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kiarastromboli · 2 months

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Teach me 6 (Chris Sturniolo x y/n)

Part.1 Part.2 Part.3 Part.4 Part.5

Masterlist.

Warning: Smut content, don’t like it = don’t read it :) dom!reader & sub!chris (soft)

Summary: After spending the night with Chris, y/n finds herself in a dilemma when she wakes up to realize that neither of them woke up on time, and she finds herself in an even more awkward situation when her mother starts knocking on the door to talk to her.

Note: Okay, it's been a while since I've been away. I've written quite a bit in the meantime, and I might potentially post a lot of stuff. I'm not sure yet if I'm really back, but feel free to leave requests if you feel like it. I'll write them with pleasure.

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When I woke up this morning, it felt like I had just emerged from a dream. I was at peace, and for once, I had slept really well.

As I opened my eyes, I discovered Chris's arms around me. I panicked for a moment before remembering what had happened the night before.

So that's why I had slept so well...

Grabbing my phone from beside me, I panicked again, but this time upon seeing the time. It was 10 in the morning. My dad was probably already at work, but my mom was definitely at home. Thankfully, I had locked the door last night; otherwise, she would have walked in and seen Chris in my bed, which would have been a disaster.

The problem now was getting Chris out of my house, especially knowing that my mom was awake this time. It's not like when Chris sneaks into my room at night while my mom is asleep. She's awake now, and believe me, this woman has ears everywhere. If Chris makes even the slightest noise while leaving through my window, it's over for us.

I sat up, not really sure what to do. Chris was deeply asleep, and I didn't want to disturb him, but I didn't really have a choice. If I don't leave my room before noon, my mom will really start to worry. She knows I'm not the type to wake up so late usually.

"Chris!!!" I whispered, shaking him to try to wake him up.

"Mmmh," he simply responded, still half asleep.

"Chris, wake up, you need to leave!" I whispered a little louder, feeling panicked.

"Mmmh, just 2 more minutes," he said without opening his eyes, and I groaned at his response.

"It's 10 am, Chris, you need to leave before my mom—" Before I could finish my sentence, I was interrupted by my mother knocking on the door and trying to open it.

"Y/n? Are you awake? Who are you talking to? Open up, I need to tell you something," she said from behind the door.

I froze in place, and Chris opened his eyes, looking at me. He was about to say something, but I quickly covered his mouth with my hand.

"Just give me a moment, Mom, I just woke up!" I shouted, pointing to my wardrobe for Chris to hide in.

Chris looked at me, frightened, shaking his head. I shot him a threatening look, pointing to the wardrobe again.

He sighed before getting up to hide in my wardrobe. Meanwhile, I approached the door and waited for him to be well hidden before opening the door for my mother.

"Who were you talking to?" she asked, scanning my room.

"Julia!" I said, clearing my throat and running my hand through my hair. "Um, she asked me to come see her today," I added, trying to seem less suspicious.

My mother looked at me strangely before rolling her eyes. "Listen, y/n, I think we need to have a discussion, you and I," she said.

"Um, about what?" I said, not really sure what she was referring to.

"About yesterday," she replied, and I realized at that moment that I had completely forgotten about that incident in the panic.

"Oh... um, yeah, I don't know, can we talk about it later?" I said, more calmly this time.

"I'm sorry for making you feel that way, y/n, that wasn't my intention," she admitted, and I widened my eyes in surprise at what she had just said.

"Your father and I have always put pressure on you, that's true, and we clearly haven't been the best with you," she added.

"But you're wrong about one thing; you said that I hated the person you truly were, and that's not true, my angel. I don't hate you, far from it, and it breaks my heart that you think that way," she said, tears welling up in her eyes.

"I think I just wanted to protect you from everything I couldn't protect myself from, and I was wrong. I realize now, seeing what it did to you," she continued, sitting down on my bed.

"You know, your father and I had you very young, too young even, and it was difficult for us. We just wanted to give you a better life, but I think we were scared seeing you grow up and make the same mistakes we did in some places," she said, and I also felt tears welling up.

"And I realize how dumb it was, y/n, you're not the baby you were anymore, and it breaks my heart to see you grow up, but I think we need to stop overprotecting you, your father and I, because what you need most right now is freedom," she said, hugging me.

"We love you more than anything, know that. Your father may be tougher than me in some aspects, but I'll make him understand that all of this needs to stop. You're becoming a real woman, and we can't interfere with your choices anymore like when you were just a little girl," she added, and I left her arms, looking at her with a smile.

"Thank you, Mom," I said, wiping away my tears.

"And I don't want you to hide anything from me. I want to be there for you, I want to make amends and show you that I'm sorry," she added, taking my hands.

"Okay, no more secrets then," I said, chuckling through my tears.

"No more secrets," she said, smiling.

"And I'm sorry about your boyfriend at the time, Christian, right?" she asked.

"Christopher," I corrected her, laughing.

"Yes, that's it. I'm sorry, but you know your father and what he thinks of boyfriends. However, if you happen to cross paths with a new man, you can tell me. I won't tell your father; it'll be our little secret," she said playfully, pinching my cheek, and I chuckled.

"Actually, there's no new man. It's still Chris," I confessed, smiling.

"So, you really loved him?" she asked, caressing my cheek, and I nodded.

"I'm sorry if what we did ruined your relationship, honey," she said sincerely.

"Well, actually... okay, we said no more secrets, right?" I asked.

She nodded, looking a bit confused.

"Promise me you won't get mad?" I asked, looking her in the eyes.

"Um, okay, but where are you going with this?" she said, puzzled.

I bit my lip for a moment to suppress a laugh.

"He's in the wardrobe," I said, glancing at the wardrobe.

"You've got to be kidding me," she said, rolling her eyes, and I laughed, nodding.

"Y/n!" she exclaimed, rushing to the wardrobe to open it and coming face to face with Chris.

"Hey, you said you wouldn't get mad!" I pointed out, walking towards them, and burst into laughter at Chris's red face.

"Um, h-hello, ma'am," he stammered, clearing his throat.

My mom turned to me, trying to keep a serious face, but she couldn't help but laugh herself.

"You can come out, I won't bite," she said to Chris, who hadn't moved an inch.

He stepped out of the wardrobe, and my mom headed towards the door of my room before turning back to us.

"I'll make breakfast, Chris. I suggest you put on a shirt and join us for a meal this morning if you want to make a better impression than that!" she said before leaving the room.

I turned to Chris and burst into laughter again.

"Why did you do that, y/n, you're completely crazy!" he said, approaching me before grabbing me around the waist and lifting me up, laughing.

When he set me down, we looked each other in the eyes, our laughter slowly fading.

"You should've seen the look on your face," I said, wrapping my arms around his neck and chuckling.

"Shut up, you traitor," he said before kissing me.

Instinctively, I took a step back when it happened.

"Sorry," he immediately apologized.

"Um, we should go downstairs, I'm starving," I said, laughing nervously.

"Yeah, you go ahead, I'll join you in a moment," he said, looking a bit embarrassed.

I nodded, biting my lip, before leaving my room.

What does that mean?

I mean, things seem to be getting better; Mom knows, she won't tell Dad.

And Chris and I, we've found each other again; everything is supposed to be better now that we're friends.

But why is it so hard to just be friends with him?

I felt bad for stepping back when he kissed me, but even though things are getting better, the problem remains the same.

At the end of the vacation, I go back to the other side of the country to resume my studies.

And the thing is, I can't just drop everything for a guy; it would be so irresponsible, and, truth be told, I quite like my life over there.

But if I'm there, it'll be without him, and being without him hurts.

And it's even more frustrating now that I know he and I have a chance again.

So what do I do? Stay in Boston with Chris and live the story we've always dreamed of having? Or go back to the other side of the country, continue the studies that I'm so passionate about, and reclaim my life away from all my problems?

Oh my God, I'm probably going to have to make the hardest choice of my life, and I only have a few weeks left to decide. How am I going to do it??

"Pancakes?" my mom asked, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Um, yeah, thanks," I replied, grabbing a pancake and putting it on my plate.

"Is everything okay?" she asked, noticing how lost I looked.

I was about to answer when Chris joined us at the table.

"It smells really good, Mrs. y/l/n," he said, all smiles.

"And you haven't even tasted it yet!" she chuckled.

The rest of the meal, I was there without being there.

I watched Chris and my mom getting to know each other, and it seemed to be going well, but I couldn't stop thinking about what I was going to have to do.

On one hand, I could stay with the man I love, and who knows, maybe we'll spend our lives together; maybe he's the one, at least that's what I hope.

On the other hand, I continue my studies, and with the grades I have, there's a good chance I could push my degrees further and eventually have the job of my dreams.

The thing is, I can't have both at the same time, and I feel like by choosing just one of the two, I'll be sad to miss out on the opportunity that the other one represents.

This moment should have been enjoyable; I should have been enjoying it with my mom and the boy I love, and instead, I'm questioning my whole life.

"Well, it looks like everyone's finished eating," my mom said, once again pulling me out of my thoughts.

"That was really delicious, Mrs. y/l/n," Chris said, smiling.

"Oh, you know at this point you can call me by my name since i'm your mother-in-law ," she said, laughing.

Chris turned to look at me.

"Oh um," I said hesitantly, looking at Chris and then at my mom.

"We're not—" I started timidly.

"We're just friends for now," Chris continued, seeing that I was struggling, and I smiled at him timidly.

"Oh, sorry, I thought—anyway, I don't know what you two have planned for today, but your dad will be back soon, y/n, so I suggest you don't linger around too long," she said, smiling.

"Yeah, I'll head back before my parents wonder where I've been," Chris said, smiling back.

"I'll walk you out if you want; I could use a little walk," I said to him.

He smiled at me before getting up, and we went upstairs to shower separately.

Once out of the shower and dressed, I went back to my room to join Chris and put on my shoes.

"Are you okay, y/n?" Chris asked, watching me sit on the edge of the bed to put on my shoes.

I looked up at him without saying anything for a moment; I didn't know if I should tell him or not.

"Um yeah, yeah, I'm fine, why?" I said, trying to play it cool so he wouldn't worry.

"I don't know, you seem a bit distant since I kissed you earlier," he replied simply.

I looked at him, mouth slightly open, trying to find something to say, but nothing came out.

"I'm sorry for kissing you earlier, it really didn't mean anything. I know we're supposed to be friends now, but I didn't think and I promise it won't happen again," he added, seeing that I wasn't responding.

"No worries, it was just a meaningless kiss; I was just thrown off by the conversation I had with mom earlier, that's all," I lied, smiling.

"Are you sure?" he asked me.

"Yeah," I said with a weak smile.

"Anyway, I've put on my shoes; we can go now!" I said, getting up, and he followed.

The road to his house was quite silent, to be honest; neither of us really dared to speak. I think we simply didn't know what to think about this whole situation.

Once we arrived at his place, we stopped, and he turned to me.

"Listen, y/n, I lied; it wasn't just a kiss that meant nothing. It was more than I could handle; I really want to be with you, and I don't want to rush you, far from it, believe me, but look, I feel like things are getting better, and I want us to try. I need—" he began to ramble before I cut him off and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt to kiss him.

For me too, it was more than I could handle.

And screw it, maybe for once I can put my problems off until tomorrow and just enjoy the present moment.

I have absolutely no idea what to choose for my future, but what I do know is that right now, I'm dying to be with him.

I didn't want to hold back anymore; this was probably one of the last times I had the chance to do this, so I might as well go all in.

Chris took a step back, completely lost, as he looked at me.

And without saying a word, he reconnected our lips in an even more passionate kiss.

"Friends, huh?" he said with a smirk, pulling away from our lips for a few seconds.

"Shut up," I told him, crashing my lips back onto his, hungry for more.

My hands were tangled in his hair, and his were pressed against my hips.

Our bodies were pressed against each other, and our kiss only deepened, becoming even hotter.

"We should go in," he said, separating our lips and licking his own.

"Mhm," I said, nodding my head, too hungry to respond to him.

We entered the house, lucky that his parents weren't there, but his brothers were.

We briefly passed Nick in the kitchen.

"Oh, hi y/n, I didn't expect to see you here. What are you doing?" he asked, smiling.

Before I had the chance to respond, Chris started talking, "She's here to help me with something I've been meaning to do for weeks. We don't have time to chat. Bye," he said quickly, grabbing my wrist and leading me to his room, leaving Nick looking confused.

I chuckled when he opened the door, and he grabbed me by the waist to kiss me again before closing the door behind us.

He led us straight to his bed; we didn't need to talk to understand each other. From the moment we kissed outside his house, we both knew where it was going to lead us.

But this time, I felt more confident. I wanted to take control, although I didn't really know where this sudden change was coming from.

