#it’s been in my email drafts for a few days and is why I made the eyes thing but like

[zorosimpclub]

late night at the office – Zoro NSFW

characters: zoro roronoa x fem!reader (he's your boss)

boss employee relationship, praising, degrading, light choking | smut | 18+ only – MDNI

word count: 5.5k

She glanced at the clock, it was 8PM and most if not all of her co-workers had gone home. She was assigned to this project by her boss, Zoro – the man was ruthless. He made her repeat her work if there was one small error. Sometimes even when there were 0 errors. That's how ruthless this man was. Today was no different, the client deadline was a few days away but he made her scrap her whole progress and start again.

Zoro sat in his office watching cameras his employees like a hawk, checking on each and every coworker he had. Until he looked at her, seeing her upset. His eyes narrowed and opened up his emails to write her one.

I need to see you in my office.

Minutes turned into hours until she received his email. She held her breath when she saw a small pop up flash on the corner of her laptop screen.

This can't be good, she thought. Sighing, she got up and made her way to his office, stopping right outside. She hesitated a little before finally mustering the courage to knock on it.

Zoro leaned back in his chair, checking through emails as he heard her footsteps outside his office.

“Come in.”

He looked up from his laptop, and fixed his gaze on her. He gestured to a small seat in front of his desk and waited for her to take a seat. She gulped slightly and sat down in the chair, she had no idea what to expect. Zoro was usually really hard to read and today was no different.

Zoro had folded his hands on his desk, looking at her with his sharp eyes. He didn’t waste any time – he didn’t believe in sugarcoating things and was a man of practicality.

”I see you work so hard yet you can’t seem to meet my expectations. I don’t know it your not trying hard enough or you’re just not good at your job."

She felt her lip quiver, he was harsh…there was no surprise there. She bit her bottom lip to fight herself from crying and waited for him to continue talking, knowing that he didn’t just call her into his office to just tell her that.

“I want this project done by the end of the week, I don’t want to hear any excuses. If you can’t get it done by the end of the week…you’re fired, is that understood?”

He wasn't really going to fire her, at most, he was planning to transfer her to another department. He didn't know why he was being such a dick to her...well, he did. Lately his bright eyed employee has been pissing him off. She keeps occupying his damn mind... that infectious smile of hers, her beautiful, innocent eyes...all of it. He didn't know how to feel and it was easier to get rid of her than just dealing with.

"I understand." She spoke up meekly, holding onto her composure so that she didn't burst out crying.

Zoro could see her eyes, they were filling with tears. For a brief moment, he almost felt bad for her. Almost. He let out a sigh and spoke softer whilst remaining stern.

“Good. You can leave but I want the first version of the draft first thing in the morning."

She gasped a little and looked at the clock in his office, "But Mr Zoro, it's 9PM now..."

She already knew what he'd say, it didn't matter because he was definitely going to ask her to pull an all nighter if necessary. It's not like he cared since he usually left the office quite late and in fact, this wasn't the first time she was working late. She wasn’t entirely sure that he had a life outside the office. He was the hardest worker she had ever met, always the last to leave but somehow the first to arrive.

Zoro's eyes locked onto hers.

“Do I need to repeat myself? I don’t care if you have to pull an all nighter here or at your house, as long as you submit the first draft tomorrow morning. That’s all I care about right now.”

At least she had the option to take her work home and work from there if needed. She stood up and excused herself, "Understood."

In the end she decided to finish as much as she could before leaving, she did work better here after all. She began typing away before she heard her co-worker Sanji settled down next to her briefly.

"Y/N my love, you're still here? I'm about to leave now, did you want me to give you a ride?" Sanji asked.

Zoro let out a soft groan as her placed his head against his palms, thoughts racing in his mind. He couldn’t take it. After she left his office, his heart pounded a little. He wanted to tell her that he wasn’t going to fire her and that he was harsh on her. He got up and walked out only to see Sanji next to her.

Zoro smirked a little sadistically, he knew what was going on with them. He wanted to hear Sanji ask her out and he wanted her to reject him. Again and again. He went to the water cooler to hear their conversation more clearly.

"Ah thanks Sanji but I don't think I'm leaving any time soon, I have this due tomorrow and it's much more peaceful here than home so I figured I'd stay until I get this done." She smiled softly at Sanji before typing away at her laptop.

Sanji huffed and leaned closer to her before whispering a joke in her ear, to which she giggled.

Zoro rolled his eyes as he heard Sanji’s whisper, hearing her giggle. His jaw clenched a little, he didn’t like her so close to another man, especially Sanji. It felt like he was so close to seeing her date this man, she’s too beautiful to be with someone like Sanji.

He drank some water, hearing Sanji make another remark, hearing her giggle again. He was getting jealous by the second.

He walked towards her desk and raised his brow at Sanji – he had always hated this man. Something about the way he spoke to her made him despise him.

"Why are you still here? Aren't you from the sales department?"

Sanji let out a chuckle, seeing Zoro walk towards his desk. A smug face on Sanji, as he spoke.

“Ah, yeah I’m in the sales department. I was just here for a client, I just happened to see her beautiful face and decided to visit.”

Zoro rolled his eyes again, he knew he was trying to make a move on her. Anyone with eyes could see how desperate he was towards her.

Zoro was furious but kept his calm, tone stern. "Yeah? Well she has something due in the morning so why don't you just leave instead of slowing her down?”

Sanji gave him a playful grin, his eyebrows raised.

“Wow! Mr. Zoro you are pretty protective of her, you should be careful otherwise someone might think you have a thing for your pretty little employee.”

Zoro's face got red as his fists clenched, he didn't like when people saw through him. He couldn't even respond to Sanji’s claims.

"Shut up." Zoro stormed off to his office, feeling a little embarrassed. Did that moron just practically confess for him?

Y/N blinked once. Twice. Thrice. What just happened? It all happened so fast. Why did Zoro get flustered like that?

She shook her head and sighed, "Anyway Sanji, I'm going to get back to work, please feel free to leave. Thanks for offering me to take home but I think I'll just get the late night bus back."

Zoro had his fists clenched, he wasn’t expecting Sanji to be so loud and put those words in her head. It made his blood boil in his veins as he slammed the door to his office with one hand. He sat at his desk, pushing his fingers through his hair. Why was his heart beating so fast? Why did he care so much about another man calling a woman beautiful? He didn’t know. He shook his head, this was getting ridiculous.

Time went on as he heard Sanji leave, the office became silent. It was all him and her.

Zoro couldn’t stand it, he watched from his desk. Seeing her stretch and hearing her tired yawns. Something in him got him to stand up and walk over to her desk. He towered over her.

“Its late, you should go home. You look tired.”

"But I haven't finished yet. I work better here." She shot him a soft smile and continued typing, feeling awkward that he was just standing there. She sensed some tension – what type of tension, she wasn’t sure quite yet.

With him, it was a mixed bag. He has been really kind to her but in a professional, stern way. But he’s also straight up been a dick to her, she wasn’t sure what to think.

He let out a sigh, his attention locked onto her soft smile, he couldn’t look away…it’s like he was mesmerised.

“I know I gave you that deadline earlier but I’ll give you more time. Just leave and get some rest, you need it.”

She perked up a little, "Thanks but I think I can finish up in a couple of hours..." It was obvious that he felt bad, he always does and she was grateful that he showed care for her. But she really wanted to prove to him and herself that she wasn't just going take the easy route.

He stayed silent, watching her type away on her keyboard. He felt like time was going incredibly slow, watching her fingers type. His eyes roamed from her hands to her face, back to her hands then back to her face. His face only got redder at the sight, damned feelings he thought.

–

He left the office and grabbed both of them some takeout before returning – he convinced himself that he would do this for any employee and that it was just him fulfilling his duty as a boss. He pushed open his office door with his shoulder and placed the takeout on his desk.

He should email her to come have dinner since it seems that she hadn't already had it.

After hesitating for the tenth time, Zoro opened his email and wrote to her.

I need to see you in my office.

He wasn't going to tell her that he got takeout, she probably wouldn't come if he did.

She sighed and got up as soon as she saw the email pop up in the corner of her screen. Walking over to his office, she rubbed her temples to prepare herself for whatever the man was about to throw at her.

Zoro watched her walk over to his office, the sight of her just walking over was enough to make him lose his mind.

The moment she walked in he gestured for her to sit down, he put the takeout in front of her. She had no idea the amount of willpower he was exerting to not just kiss her.

She raised a brow not knowing what he asked her here for, there's no way he called her in here because he got her food...right? Maybe he was going to eat in front of her knowing that she hadn’t had any dinner yet but he can’t be that cruel…right?

"You called sir?"

Zoro stayed silent, his heart pounded in his chest. What if she thinks it's inappropriate he bought her food? He felt like the air in the office got thicker as he looked at her. He spoke up with a firm tone, trying to get away from his thoughts.

"Eat."

She looked taken aback and looked at him as if he said the most incredulous thing ever, he was joking right? She didn't know what to say but on cue, her stomach grumbled. She had completely forgotten to eat dinner…

He watched her stomach grumbled, making him feel a little amused. His lips twitched, his eyes darted to the takeout and back to her, wanting her to eat. She hesitated for a bit and leaned in to grab part of her portion. He leaned back in his chair, not taking his eyes off her as she began eating.

His lips twitched into a little smile watching her eat, she looked so cute eating. Hell, she looked cute doing anything he thought. Zoro reached for his food and started to eat, his gaze never leaving her form. She ate nervously in silence, the food was good but she didn't know how to take this. Maybe he just felt bad for barking at her earlier.

His gaze was fixated on her eyes, occasionally his stare would wander to her lips as she chewed. Her nervous look only made her all the more gorgeous to his eyes.

He knew she wasn't aware of how attracted he was to her, to be fair, he didn’t know how attracted he was to her until it was just them alone. It was getting harder for him to hide it, every time he looked at her he wanted nothing more than to hold her close to him.

Everything was fine until she bit into the hotdog, causing the sauce to squirt on her cleavage. She panicked and wiped it off with her finger before licking it clean.

Zoro almost bit the side of his mouth as he saw her. She was eating the hotdog so innocently. He nearly lost it when the sauce made contact with her cleavage.

The sight of her innocently licking the sauce up with her tongue was enough for him to want to pin her to the wall and kiss her. But he snapped back to reality, he quickly cleared his mind and coughed a little.

"Thank you for the food." She squeaked, breaking the awkward silence that had built up.

Zoro let out a small chuckle. He looked at what she was wearing and had an inappropriate thought that he immediately pushed away.

“You’re welcome, you still have sauce on you,” He pointed to a spot of sauce on her cleavage that she had missed.

Y/N squealed a little and got flustered as she looked down to the sauce. Zoro got up and walked around his desk, sitting on it. He was directly in front of her now. She felt incredibly self conscious with the sauce still on her cleavage but for some reason she froze. She couldn’t move or say anything.

Zoro could feel himself getting more and more attracted to her. He watched as she seemed to freeze, it made him want to do something about it. He leaned forward, his face getting closer to hers.

“M-Mr Zoro?”

Zoro smirked a little at her squeaky voice. She looked so adorable right now, it made him want to close the gap between them.

“You’re so adorable...” He whispered leaning forward even more, his face inches away from hers.

