#why do you think i don't update my WIPs anymore?

[fiveredlights]

Okay I need to know things from literally ALL of the wip’s 😂

But I guess the ones that intrigue me the most are the post AUS2024 fic, the alternate Vegas 2023 story and the lmao daniel retirement fic!!

But like I said, I want to know all things lol! You are like one of my favourite authors ❤️

P.S. please feel no pressure to update, write or anything. Take your time

beth you ask and i will dutifully answer, gonna put everything under the cut because this is a long post 🫡

snippets: ausgp 2024/you're on another path

so fun fact about this one i wrote it post quali, and i had planned to post it after the race was done so i a "pre-wrote" two endings. i wasn't going to because i was gonna be like "oh max will win but something bad might happen to daniel" so i had this ready to go:

and i was sitting in the grandstand watching max's car explode in the pitlane and all i could think about was "did i do this. again" and honestly who knows.

Daniel’s already lying down face first on the bed when Max makes it back to their hotel room. He’s been doing it a lot recently after races, opening the door to their hotel room and just starfishing on the bed, unmoving until Max gently coaxes him to actually sleep. 

God, if his twenty-something year old self could see him now. 

Yeah, you’re back at the team you started with—no not HRT, that’s gone now, yes the Red Bull—not junior—sister team. The Red Bull seat? Yeah, not yours anymore, and it’s looking like it’s gonna stay that way. No, no podium at your home race, more like qualifying P18 because you were an idiot and drove over track limits. Points? Well, you had a good chance but I guess luck just wasn’t on your side yet again. 

Oh, and that young and upcoming driver from the Netherlands? Yeah, he’s your boyfriend now—surprise, you’re gay! And he’s a three time world champion, but that’s probably not important. 

Any one of those things would’ve sent Daniel into hospital, but all of those things combined? 

Early death. 

snippets: las vegas 2025/bonus fic reimagined

(i'm going to assume you mean las vegas 2025 and i'll give you both)

Max isn’t winning right now. 

He couldn’t really tell you why. 

Plenty of pundits, fans, strangers on the street have stopped him and asked him to dissect why he hasn’t won a championship in the past two years. He gives them a hastily PR trained and approved answer that seems to be more conscious in his mind now than before and cracks a well timed joke he’s sure his teammate would be proud of. 

Then Daniel comes along and will say, “Max already has three, he’s got to leave some for the rest of us!”, and the conversation will usually move on quickly after that. 

He knows that Daniel isn’t the sole reason for his non-winning ways right now, but when the eventual news of their relationship happens to drop, there’ll be dissections for days on if Daniel plays a part in Max’s performance right now. 

The last time Max hadn’t won a championship was when Daniel Ricciardo was with Red Bull, surely there’s some connection there?

snippets: las vegas 2025/don't read the last page

(Max is italics, Daniel is not.)

Max 🩵

July 31, 2025

...

I may have accidentally 

I swear it was an accident 

Like I pinky promise swear to our first born child

Don’t bring Matilda into this

Did you murder someone

What

Why is that your first thing

You are making a big deal out of it

Like bigger than the podcast you did in January

So I have to assume you murdered someone

Okay well it’s not murder but nice to know you think I’m capable of it

Daniel

I forgot to take off my wedding ring and wore it in the paddock and people saw and I got asked about in the press conference 

They definitely thought I was just engaged so I guess that’s just a silver lining

And you have a bet with Lando over when I was going to accidentally do this

Which is rude because I would never do the same to you Maxy

You literally have a bet with Fernando over if I’m going to slip up and say husband in an interview

How do you know that

And he’s Fernando you know you can’t say no to him

Daniel

When you came out you literally posted a photo of me on your Instagram

The whole paddock knows we are married

Half of them went to our wedding

About 85% of fans think we are in a relationship because you keep on teasing them with photos that is definitely me

Is it so bad that we just say yeah we’re married

We are literally about to have a kid

Okay well when you put it like that

I guess you’re right 

I know

I’m always right

snippets: lmao daniel retirement

They asked him if he wanted a big farewell thing, like they had done with Sebastian and Kimi a couple years back. 

He’d almost said no until Lando pulled a face and said “Mate, people’s last memory of you driving can’t be you heading to the pitlane again.” 

So he agreed. Told Blake to tell them to keep it minimal. No standing on giant mockups of his face during the national anthem or whatever. 

#wip game #maxiel #five writes #queued #daniel retirement au #don't read the last page #you're on another path

[bloodlegacies]

LOOKING | HAYDEN ELKAR

So, I said I would bring it and I did, although a little late, but here it is! Hayden's point of view of that scene. However, I won't be accepting headcanons for a little while longer, then I'll see if I bring some more POVs, depending on what you guys want, of course, and maybe I'll do a poll about it. At the moment, I'll be focusing on writing my other wip because I'll also bring an update for it this month, and then another update for Blood Legacies. Anyway, thank you for your attention and enjoy!

____________________________________________

Looking.

Hayden wasn't anxious, no, not at all. That would be ridiculous, although they were always honest, even with themselves, they were not willing to admit to that. No, not at all, they still had a reputation to uphold.

However, they couldn't help but look around, their blue eyes trying to find someone who was definitely more interesting than the vultures around them. They ignored the meaningless conversations and flirtatious attempts of those around them, and as much as Hayden enjoyed flirting and hooking up with some people, these past few weeks they could only think about one person, and that person hadn't arrived yet. Hayden gave fake smiles to those who tried to talk to them, and it seemed to distract them, and they smiled back and puffed out their chest as if they were proud of it, as if any of them were worthy of their attention.

They were distractions, and nothing more than that, annoying distractions that on other days, Hayden wouldn't hesitate to please, just to have someone to distract their mind from the pressures and suffocating days, just to focus on something, even if only for a moment and only physically. Hayden wasn't a puritan, after all, and it annoyed their father that they weren't virgins anymore, so why not enjoy it? Irritating him has always been one of their favorite pastimes. It was petty, they knew. But their father knew exactly how suffocating he had been, how much pressure had been placed on their shoulders every day.

You hadn't arrived yet, and Hayden tried to think of something else, but with every person that left the castle or the bushes, their eyes always went in that direction, just to have their hope crushed every time. They wondered if you would come, but it doesn't seem like it's going to happen anytime soon. Maybe Hayden can go to you? Their lips curved into a smile at the thought. It would be fun, especially imagining the expression on your face when Hayden appeared in front of your room, or maybe already inside...

Hayden could think of things to do, to try, but they wouldn't dare to be too bold. As stupid as they may be, they didn't want to make you uncomfortable, and they know that some boundaries must be kept, although Hayden wished to break them as soon as possible. There was a wall between you, albeit a small one, Hayden hopes. They want so badly to destroy it, this little barrier, and maybe this fake relationship thing that you proposed (which brings an even bigger smile to their lips, thinking that you chose Hayden for it) is the key to that. They think, many times, about how it would be to hold your hand, how your lips would feel, how it would be to taste them, how it would be if...

Wait, those are...

You were here, you... were holding Cecilia's hand? Hayden furrowed their brow and stared at you. They can't help it. Feeling tense at the sight. You wouldn't... no, that would be silly. You wouldn't regret choosing them, right? You wouldn't change your mind and choose Cecilia instead, would you? Hayden clenched their jaw and couldn't stop a small spark of insecurity from arising within them, okay, maybe a little more than a spark, not that they would admit it out loud. Hayden couldn't help but think that maybe it's not possible anymore, that maybe you don't... They shake their head, no. But it wasn't just that, it was... You, holding Cecilia's hand amidst everyone there, showing everyone that factor, without fear, without hesitation. Hayden would be lying if they said they didn't want to be in Cecilia's place, they would be lying if they said they didn't want you to have that courage with them. They wanted to be the ones whose hand you held, and they weren't. But it was meant to be, you had proposed the idea of a... fake relationship, but still...

They realized moments later that it was jealousy, pure and simple. And this fact almost made them want to melt right there, and for a moment they felt ashamed. They shouldn't feel this way, not about you, not when you weren't officially together, you were free to do whatever you want, with whoever you want, and yet... Hayden knew exactly what they were feeling, and they weren't afraid of it, but maybe you are, and a part of them would love to tell you the truth right in your face and try to make you confront it instead of avoiding it, but it's too early. And they knew that you needed time.

They felt their lips, which were previously closed in a thin line, curve into an involuntary smile. Of course, of course they feel jealous. They wouldn't be afraid to show it, but they fear that maybe their methods of calming this feeling within them would be too much for you. Hayden thought of a few things, they thought of going to you, of placing a hand around your waist, of touching your face, your cheek, your lips... right in front of everyone, just to make it clear that you were with them, to make it clear that they...

Your eyes met theirs, and Hayden held their breath.

Too soon. Too early.

They stare at you from the other side, and you don't look away, remaining unchanged, staring at them as if it were a challenge, but there was a touch of confusion there, a small touch, and then you avert your gaze.

They could wait, Hayden thinks, the heart that raced within them was impatient, but their mind wasn't.

You would leave tomorrow, and Hayden wanted to go as well, with you, to at least ensure that you would be okay, no matter how silly it was to think that way, after all, you knew how to fight and take care of yourself, but a part of them still wanted to protect you from getting hurt and to make sure you would return safely, but they knew their father wouldn't allow it, and undoubtedly there would be guards following Hayden for the entire time you were away, even if their father didn't know about the little arrangement between the two of you, he knew that they might try to anger him and go on the mission without authorization.

He wasn't wrong.

Hayden tried to distract themselves with the trivial conversations the others around them were having, and they didn't dare to look at you for a while, until they felt the eyes on them. Normally, Hayden knew that there would always be eyes on them, after all, they were attractive in many ways, but this gaze was different, and they recognized you the moment you stepped towards them. Hayden feels themselves getting a bit tense, and dismisses the onlookers, waiting until you reach them, and they can't help but say... "You know, when we agreed to have this thing between us, it was supposed to be as a couple, and not you holding hands with someone else." Not them, that's what they really wanted to say. They changed their minds, they don't like feeling jealous, but since when do they hold back from speaking their mind?

