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#(and there's also some stuff from the sentence prompts i want to polish up
kiwikiwii · 1 month
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Very Big and Very Long AI rant.
After the recent OpenAI stuff I'm gonna be here to share my two cents about the whole very realistic AI stuff, from the perspective of a very anxious and very art oriented person who loves techy stuff.
I very much would understand if this isn't your cup of tea so it's all undercut, thank you for your time anyways <3
Now. Onto the AI stuff.
Recently OpenAI has put out some new technology that's showing off some very nearly realistic videos and they're both creepy and very uncanny. About 2 or 3 years ago, the concerns about AI was already rising with deep fakes and the such and is going to start being a lot worse if this technology isn't properly regulated. This is what is prompting my very long and apparently, 927 word rant.
Going to put this in a few parts so it'll be easier to digest I hope.
About the tech.
We are at a point where the lines of AI generated content and real life are starting to blur. It's to a point where a sentence or a prompt could create scenes that look realistic enough that most people wouldn't even suspect that it's AI.
It is such a powerful and interesting technology that's slowly growing out of control. The people who are supposed to regulate the content and lawmakers has no idea what the fuck is going on and how the content is made in the first place, how are they supposed to make a change when they don't even understand what they're supposed to be tackling. The lack of understanding of how AI functions, how it comes to be, where the data was even gotten from in the first place and how it will impact society as a whole will truly be how we'll lose control of it someday. I'm not saying any of this because I want to be a 'hinderance to the future of technology', I'm saying this because the later we try to do something about it, the harder it is to do anything that is useful and effective for safeguarding artists, creators and everyone else who's using the internet. Not to mention the amount of frauds or scams that will skyrocket, children's safety on the internet being compromised, YOUR safety on the internet being compromised, people faking inappropriate images, videos and more will be a nightmare to deal with.
About art.
Many corporate companies unfortunately don't give a fuck about how the art is made and whether it's good or not but how fast it can be made and how much money can be made off of it. In their eyes, the trade off between quantity and quality is worth it. And that to me is extremely frustrating because where the art comes from should also be a part of the story when talking about art. Who the person who made it was like, how they developed a certain style and so on should be cared about and should be appreciated just like the art piece that was created. It shouldn't just be treated as another piece of thing to be fed to the scanner to be spat out as something else.
About creating.
Art is intrinsically a very human thing. People who make the argument "it's letting more people experience how it's like to create art" doesn't understand what it's like to create art. The entire idea of art is the learning, developing and polishing of the skills that you yourself develop. Taking away the steps that it took to get there in the first place diminishes the point of wanting to make art in the first place. It's degrading the time, energy and effort of the people who've already put effort into creating said art to be put out as a cheap and gross mimic of what it came from.
More emotional stuff that doesn't fit in any of the spaces above.
I saw someone use the word 'amalgamation' to describe what AI is today and that about wraps it all up. It's an amalgamation of dots and data skinned off of what there was and chained together to create an image, a video, an audio sample and more without a shred of humanity, love or emotion put into it.
I barely go on twitter nowadays, when I so, I see people sing high praises about the "the amazing advances of AI" and downplay the part of artists that were stolen for to create the technology they love so much in the first place. This whole ordeal makes me sick. It's depressing to see companies laying people off because they're seen as useless or worse than AI. It's disgusting to see the amount of talented people out there stolen from so that people could churn out heartless work at a faster pace to replace you. It's not a stepping stone for humanity, we're stepping over the ledge blindfolded.
I will never stop creating. It's what makes up a big part of me and will continue to be even if AI starts crumbling humanity to ash. One thing they can never take from us is creativity.
To the people who read this far, thank you. Thank you for spending your time to read over my word vomit that has been cooking in my head for the longest time.
To the artist that are still reading this. Remember you are irreplaceable. Without your art, this technology wouldn't have been here in the first place. Your art is invaluable. Never stop creating. Never give up, never give in.
Have a bear <3
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xviruserrorx · 2 years
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Hello! In honor of my birthday I was going to post a fic everyday of November, but I decided a good old "why not make it an event". The primary aspect of this event is to do/create what makes you happy and to have fun!. (Reblogs welcomed!!!)
Prompts:
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About:
This is a open multi-fandom event that is open towards all participants of fandom weather you make art, gifs, rant post, fan fic, fanvids, crochet, or simply love to support your fellow creators. Each day has a theme and three prompts to accompany the theme. The prompts are their just to help In case the theme alone doesn't spark the creative juices, but the prompts don't have to be used.
Continue below for the rules and a list of the Themes/prompts in ID format
Rules:
Multi-fandom event, any and all fandoms are welcomed!
All forms of media are accepted (fic, art, gifs, moodboards, comics, edits, videos etc.) If making media is not your thing then there are also alternatives. 1) make a rant post about the theme for the day.. 2) Arts and crafts projects are welcomed as well! Crochet, knitting, felt work, cross stitch, you name it, it's welcomed!...3) support your fandom creators and reblog your favorite media surrounding the theme of the day!
You do NOT have to create a new entry for each theme. If you already have a existing project/work in progress from past events or that you never got around towards finishing, that fits one of the themes, finish/polish it up and use it!
You can use no prompts or all three prompts, doesn't matter as long as it matches the theme!
Nsfw content is allowed! Ship and let ship! (Please tag everything appropriately!) Everything (and I mean everything) is allowed!!
The "Free Day" can be used three different ways. 1) use it as a free day, take a break and don't post anything... 2) Create whatever makes you happiest!... 3) Create something along the theme of current events going on in the world right now.
There are NO Maximum or minimum requirements for any type of media. It can be a single sentence fic or just a pencil outline of art, everything and anything counts!
Crossovers with other events are welcomed as long as the other events are okay with it too!
This event STARTS November 1st and will technically END December 1st. But you can post any entries/fills as early or as late, the event takes place during November but early or late participation will all be accepted!
Please tag me @xviruserrorx in your creations/post so I can see them and also tag #novemberfandombash2022 along with the following: Ex. #fandom, #day, #prompt, #form (fic, art, etc), along with other things that need to be tagged (warnings, triggers, etc)
If you are uploading Fics, Please be kind to people's news feeds/dashboards and use the read more!
I don't know the amount of participation for this so I am not going to make an Ao3 collection unless anyone wants it. And if so, please send me an ask so I can make it. 😁
If you make a Masterlist please tag me as well so I can see and reblog all the lovely creations you make!
I want to make this all as accessible as possible so please provide an ID on all imaged/gifs and if possible video transcripts. As well as to make sure to tag stuff correctly (flashing/strobes, body horror, phobias, eye strain etc) I understand some of the media may be difficult to put an ID of but something is better than nothing 😊.
[Image Description: A beige background with three colourful spots. The words "November Fandom Bingo" are in black and a bold cursive font. The following is listed.
Day 1: Culture/Religion/Customs - Celebration | Touch of faith | "May I?"
Day 2: Favorite Headcannon - Change | Lie gone too far | "I Care!"
Day 3: Favorite Trope - Bedroom | Light as a feather | "Oh, really?"
Day 4: BROTP - Jealousy | So far so good | "What are you doing?"
Day 5: OTP - Domestic | Achilles heel | "Best part of fighting is..."
Day 6: Favorite Male Character - Apology | A dead king, king laid | "I forgot..."
Day 7: Gen Relationship - Comfort | Caught red-handed | "How could you?"
Day 8: Symbolism - Stars | Penny for your thoughts | "look!"
Day 9: Fem-Slash - Vanilla | Love at first sight | "So... do we?"
Day 10: Found Family - Acceptance | House is not a home | "I can explain."
Day 11: Aro/Ace/Apl - Ring(s) | Hi pot, meet kettle | "Are You Ready?"
Day 12: FREE DAY
Day 13: QPR - Cuddling | True love is not one I "What did you do?"
Day 14: Female Minor Character - Constriction | Swan song | "Make me."
Day 15: POC Character - Power | Draw the line | "Forgive you?"
Day 16: Genre - Chain | Fate worse than death | "Why me?"
Day 17: Sibblings Dynamic - Platonic Love | At a lost | "Who did this?"
Day 18: Favorite AU - Boat | Fit as a fiddle | "How did we get here?"
Day 19: OC - Coincidence | Old flame | "Whose This?"
Day 20: Disability Awareness - Love | As it is | "Not again."
Day 21: Favorite Female Character - Freedom | At the mercy of | "Watch me."
Day 22: NOTP - First | Beck and call | "You hate me."
Day 23: Rarepair - Hand Holding | Sharing is caring | "I missed you."
Day 24: Male Minor Character - Adventure | Like a Moth to a flame | "Where Were You?"
Day 25: Screw Gender - New Experience | Skeleton in the closet | "Don't worry, I know."
Day 26: Next Gen - Start | Hand-me-downs | "I need your help"
Day 27: Family Dynamic - Betrayal | Lost & Found | "They did it!"
Day 28: Polyamory - Affliction | Two hands | "Why not?"
Day 29: Neurodivergence - Space | Break the ice | "Right..."
Day 30: LGBT+ - Equality | Barking up the wrong tree | "Are you sure?"
If there are any questions on anything please send an ask or message me and I'll answer the best I can 😊
*There will be no bullying, harassing, sexism, racism, homophobia, or anything in those regards tolerated in this event by any user participating. Thank you!*
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bonvoyagenoona · 2 years
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Fav books recs pls?
Oooh! I might’ve done a list like this before, but here are more thoughts.
Many of my faves of all time came from my high school English teachers’ assigned reading list (I had two very amazing teachers whom I admire to this day), but my list also includes standards, YA books that have impacted me, and others, in somewhat chronological order of when I read them?:
Spying on Miss Mueller - one of my fave YA books, it’s about four boarding school girls during WWII who are enamored with their glamorous German headmistresses, but all is not what it seems, such a sweet story and thrilling adventure
The Bell Jar - my ultimate favorite book of all time, and the edition I found had the poem “Mad Girl’s Love Song”, which was also life-changing
Idk if you’re also into poetry but, given that I brought it up, ugh, “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning”
Breakfast at Tiffany’s
The Catcher in the Rye
The Poisonwood Bible
Crime and Punishment - I actually didn’t think I’d enjoy this, but when I read it in an English class, I was very drawn to it, so much so that when we were assigned it for the summer before senior year, I went ALL OUT with my project and wrote diary entries for each chapter/passage/sentence that stuck out to me and gave commentary, and my teacher was like “WHOA THIS IS AMAZING” lol
Notes from Underground - yes, became a fan of Dostoevsky and read this in college for a lit class, cracked me up at times at the pitiful nature of human existence, while also prompting lots of existential thoughts that I hadn’t had before
Same with The Stranger
Brief Interviews with Hideous Men - found David Foster Wallace in college, and his “This is Water” commencement speech at Kenyon College had an impact on me, very thought-provoking and hits on consciousness and awareness (full speech here)
Polish Joke and Other Plays - if you like plays, I like David Ives! I ended up writing a bunch of one-act plays after reading his stuff in college, very fun
EVERYTHING NORA EPHRON, from Heartburn to I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman and every movie she wrote in between, MY QUEEN
Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) - in fact, EVERYTHING by Mindy Kaling, she’s one of my writing heroes!
Year of Yes - Shonda Rhimes’s autobiographical stuff actually changed my life, and I think about the lessons I learned from this book every day
Becoming - I mean, duh, history-making, and I was already weeping when Michelle Obama started talking about her parents, such a relatable story as a first gen immigrant
Live From New York: The Complete, Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live - OK listen, I was OBSESSED with SCTV and SNL from the time I was about 5 to 30, OBSESSED, I wanted to write sketches for them and for late-night shows generally, and Tina Fey and Seth Meyers’ times as head writer had a HUGE creative and life influence on me, still does
Yes, Please - this book is amazing, Amy Poehler has actually become one of my top comedy heroes, along with Mindy and Mike Schur, and BJ Novak, and John Mulaney, and just a bunch of people in that kind of group?, and I say that with somewhat surprise because I was such a Tina Fey stan (so yeah, Bossypants is good too), but a lot of Tina’s reactions to current events since just seem tone deaf, whereas Amy Poehler has led with joy and exploration
Here are some recent reads that I’ve started but haven’t finished, been recommended, or been wanting to check out (these are currently sitting on my shelf):
Literally everything by Sally Rooney (lol @bluejin0812​)
Crying in H Mart (ugh how have I not read this yet)
Three Little Truths
Super Host
Tablo’s Pieces of You, sent to me by a dear friend!
I haven’t been reading or writing nearly as much as I’ve wanted to these days, what with life getting busier. But always happy to learn about books and your thoughts on them! Share more here and I’ll reblog to spread the word!
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chockfullofsecrets · 3 years
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finished the first draft of ‘Caduceus Gets What’s Coming To Him’ fic, and now I feel like I need to write and post a ler!Caduceus fic first so he can deserve all this torment I’m putting him through lmao
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chaseadrian · 2 years
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Ninaaaa! Congratulations on 500 followers!🥳🥰
could I please request a bucky barnes, "I've wanted to kiss you for a while" from the oblivious feelings prompts?😊
SHAN tysm!!!!! and ty for requesting my original fictional bf bucky i miss writing him lmao
join the celebration! 
bonded
pairing: bucky barnes x gn!reader word count: 860 summary: you and bucky didn't realize how necessary sam was to your nights out, but you find yourself lucky regardless
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Working with Bucky hadn’t been an easy feat. It wasn’t like he wasn’t good when he needed to be, alongside him and Sam, saving the world was child’s play. It was that he’d had a sadness to him, something weary deep within him like a sunken cavern of treasures both desperate to be known and comfortable with its stillness.
You knew about the Winter Soldier stuff, everyone did. You’d read leaks online far before you’d ever met the man in person, and you were privy to more…delicate information once your director assigned you to work with the duo. It wasn’t anything worse than what you’d been told to do, the significant difference being you weren’t under the influence of torture. In several ways, you felt like a worse person than the man he’d been all those decades, and you carried your own burdens right alongside Sam and Bucky. It was why the three of you worked, though you wished there was something lighter weaving you together, you were just glad to have found the company.
It was especially useful when you found yourself bone-weary and whiplashed at the end of the day, you were never alone at the bar to simmer too deep into your thoughts.
Tonight, however, Sam had previous commitments to his nephews, so it was just you and Bucky, each nursing a beer and realizing Sam was the one who spurred on the conversation most of the time.
“So, uh, you like…” He craned his neck to read the label you’d been scratching off, “that beer, huh?”
You laughed, nodding your head, “I do, yeah, it’s a good one.”
He nodded along, “Right on, I uh I’m particular to…” He turned his own drink only to realize he’d also been scratching off the label, “this one.”
Bucky hung his head shaking it and laughing, “Sorry, I didn’t realize how much Sam contributed to our trio. You know, besides the wings and the shield and all that.”
“Right, right, besides that stuff. Totally inconsequential.”
The two of you sat there laughing, polishing off your drinks before Bucky tossed cash on the table and you headed out.
“Wow, cash, how very ‘old world’ of you.” You clapped him on the shoulder, and the sight of his laugh stirred butterflies in your stomach. With each smile, Bucky grew more and more distant from the things he’d been forced to do, the hard life he’d been forced to live. He looked like himself when he wore it, and the laughter was a handsome accessory you were also grateful for.
“If you want ‘old world,’ I think I got some savings bonds stashed somewhere at my place.”
You paused on the sidewalk outside the bar and turned to face him, “Yeah? Are you trying to get me back to your place?”
Bucky looked down at his feet, and if it wasn’t so dark you were certain you’d have seen him blushing. He was effortlessly charming, you’d seen it with just about every waiter who caught his eye. The glint of his smile, a wink here or there, the way with which he hung on every word they’d say as if the daily specials were the most interesting thing in the world. He was beguiling, that was for certain, but now he was standing here looking like a kid with his first crush.
“I’m gonna be honest,” He stepped closer to you, raising his head to meet your gaze, “I’ve wanted to kiss you for a while. Probably should’ve told you before being the world’s most boring drinking buddy, but,” He shrugged his shoulders, letting the sentence die off as you stared at him, slackjaw and trying to catch up.
When you didn’t move away or respond, Bucky reached forward with one hand, snaking a finger through your belt loop to pull you closer. It jostled you out of your head, and you stumbled towards him, hands raising to catch yourself on his chest.
“Do you want that?” He whispered, looking down at you with a smile that said he already knew the answer.
You didn’t give him a verbal response, instead bringing your lips to his before another moment of silence could pass.
Both of you melted into the kiss, the cool touch of his hand against your cheek was a lightning rod in your brain, blending the heat of the kiss with the shock of the moment. It was gentler than you’d have expected from him, his lips soft and anchored to yours as he let you take the rhythmic lead. You pressed your tongue into his mouth, wanting more of him, wanting all that he could give you.
It was the few gentle specks of rain on your skin that finally broke you from the kiss, though Bucky kept you close with his arms around your waist.
You combed a hand through his hair, admiring the way his eyes fluttered shut at the touch.
All you could think about was how he would react to all the ways you wanted to touch him, and when he looked down at you with a smile, you took the plunge.
“So, savings bonds?”
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Just Ask
Prompts: Hey… So, I was wondering if you could write a fic where one of the sides are dyslexic? Since that usually just ends as "Oh, I can't read, oh no!" and not like the actual neurodiversity it is. Yes, I admit, I want to relate to one too, but… Well. It'd be awesome if you would, but if that's too tall an order or too specific that's fine too. If you do, though, maybe college AU with roceit? -anon
Hi you're amazing! I love your writing and brand of writing and just I've read a lot of your stories and I love them all kskejejwuwugfhsv-
I was wondering, if you take requests, that maybe you could write a human AU with fake dating Roceit? With confident fat Janus because we need that! Or not, that's your choice!
(I sound like some snob asking for a highly specific coffee shi-) - anon
oh babe y'all wanted to be FED huh
Read on Ao3
Warnings: slight ableist/fatphobic language
Pairings: roceit
Word Count: 2487
Sometimes, you can get all of your work done in the library. Sometimes, people are ableists.
And sometimes there's something wonderful in finding out there's someone there for you as well.
Roman scrubs his hands over his face and sighs. Between waiting ages at the printer or absolutely destroying his retinas by staring at a screen for hours on end, he isn’t unhappy with making the choice to save the environment by using less paper but god.
“At least this pdf was convertible,” he mutters, scrolling down to see how many pages he has left. The last four weren’t and reading without the right font is a fucking pain in the ass.
Seven pages left. Great.
Roman focuses on the screen and starts to mutter under his breath again. Focus on the word, figure it out, make the sentence, move on. Pause to take notes, make sure it’s legible to read later, and repeat.
A computer and heavy bag thuds onto the table next to him and he jumps, almost knocking his coffee over. He looks up, glaring at the person who stares down their nose at him like he’s some sort of stain. Rude.
“You’ve been here for like, three hours, dude,” they say, like that’s supposed to justify their behavior, “move. I need this spot.”
Roman looks around. There’s like, four more tables open. “Can’t you just go sit somewhere else?”
“No! This is my spot! You can go sit somewhere else.”
“Well,” Roman mutters, glaring at his screen again, “I was here first. So you can either wait until I’m done or sit down.”
“Dude, I swear—“
“Excuse me,” comes a smooth voice that has no business being this polished in the fucking library, “is this person bothering you, sweetie?”
Roman turns around and his mouth drops open.
“J-Janus?”
Janus raises an eyebrow, crossing his arms and glaring at the dick with the heavy bag. Who, as a matter of fact, seems to be muttering and stuffing shit back into said bag.
“Sorry I’m late,” Janus drawls, still sounding way too confident and way too much like he knows what’s going on, “got held up after class.”
“Uh, no problem,” he mumbles, glancing over his shoulder to see the asshole is still standing there, “just, um…working.”
“Ah, well then, you won’t mind if I join you.” And with that, Janus sits down with a flourish, propping his chin up on his hand and fixing the asshole with an impressive look of disgust. “And you…you can leave.”
“Look, buddy—“
“My partner and I have work to do,” Janus says, swiftly cutting them off and making sure Roman has no idea what’s going on, “now leave.”
Roman’s really glad there was no ambiguity that Janus could’ve been talking to him, because he’s about ready to bolt. Only when the asshole has retreated does Janus turn his gaze to him.
“Sorry about that,” he says, flicking a speck of imaginary lint from his gloves, “he seemed like he was bothering you. Thanks for playing along.”
“Oh, uh, no, I’m, uh—“ Janus raises an eyebrow as Roman stumbles over his words— “sorry. Uh, thanks?”
Janus chuckles. “Oh, no worries, sweetie. I was happy to do it. Although…”
Janus squints at him and Roman fights the urge to squirm under that gaze.
“You’re in my seminar class, aren’t you?” Roman nods. “The one that let out three hours ago?”
“Yeah, uh-huh.”
“Have you…been here since then?”
Roman nods, trying to get back to work and, you know, maybe get out of here, only for Janus to reach across the table and still his hands as he goes to pick up the pen again.
“Have you eaten?”
“What?”
“Eaten,” Janus says slowly, mouth stretching into a smile, “lunch, sweetie.”
“Uh—“ no, is the correct answer— “I was going to?”
Janus just gives him a look.
“…no.”
“Mm.” Janus glances at his computer and notebook. “You’re not by any chance attempting to read all of the assignments in one go, are you?”
Roman’s guilty flush seems to answer that question for him. Janus sighs and it’s such an odd mixture of disappointment and fondness Roman hasn’t earned that his brain spits out the only question he actually wants an answer to.
“Why are you here?”
Janus chuckles. “In the library, at this school, or are we already to the point of questioning the very nature of existence?”
Roman just blinks at him.
“Oh, relax, sweetie, I’m teasing.” Janus glances off in the vague direction the asshole wandered off to. He leans a little closer. “I know how…difficult it can be to try and do work when they bother you.”
Roman’s cheeks flush. “Oh, uh…thanks, then.”
Janus waves a hand. “It’s none of their business why you’re doing so much work at once. Even if it does make you skip lunch,” he adds with such a pointed look that Roman can’t help splutter.
“I was going to! And you’re not my mother!”
“No,” Janus purrs, “but like any good partner, I like to make sure my sweetie takes care of themselves.”
Roman does not squeak, despite Janus’s chuckles, but he does start to fiddle with his pen. “I can’t…stop yet.”
“Why ever not?”
