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#i changed the title for the third time whoops
Whatever you want it to be
(My @subeddieweek fic)
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Chapter 1 coming on AO3 on 4 April 2024
Summary:
Steve, who has just ripped through the tape binding his wrists in an impressive feat of strength, freezes mid movement. His nostrils flare and Eddie can practically see the moment it clicks for him, even before his eyes flick down.
“Wait a second,” he mutters, and then his eyes are back on Eddie’s face, wide and panicked and disbelieving. “You are-”
“Pretty fucking hot when tied up?” Eddie rasps around an aching jaw, voice still hoarse with misuse. “Why, gee, who knew you were into that kinda stuff, Harrington?”
“Stop joking, that’s not what I meant!”
The command is sharp, and Eddie finds his jaw clenching shut against his conscious will. A red-hot flush is crawling up Steve's neck, but his face is full of serious concern.
“You're in heat,” he murmurs.
---
Or: The one where Eddie goes into a drug-enduced heat courtesy of Jason Carver and his goons and Steve saves him. (And then they fuck about it.)
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l-e-morgan-author · 12 days
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Whoops I slipped and started writing another novella exploring what would have happened if Hannah hadn't died in the third act of Patience, Changing. Its working title is "If Help Was Found". The letter I shared recently (ish; time is fake) is the prologue, and I've written another letter as the epilogue. I'm excited to write this; taking a break from Patience, Changing to write it, and hopefully once the break is over I'll know more about how to handle grief like that. I've barely been making progress, though what I have been writing is good. I just don't know how to write grief.
Ignore the fact that I also started writing Yet Another novella a few days ago, about the reaction of one of Hannah's friends to her death. I have too many novellas in this story, but I love them all. I'd had tentative thoughts about a Single Novel And A Single Collection but I suspect that all the stories I want to tell cannot be contained within that, so who knows what will happen. Turns out I love Hannah and I love her friends.
If you're curious, "If Help Was Found" begins like this:
In many ways, it wasn’t until she was discharged that the real battle began. In hospital she was sick enough that several months were practically blotted out of her memory ever after, but as she got better, the demons clung close as if they did not want to let her go.
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hashtagdrivebywrites · 2 months
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Hello, yes, howdy, welcome to...
✨Hashtag's Fic Masterlist✨
A little about me:
She/her pronouns
I write and sometimes make art
Here is my Ao3!
Asks are open! or you can drop me a message if you want to
I like ask games, but I might be late or accidentally lose track of them before I can respond to them (whoops!)
I'm into a lot of stuff so this blog/page/black hole will be a mixed bag of fandoms
[Updated April 12, 2024] - Fic links below:
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Published, In Progress:
Imprint (DPxDC) (Baby G.K. Danny, Halfa Dad Jason, Fright Franklin Pickle Girl Knight, oddball co-parents, attempted qpr relationship) 4/12: Back in the saddle and *hyped* for this arc, y'all have no idea.
Meandros (AC: 3 x AC: Odyssey) (Time travel/Reincarnation, Kid Desmond, OC's, Deimos!Kassandra, dumb mercenaries with a big bro/dad complex, Desmond "I'm Done" Miles) 4/12: Picked up working on the draft again! Fingers crossed I can do a double update with Imprint!
Published, Complete:
As Long as Stars are Above You (TMNT (mostly Bayverse and Next Mutation)) (Family Fluff, Surprise Baby Acquisition, Good Big Bros, Momma April) 15 Chapters; 39k words; Sequel in progress
Our Mother Breathed Fire (GOT) (Dragon POV, kind of a character study? I don't know) 1 Shot; 2k words
Your Blood That I Bleed (AC 1, 2 & 3) (Family of Choice, Immortality, Cat Dad Desmond, Assassin Dads) 10 Chapters; 74k Words
"In The Drawer" - On Hiatus until I can give it the attention it needs:
A Place For Us (Batman (mostly Arkham Knight)) (Families of Choice, Kids, Adoption, Bat Fam coming back together) 4/12: My first fic on Ao3 and it's been set aside for a complete overhaul because there's no structure/direction and there's a lot of issues with how I was writing/presenting the characters.
Unpublished, In Progress:
And Longer Still If I Can - sequel to As Long As Stars Are Above You (TMNT) (Family and Found Family, Kid Fic, Adventure Fic, Larval Form Mutanimals) 4/12: About a third of the way through the whole story. I'm taking my time with this one because I've lost the drafts for it twice and have had to write it three times now, but I'm hoping I can finish it soon.
Red Devil Rowdy (title may change; DPxDCxSDxSPN) (Paranormal Mystery/Detective Fic, Family Reveal, Identity Reveal) 4/12: Plotting! Familiarizing myself with the genre and trying to get a better grasp on the characters. The first chapter draft has started but it's rough.
And Still You Stand, Sturdy and Smelling of Smoke (DC x Spider-man) (Peter Parker Fist Fights the League, Catatonic Jason, Hyper Independent Tim) 4/12: On pause for a second. Gotta figure out where I want this to go.
Shield and Hearth (title will change; DSxTMNT) (Time Travel, Older Turtles (21), Mom Friend April, Gratuitous Use of "Bro", "Dude" and "Yo") 4/12: Hoping to add this one to the next update on Ao3 with Imprint and Meandros! (Still trying to think of a better title)
Holy War is On The Phone (DPxMHA/BNHA) (Ghost Prince Danny, Undercover Investigation, Fake Family, Pissed Off Danny) 4/12: On pause!
Redline (DCxMHA/BNHA) (Robin!Jason, Jason has the Metagene, Accidental Dimension Travel, Pro-Heroes/Older Class 1-A)
4/12: On pause to work out the final arc outline.
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maybeimamuppet · 4 months
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2, 5, 9, 11, 16 for the fic asks?
hello darling friend tysm for the ask!!
2, will you participate in any fandom exchanges or fic challenges, etc?
if i’m asked to absolutely!! i think they seem so fun but being in smaller fandoms i think they’re a lot harder to figure out. i’ve actually considered forming a few of my own for like halloween or the holidays and stuff but i’m kind of the only cadnis writer still somewhat consistently active and everyone else who writes for mean girls is into very different things (which is great we love to see it but it makes group stuff hard lol) and matilda i haven’t checked up on in so long i have no idea what’s going on in that little corner anymore whoops
5, which wip is first on your list to complete this year? will you post a snippet?
we are continuing my beloved series of ‘someone has to write all the cliche fics for this ship and by golly it might as well be me”! from the looks of things the first one to be finished will be a college au (professor/student) that i’m honestly really proud of. i’ve been hammering away at it for a while lol. but we also have a few more like that and obviously plenty more that aren’t that i’m not gonna spoil just yet but i’m very excited for them :)))
“As long as I’m your professor, this can’t happen, no matter how badly I want it to,” Cady says with a sniffle. She gently presses a kiss to the corner of Janis’ lips before she pulls away and takes a couple steps back. “I’m so sorry, Janis.”
Janis watches her go for a minute, barely feeling the frigid rain slamming against her face. Cady hunches in on herself and clicks off. “What about when you’re not my professor anymore?!”
Cady freezes and turns to look at her. “What?”
“Once I graduate,” Janis begs. “Can we be together then?”
“…Technically, yes, we could,” Cady says. “But-”
“Wait for me,” Janis says. “Please.”
Cady bites her lip, but she nods after a second. “Okay.”
“You will?” Janis asks, finally feeling hopeful enough to smile for the first time in what feels like years.
“I’ll wait,” Cady agrees. “If you’re willing to do the same. Come to me once you graduate, and… we’ll see what happens. Okay?”
“Okay,” Janis says, smiling around a sob. Cady does the same before she continues walking away.
unproofread snippet brought to you by maybeimamuppet :)
9, short term goals… what do you hope to complete this week or in january?
i’m really hoping to have that and the next chapter of pt done by the end of the month!! my third writing birthday is at the beginning of march and i’m really hoping to have a batch of fics ready to crank out by then :)) matilda is kind of wonky for the time being bc i have very few wips and i need time to sort through which requests i can actually do/want to do so they might be a while but focusing on my meanies for a while will be a nice change i think!
11, would you like to try any new fanfic genres or tropes this year?
i don’t think i do!! at least not in fics lol i’m good with my romance and family fluff sorta genres i’m in but i am trying to write a few publishable like real actual books that are a little different so we’ll see how that goes!
16, do you have one fanfic that you wrote a ton for, ages ago, but never posted? will this be the year come hell or high water that it WILL get finished and posted?
UHHHH honestly most of my wips are kinda like that lol. i hyper focus on one and then get bored with it and move on to a new one and herein lies the cycle of Big Issues. so i have a lot of like half-done oneshots (including requests i literally got in 2021 and am sobbing trying to get done i feel so bad). i do have an entire folder of ‘unpublishable fics’ that will never see the light of day. they’re mostly just writing exercises but some of them are just really embarrassing so most of them stay there lol. and i have a multi-chapter The Good Place au i started years ago and couldn’t figure out other than the title but i only wrote a couple scenes for it but that probably also won’t ever see the light of day. ce la vie ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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twinkboimler · 4 months
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1, 9, 18, 26 for the fic asks! 💙
Thanks for the ask!
1. What’s something new that you tried in a fic this year? How did it turn out and would you do it again?
I had a rule for a while where I only wrote third-person limited. This was mostly done because I caught myself changing perspectives too often or without realizing I'd done that, and I wanted to train myself out of doing that... but then I forgot to stop doing that little challenge on myself. SO now I'm relearning how to write in different POVs and other things that I avoided for a few years in an attempt to improve my writing. I think I'd just gotten so into the habit of doing it this way that I completely forgot to stop... whoops!
9. What fic meant the most to you to write?
The Way Their Fingers Touched - writing this for the AOS Renaissance zine was a great experience, and it was the first time I had participated in a zine, so I'm just proud of myself for starting to get involved in more fic events this year. This fic is AOS mcspirk from Bones's POV with lots of pining over Spock and Jim
18. What was the hardest fic to title?
my Undiscovered Country mcspirk fic yet to be discovered! I wanted it to play with the title of the movie, but I spent days and days and days trying to figure out what I wanted to title it - somewhere on my desk I still have a post-it note covered in title ideas. It's also the second fic in a series, so I had to come up with a series name too, which honestly was even more of a struggle
26. If you had to choose one, what was THE most satisfying writing moment of your year?
There was ONE day when I got really sucked into writing my AOS mckirk smut fic Observations and managed to write 6000 words and finally finished the fic!
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el-hawthorne · 2 years
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TXT Imagine || Mafia AU
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Summary: When they are the most powerful mafia encounter their interest and obsession.
Warning: swearing, harsh words, kind of mature theme (?)
Rate: 17+ (i guess? Since I'm kinda strict with people bellow my age—I'm 20 this year btw. And more stricter to my siblings as the oldest daughter 🙂)
A/N: Sorry English isn't my native langage and I didn't have much time to proofread just my another posts before. But since I keep my promise to update my tumblr everyday, I will post this. So I'm sorry if there are some mistakes like grammatical error or etc. If you know my mistakes, feel free to correct it and I will change it.
Click here to see my main masterlist of my another imagines or works
Choi Soobin
No one actually know he is a mafia because his title to become the most succesful and powerful businessman covering his true image very well. He can give the great impact for his country by his revenue as a businessman.
Every mafia also fear him. He can burry you 6 feets under the soil within a second if you pissed him off.
Then there you are, a new hired doctor which didn't have any idea what the true identity of Soobin is, when you are the only person that clueless about him and everyone who worked under him knew about him already.
So yeah, basically you are the only one who dare to scolding him everytime he got bruises, overwork himself, skipped his meal, and etc. Also, you two always bickering over something unecessary. He doesn't even know why would you do that. Maybe it's because you remind him about his mother that always scolding him when he was a bratty child back then.
"Where the hell are you from?" you are already waiting for him because he comes home late. Really, if its not because of your promise to Mr. Choi—Soobin's father who taking care of you and your mother—his former employee. You won't bother yourself to looking after Soobin for Soobin's father before he died.
You are so ready to scold him. But when you see his exhausted state, not to forget a gunshot around his chest, you're started to worry about him.
"What the fuck is going on?" you came approached him, but before that he almost lost his conscious state, you drape his uninjured arm over your shoulder.
"Keep your eyes open. I swear to God if you dare to close your eyes, I would whoop your ass using my slippers! I'm not kidding Choi Soobin!"
Choi Yeonjun
You are born in mafia family, just like Yeonjun.
But your family and his are a long term enemy. So it's no wonder that you and him despised each other.
It's not a secret anymore that other than enemy, you two are also become rivals in everything.
In mafia competition that held in every year, every mafias always gets excited. It's because you and Yeonjun would join as participants. Not just the billion prize that the winner will gain, but also pride and the fear and submission of people's eyes. That's it. It's either you win or him. The winner title never stayed too long. Every year will change. If you win this year, Yeonjun will be win the next year.
"Suck my dick! Bitch!" you said cockily at Yeonjun who's now smirked at you.
"Why would I? Do you even have a dick? Nah, let me fuck your pussy."
You scoffed and decided to left him immediately. Not wanting him to see your blushing cheeks.
"No, you're not a woman anymore," you said to yourself bitterly, "you're a man. An heir of your mafia father's clan."
That's it. You said it again to yourself, remember your mother's message before she died.
Choi Beomgyu
Oh well, please. Beomgyu is also the most successful and powerful businessman while doing his job as a mafia. Don't worry, he won't convert you into ashes yet if you didn't try to push his button.
He never interested on a woman. They just want three things from him. First, his face because he is breathe-taking. Second, his money of course because who doesn't love money? Third, of course his power. No one dare to mess with him unless they wish to end up as ashes or end up in his torture room.
Yes, he is never interested in woman before. But not until he met you at the bar when you tackled him in just in a blink of eyes. He is quite amused and can't stop thinking about you.
He never thought that the mysterious and powerful mafia leader who never showed up would be you. Your mafia clan is famous because of how skillful your subordinates are and your mafia clan didn't seem to take interest to create allies with another powerful mafia.
Other than that, everyone never expect you to become that beautiful including Beomgyu. Well, first time he met you, he already knew you are beautiful. But tonight? You are fucking beautiful that made him impatiently walking towards you before any guy does.
He is indeed right when he smiled cockily after seeing some guy backed off after he approached you.