I parted our lips to swiftly remove his t-shirt, and before he could say anything, I went for the zipper of his pants.

"What are you doing, y/n?" he said, smiling against my lips when I started to remove his pants.

"Shhh," I said, pushing him onto the bed once he was only in his boxers.

He looked up at me, initially confused, but then his gaze turned more sensual.

I couldn't help but smile, seeing him sitting there before me, looking at me with such a submissive gaze. It was something different, but I liked it.

He placed his hands on my hips, attempting to remove my pants before I stepped back, shaking my head.

"Keep your hands to yourself," I said with a smirk.

"Come on, y/n, don't play like that," he said, running his tongue over his teeth.

"Play like what?" I asked, removing my pants while keeping eye contact with him.

He didn't respond and simply looked at me, mouth agape.

"What's wrong, baby, cat got your tongue?" I teased, removing my top, leaving me only in a bra and panties in front of him.

"Babe don’t—" he said, trying to sit up, but before he could, I pressed down on his shoulders with my hands, pushing him back onto the mattress.

"Be a good boy and stay still for me," I whispered in his ear.

He looked at me with a surprised expression in his eyes, swallowing hard. He seemed stressed but still incredibly excited by what I was doing.

We had rarely had the opportunity to discuss it, but I knew that Chris had mostly been dominant in bed, whether with me or with other girls.

I knelt in front of him, running my hand along the elastic of his boxers to remove them, and he helped by lifting his hips.

I could feel his breathing quicken and the tension build as I began to place kisses along his lower abdomen and thighs without touching the place where he needed me most.

"Y/n, please," he pleaded weakly, unable to bear being teased any longer.

I smiled against his skin before lifting my eyes to look at him while taking him into my mouth.

I could feel his entire body shudder at the sensation of my tongue on him. He threw his head back, and I continued to suck him, applying pressure with my tongue.

The only sounds in the room at that moment were the sighs and moans of pleasure coming from Chris's mouth.

He tried to run his hand through my hair, but I grabbed it and pressed it against the mattress.

"Oh god—fuck, baby, I'm not gonna last long," he groaned, signaling for me to stop, but I continued.

I even picked up the pace, running my free hand over his chest.

His breathing quickened, and his muscles tensed. I could feel his cock twitching in my mouth.

"Mmph, y/n," he groaned one last time before releasing everything into my mouth.

I swallowed before lifting my head to look at him. He had a completely dazed expression, but I wanted more.

So, I straddled him and kissed him again, which seemed to catch him by surprise judging by the way he jumped slightly when I did so.

His hands gripped my waist as I started rolling my hips against his.

"Fuck—" he began to say before I cut him off by shushing him.

"You wouldn't want your brothers to hear how good I'm making you feel, hmm?" I whispered to him before redirecting my lips to his neck this time.

"I'll fuck you so hard if you keep playing like this with me princess," he said through gritted teeth before I sat up and pushed him back so he was lying beneath me.

"Odd, because you don't really seem to have the upper hand right now, sweetheart," I replied with a smirk before removing my bra.

He tried to raise his hands to touch my chest, but I grabbed them and pinned them above his head, chuckling, before trailing kisses across his face.

"You're going to make me cum again without even touching me if you keep this up, y/n," he said, sounding almost frustrated.

"Maybe if you act like a good boy, I'll touch you," I said, resuming my movements against his erection.

"Please, I need you so bad," he groaned, frustrated that I wasn't giving him more.

"Say you'll be a good boy," I ordered him before kissing his neck again.

"Please, I'll be a good boy, just fuck me," he pleaded as I quickened my movements.

"So impatient," I chuckled before shifting to remove my panties.

"Sit against the headboard," I commanded, and he obeyed without hesitation.

I then straddled him, placing my hands on his shoulders.

He placed his hands on my waist, but I removed them immediately, observing his confused expression. "You'll touch me when I give you permission. Put your hands behind your back," I said with a smirk.

"But—" he began before I cut him off, placing my finger on his lips.

"You said you'd behave like a good boy," I reminded him, whispering in his ear as I rolled my hips against his once more.

He simply moaned, throwing his head back before doing as I had asked and placing his hands behind his back.

"Good boy," I praised him with a smile before seizing his member and aligning it with my entrance.

I was already extremely wet from everything we had done before, so it wasn't very difficult for me to accommodate him.

Although it took me a while to adjust to his size once he was fully buried inside me.

I let out a small moan, dropping my head into the crook of his neck at the stretching sensation it gave me.

"Is it too much for you, baby?" he said mischievously to provoke me, with a smirk on his face.

I raised my head to look him in the eyes, biting my lip, and started riding him. "No, but if you keep this up, it'll soon be too much for you, baby" I threatened, gripping his chin between my fingers.

Something changed from that moment on. Chris let himself go a little more, and the more I bounced on him, the louder he got. We reached a point where even his neighbors could have heard.

"Chris, you really need to stop making so much noise; we're going to get caught, fuck," I said, almost unable to hold back my moans as I felt the knot slowly forming in my lower abdomen.

"I—god—I can't," he said, rolling his eyes before letting his head fall back.

"You look so good just like that, all for me my sweet boy," I confessed, placing one of my hands on my breast.

"I'm gonna cum," he said, lifting his gaze to meet mine.

"Hold it back for me baby," I told him, speeding up the movement.

"Fuck," he said, groaning and watching my breasts bounce in front of his eyes.

"You’re such a good boy look at you," I complimented him, running my hand over his cheek.

"Let me touch you, please, y/n," he begged, almost desperate at this point.

"Go ahead," I simply said, smiling, and the next moment his hands came to grasp my breasts, my waist, my hips.

"You're so perfect for me," he said this time, pushing me to the edge, and I could feel that he himself was struggling to hold back given how he gripped my hips and moaned.

His moans only grew louder at this point.

"Chris, I’m so close, but you really need to make less noise," I said, almost breathless.

Nothing was working anymore; he was completely lost in his own pleasure. His hips had started moving back and forth to meet mine.

I felt like I was losing my mind, and I think he felt that too. In a moment of lucidity, I grabbed the first thing I could find on the bed and shoved it into his mouth to muffle his moans.

It happened to be my panties, the missing piece for him to lose control and come inside me.

And I didn't miss a beat; within seconds, I reached my orgasm right above him.

"Holy shit," Chris exclaimed, pulling my panties out of his mouth.

I let my head fall against his shoulder, saying, "I can't feel my legs anymore," and he chuckled at my remark.

We stayed there for a moment, catching our breath, both of us covered in sweat as if we had just run a fucking marathon.

"If I could marry you right now, I would," he said, caressing the sides of my body, making me shiver.

"Let me at least take a shower first," I said, chuckling.

I was about to get up when he grabbed my hips to stop me. "Nope, stay here."

I looked at him with a small smile, and he kissed me.

And right at that moment, it hit me again.

I was probably going to have to leave the other side of the country in a few weeks...

"Are you okay?" he asked, seeing my expression suddenly change.

It took everything in me to keep my tears from falling, but I wasn't ready to talk to him about it. I was afraid he would only make my decision more complicated once I did.

"Yeah, everything's fine. What could go wrong? Look at us," I said, my eyes shimmering.

What could go wrong? Look at us. Two lost souls hoping that one day the stars will align so they can find each other again.

Maybe inevitably, our two hearts were meant to never find peace together.

Taglist: @chrisloyalgf @christopherscamopants @blahbel668 @thematthewlover @mattsturnioloarchive @carolinalikesthings @bernardsgf @whicked-hazlatwhore @hearts4chris @mattybsbitch @sara2233445

#christopher sturniolo #chris sturniolo #matt sturniolo #sturniolo #sturniolo edit #nicolas sturniolo #sturniolo fanfic #nick sturniolo #sturniolo x reader #matthew sturniolo #sturniolo triplets #sturniolo smut #smut #teach me

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createserenity · 3 months

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Master List of My Fics and WIPs

Been meaning to do this for ages, so here we go. All titles link through to the fics on AO3. All The Pieces of You (E, 66k - wip)

This is my main wip. Essentially it's a mad romp through history starting from 33AD and eventually working up to the present day (or at least up to the end of season 1). A mixture of smut, fluff and ridiculous historical adventures.

AO3 Summary:

Aziraphale had known he found Crowley attractive for a long time, but there was nothing wrong with that. The Almighty had done a very nice job when she’d made Crowley and surely appreciating the work of the Almighty was what angels were supposed to do? It was nothing more than that.

Except now Aziraphale knows what lust feels like and that might be a problem.

In The Beginning (E, 8.9k - complete)

In the beginning there was a garden and the Angel of the Eastern Gate and the Serpent of Eden decided that there are better things to do than stand around in the rain getting wet.

Shameless smut, in which Aziraphale and Crowley learn what all the fuss is about sex.

Better Than Today (E, 4k - complete)

Whenever they fucked Crowley said, “I love you.”

It would probably help if they talked about it, but somehow they just keep ending up having sex instead.

Smut with a fluffy ending.

Give In To Desire (E, 4.4k - complete)

Crawley hadn't actually meant for this to happen. He'd thought he'd tempt the angel into eating and the angel would maybe have a few bites and discover that it wasn't so bad after all. He hadn't expected to be setting himself up to be tempted into the sin of lust.

Just another fic speculating on what happened in the basement during the Job minisode, because you can never have too many of those, right?

A Day For Magic (T, 3.4k - complete)

In which there is a bench, a park and a coin, which leads to silliness and fluffiness all round.

Fic inspired by these kisses.

A Time of Wanting (T, <1k - complete)

Crowley wants.

He wants so badly and he's wanted for so long that it's a physical ache in his chest now. Short ficlet that's fluffy and happy, despite how the summary makes it seem. Also inspired by the kiss picture linked above.

Goodnight Angel (E, 14.4k - wip but also works as it is)

Post lockdown-phone-call fic.

Aziraphale had told him not to come over, but he was a demon and obviously he wasn't going to listen. Besides he was going out of his mind with boredom and going to see the angel was a much better idea than a long nap.

WIPs

Apart from my main wip All The Pieces of You I've also got a follow up to In The Beginning in the works and eventually I'll go back to Goodnight Angel as well. Apart from that I'm going to list my wips here and try to keep track of them with tags and get a bit better at posting about them. Some of these will probably never get written, especially since a few days ago there was only 12, then I scrapped one altogether taking it down to 11 and now somehow I'm up to 13. Too many ideas in my head and too many half writtten fics on my computer.

After The Swap

Blind date

Dance for Me

End Times

Entertain Me

Here's to the End Times (yep different to the above fic despite the similar working title)

It's You (This one is a one shot human AU and might be posted soon)

Run Away Together

Lockdown Lifted

So You Can Take It Off (Desperately want to finish this because it's different to anything else I've written)

South Downs

This Land of Ours (fits in the Pieces of You universe)

Waking Up With You (This is another one shot that is almost done)

Job (This is finished and posted as Give In To Desire - linked above - although technically there are more chapters in the works)

#my writing #all the pieces of you #goodnight angel #in the beginning #all the kisses in the world #good omens #good omens fanfiction #good omens fanfic #waking up with you #it's you #wips #give in to desire #fic list

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rabbitsrants · 4 months

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PROOF THAT SHINRAN IS ONE OF THE MOST BRILLIANTLY WRITTEN ROMANCES OF ALL TIME - PART 3

if you haven't already read the posts i've linked down below, please make sure to do so before you proceed, cause they're important for context. thank you so much in advance!

CLICK HERE FOR PART 1

CLICK HERE FOR PART 2

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER

as i've already explained in my disclaimer, my ultimate goal with this masterlist is to prove how well written shinran is - it's to demonstrate that they're unquestionably each other's half and the heart of the dcmk universe.

people often minimize the importance that shinichi and ran have in each other's lives by labeling them as boring, predictable "childhood sweethearts" which couldn't be further from the truth.

so far we've established that

1) shinichi doesn't fall for ran gradually, which is what usually happens with dcmk childhood friends, he knows right away that ran's something special.

