you knew that Chenle would always be by your side. You knew that now better than ever.

And for the first time in a long while, neither of you felt alone.

---

You and Chenle kept to your promise, coming to talk to each other, to trust the other to be vulnerable with the smallest of details. Whether it was a certain knight in training being a bit arrogant, or a trade deal you were unsure was worth you signing off on, you shared it with each other. Your close bond as husband and wife translated into your royal duties and you found yourselves settling into a good rhythm as King and Queen. 

But nothing good lasts forever.

You and Chenle stayed late after a particularly gruelling council session. The repairs to the outlying villages were almost complete, and the bandit attacks had decreased to them being almost non-existent. A few more supplies were being organised to be sent down, and Chenle was still keen on the idea of training some of the people in the outlying villagers so that, if a bandit attack does happen, they can defend themselves. However, a couple of council members were arguing that it would be a waste of resources to train them, which resulted in a lengthy discussion that lasted for much longer than planned.

With both you and Chenle in agreement however, there was not much that the council men could do against it once the decision had been made. They would send some knights down to the outlying villages to train the few they could, and then that knowledge would be passed down from generation to generation, with knights arriving every once in a while to help out and make sure the correct technique was being practiced.

You quickly instructed a messenger to deliver this note the following morning, thinking that nobody needs to be disturbed this late. The two of you were looking over the plans, deciding on the knights who would go when the doors to the great hall burst open and a scout of yours came running in.

“Mark, what’s wrong?” Chenle asked worriedly, noticing the look of panic on the older boy’s face.

“Fayre’s kingdom, your majesty. They heard of the Queen’s mother passing and that the two of you ascended to the throne and they think you’ll be weak. They’re planning to attack Ivairis with the full force of their army.” Mark relayed the bad news, breathing heavily as he tried to recover from his rush to the palace.

“Oh god.” You breathed, your hand coming to your face in shock. This was not good. Fayre was one of the strongest and bloodthirsty kings around, and if he wanted Ivairis, chances were he wouldn’t stop until he had it.

You and Chenle shared one look and knew that you had to act fast. Chenle called for the guards to bring in his closest knights, two scouts and a messenger, while you whirled on Mark to ask him more questions.

“When did their army leave?” 

“Three days ago, I rushed to get back here to warn you before them.”

“Thank you Mark, you may have saved us by doing that. If they left three days ago, they still have at least two before they reach us here, meaning we could send our army out to meet them somewhere we choose.” You thought out loud, Mark rapidly nodding his head next to you.

Chenle reappeared out of nowhere, you not even having noticed he’d left in your state of panic. His arms held a bunch of rolled up papers that depicted the maps of the surrounding lands.

“I’m way ahead of you.” He said, placing them all on the round table in front of you as you rolled them out and moved them into position.

You were lining up details to get a larger picture when the people Chenle had summoned began to arrive. Jisung came first, the head of the royal guard was always ready to be called for his job, with both Jeno and Taeyong close behind. The two scouts, Yangyang and Shotaro came next, with Jaemin close behind and Jaehyun and the other messenger Xiaojun arrived last.

You didn’t both to tell them to take a seat or to greet them, the stakes were simply too high. Instead you just told them the news straight away, not wasting time by sugarcoating it or easing into it at all.

“Fayre is planning to attack Ivairis.”

You heard a chorus of worried inhales of breath, signalling the panic that the rest of the group were feeling. You nodded at Mark, allowing him to explain the rest of the details.

“They left their kingdom three days ago and were travelling south, aiming to take this route here to avoid getting spotted by the Ivairis patrol. As far as I’m aware, this plan wasn’t changed, meaning that, as long as nothing disrupts their route, they should reach Ivairis by sunset in two days time and will likely attack the following morning.”

“Our best shot is heading out to meet them somewhere, like we did with Odin’s kingdom.” Jisung spoke first, the rest nodding in agreement. “I would place my bets on somewhere like here.” He reached forwards and circled a certain spot on the map. “It’s not sheltered, so there’s no chance for a surprise attack. While that limits our chances of coming up with one ourselves, Fayre destroys his enemies by drawing them in and then having a second plan up his sleeve.”

“Jisung’s right.” Taeyong said, all eyes flicking towards him as he spoke. “We can’t try to outsmart him by using his own tactics against him, that’s how people get killed. We need to force him into a situation where he has to fight us on our terms, that’s our best shot.”

“Xiaojun-” Chenle called out, the boy’s head shooting up at his king’s voice. “I need you to send word to Shanghai, tell them of the severity of the situation and that we need reinforcements as soon as possible.” Xiaojun nodded, quickly making a note of the battle location before disappearing.

You turned to the other two scouts.

“Yangyang, Shotaro, you need to scout the army. Get us a rough idea of numbers and see if there’s any weak spots. There won’t be enough time for you to report back to us here so you’ll need to tell the army when they arrive at the battle location, understand?” Both of the boys nodded at your words, before heading back out of the door to go do as you asked.

“What about me?” Mark asked, but you shook your head.

“You’ve done enough Mark.” You said, not allowing him to put himself in danger again.

“But they trust me, I could find out more insider information, I-”

“No, Mark.” Chenle cut him off. “Y/n’s right, you’ve done more than enough. Without you we would never stand a chance, that’s for sure. Plus as soon as we meet them they will know that we had a man on the inside, and it won’t take long for them to figure out it’s you. We can’t put you in that danger.”

Mark nodded, understanding your decision before you both thanked him again and allowed him to go for the night.

“What about us?” Jaehyun asked and Chenle turned to look at the remaining knights, his face grave.

“Be ready to prepare the troops in the morning. We’re going to war.”

---

One night. That was all it took for your world to be thrown upside down. In one night you had gone from council meetings and rebuilding the outlying villages to sending the man you loved off to war. You were standing in your joint room, watching as he finished getting dressed just as the first rays of light were appearing through the window. You walked towards him, silently taking the necklace out of his hands and fastening it yourself.

He turned around to face you but you didn’t take your gaze off the jewellery he was wearing. He wore it everyday, a simple necklace with two seals on it. One being the royal seal of Shanghai and the other being the royal seal of Ivairis. The symbol of his two nations. Chenle noticed you avoiding his gaze and brought his hands to your face, gently cupping your jaw and guiding you to look at him.

He leant in, placing a kiss on your forehead and your hand gripped at the fabric around his waist.

“If things aren’t going well-”

“Stop.” You said, not wanting to hear about what would happen if they lost this war. If they lost, Chenle would be dead, and you didn’t want to think about the possibility of that happening.

“Listen.” Chenle commanded softly. “If things aren’t going well, I’ll send a Shanghai messenger back here. You need to get as many of our people as you can, and take them with you to Shanghai. I made sure Xiaojun mentioned in the message the possibility of that happening and I know they would look after you. They reassured us we always have a home there, and I know that would apply to you if I don’t come back from this.” Your hands tightened their grip around his shirt at his words. “If anything happens to me... I need to know that you’ll be safe.”

You nodded silently and Chenle breathed a sigh of relief at your agreement, moving his hands from your face to around your shoulders to hug you close as you did the same around his waist. You buried your face in his chest, breathing in as much of him as you could before you had to let him go.

You walked with him through the castle, your hand held tightly in his as you both approached the main doors. You knew that beyond those doors stood your entire army, waiting for their king to lead them into battle. You suddenly stopped moving, causing Chenle to turn back in confusion.

You stared at him for a second, trying to find the right words to say before just throwing your arms around his neck and hugging him as tightly as you could. Chenle caught you, wrapping his own arms around your waist and squeezing his eyes shut as he tried to make this fleeting moment last forever.

“Come back to me.” You whispered.

“I promise.”

---

It had been a month.

An entire month and the only sign you’d had that they were still alive were the two letters from the Shanghai reinforcements sending word to you that they had arrived at the battlefield to help. The knowledge that they had extra men fighting with them was reassuring, but not hearing a single word from Chenle, not knowing if he was even alive, for a whole month was tearing you apart.

The entire kingdom had been in a state of fear. The outlying villages had been told to be prepared to move into the citadel in case the battle was lost so that they could barricade themselves in and be protected. Every citizen had their nerves on fire for the past month as they all waited for any kind of news.

You had been in the weekly review of the tax collection when the sound of horses hooves caught your attention. The entire table froze, knowing that, one way or another, the battle was over. The doors to the great hall burst open and Mark appeared, nodding at you, a relieved expression on his face.

“It’s them.”

You dropped the paper in your hand, standing up and running out of the hall. You ran down the corridors, Mark by your side and you didn’t stop for anything. Various other members of the court and servants in the castle joined you as they all were eager to welcome the knights home, but all you cared about was finding Chenle.

You burst out of the front doors just in time to see the last of the knights trickle back in. Your jaw dropped, nothing could have prepared you for the sight in front of you.

Out of all the knights who went to battle, only around a fifth of them made it back. Your eyes did a desperate scan of the faces of the live men. You saw Taeyong, who had his left arm in a makeshift sling, Jaehyun and Jaemin were carrying an unresponsive Jeno between them, the large red stain on Jeno’s shirt giving away that he was seriously injured, and Jisung was standing further down the steps in front of you.

You couldn’t see Chenle anywhere.

Jisung took a few steps towards you, limping heavily, and you rushed down to him, throwing your arms around him in a hug.

He caught you with a grunt and you tried to apologise but the words got stuck in your throat. You were shaking slightly in his hold but Jisung still hugged you tightly, relieved to be back home.

“We won.” He whispered, and you nodded slowly at his words before pulling back.

“At what cost?” You asked, too scared to directly voice the question that was plaguing your mind.

Did Chenle survive?

“He’s alive. The last I saw him, he was alive.” Jisung answered your unasked question, a small ounce of relief flooding your system, but it didn’t nothing to calm the furious fear at the fact that nobody knew where he was.

You took a couple of steps back to find all the knights looking at you for your words. You found that you didn’t even know what to say to them, how could you comfort someone who has been through the ordeal they have?

You cleared your throat before addressing the men in front of you.

“Our brave knights. There are no words to describe how thankful we are to you for everything you have done for us. You bravery and sacrifice will never be forgotten. Today, we will have our traditional victory procession, and I would like to add a moment at the end, for anyone to address anything they would wish to. And to speak to or about anyone they may have lost. Please go to the court physician and your people in Ivairis are eternally indebted to you.” Your voice broke slightly at the end and the knights all nodded at you in appreciation.

They each headed inside one by one, only Jisung, Jaehyun, Jaemin and Jeno remained. A few members of the medical team rushed out, taking Jeno’s limp body from Jaehyun and Jaemin and carrying him inside, shouting out various treatments. Jaehyun squeezed your shoulder as he went inside, the exhaustion clear on his face. Jaemin stepped up but paused for a minute and turned to face you.

“Thank you, for adding that opportunity at the end. We lost a lot of men out there and I know people will want to address it.”

With that he headed inside, leaving just you and Jisung standing there looking at each other. Jisung opened his mouth to speak but you got there first.

“Go to the court physician Jisung. Please get yourself checked out and your wounds treated first.”

He closed his mouth, nodding at you before moving past you and entering the castle. You turned you gaze on the now empty courtyard, the men having cleared out and the horses having been retrieved. You took a few shaky breaths, waiting a few extra seconds, staring wistfully at the gate, praying that by some miracle Chenle would come riding through. But he didn’t. So you shut your eyes, took a deep breath, and turned back into the castle, the doors closing behind you.

---

The victory procession was bittersweet. The knights were acknowledged for their hard work and struggles, and nobody tried to deny that this had been a heart wrenching battle. The celebrations were half hearted however, the entire kingdom feeling the loss of so many knights and the king that they were all missing. The toasts at the end brought tears to your eyes as the knight took it in turns to remember their fallen friends.

And through it all, anyone could tell that the entire kingdom was terrified that their king wouldn’t come back. The king who every citizen had grown to love and admire. The king who set an example for all future kings, who acted as a king should, the king who you were lucky enough to call your husband, your love.

You removed your final piece of jewellery, staring at yourself in the mirror as you tried to figure out the whirlpool of emotions in your head. The knock at your bedroom door made your head snap towards it as you called out for whoever it was to enter. Jisung’s head poked around the door, and you couldn’t help but feel slightly disappointed.

You had known Jisung almost your entire life, and you had never seen him look this broken. He took a couple of steps into your room before looking questioningly at your bed, asking silently for permission. You gestured for him to sit, moving over to join him yourself.

“I think I should tell you what I know.”

You nodded, not trusting yourself to speak quite yet.

“It was the final day. We knew it was coming to an end, we could all feel it. It’s hard to describe but there’s a difference in the air. On the final night, the king names someone he wants to be in charge of the army in case...” Jisung swallowed as he continued trying to get the words out. “In case he’s killed. Chenle chose me. The next morning, just before we went out, Chenle told me to do whatever I could to get this back to you.”

It was only then that you noticed Jisung had been holding something ever since he stepped foot into your room. He lifted up the object and you recognised it immediately. He placed it gently in your hands, watching as you turned it over in your fingers.

It was Chenle’s necklace.

“I didn’t see him after that.” Jisung’s voice brought you to tear your eyes away from the necklace in your lap and look back up at him. “I lost sight of him in battle. I know it sounds like he didn’t make it but- we scoured every inch of the battlefield after we won, there was no sign of Chenle among the bodies, nor was he taken captive by Fayre either because we searched their base. Aspen was missing too. Chenle is out there, alive and trying to make his way back here to you. And he will, he has to.”

You let your eyes flicker back down to Chenle’s necklace for a second before looking back up at Jisung.

“Thank you.” You whispered. “It’s been a long day, you should get some sleep.”

Jisung nodded, standing quickly and heading back out the same door he entered through. You didn’t from move your position, instead sitting in the same spot for the next few hours, turning the seals over and over in your fingers, wondering if Chenle would ever find his way back.

---

You were sat in the throne room, having just finished a meeting with the keeper of the archives to document the battle. Labelling Chenle as missing was something you had hoped you would never have to do, but there you were, drawing your signature on that very slip of paper. You really understood your mother’s words now when she said that she only felt as though she could rule when she had the person she loved by her side.

