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reds-burrow · 2 years

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Sorting Demon Slayer (Part 1)

This post has been sitting in my drafts for way too long, so I decided to limit myself to a (mostly) anime-friendly analysis, meaning through the Entertainment District Arc. But please be forewarned, I do make a couple of as-vague-as-possible references to the final arc in Zenitsu and Shinobu’s sortings. Anyway, I will likely do a write-up for more characters in the future, I just don’t have the time at the moment.

(As always, for those unfamiliar with the Sorting Hat Chats system, you can find the basics by @sortinghatchats here. Or check out this great summary by @wisteria-lodge here.)

Kamado Tanjiro: Badger/Badger

(You may have caught my rough draft notes about Tanjiro’s primary in this post.)

Tanjiro’s loyalty is first and foremost to humanity, and if he sees (or smells) humanity in someone, even a demon, he will fight for that person and show them compassion, no matter what their past crimes were. This even goes for demons. As Tamayo notes during their first meeting, Tanjiro still refers to demons as people (Ch 14). During his Final Selection Exam, he recognizes that the hand demon is lonely as he dies, so Tanjiro holds his hand despite knowing that the demon killed Sabito and Makomo (Ch 8). Before that, Tanjiro hesitates to kill a demon, one that had just attacked him and Nezuko, because he couldn’t figure out how to give the demon a quick death (Ch 3). The thought of the demon suffering was too disturbing to Tanjiro, and he later gives the mercy of a painless death to the mother spider demon when he understood that she was suffering and welcomed death (Ch 31). He says it directly to Tomioka, after Tomioka berates him for showing Rui pity as the demon died, that he refuses to belittle any demon that shows regret because he recognizes demons were once humans and believes they should be pitied, not hated, for their demonic status (Ch 43). Badgers have a tendency to humanize even those considered enemies or monsters. On the flipside of this, when he meets someone who shows they enjoy hurting others, Tanjiro becomes truly enraged, like when he is outraged by the idea Rui’s idea of forging bonds through fear (Ch 38) or when Daki shows no remorse for all the civilians she killed in the entertainment district (Ch 81).

Like many other Badger Primaries, Tanjiro also has a self-sacrificial streak, a belief that those depending on him need to come before his own well-being. As the eldest son in his family, he felt a deep responsibility to stay strong for his family, which he believes made him resilient even when dealing with pain (Ch 24). His desire to protect people is what keeps him going, even when facing Daki while exhausted, injured, and all by himself (Ch 78), or when he tells Inosuke to save the train passengers when the train derails, despite also being injured and in need of help (Ch 62). As Tanjiro’s little brother, Takeo, says in a flashback, those who get angry for the sake of others, tend to not worry about themselves (Ch 83).

As for his Secondary, Tanjiro shows a penchant for hard work. While Inosuke and Zenitsu quit after a few days, Tanjiro is the only one willing to continue undergoing the intense rehabilitation training at the Butterfly Mansion, and he is immediately willing to train to use Total Concentration: Constant, despite recognizing how difficult that will be to achieve (Ch 49). And when he does struggle with the continuous breathing technique, he gets through it by referring back to what has worked for him in the past and telling himself that hard work will help build his strength little by little (Ch 50). After Rengoku’s death, he reaffirms this belief when he speaks to Senjuro about how there is no shortcut to gaining strength, only by training day after day can he achieve it (Ch 69). During battle, he improvises, but he does so like a Badger Secondary, always thinking back to his training and how he can apply it to the current situation. Also, on a more humorous note, Tanjiro proves himself to be a horrible liar because he is unpracticed in being anything but honest (Ch 72). He also exceeds at housework to the point that he overwhelms the lady in charge of the brothel he’s undercover in with his eagerness to do chores (Ch 72, 73 Taisho Rumors).

Hashibira Inosuke: Lion/Lion

When we first meet Inosuke, he is literally charging around haphazardly, looking for a demon to fight (Ch 21). He lives in the moment. When he fights with Tanjiro over attacking Zenitsu and Nezuko’s box, he doesn’t care about his broken rib or any further damage he might cause to it. He only cares about the pleasure of the fight (Ch 26). Anything that delays action only serves to irritate him. In the spider demons’ forest, he punches a fellow demon slayer, Murata, when Murata takes too long to explain the situation (Ch 28). Then, in the entertainment district, he doesn’t understand why Tanjiro wants to wait to go after the demon in House Ogimoto (Ch 75). For Inosuke, it’s obvious what they should do: they know where it is, so they should attack it right away. When Tanjiro is late to their meeting that evening, Inosuke jumps into action to go after the demon on his own (Ch 76). And once he’s in battle, Inosuke does best when he’s acting on instinct. During his fight with the father spider demon, he struggles until he stops thinking and goes back to trusting his gut reactions (Ch 36). His trust in his gut instinct keeps him safe in many situations, like when he listens to his sense of danger that he should stay out of the fight between Rengoku and Akaza (Ch 64). Or, when fighting the obi piece of Daki, she notes that it’s his instincts that allow him to sense and dodge her attacks (Ch 79).

While finally giving a proper introduction of himself to Tanjiro and Zenitsu, Inosuke claims that his only goal in life is to match his strength against others (Ch 27). That is why he immediately tries to fight Tomioka when he sees how strong Tomioka is (Ch 38), and why he is frustrated by how amazing he deems Rengoku (Ch 60). During the battle with Kyogai in the Tsuzumi mansion, he doesn’t care when he steps on Tanjiro and Teruko; all he cares about is proving his strength (Ch 22). As an immature Lion Primary, being strong and in charge is his cause. The idealized dream the train demon, Enmu, shows him is one where he is the boss of the group (Ch 55), and he grows frustrated when Tanjiro takes the lead, like during the fight against the mother spider’s puppets (Ch 29-31) or when attacking Enmu’s neck (Ch 61). Thankfully, as a Badger Primary, Tanjiro doesn’t mind being in a support role if that’s how best to serve the group, leaving Inosuke to happily rush in and prove his strength.

Agatsuma Zenitsu: Snake/Burnt Badger

Zenitsu’s intense fear and anxiety often keep him paralyzed and unable to take action. When he does find the strength to engage, his strength is driven by his friends and his master. He refuses to let Inosuke touch the box Nezuko is in, even though he can hear a demon inside, because Tanjiro had said he values what was inside more than his life (Ch 25). Later, Zenitsu only enters the forest full of spider demons when he realizes that Nezuko is inside (Ch 27). And what motivates him in the final arc is what he feels he owes to his master (Ch 146).

He dreams of helping the weak because that’s what his master expected of him (Ch 34). His master was the first person to believe in him, something Zenitsu finds a great deal of his strength in. In fact, much of his lack of confidence he attributes to the lack of positive relationships in his life (Ch 34). As soon as he would get scared, people would abandon him, saying he was no good, until eventually Zenitsu believed it too. He just wants someone to encourage him, like when he thinks he would have gone into the forest of the spider demons if Tanjiro and Inosuke had reassured him first (Ch 29). But Zenitsu has no faith in himself which presents as a Burnt Secondary; he tries to do a good job but gets scared and runs away (Ch 33). At times, he is shown rushing in, like a Lion Secondary, except that these moments are always when he’s experiencing high emotions, like panic or envy. He is shown regretting some of these moments, like when he charges into the forest full of spider demons (Ch 29). He promises to work hard if the spider demons around him are just a nightmare, an indicator of what his Secondary is under all that burning, a Badger Secondary (Ch 32). He used to practice on his own, trying to make his master proud, only stopping and resisting training because he didn’t see any results (Ch 33). After Rengoku’s death, Zenitsu expresses a Straightforward Secondary way of thinking, telling himself that there is no hiding from pain and that people have to push through it (Ch 67). Most telling, however, comes in the final arc, when his response to the news he receives is to work hard until he is strong enough to do what he must (Ch 136). He even thinks to himself that what he respected most about Kaigaku was Kaigaku’s commitment to working hard (Ch 145).

Kamado Nezuko: Badger/Badger? + Lion model (while a demon)

Nezuko is difficult to sort because she is asleep for a majority of the story and when she is awake, being a demon has reduced her to a child-like state. That said, we do know she shares her Primary with her brother, mostly through Tanjiro's flashbacks. She gets the same, fierce anger when she sees someone hurt. Whether it's a child hurt by an adult or strangers killed by a demon, that anger is enough to transform her while facing Daki during the Entertainment District arc (Ch 83). She also showed a tendency to sacrifice for the group, like when Tanjiro recalls her refusing the idea of buying a nicer kimono because she would rather use what little money they have to see their entire family happy (Ch 3). She also is generally shown to be working or taking care of her younger siblings in these flashbacks, which may suggest she also has a Badger Secondary, but we don't see enough of her problem solving to know for sure. While she is a demon, however, she reacts like a Lion Secondary, rushing in to help protect her brother, like during the fight with Yahaba and Susamaru (Ch 17-18), and using her demon blood artes instinctively, like when she burns Rui's threads (Ch 40). It's unclear if this is anything but a model though since it is clearly driven by her status as a demon.

Kocho Shinobu: Snake/Bird

In flashbacks, Shinobu is shown to have been blunt in her youth, calling out the truth exactly as she sees it (Bonus Chapter 59). By the time Tanjiro meets her, she has been deeply affected by her sister’s death. She has dedicated her life to carrying on her sister’s dream while keeping a cheerful demeanor like her sister (Ch 50). But much of that cheerfulness is a performance by her Actor Bird, masking her true anger (Ch 50, 143). She knows just what to say to get others to do what she wants, like when manipulates Inosuke and Zenitsu into training (Ch 51) or when she distracts Tomioka when they fight over whether to kill Nezuko (Ch 44). She uses poisons and hidden blades to get around the fact she isn’t physically strong enough to kill a demon through conventional means. Her sorting is reaffirmed in the final arc, when it is shown how far ahead she is able to anticipate and plan, all for a chance that she could avenge her sister (Ch 162).

Rengoku Kyojuro: Lion/Lion

Rengoku views his purpose in life, his cause, as protecting the weak (Ch 64). He tells Akaza that physical strength is not what makes a person strong because Rengoku considers a strong heart to be true strength (Ch 63). While any Primary could value the same, Rengoku uses his final moments to relay a message to his brother, Senjuro, to follow his heart (Ch 66). It’s advice typical of a Lion Primary. Add to that the idealized dream Enmu provides Rengoku, a dream in which Rengoku proves his strength and gains the admiration of Tanjiro and the others, and it seems, even with his limited character development, Rengoku is likely a Lion Primary (Ch 54). His Secondary, however, is much more obvious. He is a bold, earnest, and quick to act. He serves as an effective inspiration to Tanjiro and the others because of his straightforward, unwavering Lion Secondary.

Uzui Tengen: Snake/Bird

Uzui is a refreshingly unapologetic Snake Primary in a Badger Primary narrative. He insists that his wives prioritize their own safety first while in battle, even over their mission (Ch 80), and he is reluctant to leave Hinatsuru until he’s sure she’s alright even after hearing sounds of a battle nearby (Ch 77). At the beginning of the Entertainment District Arc, he grabs Aoi and Naho, ignoring their protesting, because they are what he needs for his plan to save his wives (Ch 70). Part of this is also his Bird Secondary, seeing the tools he needs for his plan to work: young girls who can go undercover. During the mission, he uses his own beauty as a tool in his arsenal to charm the lady in charge of one of the brothels into taking in Tanjiro (Ch 71). His focus on appearance and flamboyance is a persona he uses to protect himself, boasting that Gyutaro’s poison didn’t affect him when it actually did and feigning confidence in his abilities while later revealing he feels inferior to other Hashira like Rengoku (Ch 87). But he largely drops this flashy, arrogant persona when interacting with his wives, and later, after they have earned his respect, with Tanjiro and the others. Uzui’s Bird Secondary is also his main strength in battle. His ultimate technique comes from analyzing the fight as it occurs and recognizing patterns (Ch 92). It is a technique that takes time and information to build into something that can overwhelm his opponent.

