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inthe-dark-tonight · 8 months

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And All the Stars Align

chapter one: across the room, your silhouette

din djarin x princess!reader series

chapter two

summary: your mother seeks out the well known mandalorian, din djarin, to help your planet by fighting in a duel. what starts as a strong distaste for the armored man grows into something more.

word count: 1.7k

series rating: E (18+ mdni)

warnings: no use of y/n, slow burn, slight enemies to lovers, some helmetless din, no physical descriptions of reader other than clothing a few times, no mentions of age gap so read however you’d like, not really that many warnings yet :)

notes: this is the first thing i’ve ever written, i’ve just been really nervous to post it but here it is!!! i also was slightly inspired by padme and anakin’s relationship in episode 2 & 3 so you may see some similarities here and there. this will be multiple chapters, not sure how many yet but know that it will be quite a few lol. thank you to my loves @shatteredbaby & @javiscigarette for beta reading and brainstorming with me mwah. also @pr0ximamidnight for listening to me ramble about this fic and also encouraging me to keep writing ily

He’s sitting in the cantina on Nevarro minding his business, when he suddenly feels a presence behind him.

“Can I help you?” His deep voice booms through the modulator on his helmet. He doesn’t bother to turn around.

The man standing close behind him clears his throat before speaking. “I’m visiting from the planet Xeron. I was sent by the queen in search of a Mandalorian named Din Djarin.” He pauses, hesitating for a moment. “I was told he could be found here.”

Din turns around in his seat and props his elbow up to lean back on the counter nonchalantly. “You’ve found him.” He says in a flat tone. Although his face is covered with a beskar helmet, his voice is enough to make anyone intimidated. “You have one minute to explain what you’re here for.”

The advisor swallows hard and clears his throat. “I- uh,”

“Fifty-six seconds.” the Mandalorian says, his voice coming out deep and monotone.

“Our planet, Xeron, is having a quarrel of sorts with our sister planet, Arkam, and we need help. We need your help.” He hesitated for a quick moment, a bit flustered. “Word around the inner rim is that you’re a great fighter, you’ve taken down a mudhorn, a kryat dragon, the list goes on and on. We’re desperately in need of someone to fight. Someone who will win.”

“What’s in it for me?”

A week later the Mandalorian is on his way to Xeron. Your mother, the queen, insisted that he come a week early to settle in before the duel. She had said we should lend him our hospitality for what he’s agreed to do for our planet, so there’s going to be a welcome dinner hosted tonight when he arrives.

You’re currently in your room getting ready to leave when there’s a knock on your door. “Come in.” The door opens a crack and you see Jem poke her head in.

Jem is your closest friend, though she’s more of an assistant of sorts. You don’t like to think of her that way, she’s just your friend that also happens to keep watch over you and help you out with anything you might need.

“Are you almost ready? Your mother is already in the grand hall awaiting your arrival.” She raises her brow at you, knowing that you always tend to be late.

“Yes just- give me a second. I’ll be right out.” You smile before she shuts the door behind her.

You turn towards your mirror and take a deep breath. Why are you so nervous? It’s not like you haven’t attended banquets for visitors in the past. You run your gloved hands over your floor length dress and take one last look in the mirror before turning to leave.

When you open the door Jem is waiting there for you, also wearing a long elegant dress for the occasion. She turns to walk down the hall and you quickly follow.

“Are you curious to see what he’s like?” She asks as you make your way towards the grand hall.

You look at her slightly confused “….who?”

She blinks at you, waiting for you to say something else. “The Mandalorian, you know, the one your mother hired to fight in the duel?” She gives you an odd look before the two of you step into the elevator. “I’ve heard he’s quiet, a little mysterious. I guess we’ll see for ourselves.” A smirk grows on her face as she says the words.

When the elevator doors open again, you quickly round the corner to see that the doors to the great hall are wide open and the room is flooded with people. Some are gathered standing in large groups, others are sitting at the large tables spread around the room. You look around the room and see your mother through the crowd, sitting in her usual spot. You walk towards her smiling here and there at guests as you pass by.

“You’re here! We can get started finally.” She gestures something to one of the royal guards, seconds later you hear a loud noise signaling that dinner will be served shortly. In the next couple of minutes everyone is finally seated, Jem sitting next to you. You glance around noticing that someone’s missing, the guest of honor. Great first impression, you think to yourself. If he can’t even arrive on time, how’s he going to win this fight?

You can see your mother glancing around the room frantically. “Where is he?” She mumbles to herself. The guests are chatting at a low volume, probably wondering what’s going on as well.

All of a sudden one of the doors to the royal hall opens, everyone’s head snaps towards that direction to get a look. As you look around the room, everyone’s quiet and still. It’s like the world has stopped. You hear heavy steps growing closer and what sounds like something clanking. Finally you look towards the door and your eyes land on him. The Mandalorian.

He’s covered head to toe in beskar armor, and the visor on his helmet creates a t shape. There’s a sway in his step, he walks with confidence and you can feel the air in the room has changed just from his presence. Your mother stands from her chair as he gets closer, and everyone else in the room follows. You’re so mesmerized by him and the confidence in each step he takes that you end up being the last to stand, eyes never leaving his captivating form. When he gets to you and your mother he bows his head, leaving your mother ecstatic.

“Ladies and gentlemen, our guest of honor, Din Djarin.” She gestures towards him. “The Mandalorian.” the room applauds.

He nods and takes a seat next to your mother, everyone following her lead to sit. Your mother looks at one of the royal guards and droids start coming from the kitchen with plates full of food, placing them at every table.

Your mother turns her head to Din “Thank you so much for being here tonight, I’m glad you could make it a week early. We want to show our thanks, and how greatly appreciative we are.” she smiles at him.

Din turns his head towards her and nods. “Thank you for your hospitality.” His voice is deep coming through his modulator, it sends a chill down your spine. You’re still staring at him when your mother starts to speak.

“This is my daughter.” Your mother fully sits back in her chair so he can look past her and see you properly.

He turns his head towards you. “Princess.” He nods his head again. What Jem heard is true. He really doesn’t say much, but you feel squeamish under his gaze.

“We really are more grateful than you could ever imagine.” Your mother smiles again. “Please! Help yourself!” Your mother gestures to the table full of food.

Jem nudges your shoulder and you turn to her, finally breaking your gaze away from Din. She’s smirking “I told you” she whispers before reaching to fill her plate.

You’re trying not to stare at this point, just looking out the corner of your eye. You pile a few things onto your plate and before you can take a bite you see his hand lift up to his helmet. You hear a hissing sound as he lifts it off his head.

You snap your head to look over at him and you’re absolutely stunned, almost breathless as his profile comes into view. The strong outline of his nose and plush pink lips immediately catch your attention. You don’t think you’ve ever laid your eyes on someone as beautiful as him. Still taking in his features, your mouth slightly opens in awe. His large brown eyes, the crease between his brows, the way his curls fall perfectly over his forehead even after having a helmet on.

He turns his head towards you, almost like he could feel your gaze. A blush creeps onto your cheeks as you quickly turn back to look at your plate in embarrassment. You can still feel his gaze burning through you, your body starting to heat up. Through the corner of your eye you can see him staring now, you lift your head and turn to look at him again. This time he turns away, quickly glancing back at you for only a split second before focusing on his plate. It’s almost… shy. Cute, you think.

“I didn’t know Mandalorians could remove their helmets?” Your mother asks him.

Din clears his throat as he glances at your mother. “The rules aren’t… as strict as they once were.” He states.

His voice sounds even more heavenly without being filtered through the modulator. It makes your skin tingle.

The rest of the dinner you don’t dare to look at him. Your mother dismisses everyone and people get up to gather and chat again. Everyone wants to speak to Din, he’s never not crowded by guests. He put his helmet back on at this point after dinner.

Jem pops up beside you. “Wow, I knew he’d be popular tonight, being the guest of honor and all but… he really can’t catch a break”

“Yeah.” you’re trying to seem nonchalant as you stare him down from across the room.

“Have you gotten a chance to speak with him?” She looks over at you.

“No!” Your head snaps towards her and Jem’s brow raises at your tone. “I mean, no. He’s been occupied basically all night.” You’re looking back towards where he stands.

“What’s there for me to say anyway?” You glance over at her “Am I supposed to thank him? However much my mother’s paying him won’t be worth anything if he doesn’t make it out.” You look back out into the crowd of people and you’re unable to spot him.

“Yeah, I guess.” She pauses for a moment. “Well I need to go find your mother, I told her I’d help her with something. See you later?”

You nod and watch her disappear into the pool of people laughing and talking loudly.

You hear someone say your name in a deep voice from behind you.

“Princess.”

thank you for reading lmk what you think & my asks are open to chat :) xo

np tagging some moots: @ilovepedro @isitmeulookin4 @joelsversion @nostalxgic @ramblers-lets-get-ramblin @jenispunk @beskarandblasters @javiscigarette @gracieheartspedro @cannolighost @eliza-8 @hearteyesforjoel @tieronecrush @daydreamingmiller @pamasaur

#din djarin x reader #din djarin x female reader #din djarin x fem!reader #mandalorian x reader #din djarin x princess!reader #din darjin #din djarin fanfiction #mandalorian fanfic #star wars fanfiction

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allthefandomthings55 · 3 months

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Life in the Limelight

Chapter 2

“Y/N, I got something for you.”

I look up from my computer to look at Ben. “For me? What do you have for me?”

He smiled at me, “You know that card you asked me to run from the guy you talked with at the coffee shop? Yeah well everything checks out. His name is Spencer Walter Reid. He’s from Las Vegas and graduated when he was 12 went to college and got three Ph. D.s, two B.A.s and is working on another B.A. It looks like as soon as he could he went into the FBI. His record is clean and he’s never been arrested.”

You look at him interested, “Oh, ok thank you. Did you get a read on him at the shop?”

Ben came closer to me, “Yeah. He seems like a good guy and that he was interested in talking to you not about you. Y/N I know you’re intrigued by this guy because he doesn’t recognize you and I say start out as his friend. You don’t want to move too fast.” I nod my head deep in thought. Ben leaves and I’m alone and I decide to text Spencer.

Hi Spencer it’s Y/N. Sorry I haven’t texted, it’s been a busy couple of days.

Spencer

Hi Y/N. It’s no problem or worries. I’ve been busy at work. How are you?

I’m good. I was actually wondering if you wanted to get lunch and chat some more? I have been seriously lacking in the friend department and you seem like you’ll be a good one.

Spencer

Sure! I’d love to get lunch. I think I should be around this Saturday if that works for you?

Yeah that works for me. How about 12:30? Then it might not be as crazy as it usually might be?

Spencer

Yeah sounds great. Anywhere specific you’d like to go?

Yeah I have a friend that owns a restaurant and it’s really good. Decently priced too if you’re interested.

Spencer

Sure. What is it called?