Because you didn’t just feel alone without Chenle, you felt completely and utterly lost.

A guard appears, telling you that there is a messenger for you, and you gesture for them to be let in. Yangyang strolls through the door, and you can’t help the small smile that appears on your face at sight of his much larger, contagious one.

“I have good news!” He announced, making you raise your eyebrows. “News of the victory travelled fast around kingdoms both close by and far away, and any thoughts off attacking Ivairis have been wiped off the map. Between the strength of our army and the alliance with Shanghai, the kingdom is almost invincible.”

You let out a breath of disbelief, smiling lightly at the boy in front of you as the news settled. Ivairis was safe. You asked Yangyang to spread the news around the kingdom, allow everyone to revel in the announcement and he gladly agreed before running out of the room so fast he left the door open.

You chuckled slightly at the sight of him, but the smile on your face faded quickly as the thought of Chenle travelled through your head. Another two weeks had passed but he was still missing. Nobody had heard a word from or about him since the final day in battle, and the fear that you were never going to see him again had become your natural state of mind.

You looked out of the window on your left, staring down at the rose buses and stone bench that sat there. You felt all the memories rush through your head of the times you and Chenle had sat on that very bench. You still remembered walking past it in the first few days of Chenle arriving, when you had given him a tour around the grounds. Though he would deny it within an inch of his life, Chenle had a soft spot for flowers and loved nothing more than spending a day surrounded with flowers of all different kinds.

You sighed out once more, closing your eyes to stop the tears that were threatening to fall.

“You promised you’d come back to me...” You spoke to the empty room, your voice wavering heavily.

You rested your head on the glass, lost in your own mind when a voice cut through. Your eyes shot open and you whirled around to be greeted with the person you thought you would never see again, the person you loved more than anything else in this world, more than life itself.

“Have I ever broken my promises?”

Chenle.

The world stopped when you saw him. You didn’t blink, didn’t move, didn’t even breathe, terrified that if you did, the image of him would disappear and you would be left with the reality that didn’t have him in it.

He took a step forward, standing in front of you and reaching up to tuck a stay piece of hair behind your ear. You lifted a shaky hand to his face, pressing your palm against his cheek and taking in the fact that he was stood in front of you.

“Chenle...” You whispered, trying to convince yourself that this was real life.

He nodded at your words, tears filling his eyes at the sight of you after so long. When it sunk in it hit you like a ton of bricks. You threw your arms around him and broke down, sobbing into his shoulder.

“Oh my god, Chenle. You made it back.” You cried, holding him tighter that you ever had before.

“Of course I did, I could never leave you like that.” He whispered, his quiet voice a stark contrast to your broken one.

His arms were securely around your waist, capturing you next to his being. You could feel that he was smaller, having lost weight when he was lost and trying to get back. He had dirt in his hair, and various bruises and other minor injuries that you could see, but he was here. He was here, in your arms, alive.

You pulled back, bringing one hand to rest on his cheek as you pressed your foreheads together.

“I love you so much.” You breathed, the tears still steadily falling down your cheeks.

“I love you more.” He replied, relaxing in the knowledge that he was home. He was standing in your arms, surrounded by his kingdom.

Chenle was home.

---

~ 10 years later ~

“So we are in agreement?” You asked the court, looking around the round table and seeing all the other heads of the men and women present nodding at your words. “Well in that case, we can call it a day here. Thank you for your input.”

You stood, smiling at the people in front of you as they all left the room.

“Ten years and council meetings are still as dull as the first one.” You muttered to yourself.

“I hear that.” A voice replied, making your eyes shoot up. You found yourself looking at your husband, who was leaning against the door with a cheeky grin on his face. “But if we want to set a good example, we should probably pretend they are.”

You shook your head, chuckling to yourself at his words. The sound of light footsteps running down the hall caused you and Chenle to send each other a knowing look.

The doors to the great hall opened once more and in ran two little children.

“Daddy, look I won!” You son yelled happily, grabbing Chenle’s hand and pointing towards the doorway where a panting Jisung stood, leaning on the door frame for support.

“Really Jisung? Two children under the age of 6 can outrun you?” Chenle asked, his eyebrows raised judgmentally.

“Look.” Jisung spat, pointing a finger accusingly at the two of you. “If the two of you hadn’t had twins with Chenle’s bluntness and y/n determination, I would be fine. But these two are like the mixture of you two, it’s terrifying.”

“Well, Jisung I hate to break it to you, but that is how children work. They tend to be a mixture of their parents.” You replied dryly, reaching down to hug your daughter as she held on to your leg, catching her breath.

“You know... we made a deal that we would have three.” Chenle reminded you, wiggling his eyebrows at you as you burst out into laughter at Jisung’s disgusted expression.

“Okay, that’s my cue to leave. Just remember, there are young children here.”

Jisung gestured to the twins that were standing close to you, before saying a quick goodbye, which your twins shouted back even louder, as he headed off to the next training session.

“Is everything sorted?” Chenle asked you, trying to stop your son from attempting to sit on the documents on the table.

“Yes, everything was agreed upon today. Starting from tomorrow, we are in an official peace treaty with all the surrounding lands. There are plans to share combat tactics, and resources if any kingdom needs it. We’re about to enter a new era.” You told him, the smile on your face growing at your words.

“That’s amazing, I’m so proud of you.” He breathed, his voice lowering for the last part as he grabbed your hand.

You intertwined your fingers with his. “I’m proud of us. We did this together.”

Chenle smiled at you, the signature smile of his that always took you back to the shy boy who you toured around the rose garden. You reach out with your other hand, your daughter grabbing it as Chenle took a hold of your son and together you walked out to stand on the battlements. Neither of your children were tall enough to see over the stone walls, so you both picked them up, allowing them to sit and see the view.

“One day, you’ll be the ones to rule this kingdom.” Chenle told them, watching as their eyes lit up in amazement. “And you’ll do it with a very special someone by your side.”

You smiled out at the view, the roofs of houses, the market stalls, the training grounds... you could see your entire kingdom from up here. Your entire home.

“Tell us the story again of how you and Mummy met?” Your daughter asked, looking up at her father with wide eyes.

Chenle began the tale, pointing out to the view as he did. He had got in the habit of telling them this story to put them to sleep, and since then they had asked for it constantly, the way he changed certain words to make it sound like a fairytale had made it their favourite.

He told the story of a magical land that became his home and the evil kings and dragons that he and Uncle Jisung had fought to protect it, all while his fairy queen, which was you, stood bravely behind the walls sheltering and looking after the people.

You listened to his calming voice tell the legendary tale and couldn’t stop the smile that spread across your face as you watched your family. You thought about how your life had turned out, all the ups and downs and challenges that you had faced, but you never faced them alone. Chenle was right there with you, ready to tackle any problem that the two of you may encounter. You turned your gaze out to your kingdom, the wealthy and prosperous civilisation that the two of you had grown together, yet it only meant everything it did because of the man you shared it with.

You remembered your conversation with Chenle before he proposed, the two of you talking about the life you could possibly have if you weren’t royals. You discussed all the things you would change, and how it would be different. But, standing here now, looking over your kingdom, with your family by your side, you knew one thing for certain.

You wouldn’t change a thing.

[ghostly-shenanigans-in-progress]

BNHA X DP Crossover HCs

After the long wait and finals, here are my ideas for all the quirks/occupations and other concepts I devised for the DP characters in the BNHA universe. This was just for fun and for inspiration towards others interested in this crossover au in general. 

Tagging the people that were looking forward to this post based on the replies: @qoinq-qhost, @floralflowerpower, @tgfangirl4eva @goodfish-bowl, @whitehairglowinggreeneyedcrush and more. 

Anyways, happy reading, folks!

Mr. Lancer

Hero name: Mr. Scholastic

Quirk: Bookworm

Involves his iconic usage of literature titles & quotes for swears to become abilities corresponding to the novel’s contents/themes. Course, he is limited to only books he has read and can quote accurately. Additionally, his voice gets very raspy past two or three quotes as well.

Occupation: Homeroom Teacher for Class 1- A; He’s very dedicated to his new students and teaching the fundamentals of being a pro hero and more! Course, I don’t think his chamomile tea with a wedge of lemon is enough to help him relax from his students (*cough* Danny, Tucker and Poindexter) from their antics at times. 

Danny

Hero name: Phantom 

Quirk: Ghost core (Ok, @coffeecakecafe had the best name for this one gotta give credit here)

Able to do anything a ghost is perceived to do. Go through walls, disappear and fly. This is a one of a kind quirk as it was obtained from Danny’s old quirk being altered by a machine his parents made that would repurpose/alter an individual’s quirk based on their past family members' own metahuman genetics.

Danny is doing his best and trying to understand his new quirk without causing too much attention to himself while doing so but it seems like its been doing the opposite as of late. Thankfully, he won’t be doing it alone with all his classmates around to help him!

Sam

Hero Name: Black Dahlia 

Quirk: Overgrown 

Able to create any plant that she knows the biological makeup and content of in almost any environment. However, it is important for her to drink lots of nutrient rich water and take in enough sun if she plans to create larger versions of these plants.

Tucker

Hero name: Tech Master

Quirk: Tech Core

Located on his chest/heart area is a special energy core capable of powering electronics at a rate faster than anything made-man could ever hope to achieve. As a kid, Tucker would tinker away in his family’s garage on a suit that would harness his power to the fullest extent and lead a new era of support tech in the hero world.

Valerie

Hero name: Red Huntress

Quirk: Electromagnetism (Someone I’ve been trying to find their post on my blog had posted this idea and I fell in love with it ever since)

She’s like Static Shock but with a dash of magenta/ruby lasers she can create through focusing her electromagnetism through her finger tips. She is an expert with her quirk and has the best handle of her quirk than most of her peers. She is the most frequent visitor in the support equipment workshop next to Tucker, Poindexter and Danny. It’s how she built the hoverboard she has in the show that utilizes her electromagnetic abilities for both offensive and defensive maneuvers. (Also, I enjoy the idea that Bullet is Val’s uncle on her mom’s side and is her biggest supporter alongside her dad, Damien Gray).

Jazz 

Quirk: Serenity 

Helps calm individuals and give them a sense of safety/security when they’re around her in a 10 feet radius. Though, anyone out of range cannot be affected by her quirk and she needs to be conscious in order to use it.

She planned on becoming a pro hero but felt her powers were best suited for her dream profession as a psychologist. She has used her quirk a lot when Danny was overwhelmed with his studies prior to UA. Course, a phone call and sibling chat over the phone certainly does the job for Danny now when it comes to preparing material for exams. (Course, its up to you guys to decide)

Dash

Hero name: Rager

Quirk: Strength Magnification

Improves his physique and stamina by a large percentage for a set amount of time. Needs to be careful of how much/long he magnifies his body or else his body will become immensely sore. 

Kwan

Hero name: Rallier 

Quirk: Team Rally (50/50)

Able to duplicate himself 3-4 times while being able to power-up allies’ quirks or stamina with a rally chant to help the team. The more duplicates there are the rally effect multiplies/stacks on the individual but it can lead to dangerous outcomes for their quirk output. 

Kwan is the class representative for 1-A, he’s the best at the job and was more than thrilled to be the one leading his class in more ways than one.  

Paulina

Hero name: Enchantress

Quirk: Charm

If the opponent is flustered by her taunts or flirting, their vision will become altered and start seeing things that are not there. It works better on men than women and the opponent can snap out of it with enough willpower or if they’re not interested in her.

Star

Hero name: Ms. Meteorite

Quirk: Comet

Similar to Gran Torino’s Jet quirk except faster and she can create an explosive impact on where she lands. Similar to a meteorite landing on earth, she also learns to use this as a long distance move by punching fast enough as she descends to create wind pressure punches.

Poindexter

Hero name: Tex (like in Tex Avery; Danny gave him the idea!) 

Quirk: Slapstick

His appearance is black and white just like an old timey cartoon character as well as having the durability and cartoon powers of one. However, his quirk can only work as long as what he does with it is funny in the circumstance it’s used for. Sort of like “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” rules in a sense. 

Sidney is part of Class 1-A just saying, I don’t care, this is Poindexter’s time to shine here to be the coolest/funniest person in the class. Also, Tucker’s most loyal friend/tester for new support items. 

Wes Weston

Hero name: Vigilance

Quirk: Deduction

He is able to deduct people’s identities to flaws/weak points for him to use against them and  exploit against problems. 

Class 1-B Representative and the most annoying/terrifying person that Danny has dealt with in his life. He was able to figure out that Danny’s quirk is not his own or more so that it's not natural and takes every opportunity to state this regardless if anyone is listening or not. 

Amber Mclain

Hero Name: Ember

Quirk: Fiery voice (50/50)

Her quirk uses the vibrations in her sining voice to conduct intense heat waves onto opponents or utilize to rumble the structures around here and even put out the flames from her quirk. Its like a combination of Present Mic and Endevours quirk but it leaves her with a strained or inflamed vocal cords with overuse. 

Third year student or an upcoming rock star that has certainly gain huge popularity after her song “Remember” was a nationwide hit amongst the younger generation. She’s striving to be the top hero while making her next hit to become the 1# song on the listings. 

Dani

Hero name: Phantwo (lol jk; unsure what her name would be)

Quirk: Poltergeist 

Similar to Danny’s quirk “Ghost”, except she has the additional ability to melt herself to a slimy puddle and use her ectoplasmic slime to trap or surprise opponents.

Clockwork

Hero Name: Clockwork

Quirk: Time Keeper

Clockwork’s quirk allows him to stop time for 5 to 15 minutes and be able to rewind it in the same amount of time. It can be one to multiple objects as long as he touches them in order to interact with them.

Principle of UA in this au. He’s quite a reserved man but still manages to visit and congregate with students throughout the school during lunch period. 

Flynn Fenton/Flynn Walker

Hero Name: The Green Knight

Quirk: Mineralization 

His quirk allows him to manipulate the minerals and inorganic materials in the atmosphere to create into crystalized constructs that are almost stronger than diamond. Luckily, the crystals have no value so he doesn’t have to worry about that aspect of his quirk. He does have to worry about his skin becoming dried out as a result of his quirk usage. 

