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vargaslovinghours · 2 years

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Lucky number seven 🎲✨ (1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6)

Oh yeah btw there is a considerable amount of Edgar/Scriabin this time around so like - look out for that I guess lol

[MAY9] Thinking about healing plane Edgar had me very excited, big anticipation and looking forward to seeing him hehe ♪

[MAY16] I didn’t plan for it, but Incoming was basically the prototype of trying out minicomics with sketchier panels - it was a good start! You can also see more of the panel differences in the stream itself, Nny’s hair probably being the biggest one haha

[MAY16] Speaking of - since Scriabin’s expression was central to this panel, it’s interesting to me to see the original draft vs. the final version

[MAY18] I ended up with this mini in multiple stages of completion because I was struggling with it which made for some interesting progression-style gifs!

[MAY18] I think this one was definitely the most extreme out of all the panels, just pop! There they are

[JUN8] Shy Lady!Edgar ♥ Too hot out to wear much, but too embarrassed to show off ✨

[JUN8] Lady!Scriabin getting into mischief she shouldn’t and bothering Edgar, the usual. I love writing out keysmashes, there’s something very funny about it to me

[JUN13] Mwah mwah mwah, so many hearts and happies 💕

[JUN14] And Also With You hands ♥ I made myself a little cheat sheet of the order the shackles attached themselves, I wanted to make an injury index as well but couldn’t swing it, maybe next time

[JUN14] A set of Vargas-style eye expressions! Specifically Edgar, or at least his body

[JUN14] A couple of pleading and contrite Edgars; got the image specifically as a spacefiller, it all worked out exactly as planned haha

[JUN29] I wasn’t kidding, I was very 👀✨💕 about his shirt riding up lol

[JUL2] Possibly the best bonewings I’ve drawn so far, I almost wish they were more of the focus haha. Well they are here! Central and important ✨

[JUL17] I still so love how goofy Demon!Scriabin is, casual and light! Doodling him spinning his tail was fun ♪

[JUL2] They still fight like cats and dogs, natural enemies and counterparts. The chains are just an additional directional tool, it’s all in the utilization

[JUL9] The aforementioned sketchy scratchy minicomic project, finally in full swing! The first one had them quietly interested and in agreement ♪

[JUL9] Well, at first anyway haha

[JUL9] They just can’t help themselves ♥

[JUL9] He’s baby your honour

[JUL17] No one likes a peeping tom, Scriabin!

[JUL17] Come run away with me to a convent with only a bunch of other women come onnnnn, we can totally pretend to just be devout about it ♥

[JUL17] What was I watching, I think it was an r/sapphoandherfriend video and there was a statue of two topless ladies kissing in the background of a failed proposal of a gentleman to the lady who owned said statue lol; an extremely cute pose on top of the environmental storytelling haha

[JUL17] More kisses, sleepy, fuzzy, out-of-it kisses

[JUL18] This was meant to be the original shape of Scriabin’s sheer shawl(?) in the digital Drider doodles but I unfortunately combined the layers before I meant to :’) At least I got to draw it here! Spiderweb design 🕸

[JUL18] @lunavos made mention of Scriabin holding onto Edgar with all his spare legs and mentally I was like “Funny you should say that-” haha, I’d only drawn as much maybe a day or so beforehand!

[JUL18] Just rests his entire body weight onto his oh so helpless human victim ♪

[JUL19] Continuing the trend of starting and then just not finishing pose ideas lol, I ended up losing steam because I think I had dialogue in mind? But I didn’t write anything down so I don’t actually remember :’D Floating Scriabin is always fun tho ♪

[JUL25] Not art, but I jumped back into Tomodachi Life for like, five seconds to quickly make an Edgar Mii because it is my mission to make the Vargases in as many character-customizable/life sims as possible. Unfortunately I literally only had one apartment left open so no Scriabin this time around :( Let’s just say this is while he’s still hanging out in Edgar’s head; I have given him at least one speech line to indicate that Edgar’s talking to him in there lol

[JUL29] It doesn’t count as long as you declare it first! I’m quite pleased with Scriabin’s expression in the second panel, cute ♥

[JUL28] Felt very inspired by WASU_ART’s extremely cute paper dolls and made a base ♪ Does it defeat the purpose of a live-action animation tool if I make a vector with a static pose? Hmmm

[JUL30] What you mean you don’t just casually draw softcore at the library using their scrap paper and pens? I made sure I was away from any potentially bothered eyes lol dw

[JUL30] A healing plane Scriabin for a warmup, what a floof <3

[AUG1] Another panel from the scratch project, I’m so amused with how his face turned out lol

[AUG1] Kiss-dip Edgar, it’s a good way to trick him into hugging him/holding onto him for dear life

[AUG1] And, done! What do I win? Even for just a sketch, I’m quite pleased with the depth on his shaded arm haha

[AUG1] I unfortunately had to scrap this one because I wrote down a specific injury and then forgot it when I went to draw, so it’s more like an offshoot of Restful Dreams - the expressions still turned out nice tho so here they are ✨

[AUG1] Scriabin yelling at a very aggressive scribble, I mean Shmee. Poor Todd, trying to play peacekeeper between them ♥

[AUG1] He just completely deflates in water, amazing ✨ It’s always fun to draw soaked-over-the-head stuff, it’s so silly haha

[AUG5] A handsome Edgar in a nice jacket and turtleneck combo - even tho he was drawn in Summer, just gotta give that Autumnal vibe

[AUG5] How many doubles would Edgar realistically need or have? Time to go thrifting for the less obvious necessities!

[AUG5] A brushed and put-together Scriabin taunting Edgar into fluster? He’s just too handsome, right?

[AUG5] A digital Scriabin that I had a lot of fun with the composition of - the string comes from offscreen and cuts him off like a panel but it’s not a panel! Magic ✨

[AUG6] Scriabin has Edgar’s attention taken away from him for two seconds and he gets So Mad about it haha

[AUG6] Cornered and kissed, what a terrible fate 💕

[AUG6] Ladies do be shopping tho. They’re so tall! They must get asked to pull stuff off the top shelves all the time

[AUG6] If ever chocolate was an essential item, it would be now

[AUG7] Don’t pick on Edgar, she doesn’t always think through her statements! Just because that makes it easy to twist her words!

[AUG7] Hugs ♥ Hugs for Edgar ♥ Time for Scriabin cuddles ♥ No hope of escape ♥

[AUG7] Exit, pursued by Scriabin. You can’t hide from him, Edgar!

[AUG7] Now poke me back

[AUG7] Maybe if you stopped being mean to each other you wouldn’t keep being mad at each other? No? Okay cool

[AUG9] An Eros and Apollo-style Scriabin, specifically based on the frame around 0:53 - super fluffy! And oddly sludgy (And definitely not at all inspired by the post that introduced me to this song in the first place, Scriabin could never be described as egoistic! Lol)

[AUG12] A mini I don’t plan to finish, but it’s still cute

[AUG12] Come on, Edgar, you know he’s playing you

[AUG12] So excited ♪

[AUG12] Y’know Edgar, I think that might have been a trick actually

[AUG12] Seeing something he shouldn’t be seeing! You know the verse about plucking out one’s eye if it causes you to sin? Does that mean his main, already blank eyes or...?

[AUG13] I cut the punchline ‘cause it gives away the entire joke, but I do love Edgar’s sleepy indignance and Scriabin’s *scandalized gasp* lol

[AUG13] Out using a library computer perhaps, got a lot of studying to do

[AUG13] “I was way faster when I was a computer!”

[AUG13] Scriabin and Jake discussing stuff that Edgar’s too uncomfortable with ♪ There’s so much to learn!

[AUG15] I really like the composition of this one hehe

[AUG15] I ended up scrapping this pose but her face really did turn out very cute ♥

[AUG15] Lady snuggles ♥ Scriabin’s close to listening to her heart 💕

[AUG20] Was struck with the image of them holding each other’s chibi counterparts - they’re both so round and tiny!

[AUG21] What ended up being a single panel continuation of Outgoing, he’s gotta be in there somewhere!

[AUG22] Ladyverse Biblical Vargases 💕✨ What no I don’t already have a song picked out specifically for them you can’t prove anything

[AUG22] Casually sloppy Lady!Scriabin ✨ An open pose is very cute

[AUG25] Uncomfortable Edgar, inching away so as not to alert the invitation-extender :)

[SEP17] Somebody asking him about his scars just one too many times, can’t believe this was inspired by Spamton of all things lol

[SEP17] If he can smell “sad” you better believe he can smell other things too ♪ I’ve written down Edgar saying “That’s not a smell” more than once, why do I find it so funny lol

[SEP20] Guess what someone was doing right outside our window :)

[SEP20] Confrontation?? No way! But Scriabin knew that haha ♪

So that’s the end of May through September! A few different kinds of styles, digital stuff, longer projects - branching out :0 It’s fun to see :D

#💟#Doodles #Art #Sketchdump #Edgar #Scriabin #Nny #Todd #Shmee #Jake #Blood #Questionably SFW #I'mma just throw that one out there as a blanket tag #Be warned: kissing and some equal opportunity toplessness once again #I mean it's not /all/ that - just a higher volume than usual lol #Also tried something a bit different with putting the date at the beginning #They're all approximations since I only label the date at the start of a page and it can take me upwards of a month to finish the same page #And then sometimes I start multiple pages on the same day! Lol #But I did cross-reference them with my habit tracker so they're at least mostly accurate #Man everyone's here it's gonna make me emotional if I think about it too long ♥ Except Devi poor Devi :0 #Tumblr: The image limit is 30 | Me: So you said 70 right #Give or take a few here and there I did double up a couple of these lol #Good thing too 'cause this was a hassle and a half to compile without breaking - probably went to edit a good 300 times pfft #This one's even longer than the Snake Charmer one and that one was massive! I guess not posting at all has that effect lol #It was fun to make some of the weirder style ones haha ♪ Like the Eros and Apollo one that was fun :D #Now that I think of it since it's a vector I could size it up to wallpaper size if anyone's interested :0 #Have a goopy neon rainbow Scriabin as your desktop today! Lol #But speaking of not posting - the hiatus did what it was intended to and my recharging is in full swing uwu #So until I reread I'll probably be posting pretty sparsely outside of special events :)#Hopefully it doesn't result in another behemoth of a post like this next time tho lol ♪

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aaliyahq · 8 months

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[cisfemale and she/her] Welcome to Aurora Bay, [AALIYAH KHALID]! I couldn’t help but notice you look an awful lot like [MIMI KEENE]. You must be the [TWENTY-SEVEN] year old [FRONT DESK AT SEASCAPE LUXURY HOTEL]. Word is you’re [CHARMING] but can also be a bit [GULLIBLE] and your favorite song is [SHE WILL BE LOVED BY MAROON 5]. I also heard you’ll be staying in [FISHER COVE]. I’m sure you’ll love it! / @aurorabayaesthetic

CHARACTER BASICS

NAME: aaliyah khalid NICKNAME: ali AGE: twenty-seven DATE OF BIRTH: april 18, 1996 ZODIAC SIGN: aries GENDER & PRONOUNS: cisfemale, she/her ORIENTATION: bisexual STATUS: single mom HEIGHT: 5′3″ OCCUPATION: front desk at seascape luxury hotel NEIGHBORHOOD: fisher cove DAUGHTER: aisha khalid (3 years old)

BIOGRAPHY

aaliyah khalid was born into a household where mistakes were deemed unacceptable due to their public status and her mother's ambitions to follow in her grandfather's political footsteps left little room for imperfections. the demand for perfection was especially prevalent in the eyes of her mother, who yearned to leave her own mark on the political landscape, beginning with aurora bay.

being the baby of the family, ali was able to get away with more stuff than her older siblings. yet, she too had to maintain an image of perfection, especially in her parents' presence. she excelled academically and attended church religiously, earning a reputation as the quintessential good girl. however, her parents were oblivious to the unorthodox means by which she achieved her excellent grades, as she cunningly acquired answer keys and sought assistance with assignments from her peers. she had a way of charming people into making them do her work and keeping them quiet at the same time.

ali also had a penchant for sneaking out to college parties and using a fake id to frequent bars just outside of aurora bay, activities known only to her inner circle. however, her true passion lay in the drama club, where she showcased her talent for acting, relishing the attention that came with being one of the school's popular students. her dream was to become a famous actress and win an oscars one day, but her parents' expectations of their children following the family's political path obstructed that path.

during her senior year of high school, her mother lost the town's mayoral election, which significantly altered her mother's disposition. and although ali felt a sense of disappointment, she was secretly relieved that her mother hadn't won, as the family's scrutiny would have increased than when her mother was just a council woman. subsequently, her family decided to moved from aurora bay, while letting her stay just to up to her graduation.

she entered the university of southern california for college, majoring in political science during her first year. yet unbeknownst to her parents, she gradually began taking more courses from the school of dramatic arts in subsequent years.

in her thid year in college, she met someone who was quite older than her and the two hit it off quickly. they simply clicked and aaliyah fell head over heels for him. it was also around this time that she has started going more into open auditions to pursue an acting career, realizing that it was definitely much harder than she thought it would be. it didn't matter that she had a pretty face and good acting skills because pretty much everyone in LA did. she eventually landed a role in a short indie film, which ignited her passion for acting. following this, she secured background roles and minor parts in smaller television shows and feature films. he supported her through all of it and she was grateful for his enduring presence.

after what felt like years of waiting, her big break was finally around the corner after she was signed by daniel ibarra. it was for a pretty huge production based on the best-selling novel called it ends with us and they wanted a fresh face for the lead role. however, what was supposed to be her rise to stardom fell through when her personal life crumbled. ali discovered that the person she had been involved with was married and that she has unwittingly become the other woman. and as if that wasn't enough, she also learned that she was pregnant and there was no way they could delay the production of the film. breaching the contract, she dropped out from the film and attempted to return to her parents. but upon learning what she's done, her mother wanted nothing do with her especially now that she has ascended to a prominent position in the office and was planning on her campaign in the succeeding years.

one of her older siblings has taken pity on her and helped her resettle in aurora bay, wherein ali reached out to one of her close friends, who offered support during her pregnancy. the brunette became a bit of a recluse at that time, grappling with depression during her pregnancy. it felt like everything in her life was going wrong and at that time, she even contemplated giving up her child upon birth. but her perspective changed the moment she held her newborn. one look at the little bundle in her arms and she knew that there was nothing she won't do for this child. she named her aisha, which meant alive and well, because that's all she ever hoped for her to be. she knew that she wasn't going to raise her like her parents did her and that she would simply allow her little girl to be the best version of herself and that she would support her no matter what. however, for now, she's just a mother who's still a little clueless on how to handle this while trying her best.

currently, aaliyah is working at the front desk of seascape luxury hotel and she's pretty good in putting on a practiced smile in front of the guests. it also helped that she had a pretty face, which lead to generous tips from guests. she still talk to her older sibling from time to time, but strives to rely on them less even when she's still finding her footing in life. she has yet to actually give up her dreams of becoming an actress, but for now, they're just on hold as she's focusing on becoming a good mother first.

HEADCANONS & PERSONALITY

won homecoming queen during her senior year and was part of the student council as well. she's one of the popular kids, but she's charming and nice to mostly everyone unless they've done her wrong then she can hold a petty grudge like no other.

she didn't really identify as bisexual until college because she had genuinely believed that she was straight during high school since she had been in an on-and-off relationship with a guy at that time. except that even at that time, she already found girls attractive and she enjoyed kissing one particular girl.

has no social media presence ever since she dropped from the acting industry since this was the deal she made with her older sibling, who wanted to make sure that what happened to her wouldn't get in the way of their mother's campaign. she does have a private instagram account but she has less than a hundred followers there and it's only reserved for her close friends. even her profile picture there is something random.

has recently started using tinder again, driven by a longing for companionship. yet, she recognized that finding someone new had become considerably more challenging with the added responsibility of her child. she was hesitant to introduce her child to numerous individuals who might not become a lasting presence in their lives. as a result, she leaned more towards the casual hookup culture to fulfill her social needs. however, living in the tight-knit community of aurora bay made it a double-edged sword, as the likelihood of encountering past connections again was remarkably high.

more tba

WANTED CONNECTIONS

voted most likely to run away with you: the on-and-off boyfriend she had back in high school. they're relationship wasn't particularly healthy and they were probably somewhat codependent with each other at that time, but he was the first person that she really fell in love with.

and i damn sure never would've danced with the devil: the older man she had a relationship with during her third year of college, who turned out to be married at that time. they were a force of nature together but when she found out that he was married, she felt like she's been played for a fool. also the baby daddy who has no idea that he's a dad? oops.

i'd live and die for moments that we stole: her first girlfriend from college who made her realize that she was really into girls and that there was no denying it anymore even if for some reason, the two of them fell out. back in high school, she already felt her heart skip a beat for another girl, but she was in complete denial at that time and just blamed it on their teenage hormones.

it's nice to have a friend: the person she reached out to when she returned to aurora bay. this person would have been her rock and supported her through the pregnancy. with them, she could be her most vulnerable self with no pretense at all.

got a long list of ex lovers, they'll tell you i'm insane: she definitely had her share of hookups and one night stands during those times when she wasn't seeing someone exclusively. and being back in aurora bay for the past 4 years, she has recently started getting back to the hookup culture too. maybe even has one or two friends with some benefits on the side?

