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faislittlewhiteraven · 14 days

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Undertale/ISaT crossover thoughts 3

(aka the 'Sif and family explore The Island' edition)

Had a lot of Undertale/ISaT crossover thoughts (here's the post for how I'm crossing them over in general, and here's the post for an overview of each of the three major plot lines) but most of my actual thinking has been about Sif and family exploring The island so I'm gonna go into some depth for once rather than overview and hope this is useful for ideas for anyone writing any sort of 'Sif and family go to Sif's homeland' fic rather than the Undertale crossover centric stuff most of the other posts have been.

Side note: Location names in my notes is very minimal at this point as I generally look up names last when plotting anything. But er, working name of the Island is The Isle of Chara (because Undertale's Chara is kind of a big deal in this actually and good odds the final name will probably have Chara in it) so please keep that in mind in case I somehow end up typing that somewhere here in my notes.

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Start:

Sif and family's plot starts with the return of colours and memories (caused by the breaking of the Barrier by the monsters). A day is spent kind of just 'emotionally reacting' to all that (Sif's kind of overwhelmed and in tears) but next day the group actually sit down and discuss whether it's worth them going or not because, yes they are the Saviours of Vauguard and yes they're right next to Bambooche but well, who knows what state the Island is in right now and if it turns out to be... Unpleasant, it is definitely going to hit Sif hard.

Siffrin, naturally does want to go, but am definitely having Sif mentally going over all the potential horrors of the situation (everyone just... Vanished without a trace leaving empty streets and homes? Piles of skeletons because everyone died in an instant? His parents completely untouched by the passage of time wondering why he, an adult stranger covered in scars is claiming to be their missing child?) before confirming with the others he's up for this and that they'll need his Island language skills in case of survivors and for reading signs and records anyway.

How do they get there:

At first the think of taking a boat but well, turns out the Island wasn't the only thing erased from memory and as they reach Bambooche it becomes apparent that- Oh! That 'spooky hill everyone just avoids' is actually a really big and complete with steel, concrete and 'our world modern' tar road bridge, that goes all the way out over the ocean and clearly extends towards the Island.

Cue Party stopping by Bambooche's harbour and the local House of Change to get an idea of options: The House also wants to send people to Vauguard's new/old neighbours (in general all the Houses in Vauguard are very curious and there's a ton of messengers and 'Message Craft' going back and forth everywhere right now) and they promise to get the word out to everywhere (including the press) that the Saviours of Vauguard are investigating so no one has any reason to worry. Cue awkward/nervous Mirabelle laughing and trying not to freak out at the pressure of being so important... Again! While many local sailors are willing to make the trip but well, prepping the ships for an unknown landing will take a while and everyone is nervous about the 'was apparently always there' giant bridge looming overhead (what if bits of it fall?).

So after a bit of back and forth the party go for the bridge. It needs people to check it for structural damage and Sadnesses anyway and the party have people capable of handling both (gives Nille construction analysis skills) so welp!

Bridge:

Actually approaching the bridge the party spy some weird 'metal lumps' that as they approach several members of the group (not just Sif) recognise as long abandoned cars. Which are everywhere, to the point its genuinely hard to get around them, and the group realise the 'little building next to the bridge' is actually the entrance for an underground car park. Cue the group finding a 'building' built into the base of the bridge; sadly the door is locked and despite Isabeau and Nille's best efforts they can't smash it open, but Sif's pretty sure it's probably the door to a train station judging by the glass and metal tube they can see running from the side of the building base all the way under the bridge.

Cue talk on what the crab a train even is as they make their way back onto the actual bridge and start climbing and hopping over the sea of cars (Odile wants everyone to know she hates all this jumping btw), but the silly vibes stop dead when the groups starts seeing the remains of car wrecks and some never buried corpses left at the wheel/caught between two lots of crumpled metal (it's been like 18 years so they're pretty much all picked clean skeletons but yeah, Bonnie is definitely having their eyes covered by Mira). ...Isabeau points out that all the cars and remains here very definitely indicate that the people of the Island were not instakilled/frozen in time by whatever happened and, most likely, they were hit by the memory erasure effect and those who could remember how tried to flee the Island for places less detrimental to their psyches but... It's honestly kind of amazing that there aren't more crash wrecks and bodies given how mentally distressed everyone driving must have been.

It doesn't help cheer anyone up but the observation is noted (Sif keeps getting shoulder pats from everyone since well, this isn't the worst case scenerio but it's pretty bad), and the group continue walking until finally they reach a 'Craft' Station (think gas station but like, magic wish stuff for fuel or something. Thinking there's a favor tree 'tank' next to the building and everything) where they find a few scribbled notes in Vauguardian from the last worker there (bilingial type, lived on the island, trying and failing to remember the island and 'something, someone?' important they left there, decided to head for Vauguard but only after noting down everything they can and making sure all the 'time preserving seals' on the food storage containers are working properly. Just in case someone needs them) and a whole heap of fridges and 'glass cases' with somehow still fresh food inside them. Sadly the cooking implements in the building weren't nearly as resistant to the flow of time but the group decides they'd rather spend the night outside in their tents anyway so they set up camp, Sif shares more of what they do and don't know about all this weird stuff they keep encountering (some but not a lot; Sif recognises the appliances and roads but their coastal hometown was much more 'traditional' and they don't have a clue how all these high tech craft machines actually work outside of making sure they're set up right and flicking a switch) and have a nice dinner before going to sleep.

