#(so i've been adding to this in my drafts for a while today and i'm just now coming back to add the images and post it

[dduane]

Hope this isn't an ask you get all the time, but how do you track your progress when you're doing editing?

Everyone talks about word goals, and that seems fine for a first draft, but doesn't make sense to me when it comes to revisions. Do you have any kind of system for setting daily goals for your revisions?

Actually, I don't think anyone's ever asked me about this. :) So no sweat.

Briefly: I think you're wise in not attempting wordcounting in this phase of dealing with an MS—or trying to push yourself into a structure so rigid. ...There's this, too: there's a whole lot too much emphasis out there at the moment on trying to force yourself into other people's writing and editing paradigms—so many of them riddled with bar graphs and "demonstrable" daily progress. You need to find what works for you. More words dealt with in a day, sure, that's encouraging in its way. But are they the right words?

Today’s Writer Take that will probably strike some as Hot (and ask me if I care): Some kinds of writing progress are just neither graphically nor numerically quantifiable. And damned to the least TripAdvisorally-acceptable regions of [insert your preferred underworld here] be those who’ve tried to sell people the idea that they are.

(sigh)

Now, for what it's worth: here's how I do it. Which may be useful to other people, or not so much so. And that's fine, because I'm not editing their novels. :)

(Adding a break here. Under the cut: advice + advice = advice, and some images of text I shouldn't be letting y'all see just yet... but WTF.)

Revision for me is a fairly relaxed business—unless my editor has told me WE NEED THIS ON TUESDAY, which thank sweet Thoth on his e-bike is very rare.

It also helps that I like revising. (When I was a kid, I liked liver, too. And spinach. Just call me Miss Outlier and let's move on.) I really enjoy the feeling of the work’s rough edges being filed down and the sparse places being filled out.

And also: second draft/first revision draft is nowhere near as tense for me as first draft. Because, thank God, at least there's a book.

First draft is where I sweat blood and otherwise suffer. While I can see the story just fine in my head, it's not really real for me until the first draft, whole in narrative and action, is complete on paper/in the machine. And till it's achieved at least that level of reality, I can't relax.

But by the time I hit my second/revision draft, I can be confident that any really serious problems in the novel have already been solved—because I'm an outliner. In the outline stage, potential thematic or structural troubles will routinely have revealed themselves way long ago: before drafting even got started, as I first wired the story's bones together. The successfully-executed first draft acts as proof-of-concept for that structural wiring. By the time that draft’s done, it’s immediately apparent whether the skeleton can successfully stand up by itself. And gods is that a relief when it does! You’re tempted to jump around yelling “It's aliiiiiive!" as the lightning strikes around you.*

However, if after submitting that draft my editor's found something structurally or thematically troublesome in it that I've completely missed until this point, my first order of business becomes to fix whatever their notes involve and submit the fixes. Nothing further happens until the editor sees what I've done about those problems, and until I get agreement that whatever intervention I've enacted has now sorted the problems out.

After that, everything happens in bed.

(...casually noting that for a line to use somewhere else...) :)

But seriously: I do my best revision and editing before getting up in the morning.

Some of this is because, for me, the mind's nice and quiet and (theoretically) at least moderately well rested, right after sleep. I might take the briefest glance at my email first to make sure nothing urgent needs attention... but once that’s done, I refuse to let myself go any further down that hole. That early-morning calm is a mental state I'm glad to exploit, and one I jealously guard. On days when I'm forced to do without the working lie-in**, I use a different approach: when there's a pause, sit down and do nothing—no reading, no video, no music, no phone, nothing—for half an hour: then start editing. Routinely, the quiet I need will once more have fallen.

The in-bed-editing approach also works for me because (since I'm working in Scrivener) it's absolutely no big deal to finish a day's editing on a file by exporting a version of the file containing the day's edits to ebook format, and into my Dropbox. From there, in the morning, without ever getting out from under the covers, I can pull that .epub file into my tablet and read it as an ebook, making corrections and notes there.

This is what it looks like (on a page without too many corrections) if the app you're using is "Books" in an iPad. The second image is what you get when you touch on the marginal yellow square of the note to examine it.

Then, when I'm finished looking over the previous day's/evening's writing and adding notes to it, I go downstairs, get some caffeine in me, and make the changes in the main Scrivener file. (If I was running the project in question on the iPad version of Scrivener, I'd just make the change right there. But who knows when I'd actually get up, then? Better to do it this way.) :)

In the normal flow of things I'll attempt to deal with a chapter or two a day in this mode. (Always bearing in mind that my chapters in early drafts typically run long—often 10K or so—and I'm likely enough to rebreak them later.) This first level of revision is the easy one: catching typos and bad or clumsy phrasings, reworking character interactions that need smoothing out; adding better descriptive passages (with particular emphasis on staying in the visual, audio and tactile senses), etc., etc.

So again: no way I'd ever bother worrying about word counts, with these. What seems to count for more is giving yourself time to recognize, gradually, at a reader's pace, what's working in the prose and what isn't. Rush—or try to force the pace to a given number of words per day—and you run the risk of missing something vital. To me, at the tracking level, it seems sufficient to note which chapters have been dealt with, and which are still hanging fire. (I can change the chapters' color labels in Scrivener to make this status visible at a glance, if I need to.)

When everything's dealt with on this pass—which if I'm lucky will take no more than a couple/few weeks—I try to take a couple weeks off before dealing with the MS again. Sometimes that's possible: sometimes not. The longer you can leave the book alone to let your perceptions of it rest and reset themselves, the better. Distance—mental or temporal—seems to lend clarity.

In any case, for me, next comes another pass, tougher to describe. Casually, I refer to it as the "Missed Opportunities/Complications" pass. This is a thing that one of the very best writers I know, John M. Ford, used to do. One of his editors (I think it was) came across him working on an MS one time, and asked him what he was doing. "Complications," Mike muttered. "Removing them?" said his editor. Mike shook his head. "Adding them," he said.

In this pass you look for in-novel connections you've previously missed making. Some dramatic moments have their impact significantly increased if you've found a way to connect them, even casually, with previous events, situations, character thoughts, or dialogue. (The cheap and easy mnemonic for this kind of thing: "Say a thing twice, and it echoes. Say it three times, and it resonates.")

Equally, events (and people) may turn out to require more complex backstory than you've given them in your first draft; so this is where you take care of that. And of course there are almost certainly character and emotional interactions that can use attention; fewer words, more depth, more complexity. What things do these people, in this situation, need to say to one another that they haven't? And also, what drama got scamped or passed up on because you were just too damn tired in the last draft? —Because you too, poor baby, are human; and that state can, entirely logically, make you want not to deal with any more damn drama just now. Even though drama is the lifeblood of your narrative, usually, and tying a tourniquet around it really doesn't help. You are the conduit of power into your narrative, and your varying ability to conduct it is always an issue… so you need to keep an eye open for places where the flow may have temporarily failed.

This pass, ideally, might take no more than another few weeks or a month. And again, I'm not sure any attempt at wordcount tracking would do this work any good. Because, again... are they the right words? And to make the narrative more effective, you may wind up removing as many words as you added in previous passes.

Finally, with all things taken together, I usually reach a point where (by myself, anyway) I can't think of anything to do that'll make this book any better. That's where there then comes—and again, impossible to assign a word count to it—a time when you know you're as Done As You Can Be. If you've been doing this long enough, you may even hear a strange kind of sigh in the back of your head, as the book gives up and lets go...

...into the next stage of production. But even then you keep an eye on it… because in my experience it’s rare that any book's ever that easily just finished. Even in page proofs, something may happen to surprise you.

Anyway, that's when I throw the book the hell out of the house—because no matter how much I've loved it previously, by that time I'm usually seriously tired of it—and wait to see whether the editor feels it needs one more draft. (Disclosure: this has never happened. There might be a few notes that need to be handled. But another full draft? Never yet.)

Anyway: hope this is of help to you.

But the heart of it all? Find your own way, and screw the bar graphs.

*That line, too, is an indicator of trouble to come. "It's?" Not "he's"? Tsk tsk.

**Usually sort of 7-9 AM. Sometimes way earlier, depending on the time of year. Dawn comes real early in the summertime in Ireland…

#writing advice #revisions

[differentclasss]

Domesticity ♡ Jonathan Crane (smut)

pairing: Jonathan Crane (Nolan Verse) x Reader

summary: Jonathan really wants to get you pregnant, it takes a little convincing for you to take it seriously.

warnings: somewhat possessive behavior from Crane, talk of pregnancy, smut, female reader, just the usual stuff! also, it's not really a warning, but its a pretty simple fluff-smut fic. It's kind of out of character lol.

a/n: sorry for not posting very often, i've been doing really important stuff and definitely not just rewatching the Sopranos again... anyways, I'll probably start posting again since I'm out of a creative funk and have like a million drafts in my docs right now. thanks!

word count: 1.7k

It was soft and gray outside by the time Jonathan got home. The sky was full of clouds and the house was quiet. He put down his briefcase and untied his shoes as he walked into the quiet apartment he shared with you. He could feel this distinct sense of neediness for you he’s become accustomed to when he has a long day. Something was comforting about you, something he couldn’t place his finger on, but you made him happy. It was what most would consider love, but for him, it was all too new for him to name it. 

You were laying on your stomach with your elbows perched on the mattress of your soft bed as you read some book Jonathan had recommended to you. You wouldn’t have noticed Jonathan had returned if he hadn’t dragged your attention from the book laid out in front of you by clearing his throat as he walked into your shared bedroom. You looked up at him with that same doting smile you had whenever you saw him and made your way to him. He glanced over at you as he began to take off his tie but your hands quickly replaced his.

“Wait,” You said as you stood in front of him. “Let me do it.” 

“Whatever you want.” He replied as if he was doing you a favor.

