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hutchhitched · 3 years

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Don’t Talk To Me

Written by: @hutchhitched

Prompt 76: Modern a/u Katniss is getting over the loss of her sister (you decide how) when she meets Peeta. She’s closed off but he finds a way in. Maybe she works for him? Him for her? Maybe she cries herself to sleep on his bread scented shoulder? (Please yes I need that) [submitted by @endlessnightlock]

Ratings/Warnings: T

A/N: Y’all... It’s finally here. This is story number nine from the nine prompts I claimed for the 2020 @everlarkficexchange and then lost the will to write during the early months of the pandemic. I wasn’t sure I’d get here, but it’s happened. This is not the story I intended to write when I took the prompt, but sometimes the muse takes control, and I simply follow. Thanks for your patience, and I hope you enjoy. Huge thanks to @javistg for understanding the delays and @endlessnightlock for being supportive of my plot change.

Katniss Everdeen hates people. Well, that’s not exactly true, but she doesn’t exactly like them either. They’re too…human or whatever. Too many acquaintances. The last thing she wants to do is get close to any of them, especially after the events of the past few months. She’s barely holding it together as it is, and introducing people or, even worse, friends could tip her right over the edge. She values her sanity.

That’s probably why the new, sweet, disgustingly optimistic, overly friendly hire at the coffee shop where Katniss works irritates her so much. He’s just so nauseatingly earnest. It makes her want to punch him in the face.

“How’s my favorite barista today?” he asks when she joins him behind the counter while still tying her apron. She mumbles noncommittally, but he doesn’t seem at all deterred. “I like that sweater.”

“Peeta,” she says as she attempts to maintain control of her temper. He looks at her with such eagerness, she wilts under his obvious enthusiasm. “I’m just… It’s not a good day. Can we not?”

His face falls, and she almost relents. She doesn’t know what it is that’s convinced him she’s someone he needs to befriend, but she simply has no interest. She doesn’t want more entanglements. They hurt too much.

“Sorry,” he whispers and turns away. She swallows a twinge of guilt for hurting his feelings, but she doesn’t yield. Instead, she pivots to the espresso machine and starts making coffee. They work together silently, their only conversation about drink orders. They move around each other easily with no uncomfortable bumping or banging elbows or shoulders. He’s a good worker, at least, and he knows how to take a hint.

“See you tomorrow,” Peeta says softly as his shift ends, and she flashes a brief smile. She doesn’t want to be rude, but come on. He doesn’t have to be friends with everybody.

It continues like that for months, him fruitlessly friendly and her taciturn and distant. He continues to pursue a friendship, never pushing or prodding, simply being there and consistently showing kind. It’s exhausting.

“How do you manage to stay so sickeningly upbeat?” she asks finally after several days of wanting to scream. He wears her down. She’d tell him to stop, but she’s starting to think she might like his optimism a little bit.

He pauses for a second to glance at her before returning his attention to slipping sleeves onto the cup he’s holding. He calls out the order and smiles at the customer before answering. “What’s the other option? Being miserable?”

“Well, I’m pretty good at it.”

“I don’t think that’s true,” he argues softly. “I think you’ve had a rough time, and you’re grieving and healing. No one begrudges you that.”

She gapes at him for a few seconds before snapping back to attention. The last thing she needs is to break down in front of everyone. Somehow, she thought he didn’t know anything. It’s disconcerting to realize her grief is on public display when she’s worked so hard to tuck it away. She reels, and he presses his lips together in frustration.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to overstep.”

“It’s… You’re fine.” She swallows hard and shakes her head. “I’m taking my break.”

His wounded expression slices through her as she flees.

****

Another couple of weeks pass before Katniss finds herself alone with Peeta again. They’re scheduled to close on a slow night, and everyone else has gone home when he locks the door behind the last customer and she turns off the light and secures the window for the drive through window.

“Alone at last,” she jokes and is struck by his wry grin.

“You don’t have to do that.”

“Lock up? I think I do.”

He catches her gaze and refuses to let it drop. “Pretend to be happy you’re here with me.”

“I—”

“I’m sorry,” he insists. “I thought maybe if I could talk to you and stop being so, you know, wounded that maybe we could take a shot at being friends. I didn’t mean to upset you, Katniss. That’s the last thing I’d ever want to do.”

She doesn’t answer for several beats. He squirms a little and drops his eyes to study twisting hands and twitching feet. She’s going to regret this. She knows she will. Still, there’s something sweet and shy and kind that she yearns for when the rest of the world is so hard and cold. Maybe it’s weakness or something else equally awful she should expunge from her personality, but she can’t let him spiral this way. Maybe it’ll stop hers, too.

“We could, uh, try that.”

It comes out garbled and stunted, but the change in his countenance makes her glad she took the step. A thousand emotions flit over his handsome face, but a grin splits his lips so wide that his teeth flash white. She holds up her hands to head him off, but he steadies himself. With eyes twinkling, he chuckles.

“I saw the fear there for a second. I’ll control myself before I start asking the deep stuff.”

“The deep stuff?” she asks, still gun-shy.

“Yeah, like it’s crazy that I’d voluntarily cover a shift for you if you called in sick, but I don’t know your favorite color.”

“It’s green.”

“Mine’s orange.”

“Like those chairs?” she laughs and nods at the overly bright upholstery on the furniture. Apparently someone in corporate thought pumpkin spice wasn’t just their most popular fall drink; it was also where customers could put their butts as they sipped caffeine-laden drinks.

“Softer,” he answers, his voice a breathy whisper. “Like the sunset.”

Her eyes drift shut. He’s put a spell on the space with his words, and she wants to stay there for a moment. When he’s not being overeager, Peeta Mellark is charming as hell. Lord, help her.

“Can I tell you a secret? It’s really important.”

She tenses, but when she opens her eyes, she finds that he’s moved closer to her and propped his hip against the counter. He looks so young and hopeful there’s no way she can be scared of him.

“If you must,” she sniffs and smiles to soften her response.

“Lean in close. It’s a big one.” She does so slowly, and he waits patiently until she’s close enough that he can whisper, “Don’t tell our boss, but I’m a tea guy. Two lumps of sugar. I don’t even like coffee.”

Her eyes widen for a split second, and then she bursts into laughter. Tears gather in her eyes as she shakes. “That’s not a big one!”

“Coffee is life, Katniss. A known tea drinker would be cast out among the wolves. I’ll just stay incognito. I’m trusting you with my life here.”

“And what if I spill it?”

“Spill the tea?” He winks as she gasps for air. Just as quickly, he wipes his expression from his face and assumes mock sobriety. Somberly, he picks up the broom and starts to sweep. “Well, then, I guess you’ll have one fewer opponent to beat out for employee of the month.”

The whole idea that Katniss, surly and grumpy as she is, could ever win a customer service award is so preposterous she can’t keep from giggling. By the time the café is clean, she’s a million times lighter. When they head separate ways after locking up, she watches him as he strides down the street. Before he turns the corner, he tosses a look over his shoulder and waves. She doesn’t even have to think about it. She waves back.

****

They become friends, and it upends her life. Katniss isn’t used to having people around. Not since her sister passed away and left her all alone in the world. Katniss had gotten used to being an orphan, but when her sister was killed in a car crash, the loneliness and despair overwhelmed her. With Peeta around, she doesn’t feel quite so isolated anymore.

They take short walks on shared breaks, and he leans down to pick dandelions from between the sidewalk cracks before handing them to her with a bashful grin. He shields her from overly aggressive customers during busy periods at the café, and, after several weeks, he manages to convince her that spending time together outside of work isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

“Friends do tend to see each other in social settings,” he teases, and Katniss finally relents.

They go to movies and basketball games and art exhibits and archery competitions and all sorts of other things she had no idea she’d enjoy until Peeta suggested the activity. Sometimes, they do mundane things like grocery shopping together. She finds she likes trying new things as long as there’s someone with her and they can debrief about what was good and bad afterward. He convinces her to try one of those art classes with BYOB wine and a pre-chosen image to paint, and she gasps when his own creation takes on a life of its own while hers seems like a bad paint with water replica. He teaches her to cook bread and cookies and cinnamon rolls, and she shares her heirloom lamb stew recipe with him. They’re comfortable together. He never pushes, never makes her feel like he needs anything more than simple friendship.

Until, that is, the anniversary of her sister’s death.

She should have taken off work. She knows that, but the café is short-handed. Besides, she needs the money. It’s rainy and muggy and awful when she leaves the house, and the subway is packed much more than usual. She’s jostled and pushed and touched inappropriately (although, that was likely unintentional with how closely pressed together the passengers are in the train car), so that by the time she gets to work, she’s irritable, grumpy, and a ten seconds from losing it.

It’s possible it’s the weather or the alignment of the stars or an almost full-moon or the changing of the seasons. It could be that other people are suffering from trauma and loss and depression, as well. Or it could be that Katniss just has really bad luck.

“This drink is wrong.”

The harsh complaint is snapped at her by an unpleasant looking man with white hair and a beard. He looks at her like she’s something rotten on the underside of his shoe when he shoves the cup toward her and sloshes some of the hot liquid on her outstretched hand. She hisses at the burn and immediately turns to the sink to run cold water over her skin before it blisters.

“Don’t turn your back on me! Fix my coffee.”

Katniss tenses, her guard up, but she refuses to move. His actions burned her, and she’s following not only methods of self-preservation but also the company’s safe work policies. Injuries are to be treated immediately on the job. She’s doing that.

He continues yelling, attracting the attention of patrons and staff. Peeta finishes with the order he’s taking and quickly intervenes, coming to her rescue whether she wants him to or not. She’s not sure which is accurate.

“Can I help you, sir? My name is Peeta, and I’m—”

The man squints at Peeta and raises a shaking hand toward me. He’s livid, and Peeta takes a half-step back at the fury that’s suddenly directed his way. The situation escalates. It’s not pretty. The police are called, and customers are shaken. That’s nothing compared to the way Katniss quakes inside her own skin. She’s barely holding it together when their manager intercedes.

“Get her out of here,” Haymitch barks at Peeta before turning to the customer. The coffee cup he’s thrown at her rolls on the floor in a puddle of liquid. The name scrawled on the outside is Snow. It’s ironic. Katniss has always hated winter.

They make it to the back before she crumbles, and Peeta lets go of her hand to help her sit down on a stack of crates. He settles next to her and pulls her into a loose embrace—tight enough so that she knows he’s there but loose so she doesn’t feel trapped. It’s the perfect way to comfort her. He’s perfect, and she’s a mess.

The tears flow, and she’s too broken to bother to wipe them away. Shoulders shake and sobs tear from her throat in gulping heaves. At one point, she moans her dead sister’s name. It’s a mournful wail that washes over her and makes her hurt even worse. He pats her back and toys with the tip of her braid. It’s an unlikely source of solace, and it causes her to turn into him and press her face to his shoulder.

He smells like bread, she realizes in a random flash of clarity. She’s lamenting her sister, but that scent claws at her senses and registers in the olfactory section of her brain. How odd, she thinks before a fresh wave of grief shakes her torso.

“It’s okay, sweetheart,” he whispers. “I’m so sorry. I’m here. Take as long as you need. It’s okay. You’re okay.”

She’s not, though. She’s not all right, and she knows he understands that. He’s working with a limited vocabulary as he tries to help her. That’s what people say when they’re faced with a weeping friend. She’s done it herself. His tone of voice and gentle touch more than prove his compassion for her pain.

She doesn’t know how long they sit there, but it’s long enough that her tears have soaked his shoulder. A sharp cough invades their little bubble, and they both glance up to see Haymitch in the doorway.

“Clock out,” he orders in that gruff way of his. “We’ve got you both covered. Take her home, boy.” Peeta nods at the nickname without protest. It would be offensive if it meant anything other than their boss can’t remember anyone’s names, although that’s bad enough.

Peeta hails a cab and gives her address. He escorts her to her door and unlocks it for her before guiding her inside and seating her on the couch. When he moves away, she grabs at his hand and pulls him down next to her. His arms envelop her again, and she presses her face into his neck and allows the tears to streak down her cheeks while she hiccups. She hates being vulnerable, but she trusts him. They’ve grown close over the past few months.

Finally, she runs dry. Her sobs subside, and her body stills. He doesn’t shift, doesn’t attempt to pull away. Instead, he simply waits and gives her the space for what she needs. It’s a beautiful thing to grieve with someone who allows it to occur instead of hindering the process. She’s not okay. She won’t be for a long time, but she’s survived today. For now, that’s enough.

“Thank you,” she mumbles against his shoulder. When he doesn’t answer, she glances up at him through wet lashes and finds him looking at her with compassion in his piercing blue eyes. She could fall into them if she’d let herself. When he lifts his hand to brush flyaway wisps of hair from her forehead, she thinks maybe she should.

Time freezes. There’s a pulse between them that shakes the world. They’re drawn together, and she doesn’t second guess it or pull away from him. Instead, she closes her eyes and meets his mouth with hers. It’s gentle, just a sweet brush of lips, but it tastes like a reawakening, like the snow melting away and the earth coming back to life in spring.

It’s scary. It’s terrifying. It’s also right. After the events of the past year, she deserves a new beginning.

#everlarkficexchange #springtime edition 2020 #prompt 76 #everlark #everlark fanfiction #peeta mellark #katniss everdeen #don't talk to me #bring on the new beginnings #ready for the next round

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hueswrites · 4 years

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hq kinktober [day1] tendou

main hq kinktober list

hq kinktober [day1] tendou satori/cosplay

includes: a bit of story, some angsty broody stuff on reader's part, cosplay (obviously), fingering and female receiving oral sex

wordcount: 4,827

ok this turned out to be more fluff and actual sort of plot than smut. i just started writing at 12:30am and kept going until 6 in the morning. this is the result. if you were looking forward to straight up smut on this first prompt, i'm sorry but THIS IS NOT IT LMAO.

i absolutely adore tendou and the perspective i gave him on life in this. stay quirky, my friends. (as kenma would say... stay interesting, shouyo)

Being Satori was hard. It was unfortunate, exhausting, and just plain miserable - that's what his junior high school classmates wanted him to believe, at least.