Okay, maybe for you, they will. And a tiny bit for their own pride.

Oh, they were so confused.

#Pov Hayden #blood legacies #wip #short stories

[clawbehavior]

zero context WIP game! thanks for the tags @killerandhealerqueen and @fourth-quartet 🥰🥰

i'm playing fast and easy with the rules of this one (which you can find here). instead, you'll find numbered snippets from a bunch of WIPs i am 75-90 per cent done but ambivalent about which to update first. gahan readers, what interests you most?

--

1. even gods can't change the past

gaon stares listlessly at the stickers lining the base of the night lamp. despite repeated disinfectings, they haven't come off, dinosaurs, trucks, sparkly muffins. things he had put there to make their hospital stay livelier. 

'i guess we're even now,' soohyun says, quiet and mostly to herself. 

gaon thinks for a while. 'chief jo?' he guesses. soohyun had a girlish fascination with her mentor that in turn made the normally gruff man go tongue tied. 

'what -- no. jishin,' she says as if this explains anything. when gaon looks over at his wife sitting on the bed beside him, she looks guilty, sad, and relieved. the guilt is most prominent. 

'what --' says gaon, having to swallow because his mouth is suddenly dry. 'are you talking about?'

----

2. unnamed modern strangers in a bar au

the stranger backs gaon up until he hits the brick wall behind them, none too gently. but the man pays no attention to this. he looks at gaon with desire both ferocious and unyielding. 

'this husband of yours,' says the stranger angrily, sliding his hands into gaon's thick hair and keeping them there. 'you talk about him like he walks on water but he's only a man.'

'he's my world,' replies gaon breathlessly, eyes fixed on the man's mouth. then the stranger is kissing him. 

---

3. omega spin-off of enantiomers

gaon spins in yohan's arms so they're back to chest, before sensuously dragging himself down yohan's front until he's crouched at yohan's feet. yohan's hands tighten around his when gaon looks up at him from the floor, smilingly and with heat. 

'that look is why i put a baby inside you the first time around,' yohan says, stroking gaon's hands. there's a hint of warning to his tone. and desperation. he can't be held responsible for what he does if gaon keeps this up. 

gaon laughs delightedly.

of course, that's when the bedroom emits a wail that filters down the hallway and into the living room.

--

4. everything everywhere all at once

soohyun's eyebrows go up in shock. 'you still love him,' she says accusingly. 'not just that -- you want to go back to him. your parents died because of kang yohan!' she yells this last part, stomping her feet in enraged helplessness. 

'good people die without good reason,' gaon replies, feeling his cheeks redden.

she looks at gaon like he's grown another head. 'are you listening to yourself right now? you'll forgive kang yohan, and for what? he broke your heart. you were devastated for weeks!'

'i'm not selfless, soohyun-yah. not like you,' gaon replies, voice cracking. he searches for the words, pulling them from deep inside him. 'after appa died, i kept the restaurant open to prove that i could. helping people came after. but i can't do it anymore. i can't keep dragging on like everything is normal when seeing how fucked up everything is is destroying me.'

soohyun visibly swallows her words, letting gaon finish. 

'i hurt,' gaon whispers, 'all the time. i'm so angry. it's like looking into an abyss but now it looks back at me. being with yohan makes me feel safe, like i'll survive this. like there's more to living than just pain.'

soohyun hunches over at the knees and hugs herself. 'why does it have to be kang yohan?' she says miserably.

'i don't know.' gaon approaches, choreographing his intent. he pulls her into a hug when she doesn't resist. 'it's fucked up. i'm fucked up but i miss him terribly.'

'what if he breaks your heart again?' she sniffles against gaon's chest, voice going flat with inevitability. 

'he might,' gaon admits, squeezing her in final consolation. 'but i'll go my whole life regretting it if i don't try.'

--

5. elevator troubles

‘bujangnim?’ gaon asks, knocking on the heavy wooden door for appearance’s sake before striding in. but yohan’s not there.

the sound of his harsh breathing fills the office. he makes his way over to where late afternoon sunlights spills through the floor to ceiling windows and stares at the traffic twenty stories below, tiny trucks and tinier people. 

he's livid. if he could, he would shatter every single window of this ministry building with the frequency of his rage.

a hand slips over his eyes, cooling their heat and blocking his vision. a body follows behind. 

‘shhh,’ rumbles yohan in gaon’s ear, moulding himself around gaon, silken wool and heat and support everywhere. his other hand lands on gaon's chest, over gaon's fast beating heart. 

gaon’s only reaction is a hitch in his breathing. his muscles remain tightly coiled, his hands clenched in fists at his sides.

'he told me that my parents would be proud of me for doing the right thing,' gaon says with long pauses between into the red blackness. 'when he -- when he was the one who helped doh young choon --' he breaks off with a stifled sound, enraged.  

yohan's joyless chuckle rumbles through gaon's body. 'min jung ho is a viper.' his inflection doesn't change when gaon grabs his wrist. 'down to his venomous words.'

'what gives him the right,' gasps gaon, eyes turning wet with frustrated tears under yohan's palm. he presses back into yohan's body. 

'none,' says yohan simply. 'just as he has no right to dispense justice.'

'i want to hurt him, so, so badly,' gaon confesses, pulling yohan's hand away. 

‘we will,’ says yohan. 

future promises aren't enough. gaon whirls around. 'now, yohan.' he pushes the unresisting older man backwards until yohan's thighs hit the heavy oak table. 'i want to destroy him now.' 

---

6. my heart goes back to you, i just don't know

trigger warning, beware.

jung sunah pulls gaon’s face up with a fistful of silky, dark hair. gaon’s pupils are blown wide. yohan catches a peek of red tongue as gaon swallows, sweat beading along the younger man’s temple. yohan knows this expression from when he looked into the mirror all those weeks ago after jung sunah had ambushed him. 

she drugged gaon.

yohan watches with a foreboding feeling as jung sunah simply stares at gaon. the hunger on her face is…not good. she cocks her head, hand traveling to gaon’s panting mouth. yohan watches her fit two perfectly manicured fingers, nails painted rouge into the seam of gaon’s mouth; feels somehow worse when gaon doesn’t resist. 

‘he’s nothing! a means to an end,‘ barks yohan. he sounds affected because he is. he knows what’s happening here, what jung sunah is making him a bystander to.

she ignores this. ‘you know, i never liked giving blowjobs,’ she says conversationally. ‘they’re demeaning. the power differential is obvious. men enjoy it.’  she tilts gaon’s face up using the fingers in his mouth.

gaon pants heavily, eyelashes turning wet as he blinks slow and hard. ‘seeing kim pansanim on his knees makes me understand the appeal of it.’

‘is that why you brought him here?’ yohan asks, thinking quickly. ‘to get to me?’

‘you put your hand on his shoulder on live television,’ she replies in a faraway voice, but yohan can read her now.

--

tagging @technitango @tenderlywicked @rocknghorss @thedeviljudges @briwates @mid-n0vember @eyesof-kkomi feel free to pass ofc and if you are a writer who enjoys being tagged, lmk so i can include you in the future

#the devil judge #gahan #my fic ideas #my ficlets #asks game #writers ask game #moots

[volivolition]

Any updates on all wip fics? and what is your ao3 username if you have one?

if you don't want to share any info, it's all good

i hope you know how hard i am YIPPEE-ing after getting this ask, I LOVE TALKING ABOUT MY FIC WIPS!!!! YEAHGKJH!!!! <33 my AO3 is also volivolition, but i dont have anything posted there yet :]

TL;DR: I have 4+ WIPs im working on simultaneously: Unstoppable Force Kisses Immovable Object - A Voli/Echem enemies -> enemies with benefits -> friends with benefits -> lovers fic that started as PWP but whoops its not just smut anymore lmao? Meet the Parts that Make You - A "Kim introduced to the Skills" fic! Let's Make It (a) Home - A Skills fic showing the aftermath of the amnesia wiping out Harry's mindspace, with the Skills working together to rebuild it into a home during the Hanged Man case. Mostly domestic fluff. Swept Up in the Feeling - An Empathy-centric fic, originally an excuse to do Skill character studies. Empathy understanding each skill while they do activities together <3 (gained a plot. suddenly.)

ANYWAY!! more info, snippets and musings under the cut!

Unstoppable Forces Kisses Immovable Object Word Count: 18722 Rating: Explicit Okay, so technically this document isn't just one story. It's my catch-all "any Volistry writing goes HERE" containment zone. Like I said, this wasn't supposed to be anything big, I just wanted to write a bunch of drabbles and practice writing smut because I've never done that before. But then the drabbles started connecting to each other and Voli and Echem started falling in love without asking me and so it's like. A whole thing now lmao?

they bring me so much joy. they're so fun to write, because volition will say something so normal and echem will find some way to misconstrue it and volition will bicker and echem will flirt back and volition will sigh and they're so fucking funny to me. they just keep talking, their back-and-forth banter is so natural to write, which is why this fic is so long hkgjh

they learn to balance each other out!! i want them to be soft and witty with each other and i'll. cry about them. if you catch me at the right time i will wax poetic about their relationship but right now they're just being incoherently rotated in my brain.

anyway here's a snippet, i have so much written for this damn fic that i had trouble choosing lmao. it's like. mildly suggestive? but truly nothing blatant, just cutesy shit lmao

Meet the Parts that Make You Word Count: 3886 Rating: Mature This fic is the closest of the four to being abandoned lmao? Or at least I want to finish Swept Up before writing this one, because as it stands I feel like I can't grasp everyone's characters right without doing some character study beforehand. It might also be because I'm currently more obsessed with the Skills instead of the humans, though i still love them.

but yes! Meet the Parts that Make You is a fic after Martinaise, established relationship for KimHarry, where Kim is casually introduced to the skills over dinner, and they document their findings in Kim's notebook over the course of about a week. it's a lot of skills banter and silly moments!! harry can honestly say that every single part of him loves Kim.

here's where they're trying to show off each of their different specialties, featuring Reaction Speed and Hand/Eye Coordination who are my sillies.