L’unico

Spencer

One of a kind in Italian? I’m interested

Yeah, she’s Italian

Spencer

Perfect, do you want me to pick you up or do you want to meet there?

I’ll meet you there.

Spencer

I’ll see you then

I looked around to make sure I was alone. I then got up and did a little dance. Being famous is hard. Not financially or anything like that, but it’s hard to make friends when you’re famous. You can never tell if people want to be friends with you because you’re famous or because they’re actually a good person. I got back to writing the song I was writing before Ben came in.

Lying, thinking last night

How to find my sould a home

Where water is not thirsty

And bread loaf is not stone

I came up with one thing

And I don’t believe I’m wrong

That nobody,

But nobody

Can make it out here alone

Aone, all alone

Nobody, but nobody

Can make it out here alone.

There are some millionaires

With money they can’t use

Their wives run round like banshees

Their children sing the blues

They’ve got expensive doctors

To cure their hearts of stone.

But nobody

No, nobody

Can make it out here alone.

Alone, all alone

Nobody, but nobody

Can make it out here alone.

Now if you listen closely

I’ll tell you what I know

Storm clouds are gathering

The wind is gonna blow

The race of man is suffering

And I can hear the moan,

‘Cause nobody,

But nobody

Can make it out here alone

Alone, all alone

Nobody, but nobody

Can make it out here alone

(This is a poem by Maya Angelou called Alone)

I looked up from my notebook proud of what I’ve written. It comes from deep within my heart. I don’t know what the song will be called yet but that’s the best part of writing a song. I closed my notebook for now, being done with writing for now. I decided I’m going to go to the gym I have in my basement. The one unfortunate thing about being famous is that I can’t go outside very often without being seen and surrounded.

#aaron hotchner #david rossi #penelope garcia #derek morgan #emily prentiss #Spencer reid #spencer reid x reader #spencer reid x you #spencer reid x y/n #criminal minds #criminal minds x you #criminal minds x reader #criminal minds fic #criminal minds fanfic #criminal minds fandom #criminal minds fanfiction #spencer reid fanfic #Spencer reid fanfiction

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you-remind-me-of-the-babe · 6 months

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Hello hello! Thank you for the tags today and Sunday @cutestkilla @hushed-chorus @thewholelemon @nightimedreamersworld @ivelovedhimthroughworse @best--dress @forabeatofadrum @prettygoododds @facewithoutheart @ic3-que3n @orange-peony @iamamythologicalcreature @nausikaaa @youarenevertooold I’m just now catching up but I love all you’ve shared.

Here’s a snippet from the 10th (and final!) chapter of Depth of Reason, which I’m crossing my fingers I can wrap up within the month. This is from the beginning of the chapter, where Simon catches us up on how things have been while they all wait to hear back about a hearing from the Coven:

Penny calls him from time to time. I can usually hear her excited, frenzied voice as she talks through some new angle she’s thought of for his case. He always seems excited (if a little overwhelmed) after these calls end. I like to wrap him up afterwards, hugging him with wings and all, and gently reminding him it’s probably for the best that we don't have a date yet, if she’s still adding things to her ever growing argument.

Baz continues with his meetings with Anna. He really likes her, all things considered. Said she doesn’t tease him about how formally he dresses. I just roll my eyes and pinch his side until he squeals and squirms away from me, swatting my hand with indignation.

I still buy him a coffee on days he has his check-in appointments. Only now, I leave it on a table outside Anna’s office, Baz’s name scrawled on the side of the paper cup. I don’t always get to see him when he comes in, but we see each other most days after work anyways, so I can’t complain.

Two shares today! It’s the majority of what I’ve written today, but that’s fine. 😅

Excited to stuff myself on good food tomorrow. Hope you all are well. Tagging a few folks if you’d like to share today or Sunday 💜 @fatalfangirl @whatevertheweather @moodandmist @artsyunderstudy @captain-aralias @whogaveyoupermission @valeffelees @raenestee @run-for-chamo-miles @shrekgogurt @rimeswithpurple @bookish-bogwitch @ileadacharmedlife @aristocratic-otter and anyone else who would like to share

#depth of reason #snowbaz #simon snow #baz pitch #my writing #carry on fanfiction

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asordinaryppl · 16 days

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A3! Main Story: Part 4 - Act 13: Budding Spring - Episode 24: Wishing For A Family

!! further context for this chapter can be found in the moon traveler event story! translations up till chapter 9 by izumi-fanclub is here and by prideoftheknights here!

Chikage: Be careful on your way home.

Employee A: Hm? You’re not on the same flight as us, Utsuki-san?

Chikage: I have some business to take care of, so I changed my flight to tomorrow.

Employee A: Is that so? You were a big help this time, thank you so much!

Employee B: It’s thanks to you that the business negotiations went smoothly. Their attitude towards us softened with you here.

Employee B: There’s a lot to be said about the power of words, huh?

Chikage: I’m glad I could be of help.

Employee A: We’ll be leaving, then.

Chikage: (With that done… The next bus is coming soon.)

Chikage: (It’ll take some time getting there, so I guess I’ll get some work done.)

Chikage: …

[Keyboard keys clicking]

Driver: << Have a nice trip! >>

Chikage: << Thank you. >>

Chikage: (As I expected, I don’t pass as a local dressed like this.)

Chikage: (It’s been almost 20 years, hasn’t it…?)

Chikage: (The scenery has changed quite a bit since then. I shouldn’t expect it to be the same after so long, though…)

Chikage: (For now, I should go to a place where people like to gather…)

Shopkeeper: << Welcome. >>

Customer A: << I got a real shock! >>

Customer B: << No, seriously. >>

Customer C: << Dad said he’ll take some time to get here. >>

Customer D: << Let’s eat ahead of him then. >>

Customer E: << What should I eat… >

Customer F: << I’m not even that hungry yet. >>

Chikage: (How nostalgic. Just sitting here has me listening to various languages from left and right.)

Chikage: (It’s a great place for multilingual input.)

Chikage: (If our theater company wants to increase our overseas audience in the future, supporting many languages is important…)

Chikage: (If I stay here too long, I’ll miss the bus.)

Chikage: (There’s a lot of graffiti on this wall… Was there this much before?)

Chikage: (It doesn’t seem like the public security has worsened any.)

Resident: << This part’s already full. Unless you wrote in real small letters, it’d be impossible for you to fit anything in. >>

Chikage: << Does the graffiti here have some kind of meaning? >>

Resident: << Ah, so you don’t know. They say that if you write your name on this wall, your dreams will come true. >>

Residents: << Even tourists started writing things here. >>

Resident: << Though the owner of this place doesn’t seem to care, so everything just stays here. >>

Resident: << At first there were only one or two names written here. >>

Chikage: — —

Chikage: (This one’s my name…)

Chikage: (There’s only one person who’d do something like this, and there’s no mistaking this handwriting—)

“Hey.”

“Do you have a family?”

“Do you have a dream?”

Chikage: …

Chikage: (Your dreams will come true, huh… Did the rumor come first? Or was my name written here first?)

Chikage: (Good grief, I could never tell what that person was thinking.)

Chikage: (My dream, huh… You could say that I was able to come here because it came true, in a way.)

Resident: << Hm? I feel like I’ve seen your face before… No, you just resemble someone I used to know. >>

Chikage: ?

Resident: << You look a little like an old coworker of mine. Your smile, especially. >>

Resident: << Though he passed away about a decade ago. >>

Resident: << His wife got sick and died several years ago… They had a son, but I think they entrusted him to someone far away. >>

Chikage: << … I had heard that some distant relatives of mine live around this area, so there might be some connection. >>

Resident: << Might be. If his wife were still alive… I’m sure she’d be happy. >>

Resident: << A long time ago, when I asked her about her son, she told me she’ll never see him again, but that she hopes he’s not alone. >>

Resident: << Looking at you makes me feel like I just met their son. >>

Chikage: …

Chikage: (They did what they wanted till the very end.)

Chikage: (I didn’t feel like they loved me. I don’t even know if I loved them.)

Chikage: (When I was a kid, they loomed over me like a large, undeniable existence. Even after they left me, even after time passed, they remain imprinted on me like a sludge stain that can’t be removed…)

Chikage: (But, I see… I don’t have to look at this name anymore.)

Chikage: (This name doesn’t exist anywhere in this world.)

Chikage: (... Just what is this feeling? It’s not nostalgia, or sadness, or even relief.)

Chikage: (It’s like there’s a small space in my heart… And this fits perfectly in there.)

Resident: << Since they might be your distant relatives, do you want to visit their graves? >>

Chikage: << — No, the bus will be coming soon. I have to hurry back to my family. >>

Resident: << Is that so? Have a safe trip. >>

Chikage: << Thank you very much. >>

Chikage: (... I don’t think anyone will be on right now.)

UC has entered the chat UC: I’m about to go to a hotel near the airport. taruchi: good work UC: Ah, I see. You’re not that far from where I am, are you? taruchi: i think i’m between japan and where you are taruchi: how did your new challenge go? UC: Who knows? I do know that I’m glad I came here, at least.

previous episode | masterpost | next episode

#a3!#translation #a3! translation #chikage utsuki #itaru chigasaki #did not like any title i could come up with for this chapter

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autisticlancemcclain · 1 year

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fic rec friday 21

welcome to the twenty-first fic rec friday! where, on friday, i rec five of my favourite fics.

1. Most Artists are Messy by @shipsgalore

Lance is drawing a complicated flower on the base of Keith’s wrist and it makes his lips pull up into a smile despite the panic. They’re always flowers when it comes to Lance. He uses them in everything he does, and usually doesn’t even know he’s doing it. Keith can count on one hand how many times the doodles on his arms haven’t been of flowers.

i love this one because keith & lance are just blatantly and clearly autistic. it’s wonderful. it’s sweet and fluffy and it’s a modern au, which as y’all know is my jam, and the last few paragraphs do this specific thing with sentiment repetition that genuinely gets to me every time

2. Be Alive With Me Tonight by @caesaria [EXPLICIT] [ABO]

When the Blade of Marmora requests assistance on an information gathering mission, Lance and Keith go undercover as a bonded alpha and omega pair. At first, it seems like this is going to be more like a vacation than a mission – right up until everything falls apart and they realize how unprepared they really are. Now, Lance and Keith have to fight to not only survive, but to make it out together. They’ll have to rely not only on their skills as Paladin, but the bond they’ve created and nurtured between them.

okay i gave this one the explicit warning bc there are chapters that are explicit, but tbh the scenes are skippable if that’s not ur thing. now this fic is an EPIC. truly. its a quarter million words and the plot is breathtaking, the worldbuilding is iconic and the romance is like HOLY SHIT. this is a novel, and better yet its a KLANCE novel, so. highly recommend if you have a day or two to read.

