writing-nebula

[writing-nebula]

Birthright

Welcome back to the Yugioh Swapped Destinies AU! I wrote this part for it ages ago and apparently never posted it either, so I thought I'd get it up for anybody interested! --------

Seto woke up.

He woke up and… Didn’t know where he was.

Which… Wasn’t new, exactly- despite how aggravating it was, he woke up somewhere unknown quite often these days.

This time, though, his head felt… strange, his thoughts fuzzy. Somehow he wasn’t as angry about it as usual- in a way, it almost seemed normal, though he knew it wasn’t.

He looked around the small room, noting with dim curiosity the brown stones making up the walls, as well as the gold accents and strange markings visible around him. I’m standing, he realized faintly, and turned forward, to see he was standing in front of a bed, wide and wooden, with a single pillow and- A girl.

She was slender, and though covered by a blanket he knew she was thin, far too thin, that she must shake with the cold every time she so much as stepped outside.

Her hair was white, fanned out gently underneath her. Her eyes were blue- a bright, piercing, vibrant blue, that took his breath away in awe and terror alike.

Her eyes were closed, but he knew this. 

He knew her.

Why can’t I remember her name?

“Master Seto!”

Seto startled, but he couldn’t move, feeling rooted in place even as footsteps quickly approached behind him.

“I’ve just received word that the Pharaoh is alright!”

A thought flashed across his mind, foreign and familiar at the same time- I knew it.

…No, no this was wrong, he shouldn’t- he doesn’t know any of this. It’s just a dream- a ridiculous, nonsensical dream, as most are.

Seto forced himself to turn, gritting his teeth at the unfamiliar words that tried to bubble up in his throat, and stormed out through the doorway, ignoring the blurry-faced figure that seemed to be waiting for him.

A dream, nothing more- this means nothing, it’s just utter nonsense-

“Seto?”

He blinked, and just like that, he was somewhere familiar again.

To be precise, he was in a hallway- one he didn’t particularly enjoy seeing, but a familiar one nonetheless.

The hallway between his and Yami’s so-called ‘Soul Rooms’. The spirit himself was the one who’d spoken this time, standing just in front of the door to his own room and watching him with something that seemed annoyingly like concern.

“What,” Seto nearly growled, already pushing his strange hallucination to the back of his mind, where it belonged. “What do you want this time?”

Yami arched an eyebrow, face twisting into something unreadable as he glanced Seto up and down. “Well, I’m simply curious to know what you’re doing out here, trying to open my door when you should be asleep.”

It was always strange, seeing the spirit as he was supposed to look- the golden spiked hair, tanned skin, tunic and cape that were so out of place in this era and yet seemed perfectly apt on him.

“Open your door?” Seto scoffed. “Why on earth would I do that?” “Well I don’t know, I just woke up to the door shaking, walk out here and here you are, I think you should be asking yourself that question.” Yami crossed his arms, regarding Seto with those intense, violet eyes, so much like Muto’s and yet indescribably different.

Familiar in a way he couldn’t quite grasp-

“You must have been imagining it,” Seto snapped, irritated at the continued wayward thoughts and half convinced the spirit was causing them. “Now leave me be- it’s bad enough I have to put up with you when I’m awake, you won’t waste any more of my time now.” He turned on his heel to stalk back to his room, ending the conversation then and there.

He pretended he couldn’t feel that violet gaze fixed on him until he closed the door behind him.

—

Marik was talking, going on and on about the hunk of stone they were standing in front of, and Seto was-

All he could feel was anger, from him, from her, her cries echoing in his ears, even through the fog-

The other man fell to his knees with a cry, and she roared in victory, because she’d- because they’d-

-he wasn’t in control anymore, he realized, watching his body from the outside as Yami talked with Marik himself.

He growled under his breath, knowing the damned spirit could hear him, and practically bristled at the sharp look Yami shot him, his thoughts projected as easy as breathing. 

'You weren't even pretending to listen, Seto. This is important.'

Seto just rolled his eyes and waited impatiently for them to be done here, pushing the odd vision away as quick as it came.

Probably his fault, anyway.

—

That's mine.

It belongs to me.

Battle City was… Difficult. And not in the dueling sense, that he could appreciate, but everything up to the final few rounds was easy enough- a few familiar faces, Joey getting a chance to show off his Red Eyes, the same old.

She stole it-

That was bestowed upon me-

It wasn't even necessarily due to whatever fake magic 'shadow games' kept interfering with the finals, thanks to Marik's nutcase of a sister.

It's my duty, my responsibility, my oath to my King-

Any of that, he could deal with, fine, sure, whatever, but no-

I must retrieve it before she can misuse it any further-

Instead it was this damned voice in his head, distant and echoing but impossible to ignore, yelling over his own thoughts every single time he saw Ishizu or whatever her name was, saw the golden artifact she carried-

How could Malik have allowed this to happen!?

