#wrote this in like 20 minutes on my notes app

[weziu]

When Neil looked up he saw his reflection, and instinctively recoiled. It was almost comical, the way he moved in that moment, and he wondered for a second after if a bystander noticed him and laughed. His arms tensed up, his eyes widened, and his entire body flew backwards like someone pushed him hard enough to fall. He was lucky that he didn't spill the coffee, lucky especially because it was too expensive for its worth, but Andrew liked this cafe more than he'd like to admit.

Neil tested himself, sometimes. He straightened again in his seat and stared straight ahead. if he let his eyes rest, his vision blur, he could see past the glass, could see the bystanders that walked by in a hurry, or the dogs that stopped to bark at each other, or the way that the leaves hanging from the trees swayed in the wind. But this was one of those times. Neil let his vision focus on his target, let his picture gain shape, slowly, on the surface.

It came together, broken.

Neil Josten can not exist without his past. Despite that, he sometimes wishes that he could forget it. Was there any reason, really, for the scars that litter his face? What is he when you peel this all off, let the rawness of his heart speak instead? The lines on his face felt like broken puzzle pieces. His blue eyes, a monster, a certain death. Maybe these reasons are why his reflection scared him - he could not see his face without seeing what once was, what once happened, what he ran away from for so long, and when he tested himself, he wanted to see how much of that will to run away he still has left. How much of the deep learnt instinct still flowed in his veins.

Andrew's coffee burnt his tongue when he took a sip. From his left, a bell rang. Footsteps that he'd recognize everywhere got closer, but he still looked towards the noise, just to look. Andrew's hazel eyes glowed under the yellow, warm lightning of the small place. He glanced at the table, and frowned.

"How long have you been here?"

"Hmmmm." Neil answered.

"Is my coffee cold?"

Andrew sat down. Neil pushed the cup towards him. Andrew touched it and nodded in something like satisfaction. Neil looked at every line that made Andrew's face, and wondered if Andrew sometimes tests himself, too. How often.

"It's cold outside," Neil looked away, overwhelmed. "I didn't bring my coat."

"Of course you didn't." The weight of Andrew's gaze almost made Neil give in to his bottomless feelings. "I told you to check the weather."

The window stared back at him. The world outside seemed miles away from his reflection. From his world. Two dimensions, unfamiliar. They don't touch. Not often.

Andrew took a sip from his too-sweet coffee. Neil's tongue burnt, but Andrew gulped the drink down with ease and closed his eyes in appreciation, or maybe for a moment of disconnect. Neil put his hand on the table. Andrew reached out to meet him halfway. Their hands didn't touch, not really. It was a simple poke of fingers against each other, an awkward thing they studied how to do. Few fingers overlapped each other. The world, again, seemed far away, but in a comfortable way, now. Neil's body relaxed for the first time since he sat down here. Tension left his body, slowly. It was warm, he realized. Warmth surrounded him.

He thought of people, and wind, and dogs. Of his dad and his knives, and almost laughed with the shock of it all. Dimensions, parallel, but they meet somewhere, even if he can't experience it fully. Andrew. His friends. The cigarette packs he hid from Kevin, the sun, sometimes, or the way it lands on Andrew. There was still a barrier between what he knew and what the rest of the world did, but right here, in this cafe, sitting with Andrew in silence and watching him sip his coffee, pushing back the less pleasent memories, leaving the cold for later, he thought that maybe his dimension isn't so bad. He survived so far.

ao3 link

#aftg #andreil #all for the game #andrew minyard #neil josten #wrote this in like 20 minutes on my notes app #hehe

[justakixa]

Dearie || Lookism

Part 1&2: ౨ৎ ˖ ࣪ ⊹

౨ৎ ˖ ࣪ ⊹Part 3

Once she finally arrives at the house, she stumbles into the living room, dropping her bag on the sofa as she sits on the floor and pulls out the phone, pen, and paper to take down some information on that phone. She let out a long sigh and proceeded to open the phone, go to the music app, and then open the voice recordings. Some of them almost reach 1 hour, while others are 20 minutes. She clicked the shortest one as she maxed out the volume of the phone until she heard a muffled noise and people talking behind her.

"What the heck are you doing?" A sudden man's voice was heard. She leans her ears to the phone closer.

"Nothing, hun; Goo told me to do this before everything went to a mess. You know, for memories proposes." She let out a small gasp when she heard a woman's voice. It was a sweet and soothing spokesperson, but somehow it almost sounded like hers. She feels like she has delusions, but she keeps listening.

"Don't worry, everything will be handled under my hands. If everything goes downhill, I'll make sure to protect you whatever it takes."

"Eh? You sound like I might die on someone other than your hand."

"I'll make sure you won't die, ok?" The audio cut off the man, making her disappointed as she proceeded to write the mentioned name a minute ago.

Note:

1.Goo. (random man who got mentioned)

After that, she listened to another voice recording, but this time there was yelling and shouting in the background. Most prominently, a person recording on the phone could be heard gasping for air and the sound of running away from something or somebody. As the background noises slowly faded, she caught a whisper from the woman she had heard a minute ago, prompting her to hold the phone to her ears and listen attentively.

"H-hey... Hun if you ever get this record I might be gone for good. But... I can still go back somehow so d-don't worry I'll be in your arms again. So, wait for me my dear...*BEEP*"

She looks over the phone with shaky hands as she puts the phone down on the floor and lets out a disbelieving sigh at what she heard. She wants to assume that the woman is already dead but same time the woman might be still alive and just hiding in thin air that no one can't find. She took the paper again and wrote it down.

Later, she continued to listen and analyze whatever happened behind the voice records. She is lowkey proud of herself for what she's doing. She looks at the paper.

Note:

1. Goo. (random man who got mentioned)pretty 

2. lady - dead or alive?

3. They have a cat!?

4. "hun" must be the husband or boyfriend of the pretty lady.

5. Old chairman with one arm?

6. Jakeyand Sammy might be brothers or not.

7. An affliate what?

8. The promises of the pretty lady and the hun.

9. money is everything ago.

10. Does the pretty lady hate one-arm daughter?

Everything is still not clear to her. What is her task to do anyway? Does she need to investigate this pretty lady's situation and then find out everything? Then what? What will she achieve if she completes it? Will she go back to her "world"? She shook her head, stopping all the questions in her mind, but she decided to find out everything on the pretty lady's side and leave it alone once she knew it all.

She closed the phone on the sofa and went upstairs to the bedroom to change her uniform to comfortable clothes. While she was changing her outfit, she heard noises downstairs. She hurriedly got out of the bedroom and headed downstairs again. When she arrived, she noticed the paper was ripped into pieces and the phone was on the floor. She looked around to see if anybody was in the house but she didn't see any traces that someone or something is in the house too.

"Anybody there?! Come out I won't bite!" She shouts and receives silence until she hears something under the sofa, she goes to the kitchen and quickly grabs the frying pan then goes back to the living room. Holding it tightly as she kneeled down in front of the sofa and slowly looked down underneath the sofa and saw nothing but dark. She looks closer till two white glowing pupils suddenly show up making her scream and walk away from the sofa. It crawls away from the sofa and shows itself. 

"oh... a cat? how did you even get in here?" She was shocked when a random cat showed up suddenly, which got her off guard. She looks closely at the cat and notices there is a scar between the cat's eyes, she walks towards it and picks up the cat to her arm.

"Now tell me how did you get here and how you have that scar on your face kitty?" She asks the cat even though the cat can't even speak human language, she is still concerned and curious at the same time. The cat just meowed at her and then looked at the open window.

"It seems I forgot to close that... Since you were in my house without a collar, you're mine now hehe" She let out a giggle and hugged the cat gently in her arms. She even forgot the ripped paper too but well the cat made her amnesia. She grabbed the phone from the floor and took a selfie with the cat then she asked herself what she should name the cat.