'cause baby now we've got bad blood: could have been close friends in either high school or college, but for some reason that we could plot out, they hate each other guts now.

neighbours

a babysitter for aisha

frequent guests in seascape luxury hotel

found family kind of connections

exes in good term/bad term

friends / childhood friends / frenemies

crushes / tinder matches

people from the industry that she could have known from before

all the plots please.

#aurorabay.intro #this took me forever but uhmm pls plot with us #tw: age difference #tw: pregnancy #tw: infidelity

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tanenigiri · 2 years

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Review #29: Our Dreams at Dusk: Shimanami Tasogare (Volume 4)

Japanese title: しまなみ誰そ彼 (Shimanami Tasogare)

Story and art: Yuhki Kamatani

English publisher: Seven Seas Entertainment

Number of volumes: 4 (complete)

A glimpse of several futures.

[CW: Mentions of homophobia]

(This review contains story spoilers.)

When I got my physical copies of Our Dreams at Dusk, one of the first things I noticed was how much thicker Volume 4 was compared to all the others. As I began reading the series though, I realized that this last volume was much longer because it had the very lofty task of wrapping up quite a number of plotlines brought up in the first three volumes. And when I realized that this volume was introducing new plot arcs on top of that, I almost wondered why it wasn’t even thicker than it already was.

That said, this does mean that there’s a lot I want to talk about in this volume, but since I don’t want this review to be too lengthy, I figured I’d just focus on the three couples that get the spotlight here. With two of them already in the front cover and the third in the back, I figured it’d feel right to give them the focus, as most of the smaller plot arcs revolve around one of them anyway.

And of course, I should start with the women of the hour - Daichi and Saki, who go through quite a lot before their wedding at Triangle House. With the volume starting out by reminding us that Saki has yet to come out to her parents, you can already sense that the story is building up to that moment. Saki’s been in the background for the past two volumes, so we don’t really get the sense that she’s more willing to face the situation now than she was in the first volume, but with a wedding on the horizon, she definitely finds it more urgent than ever before.

Unfortunately, the way Saki’s parents find out is less than ideal - someone outs her to them. While it’s definitely realistic, I can’t help but feel incredibly sorry for her, as she already had a lot of hesitation about coming out to her parents, so someone else ripping off that bandage from her must’ve stung a lot. Daichi is also at a loss with what to do, as we found out back in Volume 1 that when she came out to her own parents, it was less than ideal.

Thankfully, the couple’s confrontation with Saki’s parents turn out to go quite well. We get a really great speech from Saki’s father here, where he admits that he was very much against the idea when he first heard it. But immediately after, he said that he hated himself for even thinking that when his priority should be his daughter’s happiness. We get a funny interjection from Saki’s mother here, saying that she would’ve been furious with her husband if he didn’t take it the right way. She seems to have already made her peace with her daughter’s sexuality quite some time ago, as she said that she “had a feeling about it.” It might not be the sheer open-mindedness of Tomoko, but it’s pretty much the best possible outcome Saki could’ve gotten.

This ended up a lot more optimistic than I thought it was going to go, but both Daichi and Saki deserve it. Their wedding happens with both of their parents attending, and they finally get to be their true selves in front of their families. It’s the most definitively happy ending out of all the characters in this series, and while I wish we got a bit more build-up for it - especially from Saki’s perspective - I do think it’s a great note to end their plotline on.

Moving back a bit, the person who ends up outing Saki to her parents is Tsubaki’s father, who we know from previous volumes has a pretty warped view of the LGBT community as a whole. So when he visits the drop-in center to apologize to Saki (though he doesn’t find her there as this happens around the same time as Saki’s conversation with her parents), Tsubaki is understandably mad at his father’s insensitivity. The dad is taken aback by his son’s attitude, but he then connects the dots and asks Tsubaki who “dragged him into homosexuality.” We know from the previous volume that Tsubaki is still confused about his identity, so he understandably becomes very defensive at his dad’s assumptions.

Who ends up saving the day, though, is Tasuku, who not only makes the bold decision of coming out to Tsubaki’s father, but also tells him why such an action is important for any LGBT individual. It’s a really great scene for Tasuku, as not only does it show how much he’s learned about the LGBT community across the past volumes, but it also shows how much more comfortable he is about his sexuality. He’s spent the past volumes learning from everyone in the drop-in center while also dealing with his own issues, so to see Tasuku be a lot more confident in this volume is really nice.

This more confident Tasuku isn’t lost on Tsubaki either, who’s own feelings about his sexuality were already in a flux and were only made worse after that exchange with his father. It leads to this great scene between them where Tsubaki acknowledges Tasuku’s feelings for him but admits that he isn’t ready to face them just yet. This is probably my favorite ending out of all the characters in this series, as instead of treating Tsubaki’s uncertainty about his sexuality as an issue that needs to be solved, the story simply acknowledges it as something he’s continuously working on. I praised Utsumi’s character in Volume 3 for having a different approach to his sexuality, and I can say the same for Tsubaki here - even if we can make all the assumptions we can about it (especially after the epilogue), the fact that the story leaves Tsubaki’s identity open-ended is a great way to show that he himself isn’t ready to put a label on it just yet.

Admirably, Tasuku isn’t heartbroken about this admission, and he even reassures Tsubaki that being confused about his feelings is fine and that he should take all the time he needs to sort them out. Not only is Tasuku using his personal experiences here, but he’s also putting what he learned from Misora and Utsumi in the previous volumes to good use. It only adds to his character development I mentioned earlier, as the Tasuku from three volumes ago wouldn’t have had the same reaction as the Tasuku here. He seems to be heading toward his own happy ending, though, as the epilogue shows Tsubaki telling Tasuku that he can call him by his first name.

(I also have to briefly mention that Tsubaki gets quite touchy with Tasuku throughout this volume, and I find it hilarious that Tasuku’s reaction to these gestures is very mixed. He calls Tsubaki out on it in the epilogue but they don’t really address it, and I think Tsubaki knows that Tasuku likes it anyway.)

Shifting the good mood a bit is Tchaiko, who I don’t think I’ve mentioned in my previous reviews but has been one of the constant presences in the drop-in center since Volume 1. He’s the eldest among the regulars in the center, but we don’t really get much from him in the first three volumes apart from his love of classical music. He gets a full on arc here, though, when we find out that he’s been in a 30-year relationship with his partner, Seichiro, and Tchaiko constantly visits him in the hospital as Seichiro is dealing with a grave illness.

I already had a bad feeling about where this was going from the start, but the conflict of this plot arc doesn’t actually come from Seichiro’s numbered days - it actually sounds like they’ve both quietly accepted it and are only waiting for the inevitable. Instead, it revolves around how Tchaiko hasn’t come clean about his relationship with Seichiro’s son, Akira, and we find out that Tchaiko times his hospital visits so that he’s there when Akira isn’t watching over his father. I was pleasantly surprised that the story went this route, and it even makes for a nice parallel with the two other main conflicts I talked about above - what with all three of them dealing with family complications.

These two largely stay in the background for the middle part of the volume, but on the day of Daichi and Saki’s wedding, Tchaiko gets a text from Akira saying that Seichiro is in a critical condition. This definitely catches Tchaiko off-guard, as not only does he have to deal with the imminent death of the love of his life, but he also has to contend with the fact that Seichiro had apparently told Akira about him. He then has a great scene with Someone-San, who we find out earlier in the volume have been friends for quite some time even before the drop-in center existed. Tchaiko relays all of his worries and indecision to Someone-San, but all she does in the face of those doubts is to push Tchaiko and tell him to go. True enough, when he gets to the hospital, Akira only smiles in acknowledgment and gives Tchaiko the opportunity to say goodbye to Seichiro.

Even if I initially found it odd that the story would introduce a brand new plotline when it still had to wrap up quite a number of them, I really appreciated its inclusion in the end, as it has a really unique vibe when compared to all the other plot arcs of the series. I’m not sure if it’s because this deals with a more seasoned couple, but the sense of satisfaction I got from seeing this plotline resolved is a lot different from the other two I talked about above.

And, really, that’s what makes Our Dreams at Dusk such a standout title for me - how it’s able to handle all of these stories and give them the depth they deserve. I was a bit worried that this volume was biting off more than it could chew, but in the end I found myself liking where all of the characters ended up. Sure, I may have wanted more out of some characters, but that’s really just another way of saying that I didn’t want this series to end at all.

Random thoughts that I couldn’t fit elsewhere:

Apart from Tchaiko, the other Cat Clutter member that finally gets the spotlight in this volume is Someone-San, who has really only spent the last three volumes being this mysterious presence that’s both critical to the plot and in the background. We find out here that she considers herself aromantic and asexual, but she doesn’t like putting a label on herself at all, with the name “Someone-San” even being given to her by Tchaiko and Seichiro. We also get a really great line from her about how her asexuality isn’t what defines her, and how it’s only one part of her entire identity. As much as I want to talk about her monologue about who she is, I honestly haven’t wrapped my head around it all that well and I feel like I’m still missing certain pieces about that chapter. I will say that it was a great set of panels though.

One of the other plotlines that gets wrapped up in this volume is Misora's, as Tasuku wants to invite him to Daichi and Saki’s wedding. It goes a lot better than I expected, as Tasuku simply goes through all of the things that he did wrong and asks for Misora’s forgiveness, which he gives almost nonchalantly, but you can tell that he appreciates the gesture. (Also his look in the wedding is his best one in the series.)

I’m kinda surprised that we didn’t get more from Tasuku and Tsubaki’s school life here, as I would’ve expected more people to point out the changed dynamic between the two of them considering that Tsubaki’s fairly popular and Tasuku isn’t. The only one who does point it out is Tachibana, Tasuku’s closest friend in school and teammate in the table tennis club, and all he really says is how he wants to join in on the fun too. I wonder if he’ll notice that there’s more going on between them?

Thanks for reading! You can read my review of the first two volumes here, and my review of the third volume here. Our Dreams at Dusk has really gone up my personal rankings the more I reread it, as there’s really nothing quite like it among the manga I’ve read so far. It’s a really emotional and fulfilling series, and I highly recommend it.

#Our Dreams at Dusk #Shimanami Tasogare #Yuhki Kamatani #Kaname Tasuku #Tsubaki Touma #Daichi Haruko #Saki #Ilya Tchaiko #Agawa Seichiro #LGBT manga #manga review #manga

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nellie-elizabeth · 3 years

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Rizandace Fic Master List: The Magicians!

Hey, I figured it was time for me to keep all my fics in one place over here on tumblr dot com, so here you go! I’ll try and keep this updated as I post! On Ao3 at Rizandace.

Series

Magic Curses (collectively, 134k words)

This series includes five short multi-chapter stories, between 23k-32k words, and one bonus one-shot at 3.2k. While theoretically all understandable as standalones, there is a building narrative. This is my general “what happens after season four” series, but in my version of canon, Quentin just… does not die in 4x13. The jumping-off point leaves everything else the same as canon left it, and the series follows Quentin and Eliot as they get back together and start their lives as a couple. Background Julia/Alice, and Margo/Fen/Josh.

The individual stories in order, are…

- Lover’s Touch

Quentin gets cursed with a sickness that will not heal unless he is touched by his dearest love. Alice, for some reason, isn’t able to help. 24.7k words.

- Fragments

Quentin lives through his worst nightmare again and again, and the darker side of dependency is explored. 23k words.

- Liquid Courage

Eliot breaks up with Quentin, which means something has gone very wrong… 24k words.

- The Curse of the Broken Vase (aka The One Where They Get Married and Nothing Goes Wrong)

They get married! What is says on the tin! 3.2k words.

- Identity Theft

The whole gang have amnesia and Quentin and Eliot, literal husbands, pine for each other like the beautiful little dummies they are. This is the author’s personal favorite of the series! 32k words.

- Beyond the Veil

Quentin vanishes, and Eliot loses his mind trying to get him back. The twist? Quentin hasn’t gone anywhere. 27.5k words.

Immortality AU

A Comet Pulled From Orbit is my AU of the film The Old Guard. It’s from Alice’s POV, it’s the most “gen” of my stories but rest assured that Queliot plays a prominent, dramatic role. We’ve also got Margo/Julia, and Kalice. An action romp with lots of character moments. I’m ridiculously proud of this story. 100k words.

Connected to the main story are seven collections of snippets, all ongoing, one from the POV of each of the core characters: Quentin, Eliot, Margo, Kady, Alice, Julia, and Penny. These take place before, during, and after Comet, so you should definitely read the main fic before diving into the continuations. Each snippet is 1-2k words, and some of them are interwoven/complimentary.

The Long-Fics

Running All This Time is my take on the mosaic timeline! Featuring lots of romance and sex, a unique take on Arielle that I haven’t seen anyone else do in quite this same way, a quest-within-a-quest, and happy endings for all! Adheres to canon insofar as it technically does not contradict what we see on screen in 3x05. It uh… does contradict what happens in 4x05, though, so just jot that down. 180k words.

Maybe This Time is my Brakebills AU! But uh. It’s not a No-Beast AU, and it gets pretty dang angsty there in the middle. Still, I promise it has a happy ending! This is the most popular story I’ve written. Featuring lots of cottage parties, pining boys, and then there is a plot twist in chapter eight that you’re really gonna want to check out, y’all. Shit gets pretty wild there for a while. 245k words. (So many words.)

The Way a Fool Would Do is now complete! This is an all-Fillorian AU, it’s technically a soulmate AU but with a twist: in this universe, soulmates are a chosen and intentionally created bond, and held in high honor. They are also Strictly Platonic upon pain of exile. Guess what two emotionally constipated fifteen-year-olds decided to become soulmates, each pretending he wasn’t already in love with the other? A decade later, Quentin and Eliot are still totally just Best Friends, and nothing else is going to happen between them. *exaggerated winky face*. Featuring also a unique take on Margo and the Chatwins! 211.5k words.

a work of fine art is a no-magic AU where Eliot is an artist and Quentin agrees to model for him. That's it, that's the whole fic. Oh also it's Marqueliot... so that's fun! Really, I'd describe this one as a mainly vibes-based experience. I had fun diving deep into the emotional journeys of the characters and explore the physicality of the characters in all sorts of forms. 123k words.

The Mid-Sized

is it too late (or could this love protect me)

A no-magic AU where Eliot and Quentin went to undergrad together. Quentin gets together with Alice in their senior year, and it’s now years later, the gang are in their late twenties, and Quentin’s about to discover something he never knew about his best friend Eliot. Alice has to explain it to him, and frankly she deserves better. Featuring the inner workings of Quentin Coldwater’s scrambled mind, and happiness achieved at last! 31.5k words.

Once Upon a Place Sometimes

For the 2021 Magicians Big Bang! Season One No-Beast AU where the Physical Kids' Cottage burns down, and Eliot and Quentin have communication issues. Kind of an only-one-bed tropey story, kind of a more serious look at what it means to be afraid and what it means to take a chance anyway. Amazing art by Vriah, I'm so lucky! 50.7k words.

When Quentin Met Eliot

For the 2022 Magicians Happily Ever After event! It’s a When Harry Met Sally AU where Quentin Coldwater is the Harry, and Eliot Waugh is the Sally. This is correct, trust me. Art by marcel, it’s amazing! 79.9k words.