3. roses by @renyoi

Lance is always getting flowers for Keith, so Keith decides to return the favor--with a little help, of course.

written for prompt #4 of klance valentine's week!

keith is hilarious here. just in general but here especially and i love him. he wants to pamper lance so so badly and hes so straightforward and earnest!! and allura’s character in here is also excellent. i will leave u with this one line from the fic that made me laugh it loud: “ The next day, the sun rises to Keith Kogane, dressed all in black (that’s all that was clean, okay?!), loitering around in front of Alluring Blossom, the 5-star-rated “I’ve never had such a delightful bouquet delivered to me in my entire life!” flower shop of a woman named Allura Altea. Keith automatically trusted her because he loves people that also have alliteration in their names. “ king. love him

4. here it comes by rideahorse

Keith watched a lonely droplet of water fall from Lance’s soaked bangs, curving a path over the bridge of his nose and then pooling—almost teasingly so—at the bow of his lips.

“I feel like I won, for some reason,” Lance said quietly.

what have i told yall about fics from 2016!!! this fic made me SMILE and im not usually a fan of like senior year of high school fics but holy shit!! holy SHIT!! this fic had me smiling and kicking my feet and losing my mind. i will leave u with the note i put on my bookmark (spoiler warning):

a couple things: 1. “lance is a bad influence” and “lance is a pretty princess (tm)” are god tier tags so thanks for that 2. keith with a tongue piercing. must i say more. 3. i miss keith gyeong that was an excellent era 4. the couple tattoo moment had me taking a Moment 5. here’s how i imagine the aftermath of this: shiro: i saw u ditched prom. are you okay? keith: yeah actually! lance convinced me that we have to have a wild final night, so we went to a High School Party (tm), i decked a guy for lance and your honour, we panic drove away, went skinny dipping in a pool, got caught, ran away naked for two blocks, went to sonic in another town, got matching tattoos, fucked in the backseat of my car, and watched the sunrise :)) shiro: shiro: shiro: shiro: i’m sorry. what were those last parts keith: yeah i know you really like sunrises we probably should have invited you :// but it was kind of an us thing i’m sure you understand :) shiro: KEITH

anyways i laughed

5. if silence was a song by @angstinspace

“It’s … Your show is on so late at night,” Keith tries to explain, as if Lance didn’t know this already. “I guess I was just wondering why that is.”

A crackling silence answers him, and Keith’s stomach sinks. Did Lance hang up? Keith can’t exactly blame him.

But then he hears Lance make a noise––a short huff of breath that might have been either an impatient sigh or a quiet laugh … Keith has no clue.

“That’s the reason you’re calling? To complain about my time slot?”

or, Keith starts anonymously calling Lance's college radio show and develops an unexpected crush.

@catnippackets did a comic of this i believe, and it literally never leaves my head. yall know the trope where one person gets a phone call and halfway through they sigh wistfully and say “god i wish you were here” and then the other person smiles so viscerally it can be felt through the phone and they say “look behind you” and theyre THERE?????? that makes me lose it every time. i love this fic

that’s it for today!! i’ll see y’all back next friday for the next fic rec post!!!

#god fic rec friday is so healing 4 me #vld #voltron #lance #lance mcclain #keith kogane #keith #klance #brown-eyed lance #autistic keith #autistic lance #keith gyeong #lance sanchez #modern au #canon divergence #fic rec #fic rec friday

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my-rose-tinted-glasses · 3 months

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Rose Reads Love In The Big City

Part III

After part two I’d been thinking a lot about the way this book is written and why I felt at times so disconnected emotionally from Young. The way he wrote in the first person usually has the opposite effect but for some reason I always felt like Young was telling this story from such a distant place, emotionally, that I couldn’t trust it. Not that he was lying but he was giving a very curated version of events. Because it all felt so cold, so detached.

This all changed in part 3.

“I had wanted too much”

This sentence hit me so hard. It was so honest and not followed by the usual self deprecating joke that I was so used to reading. By the time I got to this sentence my feelings for Young had changed. I felt less detached and more invested in his life and this love story. This part is less nuanced and to me it reads more honest. There’s less embellishment of events and more straight forward telling of events.

The beginning of this chapter reads a lot like the previous sections, the part where he meets goes to meet Jaehee and in the club, he still writes in that same type of quick witted comments and self deprecating humour.

But when he starts describing meeting Gyu-ho, it changes. It becomes less self referential and more about the we. And for me it read as much more hopeful, for lack of a better word. Although that’s was how I felt reading it. I felt hopeful for him. Even with the appearance of Kylie, it never felt as if “she” was given the same weight as Gyu-ho.

I found the naming very interesting. When we usually name things, we’re giving them more importance. For example, I’m not a plant person but I’ve had them in my house over the years. And it wasn’t until someone gave me an orchid, which I love, that I thought of naming it. She’s called Bela btw. Because this one was different, I care for it in a way I never cared for any plants in my house before. So she deserved a name. And yet, for Young that wasn’t why. It wasn’t to add something, but to remove something. Cause he likes the name Kylie, so naturally it’s less scary and so less important. So Kylie was just another part of him, an inconvenient but not that important part.

“Compared to all the other stuff life hits you with”. And to most people, Kylie would be “the other stuff”. The bigger stuff that you can use to compare to whatever it is you have. Like when you get sick and find out it’s not that serious. At least it’s not “insert scary diagnoses here”. So the way he downplays this made me really scared for him. But there was Gyu-ho and that made less worried somehow.

I was enamored by this romance. Because it read real, not perfect, but beautiful. In contrast with his previous relationship, this one was told with softer words and filled with mundane moments that didn’t need defending, as he so often did with Hyung. There was less self deprecation because he was happier. Even Seoul was “so beautiful all of a sudden”.

“I had wanted too much. I’d already been given so much in the past three years. When you try to have too much, you’re bound to stumble at some point.”

And that’s why this sentence broke me. Because like Young, I dared to hope. I wanted happiness for him in this moment. With this person.

But I also recognize this feeling of even when you’re used to expecting the worst, there are moments that make us forget about that for a while. We let ourselves get swept away by happy moments and “normalcy”. And so when the next thing comes, it hits a bit harder but at the same time it’s expected.

Cause even if for a moment he dared to expect more, he doesn’t believe he deserves it. The shame and self loathing are just under the surface waiting for the time to come back up and take control again.

Once again thanks to @twig-tea💜

#litbc book club #love in the big city #korean bl #rose reads

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averagehomosapien · 1 year

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Kraaph/Sraaph Doodles +Rant

ok, first of all, remember the au I made with the two new alters? These Tendrils Run Deep? Do you remember that??

I sure do! And I’ve been neglecting them, the poor things!😢🥺

Soooo, I have some doodles to compensate! Just of Sraaph tho (the name is a combination of Savage, Krang, and Raph)

The next doodle has it’s left eye blank, similar to Savage’s—I just wanted to see how it looked

Ok, so from here I’m just going to ramble—

Basically Sraaph is a combination of Savage and the possessed Raph from the movie.

That means that it has a lot of issues relating to being left alone—it needs to be lead and for at least one family member to be close at all times—so abandonment issues like regular Raph and Savage.

other than that, Sraaph is quiet, and obedient while in a space it seems as ‘safe’ like the Lair.

outside though, it acts more like how it did in the movie: very violent, prone to bursts of anger, extremely protective of bale, yet also still obedient to it’s bale as well—if one of its brothers were to tell it to stop, it would stop.

honestly, I have ideas for a fanfic with Sraaph and the aftermath of the movie, but the concepts and ideas my mind are coming up with are way too dark and heavy, so I’ll need to tone it down. Not only that, but I would need to do character analysis’ on EVERYONE, which is going to be a hassle.

That is not including the fact I have work to do and that life exists, so it is not likely you’ll see a fic from me anytime soon. My biggest worry would be concerning the characters—I would constantly be wondering if I wrote them correctly, and that would just drive me insane if I didn’t have a beta reader.

I would also need to be confidant in my writing enough to release something; I do love writing, but 1) I only write original stories with my own characters and 2) I’ve never written a fanfic before 😅 Being me, I would also constantly compare my writing to those with great stories—like @debb987 and The Eldest Brother, among others. I know realistically that every skill requires practice and patience, but I am a very lazy and impatient person. Ok, so to summarize: I have an idea I want to write, but don’t have the time nor the patience to write it—at least, it wouldn’t come out anytime soon.

I am also more concerned with at least finishing/giving a satisfying end to Pools of Acceptance, as well as making art. I have many ideas for future projects and gifts to other creators on Tumblr, so look out for that! Too many ideas and too much work(which is honestly my fault because procrastination has me in a chokehold at all times)

on a lighter note, I just want to say thank you to all that like, comment, and reblog my posts! I hoped I would get support eventually, but I never thought it would come so fast, nor that there would be so many of you who liked my art! I’m just greatly appreciative that you all gave me a chance and decided to stay!! I now have more followers than I do posts and i will do something big to commemorate 100 followers! Just know that all of your support gives me the motivation to continue what I’m doing—each and every one of you helps motivate me!

And a final note—I said back in chapter 3 that you would know who hurt baby Raph soon…

uhhhh, honestly the plot is dragging me I have no control over it; basically it might be a while until you guys get confirmation of what hurt baby Raph, so whoops!😬 😅 I’m just having fun with this whole thing! Might take a few chapters till you meet the attacker (doesn’t that sound harsh?) but it might be in the next hmmm…10 chapters?? Like I said, i have no control over the plot and no plan.

Anyway, this post is long enough, so have a great evening/night/day!! See y’a peeps on the weekend!

#rottmnt #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rise of the tmnt #rise of the tmnt fanart #rottmnt fanart #rise fanart #post rottmnt movie #rottmnt headcanons #rottmnt au #Sraaph #Kraaph #These Tendrils Run Deep #rottmnt raph #rise raphael #tcest dni #raphael hamato

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duhragonball · 1 year

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Dragon Ball Super Manga Ch.1-4

What’s that? Did you think we were done with Battle of Gods? No, we need to go over it a third time.

So after the success of the Battle of Gods and Resurrection F movies, Toei began producing the Dragon Ball Super anime, while Shueisha began publishing the Dragon Ball Super manga. Both started up around the summer of 2015, and both made the... uh... bold choice to retell the Battle of Gods movie.

The weird thing is that both versions have significant differences from the original story. They don’t even agree with each other, and I don’t understand what the point of this is. The basic plot points are the same, but the details change. For example, Beerus wakes up in the movie and pretty much heads straight to the North Kai Planet to meet Goku. In the anime, Beerus visits at least one other planet instead, and he decides to only destroy half of it because their food was good, but too greasy. Then he destroys a second planet and the explosion reminds him of the Super Saiyan God premonition.

In the manga, he visits an alien planet, and the locals try to poison his food, but it doesn’t work. One of their dishes is named Soup D’Saian Gahd, which jogs Beerus’ memory of his premonition, and he destroys the entire planet, not just half like he did in the anime.

