#i know 1k is not a big number to a lot of people! But it’s very big to me!!

[finelinevogue]

the eras

summary - harry is the best boyfriend ever and not just because he has taylor swifts number

pairing - boyfriend!harry x reader

word count - ~1k

.’•*,.’>*,~<\*•,.-:’•.~_,*^;-.•*

“Hey babe.” You answered the phone whilst you wandered down the bakery aisle at Tescos.

Friday night was always grocery shopping night. The end of a week, beginning the weekend a fresh.

“Hey.” Harry answered.

“You okay? Need anything?”

“No, uh, you put cereal bars on the list right?”

“Yeah. I got ‘em. Where are you?”

“I’m just leaving Gem’s now. I’ll be home just before you I think.” He coughed out.

“Okay.” You said reaching for a loaf of whole grain bread, because Harry doesn’t care for white bread and you refuse to eat bread with seeds in.

“Need to ask y’something though.” He cleared his throat, which got you listening carefully.

“Right…”

You walked down the crockery aisle, because you cannot help yourself when it comes to an eclectic mug collection. You see a new, cool, mug? You buy it. There’s no other option.

As you pondered over whether any of the mugs took your fancy, Harry continued talking.

“So I spoke to someone today.”

“Uh… Congratulations?” You laughed out nervously, making a joke in a weird situation.

“You wanna know who?”

“Well, obviously.”

“Taylor.”

No second name was needed.

It was obvious who he meant.

You stopped reaching for a mug and instead stood still. You couldn’t move for a brief second, until you remembered you were in public and thought that being a statue might be a bit odd.

You placed the basket filled with groceries on the floor and pushed your hand back through your hair to ground you.

“Okay.”

“And she’s offered me - us - something.”

“Am I going to to get jealous? ‘Cause you know how much of a power couple you two made.” You giggled nervously.

“There’s too much to unpack there for a phone conversation, but no you won’t get jealous. Well, I mean, maybe you will I don’t really know what goes on in your head someti–”

“Harry!” You paused him.

“Taylor’s given us free Era’s tour tickets.”

You gasped a little bit.

Well, a lot. So much so that the people around you stopped to watch you, thinking something was wrong with the aisle or the mugs.

“Fuck off.” You cupped your hand over your mouth.

“Yeah, for London. Said we can come to all of them, or just one and whichever date.”

“No, babe, stop. You’re fucking lying.” Your eye’s watered.

Harry knew how much of a Swiftie you were. Like BIG time. You’d been a fan for a very long time. Through all the hate and all the drama, you had been there. Harry was even saved in your phone as ‘Taylor’s Ex’ as a period of time - as a healthy joke between the two of you.

You had a TikTok that was dedicated to being a fan, but it was mostly filled with you reacting to Taylor content or filming a series of videos where you rated Harry’s outfits - even though you’re with him when he’s getting dressed in a morning.

To not only get to go to the Eras tour, but to be invited by Taylor herself… Well. World ended.

“No, it’s real. Promise.” Harry laughed to himself, imagining you right now.

A few tears ran down your cheeks.

“Fuck. This is so embarrassing.” You laughed, wiping your nose and sniffling. “I’m literally crying on the mugs aisle.”

“Y/N, baby, we don’t need anymore mugs!” Harry laughed more.

“Shut up, yes we do. Wait. Is this real?”

“It is, my love. You’re going to the Eras tour.”

#harry styles #harry styles x reader #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles x y/n #harry styles fanfic #ask finelinevogue #harry blurb #finelinevogue #harry styles concept #harry oneshot #harry styles blurbs #harry styles boyfriend fic #harry styles eras #harry styles taylor swift

[anikaluv]

miles 42 fic with this maybe ? https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT88Q1Skn/

you great btw girl!!

CATCH THIS MCFIST —

❤︎︎ pairing:  Miles (e!42) × fem!reader

❤︎︎ genre: fluff

❤︎︎ cw:  cussing, reader and Miles being violent lmao, reader being threatened

❤︎︎ summary: You and Miles work at McDonalds together and one day a rude customer starts to shout at you and things start to go wrong quickly. Thankfully your boyfriend is here to save the day.

❤︎︎ w/c: 1k

❤︎︎ a/n: I really tried to come up with something funny for the title but at one point I just gave up lmao

You wanted to save up your first car. Everyone around you was already getting theirs on their 16th birthdays, but your momma wasn't going to spend 20k on something for you. So, you decided to take matters into your own hands and get a job to save the money. When you told Miles about your plan, he did the most supportive thing any boyfriend would do.

He suggested to work with you of course.

It had been two months since you and Miles started working together at McDonald's. There haven't been any major incidents so far, except for the occasional Karen being upset about the number of fries in her basket. Overall, things were going good.

Your routine had settled into a comfortable pattern. Each day, you would wake up, get dressed, and Miles would pick you up. You both went to work, and after a long day, you'd return home, only to repeat the cycle all over again. Spending so much time together was becoming something cozy for the both of you.

Until one douche had to fuck shit up.

It was a normal Tuesday afternoon, which meant it was busy. The drive thru was jacked up, and people were bustling at the front counters in lines that stretched so far you couldn’t the see the end. You could hear Miles groaning from behind you while preparing himself.

You walked towards him and giggled. Cupping his face between your hands you pulled him to you and stole a light peck as he hummed grogily. “We got this guapo (handsome)”, you whispered before whisking away to appease the people at the counter.

You handled the first few people in line efficiently, taking their orders and swiftly typing them into the pad while completing the transactions with ease. Then, a guy came forward.

He was on the older side and well, quite big. The moment he walked up to tell you his order, he coughed loudly without bothering to cover his mouth. Before you could even speak, he held up a finger, signaling you to wait. You knew that this customer was going to test your patience.

“Hi Sir, welcome! Do you know what you-“ you began, but you were shushed. “Hol’ on darlin’, im still lookin’” he said, not bothering to make eye contact with you, abruptly interrupting your sentence. Gritting your teeth, you responded, "Of course, Sir, take your time."

.

.

.

It has now been 2 minutes. This old, fat, sack of dust has been staring at the menu for 2 minutes and you can tell you weren’t the only one annoyed. The customers eyeing him in line were starting to get restless and soon the curses they were muttering under their breathes would be shouted out loud.

You cleared your throat before speaking, trying to catch his attention. He finally turned towards you. Ignoring his offended face, you brought him back to reality, "Sir, do you know what you would like to order? There are plenty of customers behind you waiting for service," you said, gently nudging him to make a decision.

You watched as the man started to frown deeply at you, clenching his fists and turning red. "Damn woman, can you just wait a goddamn minute?" he snapped, and you raised an eyebrow at his sudden anger towards you, confused if your tone had come off as arrogant.

In defense, you raised your arms, trying to remain calm. "I understand, Sir, it's just that there are a lot of customers waiting behind you, and it seems you don't know what you want to order," you soothed, using a more calming tone as the man clenched his teeth.

"Who are you to talk down to me like this? I don't think you know your place, sweetheart," he said, the affectionate nickname sounding nothing less than condescending. Now you were starting to get angry, but you resisted the urge to shout back, not wanting an employee complaint so early in your employment. Instead, you took deep breaths to stay composed.

However, the man in front of you seemed determined to escalate the situation. "Someone might just have to teach you some manners, doll," he smirked, punching his fist into his hand in a menacing manner. Truth be told, you knew how to defend yourself, but this man was much larger than you, so you couldn't help but feel frightened.

Little did you know, your loving boyfriend had been watching the scene unfold since the beginning, and he decided that it had gone too far.

Miles strode up to the counter, pushing you behind him, and scowled at the decaying load of waste in front of him. He looked the man dead in the eye and said, "Aye man, you can catch this 4 piece combo without the chicken."

Out of nowhere, Miles lunged across the counter and punched the man that probably had a episode on My 600 Pound Life in the face, knocking him off balance and making him fall.

Your eyes widened as people gasped at the scene unfolding in front of them. Some began pulling out their phones to record the spectacle. Miles continued to punch the man repeatedly, the man failing to defend himself in his compromised position.

Feeling a surge of excitement, you jumped over the counter and decided to join in, landing a few punches yourself. "Catch this McFist, bitch!" you shouted as you pummeled the man in his stomach, making his belly shake like jelly.

Eventually, you both decided you had had enough. You stood up and returned behind the counter, Miles going back to work on his order, and you going back to your station, radiating a warm glow like nothing happened. With cheer, you shouted, "Next in line, please!" wearing a grin that reached the stars.

Of course, you and Miles were fired after the videos of the incident blew up and your boss found out. You both had decided that it was worth it, though, you would put a asshole in their place any day.

ENDING A/N: This ended up being more violent then I thought - anyways here anon eat up 😍

TAGLIST: @janaeby @bellstwd @nmgstuff @axeoverblade @zaddyskye69 @agstuffsworld @spidrstar @laylasbunbunny @missusmorales @popeheywardssecretgf @lumineliax @fukingsad @wisteriaflowersss @crxss01 @joliety @fiannee @sylisan @111arianne

TAGS:

#anika❤︎︎writes #miles morales x reader #earth 42 miles morales x black!reader #earth 42 miles x reader #earth 42 miles x you #across the spiderverse #earth 42 miles fluff #prowler miles #atsv miles #earth 42 miles morales x reader

[lovebugism]

If you’re taking requests could I ask for one from the fall prompts with Steve and punchy?

“When she wears YOUR flannel shirt”

ty for requesting! steve x punchy nation rise! — you spend an autumn morning with steve which results in misplaced jealousy and spilled coffee (established relationship, fluff, v v brief miscommunication, 1k)

fictober (㇏(•̀ᵥᵥ•́)ノ)

Steve, still wearing last night’s pajamas, stands barefoot on the patio and basks in the early morning orange. 

Fall seemed to arrive in Hawkins overnight. It’s cooler than usual outside, and everything is weirdly more yellow. Every tree has seemingly shed its leaves, too, and somehow ended up right in his pool. He uses the net to fish the dying things from the rippling blue.