2) even though they share the same core values, their personalities are very different, which has a positive effect on them individually: ran gets shinichi to come out of his shell and contributes to his emotional growth, while shinichi grounds ran and helps her articulate her feelings.

now it's time to analyze the part i teased in part two already:

they share a soul

god, where do i even begin? this post is probably going to be ridiculously long but it's by far the most crucial part of my analysis, so please bear with me. cause as far as i'm concerned? this is the main reason why shinichi and ran belong together.

don't get me wrong, love at first sight is a beautiful concept and i deeply appreciate the fact that shinichi and ran complement each other, however, they aren't the only dcmk duo that brings out the best in each other.

what sets them apart from other dcmk dynamics in the most meaningful way is the undeniable fact that their hearts are one and the same. but what is that even supposed to mean? let's break it down, shall we?

their intuition

this segment of the break-down deserves its own post, because there are countless instances of shinichi and ran showcasing incredible instincts, but i'll try to keep it concise for now. both shin and ran arguably have a sixth sense. that's already fascinating on its own, but what i'm really trying to home in on is that their intuition offers them great insight into other people's souls. sometimes i get the impression they carry a compass that points at people and tells them who's trustworthy and who's not.

chapter 22

chapter 892

ran has so many reasons to doubt takeshi and shinichi has so many reasons to doubt amuro, but they instinctively know they can trust them. shinichi even feels safe enough to confront amuro, which is incredible, cause my boy takes a huge risk by directly questioning his allegiance.

idk about y'all but i think that's beautiful. it reminds me of an amazing quote from a famous philosopher:

their souls are pure. which is why they're able to recognize that quality in other people and each other.

their optimism

despite all the darkness that shinichi and ran face every single day, they have a really optimistic outlook on life. ngl, their unwavering positivity makes me extremely emotional.

chapter 252

shinichi gets shot by criminals and he's slowly bleeding to death. the detective boys feel like it's their fault that shin got hurt, they blame themselves and feel hopeless. my boy is in pain, he's fighting for his life, he's probably even scared, it'd be more than understandable if he saw their point and regretted the unfortunate situation they found themselves in. but he doesn't:

he chooses to look on the bright side. even in death.

which, fortunately, gets the detective boys out of their dark way of thinking. shin helps them understand that, yes, they're on a bumpy road, but at least it's leading somewhere.

chapter 780

shinichi gets a culprit to reveal he's from the kansai region by successfully provoking him with a fake accent, but shin doesn't just piss off the culprit, he also pisses off kazuha and heiji, so kazuha begins to wonder whether people from the kansai region are narrow-minded and ran's perspective is something i did NOT see coming:

HOW IS IT POSSIBLE TO BE THIS ADORABLE AND WISE?!

just like shinichi ran's able to offer kazuha a surprisingly positive outlook on her concerns, which genuinely makes her feel better.

there are many instances of their unshakable optimism and the effect it has on others, it's really beautiful to examine.

i recommend y'all look into it on your own, cause in this part of my masterlist i merely have the space to touch on shared traits like their great intuition and firm optimism, but now it's time to get into the biggest and most important portion of this analysis!

their idealism

i hope y'all read the disclaimer i've linked at the beginning! if you haven't, i urge you to read it before you continue with this post!

shinrans shared idealism is something i've already mentioned in part two of my masterlist, but there's so much more to say about it:

i'd argue that it's the main thing that connects them. not to shade my own children, but they value justice and human life so much, for most people, including me, it sometimes borders on stupidity.

but that's the thing, shinichi kudo and ran mouri aren't most people.

cause most dcmk characters 1) don't initially share their virtues and 2) question their admittedly heroic but also terribly reckless actions, whereas shinichi and ran support and admire each other because of it. because they're the same.

i'm about to give a few examples of shinichi and ran being the most idealistic characters in the manga and for the purpose of full context, i have to showcase the contrast between shinran's morals and the values of other characters. i appreciate and care about every single character who's brought up in the next part of my essay, so don't take this post as an invitation for hostility towards them, that's not my goal, okay? okay. let's proceed.

a) sense of justice and heroism

chapter 239-240

shinichi impulsively investigates the black organization. haibara repeatedly reminds him that he's being reckless and putting himself in danger, she even mocks his strong sense of justice and initially refuses to join his investigation because she's smart and values self preservation. haibara ends up joining him after all, but keeps urging him to drop his investigation and leave with her.

i don't blame her one bit for her approach to the situation... truth be told, her reaction makes a lot more sense to me than shinichi's 😂 but that's because i share her pragmatism.

at this point in the manga shinichi and haibara have zero support. neither the fbi, nor the cia is helping them. it's incredibly dangerous for them to go after the black organization completely alone and it's not just unsafe for them individually either, it's risky for everyone they care about. their exposure would endanger a lot of people, including agasa, ran, kogoro, the detective boys, etc...

and safety concerns aside, why would she care about justice in that situation anyway? how could she, a teen who's trapped in a child's body, possibly hold the black organization accountable without any help?

so yeah, i strongly believe that if you look at the situation logically, haibara's point of view makes a lot more sense than shinichi's and it's fair of her to choose safety over justice, especially when the latter seems so impossible achieve.

too bad that shinichi doesn't give a flying fuck about things like common sense or self preservation. he's completely driven by idealism, it's what defines him as a person, in more ways than one. the only person in the dcmk universe who accurately mirrors his righteousness is ran mouri and it expresses itself through countless parallels that completely contrast haibara's position in chapter 239-240

chapter 44

shinichi pretty much lashes out at the murderer for personal reasons which i dive into here. on top of that, he's passionately opposed to the culprit's idea of using justice as a reason for murder and guess what? ran unsurprisingly feels the same way:

chapter 313

the obvious observation here is that their speeches are remarkably alike, but what i find even more fascinating is the fact that the killers react so similarly. shinran's sense of justice is so powerful, it doesn't just guide their own actions, it even moves morally corrupt people and holds them accountable.

furthermore, the concept of personal safety is completely lost on both shinichi and ran lol.

they constantly risk their lives for other people, including haibara, who, as we already established, initially disregards heroism.

chapter 289

chapter 434

AHHHHH!!! THE PARALLELS ARE KILLING ME

anyway, i'm not trying to undermine the beauty and complexity of haibara's character, she's incredibly well written and i think it's important to emphasize that she's actually attempting to sacrifice herself in both of these chapters.

i actually really appreciate the fact that haibara is this complicated person with a rough background who slowly figures out her values with the help of her friends, imo it gives her layers.

i'm simply pointing out that upon her initial introduction her virtues instinctively differ from shinran's, it takes her some time to grow into the same kind of heroism that shinichi and ran display from the get-go. because they inspire her. but i'll go over that in a minute.

b) they value human life

one of shinichi's main attributes has always been his profound interest in human life. it's a quality that i never questioned until recently because i always figured it was due to his work as a detective.

but the more i think about it, the less it works as an explanation because we know a lot of detectives in the dcmk universe who don't share his interest in protecting people at all costs.

interestingly enough, there is a character who shares his passion but it's not someone who professionally deals with human life - it's just a compassionate, tenderhearted girl who instinctively wants to keep others safe no matter what.

chapter 1026

ran saves a murderer from suicide

which reminds me of shinichi attempting to do the same in another chapter:

chapter 67

he tries so hard... but unlike ran he ultimately fails.

and who's there to comfort him? who's the only person in the whole world who naturally understands his sorrow, who truly knows how valuable human life is and wants to protect it just as much as he does? ran. of course it's ran.

and it will always be ran.

having said that, analyzing shinran's idealism is beyond fascinating to me because i rarely share their virtues or courage. my values are more aligned with the rest of the dcmk universe:

chapter 153

shinichi notices that a culprit is about to kill herself and gets in the way of her plans. heiji's response resonates with me a lot.

CAUSE YEAH, what's the point of keeping someone alive against their will? isn't that infinitely crueler than just letting them die? maybe.

but shinichi and ran don't give a fuck lol. they don't stop the murderers suicide attempts because they're heartless though. it's the opposite, really.

as we already established, both shinichi and ran are optimists at heart, so they believe or least hope that people can always better themselves. i think that's the main reason why the interfere.

besides, shinichi and ran simply care too much about justice - they need culprits to be held accountable and they respect human life too much to allow suicide.

again, do i share their passionate interest in human life? LOL, hell no. i think very few people are capable of being that idealistic. most people, including me, value innocent life but shinichi and ran? they value life regardless of innocence and on top of that, they even value the lives of people who ARE ACTIVELY TRYING TO KILL THEM

chapter 773

a man is threatening to bomb the detective agency, he could kill ran, kogoro and sera within SECONDS and what does my girl ran do? yeah, she saves his life, LOL!

she's already in immense danger and she's seconds away from being saved, but she goes out of her way and puts herself even more at risk, just to save a guy who's threatening her life. WHY?!

because that's just who she is.

understandably, sera is baffled. she doesn't get it.

which makes sense, cause, again, there's only one character in the entire manga who truly understands ran and passionately agrees with her principles and that's shinichi kudo:

their idealism never wavers. it's perplexing for characters like haibra, heiji, sera and even for me as a reader. it's also extremely inspiring though. which brings me to my next point!

c) they inspire others

chapter 239

remember how haibara initially refuses to join shinichi during his investigation? guess what changes her mind...

even though haibara mocks shinichi's idealism and admittedly doesn't understand it in the beginning, it does get her thinking.

she grows up under terrible circumstances which force her to prioritize her safety over human life, but after watching shinichi for a while, she comes to the realization that she no longer has to live that way.

his unshakable idealism fascinates and encourages her, she's reminded that she has choices now and suddenly she finds herself wanting to do better.

but shinichi isn't the only person who helps her evolve in a pretty significant way:

chapter 313

ran's speech about justice and courage deeply moves haibara in the same way it affects the culprit.

her speech doesn't just give haibra the courage to finally introduce herself to ran after months of avoiding her (for reasons i'll get into in part four of my masterlist) i'd argue it also contributes to her finally facing the black organization in chapter 434

while shinichi helps haibara understand that she has choices now and urges her not to run from her fate, ran motivates haibara to be courageous and face her fate. it's actually incredible how much they help haibara, just by being themselves.

chapter 398-400

check out the blog of my wonderful friend aracaeli who recently brought attention to an extremely underrated chapter which emphasizes that ran doesn't just affect characters like haibara, she even inspires her other half shinichi, which is a remarkable accomplishment, considering their morals are generally completely aligned.

ran's idealism knows no bounds. how could it not move people? especially someone like haibara who's just starting to get familiar with the concept of friendship.

in this chapter ran's idealism inspires countless people (shinichi, haibara, the detective boys, the murderer) it says so much about her character and it's such a touching reading experience.

chapter 153

remember how heiji understandably regrets saving the murderer from suicide after seeing her devastating reaction? shinichi knows exactly what to say:

AGAIN, personally, i don't even blame heiji for his initial views. frankly, i agree with them! but it's really hard not to be affected by shinichi's powerful words. i can see how they could completely change the mindset of a passionate detective like heiji. and they do.

chapter 188

to the point that heiji's willing to risk his life because of them...

chapter 774

even sera, who can be a bit morally corrupt at times, is impressed with ran's strong virtues:

but that's to be expected, considering that shinichi and ran even had an impact on vermouth who's an established, ruthless serial killer.

i know, i already extensively talked about the new york case in part two, but it's such an important chapter for shinran that i feel the need to bring it up again, especially if it's going to continue the wonderful discourse i've been having about it with amazing bloggers like sakublogs who i urge you to check out!

chapter 353

this case is so, so special to me because it fundamentally captures the essence of shinran.

vermouth is about to take ran's life but the railing she is leaning on breaks and she's about fall to her impending doom... until ran intuitively grabs her arm and tries to save her:

you'd think that shinichi would urge ran to let go, cause that's what any rational person would do, right? but he doesn't. instead he assists ran. again, WHY?

because... they can't fucking help themselves. because THAT'S JUST WHO THEY ARE.

shinichi and ran are completely led by their intuition, optimism and idealism. nobody values justice, courage and human life the way do, it's in their bones and hearts, it's not something they grow into, it's in their nature.

their spiritual connection is their most defining quality as a couple and it's the reason why i'm convinced that shinran is gosho's best written ship and beyond that, one of the most brilliantly written romances of all time.

it's difficult to do shinran justice in condensed essays like this, but i hope i was able to illustrate their amazing personalities and offer some insight into their captivating bond.

it's why i've been closely following their story since my early childhood. they have the same effect on me they have on other dcmk characters. shinichi and ran inspire me, they touch my soul and restore my faith in people. they're not just a cute couple - they're a symbol of hope.

vermouth puts it best:

visit the shinran library for more

#angels are not mystical creatures from another realm #they are the manifestations of love and kindness in our lives #deepak chopra #a life changing ship indeed #i love them so so much #part four is going to be my favorite part of the series #hint #it's going to be about my best girl ran #i'm so excited!#shinran #shinichi kudo #ran mouri #dcmk #detective conan #case closed #ship analysis