˚ʚNext Dayɞ˚

Time seemed to fly by quickly. Today was the school festival at J-high. In honor of the festival, the teacher allowed students to dress casually as long as it was appropriate. She opted for a white shirt paired with a black pencil skirt, striking the perfect balance between casual and semi-formal. Each department was competing to make the most profit, vying for the title of the best department and the accompanying reward. She first observed Zack engaging in a boxing match, showcasing his profit-making skills against other students who were up for the challenge. Afterwards, she visited the beauty department and was surprised to find only a male student in charge with the help of the girls in his department.

"Why does he look like a unicorn with that hair..." She whispered to herself as she observed whatever he was doing until the guy just made one student bald- ok bye. That was a terrible haircut. She quickly walked away from the beauty department and headed to the architecture department.

Sweat dropped from her face as she looked in front of her. A water bomb stands with Vasco and others face with it. Vasco was smiling at her while Jace was right next to him looking at her to help him make his profit. She let out a sigh and went to the guy as a cashier paid and gave her balloons with water inside, then walked toward them but not so close yet not so far. She throws the ballons at them and they feel relief and smile at her feeling blessed since she's the first person who splashed them with a water bomb.

Vasco locks a gaze at her as she finishes throwing them a water bomb. Leaving Vasco shed tears on his face while Jace comforts him cheering that architecture depart have 1 point finally! Thirdly, she went to the baking department and bought a lot of bread, cupcakes, and other sweets they baked. rip wallet. She feels satisfied after eating some of it, making the baking department get 5 stars for good baking, on the way she notices the crowd in front of her. She tries to get to the front row but luck is not on her side so she just eats the last cupcake in her hand while watching from the back of the crowd.

It was an auction from the fashion department, she was about to back away before the MC explained the rules that girls will place money and whoever gets the highest will the reward aka the boys from each department that were called at by an MC. She was relieved that boys would get sold and not girls, she stood by from her spot as she continued eating the cupcake while watching the boy's embarrassed moment. When Vasco was called to the stage one girl placed money 1 won only, he was happy and sad at the same time since he thought Y/N would buy him, too bad she broke by buying so many loaves of bread from the baking department.

Many boys called till the MC called Daniel Park to the stage he was fidgeting his fingers and looking nervous. Many girls were shouting and bidding money higher and higher before this Lala girl or whatever her name is started to bid 1k won making other girls crumble on their spot while Daniel jolted on his spot too as sweat dropped from his face.

"2k won." A random girl bid higher making Lala girl bid more till she finally ran out of money. Lala doesn't want the random girl to win so she bids on her expensive bag that cost 7k won but sadly rules don't collect items just money for charity. "Daniel Park sold for 2k won!" MC announced the ending of the auction.

Back to Y/N, she kept looking at Daniel as he walked down from the stage and noticed he was walking toward her as he was standing in front of her asking her to come with him to meet the random girl. She doesn't know if she should agree or not since she wants to walk around again to see more department profit. Without answering him he just grabbed her wrist and dragged her with him to meet the random girl. While grabbing her wrist Daniel's ears were turning red and a tint of blush on his face since he was holding her wrist and walking with her.As they arrived, she saw the random girl who bid Daniel then the tall sunglasses guy behind her and it seemed he was gazing at her head to toe making her uncomfortable so she hides herself behind Daniel but she didn't notice the sunglasses guy smirking at her.

Tbc!

#lookism #kim joongoo #gun park #jake kim #park jonggun #samuel seo #daniel park #zack lee #jay hong #lookism x reader #watpadd #lookism fanart #lookism fandom #lookism fic

[jminshairtie]

Can we be something more ?

Min Yoongi x Reader

Yoongi is VERY soft.

Reader is half Korean and half Western(White, Black, Hispanic, Japanese, Native American)

Reader knows who Bts is but doesn’t really care for them

I wrote this in my notes app so pls😭😞

I was sitting alone in the coffee shop until I saw a group of men, they looked kind of young…maybe in their mid 20s. I looked back down because Seoul isn’t the SAFEST place for a woman like me to be in at 12 am. My stomach started to bubble as I felt a strong wave of…depression? Tiredness? Fatigue..? I felt sick. I looked back up at the window and saw the seven men now standing closer to the door. There was one in particular who caught my eye. He had on a hoodie, a grey bucket hat and black sweats.

His face was bare and glossy, which made me think that he had just washed up before coming outside with his friends. The bell rang signaling that the door was being opened. My eyes shot to the door as me and the same man held eye contact. “Yah! I’ll see you later, take jungkook home. ”(응! 나중에 보자, 정국을 집에 데려가." He said in Korean. His Daegu dialect coming out strong. The man looks really familiar. Like I’ve seen him before. Maybe I was just seeing things. ���Hi, um ma’am…” I looked up and saw him standing above me fairly close. “Oh I’m so sorry. Do you want to sit here?” I questioned softly. “Nah nah it’s fine, I just wanted to ask if you were alright…I didn’t want you thinkin’ I was a creep considering you’re all alone..” His face is so smooth..and his eyes are so soft. He looks SO damn familiar. “Um ma’am..?” He waved his hand slightly across my face. “Oh I’m sorry…uh yea no I totally didn’t think of it. I was about to leave either way..”

“No no…you should stay. I’m pretty sure you arrived here early and it’s dark. In order to keep a beautiful woman like you safe please, stay until I leave..” okay now I would NEVER stay if a man, RANDOM one at that asked me to stay until he left but…fuck it. “Sure” I said in English. He smiled at me with his gummy smile. “What do you want to drink?” He questioned. He kind of sounded like Min Yoongi from BTS. Holy shit….GIRL- It is yoongi… “Anything iced..” He giggled… ”Okay cutie.”

20 mins later

It’s been around 20 minutes since he’s been here and we’ve made good talk. “So um…do you have a husband or, boyfriend of chance…?” I have a failed talking stage that I’m still friends with… I thought to myself. “Well, I have a failed talking stage but…I don’t really talk to him anymore so…I came here to empty my head you know?…” he took my hand in his and softly held it in his. “It’s okay pretty…don’t worry about it anymore…” I smiled and nodded. “What about you yoongi…is anyone catching your eye lately..?” His eyes went wide as he turned around then looked back at me. “Please..how did you know..?” “That gummy smile of yours.” He smiled softly and embraced my touch. He started shifting in his pockets before pulling his phone out, and sliding it across the table.

“I trust you pretty girl….”

#min yoongi #jimin x female reader #bts ot7 #bangtan #bangta boys #jungkook #yoongi #suchwita #taehyung #kim seokjin #kim taehyung #kim namjoon #namjoon #jhope #bts jhope

[callsignfate]

College Laswell x Reader.

Involves: Kate Laswell and John Price.

(This is set in an early college time frame. Also, yes, I put you all in the same college at the same time. I don't care if it doesn't match up with the time frame of when they actually met or anything in the game of when they met. It's just a fun thing to write, I also wrote this offline on my phone notes app, I didn't edit or refine my writing at all, so this is basically what my writing is without any editing or refining of any sort so let me know if you like this style of writing or the more edited versions.)

May contain or discuss 18+ content or themes viewer discretion is advised!

♡~♡~♡~♡~♡~♡~♡~♡~♡~♡~♡~♡~♡~♡

Price was an absolute fuck boy in his late teens/early 20's, the catch? Kate is his friend through the whole phase. Poor Kate. She watches these girls fall head over heels with him and his accent over and over, not to say he isn't a gentleman and transparent about the whole thing.

Kate watches these girls willingly throw themselves at him after he says the same thing he's said to every woman coming his way "I'm not looking for anything serious, dating isn't something I have time for or want to do."

Kate only knows this because of a few different ways. Mutual friends, rumors, and you. Kate always thought you were interested in John because you hung around him and often spent time with him if you'd get the chance. She just assumed you weren't going to say anything to her or anyone about it. That you were waiting for a time when he was interested in dating, for your chance with him.

She always wondered what you were doing when you went over to his dorm room because he had no roommate, meaning you two were alone and he's a playboy. Kate did playfully ask a few times if you were or had fucked John, you always had this shocked face and always said no almost immediately.

John, when asked by Kate, always winked or found a way to escape answering her questions. Kate, because of that, believed that you both had at least once or even twice in your many room visits.

