#AS IF i'm going to open with that info in a medical setting when i don't even know you yet and also NEED SMTHG from you

[zepskies]

Hello.

So, I heard your asks were open, and wanted to drop in for one request myself - this one's for Soldier Boy.

In the same BMD background, what if there had been a mishap in one of the cases and the Reader happens to lose her memories in temporary amnesia. Ben finds out, and is her emergency contact. He takes her home, takes care of her, tries to jog her memory. And just when he's about to lose hope that she'll never remember him again, she does - and he expresses his relief?

If it's not too much trouble, I would also love if it were from his POV.

Anyways, totally up to you for taking this challenge - thanks for hearing this out.

Have a good day! 🙃

Hey there, lovely!

So I know you requested this several months ago, and we talked about it privately. The second I saw this request I was hooked. However, I knew that it had to be more than a one-shot, and it was going to take some research to do this prompt justice.

I reached out to my friend @deans-spinster-witch with a few medical questions, and she gave me some great info and guidance on my research. Now I'm happy to announce that this story will be a Break Me Down mini series, which I'll release after Calculated Risks.

So likely in beginning of May.

This will be slightly different from the original prompt, but will have many of those elements you requested. And we'll be going back in time! This one will be set shortly after Love Actually.

(Also, I'm by no means a graphic designer, so perhaps I got a little too bold with Canva on this one. 🤣)

Wake Me Up

Summary: A few weeks after you and Ben celebrate your first Christmas together, he is returning from another mission with the Supe Affairs team. When he discovers that you’ve been taken, he’ll do whatever it takes to find you. And then, to help you heal.

Masterlist coming soon...

#ask me stuff #reader request #Wake Me Up #coming in May! #BMD-verse #mini series #break me down #reader appreciation #soldier boy #soldier boy x reader #soldier boy/ben #soldier boy x you #soldier boy x female reader #the boys #zepskies answers

[hillbillyoracle]

So you want to print and distribute a free zine...

I wanted to throw together a short tutorial on how I print zines using this excellent COVID safety zine by @newlevant as an example.

Printing

First make sure you are clicking on the printable file. When you open it, it should look slightly jumbled. I always look for seeing the front cover and the back cover on the same page.

Then click "print" (usually a printer icon) and open "more settings".

The key things people tend to get wrong when they try printing zines is they forget to make sure that it is double sided and flips on the short edge. If you tried printing one and it came out looking wonky, make sure to check this.

Also, it will make your life infinitely easier if you use the collate option should you have it available to you.

Fit to printable area is a helpful setting to have on if you're printing zines who use a different paper standard than you. This zine didn't for me but I leave this on out of habit.

When you've got this all set up - print as many copies as you want to assemble.

Assembling

When you get them out of the printer they'll look like this. Just a big old stack. I highly recommend parsing out each individual copy before you try assembling any. I have made that mistake before.

This is how I stack mine.

I like to leave the cover side up as it makes for a clearer division as I'm assembling.

As you're flipping through these to parse and stack them, check them over for any issues with printing. I ran out of printer toner on the first three so I'm glad I checked.

Imperfections are fine but you're looking for anything that makes critical information unreadable.

To assemble a copy, get them lined up by tapping them on the table along a short and a long edge.

Both hands is a lot easier but I was trying to take a picture lol

Then fold them hamburger style and smooth down the spine as best you can. If you have a bone folder or similar use that.

Again, let go of perfection. We are looking for good enough here. Minor errors here should not make info unreadable so don't sweat the small stuff.

I recommend doing all your folding in one go to prevent errors. Or at least it really helps me.

Now it's time to staple. You will see my fancy stapler in the background - you do not require it and I would not recommend it. Unhinging a normal stapler is way easier to use in my opinion and this one gets jammed fairly easy. Use what you've got.

If you don't have staples, but you do have sewing supplies - check out this tutorial for a way to bind it with thread.

If you have no staples and no thread, you don't have to staple every zine. Smaller ones (~5 pages or less) do fine with no staple. They can be a little tougher for some people to use and don't hold up as well being taken in and out of places so I would consider that when thinking of where to leave them. They're still well worth printing and putting out.

This zine is small enough that one staple in the center should be enough to keep it together.

I opted to staple in two places - one about an inch in from either edge - mostly out of habit. It does add a little stability and will make them a little better for putting in Little Free Libraries and other places where they'll be removed and placed back.

Here is my partner looking over the zines to make sure my stapling didn't cut off any important information in each copy. It's a little tedious but it's pretty important. A quick flip through can mean the difference between someone getting the info you want them to have or not.