In his early years of school, Satori Tendou was teased for his awkward, gangly appearance and unusual mannerisms. His attempts to interact with his peers were often shunned due to the offbeat semblance he exuded, which left most of the other kids feeling unsettled.

His mother, equally peculiar in her own way, urged Satori to make the most of his eccentricities. "Think about the characters you like from the manga you read. Would you want to keep reading the story if all the characters were the same?"

Satori shook his head, already concluding the point his mother was trying to make. "I get what you're saying, Mom," he grinned from ear to ear, a smile the width of his perfectly straight cherry red bangs, and pushed himself away from the kitchen table. He plopped down onto the wooden floorboard with exuberance. "Life is boring when everyone's the same. Who wants to live a boring life?" He padded over to his room and jumped onto his bed, going back to the first page of this week's issue of Jump. The warm, tingly feeling of adventure took over as he reread the newest chapters of his favorite series for the thirteenth time that week.

A decade later, Satori found himself living in France, where he stood out more than ever before. Not only did he need to learn how to adapt to the country's unfamiliar customs, he also had to learn how to speak its language: the language of love. He found his self-appointed tutor in the bookstore he frequented once he felt comfortable navigating the streets of Paris, which happened to be the same bookstore you browsed when you had a little bit of money to spend.

There you stood alongside him in the graphic novel section, your form hidden under an oversized hoodie, brows scrunched together in what appeared to be deep concentration. You were extremely aware of his presence looming over you, and it created a feeling of unease that sunk into your bones. You braved a glance up at his face, and he quickly turned his head back to stare at the row of the slice-of-life series that lined the very top shelf before him.

Tall, you thought to yourself. That's a very tall man.

You shuffled away from him just a bit, browsing the very bare section of "how-to-draw manga" guides that you knew were second rate to how real manga artists crafted their work.

Moments later, a silvery voice spilled into your consciousness and caught your attention. "Hmm, if only Matsuo-chan realized Hibari's feelings for her in the very beginning..." You can't help but look back up at the lanky man next to you, listening as he changed his speech from French to Japanese. "Then perhaps sweet misery would've never crushed their poor, little hearts." He turned his head to look down at you, heavy lids lowered over brilliantly crimson irises. A cheeky upward curve lifted his thinly shaped lips, and your heart skipped a beat.

Your mind went blank, rendering you speechless.

"I saw the Todai button on your bag," he said, voice now light and cheerful.

You blinked once, twice, then looked down at your messenger bag decorated with various pins from the clubs you took part of in college back in your home country of Japan. Your body relaxed, and a breathy laugh escaped your lips. "Yeah, Tokyo University. Are you from Japan?"

"Yes! Came here from Sendai. How's my French?" He beamed a child-like smile.

You produced your most sarcastic chuckle, turning to lean a shoulder onto the bookshelf so you could face him. "It's kind of terrible."

He mocked a look of despair and dropped his head in feigned embarrassment. You noticed how the pale skin of his cheeks turned a faint shade of red, and you wondered how someone could go from intimidating to adorable in a matter of seconds. Then his eyes snapped back to you, and a toothy grin spread across his face. "Wanna be my tutor?"

Your cheeks flushed pink, and your breath came to a halt again.

"I'm not sure I'm qualified to do something like that," you said, pushing yourself away from the shelf to stand square.

He hummed and straightened his posture, shifting his eyes away from yours, down to your shoes, then back up to your face. "Why not?" The look on his face expressed genuine curiosity.

You decided to pretend you didn't notice his blatant evaluation of your physical form just now.

"I've only been here for a year. I can speak enough French to get by, but I'm not sure I can teach someone else how to speak it."

"So little faith in yourself, little miss."

You furrow your brows at the nickname.

He whipped out a volume of a manga you recently started reading and held it up to you. "You have a pin of this on your bag, too," he said with a wiggle of his sparse eyebrows. "How about you try and get me to start reading this subpar manga by making me read it out loud in French?"

You gave him a look of piqued interest. The possibility of roping someone into reading your favorite series was tempting.

Then he continued, "And we can get yakitori and beer while you teach me?"

The hue of red on your face extends to your forehead.

"You've got pins of beer and yakitori on your bag, too."

A few weeks later, you and Satori were on your sixth date seated across from each other at a cat café in downtown Paris. It took the first three dates (he'd somehow coerced you into) for you to realize that the strange man was just that - strange, but harmless. The one friend you'd managed to make in your year in France introduced you to some very attractive and very gregarious men that you just couldn't see yourself with. Your friend's idea of fun was clubbing and bar hopping through the streets of Paris, and that was unsurprisingly the same kind of fun those men preferred as well.

To you, fun was something much more personal and intimate. Your past experience with relationships lead you to believe that you are meant to be on your own - that there is nobody in this world that will appreciate your oddities and make you as happy as you can make yourself.

Your interests lied in worlds of fiction and fantasy - games, books, movies, and manga, which you learned Satori was just as passionate about as you. Not surprising. He seemed to fit the socially awkward, emotionally inept stereotype you knew most men fit into that also liked anime. He asked too many questions, didn't understand when his questions push personal boundaries, and just wouldn't. Shut. Up.

He did smell nice. You gave him that.

"So little turtle-in-her-shell, do you ever go to conventions?"

You paused your chewing of the last bit of coffee cake you ordered. "Turtle in her shell?"

That carmine, wide eyed gaze of his remained fixed on your face. "You wear that big hoodie all the time like a turtle in a shell."

"It's comfortable," you state. “And yes, I go to conventions.”

Nearly a minute of silence passed between the two of you, and if it weren't for the chatter of others seated around you and the clinking of cups and plates, you'd have really retracted into your "shell" of a sweater.

So you changed the subject, deciding to ask a question that stepped a hair outside of your comfort zone to a man you weren't quite sure about yet.

"Were you just trying to get my attention with that whole "be my tutor" spiel?" You asked following a sip of your iced cappuccino. A little calico feline had chosen you as its scratching post, kneading its nails into the fabric of your jeans. You ignored the little stings of pain for the sake of the cat's enjoyment.

Satori multitasked between feeding himself scoops of his chocolate parfait and playing with the lashing paws of the black cat that sat on the table between you. "Hey now," he said, lightly squeezing the cat's tail before quickly retreating his hand away to avoid the tiny beast's teeth. "I wouldn't know all the different ways to say "I need to take a dump" in French if it weren't for your tutoring thus far, little miss.”

"That's a weird nickname you have for me." The cat on your lap suddenly hopped to the ground, skirting across the ground to the human it suddenly deemed more worthy of its attention than you. You frowned, the action wounding your cold, bitter heart.

"You wouldn't remember me if I called you by just your name, would you?" He used a straw to slurp up the remaining concoction of sugar at the bottom of his cup.

"Do you even remember my real name, Satori?"

He pushed the now empty cup aside and ruffled the black cat's ears with his fingers. It hissed and gave a quick swat of its paw to his hands, then jumped off the table and scurried away.

"I never forget the names of all the cute girls I get to add to my harem," he said with a smirk, his cheeks rising to meet the crinkled corners of his eyes.

You gave him a lopsided glare. "You're kidding, right?"

Satori laughed - a lilted giggle that sent a shiver straight down to your gut, and then his expression darkened and his eyes captured yours in a binding stare. "Would you like to come over and see for yourself?" The way his voice rumbled an octave lower than you've ever heard had you squeezing your hands into nervous balls of tension above your knees.

You frowned. You genuinely couldn't tell if he was being serious. If you hadn't known how much wit and jest the man exuded in nearly every one of his actions, you wouldn't put it past him to be a basement dwelling, serial stalking NEET that kidnapped girls and made them dress up to suit his twisted fantasies. The thought had you questioning every single thing he's said to you so far. He had your number, he knew where you liked to eat, where you liked to drink, and he even knew where you worked. Was this guy like the others?

Suddenly his laughter burst through the air, the sound so boisterous it made you flinch.

"You look so petrified! Are you that gullible to believe everything I say?"

You grit your teeth and grabbed the paper wrapper from his straw to chuck it at his face. "That was so not cool!" You huffed, getting your wallet out to leave a tip on the table.

His laughter continued to tumble through the café, disrupting conversations from nearby customers only for them to direct their attention towards you. You rose to your feet and hurried towards the exit. You absolutely hate being the center of attention!

Satori followed you and matched your stride easily, one of his steps covering three of yours. He stood unbearably close, and if he didn't smell as sweet as the parfait he just ate, you would've shoved him away,

"___-chan," he sang, and you realized it was the first time he said your name. You allowed yourself to relax just a little and slowed your steps. A brief moment of silence settled between the two of you, and he used that moment to gauge your current state of emotional wellbeing.

"___-chan," he said again, this time demanding your attention.

You remained silent. Satori had picked up on so many of your habits in the past few weeks of talking to you and observing your actions that he understood your silence as your cue for, "Go on, I'm listening."

"I'm sorry for upsetting you," he said, bending at his waist so he could meet your line of sight, continuing to stroll alongside you. He must've noticed the creases under your eyes disappear as your tension eased away because that smug little smirk returned to his face. You glanced at him out of the corner of your eye, turning your head to look at him just slightly. A shade of pink colored your cheeks when you met his gaze - his wide, inquisitive eyes studying you with childlike innocence.

You looked forward.

He chuckled and stood up straight, sliding his hands into his jean pockets. "Adorable," he said aloud, further deepening your blush.

You steeled yourself and regained your composure. "Which way do we go?"

Satori hummed. "What do you mean?" he said, bending down again to look at your face. Why must he always have to stare like that when he speaks?

"Aren't we going to your place?"

He grinned. "Really?"

You threw a glare his way. "I'll change my mind if we don't start heading there right now."

Satori grimaced. "___-chan does not cool down so easily after bursting into flames," he mumbled, and you ignored the comment. He sighed. "This way, little miss," he took your hand and pulled you along, bounding across the street as the pedestrian crosswalk countdown hit zero. Your hand wrapped around his, holding on tight to keep up.

You couldn't help but laugh at the stupid sound effects he made as he continued to leap from the street onto the sidewalk, giving you no choice but to run and jump over the curb with him.

Your self-conceived belief that you are all you'll ever have and all you'll ever need to be happy now faced a challenger. This strange person - this bizarre character - punched a hole through the wall you've put so much effort to build on your own.

Satori's twenty-seventh birthday came just after your one year anniversary of the strange... relationship... you managed to maintain despite your ongoing struggle against the warped, pessimistic reality you believed about relationships through years of self-doubt. Slowly but steadily the glass case you built around yourself chipped away due to Satori's freakish ability to see beyond your façade and understand your feelings.

You learned about the bullying he faced in his childhood, and how his mother and high school volleyball team helped him accept the fact that life will always have real jerks with nothing nice to say to test your tenacity. He created a routine of reminding you that you can choose whether or not you let those nasty words bring you down or give you motivation to build your self worth.

Life is more fun when things are a little out of the ordinary. Who wants to be the same as everyone else? These are words you considered when you felt down.

For Satori's birthday, you wanted to do something different, something unique that he would remember about you if you ever went your separate ways.

Since the beginning, you noticed Satori had a thing for cute girls in cosplay. When you told him about your own cosplay projects and showed him pictures, his whole demeanor changed. He became shy - something hardly anyone had ever seen in his usually indiscreet personality.

One thing that helped you feel a little more confident in yourself and your relationship was your experience in physical intimacy. From what you gathered in the little bit of discussion you've had with Satori on the topic, he seemed to have far less experience than you. It was cute how his face went bright red when you managed to pry the details of his past encounters out from the tiny little box of insecurities he still held within. Perhaps it was your turn to bring something out of the wicked Guess Monster (you thought it was a cheesy name but he really took pride in the title whenever he reminisced on his youth at Shiratorizawa Academy) that he kept so carefully hidden away.

"Why are you so shy about this?" You asked the first time you had sex.

Suddenly, the creepy, unwavering eye contact he managed to hold with anyone he came face to face with vanished from the list of unsettling and seemingly unashamed habits and mannerisms that made Satori Tendou so uniquely... Satori.

"The one thing I still have trouble with is..." he looked down at where your naked bodies connected on the plush mattress he swore really was worth the $2,000 he spent. (I don't mean to diss your profession, but do you really make enough money as a chocolatier to afford a bed that expensive?) you asked, immediately regretting having asked the question when a gloomy grey cloud appeared over his head).

"Fucking?" You said, giving him a cocky little smirk.

He buried his face in the crook of your neck with a groan.

"I know you get turned on by cute cosplays of your favorite anime girls."

"...and cute actresses," he muttered, now stuffing his face between your breasts.

That's when you decided to shake things up.

Satori's weekends were usually occupied by work at the sweets factory. He was in the process of getting promoted to a position that freed up his weekends, but it wasn't happening anytime soon.

It was just your luck that his birthday fell on a Saturday this year, your only day off on the weekends. You left your cosplays and wigs back in Japan, boxed up in the bedroom you grew up in. While Satori was slaving away at work, you went shopping. You managed to find a decent sewing machine and plenty of fabric at a (pricey) thrift store on the other side of town. The wigs you looked at were ridiculously expensive - definitely for the high end fashion scene of Paris, not for nerdy cosplayers.

Once you returned to his apartment, you spread all of your findings across his bed and bedroom floor.

A maid's skirt that you will definitely chop up to be anything but modest.

A coreset you honestly weren't sure would fit your little love handles and tummy that lost its tone after all the dessert dates Satori insisted were good for "self care."

Cute devil horns with a pointed tail to match.

Knee high stockings and garters he mentioned as being one of the sexiest things a woman could wear.

And a simple leather collar to put around your neck... with the option to hook a leash.