You watch him from the doorway. His golden arms tense with every scoop, and his sleep shirt is so tight you can see the muscles in his back flexing, too. Your bare legs are cold and prickly with it, but the sight of him makes you feel all warm — like the mug of hot coffee burning your palm.

“You have to stop being so productive so early in the morning,” you chastise, voice still heavy with sleep. “It’s getting weird.”

“It’s gotta get done, babe,” Steve retorts with a soft laugh, his back still facing you.

You take it as an opportunity to press yourself against him. You wrap your free hand around his waist and spread your palm along the faint pudge of his covered tummy. Your cheek melts between his shoulder blades as you mumble, “Not while normal people are still sleeping. Think about it— we could be spooning right now and not freezing our asses off—”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Steve interjects with a boyish vibrato. Still gripping the metal handle of the pool skimmer, he turns around to face you. His honey eyes are wide as they dart up and down your form. “No way you’re wearing Eddie’s shirt right now.”

Your brows pinch together just like his bushy ones. You look down at yourself, at the deep green and navy blue flannel swallowing you whole, then back at him. “No?” you answer, though it comes out as more of a question. “This is your shirt.”

Steve shakes his head, puts a hand on his hip, and clicks his lips against his teeth. 

“No… I’m pretty sure I saw him wearing it the other day— he said he was gonna cut the sleeves off and wear it over his jacket like a freak.”

“And I told him he couldn’t, remember?” you lilt with raised brows. “‘Cause he stole it from me after I stole it from you.”

Steve winces when you shove your pointer finger into his chest.

“So, it’s mine?” he questions, confused all over again.

You nod all slow. “Yeah.”

“Oh…” he hums, less jealous and more content than he was a moment ago. 

His chest starts to warm now that he can see you more clearly, without the haze of misplaced envy clouding his vision. 

Your hair’s a mess, and you’re still in yesterday’s makeup, and your legs are unshaven. The buttons on the flannel don’t quite line up, either, and the lapel droops off one shoulder to reveal the lovebite he left on your collarbone the night before.

If home was a place, he’s pretty sure it’d look an awful lot like you.

“…Oh,” he repeats, with a more profound inflection this time. ‘Cause he’s a boy, and you’re wearing his shirt, and it’s doing irreversible damage to his brain.

“I just got, like, ten times hotter, huh?” you tease with a knowing squint.

“Try a thousand,” Steve scoffs with a pink grin.

“A million?”

“A billion,” he argues, wrapping his free arm around your shoulders to pull you into him again. His other stays firmly gripping the pool net because he’s not diving in to rescue this thing if it sinks. “A kajillion, even,” he jokes with sparkling eyes that dance between both of yours.

You laugh before you mean to. “Wow. That’s a real big number, Harrington. Sure you know what it means?”

“If it means I wanna kiss the life outta you, then, yeah,” he murmurs lowly, already leaning in to kiss your smile.

You taste like coffee, where he tastes like minty mouthwash. It’s an unearthly concoction that feels like heaven on your tongue. 

It’s perhaps too early to be kissed so ardently, with your head tilted back against the crook of Steve’s elbow while he steals the breath from your lungs. You get so effortlessly drunk on him — quickly forgetting the crisp cold and the fresh coffee in your hand.

Steve hisses when he pulls back from you, features contorted in discomfort. “Hot coffee,” he winces through gritted teeth. “Hot coffee on my foot.”

Only then do you recognize your limp hand and the subtle splashing of your drink against the patio.

“Oh, shit!” you blurt into the quiet, early morning. “Fuck, Steve— I’m sorry!”

He shakes his head and swipes a hand through his hair. He scrunches his nose and tries to smile. “It’s okay. Didn’t even hurt.”

Your eyes flit down to his splotchy red foot, then back at him. You look more pained by it than he does. “Yes, it did!” you agonize, wrapping your arms around his waist and smushing your cheek into his chest. 

Thankfully, there’s not much coffee left in the mug to spill this time. 

“I’m sorry, Stevie,” you mumble into his t-shirt. “Fuck, I wish I wasn’t so clumsy all the time— it’s annoying.”

Steve laughs into your hair and abandons the pool skimmer to wrap both arms around you. One hand squeezes your shoulder while the other smooths up and down your back. “I don’t think so. I think it’s sweet.”

“…Even when I give you third-degree burns from my coffee?”

He exhales a faint chuckle. “Yeah, even when you give me third-degree burns from your coffee.”

Your cheek rubs against the soft cotton of his t-shirt when you turn to look up at him. Your chin tilts against his chest and bobs as you ask him, “Do you still wanna kiss me?”

A crooked smile tugs slow at his pink mouth. His honey eyes twinkle when they look down at you. He quickly forgets the tingling pain fading at the top of his foot because you’re so damn pretty wrapped up in his arms.

“I’d kiss you forever, baby,” he murmurs so fondly it makes your stomach whirl. “You know that.”

#published by bug #steve harrington x reader #stranger things x reader #steve harrington #steve harrington x y/n #steve harrington x you #steve harrington imagine #stranger things #stranger things imagine #stranger things fic #stranger things fanfiction #stranger things fanfic #steve harrington fic #steve harrington fanfiction #steve harrington fanfic #steve harrington fluff #st drabbles #stevie drabble #punchy x steve #event: fictober!

[ze0re]

·˚ ༘ 𝑰𝒏𝒇𝒐 ➪ fluff, jealous & sassy nanami, black!reader

₊˚ෆ 𝑺𝒚𝒏𝒐𝒑𝒔𝒊𝒔 while you were on your date with nanami, you had bumped Into a long time friend catching up with him. but nanami didn't like the fact he was being touchy with you and gets jealousy.

ミ★ 𝑵𝒐𝒕𝒆 this was a request from someone anonymously who asked “young jealous nanami.” but I lost the thing 😕, so It won’t be able to notified the person I’m responding to so If you’re still keeping updated with me I’m so sorry for your late request and still hope you like It anyway!

also guys, we’re so close to 1k followers 🙏 If any of you forgot once we hit 1k followers I will be doing a face reveal and a little giveaway (If I think of something by then) but If It does happen I will provide details!

❝ 𝐉𝐄𝐀𝐋𝐎𝐔𝐒𝐘 ! ❞ - 𝐍𝐀𝐍𝐀𝐌𝐈 𝐊𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐎 𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐭

❤︎︎# — 𝖭𝖠𝖭𝖠𝖬𝖨 kento was very vocal about his expressions when It came to a lot of stuff. so when you seen the face he was making when your friend was talking to you, you put two and two together.

he was getting jealous ~

kento was never the jealous type which also surprised you to see the dirty glare he was giving f/n. a tight hold on his tea cup looked as If It was gonna break by how tight he was holding the mug, It made his blood boil to see this guy be all touchy with you. you might've thought It was all friendly and nice but he was also a guy, he knows how guys can be when It came to girls. your friend liked you. It was obvious!

even when gojo or geto would hug you or playfully touch you It was genuine friendship not this! he hated to say but he wished you were talking to gojo out of all people. thought gojo can be an asshole sometimes he knows to respect your guys relationship despite the many times he's tried to get under his skin or annoy him. kento scoffed to himself turning back to outside watching as cars and birds went by taking another sip from his tea. you noticed this, tearing your eyes away from f/n to him with a deep sigh grinning. f/n followed where your gaze was to be met with the blonde boy across from them, his eyebrows furrowed. when he was about to say something to catch your attention you Interrupted, "f/n It was so nice seeing you again but I have to get back to someone. I'm so sorry n/n." you said looking at him with an apologetic look standing up from your seat as he nodded his head slowly going disappointed. "uh yeah..I'll see you next time then?." you gave him a small smile, "of course, my number Is still the same just text me!." you ruffled his hair hearing him whine, swatting his hand at you, “y/n my hair!.” he pouted slightly but shook his head with a gentle smiling.

once f/n had left you walked back to your table to where your pouty boyfriend was sat. when you sat down In front of kento he still kept his gaze outside with a bitter look, "kento." he gave you a small glance with a brow, "oh? you're finally back from your friend? I didn't notice you." you rolled your eyes kicking him playfully under the table poking your lip out, "kenny, don't be like that. he's just my friend." he scoffed setting down his mug looking at you fully, "a friend that likes you?."

"he doesn't like me-" "y/n I'm a guy. I know how we are when we like a girl. the hints where there." again you sighed shaking your head, grabbing ahold of his hand. "ken, trust me when I say this. f/n Is clingy. like really clingy, and I admit he does need to learn boundaries but he's still just a kid babe. he's only 16, It's been awhile since we last seen each other. trust me he has no feelings for me." nanamis eyebrows furrowed but then sighed looking down.

after hearing your explanation..everything made sense In a way. he gave your hand a small squeeze nodding his head, "I only love you kento, stop being a big baby." you chuckled seeing him shoot a glare your way but nodded his head again, "I'm sorry my love." he mumbled feeling his cheeks heat up from being flustered bringing your hand to his lips pecking the back of It as you stared at him with nothing but love In your eyes, "I'm not mad at you so don't worry, It wasn't big anyway" you shrugged, "but don't do It again." you pointed a finger at him who grinned In response staring back at you, "yes ma'am." you smiled back placing your hand to grab ahold of his chin bringing him forward as you leaned across the table, "good." you closed the space between you both feeling his lips ontop of yours.

he Instantly relaxed In your hold leaning more Into It but remembering you're In a public place you pulled back after a few seconds as he chased your lips with a groan. you patted his cheek standing up from your spot with a energetic bounce, "now let's go! I can't be late to my hair appointment."

had him right between your fingers.

