Invisible Tears

Writing blog for (S)piccan's D.Gray-man fanfiction. I post chapters and musings about my own works and reblog good stories from other authors. Check out my PREFERENCES and STORIES.

[sinception]

Relatives with Benefits - 05

Fandom: D.Gray-man Chapter: 5/25 Rating: Mature Relationships: Tyki/Lavi (Lucky Pair), past Cross/Tyki Genre: Romance, Humor & Drama Tags and warnings: fluff, angst, eventual smut, alternate universe - modern setting,  incest, pseudo-incest, past relationships, previous bad relationship, pining, adopted Lavi, character development, slow burn

Description: Tyki used to hate Sheril‘s adopted kid, refusing to acknowledge him as a part of the family. Now that Tyki has returned home after studying abroad for seven years and Lavi has grown into adulthood, he has a whole new respect for him. But to Tyki’s horror, what he begins to feel for Lavi isn’t something an uncle is supposed to feel for his nephew.

Shop ‘till You Flop

“Hey, Tyki, do you need to get presents for anyone? We might as well get them now that we’re here.”

Tyki blinked before humming thoughtfully. “Hmm. Guess I could get something for Sheril. And Momo and Clark. Few cans of beer, maybe. Or tickets for a soccer match.” He rubbed at the back of his neck before cracking into a dirty grin. “Maybe I just get them porn and watch them squirm in embarrassment.” His eyes then widened, and he whipped his head into Lavi’s direction as fast as a lightning. “Do you want some porn for Christmas?”

Read the chapter in AO3

[a-q-d-deactivated20230116]

Gift 5/14

Fir the lovely @spiccan

Ship: Cross x Tyki

ao3.

The Thing

“Marian? …Marian!”

It’s ridiculous, but that doesn’t stop Cross from not reacting until Tyki calls for him for a second time. It’s probably the rolled R, Cross doesn’t really know, but he loves the way Tyki pronounces his name.

Keep reading

[kitty-bandit]

How to Break a Curse

My second contribution to the @dgraymanbigbang! I partnered up with @littleghosttoast who drew some AMAZING art for my fic!

Fandom: D.Gray-man Rating: E Pairings: Laven (Allen x Lavi) Total Words: 22.9K Tags: Modern AU; Magic AU; Witch AU; Ex-Lovers; Exes to Lovers; Slow Burn; Rekindling Romance; Sex; Oral Sex; Anal Sex; Jealousy; Drama; Misunderstandings; Past!Lucky Relationship; Description: Lavi hadn’t seen Allen for four years, his boyfriend disappearing without a word. But when he shows up on his doorstep and begs for help to lift a curse, Lavi risks it all to save him. 

Excerpt:

When Lavi didn’t speak up, the silence in the room stretching out too long, Allen said, “I wouldn’t have come here if I could’ve avoided it. I didn’t want to bother you, but…” Lavi’s lips twitched in displeasure, eyebrows narrowing at Allen’s roundabout way of avoiding explaining himself. “Just spit it out already. What do you want from me?” Allen stiffened up at the demand, eyes wide as he flinched back. Lavi almost expected him to run, too intimidated by his forceful tone to follow through and ask him for the favor. But instead, he complied. Allen pulled the glove off his left hand, fingers twitching as he worked the leather free of his digits. As the glove fell to the floor, Allen showed his hand to Lavi. The skin, once pale and perfect, was marred with black and red scarring. It was dry, scaly, and on the back of his hand, pressed into the center and surrounded by raw, aching flesh, was a black cross. Lifting his hand for Lavi to see better in the dim light of the bookstore, Allen trembled. His voice came out weak and weary, strained as he tried to keep from falling to pieces. “I’m cursed.”

Read on AO3.

If you enjoy my writing, think about buying me a coffee.

[avi-why]

every writing tip article and their mother: dont ever use adverbs ever!

me, shoveling more adverbs onto the page because i do what i want: just you fucking try and stop me

[quarter0master]

May I add something, because I will never shut up about this book (Writing Tools by Roy Peter Clark):

[jackironsides]

Finally, some good fucking advice

[worldwithinworld]

When you are writing a story and refer to a character by a physical trait, occupation, age, or any other attribute, rather than that character’s name, you are bringing the reader’s attention to that particular attribute. That can be used quite effectively to help your reader to focus on key details with just a few words. However, if the fact that the character is “the blond,” “the magician,” “the older woman,” etc. is not relevant to that moment in the story, this will only distract the reader from the purpose of the scene. 