Truth be told, he liked your desire to do small things for him. There were little things you did that meant you cared about him, despite how cold and cranky he could be occasionally. He would find his glasses cleaned after going to shower or you would get his favorite suits dry cleaned without him even saying anything about it. All those little acts of domesticity he admired in private. He had his acts of fondness as well, he’d stop and pick you up a small treat on his way home and sometimes if he was feeling especially romantic, he would place a vase and flowers out on the kitchen table for you. There were plenty of silent acts of a proper home life that you both devoted time to. 

“How was work?” You asked him once you finished taking off his tie and placed it on the dresser.

“It was fine.” He said before giving you a quick kiss on the forehead. 

He hated talking about work with you, it was better to keep it vague and short. Anytime you prodded for more detailed responses he would brush it out with a simple, ‘patient confidentiality.’ 

“I missed you today.” You softly murmured as you wrapped your arms around him and rested your head on his chest.

“Likewise.” He said while slowly caressing your hair.

It was easy for him to just think about you during these moments, with your warmth enrapturing him in a spiderweb of affection. He could put off his alter ego for a night of your intimacy and during these nights, he often thought about how easy it would be just to enjoy you and enjoy the life you could have together. Seeing you so sweet on him made him want to keep you like this forever, something more binding than just living together.

“Thought about you all day.” He softly murmured against your neck as he pulled you over top of him on the bed. 

“Yeah?” You asked with a teasing smile. “What in particular?” You asked.

“Thought about you just like this,” He replied, pulling you closer till there was practically no room between you, chest to chest. “You look so pretty.” He added.

You loved his praise, even the simplest of words made you get butterflies like how you did when you first met him. Knowing he was known as cold and bitter to most made it all the more special to hear him speak so fondly of you. You kissed the side of his neck and let out a content sigh as his hands slipped underneath your shirt and fondled your breasts for a moment. You let your neck fall back as he began to kiss the side of your neck and worked his way to your jaw. His teeth sunk suddenly into your jaw which caused you to hiss.

“I was thinking about another thing too,” He added as he pulled away for a moment. “I kept on thinking about how much prettier you’d look with my come in you.” He mumbled the last bit and it made you blush deeply.

“Jon,” You said with a small smile, your hand grazing his cheek. “We’re not married yet, you already wanna knock me up?”

“Don’t be so old-fashioned,” He said as he quickly maneuvered your body to be under his. “It’s just an idea.” He replied as he buried his face into your neck and began to kiss it with a certain amount of passion.

“I’m not against it.” You said quietly as your hands ran down his shoulders. “Just… Are you serious? That’s a big step for us.”

“Of course, I’m being serious.” He says as he pulls from your neck and gazes at you. “I gave myself a hard-on today just thinking about what’d it be like to see you pregnant with my kid.”

You couldn’t help but smile at the declaration. You always had figured he wasn’t one to even think about settling down, that just didn’t seem like him at all, but here he was, talking about having a child with you. 

“Never thought I would hear you say something so affectionate.” You giggled and kissed his cheek.

“Can’t help myself.” He murmured as he kissed your lips and then pulled back. “Maybe I just want to marry you and get you pregnant. Have you here taking care of our kid and being a good little mother.”

He kissed you harder than before, clearly getting worked up over the thought of you as a mother. You didn’t mind the thought he had. It made you feel desired beyond just sexual attraction, to want to procreate meant something deeper than moving in with each other or having a pair of his shoes next to yours in the closet. 

“Do you want me to dress up in a pin-up dress and wear pearls too?” You asked with a giggle, to which he bit your lip for.

“Don’t tease.” He reprimanded. 

Based on his growing erection, he probably did want you to wear the dress and kitten heels, maybe not all the time but just to take it off. Jonathan got needier as he felt you through your clothes. He took your shorts off and discarded them carelessly before rubbing you through your panties. You grunted and pushed your hips to his hands. 

“You do want it,” Jonathan mused as he felt your soaked panties. “You just wanna be a housewife with your cunt full of my come, hm?” 

“Jonathan,” You mewled. “Just wanna make you happy.”

“You are making me happy,” He said with a small grin as he slipped his hands underneath the seam of your panties and pumped two fingers into you quickly. “It would make me a lot happier to see you nice and pregnant though.”

Jonathan loved how he barely had to touch you to get you into a whimpering mess underneath him. Your face always flushed into a pretty shade of red and your hands held onto him tightly whenever he gave you his fingers. Little moans and whines escaped your lips, no matter how hard you tried to conceal them. His hands left you for a moment as he took off his belt and then took off your shirt, making another short moan of neediness escape your lips.

“Can I come in you tonight?” He asked as he touched the bottom of your stomach, already imagining a phantom bump. “You’d make a great mother.”

Frantically you nodded, hands falling to his chest and pulling off his shirt. He worked on his pants and tossed them to the floor. You kissed him swiftly once he was as bare as you were and felt him hold your leg by the back of your knee as he teased you with more small pumps of his fingers. 

“Tell me you want it as bad as I do, sweetheart.” He told you in a hushed voice. 

“I want it,” You replied in a whisper. “Wanna have your baby.”

He didn’t need much confirmation after that. Hastily he moved your legs over his shoulders, knowing this position would let him get deep inside of you. Jonathan lined himself up and slowly filled your cunt up with his cock. You quickly inhaled and grabbed his shoulders for some support as he rocked into you. You moaned and felt tears in your eyes from the pressure in your cunt. He sneaked his hand to clit and rubbed it quickly, making everything seem a tad overwhelming. With your orgasm building sharply, you closed your eyes tightly as your cunt clenched around him, making both of you shiver. His hand kept circling your clit making feel more than overwhelmed at this point.

“That’s it,” He grunted from over the top of you. “Gonna make you a mommy, make you full.”

You inhaled in response, his hips coming down into you faster and faster. A few curses tumbled from your lips as another orgasm approached. Sweat began to form at your temple and once the separate orgasm came and went, your legs trembled.

“I’m so close,” He warned you in a hoarse voice. “Fuck, just gonna fill you up with my come and make you mine completely.”

You were too overstimulated to really hear what he was saying, everything blurred together at that moment. He gave you a few more unforgiving thrusts and then came inside of you, holding himself still for a moment to keep it all there. You caught your breaths together and kissed you on the forehead.

“Thank you.” He murmured as he lifted off of you and laid down beside you. 

You smiled and then gave him a small kiss on the lips and went to the bathroom, feeling a bit shaky but strangely content with this new declaration. After you cleaned up you went and laid back down with him. He seemed miles away again, eyes fixed on the drawn blinds of your window. You couldn’t tell if he was feeling guilt or maybe a tinge of worry after all of that but you just nestled your head into his chest, listening to his heartbeat. 

#jonathan crane x reader #jonathan crane smut #jonathan crane #jonathan crane x you #jonathan crane fanfic

[seoul-bros]

Jikook's Hypothetical Mukbang*

Okay, I've had this post in my drafts since shortly after Jikook returned from New York but today's Suchwita kind of confirms that I was on to something when I put this together. A travel show you say where you drink together.

Twitter Link

One thing we know about Jikook is that they love to eat and drink.

We know that they were in New York and Connecticut in July, at a brewery, on a boat, and eating pizza in Old Saybrook.

Jimin even posted a photo of them on JK's birthday which could have been taken on that trip.

We also had rumours, now confirmed by Taehyung, that they were seen together on Jeju Island this year.

So my theory is that this is not only a travel show but also a mukbang where they go to these coastal places, catch their lunch, eat the fish prepared in the local style and drink copious amounts of craft beer. I mean Jimin's been into the idea for a while.

Of course, I'm no doubt just being greedy. Still, reading this back I have more than half persuaded myself that this is possible. I've even added stops in Busan and Japan in my head making it a full blown series titled Jikook's Fishy Mukbang.

*The word mukbang (meokbang) brings together the Korean words for eating (mugneun) and broadcast/show (bangsong), and can be roughly translated to ‘eating show’.

Post Date: 04/11/2023

#jikook #jimin #jungkook #jikook's fishy mukbang

[wolfjackle-creates]

1000 Follower Celebration!

I'm blown away, honestly. The last time I had any notoriety in a fandom was back in, like 2007 or 2008 when I was on the Dibbuns Against Bedtime fan forums for Redwall. I was made the head of my dorm as the site started dying because I was the most active member in said dorm.

But you all? You're here because you like something I'm making? It's so wild to me. I appreciate every single one of you. Every like, every reblog, every comment. They warm me up.

I've been thinking over the last few days what I want to do. The obvious answers—prompt fills, polls to determine what I write, story snippets—I do all that with too much regularity. And I'm trying to avoid taking on more fics as I focus on the ones I've already got going.

So we're gonna do something a bit different this week.

Over the next week (From Wed 2/21 to Wed 2/28) send me the title of one of my WIPs (listed below) and I will respond with a few paragraphs. Not my usual 1.2-1.6k that I like to do for WIP Wednesday, but a few paragraphs. At the end of the week, I'll compile them all and post everything in a single post.

I won't be adding all the links like I usually do with each addition to a story until I post that final draft, but I'll tag everything with "[story name] 1000" so you can click that and follow along with the fic in some sort of order.

There are six WIPs eligible for the game! Please limit yourself to one fic per ask, but you may send in multiple asks. I will request that, for now, you limit yourself to one request per fic (aka a max of 6 requests per person). If I find that I'm able to keep up, I may waive that request in the upcoming days. But it will depend on how busy my inbox (and life) get.