Flynn is a third year student that loves to check up on his cousin, Danny, any chance he gets bc of the amount of work he does with his internships.

James Walker (or James W. Hausermann)

Hero name: Warden Wraith

Quirk: Plasma Apparatus

His quirk ionizes the electrolytes in the blood system into plasma. His entire body is composed of plasma giving him his skeletal appearance. He can create plasma chains, teleport from point A to B and more as long as he focuses and has enough energy at use. Course, he can have minor to severe dehydration and imbalance in his electrolyte levels from overuse. 

Occupation: CEO of an infrastructure security company/Provisional License Examiner just like Gang Orca.The ghost prison guards become his backup/helpers for the exam phases. (They’re just trained stuntmen with combat or military experience for the occasion).

Also, I like to think Walker has kids in this au who are in the Class 1-A group; they’re not hard to spot they take after their father with their skeletal complexion. 

Skulker

Villain name: Quirk Hunter

Quirk: Tracker

The moment Skulker makes eye contact with his target he will be able to hunt them down and find them anywhere no matter how good they are at covering their tracks. He can lock on to only one target, but he will be able to know their heart beat, quirk, be able to place a tracking/scent line that only he can see and will lead him to his target’s location. It lasts for over a day or a half.

Occupation: Skulker is known for capturing, info-detailing or “retiring” newcomer pros or specific quirk users for his clients that pay him handsomely for their targets, dead or alive. Thanks to Vlad, Danny was strictly intended to be captured alive by Skulker but sometimes he gets too thrilled by the hunt to not have a memento. Trust me, it's more of a dangerous 

Nicolai Technus 

Villain Name: Technus 

Quirk: Technopathy

A genius in his own right, even if he’s a little crazy, with the best ability possible for a man of science and innovation. As long as he knows the makeup and attributes of the machine, Technus is able to completely repurpose or change a machine’s qualities for offensive and defensive qualities. Whenever that be for a mech suit or hacking a high tech system for entry, he’s able to do it as long as he knows what it is and how it functions. An example is repurposing a slot machine into a submachine gun that shoots coins at the target. 

Vlad Masters

Name: Vlad Plasmius

Quirk: Vampire

Can do anything a vampire can supposedly do. However, he was able to manifest an additional aspect of this quirk which is the ability to copy any quirk users ability. Based on the type of blood he ingests decides the amount of time he can use the copied quirk for.

Occupation: CEO of his own hero firm, he is extremely selective with the interns he has that there is a major waitlist to be even consider for Masters Inc. Course, imagine the surprise Danny must of felt when he received an offer from Vlad right off the bat after the Sports festival. 

Bruce Guiles (Bullet)

Hero Name: Bullet 

Quirk: Sphyraena or Chimera Fish

Able to do anything a barracuda can do or the quirk is a 50/50 mutant quirk in which he has both the traits of a barracuda, Chimaeras and a touch of piranha from his parents being of one of these fish species hence Chimera. Bullet can do anything those fish can do overall but he can’t go too long without hydration from water. Water quality and its oxygen content also affect his abilities by a noticeable percentage but he still remains quite formidable as a quirk user.

Occupation: Captain of a coast guard team, he’s a strict military man with an amazing record of saving people from any disasters both on land and sea. Him and Walker are best buddies ever since they went to school together. 

Vortex

Hero Name: Vortex

Quirk: Storm Warning

Vortex can utilize any variation of a natural disaster depending on the environment he’s in. Hurricanes, tornadoes, thunderstorms, you name it he can create it for his use. However, despite his amazing control over his quirk it is still possible for him to create these disasters if he lost control or magnify another pre-existing one if he loses focus. 

Occupation: Storm-chaser/Forecaster; His control and knowledge in combating/predicting these natural disasters has led to him to be part of a storm chasing crew and they’re the best in helping disaster prevention teams evacuate citizens as a result.

Petra Eris

Hero name: Pandora

Quirk: Butterfly Effect

Can manipulate or prevent a chaotic event to happen if she was in proximity and present to prevent it to happen. Or even give a little chaos to the opponent to deal with during battle. 

One of the top ten heroes and most beloved heroes in the country. She is the best strategist in any team and has a way to predict any event before they happen given the necessity of it for her quirk to work in her favor. 

Johnny 

Vigilante name: Johnny 13

Quirk: Unlucky

Johnny manifests his bad luck into a shadow that will latch onto opponents and cause unfortunate events to occur more for that individual as a result. However, the shadow cannot exist in complete sunlight; it can only remain if there are already shadows in his general area or it’s nighttime and its effects are strongest at that time obviously.

Occupation: Johnny is the leader of a biker gang or de-facto leader of said biker gang who loves to raise hell and helping folks that need saving whenever he’s around or is up to the task. Kitty tags along with him to help him out of jams and bc she loves him. :3

Kitty

Vigilante name: Kitty

Quirk: Lovesick

Kitty sends a smooch towards her opponent which if it makes contact causes the individual to have nausea or become disoriented for around 10 minutes. It can also have a chance of lasting longer if the individual was sort of infatuated with her regardless of gender. 

Pariah Dark

Villain name: King Pariah

Quirk: Ultimate Adaptation 

Similar to all for one except with the unpredictability for both the user and opponents. Pariah can manifest any type of quirk needed to defeat anyone that stands in his way both one-on-one and in groups. Course, drawbacks are the learning curve to some of the quirks and that multiple adaptions he utilizes at once will destroy his cells in the process. 

Pariah is a former follower of all for one who had unique quirk that All for one augmented to help him succeed if both Shigaraki and Tomura failed in their own conquest for the world. But now Pariah has his own plans to succeed where they failed and become the leader who shapes a new world order with an iron fist. 

Frederick Kingsmen

Villain/vigilante name: Fright Knight

Quirk: Burning Energy Infusion

Able to form/infuse objects with his own burning energy life force that is capable of burning or slicing through any in his sight. The sweat he gives off is what provides the material needed to ignite his unnatural flames despite it causing his body to overheat still. 

Fright Knight is Pariah’s second-in-command with a loyalty to him as strong as his control over his power. Fright Knight has faced many pro-heros as he carried out the smaller phases of Pariah’s plans and most of them barely came close towards defeating or leaving as much as  scratch on the knight. 

Rodolfo Gonzalo  

Hero name: Wulf

Quirk: Werewolf + Portal creation (50/50?)

Can do anything a werewolf can supposedly do; somehow it allows him to create portals with his claws to locations he has marked with them or visited in the past. 

Wulf was abducted on by Pariah’s forces and sent into the Nomu labs for experimentation to force on another quirk and instill complete allegiance to their cause. Course, Wulf broke free as a result of that new additional quirk allowing him to escape their clutches and his previous one helping him survive the endeavor. However, he lost his memories in the process and could only remember his native language, Spanish, and his hero name Wulf. 

Overgrown

Villain/vigilante Name: Overgrown

Quirk: Plant Manipulation

Can manipulate any pre-existing plant matter or create new vegetation if water and soil is present for the process or he understand the biological makeup of the plant in question. 

Occupation: Pro-hero or eco-terrorist who is tired of humanity from abusing the environment from quirk battles to industries using the land for their own benefits and none others.

That’s all I have for now! I hope this was worth the wait, guys. As well as, inspire ideas for your takes with a DP x BNHA Crossover! 

[thechekhov]

Hi Chekhov! Really enjoying your white diamond au! I had a quick art question: How do you start comissions? I've been improving my drawing skills and thinking about drawing for others after having fun in artfight, but I don't know where to start? How much to charge, how to get paid, etc. Do you have any tips? Hope you're doing well! :)

Alright, since a few people have asked, I’ve decided to put together a few things about how to get started on commissions - what you need, what you should make, and how to keep things organized. 

This will get a little long, so I’ll divide it into 4 main sections:

1) Draw Art - Getting started

2) Get Commissioned - Making a commission sheet, Advertising

3) ??? - Communicating, Setting Limits, Running the Business

4) Profit - Pricing Yourself and Getting Paid

* Disclaimer: I’m an artist, so this How-To will be illustration-focused. I’m sure many of these tips can apply to ANY types of commissions, but I will be focusing on the type I know best. If you are proficient in other types of commissions for other types of art - music commissions, photography, etc - feel free to chime in and leave a comment or make your own tutorial!

1) Draw Art

I think this is probably the most obvious part, but it needs to be said:

Before you start making art for other people, you must first be comfortable making art in general.

I’m not saying your art has to be Disney-quality, or industry-level! Not at all. 

BUT! You must be comfortable creating what you sell. If you try to sell something you have little confidence in, you will stress yourself out and possibly end up losing time AND money.

Don’t shoot for the moon if you haven’t landed on it even once. Sell what you know you’re good at. Your commissions don’t HAVE to include full-body illustrations if you don’t know how to draw feet/solid stances. Limit yourself to what you can do.

Things you need to should probably have before starting commissions:

1. Access to art materials or a fully downloaded art program

DO NOT - Use a free tutorial version that will expire in a month and leave you without a way to draw! If you are having trouble finding a program, try free ones like MediBang Paint Pro. 

2. Free time to complete the amount of commissions you want to take.

DO NOT - Take on or offer commissions if you KNOW you’re going to be overwhelmed with school or personal life for the next 2+ months. Pace yourself, otherwise you’ll burn out, get stressed, and get discouraged.

3. A reliable way to communicate with your customers like a commissions-only email 

DO NOT - Use your friend/family/college email. It’s hard to keep track of things as it is, and creating new emails is easy and free. And keep it professional if you can! Not many people will reach out to dong-wiggles20434 to ask for a design. Ideally, your email should be close to your brand - however you want to brand yourself. Usernames are fine!)

DO NOT - Use Instagram/Twitter/Tumblr to collect commission info unless you are ready to do the organizing yourself. Some people make it work, but in my experience, if you use these SNS sites to communicate with friends and network... you’re going to be losing commission inquiries right and left and accidentally ignoring people. Email is much easier to organize and sort into folders.

4. A portfolio or at least 2-3 pieces of each type of art you’re planning to sell. 

DO NOT - Advertise commissions without having any examples of the art you plan to sell. People will find it difficult to trust you if you can’t even give them a vague idea of what sort of drawing they’ll be getting. 

Disclaimer: These are not hard ‘do not’s. If you have had a different experience, I respect that. I’m simplifying for the sake of streamlining this advice. 

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2) Get Commissioned

So - you have your art, you have your art program, and you’ve got all the time in the world. That means.... that’s right! It’s time to let the world know you’re taking commissions.

One of the most common ways artists signal to their audience that they can do commissions is by creating a commissions sheet. There are MANY ways to make this - and they range from simple and doodly ones to VERY complex designs. For example, here’s mine! 

There are many ways to organize a commission sheet. At its core, a commission sheet should display the types of art you WANT to be commissioned to make. Let’s go over a few ways they can be done!

#1.... Body Portion Dividers!

This sheet is most common with those who want to capitalize on drawing people and characters. If you want to draw lots of characters, this is a great way to offer several tiers of pricing based on how much of their character your customers want to see. 

#2... Complexity Scale

If you’re open to drawing many things but want to base your pricing off of how complex something is, you can split your tiers into done-ness. This type of commission is popular with those that draw characters AND animals, furries, etc.

#3....  Style and Type

If you’re more on the design side of things, or if you have various niche art styles that you can’t quite lump together, display a variety of your skills alongside each other! It helps if all the ones you have can be organized under a common customer - like those looking to advance their own business and get logos, websites, or mascots made for them!

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3) ???

You got your first commission... what happens now???

Well, ideally you have the time, tools and motivation to make things happen! Now all you have to do is... sit down and... draw.......

I’m going to say something that may be a little controversial: 

Commissions aren’t fun. 

No, no, hear me out: I have fun doing commissions! I genuinely enjoy drawing characters and coming up with designs. But even with all that said, commissions are, first and foremost: WORK

I’m not saying this to discourage you, I’m saying this to keep things realistic. When I first began commissions, I thought it would be just like any other type of drawing. I would sit down, imagine a thing, draw it... it would be fun! 

But then I realized that I couldn’t just draw what I wanted - another person had an idea in mind and had asked me to do it. I stressed over getting the design correct from descriptions. I stressed over not having the right reference for the pose the commissioner wanted. I stressed over not being able to draw the leg right in the way I had promised I would do. I stressed about billing. I stressed about digital money transfers. It was difficult, and time-consuming, and I did not enjoy it. At all. 

And a part of that is definitely on the commissioner - we, as artists, NEED to demand proper references or descriptions. We, as artists, NEED to limit the amount of changes we’re going to make at the flick of a finger. We NEED to demand clear instructions and set boundaries. That’s also super important. 

But also - don’t be discouraged if you find yourself exhausted drawing your first commission. MANY artists go through this. Adjust your rules, fix up your limits, practice putting your foot down on finicky commissioners who expect you to read their mind! It does get easier, but you have to communicate and put in the effort and act as your own manager AND your own customer service AND your own accountant. That’s what you’re looking at. 

Good limits and boundaries to set: 

Limit the amount of changes a person can ask to make. “I want blue hair.” Next email: “No wait, yeah, make it red.” Next email: “Actually I changed my mind, can I get the blue but like, lighter?” Next email: “No, not that light.” ... At some point, we have to stop. I personally allow 2-3 changes on the final stages of a commission before I start refusing or start asking for extra money.

Demand clear instructions and/or references. If something isn’t described, you have to take artistic liberty and design it, but that’s difficult! And if the customer is not happy with it but can’t tell you more? That’s not your problem - the burden of reference is on THEM. You cannot read their mind, and that’s not your fault.

Get at least half the payment up front! This is a good balance between the ‘pay before art’ and the ‘pay after art’ conundrum that will limit the amount of woes between artist and customer. (I’ll touch upon this a little more in the Profit section.)

Organization:

Where possible, create good habits! Tag your emails and organize your folders. I have a tag on my emails for active and finished commissions. I also keep my emails on Unread until I have time to sit down and properly look at/reply to them.