If your only reason for referring to a character this way is to avoid using his or her name or a pronoun too much, don’t do it. You’re fixing a problem that actually isn’t one. Just go ahead and use the name or pronoun again. It’ll be good.

[roane72]

Someone finally spelled out the REASON for using epithets, and the reasons NOT to.

[futureevilscientist]

In addition to that:

If the character you are referring to in such a way is THE VIEWPOINT CHARACTER, likewise, don’t do it. I.e. if you’re writing in third person but the narration is through their eyes, or what is also called “third person deep POV”. If the narration is filtered through the character’s perception, then a very external, impersonal description will be jarring. It’s the same, and just as bad, as writing “My bright blue eyes returned his gaze” in first person.

[cimness]

Furthermore, 

if the story is actually told through the eyes of one particular viewpoint character even though it’s in the third person, and in their voice, as is very often the case, then you shouldn’t refer to the characters in ways that character wouldn’t.

In other words, if the third-person narrator is Harry Potter, when Dumbledore appears, it says “Dumbledore appears”, not “Albus appears”. Bucky Barnes would think of Steve Rogers as “Steve”, where another character might think of him as “Cap”. Chekov might think of Kirk as “the captain”, but Bones thinks of him as “Jim”. 

Now, there are real situations where you, I, or anybody might think of another person as “the other man”, “the taller man”, or “the doctor”: usually when you don’t know their names, like when there are two tap-dancers and a ballerina in a routine and one of the men lifts the ballerina and then she reaches out and grabs the other man’s hand; or when there was a group of people talking at the hospital and they all worked there, but the doctor was the one who told them what to do. These are all perfectly natural and normal. Similarly, sometimes I think of my GP as “the doctor” even though I know her name, or one of my coworkers as “the taller man” even though I know his. But I definitely never think of my long-term life partner as “the green-eyed woman” or one of my best friends as “the taller person” or anything like that. It’s not a sensible adjective for your brain to choose in that situation - it’s too impersonal for someone you’re so intimately acquainted with. Also, even if someone was having a one night stand or a drunken hookup with a stranger, they probably wouldn’t think of that person as “the other man”: you only think of ‘other’ when you’re distinguishing two things and you don’t have to go to any special effort to distinguish your partner from yourself to yourself.

[undertailsoulsex]

This is something that I pretty consistently have to advise for those I beta edit for.  (It doesn’t help that I relied on epithets a lot in the earlier sections of my main fic because I was getting into the swing of things.)  I am reblogging this so fanfic writers can use this as a reference.

A good rule of thumb: a character’s familiarity with another character decreases the need for an epithet (and most times you really don’t need one at all).

[rehlia]

Good writing advice.

[kitty-bandit]

Borrowed Time

Day 3 of @pokerpairweek: Lover | Pride | Bargaining

Fandom: D.Gray-man Rating: E Pairings: Poker Pair (Allen x Tyki) Total Words: 5.5K Tags: Modern AU; Delinquent AU; Angst; Romance; Drama; Chronic Illness; Diabetes; Sex; Anal Sex; Oral Sex; Fingering Description: Staying alive ain’t cheap, and they do what they must to survive.

Excerpt:

“Not a bad haul, if I do say so myself.” Tyki dug into the inside pocket of his coat, then dropped a rolled wad of cash onto Allen’s lap. “This should get us through the next two months, if we’re careful.”

Allen’s eyes widened as he looked down at the roll of cash. Numb fingers forgotten, he grabbed the lump of money in his lap and stared, mouth agape. “…I feel like I’m dreaming. There has to be at least 3K here.”

“Three-thousand five-hundred and sixty-two, to be exact.” Tyki smirked, tapping his long fingers on the steering wheel. “I told you—I had a hot streak.”

“And here I was going to brag about the two-hundred-some I snatched off people at the club.” He ran his fingers over the edges of the bills, listening to the paper. “Now, as long as you don’t lose it, we’ll be fine.”