It wasn't spoken aloud, Joey and the others certainly couldn't hear it, but not even Yami could hear it, which meant that not only could he not blame the spirit for it, as much as he hated to admit it- that meant it probably wasn't the fault of the Puzzle at all.

'I already told you, Seto,' the spirit thought at him tiredly, 'if a voice was coming from the Millennium Puzzle, I'd know about it. That's where I live.'

Seto curled his lip, but didn't look at where the spirit appeared at his side, instead slumping back in his chair and eyeing where Muto sat at the other end of the table.

…Wouldn't put it past him to somehow be the cause of this.

'How on earth would Yugi Muto be causing a mysterious voice in your head? That not even I can hear??'

He heard Yami sigh, and the spirit put his hands on the table, leaning over to try and catch Seto's gaze.

'If you'd listened to Marik when he was talking to us in front of the stone tablet, maybe you'd have an idea of the reason.'

"What would that buffoon know about all this?" He muttered aloud, noticing Joey quirk an eyebrow on his other side.

'For the love of-'

Seto felt Yami's irritation at him over their connection, which was admittedly pretty funny- it was difficult to really get under his skin.

'Seto, according to Marik, you were in Ancient Egypt as well- the stone depicted us dueling long ago.'

Seto just rolled his eyes at that one, letting out a disbelieving scoff.

You expect me to believe that? That one doesn't even make sense.

'You're sharing a body with the apparent spirit of an Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh, bound to an ancient magical artifact that's part of a set, one of which is currently trying to kill us all.'

Yami leveled him with a glare that was actually a pretty good recreation of his own.

'And you possibly being a reborn soul is the unbelievable part here?'

"The only thing proven is that you're a dead guy, and you're haunting some piece of jewelry," he growled under his breath, "everything else is just magical bullshit that's being shoved in my face every damn day, and I thought I told you to cut that out-” “Ey, Seto-” Joey’s voice interrupted his grumbling, the other boy leaning in and poking his arm. “You’re talkin’ out loud again, just so ya know.”

Seto’s gaze snapped up to see Muto watching him with amusement, the shorter duelist eyeing the puzzle around his neck, and that had him scowling in full force as he stood up. It’s mine, you aren’t getting your little hands on it-

The spirit now standing at his side chuckled, then vanished, and Seto took the opportunity to storm off back to his room to wait for the next rounds to start.

This mess can’t be over fast enough…

—

“Please, my Pharoah, I ask that you take the Millennium Rod, for safekeeping.”

Ishizu held the item out, and Yami, still in control, reached out to take it, and Seto was-

He was-

He was bowing his head to his mentors before him, nearly vibrating with nerves on the inside-

He was standing at his Pharoah’s side, at his beck and call as the new king began his reign-

He was being handed the Millennium Rod, and as his fingers touched the sacred item he felt it, the power it contained, the weight of the responsibility to wield it, the knowledge of what this meant for him-

He was part of the Pharoah’s sacred council, and he would-

-he was wrestling back control too quickly for Yami to fight, yanking his hand back as if burned, widened eyes quickly narrowing into a harsh glare.

“That thing is not going anywhere near me,” he growled to hide the brief, traitorous tremor in his voice, turning his anger to the woman holding the item so he wouldn’t have to look at it again.

‘Seto! What’s gotten into you??’  

Yami appeared at his side, but he ignored the spirit, instead holding Ishizu’s gaze until she looked away.

There is no way that’s coming home with us, that’s just asking to be robbed again-

Seto shook his head sharply and folded his arms across his chest, forcing his eyes away entirely to look at the mirror of himself.

Besides, do you really want that anywhere near Mokuba, with or without some kind of evil possession?

Yami paused, seeming like that hadn’t occurred to him, and after another moment he sighed, stepping back again.

‘...You could’ve at least given me some warning- and you don’t need to be so rude about it.’

Seto just grunted, putting the hallucinations- because that’s all they were, strange hallucinations probably caused by a lack of sleep- to the back of his mind and jerking his head towards Muto.

“Let him take it, he’s the one that likes to go along with your insane games.”

With that, he turned and walked away from the artifact, resolutely ignoring any protests the people behind him had.

I was imagining things again, that's all it was.

These visions don't mean anything.

—

You're an idiot, an utter moron, a complete dumbass-!

Yami continued to ignore Seto's insults- or maybe he'd gotten so thick in the head he couldn't hear him, either one was possible.