#⋆·˚ ༘ * 𝒁𝒆𝒓𝒐 ˚ʚ♡ɞ˚ 𝒘𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒔: 𝒔𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒔 !¡ ✫彡 #anime x black!reader #black reader #anime x reader #{ 🖋️} writings #fluff #jjk x black reader #nanami x y/n #nanami x black!reader #nanami kento #jujustsu kaisen x reader #jujutsu kaisen x black reader

[veeluvss]

pizza delivery

reader x team (you are jj’s sister)

based of an edit i saw on tiktok but also lonestar ml <3

>1k

"how about we spend our last night together having some fun darling?" johnny snarled, handing me the phone. "order pizza. you're paying. i want a large pepperoni and fries too. don't forget the garlic mayo," she said nonchalantly, taking a seat behind me. i nodded, fumbling with the phone and making sure he couldn't see the screen.

dialling JJ's number, the phone shook violently in my hand. i was risking a lot.  johnny had his gun in my back. i was only ordering pizza. "hey y/n what's up?" jj answered, voice chirpy. "hi," i tried to keep my voice strong. "i'd like to order a pizza for delivery." she laughed down the phone, "a pizza? i think you've dialed the wrong number!" she laughed. i heard emily's voice in the background. then i heard the phone engage to speaker. "i don't think so," i told my sister. emily spoke then. "she sounds scared." i was petrified. "do you still have the cheesy crust?" i mumbled. "the address? sure." i told them the address, praying the team understood - even if JJ didn't.

jj's pov i felt sick to the stomach. morgan looked to me in the back of the car and began speeding off in that direction. i wanted to throw up. my sister. my baby. "y/n are you in danger?" emily asked, her hand resting on my leg. "is someone there making you feel like you can't speak freely?" morgan added. "that's right," she said.

i gulped, shaking my head. i put my head on emily's shoulder. "morgan drive faster god damn it," emily cursed him. "we understand y/n," morgan said. garcia spoke then but i was shaking with fear. "help us on the way." emily leaned over to the phone. "tell me, how many people are in the apartment?" "would a medium pepperoni be big enough for two people?" she muttered back. her voice wavering. i couldn't listen anymore but i had to.

your pov the gun prodded my back and whimpered. "what are you doing?" johnny snarled. "i asked for a large." "there's one other person with you, is that what i'm hearing?" morgan asked. "yes! that's right!" my voice went up, a glimmer of hope. they were coming. "you're doing great," emily praised me and i wanted to cry. why wasn't JJ speaking? where was she? i needed her to come too. "is the person threatening you armed?" i heard rossi ask. they told me to ask for extra pepperoni and my heart was beating harder. this was taking too long - far too long. "is this person known to you?" emily asked. "mhmm," JJ knows johnny. JJ knows how bad he was with me, no one else does. "a family member? a spouse or an ex?" "the last one," i whimpered, feeling the gun press further into my back. "how long are you going to be?" "we're 8 minutes out," derek told me and my heart plummeted. that was too much time. "ask for peppers if there is somewhere safe you can get to..." emily said. "no! definitely no peppers."

jj's pov. tears were streaming steadily down my face at this point. when garcia told us his name, i whimpered and cowered in my seat. i knew i should have done something about him when i had the chance. "two priors of aggravated assault," garcia said. "she had a permanent restraining order against him." "so this is his third strike, he's not going peacefully," morgan threatened. all i could think about was my sweet little sister, sobbing in my arms at his abuse. why didn't i do something sooner?

your pov "what the hell is taking so long?" johnny groaned, cocking the gun. i gulped. "sorry, they're just really bus-" "then call somewhere else!" he shouted, making me cower. "i'm starving!" i took a deep breath, "listen, i might have to cancel this order. my boyfriends getting kind of mad so.." "listen y/n, we'll be there in less than two minutes with swat." morgan told me and i felt some sort of relief. emily begged me to stay on, asking me to try my hardest and i agreed. i was still waiting to hear my sisters voice. that's the only hope i needed. morgan began asking me questions but suddenly the cloth forced itself around my mouth. i couldn't breath. "nice try, bitch." johnny snarled, snatching the phone from my hand. then, sweet saviour, i heard her. "johnny, where's y/n?" "she's right here," he laughed before hitting me. i groaned and cried. "please," i sobbed. "say hi to your friends," he laughed. i needed JJ. where the fuck was JJ.

jj's pov. "listen johnny," emily said, keeping her cool. i froze hearing her groans in pain. i'd heard them far too many times to know she was hurting. if she made noise, she was in unbearable pain and i needed to hold her. "the cops are already on their way. how this ends is up to you." "this only ends one way!" he shouted down the phone and i flinched. my baby sister. emily began explaining to johnny the situation and i felt so sick. suddenly, we pulled up outside. emily carried on talking, pretending not to know so he'd know. "shut up!" he screamed and i flinched everytime. "please, shut up!" he repeated. "what's going on johnny? talk to me," morgan said, getting into place. prentiss told me the plan and i nodded, quickly wiping my tears. "she ruined it!" johnny snarled. that's what dad used to say. "she always ruins it." "nothing is ruined. we can fix this okay?" rossi said and as we took our positions by the apartment. as soon as the trampoline was up, i shook like a leaf, clinging to emily- watching the window like a hawk. "how? how can we fix this?" i heard him say inside. then emily speak on the headset. "my grandmother always used to say, when a door closes, open a window..." she said. i hid my head in her shoulder. "you have to take a leap... of faith." just then, i saw her flash of blonde hair and voices raise. emily scrambled to the air bag as she scurried off it- taking my sister into her arms. "it's okay y/n." she said. "you're safe now." she then stepped aside and i took my baby sister into my arms. she clung to me the way she did when we were children. "i knew you'd understand," she cried into my shoulder. i only held her tighter, feeling relief and love and anger. my god. what a pizza delivery.

#criminal minds #criminal minds evolution #jennifer jareau #emily prentiss #emily prentiss head canons #emily prentiss x reader #jennifer jareau head canons #jennifer jareau x reader #jennifer jareau imagine #emily #jj x sister #jj sister #bau #behavioural analysis unit

[brighttears]

It's Gonna Have To Be Enough

Joel miller x reader

No physical description, gender neutral, no use of y/n

Summary: Joel gets in his head watching you sleep until you wake and bring him out. just fluff

Warnings: brief mention of bugs and light gore, pet names (honey)

Word count: 1k

A/n: Writers blocks got me in its talons :( I’m just trying to throw shit together now to get Some kind of story. Pls pray for me

–

The body lying before him, curled up on a hard, dirt ground, makes Joel’s heart burn and sink in his chest.

Powerlessness. That will always be his number one enemy. Love, his second. Because there you lay, lax in sleep, so vulnerable. Joel looks down at his hands, every knuckled scarred, blood ever ingrained under his fingernails. He is no man for you. But yet here he stands, regret, sorrow, fury, guilt, fear, and love, seeping out of him to fall on you like rain. He’d do anything–he’s done anything, and he always will, to protect you, save you. 

But he can’t.

You’re already ruined. You’re already doomed. 

Joel can almost already see fungus sprouting from your skin, those damning veins shooting out from a bloody bite mark to poison the rest of you. If you turn into a monster, is it still you inside? He’s so afraid that he’ll love you even then, even if you turned into one of them. 

Joel takes a deep breath and squeezes his eyes shut. Not yet. You’re still alive, he still has you. He wants to take you up in his arms to prove that to himself, but you’re fast asleep, so he’s alone, full of homeless longing. But god, it fills him. 

Is my heart heavy, or is it empty?

He loves you, he loves you, if he knows nothing else, he knows this. But can he do it right? Can he give you what you deserve, or whatever salvageable sliver may be left of it?

Joel’s brain is filled with maggots. Most of the people he’s met are dead. The last thing he remembers of a lot of them are their corpses, or even worse, their dead and hungry eyes focused on him. The worst of all, what their heads looked like after a shotgun. 

He can’t stop staring at you. Looking at you when you’re like this, so innocent, so relaxed, Joel can imagine another life with you, a domestic one, where you don’t have to worry about any of this. 

But then you start to cry out, and then you’re screaming and thrashing, and he can’t even wake you then, Joel is forced to wait it out until you wake up on your own. He thinks that when he goes to hell, that's what it’ll be. 

Powerlessness. 

He knelt down, folding his legs and waiting, watching you unable to escape from any of it, even in your sleep. 

And then you wake, and when you look into his eyes it’s fear first, always fear first, and then relief, and then you’re in his arms. He breathes again. 

“Did I wake you up?” You murmur into his shoulder. 

“No, I was awake.”

“Were you watching me sleep?”

He chuckles and admits, “Yes.”

“That's ok. I like to watch you sleep, too.” there’s still sleepiness in your voice. 

“You fell asleep on the ground, honey,”

“I did?”

“Yeah. Come on, let me get you up into the truck.” Joel goes to pick you up but you raise with him to your feet. It stings; he wants to hold you so his body will shield you from everything, including the dirt, because it’s cold and it’s hard, not somewhere you should be.

You pop open the tailgate, eyes still squinting against consciousness, and climb in. Joel follows and you take a minute to settle in. A mess of dirty blankets barely cushion the hard metal, but it's better than nothing. You lay on your sides, facing each other. You reach your hand out to push Joel’s hair behind his ear, not because you need to, just an excuse to brush your hand over his cheek and through his graying locks. 

He’s staring at you with those big, sad, brown puppy dog eyes. 

“What’s wrong?”

“Hm?

You can read him too well now for him to get away with lying–trying to protect you from even his own thoughts, but you’ve fought your way through. 

“What’s wrong?”

“Eveythin’s wrong.” he whispers, “This world… it’s rott’n. You don’t belong… in the rot.”

“Are you in the rot?”

“Yeah, I am.” to him, this is where you separate. He is the rot that you don’t belong in. But you tell him the opposite. 

“Then I belong in the rot. And you can’t tell me otherwise. I love you. I won’t ever leave you. I’m with you.” You reach out again to brush his hair back, watching your hands over his skin and hair, then back down to those big, beautiful, sad eyes. You wish you could crawl inside of him and dig all the sadness out. “Why are you so sad?”

“Because… because I can’t save you.”

“Save me from what?”

“Everythin’. Anythin’.”

“What can you do?” 

“I–I don’t know, what? What can I do?” What do you want me to do? What can I give you? Just tell me, and I’ll do it. 

“You know this one.” you tap his nose with your finger. You’ve had this conversation before and you wait for him to wade through himself and remember what you’d taught him about it.

It takes him a minute but then he remembers, “Love you. I can love you.”

“Mhm.” 