“Oh, ye of little faith,” Tyki mumbled, still grinning as he kept his eyes on the road. “After a haul like that, do you really think I’d risk going again for a while? If I get caught cheating at the poker tables, they’ll have me arrested for sure.”

Allen paused, rolling Tyki’s words over in his mind. The wad of cash burned in his fingers, flooding him with excitement. This money meant good food for a while, rent paid, utilities still functioning—

It meant he could stay alive for another few months.

Read on AO3.

If you enjoy my writing, think about buying me a coffee.

[sinception]

Relatives with Benefits - 04

Fandom: D.Gray-man Chapter: 4/25 Rating: Mature Relationships: Tyki/Lavi (Lucky Pair), past Cross/Tyki Genre: Romance, Humor & Drama Tags and warnings: fluff, angst, eventual smut, alternate universe - modern setting,  incest, pseudo-incest, past relationships, previous bad relationship, pining, adopted Lavi, character development, slow burn

Description: Tyki used to hate Sheril‘s adopted kid, refusing to acknowledge him as a part of the family. Now that Tyki has returned home after studying abroad for seven years and Lavi has grown into adulthood, he has a whole new respect for him. But to Tyki’s horror, what he begins to feel for Lavi isn’t something an uncle is supposed to feel for his nephew.

Wolf in Uncle’s Clothes

Lavi didn’t understand. Tyki had done absolutely nothing, yet here he was, all fired up and ready to have another episode. It was unfair, for both of them.

Stupid Allen. Stupid Kanda. But no matter how much Lavi dissed his friends, he couldn’t shake off the feeling that they could be right.

There was nothing stopping Tyki from turning on him again.

Read the chapter in AO3

[kitty-bandit]

Fucked

Fandom: D.Gray-man Rating: E Pairings: Lucky (Tyki x Lavi) Total Words: 4.2K Tags:  Modern AU; Omegaverse; Accidental Sex; Heat Sex; Sex Pollen; One-night Stand; Anal Sex; Oral Sex; Rimming; Fingering; Orgasm Denial; Praise Kink; Honestly, so much ass-eating–I cannot stress this enough. Description: This wasn’t how his night out with friends was supposed to end.

I literally wrote this in a night, and holy shit, I didn’t expect to finish it so quickly. I could continue this, if anyone is interested. But for now, I’ll leave this here and let you all enjoy it. Whether you love it or hate it, feel free to scream at me. :3c

Excerpt:

“Look,” Tyki began, voice low and husky as he gripped the frame of Lavi’s front door, an uneasy trickle of sweat rolling down the back of his neck. The way his fingernails dug into the wood should’ve been painful, but he stood there as if he couldn’t feel a thing, as if the situation they were in didn’t affect him at all. “I shouldn’t be here.”

Lavi shook his head, not in disagreement with Tyki’s statement, but more to clear his head. He couldn’t think straight—not with his stomach tied in knots, or his knees weak, or the dampness spreading over his underwear. And certainly not with Tyki’s strong scent edging into his space.

Read on AO3.

If you enjoy my writing, think about buying me a coffee.

[kitty-bandit]

Little Red

One of my contributions to the @dgraymanbigbang! I partnered up with @spiccan, who drew some AMAZING art for my fic!

Fandom: D.Gray-man Rating: E Pairings: Lucky (Tyki x Lavi) Total Words: 16.4K Tags: Fairy Tale AU; Little Red Riding Hood AU; Sex; Anal Sex; Oral Sex; Description: Be wary of the forest, lest the wolves eat you up.

Excerpt:

Fidgeting with the strap on his bag again, Lavi paused just on the edge of town. “I’d like to repay your for your trouble—for helping me, that is.”

Tyki shrugged. “It was no trouble at all.”

“Still,” Lavi began, uncomfortable as he shifted his weight from foot to foot. “Can I buy you some dinner? Or a drink?”

Pausing as if to consider the options, Tyki stared down at him. “I really should be going,” he said, not making the move to leave. “But, there is one thing I’d like to have.”

“Name it, and it’s yours.”

Tyki’s lips broke out into a wide grin, and he leaned in closer. “A kiss.”

Blinking in surprise, and not sure of what he’d heard, Lavi’s lips parted to speak. “A ki—?” Before he could finish his question, Tyki’s lips were on his. The kiss took him off guard, and all he could do was stand there as heat flooded his body. A hot flush blossomed on his cheeks, the soft touch of delicate skin on skin leaving him at a loss. When Tyki pulled away, Lavi looked up at him, bright red and flustered.