"I've never thought we would see each other again."
"Oh, we meet again," you said, uninterested.
"Well, I kinda interested on you. I would like to invite you having dinner at my restaurant tomorrow."
You stared at him with your blank eyes before you answer, "No."
Right after that you left him, unbothered to look back. Not knowing that the most powerful mafia staring at your back wifh his clenching jaw. You're just hurt his ego. Because, how dare you? Every women crazy over him, even willing to do anything to get together with him. But you are the first woman who's now become his interest and now you reject him? Oh baby, saying no as rejection is equals to pushed his button.
"I usually will kill every people who push my button. But for you, I won't kill you because it's impossible for me. You will be mine."
Yeah he is mad, but he is more challenged to get you at any cost.
Kang Taehyun
Oh he is the most feared mafia too, just like his friends—Soobin, Yeonjun, Beomgyu, and Hueningkai. And his friends also kinda lowkey afraid of him because of how unpredictable he is.
But one day, he faced his fucked up day. He thought he won't make it and die. But you proved it wrong when he wake up on stranger's bedroom with the wet towel on his forehead, bandages on his wound and a sleeping woman with angelic face who leaning her head to the bed.
He looked at you, really pure, innocent and vulnerable that makes something inside him wants to protect you at all cost.
"Oh, you're awake!" you remove the towel on his forehead and lay your hands there instead to check on his temperature.
"Good things you're not having fever anymore. Wait for me here, I will make your porridge."
You are very warm towards him even though you don't have any idea about who he is. You treat him very nicely.
Something Taehyun didn't know about is that you are a mafia daughter. His mafia enemy to be more precise. You are disguised as somebody else because you are run away from your mafia family.
He is mad, of course because you're lying to him. But he still wants to hear your explanation. Then, you happen to leave him too. He is mad more than ever and swear to himself that he would never to lose his grip on you after once he find you.
"Last time, you introduce yourself as Chaerin, now Gaeun. You have so many name, do you also have so many face to show people too?"
"T-taehyun? What are you doing here?"
"Just want to get what's mine," he said before he knocked you off and drape your unconscious body over his shoulder.
Hueningkai
Being the heir of the most powerful mafia has its perks for Hueningkai. He is popular and enjoying his fame. Money, power, and good features. He has everything.
His parents said, he could be the mafia successor if he marry the woman they had choose for him. He would take it as an easy task. Because every woman would probably throw themselves towards him. But you prove it wrong.
"I'm not a virgin," you said that made him laughing in disbelief, knowing he will marry an innocent woman who's now starring at him with her frowned face.
"It's okay, i preferred the experienced one. It would be more fun," he winked at you.
"I also have a kid to take care of, so I think I can't sparing my time for you," well, you're not giving up.
"Nah, we can spend our time at the long night after your kid that you take care of sleeping," Hueningkai also not giving up he feel challenged becsuse you are indirectly reject the proposal.
"I also have STD, HIV/AIDS!"
"Well, we wouldn't know if we're not 'trying' first, right? Let's see if I also get STD from you."
And you gasp as you lost your cool, "Okay, just tell your parents already that we're not interested to each other already! Okay?"
"Bold of you to assume that I'm not interested on you. You are interesting, Y/n, and I'm not letting you go anytime soon."
A/N: please looking forward for my extended imagine for this AU
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kozzax · 3 years
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so recently the folks over at @petrichormeraki have been working on a silent tommy au because of a few asks talking about mute!tommy. and one of the things that’s canon in that au is the fact that xisuma is the only mortal hermit. i took this as free reign to work out why each of the other hermits is immortal. some of them are gods, some of them are demigods, some of them are supernatural beings, but none of them (except xisuma) can be killed through feasible means.
because of the sheer amount of immortal hermits there just to live out immortality in peace, i like to think hermitcraft is sometimes referred to jokingly as ‘the retirement zone’ by other immortal beings. most mortals outside of hermitcraft wouldn’t know the hermits are all like... gods and shit.
hermits + their immortality under the cut because oh god this was supposed to be a fast post but i accidentally wrote... a lot. whoops!
Grian is a watcher. He was a watcher before he joined hermitcraft. That’s... just. Canon Grian Lore TM. Not much to explain with him.
Cleo and Joe are both immortal by virtue of no longer being capable of being mortal. As both of hem are undead beings (cleo a zombie and joe a ghost), killing them again isn’t... possible. In addition to this, at some point during their afterlife, they managed to gather enough power between the two of them to be labelled as the “Twin Gods of Life and Death”. Which one is life and which one is death? That depends on the day.
Cub and Scar are definitely not gods. But the deals the two made with the Vex are almost more of an insurance on their immortality. The Vex protect their ConVex as a dragon protects its hoard. Not only can the two of them hold their own in a fight, but their respawn is insured by the fact that even if they were to permadie, the Vex would bring them back anyways. 
False is the Queen of Hearts, Heads, and Body Parts. She’s also a vampire. In a similar vein, Ren is a werewolf. Both of them can only be killed through very specific means, and neither can die of old age. Throughout their many years in the worlds, they’ve gathered tons of skills and allies. Although now they’ve both stepped down, content to enjoy their peaceful lives and chill out in Hermitcraft, each of them was once a ruler of their respective factions. The ‘queen’ part of False’s title was never just a title.
Etho was granted immortality by a council of gods, after they took a liking to his interesting antics and kept an eye on his longstanding worlds.
Doc, BDubs, Beef, and Etho (again) were all brought to Hermitcraft as the last ‘mortal’ members to join. The general idea was that maybe they could give Xisuma some company and relief from the antics of his immortal and godly friends. This did not happen. Instead, the universe decided it was going to give all of them godly powers in their own right. Etho himself may have been immortal, but he and the rest of the NHO all grew infinitely more powerful after leaving the jungle of season 5.
Stress is a dryad. She can control and warp the nature around her in strange and beautiful ways. In addition to this, were her body to ever get fully destroyed in a way that would prevent her from respawning, a new body would instead form for her out of the nature wherever she died. This is how ice queen stress came about in season 6.
Impulse actually bullshitted his own way into immortality. Where most of the other hermits were either brought into it by someone else or born into it, Impulse actually discovered the secret of immortality while he was trying to figure out how totems of undying were made. He now knows how to create totems and how to become immortal, though he won’t tell anyone else if they ask. Part of the process of creating totems involved...
...Tango, who is a demon. As a demon, his powerset includes but is not limited to both pyrokinesis and an affinity for very very large and very very deadly animals. He doesn’t use those abilities on Hermitcraft often, but they’re in his skillset for sure.
As a byproduct of the immortality, Zedaph showed up in the current timeline. His immortality is... strange, because it’s not technically immortality. Zedaph, as a person, is mortal and can die. Zedaph, as a being, though, is one of billions of Zedaphs in the universe; each of whom is nearly identical to the others; and whenever one Zedaph dies, he is replaced instantly with a new Zedaph; a functionally identical Zedaph to the one who died. Nobody’s quite sure how this process works, but Zed claims it’s through “time travel”.
Jevin, as a slime, can actually inhabit any portion of his slime that he wants; no matter how small the amount. Even if he were limited to one singular molecule of slime, he could still exist around that molecule and regenerate slime until he was fully present again, though it might take a little while for him to complete that process. The only way to kill Jevin is by fundamentally altering the chemical makeup of every single molecule of slime he’s ever had anywhere. It simply won’t happen. He does use his abilities to get out of conversations, if he’s feeling particularly annoyed at the time.
TFC is potentially one of the most interesting hermits, in his prior responsibilities. It’s easy to forget that he’s not mortal, considering how frighteningly average he acts in his day to day life. One peek into any of his bunkers, though, and you’re hit right in the face with a bold reminder. TFC used to be one of the gods responsible for shaping the very worlds players would walk on; more specifically, he was in charge of cave systems and mineshafts for a long time. He’s retired from that life and is having a lovely time in Hermitcraft, just vibing.
Wels gained his immortality through a deal with the patron god of the kingdom he grew up serving. He made this deal as a young knight and watched for decades as the kingdom grew and prospered, Wels himself known far and wide as quite probably the best warrior of them all. After being dismissed honorably by the kingdom, as he’d been protecting them for many decades now and the rulers honestly felt he deserved a break, the god he’d made a deal with finalized this immortality. He joined Hermitcraft not long after, and has taken up a spot doing his part to protect the hermits.
Iskall was somewhat of an enforcer, for the gods. Were a god to be acting particularly out of line, Iskall would be called in to bring them to the council for trial. Sometimes his targets came peacefully, sometimes he’d have to use force to bring them in. No matter what he had to do, there wasn’t a single target he missed. He both can and will kill a god if he must. Technically, Iskall’s still on call, but generally councils don’t call on him unless absolutely necessary anymore.
Hypno made a deal with a god many years ago, trading his mortality for the ability to see hundreds of thousands of alternate paths for the future. He wanted to chronicle them, and he still spends one or two days a week writing out winding paths of the future. When he’s not working, he wears his bandana to cover up the third eye that allows him this insight. This helps him focus on the now, rather than the futures that may or may not be.
Xb is an eldritch being with reality warping abilities. He has them under fairly good control, most of the time. They really only become an issue when he gets too much pent-up magical energy at once; examples of this being things like season changes. His season 7 base is built around what happens when he needs to release. It’s a post apocalypse world, and the apocalypse was him.
Mumbo is definitely both magical and immortal, but the specifics of his powers are incredibly unclear. The hermits know it has something to do with redstone, maybe, and that the unpredictability of Hermit Challenges are a reflection of his strange and confusing powerset, but nobody’s really sure where his immortality stems from. Every time you ask him he gives you a different answer. The mumbonis are all different joking theories as to where his powers came from.
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sqenthusiast · 3 years
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Title: Blackout
Summary: When he opens the book, the spine cracks faintly. He smiles. He reads out loud, it’s easier to get through when the words roll off his tongue instead of bouncing about in his head. “Dorothy lived in the great Kansas prairies-” thunder rolls loudly outside. The lights flicker. Then, the room is cast into darkness.
Notes: just something short and sweet! I decided to post it directly here rather than ao3
Mr. Benedict’s house is old and creaky, a breeze blows through imperceptible gaps and the heating is broken, which makes the third floor warm at all times. It’s warm now, as SQ curls up in his bed. He props a book up in his lap, it had been a birthday gift from his uncle. The Wizard of Oz. The cover depicted a young girl standing at the edge of a road of yellow brick, a little dog stands beside her. On the other side of the road is a Lion, a Scarecrow, and a Tinman with an axe resting on his shoulder. SQ turns the knob on the bedside lamp and casts the room in a soft, orange glow. It’s late out, a storm blows outside. There’s no rain, oddly enough. A dry thunderstorm, that’s what Sticky had said. Every now and then thunder rolls through and startles him. He’s trying to ignore it. He opens the book. The print, mercifully, is a decent size. And the font is ‘dyslexia friendly’ as his uncle had put it. That had been a recent, and mildly unsurprising discovery. It’s an old, well-loved book, presumably his uncle had either owned it previously or bought it second hand. His father would have bought a newer book, something untouched by the outside world. He likes this more. It feels personal. Loving. Love is imbued in every little thing about his uncle, and everything he does for his family. When he opens the book, the spine cracks faintly. He smiles. He reads out loud, it’s easier to get through when the words roll off his tongue instead of bouncing about in his head.
“Dorothy lived in the great Kansas prairies-” thunder rolls loudly outside. The lights flicker. Then, the room is cast into darkness. SQ’s blood rushes to his ears, a whimper rises and dies in his throat. He blinks hard, trying to adjust to the sudden darkness. He can hear the sound of other kids yelling out in the darkness for the adults and Sticky yelping two doors down. SQ squints, moonlight is pouring into the room now, his eyes are adjusting. He closes the book and sets it aside, then he kicks his legs over the side of the bed and slides down to the floor. His toes dig into the carpet, the fabric is soft and textured in a way that doesn’t make his teeth hurt like other carpet does. He pads out of the room into the hall. It’s just as dark in here as it is in his room. A beam of light comes down the hall and flashes into his eyes. He groans and holds his arm up to shield himself.
“Whoops, sorry,” Kate says, then directs the flashlight down. The light illuminates the hallway in a ghostly way. Kate’s face is lit from below, creating sharp shadows along the soft edges of her face. She’s smiling, seemingly undisturbed by the sudden darkness. She darts forward and grabs his hand, excited about something. She’s always excited about something. “Hey, come check this out.” she leads him down the dark hallway, flashlight beam directing them forward to the end of the hall, down the stairs, and finally to the backdoor. Outside in the backyard, it seems everyone is gathered. The adults and kids are all gathered outside around the firepit that sits near the back porch. Kate leads him outside and down the steps. Then, she climbs into the tree and hauls him up after her. The bark hurts his feet a bit, but he bears it because Kate seems rather excited. They both settle on a sturdy branch. She points over the fence. It takes SQ a moment to realize what she was pointing at. Then, he realizes the skyline of Stonetown is an entirely dark. There isn’t a single streetlight on or window illuminated by a yellow glow. It’s a blackout. SQ’s eyes widen slightly.
“Woah…” He can see Kate grinning in the corner of his eye. She’s kicking her legs and bouncing slightly. SQ crosses his legs and looks out over the skyline. He can hear car horns honking in the distance.
“This is much nicer than the last blackout I was in.”
“The last blackout?”
“Yeah, not long before the prison. We lost Constance and had to go looking for her.”
SQ’s stomach turns slightly. Right, they had been looking for Constance, hoping to find her before his father’s men did. Kate hummed and started climbing down from the tree. “C’mon,” she said “Milligan’s gonna get a fire started, we’re gonna make s’mores!”
“S’mores?”
“Yeah, haven’t you ever had one?” SQ shakes his head and Kate’s mouth drops open. She looks shocked, as though he’d just committed some grievous wrong. “Well we gotta fix that! Come on, come on!” She grabs his hand and starts hauling him down from the tree. He goes gladly. The grass under his feet is cool and already becoming wet with dew. Mid to late September is his favourite time of year. Cold in the morning, hot in the afternoon, and dropping temperatures again in the evening. He shivers slightly against the breeze. He’s still shivering when he sits in front of the now burning fire. He feels a soft fabric against his shoulder and looks away from the light of the fire as Milligan sits beside him. Milligan's jacket is draped around his shoulders. 