He certainly wasn't reacting to Seto's struggles to take control back, blustering through the duel like Joey at his worst no matter what happened with the puzzle-

And Seto was pissed, because Yami had the gall, the arrogance to play that gods-damned card-

What did you think would happen!? He growled, trying to mentally shove at the spirit again, to no avail. And you get on Joey for not thinking things through!?

Finally, it seemed he'd gotten a response- Yami gasped, stumbling back, and Seto felt a flash of something close to relief, glancing at the duel to see if he could still salvage this-

only to see Yami's life points at 0, and the man he'd been dueling smirking and shaking his head.

…No, no no no-

Seto was forced back from his body as the glowing green ring tightened, and he watched with growing dread as Yami fell to his knees, eyes dull, head lowering in acceptance. 

No, this can't be happening-

The Pharaoh fell to his knees, gasping in pain, and the thief grinned wildly, raising his arm, commanding the stolen monster-

Seto snarled and stepped in front of him, feeling the power from his item surge in response-

Seto grit his teeth, forcing himself closer, vision blurring with things he didn't understand but couldn't afford to focus on.

You aren't going anywhere-

He grabbed Yami by the back of his coat, yanking him up with all the force he could muster, the puzzle releasing a golden glow and a faint chime-

-and Yami stumbled free from his body, red glow vanishing from his eyes, form shimmering until he looked as he did when they were in their soul rooms.

And he was staring at Seto in absolute horror, a scared cry leaving him.

'Seto what are you doing!?'

"Fixing your mistake," he growled back, falling to one knee as exhaustion overtook him, but keeping his angry glare fixed on the spirit. "No way in hell you’re leaving me to deal with this when you’re the one who believes in this magic nonsense-"

'No-'

Yami shook his head, grasping at the air, trying to reach for him-

'Seto you can't-!'

The world was going dark at the edges, Seto could feel something pulling at him, tearing him away, trying to squash him down- …won’t even let me deny it now…

"...Yami," he grit out, shutting his eyes tightly against the weight of it. "If anything happens to Mokuba, the second I get back I'm throwing the puzzle in the river! Keep him safe!"

'SETO!'

And he knew no more.

—

Consciousness drifted around him slowly, little pieces at a time, like a badly-done puzzle.

Fragments broke through occasionally, flashes of sound or pictures- sometimes it was people with dark skin, dressed in gold, and other times people wearing duel disks and shouting for… someone, a name he could never quite hear.

I know these people, he thought faintly, not even sure who he was talking about anymore, I'm glad they're all okay…

He continued like that, drifting tiredly, and he couldn't say for how long- he just Was, unable to hold onto much else.

Until the haze was shattered in an instant, a feeling shocking him awake so suddenly he physically jolted, gasping in a breath and then trying to remember how to breathe-

There was something touching him, when was the last time he'd felt touch-

He tried to shove the feeling away, a growl raising in his throat, this couldn't be a good thing-

"Seto! Seto, calm down, it's just me-"

Hands grabbed his shoulders, pushing him back onto what he now recognized as a bed.

…I know that voice

Seto grimaced, and when the hands released him he sat up more slowly, using one hand to steady himself while the other moved to his head- it felt like he was just coming down from a huge migraine… 

Where am I…?

“Take it easy, Seto,” the voice murmured from somewhere to his right, putting a more gentle hand on his arm, “your soul was just released, at least give yourself a moment to readjust.”

My soul was..?

He winced, remembering a bright green glow, his consciousness being drawn away, watching as- who?

-as someone reached for him, called out to him, begged for him to stop- who was it?

He could see him, picture his face, hear his voice, violet eyes widened in horror-

I can’t- I can’t remember, what was-

Someone he’d sworn to help, to protect, someone who’d been by his side for so long he could barely remember not being there-

What was his name?

“Seto?”

It was the voice again, the same voice, and suddenly his headache didn’t matter, he knew this person, why couldn’t he remember-

The grip on his arm tightened slightly, the voice still speaking, but he barely heard it now, nearly growling in frustration as he struggled to grab the wisps of memory that kept drifting just out of reach-

Violet eyes, tan skin, golden jewelry clinking as he walked.

“I understand if you’re angry at me, I’m not asking for forgiveness-”

Pharaoh?

Violet eyes, a hesitant smile, the first friend he’d ever had.

“-but I swear to you, I kept Mokuba safe, he’s just waiting for you to come back, all of our friends are-���

My prince?

Violet eyes, full of exhaustion, a final request-

“Seto, please-”

“Please, take care of our people.”

…Atem?

“SETO!”

The world snapped back into focus, and Seto found those violet eyes in front of him, hands gripping his shoulders again, gaze searching his face worriedly.