Let's Make It (a) Home Word Count: 1896 Rating: Teen+ I think if I want to finish any fic first, I want it to be this one, because it really sets the scene for the rest of the universe of all my other fics. The main gist is that Perception can pull in anything that Harry's looking at into the mindspace, and once they figure this out, most of the skills go "Hey we should bring in more things so we can decorate!"

volition my friend and perpetual spoilsport :3 anyway, different skills affect the object's properties! Perception can pull things in, Interfacing can give it texture, Conceptualization can make it different colors and Reaction Speed can duplicate it. Empathy makes it so the object has the correct feelings attached to it (Dora's letter, for example) and Half Light can immediately destroy the object (Dora's letter, for example).

this fic is basically The Hanged Man case, but from the perspective of the Skills. i think it focuses on some specific skills, but maybe not all of them because I'd die if i had to give each one of them an individual chapter. maybe i'll smoosh some skills together? i love all of them and i want all of them to get some screen time, but it would wreck me lmao

i have a whole Volition scene written out and i think its so fucking gorgeous bro... i love writing. it's like... rebuilding after death, the skills have a kind of blank slate too, you know? they're learning to work together again, regaining memories, making new ones, making a home together. the way different skills need to work together to make an object in the mindspace real. I WANT THEM TO BE A HAPPY FAMILY. AUHG.

Swept Up in the Feeling Word Count: 5103 Rating: This is Mature. Except the Echem chapter. Which is Explicit.

EMPATHY MY FAVORITE SKILL. OUGH. EMPATHY. MY FRIEND. this fic is about Empathy getting roped into a bunch of shenanigans with the other skills, and goes along with it all while better understanding each of them.

so remember when i said I'd die if i had to give each one of them an individual chapter? yeah. that's because THIS is the story where i give each one of them an individual chapter.

24 chapters, one per each skill. Including, but not limited to:

Exercising with Physical Instrument!

Art time with Conceptualization!

Performance with Drama!

Listening to Encyclopedia infodump!

Reminiscing with Volition!! (THEY ARE CHILDHOOD BEST FRIENDS!!!)

Staying up late with Endurance

"Overstimulated Skills Support Group" with Perception

Talking about understanding people vs understanding machines with Interfacing

Talking about understanding people vs understanding specific people with Esprit de Corps

Apologizing to Composure about making their life harder with UNNECESSARY FEELINGS ("as if we don't deal with enough of our own, you bring in other people's emotions for me to hide?" "why do we always need to hide them?" "BECAUSE... :| Just because.")

A Talk with Half Light.

Y'know... with Electrochemistry (there's more to it than just that though lmao)

This fic will be the death of me, with all the skills, but I really really want to do skill character studies. I need to research their lines on Fayde and understand each of them so I can write all of them better.

This is also so I can be obsessed with each of them. Currently I have a lot of faves, but I don't care about all of them yet when i WANT TO!! i want to know each of them intrinsically!! I wrote a bit of the Endurance chapter and I didn't use to care for him very much, but then I wrote the lines

"Endurance is not tired; he can't afford to be. Not when everyone else is. He would stand before any of them, from the first intellect to the last motoric, in order to take a blow meant for someone frailer, less capable of surviving it. He will endure it instead."

and now I'm sympathetic to him. like, ough. If I understand them, then I learn to love them, and that's also why I'm writing it from Empathy's perspective! Empathy feels what other the other skills feel and does bonding activities with them with similar feelings, does that make sense? i really want to learn characterization for each of them, this fic truly is just an excuse for me to do character studies so i know all their character motivations.

BUT. it also has backstory plot now that im invested in lmao? based off of character design that i have. I STILL NEED TO POST MY SKILL REFS. RAUGH. but yeah all of my stories get too big for me really, i always bite off more than i can chew for projects like this lmao.

Other Fics: Skill Body Swap Fic! its shoved into Unstoppable Force's document for the time being, since this is mostly an excuse for Volition/Echem swap (Echem's body is ~sensitive~ if you're not used to it and i love putting voli through Situations. meanwhile Volition's body has the morale health pool in it that echem has to take care of), and ive only written that specific swap, but i think it'd be cool if i swapped EVERY SKILL.

Logic and Drama would be funny hkjgh Drama would 1) immediately slot into the new role and be extremely good at pretending nothing is wrong. What do you mean, he hasn't switched bodies with anyone? That's highly improbable. 2) love saying lies as if they were appropriate conclusions, and actual Logic would be like "That's literally wrong. Stop that."

Empathy and Composure would be interesting! Empathy's body is constantly picking up on everyone's emotions, and also is always on the brink of tears. Composure's body is not made to experience the same emotions, much less the emotions of others. Empathy's cut off from feeling and Composure is struggling not to fucking cry, poor guy.

Shivers and anyone? I just think Shivers should be small and worried about her connection to Revachol. and some other skill is just like "WHY IS THIS SO OVERWHELMING. HELLO??"

i dont know, theres a lot of ways i could go with this, i'll figure it out lmao. if anyone has suggestions for interesting/funny swaps and is even reading this far, let me know

The Sunrise Momentum. I SWEAR TO GOD IF I DONT WRITE THIS FIC. I NEED TO FUCKING WRITE THIS. Volition's vow with Harry that i cry about once per day. VOLITION IS TO HARRY AS HARRY IS TO REVACHOL. AUGH. "I will do everything in my power to keep you alive. I will keep you on this earth." my knight in lavender armor i am OBSESSED WITH YOUUUU!! *vibrates at high velocity*

okay that's about it, thanks for reading my RAMBLES!!

#inland drabbles #volta transmissions #BIG OL POST!! i love talking about my wips. i have so much to say #sorry this took a bit to compile. every time i checked word counts i added a little more to each story and had to keep updating word counts #ad infinitum forever hkgjh I JUST ADDED 500 MORE WORDS TO SWEPT UP JUST NOW WHILE UPDATING IT!! FUCK!!! #sorry this drama chapter is really fun hkjgh ANYWAY!! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ASKING!!! ASK AGAIN ANYTIME <33 #it will be shorter next time i promise. probably. lmao?? #task: unstoppable force #task: meet the parts #task: let's make it a home #task: swept up #task: sunrise momentum

[poupeesdecirque]

Posting by Queue, or: why I need some distance from my crafts

It has been some time since my last hobby meta blog entry, it had different reasons and one is that I need distance. Like, yes I of course enjoy crafting and sometimes I am like a little child that runs everywhere to show off things.

But it got ... less intense. And I learned I do better when I keep projects or at least details to myself to sit on them for longer. That the first euphoria is purely mine and not to be shared.

Like for my photos I have a buffer of several weeks now. Yes, I know past-me would have kind of hated that. But I learned I do better when I have a time buffer. I do take photos weekly but sometimes they don't feel special enough to get the weekly photo feature?

Friday & yesterday I went out for photos and while I like the ones from yesterday way more than the ones from friday I am not sure if the set from yesterday will get the feature or not as it's only a hand full of photos giving me that certain spark.

Other than that I am a very emotional artist, I sometimes really fuck up my art and hate it at the moment I worked on it, but then, sometimes, after a few days or weeks I can look at it and just wonder about what was my problem the day I made it.

Another thing is that I, myself, enjoy my art. The process of it. And I like to see my blog updating, sometimes I forget what post will go online and then I check the blog and think "ah yes, this was that thing!", and it reminds me why I made the blog overall, to show myself I had progress and that every tiny step counts.

Which leads to another reason why I hold back in regards of posting. Yes, I do share some snippets in my stories over on insta but not always and not all. I sit on over 300 drawings from the last two years alone nobody ever will see, I enjoyed drawing but it's nothing for the public eye. I will maybe go back and redraw some and share the redraws then, who knows?

But wait, there is actually more reasons.

The biggest or main reason is ... i sometimes go really wild on projects. In January I finished so many dolls it was insane, I worked on Cosplays and other crafts in an incredible speed, I have literally no idea where I found the time but I somehow did and doll parts arriving every week did the rest.

I keep the blog running with partially 2 month old stuff but .... to be honest I don't have doll stuff aside photos to do anymore. All I can do is wait for bodies to be shipped (or dolls even) and arrive. There has been no movement since January. Aside Iza getting the shipping notice for our Split, might take a while until its at her place and I can't really start on the Akuma until I got the body (which I at least have finally ordered this month) as colors need to be matched and mods to be made.

I am truly itchy to do something else than sewing all the time, I do enjoy cosplay but you know how much I like sewing (hint: not at all). So to remind myself of the fun I had in the past weeks I have mixed my blog to bless me with some progress I had which was maybe not sewing all the time. And well, the Cosplays have deadlines and I do get some ideas aside purely sewing while doing them, so that keeps me going for now.

Yes, I could start redoing dolls like Alastor or Erwin. But you know what? IT'S ALMOST ALL SEWING. Urgh.

Aside that real life is pretty good at eating me up and I just want to enjoy crafting. Right now drawing feels like stress relief but I hate the results and just scan the pieces and put them away to never look at them again, I have a bunch of posts queued up without any captions, a wip entry of a current project only has two photos but I lack the spoons to actually get them done. But since those posts are so far back it's fine (yes I know drafts are a thing).