Shelter

A romance novel about second chances - I wrote this during NanoWriMo of 2022 and the whole thing is now posted! Featuring Quentin working at an animal shelter, and Margo/Fen/Penny background shenanigans. 60.3k words.

where the real road lies

Ten years after Quentin's death, he shows up on Eliot's doorstep. Eliot's husband is the one to answer the door. An angsty resurrection fic with infidelity, a lot of grief and anger, and a happily ever after, I promise. 67.6 words.

The One-Shots

Overthinking It is my inaugural fic in the fandom! It’s not the strongest, in my opinion, but it has its moments. Takes place in 3x06, when Quentin comes back from his experience with the abyss key, and talks to Eliot about it. Some things are hashed out between them. 3.5k words.

Reciprocal is a mosaic fic where Eliot and Quentin work their shit out before Arielle really has a chance to enter the picture. Eliot does a dumb thing for… dubiously honorable reasons. It sucks for a bit, but the end results are good for all. 8.2k words.

Promises is one of my favorite stories that I’ve written! Takes place at the end of season three. Eliot follows Quentin to his room and demands to know what he’s thinking with his insane plan to stay in Blackspire with the monster. Turns out, the two have a lot of misunderstandings to clear up about their relationship. 7.7k words.

To Feel the Same is an itty bitty little gapfiller for the Queliot hug in 2x02. 1.7k words.

Bottle Episode is a gapfiller/divergence fic where Quentin and Eliot get briefly captured and thrown in the dungeons in the midst of the Fairy Queen’s machinations, and Eliot’s wedding planning for his upcoming nuptials with Idri. Sometimes, even if nothing comes of it, it can be nice to be on the same page. 7k words.

Regrets, or the Absence Thereof is the Marqueliot threesome, y’all! Eliot POV, set during 4x05 when he’s seeking his biggest regret inside his Happy Place. He goes to revisit a certain memory with his two favorite people, and he has a lot of feelings about it. 11k words.

remember what it was before is a piece reflecting on Quentin's discipline. It takes place in small snippets during the mosaic timeline, as well as being a 4x13 fix-it in its own right! 7.5k words.

#queliot #my posts #the magicians #my fic

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roswellnmsource · 3 years

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Lily Cowles Talks Stunt Work on Roswell, New Mexico & the Action-Packed Final Episodes This Season

So, finding out that there's been another alien Roswell really threw the audience for a loop. What were you thinking when you heard that there would be another alien in town?

I mean, I was like, finally. I'm ready for a little new alien blood in the mix, like let's stir it up. We've had our little pod squad, and we have this super tight little dynamic, and it's been pretty insular. They've had to keep everything to themselves, and so I think finding out that there's another person that's like them, another alien. How exciting.

What are the implications? This might change everything. I was really excited about it. I'm like, let's go, plus he's super cute, so.

That's very true. Can you preview what's next for Isobel and everyone as they process this new development?

Yeah, well, I think Isobel is...I think her initial reaction she's excited to bring someone new into the fold. And it's a little more complicated than that. We have a conversation you see with Isobel and Kyle, where he sort of is like, you might want to take this a little slow because this is a man of God.

This is a man whose vocation is faith-based. And to tell him that he's an alien might kind of complicate his life.

So, how much do you really want to ruin someone's life by telling them that they're an alien or change it for the better but I think Isobel is looking forward to kind of bringing someone newer to the fold and wants to share everything and learn from him.

And she's pretty enthusiastic about it. And it's going to have to learn how to handle that with grace and tack, which I think can sometimes be difficult for her. I know she can sometimes be quite straightforward with things.

Beyond that, Isobel is going on a date in this episode, which is so exciting for her. And I think she's going to be faced with having to break down some of the walls that she's built up that she's been working on. So, I'm kind of like personal internal conflict, but also a lot of opportunity.

And I think our writers handle it all so well, and it's going to unfold in a very fun way.

Sure. So, family is very important to not only the fabric of Roswell but to Isobel in particular. Can you tell us a bit about what family means to Isobel?

Yeah. I mean, I think Isobel has always had to lean so much on her brothers. There may have been the small amount of codependency. You might say with the trio because they have this enormous secret, they can't share with anybody else.

I mean, me personally, I have so many friends. I like to go around and talk about all my problems and everything with all my friends, but Isobel doesn't have as many people, or she didn't up until recently that she could talk about these things with, so her family was sort of everything for her.

These two people who understood who she was and saw her for who she truly was.

For the rest of the world, she had to, for many years of her life, kind of wear this mask and do a kind of performance of something that was sort of half-truth. Now, her circle has expanded a bit over the seasons of Roswell, which has been great—adding friends like Maria and Rosa and Kyle, Alex, and of course, Liz.

We've gotten all this new group of people that can support her. But I think the first 25 years of her life were basically just her and her brothers. And so, that loyalty goes really deep, and I think it will always be the trump card for her. I think it will always take precedent over everything else, which can be good, and it can be bad.

Yeah. And that kind of leads me into my next question, which is that Isobel has some of the best dynamics on the show. From Isobel and Michael and their brother, sister bond. And obviously Isobel and Max and this new bond now with Maria. What's your favorite Isobel dynamic?

It's hard to pick one because I love them all so much. I love working with Amber. I love the Isobel and Rosa dynamic so much because it's...there's so many layers in there. There's definitely the 'Oops. I'm sorry that I murdered you with your friends'.

But then also, Isobel kind of guiding her in Rosa's journey learning about her powers, and I think Isobel really took her under her wing. And I think that means a lot to Isobel to be able to be a guide for someone and somebody's mentor. But as time has gone on, the tables have also been turning.

There are lots of times when Rosa has been a mentor to Isobel.

And I love the female dynamics, that is... it's so rich. There's so much in there. Two women who are learning from each other and growing and supportive of each other, and challenging each other to be better. And it comes from this really complicated history that they were able to overcome.

So, to me, that sort of female dynamic is just like, oh, I love to see that.

I love Isobel and Kyle together too. It's really fun. Isobel knows how to shoot. She comes in just with so much energy. And I think there's something that happens. There's some kind of chemistry there, right? There's something, and it all maybe started at Planet Seven.

But, I think Kyle is someone that Isobel really trusts and leans on, and he's like this solid foundation for her, like a real confidant. But then there's more to it than that.

And there's something that's just, it's hard to put your finger on with them, but whenever I'm working with Michael Trevino, the scenes just...we find these little places that things just kind of pop and these unexpected moments come up and it feels like a really complex dynamic.

And I'm excited to see where that goes.

For sure. I got to talk to Michael, and he said very similarly that you guys had a really great dynamic, and he'd like to see more Kyle and Isobel scenes.

You know, give the world what they want! How bout it, Roswell!

Yes! So, Isobel has gone on quite the journey throughout the course of Roswell, and throughout season three as well, we've seen as she's dealt with Jones. So, can you speak to Isobel's resilience and how we will continue to see her growth?

Yeah, absolutely. Playing Isobel has been such an honor because it's a story that I think is so powerful for so many women. She began as this kind of Barbie doll. She was very performative, had this perfect little mask on. She was kind of closed off to the world but had this way of acting that seemed right.

And I think that's the dynamic that a lot of women can relate to.

It's like wanting to come off as being sort of perfect and having this veneer that seems like everything is good, but you're really disconnected from this deep, authentic truth that might be a lot more complicated and maybe messier, but you know what Isobel had to go through in Season One with Noah, it just rips that all off.

I mean, it wasn't by choice.

It happened to her. She was definitely victimized by the thing, and she had basically no other choice but to grow and adapt. And it gave her an enormous amount of freedom. And so often, suffering is terrible, you wouldn't wish it on anyone, and yet it can also lead to enormous amounts of growth.

And that's what I got to see with Isobel that she had to pick herself back up and connect with those deep parts of herself that she'd kind of been denying her whole life. And become strong. You have to find that strength within herself and not just leaning on the men around her.

She didn't have any female friends, and she was pretty co-dependent with all the men in her life. And Season Two, we saw Isobel discovering herself on her own terms.

And I think it's such an incredible gift that the writers gave to this show to see a female doing that, to find her way on her own terms and sort of have to relearn everything and say, "Well, who am I? What do I want? And how do I get that?"

And now we're just seeing her continuing down that path, she's becoming this warrior, she's becoming this total badass, and I think there's never like an end to it.

It's not like she started out like this, and now it's like the end of the story, 'Hooray! She found herself, and now she's like a badass warrior.' It's in Season Three, I think we're seeing her struggling with what does it mean to be a warrior? What does it mean to try to be a strong female?

How much are we suddenly becoming too self-protective when we begin to build this armor where we're making sure that no one's going to hurt us again? Well, is that armor preventing us from also being vulnerable with other people?

And I think the writers have been so gracious to give this arc to a female character that's been so multifaceted.

So, I'm just so grateful. I can't wait to see where Isobel goes, and she just keeps evolving and changing and shedding her skin and becoming something new, and like I said, it's never like a destination; it's all about the journey. So that's been really fun as an actor to be able to play with.

I have to ask about the stunts in episode eight because the scenes between you and Nathan were fantastic. How was it to shoot those scenes?

Oh my God, it was so much fun. Season Two, I had told Carina, our showrunner at the time, girl put me in some action stuff because I had some martial arts background. And after everything that had happened to Isobel, I was like it'd be great for her to become more empowered in her own physical body too.

So that, we started to kind of build the foundation there, and we're seeing it now paying off, all of this training that Isobel is always talking about. We're finally seeing her in action.

In that episode, in 3x08, directed by Benjamin Bray Hernandez, it was so incredible to actually be able to do this stunt work and with Nathan, who's a great, great stunt guy too.

I mean, I swear in another life, he would like to be a stuntman, Nathan. But the two of us actually got to do most of our own stuff.

I mean all of the pool cue, all of the hand to hand. There were a couple of things that a stunt person came in when we did the backflip over the table. We're like, yeah, that's not to break your neck during that. But besides that, everything was us, and it was so much fun to work with a director who was himself a stuntman.

So, he knew how to really direct.

Every strike needs to be telling a story and the way that he filmed it on the actual film, the lens that he was using. All of this stuff was just, it was like a masterclass in stunt work. So much fun, I was so sore, and while I thought that we were using pool cues, I was like, "I'm sorry, I have never used a pool cue in a fight."

And of course we got on the set, and Nathan from Texas, is there whipping it all around in his hand, spinning the pool cue, homie has been in like 15 pool bar fights, and I'm like, "How do you hold it?"

But I think we're a pretty good match-up, and there's more to come between Nathan and I. I'm so grateful. He's an incredible partner to work with. I feel so safe with him. I did one time jab him with the butt of my pool cue pretty hard in the groin.

So, sorry for that, Nathan. But besides that, it was such a fun experience, and I'd love to do more of that.

That's amazing. Outside of Isobel's storyline this season, has there been another story that you've really enjoyed that's played out in Season Three?

I mean, all of it is so compelling.

I've loved seeing, in this last episode, we saw Alex taking on so many of the demons that I think this beautiful parallel storyline of Alex and Michael, both working through the traumas of their parents, what they've inherited from their parents. Michael learning that he is the son of this evil dictator, but his mother is maybe this amazing hero.

And Alex working through the trauma of what his father was.

And I think that a compelling, compelling story is what we inherit from our parents and what we choose to move forward with or what we want to rebel against.

Do we become our parents, or are we given the opportunity to change them, fix their mistakes? And Kyle is dealing with this too with his father and the Valenti code and all of that.

So, I love that the lineage, the kind of questioning of how lineage proceeds through us and what our obligation is to the family line, I think that's beautiful.

And last question for me, with the finale on the horizon, what can the audience expect from these last batches of episodes?

Oh my gosh. Stuff gets so crazy, Whitney! It pops off. I mean, filming it was some of the most intense work I've ever done. We were like Marines. We were like Navy seals. We bonded so hard over just the sheer physical, emotional, and psychological difficulty that we all have to go through over these next few episodes.

It's full of action. It is full of suspense. It's going to be such a roller coaster for the audience, and I cannot wait for them to see it. It's going to be a huge payoff. Our writers did an incredible job, and yeah, I think it's just going to knock people's socks off.

#isobel evans #lily cowles #roswell new mexico #cast #press #3x10 #rnm spoilers

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1-of-those-things · 3 years

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Fanfic Master List (All Doctor Who)

OneOfThoseThings on AO3

(Updated 8/19/21)

Doctor/Donna Standalone Fics

The Best of Times (Amnesiac Remix)

A mind-wiped Donna runs into Martha and gets some good old fashioned human help realizing her potential all over again. Word has gotten out through the twenty-seven planets she saved though, so there are a few more aliens following her around… including one very specific alien who really shouldn’t be there.

Ship: Tenth Doctor x Donna Noble

Also Featuring: Martha and Jack

The Noble Neverwere

A timey-wimey fantasy fic in which the TARDIS finds a way to keep Donna Noble, but has a little trouble with the details like anchoring her in time and space.

Canon-compliant in the sense that it's never been explicitly stated that there isn't a time-fluid echo of a certain ginger companion haunting the TARDIS.

Ship: Tenth Doctor x Donna Noble

Also Featuring: Missy and Twelve, with cameos by Ryan, Mickey, and Rory

Standalone Fics with Other Pairings

The Volatile Nature of Binary Stars

A dark(er) AU in which the Master happens upon a mind-wiped Donna and gives her a little boost the rest of the way to full Time Lord status. Then they both return to the TARDIS and an unsuspecting Doctor.

Spoiler: Unlike most fix-its, in this one Donna is Not pleased that she was abandoned and does Not magically just get over that.

Ships: Doctor x Master (Simms) AND Doctor x Donna

The Beat Between Measures

A missing scene from Revolution of the Daleks, in which the Doctor and Jack get a proper reunion

Ship: Thirteenth Doctor x Jack

Universal Lost and Found

A fix-it in which Martha runs across a mind-wiped Donna and helps her (re)claim what the Universe owes her.

Ship: Donna x Martha

Note: Doctor x Donna and Doctor x Martha are implied, but this one is a Donna x Martha fic

Polymorphism

The companion polycule fic you’ve all been waiting for. The TARDIS pulls her Bad Wolf through to a parallel world where she’s still travelling with the Doctor. And Martha. And Donna. And things are a bit friendlier this time around.

Ship: Rose x Martha x Donna x Tenth Doctor

Note: This is really Rose x Martha x Donna with the (arguably canonically Ace) Doctor not left out in the cold. It’s not even a little bit a harem fic.

Series

Nice Things; Good Things

A blatant canon divergence from Journey’s End where Donna just lets the metacrisis Doctor and Rose right back onto the TARDIS and then they all just go back to traveling together. Pretty soon after that, Jack gets added in and then it’s just the whole team enjoying themselves for once instead of having just endless tragedy for the sake of character building.

As the series goes on, it gets more and more polyamorous, but it’s set up so that each fic can be an acceptable stopping point so that anyone who isn’t on board can just hop off whenever they like and not have to deal with a bunch of unresolved cliffhangers.

Individual fics are carefully tagged (which makes for a hilariously long list of tags for the series, in case anyone is wondering.)

It Has Been 0 Days Since the Last Incident

The most standalone of all the fics in this series.

Ships: Eventual Doctor x Donna and Tentoo x Rose (in the background)

A New Path (Optional backstory for Jack getting added)

Doctor x Donna

Tentoo x Rose (in the background, leading to Tentoo x Rose x Jack)

A Series of Perfectly Reasonable Misunderstandings

Doctor x Donna

Tentoo x Rose x Jack

(Starting down the poly path)

Indisputably Well-Laid Plans

Doctor x Donna x Jack

Background Tentoo x Rose x Jack

A little light Tencest (as a treat)

Hints at pretty much every combination of these 5

Note: this fic also marks the shift into explicit ratings territory

Proper Communication

Donna x Rose

All Together Now

Ten x Tentoo x Donna x Rose x Jack

Too many subsets of that to bother writing out— just call it shamelessly poly

Modern Arts (and Crafts)

Ten x Tentoo x Donna x Rose x Jack

Just a full stop poly PWP

Standard Courtship Rituals

All 10 pairing subsets of Ten x Tentoo x Donna x Rose x Jack

10 ficlet-style dates

Interspecies Compatibility

A series of semi-standalone, loosely-strung-together stories about the Doctor and Donna working through some of the many differences between humans and Time Lords.

This series tries not to actively contradict major canonical events. But a lot of liberties are taken around that.

Some of the stories are more or less crucial to the ‘plot,’ so the optional ones are handily marked ‘(Optional)’.