“...Yami,” he breathed out, and watched the spirit nearly crumple in relief, tears welling up in his eyes as he moved forward to hug him tightly. “Thank the gods, you were starting to scare me- I-I thought something else had gone wrong-”

…Right, he’s Yami, the ghost living inside the puzzle, the only duelist who knows my deck as well as I do.

It came to him easily now, leaving him unsure as to what he was struggling to remember in the first place.

what am I missing here…?

After an awkward moment, he moved to hug Yami back, begrudgingly admitting that he probably deserved that much, at this point.

“I’m fine,” he scoffed quietly, trying to hide his shock at how small the spirit seemed now, “don’t be such a crybaby- where’s the gloating, huh? I figured you’d have a whole lecture waiting for me, about how I have to believe in magic now, and I can’t deny the ‘truth’ any longer.”

Yami just sniffled and pressed closer, holding him like he was afraid to let go. “I don’t care about that, Seto- I’m just so glad you’re back…”

Seto sighed, feigning irritation that he didn't have the energy to actually muster up. “Yeah, I’m back, and you know I’m not into this touchy-feely stuff…”

I could make him stop now, I need to check on Mokuba, make sure Joey and the others didn’t do anything stupid…

“...I’m sorry.” It was mumbled against his shoulder, the smallest he’d ever heard him speak, sounding absolutely miserable on top of it. “I’m so sorry…”

…then again, if he’s in here, that means my body’s probably asleep anyway…

“...We can stay here until my headache goes away,” he muttered, “but no longer, got it?”

He felt Yami nod, and Seto kept an arm around him as he scooted back, glad the bed in his soul room was against the wall so he could be a bit more comfortable, seeing how he was apparently stuck for a while.

He’s always been a softy, it’s a wonder that he managed to deal with all of this without me…

…Something was still there, something he couldn’t quite remember drifting right out of his reach, waiting for him to try and grab it again. …doesn’t matter.

Seto shook his head slightly, wincing as it throbbed, and closed his eyes, suddenly wanting nothing more than to properly sleep for a while.

If it’s important, I’ll figure it out eventually, but right now… I’m just glad to be back too.

[writing-nebula]

Aura: A World Unseen. Chapter 3 - Growing Pains

This is way late coming to Tumblr and I apologize for that!! Things got away from me and I only now realized I never posted it here, but better late than never! ---------

Chase was well used to waking up in the middle of the night.

A mix of insomnia, light sleep, and the occasional nightmare meant he rarely slept through the night- it’d been that way for years, at this point he’d developed a pattern for it.

The first time he woke up, he’d roll over, adjust his blanket, flip his pillow, etc. Just try to go back to sleep. If that didn’t work, or he woke up again, or it’d been a nightmare, then he got up, got a snack, tried to distract himself until he got tired again.

It was… a bit more complicated now, because not only did he share the house with six other people, he was sharing a bed with someone again. He hadn’t done that in ages, not since-

…It had been a while, he was still getting used to it again.

Point was, it meant he had to adjust his usual methods so he didn’t wake Marvin up. So ever since that had started, he’d started to get up the first time, heading down to the kitchen to keep himself busy until he could sleep again.

It was actually pretty nice, gave him some peace and quiet- he loved his brothers, really he did, but they were all loud, it was in their natures, and it just wore on a guy after a while.

At least it seemed that no one else had sleeping issues, since he never ran into anybody else.

…Or, at least he never had before. But tonight he found the kitchen light on, heard talking from… maybe two people?

One of them was definitely Anti, he could hear the soft undertones of static that always accompanied his voice when he was tired- they were all trying to get used to it, but it still put him on edge enough to notice immediately- but the other one was… Weird.

It was deeper than any of theirs, deeper than Mark’s, even, and there was some kind of… echo to it? Like more than one person was speaking at once, but their voices were so similar they blended together, too, it was like nothing he’d ever heard before.

What the hell has Anti gotten into now?

…He didn’t know what he was expecting, but a man in a suit that looked like an off-brand Mark was not it. Let alone the wisps of red and blue wavering around him, the way the area he was standing looked grey and colorless.

Anti was already looking his way, a sheepish grin on his face, but the man in the suit looked briefly startled before his face closed off and his eyes narrowed. “Don’t leave,” Anti said quickly, gaze snapping over to the man. “It’s just Chase, he’s cool.”

Chase was really tempted to just go back to bed, even if he wasn’t tired- he wasn’t sure he wanted to know what this was about. “Anti,” he sighed, leaning against the doorway, “who is this?”“Don’t run,” was the first thing the glitch said, which was the least reassuring start this could have. “This, uh, this is Dark, he’s the new person who appeared- y’know, when I fell down the stairs?” He chuckled, sounding a bit nervous. “He- he’s been hiding in my room, but he was sorta invisible so, um, I only found out who he was yesterday, and he wasn’t ready to meet anybody so I brought him down to get something to eat. Please don’t tell anyone else?”