And here's the finished product

I made 15. I'm pretty privileged and have been making zines for over a decade now so it's almost like knitting or crochet for me. Feel free to make fewer copies or just one for yourself. It still counts.

I will stick some in each car and my bag. I have some medical appointments coming up so I will for sure be leaving some of these in the waiting room.

I'm also going to keep an eye out for Little Free Libraries and other place where people are looking for something to read. I might also toss some on the tables of a coffee shop I pop into sometimes (masked, take out only) and the library to pick up books (also masked).

I tend not to give them to specific people, even people I know, because people are way more open to information they've picked up themself than something it feels like someone is pressuring them to read. But if people bring it up in conversation, I'll be sure to offer a copy to anyone who is interested.

Hope this is helpful!

Go out there and print!

#zine #COVID #long COVID #self publishing #activism

[transmascpetewentz]

A Short Guide To Writing Gay Trans Men

So a few disclaimers before I start:

I'm not going to talk about anything sex-related here because 1) people have made other guides and google is your friend & 2) I'm not very comfortable with it.

I am just one person, and due to the fact that I am white and thin and perisex, I will definitely have blind spots. If you want more information about intersections that don't apply to me, ask someone who it does apply to!

I did get lots of messages from trans guys giving me advice on this, but nonetheless I do not speak for absolutely everyone.

There will be very little info here on how to accurately write medical transitions because that's not something I've experienced. Google is your best friend on this one.

This is not a complete post. I will keep adding to it as time goes on. If you're seeing this post reblogged by someone else, click on the original to see if I've made any additions or corrections before you send me that anon hate and/or comment telling me to kill myself.

What Not To Do

When there is a trans male character written by a cis person, especially a cis man, there's a very solid chance that he is going to check off at least 9 of the following boxes:

Thin

White

Able-bodied

Neurotypical or LSN neurodivergent

Binary

No nuance given to his identity and expression

Sexuality not specified or elaborated on

A cis person's love interest

2 dimensional transmasc stereotype

Usually small and feminine, but not actually femme

Gay transmasc characters written by cis people are very difficult to find because cis authors will often not specify the sexuality of the trans man dating a cis man or elaborate on his connection to the MLM community. This is because many cis authors believe that writing a gay trans man is just writing a woman but switching one of the genders. This is, of course, not true, and there must be more care taken to provide nuance and create a more accurate (and non-dysphoria-inducing) representation.

Moving Past The White Twink Stereotype

This is one of the most basic bars to clear for a cis person writing a gay trans man, and yet so many continue to fail at this very simple task. Ask yourself: is your gay transmasc character a white, hairless, thin person? If the answer is yes, that's not inherently a bad thing, though it may be good to reflect on why you want to create a character like this if this is the only type of transmasc representation you write.

The biggest thing you need to do here is to give him a set of defining traits. Not physical traits, not even gender expression traits. Just personality. What kind of person is he? How does he cope with the transphobia in this world (unless you're writing a fantasy universe without transphobia)? How does he act towards strangers? How does he approach people of different genders? What is his outlook on cis people? Once you have the basics, it's time to think about his physical appearance & expression and how that has impacted his life and his personality.

You also want to avoid the trope where a gay trans man's personality is undeveloped and he is treated as an object for cis men to help them advance their character arcs. It's fine for trans men to serve a purpose like that in the story, but they need to be their own individual humans.

Writing Sexuality

If your trans male characters date men, and I cannot reiterate this enough, make them be open about their homosexuality or bisexuality. Give them a sexual orientation and make them be proud of it. Of course, not every gay trans man is going to identify heavily with a masc/fem role in gay male relationships, but you should seriously consider whether or not your character would.

Additionally, don't follow the flawed line of logic of "trans man -> vagina -> bottom -> fem/femme." It's fine to make your gay trans male characters fem but please, I swear to god please give them a good reason for being so. If you do make your character femme, be very cautious to use language that doesn't trigger actual trans men's dysphoria. Don't constantly point out the character's physical features that may be associated with femininity unless you're making a point either about his dysphoria or about how society treats him or maybe about how he comes to accept his body. However, please be extremely careful with the last one as this trope has been used in so many transphobic portrayals.

Have your gay trans male character exist in gay spaces with other gay men (both cis and trans). Have him be open about being a gay man specifically. Give him cis gay male friends. Give him trans gay male friends. Don't allow your reader to ignore the fact that he is very much a gay man.

Dysphoria

For the love of all things good, please do not write your gay trans male character's dysphoria as "from the day I was born, I knew I was born in the wrong body. I have had no internalized shame or guilting into making me doubt my transness, and it was obvious that I was not a woman." That's not how anyone's dysphoria works, even if they did know from a young age that they were born in the wrong body.