Next day is walking, with a side order of more walking. Mood is a bit better after talks and rest, but most of this gets skipped (during which the precipitation that collected on the bridge during the cold night evaporates into a thick fog, and then starts slowly clearing up under what looks like strong sunlight) until the group finally see the actual island itself for the first time and- Oh wow. That's an actual city (for an idea of the visuals please imagine the city in the background of the Undertale credits scene where Papyrus is driving along a bridge in a car). Group are blown away because, damn, somehow they weren't expecting that (this is waaay too big a place for them alone to explore, thank goodness the Houses will be sending teams in soon) except for Siffrin who promptly recognises the place as something of a tourist/heavily Vauguardian influenced city that he used to visit on rare occasions with his parents: Usually for big events like going to see a big theatre production on his birthday or to attend the Island's biggest Change festival (brought over by the large Vauguardian immigrant population) which his mom's family always loved attending.

The City:

Takes the group another hour or two to actually reach the city itself (walking takes time alas) but when they get there, yep there sure are a lot of signs in Vauguardian and little Change God statues everywhere. ...Also a lot of signs of looting and unchecked plant growth and 'feral' animals everywhere but most of the buildings look pretty good (Odile is still instantly 'none of us are entering going up or down any floors past ground level in any of these without good reason before Nille/other professionals can check them over for instability' though), and though it takes a bit of awkwardly trying to read a rotting signpost map, Sif is able to guide everyone to the central train station...

Which still has its automated trains working!!! (Sif takes a moment to brag about how 'of course they're still fine! All public transport systems are safe guarded by the best protections applied Wish craft can manage' before wondering why they feel so proud of that something their dad used to say a lot?) Cue party quickly finding the 'Vauguard line' which, yes is working and is just waiting for passengers, and (before proper discussion of 'do we take the train back to Vauguard and unblock the station doors on the other end' can be had) a trainline that stops by Siffrin's home town down by the Island's Southern coast.

...Needless to say, they go for Sif's hometown first (they're 100% planning on unblocking the Vauguard station's door at the nearest possible opportunity afterwards though).

Cue silly scenes of everyone boarding the train, comments being made of the silly 'mascot' figures in black and white everywhere (thinking I may cameo Ingo and Emmet in setting), Odile mentioning that she remembers riding trains -much less sleak and automatic than these ones- in Ka Bue during her youth (presumably their use being associated enough with the Island they were forgotten about when the Event happened), Isabeau turning out to be majorly freaked out by the closing doors and general nice vibes before whooosh they're off to Sif's hometown.

Siffrin's hometown:

Party get a nice scenic view of the coast and a lot of 'old fashioned if fancy' looking coastal buildings as the train zips along and pulls into an elegant if overgrown looking station (I'm thinking greek column/smooth plain stone everywhere vibes and IDK why).

One side of the station leads away from the coast in the direction of what looks an actual town, while the other goes towards the coast and in general seems like a much quieter 'district', with lots of more old fashioned looking buildings (some clearly more damaged by the years without care than others), lots of trees, boat houses and cobbled pathways.

Naturally Sif immediately heads in the direction of the coast, at first slow then running ahead as he recognises the streets and houses before finally stopping at a house in very good condition. Party catch up and yeah... This is Sif's home. That tree had a swing, the marks on the door are from when Siffrin got it into his head to try carving 'stars' on everything for 'good luck', that over there is the 'public door' to Dad's observatory he left open to the public because all Islanders deserve to have unrestricted access to the stars but just as often people from town would just walk right through the house to get there because Mom loved having so many guests and their 'private family rooms' all had locks so letting people freely wander their home was fine and-!

...Yeah Siffrin is terrified of going in alone but fortunately their family of choice is there and well, in they go.

Everything inside is in equally good nick (the place itself is simple and homey but also clearly high quality stuff everywhere) and somehow only very barely dusty, though the group are quick to notice that all the cupboards are bare, there's clear signs of someone searching and packing away things (books all over, things left open, scattered things like bowls and cups -someone trying to decide what to take?) and well. There's a bunch of notes, written in Vauguardian on the kitchen table. Odile reads it out:

The writer cannot remember her name, or where she is, her family which she knows she must have because there's three plates here, just as there are three bedrooms and one of each is for a child she can't remember she can't remember but. She can think enough to write things down, to check on her neighbours and get them to eat. ...No one can stay here. She remembers Vauguard so it must be safe, and... There's a boat, in the warehouse, she and others can take. She and the friendly boulanger she can't remember he's her friend but she can't remember know how to rig and sail it and they're more coherent than most everyone else so... If they head there, maybe things will be fine? She's always liked Vauguard and the Change religion, always thought about changing herself a little even if he likes her as she is She can't read that last line and Changing would be nice, she thinks. ...though, if the family she must have are looking for her, she'll need to keep some things the same. Darkless kinky hair is unusual isn't it? Especially with the darker skin she inherited from her Vauguardian mother so she'll keep those, but... Oh what if she makes herself really stand out in other ways? Then. Then maybe they'll notice and be drawn to her even if they can't remember any better than she does! She lists the things she does remember about herself once more, where she plans to lead everyone (Dormont is a nice place. The quiet slow pace there might help the others adjust), all the supplies she plans on taking (a porcaline doll. Her 's favorite. Hugs it constantly even though it feels awful), a few complaints about people who absolutely refuse to leave even though they're every bit as mindblanked as the rest of them and leaves an end note inviting anyone who reads this account to please enjoy their rest in her home but to please, please please not damage anything because- Someone else might not want it damaged and. She can't remember, can't handle even entering some of these rooms it hurts too much but. Please. She wants everything here to remain where it is, until the people who belong here can return.