He finished with a pleading look, inching closer to Dark.

Chase breathed out slowly, looking between the two as he went over Anti’s words in his head. “...Dark?” he asked weakly, realizing why he looked the way he did. “As in Darkiplier? Mark’s ego?”

Shit, that makes things a whole new level of complicated…

“Yep!” Anti confirmed, voice pitched up a bit, and he had that nervous grin again. “Uh- surprise?”

…Yeah, there was no way he’d be going back to sleep after this.

—————

Aura: A World Unseen

Chapter Three: Growing Pains

—————

Chase stopped either of them from saying any more until after he made coffee, so he got to just watch them move around the kitchen while it brewed, and he learned a couple things just from that.

First off, Dark definitely had amnesia too, just based on… how he acted in general. Maybe not as much as Anti had, but there were for sure no evil thoughts in that head.

Second, Anti had absolutely no fear of the weird shadow demon in their kitchen, so he’d probably have to talk to him about that later. Just because Anti hadn't turned out to be a problem didn't mean Dark was safe.

“Okay," he finally sighed when he had a steaming mug in his hands. “Explain to me how… this happened.” He gestured to the two of them standing next to each other. "Why the hell couldn't we find him?”

"Well, when he appeared he sorta freaked out, everyone was being super loud,” Anti hummed, while Dark avoided his gaze. "So he hid in the shadows, like he does, and when everyone started searching he went to hide in the darkest room he could find- which was apparently my room!”

Anti paused there, looking over at Dark like he expected him to chime in, but the demon stayed silent, just eating the orange Anti had gotten for him.

Chase felt a little grin slip on his face as he sipped his coffee. Who would've guessed that Darkiplier would be shy?

“So he was hiding in the shadows of your room," Chase continued for him, “how long did it take you to notice him?"

Now Anti was avoiding looking at him, rummaging through a cabinet and taking some time to answer. “Well… You know how I can feel emotions?” he chuckled weakly, and Chase narrowed his eyes, suspicion curling in his gut. “I sure do,” he answered slowly, and watched Anti fumble for words, probably knowing Chase had a hunch on what he’d say.

“He knew I was there from the moment he entered the room.”

Dark spoke before either of them could, the echo and overlap of his voices making Chase jolt and nearly drop his mug.

Shit, that’s freaky- if he’s anything like Anti was it’s no wonder he isn’t talking…

Anti quickly looked over at him, probably sensing the flash of fear, but Chase waved him off- he was a grown man, and he didn't have trauma related to this demon, he could handle it.

“And you didn't tell us because…?” He prompted, tapping his fingers on the mug. “You know we were all worried about something appearing but finding no sign of it." 

Anti’s look of concern quickly shifted to sheepishness again, and he shrugged before looking away.

“Well, I couldn't prove there was anybody in my room, and I figured that if they were hiding they’d probably gotten freaked out, so I wanted to wait until they were more comfortable-” he shrugged again, the pitch of his voice shifting in the way they’d learned meant he was nervous. "And then yesterday he showed himself, and he clearly didn’t remember anything, so I… figured I’d wait until he was a little more ready to meet everyone. So he didn’t deal with the same thing I did.” …Ah. There it was. Chase took a long sip of his coffee, finishing the mug, then put it on the counter and sighed. “I won’t tell anyone that he’s here,” he said, and he didn’t need to feel emotions to know Anti was relieved, though that didn’t stop him from giving the glitch a sharp look as he continued. “But, you should tell everyone that you’ve at least located the person that appeared, so they aren’t stressing themselves out looking for him.”

Dark didn’t react outwardly, but Anti looked at him just as fast as he’d looked at Chase earlier, and the two demons seemed to share a silent exchange before Dark gave a single nod and looked away. “Yeah, okay, I can do that,” Anti confirmed, relaxing back against the counter. “I’ll tell them tomorrow- thanks, Chase, for being so cool about this.” “Yeah yeah,” he waved it off as he went to refill his coffee. “I’m the cool older brother, I know- just make sure he doesn’t go creeping around in anybody else’s room, okay? I’ve got enough to worry about without wondering if the shadows are spying on me.” Dark scoffed and crossed his arms, the first real reaction Chase had seen from him. “Excuse you, I would never do such a thing-” “I dunno, you were just invisibly watching me in my room for a bit there,” Anti hummed, moving over to join Chase at the coffee maker. “Didn’t matter how much I was talking to you, asking questions, trying to make you comfortable…” “I didn’t know if I could trust you yet,” Dark shot back, though there was no noticeable hostility in his tone. “The only reason I was staying in there was so the magician didn’t find me. It was bad enough you knew I was there, I certainly wasn’t going to interact with you willingly!” “Oh, so you didn’t want to interact with me, sure,” Anti snorted, and turned around to give him a teasing grin, eyeing the aura swirling around the demon. “When you realized I was having trouble sleeping with you there, and you used your power to help me, that wasn’t interacting at all, huh?”