Joel moves himself closer to you, placing a hand on your cheek and touching his forehead to yours. This is what you do to ground yourselves. You use this technique frequently—for moments like these, or when you’re the one trying to take him out of his nightmares, or even in the stink of gunpowder, when you’re about to round a corner, make a run for it, or take a risky aim. 

Here you are, here am I.

“That’s all you have to do Joel.”

Joel hums, wanting to keep it to himself, but you’ll pull it out of him anyway. “It's not enough.”

“I love you Joel. Is that not enough for you?”

“No, it is, it is enough,” he raises his whisper, “‘course it’s enough.” 

“Mhmm?” you smile. 

His voice goes back to a murmur, “Ok, ok. I get it.”

“You’re already enough, stupid.” you touch your fingertip to the tip of his nose again and then kiss it. He pecks your lips. 

“Alright. Close yer eyes ‘n go to sleep now, honey.”

Joel pushes your hip and you roll over so he can spoon you. 

“You better be going to sleep, too.”

“I’m not gonna be able to keep my eyes open like this. You make me sleepy.”

It takes him a while to finally fall asleep and he uses the time to ponder your words. Joel’s not sure if he’ll ever feel like enough, but he can at least trust that you believe it. He can’t rely on his own standards when he’s doing all of this for you. If it’s enough for you just for him to love you, then he’s good enough. 

He’d found something beautiful in the ugliness of the infected world. And he’ll be damned if he doesn’t take it and never let go. After everything, there you are, and here he is.

#the last of us #joel miller #tlou #joel miller x reader #tlou fanfiction #joel miller tlou #joel miller fan fiction #the last of us hbo #joel the last of us #the last of us fanfiction #tlou hbo #joel tlou #joel miller fluff #joel miller angst

[flowersandbigteeth]

Your villainous voidbeast husband has some explaining to do

General Plot: Valerian explains to you why you shouldn't hate him

Word Count: 1k

masterpost

W: sfw monster fluff

Your feet flew under you as you ran through the castle. You didn’t really know where you were going, your eyes blurred with tears. He’d lied to you! He told you that you were the only one for him! How could he?!

You hated that he was so big and strong, you just wanted to slap his stupid, handsome face. You hoped Minerva was tearing him to pieces right now! Finally finding a little balcony that seemed out of the way, you slipped out onto it only to collapse into tears. 

He’d brought you all the way here alone when he already had another woman all along and lied to you! He was horrible! 

Curling your knees up to your chest you sobbed in a ball in the cool air. Oddly you didn’t hear Valerian’s footsteps before he appeared. He looked down at you, but you didn’t acknowledge him, just shivering and sobbing. 

There was a loud sigh and a thunk and Valerian sat on the opposite side of the balcony as you looking contrite.

“I fucked up,” he admitted. 

You sniffled and looked up at him. 

“You think?” you asked, your voice shaking with anger and sadness, “you lied to me. You brought me here and promised you would never leave me alone and you lied to me. You acted like you didn’t know her!” 

He squeezed his two top eyes closed and rubbed them. 

“I…I don’t have a good excuse,” he said, “I was so desperate to steal you, I enlisted Minerva’s help. Time travel magic is not something I’m good at, but she is. I can go back and forth, but I couldn’t bring you with me without magic. I don’t love her. I don’t have any affection for her at all. She’s completely correct. I used her. 

I spent all my time with her. I made her feel special and then the minute she showed me how to get you I disappeared on her and never came back. I wouldn’t really care, but it’s hurting you…and that…breaks me.” 

He paused for a moment. 

“If you wanted to go back now…I would send you, but I’m afraid I’d mess it up without Minerva’s help,” he said. 

You looked up at him and frowned. 

“You would give me up? Have her send me back?” you pouted fresh tears pouring down your cheeks. 

He grimaced and shook his head. 

“No, maybe…I-I don’t know,” he grumbled, “seeing you unhappy with me…it makes me feel some kind of way, like I want to do anything to see you smile and I don’t deserve you, but at the same time…I don’t actually know that I can let you go. I would probably just end up stalking you like I did before. I love you, (Y/N) and I can’t live without you. I’m not sure what to do.” 

You sniffled. 

“Stop tricking innocent women,” you snapped. 

“I promise you I didn’t trick you, (Y/N). I left some information out, but I didn’t do anything uncouth with her. I gave her a lot of attention, yes, but I never touched her or promised her anything. I was very upfront that I was looking for you when I asked for her help. This idea that I love her is all something she built up in her head. She doesn’t take you seriously because you are human.” 

You wiped your nose on the back of your hand and he slid across the balcony taking it.

“Everything I said to you is exactly how I feel,” he assured you, “you are my star and I never lied about any of that. You are my whole universe. There are other void entities out there, but I don’t want them. I want forever with you.”

He held your hand against his cheek, folding himself down to chase your warmth. 

“When I said I my world didn’t start before you. It was true. I was a brainless monster before you appeared. I consumed solar systems without thinking of the inhabitants. I destroyed stars because it amused me. I was a god on a number of planets where I squashed people like bugs for no reason at all.”

“Then all that changed when I felt your soul. It was this beautiful melody that pulled me across the universe. Suddenly space and time had meaning and presence. There was this precious, beautiful thing in it that needed to be loved and protected where there had been just trash before.” 

You looked up to see sparkling tears streaking down his face. 

“I meant what I said,” he said, “I’ll do anything, just tell me what to do. I’ll give you whatever you want, kill whoever you want, take you wherever you want to go. Please, just…don’t leave me alone…” 

He let out a deep sob. You frowned at him and drew your brow, but your tears had slowed. 

“You are a very bad voidbeast,” you announced, “and you will have to be punished.” 

His eyebrows went up and he sat straight, a little confused. You were very small to be divvying out punishments. 

“You’re going to have to tell me you love me at least 15 times a day from now on and…shower in socks for a month, no…a year…no, that’s too long…three months! AND we’re going to figure out a way to clear this up with Minerva so she stops sending people after me. I’m tired of being kidnapped.” 

He growled and clenched his fist. 

“I’m going to kill her,” he hissed, his eyes red with his thirst for vengeance.

“No, you are not,” you snapped, “you probably owe her an apology…unless she keeps this up, then you can only do so much…” 

You had to concede that point, she was a frightening monster and you didn’t want to die because of her jealousy. 

He pulled you into his lap and squeezed you tight, breathing in the scent of your hair. 

“I promise I’ll tell you everything from now on,” he said into your forehead, “I never want you to feel blindsided again. You gave me away. That was horrible.” 

You huffed in his lap, playing with a few pieces of his glowing hair and wiping what remained of the tears on your face away. 

“You can start with your punishment right now,” you snipped. 

“I love you, (Y/N),” he said into your hair, “I love you. I love you. I love you-”

You laughed. 

“Ok, that’s enough for now,” you said, “you can do some more later.”

You tipped his head down to you and brushed his cheek, frowning.

"You're bleeding," you said.

"It doesn't matter."

You pulled out of his lap, taking his hand.

"Come on, let's go inside."

#sfw monster fluff #monster fluff #sfw fluff #romance #monster romance #my fic #my oc #monster x reader #monster x human #yandere headcanon #yandere fluff #oneshot #grovelling

[screaminglygay]

third time is a charm, right? (part two)

pairing: natasha romanoff x fem!reader, wanda maximoff x fem!reader, natasha romanoff x wanda maximoff (in this part there is mostly natasha!)

summary: you finally work up the courage to call the phone number you got yesterday.

warnings: again some swearing

word count: 1k

an: heyy lovely people! thank youuuuu so much for all the support! it means truly a lot! 💕💕 i hope you will like this part as well! if there is anything special you´d like to read, let me know! 💕

(italica = your thoughts)

Should I call them? I mean they gave me their number for a reason. I should. I have to. I want to, but what should I say?

“Hi, it´s me your waitress! No. Hello, so I'm calling, because you gave me your number.” You let out a big sigh as you take your phone and look at the time.  

10:27

You really spent over 40 minutes walking in your apartment back and forth, trying to figure out what you will say to the couple. Going to the kitchen for a cold glass of water seemed like a good idea for your brain to calm down. After almost drowning yourself, you picked up the phone one more time and dial the number from the business card. Before you clicked “call” you prayed to every single gay person you know to give you the strength of not being cringy.  

It´s ringing. One time. Two times.

“I wondered when you're going to call, darling.” you heard the captivating rasp again. The voice of a goddess herself. Her raspy voice was such a unique melody to your ears, that it would easily make you do whatever she wants. At that moment you felt like you had the biggest privilege just from hearing her voice.

“You still there?” If you would listen little closer, you could definitely hear the smirk on the face of the lady on the other end of the call.

“Yes, yeah! Hi, hello! Um how did you know it is me?” you start to fidget with the ring on your finger. Even though you're completely alone, you're still trying to hide the fact that you're nervous. Mostly for yourself, fake it till you make it, right? But how can you? When you're on the line with one of the most attractive people in the entire universe.

“I gave you my personal number. I think that its way easier to get to know each other, don´t you think?” she let out a chuckle.

“Sure!” You put your ring back on your finger as you start to walk around the room.

Sure? Oh my god, there is hot woman on the phone and you say SURE?! Say something less cringy! Fuck, think!  

“My name is (Y/N) by the way!” you quickly announced.

“Nice to meet you, (Y/N). Such a pretty name, for such a pretty girl. I'm Natasha, but I think you already know that.” You're hearing the flirtatious spark in her voice that automatically sends shivers down to your stomach. You don’t even notice, but after that little compliment from her, you're smiling like a little girl and your cheeks turn red faster than popping champagne at a bar.

“Thanks...” you let out a small giggle, that were caught on the other side. “I uh I did kinda figured it out your names.” a little proud smile on your face could have been seen if the woman was in the same room as you.

“Not just pretty, but also smart, how perfect.” she thinks out loud.

Gosh this flirting is not good for my one and only gay braincell.

“Uh um where is Wanda?” you curiously ask.

“Oh darling, we only just start to talk to each other and you're already asking for Wanda? How cruel...” you can hear some movement in the background, but you don’t pay much attention to it.