She was shocked, this is so unexpected. Was she so tired that she was hallucinating?

“Y/N…" He called name her softly. He took a deep breath, his gaze never leaving hers. He couldn't help but think about how badly he wanted to kiss her right now.

She closed her eyes, feeling his warm breath on her lips. She’d be lying if she said she didn’t think of him late at night, as harsh as the man was on her, he was often the object of her fantasies. In fact, she’d moaned his name as she pleasured herself countless times.

Zoro couldn't take it anymore, his eyes burning with desire. He couldn't resist any more, he leaned forward and kissed her lightly on the lips. It was more of a teasing kiss than anything else, but it she felt intense sparks.

The soft moan from her only fueled Zoro's passion. He deepened the kiss, his hands gently holding her face. He could feel her trembling against him, and it only made him want more.

He broke the kiss and dipped his head to her chest only to lick the sauce off without breaking eye contact. She gasped at the sight and tightened her grip on her chair. She wanted to touch him but she was too afraid to, she didn’t know how to approach the situation. Zoro pulled back slightly, his eyes twinkling with lust as he looked at her. He could feel the tension in the air, the desire radiating off of them both.

He couldn't help but chuckle softly, "You taste even better than I imagined.”

“Y-you’ve imagined tasting me?” She blushed deeply and locked her gaze onto his eyes.

“Well, you are pretty irresistible."

Zoro teased, his gaze never leaving hers. He wanted her, there was no denying it. He reached out and gently traced his fingers along her cheekbone, his touch sending shivers down her spine. She closed her eyes and leaned it to his touch, which left behind burning heat. Her body ached for him, it wasn’t a want anymore… it was a need.

Zoro could feel the heat radiating off of her, his desire for her only growing stronger. He leaned in closer, his lips mere inches from hers.

"I want you," he murmured, his voice low and husky. "Let me show you how good I can make you feel…”

She looked up at him with those big doe eyes that he loved so much and nodded slowly.

Zoro's heart raced with anticipation as he leaned down to claim her lips once more, his hands running through her hair as he deepened the kiss. He knew he shouldn't go this far with her, but he couldn't help himself. He’d worry about the mess tomorrow. She fluttered her eyes shut and kissed back passionately, letting her hand roam his body shyly.

The kiss was intoxicating, and Zoro found himself lost in the heat of the moment. He groaned softly against her lips, his body responding to her touch. He broke the kiss for a moment, their breaths heavy and ragged.

"You're so fucking beautiful.”

She watched as he loosened his tie and smirked at her. She bit her bottom lip and squeezed her thighs together in response to how attractive he looked.

“Mr Zoro…”

Zoro reached out and undid the first button of her shirt, his eyes burning with desire.

"Don’t you think you need to be punished? For flirting with other men, hm?” he questioned, his voice husky with need.

He took of his tie and tied it around her eyes, blindfolding her. She gasped and stayed still, part of her feeling like it was on fire.He trailed his hands over her skin, unbuttoning more of her shirt as he went.

"I can’t believe I get to do this to you.”

She didn’t stop him, after all she did want him in every way. He took this as a sign to continue unbuttoning her shirt. His heart pounded in his chest as he exposed more of her skin to the cool air. His hands were shaking slightly, not from fear or hesitation, but from the overwhelming desire coursing through him.

"You’ve been driving me crazy.”

She gulped visibly and leaned her head back, exposing her naked neck and clavicle. Zoro's fingers brushed against her soft skin, tracing delicate patterns on her skin as he leaned in closer. His lips grazed her neck, his breath warm against her skin.

"You're making this very hard for me," he murmured against her skin.

He leaned down and took one of her nipples in his mouth, flicking his tongue sensually around it. A moan escaped from under her blindfold as she arched her back, offering more of herself to him. Her other nipple hardened at the sensation, begging for the same attention. He chuckled darkly and grazed his teeth against her as he gave her other nipple a pinch.

Her body trembled with anticipation and need. "Zoro," she panted, her voice filled with desire and longing. "Please...”

“Patience sweetheart. I did say that you were going to be punished didn’t I?” He sucked, bit and licked her nipples before lifting her skirt and moved her panties to the side. His rough hands slid over her mound, teasing her sensitive folds with his fingers.

"Look at you, dripping for me to touch you." he growled against her skin. "I'm going to fuck you until you scream, is that okay sweetheart?”

She grinded her hips on his fingers and nodded, begging to feel them inside of her. Unable to resist any longer, Zoro thrust his fingers inside of her, groaning at the feeling of her slick walls squeezing around him.

"You're so tight," he moaned, his pace becoming rougher.

She moaned and bucked her hips faster. It felt so good, she couldn’t even think straight. That however changed as soon as he slipped his fingers out of her, she moaned in protest and she heard something ruffling near her. She felt herself be lifted from the seat by her waist and laid down on the table.

“I think I have some space for dessert.”

Before she could ask what he meant, she felt something wet trail along her pussy. In an instant, she gripped his hair and ground herself against his tongue. Zoro moaned around her clit as he alternated between licking and sucking, loving the way she was writhing against his mouth. He moved to the side, sliding his tongue inside of her as he thrust two fingers inside of her.

“Mr Zoro!" she cried out, her body shaking with pleasure. Her hips bucked against his hands as she came undone, her moans echoing in the empty room.

As she finally came down from her orgasm, Zoro pulled his fingers out of her and stood up. He gave her a wicked grin.

"Now it's my turn." He pushed his pants and boxers down, freeing his already hard cock.

He took off her blindfold and yanked her to his chest.

“Now look at me when I fuck you," he growled, his voice dangerously low. He pushed her chin up, forcing her to meet his eyes as he thrust into her, claiming her body completely. Her body was slick with their combined fluids as he slowly started to pick up speed, slamming into her with a primal groan.

He gripped her hair, pulling her head back as he took what he wanted from her. He peppered kisses and bites on her neck as he pounded mercilessly into her tight hole.

“Do you know how many times I’ve dreamt of fucking you like this?”

She gasped, her body arching into his as he hit her sweet spot. "Mr Zoro…" she moaned, her voice filled with desire and lust.

"T-Too much." she panted, her body trembling under his relentless thrusting.

“Good. Your punishment is cumming over and over again until you can’t think straight, are we clear, princess?”

“Yes," she whimpered, her body throbbing with need. "Please.”

He thrust into her so deep, she swore she could feel him hitting her cervix. She could feel every inch of him pulsating inside of her, claiming her like he would never get to touch her again. His fingers found her clit, rubbing it roughly and sending waves of pleasure through her.

He withdrew from her slowly, only to push back in hard, his muscles rippling as he hit the spot that made her scream out his name. His hips snapped with each hard thrust, driving him deep inside of her.

She held her breath as his balls slapped against her ass in all the right places. She could feel herself getting closer but the pleasure was overwhelming, making it nearly impossible to think straight. Her body tensed, her walls clenching around him in anticipation.

Her cries of pleasure and pain mingled together, echoing through the room. Her climax hit her hard, her body shuddering underneath him. Zoro’s own climax was imminent, his cock throbbing inside her.

“Look at you, you’re such a little slut aren’t you? Pretending to be innocent with those big pretty eyes but here you are, taking dick from your boss like a cumslut.” He chuckled dryly and pushed her against the door, her chest rubbing against the door every time he thrusted into her.

Zoro lightly gripped her neck and fucked her senseless, he wanted to have her like this every day. Everyday whilst everyone outside had no clue what was going on inside. Her eyes widened, both from the pleasure and surprise of his grip on her neck.

She couldn't help but moan loudly, her body arching off the door in response to his rougher actions. "Y-yes, Mr Zoro!”

"That's it, moan my name princess." He groaned out, thrusting harder into her. His grip on her neck tightened slightly, not enough to hurt her but enough to leave a mark if anyone were to find them like this.

She moaned his name, her body trembling from the intense pleasure and the sensation of being taken by him. "Ahh...”

Her eyes rolled back in her head, lost in the pleasure he was giving her. "Mr Zoro!" She cried out, her body shuddering under his rough treatment. She couldn't believe how much she craved this dominance from him. Zoro leaned in, his free hand running up her leg and over her thigh, his fingers finding her clit again.

He circled her clit slowly, teasing her further as he continued to fuck her against the door. "You're mine to claim whenever I want, understand?”

Her body convulsed around his fingers and his cock, her voice barely more than a whimper now. "Y-yes, Mr Zoro!" She panted, her eyes locked onto his. There was no denying the truth in her words—she belonged to him completely.

Feeling her submission, Zoro groaned deeply, his hips snapping faster as he took her roughly against the door.

"And you'll always remember this, won't you?" He asked, his voice thick with lust and possession.

"Y-yes, Mr Zoro," she panted, her voice barely audible over their heavy breaths. "I'll always remember this."

Hearing her confirm his words, Zoro felt a rush of power course through him. He gripped her tighter, biting his bottom lip as he drove deeper into her, claiming her in every sense of the word.

Her cries of pleasure mixed with his name filled the room, echoing off the walls. Her body arched off the door, meeting his brutal thrusts with unyielding desire. This was their dance—one of dominance and submission, pain and pleasure—and she was his perfect partner.

“I’m going to fill you up with my cum, got it?”

"Please, yes!" she whimpered, feeling his thick cock throbbing against her sensitive walls. The thought of him filling her up with his seed sent shivers of anticipation down her spine.

"That's my obedient princess." He groaned out, his voice low and rough with lust as his hips pistoned into her. His pace grew more rapid, his cock sliding in and out of her with brutal speed as he prepared to unleash his seed inside her.

“Fuck! Take my load!”

“Mmph!" She gasped, feeling him pulsing inside of her. His cum filled her up, claiming her in the most intimate way possible. She cried out his name as the intensity of the sensations washed over her.

She screamed, her body shuddering under the pleasure. Every muscle in her body was taut with anticipation as he continued to empty himself into her. His hips bucked wildly against hers, driving him deeper still as he claimed her completely.

"Look at me when you take my cum."

He snarled, yanking her head back by the hair, forcing her to meet his gaze as he exploded inside her. His words snapped her back to reality, and she finally registered the loud grunts of his orgasm echoing around them as his cum shot into her, filling her up and making her sob out his name again.

He pulled out of her and carried her to his chair before sitting down with her in his lap. Panting heavily, she felt him shift her so that she was now sitting in his lap, her legs dangling slightly. Her body trembled from the aftermath of their intense lovemaking, her heart still racing from the sheer intensity of it all.

“So…” she started.

He looked down at her, his eyes dark and smoldering with lust. "So," he drawled, running a rough thumb over her swollen lips, "you just fucked your boss huh?" His voice was rough with satisfaction and pride.

She blushed and hid her face with her hands.

Chuckling softly, Zoro wrapped an arm around her, pulling her closer.

“It's alright, I won't fire you.” he teased, his other hand traced gentle patterns on her stomach, trying to soothe her blush. “In fact…from now on, this is your duty.”

He growled low in his throat, nibbling on her earlobe as he started to grind his hard cock against her still-sensitive core.

"Every day during work, you come to my office and let me have my way with you, understood?”

“Y-yes, Mr Zoro," she whispered, shivering in pleasure at the thought of the things he would do to her.

