#i just remembered once i finish the big fic (first chapter of) i can start the space invaders blog.... e

[mamahersh]

Mamahersh’s Post-MAG-200 Fanfic Recommendation Mega Thread

@a-mag-a-day

In celebration of us finishing The Magnus Archives (even if I admittedly fell off around S2 and have been mostly lurking since then), I have compiled all of my fave post series fics for your enjoyment! I will be grouping them in some big, general categories, which I’ll list above the read more here. Depending on the size of this post, it might start looking a bit like that “Do you like the sky?” post But I can assure you that I have read all of these and can give them my stamp of approval!

If you finished the series and were wishing for your best boys to finally be happy, then boy howdy do I have some fanfiction for you!

Time Travel

Somewhere Else

AUs

Uncategorized JonMartin Fluff

By these categories, we should hopefully cover all the recommendations I have, and I hope you all find some new fics! (or enjoy rereading fics you haven’t enjoyed in awhile)

TIME TRAVEL

where there’s a will, we make a way by bubonickitten

"So, what does happen if an Eye learns to See within itself?

What happens is this: the Archive Beholds the Watcher – and the Watcher blinks first."

________________________

Jon goes back to before the world ended and tries to forge a different path.

Probably my fave time travel fic in this fandom hands down; it is also currently the longest whilst still unfinished. While I try not to recommend unfinished fics that I am uncertain of their return to activity, this is a big exception and personally I love everything about it! It’s got Jon dealing with trauma through the lens of his speaking only in Statements, Martin being saved from his downward spiral into the Lonely way earlier in S4, Georgie actually sticking around, Basira having a better grasp of the situation and being more understanding about it, and everyone generally sticking close to character while managing to buck parts of the narrative. I cannot recommend this fic enough, and I very likely already did back near the start of S5.

Something’s Different About You Lately by thesnadger

Jonathan Sims has been head archivist for just a few months, but he has memories of holding the position for years. He remembers monsters, and darkness, and the end of the world. Somehow, he'll have to keep everyone safe from what's coming. Meanwhile, his assistants can't understand why their prickly jerk of a boss has gone sappy all of a sudden.

So TMA time travel fics that focus on Jon going back tend to come in two varieties. There’s the “Jon’s mind goes back and replaces himself/inhabits his past self’s body” and then there’s the “Jon physically goes back so there’s two Jons”. The first two on this list are of the first variety, and if I remember right this was one of the first I ever read. However, I recommend this one specifically because this has an amazing ending. Like, it might just be me, but many of the endings in these feel relatively unsatisfying because there’s magically a third option where Jon comes out unscathed while saving his S1 archives crew from the Horrors. For whatever reason, it was incredibly satisfying having a fic that didn’t shy away from the options presented in S4 and S5 and I love how they characterize everyone in this one as well.

100 Seconds to Midnight by starspangledbread

Jon and Martin find themselves back in 2011 after attempting to release the fears from their reality. The world is the same one they left behind, but now something has come back with them. They have a chance to destroy the fears once and for all, but it proves harder than expected. Who knew that the best laid plans could be thwarted by nosy co-workers, office romance, the inevitable learning curve of being a time traveler turned grifter, and the refusal to believe in subtlety?

Did someone say Extinction!Jon? This also is a part of a series, though the true sequel to this one is currently unfinished (though it should eventually be completed and only has one chapter to go). An excellent romp, I definitely recommend if you’re looking for something kinda dark, some comedy, a little OOC, and Martin being able to embrace his crime side in the name of saving the world.

Yesterday is Here by CirrusGrey

"Who the hell are you?" Jon could feel his hands shaking. The man laughed, taking a step forward and raising a hand to point at him. "I'm you, from the future!" he said, then swayed, eyes going unfocused, and collapsed to the floor in a dead faint. -------- Post-season-four Jon and Martin time travel back to the season one Archives.

Written by my fave (and most prolific) JMart author, we have a perfect example of the other kind of time travel fix it fic in the form of Jon physically travelling to the past to try and save the world. As expected by someone I am calling my fave JMart author, we’re going to be getting double dose on the JMart. I highly recommend if you’re looking for something that starts a little bittersweet, but then ends in copious amounts of fluff.

Reverb (Series) by Wolftraps

Undoing the apocalypse would have been enough for Jon, if all his people survived. Without them, Jon's only recourse is making it so it never happened in the first place. He's going to do better this time.

Summary from the first fic in the Reverb series, I highly recommend the first two fics in this series for different reasons. “The Reverb in These Holy Halls” is a great time travel fic that takes some really interesting turns by the end and unlike most fics actually has Jon try to keep Tim safe by keeping him out of the Archives pre-S1. However “Gossip” I recommend if you enjoy those fics formatted to look like official communication of some kind. It’s got people outside the Archives trying to figure out what’s wrong with them during the events of the first fic, and while it would be very confusing to read without the first fic, I’d almost say it’s worth it if you aren’t feeling the tags on the first one. Really fun and entertaining, you can’t go wrong with either one.

The Triumph of Galatea (for Acis is transformed) by TheOestofOCs

Statement of Hazel Rutter.

Jon couldn’t stop reading.

The Fears, however, are a bit more powerful than Jonah gave them credit for. Jon opens the door, but the world can’t hold what’s on the other side.

Time falls through, instead. Past becomes present, and the future is undone.

Statement begins.

Another fic I definitely recommended back at episode 160, but is well worth the second recommendation and/or re-read. Time Travel, but what if Jon could control as well as go into the dreams of the assistants/other Eye aligned people instead of just his victims’ dreams? Very good, even if unfinished, though the author seems likely to finish someday. Check out their other work as well, it’s all very good and has my fave Circus themed fic written to date.

a map of what matters most by gruhukens

“Is that a body,” Tim blurts before he can stop himself, rising to his feet. Martin looks, if possible, even more scared.

“He’s alive!” he hisses, almost defensively. “It’s not - it’s not Gertrude again, I didn’t kill him, he just – I don’t know what happened to him, I just found him in the stacks like this.”

“And you dragged him up here?” Tim says, and then registers several things at once – the build, the hair texture; the little round scars peppering a pair of thin hands and an awfully familiar face. “Wait, is that Jon?”

----

Jon stumbles back into an earlier Archive, looking for a way to fix the world. (Or, mom says it's my turn for the obligatory time travel au)

Directly inspired by CirrusGrey’s fic that I recommended earlier, this is another: Jon travels physically into the past fic. This one though is far more bittersweet than “Yesterday is Here”, but still an excellent read and does a great job at fleshing out the relationships between all the characters.

Saving the Universe: For Dummies by GhostChoir

Finding a man bleeding out in the alleyway was not what Elias wanted to do today. And he certainly didn’t mean to befriend him. But things never did go how he expected.

****** A Post-MAG200 Jon meets a 1970s Elias, an Elias from before he was corrupted by Jonah. Together, the two of them learn to cope with grief, drink more tea than any two people should be able to consume, and commiserate over shitty bosses. Oh, and just for the hell of it, they stop an apocalypse along the way.

Now for a change of pace: What if Jon time travels to the time of early Gertrude and Elias pre-Jonafying? A very good fic is what! While it’s been awhile since I read this, I do remember it’s quite good and deserves a chance. Note: this is NOT Jonathan/Elias, so my apologies if you were looking for that, but it is two very lonely men getting to just have a reliable friend in times of trouble.

A Little Game of Cat and Mouse by Paptato

“Jonah Magnus.” The cloudy silhouette snarled as it’s hand clamped tightly around Jonah's ascot. That was indeed his name, but Jonah couldn’t begin to fathom what he did to have it spat out with such hatred.

But nonetheless, Jonah was a gentleman and he would kindly address the angry figure as politely as possible, “Yes, and you are?”

“What?” The form spluttered as it slowly came into focus. Ah, yes. That probably wasn’t the proper response to being held at gunpoint by a random stranger. Must have been the blow to his head.

(Or in which Jonathan Sims goes back in time and tries to pull a Terminator, but fails and Jonah Magnus finds a new mystery to solve.)

This is that Jonah Magnus/Jonathan Sims enemies to lovers fic your friends warn you about in a good way. It’s not done, but I think it’s still being updated very slowly. Even if all I ever read is the currently released 11 chapters, I will consider it my one exception to my dislike of Jonah/Jon. As you can probably guess by the description, it’s a time travel fix it where Jon gets shunted back in time to when Jonah was still very human and still trying to figure out the Fears. The Web keeps Jon from explaining his circumstances or anything to do with Jonah’s future in particular, but this is a good thing and they both get to learn how to be more human in a world that previously was very antagonistic to those goals. It’s got a heavy dose of comedy, plenty of romantic tension, and lots of both surprising and unsurprising cameos. If you enjoy Dracula Daily, you’ll probably enjoy this imho.

Déjà Vu by CirrusGrey

Sasha remembers being unmade. Tim remembers being Unknown. Jon and Martin remember being unwound. All of them think they're the only one. -------- The S1 crew wakes up in the past with memories up till the moment they died.

So, here’s another one that’s got quite the spin on it. As you can see from the description, this one is where S1 crew all get their minds sent back in time to the time right around Jon’s first statement if I remember right. Another CirrusGrey fic, so it heavily leans on JonMartin, but otherwise it’s a wonderful exploration of the four S1 characters and ends on a very hopeful note!

oh my darling, just a moment of your time by IceEckos12

The Institute is visited by a pair of time travelers, and Jon has an important question for Tim.

Have you ever had a oneshot that just kinda guts you unexpectedly? While this might not do this for everyone, this is an amazing oneshot that gets right the point. I love it a lot, because of all of the fics where future and past meet each other, it very rarely if ever is addressed that past Jon was a douche. Or well it is but past Jon doesn’t necessarily have a character moment from it. Here he does, and despite the briefness of the fic, the author does an amazing job of giving Jon and Tim a moment while making an almost critique of the TMA time travel genre. Highly, highly recommend, and it won’t overstay it’s welcome if it doesn’t end up being your thing.

The Severing of Webs by chlodobird

After Jon kills the world, he travels back in time. Once there, he gets ready to change the future, to save his Assistants, and to watch as everyone learns to hate him again.

Unfortunately, the tapes wrap around him like a fly caught in a Web—he can't move. He's trapped reliving the original timeline, stuck acting out his past actions like an actor rehearsing his lines.

Sasha will die. Tim will die. Martin—

(Jon screams inside his mind, and someone hears him. Fate is not as immutable as he fears.)

This one is a brand new one! While basically all of the others on the list have been out/updating for over a year at this point; this lengthy oneshot just released this month. tbh, very excellent, which is why it has made the list. Also, quite the twist on the usual premise, where being sent back into his head is actually a bad thing this time. Ends with a giant pile of fluff, but who would I be if all my time travel recommendations were not also fix-its?

-

Somewhere Else

it will be this, always by bluejayblueskies

Jon coughed again, and blood stained his lips and blood stained Martin’s hands where they pressed against Jon’s back and blood stained the floor beneath them and help, they needed help.

Martin doesn’t remember shouting. He barely remembers the faces that had surrounded them, wide-eyed and terrified, all utterly unfamiliar.

.

Jon and Martin wake up somewhere else. Jon begins a slow path toward physical recovery, and several important, long-put-off conversations are had as they begin to navigate a new world that they hadn’t thought they’d be alive to see.

So, I’m sure you all have gathered that I have qualms with how much disparity there is between canon and fanon Jmart. This fic is painful, but is the most in character depiction of post 200 JMart fallout I have ever read. The ending is very cathartic, and takes a “realistic” approach to what happens to Jon and Martin as they begin to navigate their relationship after they both had betrayed each other so thoroughly in the leadup and culmination of MAG 200. If you don’t want them immediately making up, this is the fic for you. They get there, but by all that is good do they take their sweet time getting there.

Out There, Somewhere by Artyphex

"I'm sorry, you were found alone."

Jon survived the apocalypse and now will go to the end of this new, unfamiliar world to find Martin again.

So I think I’m just getting all the angsty ones out of the way first lol. Another slow burn, this fic is Jon’s recovery in the new reality while he also searches for what happened to Martin. Since I don’t post the tags, I will say this ones does feature “Eventual Happy Ending”, and I do promise that both Jon and Martin made it to the new reality and lived. But Jon and Martin both get to pine and cope for a while before that happy ending tag comes into play. It’s incredibly well done and explores their characters really well. Personally, I kinda enjoyed the Reddit saga because people mistaking Jon’s pleas for Martin as an ARG is very typical internet and 100% I would have bought into that at age 13.

Of course I need a therapist. I need ten therapists, working round the clock building me a bionic coping mechanism. We have the technology. by MartinKBlackwoodESQ

A story set somewhere else.

I’mma be real with you all, if I believed that characters could write and publish their own fanfiction, I would be halfway convinced the name is accurate. All joking aside however, this is a “crack treated seriously” fic but with characterization so on point I can consistently hear the voice actors when I read this. Admittedly, it’s made easier by it being written in transcript formatting, but if you’re looking for a hilarious time where TMA is suddenly is turned into a buddy cop adventure where Jon and Martin go to a universe where the Fears hadn’t been till their arrival, and they have doubles that already exist there who are living fairly normal lives till the TMA Jon and Martin crash land into their reality... Well this fic is one I cannot recommend highly enough. It also has a sequel, and it is also well worth the read, even if it appears to be on a bit of a break in it’s updates.

Worlds like phyllo pastry by neworld

After episode 200 Jon finds himself alone in a world very much like the one he left but fractionally different. It's so similar he finds versions of his former friends existing happily in the world. Unfortunately they have never met him in this universe and have no idea who he is.

This one’s unfinished, but personally it’s well worth the read as is. Not sure how I feel about the most recent chapter, but the story up till that point is a really fun spin on “Jon and Martin get shunted to a new reality” where Jon learns how to feed in a way that doesn’t cause problems facilitated by the new reality, and re-meets all the people who he lost till this point and has a very silly antagonistic relationship with his alternate self. While fic might be more of a guilty pleasure, it still is written in such a way that I would rank it high enough for this disorganized list.

Death Is The Easy Way Out by traveller19

After having killed Jonah Magnus and ended the Change, Jon and Martin should finally be able to rest. Rest, however, proves impossible when Jon falls ill. What's more, he begins having vivid dreams of their dead friends - Tim, trapped in the destroyed Archives, and Sasha, trapped outside of them. As Jon's condition quickly worsens and the line between dream and reality begins to blur, love is all he and Martin have to hold on to, because hope is a dangerous thing.

Did someone say sickfic??? But for real, this fic has an amazing balance between an A plot and a B plot, and keeps both at the right level of tension throughout. While this is a sickfic heavy one, it also features Tim and Sasha as ghosts trying desperately not to be. There’s also a lovely sequel and plenty of fluff by the end, but this is a rough ride. ALSO, if you or a loved one had covid / any respiratory illness that caused them to be hospitalized with pneumonia and it could be trigging to read incredibly on the nose descriptions of that experience, this fic is not for you. Or very cathartic. :/

Castaways by CirrusGrey

Welcome to the Castaway Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing a safe and secure landing to those lost souls banished from their home worlds by the influence of Fear.

If you wanted saccharine JMart in a new reality where they get therapy and meet old friends from different realities, this series of (mostly) one shots is for you! As you’ve probably come to expect when I suggest CirrusGrey, the writing is fantastic, the ship dynamics are exemplary, and the character are on point. There is so much to say about this series, but mostly, if you want Jon and Martin healing and then settling together and becoming the stereotypical married couple, then this is it. It’s not done, but it is wrapping up, and I hope you all if you haven’t seen this yet enjoy it as much as I do. And for those long time readers who have been reading it longer than I’ve been in the fandom, here’s your friendly reminder that it exists.

Do Before I Die by SupposedToBeWriting

Somewhere Else, Jon can't seem to shake the strange apathy that now plagues his life. Everything reminds Martin of the end of the world. For a change of pace, he and Martin rent a campervan and go on a road trip. Their mission? To fulfill the 'bucket list' Martin made when he was eighteen and lonely. Jon's looking forward to the beach.

Jon and Martin go on a Road Trip accross Britain. It’s just a wholesome and hurt/comfort as it describes. An excellent romp, and the character studies are wonderful. The Planetarium still sticks with me.

ours is a distant shore (series) by pantsoflobster

“If they ever found out about us, we could make things really complicated for them," Jon said. Martin gave a thoughtful hum and then a loaded pause before he said, “Or simpler.” “What?” “We could, you know…” Martin then made mischievous eyes at him in lieu of expanding. “What?” Jon said, thoroughly lost. “Wouldn’t it be a bit fun to sort of... nudge them in the right direction?”