Today, again, you were headed to go to his room alone. Kate had texted you asking if you were free after her class to go get lunch, you replied, sure, and you'd be at John's room, so to meet you there instead of yours.

Kate's chest felt heavier after reading your text. She had tried to take a deep breath and shake it off, but the feeling didn't budge. Her class that she actually had liked had become an immovable object in her own way. She watched the hands on the clock move slowly, making her frustrated and antsy in class, shifting and moving in her seat as she tried to focus.

To no avail, Kate left class fifteen minutes early, her mind buzzing and aching with her questioning her own feelings and reasoning for leaving class early. She hovered her finger over the text to tell you she was on her way to John's room before she sighed, put her phone away, and sped walked her way over, fidgeting with straps on her backpack as she walked.

She was thankful she was taller than the average woman, taking the stairs two or even three at a time easily. She stopped before his door, listening to hear if she could hear any sounds her mind pleaded she wouldn't.

She heard nothing but small whispers, a small signature John chuckle, She opened the door without knocking, which was unlike her but something you and John often did to each other. Kate had learned her lesson with not knocking before going into John's room once, and she never wanted to do, or see that, again.

She watched as you grabbed something and shoved it behind your back. She couldn't see or read the writing on it. It was too light and far away for her to even try. She noticed you and John were both sitting on the carpeted floor of his room comfortably. Her mind was buzzing again when she noticed you were sitting close, her thoughts running rampant on how comfortable you looked and were sitting near him.

You gave her a soft smile as you hid the paper behind your back, John looked as casual as ever as he rolled his eyes at you hiding through paper so obviously.

"Kate, you're here early, class end early?" John already knew the answer. It didn't. His friend took the class and hadn't texted him back or came over to his room yet to do their plans.

"Yea, I thought I'd head over since it ended early." She muttered, shooting him a confidant glare. She could see his cocky smile and the glint in his eyes that he knew she was lying. She just hoped he hadn't known or noticed why.

"Lunch?" She walked over and held her hand out to help you up from the sitting on the floor. You took it with a soft, happy smile and gave a quiet nod. You had tucked the paper into your back pocket and grabbed your backpack before you stood up and glanced back at John and motioned for him to take the paper from your pocket before Kate would try to take it.

He did quickly before tucking it into his own pants pocket quickly. Kate watched and observed most of this without you noticing she was watching this take place, although you were trying to hide it, obviously.

"Ready?" You asked with a small smile as you took your hand out of hers. You wanted to hold it longer but didn't want to make her uncomfortable. You shifted your bag strap on your shoulder as your bag was loosely slung over one shoulder uncomfortablely. You said goodbye to John, who gave you a smile 'see you later' before the door closed.

The lunch went as normal as every lunch you had with Kate. She talked about her classes, studied, and ate before you both parted ways for your next classes separately.

Kate knocked quickly, her head looking around quietly as she hoped no one would notice or see her at the door. She felt an arm yank her in immediately before she glared at him.

"What was the paper- What did it say?" Kate practically demanded before Price could say a word she always already looking for it. He laughed and sighed as he shook his head at her.

"Why don't you ask her?" He taunted, knowing she couldn't, or wouldn't dare ask you.

"Very funny, just tell me what it was." She said again as she looked and moved different things around his room without even looking his way.

"Kate, seriously, she'd kill me if you found out." John muttered as he was already considering giving the paper to her so she'd stop messing up his room, and so he could sleep for his morning classes.

"Well, what if I promise she won't find out?" Kate said finally as she turned around and held out her hand for the paper with a knowing smile.

"Fine- fine. If she finds out, then it's on you, I'm telling her you looked for it when I wasn't here and found it." John muttered as he pulled it out of his pants pocket and practically slapped it in her hand with a playfully frustrated sigh.

Kate's hands couldn't move fast enough as she unfolded the paper. She needed to know if you had actually had fucked John, she needed to know everything that was making her mind plagued with thoughts and questions. It was giving her a near constant dull ache in her chest.

The paper was filled on one side of little doodles of her looking different ways, focusing on papers or studies, looking out a window. She could tell the doodles were yours. She had seen you doodle on your work before, she smiled at them before she turned the paper over.

"Is- is this my likes and dislikes, a plan to ask me out, and places I might like to go out to?" Kate asked in shock. It was all little information that she had given to John from their years of friendship, and to you when you had asked her a question.

"Kids been trying to ask you out, I was just helping her as much as I could." John admitted with a small shrug and a smile.

"You knew she liked me?" Kate paused as she looked over the paper and information as her mind began to fill and become overwhelmed with endless questions and thoughts. "..and you knew I liked her back. You've said nothing?!" Kate whisper yelled at him as she scoffed at his amused smile.

"I've known, I wanted her to do it on her own, and I liked to fuck with you. I tried to offer her a chance to sleep with me a few weeks after she joined our little friend group. She said, and I quote, "I'd never fuck you if we were the last two people alive, no offense and all but I swing the other way, if you catch my drift." John said with a small laugh as he was reminded of the early months of your friendship. He had already knoticed your eyes, always watching and looking at Kate, how willing you were to walk, eat, or do anything you could to spend time with her.

"I can't believe you fucked with me, you made me think you had fucked, or were fucking." Kate hissed out in slight irritation as her eyes were glued to the paper gripped tightly in her hands intently.

"Yea well, payback for all of the times you told girls I was terrible in bed." John said as he narrowed his eyes at her.

"Fair enough, I'm going to go see her." Kate, basically declared as she began folding the paper back up and putting it in her pocket.

"Woah, woah, you can't take that." Price muttered as he tried to reach for the paper to steal it back.

"I'll tell her I found it, like you said, don't worry." Kate muttered as she gave him back a tone, mocking his and a smile.

♡~♡~♡~♡~♡~♡~♡~♡~♡~♡~♡~♡~♡~♡

(If you want more of this, just let me know, I left it at a sort of cliffhanger and I have more written it's just that it gets "spicy" in the next part when Laswell goes to your room.)

#kate laswell #kate laswell x reader #kate laswell x fem!reader #cod laswell #laswell cod #laswell #call of duty laswell #laswell mw2 #cod john price #john price #captain price #cod price #call of duty price

[aniron48]

20 questions for fic writers

Thank you for the tag, @anyawen! These were so much fun!

Answers under the cut, and tagging @sweetbabyangels, @mr-iskender, @stinastar, @aprettyspy and @thestalwartheart, in case you haven't done this already and it's of interest!

1. How many works do you have on AO3? 30! That number seems astonishing to me now, considering I started writing fic in earnest like a year-and-a-half ago. 😁

2. What’s your total A03 word count? 138,358

3. What fandoms do you write for? James Bond, Glass Onion/Knives Out, and I just wrote my first fic for The Old Guard fandom, which has pulled me in by the lapels and refused to let me go. And the very first fic I ever wrote was for Stardew Valley.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos? 1. A Good Man (Benoit Blanc/Phillip) 2. rain (00q) 3. open line (00q) 4. The More Loving One (00q) 5. Must Love Cats (00q)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? Ok yes I definitely do and I love to *and also* I'm so sorry, I'm 288 days (yes I just checked) behind in responding to comments, because this year has been...something else. So, taking the opportunity to say that a) all of your comments are incredible bright spots for me, and b) I am working my way steadily through and enjoying your comments all over again as I re-read and respond to them.

6. What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? WELP (eyes my pile o' fics warily). If we go based off the fics with "Major Character Death" as a warning, for a certain value of angst, it's a tie between offering and and the wind at their backs. But both of these fics deal with grief, and the complicated emotions that result from the persistence of love even after the object of that love is gone, and there's some hope in that, too, I think.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? lmao most of the rest of them other than the two in number 6? 😂 this is a hard one to answer, so I'll list my RomCom-iest fics for now (Must Love Cats for 00q and in a space that they belong for The Old Guard). Special shout-out to 'tis the damn season, though, because the happiness at the end of this fic feels like some of the hardest fought, to me, and some of the tenderest I've written, I think.

8. Do you get hate on fics? No--I've gotten a few less than diplomatic comments, and a couple people making unflattering notes in bookmarks that I don't think they meant for me to see, but nothing terrible.