“Can you stop,” Roman blurts, scrubbing his hands over his blushing face, “please? For like, two seconds?”
“Sorry, you’re just adorable.”
“Stop, dude, seriously, if you want an actual answer to the question?”
“I’m done,” Janus chuckles, “I’m done, sorry.”
Roman takes a deep breath. He fiddles with the pen. “It’s just—with my dyslexia, it takes a while to…find the, um…”
“Zone?”
“…sure.”
Janus hums in understanding. Then he reaches into his own bag and pulls out a book of his own. “Then we may as well work together until you’re finished.”
Roman blinks. Hi, hello, brain is confused, what just happened in the last five minutes?
Janus waves a hand in front of his face. “Hello? Sweetie? You okay?”
“Sorry, I’m just—trying to process what happened.” Roman blinks again. “Because it seems like some asshole tried to take my seat, you came up and pretended to be my partner to scare them away, proceeded to badger me about taking care of myself, and now you’re…still here?”
Janus nods. “That’s how I experienced it too, that’s correct.”
“…so now what’re we doing?”
“Well, I’m also going to try and get some work done, you’re going to finish your work, and then we’re going to get lunch.”
“And what about the dude that now thinks we’re partners?”
Janus looks at him and shrugs. “I’m game if you are.”
Roman blinks again. Is…Janus suggesting they fake being in a relationship to, what, defend Roman’s right to sit wherever the fuck he wants for however long in a library?
“What’s in it for you?”
“Pardon?”
“You heard me,” Roman says, “what’s in it for you?”
Janus’s fingers still on the book he’s pulled out. He sighs and looks up at Roman.
“How long have you known about your dyslexia?”
Jumping around a bit here, aren’t we? “About six years, why?”
“And you know how to manage it? For you?”
“Uh, yeah, why?”
“That doesn’t mean it goes away,” Janus says softly, “it’s still work, you just…know how to do it now.”
“Yeah, it still takes me time to do things, why—“ Roman’s eyes widen— “oh. Oh, wait, you mean—wait, what do they have against you?”
Janus’s mouth tugs up into a smirk. “How sweet.”
“Shut up,” Roman mumbles, “you know what I mean.”
Janus just winks at him before sobering. “Well,” he says wryly, gesturing at himself, “surely you can understand that…not everyone treats you very well when you aren’t the circumference of a toothpick.”
Oh. They’re those kind of assholes. Something Janus chuckles about when that thought gets out before Roman can stop them.
“Quite. I can manage them, but it’s still work.” He looks at Roman. “Maybe we can split the load?”
“I’m down with that.”
“Wonderful. Now,” Janus says, mock sternly, “get back to work. We have lunch to get.”
Roman chuckles. “Sure, sure, don’t ask to borrow my notes.”
“I would never, I just forget things like a cool person and make things up that the professor likes to hear.”
Yeah, this is gonna go just fine.
As it turns out, it does. Roman won’t lie, he was…skeptical about the viability of this plan of theirs. He’s read the stories. He knows how this works. He knows about the misunderstandings and whether it’s a bet or a dare, something goes wrong.
But…nothing does.
Watching Janus tear anyone to shreds is entertaining enough in class, where Roman gives up on taking debate notes and just watches because goddamn, but when he gets to stand there and just glare at some ableist while Janus verbally decimates them? Poetic cinema. He debates sneaking some popcorn into his jacket pocket but that would take away from the power of his glare.
And it is nice to have someone else do the work of glaring assholes away from his table when he’s working on reading. He would be lying if he said that actually having someone else to talk to isn’t part of it. It’s so much easier to keep track of where he’s messing up so he can focus on it during his exercises later.
“You know,” Janus remarks as they leave the library one day, “you can ask the professors for editable pdfs.”
“Huh?”
“For your font stuff.” Janus nods toward his backpack. “I know you like to change the font so you can read it better, most of them have editable copies of the materials.”
“Not for the eBooks and scans and stuff.”
Janus huffs, waving his hand. “How do you think they get the audio transcripts for the recorded versions? They have to transcribe it anyway, just ask for those.”
Roman stops. “How…how do you know those exist?”
Janus just taps the side of his nose and winks.
“Can…can you do that?”
“Of course.” Janus links his arm through Roman’s. “Anything for you.”
That shouldn’t do what it does to Roman’s chest.
Because yeah, okay, maybe Janus is…really cute.
Like, unfairly cute.
No one should be able to rock that hat all the time. And the gloves. And the pocket watch. And the curly hair. And the attitude. And the impressive vocabulary. And the razor-sharp wit. And he actually knows how to flirt! What is flirting? All Roman knows is Gay Panic™ and Suffering™. What is this? Why is it allowed?
And why, oh why, did Janus have to be the one that started the fake-dating idea?
Because here’s the thing. It would be so easy to just be friends with Janus. It would! They’re already friends now, fake-dating kind of does that to you. And Janus, despite what he wants everyone else to believe, is a fucking dork. His actual laugh is squeaky and bubbly and ugh, Roman could drown in it. And he’s really kind. It’s not the same breed of kind that Roman’s used to, but goddamn, Janus is so sweet when he lets himself be. And it’s been so long since Roman had like, an actual friend…
But it would also be so easy to be more than friends with Janus. To actually be able to take him out for dates and not just lunch at their janky cafeteria. To be able to spend time together that isn’t just for show, or platonic, or just hanging out ranting about stupid dead supposed-to-be-smart people.
Again, Roman’s read the stories. He knows how this is supposed to go.
So when he takes a little longer to pack up one day, enough that Janus notices and eases himself back down into his seat with a soft, real, ‘what’s wrong, sweetie, let me help,’ Roman prepares the bittersweet ‘nothing, I’m fine,’ and to swallow down everything real.
But instead…
“Can we, um, actually date?”
Janus blinks. “Come again, sweetie?”
Roman fiddles with the buckle on his bag. “I, um, I really appreciate what we’ve been doing, and I, um, I’m super happy being your friend…”
“The feeling is mutual.”
“…but I, um—“ god, why are words so hard?— “I think I would actually like to try…dating you. For real.”
He peeks up nervously at Janus.
“Is…is that okay?”
Janus sits there, silent. He blinks a few times. Then a slow, real smile spreads across his face.
“Roman,” he says softly, almost too quiet, even in the hush of the library, “why do you think I proposed this idea in the first place?”
Oh.
Oh.
Roman blinks. “Wait, you—you?”
A pretty flush covers Janus’s face. “Well, I…was planning to ask you normally, but then I saw you being absolutely tormented and…panicked.”
“You panicked?”
He throws his hands up. “Well, what was I supposed to do? The most gorgeous person in my seminar was being bullied and I was supposed to just let it happen?”
Wait. Back up. Roman is what?
“And yes, maybe I...wanted an excuse to be your friend first, but as I said, I panicked and so—“
“You—wait, you think I’m pretty?”
Janus stops, mouth open, before he’s scoffing. “Roman, have you seen yourself?”
“Uh—“
“At least you’re pretty,” Janus mutters under his breath, “pretty and dumb, but pretty.”
“Hey!”
“You can be big of brain and dumb of ass at the same time, sweetie.”
“Oh, says the man whose idea was to fake-date me because you wanted to actually ask me out!”
“I will not be lectured on dramatics from a theater kid.”
“That’s ex-theater kid to you.”
“Oh, you know once you go, you never come back.”
Roman giggles. Then he’s laughing. Janus joins in and oh, this is much better than shoving feelings down and pretending they don’t exist.
“You’re such a fucking dork.”
“No,” Janus purrs, reaching over to boop the end of Roman’s nose, “I’m your fucking dork.”
Oh. Oh, that sounds…really good. Roman’s chest is really warm now, when did that happen? Janus smiles too.
“So…dinner?”
“You’re paying.”
“I’ll pick you up at six.”
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shorkbrian · 3 years
Text
Bad Vibrations
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Prelude - You know those stories that like you read and then the ending is like “but it was all a DrEaM”? yeah this is that but in reverse. Also keep in mind that Shindo is an individual who keeps up a very polished outer appearance, very different underneath the surface. Bakugou saw through it; Shindou’s a little faker for the public just saying
Pairing - Shindo Yo X Reader
Prompt - Shindo but noncon
Warnings - NSFW, stalker Shindo, non con, dub con, graphic, vibrations (ofc), crying, idk, y’all should know by now that there aint nothing good going on in these here parts.
Music - https://open.spotify.com/track/4FeWr4OsidcJClBjUEBHWI?si=Ea026PEQSX2vsQFf8AKkZw
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You wake up to a hand over your mouth, a weight across your waist.
It’s still dark, your bedroom window open and leaking cool air into your room.
There’s a figure above you, straddling your waist, eyes glinting through the darkness. It’s a man, you determine, with his unruly hair, muscled build and the rough “shhhh” noise he makes, his hand tightening over your mouth as you fully awaken.
“Mmh!” You whine, panic flushing through your body. Who is this? Why is he here? Oh god, are you going to die?
“If I take my hand off, can you be good?”
His voice is soft, barely above a whisper. The man doesn’t seem to be a threat from his body language, the smooth rhythm of his voice, even though he’s apparently broken into your house, into your bedroom. 
You nod your head. As soon as your mouth is free, you’re begging quietly.
“Please don’t hurt me, please.”
“Shhh, I wouldn’t dream of such a thing.” The man cooed, a hand cupping the side of your face. Odd. “I just want you to be good, okay? You can do that for me, right?”
What does he mean? You suppose your puzzled face clues him into your confusion, because the man chuckles lowly.
“Aw, don’t worry… I know you don’t have a clue who I am, but that’s okay - it’s not your fault. I’m Shindo, okay? I’m not gonna hurt you, everything’s fine.”
The man was so soothing, if he wasn’t pinning you to your bed with his bodyweight, maybe you wouldn’t be shivering with fear. You couldn’t think straight, mind still foggy with sleep, all you could do was blink up at the man-Shindo.
“I’m tired of watching, I just want a little taste, y’know? You looked so pretty earlier, like a little treat.”
Your eyes widened, and your body tensed. What was he—? Had he been watching you? What did he mean by /earlier/? Your mind flitted back to what you were doing before you drifted off to sleep, and you immediately flushed. An electric toothbrush had been pressed to your cunt, over your panties, the vibrations ever so slight as you writhed under your own hand. You had never messed with toys before, too intimidated by all the different choices, the names, the reviews. Plus, the actual act of buying them was mortifying, even if you could just order one from Amazon - what if it showed up in a package clearly outlining what it was? What if your neighbors saw?
“Don’t be shy, I know it felt good, I mean, it certainly looked good.” Your attention was pulled back to the present, to the man-Shindo sitting on top of you. He was grinning, a small hint of teeth showing. Your heart hammered in your chest - you we’re going to die. This man was going to rape you, then kill you. 
“Please, there’s-there’s money in the drawer, you can have it a-“
Shindo surged forward, capturing your mouth in a kiss, cutting you off mid-sentence. You squeaked, rearing backwards, but he followed, pressing his lips so firmly to your own that you felt like he was trying to worm his way inside. You tried to turn your head, shocked, scared, but a hand grabbed your chin with an iron grip, freezing you in place. It hurt.
A moment passed, then two, and you were fully panicking now, chest heaving, hands flailing. Shindo separated himself from you with a quiet, wet smack, barely pulling away from your lips before leaning back down to kiss your nose. The hand holding your chin relaxed.
“Don’t fight, just be good. I’ll treat you nice, okay? Don’t make me upset baby.” His voice had a sharp edge to it, and you had the immediate sense of mind to commit to doing what he said - you figured if you didn’t, you might not live to file a police report. You nodded shakily, tears brimming in your eyes. This couldn’t be happening. 
Shindo smiled at your nod, patting your cheek lovingly, before another kiss was planted to the tip of your nose. “Good. Now, we’re going to get to the fun stuff, what do you say?”
It was a rhetorical question, the man not even waiting for a response before he was tugging at your shirt, almost ripping it as he pulled it up and over your chest, whistling as your bare chest was revealed. “Damn baby, you’re delicious.”
You flushed, hands twitching uselessly at your sides. You shouldn’t, you couldn’t fight, he’d hurt you. You just needed to stay still and quiet, let him do what he wanted, let him take what he wanted. It was going to be fine. You could do it.
Abandoning your shirt after he bunched it underneath your arms, the man immediately palmed at your chest, hands warm, soft. The chill of the night air plus his interest in your nipples had the small buds peaking almost immediately, stiff and upright. Shindo gave a quiet, pleased huff, before thumbing over your nipples, closely watching your face for a reaction. You turned to the side, determined to not give him one. Maybe if you just stayed still, didn’t engage, he’d get bored and hurry up, fuck off into the night and back from where he came.
A wet, searing heat enclosed your right nipple, and you gasped, arcing at the foreign sensation. A glance downward showed Shindo with his mouth around your tit, brown eyes hooded, twinkling up at you. You turned your face to the side again, shooting a hand up to bite down onto your fist as the man started sucking. It felt good, a dull pressure pulling at your breast, making you want to arch your back and push further into the man’s mouth. 
He stayed there for a moment, sucking quietly, before quickly switching to your other tit, immediately bringing his hand up to palm softly at the spit-slicked nipple he’d just abandoned. You whined into your fist, it felt good, why did it feel good? It shouldn’t, this was wrong.
Shindo switched again, one hand always kneaded the breast not held up to his mouth. He kept his tongue busy, playing with your nipple, laving hotly over your skin, sucking bruises into the sensitive flesh of your breast. You could’ve sworn that his tongue vibrated a couple times when it passed over your nipple, but maybe that was just the intense shaking from your body.
You were so stressed, so scared, your body was practically vibrating in fear - you were shivering so hard you felt like you were going to throw up. 
The man quickly got bored, detaching from your breast to shuffle down further, stripping the sheet away from your body as he did so. The tears that you had successfully held back so far came rolling down your cheeks as he gripped the waistband of your pajama pants. When you couldn’t quiet a sob, the man’s brown eyes flickered up, away from where he was peeling the pants down, barely pulling it past your belly button.
“Hey, don’t cry, I told you I wasn’t going to hurt you, like, three times. I’ll be gentle, I know how to treat my girl right.” He soothed, but his words just made you cry harder. 
He clicked his tongue, before crawling up to flop down next to you, laying on his side, facing you. You closed your eyes, the intensity of his gaze too much for you to handle, muffled cries wracking your body. You couldn’t do this, he was going to rape you, this can’t happen.
Thumbs wiped at your face, rubbing your tears away. “You know, it’s kinda hard for me to get it up when you’re laying here crying like that, so I’m going to need you to stop.”  
You kept your eyes closed, wanting to convince yourself this was just some bad dream, you could wake up, this wasn’t happening. A sharp pinch to your cheek had you giving a small cry, eyes snapping open to see his face inches from your own.
“Don’t fucking ignore me, I’m being fucking nice. You want that to change?” He growled, making you flinch. The whiplash from the personality change had you confused, lips quivering as you burst out into a fresh wave of tears, quickly trying to wipe them away. This man was dangerous. 
Seeing you try to rectify your crying, Shindo backed away, offering you a comforting smile. “See? It’s not so hard. God, you’re perfect for me, so obedient.”  His voice was sickeningly sweet again, nothing like the vicious growl it had been not ten even ten seconds ago. It was terrifying, the man was unhinged. 
There was a quick press of his lips against yours again, before he was resuming his position by your lower half, busying himself with pulling your pajama pants off.
The second they passed your hips, revealing your bare pussy to his gaze, Shindo groaned out a curse, body sagging. Your pajama pants were quickly ripped the rest of the way off, leaving you completely exposed. 
You wanted to cover yourself from his searing gaze, but something told you the the man wouldn’t like that - he might hurt you for trying - so you twisted them into the sheets by your head, anchoring yourself in the physical sensation that it provided you.
Shindo looked up, sticking his fingers in his mouth as he did so. You watched him suck on them, swirling his tongue around the digits before taking them out, absolutely drenched with his spit.
“You’re gonna like this part.”
Before you could ask what he meant by that, before you could even /think/, those fingers were pressed against your pussy, smushed up against your clit. The sensation from that lone had you breathing in quickly, closing your eyes. When the vibrations started, you almost screamed.
Your eyes flew open, mouth open in a silent cry, hips bucking uncontrollably both towards and away from the vibrating fingers. It felt so good it hurt, the vibrations hitting deep, buzzing and rumbly, so fast and heavy that you couldn’t think, you couldn’t even breath.
Shindo laughed, eyes dark as he watched you writhe on his fingers, slowly starting to rub them over your clit, along your labia, moving up to press hard against your mons pubis, which mad the vibrations go so impossibly deep, you choked on a moan, eyes rolling back into your head. The feeling was incredible, it was too much and not enough all at the same time,  like nothing you had ever felt before. 
He played with you like that, you don’t even know for how long. It could’ve been a second, it could’ve been an hour. All you knew is that it felt good, that you wanted more, that you couldn’t stop your hips from trying to grind down against his head. And then he was pulling back the hood that protected your sensitive clit, using a finger to flick at the bud, and you were sobbing through an orgasm.
“Please! Oh god, stop, stop! It-it hurts, no more, please!” You cried, the pleasure quickly breaching into overstimulated pain as he ghosted over your clit. It hurt, sharp pain, the buzzing reaching into your thighs, and you didn’t know if it would ever stop.
Then, it did, and you almost cried in relief, collapsing against the bed in a gasp, sweaty and breathless. 
You think some time passed, enough for SHindo to strip out of his clothes, because when you next opened your eyes (when had you closed them?) the man was naked, watching you. 
He had his fist loosely wrapped around his cock, his long, veiny cock, already shining with precum. He was stroking slowly, seemingly content to watch the rise and fall of your chest as you tried to regain your breath, the glistening wet of your pussy clenching between your legs. 
Your eyes met his, those brown, glinting daggers, slitted dangerously as they watched you. “Mm, feel good pretty? I knew it would. Just gotta let me take care of you… I can make you feel even better.”
“I don’t….” You whispered, your sentence trailing off. You didn’t want to do this, but could you even say no? Would he hurt you?
Shindo didn’t hear you, or if he did, he didn’t acknowledge you. He leaned forward, letting go of his cock to situate himself between your thighs. You cringed when his wet hand brushed against your leg, pulling it up and over his elbow, opening you up to him.
This was so gross, his cock was leaking all over the place, and he was going to put it inside you, you were going to vomit.
“Let me in, let me treat you nice.” He cooed, tapping the tip of his cock sweetly against your clit, almost mocking you. You jerked on each tap, body shaking hard again. 
Then he shifted, dipping down so he could line his cock up, slip it inside quickly, before you could move or wiggle backwards.
You couldn’t think about anything other than the solid heat filling you, pushing into your stomach, stretching you past the point of comfort. You had to bear down, relaxing your pussy around him so it didn’t hurt as much. He was long, and thick, and it hurt - was it supposed to hurt?
Shindo cursed again, his hand quickly patting along the bed before he found your own, immediately clenching it tight within his grasp. 
“Baby, you feel so nice, clenching like that around me. Been waiting so long for this, was gonna do something all dramatic and romantic like flowers and candles…. I just couldn’t wait any longer.”
He was completely inside, stilling as his hips came into contact with your skin, panting above you.
“Been watching you for a while, you’re real dumb, I followed you home in plain sight several times. I even broke in a few times, stole some stuff.”
Your eyes were wide, staring up at the man above you with your mouth open. This was too much to process all at once, the physical sensation, the information being dumped on you. 
Shindo continued “It was nothing big, just some panties and other little things here and there. You didn’t mind though, you never even noticed it was missing.” You had noticed some stuff go ‘missing’ but you had just chalked it up to your own faults, loosing your favorite necklace, misplacing towels, forgetting where you put your underwear after you folded it.
“You’re a little dumb, but that’s okay baby, I don’t mind. It’s kinda cute, y’know? Although it would’ve been nice for you to at least recognize me - I’m not in the top ten, but I’m still a pretty good hero.”
Wait, hero? You looked up at the man, scanning his face. He didn’t look like any hero you had seen on the news. He caught your suspicious gaze, his brow furrowing, a deep frown appearing on his face. 
“What, you really don’t get the fuck who I am?” He snapped, the hand holding your own flashing towards your throat, fighting around your skin, cutting off your air. “I’ll give you a little hint.”
The cock inside of you vibrated, just like his fingers had.
You choked behind the hand cutting off your airway, thrashing under the man over you. The cock kept vibrating, but the hand let off your throat, letting you gulp in deep breaths. 
“This ring any bells?” His voice was light again. You wanted to cry, he was moody, volatile, scary. You couldn’t do this - you could feel his lightly vibrating cock leaking inside of you, whether you could actually feel it or not, just the mental image was making you sick. 
“I-I don’t know who you are..” You tried, voice slightly scratchy. “I just wanna stop, please? I won’t tell anyone, please, if you’re a hero…. This isn’t right.”
His eyes narrowed.
“Fine. I gave a plenty of chances.” The mean cut in his voice was back, and that’s all you could notice before his hips were pulling back, cock sucking out of you, before it plunged back inside.
It was vibrating even more intensely, like it was shaking your inside, and you couldn’t think past the quickly building thrusts, the man sweating and groaning above you, hand gripping your leg tightly. You couldn’t breathe.
“No, I don’t want this, it-it feels weird! I can’t—!” You squealed, Shindo unrelenting as he rolled his hips into you, grinning.
“I dunno, feels good to me.”
You moaned on his next thrust, the vibrations bringing you to the edge, too fast, too intensely. You felt like you were speeding towards it, and then you were falling over it, shaking on his cock as you came, clenching your teeth.
“Fuck, fuck baby, feel so good!” He didn’t let up, didn’t give you a second, just kept thrusting, leaning down to push his tongue into your mouth, his spit going everywhere. It was too much, you couldn’t take it, you just came!
“Shin-do! No, too - mmhm - much! Plea-se, too-too m-ah! Ah, ah, ah!” You moaned, embarrassed at the sounds tumbling out of your mouth as you ripped your head away from his slime tongue, but yet you couldn’t stop yourself as you whined.
“Nn, you’ve got such a tight little cunt, perfect - ah! - for my cock.” His thrust sped up, the vibrations getting stronger inside of you, and you threw your head back, squealing, bucking your hips, thrashing - anything to get away.
But his grip was unrelenting, as was the quickening slap of his hips against yours, his thick balls swinging to clap against your ass lewdly. You couldn’t get away, he was going to cum inside, you couldn’t make it stop.