He says nothing, just smiles. SQ smiles back. The jacket is warm around him, like a blanket fresh from the dryer. He slips his arms through the sleeves. It’s way too big on him. It makes him feels small, but not small in the shameful way his father made him feel. It feels more like everything had been contained in one small space, including himself. It feels safe. He likes it.
“Kate told me you’ve never had a s’more.” Milligan says, looking over at him. He has a good-natured smile on his face, “she sounded horrified at the thought.”
“It seems there’s a lot of stuff I haven’t experienced that she has.” SQ says, it comes out in a half mumble. He hears Milligan let out a laugh that’s more of an exhale of breath and a hum of amusement. SQ turns to get a good look at him. He’s still in a coat, which means that he had purposefully brought one out for SQ. Milligan is sitting on one of the little logs-turned-chairs next to him, resting his arms on his legs, hands laced together.
“Well,” he says after a moment “you can hardly hold that against yourself, Kate travelled around quite a bit and experienced a lot during her years in the circus.” He supposes that’s fair. But it’s not like this something new and exciting to the others. It’s just a s’more. Something most children are familiar with and have had on several occasions. He can’t help a small pang of loss. Loss for what, he isn’t sure. Perhaps for the child he could have been had he not grown up on the island. It hit him, sometimes, that he would never get those years back. His father had stolen from him what could have been a wonderful childhood, and no matter how he wished he to do so, he could not go back in time and fix things. He was stuck in this time, there was no way to go back. Time’s arrow stops for no one. The best he could hope for was to find solace in the family and friends he had in the present. He pulls the jacket tighter around himself, trying to fight off those thoughts before they have the chance to overwhelm him. He takes a deep breath and exhales.
“I guess so,” he says at last. He watches the fire. It flickers, breaks apart and comes together again. It crackles softly, embers rise into the air and fall down into the grass, making him mildly anxious. He’s heard the embers are part of the charm of a summer fire. He doesn’t quite see it, but the fire is nice and warm. Something is held out in front of him, drawing his attention away from the fire. After a moment he realizes it’s a long, metal stick with two prongs at one end, and a rubber handle on the other. He turns to look at who’s holding it out and sees Kate, giving him her usual excited grin.
“Wanna watch me set a marshmallow on fire?” she asks. He can’t possibly say no. He nods and she grabs the bag of marshmallows sitting beside her. She pierces two of the marshmallows onto the prongs at the end of the metal stick, then she holds them over the fire. At first, he doesn’t see it. But then there’s a small, subtle change amongst the flames surrounding the marshmallows, and when Kate pulls them away, they’re on fire. She holds it much too close for comfort. She lets the marshmallows burn for a moment before she takes a deep breath and blows them out. SQ blinks as she looks back to him, grinning. “Pretty cool, huh?” He nods, for lack of anything else to say.
She turns away from him and he can see her putting something together, though he isn’t sure what it is. He gets his answer a moment later when she turns back, and holds something out to him. A marshmallow and a small piece of chocolate are squished between two graham crackers. He tilts his head at it. “It’s a s’more,” she says “try it! It’s good!” He takes it, trying to avoid marshmallow dripping onto his shirt, and takes a bite. When he bites into it the marshmallow spills out and onto his fingers, making them sticky. But he finds he doesn’t care. Because Kate was right, it’s good. Really good. His eyes widen slightly, he smiles at her. “Right?” She says, somehow understanding what he’s trying to convey without any words. He decides he likes s’mores.
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easilydistractedbyfanfic's writing update, October 2022
Hey there! Gonna make a pinned post of the stories I'm currently juggling. Title, order & rating potentially subject to change. Most of these are Raven/Murphy from t100, but fair warning that I’ve started writing Riven/Musa from Fate: The Winx Saga and I could see myself writing more. So we’ll see. 
I recently posted my 65th story so that feels like a big deal - yay me!
Better Than Revenge, Explicit - Raven wants to get revenge for being cheated on by flaunting a relationship right under Shaw's nose at the upcoming gala their firm throws every year, and she wants to fully sell it so Shaw will realize what a mistake he made by cheating on her. If Murphy plays along, she'll make it worth his while. Only, pretending to be all over Murphy comes a lot more naturally than she expected.
This was supposed to be 4 chapters and 3 are currently posted. I’m an idiot so it’s going to be more chapters.
Dance With Me, Mature - Murphy never thought he'd be a ballet dancer, but after a hockey injury, it was his last shot at making it out of Arkadia. Raven has been in dance classes for as long as she can remember and she fell in love with ballet. She’s worked her ass off to be the best and now she has a chance to be a principal dancer in Charmaine Diyoza’s new company. The only downside? She’d be paired with John Murphy, resident bad boy of ballet
This was also supposed to be 4 chapters and 2 are currently posted. Let me repeat - I am an idiot & it’s probably going longer. I’ve got over 8k not yet posted on this one.
Personal Trainer AU, Explicit - Raven always used working out as a way to distract herself from her emotionally distant & alcoholic mother, and years later, all her efforts have turned into a career path as she's running her own successful business as a personal trainer. Usually her clients trend towards middle-class new moms who want to get back into shape after having kids, but Raven isn't complaining - she's made a lot of friends that way even if her bank account isn't flush. But then one day she gets a call from an intimidating Hollywood agent named Echo, who wants Raven to whip alcoholic actor John Murphy into shape for an upcoming film role. Privacy is key - Murphy has recently gotten out of rehab and Echo says this role will be his entree back into the Hollywood elite if he doesn't screw it up, and maybe Raven's ticket to a bigger clientele too. First problem: Murphy's the most difficult client she's ever encountered. Second problem: she identifies with him much more than she wants to, and it's stirring up a lot of her own emotional past. Third problem: the more time they spend together and the more open they become with each other, the harder it is to stay professional, since she's pretty sure she's falling in love.
College Couples' Experiment AU, TBD - Murphy & Raven are poor college students who each see a flyer for paid research opportunities, but it's for couples only. Maybe they're long-time friends or have only just met - either way, fake dating hijinks ensue when they decide to pair up to earn some needed cash.
In addition, I have an old KM prompt I still want to write and a Red Sun Eclipse fic, and I know I need to update/finish both A Simple Plan, Let Me Forget About Today Until Tomorrow, and of course, I truly have not forgotten about Only Then You'll See even though it's been a million years. And because I'm difficult like that, I've got a long-term, much thought about, very obsessive story I've wanted to write for ages that I'll call Space Pirates (maybe not what you think), and a few more ideas for the If One Thing Had Been Different Collection. Whoops. I'm busy for forever, so stay tuned! Also if you're curious about any of these, feel free to shoot me a message! Thanks very much to my regular and new readers - you're a huge reason why I'm still writing!
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fanartfunart · 3 years
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Fly Away
Episode 4: Bibliotech
Ao3 - First - 2 - 3
(Féline Sombre & Paon Lilas designs)
Summery: An AU where Adrien never went to in-person school, not getting the cat miraculous, and found the peacock miraculous. -Adrien sets out to find the Grimoire, and Alya volunteers her investigative skills, interviewing her classmates. Until a librarian gets akumatized and traps them all in a maze of books.
(tw for sickness. very vauge. Much like canon)
-
Alya hummed along to her CD of Nino’s music, ignoring the sounds of siblingly chaos outside her room. Her phone buzzed and she looked down at the text.
Double A: “Hi, you’re the local superhero expert, right?”
She chuckled at Adrien’s question and texted back, “The one and only! Why? Whatcha wondering about?”
“I’m looking for a specific book, actually? An older one about superheros, with lots of different kinds. Seen it anywhere?”
She tilted her head “Just the one you said Chloé took from your dad’s???”
Adrien spent a long time typing only for his reply to read “Oh. Of course, thank you.”
Alya frowned and called him. Adrien picked up with a delay, piano music playing in the background. His voice was hushed “Hi, uh, why are you calling me?”
“What’s going on? Did you not know what kind of book Chloé, or I guess your dad, had?”
“Oh...oh um. No, no I did. Of course I knew what kind of book it was, that’s why I was asking about it. Because it’s lost and I wanted to find it, for my dad,” Adrien chuckled awkwardly.
“Why are you whispering? Are you at a concert?”
“Oh... no I’m supposed to be practicing piano right now...”
“Oh so you’re playing a recording? Huh. Smart.” Alya got up and grabbed her shoes. “Want me to ask around for your book then? It’s kinda my thing. Plus, Chloé never let me get close enough to look at it.”
“You’d do that?” Adrien whispered softly.
“Yeah boy! Don’t worry about it. If Chloé lost it during or before the Collector situation then it’s probably not too far from the school’s social circle.”
“Wow great! Oh whoops- I gotta get back to my practice, Natalie’s coming- so uh... goodbye!”
Alya chuckled “Bye Adrien.” They hung up and Alya got ready for her interrogations.
-
The majority of the students Alya could easily get a hold of knew nothing about where it went. So her only leads were Chloé and Sabrina. They had the same story: Marinette and Lila were the last two people they saw besides each other when the book disappeared.
She met with Lila at the library, Marinette scheduled to meet her not too long after.
Lila was looking at the mystery section when Alya waved her over. "Thank you for meeting with me."
She nodded with a smile, putting down her murder mystery novel, "Of course, what did you need?"
Alya got out her notepad, pen at the ready. "Are you aware that the book Chloé brought to class is missing?"
"It is? Oh no, I didn't. Are you looking for it for her?"
"Not exactly," Alya scribbled down a note. "For its original owner, not Chloé. But! Do you mind describing where you saw it last?"
Lila hummed and shook her head, "I'm sorry, I just remember Chloé showing it to me before she fell and ran off. I thought she had it. Sabrina seemed to really want to leave though."
"I already got Sabrina and Chloé's statements… Marinette was with you, right?"
"Oh! Yes, she was. If you want I can talk to her for you?"
"That's okay," Alya said, "I've already arranged for her to give me her story next. I'm just covering my bases."
Lila hummed and nodded, "If you don't mind my curiosity, who's the original owner?"
"Oh, the Aggrestes," Alya said, "Adrien asked me to help."
Lila raised a brow, "Adrien? He's the one whose face is plastered practically all across Paris, yes?"
Alya chuckled and nodded, "Yeah, I guess he's a little famous. He's pretty cool. He almost was gonna be in our class, actually. He would've transferred in just before you," she shrugged, "Guess his dad changed his mind."
Lila tapped her fingers across the mystery novel's cover and smiled, "Well, I don't have much else for you. Hope you find it for him. It seemed like a special book." Lila stood up, and they waved goodbye.
-
Adrien quietly walked up to the librarian. He smiled, “Hi.”
The librarian looked up with a barely suppressed annoyance, “Hello. How can I help you?”
"I was looking for books related to superheroes?"
He sighed, "Right there. Very popular lately." He pointed lazily and returned his gaze to his computer.
“Oh, thank you!” Adrien followed his direction towards a section that seemed to be dedicated to Féline Sombre and Ladybug. Decorated with red and black spots and green cat paw paper crafts. It was small, secluded. Creating a comfortable nook.
"Come on out, Duusu," Adrien whispered. The kwami zipped out and fluffed his feathers, tilting his head. "Any books you recognize?" Duusu hummed and flitted between the shelves of books. Adrien skimmed through the titles. (How did people get the rights to publish fiction works about the heroes? …Do Ladybug and Féline Sombre get royalties?) He tilted his head at a title "A History of Heroics: the Lesser Known Origins of Paris’s Superheroes"
Duusu came back and hovered in front of him, "Nope, nothing.”
Adrien huffed a sigh, "Well this is the last library nearby I can think of. It's got to be in somebody's private collection then, Duusu." 
Duusu's head drooped, overcome with a quiet sadness. He glanced up, seeing something behind Adrien. He gasped and hid. Adrien spun on his heel. Natalie stood there, hands behind her back.
"You abandoned your piano practice and missed a photoshoot," she said, "I'm glad you're…" she looked around at the shelves, raising a brow, "taking initiative... in your learning, but you can't just abandon your responsibilities."
He nodded, hanging his head. "I- you're right, sorry..."
She glanced down at him and sighed. Her tone softened, "Go finish up and check out your books, we will wait for you outside in the car."
He looked back up with a smile, "Oh, thanks, I'll uh-" He glanced down at the book he was caught holding. Apparently he was into history today... "I'll go check this out…"
-
Lila waited at the doorway, much to the annoyance of the terse librarian. She ignored him. 
Marinette stumbled through the doors, carrying a box of pastries. Clearly buttering up Alya to make her believe whatever lie she came up with. Lila rolled her eyes at such amateur tactics.
She sashayed towards Marinette, "Hi Marinette, how are you today?"
"Lila! Good, good, how are you?" She smiled brightly and opened the box of macaroons, "Want some? I mentioned I was visiting a friend and we had some leftovers, so my dad kinda pushed them on me."
"No, thank you. I'm just fine. But Alya was asking about that book you borrowed from Chloé. ...I'd be careful if I were you, I wouldn't want it all pinned on you. Who knows what Chloé's reaction would be."
Marinette tilted her head “She was? Why should I-”
”Well you had it last... But I know, you're so sweet, you could never steal, could you?" she smiled, grin sharp and fox-like. "Although… you’ve had ample time to return it... actually, I just remembered something... I should go tell Alya-"
"Wha- no no, I didn't steal it! It's fine, I can explain everything to Alya!" Marinette waved her hands frantically.
"Hm. You still have it right?"
"Er… No...I uh, returned it.... To the… library."
"Well should be easy to find again then," She waved a hand to the library's bookshelves, "I'd love to see it again. I'll make sure Chloé never hears who had it, if you give it to me."
"What? Why do you want it?"
"I want to return it to its original owner, that's all," she said, pressing a hand gingerly against her chest, "and do you really trust Alya to be quiet about it? She's all about truth and justice..."
Marinette frowned, folding her arms, "Alya’s more trustworthy than you, that's for sure… Whatever plan you have, I'm not going to be part of it." 
The librarian abandoned his post, frowning, "Excuse me, what's going on here?"
Lila gave a pitifully sad look to the librarian, "She stole a book from one of my friends and won't return it! She loved that book and-"
Marinette sputtered. "What, I didn't steal-" The librarian raised a hand to stop them both.
"You'd make a very good actor. But, you're a tad over dramatic, young lady. I overheard your conversation. Your earlier tone clearly indicated elements of blackmail."