My Commissions in the folder are also organized chronologically and I mark down which ones are paid and which ones are not.

(I understand not everyone can do this, but if you want to give it a try, it does make things easier in the long run. Again, this advice is just what I have found personally helps.)

One last thing - I do not want to shame ANYONE for taking their time with commissions! Commissions are complex, and they take time and work. You can draw in 8 hours, but some things take research, materials, etc. Some illustrations realistically take up to half a year, or, depending on what’s involved, several years!!

THAT BEING SAID - it’s good manners to be upfront with your customers about how long you expect the commission to take. If you think you’re busy, just say that! Explain that you have a lot going on, and you will probably take (insert time period here).

And if your commissioners are worried, work out a system to keep them updated! I send my commissioners updates when I finish the lineart/flat colors/etc and I try to be clear about how long everything will take. I try to estimate with a +3-5 days buffer to give myself extra time... and recently I’ve been using it. Always say a bigger number than you think you’ll need. 

If someone wants a rushed commission... make them pay more. If ANYONE wants a commission done ‘by the end of the week’ - that’s an automatic rush-job for me because I’m juggling an irl job and several commissions at once. I WILL charge a rush fee and I won’t feel bad about it. 

If someone wants a commission within 24 hours...... Well, they better be paying you 3x your normal amount, or more. And remember - you CAN refuse! It’s perfectly reasonable to say ‘No, sorry, that sort of turnaround time is not realistic for me.’

Food For Thought - Invoicing

Many artists I’ve commissioned in the past have not used Invoicing, but I’ve recently begun to fill out invoices and file them in my Commissions folder just to keep track of things. It’s not necessary until you start getting into the Small Business side of Freelancing, but it’s not a bad idea to get into the habit early in case you might need to do it later for tax purposes. 

Here’s what my Invoice looks like, for example. 

I’ve optimized it to help me remember who, what, and how much is involved! It also contains important info for my customers like where to send the money.

Which brings us to...

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4) Profit

One of the hardest things for artists is pricing themselves. I’m not going to tell you which way is BEST - there is no BEST way, only the best way for YOU. 

One of the options available to you is pricing by the hour. It includes averaging out how long it takes you to draw a specific type of art (whatever you’re offering as a commission) and multiplying that by an hourly wage you’ve decided on.

When you do this, I stress - do NOT price yourself below minimum wage if you can help it. When you first start out, aim for the $15/hour mark and adjust accordingly. 

Other ways to price your art:

- Per complexity: Portraits vs full body should be scaled based on how difficult you find one vs. the other. You can also easily decide on a price for a sketch and double it for lineart, triple it for full color, etc.

- Per type: Look up for industry prices for website design and logo design. They may surprise you! You don’t have to charge that much, but it helps to keep things in perspective. 

It’s okay to change your prices! Keep your commission sheet image handy so you can update the amounts as you grow. :)

Payment up front or after completion?

Some artist take full payment up front. Some only demand payment after they’ve finished and sent out the piece. I personally think these are both risky for everyone involved. 

I recommend doing at least HALF of the payment BEFORE you start the commission. Calculate your full price and ask for half before you start working on it in earnest, to make sure the person can actually pay you. Then, when they receive the full piece and are satisfied, they can complete the payment. 

I personally work in this structure:

> Someone emails me with their idea/reference

> I send back a rough draft sketch that shows the idea/pose (only takes me 10-20 minutes so not a huge loss if they ghost) and quote them a price

> They can pay the full thing upfront OR pay half

> I finish the commission and send updates when I do the lineart/colors to double check anything so they have multiple chances to spot any errors

> If the person paid only half on completion, I send them a low-res version of the finished thing, they finish up their payment and THEN I send them the full-res version plus any other filetypes/CYMK proofs, etc. 

Many of the people who commission me pay me up front even though I offer they pay half - and I’m really flattered that they trust me that much! Because of that, I feel encouraged to update them frequently and ask for their input as I work, so they have the peace of mind knowing I’m actually doing their commission. 

Great, but how do I get PAID????

There are NUMEROUS ways - these days money is relatively easy to transfer over digital means, and you have a few options. 

Paypal is perhaps one of the oldest digital wallets and is geared towards businesses. By setting up a PayPal and connecting it to your debit card of bank account, you can tunnel a pathway from your online business directly into your hands in a matter of days. 

Paypal also offers Invoicing - you make an invoice, price it and send it to the person’s email and they can pay whatever way they need! (It also allows partial payments.)

Pros: transfers from PayPal to bank account are free, and take a couple of business days. It also has no upper limit to the amount of money you can move in/out each month. It can force refunds due to the nature of its business-oriented payment system.

Cons: Because it’s used by businesses for larger transactions, PayPal may demand a more rigorous proof of your identity. It may also take longer to set up and be harder to get used to. I’ve also heard that they can be a hassle when it comes to closing your account. 

Venmo is another type of digital wallet that acts much like paypal, except for a few key differences - it is NOT made for businesses (so depending on whether you’re officially registered as a freelancer, you may not be able to use it). I personally don’t use venmo, so I cannot speak to its usefulness, but I know a few people that use it for casual transactions. It’s easy and quick! :) 

Keep in mind that you cannot force a refund over venmo! The transactions are final.

There’s also CashApp, GooglePay (which could load gift cards but also allows peer-to-peer transactions) and I’ve heard good things about Due, though I’ve never personally used it.

Other ways to pay: I’ve had people pay me over Patreon by upping their pledge, and I’ve had people pay me over Ko-Fi by donating a specific amount. 

Many people even use Etsy - the website specialized for independent small businesses selling art - by listing their commission sheet and offering up several ‘slots’ of commissions, which allows you to track taxes AND allows your clients to pay using whatever they feel comfortable with.

If you’re in Canada, you can even pay by emailing money directly from bank account to bank account - check whether your country offers this type of service! There’s no shortage of ways to move money in the digital world.

Just like everything else, there’s no singular ‘Best’ way. It just depends on what works for you.

I think that just about wraps it up! I can’t quite think of what else to put here - but I’m sure other artists will chime in with their own advice. :) I’m very sorry this became so long but I hope it was helpful! 

Obligatory Disclaimer: I’m not qualified to give legal or accounting counsel. Please double-check the laws in your own country/state in regards to taxation of freelancing work and do your own research. If you are underage, DEFINITELY get an adult’s permission before you start doing commissions, and have the adult help you through the process.   

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OTHER POSTS YOU MAY FIND USEFUL:

An Extended Post on Pricing Yourself for Commissions

Dealing with Imposter Syndrome/Feeling ‘Not Good Enough’

Growing Your Audience

Advice for Starting Digital Art

[brighteyedjill]

Why censor a fandom event?

Do the mods for a fandom event have the right to  make restrictions on content? Sure. They’re volunteers running their own event. 

But. Fandom is a culture that we build together. If we were just people enjoying media in our own homes, we would not be a community. But we’re not. We talk to each other, reblog each other’s amazing art, comment on AO3, squee in Discord channels over ideas, and so on. That’s what makes fandom great: we build it collectively. And like any culture, we have some shared norms. For example, since AO3 is a big influence on our culture, tagging has become a cultural norm in fandom. We tag for the “big four” warnings on AO3, and increasingly, tag more and more details of content to help people find what they like and avoid what they don’t. 

Fandom events like Big Bangs shape fandom culture, too, though. They bring together people who might otherwise not know each other, and have a tendency to dominate the fandom conversation for a time. Restrictions in a Big Bang have a chilling effect on content creators. That means that some work will not get written because of these restrictions, and also that people’s opinions towards this kind of content may be influenced on a larger scale. I personally find this unfortunate, as some of the things on the restricted list are things I’ve written about, uh, a lot. But aside from just me, there are larger implications to consider. Read more about the history of strikethrough and content restriction to learn about who is harassed and excluded when fandom culture turns against “questionable” content. 

I posit that restrictions like this are not always The Norm™ in fandom events, nor should they be. In a fandom like the Witcher, whose canon includes everything on the restricted list, most of them graphically, I believe content of a similar nature should be welcome in fandom content. I ran my first Big Bang in 2009, and have participated in half a dozen bangs and reverse bangs since. None of them had content restrictions (here’s an example of a Big Bang without content restrictions that’s been running since 2011). Some Big Bangs do; sometimes this is dependent on the canon content, more often it depends on who has power and influence in the fandom. Here’s a case for why not to include restrictions in future events.

What are these restrictions meant to do?

As I understand it, these restrictions are meant to make things more inclusive by allowing more people to participate. Are they successful in that? It’s possible they allow different people to participate. As with many things, there are competing access needs here. More on that below. But let’s look at what “making things more inclusive” means in practice. 

Problem: We want to allow participation from people who don’t want to come into contact with dark content. 

OK. Let’s help participants avoid coming into contact with dark content if they don’t want to. How might they come into contact with dark content?

1.) People might hear upsetting conversations in Discord chat

Solution: Ask people to post in the appropriate channel. Use a “walk away” rule to encourage people to leave the channel if a conversation comes up that they’re not comfortable with. If you want to go further, you could have people warn for certain topics, or restrict darker topics to a specific channel, though this runs up against a different issue (see below).

2) People might see content in the claims that they don’t like, or don’t want to work on. 

Solution: Usually in a Big Bang the artists look at a list of summaries and tags and choose which fic(s) they’d like to work on. No artist is going to be forced to work on anything they don’t want to. Even artists who enjoy dark content are often illustrating something other than the darkest, most graphic, or most explicit moment of a fic. In a claiming situation, you can have writers tag their fics, just like they would on AO3, to allow artists to filter out content they’re not interested in or that they would find upsetting. 

2.5) We won’t find any artist to work on certain pieces.

Solution: This happens sometimes. You could put out a call for more artist participants, allow artists to claim a second piece if they want, or you may have to tell a creator that there’s not a match for them. That is a bummer, but this happens sometimes, especially in fandoms where writers vastly outnumber artists. But in no scenario will any artist be forced to write for a piece that squicks them. 

3) People might see content in the Big Bang collection that they don’t like. 

Solution: This one’s pretty easy. Tagging. Tagging has been used on AO3 since its inception to help people avoid content they do not want to see. People don’t have to engage with content they don’t want to see if it is properly tagged. 

4) The mods don’t personally want to engage with the content. 

Solution: Find a mod who will, so that mods who don’t want to don’t have to! You can get a volunteer to do this, I guarantee.

5) I want to encourage the creation of lighter or SFW content.

Solution: I get that. Say so! Explain what content you welcome, and phrase what you’re looking for in a positive way (e.g. “We require that content be T rated or below and have a generally positive outlook and an upbeat ending.”) rather than what you don’t want. Be clear, specific, and up front about it, so that you connect with the creators you’re hoping will participate. 

6) I think this content should not exist. 

This is the one I can’t help you with. If the reason you’re banning content is because, consciously or unconsciously, you think that it’s morally reprehensible, or that the people who make it are bad, I do not have a solution to offer. 

Competing Access Needs

I’m not going to get too far into the weeds on how making a list of restricted topics is impossible, because others have addressed this point. No matter what list you come up with, someone out there will find something you failed to list, but that you feel should be restricted. What to do? If they’ve already completed a fic, tell them to leave? Tell them they have to change it? Let it slide? There will be endless questions about what is and isn’t allowed, which is time-consuming and exhausting for mods, and paralyzing for creators. How do I know if this scene is un-graphic enough? Will I need to revise my whole fic? Will I get kicked out entirely if I write the wrong thing? Will some participants get preferential treatment or the benefit of the doubt because of their identities or their connections?

Censorship brings up competing access needs. Someone doesn’t want to see non-con. Someone is writing non-con fic to work through their own trauma. Someone is writing it for other reasons. Can you accommodate all these folks? I would say yes, in the ways detailed above. But when you start restricting content (as in Strikethrough or Boldthrough, discussed in the history link above), you’re not wielding a scalpel. You’re wielding an anvil, and you’re gonna crush things you didn’t mean to crush. Again, check out the history link to see who gets crushed. 

So… what to do?

Do I think people should change the rules for the events they’re running? No (john mulaney we are well past that.gif). As I said, people who are running their own events have the prerogative to restrict them for whatever audience they’re hoping to reach. Questioning fandom practices is not “shitting on” anyone (and hey--no scat allowed). 

What I would really like is for Witcher fandom to have a think about how we want to proceed as a community. What should be the norm? Witcher fandom culture (in its current form, i.e. big) is still relatively young. There can be variation, sure: Discord server vibes vary wildly, for example. But in the big events or activities that we hope will be open to the largest part of the community, how do we want to intentionally foster the maximum amount of great content about our favorite things? There are ways to be inclusive that do not involve censorship, and I believe we should use them. 

[honeytae]

We’re never going to hear the end of this.

welcome back to another episode of kenna losing her shit over taehyung :) while imagining this scenario, i admittedly got very carried away. the word count is way higher than i anticipated and um..yeah i apologize in advance. when it comes to taehyung i just have zero self control and this is a great example. anyways, uh...if smut isn’t your thing, this might not be your cup of tea. otherwise, enjoy lol.

tags: @ahgasearmyfan, @hoseokayy

genre: smut

warnings: oral sex, sex without a condom (i cannot stress this enough: ALWAYS USE A CONDOM, THIS SHIT IS FICTION), semi-public sex? idk, i mean they can be heard but not seen, so...

word count: 6.5k (yeesh sorry)

Walking into the elevator of the lobby, you scoffed down at your phone as it vibrated in your hand, swiping your thumb across the screen and pressing it to your ear.

“I told you I was coming with the food, didn’t I? And what was that? Five minutes ago?” You asked into the phone immediately, Taehyung chuckling on the other end, goosebumps raising on your arms at the sound.

“Is the food what's delaying you? I miss you, fuck the food.” He groaned, making you laugh as you pressed the button displaying the digit of the floor of Taehyung’s studio with the pointer finger of your hand that was clutching the long awaited bag of food.

“Hey! I happen to be starving with a bag of Panda in my hand right now, I could eat everything before I get up there.” You threatened, the scent of the chicken and vegetables already tempting you as you tapped your foot impatiently at the elevator.