Bring Me Home

Ghost!Robin

Answer My Call

I'll Carry Your Heart (Until I Find You Again)

Want to Hold On and Feel I Belong/Bad Reveal AU

Empathy!Verse

I totally forgot about the Empathy!Verse when I did my last ask game. Mostly because that has been entirely written on Tumblr and I...kinda forgot to transfer it to a Scrivener document. Ooops. 😅

Something to Feel isn't on this list because I want to dedicate my time to it today. I'm close to the end, I think, and already have one ask in my inbox about it that I totally meant to get to before now (if it's your ask, I promise I haven't forgotten you!).

Brief Story Summaries

Bring Me Home: Tim and Danny are online friends and know each other's secrets. Currently in the arc where the Young Justice and Team Phantom help Danny escape after a reveal gone wrong.

Ghost!Robin: Jason is haunted by the ghost of the Robin he used to be. Danny finds out when Jazz introduces him to Jason over a meet-the-in-laws dinner. Currently, Jason and Robin are meeting with Frostbite to learn what may have happened.

Answer My Call: Jazz is sending texts to Danny after he escaped a GIW facility and they can't talk. But it turns out Jason is the one who's actually been getting them.

Carry Your Heart: Jason and Danny meet in the Ghost Zone while Jason is dead. They become friends. But Jason runs to Desiree to wish for his life back. A wish she fulfills. Danny goes to visit him, only to find his core left behind in a lair that's in ruin.

Bad Reveal AU: Danny is living with the Waynes when he finds out they're also the Bats. He freaks out because he believes the bats are working with the government (aka the GIW). So he shoots Bruce and runs away. The bats are now trying to convince him it's safe to come home.

Empathy!Verse: Liminal!Jazz is studying in Gotham and feeling the lack of other liminals to interact with. After getting used to the undercurrent of emotion that follows all interactions with ghosts/liminals, humans just feel...flat. Then one day, she literally runs into another liminal as she's going to the library. Jason Todd. Only... he doesn't know what it means to be liminal. So Jazz is there to show him.

#1000 follower celebration #ask game #name a wip #send an ask #and I'll write you a little something #hope you all have fun with this!

[zeenimf]

Phei of the Wind | Draft 3 Complete

Hiya all~ It's been a while, but today I've finished the third draft of my fantasy novel Phei of the Wind. As many of you know I've been working on this novel for more than twelve years now, and this is the most definitive version I've ever made. It's still going to be revised and worked upon, of course, but most story beats have now been completed. It's composed of 29 chapters with a hefty 109000 words. I'm writing my thesis this semester, and I realised that I was so close to finishing that I couldn't think about anything else. So I went burn-out mode and wrote some 20000 words these two weeks, and now while I'm sitting in my eco-literature class (which is very interesting but my brain is too obsessed to stop writing), I've typed up the last few words.

So for those who have somehow missed me talking about this, it's a story about Phei, a halfling-harpy who lives in a world above the clouds. She is a priestess of sorts, and she notices that the world is slowly growing pale and empty. When she learns of a possible cause she runs away to the world below the clouds, the world where her people exiled themselves from. There she travels across the lands, figuring out not just what's happening to the world, but what happened to her people as well while meeting a cast of eccentric characters.

As in regards to the third draft, the biggest change is the endpoint. The previous draft ended at a point that made sense for a single novel, but would require another novel to tell the whole story. This new draft doesn't stop there. I shuffled around a lot of things and added some 40k words after that point. I wanted Phei's story to be composed of one big book. It doesn't mean that don't want to tell other stories in this world, but Phei's story is done when this book is done.

So what's next? I'm going to go through the entire book once, since I have a pile of notes that I thought of when writing this draft. And then I want to send the book out to a handful of beta readers. I'll send a post out for that tonight or tomorrow, so keep your eyes peeled if you're interested in that!

And lastly I'd like to thank you all for your nice comments and support! Every time someone commented something nice about the story it kept me going, so I think it may have taken a lot longer without all of you. <3

I'll leave you with a snippet (picking something that has no spoilers was haaaard), and hope you will all have a wonderful day!

xx

The wind causes Phei to lose her grip on time. Hours blow past as Phei glides, effortless. She knows of birds being able to sleep in the sky, and wonders if her people used to glide in their sleep too. Her dream quickly fades when she dashes to the right again, a sliver of upwards current catching her attention. Agile, yet absent-minded, she crosses past the forests until she can see the sands of Iekin edge towards the mountains, there where the narrow peaks and pillars of Sunde come into view. Without the stormy clouds Phei is able to take in the mountain in its entirety. It is a lonely mountain, imprisoned by the hundreds of spikes surrounding it. The evening sun shines over it, making the golden chains draping down all around the mountain glitter in sinful light. Glistering like that, Phei imagines the mountain as almost peaceful. It shows no sign of the great horrors that have been committed at its feet. It is like a passive observer, nothing more, nothing less.

Taglist, let me know if you want to be added / removed!

@ink-fireplace-coffee | @write-the-stars-and-shadows | @henrike-does-writing-sometimes | @ladywithalamp | @chazzawrites | @writingonesdreams | @generalblizzarddreamer | @peepos-prose | @writing-is-a-martial-art | @dahliaornelas​​ | @ofbloodandflowers | @magic-is-something-we-create | @ettawritesnstudies | @47crayons | @inkflight | @thelaughingstag | @writing-with-l | @immunetoliteraryanalysis​ | @strangerays​ | @luerange​  | @snowinks​ | @the-orangeauthor​ | @waysofink​ | @fablewritten​ | @houndmouthed​ | @midnights-call​ | @phantomnations​ | @teriwrites​

#gust #writelbr #fantasy #wip #spilled ink

[plagued-melodies]

Sibling Rivalry ⚕️Part one

!This is based on the headcanon that Baizhu and Pantalone are brothers! Also this very self indulgent and usually think of my self insert as the traveler so- I'm sorry if that's not your style :] reader is said to have an exposed midriff because I like that style of clothing but it is not indicative of readers sex or pronouns. I do mention greatly about Baizhu's disability but I'm not entirely sure if I did it justice as I'm not really familiar with him, I just find him pretty so if I said anything wrong lmk so I can improve!

Relationships: Baizhu x traveler!reader

Implied Pantalone x traveler!reader (hes attracted to/infatuated with you sort of?? It's more like he's doing it solely to tease Baizhu but the reader is unsure about him as they don't know who he is but is friendly because he's Baizhu's brother.)

Baizhu and Pantalone are brothers with a strained relationship but still care about one another. Baizhu just has certain boundaries.

I really really like Traveler!reader I'm not sorry

Pronouns used for reader: they/them

This has been in my drafts since forever so forgive me if there are some canon issues lol, I have a stupid mix of what I thought was canon, what is canon, and what is just ???

Also It's been so long since I've written anything I'm sorry if it's cringe or badly paced.

Part One (you're here)

Part Two (to be added)

Imagine that once everything is said and done in the nation of Sumeru you've come back to Liyue for some much needed rest, you trudged your way over the jagged land of the chasm that connects the two nations. With your sore and sunburnt body you end up running into Liyue's best herbalist, Baizhu who is accompanied by little Qiqi. Throughout the months before your trip to Sumeru you found yourself hanging around the eccentric man more and more as word for your future endeavors got around and he had wished to aid in knowledge on what was safe to touch and consume and what to avoid. This lesson turned to several lessons on how to create healing concoctions based on different ailments. You appreciated his help greatly and promised to bring several rare or useful herbs for him to use.

When on the road returning to Liyue, you were surprised to see him so far outside the city however, especially so far off the trail. It wasn't uncommon for him to leave the city but he usually left anything this far out to Qiqi as a precaution due to this condition, he couldn't risk anything if he ended up passing out. If he did go out he usually sticks to the trails most often used by travelers or nearby settlements he could rest at.

You asked him about this, worried about his being and he explains that today he felt capable of retrieving certain herbs he needed and needed to get some fresh air from a visiting relative who was a bit overbearing at times. You nod in understanding, the city coming further into view with the ocean glistening. The sun was at its highest peak at this point and you felt its harsh rays beat down on your exposed back. Your conversation continues on, talking about recent adventures in the dendro nation as Paimon floats about and you hold Qiqi's little hand in your own larger one.

Baizhu talked greatly about his recent endeavors, including a few odd ball patients who he practically had to have dragged into the pharmacy by some of his assistants. He also talked about how he was able to curate some remedies for himself that, while not able to cure his ailment (or achieve his overall goal), help him retain a lot more energy than usual so long as he didn't over exert himself too much. Hence why he's out here with Qiqi gathering some herbs for some clients he had.

You two continue exchanging pleasantries with Changsheng chiming in every once in a while, perched comfortably atop the doctor's shoulders. Baizhu begins to explain the use of the herbs in his bag with you contentedly listening. You both walk into the city through the back trail, the unsteady and steep path putting you into alert for your companions balance. In your focus on Baizhu's safety, you completely neglect your own and nearly slip with the doctor quickly taking hold of you. Despite his weak physicality, he's capable enough to pull you up by the forearm into a safe balanced position before you even hit the ground. He sighs at your clumsiness, a tinge of mirth in his own eyes. He heaves another sigh, a sign of his exertion of energy that's beginning to take a toll. The grip on your forearm moving to a gentle hold of your hand.

"Oh archons I'm so sorry! I should have been looking at where I was going!" You didn't mean to trip the way you did, in trying to help him not exert too much you ended up doing so anyways. He waves off your concern, a mere smile plastered onto his face in response. He continues to urge you forward by placing his free hand onto the small of your back.

"No need, nobody got hurt, it wasn't an issue really, you're not particularly heavy to pick up the way I did, so no need to worry." His voice is chipper as he continues his hold, you don't think to mention it, jotting it down in your mind as him needing to steady himself. A tinge of guilt stirs in your gut because of it. Being a temporary mobility aid for him is the least you can do right now before he could get home and rest properly. You decide to carry out the conversation as normal when you make your way through the city. Ignoring the occasional glance towards your unusual stance from passersby. He takes notice however and raises a silent question, you joke that maybe it's because of the notoriety of his bitter potions. Paimon Snickers from behind you two at the comment, Baizhu feigns offense at this.

