#i love writing tense dialouge

[lilyrizzy]

18, 54 & 94 for the writer ask meme! :3

18. what is your most and least favourite part of writing?

most favourite - when I reread stuff I've written to edit and I'm like, 'hey this doesn't suck!' & also, writing dialouge. controversial, I know, but I love love love it.

least favourite - having to go through and check for inconsistencies with timelines or previous scenes & general grammar and spell checking. also, figuring out pacing. I suck at pacing.

54. what's a common writing tip that you almost always follow?

writing in the third person & in present tense. I once saw a very detailed tumblr post about why it's just the best and never went back.

94. Do you prefer dialouge or description?

as I said above, I love dialouge, so that's the winner here😄

#thank you so much! #ask game #ask me things #sorry for so much spam ahhhh

[rostovs-lover]

dual purpose

din djarin x reader | cursing, some derogatory things said to reader, xi’an is Not Nice - mando is Not Nice back, very dialouge heavy  | she/her pronouns | fluffy? a little angsty?? | wc.1144

so i kind of wrote xi’an as more verbally rude to reader as opposed to physically, i am also not good at arguing so that scene is iffy, very sorry. i hope you enjoy!

anon : Hey I love your writing 💕im in love with the Mandolorn (sorry if I spelt it wrong). I thought of a great idea, where Mado has a girl on the ship she’s traveling with him and they have grown to become good firends, and he becomes quite protective of her because she is weaker than him. In chapter 6 the prisoner, Xi’an is Mandos ex, she sees the girl he is traveling with and gets jealous and starts to become threatening towards her and violent, ans Mado becomes protective of her 💕

Xi’an, whos still not over Din, takes her passive aggressive aggression out on you, Mando is not having it.

      Din Djarin was terrifying, all heavy metal and loud boots. He was the sun, blazing hot and blinding, all tucked behind thick beskar. Something about you, your cool demeanour and the way you seemed to float on your feet, a stark contrast to how heavily he clunked around. He was terrifying but you had seen through it. He was terrifying but his friends were worse. Not friends, per se, he’d made that evident. Ran and Mayfield and Xi’an were not his friends, hardly even acquaintances, ex-colleagues.

      When he’d landed the Razor Crest in the doc, clearly put off, Din took a moment to collect himself, “You don’t have to talk to them.” He turned his head to look at you, “They’re not… your crowd really,”

      You snorted, “That's beautiful coming from you, my dear. You know, you’re not particularly ‘my crowd’ either?”

      “I’m serious-” The cool leather of his glove pressed to your cheek, “Look at me [Name]. They’re intense, they’re bounty hunters, mercenaries. They kill, ruthlessly, for money, and I don’t want you getting in their way.”

      You stared, eyebrows furrowing, “Get in their way?”

      “Not-” He sighed, “Not like that. You’re not in the way. I just don’t want them to do anything… to say anything. They’re not nice people, not at all. And you should know about Xi’an.” He had an edge to his voice, something bitter biting into her name. Xi’an. You could taste the bad memories through his tone.

      “Whos Xi’an?”

      “Xi’an is someone who I used to know. We had a relationship? If you could even call it that. It wasn’t really anything important, we were both young and stupid and always running on adrenalin. Things happened, things that probably shouldn’t have, and when I left things were very… open. There wasn’t closure for her, for either of us, and from what I know of Xi’an she probably isn’t really over it.” He moved his hand to brush a tendril of hair behind your ear, “I don’t know how she’d feel about someone else, I really don’t even know how she’ll feel about the kid. I just don’t want her to ruin anything, or to hurt you.”

      You reached back, to clutch at his hand, “Din.”

      He seemed vulnerable, more so than any other time you’d seen him in broad daylight. The dam was leaking and sweet weakness was dribbling from the cracks, pouring into your hands like ambrosia from the Heavens. He dipped forwards, pressing the crown of his helmet to your brow bone, “I know, I worry.”

      “Yes you do, too much. I’m alright Din, we’ll be alright.”

      “I know, I know you will but I still just can’t imagine losing you. I don’t know what I’d do. I think-” He let out a soft noise, somewhere between a scoff and a chuckle, “I think I’ve actually had nightmares about that. About something happening to you and the Thing. I know you can hold your own and take care of yourself but I just feel this compulsion to keep you and the kid safe.”

      “It's a paternal instinct Din, to protect your family.”

      “Paternal.” Din jeered, “What have you turned me into?”

      You tapped a finger to the side of his helmet, “I’ve made you soft,”

      Xi’an shared the same sentiment, that Din had gone soft. And she blamed you entirely, she had voiced that. When she’d first met you she circled like a vulture, walking around you as she fiddled with her utility belt.

      “You’re cute, so is that-” She reached out to pinch at his little green cheek, “Is he yours?” Her tone was condescending, filled with mock pity.

      The Child leaned away from her, ears twitching downwards as he pressed closer to your chest, “No, he's not. I just help Mando take care of him,”

      “He's Mando’s?”

      “No, no- not really. Kind of, but it's a long story.”

      Xi’an cocked an eyebrow, “Kind of? What even is it, I’ve never seen anything like it. Mando didn’t… you know, with its mom I hope. I mean, now I guess it couldn’t really be put past him.”

      You shook your head, clutching tighter to the Child, “No, the baby was found, Mando took him in after-”

      “Are you two..?” a grin crawled up Xi’an’s, “I bet you are. Oh I don’t blame him, you are pretty and all that time in the middle of nowhere would make anyone desperate, even prudey Mando and his creed. You know, I never took him for the companion type but I mean, you are something to look at, and good with kids. How nice it would be to have you on the ship, dual purpose.”

      “Xi’an-” Din’s tone was curt, “I see you two have met.”

      “We have! She’s a cutie, I think I’m starting to see a pattern with your picker. Plus with that kid, she seems to be good for a lot,”

      The Mandalorian’s shoulders tense and his fingers clenched, “You know, you never were good at reading people. Good for a lot, what is that even supposed to mean?”

      She snorted and crossed her arms, “Just you must be desperate is all, but you could have come back instead of picking up a space hooker. But you’ve domesticated her well!”

      “Really Xi’an?” Din leaned closer to her, “Are you jealous that I wanted more or have you always been this much of a bitch?”

      “Can you still fight or have you gone soft Mando? Did a girl make you soft, or was it your kid?”

      “I’m sorry you weren’t the one who got to have this life Xi’an, but I really don’t think you’re adept for it,”

      That was what caught her, making her flustered. Din had nipped the weak spot she had, desperation for family. Xi’an regained herself and straightened, “At least I still have the balls to do my job.” She turned on her heels and stormed towards Burg.

      Din sighed and reached out to pull the Child from your arms, “I’m so sorry about her,”

      You shook your head, “Its fine, you warned me, I didn’t take any of it to heart,”

      Despite the dark visor covering his eyes, you could feel the sympathy, “It still wasn’t okay, any of what she said. You’re not dual purpose. You're wonderful and perfect and the fact that you’re so good with the kid is just an up.”

      Your face flushed, “Thank you Mando, that means a lot.