#part two is gonna take a while sorry #I've only got Kanao's charred to a crisp Lion Primary written up so far #character sorting #sortinghatchats #next sorting in the queue: Bad Batch

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cheqorb · 3 months

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MINE FOREVER ft. jouno + tetcho

you could’ve never imagined in your wildest dreams that two members of an elite military group would both gain an interest in you. flattering, right? well, with the chain on your ankle, you really wish they didn’t.

WARNINGS: yandere themes, implied kidnapping, mentions of injuries

NOTES: is it spelt tetcho, tetchou, or tecchou?? anyways, had this idea sitting in my drafts for ages so i decided to post it. love these guys a lot and they have such good yandere potential. more people need to write for tetcho!! minors DNI please!

i feel like with these two, especially if you’re a civilian, it’s inevitable that you’ll find yourself confined within some building that serves as a makeshift ‘home’ for you. a place hidden from the knowledge of anyone, besides the few guards who check on your wellbeing every so often when tetcho and jouno are out on extended missions. don’t get your hopes up though; they respect and fear the two hunting dog members too much to disobey orders and allow you to escape. any actions like searching the house for something or with the intention to find an escape route are swiftly reported to them.

but hey, if it makes you feel any better about your situation, having both men infatuated with you is a much easier time than if it were only one! reason being, they balance eachother out in a weird way.

TETCHO is ‘kind’, in a sense. he’ll happily let you cling to him, gently wiping away any stray tears that fall down your cheeks, apologise over and over again that you feel so trapped but it’s for your own good, he swears. but with this kindness comes overbearing protectiveness. he’s stubborn, but maybe, just maybe, if you’ve been on your best behaviour lately you could manage a few minutes outdoors (with him watching over you) before being promptly escorted back inside.

a calloused hand grabs hold of yours, its grip firm yet gentle. "let's get you back inside now. are you hungry? would you like something to eat?" tetcho's voice carries a comforting tone as he guides you back indoors, much to your dismay.

i imagine this is one of the few aspects JOUNO is slightly more laidback on than tetcho, he’s more confident in that you won’t run away because staying home like a good s/o is preferable to being punished, don’t you think? you learn to tolerate his snarky attitude because when he’s in a good mood, he occasionally lets you join him on a quick trip to a cafe, perhaps even buy you a gift if he hears your heart rate pick up in excitement.

jouno comes to an abrupt halt, turning to face you. “is there something you want? your heartbeat is awfully quick.” startled, you fumble over your words, a twinge of fear creeping in at the prospect of another ‘punishment’, causing you to shake your head. "n-no, of course not. i—" before you can finish your sentence, you find yourself being whisked away to the store seemingly against your protests, only to discover a nice gift box being placed in your hands as you leave.

nevertheless, he won’t hesitate in showing what he’s capable of doing if you try anything funny…right. punishments from jouno leave you feeling numb after, despite the visible bruises and cuts that litter your skin and throb with pain. unlike his colleague, he won’t be swayed by your tears, no matter how much begging or pleading you do. lucky for you however, tetcho always intervenes if he deems the punishment too excessive for your ‘crime’. he’s also the one who tends to any wounds afterward, carefully bandaging your body while reassuring you that jouno likely didn’t mean any harm, he’s just worried about you! and, to avoid consequences like this again, you should just accept that you won’t escape anytime soon.

tetcho pats your head, his touch almost patronising, just as jouno reenters the room. "this situation could have been avoided if you hadn't attempted to escape," he chides in a gentle but reproachful tone. you don’t bother lifting your head, already anticipating the expression on his face, a sight that would only intensify the queasiness swirling in your stomach.

#[ 𐙚 ] CHEQ. — yandere #[ 𐙚 ] CHEQ. — writing #[ 𐙚 ] CHEQ. — bsd #tw yandere #yandere bungou stray dogs #yandere bsd #yandere bsd x reader #yandere jouno #yandere jouno x reader #yandere tetcho #yandere tecchou #yandere tecchou x reader #yandere hunting dogs

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deardragonbook · 3 years

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Editing and Levels of Editing

Before I begin, I wrote this whole thing out this morning, pressed save as draft and guess what post did not save as a draft? Yeah. So if it feels a bit more dry or to the point than my usual posts, I apologize. And if you prefer it like that, tell me, because I’m great at accidentally losing drafts!

This post isn’t about how I edit (I’m sure I’ll do that eventually), it’s more about how much I edit and specifically how that changes depending on what I’m writing.

So I measure how much I edit by drafts a lot of the time, but that isn’t entirely accurate because there are drafts and then are drafts. When I’m writing a book, I write a first draft, I write it carelessly and without looking back, then I start over for my second draft. That’s what I’m going to refer to as a solid draft, when I write the whole thing out again.

For my third draft onwards I’ll usually be editing the second draft, editing could involve cutting out whole paragraphs and writing them again, but I’m not starting from zero. This is what I will call a soft draft.

Now, organized from most to least drafts:

1.- A to be sold book. At this time, that’s just Dear Dragon and the next books coming up in that series. People pay money to read this, so it has to be good. And what each person considers good can be relative, for me, it’s generally around seven to nine drafts. Two solid drafts and the rest soft drafts. My first book took me about twoooo yeeeears (voice full of hesitation), technically three but with long hiatuses in between and… it’s a mystery for the ages, I’ll be honest. The point is, lots of editing, lots of work. Obviously you aren’t going to put as much time into every work you do.

2.- A not be sold book. So, because I’m one hundred per cent incapable of doing a single project at a time, sometime after my beta readers received Dear Dragon, I started to write another shorter novel, it was an idea I’d had running through my head for about two years or so, and I just wanted it out.

I knew this wasn’t going to be anywhere near the quality of Dear Dragon, if only because I was nowhere near as in love with the idea. So as to not put pressure on myself I thought, I’ll upload it to Wattpad, it’s a social media site for writing, maybe I can get my writing noticed a bit before publishing my actual novel…

I’ll do a post about the different social media sites and being an author on social media at a later date. Once I feel like I know what I have to say because… I have a lot to say.

But anyway, it’s going to be free, but it’s still a proper little stand alone micro-novel. How many drafts? Three. In my case, three. It was a solid first draft, solid second and soft third draft. It took me about a year with long hiatuses in between because as said previously, it just wasn’t high on my priority list.

It’s complete from today (if I’m doing the maths right because I don’t publish these on the same day I write them)! Check it out.

I recommend binging it because that’s how you get the most out of the small details.

3.- Chaptered stories that don’t stand alone. I actually have two stories that fit into this category: Oppida Institute for Reformation and Love, Coffee and Dragons. They are both prequel series to my main book series Dear Dragon.

Now, I do less editing in these then I will a not for sale novel, BUT, I do a lot more plot related editing. What do I mean by that? I spent a lot of time double checking timelines, maps, general continuity. See, because this takes place before the main series, a lot of it affects the main series, so I have to be cautious not to make any mistakes.

In both I do a solid first draft and a soft draft, in this soft draft I mainly work on catching any grammar mistake, touch up on fluidity and double check timelines and maps.

For Love, Coffee and Dragons I write my first draft in word and then edit it another day in Hemingway.

For Oppida Institute for Reformation I will export it from word to my iPad, edit it by hand and then go to Hemingway to pass those edits on. This means I read through my draft about three times instead of two. Mainly because the plot elements affect the main series more than Love, Coffee and dragons which is, what I call an emotional support story (I’ll probably do a post about what I mean by that… later).

These both probably take me a couple of weeks for each Act, which will be somewhere between five and fifteen chapters. I upload each chapter once a week so. That works well.

4.- One-Shots. I do plenty of quick one-shots, Market Day or Photos that follow my book’s main character as a child. Night Out which follows one of the old kings. And every article up on my web.

Because everything I just mentioned is in the universe of Dear Dragon (beginning to think I need to branch out a bit) my editing is mostly double checking everything is properly placed on the timeline (guess I should do a post about how I write and keep track of the timelines, huh?). I revise grammar but don’t tend to go over fluidity as much as the other stories.

Because there one-shots are usually low stakes and more just an exploration of something simple, such as the terrifying feeling of not knowing where your parents are at the market, they usually are written and edited the same day or not long after.

5.- Blog Posts. So, this. Before here I used to do some writing tip posts on my site, I also have my personal tumblr where I usually ramble on about existentialism and whatever comes to mind. For these posts I write them (solid first draft) and then I read them over, add in links, make things bold and try to catch as many typos as possible. I probably don’t catch all of them and often click edit if I spot one.

But that’s fine, because I’m trying to upload one a day, so it’s not supposed to be this high quality experience. It’s just me trying to share the most useful bits and bobs from my own experience.

This takes me probably an hour or so depending a lot on the article.

So, did you get anything out of this post? I’d not heard anybody talk about the difference in effort you put into different works and thought it might be interesting, but in retrospect maybe nobody talks about it because it’s precisely the opposite. You tell me! Feedback and criticism helps me know what I should be putting more time into.

#writing advice #writers on tumblr #writing #how I write #writer #writing tips #writing tricks #tips #tricks #editing #selfpublished #author #authors #can someone tell me the kind of tags I should be using for these posts?

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doorsclosingslowly · 3 years

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snippet time

7.8k! the overlap between people following me and people reading my shadow & bone fic is probably small, so a) who cares if i'm posting way too much of this in individual snippets and b) i'm sorry. i just like this 1st draft of the ending. minor nsfw for nudity

Jesper’s hand is tangled in Inej’s hair. He uncurls it and then, his whole body, stretching out his arms and legs and the neck that’s aching from a severe lack of pillows. He uncurls, and regrets it immediately. Those long dark strands were the only thing that’s comfortable here: Inej must have moved a lot during the night, fighting for her place, and now she’s with her back to Jesper taking up more than half of the already narrow lumpy mattress, and she’s also wrapped up tight in Kaz’ thin duvet. The only duvet. Kaz could surely afford more, and Jesper doesn’t ever sleep with fewer than two blankets and a duvet and his old throw from home, not in the dank Ketterdam nights, but Kaz is an austere bastard who luxuriates in suffering, other people’s and his own, apparently, and even if he had another duvet then Inej would have stolen that one as well.

The bed smells of sweat: Inej’s, faintly, Jesper’s own, but below it, the soft sour odour of a certain someone not changing his bedclothes often enough after—knowing him, unpleasant dreams.

At least Jesper’s feet are still warm. Unlike everything else about him, because he’s still lying buck naked except for the socks in Kaz Brekker’s bed after getting him and Inej off and also singlehandedly solving everyone’s relationship troubles. At least the feet are nicely toasty, unlike the rest of his body, which is goosebumped and shivering and he’s so lucky the room is pitch-black thanks to the curtains and Inej’s asleep and Kaz is gone, because roosting on top of the Slat may be a power thing on Kaz’ part but it’s also far draftier up here than down in Jesper’s room, so frigid that Jesper’s dick’s probably shrivelled back into his body. Not that it matters, and given the stuff they’ve been doing… Not that it matters, probably, to anyone but him. But hey, there’s value in being a little vain about your beauty. It got him into this bed, after all.