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aqours · 6 months

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ok i REAAAAAALLY need to make a dedicated sideblog for this shit now i realize bc this game is gonna fucking fully get me dragged into this discourse so i'm gonna make an active effort to stop putting these on main, but i can't see myself saying more beyond this in general but ANYWAAAAYS

so i recently made this post about the cognitive dissonance regarding this game and people using fucking CALL OF DUTY a game that is more or less a recruitment drive to make the US military look cool and try to get kids to join up and that GTA's wanted system is actually NOT rewarding you or something to try to play a dick measuring contest with coffin but this interaction really interested me and i wanna talk about it bc i just blocked them after they refused to answer the last question but this is a very specific kind of gaslighting tactic i'm very familiar with from my own days as an anti

i think p much all of us who are used to engaging with this discourse are used to like y'know, being called awful horrible disgusting things. this is not the first time some fucking weird random person came onto my content asking me if i was a kid didler or wanted to fuck my brother. ain't gonna be anywhere near the last time either folks, but i and Lord God knows that's not the case so i don't care what a rando on the internet says but here's the thing: you can't "win" this, but they want to win it. no matter what you say you are the absolute worst kind of dreg of society that should be shot behind a barn and no amount of anything would work. if i actually pulled a list of sourced all that would have happened was they would've doubled down on calling me an inc*s*ious p*d* that I would be willing to use articles probably written by "people like me." because YOU don't care about "winning" this argument, you just wanna get the facts out on your end. it's a catch-22 folks, nothing you say will get you out of it!

i started by calling them a karen, they immediately escalated the living FUCK out of it and tried to trap me in this catch-22 to keep feeling morally superior to me. me saying i don't have such desires and never will isn't enough because i like this game. nothing but me renouncing it will change it.

but here's the thing about antis- they fucking HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATE it when you turn it on them. look at the difference. look at the difference between they were the one throwing the catch-22 at me vs. the other way around. what about you? you just came onto my post to harass me, so i'll say it back. how about you? are you just accusing me of these horrible things because you are projecting your thoughts on me? you told me to get a therapist: so maybe you're the one that needs help if so!

violent video games must encourage violence, riiiiight? and you support it because it's violent. Game of Thrones had in*e*t in it so everyone who likes it also is the same. and Demon Slayer, where the pfp is from is violent, so you support it. the main protag's little sister also gets a superpowered form where she gets physically older and a tits out kinda look. so clearly YOU want to see your sister in the same way, right?

and it went as expected. you can see the tone going from smug jerking off with a shit-eating grin to just annoyed while smelling their own farts like it's a rose. and the moment i started doing the same uh i got NO fucking answers and they stormed off. i waited half an hour for a response before blocking them

so why am i typing up this walltext? because i used to be an anti. i fucking guarantee you i would've called everyone who liked this game [insert horrible things] like 7-9 years ago. so let me tell you, you know what pisses off antis more than anything? more than ANYTHING? turning this catch-22 bullshit on them. this is the only way you can end this miserable conversation without blocking them.

it's all one-sided bullshit and the moment you turn it on an anti it IMMEDIATLY shuts it down. this fucker KNEW the answer and you know it. so i wanted to share that, if you ever struggle with this shit: well the best thing you can do is block them and to give a fuck about winning their imaginary argument, but this is the only way to make the headache end otherwise. just throw the catch-22 right back and that's the end. thanks for reading!

#starposts #the coffin of andy and leyley #coffin of andy and leyley #proship #comship #long post #anti anti #discourse cw #ok i REALLY do want this shit off my main blog though i'm gonna start using a sideblog probably

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lvmity · 3 months

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byler fic recs

hi, here are some of my recent favorites from the byler tag on ao3, fics i can't forget and that made me feel things. adding little descriptions based on my reading of the fics but please read the authors' own descriptions lol.

ps: for this post i chose fics in the canon universe and most are post-s4 vol 2.

(all the fics listed are on archive of our own -ao3)

and if i could give you the moon -qulizalfos

rated T / 7k words / one shot

mike and will go outside for a supply run during the apocalypse, end up hiding in the arcade and talking. the painting comes up. this fic feels very in character.

every breaking wave (shipwrecked souls) -eightfifteen (funkylittlebidiot)

rated T / 99k words / 21 chapters

el and will moved back to hawkins. this fic has a lot of the party dynamics in hawkins high school, and i love the writing of byler throughout it. i don't usually read long multi chaptered fics but i couldn't recommend this one more. I'm serious.

it’s my time coming- astrobi

rated T / 7k words / one shot

will leaves the house late at night before they fight vecna and stuff. mike finds him, they talk. i won't spoil anything else but read the tags. i love the characterization in this one!

esoteric -smoosnoom (moonsooms)

rated T / 5k words / one shot

mike broke up with el, he tries to talk to will and they are honest with each other for probably the first time in a long time. will and mike's characterizations here are, as always with this author, very good.

i'll kidnap all the stars (and i will keep them in your eyes) -delusionaltogether (Whyyyyy)

rated G / 6k words / one shot

mike takes will stargazing as a surprise and they have a conversation. i remember this fic as soft and well written, i love mike in this.

skip the conversation (when you already know) - delusionaltogether (Whyyyyy)

rated G / 4k words / one shot

another one by the previous author! this fic feels natural to byler's friendship. will's family moves back to hawkins and mike and will are spending time together in his new house. they talk, as i always say not to spoil things. and i just really recommend this fic.

sleeping with the lights on -singingseok

rated T / 73k words / 4 chapters

another long multi chaptered fic I'm recommending! this is honestly the only other i really like. unlike the previous, this one is mike centric and i love reading a good mike pov. read the tags. i already made a post screaming about this fic, it's amazing.

salubrious -smoosnoom (moonsooms)

rated T / 4k words / one shot

oh this one is so sweet. "will wakes up from a nightmare, and mike keeps him close", to quote a part of the description on ao3. this is awesome and if you want some calming happiness i suggest reading it!

okay, i think that's it for now! i might have missed some good fics while searching through my byler bookmarks, and this only took me about an hour and a half to organize. but if you end up liking any of these, check out more from the authors because they are exceptional!

also, if anyone wants modern setting fic recs or anything else feel free to comment, I'd be happy to do another post like this later on.

#byler #byler tumblr #byler fic rec #byler fanfic #fabis stuff #i couldn't just recommend everything from the authors but i do recommend everything from every author here

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mypoisonedvine · 8 months

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I hate hate hate having to talk about this stuff because I know 98% of y'all are not the problem, and the remaining 2% are probably not going to care in the slightest. but I need to set some boundaries and explain why I'm getting frustrated before any more resentment builds.

I've been writing for cillian murphy characters since july 26 when I posted 'thoughtless', since then I've released well over one hundred thousand words of content for him. I'm not exaggerating, I counted. it's been five and a half weeks and I've posted 14 full-length one shots which means I'm posting more than twice a week. that's not even including drabbles/requests.

I'm getting concerned that this has set a precedent that people are holding me to and I'm getting annoyed by the entitlement in some of my asks and comments.

first things first, and I know nobody means anything bad by this but it's pissing me off: stop using the phrase "full smut" in your requests, it's driving me crazy. this started abruptly after I posted a bunch of drabbles in one sitting based on y'all's ideas and requests. I did that as a way to try out new ideas and appease people who hadn't had their concepts written about yet. instead of people being happy with what I wrote for them, people got frustrated that the drabbles were drabble-length and not thousands of words long like my full fics (which take me several days to write, rather than an hour or less which is the point of short requests). ever since, people won't stop coming into my inbox talking about making a "full smut" for a certain character or idea as if they're terrified that I'll only post something short. I usually don't post short things. I feel now like those drabbles were a colossal waste of time because all they did was make people afraid I wouldn't write longer stuff; I wanted to open requests again because I had fun, but now I feel like it's a bad idea because it'll just leave people frustrated when they see it's not whatever a "full smut" is and then tell me it's incomplete and I need to write more. a short drabble can very well be a complete story. stop asking for "full smut" PLEASE. just tell me what you're interested in reading and trust that, as the author, I will tell the story in the correct length of time.

secondly, the way people are asking for stories about new characters is getting out of control. I think you guys don't realize that I only post less than half of the asks I get, because they are so repetitive and constant. I have literally over 2000 unanswered asks currently. if I answered all the asks I received, I would lose followers because it clogs the dash and half of them are the same questions.

and I'm just gonna say this one explicitly: please stop asking me to write for cillian's character in the movie 'anna'. I'm not saying that I won't or that I don't want to. but I need you to understand that I get easily 3-5 asks a DAY about this character and I am exhausted. I'm not particularly interested in watching the movie. not only does it look like it's probably just not that good, but on a very personal note, I am in recovery for an eating disorder (and relapsed recently) and I just... don't wanna watch a movie with a runway model in the leading role right now. I'm sorry if that feels like body shaming or something but I've been waiting until I feel like I can watch it without feeling sick or enraged. it should come as a surprise to no one who is familiar with my work that I'm not a particularly mentally healthy person. but that's only part of it; I answered asks about this character for a while saying I wanted to write for him eventually, but I had to stop because people just asked about him every day anyways without reading my very recent posts with the same question. I'm still not ruling it out. I'm just warning you guys that it will be a while.

people are now commenting requests for new characters ON MY CURRENT FICS FOR UNRELATED CHARACTERS. how entitled and dense do you have to be to do that? I can't believe this has to be said, but comments on my fics should be... related to the content of the fic you're commenting on.

to be clear, I'm not mad at anyone for doing this stuff (except that last one, that's unforgivably ridiculous) because I think the intentions are pure. but now that I've explained why this stuff bothers me, I'm asking you to put a little more thought into how you phrase your questions and comments. to be clear: for the most part I feel incredibly supported and appreciated here and I've been very impressed by this fandom's ability to not be morality police and manage their own content consumption. a lot of you have reached out with concern about the speed at which I was producing and I totally understand and value that. I honestly think I can keep up that pace for a little while longer... I just wanted to explain why I'm getting a little irritated and hopefully decrease the amount of asks I get repeating the same two or three things.

so, tl;dr -- I've been having a lot of fun writing and I plan to keep doing it as much as I can. some people are spoiling the fun for everyone by being (usually unintentionally) entitled and impatient. I don't mind you guys showing enthusiasm for things you'd like to see from me, in fact it's helpful because it tells me what might get a good reception. but please be thoughtful in how you make these requests and please support what I've already written if you want to see more. I think non-writers have a hard time understanding how inspiration works (hell, even writers don't really understand it in ourselves lol) and so it kinda just seems like if I can write about one thing I can write about any thing. but I only write so much and so fast because I write what speaks to me and not other people's ideas. again, thank you so much for all the love and support this past month!!

p.s. I also get asks multiple times a day asking when I will post a fic, especially if I've announced it. I always post fics between 4 and 5 PM central US time. I would recommend calculating when that is for you and I promise you'll find me posting very reliably at this time on days I have fics announced. hopefully this saves us all some trouble in the future lmao

#long post

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inquisimer · 4 months

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2023 writing round up

bringing back this fun little year-end writing review from last year :3 it's always so fun to look back and see what all the little pieces and all the time adds up to!

words posted: 109,617

additional words written: 84,453

grand total of words: 194,070

fandoms: 2 - Dragon Age & Dishonored

highest kudos: The Lie Upon Your Sleep at 20 - a bit of fluff & hurt/comfort with my healer OC Ness and Cullen

highest hit oneshot: to be seen feeling at 200 - a piece I wrote for my friend @dreadfutures as part of the DAFF Discord OC Swap. An exploration of her Mahariel as Warden-Commander and Teryn during Awakening and his life with Morrigan and Kieran in the Crossroads.

new things I tried: Writing non-canon romances! And participating in a lot more fandom exchanges.

fic I spent the most time on: hard to say, probably my unpublished Surana Lavellan rewrite! Of my published fics, I think it would be if our demons cannot dance - angst, hurt/comfort, and missing scenes for my anders rivalmance.

fic I spent the least time on: either Not Like This, a character study of Emily's guilt/regret as she flees Dunwall in D2, or I carried my own ashes to the mountain, some light hurt/comfort and fluffy friendship between Brosca & Zevran on their way back to Orzammar

favorite thing I wrote: any of my pieces with Siobhan Hawke, my Blorbo of the Year for sure. She's so different than the type of Hawke I usually play, being Red-Purple and leaning into the politicking aspect of her role in Kirkwall. I've loved exploring a Hawke who doesn't run away from Kirkwall, who stays and works within the system to make things better. And of course writing her different dynamics with Loghain and Sebastian have been both interesting and challenging for me creatively.

favorite thing(s) I read:

Things my heart used to know (things it yearns to remember) by NiriKeehan (@nirikeehan) - the gift I received as part of the DAFF Discord OC swap, an incredibly well-done piece of my OC Neria and Cullen finding common ground in their respective roles in the Inquisition

A Fool's Death and a Hard Choice by RosellaWrite (@rosella-writes) - an beautiful study of Warden Loghain leading up to and through DAI, his journey looking for Mahariel, how he meets up with Hawke, and his reunion with Morrigan & Kieran at Skyhold.