      “I’m not just saying it [Name]. When you asked to come aboard full time it was such a relief, with how much the Thing likes you.”

      You smiled, reaching out to fix the collar of the baby’s robe, “Well I like him too, he happens to be my favourite little monster in the whole galaxy.” You looked up to your companion, “Don’t worry, you’re my second favourite.”

#the mandalorian #the mandalorian imagine #the mandalorian x reader #din djarin #din djarin imagine #din djarin x reader #baby yoda #grogu #mando #lennie writes

[emybain]

If you're still doing fanfic requests, do you think you could write a sterotypical villain monolouge for Nova to give to the renegades? I really love your writing, you do a great job with the characterization and dialouge. Hope you're having a good day :)

yo I am all for being dramatic. also this ask is old and I apologize for taking 10 years to respond, anon! I wrote this out pretty quickly, and its part self indulgence so its a little rushed and I apologize for that! 

side note: I do NOT want Danna and Nova to be ultimate enemies. I hope that in the end, if all ends up okay, then they can develop an iconic friendship. but seeing as nova...trapped her and all, and Danna’s disdain to anyone who doesn’t follow the law, I dont think Danna will be very friendly to Nova when she gets out of swarm mode. 

    Bang!

    Nova hit her target again. She lowered the gun in her hands and sighed, bored. The Council had issued more training with Agent N after the events not a week before when Genissa’s team was almost completely taken out. By Nova’s hand, too. The Council wanted to take new measures to make sure the Renegades could be better prepared against Agent N, as they hadn’t expected Nightmare to have hold of it.

    And because of the failed mission to bring Ace back to power that night, the Council ordered an investigation in the Renegades headquarters for any signs of Anarchists interference. So far, they had found nothing, and Renegades were growing suspicious of one another, believing that there was a traitor who was leaking information to the Anarchists.

    Nova was on edge, to say the least.

    “Hey, guys,” Adrian called from a station not far from Nova’s. “I just got some news on Max.” Nova’s heart lurched for a moment, but she couldn’t detect any strain or sadness in his voice. Perhaps that meant good news.

    Nova set her gun down and followed Adrian off to one of the walkways. When their whole team, minus Danna, was there, he took a deep breath and read the message on his wristband.

    “He’s in stable condition.” Nova’s shoulders relaxed, not even realizing that they were tensed up. “It’ll be awhile before he can walk again, but they say he’s going to live.” Adrian looked up, eyes twinkling and a grin on his face. It was the first one Nova had seen in what felt like forever.

    Ruby clapped her hands excitedly, and Oscar clapped his hand on Adrian’s shoulder.

    “That’s great,” Nova said, really and truly meaning it. She reached for Adrian’s hand and squeezed it. “Do you know when he’ll be allowed visitors?” Adrian looked back down at his wristband, but before he could answer, one of the doors to the training hall slammed open, the sound echoing loudly across the already loud hall. Nova’s eyes widened and she let go of Adrian’s hand with a curse.

    “Where is she!” Danna yelled, stalking across the many rows of stations. Every step she got closer, Nova’s heart sped up. She knew she needed to run, that it was over, that she was about to be arrested, no doubt, but she couldn’t move.

    “Danna?” Ruby gasped. Danna whipped her head in their direction. She looked like a feral animal, filthy from head to toe and hair a mess. There were cuts across her face, as if she had just come from a fight.

    “You!” she growled, breaking into a sprint and slamming into Nova. They fell screaming. Nova hit her head against the floor, stars erupting in front of her face. Danna threw a punch, but Nova narrowly missed it. They rolled over, wrestling for control.

    “Danna! Nova!” Ruby yelled from somewhere miles away.

    Nova kneed Danna in the stomach just as Danna got her nose. From behind her, someone attempted to pull her away from Danna, but she shot her head back, knocking them in the chin and sending them backwards.

    “You bitch!” Danna twisted Nova’s arm back, and she screamed in pain. “To think I trusted you!” Nova rolled onto her back. Danna pinned her down, breathing hard. “This is what traitors get!” From somewhere on her side, she pulled out a knife and raised it. But she was yanked off of Nova with a yelp before she could bring it down. Nova struggled up to go after her, but she was restrained by a pair of strong arms.

    “Enough!” Hugh Everhart, Captain Chromium, had his arms locked around Danna, who struggled in his arms.

    “What is the meaning of this?” Evander Wade, Blacklight, boomed against Nova’s back. Nova whipped her hair out of her face. She felt something wet and hot dripping down her chin. Off to the side stood the rest of her team, Ruby with tears in her eyes and a hand in her mouth, Adrian and Oscar frozen in shock.

    “She’s not who she says she is!” Danna tried to get out of Captain Chromium’s hold, but his arms tightened around her. “She’s Nightmare! I followed her, and she trapped me in a pathetic jar. But I saw everything. She’s an Anarchist!”

    Only then did Nova notice that everyone in the training hall had their eyes pinned on the two of them. She also noticed the group of security standing by. Commotion broke out, and Nova attempted to bite Blacklight to break free. It didn’t work.

    “Is that true, Nova?” Blacklight asked, disappointment lacing his voice.

    But Nova ignored him. She glared at Danna, who returned it with just as much hostility. “How’d you get out?”

    There were gasps from all around. Danna smirked. “My monarchs helped me. You didn’t seriously think a jar could hold me back? Really, Nova, I thought you were smarter than that.” She shook her head mockingly. “Is Nova even your real name? Or is that another lie?”

    “My name is Nova Artino,” she growled, “daughter of David and Tala Artino, and niece of Ace Anarchy.”

    People yelled at Nova, throwing weapons and their powers at her, but she was shielded by Blacklight.

    “Why, Nova?” Danna snarled, still trying to get away from Captain Chromium, who was looking at Nova in disbelief. Nova didn’t dare look at her teammates, especially Adrian. She didn’t think she could handle it.

    A tear dropped to the ground. “Because the Renegades promised my family protection!” She turned her gaze to Captain Chromium. Years of built up anger and hate flooded out at once before she could think twice. “My father went to you, trusted you! But the Renegades weren’t there to save my family when they were shot to death! I had to watch them die and protect myself from their killer!” A cruel, bitter laugh burst from her chest. “You know who came? You know who rescued me and gave me asylum? Ace Anarchy. The Anarchists are and forever will be my family. We will rise again. The Renegades will cease to exist. A proper government will be-”

    ���That’s enough,” Captain Chromium snapped. He nodded to the security guards, who stepped forward. One had handcuffs. “Nova Artino, you are under arrest for the multiple murder attempts on Council members and Renegades and for affiliation with the Anarchists. You will be furthered questioned at a later time.”

    “I’d like to see you try,” Nova retorted, fighting as restraints were placed on her wrists. Immediately, she was exhausted, nearly tripping over her feet. A sharp pain flooded her body, and she panicked. “My power!” She whipped her head back to Captain Chromium. “What happened?”

    But she was kicked behind the knees, and dragged backwards. “To make sure you won’t try and knock anyone out, traitor,” someone explained to her ear.