"Medicines, not potions and please believe me, if I could make my medicines just as effective and more delightful for people to consume I would, but I cannot risk the medicines effects being nullified by anything that can influence the taste significantly." You laugh at this, missing the way his faux irritation softened at the sound of your laughter, replaced momentarily by adoration.

"I guess that's true... I'd rather take one disgusting dose of medicine that would work rather than small doses of some okay tasting stuff that may not even work..." You muse with a smile, "Especially if you made the medicine. I trust you wouldn't poison me." You chuckle. He shakes his head fondly as Changsheng pokes her head around.

"How insulting, to even suggest such a thing..." Changsheng hisses softly, emphasizing the harsher syllables of her words as she narrows her magenta eyes towards you. Baizhu gently taps her on the top of her head.

"Now now Changsheng, no need to get so defensive... It was a light tease. Don't worry yourself so much." He chides the snake adeptus softly. She flicks her tongue out quickly before coiling herself further. You chuckle at the sight, you know that Changsheng wasn't actually offended and simply wished to give you a hard time.

"Speaking of medicine, I brought a ton of herbs and plants I found in Sumeru, Master Tighnari helped me pick them." You state eagerly, a smile on your face as Baizhu walks in tandem with you. He smiles softly, adjusting his glasses to be better perched on the bridge of his nose.

"Oh? And you would trust me enough with these? After all, you don't know if I may poison you or not." He jokes with a subtle grin on his face. You give a roll of your eyes as you motion your head to the side.

"Oh please, I doubt any poison you make could kill me." You playfully joke back. This goes on back and forth for a while, all of it being in good humor and light teasing as he subtly grips your hand tighter.

The moment is short lived, however when you arrive towards the stairs leading to Bubu Pharmacy. A stern yet audibly relieved voice breaks through your mirth filled bubble. The expression the doctor held now having a look of exhaustion in its stead. You don't recognize it or the words he's speaking until he descends the stairs towards you both, taking carefully calculated and painfully slow steps.

"Baizhu! I knew you needed to run some errands but you've been gone for hours now and while I understand you're feeling better, you need to be careful, what if you ended up collapsing near a hilichurl camp? I was worried sick-" his scolding is cut short when his gaze towards your companion is turned to you, taking immediate note of Baizhu's obvious hold of your form. A heat of embarrassment rises to your cheeks as you attempt to wriggle into a less awkward position. Your subtle attempt is for naught as the green-haired doctor's hold on your hand tightens with a gentle squeeze. You stand there, stiff as a ramp as the mysterious individual raises his gaze once more. Paimon and Qiqi stand silently behind you, the latter's hand still intertwined with your own.

"Pray tell, may I ask who this may be? You two seem... Close." Baizhu clears his throat as he turns his attention to you, seeming to reluctantly diminish his hold on you he turns to you fully.

"Traveler, this is my brother Pantalone, he's here to visit," You turn to him and wave before turning back to Baizhu, "Pantalone, this is the traveler. They're passing through Liyue for a couple of weeks of rest." His tone is unusually curt with introductions. A huff is heard from behind as two tiny hands plant onto your shoulder and your flying companion is lurched forward slightly.

"HEY! You forgot about Paimon!" You roll your eyes slightly at this, taking a strand of her hair and twirling between the fingers of your now free hand before turning to the pair of brothers.

"And this is Paimon, as you probably could tell." You add as she gives a cheeky grin at this. You can't help but get a strange feeling that you've heard his name somewhere before... But, since this is Baizhu's brother, you didn't want to be rude and just tossed that thought into the back of your mind.

"Hm? Oh so this is the well renowned Traveler? The one who's well known all across Teyvat for their heroic deeds?" Pantalone questions rhetorically as he brings his hand out to shake yours. You can't help but notice the rings adorning his gloves hand, the material looks sleek and expensive. In fact, everything he was wearing seemed to be expensive. You tentatively take his hand and begin to shake his own. What you didn't expect however, was for him to lift your hand to press his lips to your knuckles.

The entire group goes silent, you don't notice the look Baizhu gives him or how Changsheng coils in a way to turn her head away from the display.

"My dear brother here has told me lots about you, but he must have neglected to mention just how lovely you look." He says with a voice as smooth as a spoonful of jade fruit soup...

"O-oh umm... Thanks, I guess? That's very kind of you.." You reply rather awkwardly, pulling your hand back when he lets go. He gives a nod of his head, the gemstones hanging from the chord of his glasses swinging slightly before he straightens up and looks towards Baizhu.

"Well, with introductions out of the way, I have some work to do and the traveler is probably very tired after their journey so we should go ahead and let them go to the inn to rest. Right, Pantalone?" He says, placing his gloved hand onto the exposed region for your back that's still slightly tender from the constant sun exposure. Your face heats up slightly at the contact, especially when one of his fingers curls against the small of your back... His other hand goes to your shoulders and steadily turns you towards the other direction, clearly motioning for you to leave. When you start to walk, he takes Qiqi's small hand as she waves goodbye to you.

You smile softly and sweetly while you wave goodbye to her. Paimon gives you a confused smile as she floats alongside you in her usual manner. You shrug, unsure of what the problem here was. Maybe his brother had crossed an unspoken boundary? You can't really say.

Well, he was right about one thing. You're pretty freaking tired. Both you and Paimon are ready to eat a warm meal and sleep in an actual bed.

_____________

You return the next day, a pep in your step as you approach the pharmacy, carrying a bag of plants you had gathered that you weren't able to give Baizhu yesterday. You were excited to give these to him, you weren't sure if he already had these herbs or had any use for them, but Tighnari was kind enough to help you find them so you hoped that they would at least be of some use!

You enter the pharmacy, your smile widening as you wave to Herbalist Gui "Hey! Good morning, Gui. Do you know where Baizhu is?" You ask as you set the bag down onto the edge of the counter. He smiles as he shakes his head no.

"No, unfortunately he had a house call he needed to attend, I can't say when he'd be back... I'm assuming this is a personal batch for him?" He motions to the bag, which you proudly nod to.

"Mhm! Special delivery all the way from Sumeru! Personally handpicked by yours truly and the Head Forest Watcher of the Avidya Forest!" You state rather proudly as you wave your arm to the bag. Unfortunately, with your luck, your haphazard placement on the counter would result in it being knocked by the force of your arm.

You nearly shout with surprise as your hand darts to reach out and grab it, only to be immediately stopped by someone catching the bag before any of the plants fall out or the glass inside shattering. You heave an inward sigh of relief.

"Oh, thank the archons. Thank you." You say with a slight nervous chuckle.

"Oh it's no problem my dear, it was of no issue for me. Do be more careful in the future however." A voice spoke, a voice bonging to none other than Pantalone. The man smiles the same smile he gave yesterday as he puts the bag flat into the counter rather than the edge where you had placed it previously.

"O-oh um, yeah, my bad. I guess I'm just a bit careless today... Hey uh-, Guilty, could you " You give a sheepish chuckle as you speak, unsure of how you should talk to this stranger. On one hand, he's Baizhu's brother, and you really like Baizhu so you should get along with his brother, right? But on the other hand, something seems.... Off about him. Like there's a small voice in the back of your mind that just screams that you've heard his name from somewhere before.

Herbalist Gui takes the bag full of medicinal herbs, setting them down aside for when Baizhu comes back from his house call later.

A sigh is heard from Pantalone as Gui informs him of Baizhu's departure that morning, "Even when I come all the way from Shnezhnaya to visit him, he never ceases his work, even in his condition... whatever will I do with him?" He sounds exasperated, one arm across his chest with his hand holding up the elbow to his other arm where off he has a tired hand resting on his temple and his eyes closed. You clear your throat, hoping to ease the tension in the room.

"Oh well, that's just how he is. It's a house call so he won't be exerting himself too much, especially with Qiqi with him. He may be a workaholic but he knows better than to strain himself, we should trust he knows what he's doing, right?" You try your best to sound reassuring. The taller man nods at your words.

"I guess that is true, I'm not around very often and he's done just fine without me nagging him around..." He says, although he seems reluctant to say those words. You can't help but relate to the feeling of worrying and fretting over a sibling as well.

"Well, since neither Baizhu nor Qiqi are here, I may as well go and complete today's commissions. Thanks again for grabbing that bag, it would have been a pain if some of the glass broke in it." You express as you turn towards the pharmacy's front entrance.

"Oh? An adventurer as well? Would you mind if I tagged along?" He requests, "It's been a long while since I've seen anyone fight, though quite ironic considering my line of work." His comment is vague but you assume that he's being that way on purpose seeing as it's really not your business about what he does for a living.

"Um.. sure? I mean, it's nothing grand, but yeah, you can tag along.. just be sure to stay out of the way. Is there something you need help with?" You ask, maybe he needed help with a commission he had yet to post? That wasn't fairly uncommon, people often just came up to you due to your notoriety and would offer straight up to pay for services rather than go through the guild which could be a tedious and expensive process depending on your job.

"You could say that... And do not worry, I do not intend to be of any bother..." He reassures, "I would just like to see the famous traveler in action, to see if the rumors of your visionless power over the elements is as true as they say..." He adds.

And with that, you head off... You don't have Paimon floating around you today. She was still practically melted into the sheets when you got up and you didn't wish to disturb her. It's not often you guys find an actual roof to stay under and Paimon was just a little thing, she needs all the rest she's missed since the mess in Sumeru. So you left a note telling her you had left real quick to do some commission work and had left a small bag of mora to get herself something to eat for when she inevitably got hungry.