“Good girl." He murmured approvingly before leaning down to capture her lips in a slow, deep kiss that left her reeling. As he held her close, he couldn't help but feel a sense of satisfaction knowing that from now on, this beautiful woman was his to claim whenever he wanted.

“Oh and your work is actually good, I was just being harsh on you because I wanted to not like you." He admitted sheepishly “I was never planning to fire you, sorry for being rude to you.”

She blushed and cuddled against him, her heart fluttering with happiness. "Thank you, Mr Zoro." She looked up at him, her eyes shining with adoration and desire. "I'm glad I didn't disappoint you.”

“Zoro.”

“Hm?” She looked at him, a little puzzled as to why he was saying his own name.

“Just Zoro.” He smiled at her and captured her lips into a sweet kiss.

"Yes, Zoro," she breathed, returning his kiss eagerly. A warm shiver ran down her spine as he continued to touch her in ways that made her body tremble with anticipation. She was his now, completely and utterly.

"That's a good girl." He whispered against her lips before pulling back to look into her eyes.

"Now, let me drive you home." His tone was both commanding, leaving no room for hesitation or refusal. He wasn’t going to let her get the bus alone, definitely not at this hour. She nodded.

–

Once they reached her home, he parked the car carefully. His hand gently guided her out of the vehicle, their connection undeniable. As they stood on her porch, he leaned down and captured her lips once more, his tongue teasing and tasting her mouth.

He pulled away and stroked her hair lightly, “In all seriousness, this wasn’t driven by lust. Well, part of it was… but I do like you. A lot.”

His words sent a shiver down her spine, making her heart race even faster. She looked up at him, her eyes shimmering with desire and a hint of admiration.

"I... I like you too, Zoro…do you want to come inside?" she whispered softly, biting her lower lip nervously. A small smile tugged at the corner of his lips as he took her hand,

"Alright then, let's continue this inside." His voice was sweet but seductive, his grip firm yet gentle.

-–

As always, feel free to request a fic! :) Here's my third Zoro fic (I cannot stop writing about this man helP RJSGIOEJ) anyway, please lmk if you enjoyed this one! seeing comments on my last few fics made my day (maybe that's why i'm churning out these fics so fast??? LMAO) <3

#roronoa zoro x reader #zoro roronoa x reader #zoro x reader #zoro smut #zoro x y/n #zoro imagine #roronoa zoro #one piece fanfiction #one piece smut #one piece x reader #op smut #zoro #zoro reader

[fvrxdrm]

emails i can’t send

pairing: musician!leon kennedy x musician!f!reader

tag(s): friends to lovers, angst to fluff, based on sabrina carpenter’s album of the same name

warning(s): angst in the beginning, mentions of break up (not with leon tho i promise), very self-indulgent :]]], like, i’m deadass serious, the middle part’s solely dedicated to valorant (i’m sorry) to the point where i feel like most people reading this wouldn’t understand a single thing on that part. i’m addicted to that game at this point

songs used in this fic: lonesome, feather, bad for business

word count: 2322

*****

If I fall in love with all my problems, will they leave me too?

You leaned back onto the bed frame as you scribbled words on the page. The room was dimmed and bestrewed with crumpled and torn-up papers. On them was a collection of lyrics and doodles, all scrapped and erased with different variations of squiggles and lines across them. You looked out the window. The storm was still swirling outside, you could see how the rain was being pushed towards the direction the wind was taking them along with the trees holding strong against the puddled ground. Droplets of water were looking pretty gliding across glass like a bunch of tiny branched-out rivers heading down towards the pool on the windowsill. The mood was just right for you, perfect for an angsty and lonesome song to be written under the flashing lights of the occasional lightning.

Or maybe I believed in all your lies 'cause I believed in you

Downstairs you could hear Leon experimenting with different chords on his guitar, falling flat with the strings from time to time. You even found yourself giggling at the amount of times you heard him growling in frustration when he couldn’t get the tone and the transitioning of the sounds right, or when he forgot which chord to play next.

“Fucking dumbass fingers!” 

Your smile slowly faded as your gaze fell back on your notebook. You thought about which words to write down, spinning the pen through your fingers while doing so.

Why were you somewhere else when you were next to me?

I know you know it keeps me up

Did you think about her face with your hands around my waist?

Did you even give a fuck?

You convinced yourself you were over it, over him, over that mess of a love affair that was basically just narcissism and manipulation born as one human. You’d recognized the red flags, even had you and your best friend, Leon, tag him with the nickname ‘code red’ whenever you passed by him. Still, you couldn’t keep the conflict within you that made you so gullible to your insecurities from fighting against your self-worth. You were still in the process of rebuilding that trust towards yourself, still in the process of pushing away any remnants of love that made you feel so violated. But, how were you going to forget him when you kept overthinking all that had happened? How were you going to forget loving him when you kept grasping onto the ‘what if’s? 

As Leon had said, “You don’t miss him, you miss what he could’ve been.”

This was hopeless, this was ridiculous. You felt so close to finding yourself, but sometimes you’d fall back into old habits like an addict falling back into vices and argue with yourself over the dumbest things. You were falling back into painting vivid pictures of what he saw in you and washing away the good that he didn’t see in you.

As you were drowning in your thoughts, three knocks against the wooden door brought you back to reality. It was Leon with his guitar in hand, looking like a happy golden retriever that just found the ball he’d lost in the garden a few days ago.

“I think I got the perfect sound for your next song,” he said after plopping down on your mattress with his guitar positioned on his lap. “Really? Go on then. I can probably draft the next verse once I hear it.”

“Okay so, I got inspired after playing RDR2 yesterday, and I was thinking we could use some yeehaw feel for the track,” Leon shifted to a more comfortable position on the bed, scrunching the comforter below him even more. He strummed his guitar once to get a feel of the strings before pressing his fingers on them to play the chords.

The sound was beautiful, balancing between being ever so light like the pitter-pattering of the rain, and being heavy like the storm and the darkness smothering the sky.

You can't spell "lonesome" without "me"

And there's no hope in misery

I can't escapе your history, oh

You can't spell "lonesome" without "mе"

You just can't

*****

I slam the door, I hit ignore

The world felt balanced for a moment, cloudy skies filtering the sunlight and making it soft as the wind dashed every few minutes. It was like mother nature felt mushy and shy, yet loud and confident all the same. Perhaps like the fluttering of your heart, so full of joy, and the devilish assertiveness overheating your body as you continued to shit on these fucking kids trying to ego-peek you and your trusty sniper. 

Breathe in, breathe out… You’re getting your ace, little angel.

Calm, cool, collected Y/N… So relaxed yet sturdy like a cloudburst circling around with the leaves.

Your hand was steady while clicking head after head, a bunch of pixels running and trying to gun you down for hours. “Too warmed up,” they said. “Heat up!” Leon screamed through the comms. You’re cracked… L Diablo… SEN ElevenZ… An amalgamation of hype and torn vocal cords ringing from your headphones and into your ears. “I’m shaving my head if you ace clutch this,” another rando commed as the in-game announcer’s voice was heard.

“Last player standing.”

You spammed your A and D keys while peeking every tight corner you turned to, jump peeked at every possible sniper angle the enemy Jett could be holding, slicing your pie as the pros would call your careful peeks. Nobody said a word, but if you had to guess, Leon must have been clenching his ass cheeks just waiting for you to either lose the final round or tie the game 12-12 and bring it to overtime. Your cheeks were beginning to heat up with nerves, also could feel your hands sweat even more. Why do ranked games have to feel like this?

I got you blocked

After this, an afterthought

I finally cut you off

You voiced your anxiousness to Leon, “I’m fucking nervous, dude. We might actually lose our RR,” you bit your lip while still jiggling behind screens. “You got this, little angel. I believe,” Leon whispered back into the mic as he sipped on his boba tea. You took a step one click at a time and took a shot with your rifle just to be certain with clearing your corners. You were sure the enemies knew where you were by now because of that shot, so you had to make a move, and fast. You smoked yourself with your Cloudburst behind screens to isolate the Sage peeking by default, promptly head- shotting her before Updrafting onto rafters to reposition yourself to a high ground, but not before losing 40 HP from a responding body shot.

1v4

You saw the Reyna jiggle peeking maze while shooting one bullet at a time. By the third peek, you got yourself a quick headshot to punish her. This, in turn, gave you your Tailwind back.

1v3

You activated your Tailwind as well as your Blade Storm ultimate so you wouldn’t have to deal with the inaccuracy of your Vandal while moving about. You checked your flank when you noted that nobody was on site to trade the Reyna, and sure enough, the enemy Jett was shift-walking with an Op like a fucking idiot. Like, why separate from your teammates and give your one enemy a 1v1? In a 1v5? Hello? This is a high elo lobby??? Anyway, despite your nerves, you shot a knife to the Opper’s head before she could do a quick scope and dashed back onto site to look for your fourth kill. 

1v2

“You’re actually gonna fucking win this?” 

“Oh my fucking god, I’m actually gonna shave my head.”

Then, Leon whispered into your party comms again, “I believe in you, heal yourself.” You lost your focus for a moment, pursing your lips as you tried your hardest not to laugh, “I fucking hate you so much.”. 

You found your fourth just as you Updrafted onto top site, and now, it was down to…

1v1

“Holy fuck! I’m actually losing my fucking hair!”

You played a cat-and-mouse game with the final enemy once you dropped below top site, aware of the time running out. You activated your dash one last time and dodged bullets while you ring-around-a-rosied on site. Then finally, as the ticking of the bomb began to quicken, you took advantage of a momentary opening and landed a final headshot to the enemy, dashing hurriedly towards the spike to defuse it. 

“Nah”

“Wait, you’re actually cracked???”

“I’m losing my hair!”

You let out a breath of relief once you saw the defused spike’s animation. “Bro, I’m never doing that again. I hated every single second of that.”.

I feel so much lighter, like a feather, with you off my mind

Floating through the memories like, whatever, you're a waste of time

Leon replied, “I told you, you could do it. Actually VCT-ready. Witewwy.”.

“Witewwy?”

“Witewwy.”

After that, the tension was turned up even more between your teams, trading round after round until…it was Leon’s time to clutch the round and win the game.

“If I win this, you have to go on a date with me,” Leon commed once again in your party voice chat, now feeling like your nerves were resettling in him. It was supposed to be a light-hearted joke, something not foreign to your dynamic, but then, “Sure, I’m down,” you shrugged with your arms crossed. You sounded too nonchalant for his liking, you just had to be unserious…right? He just had to make sure, “You serious?”. You responded, “Yeah, I’m dead-ass serious. If you clutch this, I’ll go out with you on a date, kiss you good night, then end up fu-”

“Alright, I’m clutching this.”

Your signals are mixed, you act like a bitch

You fit every stereotype, send a pic

With newfound confidence and determination, he activated his Empress, gaining higher fire rate, quicker ability activation, and more healing from his Devour, all while having his powers strengthened. He blinded one of the enemies with his Leer to create a distraction, catch them off guard with his Vandal, and quickly finish them off. He then repositioned using his Dismiss to evade incoming fire and avoid detection by the remaining enemies, all while his ult automatically replenished his health before preparing for his next engagement. 