    The last thing Nova saw before the doors closed behind her was Adrian Everhart, staring at her with a mixture of hurt, confusion, and anger in his eyes.

#renegades #archenemies #archenemies spoilers #nova artino #danna bell #my writing #asks

[rachelsheadspace]

A DNF review of The Fairy Godmother

by Jesse Abundis

Please keep in mind, if it’s in red, it’s a spoiler. You have been warned!

This book was almost immediately a DNF for me. I made it as far as chapter 15 (out of 49) before calling it quits.

I’m not entirely sure what genre this author wanted this book to be, but I would categorize it within the realm of thriller/horror. I am pretty sure that this was meant to be 3rd person limited, past tense. Randomly it will change to 2nd person or 3rd person omnipotent with no warning.

Trigger Warnings:

There are abusive relationships and a little further on we see lots of children dying through the eyes of their parents.

Protagonist:

Maggie is a housewife who is apparently perfect. Here is a passage describing her: “People who passed her on the street saw a Disney princess brought to life. Always loving and caring. A voice so soft, you’d think angels were playing music for you from the heavens. She had the features so many would kill for in a person, the skin, the hair, the eyes. She was too beautiful to be real.”

So aside from being perfect from the get go, her only real personality traits can be summed up to this: An abused (but otherwise perfect) 1950s housewife living in modern times.

Antagonists:

From what I could tell, the antagonists are her family, because despite being perfect and doting, her husband, daughter and son all hate her.

Favorite Character/Favorite Moment:

I didn’t have any moments or characters that I genuinely liked.

Criticism:

This book reads like a first draft. It it was just a first draft and not a published work, I would be much more lenient about it. There are editing mistakes almost every 2 sentences, making it clear that after writing the draft the author didn’t bother to hire an editor (or if he did he was seriously scammed) or bother to reread over his work.

Beyond that, there is evidence of little to no research done. One example of this is that the husband character apparently went to play in the NFL before college. Another example is how the therapy sessions are written and the dialouge between the two characters in these scenes. Breaking down the dialogue on its own leads to only 10-15 minutes (if that) which is way too short for a therapy session.

Some of the out of character descriptions are a bit creepy. At one point the author describes the feeling of chocking a small dog because it was barking and chasing you.

And if all of that doesn’t dissuade you, the plot is so disjointed that I wasn’t entirely sure what the protagonist is actually trying to accomplish with her actions. I mean, she spends each Halloween for 14 years before the book begins murdering children, but the police never realize that the events are connected, so she just keeps murdering these kids.

Does this story have a “Happily Ever After”?

I’m going to guess not, but I didn’t finish it.

TLDR:

This story follows a Mary Sue character who is abused by her family despite being perfect in nearly every way. She hardly does anything to escape this abuse except plaster fake smiles and bake until Halloween when she dresses up and kills a bunch of kids. After some creepy imagery and the fact that it reads like a first draft, I did not finish it and got a refund from Amazon. I give it a 1/10 and a recommendation to not waste your time.

My advice to writers out there who don’t want this to happen with their books:

1. Do your research.

2. Find critique partners. (Video about Critique Partners)

3. Find beta readers. (Video about Beta Readers) (Part 2)

4. Hire an editor! (Video about Editors)

If you want to read this book despite this review you can find it here.

#book review #amreading #dnf review #dnf #book recommendations #thriller #horror #bad writing

[an-awkward-possum]

24-Hour Ceasefire

First of all, I would like to thank @sehtah for being my beta reader and personal cheerleader while I was writing this. I would also like to acknowledge and thank @randomslasher for writing about the idea for this story because, while I had a similar idea, I wasn’t sure if anyone would like it and I didn’t have a clue about dialouge. Thanks to their awesomeness, they inspired both the story and some of the dialouge in this story. Way to be fantastic, both of you.

TW: Deceit (character), some swearing

Summery: “Thomas is going to see friends today that he hasn’t seen in a long time. So we’re all going to stay in here and stay entertained and we’re all going to play nice.” Patton placed excessive emphasis on the last two words, his eyes flashing a parental warning to all of the sides around the table.

“Oh, yes. That sounds like something I’m completely willing to do.” Deceit raised an eyebrow and watched his fingers drum on the wooden surface before he glowered back up to Morality. 

Roman and Logan quietly sat across from each other at the dining table in the kitchen, Patton humming happily while pots and pans clattered softly in front of him, the bright smell of breakfast food wafting through the commons area of the mindscape.

“I still don’t completely comprehend why we’re doing this.” Logan readjusted his glasses minutely before taking a long draw from his coffee mug.

“We’re killing him with kindness.” Roman gestured in front of himself as he shrugged, eyebrows raised as if he thought the simple sentence and gesture would answer all of logic’s questions.

“Not quite, kiddo. But there’s no reason why we can’t be the ones who take the high road.” Patton looked over his shoulder at the pair and beamed, hands effortlessly continuing their task of making the morning meal for the sides.

Logan felt his mouth tightening and hid his scowl behind his drink before Patton could see it, not wanting to let the emotional figure in on anything being wrong, while his mind bitterly flashed over the events from last week. Deceit’s impersonation of Patton, his direct attack against Logan by not allowing him to speak, and the stress the dark side had caused Roman and Virgil had not been forgotten or forgiven by the logical personification. He didn’t think this was a wise idea. But he understood why it was necessary. And when he had expressed his concerns to Patton, the man had simply smiled, patted him on the back, and reassured him that this would be a good thing for Thomas and that Patton would be there if Logan needed someone to talk to afterwards. The least he could do was participate so he could step in if necessary.

“And why isn’t Virgil a part of this conversation?” Roman looked around dramatically, searching for the side who also had rarely missed a meal with the group since being officially accepted.

“Oh, I asked him if he wouldn’t mind going to find Deceit for me.” Patton chirped happily, his smile clearly visible just from his voice.

Roman inhaled the breath for his protest, Logan also opening his mouth to ask the father figure if he thought that was the best idea, when there was a sudden loud thump in the hallway, the group turning towards the sound.

“That must be them now.” Patton spoke up quietly right before Virgil stalked into the kitchen, his mouth drawn in a tight line.

Roman and Logan’s eyebrows rose in surprise together as they watched the hoodie-clad figure drag Deceit into the room and around the table, his thin fingers wrapped around the back of the villain's cloak collar tightly. Deceit was scowling in a dark pout, his arms crossed over his chest while he was involuntarily slid across the floor. Virgil gave one last sharp tug on the cloak before suddenly releasing it, letting the two-faced character tumble to the floor before moving away without a word.

Patton tapped his wooden spoon on the side of one of the pots, setting it down gently and checking that all of the food would be safe for a moment, before moving to stand over Deceit with a signature smile that exuded cheerful brightness.

“I’m so glad you could join us!” Patton beamed down at the man who was glaring daggers upwards from where he laid on the tile flooring, seemingly either completely unaware of Deceits hateful stare or happily ignoring it.

“Yes, well, it’s not like I was dragged here against my will.” Deceit growled out, scowl deepening at Patton’s perky attitude.