…They’ve completely forgotten I’m here, Chase noted idly, cradling his refilled mug and just watching the two go back and forth, like they’d known each other forever and exchanging banter was an everyday occurrence. Actually, I think this is the most at ease I’ve ever seen Anti, why the hell is he so comfortable with someone he met less than a day ago?

He’d noticed earlier that Anti wasn’t afraid of him, sure, but this was more than that- Anti seemed happy that Dark was here, looked at him like he was seeing an old friend.

He watched the light bickering for another minute or two, then cleared his throat, chuckling a little when they both stopped and looked at him. “If you don’t want him to get found out, he should probably go before someone else wakes up,” he suggested, gesturing to Dark with his coffee mug. “Anti, if you’re not too tired, I’d like to talk to you for a bit longer.”

“Oh,” Anti looked sheepish again, giving Dark a little grin. “He’s probably right, and you should get some sleep anyway- I know you don’t need to,” he added when Dark opened his mouth to interject, “but you still should, it might help you feel better about telling everyone else.” Dark eyed him for a moment, clearly hesitant, but after a brief glance at Chase he nodded, and with a little flicker of blue and red, he vanished. “Guess that makes three people here who can teleport,” Anti hummed, moving to get some coffee for himself. “At least, three if I can ever get mine to work when I want it to- at least Dark seems to have kept an understanding of his power, even instinctively.” “Yeah,” Chase echoed, watching him for a moment, glad to see the ease hadn’t left with the shadow demon. Now how do I start this… what do I even want to ask? “...I know you watch Mark’s videos more than the rest of us, but I didn’t know you kept up with his ego lore, too,” he settled on. “What, did you have a feeling something like this might happen?” “Definitely not,” Anti snorted. “And I’ve watched the bigger videos, sure, but I wouldn’t say I keep up with it all.” He waved a hand vaguely, then gestured with his mug towards the table, and Chase followed him over to sit, settling in across from the glitch to listen to him. “Honestly, I think I’ve watched all of our videos more,” Anti continued with a shrug, “to see what of what I was remembering was actually what happened, and not just…” he trailed off, then gestured vaguely again and looked away, gripping his cup with both hands.

Chase made a soft noise of understanding, choosing not to push- everyone knew Anti still had nightmares, even if it wasn’t talked about.

“Then how come you seem to know Dark so well?” he asked with a hum. “He doesn’t seem like the type to talk about himself, from what I know.” Even if he seems weirdly comfortable with you, too.

“Because I’ve met him before.”

He said it so easily, like it was the most normal thing to reveal, that it took Chase a moment to actually register what he said, leaving him staring at the glitch in surprise as he took a sip from his mug. “I’m- I’m sorry, what? When??”

“Hm?” Anti even seemed surprised to be questioned, blinking at him like the answer should be obvious. “Oh, uh- I mean, I’m awful at keeping track of dates, so I dunno how specific I can be, but it was definitely a while ago. Maybe a year or two? Maybe more?” he shrugged and took another sip. “Time was sorta funky for me before… this,” he gestured vaguely to the room around them, “so it’s hard to say. And obviously he doesn’t quite remember it right now, but I think part of him does, because he’s been way less hostile with me than he normally would be with a stranger, I think?” But that doesn’t make any sense- They all had their ‘memories’ of their ‘lives’ before this, sure, but it was all from the videos, the characters and story Jack had come up with, they’d known that from the start. Even before they knew how, they’d known that they weren’t real before all this. That Jack had created them. So where had Anti gotten all of that? “No, I mean-” Chase faltered, a little unsure if he really wanted to question this when Anti seemed so sure about it, but shook it off and pushed forward. “I mean when would this have happened in canon. Jack and Mark never did a real crossover- unless you’re talking about Darkiplier vs Antisepticeye?” That video had been declared non-canon, sure, but it was the only thing he could think of.

Anti laughed a little and shook his head. “As funny as that is, no, it wasn’t that- there was never anyone else around, but I think we have been in the Void together? Maybe even fought there.” He shrugged, staring down into his drink. “We were never friends, I don’t think I had the emotional capacity for that, but I think we were getting along better. And even if we weren’t, he’s…” Anti trailed off with a little crackle of static, and Chase wished, not for the first time, that he could get even just a hint of what the glitch was feeling, just for moments like this. “He’s… what?” Chase prompted gently, and Anti huffed out a breath, glancing up at him before looking away again. “It’s… nice to have someone that I know my standing with, I guess,” the glitch finally mumbled, grip tightening on his cup. “Someone I know how to act around, wh-where we didn’t necessarily get along, but it wasn’t… It wasn’t just because of me.”