“Red is a good color on you,” Tyki teased, brushing his thumb along Lavi’s cheek before stepping back and heading towards the forest.

It took Lavi a moment for his tongue to work again, and when it did, he reached out to catch Tyki’s wrist. “Wait a moment.” His fingers tightened in the worn fabric of Tyki’s shirtsleeve. “Where are you going?”

The smirk on Tyki’s face did little to quell the furious beating of Lavi’s heart. “Don’t worry. You’ll see me again.” He twisted his wrist gently to break Lavi’s hold, then continued on his way. Lavi watched as he walked past the tree line, and like an apparition, disappeared.

Read on AO3.

If you enjoy my writing, think about buying me a coffee.

[thehonestauthor]

Their writing style:

vs. your writing style:

[nyarados]

someone in a fanfic: s-stutters in embarrassment

me, closing the tab: sorry I must go

[hellishues]

Unrealistic Stuttering: “S-sorry I-I d-d-didn’t m-mean t-to…”

Realistic Stuttering: “Sorry, I uh… I didn’t mean- I didn’t mean to do that…”

When people stutter, they usually reword what they’re saying as they speak, and subconsciously insert “filler words” such as “uh, like, you know,” and etc.

[lianabrooks]

*puts on speech therapist hat*

ACTUALLY! It depends on why they are stuttering. 

A Nervous Stutter results in what is called Mazing, or rewording the sentence. That is the classic “I, um… well I… look it’s just that… so we…” that @hellishhues is talking about. When someone is mazing their words you’re seeing a form of Speech Apraxia where the brain is having trouble forming verbal speech. This can be brought on by brain damage, memory loss, anxiety, nerves, and several other things. 

The root cause of a nervous stutter is a disconnect between the mouth and the brain. 

With this you will also sometimes see the classic “S-s-s-sorry…” especially if the person has been training to speak clearly and is now at a point of fatigue or stress where they are not mentally capable of forming the words.

The other kind of stutter is a Physical Stutter, sometimes referred to as slurring, and another facet of Speech Apraxia. This stutter is caused when the muscles of the mouth, tongue, and throat are physically unable to form certain sounds. This is most often seen in the very young and victims of brain trauma. 

Sounds are acquired at different ages, so a 2-year-old will probably not be able to clearly pronounce certain words (which is why toddler sound so off when they’re written with developed dialogue). These mis-pronunciations are sometimes referred to as lisping, but only if the sounds are run together. If the person starts and restarts the sound because they got it wrong, it can also sound like the classic sound stutter. 

But it all depends on why the character is stuttering!

Do they have Speech Apraxia, Audio Processing Disorder, muscle dysfunction, or another medical reason to stutter? (1)

Are they stuttering because of anxiety, stress, or fatigue? (2)

Does the stutter stem from intoxication or blood loss? (3)

All of those will sound different! 

1 - Will have mazing, repeated sound stutters, and be the classic stutter that annoys OP.

2 - This is where you’ll see the repetition stutter, mazing, rephrasing, and filler words.

3 - This is where you are more likely to see starts and stops and slurring of words. 

[officialqueer]

My mum has apraxia and I just wanted to say that’s one of the most concise and clear ways I’ve seen it explained, thank you!

[enigmaticagentalice]

I mean I SAY I love the ‘Enemies to Lovers’ trope but what I really MEAN is that I love the

‘Enemies to Resentful Allies In A Time Of Crisis to Grudging Mutual Respect to Growing Fondness Concealed By Snark to Hurtful Betrayal to Slow Reconciliation With A Greater Understanding Of Each Other to Strange But Solid Friendship to Unexpected Feelings In A Time Of Crisis to Denying Their Feelings While Growing Closer As Friends to Epiphanies Of Love In The Worst Possible Circumstances to Mutual Pining to Unbearable Sexual Tension to Lovers’

trope

[heroineimages]

I can get behind that. 

