Preach

I fucking cried while reading this. It really helped. This seriously warmed my heart. Thank you so so much ♥️ and I'm glad to be working with you too

A story for the amazing @axerrri . Thank you for being an amazing online friend and making me smile more times than I can count. Your art has really made Butterfly Kisses and Arson pop and I am glad to work with you. ☺️❤️

Warnings: This story talks about self harm. If this is not for you. PLEASE DO NOT READ. If you complain I'll block you. We are not doing that whole back and fourth because you couldn't read a warning label.

"Promise me"

Dabi x Axeri

The dripping of some leaking pipe was all she could hear as she was lost in her own thoughts. Mindlessly, she was wrapping some bandages around her blood-soaked forearms with a small sigh of relief to have stopped the bleeding early enough. She muttered to herself about getting some peroxide to keep with her in case of things like this. Her inky black hair slowly fell in strands into her view as she made work of cleaning up the last bit of the self-inflicted burns. Her crimson eyes paired with dark rings of weeks with little to no sleep. Another sigh pushed from her lips. This time more of a yawn as she fumbled with the medical tape. Cursing softly at the white object in her hand.

“You know you’ll just hurt that tape’s feelings if you keep calling it names. Then it really won’t want to work, Doll.”

Her eyes shot up to see Dabi standing in the doorway. His head tilted up slightly as he looked down at her. Eyeing her forearms with a strange look in his eyes.

“Was that from you or a fight?”

She only looked down and continued to work on her wounds. It wasn’t that she hated him. If anything, it was the polar opposite, but she wasn’t a fan of having him worry over her or fuss about anything. He took this silence as a challenge to get her to speak. Slowly she heard his boots clunking on the ground as he made his way towards her. Her moved down so that he was level with where she was sitting. Eyeing her wounds closer now. His gaze melting into worry as he brought his eyes up to meet hers.

“Axeri, why didn’t you tell me something was wrong? I would have helped you.” His voice was barely above a whisper as he took the tap from her and slowly used the cloth, she had next to her to clean out the wounds better.

It was only a flood gate of tears from her as he spoke. Her voice cracking as she watched him ever so carefully tend to her self harm with the utmost care.

“I-I didn’t want to bother you. You seemed so busy and I didn’t want to push this all on you!”

He stayed silent as he looked back up at her. Shaking his head as he finally wrapped her up, pressing a soft kiss the white bandages before placing one on her forehead. His hands moving up to her cheeks to carefully wipe away her tears.

“Well, I’m sorry if I’ve ever made you think I wouldn’t drop everything to make sure you were okay. Axeri, I love you. I’m your boyfriend. I want to help you but if you don’t tell me you need it...” He swallowed hard. Looking away a bit as he sighed. “What if one day you don’t tell me and I don’t find you patching up the wounds.” He shook off the thought and held her tightly. His body heat spreading to her and comforting her as she tried to stop her tears.

“I-I’m so sorry Dabi.”

“Don’t say you are sorry. Demons make us do some crazy things, but all I ask is you come to me when those demons start to get to be too much.”

“I promise I’ll try-”

“No Axeri... You have to come to me. Never think you’d be a bother or that you’d annoy me. It would hurt so fucking much to lose the one good thing I have in this world because she thought I was going to think she was a bother... So please, doll.” His voice was filled with so much pain and pleading as he held her tighter in his arms.

She stared at him. Her red eyes still flooding with tears as she finally gave in and wrapped her arms around him. Gripping onto his jacket tightly as she buried her face into his chest.

“I promise I will.”

He let out a sigh of relief before kissing the top of her head. “That’s a good girl... Now c’mon... Let’s go get something to eat yeah? I know you haven’t eaten much. Then we’ll go nap a bit. You need to rest and eat or those wounds will be a bitch to heal.”

She tried to protest. Only to be met by Dabi’s gaze.

“Don’t try and fight it. Now c’mon beautiful. I’ll make you some food. Or we can order out. Whichever you prefer.”

That’s when he smiled. Something that always stopped her in her tracks. Not his sadistic smile. Not his cocky smile, but his true smile.

“Let’s go for takeout. I know I’m suicidal but not that much that I’d eat your food.” She teased. A small smile erupted from her lips.