In Flame Forged Anew by Plisuu (@plisuu) - DAI as experienced by Connor Trevelyan, Templar turned mage turned Tranquil turned Herald of Andraste. He's a little fucked up by it all and this compelling story will tear you to shreds right from the start.

Dirty Little Secrets by SylvanRain (@sylvanraindrop) - DAI retold from the perspective of one of Leliana's agents, featuring the smoothest motherfucker Lavellan, lots of intrigue and spy shenanigans, and Cullen being both endearingly soft and Good At His Job

what we talk about when we talk about whalers by patho (ghostsoldier) - a collection of one shots set in and around the Knife of Dunwall DLC for Dishonored, ranging from lighthearted and funny to absolutely heart-wrenching ;-; beautifully well-done snippets that build out the in-game mechanics and lore!

writing goals for 2024: finish my Surana Lavellan rewrite up through IYHSB, which is when I've promised myself I'll start posting it again 😤 and also to finish at least one of the smut pieces that I have half-started in various drafts

new works: 21

template under the cut!

words posted:

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fandoms:

highest kudos:

highest hit oneshot:

new things I tried:

fic I spent the most time on:

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writing goals for 2024:

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#my writing #2023 in review #2023 writing round up #dragon age #dishonored #dragon age fanfiction #fic recs #long post

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aylacavebear · 2 months

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Stockroom Antics - Chapter 7

Maria had changed jobs numerous times over the last five years, more to keep herself safe than anything else. Her mother had told her she was a fairy but she thought it was just her mom being weird. Honestly, though, she had no other way of explaining what had happened to her that stormy day before she'd gone into a coma for two weeks.

Please don't take my work. I'll post warnings for each chapter. Will probably be 18+ I haven't decided yet!

Word Count: 3522

Pairing eventually Dean Winchester x OC

Warnings: Angst

A/N: This chapter switches back and forth on POV's. This one's written a little differently than my last one. Let me know what you think. It's the first time I've tried this type of writing. Chapters will alternate viewpoints as well. I also looked into an actual area so this one could feel more realistic.

----------------------------------------- Chapter 7

Your POV As you finished out your shift, you noticed that he was still watching you, as well as when his partner left. You didn’t go talk to him, nor did he with you. Something else that relieved you was that there didn’t seem to be any demons in the store anymore, which helped you relax. Sarah bugged you about the date, teasing you a bit.

When five rolled around, you were feeling slightly excited about your date with this stranger and quickly clocked out, bidding your coworkers farewell for the night. You didn’t even notice the Impala in the parking lot as you headed on your way. During the drive, you went through all sorts of questions you wanted to ask him, including finding out what the hell his name was.

“Shit,” you grumbled as you saw the pile of ashes still on the inside of your property line.

You sighed, parked your truck, and headed into your backyard, grabbing the flathead shovel before going back out front. You dragged the trashcan over and cleaned up most of the ashes. It looked like it had to come from at least three demons, although you weren’t entirely sure.

“At least the warding worked,” you mumbled aloud, feeling rather proud of yourself before you put everything away and headed inside.

It was a quarter to six, and the bar was only about five minutes from your house. You didn’t want to overdo it and dress up too much, so you picked out a simple spaghetti strap, black dress, and a pair of black flats to go with it. Then you pulled on a dark blue flannel, tying it so it looked like a half top, leaving it unbuttoned. You left your hair down. Dinner was leftovers since you’d prepared a week's worth of meals for yourself over the prior weekend you had off—chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy, corn on the side.

The time ticked by, sometimes slowly, other times quickly, and before you knew it, it was time to head to the bar. You’d decided that you would stick to somewhat safe topics to start with, and depending on how he answered would depend on how deep your questions would venture. You parked in the dirt area of the parking lot, noticing that he hadn’t gotten there yet. Part of you wondered if he’d actually show.

The bar wasn’t busy since it was the middle of the week, and you found several empty seats near the far side of the bar. When one of the bartenders came over and asked what you wanted, you asked for a double shot of whiskey, at least to start with. She smiled and poured your drink. At first, you just sipped it, but when seven-thirty rolled around, you downed the shot that was left.

“Jerk,” you mumbled, looking away from the door.

“What’s the matter?” the bartender asked you.

“Got stood up,” you sighed, “Could I get a beer?”

“Sorry to hear about you getting stood up. I’ll have that beer back in a flash,” she replied, giving you a compassionate smile.

Your mind wandered, mostly about him. What was the point of him asking you if he wasn’t even going to show, you thought to yourself as the bartender set the beer down in front of you. You popped the top and began sipping it. It wasn’t like you lived far away; there was usually very little traffic late at night. Halfway through your beer, you heard the door open again and glanced over, raising an eyebrow. A soft scoff left your lips as you shook your head; he showed up.

----------------------------------------- Dean's POV

He’d spend the last half hour just sitting in the driver’s seat in the parking lot. Her truck was there. He wasn’t feeling all those things he had earlier when he was near her at the store; he just wasn’t entirely sure how to go about getting her to talk. It was clear she knew things as she’d warded her property. He just wasn’t sure how much she knew.

Dean finally took a deep breath and made his way inside, a quarter past seven. He looked around the bar, two pool tables to his left and the bar to his right, and there were tables and booth seats scattered on the other half of the bar. He saw her sitting alone and nursing a beer at the far side of the bar. One more deep breath, and he walked over to her.

“Still up for some company? And, I’m sorry I was late, forgot how long of a drive it was from town,” he told her, only half lying.

She shrugged her shoulders, “I guess so, since you’re here,” she replied without looking up at him.

He sighed and sat next to her on a barstool, “I really am sorry,” he told her again, meaning it.

The bartender came over, and he ordered a beer, which she retrieved, and he popped the top, taking a sip.

----------------------------------------- Your POV

You weren’t entirely sure what to believe, but for now, you decided to give him at least the benefit of the doubt, “How about at least telling me your name,” you suggested, looking over at him.

He smirked a little, “I’m Dean. Thanks for staying,” he replied, sipping his beer.

He was in regular street clothes, jeans, a t-shirt, a flannel, and a jacket, and you were thankful you’d chosen what you had, “Nice to meet you, Dean. Are you allowed to tell me about this stakeout that involves my work?” you asked, raising a brow.

“Well, I could tell you, but I might get in trouble if I do,” he replied, and you could have sworn he was flirting, but it was hard to tell. The man seemed just to be naturally charming.

You smirked, “You look like the kind of guy who’s used to getting into trouble,” you replied, deciding just to be yourself and be playful, even teasing him a little. You still needed information, after all.

----------------------------------------- Dean's POV

He wasn’t feeling those same things he had when he’d been around her at the store, but he still found her more interesting than he should have. Dean was grateful she’d decided to stay but knew he’d have to keep his wits about him. She was quick with her comebacks, something he wasn’t used to from women.

“It’s been known to happen from time to time,” he chuckled.

Dean watched her, noticing how relaxed she looked as she leaned a bit on the counter, her hand on her beer, sipping it from time to time.

She glared at him playfully, “You like being vague, don’t you?” she asked, although it was rhetorical, and he knew it.

“Looks like you can read me like an open book, Sweetheart,” he replied, shaking his head and still smiling before he sipped his beer.

“I’m working on it,” she mused, “So, what can you tell me?”

He’d prepared for this, figuring she was going to ask, “There’s a group of people in the area that are trafficking people, mostly women. It’s happened before, but we still haven’t gotten the ringleader. This isn’t the first time we’ve been in the area,” he explained to her, hoping he’d buy his story.

----------------------------------------- Your POV

You didn’t watch the news. There were too many bad things going on in the world as it was, and you didn’t want to know just how bad it really was out there. You didn’t live terribly far from the border, so his story at least made sense to you. You’d know people when you were a teenager who had run drugs over the border for the cartels, even if you had never been involved with any of it.

It still seemed as though he was hiding something; you noticed it in his eyes, “How many times have you been to this area?” you asked, seeing just how far you could push.

You noticed how he sipped his beer like he was debating an answer, “More times than I’d like to admit in the last five years,” he replied, sighing.

That sparked something in you, but you managed to hide it from your expression, “What brought you here the first time?” you asked curiously.

----------------------------------------- Dean's POV

He had to really think about how to answer her. It wasn’t like he could tell her it was because of the hardest monsoon the place had seen, when the F0 had touched down in the area due to demonic activity. Dean took a sip of his beer.

“That was when the trafficking started, and my partner and I got assigned to the case,” he told her. It was mostly true.

“Huh,” she replied, then looked away from him and sipped her beer.

He tried to read her, but she wasn’t easy to read. It was like a challenge to him, and he had already decided he was going to face it head-on, “You seem surprised,” he mused, putting on his signature smirk.

“Kind of. That’s when I got into a car accident. There was a really bad storm the next day. At least that’s what my family told me after I woke up from the coma I was in,” she replied, seeming somewhat casual, but at the same time, it almost sounded like she was digging for information out of him.

“I’m sorry to hear about that. Was it a bad one?” he asked, wondering just where she was headed with things and how much she might divulge.

----------------------------------------- Your POV

You glanced over at him, tilting your head a bit, “Figured you had read up on me. You’ve been watching me at work more than my other co-workers. It’s kind of obvious that you and your partner have been keeping an eye on me,” you told him, plainly, but confidently.

He may have asked you out for a drink, but how he and his partner had been watching you at work had been enough to know that they knew something. You were also second-guessing whether or not he was a real FBI agent as well. Since he’d shown up late, it was time to get to the point of things carefully.

Dean didn’t seem to answer you right away, although he hadn’t stopped looking at you, even when he sipped his beer, “Alright. Yeah. I read your file, but it only contains the technical details.”

You watched him, almost studied him as he answered. He knew more than he was letting on, and you knew it, “I honestly don’t remember it. I blacked out the moment my car plowed into the back of that rig. Then, I woke up in a hospital bed two weeks later,” you explained, then looked away from him.

A quiet sigh left your lips as you looked down at the counter, “I should have died in that wreck from what I was told.”

----------------------------------------- Dean's POV

Dean watched how she moved slightly, where her eyes shifted. He was pretty sure she knew she was at least different than a normal human, “I’m glad you’re okay. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to have drinks with you tonight,” he told her with a slight smirk.

She turned to face him, tilting her head just a bit, “So, why are you and your partner watching me, in particular? I know that’s why you asked me out for drinks,” she asked, blunter than he’d been prepared for.

He couldn’t hide all the surprise of her bluntness. He even chuckled at her bluntness, shaking his head slightly. However, Dean had prepared for this question as well.

“Well, Sweetheart, you’re the only connection to all the places that have been hit,” he told her, finishing his beer.

It was her turn to be surprised. Dean had spent his whole life learning how to read people, and it was clear to him that she was attempting to hide something. He just wasn’t sure how far he could push her or if she’d even knew what she was.

----------------------------------------- Your POV

You momentarily froze as your chest tightened and your breathing became shallow. That was the one thing you’d hoped he wouldn’t put together. Dean was clearly more intelligent than he had been letting on.

“So you think they’re after me,” you sighed, signaling the bartender, “I’ll have that whiskey now.”

She nodded at you, then got your drink. You took a sip. Dean was clearly waiting till the bartender left before speaking again.

“You fit the profile, physically. My partner and I don’t want anything to happen to you,” he finally answered, seeming concerned. “When I asked you about the sulfur smell that first day, I questioned you. You’ve smelled it before, haven’t you?” he pushed, but you could tell he was trying to get you to talk more.

You sighed, taking another sip of your whiskey, “Yeah,” you paused, staring more at the bottles on the shelves behind the bar. For a moment, you pursed your lips, debating your following statement, “You’re not FBI, are you? Just like you aren’t asking me about any crime ring. You’re asking me about demons.”

You could see his reaction from your peripheral, causing a slight smirk to tug at the corner of your lips. That was all you needed as an answer to your question.

----------------------------------------- Dean's POV

Dean barely managed not to choke on his beer with your question. For a moment, all he could do was look at you. He’d prepared for all kinds of ways tonight would go, but your bluntness and knack for reading him was still throwing him off.

He chuckled slightly, shaking his head, deciding just to be honest, “You’re right, I’m not FBI. Yes, I was asking you about demons. I was honest, though. I do believe they’re after you.”

She sighed, sipping her whiskey again, and he tilted his head. He still wondered if she knew what she was. The fact that she was able to keep her expression somewhat void of emotions was something that intrigued him, as it made it hard for him to read her.