9. Do you write smut? ::offers you rain and for the age of the earth, and after as if I am a sommelier presenting you with some very fine wine:: "this one has notes of--" you know what I'm just going to stop there.

10. Do you write crossovers? I haven't yet!

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? No, thank goodness (knocks on wood).

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? Not yet! #goals

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? Use. Your. Words., which was a collaborative poem for 007 fest 2023. 😁

14. What’s your all-time favourite ship? I spent about five minutes hemming and hawing about this but you know what, it's impossible to pick. 😂

15. What’s the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? Like Anyawen, I have aspirations of finishing all the ones hanging out in my Scrivener app...someday. Probably the one I have the most doubts about is a 5 + 1 fic where Bond tries out different activities post retirement. I still love the idea and some of the vision I had for this one, but it lives almost entirely in my head, still.

16. What are your writing strengths? I think maybe I have a good ear for language, both in terms of the rhythm of sentences and paragraphs, and for conveying a character's voice or accent. But it's hard to assess your own strengths, sometimes, so that's just my best guess!

17. What are your writing weaknesses? I'm actively working on trying to be better at descriptions, especially in giving details about setting or background. I realized I give these things short shrift, sometimes, and want to change that!

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic? I'll do it with languages I'm fluent in (and have done it with Spanish, since I'm a native speaker).

19. First fandom you wrote for? Stardew Valley, in What Dreams May Come.

20. Favourite fic you’ve ever written? Omg, another one that is almost impossible to answer! I think I have to go with all the flags we've hung. This is one of my least popular fics--it's a rarepair, the love depicted in it is complicated (though no less real), and it deals with light topics like, you know, structural racism in the United States. As one does. But it's a fic that's incredible close to my heart, for many reasons, and I remain so proud of this one.

Phew! If you have read all of this you deserve a cupcake. 💜

xoxo, Ani

#20 questions for fic writers #my fic #this was a fun one! #also now I am tired 😂

[the-redhead-in-a-dress]

SNW Drabbles (PikeUna)

Just something that's been in my notes app for months and I've never done anything with. I think my idea behind this originally was La'an had turned little in an accident and Chris and Una looked after her before they could turn her back to her regular self. And that this experience made them realize that perhaps having another little one of their own wouldn't be too bad...

________

Christine was ever the professional when one afternoon the Captain came for his bi-yearly physical looking more hesitant than his usual confident self. She had thought nothing of it at first, thinking he was just a little embarrassed that she'd be the one doing his examination. Usually, MBenga covered the Captain's physical but sickbay had been swamped with an unusually high caseload of a rare Andorian flu and he was flat out covering all the patients. So Christine had offered to cover his scheduled check ups for the week.

It was only at the end of the exam in which the topic of his sexual health came up that the Captain's nervousness was explained. She had to have similar conversations about sex with over half the crew multiple times a year, often with many she considered personal friends as well as colleagues. So the nervousness positively radiating from Chris as he sat on the biobed didn't phase her in the slightest, right up until the point in which he mentioned that he would be declining the birth control shots he'd been receiving since he was 16 years old. That was interesting.

She buried her head in the PADD to tick the decline box next to birth control, desperately trying to keep a composed expression before looking up to meet the Captain's eyes.

“This is going to be awkward Sir.” Christine said. “But I need to ask, are you sure about this? The consequences, have you discussed this with your sexual partners.” 

“Partner” Chris clarified with a chuckle. “And yes, we are both fully aware of the consequences that come with coming off of birth control, that was, uh, kind of the point.” Chris’ face turned red as he tried to explain to Nurse Chapel without stuttering.

“I wish you luck Sir. You and Number One will make very cute babies.” She said nonchalantly as she wrote a note in his file on the PADD she was holding.

“I uh didn’t say who.” Chris' face slackened at the mention of Una. They'd been trying to keep their relationship on the down low, and their recent decision to try for a baby was definitely not something they wanted to advertise yet. They were both fully aware their ages meant that their chances of procreating weren't guaranteed, but they had agreed about giving it a go and seeing if it worked out. Their recent experiences with La'an as a toddler had been the spark behind their rather unexpected decision. The experience of caring for her together had led to both of them realizing that the presence of a small child in their lives was something that they actively enjoyed, and now missed now that La'an was back to her usual self.

It had been scary trying to broach the topic with Una, having known her stance on children since they were in their early 20s, they're cute but not something for me. However, halfway through his ramblings Una had cut him off and actually asked him whether he wanted to have a baby with her. He had not so articulately stuttered a yes in response and then they had stood in his kitchen grinning at each other like idiots for several full minutes.

Even the thought of it now, a baby, a Chin-Riley and Pike baby, brought a wide smile to his lips and they hadn't even really started the process yet. Although there had been lots of practice already, because they'd never want anybody to accuse them for being underprepared for anything, in any facet of their lives, professional or personal.

“Firstly, it’s obvious the way you look at her," Christine couldn't help but a grin escape her lips as she responded to the Captain's comment. "Secondly I think La’an will literally kill you if you have a baby with anybody that isn’t Una. And thirdly, I already had to have this conversation with Number One last week and nobody else on this ship except from her has come to let me know they’re willing to procreate anytime soon." 

“Ah, okay."

Not to embarrass him further, Christine turned away from the Captain and moved towards the matter synthesizer in the corner. She played with the settings for a moment before replicating a few vials of what she needed. As she handed them to him she noticed his hands were slippery with sweat.

“You might want to take these supplements every morning, to increase sperm production. I’ve already started Una on something similar to increase her chances of ovulation.” 

“Okay, thank you.” He said awkwardly, hopping off of the biobed in the private exam room.

“Good luck Sir,"

The Captain nodded at her and thanked her for her time and help, before quickly escaping out of sickbay.

Christine shook her head as she watched him leave. Did she just wish one of commanding officers luck in having sex with her other commanding officer? This ship was weird. 

#SNW drabbles #ST SNW #Poor Nurse Christine #pikeuna #PikeOne #Drabbles #I tidied this up in a hurry so let me know if there's any glaring mistakes #might upload to ao3 at some point #Future Captain!Dad and Momber One #Christine Chapel and Christopher Pike

[sixstepsaway]

It has been 300 years since I've worked on a particular fanfic and I want to return to writing it but I am filled with Concern About My Writing Abilities and Anxious Procrastination. I come to your blog to humbly request words of wisdom and/or encouragement. I will send an ask about Izzy Hands as humble offering.

OKAY. PULL UP A SEAT.

Firstly: read my blog title. No, really; read it. There's no such thing as wasted words, you improve every time you write, so if you go back to your fanfic and you write 1000 or 10,000 or even 100,000 words and you're like "man, this is shit, I don't want to post this" it's fully and 100% okay to delete all that crap and do it again but better. You've learned. You have upped your skill. You have levelled up, it's just that in Real Life (damn that reality thing) you don't get a cute little ding when you level up, you just have to believe it's happening.

Second, I genuinely think most creative skills are like riding a bike, except maybe not the way you expect. I don't think that when you pull that bike back up you just immediately and without fail know how to ride and don't fall off, but I do think that after an hour or so of scraping your knees and rolling around in the dirt, you will get the hang back, instead of it taking however many hours and hours it took for you to get that skill to begin with.

If you get back on the bike, steel yourself and start pedaling, you will remember how to ride eventually, even if it doesn't feel like that at first.

Assuming that you are not a vampire and are in fact a human being and are exaggerating somewhat with the claim that it's been three hundred years since you last wrote this fic, I also believe in seasons of creativity. Sometimes you'll output so much you're like, "Where did all these words come from?" and other times weeks or months or even years will pass with little to no writing (or art, or sculpting, or sewing, or whatever creativity you might do) to show for it and that's okay.

Plants go dormant in winter and bloom once more in the spring, and so will your writing if you let it. It's okay.