At some point while going about your commissions, you kind of forget about the looming shadow of the man you just met yesterday lurking behind you. It's not until you're out near the Guili Plains are you reminded as you hear the heels of his boots clicking against the ground in a steady rhythm not too far behind you. You're currently trying to find some lost bags from a careless historian that did not think to check his surroundings before setting up a camp and being chased off by the hostile... "neighbors."

A few hilichurls, maybe a mitachurl or two. It shouldn't be a big deal, even with the extra company. So you continue to look around.

"I imagine that doing this sort of work is quite profitable, yes? Especially with a reputation such as yours?" Pantalone suddenly says out of the blue, his arms crossed elegantly behind his back as though he is simply strolling along the city...

"oh um- yeah, I get by. At least food wise. Some commissions pay more than others based on difficulty." You explain, continuing to go through brush and using your blade to cut the surrounding foliage out of your view before moving onto the next area. You didn't think it to be of relevance that sometimes commissioners would sometimes refuse to pay the other half of their fee.

Depending on the size of the commissions, the Adventures' Guild would allow the commissioner to pay only half upfront so that, if something were to occur to either party, at least the adventurer who completed the commission at least got something and that the commissioner didn't completely lose their money.. But sometimes, a lot of time, you'd find yourself having to exasperatedly explain this novel concept to them as they refuse to 'shell out any more mora for a job I already paid for'... It usually wasn't worth the mora to argue too long.

"Hmm... I can see that. Based on your own size and how much energy and calories you may burn in a single day, I can't imagine that a full meal or the ingredients to make a meal would be only a few handfuls mora... That among other expenses between two people if you were to include that floating fairy from yesterday would begin to add up greatly..."

At this point, he seems to be talking more to himself than to you, with his left hand, which is adorned with rings, being brought to his chin as he contemplates his own words. You can't help but imagine how Paimon would react if she were here right now, probably saying something along the lines of 'Floating fairy?! Paimon is not a floating fairy! Paimon is Paimon!', you can't help but chuckle to yourself and shake your head fondly at the thought.

"Um.... Yeah. I guess..." You really don't know how else you should respond to that, he's right to an extent but you aren't quite sure what you're supposed to make of this conversation. Pantalone simply chuckles.

"I see, have you not considered the potential of working a single job rather than traveling around as you do? From what I hear, you have a wide variety of skills and talents that could be far more lucrative than the fickle stability of the adventurers' guild..." He questions casually.

"oh um, well it's not really about the mora for me, I mean- it is to some degree because I need to feed myself and Paimon... But i also sometimes just take jobs because people are in need." You explain. Pantalone gives you a curious glance, expecting you to elaborate further.

"People in need? How so?" He questions.

"Well, I mean, look at everything going on. Inazuma just opened its borders, Liyue is now governed by humans, Sumeru lost the Akasha terminal and freed Lesser Lord Kusanali... The world is changing and with it, the situations of people change with it." You explain, unsure of how to really say that you just want to make a difference as you search for your sibling.

"Hm... I see, if only everyone thought that way," He started, "Baizhu and I grew up on the... Less fortunate side of the coin toss... Especially when Baizhu's Illness began to surface... Not many wanted to help us," He says as he gazes around, "And yet, even now, he still insists on working himself day in and day out for the sake of others before himself... I guess this need he has to help others from their illnesses stemmed from when mother and father..." He trails off, thinking to himself.

You could immediately tell that the conversation was getting a bit somber just by his expression.

"Hey um, listen, I don't really know you that well and I don't really want to be told anything that Baizhu himself hasn't said." You explain awkwardly. "I don't want him to think I'm trying to snoop into any personal details about his life, he's my friend and I want to respect that."

Pantalone nods, "I guess that makes sense, I guess since Baizhu has detailed so much about you to me through letters that it almost feels like we know one another personally..." He clears his throat after a moment, "As his friend of course."

You nod to yourself as you continue to search. Your eyes scan the ground and brush for any signs of the bags. Eventually, you find items and papers tossed aside, clearly having been discarded by something or someone. You follow the trail, picking up papers, ink bottles, and other equipment as you go. When you believe you've found the end of the trail you decide to draw your sword just in case, you expect to find an animal or a hilichurl... However, you're stopped dead in your tracks at what had actually ransacked the historian's bag.

Please don't repost my work anywhere else ;w; I plan to post this to AO3 once I update it entirely. I'm not sure how many parts there will be.

#Baizhu x reader #gn reader #traveler!reader #reader is traveler #resder self insert #genshin impact x reader #melodic musings post <3 #genshin impact #sibling rivalry | blog tag

[itsyagurlchip]

today i'm gonna post all of my recent works- I hope you guys love it! because you all deserve it.

im not gonna say i did my best on all of these, but this is the most ive made in a little over a month. (I started this around feb 27th) and im super proud of myself!

ive had this funk around my mind for a LONG time, until the people around me started to push me out of it.

and that includes you guys as well! Im so glad to have met you all, happy 80+ followers!!!

the posts after these are gonna be queued, around 3-5pm CT, and they are filled with my preferences on headcannons and oneshots, just so you can get to know me a little better.

in them you'll find some fictional characters i'd really love to be in a relationship with, loose drafts, some inclusive things ive never written before, and overall diversity compared to the things i've written before. some may have a sprinkle of my personality, others with a handful of my culture. it doesnt matter! read to your heart's content.

if the reader doesnt relate to you at all- oh well. not trying to be mean or anything- but these are my preferences. These are things that I want to see. if you want something more, please request it.

and yes I do understand the difference between cannon and head cannon (I think about it all the time!) so therefore, some things may not make sense. unless there's context ig.

speaking of- i need more reqs TT-TT (sorry for asking, ive just been getting a lil drought recently)

back to it- you may also see the occasional digital art, depending on what's gonna happen. (im currently writing this on march 1st) and i'll finish it off with some new playlists ive been brewing up for a minute!

i may also need someone to remind me to add the links to the masterlist, as well as VGL💜. If someone could do that I will be eternally grateful

and thats it!

a few things I recommend while reading:

1) I know this sounds super specific, but my works were made with canary, but they all look better in goth rave (you can change the colors when you press dashboard on the pull out menu) 2) have an open mind! while I don't know much, or haven't researched, let me know if some of the things I describe are inaccurate. (this also includes grammar and typos!) 3) have a lil snakie snack. those who don't drink water aren't welcome past this point 😡✋🏾✋🏾

i just want to show you my appreciation for you all, and what better way to do it than doing what i started this blog for?

have a wonderful day my twizzies

(yes that is what im calling you all now, cope.)

(๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵)و tags: @kittykittyanon @radicallxser @oleander-nin @towomatos @thealphagirl @ziipzeepzop-eez @amorvincitomnia-14 @spongejuice. if you would like to be added, check my blog.

#yagurlchip❤️ #hazbin hotel x reader #tadc x reader #helluva boss x reader #follower milestone #enjoyyyyyyyyyy #now I'm not gonna write for another month lmao

[topherwrites]

pls pls elaborate singing in the shower & spy au im so curious!! <3

"Singing in the Shower" is the tentative title for a shower sex jake fic with too much plot added in.

here's a snippet from the rough draft under the cut, 18+ only:

His voice takes on a familiar tone, the same one from flight school when he’d be picking apart why a maneuver didn’t work, or more specifically why someone else had failed at it. Like your inability to orgasm tonight is just an engineering problem. A little math, a little grease, and he can fix this. “What isn't working?” “Well, every time I get close I remember whose dick is in me.” He rolls his eyes, his voice taking on a bored tone, “We’ve established that you do not hate me enough for that." You stay silent, refusing to admit that you do not, in fact, hate him enough to deny yourself an orgasm. He hasn't done anything genuinely hackles-raising in some time, having toned down at least twenty percent of his dickishness, so there's less active resentment being worked out while you're fucking.  It's easy and fun being with him. Oh god, you like seeing his texts light up your phone. You enjoy his purposively bad sexts, that you're sure he only sends so you'll come over and fuck him to get him to stop. You come to the horrifying, jarring conclusion that he may very well be your friend, sort of. Fuck. Biting your lip, you amend, “Fine, maybe it's not that.” “I gathered.” He nudges you, “I can tell something’s going on up there, wanna fill me in?” “No.” You admit with a little sigh, “I don't know.” “Well, I'm tired, so we’re just going to sit here.” “Sorry, my pussy is broken today.” Your phrasing draws a little stomach-tensing laugh out of him, eyes creasing as he looks at you. His perfectly calloused palms slide up and down your thighs. His lips are curved into a soft little smile. “It’s fine.” “You can just…” your eyes focus on a water droplet on his collarbone, eyebrows jumping in allusion, unable to really say it, “if you want to.” He catches the implication; he can just get off and be done with it if he wants. Annoyance twists his features, his brow furrowing, though it doesn't feel wholly directed at you. “Jesus, I can feel myself getting soft,” he scoffs, “You're not a fleshlight.” And you actually can feel him start to lose his erection under you.

The spy au I'm currently working on came about mostly cause I saw Greg Tarzan Davis in the newest Mission Impossible and simply couldn't help myself. I also love spy stuff, I've always been intrigued by media that had spies in it since I was a kid. I grew up watching the Bond movies and shows like Nikita, Covert Affairs, Burn Notice, and Chuck. Most of which have a decidedly more pg or pg-13 tone than my au.

I'm planning on it being a few different interconnected series (maybe?).

All of their call signs and the nicknames for the reader are codenames in this.

So, an agent who was previously presumed dead, Spectre, she and Jake, aka Hangman, were partners and after her death he was never really the same. He's been on desk duty for the past two years.

Bob, an analyst on the team, was asked by Jake to put an indefinite facial recognition alert for her. So it kicks off with him getting a hit for her in London. The Operations Manager, Mav, brings Bradley onto the case, ordering him not to tell Jake about the revelation until they know more, and sending him to London to track Spectre down.