“My brother and I want to keep you safe, but we can’t do that if you don’t open up to me,” he told her, trying to reassure her, even if he was a stranger to her.

“Brother, huh?” she chuckled, “I know you’re not a demon. I also know if I can trust you.”

“Yeah, he’s my younger brother. We do this sort of thing a lot. It’s kind of the family business,” he replied, sipping his beer.

That was when he explained everything to her: how he’d been raised in the life, the things they hunted, and the things they’d investigated over the last five years when it came to this particular case. Dean left out that he knew what she was, though. He hoped she’d open up a little more now that he’d been more upfront with her.

----------------------------------------- Your POV

You took a deep breath, as that was a lot to take in. You’d never met nor heard of a hunter before, but it made sense. Monsters did need to be handled by something. The bartender refilled your whiskey, seeing your glass empty.

“I couldn’t imagine living like that,” you said, almost feeling bad about how the brothers were raised.

“Well, someone’s gotta step up, and we like being able to save people,” he replied, giving you a softer smile than you’d seen all night.

For a bit, your mind wandered. Something inside you told you he was being honest and that you could trust him. It was a new feeling, as it had never happened with a stranger before.

You shifted on your barstool to face him again, studying his expression, “I know I’m different, at least since my accident. My mom said I was a fairy, but after all the research I did, it just didn’t fit.”

The way he seemed to consider your words, pursing his lips briefly, made you tilt your head a bit. He did know something, far more than what he’d already said.

----------------------------------------- Dean's POV

Again, he had to take a moment, although he was thankful she’d finally admitted what she knew. The part that puzzled him was what she said about her mom, which only made more questions in his mind.

“You’re not a fairy. You’re what's called a Pari. It’s similar to a fairy but more powerful. How does your mom know about that stuff? If it’s not too personal to ask,” he told her, wanting to keep her talking.

The bartender brought another beer for Dean, taking his empty before walking away.

He watched her tilt her head, a somewhat puzzled look on her face, “My mom said it was in my bloodline. She told me she dreams of another place where there are more like me. I started dreaming of it too, after my accident,” she explained.

“Well, now, that wasn’t quite what I was expecting,” he said, still a bit surprised, “Pari are from a different dimension; at least, that’s what we could find in the lore. Some people carry a gene that gets turned on when they are in a near-death experience. If my brother and I were back at our place, I’m sure there’s better information there.”

----------------------------------------- Your POV

Sarah was going to have a field day with how this ‘date’ was going, you thought to yourself. You thought about what he said: Pari, a different dimension, carrying a gene. What were you even supposed to do with that information, and how were you supposed to keep yourself safe? Too many thoughts and not enough time to process it all.

“So, what happens now? I mean… It’s clear that demons are after me because of what I am. But I mean…” you trailed off and sighed, looking down at your drink.

“You could come with me and my brother. We can take you somewhere safe where they won’t be able to find you,” he told you, seeming genuine.

“For how long?” you asked, trying not to sound sad at the thought of having to hide for the rest of your life.

“At least until we can figure out what the demons want with you,” he explained.

The two of you sat silently for a few minutes while you sipped your whiskey, carefully considering what he suggested. Your friends and family, as did your home and job, wandered into your thoughts.

“What about my job? I can’t just walk away,” you asked, still not looking over at him.

----------------------------------------- Dean's POV

She looked so sad to him at that moment, “My brother and I can take care of that part. Can you be ready to go in the morning?” he asked, hopeful.

At least this way, she’d be in the bunker where they could keep an eye on her. Plus, they would have the books and research at their fingertips to figure out more about her. Now, all he had to do was get her to agree, and then he had to break the news to his brother.

There was another long silence, but he let it linger, letting her think and process it all. He watched her sip her whiskey as he sipped his beer.

“Will you be picking me up in the morning?” she asked, somewhat quietly, and he could tell she was sad.

Dean sighed, “Yeah. I can be there around nine. It will give you time to get your things together and wake up. I’ll let my brother know when I head back to the motel tonight.”

“Then I’ll see you in the morning,” she told him, finishing her drink.

When she stood and reached for her wallet, he stopped her, “I did still ask you out tonight. I got the bill.”

----------------------------------------- Your POV

You looked up at him, his hand on your arm. Even with the strength you felt from him, his touch was soft, almost gentle. It surprised you.

“Uh, thanks,” you replied, a bit unsure of how you felt toward him at the moment.

“I’ll see you in the morning,” he told you, giving you a friendly smile.

As you walked away, you only glanced back once, over your shoulder at him. Then, you headed home. Your thoughts raced, but your movements were slow once you got inside your place. There was a duffle bag in the bottom of your closet, which you pulled out and tossed on your bed. Since he hadn’t given you a time frame, you packed a decent amount of clothes, your toiletries, and some personal effects that were dear to your heart.

All in all, you had your duffle bag, a crate with a mix of toiletries and personal items, your backpack with your journal, coloring items, and more miscellaneous needs and keepsakes. Lastly was your purse, which you hardly ever used. You put your wallet, phone charger, pocket knife, and other little tidbits in.

You sighed once it was all stacked neatly by your front door and then changed into something comfortable for the night. So far, you haven’t messaged anyone about what was going on. You weren’t sure if it was even a good idea to say anything. You weren’t even in the mood to read Tumblr that night.

----------------------------------------- Chapter 8

Link to the series Master List

A/N: If you'd like to be tagged in future chapters, leave me a comment, and I'll make sure to tag you.

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bettsfic · 1 year

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2023 WIP cleanout

a couple years ago i did a major WIP cleanout and it was very satisfying, and i've been bummed out lately so i'm doing it again to cheer myself up.

i have about 200k worth of unposted/unfinished fic, and i'd like to make a decent dent in that. when i listed out my WIPs i was surprised to find that most of them i'd written past the 50% mark and for whatever reason, the fic went an unanticipated direction. instead of fixing it, i moved on. the problem is that usually the unanticipated direction is something cool and that i want to pursue, but would make the fic longer and more complicated than i want it to be, and more work than i want to put into it. once i get enough distance from a fic, it's a lot easier to see how to get it back on track.

there are many things i set down and never think about again, but if it sticks in my head for longer than a couple months, then i know i need to come back to it eventually.

so this is my accountability thread! and i'm going to lay out the steps i took to triage these fics and get them posted, in case it helps anyone struggling with the same problem.

here are the things on my WIP cleanout list:

(Organic Chemistry isn't on this list because i'm actively working on it, albeit slowly)

Wind of the New World

Annie/Finnick, The Hunger Games (ASE epilogue)

started August 2020

this one is what inspired the cleanout, and as of yesterday it is DONE and POSTED. for the longest time it sat at about 7k when i knew it would be 10k, and i couldn't make myself write the last 3k because somehow it turned into a threesome fic with Gale and it took me a loooong time to let go of that idea. also, it required a lot of canon knowledge, which faded the longer i kept it on the backburner.

to finish it, i:

killed a few darlings (Finnick's crush on Gale)

down drafted the scenes i hadn't yet written

reread ASE while taking notes

rewatched Mockingjay 2 while taking notes

transcribed several scenes of Mockingjay 2

made a punch list of things i wanted to fix/rearrange/expand on

up drafted, dental drafted, and posted

completing it took about 15 hours across 3 days.

Stray

Lumine/Razor, Genshin Impact

started April 2021

this is an alternate beginning to genshin where the traveler finds Razor instead of Paimon. it stalled out at 5k because i wanted it to be rated M and i also wanted the characters to get all the way to Liyue, but both of those things were far more work than i wanted to put into it. so now it'll be rated G and end when they reach Mondstadt. i don't anticipate it will be more than 7k.

Before the Suns Rise

Anakin/Padme/Obi-Wan, Star Wars

started June 2022

this one is nearly 45k and about 95% done. i set it down because 1) i got to the threesome part and writing threesomes is hard, 2) i hadn't watched the Clone Wars or Rebels yet and so i was self-conscious about my knowledge of canon, and 3) i got distracted by Lemon.

another thing that a lot of these WIPs have in common is that they're very closely tied to canon and therefore have Plot and even though i can do Plot, i find it exhausting and a little tedious.

this is a post-Vader, alt-OWK timeline fic. in the 20+ star wars fics i've written, only 5 of them are in any way related to canon, and they're all one-shots. so this one is going to be hard.

i anticipate it'll only take 5k to finish, for a total of 50k and 14 chapters.

Patronage

Seungho/Nakyum, Painter of the Night

started October 2021

this is my Patreon AU that's over 10k already. in it, Seungho is married to Jihwa (and cheating on him with Nakyum) and i wanted to write the whole thing through to their divorce (and Seungho Getting A Real Job), but that is just. a lot. so i'm going to write only to Seungho finally giving in to his feelings for Nakyum, with the knowledge that after season 4 is finished, i may want to continue it as a series and write the latter half as i'd intended.

i'll probably only add 1-2k, for a total of 12k.

In Water Falling

Ahsoka/Rex, Star Wars

started November 2022

this was the first rexsoka fic i started working on when i finished Clone Wars. i got about 10k in, scrapped it, wrote another 15k, scrapped it, and then started focusing on Organic Chemistry. also, i just got very frustrated with it. to fix this one, i think i need to lower my expectations of it, rearrange some plot points, and write the final 2-3 scenes.

maybe 3-4k more? hopefully it'll cap out under 20k.

There & Here

Chishiya/OFC, Alice in Borderland

started February 2023

in my defense, i set this one down, like. a week ago. there's nothing i'm stalled out on; i just have to finish it.

currently 25k, hopefully only 5k more, capping out under 30k. it's 4 chapters.

things i intend to finish later:

Good Bones - this is my Emergency Fic that i'm saving for when i'm too blocked to write anything else

Bomb Time - this is a BOSAS fix-it. i definitely want to finish it, but i'm going to wait until the film comes out in November, so i don't have to reread the book to remember what's going on

#writing update #2023 wip cleanout

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recurring-polynya · 4 months

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Writing/Art Update 1.9.2024

Bleh. I was holding off doing this update, hoping I was going to be able to report that I had finished That Stupid Scene that I have been working on since before Christmas. I had so many thoughts in my head while I was cooking dinner and then, when I actually sat down to write, they had departed. Maybe they'll be back tomorrow.

In any case, I did make a huge amount of progress this week. It was hard! I had a lot of writing time, which was nice, except that I spent a lot of it staring out the window or clicking on my other browser tabs, which is always very irritating. However, I did manage to get most of it written, and it hit all the bullet points I needed it to. I basically just have to wrap it up and transition into what happens next. It shouldn't actually be that hard, I'm just tired and I'm not sure I can swing it right now. It's a big scene, too-- I clocked 4,375 words on it this week in addition to the 900 I already had, so it's probably going to be about half the chapter.

I've had a feeling for quite some time that I had not actually budgeted enough space in the outline for the back half of this fanfic. The thing is, though, it is nearly always the case that an extra chapter manages to sneak in somewhere along the way. I decided to just leave the outline as it was, and that way, if an extra chapter appeared, then my pacing problem would sort itself. That...may be happening. I am not entirely sure. I'm in sort of a weird place where I simultaneously feel like I am very close to done and also very, very far away from being done. Hopefully, in the next week or two (that is, when I finish Ch 7), that will sort itself out. Either that, or I'll just keep writing chapters, like Zeno's fanfic. I sincerely hope that doesn't happen. I will die.

Ugh, I want to post. I am wallowing in the pit of it's been so long since I posted, I feel like I have literally stopped existing, and I keep getting dumb urges to "just take a little break and write a short one" (note that I do not actually have any ideas towards "a short one", it's 100% urges only). Anyway, I definitely do not want to do that, because I want to finish this one very, very badly, and it's taking long enough as is. What I should probably do is polish up Chs 5 and 6 and send them to the beta, but that would require coming up with a name for the art museum that I placeholdered a bunch of times in Ch 5. I actually named it in Ch 1 and then decided I didn't like it and needed to rename and I just haven't yet.

Speaking of names, I've also fallen into It-Needs-a-Title Madness, where I start to go Actual Nuts because I can't think of a title for this stupid fanfic. I forgot that in addition to staring out the window, I spent a lot of time looking through the lyrics of songs on my Ductwork playlist and googling for, like, "phrases with injury" in them. I hate this. It's such a waste of time and yet I do this every time. Why can't you pay someone $10 to name your fanfic for you? Can I just call it "Ductwork"? Does it even matter? (it does matter. I regret every terrible title I have ever slapped on a fanfic in a fit of "Fuck It, We Post")

In other news, I drew all seven days last week (the theme was fruits and vegetables). I took yesterday off, but then I drew a can of soup today, which was hard. It's cool. The people in art club are very nice. I am really hoping to draw a Rukia for her birthday. I have never drawn a bankai Rukia, and I'd like to give it a shot. I bet it would be a lot easier if I could resist doing a full body shot, but somehow, I always do a full body shot. We'll see!!