"Wh- well...well," Lila looked around, at a loss for how to lie her way out of this. Her hands balled into fists, "Well, you're just a dumb book scanner. You don't know what you're talking about," she said, "Stay out of it!"
He balked and his expression hardened, "Out."
She gasped, "What? This is a public library-"
"Yet, this dumb book scanner is telling you to get. Out. You blackmailed another patron and then tried to lie to me," he pointed to the doors, pen in hand. "So, I'd rather not repeat myself a third time."
Lila stomped out. Adrien tilted his head as he walked towards the counter, seeing Marinette watching the sceene. “Marinette?” She turned to look at him, raising a brow.
“Wha- Adrien? What are you doing here?”
A purple butterfly landed on the librarian's pen.
"Bibliotech, I am Hawkmoth. One too many people have dismissed and belittled you. I can give you the power to make sure everyone listens to you. You'll be the smartest person in the room at all times. In return, all I ask is for Ladybug, Féline Sombre, and Paon Lilas' Miraculous."
The librarian narrowed his eyes, adjusted his glasses, and grinned, "They'll all regret underestimating me." His glasses were now a glowing visor, his pen had seemed to have morphed into a staff. He twirled the staff in a motion that made a red “P” in the air.
“Marinette!” Adrien pointed, and ran towards her. Marinette turned and gasped as the window crashed as the pen-staff was thrown towards Lila’s receding figure. Lila disappeared as the pen touched her. Bibliotech summoned the staff back to himself, a meter on the pen filling slightly. He turned towards Marinette and Adrien.
"You seem like smart kids," he said, which didn't sound especially good to be in this context, "I hope you're ready for the test. Unfortunately, I don't have a number 2 pencil for you to borrow!"
He twirled his staff-pen and was about to hit Marinette with it, but Adrien shoved her to the floor. He stared at her for a moment. “You okay?”
She nodded and scrambled up. “Run!” She directed, pointing somewhere for Adrien to go while she ran into another opposite direction.
Adrien took the opportunity to dive behind the library counter. “Duusu, spread my feathers!”
"Akuma! Evacuate the Library!" Marinette yelled. She glanced down each row of books for a hiding spot to transform.... Come on, why does every row of books have at least one person in it?!
Alya stood up as Marinette ran toward her, "Marinette?! Akuma? Where!?" She started getting out her phone.
"Do not go toward the angry supervillain, please!" Marinette exclaimed, pushing Alya in the opposite direction.
Paon Lilas crashed into a bookshelf nearby, chuckling awkwardly. “Hi girls. Don’t mind me.” He stood back up, wobbily, as Bibliotech and a pair of people with a red “F” on their chests walked forward, expressions frighteningly vacant.
“You deserve a bad grade for your attitude!” Bibliotech called.
“My attitude? Who are you, my father?” Paon Lilas snarked back, running back towards him.
“No, I’m Bibliotech,” he said, matter of factually. He side stepped Paon Lilas’s attack and the minions grabbed the superhero.
He hummed, "I don't want to make it easy for you," Bibliotech drew the shorthand for “revise” and tapped a book shelf. The shelves bended and twisted into a maze-like structure. Blocking off Marinette and Alya together, and Paon Lilas with the villains.
"Nonono nooo," Marinette cried.
"If you can escape this I'll let you pass automatically!" Bibliotech's voice echoed. "Trust me, you'll need to pass this test."
"Ugh, we're not gonna be able to see the fight from here…" Alya turned towards Marinette,  "Come on, we gotta stick together if we wanna get out of here. Two minds are better than one, girl. I'm sure the superheroes will have it handled in no time!"
Marinette sighed. "Let's just hope they can find their way through this…"
-
Féline Sombre called Ladybug again, and huffed as it continued to not go through. She really hoped she hadn't been caught by Bibliotech. They landed outside the library and looked around. It was eerily quiet. She cautiously walked in.
"Hello Féline Sombre. I'll give you one chance to do this easily." Bibliotech sat on the top of one of the book shelves, legs crossed, "Hand me that ring, please."
"I appreciate the please, not so much the everything else," Féline Sombre said, and extended her staff to knock him down towards her. 
He blocked it with his own staff, and dropped to the ground, twirling it. "I hope you're ready to pay your late fees then."
Féline Sombre narrowly avoided being tapped with his staff and giggled nervously. "Do cats get late fee exemptions?"
"No," he said bluntly, twirling his staff and using the back half of it to throw her off balance. They grabbed onto their staff and extended it, twirling on the bar and leaping down to kick him back.
She tumbled and turned around, only for the man to have disappeared. They sighed, “Ladybug better get here fast.”
-
Paon Lilas threw off the other mindless drone and kicked the bookshelf. He stumbled backwards, barely avoiding the avalanche of books, vision blooming with spots. The akuma’s minions didn’t move after he was out of their grip. “Wow, is that what a failing grade does to you? He made them real dunces.... Oo, Dunce caps. That’s what I’m calling them now.”
He frowned at the rows of books and braced a hand against the wall to keep his balance. Someone nearby was very frustrated. He turned to follow it. It was probably Bibliotech.
-
Marinette anxiously tried to find somewhere to lose Alya. She took unexpected turns and ran ahead, but no. Alya just turned right with her, despite the fact that she was also recording everything. 
"It seems Bibliotech basically gave the building a revision, like a teacher might to a student's essay." Alya narrated, "He's also making this maze really hard… Marinette no, we went that way before!"
Marinette groaned in exasperation, "Shouldn't we… split up to cover more ground?"
"I'd suggest against it," A calm, overly gentle, masculine voice said, "Besides, I’m here to help now." 
Marinette froze. Please no, please no not him. Couldn’t Féline Sombre have come to save them before him? She turned around and frowned at Paon Lilas. He smiled (annoyingly) at her.
"How did you find us?" Marinette cried, throwing up her hands.
"I followed the feelings of frustration,” he said with an awkward laugh. “Anyway, we should get you out of here-”
“You’re not going to help Ladybug and Féline Sombre with Bibliotech?” Marinette said, folding her arms.
He shrugged, “Can’t be much help if I can’t find any of them, can I?” he offered a hand, "Paon Lilas, if you haven't heard of me yet." 
"Alya, creator of the Ladyblog. I’ve definitely heard of you," Alya accepted the hand and instead of shaking it, he leaned down to kiss her hand. Marinette pointedly did not give him her hand or a name.
"So, you mentioned you followed our feelings- Can you tell who the emotions are connected to?" Alya aimed her phone camera at Paon Lilas, obviously preparing to interview him. Paon Lilas waved for them to follow him and started walking. Alya followed.
"Er, stronger emotions are easier to find, and akuma victims are usually really really strong… So, I can make a good guess? Uh... a few people are… loud? Emotionally. Right now, though." He seemed to wince, minutely. It was covered with a smile. He shrugged, "It's making it a little hard to isolate Bibliotech."
Marinette frowned and turned down a random turn the rest of the group had walked past. Paon Lilas turned around, "Mar- er, Miss, where are you going?"
Marinette groaned in frustration and smiled sharply at him, "Sorry, got excited."
He giggled, a strange (condescending?? No… fond?!?) smile on his lips. "I noticed. Do you need me to hold your hand? ...To keep you from running down every turn out of excitement?"
"Nope! Nope. I'm good." She stuffed her hands in her pockets and glared forward. Alya mercifully was too distracted by Paon Lilas to comment.
Féline Sombre ran past, then skidded to a halt and returned to the group. “Birdy! Seen Ladybug?”
“Nope, no Buggaboo yet. Nice of you to join us though, Kitten.”
Marinette wrinkled her nose at the nickname. Buggaboo? Really?
Féline Sombre frowned, “Okay.... We need a way to work through this maze to get to the Akuma and make sure Ladybug can find us...”
"We could help!” Alya said, “Marinette and I could make a book trail.”
“If you do that, I could probably more easily use my powers to track down Bibliotech’s emotions.”
"What?" Marinette squeaked, "Surely they can do that themselves. How about we… find a good place to hide while they do that!?"
Paon Lilas frowned and glanced at the group. He gently pulled Marinette off to the side.
"You're nervous and frustrated... Do you really want to stay here? Wait until Ladybug captures the akuma?"
Marinette glanced around. Easy out. She nodded. "Sure, you go ahead and I'll stay right here!"
"I could give you a sentimonster to protect you, and your friend Alya, if she wants to stay too. Then Féline and I can just go find Bibliotech."
"Oh you uh, you don't need to do that. I'm fine staying here alone!"
"I want to," he smiled, "I want to help. Trust me."
Marinette frowned and nodded, "Fine…"
He fumbled forward without warning, eyes widening. He quickly straightened himself out and took a deep breath. He smiled again, like the moment never happened. He plucked a feather from his fan and imbued it with power, blowing it towards Marinette in away absurdly close to blowing a kiss. The feather fluttered into Marinette's purse and the twin masks of light appeared on their faces.
"If you need anything just tell me," he said, "I can hear it, no matter how far." He winked and the light faded. 
A fluffy, black and white dog with a pink floral pattern on its forehead and paws, sat next to Marinette. 
Paon Lilas turned towards Alya and Féline Sombre. "Marinette's staying here with senti-pup. Alya, what do you want to do?"
"I'm going with you, I wanna record this!"
Féline humed, "Okay but you need to keep out of the way… I still have no idea what the Akuma is in so-"
"The pen" Paon Lilas said, “The akuma’s in the pen.”
Marinette blinked, “How did you know that?”
He chuckled awkwardly, “I- er, call it intuition.”
“Huh. Great. Cool, go save the day!” Marinette pushed Paon Lilas away, as senti dog barked at the rest of them, herding them like a sheepdog. 
With the group finally gone, she ran down the corner a little farther and sighed as Tiki zipped out.
"I love Alya but seriously, I could've been helping Féline Sombre already."
Tiki giggled, "What are we doing with your new buddy?" 
"Oh. Right. Uh…" She took off her purse so it wouldn't disappear in her transformation. "There, let's go. Tiki! Spots on!" 
She picked up her purse and made a hush motion to the dog, who wagged its tail.
-
They followed Paon Lilas's lead Alya trailing behind putting down books to keep them on track. The strongest emotions led them into what must be the center of the library maze. Surrounded by Dunce Caps. 
Ladybug ran in behind them, Marinette's Sentidog at her heels. 
"Ladybug?" Paon Lilas frowned at her, "Why do you have Marinette's purse?"
"She, uh, gave it to me, I led her out of the building and she didn't want your amok to go to waste."
He sighed, "So brave," under his breath. He shook his head. “Let's get this over with...”
Ladybug caught his arm before he could jump into fray. "We've gotta be smart about this, this whole thing is a test, right?"
He glared at her hand on his arm and pulled away. "Fine, what is your plan, M’lady?"
She huffed and then glanced at Sentidog and Alya’s phone. "Okay, Alya, I need your phone for a second. Mind pulling up a recording?"
Alya nodded and handed her the phone. Ladybug handed it to Sentidog who bounded off, as the audio began playing. The Dunce Caps turned and followed the noise, leaving the entry unprotected.
The group walked up to it. Paon Lilas tried the door and frowned. "Locked."
"It's a puzzle," Féline Sombre said, pointing to the books above the doorway. She extended her staff to allow her to reach, and began rearranging the books. 
"They're all classics, but," they clicked them into place, "They were out of order.”
The door opened. Paon Lilas raised a brow, "How… do you know the library’s organization system?"
Féline Sombre looked confused, "You don't?"
The group walked in, and Sentidog returned, no longer holding the phone, clearly having dropped it somewhere. (Alya meanwhile got out her tablet to record instead.)
Bibliotech sat on a floating platform of books. “Took you less time than I thought it would... Are you cheating?” He shook his head, “Doesn’t matter, once I deal with you, I won’t have anything else in my way.”
Bibliotech flourished his pen in an P motion and moved to tap Ladybug with it. Paon Lilas jumped in front of her, taking the hit. He disappeared. The staff returned to Bibliotech’s hands.
Ladybug gasped. "Why did he do that? Ugh! Stupid bird- Lucky Charm!" A box fell into her hands.
Bibliotech focused on Ladybug. She used her yoyo as a shield on each hit, searching for how to use the cardboard box.
Féline Sombre extended her staff to meet Bibliotech, landing a solid kick. Bibliotech wrote another Revise note and created another platform for him to jump onto, away from Féline. The red meter went down. 
"It's an ink pen." Ladybug whispered, "Féline, destroy the platform!"
"No problem, Bug! Cataclysm!" Féline Sombre touched Bibliotech’s platform, and he grabbed their hand. They yelped and stumbled to remain precariously on the platform. Ladybug whistled and Sentidog ran up and grabbed Féline Sombre’s leg. She shifted to a less unsteady part of the platform, trying to shake off Bibliotech’s grasp on her arm. He readied his pen.
"You forgot the lid!" Ladybug said, and threw the cardboard box up. Féline Sombre grabbed it with their free hand, and caught the tip of the pen from Bibliotech’s attack.
Bibliotech tried to pull back, but the Sentidog grabbed Bibliotech's staff, growling.  Ladybug tied Bibliotech's arms in her yoyo and sentidog pulled the staff away and raced down the platforms. Féline shifted to keep a hold of Bibliotech.
Ladybug caught the dog as it jumped into her arms, giggling, "Good puppy."
It dropped the pen and she snapped it in half.
The butterfly fluttered out and the book platforms began to crumble. Féline grabbed Bibliotech and extended their staff to catch their fall, sliding down.
Ladybug caught the Akuma and threw the cardboard box in the air. "Miraculous Ladybug!"
Paon Lilas and the rest of the people reappeared. Paon instantly doubled over and coughed. His miraculous beeping.
Féline Sombre ran over to him, "Are you okay?"
He groaned, but nodded anyway. "Fine…Ya know, I was going for knocking the pen off-course but, taking the hit works too, I guess." He stumbled to a wobbling stand. Ladybug walked up to him, the sentidog on her heels. He ran.
"Wait!" Ladybug called. He turned a corner. She tried to follow him, but the aisle of books was empty. He was gone.
A mask of light appeared on her face. “Hey, Marinette. Hope you’re okay. They purified the akuma. I’m uh, pulling the amok, make sure to get your purse back from Ladybug. Sorry-” The mask disappeared, presumably because he had detransformed.