In general I enjoy having my art to myself to get used to it before I put it out into the wild as I just recently got reminded I do bad with direct comparisons still and it hits some triggerpoints from the past and makes everything harder, I don't need that.

I literally have no idea if this blog makes sense even, lol. I just am tired of sewing and stopped working on my current project around lunch time and have drawn so much today and I walked way too much the whole week my friends urged me to stay the ef home and at least try to relax. But I'm restless as my body is too stressed (I know it all I'm a certified relaxation trainer so eh), so, have an over the place blog entry.

#blog #hobby meta #or something like that #idk

[chayscribbles]

chayscribbles’ monthly writing update ☆ february 2024

yes, i know, february has an extra day this year, but i'm posting this today bc i won't have time tomorrow lol

☆ STATISTICS.

projects worked on: The Gemini Heist

proudest accomplishment: i... wrote?... i guess??? *can't remember a single thing i did this month for some reason*

books read: Witch King by Martha Wells. i'm ngl, i was lost like 80% of the time, but that might just be a skill issue on my part (it's the kind of book that throws you into the thick of it without holding your hand and listening to the audiobook with the attention span that i have was... probably not the wisest idea lol)

(alhough funnily enough, it's while having this audiobook on in the background that i came up with a lot of my plot thoughts for gemini heist LMAO. either that or while playing zelda.)

☆ GENERAL COMMENTS.

although i did get writing done this month, this update's gonna be short. i don't really have much to say lol

more specific wip-related comments + featured excerpt below.

☆ COMMENTS: THE GEMINI HEIST (draft 0.5)

it's very weird to not be using word count to track my progress anymore. freeing, but weird. i have no concept of how much i've actually done for this wip this month.

i do know i've figured out a bit more stuff about the heist and the lore. i had a big plot brainstorming session and untangled a few scenes. while i know what direction i want the story to head, i still don't know how any of this gets resolved, tho.

and i wrote out a few important scenes. that's progress, right?

☆ FEATURED EXCERPT.

i've been writing so chaotically out of order based on whatever scene i feel most inspired for in the moment that i,,, honestly can't remember what i've written this month vs what i had already written before 🥲 here's a scene that i THINK i wrote in february. Leo and Illiana might be my new favourite dynamic. (for context, Illiana is posing as her identical twin at a party, and Leo is posing as a guest. they came in separately.)

With the bodyguards tailing her the entire way, Illiana slowly made her way towards [Leo]. She tolerated a few brief exchanges with other guests she crossed paths with to appear natural, then, once she was close enough, she slipped the extra comm out of the pocket concealed in her skirt. She made a show of bending down to pick up something, then strode towards Leo. “Excuse me,” she said as she approached. “I believe you dropped your earring.” Leo turned to her, smile strained underneath her veil. “Oh, thank you,” she said, holding out her hand. Illiana placed the comm into her palm, taking care to hide it from the guards. As Leo angled her head away to slip it into her ear, she added, “I must say, your Holiness, this is quite a lovely party.” “Why, thank you, Miss…” She faltered, realizing she didn’t know Leo’s alias. “I’m sorry, I don’t believe I’m familiar with you.” “I’m a business leader from Tharekkan,” Leo said, pressing her palms together and giving Illiana a slight bow with her head. “It’s an honour to be here.” Illiana was surprised that Leo, with all her meticulous planning, didn’t have a fake name ready, and now she was curious. “How may I address you?” Leo’s already tense smile tightened even more. “‘Miss’ is fine,” she replied, practically through clenched teeth.  “No, I meant, your na—” “I’ve been told much about how lovely Fiolsby is, right before the winter,” Leo cut off, an unnatural segue back to the script they had practiced. “But I haven’t had the time to properly see the city.” Now Illiana just had to pry Leo's fake name out of her. “Really? That’s a shame. You know, the gardens offer a wonderful view of the city. Would you like to see, Miss…?” She let her sentence trail off, watching Leo expectantly. “If it’s not too much trouble, I would love that,” Leo replied, to Illiana’s annoyance.

☆ TAGLISTS. let me know if you want to be added/removed to any of them.

general taglist:

@dgwriteblr @the-orangeauthor @onomatopiya @quilloftheclouds @ashen-crest @writeblrfantasy @celestepens @stardustspiral @pepperdee @extra-magichours @avi-why @lefttigerobservation @chazzawrites @bardolatrycore @innocentlymacabre @subtlefires

gemini heist taglist:

@florraisons @akindofmagictoo @cream-and-tea @memento-morri-writes @antique-symbolism @rose-bookblood @afoolandathief @pepperdee @avi-why @zonnemaagd @chazzawrites @analogued @enchanted-lightning-aes @innocentlymacabre @kahvilahuhut @celestepens @cilly-the-writer @extra-magichours @onomatopiya @outpost51 @planets-and-prose

#chayscribbles writing update #wip gemini heist

[mojowitchcraft]

Fave WIP Round-Up [Part 2]

Posted a list of my fave WIPs last night and realized I missed some, so here's Part 2 of my fave WIPs! Find the rest of my WIP Recs here

is your light on? by @toburnup Rated E | Chapters: 17/20 | Words: 196k

"Tell me a secret." Steve says and Eddie shakes his head. "Why would I do that?" "I'll tell you one." Eddie looks intrigued, smirks in his direction. "A secret for a secret? Okay." He looks up. "You go first." (Steve always noticed Eddie. He's been there on the peripheral, easy enough to ignore. Until he's standing right in front of him, unavoidable. And then they collide over, and over, and over)

Tell Me "Don't", So I Can Crawl Back In by kiaramgrey Rated E | Chapters: 8/? | Words: 43k

When Steve finds himself alone and without friends, following his breakup with Nancy, he decides what he needs is a distraction. Maybe some new friends who don't remind him of the bullshit life he gave up. When he literally runs into Eddie Munson, school drug dealer and self proclaimed freak, an idea begins to form. Who better to show him what life outside popularity can be like, than someone who doesn't give a shit what anyone thinks? And Eddie? Well, Eddie is just bracing for impact.

Reboot by @plutosrose [Now Complete] Rated E | Chapters: 10/10 | Words: 38k

In 2012, Steve Harrington and Eddie Munson film a scene in the teen drama Normal Stuff that launches a popular ship on ao3. By early 2013, they aren't speaking anymore. In 2024, Robin calls Steve with an offer to reprise his role as Andy Hartley in a reboot of their old show, with one important update--his character gets together with Eddie's.

Lesson/Plan by @2btheanswertothequestion Rated M | Chapters: 3/5 | Words: 7k

Eddie huffs. "I'm already 20 fucking years old. I don't want to wait any longer. I want to experience all the shit everyone else already has now." "Everyone hasn't-" "Steve, the 15-year-olds currently in this house have seen more action than I have." "All right, okay, I hear you. We'll solve it for you." "How." "Well," Steve's tongue darts out to wet his lips, "if you just want to get it over with, then... I could kiss you?" Eddie's never been kissed, so Steve offers to teach him. And then he teaches him some more, and some more, and some more.

Sleight of Hand by @flieslikeamoron Rated E | Chapters: 17/19 | Words: 125k

Steve needs a weed dealer. He gets a bit more than that. (This is an AU set a couple months after the Snow Ball in season 2.)

PTA Shouldn't Stand for Pretty Tight Ass by @humanityinahandbag & Invader_Sam | Rated M | Chapters: 14/? | Words 51k

Steve Harrington - ex local legend and fearsome bully, now single father of two - returns to Hawkins after the world spit him out. With a messy life to sort through, all he wanted was settle down and get his kids through seventh grade without any surprises. Cue Mr. Eddie Munson, ex victim of one Steve Harrington, now Hawkins Middle School's favorite music teacher. Or: What happens when your former high school bully raises two absolute nerds, joins the PTA, helps run the bake sale, makes the best cupcakes in Indiana, and may or may not be having a bisexual crisis.

Some Cupids Kill With Dice by @hawkinsheroes Rated M | Chapters: 14/? | Words: 109k

Steve Harrington doesn't have time to date. In fact, between working multiple part-time jobs and raising two rambunctious and poorly-behaved preteens, he doesn't have time for much of anything. And it's fine. He's fine. He's having an absolutely awesome time slinging ice cream, sorting DVDs, and dodging questions from his friends and family about his love life. That is, of course, until the twins come to him with a simple request: go to Parents Night and sign them up for Mr. Munson's Dungeons and Dragons club. Or, the one where Steve is a tired and overworked DILF who may or may not be smitten with his kids' seventh grade English teacher. Featuring: busted old Hondas, milkshakes as an intricate mating ritual, twelve year-old wingmen, and the worst flirting you've ever seen in your life.

breathe out (so i can breathe you in) by @bttmbunk Rated E | Chapters: 11/12 | Words: 91k

“You thinking of getting it for yourself?” The man continues, eyebrows raised, and that’s when Steve realises he’s just been staring, practically drooling over this stranger who's decided to strike up a conversation about a guitar. A part of him wishes that the floor would open up and swallow him whole. “Oh, uh, no, actually.” He says, “It’s for my daughter.” Something indecipherable flickers across the man’s face, there and gone again in an instant, “How sweet.” “I don’t know what I’m looking for,” he admits, a little sheepish, “I’m not a musician, so…” he shrugs, “I have no way of knowing if this is a good guitar or not.” There’s a hint of amusement in the man’s eyes as his mouth tilts into a more crooked grin, “Well, lucky for you, I can help.” In one fluid motion, the man drops himself into a sweeping, dramatic bow. The suddenness of it startles a laugh out of Steve. “Eddie Munson, guitarist, musician extraordinaire - at your service.” His energy is infectious - Steve finds that he’s grinning, “Uh, Steve Harrington. Basketball coach, dad,” He tries to think of another good descriptor, but comes up short, “Totally at a loss, here.”