It’s the 21st century, and this is the quickest you can get up a floor?

“All I heard was Panda and that you’re here. Are you here?” He asked excitedly, jumping up from his chair and taking quick strides toward the door of the studio. 

“I’m getting off the elevator right now-”

It was then that you - saw more than heard - Taehyung bounding down the hall, jogging down the long corridor past the closed doors of offices as he made his way toward you. He had a wide smile on his face, eyes closed and his hair bouncing with each stride he took as he approached you. 

“Oh my god, Tae. You don’t even have shoes on.” You lightly scolded him, wrapping your arms around him as he did the same to you. You felt the stress from your day seep out of your body at his touch, his arms holding you to him in a hug as he kissed the side of your head.

“I missed you.” He pulled his head back to look at you, both of your heads tilting in accordance to each other as your lips met halfway.

Pulling back to lean his forehead against your own, he smiled as you jokingly crossed your eyes to keep them on him in the close proximity. 

“I really did miss you.” He insisted, holding you tight with his arms wrapped around your torso as he began walking you backward, presumably to the door of his studio. 

The walk was more of a waddle as he exaggerated his steps over to the side to avoid crushing your feet, guiding you backwards as you blindly followed his lead.

“So I’ve heard. May I remind you that we woke up together this morning?” You smiled at the memory of getting up and making breakfast with Taehyung, both of you trying to help each other prepare something edible before eventually giving up and driving to a nearby cafe. 

Neither of you could cook to save your lives, but at least you were able to make it a fun experience, both of you able to laugh at yourselves and your less than decent culinary skills.

“It wasn’t long enough. It’s never long enough with you.” He admitted softly, head diving down to rest his temple on your shoulder, tenderly kissing the side of your neck with a soft pucker of his lips. 

“Well, I’m here now. And I have Panda.” You repeated, causing the man to lift his face at the sudden memory of the food in your hand.

Holding the brown paper bag up between your faces, you giggled as Taehyung moaned at the scent wafting from it. He smiled, turning around with you still in his arms, backing himself toward the door as you finally reached the room.

You chuckled as Taehyung’s back collided with the locked door, having automatically shut when he had left the room running. He stubbornly rutted his back against the door in hopes that it would budge, sighing in disappointment when it didn’t.

“Code, Tae.” You reminded him, Taehyung’s head a mere few inches from the keypad as he smirked to himself.

“You know it.” He said smugly, laughing when you turned around to glare at him.

“I’m not supposed to-” 

“Just put it in, woman!”

You giggled at him, punching in the sequence of digits with your pointer finger until the beep of the door signified you could enter, Taehyung pushing back on it with his body to let you both enter the room. 

Pausing at the door once inside, he let your body go to allow you to slip your shoes off, no longer needing a reminder of his “no shoes” rule as you entered his workspace.

He wordlessly led you past the monitors on his desk, guiding you back to the sofa at the far end of the room before taking a seat, you doing the same beside him.

You quickly removed the takeout boxes from the bag, setting them out on the low table in front of you so that he could choose what he wanted. You thanked him as he handed you a pair of chopsticks, eagerly digging into the carton of fried rice with the utensils and letting out a satisfied hum.

“How are you doing here?” You asked, the question muffled with the amount of food in your mouth as Taehyung shrugged in response, grabbing the white box of chicken and shoveling a piece into his mouth as he moved his head from side to side in thought. 

“I’m alright. I was finishing up a song but then I got hungry and,” He nodded his head to point to the food, you smiling in response as you nodded at the recollection of his text message to you just over a half hour ago.

You continued talking about each other’s days so far, Taehyung scoffing at the stories about your asshole coworkers and you advising him on lyrics he wasn’t entirely sure about. 

When you were finished, you sat back with a sigh, Taehyung smiling at you before standing to clear the table of the empty boxes scattered on it. 

“Ugh, I’m stuffed now.” You groaned, crossing your arms over your stomach as you tipped your head back to rest on the cushions on the end of the couch. 

“Can you stay?” He asked with wide eyes, a pleading pout on his lips that spread to a wide smile when you nodded in confirmation. 

“If you want me to. I’m off work the rest of the day so,” You trailed off, Taehyung nodding eagerly as he watched you lean back on the sofa. 

You watched as he rounded the couch, standing at the back of it to look down at you as you reclined on the cushions.

“Stay with me.” He clutched your hands in his, jutting his bottom lip out in a pout as you chuckled at him. You smiled, caving immediately to your boyfriend’s puppy eyed look as you played with the rings on his fingers.

“I will. But you have to work. I don’t want to be distracting.” You reminded him, Taehyung nodding again as he prepared to head back to work. 

Watching as he walked back to his desk chair, neck craning side to side in order to stretch his burning muscles from his long periods of work, you sighed, relaxing back into the pillows behind you.

You smiled when the room became filled with the sounds of your boyfriend humming unrecognizable tunes, figuring that they were most likely new melodies he had composed in his days here. 

As he worked, you occupied yourself by picking up your phone and meaninglessly scrolling through your social media, satisfied with the clicking of Taehyung’s mouse on his desk in the otherwise silent room.

That feeling only lasted for a bit, though, as complete silence soon took over once again and you felt a slight blush rise to your cheeks as his eyes shifted back to you. 

After being with him for so long, you did not need to look over at him to know that his focus was now on you instead of the track laid out on the computer in front of him.

“You know, it’s odd. I have this weird suspicion that you’re not working over there.” You said without looking up from your phone, catching your boyfriend off guard as he chuckled breathily behind his hand. 

“I am, though. You’re my inspiration.” He defended himself, raising his brows in honesty as your fingers stopped scrolling down your screen. 

Your eyes shifted from the device in your hand to the man a couple of feet away from you, immediately melting under his loving gaze.

“I think I just drafted three albums worth of songs in my head. And every single one of them is about you.” He informed you, making tears blur your vision instantly at the sweet and honest words leaving his mouth. 

His body became less and less defined as your emotions took over, hearing Taehyung’s soft laugh before an audible coo left his mouth, his blurred figure quickly making its way over to you before he sat beside you on the couch again.

He didn’t hesitate to wrap his arms around you, smiling adoringly at you as his other hand pulled your body into his. Small soothing phrases left his mouth as he pressed kisses against the side of your head, placing his forehead to your temple as he dropped more kisses against your wet cheek.

“Fuck, Tae. You can’t say sweet shit like that to me and expect me to keep it together.” You let out a watery laugh, sniffling as you buried your face into his chest, him easily welcoming the action with a hand securing the back of your head to his shirt.

“I love you.” You whimpered into his chest, picking your head up and placing your chin on his shirt to look up at him. You admired the soft smile on his face, eyes swirling with emotion that made you feel so loved. 

Slipping his hand underneath your chin, he smiled as you shifted yourself higher up on his body to connect your lips. The action was sweet, tender. His thumb gently swiped at your chin as he held you to him, turning you into a puddle at the simple touch.

“I love you so much.” He mumbled into your mouth, pressing gentle kisses to your bottom lip repeatedly until you held his jaw in place to kiss him deeper. 

Taehyung lowered his back to lay down on the sofa, you following him with your lips still connected. His hand went to the back of your thigh, squeezing the flesh appreciatively and grinding his pelvis up against yours.

You hummed in acknowledgement at the movement, pushing him up off of your body with a slight push of your palms to his chest. Smoothing the pad of your thumb over the tail of his eyebrow affectionately, you internally debated stopping now or continuing to inevitable activities if you didn’t.

“This was supposed to be an innocent visit.” You said breathlessly, looking into your boyfriend’s blown out pupils as he chuckled. The man looked off to the side in thought, tracing your bottom lip and swiping at the smooth skin with the pad of his thumb as he focused his attention back on you.

“When is it ever?” He smirked, making you roll your eyes before smashing your lips back onto his. Fuck it.

You buried your hands into his hair, holding him to you as your tongues met, your movements slow as you lost yourselves in each other. 

You relished in the hitch of breath in his throat when you trailed your hand down his chest and abdomen, fingers hooking underneath his sweater and grabbing the chunky fabric, lifting it up to his belly button before he seemed to get the hint. 

He sat up slightly to lift the clothing over his head, shifting his hips up against your crotch in the process and making you let out a sharp whine at the sudden friction between your legs.

Taehyung smirked at the noise, tossing his sweater to the ground before grabbing your hips with his now free hands and rolling them down against his growing bulge once again. 

“Fuck, Tae.” You collapsed against his chest, looping your arms around his neck and breathing heavily against the bare skin of his sternum as his hands greedily groped at your ass. 

He continued his actions, thrusting up into your hips occasionally as you moved on him and thoroughly enjoying the shocked gasps that came out of your mouth whenever he did so. 

His eyes stayed on you as your face contorted in overwhelmed pleasure, the sudden realization that you had way too much fabric hiding you from him momentarily bringing him back to earth.

“Take your shirt off.” He commanded breathily, the continued grinding motion of your hips together making him pant as you obliged him, sitting up and lifting your shirt up over your head. You were left in your bra and jeans as you set your upper half back down onto his chest, lips colliding once again as he swiped his tongue across your lip.

His hand lifted to squeeze your breast over the cup of your bra, the appreciative touch eliciting a low sound from the back of your throat as you pulled back, watching as his lust-blown pupils studied your body appreciatively.

His eyes followed your hand as it landed on his chest, your palm sliding down to the fabric of his pants as he subtly thrusted his crotch up toward your hand. 

You smiled at his silent ask, moving your hand down farther to rest over the bulge growing steadily underneath your touch.

“Can I?” You asked simply, Taehyung eagerly nodding at your insinuation, the thought of you doing anything riling him up even more as your hand momentarily left the spot. 

You shifted off of him and slid your body off the couch, landing with your knees on the ground and smiling slightly as you watchrd him hastily unbuttoning his pants.

You met his hands with the bunched fabric at his mid thigh with your own, quickly pushing them down his legs farther until they were gathered past his ankles.

You could clearly see the outline of his erection through his boxers, practically drooling at the image of the man in front of you.

His knees were spread to give you easy access, head relaxed against the back of the couch as his eyes followed your every move. His bottom lip was sucked into his mouth, anticipating what was to come as you pulled his underwear down his legs.

You didn’t hesitate to wrap your hand around his base, pumping up and down slowly to tease the man, knowing you’d succeeded when he scrunched his eyes and bucked his hips up in search for more. 

Tightening your hand around his shaft, you quickened your pace, Taehyung puffing his cheeks up in an inhale before breathing it out shakily. He began nodding vigorously, making you giggle slightly at the bobbling of his head as you continued pumping him in your hand.

“Fuck, yeah. Good.” He babbled, words slurred together and ending in a grunt as your lips gently kissed his sensitive tip.

His legs jolted under you when you flattened your tongue on the underside of his cock, licking a path up to the precum bubbling out at the top and humming at the familiar salty-sweet flavor of his arousal.

Taehyung buried his hands in your hair as you finally put your mouth on him, sucking at the head of his cock and delivering kitten licks to his tip that made his eyes roll back into his head. You basked in the sounds he made as you took more of his cock into your mouth, gasps and moans and praises falling from his lips as he watched you take more of him.

Sinking your mouth down to welcome him in farther, your cheeks hollowed to suck him tightly, Taehyung making incoherent noises that resembled curse words at the action. He subtly thrusted his hips up, making you cough at the sudden action, immediately snapping him out of his trance as he leaned up off of the sofa to check on you. 

“Shit, I’m sorry. You okay?” He asked in concern, hand coming to rest on the back of your head as waited for an answer to his question.

Instead of verbally answering him, you only began bobbing your head on him once again, taking more of him each time until the head of his cock nudged at the back of your throat.

His legs trembled at the sudden action, cursing before falling back onto the couch, having assured that you were perfectly fine and fucking fantastic at giving head.

“Fuck, I wanna see you.” He said desperately, sitting up slightly to push his fingers through your hair, pushing the strands out of your face for a better view.

His dark hooded eyes met yours as you looked up at him through your lashes, deep moans reverberating from his chest and filling the studio at the filthy image you’d just given him.

“God, you’re so hot. So good at this.” He praised you, eyes squinting shut as you continued sinking your mouth down the inches of his length. 

You smirked as you swallowed around him, effectively squeezing his dick with your throat and causing Taehyung to lose all composure as his eyes rolled back into his head. The strong reaction made you smirk, doing it a second time to achieve the ruined look on his face once again.

“Baby! Oh, sh-shit.” He gasped, fingers tugging at your hair and eliciting a moan from you. His jaw dropped further at the vibration, his head falling back so that he was facing the ceiling as he groaned loudly.

“I’m gonna cum, babe.” He warned you, you humming around him in response as you lifted your mouth up his length, bringing it back down and repeating the action with his increasingly loud moans spurring you on.

You could see his chest’s rising and falling quicken when you picked up your speed, moving faster on his cock to ensure he hit his high. The sight made you internally pat yourself on the back, proud that you could wreck him so easily.

“Ugh, god.” He groaned, blindly tracing his hands over his lap to find your own, your heart thudding harder against your chest at the sweet action.

Wordlessly, you detached your hands from his thighs, intercepting his own larger pair and locking your fingers together. Taehyung squeezed as he finished, his hot release shooting down your throat with a loud moan as he gently thrusted into the heat of your mouth.

You popped off of him with a grin, wiping your mouth with the back of your hand as Taehyung was left exhausted and breathless on the couch. His eyes were shut, desperately trying to recover as his thighs still slightly trembled with aftershocks from his orgasm.

“C’mere.” He bent his fingers to gesture you to come back up on the couch with him, you standing and kneeling on the sofa, immediately being pulled onto his lap with one of his arms locked around your waist. 

“You’re gonna drive me fucking crazy.” He chuckled, you giggling back at him before being cut off as his lips caught yours. 

You mewled as he sucked your bottom lip into his mouth, nibbling on it gently before pushing his tongue inside of your mouth. You let him explore freely, shuddering when his hot tongue swirled around your own.

He made his point clear that you were both not finished as he kissed you deeper, you kissing him back with just as much force as you held his jaw in your hands.

He made it especially clear when his warm palms traveled up your back, caressing the skin and hooking his finger underneath the back of your bra.