My whole beef is this: Who is this for? A lot of times, you’ll see a movie come out, and there’ll be a novelization, and maybe a video game, and maybe a comic book or something. They might vary in content, but mostly because not everyone had access to the final script. I’ve heard that in the novelization of Empire Strikes Back, Yoda is described as being blue, probably because the author didn’t know they had picked green when principal photography began.

But the point is that those are different media, with different priorities. With Battle of Gods, we have an animated movie, and animated TV series, and a comic book that resembles the art style of the movie as closely as possible. The implication is that all three need to be the same, and yet they’re frustratingly different in minor, nitpicky ways.

To be sure, the classic Dragon Ball anime and manga had differences, but for a reason. The anime would pad out scenes and invent whole new ones to sustain its production schedule while the manga was being published simultaneously. Here, that doesn’t apply, because you have a TV show and a comic book adapting a two-year-old movie. Also, there seems to be no interest in making both versions agree with each other.

So let’s explain how this works. You see Akira Toriyama’s name listed all over the DBS manga, but his involvement is pretty minimal. When they list him as “author”, they mean he’s the guy who created all the characters. It’s like when they put “Based on Star Trek created by Gene Roddenberry” on every episode of Star Trek. Gene’s been dead for over thirty years, and even before that, it’s not like he was writing all the scripts.

Instead, the DBS manga is written and drawn by Toyotaro, a different artist who was chosen by Toriyama. As I understand it, the formula for Dragon Ball Super is this: Toriyama will come up with a plot outline, then send it to Toyotaro, who expands it into a full story. Toyotaro is an extremely controversial figure in the Dragon Ball fandom, mostly for high crimes such as “drawing the Dragon Ball comic”, and “existing”.

For my part, I gave up on the DBS manga when it became apparent that it wasn’t going to do anything I wasn’t already getting from the anime. But after the anime ended, Toyotaro finally got to tell original stories like the Moro and Granolah arcs, and that’s why I decided to finally read the manga this year. Unfortunately, it means I gotta wade through a bunch of reruns to get to the good stuff.

I suspect Toyotaro was similarly frustrated with this arrangement, because his Battle of Gods adaptation is very short--only four chapters long. And there is no Resurrection F adaptation at all, which is lucky for me. I think Toyotaro was champing at the bit to get this series moving, and in the meantime, he managed to work in some new additions where he could.

For instance, chapter 1 pretty much follows Goku’s POV from Episode 1 of the anime. We see him doing exercises while Goten drives his tractor, but Toyotaro also shows him imagining his old enemies while he does his drills. This is handy, as it gives Toyotaro an excuse to put Cell in the manga. Also, I find it kind of amusing that Goku’s training regimen is exactly the same thing his real-world fans do on the playground.

Vegeta is barely in this thing, save for the part where he fights Beerus on Bulma’s cruise ship, so Toyotaro puts in some side panels of the guy, like this one of Mr. Satan trying to give him his award money.

Or, this one of Vegeta learning the Bingo dance he did in the movie, but not in the anime. He also doesn’t do it in this comic, either, as the manga version skips over most of the party. All we get is another panel of Vegeta lamenting that he didn’t get to show off his dance.

We also get this page where he explains who Beerus is to the others, while also covering the flashback to when he first met Beerus as a child. I really like the way this comic is laid out. I don’t enjoy a rushed re-telling of Battle of Gods, but Toyotaro definitely does a great job with the assignment he’s been given.

The only new plot element here is the introduction of Champa and Vados, who are destroying planets while Beerus searches for the Super Saiyan God. They don’t want to alert him to their presence, but fortunately he’s too busy to notice them. The only ones who do notice are the Elder Kai and Kibitoshin, who deduce that Champa is looking for the Dragon Balls, but not the ones on Earth. Accordingly, Kibitoshin goes to New Namek to collect their Dragon Balls, thinking this will foil Champa’s plan.

Then it turns out that’s not what it was about at all, so Kibitoshin uses the Namekian Dragon Balls to dissolve his fusion. So now he’s Kibito and Shin again. This would be reflected in the anime, when we see these two in the Universe 6 arc. So I’m guessing this was thrown into show how that happened.

Meanwhile, Champa destroys a Frieza Force ship just as it locates a Dragon Ball. So apparently the Balls Champa are looking for are a third set. According to Garana, the commander of the ship Champa destroyed, these Dragon Balls are enormous. The Frieza Force’s leader, Sorbet, is more concerned with the disappearance of another platoon of his troops. This convinces him that their only hope is to resurrect Frieza.

Meanwhile, some sort of Battle of Gods happens. Goku turns into a Super Saiyan God, but he can’t beat Beerus, yadda yadda. In the movie, Beerus blew up a small piece of the Earth to satisfy his word. In the anime, Beerus faked falling asleep so he could spare the Earth without looking like he’d changed his mind. Here, he just decides to spare the Earth, at least for the time being.

So yeah, that’s about it. The art is great, but it’s nothing we haven’t seen before. These four chapters are saddled with recapping a movie while also setting up events in Res F and the Universe 6 arc, neither of which needed a lot of prologue to begin with. I mean, seriously, Resurrection F starts with Sorbet deciding to wish back Frieza. The Universe 6 arc starts with Champa arriving on Beerus’ planet and stating his business. It’s not that complicated.

#dragon ball #dragon ball super: the manga #2023dbapocryphaliveblog #goku #beerus #whis #vados #champa #kibitoshin #supreme kai #kibito #elder kai #vegeta #mr satan #goten #piccolo #dende #king vegeta #sorbet

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conundrumoftime · 7 months

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Twenty questions for fic writers

From a few people!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

At the moment 59 under my name, plus a couple of anonymous ones for fic exchanges that haven’t hit the author reveal date yet.

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

345,058

3. What fandoms do you write for?

At the moment: Rings of Power, Silmarillion and LOTR. My other big fandom is Babylon 5, although my much-loved WIP for that one is currently on hiatus.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

I don’t think these are my top 5 fics by a metric I care about given my love for small fandoms and obscure niche content alongside the Haladriel juggernaut stuff, but with that in mind:

- Shadow-Bride, my big Haladriel WIP, my baby, my love, my precious;

- A man is a god in ruins, my first multi-chapter Haladriel, which started life as a short ficlet to be the ‘+1’ of a 5 Things fic and took on something of a life of its own;

- Silver Queen, my first half-Maia Celebrian story - really I just wanted to give her enough half-Maia powers to blast ambushing orcs down a mountain;

- Five times Halbrand’s secret got revealed, my second (I think?) fic for Rings of Power. One of the scenarios turned into Shadow-Bride, and the +1 scenario in which Galadriel doesn’t learn his secret (well… arguably…) is ‘A man is a god in ruins’.

- Lady of the Seas, second part of a Haladriel two-parter; Haladriel smut with Sauron doing a lot of thinking about Ossë and Uinen.

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

I try to! I got behind at one point and had to declare temporary amnesty. I am so grateful for almost all (see answer to q8) the comments I get, and I love responding to either discuss things or just say ‘thank you’. I never manage to find time to do it as soon as I would like.

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

This would probably be one of my Babylon 5 ones - either ‘A spirit haunts the year’s last hours’, an AU drabble where the Minbari took Valen prisoner and now Delenn has her own pet god figure; or ‘MIssing’, about Delenn searching for Lennier after s5 and not finding him.

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

‘Tar-Mairon of the Shire’, a Rings of Power AU where the Harfoots really did find Sauron. Does what it says on the tin. My summary for this one is ‘Hobbits make everything better, including Dark Lords’ and I stand by that.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Yes! A ridiculous amount! I have had multiple comments inviting me to harm myself in various graphic ways over making the wrong fictional characters kiss. I get the most hate for writing Celeborn in a way the haters have decided is mean to him (?? he’s fine!) and particularly on my G-rated baby ficlets. Who can even fathom this, honestly.

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

I do, and mostly the ‘overly wordy’ kind.

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

I was going to say yes but apparently nothing I have on AO3 is a crossover and I can’t remember what I’ve written in my pre-AO3 days. So: yes I think so! once! But alas, can’t remember what.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not the whole fic in a copy/paste sense, but: yes. I won’t lie, it was pretty weird and unpleasant to discover, but once I’d got over the initial “?!” reaction I saw it a little differently - that kind of plagiarism was obviously coming from an author who was insecure in their own abilities, was deeply jealous of mine, and who ultimately was missing out on much of the actual fun of writing. What’s even the point of fanfic if you aren’t coming up with your own work? It’s not like we’re getting paid! How unsatisfying must it be to have readers like your work and know it’s actually someone else’s thing they’re liking anyway, right? So I ended up in a place of taking it as a compliment in the ‘imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness’ sense.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes - one of my Rings of Power fics got translated into Russian. I am very happy, and very impressed by the translator’s work.

13. Have you ever cowritten a fic before?

Yes and it didn’t go well and I nearly fell out with my co-writer friend over it because we had different schedules and different takes on the story, so: never again.

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

It’s probably one I haven’t even written for: Jack and Irina in Alias. It’s got everything I love about ships! They’re enemies working for rival organisations, they’re married, they try to kill each other, they can’t quite bear to do it, they have to sort out awkward co-parenting arrangements, they plot, they dance, there are stabbing attempts… honestly, SpyParents forever.

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

I plan to finish all my WIPs! I only have three at the moment: Shadow-Bride; Set Fire to the Stars (Babylon 5 pre-series Minbari worldbuilding with Branmer, who I love); and All The Kinds of Alive You Can Be (Rings of Power Sauron/Celeborn where Sauron shapechanges into Galadriel).

16. What are your writing strengths?

Especially these days (I’m a fandom old) I like that I’m happy to try writing new things based on thinking it would be interesting and I’d like to go with it, and not being intimidated by finding the fandom too scary or writing in a different direction to popular fanon or getting a baffled “that’s… nice… I guess?” reaction from my usual readers. I love writing Rings of Power Celeborn; I love writing fics about him raising half-Maia Celebrian; I get untold fury about this from a lot of the Twitter fandom youth, but I continue to have fun :)

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I have tons about my actual writing (dialogue, endings, failure to come up with titles I’m happy with) but along the lines of the above answer: I wish I was better at doing long multi-part fics, because the ones I’ve done I have had loads of fun with but I usually stick to one-shots because I don’t feel like the energy of the story will keep going long enough.

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

A few of my fics across fandoms have language as important, and specifically, different languages belonging to different people/who’s speaking and what they’re speaking in. My Silm-LOTR Galadriel/Celeborn fic ‘Softest of Tongues’ is a lot about Quenya and Sindarin, and how inadequate translation can be - one of the tags is ‘Sapir-Whorf hypothesis as a metaphor for the pain at the heart of your marriage’.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Poltergeist: the Legacy, back in the late 1990s. Fandom OLD. (I am glad none of those stories nor the forums they were written in have survived the ravages of internet time, I tell you.)