...

So um. Yeah.

Big group hug and tears are had but Sif being Sif tries to push on quicker than they should, group reluctantly accept that he might just need some time to process and with Sif's blanket permission ("It's my family house. You're my family, so you can go wherever you want") most split into smaller groups inspecting all the rooms and things, with Odile and Isa checking out Sif's dad's study, Bonnie immediately poking their nose into Sif's childhood room dragging Sif along to tell them all about everything in there (Sif is having like all the nostalgia, heart ache and 'genuinely wanting to show Bonnie all the cool things, oh! The toy aeroplane that actually flies =D' moods right now), and Nille and Mira giving the more rummaged areas a quick look over since well. Good odds they may be here a while and knowing where stuff is might be handy.

During this period thinking Mirabelle should have something of a mild freakout for many reasons over the thought that Euphrasie -her mother/mentor figure- could possibly be Siffrin's mindwhammied birth mother because Dormont was mentioned, and the Head Housemaiden never really talks about her past and she knew of Wish Craft, and has that genuinely really rare darkless kinky hair and the hand writing on the note seemed familiar and aaaaaaa!!!! Cue giving Nille a scene of trying to help calm Mira down' mostly by pointing out there's no way they could possibly know the truth right now, pointing out that post the return of colours they can't really be sure what 'darkless' they're even talking about here, and Sif still flinches whenever Euphrasie is mentioned due to how much he associates her with the loops so if they ARE related... It's probably going to be a good long while before they can even consider reconnecting anyway so Mira has plenty of time to sort through her feelings on this, talk to the related parties to confirm if her suspicions have anything to them, and Euphrasie would probably need even more time to process it all than Sif and Mira will put together (good odds she'd currently be going through a massive breakdown/freakout back in Dormont over realising she has a kid she has no idea the identity, well being or anything of).

Mostly out of direct 'scene to scene' stuff at this point but thinking the group end up spending the night in the Observatory, which is MASSIVE and Siffrin sort of manages to awkwardly get across that observatories not directly used for study are always like that because they're basically public churches for Islanders since viewing the guiding light of the stars with others is a holy/community kinda thing but... Also Sif's family on their Dad's side have owned this observatory/the 'star viewing area' on these cliffs for generations and it IS totally normal to spend every other night stargazing with random strangers and to be given near constant lessons on stars and proper behaviour by your Dad so all the other families know you're being properly pious and- Cue everyone being like: 'hey Sif, I think your family might've be a little less 'humble coastal folk' and more 'stupid rich' than you might've realised from the perspective of being a 13 year old, also the notes and diaries in your Dad's study scream political work and someone who arranges a lot of religious stuff' and Siffrin trying to wrap their brain around essentially being the Island's version of Mira but with like, a lot of money on top of that.

Other:

They 100% find the body of someone who killed themselves recently when looking around... Somewhere. (too many days ago for them to have possibly stopped this person but definite confirmation that survivors of the Island might've been hit hard by suddenly remembering and having no support)

Probably meet Undine on the rail system while looking for pockets of survivors still on the island - Undine is doing the same on behalf of the monsters trying to set up a new government so um. Yay happy first contact?

Once Sif's group has met up with the Undertale characters there' definitely gonna be some Sif and Frisk friendship stuff, though probably not before Frisk and Bonnie (and MK?) friendship causes mild craziness.

(...Must have Sif, Isa, Toriel and Sans pun off. I can't write for beans but I MUST! For the PUNS!!!!)

Scene where Siffrin learns the Elder guy who's been looking after all the kids in the Village by Mt Ebott (main area the monsters have set up shop so it'll probably be renamed by Asgore 'Home Town' soon), is their grandfather on their mother's side and a bit of family history. - namely that Sif's mother was half Vauguardian (grandma was sickly and died before Sif was even born), that travelling to other countries and marrying 'outside the island' was seen as something very odd (slight xenophobic attitudes to outsiders?) back in Grampa's day, and a lot of little tidbits about Sif's parents like how his mom loved fishheads so so much, it was Sif's dad who cooked amazing Malanga Fritters with green peppers, the two of them had something of a whirlwind romance bonding over making enchanted things together (dad better at ritual work while mom could just boom! Make things off the cuff without thinking too hard about it) and... yeah. Just... Sif finding one living relative who never, ever expected to see any of his relatives again to boot (also Elder immediately being all 'introduce me to your family- Ah so just like your mother you favor big handsome men! Oh and your little one Bonnie is precious!' the second he gets over the weepy 'I cannot believe it' awkwardness because dang it, Sif deserves to find some additional family on this otherwise incredibly heavy trip)

The exploration into the space warped and Sadness filled Island Capital eventially leads to a lot of weird/heavy revelations about the Island for Sif:

Sif on his dad's side is basically the heir to one of THE big families of the Island (they don't like royalty but the Asterion and Chara families were arguably that in all but name).