“Oh no! Shit. Sorry! I didn’t mean it like that, I just thought that you two were... are a couple?” you mumble not knowing if you're actually asking or just letting your thoughts out loud.

You can hear not so subtle chuckle, that the woman let out.

“We are a couple...” she stopped talking for a few seconds and you look on your phone to make sure you're two are still having a phone call. You are, so you put your phone back on your ear. You can hear her humming to something and then she starts to talk again. “... how about we talk about this in person?” her voice sounds darker than it did before, and you love it.

“Sure! Yeah! Absolutely, alright! I'm free almost all the time.” your cheeks hurt from all of the smiling you did today.  

“So, you don’t have another shift at the pub?” This teasing joke from her made you more lose, and it felt like all the nerves just vanished. You shake your head and giggle at her words.

“Nope. I don’t really have any shifts left there, onetime thing, you know?” She saw right through you, but you didn’t care at all.  

“Okay, good.” Her chuckle was something you wanted to listen all day long. “Then how about tonight at Mikey´s coffee shop, does 6pm sounds good?” she suggested.

You nod, realizing she can't see you. “Yes, that sounds perfect.” you add and smile again.

“Perfect...” she repeated after you. “And don’t worry, Wanda will be there as well, she can´t wait and me neither.” now it´s her time to smile like a little girl. Sadly, you can't see that beautiful sight.

“Great! So, uh um I guess see you later, Natasha.” You finally said her name and it rolled off your tongue with effortless grace, as if it was natural. The ease with which her name slipped from your mouth was like the instant connection you two felt at the same time. The sparks again. You felt it and she did definitely too.

“See you later, (Y/N).” You could listen to her voice forever but listen to her say your name was something else. Something that cast a spell on you, as you still stood in your living room, even after the call has ended. The texture of her voice is still in your head. The subtle roughness seemed to dance upon the eardrums, leaving an impression that it could hardly be described.

You look around and giggle like a small child having its first ice cream. Maybe you're very thankful to Kayla for not showing up. Actually, you're definitely thankful.

And maybe this is a really nice start for something new? Something exciting and something that you truly deserve after such a long time.

(again, thank you for all the support!<333)

taglist: @arualdcg​ @beholdagaywriter​ @snowdrop1026​

#wanda x natasha #wanda maximoff x reader #natasha romanoff x reader #wanda maximoff #natasha romanoff #marvel fanfic #wlw #third time is a charm right? #adele writes

[hailsatanacab]

Are you still doing the wip ask game? If so, can i ask about number 5?

I love this one and I'm so embarrassed that it's still a wip oh no!!!! This should have been completed a long time ago to celebrate hitting 1,000 followers but uh... it sorta snowballed into way more than I thought it would and this cute little oneshot is now way more than that. Whoops.

It started as a @stealingyourbones prompt that I added on to, which you can read here! Then I posted a wee little wip wednesday sneak peek, and this snippet (is it still a snippet if it's over 1k words?) carries on from there :)

👻🦇👻

Danny doesn’t join him for what is, unexpectedly, a pretty great meal.

“Holy shit, you guys,” he murmurs, wiping his mouth with a napkin. "You’re missing out.”

“Come on, Jay, it can’t be as good as the Big Bat Deluxe.” Dick whines in his ear. “You love those.”

“No, I love the Red Hot Hood Bites. That’s all I get at Bat Burger, and don’t let me hear you telling the others that I get anything else.”

“Please, Jason, don’t think we don’t have everyone’s BB order on file, who do you think you’re talking to?”

“Fuck off, Timbits. Go eat at Red Robin.”

“Hey, fuck you!”

Jason elects to tune out the ensuing list of threats in favour of finishing his burger. He’s heard them all before and he’s like 80% sure that Tim won’t actually hide his body in a Red Robin—if only because it wouldn’t take the World’s Greatest Detective to figure out who did it and he'd be so deep in the fucking shit that he may as well join Jason.

Aside from the food (seriously, that sauce! He’s going to need to rustle up a copycat or something, he can’t leave here without a recipe), the Nasty Burger is a pretty sad affair.

It’s a little run down, the vinyl covers on the seats peeling and suspiciously sticky, and incredibly quiet. The only other people around are the two teens behind the counter, bored and on their phones, and two kids, probably around Danny’s age, sitting in the corner quietly arguing amongst themselves. There’s an ungodly amount of food in front of them, but only the guy seems to be eating.

Jason sighs and looks at the rapidly cooling Supremely Nasty Meal meant for Danny. Taking a few of the fries won’t hurt, will it?

He peels the paper bag away from the greasy mess and digs in. Huh, they really skimped on his lot, there’s only like half a carton in here.

“So, you gonna bring us back something or are we going to have to starve?”

“Haven’t decided yet.”

“What a shame,” Timbo starts, with a theatrical air, “for I am still trying to decide whether or not to tell you everything I’ve learnt about the Fentons. Perhaps we could come to some sort of arrangement?”

“You finally made yourself useful and got through those firewalls?”

“Yeah, once I managed to get my hands on a native laptop. It’s weird, but whatever was keeping out my tech lets anything bought directly from Amity in. Having such localised security—to the point where even my stuff can’t penetrate?— is beyond strange. I don’t like it.”

Jason leans back, and reaches for Danny’s milkshake, finding it surprisingly light when he lifts it up. Seriously, what is with the half portions here? He turns round and glares at the spotty teen behind the counter, who doesn’t look up from his phone. Whatever. It's not like Danny’s going to drink it anyway.

Looks like the two kids in the corner have made up, if their stifled laughter is anything to go by. Most of their own food is gone now, too, so perhaps the real reason it’s called the Nasty Burger is because they stiff you on the food.

“This place is weird.” says Dick, in a rare case of being right.

“You don’t know the half of it…” Tim sighs but doesn’t offer up anything else.

Jason’s been trying his best to ignore it.

The weirdness, that is.

There’s an electrical charge in the air so strong it almost feels like he’s swimming through static. Each breath makes his steps bounce like he’s walking on the moon. If he turns too quickly, if he stands up too fast, his head spins like he's breathing too much oxygen.

No matter what Tim thinks he knows, it’s not the full weirdness of Amity Park, Jason's sure about that. Being here itches under his skin, and he resolves not to delve any deeper into it. Not with the way the green swims on the edges of his vision. 

The sooner they figure out what’s happening here, the better.

“What’s your price?” 

“Two Supremes and a six pack of Nasty Nuggies. Cake shake with two shots of espresso.”

Jason rolls his eyes as Dick splutters in concern.

“Shake and espresso? Tim, you have a problem.”

“It’s just a frappuccino. There’s no difference.”

“Then get a frappuccino.”

“I want a shake.”

“Then there's a difference! And the difference is that Alfred will kill us for enabling you!”

“As riveting as watching Timberly’s mental and physical wellbeing disappear before our very eyes is, what’s your info?”

“The same for me, please!” Dick butts in, yet again. “Except with a coke instead, because I’m normal.”

Both Tim and Jason snort. 

“Yeah, not gonna touch that. Tim, info, come on.”

“Alright, alright. Hey, so, what’s your favourite thing about being adopted?”

“Tim, I swear to God, if you don’t get to the point right now, I’ll—”

“You’re right! It’s that none of us are actually related to you.”

“And yet somehow, I’m still stuck with you all. Point, Tim, get to it.”

He grabs the burger meant for Danny and begins to unwrap it. If he has to listen to Tim being all smug about whatever he’s found out, he’s doing it with a burger in hand.

“Did you know that Willis Todd’s Great-Great-Great-Great-Great Grandfather was a Nightingale?”

“What’s a Nightingale? Aside from the obvious.”

“A Nightingale is about two generations away from becoming a Fenton.”

“Oh, what the fuck? You cannot be serious!”

“Serious as a cake shake with two espressos in it.”

“No, my… Someone ate my other fucking burger!”

Danny’s burger has a huge, bite-sized chunk taken out of it. Literal teeth marks in the bun. A slice of tomato slops limply onto the table, painting his shirt with splatters of weak tomato juice, the red half moon taunting him. Sauce dribbles out mournfully.

The two kids in the corner are staring openly now, faces red with how hard they’re laughing.

Jason sinks into his chair with a groan.

This fucking town. 

Is this how they treat outsiders? Take bites of their burgers while they laugh on—but then why only do it to his spare and not both meals? The teenagers behind the counter aren't even paying any attention, so why bother pulling a prank like this if you're not going to—

Danny.

Jason whips his head around as if he can catch the invisible little shit, but just like on the street, there's no sign of him.

Has he been here the whole time, invisibly eating the food Jason offered him? Except the packaging was still perfectly wrapped, the sticker still attached, how in the hell had he managed to eat the burger without damaging it? Did he get to it in the kitchen? Or does he—

“Wait, hold up. What the fuck did you just say?”

#wip game #wink wonk hello hello! this ask gave me the motivation to actually get through work rather than collapse into a puddle and dissolve :) #i'm gonna reblog the wip game post again because i want to work on these and apparently talking about them gets me fired up #like i mean who knew??? who knew that being excited and telling someone about something makes you want to work on it more? #i really need to think of an actual title for this huh #but lbr i have a long way to go before this needs a title. this fic is really snowballing - like i love that but also holy shit #so much bigger than i thought it'd be 😬 #ain't that always the way #anyway thank you so much for the ask!! #love you guys #oh shit my writing tag #hailsatanacrab🦀🦀writes #it took me a while to remember where the crabs go :(

[bitchesgetriches]

Hey bitches! I'm currently working on saving up an emergency fund. Once that's where I want it, I wanted to start investing and open a retirement account of some sort. I know for emergency funds, people say 3-6 months of expenses. Are there any general guidelines like that for you should have x amount in order to start investing or x amount in order to open a retirement account? Thanks so much!

Hi puggle! This is a great question. First, here is our guidelines for emergency funds:

You Must Be This Big to Be an Emergency Fund 

You are a very wise and savvy baby bitch because you know that you must ALWAYS SAVE AN EMERGENCY FUND BEFORE INVESTING. Full stop. That is non-negotiable.