You looked at the spread before you and wondered how such a quiet, reserved person such as yourself could be so... kinky.

You checked the time on your phone. You had three hours to put something together.

9:43pm Satori:

i'm leaving! boss said he'd let me leave 27 minutes early to celebrate the 27 years of my blessed existence on this planet

@( o･ꎴ･)@

9:44pm

that's all he did for your birthday? and wtf is that emoji

9:44pm Satori:

it's supposed to be a monkey but now that i look it really doesn't look like one. be home soooooon!! ＼(^o^)／ he gave me a $1000 bonus too #stacked

9:45pm

omg you are so lame! come straight to your room for your present :)

9:45pm Satori: (͠≖ ͜ʖ͠≖) ohooOoOOo??

9:46pm stop sending faces and just get your skinny butt over here

9:46pm Satori:

┏( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)┛┏( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)┛┏( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)┛

You heard the front door open, followed by the thump of Satori's shoes hitting the wall. The sound of the lock sliding into place once he closed the door sent a little shiver up your spine.

You sat on his bed, back against the headboard, legs crossed in front of you. You fixed your little devil horns, made sure the tail was pulled out from underneath your butt, and pushed the coreset up to give your cleavage a boost.

Inhale. Exhale.

You'd never dressed up for something like this before, and you had no idea how Satori would react. You imagined he would immediately pass out with a nosebleed.

His footsteps neared his room, and you heard him in his chipper, sing-song voice. "What is my little ___-chan up to, hmm?"

Once he reached the doorway, his eyes landed on you, and his entire body froze. His jaw went slack, looking like a fool with his mouth wide open in dumbstruck awe at the sight before him.

You gave him your most innocent smile, spreading your legs open just a hair. "Come eat up your dessert, Satori~" you said with a tone so sultry it turned his bones into mush.

Satori's shoulders slumped, and he ran a hand through his matted hair in exasperation. His rusty red locks had grown longer than when you first met him - curling behind his ears and covering his forehead. "Baby..." he said, walking into the room, towards the bed. "Baby, baby, baby," he repeated in English, his favorite language to express excitement. He crawled onto the bed, stopping just before you to sit and cross his legs while he looked you over.

Your skirt was cut so short he could almost see the sweet spot between your legs. The garter straps hugged the meat of your thighs and hooked onto the thigh high stockings that fit the muscle of your calves.

Those pointy little horns sat just a little bit lopsided on your head. That slim, pointed tail traced back to your rear, and the collar around that gorgeous neck of yours drew his eyes down to your barely contained cleavage.

"Baby," he said again, almost a whisper. He leaned forward onto his knees to hover over your body and cradled your face between his hands. Hungry crimson eyes gazed right through you, a shade darker than you've ever seen before. "I'm the luckiest man in the world," he said, then pressed the softest, most gentle kiss to your lips.

Your heart fluttered, hands coming up to thread your fingers into his hair. "Happy birthday," you murmured, bringing him back down for another kiss.

The kiss quickly went from gentle to fervent, his hands slipping up your calves over the stockings, over the garters and up to your thighs, rounding out over your ass. He gave your fleshy cheeks a squeeze and broke the kiss, going straight to your neck, kissing every bit of your exposed skin.

You spread your legs more, asking him to come closer, and he did. Your hands slipped underneath his shirt, lifting it above his ribcage, up to his shoulders. He barely moved back to remove the shirt completely before pressing his lips back to the skin over your collarbones, giving you gentle nips with his teeth.

This was the Satori you wanted in bed.

He sighed into your chest, going down to kiss the swell of your breasts. "My little devil," he said, sucking on the skin right above the coreset. "You're so sexy," he bit down a little bit harder, eliciting a hiss through your teeth. "So beautiful," a kiss over the bite, moving to your other breast. "So irresistible," both of his hands came up underneath your ass to lift you up off of the bed and into his lap. You yelped, forgetting his lithe frame could muster so much strength. He placed you in his lap, leaning forward to run his tongue across your lips and into your mouth once you opened up for him.

"Take your pants off," you mumbled, pulling at the waistband.

"I don't wanna stop kissing you," he whined, hands running up along your waist and over your back to press you up against his chest. At that moment you wished you could feel the warmth of his skin, if it weren't for the coreset.

"How are you gonna fuck me if you don't take them off?"

"Mmmfgh," he groaned, a funny sound that only Satori could make without killing the mood.

He pulled away, then quickly leaned forward to steal another kiss, and pulled away again. You crawled off his lap and sat back, watching him rise to his knees to shimmy pants down his hips. He sat back on his butt and kicked them off then crawled back to you, caging you between his arms and legs.

You pushed him away and gave him a devious smirk. "If I knew dressing up like this would flip your switch, I would've done it a long time ago."

He returned your grin with a wicked gleam of his own, eyelids drooping down to look at you with his most perverted leer. "Achievement unlocked?"

You slapped your hand over his face, pushing him away with a laugh. Spreading your legs again, you drew his attention down to your skirt and flipped it up over your stomach to show him your bare cunt.

He groaned, a mix of a whine and a curse, before diving down to attach his mouth straight to your dampened folds. He licked and sucked, pressing the flat of his tongue against your clit before sucking on the little bud, repeating the motion over and over until you started to writhe.

"I-" you began, letting out a huff of a breath, "would tell you to slow down," your hand flew up to grip onto his hair tightly once he pushed a finger inside you. "But it's your night," you huffed again, a strangled moan leaving your throat. "Go wild, Satori."

He removed his mouth and went straight from one finger to three, rubbing the pads of his fingers up against the walls of your core stretching you out and looking up at you with glossy, hazy eyes. "Best dessert I've ever had," he groaned, watching you tilt your head back, chest heaving as your body started to tremble. He went back down to lap at your folds, replacing his fingers with the muscle of his tongue, pushing it deep into your little hole.

"Fuck, Satori, I'm already close," you sighed, rocking your hips up against his mouth. He pulled away again. "I want you for breakfast," he pushed his fingers back inside your cunt, now sloppy with the slick of his saliva and your arousal. He gave a bruising kiss to the inside of your thigh, "And I want you for lunch," a kiss to your other thigh, "And dinner," he groaned, feeling you clench around his digits, pumping harder, faster - long, nimble fingers reaching the very depth of your core.

Those little horns started to slide off your head as you tossed your head forward and back, watching him work between your legs and thrashing back against the headboard whenever he hit your sweet spot.

You lifted your hips off the bed, urging your body to the peak of pleasure. Your voice kept going, encouraging him to go faster, harder, sighing, panting, moaning.

And just like that, every muscle in your body tightened, and a gush of liquid splashed out over his fingers and onto his tongue, his nose, and his chin. Your moans turned into brief, choked sobs as your orgasm rocked your body. You gripped your fist into his hair, so tight you ended up bringing his body forward.

"God," you groaned out load, dropping yourself back down to the bed, your body now spent. He kissed the spot under your navel, over your belly button, back up to your chest, your neck, and your chin. You felt the tips of his fingers slip underneath one of the stockings and pull up and away, letting it snap back down against your skin. You giggled, bringing him up for a slick, sloppy kiss.

You both remained as you were, his forehead now resting against yours, eyes closed, soft pants easing back to controlled breaths. Your left arm slung over the back of his neck, and your right remained tangled into his messy locks, the pads of your fingers giving a gentle massage to his scalp.

"How do you feel?" you asked, too tired to open your eyes.

"Hmmm," he hummed, not quite coherent enough to give a substantial response.

Suddenly, both of his arms wrapped around your waist, and he flipped himself over so that you were on top, straddling his waist. His back rested flat against the bed, that mischievous look once again casting a wicked shadow over his face. He glanced over to where the little devil horns fell onto the bed and placed them back where they belong atop your head.

"I feel like I'm just a peasant, sentenced to be one of hell's slaves for all eternity."

You grin, catching onto his narrative. "Such an unfortunate fate. You were once a hero, but were corrupted by the temptation of lust."

Satori grinned, a toothy, mischievous grin, and his eyes narrowed maliciously. "Now I'm cursed with the inability to ever be satisfied..." He breathed a laugh. "We're so fucking weird," he murmured, "Sounding like Team Rocket..."

You leaned down to give him a kiss. "Weird, normal. Whatever. As long as we're having fun, right?"

#hq kinktober 2020 #hq x reader #hq smut #hq kinktober #reader x hq #tendou x reader #haikyuu #should i even put these in the haikyuu tag or will people try to fight me #whatever

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earnestly-endlessly · 4 years

Note

Do you mind doing a list of your favourite modern AUs? A mix is powered and non-powered fics is okay :) TY!

I'm so sorry how late I am with this, but here’s my looooong list of my favourite modern AUs. I hope that you like this list and can find some fics in there that you haven’t read before. Enjoy!

*******

Cherik Modern AU Fic Recs

Sprich Mit Mir | Talk To Me – dreamweavers

Summary: When Charles meets Erik on a midnight train to London, it’s like all of his Christmases and birthdays have come at once – until Erik opens his mouth, and reveals he cannot speak a word of English.

It isn’t easy to pursue a relationship with someone you need to play Pictionary with just to chat to, but with a little help from Charles’ telepathy, the two language-barrier lovers are determined to make it work.

Come as you are – scarlettblush

Summary: Hospital AU. The one where Charles unknowingly woos a coma patient with Pride and Prejudice. Years later, they meet again.

The Man on the Train – Sophia_Bee

Summary: Charles is heading home from a shift at the busy emergency department of the urban hospital where he works as a nurse. He meets Dr. Erik Lehnsherr on the train, who is clearly interested in Charles, but Charles has a rule. He does not date doctors. Not at all. Never, ever ever. But he does shake his ass at Erik, which might be his downfall.

Eyes on Fire – Black_Betty

Summary: Every once in a while, fashion tycoon Emma Frost invites her favourite male models over to entertain her. And by "entertain", I mean she makes them have kinky consensual sex in front of her....Emma never touches herself when she watches, but she always has a glass of wine with her. Emma likes it best when they eventually forget that she's watching.

Charles and Erik meet each other through Emma...

(I've taken some liberties with the prompt, but all the sex is still there, and it's wholly consensual...and gradually, becomes more than just sex...)

Paper Monsters – Clocks

Summary: Fill for this prompt: Charles meets Erik Lehnsherr, his favorite novelist of all time at a coffee shop, but doesn't know it's him, and Erik just criticizes his own writing in front of his biggest fan.

Order Up - ikeracity

Summary: Charles has a terrible habit of multitasking, and that is probably why he absentmindedly tells the pizza man that he loves him when hanging up. Then the pizza man says it back. And Charles is pretty much smitten from there.

Some Things Are Meant To Be – Ikeracity

Summary: Erik is a famous singer. Charles is a closeted fan. When Raven drags him to Erik's concert, the last thing Charles expects is for Erik to single him out of the crowd, for Erik to look right at him as he sings. And the last, last thing he expects is for Erik to personally serenade him and pull him on stage and kiss him senseless, because some things are meant to be and Erik knows it.

Rumor Mill – Ikeracity

Summary: Erik is the grumpiest, most foul tempered worker at Stark industries. His grumpiness is the stuff of legends. So it's obviously the talk of the office when Erik is being made to go to the company party and he's bringing his husband. There's rumors flying round about how much of a masochist or equally antisocial bastard Erik's husband must be to put up with him. Others think he must be a meek mouse perhaps bullied by Erik.

What they weren't expecting was the confident, charming, adorable and unbelievably nice Charles that turns up on Erik's arm. What they certainly weren't expecting was how much Erik obviously adores his husband and how happy he is to let others see this.

Serendipity – humanveil

Summary: Charles sends a text to the wrong number.

[10:22 AM]

Can we meet for coffee? I just got dumped.

[10:30 AM]

I think you've got the wrong number.

[10:31 AM]

Unless you make a habit of texting people you don't know about this sort of thing?

A Nice Boy (The Family Matters Edition) – pocky_slash

Summary: Erik's not sure whether the problem is that he doesn't want his parents to meet Charles or that he doesn't want Charles to meet his parents. Either way, he never invites Charles to brunch. Why should he? It's not like they're dating.

Frosted Hearts – aesc, palalife

Summary: Emma Frost has 99 problems, but a date ain't one. Specifically, she has no time to play the dating game--which is fine with her, because she'd much rather run it instead. From a set of sleek, silver and white offices on Fifth Avenue and with her trusty, stylish, and silent partner Janos Quested, Emma has built Frosted Hearts into New York City's premiere dating service, built on the principle that money, and a sufficiently rigorous psionic scan, can, in fact, buy you love.

Somewhere in Frosted Hearts's server is one Charles Xavier, genius and geneticist, with the kind of nicely-starched good looks that sell well on brochures for New England prep schools. He's also a telepath who's decided to give up pursuing serious relationships and instead spend his thirties doing what he should have done as a teenager: have a lot of sex with random people. Fortunately for him, Erik Lehnsherr, metallokinetic and engineering executive, has absolutely no time in his heart or his schedule for anything more serious than... well, absolutely nothing romantic at all.

Work/Life Balance – pocky_slash

Summary: As teens, Charles was the star of a super popular tween/teen television show and Erik was his best friend. As adults, they're a frighteningly domestic married couple and Alex, Darwin, and Sean are Erik's nosy co-workers.

Impulse Decisions – listerinezero

Summary: Erik wakes up in Las Vegas with a hell of a hangover, a telepath in his bed, and a ring on his finger. Now what?

Fools Rush In – LoveSupreme

Summary: Erik owns a cafe on the edge of campus and accidentally starts maybe-stalking a Biology Professor there.

The Proper Care of Actors – afrocurl, Clear_Liqueur, Clocks, Etherei

Summary: Erik is an A-list action star who is notoriously difficult to work with, until the day he gets cast alongside Charles Xavier, rom-com darling who can charm the pants off movie audiences the world over and apparently even one Erik Lehnsherr. The paparazzi catch them out and about soon enough, and their real-life Hollywood movie romance becomes instant tabloid fodder.