Ship: Doctor x Donna

Biological Specificity

A detailed lesson in Time Lord biology

Can be read as platonic, but only if one doesn’t keep reading this series

Acclimatization

Hard to call this one entirely platonic, but could be if one ignored alien cultural implications

Ecological Fitting

Probably not platonic unless you’re using an interesting definition of platonic

Symbiosis

Pretty solidly outside the boundaries of platonic here

Contact High (Optional)

A fun day out

Spandrel (Optional)

A casual day in

Synesthesia

This is where this goofy series starts to take a real turn toward shippy

Atavism

This is where the ratings should probably tick up

Exaptation (Optional)

An optional morning after

Coevolution

The obligatory Midnight fic

Survival Without Recovery

The fix and official end

Not particularly shippy

Lazarus Taxon (Optional)

An optional epilogue with a slightly less happy-go-lucky tone

Also Featuring: Cameos by Eleven, Twelve and finally Thirteen

Open to Interpretation

Less of a “series,” more of a “collection” of fics that are open to interpretation by the reader.

Platonic, shippy, ace-- you decide.

Just Act Natural

Donna gets the Doctor to Martha’s wedding. Shenanigans ensue.

There’s an optional sequel, “Compatible Lunacy” that is just straight up shippy.

Interspecies Communication

The Doctor fails to read the room and Donna has to deal with it.

Originally written as part of Interspecies Compatibility, but it actually makes more sense as a cracky standalone.

Bathtime in B Sharp

Donna and the Doctor have to take a medicinal bath. Pointless fluff.

Cuddles in C Minor

A shag-or-die setup in which the aliens severely overestimate the Doctor’s mating drive and an indignant Donna gets a thorough cuddle.

Absolute Shameless Fluff

Compatible Lunacy

Optional sequel to “Just Act Natural.”

Split into two parts because “Just Act Natural” could be read as platonic but “Compatible Lunacy” makes the whole thing more shippy

Ship: Platonic or Doctor x Donna (If you read “Compatible Lunacy”)

Tension in D Minor

Donna tries to get some alone time with someone with matching human urges. The Doctor takes it a bit personally.

Ship: Tenth Doctor x Donna Noble

Morning Cuddles

Originally part of “Nice Things; Good Things” but it probably makes more sense as a little standalone cuddle ficlet.

Ship: Established Tenth Doctor x Donna Noble

Arguments That Did Not Go As Planned

Donna tries to train the Doctor, one argument at a time.

Ship: Sort of Accidental Tenth Doctor x Donna Noble

(Moody) Gen

(It Breaks You Down) A Little Bit More Each Time

Five times Donna Noble died, in escalating degrees of severity. (Not actual death, but y’know.)

Collaborations

Aurous and Auriferous

Aurous is a Journey’s End fix-it in which the metacrisis Doctor has to save the Time Lord from himself (Written for the DW HopeZine prompt “Plastered in Gold”)

Auriferous is an optional (significantly less “Gen”) sequel for people who think Gen Fixits are all well and good, but want a little Tencest to round it out.

A collaboration with the insanely talented @denzikken and @fritzmetzger

Ship: Ten x Tentoo (mildly implied in Aurous, actively happening in Auriferous) Also some light background Donna x Rose (for flavor)

Special thanks to anyone who’s read, given kudos, and/or commented on anything I’ve put together! Lots of love to the whole fandom!

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rotzaprachim · 4 years

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Oh man as an aspie who clung onto the idea of autistic Nicky as soon as I watched the film, I'm super interested in knowing what people think his special interests are- I personally hc that he acquires a new one every century or so and sometimes that dictates where he and Joe travel

ohhhh ok time for my quarantine comfort hobby which is projecting upon fictional side characters in action movies! i think some of the big things for me about special interests is that they can be literally everything, and can also last for years or fade quickly! so some things that come too me off the top of my head, and although i totally think they all have a massive array of skills they’ve picked up over the years, i totally think Nicky is the one who is constantly pulling upexpected hobbies + skills out of his back pocket like ah yes. here is a perfectly executed lariat technique from 1800′s Sonora and here’s how to fix the wiring in a radio and write in mid 20th century secretarial shorthand at some point he picked up an incredibly amount of information about rare tree frogs of nicaragua and suminagashi, neither of which even Joe knew about.

but anyway. some key Interests vaguely in order of CHronology

- sailing + ocean stuff (also thanks to @captainshakespear !!! for a lot of the ideas on this one)

i am a big believer in sailor Nicky! not an expert on medieval Genova or anything, but with my preferred background of him as being from a more modest background (not everyone in history was a royal, y’all) i think it’s quite likely his family earned their trade this way (or by fishing?). (might actually write a fic as sometimes i think it’s uh easier to write out characters thought processes than describe them but anyway) i have a real soft spot for Nico the kiddo who spent hours silently watching the sea either from the shoreline or his father’s fishingboat and who even if he had to be called by his mother three times for dinner and had a hard time focusing on conversations, understood the language of sails and ropes and knots from an early age

- related to that- tying seaman’s knots

- not to phrase this strangely but. religion

there’s actually a lot of complexity to talk about with autistic people and religion/religious observance that i haven’t seen talked about much but! many thoughts on the this i might also expand upon later. Nicky eventually became a priest, even!

but i do think that in the clamor and chaos of a medieval port city the ritualism and structure of religion would have been deeply comforting. the extremely set structure or a catholic mass, which quickly becomes the only time of the week where he’ll already know almost all of the words, and the feeling of wrapping his fingers around the rosary beads and counting through the decades. his mother’s been doing her best to raise all her children in the Faith, but she sees how fervantly her youngest actually remembers his prayers and sticks to them at the same time ever day on his own and is a little surprised.

also like, lives of the saints! which are often exceedingly odd and strange, but Nico was like eh they’re Saints right they’re good this is a Normal THing to be Interested in and then lists off all the ways a few of the interesting ones were martyred over dinner.

(but also in all of this he was definitely. a seven year old constantly questioning if God was real or not or could ever be kind when there were so many bad things in the world.) (we love projection.) and also a seven year old deeply interested in death and what happened afterwards. all things die.

more to discuss later when i’m not about to fall asleep but! I think these interests lasted into his immortal life and long past the battlefield, especially as he starts to learn more and more about everyone the society and expression of faith in his first life taught him to hate. there definitely needs to be.. subtlety here, and he never intrudes on any closed traditions/is always respectful, but over the centuries he studies many, many holy texts and traditions from around the world, by himself and with Yusuf and also in various kinds of institutions and houses of learning. a LOT of religious text and discussion is surprisingly technical stuff about the practicalities of daily life or finer points of theologic debates as much as it is, like, the Big Picture, and also the finer point and big picture questions can be deeply related. anyway.

- medicine

for all that there are a lot of autistic characters who are scientists, i rarely see one who’s a doctor/medical researcher and has that connected to their empathy and desire to heal others? but i very very much think Nicky has been a medic/involved in medicine and medical research since shortly after his first death and his centuries in the medieval Islamicate world with Yusuf, and has watched the way medicine has developed over the centuries, and is really fascinated by things like biochemistry and kept really studious logs of it all.

- music esp guitar + folk music

also pretty fun to think about with so much of the history of stringed instruments linking to cross cultural trade around the mediterranean + Islamicate worlds, love the idea that Nicky has always kind of liked folk songs and music but has learned over time a number of varieties of stringed instruments starting with the oud, with his favorite being the guitarra batente and Hawaiian steel guitar with the slack-key playing style. sometimes he sings but a lot of his appreciation for music and stringed instruments especially is about the emotions that can be expressed without any words at all!

- miscellanous other things

the parts of a sniper rifle + shooting techniques, various kinds of sniper rifle scopes, buying + haggling for the best quality kinds of art supplies for yusuf, cooking, he reallllly doesn’t understand digital anything or the internet but he does like the elegance of electrical wiring and circuits, actually reads all the manuals that come with appliances for the interest value and is the one who wires safehouses to be off the grid and is just like. very good at odd household jobs + fixing things (which Joe finds unspeakably hot), he accidentally ended up as a star batter on a minor league baseball team at some point in the 1920′s and has an incredibly knowledge of baseball scores and runnings since even tho it’s literally one of like two sports who’s rules he understands and can focus on for more than five minutes (the other sport is the irish national treasure hurling), aforementioned nicaraguan tree frogs, in the last couple decades has gotten really concerned about biodiversity loss and the importance of protecting genetic diversity of species and crops, the large scale data of public health crises + antibiotic resistance, which he gives copley a long talk on basically the first time he speaks to him at all and which has copley pulling out a red sharpie and scribbling how massively he’s misjudged Nicolo di Genova, over the last few hundred years he’s become super concerned about medical + bioethics and the various technologies involved in that, stained glass window symbolism, angry birds and cooking

#nicolo di genova #autistic nicky #which i need to make a tag #the old guard #actually autistic #i hope this was what you were looking for? sorry if this has gone on for a really long time #anyway! enjoy

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eponymous-rose · 4 years

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Talks Machina Highlights - Critical Role C2E96 (February 25, 2020)

Tonight’s guests are Taliesin Jaffe and Liam O’Brien!

Announcements: The Chicago live show and C2E2 are imminent! The live show will be on Thursday night, but an hour earlier than usual, at 6 PM Pacific/8 PM Central! Liam will be at the live show, but unfortunately has to leave C2E2 early and won’t be able to make it on Sunday. On Friday, the first behind-the-scenes video for The Legend of Vox Machina animated series was posted on YouTube, introducing the writing team!

Episode 96: Family Shatters

Stats for this week’s episode! Of the 16 times Caleb has cast Teleportation Circle, the M9 have remembered to contact someone prior to their arrival 7 times. Of those 7 times, they were successful at contacting someone at the location only 3. Taliesin: “We’re playing this game like Skyrim, we’re just going through people’s houses breaking pottery.” Caduceus got the straw hat that he gave to Clarabelle in episode 31, about 188 in-game days ago. There were 17 cow-related puns. Dani: “Is that above or below average for a Critical Role episode?”

“Clay was kind of built relatively quickly. I didn’t give Matt a ton to play with. I gave him the order in which they left, I gave him Clay’s attitude and his impression of his family members, which was usually just one sentence, and some basic idea of what their power set might be if they had one. I always thought of him as, from a family perspective, of what would have happened to Percy if nothing went wrong.” He was happy to be the one to run the family business and just hang around at home and run the shrine. “I think the rest of the kids’ wanderlust probably put them at odds quite a bit.” He liked being able to play that conflict and show what Caduceus was like when he was annoyed. Cad took after his father, the girls generally wanted to leave, and Colton is “just sort of a doofus.”

Caleb was an only child, so seeing this many kids was a lot. “They clearly had their grudges and their different dynamics with each other, but that’s normal, for sure. Caleb’s very unfamiliar with it.” He also keeps looking at Nott and thinking about how everything he’s doing is about wanting to rebuild his family, whereas Nott is so conflicted about going back to hers. “He doesn’t understand it, but he doesn’t want to push it” or judge her for it. “I thought I had a really defined direction at the start of the campaign, but my seven best friends have knocked it silly.”

What’s keeping Cad with the Nein? “Caduceus is not ready to go home at all. He’s not done with his walkabout. He feels like he wants to see a bit more. He feels he has an intense debt to pay. He feels he has a mission to see everybody else through, at the very least. Or at least he’s telling himself that. So he’s saved his home, or at least he thinks he’s saved his home, and his family’s all right, so now it’s debts that must be paid. He’s not somebody who thinks you can just get off the bus.”

“Caleb was going to ask [the hag] about the ability to travel backward through time, not really believing that she could do that, but was still like, show me what you’ve got.” Even if she’d said it, he would have thought she was a liar. “Probably would’ve offered to kill the M9″ in exchange, then would’ve turned around to hit her with a surprise Disintegrate. Liam notes repeatedly that nothing could possibly have been as cool as what Laura wound up doing.

On the Nein not worrying about places Cad considered sacred ground, Caduceus “is fine with conflict. He doesn’t even really have to have conflict, he could assert himself if he were so inclined. It’s that he’s aware that there are limits to what these people can do. It’s very much the philosophy of ‘children and drunks can do no wrong’.” He’s picking his battles.

Was there a defining moment where Caleb started seeing the Nein as family? No single moment. “It’s like love by a thousand cuts.” Liam notes that he’s still not sure how Caleb would react if he suddenly had the means to carry out his plans. “He’s got the recovering-addict mentality.”

Cosplay of the Week: an amazing Pumat! (CriticalHitical, photo by Minniemooncos on Twitter)

Taliesin notes that Caduceus is definitely feeling more connected to the group. “If anything, Caduceus is really embracing his role as the spiritual guide to the group. He feels like he really has a lot to offer from that perspective of being the roving therapist. Or at least, he thinks he’s a roving therapist.” Liam notes that Cad is the most mysterious of the group to Caleb. “He’s the most religious character I’ve ever played, too. He’s fun! He really came together very nicely.”

On Caleb being more lighthearted on occasion: “He’s been out of practice being a human being for a long time.” The Nein’s brand of ridiculousness is rubbing off on him.

Why hasn’t Cad been pranking the Nein? “They don’t treat him poorly in that way yet. Siblings, man. I have quite a few siblings, and there is an energy. It’s the same way like when you’re around your parents, you revert to a 15-year-old.” Same with siblings. “There’s just something-- just the urge to torture them is so overpowering.” The moment he got the whistle, he knew exactly what he was going to do with it. Liam was reminded of Taliesin’s real-life siblings while watching these interactions in the game.

On Caleb’s laying on compliments for the Traveler: “The thing about time travel is it’s so implausible. It’s so implausible that I could see us finishing this campaign and Caleb will still have it in the back of his head for the rest of his life. But maybe Artagan could help with that. He certainly sees the potential in Artagan, and it was a balance between wanting to support everything Jester has devoted her life to, so it just felt like everyone was ready to write it off. Life is often like this, life isn’t what you thought it would be, it is what it is. Let’s not damn this yet, let’s feel it out. And if I can use this situation to possibly eradicate ultimate evil, that’s a win.”

Cad found it tough to have family and friends in the same room and play both roles. “I don’t know how much it came across that he was trying to keep them, not necessarily separated, but ‘family, guys, guys, family, ANYWAY.’” He did want to get his family on their way as quickly as possible. Cad is the equivalent of his early 20s, so something like 85-120 years old for a firbolg.

Liam is asked about the conversation between Caleb and Yasha on watch several episodes ago. "You know what one of the best parts of that scene that played out was, is about 20 minutes or 30 minutes before that happened, I texted Ashley at the table and said, ‘Want to take watch? I have nothing planned, it could be fun.’” He wasn’t expecting it to go that far. “I think he had such an extreme reaction because he felt that he had done a good job of hiding things, and he was suddenly worried that he was transparent, that everyone had been able to read him this whole time when he’d thought that he was-- well, he’s a little in love with Jester Lavorre, and has been for a while, uselessly in love with her. The waltz was probably a little pebble. And in that moment-- this doesn’t play out verbally too much in the show, but he just was worried that this thing that he’s never going to admit to because it’s useless, she’s finding herself, and has her whole life ahead of her, and has other people around her who care about her and are a whole lot better for her than he is. And he’s aware of the way those two [Fjord and Beau] feel as well. It’s just there in the background fucking up his shit. It’s really just a problem. Big fucking problem.”

Fan art of the week: a gorgeous Clay family portrait! (by Teaweltzer on Twitter)

On Clay being absent for the renewal of his home: “I don’t think his arc’s ending off-screen. I think his arc ends when he comes home to see what’s become of it.”

Is Caleb worried about Beau since the confrontation with her father? “Of course he is. She’s ignoring all the advice that she gave him. He doesn’t like to see her that hard on herself when she’s so competent and probably the backbone of the group. It’s the most judgey Caleb’s been of anybody, really, but he’s very aware of the pain of family and personal stuff. She knows her, and even though he broke his shit in half, he could still see the dynamic in the room when we visited his family, so he feels for her. We need you and we love you and we will miss you, you don’t fucking get to go.”

Each of the temples has a secondary god; what was the Blooming Grove’s other god? “The Blooming Grove is for the Archeart because it is a gift of beauty. It’s the Allhammer, the Changebringer, and the Archeart. It’s kind of a powerplay from the Wildmother, in my opinion. They’re all three based off of very specific types of funereal practices that are common throughout the world.”