They both fell into silence with that, and now Chase was the one staring down into his mug, stomach twisting with emotions he couldn’t name.

They’d all… gotten better with Anti, since that day he broke down. Way better, better than he could’ve ever imagined- the fact that they were sitting here having this conversation was proof enough of that, but… some things were hard to stop thinking about, even if you knew, logically, they wouldn’t happen again. There were some things that Chase knew he’d never forgive Anti for, and he knew he wasn’t the only one. He knew Anti didn’t expect forgiveness, and it seemed like he wasn’t going to forgive himself anytime soon, either, but- Sometimes it was awkward. Sometimes they could get startled by his powers, or his voice, and there wasn’t really anything they could do about it.

“...Yeah, fair enough,” he finally said, eyes flicking up to look at Anti again, and he shrugged as casually as he could manage. “I’m just hoping he stays chill like you did, I don’t think any of us wanna deal with a dramatic edgelord moping around the house threatening everyone.” Black and green met blue, and he knew Anti knew there was more to it than that, but in the end, it was early, and neither of them really wanted to get any deeper in whatever this was. So the glitch just cracked a smile, chuckled faintly at what Chase said, and finished his coffee in one long sip. “Yeah, hopefully,” he hummed, getting up to take his mug to the sink. “On that note, I’m gonna head up and make sure he’s actually trying to sleep.” He looked over his shoulder to smile at Chase again, small but genuine. “Thanks again for agreeing to keep this secret, I really appreciate it.” “It’s no problem,” Chase waved it off, though he couldn’t help but return the smile- when Anti really, actually smiled, the dad in him made it hard to not feel proud of him. “And he can take some time to get more comfortable before telling the others, but… you should at least tell Mark before he leaves, considering Dark’s his ego. Okay?” Anti huffed, this one more amused. “Honestly, I think that’s what he’s trying to avoid, but I’ll do my best.” He started to leave, but paused in the doorway, and glanced back one last time. “...thank you, Chase,” he said again, voice soft, and left him in the silent kitchen. Chase sighed once he was sure he was out of earshot, leaning back in his seat and staring up at the ceiling. This certainly hadn’t been what he was expecting when he came down to the kitchen in the middle of the night, but in the end he was glad it had happened. Both the meeting and the conversation afterwards.

‘So he didn’t deal with the same things I did’ ‘Because I’ve met him before’ ‘but it wasn’t just because of me’ ‘...thank you, Chase.’ “...I need more coffee,” he muttered to the empty room, and dragged himself up to get a fresh pot brewing. He knew he wouldn’t be able to sleep again at this point.

…he had a lot to think about.

[writing-nebula]

writing is so funny because i could write nonstop for 9hrs and then hit a block where im like "how do i transition between this moment and the next?" and then i just dont touch it for 6 months

[writing-nebula]

sometimes i need to remind myself that i'm writing fanfiction for free and i'm allowed to have a shitty sentence or two

[writing-nebula]

* whatever this means to you personally

If you don’t write fanfic, answer hypothetically.

[writing-nebula]

writing badly and cringily is actually an essential part of the writing process, both in terms of individual projects and in gaining voice and confidence as a writer in the long term. there is no way around the cringe. there's no way around the work.

[writing-nebula]

I don't know who needs to hear this

But if you go into the comments section on AO3

And type

Then replace image url (keep the " marks) with the url of a picture

You can leave fan art in the comments of a fic

[writing-nebula]

the issue with writing for yourself is that you will get sucked into rereading your own fic over and over and pretend it’s “editing,” but really you’re just reading because it’s exactly what you want to read. because you wrote it. for you.

[writing-nebula]

A writer friend told me something that broke my heart a little bit today; they're going to quit publishing their fanfic.

My instant thought was that they had been trolled or attacked or that something terrible had happened in their life because this person is so passionate about their writing. It wasn't any of that. Engagement with their works has been going down, as it has for many of us. Comments are like gold dust a lot of the time, and just looking through the historical comment counts on old fics on ao3 demonstrates this trend very clearly. It was not simply the comments dropping off which caused them to decide to stop posting, however.

My friend came across a discord server for their fandom (I should point out here that their fandom interest and mine diverged a couple of years ago, we stay in touch but don't currently read each other's posts because I'm not into their fandom and they would rather gouge their eyes out with a wooden spoon than read anything Star Wars) and specifically to share fic in that fandom. They joined, because we all love a good fic rec, only to discover that their latest multichapter fic, which has almost no comments and very few kudos, is being hotly discussed in this server as one of the best stories ever. Not one of these people has bothered to say this to them on the fic. When they asked, none of participants could see the point in telling the author of the fic they apparently loved so much that they love it.