Months after they arrive Somewhere Else, Jon sees himself in the shop.

Summary is from the first fic in the series, this is a fun little romp for those who hated Martin’s defeatism over his and Jon’s relationship in MAG199 and want to see what would happen if instead he accidentally kick started an alternate version and his and Jon’s relationship Somewhere Else. It’s all very silly, tho the last fic does lean more into the hurt/comfort tag than the previous two. Over all though, if you’re looking for a little crack, a lot of fluff, and Jon and Martin being silly this is a good time.

Written in the Stars Will Have to Do by GentlemanCrow

“Yeah well, god knows why, but he thinks you hung the moon, so you might try treating him at the very least like a human being once in a while.”

It was such a small thing. Small words for a small feeling cloaked in a chintzy veneer of idiomatic dismissal. A trembling little bird cupped in his scarred and battered hands and smothered. Or so he thought. Sometimes trembling little birds turn out to be phoenixes, and those who looked to someone else to hang the comfort of a wise, silvery moon in the sky already have the hammer and the picture wire at the ready.

As far as Jon was concerned, the moon only rose on their Somewhere Else because Martin deigned to pull the strings every night, not him.

This is another one of those JMart Somewhere Else fics masquerading as a Safehouse fic that made me want to cry. It’s just, so wonderful, and once again we have themes of healing, but this time through getting a hobby and sharing it with your significant other. The writing is lovely and really gives off the stuffy academic musings I would expect being in Jon’s head (which we are for the duration of this fic) but adds a layer that I didn’t realized I needed till I read it.

On Errantry by ZaliaChimera

Somewhere Else, Jon and Martin discover that their new home has a very special sort of guardian, and Jon seeks judgement from an unexpected source.

They do say that cats purring can heal...

A cute one shot that deals with Jon’s lingering guilt from S5; this is a wonderful tale from Somewhere Else featuring a giant Cat, Martin being supportive, and Jon trying to reconcile his second chance. Very sweet and fluffy, guaranteed!

Lost, Unfound, But Not Forgotten by Elynn

They didn’t find bodies. Or anything pointing to where they may have gone. In the center of the rubble, what Georgie assumed to have once been the top of the tower, was a puddle of dried, crusted blood, and the outline of bodies in the dust and scorch marks. And she knew that wherever the Fears had gone, Jon and Martin had gone with them. The last victims, snuffed and dragged away with them. --- In the weeks after the Eye-pocolypse, Georgie Barker begins the painful process of mourning her best friend.

So, I know I’m very focused on Jon, but I have one fic of Georgie here that’s 10/10. Post 200, Georgie and Melanie eventually goes to clean out Daisy’s cabin of Jon and Martin’s things for Basira (or something like that) and Georgie finds a journal of Jon’s that he kept whilst there. It’s just as bittersweet as you’d imagine, but it’s fantastically cathartic to read and in our MAG 200 feels, this is a good one for closure.

Not Quite Somewhere Else by hawkfurze

Or you can find it on Tumblr HERE

A special entry to finish out this section, I have a long running comic from Tumblr user @hawkfurze who made a TMA x Infinity Train crossover. While I had not watched the show previously (only seen the trailer/pilot from back before it got picked up by CN), the comic is still easy to understand and explains the Infinity Train parts in such a way as to not need any prior knowledge. I highly recommend this comic for anyone who wants a visual treat delving into the relationship and psyches of Jon and Martin as they try to escape into the next reality.

-

AUs

Two Graves by SupposedToBeWriting

Jon sends the fears far from Earth and flees London, leaving the others to assume the worst. He settles in a small village and opts to live there quietly until he dies, a self-imposed penance. This plan is foiled when the first former Avatar shows up - and Jon realizes that every domain-keeper in the apocalypse still has some faint connection to him.

After a year of being a shoulder to cry on for confused and distraught former Avatars, Jon leads a moderately happy life. He has a flourishing garden, a cat, and some company. All of that comes crashing around his ears (or his head) when a familiar face shows up to his cabin, demanding answers.

This fic is in my top 5 fics of TMA fandom. No contest. It has some of the best healing from MAG 200 for Jon and Martin and tbh the world I’ve seen. It’s got that incredible hurt/comfort and the ending makes me cry tears of joy every time I read it. If you read any JMart fic on this list, please read this one if you can only read one. While I was tempted to put this in a different category, this seemed like the best place to put it.

What Comes After by Mornrandir

More than a year after the apocalypse, the world is starting to move on. Georgie, Melanie, and Basira have learned to move on and get back to living their lives. Then Martin reappears- without Jon- and they have to learn to begin again.

A series based around the initial above description, each entry in the series follows the healing of first Martin, then Jon, then both of them together. While I am a Jon-centric woman, if you are of a more Martin-centric leaning, this first fic in the series should scratch that itch. The final entry is very sweet, and the second definitely has a unique reason as to why Jon shows up so late to the after-Fears party.

The Watcher’s Cows by lenioia

He still remembers the first cup of tea Martin brought him. That’s where it began, not with the dog incident. A sweet and strong blend, reasons for appearance unknown, how could it taste so good, also unknown. Jon stares at what will be the last cup between them. His miserable parting gift. Where it’ll end.

Alt Mag 200, or in a slightly kinder universe which differs by exactly one cup of tea, Martin is the one who switches plan last minute, and Jon’s last half-backed scheme, for once, works.

An AU splitting off MAG 199/200, where Jon’s plan actually happens, but instead of it being quite so bleak he finds a new path with the help of Martin. I know the original ending of the series is probably the most hopeful one realistically, but we all enjoy our fixits here, so this is a really sappy “by the power of love” Jon and Martin save the universe and still get to live in it AU. Highly highly recommend, and it finished within the last 8 months, so it’s “on the newer side” as it were. If you haven’t read it, give it a shot, and if you’ve read it and it’s been awhile now’s a good time to read it again.

The Eyespot Chronicles (series) by SupposedToBeWriting

To Martin Blackwood's surprise, he wakes up in the ruins of the Magnus Institute. He thought he would be dead. The world is back to normal, the Entities are gone, and everyone realizes that it's finally over. The only sticking point is that Jon isn't exactly the Jon that went into the apocalypse. Never one to give up, Martin is determined to make a life for himself and his boyfriend. Even if he is a giant moth.

Summary taken from the first in the series, this trilogy of fics covers Jon and Martin’s attempts at healing in a world that remembers what happened. The first fic focuses entirely on Martin’s struggles, the second on Jon’s, and the 3rd (as you might guess) focuses on them both. The series is excellent, and if you’ve got the fortitude for canon-typical emotional constipation after having just experienced MAG-200 it’s well worth the read.

Another Guest for Mr. Spider by Dribbledscribbles

Jon isn't eating his statements like he should.

Mr. Spider doesn't like it.

Written in transcript format, this AU considers the idea of what if the Web was more hands on it it’s approach to getting Jon to Become more monstrous; or at least not starve himself out. Incredible read, you need an AO3 account though. But I have never been that spooked by a Statement or encounter before I read this fic. If you DO NOT like spiders on you or in your mouth and you don’t like reading about it either, potentially hold off on this fic, or at least skip from where Mr. Spider says “Open your mouth. Do not move.” to when he says “Wash it down with this. Now.” But yeah if you didn’t get enough spider trauma from canon, this fic gives it in spades! (And if you want Mr. Spider getting his comeuppance, you get that too ;) )

Illicio by ThatOneGirlBehindYou

As the new Archivist debates between life and death, the Eye ponders on what to offer him in order to avoid an encore of the unfortunate situation with his predecessor.

-----

Gerard Keay opens his eyes at what feels like fuck-ass in the morning, inside a room with far too little space and far too much dust.

A long form AU of what if Gerry Keay was brought back by the Eye to convince Jon to stay on team Monster if you will. Goes all the way through MAG-200, has some great twists and turns, and manages to turn into an “Everyone Lives AU” as well. While it is currently updating, it’s updating every week on Saturday till it finishes, and she only has 2 chapters left. If you’ve managed to never read this, now is certainly the time for it! It is Jon/Gerry/Martin, so if that’s not your exact cup of tea I’d still say give it a shot.

we should ride this wave to shore by ClarionGlass

“archives research & statement envestigation” Timothy Stoker renamed the group “drinks drinks drinks” Timothy Stoker changed Sasha James’s nickname to saucy sash Timothy Stoker changed Martin Blackwood’s nickname to martini kart Timothy Stoker changed his nickname to stonked stonked: so how bout it lads saucy sash: oh god. A TMA group chat fic where the worst problems they have to deal with start with "h" and end with "angovers"

Right, I don’t tend to read chat fics, I’m going to be honest with you all. I have two exceptions and this is one of them. It goes interesting places, the characters are not completely OOC, if it they are at least it’s consistent OOC and not in a grating way. But in all seriousness, I recommend this because of how it ties in with MAG 160 and 200; as well as how the sequel deals with canon S5. The sequel isn’t finished and is slow to update, but I am still recommending at the very least the first one. It’s a good romp and I highly recommend.

Ask an Exec: How to Navigate Cultish Colleagues, Soul-Stealing Bosses, and the End of the World at Work by shinyopals

I've recently been unexpectedly promoted to lead a department in my organisation, wrote the anonymous emailer.

As there was no one working here when I arrived, my manager, who is head of the organisation, had promised me the choice of my own assistants. However, without warning, he simply presented me with an additional assistant. This new assistant’s first act on his first day was to let a dog into the office. It took several hours to catch and clean up after this dog and it has only been downhill from there. I admit I'm not entirely sure what to do with this assistant now I'm stuck with him. I'm hoping you have some advice?

Kind regards, New Manager

Abigail Bailey runs a successful management advice blog. One frequent contributor is from a workplace with some... issues.

While this isn’t quite an AU and is basically canon compliant, I’m putting it here because it’s a “what if Jon was an avid seeker of advice on a management advice blog?” AU. It’s beautifully formatted, and features very in character interactions. If you are a sucker for the TMA trope: how do normal people react to the weirdness at the Institute, then this is a great fic for you. I know it’s probably one of the most popular things to have hit the Jonathan Sims tag on AO3 in recent months, but this is just me reminding you all it exists and well worth the re-read.

JMart Fluff

Author CirrusGrey

Literally anything by them. I think I probably recommend them every time I talk about JMart, but I think on AO3 they are both the most prolific and one of the best writers for the tag. Pick almost any fic they’ve written for TMA and it’s probably JMart. There’s too many fics of their’s to recommend, so I’ll just link you straight to their profile and you can go swimming from there lol.

Jon’s Moving Castle by IceEckos12

Martin Blackwood may not have a perfect life, but he does have a good one. That is, until a series of magical encounters leave him with an unfortunate curse. Out of other options, he goes to the wizard who lives in the moving castle for aid.

Life never goes how he intends it to, though.

Basically Howl’s Moving Castle, but with a TMA spin. You don’t need to have seen the movie to understand what’s going on, and honestly while it sticks fairly close to the movie, it doesn’t stick so close that it feels constrained by it in places where it wouldn’t make sense in the AU they’ve set up. It’s a very sweet JMart fic with a satisfying conclusion.

The 101 Kidnappings of Jonathan Sims (and Other Inconveniences) by beetlejoos

Martin Blackwood never applies for a job at the Magnus Institute. The universe seems determined that he meets Jonathan Sims anyway. But is it Fate, or something more sinister, that keeps bringing the two of them together?

Right, this mostly crack treated seriously. It’s got hurt/comfort, but it’s fairly light hearted throughout. As one could guess by the title and description, Jon is repeatedly kidnapped and brought to wherever Martin is living/working at the time. While it’s not done yet, and not on a schedule, the chapters that are out thus far are well worth the read. That and there’s some cute fan art for it that’s linked to in the end notes. But I recommend this because it’s got that vibe of S1 Jon meets S1 Martin outside of the Institute and romance (eventually) happens. Very fun read if you haven’t read it yet.

i think we’re alone now + alone-verse (series) by milliganopen

Just a couple of guys breaking into a basement. What could go wrong?

Getting trapped in your apartment with your boss, that's what.

Season 1 re-imagined if Jon and Martin had been trapped by Jane Prentiss together.

Initially I recommended this back when we had hit MAG039/022 because it was a great AU to Martin’s Statement where Jon also gets trapped in Martin’s apartment during Martin’s no good very bad 2 weeks of worm siege. HOWEVER, the author has since continued this series and is slowly working their way through canon one season/fic at a time. They’re currently on S3, and I am definitely keeping an eye on it for whenever the next update happens. If you haven’t had the time to check it out, it’s got some very good JMart moments, and their relationship manages to move faster than a glacier.

Fate, or Something by HermaeusMora

"You can't be serious." Jonathan Sims raises his eyes at last to properly look at Georgie, expecting her to laugh and make some quip about finally getting him to put the damn book down, at least.

"Well, I am," she shoots back.

He sets his book aside and turns fully towards her, betrayal clear on his face. "A blind date, really?"

Jon makes the frankly terrible decision to go on a blind date with one Martin Blackwood. Fate ensues. AU where Jon and Georgie are still friends, Georgie likes finding dates for her friends, Martin doesn't work at the institute, and everyone is just a bit happier while canon spooky stuff goes on in the background. Takes place juuust barely pre-canon in the beginning but catches up quickly. Inspired as usual by the wonderful conversations with my friend RavenXavier/somuchbetterthanthat.

A fun AU that challenges the idea that Jon and Martin are incompatible a la MAG199. Excellently done and well worth the time to check it out.

Diary by luftballoons99

Not for the first time since they ran away together, a camera reel of all the things they don't know about one another whirs behind Martin's eyes, and he can't help but look at all the sprawling magnetic tape and wonder if they’re going to wind up a romance or a tragedy.

or: Office parties, garage bands, and the joy of being known.

A bit of a bittersweet mostly fluff oneshot focused on Jon and Martin having a night in at the Safehouse and talking about good things from their pasts. (Warning, the sequel is rated E(xplicit) for a reason, so I am only recommending Diary. Both are stand alone however.)

Weaving My Heartstrings by arms_full_of_hyacinths

At least he was someone. Someone who could deal with the spiders. That was probably the source of the nerves unspooling like magnetic tape to fill Jon’s stomach with buzzing static butterflies.

Yes, Martin was much bigger than a spider. He was probably the kind of person who cupped them in his hands and talked to them as he walked them out into the garden, which shouldn’t be giving Jon a burst of warm feeling at all, since his preferred method of spider disposal was simply to squash them on sight.

Martin likes Jon almost as much as Jon hates spiders. When a statement from an institute employee sends them spiraling into the center of a complicated web, they'll need to rely on each other if they want to make it out alive.

Bit of an odd suggestion to close us out, but this one is a fun almost episodic plot about an original Statement and the shenanigans Jon and Martin get into trying to research it. It’s very good, features some very on point S1 Jon and Martin along with a bit of a fast forward on their relationship throughout.

And with that, I’ve probably overstayed my welcome lol. I hope you found something new to read! If not, I at least hope that you had fun rereading some old faves. This has taken me a day or two to compile and format, so I hope you all enjoy in whatever capacity that ends up being! Happy end of A Mag A Day, and it was a joy walking alongside you all. Congrats to A MAG A Day blog owners on all your hard work for the last ~210 days and with this post I wish you all a very fond farewell.

#a mag a day #the magnus archives #mag 200 #tma fic rec #fic rec #jonathan sims #martin blackwood #jonmartin #jmart #georgie #melanie

[jawritter]

My Brother’s Keeper

Chapter 1

Summary: Y/N, Sam’s roommate, so far have a pretty good thing going. Both work and function around one another well. What happens when his big brother comes down for the holidays with his mysterious past, mixed with Sam’s own mysterious previous life? Can Y/N and the grumpy older brother find a way to get along? Or will it be a not so happy holidays at the Winchester house?

Pairing: Dean Winchester x Plus Sized!Reader x Sam 

Word Count: 1782

Prompt: Roommate AU

Written for: @spnchristmasbingo

Rating: Mature (because of future chapters, this story is 18 + only, and not fit for minor consumption.)

Warnings: Angst, Some bickering

A/N: This is the first Christmas fic I have written in a long time! You guys will get this one real time, and I hope to finish it before New Years! Fingers crossed! Anyways, This fic is unbeta’d, so all mistakes are my won! Feedback is golden! My work is 18+ only! No minors! Thanks so much for reading! 