“I don’t know why this is still on.” He complained, shifting the clasps out of their hooks and pulling the straps down from your shoulders to your forearms.

You giggled as you straightened your back, pushing yourself off of his chest to sit up and let your bra fall to the ground, finally letting your breasts free from the constraint.

The sight of your breasts made a quiet moan rise out of Taehyung’s mouth, his hands grabbing at the flesh immediately and rubbing at your nipples with his thumbs. 

Leaning forward so his face was down at your chest, he opened his mouth to suck on the pink skin underneath his finger.

The action caused you to whine as you tucked your chin into your neck to watch him, arching your back and pushing your chest into his mouth in a subtle gesture for more.

With a proud smirk, Taehyung removed his hand and flattened his tongue against your nipple, taking it into his mouth and suckling at it diligently. 

Whimpering his name, your hand went to the back of his head, stationing his mouth on you as he closed his teeth on it in a gentle bite.

“Mmf, Tae.” You bit your lip, his actions causing more arousal to pool in your panties and most likely ruining the fabric as it was now undoubtedly soaked through.

Taehyung’s hand trailed down your side, resting on your ass and squeezing lightly before sliding you up his stomach, you letting a breathy moan escape as the move caused the seam of your jeans to press harder into your clit.

With your breasts swinging above his face, he could easily pick his head up to encase your other nipple into his mouth, tongue flicking at the hardened nub before sucking a bruise into the pink skin.

You absentmindedly began rocking your hips on his abdomen, moaning and tipping your head back at the friction as his mouth focused on your other breast.

Taehyung hummed as he noticed your movements on him, placing his hands on your hips to guide their rocking motion. You put your face down beside his head, turning toward him to bury your moans in his hair.

Unable to hold himself back anymore, he let his hands trail down your body, fingers desperately pushing at the waistline of your pants. He cursed when he remembered the jeans you’d worn when you walked in, fumbling his fingers around your waist in search of the buttons.

“Off, off, off.” He mumbled, popping the buttons of your jeans and tugging the zipper down as you chuckled at his hands desperately pushing the material down off of your hips.

You helped him push the denim down your legs, shoving them off your ankles with his assistance as his fingers tugged at the tight fabric. 

“Your ass looks so good in these, it’s almost a shame to take them off.” He chuckled to himself, breathing out a sigh of relief when your pants finally hit the ground. 

Reaching his hand between your legs, Taehyung hummed in approval at the dampness of your underwear, pressing his fingertips onto your clit through the fabric and effectively making you whimper as you dropped your head to his shoulder.

Instead of applying more pressure, all he did was keep his fingers there, unmoving and teasing you as he gave you nothing.

“Tae, m-more.” You whined pathetically, swiveling your hips to get more stimulation from the pads of his fingers. 

“What do you want, baby?” He asked teasingly, eyebrow arched cockily as he observed your flustered state. 

“I want your fingers. Or your mouth. Anything, just please.” You whimpered, thrusting your hips forcefully in another attempt for pleasure. 

Taehyung smirked then nodded, seemingly pleased with your begging as he maneuvered to lay flat on his back, pulling you with him to sit atop his hips. 

“Come up here.” He pulled at your arm, you furrowing your brows with a confused quirk of your lips but following his guidance anyway. 

You allowed him to position your hips above his face, slowly getting the idea of what he was doing, kneeling above his mouth as his hands kept you there. Your brows raised in curiosity as he smiled up at you, his fingers caressing the warm skin of your thighs soothingly. 

“What are you planning?” You asked with a chuckle, Taehyung laughing in response before tucking his hand underneath the side of your underwear, making you whine as he only kept his hand close to where you needed him most with no signs of moving.

A ripping sound suddenly filled the room, cool air hitting your crotch as you gasped at your boyfriend between your legs, his hand holding up the now torn fabric of your underwear.

“Taehyung!” You scolded in disbelief, jaw dropped as the man giggled beneath you. 

“They were in the way!” He laughed, you cracking a smile as you shook your head at him before looking at the ripped fabric in mourning. 

Turning his head to press his lips to the inside of your thigh, he trailed them up to your wet core, kissing you directly on your folds before glancing up at you once again.

“I’ll buy you new ones, baby. Promise.”

You didn’t even register his words as you only felt his breath ghost over your lower lips, head already spinning with the little amount of contact he had given you.

Taehyung noticed the way you bit your lip, your eyes fluttering shut as he continued to purposely breathe out of his mouth and onto the area between your legs. 

Hooking his arms underneath your thighs, he guided your hips down onto his mouth, holding you there as his tongue immediately dove between your folds, licking a straight line up from your entrance to your clit.

“Tae!” You cried out as he sucked the swollen bud into his mouth, gripping onto the back of the couch with one hand for any sense of balance as he withdrew his mouth from your clit, moving his thumb up to replace where his tongue had been circling the button as he placed his mouth at your wet entrance instead.

Keeping his thumb rubbing at your bundle of nerves, he dipped his tongue inside of your entrance, you shuddering at the feeling as Taehyung smirked underneath you.

You whined at the all too quick removal of his tongue from you, only to have your body jerk reflexively at the feeling of the tip of it tracing around the tight ring of muscles before inserting it once again with a satisfied groan rumbling from his chest.

You whimpered at the sudden feeling, the fire in the pit of your stomach building with each languid lick of his tongue into your entrance.

“Oh, god, not gonna last, baby.” You warned shakily, Taehyung holding your trembling legs to steady them as you felt a snapping in the bottom of your abdomen, Taehyung lapping up your release with flattened stripes of his tongue around your entrance. 

Opening your eyes once the dizzy feeling in your head had faded, you glanced down at him, almost whining at the vision of him licking his lips. His hair was disheveled, his eyes almost black with desire.

With trembling thighs and weak knees, you began scaling down his body, Taehyung assisting you with his hands gripping your sides as you slowly crawled back down his frame so that you were face to face. 

“Shit.” You exhaled in exhaustion, Taehyung tugging you down onto his body with ease as your weak limbs caved into his touch.

Resting your cheek against his in a moment of quiet, you both tried to even out your breathing, Taehyung’s palm massaging your spine soothingly as you came down from your orgasm.

Lovingly, you nuzzled the tip of your nose against his, him smiling at the action before pursing his lips out for a kiss. You eagerly leaned into his mouth, hand resting on his bare shoulder and thumb lightly caressing his collarbone.

“I love you.” You mumbled against his lips, him repeating the sentiment back to you with a soft smile as he leaned back in to kiss you slowly.

“You alright?” He asked softly, eyebrows raised in question as he studied your facial expression.

You nodded in response, assuring him with the small gesture and heaving a small sigh as your lungs began to take air in normal amounts.

“I’m tired but I wanna have sex.” You pouted, smiling at Taehyung’s loud laugh at your words as he pushed your hair back behind your ear. 

He hummed in mock thought, eyes traveling up to the ceiling before dramatically raising a hand, pointer finger extended as if to gesture he had gotten an idea.

“I can do all the work.” He proposed, dropping his hand and smiling when you nodded again, flipping your bodies over to trade positions so that he was hovering on top of you, his hair slightly falling into his eyes.

Without looking down, you could tell he was ready to go again, his hard length resting on your stomach as you lightly chuckled. Taehyung lowered himself to rest on his elbows, cocking his head at your laughter but smiling nonetheless.

“How are you always so ready?” You asked, letting him into your thoughts as he teasingly looked down between his legs.

“You hold a certain power over me.” He shrugged as he looked back up to you, you scoffing at his words as he giggled childishly.

“What? It’s true!” He defended himself, you shaking your head before shutting him up by putting your mouth back on his. 

His hand subtly traveled down your abdomen, feeling you up appreciatively before landing on the sensitive button between your legs. 

The circling motion of his thumb on your clit along with the way he let his tongue explore your mouth freely had your core throbbing once again, hand gripping his hair and sharp gasps catching in your throat at his finger rubbing you in the way he knew got you ready for him.

Your tongues entangled as you reached down to push his hand away, instead pushing his hips toward your own to signal that no more foreplay was going to be needed. 

You both let out heavy breaths as the movement caused his hips to instinctively push forward, his length situated between your folds. You pulled back from his lips with a desperate whine, thrusting your hips again and eliciting a groan from him when his head entered you at the slight move.

“God, Tae, just fuck me already.” You begged, a whine from the back of your throat as you rocked your hips into his length.

His eyes visibly darkened again at your words, the bright innocence in them only a few minutes ago now gone and replaced by a darkened and lustful look as he properly lined his tip up with your entrance.

You felt your mouth drop in a silent moan as he entered you, providing immediate relief to your hormones with the sudden pleasure between your legs.

“Hmmf.” He hummed, dropping his forehead to your shoulder as he buried himself to the hilt, kissing the skin at the crook of your neck as you breathed out his name. 

You admired him as he tipped his head back, sighs and grunts coming out of his mouth as he slowly thrusted in and out of you. His Adams apple bobbed in his throat as he craned his neck backward, digging his elbows into the mattress below him with the effort he used to rut into you.

You experimentally clenched your muscles around him, causing him to gasp sharply as his mouth popped open, his eyes shut and eyebrows furrowed at the unexpected tightening.

“Fuck, don’t do that.” He half-heartedly scolded you, dropping his forehead to your shoulder as he began sucking on the skin of your neck.

You giggled at his reaction, Taehyung smiling at the noise as his hips momentarily stilled inside of you. He picked his head up from where it’d been resting, his expression dopey as you cupped his chin with your hand. 

You swiped the pad of your thumb against the plush skin of his cheek, his eyes softening at the affectionate touch before leaning down to capture your lips in a tender kiss.

He began slowly grinding himself into you in place of his thrusts, making you cry out as his pubic bone applied pressure to your neglected clit. 

Unable to deny his desires anymore, he started thrusting once again, pushing his hips into yours with grunts escaping his mouth as a punctuation to each of his hips movements.

“Faster, baby.” You whined, Taehyung moaning at the words before snapping his hips into yours faster, holding himself up with his forearms as he began to pick up the pace of his thrusts into you. 

You felt your eyes roll back into your head at the increasing pleasure, biting onto his shoulder to stop yourself from screaming out as you felt another orgasm pending in the pit of your stomach. 

Your boyfriend sucked in a hiss through his teeth at the stinging on the skin of his shoulder clamped between your teeth, dropping a soothing kiss to your cheek as he continued the pace he’d found to work for you both.

You released his shoulder from your mouth when his arms suddenly hooked under your knees, dropping his hands back to the couch cushions as he allowed you to take, instinctively locking them around his waist. 

You couldn’t help but cry out as he found the special spot buried within you, Taehyung’s switch of positions obviously intentional as your sound made a look of pride appear on his face. 

You bit down on your lip in an attempt to keep your noises to a lower volume as he continued with his intentional thrusts, him groaning at the way you unintentionally tightened around him in reaction to the way he kept tapping the spot with the head of his cock.

Taehyung dropped his head to your collarbone as you clenched around him once again, this time feeling your muscles tighten and spasm uncontrollably around him as you approached your high. 

Letting out desperate whines and moans, you blindly reached for the back of his head, tangling your fingers in his hair and guiding him up to your lips.

Without a word of communication between you, he placed his finger between your legs, rubbing at your clit harshly as your gasps turned into whines in his mouth, your pleasure increasing rapidly at the simple touch he was giving you.

“Cum with me.” He panted, hips stilling as your entrance clamped around him, holding him in a vice grip as you finished, his warm release filling you soon after as you pressed your lips to his.

The studio went quiet as you both came down from your second orgasms, bodies completely spent as Taehyung pulled himself out of you and cuddled up to your side. 

You welcomed him with an extended arm, his hair dampened with sweat as he laid his head down on your shoulder, cheek pressed to your skin as he pressed a soft kiss to the spot. You folded your arm to put your fingers in his hair, scratching at his scalp and smiling at the content hum coming from his mouth.

Everything was calm and silent until the sound of fists rapidly knocking against the studio door interrupted your moment, both you and Taehyung picking your heads up from the couch in curiosity.

He sighed at the disruption, squeezing his eyes shut to gather any and all patience he could as the knocking persisted at the door.

“If we ignore them, maybe they’ll go away.” He said quietly, keeping his voice down to a low volume with a small smile playing on his lips as you chuckled along with him.

“Taehyung-ah!” 

You recognized the voice immediately to be your boyfriend’s older friend Seokjin, wondering what he was doing outside and simultaneously praying that he hadn’t heard anything that had been going on in the room during your visit.

“What?” Taehyung called back, eyebrows scrunched in confusion as he awaited some kind of clue as to why his friend was standing on the other side of his studio.

“Did you see that meme I sent you?” 

Taehyung pressed his lips in a firm line, deciding to go with it for the sole intention of getting his dear friend out of the moment he’d unknowingly interrupted.

“Oh, yeah! That was a good one.” He lied, fake amusement in his words as you giggled into his hair. His hand squeezed at your torso as he smiled at your noises, eyes squinted at the ceiling as he strained to hear if Seokjin was still standing outside.

“I know! Jungkook was laughing so hard, I’m surprised you didn’t hear him.”

Both yours and Taehyung’s eyebrows shot up at that, looking at each other in a paused moment of shock before your boyfriend uncomfortably cleared his throat. 

There was just something about Jin’s tone that suddenly indicated that he may not have been as clueless as you thought he was about the situation. 

And it didn’t help that you could practically hear the smug smile on his face.

“Oh, um, I might’ve heard.” Taehyung lied again, you covering your mouth with your palm as you were both embarrassed at yourselves and trying to disguise your chuckling at his obvious lies.

“Mhm. Him and I are grabbing some lunch, you coming with?” He asked, staring at the black door as he awaited the answer he knew he’d get. 

In a way, Seokjin wished he would come with them, because he’d be able to see him squirm as they teased him about banging one out in his workspace for everyone else to hear. But he was not surprised when his friend answered negatively from the other side of the door.

“Uh, no. I’m alright, hyung.” Taehyung replied, Seokjin humming an “mhm” before saying goodbye, the sound of his footsteps getting quieter with the squeaky pitch of his giggles as the distance between his body and the door got bigger. 