… if Jesper let his teeth clatter so loud it woke up Inej, that would be pretty funny. She’ll be mortified about hogging most of the mattress and the entire duvet. She’s also the one who had to do actual work the past two days, though, and probably even more than usual because Jesper was on his non-consensual vacation, so it all depends on how much of an asshole Jesper is. She was pretty sweet to him this night, so—

Jesper’s pulse jumps when a thin stripe of light appears on him, growing thicker, and then he closes his eyes and starts feigning sleep. A heartrender would call his bluff immediately, because his pulse is still racing: but a heartrender would know he’s awake even when he’s calm, most likely, though he’s never actually asked one about their powers. Maybe he should. At least find out whether it’s possible to force the light back under his skin when it’s started glowing out. But the only place where he’s gonna learn that is the Little Palace, and that’s the last place Jesper’ll ever go to.

If a heartrender got into this room, they’d have much bigger problems than whether Jesper can convincingly pretend to be asleep, though. It’s Kaz’ bedroom. No-one’s supposed to come in here uninvited. Except for Inej. Also, the door didn’t squeal when it opened. Someone knows those hinges intimately.

The quiet limping gait and the cane seal the deal. It’s Kaz. No reason for Jesper’s heart to gallop with terror, and at the same time—the best reason. What’s Kaz doing in here? Apart from this being his bedroom, and him probably needing to sleep too. Time to kick Jesper out, probably. Thanks, until next time, by the way why haven’t you sniped the Liddies’ treasurer yet. Should Jesper have gotten up as soon as he realized he was awake? But Inej’s here too, and Kaz wouldn’t just kick her out of bed.

He wouldn’t… this close, Jesper can hear the faint creaking of his leather gloves somewhere over his head. Somewhere to the left of him, where Inej’s sleeping, roughly where her head should be. Jesper doesn’t dare open his eyes, but he’d bet a thousand kruge Kaz is very softly petting her hair. He’s not jealous. He’s not hurt. He isn’t. He always knew what Kaz feels for Inej. Besides, Kaz is already hiding him and giving up a lot of money to keep his secret. Asking for anything more would be far too greedy, the kind of greed that costs everything: and Jesper doesn’t mind losing that much when it’s gambling, but Kaz… So he’s definitely not jealous.

He's opened his eyes, though, to confirm his suspicion, and sees Kaz pull back his hand and raise the tips of his gloved fingers to his lips. It’s too intimate. Jesper was never supposed to see Kaz like this, and he screws his eyes shut again, keeping his breathing free and even.

Fingertips ghost against the corner of Jesper’s mouth, so hesitant he almost misses them.

He might have, if he was still asleep; but those fingers are warmer than the air, and the rich earthy smell of leather tinged with the iron of old blood—the odour and sensation burn into him like the dark spots on his retina when he once looked at the sun, and though he can’t taste any wetness, any spittle, he imagines them anyway. The glove touched Kaz’ lips before Jesper’s. He never imagined that Kaz would kiss him. Kiss Jesper. He licks his lips, because if these are the only traces of Kaz he’ll ever have inside him then—

“You’re awake,” Kaz hisses, still quietly enough not to wake Inej. “Get up.”

Jesper’s never managed to deny Kaz anything. The bed’s uncomfortable anyway.

He tiptoes quietly out into the office after his boss.

Kaz is proffering Jesper’s holstered guns, when Jesper turns around from trying to close the bedroom door as quietly as possible. It still made a tiny screech, but maybe, if Kaz lets him spend more time here then he’ll learn it well enough to…

“It’s a little past three bells. Mark Heener of the Liddies tends to leave his house at four to visit Lispet at the Sweet Shop so his wife won’t notice. It’s a good opportunity, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Yeah, boss,” Jesper mumbles, still too mellowed by the scent of leather and old blood to come up with a decent riposte. “You got it. Anything you want.”

“Change the socks first, though,” Kaz rasps, and lets his eyes trail slowly up from Jesper’s feet to—yeah, Jesper’s still as good as naked.

“You know enough about anatomy to be aware that dicks shrink when it’s freezing, right?” Jesper means for it to come out more teasing and less self-conscious than it does, but Kaz is just staring at him. And not at his face, either. “You’re basically the Dregs’ boss. You can afford more than one duvet. In fact, I insist, and more pillows and a new mattress as well. When we’re doing this again I want to be actually comfortable.”

Kaz’ ears are slowly pinking up. It’ll have to be answer enough, because instead of reacting to Jesper’s unspoken question, the bastard just rasps, “It’s fifteen past now. You might need to hurry if you want to catch Heener before he gets to the Sweet Shop. And get to your room before anyone in the Slat wakes up, because I’ve already sent yesterday’s clothes to the laundry, so you can’t even slink to your room in my cast-offs.”

“I could protect my modesty with one of those gorgeous sweaty socks.” Jesper waggles his toes. In the green-and-yellow stripes, his feet look almost like grotesquely distended caterpillars. Sometimes he really misses the farm.

Kaz scowls.

“Don’t worry, boss.” Jesper buckles his holsters around his hips and winks at Kaz again. He’s too off-balance for a mock-seductive pose, but this will have to do. “This is all yours.”

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datastate · 3 years

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Not sure if my ask went through the first time or not (thanks tumblr), so I'll send it again to be sure. How do you think Lurien got his spot on the spire and as a dreamer? Do you also have some fun/not so serious headcanons you wanna share?

it didn't go through the first time! thank you for sending it again tho!! :D

i will put the spire / dreamer talk in another post, but here r some misc hcs:

-> leading from the above, but! once lurien discovered aster works with engraving (through a gift, small leather 'belt' sort of thing to keep up a few of his cloaks) he allowed them to make a simple pattern upon his prostheses as well.

- i think lurien n dryya should be friends. something abt their personalities works well i feel

- lurien's telescope was crafted by monomon! she also crafted the draft of his current arm prostheses based on his input and what she gathered from his old ones (with some updates to make movement easier). while he rarely uses his old ones these days, they hold a Lot of sentimental value, and are one of the few items he doesn't allow aster to touch more than need be.

- honestly i feel like lurien's similar to me in that he realized he was gay and then was like ok! cool! [proceeds to do nothing with this for the next few years bc he has other stuff to worry abt]

- lurien has a surprising balance between practicing scenery and people, tho he still prefers scenery... it changes often, even in small ways, and he enjoys being able to capture the life of the moment. besides, on a technical level there are often more details in there anyway to mess with even when they're small, whereas w masks it does begin to feel a bit repetitive every once in a while unless he draws details within their shell as well. but. regardless, there aren't many who'd feel comfortable with removing their masks for him to try to paint, and he's not the sort to paint himself. the three statues are enough to sate his ego thank you.

-> when he was younger he'd take commissions to earn smth extra lmao

- lurien's not great with hallownest's typical nails, but enjoys wielding long, lightweight weapons. while he's no competition for dryya, hegemol still occasionally spars with him to pass the time away when she's busy.

- okay. okay. bear with me. lurien's laugh right... usually one of those soft, reserved ones where you'd cover the lower half of your face and it doesn't last long, but the amusement stays, but when he's comfortable w you it becomes really. bright? he will still tend to cover his face or tilt his head downward depending on the situation, but it's a lot clearer and while it's not loud there is a lot more emotional weight to it that he allows himself to express and i ;-;

- wow i'm gay. it's okay he is too. while there was a period of time when aster didn't live in the capital (for various reasons), sometimes, esp around the 'new year' once they were used to each other, they would spend some extra time outside of work hours. the first few times were by aster's nervous request because the stagways had closed and they wouldn't want to bother them, and a few after were lurien's hesitant offer. bro they are close friends they just want to spend time w each other when aster really has no obligation to work.

-> i've said this before but i think it'd be funny if aster occasionally debated their pay / mentioned offhand that dang lurien's going to fire them oh no oh woes whatever shall they do with lurien and while he's mortified bc I Would Not Do That To You, they're just. bestie (... mestie? mastie? watchie??? girl help) it's fine i'm well-off with the money i've already got i'm doing this work bc i like it (and i like you, but you didn't hear th--

#i'm so sorry i couldn't add more / some of these r just a bit repetitive ahvmgsd i keep. defaulting to a few #and can't really remember what i have/n't said hvmgsd - but yea! will post the other half just a sec #thanks again dude <333 #ask #timefire25 #hk posting

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inevitably-johnlocked · 3 years

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(was originally an ask, then i rambled a crapload, so if u wanna skip through, just go to the bolded questions)

i am new to the fandom & just found your blog, just wanted to say DAMN its so detailed and everything, i cant wait to read it all! also i was so relieved to find that the fandom is still alive <3

side note im just rambling here, i binged sherlock all really quick and everything is like a blur (idk if im in a state of shock or something, but i do know i was super invested at s1 ep 2, then i finished s4 at 4am one day and i had to read me some johnlock fics to comfort myself and i really dont know how i feel about anything yet just that well, johnlock and i cried during sherlocks fake death even tho i already accidentally read spoilers, and i also cried when they just went to hang out at bars together and hhh and during sherlocks best man speech and sherlocks goodbye to john (…maybe goodbye should be plural)…also i was v mad at eurus and s4 was a hell of a rollercoaster gd), so just wondering, how many times have you watched sherlock? how was the experience each time? (can be about any season or eps or anything, also any snacks u liked to eat while watching or anything of that sort? just curious and thought that might be fun to answer)(apologies if you answered this already i tried to look for it but i got a bit overwhelmed)

btw u are amazing ^^ (also nice timer even tho it makes me sad) and MAD RESPECT for answering so many asks and like SO DETAILED-LY? (i cant grammar) and god ur metas and stuff?? absolutely fantabulous. im legit crying im so glad i found your blog. i know how much work asks take (and like i procrastinate on them for so long…mm months old esp for fic rec lists bc i know those take WORK) so like again, SO MUCH RESPECT thank you for all your hard work!! you are absolutely fantastic and awesome :D please make sure you take care of yourself too <3

ALSO you have a great profile picture + background pic (forgive me i have half a braincell (actually lets make it .7437 gave myself a tiny upgrade even tho i didnt do anything) i forgot what its called…background thing?? idk) i love them!!

if u read through all that tysm, if not thank u anyways for being so amazing, i have a habit of rambling so pls bear with me ^^

(also would it be possible to make this anon? if not feel free to delete this line ^^)

(Submitted by Anonymous)

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Hi Lovely!!

Always can make something Anon if y’all ask <3

First of all, SORRY for how long it took me to get back to you with this one. I’m a giant heap of trash and I’m surprised people still come here LOL

Secondly, WELCOME TO THE FANDOM! We love having y’all here, and I’m honoured that you enjoy my blog and content! Also will comment on your praise on my meta here: THANK YOU. I’m very proud of my meta, and especially the SHEER AMOUNT of it I have produced still boggles me mind. Y’all remember when I was creative and thoughtful??? LOL S4 dragged me hard hahah. I still try to write S4 meta, just not as much as I used to. I like speculating, I truly do, but I have so little free time these days because of the nature of my full time job, so I tend to just... do nothing LOL. I find Fic Reccing really relaxing when you have nearly 800 bookmarks. I’m worried I’m becoming stale though. Oh well. I’m just trying to leave my mark here. <3

Thirdly, HAHHAH Thank you for your compliment about my replies to my asks; I genuinely wish I could get more asks finished every day, but I tend to ramble, as you can see, and I just... don’t finish them in a timely manner. Honestly, it’s a relief when I don’t know something because I can then get the community involved to help me out AND I also get new fic recs that way too LOL. I also draft a TONNE of asks and when I do that, I tend to just keep adding MORE and MORE and MORE so I have to post them, LOL.