If you're worried about consistency, I highly recommend going back to your WIP and rereading it. Curl up in a cozy blanket with your phone or sit with a cup or tea or something and just...read through your fic again, and let yourself enjoy it as a reader, not just the author. Make notes in your head (or on paper, if that's what you're feeling) of what you like about it, what you don't like about it, and what things you've written that might be setting up future chapters or passages for you to draw from. My longest fic is an cql fic which is 86k and when I do go back to add more to it (which I do plan on doing), I will reread it all before I do, and not only get that reader-y feeling of, "Damn, I wish this had more chapters!" but also refresh my memory of where I was going with it and what my plans were.

Now, as for procrastination. Is your Anxious Procrastination because of anxiety about your writing abilities? If so, all of that above might just help, and at the end of the day you don't have to post anything you don't want to. You can write and write and it never see the light of day, if that's what you want.

You don't have to feel anxious about posting until the moment you decide to post.

For other kinds of procrastination my Official ADHD-Haver Recommendations are:

Get a timer app or one of those cube things, set it to a reasonable amount of time (say, 15-20 minutes) and turn it on/flip it over and tell yourself you will Work On The Thing for that long. Having an "end" time for if you struggle works wonders for giving my brain the feeling of leaving when things are too hard, but I rarely have to use it, I usually just keep going. I also find the physical act of turning on the timer (I use YAPA aka Yet Another Pomodoro App for Windows) clicks my brain into a different Zone than "sitting around messing with Minecraft" or "doing absolutely nothing and being mad at myself about it".

Find a playlist or some ambience or something. Earmark it as your Writing This Specific Fic music/sounds. Only turn it on when you're working, and turn it off when you're done. Pavlov is a strong tool for these things.

I'm a big fan of 4TheWords which is a gamification app for writing. I really like it (I have a referral code if you want one), and I find the fun vibes, the inclusive atmosphere, the cute lil creatures you battle while writing etc all really helps give me a dopamine hit while I work that I don't really get from just writing into Scrivener or something.

FocusWriter is another app I really like. You can customize the themes (so you could put like a blurry OFMD image in the background for the vibes while you write) and it's (optionally) full screen to minimize distractions.

If you're still struggling to get started, maybe find like a list of numbered prompts, roll a dice and write like 100-500 words of just... whatever comes up for whatever character or ship you feel like writing. Something just to get you started. I always find it easier to write once I've written, if that makes sense.

Always leave your work unfinished at the end of each day. Sounds daft, but what I mean is: always stop for the day mid-sentence, mid-word if you can. When you come back, you'll see, for example, this: "Izzy has never felt so betr" just lingering on your writing app and you'll go, "Oh yeah, betrayed," and you'll type out the "-ayed" and your fingers will just keep going to finish the sentence, and the paragraph, and so on. That said, if you're posting a final chapter of something, maybe just start the first sentence of whatever you want to write next? Even if you don't come back to really dig into it, you have that word to finish. (I left mine at the end of a sentence today and I am mad at myself for it)

Reread the comments on your fic, if you have them. Let how much people love and enjoy your work wash over you.

Open your writing app of choice and write down all the reasons you're anxious on a bulleted list, then go back, hit enter on each one, tab in for a bullet underneath, and argue with yourself. Tell yourself why your anxiety is so silly and why you're super wrong. Not only does it get you typing into your writing app (see what I did there???) but you'll be surprised how much debating yourself can help with anxiety.

I find most of my own Anxious Procrastination comes from fears of publishing (both my original stuff and my fic), because the idea of Putting Things Out There To Potentially Never Be Finished (hi, yes, I have ADHD and I never finish a damn thing unless I try So Hard It Hurts - see also: my 80k unfinished cql fic) and then am I not a Failure? Am I not a Let Down?

But I also got some amazing comments on that fic, from people who genuinely got a lot out of it, even if it did never get finished (so far 😠) and so I go back and read those, and remember that most of the people who commented on those chapters didn't... really care, if it never finished. They cared that the specific chapter that really got to them existed to begin with.

And I also think of Game of Thrones a little (well, the books). If he never finishes those books, would it take away from the joy people got from reading the ones he did put out there? I don't think so.

So I try to focus on that, with my own anxiety.

This got a little rambly (what, Jess? You? Rambling? Never!) but I hope it helped. Let me know if it did or didn't, please! 💖 And good luck with your writing endeavors!

#anonymous #ask #writing advice #writing #my writing advice

[angelst4re]

Jealous - Brian Wilcox X Fem! Reader

It’s never good to have an argument hours before going to a party...

contains: NSFW, lowkey toxic, brian being an asshole but whats new, alcohol, smoking, use of y/n, porn with no plot lol

author’s note: i haven’t wrote smut in years so sorry if this is bad.. this is my first time actually posting something like this on this app, i have been a wattpad girl most of my life but don’t worry. i have seen the light. i’m here now. [also i wanna add that this hasn’t been proof read! pls point out mistakes and i’ll make sure to change it]

“I don’t care, Brian. That was the money we were saving for our trip this summer!”

“I work two jobs i fucking hate right now, y/n, and what do you do? Huh? Nothing. All that money was mine anyway, maybe if you got a job you wouldn’t have to rely on me-”

“I don’t rely on you!”

“No, of course you don’t. So I guess you’ll be fine if I left then? Yeah? Seeing as I took the money to pay for this month’s rent.” He stood up from the bed, throwing a hoodie over his head, grabbed his car keys and stormed out of their shared home.

You knew you fucked up. You should tell Brian your sorry, but you knew that would only get to his head, he would tease you for it. Yet, you didn’t just want to wait it out incase he really did mean what he said. It was true, you do rely on him, but not in the way he meant. You were independent, you don’t need anyone else, but Brian had always been your comfort.

However, you weren’t going to let this ruin your night. It was Amber’s birthday after all! She’s the reason you and Brian are together- when you visited her at work one day he caught your eye, she told you a bit about him and here you are now, mid-argument.

---

“Yeah, he got here like 20 minutes ago, when I saw he was alone I started to think maybe you weren’t coming.” Amber said, holding your hand as she directed you to her kitchen to get a drink, “So, what was it this time? Has he been smoking again?”

“No- I don’t think so- honestly, it was just something stupid. Anyway, I’m not going to let that ruin your party!” You began leaning on the kitchen counter when you spotted your boyfriend talking to a girl, she was very pretty. Suddenly you felt your heart drop as she touched his arm, laughing at something he had said. Also at the fact that he had a cigarette in his hand.

As much as you hated to admit it, your first instinct was to find a random guy and make him jealous. It was a good job you were wearing your hottest dress that barely covered your ass.

---

“See, I told you I don’t rely on you” You grinned up at Brian as he grabbed your arm and pulled you off of some random guy’s lap.

“You’re such a fucking embarrassment.” Brian muttered, not even bothering to look at you as he pulled you along through Amber’s house. “I don’t show you any attention for five minutes and you start acting like a slut. I guess that’s all you’re good for, is it?”

The way he spoke to you left you rather flustered, an ache in your stomach spread down your body, you shouldn’t feel like this right now. He took you upstairs and you knew where this was going, and you were not complaining.

“Shit I think someone’s in there,” Brian said, putting his ear against a bedroom door.

“What about this one?” You ask, opening another door. It was Amber’s room.

“But-” Brian started, before sighing, shaking his head and following you into the room. He made sure the door was locked before pinning you up against it. He was quick to lean forwards, sloppily kissing you, his hand tangled into your hair as he pulled you closer, his other hand travelling up your thigh. “This what you wanted?”

You nodded pathetically, his grip on your hair didn’t allow your head to move much. When you gave him permission his fingertips grazed your clothed heat, you were practically throbbing. Wanting more.

“Please,” you whimper, your eyes screwed shut.

“Look at me,” you could tell by his voice that he had a smirk plastered on his face, as you opened your eyes your thoughts were confirmed. He kept eye contact as he slipped his hand into your panties. His thumb found you clit, teasing it and watching your expression change as he slipped his index and middle finger into you. “My pretty girl.” He smiled as his actions got quicker, rougher. His fingers curled as he pumped into you, he could feel you clench around him which only encouraged him to do more.