His dad was very concerned about the heir of Chara because they were never really seen in public despite the Chara family living in/basically owning the Capital.

There was a genuine fear of the Monsters returning and waging war for the sins committed against their ancestors and a union between the Asterion and Chara families was seen by many as 'Universe ordained' protection against this (Cue Sif having a lot of 'trying not to wonder if my country practiced arranged marriage' squick and really appreciating their parents' choice to keep them well away from the Capital/the really religious types here...)

The Chara family was apparently in charge of protecting and aiding any Monsters found outside Mt Ebott (of which there were actually quite a few!) but according to the official paperwork all of them requested to join the rest of the Monsters under Mt Ebott? (All monsters helping the party point blank state that no one, monster or human, entered the Underground from the Surface before Chara fell)

...Notes on how Monster dust is raw Wish Craft in physical form in the Chara house...

Notes in the Chara house on how the Chara heir wasn't particularly liked, to the point they weren't being given a personal name until they did something to earn it.

Horror lab eventually found in the Chara house. Lots of dusty cages, notes on how people injected with monster dust react to it, etc.

Chara's room. Bare and empty aside from a few potted golden flower plants, a few letters and pictures stuck up on the wall (cue Sif doing a double take recognising their childhood name on some of them -Chara was that penpal of theirs that never responded?), and a few loose floor boards which underneath have scribbled escape plans, very expired food rations, carefully drawn and folded pictures of non human figures crying in cages, and bandages.

--- And... yeah. That last part is very much the 'Chara plotline' stuff kicking in hard but trying to think of little puzzle pieces for Sif and Co to find and slowly piece together into a big old ball of 'Wow, I DO understand why this otherwise very nice and did not deserve this country got accidentally ERASED by this kid actually' hints so um yeah.

Hope you like all the world building/stuff before it gets all 'period horror/drama' at the end there and do feel free to use any of this/give feedback as well. I've spent too long typing this out, my brain is pudding and I'm done on this thinky think train for now XD

#isat #in stars and time #undertale #ut #undertale spoilers #isat spoilers #fais fanfic rambles #post game #fusion fic #writing stuff about the island #fanfiction #worldbuilding #having too much fun with the 'what else did everyone forget' thing #islander euphrasia theory brought up in universe (and set aside because yikes that's heavy given the circumstances)#Siffrin is not having a great time (learning a lot though)#Lotta horror aaaa stuff in the last part for Chara backstory #cw suicide mention #...I need stuff for the non Sif parts of the team to do. Outside of Sif I mean #Like Bonnie running off and uncovering 'kid secrets' with Frisk is easy #but still brain blank on the others mostly #eh got nothing for the undertale cast and loop either so later I guess #for now i sleep #oh apologies if bambooche is misspelt. forgot to look it up and too tired to edit it now so hopefully you all know what I'm on about anyway #cw car accident #cw mention of death #cw implied abuse

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annapineappel · 2 months

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Didn’t have ‘learn how to talk dirty in German for my gay smut fanfic writing’ on my 2024 bingo card, but here we are.

I also now know the Geneva Convention and its protections for prisoners of war in case it ever comes up… in normal conversation

#2024 bingo #writing humor #writer stuff #learn a new language but just the dirty stuff #fanfiction #one day I’ll publish on Ao3 but gotta finish the fic first #I barely remember making this draft at 3am

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neverevan · 4 months

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I think I used to write fanfics in a more eloquent way, using a bigger and more complex vocabulary, but the thing is... I started to put emphasis on how the characters think about and experience things and I just realised that most of the time, they wouldn't really use the words I picked for them.

I mean, I can wax poetic all I want, but the 20yo dude I'm writing about wouldn't always think that the sunlight hitting his crush's hair is ethereal or exquisite or magnificent or like the liquid honey dripping over the edge of the jar at the summer harvest... mostly, he'd just think it looked pretty.

So I guess what I'm saying is that I started to apply the 'he wouldn't fucking say that' onto the narrative parts more often and if it's good or bad, I don't know, but it makes the process feel a little more authentic for me, personally.

#I still wax poetic when I feel like it works #or swap it to outright profanities and turn that into something more poetic lol #that's pretty much why I use words like 'kinda' a lot in the descriptive parts too #it became part of learning the speech patterns of characters #and attempting to apply them onto those parts as well as to the dialogues #and like I know that the way I write now is boring or uninteresting or too simple for some people #but I write for myself so you know it doesn't really matter #writing #fanfic #fanfiction #newbie stuff

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rain-shoshana · 4 months

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Chapter 14 winds to a close with some coziness and flirtation. Hastings reveals more about his past. Poirot is a lil jealous. The boys talk about their feelings-what a concept!

#the love affair at styles #the mysterious affair at styles #fanfiction #agatha christie’s poirot #Hercule Poirot/Arthur Hastings #Hastings is learning how to express his feeling #poirot is learning how to admit to his insecurities and show vulnerability #it’s good stuff folks #they’re both navigating queer London circa 1917 #hercule poirot #arthur hastings #Agatha Christie #my writing

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araindropshallfall · 11 months

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Arguing that it’s okay to feed fanfic into AI because it doesn’t legally belong to the fanfic author is so ridiculous because, the disrespect aside, you shouldn’t actually be feeding anything pertaining to the source material to AI either. Like, this is literally a concern with the WGA strike right now that AI not be taught using their work.