There in London, to play nice with a foreign government and give the impression that they respect jurisdiction, he's teamed up with an MI5 agent, Rook.

Shit spirals from there.

here's a snippet:

A last wet little gurgle leaves his throat as he goes still, his eyes left staring toward nothing. His head hangs back limply, red clinging to the corners of his slack mouth, the viscera of his throat exposed. Blood rhythmically drips to the floor. The pool grows beneath him. This sort of thing used to shake you, now you just follow a well-run routine, not necessarily numb, but devoid of the emotions doing something as grotesque as this should provoke. Violence should stir, you know this, you used to be stirred by it.  The first time you killed someone it was sloppy and panicked, you cried afterward. Mav sealed it with the stamp of self-defense, a good kill, but it didn't rid you of the lingering feeling of being damned. Maybe, the last vestiges of growing up catholic. You used to be a mourner, silently giving them their last rights, knowing the weight of every life. A witness to people’s final drawn breaths. Now, you're a butcher. You don't leave the blood for long, scrubbing your hands in the sink before it settles and dries in the cracks.

#wip game #tag game #answered anon #jake seresin x reader #bradley bradshaw x reader #queue

[babyinatrenchcoat]

Coming Out - Sister Winchester

Sooo this has been sitting in my drafts since 2017… apparently I came up with the idea in choir class my senior year 😅 I pretty much abandoned my account for like six years, but I’ve been revisiting it the last few days and thought I might as well finish this for shits and gigs.

Also, it turned out a bit more lengthy than I had originally anticipated… I don’t have a word count, I’m sorry

Descrpition: Coming out as gay/lesbian (whichever you prefer to say) to your older brothers.

Characters: Sam, Dean, Sister!reader, Charlie (mentioned)