“Well now that you’re here would you like to have breakfast with us?” Patton continued talking to the figure, turning back to his food and carefully making sure it wasn't burning.

“Oh, yes. I would love that.” Deceit rolled his eyes while his voice dripped with sarcasm, pulling himself to his feet and dusting himself off thoroughly. He waited until Patton glanced back at him, smiling happily as if not hearing the hissing sardonic tone of his voice, to sneer maliciously at him before turning on his heel dramatically and moving to walk around the table and leave the room.

So caught up in his sharp movements and frustration towards the moral character, Deceit almost walked into Virgil, who was standing almost directly behind him. The anxious side’s arms were crossed unyieldingly and his face held nothing but contempt for the dark side in front of him.

“Sit down and shut up.” Virgil bit out tightly, mouth never coming out of it’s scowl.

Deceit’s eyes flashed at the aggressive order, shoulders squaring up as he stepped toe to toe with the anxious character, glare scorching down with the little height he gained by having better posture.

The screeching scrape of a chair moving quickly from it’s spot at the table caused Deceit to snap his head to the side, taking in with caution the scene before him, both Logan and Roman tensed and ready to stand and come to Virgil’s defence. Deceit gritted his teeth and squared his jaw tightly, taking a calculated step away from the other side and nodding curtly to Virgil and Patton before quickly moving around the table and taking a seat at the table beside Roman, the anxious side moving to sit directly across from him, beside Logan. He fidgeted slightly under the tight glares from his table-mates, his posture erect and tense, ready to run at the first sign of trouble. He knew they had to still be upset with his trick last week- though he wasn’t sure if that meant they would lash out physically. He didn’t think so, but better to be safe than sorry.

“Now then, I’m glad we’re all together right now because I need to talk to you about something.” Patton smiled at the group before his gaze fell on Deceit, “unfortunately, Deceit, you weren’t here when we discussed this last night, but I’m sure you won’t mind participating.”

Deceit just glared at the father figure, lip curled with contempt.

“Thomas is going to see friends today that he hasn’t seen in a long time. So we’re all going to stay in here and stay entertained and we’re all going to play nice.” Patton placed excessive emphasis on the last two words, his eyes flashing a parental warning to all of the sides around the table.

“Oh, yes. That sounds like something I’m completely willing to do.” Deceit raised an eyebrow and watched his fingers drum on the wooden surface before he glowered back up to Morality.

“We are calling for a twenty-four hour ceasefire. We will be civil towards you and in return you will do the same.” Logan spoke up, allowing Patton to refocus on the meal he was making. His mouth was drawn in a tight line across his face, the bright anger in his eyes shining at Deceit as if waiting for the antagonist to argue.

“So why do I feel that all of the unspoken warnings are being directed at me?” Deceit pushed ever so lightly against the pressure they were putting on him, lips curling up into a snide expression that was still venomous.

“We thought that you would be the least likely to want to participate.” Logan answered back without hesitation, watching the expression on the two-faced side become more apparent.

“You thought right.” Deceit moved to stand but was immediately sat back down by an invisible force.

“We’re all going to stay here, in the mindscape, stay entertained together, as a group, and we’re all going to play nice.” Patton repeated sweetly, his voice giving no indication that he had just pushed Deceit back into his chair, though there was a hint of parental frustration in his tone as he directed the sentence at Deceit.    

Deceit attempted to hide his startled emotions in a dark scowl, settling back into his chair. He knew that Patton could be a force to be reckoned with and it was far too early in the morning to be pushing his luck against not only the oldest side, but the other three that would defend him to the teeth if need be.

Just because there was a ceasefire, didn’t mean he had to like it.

“Alrighty, breakfast is ready!” Patton chirped happily as if things hadn’t just been incredibly tense and walked around to each of the sides plates, dishing eggs, ham, sausage, and pancakes to everyone, taking extra care to make sure Deceit got just as much as everyone else.

Once Patton served himself, moved his coffee mug to the head of the table, and sat down, the group dug in hungrily.

Deceit stayed exactly where he was, his body tense with suspicion as he waited until the group seemed thoroughly distracted with their meal to begin eating what was on his plate.

The sides glanced at each other awkwardly for the first few minutes but eventually Patton broke the silence by asking Roman about the new script he was working on, the creative side happy to talk about his ideas. Logan posed a few questions to Princey before talking to Virgil about a new poetry book he had just gotten, offering to let the side borrow it if he was interested.

Eventually the conversation shifted to more group discussions, the four all adding their thoughts on the topics and even pausing to see if Deceit had anything to add. Deceit however was too busy with his plate, focused on consuming as much of it as possible, when he felt someone come up behind him, his head whipping around to confront the intruder of his personal space.

“Here you go,” Patton smiled kindly as he refilled Deceit’s plate, giving him just as much as he had during the first serving. “You seemed like you were still hungry, so I thought I’d give you some more.”

“This food is terrible.” Deceit scoffed with offence, not bothering to look around the table before focusing on eating again. “I thought you were supposed to be good at cooking, Patton.”

“Aw, thanks.” Patton shot him another sincere smile before sitting back down and rejoining the conversation.

By the time Deceit was finishing his second plate, the conversation was starting to wind down, the other sides full and content. He saw Patton get up and grab what little was left over and head towards him. He thought of yet another scathing comment he could issue to the moral side but knew that if he said anything, it would give Patton time to finish making his way over and dish more food onto his plate, so he just raised his hand dismissively and shook his head, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to eat another bite.

Once the table was cleared and everyone was standing up and tucking their chairs back in place, Deceit quietly stood with them and moved to take his leave, stepping towards the doorway before being stopped by a voice calling after him.

“Deceit, would you like to join us in the common area for the day?” The snake-faced man turned sharply and searched Logan’s face for any malintent, still cautious of the quartet before him, all of them watching for his answer.

“Yes, that sounds like exactly the way I want to spend my day.” The venom in his voice struck out at the logical side but the glasses and tie-clad figure didn’t so much as flinch.

Deceit’s mouth crept into a dark smirk as he saw Roman’s face darken as if threatened and his body begin to inflate with protectiveness. He spared a moment of wordlessly teasing the creative side to glance at Virgil and saw the side glowering at him, vicious glare almost daring Deceit to try anything. His smirk faltered and half a second later fell off his face completely before he descended into a pout. He looked back at Logan and gave a single nod of consent, rolling his eyes when he heard Patton clap happily from the front of the room.

“Wonderful!” The side once again acted as if he hadn’t noticed the dark character’s interactions with everyone just a second ago. “Roman and I will join you once we’ve cleaned the kitchen up.”

Roman nodded tightly in acknowledgement of what Patton said, eyes not leaving Deceit until the over-dressed man turned around again left the room with Logan and Virgil close behind.

The trio walked into the living room without another word between them, Deceit watching observantly as the other two sides silently went to their own spots and settled in.

Logan moved to sit on the side of the couch closest to the kitchen and gracefully pulled a thick book out of thin air before settling down on the sofa and opening the tome to his bookmarked spot, body relaxing into the cushions as his eyes flickered quickly across the page.