And finally: My fave episode is TAB; it was the episode I studied the closest and my analysis of the trailer is my “claim to fame”. I just love it to bits. It’s the episode I’ve watched the most. S3 is my fave season, and it’s the SEASON I’ve watched the most, no less than 30 or 40 times. Season 2, then 1. I have only seen S4 like 5 times in full total, and horribly enough, TFP is the most-watched episode: I watched the Leak, the airdate, and I went and saw it in the theatres because I already bought the ticket before it aired so I just... didn’t care. And then at least 3 more times in Watchalongs. So yeah :| I still haven’t watched the BluRay I bought, but I hated having an incomplete set so I bought it when it went on sale fore 10 bucks LOL.

But yeah, S1 and 2 I watched together, and I LOVED the show. I joined fandom the summer before S3 aired, and S3 is when I REALLY got into the fandom. I’ve been pretty much here since then, about 7 years I think now. When I saw S4, it was incredulity and disappointment with it. That’s really it. I’m still a fence sitter these days about the series as a whole, but I’m leaning more and more to “no S5 for at least 3 more years” kinda thing. Just... everyone involved seems so disinterested in the show these days, minus Mofftiss to keep pushing the Sherlock™ Brand to make money.

ANYWAY. Thanks for writing to me!! This was such a joy to read when I first got it, and I just... have been really overwhelmed the past few weeks that I just have only been sticking to shorter asks. But I had some free time tonight when I’m answering this, so THANK YOU.

I hope you’re still around, and I hope you still enjoy your time here! Don’t hesitate to ask me anything else!! <3 <3

#steph replies #chatting with nonnies #about me #happy posts #testimonials #my blog #Anonymous

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captain-of-the-historicfuture · 3 years

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~hello~ !! For the meta asks!: 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 24, and 25 :))

Hello!! Thank you for sending these; I was really excited to see that ask game and I was hoping somebody would send some in. It still took me a while to actually answer them though, and for that I apologise. But without further ado! Some meta answers (under the cut because they ended up being fairly long, whoops):

3. What is that one scene that you’ve always wanted to write but can’t be arsed to write all of the set-up and context it would need? (Consider this permission to write it and/or share it anyway.)

I thought of a few examples, but they could basically be grouped together under a common theme: whumpy/angsty scenes that were self-indulgent as all heck. The whole self-indulgent aspect often required the characters to be just the teeniest, tiniest bit OOC and/or necessitated rather unrealistic plot circumstances. So it was simply easier to keep such scenes as maladaptive daydreams, rather than trying to think of explanations for the character/plot issues…or exposing myself to judgement for them LOL.

Receiving permission to write/share one such scene anyway is an opportunity I can’t let slip by though. It might be because I’m writing this while running on zero (0) hours of sleep—let’s hear it for insomnia, y’all!—but I suddenly couldn’t remember any of my newer ideas under this category. However, I did recall a one-shot I had started writing a couple of months ago that sort of counts? “Sort of” because I could actually be arsed to write it since I was, ya know, writing it. Only got about six hundred words down though.

…should I share those six hundred words…?

………nahhh. I don’t think I’m quite ready for that yet.

But here’s the gist of it: Coulson and May (because of course it’s Philinda) were married for quite some time before the Attack on New York. But then Coulson DiedTM and then got ResurrectedTM. But gasp of horror, he had to lose his memories of his romantic relationship with May because reasons. (I actually did have some ideas for those reasons but sshhhh this is about me yeeting context and setup.)

The first half of S1 still happens as normal (except MayWard doesn’t happen because??? Vows) and it’s now post-E20 “Nothing Personal”. The morning after (or a morning soon after, whatever) the T.A.H.I.T.I. reveal! May’s mom—who doesn’t know about GH.325 and whom May fed a cover story about Coulson divorcing her or something equally as oof, IDK—shows up at the hotel and starts ripping into Coulson for breaking her daughter’s heart, then dragging her back into the field with her ex-husband (him), then accusing her of terrible things and forcing her away again.

Poor guy’s confused as heck, and so is the team, and soon enough so is Lian. The only one who understands what’s going on is May, and she’s freaking dying off to the side like why is this happening to me and eventually everybody’s like! Explain??? (Was thinking about including something from Coulson like, “Are you still keeping things from me?” Just for that extra smidge of angst, yay!)

So yeah then May gives a, like, two-sentence debriefing that elicits more questions than answers. Coulson decides to take May aside and they have a heart-to-heart. Lots of feelings and angst and hurt/comfort and at some point plenty of kissing too. Just! May hiding her feelings for Coulson’s sake but really magnified, plus some actual apologies and consideration of the grief May’s been through on Coulson’s part.

And uhh yeah that’s basically it I dunno hdsjncjshd. I warned y’all it’s OOC, plot-bendy, and very self-indulgent!

6. What character do you have the most fun writing?

I don’t think I could name a single character for this. I get different things out of taking on different voices, you know? I guess recently I’ve found myself gravitating towards more taciturn and introspective points of view, like JQ from my original novel Rosewood or M. Yisbon from my…other original novel Temple.

Generally, however, I like tackling stories from an outsider’s perspective. That’s why I so rarely write my more “substantial” (serious? demanding? for lack of better words?) projects from the PoV of my “preferred” character. This usually means writing from their love interest’s perspective, but not always. With shorter fanfic, using a more removed/unconventional/niche PoV can be really fun. Like, I once wrote a canon compliant ficlet purely(-ish) about Philinda from Tony Stark’s perspective. That isn’t always sustainable with stories that demand more character development or closer character studies, however, which is why it’s a good thing I like writing drabbles!

9. Are you more of a drabble or a longfic kind of writer? Pantser or plotter? Do you wish you were the other?

My word counts tend to run long, but I usually only write one-shots for fanfic. If I’m even inspired with a novella- or novel-length story idea for a fandom, you already know I’m in deep with them. And if I actually find the motivation to plan and execute that idea? Dangg. That’s only ever happened…twice, maybe thrice, and I’m in a lot of fandoms.

At times, I wish I could go for more of a middle ground ’cause, like, you know what I love to see? An AO3 dashboard with several completed novellas for my ship/character of choice. I mean yes, I hecking love >90k fics, but sometimes I’m in the mood for quick reads…and what am I supposed to do when I burn through all the drabbles and 2k one-shots? (Besides despair and/or reread my faves desperately.) Novellas are basically always safe for me LOL, and I’d hope to be able to give as much as I take.

Ultimately though, I think I’m okay with where I am with regards to that. I wish I could write more in general, but I’d be okay with “writing more” just meaning “writing more one-shots”, ya know? More than okay, really. I have mad respect for fic writers who have, like, a hundred or more one-shots under their belt for this one ship. The fandom ecosystem would be incomplete without them (as well as every other type of writer, but sshhh that’s the type of writer I’m closest to being right now).

I’m definitely a plotter, and I definitely prefer it that way. It’s cool having such a detailed record of my process. I like feeling like a frazzled genius on the brink of a major discovery with all of my different outlines and colour coding and many drafts and various websites.

12. Do you want your writing to be famous?

Not exactly. It might be cool if my original works were recognisable in the world, but I don’t think I’d want to be recognisable. As for fanfic, I’d low-key enjoy gaining a place in that fandom’s community as a fic writer. Like someone who gave and got fic gifts from fic writer friends, who participated in challenges and GCs, who received writing prompts on Tumblr, whose name was known for doing a certain trope/genre a bunch of times… Ya know what I mean?

Unlikely to happen when I’m so hecking hesitant to publicly (i.e., outside of AO3) claim credit for my writing, but fjnskfsjhfjs. A writer can dream, right?

15. Which is harder: titles or summaries (or tags)?

Of those three, tags are the easiest for me, for I have a reliable system for figuring out those.

Next easiest would probably be titles. For fanfiction, I like to use titles that are a quote from the source material. You should have seen all of my old Hamilton fanfic… I was really proud of some of those titles. And I don’t mean, like, whole lines—usually only two to five words. It’s a unique type of wordplay that I just love dabbling in.

And lastly, summaries. Sometimes inspiration strikes me and a snappy and intriguing synopsis just jumps out—one that I’m quietly pleased with—but most of the time I’ll spend way too long trying to think of such a synopsis and eventually just go with whatever I’d come up with so far. And live with my quiet dissatisfaction for the rest of time.

18. Do any of your stories have alternative versions? (Plotlines that you abandoned, AUs of your own work, different characterisations...?) Tell us about them!

Typically, no. If I have deleted scenes, I save and publish them separately, but that’s about it. I sometimes think of AUs for my own work and might talk about them in my author’s notes—might even talk about writing them—but I never really do anything with them.

Although…

It’s not uncommon for me to decide a plotline isn’t working for a certain story or to think of an interesting but undoable arc for a certain character, but what I’ll do is make a whole new story for those ideas. Once I’m done developing the original idea and the branched-off one, you probably wouldn’t be able to tell they grew from the same roots. Does that count?

21. What other medium do you think your story would work well as (film, webcomic, animated series, etc.)?

That depends on the story. I’ve actually written stories in other mediums—movie screenplay, musical stageplay, poetry, TV show scripts, play scripts, roleplay—but the novel does tend to be my comfort zone. Sometimes, if I have an idea that I think could work, or would even work better, as another medium, I’ll label it as such in my folder of ideas and decide not to write it as a novel.

Most of the time, my non-book projects are collaborations. I’m working with five different people on six different story ideas: two webcomics, one stage musical, one anime, and two animated TV shows. Little concrete progress has been made in any of those, mind you, but they’re still fun to discuss!

24. Would you say your writing has changed over time?

Absolutely. But I’ve been writing stories since I was five years old, so we would hope so, huh?

I wouldn’t say my writing’s changed completely, though maybe that’s just my insider’s perspective.

25. What part of writing is the most fun?

Oh gosh, I can’t believe you’d make me choose. Writing is just such a wonderful experience for me; I love just about everything to do with it. Admittedly, not all the time, but. Since that barely qualifies as an answer, however, I’ll give you this—

The endings. Not only that intense feeling of rightness when you wrap up that last sentence, but also the moments before. The adrenaline of knowing you’re almost there but you gotta push just a bit more to actually get there. And also the part right after—the real wrap-up, honestly: the revision and the editing. Heavens, I love revising and editing my work.

Which is not to say I don’t like writing it out for the first time, too—there’s nothing quite like seeing your cursor scroll to the next page, like going from a blank expanse to a Oh man, how many more lines are even going to fit on this page?, like watching that page counter tick up another number. However, there’s something cathartic about finally ironing out those problems I had to force myself to stop worrying about earlier because “just finish the first draft dangit”.

I guess that’s not really the end of the writing process, but whatever. Close enough (as fic writers are wont to say).

Another thank-you for these asks, and feel free to come back with more at any time! ;P

Send in fun meta asks for your friendly neighbourhood writer!

#thou canst not then be false to any man #ask game #invictusmaneo #to write and read comes by nature

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yoondoze · 5 years

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ultimatum | l.dh

donghyuck is a cute regular who has seen your spectacle reserved for rude customers a number of times and just can’t get enough of it.

pairing: donghyuck/reader

genre/au: fluff, coffee shop! au

word count: 2.2k

warnings: none

a/n: i kinda forgot that i had this in my drafts and decided to finish it! this was the mcdonalds au i once mentioned but thought that a coffee shop might work better. hope you enjoy <3 also, this was inspired by an incident from this post

When you’ve been working in fast food for long enough, your skin gets real thick.

There was just about nothing that could get to you, not even the wrath of a fifty-year-old man with a heavy southern accent calling you a whore because a barista accidentally gave him whipped cream when he didn’t ask for any - even claiming that whipped cream was emasculating! It wasn’t your fault and you knew it, even though he treated it like you killed his firstborn son. Still, you didn’t let it stress you out. You were tougher than nails - in fact, you were the type of person to throw nails into your mouth like sunflower seeds, chew them, and spit them out. When you were at work, anyway.