[holoxam]

Word

[thedevilsbartender-deactivated2]

please DO NOT assume that just because my character is doing something that i as the writer

approve of it

am romanticizing it

have a kink with regard to it

think it is okay for anyone to ever do ever

because sometimes my character does things that I absolutely cringe at and which are almost painful to write.

but my writing a villain does not make me a villian

understand that it is fiction and I do not condone the wrong actions that sometimes are written out on my blog for in-character purposes.

[bingomann]

this applies to heroes/protagonists as well. O

[theliteraryarchitect]

How to Make Your Descriptions Less Boring

We’ve all been warned about the dangers of using too much description. Readers don’t want to read three paragraphs about a sunset, we’re told. Description slows down a story; it’s boring and self-indulgent. You should keep your description as short and simple as possible. For those who take a more scientific approach to writing fiction, arbitrary rules abound: One sentence per paragraph. One paragraph per page. And, for god’s sake, “Never open a book with weather” (Elmore Leonard).

But what this conventional wedding wisdom fails to take into account is the difference between static and dynamic description. Static description is usually boring. It exists almost like a painted backdrop to a play. As the name suggests, it doesn’t move, doesn’t interact or get interacted with.

There were clouds in the sky. Her hair was red with hints of orange. The house had brown carpeting and yellow countertops.

In moderation, there’s nothing wrong with static description. Sometimes, facts are facts, and you need to communicate them to the reader in a straightforward manner.

But too much static description, and readers will start to skim forward. They don’t want to read about what the house looks like or the stormy weather or the hair color of each of your protagonist’s seventeen cousins.

Why? Because they can tell it’s not important. They can afford to skip all of your description because their understanding of the story will not be impacted.

That’s where dynamic description comes in. Dynamic description is a living entity. It’s interactive, it’s relevant. It takes on the voices of your narrators and characters. In short, it gives us important information about the story, and it can’t be skimmed over.

So how do you make your description more dynamic so that it engages your readers and adds color and excitement to your story? Here are a few tips.

(I have a TON more tips about setting and description. These are just a few. But I’m trying to keep this short, so if you have any questions or want more advice about this, please feel free to ask me.)

Keep reading

[candy-crackpot]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Finally reworked it ;v;

Summary: Kanda and Lavi have a secret relationship behind closed doors as they search their individual paths. Things get further complicated when Allen arrives to the Order. Series of OT3, but since I don’t really like PWP so it will have a few chapters of introduction.

Relationships: Kanda Yuu/Lavi/Allen Walker, Kanda Yuu/Lavi, Kanda Yuu/Allen Walker, Lavi/Allen Walker 

Characters: Allen Walker, Kanda Yuu, Lavi

Additional Tags: mentions of others, Porn with Feelings, first few chapters are sorta introduction, meant to establish the dynamics, War Boys Showing Affection, i didn’t know that was a tag wow, but yeah bonding and some romance, Romance, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, they try to keep it together but ye canon is a bitch, But they try, potentially OOC because I’m just a fan and will never perfectly represent what is not mine, reworked old fic, Some Canon-Typical Violence, and era-typical homophobia, Yikes, they can never have it easy

[plaidshirtjimkirk]

@ ff writers who use common tropes in their stories: keep doing you ♡♡♡ I want to read my otp falling in love, accidentally kissing, getting fake married, pining, and etc a million times over. No one will tell the story in your voice, so it’s actually new every time. Don’t ever feel bad about exploring something in your own way.

[plaidshirtjimkirk]

The next time you see someone complaining about tropes and start feeling bad about yourself or your work… just look at the notes on this post and write whatever tf you want. <3

[221b-carefulwhatyouwishfor]

“The reason that clichés become clichés is that they are the hammers and screwdrivers in the toolbox of communication.”    ―    Terry Pratchett

[aqd-writes]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: D.Gray-man Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Kanda Yuu/Lavi Characters: Kanda Yuu, Lavi (D.Gray-man) Additional Tags: LaviYuu, laviyuu week, One Shot, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Solitude, Islands, Thunderstorms, Thunder and Lightning, Volcanoes, Deities, Spirits, Falling In Love, Dorks in Love Series: Part 4 of Laviyuu Week 2018 Summary:

Lavi has barely time to wonder why his heart is beating so fast, before he loses it. His name is Kanda. Lavi’s age, athletic and an impressive scowl. He doesn’t laugh about his stupid little jokes, he just examines him seriously. The sternest person Lavi has ever met. And also the most beautiful.