Sentidog was gone when Ladybug returned. She sighed. She was kinda going to miss that dog. Ladybug went to go help the librarian before her transformation dropped. 
-
Adrien barely caught Duusu as the kwami tumbled out of the brooch, exhausted. He pressed himself flat against the bookshelf, taking deep breaths between bouts of coughing. Pulling out the mango chips for the kwami, he groaned and slid to the floor.
He didn't know how long he sat there. Next thing he knew, Marinette was crouched next to him. Her hand on his shoulder, gentle. "Hey, hey, are you okay?"
He looked up, "Uh… No." He glanced back at the ground, his mind going back to his mother. Her illness. Her unsteadiness and coughs. He felt tears well up in his eyes. "I don't think so."
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faebriel · 3 years
Note
ok ok I'm insane and couldn't pick one so have two (no need to answer both if you don't want to)
“You talk to him.” Not kindly, but he does.
“I’m used to him,” he shoots back. “I’m the only person who is.”
That makes Niki feel something, some uncomfortable tug in her chest. She mentally kicks herself. It’s not jealousy, she reminds herself, because despite the near-cliff jumping and the long nights without food and the nuclear fallout that has punctuated her last few months, being jealous of Tommy would be the least reasonable thing she’s allowed herself to be, maybe ever.
“You don’t believe me,” Tommy says flatly. “You never - eugh.” He cuts himself off with another ragged sigh, running a hand down his face. “Look, Niki, it’s - we were all together in Pogtopia, right? But I was there first. With him. And you didn’t see the start of it, it was horrible, and I’m glad no one else saw the beginning of it either but it was still just so shit and he kept saying all these terrible things about Tubbo and Fundy and you and,” he takes a shaky breath, “then, when I died, I saw him.”
Her breath catches in her throat.
Well, the voice in the back of her head whistles. If you were still wondering about all this afterlife bullshit, if you want to know where you’re going after your third life, here you go.
and
“You didn’t even - this isn’t about L’Manberg, Wilbur!” Niki shouts.
And then he stops, breathing hard, and he looks at Niki the same way he does whenever her voice is being drowned out in a crowd - the way he does when he wants to hear her, when he wants to know what she has to say.
“What else is there?” he asks.
Niki freezes. Stock still, unable to move, unable to breathe, ice threading its way through her gut, her chest, her shoulders, chilled down to the bone. With slow-dawning horror, she can feel hot tears welling up behind her eyes, sitting in her throat, threatening to spill over into a sob. She swallows - to keep her cool, to stay calm, to keep it together -
And then, something in her chest just snaps.
“You said you’d come back for me!” she cries, and her voice hitches on the lump of tears at the back of her throat and god, she sounds absolutely pathetic. Wilbur’s face softens immediately, which somehow just makes her feel even worse. “In Manberg. When Schlatt put me in prison, and you and Tommy were in Pogtopia, you said you’d break me out when it was safe. I waited for weeks , Wilbur. It was… it was horrible.”
“Niki…” a kaleidoscope of emotions flicker across his face, and he seems unsure which to settle on. “We got you out though, right? After the festival.”
“You looked for the button first,” she says quietly, and he stills.
Her sniffling sounds embarrassingly loud against the quiet background of night.
thank you sm!!! i’m gonna put these under the cut because they got a little long sorry (tw for discussion of suicidal ideation)
to preface: tommy is kind of the accidental but incredibly necessary invisible support beam for niki and wilbur’s making amends in bitter. niki cannot accept wilbur’s actions and apology without first acknowledging her own actions and making steps towards an apology, because otherwise it kind of falls flat? in that ending scene niki finally gets what wilbur is feeling and wilbur finally gets that someone else knows how he feels (it’s not perfect 100% yet, but…. that’ll get explored later)
onto the actual snippet! “tommy talks to wilbur - not kindly, but he does” was very important to me! tommy has stuck by wilbur ever since pogtopia, but the tragedy is that he is not equipped to deal with wilbur’s issues, and it shows. wilbur’s first stream after revival depicts this really clearly, where tommy tails wilbur around the whole time but insults him, is still stuck on calling him the villain, physically fights him at some point, etc. on one hand this isn’t healthy but on the other hand tommy is actually around, which is more than can be said for basically any other ally wilbur has had on the dsmp, maybe excluding his dad, who literally killed him lmfao.
this whole issue is exacerbated by the fact that tommy believes that he is the only person who properly understands wilbur, the only person who gets what happened to him, and feels like wilbur is generally his burden to bear. he failed to stop wilbur from both 1. hurting other people and 2. killing himself after the pogtopia-manberg war - and he doesn’t trust wilbur not to do either of those things again, so he’s stuck hovering around wilbur while wilbur is inadvertently setting off his own trauma and feeling responsible for any way he might fuck up and hating that but not wanting to leave. tommy’s memory isn’t perfect and he isn’t a perfect narrator, what he remembers from pogtopia the most were the scariest parts and that’s understandable but it means he’s holding wilbur to the worst expectations of behaviour (and he does so very vocally). the others showed up later, sure, but in tommy’s eyes he’s the only one who saw wilbur’s descent, and by the time they showed up wilbur had already changed irreversably. tommy tries to rationalise this by splitting the ‘different wilburs’ apart from each other in his head (he does this in canon too - there’s one quote from like late 2020 where he says he and tubbo need to keep on going for who wilbur used to be, not who he became, even though they’re,, the same person), and no one challenges that perspective, so he just keeps doing it even though it’s not healthy for him or wilbur.
and then limbo happened and, oh geez, THAT didn’t help jhfaskjjfsa
tommy is on a bit of a knife edge with niki in this fic. niki’s in this state of “ok, he’s annoying whatever, i’m moving on”, but all tommy knows is that she tried to kill him that one time, disappeared off the face of the map, joined a book club with two people who definitely do not like him, and now is just acting weirdly mellow and polite. she is not someone he wants near wilbur bc what the fuck is she gonna do? what is he gonna do? who knows. he’s frustrated that niki doesn’t seem to acknowledge how he’s feeling (especially bc once upon a time she would have been someone he trusted to acknowledge them - they were friends, they fought together) and he’s taking a big step by telling someone about his concerns here, especially bc tommy doesn’t really like talking about them at all. he wouldn’t be saying absolutely anything to niki if he didn’t truly believe she should stay away from wilbur, even if he’s wrong about him. (sometimes i think i write tommy as a little too emotionally mature here but it all goes out the window when wilbur’s brought up. idk if that balances it out)
ok onto niki: this is the first she has actually heard of limbo! she’s only just come around to the fact that resurrection is possible at all. death is kind of a touchy subject for niki both in general and re: wilbur in the fic - she’s coming off of a period in her life where suicidal ideation was, uh, a big thing (whether you want to read that into canon or not is subjective, that’s just the angle i went with in this fic). the sudden existence of a life after death, miserable as it is - and whether she really believes in such a place, when it only exists in tommy and wilbur’s words - that is a lot of information for her to absorb all at once. death is a weird connection point for tommy and niki here, coming right off of the fact that they’ve just acknowledged each other having those problems - tommy, out of, yknow, altruism, would very much like to keep niki out of that place, and niki is quietly reckoning with the fact that that is where she would have sent him. the concept of limbo from the perspective of a character with no experience of it, even secondhand, is so interesting to me like what kind of eldritch location would you feel like you’re living in asghjkl
(also - i gotta be honest the jealousy angle here but mostly when she’s talking later about dream not deserving wilbur’s companionship kinda came out after this post came across my dash while writing. whoops /j)
-
fun fact, this is the very first snippet of bitter that i ever wrote! all the way back in may!! this is like the moment of the fic - it's where the miscommunication that niki and wilbur have been having is shattered entirely - and so sticking the landing was uhhh kinda important to me lol.
wilbur's entire being in this fic is basically consumed by L'Manberg - he equates his self worth to it entirely. in his eyes, everyone (rightfully) hates him because of what he did to L'Manberg, because L'Manberg was corrupted and he himself with it, etc. niki tries to tell herself this, and while it definitely does form part of her issues with him, it was the betrayal that causes her this much pain - that he seemingly brushed her and their friendship off entirely when he supposedly left her for dead in manberg. because here is what we as the audience know: wilbur couldn’t leave niki in trouble when he heard her life was in danger, even when he was trying to find the button (pretty much the only thing he sees himself as having left at this point) and so he returned. here is what it looks like from niki’s perspective: wilbur told her to wait in manberg until it was safe to come to pogtopia, laid the place with TNT, went to blow up the place, and only returned when he couldn’t find the detonator (and then the first thing she saw him do in pogtopia was encourage the pit behaviour but that’s not what we’re talking about asdfgh). that is massive miscommunication and it’s been brewing between them for months - to make a quirky little reference to the title, niki has been carrying that anger with her so long it's gone bitter. it was never just about l’manberg with niki - not that anger, not her and wilbur’s friendship (hence the little flashback earlier in the fic, bc niki’s relationship to anarchism and statehood or statelessness juxtaposed with her friendships with wilbur and eret - she loves l’manberg bc she loves wilbur, but she loves eret too and those national ties don’t undermine that - is Real Interesting to me) - so when wilbur asks what else there could possibly be (because in his mind, what else could she have bothered staying around for?), she just fucking breaks.
“Niki freezes. Stock still, unable to move, unable to breathe, ice threading its way through her gut...with slow-dawning horror, she can feel hot tears welling up behind her eyes” - prose discussion time! heat and cold are two big throughlines in this fic - particularly for niki, cold is what she is. admittedly when i started with it i mostly wanted to subvert hot = angry and cold = dead but i kinda ended up enjoying this take on it for what it is instead of just as a subversion (also i like the idea of revived people running hot, their bodies r working hard to keep em going). she’s holding onto her feelings and refusing to deal with them, she’s frozen over. descriptions of cold are key to niki’s mental state throughout the fic - cold weight on her chest, feelings of frostbite when she and wilbur hug the first time, ice cold water during the dinner scene, waking up in the cold flat, etc. this was an attempt at describing a more visceral feeling of like, when you’re really mad and you can just feel the adrenaline running through your veins. always felt more cold than hot to me. when she starts to cry, the facade she’s been putting on is finally thawing out and cracking the ice she’s buried her feelings under. (also gives an excuse to write warm comforting hugs towards the end /hj). it’s a loss, it’s catharsis, it’s a whole mess.
and ofc this is all news to wilbur and he feels terrible, because as unintentional as it was, he really really hurt her - because the destruction of l’manberg fucking sucked but above all else wilbur hurt the people he loved because they loved him so much and not in spite of it, because they cared about him so deeply and his death was a massive blow to them. this hasn’t even dawned on him, because how could it? he respects deeply niki (lowkey respects her opinion more than his own at this point) so he has to listen, because it’s niki (“and he looks at Niki the same way he does whenever her voice is being drowned out in a crowd - the way he does when he wants to hear her, when he wants to know what she has to say” - because he does), and what she says fucking floors him. in his eyes, he failed her by putting her in danger and then by destroying her home - the idea that she valued him and their friendship so much flies entirely over his head until this moment, and he is forced to re-evaluate the mindset that has motivated him since… basically since pogtopia! the way i write wilbur is like… yes, he’s one of niki’s closest friends and he’s more aware of her insecurities and issues than most (which is why he does always take the time to listen to her, etc) but he does over-idealise her a bit. tbf, i think he does to some extent with everyone (calling tubbo strong on the anniversary stream, for example). also the fact that he really wasn’t around for niki’s lowest moments as a character! he still thinks of her the way she was in l’manberg - confident, steadfast, respected - and this moment shatters that for him as he realises exactly what effect he and his death had on her and everyone else, not just by his actions, but because they loved him and cared for him so deeply.
sorry that this got horrifically long!! and thank you so much for sending snippets in <3333
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scone-lover · 3 years
Text
Happy Birthday to Holding Out For a Hero!!! ❤️
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art by @subparselkie
I published the first chapter of my longest and most popular fic just about a year ago! And I bet you always wanted to see some shitty outlines. Right? Just giving the people what they want. My brain is chaos and now you all have to be subject to it. Strap in, boys. 😂 Everything’s below the cut!
Read Holding Out for a Hero on AO3
This fic was born because I saw a tumblr post about a hero and villain who are roommates and I just had to Snowbazzify it. I had so many random ideas in my brain, and I’d been engaging with fan content for the CO fandom for a few months now.
So I started off by opening a blank document and writing the Prologue, featuring Shep. I had a few basic facts in mind: Shepard’s a reporter, Simon’s a hero, Baz is a villain, Mage is an evil mayor. And that’s. Literally it. I made it up as I went along. I actually still do that with fics, even though I do try to outline in more detail now—I have to write a scene or two that’s been bouncing around in my head to get a feel for the story, then I can give it a direction.
The document is 337 pages on google docs, LOL. 
Here’s the first ever set of notes I had. I wrote this on March 29, 2020, directly after typing out the Prologue! 
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Like I said, absolute chaos. The third Simon bullet point originally said something like “also I’m a superhero and only Penny knows,” then the following day I changed it to “but he’s so handsome? what do???” 
I didn’t publish the prologue until writing 5-6 additional chapters, but I think the only major change was going from Baz being “The Vampire” to just “Vampire.”
Chapter 1 was originally called “not a bloody avenger” before I decided to do the rhyming thing. I actually decided that because I wrote “counter spray and earl grey” down for chapter 2, unintentionally rhyming it, and then @ashspren-writes was like, “you should make them all rhyme”... so I did. 😂 For 25 more chapters.
I have a section labeled “quickie backgrounds” in which I finally sat down halfway through writing Chapter 2 (the blade/vamp fight) and said to myself, okay, maybe they should have backstories or something. Or like, reasons for being the hero and villain. Right, yeah, those would be good to make this into a coherent story. In the first version of that, Simon was a sports coach on the side, not a baker, and Baz was an English teacher. LOL. 
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Once I had all that, I literally just wrote for four days. There’s a weird kind of magic to your first-ever fic for a fandom. All your ideas and thoughts and wishes for these characters comes to a head as you suddenly have an outlet for the first time. It’s why I think people’s first works are often their best or most creative or most profound. The first couple chapters took some time and a couple 1am epiphanies, but once I got into a rhythm it was quick going. I wrote a lot of it in a linear manner, but after writing the first Simon/Baz scene (watching the news together in the flat), I doubled back and added Simon going to Penny’s house after meeting the Mage so that I could work her in as a character earlier.