In the Bleak Midwinter – keire_ke

Summary: It is not easy to find out, well into the second decade of the twenty-first century, that your mother arranged a marriage for you. It is even less easy to convince her that you have no interest in the very fertile Magda, she of the wide hips and lustrous auburn hair. Fortunately, with a good friend at his side over the holiday weekend, Erik is sure he will prevail.

Curve Fitting – kianspo

Summary: The weird thing is, Charles always introduces Raven as his sister, but he never calls Erik his brother. Erik would be bothered, except he prefers not to think of Charles as his brother, either. He can’t figure it out for four years, and then suddenly he can.

Or. A non-powered AU in which Sharon Xavier never remarries, and Charles 'adopts' not only Raven, but Erik too.

Right Person, Wrong Time – PoppyX

Summary: "TL;DR Charles is an insecure high school student who loses his virginity to the right person at the wrong time, and Erik makes it up to him in a romantic manner."

Favorite Mistake by endingthemes

Summary: Charles Xavier doesn’t think anything of it when he sneaks out without even saying goodbye to his latest one-night stand. What he doesn’t expect is to walk into his new position in the Xavier Industries marketing department and find that his latest hook-up is now his new boss.

I ♥ NY (It’s My Friends I’m Not Sure Of) by oddegg

Summary: For a 1stclass-kink meme promp: Erik is a single, successful man who likes quick sex with no strings attached. Then, he meets college professor Charles and it's love at first sight, at least for him. Charles, who heard of Erik's notorious ways, wants nothing to do with him besides being friends. Cue Erik bending over backwards to steal Charles' heart.

From Westminster With Love - thehoyden

Summary: NATO intelligence says there’s an omega-class telepath who sleeps under Westminster. Major Erik Lehnsherr is about to find out the truth for himself.

Accidentally Welcome to the Rest of Your Lives by kianspo

Summary: Non-powered college AU. Erik and Charles have nothing in common until they end up having sex at someone's party. They don't have much in common after that, either, but find each other a hard habit to quit.

irreconcilable differences (make for surprisingly good bedfellows) – pocky_slash

Summary: Tonight on The Evening Report with Malcolm Stevens, noted geneticist and mutant equality proponent Dr. Charles Xavier faces off with the infamous mutant rights activist Magneto in a live televised debate over the Genetic Nondiscrimination Act.

(At least, if they can stop flirting long enough to stay on topic.)

Mutually Beneficial Transaction – Pookaseraph

Summary: In his sophomore year at Columbia University, Erik, feeling slowly strangled by his mounting college debt, places an add on a sugar daddies website. He doesn't know exactly what to expect from it, but when he's contacted by a man named Charles who seems less creepy than the other people who have responded to his profile, he decides to give it a shot. Charles is nothing like what he expected, and Erik finds himself slowly falling in love with his sugar daddy while trying to find out exactly what caused this amazing guy to buy his emotional and sexual intimacy when he clearly deserves so much more than that.

Made To Be Broken - Yahtzee

Summary: Charles makes a New Year's Resolution: “No more straight men,” Charles repeated as he began scrolling through the apartment directory for Emma’s name. “No more futility. No more pointless hoping and heartbreak. In 2013, I never want to hear the words ‘exception,’ ‘experimenting’ or ‘phase.’ If, God forbid, I hear ‘bicurious’ even once, I may take a hostage.”

Then he goes into the party, and Erik is there.

Anarchy In The U.K. – Yahtzee

Summary: "Good God, Erik thought. The Prince of Wales is gay."

Charles lives in the unceasing glare of the public spotlight, yet keeps his sexual orientation a closely held secret, afraid he could lose his throne and force his deeply troubled younger sister into a role that would crush her. Erik, journalist and world traveler, has been a loner most of his life; he has little patience for closet cases. But a chance meeting in Kenya brings these two opposites together and sets in motion a love affair that will challenge the British monarchy -- and their most deeply held beliefs about who they are, and who they should be.

An Ideal Grace – afrocurl

Summary: Erik Lehnsherr is a visiting professor at Columbia University, as well as an acclaimed and award winning poet. Charles Xavier is a lead researcher with the Genetics Department who is well on his way to tenure. But what happens when Charles has to cancel a class because half his students abandon him in favour of a mysterious new English Lit professor? Naturally he ends up sitting in in the class, where Professor Lehnsherr mistakes him for a student. It's really too bad Erik has such a strict policy against dating students. It's also too bad Erik doesn't seem to know how to use Google.

An absence which could not be more there – aesc

Summary: He prepared to shift another half-step over to the Current Events section (which would, of course, enrage him) when the teaser positioned by the model's left elbow caught his eye: DATING WHILE TELEPATHIC: WHY I DON'T DO IT.

rooms/shares – pocky_slash

Summary: Erik is single, working a cube job he hates, letting his master's degree in mutant studies collect dust, and living on his best friend's couch. When she kicks him out, he's forced to trawl Craigslist for the least-offensive rooming option within his meagre budget. He never expects a response from the persnickety, high maintenance ad he replies to as a joke, but it's possible this too-nice apartment and mysteriously absent roommate might be the answer to all four of his problems.

Heli Cases –Black_Betty

Summary: "Heli Cases" is a program on PBS whose aim is to educate on the rapidly increasing occurrence of genetic mutation in the general populous by breaking the complex science down into palatable, easy to digest pieces.

It is also the only thing that helps Erik get his fussy daughter to fall asleep.

(Featuring Dadneto, baby Lorna and the struggles of single fatherhood, and Charles as the host of a late night show about genetics.)

Simple and Uncomplicated – Pookaseraph

Summary: Erik and Charles had been fuck buddies for some, but when Charles is in an accident he figured their relationship would be over. Erik's visit to his bedside in the hospital changes his assumptions even as he has trouble believing Erik is sincere.

Guilty by Association – Regann

Summary: While investigating the homicide of a John Doe who he suspects might've been murdered while working the streets as a prostitute, Detective Erik Lehnsherr finds an unexpected ally in a hooker named Charles who seems as determined as he to solve the case. As they become more deeply involved both with the case and each other, there's just one thing that Charles neglects to mention -- that he's really an investigative journalist, one quickly convinced that what they're dealing with is more than simple murder. cop!Erik, fake-hooker-slash-reporter!Charles, Modern AU.

This Is Not Comedy – baehj2915

Summary: Written for amarriageoftrueminds' prompt for a Cherik version of Louis CK's tangent about the fuckability of Ewan McGregor.

Naturally the similarities end there. I made this about Erik's full on public lust-filled gay revelation, and the chaos that spirals from there.

Politico – cygnaut

Summary: Modern Genosha Politics AU. In which Erik is l'enfant terrible of the mutant National Assembly, and his staff just wants to get him laid.

Conspiracy of Kisses – Alaceron

Summary: Seven-year-old Erik needs to keep his telepathic best friend Charles from finding out that he wants to kiss him. But that's okay, because he has a plan - he'll put on a tinfoil hat.

The Pretender – Clocks

Summary: Charles is sick of having his best friend Erik drop to one knee and fake-propose to him in restaurants, just to score a free dessert. He doesn’t know which is worse: the complete embarrassment, or the likelihood that Erik doesn’t mean a word of it.

Bound – FuryRed

Summary: Is there anything worse than someone else’s wedding? Well, perhaps your sister’s wedding- where the groom just has to invite his boss and that man just happens to be your ex-boyfriend; a person you had an extremely passionate and tumultuous relationship with that ended badly.

Charles hadn’t seen Erik for a year by the time Raven had told him about the wedding. He wasn’t looking forward to the occasion, particularly when Raven explained that they would be celebrating the event with a two-week extravaganza at a luxury hotel, meaning that Charles would be forced to spend a whole fortnight with the man who he’d given everything to; the man who had ultimately broken his heart…

Lonesome On the Shelf – ikeracity

Summary: After three years of marriage, Charles has to admit that his relationship with Erik has significantly cooled off. These days, they're barely ever home at the same time and it seems like every conversation they have turns into an argument. Charles misses the way they used to be, misses the spontaneous dinner parties and the surprise morning sex and the wake up calls in the early mornings to catch the sunrise. But it's going to take two of them to fix this marriage, and some days, it seems as if all Erik wants is to be rid of him.

A fic about rekindling marriage.

Math Reasons – pearl_o, pocky_slash

Summary: "Mom says Erik always knows what he wants, it just sometimes takes him a little while to actually realize it," Ruth said.

Charles fell in love with Erik the first night they met, the first week of freshman year. Two years of friendship, adventures, arguments, hijinks, secrets, and summer visits later, Erik is starting to catch up.

Melted Ice Cream and Macaroni Art – pocky_slash

Summary: Everybody likes Charles. Nobody likes Erik. And that's really the source of Erik's doubts. Also, there's ice cream and a baby.

Watch Your Back – swoopswoop

Summary: Bodyguard AU where Erik is overly protective and things aren't as simple as they seem.

Dress Your Family in Plaid and Skinny Jeans – cygnaut

Summary: Erik and Charles meet at the mutant playgroup/parenting support circle and they instantly hit it off. And so do their kids, Lorna and David.

Continue firm and constant – aesc

Summary: Moira hasn't seen her old partner in saving the world from threats human and intergalactic, Erik Lehnsherr, for a few years. When she finally does see him again, she finds a man different from the one who's been with her down in the dark and the dirt and the blood... or maybe he isn't so different after all.

cradles you and connects you to everything – pocky_slash

Summary: Charles and Erik spend a chilly November afternoon in Manhattan doing not much at all. Also, there are cupcakes, chess, and Feelings.

#cherik #cherik fic recs #fic recs #modern au #long post

113 notes · View notes

elmaxlys · 4 years

Note

21 QUESTIONS FOR JUOKA, LETS GO! 3 4 5 6 11 12, also 20 because I am acutally curious ! (i shall ask the other ones in another question)

ALRIGHT THEN HELL YEAH 👀👀👀

3) What is your favorite AU/prompt idea/trope for your pairing?

Fav trope is obviously enemies to lovers because come on XD

But favorite AU, oh boy. I have so many of them how do I choose... But probably any canon divergence AU in which Juo survives - be it against his will (as in Yuri got close enough and grabbed him by force) or because his “don’t want to die”-ness was strong enough to overshadow his convictions and he took her hand. The infamous Redemption Arc AU that lives in my brain and I haven’t written one line for because I have too many versions of the same thing lmao i just really like that AU

HOWEVER I can’t not mention the Juo’s Apostle AU here. I rarely ever talk about it but damn... Rika as Juo’s Apostle... I don’t even have any definite or real idea for this AU other than “wow. that’d be dope” but jesus christ the simple idea of it puts sparkles in my eyes

4) Do you prefer canon ideas or do you have your own headcanons for them?

I’m gonna go with canon, here. Miura’s characters are pretty solid yet, in Juo’s case, vague enough to allow hc to fit in without disrupting canon. And their storyline is why I ship them so much in the first place. Also they both incredibly stick to character all along and that’s very hot of Miura to stay consistant in depiction. We say “Thank you Miura”

5) Favorite canon moment of them?

*inhales* YOU ASKED *talks about the Juo arc for so long you’ve stopped reading after the first few paragraphs but it goes on for 50 pages*

I’m only half kidding, because my fav canon moment of them is every single of their interactions and I could go on so long... They’re constantly trying to outsmart the other, to try to manipulate the other into lowering guard, but they’re so evenly matched both in terms of brains and in terms of raw power that they just can’t and they’re stuck and jfc the tension, the undressing, the shameless flirting. The entire phone conversation.

Tho if I really have to chose, it’d be either “If I have a demand, it’s you” or both of the “I surrender please don’t kill me”.

6) Least favorite canon moment of them?

It’s kind of fucked up on my part but I love the ugly parts of their relationships. That’s what it’s like to ship enemies. I can’t answers the threats, the manipulations or the murder attempts because that’s what their interactions are made of and that’s what I like. For the first seconds they saw each other they already went the full “hey let me just point a gun at your face while you manipulate me into not killing you despite how much I really should do exactly that”. I saw that and went “nice 👀”

11) If they aren’t a canon pairing, how would you get them together?

OKAY SO. HEAR ME OUT.

The mask proposal and then boom- careful it gets long

It’d go approximately like this: canon divergent of course but: Juo manages to stop Okihara from destroying the mask or kills Okihara so he doesn’t use the mask he kept for Rika. Then they get on the helicopter and Juo gets the code before allowing Rikuya from seeing it. Having seen the code, Juo is strong enough to resist the Administrator who took Rikuya’s body (then if okihara isn’t dead yet, Admin kills him because heh). Then either Juo pushes him off either Yuri just shows up for their fight and takes them elsewhere. We now have 2 almost full gods + one complete devil. Yuri fights the Admin, defeats him and becomes the new Admin, leaving our final two god candidates to the last level (that we actually don’t know of. how fucked up is that)

So. Judges VS Juo. Juo is like “whatever I only wanted the code because it sounded fun you can be God if you want” and the Judges are like. Bitch we went through all this just for that? And Juo’s like *shrug emoji* “I wanted to test something tho” *takes out his mask* “I want a proper fight with Rika-kun” and Rika is like dude seriously? i sorted my intensities, I’m as strong as the mfing Judge here why would you want to make me wear a mask to then fight me and Juo really doesn’t care because come on that’d be so fun. and they do fight. Rika becomes a 2nd Juo and Juo is having fun. But they’re of equal power. Juo has some vague thoughts of “ah I don’t want to die” like every time but then he realizes that it’s the last fun thing he could do. he’s so powerful no fight will ever have flavor again, you know?