Main Masterlist

Y/N’s POV:

“You sure about this Sam, it is Christmas after all, what if your brother doesn’t want your roommate tagging along all weekend with you guys?” Y/N questioned for what was probably the third time that day, but the thought of Sam’s older brother coming to stay the weekend with the pair of them had her feeling extremely anxious, and a whole lot like the third wheel of the whole situation. 

“Yes Y/N, I’m sure, I promise, everything will be fine. Dean doesn't mind. He knows you live here; he’s not going to expect you to leave your own house, that you pay half the rent on, just because he’s coming to stay for the weekend. It’s really not a problem.”

Y/N pressed her lips into a thin line as she continued to load the dishwasher in front of her. She didn’t quite believe Sam; he had a tendency to downplay things. He was also a Dean Winchester apologist; she knew that for a fact. Not that she’d ever laid eyes on Dean, save an old picture that Sam had kept in his room. Still, some of the stories these two shared growing up! She knew they’d had a complicated childhood, but Dean Winchester was much like his father John in a lot of ways, and John, from what she’d remembered, was not a good person. Add the fact that Dean was a self-proclaimed ‘ladies’ man’, and she just was not looking forward to this weekend at all. 

Not that she was so deluded to think that Dean would actually hit on someone like her. She wasn’t exactly a ten. Her thighs seemed to touch together, no matter how much she exercised, and she didn’t have a super flat stomach. She wasn’t dumb enough to think that Dean would even look her way. She’d seen the pictures of Cassie, Lisa, some wanna be Barbie knockoff she couldn’t remember the name of, and a few others of his conquest via Sam’s sleuthing on Facebook and Twitter, Lisa being the latest. She looked nothing like those beautiful women. Dean wouldn’t even look her way. Still, she doubted the handsome Winchester wanted a female version of Java the Hut hanging around all weekend while he came to visit his baby brother, especially considering it was Christmas. 

“Trust me Y/N, Dean’s an alright guy. Once you get to know him, you’ll love him. Now, I’ve got to go to work,” Sam announced, suddenly standing from the table and closing his laptop before stuffing it in his bag. “Just try not to stress about it too much, okay Y/N/N? It’s gonna be fine, I promise.”

“Fine,” she agreed reluctantly as she pressed the start button on the dishwasher. 

She remained unconvinced, no matter how much Sam assured her that everything would be fine. There would always be this internal battle that the man would be repulsed by her the moment he saw her, like she felt that most men where, save Sam, he’d been her best friend for years now. He didn’t care what she looked like, or that she came from a poorer family. They connected immediately, and quickly became best friends. So, when she lost her apartment due to covid layoffs, Sam had gladly offered her a room in his house. She’d been living there for almost two years now and had never seen his family aside from pictures. She just assumed other than Dean, he didn’t get along with any of them, or they were all dead, she just never asked. It wasn’t any of her business. 

Sam had gone back to school later in life to finish his law degree, before she’d met him, and was now working his first year in his own law firm. He never really wanted to talk much about his life before this, or why he’d left Stanford, and what he’d done all those years in between, or how he’d ended up in Detroit for that matter. All he’d ever say when she’d asked what he’d done in his time, life really, off of school, he just said the story wasn’t all that interesting, and blew her off. She knew Dean played a role in it, because he talked about his big brother all the time, and even talked about some of the adventures they’d had on the road, people they’d met, places they’d stayed in, sights they’d seen, but he never would give her more information than that; never would tell her why they were on a road trip together, or what happened in between to ultimately separate them.

Though, she was pretty sure his ex-girlfriend, Eileen, might have had something to do with it. He’d said that ultimately, ‘they had different goals in life,’ and because of that, it just didn’t work out. 

The only thing she knew about the oncoming house guest, aside from all the above, was that he was a private detective, and worked closely with law enforcement after doing two years as a working FBI agent. She never told Sam, but she had tried to look him up once, and all she found was an obituary, claiming him to be dead. For some reason, she thought that the FBI part of Dean’s story wasn’t exactly true, but considering his line of work, she thought that it must be a ‘need to know’ kinda thing,’ and she didn’t ask more than that. She had a hard enough time in her current life, she didn’t need to have to go into witness protection program and start all over again. 

“Oh, and Y/N, I’m probably gonna be late this evening, the meeting with this client is probably gonna be long, so Dean’s gonna beat me here. Just let him in, he knows how to make himself at home,” Sam called over his shoulder, closing the front door tightly behind him before she had the chance to argue with him about it. 

Y/N’s nostrils flared as she glared at the door. He’d known all morning that she’d be alone here when Dean got here, yet he waited until he was leaving to drop that little tidbit of information on her! 

She picked up her phone, opening her text app, and sent him a lovely little message about how payback was going to be a bitch, and she wasn’t going to be his brother’s keeper, nor his entertainment, or babysitter for that matter, so he can bring his ass home and do a goddamn zoom meeting for the rest of the week. 

It didn’t help the situation at hand any, but it made her momentarily feel better. That is, until she looked around the room at the state of the messy house in front of her. 

Running one hand down her face, she assessed the state of things, before deciding it was more important that the man show up to a presentable house, rather than taking the time to go fix herself up for nothing, because messy bun and PJ’s, or full face of makeup and fixed hair with nice clothes, it really didn’t matter, all that effort would have been for naught anyway, it wasn’t like he’d even look twice at her. 

Y/N took a deep breath, yelled for Alexa to turn on Metallica on Pandora, and made her way into the kitchen to go and retrieve the broom. There was no putting off the inevitable, but at least cleaning will distract her for a while. 

Dean’s POV: 

“For fucks sakes Sammy!” Dean barked into the phone he had jammed between his right shoulder and ear as he hurried around his bedroom, shoving clothing into a duffle bag that was once used for hunting, but now he just kept it around for weeks he decided to go see his baby brother, still, as his large hand gripped the faded green material of the strap, the memory was not lost on him. Not at all. “You can’t even take off for one day before your vacation is supposed to start! It’s not like I get a free weekend all the damn time. I’m driving all the way up there to see you, not spend time with your roommate.”

“You will only beat me there by a few hours Dean, she doesn’t bite or anything,” Sam argued, the eye rolled damn near audible in his voice, and Dean growled into the phone with all the righteous indignation he could muster, mostly because he knew the next words that were about to come out of Sam’s mouth. “Besides, it’s not like you haven’t had to spend an hour with a strange girl you didn’t—”

“I’ve told you, that’s not me anymore Sam! I’m damn near 44 years old! I’m old, cranky, probably got a little PTSD, and a fucking control freak. That poor girl doesn’t want to spend her afternoon looking at me of all people!”

“I’ll see you when I get home Dean,” Sam insisted, “and try not to knock up my best friend before I get home. She’s hot, but I have faith you can keep it in your pants for an hour.”

“Fuck you— wait a minute, what do you mean she’s hot?” Dean questioned and Sam laughed as he hung up the phone. 

Dean grumbled as he tossed his duffle bag over his shoulder and turned to examine his room for the last time to make sure he had all he needed before whistling at Miracle to follow him. 

Sam said she was hot, but honestly, he wouldn't let his dick get in the way of good sense. He’s not the man he used to be, he had scars, big ones, one that poor girl didn’t need to see. Besides, if Sam thought she was hot he wasn’t gonna step in on his girl. Sammy deserved a normal, happy life, and if this girl could do that for him, he was going to behave himself, no matter how hot she was. 

“She better-not-be allergic to dogs,” Dean said to Miracle as he approached his Baby sitting in the parking garage as shiny and pretty as the day she’d been driven off of the lot. The only woman that hadn’t done him wrong, and he’d do well to remember it. “‘Cause if she is, I'll pick you over my brother’s roommate. She can just get a fucking hotel or something.”

Miracle sat and stared, tongue hanging out, and completely unenthused. 

Dean sighed as he opened the passenger door for his four-legged friend to jump in, “yeah, figured you’d care about as much,” he murmured as he closed the door. “Least you care more than Sam apparently does. It’s almost like he doesn’t want to see me at all.”

Pt. 2 HERE!!!

Forever:

@demongirl1996​​​​​​​  

@as-lost-as-sams-shoe​​​​​​​

@jensenslady79​​​​​​​

@spnwoman​​​​​​​

@stoneyggirl2​​​​​​​

@unabashed-lover-of-fictional-men​​​​​​​

@stixnstripesworld​​​​​​​

@fullwattpadmusictree​​​​​​​

@nancymcl​​​​​​​

@christycreature​​​​​​​

@whiskey-infused-dreams​​​​​​​

@supernatural79impala​​​​​​​

@deandreamernp​​​​​​​

@forgetthisbull​​​​​​​

@miraclesoflove​​​​​​​

@slamminmine​​​​​​​

@deanwanddamons​​​​​​​

@rvgrsbrns​​​​​​​

@chevyharvelle​​​​​​​

@i-love-superhero-movies​​​​​​​

@lyss-dw79​​​​​​​

@magssteenkamp​​​​​​​

@lemondropirwin​​​​​​

@squirrelnotsam​​​​​​​

@hobby27​​​​​​

@spnbaby-67​​​​​​​  

@mrsjenniferwinchester​​​​​​​

@defenderrosetyler​​​​​​​

@thecreatiivecorner​​​​​​​  

@vicmc624​​​​​​​

@busy-bee-angel-misska​​​​​​​

@justanotherwinchester​​​​​​​

@brilovesdeanwinchester​​​​​​​

@idksupernatural​​​​​​​

@lyarr24​​​​​​​

@emoryhemsworth​​​​​​​

@dean-winchesters-gardian-angel​​​​​​​

@flamencodiva​​​​​​​

@itmejado​​​​​​​

@supernatural3002​​​​​​​

@teresa-67​​​​​​​

@thoughts-and-funnies​​​​​​​

@hearteyes-j2​​​​​​​

@peaches007​​​​​​​

@bobbie3939​​​​​​​

@vulgar-library​​​​​​​

@writercole​​​​​​​

@fairlyspnfanfic​​​​​​​

@sexyvixen7​​​​​​

@spngi​​​​​​​

@b3autyfuldisast3r​​​​​​​

@donnaintx​​​​​​​

@maliburenee​​​​​​​

@the-family-business67​​​​​​​

@agirlwithdemonblood​​​​​​​

@captainsoldiergirl​​​​​​​

@twinkleinadiamondsky​​​​​​​

Jensen and Dean’s Babes

@deans-baby-momma​​​​​​​  

@impalaslytherin​​​​​​​

@perpetualabsurdity​​​​​​​

@msmarvelouswinchester​​​​​​​

@akshi8278​​​​​​​

@love-jackles​​​​​​​

@irmcpar​​​​​​​

@pink-sparkly-witch​​​​​​​

@siospins2​​​​​​​

@herstarburststories​​​​​​​

@mimaria420​​​​​​​

@deanwinchesterswitch​​​​​​​​

@charred-angelwings​​​​​​

@pascal-rascal424​​​​​​​​

@myloversgone​​​​​​​​

@fortheloveof-jackles​​

@eevvvaa​​​​​​​​

@bts-spnlvr12​​​​​​​​

@jxackles​​​​​​​​

@lassie-bird​​​​​​​​

@samsgirl93​​​​​​​​

@shawnie74​  

@kaz11283​​​​​​​​

@mlovesstories​

#my brother's keeper #spnchristmasbingo2022 #spnchristmasbingo #dean winchester series #dean winchester fanfiction #dean winchester fanfic #dean winchester x you #dean winchester x reader #dean x reader #dean x you #dean winchester x plus sized reader #dean x plus sized reader #dean x plus sized y/n #x reader inserts #spn fanfiction #spn fanfic #spn series #jawritter #jensen ackles

[bettsfic]

hi beth! i've got a fic that i've been struggling with for some time, and i think i could feasibly it scrap for parts and come out with a few smaller and (more likely to be finished) oneshots. i loved your advice that nothing is wasted when writing and not to be precious about ideas/words, so do you have any advice on whether it's the right idea to scrap a fic, and if so, how to do it?

i think if you're considering scrapping a fic for parts, it's worth it to try, just to see if you like the result better than what you already have. you really have nothing to lose, you know? either you'll get some good one-shots out of it or you'll get some new insight into the form you've already chosen.

one of the hardest skills to develop in writing is being able to feel and acknowledge when a story is working and when it's not. it's so amorphous and clouded by either doubt or enthusiasm, and you never know for sure until you get to the end.

going back to my knitting analogy, it's the point at which you realize the sweater you're knitting is not going to fit its recipient. so do you undo the whole thing and start over? use the yarn for socks to give to multiple people? or do you find someone slightly smaller to give it to, knowing you'll be a little disappointed in yourself for not doing what you set out to do?

i think the activity i'm about to lay out is good to do not just in this situation but also any time you feel very lost about a big project that you've been working on for a while. i've done it many times and i hope it helps you as much as it has me.

step one: go through the piece and highlight all the parts you like. this can be anything from entire chapters to maybe just a single sentence. these are parts that make you go "yeah this is working" or that you're particularly proud of. your darlings, if you will.

optional: in a different color, you can do this also for the parts you really don't like, that you'd be embarrassed to show someone else. what's left un-highlighted is what you feel neutral about.

step two: either zoom very far out on the document or do a multi-page view, however you can to see as much of the work as possible at once. notice the ratio of highlighted to un-highlighted text.

step three: brainstorm. i have to do this part with pen and paper, but however you get your big-picture ideas down is fine. at this point you haven't made any major decisions yet. it's just an experiment. IF you were to scrap a story for parts, what would it look like? and so you can start writing down your one-shot ideas.

at this point, you should have a better idea about how you want to proceed. maybe the highlighting activity brought to light the fact that there are really only a few spots you don't like and maybe you can rewrite or cut those; or maybe you have an idea for some restructuring. or you really like the one-shot ideas you've written and want to start the first one.

it's important to remember that there's really no loss here. you can write the one-shots, post them, and then come back to the longer version of the fic maybe years later and finish it. it's fanfiction; your audience will not complain about overlapping parts of stories. they'll just be happy to have more to read.

so if you've decided to play around with the one-shots, here's how i've done it in the past.

step four: open a new document. i call this document the stitch draft. the stitch draft is used for situations like this, but also for major structural edits. you need a bridge between the old draft and the new one. the sole purpose of this draft is to copy and paste over the parts you've already written that you want to keep for your first one-shot, in roughly the order you want them in.

step five: open another new document. put it side by side with the stitch draft. start writing the one-shot by bringing in the work from the stitch draft while also writing the connective tissue of the new context of the story. this may involve editing the stitch draft elements at the same time to make them relevant to your new story.

the stitch draft method has never really steered me wrong. in fact when you're very stuck i think highlighting and moving stuff to a new document is a way to help inspire new ideas, simply because you're fiddling with the text and getting out of your own head about it.

#writing advice #revision #structure #stitch draft

[amidnight--dreary]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Thanks so much for the tag @zsparz !!!💖

1. How many works do you have on ao3?

166!

2. What’s your total ao3 word count?

2.013.111. I write when I‘m stressed, can you tell?

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Mostly the MCU. Frostiron my beloved 💕 I recently posted a Huskerdust fic, though, and a couple years ago I posted some Good Omens stuff! I have another Good Omens wip brewing, but I haven‘t worked on it in a while.

4. Top five fics by kudos

First one up would be Your Call, a multi-chaptered ABO Frostiron thing that‘s sadly unfinished because I‘m not happy with where it was going somehow. Then Corners of Reality, my baby, Yes or No, Dereliktion and last but not least Vita Nova!

5. Do you respond to comments?

God I try. I’m so bad at it though. On long fics I always answer comments on the last chapter when I post the new one, but I keep forgetting to reply to comments on older chapters or oneshots😭 They all mean the world to me though.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Ohh I wrote a few angsty oneshots but it‘s been a while. Maybe Here, that‘s the most recent one. Of the older ones I remember all my light most clearly. Tony is dead or dying in both of these lol, poor Loki.

7. What is the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I like to think the happiest endings in stories are ones you had to fight for a little bit, so maybe Dereliktion. That was a long ride filled with angst and messed up relationships lol. I think Haywire (my first and so far only Sentinel/Guide fic, I love that trope a lot akfj) also has a pretty fluffy ending, and I have some oneshots that are pretty much all fluff!!

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Occasionally? Just the other day I got another anon ask on here complaining about my recent stories. Makes me extra thankful for everyone who takes the time to tell me they enjoy my stuff!!💖

9. Do you write smut?

I do! Pretty much all the time lol. I love writing Dom/sub relationships!

10. Craziest crossover?

I don‘t think I‘ve ever written one before?