With one enemy remaining and time running out, Leon faced the last enemy guarding the spike. He utilized his one Leer to disorient the player before dispatching him with a meticulous shot, and Dismissed off to defuse the spike before it exploded. And just in the nick of time, he won the round for his team and secured the game victory, as well as the additional RR.

“Welp, we’re off for the weekend.”

I feel so much lighter, like a feather, with you out my life

With you out my life

*****

The moon hung high in the sky, casting a silvery glow that washed over everything in its path. The stars twinkled like scattered diamonds, their brilliance illuminating the darkness with a celestial radiance.

The city was enveloped in a serene stillness, broken only by the gentle rustle of leaves in the breeze. The shadows danced and swayed, as if performing a silent ballet, adding an air of mystery and intrigue to the scene. The darkness was deep and impenetrable, creating an otherworldly atmosphere that seemed to hold secrets waiting to be discovered.

We look good in photographs

I like the way you like to laugh at dirty jokes

I know they'll always land

Used to get work on time

But now you're taking up my nights

Never been so glad to be so tired

Leon went downstairs to grab a glass of water, when he heard a faint sound coming from the living room. Following the sound, he found you slumped over your writing table, your notebook open in front of you, fast asleep. He couldn't help but smile at your peaceful expression and the sight of your creative process in action.

As Leon approached you, he noticed that the song you had been writing was about him. His heart skipped a beat as he read the lyrics that spoke of his charisma, his means to take up your nights, and the way he had inspired you. He felt a surge of warmth and happiness knowing that he had made such an impact on you.

Ooh, I'm mad for you

It's sad but true and I know it

Ahh, you're on my mind

You stole my life and it's showin'

Carefully, Leon picked you up, cradling you in his arms, and carried you to your bed. He tucked you in, admiring your beauty even in your sleep. He couldn't help but feel a deep affection for you, not just as a collaborator and a friend, but as someone who had captured his heart.

He thought back to the open notebook, a smile tugging at his lips. He made a mental note to talk to you about the song in the morning, eager to hear more of what you had written. Leon realized that this unexpected moment had given him a glimpse into your heart, and he couldn't wait to see where your music and your connection would take you both.

With a contented sigh, Leon left the room, grateful for the serendipitous encounter that had brought him closer to you some years ago, the talented musician who had captured his heart. Little did he know that this would be the beginning of something truly special, a journey of music, love, and endless possibilities.

He's good for my heart but he's bad for business 

Tears me apart when he grants my wishes

All of my friends think I've gone crazy

But they don't know me like my baby

#leon kennedy x reader #leon kennedy #resident evil x reader

[blurredcolour]

一期一会 | ichi-go, ichi-e | Epilogue

一期一会 | ichi-go, ichi-e Masterlist

Summary: Happily ever after arrives for you and Austin.

Pairing: Austin Butler x Female Reader

Warnings: Fluff, Pregnancy, Christmas Tree Decorating, Vague and Passing Mentions of Labour, Rating - T.

Word Count: 1138

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“Oh, my not-so-little bean…” you murmured softly, absently caressing the swell of your abdomen with one hand. The other reached to hang a decoration on the Christmas tree that had taken over a sizeable corner of the living room in the house you now shared with Austin. “I swear here and now that your birthday will never, ever be overshadowed by the holidays.”

“Absolutely” Austin chimed in from somewhere on the other side of the thicket of branches. “That’s why we’re putting up the tree early this year, because moving forward…little bean’s birthday comes first and then the holidays.”

“Right…exactly…Separate party with no holiday decorations. Separate gifts, no joint weirdness. Special and distinct events.” You shuffled – more of a waddle but you would never admit that – back toward the coffee table to select another ornament, but the siren song of the couch called out to you, and you found yourself sinking back into the plush cushions, heaving a deep sigh of satisfaction as you set your feet up.

To say that two weeks out from your due date was a comfortable time would definitely be an overstatement. You were managing. You had certainly timed the end of your translation contract well, even though you had been able to work from a spare room upstairs that Austin had graciously converted to an office for you.

Your gaze came to rest on the tall, tanned man still diligently working on decorating the tree. You could not help the way your features softened and the swell of fondness beneath your breastbone. The man who had helped you draft your resignation email, flown back with you to Japan to pack up your apartment and end your lease early. The man who had introduced you to his manager Kate to ensure she could help watch out for slander against you in the tabloids and had welcomed you into his family and friend group. The man who had given up the other spare room in his house to make over into a nursery for little bean and had diligently attended every appointment and test and preparatory session with you.

If you had thought you were in love with the man that night in Osaka…you had barely been able to conceive of the depth of the love you felt for him now. A punch-drunk smile etched its way across your face crookedly as the sound of him humming along to the holiday playlist you had curated together reached your ears. The tree was nearly full of ornaments. In your defence, you had assisted with five-sevenths of the tree before the couch had sucked you in, though you had been limited to the central band – unable to bend over or reach up too high.

After fussing with spacing for a few moments, Austin took a step back to assess the tree as a whole before nodding silently. He switched off the rest of the lights in the room and came to join you on the couch. Sliding forward, you made space for him to nestle in behind you as you rested back against his chest, basking in the moment of peace in one another’s arms.

“I told you I have the director’s permission to keep my phone on me, right?” He murmured softly, his long fingers splaying across your belly.

“Mmmhmmm” You murmured softly. “And I have the ride share apps and the neighbour’s phone numbers and everything ready to go.” You tilted your head back to look up at him. “I’m going to be fine, and you’ve only got five days left on this project.” You strained upwards to press your lips against his jawline.

“Hmmm, ok little mama…” He rumbled and kissed the crown of your head. “But you gotta call me the moment it happens…”

You could not help the grin at the nickname – it had appeared around the same time you started showing. Had simply fallen from his lips, giving you both pause before it become a mutually accepted and adored moniker.

“I promise, Austin, I absolutely want you there…You will be my second call after I secure transportation if it happens early.” You nodded firmly. “Odds are? Odds are it won’t, so take a deep breath and focus on winning another Oscar.” You lay your hands over his softly. “I’m just as eager as you are to meet little bean, but they will arrive precisely when they mean to.”

He grinned broadly and nodded before nuzzling into the crook of your shoulder. You had worked with Dr. Sidhu to keep the sex of the baby a surprise – had seen many people get burned by the ambiguities of ultrasounds and locked into decorating and clothing choices…you wanted little bean to tell you upon arrival who they were.

Given your experience with making plans and the universe laughing, perhaps you should not have spoken with such glib confidence. Not two days later you found yourself making that call, the ride share pulling up to the gate as you grabbed your hospital bag and waddled down the driveway.

“Austin?” Despite your best efforts, the adrenaline pitched your voice an octave higher than normal and wound a tightness into your tone that told him immediately that it was time.

“You’re getting in a car?” He asked in a rush, bursting up from his set chair and heading for the parking lot.

“Yes…” You exhaled as you plunked down into the backseat, closing the door, and giving the driver the name of the hospital. “Yes, we are pulling away right now.”

“Ok, are you in a lot of pain?” You could hear his keys jangling as he struggled to unlock his car door.

“It comes and goes, as it is meant to…Deep breaths Austin…I’ll see you there, ok?”

“Ok…yes. Yes, I will see you there.” He affirmed, ending the call with an exchange of ‘I love yous’ before hanging up.

He arrived just as you completed the first circuit of your birthing suite, leaning on your doula. You could not help the giggles as he burst in wearing full makeup and costume.

“Hey little mama, you’re doing great.” He kissed you quickly, smothering your laughter, before he quickly changed and cleaned his face in the attached washroom.

Ten hours of sweat, tears, blood, and effort later, you and Austin were at last introduced to your baby son. There was a list of names to choose from later, but for now, the pair of you were too awed at his ten fingers, ten toes…and impressed at his powerfully squalling lungs. Lain across your chest, you both peered at him in wonderment as a flurry of activity unfurled around you in the room.

“Welcome to the family, little bean.” You whispered softly and bit your lip at the two wide eyes that gazed up at you in response.

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一期一会 | ichi-go, ichi-e Masterlist

#austin butler x reader #austin butler x you #austin butler x y/n #austin butler fluff #austin butler fic #austin butler imagine #austin butler fanfic #austin butler #ichigo ichie fic #blurredcolour

[sea-of-dust]

Yukari giving chocolate for GN! Reader!

What if I just told u this was a request and tuumblr loves posting my drafts and posting unfinished works. Annon I'm sorry 😔

She made them! I be it you'd be able to smell it in the dorm which is why the s.e.e.s memmbers kept you from comming home. "You shouldn't come back yet" "and why's that" Minato emails back with little to no time in between "I wanna go grocery shopping with you" "oh" he bought her 3 hours.

Three hours used to the fullest with Mitsuru next to her with silicon trays. "What if the chocolate melts them and they eat plastic?" "Try not to worry so much about it" as she pours it you and Minato are almost two blocks away from the dorm. "We're two blocks away" "on it!" You notice him see a reply to an email but he quickly hides his phone in his pocket "Minato you've been on your phone alot what's buggin' you?" "Nothing"

you shrug noticing the sound of loud thundering footsteps closing in on you, trying to see who was causing the noise only to be met with a poster. "Y/n~" Jinpei appears from behind the poster grinning cheerfully yet you can sense blatant mischief in his expression. "There's a new gadget in town for two, you should help me buy it" "what is that even for?" "Oh I don't know" he walks back, his face facing you dramatically "two tickets to see the new movie that came out a few days ago" you flash back to Yukari raving about how much she wanted to see it, your face gets deathly serious. "Where's the theater?" "THATS THE SPIRIT"

Yukari, while she was grateful they could help did get a bit worried when you didn't come back until sunset with Jinpei and your emo tag along. "We're alive!" Jinpei bursts open the door with you two following behind. "Where the heck did you guys go to stay out so late" Yukari pounts seeing her you nearly fall into her arms. "I missed you" you look up at her with unfocused eyes, holding her to stay steady. Glaring at the both of them, she helps you to the couch near the entrance. "Yukari" you hand her the tickets with unstable hands. "I got the tickets to a movie you wanted to see" you smile brightly contrasting how beat up you sound. "The line was huge" Jinpei interupts "I think we almost drowned" "for a few tickets?" "There was a sale" you mumble out. She wraps her hand around your arm pulling you closer to her, using this as their cue the room emptines to just the two of you.

"Where ya going" as she gets up she turns to you "I have something for you" as if she woke you up with those words you sit patiently watching her come back with a plate. "You made chocolates?" A bit stunned she looked away "I guess the smell gave it away" she lays it next to you and her "They're all for you" "no" "huh?" "Lets share them, it would be unfair if you didn't get to atleast try them ya know" a bit more flustered she takes a bite with you. Biting into them you stretch yours out slowly the caramel stretching out. "You know me so well" you remark after finishing the first one. "Yum.." You muttered that under your breath but she still heard it. "I got you to say yum" she smiles proudly. "Really?" You look down again picking it up "they are really good guess it slipped out"

#fluff #x reader #gender neutral reader #persona #persona 3 reload #persona 3 #yukari takeba #persona x reader #persona 3 x reader #sea of asks

[jargonbyjulia]

“It’s impossible!”