Now, once you've got that emergency fund, we recommend starting your investing in one of two ways:

Open a brokerage account with $1000. Most of these bad boys have minimum deposits, and that number is usually somewhere around $1k. More info in the links below.

Start an Acorns account with $100. Acorns is one of our marketing affiliates so if you click this link we'll get a little money when you sign up. More importantly, Acorns is a micro-investing platform, which makes it so much easier to get started with a small amount of money. So if you're brand new to investing, and you don't have a lot to get started with, Acorns is a great option. We personally have been using them for years and have no complaints.

Hope that helps! Here's way more info:

{ MASTERPOST } Everything You Need to Know about Investing for Beginners 

Did we just help you out? Tip us!

#investing #how to invest #investing for beginners #investing 101 #emergency fund #how to save an emergency fund #acorns #bitches get riches

[wooahaes]

warmth

pairing: non-idol!mingyu x chubby!fem!reader

prompt: this post that i made before i went to sleep

work count: 1k~

warnings: reader having a bad body image day (but implied to be confident outside of it). lots of kisses (no sexual intention behind any of them, just gyu being a sweetie). literally not proofread in the slightest.

daisy’s notes: mr husband material mingyu i think abt u sometimes... soft man. would give so many kisses. his heart is big. thats why his tits are big /j

If Mingyu had to pick his top things about loving you, loving you would be at number one with cuddling with you right underneath it. Some call him cheesy and roll their eyes whenever they ask him what he loved about you (he’d always smile and say that you were you and he couldn’t just pick one thing),  but he truly meant it. Mingyu liked when he woke up to you cooking breakfast for him, and the way you’d throw an apron at him sometimes and tell him to get to work because he caught you early enough in the process. He liked being able to just lay on you, slightly crushing you with his weight, but feeling safe and secure in your arms nonetheless (it left him in the perfect position to press as many kisses as he could against your lips and cheeks if he was feeling particularly affectionate, too). He liked holding you in his lap, never thinking twice about your weight because he wanted to show you off as his when he was around his friends.

Mingyu was very good at reading you after a while, too. The slight discomfort of shifting and tugging at your shirt, or spending a little too long looking at yourself in the mirror when checking your outfit... As confident as you were (and as much as he hyped you up), he knew that you could have the occasional bad day. Everyone did, after all. He knew he had his own days where he could pick himself apart; but he was glad to have so many people in his life who were there to support him.

You’d kept looking over your outfit that morning before changing into something else, and he’d noticed the way you’d focus in on your neck with a comment under your breath about whether you’d gained more weight lately. So when Mingyu later saw you lying in bed, reading after a long day of work--it’d been his turn to make dinner--he decided to do what he could.

Which meant he was going to crawl into your lap, waiting for you to move the book or lift your arms enough that he could nuzzle his way forward. His chest was pressed against your stomach, and you lowered the book toward your face to meet his gaze.

“Hi, honey,” you reached out, brushing his hair from his eyes. “You okay?”

He hummed in affirmation, crawling a little closer to you. “You didn’t give me a kiss when you came home.”

Admittedly, that had helped tip him off a little further: you’d always press a quick peck against his lips, or occasionally his cheek if he was busy, just as a little “I’m home, I missed you” between the two of you. That’d been a little over an hour ago, and he went back into prepping ingredients while he slowly began to realize that you were having an off day.

“Gyu...” You said, but he could see the smile you were holding back. You set the book aside, pulling him in for a quick peck on the lips. “Is that what you wanted?”

All he did was smile, leaning back in for another kiss. And then another, and another--pressing one clumsily against the corner of your mouth, and then against your jaw.

“Mingyu--”

Another peck against your lips. “Yes?”

“You don’t have to--”

And then another, stopping you there. “Don’t have to what?”

You clasped a hand over his mouth. “You don’t have to do this. I’m just feeling  off, you know? It happens sometimes.”

“I don’t know--” He pressed quick peck against the palm of your hand, and he curled his fingers around your hand to pull it away, “--what you’re talking about.”

You rolled your eyes, and he trailed soft kisses down your neck.

“I just think you look beautiful as always,” he chuckled, “and I wanted to show you that.”

He heard you laugh as he drew back, pushing your shirt up until it bunched up beneath your breasts. He pressed soft kiss after kiss against your flesh, mumbling about how much he loved your cute body. How it was yours and he’d always love every inch of you, no matter what. 

“Mingyu,” you whined out, dragging out his name as he kept pressing his little kisses into your skin. “I get it. You love me, I’m beautiful, et cetera--it’s not gonna fix my weird mood.”

“I know.” He looked up at you, resting his cheek against your stomach. “But I like reminding you that I love you,” he gently squeezed your sides, “and every part of you. Do you want me to stop?”

You reached out, running a hand through his hair. “I just don’t want you to feel like you need to comfort me every time. I mean... I know I’m hot,” you giggled, “and I like the reminders from you, my kinda hot boyfriend--”

He chuckled, pressing a kiss against your skin. He loved when you were confident like this.

“--but also I’m getting kind of hungry, so...”

He drew away from you, hovering over you for a moment before pressing another quick peck against your lips. “I’ll get back to dinner,” he said. “It shouldn’t be too long,” he promised you. “Should we watch a movie tonight? You can pick whatever you want,” he drew out the word, teasing you with a proposal.

Mingyu knew how to tempt you into spending more time with him, giving you incentive to go sit on the couch and make fun of the dumb looking movies before settling on one you actually liked. He liked to hear your quips from the couch while he cooked. He watched you fix your shirt before bookmarking your page, climbing out of bed after him. He stopped you almost immediately, swooping in for one more kiss before diving away to get back to dinner.

And if it’d make you laugh every time, so utterly enamored with your sweet boyfriend, he’d do it as many times as you wished.

#wooahaes.fic #seventeen imagine #seventeen x reader #seventeen x you #svt x reader #svt imagine #svt x you #mingyu x reader #mingyu x you #mingyu x y/n #kim mingyu x reader #kim mingyu x you

[lostdrarryfics]

THE BIG FIND 2023: Day 8

The Big Find is a 10-day long Drarry fic-finding marathon to celebrate the blog’s anniversary. Below is the Day 8 compilation of lost fics, both old and new, that we’ve been unable to find. Our aim is to get as much attention to these lost fics as possible, to help people finally find their missing fics! Anyone can participate by reblogging, reading through each list, providing additional fic details, and informing us the title, author, or link of a fic, and their respective number in the comment section. Happy finding!

8.1 Draco really liked Harry but Harry kinda liked Ron I guess. Draco guessed it by saying “You love him (Ron), don’t you?” to Harry and he said yes (I’m sorry if it’s not right). It’s TopDraco and BottomHarry. Harry only called when he wanted sex with Draco. Draco kinda got fed up so he asked why is he like that. Draco decided whatever between them has to stop but Harry disagreed. Angst, a lot of angst and written in Draco’s POV and still on going last time I checked on AO3.

8.2 This fic is not about church I think, and I could not find it on ao3 by the ‘church’ tag definitely, however, I remember that Harry is surprised that Draco went to church and he’s told that it was a pureblood thing - to go to church on Sunday, etc - and Neville told him that he went to the same church with Malfoy when they were children and that is how they knew each other. It is on ao3, though I am not fully sure, probably it is a tumblr fic

8.3 I’m not sure if it was posted on AO3 or just on Tumblr. It was before drarrymicrofic prompts started so I’d guess somewhere from 2015-2019 (2016 or 2017 is best guess), but probably under 1k words (2k would be the max). Fic has MCD and drug use. Written from Harry’s POV (likely 3rd person) with minimal dialogue. After the war, Draco and Harry are both struggling to adjust, turn to drugs, and end up spending time together at clubs/hooking up to escape their thoughts. The drug that they’re into could be fairy dust or something magical, but I’m not too sure. Somehow, Harry starts to get better, starts feeling hopeful about life, is ready to fight his addiction, and is excited about his future that might even include Draco since he’s grown fond. Harry goes to a club one night, ready to talk to Draco about getting better, and makes eye contact with him on the dance floor. Draco falls to the ground and ends up dying of an overdose. There’s a line at the end about Harry seeing the light leaving Draco’s eyes as he hit the floor that always stuck with me because the fic is about falling into a dark place, starting to see the light, and having the light abruptly turned off.

8.4 fic that i read on ao3 around 2021, that i can’t seem to find for the life of me. Its a post hogwarts fic where draco and harry are married and their kids are James, Albus, Scorpius, and Lily. The plot is Lucius comes to live with them after Narcissa dies and he hasn’t really met the kids before but they were close with Narcissa, and it’s from the perspective of the kids per chapter.

8.5 Harry is like a magical painter/designer and paints a room for Teddy/Scorpius? All I really remember are that the paintings moved and included mythical creatures. I also I feel like it had bottom harry in it, but who knows. I believe it was on ao3 but was possibly on FF. I read it mostly likely 3-5 years ago but could be longer. I think it was multi-chaptered and definitely longer than a one shot. I think Harry had painted rooms for Rose and Hugo previously as well as a playroom for teddy and maybe even rooms for Luna and Rolf’s kids? And Draco’s kid really liked the paintings all his friends had and asked his dad to get him one. Mystical creatures in the paintings included dragons, unicorns, flying snitches, etc.

8.6 I can’t remember much about the extension or if it had a second part, but it’s not totally drarry. It’s a fic I read on AO3, Albus’ POV. The Potters have a room (maybe?) at home and there you could play a fantasy. Albus discovers that Harry had an affair with Draco when they were young.

8.7 Harry wants to bring Sirius back from the veil, and Draco is an Unspeakable so Harry goes to him for help, and they eventually succeed (and fall for each other), but Sirius comes back as a baby that they end up raising together alongside Teddy?

8.8 i remember it was about snape and petunia helping harry run away/being on the run and sort of adopting him? i dont remember if snape/petunia was actually romantic in it tho. it was on ao3 and i remember hearing ab it from the author in the notes of another drarry fic (i thought perhaps it was by shanastoryteller but i cant find anything about it so either not them or perhaps it was deleted) it would probably be a wip and i remember wanting to start it last year when there was like 2 chapters out.