Virgil drew himself into a scrunched up ball in a cozy recliner, headphones appearing around his neck with his hands already moving upwards to settle them around his ears. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and was instantly drawn into whatever was on his screen, occasionally tapping on the device or swiping something before settling back into his closed-off position.

Deceit decided to move once the other two were focused on their individual activities and sat on the opposite end of the couch as Logan, sitting stiffly on the edge of the sofa and looking around the room for something to do. There was a large television with an extensive movie collection next to it, the majority of the films being Disney or other entertainment for kids; there was a small shelf that was filled with board games and puzzles- stacked in a way that was clean and organized but still looked messy and slightly haphazard; and finally his eyes settled on a large bookshelf that was standing near him, all the shelves lined with different literature. There were mystery novels, horror stories, romance novels, science fiction works, adventure books, children’s books, non-fiction texts, and plenty more to choose from. He stood and took the few short steps necessary to cover the distance between the couch and bookcase and scanned the shelves until he found something that peaked his interest, pulling it from the shelf silently and sitting back on the sofa.

“Psst.” Roman was aggressively shoving the dishes away into the cabinets as he dried them, scowl still on his face from Deceit just a moment ago.

“Psst.” Roman turned when he heard the sound again and saw Patton watching him, eyes both gentle and mischievous.

“What?” Roman’s voice snapped more harshly than he meant for it to, turning to Patton with a tired resignation. Here comes another parental talk about accepting others no matter how different they seem.

“Do you want to know how to do it?” Patton’s smirk grew until he looked like a child getting ready to play a prank.

“Do what, Patton?” The prince was already done with today and, knowing what the rest of the day held, didn’t want to deal with any more open-ended questions or double-meaning sentences.

“How to be around Deceit.” Patton clarified, smirk growing even more before suddenly dropping into a gentle smile and turning back to the dishes as if nothing had happened.

“I-” Roman stopped himself. What was he going to say? He knew how? He didn’t. He didn’t know how he was supposed to tolerate that creatine for a whole day. “Go on.”

“Take everything he says at opposite face value.” Patton shrugged, scrubbing a pan coated with dried eggs.

“But he doesn’t always lie.” Roman gestured with frustration, irritation beginning to spread to contain everything in sight.

“No, he doesn’t. You’re right.” Patton digressed with a nod before glancing at him, “but he does it enough that it might work.”

Roman pierced his lips and thought about it for a moment. Maybe.

“Perhaps. But what about when he is telling the truth?” Roman narrowed his eyes at the parent, not used to being the one picking apart another’s plan.

“Then it’s up to you to decide what to do, kiddo.” Patton placed the pan on the drying rack and pulled another one into the soapy water. “If it’s relatively nice, maybe take it. If it’s not, play it off. Just keep the mood upbeat and polite. I talked to Logan and Verge about it earlier, but I wanted to tell you so you were in the loop.”

“He won’t like feeling like he's not getting under our skin.” Roman’s eyebrows lifted as he warned the moral side.

Patton’s smirk grew across his face again and suddenly Roman realized that Patton was quite aware of the situation as a whole.

Maybe today wasn’t going to be so terrible after all. Oh, this could be fun.

When Roman and Patton walked into the living room twenty minutes later, they were surprised to find the other three sides all sitting quietly, Logan and Virgil in their usual spots and Deceit quietly curled up with a thick book opened against the armrest, eyes slowly shifting back and forth as he absorbed whatever topic he was reading.

Roman walked towards the corner of the room, pulling his notebook and a pen from thin air before settling into a large beanbag chair, flipping through the pages before getting back to his newest idea for a video Thomas could do.

Patton made his way over to the bookshelf, careful not to disturb Deceit, and picked out a Winnie the Pooh book before quietly placing himself on the cushion separating Logan and Deceit. He smiled softly to himself as the peaceful silence in the room, relieved that everyone was cooperating with his idea.

Patton was halfway through the book, enjoying the pictures just as much as the story itself, when he noticed Deceit’s gaze kept glancing at him for momentary intervals before going back to his book. Perhaps he wanted to start a conversation.

“So, what are you reading?” Patton’s voice, however quiet, still disturbed the silence, though the other sides gave no indication that they were bothered or had even heard him. The moral compass of the group turning his whole attention to the snake-faced character beside him.

“Not a psychology book I found.” Deceit rolled his eyes, his sardonic tone laced with annoyance. He let his gaze fall back down to his book but he soon glanced back towards the person beside him, unsure of how he felt about Patton being so close. The man wasn’t in his personal space, per say, but was still sitting closer than he was usually comfortable with. But they were simply reading books, so maybe it was alright. He wasn’t sure.

“Oh? Why’d you pick that?” Patton smiled encouragingly, he looked as if he hadn’t even heard Deceit’s tone during his last reply.

“Every good lie has an element of truth. I need to have my facts straight if I’m going to trick you all properly.” Deceit felt a small blossom of pride in his chest when the air in the room suddenly tensed up, all eyes whipping up to stare. Roman, Logan, and Virgil were watching him with mixed emotions of surprise, caution, and distaste. As their gazes slowly shifted to watch the too-still Patton beside him, his mind cautiously noted that their observation of the father figure was more trepidatious than their gazes had been with him.

He finally stopped staring at the other sides and turned his head to face Patton head on. Deceit immediately noticed that the side’s jaw was clenched tightly despite the happy expression he wore, his smile friendly as he spoke, “I think that’s really smart of you, Deceit. I’m glad you care enough about us to educate yourself in furthering your… talents.”

Logan and Roman smirked, Virgil failing to hide a quiet snicker, as they watched the dark side’s face grow slack and pale, a completely bewildered expression encompassing his body. Clearly the side had expected to start a fight. But leave it to Patton to immediately defuse a situation when he wanted to.

Patton watched Deceit’s mind screech to a halt as his plans were shut down in the blink of an eye, giving him one last sugary-sweet smile before returning his attention to his storybook in front of him, eager to return to the light-hearted story and colorful artwork.

The group continued to hang out quietly in the common area, all content to do their own activities in the company of each other. Logan eventually finished his original book and let it vanish with a barely-audible pop before another one showed up in his hand with a similar sound. Roman slowly grew tired of writing, his mind buzzing with all the new ideas he had come up with, and decided to grab a romance novel while letting his brain file away all of his creative thoughts for him to come back to when he had calmed down a little and felt like writing again. Patton, once finished with his children’s book, moved to an open space on the floor and dumped out a large puzzle, focusing on finding all of the edge pieces and letting out soft gasps of excitement whenever he found a corner piece. Virgil shifted positions in his chair, allowing his head to rest on one of the armrests while his legs dangled over the side of the other one, staying on his phone but deciding to switch apps.

Deceit continued to read his book, stopping to quietly observe the people around him whenever one of them decided to move or change activities, before returning to whatever paragraph he had left off on.

It was about half an hour later that he acknowledged he was thirsty.

He unfolded himself from the position he hadn’t realized his body had condensed itself into and stood up, relishing the stretch in his back and legs while he carefully placed the book upside down, not wanting to lose his spot. He glanced around to make sure everyone was still focused on their activities before silently heading back towards the kitchen, mind now made up clearly about wanting a drink.