Fast forward to April 5, I had 5-ish chapters written? I thought this fic would have like... 10 total. And be less than 20k. Haha. Ha. I asked @ashspren-writes to beta read for me - I’d been bouncing ideas off her since the beginning - and then I started brainstorming titles. 
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The list actually started with that second one. It took a whole 24 hours to decide on the final title. 😂 I thought it might be too cheesy. But hey, it worked out -- now I can’t open AO3 without the damn song getting stuck in my head. 
I worked a LOT with my friend @ashspren-writes on this fic - we were friends long before fandom, and she was the only person I knew at the time who had read CO and was involved in the fandom. I didn’t even have a tumblr at this point, I interacted mostly through Instagram and AO3!
On April 6, right before I posted, I realized that if I was going to actually put this on AO3 I should probably know where the story was going. So I made sure Chapters 1-6 were complete, then I wrote one bullet point per chapter up until 12 or so -- you can read those below.
Then I texted ashspren THIS mess:
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Some silly notes:
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Then I have a section that says “Why do they even have roommates?” because it was a few chapters in and I hadn’t justified richboy Baz and superhero Simon... living together. Cool cool cool
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I also did this cool little writing experiment I want to share. Remember that line in Fangirl that’s like—“Once Cath wrote what she thought was a swordfight, and Wren turned it into a love scene.” (Or maybe it was the other way around? LOL.) Anyway, there’s swordfights in this, AND love scenes, so I wanted to do a play on that for two alternate ways Simon might figure it out.
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I have a huge Deleted Section in which I wrote an alternate version of Simon and Baz finding out about their secret identities. I have one version where Baz figures it out first—it’s a very tropey yet angsty scene where Simon comes home totally wrecked from a fight, and Baz realizes as he’s helping with the wounds that he caused them. I actually like it a lot, but it ended up not quite fitting with the vibe of the fic (and I rather like them finding out through kissing better). :) I also had an idea where Simon figures it out because Vampire smells like cedar and bergamot, but it really just wasn’t interesting enough. 😂
Now onto... Outlines. 
I say that hesitantly because I think these are literally a disgrace to outlines everywhere. These are the baby ones I wrote on April 6 right before posting. Some are more detailed than others, clearly...
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Gotta live up to my username somehow. 
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We do love to see it. ​
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I love this next one: 😂 CHAOS, SCONEY.
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THEN, I wrote this as a very long text to ashspren, when I realized no sconey, this is not going to be under 20k words. LOL. 
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And then I did A Dumb Thing and I put it on AO3, having absolutely NO CLUE WHERE THE STORY WAS GOING. 😂 
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This is my favorite heading on the document.
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Another one of my favorite notes in there.
This next part wasn’t even divided into chapters yet, it’s just a word vomit. I’m so sorry you have to read this mess.
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Hahaha, once upon a time there was angst in this story. 😂 
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And then I realized my true calling: bakery fluff.
Then and only then, I actually decided to divide into those things called Chapters. This is the point where I made the admission to mr scone (boyfriend, not husband lol, we just call him that) that I write gay fanfiction, whoops, and can he please help me because he’s a HUGE DC comics fan and knows everything. And of course, he was super chill about it, and he did. He really did. He’s the genius behind Egghead!!! And also the entire Mage-Humdrum-Supercomputer/Politics plot. I’m serious. I did none of that.
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I can’t even say I’m trying anymore. “Flort”??? I AM LITERALLY NOT TRYING.
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Why yes sconey, so very specific. 😂 
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This is what qualifies as a “good” outline for me, that heading was just for my betas. Isn’t it fabulous to see that some of this actually made it in and I’m capable of planning in advance? 😂 
Get ready for the shock of your life, though -- I actually have a SUUUUPER detailed outline for the two finale chapters. Because, well, it’s the finale. Wrapping up loose ends does actually require planning, WHO KNEW. Also I’d been writing and posting for a couple months at this point and it had been several more weeks in quarantine so maybe I’d regained some sense of reality? It’s like two pages but still shittily written, so I’ll just share a couple tidibits.
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That bullet point is extraordinarily cracky BUT actually, Baz shooting up from the cloud like an awesome fucking hot dramatic person was one of the very first scenes I envisioned for this fic :D 
I hope you enjoyed this glimpse into my writing brain! It’s a terrifying place. I love all of you that say Holding Out For a Hero is a well-crafted masterpiece, but respectfully, no ❤️ 
(Though I swear I AM super, super happy with how it turned out - it’s still my favorite thing I’ve ever written. Read it here!!!)
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madsthewordclown · 3 years
Text
Pancakes | Sokka x Reader Modern AU
warnings: minor language
summary: you’re tired coming home from a trip over break and also freaking out about your feelings for a certain friend of yours. ft. best friend sleepover.
This fic was somewhat inspired by Pancakes for Dinner by Lizzy McAlpine and the rest of my pining playlist. Hope you guys like it! Also I’m sorry the title is not very relevant but I was tired after spending three days trying to pull this together :/ whoops
“Don’t worry, I’m almost home.” You talked just a bit too loudly to make sure your phone picked up the noise.
“Are you on the phone while driving, Y/N?” Sokka asked. He could probably hear the sound of your car on the highway—there were too many bumps on this road.
“It’s on speaker,” you clarified, being careful to keep your eyes on the road. You had been hoping to get home before dark, but the sun setting to your left was not a great indicator. You glanced down at your dashboard clock—only 5:30. You cursed daylight savings time. “I think I might have an hour left?”
“Know your way from there?” Sokka’s voiced cracked in your phone speaker. He sounded like he was chewing something.
“Yeah, I think so. I was just checking in to let you know.” You had been calling and checking in with either Sokka, Zuko or Katara every hour of your drive. Driving for so long made you especially nervous, and you never said anything so not to worry them, but you wanted one of your friends to have a general idea of where you were if anything were to happen. You knew that you were just being paranoid, but the dimming evening light only served to heighten your nerves.
“Drive safe,” Sokka told you. “Call me if you need anything, okay?”
“I will,” you replied, gulping. You thought of the millions of things you wanted to say to him, but kept your mouth shut. You glanced down to see your phone screen go dark, indicating that Sokka had hung up.
You didn’t tell him how you wished he would stay on the phone to keep you company. You didn’t ask him to see about getting you food for when you finally got home. You most definitely didn’t tell him about the very unhelpful thought that was streaming through your head; I like you, I like you, I like you.
You didn’t know when things had changed between you and Sokka. Your feelings for him had grown into something more than purely platonic, that you couldn’t deny. But you were pretty good at keeping those feelings hidden—in most cases your infatuations would come and go quickly, and you didn’t like to embarrass yourself by acting on an impulse. Even so, you felt like Sokka had been distant lately.
You supposed he had offered to let you stay at his and Zuko’s apartment while you were temporarily kicked out of your dorm for what your college said was a “routine maintenance procedure,” but that might have been more Zuko’s doing. Besides, they had offered the same service to Toph. Toph said that “routine maintenance” was probably code for “getting rid of roaches”.
At least the temporary displacement was over fall break, when lots of students went home. The university did offer other temporary accommodations, but Katara had insisted that the stay at Sokka and Zuko’s would be “the ultimate best-friend sleepover,” and that they’d all spend the night when you got back. As much as you loved your friends, you were happy that you had spent the first half of your break with your parents. You felt like you needed to give Sokka some space, and maybe take some time to let your feelings pass. Unfortunately, they hadn’t, but maybe Sokka would stop acting so distant.
You kept your speed at 5 under the limit as you drove. You felt ridiculous, but somehow your brain could never stop imagining worst-case scenarios; a deer jumping out in front of you, a police chase coming to a violent end over the top of the next hill. It was like a mini-existential crisis every time you were behind the wheel for too long.
You breathed a sigh of relief as you reached the city, the streets once again becoming familiar, illuminated by the streetlamps. The tight feeling in your chest loosened its grip, and you let your hands relax against the wheel.
You hardly believed your luck when you saw the empty space in front of Sokka and Zuko’s building. You quickly parked. Spaces were usually impossible to find. You unbuckled your seatbelt and leaned back with a sigh, relieved to finally be done driving. You had made it, the full 8 hours finally over.
You got out of the car and stretched your legs. Cars weren’t built for tall people, you lamented to yourself as you grabbed your bags out of your backseat, feeling the stiffness in your back as you leaned to grab your things.
Going up the stairs to the third floor was awful, and by the end of it, you wanted nothing more than to lie down. You knocked on the door—they had temporarily offered your spare key to Toph while you were gone—and leaned on the frame while you waited for someone to answer.
“Y/N!” Sokka cried as he opened the door for you. The instant you saw his smile you felt butterflies in your stomach, and the overwhelming urge to just say it—I like you, I like you, I like you—repeated like a mantra in your head.
“Hey, Sokka!” You leaned in to give him a half-hug; it was the best you could do with all of your bags.
“You should’ve called,” Sokka eyed your bags with a frown, “I would’ve helped you bring your stuff in.”
“It’s okay,” you brushed him off, pushing through the door.
“Y/N!” Katara cheered. You could see her sitting on the floor with Aang, leaning back up against the sofa where Zuko and Toph were sprawled out as much as possible. Somehow, Toph managed to take up more space regardless of the height difference. Zuko, Aang, and Toph echoed Katara’s cheer, although Toph did so half-mockingly.
You dropped your bags off by the kitchen table—you’d sort those out later. You just wanted to rest, and you knew you’d have to answer questions about your trip. Suddenly, a smell hit you. “Is something burning?”
“Shit!” Sokka exclaimed suddenly, rushing over to the stove.
“What’s that?” You asked, going to look over his shoulder. It was a bit difficult, as he and Zuko somehow managed to be taller than you. It drove you crazy, as you had been used to being the resident tall-person before you’d met. They loved holding it over your head, both literally and figuratively. (But you most definitely did not have a Napoleon complex. No way.)
“Pancakes,” Sokka answered, carefully flipping two off of the pan. “I figured you’d be hungry.”
“And we wanted pancakes!” Toph yelled from her spot on the couch.
“Make your own damn pancakes!” Sokka yelled back, “I’m giving up.” He turned to where you were standing behind him.
“Here, I’ll take the ones that I burnt, and you can have these other ones.” He held out a plate to you. “I hope four is enough.”
“You really didn’t have to make me food.” But you were so, so happy he did. You hadn’t realized how hungry you were, but now your stomach was being very demanding. You took the plate from him. “Thanks, Sokka.” I like you, I like you, I like you.
“Well, we know Sokka has a favorite,” Toph deadpanned.
“You never make me pancakes, Sokka,” Zuko pouted, sticking out his tongue.
“Shut up,” Sokka replied simply, following you over to claim a spot on the floor next to Katara and Aang, a bottle of syrup in hand.
You and Sokka ate pancakes while your friends asked you about your trip, with a random Mythbusters episode acting as background noise. Yes, your parents were doing great, yes, your hometown was as interesting as ever. The pancakes were delicious, and you felt even more grateful for Sokka’s gesture.
Despite the joy you felt to be reunited with your friends, you couldn’t deny that you were tired. You felt yourself wanting to doze off as you leaned on the couch. You yawned, stretching your arms up. Sokka noticed immediately.
“Hey, you can take my room if you want,” he offered, accurately sensing your exhaustion. You tried in vain to keep your cheeks from reddening—you didn’t think Sokka had noticed, but you were sure Katara did by the look she gave you.
“No, it’s okay,” you reassured him, “all of my bags are in here anyway, and they’re a mess.”
“Here, I’ll move them and get things cleaned up. You need to sleep,” Sokka insisted, proving his insistence by immediately getting up to gather your things. The second he disappeared into his room, Katara turned to you.
“Y/N, I give you my permission to date my brother.”
“Katara!” You blushed. “It’s not like that.”
“Y/N, you’re my best friend and Sokka’s my roommate,” Zuko said, “and I of all people would know that you two have been dancing in circles around each other for months.”
“It’s disgusting,” Toph added, unhelpfully.
“Sokka doesn’t like me like that. He’s been acting weird and avoiding me for weeks,” you reasoned, not bothering to deny your own feelings. It’s not like it mattered.
“He’s not avoiding you today,” Aang mentioned as he leaned on Katara’s shoulder. You supposed you couldn’t deny it, but before you had the chance to respond, Sokka was back.
“I’m sorry if things are still a bit messy, but you can head in and go to bed if you’re tired. I can take the couch.”
“Hey, Snoozles, Zuko and I called dibs,” Toph snapped. “Take the floor.”
“Zuko has a bed here, you know.” Sokka put a hand on his hip.
“Yeah,” Zuko looked up at him from his position on the couch, “but now I’m here, and I’m not moving.” Toph nodded in agreement.
“Then I’ll take Zuko’s room,” Sokka amended.
“Okay, then,” Zuko conceded.
“What?!?” Katara cried indignantly, sitting up straight like a bolt. “You told me I couldn’t!”
“Yeah, because he doesn’t want you and Twinkle-Toes canoodling,” Toph cackled. Katara scoffed.
“We do not canoodle!”
Sokka turned to you as you yawned again. “Get some sleep,” he said. As much as you wanted to refuse, you couldn’t resist the opportunity to finally get some rest. You slowly stood up and walked yourself towards Sokka’s room, and he took your spot on the floor. “Goodnight.”
You took a deep breath when you entered Sokka’s room and switched on the light. You had been in his room once before, when you offered him a ride to a lecture, and he wasn’t awake on time—you had come in and smacked him with one of your notebooks. It was small—Sokka felt bad that Zuko paid most of their rent with his rich-person money and had actually convinced him to go for a cheaper apartment when they had decided to move in together.
You got the vague sense that you needed to shower, but you were too tired to worry about it, and you didn’t want to fish your toiletries out of your stuffed overnight bag. You checked your phone once, and saw you had a text from Katara.
Sokka was paying more attention to you than Mythbusters, Y/N. The MYTHBUSTERS!!!
You rolled your eyes and shot back a quick, “whatever.” And for once, your overwhelming exhaustion drowned out the fluttering feeling in your gut as you climbed into Sokka’s bed. You were asleep as soon as your head hit the pillow.
You could tell when you woke up that it was way too early. You could also tell that you weren’t in your own bed, and then you remembered. Right. Sokka gave you his room. You sat up, pushing the comforter off of you. You had a shaky feeling in your chest, and you knew you’d woken up from a bad dream, but you couldn’t quite remember what it was. You felt like you did when you were driving the night before—jittery, a million thoughts going through your mind all at once.