However, that didn’t mean you enjoyed dealing with it. Sometimes, you couldn’t get customers to leave you alone - Jesus Christ lady, I already gave you a refund and a coupon if you ever want to come back (please don’t), what more do you want? And you had a perfect way to get rid of it.

It was just a thing. Your coworkers laughed til their ribs hurt every time you pulled it and it was undeniably hilarious. You knew you weren’t supposed to anymore and perhaps it was a bit manipulative, but in your book, they deserved it.

And here we go again.

“There are no straws left,” she said abruptly. Her horribly cut side bangs swept to the right of her face screamed that this would be more troublesome than you were willing to put up with. When you looked over, she was correct. There were no more straws left in the basket on the counter. Big whoop.

“I’m sorry ma’am,” you replied in your most polite, high pitched voice, “I’ll be right on it in a moment.”

You continued taking the current customer’s order, hoping a coworker mulling around might have heard it and would get her the damn straw. No one stepped up though, leading you to believe that they almost wanted it to escalate, especially when Jisung - who was “busy” making a drink - gave you a look. Nothing had happened all day and everyone was bored out of their minds.

“Alright, your total will be-”

“Excuse me?” Her eye twitched as she interrupted you.

“One moment please ma’am, I’ll be right with you.”

“...Are you kidding me?” She scoffed. “All I need is a damn straw, and you kids are just going to ignore me?”

In the blink of an eye, you were wearing an anxious expression like a mask and your voice was faltering with worry. The customer who was right in front of you, who was actually quite pleasant, was becoming increasingly uncomfortable with the woman leaning into his bubble just to get in your face.

“Ma’am, I’m dealing with another customer-”

“And you were dealing with me first!” she yelled, bringing up a poorly manicured finger to point at you. “This place is horrendous. I cannot believe how low the bar is for the service I am receiving right now. You are one lazy little girl, and let me tell you, not one member of your generation is fit for the workforce right now. Always in your phones, not even able to refill the straws! When I get home, I am going to leave a Yelp review that will bring this place to the ground!”

You had to stifle a laugh in your throat.

It was dead silent. Conversations came to a halt, food was left half-chewed in people’s mouths as they focused on the ordeal up at the register. Some people in the place had seen you do it once or twice, if they came here regularly when you were working. Those people met your eyes and watched with excitement. One who you were familiar with, Donghyuck, looked up from his phone and raised his eyebrow at you from a corner booth, anticipating your next move.

The first time viewers were in for a treat.

Cue the waterworks. Your eyes filled to the brim with glassy tears, something you learned to do on command since you started working here, and brought your hands to your face. It was just natural at this point.

In a choked voice, you stumbled over your words, “I, I’m so sorry ma’am, it’s just that I… It’s my first day today and…”

You watched as her anger melted away and guilt began to take place. “I’m so sorry for messing up, I just got overwhelmed and…”

“No, no, no darling, I am sorry for yelling at you and I shouldn’t have. You’re new and it was my fault…” Her cheeks were incredibly red at this point, eyes wide and absolutely astonished. While you kept crying, sobs comparable to those in an afternoon soap opera, she had no clue what to do. Everyone in the store was looking at her with judgemental eyes, even her kids sitting at the booth. You spared a quick glance to Donghyuck, who gave you a concealed thumbs up as he tried not to laugh.

Instead of finishing the conversation, she simply hurried away back to her table, embarrassed, putting on her jacket and quickly pushing her family out. Trying to hold in your laughter, you ran to the back and let another watching worker take your place.

The others on break burst into laughter when you walk in and you couldn’t help but join them. It just felt good to see rude customers get what was coming to them, even if you had to lie a little. You wiped your eyes and patted your face dry with a towel as they complimented your performance. It was unbelievable that you weren’t being cast in movies instead of working a minimum wage barista job.

“Oh my god, Y/N, you’re so good at that!”

“It never gets old, I swear.”

“Just don’t let the manager find out you did it again.”

That was the one problem you had with the joke. Your manager, Doyoung, was strict and held way too much pride in his direction of the café. He maybe smiled at it the first time and then warned you not to pull the act again or there would be consequences. Since then, it always had to be something just between the employees. He was friendly but took his work in the fast casual business seriously and wouldn’t hesitate to let you go if you presented any problems, and unfortunately, you needed the money.

“Well, I’m not letting him know anytime soon, so you better not either. I’m your only source of entertainment around here, anyway,” you laughed, setting down your towel.

After it was safe to go out again, you received a few comments from customers who had witnessed it. Some were apologetic, clearly those who felt sympathetic for the new worker. Others were happy to praise your acting, and the shared laughter made you forget about the possibility of getting fired for it and wondering if it was worth the effort.

It was a little while later that you noticed that Donghyuck still sat in his corner booth. It surprised you, as the boy was typically only here for an hour max to do schoolwork before heading home. To be completely honest, you were always a bit disheartened when he left. You thought you worked better when there was eye candy present, encouraging you to do your best. Not like correctly making lattes would impress him, but you get the gist.

You memorized his order fairly quickly when he first started coming around and always tended to him with much more care than other customers. Your coworkers noticed it and teased you about it constantly - especially Jisung - but nonetheless let you have your fun.

Donghyuck was fairly talkative. Typically you would only listen half-heartedly when it came to customer conversations, but you paid full attention when he was speaking. He talked about his group of friends at school, his teachers, and sometimes you were even treated with a fun story of something that had happened recently. He was really kind and charming, not to mention that he was so cute that it made your heart hurt sometimes.

Occasionally you left a smiley face next to his name on the cup when you were feeling lucky, but not much came of it other than a small laugh, which you were still delighted to see anyway. Jisung suggested for you to write your number down a few times, but you wouldn’t be able to deal if he rejected you like that.

In other words, you had a big fat crush, and him staying later today gave you an ounce of sweet, sweet hope.

It was close to the end of your shift when he came up to the counter. Jisung had gone to the back to get his things since the place was pretty empty, so it was just you.

He looked like he was just going to leave, with his backpack slung on his shoulder and all, but he didn’t. You tilted your head to the side as he approached the pick-up counter rather than the registers. “Not ordering?” you asked.

“No, actually,” he said, scratching the back of his neck, “I, uh, I just wanted to talk to you for a little.”

It was safe to say that your heart leaped from your chest. This had to be it!

“Oh, okay... well then what’s up?”

He sighed and then smiled. “That act you pulled earlier… I swear, I never get tired of it.”

You laughed in return. “Yeah, me neither… I don’t know, it’s pretty entertaining for me, too.”

“How do you do it?” he leaned in closer and lowered his voice for dramatics. “Like, you start crying on demand. It’s amazing!”

You could only shrug, trying to keep your cool as he talked. “I couldn’t tell you. I just make myself get really upset, like it’s actually my first day, and go from there. I’m no actor, but... I’d say it’s pretty convincing.”

“No, it’s definitely convincing. I think I’ve seen it happen about four times now, including today. It’s great, like you just flip a switch and boom! Oscar-winning performance.”

The two of you giggled over it, sending your heart fluttering like a hummingbird’s wings. You couldn’t see yourself in a mirror but were sure your face was flushed red. Eventually, as the energy started to die down, he began again.

“Anyway, so I think you kinda know that I’m not just here to talk - I, I mean I like talking I just had something else to say-”

“It’s fine,” you said, grin prickling at your lips, “Don’t worry.”

He sighed, fingers entangling themselves as they rested on the counter. Donghyuck cleared his throat and then he said quickly, “This is a bit awkward and probably not the best place to ask but since I don’t know when else I could do it… would you go on a date with me sometime?”

He waited for your response with wide eyes, chewing on his bottom lip. You were so shocked that you couldn’t get any words out. It was your dream come true, yet you were still screwing it up.

“Um, you know what, nevermind, it was stupid of me to ask and especially while you were at work-”

You waved your hand as you realized where he was going. “No, no, it’s fine! I was just surprised, that’s all!” It was especially shocking that he was so flustered. From what you had seen from him, he was calm and collected. This wasn’t smooth as you imagined, but it was incredibly endearing.

You bit your lip mischievously. “I mean… I don’t know, Donghyuck. You’re a customer. Why should I?”

Fortunately, he received your playfulness well. What you didn’t expect was for him to come back even stronger. “Well, if you want to get serious… I’ll leave a complaint that you fake cry to make annoying customers feel guilty?”

A loud, hearty laugh made its way out of your chest. “Okay, fair enough. As long as you don’t tell my manager, I’d be happy to go on a date with you.”

You gave him a cheeky wink and grabbed a notepad and a pen and started to scribble down your phone number. When you handed it to him, that adorable signature grin spread across his face.

“Okay, I’ll... call you sometime. Thanks, Y/N.”

Then he was off, out the door with a certain bounce in his step that made you giddy, too. You had to turn around, letting yourself do a little dance of joy. At that moment, Jisung came out from the back with a smug look on his face. He punched you on the shoulder lightly as he walked out behind the counter.

“Finally,” he laughed as you protested. “It’s literally been months.”

You squinted your eyes as you stared at the boy who was now cleaning up. He had been gone for quite a long period of time, and wasn’t he just getting his things? “Did you have anything to do with this?”

He just smiled to himself as he washed his hands.

“Jisung!” you whined, swatting at him.

“Hey, hey, I only dropped some hints! Nothing explicit, it’s not like I paid him… just some hints!”

Scrunching up your nose, you crossed your arms and looked away.

“C’mon, Y/N, I’m your wing-man! You needed it and you know it.”

“Okay, maybe!” you threw your hands up in surrender. Then, in a small voice, you mumbled, “Thanks.”

But that pretty much decided it. If you could get yourself a date with the cutest boy you’ve ever seen out of it, the risk of being fired was more than worth it.

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fcarher · 4 years

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THE MEGA RP PLOTTING SHEET / MEME.

First and foremost, recall that no one is perfect, we all have witnessed some plotting once which did not went too well, be it because of us or our partner. So here have this, which may help for future plotting. It’s a lot! Yes, but perhaps give your partners some insight? Anyway BOLD what fully applies, italicize if only somewhat.

Mun Name: slug / ellie Age: 19 Contact: IM, discord

Character(s) I rp: Yunaeisha Adynora, other demons from my lore Which muse(s) inspires you the most atm?(for MM): Yunaeisha Current Fandom(s): None really Fandom(s) you have an AU for: Naruto, PKMN, Magi, Gangsta, OPM, MHA, Hazbin Hotel & currently working on an ATLA verse My language(s): german, polish, italian, english Themes I’m interested in for rp: Fantasy / Science fiction / Horror / Western / Romance / Thriller / Mystery / Dystopia / Adventure / Modern / Erotic / Crime / Mythology / Classic / History / Renaissance / Medieval / Ancient / War / Family / Politics / Religion / School / Adulthood / Childhood / Apocalyptic / Gods / Sport / Music / Science / Fights / Angst / Smut / Drama / etc. Themes/Genres you have an AU for: highschool, modern & fantasy/medieval

Preferred Thread length: one-liner / 1 para / 2 para / 3+ / novella. Asks can be send by: Mutuals / Non-Mutuals / Personals / Anons. Can Asks be continued?: YES / NO only by Mutuals?: YES / NO. Preferred thread type: crack / casual nothing too deep / serious / deep as heck. Is realism / research important for you in certain themes?: YES / NO. Are you atm open for new plots?: YES / NO / DEPENDS. Do you handle your draft / ask - count well?: YES / NO / SOMEWHAT. How long do you usually take to reply?: 24h / 1 week / 2 weeks / 3+ / months / years. I’m okay with interacting: original characters / a relative of my character (an oc) / duplicates / my fandom / crossovers / multi-muses / self-inserts / people with no AU verse for my fandom / canon-divergent portrayals / au-versions (as main or only verse). Do you post more ic or occ?: IC / OOC. Are you selective with following others?: YES / NO / DEPENDS.