“Fuck, he totally knew.” You let go of the breath you’d been holding, Taehyung chuckling lightly as he nodded in agreement. 

“Yeah, he knew something was up.” He confirmed, knowing his bandmate long enough to be able to decipher that his tone had been one of teasing.

“We’re never going to hear the end of this.” You sighed, Taehyung biting back a grin as he nodded once again. 

Honestly, he knew he’d get teased by his friends later on, as Jin had a big mouth and surely the rest of the group already knew about whatever he’d heard from outside of the room. 

But he couldn’t find it in him to care as he looked over at your body lying next to his, completely lovestruck as he traced his palm over your stomach.  

You raised your eyebrows at the mischievous look on his face, leaning into him as his hand trailed around your body and pressed to your back to bring you closer to his warm and slightly sweaty skin.

“Wanna go again?” He asked, laughing when your jaw dropped, smacking his shoulder lightly as he continued giggling at your facial expression.

“Taehyung!”

[redxblueihateloveyou]

Just want to say...Thank you so much for your blog. Because of you, now I'm shipping RinHaru....Before I found your tumblr, I ship MakotoHaru (even though I never satisfied with that ship). After I read your opinions,I found the answer and see them (makoharu) as best friend that almost like brothers.

Can I ask in which part that make you ship RinHaru (and made you love their dynamics)? And what other ship that remind you of their dynamics? I love reading your answers...Thanks a lot.....

Haha yay caught you!!! <3

Thank you so much, so happy u enjoy my posts :) And yeah, they're super addicting, right? Too much love and longing and passion in between T_T. I tbh don't know the exact moment, that was one of the first animes that I've watched and I by that time wasn't into BL world, so I just stared watching and I thought that that was their love story, like by 1x04 I knew that they just wanted to be together and by 1x12 I was long gone, crying at the end and that was it. I like never even saw anybody else there as more than bros, my vision was to say "untainted" in that time period xD like if I was back then already into shipping bromances, I'd maybe had doubts about the credibility of this, but with these two I never did have any haha. I just was sure it was like that, so everything I saw after getting on tags, YT and everywhere and seeing that there are other ships was to say an interesting expirience for me, bc again I just didn't see it when I was watching it, and then I've listened to creators and was like... I win lol

So I've read all the novels, novelization, stories, dramas, etc etc and fell in love even more. These two pushed me into BL world, bc I was so in love with their love, that everything else seemed dull and I couldn't move on from that and kept searching for something else that could give me the same amount of emotion and so far only chinese BL helped me with this. I've started watching "Mo Dao Zu Shi" and I was gone ofc, bc who would've thought, my whole family was like "oh no we've seen this idiocity in between before" haha and after the whole rh chat we've had of reincarnation AU about the two this vid was born. So yeah, you can really make about 1000 gifsets about the parallels between them and the dynamics and behavior are way too crazy similar.

I think I since forever had a thing for the stories like.. when one fires up the cold one, brings him out of his shell and turns his life upside down and makes him feel all the feels. It was like this since like "pride and prejudice" you know lmao. I was always into these.. cold one, who actually turns out feels the most and their other half who lights the match xD. And I also always loved opposites attract thing, bc in my opinion its the best thing for romantic relationships, when someone has smth you don't, but then they also have something you need, and then it becomes a perfection. And to me its also important for both to have their own independent personality, as in character of their own, I've always hated this thing, when someone's someone's accessory and not a character. Like I'd rather they clash until they get there bc they both have strong personaliies than them being about nothing, bc one I don't even know who he is haha. I'm not throwing shade here at mh, just saying that its a very common dynamics these days.

I need like I adore Haru and I adore Rin bc of who they are, before they fell in love they were amazing on their own, but then they fell in love and became another even more incredible thing, bc of what they gifted to one another, so then when you realize that they can't exist without each other anymore, bc they can't go back to the way it was and one has smth the other wants, it's 1sltly mega satusfying, 2ndly holy fuck ships like that are badass. Like they can rule the world together. I love these. It's like yeah, WWX is hella strong and the best and LZ is hella strong and the best, but put them together and its just holy shit haha. So yeah, that's my thing.

[disgruntledspacedad]

Aftershocks (1/5)

The Better Love Series 

A sequel to The Rules of Engagement 

pairing: Javier Peña x Fem!Reader (Ears). Part of the Better Love ‘verse. 

summary: That bomb fucked you up a little more than you thought. h/c, fluff.

words: 1.5k 

warnings: 18+ - canon typical violence, angst, hospital stuff. This one is mild for me.

a/n: unbeta’d. Gif by @javier-pena, banner by @cassandras-nest​, title card by yours truly.Takes place hours after ROE leaves off. This won’t make a lot of sense unless you’ve read Rules first.

part one | part two | part three | part four | part five 

MASTERLIST 

A deep, throbbing ache in your back drags you back to the land of the living.

Ugh. 

You rub the crust from your eyes and wiggle your toes with the awkward effort that comes from heavy sleep. It’s late afternoon, the sun sinking low in the sky, falling in gentle patches over the crumpled comforter. Reality comes back to you in slow, muzzy chunks. 

You’re lying in Peña’s bed. He’d ridden you hard, then tucked you in afterward, snuggled comfortably beside you while you’d drifted off. 

The lazy smile dies on your lips as you remember just why Javier Peña had felt the need to throw you against the wall and fuck you like there was no tomorrow.

Your apartment. A blazing fireball. Smoke and ash and rubble. Emilio’s broken body. 

You choke back a sob. 

Javi.

Your chest throbs as you remember how he’d looked at you, eyes shining and desperate. 

“I thought I’d lost you.” 

How he’d held you close, tucking you gently under his chin as if you were the most precious thing in the world. Wild sex in the hallway, gentle sex in his bed. Snuggling up together afterward. His soft confession, “I’m all in, Ears, if that’s okay with you.”

Your brain spins dizzily in an attempt to process it all. Despite all of the pain, fear, drama, and uncertainty of the past 12 hours, you can’t help feeling a profound sense of relief. Sure, you’ve lost everything you’ve ever owned, but at least you have Javi. 

That thought still boggles your mind. 

You roll over, kicking your feet to untangle them from the sheets. Javi’s side of the bed is long cold. Sighing, you haul yourself up on your elbow, surprised when you have to catch your breath to do so. 

God, you’re more sore than you thought you’d be. 

Your heart races as you stand, and you press your hand to your breast bone, feeling a little woozy. Gray spots swim in your vision, and you blink hard, forcing them away. You hadn’t realized you’d stood up so fast.

Slowly, you patter naked into the hallway, following the sound of Javi’s voice. He’s in the kitchen with his back turned to you, speaking lowly into the telephone. He’s still shirtless. 

You crack a grin at the memory. 

Now that you’re standing up, you’re starting to feel a little more stable. Thoughts are still fuzzy and distant, and your pulse thrums skittish in your ears, but at least you’re not going to pass out. Your chest feels weird, though, like your lungs have been scraped raw, and taking a deep breath sets something throbbing deep in your back. Your head aches like a bitch, too. 

Fuck Pablo Escobar and his fucking bombs. 

You snatch Javi’s green shirt off the kitchen counter, still lying half-folded where you’d dropped it this morning. Javi raises his brows at you, and you shoot him a wink as you slip into it. He’s still on the phone, talking to Messina, you think, but his eyes follow you darkly as you make your way to his bathroom in search of some pain medicine.

Climbing onto the toilet to peruse through Javi’s bathroom cabinet feels like more effort than it really ought to be. Again, your heart speeds, and you double over, suddenly panting for air. 

A minute or so later, Javi finds you sitting on the toilet lid with your head in your hands. 

“Hey,” he says, pausing as he notices your position. He drops to his knees in front of you, taking your hands in his. “What’s wrong?” His voice is laced with concern. 

You look up at him. He’s all dark eyes and somber expression, watching you warily with a deeply furrowed brow. “Just a little dizzy,” you admit, hating to see him worry over you. “I was looking for a tylenol. My back is killing me.”

Javi blinks, as if the thought of keeping medicine in a medicine cabinet has never occurred to him. 

“I can find you something,” he says, and somehow, you just know that means he’ll be sneaking across the landing to borrow from Connie’s stash. “But baby, are you sure I don’t need to take you to the hospital? You look a little pale.”

“I’m sure, Javi,” you answer firmly. The thought of getting dressed and leaving the apartment is absolutely abhorrent right now - you are still bone weary. You decide to offer him a compromise. “If it really bothers you, I’ll see somebody tomorrow after work.” 

Javi shakes his head. “You’re not going in tomorrow, babe,” he says slowly. “I already talked to Stechner.” There’s a little bit of hesitation in his tone, like he’s wary of how you’ll react. “Once word got around about the bomb, everybody was looking for you. I didn’t mean to butt in, but I really didn’t want to wake you, either.” He reaches up to rub the back of his neck, almost apologetically.

In a different situation, you think you might be annoyed by his interference. But Javi is staring at you with those solemn, worried eyes, one errant curl falling across his brow, and you find that any frustration you feel is buried deep beneath exhaustion and maybe even a little gratitude. “Guess I’ll let it slide,” you tell him, cracking a small smile. “This time.”

He answers you with a tiny breath of relief and a quirk of his lips. “Good.” One long thumb massages your knuckles absently. “He’s put you on leave for the rest of the week. Says get some rest and maybe some therapy, and he’ll see you on Monday to talk logistics.”

You snort. “Asshole.”

Javi’s expression is a little darker as he agrees. “So,” he says, leaning back on his heels to pin you with an intense stare. “Doctor tomorrow?”

“Doctor tomorrow,” you promise, allowing him to pull you to your feet. “Tylenol now.”

“Bossy,” he complains, reaching up to stroke your cheek like he just can’t help touching you at every opportunity.

“Assertive,” you’re quick to correct, swallowing back a shiver. All of this soft, sweet caressing is very new.

Javi grins, a gentle, fond expression that crinkles his eyes and makes him look years younger. “Have I mentioned how good you look in my shirt?” he murmurs, meeting your lips for a slow, deep kiss that steals your breath. One hand roams up to gently cup your breast. 

“You don’t have to,” you answer smugly, catching that wandering hand in a firm grip. Your heart is racing again, but for all of the wrong reasons. “Now, go raid Murphy’s medicine cabinet for me, please.” 

“Yes, ma’am,” he laughs, shaking his head at the fact that you know him so well.

That woozy feeling redoubles just as soon as Javi shuts the door behind him. You bite your lip, counting back the hours since you’ve had anything to drink besides coffee. Even that had been a long time ago. Probably you’re just dehydrated.

You make your way to the kitchen, feeling numb and detached as you shuffle through the cabinets. Javi has a startling lack of normal drink wear, but you manage to find a nice set of crystal tumblers lurking above the sink. 

Typical.

Again, climbing requires an alarming amount of effort, and something uncoils painfully in your chest as you reach over your head for a glass. You flinch, and three of the tumblers go flying, shattering on the floor with a horrendous crash.

Startled and off-balanced, you stumble to your hands and knees, heedless of the glass shards that are digging into your bare skin. Your vision is graying at the edges again, and you can’t fucking breathe. 

“What the fuck?” Javi’s voice is hard as he slams open the front door. “Babe?”

“Sorry,” you wheeze with the very last of the air that’s left in your lungs. Panic sets in, your body responding to the acute lack of oxygen in the only way it knows how. “I was -”

Speaking sets you coughing, and suddenly, you’re coughing so hard that you can’t stop, great, wrenching spasms that send pain racketing through your entire body.

Javi drops the bottle of pills he’s holding. They rattle against the floor. “Ridiculous woman,” he grits between clenched teeth, reaching down to haul you to his chest. You know he doesn’t mean it. “You are not fine.”

You press your fingers to your lips, one last rasping cough ripping its way out of your throat. When you pull them away, they are covered in tiny spots of blood.

Javi freezes as he sees it. “Jesus Christ.” 

Your teeth are chattering, your entire body shaking. “I’m -”

“Goddammit, if you tell me you’re fine one more fucking time, Ears,” Javi growls, allowing the threat to trail off.

You shake your head. “I’m not,” you manage. Everything hurts, and words are difficult right now. Your throat is raw, and you still don’t have enough air. “I’m sorry. I was, but now I’m not.”

“Come on,” Javi’s voice is terse, worried. You have the foresight to grab his sweats from the counter before he sweeps you off your feet. “We’re going to the hospital. Now.”

♠

notes/confessions:

I promise, promise, promise, this is going to turn into fluff. Please don’t kill me!

Originally, Aftershocks was going to be a huge one-shot, but nah. I thought I’d try smaller chapters for once (read: chaotic jay cannot plan shit to save her life). 

Let me know if you’d like to be added or removed from my tags!

Tags: @jedi-mando, @perropascal, @aerolanya, @pikemoreno, @bitchin-beskar, @mostly-megan, @huliabitch, @starsandmando, @starlight-starwrites​, @thirstworldproblemss, @knittingqueen13, @yespolkadotkitty

Javier Peña tags: @magpie-to-the-morning, @tiffdawg, @danniburgh

[analyzen]

Italian Fandom Meta | Most Popular Types of Pairings on EFP vs. AO3

EFP (2001–, Fanlore) is the most popular writing archive in Italy, and it hosts both fanfic and original fiction. Under the cut you’ll find a breakdown of the most popular types of pairings on EFP in comparison to the most popular types of pairings in the Italian section of AO3.

The Italian version of this analysis can be found here.

TL;DR:

53% of all the chapters ever posted on EFP have been deleted

49% of the registered users on EFP have deleted their accounts

M/F works amount to 60% of the whole website

EFP’s three most popular fandoms (Harry Potter, One Direction, Original Fiction – Romantic) all have a majority of M/F works

On AO3, most Italian works are M/M (56%)

F/F doesn’t have much content on either site (4-5%)

Methodology

I’ve followed @olderthannetfic’s methodology from this earlier Fanfiction.net analysis. Basically, I picked a sample size of 666 chapters and organized them in four categories (M/M, M/F, F/F, Not tagged; more on this later).