Anyways stop using AI for creative pursuits it’s plagiarism <3

#“the stuff ai writes is bad so it’s fine” it’s bad because it’s learning and you’re teaching it #ao3 #wga strike #fanfiction can exist because it doesn’t profit but feeding fanfiction to ai is teaching it about the source material which hurts the writer #and is also just a dick move to the fanfic writers who sometimes spend years working on what you fed a computer to get a five minute ending #fanfic doesn’t put screenwriters’ jobs at risk but AI does just in case we need clarification about why one is okay and the other isn’t

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ashes-writing · 2 years

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all or nothing pt II | stranger things ; b.hargrove

A/N ; Listen.. I was not expecting to have another part so soon but when this idea came, I had to roll with it. So, this is the part in which Billy realizes reader is the only female in a family of males (i realize I mentioned readers mom the previous post but apparently, she is deceased, but anyway.. ) and.. yeah. More stubbornness. More Billy, being equally stubborn.

I feel like this one is gonna get really... intense.

Pairing ; Billy Hargrove x Fem!Reader

Timeline / Other Stuff to Note ; all or nothing pt I can be found by clicking. Highly suggested you read that one first and then come back here. Just so you have a sense of what's happening. This is set in season 2 BUT BUT... as I said last night -and in the other stuff area of the other reader x character stranger things works I've done, there will be no Upside Down + it's unholy terrors, this is basically like.. slice of life heavy on the intensity and maybe some angst in this case. So no.. Billy won't be dying. And his character may or may not go through a few.. Growth spurts because I felt like it could've happened if he'd been left on the show. So.. liberties have been taken, read at your own risk.

Tag List ; @musichealsscars is the only person on my actual Stranger Things tag list presently. I'll throw a tag out here to @rampagewriting -- feel free to ignore if you like bb. if you'd like to be added to my taglists for anything including Stranger things , please let me know or add yourself -> here.

Warnings ; Older and younger brothers + meeting the father, Billy's being stubborn as per usual, reader is equally stubborn, a little angst in the form of reader's not so long ago heartbreak and rumors, Carol being a b*tch about Reader, and just.. Nothing serious, tbh. OH YEAH. AND TITS. TITS ARE MENTIONED. Listen, this chapter is.. Basically chaos.

Other Stuff ; tag list doc || my rules - fandoms and some characters I write for || requests are open (pls.. pls... send me things) but they're limited to headcanon asks + filth/fluff alphabet letters and I'm not accepting wrestling / wrestlers in my ask box. Any other fandom/character but wrestling that I happen to write for is fine and I beg of you -> send me things.

I do not consent to my work being reposted elsewhere or copied/reworked/rewritten and reposted here or elsewhere. You don't own this, I do. So like... don't steal my shit.

The bacon is burning, you can smell it when you roll over in bed. As you start to wake up, the usual morning chaos that is your family and all their noises spill in through the partial crack in your door which flies open unceremoniously with your youngest brother Abel hurrying in.

You roll away from him and try and sweep your arm out to keep him out of licking range because he likes to lick your face to wake you up most mornings. “Abel, kid, no.. Not today, demon.” you grumble as you try and shove your head beneath a pillow. From the wide open door, your older brother Jackson throws the bra you left in the bathroom after your shower the night before right at you and it settles beside your hand. “Get the fuck up, sunshine.” Jackson yells, his voice grating your last nerve because it’s early and all you wanna do is sleep. Finish out the dumb little dream you were having about the way Billy’s hands felt on your ass or his mouth against yours.

“She’s not up yet?” your brother Mikey’s standing in the open door behind your older brother Jackson. “Jesus, what’s she gonna do, sleep all fuckin day? Dad! She’s not up yet! Can I get the cold water now?”

Your father laughs in the kitchen. “Leave your sister alone, you little shit. Get in here and eat. Grub is done.”

“Can you idiots fuck all the way off? I’m gonna get up. I mean, if you wanna see my ass when I get outta bed, by all means, idiots.” you call out to your brothers as you sit up with the plaid blanket on your bed wrapped around your upper body and you try to reach for the AC DC shirt you’d taken off at some point the night before when you got too hot.

Your brothers all bolt down the hall and you let the blanket drop so you have that little extra length to your arm span. After you tug on the thin oversized shirt you grab the jeans and tank top you’d laid out to wear the night before so you can put them on after your shower. And you make your way down the hall and pound on the bathroom door.

But it’s no use. Your younger brother Mikey is in the shower, the radio turned up so high and the shower running full blast, so he doesn’t hear the five times you pound at the door.

“Well fuck you then, little shit.” you roll your eyes and turn to go back into your bedroom to change.

The very familiar rumble of an engine catches your attention just as you’ve managed to put both legs in one leg of your jeans and you’ve nearly toppled over, just managing to catch yourself by the headboard on your bed to stay upright. You peek out through the tapestry that serves as a curtain over your bedroom window and as soon as you see Billy’s dark blue Camaro pull in behind your father’s square body truck, you flatten yourself against the wall and take a few deep breaths all while telling yourself that just because he’s shown up means nothing.

So he kept a promise. There’s no reason for your heart to be all fluttery. Or your stomach to be doing the lazy little flips that it is right now.