“Oh, baby - haah - keep moving like that, you’re milking my cock, feels so good.” He moaned, dipping down to pant against your neck. You cried out, trying to still, trying not to egg him on. You just wanted this to be over, you could hardly think with the pleasant, intense buzzing in your pussy, the solid, warm cock filling you up, pushing you past your limits.
And then you were gone, screaming into another orgasm, loosing yourself to the sensation.
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You wake up to your covers tucked around your chin, safely snuggled into your pillows.
It’s light, your bedroom window open and leaking the sun into your room.
You go to stretch, reaching your arms above your head, only to pause at the unrelenting ache in your back, the horrible tight soreness between your legs. It-it wasn’t a nightmare.
It was real.
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marjansmarwani · 3 years
Text
would’ve loved you for a lifetime
Tarlos || 7.6k || ao3
Prompt: Characters are secretly married and one of them is hurt at work 
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The story of how TK and Carlos came together, and how they almost missed out on their future before it even got a chance to start.
For the wonderful @acejuddryder on her birthday! I hope you enjoy this AC and that you have a day as good as you deserve 💕
I came across this prompt a while ago and @bellakitse encouraged me to write it and I am so glad she did! I have been wanting to do a non-linear narrative for a while, and this worked perfectly for that. Shoutouts to both @officereyes and @firefighterstrand for helping me with bits and editing for me, you’re champs 🥰
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Judd watched as TK went about repacking the first aid kit with a smile on his face, humming to himself. This had been going on for the majority of their 24-hour shift now and in hour 23, Judd’s patience was finally up. 
“Okay kid, what gives? You’ve been grinning like the butcher’s dog all shift.” 
TK glanced up from his work, startled, “I have not.” 
“Yeah, you have dude,” Marjan informed him as she tossed him more supplies, “want to fill us in?” 
“It’s not just today either,” Paul noted, coming around from the other side of the engine, “you’ve been suspiciously chipper for a few days now.” 
“Can’t a guy just be happy without getting the third degree? Jeez.” 
“There’s happy, and then there’s this.” 
“You too Mateo, really? I thought you had my back, man.” 
“Don’t guilt-trip the probie,” Paul admonished, throwing his polishing rag at TK for emphasis, “just tell us what’s up.” 
TK was saved the trouble of dodging the question by the sound of his phone ringing in his pocket. 
“Saved by the bell,” he declared as he fished it out of his pocket and stepped to the back of the rig for some semblance of privacy. 
“Don’t count on it lasting,” Judd called after him, “we’re getting right back into this as soon as you are done.” 
The others returned to their tasks, eager to finish with the end of their shift in sight. Their focus was soon broken by the sound of a gasp and a clattering sound from where TK stood. They all looked over to see TK, standing on the other side of the engine bay, expression stricken and body trembling. 
“TK?” Paul asked hesitantly but got no response. Not even an indication that their teammate had heard him. They crossed over as a group but Judd got there first and reached down to grab the abandoned phone. The call was still going. He watched as Marjan approached TK, comforting hands reaching for his and Paul reminded him to breathe in his even, calming voice as he lifted the abandoned phone to his ear.
“Hello?” 
“Mr. Strand?” 
“No, this is his friend. He seems to be...a little out of sorts right now.” 
The voice on the other end sighed, “that’s understandable. Would you please just inform him that his husband should be heading into surgery shortly and that he should check in upon his arrival so that the doctor can give him an update?” 
Husband? Judd was so stuck on that word he almost missed the rest of the sentence. He managed to unfreeze his brain long enough to answer, “Of course, I’ll make sure he gets there. What hospital?” 
“St. David’s.” 
“Thank you.” 
Judd hung up the phone and stared at it for a moment. He felt the eyes of the team on him but he took a steadying breath before he looked up. When he did he ignored the curious gazes of the others and looked directly at TK, “they said I should tell you that your husband should be heading into surgery shortly, and that you should check-in when you get there so a doctor can update you.” 
TK nodded, but said nothing else. No explanation, no objection that they were wrong; that he didn’t have a husband. 
Because as far as Judd had known as of a few minutes ago, he didn’t. 
“I need to go,” TK finally said and his voice was so pained it almost hurt to hear, “I need to get there.” 
“I hate to break it to you man,” Paul said gently, “but you are in no shape to drive right now.” 
“I’ll take him.” 
The words were out of his mouth before he had even fully processed them. But when the eyes of the team fell to him, he repeated them: “I’ll take him. Clear it with Cap?” 
The others nodded and he hoped they had picked up on what was left unsaid: tell Owen that he apparently has a son-in-law he doesn’t know about; tell the Captain that TK is a wreck but that Judd had him. 
“There’s only a bit of shift left, we should be able to hold down the fort. Go, and keep us updated.” 
Judd nodded at Paul and the others before reaching out a hand to put on TK’s shoulder, “C’mon kid, let’s go.” 
His voice and guiding hand were gentle, and TK barely nodded before allowing himself to be led out of the station and to Judd’s truck. He climbed into the passenger seat silently and didn’t utter a word for the whole drive. All Judd could do was shoot him concerned glances and try to push back all the unanswered questions in his mind. Now was not the time for answers —his one and only concern was making sure TK was okay. The rest could come later. 
----------
They started on a Tuesday. 
As things went it wasn’t a particularly notable day for a beginning, but there wasn’t much notable about their start. 
They were two people colliding; contrasting desires meeting in the in between, in the common ground. They wanted different ends but the means suited them both just fine. It was hot and heavy; it was rough and quick. It was needy and physical and everything they wanted (if only for a moment). 
Then eventually, it was more. 
Not at first —it wasn’t more for a long time. For months it was just blowing off steam, just mind blowing sex. There were a few dates of varying success, but they continued their dance around each other and the feelings they both had. Then TK got shot and they both watched their potential future teetering on the edge, ready to topple over with the weight of uncertainty. Eventually TK woke up to the chaos of adjusting to life again and a solar storm, and in the quiet that followed the chaos they found themselves in each other. 
From there it was simple: after the start they had it couldn’t be anything but. In all that time they had gotten to know each without really meaning to and now they found themselves fitting together like a pair of gloves; fine on their own, but infinitely better together. They slipped into rhythms like they did embraces, and they were happy. 
They dedicated time to getting to know what they were without an audience and without really realizing it, they had become a secret. A badly kept one, but a secret none-the-less. They existed in the peripherals, their life together a separate entity from their lives as seen by the rest of the world. 
From the outskirts they became TK and Carlos and as time went on, there was less and less space between their bodies, their names, and their hearts. 
And with each passing Tuesday, they grew closer. 
---------
Judd kept stealing glances at TK. 
They were in the waiting room of the hospital, and TK had spent every moment since they sat down anxiously bouncing his leg while he fiddled with the necklace he always wore. 
“Hey, it’s gonna be okay.” 
“You don’t know that Judd.”
His voice was strained and quiet, so unlike the TK Judd was used to. He followed his gaze to the door the nurse had informed them the doctor would be coming through to give TK an update. That was nearly 10 minutes ago and TK’s eyes hadn’t left the door once. 
Judd had so many questions but wasn’t sure how to broach the topic. How do you ask your friend about a spouse you didn’t know they had when they are full of fear of losing them? 
He was saved the trouble of trying when TK spoke beside him, “I know what you’re thinking, just go ahead and ask.” 
His voice was resigned and Judd felt bad for even thinking about the question, but he did need to know. 
“You have a husband. Is it...someone we know?” 
TK pulled his glance away from the door long enough to glance at Judd. After a moment, he nodded: “Carlos.” 
“How long?” 
“Not long.” 
“Are you…” he began, but trailed off. He wasn’t sure what to ask. He had been leaning towards “happy,” but that seemed wrong in this context.  He didn’t know what the right thing to say was;  he had no idea how to approach this situation. He wished Grace was here. She was so much better at this kind of stuff.
They were quiet again until TK spoke, “I love him Judd.” 
The admission was made quietly, TK’s voice low and sad. Judd turned to look at him and TK met his eyes as he continued, “I need him in my life. I don’t know what I’d do without him. I can’t lose him, Judd.” 
Judd swallowed as he studied TK’s expression. It was full of a familiar fear; one that he had felt anytime he thought about the mere idea of losing Grace. He reached out a hand and gave TK’s shoulder a comforting squeeze. He knew better to promise that it would be alright — they had no way of knowing that. Instead he settled on a truth he knew. 
“You’ll get through this,” he told TK firmly, “and you won’t be alone.” 
--------
Time passed and they began to learn the mysteries of each other past the physical. Before TK knew just the spot to kiss to make Carlos moan each and every time, now he could tell you the name of his childhood dog and that when he was 5, he had wanted to be an astronaut. 
Carlos still knew all the ways to make TK melt under his touch but now he also knew how TK had pushed himself in the fire academy so he could feel worthy of the legacy of being the legendary Owen Strand’s son. Their secrets emerged from the shadows into open hearts, more and more revealing themselves with each passing day.
Stolen hours became endless evenings and frantic hookups became languid movie nights. Time passed and they began to feel at home with each other. Soon it became normal for TK to show up at Carlos’s home at the end of his shift as it slowly became more of a home to him. But, then again, the person who lived there was starting to feel an awful lot like home too. 
Their connection was generally known; they weren’t trying to sneak around. But while seeing them dancing at the bar or grabbing lunch at a food truck became more and more commonplace, the depth of their relationship was still a secret from most —including them, for a time. Michelle likely knew, Paul surely suspected; but the fact that they were falling more and more in love each passing day was a surprise to even them. 
It was TK who said it first; in a casual moment without a second thought. Carlos nearly tripped over his own feet when he heard it, but it had been like a dam breaking and soon it became commonplace, almost like breathing for them both. 
Time went on and their love grew. Time went on and they grew together —learning each other's edges and finding out where they fit. They were a puzzle, slowly coming together until the right piece was found. From there, it was a quick solve before the final picture revealed itself. 
And what a picture it was, Carlos thought to himself as he lay in his bed, watching TK sleeping soundly beside him. There were times he had to stop himself from reaching out to touch him, to make sure he was real. Sleep didn’t come easily to the other man and once it was found it was easily lost, so Carlos refrained, allowing his gaze to do the work for him. After everything he could scarcely believe they were here, after everything he couldn’t believe that they had found each other.  
These were his favorite nights, he decided. The ones where he got to fall asleep to the sight of TK beside him, the nights he was lulled to sleep by the sound of his breathing. He knew he wanted more nights like this — really, he wanted every night to be like this. 
But it was too soon for that, so for now he would savor the nights they had.
[continue reading on ao3]
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When Our Hands Next Meet
Series summary: Soulmates are given memories of their past lives when their hands touch. For Virgil and Logan, each memory is happier than the last.
This series was created for @analogicalweek and made in collaboration with the lovely @birdsongisland! Please go look at the wonderful drawing that pairs with this work and support them with reblogs so their work can be seen!
Credit to birdsongisland for beta reading this as well, it came out a lot better because of them!
Chapter 5: We’ll Meet in the Middle
Chapter Summary: Virgil didn’t know what he had been expecting when he asked for a tutor to help with his studies, but it definitely wasn’t who could kick flip a skateboard without even looking down and also happened to be his soulmate. 
Day 5 Prompt: Vocab Card/Skateboard
Warnings: none. If there are others please let me know!
WC: 1539
AO3 link
Taglist (ask to be added or removed): @ace-in-a-shopping-cart @janus-is-an-adorable-snek-boi @logans-library @im-an-anxious-wreck @edupunkn00b
Virgil huffed as he cupped his chin aggressively in his hand, staring down the road to wait for his tutor to show up. Not to get the wrong idea- he was very grateful to the person who had agreed to help him with his vocabulary; he just...wasn’t the best with people. He was socially awkward and very obviously had a vague emo style- wavy purple hair with white streaks fell messily over shadowed eyes and cheeks that would burn in five minutes outside despite his tanned complexion. His black nail  polish was chipping from the constant picking and he was never seen anywhere without his favorite purple hoodie hugging him like a portable blanket. But he was falling a bit behind in class because he couldn’t seem to remember the constant influx of new terminology thrown at him each week. Asking the professor about extra practice had landed him a phone number that he had agonized over for too many hours before finally biting the bullet and calling.
The voice on the other end alone was enough to make his stomach flip, light and lilting even when talking about something as boring as scheduling. Virgil knew it then and he was stewing over it now- he was absolutely done for. No one had that kind of voice without being kind and patient and while those were things he definitely needed if he was going to learn anything he was sure he’d get distracted anyway. Forming a squish from a voice- that had to be the worst joke played on him yet.
Looking up however nearly made him want to cry at the irony. That had to be him, the only person on campus at the moment standing tall on a skateboard while gripping a dark blue messenger bag. From what Virgil could see he had blue hair that was pulled to one side with the other shaved, immediately piquing Virgil’s interest with the unique look. He tried his hardest not to stare as he came closer and his jacket came into view; a leather one spiked at the shoulders and sporting pride flags at the chest. Virgil felt his own chest constrict as he stored that away for later, the pintrovert system coming in handy for what felt like the first time in his life.
Just as he was getting his crutches situated to stand up he noticed the other man riding straight for the sidewalk seemingly not paying attention to where he was going. Scrambling to his feet he lurched forward to yell out.
“Hey watch ou-” The warning died on his lips as his tutor executed a perfect lick flip onto the sidewalk, letting the momentum carry him a couple more feet before stopping and tucking the skateboard under his arms. Virgil was sure he looked like an absolute idiot as he approached him, trying his hardest not to gape while practically feeling his eyes sparkling while looking at the punk with wide eyes. 
“Hello, I’m Logan. And you’re Virgil right? The person I’m supposed to help with his medical terms?” He waited for Virgil to nod before continuing. “Excellent. Is the library fine?”
Realizing He’d been silent too long, he managed to squeak out a “Yeah,” as he reached down to swing his bag over his shoulder. Logan started towards the doors with him, shuffling things around in his bag to pull out notecards and stuff the skateboard into it. How it fit Virgil had no idea but taking in the aesthetic he honestly wouldn’t be surprised if it involved some sort of fae magic. 
They settled down at the table and Logan looked over at him, making his heart once again skip a beat as he took in the beautiful shade of brown. Shaking his head slightly he tried to focus on what Logan was currently talking about while organizing several colored pens in front of them.
“-that way you’ll be able to separate the terms better and your brain will be better equipped to compartmentalize the terms you need to remember in half the time. Does that make sense?”
It didn’t. It really, really didn’t. He had a soulmate somewhere that he hadn’t found yet and most likely wouldn’t for a long time to come, and yet here he was trying desperately to hide a blush because this person was just- he was so cool. His voice and eyes were pretty and he was obviously smart if he had been the first person his teacher had recommended to tutor him…
“Are you feeling alright? You look flushed.” Hearing this Virgil snapped back to reality and gave a thumbs up, ducking his head while trying to resist the urge to slam it into the wood. 
“Fine, yeah! Just you’re- it’s hot! Hot in the hoodie.” Praying he had saved that sentence quickly enough he dared to peak back at Logan through his bangs, who was just smiling slightly with an arm draped over the back of his chair.
“You can take that off then, if you want.” Logan pointed to the hoodie. “Since you’re hot.”
Virgil decided then, somehow managing to keep a straight face through his panic, that it was quite homophobic of the floor to not simply open and swallow him whole. Try as he might to calm himself he could still feel the remnants of the harsh flush in his cheeks as he saw Logan simply look at him with that smile, making him idly wonder if the sly bastard was really flirting with him or was actually just that oblivious.
Virgil sputtered as he wrapped the hoodie tighter around himself, shaking his head slightly. “Nah, I’m fine actually! You were saying about colors?”
“Just that color coding can help you study better. I’m here to give you tips as well so please pay attention.” Leaning forward again, Logan started explaining how to separate the different concepts and how to decide what was important and what wasn’t; honestly Virgil was genuinely surprised at how much he retained, forgetting his panic in favor of actually learning, for which he was very grateful. By the time an hour had passed he had a pretty good grasp on what he was meant to be learning and how to go about it. He stacked his much improved notecards together and shoved them in his pocket for later, shifting around in his seat to look at Logan properly.
“Thank you honestly, I feel a lot better about the class now.”
“It was no trouble, I’m grateful I was able to help. And if you’re in need of further assistance before next week, call me?” Logan smiled crookedly. “I use the library’s phone for tutor scheduling, this is for my actual phone..”
Virgil gaped at the slip of paper offered to him with a wink, fully cementing the idea that Logan had, in fact, been flirting with him and Virgil had been too infatuated with his style to actually notice. Purple nail polish caught his eye as his hand moved closer and he had the vague thought of that being his favorite color and how did he keep them from chipping? Before his thoughts could wonder further he was taking the paper and smiling, just aware enough of their fingers brushing as he remembered  being with this person, his soulmate, time and time again. Every time was better than the last as their souls grew accustomed to one another and grew over eternity, strengthening their bond with every word exchanged.
Virgil looked at his soulmate's dazed expression, the most beautiful smile he’d ever seen gracing his lips and eyes watering with emotion at having found him again. So many words stuck in his throat as he struggled with the perfect thing to say, something that would capture how happy he was to finally be together again and how excited he was to explore this lifetime together. Something that would make Logan understand just how much he meant to him.
“I think this is the coolest form you’ve ever taken.” He blurted, immediately covering his mouth and cursing himself twice over.
His heart sank as Logan barked out a laugh, snorting into his own hand and taking a minute to compose himself before laying a gentle hand on his cheek. 
“And I think this is the loveliest I’ve seen you.” 
He laughed softly as Virgil went completely red, fingers twitching with indecision over whether to flap his hand or slap the idiot beside him. Deciding on a combination of both he frantically beat a hand against his shoulder while sleeping his other over his mouth, mumbling profanities under his breath. Whipping around as his hand was caught he couldn’t help but grin at Logan’s own brilliant smile, even if his face felt like he had dipped it in a vat of boiling water.
“It’s getting late, I could walk you home?”
“Yeah,” Virgil managed. “I’d like that.”
Walking home and still slightly wishing the floor had opened up beneath him, he couldn’t help but feel lucky that he had found Logan so soon. They had an eternity to catch up on and if it had to start with fixing his bad study habits, he supposed he couldn’t complain.
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unbreakablekiribaku · 4 years
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Genre: Fluff
Pairings: Eijirou Kirishima/Female Reader
Word Count: 2.4k
Content: Coffee shop AU, Barista!reader, Hero!Kirishima, confessing feelings, first kiss
Trigger warnings: Strong language
Requested: by anon from this prompt list.
Fluff 11. “Are you flirting with me?” “You finally noticed?” with Kirishima/F! Reader, she/her pronouns pls and thank you.
A/N: Kirishima is such a cute boyyyyy. He’s an early fave to write for for sure! I hope you enjoy this anon ;)
***
“Sorry I’m late!” You yelled as you swept through the main room of the coffee shop. “The traffic was a nightmare but I’ll make up for the lost time, I promise.”
Your boss laughed at your frantic apology. “Don’t worry, I’ll have plenty of extra shifts for you next week, just get ready for this one first.” He insisted, waving his hand dismissively.
Nodding you scurried off into the back room to store your backpack and coat before grabbing your apron. Usually you wouldn't care too much about being a few minutes late for your shift, especially one that’s never particularly busy. 
Today was Friday, though.
Fridays afternoons were your absolute favourite to work, not only because most people headed straight for bars and restaurants after they finish work for the weekend instead of coffee shops, and cafes, making it an easy shift for you, but also because your favourite hero, Red Riot, usually pays you a visit for what he calls his ‘weekend treat’. That usually consisted of a strong coffee and a sweet bun or cake. 
Your last minute rush from your car to the coffee shop today meant that you’d probably look all gross and sweaty when he arrived. That’s really not the sort of image you wanted to go for.
Once you’d tied your apron and quickly straightened up your hair in the tiny mirror, you headed back out to the shop floor. “Okay, I’m ready to take over now.” You sighed, still feeling a bit flustered. “Are you heading off right away or…”
Your boss nodded. “Gotta get back to the wife, she has a dinner reservation. If I miss that I’ll be in trouble!” He chuckled. “I know it’s usually quiet on Friday afternoon, but if you do happen to get a last minute rush, I’ll get here early tomorrow to do any tidying or whatever, just let me know!”
You knew that you were really lucky to have such a kind and understanding boss. It wasn’t something that you ever took for granted and you were incredibly grateful. “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure everything’s done for tomorrow. I only have my usual plans tonight; binge watching old hero documentaries with my cat.” You replied, scooping up a couple of abandoned teacups from an empty table on your way over to the counter.
Shaking his head your boss took off his apron and headed into the back. “A young, pretty girl like you should be out having on Friday nights! Why don’t you ask your friends to go to a bar with you or something?”
“Most of my friends don’t live around here anymore.” You replied, putting the cups into the tray for dirty dishes, ready to be taken into the back to be cleaned. “Anyway, I’m not complaining, my cat’s a clingy little thing, he’d miss me too much if I went out a lot!”
Your boss rolled his eyes before disappearing into the back room. 
The tiny bell above the door rang out as a couple of customers entered the coffee shop. They looked like university students, if their tired eyes and the binders in their hands were anything to go by. “Good afternoon.” You greeted them cheerfully, what can I get for you?”
After looking over the menu board above your head for a moment, the first student placed her order for a latte to take out and whilst the second opted for hot chocolate, also to take out. You rang up their order and politely asked them to wait over at the end of the counter. 
As you busied yourself with making the drinks, your boss reappeared, now dressed in his coat. “Okay I’ll see you tomorrow, Kiddo. “
You offered him a brief goodbye and a wave before finishing up the students’ drinks order and handing them their paper cups. “Enjoy the rest of your day!” You smiled at them before they sloped out of the door.
Almost a half hour passed after that with no customers at all. You spent the time well, cleaning down the tables and re-arranging the cake stands before filling up the straw dispenser. You were just trying to decide what other jobs you could do to pass the time when raised voices outside caught your attention.
At first you thought that someone was being mugged or some drunks were trying to start a fight, but the second your gaze landed on the three familiar men on the other side of the large window, you immediately relaxed, feeling a smile spread across your face.
“Stop being an idiot!” Ground Zero yelled as Chargebolt opened the door. The sound of the tiny bell was lost beneath Bakugou’s booming voice and you had to force back a laugh, knowing it would upset the angry blonde if you let it out. 