I’ve heard the saying, “Mums get no days off.” It’s true and it isn’t. I know a couple of mums that get plenty of days off, with health retreats throughout the year, child-free holidays, and so on. Sometimes days off seem IMPOSSIBLE. Even getting through some days seems impossible. I get a few hours to myself; I like to get my nails done, and tomorrow I have a first hair appointment in six months - shock horror!

I have a two and a five year old, and I work part time. On Thursdays I work at home, and I like to think of that as my day “off”. I work in peace, I play my own music, I answer only to the ding of Teams’ notifications, emails and my stomach rumbles. Today is Thursday, and I had my two year old home sick from daycare. It’s barely just winter, and we’ve been knocked out at least twice already. I did my best to keep her entertained while I caught up on the work I started Tuesday, where seven meetings had me pretty tied up. We were doing fine, and she was enjoying being home with me, watching Peppa Pig on repeat, and eating through the snack shelf of the pantry.

At 11:00am, my daughter’s school called asking if I could pick up my preppy as she had a headache, fever and sore tummy. So I alerted work, bundled up my toddler and ran to the rescue. She wasn’t well, at all. We made her warm and gave her medicine, and suddenly it was 11:30am, which means nap time for the little one. I quickly answered emails, started writing an article and reviewed some work. I made sure miss five was comfortable and then put miss two down for her nap. After that, I made a quick couple of sandwiches for us, and ate at my desk. While answering 785 questions, including “How do you spell chicken?” and “What is 78 plus 802?” (from my child, not a colleague), I worked through my list for the day, trying my hardest to focus on the tasks at hand. Suddenly it’s 1:45pm and my two year old is awake, and I break my focus. Now it’s time to prepare her food and get her playing happily with her sister. It’s much easier than I had thought, so I can get back to my work. By 3pm, she’s sitting on my lap tapping away at the keys on my computer, asking why I have a spare TV (my second computer monitor) and she just has a lousy plastic phone with dead batteries.

The dog is whining as he hasn’t had a walk all day. My husband left for work at 8:30am, and he won’t be back until we are asleep at 10pm. Miss five goes downhill as suddenly as Melbourne’s morning temperatures, and needs her fever brought down, so there’s no leaving the house. I’m starting to think getting through this day is impossible, but we push through with more snacks, YouTube kids and a cranked heater.

At 4:30pm I’m cooking lamb chops from Monday and drafting my weekly wrap-up for work.

My phone rings. My husband asks, “How was your day?” I sigh and say it was busy. I read some feedback about my work as the kids eat dinner in front of the fire I made by rubbing two sticks together because everyone is “SO COLD!” and I take a breath. Only a quick one though, as I need to run the bath for two girls who identify solely as mermaids and then hit send on one more message before the end of the working day. COB they call it; Close of Business. (Mums don’t really have a COB though, do they?!)

I haven’t had a shower all day, and it’s 6:20pm. My youngest just shut her head in the fridge trying to make imaginary apple pie for the dog, there’s a full basket of clean laundry waiting to be folded on the kitchen table and I think the wombok I was relying on to substitute as salad leaf for my dinner is growing babies. But gosh, somehow I feel accomplished. There’s ice cream on the couch slowly seeping into the earth under our home, the iPads are dead and I am tired, so tired. But I’ve nearly ticked everything off my work to-do list, and, apart from fridge-headgate, the girls are now content, warm, full, laughing, and nearly ready for bed.

Mums do get days off, but not me today. And that’s ok! We got through it. I’m forever grateful for an extremely supportive workplace who understand what people, and mums, go through on a daily basis. No one pressured me to hit unrealistic deadlines, and everyone understood what I was going through, or at least sympathised or empathised with me. And in the end, it just makes me want to work smarter, and harder. In all aspects of my life.

There will be a glass or four poured tonight, and I’d say they are well deserved. I’ve just realised baby mermaid is due for her antibiotics, so I’ll end with one of our favourite Peppa Pig quotes, “It’s impossible!”

But really Peppa, NOTHING is impossible.

#momlife #mumlife #life #love #peppa pig #kids #dailyquote

[evelinessa]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

I was tagged by @aawrightworth! Thanks Topaz! <3

1. How many works do you have on A03?

25 currently. Technically, I have 26, including what I wrote for the Ace Attorney Holiday Exchange, but that won't be added to my profile until after creator reveals.

2. What's your total A03 word count?

103,031

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Pretty much exclusively Ace Attorney. I have one Hades Game fic and one DGS one (which AO3 technically classes as a different fandom than AA).

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

Of course, the only two smut fics I've written are both in here 😂.

Mile(s) High Club

Locked Inside (The Key to Your Heart)

He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not

Isle of Eros

After All This Time

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yes, however, most of the time I'm very slow at getting around to it. I try to match the same amount of time and effort the commenter made when responding, but I sometimes get anxious and overthink my response, which delays me getting to it. I'm working on responding to everyone I haven't yet, and then hopefully will keep up with it from there. Regardless of how long it takes me to respond, please know that I read and treasure every comment. It makes my day when I get that email! 🥰

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

This is a very hard question lol. I'm predominately an angst writer, so I've written some pretty angsty endings. It's hard to think of which one is the most when I feel like a lot are fairly equal. If I had to pick one, then probably The Time Loop Ritual. The ending stands on its own as very angsty, but I've been told the epilogue/sequel fic, All That Remains, has made people even sadder.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

This is hard as well. I've also written plenty of happy endings, and not sure if one stands out happier than the rest. I think I'll go with He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not that I've seen. The closest was something that could be interpreted as a backhanded compliment, as well as a comment that pointed out a flaw in my writing for one of my early fics (which I was already well aware of). But both those comments also contained praise.

9. Do you write smut?

I've only written two smut fics, but I do have some WIPs I hope to finish someday. I want to write more so I can become comfortable with it, but writing it sort of intimidates me TBH. Most of my ideas don't involve smut, so there hasn't really been a need to. But I also know I'd probably come up with a lot more smut related ideas if I wrote it more and became more comfortable writing it.

10. Do you write crossovers?

I haven't and don't know if I ever will. I've tried to brainstorm a Hades Game Thanzag and Narumitsu one before. I came up with some vague ideas for that, but don't know if I will ever go further with it.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not that I know of, but if anyone ever wanted to translate one of my works, you are free to do so!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes! @aeronwolfao3 and I wrote Coffee and Chrysanthemums! It's currently unfinished, but we will continue to work on it one day.

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

NaruMitsu/MitsuNaru, of course ❤️💙❤️.

15. What's the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

Well, I have a list of 50+ fic WIPs that are in various stages of progress (from a vague several sentence idea, all the way to mostly having a first draft done). That huge, ever-growing list is also why I've been putting off my response to the WIP tag game from a few months ago lol. I also get new ideas fairly often, and I prioritize my writing based on any events and exchanges with deadlines (which I participate in regularly, and also give me new ideas each time). That's all to say that as much as I'd like to get to every idea on that list, I most likely won't. I don't have a specific WIP to mention here, though.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Angsty emotions, especially those resulting from grief, loss, and tragedy. Dialogue. Emotional inner monologue. Creating small little sentimental moments between characters that one of the characters can recall.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Super fluffy content, especially with very little/an absence of plot or conflict. Character and setting description. Writing body language without sounding repetitive or awkward. I've still done all of this decently enough, but it's harder for me and comes less naturally. And I don't utilize description nearly enough.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

Maybe someday I'll include some German dialogue for Miles or Franziska or someone else who it would fit for. But I probably will have someone fluent look it over first.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Ace Attorney! While it wasn't my first posted fic, one of the fics I first worked on originated as a script for a comic back in May 2021. It was through the encouragement of some people in the fandom that I started writing and adapted that script and comic idea into a fic: Keeping Up Appearances. My first actual posted fic (not including my co-written fic which first chapter was published two days earlier) was Never Meet Your Idol, a drabble written for a prompt on Discord.

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

Another hard question. If I answered this last year, this would probably be much easier to answer, but now I've written so much more that I'm happy with.

I'm gonna put two, since one of the ones I really like is still unfinished, and part of my joy is because I know the full extent of it (which the readers don't have that benefit). The one I'm talking about is my 1-2 canon-divergence fic, A Demon’s Justice. There are two chapters out so far that I'm both mostly content with, and five planned chapters still to go. I first thought of the idea almost a year ago now, though I didn't start actually writing it since the summer. It's grown a lot since I first envisioned it, and will probably be close to 30K by the time it's finished. While I won't know how I feel in total until I can read the whole finished version, I am excited to write more and for what I have planned.

For finished, this one is much harder, and I feel like my answer fluctuates. For now, I'll go with The Lies We Tell As Our Secrets Are Held. The idea came to me in the shower when I was brainstorming fic ideas for NaruMitsu week this year. The storytelling style is a bit different than other stuff I've written. I think it achieved the feeling I was trying to capture, and I'm happy with a lot of my descriptions.

Tagging: @azalawa-scroggs, @almarnatiaam, @gloucesterroad @wobster109 @aeronwolfao3 @theinkhiddenwithin @ziskandra @zombiekittiez @enisywrites

Tagged some people that I haven't noticed were tagged yet or haven't noticed them doing it already, but also, anyone who sees this, feel free to do it as well!

#fanfic writing #fanfiction #narumitsu #wrightworth #ace attorney #tag game

[mariacallous]

Now that I'm home, face wiped off, bra off, changed into pajamas, let me tell you about this dogshit meeting.

First, some context: I've mention our overall team director, the one who's been on vacation for easily a month and a half of the total time I've been working for the city (since the end of Feb) and who also as a Reasonable Accommodation to work from home outside of the permitted 2 days per our union and the pilot program the city launched so some weeks she's literally only in the office one day, and then she has so many meetings it's hard to actually discuss anything. She shifts meetings and calendar events all the time.

She is constantly unprepared for meetings - emails sit for months and documents and memos also linger - and she's not only always talking about how overwhelming her email is, but she lets people know *in the meetings* that she is *just at that moment* reading the email or document being discussed.

My boss and I have sent several items to her that didn't get any responses (unless and until we cornered her in the office when she's in the office) and on that Big Project I'm still technically waiting to hear whether it's moving forward, she's been a bigger obstacle to our making progress and doing things than both NYC OMB and the budget and migrant crises, which is saying something. She's one of the biggest reasons why we've had to keep adjusting our plans and the work we're trying to do and she keeps either not paying attention or not being clear with us so we're constantly struggling. It's to the point where our other agency partners are openly asking me "Do you even want to work on this? Are you actually prioritizing this? It's a little ridiculous that we have other offices and divisions asking us to participate and you all keep holding things up and not doing anything".

All this to say that today was our monthly coordinating meeting with two of our key other partners in the agency. We have a lot of projects or topics that we needed to discuss and make decisions on.

Things get kicked off with the bulk of one of the other partner teams not being available, so we were initially going to try to shift some things. Then we got someone and could move forward with the original agenda/list of topics.

Y'all...she was the one who put the agenda together. And she made it very clear that she had basically not read or ignored the email (which I flagged for her! Yesterday!) that the other partner team's lead had sent with all of the details. So she was asking for him to provide and go over stuff that is not only in the email, which I flagged, but which is also now at least a month old from when it was originally sent. And we didn't make a decision. She and I apparently are going to "discuss" this and "get some insight" from program teams in our office/division and then come back.