For gay trans men specifically, most of us end up realizing we're trans around either age 12 or age 20. This doesn't mean he has to be exactly that age, but that's generally the safest age to have your character's egg crack. Of course, you can sprinkle in signs that he's trans since he was a young child, but I know a lot of gay trans men and I have yet to meet one who has known since birth and has had no doubt in his mind about it. However you can and should write older gay trans men, even some who find out they're trans in their 40s or older. Representation of older trans people is seriously lacking compared to how many there are.

Don't make your character the stereotype of a straight trans man who doesn't face the specific intersection of being trans and gay. Facing this intersection does affect something even as personal as dysphoria. Many of us will have self-doubt, believe that we're disgusting fetishists of gay men, or simply exist as women in gay spaces for a time. You also have to take into account gay beauty standards & your character's upbringing to figure out what they're likely to be most dysphoric about.

hi :3

That's it for now. I'll keep adding to this post as I get feedback and suggestions. If you want more advice, feel free to send me an ask. When I get enough asks about things, I'll make an FAQ post answering some of them.

#wentz.txt #transmasc #writeblr #long post #extremely long post

[acesamateurart]

Spring 2024 Commissions are Open!

A like, reblog, and share go a long way!

Thanks to my incredible community, I was able to obtain some different style pen grips to make writing and doing art a little less painful! And that means: my commissions are once again open!

It also means that, since my quarter one bills are paid and I've obtained the accessibility items I was looking for, the first $100 of these commissions is going directly into mutual aid. The first $50 will be given to 10 GoFundMe campaigns out of Gaza (found and verified through Operation Olive Branch), and the next $50 are going towards menstrual products to donate to my city's Free Store (a place where people in need can "shop" for free, and hygiene items are currently on the donation list).

I am, of course, Just Some Guy™, so if you don't like my art style or don't trust internet strangers to follow through, I do highly recommend checking out Operation Olive Branch. They're doing incredible work with finding and verifying Gaza GoFundMe campaigns, and even if you can't afford to donate, spreading the word helps!

Read on for more commission info, or check out the commissions carrd.

Instead of doing a flat overall number of slots, I've decided to set a number of slots available by color options. So, there are 4 sketches, 3 flat colors, 2 full shadings, and 1 color line art with full shading.

As it currently stands, I think 2 full shading and 1 color line art is the maximum of those types of commissions I can accept for the next few months, but this is subject to change. The sketch and flat color commissions, however, are easier to do, so when I finish one from those categories, a slot will be renewed. To see what slots are available, check the Ko-fi module, or see what's in the current commission queue.

Please read the rules and TOS closely! Mistakes happen and there is grace, but repeatedly crossing rules and boundaries (requesting blacklisted ships, content I stated I won't draw, using my art in commercial graphics without telling me, etc.) will result in my no longer doing business with you. I reserve the right to turn down any commission I'm not comfortable with, be it skill-wise or content-wise.

You can request a deadline earlier than 60 days through the Ko-fi module, and I will let you know if a deadline feels unrealistic (e.g. giving me 3 days to do a full shading with color line art piece, I would tell you I need at least a week, etc.) so that we can make a plan that works for both of us.

As I said earlier in the post, if you don't like my art or don't trust strangers on the internet to give money where they say they will, that's a-okay! Here are the GoFundMe campaigns that I will be donating to:

Medical/Disabled Line 9: Fadi and His Family

Medical/Disabled Line 11: Rezeq's Family Freedom

Medical/Disabled Line 13: Yousef, Omaya, and Family

Medical/Disabled Line 32: Haya, Mother, and Family

Prenatal/Postpartum Line 35: Khaleel, Hadeel, and Newborn

Prenatal/Postpartum Line 36: Yesmeen's Family

Prenatal/Postpartum Line 39: Alladaa Family

Prenatal/Postpartum Line 45: Fedaa and Children

Mutual Aid Line 3: Salam & Solidarity

Mutual Aid Line 6: Medical Tent

#aces art that sam ate #my art #fanart #disabled artist #queer artist #commissions #commission #commission art #art commisions #digital art commissions #commissions open #commissions for gaza #commissions for palestine #operation olive branch #mutual aid #commissions for mutual aid

[trills-n-clicks]

Capt. Medic Ila "Bruise" Woods

Mainly going by Bruise, but Ila by close friends, she's the Medic of TF Arach, and Captain Medic to other medics in the field.

NONE OF THIS INFORMATION IS OF ACTUAL PEOPLE, SOME DETAILS ARE TAKEN FROM MYSELF BUT IT IS NOT BASED ON ME!!!