20. Favourite fic you’ve ever written?

I have a few and the thing they all have in common is ‘I am really pleased I was able to make this thing I like work’. So:

- Tar-Mairon of the Shire (Rings of Power), for combining hope and Hobbits and History of Middle-earth, in a way that is both fluff and also genuinely sincerely written Sauron redemption;

- Civil Twilight (Rings of Power), for getting Haladriel and Galadriel/Celeborn into the same fic and for a take on Celeborn I’m really happy with;

- Softest of Tongues (LOTR and Silm), for writing Galadriel/Celeborn in a way that got the exact right language-as-symbolism and the tone of sadness and love and hope and grief that I was trying to hit;

- Deceptions (Babylon 5), for being a short fic that still captures Lennier going from protective to horrified in realising how terrifying his boss is (and also for Delenn making Neroon bow to her)

- Things That Go Bump In The Night (Ghosts), because I was not sure if I could write comedy fic for a comedy, and it turns out I could!

Tagging: @bad-surprise @stitchingatthecircuitboard @liminal-zone @myrsinemezzo @ophidion @formerlyir @hazelmaines @wyrd-syster and anyone else who wants to do it!

#eyeofacat fic #eyeofacat writing process #babylon 5 #rings of power fic #rings of power #seriously though between the hate comments and the plagiarism fandom can be a deeply weird place #but writing is fun enough to make it all worthwhile :)

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nobodysdaydreams · 10 months

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1, 5, 32 and/or 71 for the ask game! Hope you’re doing well, don’t forget hydration and sleep!

At long last I am beginning to clean out the inbox. Thank you Katie for the hydration tip and for the asks!

(1) Do you prefer writing one-shots or multi-chaptered fics?

This is a hard one to answer. One shots (I consider anything less than 20k words a one shot because I have a problem, and I don’t think I can write real one shots😔), are easier in that they don’t take as long, and I can get the idea out, show you all my story, and get feedback relatively quickly. However, once a one shot is written, it’s written, and then it’s back the drawing board to come up with new ideas. Whereas with really long multi chapter fics, the idea keeps going, there’s always something new to think about, another “one shot” or character moment or twist to weave into the story, and I love seeing your reactions and how invested different people get into different subplots and storylines. What is frustrating about multi chapter fics is that there’s a lot of delayed gratification involved for me and for you as the reader, because I have twists and ideas in SOS that I want to show you and talk about and I can’t yet, because we’re not there yet, whereas for something like the Martina Redemption fic, it’s technically a multi chapter fic, but they’re short chapters, and I wrote it all over a long weekend. Whereas I’ve been writing SOS since January and rotating the idea for it since before I even got a tumblr so… yeah that’s over a year now dang. So I’d say multi chapter fics, with the acknowledgment that there is probably a balance to be had somewhere in between the two extremes. SOS is a lot of fun to write, but I don’t think I could commit to writing another huge multi chapter fic at the same time, whereas it’s a lot easier to balance multiple wips when they’re one shots.

5. Do you like constructive criticism?

Interesting question. About my writing or in general? For my writing I’d say yes, but so far I haven’t gotten any. Which might be a good thing, although I did say when I first started writing fic, “hey I’ve never done much or any creative writing before, so if you have any feedback on things I can improve, please let me know”, but I haven’t gotten anything yet so I guess that means I’m doing okay? At least I hope. As for criticisms of myself or my blog in general, I’d accept constructive criticism on that too, as long as it’s worded nicely and doesn’t trigger my RSD.

32. Name three of your favorite fanfic writers.

Ah, fishing for compliments I see /j /lh. But please do not make me choose so many of you are so good! I want to tag every fic author in the fandom, and yet I’m so paranoid I’ll forget just one or two people and would never forgive myself. So besides you @myfairkatiecat (obviously), I’ll say the authors whose stuff I’ve read the most recently: @sophieswundergarten (for her amazing Sticky fic I seriously cannot hype that one up enough), @phtalogreenpoison (the Reynie is Curtain’s prodigy AU is incredible), and @heyitsthatonesmolgay because I am waiting on the edge of my seat for the greatest fear AU it sounds so good (check out snippets here and here)!

71. When it comes to more complicated narratives, how do you keep track of outlines, characters, development, timeline, etc. ?

Very good question. For my longer stuff, I start with the scenes and moments I have pinned down in my head that inspired the fic, bullet point the scenes in chronological order, and then write in the details that go in between and ideas for how to get from bullet point A to bullet point B and how I can write in additional “one shots” or impactful and interesting character moments to make those transitions seem less like plot filler and more exciting and fun to read and have it add something to either the characters or the story. Then when I’ve already written part of my fic, I still try to keep track of unfinished plot threads, cliff hangers, or things I plan to explain later (e.g., What happened with Sticky’s parents? Where did Isaac and Lindsey go? What’s up with Miss. Perumal’s past?). As for the characters, I do try to take the time to flesh out minor characters, because you can do that a bit more in a novel vs. tv format, but I also try to make sure I keep the main characters interesting and don’t create an unbalanced plot. I’ve talked about this before, but an unbalanced plot happens in a lot of shows where a few characters have these big mysteries that the whole fandom is super involved in and then these other main characters either end up with filler or their character development gets backtracked and rerun because they don’t know what to do with their storylines (this was one of my season 3 worries when season 3 was gonna be a thing and you can click the link to read more if you’re curious). I try to make sure all the main characters get some focus, and I also do that by letting some characters establish themselves before I start writing about other ones. For example, in SOS, that started as mostly Curtain and his friends, I establish a sense for their dynamic, and then Nicholas and his friends came into the story, and I’m slowly bringing more focus on Rhonda and Number Two, and as I’m going into season 2 I plan to write a lot more with Number Two especially, because of all the time she spends with Curtain and Nicholas in the compound.

I hope this answered your questions and thank you so much for the amazing asks (and yes, I will be drinking water). I hope you have a wonderful day! 🥰🥰🥰

#Bod's Answers #Thanks for playing!#And yes I'm hydrating #And I'll get to the rest of my inbox soon!#You all are amazing and I appreciate you all very much!#mbs fanfic #ask game #mbs ask game #fanfic ask game

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namelesspastel · 9 months

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Once Bitten....: Chapter 1

Hello! I'm Pastel, a Sasaki to Miyano fanfic writer. You can find me on AO3 under namelesspastel. This is the first chapter of one of my (personal) favorite stories I've written. Enjoy!!

In this world, vampires exist. No, they don’t exist like they do in the movies or in fiction, but they are real.

It’s been found that via modern science that rather than being bitten or something along those lines, vampires are actually just humans that go through a genetic mutation in the womb. Whatever mutation that is, causes vampirism; the need to drink blood to survive, a slow aging rate making them seem almost immortal, sensitivity to sunlight and heightened physical and mental abilities. Pure-blood vampires always need to drink blood directly from a living being in order to survive.

There are two ways vampires come to exist; a vampire is born between two vampires and a vampire is born between two humans – the baby have mutated before birth. These vampires are considered pure-blood vampires, and the older the vampire linage, the more pure they are considered.

The other way vampires come into existence is by a human and a vampire having a child. The child has about 50/50 chance of becoming a human or vampire, the with the first stages showing in young childhood – approximately around three to four years old. The child will typically show one of the following signs: a need for blood, heightened sensitivity to sunlight, or remarkable athletic and academic prowess. If any of those appear, there’s a good chance the child is a half vampire, a dahmpire, a creature that can live off of both human food and blood.

Some dahmpires need more food than blood and some need more blood than food. Some can take in blood packs, some need it directly from the source. They might not be as athletic or as smart as a pure-blood but they typically do better than humans. They also aren’t as sensitive to the sun as pure-bloods. But no vampiric person is a morning bird.

There are some cases – very, very few – in which a person with a human parent and a vampire parent doesn’t awaken in the early stages of childhood and rather, awakens in the early to late stages of adolescence….

My name is Yoshikazu Miyano, I’m a third year in middle school and I just got my first craving for blood.

***

I knew that there was a chance I could become a vampire – my father is one after all – but having gone through all of primary and almost all of junior high without a single inkling of wanting blood or any of the other signs (aside from being a night owl but I am a teen in junior high, that’s normal), I thought I was in the clear.

But all that came crashing down when one of my classmates cut themselves on some paper. It wasn’t a serious wound, but did it bleed. And all I could think about was how it would taste.

Needless to say, I freaked out and went home early that day. Despite my parents best efforts, I’ve been stuck in my room since. That happened at the beginning of July. It’s almost September now and I still haven’t stepped foot in my school.

I spent my time reading manga and surfing the net. While I was idly looking through some blogs, I came across one that had a band I recognized from a drama I had watched recently. The blog itself was simple, it wasn’t very eye-catching and to be honest, the person running the blog didn’t seem that interested in posting daily, but their posts when they did make them really showed just how much they enjoyed music and the bands they were writing about.

Working up my courage after a few weeks of checking the blog out, I made an account and posted a comment. It hadn’t been anything serious, just a simple comment saying how I had come across the band myself. I hadn’t expected a response and yet, within an hour of me posting that comment, I got an email saying there had been a reply. I was curious and checked and found that the owner themselves had responded to my comment. They had responded enthusiastically about the drama and asked if I had heard any of their other works. And just like that, I started regular contact with the owner of the blog.

We only talked through email, but I did learn a few things. They were my senpai, a year older so a first year in high school. They had started the blog simply because their friends had said they should. Apparently their friends said they needed a hobby and music was something they already liked so it was easy enough. One of the reasons they had replied to my comment was because I was a name they hadn’t recognized. Most of the people who left comments were their friends from school who knew about the blog or bots.

I told them about how I had stopped going to school since July and how I was afraid of going back. It was easier to tell a stranger, someone who I couldn’t see physically, and get across my true feelings about the matter. I didn’t ever bring up the whole dhampire thing though. While vampires were accepted in society as just commonplace, I was still struggling with the fact that I was one now. I played it off as simply a form of anxiety, which in a way it was.

Hmm… that does sound tough. I get that though. It can be hard to return after making a scene like that. Kinda like a you missed your moment kinda thing. Did you talk to the person from school? Get their opinion on it?

No… I never thought to reach out. I was just so freaked out, I hadn’t even thought about what my reaction was like to them…

Were you close?

Hmm… I wouldn’t say we were close but they sat next to me in class. We talked sometimes. They were in the art club and asked me to model for them a few times. I turned them down, though.

Ooh? Could I actually be talking a beauty this whole time without knowing it?

No comment.

ww don’t worry about it, I’m kidding. Anyway, since you stopped going to school, I’m assuming that means you aren’t thinking about high school?