Trouble Looks Good On You by @steddielations Rated E | Chapters: 3/5 | Words: 35k

It happens like a fever dream. The first time Steve gives Eddie a swift smack on the ass, it’s obviously just an old jock habit that’s stuck with him. It wasn’t meant to have Eddie’s knees going weak, or turn his blood hot under his skin, or give him a brand in the shape of Steve Harrington’s hand, or— Nope, because Eddie’s not even into that. But then, it happens again. Or, Steve keeps accidentally awakening Eddie’s new kinks.

for this gift, I do feel blessed @wheatisstillwheat [Now Complete] Rated E | Chapters: 19/19 | Words: 96k

Steve was supposed to be in Berlin with his best friend Robin, not wandering around looking for a coffee shop, not speaking a lick of German. Steve definitely wasn't supposed to take the only open seat next to a beautiful, mysterious (sexy), and slightly pissed stranger at said coffee shop who cannot believe Steve wasn't angling for an autograph from him, which Steve definitely isn't, because Steve has no idea who he is...yet. (OR Rock Star AU - in which Eddie Munson is a famous grunge/alt/metal band frontman and Steve is as clueless as we'd all expect. hi-jinx and love ensue.)

Edited May 7 to update chapter & word counts Edited May 26 to note completed fics Edited Aug 3 to update chapter & word counts

#WIP RECS #STEDDIE FIC RECS #STEDDIE FIC REC #STEDDIE WIP #STRANGER THINGS #STRANGER THINGS FIC REC #STEVE HARRINGTON #EDDIE MUNSON #STEDDIE #PUBLICLY OUTING MYSELF AS A SIMP FOR ALL THESE WRITERS #mojowitchcraft wip recs

[hecatesbroom]

How I organise my (fic) writing in Notion

@this-geek wondered how I organised my works in Notion, and considering I'm nothing if not always happy to ramble about anything concerning lists and sorting my various things, here we are ;) thanks for giving me an excuse to talk about this haha

Under the cut because I have unfortunately rambled quite a bit (sorry!)

Okay so first off: I really only use Notion for my fic writing (I prefer to work on original projects in physical notebooks or Word, for reasons unknown to even me) and I only keep my first drafts in here. I move on to Google Docs for second drafts (again, who knows why I do this? I sure don't!) Anyway, onto the organisation:

This is what my main page looks like! I have some fancy sidebars I never really use, the to do list is horribly outdated, and I haven't updated that quote (from one of my favourite book series: The Locked Tomb) in ages, but I still think it looks nice!

The thing this is mainly about, though, is the part in the middle that says "all fics". This is what Notion calls a database. It's basically one gigantic collection of pages (in my case: fics) that you can add tags to and display in various different ways. I prefer gallery view because it allows me to add a picture to the overview if I want to. I used to do this for my Locked Tomb fics and it looked pretty fun:

The thing is that it's also a lot of work to find pictures to match your fics (and nowadays I'm more focused on writing than all the thing surrounding it) so my Golden Girls overview looks more like this! I still like the gallery view because it gives you a little preview of every wip :)

As you can see, there's lots of different tags under the titles. The stuff you see in this view is a quick overview (mostly to help with sorting, so all my posted wips line up, and the rest shows up according to which state of unfinishedness they're currently in)

When you click any fic in this view, you'll be taken to the actual fic, and its complete overview of tags & info! I like to keep track of a lot of things (when I remember to, anyway). Here's a little overview for the things I tracked for the finish line :)

Created: shows me the date I started the document (and therefore the fic). Very useful! I love this feature a lot

Fandom: is mainly there for organisation purposes! I set my gallery view to toggle per fandom, so it's all sorted into neat little sections thanks to this tag

Characters: pretty self explanatory

Type: I've got several categories here: "one-shot", "multi-chapter", "drabble", "ficlet", and (reserved for one AU in particular) "i honestly don't know anymore"

Status: again, there's quite a few options for this one: "plotting", "writing draft 1", "1st draft", "2nd draft", "finished", "posted", "hiatus" and "abandoned" (which I rarely use)

Quick summary: is where I play around with my ao3 summary whenever I'm bored and don't really feel like writing

Draft 1 wc: I usually just put the final word count for the first draft there, unless I remember to track individual writing sessions (in which case I add those word counts as well, like in the example above, because I love looking back on the process!)

Draft 2 wc: I tend to completely retype a fic into my google docs for the second draft. Once I've done that I put the end result into my Notion doc

Finished wc: after I've reread and edited my 2nd draft, and possibly managed to have it all get a little out of hand (like you can see in that doubled word count for the finish line, lol) I put the finished word count here!

WC goal: is just a fun way to see what my initial idea was for the fic (I try to set a goal when I've got a general idea of what I want the work to look like, and always end up exceeding it)

The rest of it is just my writing, basically! Scroll down from there and you get the body for the fic :)

I hope this was somewhat helpful! I'm not a pro at Notion by any means, but if you have any questions or need some help, feel free to ask! I'm happy to try to help out!

#notion #alys.txt #my writing #how does one tag this lmao #notion tour #is that a thing?? #i think that's a thing

[vtforpedro]

long life update - TWs in tags

It feels like it's been ages. I'm so exhausted and in a lot of physical pain. Going on two months of it being the worst it's been right after a couple of months of the best it's been. Chronic pain + grief + trying to get help from doctors who should have their licenses revoked + dealing with a shit relationship with my mom + a good, decades-long friendship ending + the ongoing disability process with the SSA + LAW FIRMS.

I'm so fucking tired. I don't remember if I updated that the appeals council decided not to review my case because the 'judge followed the law' except that he didn't. So, as it turns out, my original attorney (and he did not tell me this) before he left, wrote that if they denied me, it should go to federal district court.

I'm now working with a NY law firm to take my case to federal court because my current law firm believes it has merit, and I guess they do, too. That's how fucked the decision was, and I'm glad my initial reaction of bewilderment and anger was spot on lol

The good news is, it should only take another year! ._.

My neurologist is the worst doctor I have ever come across and I'm quite literally stuck with him with nowhere else to go. I wish him upon no one. I'm so tired of calling the SSA, getting documents to them, signing things for law firms, contacting law firms, getting no responses, and contacting them all over and over again. I am in incredible physical pain, like this actively makes my neuro stuff worse. Everything makes it worse. I have autonomic testing in a few days, and idk if I'll get through it b/c I have to stop the meds that keep me out of the ER two days prior, and it scares me.

My relationship with my mom is fractured and I don't feel like family therapy is actually helping. I had to end a friendship with someone I love and care very much about but who was growing too comfortable mistreating me and I was giving them too many passes 😞 I've known them for the better part of two decades.

It's been over seven months since my cat Isis died. I don't know how. It feels like she was here just yesterday. Yet, all the nights I've sat and talked to her and wept are all too real. I miss her more than I can say. She was my soul cat. I keep thinking about tomorrow and how she'd be so nosy getting into EVERYthing when gifts are opened at Christmas. Having to stop her, move her, laugh because she was just so n o s y and it was hilarious. And she's not gonna be here for that ever again.

I'm having a really fucking hard time tonight. It's just hitting me how god-awful this year has been and how I have a bad week to look forward to before even getting to the new year lmao I have to stop taking so many of my medications 48hrs before 1.5-2hrs of testing to see if we can find out Yet Another Thing Wrong With Me but knowing my luck it'll be 'no findings' and the mystery of why my core body temp plummets to 93.9 in the blink of an eye won't be solved until I have suffered juuuuust enough.

It never ends. Never. I want to give up. I'm so tired of doing this. I don't want to anymore. It never. fucking. ends.

I absolutely cannot say it's all been bad, though. I've met incredible, warm, welcoming, giving, kind people this year. Y'all have helped me more than you know and I'm so so so lucky to be able to call you my friends. This year has sucked for so many of us, but I want to say I'm proud of you, and I love you all very much.

My fic is gonna be printed in a hardcover zine early next year. I participated in a Big Bang for the first time and that'll also go out early next year. I'm hosting a tiny event in my tiny fandom server that I'm super excited about. I have a raffle prize to write (bagginshield !!!! SO EXCITED to revisit the og otp) and a Valentine's gift to write for another fandom.

I posted 401,000 words this year and wrote many more unfinished wips, plus a long one (90k) that I am very invested in finishing.

I painted and drew so much this year. I improved a lot, too! I got a couple of portraits printed from inprnt to see how they looked, and it was MY art, and they were GORGEOUS. I thought I would hate seeing my art professionally printed, but no! I almost cried. They looked so lovely.

My cat Lilly had health issues almost immediately following Isis's passing, but she is doing so well right now. She's blossomed into another cat, and while she's not my constant companion, she is with me so much more than she used to be. When she walks onto my desk I am to stop everything and hold her like baby in my arms until she decides that's enough (or I really need to move) lmaaao she's such a goober. My heart cat. <3

I'm not doing well right now--my MH is bad. Especially tonight. But it felt good to write the good things.

I'm sorry for my lack of replies and kinda disappearing. I'm running on fumes. I hope next year will bring physical relief so emotional relief can happen.

For those of you facing difficulties of any kind, I am holding your hand in spirit.

#vtforpedro personal #vtforpedro medical #tw mental illness #tw medical #tw depressing stuff #tw pet loss #I always wish I have something better to write #gonna try to do everything in my power to make that happen next year

[liladiurne]

on inspiration, creativity, and expectations

I don't usually make posts like this. I don't know why exactly, whether it's just me being too lazy to take the time to write down my thoughts, or just because part of me thinks no one's interested in reading my ramblings. But I've been questioning myself so much lately, and it seemed like a good idea today to try and make sense of what I've been going through. And I think maybe some of you reading this could possibly feel the same way. And if that's the case, maybe me sharing my own experience might help you, or maybe you might have good advice for me going forward.