The two bickering heroes didn’t visit your coffee shop much. Their agencies were in different parts of town but occasionally they’d come to visit Kirishima. Come to think of it, you recalled your favourite hero telling you about his friends’ plan for a ‘boys night’ this weekend. 
“Afternoon.” You greeted them brightly, trying not to blush when Kirishima flashed an apologetic smile your way. “What can I get for you all?”
“Ooohhh I’ll get th-OW!” Kaminari yelped as Bakugou slapped his shoulder, cutting his sentence short.
“Kirishima already knows your order, dumbass! Go find a seat and shut your face.” The explosive hero commanded before shoving his friend towards a table in the window. 
Since it appeared that Red Riot would be ordering for his friends as well as himself, you turned your attention to him. The familiar buzz of excitement that overtook you whenever he was around started to spring to life. 
“I’m so sorry about those two.” He chuckled, scratching the back of his neck nervously. “They’re always at each other’s throats, I can’t take them anywhere.”
“It’s fine.” You assured him. “I have no customers for them to scare away so you don't have to apologise.”
Kirishima glanced around the room, taking in all of the deserted tables before his eyes met yours once again. “Yeah I’ve noticed you’re not so busy here on Friday evenings.” 
“Mhm, people tend to favour bars and restaurants on weekend nights. We more than make up for it on Monday mornings, though, don’t worry.”
“Yeah, I’ve contemplated coming in here on my way into the office so many times, but it always looks so crowded…” He explained. “I’d hate to be a pain in the ass with my extra shot of espresso and stuff when you’re so busy.”
You shook your head a little bit too enthusiastically in response and it almost made yourself dizzy. “You’re never a pain in the ass!” You protest passionately. “You’re probably my favourite customer, actually.”
Your words spilled out before the filter in your brain could really kick in and it was only when Kirishima started to blush, that you realised what you’d said. 
“Wow, that’s high praise considering how many people you must serve…” He babbled, leaning on the counter with his hands pressed flat to the polished wood. “Maybe I should come here more often, see if I can turn that probably into a definitely?”
“How are you both so bad at this?” Bakugou interrupted. “My teenage interns flirt with each other better than you two!”
“Yeah…” Kaminari yawned, “just get to the point and then order our drinks will ya, dude? I’m falling asleep here!”
The flush in Kirishima’s cheeks deepened as he shot his friends a betrayed glance. “This is the last time I bring you two here!” He hissed, turning back to face you. “Please ignore them…”
Your mind was still racing as you stared into Kirishima’s eyes. You’d always been notoriously bad at flirting so you guessed that most people wouldn’t even recognise what you were doing. It had never occurred to you that Kirishima would have the same issue. 
“Anyway!” The Hero said after you’d remained silent for an uncomfortably long moment. “I’ll take my usual coffee and one of those cakes with a strawberry on top, please…” 
You listened as he rhymed off the rest of his order and began to prepare it on autopilot. Everything seemed fuzzy around the edges and all that you could think about was that your crush, your favourite hero, had been trying to flirt with you every time he came into the coffee shop. 
It was clear by the silence that settled over the two of you as you prepared the drinks that Kirishima felt embarrassed by what his friends had said. 
By the time you’d finished preparing the order, you’d made a decision to be brave. If ever there was a time to make a move, now would be it.
“So, um… was your angry friend telling the truth?” You asked quietly, handing kirishima the little box of cakes and pushing the paper cups of coffee towards him. “Are you flirting with me?” You pressed when he didn’t reply right away.
“You finally noticed.” Kirishima laughed nervously. “I’m sorry it took my loud friends to prove it.”
There was no need for him to be sorry and you told him as much, brushing his fingertips with your own before releasing the box. “Sometimes it takes loud friends to push us to do things.”
Nodding, Kirishima offered you an uncharacteristically shy smile. “I guess they can come in useful occasionally, huh?” 
You agreed, returning his bashful gesture. “As long as you’re not planning to bring them along every time you come here, I think they’d scare off our customers at busy times.”
“Hey, I’m one of the most popular heroes out here, lady!” Bakaugou argued, “I’d get more people to come here if anything…”
“Bro, please!” Kirishima interrupted, “can you just stay quiet for five more minutes? I’m trying to ask someone on a date, here!”
Your heart practically tried to escape from your chest as it beat out a rhythm against your ribcage. “A date?” You gasped, completely shocked that Red-fucking-Riot wants to take you out. “With me? Really?”
Kirishima chuckled. “Of course, I’ve been meaning to ask you for a while, I was just too nervous I guess. These two refused to let me leave here until I’d asked you today, though.” He nodded behind him at his friends but kept his eyes on you the whole time. 
“Well, yeah!” You babbled helplessly, “I’ll go out with you!” Your enthusiasm was at a ridiculous level and it definitely shows in your voice. 
“Great!” Kirishima replied, matching your excitement, which was a monumental achievement, really. “How about tomorrow? What time is best for you?”
You shrugged, trying to keep your tone as casual as possible. “Well I don’t have to work tomorrow so whatever suits you…”
“How about a lunch date then? I know a great place we can eat, they have the most different types of meat dishes I’ve ever seen in one place.” Kirishima explained joyously. “You like meat, right?”
Nodding you let out a small giggle. You’d known that Kirishima was some sort of meat enthusiast but you hadn’t thought it would make him this excited. “I like a lot of different types of meat dishes. I’m always looking for new recommendations, though.”
“I can definitely do that!” He offered without a second’s hesitation, maybe we could even go for ice cream or a drink afterwards?”
Your head was spinning at the possibility of spending pretty much the whole day with the biggest crush you’ve ever had. “Sounds perfect.”
Kirishima seemed to be glowing with pride. “We should exchange numbers!” He said, grabbing his phone from his pocket. “If you give me yours I’ll text you so you have mine.” 
You took his phone and typed in your number, trying not to focus on the fact that you were giving your phone number to your fave hero of all time. He immediately texted you a smiley face emoji and grinned when he heard your message alert, confirming that you hadn’t given him a fake one. “Awesome!” He exclaimed, “I’ll see you tomorrow then? I’ll pick you up around midday?”
“Sounds perfect, I’ll text you my address.” You confirmed.
As he turned to leave the coffee shop, Bakaugou immediately began berating his friend about how bad he was at asking people out. “I wouldn’t be surprised if she only said yes because she pities you!”
Even though you’d only just agreed to a date with Kirishima, you felt the need to protect his honour and give him some bragging rights. With that in mind you yelled for him to wait as you scurried around the counter. “You forgot something.” You lied.
Kirishima turned back to you, a confused expression painted on his beautiful face. Without overthinking it, you pecked a kiss to his cheek, hoping that it would not come across as too eager.
He looked shocked for a moment but a soft smile crossed his face in the second it took him to capture your chin between his thumb and forefinger, lifting your face until your lips were almost touching his. He eyed you for a moment, silently asking if it was okay to kiss you. You nodded and closed your eyes in anticipation. Kirishima pressed his lips softly to yours in a sweet, loving gesture. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” He whispered before reluctantly backing up a bit. 
“I’m excited for it.” You replied. “Enjoy your weekend treat until then, though!” 
Kirishima’s cheeks reddened again. “Yeah, about that…” He chuckled, suddenly becoming nervous again. “I never meant the coffee and cakes when I said that.The treat is coming here to see you.”
You swear that you felt your heart melt in your chest under his fond gaze. “That’s funny, I always describe your visits as a treat, too.”
It’s highly doubtful that you’ll ever forget the way Kirishima smiled at you in that moment. “Well that kiss was the best treat yet.”
“Agreed, I hope we can rival it with a few more tomorrow.” You winked, unsure of where your sudden burst of dorky energy had come from.
“I definitely think we can arrange that, beautiful.” He responded with a wink of his own before turning to leave the building. “I’ll see you at midday!”
You heard Kaminari praise his friend on the way out. “That was actually pretty smooth, man!” 
Bakugou embarked on a rant about it how it’d still taken Kirishima too long to ask you out, but for once, the redhead seemed unbothered by his friend’s comments and sent you one last shark-toothed grin through the window, before disappearing from sight.
You had to fight not to squeal out loud as you thought over the events that had just transpired. Kirishma had just kissed you and called you beautiful… These things didn’t happen to quirkless girls who worked in coffee shops. They just didn’t! Except… They had happened to you and you had Red Riot’s number in your phone as proof.
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inventors-fair · 3 years
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Three Cheese Commentary: An exercise in utility
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I really shouldn’t complain about contests being popular with people.
Still, what a way for the year’s contests to start. A heckuva lot of entries for a very hard prompt makes me feel good, in an odd way. I have a hypothesis that the clarity of directions and the examples provided were enough to make it feel as though there was a low barrier to entry. It’s interesting and kind of my fault that a lot of mythic legendary creatures found their way in. Ah well. Lessons learned.
If you’re reading this, I want to give you a little hint: we love hard decisions. If your cards really are brilliant, if you do your best to improve with each and every entry, if you listen to the commentary and submit the best possible card, then our jobs as judges would be nail-bitingly hard. And I love that. I love having to sigh wistfully and move a card from “winners” to “runners-up.” I love praising cards that contest for coolness in their spaces. In short: you don’t have to listen to us specifically because, well, we’re not professionals, but if you tweak the tweaks and polish on your polish, then—well, the goal is that you grow as designers and in your understanding of the game. And that you’ll have fun along the way. 
For every card, I’m going to converse with the intent, talk about where improvements can be made and what might have gone wrong, and then go through wording nitpicks (another part of what makes cards hard, heh. You gotta do design AND cost AND flavor without committee). Cards with JUDGE PICK are personal favorites that for whatever reason either didn’t meet the criteria for winners or just tickled my fancy despite being some kind of not-there-in-certain-ways. Or maybe they just got pushed out of runners-up because of space. See? Hard decisions.
Let’s talk about some cards:
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@aethernalstars — Anurid Matriarch
Intent: The Matriarch feels like a casual build-around-me keyword card with some connection to the Anurids of Dominaria. There are only two frogs with reach (and none with first strike) to date but this isn’t supposed to be a tribal card, is it. Not like that, anyway. Giving keywords those ups makes sense. Token generation is pretty solidly GW, giving them flying is WU, sure. First strike to double feels distinctly white. I imagine this card as a casual build-around-me or a token generator. Five mana for a 1/1 token ain’t bad.
Improvement: I have no idea what this card really wants to be. First strike doesn’t see anything outside of white, and reach doesn’t see much inside white. Or blue, for that matter. The flying makes sense for blue but this whole card doesn’t feel cohesive in terms of colors or identity. I did my Anurid research and I don’t see any precedent for this. Frog beasts are cool but… Well, this card answers the question of “why” with “just because.” I don’t fully understand the niche it’s trying to fill or the environment in which it wants to exist. If you’re gonna make a Frog build-around-me, lean into that. If you’re gonna make a keyword tribal card, focus on just one. If you want to make it color-balanced, look at what everything could do together for a flavorful feel.
Nitpicks: Flying comes before double strike.
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Amarinthe — Rashmi, Enlivened Artificer
Intent: Temur has a pseudo-foothold in Kaladesh mechanically, so I’m not surprised that Rashmi’s here doing her thing. Giving your cards Jump-start is interesting, as UR has a sort of flashback mechanic, plus the lands from the graveyard work into green quite well. What I really like is the way that the Crucible effect interacts with jump-start. That’s pretty cool design chops. I can see this in a supplemental Commander sphere or even as a Standard mythic for a three-color archetype. It doesn’t seem exceptionally broken on either front. From a purely mechanical perspective, I think you made an awesome card.
Improvement: This card perhaps feels RUG, but it 100% doesn’t feel like Rashmi or a druid. Elves can be artificers on Kaladesh, and that’s not an issue, but you call her an artificer, you type her as a druid (which yes, was her original type when she was more druidic), and you give her a primary ability that’s got basically nothing to do with artifacts or druidic principles. The lands work great with the druid part, but the flavor could be sorted out. I would take out “jump-start” as a keyword and just work in the wording “you may cast from your graveyard” etc., make a new character, and flavor them appropriately. The flavor text should complement the mechanics; as it is, I’m not certain.
Nitpicks: “jump-start” should be lowercase, but it doesn’t really matter if you do end up taking it out. 
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@arashisann — Yurlok’s Conflux
Intent: With Yurlok being a new commander hotness, I can see the intent of this card as a Jundian standard/supplemental addendum. The lava flow makes mountains, then the second ability...represents something predatory? And the last is Jund destruction. The R>B>G makes sense there.
Improvement: I don’t know if this card is necessary salvageable as-is; you might be better off making two or three separate cards if you want to show this character. When making a saga, you have to tell a story in a limited form, and it’s hard, absolutely! You represented the lava flow in the first ability quite well, and I do like that a lot. The creature and artifact sacrifice isn’t indicative of anything that I can follow story-wise. Reading the wiki I understand the way that you might want to represent the Thrash dying or Esper being invaded. I don’t believe this is the way to do it. With the very last sentence not doing anything when you’re sacrificing anyway, I don’t believe the best card for you is a saga at all. How could you tell this in an instant or sorcery card, perhaps? The moment that Yurlok comes over the Esper border?
Nitpicks: “non-Mountain;” the land type should be capitalized in both parts, see Quicksilver Fountain. The ability should also be one word. As I mentioned, removing the counters doesn’t do anything mechanically because it’s sacrificed after resolution. Check the MSE Discord if you want to get your text fixed, BTW. I know how frustrating that can be.
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@askkrenko — Etherium Restoration
Intent: You know, even without Ed being there, I’m getting a Bruna-ish feel. That’s not a bad thing, it’s just that UW expensive returning stuff kinda has those associations. The fact that the creature is being restored with etherium though is pretty awesome, and you know what, that alone (the return plus the re-artifacting) is a great way to convey what Esper does and wants to do. 
Improvement: The aura and equipment stuff doesn’t grab me, honestly. What do auras have to do with Esper? And the only equipment that I could find that fit was Mask of Riddles. So I’m going to stop here because the obvious answer is that you’re exploring new story design space for what Esper might be. I respect that. With the information we have now, it’s middle-of-the-road. My vote would be to make this (3)(B/W)(U) and make an argument for UW reanimation to artifice overall, then completely drop the aura/equipment part. Plus, gotta say, I know the flavor text is a pop culture thing but you’re messin’ with my favorite plane! Show some respect! /j
Nitpicks: If you do keep that second part, “Aura” and “Equipment” should be capitalized.
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@bread-into-toast — Krofor, Corpse Hauler
Intent: It’s a nightmare insect? I’m down. Even without that particular piece of art I can see how people might be afraid of a giant bug. This is pretty evidently a Commander-geared card although I can see how casual brewers might want to throw it down in a combo match and do some graveyard hate. GW graveyard exile and black ability scavaging is pretty cool, so I can see where your intent was with that. Good catch putting “Nightmare” first, too. I almost suggested mixing it around. I like how aggressive this card can be.
Improvement: Firstly, Corpse Hauler is literally another card which already had a self-evident mechanical ability to get creatures back to the hand. Even if it’s an homage, I would distinguish it; besides, it’s not so much “hauling” corpses as it is eating them. Presumably. “All abilities” is a bit of a slippery slope, too. Activated abilities is one thing, but all abilities whatsoever? I’m uncertain if that’s design space you want to tap into, but don’t pull the trigger. My main issue is that you have the activated ability cost “X and W, B or G.” I understand what you were trying to do but that that point you might as well just have it be “1X.” There wouldn’t be anything stopping you from making that mana already. In short, rectify the name to fit flavor, change the ability cost, and be wary of weird interactions with abilities.
Nitpicks: “Lifelink” and “Vigilance” should be lowercase ‘l’ and ‘v’ respectively. The X in the rules text of the activated ability should also be spelled out and not a mana symbol. You can change this in MSE by highlighting, then going to the star next to the bold/italic toggle and turning it off.
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@col-seaker-of-the-memiest-legion — Sevala, Exiled Naturalist
Intent: I read up on what happened with Selvala after the events of the first Conspiracy set, and I see how you set off to mimic that, but then I saw the note about the Timeshifting, and yeah, I guess that works.. The green landfall, the red flashback and the white Path come across well. I suppose this is more of an eternal-themed card, although I could be wrong.
Improvement: Yeah, technically there’s nothing stopping you from having a noncreature card as a partnerable card. I’m trying to be diplomatic about the implications, though. Okay. So Selvala’s white aspect was introduced in the first Conspiracy set as she was heavily connected to the citizens of Paliano and worked as a community diplomat against the establishment. She forged a stronger connection to nature and thus became more green in her overhaul of the city. Path to Exile is not in her wheelhouse. She does not exile; she parlays, communes with creatures, seeks out new futures. What exiling magic does she have? What judgement? It doesn’t exist in her character, nor does the redness. Frankly landfall doesn’t really fit her character as well. The point is that even if a character could have a partner that’s a concept (which is antithetical to the mechanic as a whole), the spell you have chosen contrasts with Selvala instead of complementing her. And what does she have to do with flashback anyway? To improve this card, completely restart the conceptual process.
Nitpicks: The character’s name is misspelled. 
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@deafeningsandwichpeach — Ilharg, the Craze-Boar
Intent: Ha, I get it. I’m going to go out on a huge limb here, because I mean as much as I like all of this I get the feeling that either the name or art came before the full concept. Nothing wrong with that, because ultimately the card is good. SO. Either this is designed for a Timeshifted set where something really awful happens to our poor Boar God, or, well, something really bad DID happen to him somehow. I’m not sure what the land return represents flavorfully but it’s fine mechanically. The creature return as well is BR and I’m down for that, strong as it is. This card evokes the colors in a way that makes it slightly different than Jund; maybe it’s the art but I’m getting Innistrad vibes from him, the madness returning, the pain going on inside his head. It’s neat. Again, massive stretch though, let’s be real.
Improvement: And with that in mind, I wouldn’t have made him Ilharg. Honestly, this should’ve been a new character, and I would have been a lot more generous. I don’t really get what Ilharg as a whole even in an alternate timeline has to do with lands returning considering that he’s a big ol’ nasty city destroyer. Mechanically, this card needs to cost like EIGHT mana. The card you return from your graveyard to the battlefield stays there, and with a big enough graveyard you don’t have to worry about getting things from your hand anymore. Turns 1-4 dump all your creatures, turn five get the best of them if not earlier? Pretty busted in any format. For eight mana I wouldn’t complain.
Nitpicks: “up to two land cards,” not “lands.” Question: why isn’t he a God?
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@deg99 — Radiant Return (JUDGE PICK)
Intent: Black reanimation, white attachment, red hastiness. All the colors are definitely there! There’s something Mardu-not-Mardu about this RWB card, and I think I like it. I could see it as a standard card, definitely, or as a commander staple for a really interesting commander. I’m honestly not sure exactly what kind of deck would really appreciate this card right now! Keskit/Akiri? The Auras part is a little more interesting. Ardenn/Vial...Smasher? The fact that it defies current archetypes but still makes sense is very cool to me. I also wonder what a standard expansion in which RWB auraquipment is an archetype would look like now.
Improvement: A little flavor text could make this work one degree better. It’s really on me that  you went into the future with this card, isn’t it. There’s no major improvement to be made besides that. Consider contextualizing for future contests, perhaps? When necessary, anyway.
Nitpicks: “Return target...to the battlefield, then attach any number of Auras and/or Equipment you control to it...etc.” Don’t need the trigger.
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@demimonde-semigoddess — Seaglide Whaler
Intent: A pirate’s life for me! So we got an aggressive tempo-y pirate person with a decent couple of sharpshooter abilities. Blue sirens are certainly reasonable, as are Grixis pirates. I like the notion that it has to attack to “survey” and then take whatever shots it makes. I don’t think Ixalan could have had this card but honestly the future is a place where anything could happen.
Improvement: The problem with these colors is that in practical terms, the second mode is strictly black and yet can be played in an Izzet deck. Hybrid is a weird mistress. As much as these abilities might neatly tie into the three colors, hybrid makes deck construction nearly impossible. You can have a pinger in UB or a Fatal Blow in UR, both of which are either severe bends or breaks. Making this a straight UBR 3/1 flier could have been okay, perhaps, or having on-color activations, but as it is now, hybrid makes things hard. Consider looking at a Venn diagram between UB and UR to consider more appropriate abilities?
Nitpicks: Kathari Bomber implies the second mode to be “...damage this turn and sacrifice Seaglide Whaler.”
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@dimestoretajic — The Dark Tendril
Intent: Sultai skulk-lord could be a fun card to open and build around in limited, and a BUG defender-y deck could have some fun application. I like how you’ve made the new character and sort of done another take on treefolk.
Improvement: For this contest, I don’t feel a strong color balance in this card. Skulk was a weird black/blue centered mechanic, sure, and green assigns the toughness, but… This feels like it’s trying to make skulk look cool rather than address the issue that skulk was just plain not a good mechanic. I get where the color weight is supposed to be but the whole thing is shadowed by that underlying desire. If this card had just been “Creatures you control can’t be blocked by creatures with greater power” and the other stuff, on a name/type that was more resonant, then I think it could have been a stronger contender. I don’t understand the world in which “The Dark Tendril” lives. I don’t understand why it’s a treefolk. I would get rid of naming skulk, make the type more apparent, and give the character some character.
Nitpicks: Three-colored cards really should have a gold border, not a hybrid one. Also, promo frames tend not to have flavor text (with exceptions for cards with no rules text like Memnite).
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@driftingthruthecosmos — Ulti, Sudden Conjurer
Intent: I like that triggered ability because it’s got some smooth flow over it. GU has its flash aspect, but black also likes destructive instants, and then the Disentomb-effect fits nicely into a payoff that feels black for sure. I also like how you’re using the three colors to push the card into a really neat 3/3 aggressive creature. Flash and deathtouch literally only show up together in these three colors but not together—and here you are changing that on a powerful legend!
Improvement: But the fact that she can only return creatures with flash is kind of a bummer. Sure there are plenty of cards that could work with her, and having some Ambush Viper casual tribal wouldn’t be too bad, but it’s still limiting. I would have implied that she works with flash, or let players work with flash, without being so specific about it, and I feel that the card would be improved with implied flash tribal over explicit in this case. Additionally, what on earth is that last ability doing? Each end step, you have to sacrifice a creature or lose one of your potential targets for her trigger? I have the feeling that you may have been too cautious to push power levels here. If you want to limit her, have it be “Whenever you cast your first spell during each opponent’s turn…” or something, and axe that last part.