TF Arach Masterlist

DOB: October 6th, 1990. [33 years old]

Relationships: ↓

Merils Woods- Husband <alive> {She took his last name}

Janiel "Jani" Woods- Daughter <alive>

Bucky Woods- Son <dead> {miscarriage :'(}

June Morial - Mother <alive>

Simon Morial- Father <dead>

Jack ////////-Uncle (Father's side) <alive>

//////// Bensick- Uncle (Mother's side) <alive>

Alice /////////- Aunt (Mother's side) <alive>

Lucy Morial- Sister <alive>

Quinn Potis- Sister <alive> {used to be married, partner died}

Evelyn "Vely" Morial- Sister <alive>

Ben Bensick- Cousin <alive>

Harold Morial- Cousin <alive>

Lilian ////////- Goddaughter <alive>

Physical details: ↓

Head: Blonde, ear length, relatively curly (2C-3A) hair. One green(left) and one with cataracts(right), round and medium-set eyes. Snub-like nose with a visible upturn. She has thick lips with a thicker upper lip and a circular, slightly chubby face shape.

Body: Ectomorph but slightly thicker, Kite(?) shape. Large bust small hips, she's got tig ol' bitties tho 😫(I'm a sucker for women like that)

Marks (scars, birthmarks, tattoos, missing limbs, etc.): Her abdomen has a tattoo all around it with flower designs. She has no birthmarks. She's got some scarring from a poison dart on her back from trying to escape a captor(it looks like a dark fluid spreading on her back), one from her hairline to her eye from stray shrapnel, resulted in cataracts and ~25% blindness in that eye. And frostbite scars across hands and calves from an incident..(ooh~~). Her missing limbs include her left pinky and ring fingers, and her right leg (mid-thigh and lower gone) from torture while held captive. She also has a tongue piercing.

Other (height & weight stuff, skintone, nationality, etc.): Her skintone is tan, lots of freckles cover her skin. She lives in Australia but has an origin in Las Almas, her parents and other family live there, she moved to Australia. She is 5'11" (1.79m) and weighs 188lbs (85.2 kg). She tends to wear 2000s type clothes, sports bras, torn or worn cargo pants, colourful jackets, etc, and she loves her crown-like jewelry, makes her feel pretty.

Personality details: ↓

She's an open Bisexual to friends but not family, she's on the romantic or sexual spectrum as polyamorous(her and her husband are ready to add a plus-1). She is a Demi-girl and struggles with gender dysphoria very occasionally. She finds nature-like colors like forest green or mushroom brown quite pretty but will not admit that if there's a cool psychedelic neon yellow shirt, she will try it on. Outside people describe her as loud, rude and annoying. People she knows well however, describe her as still loud, but just reserved and distant, quoting something I imagine one of them saying: "she's rude when you first meet her but she warms up quickly as soon as you know her name". She is an ambivert, she uses social interaction to avoid her mental health but sometimes shuts down and can't even leave her room (Arach has a hitch that something's wrong but hasn't caught on fully yet). She's got no sensory issues that are prominent. And She does have mental disorders, including PTSD (ofc), Speration anxiety and rhotacism (she has difficulties in pronouncing the letter r).

And Military info!: ↓

She joined in 2009 at 19 years old, and was transferred to be in the SNS 3 years after joining. She has skills in basic, and advanced medical aid including field operations, Undercover missions, close range combat and some long range, and hostage rescue. But she has difficulties in keeping her emotions in check when in the field, along with using drugs (like morphine or adrenaline bc of being poisoned in the past).

Basic picture using gacha (I use it to visualize what they will look like with color)

Pls don't mind the leg next to her arm 😭 I had to get rid of it somehow

And I will insert a photo I drew below (it will not have color)

I will add the picture as soon as I draw her.

I'm sorry if it's too long, read if you want but you really don't have to, she will be basically described in the fic.

#call of duty modern warfare #call of duty mwii #call of duty #call of duty oc #call of duty original character #cod mwii #cod mw2 #cod #cod oc art #cod ocs #cod original character #cod oc #mw2 #mw2 oc #mwii #mwii oc #Trill's OCs!