Caleb saw giving over the transformation spell to Essek as a returning of one of his many favors. “Caleb likes Essek a lot. They’re like two highly gifted kids at school together. And, you know, he’s quirkily charming and handsome. There’s just no reason not to, in his mind. Outside of the M9, he’s probably the only person that Caleb would see as a friend that he’s made. Everyone else is just sort of scenery around the M9.”

What’s next for Cad? “It’s a little bit of finding himself, or at least finishing himself would be the way to put it.” (cue snickering from off-camera) “He’s also vaguely aware of some of the things that are going to possibly emotionally damage the party on the horizon, and he wants to be ready to deal with, in vague order, whatever’s going to happen to Jester, and then whatever’s going to happen to Fjord, and then whatever’s going to happen to Nott, and Yasha, and Caleb. He doesn’t know how to deal with what Beau’s going through. It’s the one thing he has no experience of, because he has no experience with that family dynamic. When he met people with that family dynamic, it was always at the end of it.”

Some fans sent in death whistles. Brian encourages Taliesin to play one on the plane.

The hat for Calliope was a last-minute thought. The flute could also have gone for Colton, depending on “who I could sneak up on”.

Caleb took a symbol of the Archeart from the Labenda Swamp. “I think it was familiar to me. I think I might have either correctly or mistakenly thought it reminded me of the woman who helped Caleb in the Sanatorium.”

#critical role #critical role spoilers #talks machina #talks machina spoilers #long text post

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henpendrips · 4 years

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Top Ten #1 - Final Fantasy X (PS2)

Yup, it's this'n. So let's get right into it.

Boy, oh boy, Final Fantasy X. Is it the best entry in the series? No. Is it a better game than God of War 2? Definitely not. Yet as I struggle to write this summary, there is no other game that I can think of that would fit the #1 spot. And that's because, not only do I love the turn-based RPG genre, but... it was also the first Final Fantasy game that I really got into; from first coming into contact with it to finally buying and playing it for myself, a game that easily consumed five years of my life.

The story and world in FFX might be the most blatant in terms of points made, and as the last SquareSoft Final Fantasy, it also marked the end of an era, while being the start of another, more superficial and uninspired future for the series (with the MMOs and FF12 barely scootin' by, considering what was to come). However, that doesn't stop me being enamored with the two protagonists and the journey they go through: Tidus, the energetic blitzball superstar that functions as the audience surrogate; and Yuna, the reserved summoner carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders.

While most previous FF games start out small, and opened up as you progress, FFX presents you with big questions right from the start, and Tidus' clueless ass is the perfect vessel for players to take in this adventure one step at a time. His own confidence and playful nature also helps set the audience at ease, rather than feeling lost amidst the chaos. But it is through Yuna that the story of this game moves forward; she is the reason the party (and through Tidus, the player), continue this journey, her pilgrimage across the land of Spira, in the hopes of achieving a means to stop the cataclysmic monster Sin. And that's also why Yuna is my favorite character in the entire franchise (Zack Fair is a close second), as her determination and drive are apparent even through her shy and meek demeanor when you're introduced to her initially; and given how, unlike Tidus, she DOES understand what her journey might entail, she is aware of the consequences that might present themselves, and how her faith is challenged every step of the way, really showcases a strength not just in the character, but the writing as well.

In terms of exploration and level design, while FFX might have been a big step forward for the series, shedding the pre-rendered backgrounds of the PS1 era, Spira is left quite linear and restrained. It's no FF13, thankfully, as you're allowed to revisit almost every area you go to, and after a later point in the game, unlocking an airship gives you free range on where to go, including some optional dungeons and secret areas. It's no grand expanse, but you're given plenty of reasons to explore every nook and cranny for sidequests, extra gear, and additional skills. The equipment mechanics are interesting in concept, the ability to craft and graft specific abilities to your weapons and armor, but given the limited models for it, and the existence of Celestial Weapons, like a lot of aspects in the game, it comes off more like a means to extend gameplay needlessly, as several other games of that time did.

The combat system, meanwhile, is undoubtedly my favorite in the whole series, because it embraces the fact that it's a turn-based RPG. I've never been too keen on the ATB, and have definitely disliked the real time/turn-based hybrids that are leading the franchise further and further away from its roots, but FFX knows what it is, and fully embraces it. Based on specific stats, the Conditional Turn-Based Battle (CTB) system places every participant in the fight on a specific order, and every action taken by a character will affect how subsequent turns play out. Spells such as Haste will accelerate and give a character more turns, crippling abilities will push enemies further away from taking their own turn, and with the ability to switch party members on the fly, you have an approach dedicated to the player controlling the flow of combat, by taking advantage of enemy weaknesses and impeding them from attacking at all, something that, as the game progresses, especially with optional superbosses, develops into quite the challenge that is still all in control of the player.

Probably the most distinct aspect to FFX combat, however, is how summons, called Aeons, act as their own characters, all with stats and abilities of their own. All of them are informed by Yuna's development, and spamming them will definitely leave your other party members lacking, but it's always thrilling to drop yor giant monsters on the field and let them lay waste to your enemies. This also provides you with the Summoner fights, where Aeons can't be summoned by both parties at the same time, and how several bosses can easily destroy your summon, leaving you to plan out when it is most appropriate to use them. A very nice touch that is in line with the story of the game.

The progression system in FFX also deserves a highlight. The Sphere Grid replaces the usage of EXP with AP, and each character is placed upon a giant grid with slots to fill up, so as to increase their stats and learn new skills. Special key slots keep your characters on set paths at first, but you'll eventually be able to cross characters onto others' sections, allowing you to increase each party member's usage beyond their initial limitations, while minimizing their weaknesses and shortcomings as character-locked roles. It's definitely another aspect of the game done to extend gameplay, especially given how you can customize the entire Sphere Grid for all seven characters, but after playing FF12, I'm much more content with a system that provides unique roles to characters, letting you familiarize yourself with them, and then expanding their arsenal and abilities later on. Seriously, if you want to play FF12, which I recommend as my fourth favorite FF game, play it on PC with a merged License Board mod, it'll be so much more satisfying.

And to close it off, given how most of the positives above also provide some detail on the negatives, the art direction in FFX is just the right amount of overly-detailed before going down Belt Buckle Avenue. There's an overall ocean theme to the designs, with a lot of spirals and natural patterns to the architecture, character design, and even the monsters, that I enjoy massively (and the PS2 limitations probably kept it from going balls-to-the-wall insane). There's an obvious jank when it comes to facial animations and how a lot of voice lines are delivered, but the emotional peaks are all there, a prime example of both the good and bad being one of the speeches later in the game, how the animation and delivery contrast immensely with all the other characters in the scene. And of course, how can you forget the ridonkulously catchy tunes such as 'Hymn of the Fayth', 'Challenge', and 'Otherworld' (the song that until recently, I still believed had been composed by Ramnstein).

With that, it's done. Years ago, when I first thought of which game was my all-time favorite, I definitely had a big thunk on whether it was God of War 2 or Final Fantasy X. But in spite of all that has happened since, the state of the games industry as a whole, and how I changed in terms of standards, taste, and preferences, putting FFX on the #1 spot of this list is not a regret. It defined me as a person, as an enthusiast, I'm very happy that it opened so many doors and how it motivated me to push forward as an artist for several years now. Also, Rikku with X-2 costume was top tier first waifu, fite me.

#art #artists on tumblr #final fantasy x #final fantasy #FFX #tidus #yuna #top ten #videogames #fanart #illustration #print

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finallyaniguana · 5 years

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Watch The Eyes: The Gotham City Airport [9]

[8] masterpost ao3 [10]

EDIT: so as it turns out there is not an extra day between Friday and Saturday. Its been so long since I wrote this chapter that i completely forgot to keep track of the days of the week so im bumping the schedule back a day (so the plane landed Sunday instead of Monday)

It had been a tense two weeks since Damian had spoken to Dick about what happened in the batcave. If the situation wasn't so serious, Damian would have laughed at his reaction.

"Wait, so you're telling me I was sparring with your soulmate?"

Damian nodded grimly.

"Dude... no hesitation. She kicked my ass."

He furrowed his eyebrows. 'Wait... she won? She can fight?'

"No, seriously. Whoever she is, she is fully prepared to deal with our family. Didn't even ask what was going on. You gotta let me know when you find her. I want a rematch."

While Dick was questioning his entire life, Damian was devising ways to attempt to find his soulmate. He was fairly certain she was in France by the language and time stamp, which he conveniently forgot to mention to Dick or anyone else for that matter. He also knew that she has friends named Alya and Nino. It wasn't alot to go on considering he had no idea where in France to start looking.

Alya was not a terribly common name, but being so young it was unlikely the girl had any press or accomplishments he would be able to search for. Since he didn't know her last name, he couldn't research her until he found his soulmate.

He hadn't been able to catch the name of the school. Maybe because the girl, Alya, was dragging him too fast. Or maybe it was leftover resistance to having a bond like this. But it would spell trouble for his entire family if she came to Gotham looking for Nightwing. He had no idea what her character was like. She could be totally reckless. Better to find her first.

He started a campaign of research, sparing none of his free time. But his isolation was leading him into weariness. He was usually fairly introverted, meaning he got his energy by spending time alone, but something was pushing him to spend time with others. So, to keep up his spirits and energy, he went outside the manor for his training. Kor'i was very excited to see him back, the rest of the Titans surprised. He didn't tell them about her, though. He wanted to keep that quiet.

He also went out of his way to spend more time with Jon, who was ecstatic that Damian had decided to find her.

"What made you change your mind?" Jon asked.

Damian sat in silence for a moment. His shoulders drooped and he exhaled.

"I don't know. It feels right , I suppose."

That was a good enough answer for Jon.

Despite not expecting any success, Damian searched up 'Alya France' on his computer. The only thing that came up was a site called 'The Ladyblog' which looked like a fansite about a superhero he'd never heard of. He scrolled through it for a bit before stopping on a video from about two years prior. He clicked it.

"Don't blink now, we're live from Paris. Yo peeps! Alya here bringing you the one and only Ladyblog. *gasp* What is that? Ladybug in action! Hang on, we're going for a ride."

The video continued to play in the background of Damian's mind. It could not be this easy. That was most definitely the girl he saw through his soulmate's perspective. He had absolutely no idea what the girl was talking about though. Ladybug? Chat Noir? Surely if this was real he would have heard about it. No, it must be some sort of fiction project or something similar.

She lived in Paris. Next he had to figure out what school this girl went to so he could figure out his soulmate's name. The textbook in Alya's hand being his biggest lead to the school.

From there... he would make his final decision. They would meet sometime in the coming year, but he didn't have to reveal himself since it was unlikely she would have figured out Nightwing's secret identity by then. Even Tim, undoubtedly the greatest detective of all the Robins, would have taken far longer to figure it out had he not seen Dick perform at Haley's a those years ago.

His mother would have told him to avoid the girl like the plague. Not even consider looking for her. She would only drag him down, add to the list of things that could be used against him. Make him go soft.

But his father? His brothers? They would say go for it. Even Batman, the ultimate loner, recognized the need to have connection. Thus starting his adopting spree that they are yet to be convinced has ended.

He'd trace that book to her school. Trace that book to her class. Trace that book to her. Unknowingly following a similar route to the Ladyblogger in front of him.

Tim sat in his office looking over the itinerary for the class that was visiting. Wayne Enterprises was sponsoring the entire trip.

• Dick was picking up the class from the airport and getting them to the hotel Sunday. Transportation had been secured for the whole trip.

• Dick was also to lead the tour of the building the first day, Monday. At least the public parts.

• Gotham High was accepting them the next few days Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, so the trip remained educational.

• A visit to the Gardens the next day, Saturday, a tour guide arranged.

• Back to Gotham High the next week, Monday through Friday. Tour of the Gotham museum of art Saturday.

• Gotham High again.

• Charity gala the last Saturday with a mention to the class president who wrote the winning essay. Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

He squinted at the name. There was something familiar about it.

'Pain is French for bread? That's got to be it,' he thought. He brushed it off. He had other work to accomplish.

Dick was to be meeting this class at the airport. As the tour guide, he was opening himself up to be the face of their entire trip. He would be accompanying them on all of their trips since Tim had work and Damian was in school (although some of the students were likely to end up in Damian's class). He wasn't sure if anyone would recognize him as Bruce Wayne's first son. To be quite frank, he was hoping they wouldn't. They were French so there was a good chance.

Dick was also on edge after having a discussion with Damian. He wholeheartedly supported him finding his soulmate. He seemed so desperate, bit in a quiet kind of way, even though for years he's been saying he wanted nothing to do with her, whoever she is.

He had been acting strange for two weeks. Rambling on. Cautious where he used to be fearless. Less like the grandson of the demon and more like... well a kid. An anxious kid. It was refreshing, even if he knew it was most likely Damain's soulmates personality peeking through Damian's cracked veneer. He was also becoming more social which absolutely floored B when his son brought Jon home to hang out or when he actually volunteered to train in the Tower with the Titans. It was strange. But a good strange.

The kids pouring out of the luggage claim looked absolutely exhausted. A seven hour flight would do that to you. Despite that, Dick noticed the group had two focal points between which students bounced back and fourth. An taller Italian girl and a much shorter girl with black hair to her shoulder blades.

He had a sign that said François Dupont which he flipped up, the kids pooling into the center of the area. All the kids looked around awkwardly. The small girl with the black hair noticed him first. She turned to to the redheaded teacher he hadn't noticed before. Caline Bustier he remembered. When Caline looked towards him, she ushered the kids in his direction, smiling at the girl who pointed him out.

All the teens flocked around him. The teacher smiled and extended her hand. He shook it.

"Alright! Francois Dupont, yes? Forgive me if my French is a little bit shakey. I haven't had too many occasions to speak it. My name is Richard. On behalf of Wayne Enterprises I welcome your class to Gotham!"

The kids all looked at each other with excitement.

"Now, if you'll all follow me. There is a bus waiting to take you to your hotel," Dick said brightly.

He beckoned them outside where a Coach bus was waiting. The luggage underneath, they were all ready to go.

"One more thing!" Dick announced.

They all looked at him. He held up a small digital camera.

"To prove to Mr. Wayne you all arrived safely. And for the contest webpage if that's alright with you."

He let Mlle. Bustier arrange the children so they could all be seen, she and Dick standing at either side of the group. The coach driver took the picture. The camera automatically downloaded all photos to his cell phone, so he was immediately able to send the picture to Bruce. That picture was from there sent to Tim who uploaded it to the contest webpage with the caption "The winning class!"

They all filed onto the bus. The Italian girl seemed to have priority over everyone else, or at least that's how several of her classmates treated her. She went on first. Not before subtly knocking shoulders with the small girl. It didn't seem friendly.

Since he had no details, there was little he could do unless whatever the situation was escalated under his watch. He decided to keep an eye on those two, just in case.

The teacher took roll once more. Satisfied that they had everyone, the bus started moving. After about forty five minutes, the bus rolled into the hotel parking lot. Dick stood first and went into the hotel.

He collected the room keys from the front desk while Mlle. Bustier handled getting everyone and everything off the coach.

He came back outside, passing off the thick envelope of key cards to the teacher, smiling brightly. She thanked him with her best English. Richard's face lit up in surprise.

"Oh!" he said. "I was unaware you spoke English."

Her expression grew slightly pained.

"Very little," she admitted. In French she continued, voice low. "Although our class president speaks it fluently and at least one of my other students has claimed to speak English quite well."

The word claimed was not lost on him. He chose not to address it at that time though. It was good to know that Miss. Dupain-Cheng spoke English, since she would be the one honored at the gala. He nodded to himself. Turning to the class he made an announcement.

"Names and room numbers are on the keys. Each of you should have one and may have them as a little keepsake at the end of your stay. As long as your teacher approves, I would have no issue with trading, and as long as everyone is okay with it."

A murmur passed along the small crowd. He nodded and turned back to the teacher. He pulled their itinerary out of his bag and passed it to her.

"I will be meeting you here at 8:30 am sharp. Everything you need should be on this paper including my personal cell phone if there is an emergency. On behalf of Bruce Wayne and his company, I again welcome you to Gotham."

When Dick finally arrived home, it was after Gotham High had let out. Meaning Damian was already home. He had been on edge for two weeks after his soul switching. Of course that spread to everyone in the house. Their identities would have to be comprised for this. But to see Damian happy... it might be worth it.