Nitpicks: “unless you sacrifice a nontoken creature.” Full stop, you can never sacrifice creatures you don’t control so adding “you control” is redundant.
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@dumbellsndragons — Gorvax, Lich of the Horde
Intent: It’s a Mardu zombie orc wizard. At this point, you’re already doing something right for the Timmies out there. The first ability has Tainted Remedy plus some crazy draw after that, and oh man, it’s begging to be punishing. “I’m gonna Heliod’s Intervention you. Deck yourself. Runeflare Trap. Molten Psyche.” But also, that second ability? You can Bolt during an opponent’s turn and turn it into a one-red-mana Ancient Craving. For mythic, to build around? I honestly think that that’s perfectly fine. And insanely powerful.
Improvement: There’s weird stuff going on, but the hard part is that I don’t know if there’s things to improve. Giving your spells lifelink has Jeskai precedent, but it’s not NOT black. Doing a little digging, I can see that there are indeed zombies and even liches on Tarkir, but only in Sultai… But there’s no reason that the Mardu wouldn’t have them, right? Hm, maybe “Victory or Death” gets muddled here. Wizard, though, that’s a sticking point. And frankly, the whole “Lich” thing. I don’t see the lichiness in the abilities or the wizardry in the Mardu. You know what would be dumb fun? Ditching the Mardu aspect and making this WUBR. Wouldn’t fit the contest but what a friggin’ commander.
Nitpicks: None!
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@emmypupcake — Knight of Summer’s Vigor
Intent: I was surprised to see that there are actually quite a few green Knights. It makes sense, of course, considering both Eldraine and Bant and Selesnya. So yeah, an elf knight who makes more knights? This is a powerful card with some crazy abilities if it gets out of control at all, but the color restrictions and the lack of substantial evasion ensure that it’s not busted out of the gate. The name’s pretty good, too! Oh, Knight of New Alara...
Improvement: For this contest, I don’t feel color blending as much. Tokens with GW and knights with R(W) are fine, yeah, but aside from that, the colors of the tokens and the general feeling of the card isn’t enough to really excite me. I do want to see a set in which this card could exist, perhaps, with multicolored knights and elves and whatnot. I don’t have any real improvements for this card; I just don’t think it stands out against some of the weirdness. Keep it around and add some flavor text. Consider: what would you like for this set to be? In what world would these knights exist? Why is summer important?
Nitpicks: “Whenever,” not “when.” See Pollenbright Wings
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@evscfa1 — Estrid, the Unmasker
Intent: The Commander sets with shard Planeswalkers did give us a lot to work with but not a lot of extra stuff, so it makes sense that people might pick up on them for the contest. White auras, exile, and taxing all make sense mechanically. I feel that this is more standard than supplemental, a little weirdness for the way that the specific tokens and all would want to work. I don’t mind that part, honestly. Bringing Estrid back would be fine by me, even as monocolored. 
Improvement: Because, well, this is a mono-white card. The +1 creates white Auras (that don’t do anything, so that’s an issue), the -2 is close to Generous Gift, and the -8 is an enchantment-oriented Hum of the Radix, like a twist between Sphere of Safety and Aura of Silence. None of these abilities feel anything but white. The emblem is arguably UW, but not by much. With Auras that don’t do anything and a color identity that doesn’t mechanically contribute to the card, I feel that you can either keep her and buff some of the abilities or try to make her feel more in line with the contest, which you don’t really have to do at this point. I’m also worried about the name and the ability tie-ins. Estrid doesn’t “unmask” at all, does she? She’s a mask user, not a revealer of truth or any of the things “unmasking” would imply. Why would she make a False Mask? Is this some alternate storyline? If so, I don’t really understand what changed, or why.
Nitpicks: “*Its controller” in the -2, “*get an emblem” in the -8.
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@fractured-infinity — Rhythm of Death (rare)
Intent: Red (/black) gains first strike, black (/green) has deathtouch, green (/red kind of) has lure. Everything’s coming together in a kind of keyword soup, so that’s all well and good! In limited someone who opens this will be very, very happy to make people cry. In casual Commander, it’s sure to help make negotiations.
Improvement: In terms of this contest, yeah, this isn’t really buttering my radishes. It’s there, it’s pretty standard, and it makes sense. There are two cards that have first strike and deathtouch and four more that can gain it naturally and all but one are in those colors. And that wouldn’t be a problem if this card was presented differently. I’m ignoring the art for now because it’s actually distracting here. What is the “rhythm?” Is something being given the rhythm? What’s repeating, cycled, constant? What about a rhythm gives the creature these abilities? Change the name, flavor it up, get some text in there, and use blank art. 
Nitpicks: “Enchant creature (lowercase) >> Enchanted creature has first strike and deathtouch, and must be blocked if able.” Take that with a grain of salt, though. Protective Bubble might have it say “Enchanted creature must be blocked if able and has first strike and deathtouch.” Or you can cut the middleman and make it two lines: “Enchanted creature has first strike and deathtouch. // Enchanted creature must be blocked if able.”
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@gollumni — Exotic Wings
Intent: It’s interesting that we have two back-to-back “must be blocked” cards (hm, no shorthand?) in a row, both Auras no less, but very different. I like your flavor use with the wings being a status symbol, bright and glittery, and therefore turning the creature into irresistible prey of sorts. Aura colors are good, and the solid green effect is in there as well. The mechanics fit a pretty standard-ly powerful draft uncommon that can be used for beating down when necessary. 
Improvement: I’m 90% sure that right now GW doesn’t get flying by itself anymore, or at least very rarely. Pollenbright Wings and Shield of the Oversoul exist, so I’m on the fence. Maybe I’m biased with recent printings, but for two mana I’m not sure it’s what GW would need. That said, I’m sure there’s dissent and arguments to be made, and yes, I know its full color identity includes blue; this is pragmatic. I think this could have been solidly WUG with another buff, perhaps, but that just would have made it favorable for this contest and honestly it’s up to playtesting to see if those colors need a cheap flying aura. But the wings. The flavor. I… So these wings belong to birds, naturally? Who is summing this enchantment for mating? This is some kind of buff or boon that most any creature could have so in what world is some enchant-o-mancer giving “do me” wings to Mx. Passerby?? But, this may be just a quirk of the game, yeh?
Nitpicks: None!
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@hiygamer — Etherium Replicator (JUDGE PICK)
Intent: Major kudos for making my look up Prototype Portal and seeing that my gut was wrong and that you DID use the right wording! This is a super-Esper card, more than any of the imprinted cards and honestly a great use of the art. Thopter Foundry is a great card but this one isn’t a bad use and would kind of make sense. Now, I’m not going to put this in improvements, because I want to ask a question: could this card be just plain UW? Possibly, but also consider: this card could be just a straight-up artifact as well, and it feels better how it is now. Why? Because the black invokes a different feeling. It invokes consumption, recycling, progress, larceny, calculation. It’s a very blue side of black. And it also feels, well, Esper! Its an established use of theme!... Honestly it’s probably more that. But I like it anyway. I’d say my bias was showing but none of the winners necessarily invoked Alara straight-up so thpt.
Improvement: There are mostly just wording errors. To be honest, if you’re getting something big, could this card be three mana? That’s probably pushing it, but worth testing. Multicolor custom cube time.
Nitpicks: “enterS the battlefield” (tense), “artifact or creature” (instead of the other way around), and most importantly: “Create a token that’s a copy of A CARD exiled with Etherium Replicator” etc. Because you can copy the ETB trigger and/or use shenanigans to exile other cards.
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@hypexion — Ferrari, Sharp Scrapper
Intent: Well if my eyes don’t deceive me, it’s another Esper card! And an artifact-y card? Hm, artifact-enchant-y card. It’s easy to see the designation between colors, with self-mill and the lifegain going into black but leaning towards all three colors, the second ability being straight Disenchant, and the last one being an interesting UB pseudo-reanimation on the cheap, which is super interesting and aggressive. I can see this card intended as either a standard staple or being used as a supplemental planeswalker face card. There’d be a heavy amount of artifacts and enchantments for sure, probably artifact creatures.
Improvement: Did I miss something? When did WUB start caring about enchantments as a multicolor wedge identity? Alela and Zur have their thing, sure, but are those the baseline now? I’m more head-scratching and 0% mad, honestly. As a flavorful card, though, I’m not sure what you’re conveying exactly. So they get rid of stuff and they’re happy when they find garbage, but sometimes they want to scrap things they don’t like, but then they can recreate some of your garbage? Let’s back up and say that this card isn’t a Scrapper and that they’re an artifact/enchantment person. In the most general sense, I don’t really feel a harmony of ideas. The card feels one-note, like there’s very little to do besides abuse the -2 ability and maybe the -1 to get rid of some big thing on the table. The +1 exists to serve the -2, and the -1 feels like it’s trying to be protective for protection’s sake. I don’t know why this character does the things they do through the card. As utility planeswalkers become more abundant, the things they do have to be more resonant; imagine a fully-built world and put your card in the middle. No card is a metaphorical island.
Nitpicks: I think (maybe) that the +1 could be: “Mill up to three cards, then you gain 3 life for each artifact and/or enchantment card milled this way.”
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@i-am-the-one-who-wololoes — Corpse Spell
Intent: I think you made this very apparent. As a counterspell, it does the job well, and then it lets you get an idea for free! The choice of casting a noncreature spell is particularly interesting, as it plays into this weird and not-really-that-common theme of transfiguration. Obviously polymorphing appears in blue and red but it feels black because of the flavor you’ve chosen to convey. That’s a great job.
Improvement: The big mechanical thing is that I would 100% make this let you case an instant, sorcery or creature instead of just a “noncreature spell.” These colors don’t really feel like they could transmute a creature into something that’s not an idea or, well, a corpse, and it really seems as though that’s the idea you’re going for. The big flavor thing, though, is the name. I really and truly don’t know what you’re trying to convey. Now, I’m aware that English isn’t your first language, and that’s a barrier that I’m not sure how to cross for this kind of criticism. “Corpse Spell” seems like a playtest name. As a concept, this card is great. As a submission, I’m still having to extrapolate a lot; most importantly, it doesn’t tell me how the caster is using the magic to turn a creature into something else. Work on telling that story, and when possible, use native speakers to help get ideas across.
Nitpicks: I think the wording would be: “Counter target creature spell. You may cast target noncreature card with converted mana cost less than or equal to that spell’s converted mana cost  from your graveyard without paying its mana cost, and if that card would be put into your graveyard this turn, exile it instead.” Because if you exile it as it resolves and it’s, like, an artifact or planeswalker, what’s the point? Hence my note about instants/sorceries and maybe other creatures.
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@ignorantturtlegaming — Draxys, Scourge Eternal
Intent: This card absolutely fits the elemental shell. It feels to me like a standard or CMR-style bomb mythic that hits the table and kinda goes nuts. I mean, it wouldn’t be your commander probably, but in Conspiracy-style? Man. Multiplayer draft, that’s what I mean. It gets cards, it gets counters, it deals damage, then Blitz Hellion-s away. It does indeed feel like a blend of all the crazy things that come in these colors, and you did that much very well. It’s not broken, but it’s powerful, and it’s repeatedly monstrous (not the mechanic, lol) with the fear that it’ll return (until someone Doom Blades it, but that’s the game for ya). Great feeling of a massive beautiful monster.
Improvement: Really, the one thing I would do to improve it would be to consolidate the second and third triggers into “When Draxys enters the battlefield, draw four cards, put four +1/+1 counters on it, then it deals 4 damage divided as you choose among any number of creatures and/or planeswalkers.” No, wait—why not make it an 8/8 and just have it draw cards and deal damage? Because of its massive cost, you’re not gonna play it and then activate Wheel of Fortune in the same turn unless you’re playing some crazy massive game, and then it just shuffles away anyway! So, my suggestion would be to make this one massive bomb when it hits and really get the Timmy out of it.
Nitpicks: None!
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@jsands84 — Quarrel, Tariff Enforcer
Intent: The colors are obvious enough, right? A sphinx (blue) based on taxing and punishing (white) to make your opponents lose life (black). Couldn’t be simpler. The color weight is reminiscent of standard cards like Ultimatum cycles but heck, we’ve seen weirder commander cards in the past. I like the fact that even though the color weight is really heavy, the keywords support that kind of aggression without being too overbearing like we’ve seen in other chase rares and mythics.
Improvement: That said, I don’t think it needs that weight at all. 3WUB would have done the exact same and it wouldn’t have looked awkward. Why would it need that weight in the first place? Well, perhaps if it entered the battlefield with an amazing immediate effect. And this card, well, it doesn’t. You have a great eye for flavor and the fact that a legendary (read:uniquely adept) sphinx is enforcing the tax laws of the universe? 10/10. But it doesn’t need that kind of punishment, especially considering, like, the effect really doesn’t come up outside of vintage. So yeah, reduce the weight.
Nitpicks: In the flavor text, “their” referring to the universe is kind of an odd pronoun. With most cases IIRC the concept is objectified instead of personalized, see Aether Adept. (Also there aren’t many cards with ‘universe’ in the flavor text, surprisingly.)
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@justincase-1012 — Startling Wisp
Intent: Illusions are almost entirely blue (and one of only two illusions with zero blue in its box is Esper-centric, funnily enough) so that’s all interesting, but this is definitely breaking from the artifact theme and going for color flavor. The fact that it is the one doing the startling is somewhat black, but the discard definitely is. Because of the narrowness of this ability, I feel that it’s intended to be a draft/standard oriented card as opposed to eternal breadth. A 1/1 flying indestructible spirit in these colors is honestly pretty fair and ghostly!
Improvement: This card is too narrow to be common but definitely too specific to be rare, and that narrowness really is...weird. It doesn’t just require noncombat damage, but it requires noncombat damage from creatures. Why? “The next time a source would deal noncombat damage to you or another creature you control this turn” would be perfectly reasonable. Also, why the next phase? Just have it say “Then, if ~ is on the battlefield, return it to its owner’s hand.” The timing doesn’t feel necessary. And honestly, I don’t find this card “startling” much. It’s alluring, certainly, but not startling. Consider renaming and tightening the focus. Too narrow and things just get ugly.
Nitpicks: So you do need “this turn” as I said above, and then looking at other printed oracle text: “that damage is dealt to ~ instead” etc. etc. 
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@kytheon4-4 — Surrak of New Atarka
Intent: Surrak was a three-color monster the last time we saw him, and he’s back in action now and reclaiming his colors. This is definitely meant to be a commander of sorts, hyper-aggressive with some awesome combat to boot. The first ability’s Gleam of Battle is really aggressively costed here but it makes sense in a timeline when he’s reclaimed some kind of new unity. And of course, the callbacks to both Tarkir timelines is there and well and good. Color-wise, your choice to then go ahead and make a future new timeline is really interesting and I can feel that sort of “new ‘Naya’” blood pumping in Surrak’s veins.
Improvement: The first damage trigger is great, if pretty pushed for Naya colors. The second clause is… Well, call it a “winmore” if you want, but it really is a winmore. Big creatures are big and that’s okay, but if they’re that big and dealing damage, then an indestructible counter is kind of adding insult to injury. And frankly, why not combine these all into one trigger, so that the Gleam ability is just a little less pushed? Whenever the creature deals damage, THEN it gets a counter, and IF it’s four or greater THEN you draw a card, and THEN if it’s eight or greater, something weird happens.
Nitpicks: None!
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@mardu-lesbian — Contentious Pair
Intent: A white Soldier, a red Goblin, and a deathtouch counter, and yep, the gang’s all here. Token-making in red and white is pretty standard, a little less for BR and more heavily in the white part of WB, but all the same there’s nothing wrong with that appearing in the three-color combo. It’s interesting you went for a post-Conflux kind of deal with Alara...wedges? Really unique. This is most definitely designed to be a common card for a standard expansion, meant to be drafted and whatnot. It implies a lot about the potential future!
Improvement: I’m unsure how you came up with these colors and creature types. Bant, the shard of soldiers, and Jund, of Goblins, do have one shared color: green. But then this card would have been what, white-green-red? And that’s problematic in another way, and I get that. As it stands, though, this feels heavily weighted towards BR and less towards white, and honestly, this feels definitely uncommon. You get two bodies at instant speed, one of which will most likely destroy an attacking creature. Instant deathtouch isn’t necessarily a bad thing, and it’s been in standard for a bit. The bodies and potential permanent deathtouch when you have an empty board is what raises the complexity. My flavor question: why are they contentious? Makes me feel like we’re seeing the start of the story more than a split-second moment; this card might feel better as an uncommon sorcery.
(Also, I’m just imagining them coming over a mountain at instant-speed during combat, and the soldier and the goblin are just talking about their differences and the goblin is showing off their poison dagger when a beast just WHAMS into them and they both instantly die as the soldier looks on in shock and horror. I do love it when cards tell weird stories.)
Nitpicks: None, I don’t think.
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@misterstingyjack — Galtiber, Segovian Titan
Intent: Ah, the memes. Well, still, 1/1 tribal is an interesting take on the whole build-around-me dealio. I can honestly say I’m unsure where this card would fit, but that’s not a bad thing. It feels build-around me, but could it work in a limited environment? You’d need a higher as-fan of 1/1s or tokens, and that’s not a bad thing. Honestly, this card doesn’t feel too bad. He’s a protector and he makes them all work together. It’s a neat little design that captures the diligence, unity and edification of these citizens.
Improvement: I really can’t think of a place where this card would see play, though, and the issue is? There’s no real way to improve that past putting this in a pretty bonkers set where it can either go nuts or be mediocre. There are a lot of cool things you can do with this card, but where does he fit? Segovia is a weird plane and designing for it is hard. I love this card and would love to build with it but the fact is that it’s just going to be weird. I’ll put this in nitpicks, but there’s wording issues. Additionally, talking about the character by name in the flavor text is a little off-putting to me. I’m sure it’s happened before but the story feels like a moment being described more than a character.
Nitpicks: “Creatures you control with base power and toughness 1/1” is the correct way to word these things, Iiii think.
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@morbidlyqueerious — Ricantha, Ribbon-Dancer (mythic) (JUDGE PICK)
Intent: As much as this technically could be someone’s general, I like this card as a standard-legal mythic, like Kethis or Yarok. It’s surprisingly easy to understand while being quite powerful in its own way. I wouldn’t call it a Voltron card so much as I would call it a control bomb, certainly for limited. The white-blue deals with the tapping, more the blue with the freezing, and the alluring aspect and keywords fill in the green. It brings a lot of the multicolored feel even with a monocolor activated ability. 
Improvement: You know, the flavor almost outshines the color aspect. Looking back I do see the intent, but I’m also mostly seeing an interesting take on the dancing and the enchanting aspect. They’re vigilant, they ‘tie down’ the creatures, and they make other creatures follow them. Honestly, this is a case of “right card wrong contest,” where you made a great card to convey the specific act of ribbon-dancing and a dance leader so much that it overtakes the intent of color. The jokingly biting way of saying this is that you didn’t pander to me as a judge enough (/s). I don’t know about reach; first strike, maybe, to show their agility?
Nitpicks: The combat trigger should be one sentence, see the oracle on Kamigawa snakes.
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@mtg-ds — Majak, Revival Instigator (JUDGE PICK)
Intent: Now I wouldn’t call this a gimmick card but I would say that there’s a lot going on here, again, with the flavor. Sacrificing each other creature actually feels white in a Cataclysmic way but with a black edge of making all the zombies. Hasty zombies fills in the red and plays into the instigative aspect, and man, getting everyone out onto the dance floor? I’ll admit that this card is kind of silly with the art, but there’s something unusually cathartic about it. He enters, turns them all into zombies, makes them dance, then whenever someone else dies they join the dance, and when he leaves the music stops. Like, it’s kind of brilliant, how the zombies can’t dance without him. As a flavorful card for a supplemental set I think that you did a fantastic job.
Improvement: My first small note is that the art is again really distracting, and like, I understand that that might’ve been the purpose but “zombie dance party” out of context feels a little unusual, and the name “Revival Instigator” is a touch on the nose. But those are small concerns next to the fact that this card really could have been black/red and wouldn’t have made that much of a difference. Could’ve even kept the Cleric typing. Again, I need to also say that this card is downright fantastic mechanically, but just not quite white there for the purposes of this contest. Keep this card as-is, maybe make him a Human IMO. I don’t have any significant improvements.
Nitpicks: None!
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@naban-dean-of-irritation — Tamakoma, Spectral Shiver (JUDGE PICK)
Intent: Clever clogs, I looked up that name and it is indeed fitting! Very clever you are, just as clever as giving the UB flash ninja ETB feeling that strikes fear into the heart of those who don’t know she’s coming. White’s got the spirit flash and indestructible, black’s got deathtouch, flash, AND indestructible, and blue’s got the ninja feeling. Something tells me this would totally be a supplemental card unless Kamigawa goes three-colors, but to be honest I get a MH1 vibe more, and that’s okay too. Major kudos for making me double-check cards like Ambuscade Shaman for this weird wording.
Improvement: I can see how this card would be white flavorfully; I think its just precedent working against you. Because of the way that black has been encroaching upon indestructible in the past couple years, this card could just be blue-black and fit into the ninja feeling just as well. I personally like the white spirit aspect. It’s just not as present here as I would have liked for this contest. Great card, no mechanical improvements.
Nitpicks: I don’t know if “the hollows of the night” are, like, a thing? I don’t know, just as a writer it reads weird to me. One day I’ll be accredited and that won’t seem like such a jackass comment too.
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@nine-effing-hells —  Llanlaia Rywh, the Inmost Eye
Intent: I like your take on elves here, using the focus and mood to turn the ordinarily green elves into some warrior monastery funky stuff. I’m getting the sense of a cave world, or some kind of twisted plane where expectations are thwarted and the different races of Magic have to find their own kind of way around. Definitely a face card for the tribe in whatever set it’s based in. 
Improvement: There’s no blue and black here, or at least I’m not feeling it mechanically, and for this contest that’s the most important thing. Giving a Runed Halo effect on a pump is really darn powerful, and to have this dismiss any damage or removal at instant speed is definitely powerful and definitely white. The concept of looking within for meditation is a bit blue, sure, but I don’t see that expressed on this card as much. I do have some major presentation issues. The name is almost completely unpronounceable, so consider shortening it and cleaning it significantly. The flavor text is also in need of shortening and edits. “Look within to look around.” With a hint that the elves are blind, boom, you’re golden. So: name change, flavor paring, and consider that this card feels overall white. That said, for flavor and balance reasons for this card, keeping those colors is fine. Also consider that this is a really damn powerful beater.