Warnings: LGBTQ+ (if any of you need that as a warning), strong language (one word, said once)

~~~~~

Today is the day. The inevitability of this day gave you nightmares. The day you’d finally tell your brother’s the truth. You’re certain they both support it. They're fine with Charlie, after all. But that doesn't calm your nerves. The three of you found out pretty close to immediately upon meeting her. But you? Sam and Dean have known you your whole life. This will be so much different.

You pace back and forth in the bunker library, slowly boring a hole into the floor. Your thumb nail quickly becomes raw from your teeth as you run over what you plan to say in your head. This is the most nerve racking thing you’ve ever done. Ever had to do. Because this has to be done. They have to know the truth. It's the only way you can be your whole self around your family.

Not that you’re ashamed. No, it’s more that you’ve never actually said the words out loud. You’ve known about yourself for a very long time, but saying it aloud makes it real. These are different times. You know you have nothing to be ashamed of. Even still, your heart pounds in your throat.

The door starts to open, causing you to stop in your tracks and stare up at it. The color drains from your face, and your heart rate quickens, as if it was possible. Sam and Dean step inside, and you swear you can hear the rapid thumping of your heartbeat in you ears. Your brothers walk down the stairs and into the library where you stand chewing your nail with a terrified look on your face. They notice.

“What’s wrong, y/n?” The eldest brother asks.

“Did something happen?” Sam adds.

You take a deep breath. “Can you guys just sit down please?” The brothers exchange a confused glance before obeying.

“What's going on?” Sam asks as he pulls up his chair.

You run your hands through your hair and begin pacing again. Where do you begin? “Okay, so... I've been wanting to tell you guys this for a while now, but... I dunno, I've been scared, and I haven't really know how to do it, and-” Dean cuts off your rambling.

“Y/n,” he says, bringing your pacing to a halt. “You’re scaring me, kid, calm down. Breathe.” You obey. “Now tell us what's up. You didn't free the Leviathins again or anything, did you?”

You chuckle slightly. “No.”

“Then I don't think there's anything you could do that would be much worse,” he continues, adding a smile. “Talk to us, little sis.”

You try to rethink your approach, but come up dry. Finally, you become impatient with yourself and decide to just spill your guts. “Alright, I'm just gonna say it. But please, please promise that you won't hate me.”

“We could never hate you!” Sam immediately says.

The genuineness in his hazel eyes calms your nerves just a little. But only a little. You still have to force down the golf ball sized lump in your throat. You close your eyes and take another deep breath. Keeping your eyes shut, you finally let it out.

“I’m gay.”

And there it is. It’s out. You’re out. The reality of the words you just said sets in. You’ve never said those words out loud. The pit in your stomach tightens, and you have to hold your breath to keep from crying. Your nerves are still shot, but you also feel free. You’re out! There’s no taking it back now.

You keep your eyes pressed shut for a moment, afraid to see a disappointed look on your brothers’ faces. Finally, you convince yourself to pry one eye open, the curiosity of their reactions becoming overbearing.

Your brothers look at each other, then back at you. An identical smirk spreads across both pairs of lips.

What the hell is that?

Your other eye shoots open and you glare at them, waiting for something, anything, to come out of their mouths. “Well say something!” You practically shout. Dean fails to stifles a chuckle, while Sam allows his smile to spread further. “Why are you laughing?!”

“Y/n,” Same begins. “We know.”

Your whole world shatters, then the pieces come back together in an entirely new arrangement in a split second. The only word you can muster is “What?”

Dean clears his throat and leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “Do you remember when you told us about your first kiss?”

How could you forget? “Uh, I seem to remember the two of you pestering the shit out of me until I told you.”

You had made the mistake of coming back to the motel you temporarily called home still blushing profusely. You tried like hell to suppress the crimson color of your burning cheeks, to no avail. “What’s his name?” Your eldest brother had immediately said. How were you supposed to react to his use of the word ‘his’?

Dean snickers about the memory now. “Right,” he agrees. “Anyway, you told us the kid’s name was Alex.”

Where is he going with this? It’s not like you lied. You just chose to leave out the fact that Alex wasn’t a boy. “Yeah?”

Dean pauses for a moment as if to give you a chance to catch up. You respond by simply raising your brows, silently asking him to continue. He looks to Sam for help.

“There wasn’t a single boy named Alex in your school,” Sam says.

Oh.

Heat rises to your entire face. At the time, you hadn’t considered that possibility.

“There was, however, an Alexandra in your grade,” Dean adds. He lifts one eyebrow at you.

You cover the embarrassment on your face with your hands. You’ve been so worried to tell them something that they already knew. Since your were 15, you’ve been trying to keep a cat in a bag that had a giant hole in the bottom. A laugh pushes itself from your stomach, and you drop your hands.

“I should’ve known you guys would try to find the guy,” you say.

Sam scrunches his eyebrows, keeping the smile spread across his face. “Well, yeah,” he sasses.

“Did you honestly think that we would find out that some horny teenage boy was mackin’ on our kid sister and not try to find out who he was?” Dean says.

You toss your palms up in surrender. “Like I said, I should’ve known,” you smile. “You broke into the school, didn’t you?”

“Of course,” Sam casually says with a quick shrug. All you can do is shake your head. A short moment of silence later, Sam rises to his feet and holds out his arms. “C’mere,” he says, gesturing you towards the space between his arms.

In the time it takes you to walk to him, Dean stands as well, holding one arm open to you. You reach the two of them and collapse into the embrace of the group hug. The weight of a thousand worlds lifts off your shoulders and is replaced by comfort. Comfort you only ever feel from your brothers.

You squeeze your arms around them just a bit tighter. “You guys are the best big brothers a girl could ask for.”

Dean squeezes back and plants a kiss on the top of your head. “You mean the world to us, Y/n, you know that.”

You nuzzle yourself further into your brothers’ arms. The last ten minutes replays in your mind, and you can’t help but giggle. “I can’t believe you guys have known this whole time.”

“Of course we knew,” Sam’s voice sounds from above you. “And even if we hadn’t found out then, you’re not exactly discreet about checking out bartenders and waitresses.”

The only defense you can think of is a slap on his chest. The action sends the two men away from you in a laughing fit.

“I am so!”

“You are so not,” Dean says between chuckles.

After the three of you recover from your laughter, you just stare at them for a moment. You’ve been worried for nothing. These two dorks would do anything for you. There’s nothing in the universe that would make them think any less of you.

“I love you guys,” you say.

Dean reaches over and tousles your hair. “We love you too, kiddo.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Let me know if you guys want the story of the boys finding out about Alexandra, cause I would LOVE to write that in detail.

#sister!winchester #sister!reader #supernatural #sam winchester #dean winchester #spn #sam and dean #sister winchester #supernatural reader insert #supernatural fanfiction #supernatural imagine

[chayscribbles]

chayscribbles’ monthly writing update ☆ february 2024

yes, i know, february has an extra day this year, but i'm posting this today bc i won't have time tomorrow lol

☆ STATISTICS.

projects worked on: The Gemini Heist

proudest accomplishment: i... wrote?... i guess??? *can't remember a single thing i did this month for some reason*

books read: Witch King by Martha Wells. i'm ngl, i was lost like 80% of the time, but that might just be a skill issue on my part (it's the kind of book that throws you into the thick of it without holding your hand and listening to the audiobook with the attention span that i have was... probably not the wisest idea lol)

(alhough funnily enough, it's while having this audiobook on in the background that i came up with a lot of my plot thoughts for gemini heist LMAO. either that or while playing zelda.)

☆ GENERAL COMMENTS.

although i did get writing done this month, this update's gonna be short. i don't really have much to say lol

more specific wip-related comments + featured excerpt below.

☆ COMMENTS: THE GEMINI HEIST (draft 0.5)

it's very weird to not be using word count to track my progress anymore. freeing, but weird. i have no concept of how much i've actually done for this wip this month.

i do know i've figured out a bit more stuff about the heist and the lore. i had a big plot brainstorming session and untangled a few scenes. while i know what direction i want the story to head, i still don't know how any of this gets resolved, tho.

and i wrote out a few important scenes. that's progress, right?

☆ FEATURED EXCERPT.

i've been writing so chaotically out of order based on whatever scene i feel most inspired for in the moment that i,,, honestly can't remember what i've written this month vs what i had already written before 🥲 here's a scene that i THINK i wrote in february. Leo and Illiana might be my new favourite dynamic. (for context, Illiana is posing as her identical twin at a party, and Leo is posing as a guest. they came in separately.)

With the bodyguards tailing her the entire way, Illiana slowly made her way towards [Leo]. She tolerated a few brief exchanges with other guests she crossed paths with to appear natural, then, once she was close enough, she slipped the extra comm out of the pocket concealed in her skirt. She made a show of bending down to pick up something, then strode towards Leo. “Excuse me,” she said as she approached. “I believe you dropped your earring.” Leo turned to her, smile strained underneath her veil. “Oh, thank you,” she said, holding out her hand. Illiana placed the comm into her palm, taking care to hide it from the guards. As Leo angled her head away to slip it into her ear, she added, “I must say, your Holiness, this is quite a lovely party.” “Why, thank you, Miss…” She faltered, realizing she didn’t know Leo’s alias. “I’m sorry, I don’t believe I’m familiar with you.” “I’m a business leader from Tharekkan,” Leo said, pressing her palms together and giving Illiana a slight bow with her head. “It’s an honour to be here.” Illiana was surprised that Leo, with all her meticulous planning, didn’t have a fake name ready, and now she was curious. “How may I address you?” Leo’s already tense smile tightened even more. “‘Miss’ is fine,” she replied, practically through clenched teeth.  “No, I meant, your na—” “I’ve been told much about how lovely Fiolsby is, right before the winter,” Leo cut off, an unnatural segue back to the script they had practiced. “But I haven’t had the time to properly see the city.” Now Illiana just had to pry Leo's fake name out of her. “Really? That’s a shame. You know, the gardens offer a wonderful view of the city. Would you like to see, Miss…?” She let her sentence trail off, watching Leo expectantly. “If it’s not too much trouble, I would love that,” Leo replied, to Illiana’s annoyance.

☆ TAGLISTS. let me know if you want to be added/removed to any of them.

general taglist:

@dgwriteblr @the-orangeauthor @onomatopiya @quilloftheclouds @ashen-crest @writeblrfantasy @celestepens @stardustspiral @pepperdee @extra-magichours @avi-why @lefttigerobservation @chazzawrites @bardolatrycore @innocentlymacabre @subtlefires

gemini heist taglist:

@florraisons @akindofmagictoo @cream-and-tea @memento-morri-writes @antique-symbolism @rose-bookblood @afoolandathief @pepperdee @avi-why @zonnemaagd @chazzawrites @analogued @enchanted-lightning-aes @innocentlymacabre @kahvilahuhut @celestepens @cilly-the-writer @extra-magichours @onomatopiya @outpost51 @planets-and-prose

#chayscribbles writing update #wip gemini heist

[candlecoo]

my purpose in life for today seems to be begging my favorite creator, candle, to ramble about whatever has caught their fancy today. so could you please ramble at us for a while whenever you have time! i feel like i’m being very demanding, so i apologize

no need to apologize!!!

this just gives me a reason to share my region map for my Pokémon au cause I'm very proud of it!

so this is basically just a rough draft of the map so far, in the future there may be more routes and towns added, but for now here it is. While one or two of the islands would have a bridge to connect them, the main way to get from one island to another would be hopping on a ferry!

I may also sit down and play some classic Pokémon games cause it's been 10+ years since I've played one that wasn't sword/shield and scarlet/violet. The last one I remember finishing was Pokémon black and white so yeah my memory is a bit hazy?

I'm still working on the Pokedex and town names for my Indonesian inspired region but I'm enjoying it alot!

#pokemon powers au #fanmade region #candle answers #ask the candle #bnha au #bnha #bnha headcannons #digital art #my art #art

[whimsyswastry]

MUTUAL CATCH UP 💛

I was tagged by @quietborderline <33 and I'll tag @flamehairedsiren @pigeontheoneandonly @greypetrel @n7viper @unicorn-farm @paraparadigm @ripley95 @yesiplaygamez @nerdyspeechy @vela-ad-astra

(Some of you are new mutuals or mutuals I haven't connected with in a while, so as always, there's never any pressure to these 💛)

--

last song : Where's My Love (Alternate Version) - SYML

currently watching : Resident Alien -- I needed something low stakes today.

three ships : Honestly, I've been in a very Shepard/Kaidan place for the last two years. But I still appreciate Scott/Reyes and Spike/Buffy here and there.

favourite colour : I don't really have one in particular, but I love rich jewel tones or desaturated pastels....I'm also a big fan of black and grey.

currently consuming : I'm interpreting this as what I'm eating/drinking, because I don't like the idea of anyone's creation simply being "consumed." Anyway, I just finished off an decaf iced chai latte that I made.

first ship : lmao well this is embarrassing. It was Berg/Irene from Two Guys a Girl and a Pizza Place. An unfinished Halloween-themed fic is still available on FF.Net but I read the first two sentences before I decided I couldn't link it. In my defense, I was 13.

place of birth : US

current location : Literally 2 miles from where I was born

relationship status : Married 💛 (FLOORED that we've known each other for 20 years this summer)

last movie : The Fellowship of the Ring (who's shocked?)

currently working on : I am working on round one of edits (a read-through w/ notes) of my mostly finished draft of Priority: Leviathan which is an AU that focuses primarily on the events of the ME3 Leviathan DLC. The biggest (and most exciting) change being Despoina (the ocean world with the Leviathan creature) is an underwater research facility rampant with indoctrination.

#about whimsy #tag games

[magentagalaxies]

Kids in the Archive: Episode 2

the long-awaited follow up to my kids in the archive series, where i highlight the original scripts i have uncovered from iconic kids in the hall sketches and showcase the changes between script and screen.

Previous Episodes: Episode 1 - armada finale ("do we make it?")

today we're traveling all the way back to S1E8 for the classic Fran & Gordon sketch The Vacation.