Dabi let out a fake appalled gasp and pulled her into a soft and slow kiss. “How dare you... “

The rest of the night Dabi was true to his word. Getting her food and watching a movie with her as they ate. Only to have her fall asleep with her bowl still in her lap as she leaned against his shoulder. Skillfully he put the bowls on the table and carried her up to her room. Laying her down and cuddling up next to her. Holding her close and whispering softly to her about the many reasons he loved her, and how she was wanted in the world.

Little would he have known was that she had woken up when he carried her into the room. Hearing every word, he spoke. Taking each word to heart.

(I hope you enjoyed it dude. I really loved writing it. ☺️❤️)

Hi! I have a really hard time adding descriptions to my story and seem to only want to write dialog. Is there anyway to work around this?

Balancing Dialogue with Action and Narrative

While description is an important part of writing dialogue, when you say dialogue is all you want to write, what’s missing from your story isn’t description specifically, but action and narrative.  A good scene should have a balance between dialogue, action, and narrative. But what are they?

Action - contrary to what you might think, “action” doesn’t have to mean a car chase or an epic battle. “Action” just means something is happening–things are in motion. An action scene can be your protagonist at her job as a store clerk, stocking the soup aisle when a couple of friends come in to tell her about a party, or it could be your protagonist riding the bus to school. And yes, it can be a car chase or a battle, but it doesn’t have to be. Every scene should include some action.

Narrative - narrative is probably what you mean when you say your story is lacking “descriptions.” Narrative is when things are being explained by the narrator. This can be the narrator explaining back story, character thoughts or feelings, something that happened off-the-page, plot or setting elements–really anything that is being explained rather than playing out as an action or dialogue sequence. Every scene should include some narrative.

Dialogue - dialogue is obviously a conversation between two or more characters, but dialogue should also include description. In other words, you don’t want a dialogue sequence that looks like a tennis match of spoken words. You need to add action and description to make it more interesting. So, instead of:

“Do you know what time it is?”

“No, want me to check?”

“Sure, I guess.”

“Okay, it’s ten o’clock.”

(Which is very boring…) You would do this:

Sam sauntered into the room. “Do you know what time it is?”

“No,” Sarah said, glancing up from her needlework. “Want me to check?”

The truth of the matter was, Sam wasn’t sure he wanted Sarah to check the time. Was it better for him not to know? Was it true that a watched pot never boils? Letting out a frustrated groan, he shuffled to the window and parted the velvet curtains to peer out. Snow was still falling in apocalyptic fashion. The carriage would never make it through. They should be here by now!

“Sure, I guess. I mean, yes. Please check the time,” Sam said at last.

“Okay.” Sarah fished around in the deep pocket of her skirt until she found her pocket watch, which she pulled out by the chain. “It’s ten o’clock.”

Now that was a lot more interesting, wasn’t it? Plus it tells us a lot more than just back and forth dialogue. Here’s how all the things we discussed come into play:

Sam sauntered into the room. (action and description) “Do you know what time it is?”

“No,” Sarah said, glancing up from her needlework. (description) “Want me to check?”

The truth of the matter was, Sam wasn’t sure he wanted Sarah to check the time. Was it better for him not to know? Was it true that a watched pot never boils? Letting out a frustrated groan, he shuffled to the window and parted the velvet curtains to peer out. Snow was still falling in apocalyptic fashion. The carriage would never make it through. They should be here by now! (narrative)

“Sure, I guess. I mean, yes. Please check the time,” Sam said at last.

“Okay.” Sarah fished around in the deep pocket of her skirt until she found her pocket watch, which she pulled out by the chain.(action and description) “It’s ten o’clock.”

So, now that you know what all of these things are, how do you add them in? Well, there’s no special method. You just do it. It takes practice to do it well, but you’ll get there. For now, just try it. When you find yourself writing “tennis match” dialogue, figure out where you can add a little action, narrative, and description to flesh things out. And when you’re writing a scene, make sure you include narrative to explain what’s happening, action to move the story forward, and description to tell the reader about the characters and settings. :)

seriously like. If you have a little extra money to give, think about things like Wikipedia, public radio, your local PBS station, your town’s public library… this is the most necessary time to protect free and public institutions of knowledge and information. Support them however you can because the way things are going I’m not sure we could get them back if we lost them.