Nitpicks: None that I can tell.
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@partlycloudy-partlyfuckoff — Everlasting Forefather
Intent: Here’s the thing: I’ll get to stuff in the ‘improvements’ section but mechanically, this card is really interesting for a number of flavorful reasons. Three-mana 4/3 with mentor is perfectly powerful in these colors, that’s great, flavorfully fine as a forefather. Creating two spirits upon death, awesome, those are the embodiments of his students and ideals, and most importantly, play into the embalm, where his zombie can teach the spirits after death and makes for great flying beaters, AND that Zombie token will make more spirits in remembrance. The use of flavorful mechanics gives it an interesting edge even if all these individual mechanics could be in mono-white.
Improvement: One, I would personally make this a warrior, but that’s super minor. Two… I can’t think of any reason outside a custom set where you’d have three non-evergreen mechanics from three different sets and two different planes on the same card. It feels like a custom card, not in the sense that it’s at all thoughtless or amateurish, because it’s not, but because there’s no way of making these pieces come together in a meaningful way; it feels like you’re removing the restrictions on what can go together for the sake of it. MH1 did have some mechanical mashups and we’ve explored that before. This feels like a bit too much for what we’re looking for. Honestly, for a custom multicolor cube or w/e, keep this card. But you might also want to consider MSE or having someone render for you, because with the VERY necessary rules text, this one takes up a lot of text; no room for flavor, and no need, ‘cause you do it all naturally anyway.
Nitpicks: Mm, none, I don’t think!
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@reaperfromtheabyss — Glorified Minddrinker (JUDGE PICK)
Intent: This is definitely asking to be in a standard/draftable set as a tribal beater. You give it evasion, you use other vampires/warlocks to mess stuff up, you get in, and you drink. BW vampire lifegain meets the milling, and there you have it. What I really like is the fact that it’s “any card,” like Bloodchief Ascension, but that feels blue, because they’re drinking from the mind and not just the body, and I dunno, I REALLY like that kind of neat flavor niche. I also love how this makes a really roundabout already-exploited infinite combo with Sanguine Bond and Mindcrank, both of which are halves of other better combos.
Improvement: Mechanically, there’s nothing to improve here, except you might want to consider some kind of evasion. I think there’s just the nitpick of having “Glorified” in there without any understanding of what makes this creature glorified or why. A snippet of flavor could have helped with that, and with only two abilities. I don’t know, this one just didn’t pop to me for some reason. It’s a perfectly fine submission, and it just needs a little more pop.
Nitpicks: None! Nice and clear.
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@shootingstarhunter — Storm Key
Intent: I find it interesting that the mana made from sacrificing is red but the abilities have a central Riku-like fascination. This feels like a supplemental card for sure, although I’m sure there are standard shenanigans. It would require a set in which RUG/Temur has an artifact theme and in which giving things storm is on the table. I have the feeling that in a genuinely competitive Maelstrom Wanderer deck that this card could turn a possible win into a guaranteed win. It’s there to help big things be bigger, but without a win-more feel, and I like that.
Improvement: In terms of this contest, it lacks elegance in its cohesion. The flavors don’t necessarily blend as well as they could. There’s a lot of rules text that emphasizes the separation rather than blending it together. My suggestions: Make it just cost RUG, no generic, reword the first ability to be: “When ~ is put into a graveyard from the battlefield, add R for each spell you’ve cast this turn,” and the second ability to “5, T, Sacrifice ~: When you cast your next instant, sorcery or creature spell this turn, copy it for each spell you’ve cast before it this turn.” And then add reminder text about targets and permanents. A tiny bit more flexible and less text, and you can add in some flavor. Personally I don’t really get the “Key” aspect. It feels more like a big machine of sorts.
Nitpicks: Remember to capitalize “Sacrifice” in the ability costs. Second reminder text should be “You don’t choose new targets for the copies.” I think, there’s not much precedent. Check the MSE Discord for tech help in getting your name/type text straightened out if you’d like.
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@snugz — Erratic Polymorph (JUDGE PICK)
Intent: This does feel very wild, more of the Temur frontier or even the Ketria triome. Either one of those sets getting a return could have this, or a supplemental draft set on that world, or a commander product aimed at those timelines. This card’s pretty flexible in that sense! The red lack of control over twisty magic is definitely evident, with the green bear and the blue otters as representative of those sides of the wild. I like how you took blue’s natural sense and made it river/forest oriented. Big boys and little boys do different kinds of cool damage. I can dig it! (Although I’m more inclined to bears than otters myself…)
Improvement: I wouldn’t call this “elegant” as a primary adjective for its color balance, even though it’s very neat still overall. The obviousness of green being bears and blue being otters doesn’t take away from the fact that both of them make sense. The long and short is that I don’t have card improvements, and this card’s just for a different contest.
Nitpicks: None-zo
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@starch255 — Dopplicant
Intent: Very clever, I see. You used white’s enchantment base for the card type even though it’s a strictly red and blue ability. Copying any spells is on the table now with Lithoform Engine so that makes sense. This could be in just about any set with these colors, and you know what, that’s perfectly fine. Jeskai, Raugrin (ugh), or otherwise, there’s cool stuff happening.
Improvement: With a vague name and flavor, it’s easy to have this card be a thumbs-up mechanically, but what...exactly is it? It’s name makes me think of the creature Duplicant, which is fine, makes sense, although it’s not a creature here like any of the other “-cant” cards. I just can’t place it, which is obviously a presentation thing over a mechanical issue. For the Fair, presentation is somewhat important, and also contextualizes your cards. It might just be a “me” thing to keep in mind for when I’m judging, so don’t take it personally at all. I think the idea is sound and all we need is polish.
Nitpicks: None~
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@stormtide-leviathan — Jeskai Confluence
Intent: Like the confluences of C15, this is a charm-like modal spell with three pretty standard modes for the colors: blue draw, red damage, white erase. I can see this being part of either a standard return to that other timeline or as part of a “clan clash” supplemental set for sure. 
Improvement: In the main post, there were examples like Shattergang Brothers that were posted as technically fine but not elegant. Totally separating your colors and abilities was part of that, breaking the cohesion. Unfortunately, charm effects were most definitely part of that area. I know that Magic design space isn’t eternally open, and I hate to say this, but because this card uses 2/3 abilities already found on the printed confluences and only minorly changes the damage, this feels somewhat derivative. I would go back to the drawing board and look at overlap rather than individualization, what the colors could have done together to make a card that creates something unique.
Nitpicks: There should be a period after “once” instead of an emdash.
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@thedirtside — Twisted Design
Intent: I think that with Tezzeret being who he is and with the cool trend of colored artifacts, this card could absolutely find play in a variety of places. It feels almost like a story card, someone’s terrible (well, twisted) creation. That much is absolutely apparent. The counter/exile is definitely blue and black-ish but I like how the theft kind of ends up being red as well and the artifact typing helps with that. Flavor text is pretty okay too. Short, simple.
Improvement: That...second ability. Are you choose a card as part of a cost? I’m no rules guru but I’m almost certain that you can’t do that. And it doesn’t specify the speed, so you can basically pay the (very fair) cost to exile the spell, but then very unfairly get it back anytime you want. Why random, too? What if that spell has other random restrictions or no legal targets? There’s a lot to unpack from that with no printed precedent because, to put it bluntly, it doesn’t work within the rules. I really like the idea of having a card where you can somehow steal, twist, or morph their spells into new nightmares or futures. Work with that idea to make something URBy that, well, works rules-wise.
Nitpicks: It took me a bit to find your source photo with your source link (X), and I don’t even think that blog’s using proper permission. Here’s the gist: if you can’t find the original photographer, either go stock or don’t use art, OR find a source that’s more easily traceable. Pretend that you’re someone who has to find the source working backwards.
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@walker-of-the-yellow-path — Ziziphus, the Lotus Eater
Intent: I could never be like him, I could never talk like that. Also, thank you for making this explicitly commander-based, heh. Food tokens are interesting, and I can see the token art already as well as the kind of person you might imagine Ziziphus to be. Oddly enough, they feel Therosian, considering the “lotus eaters” in the Odyssey, and that’s not a bad thing I suppose. Food’s sort of in the green area, with blue-white profiteering, and the general combat lull sort of encapsulating the whole GWU-ish control feeling. Turbo-fog ahoy.
Improvement: Competitive commander gets shut down pretty easily and casual commander becomes almost instantly unfun. It’s an instant-speed everyone-gets-it nigh-uncounterable Pacifism array that’s flavorfully understandable but puts a target on you as the one person to kill if anyone wants this game to ever end. I understand the top-down design but it’s impractical and I don’t see a game where this being your commander would make the gameplay better. So like Gwafa Hazid, consider your design: what would entice people to take the food? What’s the payoff? How often do you want this to happen to improve gameplay without causing staleness? Is food where you want to go, using lifegain to then further prolong the game?... Oh. Oh, someone can also just lorus-ify Ziziphus itself and then nothing happens in this version. That’s something to consider.
Nitpicks: The name’s really similar to “Sisyphus” in pronunciation. I was distracted.
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@whuh-oh — Tainted Lightninghorn
Intent: Some day, I think we’re gonna get a five-color Lightning Blankemental kind of card, and I can’t wait for it. So yeah, it’s an aggressive predatory insect elemental with nasty sauce, and I feel this in a supplemental set for sure. 
Improvement: So as an uncommon, it’s already pretty pushed, too much so. Ball Lightning set a precedent, and it’s a rare for a reason, honestly. That much power even for four mana with the abilities you’ve given it is a but much. For this card, most importantly, I need to be as clear as I can: The interaction between deathtouch and trample is an unintuitive quirk of the game. They do not belong on the same card with zero restrictions, especially not on an uncommon. Sometimes it’s okay to just make a cool card because it’s cool. I like my weird cards, I like my weird interactions. Forcing them feels like choosing indulgence over good design. I’m not feeling the uniqueness of the colors, I’m not feeling the flavor (why does lightning leave decay?), and I’m not feeling the gameplay. Where do we go from here? I think this general concept is fine for a personal set or a supplemental concept. Contextualize it for that area, look at environmental answers, and then see if you want to play with what the colors do.
Nitpicks: I’m 90% sure it’d go “Deathtouch, haste, menace, trample.” Also, I’m sure someone pointed out the whole flying-without-flying thing for the art, that’s very mildly distracting.
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@wolkemesser — Murmurs of the Bosk
Intent: Yeah, this is very much a Lorwyn-inspired card, and I’m happy for that. Both the treefolk flavor and the permanent return are green, returning to the battlefield is white and black, and the white enchantment plus toughness matters (also in green) gives this card a magnificent flow of feeling, the trees returning. I can see this in any set, but especially a standard return to Lorwyn, and yet it could have a home in several cool recursion decks! It’s a nice little addition for both lovers of slow return and for treefolk fans.
Improvement: This card was going to be a runner-up or even a judge pick, but the severity of nitpicks grew until I realized that there were just too many problems to give it full commendation. I’ll put the revised wording in the ‘nitpicks’ bar and get to the big ones: the name, and the flavor text. The name is obviously an homage to Murmuring Bosk, right? That’s understandable, but the name is literally so close that I can’t think of anything else. The difference between being honoring and being derivative is enigmatic at times. This particular case is more evident. And the flavor text is almost completely ripped off from Doran’s card itself. Literally, it keeps the order and adds four words that don’t add sense or depth to the character. For future submissions, keep that in mind. As a mechanical suggestion, you could just have it be the greatest toughness without targeting, and it does need to target the card in the graveyard.
Nitpicks: “At the beginning of your upkeep, you may return target permanent card with converted mana cost X or less from your graveyard to the battlefield, where X is the greatest toughness among creatures you control.”
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Join us tomorrow, for a new contest, and a brush...with DEATH.
- @abelzumi​
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ladynestaarcheron · 4 years
Note
Ooooh i have an idea. Write about Nesta adopting a dog or a cat from the Illyrian Mountains while Cassian is away. Like my baby getting the undying loyalty and affection she deserves while eventually Nessian being cute with a pet
so once again i want to thank all y’all who have been submitting these prompts. they’ve been so fun to write as i take a break from my normal projects, and i feel like they’re much easier reads than the more angsty stuff i normally write. you can read all of them here (they’re all a couple hundred words, maybe some reach 1k). i hope you enjoy using them as an escape from the state of the world rn. i certainly do when i write them. however, it’s important to not completely pretend like nothing is wrong, so american readers, make sure you are registered to vote!
---
He can hear Nesta laughing from inside the house, before he even opens the door.
With the way things have been going with the two of them, it is not, to his immense pride and pleasure, rare for him to see her smile. Small ones, sometimes, with nothing in particular to say. Sometimes quiet huffs as she reads something that makes her beautiful eyes crinkle at the edges.
But a bright laugh? While she’s alone in the house? That hasn’t happened until now.
“Nesta?” he calls out cautiously. Perhaps she’s…with someone. But he can’t smell or hear anyone else.
“We’re in the kitchen,” her disembodied voice answers.
We?
As he enters the kitchen, he starts to worry for her wellbeing. Nesta sits alone at the table.
And then he sees what’s on her lap.
“Cassian,” Nesta says, picking up the thing up, “meet Artemisia.”
Artemisia looks up at him with a scowl on her grey face. Her fur is well-kept and her tail is stiffly between her legs.
“Nesta,” he says, weary. “Please tell me you didn’t get a cat.”
“I did.”
He smiles automatically when she does—even if it’s at the cat and not him.
“She’s beautiful, isn’t she? Look…look at her paws. She’s so small…what’s your problem?”
Her last sentence is sudden, rather aggressive.
“I don’t have a problem.”
“You don’t like her?” Nesta demands.
Nesta can spot a lie a mile away. And she holds grudges. But she also doesn’t like when people disagree with her. It only takes Cassian a few seconds to come up with the most strategic response. “I don’t normally like cats. But I’m sure I will.” He gives her an encouraging grin for good measure.
Nesta’s scowl matches the cat’s. “What do you mean you don’t normally like cats? They don’t even do anything.”
Exactly, he wants to say. “I guess I just prefer dogs.” Dogs are invaluable to a soldier. They sniff things out even heightened Fae senses can miss. They predict the weather more accurately than diviners; incredibly useful when planning training sessions in unfamiliar territory. And, well, they’re fun.
“Dogs are like…they’re so messy. And high maintenance. Like a toddler, but for their whole lives.”
“Who talks about children like that?”
“They’re not children. They just have all the worst aspects of children, forever.” Nesta smooths Artemisia’s fur. “Cats are adults. Better than adults.”
“Because they don’t talk?” he asks drily.
“Of course.”
Cassian sits down. “You know,” he says, thoughtful, “I think a dog would be good for you, actually.”
Nesta makes a face. “Never.”
“Well, you got a cat. Maybe I’ll get a dog.”
“I did not get a cat, you idiot. We got a cat.”
He raises an eyebrow at the pretty pink flush on her face. “Oh, we got a cat,” he says, leaning closer to her.
Nesta holds her ground, jutting her chin out. “We did.”
“I didn’t get much say in our cat, you know,” he says. How delicious does that sound—our cat.
She narrows her eyes. “We are not getting—”
“We don’t have to get a dog,” he says, rolling his eyes. “I just think you should do more to make me feel like we got a cat, and not you.”
He watches her intently to see if she thinks he teasing or serious, if she’s angry or amused. She’s good at hiding her emotions, but he’s gotten much better at knowing how she feels.
“You can give her a second name,” she says finally.
Cassian laughs. He was, as she knows, teasing. Sometimes Nesta snaps at him, shoots him down, but sometimes she entertains him. Every time she does is a new victory, another Nesta-Secretly-Likes-Me celebration.
“Give me a while to think about it,” he says.
Nesta stands up. “Don’t take too long. She deserves your end of the deal.” She tightens her arms around Artemisia, who purrs contentedly, as they sweep out of the room.
Cassian leans back again, smirking slightly. A Nesta-Not-So-Secretly-Likes-Me celebration, then.
---
in addition to these prompts, another thing i have been working on is starting a book tube channel. special shoutout to @skychild29 for encouraging me!! my editing skills are no where near as polished as my writing, as one i have been working on my whole life, the other since last week. so, if my reviews don’t make you laugh with me, feel free to laugh at me.
we have to face the facts: there is racism in sim’s books. her being jewish doesn’t absolve her of that. while i have always been conscious of this, and i have been critical, and also actively pursued books with a more diverse cast (for my own benefit too—i’m not represented particularly well, and qwoc), it never occurred to me to search for diverse authors. while the first book i reviewed was written by a white woman, i am going to actively pursue reads from woc, specifically black women. join me!
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artificialqueens · 4 years
Text
The kind of love you don't believe in (Jan x Jackie) - Pinkgrapefruit
[7337 words]
Jackie takes a deep breath and slams her empty glass on the table triumphantly.
“I’m going to make you believe in love.” She says with such conviction it’s impossible not to believe her. Her eyes twinkle. Jan wonders if this might be easier than either of them think.
“Okay.”
[ divorce lawyer/wedding planner au ]
A/N - i love this fic so much that i’ve tried to prolong it several times to no avail. it’s based off a Tumblr prompt me and jazz saw and ran with and honestly i’d make her a coauthor but she wouldn’t be impressed so instead it’s dedicated to her in the hopes that she’ll actually accept that for all her hard work and amazing comments while writing this. couldn’t have done it without her. i hope you fall as in love with it as i am.
*
Jan picks at the edges of her french-tipped manicure. It’s peeling. She stares at it for a second, examining the way the shiny polish reflects the sunlight filtering through the half-closed blinds. If she’s got her timings right, Bob will barrel through her office door in a minute or two and tell her to go home. Or to eat something. Or to do both which is the most probable outcome and Jan’s always been good at finding the most probable outcomes.
She’s a lawyer. It’s her job.
She’d started in family court and it was fun. There was a joy to bringing a child back home to their parents or filing adoptions and the kids’ faces would make Jan light up. She’d appealed for name changes and gender assignments and she was good, no one questioned that. One corner of her office had a neon rainbow sign and a comfy armchair and some books and some toys and it was usually occupied by a little kid who shouldn’t have to spend their afternoon in a lawyers office. But if she could look up from some paperwork to see a calm little kid - she could be calm and happy.
Then she started taking divorce claims.
And she’s a little less vibrant.
(The world feels a little less magical when your job is to help people split their lives in two.)
The problem is, she’s good. She’s really good. She hasn’t lost a divorce case and she gets a name for them. She gets recommended divorce cases until she only has a couple of gay kids and adoptions and custody agreements a month. Trixie takes the rest - nice, warm, motherly Trixie who makes everyone a cup of tea and asks them about their day and wears pastel pinks and yellows. Jan’s not bitter, she’s just jaded. She turns up to work in her charcoal pantsuits and her red heels, makes her coffee in her matte black mug, spends the day in her office with the door closed and leaves in silence. She’s happy, she’s just not what she used to be.
She tried to explain as much in the kitchenette the firm shares. There are only four of them; herself, Katya, Trixie and Bob - the boss lady. Bob does corporate, Katya does criminal, Trixie does the pro bono work and most of the kids’ stuff and Jan slogs away on divorces.
“I want to do something that feels meaningful,” she whined, pulling her turtleneck over her mouth as Bob pointed at the crossword question she couldn’t answer.
“Accumulation,” Katya said with a mouthful of apple that she crunched next to Jan’s ear, taking pleasure in the way the blonde scrunched her face up.
“Doesn’t fit the clue. It says impatience.” Bob reminded her, underlining it with her finger just to make a point.
“Anticipation,” Trixie yelled from the counter where she’d perched with her tea. “Jan use it in a sentence!”
“I anticipate going home.” Jan moaned to a cackle from the pink-clad woman. She stood, checking her turtleneck in the microwave door before leaving the kitchenette with a sigh.
So she’s waiting for Bob to come in and tell her to go home. It’s the middle of summer but it’s nearing seven and it’s a Friday. She’s got the weekend off for a wedding. She’d rather be in small claims court if she’s honest.
The idea of love becomes infinitely less appealing when you are surrounded by its decay at every turn. She’d rather just go home to her cat who she knows will always love her and cannot file a legal document saying it’s got irreconcilable differences and wants the house but none of the furniture.
No, Marceline would never.
*
Jackie opens the shop at six a.m. because she likes the feeling of the streets in the early morning. The sun is already up because it’s the middle of summer but the city still feels barren. It’s so quiet, she can hear her own heart among the calls of the birds. She enters ‘End Of The Aisle Weddings’ with a peppy smile and relaxed confidence and zero caffeine - saving that for her two p.m. pick me up when she and Rock can discuss their clientele over leftover wedding cake and hot drinks served in novelty mugs. It’s her favourite time of the day after opening.
She checks her planner almost immediately, plays her seventeen-ish voicemails while crossing things off the list and tacking on extra items that brides have found in a frenzy. She has one wedding coming up that should be fantastic but is also draining her more than usual with the number of requests the bride has. She gets about three calls a day making amendments and she’s more than happy to agree to them because most of the time she’s just a little drunk on the idea of being in love.
She calls the florist, the caterers and the photographer before Rock will be out of bed, skidding around the backroom’s slick floors in just her socks as she rearranges goodie bags and vases and table decorations organised by date.
Sometimes, she leans on the sage-green wooden table they use for meetings and looks through engagement photoshoots, planning her own. She imagines her hair in pin curls as her fiance dips her - probably in a field.
With their cat.
And some fairy lights.
She’s spent a lot of time hoping and dreaming and praying for her future wife to just walk through the door like they do in the romcoms she’s been born and raised on. She wants her ‘You’ve got Mail’ moment - a book with a rose in it and a woman she thought she hated but also loved. She wants someone to convince her to fall in love. She wants big moments and small gestures and the sweet warmth she sees in so many couples but she’s alone. It’s a cruel irony.
She hadn’t planned to be a wedding planner. She studies interior design and marketing at uni - interning at a wedding planner and never really leaving. She thought she’d do corporate, or events. Turns out, she’s pretty happy where she ended up.