Once in the kitchen, Deceit realized the situation he was in. He didn’t know where anything was. He quietly went to the first cabinet and opened it, barely having time to catch the avalanche of tupperware that cascaded towards him and slam the door shut. That would be an issue for the next person. Not him.

He opened the next cabinet, finding some of the smaller cooking bowls and mixing pots. Still not what he was looking for.

When he opened the next cabinet, plates and bowls, it swung open a little harder than normal, a sudden deep voice behind him making him jump.

“Deceit, do you need help finding anything?” Roman’s tone was friendly and helpful, lacking the malice or annoyance Deceit would have expected to hear. Though maybe he shouldn’t be surprised; Princey had always been easy to lie to- the creative side always eager to accept any compliments bestowed upon him. Roman may not despise him as much as the others did. While this didn’t help him in this situation, he would certainly have to file the information away to use later.

“Not at all. I know exactly where the cups are. I’m quite offended you asked.” Deceit let a disapproving sneer pull at his features, bitterness filling his tone.

“Okay, no problem. They’re right here.” Roman moved gracefully around him and pulled open a cabinet two doors further away, motioning inside with a small grin.

“That was completely unnecessary. I don’t appreciate you.” Deceit glowered at the prince.

“No worries.” Roman flashed a brighter, dashing smile and patted Deceit on the shoulder encouragingly while walking towards the archway. “You’re welcome.”

“I wasn’t lying that time.” The two-faced character glared daggers at the creative side, skin crawling where the prince had touched him while his voice stopped the other just outside of the kitchen.

Roman’s smile turned into a mischievous smirk, “I know.” He winked cockily and patted the wall before disappearing back down the hall.

Deceit scowled after the prince for several seconds afterwards, aggravation at being flippantly ignored and indignation at the almost flirtatious way Roman had done so bubbling in his stomach. He would make him pay. But for now, Deceit turned on his heel and grabbed a cup before shutting the door a little harder than he had to and filling it with cold water at the sink.

The rest of the afternoon was just as quiet and uneventful as the first half had been. Patton had excused himself an hour after Deceit came back from getting a drink, reappearing from the kitchen laden with juice and sandwiches and chips and apples, to which everyone dug in for lunch and the only remark from Deceit they had to tolerate was, “I’m not surprised you couldn’t put even a little more effort into this.” Though the comment was overshadowed by the fact that the character had eaten three sandwiches and just as much in chips and fruit. Once lunch was finished, Roman joined Patton in putting together the puzzle scattered on the floor. Logan was still in his spot on the couch, one leg now tucked under him, whittling away on a crossword. Deceit noted that he was doing it in pen, and that every few minutes Logan flipped to a new page, the previous puzzle obviously having been completed. Virgil was sitting in the armchair again, his knees pulled up while his sketchbook was propped against them, pencil making small movements across the page.

Deceit felt the first tendrils of sleep tug at his body as he watched the group from behind his book. He shifted to wake himself up but only ended up in a more comfortable position. He focused his mind on watching the puzzle being assembled, on the crisp sounds of Logan’s puzzle book being solved page by page, on the soft scratchings of pen and pencil on paper, and his eyes drifted closed without him ever noticing.

He’s pulled out of sleep suddenly, his body jumped and chest pounded at something that he was too asleep to actually know what it was. His eyes first focused on a clean rectangular picture in front of him, the puzzle was complete. Then he realized that four pairs of eyes were on him, all the other sides watching him carefully though clearly bemused. He looked around, eyes clearing up but head still slightly fuzzy, for the source of what woke him up when he spotted Patton standing across the room near the hall that led to the kitchen, watching him expectantly for a response.

“I was just saying I’m about to start dinner. Will you be joining us?” Patton repeats happily, moral side always the patient one.

“I wouldn’t dream of it.” Deceit sneered, allowing his frustration and embarrassment from falling asleep in front of the others to shine through and create a mask of utter disgust at the father-figure. It was at that time that his stomach decided to voice it’s own opinion, growling loudly before the roar faded into quiet rumbles. “I’m not hungry.”

“Great!” Patton chirped, as if he heard Deceit’s stomach as the side’s actual answer. “I’m making spaghetti and garlic bread. Is that okay?”    

Deceit’s stomach growled again in response but he ignored it, instead choosing to answer with a sharp, “I loathe spaghetti. But if you put lots of mushrooms in, it might be passable.”

“No mushrooms, got it!” Patton gave him a bright thumbs up and approving smile before disappearing down the hall back into the kitchen.

Deceit scowled and let out an irritated sigh, a deep frustration settling in his stomach as nothing he said seemed to be bothering anyone. And yet he knew that he didn’t want to push the group too hard, given his deception the week before, well aware he was on thin ice. He let out another sigh and closed the book he had been reading, quietly depositing it back on the bookshelf before settling into his claimed spot on the couch again. He eyed the trio standing several feet away from them, huddled losely while quietly deliberating about something he obviously wasn’t invited to have any opinion on.

“Deceit,” Logan turned around, catching his attention as the three sides turned to face him as a group. “We are planning on watching a movie while we eat. Do you happen to have a favorite animated Disney film?”

Deceit considered them for a moment, lips pressed into a thin line while he carefully observed each of the members for, what he was looking for he didn’t know. But he finally swallowed and clipped out, “I absolutely abhor the Jungle Book. It’s ridiculously overrated.”

“Alright, we’ll get it ready.” Logan nodded politely while Virgil and Roman nodded in agreement, the prince seemingly just happy to be watching Disney and Virgil pleased with the actual movie selection.

The group set the movie up on the large flat-screen, muting the menu so they wouldn’t get annoyed with the repetitive music, and sat quietly while waiting for Patton to announce dinner- which came about twenty minutes later.

Deceit noticed, with a raise of his eyebrows, that he had been served nearly double that of the other sides, Patton smiling at him in a parental way with a small wink before turning to make sure everyone else was situated. They started the movie and the group’s focus was quickly honed in on the adventures of the little boy on the screen with the help of the grouchy panther and carefree bear.

When Patton got up and returned with more food for the snake-faced side, Deceit lashed out with a sharp critique on the father-figure’s cooking again, catching a glimpse of hurt in the man’s eye before it was hidden behind a friendly smile, the moral side actually reaching down to ruffle his hair fondly before retreating back to the couch. Deceit huffed with aggravation and shook his head before turning his attention back to the movie. He’d come up with a revenge plan later.

As the credits began to roll for the cartoon, the sides shifted around, stretching and rearranging themselves in their spots to be more comfortable as Patton piped up, “So, what should we watch next?”

“How about the Lion King?” Roman smiled back at him, checking his phone quickly before putting it away.

The sides glanced towards Deceit, waiting to see if the side would complain about the selection, but were pleasantly surprised when no argument was raised. The villain simply returned their glance indifferently before turning his attention back to the television screen and shrugging.