Fighting Rika was his goal and he accomplished it, he didn’t get him to beg but he’s fulfilled but also really really empty now that it’s over so they’re both like huh. I can’t kill you you can’t kill me what up with that and Rika refuses to give up because hey his family, man. So Juo. Man Juo would tell Rika to kill him. No irony, no fake smile, just a tired but honest one, if a little sad, and Rika lowers his hammer like. No. I won’t give you the satisfaction of having me kill you. You were right from the beginning, I won’t kill an unarmed human that’s not resisting. And Juo is like “dude there can’t be two Juos anyway that’s against the rules” and rika is like “that was your idea in the first place wtf” and yuri is like “i make the rules” and, just like she was so ready to give him a second third chance in canon when she jumped to save him, she fully recognizes both Juos as one (like the Judges, you know?) and Juo is like okay yeah I was wrong, that’s nice. And he has an excuse to hold onto Rika because none of them can stand straight on his own

Bam, they’re married by the Admin power and they work through their issues together and Rika slowly accepts his title as Juo - which would be a metaphor of accepting the actual Juo - and they become real close and none of them really confesses they just. you know. are together. It’s smooth, they move in nebulous waters when it comes to their relationship. they don’t have an anniversary etc. But yeah, they’re together

12) If you had to take them and plunk them into another fandom, what fandom would that be? Why?

I’ve only watched the first season but probably the Walking Dead. It’s gore, it’s violent, it’s post-apocalyptic - it suits them.

20) What made you decide to ship them?

I actually have no idea sskksk I think I’ve shipped them for approximately as long as they’ve been seen interacting so I can’t remember exactly but it probably was a mix of the following elements:

“I’ve been thinking about you all this time”

man, the sexual tension in this room o_O

man, they’re both hot, they’d look well together and also I’m crushing hard on both of them so, you know,,,

“If I have a demand it’s you”

“I’m glad to see you, Rika-kun”

everything about Juo

his every line

how alike they are

shipping my faves together because why the hell not ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

oh.

oH.

OH.

UTAREN VIBES HOLY SHIT (was my ultimate otp at the time etc but that probably was on a less conscious level than the one i’m writing here because I’m a dumb idiot that only realized the similarities recently)

I just really like the bad boy x good person trope, okay? even more than the actual enemies to lovers (that I enjoy a lot)

all of that buried under the stupid guilt of “yo hey why would I ship them that’s so messed up haha,, ha :’)))” that made me deny to myself that I shipped them for a loooong time

#long post #sorry about the length i'm really passionate about them #but thank you so much for asking about them ;v;#juoka #juo #suzuki emiri #honjo rika #tenkuu shinpan #romance

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timelordthirteen · 4 years

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In All Things 6/?

Mr. Gold/BelleFrench, Explicit (eventually)

Summary: A Rumbelle arranged marriage AU.

Chapter Summary: Astrid arrives, Belle gets a tour of the house, and spends some more time with Bae.

Notes: Ugh this chapter sucks, I'm sorry. It didn't go where I wanted it to. For the 31 Days prompt #4: dress. t.

[AO3]

Previous: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]

Astrid arrived the next day, just before afternoon tea.

Belle momentarily forgot what had been troubling her in the midst of her delight at seeing her maid and friend again. It felt as if part of the world had righted itself for a while, and she busied herself helping Astrid get settled in a room on the east wing. Ms. Potts seemed equally pleased by the new arrival, and wasted no time in showing Astrid around the house, including the kitchen and back stairs the servants used to slip in and out of where they were needed.

Astrid, for her part, was a nervous wreck, nearly knocking over a vase on the way passed the music room, and slipping on the steps down to the root cellar. Belle couldn’t stop smiling as she finally got a full tour of Thornhill, though she doubted she’d be able to remember her way from the gallery to the formal dining room any time soon. The library, however, was already permanently etched in her mind.

The sound she made when Ms. Potts opened the double doors made Astrid giggle, and Ms. Potts looked over her shoulder knowingly.

“This is the main library,” she explained to Astrid, marching across the room to open a row of curtains and let in some light.

The walls of the library were floor to ceiling shelves with ladders set on rails as was the custom in most estates and manors, but these were larger and wider than Belle had seen before. They seemed more like a full set of stairs than a ladder, and she caught herself imagining how easy it would be to climb all the way up and fetch the books on the highest levels. The windows Ms. Potts revealed looked out onto the side yard where a large willow tree loomed over a pond. The windows themselves were wide and set in a semi-circle which created large ledge that was covered with cushions.

Belle’s eyes went wide and she immediately went over to it and brushed her hands over the plush, soft pillows. It was the perfect place to sit and read when it was too cold or wet to be outside in the garden.

“You said this was the main library?” Astrid asked. “Are there...others?”

“There’s a small book room upstairs near Lady Belle’s chambers,” Ms. Potts replied, fussing with the candles on the fireplace mantle because they weren’t lined up properly. “It used to be a bedroom, but m’Lord had the shelves added shortly before m’Lady arrived.”

Belle startled a bit at that and felt her face flush. Somehow knowing that Gold had put the shelves in so close to their wedding made her think that he had done it specifically for her, and she wondered how he knew she liked to read so much. Had he spoken with her father or one of her acquaintances? He had seemed curious about her reading habits when they’d run into each other in the library at Avonlea, but not entirely surprised. The thought that he’d done it because she might like it, because it would make her feel more at home, only made his behavior yesterday more confusing. Someone who would be that thoughtful towards a woman he had never met before the moment they married, couldn’t possibly be the same person who would yell at a friend so harshly.

Astrid grinned at Belle. “Your own book room?”

She shook of her thoughts and nodded to Astrid. “I haven’t begun to fill it yet. All the books I brought with me are in my bedroom.”

“I doubt that’ll ever change,” Astrid said playfully. “But one of the trunks I brought with me is full of even more books.”

Belle squealed in pleasure and pulled Astrid into a hug, twirling her around on the rug in the middle of the room. Ms. Potts rolled her eyes, but she was smiling all the same as she lead them out of the room.

Belle left Astrid to unpack her things, and retreated to her bedroom.

Two trunks had been delivered while she was traipsing around Thornhill, following Ms. Potts. The smaller of the two was the one Astrid spoke of, and was filled with four stacks of books from the library at Avonlea. She sorted through them briefly, and saw that Astrid had brought most of her favorites as well as a few mythology and history books. Though the library here seemed more than well stocked, she wondered if Bae might like to use them in his lessons or perhaps read through them with her. She liked the stories about the old gods, about the magic that they say used to bind the world together and the creatures that time had forgotten.

The second trunk was more of her clothes, but as she laid her things out on her bed, she began to frown. She hadn’t purchased new things in a while, not since she learned of the financial troubles her father was in, and as a result a lot of her dresses and skirts had started to tatter and fade. The colors weren’t as bold as they once were and the hems were tinged from dragging through the dirt and grass as she walked the gardens. She was a bit afraid to ask, but she thought perhaps Gold would allow her to buy a few new things soon. The solstice was coming and if they were going to attend any celebrations or have one of their own, a new gown would be in order. She remembered his letter mentioning that Bae’s birthday was just before that as well.

Perhaps there would be other occasions as well, there was a ballroom downstairs after all, and a large formal dining room. It had been ages since she’d been at an event or a ball. The last was Ariel’s wedding, and that was nearly two years ago now. She couldn’t picture Gold as the type to want to socialize, but then again he was often at the king’s court, or so she had heard. It would be something to broach with him later, after she’d settled her mind a bit more.

It was at least an hour until supper, so Belle decided to try out the desk in the lounge across the hall from her bedroom and write her father a letter. He would want to know that she was alright, that she was safe and settled, and that Astrid had arrived as well. The light from the southwest facing windows was wonderful at this time of day, and she found herself feeling a bit more content as she pulled out a fresh sheet of paper and uncapped the inkwell.

The light scrape of the pen was soothing as was the familiar motions of her hand as she wrote out Papa in large, scrolling letters are the top. She paused and smiled, pleased to recall that Bae had called Gold the same thing when he’d come into the drawing room during breakfast. It was a small thing, but still something they had in common, that made her feel just a little bit of a connection to the boy.

She wrote that she was well, that Astrid was well, and that they were both getting settled. She told him of the lovely gardens and urged him not to worry, that she would write more soon. Her hand paused on its way to dip the pen again, and she worried her bottom lip. Instinct told her to add that she would come to visit, but she didn’t know for sure that she would.

Leaving Avonlea had seemed so final that the thought of going back left her uncertain. If she did would she ever want to leave again? Would it be harder the second time? What about the third or fourth? Would Gold want to come with her? Sighing, she quickly added her name at the bottom with the perfunctory ‘your loving daughter’ closing. There would be time to discuss visiting Avonlea later.

Just as Belle was folding the letter to seal, there was a knock against the open door. She turned and saw Bae standing there, a book in his hand, and smiled.

“Hello there.”

He stepped into the room cautiously, as if he wasn’t sure he was invited.

“It’s okay, you can come in,” she said, slipping the letter into the drawer of the desk. “If I wanted to keep people out, I would shut the door.”

He gave her a small smile and came closer. “I thought maybe you’d want to read another chapter with me? Jefferson says I should try to finish it by the end of the week because Grace is already done.”

He huffed a little at the end, and Belle thought he seemed a little sad. “Grace?”

“Jefferson’s daughter,” Bae explained, shuffling over to the small sofa. “He gives us both lessons, but she’s smarter than I am and always getting ahead of me.”

“I’d be happy to read some more with you,” Belle said, moving to join him on the lounge. “And don’t worry about being slower than someone else. Everyone goes at their own pace. What matters is that you take your time and learn.”

Bae seemed to think on that for a moment, and then nodded as he opened the book.

Gold limped down the corridor, leaning more heavily on his cane than usual.

His leg was killing him today, as it often did after too much travel. Though his carriage was fairly large, sitting in one place for too long and not moving made the muscles tight, and it would take another day or so of hot baths and Jefferson’s special tea to get back to normal. The sound of laughter made him smile in spite of his aches, and he moved towards it.

The door to Belle’s drawing room was open, and he knocked on the door frame as he stepped into the space. Bae was sitting at the writing desk and Belle was bent over him, watching whatever it was that he was doing. She looked up, smiling, and he couldn’t help but smile back. Her eyes seemed to sparkle, and with the glow of the setting sun beaming in through the windows at her back, it looked like she was light itself, pushing into all the dark corners.

“You didn’t tell me you were the father of a master artist,” she said. Bae glanced up at her, his smile soft and crooked.

Gold came over to the desk and looked down from the other side. Bae had drawn the head of a horse in the middle of the page in black ink, presumably from Belle’s pen. It was quite good for a ten year old, with the mane flowing out behind it as if the beast was in a full gallop.

“It’s supposed to be my horse, Cassidy,” the boy explained. “But the nose isn’t right.”

He frowned, and Belle tsked. “It looks just fine to me.”

“Indeed,” agreed Gold, exchanging a small look with Belle over his son’s head. “I think it looks just like him.”

Bae didn’t seem convinced and shrugged. “It’s not, but thanks.” He moved to crumple up the paper, but Belle stopped him.

“Oh, please don’t do that, it’s lovely!” She slid the paper off the desk and held it in her fingertips. “Would you allow me to keep it? There’s a couple of empty books in my little library, we could start a portfolio.”

Bae scrunched up his face. “What’s a port - portfolio?”

“It’s what all good artists keep their work in so they can show other people.”

He seemed very pleased with that and smiled. “Sure! Can I help you put it in?”

She put a hand on his shoulder and gave it a small squeeze. “Of course. Come it’s just across the hall.”

Gold felt the same feeling as he had the night before as he watched them walk together to Belle’s book room. Seeing them getting along and even bonding was more than he could have hoped for so soon. Bae hadn’t been very accepting of his plans to marry, and he’d been afraid that the inevitable strife of the early days might harm their future relationship. Of course, he shouldn’t have worried. Belle was a dear, sweet woman that one couldn’t help but find charming. And it certainly didn’t hurt that she was alarmingly pretty, especially when she was so close that he could see the little flecks of gold in the center of her eyes.

He swallowed and straightened, rather abruptly, and tightened his fingers around the handle of his cane as the sudden shifting of his weight made his calf cramp.

Belle turned, frowning. “Are you alright?”

Gold forced a tight smile and nodded. “Yes, I was just, uh, just going to get something in my room.”

He made to leave, but stopped just outside in the hallway. “Would you, um, would you want to join us for dinner this evening?”

“Oh, I think I -”

“Yes, please, Belle?” Bae interrupted. “We could read more of my book after.”

She smiled at Bae, and then looked up to meet Gold’s eyes. Her expression was strange, and Gold got the sense that she wanted to decline, but didn’t want to hurt his son’s feelings. He mentally kicked himself, and was about to come up with an excuse to help her out of it, when she turned to Bae and smiled.

“Of course I would.”

Gold blinked and then nodded. “Yes, um, yes good. We usually eat at six.”

Belle met his gaze again, and he could see her shoulders shifting, tensing, and the bob of her throat as she swallowed. “Good.”

#rumbelle #rumbelle fic #belle x mr. gold #in all things #fic #my rumbelle fic #31 days of fandomas #fandomas 2019

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mysticsparklewings · 4 years

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2019 Art Summary!