… I don’t know. I mean… I do want to go to high school but… what if the same thing happens again? What if someone gets hurt and I freak out again? I’m scared I won’t be able to stop myself…

Well, I can’t tell you not to worry about it. But maybe it might be good? A change of pace. A different school with a different set of people. If you pick one that’s kinda far away, there’s a chance that people from your school won’t even go there. Or maybe you can pick one of those all one gender schools? That way even if you did run into someone, at least you’d know you’d be on the same level.

“Huh…” I said softly, reading senpai’s message. I hadn’t thought of that. An all boys school a bit far away… there was one that I’d had my eye on. It was about three stations away, and also allowed students to live in dorms. If need be, I thought I could ask my parents to let me stay in the dorm but with my awakening the whole idea of high school had been thrown out the window. But maybe they were right. A change of pace might be a good idea after all.

“But can I even get into high school anymore…?” I pondered aloud. My grades had been good enough before I stopped going to school but I wasn’t sure if I could keep up now. “Hmm… I wonder if this awakening would help me with that… but if I’m serious about this I should probably–” I was cut off by a knock at my door.

“Yoshi-kun?” My mom called, slowly opening the door and peeking inside. “Do you have a moment?”

“Sure. What’s going on, mom?” I asked, closing my laptop and focusing on her. She nodded and came in, sitting on my bed beside me.

“Well, your father and I have been discussing some things… do you still want to go to high school? Or would you rather just stop at middle school? As long as you have your compulsory education, it should be fine but…” She paused and took a breath before giving me a soft smile. “Sorry, I didn’t mean for that to come off like I was a pressuring you.”

I shook my head. It was fine, I knew my extended absence from school was probably causing my parents a lot of stress, even if they did understand what was going on.

“Anyway, we’ve been discussing things like I said and we came across some schools that are specifically for vampires. While you might only be a half, I don’t see why they wouldn’t let you in. Your grades from before were a little on the low side for this type of school but if you attend cram school, I think you’ll just about make it…” She said, shuffling some papers she had in her hands. I hadn’t noticed them before and a quick glance told me that they were brochures.

“Actually mom… I’ve been thinking about it and…”

***

Senpai! Sorry I haven’t been responding lately. Things have been a bit hectic. Thanks to your advice, I talked to my parents and decided to go to high school! For now, I’m just going to attend cram school – kind of as a way to play catch up and see where I am. Depending on how that goes though, I think I might actually return to school. I’m still kind of scared if I’m being honest...

Hey! Long time no speak! That’s great about you moving forward, I’m glad I could help, even though I don’t think I did much ww as for the whole returning back to school thing… I think it’s really brave of you. Really. From what you said, that moment was really scary for you but it seems like you’re doing better now. I think if it’s you, you’ll be able to do it. Actually, I don’t think, I know.

… thank you, Senpai. For everything up until now. Um, I’m going to be busy now but is it okay if I still message you from time to time? It… it really helps.

Of course! Message me whenever you feel like. It can be about anything. I really enjoy our little chats.

If you enjoyed that (or if it just caught your interest at all), feel free to read the rest here!

#sasaki to miyano #sasaki and miyano #miyano yoshikazu #sasaki shuumei #sasamiya #ssmy #fanfic #writing #vampire au

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aritamargarita · 2 years

Text

ATTITUDE || 010

WAKE UP BABE ARITA JUST POSTED ATTITUDE!! BY POPULAR DEMAND! i keep lying y’all… im sorry but here it is. look, tinier text! i kind of like this better?? that’s right folks i revised this entire chapter LOL you won’t be sorry…

tbh i don’t know where we are omfg i just know what episode we’re basing this, which is smackdown 11/22/2001, (which now that i look back i really messed up chronologically but AHHHHHHHH) oh well, im gonna do shows randomly ill jump from november to august if i have to omg

HOWEVER, you are starting to get regularly scheduled matches yessss. also ive noticed i accidentally kinda made the alignment heel-ish but at the same time leaning towards face?? tweener? tweener… i would also like to add that your moveset is like a mix of like liv morgan and sasha banks? maybe a SPRINKLE of alexa bliss???? fuck what anyone says YOU CAME FIRST YOU WERE THE BLUEPRINTTT wwe 2k22 stays on during writing

IM SPLITTING THIS UP BECAUSE ITS A LOT! this is 1/2, so keep your eyes peeled for #2. get hype for your match + lita takin you out to get smashed. (there’s something she needs to tell you!)

BACKSTAGE // 6:50 PM

Upon stretching with Trish, you held up the letter she gave you with two index fingers. “This is yours, right?”

The women’s champion recognized the letter immediately and withdrew from her position on the floor, suddenly pacing around. “Yeah. I left it there for you. Didn’t know ya’ found it so easily, hahah!” She threw out her arms in a dramatic fashion.

..It was kind of easy to tell she was nervous, even if it was a little bit. But you couldn’t blame her. The anticipation of seeing if someone liked your gift was very heart-racing.

But rest assured, you thought it was a nice gesture! She had no need to worry.

“It’s very nice,” You comment, holding the letter in your free hand while stretching the other towards your foot. “—the design, I mostly mean. I didn’t open it just yet, but I’m going to get around to it. I have like a bunch in my bag, so I need some time to sort through.”

“Right, right...” Trish suddenly snapped her fingers, remembering something important. “I’ve gotta get ready for my match! It’s supposed to be messy tonight.”

“Messy?” You repeat, your interest piqued.

“Gravy bowl. Like, a pool of gravy.”

“Ew.”

“Exactly.” She laughed. “Oh well. I guess if I can have fun, it doesn’t matter what I do.”

“That’s the spirit, Miss Stratus,” You chime, standing up from your spot. “I’ll cheer you on from backstage, then I’ll just go home. I have literally nothing to do.”

“Huh? Don’t you have things to do today though?” She asked.

“...What?”

Trish shifted around in her bag for a moment before walking over and shoving a piece of paper in your face. “Read it, but don’t weep.”

Your eyes scanned down the lines of matches....

TEST VS. SCOTTY 2 HOTTY

STACY KEIBLER VS. TRISH STRATUS

CHRISTIAN VS. EDGE (INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE MATCH)

TAZZ VS. BIG SHOW

KURT ANGLE VS. UNDERTAKER

STONE COLD & [NAME] VS. CHRIS JERICHO

RVD & THE ROCK VS. THE DUDLEY BOYZ

Holy handicap match! Did they seriously schedule that? But considering the segment that happened between you three previously..you didn’t put it past them that they’d do that.

But not only that, your eyes kept going until you landed on some words that were in tinier font at the bottom of the paper. Your name was written in the “segment mentions” section. Was that always there? They must have just recently added it, because you sure as hell never noticed.

You had thought about one of the other matches too. How interesting was that, to see Christian go against Edge for his title...it was champion versus champion just to get another championship. You’d have to remind yourself to give at least the both of them words of encouragement.

But she was right. You did have a segment. They must have updated the list at the last minute because you had no clue that you were supposed to do something for your show TONIGHT. You thought it was next week, but instead they decided to push it earlier. Ugh.

“Huh, who would’ve thought, right?”

“Get your stuff together, hotshot.” She taunted, a smile on her face.

“Get your stuff together, champ.” You fire back, shifting to a much more comfortable spot to reach your own belongings. You shove the card (coupled with a heart shaped box) into her face much like she did to yours. “This is for you. Weep all you want!”

“Color me surprised.” She says, taking the card from your hand. “I didn’t know you actually got me something. Thanks a lot, I’ll take a look after my match. See you.” With a small wave, she departed the locker room.

You wave back. You also didn’t want to ask Trish to come in earlier than she was scheduled to, she already had enough on her plate with that gravy match or whatever. It was fine if she came next week. The question was what could you do in substitution for that?

Suddenly, it hit you.

You’re supposed to be a heel right? Sure, you switched sides and were supposed to turn face, but who says your mean streak has to come full stop?

Those letters could definitely give you some leverage, and of course give you fake heat backstage for the sake of cementing your role.

All you needed was fake envelopes, a lighter, and the acceptance from creative to burn stuff. Maybe even sign some sort of waiver. Doesn’t matter. You didn’t care if it was in a parking lot or during your slot. You needed SOMETHING to get the interest out of the crowd.

...Is this how villains think? Just thinking about how mean you’d be was almost hilarious! It was so unlike you but being the enemy was fun. Sometimes.

Thanks to your very rushed purchases, you noticed that out of at least 25 cards, 10 were duplicates of others. You were only going to return the favor of whoever gave you one, so the rest were just trash, technically.

You could burn those! Perfect.

Now that that was settled, you had to think about handing out more gifts. Whoever you saw first got their gift first. As soon as you exited the room with the bag, you bumped into someone.

“Oops, sorry. I was just going in there.”

It was none other than Lita, who seemed to have pop up at the right moment. At least you wouldn’t have to go too far. However...the Hardyz were nowhere to be found. You’d at least think they’d be a little ways from her. Either way, time to kill two birds with one stone.

But unfortunately, she didn’t seem too happy. You impulsively asked the first thing on your mind: “Are you okay?”

“I guess.”

“....” You frown, but give a small shrug. “I’m willing to hear you out if it makes things better?”

Lita says nothing in response, thinking about your offer. She let out a huff and drags you right back into the locker room. She did not let go of your wrist either. “I…..We got in a fight. All three of us.”

“All three?” You question.

“Me, Matt, and Jeff. Matt was yelling at Jeff for his “terrible decisions”, and that’s when I got mad and told Matt off about his.” She shook her head. “So stupid. I told Matt to leave me alone and I stormed out. Now here I am.”

“That’s rough,” You say. Was it really your place to give advice? The damage had already been done and besides, this wasn’t exactly your battle. “—I’m sorry to hear you guys were arguing. But I think I can make your day a little better.” You hadn’t even realized Lita’s grip on your arm until you moved it slightly. “First off, you have to let me go, haha.”

“Sorry.” She apologizes, letting go. She then used her now free hand to run through her hair.

“Funnily enough, I was actually leaving out to look for you and your little bodyguards.” You comment, reaching in your bag to hand over the loot, to which she looked shocked to see.

“...Seriously?” She almost thought it was a joke, eyeing you and the gift. But her suspicion immediately broke down into a smirk after realizing what you said earlier. “And my bodyguards? You don’t mean Jeff and Matt, do you?”

“Of course I do. But I guess I’ll find them on my own time. If you don’t make up that is.”

Lita wasn’t going to complain either. She wasn’t going to decline a present. “Thanks, [Name]. If you really want them to get these, then be sure to pass the message on to them too.” Much to her chagrin, she was happy to indulge you. It was the least she could do.

“You’re welcome.” You stare at her for a moment before walking forward and giving her a hug. She definitely deserved it. Even if she jokingly mentioned how clingy you were. Nevertheless, she accepted it and you two part.

“Hey,” She suddenly says, starting to open the box. “—are you busy after the show?”

“No, why?” You ask.

“I wanted you to go with me to a bar or something. I’m kinda stressed and I wanna have some fun.” She proclaimed, immediately digging into the chocolate.