His spare hand reached for your chest, pulling your dress down enough for your tits to spill out. His kisses move down your neck until he reaches your chest, surely there will be some bruises left by the time you were both done.

“You’re close aren’t you?” He grinned, lifting his face to look at you, “you gonna show me how much of a whore you are, that you can cum from just this? In your best friend’s bedroom?”

Once again, all you can do is nod your head. The feeling in your heat becoming overwhelming when all of a sudden you feel his mouth replace his hand as he pushes your panties to the side. You’re gasping for air as your orgasm hits, your fingers tangled into Brian’s hair and he doesn’t stop. You tap him on the shoulder.

“Too much,” you whimper, “please, please.”

He obliges, standing back up and taking his fingers into his mouth, looking down at you before placing a kiss on your lips.

“I’m sorry,” he says, in a tone that was quite serious for this situation.

“What for?”

“Taking the money, I was going to put it back but-”

“Brian,” you stop him from rambling on, “don’t worry about it. You were right though, I should probably get a job.”

“Let’s not talk about that right now, okay love? It’s uh... getting late. I think maybe we should go home?” You know that look in his eyes

He wants to go home to finish what he started.

#brian wilcox x reader #fast food nation #brian wilcox smut #paul dano smut

[missyourflight]

Twenty Questions for Fic Writers

ty @veryspecificfantasies and @love-leah for the tags 💕

1. How many works do you have on ao3? 40 counting a couple of anons

2. What's your total ao3 word count? 193,217

3. What fandoms do you write for? just f1 at the minute - i've signed up for yuletide this year (finally a chance to get unbanned lol) so it'll be nice to have a go at something else

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos? So let's say, I'll come another day (1d ziam time traveller's wife au), tomorrow on every shore (maxiel below deck sailing yacht au), Somewhere in the heart of Rome (maxiel roman holiday au), let's explore your talent (BTS femmeslash tentacles in space), all creatures wild and tame (maxiel 🦑). 2 tentacle fics in the top 5 is so funny lol... my brand

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? yes i try to! at least for the first while after something's posted. i like the livejournal vibes of a comment thread

6. What is a fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? i'd call them bittersweet endings rather than angsty endings but each part and grassy bits in between and Somewhere in the heart of Rome both end with the couple parting after a brief time together but like, hopefully with the sense that they found something meaningful in each other. and roman holiday kind of gets a happy ending later. kind of

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? tomorrow on every shore is probably the most uncomplicatedly happy in that they basically sail off into the sunset together. i think a lot of my fics end with like, the sense of relief or reconciliation of finding each other again, uniting your fantasy kingdoms, escaping a clone dystopia etc

8. Do you get hate on fics? not anywhere i can see it at least!

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? i saw someone say that they think of themselves as writer of erotica rather than romance, and as far as that's a useful distinction re: fanfic i would definitely fall on the Romance side of it (i have read so many romance novels lol).

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written? not so much crossovers with like the two sets of characters together. i may have been known to write an AU or two in my time.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? not that i know of

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? yes!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? not published, but i had a wild time in like 2011 writing a deeply angsty and horny hal/hotspur boarding school au with a friend

14. What's your all-time favorite ship? maxiel to write, but you don't even want to see the number of pinboard bookmarks i have for merlin/arthur, ~gryles, arthur/eames, frank/gerard, stucky... it's just so many bookmarks. a ship in a smaller fandom that truly fucks me up is childermass/segundus from jonathan strange & mr norrell. bbc hot childermass you have So much to answer for

15. What's a wip you want to finish, but doubt you ever will? i don't have a lot of wips that i'm working on beyond like notes app until i start properly writing one up... i have like a maxiel omegaverse roleplay thing that i started that i don't think i can pull off the way i want to tragically

16. What are your writing strengths? hm humour? dialogue. concision. nicely turned sentences. longing and/or pining etc

17. What are your writing weaknesses? oh god. i write very slowly and all over the place and i can't sustain a plot or write anything very long. bad at sex scenes. pretty emotionally shallow. no original ideas only aus. thanks i hate it

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic? i mostly find it jarring and i don't really do it

19. First fandom you wrote for? merlin 🧙‍♂️ it was an empire records au, obviously

20. Favorite fic you've written? each part and grassy bits in between is the most like nakedly personal. i still enjoy tomorrow on every shore a lot when i reread it. i'm so tender about clone max. i really loved the process of writing magnets, the pull of the moon but now that it's out i feel less good about it lol. it's like embarrassing to say but honestly when you work on something for months and it gets less ~engagement than something very silly you spent a day on it feels, let's say, disheartening. and there are like any number of reasons why something ~hits and something else doesn't - i myself, a hypocrite, have so many open tabs rn of things i loved and still need to comment on - and it makes me feel really small and mean and churlish to tell myself writing is something fun that i do for myself because i enjoy it and then turn around like, i didn't get enough compliments on that one actually (i'm a leo if you didn't know). and i did get some truly lovely comments i will treasure and i did what i wanted to do with that story and i loved writing it and i do think it's a good story even! just like the gap between your hopes and reality sometimes is deeply mortifying. like it's embarrassing that i was excited about it. it feels weirdly exposing even though nobody is ever thinking about you as much as you're thinking about yourself lol

#tag game #writing #sophposting

[payphoneangel]

For the writer's ask

📚🦷🧩

Hello!!! Thank you for the ask <333

📚 What is the last thing you wrote in your notes app?

just a single note that says Morobushi. Which I think is a movie my coworker told me to check out? I don't use my notes app that much lmao.

🦷 Share some personal wisdom/life hack you swear on

uhhhhhh i HATE it i hate it soooo much however... sometimes, the hippie woowoo bullshit works.

I have chronic pain and was struggling a lot to fall asleep, stay asleep, and have restful sleep. I was using a menagerie of different sleep aid substances and NOTHING was helping.

Finally I decided to try yoga (again-- I had tried it years ago and hadn't found it helpful). and it WORKED. I had to fanangle it to fit me best-- I can't do guided meditation stuff. I have to pick music that I find interesting enough to vibe to but soft and calming enough to relax me. I dim the lights, take a hot shower, put on my playlist, and do some stretches for 20 minutes. and it's been life changing. I fall asleep faster, have better sleep, and it's lowered my amount of nightly and daily pain.

I'm not going to say all my problems and chronic pain have gone away, but it has made sleeping a lot more manageable and way less stressful.

Listen to the hippies on this one. Do some stretches before bed.

🧩 What will make you click away from a fic immediately?

Oh, so many things.

Any summary that is self-deprecating or says anything like "i suck at summaries lol"

Prose I don't like (could have too many grammar/syntax mistakes, or I dislike the name/pronoun/other distinguishing character trait ratios, or i simply find it unappealing)

Any time there's a sex scene between two men and there's any mention of it being so much life-changingly better than having sex with a woman.

If characters say each other's names too much.

Writers truth or dare asks

#vinny answers #starting a fic is like 3/4ths of the battle

[harbinger-of-bedraggled-crows]

Recovery is wild because I woke up in a cold sweat last night, stared into the bathroom mirror for 20 minutes trying to imagine what I’ll look like as I get older, wrote “give me back my bones. Let me bury them in the graveyard of my body” in my notes app, and then promptly passed out again. and the entire time a little voice in the back of my head was just going “I want to live I want to live I want to live I deserve to live”

#ed recovery #this is how I know I’m winning btw #also hot take #graveyards are beautiful #poetry #maybe

[lunayuu]

This is just me getting a bit emotional over the Technoversary so I'm putting it under a cut :D

In 9 hours and ~50 minutes it will be the exact time and date that I heard the news (6:20A.M) I remember waking up early for the last day of my school term and going on to tumblr, and the first thing I saw on my dash was art, beautiful art, art that I cannot tell you who made, who reblogged to get it on my dash, but I can remember what it looked like. It was c!Tommy, hugging a greyed-out c!(piglin!)Techno And my heart sank Either I was too sleepy from just waking a few minutes prior or too panicked but I went to twitter, where rather than looking at the trending page, I typed in his name, letter by letter And then I saw a tweet from a games journalist saying that he was dead It was the first time that year I cried out of sheer grief and loss, and for a man I had no personal relation too, no less(!) I saw the video about 20 minutes after, and - amusingly - I can remember none of what was said in the video, however, I do fully remember that he had 10.4M subs at the time I remember the rest of the day went by in a bit of a blur, I had to bear the news to a friend of mine on the bus, and as we shared our first class, we went together to meet up with another mutual friend who got the news a bit after me I vividly remember him asking me if I had, quote, "Thought of anything else that day"

I had not

But I said I did so as to not make him worry

Every time I saw someone wearing pink in the hallways or in a class, I mostly-non-jokingly winced

In Art, we did nothing, as customary at the end of term, so I ‘painted’ my nails red with a fineliner I had in my bag

At the end of the day, all 3 of us went to my house for a few hours, making a ‘podcast’ using a voice memo app on my phone that was 18 minutes long, ruining other people’s experience on the bus they unfortunately shared with us.