We then moved on to the next topic, and she was a little incoherent and mentioned the memo that I and my boss and another coworker put together which she has decided now needs to go to senior leadership and which she is editing. A memo that was sent to her *in July*, I want to emphasize. And, again, no decision.

The next topic was The Big Project. And the other team's lead directly asked "Have you guys done anything like we discussed?" and she floundered and I had to jump in and tell him what I'd told him separately, which is no, because we'd been told we were waiting for xyz from senior leadership and so nothing has moved forward except the draft stuff I sent to senior leadership a few weeks ago. And then my boss mentioned the changes we'd made and my boss completely, again, either hadn't paid attention to the emails or wasn't agreeing with us and hadn't let us know until then so she started trying to go back on things and make further changes and I almost lost my shit but fortunately I was muted on the call so no one heard me.

And now tomorrow my boss has scheduled a meeting with me, her, and the overall team director to make sure we're all on the same page. I told my boss that I'm hesitant at this point because of the issues we've had with the director and the other obstacles involved. I also flat out said "If she could read her email and be prepared in advance, it would help. Because this was embarrassing."

[zyrafowe-sny]

writing ask game: 16 and 19!

from this ask game

16. What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever used as a bookmark?

Umm... It has been A While since I've regularly read physical books (mostly read on Libby/other phone apps these days), but I've done the usual random scraps of paper in the past.

When I was a kid obsessed with Narnia in elementary school, I made special friendship bracelet bookmarks for my set that matched the colors of the covers. Some might still exist at my mom's.

I also remember buying bookmarks that looked like castle tapestries.

19. Tell me a story about your writing journey. When did you start? Why did you start? Were there bumps along the way? Where are you now and where are you going?

When I was a kid, I loved stories and reading and daydreaming and playing pretend (mostly on my own, as others aged out of it). I enjoyed my elementary school creative writing assignments, and started writing poems and stories in my free time too. That continued through high school, and around high school I also got into fanfic (mostly as a reader, but I wrote fan poems, short snippets, and a ficlet/one shot or two that I never shared with anyone else).

In early college, I finally posted a tiny bit of fanfic (on website that thankfully no longer exists), but I had an unfinished WIP that hung over my head for years and years. (It wasn't even that long a story! It just became an impossible task.)

And then there was over a decade of basically nothing. I wrote for college/grad school and for work, but papers, memos, PowerPoints, emails, etc. are not exactly creative writing.

The Owl House rewired my brain, as they say. It started out as a show I started watching mid 2022 while folding laundry, but in October 2022 I started bingeing in earnest. I was still finishing Season 2B when Thanks to Them dropped, but once I caught up... oooph. Immediate rewatch. I read some fanfic, but for the first time in over a decade, I was itching to write. I started with one drabble — 100 words seemed like a realistic goal — which turned into a drabble sequence. Then I posted a one shot a few days later, then another one shot, and... After having an AO3 account with zero posted words of my own from August 2013 to mid October 2022, I now have over 50k up and more in drafts.

These days, I consider myself a fanfic writer in it for the long haul. I know that life responsibilities/health/etc may interfere with writing from time to time, but I've found my way back before and I am confident that I can do it again. I am a little anxious about having multiple multi-chapter WIPs up on AO3 — there was a reason I initially intended to stick to one shots/one shots in series — but fanfic writeblr helps immensely. When in doubt, I write drabbles.

I am in zero rush to focus on writing original fiction, but I have decades of life yet. Who knows — maybe I'll write a short story collection or a novel someday for fun, but I'm not nearly as passionate or dedicated (or talented!) as my friends/acquaintances who are writing/making art professionally. That's where I am with music too — I love being part of a community choir and I hope music will always be a part of my life, but it's a hobby. And as much as I desperately wish we supported full-time artists better, I also wish more people could just "dabble" in creative/artistic endeavors (time and money being big gatekeepers for hobbies too).

#thanks for the ask! #sometimes I write #ask game

[ofheroesandvillains]

To Catch A Ghost 3 – B. Russo

Words: 2.2k Warnings: None Summary: Visiting ANVIL.

Honestly, folks, this is a filler to get me back into the swing of this Tumblr writing thing. It’s been a long time since I’ve posted (and this has been in my drafts for months...maybe even years). Some of my more recent fics didn’t seem to interest anyone at the time, so I spent time just writing for myself, which I really enjoyed! But I’ve received a few asks about this series, and they encouraged me to get back to it. 

With that said, this is an old draft that I’ve edited a little, but I’m not all that happy with it (or this series in general). I’ve improved as a writer in the past few years, but I didn’t want to let anyone down by scrapping this whole series and starting from scratch. So I will, begrudgingly, continue!

Sorry for the long wait, and thank you for the sweet words of support xx

“So, what’s he like?”

You dodged a fist aimed at your face.

“Who?”

You weren’t quite so fast to block the knee Natasha aimed at your gut, but you were quick to recover. Any dawdling and she would quite literally have you on the ropes.

“The Russo guy.”

You huffed. “He’s…”

Difficult, was the first word that came to mind. Paranoid, was the second. For all his good looks, Russo was more than a pretty face, and he was proving harder to deal with than most. His penthouse was under constant surveillance, as was ANVIL, and whenever he was out and about he’d scan the streets as if he could feel your eyes on him.

He was a complex man, and the more you thought about him, the more you realised that Billy Russo was—

Your head snapped to the side, and Natasha smirked.

“Distracting?” She offered, smirk breaking into a smile at the sight of your glower.

“Please,” you scoffed.

She followed up with a flurry of punches and kicks that you barely managed to block.

“Alright, would you slow down?” You could already feel the bruises forming along your forearms.

“You’re out of practice,” she panted, stepping out of arm’s reach to shake her limbs out.

“No kidding. Why do you think Coulson sent me here?”

You slipped out of the ring and grabbed two bottles of water. Her lips curled wryly.

“And here I was thinking you’d missed me.”

You rolled your eyes and threw a bottle her way.

“So?” There was an expectant look on her face.

“He’s sharp.” You shrugged. “It’s taken me months to cover all the bases. Hoyle will probably make or break this whole thing. Russo trusts him.”

“And does Hoyle trust you?”

You shook your head. “And he’s not afraid to say it.”

You remembered the conversation Curtis and Billy shared when you left St John’s that day. The room had been bugged since day one, but it was the first time you’d gotten anything worthwhile.

Curtis, while respectful of your privacy, was suspicious. Russo, on the other hand, was desperate – that was something you could work with.

“What’s the plan?” Natasha asked, leaning against the ropes in a way that looked far more effortless than it was.

“Get recruited. I need to get inside ANVIL to access his office, but he spends more time there than anywhere else. He hasn’t been able to find the bug we planted in his penthouse, so that’s something at least.”

Although, it really wasn’t, was it? Russo was hardly home enough to get anything worthwhile out of him, and when he was home...well, there were some things Coulson couldn’t pay you to listen to.

“Stark’s?” asked Natasha.

You shrugged. “He owed me a favour.”

“Has Coulson made contact yet?”

You nodded. “Viv sent an email out yesterday, an invite to the fundraiser. Event that big’ll give him the opportunity to rub elbows with the big-wigs. More exposure means more work, and his team’s already stretched thin, so—”

“So, he’ll be chomping at the bit to hire,” she finished, looking mildly impressed. “Smart.”

“Why does everyone always sound so surprised?” you huffed as she slipped out of the ring to join you.

“It’s a good plan, but there are faster ways to get into his office…”

She shot you a suggestive side-eye, and you shared a laugh.  

You’d looked into that name – Madani – the moment Russo had mentioned it. You didn’t know the nature of their relationship, but you could guess. Russo would be far too paranoid to fall for feminine wiles you didn’t have, and you weren’t particularly keen on that approach anyway. You weren’t a spy.

“No, he respects his employees. I’ll work for him, prove my worth…”

Natasha pursed her lips.

“And if you’re compromised?”

You looked at her like she’d grown another head, the answer seemingly obvious.

“Just like that?” she asked.

You didn’t like how doubtful she sounded.

“When did you get a conscience?” you fired back.

She gave your shoulder a small shove.

“I just didn’t think you’d be so quick to pull the trigger.”

You shrugged. “I got my orders. Dead if necessary, right?”

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

It had been little over a week and Billy had all but forgotten the invitation he’d extended. Work was eating away at his spare time, as it always did, and he’d been too preoccupied with finding new clients and recruits to think of much else.

His eyes flickered over the email one more time; at the date, at the venue, at the unmistakable logo slapped in the top right-hand corner. It was a huge opportunity to make a few friends. One he needed to take with both hands if he didn’t want to be swimming in debt by the same time next month.

But these wouldn’t be regular clients. These were the kind that could clear out a whole hotel if they wanted, and he no longer had the numbers for operations of that size.

He massaged the bridge of his nose.

He hated using contractors. He hated using anyone he didn’t know and trust with the task at hand, but it looked like there would be no way around it if he managed to land some new clients. That in itself would be a Herculean feat.

A knock sounded at his door, and his secretary peeked into his office, blonde curls in an elegant updo and a hand pressed to her baby-bump as it so often was these days. Christ, he’d need to find a replacement for her soon too.

“What is it, Marie?” he wondered if he sounded as defeated as he felt. Her sympathetic grimace suggested he did.

“Sir, there’s a woman here asking for you.”

“What woman?” His mind went to Madani. She was the last thing he needed on his plate at the moment.

“Says her name is Riley Jameson.”

It took a moment for the name to register, but Billy perked up when it did. When you hadn’t called him, he assumed that meant you weren’t interested in his proposition and that had been that.

“Riley Jameson...” he mumbled absentmindedly. Marie cleared her throat and he blinked out of his musings. “I’m on my way. Tell Wayne to clear the floor.”

He stood, buttoning his suit with deft fingers, before making his way to the elevator. His reflection was a blur on the gleaming doors, but he smoothed his hair down and straightened his tie anyway.

The doors opened with a chime and your head snapped up at the sound. Billy offered his most welcoming smile.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

“Miss Jameson, I didn’t think I’d be seeing you here.”

He looked as good as you’d come to expect, and you recognised that smile as the same one he gave politicians and Wall Street’s finest.

A little honesty goes a long way. You wanna cover a big lie with small truths. The more upfront you are, the better you’ll look. A goody-two-shoes is just as suspicious as a supervillain – trust me.  

You shook his hand with a polite smile of your own. “Yeah, neither did I to be honest.”

His eyebrow twitched. “Oh?”

“Curtis,” you answered. “He, uh, he didn’t seem too happy with the idea. I usually trust his judgement.”

“Then how come you’re here?” His head tilted to the side curiously.

“Because I trust my own more.”

For a moment you wondered if you’d said the right thing. His eyes flickered between your own, contemplative and alert, and then his lips curled in the beginnings of a smile.  

“C’mon, let me show you around.” He held a hand out in front of him in invitation.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

You asked the right questions, Billy thought. You were respectful, smart, attentive and somewhat aloof. It could be nothing, or it could be something. You were guarded, but most people in your line of work were. Hell, even he was. Maybe it was a hit at his pride that left him feeling unsettled – usually by this point of the tour, he had some sort of idea whether or not there was interest.

The recruits at least showed some uncertainty, some nerves. He was their superior here, the one who determined whether they made the cut or not. But something told him you were used to being in control, and that wouldn’t change at ANVIL.