This discovery has absolutely destroyed my friend's love of sharing fic. They share because they love seeing other people's enjoyment, and fic writers do that through comments and kudos/reblogs/likes because we don't get paid. There is no literary critic writing a blog post/article about how amazing the story is for us to copy and keep/frame. There is no money from royalties. All we have are the words of the people reading our works.

Those people on that server could have taken five minutes of the time they spent gushing about how amazing my friend's story was to other people and used it to tell the one person guaranteed to want to hear that praise how much they loved it. They could have taken a moment to express their opinion to the person who spent hours upon hours plotting, writing, editing, and posting those chapters. Instead, they deprived my friend of thing that keeps them sharing their writing, and in the process have killed their love of it. My friend now feels used and unmotivated.

I won't be sharing a link to their fic, they said I could share their experience but not their identity. I know they plan to post one final chapter. I know they intend to express their hurt at being excluded from the praise for the thing they created, and I know they intend to announce that as a consequence they will not be posting for a long while, if at all.

So please, I beg you, don't hide your love of a story from the writer. It's just about the only thing we have.

[writing-nebula]

Pssst

Hey, are you an artist or writer with WIPs?

Come here... I got a secret for you pssst come ‘ere

[writing-nebula]

I just want to talk about the power of commenting on fics for a minute.

I have my main fandom, but when I read in other fandoms, I don't know many of the writers. So I usually just find fics by looking through the tag I want. And if it's a tag I'm really interested in, I'll read every fic in the tag. And if there's a fic I really liked in there, I'll start reading everything by that writer.

So what this means is I'm sometimes reading fics or writers that don't have tons of hits/kudos/comments on their fics, but I found them through some obscure tag I wanted to read. And so I'll get back some really incredibly sweet replies to my comments.

But then, something even more incredible started happening. I'd be reading WIPs by some of these writers and they'd literally start writing the rest of the fic for me. They started asking me what I hoped to see happen or if I had any requests. And when the fic was finished, one of them said the only reason they kept writing the fic was for me.

Sometimes there can be such a lovely connection between the writer and the reader just because you decided to leave a comment. And sometimes you as the commenting reader can become the lone reason why a fic makes its way into the world for all the other readers who come after you.

[writing-nebula]

[writing-nebula]

So... I found this and now it keeps coming to mind. You hear about "life-changing writing advice" all the time and usually its really not—but honestly this is it man.

I'm going to try it.

[writing-nebula]

✍️ more fic writer asks!

reblog & your followers can send asks with the questions they’d like you to answer!

the last sentence you wrote

a character whose POV you’re currently exploring

how you feel about your current WIP

a story idea you haven’t written yet

first sentence of the fifth paragraph of an unpublished WIP

the word that appears the most in your current draft (wordcounter.net can tell you)

your preferred writing fonts

if you had to write a sequel to a fic, you’d write one for…

start to finish, how long did it take you to write the last fic you posted?

what is the longest amount of time you’ve let a draft rest before you finished it?

a WIP you’d like to finish someday

a trope you’re really into right now

a fandom you’re thinking about writing for

where do you get your inspiration?

favorite weather for writing

favorite place to write

talk about your writing and editing process

if you keep them, share a deleted sentence or paragraph from a published fic

the most interesting topic you’ve researched for a fic

in what year did you publish your first fic?

when did you publish your most recent fic?

do you ever worry about public reaction to what you’re writing? how do you get past that?

pick three keywords that describe your writing

how do you recharge when you’re not feeling creative?

besides writing, what are your other hobbies?

are you able to write with other people around?

your favorite part of the writing process

your least favorite part of the writing process

how easy is it for you to come up with titles?

share a fic you’re especially proud of

[writing-nebula]

current fan creation landscape is kinda like if you went to a party with a homemade cake and everyone takes a slice and silently thumbs up at you with no attempt to start a conversation except for occasionally some guy sits in the corner with a tape recorder critiquing the cake as though he was a restaurant critic and another guy is handing the cake to an uber driver like "yeah i need you to find a restaurant that makes cake like this so i can have more of it" and the only person that's talked to you in 30 minutes is a very sweet little guy who was like "hey i liked your cake" and then ran away apologizing for bothering you the moment you said thank you.

[writing-nebula]

fic writers in the tags tell me the fic you're most proud of writing. any fandom, ship, no ship, any length etc. whatever work makes you go "oh i wrote this" and elaborate why if you want

[writing-nebula]

You will not use AI to get ideas for your story. You will lie on the floor and have wretched visions like god intended