It was the first time that day I properly smiled

When we got over to my house, I got a few shades of red nail polish from my room and offered to paint my friends (and my) nails. I did all nails but the right thumb, that the mutual friend had, I’m not too sure what the point of that was but it was nice, something about sharing our grief probably.

That was a year ago

It really doesn’t feel like it

I guess all I can say is that you’re never alone in your grief, especially not now, one year on, and we’ve found our community, and we’re all grieving together from all over the world! How wild is that!! From New Zealand (fun fact it's the geographical opposite of the UK) to Scotland there are people who recognise their grief - your grief - as valid and legitimate and ok to feel

Technoblade Never Dies because we are here to uphold his legacy

And it’s perfectly ok to grieve, or not, we all go about this in different ways, after all

I wrote this in Notes- not my finest work but whatever

#technoblade #tw grief #i dont really feel like crying #but i still feel off #grief can do that ig #happy one yeaaarrrrrr #oh joyous day /j #hoo boy i may delete this later im feeling preemptively embarassed #fun! /j

[dreamhousecafe]

OMG that's so amazing, i also have my msw and actually just applied to take the lmsw exam, do you have advice for studying/how was it?? i'm v nervous about it >.<

i have lots of advice for studying actually so I'm glad you asked.

studying for the exam:

study for 120 hours. it doesn't matter how it's broken up; it can be a few hours a day or a lot on the weekend. i studied for 6 months around 2 hours a day.

when you study make sure you take a minimum of a 15 minute break at least every 90-120 minutes. studies have shown it is difficult to retain information after this time period without a break.

read dawn apgar's master guide exam front to back. take lots of notes. highlight things you aren't sure of; use these to make flash cards.

sign up for nasw and take their licensing workshops. they are once a month. they do practice questions, explain the answers in depth, and you can ask them questions.

use the app quizlet to make flash cards. i had over 400 flash cards. the good thing about using this app is you can check off cards you no longer need to study.

the app aswb social work exam is good for studying. it explains the reason behind the answers.

sign up for agents of change. utilize all aspects of the program. go through it 2x. i constantly listened to their podcasts until it was drilled into my head. you have to pay for the course but the podcast is free.

do practice questions.

set aside time to take at least 2 practice tests and simulate it so it's like you're taking the real test. you can do this through the aswb and dawn apgar.

learn how to eliminate questions by using acronyms.

don't cram, it won't help.

focus on things you can remember and you can understand. if you keep studying a topic and you are unable to grasp it, just move on.

sign up for the test so you can figure out how long you need to study for. you can always change the date if you feel you need more time. make sure it's a time that's good for you. for example, I'm not a morning person so i took it in the afternoon.

they say 2 weeks before the test you shouldn't study anymore but i don't really agree with that.

on exam day:

make sure you eat.

go to the bathroom.

arrive 30-60 minutes early in case you get lost and so you have time to settle in.

bring a snack and water with you. they won't let you bring it in with you but you can put it in your locker and step out to have it.

when you first arrive in the exam room dump everything you need to remember on paper/whiteboard. I studied the acronyms on my way to the exam and wrote all of them out right away.

set aside time for a break. i took a 10/15 minute break half way through the test.

don't get discouraged if there are a lot of questions you don't know the answer to. when i took the test there were a lot of community questions, which i am horrible at. i almost walked out because of this, but i told myself i came all this way, i studied so much, i already paid, and i don't want to wait another 90 days and go through all that anxiety again. and you know what? i passed.

if there are a lot of questions on one specific topic those are probably the none scored questions. each test has 20.

this is what worked for me. i know i used a lot of different things and i probably paid too much money, but i really didn't want to take the test again because of my anxiety and i needed to get my license for my job. i hope this helps!

#asks #aswb #social work boards #social work #exam #studying tips #lmsw #master exam #masters exam #lsw #advice #study #studying

[television-overload]

Get to know your fic writer (no pressure):

1, 4, 13, 16, 22, 25 (add link if you want), 40, 54, 56

Ooh yay! Thanks for the ask! I think I copied these all over correctly. I was bored so I went in-depth 😂 Here we go:

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

I've been sitting here for like 5 minutes trying to figure out which I prefer 😂. I find myself coming up with multi-chapter ideas more often I think, really grand plots that I definitely don't have time to devote attention to. I also run into the problem of not knowing how to fill in between the parts that I do I have ideas for, so true multi-chapter fics are a rarity. I've had a few times where a one-shot turned into a multi chap, and THOSE tend to work better and are way more cohesive. One of my favorites is one I wrote for Star Wars (wrong blog, oops 😅) but both chapters were a lot stronger than my usual stuff, and it performed way better on AO3 which was really gratifying.

I've always wanted to write a true masterpiece where readers are anxiously awaiting the next chapter, like so many I've read, but I don't know if I've ever gotten there yet. Maybe a few when I used to write NCIS stuff on fanfiction.net.

4. Where do you find inspiration for new ideas?

Songs, a lot of times. They hit me in the feels. Sometimes a line in a fic I'm reading will spark an idea, something I haven't thought about, a new interpretation of an existing scene from the source material. Gifsets, Tumblr meta analysis, movies I'm watching. So many places. I feel like half of them come to me when I'm at work, which is very inconvenient. The aforementioned Star Wars two-shot was half written on the bus ride home from work in the notes app on my phone. I've written several in the aftermath of particularly good or bad episodes/movies. Fix-it fanfic is always great, I feel like I need to write more of it.

13. What’s a common writing tip that you almost always follow?

I haven't done this for very long, but lately in my adulthood (as opposed to my teenage fics *shudders*) I've actually been pretty good about writing out an outline and going back to edit later. I used to just spew everything in a word doc and barely go through it before posting, but now I reread it to death, mostly to make sure it flows well. My outlines are, shall we say, extensive. The Star Wars fic I'm working on now had 20 chapters outlined and it totaled over 20,000 words. I've basically storyboarded the whole thing and then I go through and convert that to actual scenes. Important dialogue moments I want to hit are included, cause I know I'll forget them if I don't write them as they come to me. It helps me to be able to see the big picture, so that I don't give up on the project halfway through. But for spur of the moment fics or most one-shots, I still mostly write as I go. Occasionally if I have a thought that I want to make sure to include in a later scene, I'll just tack it on at the bottom of the doc and delete it once I get to that point and I put it in writing.

16. How many fic ideas are you nurturing right now? Share one of them.

They're scattered all over the place so that's a good question that God probably only knows the answer to. Some are barely even ideas but take up a line or two in my notes app on my phone. Some probably live only in my brain, forgotten until something triggers me to remember that I was thinking of writing it 😅.

I'd love to do something with @irish-trish 's prompt to fill in the scene from NCIS "She mentioned you at the funeral, I could see what she felt." It sounds right up my alley, but there's a Star Wars fic week coming up in September that I want to actually do on time this year, so I can't allow myself to shift focus to NCIS quite yet 😭

Other than that, I want to write a second chapter to my X-Files fic "Field of Dreams" where Mulder gets to play catch with his son. I really loved writing that fic.