Best ways to approach you for rp/plotting: the best way is just to straight up approach me. most often than not, just liking a post is not enough because it’s too vague ?? like if i post an idea & you like that, i’ll still be hesitant when it comes to roleplaying or approaching you because, while i appreciate such gestures, i’m just too anxious. therefore, plopping into my IMs without a properly fleshed out idea is also fine ! it, at least, gives me the hint that you’re actively seeking interaction. however, just saying “i want to roleplay & plot !” won’t cut it; at least, have something in mind, please !

What expectations do you hold towards your plotting partner: basic ideas & pouring their heart into plotting! i don’t mind waiting, at all, so if you’re busy, don’t worry about keeping me waiting; i completely understand since i’m also often busy with work or university. but !! please don’t only come to me with the statement: “i want to plot!” it’s not gonna cut it & it’s not gonna help with a proper interaction, at all. if i approach someone, most often than not, i have SOME sort of idea in mind. but yeah, being passionate is the most important thing!

When you notice the plotting is rather one-sided, what do you do?: most often than not, the conversation will die down because i will loose motivation; i don’t like it because i’ll feel like a bother & i shouldn’t feel that way when it comes to a hobby! therefore, one-sided plotting is one of my deal breakers; i usually end the conversation & there will be little to no interaction happening. like i said; i don’t mind waiting, i just hate that feeling of coming on TOO strong when my plotting partner delivers no input.

How do you usually plot with others, do you give input or leave most work towards your partner?: often than not, i start off with rather simple question like; are you interested in a certain verse ? do you already have something in mind ? if not, i will go through their about page & ask them things about their character & how that could possibly bring our characters to interact. sometimes, the about pages of a muse cannot give you every single bit of information; muses grow & change with each thread, therefore, it’s often better to just ask the people about their characters ! & from then on, it often just comes naturally.

When a partner drops the thread, do you wish to know?: YES / NO / DEPENDS. - And why?: if the thread is not THAT important or vital for our character’s relationship; i don’t mind & won’t need to know if the thread is dropped. sometimes, if it’s a heavily plotted thread & i’ve anticipated the interaction a lot; i’d appreciate a quick heads-up from my partner that they’re not feeling that certain thread any longer; i don’t mind that !! - What should your partner do when dropping a thread?: they don’t need to tell me; SOMETIMES, it’s just a nice gesture but most of the time, i don’t care, we can always start another thread !!

What could possibly lead you to drop a thread?: many things can lead to me dropping a thread; just losing motivation, having no muse for a certain genre or simply having the feeling that my partner is not liking it, any longer (ex. extreme lack of trying to match the reply length ). my health & my schedule can also, sadly, affect my motivation, so, more often than not, i tend to drop shorter threads & keep longer ones. - Will you tell your partner?: YES / NO / DEPENDS.

Is communication in the rpc important to you? YES / NO. - And why?: i get anxious really fast if people stop replying for a very long time, out of the blue. it has happened to me once before with a good friend with whom i have no contact with any longer due to miscommunication & them not trying to communicate the issue with me; therefore, yes, it is very important. i wanna know if something is bothering you; i wanna know if you like something very much; i wanna know what’s up ! we’re humans & we’re adults; we can talk about this. - Are you okay with absolute honesty, even if it may means hearing something negative about you and/or portrayal?: yes ! as long as it is constructive criticism & not straight-up bashing my characters or lore; i’m all for it. i don’t mind hearing negative things; in fact, i appreciate the honesty & it gives me room to work on myself & my writing ! - Do you think you can handle such situation in a mature way? YES / NO.

Why do you rp again, is there a goal?: building relationships that LAST & exploring my muses through & through; it is amazing how much yuna has grown through interactions with others; how different she has become from the yuna i once started out with; it’s almost been a year now & it’s just amazing. however, i’m not stopping anytime soon; THERE IS SO MUCH MORE I WANT TO EXPLORE !! the ultimate goal is for me to just look at my blog & be completely proud of what i have accomplished & written; i want fleshed out relationships & threads; deep stuff !!

Wishlist, be it plots or scenarios: yuna talking with someone about her struggles; mentally & physically. being open about her abusive father & how it has traumatized her & painted men in the worst picture one could imagine. HOWEVER; a hard thing because i don’t want these things to be pre-est or something; i want a thread where there is struggling, screams, conflict ! it is rather hard to find someone, though, who is willing & fitting to go onto that long journey with me & yuna. also, i’d love to write about darker stuff; i love fluff, though, sometimes i sure want a bit of that, too.

Themes I won’t ever rp / explore: the only things i won’t rp or explore are stated in my rules; ex. pedophilia, rape & really descriptive animal abuse. killing, torture, gore as well as cheating, heartbreak or toxic relationships are okay, while i do prefer to have a deeper bond with someone while exploring the latter & be communicating the whole time; i think these are really REAL topics & that’s why i wouldn’t mind exploring them because it does happen, more than one would like them to happen. however, if i see you, the mun, glorifying or romanticizing these; just no.

What Type of Starters do you prefer / dislike, can’t work with?: i like everything with some sort of substance; i love short ones as much as long ones, nevertheless, you have to give me something to work with. yuna would ignore anyone not of any interest or value to her; therefore, if your muse just asks her random questions, the interaction will go nowhere. if you’re unsure; just ask !!

What type of characters catch your interest the most?: i love characters with uniqueness to them; it can be a certain interest, certain appearance or their species can be totally unique to them; i’ll love it ! i do have a thing for villains, though; always had, even when i was young 8^) so, dark, stubborn & “evil” characters catch my interest far more than a really nice muse who just is all smiles all day. i love a muse that can kick mine & yuna’s ass, basically. someone with strong morals or who is just really set on their beliefs can also offer conflict which i ADORE !! i need it; i live for it !!

What type of characters catch your interest the least?: really kind & unbothered muses who are self-sacrificing, perfect & loved by everyone for no reason ?? idk, i just think it’s bad writing. everyone has flaws; no one is perfect !

What are your strong aspects as rp partner?: i am a very open person who will talk with you about anything & is keen on exploring our character’s relationship at all times & through all means; i often send my rp partners prompts in form of my yuna just being her dumb-self or through memes ! i will constantly think about our characters & will try to have them interact as much as possible. i am, most of the time, very active & respond to the threads fairly quickly ! if i am totally invested; you’ll get everything you want; a moodboard, an edit, a drawing, etc. i literally pour my heart & soul into every bond my muse has; i live for them. oh !! i also love asking people question about their characters; i just love learning new things about them !!

What are your weak aspects as rp partner?: i’m very slow out of character; i don’t approach muns a lot because i’m scared to be a bother, working on it ! i often ramble a lot & my writing can become a bit convoluted & hard to understand, i apologize ! i tend to not message people on discord as often as i’d like to; mostly because i’m really socially awkward or just don’t think that what i want to show to them is THAT important. i’m not as straight-forward as i wish myself to be; however, even with all that; i still have a lot of fun & am acknowledging & actively working on my weak aspects !

Do you rp smut?: YES / NO. Do you prefer to go into detail?: YES / NO / DEPENDS. Are you okay with black curtain?: YES / NO. - When do you rp smut? More out of fun or character development?: often, it is because i want to develop the relationship or yuna’s character; she’s a very sexual being who hardly connects to someone emotionally; therefore, writing sex & exploring the vulnerability behind it can be really beautiful ! though, fun is also involved ! - Anything you would not want to rp there?: non-consensual stuff is a no-go ! also, certain kinks that make me uncomfortable are also off the table; ex. anything involving bodily fluids other than spit.

Are ships important to you?: YES / NO. Would you say your blog is ship-focused?: YES / NO. Do you use read more?: YES / NO / SOMETIMES. Are you: Multi-Ship / Single-Ship / Dual-Ship — Multiverse / Singleverse. - What do you love to explore the most in your ships?: i love the conflicts the most; clashing ideals or just two stubborn muses arguing for the heck of it is really fun & can develop the relationship beautifully ! yuna is a person who likes someone that can be properly fought with, verbally here. but of course, i also adore the very soft moments!! i love meaningless fluff; it warms my heart. - What is your smut tag?: SINFUL.

Are you okay with pre-established relationships?: YES / NO. - And what kind of ones?: nothing TOO drastic; a friendship, a rivalry is a-okay ! however, i’m very hesitant when it comes to having pre-est. romantic relationships; though, you can quickly change my mind if you pour your soul into the plotting; then i’m fine with it ! everything that needs time when writing also needs time when plotting; don’t just straight up jump into something if you’re not able to give it your all.

► SECTION ABOUT YOUR MUSE.

- What could possibly make your Muse interesting towards others, why should they rp with this particular character of yours now, what possible plots do they offer?: i think yuna is a person with whom it is easy to form relationships with; it takes a bit of time but due to her rather drastic ideals & opinions; anything can be founded within seconds. she doesn’t hold back when it comes to her honesty & conflicts will arise. also, for all muses with demonic or deity backgrounds; being a daughter of the literal queen of hell, though, also harboring fragments of a god’s soul makes her unique in the supernatural world which can spark interest with your character or even they can develop an ill-will towards her ? i think it’s really interesting exploring what makes one work & go on & yuna has the philosophical potential to tickle that out of your muse; she question EVERYTHING. now for certain plots; one-sided love or even friendships are always really interesting, especially when she is the one having such feelings. other than that; she has enormous & dangerous powers; so if you’re into character or world-building; can offer that as well !

- With what type of Muses do you usually struggle to rp with?: humans; she doesn’t approach humans who are just kind & have nothing to offer for her, the least she’d do is have sex with them or kill them to harvest their life energy. i’m sorry but she really does hate all of humanity & to change that opinion ? man, you must be the most stubborn person ever. - With what type of Muses do they usually work well with?: characters who are of supernatural or demonic nature; she’ll be very interested & even nosy to a point. also, very attractive characters who are not afraid to speak their mind; she’s really superficial most of the time & will flirt with anything that she deems good-looking. muses who have ideals that contrast hers or that are similar to her but also, generally, people who are open-minded.

- What interests your Muse(s) in general: sex, parties, plants & flowers, astronomy, writing, demons & hell, the underground scene, killing, knives & playing the piano - What do they desire, is their goal?: the questions that bother her the most are; why did her mother had to die ? why would nobody help her while she was being abused by her father ? why was she kept alive by her sisters ? is there love out there for someone like her ? what do these strange visions mean that occur almost every night ? she has a lot of things she wants to experience & wishes to have a normal life once she has killed her other mother, lilith, which is her ultimate goal, at the moment. - What catches their interest first when meeting someone new?: their appearance; the scent of their blood & if it differs from humans; how they react towards her & what they do in front of her. - What do they value in a person?: strong opinions, loyalty, good looks, humor, strength (not limited to physical strength) - What themes do they like talking about?: herself or the world & the state of it; she likes being philosophical with some, can often be somewhat self-centered; THOUGH; it is almost always for her to see how they would react to that.

- Which themes bore them?: love & drama; she does not care a lot for gossip or anything relating to it; the topic of love, no matter in which sense, is always brushed off because she just doesn’t find any appeal in it.