8.9 looking for a drarry fanfic from way back, like 2002. I remember the one with the scene where there was a party under the house and they had spin the bottle but there was a line that connected between their lips and don’t go away until they kiss. All I can remember about it was the intro of draco showing up at Harry’s place because his dad was going to kill him. There was the party with the games improved by the twins. Some significant rings were exchanged that had jewels in them that could tell if they were still alive. Also they used to climb into a portrait above their beds and it took them to a secret room so they couldn’t be killed in their sleep. Aka private room for gay sex.

8.10 fic I read a long time ago. It was on AO3 I think. Basically Harry and Draco has this long standing arrangement where they would set up trap/escape rooms to challenge each other. I believe they set it up at Gringotts. They don’t actually know who each other are, they just go by an alias. Harry sets up a room using some kind of instant darkness powder, one of the Weasley wheezes and finally defeats Draco. I believe Harry is an Auror while Draco is an unspeakable. This was a case fic too, and they were somehow put together on an international intrigue case. To resolve one of their issues Harry brought out the instant darkness powder and that was how Draco finally recognize him as the other challenger.

8.11 been trying to find this fic i read so long ago. i’ve been searching for soo long. it’s one where harry and ginny go to a masked ball thing where everyone just plays out their fantasies and harry meets this guy who he does it with. and the guy happens to be draco. also ginny gets double penetrated

8.12 looking for a non-magic au fic where Harry is a thief and he spends a long time scouting out this rich house (with Draco and his family living there) he wants to steal from. One day, he climbs up the side pillar when he thinks the house is empty to enter through a balcony. He sees that Draco’s actually there (they don’t know each other) - he’s beautiful but he hasn’t left his room or touched someone in years. Harry keeps revisiting despite himself and gets Draco to open up to him. They date.

8.13 I can’t remember if it’s an 8th year fic or a rewrite of sorts. But Draco is at hogwarts and befriends the golden trio + luna + Ginny and for some reason I have this memory that in the midst of it all they decide they want to become animagi? And that at some point they come to the conclusion that they’re avatars (for lack of a better word, I guess heirs) for the original founders of hogwarts.

8.14 The magical world is getting itself known to the muggle world, which causes problems and then when a representatives meeting between both sides was held, Harry was surprised to find Draco representing the muggle side after getting exiled from the magical world. I forgot if Draco lost his magic or not. I remember it being a very long one-shot. And I think its quite an old fanfic around 2012-2017s.

#the big find 2023 #drarry #drarry fic #drarry fic search #drarry squad

[vanessaroades-author]

Let’s look at what happened from June 13th to July 13th. (ARCs, Preorders, Sales, Marketing!)

Note: I’m not talking about costs here and likely won’t ever. However, my author buddy JAL Solski has an awesome write-up on the costs, tax considerations, all sorts of numbers, of publishing their sapphic fantasy duology! I’m also very fond of Ros’s write-up on expectations and goals related to post-publication.

Before you start–some disclaimers on my experience

First, expect very little! These numbers will not impress you and honestly there’s a part of me that’s pretty embarrassed, like I'm advertising that I'm a big dummy who can't write. But all in the name of honesty & transparency!

Something I hear a lot from other new authors is, “Am I doing pretty good? Am I doing really badly? I don’t know.” Well, here’s another batch of numbers to consider!

Deep Roots is currently only available as an eBook & through Kindle Unlimited.

I’m not writing anything trendy. By a long shot. I can throw “queer fantasy” on it but that’s kinda the most I got. (When’s the last time you saw a runaway indie hit that didn’t have a ton of romance?)

I’m not popular on social media (260 IG followers with on average <10% engagement and <200 TikTok followers).

I have so many friends in my corner. Someone should stop you at the gate to the Indie Publishing Amusement Park of Hell and tell you, “Listen, if you want any hope of staying sane, make author friends.” Besides helping you navigate tech questions or giving second opinions on your cover, and, you know, understanding and empathizing with you, your friends will be the ones who comment on your posts, repost them, tell their friends, add you in their newsletter, read, and review. That can mean sales…but that also means having people lift you up and celebrate with you.

Advance Reader Copies

I began posting about ARC sign-ups April 4th, sent the first round of eBooks ~May 5th, and closed applications on June 2nd.

I didn’t use a service like Booksprout or Booksirens, just plain old BookFunnel and email (therefore my reach was entirely reliant on my social media efforts). I was most talkative about it on Instagram. I only posted like once or twice on Tumblr and TikTok, but they went really well for my standards.

Sign-Ups: 51

Reviews/Ratings:

By publication day I had 4 ratings/reviews on Goodreads, 1 on Amazon, and 1 on StoryGraph.

After 31 days I had 6 reviews and 10 ratings on Goodreads. 1 extra rating on StoryGraph; Amazon stayed the same.

Note: I was really lax with my ARC team about when reviews should be sent in. I was clear that I didn’t care if they were pre-publication (partly because well…I read ARCs a lot and I know I can’t always get to things on time, and partly because I didn’t decide a publication day until fairly late in the timeline).

However, from what I’ve seen for other authors, a pretty low return on ARC readers isn’t entirely uncommon? Kind of a kick in the confidence regardless.

Preorders

Total of 7. I don’t remember when I opened preorders, but I believe it was around the same time as the ARC application.

Marketing (sort of) from June 13th to July 13th

I ran a small (kinda last-minute) campaign for extra merch & an extra story for anyone who preordered or purchased during release week. I said that I would re-run this campaign for paperbacks.

These are my Tired Girl numbers:

Instagram: 5 posts specifically about DR. 2 non-DR related.

TikTok: 7 videos specifically about DR, most getting ~300 views, though one broke 1k. (Notably, I didn’t post about the release week extras on TikTok at all.). 2 non-DR related.

Tumblr: One post I would send spinning around the block every once in a while. Definitely lowest priority.

Release Week Sales

eBook: 3

KU: 15 pages read

Release Month Sales

eBook: 4

KU: 594 pages read

Future Plans

*Releases one giant sigh* I’M FREEEEEE

Once the book is written and done, cover made and words edited, there’s only one thing left in your control: marketing. Everything else is up to chance (honestly, marketing is up to chance a lot of the time, too).

But I pretty quickly decided to take it easy on social media. A wave of burn-out that had been chasing me since last summer finally caught up, and I don’t think I’m alone in saying that when I saw like no return on investment for my posts or chatter, I was like, “Okay, I’m going to rest, instead of pushing this boulder up this hill, then. I deserve it.”

One plus of having paperbacks come out way after the eBooks? I get release day Part 2! (With fun new props for pics and videos!) I have a good list of video ideas & drafts, but I would always look at them and think, “Wouldn’t this be better to do when the paperbacks are around?” And soon, they will be!

As for blog posts, I want to continue being transparent with things like this. I will (hopefully) catch up on the numbers again near the end of August, as by then I’ll be making the decision to keep Deep Roots in KU for another three months or not.

Until then, lower your expectations! It’ll keep you sane out here. Thanks for reading and hanging out.

#vanessa.txt #writeblr community #writeblr #indie publishing #indie books #self publishing #self publication #book sales #this is allowed to be reblogged

[finniestoncrane]

Congrats on your milestone!!!! 🎉 can I have number 2 with your choice: capullo!riddler or scarecrow

🎀 No. 2: I'm Not In Love 🎀

give me a character and i'll write some headcanons for how they fall in love with you and how/when they tell you a/n: i gotta admit it's been weird delving into my versions of the rogues but i am so touched and pleased that people have requested them so thank you ;-; 💚 1k milestone info! 🔞minors dni🔞 • kofi • tag: finnie1k

my crane is quick to fall in love. he's romantic, weirdly romantic. he's not afraid of emotions or what they mean, and he's more than happy to indulge them

so a little crush is fine by him, and the comfort that feeling close to someone brings makes his life far easier

you have no idea how much jollier the act of terrifying people can be when you're doing it with someone you care about

and if you're willing to be his partner in crime, he's all the more likely to fall for you

someone to share his interests with is key to him, and even if you're not particularly interested in psychology or hearing about how irritating it is for him to have to grade subpar essays, or how it took three attempts to scare someone to death the other night, at least pretend

that enthusiasm, the care you take to listen to him and show an interest, that's what makes him fall in love

he'll hold off on telling you for a little while how he feels

why rush it? the anticipation drives him crazy and he enjoys that feeling

plus, he's more than happy to conform to societal constructs

he'll 'court' you, take you out on a few dates, make sure you feel the same way about him

and then he'll tell you what you mean to him and how you make him feel

probably with something akin to a lecture, he's wordy ok, he can't really edit himself when he starts talking about something he's deeply passionate about

and you're the thing he loves most in the world so good luck getting him to shut up about you

you might not even get what he's trying to say by the end of his speech

it's a lot to take in, and he's quite used to using a lot of fancy terms and big words that no one but him (and possibly eddie) understand

but it's fine because he can make it simple

just by grabbing you and pulling you into a kiss

so you know 100% what he was trying to say

#finnie1k #finnie writes #batman #scarecrow #jonathan crane #scarecrow imagine #scarecrow smut #scarecrow x reader #scarecrow x you

[firjii]

I just saw the Spotify might change their royalties model and that it would hit indie artists hardest. Are you posting your music elsewhere? I follow you on Spotify but now I'm looking into other places for music and want to continue supporting your awesome music!!

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

I love you and thanks for asking.

Except for a few covers that are limited by licensing restrictions, my stuff is on all major and some minor platforms (I do sometimes lag in putting things on Bandcamp because lazy). I'm not monetized on Soundcloud because that system is somewhat different and IIRC not as welcoming of truly small artists, so any of my tracks that you find there are either on my "just for fun" accounts or are someone's illegal reupload.

Reminder to the new folks: I'm Firjii everywhere but also started another artist pseudonym as Kathy Warnecke (which should also be on all the same platforms by now).

Tidal and Apple usually have the best royalty payout rates and Spotify is among the worst (but no platform has a guaranteed fixed rate). Youtube is all over the place but usually on the low end. Downloads always pay better than streams, but I know some people can't do this or prefer to continually support with streams over time instead of paying once.