Just a little lonely. Ever so slightly. Sometimes.
She brews another cup of chai and inhales the scent of cardamom pods, watching the business people on their ways to work through the big glass front windows - rain spattering on them like tiny droplets of light.
*
Jackie plans good weddings. She knows it’s not particularly objective but she knows she’s good at her job. By this point in the planning, she’s known the couple for close to a year so she’s pretty comfortable just to chill at the reception. She puts out fires where she’s needed in her white shirt and tailored black trousers - it’s typical attire for her - a black blazer hung on a hook somewhere, waiting for her exit. She’s comfortable, mobile and most importantly, she has pockets.
She knows she plans a good wedding which is why she’s just a little surprised to see (an objectively gorgeous) blonde woman sat at the bar, holding a tumbler of scotch. She’s in an off-the-shoulder yellow dress but somehow the summery look feels a little off-kilter when faced with her expression. It’s like it doesn’t fit her even though it fits her perfectly (objectively of course).
She scowls at the scotch before taking another sip and Jackie decides to approach as even though she’s terminally delightful she is not someone who enjoys the conga and it’s coming dangerously close.
She sidles up to the blonde girl, ordering a ‘sex on the beach’ with a smile to the bartender who she’s known for years. Jaida just winks, sliding over the drink and walking as far away as she can.
Jackie just sips her drink and watches for a minute or so until the girl flips her curls over her shoulder and stares her dead in the eyes. Her eyes are blue. A soul-piercing blue. But they look lost.
“Jan,” she announces, nonchalantly and Jackie has to blink a few times before she realises that the girl - Jan - is saying her name. She gives a frankly stupid little wave before she replies, voice full of amusement at her own stupidity.
“I’m Jackie. It’s lovely to meet you Jan,” she smiles, sipping her drink through the tiny straw Jaida always gives her after she spilt a particularly colourful cosmo down her old favourite shirt.
Jan nods towards her drink, “ Sex on the beach? All I’m getting from this wedding is a handshake in the garden.” She almost manages to maintain her slightly stormy demeanour but she cracks at the last second, blinding white teeth sparkling as Jackie has to hold onto the bar to stop herself falling off her chair in laughter.
“Not a wedding person?” Jackie asks, once she’s settled herself again and Jan tilts her head like she’s wondering why Jackie is bothering.
“I’m alone drinking expensive scotch at a bar,” Jan responds dryly. “I’m a divorce lawyer, I’m not exactly primed for this sort of thing. There is too much hope in this gazebo.”
Jackie feels the twinge of a smile at her cheeks and forces herself to look down for a second. “Fair enough, how do you know Rose and Nicky?”
Jan waves Jaida down and slips a tenner across the counter in exchange for another tumbler. She takes a long sniff and then a sip before she responds. “Rose - Rosé as we’ve called her ever since she chugged a bottle in uni - she was in my Law program - or at least the social work modules.” Jackie hums in approval and also a sort of understanding. She’s very good at putting the pieces together.
“You never planned to do divorces huh?” She asks but this time Jan’s the one to avert her gaze, staring ahead at the bottles of alcohol as Jackie rolls up the sleeves of her shirt  - it’s a warm day and the gazebo holding the bar and the dancefloor isn’t particularly well vented, she’ll bring it up with the company when she gets back to the office.
“Damn Sherlock.” Jan chuckles when she finally comes up with her response, tugging her dress back off the shoulders from where it’s risen up to. “No, I’m trained for family court - name changes, adoptions, custody - the sort of thing with happy children and good, fulfilling life changes. I’m just naturally good at homewrecking.”
“It’s not homewrecking if they ask for it,” Jackie points out, tilting her glass in a way that makes her look a little bit drunker than she is but then again she’s been on the champagne since ten when Rose forced a glass into her hand and the caterers are so well trained they just top you up.
She stands up, wobbling a bit on her heels and the uneven grass. “Wait,” she mutters, Jan placing a guiding hand on her lower back for stability. “You don’t believe in love do you?” It makes Jan snort in a very unladylike way but Jackie is deadly serious. “I’m a wedding planner. I love love. But you don’t.”
“It’s not that I don’t believe in it,” Jan sighs dejectedly, helping Jackie back onto her stool and ordering her another drink, handing out tenners like they’re coins. “I just think it’s underwhelming and disappointing and never ends well. Women will disappoint me. My cat won’t.”
“You’ve never sounded gayer.” Jackie deadpans.
They look at each other inquisitively. Eyes drifting, searching.
“Only one of us wore a suit to a wedding.” Jan points out and they both burst into raucous laughter that makes the conga line (somehow still going) look at them a little strangely.
Jackie takes a deep breath and slams her empty glass on the table triumphantly.
“I’m going to make you believe in love.” She says with such conviction it’s impossible not to believe her. Her eyes twinkle. Jan wonders if this might be easier than either of them think.
“Okay.”
*
19:14
Janet are you busy?
19:18
Why.
19:21
I’m taking you to Karaoke.
*
Jan is pleasantly surprised to see Jackie in a mini dress but she’s also not mad about it. The dress is emerald green, hits just above her mid-thigh and is dangerously strappy and the heels Jackie paired with it make her legs look impossibly long. Jan also dressed up - but her purple mini dress feels more normal - less of a statement.
“Janet!” Jackie shouts from the entrance, clearly already tipsy even though it’s barely gone half-nine. She’s waving rather frantically and it takes willpower for Jan to move towards it instead of away but she reaches the girl who is warm and happy and she feels the stress in her shoulders melt away.
“Hi Jackie,” she sighs begrudgingly, holding the door for the brunette who practically skips into the bar that isn’t that empty. It’s a friday night. She should have expected it.
Jackie spins on her heels when they get inside and she gives Jan a once over with her eyes. “You’re not allowed whisky,” she decides after a little thought and Jan just stands there a little shellshocked as Jackie orders their drinks, winking at the bartender to get them quicker.
When she comes back to the high table Jan picked for them, she’s holding a glass of red wine and something that smells fruity which she sets in front of the blonde. Jan looks at it in disgust.
“What is that?” She asks, hoping she will like the answer.
“Pomegranate Mojito,” Jackie responds, looking smug and not at all phased by Jan’s death glare. “Drink up,” She says in a faux high-pitched tone and Jan mocks her as she sips the unnervingly pink drink.
She makes a face which makes Jackie almost spit out the wine she’d been drinking.
After about half an hour of watching drunk girls from the city university sing Taylor Swift off-key, Jackie decides they’re going to go up.
“I’m picking the song.” She demands and Jan raises an eyebrow, bemused.
“Okay Princess,” she responds because her drink is full again and it clearly had more alcohol than she’d been expecting. She’s a little disappointed that her whisky tolerance didn’t carry over into her weird cocktail tolerance - standing and immediately wishing she’d been sat down again.
Jackie once again leaves and returns smug, pushing the mojito towards Jan in a motion for the woman to down it which she does so dutifully - feeling it slide down immediately - smoother than the vodka shots she’d do in law school but still not quite her favourite scotch.
Bring it fucking on.
The first notes of ‘Nobody But You’ by Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani play and all Jan feels is regret.
She should never have let Jackie on her Spotify. That was a secret.
She is, however, pleasantly surprised to hear Jackie nail Blake Shelton.
*
15:07
Janet, I need to make name cards are you busy?
15:12
Fuck no.
Wait sorry, frick no.
15:20
Jannnnnnnn pleaseeeeee
15:34
I can leave at 5. Meet at yours?
15:35
You know where the key is if you beat me there
*
Jan does not beat her there - it would be impossible - she’s a lawyer who hasn’t left the office before six since she was twenty-two and Jackie owns a wedding planning business that despite having a very cute shop - half resides in her living room anyway. They may both be twenty-eight but they are very different.
Jackie does, however, open the door with a mug of coffee already brewed and a dot of ink on her otherwise bare cheek. It’s all Jan can do not to lick her finger and wipe it away, finding it endearing how the girl’s organised behaviour could turn chaotic on a moment’s notice.
She enters the apartment and relishes in how homey it feels. Her own isn’t as lived in as it should be after five years but Jackie’s is warm and painted in a sage green tone that highlights the light wood floors. She sees the brunette little set up on the rug and feels glad that she keeps a change of clothes in her office as she’s much better equipped to sit cross-legged on the floor in a sweater and some leggings rather than her usual pantsuit.
The coffee is just how she likes it, warm and sweeter than anyone should know about.
Her hair is still in a low bun so she removes one of the hair ties and lets it fall down her back in a wavy low pony, pulling the bits by her ears out so she feels less like she just came from an office and more like she belongs. The apartment always makes her feel this urge to become comfortable and she spends so much of her time uncomfortable she refuses to fight it.
Jackie just smiles as she watches the blonde adjust - it’s like watching a snake shed its skin and even now she looks a little less like the corporate robot she sometimes meets for coffee and a little more like the woman who fell asleep on the couch during ‘Ten Things I Hate About You’ with her mouth open. It’s cute.
They get to work on the cards pretty quickly or at least they try to. Jackie makes her write on a piece of notepaper before she lets her near the nice pens but they both realise rather quickly that her handwriting is chicken scratch.
“I do a lot of paperwork and I have to write fast to keep up with all the yelling,” she whines as she is relegated to writing little notes for the kids at this particular wedding. “How do you even know how to do this?” She asks, gesturing to the fountain pen and the fancy hand-lettered place cards scattered across the patterned rug.
Jackie sighs as some ink blobs at the end of an otherwise perfectly good name card and throws it into the discard pile with a huff. “My calligrapher fell through one time so I figured I could make extra money by doing them myself.” She admits. “Plus it is fun to use colourful pens.” Jan quirks an eyebrow at the mention of the colourful pens, scanning the rug indiscreetly for anything that isn’t black ink.
Jackie chuckles at her indiscretion and stands up, going to the cupboard by the kettle and, instead of pulling out tea or biscuits like one would usually keep next to a kettle, puls out a caddy of brightly coloured pens. She points vaguely to one. “That one’s purple and glittery.
“Purple and glittery?” Jan repeats back with childlike awe that makes Jackie snort indecently with laughter. Jan scowls. “I’m a lawyer, Jaqueline. My special occasion pen is a red biro,” she rebukes with a huff.
“Gimme that,” Jackie makes a grabby hand towards the pen Jan is now clutching and the woman mocks pulling it closer before handing it over. Jackie scribbles it on one of the discarded cards to check it still works and then takes a fresh new one and writes ‘Janet the Boss-Ass Lawyer’ on it in curly handwriting that makes Jan blush. She then fills the edges with hearts and hands it to Jan with a soft smile.
Jan holds it close to her heart before looking at it with tenderness. She examines it in the light of the industrial lamps Jackie has but she decides that’s not enough so she skitters into Jackie’s west-facing bedroom and lets the glitter sparkle in the golden hour sunshine. Jackie’s always three steps ahead of her so she follows slowly and patiently, listening to the soft mutters of the happy blonde who hugs her ferociously once they’re both looking at the sunset.
“Thank you,” she whispers, half holding her breath and Jackie smiles.
“You deserve to always be as happy as you are with that pen.” She tells her, dead serious and Jan nods slowly.
Jackie did not mean for her to take the pen.
*
12:41
Janet do you have my purple pen?
12:52
I know it’s your lunch break Jan.
13:24
I’m just concerned for the safety of the glitter pen.
*
“Even her handwriting is romantic, that fucking bitch,” Jan laments as she fills out the crossword.
“Ire,” Katya mutters, pointing to three boxes going downwards and Jan puts her hand out for a high five, pleased when Katya agrees. The word is neatly put in in purple, glittery ink and it brings a little something to her day - one could venture to call it joy but Jan’s never been that sort of person.
Katya’s only just come out of the storage cupboard she entered seven minutes ago and if Jan is right with her timings, Trixie will exit in a few minutes looking dishevelled and still with a hint of red lipstick on the outer corner of her mouth. She will eat an apple while sitting on the counter and be absolutely no use to Jan’s crossword.
Jan decides she is done with them for the day and leaves them to their own devices as she slinks back to her office. She places the pen down carefully in the holder full of only back biros because she likes to know where it is and pulls the notecard out of her briefcase just to look at it. Again. She would hesitate to call this emotion joy.
The notecard grounds her mind enough to sort herself out for the last adoption case of the month and Jan lets her mouth twitch into a smile when she thinks of the kid she’ll be fighting for. He is small, sweet and tenacious and reminds her of Jackie in a way she did not expect.
When he runs into her office, he makes a beeline for her desk and she ruffles his hair in a form of greeting. He has been there a few times before so he is comfortable and he collects the puzzle book from her magazine rack and peruses her pens to fill it in before retreating to the armchair in the back. He picks the purple one and she cannot blame him. She would too.
She settles the papers rather quickly getting everything ready for the court date set in a week and a half. All they need is for a judge to stamp them and the boy can go home secure. She relishes in the opportunity to provide that for him and she texts Jackie about how hopeful she is. Jackie responds with a pen emoji and Jan chuckles at her through the phone.
15:12
The pen is safe Jacqueline.
15:15
That’s all I wanted to know Janet.
15:23
Is this our first fight?
15:25
Are you already planning the divorce?
15:27
That was low.
15:30
I’m not sorry. Get back to work pen thief.
*
10:20
Are you using the mug?
10:24
It’s an abomination.
10:26
You didn’t answer my question
*
Jackie makes mugs for all her clients. It’s a personal hobby, decorating them with ‘Mrs and Mrs’ or whatever titles. Sometimes it’s a wedding hashtag. Sometimes it’s for a stubborn lawyer who needs a little more sunshine in her life.
She thinks of it as a joke and it is… to begin with. Then she’s on her iPad making mockups on procreate and it just sort of happens.
It’s a big mug - one of those that carry more coffee than you need with room for whipped cream (there should always be room for whipped cream, says the lactose intolerant wedding planner). It’s a white base with small, bright rainbows that says ‘Girl, you’re testi-fine’ in a graphic nineties font and it makes Jackie want to screech every time she sees it (she keeps it on display for this exact reason because nothing brings more joy than catching it in the corner of her eye during a dull moment).
She wraps it up pretty in silver paper and places it into a nondescript cardboard box for delivery. They meet at a coffee shop one morning when Jan is bored and Jackie has a lull in weddings and she hands it over with a devilish grin that makes Jan squint at her to read between the lines. The lines are not obvious.
Jan does not screech. She stares for a very very long time and then, she lets out a very slow controlled breath. And then she loses it. She cackles loudly and the patrons of the cafe look at the two lesbians in the corner with bemused faces and Jackie doesn’t care because this mug is one of the greatest decisions she’s ever made.
Jan takes it back to the office and fills it with hot coffee - three sugars and almond milk and just sits with it for a second. She almost wants people to see it but it’s so awful she will never admit to it. When Katya walks in, however, she is not angry. The blonde takes one look at the garish print and cheerful message and has to cling to the countertop for support - the mug staring at her until she can breathe again.
“That is the best mug I have ever seen and I demand one.” Katya decides and Jan texts Jackie under the table who immediately responds with a selfie of herself with a plain mug and the caption ‘I am plotting.’
Jackie plots exquisitely and makes three more lawyer-y mugs.
Jan is oddly proud.
*
20:32
Jacks.
Are you busy?
I want you to meet my cat.
*
“That is the single gayest message I have ever received,” Jackie announces, stepping into the house from the rain and shaking her umbrella out of the door decisively. Jan is already there with a novelty mug with the slogan ‘gay and can do maths’ printed across it, filled with hot chocolate and too much whipped cream and Jackie takes it readily - soaking up the heat of the house to replace some the early winter climate stole from her.
She sinks onto Jan’s expensive but still plush couch and pulls a blanket over herself like this is a usual occurrence. For all the times Jan has been at hers, Jackie has never ventured into the lawyer’s place and yet despite the blondes complaints about how barren it is - Jackie feels at home.
The walls are a little bare, the colours a little dark and the floor is cold even with the fire lit but she still feels cosy under her blanket, mug held just below her chin. Jan sets her own mug of green tea on the sideboard before she exits the open-plan kitchen-living room, on a mission to find her cat. When she returns she is holding a perfectly happy beige and coffee coloured long-haired cat who snuggles into the blonde’s chest with a purr. She nuzzles her nose into it, a blush spreading across her cheek as she notices Jackie stare.
“Jaqueline, this is Marceline,” she says as she carefully holds out the cat who is perfectly happy to be held. Jackie cradles her carefully.
“Hi Marceline,” she coos and Jan smiles softly as she brushes the light cat hairs off her flannel.
Jackie holds the ragdoll cat with one hand and boops her nose with the other, giggling as she pulls her face back, mewling slightly.
“Oh, what’s Jackie doing to you,” Jan coos in a voice Jackie would usually reserve for babies. “What’s the matter, baby girl?” Jackie just watches as the cat is removed from her arms and burrows back into Jan’s chest as she slides back into the sofa with her. Jackie rests her chin on Jan’s shoulder, peering at the clearly attention-spoiled cat.
“You’re a helicopter parent,” she jibes sweetly and Jan very carefully elbows her.
“You would be the worst helicopter parent,” Jan rebukes but instead of laughing, Jackie gulps and leans back a little bit. Jan puts Marceline down so she can face the brunette. “Hey, what did I say?” She asks, confused.
“Sorry,” Jackie mutters under her breath, “I’ve just always hoped I wouldn’t be my mum if I became a parent.” Jan gets it. Well, she doesn’t really get it but she places her warm, fur-covered hand on Jackie’s bare forearm and leans towards her slightly.
“You would be a fantastic parent Jackie.” She tells her sincerely. “I swear.”
Jackie smiles again and Jan thinks she would do anything for that smile.
*
06:21
Jackie I think I’m sick.
06:23
Temperature?
06:24
Fucking hot.
06:25
I can’t trust you at home by yourself can I?
Screw it I’m coming to pick you up. Wear clothes.
*
Jackie looks at the girl asleep in her passenger seat with a soft but worried smile. She doesn’t look awful - pale and a bit peaky but it’s probably just a fever she tells herself as they drive to the shop. She’s planning to set her up in the back corner on a pile of cushions and blankets scavenged from both of their apartments. Ideally, she’d stay at home with her but winter weddings are just as popular as summer weddings so she’s got a fair few to work on today and she can’t do it from home. Or Jan’s.
She has to wake Jan up when they get there and it pains her a little bit to do so, head lolled against the condensated window - it can’t be comfortable. She rubs a gloved hand up and down Jan’s arm to try and rouse her and she comes around easily but looking sleepy.
“I feel like shit,” she mutters and it makes Jackie laugh because of course, Jan doesn’t become sweeter when she’s sick.
They eventually get her situated with a half-gallon water bottle and a hefty amount of blankets and Jackie will admit it’s adorable to see her cocooned as Jackie sits at the work table with flower arrangements splayed out around her.
It’s just past eleven when Jan rouses from her nap and she squints until her eyes adjust to the relatively bright shop lights.
“What are you doing?” She questions, straining her neck to see what Jackie’s working on. Jackie raises an eyebrow and takes the portfolio over to her, pulling one of the many blankets over her legs and placing a hand on Jan’s forehead as a gauge of illness.
“So,” Jackie starts, flicking open the leather portfolio to the relevant page. “Someone wants a coastal wedding in winter.” She winces in disagreement and Jan lets her head fall onto Jackie’s shoulder.
“Well, love is a beach,” She quips and Jackie rolls her eyes.
“You’re lucky I wouldn’t hit a sick person,” she retorts.
“How do you do this job?” Jan whines after watching Jackie highlight things for ten minutes straight. Admittedly Jan also highlights things but it’s usually in an ugly neon yellow and not pastel blue.
“What do you mean? It’s plan-tastic,” Jackie jokes and Jan looks like she would stab her if she could move her body. “Do you want soup?” She asks trying to change the subject before Jan actually murders her.
“Yes,” Jan harrumphs but she does smile.
While Jackie is making the soup (or warming it up out of the can) Jan flicks through one of the albums Jackie keeps at the back of the shop and finds herself smiling at some of the pictures. She finds the album from Nicky and Rose’s wedding and comes across a picture of her and Jackie at the bar. She’s smiling - they both are. It’s cute.
“She has a heart!” Jackie exclaims when she comes back to the blonde looking at wedding photos and Jan scowls like a petulant child, only taking the soup when Jackie tells her she’ll take it back to the kitchenette and Jan realises she’s not sure she can use her legs at the moment. It’s good soup. It’s good company.
Jackie drives her home at the end of the day, tucking her into bed with a cold compress and when Jan wakes up the next morning she finds the brunette on the couch under ‘her’ blanket with an empty mug of hot chocolate on the sideboard and Marceline curled up by her cheek.
She presses a kiss to her temple and curls up on the other end of the couch with a glass of water, flicking through the channels on the TV until she finds a rerun of Sleepless in Seattle which she watches with the volume on low and subtitles on to let Jackie sleep a little longer.
*
15:34
Jackie?
Are you free tomorrow?
It’s a saturday?
Like 6-12
15:45
Should I ask?
15:47
City LGBT Gala
It’ll be nice I swear
It’s just Trixie’s bringing a date
15:48
Are you asking me on a date Janet?
15:50
Would you say yes?
*
Jan picks Jackie up at six. She stands under the porch of Jackie’s apartment building pressing the buzzer and wondering why you host an LGBT Gala in the middle of January. She leans on the dry wall and watches the spitting rain hit the pavement, grateful for the long black umbrella she’s brought.
She’s in a black blazer with fitted black trousers that end just above the ankles making her short legs look much longer. Under the blazer is a silk camisole in a champagne colour and she’s wearing nude Louboutins to tie it all together. Her long blonde hair is down and she examines herself in the glass door just to reaffirm she looks good. She feels good - better than ever really and as she waits for Jackie she’s pretty sure she knows why.
The Persian is in a floor-length gold dress that fits her just right, her brown hair curled and tumbling down her back.  It all just works and Jan feels like a lucky, lucky woman to be escorting her - she tells her as much.
“God Jackie,” she tells her, eyes wide and honest. “You look… damn.”
Jackie smiles shyly, blushing like she doesn’t believe a word she’s being told. “You don’t scrub up too bad yourself,” She quips back, making a motion for Jan to twirl which the blonde does immediately. “Those trousers are good for your ass.” She doesn’t mean to say it (she does). “Are you sure this isn’t too much?” She gestures to herself this time and Jan shakes her head.