- Did they ever went through something traumatic?: Being the reason her own mother committed suicide; Her father & sister abusing her all her life, spouting lies & beating her until she could stand no more while her other sisters would watch & do nothing, even though, they were supposed to support each other; laewa, one of her sisters, fancying the idea of killing yuna for the greater good; two of her best friends turning on her when they find out she’s not human & then being killed right in front of her eyes; her one & only boyfriend protecting her from a demon hunter & being killed in the process - What could possibly trigger them?: loud sudden noises; making fun of her attachment to her late ex-boyfriend, being awfully nice to her, the sight of any dog or wolf, tender touches (esp. her back being touched), being alone with her thoughts for far too long - What could set them off, enrage them?: people who make fun of her & her powers; calling her a monster; not understanding her pain when she opens up; purposefully touching her back or any other scarred skin, being nosy - What could lead to an instant kill?: you are a demon hunter that does not show remorse when killing demons with a consciousness, trying to kill her, killing one of her comrades

- Is there someone /-thing they hate?: Keela Adynora, Myra Adynora (Father, Sister), the other D.O.L.s, EYES’ superiors (the organization she works for), Humans, Lilith - Is there someone /-thing they love?: Evelin Adynora (Her biological mother)

Is your Muse easy to approach?: YES / NO. - Best ways to approach them?: If you’re not quite human or are a demon, you could literally stand next to her & be silent; she’ll become curious on her own. other than that; be interesting or flirt with her; just do something that does not involve small talk; she hates that. - Where are they usually to find?: strip club (her workplace), bars, clubs, clearings within a forest, nice areas that are full of trees & plants; a roof-top

Something you may still want to point out about your muse?: Yuna is basically pandora’s box personified; she may seem nice & attractive from the outside but within her are sleeping demons that only wait to be awakened. & withal, she is still a cutie who will become your number one supporter & protector if you manage to build a proper relationship with. it’s hard to get through that shell & what awaits is NOT that pretty but with years upon years of abuse, neglect & shit being thrown her way; it’s not easy being a carefree immortal.

CONGRATS!!! You managed it, now tag your mutuals! ♥

Tagged by: @skyvar , i srsly love these so much, snow !! thank you for tagging me <3 i had so much fun 8′) Tagging: @thevvolf ; @nezumi-vc-103221 ; @empiia ; @dvojakyvlk ; @childrenxfthemoon ; @hensetsu ; @goldempire ; @animatedatrophy ; @talonness ; @shikkotsunin ; @wcrthlessanimal�� & anyone else !!

#˗ ˋ † ᴏᴏᴄ ﹕ slug arrived !#˗ ˋ † ᴅᴏꜱꜱɪᴇʀ ﹕ the things that were left in this life i call mine !#( ajsjas u dont have to do this ofc !! bUT IT WOULD BE SO MUCH FUN!! )#( also thanks again now !! i really liked this one 8) <3 )

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philosophiums · 5 years

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{god okay finally i’ve finished!!!!! i’ve got drafts of all five parts done and am starting to go through and revise, which i will post as i complete. i could revise three or four more times but like...... don’t have time for THAT. so here’s the neil-in-a-dress au that @microolli has been drawing. hopefully this ends up being even *close* to what you were hoping for}

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Part One: Targeted

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North Carolina’s humidity is reaching critical mass, and every breath of Andrew’s feels a little too much like warm water, like he shouldn’t be letting it into his lungs. Sundown didn’t help cool things off, and the breeze that had been blowing through the cracks in the windows has since choked off and left the three of them treading water. If he’d wanted to drown, he would have picked a better location; even he deserves something classier than a shitty black van parked on the side of some shitty two-lane road, lights off to hide better in the dark.

It’ll storm soon. Later tonight or tomorrow, but this slow buildup of airborne swamp water has to produce something destructive – there’s no other option. He just wants to be happily settled in some air conditioning before the sky splits.

Andrew sweeps his eyes up to check on Aaron beside him, noise-cancelling headphones settled over his head and eyes trained on the screens in front of him, and then he pivots to look at Nicky in the driver’s seat, whose hand is caught in his hair as he tries impossibly hard to stay alert.

Three hours have gone by. Something awful twists in the pit of his gut, instinct letting him know that whatever peace they’ve managed to hold is about to be disrupted. “Check in,” he says, returning to his original position, head down and eyes closed, his hands loose between his knees. He focuses on breathing and listening; those are his only concerns right now.

“One,” Dan’s voice scratches through his headphones, and then, “two,” as Matt follows suit. They’re in the building, the closest to the client, and no matter how much Wymack likes to go on about teamwork and making an effort to participate, this mission is on Dan and Matt’s shoulders. If something goes wrong and the client gets injured, it’s their fault. Allison and Renee count off three and four respectively, and their feedback is clearer because they’re closer – outside the building on the perimeter, sweeping circles back and forth to make sure nothing’s been planted. Andrew thinks it’s a pointless maneuver for only two people, that the gap in their patrol leaves a massive opportunity for anyone, but he doesn’t bring it up. Nicky’s five, which at least confirms that he’s still awake, and finally, from a full state away, Kevin and Wymack check in as six and seven. Aaron doesn’t get a number, both because Andrew’s eyes are on him and because he’s tasked with staying entirely focused on the cameras that they have running – so much so that Andrew’s in charge of the audio from everyone’s microphones and comms.

It’s absolutely pathetic that it takes nine people to keep one man alive when it should require only two, and take maybe four for padding on the wealthier clients. But before last year, Fox Den, Inc. couldn’t even manage with eleven people on-sight. Circumstances changed. People died. Kevin bled his way across several state borders and proclaimed he was staying, and then Andrew was convinced to stay, too. Sometimes, when Wymack bribes Andrew with just the right incentive, the whole plan runs smoothly. But usually they only barely manage to keep their clients alive, let alone unharmed. It’s as if their presence alone causes mayhem to kick up from the dust, and Andrew thinks that they would have better luck killing people for money – especially since right now they tend to get people killed and lose money – but the only time he voiced this, he got glared at and overruled. Maybe they’d manage better if they could work as a team, but Andrew’s more interested in keeping his family alive than the client, so shit tends to fall apart when anything gets serious.

Why Wymack hasn’t fired Andrew yet is really anyone’s guess. Probably because Kevin’s favorite mantra is that Andrew’s full of potential but lacking initiative.

Kevin thinks too much.

The venue they’re casing is a small but high-end party in a public building, the room reserved and vetted for by the property owners. The chatter coming through Matt’s microphone is mundane, if more muffled than normal given the dress restrictions of the event. There’s some money talk – in the way that wealthy people talk about money, which is to say there’s conversation about new business ventures and investments and how “overpriced but worthwhile” education is for their children. The conversation makes that dark lake in Andrew’s chest ripple with his anger, but none of the topics raise anything close to concern. There haven’t been any red flags all evening.

And Aaron hasn’t made any motion yet tonight to signal anything amiss on the screens, and there hasn’t been a perimeter breech that Allison and Renee have found, and there’s been no interruption of new information from Wymack or Kevin.

So, why does Andrew still feel like something’s about to go wrong?

He trusts his gut. “One, circle closer to the client,” Andrew instructs, head still down and eyes still closed. The van dips quickly towards the driver’s side and Andrew’s heart drops with it, but he doesn’t move at all. He assumes that it’s only Nicky turning around to look at him – Andrew hasn’t bothered to give orders pertinent to the mission in four… no, five jobs now.

“Something come up?” Dan asks, tone down as the chatter around her sways in and out of Andrew’s hearing, coming in from her headpiece and her suit mic as a unit of sound that only barely lines up and makes sense together.

Of course, Andrew could tell her the whole truth, which is that nothing solid has come to his attention. There’s no evidence that the job is about to go south. Matt is already close to the client. But the strangling snag of his gut has never lied to him before – so much trauma has tuned him to know exactly when it’s coming. “Yes,” he says, which is enough of the truth to assuage her, and doesn’t elaborate.

“Andrew?” God, Kevin needs to not be talking right now. Andrew’s fists clench between his knees. “Did you notice something? What did you hear?”

“I can’t hear anything with you filling up the radio waves.” And really, what a poor fucking design for this part of the plan, but Andrew stops thinking about how Nicky should be solely in charge of communication when he catches sight of Aaron moving, and that jerky motion drags all of Andrew’s attention to his twin.

His head snaps up, and he watches Aaron’s mouth move in a slow, incredulous way, though he can’t hear him at all given the chaos that suddenly erupts through Andrew’s headphones. He rips them off and drops them, welcoming the bang of silence through his head. With the way Aaron slumps in his chair, there’s no way the client is still alive.

“What the fuck just happened?” Nicky asks, and Andrew would bet it’s into the comm system as well, but he’ll just bog down the channel, since that’s what everyone else is asking, too. “Shit.” He moves like he’s about to bail from the front seat, and Andrew’s not sure if Nicky’s thinking about running inside or coming around the van to join them in the back, but he’s not taking chances.

“Stay put, Nicky. He’s dead.” Andrew says it with a sigh.

Nicky swears again, but he stops acting like he’s leaving.

Andrew’s slow to stand up, left leg braced out so that he doesn’t have to rush to find his balance. It’s been a long night, and it was all for nothing; now all that’s left is figuring out what the fuck happened. Aaron pulls off his noise-cancelling headphones and tosses them to the lip of a desk in front of him, and Andrew takes a step and a half to come up behind him.

“Rewind it,” he says. “Show me.”

Aaron doesn’t move right away, and their synced sluggish responses make Andrew wonder if the damp air has become something thicker without them noticing, or if they’re both starting to wonder what the point of them doing this is. It feels rote, so Andrew doesn’t rush Aaron into moving. Eventually, Aaron leans forward and rewinds the tape.

When the recording starts to play, all Andrew sees is boring rich white people milling about in clean-cut fashion. He finds their client in the upper corner of the main screen, and the middle of the right screen; Matt is half-visible in the main screen and gone in the left, and Dan is invisible in all three. He watches the main screen, sees Dan come in from the bottom, casually slipping through the crowd with a mellow urgency that no one picks up on. And then the client just drops.

No obvious killer.

Well. Shit.

“Again,” he says, eyes staying on the screen even when Nicky decides to scramble between the front seats and join them.

Once more, Aaron rewinds the tape. Andrew delegates them each a screen. “Watch the top left corner only,” he says, because now they need to find whoever killed their client and lost them more money and reputation. They go through until Aaron stops the tape and rewinds again, and again until Andrew stops him. “There.” He points at the figure, the one he noticed last time but this time is sure of.

“How can you tell it’s her?” Nicky asks, leaning closer to the screen as if proximity will make the pixels any more clear, as if it will make the cutting silhouette in the black dress and close-cut curly auburn hair turn around and show her face. “She’s so far away from him.”

As if that hadn’t been Andrew’s first hesitation in picking her out. “Watch her hand,” he says, and moves aside as Aaron rewinds the tape one last time to watch. A second before their client crumples, the woman raises her arm, fingers shaped like a pistol aimed at their client, and pulls it back like it’s been fired. There’s no weapon in sight, but their client dies anyway.

When they get back to Columbia, they’ll have to comb through all of the video footage to look for any other occurrence of the woman throughout the night, but for now they have authorities to deal with, and then Andrew is going to start drinking.

#the foxhole court #tfc #tfc fic #microolli #idk what to tag this as we're here now #my fics

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ohbrilliiant · 5 years

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Hey. So. Long time no see, friends. Just some life updates and announcements while I have some time this weekend.

I kinda backed myself into a metaphorical corner when I went back-to-back-to-back with work/vacation/start of school, so the sheer exhaustion that I’m feeling right now is almost unreal. I’m incredibly lucky I wasn’t cast in the fall show or else I would’ve had many more breakdowns this week…but anyway.