I'm also gonna take a minute to FUCKING RANT explain things to the uninitiated since virtually all my listeners on tungles are freemium Spotify users. From what I understand, this change has been finalized and it's not speculation at this point.

The deal is they'll withhold royalties from a song in a given calendar year unless it's streamed at least 1,000 times ANNUALLY (not lifetime).

Although the change will only consider per-track stats (not social media-like numbers such as followers/listeners or a measurement of how established the artist's presence is), in practice, this will specifically demonetize small/niche artists and have little or no impact on medium and big names. It will also affect the payouts small artists get from distributors because many of those have their own minimum payout thresholds.

I need people to understand just how shitty this is.

Say you're a prolific creator or recorded some live shows from a tour and you released 150 tracks in a year. If each track only got streamed on Spotify 999 times that year, they're pretty much saying you'd get paid for.......yup, exactly zero Spotify streams, not the 149,850 you're otherwise owed. I have no idea if this will impact PRO (performance rights organization) payouts, but I refuse to believe it would be legal to also withhold that share of royalties.

In the Spotify world, 1k streams is a tiny achievement (and still translates to a very small payout, so the concern is: what's to stop them from raising that minimum even more in the future?). But especially when the hurdle is per song per year, this can be a tough goal for indie or specialty genre artists to reach or maintain, including me.

I have a long history of disliking Spotify in particular for many reasons, but I upload there because it's the only way some people will listen. I strongly encourage anyone who is able to use other platforms to explore their options.

I know a lot of folks are too broke to pay for music and Spotify is a notable example of a freemium option, but this change is so, so, SO bad for SO many artists.

#hey maybe I need to start a tag for my music industry rants lol #how about #music industry tomfuckery #yes good let's go with that #nerkierants

[hexhomos]

i rlly want to write longer fics but i can never get past the first 1k words no matter what 😶 how TF do you write up to 30,000+???? pkease im DYING

This is a question I often battle with myself and it's one without an universal answer, imo. I can offer you advice that has worked for me, but you'll have to administer it following your own habits!

I’m putting this post under a readmore because it ended up being fairly long. (Tips, resources, links and book recs below cut)

In the throes of intensive fixation, I managed to write Catafalque's 32k in about ~2 months. But I think it's important to be clear here: 2 months of active, every day writing, even when I was feeling kind of meh about it, and I had already spent the previous November thinking about a lot of the themes / scenes / structure of the fic before I got to the writing part itself. I was also helped plenty by the fact that the fic is borrowing time locked events from Arcane's canon, and I knew exactly how things would play out for these characters ahead of time, meaning, I could explore alternate possibilities without a lot of stuff bogging me down. Readers would know what I was talking about by implication! I can just go on and on about feelings and abstract concepts and it's fine!

Compare it to my latest fic though (’Meat gets caught’) which sits at a hefty 6k, but also took… about 2 months of flubbing in the backburner, LOL. The Idealization period for this fic was considerably larger for a Way Smaller Output, since I was juggling characters people are mostly unfamiliar with, events they had no baseline for, and establishing a set character dynamic that is clear to me, but not to others, all in very a short allocation of paragraphs.

Now here's what I mean by the above: There is no standard speed to writing, and you should be aware that the process Will Be Different from author to author *and* project to project. It is a fallacy to believe success follows only one mold.

Ideally, you should stop thinking about big numbers altogether. Focus on the NOW. You want to finish a story you think might be kinda long, but you lose steam when trying to write aaaaaall that bullshit? ok then here's tip number 1 --

1) Just write 300 words a day. Every day. Make it a hardset goal, and avoid skipping this daily exercise as much as possible.

300 words a day for 30 days = 9000 words, easy. The objective here is giving you a task that can be completed without a daily headache. Maybe your minimum can be 200 words, if you prefer - so long as you write them. Pick a frequent or comfortable timeslot to do it, and make this a routine. Focus on finishing scenes, finishing a chapter, finishing whatever section you're already on. Keep going until you reach the end of your story.

You can edit it tomorrow, or when you're closer to completion. (I do a lot of fiddling with my words! I'll often edit my stories dozens of times, more if you're counting section rewrites or re-arranging paragraphs. Editing is your friend. Wait a little bit to see where you've messed up though. Fresh text is tricky.)

The good thing about setting this bar low, is that if you can only write your minimum of the day, that's perfectly fine. Close the doc and let it rest. But just the act of starting and working on the thing by itself is a surprisingly potent battery - there's days where i find a good rhythm for things and end up hammering a whole 1k, since my hands are already on the keyboard.

Tip #2, following on the footsteps of the above:

2) Use a different font color for each day. Make your progress actually *visible* while you're composing the document.

This can be as simple as alternating between black and dark blue to keep it non-distracting. (You can use other, crazier colors if you're into it though!) It's immediately rewarding to be able to scroll back through what I've already written and see that organic growth - days I wrote little, days I wrote a lot, how the text is still changing and being affected by what i do. I have an issue with abstract goals, I *like* being able to see how much progress I've made, and it gets me hyped to pinch in a little more.

3) EDITING IS YOUR FRIEND.

first drafts look and read like gummed up garbage. You should give imperfections a license to exist.

That's ideal! Don't be discouraged. Trust that you can come back and fix things when you have a better grasp of the whole piece. You can always edit it later. Remember: Polishing your text with time is not a bug - it's a feature.

4) BE FUCKING INDULGENT.

Writing is an inherently embarrassing act. This is self explanatory. Now, since you’re already there, just make the most of it.

If you’re really on the path towards a long con of a plot, make sure to sprinkle in gifts for yourself. Write about something you enjoy. Put in details that make you laugh. Make your characters go on your own big wubbyland adventure. ‘writing for an audience’ instead of for yourself can quickly kill the enjoyment (and drive) of anything.

5) Lost or confused? Think of your INTENT, FORM, and STRUCTURE.

I can't remember the last thing I wrote without an outline to guide me as the months wore on. I think it is deeply important to write down somewhere accessible, somewhere you can look back on:

What is the intent of this story? What am I trying to say?

This is a little cheat just for yourself, so you stay on topic. And you can broaden that question with a few more qualifiers if you like:

What is the sequence of events? What *themes* am I trying to convey? What are the major beats/ scenes/ actions taken? Can you break it down into a clean list of bullet points, one for each step of the story? that might help you a LOT. More than you'd think. If you find that helps you - make it a checklist. Make every little turn of the story into a micro goal that can be reached through narrative, and go ticking off the boxes until you’ve covered the whole thing.

You can even make this into a dedicated planning document by itself, put your themes, keywords, and bullet point outline all in one place. So when you're in the process of writing and your mind goes a little blank, all the refreshing elements are saved up nicely somewhere. Feel free to cheat.

...So that's INTENT and FORM -- what about STRUCTURE?

Mary Robinette Kowal did this great explainer on the structure of short stories and how to plan them, and the ideas she introduces here can be used to write fiction of *any* length. I highly recommend giving it a listen. If you're not used to thinking about story structure, this can be very clarifying! And if that's already something you worry about, the formula she provides is a great starting point to baking your own sourdough.

Structure is a broad subject depending on the specifics of your fiction, and this is where we begin to run into things like ‘Genre’ and ‘Point of View’ and the rubric stretches really wide.

When in doubt about structure (and genre), my rule of thumb is always:

1) Find something similar to what I’m trying to do

(what are things similar to this? what are the most popular examples of this? how were these things written, to express those ideas?)

2) Read up to see how they do it

(separate the stories into their barest components - how are the events presented? How is style used? How are characters developed -- what pushes characters into developing? What are the recurring themes? What connects this fiction into a cohesive, recognizable whole?)

3) Try to apply whatever notes I took from above ^^^^ into my own project

This might be obvious, but ‘questioning my story’ or ‘questioning my characters’ is usually how I begin developing all of my writing. You might be more attracted to another method! (and that’s okay) but this is the stuff I can offer.

More vaguely useful resources on structure/plotting or literary theory;

Ellen Brock’s (Novel Editor) Advanced Story Structure series

‘Monkeys with Typewriters’ by Scarlett Thomas (book)

‘Steering The Craft’ by Ursula K. Le Guin (book)

‘Story Genius’ by Lisa Cron (book)

If you read through *just* the intro of some of those you’ll notice that they all have very different takes on these topics (and some may even contradict the others,) which is what I think makes for the best path to self-discovery. Explore different stuff, test it out, throw it away if it doesn’t work etc. And while I can’t post direct links here lets just say these are all. ummmm. Very Findable in the internet! Get an epub reader. Highlight a bit.

now that structure is over and done with, let’s move onto my last tip:

6) Seriously reconsider the size of your story.

A lot of people really don’t like being told this, but someone has to do it.

You’ll notice that a lot of my above advice (and resources,) errs on the side of assuming you want to write something at least as long as a 200-300 page novel. I can’t really blame them, since that’s just the state of the industry and ‘what sells’, and these ideas are so prominent they have transferred to nonprofit hobby spaces to the point people tend to think that bigger IS better -- but consider, maybe it isn’t.

Maybe the story you’re trying to tell can be condensed into a 15k word oneshot.

Maybe you can *actually* get it done if it’s a collection of important character-related scenes split into 3 chapters, instead of a whopping 50.

Maybe the concept eluding you thus far can become stronger if you let go of the preconception that it needs to be a drawn-out epic, and just write it as a potent roller-coaster ride that ends before the hour is up.

I’m not saying you need to undo all the work you’ve already done - but consider the whole! Making the scope of your writing smaller works on your favor. Unless you have a natural knack for it, I really, really wouldn’t recommend making your first serious attempt at longform writing a 100,000 word behemoth. ‘Done’, as a goal, is immediately more achievable than ‘Perfect’!

You can get a lot of mileage out of short stories and oneshots, and it can be more satisfying for you, as a writer, to complete whole projects in a realistic timeframe.

anyway. Maybe this will help you, or maybe it won’t. But in any case: I wish you the best of luck in this journey and I hope you can find what works best for you!!!

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