Why I chose chapters instead of stories

On EFP you don’t have specific links for every single story. Instead, every chapter you post gets a unique id, which can be seen in the link itself. For example, at the time of writing this the last updated chapter on EFP was this one:

viewstory.php?sid=3974099

Which means that this was the 3'974'009th chapter ever posted on EFP.

Ids follow the usual numerical order, so if a link reads id=3, then there have to be id=1 and id=2, and the next link will have id=4.

So I’ve used a randomizer to select ~1200 unique ids to analyse.

Weren’t 666 chapters enough?

I started out with 700 chapters, but half of them weren’t working. That’s because 53% of all the chapters ever posted on EFP have been deleted from the website.

Thanks to the link of the last updated chapter, we know that almost 4 millions chapters have been posted on the EFP. But EFP's homepage shows different stats:

Registered users: 602395, 205974 of which are authors Last registered user: [blacked out] Total of stories: 517083 Total of chapters: 1869573 chapters Total of reviews: 6222695 Online users: 17 logged in and 53 visitors

While we should have almost 4 million chapters, the stats show ~2 million chapters. Why? Because the stats only show the stories, chapters and users that are still on the website, and they don’t show the stories, chapters and users that have been deleted.

(Sorry, I forgot to translate this one. It reads: Total of chapters posted on EFP between 2001 and today. Orange: deleted chapters. Blue: chapters that are still online.)

Thanks to the stats on the homepage we also have a link to the last registered user. User ids follow the same numerical order as chapter ids, so once again we know that 49% of the users ever registered on EFP have deleted their accounts. That's a lot of deleted accounts.

Categorization

After selecting 666 (accessible) chapters, I organized them into 4 categories:

M/M: contains all stories tagged as “yaoi”, shounen ai” and “slash”

M/F: contains all stories tagged as “het”

F/F: contains all stories tagged as “yuri”, “shoujo ai” and “femslash”

Not tagged: which contains a) poetry, b) stories tagged as “no pairing”, and c) untagged het stories.

As for the untagged het stories, there are two issues:

Many M/F fics simply aren’t tagged

Many gen fics include untagged M/F ships

If the description made it clear that the story included a heterosexual relationship, I added the story under the M/F tag. Otherwise I left it under not tagged.

Also, on EFP “yaoi”, “shounen ai” and “slash”, and “yuri”, “shoujo ai” and “femslash” actually mean different things.

This screenshot here is from the posting page on EFP. It reads:

Pairings * You must select at least one tag from the list, and you can choose up to three tags. Het: for heterosexual relationships Shonen-ai: for male/male relationships with anime/game characters; stories with no sex scenes Shojo-ai: for female/female relationships with anime/game characters; stories with no sex scenes Yaoi: for male/male relationships with anime/game characters; stories containing sex scenes Yuri: for female/female relationships with anime/game characters; stories containing sex scenes Slash: for male/male relationships from TV shows/movies/books FemSlash: for female/female relationships from TV shows/movies/books

The thing is. People either respect the rules and use different tags for different kinds of stories, or they use these tags interchangeably to maximise the chance to appear in other users' searches. Which means that you’ll find RPF tagged with “shoujo ai”, and Attack on Titan fics tagged as “slash”. (More info on this later.)

Findings

On EFP, the majority of the stories are M/F.

To confirm this, I checked some specific fandoms:

Some notes:

Because EFP doesn't have metatags like AO3, what I did was: 1) go to a specific fandom, 2) filter through every single tag, and 3) jot down the number of pages per search. Every page contains up to 15 stories, so for example searching for het in Original Fiction – Romantic gives you 846 pages, which amounts to around ~12690 stories.

The tag in red, “Nessuna”, means “no pairing”. It is used for gen fics but also for untagged M/F fics. This is especially true in some fandoms, ie. Original Fiction – Romantic, and Harry Potter.

EFP’s filtering system sucks. You can only filter through stories with specific relationship tags, but you can’t filter out relationships tag. So what you see in the graph is how often a tag is used... which brings us to some issues. For example, Harry Potter is the biggest fandom on EFP, so much that Harry Potter stories amount to 11% (!) of the whole website. But in the graph it looks like the One Direction fandom has more stories—wrong. Actually, One Direction has many stories tagged as both slash and het, while Harry Potter stories tend to be either one or the other.

EFP’s filtering system sucks, part 2. Because “shounen ai”, “yaoi” and “slash” are often used at the same time, you can't really smash together all three of the tags to get a total amount of stories. I'd say that around 50% of the stories tagged as shounen ai and yaoi probably overlap, but there is no easy way to find out because, again, EFP’s filtering system sucks. The same goes for “shoujo ai”, “yuri” and “femslash”.

Fandoms with a majority of M/M stories

While there are some fandoms with more M/M stories (ie. Death Note, Hetalia, Glee, Sherlock, Supernatural, Teen Wolf), these fandoms are simply extremely small in comparison to other bigger fandoms full of M/F fics. Which obviously skews the numbers in favor of M/F fics.

What about femslash?

EFP suffers from the same lack of femslash as AO3 as a whole. In the fandoms I've analysed, only two have a big enough number of F/F. The fandoms are Glee (which has more F/F stories than M/F stories) and Grey's Anatomy (which has as much F/F as M/F stories, with little M/M).

Original Fiction

I thought it might be interesting to explore the original sections too, especially because Original Fiction – Romantic is the third biggest fandom on EFP after Harry Potter and One Direction. These Big 3 all have a disproportionate amount of M/F stories.

By logic, this would mean the the majority of the userbase on EFP prefers M/F stories. But then, aren't fans always complaining about “too much slash”? If “Any Two Guys” were enough to find slash appealing, wouldn't it be easier to simply write original M/M?

I think that looking at original stories might help us understand why people might prefer slash over het in some fandoms. For example, the amount of M/F stories in Original Fiction – Romantic implies that, when authors have to chance to choose what types of stories to create from scratch, they might prefer M/F stories.

This would support the theory that many people might prefer slash because of the lack of (well written/primary) canonical female characters + how well M/M relationships, both platonic and romantic, are written in canon texts in comparison to M/F or F/F relationships.

Obviously, we have to keep in mind that not all fanfic writers write original fiction and viceversa, so I'm not trying to find a universal explanation here. Also because not every website has a majority of M/F stories.

Which brings us to...

AO3 vs. EFP

As per today 20/04/21, the Italian section of AO3 contains “only” 24777 stories, divided between many different fandoms. To make a comparison, the Italian stories on AO3 amount to 5% of all the stories available on EFP. To make another comparison, the whole Naruto fandom on EFP has 20129 stories in total.

EFP has also been active for 20 years, while the boom of Italian fics on AO3 only started around 2018. We can't really make a 1:1 comparison between the two archives, but we can still try to understand the preferences of their users.

M/M and M/F stories on EFP vs. AO3

EFP: 60% M/F, 25% M/M

AO3: 56% M/M, 23% M/F

The percentages are almost swapped.

This might be because of the archives themselves. EFP has always been the general website for any Italian fandom (and actually at first it mostly hosted M/F content), while AO3 has always had a big M/M userbase. I'm basing this statement on this AO3 analysis from 2013, in comparison to this FFN analysis from 2018 which showed a majority of M/F fanworks, and finally this AO3 vs. FFN vs. Wattpad analysis from 2019, which showed that AO3 has always been the outlier for its majority of M/M content.

Then again, M/M stories on EFP have always been subject to the “usual” type of borderline-to-direct harassment that M/M fans are used to, which is something that still happens to this day especially in certain writing groups on Facebook, where the Italian writing community is pretty active. It wouldn't be weird for slashers to move to AO3, where they know they'll find more like-minded people and less headaches. (Also, the Italian section of AO3 has a lot of M/M RPF that's banned on EFP.)

The “Multi” tag on EFP

The only thing that barely resembles a multi tag on EFP is threesome, which for some reason is often used as a synonym for love triangle. So from the tags it isn't easy to understand if a fic includes an actual threesome (as in, a sex scene), a polyamorous relationship, or a simple love triangle.

This doesn't mean that there aren't poly stories on EFP—it simply means that they're impossible to find using the search system.

And that's all, I think!

[tsumucore]

Playing ACNH hcs ♡‧₊˚

here’s some hcs of Atsumu, Kuroo, Suna, and Akaashi playing animal crossing bc it’s been on my mind :3

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ

Atsumu

Gave into the hype just so he could say yeah I game 🙄😴 (he only has a switch bc the rest of inarizaki play smash)

Named his island “island”

He literally chose the most inconvenient layout when he started. His resident services is right smack in front of his airport so there’s like barely a sliver of walking space AND it’s slightly to the left so it ain’t even centered 💔

When the rest of inarizaki comes over to visit, he ends up getting slaughtered for his lack of “appealing scenery” and influx of weeds 😭 Osamu, Suna, and Aran are leading the revolution

Do NOT invite this mf over to your island he will trample all over your flowers, INCLUDING the hybrids. Isn’t even aware of the damage he’s caused until you’re chasing him with an axe and gifting him trash every day for the next two weeks

Gets on his knees and begs you for spare 30 iron nuggets 🤲🏼🥺

Listen he knows all villagers are created equal✨ and whatnot but he still screams every time he sees an ugly villager arrive at his campsite. He saw Limberg once, said No ❤️ and immediately closed out of the game

Whenever a villager he hates moves in, he spends a half hour straight hitting them with his net bc he thinks thats gonna get them to move out lmfao

Tries out all the tricks for getting a good island when he’s going villager hunting like clapping for Orville, showing up in dodo merch, etc

“Uhhh, you know it’s completely randomized right..? None of them actually work.” “Shut yer trap 🥰″

Man... he really sets his villagers’ nicknames for him as “daddy”

“What if you let me clap your cheeks in front of tom nook” “Upgrade your resident services first then we’ll talk, musty ❤️″

Kuroo

Denies, denies, denies that he plays the game he’s always like “nah, that’s for kids”

But literally everyone gets the notification that he’s playing all the time bc he doesn’t realize his online status is visible to everyone LMFAO

When you expose him, he just claims that Kenma forced him to try it out like ok Mr. 220+ hours 🙄

Horror themed island!!! He gets real creative with it - everything’s strategically placed and he’s got all sorts of rare and hacked items to work with, courtesy of Kenma’s activities on the black market. He has a lot of references to Japanese folklore sprinkled throughout his island

Naturally, Lucky’s his favorite villager; also has a soft spot for Kiki

NAH DON’T INVITE HIM TO YOUR ISLAND .. its so sad he’ll be looking around like “aww, it’s cute” JDSKHKDSHJ the humiliation

But he actually loves spending time on yours bc its such a change from his usual Eeerie one

Loves doing tarantula/scorpion islands - he’s got the patience n willpower to travel to a random island and turn it into a goldmine for scorpions

U guys will help each other out by tag teaming a gigas giant clam together and it turns into one big screaming match lmao

“It’s right by you!” “Ok, on the count of 3, I’ll lead it that way to corner it and you swoop in for the catch”

Yaku once commented on how his museum’s kinda empty and he let it get to him. He’s obsessed with digging up every fossil and catching every minuscule bug to make sure his collection’s complete like bro!!! It’s fine!!! Your island’s still better than mine!!!

Suna

Mf was able to snag the animal crossing edition of the switch before they all sold out

I feel like his island would be one of those cyberpunk tokyoesque ones. You: yeah my boyfriend’s a professional landscaper 🥰

The secret: he gets zooted when he’s terraforming at 3am

Really comes over to collect his diy from Celeste, laughs at your island, and dips

ALWAYS dripped out. U will NOT catch him slipping

Never has his net in his hand when he shakes trees bc he wants to be Daring

Blocked Atsumu for stealing his flowers when he wasn’t looking

The type to mass buy nook mile tickets on ebay and go on villager hunting sprees for his dreamies. You’ve often witnessed him on the brink of madness at 4am as he comes across Hippeux for the 11th time

Joins discord servers and participates in cataloging parties. He’s got the best items and color combos for everything. Also an avid user of nookazon

You: just a smidget of bells plth 🥺🥺🤲🏼🤲🏼

He pays off your debts for you 💅🏼

Makes you continuously press A to collect shooting stars for him when he goes to the bathroom. 

You: I’m tired I don’t wanna do this anymore

Him: That’s nice ❤️

He lets you take some star fragments in the morning tho for compensation

Hates talking to his villagers tbh bc its the same dialogue over and over again so he only interacts with them when he wants to give them fits

Gifts raymond the maid dress

He likes to lay on you and nuzzle into you as best he can when you’re both playing. You’ll both just lay there in a comfortable silence, doing your own thing n it’s honestly so therapeutic

Akaashi

He’s got a european town inspired theme going on - the color palette throughout his island is immaculate

It’s infuriating how perfect his island is when he isn’t even a time traveler. It took you months WITH time traveling to achieve an island that you’re somewhat satisfied with and he’s sitting there like yeah I hit 5 stars after three weeks❤️

You: ok jobless❤️

His museum’s fire; every time he collects a species for the first time, he immediately takes it to blathers. His fossil collection is also like 99% complete. The only thing that bothers him is how dry his art gallery is, so you always have to text him when redd’s on your island

Really vibes with Wolfgang

Managed to actually get all his rocks in a circle to make a rock garden??

You: HOW

Him: I don’t kiss and tell

Stargazing dates!!!! He always lets you know when there’s a meteor shower on his island and has the cutest lil stargazing area just for you two to hang out at

Usually plays the game muted so when he’s fishing he actually watches for the bob??? instead of turning that shit up on full blast and listening for the blubblub???

He’s shameless abt how much he wants Raymond and has spent a ridiculous amount of tickets looking for him. “He’s a cat with glasses and different colored eyes!!!!!”

When you got Raymond to move in to your island, he kept trying to convince you to gift him to him. This sweet talking mf kept trying to shower you with kisses and cuddles to get you to say yes.

“I’m not putting him in boxes.” “Go off 🧚‍♂️😍🤩 that cliff over there 🧚‍♂️🧚‍♂️💕”

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ

masterlist ｡･:*:･ﾟrules