Maligayang pasko! 🎄

Merry christmas Darlings <3

劣等上等 // BRING IT ON!

first time finishing a drawing using clip studio paint lol :’^D

tried to draw my fav manga panel

I'm a simp and have no shame

aaaa m’bored do u want any writingz :p

i should rlly finish my hw-

bubzz both of us need to finish our hw TwT

✶⋆.˚ SPONSOR A WIP FOR GAZA .ᐟ 🍉

hello oak nation and friends! life has finally slowed down enough for me to make this post - i will be participating in the @ficsforgaza initiative!! while i was initially very anxious about making this post, i realized that i want to do something meaningful and contribute what i can to the fundraising efforts for gaza. i highly recommend checking out their blog for more info + see the other participants!!

this post was last updated: 05.28.24 !

﹙🍉﹚HOW CAN I PARTICIPATE?

great question! i've outlined the process below.

the rate is $1.00 USD = 100 words.

make a donation to a vetted fundraiser/charity of your choice; you can find some here!!

screenshot proof of your donation. send it via ask to me with ALL PERSONAL INFO redacted and mention the fundraiser you donated to. (do NOT send me any screenshots you've used for other creators: they will be shared with @/ficsforgaza to verify.) i will not be publicly posting asks.

then in that same ask, just let me know which wip (out of the ones listed below) you'd like to sponsor!! i will be updating this post minimum once a week (hopefully more) with any updates to wc/donations/status etc etc.

example: hi oak! i've donated $x.xx to [chosen fundraiser] and i'd like to sponsor your vampire blade wip. thanks!! (attach your proof here!)

once a fic is fully sponsored, completed, and posted, you will be mentioned as one of its sponsors !! (you may opt out of this part, just let me know while sending your ask!)

﹙🍉﹚WHAT ARE YOUR RULES, OAK?

another great question! for starters, here is my blog rules post. i also have a couple more for this initiative below.

i am not accepting money directly. please donate through the vetted fundraisers!

since i am an 18+ blog, i am requiring that all asks should be sent OFF ANON and your age must be easily accessible on your blog. YOU MUST BE 18 YEARS OR OLDER TO SPONSOR A WIP. your sponsorship is null and void if you do not follow this rule.

i am a slower writer, so it may be a hot minute before wips are fully edited and posted after reaching a goal. that being said, the main goal is to raise awareness as well as donate to an important cause!! i vow to do my very best to make sure everyone's donations are honored. this is my first time doing something like this, so lets all be kind here!

MINORS, BLANK, AND AGELESS BLOGS DNI. nsfw + dark content is included in the wips featured below the cut.

﹙🍉﹚OAK'S WIPS AVAILABLE TO SPONSOR!

✩ you're so handsome (when i'm all over your mouth) — vampire!blade x f!reader

summary: your mother has always warned you to never to stay out long after the sun sets; the lord knows what may be lurking after night falls. in your carelessness, you are lost at sundown, with no grasp on your location nor the path home. time for you to learn just what kind of beast hides in the shadows. -> sponsored wc: 0/10,000 -> written wc: 0/10,000

✩ little bird, won’t you sing a song for me? — yandere!sunday x f!reader

summary: you’ve lived nearly your entire life in captivity. you yearn for freedom, to escape your gilded cage, but your keeper urges you otherwise. he is adamant in his refusal to set you free, and you are all the more resentful of him for it. (or: you wish to leave the planet despite sunday’s wishes. this does not bode well with him.) -> sponsored wc: 0/10,000 -> written wc: 0/10,000

✩ *take a bite — satoru gojo x f!reader x suguru geto

summary: your roommate, satoru gojo, always has his pretty dark-haired friend over to your shared apartment as a frequent guest. one night, when the three of you play a little drinking game together, things get much more heated than you could have ever expected it to. (no curses/modern au!) -> sponsored wc: 0/10,000 -> written wc: 0/10,000

— if you've made it this far: thank you!! if you don't take interest in any of my wips in particular, i implore you to explore the creators featured on @ficsforgaza and see if there is something more your cup of tea.

*regarding the wc of these wips (take a bite in particular), i am unsure of how many words these fics will be. i will start with a baseline of 10k, but if i find that i will be needing wayyyy more than that, i will increase the donation limit. so keep ur eyes on this post!!

Whumptober - 07: Drugged

John Mactavish x reader

A/N: For @bunnyreaper here's the whump version, sorry it took so long, hope you like it <3

Soap knows that something’s wrong the moment you call him. You drunk calling him wasn’t exactly out of the norm, in fact, it was weird if you didn’t spam him with texts and tik toks letting him know how much you loved him. 