It's that time again when we all look back on the year we've had and reflect, and then look forward to what's to come in the New Year. This only my second year doing a yearly Art Summary piece (I didn't miss February like I did last year!) but I'm grateful for the tradition now. Looking back, 2019 had a lot going on for me and my art; I started out not that different from how I've been handling my art and myself online for the past couple of years, but as the year went on, I feel like I've done a lot of growing, finding myself, and even though I didn't start off in a terrible place, I think I'm in a much better one now. This really was a year of tremendous personal growth for me, both in art and just in life, and I can only hope that continues through the New Year and beyond. (As sappy as that is to say, I really mean it.) That said, let's look back on 2019 in a little more detail, shall we? January: Birthday Wishes I actually didn't have a ton of options to choose from for this month, as I think I was a little burnt out from the last couple of months in 2018 and giving myself some breathing room. Still, this Shopkin colored to match my actual birthday cake actually remains one of my favorite mixed media pieces I've done. I don't know why, there's just something I really enjoy about how it turned out, for as simple as it is. And for the record, I think I will be doing another custom Shopkin drawing for my birthday again this year, but I haven't decided anything beyond that yet. February: Floating Away (+ Time Lapse!) So as I mentioned earlier, on last year's Art Summary I discovered I didn't have any submissions dated in February and I hadn't yet gotten in the habit of documenting completion dates for my artwork, and so I didn't have an artwork to put there that I could definitively say was done in February. This year, however, February was actually one of my busiest months and I had a pretty wide variety to choose from. I ended up going with my little hot air balloon, as while it's a bit different from my normal work, I still think it's really cute and it also represents one of my attempts to start making videos of my artwork...Which I've been too lazy to do since the few attempts I did during this month... But who knows? I have a better camera and slightly larger workspace at my disposal, so perhaps I'll try again and be a little less lazy about that in 2020. March: Once a Killjoy, Always a Killjoy Oh boy, if past-me had only known what was to come later this year! March saw a lot of pieces from me practicing with watercolor and new supplies, but I think my favorite to come out of the month was my annual artwork to honor March 22nd, the anniversary of when My Chemical Romance, my favorite band, broke up. Only this time instead of doing pure fanart, I made myself into a Killjoy for the occasion. (The design of which needs to be revamped a little because my hair is purple now, but that just means I already have one option for the anniversary this coming year!) And once again, this is a mixed media piece that I look back on very fondly. The concept is fun and the end result looks pretty cool. April: Doodle Moon I leaned pretty heavily into honing my watercolor craft in April, and among those efforts, this one is definitely my favorite. (Even if it doesn't fit on this template very nicely ) This one was a bit of an experiment in branching my traditional and digital art together in a different way, and I still really love how it turned out. Although unfortunately, I've yet to return to this technique, simply because I feel weird a lot of the time about "half finishing" a traditional piece and then making a lot of modifications to it digitally. It feels like cheating or being fake in a way to me. But I think I get that hangover from the concept of editing photos online and then passing them off as real & unedited...in which case it's a personal problem that I just need to deal with on my own. May: Butterfly Babe I didn't have a ton of artwork in May, but what I did have were usually bigger/more involved pieces, and this one is no different. I think 2019 is the year when I really came into owning my love for mixed media (which comes in large part from "I'm not good at x thing with y supply, but I can do x effect with z supply really well!") and this piece is a really great example of that. Once again, still one of my favorites and the scan really doesn't do it just with all the sparkle/metallic accents I incorporated. And I think I want to do more involved almost crafty projects like this more often, but that usually comes down to having the right inspiration to make it happen. June: Bug Girl Funnily enough, June 2019 is now my busiest month of all-time (in the almost 9 years I've been here on dA), and yet I only had one "real" piece of art for the Summary. This was the month when I really got heavy into making my own Swatch Charts/Swatching Resources, and while some did carry over into July, the bulk of it was posted in June. I have to say, I don't think a ton of other people are using the charts, but I've certainly been getting good use out of them! And if I'm being honest I mostly wanted them for my own personal use anyway. But for the artwork that you see here, this is another mixed media piece, this time commemorating one of my favorite books I've read this year, How to Make Friends with the Dark by Kathleen Glasgow. The artwork itself had some annoying problems in development, but the result is really beautiful to me, and so I think it was worth it in the end. July: Homemade Mini Sketchbooks! This month is more of a craft project than artwork, but I couldn't help myself as these little sketchbooks I made myself are probably one of my most favorite projects I did in 2019, and these first two spawned many more afterward. It's funny to me because I've always wanted a way to combine my loves of books and art beyond just illustrating my writing (which isn't always something I feel like doing) and this, while maybe not a perfect solution, is definitely a unique way to do that. Plus, while making each book does take a little while, it is usually a pretty fun process now that I've gotten the better hang of it. These first two books aren't perfect, but they kicked off something I think I'll be sporadically doing for a good while to come. August: Mon Cher It feels like a lot happening this month, despite not having quite as much art as other months this past year. The month started off with the end of our family vacation, and I posted a journal when I got back where you can see that part of the reason this month felt so busy is that this is probably when I had the most new art supplies available to me to test out/play with during the year, including some items that I got at the tail end of July. Out of the options I had though, this artwork seemed like the best choice to represent this month, as just like in April I leaned pretty heavily into using and practicing with watercolors and painting in general (as I dipped my toes into seriously painting with Acrylics this month too) and this is one of my more ambitious watercolor pieces. As I said when I first posted it, it has its mistakes and growing pains, but I still think it's really lovely. September: Fly By the Moon I was actually surprised, looking back, at how busy September was. My second acrylic painting (this one more in-depth than the first), an array of cute kitty drawings which have sort of become a series now, some personal pieces, and two contest entries. (One of which actually won!) I went with the acrylic painting since I'm still very proud of how it turned out, given that I don't use acrylics terribly often and hardly ever I go for realism (even semi-realism like this painting) either. Plus, this one is a nice memory of the two real luna moths that visited us, and I had to admit that it is just really nice to have a full painting on a canvas to hang up too. I haven't done much more with acrylic painting yet, but I definitely want to. My main issue is that for me it's hard deciding on a good subject for the way I like to paint that I don't feel like would look equally as good if not better with a different medium. But hopefully, I'll find more excuses to break out the acrylics in 2020. October: Ink Dance Oh boy, what a month this was! Inktober, new mini-magnets, trying gouache for the first time, and on the very last day the news of the decade (at least for me) that My Chemical Romance is back! I followed my same principle as the art summary last year where it just doesn't feel fair to pick a favorite Inktober or use the wrap-up picture, so that left me with my gouache pieces or this one that looks more like a normal person's Inktober artwork, and out of my options, this is the one I like best. The gouache paintings aren't bad, I just need more practice and this one has more charm to me. And it's also funny to me that I was so concerned about ending up hating this one for the stippling and yet it turned out to be one of my favorites from this year. November: I will be with You The artwork for this month was pretty much a no-contest. I made this piece as a love letter to My Chemical Romance after the news of their Return, and likewise, I poured my heart and soul into it. It just might be one of my most favorite artworks to date; perhaps even worthy of being a "portfolio piece" on my website. Even more so after the fact now that I've seen the Return concert (albeit over a Livestream and not in person because California is like 2-3,000 miles away from me ). I was pretty busy throughout the month trying to keep up with a prompt challenge from Art Philosophy, but even so, I pushed myself to get this piece done and I'm so glad I did. December: Daises on Strawberry Hill Ah, and here we are at the very last. It's funny, the first half of this month seemed to drag by pretty slowly, but then after the second week things picked up pretty quickly (what with the Return concert and all) and I have to agree with my mom that Christmas went by so fast we almost missed that it happened at all. I don't have as much to show for this month, but that's in large part because I've been taking time off for my mental health and to spend time with and enjoy my family. I'm pretty happy with everything I produced this month, but my Looking for Alaska inspired art is definitely my favorite of the bunch. It's very graphic-design-ish and despite at the time having been done rather quickly and not super precisely, looking at it now it reads very cleanly. It's a little outside my normal art realm, but if anything I think that makes it stronger on its own. I'm still chipping away at my longer review of the Hulu series I originally made it to talk about (like I said when I posted it, I have a lot of thoughts I want to talk about and not rush through), so I am indeed still planning on finishing and posting those...I just don't know when that'll be, considering I've already got a bit of a content schedule for myself going into the New Year, but eventually! Eventually, it'll be done! Overall, I'm honestly very happy with what I've managed to accomplish this year. Just like last year, I did a lot of experimenting with new supplies and new mediums--this time some I thought I'd never touch--and I hit even more milestones, including my first Daily Deviation in November. I feel like I've grown significantly more as an artist and a person this year though than I did last year. And in many ways, I feel like this year has renewed my confidence in my own skills and work. I'm not much of a "New Years' Resolution" type person, as I think the concept as tied to that particular phrase has been...I'll be generous and say overinflated and mistreated...but some of my Art Goals for 2020 are: Post more consistently/regularly (which I worked on a lot in 2019 too) Be more active & engaged on social media (I've already started working on this a little, but for some reason, this is honestly kind of hard for me as I always debate what's worth sharing online and what isn't ) Promote me and my work/art outlets more (Also something I find hard to do) Keep experimenting (Not really a goal so much as my artistic state of existence but whatever ) This past year has been one heck of a wild ready, but I'm more than ready to see what 2020 has in store for me. Cheers for the New Year ahead! ____ Artwork © me, MysticSparkleWings Art Summary Template: 2019 Summary of Art Template (Blank) ____ Where to find me & my artwork: My Website | Commission Info + Prices | Ko-Fi | dA Print Shop | RedBubble | Twitter | Tumblr | Instagram

#artsummary

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buckychristwrites · 6 years

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Fire and Gold | OS | b.b.

Pairing: Firefighter!Bucky x Paramedic!Reader

Summary: In the world of the first responder, a thick skin is necessary or the job will eat you alive. That’s a belief Bucky always held, that is, until he see’s the real side of the person he considered to be the strongest.

Word Count: 2.3k

Warnings: Angsty with dashes of fluff, mentions of death

A/N: Hi! This is my entry to @itsbuckysworld‘s 1k AU Writing Challenge! Thank you to her for giving me this opportunity! My prompt is “I’m not crying, I just... I’m crying.” Please enjoy and let me know what you think!

Masterlist

The crickets outside were the only noise to be heard throughout the firehouse, and that was exactly how Bucky liked it.

It was well passed two in the morning, nearing three, and he was restless. Instead of laying on the couch hoping he’d fall asleep, like he had been before, he sat himself at the dining room table. Papers scattered the surface in front of him as he attempted to write the schedule for the coming month. While it wasn’t the hardest part of his job, it certainly was his least favorite. But he always found that it was easier to do at night while everyone was resting. Generally, writing a schedule was the job of the Battalion Chief, and as Bucky was only a Captain, not part of his normal duties. But he had taken over the role as schedule manager for a while to learn the ropes, hoping it would lead him into the position of Battalion Chief someday. While it was a less personal job than being Captain, he figured he couldn’t stay in the same position forever.

He threw down his pen, crumpling up the piece of paper and throwing it in the wastebasket, joining the other five pieces of paper that had the same fate. With Wanda and Natasha both on vacation, it was harder to find people to fill shifts without going into overtime. And overtime couldn’t be scheduled unless it was on a voluntary basis. Burying his face in his hands, he sighed deeply. The day had been a long one, with nonstop calls and ended with a massive apartment building fire with an obscene amount of casualties. By the time anyone called 911, the fire had already spread an unmanageable amount. If he let himself think about it for too long, he could still hear the screams of the people trapped in the building. Jobs like that always took a toll on the team, and Bucky always felt sort of responsible for it, for whatever reason. As a captain, a leader, he always wanted his team at their best.

Quietly, he pushed his chair backwards and stood, heading to the bunk rooms. The first room was loud, echoing with snores coming from multiple sources. He squinted as he shut the door all the way. Some days it was unclear to him how all of the men in the house dealt with each other with such grace. He figured it was easier for them to all be together, even if it meant tolerating each other’s annoying habits. The second room was silent, as he figured it would be. There was only one person on the clock that he knew would sleep in here, mainly because of all the snoring. But when he peeked in, he noticed all of the beds were empty. He could feel the worry rushing through his veins before he turned and quickly walked down the hallway, leaving the door wide open.

The bathroom seemed like the obvious place, and he almost considered not bothering. But with them being communal, it wasn’t like he would be invading anyone’s space. As his bare feet padding across the floor, he could hear the dripping of the leaky faucet Wilson had been promising to fix for going on three weeks. The showers were shut off and the stalls were all empty, making him press his lips firmly together as he thought hard. Next on the list was the living room, but the TV was off and the couch was bare, as it had been when he had abandoned it hours ago. Although he knew it was pointless, he still checked the kitchen and dining rooms to be sure.

Finally, as it was the last place there was to look, he slowly opened the door to the garage. Sure enough, light spilled out of the doorway into the dark room he was entering from. As he shut the door behind him, he was able to pick up on the quiet sobs coming from the ambulance. The back door on the rig was opened slightly, and when he took a look inside, he found you. Your back was pressed into the corner of the ambulance, making you look incredibly small. You were hugging your knees to your chest, your face buried in your arms as your body shook with sobs. Bucky ran his fingers through his hair as he watched you, his heart breaking slightly. Although he considered leaving you alone, he just knew he wouldn't be able to let this go. Not only because it wasn’t the kind of captain he wanted to be, but it simply wasn’t the type of person he was.

The door squealed as it opened, startling both you and Bucky. Upon sight, you immediately turned away, furiously wiping your eyes with your sleeves.

“What’s going on?” Bucky asked you, his voice gentle as he climbed into the rig. “Why are you crying?” He carefully shut the door behind him, in case anyone happened to wake up and walk in.

“I’m not crying… I just-” You cut yourself off when you looked back at him. Crossing the back of the ambulance, you shuffled over and he sat down in the space next to you directly in the corner, pulling his knees to his chest to mirror your position. The look in his eyes as he stared at you let you know that he wasn’t believing any of the bullshit you were ready to spew. Looking up, you exhaled slowly. “I’m crying.” Your lip began to tremble as you looked at everything in the rig except for him.

“Talk to me,” He said. You sighed again, your head falling against the metal wall. He was patient as he waited for your response, watching as your eyes bounced around the truck. The cold air nipped at his skin, and he hugged his knees tighter against him. He was so used to the warmth of the fire truck that he had forgotten how cold the ambulances were kept.

“I’ve cleaned this truck at least a dozen times,” You said in a shaky voice. “And I just can’t get rid of the fucking burnt flesh smell.” Breathing in through his nose, Bucky noticed then that he indeed could still faintly smell it, his face crinkling up in disgust. It was something he had evidently grown so used to that if it wasn’t pointed out to him, he could just block it out.