You discard the shirt you’d thrown on to walk down the hall to the bathroom and pull on the white tank top you’d planned to wear with your favorite flannel. The only problems is that right as you get your AC DC shirt off, the last thread of hope for the nail holding your tapestry in place over the damned window snaps and the tapestry falls away to one side.

And out in the car, Billy happens to glance up at this exact, precise moment. Not only can he see you totally nude from the waist up, but he can see the various rock and metal posters, the tarot card tapestry, the marijuana leaf tapestry and the christmas lights you have tacked up around the room for extra ambience.

You don’t see him because you’re standing on the bed and trying to put the tapestry that’s just fallen down off your window back in place because the old geezer across the gravel road is nothing if not a gross pervy old sort. You’ve just gotten the tapestry back in place when your oldest brother pounds on your bedroom door.

“Yo! You better not be asleep again, sunshine.”

“Fuck off, Jackson, you’re not the boss of me!” you stick out your tongue and flip off the closed bedroom door. You can hear him walking away, but just as you’ve flipped your head upside down and you’re trying to scrunch some mousse into your hair to tease it the way you like, the younger of your brothers, Mikey, he’s outside the door.

“Hey gremlin! You’ve got company. It’s a boyyyy.”

You tense up because all of your brothers and your father are nothing if not intimidating, especially when it comes to you.

“Dad’s gonna grill him and I’m gonna laugh my ass off.”

“Sissy! Your boyfriend is here!” Abel calls out through the door and you palm your face. “He’s not my boyfriend, champ. I’m comin, hold your horses, people.” you call out as you dig around for your left shoe in the chaos that is your room.

After you find the bold red Converse and slip both shoes onto your feet, you grab your backpack and rush out, hopefully before your brothers and your father bring down the Spanish Inquisition onto the head of Billy Hargrove.

And naturally, your brother Mikey is in awe because he hero worships the guy.

Your father is sizing Billy up and you wanna groan because you know exactly what he’s thinking and you know that when you finally get home from working the arcade after school, he’s going to give you a very long lecture.

“Hargrove… Hi. Uh, what are you doin here?” you drag your fingers through your hair as you tilt your head to look up at him, curious. “How’d you find me?”

Mikey’s grin is so big, he’s so proud of himself. “I’m in class with his sister.”

“Step.” Max and Billy say it in unison, glaring at one another quietly. Mikey laughs and shrugs. “She told me Billy wanted to come by today last night at the arcade so I told ‘er where we lived.”

You give him a dirty look when nobody’s paying attention and he gulps.

Yeah, he’s in for it just as soon as the two of you are out of school for the afternoon.

Mikey glances at your father. “He’s the best player on the basketball team, dad.”

This softens your father but only a little. He grins and claps a rough hand down onto Billy’s shoulder. “Basketball, huh? I played back in the day too, kid.”

Billy chuckles. And he’s shuffling his feet awkwardly, same as you. You almost want to laugh because the awkwardness he feels right now isn’t something he’s used to and you can tell. Also, you want to laugh harder because the awkwardness he feels right now is solely his fault.

You didn’t ask him to come by. You never even hinted that you expected him to.

You’d say you didn’t want him to either, but unfortunately, that’d be a lie.

“We should probably get going.” you speak up before your father can get all lost in his own glory days -or alternately, try to put the fear of God into Billy by telling him he’s ex-military and he may or may not have a few screws loose, and your father tosses you a brown paper sack.

“Peeled the orange for ya as usual, sunshine.” your father gives you a hug. Finally, you set off for school with Billy and Max. Almost the second you were all out in the yard, you laugh and give Billy a quiet and slightly apologetic shrug as if to remind him that he’s brought on the events of the morning to himself.

Billy opens the passenger door and Max slips into the backseat wordlessly. You raise a brow. “You could’ve kept your seat, Red.”

“It’s fine. You can sit there.” Max offers, studying you with an intent and curious look as you slip into the seat and settle in. Billy doesn’t blast the radio on the drive like he usually does just to keep her quiet. Instead, to Max’s surprise, the two of you are actually attempting a conversation. It’s full of awkward pauses and banter back and forth, but it’s a side of her stepbrother she doesn’t see come out often at all. As the Camaro pulls to a stop in front of Hawkins Middle, you get out to let Max out and she smiles at you before gathering her backpack and rushing through the doors to the school as if she’s been launched straight from a cannon.

You get back in and the short second or two it takes to get over to the high school from the middle school is filled with this heavy kind of silence. Metallica is playing quietly on the radio and you’re humming along, drumming your fingers against the passenger door.

“Y’know, you’re probably gonna fall like.. Four places in the whole popularity thing.. Right?” you question as the Camaro comes to a stop in the spot Billy’s chosen to be his.

Billy shrugs. Takes a drag from the cigarette he’s lit and laughs quietly. “I thought we talked about this last night, darling. Fuck ‘em.”

You shrug and laugh because that’s all you can do. The second you get out of the passenger seat you can feel the eyes of the collective whole of the female population of Hawkins High staring at the two of you. You stand taller.

The stares and the whispers aren’t new to you. They started when you were a kid, when your mom died and nobody really knew what to say. They continued through middle school when you got labeled a troublemaker, one of the bad kids. They’re still going now, only it’s different and honestly, you’d take the rumors about you circa middle school over the rumors going around about you now.