An invitation to hang out?! You couldn’t decline, but if it’s a bar, you won’t be drinking much. It’s not like you were a lightweight or anything, it just wasn’t your style. “I don’t see why not.” You shrug, accepting. “Just us?”

“Yup. Just us. You want someone else to come?”

“No, no. Just was curious. I mean like...”

“I’m not inviting those two, if that’s what you think.” Lita clarified, closing the box. “Remember, we got in an argument, so..”

“Hah. Right.” You say, immediately shaking your head. It would be a pretty stupid to invite them after having a pretty hard argument.

If she wanted to hang out, then so be it. This would be the most action packed girls night ever!

At least you think it will be...

As you were making your rounds through the hallways, you noticed someone that you’ve been meaning to spark up a conversation with. “Ah! Hey! Christian..right?”

You call, leaning over beside him to get his attention. “We’ve met before. You called me short I think.. or was it tiny??” You trailed off, trying to remember what he said.

Christian stares at you for a moment, before snapping his fingers. “Oh yeah.” He turns to face you, a grin on his face. “I remember you! You’re that fan, right?” He jested. “The one who wanted an autograph.”

“Not even close...” You roll your eyes, crossing your arms. The smile on your face didn’t help at all. “I just came to wish you good luck on your match with Edge. I know you’re champion and all,” You motion towards his championship, unsure if you should touch or not. Ogling at it seemed okay, though.

“Is that so?” He asked. Man, he was one of the cocky ones, wasn’t he? Oh well, it’s not like you hadn’t dealt with this before! “Well, I appreciate it. I think you can get promoted to...hm...” He looks at you up and down quickly, trying to come up with a new nickname. “Got it. You’re promoted to, ‘Cheesy.’ Congrats, [Name]. Or should I say, cheesy.”

…What?

You were confused. What kind of nickname is cheesy? What the fuck does that even mean?? “Seriously? Why don’t you call me by my name?”

“Hah. I’ll think about it, seriously.” He says, taking off his belt to shine it with a cloth. “Coming out to watch like you did last time?”

“Am I allowed to?”

“Guess so. You’ve been there before, so I don’t see why they wouldn’t. Besides, I need someone to accompany me to the ring.”

Accompany him too? You’ll have to ask if it was alright to do that. Maybe you could even speak on commentary! That’d be fun. “Okay, then I’ll ask. But don’t be surprised if I don’t show up! I’ve got things to do.”

“Pretty disappointing then.” He admits, putting his finger on your forehead. “I’ll keep my eye out for you. If you can’t come out, I’m counting on you to watch backstage at least.”

You swat his hand. “Yeah, yeah! I’m sure you will be. We’ll see what happens. I can’t promise anything!” You hold your hands up in defense. “Are you nervous? I saw your match on the list and was thinking about how if either of you won, you’d be swimming in gold.”

“Not at all. I’m pretty confident, actually.” He hit his chest with his fist. “I’m pretty sure I’m gonna win tonight. I’ve got a trick up my sleeve.”

“A trick up your sleeve?” You narrowed your eyes, unsure of what he meant. Hopefully he wouldn’t cheat and instead pulled out some devastating finishing move. “I’m sure you do. Just don’t do anything stupid, okay?”

Christian gives you finger guns, saying nothing at all.

Which meant NO PROMISES.

“I should probably get ready now..” You say.

“Heh, looks like you talked so much, time just flew by.” He chuckled, adjusting the championship onto his waist and walking past you. “Get a move on, [Name].”

You nod before shaking your head. “Wait, did you just say my name? Where are you going?!”

Christian was just glad you didn’t ask how exactly he got this match. It was champion vs. champion after all. You just weren’t ready for that type of information. Had you known he and a few others beat him up...

It wouldn’t turn out well.

SMACK!DOWN // 7:13 PM

It’s time!

Your talk show segment was now. You jump in place as an attempt to ease your nerves in gorilla.

Personally, you never thought you’d get this far, let alone be so pushed. You prayed to whatever god that was out there that this would be all for naught, and you’d be left with little to nothing to do. People were a bit iffy on you and because of that, so it was VERY easy to incite a reaction from the audience.

Once you had made your way to the ring and grabbed a mic, you give a biiiig smile to the hard camera.

“Hi everyone!” You greet, and the crowd responds by roaring lightly. “Remember when I said something special was coming to Smackdown? Well, this it it!” You chime, taking a seat in your chair. “It’s me! I’m the special thing. No, no really. It’s this whole set, you see!”

‘Hey! It’s [Name]! And look what she’s doing..?’

You open your arms presenting the whole set, letting everyone drink it in. “Well, I hope you’re ready. This is...Time Out With [Name]!”

Upon raising your arms, balloons fell from the ceiling. It was definitely a pleasant surprise. What a fitting celebration! “I’m so excited! I hope you all are too. Now, you may be wondering, what’s in the bag, [Name]?”

‘..Sounds like she’s a little whacked in the head,’ JR says.

Jerry agreed. ‘Couple’a screws loose!’

“Well, I’ve got a lot of letters. I’m going to do the honors of reading you guys my very own fan mail.” You reach into it and pull out a letter. “This first one is from—“

Almost on cue, you were interrupted by familiar music. The lights dim, and you turn your attention towards the front. Here comes trouble.

Literally. The culprit was none other than Stephanie McMahon, the woman who was banished from the WWF the previous night. With a mic in her hand, she hastily makes her way to the ring. Of course, to make sure all the attention was on her, she wore the sparkliest garment possible.

She enters through the ropes, giving one look behind her one last time. You could tell she was on the verge of tears. “I-I’m not supposed to be here..but…!” Stephanie trails off, her voice cracking while the crowd had already begun to mock her.

All you could do was stare. Did she really just fucking interrupt you?! In the middle of YOUR talk show?!

She continues on. “..But I have to clear things up! And I knew you were going to have a talk show, [Name]! So please, talk to ME!” She begs, coming closer and grabbing your arm. You shake her off, but she’s still hopeful.

Some security they have, letting the “Billion Dollar Princess” in so freely. You scoff, holding up your mic. “Am I going to get in trouble for associating with you?”

“NO!” She squealed, immediately lowering her voice after she yelled at you. “N-No! I don’t think you will.”

You sigh, tossing the letter to the side for now. As it flutters to the ground, you exasperatedly threw your arm out. “Go ahead. Just say what you have to say.” You couldn’t believe she just walked out here. And to plead her case? This better be a good one!

Stephanie takes a deep breath. “I’m telling you, [Name]! No…!” She turns to the audience, doing a 360 as she points at everyone. “Y-You all saw everything!“ Then, she turns back to you. “You talked to my brother, he’s the mastermind! I just wanted to follow my in older brother’s steps!”

You hold up your hand, causing her to stop talking. “Uh, hey, Stephanie? What does any of this have to do with me? Genuine question.” The McMahons really were dragging you into this! You’re about to go kicking and screaming. “I know I was with you and Shane for a while, but you’d better go to someone else. I don’t think I can help you.”

Stephanie shakes her head. “You can! I just want my dad to see this. Him and everyone else need to hear my side of the story! Ask me anything! I’ll tell you the wholehearted truth!”

“Alright.” You say, shrugging. “Why’d you slap your own mother?” At this question, the crowd gasps. Stephanie was just as taken aback by the question, but bounced back quickly.

“Didn’t you hear me last time?” This time, she had a bit of attitude in her voice. “I said that Shane ordered me to do it. Did you seriously think I did everything on my own? I was naive, stupid. Everyone makes mistakes. Like you.” She says. “Remember? You took members of the Alliance out and joined the WWF? That was a mistake, right?”

“I mean…” You weren’t quite sure what to say. Well, you did, but you didn’t want to be too mean. “Those comparisons aren’t even remotely close. Besides, shouldn’t I be questioning you?”

Stephanie nods, letting it go for now. She’d do anything for forgiveness, and now that she’s hijacked came on your show, she felt like this could be her chance. “G-Go ahead.”

“Okay. Well, I’d like to just start with thank you for ruining what I wanted to do. I’ll just do it later.” You snidely remarked. “But now I’m curious. Why beg to stay when you know it’s over?”

She says nothing at your first comment, but walks a bit away from the center of the ring.

“I felt falsely accused and I felt as if I should’ve been given another chance. The thought of losing everything I have and…” She gags, covering her mouth. “Living in such..ugh, low-class ways makes me sick! I mean, can you imagine having to even drive yourself places? That’s what a chauffeur is for! [Name], when I got kicked out with my brother, we had to DRIVE all the way to the arena! Could you imagine having to do that everyday!?”

She’s..wow. Stephanie is definitely something. You just stare at her incredulously, but then bite back a sneer, instead replacing it with a smile. “No way! I couldn’t imagine that at all.”

“You get it! See, this is why I had so much faith in you when you were with us. You understand my problems and I’m glad I have the chance to talk to you!” Stephanie beams at you, happy that you’re sympathetic.

“Right. I’m sure it’s suuch a drag to y’know,” You pause, leaning on the ring ropes. “..do all the work by yourself?”

Double entendre? The crowd seemed to be laughing at how irritated you were and could completely understand. They felt the same way! Being so rudely interrupted after going to read the fan mail. Oh, the humanity!!

“Ugh, yes!” Stephanie walks towards you, fast enough so that you couldn’t even process what she was doing. “You get it! [Name], you’re the only one around here that has any sense!” She sticks out her hand. “Which is one of the reasons why I’ve come out here TONIGHT!”

What was she getting at?

“What do you mean?” You ask, looking at her in confusion.

“I want to be business partners!” There was no sign of tears whatsoever, her somber behavior quickly transforming into excitement. “You and me, kicking ass! I point, you destroy!”

“I don’t think that’s gonna happen.” You say, putting a hand on your hip. “I’m already partners Stone Cold Steve Austin,” Once you said his name, the crowd cheers. “Quite frankly, Stephanie, I have a feeling you wanted to ask that all along.”

She huffed, pulling away her hand. Her plan wasn’t going well and she knew as much. “No, it’s not just that. I really wanted to come here and plead my case. If I didn’t, you’d all think I’m some backstabbing bitch! I’d never do that. I’m really only…”

You join in on her sentence, the both of you talking in unison. “—A misunderstood young woman.” Nodding your head, you sigh for what must have been the thousandth time. “I don’t even know how they let you in here in the first place.”

“I snuck in.” She admits. “But c’mon. You’ve gotta think about it….please?”

And to make her happy so she’d literally leave you alone, you nod, holding out your hand. She shakes it, and that seals the deal.

Yeah, right. She interrupted your goddamn show!!

Letting go off your mic, you twist her around and tie her arms around her neck, giving her a Backstabber. The crowd pops at your attack, and you stand up from your spot, leaning over her.

“Try again next time.”