Deceit decided to keep his mouth firmly shut, tired of being ignored and misheard, no matter if he knew the other sides were only doing it to keep the peace or not. And he couldn’t reasonably complain about the movie choice- Scar was one of his favorite Disney characters after all. It wouldn’t destroy him to just sit there and watch the film.

Just over an hour and a half later, the group was turning off the TV while slowly rising to their feet, loudly stretching and scratching and resettling their clothing and all ready to head their separate ways for the night. Tired from the events of the day as, despite it being quite relaxing on the outside, had been uncomfortable and nerve-wracking on the inside. Everyone was ready for a breather and some rest.

“I’m so glad I can finally get away from you all. Today was a nightmare.” Deceit readjusted his cloak and tugged his gloves on tighter, feeling just as drained as the rest of the group, although his exhaustion stemmed more from his constant aggravation at the group’s welcoming behavior.

“Well, thanks for joining us today.” Patton smiled in a friendly way, his eyes barely showing how tired he was.

“That did go much better than I anticipated. But, I suppose that’s a welcome surprise.” Logan crossed his arms and shrugged, talking mostly to the floor beside him before lifting his head to nod his head in acknowledgement towards the two-faced character.

“You weren’t absolutely horrible. So I suppose it was tolerable.” Roman conceded almost begrudgingly, his quiet hopes that Deceit would do something to warrant the prince physically throwing him from the common area hadn’t come true. Though, he supposed, that might not be a bad thing.

“I tried to be quite horrible, thank you.” Deceit looked Princey up and down with blatant indignation, his eyes slightly widened at the insulting accusation.

“We know.” Roman rolled his eyes with slightly less dramatic flair than was normal for him, a small smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth.

Roman and Logan took Deceit’s frazzled expression as their cue to go to bed, walking off down the corridor towards the kitchen and turning down another hallway to the left that led to their bedrooms, leaving Virgil standing across from Deceit in the small area of the living room the group had migrated to for ‘goodnights’, and Patton standing in the archway- clearly there to watch over the anxious side.

Deceit ignored the fatherly figure, scowling at the hoodie-clad character in front of him.

“If you ever drag me out of my room like that again…” Deceit took a threatening step forward but stopped himself from continuing when he saw Patton’s face darken, the parent’s disapproval of him radiating in protective waves.

“Don’t mention it.” Virgil’s smirk taunted him, an almost mischievous light dancing in his eyes. The snake-faced man felt a deep hatred boil inside him, fury at the once-shy anxious side’s confidence bubbling up. He knew part of it came from the moral side standing in the doorway- from Virgil feeling safe. And the frustration that had accumulated throughout the day rose up in his chest with the distinct goal of making some sharp, deadly-accurate comment on one of Virgil’s insecurities to knock him down a peg. Even Patton would have a hard time picking up the pieces if he did it right.

Deceit opened his mouth, lips curled into a snarl, to speak again when Patton spoke quietly, suddenly beside the pair without a sound.

“Goodnight, Deceit.” Patton gave him a small smile, though his body language was clear in the warning that the lying side should take a step back. When Deceit defiantly met Patton’s eye, ready to challenge him instead, he saw that the smile the moral side wore did not reach them, instead swimming with a coldness that he was sure the other sides had never seen. It sent a chill down his spine and he took that as his leave, sinking back down to his room with only a small nod of recognition of what Morality had said to him.

The next morning found the four main sides in the kitchen, Patton happily working on chocolate chip pancakes while the other three sat around the table, sipping at their coffee and trying to slowly wake up.

“Do you think he’ll leave us alone for a little while now?” Virgil absent-mindedly scratched his hair, shuffling the bed-head around with his fingers before stifling a yawn and taking another draw from his mug.

“It’s highly unlikely.” Logan sighed, the thought of needed to deal with Deceit, especially after spending the whole day with him previously, just made him more exhausted.

“It’s a nice thought though, kiddo.” Patton smiled over his shoulder at the hoodie-clad side, a mixture of sadness, compassion, and pride shining on his face.

“He wasn’t terribly awful.” Roman shrugged, fingers drumming on the table before he finally sat back in his chair with a huff, crossing his arms over his chest and shaking his head.

“It’s not like we gave him much choice in the matter though, Roman.” The logical side pointed out with a raise of his eyebrows, drinking the rest of his coffee before getting up and refilling his mug- walking around to each side to refill theirs as well before sitting back down.

“But still, what if this is a turning point for him?” Roman considered each of his fellow sides as his mouth twitched into a large smile at the grandiose thought. “What if…”

The group settled down from their conversation once Patton served breakfast, all just enjoying the mouth watering pancakes and the peace and quiet of the morning when there was a soft cough from the hall.

The group turned to see Deceit standing halfway in the archway. He looked like his usual, over-dressed, over-confident self except that his eyes kept darting from one person to another before they finally settled for staring at the floor under the table.

“I loathed yesterday and I’m so glad I’ll never have to deal with that again.” The snake-faced side rolled his eyes while his lip lifted into an antagonistic sneer. “Breakfast smells atrocious by the way.”

The group sat, momentarily stunned by Deceit’s reappearance so soon after the exhaustion of yesterday, before Roman caught on to the dark side’s meaning. The sides turned and glanced at one another, gauging each other’s reactions and catching on to Roman’s train of thought, before turning and offering a tense but welcoming smile at the figure in the doorway.

Patton got up from his chair and retrieved another plate from the cabinet, piling it high with pancakes while Roman pulled out another coffee mug and filled it, gesturing welcomingly to the empty chair where the villain had sat the day before.

“Are you out of your mind?” Logan’s moderately irritated voice snapped Roman from his imagination, making the prince stare at him offendedly.

Patton had finished cooking and had turned off the stove, turning around to give his attention to the creative side before announcing breakfast was ready. Both the logical and anxious side also had their attention now devoted to Roman.

“That would never happen.” Virgil shook his head, his face held in a frustrated dead-pan while he gestured to the empty chair across from him. “He’s Deceit.”

“Yes, that would go against his whole character. It’s simply absurd.” Logan shook his head in agreeance with Virgil, shrugging his shoulders before adjusting his glasses pointedly, looking across the table at Roman with an expression that seemed to nonverbally explain just how done he was with the whole topic.

“But maybe it could happen. Someday.” Roman pouted into a tight frown and crossed his arms tighter across his chest, his cheeks heating up under the blush of embarrassment at his ideas being openly criticized so bluntly.

“Yeah, no. Fuck that guy.” Virgil’s voice retaliated smoothly, his body moving to mirror Princey’s posture, though more relaxed, before drinking more of the hot beverage in front of him.

“Language.” Patton leaned against the counter, softly reprimanding Virgil before moving to take a sip of his coffee, though nobody missed the smirk he was trying to hide behind his mug.

“While it may be an… entertaining thought,” Logan’s eyes squinted while he stared at nothing in particular, focused on choosing his words wisely. “Deceit is not one to change his ways. Nor is someone who embodies lying and manipulation likely to evolve into anything less harmful, let alone anything that could be considered ‘good’.”

Roman considered Logic’s words before nodding in agreeance, understanding and- though he didn’t like to admit it- agreeing with the man’s ideas. It was silly of him to think otherwise. Idealistic. And while idealism wasn’t a bad thing to consider once in awhile, it could also be dangerous if he didn’t weigh all of the facts beforehand.