They had all discussed it and decided that Damian would find her and do some research, get to know her in costume, then decide if she could be trusted. Damian continued to give some weak protest over having a soulmate, but everyone could tell it was forced. He really seemed to want this.

'Speak of the devil,' he thought as Damian appeared in the hall.

"Grayson."

"Baby Bird," he returned his brother's attempt at a greeting.

Damian squinted at him.

"You're home quite early," he stated.

"Yes, I just got back from the hotel. I was picking up the class that B's sponsoring. Remember the contest?" he asked.

Damian's eyes widened with knowing.

"Oh, I was unaware that they would be arriving so soon," he said.

Dick raised an eyebrow.

"You gotta pay attention, pal."

His expression soured.

"I've been a little busy, Grayson.

The older of the two stood there, considering that defense. Under the circumstances of the last two weeks, he would cut him some slack.

"Well, some of them are going to be in your class starting Tuesday," Dick informed him.

"Some of them?"

"Well, it would kind of be a lot to add all those kids to one class. So, the class is being split up into groups of two or three and sitting in on the different classes in your grade," he explained.

Damian nodded thoughtfully before his face lit up with panic.

"I FORGOT I WAS SUPPOSED TO CALL JON ABOUT OUR GROUP PROJECT."

He turned and ran up the stairs.

Alfred emerged from a room to his right.

"Master Dick. You're back. Where did Master Damian run off to?" the butler asked.

Dick stared up the stairs where his brother had run. Dick had started to expect this odd behavior that Tim had claimed was being channeled from Damian's soulmate. He shrugged. Another time then.

For the quote from the Ladyblog I used the English version of Pharoh, so if the translation isn't quite what you're expecting, that's probably why. Also the mention to Tim seeing Dick at the circus was a reference to Knightfall. Takes place pretty close after Death in the Family. Tim is high up on my list of favs so I just wanted to throw some praise for him in here so... yay Tim!!

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed :)

taglist: (CLOSED)

@vixen-uchiha @worlds-tiniest-spook-pastry @violatiger8 @mochinek0 @constancetruggle @yamadochie @seraphichana @captainmac6 @nataladriana9 @iggy-of-fans @riarkle-felinettelove @luciferge @mystery-5-5 @mellownieice @northernbluetongue @imanerddealwith @ayuchan07 @poshplumcot @annabellabrookes @legendaryneckjudgestudent @chez-pezeater @friedchickening @da-tasuky @crazylittlemunchkin @g-arya @i-like-fairytail-and-stuff @witchbitch1998 @theatreandcomicfreak @lysslovsanime @zalladane @tbehartoo @goggles-mcgee @tumbling-down-hills-and-stuff @kanamexzeroyaoifangirl @melicmusicmagic @reichi-vogart

#daminette #maribat

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strvngcrs · 4 years

Text

『 adam brody. forty. cis male. he/him. 』 oh heavens, is that DANIEL ABRAMS from FAIR LANE i see roaming around mapleview? minnie may’s always calling them -BROODING & -EVASIVE. i happen to think they’re not that bad! they’re a pretty cool HORROR AUTHOR and every time i’ve seen them, they’ve always been +DEBONAIR & +ELOQUENT. i hope i see them around again!

classically rolls in ridiculously late bc i forgot i had to work last night & then proceeded to sleep in today wooo !! good afternoon ghouls, it’s ya girl maia, finally here to deliver the definition of hot mess with good intentions.

GENERAL

FULL NAME. daniel elijah abrams.

NICKNAMES. dan, danny.

AGE & BIRTHDATE. 40 years old ; may 4, 1980.

GENDER & PRONOUNS. cis male ; he/him.

ORIENTATION. heterosexual.

MARITAL STATUS. estranged.

RELIGION. jewish ( non-practicing ).

OCCUPATION. horror author.

INSPIRATION. bill denbrough ( it ), donnie darko ( donnie darko ), lucas scott ( one tree hill ), stephen king.

PHYSICAL

HAIR COLOUR. black.

EYE COLOUR. dark brown.

BUILD. athletic.

MARKS. freckles scarcely spread across his entire body.

TATTOOS. none.

PIERCINGS. none.

HEIGHT. 5'11".

FACECLAIM. adam brody.

PERSONALITY

ZODIAC. taurus.

ALIGNMENT. chaotic neutral.

HOGWARTS. ravenclaw.

LABEL. the arcane.

POSITIVE TRAITS. cheeky, debonair, driven, eloquent, resilient, solicitous.

NEGATIVE TRAITS. brooding, evasive, inquisitive, sarcastic, stoic, stubborn.

HOBBIES. smokes like a chimney while writing until he forgets what day of the week it is, dabbles in hunting & fishing (thanks @ his dad), labels all crime / thriller genres as ‘predictable’ but continues to watch them, obsesses over & relentlessly criticizes his own work, drinks heavily & passionately plays moonlight sonata or fur elise as if he’s betoven’s disciple.

BACKGROUND

PLACE OF BIRTH. california.

CURRENT RESIDENCE. mapleview, north carolina.

NATIONALITY. american.

ETHNICITY. ashkenazi jewish.

PARENTS. judith miller & mr abrams.

SIBLINGS. mia miller.

BIRTH ORDER. eldest.

CHILDREN. penelope abrams.

EDUCATION. university of california, los angeles; bachelor of arts in english.

LANGUAGES. english, some spanish & french.

HISTORY

EARLY LIFE. born to THE judith miller and some newspaper editor, daniel was raised by the latter and notoriously abandoned by the former. well, not completely abandoned - there’s an old shoebox containing a few letters as proof - but that was the only source of communication in their otherwise absent relationship. while little danny boy didn’t fully understand why he couldn’t see his mother, he sought out an alternative solution by watching her movies. his father wasn’t aware, at first, and dan created this extravagant fantasy of the person he thought she was based on the roles she played. however, once papa abrams found out his son was watching these movies (which were probably not fit for children in the first place lmao oop), he begrudgingly revealed the bitter truth. being forced to come to terms with the fact that his own mother willingly abandoned him with his father, daniel didn’t fully understand what it meant; he couldn’t properly process why. the hurt of absent mother was expressed more out of anger, feeling as though there must have been something wrong with him. there were fewer and fewer letters sent to judith until he gave up altogether and thus, dan’s out of control behavior was born.

TEENAGE FEVER. SUICIDE MENTION TW. he struggled in school. his emotions betrayed him. instead of relishing a happy childhood, daniel found himself pushing everyone away, getting into fights, sneaking out late at night to run around the city streets with his friends and get into all sorts of trouble with them. he couldn’t count on his hands how many times the police picked him up and brought him to his dad’s doorstep. it only got worse once one of his best friends was found dead, written off as a suicide, though it didn’t add up in dan’s eyes and seemed so much more sinister. the young man was nearly deemed to be a lost cause, until he discovered his passion for writing.

language arts or literature was the last thing anyone would ever think to group with daniel abrams. but his english teacher noticed how well he could articulate his thoughts and feelings on paper, and submitted one of his pieces to a writing contest, which earned dan the win and a cash prize. bewildered by a talent he hadn’t even realized was in him, daniel embraced it. he started writing in a journal ( which he kept safely tucked away beneath the mattress of his bed ), documenting every feeling and thought as a way to express his emotions in a more productive manner. this talent earned him a full ride scholarship to ucla with a major in literature and plans of diving into some sort or creative writing career or perhaps becoming an english teacher, to follow in the footsteps of his high school teacher who he came to idolize.

mere days into his freshman year, however, his high school sweetheart showed up in the middle of the night at his dorm with a positive pregnancy test. it was then the chaotic world as he knew it turned a new leaf, revealing a silver lining in the form of their daughter, penelope, who daniel hadn’t a clue, just yet, would save him. and so a shotgun wedding was quickly planned around the pair, both families either completely supportive or in utter disbelief. it was quick, it was cheap(ish), and it was stressful as all heck. but they were young, and in love, and were looking forward to starting a family together, despite it being a little earlier than initially planned.

“ADULT”HOOD. fast forward five years, and they’re signing divorce papers. fortunately, it wasn’t messy. the two had simply grown apart as they matured in their respective ways, and remaining together was only causing a rift to develop between the two. the last thing they wanted, for the sake of their daughter, was built up resentment to tear the little family apart. his wife, who daniel initially thought to be the love of his life, blossomed into an absolute goddess; she was ambitious and knew exactly what she wanted. daniel, on the other hand, was still somewhat caught up in his ‘bad boy’ habits of drinking excessively and his career was still pretty up in the air. the two just didn’t compliment each others’ lifestyles anymore.

daniel moved out but remained in california, settling for a bachelor’s apartment where he was able to have penelope every weekend. during this time, he finally cracked down and worked on finishing a novel he’d started years prior. within a year, he found a publisher who took interest in his grotesque works, and by the time daniel was twenty seven, his first bestseller hit the shelves, changing his life for the better with the ability to provide for his daughter without stress of landing another odd job ever again.

as his fame increased, so did his desire to slink back into the shadows away from the limelight. at first, he enjoyed the wholesome book signings by day and grungy celebratory benders by night. but it grew old pretty fast and he certainly didn’t want to end up as another washed up shmuck. so, on a whim, daniel decided to move out of california completely, removing himself from the toxic lifestyle he’d grown accustomed to and shacking up on a beautiful piece of land in the rocky mountains of north carolina. the serenity and scenery certainly aided in his inspiration, as well as his unacknowledged lowkey addictions slowly being rehabilitated from his bloodstream.

OLD YELLER. now, in his utmost prime at forty years old, he’s written numerous cult classics, a few of which have successful movie adaptations. he was lucky enough to land himself in a second marriage, though.... that one is now deteriorating as well because he literally doesn’t know how to maintain a healthy relationship. he received full custody of his daughter when she was sixteen, under the unfortunate circumstance of her mother’s untimely death. although they’d been separated for nearly twenty years, daniel was still very much affected by the loss, more so empathetically for penelope. he’s still hooked on the drink, though he’s definitely calmed down quite a bit from when he was a young buck. basically a messy, depressy old soul who uses sarcasm to deflect his true feelings.

CONNECTIONS

ESTRANGED WIFE. first marriage was a bust, and the second is turning out to be no better. they haven’t hit rock bottom just yet, in his opinion (which would be finalizing a divorce lmao), and he’s unsure if they should work things out or not but also really.......doesn’t wanna go through the process of another divorce. plus he likes her and deep down adores their bickering. the reason(s) why things started falling apart between them can be discussed of course. lowkey debating on whippin this up as a big official wc but.... if anybody already here would like to snag it, i would 100% mclove it.

COLLABORATORS. literally anyone he’s worked with over the years, whether they be fellow authors, publishers/publicists, journalists, screenplay writers, etc. yeehooo the possibilities are endless !!

FOLLOWERS. anyone hooked on his books, whether devout fans from his early beginnings or people who newly discovered his fictional writings.

FORMER CLASSMATES. could be from high school or university, but he was in california for the better part of his life aka not a mapleview native. former friends to foes & anything in between. dan’s that one kid who spiked the punch bowl at all the dances and years later probably snuck in party favors to snort off the bathroom sink during their high school reunion lmao whew !!

ANYTHING. literally anything. i’m my groggy state of mind on my lack of creativity rn so please, i’m beggin. if daniel can enrich your characters’ lives in any way, shape, or form, hit me up and we’ll hatch a plan.

#———— 🥀 . 𝙳𝙰𝙽𝙸𝙴𝙻 𝙰𝙱𝚁𝙰𝙼𝚂 ╱ DOSSIER .#mv:intro #alcoholism tw #abandonment tw #drug use tw #mommy issues tw #suicide mention tw #i think....that covers it?? if i missed anything pls let me know & ill tag accordingly #this is awful bc i rushed a wee bit buT #HOT DOG am i stupid excited to write with yall

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thesunnyshow · 4 years

Text

Name: Luna

Nationality: Spanish

Languages: Spanish, English, Catalan

Writing Blog URL(s): @moonlightjeno

What fandom(s) do you write for? NCT Dream (ot7) and I want to start writing for Ateez. Though you may find a couple of BTS and NCT 127/WayV pieces but those tend to be spontaneous as I don’t feel as comfortable writing for them.

Star Sign: Leo

MBTI: INFP - T

Favorite color: Sunset

Favorite food: Pizza

Favorite movie: Avatar! Yes, the one with blue people.

Favorite ice cream flavor: Cookies n cream.

Favorite animal: Wolf and red tailed hawks.

Coffee or tea? What are you ordering? Neither.

Dream job: Vet for wildlife and endangered species at an animal sanctuary.

Go-to karaoke song: Have never been to a karaoke so not really sure.

If you could have one superpower, what would you choose? Shapeshifting so I could fly but also be able to breath underwater.

If you could visit a historical era, which would you choose? Definitely the Cretaceous, I just love dinosaurs.

If you could restart your life, knowing what you do now, would you? Most definitely not, I believe that everything one does is meant and we just gotta adjust. So anything I might regret I learn from and everything I’ve experienced has shaped me in some way or form.

Would you rather fight 100 chicken-sized horses or one horse-sized chicken? As someone who works with chickens (they’re devils) I think a 100 chicken-sized horses because I love horses and they’re a lot more chill if given care. Chickens are crazy dude.

If you were a trope in a teen high school movie, what would you have been? I guess either the nerd or jock? I’m a mix of both.

Do you believe in aliens/supernatural creatures? Most definitely! If we exist why can’t there be others?

You just won a ticket for a free vacation! Where are you going and why? Africa! In specific Kenya and Zimbabwe as they have some of the largest animal sanctuaries and I would love to both learn more about the culture and see all the animals to help as much as possible.

Fun fact about yourself that not everyone would know? When I’m writing a new fic I tend to have a playlist in the background and the mood of the fic tends to go in the direction of the music. And a couple of spontaneous dance sessions occur.

When did you post your first piece? Damn. I think the first official piece that made me want to start writing again was a Yuta timestamp? I wrote for a friend originally and then posted on May 12.

Who is your favorite person to write about? Lee Jeno. I’m definitely biased (as my masterlist can prove) but he’s just easy to write. I love writing other members but Jeno is always a sort of enigma that I can change but still apply the qualities that I just love about. Though I love writing about Cael (an oc from my novel).

Do you write fluff/angst/crack/general/smut, combo, etc? Why? I tend to write a mix of fluff and angst (sometimes crack but im horrible at humour *sigh*). I’m someone who reads for character development, so i always feel like angst is a way to develop a character especially in longer fics and helps it just make it more poetic. One of my favorite things to write is the description of emotions so angst is always a great way to convey that but then fluff to show the change in the characters.

Do you write OCs, X Readers, Ships...etc? I write member x reader, and try to make it as gender neutral as possible but at times it is easier to make it female x member as that’s just what I know best.

Why did you start writing on Tumblr? I’m not exactly sure. I’ve always loved writing and creating stories, I had been on a slump from my novel and wanted to do something more lighthearted (which my novel is not) so when my friend liked the little timestamp I wrote for her about yuta it gave me confidence to post it online. And now here we are.

What inspires you to write? Music! Honestly I could hear a song and think of a plot on the spot, music is one of the most beautiful and inspiring sources I think one can have. But also daily life experiences and dreams!!

What genres/AUs do you enjoy writing the most? Idol verse is something I always love and adore! But also creating my own world is something that I’ve always found interesting as it allows me more creative direction!

What tropes do you love, and what tropes can’t you stand? Honestly I’m a sucker for the classics, any best friends to lovers or E2L trope I will love. I wouldn’t say I can’t stand any tropes but either werewolf tropes (bc they tend to just focus on the smut or possessiveness without any character development) or like ceo/boss tropes I just don’t really care for.

What do you do when you hit a rough spot creatively? Music music music! There might be a pattern there. But if it’s a specific piece that I was already working on (like the current mark envy fic) I give it a couple of days and see if I can think of a way around whatever is blocking me. I also like to talk it out with my moots (bless them I love y’all) and read different fanfics/books because sometimes it’s just I’m not sure how to express the feeling correctly.