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Yesss. I‘m not sure if they just didn’t know any better though, they deleted the copied parts as soon as I told them.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes!! I‘m always so happy when that happens!!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Also yes. One year I did a whole Frostiron Advent calendar with @rabentochter (do you remember this????? How did we have the time??????? Insane) and we wrote a few more collabs beyond that.

14. All time favorite ship?

Frostiron!!!!!!!!!!!! I love my sassy messed up geniuses lol

15. What’s a wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

Uhhh I‘ve got a few. I‘d like to finish/rewrite Your Call. Once I also had the cracky fever dream of Loki doing random standup comedy shows in New York because he‘d KILL that. Can you imagine the sarcasm. The gallow‘s humor. Anyway I started that and then realized I Cannot Write Standup Routines at all. So there‘s that.

16. What are your writing strengths?

What I like to write the most is character and relationship development, so hopefully I‘m decent at that? Also dialogue, I hope, but that kinda comes and goes depending on the conversation.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I kinda suck thinking of longish plot that goes beyond “will they kiss?? Will they FUCK???” so I’ve been trying to practice that. Also scenes with lots of action😭

18. Thoughts on dialogue in another language?

I like it. I’ve been wanting to write a fic where Tony can properly show off his language skills but I don’t know enough languages to pull that off lol

19. First fandom you wrote in?

The VERY first was Dracula, back when I was 13 or so. I had a big thing for van Helsing back then. My first fandom on ao3 was Once Upon a Time!!

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

Ooohhh. That would be Corners of Reality, because I worked on it for years before I even started posting it and I love how it turned out. It’s a slow burn time travel enemies to friends to almost lovers to enemies to friends to lovers to enemies to allies to lovers fic. I had SO much fun writing it I still think about it all the time😭😭

I’m just gonna tag some writers I know are on here: @endlessstairway @xottan @izhunny @arabesqueangel @bouncydragon no pressure though!! And if you see this and you’re a writer please consider yourself tagged!!💖

#ask game #frostiron #fic rec

[lurkinglurkerwholurks]

do you have any advice for writing long fics/series??? I have so many I've been wanting to write but the last times I've tried I always lost motivation, so now I'm scared to try 😭

Ohhh, been there. Okay, so I've done it two different ways, and odds are high that you've only tried one, so maybe whichever you haven't done before, do the other?

Method 1: Write it all, then post one chapter at a time only once complete. That's how I wrote my early multi-chapter series. I was so worried I'd get bored or stuck and bail before I did what I wanted to do, I made sure all of my chapters were written before I posted anything. If you're addicted to the serotonin of feedback, that's fine, find a writing buddy who will read your WIP so you're still getting some of that spark along the way, but don't put up anything public until you're all done and ready to rock and roll.

Side note: This is also a pretty good way to build a bit of a following on AO3. If you promise people up front that everything IS done and written and it WILL finish and you give them a regular posting schedule—a chapter every Tuesday or whatever—they'll subscribe and happily follow along because there's no risk. Short of you getting hit by a bus or something, I guess.

Method 2: If, however, you've tried the above and that's where you're getting stuck, do the opposite. Maybe sketch out some rough notes to yourself on where you want to end up with the fic, just so you know you're heading in the right direction, but then let go of the need for control a little and post as you go along. That's what I had to do for my two biggest fics because they took literal years. Actual literal years, plural. The fear of leaving things dangling might be more motivating than you realize.

Some things to remember:

It's okay to start small. Like, it's tempting to dive right into a mega-sprawling epic of a fic with 100 chapters or whatever, but it's also okay to... not... do that. Try a fic with a few chapters instead. Build that muscle. Get used to writing beyond oneshots. Pre-built structures like 5+1 might help you build that muscle as well.

Sometimes you just gotta... do it. Like, that sucks, I know, it would be nice if there were an easy trick, believe me. Like, the fic I am procrastinating on is not a long one, but it's kicking my butt and it's so frustrating. But I'm getting it done a literal line at a time—for every ask I answer, I make myself hop over into my doc and write another line. Some nights I'm literally messaging Audrey like "I just want to get one sentence done before bed." And I stack one sentence after another until it's done.

It's okay to procrastinate a little. Emphasis on little. It sounds like you get stuck, procrastinate some, then don't stop procrastinating, but it's okay to give yourself a little break. My two biggest fics spawned so many other fics because I would hop from the chapter I would be working on to my distraction fic... until I needed to be distracted from that fic and then my chapter was the distraction!

It's also okay to combine the above methods. For Nature and Nurture, my first big fic, I used Method 2 allllll the way up to, like, the last three chapters or so. I was so scared of fumbling it all at the end that I switched to Method 1 for the last chunk, made myself write it ALL, and didn't post anything else until it was all written.

You can do it!!

#I need a general ask tag #fanfic writer problems #writing advice

[baronessblixen]

20 fanfic questions

tagged by @randomfoggytiger, @wexleresque and @maybe-its-beyond-words. Thank you!

How many works do you have on ao3?

393

2. What's your total ao3 word count?

731,163

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Currently only The X-Files. I have also written Fics for Friends, ER, Gilmore Girls, O.C., McLeod’s Daughters, Glee, Big Bang Theory, Frasier, Wings, Once Upon a Time, Who's the Boss?, and Hot in Cleveland.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Prompts & Drabbles

Fictober 2020

Love is Not Blind

Family Reunion

Some Things You Just Can't Fake

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I always plan to and then I get overwhelmed. I think I responded to the comments on my first Fictober entry and then I just... stopped. I never know how long it is considered socially acceptable to thank someone. Like does it have to be a day? A week? I never know. What if I thank someone a week later and the person is like, who even is this?

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I truly don't know. I once wrote a major Character Death fic but considering the character was old, I'm not sure if angst applies.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

All of them 😂

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I think I might have gotten hate on fics before but I don't remember. Pretty sure I've gotten hate for writing RPF.

9. Do you write smut? If so what kind?

I have written a few story with mild smut but it's not my favorite genre - to write or read.

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

The only crossover I remember writing was Frasier/Hot in Cleveland. That's very niche, not sure if that can be considered crazy.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I recall. I have had people write sequels to my stories so that they could change things and make them how they wanted them. Which also isn't much fun.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

I have translated one of my own fics, haha.

13. Have you ever cowritten a fic before?

I have! I was lucky enough to be asked to contribute to Eden.

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

Mulder and Scully, no doubt

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

Years ago, I started this fic called The Skiing AU. I think it was during Fictober. Also The Five Minutes series which I love so much that I'm worried any new chapter can't live up to the existing parts.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Dialogue, probably

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Everything that isn't dialogue. I can't set an atmosphere or write description in any shape or form. It doesn't help that I'm not a native speaker either.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I have written some dialogue in German for fic. It feels weird but why not?

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Never posted online, but Scarecrow and Mrs. King. Though I think maybe the first fic I ever wrote was for The Lion King. Had no idea it was fanfiction, haha.

20. Favorite fic you've ever written?

I think Coming Home.

Tagging @atths--twice @scullysexual and everyone who wants to!

#personal #how many x-files fics can you write? me: yes

[crplpunkklavier]

I'm rereading Exorcism (now that its finished! yahoo) and I love Kitty Poes sm shes such an interesting characterrr would you wanna tell me about your process for developing her? ig I couldve DMed you but I myself love a chance to rant publicly so here you go lmao. I am unfortunately only on chapter 14 (though I got further than that last time) so if you wanna be spoilery just give me a warning and I'll read it later >:3c

kitty my best friend kitty

i think i can go over this without any spoilers past chapter 14! you have already seen her big arc and i am sooo happy people liked her <333

so! i've never mentioned this to anyone before, but kitty is a bit of a riff off of one of my oldest OCs. when i was about 18, i was big into katekyo hitman reborn, mostly because i was even bigger into organized crime as a general topic. catalena foggia was the youngest of four, and after a rival family took out her parents and all three of her older brothers (you know, the sort of backstory you give people as a teenager) she very grimly stepped up to the throne.

now whenever i need a female character with a "hello, i Run This Place" air about her, my mind goes to catalena, who of course was called cat by all her friends.

and i knew that i wanted a character like that as klavier's manager. generally, whenever i get to make OCs for my aa fics, i try to make most of them women if they aren't already implied to be men by canon like the rest of the gavinners, since aa refuses to have adult female characters that don't die. the gavinners started out as a bunch of teenage guys, the music industry is tough as nails, LA is horrible..... nobody but cat could've done it, man.

the whole dutch connection sort of happened on the fly. i knew i didn't want to call her catalena foggia, even if nobody but, like, the two irl friends i still have who knew me at 18 lol, knew of that oc. it was still important to me to differentiate, because this wasn't cat, this was a new oc who was very similar to and inspired by her. i remembered that kitty is a valid first name, so i went for that, because i like to think i'm funny. :^)

once you reach the end of exorcism, you'll find a little gdoc with bonus content i left in the end notes there, which among other things contains explanations for all the pun names i've used in the fic. including kitty's, but i'll reiterate here: the reason i stuck with a cat theme was that klavier gavin, in my mind, is absolutely a golden retriever, so i wanted to give him a manager/babysitter who is a cat. a big cat. kitty is short in stature, but i mention her lion's mane of hair often enough in the text, so, u know.

that's also part of what i wanted her to be. yeah, she had to be tough simply for the industry and for the fact that she was managing teenagers for a while, but i also knew that i wanted to give klavier friends, and people in his life who really care about him, and will stick with him through all this. kitty is lawfully loyal: if she doesn't agree with something, she has no trouble walking out, but once she actually takes to someone like she took to klavier, she will be fiercely protective. i never mentioned her age, but i imagined her in exorcism to be somewhere in her mid to late 40s. she's seasoned, she's experienced, she's capable - she's what klavier deserves!!! that's what i wanted. kristoph and daryan are so painfully incompetent, when it comes down to it. klavier needs people in his life who know what they're doing.

so, i wanted a big little lion lady for my dog boy. i sort of just clicked through my various dictionaries for a while looking up different cat terms in different languages to see if any of them sounded enough like a last name, and that's how i landed on poes. only after that did i decide to make the dutch conundrum A Thing.

thank you for asking about her <33333 enjoy the rest of the fic, feel free to keep me posted about ur reading experience too :3c

#extraterezi #exorcism tag

[wintertimestoryteller]

Linked Universe x Reader Fairy Tale Collection

A gift for @luimagines , thank you for listening to my rambles and for writing the original prompt and all your work in the fandom so far, it's just the opening chapter in a full fic, and I'm not fully satisfied with it nor all that good of a writer an English is not my first language, but I did my best XD.

Once again, thank you.

-Just an Anon on a Stroll 🐚/WintertimeStoryteller.

Opening Act, Scene I

It was a cool, beautiful summer night, the fields of Hyrule beautiful under the moon's light, the stars shone, and the fire crackled merrily away. to the side there was the sounds of lighthearted chatter as everyone finished settling in for the night as Wild took over cooking duties, it's been a while since you've started traveling with the Chain and peaceful as it was, traveling on the road for so long and never knowing when you'd all be spirited away again by a portal to face the shadow and it's tricks could leave anyone on edge and homesick.

Hence, with a night as lovely as this, it was the perfect time for stories to get the group to relax, and today was your turn, everyone likes tales of many kinds, and you had many from your world to tell, as many as you remembered anyway, and it was always a treat to see the heroes of Hyrule look forward to you telling them and a balm to your soul and theirs. A simple and nice distraction.

"-And so the doorknob was placed onto the door, everyone in the family and village held their breath, a beat later. And the house was engulfed by a warm, golden light, one of the hinges moving on it's own as if to welcome them all back inside as their gifts returned, causing celebration to spread through the hidden village. Now finally reunited, they could step forward to a brighter tomorrow as one no matter what they'll face, the end." You finished, pausing to take a big breath and a sip of water to soothe your parched throat, trying to condense an entire one hour movie into a a different format can take a lot of time. At least you didn't add in the songs.

Flushing slightly as you try to ignore the eyes of your enraptured audience, had anyone told you a few months before that you'd be stuck in Hyrule with arguably some of the strongest men in it's history in what's basically an almost textbook definition of the Hero's Journey, you'd have probably laughed in their face. Now here you are, telling stories from your world around a campfire, with two long since dozed off Heroes by your side.

Honestly, even if without finding out just how you were going to set up your bedroll with Sky and Wind both pinning your legs down wasn't a minor issue, you probably wouldn't have it any other way.

"That was probably one of the more sweet stories you've told yet." Came from Twilight, ruffling your hair with a smile, Hyrule nodding from his side and chiming in with a head tilt, "It's fairly open ended though, isn't it? It's not like the problem was really solved. What if the house starts cracking again?"

"He's right, it can't have been that simple as just 'hugging and talking it out.'" came the scoff from Legend, derisive as he aided Four in sharpening the Chain's weapons for another day on the road. The smith lightly elbowing him on the side, making you chuckle.

Humming while shifting just enough so your leg won't fall asleep, you answer, "Well, clearly it isn't, problems like the ones told in this story aren't just solved in a day and all. It's difficult to break a bad habit, or to try not to strive for perfection or notice you're wrong. But it's a step in the right direction no? So it's worth something."

"I see, so basically like scars."

"Precisely!" Came your nod to Hyrule as you smiled warmly at him. His ears twitched, how cute, "Can't exactly swing a sword at a wound and hope it goes away after all, it will heal in time, even if the marks remain."

"Have any other good ones for today, o' lauded storyteller? Be a nice thing to fall asleep to, a beautiful voice telling us even more lovely stories." Came a faint nudge from Warriors as he winks, you lightly push him back with a small smack to the shoulder, playful in nature even as he leaned back, mock wounded, it brings a smile to your face, "Flattery will get you nowhere, I did say I'd rotate them didn't I? I won't go back to your favorite just yet."

"Worth a try anyway."

"Oh! Could we maybe have that one about the girl in the tower? It's been a while since you've told that one." Asked Wild eagerly as he handed you a bowl of soup, which you gratefully accepted, it smelled divine and honestly? It is a fantastic motivator in getting you to agree. Besides you can't really go wrong with Rapunzel, it's one of the classics for a reason.

"Or you could surprise us, no pressure." Chimed in Four from his side of camp, "You honestly seem to know a lot of them, why not tell us one you really like instead? To make it fair." He smirks a bit, "Although if one about a certain little brave mice is your favorite..."

"Don't think I don't see your angle mister." You make a small 'I have my eyes on you' gesture towards him, making the Hero of Minish raise his hands in surrender, you both giggle, "Well, I wouldn't say I know that many...", You chuckle sheepishly behind your soup, "I just heard many back home in many ways and my memory is decent enough, is all. Hm... Do you think it's getting too late for one more, Time? I'll retell the one from today later on when it's my turn again, it's only fair everyone gets to hear it rather than miss out since Wind and Sky fell asleep midway too."

The leader of the group, who had just returned from his shift with the Hero of Calamity and The First Hero and was just in the process of putting most of his armor down turned to you, voice steady as he inclines his head, "We'll need to move on early, but there's not too much rush so one more should be fine. Thank you, (Reader)."

"Oh? Find anything interesting?" Asked Warriors, helping Legend and Four organize and put away the weapons (and failing in snagging the fire rod, from what you can see).

"We discovered a village up further ahead, if we all wake up bright and early tomorrow it won't be that much of a walk. It's close by, but it's best if we rest here for today." He nods to you, smiling slightly, it really wasn't much, but it warmed you how eager they all could get for a story, "So by all means, the floor is yours. Let's see what you can come up with."

"No pressure at all with that, I'm totally not nervous." You playfully rolled your eyes.

"Not at all, you have always done a brilliant job without asking for anything back in and out of the battlefield. We have no reason to believe it will be different now when you've been an incredible storyteller as well." Reassured First, coming by to sit by the fire, from the corner of your eye. You see Calamity nodding along, subtly sitting close and leaning against your other side, Wild giving him an amused look at his anticipation but wisely not calling him out on it as he all but threw himself onto Twilight's side, burrowing and getting comfortable underneath his cloak as the Ordonian yelped, almost dropping his soup. Swallowing the last of your soup (and your nerves) along with it and coughing into your fist to hide a blush, regretfully catching sight and ear of affirmations and nods around the camp as the boys rounded up against the hearth as the last of today's chores was done, you wrack your head for words and for which story to tell next.

Staying composed while having the unwavering support and attention of most of the heroes of Hyrule is quite nerve wracking and flattering in equal measure, can anyone blame you for being flustered?