BACKSTAGE // 7:20 PM

The fact Stephanie had interrupted your talk show had made you upset. The thought of shaking her hand moreso. Once it had dawned on you, there was immediately a feeling of dread.

You had just “shook hands” with Stephanie McMahon. The witch, the conniving woman who’d rip your heart out if you ever made a mistake. And then you turned around and attacked her.

For some reason, you were scared. Scared of what she’d do with you in the aftermath. While she’d be out of the WWF for quite a while, you knew it would only be a matter of time before she returned.

What’s one way of relieving stress? By burning things, of course. You were going to set these letters on fire if it was the last thing you’d do. You had a cameraman with you in the parking lot. Your antics for the night were far from over.

“Before I was rudely interrupted, I wanted to talk about my letters. Unfortunately, I can’t do that.” You sigh. “I apologize to all my fans who wanted to hear my endearing voice read them out. Instead, I’d like to show an example.” You dump the rest of the letters onto the ground.

You go through your pockets, taking out a matchbox and removing ONE match. Quickly dragging it against the striker of the box, it flickers to life. You toss it over and the pile of letters are engulfed into flames. The camera turns over there for a brief moment, then back to you.

“I don’t think anyone understands that you’re all in my way! I don’t need any cheap ass letters to tell me that I’m great and amazing, that I am incredible and what have you.“ You say. “I’m not just some idiot who can’t work my way around the ring. I could out wrestle ANY of you, anytime of the week! And if you don’t believe me, come see me.”

While your message wasn’t long (you were told you had 10 more minutes), you thought it still got the message across. Anyone who wanted to mess with you was on their way to a world filled with hurt.

BACKSTAGE // 7:45 PM

And if it wasn’t for Stephanie ruining your show, the other devil on your shoulder had shown up just JUST THE RIGHT MOMENT.

Him. Yet again. Yet-a-fuckin-gain.

Jericho gives you a smirk, and the camera pans over to him. “Someone like you, burning letters. Never would have expected it. How’s my gift treating you? You must like it, given I haven’t seen it in the fire.”

“I wish you’d leave me alone.” You groan. “You’re always following me. And for your information, Austin actually threw it away for me!” It wasn’t true, but you just wanted to see his reaction.

You opened your mouth, but stop after realizing something important.

Back up a little bit. How exactly did Jericho know about your letters? You told no one about your plan and you made 100% sure no one was in the same parking lot while you did it.

"Wait a second." You say, waving your hand. "How'd you know what I burnt?"

His smug look turned into one of bewilderment. “I thought you knew already? Your best friend Torrie, she’s been running around talking about it.”

“She’s been WHAT?!” You look in awe and Jericho snorts at your reaction.“No, no, stop, what do you mean?”

“So much for being besties, huh [Name]? Well, she’s been saying you’ve been burning letters. She saw you do it out in the parking lot, now she’s telling whoever you’ve mentioned or whatever. I didn’t really care.” He muttered. “What you should be focused on, is our match.”

You simply roll your eyes. Oh yeah. You forgot that was a thing. Where’s Stone Cold when you need him?

Jericho comes closer to you. “And if you want, the Walls of Jericho doesn’t have to be the only hold you could be in tonight, sweetheart.”

You stare at him in disbelief for a second. How dare he say that to you?! Did he really think you’d go THAT low? And even try to imply you’d sleep with him? Absolutely not.

You had lifted your hand up to give him a hard slap across the face, resulting in the crowd gasping. Slapping him felt incredibly satisfying and he literally didn’t even know what hit him. The blonde brings up a hand to his now reddened cheek, scowling all the while you stomp down the hallway.

Him and his stupid match can sit in the back of your mind until the time comes. Until then, you’ve got some loose ends to tie up. Most importantly, you’ve gotta deal with Torrie (and maybe even Stacy, if she’s around. That’d just kill two birds with one stone. You technically weren’t “friends” anyway.)

So once you had seen a blonde woman just hanging around down the hall, all you found yourself rushing over there, ready to fight. “Hey!” You yell, setting your hand on her shoulder and turning her around roughly. “TORRIE—“

But this was not Torrie. In fact, it was actually Terri Runnels, who seemed scared that you abruptly turned her around like that. She held her hands up in defense and you can only sigh.

“Jeez, I’m sorry.” You apologize. “You’re…Terri, was it? Yeah, I’m really sorry.”

She gave you a nervous laugh in response, waving her hand. “Oh, it’s fine….” Before throwing her arms out. “Minus you scaring the hell out of me. What’s your deal!?”

“My ‘deal’ is that something really badhappened, and now I’m looking for Torrie. Have you seen her? You’re both blonde so I got you two mixed up. That’s my fault.” You felt incredibly bad for scaring her like that, but she should be thankful you didn’t just start beating her up first!

“Sorry sweetie,” She apologizes to you with a shrug. “Haven’t seen her at all today. What happened between you two?”

You sigh. It’s hard to explain what exactly went down. On the bright side, maybe Torrie hadn’t got that far. “Long story short, she’s been telling people something I did. And it’s a lie,” You add, which was another lie in itself… “One that might completely ruin my reputation."

“Well first off, you don’t go around threatening to beat people up.” She advised with a laugh. “Why don’t you try talking to her instead?”

“I feel like if talk to her, I’d drag her across the concrete.” You admit.

“Ivory should have put some of us into anger management classes…” Terri mutters. “Anyway, I still think you should try talking to her. No hostility, no…dragging her across the concrete.”

“I can try, but no promises.”

Definitely no promises.

SMACK!DOWN // 7:58 PM

Unfortunately after talking to someone about it, you couldn’t go out there for the match. You were a bit bummed out but they explained that you had a segment already and you’ve got a match coming up. They weren’t wrong, yes, you’ve got a lot to do tonight, but it doesn’t hurt to go back out one more time.

…..You just can’t believe this is your life now.

You’re definitely not complaining, but you never thought you’d get this far. It’s been a nice ride so far, which makes you wonder if the journey coming up will be hard.

“Hey, kid.” A familiar voice calls. “The hell you’ve been up to?” Stone Cold Steve Austin looks pretty beat up, holding his stomach as he speaks to you. “Heard ya’ been burning shit.”

“Noooo.” You groan. “It got to you?! She’s faster than I thought! And why do you look all busted?”

“I look busted because Regal and his little minions set me up in that ring earlier. How’dya not hear?”

You shrug. “I was focused on this whole Torrie thing..and if you got all beat up, shouldn’t you be resting?”

“I don’t have time to rest when we’ve gotta perform.”

There was a silence before you just decided to speak up. Funnily enough, him standing there literally felt like he was judging you, so you had to come clean. The tension broke you. “Yeah. I burned letters.” You admit, rubbing your temple. “I feel really really bad. And I don’t want anyone else to find out, but who knows how many people Torrie’s told?”

“I don’t see the problem with that.” Of course he didn’t, it was literally Stone Cold we’re talking about. “Ya’ just were disposing of crap you didn’t need.”

Crap you didn’t need? That definitely was one way to put it.

Austin continued on. “Don’t worry about the consequences. If people have an issue about what you do, let em’….and if they try saying otherwise, you take it to the ring.”

His and Terri’s advice were pretty different. To fight or not to fight….

“I’ve been doing things the way I like for years.” Austin reminded. “The consequences don’t faze me. People don’t faze me. Ya’ gonna let them mess your brain up.” He points to his head. “They get inside your head and take advantage of it. Instead of letting em’ do that, you hit first. So, how about it?” He says, patting your back harshly. “We get into that ring, kick that little pretty boy’s ass, then go home.”

“Yeah!” You sure as hell were. It was a good idea too. Maybe that match would get some of your pent up anger out. “And that’s the bottom line!”

You waited for him to continue his own line, but he looked at you as if you were stupid. “Sorry. I couldn’t help it.”

He shakes his head. “We’ll have to work on that. Get it together, [Name]. We can’t lose.” And he leaves it at that, simply leaving you with your own thoughts. Did Debra tell him to talk to you?

His words made you nervous, rightfully so. What would happen if you did lose? Would he be upset at you? Worse, you’d lose a teammate! Even more scarier that Stephanie wanted you to align with the McMahons..that couldn’t bode well.

It would make sense with you joining out of spite incase he betrays you, but after that, then what? Would creative just shelf you for now? Would you have to do gimmick matches? They were already a strong “stable” on their own, so someone else being added was a bit crazy in your opinion.

The idea of not knowing what came next kinda made you uncomfortable. Even if you should have been used to it in WCW (where things were WAY more disorganized), the feeling just made you feel icky.

“[Name]!” You immediately recognize that voice as Edge. A smile grows on your face as he approaches, but he doesn’t seem happy. And here came those cameras you knew oh so well.

“What’s wrong?”

He looks at you incredulously. “You’re seriously asking me what’s wrong? That’s just great.”

There’s gotta be something you’re missing here. “What are you talking about?”

“You should know what I’m talking about. Burning anything ring a bell??”

Oh fuck.

You had no idea what to say, you open your mouth but quickly shut it. Okay, maybe Torrie was well within the right to tell on you, but that wasn’t her place at all, damn it! Now they’d know you burnt everything! That you didn’t care about them! The only person you cared about was yourself.

In other words, the seeds were being planted!

The cameras were on you again, so you wanted to make this as dramatic as possible with him. “I just…it wasn’t like that at all, you’ve gotta..I didn’t mean it at all.”

“You didn’t?” Edge looked at you and you finally thought he would understand. That all would be well. “You didn’t mean it. Okay. It just gets worse, huh? The least you could do was check on me when I got beat up out in the ring earlier.”

“Wait, huh?”

“Didn’t know that, did you?”

No, no you didn’t. You couldn’t even defend yourself, so you decided to pull out the next best excuse.

“I’ve got my own match to focus on! I didn’t know! You can’t blame me for not watching….” It was going to have to do. “I couldn’t come out..”

Yet, he still wasn’t buying it. “With what partner? Stone Cold’s already been ambushed too. You must have not saw that either. Maybe try paying attention more next time. Man, this day just gets better and better. Continuously betrayed by my own brother, then I find out someone I’ve been interes….” He stops himself, coughing into his palm. “Someone I’ve been friends with, couldn’t care less about me.” He stared at you for a minute before turning around to leave.

“Wait a damn minute! You can’t just leave. And besides, I already saw him all beat up! Maybe if you were as good as him, you’d be raring and ready to go!” You yell, stomping right behind him. “But no! You’re running away!”

“Just shut up already, [Name].�� He says, continuing his way down the hall.

This time, you didn’t follow, a new feeling of anger burning in your veins. The moment you lay your eyes on Torrie, IT IS ON.

hey! hey you! if you’ve made it to the end, YAY! thanks for reading and sticking around!! im working on fixing the spacer so it’s brighter pls bare with me. steve austin + reader duo is going to go on for a bit longer me thinks. *gives you both the tag team titles because i can*

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