“Twelve people,” You continued. “I ran twelve people to the hospital today and they either died on the truck or died shortly after.” When he looked back at you again, Bucky could see the tears welling up in your eyes.

“That’s the job,” He reminded you. “We can’t save everyone, you know that.” Huffing, you rolled your head so you were now returning his gaze.

“Bucky,” You whispered, choking slightly on your words. “I didn’t save anyone today.” You turned away from him as you began to break down again. He was silent as you gathered yourself, turning back to face him with tear stained cheeks. “I’m pretty sure it’s in my job description that I have to at least save someone.” He shook his head.

“There are a lot of jobs like that,” He told you. “We do our best but sometimes we get called in too late or the damage is too severe. But there’s… I don’t know… some sort of comfort in the fact that it was only twelve out of the one to two hundred people who live in that building.” You didn’t respond, instead just staring at the floor of the rig. Bucky shifted slightly so his body was angled, facing you. “Days like this don’t make you bad at your job. Sometimes tragedy is unavoidable.” You covered your face with your hand, eyes squeezed shut underneath.

“I have to stop doing this,” You whispered. Bucky’s eyebrows furrowed together.

“Doing what?”

“Crying over every single loss.”

His head bobbed backward, his face scrunching up in confusion.

“Since when do you do that?” He asked, quickly turning his head to look at you. Uncovering your face, you shrugged.

“Since I started here,” You admitted, taking a long pause before looking up at him. “Why do you think I’m always volunteering to clean the ambulance? It’s not because I love doing it. It’s… private.” Bucky stared at you, dumbfounded.

From the minute you started at the firehouse, he had a deep admiration for you. There was something about the way you dealt with stress, it was unparalleled. The highest of pressure situations were handled by you with such grace that could never quite be equaled. Even he couldn’t handle the job as swift and calmly as you did most days, and he had been in the game for a hell of a lot longer. There was not an ounce of authority in your job position, but the other medics on the squad and at times, even the firefighters would look to you for leadership almost as much as they looked to him. To see you in such a vulnerable state was outlandish enough, but to find out you did this every single time you couldn’t save a person? That was beyond belief.

As he thought about the proper way to respond, he could still hear the crickets chirping just outside the garage door. He wondered if it was always this quiet for you, or if sometimes you were trapped in the ambulance with your tears and guilt while the others were just outside, maybe stocking the fire truck or cleaning the garage, ignorant to what was happening just a few feet away. Then he found himself asking how many times he himself had happened to walk by to grab something, or looking for someone while completely missing the pain of one of his own. He couldn’t help but place blame on himself. With all of the time you had been working with him, he should’ve noticed your struggle sooner.

“Did I ever tell you the story behind my arm?” He asked you. Your face scrunched up in thought, before you shook your head. When you turne, your eyes trailed up and down his left arm before finding his gaze and after a few seconds, he sighed. “It was a nasty restaurant fire. Gas leak caused an explosion. The place was engulfed when we got there.” He swallowed hard. “Dozens of casualties. Can’t even tell you the exact number. We went in to get people out, and there was this lady in the corner. Ran to get her when the ceiling caved in. Trapped me under some debris. In the midst of everything, my sleeve caught on fire. I fought to get out… but there was so much fucking building on me that I couldn’t. I watched as the fire ate through my clothes and burnt up my arm.” You watched as he rolled up his sleeve, revealing the now tattoo covered skin. You had seen it bare hundreds of times before, Bucky never being one to hide it, but now thanks to the close proximity, you could see the scars that laid beneath the colored ink. The unnatural bumps and scar tissue that came with the healing of severe burns. “The worst part about it was, that damn lady died.” You looked up as he started shaking his head. “I still have nightmares about the way her body just… flopped to the ground.” He squeezed his eyes shut as he could hear the echoes of her screams before they rapidly stopped.

As your eyes stung with more tears, you looked back down at the steel floor of the truck. It was when his shoulder bumped into yours when he sighed that you noticed just how close to him that you were.

“There’s two reason we do this job,” He continued, regaining your attention. “It’s either because we’re all sadistic, or because we know it’s what we have to do.” You considered these options, your head rolling from the left to the right as you did so.

“I think we’re all sadists to be honest,” You told him. He laughed, shaking his head.

“I tend to agree with you on that one,” He said. Without thinking, you slowly leaned to the side and rested your head on his shoulder. The muscles in his back seized for a moment, and you almost pulled away, but then he quickly relaxed. Hesitantly, his arm snaked across the small of your back and his fingers gripped your hip. It was weird being this casual with your superior, this close and touchy. But somehow, you felt more comfortable than you had in awhile. A content sigh left your lips when his head leaned against your own, his cheek pressed into your hair.

“Tell me how you do it,” You said after a few minutes of silence. “How do you just handle all of this?”

He contemplated his answer, wanting to say just the right thing. It was a hard question, because sometimes even he didn’t know how he dealt with everything. Loss was just something he had become accustomed to, long before he had started in this line of work.

“You’re strong and great at what you do,” He said quietly. “There’s no better person to be doing this job than you, and if you can’t save a person, that means no one could.” He squeezed your hip. A reassurance. “Besides, if we don’t do it, who will?”

_________________________________________

Tags

@pizzarollpatrol, @of-outerspace, @fallenaristocat, @gracefulish, @wintersthor, @buckysbeech, @dontpanc, @lovinglokiforever, @bucky-slut, @bvckysmanbun

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maneaterwithtail · 6 years

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Character I Love Meme: Axebear

Time to take my own advice, while slow on the adaptation analysis project Fangbone Page II Screen (its tag search for it) That's mainly as I only have a tablet and need a terminal and time to really try to hammer out entries. Which, looking back, haven't been good enough I can't fault a lack of discussionGetting a little down on the project I figured should at least try to have some interest in Fangbone and discussion on it stirring, especially if want robust discussion outside of Fangbill pairing, which I have disinclination for but is easily, and understandably, the most popular subject and stuff on the Fangbone tag.

Still want to Promote @rubyreddraws @g-00lden @cordset and others and appreciate likes from folks but really more of a forum/conversation sort as to socmedia guy. But I hear using standard memetic questionnaires can cause discussion on threads to keep up, if no fanart or theories to really go into...also sucker for design and feel, in a way character needs more love.

Whole series does, but I think appreciation of animated Fangbone's leader-cheiftain is in order for those who like interesting and thick characters who have character and not just a joke either. Though is a joke, but so is EVERYONEon the show, but a nuanced one with lots of valiance

1: Orientation headcanon

Functionally bisexual. Prefers/more familiar with men and dismissive overall of feminity but not *self consciously* macho

2: otp

Triple

Him, Ms. Gillian, and Twinklestick. Likely after some character growth for him, some respect for the last, and Ms. Gillian gets her muscled man meat who knows she’s a prize.

3: brotp

His battle Brother died some time ago and he’s found no replacement worthy for the honor to entitle, so tends to act “alone” or with subbordinates

(bonus points if looks like GN Axebear...or maybe not). Technically is kind of this with Twinklestick but has ISSUES about “softbelliedness” and being civilized and so on. Also it was sort of a shotgun arrangement (needed a wizard, couldn’t pay him in material wealth, position by elderhood/capture-marriage was the workaround) But get along as seen in show with begrudging concession though takes for granted

4: notp

One-eye the Slippery...Just got a thing of “all antagonism is UST” though do see them getting more Bro-like.. but more hate One-eye for being a living conflict ball and asshole

5: first headcanon that pops into my head

Basically the Mighty Lizard Clan, in my head, have taboos on relationships which he follows, if not embodies. That includes same sex relations but to us they would seem peculiar in specificity versus our assessment. (you always sleep with men why freaked out at two of them marrying and raising a kid together? Why mock hetero marriage or think child custody works like dividing lovestock birth!!!)

As Chieftain he’s physically intimate (that oil rub demand) with tribesmen in certain ways. But affection if not codified in writing comes with specific rules/guidance he knows and expected to follow. Also if abusive, well can be challenged or they can leave and spread word of how treated, which is shameful (as mentioned relations not be public, plus other stuf)

Hilariously, while known and universal in Skullbania, committed marriage is rare amongst the Mighty Lizard Clan. Fangbone’s parents are unique or rare in the clan. The clan being predominantly male and most procreating comes through inverted demographic clans, or wandering wench groups, during special days of revelry (which the Chief is expect to lead/direct) and meetups, or “bridal stealing” much like the MLC claims its artisans and teachers which can be true kidnappings or “pay-offs” or similar with no direct obligation to *keep* the target even if must serve kidnapper. Kidnapee may escape (in quotes or this is sincere) and unlike with goats or gear clan not obligated to help retrieve beyond personal bond/wish. Escapee goes back to their clan who can return as will or “reclaim” by their method or way. Gets complicated with the ‘civilized’ societies like out in Minkwater (professional damsel/wetnurse/broodmare is a thing, got a guild and everything)

Recreating with tribesmen is done, its not shameful but not proudly displayed (unless making a statement..or being ‘lazy’ or) compared to other MLC activites (why we don’t see it or introduced as such). Hilariously this is looked down on with battle brothers, as you’re meant to be equals, and there are superstitions about positions, history of exploitation, worries about protege setups, etc (insert our own justified issues with pedophilia, teacher-student hankypanky, and power dynamics/abuse and harassment here) But this is in a “assume not, unless otherwise stated” situation. Those of equal standing can and do marry but this is more for alliance.. sort of.. its complicated.

There are hopes to have more women as a subgroup and thus ‘revive’ the female branch and traditions but most of the women are all warrior and aggro ala fangbone himself (as the MLC leans TOOmuch on warrior and only warrior plus lost a lot of women due to reasons generations before Axebear took the seat, then they keep selecting or slanting things to guys...)

Basically as Village Elder he is sort of married to Twinklestick who, as wizard/shaman from out of the tribe, occupies a weird position regard to elder, barbarian, man or woman, and husband/wife (unlike typical one isn’t expected to be/auto-dumped after x time of no kids produced). Personally has little recreational interest in ladies, but not unattracted to them, more he’s so much about work and already has an atypical spouse AND as chieftain has open “rolladex” if frisky AND has obligations for how he sexually must act out for the good of the clan... well he GETS where Ms. Gillian is coming from. But she’s not like Lizard Clan suitors or women.. but not like Minkwater wenches either...

And now she’s showing not just wisdom (thus a possible good target for bridal and teacher theft) but also feirceness in battle and leadership (that really gets him going). And so forward that’s different and unique (so exotic and new, and Fangbone likes her ALOT). Twinklestick likes her too much though and well that’s a problem. As for one technically Twinklestick is “teaching capture” who by dint of “is a magical storied wizard” who could leave at any time and no one in the tribe could really stop him and recapture be a bitch as his ‘clan’ likely act in defense of his egress as to insist on his return. So how could this relationship work, it isn’t like a man having two bridal captures, or a brood and lifetime-battle-brother or permenant ally or something he gets and familiar with...

what he feels inclined to do he knows he’s not suppose to do. And that’s a sign of going soft/corrupt from Earth, like Ms. Gillian of the Steel Desk who is NOTsoft like he thought Earth was but strong in ways Bill and other Earthlings have shown and helped train Ingrid and defeat drool with...WHat can he DO!!!!

Secondmost? Until mentioned SPECIFICALLY in an episode I thought he was Fangbone’s father (explained a few things about look, Fangbone’s attitude, and so on) but the MLC do communal raising with obvious biases to flesh and blood. That or Fangbone was adopted by Axebear out of the “fighting pits” they stick the kids into until they graduate/prove themselves.

6: favorite line from this character

too many to choose from...

But one that gets the most acute reaction from me?

“I, Axebear, will crush all teachers, parents, AND INTERVIEWS” *smash*

7: one way in which I relate to this character

His hygenic presentation/mannerisms are bold like I wish I was, and while obstinate he is genuine and has method to his madness. Even when makes are harsh authorative judgement when out of his depth, committing to plan and fearing issues or messups will re-assess what feeling and own values and make decision on that. And despite it all WILLAPOLOGIZEand openly justify redecision

I was not a good older brother growing up so liked the niance of him being a leader and that particularly showing strenght and leadership with affection, judgement, and self reflection. He didn’t even need, as expected, any direct prompting to take Fangbone back. And get how he was embodying MLC values not betraying them. ANDlearning to integrate/appreciate new and diverse things. And reassess his views.

Overall just like is bold ANDthoughtful at once and not..a contradiction?

8: thing that gives me second hand embarrassment about this character

Being attached with lamer weirdos or someone with a tendency to not think, ramble, or have to do something “again” as that describes how actually AM and would think see me.

9: cinnamon roll or problematic fave?

More to the latter than the former but not so problematic as given space to grow while staying true to self and, in a way, avoids some problematic cliches about barbarians/less advanced peoples and how respond to things. Its more most comfortable with what he knows and thinks best. As to “too dumb/macho to live”

#character appreciation #character shipping meme #fanwanking #relationship dynamics #mighty lizard clan #fangbone #axebear #ms. gillian #twinklestick #bisexuality #is weird sometimes #marriage politicis

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iamasphodelknox · 6 years

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Annual Writing Self-Evaluation

*All answers should be about works published in 2017.

I was tagged by @haloeverlasting

1. List of works published this year:

Hot damn, here we go. This list includes fanfic and other things...

Fanfic

Sounds Happy to Me

Guinevere the Ginger Squirrel

Where We Are

Give Up the Fight

A Glimmer of Light Flickers In

Insatiable Desire

Moments Make Great Love

The Art of the Giants

My Heart Lies With You

Finding Us in Our Atmosphere

Gem and the Hunters: The Treasure of Babylon

Put Some Records On

Define Dancing

Original Work

The Leila Chronicles (a novel in three parts that started out as two short stories and ended up surprising me by becoming a novel in the last three days of NaNoWriMo... I’ll be self-publishing it soon!)