You had already gone through most of the fairy tales from the West, from Snow White to Beauty and the Beast and Rapunzel and now Encanto, there's their original versions, the one's that weren't made into movies that is, but it would likely just put everyone on edge so we'll save those for another day, it's such a lovely night. You'd loathe to make it sour even if most of those had a good ending, but maybe... Something Eastern? To mix it up, a lightbulb goes off in your head as you grin, giggling, you have it! "Alright then, one more, since you all are so eager." You wink, "Usually the audience knows best. Now, let us start." Taking a deep breath, your voice takes on a lighter, soft tone, the heroes get comfortable, all of you miss the glare of crimson eyes deep in the darkness of the woods. Brief as it was, none would look too closely at a dark colored owl after all, "Once upon a time, there was a brave, noble prince, one day. A maddened, dying god attacked his people and he was cursed defending them, fated to die young..."

----------------------------------------------------------

"If you keep glaring like that, your face will get stuck in that ugly expression." Came a lilting, amused tune, poking the owl between the eyes, laughing as it attempted to bite them through the mask, "Although maybe it would be an improvement to that horrible, nasty mug. For a shape shifter you sure don't make good use of your abilities, are you sure you're up to the task? Having an awful looking performer not playing a wretched character is bad for business."

"Silence." Hissed the owl, flying out of their shoulder and, in a twisting, distinctively wrong surge of shadows. A form like a man's stand in front of the masked figure, unnaturally sharp teeth bared into a too wide smile, "You have your job, I have my own. The question is whether you'll deliver or not. Are you ready?"

The voice hummed, smirking as they pat the Shadow's shoulder, lightly pushing him away, "Don't worry your pretty, wretched head about it. You gave me all I need, play nice once they get here. And I'll give you your rupees worth, I'm not know to disappoint." They look up at the moon as the wraith snarls, but vanishes, laughing as they open a leather bound book, "What a lovely night indeed... Now, let's set the stage, and have some fun, shall we?"

Opening Act, End Scene I.

#linked universe #linked universe au #linked universe x reader #linked universe fanfic #not tagging any boys x reader yet since it's just the opening act #slow start because both reader and the boys can have a bit of soft and slow before it all inevitably comes crashing down. as a treat #Also added in Cal/Age of Calamity Link and First #I know they're not proper part of the Luverse #And that they weren't in the og prompt #But I felt like mixing it up and I know a good chunk of the folks basically adopted them as canon anyway so may as well #Though of adding Spirit/Spirit Tracks Link but still deciding on which story would fit him best plus I don't write Wind x Reader stuff #When I do they have to be the same age or it's just. not okay? So deciding wether I should properly add him or not #but pretend he's there and asleep with Wind and Sky if y'all like #lu sky #lu four #lu time #lu twilight #lu wind #lu legend #lu hyrule #lu warriors #lu calamity #lu first #trust me there's a reason they're in this story besides variety and my sleep deprivation #lu wild #lu chain #lu fanfiction #lu dark link #Dink gets some help this time #he hired them and questions every single second wether or not that's a good idea

[starlahuskyz]

Chances - Chapter 14

Summary: Jordan and Marko clean up the mess in her home and talk about themselves. Then they head to the boardwalk and Jordan has a strange experience she can't understand

I'm so sorry for taking a long hiatus from continuing this fic, I swear I'll try to be more consistent from now on.

Chapter 13 <<< >>> Chapter 15

TW// Minor blood and corpses, Stalking ment.

----------------------------

The whole table watched silently as Jordan and Marko got all lovey with each other, then they heard an audible sniffle coming from Paul who was tearing up at the sight of his best friend finally roping in Jordan. Jane notices and asks “Is everything alright dear?” Paul stood up

“I’ve never felt better! My brother has finally found love! I’m so proud of you!” He bounds over to Marko’s side and snags him away from Jordan just to give a big hug and noogies on his head much to his dismay. While Marko struggles to get away from Paul’s grasp, Harold speaks.

“Well ain’t that sweet, I’m glad you’re happy Jordan…but don’t think that I completely trust him or his posse.” The boys all perk up at his statement and Marko speaks “Oh okay so fuck the fact I saved your daughter’s life, I’m still a bad guy apparently.” He gets defensive and Harold retorts.

“You saved my daughter once and think you are entitled to have her? That ain’t happening sport, not while I’m here to say so. I don’t need another problem boy coming in, if I recall he was a lot like you! A little less blunt however…” 

Marko was offended until David got curious. “There seems to be an ex in this picture, did he look like Marko or something?” He looked to Jordan for answers but her mother intervened. 

“No, he looked like…um…if you two had a child.” Jane pointed at Dwayne and Paul and they both looked at each other. “Dwayne, how many kids do you have that you never told me about? We’re supposed to be raising Laddie together yet here you are making more babies?” He feigns a look of hurt on his face while Dwayne rolls his eyes. “You’re an idiot.” 

“Guys please, can we not talk about this right now. Mom, Dad, I’ll tell them eventually. Just not right now.” Jordan places her hands on the table firmly and he drops the subject.

“If you insist…” Jane drops it. The whole table goes silent for a few awkward moments before David gets up from his chair.

“Well I think we’ve discussed enough for tonight, the night is young and we need to spread our wings and go.” He smiles at Jordan’s parents before making his way towards the door.

Paul then gets up and stretches his arms out groaning obnoxiously. “Yeah, I’m ready to go have some fun.” He follows in David’s direction, then Dwayne gets up and approaches Jordan.

“Could you remove these bandages off of me, my arm is fine now.” He gestures to his bandaged up arm and Jordan gets up heading for her room.

“Of course, the first aid kit should have scissors for cutting the…” She reaches the bottom of the stairs leading into her room and remembers the mess the boys and her had left. Blood was on the floor and on her stuff, not to mention the corpses sitting in the middle of the room. “I thought you guys removed the bodies after I finished?”

“Nope. I’m sure Marko will be glad to help you though.” Dwayne pats her shoulder while he fetches the scissors, leaving her standing like an idiot not knowing what to do next. Marko comes down and sees her eyeing the mess they left and he walks up to her side.

“So…where do we start?” He bites his thumb and Jordan gives him a look.

“Get rid of those guys and I’ll start cleaning.”

-----------------

After an hour or so they finish with cleaning the best they can. While they are alone, Marko watches from her bed as she scrubs at the carpet trying to clean up the blood to the best of her ability. Bixby jumps onto the bed and sits beside him. Marko tries petting him but Bixby just growls at him, in turn Marko growls back at him.

“You boys need to get along if you want this to work.” Jordan calls from the floor.

“Then tell him that he needs to piss off and that I ain’t scared of him.” Marko retorts as Bixby makes himself comfortable on the bed. “Is he a hellcat or something?” 

“I don’t know, maybe. Are hellcats even a thing?” She sits up from her spot getting invested in the convo.

“Why wouldn’t they be? How did you even find him?” He looked at her questionably.

Jordan stood up and explained “Well when we moved here, he just sorta showed up. I think my grandparents may have been feeding him, at first he hated me. My parents told me not to bring him in or get too attached but, what do they know?” She walked over to the bed and kneeled down to pet Bixby while he purred happily.

“I see. This was your grandparents' house?” He looked around the basement while he asked.

“Yeah, they both died and they said not to sell it. So we sold our own place and moved here, it’s a nice place honestly.” She sat on the bed next to Marko.

“What did you think of Santa Carla when you first got here?” Jordan thought for a minute, and Marko thought he wouldn’t get an answer. But he did.

“It was…awesome. I mean back where I’m from, I was bullied a lot for being different and so I was a loner. But here, no one judges you. I met people who were a lot like me and liked me for who I was. I’d say there’s nothing better than that. I mean, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone who dresses the way you do anywhere outside of Santa Carla.” She looked at his outfit and traced her hand over his sleeve to make her point.

Marko chuckled a bit. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. Would you say I’m your type?” He leaned into her, smirking at her.

“Well, I never imagined myself dating a greasy haired guy wearing leather chaps. What’s with the chaps anyways? Were you a cowboy or something?” She pulled at his chaps and he went quiet trying to remember his past life. “Wait, how old are you?”

“Well uh…let’s just say I became a vamp in 1906.” She looked at him flabbergasted.

“Shut Up. No way.” 

“Yes way. Me and my brothers were in San Francisco before we came here. Although I ran away from my home in New York.” 

“Wow…I gotta say you might’ve been a vampire for almost a century now but you don’t look a day over twenty.”

“You’re technically right cuz I was nineteen when I turned. Speaking of age…how old are you?”

“I was 20 when I turned…I technically should be turning 21 this year in October.” She looked forlornly at the ground thinking about her stolen humanity.

“So you’ll be of legal drinking age soon huh?” Marko attempted to throw in some humor with the question.

“Bold of you to assume I’d wanna drink, the thought alone makes me wanna vomit.” Jordan keeps her gaze at the floor but speaks with a hint of venom in her voice. Marko raises an eyebrow, he’s piecing things together.

“Say, does that bottle Paul brought out have anything to do with your past?” He leans towards her, propping his elbows onto his knee trying to look at her face to face.

“We should go with your brothers now, I’m not talking about this tonight.” Jordan stands up and walks upstairs leaving Marko alone. Marko exhales through his nose and thinks “She can’t hide this forever…”. He hears a growl from beside him and sees Bixby giving him a look of anger. “Piss off…whether you like it or not, we are sharing her.” He gets up and goes upstairs with a huff.

---------------------

Marko and Jordan head to the boardwalk to catch up with the boys and find them watching a concert on the beach. They both pull up on their own bikes, and upon getting off the bike, Marko goes over to David to talk to him while Jordan moves over to where Paul was standing. Of course, he strikes up a conversation.

“Sup Jordan, so how’d things go with Marko in the bedroom? Did he satisfy you?” He wiggles his eyebrows and in return he’s flicked on the nose.

“If you meant how well he cleaned up after your mess then I’d say he did a pretty good job.” Jordan leaned on the railing and Paul lit a cigarette. He held the box in her direction, in which she took one.

“So, did anything else happen?” Paul asked. Jordan shook her head, and Paul dropped it opting to watch the performance in front of them. Paul had a sneaking suspicion that Marko might’ve pressed a button or two so he opened up the pack bond to ask. “Marko, what’s up with Jordan?”

“She’s not one for sharing details on her past, that’s all.”

“Then we should take her mind off of it, she’s kinda killing the mood.” 

“Okay then, what do we do?” Marko looks over at Paul and they both seemingly get the same idea. Paul slips an arm around Jordan and guides her to Marko.

“Jordan, I think it’s about time you come see where we live, and since we made a mess at your place you have my permission to take one thing you like and keep it.” He stomps out his cigarette and leaves her with Marko. 

“I’m assuming that you guys must have some cool stuff if you’re offering for me to take something I like.” Marko just shrugs before David intervenes.

“Well, let’s go eat before we do any of that. I think I spotted someone of interest. Can one of you go find Dwayne and let him know we’re leaving?” He points at Jordan and nods in a certain direction.

Assuming he wanted her to go look, she left. She walked through the boardwalk scanning through the crowds looking for the two, while she walked she felt a tap on her shoulder. “Sam?” Jordan looked at him surprised to see him trying to talk to her considering what happened.

“Look, Jordan I wanted to just say that I’m sorry about what happened. I really don’t wanna start anything.” While Jordan didn’t want to believe him, there was something about his demeanor that made her feel bad for him. So she turned to give him her full attention. “I was just scared of the fact that you were a vampire this whole time, but I don’t want to hurt you. Considering you’ve apparently been a vamp this whole time, you could’ve hurt me. But you didn’t, so I’m not gonna hurt ya.” He put his hands up as a sign of a truce.

Jordan thought for a minute, before coming to a conclusion “You’re alright, Sam. I’ll be sure to let the boys know.” She turned and walked off leaving Sam in the crowd alone. She had to continue her search for Dwayne and Laddie, but they seemingly found her before she could as she felt a tiny weight attach itself onto Jordan’s leg.

“Hi, Jordan!” Laddie looks up at her with a happy smile.

“Hey bud, is Dwayne with you? We gotta get going now.” He pointed to the dark haired man approaching them.

“Hey, Jordan. Laddie, I told you not to run off without me.” He pried him off of Jordan’s leg and threw him over his shoulder making him squeal in surprise. “So I’m assuming David sent you?” Jordan nodded, leaving Dwayne to comply and make his way back while Laddie tried wiggling out of Dwayne's grasp to no avail. 

Before Jordan could make her way to follow, she felt a presence in the air that made her stop dead in her tracks. She wasn’t sure what it was, but the hair on the back of her neck stood up and she looked around only to see…nothing. Even though nothing was there, she kept looking at a particularly shady area where she could swear someone was there. Tuning all the other people and music out of her mind she started walking towards the area, looking for any shred of life potentially watching her. But before she could properly check, she was pulled from her trance by Marko. “You okay Jordan?” He looked at the area she was headed towards and saw nothing. Putting a protective arm around her, he started guiding her back while looking behind his shoulder every few seconds. “Hey, I asked if you were alright?” He once again asked.

“I’m fine, I just could’ve swore someone was watching me.” She tried taking her mind off of what happened, but she just kept wondering what would’ve happened if she hadn’t been stopped.

------------------------------------

Taglist (If you wanna be tagged, just ask ^ ^)

@blog4horror @ria-coolgirl @oceansrose2002 @hypocriticaltypwriter @deliciousfestsalad

#the lost boys #the lost boys 1987 #tlb

[greenerteacups]

how do u manage the big big project of writing lionheart 😭 can u give tips on how u manage your life in general HAHAHA. i feel that u’re such an organized put together person 💖💖

aw, thanks! This is so sweet. The answer is that I've developed a specific method for writing long projects after a LOT of trial and error (and many, many abandoned stories, alas).

Start with idea. Concept. Thing you want to do. For fics: elevator pitch. Who is doing what to whom, and where? (The "why" can come later, but generally, if the "who" is strong enough, the "why" is answered on its own.) This should be like, a sentence, ideally.

Brainstorm. Write down every idea you have for the thing, throw it all together in a document, and just get it on paper. You will forget everything you do not put in this document. Listen to me: you will forget everything that you do not put in this document. You will think that you will not forget. "I am good at remembering things," you will say. You (I) are (am) not. Assume that you are writing the sort of list that you could use to reconstruct your idea if someone Obliviated you tomorrow and left you with zero recollection of any of it.

Close document, wait 2-3 days. Read a book, maybe. See if you can distract yourself from the project. If it works, abandon project. (You were going to do this anyway.) If it doesn't: congrats! You've got a demon to exorcise.

Now crack that bad boy open again. Organize all of your ideas. Put your set pieces and plot beats in chronological order. Space them out visually, try to get a feel for where your story's inflection points are. Once some kind of linear chronology emerges: congrats! That's your outline.

Keep going through, and start filling in the connections between the scenes that you pictured. These can have as much or as little detail as you need, but you should work through until your story arc/thing is finished. Write it like you're doing a treatment for a screenplay.

At this point, you should be reaching the point where you can throw in stuff like chapter breaks, scene cuts, maybe even little mini-scenes where you know you want the dialogue to go a certain way. I think of these conceptually as "macro-punctuation." What you're doing here is basically sorting out the pacing of your fic. How long are your chapters? How fast do they move? Does each one feel like a distinct narrative moment? Has each one earned its own place? If there's a place where you know you want a chapter break, but you aren't exactly sure, you can always just write down "2-chapter arc" or something to that effect, to make sure that Future You sees what the vision is. You'll want these notes later. Remember, you are 100% definitely certainly going to forget everything you do not write down.

The outline is finished when you can identify the number N, whereas N is the number of chapters that will constitute a "finished" fic. (This number will change, probably. That's fine. But knowing that you have approximately N chapters to go is vital for writing longfic. The alternative is like starting a marathon without knowing how many miles you have to run.) Save outline; open a new document. Copy/paste the outline of your first chapter. Start writing. Delete each note from your outline as you write it.

Reach end of chapter. Feel sense of accomplishment as you delete last bit of outline. Enjoy monkey-brain reward chemicals. Throw in a chapter break, grab a coffee, and then start the new one. Keep adding to the outline as you have new ideas; maybe make a playlist or something. Do a vision board, use Pinterest, I dunno. Don't beat yourself up for not writing. Don't let yourself go too long without doing it, either. Always stop when you feel like it, and don't make this a chore. Dread is the fun-killer. If you start to treat this like a job, you're done for, and this thing is never getting done.

As for the general life tips, I have a lot less practice, so my advice is un-inspiringly normal, I'm afraid. Make your bed in the morning; find a regular time to work. Routines are your friend. So are habits. Drink water, do stretches, and unclench your jaw. Using the Reminders or Calendar app means you can worry less about forgetting things. Answer emails as soon as you read them, because once you've said "later," Later You can also say it. Be kind to yourself; nobody's got a gun to your head. You're just doing your best. It's enough.