As it stood, he couldn’t tell if you were impressed, or if ANVIL fell completely short of your expectations. Curtis was right about one thing at least; you were no open book.

Speaking of Curtis...there was the matter of telling him that you’d stopped by. Billy wasn’t looking forward to that particular conversation, or the chewing-out he’d be on the receiving end of for not heeding Curtis’s warning.

He trusted Curtis’s judgement too. He really did, but...

I trust my own more, he thought wryly.

“...and are they sanctioned by the government, or...?”

“I’m very selective with the jobs I take on,” he answered. “I’m not gonna send my people overseas unless there’s a government contract to cover our asses. There’s more freedom in domestic work, obviously, but I encourage all my employees to know their limits.”

“Fair.” You nodded.

He led you through yet another hallway, this one lined with a tall expanse of sound-proof glass that separated you from the shooting gallery. Billy glanced over his shoulder when he realised you were no longer walking beside him.

There was something veiled in your eyes as you stood there and stared at the targets, something that gnawed at him.

“Y’know, I have to run a background check on everyone that comes through the door,” he said softly, as he came to stand beside you.

“What did you find?”

He huffed a little laugh that lacked any real amusement. “Not enough.”

You frowned. “What do you need to know?”

“A little more about your role in your old squad, and if we’re going to have any problems.”

He wouldn’t tell you that the last guy who’d answered ‘no’ to the latter ended up being a domestic terrorist.

“You spoke to Curtis about me.”

Billy blinked and unconsciously stood taller.

“Look, he was just trying to look out for the both of us. I pushed the issue—”

“It’s fine, Mr Russo,” you interjected. “I get it. I would have done the same. Just…just ask me next time, alright?”

He appraised you for a moment – your earnest expression, your steady gaze – and his shoulders slackened. 

“Yeah,” he nodded. “Alright.”

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

The last stop was his office, a spacious, industrial design with a wall of windows that allowed him to watch over proceedings. There wasn’t much he couldn’t see from this vantage point, and you suspected that put him at ease.

It had the opposite effect on you. This thing would be a son of a bitch to break into – damn near impossible to do so unseen. 

He spoke of insurance and health cover, and you wondered how the smooth lilt of his voice could make even the driest of topics sound appealing. More importantly, you cast a subtle glance around the room each chance you got. While Russo wasn’t stupid enough to leave incriminating materials lying around, figuring out the general layout would save time in the future. And you were pretty sure there was a safe hiding behind the scribble of a painting he had on his wall.

Your fingers itched to rummage around.

“Mr Russo?”

His secretary appeared at the door and glanced between the two of you with an apologetic smile.

“Your meeting with Mr Gerard is scheduled for one o’clock, you told me to remind you, sir.”

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Billy looked down at his watch with a frown. “Right. Thanks, Marie. Uh...”

You smiled when he met your eye. “Don’t worry about it. I probably should have called ahead,” you began.

“No, you’re fine. I’m just sorry we have to cut this short,” his tongue darted out over his lips. “You know what, why don’t you come down for one of our sessions sometime? Get a look at it all in action. Marie can give you the details…”

Marie gave an enthusiastic nod when you turned to look at her. “Of course. If you’ll follow me, Miss Jameson.”

“Lead the way.”

Billy watched as your lips curled in amusement and you fell into step behind her. At face value, it all seemed okay, promising even. But he hadn’t gotten as far as he had by ignoring his instincts, and something…something inside him writhed.

The feeling forced him to his feet. He approached the wall of windows slowly, and watched as you followed Marie downstairs, coaxing a laugh out of her on your way.

“All done for the day, sir. Sir?”

Billy blinked out of his musings and glanced over his shoulder to see a concerned Wayne lingering in the doorway.

“Do me a favour?”

Wayne straightened, his hulking frame as wide as the door and almost as tall. “Yes, sir.”

Billy looked back to the atrium below his office and watched you offer Marie a small wave as you left.

“I want eyes on her.”

“Yes, sir.”

“And Wayne?” Billy called over his shoulder, voice severe. “Don’t get caught.”  

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Thanks for reading and sorry for any typos etc!

Taglist: @sylphene, @ariminiria, @gollyderek, @thera-daydreams, @spn1644, @xcharlottemikaelsonx​, @sophistkai​, @uwuttaja​, @givemebooksorgivemedeath​, @sarcasm-n-insomnia​, @iwishyoucouldbekissed​

#billy russo x reader #billy russo #billy russo fanfiction #the punisher fanfiction

[liladiurne]

🔅Thank you!!!🔅

Just a little post to celebrate a few milestones and to say thank you to my wonderful readers, the best readers out there! 🥰

A week or so ago, my very first snarry fic, with great outbursts and lightnings, the fic I consider closest to my heart, has reached 20k hits. I don't think, when I first started it, I could ever imagine it reaching that point. I still go reread the comments sometimes, when I find myself feeling down, and it never fails to make me smile and remember why I write, why I started, why I kept going. So thank you, 20 thousand times, for reading it.

But that's not all! Good things, it seems, come in packs!

Brighter Than Bright is just about to reach 60k hits! That's absolutely insane!!! I don't even have words. I've been looking at my stats nearly every day, just waiting for it to turn, like an idiot. 🤣 I can't believe so many people have been interested in my little (not so little anymore) fic! I expect it might reach that milestone before the end of the week, but in the meantime, something else happened. It just reached 1000 subscribers! I'd been watching it go up and up for a while now, and at first it stressed me a bit, just to think that every time I post a chapter, so many people get that email, you know? But now I'm just overwhelmed with joy that so many of you are interested and eager for what's to come. I am speechless.

Thank you so much. To all of you who've been with me from the start, and to all new readers who join me along the way. I am so immensely grateful. And thanks to @necromanticnoir who made this for me:

On another note, I thought I'd take this opportunity to update you all a bit on what's to come. I've had a lot of changes and uncertainties in my personal and professional life, so I've had to drop a lot of fest projects because I couldn't deal with the deadlines, so there will be less of that from me in the future, I think. But I also dropped those so I could work on my personal things, those ideas that have been marinating in the shadows (namely my drafts Scrivener file) for too long and deserve a day in the sun. Which means that, without deadlines, I will post less often, BUT the content should hopefully be better, because I won't feel the pressure and also because I'll be writing from my own ideas... If that makes any sense.

Point is, there are good things coming, I just don't know at what frequency or when.

If you've read my rambling this far, thank you again.

I love all of you a ridiculous amount!

#lila posts #brighter than bright #milestones #snarry

[thessalian]

Thess vs Thursday

So yeah, no, Thursdays are still a thing I have not got the hang of. Or maybe they just have it in for me, I dunno.

Slid on over to my work laptop to start the workday, finally got everything booted up and logged in etc (it always takes half past for-fucking-ever) ... and noticed that despite us not being very badly off yesterday, the typing queue was in a bit of a state. In fact, it appeared as though the queue hadn’t been touched since I logged off yesterday.

Then I checked my email. Had one from Scruffman, saying, “Yeah, if you were wondering why the typing queue’s insane, it’s because it’s only me, [Milady], and [this one other person who only really does filing] in today because illness, annual leave, and emergency leave. Nearly asked you to come in today but figured there was no point since we leave at the same time anyway. Sorry!”

I mean, dodged a bullet on the having to go into the office thing. Because seriously, no one who does any kind of typing is in today apart from me (for varying levels of ‘in’, obviously), so the last thing you can afford to do is put me in a position where I will be less productive. And I would be less productive at the office, owing to fewer microbreaks, worse chair, and ergonomics made of bullshit and baling wire. But still. No one typing but me and occasionally Milady if she had a minute. And she didn’t have a lot of minutes, obviously, because no one else being in.

So guess who got the entire typing queue all to themselves?

I managed to clear all of yesterday’s typing (everything from a little past 10am to just about 6pm; easily a hundred reports). I pushed too hard doing it, and I had to run a little over time to get the last few, but I got it done. This left me with five reports from this one woman who ... okay, her accent isn’t that bad. ...Okay, it is, but I’ve dealt with worse. It’s more that her voice is exceptionally high-pitched, and always ends on a rising note that effectively devolves into a squeak. Which it would appear is a migraine trigger; lucky me. Also had a couple of gentlemen whose accents I’m more or less used to but insist on talking with their mouths right up to the microphone - rather shitty microphones at that - so that you get the wonderful double act of “this is way to loud” and “you sound like you’re talking through a sock”. One of the newbies has not figured out how to use a foot pedal and her dictation breaks up in some really messy ways, and I dread the day it happens and she loses measurements or specimen descriptions or something I can’t fake. Not because I have any problems sending her an email letting her know that she cut shit out of a dictation (I have to do that at least twice a day anyway, because even the old hands apparently can’t figure out how the fucking foot pedal works), but because ... well, I figured it’d be good to know her email address for the inevitable moment when she does lose something I can’t fake, and it turns out she doesn’t fucking have one. I mean, I shouldn’t be surprised; she borrows everyone else’s logins for dictation so why the hell not just coast through the place like a ghost with no form of contact whatsoever? That’s not even going into the guy who yells and refuses to listen to me when I tell him, for the eighth time, that I need the number of specimens per block even if it is on another system because someone who needs to know this might not have access to that other system and it’s also a way to check for discrepancies!

So it’s been a hard day. I’d say things will probably go back to normal tomorrow but given sick leave and emergency leave, I have my doubts. Those things often take multiple days to resolve. And on top of that, next week is when my new extended hours start. Honestly, that’s probably for the best because I can not push as hard and still get more done than I was getting before. Also I have drafted an email to Scruffman flagging up yet again Temp’s tendency to cherry-pick the typing, which I will send the next time she’s really blatant about it. Generally I understand that she’s the one doing the long ones when I’m not there and leaving the ones I’m there for to me is a way to achieve balance, but since I’ll be working longer hours, the balance is going to change, and if I’m having to spend six or six and a half hours dealing with Ms Squeaky, Mr Choked-By-Sock, the one guy who averages ten minute dictations, every single fucking placenta report with its bits of fiddly, and all the rest of the stuff that I understand that no one wants to do because I hate them as much as anybody else ... well, no. No, that can’t keep happening. I’ve done everything. I’ve given Temp all my little snippets where you can just type in a code and have a full report there with only the measurements / weights and a few details needing to be changed a bit. I’ve offered to discuss it if there’s people she struggles to type for so that we can find a working balance. All I get is “Don’t stress about it” and I am fed up. But obviously not something you send until there’s something to point at and say, “Look. You do not get more blatant than this. I know she just goes back to cherry-picking every single time you take her to task about this, but something needs to be done to make her take these things in chronological order like the rest of us do”.

As you can probably tell, I’m not in a great mood. Doesn’t help that I didn’t have much time for breaks and food was “most of a bag of Doritos stuffed into my mouth between reports”. I’m going to relax, have a cookie, and later on I will make my chicken adobo. The chicken’s been marinading since last night so I’m hoping for good things.

#Thess has a day job

[bookworm-blogs]

You ever look back on something you wrote several years ago and think, "damn this is actually really good?"