fran & gordon, and the entire wilson family for that matter, have always been some of my favorite recurring characters mostly because Fran is my own mother's favorite KITH character. even before I started watching the show myself, I remember her quoting the "salty ham" sketch to me as a kid, and since kids in the hall has become such a part of our lives she often compares herself to fran with her own quaint mom mannerisms. my personal favorite fran & gordon sketch is the one where their son gets caught trying to steal gordon's wallet in the middle of the night, though i loved their reappearance in the revival season too.

The Opening

this sketch is fairly faithful to its script in the opening, with the only major difference being fran's outfit in the description. this is understandable, as the outfit in the sketch still captures a similar vibe and contrasts nicely with the orange-and-yellow color scheme of the kitchen itself. otherwise, only small phrases are substituted likely for pacing.

The Extra Wilson Family Lore

the only major deviation between these two versions of the sketch is a page of dialogue between fran and gordon which takes place before it's revealed brian didn't come home the previous night

once again, i can assume this exchange was cut for the purpose of pacing since the sketch is already on the longer end of kith scenes, and while there aren't any jokes i'm devastated to have missed, i do love how all of this added info is so in-character that of course this is something else they'd have in mind preparing for their vacation. however, the addition of this page does modify our understanding of fran's behavior: in the show version, her obsessive checking of the stove seems to be a coping mechanism consciously made so she can wait to see if brian walks in before she leaves. in the script, though, she doesn't remember this fact until gordon mentions her son directly. this implies that while the stove behavior was still motivated by brian, it was likely subconscious, or perhaps she is like this every time she travels.

The Ending

unlike our previous entry, this script does not include an extra ending beat, and instead ends a beat earlier with this line:

however, that might not be the case. most scripts i've found have the word "(FADE)" after the last line signifying the sketch is done, and this page instead ends with the stage direction above. it's entirely possible there's a page of this script i do not have in my possession, but for now this script does not include the final punchline of gordon's schedule having alotted time for a family blowout.

overall, this is one of the more faithful script-to-screen adaptations in my kith collection, likely because it was a table read script, while the armada script was a rough draft. while i was in toronto last time, bruce taught me that there was a different font and formatting used depending on which stage of development a script was in, with rough drafts, table read scripts, and shooting scripts all present. this script was at a stage where the writer(s) would be sharing it with the rest of the troupe, but other jokes could still easily be slotted in. my favorite jokes of this sketch, "why don't you just cut out my heart and put it in the bird feeder!" and "well, if you do get drunk, do it in the basement so you won't fall down the stairs" are nowhere to be found, but the general structure is as sturdy as the wilson family matriarch

#kids in the archive #time for a jessay #kids in the hall #scott thompson #kith #bruce mcculloch #90s vintage #sketch comedy #script to screen

[robairegif]

— TICKLISH . . .

sypnosis : you were really curious if robaire is ticklish, and there's only one way to know it, tickling him after a long, tiring day at work.

genre : soft fluff. we love fluffy fluff.

notes : i missed writing omg, i've been away since a month, and i missed writing for 4town so much🥹 anyways here's your content !! i finished this in one sitting, and i still have one in my drafts, but i couldn't seem to finish that so, probably it will come out in another month again/j

“ mon amour, i'm home! ” he says, the tiredness from his voice was obvious, of course. who wouldn't be tired if you're literally the leader of the most famous band in the world?

and you, you had the randomest thought in your head after he got home.

' is he ticklish? i haven't seen him being tickled by the others, what if i.....no. he's probably tired right now. '

“ oh, welcome home, darling! ” you greet him your sweet voice, oh, how he loved hearing your voice so much.

he rested his head into your shoulders, his eyes closed. he was indeed, tired.

“ how was your day? ” you said, softly caressing his shoulders.

“ hmm, it went well... ” he said, face still buried on your shoulders.

you chuckled, “ hm, you did a great job today, love. ”

you always tell him that whenever he comes home, and it never fails to fluster him. he missed hearing your voice.

and of course, you couldn't just forget about your plan so easily, then, you started tickling him, earning an confused hum from him.

“ what are you doingggggg? ” he says, you laugh in response.

you pout, “ hm, i actually wanted to see if you were tickish or not.. ”

he chuckled at your response, “ nice try, mon cher. ”

his response making you pout more “ it sounded like you were teasing me. ”

“ i know something that will make you stop from sulking. ” he says with a smirk on his face, while you, on the other hand, is confused.

“ what is it? is it chocolates? a plushie? movie marathon with you? ” you asked, looking at him, confused. he smiled in response,

“ none of them, actually. ” he said, which making you more confused, not when he started tickling you

“ hey- WHAT- ” you said beetween laughs. he chuckled at the sight of you. oh god, the two of you were so adorable.

“ ROBAIRE! STOPFFHHHH!! ” you managed to say his name beetween laughs, he couldn't help it, he finds you adorable like this.

he stops tickling you, “ fine, i'll stop. ”

“ in one condition, ” he added. your brows furrowed in his response,

“ let me cuddle with you, for as long as i want, please? ” he says, hugging your waist, whils resting his head in your shoulders, again. well, it was his favorite thing to do.

“ fine. ” you said, before kissing his forehead.

#4town x reader #4townie #4town imagines #4town x you #4town #4town turning red #turning red #turning red robaire #jesse turning red #turning red aaron t #turning red aaron z #turning red tae young #robaire 4town #jesse 4town #aaron t 4town #aaron z 4town #tae young 4town #robaire turning red #aaron t turning red #aaron z turning red #tae young turning red #4town fanfic #4town fanart #4town x gn reader #4town au #4 town #4town headcanons #turning red headcanons

[prettylittlelyres]

Ladies Don't Write Music - 15th November 2023 - update

I'm on track for NaNoWriMo because I hit 25,000 words for the month today! I'm so pleased. Attempting NaNoWriMo at all this year was a huge gamble because I haven't written over 25,000 words since February 2023, and even then I only managed just over 37k... but I've written 25k in the last two weeks and a day!

I also finished writing Chapter Twelve today, and brought it in at 5,000 words exactly. That's both immensely satisfying, and a point of pride; it's the fastest I've finished a chapter on this manuscript since I started drafting it at the end of July. The full manuscript is now just over 60,000 words long, and I want to do some more writing before I go to bed.

Below the cut: a celebratory excerpt, my NaNoWriMo 25k badge, and the cover I designed at the start of November, because I'm proud of that, too.

I clapped the right tempo, and counted Fräulein Schneider in.

She began, halting here and there, but, in general, playing very well.

“I’m not sure if you need a teacher,” I said, as she came to the end of the first page, “You sight-read just fine, and your sense of rhythm is strong.”

Fräulein Schneider beamed at me. “Thank you!” she said, “But it’s… it’s the pitch that I struggle with. Did I really…” She looked down at her hands. “Did I really play that correctly? I keep thinking I was pressing the wrong keys, but I don’t like to look at my hands when I’m sight-reading, or I lose my place in the music.”

I shook my head. “There was nothing wrong with the notes you played,” I said, “Considering it was your first time with the piece, actually, it was excellent.”

Louisa raised her eyebrows, and looked from me to the sheet music, and then back again. “That’s… That’s a surprise,” she said, “I’ve always thought I was, well… quite bad at the harpsichord. I practise, but the music never makes any more sense than it does when I start learning a piece. My last two teachers gave up on me, but I keep playing anyway because Papa and Mama said it would be a good way to entertain my husband one day.”

“Doesn’t it sound good to you, at least?” I asked, “I mean, do you like the way it sounds, even if it’s a little confusing?”

She smiled. “Yes, very much… but I worry that it doesn’t sound so good to other people. Full of wrong notes… Who would enjoy hearing a piece they recognise mangled out of shape?”

I tapped the page she had just played. “You certainly didn’t mangle this,” I said.

“Oh,” she said, covering her face with her hands, “That’s a relief!” Then her eyes widened as she dropped her hands to her lap. “Goodness me, how embarrassing it would have been if I’d played it badly in front of its composer.”

“Badly, not at all,” I assured her, sitting down next to her at the bench, “A little slowly, perhaps, but…” I played the first few bars as they should have been played. “That’s what it’s meant to sound like. And what you played was close enough. Honestly, Louisa, if you practise for even half an hour every day, I think you’ll have the first page fluent in less than a week. Your hands will learn it, even if your ears don’t.”

I decided a while ago that Johann Schneider's character would be tone-deaf, and would enjoy watching music performed for the movement. He has a younger sister and I thought it would be interesting to explore her having the same difficulties. Johann isn't a musician (yet), but Louisa plays the harpsichord and has a lot of trouble feeling confident in what she's playing because she's never sure she's got the right pitch. Luckily, her proprioception is excellent (as is Johann's, which is why he can dance so well), so she can put her fingers on the right keys without needing to see them. This is what Katharina's trying to help her see here, in this ad-hoc music lesson; she doesn't need to hear what she's playing to be able to play it well.

I'm quite enjoying playing around with parallels between Johann & Louisa Schneider and Katharina & Hans Schmidt. In both pairs of siblings, you have the older, more serious one having trouble meeting people's expectations, in contrast with the younger, more humourous one having very little trouble at all. The pairs also mirror each other in their strengths and weaknesses: Katharina and Hans have audiovisual projective synaesthesia and perfect pitch, so can hear and see the music they're making; Johann and Louisa are literally tone-deaf (Johann completely, Louisa almost completely) and music for them is a much more visual thing than it is for most people. Then there's Katharina, whose coordination is so bad it causes problems, being the opposite of Johann, whose coordination makes him an excellent dancer who then has problems because he finds constant poorly-veiled requests to dance at parties very tiring.

#writeblr #blog #violins and violets #Violins and violets series #nanowrimo #NaNoWriMo 2023 #nanowrimo update #cover design #historical fiction #excerpt #my writing #nanowrimo milestone #Katharina schmidt #hans schmidt #johann schneider #louisa schneider #characters with synaesthesia #tone-deaf characters #character foils #violins and violets book 1

[truly-hopeless]

Honest Question About A Fic

So not too long ago, while at work, I was thinking about a story of mine that I haven't updated in almost two years. The story is titled "I Move the Stars For No One," which is a retelling of Rumpelstiltskin with L/Light Yagami as the main ship that I started writing after reading other LawLight fairy tale rewrites, namely eleonoraw's Merman and Totoroto's Snow Moon. It was my first story published to AO3 near the beginning of the pandemic and was my first LawLight fic. It currently sits unfinished at seven chapters (there was an eighth, a scrapped prologue, but I moved it to "The Dead Darling Graveyard" since it had little to do with the story) and was last updated December 2021. While I like parts of the current version (such integrating other fairy tales into the story since I'm a sucker for that kind of thing), I feel dissatisfied with the story for several reasons:

It's taking too long to get to the main conflict of the story (Beyond disrupting Light and L's arrangement and the two needing to find a way to stop that from happening) even without the long hiatuses and that smaller conflicts (L hiding he's a goblin from Light, Light feeling conflicted about what to do now that he's not going to be executed, and Misa's jealousy) are getting resolved too easily.

The story barely resembles Rumplestiltskin at all. Sure, it was always going to be a different story from the original fairy tale since the protagonists' identities and circumstances that make them desperate enough to ask a magical stranger for help and who they fall in love with are not the same (while the miller's daughter can definitely do better than the greedy king demanding she spin straw into gold on pain of death, never in a million years is she going to consider the man who demands she hand over her baby [presumably to eat it] in exchange for his help marriage material unless there is serious tweaking done to his character), it still feels off.

The main characters feel out of character. Light and L became too familiar too fast (even for a ship fic) and there's no real tension after L's deception is revealed and Light forgives him (too easily, I feel). And while I don't necessarily want to vilify Misa to add conflict (especially since I just complained about how awful the king in the original fairy tale was), she should be a little more unwilling to share Light with L (even if she is the one that gets to marry him) and push back more.

I just hate the title. It was taken from lyrics of a song from Labyrinth, but outside of L being the King of Goblins in this story and the memory-wiping peaches there's nothing in common with Labyrinth either; it could have been, if I wasn't afraid of adding more conflict and making L more dark grey when it comes to morality, but that wasn't what I wrote.

So I'm thinking about rewriting the story, to make it more in line with both the original fairy tale and in the spirit of LawLight. But that comes with it's own problems:

If you've been following me for any amount of time, you'll know that I'm not the most consistent when it comes to updating my stories; it could be anywhere between a week to four months to a whole year before I update something due to a combination of burnout, stress when I think about how I'm almost thirty and nothing in my life is coming together, and being distracted by other story ideas. Speaking of...

I have too much shit going on as is when it comes to writing. I was tagged for that WIP ask game a few weeks ago, where I had to list out all the stuff I've been working on. The list has 31 drafts and I found out today that I still forgot to list a couple (not going back to change it now) and then there are ideas that play out in my head during work or when I'm trying to sleep that I haven't brought myself to write down because I am trying to keep the new WIPs to a minimum.

I have yet to finish a long story (I have the same problem as the protagonist from Dave Made a Maze: I start all these projects, but never finish them) and will feel slightly guilty for abandoning yet another one, even if it's for the sake of a rewrite instead of abandoning it altogether and trying to forget they exist like the stories on my FFN account.

So what should I do?

#fanfiction #lawlight #fairy tale retelling #rumplestiltskin #tumblr polls #writing #death note #fantasy