You decided it might be a good course of action to get a glass of water to help you calm down and relieve the dryness in your throat that further prevented you from going back to sleep. You quietly tip-toed out of Sokka’s bedroom. You noticed multiple papers with sketches and diagrams from his engineering classes scattered about the room, and it gave you a little bit of comfort.
You tried to be as quiet as possible so as not to disturb the others, who were all fast asleep in the living room. You quickly got your glass of water and downed it, not wanting to bring it into Sokka’s room and risk spilling on any of his stuff. You made your way back to his room and crawled back under the covers. No sooner had you pulled the blanket up over yourself did you hear the door open once again.
“Oh.” Sokka’s frame stood in the doorway. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you. I was just coming in to get something.”
“It’s okay, I wasn’t asleep,” you said, sitting up.
“Oh.” A beat. “Are you okay?”
The tone of his voice made you pause. It was how he’d been talking to you for weeks, save for last night.
“Yeah.” You put a hand to your head, trying to clear your thinking. “I think I’m just a bit stressed after all of the driving and stuff. I hate it.” You gave a dry laugh, and you could see Sokka approach you in the dark.
“I thought you said the drive went fine,” Sokka pressed, now standing next to you.
“It did!” You assured him. “I just don’t like driving, especially at night. It makes me nervous. Why did you think I was calling so much?”
“Oh,” Sokka said dumbly. He was close enough now that you could make out his features. He frowned at you. “Can I sit?” He asked after a long pause. You nodded and awkwardly scooched over to make space for him.
“You know, if you wanted someone to drive with you, I could’ve gone.”
“Sokka,” you laughed, “it’s 8 hours. What could you possibly do to stay entertained up there for three days?”
Sokka shrugged and smiled at you. “I have friends over that direction.”
“Of course you do,” you rolled your eyes. Sokka somehow knew everybody and was friends with almost everyone he knew.
“Plus,” Sokka bumped his shoulder against yours, “I think your parents would love me.” You elbowed him in response, trying to quell the fluttering of your heart and the words that threatened to bubble up from your throat.
“Seriously,” Sokka told you finally, turning to look at you. Even in the dark, his eyes were startlingly blue. “I could’ve at least stayed on the phone with you for a bit.
“I don’t want to ask that of you. You have more important things to do.”
“No, I really don’t,” Sokka said, looking you in the eye. You gulped in the silence, and suddenly everything felt like too much. You could feel his leg up against yours, and his eyes were so blue, and his hair was hanging out of his ponytail, and he said it like he meant it, and you were surrounded by his drawings and his smell and I like you I like you I like you and—
“I like you.”
For a moment you thought you had spoken your thoughts aloud, but that wasn’t your voice, and Sokka was still looking at you and there was something about his expression, and—oh. You sat there with your mouth hanging open.
“I’m so sorry, Y/N, I shouldn’t have said that, and…” He trailed off when you put your hand on his chest to stop him.
“Are you joking?” You asked plainly, looking up at him. Sokka stared back.
“…no.”
With just that one little word you felt the thoughts you’d been holding back for the past months flood up, as if a dam had been broken, and there were so many things that you wanted to say all at once, but your mouth wasn’t working.
“Me, too,” you replied dumbly, and Sokka cocked his head at you.
“What?”
“I like you, too,” you mumbled, leaning forward to bury your face in his chest. You were sure that he’d be able to see your horrible blushing, even in the dim light. You felt Sokka chuckle a little bit.
“What was that?”
You felt your blush deepen as he gently pushed you away from him. “I like you, too,” you repeated, finally looking him in the eye. Sokka gently laid a hand on your cheek, and your eyes fluttered shut as he leaned in.
Kissing Sokka was somehow softer than you had expected. He wasn’t exactly a subtle person—loud, passionate, outgoing, and too smart for his own good—but his kiss was gentle and loving and ended way too soon.
“Do you wanna go out some time?”
“Um, obviously,” you giggled, leaning in as he wrapped you up in a hug, pulling you close.
“Just thought I’d check,” Sokka hums, hand circling your back gently as you yawn into his shoulder. “Now you need to get some sleep.”
“ZUKO, Y/N AND SOKKA ARE CANOODLING!” You and Sokka jumped, awoken by Katara’s yelling. You blinked your eyes open to see all four of your friends standing in Sokka’s bedroom doorway.
“We were not canoodling!” Sokka shouted indignantly.
“This isn’t my room, Katara. It’s not under my jurisdiction,” Zuko shrugged.
“Why couldn’t Aang and I take your room?” Katara demanded. You wiped the sleep from your eyes and felt yourself blushing.
“My room is a canoodle-free zone, Katara.”
Zuko and Katara bickered for a while, while Toph laughed and Aang stood by awkwardly, although you didn’t miss him shooting Sokka a thumbs-up. When it seemed like they’d forgotten you were there completely, Sokka cleared his throat.  
“Excuse me, guys.” Katara and Zuko stopped bickering to look at him. “If you don’t mind, I want to go make Y/N and I some pancakes.” With that, Sokka stood and took your hand to pull you along with him. You blushed.
“Only if you make us some,” Toph crossed her arms and blocked your way.
“Fine, Toph,” Sokka relented, but smiled as he pulled you closer and wrapped an arm around your waist. “Good morning, by the way. Want some more pancakes?”
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ironkissedmage · 3 years
Text
Sub Count
Whoops I had a small idea and once again it got a little out of hand. I tend to write more than I think I will so here’s a little treat I guess! Not sure if it’s long enough to put on ao3, so I’ll let you guys have it first.
Word Count: 2,279
Title: Sub Count
Premise: Dean and Cas have a little bit of a different life after beating Chuck. Cas has started a surprising new job and today he needs Dean’s help. 
---------
“Dean, can you help me set something up?” 
Dean looked up from where he was seated at the kitchen table, a half-empty beer slowly warming in his hands. Castiel was standing in the doorway in one of Dean’s old shirts. They really needed to go shopping for him now that he was human again, but Dean was more than a little happy seeing him in his clothes, so that could wait. Since rescuing Cas from the Empty, he has had to readjust to a life where he needs things. Dean makes sure he eats and doesn’t spend all day in bed. (That one could be a struggle sometimes; he has never seen anyone more reluctant to get out of bed than a newly human Cas.) 
They have all had things to adjust to though. Sam was now the head honcho that all the other hunters called upon for help. He organized hunts and kept the bunker stocked up with rooms ready to go. To say Dean was proud would be an understatement.
Even Dean had done some adjusting after they beat Chuck and got Cas back. He helped Sam out with a few more hunts, killing the occasional vamp or stopping a witch here or there. But by now, Dean realized that he was just plain tired of hunting. He had given so much of himself and his life to it, that what he really longed for was a normal, everyday kind of job. 
So that’s how they ended up here. Sam was always busy, either at the other end of the bunker or out teaming up with others to help out. Dean spent most days at his new job in the nearest town, fixing up cars. And Cas… well Cas found a new job of his own. 
“I need to fix the lighting, Dean. It isn’t right for what I have planned.” Castiel deadpanned, not-so-patiently waiting for Dean to get up from his seat. 
Dean released an amused sigh and pulled himself up out of his chair and followed Cas towards his room. They walked together, Cas being unusually silent.
“So, uh, what is it you’ve got planned that you need me to change the lighting for, Cas?” Dean scratched at the back of his head and turned his eyes away from his best friend. He was reminded of the confession Cas made to him not that long ago. The one Dean never officially responded to. His throat ran dry at the thought and he tried to push it back to the safe little spot it was usually stored away in his mind. He knew how he felt about that and he was sure Cas knew too. He didn’t have to say it. Not yet. Not really.
Instead of answering, Cas just swung his door open to reveal his current setup. Dean had been able to find him an old office chair by the side of the road one day at the start of Cas’s new hobby. Sam had gifted him one of his old laptops then as well. Since then, Cas has managed to upgrade a few things and obtain a decent microphone and camera. Dean never would have pegged Cas as a streamer, but apparently some people liked watching a man with rusty social skills play silly farm games. Dean thought it was endearing. 
What he wasn’t sure was so endearing was the piece of clothing laid on on Cas’s bed.
“Uh, Cas, what’s that?” Dean asked hesitantly. He wasn’t even sure he wanted to know.
“It’s why you’re helping me. I reached 500 subs and this is what the people wanted Dean.”
“They wanted you to put on a maid costume?” The words came out harsher than intended, but come on, Cas.
“Yes.”
Dean blinked. “And you’re going to do that?” 
“Yes. Dean, I don’t understand what is so confusing about this. Do you want to help with the lighting or not?” 
Dean hesitated, but ultimately agreed. He had already said yes; it would just be rude to leave him to do it himself now. So, Dean stowed his crap and moved around the lighting fixtures. Cas had said before that he wanted something called a ring light, and Dean was beginning to understand why. The lighting setup in this place was crap. It’s not like Dean has ever had to worry about that before, but it certainly posed an issue now. 
“You know, Dean,” Cas spoke up as they finally agreed on the outcome of the lighting situation, “They have also expressed interest in having you here with me. You are welcome to stay for the stream.” 
Dean thought he was going to choke.
“Wh-what? Cas, how do they even know about me?” He wouldn’t admit it, but he would be nervous enough in front of a camera, but next to Cas as he was in that, Dean wasn’t sure he would survive. 
“I talk about you a lot. You are my best friend, Dean.” 
And there it was. The proverbial knife in his chest again. Best Friend. It’s not like it wasn’t a title he had forced on them, even after Cas’s confession. Still, it hurt when Cas talked about them like that. 
“Well, fine then. I guess, uh, call me back in when you’re… ready.” Dean scratched at the back of his neck while he spoke, eyes averted from Cas’s gaze.
“You don’t have to if you don’t want to, Dean. It was only an offer.” Cas clarified as he pulled off his trenchcoat. Dean’s breath got caught in his throat. 
“No!” He coughed, cleared his throat, and tried again. “No, uh, I’ll do it. I’ll just… give you a minute.” Dean rushed out the rest of his words and swiftly removed himself from Cas’s room, shutting the door behind him. He had to compose himself before seeing Cas in that thing. 
Leaning against the door, Dean forced himself to think about what he wanted. He had gotten out of the life for the most part. He had an ex-angel living a few rooms away from him who was in love with him and who he loved back but hadn’t had the guts to say it. What the Hell was he so afraid of? Losing him? Of course that had always been part of it, but now? They beat the biggest bad you could think of and their days of running headlong into danger were over. His other obstacle was thinking Cas couldn’t love him the way Dean loved Cas. But that too had been proven not to be the case. So what the Hell was he still pussy-footing around like this for? 
The door swung open from behind him and he stumbled back into the room, his back hitting square against Cas’s chest. They both tumbled to the floor, a flailing heap of limbs grasping at each other for purchase. They landed hard and Dean’s weight firmly pushed Cas into the firm ground.
“Shit.” Dean hissed, quickly rolling off of Cas and kneeling beside him to be sure he didn’t break anything. “You okay?” 
Cas groaned. “Yes, I’m fine.” It sounded strange and he sat up, rubbing at his elbow. That’s when Dean’s brain caught up with his eyes. Cas was crumbled on the floor -checking himself for bumps and bruises- in the maid dress. It frilled above his knees, enticingly short. The small apron on the front wrinkled over his lap from the fall and Dean could just picture how short the dress would be if he stood up. The sleeves were poofed, a thin line of lace running around the edges to keep it tight on his arms. Dean could never have imagined Cas looking this good in something like this. It should look silly, but Dean was entirely sure he was liking it. 
“Cas-” His words broke off as they fled his mouth. Cas looked up from his personal assessment to rake his eyes over Dean. 
“Yes, Dean?” Cas’s eyes were stormy and Dean couldn’t read them. Instead, he inched a little closer. He wanted to say it. He needed to say it back. He had meant to do it when he first saw Cas but it never felt right. Sitting on the floor while the person of interest was dressed up in a maid costume was doubtfully the right time, but he had waited far too long already. He was done waiting. 
“Cas.” He started again, more sure of himself. “I gotta say something.” Cas stiffened then and straightened himself up onto his knees, giving Dean his full attention. 
“Dean, you don’t have to say anything. You know how I feel. I am happy with being your friend. I-”
“Damn it, Cas, just give me a second!” And Cas stopped. His shoulders slouched some and it hurt Dean deep in his chest to think Cas could ever think he didn’t feel the same. “Cas,” he started for the third time, “I don’t know why I didn’t say it back. I couldn’t. I don’t know. But… but I do. Cas, you gotta know I do too.”
“Dean…” It sounded like a warning. Like Cas was telling him he didn’t have to risk changing things if he didn’t want this. But Cas was as much an idiot as Dean if he didn’t know Dean wanted this. 
“I love you.” He said it fast, pushing the words past his lips before his brain could think too hard about it and mess it up. When his mind caught up, he released a hasty breath and his lips involuntarily ticked up at one end. “I love you.” He said it again. And then a third and fourth ime. The more he voiced it the more it tasted like candy on his tongue. When he met Cas’s eyes, they were shiny, dewey pools gathering at the corners, threatening to overflow and spill down his cheeks.
Dean’s hands moved on their own. He came up and gathered Cas’s face in them, pulling his lips to his own and not caring how hard they crashed together. The heat of the moment was intoxicating, stealing every breath Dean could hope to take right out of his lungs. Cas was everything. He was human now and he felt like it. He tasted like it, he sounded like it. Divinity reduced into the palm of his hands. 
When they broke apart, desperate for air, Dean could feel the tears sliding down his fingers.
“Dean-” Cas broke, his voice rasped and low, impossibly hungry. 
“I’m sorry it took me so long, Cas. I’m sorry it took me ‘til now to say it. But, I love you. If you… if you still want this, I swear you can have it-you can have me, Cas. I’m so sorry.” 
Cas let out a broken sob, lips curling up into a smile in spite of it. “Yes, Dean. Of course I still want this. God, I could never want anything but this; but you.” His laugh was chopped, but it made Dean smile nevertheless. 
“Good… Good.” 
And Dean kissed him again. He was greedy for it, starving for his touch. He had let himself want for far too long and now that his self-imposed obstacles had been drawn and quartered, he was going to take everything Cas would give him. 