It's been a really tough year (and longer) for me, creatively. I don't know if I've lost something of myself along the way, or if it's just a weight I've put on myself subconsciously at some point. Either way, something is definitely stopping me from finding joy in writing, something is weighing me down. I see all my friends being so productive and so creative and writing genuinely amazing stories to their hearts' desires, sometimes only in a few days. And I'd love to do the same, but somehow, I can't. And I've always had this deep need to create, to lose myself in the process; it's an escape for me, has always been. Writing is what makes me happy. But I haven't been able to write, and as a result, I've been miserable.

I know part of the problem is that I've always wanted to connect with people. I want my stories to reach my readers, to make them feel something. Writing is good, but it's so much better with an audience that shares your love of the story and is willing to discuss it with you, to dive into it with you. As a writer, I don't seek praise or validation, I seek connection and discussion. I want to know that my writing did something right. And when I've poured my heart out into something, and after it's done there's so little reaction to it, yes it feels like a failure. I can't help it.

I know that it's on me. It's a me problem, and I've been struggling a lot lately to try and fix it.

And another part of that problem is that I have this very successful story that readers flock to, subscribe to in mass, comment in mass to every update, will wait around for months for a new chapter. And when that chapter comes, they will shower me with love and discussion and share their happiness and their joy for my work. And as much as I love this particular story, it has completely messed up my brain, twisted my sense of what's "normal" reception or feedback for a fic.

The resulting effect is that when I post something that is not a part of that story, the difference in the sense of connection to my readers, and in reception and feedback is so drastic that it takes all the joy out of having written it and shared it. I feel like I have no audience, like I can't reach people anymore, like I'm screaming into the void. I feel like I've completely failed as a writer. And I've stopped myself from posting things that are not that story because of that, because I know I'll feel worse afterwards, that I'll feel like no one cares about anything I do if it's not THAT story. And because I feel guilty for not working on that one story that everyone is waiting for, I've stomped on inspiration when it came to me and tried to drag me into other stories. I've had brilliant ideas that I've pushed away, thinking, "I can't right now, because they're waiting for this one story and they won't care if I post something else, and I'll feel horrible about it."

And because of all those feelings, I can't write. And when I can't write, I'm sad.

And I've heard it all before. You have to write for YOU, first of all. I know that. I've even said it myself numerous times. But isn't it just SO hard to make your brain understand it?

I think I've been going at it all wrong for a long time now, and I need to try a new strategy. I'd fashioned an unofficial set of rules for myself. I'd tell myself, "Don't post more than one WIP at a time, or it'll make you look like an unreliable writer and that puts people off." And that's the stupidest thing because there are many writers with many WIPS that I absolutely adore and would never think "unreliable" in any way. Isn't it crazy the standards and expectations we set for ourselves?

A good friend and very wise person told me recently about a talk she attended by this very prolific writer who went on at length about creativity. The essence of it was that to avoid writer's block, you need to let inspiration flow wherever it wants, and that no specific work is more important than keeping the creative spirit going. Basically, you need to go wherever the fun is, always. You need to start anything and everything and see where it leads.

So I'm trying a new strategy now. I'll be going where inspiration takes me, wherever the hell that is. Because I need to create, otherwise I don't know what'll happen. I'm NOT abandoning Brighter Than Bright, and I'm grateful for all the love and support I've gotten for it, but I need to explore other things for a time, and I'll come back to it when I come back to it. Whenever that is. I've tried forcing myself to work on it for months now, and it's brought me so little joy. I need to do something differently.

If this new strategy works, you'll notice me posting more WIPs, finally giving all my other ideas some love, emptying my draft drawers and pouring them out in the world because I just need to write SOMETHING.

For my own mental health. I need to try to be happy again.

#lila writes #lila posts #on writing #writers talk #mental health talk

[fruitytrollroll]

you dont have anons on on your main so: in theme with some of your other nice anons: one of my favourite fics of all time is an unfinished fic you last updated several ago and even though its a WIP i STILL recommend it to people as one of the best pieces of writing in my fandom. if i ever make a ship reclist, it will literally be the first fic on it. i think about it all the time. ive never sent you an ask about it because im also a writer and would hate to feel pressured into going back to a wip im not feeling anymore, so like, this ask is Not That, it's more a "your WIPs, even unfinished, are crazy valuable to the people who love them, and thank you for sharing them with us". even if you never finish it, i'll still always love it. it's also nice to see your passion for writing in fandoms i'm not in, and if i ever do get into them, your ao3 will be the first place i go to for extra reading :)

THIS IS SO SWEET???? THANK YOU HFJSHFJSJ?????

I had to read this ask aloud to my friends because I was so CURIOUS which fic you were talking about and I wondered WHY you didn't specify which one it was, and they were like "Bro, they don't want to pressure you <3" WHICH IS SO SWEET AND CONSIDERATE OF YOU???

But please don't worry about that!! Hearing people think fondly work doesn't make me feel pressured at all!! If anything, receiving glowing praise of a fic I've shelved usually just makes me want to read it back (I am incurably obsessed with my own writing). Often I'm reminded of how much I enjoyed writing it, or I'll think "Wow, this still holds up!" or "Oh, this sentence could be a little stronger..." And then I'll just decide to polish it up? One of the benefits of fic posted to AO3 being a LIVE document means I can edit it whenever I want, and that freedom to embellish and gradually improve my work makes me happy to go back to it.

Sometimes I'll even realize, "You know what? The writing hurdle I ran into back then isn't even an issue now, I know exactly how to wrap this up!" or even, "Oh man, wasn't the next chapter almost finished?? I should just tidy it up and post it as a thanks to my lovely readers!"

SO PLEASE... PLEASE, PLEASE, I'M DYING OF CURIOSITY... YOU CAN'T JUST SAY THAT AND LEAVE, I HAVE /GOT/ TO KNOW WHICH FIC IT WAS...!!!!!

Of course, you don't HAVE to tell me, and I'm delighted by the content and the spirit of this compliment!!

BUT PLEASE COME BACK. PLEASE TELL ME. WHICH FIC WAS IT!!! YOU CAN PUT ME ON BLAST I DON'T CARE I HAVE NO SHAME!!!

#REELS YOU BACK IN WITH A LASSO #YOU CANT JUST SAY NICE THINGS TO ME AND LEAVE 🥺 #I CAN TELL YOU WHAT WAS GONNA HAPOEN... I CAN SHARE SNIPPETS... #COME BACK........

[letmetellyouaboutmyfeels]

Fanfic Update

OKAY PHEW NOW THAT'S OUT OF THE WAY...

WHAT is up with the fanfics?

A lot. A lot is up. Help.

While I did not expect to get sucked into a new ship (Xedgin), I knew at the start of the year that as I got my self-publishing off the ground I wouldn't have as much time for fanfic, but the hope is that now I will be able to finally finish these bad boys.

So, what exactly are these mysterious WIPs?

We have:

Buddie:

Monsterfucker PWP #1

Monsterfucker PWP #2

Oh no! My two angstiest fics had a horribly angsty child!

Hey does anyone remember my podcast episode with @burnthatbridge and I said there was a fic I wouldn't do... yeah about that...

What do Greek mythology and BDSM clubs have in common?

Uno Reverse Card

"I'm 10k into this fic and I don't think I can claim this is a joke anymore."

Xedgin:

Xenk and Edgin and the Terrible Horrible No-Good Very Bad Dungeon Crawl

Did Someone Say "Fake Dating?"

The second you tell Edgin he can't have something is the second he's gonna want it he's a thief what the hell were you thinking...

My DM is a Saint (Or: Mads Why are You Reading 'Dead in Thay' and Giggling?)

The plan is to publish the Xedgin fics ASAP, but the Buddie fics will all be unleashed in October, since they have a Halloween-esque theme to them in one way or another. I feel bad that everyone's going to wait almost a year for new Buddie fic from me, but I hope that Fractals from the Lightning Bolt have entertained you in the meantime, and seeing as at least three of my Buddie fics are headed for the 50k+ range at 100mph, I do hope the length will make up for it.

It's gonna be a hell of an October this year. Buckle up. ;)

#mads writes stuff #I have been truly dying to write my fics #but between work to make ends meet and all the stuff for my Patreon/self-publishing #I'm shocked I found the time for the two Xedgin fics I HAVE posted #but I've gotten the ball rolling and my hope is that I'll have more time now #especially if I get enough people on Patreon to make my self publishing 50-75% of my income #that's the hope/goal anyway #we can also blame my boss for jerking me the FUCK around for three months #but that's a story for another time

[jsab-crisis]

Time to finally rip the bandy-aid off...

Hi, I'm the creator of JSaB Crisis AU, the owner of this blog, the artist of this comic, and so on and so on. I haven't updated this comic in- I forgot when I stopped, to be honest, I haven't touched this comic in a long time or anything relating to this AU in particular.

I've had people ask and are rightfully concerned regarding when I'll post the next pages and if I'm actually still doing this fan comic series. So, here's my answer;

I don't plan on touching this comic anymore or even the AU itself, for multiple reasons;

Technical difficulties in production is one thing, I use mobile Medibang paint to draw this comic and at one point there was an update that became a massive roadblock to it. You see, I've put the entirety of Crisis AU in one cloud file, even the WIPs, and depended on that due to not wanting to fill my storage with junk.

Crisis AU started when I was using an old phone with limited storage hence why I used Cloud-- it also helped me transfer all the art since I use the same medibang account. (Got a new phone afterwards)

Now, the medibang update that messed me over was when they added a premium membership in which you can access other assets such as brushes, certain controls, and cloud storage. They put a cloud storage limit which messed up all my cloud files (mind you, I've been using Cloud files for nor just the comic but for everything, even on my laptop for personal art/other projects).

Because of that, this made the cloud file almost inaccessible unless I manually save each page to my storage which... was infuriating and a huge demotivator. Had to delete other cloud files to at least make space but because of how many pages there are, well, I just left it there.