That's me. A few years back, when I was writing on Wattpad, I was obsessed with this one anime called Fairy Tail. I wrote fanfiction for it, I made fan art for my fanfiction, I would literally stay up all night reading about my favorite ships... but like all other hyper-fixations, it eventually faded and I found My Hero Academia and other anime to watch.

Anyways, I was looking back through my Wattpad account and I realized there's this one's particular story I did not finish. A story I spent the last few days rereading and thinking, "holy shit, why did I not finish this?"

That fanfiction is called Walk Through The Fire, the result of me being so utterly pissed off at how Fairy Tail ended that I literally just rewrote the entire ending. I had two books planned out, and according to some of my old drafts, both of them were intended to be over 60 chapters long.

I think that story has a lot of good potential.

So I'm thinking about finishing it.

It's probably been over 2 years since I last uploaded a chapter, and in that same amount of time, I abandoned my account. Wattpad was my writing platform for about 5 years at the time (13-18); I felt like I needed a fresh start, and Ao3 looked like the best choice. I didn't really mean to abandon my Wattpad account completely, but this new update came and I couldn't recover the email that was associated with that account. I decided to cut my losses and write other things, and for a while, I forgot about it. Then I started rewatching Fairy Tail.

Fairy Tail faded in popularity over the years, and since the anime ended back in 2020, I'm not even sure if there are any people still reading about it. The fandom might be dead- even though the Hundred Year Quest is still ongoing- and part of me feels really bad for just abandoning that story all because I was lazy and uninspired.

Right now I'm so busy with work and school and stuff, I'm not too sure if adding yet another project onto my plate is a good idea. But honestly at this rate I really don't care. I like the stories I'm writing, even the old shitty ones with poor grammar and even worse punctuation.

I feel like the story has a lot of potential and when I feel the time is right I think I'll finish it. It's all a matter of if and when.

#Ao3 Author #Wattpad Author #BookwormSid1015 #FT: Walk Through The Fire #FT: WTTF #Haha that acronym works #It describes the plot perfectly #Bookworm is back at it again with the angst baby #I might drop some artwork of this fic soon too #also right now I'm working on updating my other fanfictions #work has been kicking me in the ass but I'm going to find some time to work on it soon #it's all a matter of if and when #Fairy Tail Final Season #Fairy Tail #Fairy Tail Alvarez War Arc #Natsu Dragneel #Lucy Heartfilia #Happy FT #E.N.D. #Fairy Tail E.N.D.

[areseebee]

14 and 15

hello, anon! thank you for this request, i liked answering these a lot.

[in reference to this ask game]

14. a fic you didn't expect to write

i never expected to write someday. even in the middle of writing smoke break, i was planning on that being all i was ever going to write for derry girls once i had finished it. then one very late night in july, i started talking to @derrygirlstrash about it, i decided what the premise would be - james is making a documentary and he asks erin to help, which would take them back to derry - and i started drafting the emails and now here i am - with another multi-chapter fic that i promise i am plugging away at. i'm trying to get a little ahead so that i can try to post on a way more regular basis like i was able to do over the summer with smoke break.

15. something you learned this year

i'm going to list a few things, but they all are in concert with each other. it's probably all a little too self-serious, but there are times where i really love soaking up what writers say about their writing, so here's what i have to say about mine:

i learned that i am not a writing machine. this is so stupidly obvious to say, but i had to come to terms with it. i am more like a writing plant that needs water and sunlight and isn't always flourishing in quite the same way every day and that has relationship with my writing and that's ok.

i learned that i can very easily feel a lot of pressure and that i have to guard myself a little more closely than i had ever thought i'd need to. i, of course, love hearing when readers connect with my writing and i love meeting and talking to new people because of something i wrote (i've made new friends because of it, how special is that?), but for me there has to be a balance in the boundaries i set for my own brain or i start worrying about others' expectations instead of focusing on my own, and then i start to feel like i lose sight of why i'm writing, which is really just for myself. i don't want it to ever feel like a job, that makes it feel joyless to me. which is a good segue to:

i am not a Content Creator and i don't need to produce like i'm one; i want my hobby to be free from capitalistic constraints, i don't want to feel alienated from what i'm making. i write for the love and joy of it and because i like to spend time in stories and need to get some of them out of my head onto the page.

there are seasons to produce and seasons to rest. over the past couple of months i've been learning how to better embrace that it's ok that i'm not writing at the same rate i was earlier this year, and i trust that someday i will again, but right now i am enjoying reading a lot and watching films a lot and writing a lot, too. i feel like i'm doing a lot of cultivating right now that i'll get to reap a little later on.

#ask game

[3wisellamas]

Deltarune Halloween Prompts Day 24: Creepypasta

(Sorry this one's a little late, stuff...happened. ^^; But, I kinda wanted to post this one with today's anyway, so it worked out!)

---

"...Berdly? Are you okay?" Noelle looked at the bluebird on the front steps, panting and with sweat glistening on the tips of his feathers, like he'd just run completely across town. "We, um, said we'd study together tomorrow afternoon..."

"Didn't you get my email?!"

"Uh...I don't think so?"

Berdly looked up at her, disappointed, but tried his best not to show it. He didn't have time to coach her on the proper points of checking one's email every few minutes in case an unsolicited invitation from an ivy league school came in; rather, he cut right to the chase. "I need to use your console to play Dragon Blazers!"

Tilting her head to the side curiously, Noelle led him inside, to where she kept her games. "I thought you had your own console?"

"I ditched it when I upgraded to the Gamestation 360! You know I can't play without achievements or my Playertag, how else would I be able to prove what a superior gamer I am?!" He cleared his throat. "But, well...I have a need to play the older version, and I knew just the doe to help me! I accept your 'You're welcome's in advance!" Smirking, he ignored the dirty look Noelle shot him as she started up the game, and pulled over her laptop to finish the blog post she'd been writing when she'd been interrupted.

"Oh, good idea! I'll need to use your laptop too, to make sure I'm doing this right!" Sighing, Noelle saved her draft and passed it along, so that Berdly could show her that email that had been so important.

"So...you want to try recreating this story you found?"

"I couldn't have said it better myself, my dear Noelle! Except...I kind of did," he replied, clicking the link he'd included.

The web page opened to a listing of stories, rather difficult to read in red text on a black background, but Noelle read down to the one Berdly pointed to. "Drowned Elf Boy, Space Kaiju...these are all about video games?" She snickered, passing the laptop back to him. "These are...just creepypastas, Berdly. I've read all of them a million times!"

"Really?! I-I'm amazed you're so cultured, but then, we geniuses usually are!" Berdly finally found the one he wanted, letting Noelle see. "I found this one last night, and HAD to try it out!"

He'd opened an older story about Dragon Blazers, and it didn't take Noelle long to recognize its contents, nor the author, "holidaygirl1225."

"Um...Berdly?"

"Yes, I know it's probably a long shot, but if we could find whatever the author was talking about, it could be an amazing discovery! And we'd get all the credit!" All too late, though, Berdly realized the flaw in his plan, as he started a new game and watched three entire minutes of opening cutscenes. "Oh no, wait...this is in the ice area, isn't it? That's over six hours into the game..."

"Oh! Hang on a second!" Noelle held out her hand, motioning for Berdly to hand her the controller, and she loaded her old save file right outside the area. "I...still have this."

"You kept a file here?!" His eyes wide, Berdly looked up at her with new appreciation. "You must've known this area had its secrets! That's why you're the smartest person I know, aside from myself of course!"

"Of course..." Deciding it'd be best not to let on exactly why she had the file, Noelle watched as Berdly tried retracing the creepypasta author's steps, getting more frustrated with each moment his character spent lost in the icy maze. "It's not working! They must've copied these directions wrong, or deliberately made it so you couldn't follow them..."

"Here, let me try." Again, Berdly handed off the controller, and Noelle reloaded her save to start from scratch. Taking a few moments to remember the steps, she made her way through the maze, but as she did so the realization of what she was doing hit her, and yet again she panicked, going down instead of up at the end.

"Oh...whoops, I guess that wasn't it!" She passed the controller back to Berdly. "You can try again, but I guess it's impossible."

"Yeah..." Sighing, Berdly made a few more attempts, but then gave up, switching off the console. "Guess it was just a made-up story after all. Oh well! I'll go see if there's any secrets in Dragon Blazers VII, or at least get that 'No Damage on Any Boss' achievement I've been working on!"

Once he left, Noelle booted the game again, going through the maze just as she had a few minutes before, the only difference being her going up instead of down, and there it was. Pushing down the reflex to scream and shut off the game just like when she was a kid, she approached the gray door, checking it, poking it, prodding it, trying every way she could think of to open it, but without the key she was once again stuck.

"Someday..." Making sure her save file was still in place, she shut off the game.

#deltarune #deltarune halloween prompts #deltarune noelle #deltarune berdly #emwrites

[evilovesyou]

1,3,7,11,19

Ahh, thank you!! SO MANY!! And such elaborate ones!

1- What font do you write in? Do you actually care or is that just the default setting?

This question made me smile because my friend Lynda was such an advocate for writing in Comic Sans, but I just can't take it seriously. Which I guess would be the point? I care enough not to be able to use the meme font, but I mostly use whichever sans-serif is the default in Google Docs.

3- What is your writing ritual and why is it cursed?

My writing ritual is yell until someone writes with me on discord and then just go at it until I inevitably get sidetracked by research and beaten by @so-why-let-your-voice-be-tamed who writes at approximately a million words a minute. It's cursed because I can't tell you how I ever get anything done.

7- What is your deepest joy about writing?

Friends. And self-expression. And whenever I manage to get some feeling out there that resonates with anybody. That.

11- Do you believe in the old advice to “kill your darlings?” Are you a ruthless darling assassin? What happens to the darlings you murder? Do you have a darling graveyard? Do you grieve?

Absolutely not. I don't think I've ever killed a darling. Unless you count having one of them be a ghost or something like that. I already tagged Mia, but if you want angst, you should go to @so-why-let-your-voice-be-tamed laksfjasg

19- Tell me a story about your writing journey. When did you start? Why did you start? Were there bumps along the way? Where are you now and where are you going?

Oh. I think I started as a teenager? I used to write fic for my friends, like about them and their fave 1d member ksdjfh. I would say the self-insert fics I wrote were a bump along the way, but they also weren't, because one of them is what ultimately got me back into writing after a long time of not writing at all. (To be clear: all of this lived only on my computer and in my emails to my friends. I never published anything.)

I had a very rough patch a few years ago where I had a massive creative block in my main ways of expressing myself and I was reading a lot of fic. At some point I found the draft to a 30k self-insert fic I'd written when I was like... 15? And I read it all and couldn't resist the urge to rewrite it. It turned into a story of twice that length that I think only a single one of my friends has ever read.

After that, I was listening to music on a bus to visit my grandma and had an idea for a larry fic. Then I wrote the fic. And another one. And I made a post looking for a beta. And after a couple mismatches, I messaged Lynda, who then changed everything forever. She introduced me to @reminiscingintherain and so many writers and friends and... I miss her every single day.

Now I'm in a place where I don't have as much time to write as I would like. I'm in a place where I have tentatively been exploring other fandoms and new tropes.

Where am I going? Wherever life takes me.

ask me weird questions for writers <3

#Thank you for asking me so many things #<3 #writing #asks #anonymous #my writing #ask games