His team often sledged him jokingly for how whipped he was for you, but it was that adoration and care that let him know within seconds that you weren’t okay. There was no excited shout of his name, no blaring music that you were drunkenly singing along to and none of your friends were yelling at him for interrupting girl's night. 

There’s just silence, a terribly concerning silence only accentuated by the shuffling of clothes and shuddering breaths. He’s on his feet and crashing into the wall on his quest for the keys in three seconds flat. His shoes aren’t even on properly and he’s already in the car when he finally gets a response to his barrage of questions. 

“Johnny?” Your voice is slurred and confused in a way that has his blood freezing. You very rarely got so sloshed you couldn’t function anymore but Soap knew what you were like even then, and this was not it. 

When the phone connects to the car's Bluetooth he’s throwing his phone into the passenger seat and reversing so quickly the tyres screech in protest. He knows where you are, you were always good at updating him if you moved venues but it doesn’t stop him from double-checking. 

He has to ask the question three times before you eventually confirm that you haven’t gone anywhere, his heart rate increasing frantically with each second that passes and he’s not by your side yet. 

“Johnny? Wh’re you? I think somethin’s wrong. Don’t feel so good.” Your whimpers fill the car and Soap starts to drive even faster, blowing through two red lights and a stop sign with little concern over the inevitable tickets and demerits he’ll get. 

“I know baby. Am almost there, just hold on a little longer.” He commanded as firmly and gently as possible. “Ye in the bathroom? Locked the door?” 

Once again it takes a while for you to understand and respond to his question but when you do he allows himself to relax a little. He tries to ascertain where your friend has gone and not for the first time he wants to kill her when you tell him you have no idea where she’s gone. 

“Johnny?” you call for him a few more times as if forgetting you’ve already gotten on the line.

He throws the car into park when he arrives, not bothering with the handbrake and not caring that he’s just stopped in the middle of the road. Cars are honking and people are yelling but he doesn’t give a single fuck, his mind is on a one-track mission. 

He’s even left his phone on the seat in his haste and the door open. Undoubtedly, you’ll yell at him when he relays the details later but he’s willing to cop all of your anger if it means he gets to you in time. 

He runs past the bouncer, outpacing the shouting man and ducking past various security members as he beelines towards the bathroom. Vaguely he recognises that he’s being chased but it doesn’t matter because he makes it to the ladies' bathroom well before they catch up.

It doesn’t even register that the bathroom door isn’t locked like you’d said it was when he bursts into the grimy space because his attention and fury are quickly dragged elsewhere. Namely to the motherfucker that was sticking his hand down your pants as you sobbed and tried to get away with your body’s sluggish movement. 

He’s letting out a furious roar and when the man turns with wide eyes at the commotion behind him Johnny’s fist smacks into his nose with a sickening crack that sends him stumbling backwards bleeding and onto the tile floor. 

It’s only the fact that your legs give out without someone supporting you that stops him from beating the man to death as he grabs you and pulls you against him. 

You’re so out of it that you protest, pushing against his chest as you cry because you don’t recognise him straight away. 

It takes a bit of cajoling and pressing soft kisses into your hairline before you recognise him but when you do you completely devolve into a crying, sobbing mess, collapsing against him even further as you finally allow yourself to feel all of the overwhelming panic you’d been trying to hold off. 

Security’s caught up and the commotion they make as they barge into the bathroom sets you off even further and Soap simply shoots them a heated glare before shouldering past them with you safe in his arms. 

Perhaps miraculously, both the car and his phone are still where he’d left him and Johnny gently deposits you in the passenger seat, clipping your seatbelt in. His heart shatters a little further when you start to beg him not to leave you. 

“M not leaving ye bonnie, just need to get myself strapped in.”

“Promise?” you sound so small and Soap is now certain that once you’re safe and looked after he’d going to hunt down the scumbag that dared lay a finger on you. For now though, 

“I promise love.” When he slips into the driver's seat you’re reaching blearily for his hand immediately and he takes it just as quickly, pulling away and driving far slower than he’d gone to get to you. 

“I promise.” The words are so soft that they’re more for himself than you. They’re an oath that he’ll keep even if it kills him.