#writing update #art update

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l-lend · 1 year

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Congrats for the follower milestone! The more clone wars-era blogs I see getting love the more I wanna make my own

For the celebration: "You did WHAT??" with Tup and nonbinary reader?

Sidenote: I distinctly remember following you a while ago and now I had to do it again???? Is this becoming like a "youtube unsubscribes you" thing (because this happened to me with multiple blogs)

Haven thank you so much for the kind words and your patience while I was getting this one written. I hope you like it. Oh, and I'm sure tumblr does all sorts of screwy things. I think I've had to refollow a few blogs randomly.

Warning(s): shenanigans

@locitapurplepink, @writing-positivelyexisting, @burningfieldof-clover, @rain-on-kamino, @padawancat97

The days of the Clone Wars tended to drag on in between assignments. Thankfully, the Republic saw it fit to dispatch your research team with a clone legion escort to ensure the lush jungle planet would not eat you and your colleagues alive. It was in the sweltering heat of the afternoon that one of your study binges was interrupted. You shook your head knowing who dared tread into your tent.

“Tup,” You greeted, not looking up from your flora sample.

He chuckled taking a few steps towards your desk.

“You checking out another plant that could kill us?”

“This one won't kill you,” You replied, glancing up from your sample, “Although if you eat this, Kix is gonna have a time with you spewing out of both ends.”

The trooper huffed a laugh. Your gaze soon swept over his form. Your eyebrows raising.

“I'm not helping you sham out again. Jesse's sniffed out all my hiding places.”

“Um, actually, I need a different kind of help.”

He raised his right hand. Three of his digits bound rigid into a splint.. You clicked your tongue.

“Alright, I'll bite. What'd you do?”

The corner of his mouth upturned, “Lost a bet with Fives when it came to who could take a hit.”

Your features folded in, “You did what?”

“Hardcase and I took turns hitting each other in the plates to see who would go down first.”

He glanced to his injured hand, “Kix was able to set it, but I can't do much right now.”

You sighed, “and what help do you need from me?”

He held up a small elastic band pinched between the fingers of his uninjured hand.

“Please?” He sheepishly added.

You pursed your lips before gesturing at your vacant stool.

“Sit. I'll see what I can do with it.”

The trooper's eyes lit up and he soon took up his post. Once he was seated, you stripped off your gloves with whispered crinkles and abandoning them. Your fingers busy with the loose strands of hair. The trooper was quiet as you attempted to coax the wispy fly away hairs into place.

It was after a few minutes of you brushing back his hair to be kept out of his face that you glanced to him. He remained seat with his eyes closed. His breathing steady. It was moments like these where the stress of war did not touch him.

“Am I boring you?” You jested, a smile tugging at the corners of your lips.

“No,” He mumbled contentedly, “this is just...nice.”

You both basked in the comforting silence. No words needing to be said. Nothing to distract from the two people in the room.

Your nimble fingers gathered up the trooper's locks to begin forming his recognizable bun. The elastic soon being employed to keep the hair style in place.

“Alright,” You declared, doing a once over of his handiwork, “that should do it.”

His uninjured hand swept over the hair style.

“Remind me to come find you until my hand's good to go. Fives..isn't the best with it.”

You rolled your eyes half heartedly, “I can help when I'm not busy. I still have to work though.”

“Of course,” He replied, standing, “I'm heading to the mess tent. want anything?”

You shook your head leaving the trooper to see his way out.

“Tup?”

He paused, still holding the tend flap open.

“I should have some time tonight if you hit the fresher then. Probably could wash your hair by my tent, so you can keep your splint dry.”

Tup shot a thumbs up before leaving. The tent flap swallowing him up as he let it fall.

#tup #ct 5385 #reader insert

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fazedlight · 4 months

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20 Questions More

A deeper and more detailed version of the 20 questions for AO3 fanfic writers. Thanks @eqt-95 and @inkedroplets for the tag!!

1) How do you keep getting ideas for your ship/fandom?

Daydreaming. Writing fanfic is secondary to that. It was only in the past couple of years that it occurred to me that I could write some of it down and see what happens.

2) Which authors inspire you in your fandom, and why are they so freakishly good?

@searidings is my absolute favorite, the way she unravels the characters' emotions and angst is absolutely superb.

3) Aside from the characters of your main ship, who are the characters you love to write?

Ohhh I really love this question:

Cat in Inauthentic, as well as this ficlet and this one. I love her sense of humor.

Lillian in Darkness in All Things. For the same reason as Cat, I just love her snark.

Zor-El in Even Though You're Kryptonian. He kind of surprised me when I started writing him, and to this day I don't know if some of his lines are driven by genuine confusion or if he's just trolling.

4) Are there pairings or tropes you know for sure you'd never write about? Which ones?

I'm a never-say-never kind of person. There's a lot that I don't think I would ever write, but I've been surprised on where stories have taken me before, and may be surprised again.

5) What is your writing process and why is it cursed?

"Process" might be an overstatement...

I have a "scribbles" doc where I keep my ideas. I cull ideas often (though ideas often make their way back anyway). As I write more into the doc, a certain idea may get too big for it, so I spin it out into its own doc.

From there, I kind of go back and forward between outlining and writing. I write completely out of order. Which is why, so often, my multichaps are almost fully drafted by the time I publish chapter 1. I've usually already made it to the resolution point of the plot (meaning, no one's in danger anymore, the bad guy is gone, etc), though the final chapter often doesn't get written until later.

6) What is your favorite part of your writing process?

I love when I've finished the first pass of a chapter/one-shot, and I'm in the editing stage. The story really feels like it's coming together at that point, and it's before all the self-doubt starts bubbling up (that hits hard just before posting).

7) What’s the weirdest thing you’ve had to research for a fic?

A friend of mine is a professor in astroparticle physics, so I spent a couple of hours asking him about quantum mechanics stuff. But only a small portion of that ended up being relevant to the fic and the rest was just for fun.

8) Is there a particular writing rule you struggle with (grammar, spelling, tense, reality in general)?

When I'm first sketching out a scene, about half the time I write in present tense (it feels more like I'm writing a play at that point sometimes), but I publish in past tense. So I end up needing to do a bunch of revisions 😭

Also TYPOS.

9) What was your hardest scene to write so far and why?

Fight scenes are ROUGH, man.

This is probably one of those answers I'll change every time depending what's at the top of my mind. But writing out a fight scene - like in Even Though You're Kryptonian, Darkness in All Things, or It's a Metallo Life - gets surprisingly difficult if there are more than 2 people.

I know exactly how I'd shoot those scenes if I had a camera crew, special effects, etc. But it's hard making sure the audience is aware of where everyone is positioned, why they can/can't act in the moment, etc.

10) Have your characters ever done something you didn’t expect, changing your plot completely?

All the fucking time, man. From the very beginning, even. I was trying to have Lena still be angry by the DEO scene in So I Kept Pretending, but that didn't make sense anymore.

I actually recently had a fic idea dissolve because it wasn't vibing with the characters. Which is fine, it became a ficlet instead!

11) If you could converse with any of the characters, who would it be and why?

Absolutely Kara. I have so many questions about kryptonian culture and how it drives her character.

12) What are some of the tropes or themes that you find yourself returning to in your writing?

Trope-wise, I definitely return to the Rift again and again. I find themes around forgiveness and understanding to be really interesting. Can two good-hearted people with conflicting needs hurt each other while still loving each other? How? What does that mean for the aftermath?

I think that's part of what draws me to supercorp - the complexity of their relationship. How they can both be right, and both be wrong, and love each other enough to rebuild from the ashes.

13) What's your most important resource as a writer?

Coffeeshops and libraries. Getting into slightly busy, cozy environments, out of the house, really helps shake loose the stuff in my head.

14) Can you share some of your strategies for editing and revising your work?

Especially for longer works, I tend to put the work down (and circle to other works, or go outside, or whatever) before coming back to it. It helps to step away for a bit - it's easier to pick up on repetitiveness or unclear passages when coming back.

Though I always find mistakes in my stories much later, so I'm not sure I'm one to give advice on this anyway 🤣

15) Which is worse: making the summary, picking the tags, or the anxiety when you post your fic?

Posting anxiety is the absolute worst. If I leave myself in front of my computer I'll end up refreshing constantly waiting for the first kudos (if it's a one-shot or first chapter) or the first comment (if it's a later chapter) to figure out if I've accidentally pissed off everyone in the fandom somehow.

Luckily, my partner will usually pull me away to go on a walk or grab lunch or do something else to take my mind off it 💗

16) How do you define success for your fanfic - hits? Kudos? Comments? Bookmarks? Or just if you like it?

I only publish what I like. Sometimes I'm nervous that other people won't like it, but I will always like it. Stories that aren't going a way I like - even if I think the idea is cool! - will dissolve. Just recently I dissolved one that felt like it was a cool idea, but it didn't make enough sense for the characters.

Kudos and comments always make me feel appreciated as an author!! Sometimes I'll get a user subscriber out of it, too, and it feels like an honor that someone would want to hear from me more than once.

The thing that feels most precious, though, is when someone comments on how something made them feel (I love making people laugh at my dumb jokes, or cry when a story is supposed to hit emotionally), or when they pick up on something that I wasn't sure would get picked up on.

I tend to lean towards understatement in my stories. For me, the biggest success is knowing that someone recognized what I was going for, without me being overt.

17) Do you have a playlist for your favorite character/ship?

Alas, I don't. But given that Kara is canonically a Britney Spears fan and musicals nerd, I feel like my default playlist works 🤣

18) If fan art was going to be made from your work, which fic would you pick and which fan artist would you like to create it?

Oh gosh, I don't want to pick someone and create pressure, or not pick someone and make them feel bad. This fandom has so many great artists!

That said, some of my favorites do commissions, you can see everything I've commission here.

19) How many WIPs do you currently have?

1 supercorp & 1 rojarias (for @supergirlmayhem)

For me, 2-3 is my happy number, so I'm relieved to be down to this after being so high (I think up to 11?) for so long.

20) What's your advice to new fanfic writers?

If you're wondering why you can't find that story you want, it might mean that you're the one to write it 💗

- - - - -

Tagging (respectfully and without pressure) @rustingcat @luthordamnvers @sssammich @tinyvariations @thatonebirdwrites @theredcapeofk @sideguitars @luthordamnvers @mycatismyeditor @inkedroplets @nottawriter @snowydragonscave @jetgirl1832 if you want some rapid-fire q's thrown your way. But also anyone who'd like to do this!

#I'm not sure who has been tagged already so sorry for additional tags!!#mel stuff #ask game

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peachieflame · 1 year

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Do you have any ither zukka fic recs? I’ve been trying to discover some new good ones:)

Yess I love giving recs! A little warning tho, all the fics Im gonna mention are more than 5k+ words long cause I don't like short one-shots and a lot of them are multi-chaptered with over 40k+ words. Also I'll update this as I read and discover more faves!

Expand to see the list cause its long....

Lighthouse Beam: Sokka’s breathtakingly beautiful and he’s smart and makes other people laugh. Zuko has a half-burnt face and a deaf ear. It’s not rocket science. Or, Zuko falls in love with the boy in his Philosophy class.

🍑: I really like college/highschool AUs and even more zukka fics where Sokka is actually described to be smart. Sokka is one of the smartest characters in the whole show Idk why he's been branded as a dumb, dense character by the fandom. Anyways, loved that this fic had Zuko being the one to fall first as-well.

In the Soft Light: As the newly appointed cultural liaison to Northern Water Tribe, Zuko is the first Fire Nation Citizen to step foot inside the city's walls in nearly a century. He's determined to prove himself—to the Fire Lord and to his father—even if the Water Tribe's spirit-touched prince seems to want nothing to do with him. Or Moon Spirit Sokka AU.

🍑: Enjoy this authors' writing style, really engages me in the story. Also ahhhh fanfic based on my moon spirit Sokka... im very grateful 😭. I didn't include this one in an ask about moon spirit sokka au cause I hadnt known about it at the time but now I reread it whenever I can.

7 Things We Did (and Probably Shouldn't Have): How Zuko and Sokka collided through ill advised means—or approximately seven (7) acts—is beyond them. In just a year, they will trudge through the unorthodox conquests of youth (see #2: The Late Acquisition of 2 gallons of Arizona Peach Iced Tea) or capitalist schemes (#5: Bought A $4,550 Jacuzzi). But how they manage to Allow Aang to Become Vegan (#1), Host The Mr. Teen Universe Contest (#7) and, um, Set The Classroom on Fire—Again (#6) to eventually fall for each other, is still a mystery to them.