“As I was saying.” Virgil motioned with his hand as if Logan had just reiterated his remark. “Fuck that guy.”

Patton took another swig of coffee, turning around this time to hide his expression while he grabbed what he needed to serve breakfast. “Language.”

#sanders sides #sanders sides fic #sanders sides fanfiction #fanfiction #virgil sanders #patton sanders #roman sanders #logan sanders #ts deceit #deceit sanders #24-hour ceasefire

[noirsongbird]

for the fic asks: 2, 7, 13, 23, 37!

40 Questions for fic writers!

Under a cut because this got loonnnggg. Also once we get to the WIPs section I talk lightly about some smutty shit, so!

Is there a trope you’ve yet to try your hand at, but really want to?

FAKE. DATING. I want to do it SO BAD and I haven’t yet and I’m finally gonna, I swear.

Share a snippet from one of your favorite pieces of prose you’ve written and explain why you’re proud of it.

Oh, man, this took me a while, and it’s why I had to sleep on this ask and answer it in the morning. A lot of what I’m proud of is dialouge, but I do love Satya’s initial reaction to seeing dragon!Genji in Hold Me Tight and Fear Me Not:

The one - the man - who had spoken laughed, seeing her tense form and fierce expression, and spread his arms wide in a universal gesture of meaning no harm. He was handsome, there was no doubt about that, with bright eyes and an easy smile, dressed in a white gi over a fitted undershirt. He wore light armored gauntlets and boots that looked like they had clawed feet, perhaps for climbing. A dramatic orange scarf caught a light breeze that blew through the courtyard, stirring up the cherry blossoms. The breeze also caught his hair - short, but spiked, and bright green, and that was about where Satya’s brain stopped acknowledging what her eyes were seeing because surely she was seeing things. Men did not have antlers, nor did they have - her gaze flicked back to his face - splatterings of scales over their cheeks and on their arms, or….or strange, serpentine dragon tails.

That nope about what’s blatantly in front of her is and remains deeply delightful, okay.

What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever come across?

That all writing advice is malleable. You can break the rules if you have to, and if it fits, and you don’t have to be bound by genre and convention. Write what’s in your heart, babies, and even if it’s not perfect, you’ll still make something awesome.

If you were to revise one of your older fics from start to finish, which would it be and why?

Uh, all of them? but if I have to pick one, Promises, Promises (and its sequel, Walk Through the Fire). It’s much enjoyed in the Kylux fandom, but the writing could be SO much better, and the fact that I didn’t have a plan shows very clearly, so I would work harder to make all the individual incidents feel interconnected and like they were actually part of one story and not just me doing whatever I thought was fun?

Talk about your current wips.

ISA NO ISA WHY. This is the part where I get to gratuitously embarrass myself by talking about how many goddamn WIPs I have.

OKAY. So. Ones I can currently talk about, divided by fandom (can’t talk about my Sheith or Hance Big Bang fics since we’re still pre-claims ;D)

Overwatch:

Unpublished:

Flowers Like Freedom: That Mercymaker sequel to Flowers Like Ashes that I’ve been talking about for like a year. NO, REALLY, I AM WORKING ON IT. It’s about halfway done at this point, maybe even three-quarters of the way? I’ve gotten past one of the hardest parts, and have notes for all the remaining scenes, it’s just a matter of finding time where I feel allowed to work on it (which will ease up soon, since one of my most pressing Bang commitments is almost at posting time!)

Rabbit Heart: A Mercymaker AU in which it was Angela, not Amelie, who was taken by Talon. See, Gerard’s wife had security everywhere, and was in no way a soft target, but their girlfriend? Their girlfriend was a field medic, and she was much easier to snatch off the battlefield in the chaos of a fight. With her husband dead and her girlfriend under Talon’s thumb, Amelie chooses to join Blackwatch and is trained as a soldier. I’ve got a solid outline done and I’ve got the beginnings of an opening chapter, so that’s another one we might see pretty soon!

Come Along With Me: The next piece in the Child Ballad Series, in which Katya Volskaya asks for help in a fairy ring and gets one Winter Queen Sombra, who is, in her own mind, very much a helper! She’s helping! So yeah, Sombra agrees to offer Katya the answers she needs, in exchange for seven years of Katya’s service. Everything after that is just really, fantastically gay. Another one that’s about half-done, so it’s about finding time!

Published:

Coming Home: Revisions will be happening at some point I promise.

A Thousand Words: I know mostly where I want to go with this one, I just need to sit down and figure out exactly what that means! Once I get back to Overwatch fic, turning out a new chapter of ATW is very high on my priorities list.

Voltron: Legendary Defender:

Unpublished:

Past the Point of No Return: My fic for the Galra Big Bang, a Lancelot fic that diverges from canon after the end of Season 3 (it’s been in the works for…a while, okay). Lance gets captured by Lotor and his generals, and gets some very interesting perspective as a result. Coming very, very soon–my post date is March 22!

Hold Me Tight or Don’t: My fic for the Voltron Kinkbang, more Lancelot that’s canon-compliant up to Season 4. Lotor goes into heat, ends up spending it with Lance, and they accidentally pairbond (which is a bit like ABO mating, and it gives the pair an empathic link that allows a degree of feleing each other’s feeliings, emotionally and physically). There’s a lot of smut, and also a lot of feels, because these two idiots are navigating a whole lot of feelings. A bit further out–Kinkbang posting is in May!

Untitled Sheith prequel to HMTOD: An incident with Haggar results in Keith becoming more phenotypically Galra–and also gaining the ability and desire to create a Galra pairbond. He somewhat accidentally does with Shiro, and….well. This would go better if a) either of them knew what was going on, and b) Project Kuron wasn’t still looming. Ideally coming next month-ish, before I publish HMTOD, but might be after!

Shine a Light: A college au, once again more Lancelot no I don’t know why I love this ship so much either I JUST DO. This is going to be really, really personal, because a lot of what Lotor goes through during this fic is drawn directly from my personal experiences my first year of college. I had a breakdown. It was bad. But working on this fic has felt so good, because it feels like I’m finally acknowledging and pricessing some of what I went through rather than putting it in a box labelled THAT HAPPENED and filing it in the back of the mental attic.

Published:

Always In This Twilight: Um. It’s. Coming down for revisions, because some of my decisions about where I want things to go later in the story require me to go back and make some edits, and it could use some polishing, and it’s an ABO fic and currently it’s alpha!Shiro/omega!Keith and I want to flop that because omega!Shiro makes me happy. He’s big and buff and also soft okay /weeps

And I’ll Not Go To The Waves: Everything is outlined!! I just have to actually find time to write it. My intent is to finish everything and get it all nice behind the scenes once I’m free of some bang commitments, and then release it on a nice, neat weekly schedule!

I….think that’s everything. NOW YOU KNOW.

#song answers asks #dilaudid #40 questions #my fic #my god so many wips weeps #i...might have missed things too #CRY CRY CRY