22. Are there certain types of writing you won’t do? (style, pov, genre, tropes, etc)

Nothing spicy. I don't think I'd ever write in first person unless it was in the form of a letter. Other than that, I think I'd do pretty much whatever. It's just a matter of what I have the skills for I think 😂

Not a fan of AUs, except canon divergence, obviously. To me, the way the characters meet is so integral to who they are that it can't be changed much or it just doesn't feel like them. I've read maybe one fic that changed how characters met (Mulder and Scully) but that was the result of time travel and all sorts of things that warmed me up to the idea, plus the characters as we know them were still there. Alternate universe in the truest sense. I got distracted, what were we talking about?

25. What fic do you wish you got more of a response on?

The two fics I think of as my comfort fics, ones I found really peaceful and natural to write, would have been nice to see get more attention. I've been writing on and off for like a decade now (😳) and I've only ever really had one fic truly pop off in terms of kudos and comments. Which are literally my life blood 😂. But a lot of my older stuff I look back on and I'm like, yeah, that wasn't that great.

My Star Wars (Obi-Wan and Satine) one shot "this could be such a dream" I found really emotional and relaxing to write. I was kind of surprised it didn't go very far, but it was part of a weekly challenge thing so I suppose it makes sense in a way.

To get back to the TV shows I write for, though (since that's the focus or THIS blog), I really really loved my X-Files fic "Field of Dreams", in large part because I love that movie which inspired it, and I love a domestic, peaceful and content-if-not-happy happily ever after for Mulder and Scully. The movie itself makes me cry and feel so many feels, and I thought the connection to Fox Mulder was a really good one.

40. If someone were to make fanart of your work, what fic or scene would you hope to see?

I would welcome anythinggggg, that is my dream!! I haven't really written anything I'm super proud of yet in the NCIS fandom that I feel would warrant art, but maybe someday! I'm working on a Star Wars "Sound of Music" type looooong fic rn and boy, the amount of work I've put in, I would die if someone were engaged enough to be inspired by it.

54. What’s your favorite part about the fanfiction writing process?

Honestly, I get so excited to post it. I hope people will enjoy what I've written. I've read so much great fanfic, that I just want to contribute my 2 cents to the fandoms. Getting comments (as rare as it often is) literally makes my day and makes it all worthwhile to me. Any form of engagement, interaction here on Tumblr, that's what I strive for. But I also write for me. Exploring ideas I've never seen done before, filling in gaps in the fandom, I love it. Those comfort fics I was talking about, I love to just go back and read. It doesn't really matter, in the end, if they touched other people like they do me. I like them and that's what matters. The fics I'm not so proud of? I've been transferring them over from Tumblr and fanfiction.net anyway because some of them have received really lovely comments and people might enjoy them despite how I feel.

56. What’s something about your writing that you pride yourself on?

I hope I'm improving on descriptive language. I want to bring out emotions in my writing, and I think there's been definite improvement since I started. I'm also thankful that I have a grasp on grammar and spelling and all the typical writing conventions. That can be a turn off to a lot of readers if it's a complete mess, so luckily I was always a pretty harsh editor throughout my schooling 😅

Get to know your fic writer

#asks #askbox #get to know your fic writer #get to know me #fanfic writing #my fanfic #fanfiction

[doukeshi-kun]

i'm kinda venting ab my blog here. sorry im really upset

honestly now i'm no longer happy with the blog. i can't fucking brain how my explicit smut drabbles did not get flagged and hidden while my fluff suggestive fic did. it's very unfair and i'm seriously upset at this. it did not appear on the tag (1) and it got flagged (2) immediately after. absurd and ridiculous. i'm considering to delete doukeshi-writes and restart it or something. but restarting is not easy either. (edit : oh i was mistaken. both did get flagged. so fuck both of you.)

this drains my excitement wholly. i don't feel happy posting thing while constantly being wary about my fics getting hidden and flagged. i hate everything that happened to that blog. i started doukeshi-writes to start anew from beandaifuku. and then all this bullshit is happening. it was good for the first several weeks. now it is not.

i don't want to leave yet because i know i still enjoy this hobby but i really hate what happened. two or three fics flagged? okay fine. whatever. i take it. if it is flagged weeks and months after i posted it, i could care less. but it is flagged just barely 30 minutes in. on a fluff suggestive fic. and the thing is only my NIKOLAI FICS got flagged 30 minutes after posting. the jjk drabbles, bsd drabbles, they're usually got flagged when i don't care about them anymore — like weeks and months after.

i know about “don't write for notes, just write for yourself blablabla” but i posted them to share. i wrote them to share. if what i spend my time on ended up not reaching audiences, then i might just keep it in my secret stash from the get go. i know when a post get flagged, the notes and the engagement decrease dramatically. i witnessed it in my activity bar in beandaifuku. one of my jjk scenarios that had been posted still received atleast 20 new notes per day months after. until it was flagged, it barely gets 10 notes per day. probably 5, 7... fucking 1. not to mention people don't reblog things so that's one factor of not getting anything.

this is very stupid. it's not even mixed feelings atp. i hate community labels and i hate this (doukeshi-writes) blog. 10/10 experience! would never do it again!

i will go study and then sleep. see you tomorrow for nikolai anime debut — if i'm happy enough to open this god forsaken app

#small rant

[theoldmixer]

ask game: 💖 🛠 ⛔️ 🤲

💖 What made you start writing?

I've always loved coming up with my own stories even if I wasn't good at it. I think I started writing fanfiction because I wanted to come up with my own stories for my ships. I hand-wrote my first fanfic in high school for Harry Potter and passed it as a note to my friend. It's very very cringe. I know I still have it somewhere. In college I decided to write my first fic, which was a Charlie/Claire fanfic for the show LOST. It was on LJ and is still on ff.net 🙈

🛠What tools/programs/apps do you use to write?

I use google docs so that I can easily pull up my fanfic on my phone as well. You never know when the inspiration may strike! I also made a fanfic only google account because let's just say I've had some close embarrassing calls on my personal google account.

⛔️Do you have a fic you started, but scrapped?

Ohhh I have so many. The one I think about most often is one for Hamilton which was like 10k.

I have started a ton of mclennon ones that will probably be scrapped? I just went through and looked and there's one random one I started in January. Not sure where this was even going but:

  Paul gave himself one final look in the mirror—not a single hair of his quiff out of place, he didn’t spend nearly 20 minutes on it for nothing. Giving himself a shrug he lifted his guitar case and opened the door to his bedroom slowly. Last he had seen his dad, he was sleeping quietly and contently in the worn armchair in the living room. Paul trusted his luck and stepped into the hallway, stepping carefully in the spots he knew to be less likely to squeak, revealing his escape. The stairs had ratted him on many a late night adventure, so he continued taking his time to soften each creak of the stairwell. 

🤲Would you please share a snippet of a wip?

I'll post a couple more! This is a fic I was going to scrap but you convinced me not to! It's a random modern au animal shelter fic!

He followed John into a separate room with multiple rows of deep cages. He stopped at one. 

Paul eyed the tag. “Pyramus and Thisbe? Those are weird names.” 

“Guess the foster parents were Shakespeare fans. Or maybe Greek mythology.” 

John opened the cage and clicked his tongue to call them to the front. 

It was a mistake. 

How could anyone resist puppies and kittens?

Paul’s eyes widened. They were the cutest things he had ever seen. Both a mix of greyish colors, he reached forward to pull the slightly darker one towards him. 

It mewed at him with the most high pitched meow he had ever heard. He now greatly understood cute aggression. This kitty was so cute he just wanted to squeeze it. 

And here's part of the next chapter of the modern au:

His mind felt numb. He could hear everything happening but it was like his body couldn’t process it. 

Brian had come in and woken them up to show them the news and he hadn’t said a word. Brian asked him questions, but Paul heard none of this. His mind was a fog of panic, his hands shaking. 

His therapist's face floated into his mind’s eye. 

“Paul. You have to let yourself feel things. You can’t push down every single emotion. It’s not healthy. Eventually those emotions will have to be felt. Let yourself feel them.” 

He didn’t want to feel this. This felt awful. How could this happen?

#thanks @dumbcloud! #ask games #my posts #writing #my fanfiction