But you don’t care anymore because you’re over the small town mindset. And high school is bullshit. And you’ve got more important things to do than waste time worrying about what everybody’s saying about you behind your back.

It takes you by surprise when Billy casually slips an arm around you and pulls you against his side. Walks right up to Tommy, Carol and Steve Harrington as if this is nothing out of the norm. You can feel Carol watching you, dying to say something smart but a quick menacing smirk from you has the little smug look dropping right off her face because she’s probably just remembered the fight you two had on the playground all the way back in fifth grade.

The one your older brother had to break up.

“Who’s your friend, Billy?” Nicole gives you a dismissive once over. She’s already thinking of things to say about you when she gets Carol and Tina alone in the girls bathroom inside the building. You smirk right back at Nicole, looking dead into her eyes. Daring her to be brave enough to say it now, with her chest, in front of you.

Billy chuckles. He introduces you with that lazy and laid-back grin.

Carol gapes. “You’re shitting me, right? Her? This is the girl you gave the sunflower to?”

Billy’s all calm smiles. “Yeah.”

“We need to have a serious talk.”

Billy laughs and rubs his chin. “Right. When I ask your opinion, Carol, I’ll let you know.”

Every part of you wants to just walk away for his sake but you’re too damn proud and petty to do it. Walking away is going to make Carol and the rest of the so-called in crowd froth at the mouth and rush to gossip about how you’re obviously afraid.

And you’re honestly anything but.

You catch sight of some of your friends as they show up and you nudge Billy. “I’m gonna go now. Thanks for the lift?”

And you walk away, but it’s not without giving Carol one last smirk.

A smirk that has her practically seething.

And honestly, you can’t wait to hear the rumors she rushes back to start this time around.

Almost the second you’re standing at the locker where you friends usually congregate in the morning, your best friend Katie nudges you and nods towards Billy. “Did my eyes trick me or did you get out of Hargrove’s Camaro just a few minutes ago? Oh my god, you’ve gotta tell me everything.”

You shrug. “He gave me a lift, yes.”

“How does he smell?”

You gape at her and grimace. “Ew, what the hell kind of question is that? What’d y’ think I did, sniff the damn guy? I don’t know!” you laugh and your words trail off.

“So I was right. It wasn’t Keith that gave you the sunflower, was it?”

“Fiiine. It wasn’t Keith. But he’s up to something, K.” you turn and gesture in Billy’s direction discreetly, “ I can feel it in my bones.”

“I say just let it happen. Bad press is better than none at all.” Katie shrugs and you give her a playful shrug. “You’re crazy, K. Seriously insane.” you roll your eyes as you finally manage to pry open your locker door and change out the books you took home the night before for the books you’ll need for class.

You walk past Billy on your way to homeroom but his arm shoots out and you wind up smooshed against his side again. “I’ll see ya after class.”

You shrug. “Maybe.”

“I’ll see you after class.” Billy repeats and it’s firmer. That little roguish smirk playing at lips slightly bruised from the kiss at the arcade the night before.

“I mean, if you want to, who am I to stop you?” you smirk right back, holding his gaze. Defiant.

If he really wants to win you over, he’s going to have to learn that you’re not like the other girls at Hawkins. Or the other girls he knows.

You’ve already caved one time and the outcome was disappointing. This time around, you’re determined to play smarter. To make him do all the chasing and not to give in quite so easy under any circumstances.

Billy’s smirk grows. “See ya then, darling.”

“Whatever you say, Hargrove.” you shrug as you and Katie walk away, disappearing into the homeroom class you share together.

#billy hargrove #billy hargrove fanfiction #billy hargrove imagine #billy hargrove x fem!reader #billy hargrove x fem!reader imagine #billy hargrove x fem!reader fanfiction #// if you think for one second her dad's not gonna warm up and take billy under his wing at some point you are in for a surprise #// look i just wanted to write this so I am #// this chapter got weird this was not the turn I expected it to take.#// soz about giving reader these huge backstories and personalities i am still uh.. learning how to write reader fics.#// i try to stay away from physical characteristics and stuff so hopefully even with the personality bits anybody can still read these #// and imagine themselves #// hopefully i am accomplishing that

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annamaryllis · 29 days

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i don't write fanfiction but rn i'm just thinking about how infuriating it must be to receive a negative comment that's completely unnecessary, especially if it's misrepresenting what you wrote and your intentions...i would go crazy

#there's plenty of fics i've read and hated. like have seriously annoyed me and there are fic authors I have one-sided beef with in my head #but like. you literally don't have to share all your opinions #like it's one thing to be confused and have questions if you comment in a respectful way #you don't have to go out of your way to comment bullshit wtf do you think this is who do you think you are #or when they frame it as “critiques” like shut the hell up it's literally fanfiction #or like. WHY ARE YOU TRYING TO START DISCOURSE ON AO3 ICANTJSDRJASDF #ao3 isn't a social media site. it's literally random people writing stuff for free on the internet #like i'm judgemental and overdramatic too #i'll be scrolling thru ao3 tags and see horrendous looking fics and think “this person must be so annoying and dumb”#and then you keep scrolling you move on #learn self-control and keeping shit to yourself #not every thought and reaction needs to be shared especially on THE post/fanwork #like go make some vague indirect passive aggressive separate post like everyone else #ugh people are so desensitized to internet interactions you're not invincible bc you're not in person #so bold and brazen for what #people who cosplay as mean girls and vigilantes on the internet are the most insufferable people #misc #✏️