When Cas pulled away, it was with a laugh- a real laugh, low and hearty and no longer tainted by tears.
“Dean, I… I still have to do the stream.”
Dean blinked. The what? 
“Hm?” He placed a small kiss at the corner of Cas’s mouth where it was upturned. 
“The stream, Dean. I didn’t get in this silly thing for nothing, you know.” 
Dean leaned back and surveyed Cas’s attire again. Fuck, it looked good on him. Way better than it should. 
“Would you still like to join me?” The grin held mischief behind it and Dean felt his interest in his pants. 
“I uh… Cas, I don’t think that’s such a good idea anymore.” He gulped. Cas just squinted his eyes in that totally-shouldn’t-be-attractive way and tilted his head with it. Dean stuttered on. “I’m not sure I can uh… behave on a livestream if you’re going to be in this thing.” Dean averted his gaze from the smirk he knew would be resting on Cas’s stupid perfect lips. 
“I see…” Cas trailed off, forcing Dean to look back in curiosity. He really shouldn’t have done that. “Then you’ll just have to come back when I’m done, hm? It was very difficult to put on. Perhaps you can help me out of it?” 
Dean’s jaw dropped. What was he getting himself into? He ended up nodding, far too enthusiastically, in response. That garnered another toothy grin as Cas stood up. Still kneeled on the floor, Dean could practically see all the way up the dress and he averted his gaze once more as his cheeks flared red, taking Cas’s offered hands for help up. Cas walked him backwards to the door and out into the hall. 
“Good things come to those who wait, Dean. So be a good boy and wait for me, okay?”
Every tiny bit of composure Dean had hoped to hold onto flew out the window and was replaced by a frantic, bussing warmth that spread through his chest like wildfire. Holy Hell, why was that hot? Dean strangled himself for a breath, to just swallow the lump in his throat and look back up at Cas. When he did, Cas just raised a brow and shut the door.
Fuck, Cas was going to be the death of him. But you know what? What a way to go.
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jisvnq · 4 years
Text
[ 20:25PM ]
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title | interruptions
genre | fluff, humor, best friends to lovers but it's what happens after the confession
warnings | none; probably just bad spontaneous writing shdh
word count | 1.5k
requested | by anonymous
description | where jisung knows the moments after his best friend confesses to him that she likes him back aren't supposed to be this awkward, and that just maybe, the third time's the charm ♡
z.txt | idk if i'm happy with this or not lol like it's just a 2am coffee-induced brainfart at it's best have fun reading more brainfarts (the text for the header kinda crapped up but alr sjdhs) watch me post this and dip JSJKSDJ
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Jisung let out a deep breath, sneaking a glance at the side of your face as you nervously fiddled with the hem your shirt. He knew you felt the same way as he did, but why was he still so nervous?
"So, uh..." Jisung cleared his throat, breaking the thick silence that fell upon the room. He scooted just a bit closer to you, but you did the same, resulting in your knee bumping his lightly. "Wh- what now?"
Years of watching idiotically romantic movies and binge-watching impossibly unrealistic dramas with you left him with some sort of experience when it came to this love thing, and he just knew that the moments after confessing your love for each other were not supposed to be this awkward.
A thousand thoughts ran through his head. Maybe he did something wrong? Or maybe he said something wrong? What if now wasn't the right time for him to confess? But you had told him you liked him back, so why weren't you doing any—
"W- we could kiss?" you suggested quietly, cheeks warming up at your own suggestion.
"We could wh- what now?" Jisung repeated, feeling as if his ears have fooled him. Did you actually want to kiss him?
"K- kiss," you muttered, looking away from him. "But n- nevermind. I completely understand if you don't want to—"
"But I want to." The words come out of his mouth quicker than his brain could process them, his face slowly growing hot once again.
He clamped his mouth shut when he heard your small giggle, his heart beating at a pace quicker than he had ever thought was humanly possible. Maybe he should take Hyuck's advice and really do think before he speaks...
Your face slowly neared his and he sucked in a breath when he felt yours fan his face. He closed his eyes when your nose touched his and he felt just about ready to faint when your lips lightly brushed against each other—
Then you pulled away. What?
Did he somehow do something wrong this time? No, he doesn't think he did. You initiated it... whatever that was.
Did his breath smell like shit? No, he almost choked on his mouthwash earlier when he heard you knock on his door.
Did he smell like shit? He didn't think so, at least. He took a shower and changed into your favorite hoodie of his as soon as you told him you were coming over. Maybe he should've asked Jaemin to wash the hoodie though...
"Y/n?" he asked concernedly, opening his eyes to see you place a hand over your face. Did he really smell that bad? "Is there anything wrong?"
"I- I just feel like—" you cut yourself off with a sneeze and Jisung jumped a bit. You giggled. "Sneezing. Sorry."
"You scared me," Jisung huffed, heaving out a relieved sigh. "I thought I smelled bad or something there."
"I never said you didn't," you said, biting back a giggle when he makes a face at you. "Kidding! Kidding. You smell like you always do. Like... you."
"And that's a good thing, I hope?" he asked, scrunching his nose at you, finally getting a giggle out of you.
You nodded, scooting closer to him on the couch and giving him a small smile, face right in front of his once again. "Yes. That's a very, very good thing."
"Good," Jisung said, eyes flickering down to your lips. He inhaled and looked back up at your eyes. "So... uh... no more sneezing?"
You shook your head with a chuckle, leaning in even closer to him. "No more sneezing."
He mirrored your smile, closing the gap between you slowly despite his brain screaming at him to hurry up. With you, Jisung had all the time in the world. Besides, it was your first kiss together and it just had to be perfect, right?
Well, not necessarily.
"Well, fucking finally!" someone exclaimed as the door burst open, making you and Jisung fling yourselves to the opposite ends of the couch, cheeks flushing red at the sudden interruption.
"Chenle, you idiot," Renjun sighed as he pushed the younger boy into the hallway.
"Oh, whoops," Chenle grinned sheepishly, catching Jisung's glare. "Sorry."
"Don't mind us~" Jaemin hummed, pushing Haechan and Jeno into the hallway with Chenle and Renjun before any of them could interrupt any more. "We'll be in our rooms if you need us."
An awkward silence once again fell over the room as soon as all the doors closed, both of you refusing to look at each other in the eyes.
Jisung let out a little huff of annoyance and embarrassment. Why hasn't anything gone his way today?
The articulate and carefully worded confession he had prepared for you at least months before today, somehow vanishing as soon as he opened his mouth.
The comfortable atmosphere he had tried his absolute best to set up, disappearing into thin air after you had clumsily voiced out your own feelings for him.
And the perfect first kiss he had originally wanted to give you, left as a passed opportunity as each of your two attempts ended up in unexpected and completely uncalled for interruptions.
He didn't even want to think of anything else that could possibly go wrong.
"Third time's the charm?" you had suggested hopefully, turning your head to look at him.
"A- are you sure you still want to, uh, you know..." Jisung mumbled, looking down at his feet. "Kiss me? Even after everything that's gone wrong?"
You took initiative and slid over to his side of the couch, giving him a soft smile that never failed to melt his heart every single time. "Jisung, I still wanted to kiss you even after you pretty much blew up the whole Chemistry lab in ninth grade."
You chuckled, taking one of his large hands in both of yours. "You smelled like dog piss, your hair was standing up stiff, and you had toxic powder and whatnot all over your face. I don't think anything can top that, and yes, I still want to kiss you, you idiot."
Jisung couldn't help but laugh at the memory, shaking his head when he remembers the disgusted look on your face as you dragged him to the nurse's office, cleaning him up when even the nurse herself didn't dare go near him.
"Even if I'm no good at kissing?" Jisung asked, looking up at you.
"Even if you're no good at kissing," you laughed. "And don't worry, I'm probably just as bad as you are at this stuff. We both aren't single for no reason."
"Maybe we can change that?" Jisung asked, mouth working quicker than his brain once again, his reddening ears making it more obvious. "No, I mean—"
"Actually, I'd like that," you giggled, a wide grin spreading across your face when you see his sheepish smile. "I'd very much like that. So... you're my boyfriend now?"
"I'm your boyfriend now?" Jisung echoed, feeling as if he was in a daze, smile getting way too big as his cheeks began to hurt. Did he just get upgraded from best friend to boyfriend? "That sounds very nice..."
"Yes, yes it does," you said with a chuckle, witnessing the boy's brain turn into complete mush in front of you. "Now... do I get to kiss my boyfriend yet?"
His heart fluttered when you brought your hand up to his jaw, turning his head so he fully faced you. "Maybe, if we don't get interrupted again."
"But if we do get interrupted again?" you hummed, lips against his once again, the awkwardness suddenly gone as you were both filled with giddy excitement from the recent relationship upgrade.
And as if the god of interruptions was listening in on your conversation, just as Jisung opened his mouth to respond, his best friend's timing was impeccable.
"Oops," Chenle snickered, entering the living room once again. "I forgot my airpods—"
And without letting the other boy finish, nor let you shy away from him again, Jisung took a hold of your chin to gently keep you in place as he finally pressed his lips to yours, his brain a few steps late as he let his actions get ahead of himself once more.
"Shit, sorry, Y/n," Jisung apologized with wide eyes and red cheeks, realization of what he's just done hitting him like a brick. "I just— mmf!"
But instead of letting him splutter out an excuse for his spontaneity, you roll your eyes, capturing his lips in another, proper kiss. Until a sneaky little idea popped into your head.
You pushed him further into the couch, making the other boy watching feign retching sounds in the background as the two of you patiently waited until he left, only parting for air when you hear his footsteps finally leave the room.
"You think that'll stop him from interrupting us again?" you asked, giving him a cheeky grin, laughing when you see the dazed smile left on the boy's face.
"I don't know what's kept me from kissing you all these years," Jisung breathed out with a laugh, heart causing ruckus in his ribcage. "But I don't think even Chenle coming in screaming and holding up a bazooka will be able to stop me from kissing you anymore."
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hotchley · 3 years
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dkfjsksj omg SWEETIE when are you publishing your novel!!! bc i would SO BUY IT JUST TO SUPPORT YOU OMG
pls make it available worldwide i 10/10 would buy regardless of shipping fees
just curious: are you planning to self publish your book or go through external publishers? have you planned for how you want the cover to look like? 👀
how many pages is it so far? are you almost done or not there yet? (it's honestly fine if you're not, masterpieces take time!!!!! ❤️)
omg also do you do like moodboards/aesthetics/song playlists kind of things for your characters 🥴 bc that would be a very cool way to introduce them! but honestly i know life is tiring and very busy already so it's okay if you don't have time for this
also: where did you come up with their names? (bc honestly i keep using names of people i know irl when i write.... i once merged 2 of my friend's ex boyfriends names and tweaked them a little to form an unsub's name so 😭💀💀)
i hope writing has been going smoothly for you!! remember to drink water & take breaks! you can do it, i believe in you 🥰❤️
🌙
I love you so much! I love all of you because you really came through with these questions!! It was a very good distraction <3 I've put everything below the cut because I feel like my answers were getting very, very long x
1. OKAY SO HERE'S THE THING!
I'm currently in the process of editing, and I was going to publish it on Wattpad and enter the Wattys (if I get it up in time) and see what happens... I know Wattpad has a bit of a... reputation, but it's the most accessible platform for me and others to use, because I want it to be available to lots of different people, and that's both free and not difficult to use because you can change the colour scheme and font size.
2. On the one hand. I want it published because I think it would be really cool. It's extremely long (and by all the guidelines I've seen, a little bit too long for a young adult novel) but it's mine, and I did it, and I would want to share that with others. On the other hand, I have no idea how to go about self-publishing, and I hate being criticised, so publishing is a bit of a... iffy thing. I've also got very little knowledge of publishing in general. And I like writing for fun you know? Like I started planning my second novel, and wrote a bit of that, but then I got sucked back into this, and fanfic, and I know I don't want to write for a living.
And I'm not saying that if you publish one thing, you need to do it full-time, but still. Also, the idea of some of the people I know being aware that I wrote a novel and the contents of it... no. That just fills with my dread. So I think I'll put it up on Wattpad, and we'll see what happens!
I do have a cover! It's very amateur, but it kinda matches the one I did when I was writing it into my notebook, so to me it's something sentimental. I mean, the notebook cover was just the title, so this is a bit more exciting with an actual image lol
3. It's currently thirty-one chapters. Well, thirty-three if you include the prologue and epilogue. It's also 452 pages, but the chapters don't always start on new pages, and if you think that's bad, the second draft somehow ended up being 670 pages (but I think that's to do with the spacing getting all messed up...) As it stands, it's 172536 words umm....
I'm getting closer to finishing!! I finished chapter twenty-five last night, so I just have six chapters and the epilogue to go. I'm pretty sure some of them are shorter, but I have vivid memories of the final chapter being LONG. I just checked, it's 13,776 words... so... may split that in two whoops :)
4. YES!! YES I DO!! I have a whole pinterest board that I only made after the second draft?? It's basically what led to the third draft. I was like: oh, I'm not ready to say goodbye, let me make a pinterest board. And then when I was trying to think of things to search to make it I was like: I have no idea how to describe any of these people...
I have a moodboard for the five main characters, and one for the aesthetic of the school. And I'm thinking: the week leading up to the publication, I'm going to share each character one, and (I already have the post in my drafts) the post with all the information is going to have the Eros Academy one :)
And there's a playlist! I need to sort it out because there are some songs on there that I kinda don't really like/no longer fit with what I want it to be, but then I also just use it as something to listen to whilst I write, so maybe not... the playlist is going to be part of a) the post with all the stuff and b) the aesthetics chapter <3
4. Names.... names were complicated. Many people had them changed. If you're wondering what I mean by many:
Tiberias -> Tristan
Mr Winchester -> Mr Carter
Eleanora -> Viola
Spencer -> Peter
Green -> Gill
The Headmaster -> Rotchforth
And so many people's parents just weren't named so... I just chose their names super randomly. I chose names because I wanted them to sound all noble and fancy. And then I wanted some more normal and ordinary names. And some of them I just chose because I liked them.
I did like looking at the meanings though, just for a bit of fun
It's been fun!! I will <3 I'm also self-isolating (I tested negative, but regardless) so there's not really much else I can do... let's ignore the virtual experience, personal statement and coursework reading I'm supposed to be working on....
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