Loss of interest is also a common thing when it comes to fan series. My JSaB hyperfixiation died down at one point as I leaned to other medias, making me focus more on other media with LOTS of interest AND motivation to work on something relating to that instead of the comic itself.

This is very common with other fan series to my knowledge, having seen lots of discontinued fan works when I was merely a DA user.

Of course, my interest towards JSaB had kicked in again. I still love that game and the community i was a part of for awhile, having met wonderful and talented people throughout the year(s) and still do.

However, this also comes to my third reason.

Doubt. I have started to grow a distaste towards Crisis AU due to the writing itself and how my art is constantly changing. As time goes on, so does one's creative ability and taste and let me tell you how many times I've grimaced as I looked upon my own script. My writing style and comic making has changed over the past year and comparing it to this, I'd say I prefer now than whatever this was.

The concept of JSaB in a slice of life and modernized world that attempts to tackle personal turmoil? It's nice but it's not something I'd make in a heartbeat. I knew my goal with this and what I wanted to do but now it doesn't spark that flame of interest anymore.

Crisis AU is, well, a Crisis. The irony in that, am I right?

Not saying it's entirely hopeless, no, feel like if anyone would take this concept and do it their own then I'm sure they'll be able to execute it well with their own passion. It's just not me, if that makes sense.

Crisis AU is somewhat decent, mediocre, messy, and abandoned. It's a genuine shame to see how things have changed as it isn't the only art project I've abandoned due to the lack of creative flame. I can sympathize to those who actually looked forward to this as I've been met with support by those who read the comic and yet I am unable to continue delivering the series to its fruition.

Hell, I couldn't even pass the introduction arc!

...so yeah, that's why. I haven't touched this comic in a while because I've lost interest and I think I'll be able to rewrite it as the concept is lost to me now.

Now, it might be time to ask the Golden question when it comes to change!

What now?

For start, I might just let this blog become an archive because deleting in entirely would be an insult. I don't downright hate it! Slap a "Discontinued" onto it along with context in the blogs description.

Next? Well, I have multiple plans but I'm also worried they'll meet the same fate as Crisis AU so I'll start with small things.

Rebrand on the Crisis JSaB Discord Server.

All invite links have been revoked to stop new members for entering as we're entering changes. It'll be rebranded as a small JSaB server, dedicated to all JSaB fans. Channels, categories, even rules will be changed for simplicity sake and to fit the new name. This will then be followed with reopened Mod applications.

Ask Box will still be answered !! That means:

Crisis AU characters will still answer Asks regarding the discontinued comic series.

...which would make it more of an ask blog, yes? Huh. Whatever works. Take it as compensation due to the discontinued comic series. Ask box will still be open and I'll be answering old asks that are still there. So, yeah, you can still interact with the characters and even ask regarding what the lore was all about. I (or, well, specifically the characters) won't be keeping secrets anymore, nope.

New... projects?

I have another JSaB AU I've been rewriting for a while now, more interested in that since it at least LEANS to the Canon story... kind of. I won't be jumping to making a new blog and starting a new comic ONLY to be discontinued after an unannounced hiatus followed by a similar long text post/apology. No, I don't wanna set myself up again.

So, I'm staring off with small snippets of comics that piece together in my art blog and maybe make a blog that acts as an ARCHIVE. Keep things organized and pretty. This will inly happen if I reach a certain amount of comics, yes.

It's something, makes me less overwhelmed with trying new things. I've been getting better at comic making and writing! This might be a new start.

And, of course, I wanted to say this to everyone;

Thank you for everything and I'm sorry for not delivering.

The amount of support I've received during the active production of this series was genuinely heart warming and boosted my confidence in comic making. I wouldn't want it any other way.

And I'm sorry for things having to come to a disappointing end, but I'll make up to that. I promise.

If I was given the ability to wish that I never started Crisis AU then I would refuse.

Because then I wouldn't have met such wonderful community. I wouldn't want to change anything about it.

Don't fret, friends! I'm still here! It's not over, buds.

We just keep moving forward.

#crisis au #just shapes and beats #zcart #Important #Announcement

[writerman]

20 Questions for fic writers

Tagged by @nocompromise-noregrets Thank you! <3

1. How many works do you have on Ao3?: A meagre 45 works aha.

2. What’s your total Ao3 word count?: 547,326 I can guarantee you that 200,000 of those words are from 2 fics alone.

3. What fandoms do you write for?: Tolkien, Twilight, and a myriad of video games.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?:

Barduil Prompt Collection (6406)

Fireside Shenanigans (Good Omens) (4917)

Iston i nîf gîn (Hobbit Bard/Thranduil) (4734)

As You Exhale, I Breathe In (Twilight Garrett/Aro) (3037)

Easier For You to See (Saints Row The Third) (2924)

5. Do you respond to comments?:

Always, unless it's @morticia-butler then I just go message her on discord lmao

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

Probably As You Exhale, I Breathe In. I enjoy a good angsty ending and as far as I was concerned I was never going to write another Garrett/Aro fic again so I wanted it to be bittersweet and angsty lmao.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?: Ah, I suppose the majority of my Barduil prompts/fics. I don't know if the fandom would allow me to kill either of them aha.

8. Do you get hate on fics?:

No, generally I don't get a lot of comments in general because I write for a rare pair and I don't update often enough.

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

I do, and when I examine the smut its... generally violent and bloody. I'm not sure what that says about me...

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?: I don't think so? I write AUs sometimes based on the world of another franchise but not often.

11. A ghost ate this one

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?:

I think it was a Thor & Loki one, other than that no?

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

There was an attempt but I am so spotty with updates and writing that I think I annoyed the person I was working on the fic with. Sorry friend, I didn't mean to frustrate you.

14. What’s your all-time favorite ship?: Garrett/Aro, it has been in my brain since 2019 and won't let go, and also Barduil but I fear I can't really write for them anymore.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?: Oil and Water my latest Barduil fic. I just don't have it in me to write for them anymore. I don't know why and genuinely there are a gamut of Barduil fic out there being actively written and updates. My works would not be missed so it's all good.

16. What are your writing strengths?:

Emotion- inner turmoil, perhaps dialogue.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?:

Updating, maybe description of the world around the characters.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?:

It's fine, but can be a bit clunky and generally adding translations somewhere kind of pulls me out of a fic, but that is my own opinion on it.

19. First fandom you wrote for?:

Yu Gi Oh, babeeeey!

20. Favourite fic you’ve written?:

Probably the one I am hoping to finish this week, Thrall. It is my magnum opus to be quite dramatic about it. I don't think I've ever written anything like it before.

It's very different to the sweet fluffy works I did for Barduil.

But given the characters, it is quite fitting. I have loved and hated writing it. I have had many emotions writing it and gained and lost very close friends while writing it so it harbours a lot of hurt.

I tag: Anyone who would like to fill this out.

#tag meme #writer meme #fanfic meme

[ml-nolan]

Twenty Questions for Fic Writers

Whew, I've been so slammed, but I really want to do this! Got tagged byyyyy @signiorbenedickofpadua @valeriianz and @themirokai — thanks so much!

1. How many works do you have on Ao3?

35

2. What's your total Ao3 word count?

402,826

3. What fandoms do you write for?

The Magnus Archives

The Sandman

Malevolent

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Music When You Speak — 762 Love and Nonsense at Leitner Press — 644 The Gilded Cup — 371 Hiding in Plain Sight — 316 Invoke Me Under My Stars — 314

5. Do you respond to comments?

I try to respond to most of them! Sometimes if it's someone commenting through an entire fic I only reply to a couple of them, but generally even if it's an old fic I try to reply.

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

Technically Above and Beyond, but it's a "deleted scene" from a long fic with a very happy ending. So if we're going by more self-contained fics, probably You're Gonna Catch Hell. Both are short and smutty and the angst isn't very intense. I'm not very well-practiced in unhappy endings.

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

See last question lol. I think the end of Belong to Me is probably the highest net happiness for at least four characters in my longest running AU.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not really. I got one comment on an unfinished fic (that had been marked "on indefinite hiatus") with a passive aggressive comment about not getting anymore updates. It was the first comment I'd ever gotten on that particular fic. 😂😂😂

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

Absolutely. As much as possible. I write vanilla and BDSM, although there are usually lots of feelings involved. I've done mostly MM but recently branched out into FF.

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

Not yet

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I don't think so

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No

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

Yes! I wrote The Gilded Cup and Invoke Me Under My Stars with the ever-talented @beholdme, who is the reason why I'm in the Sandman fandom in the first place.

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

Tim and Gerry from The Magnus Archives. They never meet in canon and weren't a super common ship, but I've written almost 200k words about them, and I've been seeing them more often on Tumblr and AO3! 👀 I was *starving* for fanart of them while I wrote that first long fic. Not even art for *my* fic—just the ship in general! And now @occudo in particular is watering my crops on the reg. 💜🖤💜🖤 Bless you and all you do for the fandom.

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

I really hate to leave things unfinished, but that one that only got the single passive aggressive comment most likely (it's called "You Can Only Watch" but I'm not going to link it because I'm meh about it). It was my first multichapter fic and had an OC MC. They say that's usually a self-insert, but, spoiler alert, they were an Extinction avatar and were going to die horribly, so I don't know what that says about me. I ended up leaning so hard into researching and writing environmental horror and eschatology and I gave myself a full-on existential crisis. It was a pretty cool horror idea, honestly, but I think I traumatized myself into becoming a contemporary romcom writer. Whoops.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I'm pretty good with pacing, plot, and characterizations.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I'm not a big poet, so I'm having to work pretty hard on developing more descriptive and figurative language skills. Also it took some work for me to soften my tone in general, because I can be kind of glib and/or methodical sometimes.