“God no Jacks, you’re gorgeous,” she tells her emphatically and Jackie touches her chin gently in a joking manner to close her gaping mouth. Jan puts up the umbrella and thanks the height of the heels because she’s the almost the same height as Jackie in heels. There’s usually only an inch or two difference but now there’s less than half an inch and she feels powerful.
She helps Jackie into the car and then runs around to clamber in herself - grateful for the taxi.
“So what are we doing?” Jackie asks, nervousness hinting in her voice. She’s playing with the edge of her skirt and Jan takes the hand firmly.
“It should be fun,” she tells her, playing with the ring on Jackie’s thumb. “Me and Trixie are there for our work with trans kids - she’s bringing Katya, you’ll like her. She’s insane but she also does criminal law so it’s to be expected. There’ll be dinner, some activists will do speeches, there’s a queer prom aspect too so we’ll greet some kids and have a chat - you’ll love that. Then we dance and drink heavily.” She takes a deep breath mostly for comedy because Jackie still seems tense and the brunette cracks a smile.
“It sounds fun Janet,” she says, calmer now, intertwining their fingers properly and squeezing.
Jan has to let go of Jackie’s hand to put the umbrella up and they link arms again as they walk into the foyer of the grand looking hotel hosting the gala. They meet Trixie and Katya in the glamorous round-room, Trixie dressed in a rose-pink gown and Katya in a burgundy suit similar to Jans. Jan was right, Katya is insane but she is wonderful and Jackie ends up seated between herself and Jan at the dinner (Jan offered to sit next to the flamboyant charity manager so that Jackie would feel more comfortable and she’s very happy she took the offer).
The first course is Flank steak flatbread with roasted tomato, cilantro, roasted garlic and black cumin mayo. It’s decadent and stupidly delicious and Jackie asks Jan if she can get her the number of the catering company which Jan gladly agrees to, hand on Jackie’s lower back through the opening in the chair. It’s meant as comfort but Katya winks at them both several times and Jackie just blushes until Trixie calls her down. The other people on the table talk to Trixie about her work with LGBT youth and Jackie has to place a hand on Jan’s arm until Trixie points out it’s Jan’s work too and the blonde calms the fuck down. Cocktails are delivered to the table and Jan does not scoff at the fruity beverage. Jackie calls it progress.
For the main, Jan chooses a roasted lamb leg with thyme sauce, ratatouille vegetables and sauté potatoes while Jackie goes for the mixed grill with oriental rice and seasonal vegetables. At some point, Jackie ends up with all Jan’s veg and Jan ends up with half of Jackie’s rice but neither can distinguish when it happened. Nothing much interesting happens in the main course. So far no one has asked why Jackie is here which is a relief to her and no one has openly insulted Jan or said anything particularly incendiary so she feels safe in her peace of mind.
Dessert is cheesecake with berries and it is precisely when Jackie decides she needs to be brought to all future gala events. She whispers this into Jan’s ear and the blonde snorts into a raspberry. Katya watches them both and it makes the brunette feel like she’s done something wrong even when she and Trixie have a perfectly lovely and definitely hypothetical conversation about wedding flowers for people who like pink and red. Jackie assures them that she could do it easily and makes sure to hand over a business card she’s been keeping in the back of her phone for years. As a wedding planner specialising in queer events, she’d figured this could be a good chance for promotion. The whole table ends up discussing Jackie’s business by the coffee and truffles portion of the dinner and Jan just leans back with a proud smile as Jackie hands another business card to the over-eager charity director who wants a ceremony for himself and his longtime boyfriend.
The speeches are good but dull and she drinks her cocktail and then part of Katya’s in waiting for it to be over.
The meeting of the little gay kids in their suits and their dresses and their pronoun pins though is everything Jackie had hoped it would be and more and it makes her heart so happy to watch a teenage non-binary couple slow-dance to Billie Holiday.
Jan hits it off with a six-year-old called Milo who asks her if Jackie is a princess to which Jan replies “yes, she’s the princess of Persia,” and Jackie wants to cry. She takes a photo on her phone of them hugging and texts it straight to Jan because it’s precious.
Somehow, in all the madness, they end up slow-dancing. It’s not really the right song for it and Jackie doesn’t want to get makeup on Jan’s blazer no matter how many times Jan says it’s okay but it’s warm and comfortable and Jackie wonders why she’s spent the better part of eight months not being in Jan’s arms.
They end up on the very edge of the dancefloor because Jackie decides she needs to take her shoes off (she doesn’t) and suddenly it feels more real because Jan is towering above her and she feels like she’s in the rom-com she’s always wanted.
“Jan,” she whispers because the moment feels too important to speak aloud in, “do you believe in love?” She sounds so innocent and she’s looking up at Jan with her brown eyes so fragile that Jan pulls her even closer - the hand on her lower back warm and firm.
“I think we all have a capacity for love,” she muses as they sway out of time with the music. “It’s very human of us. But yes, I believe in love.” Jackie nods slowly, processing what’s being said.
She places her head on Jan’s chest and feels the woman’s shallow breaths in the rise and fall of her chest. She removes her head and looks into the blonde’s ocean blue eyes with a sigh, dropping the hand she’s been holding and wrapping both arms loosely around Jan’s neck.
“Do you know why I believe in love?” Jan asks suddenly. But it’s not sudden, not really, it’s built on layers and layers of coffee dates and mugs and purple glitter pens. Her eyes flick from Jackie’s brown ones down to her lips and back up a couple of times before she answers herself, watching the way Jackie looks completely at ease in her arms.
“You,” she mumbles.
And then they’re kissing and it’s soft but it’s passionate and it tells Jackie everything she needs to know about the way she makes Jan feel. It doesn’t last long, Jackie pulling away before they can scar any small children, but the look in Jan’s eyes is as pure and loving as Jackie has ever seen.
“You did it, Jaqueline,” Jan mutters into her ear, pulling her closer still until they are essentially hugging while moving in a slow circle. “You fucking did it.”
Jackie giggles and presses a kiss to Jan’s nose, having to rise up on her toes to do so, “you planning the divorce yet?” She jokes and Jan rolls her eyes playfully.
“Not a fucking chance.”
*
15:37
What wine did you want again baby?
15:40
Just pick up that red we always get
If you’re late for our own damn engagement party Janet I’m divorcing you.
15:45
I’m on my way babe. I have the wine. Calm down.
*
They’re calling it an engagement party but really it’s their closest friends sitting in their living room petting Marceline and drinking wine. They’re celebrating something everyone knew was coming and eating tortilla chips while they do it.
“Welcome to the engage-Jan-t party!” Jan announces to Jackie, Nicky, Rose and Bob as she walks through the door only five minutes early. They’re very lucky most of the group is usually late and Jackie only reminds her of that by raising both eyebrows at the pun and swiftly opening the wine to try and pretend she’s not stressed.
“What have we got?” Jan asks softly, pressing a chaste kiss to her fiance’s cheek as she peruses the alcohol selection. Nicky turns around on the sofa and winks.
“I’ve brought some rosé,” she jokes and Rose hits her before asking for a glass of wine to take the edge of her wife’s stupidity. Bob calls them all dykes before heading to the bathroom to ask her partner when they’ll get here.
Katya and (a very pregnant) Trixie are the last to show up, Rock and Bob’s partner Jinkx turning up only a few minutes earlier.
“Rosé?” Nicky offers Jinkx and they smirk before shaking their head.
“If it’s your wife, no thank you,” they joke and Jan high fives them with a grin.
They end up spending the evening on Jan’s extortionately large couch eating nachos and questioning how Jackie managed to get Jan to fall in love with her.
Jackie smiles coyly and tilts her head, bumping Jan’s shoulder with her own.
“It all started at a wedding…”
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quickspinner · 4 years
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WIP Report 4/22/20
So just a heads up (I know, I gotta stop starting sentences with so, it’s a bad habit) on how things are going and what you can expect to see soon and slightly less soon! Here’s a quick rundown on what’s in progress ‘round these parts.
Sorry, this is long because y’all ought to know by now I’m a wordy bitch! So (I did it again) buckle up I’m about to ramble.
Backlog - I still have some works to crosspost here from AO3, so you’ll still see some of my older work pop up in the evenings for the rest of the month. I’m going to do some of my older one shots for the rest of this week, and then Sunday will be the college AU multichapter I did for the first week of Lukanette Month last year (not Hey Gorgeous but a different college AU I did before that). Again if you’ve already read my AO3 stories and you don’t want to see them again here you can use the ‘backlog’ tag to filter. 
Weekly Prompts - I’m still doing them, although I missed last week’s and I may actually miss this week’s (or it may inspire one of the kiss prompts) just because I’m so behind. But I’ll still be doing those, they’re fun and they help me from getting tunnel vision on a project too badly. As a reminder the @mlweeklyprompts is open to anybody and is any ML ship allowed, no ship required, just check the rules and tag the blog so that you can be reblogged. And if you don’t feel like following the rules, there’s no prompt police, so you can do what you want, it just won’t be reblogged if it’s outside of the guidelines. 
Beautiful Dreams - I’m so thankful for the people who’ve let me know they enjoyed the first chapter. Now that I’ve started posting this will be my absolute priority until it’s finished. I love this fic, I’ve been working on it a long time, and I’m really excited for it. I know it’s a little heavier than my usual fare but it’ll still have happy endings all around so I hope you’ll stick with me. I’m expecting about a week to a week and a half between updates. The first four chapters are mostly written so there will be some editing and polishing that has to happen (I’m still debating about exactly where to to put the break between chapters two and three) and I will also be working on the last two chapters so that hopefully by the time the first four chapters are up, the last two chapters will also be mostly done so there won’t be a huge delay there. These are long chapters compared to my previous stories, so there’s that too. Chapter 1 was the shortest by quite a couple thousand words so far. 
Gamer AU - Also high up on the list. I’m actually debating making this a separate story from the rest of I’ll Never Not Know You and splitting it into chapters because it’s getting to be kind of a monster to do all in one bite. But, even if I do that, because I write terribly out of order I don’t have a part 1 to put up yet. I was thinking I could finish this week but I just got so behind last week that I don’t think it’s going to happen, I’m still catching up on the have to do list and I haven’t even had a chance to touch this yet.
April Kisses - I’ll keep this going if I can get some short ones up over the next couple of days to give me some breathing room; I hate to give up so close to the end - there’s only 9 days left (8 because I wrote a short cute one for tomorrow already). They’re not really worth delaying the other projects over, though, so I’ll just have to play it by ear and see where I’m at.
The Soulmate AU - I hear you guys that want this, I love it a lot and once I get through the rest of Beautiful Dreams I really want to focus on this and toss some ideas with my writing buddies and see if I can really get this one rolling again. I have a beginning, I have an end that I love, I just...have to figure out what happens in between and I haven’t had a lot of time to focus on it. If I decide that I just can’t make it work as a full length story, I promise you will get what I’ve already got. If worst comes to worst, I can write about a paragraph to connect the end and the beginning and you’ll just miss out on the long distance stuff. 
I’ll Never Not Know You - I still have some things that people requested that I haven’t done yet, and they’re still on the list, but again these will be backburnered a bit while I focus on Beautiful Dreams, and to be honest, I think it will be a good thing. I won’t say I’m burned out on first meetings, I don’t think it’s that extreme, but these were originally meant to be fun and short and they’ve started turning into these huge monsters, which isn’t a bad thing necessarily because I like the pieces I’ve done, but they’re work, when they were meant to be just quick, fun little pieces to go between the longer stories. 
Other Stuff - I still have a list of ideas for Across All Realms, I’m still planning on a part 2 (and possibly 3) for Man’s Best Fang, I’ve got five or six other things in various stages of writing, some of them AU’s that I’m really excited about (Although WHY I keep writing AUs involving stuff that I know NOTHING ABOUT is really beyond me, but then again if I stuck to what I know that would be like...knitting. It would be a knitting AU. Knitting and dogs.) As we get closer to the end of Beautiful Dreams you might start seeing some of this stuff in WIP Wednesdays or SSS as I start looking ahead.
A quick note on WIP Wed/SSS - I just want to thank everybody who likes or reblogs those WIP Wed and SSS posts and/or tells me that you’re excited for a particular thing, that’s actually both super encouraging and really helpful because it helps me prioritize, and while I absolutely try to write what I like and the things that are important to me, your excitement gets me excited. 
So thanks for sticking around and reading through all this mess! I hope that gives any of you who might want to know a rough picture of the plan going forward. 
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goodlookingforagirl · 3 years
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Oc-tober Day 2: Mercy
Time for the second installment of Oc-tober by @oc-growth-and-development, where I write short prompts about my oc’s! Today’s prompt was mercy, so I wrote a story where two of my sister oc’s, Adelaide and Violet, get into trouble, and one shows mercy on the other. It’s the typically mundane slice-of-life stuff I normally write, but as an only child, I’m very interested in sibling relationships, so it’s interesting to me! (And I totally show the Missourian in me by mentioning Branson, the most overrated vacation destination in the world. — if you know, you know.)
TW (I guess): Swearing and mentions of alcohol 
Day 2: Mercy
Adelaide barely flinched when she heard Violet scream. Violet was always screaming, or shrieking, or doing something else loud and obnoxious. Ever since Violet was born, she was so loud and melodramatic that the family learned to ignore her outbursts at first blush. Adelaide assumed Violet had just received a juicy piece of gossip, or that she found they were out of ice cream. It was usually something so unimportant.
    But a split second after her scream, there was a crash — the sound of glass shattering into a million pieces. Dumbass probably knocked over Mom’s vase, Adelaide thought to herself. She almost didn’t get up to check, but since she was the only other person home, and she was the oldest, she knew it was her responsibility.
    “What did you do this time?” Adelaide groaned as she rounded the corner to the kitchen. There, her little sister was standing over a shattered bottle of Crown Royal, flushed and aghast.
    “Jesus, did you punt it onto the floor of something?” Adelaide asked.
    “It fell off the top of the fridge and hit the counter!” Violet shrieked.
    Adelaide folded her arms. “All by itself? Or did you move it?”
    “I wanted to have some,” she breathlessly replied. “I mean, Daddy says it’s his favorite, and I’ve seen you sneak some before. I didn’t think I’d drop it.”
    Adelaide defensively folded her arms. “Yeah, but I don’t knock it all over the place.”
    Violet suddenly shrunk back. “If Mom and Dad find out, they’re going to ground me. And that means…”
    She didn’t have to finish her sentence. For the past month, Violet had been looking forward to joining her friend’s family on a weekend trip to Branson. It would be her first vacation away from her family. Mom and Dad would definitely make her stay home if they found out she was trying to drink their whiskey while they were gone.
    “Promise you won’t tell, Adelaide.”
    Adelaide was many things, but she wasn’t a snitch. “I promise.”
    Violet stared at the wreckage. “Even if we clean it up, they’re going to notice it’s gone. Now they’re going to know I did it.”
    “Calm down; you’re acting like you’ve never tricked Mom and Dad before.” Adelaide squatted down and started picking up the larger pieces of glass. “Get the wet-dry vacuum out of the garage and get the little pieces.”
    Violet obeyed, and after fifteen minutes, the two of them got the kitchen looking as pristine as possible. They even lit a candle to mask the liquor-drenched scent of the room.
    “But what if they notice the bottle’s gone?”
    Adelaide would have suggested buying a new bottle (she was only sixteen, but she knew which stores carded), but her twin sister Esther had the car tonight. “Just don’t say anything if they mention it. They’ll probably guess the other one finished it.”
    After Violet had calmed down, Adelaide went back to her room and forgot about the whole ordeal. She’d committed plenty of household crimes in the past, all without her parents finding out. Violet was just new to the whole thing.
    When their parents got home a couple hours later, Adelaide still didn’t think about the kitchen mishap. Until her mother’s voice raised.
    “Girls!” she shouted. “Come out here right now!”
    Adelaide and Violet both dragged their feet to the kitchen, where their mother was holding up a single neglected shard of glass. “How did this end up on the floor?”
    Adelaide shrugged. “Could be from anything. Six people live in this house.”
    Mom raised her eyebrows and pulled the trash can forward. “You don’t think it’s from the shattered Crown Royal bottle that’s conveniently lying in here?”
    “Fuck,” Adelaide muttered, and Violet thought the same. They’d forgotten the most important rule: when disposing of evidence, never leave it in the household trash can. At least take it to the bin outside, if not a neighbor’s bin. But Adelaide hadn’t been thinking clearly, and Violet wasn’t aware of that rule. They’d been found out.
    “Which one of you did this?” their mother asked. “Because it’s one thing to break something. It’s another to be drinking alcohol while we’re gone.”
     Both girls shuffled their feet, but Violet was obviously the most agitated. As far as her parents knew, she wasn’t a troublemaker. She’d never even tried to sneak into their liquor supply before tonight, when she was home alone with Adelaide who would have probably joined her for a glass, unlike her other sisters, who would’ve tattled. Now her mom would know she was guilty, and she’d cancel her trip to Branson, and she’d never live it down.
    “I did it,” Adelaide said.
    Violet glanced up at her sister, shocked. Their mother looked less shocked.
    “I thought so,” Mom said, shaking her head. “Adelaide, I know we let you have wine at dinner sometimes, but you can’t just be getting drunk when we’re gone. Especially not with one of your sisters at home.”
    “I know,” Adelaide replied. “I’m sorry. I was just going to have a little bit, but then I dropped the bottle.”
    Violet watched as their mother gave Adelaide a lecture about responsibility and maturity, ending in her being grounded for two weeks. That meant Adelaide would have to cancel at least three scheduled dates with her boyfriend, and she’d also have to miss a night at the movie theater with her friends.
    Their mom finally excused them, and the sisters walked back to their respective rooms. Violet grabbed Adelaide before she could close the door.
    “Why’d you lie?” she whispered.
    Adelaide sighed. “They weren’t surprised to hear I did it. They would have been if it was you. And you were looking forward to Branson so much.”
    “But you’ll have to stay home every night for two weeks. And you didn’t even do anything wrong.”
    “Yeah, well, I’ll live. You owe me one now, though.”
    “I know I do.” Violet was grateful and surprised that Adelaide would be so generous. She usually treated her younger sisters like inconveniences at best. Violet wanted to make it up to her.
    “I got a couple new bottles of nail polish. If you wanted to do our nails tonight.”
    Adelaide practically recoiled. “Ew, no. I don’t want to hang out with you, especially not over nails.” She still looked disgusted as she closed her bedroom door.
    Well, she’d tried. Violet went to her room and did her nails alone while listening to the radio. Adelaide could be kind, it turns out, but it didn’t mean they were friends, and that was fine. Violet would pay her back in the future, when she needed help. Until then, she’d look forward to Branson.
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lorei-writes · 4 years
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Hi, hi, popping in with questions! H, K, L, S and Y if I may know the answers (≧◡≦)
Thanks for the question, luv <3 :3  H is the last one, because it’s... Long... ^^”””
K: What’s the angstiest idea you’ve ever come up with?
Huh, I usually write angst with happy ending... With a couple of exceptions for song prompts. In that category, it would be Anchor. If we’re talking about longer works, then well, The Game of Sun and Moon, if you read The Sun first - I think that’s the angstiest thing I have ever written. It isn’t gory, it isn’t even all that emotionally taxing... But all signs point to rather dark conclusion and we have nothing to disprove those. 
Original fiction-wise, I came up with a story of a girl... To put it simply, a child that is burdened with consequences of actions of the adults.
L: What’s the weirdest AU you’ve ever come up with?
Polish MC Disco Polo Azuchi castle Edition. The idea of MC singing “PRZEZ TWE OCZY, TWE OCZY ZIELONE OSZALAŁAAM” to Ieyasu haunts me to this day. (” It’s because of your eyes, your green eyes that I became insane”).
S: Any fandom tropes you can’t resist?
Fantasy AUs and wholesome fics in which main characters already have kids - and they’re freaking good parents. 
Y: A character you want to protect.
Huh, I don’t think I have one. All the Azuchi boys can protect themselves, though I do feel a strong urge to shout at Masamune when he ignores his feelings.
H: How would you describe your style?
Short answer, to quote my Polish teacher: free spirit. (I am so very sorry about the long one :II) 
Long answer: Wowiee, I kinda want to erupt in a stream of words and at the same time, it’s kinda hard to say what’s important... Well, for starters, I do like playing with subordinate clauses - though that might have been lost, as it’s a feature of my writing style in... Polish. I did try to bring it into English, but well, my understanding of grammar may be too limited to do that well. I like to think that composition of my multi-chapter works is pretty consistent (as in The Song about Princess and The Fox - 4-3-4-3 sentence pattern for each “strophe”, or as in Alike - in the first chapter, narration circles around Masamune’s perspective, although it isn’t written from his POV. Then, in the second chapter we’re switching to Mai. This time, narrator leans closer to her side when describing some details of what had happened. I don’t know how to put it in words well, but in one chapter Masamune cut his finger and went to the bathroom to take care of it - in her chapter narrator filed us in on what happened then in the kitchen). 
I like to hide little things here and there. ( Again, Alike... It’s been hinted that one of the characters was adopted - although I do think that it was easy to miss, so I plan to reaffirm that... There was at least one other thing mentioned there ^^” ; sometimes those “hidden things” are just basically reasons as to why something would work in a certain way - why Torakikumaru didn’t die in Dragon’s Treasure - or just hints to other scripts, as it was the case with Judgement Day).
I can’t really visualize the things I write - I usually get just a scene or two per fic, although those are usually static and very vague, I can’t “zoom in”... So I just kinda throw in the things that create atmosphere and hope for the best. After all, the readers already have some ideas in their mind - my job is to just point them in the right direction... This also brings up a very interesting thing, although again - I’m not sure whether I managed to adapt this thing to my English-writing style...You know, how some words mean very similar things but have a slightly different “aura”? I loved playing with those, even if it’s just a tiny detail... Though, again, it was probably lost. 
(I swear, I’m almost done, I’m so sorry for babbling ^^”””)
And finally: I make stuff up as I go. I usually have only one or two major plot points in my mind when I start a fic and that’s it. I start thinking about what should happen now when I open the file. Sometimes I have some vague idea for composition, but that’s it. YES, THIS APPLIES TO EDITING AS WELL. For most of the time, I finish writing and post it like half an hour later... Btw, I also have a rule I follow - at least 3 sentences or lines must be written before I can reuse the word (that is, unless it’s absolutely necessary).
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