What is your favorite work and why? Your most successful? My favorite work has got to be the Jeno 10 things + then some. I’d had the idea of writing something based off one of my favorite rom-coms 10 things I hate about you for a while and it was supposed to originally be a video edit. But I wasn’t sure how to go with that, and when I looked at the poem (after watching the movie again) it seemed as if my brain just clicked. I knew Jeno would have to be Patrick. It was just clear in my mind, and he was my ult so it was easiest to write. Thankfully everyone seemed to like it and it became my most successful fic too! After almost a month of writing and editing I was very happy with the result and the feedback blew me away.

What do you think makes a good story? When you feel something move. When you finish the story no matter who’s in it (whether bias or not in terms of fanfic) or an original character and you are now attached to the character. I think as long as the story is able to make you feel something, then it’s good. It’s done its purpose. Though seeing how characters change and develop are always a plus it isn’t always possible such as in short drabbles or timestamps.

What is your writing process like? Very very chaotic. Honestly my ideas tend to spring out of nowhere and be really clear or just be very hazy. I tend to have a bunch of ideas in my mind which I’ll write down (the general plot of) but I tend to only work on one draft at a time so I don’t mix the characters.

Do you think there’s a difference between writing fanfiction vs. completely original prose? I think there is some sort of difference, as fanfiction is the expanding of a persons personality. We grab what we think we know and what the celebrity or character has displayed and expand upon it in either our own universe or the world we already know. While original prose is more of a start from scratch on the characters flaws and qualities.

Would you ever repurpose a fic into a completely original story? Most definitely especially the series I am currently working on based of the seven deadly sins. Because I’m creating a completely new world I feel like I would be able to make into an own story but I would have to think about that in the future. I’m happy where i am right now

How much would you say audience feedback/engagement means to you? Everything! I can’t stress this enough but getting reviews/feedback/constructive criticism is always so great and encouraging. It means that the reader felt something when reading the piece.

What has been one of the biggest factors of your success (of any size)? I honestly couldn’t quite say. I guess the first that pops into my mind are my moots. They tend to always be there to reblog or hype up a new fic which I couldn’t be more thankful for, so a lot of it I owe to them as they had a larger fanbase than I did when I started.

Do you ever feel like people have misunderstood you or your writing at times? I can’t say I can, yet I am pretty new. If this is the case I would do my best to clear up the misunderstanding, especially because I feel writing (like many art forms) is interpreted differently by different people.

Do your offline friends/loved ones know you write for Tumblr? Most definitely not. A lot of them know I write and that I enjoy writing but none of them know about the account.

What is one thing you wish you could tell your followers? Thank you all sincerely from the bottom of my heart for supporting me, whether it’s a simple ask, or you screaming in the tags or us talking to each other. Any interaction and just support makes my day, and I hope I can continue to be able to make you happy with my work. As always, never doubt yourself, you are beautiful and more than enough.

Do you have any advice for aspiring writers who might be too scared to put themselves out there? I'm sure this has been said before but honestly just do it. *cue nike ad* jokes aside if you like what you write, if you are proud or just want to express how you feel and share your craft then by all means I am 100% sure that someone else will enjoy it too. So don’t be afraid.

Are there any times when you regret joining Tumblr? Hmmm, not really. So far the community has been supportive at times it’s a little bit stressful but it’s good.

What do you hope your readers take away from your work? I don’t think my stories have a message message behind them, so that they get the feeling of the story. If I intended the story to move the reader someway or the other I hope that it can reach them in that way. But most importantly I write so that people can read and if it’s just for a minute that they can get away from the world and just live through the story.

Do you have any mutuals who have been particularly formative/supportive in your Tumblr journey? Most definitely. I love every single one of my moots, and the more people I talk to on here and become friends with, the more I am grateful but there are two people in particular who have been there from the start. Mylin (@starlit-jeno) she was my first moot on here and honestly the best introduction to the community I could have had. I absolutely adore her to bits and she’s always ready to help me with any idea I may be stuck on, and one of the just the chillest people. There’s not a day that goes by that I am not thankful for her friendship and everything she has done (esp the mutual freaking out about jeno and contemplating weird life questions such as 119 deserved a grammy at random times of the day). The second moot, honestly I’m surprised she hasn’t kicked me out because I love her so much is @mango-texts (my soulmate bro). She was the first to ever give me feedback on a piece and then answered a random post about me freaking about Jeno (it’s a daily occurrence). Like Mylin there isn’t a day where I am not grateful and just in awe for her friendship. She’s always there, no matter what it is she’ll be there and will never fail to make me smile. Her excitement at times is the reason why I am motivated to finish fics, and she gives great advice and ideas (her mind y’all). A lot of fics on my masterlist I feel like wouldn’t have been published if it weren’t for the two amazing individuals so I am forever thankful and just love em. Also @smolchenle who is always there too proofread and give feedback you are the sweetest thank you for dealing with my horrible grammar and chaotic ideas.

Do you think art can be a medium for change? In every way possible. As someone who isn’t the best with words (slightly ironic but oh well) when it comes advocating for anything art is such a powerful medium because it doesn't just reach one base. It can expand across all not only countries but also cultures. Art can be interpreted in so many different forms, but still when you listen to a song no matter if you speak the language or not you’ll get the *vibe* or message in ways the language of the world. It connects us and expands messages, I find that very powerful.

Ending thoughts: “It is in our youth that our heart’s are touched by fire, but it when we stop loving that the flame flickers out.”

BONUS: K-POP CONFIDENTIAL

Interested in your very own episode of The Sunny Show? Find out how to apply here.

#@moonlightjeno #thesunnyshow #featuredauthor #episode 3 #nct #wayv #bts

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thesnowinthemountains · 4 years

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NCT 127 helping you study

(a/n: i did my best but i apologize in advance if there are inaccuracies in certain fields of study, i also acknowledge that the lengths of these are hella inconsistent. oops.)

Taeil

He thought it would be a good idea to have music playing in the background while you tried to study. Tried. You kept getting distracted by a particularly good lyric or interesting instrumental arrangement until you were eventually about to crawl out of your skin. He was sitting across from you at the dinner table, your papers scattered everywhere, scrolling through his phone.

“Taeil, turn that off please.” You said it softly.

“No.”

You look up at him now.

“What do you mean ‘no’? Yes. Turn that off,” you laugh it off, but you’re the slightest bit annoyed. This is one of the biggest exams you’ll have this semester, and if you don’t straight up ace it, you’ll be struggling for the next few weeks. He shakes his head.

“Taeil-”

“I read somewhere that if you can associate sounds or music to words, it helps to memorize them. I’m trying to help.”

“Oh.” You pause. “Well, maybe try it again later, for now I don’t even have my definitions down.”

He finally looks at you.

“Fine.” The music stops and you fall back into a peaceful silence.

Johnny

“Alright, who painted ‘Composition with Red, Blue and Yellow’?”

“Mondrian. Come on, at least give me something difficult, I’m trying to pass this final,” you whine, head hanging over the side of your bed. Johnny sits at your desk across the room.

“Okay, how about some added incentive?” Your study sheet falls from his face and you realize you haven’t actually looked at him in about a half hour.

“Yes?” You lean up onto your elbows.

“Every answer you get right now is a kiss you’ll get later.” He cocks his head. You don’t even have to think about it.

“Deal! Come on, next question.” You plop back down. A few minutes later, after a lightning round of names and dates, colours and details, you sit up to find him writing on your notes.

“What are you doing? Those are important.” You frown.

“I’m keeping a tally so I don’t forget one later. We are at...” He smirks without looking up and counts his marks on the page. “Seven, so far.”

“Ah,” you blush, “carry on, then.” You think to yourself there’s no way in hell you’ll ever be able to focus on that particular page of notes again.

Taeyong

You were supposed to memorize the entire periodic table and you were absolutely overwhelmed at the prospect. This was one of those moments you wished you had some superhuman photographic memory that would require minimal effort on your end. Taeyong had you study piece by piece over a long period of time. At first, you hadn’t even noticed he was doing it - he was being sneaky.

“Hey, what’s the first row of the periodic table?”

“That’s a weird question.”

He shrugged.

“I don’t know, I just had a weird flashback to science class in high school, it was up on a wall next to my desk. I think it starts with helium, right?”

“Hydrogen and helium, technically, yeah, but that’s not really how they’re grouped.” You explained.

“Oh? So how are they grouped?”

“Well, you’ve got your metals, halogens, stuff like that.”

“Huh. And what are they?”

That’s when you started to catch on. You cocked your head at him.

“Which ones? There are a few different types of metals.”

“Well, whichever.” He shrugged, still playing his part perfectly.

Yuta

It wasn’t an exam, per se, but you had to put together a final portfolio for an art class, one you hated. It was supposed to be basic drawing techniques, but the professor was all over the place; not all that surprising for an art professor, but still annoying to follow. You were sitting on your living room floor, papers strewn everywhere, barely knowing where to begin. You had a drawing of a flower that was nice and simple, you had gotten the shading right, you liked it enough. One was of a hallway; same deal, the technique was alright, you set it aside, but you had to pick a total of ten drawings. You had dozens, some of the same thing over and over again because you, or the professor, were never satisfied. When Yuta walked into the apartment and found you in that state, he started by sitting quietly beside you on the floor.

“What are we doing?” He murmured after a minute.

“Freaking out.”

“I see. Anything I can help with?”

You didn’t answer, but held up a decent-enough drawing of a hand.

“Do you think the details on this are okay?” You asked. He looked at you and then the drawing. He liked pretty much anything you did, but he knew you needed brutal honesty if you were ever going to be finished with this. He took a long, deep breath.

“So, the index finger on this one looks a little wonky, I think this one,” he reached for another drawing of a hand, “has better lines, better dimensions. All the fingers are good.”

“Oh, I hate the thumb on that one, though…”

He shrugged.

“This one?” He picked a drawing of a desk under a window. “The light looks really cool.”

Doyoung

For your final assignment, you were to make a long, detailed marketing proposal to your class. If it was picked up, you passed, if not, you had an opportunity for a do-over, and a private presentation to the professor alone. You didn’t want the second option, you had other things to do after passing this class that did not include a one-on-one meeting with your middle-aged professor some time after the end of classes. You had been reciting the whole thing to yourself for days, you had prepared a PowerPoint presentation and a ton of visuals to aid you, but you needed a second opinion. You had gone out with Doyoung a handful of times, you both figured it was a matter of time before things between you were made official, so you had him over, sat him down, and launched into your presentation. At the end, you took a breath, then asked:

“How was that?”

He gaped at you.

“Well, hot, we’ll start there.”

“No, Doyoung, I meant would you go for this idea if you were the CEO of something?”

“Honestly, yeah. You made some good points, you had valid, real reasons for what you wanted to do and how you wanted to market this thing. I think it works.” He shrugged.

“You’re a business major, you better not be bullshitting me.”

“You’re a marketing major, you could probably tell if I was.”

Jaehyun

You had given Jaehyun a key to your apartment months ago. He let himself in regularly, and a lot of the time, he was there when you got home from school or work. This time, though, he walked in to you sitting on your living room floor, laptop on the coffee table, facing the couch. There was paper all over the floor, some crumpled, some ripped, some simply abandoned. He had to tiptoe and side-step all the way to you. Your hair was a mess, which he would’ve found endearing if your eyes hadn’t been bloodshot.

“What are you doing?”

You nearly jumped out of skin, startled.

“Fuck, when did you get here?” You asked, eyes wide.

“Just now. You know you have a desk.” He nodded to the wooden furniture in the far corner of the room. You sighed.

“I couldn’t sit there anymore, I was going out of my mind.”

“Well, what are you doing?” He asked again, picking up notes on the couch to sit, facing you.

“My final portfolio for my fiction class is due tomorrow and I haven’t worked on anything in weeks.”

“You’re always writing.”

“Yeah, I’m always writing, but I had two of these stories workshopped months ago and I hadn’t looked at them since. God, they needed so much work, Jaehyun, I can’t believe I actually submitted that. Plus, I was missing a good ten pages for the portfolio, which I’ve written now, thank god, but I have so many drafted versions, I don’t know which one I want. I wrote seven different endings. I’m not even sure about my characters’ names. Or if I want them to be named, nothing’s coming out like I want it, I don’t know what I’m going to do-”

“Okay, slow down, slow down,” he moved to sit on the floor now, facing you at eye level. “How long have you been writing?”

You looked down at the time on your laptop. You frowned, confused.

“That can’t be right.”

“When’s the last time you ate?”

“There’s no way-”

“Alright, go take a nap, I’ll order some food.”

Winwin

“I need you to play judge.” You told Sicheng.

“Judge?”

“Yeah, sit,” you placed him at the center of the couch, and looked around before handing him a spoon. “Tap that on the table if you need to interrupt me.”

He stared at the spoon.

“Isn’t that for weddings?”

“So, I’m basically defending a client accused of theft and-”

“Don’t I get, like, case notes or something?”

“So demanding.” You rolled your eyes but went for your notes. He looked them over for a few minutes before leaning back comfortably.

“Proceed.” He declared, voice loud and clear. You smiled before launching into everything you prepared for your final. He did a fine job of rebutting if possible and interrupting when necessary, though you had to stop him from objecting! about anything he disagreed with.

Jungwoo

As an education major in your first year, your big final assignment was to prepare an elementary-level language class to teach your fellow university-level education major peers. To prepare, you had Jungwoo come over and told him he’d be playing the role of a seven year old, which pleased him.

“I’m a baby, you know that. This is perfect,” he grinned, sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of you.

“Yes, now shut up, we’re learning vowels.” You said in your regular voice before switching to the over-enunciated, slightly higher-pitched voice of a first or second-grade teacher.

Mark

“How’s the essay going?” Mark asked, coming into your dorm room. He plopped down on your bed behind you.

“Well, so… get this,” you swiveled around in your chair to face him, leaving behind you a handful of novels, two different notebooks, and your phone open to pictures of your friends’ notes. “I’m supposed to write a compare-and-contrast essay about James Joyce and Samuel Beckett, of all people.”

“Is that so bad?”

“Mark, have you ever read Beckett? It’s like an acid trip in slow motion. You finish it, you have straight up no clue what you just read, but now you have to write about it.”

He frowns.

“And that other guy?”

“Joyce? He’s okay, I’m just glad writing about Ulysses isn’t a requirement. There are just certain things I’m not willing to put myself through.”

“Well, mind if I keep you company?” He leans back on your bed.

“Go ahead, just try not to distract me too much, I want to get this done today.”

“You won’t even know I’m here.” He puts his headphones in and lies back against your pillow.

Haechan

This boy had arranged a whole game night just for you. He had friends over, set up a whole tournament bracket in which he was, of course, your partner, and he made sure even if you didn’t end up winning, you would end up learning, memorizing, and having fun getting ready for your most dreaded final. Food was ordered, drinks were made, and finally everyone involved in this evening was sat around the dinner table, in a heated trivia competition.

Some days later when your exam came around and you saw the first questions, your mind flashed back to Haechan shouting the answer at the top of his lungs and standing up so fast his chair fell backwards. It had been a ridiculous, slightly stupid idea, but damn if it hadn’t worked like a charm.

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tracingdreams · 5 years

Text

Daiya no Ace: The Dramas #4 Educating Youichi

An explanation… To keep my brain from rusting I started a project to translate the drama tracks that came with the character song CDs and other stuff relating to Daiya no Ace (because I love them and they’re all hilarious). My disclaimer - I am not a native speaker of Japanese, but I will do my best!

Character Song Drama CD 04: Kominato Ryousuke, Drama 01 Featuring Kuramochi, Haruichi, Ryousuke.

Scene: Kuramochi is in the library (!) when Ryousuke appears, looking for something to read.

(NB, in this drama, other characters call Rei “Rei-chan”, although in the anime/manga this seems to be a uniquely Miyuki term of address.

Also, a translator’s admission - Kuramochi drops two names in his dialogue with Ryousuke about great people. I cannot make them out for sure. This is why there are a couple of [???] in the text, it really doesn’t affect the drama overall though. The second I guessed at because knowing Kuramochi they are probably wrestlers, but I am not sure)

Oh yeah, and Ryousuke is a little scary. Nothing new there, then?

Ryousuke: Kuramochi?

Kuramochi: Ah, Ryou-san!

Ryousuke: It’s unusual, seeing you in the library.

Kuramochi: Yeah, I guess so. It doesn’t really fit my image, does it? But I had some English homework to do…so I came to borrow an English novel.

Ryousuke: Ah, for Rei-chan’s class, huh.

Kuramochi: It doesn’t matter which one, but choose a novel in English and come to class with three pages translated, she said. Although I said it was impossible, she still made me do it. But…are there books like that here?