And write everything down.

#greenteacup asks

[tanglebrookwrites]

New Version of the "Unnamed FNAF AU I'm Currently Writing."

This is the first part of what I wrote, it's not even finished. Meaning the first chapter, not even the first fic, or the entire fic.

This is the beginning of my personal AU.

It's also now named. No, I will not be actually naming it until I have more written. You can call it the Roots Remain AU, because that is part of the title.

Warnings for an unreliable narrator (Michael internalized that guilt and remorse for years from the Bite of '83, he thinks he killed his brother, it's only like one line though), William Afton (man needs an entire warning to himself, not just murderous intentions or something), and the use of the words bastard, damn, and fuck.

[Word Count: 859]

The smoke was thick, making it impossible to breathe. Flames licked at the underside of the door in front of him, his route to an exit burning up yet again. He stared at the fire in front of him, slowly eating away at the door. With shaking hands, he brought his fingers to the string keeping the now soot-stained bear mask on his face.

The mask itself was cute, in his opinion. Cream colored, a little fuzzy at the edges, and quaint little ears that his blackened hair conveniently fell around, so they popped through. Though, now, that same mask was covered in black, fire and smoke tainting the once bright color.

His uniform was much the same, the suit he was wearing now colored with ash and flames.

He couldn't just give up here, he had to make sure his father was dead. He had to make sure that child murdering bastard never made it out of here. He had to make sure that everyone else was safe from William Afton.

His mask came off, the string finally untying, and he took in big gulps of air into his non-existent lungs. The skin on his face, his entire body, was purpled, long having been cut off from blood flow and air. With the bear mask on, he was the manager and technical co-owner of Freddy Fazbear's Pizza Place, Mike Schmidt, but without?

He was once again that bastard's son, the boy who killed his brother, Michael Afton.

He held the mask in his hands, staring at it, trying to comprehend just where everything went wrong. He was supposed to get out, damn it! His uncle had said there was an exit for him-

His head whipped back and forth, searching for the exit, the one that was promised to him, so he could escape. The flames were licking at his decayed skin, but he couldn't feel it, he hadn't felt anything since that cursed day, the day he became what he was now. Black, hollow sclera with bright white pupils and irises in the center, watching the world move on as his body fell apart further and further.

The man's hair was starting to burn away, and honestly, he didn't know how it was still there after all those years of stress and being undead. He would have thought because he didn't have a working body anymore, everything would have started to collapse and fade away. He was only partly right. And he hated it.

Everything was on fire, and just like the last time the man was surrounded by flames, he wasn't the cause. In Fazbear's Fright: The Horror Attraction, which was just a replica of Fredbear's Family Diner, the still-exposed wiring sparked near the leaking gas pipes. They had never told him that the gas was combustible. It didn't help that his fucking father was there, trapped inside that damn Spring Bonnie suit.

Shaking his head, Michael forced himself back to the present. He slowly stood on shaky legs, and stumbled over to where he remembered his last remaining exit was. That had to be the one Henry promised, but in his stupid speech (which, really, did Henry think he knew what Michael was thinking at any time? The answer was no. Michael never wanted to stay here and die. He wanted to make sure his father was burned to ashes, and then probably pass through life as a hermit or something), he had said that there was a way out.

Was.

Did that mean his exit was no more? No, he could see it ahead, a straight shot to the outside, to freedom, to life, the emergency exit light dim with all the fire in his vision, burning his long-dead retinas. The final exit, the last one he knew of.

Then, because of course the universe had to be out to get him, the roof caved, right in front of that exit.

He collapsed where he stood, black tears starting to drip from his eyes, streaking down his blistering face, his tear ducts unable to produce water for decades at that point. Michael's mind halted. Why him? Why did it all have to happen to him?

With a rage he thought himself incapable of, he ripped his name tag off, and threw it in the flames. The cheap plastic was burning away, the name that read Mike S. soon turning to something unreadable, until the plastic was just a molten puddle on the ground.

He could hear heavy thumping behind him, but he didn't mind. He may have Remnant running through him, what was left of him, but he knew he wasn't going to survive this. Scrap Baby, the broken down clown animatronic his sister's soul resided in, came into his peripheral view, staring at him in that eerie way animatronics do.

"M-M-Mike-ey?" she said, the voice box that allowed her to speak glitching out frequently. Michael faced her, expression unbelieving.

"He said I would be able to get out," the man whispered. "He said I would be able to live." He turned back to stare at the now burning exit, hope extinguished from his chest.

#fnaf michael afton #michael afton #five nights at freddys #fnaf #fnaf pizza sim #fnaf pizzeria simulator #the fire of fnaf 6

[jawritter]

Opposites Attract

Chapter 9

Summary: Jensen’s held up his ‘family/good guy’ image for a long time. When that image is gone or threaten, then he’s forced to do something he really doesn’t want to do. Can he learn to love her before it’s too late, and can she forgive him for the way he’s treated her since the beginning?

Chapter Warnings:  Angst, Things are discussed, Could it be we find some common ground? 

Word Count: 3240

A/N: This fic is completely unbeta, so all mistakes are mine! Please do not copy my work! Feedback is golden! Enjoy!

My Masterlist     Series Masterlist  

The first thing that made sense to Y/N as she started to wake with the light of the morning filtering through the window, was the pounding headache probably brought on by the amount of wine she’d drank at the restaurant last night. Second was the fact that her mouth was so dry it felt as if it had somehow turned into the Sahara Desert overnight, again, most likely the wine. Last, but not least, was that she was alone in the bed. 

Now that she thought about it, she wasn’t sure that Jensen ever came to bed last night at all. He was the one that suggested that they share a bed after all, but it seemed he had chickened out. In fact, after their little fight at the restaurant, if you could call it that, they had had much more spectacular fights in their short time together, he’d barely said a word to her at all. He just changed silently into his pj’s after his shower, and then made his way to the living room area of the little home, and sat down alone in the dark on the couch. 

Y/N was so mentally and physically exhausted that she didn’t care much last night whether or not he came to bed. She just showered once he’d finished and fell face first on the side of the bed she’d designated as ‘her side’, and fell asleep hard. She didn’t remember feeling him ever join her in the bed last night at all now that she thought of it

She rolled herself over slowly, cracking one of her eyes as she pulled the covers far enough away from her face to look around the room, no Jensen, but he wasn’t far, the open door revealed him sitting on the same couch she’d left him on last night, a glass of what looked like whiskey in his hand, and his hair a mess. The clock on the wall told her that it wasn’t even ten in the morning yet and he was already drinking, great.

She laid back down into the cocoon of pillows and blankets around her with a huff, not ready to get out of bed and face him just yet. 

She really didn’t understand why he’d had the reaction he’d had last night to their little spat.  Maybe she’d gone too far when she’d threatened to leave him and go back to California, but honestly, who in their right mind would tolerate being treated the way he’d treated her? What did he expect from her? She’d gone a hell of a lot easier on him than he deserved, that was for sure, and she just wasn’t ready to accept his apology yet and sooth his ego, because honestly, he was going to have to prove just how sorry he was to her. Words at this point meant nothing. 

She was just about to give up on her stewing and drag herself out of bed to face the music when his phone rang, and she froze in place. 

Jensen signed heavily, apparently not very happy to see the person’s name on the other end of the screen, and swore under his breath, which made her chest tighten with fear of just what could be on the other line. 

“Hello,” his deep, whisky rough voice answered, Y/N strained to hear who was on the other end of the line, literally holding her breath. 

“Hey mom… Yeah, yeah, I’m okay.”

Suddenly Y/N felt horrible for listening in on his conversation, and started to get up and out of bed, but she was afraid he’d see her and think she was Eve's dropping on purpose. Damn him for renting such a small house!!

“No,” he said after a pause. “We’re in Hawaii.”

Y/N remembered Jensen telling her that even his parents didn’t know where he was taking her, she guessed he wasn’t as big of a lair as she tagged him to be after all. 

“I don’t think so mom,” he said after a long moment. “I really have messed this up from the beginning. I don’t think there’s a way of fixing it.”

“Yeah, Yeah, I know that…”

Y/N didn’t want to lift the covers to check for sure, but she was almost sure she could hear his voice crack as if he were crying? Maybe it was just the fact that it was so early and he was already drinking that made his voice rough. Maybe she was overthinking things. Fuck she really did not want to invade his privacy this way, she felt like she’d already done that enough when she was forced on him the way she was, but she felt more and more trapped the longer the conversation went on. 

After a long pause of what Y/N was sure was Jensen’s mother lecturing him for whatever, good or bad because she could not hear to be certain, Jensen let out a long, deep breath, and cleared his throat. 

“I know, I’m going to try, but I can’t make anyone any promises… No, we haven’t, but an annulment is going to be completely up to her. I’m not going to make her stay with someone like me, but I’m not going to ask her to leave either. Maybe that’s a little bit of a dick move, but our choice has been taken away from us so much in this whole situation that I’m going to let her have this one.”

The lump that gathered in Y/N’s throat was so impressive that she almost had to cough before she could swallow again. 

He sounded so done, so defeated. She’d not heard this side of him before, even when he came home completely waisted and was so hung over the next day he spent most of the day hanging over the toilet. 

“If she decides to stay with me I’ll talk to her about it when we get home… Sure, I’ll let you know… Love you too.”

Y/N heard the phone drop to the table and Jensen sighed again as he sat back on the small loveseat. She knew she couldn’t hide away in the bed forever, so she waited a beat to make it look as if she wasn’t listening in on his phone call, and sat up slowly in the bed, with the movement his red rimmed eyes shot to her and back down to his lap as he started to chew on his lower lip and twisting his glass in his hand as if he were nervous. 

It took all the will power in her to stand up from that bed and make her way into the small living space where he was sitting. Not because she was afraid of him, not really, it was because she was afraid of the conversation that was surely coming. It was going to be a make or break, because if she decided to stay with him, then there was no going back for her, this was it, she was in it for life, especially if he held true to what he told his mother and didn’t file for the annulment himself. 

Looking at the man as she walked into the room and sat down in the small chair across from him, the glass coffee table sitting in between them like a battle line drawn, ready for one of them to look up and cross it, she was almost certain that if she walked out of her right now and never looked back, it would distroy him, or he would do something really stupid and distroy himself. Either way there was no good outcome for him. It was just something her gut was telling her. The man was ready to end it all if she left him. It was just something she just knew. Mentally, he wasn’t well. 

“We need to talk,” he said after a moment of silence passed between them, keeping his eyes low and twisting the empty crystal glass between his fingers. 

“Yeah, we do,” she agreed, “and this time let’s try to do it like adults and not like petty children or yelling at one another.”

Jensen nodded, but didn’t look up. Instead he just continued to speak mostly to his knees. It made him look so much smaller than she’d ever thought possible with such a tall, thick, brooding of a man. 

“I’m not going to apologize to you again for how I’ve acted, because every time I try to apologize to you we end up in another fight,” he stated as if he’d given this a lot of long thought. “I understand why you don’t want to forgive me, not that I ever really asked you too, and I understand why you don’t believe me. There’s nothing I can say or do to change that.” 

Y/N sat silently and watched as a range of emotions passed over his face before he looked out of the window, and ran a hand down his face before looking her in the eyes for the first time since she’d sat down. Then there it was again. That dark, soulless, shell of a person staring back at her just like it had the first day she’d met him in Mr. Carter’s office. 

“If you want to leave, I’ll book your flight back to LA and I’ll pay for the annulment once you’ve filed it,” he continued. “I’m not going to try and do anything to take you down or hurt your reputation. I’ll make sure that Mr. Carter gives you your job back, and I’ll pay for whatever collateral damage having been with me probably has caused. It’s solely my fault that we are even in this mess to begin with, so I’m the one that should take responsibility for it.” 

“And, if I choose to stay,” she asked in a small voice, and she was taken aback by the tears that formed in his eyes that he refused to let fall. It was the first real emotion that he’d shown since she’d met the man, even if he wasn’t looking at her again.

“I don’t understand why you would,” Jensen stated matter of factly with a confused expression on his face, “but I’m not going to twist your arm to do anything you don’t want to do.”

“Okay,” Y/N nodded, taking the approach to this conversation that was probably more appropriate for a child than a grown man, but talking to Jensen this way always felt like a ticking time bomb, and if you stepped wrong or said somethting to set him off this conversation was going to go no where. “Well, my next question is, do you want me to stay?” 

“Why does it matter what I want?” Jensen inquired, turning his head slightly as he looked at her like she was nuts. 

“Just, humor me,” she said, face as stoney as his own. “Tell me the truth, do you want me to stay here, or do you want me to go back to California and file for an annulment?”

Jensen swallowed thickly, his eyes shifting nervously. She could tell by the look on his tired face this was not the direction he anticipated the conversation going when he started it. 

“I… I don’t really want you to leave,” he admitted reluctantly after a moment. 

Y/N nodded again, watching him as if he could explode at any moment. 

“And is that becau-”

“It’s not because I’d lose my career if that’s what you’re about to say,” Jensen interrupted, looking down and scratching at his hair harshly with his free hand. 

Y/N could tell he was getting irritated, and she didn’t want him to turn this into a fight, but she was really curious now as to why he wanted her to stay. It was certainly not the answer she’d been expecting. 

“Then, can you enlighten me? Because so far all I’ve got from you since I walked into Mr. Carter’s office is that you don’t want anything to do with me.”

Jensen nodded, a grim look on his face and just shook his head, clearly he was not done with this conversation already, but they kept dancing around one another and didn’t get things straight between them, then things were just going to get worse and worse between them, she knew that. So like it or not, if he wanted her to stay, he needed to level with her. 

“Did Mr. Carter tell you how you ended up with me?” Jensen questioned, searching her face as she sat there silently across from him. 

“Because you got caught with two randoms in a motel room,” she retorted, turning her head thoughtfully, “possibly ruining your reputation and your career.”

“Yeah, that’s what I did, but did he tell you why he chose you to marry me, and not any of the other fifty women in the office working that day?”

Y/N blinked in confusion, and Jensen snorted, shaking his head in disgust as he stood and made his way over to the small island that separated the living area from the kitchen where the whiskey bottle he’d been drinking from sat. Y/N wanted to call him out on the fact that it wasn’t even noon yet, but she knew better than to push him that far. 

“He said that the industry wanted me to marry, and these are his words, not mine, ‘under my league.’ Literally the girl next door makes the handsome actor fall for her, some Cinderella bullshit or something like that, and I promise you, I'm softening the blow here, he was not near as nice as I just said it,” Jensen said as he flopped back down on the small couch. 

Y/N swallowed thickly, blinking back the tears that suddenly wanted to spring forth without her permission. She had trusted and respected Mr. Carter. Learning this hurt, it hurt a lot, and she could tell by the look on Jensen’s face he wasn’t lying, not that he had a reason too. 

“Why are you telling me this?” Y/N asked, “What? Kick the dog while she’s down? What does that have to do with the reason you’d want me to stay?”

“I never said you were a dog,” Jensen corrected her. “He literally gave me no other choice. PR marriages are a thing in Hollywood, everyone knows it. Usually they pair you with another actor or someone else in the industry, but he said they literally wanted to ‘shake the Hollywood off of me’. It– made me so angry. They took my choice away. Our choice. They forced us into something that just…”

Jensen let his sentence trail off and closed his eyes as he tried to pull back his own emotions but failed miserably as a stray tear started to leak down his face before he looked her in the eye again. 

“I don’t really know why I want you to stay, and that’s the truth. But you did have a right to know what happened the day you walked into that office.”

Jensen reached up to run his hand down his face again, and this time she was paying attention as his shirt lifted slightly, revealing thin cuts along his inner bicep, and she instinctively reached for his arm for a better look, he jumped back as if she had tried to burn him, and she dropped her hand into her lap, pulling his shirt back down quickly. 

“Jensen, if this is even going to work at all, you’re going to have to start treating me like a human. You said it yourself, what I would really have to go back to in California if I did leave isn’t much better than what I have here. So I’m not going to go anywhere, but if you ever, and I mean EVER raise a hand to me again, I’m gone.”

Jensen nodded, before sitting his glass down on the coffee table between them with a shaky hand. 

“Have you slept at all?” she asked, watching his movements. 