I did a Bad Thing and overloaded myself with over 20 credits this term, so my life really needs to be focused on my classes and making sure my health doesn’t take a steep nosedive off a cliff while doing so.

This is an official PSA to say my blogs will be on hiatus or semi-hiatus at the very least until further notice.

It’s my goal to at least reserve time on the weekends to get drafts done and queue stuff, but let’s be honest: that’s not very fun. It’s boring and tedious as hell. I love doing instant threads with people and writing back and forth, so this is also an official invitation for mutuals to come and write with me on disc.ord whenever you’d like; I very much prefer writing there and making channels so that we can plot and make threads there instead. I will very rarely be here to answer asks/IMs so disco.rd is the best way to get a hold of me. My disco.rd info is otterlybrilliant#1045 for those mutuals that don’t have it yet (and please remember to tell me who you are when you add me or else I won’t accept the request). I also tend to write way more characters there when the inspiration strikes, including but not limited to: Thirteen, Anne Lister, Miranda Priestly, a handful of OCs, Hela, Eurus Holmes, Therese Belivet, Jenny Lind, Florence Zimmerman, and several others that are being workshopped and tested on various occasions. Each of these muses also have multiple verses (including very strong HP AUs that I love to play with wink wink hint hint) as well so there’s an infinite amount of possibilities. Seriously, don’t be afraid to approach me about plotting or starting up a thread! I want to write. The worst thing I’ll possibly say is that I have to wait until I have free time before I can flesh an idea out or that I need to sleep before concentrating on anything else, but please. I want to write. Let me write.

I’ll be queueing this post for the next few days and also linking it in my blog description for easy access. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask me. Take care of yourself, lovelies, and remember that your health and wellbeing comes before any blue hellsite that wants you to think this is all there is to this whole life thing. Also, Aiden says hi and he hopes you get to pet a doggo today. ❤️

Thank you for taking the time to read this! I appreciate you all!

P.S. if anyone’s interested, here are a few photos from vacation that I don’t actively want to print out and burn…

#✶ » police box: pull to open ( PSA )#✶ » ooc tag #lots of information in here so it's a pretty important read #get ready to see this frequently for the next few days

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gcntlemanjack · 5 years

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Hey. So. Long time no see, friends. Just some life updates and announcements while I have some time this weekend.

This is an official PSA to say my blogs will be on hiatus or semi-hiatus at the very least until further notice.

Thank you for taking the time to read this! I appreciate you all!

P.S. if anyone’s interested, here are a few photos from vacation that I don’t actively want to print out and burn…

#❧ 𝒜.ℒ. ( PSA )#❧ 𝒜.ℒ. ( ooc )#important info here so if you could read it it'll explain a lot of my #activity coming up in the next few months

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plazaswanboats · 5 years

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Update + DCP Tag

I originally wrote this back at the end of June and then didn’t post it for some reason, but I wanted to do a quick update (for all 0 of my readers, so really just for future me looking back on this time of my life) since I move to Florida in just over a day! Packing has been hectic, but I think I’m almost done. I also extended my departure date and fell into the large group of people who were given January 23 instead of January 30. And since itineraries came out this week, I’m thrilled to be able to say I’m working in my absolute favorite place, Future World. I was one of those terribly sad people who didn’t receive their itinerary on time, but getting my dream location absolutely made it worth the wait, and I’m so excited to find out what pavilion I’ll be working in.

In addition, because I was really bored and sick of all the waiting when I originally drafted this post a month ago, I thought I’d do the DCP tag just for fun. I know it’s a vlogger thing or whatever, and I usually don’t even watch those videos when I’m looking through a channel, but I love talking about myself and I found a list of the questions people apparently use so I figured I’d just do it in text form instead!

1) How did you hear about the program? I’ve known about the DCP since high school. I probably found out about it via Tumblr; I remember I used to follow a blog called disneylens that has since disappeared and the girl who ran it was on her program. At the time, I was a little more involved in the circle of Disney Tumblrs and they had networks of current CPs/CMs so it was easy to learn more about the program. I was definitely fascinated and became pretty familiar with the application process years before I actually applied. But back then I really worried that my hearing loss would make the DCP very difficult for me, so I was never sure if I’d go for it once I got to college.

2) How was the interview process? I found it to be pretty easy! I went into way more detail in my last post about my application experience, but to quickly sum up, I worried most about the WBI. I did a ton of research on both the WBI and PI, and tried to remember that these were my chances to show Disney why they should hire me so I would be more excited than nervous. I’m not usually the most confident person, but I never seriously thought I wouldn’t get in. It was only until after my acceptance that I started to see how complicated applying is for some people.

3) Where were you when you found out? To be really honest, I think I was casually checking my email in the bathroom as I was getting ready to leave for class. I saw the acceptance email, and with minutes to spare before I had to walk across campus, hurriedly opened up my laptop to check my offer letter and find out my role. I did end up making it to class on time, but it was definitely an interesting experience having to put my excitement on hold for three hours to participate in that week’s discussion.

4) What is your role? Preferred roles? My top choice was Attractions, and I was really excited to get it. The fact that I’m working in my favorite park makes it even better. My other top roles were Merchandise and Photopass. I figured the former could be pretty fun with a lot of interesting potential locations, and I’ve been pretty passionate about photography for the better part of a decade now. In retrospect, I also wish I’d listed Custodial higher, since people always say it’s so much fun.

5) How did you find your roommates? How many do you want? I ended up going random. I was looking, albeit not as hard as I could have been. I don’t really relate to a lot of the posts on the FB groups, and I feel pretty different than a lot of the people posting in terms of my interests, so I was often hesitant to reach out for fear of feeling like the odd one out in the eventual roommate situation. I did get my top choice of complex, and I’m just going to be optimistic about meeting new people since there’s no guarantee the person you link with is anything like they say they are anyway!

6) What are you going to miss while on the program? College! I just graduated in May, and I miss my home so much. It’s going to be so tough being so far away and not even being able to go to one game this fall to see my band friends, as well as missing my first Rivalry after graduation. I also miss giving campus tours so much more than I expected to. I will miss NJ a bit, but more than anything, I’m going to miss my college experience, especially in the fall, which has always been my favorite season to be on campus.

7) What’s your favorite Disney park? EPCOT Center! I say that specifically because current Epcot doesn’t really cut it, but I still list it as my favorite. I love 80s EPCOT so much, with its incredible lineup of attractions. I love what the park was and what it still could be (but perhaps not entirely what it is right now). Some of my most treasured childhood memories are eating purple bread in Wonders of Life, walking World Showcase barefoot after a thunderstorm, and watching Tapestry of Nations. I love Illuminations more than life itself, and Figment is my number one character. Most of my favorite attractions are in that park, even in their current forms. I still love Epcot despite its tragic slide towards Magic Kingdom 2.0. Nights in the park are the one place I feel most at peace and at home. And now I get to work there and experience it from a whole new perspective. :’)

8) First thing you want to do when you get there? I’m heading down early and going to Epcot and Magic Kingdom the weekend before check in! So I plan on getting an “I’m Celebrating” button for the weekend and hopefully making a beeline for my home, the Imagination pavilion. As far as being an actual CP, I fully intend on going to Epcot after Traditions even if I have to go alone. MK fireworks just don’t do it for me and I want my first park as a CM to be my favorite one and my home park. And Illuminations raised me so, to me, there’s no contest as to what I’m doing that night. Also, the DCP bloggers without taste have clued me in that sometimes it can be hard to make HEA after Traditions, so good thing the superior fireworks show goes off an hour later! (Which will really come in handy considering I have afternoon Traditions...)

9) What is number one on your bucket list? Honestly, I’ve tried to make a bucket list and it’s been incredibly hard. I’m lucky to have grown up going anywhere from one to three times a year since 1999, and I’ve done just about everything I would want to. However, I think I’d really like to do Dapper Day. I’ve been slowly getting more comfortable presenting how I really want to and revamping my wardrobe so I actually don’t mind getting dressed up as much anymore, and the idea of getting to wear dapper masculine clothes and take pictures in the parks sounds like a fun experience.

10) One thing you hope to take away from the program? I think I’d like to be able to leave Disney, whenever that may be, knowing that I made a positive impact on at least one guest. I love reading stories about magical moments and I tend to scroll through the #castcompliment Twitter hashtag whenever I get bored because it makes me happy. I’ve met a lot of cool CMs that I still remember, and hope to pay it forward and be that CM for even just one guest. Also, networking would be nice!

#disney files #dcp fall 2019

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camwritesbooks · 5 years

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writing asks: all odd numbers !!

3. is there a book you regret buying?

there are quite a few books I’ve bought over time that I knew I was going to hate but got anyway, usually just so I could complain (which is a dumb reason to buy a book when you could buy one you’d actually enjoy tbh). the most recent book I kind of regret buying was what if it’s us cause I really didn’t enjoy the 50% or so of it that I read (that was just what I found, if you like it that’s fine tastes are different!), but I don’t feel a great deal of regret about that. it has a nice cover at least.

5. how many books do you own?

ok, I’m going to do this. I’m going to go count all my books. here are the results:

just general mostly YA books on my shelf: 47warrior cats shelf of nostalgic adoration: 62 (yes, 62)cupboard of ugly books some of which I don’t even like: 34(total = 143)

and that’s not counting my enid blyton/children’s classics cupboard, my illustrated/bigger books and all the other random books I stuck up in the attic so they weren’t in my room anymore. I really need to unhaul a heap of my books tbh. (except for the warriors ones. in fact I need to buy more of those).

13. what’s the first story or oc that your current self can be proud of?

although I am somewhat proud of my cringey lord of the rings oc/weird immortal goddess story past (which I’m going to be sharing for my one year anniversary in february btw!! get ready for the worst thing ever), the first thing that I’m still super proud of was this fairytale-style short story I wrote in year five. it was a school assignment that we had to write a short story for a book put together by the teacher, one story per student. anyway I wrote this thing which was essentially the origins of ara, from cursed queen! it was pretty decent and I remember even the most horrible boy in the glass (who hated me) told me how good it was. it was my first success, I guess? and I have very fond memories of it.

15. how many drafts does your work go through before you’re ready to show it to people or publish?

well I’ve never exactly finished something before, whoops. but I’m onto my third try with valkrya, for example, and I’m probably going to start a fourth soon. and by that I mean literally just starting all over again. things like my bodyguard au I don’t redraft, I just revise it vaguely and then post it because I can’t be bothered.

17. what’s something you wish you would’ve learned earlier as a writer?

that it’s okay if it’s shit the first time you write it! just keep going and come back later. it’s my thing now that I don’t stop to edit or change things (unless absolutely necessary) so I can’t get as much done as possible.

19. do you tend to read more articles, blogs, or books about writing for tips and tricks? watch videos? make it up as you go along? something else?

not really any of those? if I see a helpful post on tumblr I’ll reblog, but I rarely go back to look at those. most of the time I just wing it I guess.

25. don’t think, don’t hesitate, just write a few lines of the first thing that comes to your mind.

Raven raised a hand to feel the weathered stone of the ruins as she’d done many times before. She often wondered about the people who had used to live here. The spirits told her very little. They spoke only in fractured whispers, murmurings she could barely understand even though she tried with all her might to hear. A new sensation began to creep in at the edges of her consciousness. Something horrible, and evil, slowly crawling across the earth. The forest around her was silent, truly silent, but she could still feel it coming.The whispering spirits grew louder than usual, their jagged voices hurting her ears. The words they spoke were indiscernible, but for once Raven could understand what they meant. Run, or die.

none of you know what that refers to or who raven is, but you will come february :)

thank you june, have a lovely day!! the other odd numbers are answered.

⇝ WRITER ASK GAME

#ask #ikilledmyocs

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