Ryousuke: If we’re talking about English literature, then they’re over that way. I reckon they’ll be with the foreign literature. If you’re going to translate it into Japanese then something from children’s literature like “Alice in Wonderland”, or one of the short stories where the vocabulary is simple might be the best. On top of that, you could ask previous students who did this exercise to see their Japanese translations and write something that matches those, too.

Kuramochi: Ah, you know a lot about this.

Ryousuke: I’m an old hand, after all.

Kuramochi: Ah, so that’s why you’re in the library!

Ryousuke: Well, today’s afternoon classes are basically self study, so I just thought I’d come borrow a book.

Kuramochi: Ehhh. What kind of books do you read?

Ryousuke: I really wanted to borrow Mizuki Shigeru or Itou Junji’s horror manga, but that stuff isn’t in the library. I really like Lovecraft, Clive Barker or Steven King, so if there’s something like that, I’d like to borrow it.

Kuramochi (silence, then, somewhat confused): Erm…who are they? Are they famous people? Like Edison or Helen Keller or [???????????]

Ryousuke: They’re novelists. And of those people you just listed, the last one isn’t a famous person.

Kuramochi [??????????] is definitely a famous person! Kawaguchi (?) too!

Ryousuke: I don’t really care, honestly.

Kuramochi: That’s harsh.

Ryousuke: (Taking down a book): Ah, here. Do you know ‘Rosemary’s Baby’? It was a movie as well.

Kuramochi:…No…

Ryousuke: You should read books sometimes.

Kuramochi: I do read! If you’re talking about martial arts magazines, well…

Ryousuke: Those aren’t books. Well, it doesn’t matter. Borrow whichever one you like. (he browses the shelves) Ah, it’s here, is it?

Kuramochi: Ah…that person you mentioned earlier, Love--whatever it was’s book?

Ryousuke: Lovecraft. The name is written right there on the spine.

Kuramochi: (A bit flustered): Ah, it sure is. ‘The Complete Collection of H.P Lovecraft’. “Aitch Pee.” Is it a book on energy battles then? (He’s thinking HP as in game HP XD)

Ryousuke: (Pointedly) Howard. Philip. Lovecraft. It’s just his name. Now let me see, I’ve read as far as volume two…so…huh?

Kuramochi: Hrm, volume 3 isn’t there, is it? Maybe someone else borrowed it?

(There is a slightly ominous backing track sound at this suggestion. Ryousuke is not amused).

Ryousuke: (Sinister voice): Even though I was planning on reading it.

(At this point, Haruichi enters the library. Or at least, the conversation.)

Haruichi: Huh? Aniki? And Kuramochi-senpai, too?

Ryousuke: Ah…Haruichi? (he’s suddenly not so creepy).

Kuramochi: Little brother’s come to borrow a book too, huh? (he literally calls him otouto-kun here).

Haruichi: That’s right. In fact, I just borrowed one a moment or two ago.

Kuramochi: Let me guess…a horror novel?

Haruichi: (Surprised): How did you know?

Kuramochi: (Thinking): These brothers are reeeally alike…

Ryousuke (scary mode again, to Kuramochi): You just thought, “they’re so alike”, didn’t you?

Kuramochi: Ah, no, no, of course not. (Thinking): He’s so sharp…

Ryousuke: So, Haruichi, what did you borrow?

Haruichi: Huh? Oh, this? The third volume from the Lovecraft collection.

(there’s that sinister sound in the background again).

Ryousuke: Why did you want to borrow that, exactly? (there are some passive aggressives in his tone)

Haruichi: (confused): Why..? Because I want to read it..?

Ryousuke: But that was the book I was planning to borrow…

Haruichi: Huh? You were, aniki? But, even if you say you ‘planned’ to, it’s not like your name is written down for it anywhere.

Ryousuke: My name is written on the borrowing card for the first two volumes, right?

Haruichi: It might be written down there, but that was a long time back, right? I’m the one who’s been borrowing this series of books lately, after all.

Ryousuke: I wanted to read it NOW.

Haruichi: I also want to read it now.

Kuramochi: Hey, come on you two, calm down.

(sinister background noise. Ryousuke is working his evils again)

Ryousuke: KU-RA-MO-CHI.

Kuramochi: (backs off): Right.

Ryousuke: (turning his attention back to the issue at hand): Haruichi, you’re the younger brother, right?

Haruichi: (holding his ground): That’s not relevant to this.

Ryousuke: In that case, I’m senpai. You’re the kouhai.

Haruichi: This is outside of club activities!

Kuramochi: (thinking) Woah..so this is how their sibling squabbles play out, huh…

Haruichi: Aniki, I’m not going to give up.

Ryousuke laughs. (Oh shit.)

Haruichi: What now?

Ryousuke: You really are forceful at the strangest moments.

Haruichi: (a little put out) forceful..?

Ryousuke: It’s fine. You can borrow it. After all, that’s a collection of short stories. Even if I read from volume four, it won’t be a huge problem.

Haruichi: Aniki! Thank you!

Kuramochi: (thinking) Ah, well Ryou-san does have his nice moments, after all.

Ryousuke: In exchange…

Haruichi: In exchange?

Ryousuke: I’m going to take out volumes five and six and seven at the same time, and not return them for a long while.

Haruichi: Hey, don’t do that!

Ryousuke: (laughs) What are you getting flustered about?

Haruichi: But…that will mean I can’t read the next volumes!

Ryousuke: But I also can’t read the next volume.

Haruichi: (sighs and thrusts the book at Ryousuke): Fine, borrow it first then. But be quick with returning it!

Ryousuke: Mm? Why have you gone all red all of a sudden?

Haruichi: I have not!

Ryousuke: That habit you’ve always had of going red when you get really wound up about something…it hasn’t changed, has it?

Haruichi: It’s not like it matters!?

Ryousuke: I’m just kidding. It’s fine. I’ll read some other book.

Haruichi: (fed up): Honestly.

Kuramochi: (thoughts): Ryou-san, even though he’s a really nice guy, just doesn’t want to show it, huh.

Ryousuke: Kuramochi.

Kuramochi: Yes?

Ryousuke: Right now you just thought, “Even though Ryou-san’s a really nice guy, he just doesn’t want to show it”, right?

Kuramochi: Eeeh?!

Ryousuke: Hurry up. If you don’t choose a book to borrow, lunch break will be over.

Kuramochi: Ah, crap, Rei-chan’s homework! (he hurries off to the other bookshelves).

Ryousuke: (Sighs) Don’t run in the library!

Kuramochi (yelling from distance): Uissu! (Yes sir).

#Daiya no Ace #Ace of Diamond #Character Song CD #Drama CD #Drama CD translations #Translation #Kominato Haruichi #Kominato Ryousuke #Kuramochi Youichi #Scary Ryousuke

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milk-mochi · 5 years

Text

title : drama club

pairing : jeongguk x reader

genre : high school! au, gender neutral! reader, fluff

word count : 2k

warnings : none

prompt : btsboulangerie’s september prompt : “wait, that was you ?”

The key to a good friendship had always escaped Jeongguk. He was bad at talking, emotional expression, being the center of attention, and anything of the sort. Being a socially awkward outcast in a high school setting was hard enough. When you added his school theatre background into the mix, it led to nothing but constant suffering. It hadn’t always been this way.

When Jeongguk was five, he entered into primary school like every other kid. Off the bat, he had an aptitude for the fine arts. He was exceptionally good at music. He was gifted. Not quite a prodigy, but talented nonetheless. Every teacher he ever been taught by had said that to his parents without fail; however, it was always followed by another sentence.

“He just doesn’t apply himself enough,” they would say. Conferences and parent meetings for fourteen years provoked the same response. It didn’t make any sense. He was an honors student with straight A grades, what else could they ask for ? They would tell him to join after school activities to make friends, or to play a sport. Nothing had ever interested him. He was athletic, but sports teams didn’t suit his fancy. He had no burning need to be on things like the math team, to be in clubs or to participate at all. He just wanted to get through school alone.

Against his wish, he met a boy on his first day of high school. Kim Taehyung, a hyper but suave puppy dog with a passion for art just like Jeongguk’s. Kim Taehyung refused to let Jeongguk be alone, despite his inability to talk to people. Which is why on the fifth day of his freshman year, Jeongguk stepped into the auditorium of his high school to attend a drama club meeting.

He fell in love with it, to put it simply. He never preferred a lead role, but rather one that kept him in the spotlight for the least possible amount of time. He did find it difficult to express himself, but the club helped him with his awkwardness. Now at seventeen, he was a full blown participator in drama activities.

You were an A-Class Theatre Nerd. You had been in every school musical since grade four, often playing lead characters. Music was your one-way ticket to being well known by the entirety of your high school. It was safe to say you took the cake for popularity, being that you could walk the hallways and students would split to let you pass. Your real friend group consisted of three boys and a friend you knew since birth. Hoseok, Jimin, and Seokjin were your clique. You had met the three of them through theatre. Ji was your best friend, and she had stuck beside you through all of your hardships. She had joined drama club with you with the hope of breaking out of her shell.

“I just wish we could do something less boring, like the stuff they do on Broadway nowadays !” Hoseok enthused as you walked into the auditorium after school.

“Yeah, and get the entire program cancelled by administration ?” You drawled, giggling. “The stuff they do on Broadway nowadays wouldn’t be allowed here.” You set your backpack down on the ground and ran up the stairs to sit on the stage with the rest of the club. Today was the first day of drama club of your senior year. Your last chance to make high school worth something.

“Hello everyone, welcome to drama club ! This is the first meeting, so I’d like to start with a friendship-building activity. We’re going to go in a circle and introduce ourselves.” Your director smiled as she sat on the floor of the stage with the group.

“I’ll start !” You raised your hand, smiling. “I’m Y/N, and I’m a senior this year. I’ve been participating in school productions since I was a kid, and here I am.” You gave an enthusiastic wave and settled back down.

The game continued on in a circle, with Seokjin introducing himself as a wreck, and Jimin asking to use the bathroom and tripping over his own feet as he sprinted from the auditorium. You spaced out as it went on, pausing momentarily to pay attention to a kid with bright eyes and curly hair falling halfway down his face. He offered a timid smile, and his introduction came in a sort of whisper.

“I’m Jeongguk, a senior. I joined drama club my freshman year, and I really love to sing.” He paused and swallowed deeply, giving a nod as he pleaded to the director to move on. The boy next to him jumped at his opportunity to speak, giving Jeongguk time to recover.

You smirked to yourself, combing a hand through your hair. This would be a fun year after all.

It took you two weeks to approach Jeongguk. You spoke to everyone in the club aside from him. You were worried that he was beginning to think you hated him. Painting sets gave you the perfect opportunity for conversation. Every once in a while, the club would work on sets for future productions. You would all just get to work on painting. It was more of a time to relax with friends than anything, so you decided to speak to Jeongguk.

You sat down beside him. He paid you no mind, and you inhaled deeply, coughing a bit from the amount of air you took in.

“Hi,” you choked out, your face turning a bright red.

“Hey,” he responded with a bright smile, turning to face you. “Y/N, right ?”

He was calm. You were not. Your face turned deeper red, if at all possible.

“Yeah, and you're, uh, you’re Jeongguk. Aren’t you ? ‘Cause if you aren’t I’m sorry, I’m really bad with remembering-” He cut you off with a rich laugh, his voice modulated and husky.

“Yeah, I’m Jeongguk.” He was surprised at how easy the words came to mind. He wasn’t particularly good at talking to anyone, let alone people like you.

“Oh ! Yeah, I definitely knew that. I thought so, and I was right. Huh,” you said, stopping yourself before you could go any further with your useless word vomit.

You dipped your paintbrush into the can of white paint, removing it to paint a small dresser. Seokjin took the wonderful opportunity to place his hands on your shoulders, shouting a greeting in your ear. You let out a yell, flinging the paintbrush in the air and getting white paint on your black shirt. Seokjin let out a howl of glee, his eyes falling on Jeongguk as he keeled over in amusement. Your focus turned to the boy you were sitting next to, and sure enough, the paintbrush had landed in his hair. You apologized profusely, promising yourself you’d never talk to him in person ever again.

You gave Seokjin a stern talking to that night.

“He probably thinks I’m a spaz, and it’s all your fault !”

He just laughed and told you to try harder to get to know Jeongguk. You refused.

You're lookin' sharp, so let's go back to my flat and get natural.

Jeongguk read the sticky note three times over, pausing to sigh in resignation before reading it a fourth time. It was a terrible pick up line, but the person who put it in his locker had to have music knowledge, so that narrowed it down. He’d never received a note or anything of the sort before. He stared at it once again before sticking it to the inside of his locker door.

“That’s awful,” Taehyung mused, poking the sticky note with his pointer finger over Jeongguk’s shoulder. Jeongguk jumped in surprise, bumping his head into the lockers. He winced, offering yet another sigh.

Drama club that day was boring, to say the least. His gaze kept landing on Y/N. They were going over their lines with a friend, who he thought was named Ji. They both paused every few minutes to crack up in laughter. He wondered why Y/N hadn’t talked to him since the paint incident. He thought it was hilarious, but they were probably traumatized from the situation. He returned to his own lines, his mind lingering on the idea of them.

“Seriously, that’s what you put on it ?” Ji snorted, shoving your shoulder.

“I thought it was funny !” you retorted.

“Yeah, to a seven year-old maybe ! I bet he hated it.”

You stuck your tongue out at Ji in retaliation, crossing your arms. Little did she know, you had at least a hundred crumpled sticky notes at the bottom of your backpack. It had taken a long time to find the perfect line. You were going to do this until he figured out who you were.

Are you a fermata? Because I want to hold you.

Not bad. Jeongguk let out a chuckle, sticking it next to the fifteen others on his locker door. It had been three weeks since the first, and they kept getting better. Most of the time they were music related, with an occasional dirty joke added to the mix. He appreciated it, but his mind was only focused on one thing. Y/N. He really liked seeing them during the day and in the auditorium, and they were on his mind all the time. On top of that, Y/N’s friend Ji had started talking to him. Often their conversation would drift to Y/N. It was fun to hear a different side of their personality. All he knew was the calm and composed popular kid. Despite the one time he talked to them, he always knew that they were confident. He wasn’t aware of their socially awkward side, to which he could definitely relate. Ji explained that Y/N was garbage at talking to anyone they found attractive. He wasn’t sure if that was an indication of their attraction to him, or just a slip of the mind from Ji. He convinced himself it was the latter. He wasn’t anything special.

That day during drama club, Jeongguk decided he was going to talk to Y/N. It didn’t matter what he said, he just needed to get the thought of them out of his mind. He walked into the auditorium almost in a strut. He walked towards Ji in an effort to converse with her. Ji was standing next to Y/N, and he suddenly heard something familiar come from her mouth.

“-I want to hold you ? That’s the worst thing I’ve ever heard !” Ji was heaving for breath. Jeongguk stopped dead in his tracks. He was about two feet away, but his gasp alerted the two friends.

“Wait, that was you ?” Jeongguk asked, dumbfounded. He looked down at his hands and beamed, his cheeks turning red. Of all the people he knew, he didn’t expect Y/N to be the one giving the sticky notes. He thought they were too busy, too popular, too disinterested in him. He took a moment to compose himself, and when he looked up, Y/N was in a state of shock. Their eyes were watering, presumably in fear of rejection. They made eye contact with him. They seemed fragile. Vulnerable. Jeongguk didn’t like that in reaction to him, so he took a deep breath and prepared himself. He was ready for this moment since the first note. He knew his lines this time, and he wasn’t afraid to be in the spotlight.

“Hey, I bet we’d, we’d get into some, uh, serious treble together,” He winked shyly, exhaling with relief. He still stuttered despite the practice. Oh well, at least he didn’t miss his mark.

There was a pause. A completely silent second filled with anxiety. Then a sweet noise rang through the air. He soon realized it was you. You had burst out in laughter.

“Golden. That was absolutely golden, music boy.” You grinned widely at him, winking in return. He might have been bad at social skills, but Jeon Jeongguk sure made your heart sing - pun intended.

tagged; @lofihope

#btsboulangerie #btsboulangerieseptember #bangtan #bts x reader #bts #bts fanfic #bts fluff #jeongguk #jungkook x reader #jungkook au #bts high school au #gender neutral reader #bts sfw #my writing tag

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