“I laid down on the floor for a while, but I didn’t sleep really,” he admitted, his hand ideally going to up to rub his arm where she’d seen the cuts. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to know how they got there, and for the first time she didn’t see him as a monster, but she saw him as someone who was hurting, and had been hurt, really REALLY bad. That didn’t excuse the way he’d treated her, but it did make her worry about just how deep this rabbit whole really went, or just how mentally he might be, and to scared to too stubborn to ask for help. 

“Jensen, you didn’t have to lay on the floor, you said we could share the bed, but if you didn’t want to sleep next to me then I probably could have made the couch work –”

“That’s not it,” Jensen said, “I just knew I wasn’t going to be able to sleep and I didn’t see the point of keeping you awake and miserable with me.”

Y/N reached for him again, and Jensen flinched away before mumbling something that sounded like ‘sorry’, before standing to his feet. 

“Maybe I should try to go and lay down for a little while and get at least an hour of sleep, then if you want we can go for a walk down by the water just to get out of this little house for a little bit.”

Y/N nodded, and let him get up and make his way over to the only bed in the room. 

She didn’t want to feel sorry for him, she wanted to be mad at him, make him suffer, but maybe he was already suffering enough on his own without her help, and the scary part about it is she didn’t think there was a chance in hell he was going to let her pull him out. He’d gladly just drown. 

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Jensen and Dean’s Babes

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Jensen’s Babes

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#opposites attract #jensen ackles #jensen ackles x reader #jensen ackles x you #jensen x reader #jensen x you #jensen ackles series #jensen series #spn fanfiction #spn fanfic #spn series #x reader inserts #jensen ackles x y/n #jensen x y/n #rpf #real person fiction #jawritter

[recurring-polynya]

How do you go about planning out your writing? Additionally, have you ever gone into something expecting one or two chapters and ending up with 10+?

There are two kinds of fanfic: some fanfics fit entirely in my head at once, and I can just write them out and do no planning whatsoever. This is the ideal state of writing, the dream. This is generally fics with <10k words, although Portions for Foxes (28k) was written in this manner, and my only excuse was that I was in the grips of hyperfixation.

This almost never happens to me anymore, so I gotta go down the other route, which is to plan everything out with my engineer brain. It goes like this:

I have an idea. Occasionally, the idea will be a very specific scene or a first chapter, and if it's very clear in my head, I may just let myself write it.

Otherwise, I spend a few hours to a few days free-thinking about the concept. What kind of story can I make out of it? What scenes does it include? Will it be fun to write? Do I get more excited the more I think about it, or does it feel like a pain? ->If it feels like a drag, I don't write it ->Sometimes there's just one scene or so that feels fun, so I just write that and throw it in my short story anthology

If it feels like it has legs, I start an outline. The outline must contain the story arc in broad strokes and it must contain a beginning, a conflict, a climax, and an ending before I start writing in earnest. Any time I have tried to start writing without these things, anguish has resulted.

I also often write down notes about character motivations and themes and other stuff I want to remember not to forgot, or that I can go back and look at when I feel like I've lost the thread. I keep all of this in a separate document from the main story, and over time, I also add stuff like links to useful websites, kanji for names of characters or places that I've picked out, useful facts, timelines, etc. Whenever I have a bit of writing I have to cut from the story, I save it and put it down at the bottom of the planning document under a section called DISCARD. Yeah, this is kind of a mess after a while.

Once I have this much, though, I start writing. As I am writing, I often get ideas for things to happen down the line, so I add them to outline. I try to start from the beginning of the fic and write continuously, until I get stuck or don't want to, and then I skip ahead to the next thing I feel like writing. When I run out of things I am excited to write, I refer to the outline, and fill out one of the bullets that I haven't done yet. This is sort of an iterative process of writing scenes and adding to the outline, and the fanfic goes from being a skeleton to getting gradually more fleshed out. Sometimes I write a scene and I'm not quite sure where it goes, so I guess.

(There are sometimes bad times, where I realize that my outline was a joke and my story is a mess and I roll around on the floor for a bit. After that, I do some combination of making new outlines and making new documents where I cut and paste the scenes from the old on in until they make sense. Usually this works eventually. Once, I had to do this, like, three times, and make a color-coded spreadsheet about it.)

Around this time, I will usually make an additional, chapter-centric outline. This lists every scene in the fic, in order, with some formatting to show the ones that still need work, or haven't been written at all. I will write out word counts for each chapter (sometimes for each scene). I can now see the places where I need a connecting scene, and also how big/how much stuff is in each chapter. The scene at the end of a chapter connects to the next chapter in a different way than scene-to-scene. I sometimes use two or three rotating narrators, and this also helps me make sure the POVs are balanced.

I write all the scenes I didn't want to write earlier, but now I have momentum because I can see the end.

I finish the fanfic. Joy returns to the land.

As for the question about have you ever gone into something expecting one or two chapters and ending up with 10+, the answer is no, because, as you can see, my process is specifically designed to gate off that possibility from the beginning. My fanfics regularly overrun their predicted length by 25-40%, but the decision to write a short or a long one is always one I make consciously and with care.

#fanfic ask meme #everything i wrote in my first year of writing was just off the top of my brain and it was so great and fun #and i used to worry 'what will happen when i run out of inspiration?' #and it's this. this is what happened. but hey! i'm still going right?

[hollandorks]

saved

matt murdock x original female character

chapter one 

Summary: Fleeing from an abusive relationship, Grace St. James goes to the only place she still has a friend: Hell’s Kitchen. She’s forced to live in her car and beg for a job from the law firm Nelson, Murdock, and Page all the while making sure her past doesn’t catch up to her. Enter Matt Murdock: cocky, handsome, and willing to let her live with him for free until she can afford to get a place of her own. Grace is drawn to Matt in a way she’s never been drawn to anyone, causing sparks to fly as they inevitably grow closer and closer.

a/n: Oh look, a new fic! I’ve always been a huge fan of the Daredevil show, but it aired during my college years which left very little time for any reading or writing of fanfic. I love that there’s been kind of a resurgence because of She-Hulk and the announcement of the new series! Anyways, this fic is 100% pure self-indulgence. There’s fluff and smut and banter and a lot of me just trying to make Matt Murdock happy. I’m having a blast writing it, so I hope you find it fun too! 

(also yes, I’m still working on my Batman fic SITN! Don’t worry if that’s what you follow me for--I will be finishing that one.) 

Series Masterlist

word count: 4472

The knife under Grace’s pillow was cold and reassuring. She touched it for the tenth time as if to make sure it was still there, though she knew it was. She’d gone to bed early just to feel its comforting presence, because she couldn’t stand sitting awake with her fear for another minute. 

She rolled onto her back and brought the knife with her, cradling it to her chest like a child with a stuffed toy. 

Her face was still hurting. Her ribs too. She inhaled a trembling breath as she remembered the night before, right before Dean had left. She couldn’t even remember what she’d said but he’d slapped her across the face so hard she’d fallen, and then he’d kicked her in the ribs. 

She was happy he’d been leaving for a short business trip. With him gone, even for barely twenty-four hours, at least she could lick her wounds in peace. 

But Dean was coming back. 

He always came back. 

The knife was a precaution that she would hide the moment Dean stepped foot back into the house. Under the mattress, where it couldn’t be seen or accidentally found, but close enough to reach. Just in case. It was there for the same reason that she’d taken a bunch of self defense classes. 

Grace didn’t want to die, and she couldn’t say for certain that Dean wouldn’t kill her one day.

Her phone chimed. She rolled over to grab for it, sliding the knife back under her pillow with practiced ease as she went. Dean had his own alert sounds and ringtones on her phone. Sometimes he reacted poorly if she took too long to respond. 

Meeting ran late, so I won’t be back until mid morning tomorrow. I’ll make it up to you at brunch. There was even a little heart emoji. 

Grace bolted upright in their luxurious bed. 

Dean wouldn’t be back until the morning. 

Dean would be gone all night. 

Her heart pounded as she realized that this was it. He was rarely gone long enough for her to get away with anything, especially something so big. 

Grace hurriedly sent back a bunch of hearts–an appropriate late night response, she hoped, because she really didn’t need him to call her yet. 

She grabbed the knife, her phone, her pillow. She felt dizzy with fear and relief all at once. 

She’d spent half of her life with Dean at this point, and half of that with him beating her, abusing her, his words almost as painful as his actions. He had been kind at first but with a temper, and she had loved him despite of it. Then he had started to hit her. To verbally abuse her. He always followed it with sweet lies and extra attention, making her believe that he would never do it again. But he always did it again. 

Now Grace was leaving. And she wasn’t coming back. 

She half-ran around the bedroom and bathroom as she threw everything she could into her two suitcases and a backpack. She’d already hidden away cash–two thousand dollars from her mother’s wedding fund for them for “a cash deposit on a venue”–and various other things she could safely hide in her car without seeming suspicious. 

Grace packed everything she could fit into those three bags. Everything she cared about–her jewelry, photos of her father, the clothes that she thought would be most useful, and a few other things she would eventually need once she was truly on her own two feet. 

Her breaths came in great, heaving gasps as she packed and her hands shook so hard a lot of things dropped on their way into the bags. If Dean came in–there was no way to hide what she was doing. 

But her phone stayed blessedly silent along with the rest of their townhome. 

She zipped up the bags and glanced around one more time. She had every article of clothing and every pair of shoes she could fit into the bags, her toiletries, her jewelry, her photos, even her pillow. 

“Chargers, laptop, lotion, birth control,” she muttered to herself as she zipped those things into her backpack. She glanced around again. She had the essentials–and there was still a little room in the backpack. Fuck it, she thought, and shoved a few of the expensive purses Dean had gotten her the past couple of years into it. Her mother would die of a heart attack if she saw how Grace was handling those purses but Grace didn’t care. 

She sucked in a deep breath. 

This was it. This was happening. 

No going back now. 

Grace grabbed her three bags, pillow, and phone then darted outside as quickly as she could. Her eyes darted around the street, searching for anyone who might recognize her, or worse–Dean. 

The street was blessedly empty. 

Grace shoved her things into her car. She started the ignition, already putting it into drive, and drove away. 

Her hands shook on the steering wheel. 

It was starting to feel a little like fate, maybe. This night had been months in the making and everything was coming together so well she was waiting for the other shoe to drop. It always dropped. 

A small voice in her head whispered hopefully, But maybe it won’t. Things have been so bad, you’re bound to have a some good luck eventually. 

Grace made her way windingly towards the only place in all of New York City where she had a friend not connected to Dean in some way: Hell’s Kitchen. Maybe she was paranoid, but she didn’t take the most obvious route in case she was somehow being followed. Dean was, after all, a very rich and powerful man. 

It was late, too late. She knew from their friendship on Facebook and other social media that Ryan and his wife had a new baby. She would have to find somewhere to wait–somewhere to hide–until morning when she could beg for his help. 

Somewhere near Ryan’s restaurant and apartment, Grace found public parking and pulled over. She locked her doors and hoped no one would bother her. She’d brought the knife with her, just in case. 

She was too wired to sleep. She checked her face in the rearview mirror. There was a nice bruise on her cheek, the corner of her lip purpled on that side. The kind of purple that makeup would only draw attraction to. She knew that from experience. 

Grace rested her forehead on the steering wheel for a moment. It hurt to breathe but she had no idea if it was the bruised ribs or the panic and fear. 

If Dean found her…

She had made sure to turn off all location services on her phone, had deleted the find my friends app Dean had made her get, had tried her best to leave zero indication of where she was or where she was planning to go. For now, her phone was off, which was the safest thing for her. 

But as soon as she sent that last text in the morning, she’d ditch her phone, too. Get a new number. She had access to all of her stuff on the cloud, anyways. A phone was just a phone, and it was worth getting rid of just so it’d be that much harder to find her. 

She knew, logically, Hell’s Kitchen wasn’t too far from Dean’s townhome on the Upper West Side, but it may as well have been a world away. Dean thought she was spoiled just because he gave her things, gave her money, gave her a place to live that cost millions of dollars. 

All Grace wanted was to be able to take a deep breath for once. All she wanted was to be able to goddamn breathe for more than a few hours at a time. She didn’t want to have to look over her shoulder, to question and double check every word she spoke and every action she made. 

Grace wanted to live, and she was afraid that staying with Dean would inevitably put a stop to that. 

So she was running and hiding like a coward. 

All she needed was a little bit of help to make it happen. Two thousand dollars wasn’t much in the grand scheme of things. But maybe Ryan could give her a job and a place to stay just for a month, just until she could get her feet under her and get the hell out. 

Grace had to admit to herself that it felt almost good to do something for herself for once. To say damn the consequences and do what was best for herself. Even if what was best was running for her life. At least she was doing it–at least it had been her decision. And at least she wasn’t half dead. She knew some women left abusive relationships only when things got too bad. Things were bad enough already, and they escalated every time Dean got angry. 

She finally reclined her seat. It was nearing three in the morning, and the adrenaline of leaving was wearing off. She pushed her pillow against the window and got as comfortable as she could, using her jacket as a blanket. 

The knife was still clutched in her hands as she finally drifted off into a restless sleep. 

A loud knock startled Grace awake. She hadn’t been asleep long, because dawn was just breaking over the city. Her eyes were heavy and gritty with sleep and she had trouble remembering where she was for a moment. 

And somehow her luck was still holding, because the jacket she’d used as a blanket concealed the knife in her hands. 

Grace quickly turned the key in the ignition so she could roll down the window. 

A female police officer was standing there with arms crossed. Her breath fogged in the air as she said, “Time to move on, ma’am.” 

Grace flushed. “I’m so sorry, my apartment isn’t ready until this afternoon and I just–” 

The officer sighed, releasing another cloud of fog. “I don’t care. You just can’t park here from six in the morning to six at night. It’s a quarter past.” 

“Oh,” Grace said stupidly. “Yeah, of course, I’m so sorry.” 

“Next time it’s a ticket.” The officer’s bright blue eyes studied Grace’s face in the rising morning light. She seemed to soften. “Couple blocks away there's a gas station, the owner lets people park overnight for ten bucks. If you need another night. Or…there’s a women’s shelter–” 

“Thank you, officer,” Grace said softly before the sentence was finished. She didn’t need a women’s shelter. Dean wasn’t stupid–he’d look into those first, probably. After he checked with each and every person they knew.  

“Have a good day.” The officer gave her one last look, eyes narrowing at the bruise on Grace’s cheek, then strode away. 

Grace blew out a breath as her heart finally settled back down. She started the car and pulled away. It wasn’t far to Ryan’s, and she was sure she could find somewhere nearby to park until she could talk to him. 

She set the knife on the passenger side floorboard as she drove. She yawned. It had barely been three hours since she’d fallen asleep, roughly six since she’d left. Already it felt as if a lifetime had passed. 

She found a spot near Ryan’s and paid for an hour of parking on the meter. It was cold, autumn threatening in the air though it was quickly warming as the sun rose. It definitely didn’t feel like late August. 

As Grace warmed up in her car, she typed the text she’d been mentally drafting for weeks. 

Dean, I’m sorry to do it this way, but I think we should break up. I figured after so long that a clean break was easier for both of us. So I packed up and I’m moving out. I’m sorry. Please don’t try to reach out to me. 

Her whole body shook as she sent the text. 

Dean’s response was immediate, surprising her so badly she dropped her phone. She whacked her head on the edge of the steering wheel in her haste to grab it to silence his call. 

He immediately called again. She sent that one to voicemail too, and the third and the fourth. 

Ha ha Grace. You’ll pay for this joke.  

Something in her clenched, though she reminded herself that he wasn’t near her this time. 

I’m serious. Leave me alone.You aren’t any good for me anymore. Her eyes blurred with angry tears as she sent the text.  

You’re mine. You think you can just run off on a whim? After all I’ve given you? Stop ignoring my calls like a bitch. 

He called again, and again she ignored it. 

I swear I’ll make you pay for this, Grace. You can’t just up and leave me. 

Yes, I can, and I did. Leave me ALONE. 

She felt proud of herself for the clarity of her response despite the fear sinking into every space in her body. Her jaw was clenched so hard it was making her whole head hurt. 

You bitch. I’ll kill you before I let you go. 

She sucked in a sharp, surprised breath at the blatant threat. 

She immediately screenshot their conversation and uploaded it to the cloud. 

Then she turned her phone off, removed the sim card, and threw it in a nearby trash can. 

She was on her way back to the car when she saw Ryan. He was down the alley beside the restaurant, taking several bags of trash to the dumpster. 

Grace took a deep breath and jogged across the street. 

Now or never, she told herself. She knew Ryan was a good man, and he was the only person in her whole life who wasn’t tainted by Dean and her life with him. Ryan had been hers before she had been Dean’s, and she hoped he still thought well enough of her to help her. 