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

Hasn't really come up for me yet

19. First fandom you wrote for?

The Magnus Archives. I've only been doing this since 2021 👀

20. Favorite fic you've written?

I feel like I've become a much better writer since this one, but Hiding in Plain Sight was one of the most formative writing experiences I've ever had. I put my entire heart into it, and I learned so much about writing and about myself while I worked on it.

I'm kind of late to the party on this, so I'm not going to tag anyone, but if someone else wants to do it, please do!

#fic writer tag game

[i-can-even-burn-salad]

AITA WIP Tag Game

Stealing the open tag by @winterandwords

Describe your WIP as if it were a post on r/AmITheAsshole

This one contains heavy spoilers for the Fancy Boots arc of Glass Shards. Transcript of the images is below the cut. There's also links to the images at the end, because I think tumblr compresses them.

Aaaand I'm gonna very lowkey tag: @starlit-hopes-and-dreams @antisocialxconstruct and everyone who wants to :D

I don't know if you wanna do something like this. Obviously doesn't have to be image format, I just took the idea and ran with it because I'm so very normal. It's a rather high effort tag game, so feel absolutely free to ignore it <3

I'm gonna tag some people from the Glass Shards/Fancy Boots taglist as well, just for looking at it, because I put too much fucking effort into this: @teamwhump @dont-touch-my-soup @kixngiggles

Lol guys I found a thread on reddit, it's hilarious, check it out.

Poor guy got torn to shreds in the comments.

Seems there were some updates as well. I'm having my doubts about this story, but five months is a nice commitment to the bit.

All images: The Post | First Question | Second Question | Third Question | Edits | Update

All screenshots look like posts on the subreddit r/AmITheAsshole, with several thousand upvotes and comments.

User u/ThrowRAFancyBoots posted seven months ago and has been voted the asshole:

AITA? I just wanted to make sure he's not a threat, but his wife is giving me the death glare

So I (25M) recently ran across an old acquaintance (35M). Last time we met… ok, there's no way around it, I was in law enforcement, and I arrested him for attempted murder. It wasn't pretty. Some things happened, and he was seriously injured. Wasn't my fault, but I admit I could have been a bigger help. I was informed he broke out of prison before his trial, but I moved away a short time later, and it kinda ended up in the back of my mind.

Now my new employer is in negotiations to move to this town, and while he's stuck in meetings all day, I got some time on my hands. And guess who I saw wandering around at the beach? I couldn't believe my eyes, but it was definitely him, he reacted to that stupid nickname they gave him.

Well, I did what any upstanding citizen would do, I tried to arrest him, but his wife (25F) — he has a wife now! — begged me to let him go. Ok, perhaps she didn't so much beg me as threaten me, but anyway, I just… I couldn't do it.

But I had to make sure he's not a threat anymore, I mean, what if I let him go and he kills someone?? So I told them I'd be over again to talk, and he invited me to dinner. It was an amazing dinner, this guy's a wonderful cook. We kept talking and I lost track of time, and then it was late and I realized I hadn't even asked my questions, so I told them I’d come back the next afternoon.

It's been 4 days now, and I've visited them daily, and I don't believe he's anywhere near the monster people said he is. Really, his wife seems to be more dangerous than he is. I think she's about to stab me. If looks could kill, I would be dead already. It’s making me wonder.

I just want to make absolutely sure, you know? Is that too much to ask? I didn't even come for dinner each day, so he wouldn't have to cook for me, though he still offered me something every time (it was absolutely delicious). I came along as he went shopping, and he was nice to everyone, and everyone seemed to like him. When someone asked, he introduced me as his friend of all things. If he’s an actor, he’s the best fucking actor I’ve ever seen.

So I'm asking, am I the asshole for bothering them for a few days while making absolutely sure he's not a threat anymore?

Several people have replied to this post:

First reply thread:

BurntSalad: INFO: What do you want to ask him?

ThrowRAFancyBoots: I want to ask him why he did it.

BurntSalad: YTA. It's been 4 days. Just check the police records or something, if you're too much of a coward lol

ThrowRAFancyBoots: I would have to ask. There wasn't a motive, it was straight up an assassination attempt. It doesn't make sense. Not when you get to know him. That's why I've been coming back.

UpperDogPants: then ask. put on your big boy pants and stop ruining their lives

ThrowRAFancyBoots: I will. Tomorrow.

Second reply thread:

CheeseAndPasta79: INFO: What was for dinner?

ThrowRAFancyBoots: Bean roast, mashed potatoes, glazed vegetables and freshly baked bread, why?

CheeseAndPasta79: YTA

ThrowRAFancyBoots: :(

Third reply thread:

SecretlyJealous2342: YTA you just want to fuck his wife

ThrowRAFancyBoots: No I do not want to fuck his wife, wtf.

Next comes a screenshot of the lower part of the OP, which now shows several edits and update. The thread has been locked:

Edit: Since people have repeatedly asked about the incident when he was arrested: his gun exploded, and he blew up his hand. We had to cut it off to save his life, and it… it was pretty gruesome, and I'm not proud of anything we did, all right? I didn't want to mention it, because I figured it might lead to prejudices before you've even read the whole story.

Edit 2: I don't think he's a killer. He really, really doesn't behave like one. But people wanted to know what I could possibly want to ask him after 4 days, and it's complicated. I want to know why he did it. For some reason, I can't seem to ask him that. But if I don’t know what made him do it, how can I be sure he won’t do it again?

Edit 3: Ok, after the latest edit, people seem to agree that I'm the asshole. Perhaps you’re right but can’t you see the predicament I’m in? And no, for those who were asking if his motives weren’t clear, they were not. It wasn’t a case of jealousy or revenge or anything, it was an assassination attempt, plain and simple. Perhaps he was blackmailed into it, or… fuck, I don’t know. This one day. I’ll go back one more time, ask my question, and leave them alone afterwards.

Update: I think I fucke 

Update 2: Sorry, I dropped my phone and hit send too early. My hands are shaking. I fucked up. I went back today (yeah, yeah, I know) and I saw something I shouldn’t have seen. He’s… it’s not my secret to share, and I won’t do that to him in case he or anyone he knows will ever find this, but safe to say, he was treated so much worse than I had assumed. I didn’t… It wasn’t me, but I let this happen to him.

You were right, I’m gonna leave him alone, but I have to go back one last time to tell them I will keep his secret. Fingers crossed I won’t end up with a knife between my eyes. Just kidding. Hopefully.

Update 3: So, uh, things took a turn, and I don’t know what to make of it, but… I think it’s a good thing? When I went to apologize, I brought something of his, something I had kept since the day I handed him over. I told him how I quit my job afterwards, because of what we did, because I couldn’t look those people in the eye anymore. And how I had kept this object to remind me.

I wouldn’t have asked him anymore, but it was him who brought up the question, and I decided to be honest, so I finally asked him why he had done it. I was right, he had been forced by someone. Not only the attempted murder, but also the rest, which I didn’t… I didn’t mention it because it would have made his identity too obvious and might put him at risk, but it doesn’t matter anymore, because there’s no fucking chance he’ll ever do it again.

I’m sorry, my thoughts are all over the place. When I left, he actually ran after me and invited me to dinner. I went, and before you call me an asshole again, this time… it was different. They were actually at ease around me. 

I’m now back in my room, and I can’t stop wondering where to go from here. If he really wants to be friends. We’ll see. I’m gonna leave it fully up to him, that’s the least I can do. 

I guess the question of whether I am the asshole has been answered (yes I was, big time). It doesn’t really matter anymore, but since people seem to be strangely invested (you should try reading a book instead), I can let you all know in a few weeks how things are going.

The last screenshot is of a new reddit post by u/ThrowRAFancyBoots, with even more upvotes and awards, two months ago.

Update: I just wanted to make sure he's not a threat, but his wife is giving me the death glare

I promised an update, but things have been kinda crazy. At first, everything was going well, I was visiting more often, and while his wife still didn’t like me (I can’t blame her) she was courteous enough. I would say he and I became friends, which is… fuck, I don’t really have many close friends.

It really took her flipping out at me to realize that I was holding the threat to his life over his head. That if I were to hand him over to the authorities, they were going to kill him. That I’ve been coming into his home, basically telling him “if you can’t convince me you’re nice enough, I’ll have you killed”. 

Yeah, you were right. I’m a fucking idiot.

And just when things started to settle, shit hit the fan. Turns out, he hadn’t told his brother about me (for which I also can’t blame him). Said brother wasn’t very amused to see me leaving the house and lost his temper. Not to go into details, but if my friend’s wife had taken a few moments longer to come out and check on the noise, I wouldn’t be writing this now.

I was out of commission for several weeks, which I spent at their house. His wife’s behavior took a 180 degree turn, and she’s been fussing over me ever since. Which is kinda endearing, but I hate to see her worry like that. Those two are some of the kindest people I’ve ever met, and it hurts my heart to think what they’ve been through.

Lost my job in the meantime, because my employer got sick of waiting for my return (I can’t… well perhaps I do blame him. A tiny bit. He could have gotten a temporary replacement, but fuck me, I guess). Not sure where to go next, I’m not quite fit to return to work yet, but there’s a chance the local headquarters will employ me directly, which would be fantastic. If not… I’ll figure something out. I could always return home to my family, but I’d really like to find a way to stay here.

Now I know my friend’s brother was just worried about him (for which I absolutely can’t blame him), so I decided to forgive him for attacking me. There’s nothing more important than family, and to think I almost destroyed theirs… I’m incredibly lucky to still be around, and to have them in my life, and for everything to turn out rather well, all things considered.

Probably not the update you expected, but that’s life. I won’t be posting again, I already put too much of their business onto the internet. Take care, and give your friends and families a hug today, if you haven’t. 

#salad-tag #Fancy Boots #Riordan has fancy boots #Do you understand how much work that was