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nerice · 1 year

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i wonder how it must feel like to want to/enjoy sharing ur work with others because i fundamentally don't experience that

#thots from career day at uni and this guy telling me to start a blog to publish my writing on #dgmw i love memeing with friends abt story stuff #but i also still vividly remember in school my friend dreamed of getting her story published and gave it to ppl in class to read #or friends and family. and even if i had good relationships in those areas this just simple? never occurred to me?#if i was into fanfiction i know id just just post it for archiving reasons too & it's the same w/ the idea of writeblr #i wanna make an oc page bc i like organising and displaying information & getting occasional oc asks #again i vry much like talking abt it all!!! i love oc chats!! but idk at the end of the day it's all close to heart close to home #which i think tells me all i need to know abt my career options. id rather help other people learn n grow and achieve those goals #that i personally don't have any interest in. but unfortunately u need writing qualifications 2 get editing qualifications #which makes sense but UGH #elia txts #getting a shirt printed that just says i have szpd so the answer is no

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not-poignant · 2 years

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Hi Pia! Hope you’re well, all things considered. <3 Would you have any advice for someone who’s trying to get back into writing after a long period of not doing it? I used to write obsessively when I was younger, but it’s now been six or seven years that I just… haven’t. There are plots I’ve played with and half-planned in the last few years, but I don’t remember the last time I just sat down and wrote, and it’s so frustrating because I remember it coming to me so easily before. Is there any method to this you would recommend, or does it boil down to… just doing it?

Hi hi anon!

So I think there's some psychological things to address first.

If you stopped running marathons for 6-7 years you'd have to start almost from scratch again when you started training once more. You'd probably remember how to train, and your muscles might pick it all up faster, but the fact is any skill if you stop for that length of time atrophies kind of like a muscle.

So while you feel frustrated, what you're going through is normal, and a consequence of just...stopping. If you want to do it again, you have to come at this with the idea of sort of training yourself up again. Expecting yourself to write as you did when you used to write obsessively, without any build up to it, is really really unfair on yourself!! It's also just not realistic. So maybe just gently and compassionately reality check yourself there, because the reason a skill comes easily to you a lot of the time is because you're doing it a lot at the time - and if you're writing obsessively, you're kind of fast-tracking all that training.

So some patience is called for, because frustration that you're not immediately a trained person in writing after 6/7 years of giving no time to it is like... I mean firstly frustration alone won't be motivational and it's not discipline, and secondly unfortunately you just gotta give yourself time to like...build up skills. And that's unfun when you remember how easy it was back in the day. But it can be that easy again! Just - you have to train to get there.

I have gone through long periods of time without writing, notably after university (where I did a side Major in Creative Writing) until I started writing fanfiction again. Like you, particularly in high-school, I used to write obsessively. When I started again, it felt like I had lost everything, and realistically, I had lost some skills through lack of maintenance. Which is normal.

So I started small. I started with smaller stories and shorter chapters. I did some writing prompts just to get back in the habit of writing dialogue and settings again. I realised aspects of my style had changed a lot in the many years between when I stopped and started again, due to reading and picking up other things along the way, so I also had to surrender to the fact that I wasn't going to write exactly like I used to, because I'd changed as a person.

I also didn't pressure myself to like, finish anything straight away. If I wrote 200 words in a week - what a great week! If I wrote 500 words in a day, oh my god! It didn't matter that I could remember writing thousands and thousands of words without barely thinking about it, I was starting new, and retraining my body and my mind, while also relearning the craft of writing and my shape within it (because that had changed, and that needs patience).

I don't think I'll ever write quite as I did as a teenager, which is great, because I love how I write now. But like, the person I am now, who can write large wordcounts and put up nearly everything I do write, is someone who came back and had to relearn how to do that. I didn't just come out of the gate finding those things easy the second time around.

You know how to be the writer you were back then, but you don't know how to be the writer you've become. It's a new series of skills, and it's important to cut yourself some slack. Frustration and impatience are the enemies of any new skill, at least if it's constantly in the form of comparison: 'Why can't I be as good as I was back then' and is followed by inertia. A little frustration can motivate you to speed along, but it needs to be paired with compassion and honestly - just being realistic. You had a skill, you dropped the skill and didn't maintain it, the skill atrophied. That's normal. That is how skills work.

The good news is dropping anything for a period of time still leaves you with something more than someone who has never done it before. Whether that's a language, or art, or writing, or any hobby. You may find that if you do just start again (via prompts or exercises or smaller chapters or different stories), things will come to you faster over time. :D

Tl;dr: So yeah, while there are exercises you can absolutely do! I'd say you also just need to gently reality check yourself. Skills of any kind - physical or mental - don't stay magically maintained with nothing put into them, loss of ability is normal, it's completely okay, but having done it a lot in the past means you'll learn it faster now, and it's definitely worth trying. :)

#asks and answers #pia on writing #pia on fanfiction #the only other thing i'd add is that #as you get older and keep absorbing stories through #TV and film and reading etc #you become more discerning #it becomes harder to just sort of pour words onto the page because you have #a better idea of what story structure is and what good writing looks like #so there's stuff about disengaging your inner editor too #but frankly that's also just another skill #that you can learn along the way

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