God, what if he wouldn’t help her?

She forced herself to call out, “Ryan?” 

He whirled to face her. His expression was shocked, then confused, then it abruptly cleared with recognition. His sandy blonde hair was a shade darker and a lot shorter than it had been in high school, and he’d grown a goatee that actually didn’t look half bad. The boy she’d known had become a man, and it suited him. 

“Gracie?” he said, dumbfounded. “Is that you?” 

She took that as a good sign and moved a little closer. She stepped from the restaurant building’s shadow and into a little shaft of light in the alley. 

Ryan gasped. He must have seen the bruise on her face. “Gracie, what happened to you?” 

“Ryan, I–I need your help. Please. You’re the only one I can come to.” She laced her fingers together in front of her chest like she was praying. She didn’t believe in God, but if he would do this one thing for her, she’d consider faith. 

“Gracie–” he said just as the back door near them creaked open. 

“Forgot one, bonehead!” said a cheerful female voice. There was a small noise–a baby. Ryan’s wife and baby. 

Grace stumbled back a step. She shouldn’t have come here. 

“Jess,” Ryan said softly. “This is Grace. She needs some help.” 

A short, curvy woman stepped outside. She held a bundle in one arm while her other hand held a small trash bag that she set down outside the door. Her dark eyes were suspicious as her strawberry blonde hair gleamed in the morning light. Grace knew the moment she saw the bruise, because her eyes narrowed further and her arms tightened protectively around the little squirming bundle. 

Ryan and Grace both held their breath as they waited for her judgment. 

“Well,” Jess finally said with a small sniff. “We better talk about this over coffee.” 

Grace was led upstairs to a small apartment above the restaurant. It was homey, cozy and warm in all the right ways despite some clutter, and already smelled strongly of coffee. There were colors everywhere–random pieces of art, family photos, a brilliantly colored throw blanket, various baby toys and gadgets. It looked like a home. Grace thought back to the cold townhome she’d come from. 

“Take a seat at the table,” Jess said, her voice so commanding that Grace’s body obeyed without thought. “Ryan, grab her a mug while I change him real quick, I just heard him shit like crazy on the way up.” 

Ryan laughed softly. “That’s my boy.” 

Within minutes, the three of them were seated around the small kitchen table, hands cupped around steaming mugs while Jess fed the baby a bottle. 

“So,” Ryan said after a moment. He was still studying Grace’s face, over and over, like he couldn’t believe she was here. Or maybe the bruise looked worse than she thought. “What’s Dean Bennett’s almost fiance need from little old me?” The words weren’t venomous–Ryan had always had a bit of a brusque way about him, and Grace could already see why he and Jess fit so well together. Blunt without being cruel. 

Grace winced. “I…” She swallowed hard and stared down at her mug. How could she put this on them? No one knew about this, not even her mother. Only she and Dean and the bruises. “I–I don’t–” 

“Well, spit it out. You came here for a reason,” Jess said plainly. Something about her utter bluntness bolstered Grace. She just had to be like Jess, like Ryan, and just…put it plainly. 

“Dean beats me,” she finally said with a small gesture towards her face. After a beat, she lifted the side of her shirt to show those bruises, because they were even worse than the one on her face. 

Ryan cursed colorfully and pushed away from the table.

“Shit,” Jess said softly. “Are they broken?” 

Grace shrugged and let her shirt fall. “I don’t think so. It doesn’t hurt too bad to breathe.” 

“Gracie–” Ryan said in a tight voice. He rubbed a hand over his head. “You–How long has he done this to you?” 

For some reason, this part was harder to admit to. “Years,” Grace said. Her eyes sought her coffee mug again. She was glad to have something to hold, something to ground her. “The last three or so years, and it’s just been getting worse. But last night was the first night I was alone in…a long time.” 

Ryan cursed again. Jess shifted the baby to her shoulder to burp him, murmuring in the baby’s ear as she did so even though her eyes never left Grace. Ryan absently placed a hand on the back of the baby’s head, just for a second, tenderness clear in his expression. 

“You said you needed help,” Jess said as she settled the baby back in her arms with the bottle. “What do you want from us?” 

“I’m–I’m hiding from him. I mean, you know who he is. What he can do. He has money and resources and–I just need to get enough money to get on my feet so I can leave, leave and go somewhere he won’t find me. Until he gives up.” Grace clenched her hands around the mug so tightly she worried it might shatter. “I have nowhere to stay, no job, and limited resources right now. I slept in my car last night.” She blinked back tears and finally looked Ryan in the eyes. “You’re the only person I can trust. Everyone else I know, every single fucking person in my life, is connected to Dean.” 

Ryan and Jess exchanged a look. He grimaced. “I…we only have two bedrooms right now, and one is the nursery. And our couch, well–” He gestured to it. Grace looked over, and knew exactly what he meant. It was more of a loveseat than a couch. “And the restaurant…I’d give you a job, you know I would, but we just hired a new waiter and a new hostess a couple of weeks ago. We can’t afford another person right now.” 

Grace chewed her lower lip. “I–I get it, I understand. I know I just showed up here out of the blue. If you know anywhere else that’s hiring, just point me in their direction.” She gave a smile that felt all wrong on her face. 

“Grace, Ryan and I need to talk about how we can help you, alright?” Jess’s voice was much softer than it had been. “There’s a place around the corner that sells breakfast. Give us…ten, fifteen minutes.” 

Grace blinked slowly, looking between the pair of them. “Alright,” she said after a minute, because what other choice did she have? 

So she went and got breakfast–surprisingly good and cheap enough that she didn’t worry about using the money–in such a daze that she couldn’t even muster the energy to overthink anything. 

Fifteen minutes later, she was back at Ryan’s kitchen table. She could hear Jess down the hallway talking softly to the baby. 

“Look, I can get you a permit for our second spot for the apartment. I know it’s not ideal for you to sleep in your car, but you can at least use our bathroom and stuff while you do. And I hate to, but if you could pay the permit fee, and maybe a little for using the utilities?” He looked guilty for asking, but she understood. “And if anyone calls out sick or anything in the restaurant, you can fill in and get paid the same as they do for the night, keep any tips you get.” 

Grace wanted to cry. “Thank you, Ryan. Really. Thank you.” 

“Don’t thank me, it’s barely anything,” he grumbled with a faint blush on his cheeks. “Now, as for an actual job, there’s this law firm called Nelson, Murdock, and Page. They’re known around here for helping people out, that kind of stuff. They helped us out last year. They’re great people. I heard they need a secretary, so maybe they’ll give you the gig. Or they at least might agree to help you with a restraining order or something for free.” 

Grace nodded eagerly. It sounded promising–really promising. A secretary at a law firm. She could do that. She immediately dismissed the restraining order thing. She would never win. 

“Thank you,” she said again. She reached out and squeezed his hand. “And Jess, too. This is all I need until I can get something better going. And, um…do you have a printer? I don’t…I don’t have a resume.” She flushed hotly. She’d never needed one. She’d worked a few jobs in college, mostly to pay for gas without having to beg Dean for it. The only other thing she even had to put on a resume was her degree in communications from Cornell. Which Dean and his family had paid for, just so they could be together at school and simultaneously have a neat little checked box for her eventual role as perfect trophy wife. She would never have gotten into such a good school on her own, let alone been able to afford it. 

“Yeah, sure. Put me down as a reference, too. I’ll tell them how great you are, how hard you work.” He grinned briefly. “I take it…you don’t want any word getting out that you’re here, right? Nothing to tie you to him?” 

Grace nodded slowly. “I even threw out my phone.” 

“That’s going to make it hard to get an apartment, you know. Most of them are kind of like jobs–they want references of previous landlords you’ve had, previous addresses. Usually first month’s rent, security deposit, that kind of stuff.” He blew out a long breath. “I don’t know, maybe those lawyers can help you with that.” 

Grace blanched at everything she was facing, simply to be free of Dean. She’d only taken one single, measly step down this current path. She’d never lived on her own, except in college, and even then she spent half the week staying with Dean anyways. She’d never had a real job, at least not since she and Ryan had dated in high school. And if she didn’t want Dean to find her, she had to get creative in finding ways around landlord references. Or find a shitty place that didn’t care if she had references as long as she had cash, but that brought up a whole other set of issues she didn’t want to think about. 

“Thank you Ryan, really. This–It’s taken me a lot to just get here, to get out and–” 

Ryan squeezed her hand as her voice cracked. “Ah, it was mostly all Jess’s idea. Once I convinced her you wouldn’t be a baby-napper or anything.” 

Grace’s face blanched. “Oh God, no, I don’t–” 

Ryan chuckled. “Yeah, don’t worry, I told her how you felt about babies. How they terrify you.” 

She rolled her eyes. “Oh, whatever.” She glanced around the apartment and felt a little sting of pride for him. “Jess seems great. And the restaurant, too. I’ve been watching on social media as you guys start to blow up. I’m happy for you. And a baby? I can’t even imagine you with a baby.” It was true–she had loved Ryan once, when they were still half babies themselves, and she really was happy to see him doing so well.

“Thanks,” Ryan said, sheepish. “Jess is great. Parenting is…hard, especially with a business, but she makes it all seem so easy. I don’t deserve her.” His voice took on a dreamy quality. There was so much love shining through his eyes it was as clear as the sunlight pouring through the window in the living room. 

There was a sharp pain in Grace’s chest. She wanted that kind of love. A love without fear. A love of a good man, a man who would take care of her. A man who was proud of her. 

“Nah, you really don’t,” Grace teased so he wouldn’t catch the pain in her expression. 

Ryan rolled his eyes. “Cmon, bigshot. I’ll take you to go get a new phone so I can call you when rent’s due.” 

Grace was lighter than she had been in years. Yes, the path before her was rocky and covered in shadows and uncertainty. Yes, the fear was still ever present in the back of her mind that Dean might find her, might even kill her. 

But she was finally living for herself, even if it meant living out of her car for a few months, because she had done the hardest part of all. And she still had at least one friend. 

Grace took a deep, grateful breath of air as she and Ryan walked. “So, what time does this law firm open?”

Next Chapter

taglist:

@zaminoo​ @thetrinitytest​

#daredevil x original female character #matt murdock x oc #matt murdock x ofc #matt murdock x original female character #matt murdock fic #daredevil #netflix daredevil #marvel daredevil #matt murdock #daredevil x oc #daredevil x ofc #saved #saved fic #saved daredevil #sorry there's no matt this chapter but good news ch 2 starts with his POV

[waheelawhisperer]

13, 17, 19, and 20 for the violence ask game

You didn't specify a fandom so I'm going to hit you with several. This is your own fault.

13) worst blorboficiation

I'm not 100% sure what this means but for Arknights I'm gonna go with Amiya. It feels like people forget that she's actually a competent warrior and capable leader instead of just an uwu cute daughteru character.

For RWBY, it's Blake. The fucking writers blorbofied her, idk how you top that.

Mass Effect: Garrus Vakarian. I love Garrus too, but people love to ignore the way the first half of his character arc was "cop that thinks cops have to obey too many rules" -> "vigilante who regularly kills people"

Every remotely villainous or antagonistic character in Fate Grand Order has been shoved into the blorbo box by the fanbase by the end of whatever storyline they appear in and by the writers by the end of their next appearance.

Every person attracted to men who watches The Boys wants to fuck Soldier Boy and the Homelander far more than anyone should ever want to. I cannot enter the tag without running into Reader x fanfiction featuring one of those two.

17) there should be more of this type of fic/art

Arknights: Mlynar getting bred. Also, I would kill to see more people remember Indra exists.

RWBY: More Freezerburn, more Ladybug, more Qrowin, more Dragonslayer, more Jailbirds, more Ironqrow, more Schneewood Forest.

Ted Lasso: I am begging someone to provide me with a gifset featuring every instance wherein Roy Kent says "fuck", "fuck you", "get fucked", or any variation on this theme. I need them for reasons.

19) you're mad/ashamed/horrified you actually kind of like...

I've never been ashamed of anything in my life (my ego is too big for that), but I'm getting somewhat frustrated that my relationship with RWBY is starting to remind me of an ex-girlfriend who threw a coffee mug at my head. I can't drop the show until I finish Volume 9, but I don't want to finish Volume 9 because all 3 episodes I've watched so far sucked.

Also I like Ch'alter unironically despite sharing all the very valid complaints about her and what she represents for Arknights.

20) part of canon you found tedious or boring

Arknights: Pretty much everything at this point because absolutely no one on the writing team knows how to condense a narrative and wouldn't be concise about anything if you held a gun to your head. Like I'm sorry but you do not need to write a Lord of the Rings-length novel and then decide that's not enough and write a second novel between the lines of the first one just to tell a story about a horsegirl fighting capitalism in a DBZ tournament arc. You can just trim the fat and convey the information effectively. It won't kill you.

Every Arknights event or main story chapter feels like a chore to read at this point, honestly, but the worst for me so far have been the Sui events. I love the siblings, but if they never release another event designed around Being Inscrutable it will be too soon.

RWBY: Every part of Volume 4 that didn't have Yang in it except for the Qrow vs. Tyrian fight, every part of Volume 5 that didn't have Yang or Raven in it, every part of Volume 9 I have experienced so far, and Jaune's stupid fucking 4-episode bullying arc.

Bloodborne: I have replayed this game multiple times and I have never cleared a single Chalice Dungeon more than once because they all suck.

Elden Ring: I hate the insistence on reusing all the worst bosses instead of the ones that are actually fun to fight, physically traveling across the world map feels tedious at times (I wish Torrent could move just a bit faster), mounted combat sucks ass, the Mountaintops of the Giants feels like they ran out of development time because it's honestly kinda barren, fuck the Consecrated Snowfield, and a lot of the dungeons feel same-y after a while.

#ask game #arknights #rwby #mass effect #bloodborne #elden ring #the boys

[sunofaraven]

What inspired Love Death + Grumbot?

Sorry for sitting on this ask for so long! This was a way harder question to answer than I anticipated, and I apologise in advance for the very long post XD

I started working on LD+G back in January 2023, just after the end of the Hermitcraft/Empires crossover event. I had just finished writing Soulbound, my first fic, and I was itching to start another. And... I was missing Mumbo. Grian was missing him too and Emperor Grumbot was ready to destroy a whole universe just because Mumbo wasn't in it; I was defenceless against the "I miss Mumbo" brainrot.

The initial idea for LD+G was more of a gritty, steampunk, two dudes and their cryptic robot son against the world thing. I wanted to write an apocalypse fic (I've actually got several original novels that are apocalypse/dystopian novels--I am only a little addicted to the genre...), and Cub was doing his whole sculk thing on empires, so it seemed as good a cause for an apocalypse as anything else. You can see all this in the very first notes I ever made for the fic:

But, see, I LOVE zombies. I blame The Last of Us. I'd spent 2022 trying to play through the second game and getting frustrated with its cynical take on the world. It just doesn't feel believable to me that humanity would be at each other's throats. Sure, people are scared and impulsive, but it takes a lot for the average human to hurt another. Our strengths lie in our adaptability and how we support each other in times of need!!

Anyway, once I veered away from steampunk and started down the zombie route, a big inspiration for some of the characters was Hybbart's Rancher Apocalypse AU (I blame them entirely for my Ranchers obsession tbh). They also had some pretty fun ideas about the role of sculk in an apocalypse, and since I come from a biology background, the opportunity to have a symbiosis between zombies and sculk was just SO much fun for me.

So then, why did it become a story about grief? Well... I felt pretty trapped in my personal life at the time, so initially LD+G was both a way to process that and some much-needed escapism. I don't remember exactly when or why I decided that Grian was infected, but I do remember writing like I'd been possessed in early 2023. I wrote a whole list of scenes/moments that I wanted it to contain and then the plot just kinda... fell out of me one day.

To be melodramatic about it, I have written a lot of novels in my life, but none that felt so akin to bleeding out on the page as this one did. I needed to write this story, to have a place to channel my emotions as well as my eternal mcyt brainrot. I wasn't mourning a person, exactly, I was mourning my own perceived lack of agency and trying to gather the strength to end a whole chapter of my life and start anew.

So I wrote about love, I wrote about death.

And I wrote about Grumbot.

#Sorry about how chaotic this ended up as - hopefully I answered your question somewhere in there XD #Also shout out to Station Eleven which I watched last summer #it gave me a lot to think about around humanity's relationship between trauma and art #Also also I am totally okay guys - change is hard but I did it and am much happier!!! #Regardless of what I write in the future - LD+G will always hold a special place in my heart #ask #love death + grumbot