Blog Work

The Lexicon Writing Blog (I write about writing, productivity, prompts, and inspiration... 59 posts this year!)

Two ebooks on POV and finding time to write which you can get for free by signing up for my email list here.

Why I Refuse to Be Afraid (my reflections and thoughts after the Inauguration)

2. Work you are most proud of (and why):

I’m proud of so much of what I wrote this year, but most of all I’m proud of two in particular: The Leila Chronicles and Define Dancing. Both started out completely differently from how they ended up and both of them feature my strongest writing, the strongest world building, and my best efforts.

I’m insanely proud of The Leila Chronicles because it’s a culmination of everything I’ve done all year... the writing, the stressing, the planning, the panicking. Everything I’ve learned shows up in this incredible story that took me by surprise and ran with me to places I’d never anticipated going.

I’m proud of Define Dancing because I never in a million years would think I could write a magical realism but I did. And I think I did it rather well... I was able to paint probably my absolute favorite relationship in a way that really resonated with me. I’m immensely proud because this story stretched me and challenged me and had me asking hard questions about my writing. It showed me I already had the answers to all of them.

3. Work you are least proud of (and why):

Most of my earlier works but Insatiable Desire sort of... left something to be desired, in my opinion. It’s a fun story but not my best writing or my best storytelling. But it was an important part of building up to writing my first smut scene so I’ll take it as a learning experience.

4. A favorite excerpt of your writing:

“Louis, it’s in the high 30’s!” Harry said, following Louis as he marched back and forth across the ridge, marking out potential places he wanted to dig first, his purposeful step followed by Harry’s more clumsy lumber. “Someone will get heatstroke and die, and I thought we’d agreed that we’re all going back to London in one piece!”

“I don’t think dying of heatstroke will cut me into a few pieces, Harry!” Louis cried, sporting a ridiculous pout that had Liam, Gemma, and Niall all snickering.

“This is my life’s work! My magnum opus! My greatest accomplishment! I can only go down from here.”

“Louis, you’re only thirty.” Harry deadpanned. Niall laughed out loud.

“Exactly!” Louis threw his hands in the air. “I’m practically an old man!” He was grinning and eventually, Harry started laughing, his wide grin forcing his dimples to show so much that Louis paused his pacing to grin at him.

- Gem and the Hunters: The Treasure of Babylon

5. Share or describe a favorite comment you received:

Oh there’s no way I could pick just one... but one of my favorites came from my friend @haloeverlasting:

I know I've told you over and over and over again that i love this fic but i just needed it immortalized right here.

I LOVE THIS STORY. i love how you put your characters first, and you honor their stories and don't rush them into things it isn't the time for. ;) I love how much the history is a part of the story, and how much your characters love it. it makes me love it too. i love all of them as individuals and together. and really i just love everything about this wonderful story you've created, where past failures don't define you, and it's never too late to find new love in your life.

ugh. i love you. <3

6. A time when writing was really, really hard:

Oh man... writing is always a composite of hard things but the hardest thing I’ve had to write this year was a scene in The Leila Chronicles where two characters have a very intense discussion about how their actions influenced so much more than either of them expected. It was exhausting and hard and left me feeling like I’d run a marathon and experienced emotional trauma all in one day. But I’m also incredibly proud of that scene so it was worth it.

7. A scene or character you wrote that surprised you:

Literally, every single story I wrote this year (and my husband can attest to this) started with me pacing back and forth in my apartment saying “I’ve never written anything like this before. I don’t know if I can.” But every single story, I did and I could.

I never thought I’d do a retelling of the Hades/Persephone myth. It’s one of my favorite things I’ve ever written though.

8. How did you grow as a writer this year:

This is an extension of the previous question. I never would have guessed that by the end of one year I would have written a mythology retelling, a magical realism story, three fairytale retellings, an abo fic, two sex scenes, a whole novel, an Indiana Jones-style mystery, or a story about my hometown, Seattle. I learned that I can write a variety of things, and I learned that I can surprise myself with what I’m really capable of.

I also started this year with a completely different set of goals and resolutions, almost none of which actually came to pass. But I spent the entire year writing stories I loved, stories that impacted people on spiritual and emotional levels, making writing friends, and learning millions of new things about my writing. I never could have written the Leila Chronicles a year ago... the journey was worth it.

9. How do you hope to grow next year:

I just want to keep getting better. I have the Gem sequels coming up (I’ve never written a series so I guess that’ll be something for 2018), I have a few new aus and crossovers, a Harry Potter retelling that I’m very excited for, and a few personal projects that I’m keen to start. I’m just hopeful that I’ll keep writing, keep learning, and keep seeing every story as a stepping stone to making me a better writer. I’d also like to publish The Leila Chronicles and a nonfan version of Gem and the Hunters.

10. Who was your greatest positive influence this year as a writer (could be another writer or beta or cheerleader or muse etc etc):

At the beginning of the year, I had no writer friends to speak of. Now, at the end of the year, I’m friends with some of my favorite writers and get to gush every day about different projects.

@hlficpraise - My darling Viv, I would be completely lost without you. You’ve been the best beta a girl could ask for and a wonderful, encouraging friend. You read everything I write, you know grammar inside and out, and you are always there with a listening ear and a timely joke.

@indiaalphawhiskey - My twin soul. If I wasn’t for you Indy, I never would have met the people I know now. If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t have signed up for challenges, tried new things, taken so many risks, or put myself out there. Your constant encouragement is priceless.

@haloeverlasting - Sunshine, I wouldn’t be the writer I am without you. You encourage me, challenge me, inspire me, and urge me to write the hard things, tell the hard stories, and are always there when I panic or freak out. Your feedback and listening ear are so important to me. And I love that we gush about writing and reading. :)

Additionally, for their encouragement, excitement, and exuberance:

@theficwritersblock @suddenclarityharry @hrrytomlinson @briannamarguerite

11. Anything from your real life show up in your writing this year:

I leave little pieces of my soul in every story I write. @hlficpraise pointed out my main themes in all of my stories a few months ago and they ring true of my personal life as well: redemption, equality in relationships, second chances, hope.

12. Any new wisdom you can share with other writers:

You don’t have to write in a vacuum! Friends will help you immeasurably.

You already have everything you need. All you need to do is get your ass in your chair and just fucking do it.

13. Any projects you’re looking forward to starting (or finishing) in the new year:

I’ve got the Gem sequels that I can’t even wait to share with you all. I have Harry Potter retelling that is probably going to be bigger than I’m anticipating but still an incredible ride. And I’ve got a Dunkirk au coming up... I’m so in love with it, I can’t even tell you.

14. Tag three writers/artists whose answers you’d like to read.

@indiaalphawhiskey @suddenclarityharry @theficwritersblock

#holy shit I wrote a lot #I'm so fucking proud of myself #I couldn't have done it alone #Writer friends made the year #year in the belly of the whale #reflectionsbydella

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brella · 7 years

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top 5/bottom 5 works

Rules: tag the person who tagged you, always post the rules, answer the questions, and add the date!

What are your five most popular works? What are your five least popular works? Are you surprised? Why? Optional: If you want to calculate this, what are your works’ average number of notes/kudos/comments? Today’s date, so you can see how your results might change if you do this again in a year.

Tag six people to do this next!

Tagged by @traincat (this must be what fame feels like). Tagging: @herasyndlla, @rongasm, @mimosaeyes, @petaldancing... actually, if you are one of my Writer Pals, consider yourself tagged, fool.

Sorting by kudos; today’s date is August 14 2017.

Top 5 most popular (from most kudos to least):

to be a free someone (Gravity Falls | Gen): To this day I still do not know why this is my most popular fic probably of all time going by kudos alone. There must have been some sort of bot involved. This was the product of my first Yuletide, a gift for RecessiveJean, who I coincidentally got assigned to for the same fandom the next year! To tell you the truth, I’ve always felt it was kind of an ambling piece, like I was trying to articulate something, some feeling, that I ultimately missed the mark on. But it seems to have resonated with a lot of people, so maybe I shouldn’t be too hard on myself. I ALSO LITERALLY JUST NOTICED THAT TRAINCAT COMMENTED ON THIS???? OMG, HELLO FRIEND.

The Next Great Adventure (Young Justice | Wally/Artemis): See, now this, this doesn’t surprise me at all. Four years later and this is still my badge of honor, even though parts of it are undoubtedly melodramatic as all get-out in retrospect. I think back on the time when I was working on this and posting chapters sometimes and I feel so giddy remembering how much people, like... wanted to read it? Miraculous. Also still stupidly proud of the fact that I specifically planned it to 1) have exactly 16 chapters and 2) be marked as complete on June 20. Haw haw. FAVORITE PARTS: the whole chunk with the Runaways, the Cameron and Artemis fight scene, Artemis and Roy getting ramen, the parallel conversations between Wally/Dick and Artemis/Zatanna). LEAST FAVORITE PARTS: the diluted sex scene. I should seriously just take that out. It’s so jarring. I’m embarrassed just to think about it.

so take your chances with romances (Teen Wolf | Stiles/Lydia): Ah, the prom fic that strategically did not include the actual event of prom because I don’t know how to write school dances and hate describing outfits. So named after Sheena Easton’s feel-good hit of the decade, featured in probably my biggest guilty pleasure favorite movie ever, About Last Night. I wrote this in one sitting while vacationing with my mom, uncle, and boyfriend (quite a combo) on the coast, shortly after rereading The Princess Diaries, which blatantly shows in the style. I am surprised that this is my most popular Stiles/Lydia fic, since it’s fluff, something I’m historically bad at. But I like it. Just the right amount of schmaltz. And the set of paragraphs toward the end where Lydia realizes how bad she has it for Stiles is still preen-worthy for the writer in me tbh.

royally flushed (Young Justice | Wally/Artemis): I have such mixed feelings about this giant sprawling mess of a thing which I still regret not splitting up into chapter’s for god’s sake. Who would have known that a silly prompt from Lara to write a “Wally/Artemis Princess Diaries AU” would go from an equally silly 500-word fill to 72k of the most ridiculous piece of writing I have ever done in my life? Did you know I barely edited this? Shows, right? I was so stuck on it so close to the deadline that one night when my mom wasn’t home I opened the liquor cabinet, made myself a screwdriver, and smashed out about 5,000 words in a semi-drunken frenzy. There’s a lot I would do differently now—so much so that I’ve considered completely overhauling it for a 2017 audience—but I still get comments from people shouting about how much it delighted them, so I guess it’s just another testament to the fact that no matter how much I agonize over how a piece “has aged,” nobody else has that perspective, and people are just gonna like it for what it is. And that’s not so bad!

god only knows what i’d be without you (Brooklyn 99 | Jake/Amy): It’s so weird to me that B99 has so many incredible fics written by incredible writers who taught me a lot and injected an altogether new enthusiasm into the way I approached writing romance, and one of my humble offerings has as many kudos as it does. Looking back on it after so much more of the show has aired kind of makes me laugh, but also kind of makes me nostalgic. I was so different when I wrote this. I had just experienced the rooftop scene in “Stakeout” for the first time. I still have the hastily-scrawled family tree I made up for Amy to use in the scene(s) with her parents and siblings. Also even though I only devoted one line to it I think my favorite thing to write was the brief flashback to Amy and Jake having a Noche Buena sleepover in her old room. He took the air mattress, of course.

Bottom 5 least popular (from least kudos to most):

crepusculascens (Morning Glories | Irina/Fortunato): I’m already banking on all five of these being MG fics, since it is historically one of the smallest fandoms on Internet record. Anyway, this is a relic from the heyday of my MG-fic-writing days, when a good chunk of the things I cranked out were Irina/Fortunato fics for Macey that were trying really hard to be beautiful and deep but now just make me turn kind of red and sink into my chair. This is probably the best of them, though, which of course explains why it has a whopping 3 kudos and what is no doubt borderline offensively bad Portuguese. I’ve learned better; I promise. (I may end up deleting this fic just because I looked at it again and now I’m embarrassed.)

but if you close your eyes (Morning Glories | Gen): I think this is maybe the second-best MG fic I’ve ever written so that’s something. And yet again, it was something for Macey! Perhaps my fondness for it derives from the fact that it’s about hugs, which are the best topic on this earth to write about. I love writing hugs and thinking about hugs, even if they are sad hugs and Akiko is still dead. Section 4 is my favorite. (And no, I am not super astonished that this has few kudos, since it’s a self-indulgent hug fic about the ~less popular~ characters among the wider readership.)

and we live half in the daytime (Morning Glories | Hannah/Esi): This has no reason to be on here because it’s under 1k and anything under 1k barely qualifies as a fic by my standards. Other people can make that “less is more” stuff work but I’ve never been one of those people. Still, I guess it’s cute enough, and at least I can say I contributed an iota of decent femslash to an otherwise parched tag. When will Hannah/Esi be confirmed in-canon.

aethermakers (Morning Glories | Irina/Fortunato): Why did I write so much Irina/Fortunato; jeepers. I guess this is the best of them, though, if I had to pick. Rather than thinking about the fic I’m more thinking about the fact that I had originally planned to close out this series (which includes waterbearers and firekeepers, the latter of which was my first MG fic) with earthmovers, which would be Hisao/Guillaume, but then canon tore them apart and I got too depressed. But seriously, what was I doing? Did I consider Irina/Tuna to be a canon enough pair that it would round out this set? Why is there so much damned Google Translate Portuguese and Ukrainian in here? I’m fixing it right now. Ugh. SMH.

waterbearers (Morning Glories | Casey/Hunter): WHY DID I EVER THINK IT WAS A GOOD IDEA TO LEAVE ANY OF MY WRITING ON THE INTERNET IF IT’S OVER ONE MONTH OLD? Please don’t look at me; this is so bad. Did I even know what romance was? Did I even know what English was?? Who can say? I can. I didn’t. Please don’t look at me.

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