🍑: Although this one hasn't been updated in almost a year, the 2 chapters that are posted is some of the most fun I've had reading a fanfic! I admire the coding put into it so that it has a creative, unique structured. Also cute little things like the scrap paper or the scrollable email box (which blew my mind when I first saw it, I didn't even know it was possible to code something like that) just engaged me more in the writing.

Kiss Me To Just Shut Me Up: Zuko proffers the card, and Sokka takes it, their fingers brushing. Sokka tries to cover up the way he shivers at the contact by turning the card over and squinting at the text written on the front. Zuko Sozin. Tattoo Artist. The Jasmine Dragon. A single dragon curls around the characters in red ink. — There's a new tattoo and piercing shop on Ember Island Beach.

🍑: Oh beau... you're so multitalented. This was the fanfic I was recommending to everyone that bought a zukka print from me at cons like I had no shame I just wanted everyone to read Beau's amazing work. And you all should read it if you havent yet.

Five Times Zuko Wanted to Die (and One Time He Didn't): “Sorry about that,” the voice says, and suddenly the curtain has been pushed aside, and Zuko is speechless. “What can I help you with?” He stares. “Um— ” The boy has to be around his age, he’s sure of it. He’s got the most perfect tan face Zuko has ever seen, with blue eyes so brilliant it’s hard to form words. Or the college-age AU in which Sokka fixes watches, Zuko struggles through engineering, and everyone's nervous about the cute boy from the jewelry shop.

🍑: Modern settings fics that aren't like cafe/barista AUs are kind of hard to find (or at least ones that I like cause im picky) so I was surprised to see this one! Again it's an enjoyable fic where Zuko is smitten first and Sokka is not written as dumb. I also remember wanting to draw fan art (one of the scenes) so maybe I'll go dig that sketch up and finish it.

At the Top of the World: Zuko is sent in disgrace to Alaska's Northern coast to ensure nothing stands in the way of Sozin Oil Company’s new offshore drilling project. He is willing to do whatever it takes to make his father see he’s worthy, even if it means fighting against the one person he's met who actually seems to give a damn about him.

🍑: I'll never shut up about this fic, its beautifully written, well paced and realistic characterizations. As an Indigenous person this fanfic tackled Indigenous struggles better than any other fanfics I've read so far and it shows the author did their research. ATLA fandom tends to sweep aside Katara and Sokka's indigenous identity a lot. It's even more frustrating when most fics acknowledge colonialism and racism and yet brush aside Indigenous discussions or theory because they're either scared of touching the topic or don't care. Even fics that do mention their Indigenity is brushed aside with surface level discussions you can tell the author is just parroting from whatever twitter thread they skimmed. Im definitely not saying that fanfic should be an educator for social political issues or that it should be written in a way that it could replace theory for whoever stumbles upon it. Im just baffled that so many authors will mention colonialism only to explore it's effects on Zuko and not the actual Indigenous characters.......... that's all.

#answered ask #anonymous #anon ask #not art #I hope other people like my taste #im very picky with fanfics like I don't enjoy short fanfics #what I miss about fan fiction dot net culture is that multi chapter fics that are over 100k+ words were the norm #and interesting modern aus were the norm too... like im talking about cowboy ranch farmer au and astronaut nasa employee aus #real modern setting fanfics I've read btw and really really enjoyed #no more flower shop/bakery/barista aus please theyre so boring

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bbeboppp · 7 months

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𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘢 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭 | 𝘗𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘤 𝘪𝘯 𝘕𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘭𝘦 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘬 | 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘐

𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗢𝗡𝗘 ; New Beginnings

𝘽𝙇𝙐𝙍𝘽 ; ┊ It's 1971, New York. Sherman Square, known informally as Needle Park. The seemingly never-ending cold winter coats the streets in biting frost as Bobby is released from prison. Swearing to not return to Helen or his addiction, Bobby finds himself looking for a new distraction. He gets a shitty job as a retail worker, living in a half-way house. It's at work on day in December he meets Y/N. Her taste in music is new, her clothes catch his attention and most importantly; they're in love. The story follows Y/N & Bobby's relationship as he keeps temptation to relapse at bay and figures from Bobby's past life cross paths once more. After all, what peace can you find in Needle Park?

⚠︎︎ ⚠︎︎ ⚠︎︎ Based on the film "The Panic in Needle Park" by Jerry Schatzberg, this is my personal take on what could've become, if the very last scene hadn't occurred. The films is an 16/18s and contains use of drugs, domestic violence, talk of drugs, heroin being shot up, etc. I don't want to glorify or romanticize this; personally I've never done drugs and don't intend to, I've seen people destroyed by them. This story is written as a sort of healing process for Bobby and won't contain any domestic violence. Drugs will be mentioned, but not graphically. :)

(NO SMUT, just a warm up. idek if I'll even get attention haha so may or may not be continued if I FLOP. I'll post this on ao3 once I get an account WHY DO I HAVE TO WAIT TIL OCTOBER UGH)

✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧

❝And here I am, the Only Living Boy in New York.❞

quote from from "The Only Living Boy in New York" by Simon & Garfunkel.

✧

BOBBY'S POV:

December 4th, 1971. 10:01 AM

The gates opened, there stood Bobby with nothing but the clothes he wore and a bag with all the few possessions he had in this world. Nobody was waiting for him, the only faces he sees are the officer's as he passes by them and a couple strangers walking the streets, hunched slightly in their thick winter coats as they briskly journeyed down dull, dim grey pavements.

To his left were rows of fairly desolate buildings in disrepair being towered over by their neighbouring modern neighbours. The world hadn't seemed to develop much since he'd initially entered prison. Taking in a deep breath of the cold morning air, Bobby exhales as he walked. Being in the prison sometimes fucked with his perception of time, even though the longest sentence he'd even done was just under one year. Time will move on, with or without him, and New York was a busy city constantly changing and evolving.

✧ FIFTY-TWO MINUTES LATER ✧

The door opened with a creak, a short man balding with a clipboard in hand entered first, Bobby shortly after. "Your keys." The man handed Bobby a set of copper keys, two. One for the front door, the other also for the front door but in case the first one was misplaced. A tiny flat with peeling wallpapers, a steel bed-frame and narrow window in an awkward place. Bobby couldn't guess with a gun to his head how old the room was. The furniture in it had probably never left, the walls never repainted from their initial colouring. The man was rambling on about the room. How you need to wake up before 10:00 AM if you want hot water & the café across the street opens at 08:00 AM. Bobby nodded along, taking a look around the room from where he stood. He didn't care much for scenery, sure he could enjoy well orientated & decorated homes, but he never felt the need to do any home improvements himself. Not being materialistic, as long as the mattress he slept on didn't break his back and the chairs didn't collapse under him he'd be fine.

Bobby thanked the man, taking the keys as he watched the man exit the room, shutting the door behind him. Silence fell upon the room, not like much dialogue was happening before. He huffed, walking over to the bed just a few feet away and dumping his bag down onto it. The mattress squeaked, and then again as Bobby sat down. He pulled his boots off, dropping them on the ground beside the bedframe. Taking out a pack of Embassy Gold cigarettes, selecting one and lighting it up. Sitting at the very end of his bed, Bobby watched the street below as he took drags of the stick between his lips, held occasionally by his lightly tobacco-stained fingers.

Down on the street, Bobby observed people walking by. A man dressed in all-gold, likely phoney yelling onto a phone as he crossed the street. A taxi, a red car, a black car passed. Two women with arms interlinked and bright red lipstick strutted down the path, being cat-called by construction workers on break with nothing better to do than pester. Bobby's eyes wandered up and down the street, and finally that little café his landlord had mentioned previously caught his attention. Tan bricks with a tea green awning, a dark-oak door and outdoor seating covered in raindrops thanks to New York's bleak weather. Nobody was sitting outside, and Bobby could see the outlines of bodies sitting down inside the café through the front windows. As he took another drag, Bobby paused after exhaling. The door opened, out stepped a waitress with a ridiculous green half-apron on, grey uniform-top & hair wrangled back. Her mouth moved, she was likely cursing the rain. In her apron's front pocket was a cloth which she took out, using it to wipe down the tables & seats affected by the rain. Bobby chuckled, her efforts were in vain; the furniture would be soaked again in a couple minutes.

His cigarette came to it's end, he placed it on the window-sill, making a note to get an ash-tray. Lighting another one, Bobby watched the waitress huff, returning to inside the café. He continued watching the people on the streets for another four minutes, then saw the very same waitress return out the front to wipe down the furniture again, which was just as wet as it had been prior to her drying it four minutes ago. He giggled (girly-pop moment), watching her expression; just as irked as she was moments before. Bobby has a feeling this wasn't her first time, and wouldn't be her last.

He put the second cigarette out, crushing the ashing end against the wooden window sill. Probably not a good idea, but he wasn't really a good-idea-haver. With almost half the day over, Bobby figured he'd ring the number advised to him by Chico to get a real job. "Easy pay, the manager's an ass but you're not gonna get any better Bobby." Bobby remembered those exact words being spoken to him on the phone during Chico's only visit to him in prison. He was surprised Chico came at all, and wondered if Chico would expect some sort of favour for giving out this information to Bobby.

Bobby lit another cigarette, absently gazing out of the window. Once his third cigarette was finished, he inhaled sharply through his teeth, deciding to get the call over with now rather than later.

✧ ONE HOUR & ONE PHONE CALL LATER ✧

Paul's grocery read the sign above the small shop in a tacky font. Bobby pushed open the door, looking around the premises for a guy named Raul who he'd spoken to previously on the phone.

"Raul, it's only one letter away from Paul, why don't they rename the grocery Raul's grocery if Raul is the manager?" Bobby thought, but this little monologue was interrupted by a hard slap on the back. Bobby jumped, turning to see who was greeting him so informally. Raul, a tanned man with something similar to a military haircut on his head & striped top with a nametag on it.

"Oh shit, oh fuck," Bobby thought, looking at the shirt Raul had on, "is that the uniform? That shit is so ugly."

"Your Bobby?" Raul had a jolly voice, and a plastic smile on his face. It was a question, but spoken more like a statement.

"Uh humn." Bobby nodded, holding out a hand to shake.

"Welcome to the family, Bobby." Raul gripped Bobby's hand firmly, shaking it in an unexpectedly enthusiastic manner.

"Oh no he calls his employees his family. Chico why'd you set me up like this." Bobby thought, but only simply smiled in return.

Details such as Bobby's hours and pay were exchanged over the phone. Three days a week, 8:00 AM til 4:00 PM, with one half-hour break. He got $1.60 an hour and couldn't smoke with his uniform on.

"You can start tomorrow, you'll be on shift with Matilda over there." Raul briefed, handing Bobby a uniform shirt and leaving the storage room to point to Matilda. Matilda was an acne-riddled 20-something year old with a hunch and fried blonde hair in a bun. She didn't notice Raul calling her name, focusing on scanning her customer's items.

"If you catch her smoking in her uniform, tell me. She's a re-offender." Raul chuckled, slapping Bobby's arm as he did so. This man did a lot of friendly slapping. Bobby scoffed a laugh, sharing a smile with Raul, but mostly just to be polite.

✧ ELEVEN MINUTES LATER ✧

Walking back to his flat, uniform in hand, the drizzling-rain had stopped. Bobby walked past a busker, an elderly man playing the trumpet. He stood and listened for a moment, the sound of constant road-traffic and mumbling strangers blending with the sophisticated jazz being played.

Bobby tossed a coin into the trumpet-case the man had played in front of him, receiving a grateful wink. He turned away, looking at the café on the other side of the road. That little green awning, that dark oak door and tan brick walls. Bobby remembered the waitress wiping down the tables, biting the inside of his cheeks as he peered in the glass windows, looking for her.

He turned away, back to the trumpet player. The sound of music accompanied his thoughts.

"Café Verte opens at 08:00 AM, Monday to Saturday. Doesn't open on Sundays, the owner's a Catholic, they don't work on Sundays." Bobby recalled the landlord explaining to him.

"If you're gonna get something, get the black coffee. They get their coffee beans imported from Brazil, real good shit." The landlord was probably a regular customer, because who the hell else rambles on about a café.

Bobby made up his mind to visit Café Verte the next day, the fact both the café & his job started at 08:00 AM not seeming to cross his mind.

END OF CHAPTER ✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧

A/N: Just a reminder this is my first published work. Sorry for the slow start haha I promise I'll speed it up. Any advice would be appreciated <3 WORD COUNT: 1.5K

#pacino #al pacino #bobby #the panic in needle park #70s #1970s #new york #panic in needle park #meow #angst

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