[kingkyle5]

Charlie from an AU that I'm not going to write! But I will info dump about it! Okay so first off the AU is called FNaF: Ties that bind, and it would've taken place in 2005. William Afton isn't the murder although he was framed by Charlotte. The reason she does the whole murder thing was to experiment with souls to find a way to bring her father back to life after he died from leukemia(It was going to be a different disease but I forgot what it was going to be) Charlie figured out that ghosts exist after getting continuous visions around Elizabeth and figuring out that she's a robot. So she forces her father to possess a Sonic jam disc she borrowed from Liz. In the game compilation he takes the form of sonics worst enemy, Dr. Robotnik! After playing Sonic 1 and figuring out her fathers spirit took this form she began targeting four collage kids from her campus who were once orphaned as children. With the help of her twin brother Sammy she killed and stuffed 3 of them into Toy Bonnie, Toy Chica, and Toy Foxy. However Andrew was a special case since Charlie didn't have access to Toy Freddy she put him in the Sonic Jam disc with her father. Creating a monster that would haunt her until she gave the disc back to Liz to which he then begins to haunt her, although after some talking Andrew calms down and joins his friends at Freddy's. after hearing their cries. Eventually Sammy begins to regret his actions and threatens to put both him and Charlie in prison. She responds to that threat by shooting him in the face. She stuffs his corpse into the Fredbear suit he used to preform in. Meanwhile, Elizabeth, her friend Cassidy, and her girlfriend Mary begin to solve the mystery of the disappearances and with the help of Sammy and Andrew the three of them confront Charlie and after a brief skirmish Elizabeth triggers the springlocks although this doesn't kill Charlotte it just traps her in the suit. She laughed as she reached for a hand crank only for Sammy to possess the suit and force the internals to implode on her. 6 years later Charlotte gets set on fire by Elizabeth at Fazbears fright. There were some other story elements that would've been included. Like Evan being manipulated by his father into thinking that his sister, older brother and mother abandoned him. Evan being forced into a rock band with his girlfriend Marla. He survives the bite in this au, it's less of a bite and more of a powerful electric shock that leaves one side of his face permanently disfigured. Cassidy has a twin sister that she's trying to track down for the whole story, her twin is part of Evans rock band. Evan has Paranoid Schizophrenia and Will refuses to get him therapy for it instead opting to constantly medicate him. Elizabeth was given a robot body built out of Circus baby after she was killed by her. Which she didn't know about until her father told her when she began to put the pieces together.

Reblogs are always appreciated!!!!

My commissions are open!!!!

#digital artwork #digital art #art #artist #pixel art #five nights at freddy's #five nights at candy's #mary schmidt #elizabeth afton #sonic.exe #charlie emily #fnaf au #cassidy fnaf

[sanvirtheobserver]

Taking Flight, An SMG4 Fanfic: Volume 3

Here we are with Volume 3 of Taking Flight. After the Ketch adventure, our crew finally decides to return home to lick their wounds, catch up with old friends, and make new ones on the way.

Also, I MIGHT be rebranding this soon. More info on that once I wrap up Volume 4.

..............................................................................................................................

Chapter 11: Tender Love And Care

It's a relatively calm day in the Castle as Karen tidys up. You see, SMG3 made a deal with Karen that Depresso would babysit her kids if she agreed to upkeep the Castle while the Gang was gone.

Karen: I wonder how Clownie is doing....... Eh, I'm sure he'll be fine.

So far it's been going well.......... for Karen. A quick cutaway gag reveals Depresso stuck to the wall with duct tape. Katie is the only one actually trying to help him while Zack is busy playing Call of Duty and Cory is just spinning around in place.

Karen had just fed BEEG SMG4 when she notices SMG3 coming in through the front door.

SMG3: Honey! We're home!

Karen: Oh, hi Three. How was your trip? You all make it back alive?

SMG3: Just barely. Speaking of which, is the guest room open?

Karen: Of course. Why do you ask?

We see Tari and Melony rushing in.

Melony: SMG3, we need that guest room. Tari, you get the medical supplies from the Storage room.

Tari: On it!

Karen: Woah woah woah, what's going - GASP!!!!

Karen is shocked to see Mario and SMG4 carrying a barely conscious and bloody Meggy.

Karen: CHRIST ALMIGHTY, WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED!?!?

SMG4: It's a long story.

Karen opens the guestroom and readies the bed as the three make their way in. They gently and carefully lay Meggy on the bed as Tari enters the room with an IV and some medical supplies.

Karen: Alright, set it up over here.

Back in the Main Hall, we see Whimpu and Melony going over Meggy's condition. Melony seems....... out of it. Everything is muffled and there's this ringing in her ears. She jumps when she feels Luigi touching her shoulder, snapping her out of her daze.

Luigi: Melony?

Melony: Oh, Luigi. It's just you.

Luigi: Is there something wrong?

Melony: Sorry, sorry. Zoned out for a bit there. It's just........ where do we even start?

Karen comes out of the guestroom to give an update.

Karen: I had Tari ready an IV for Meggy. That should help with the internal bleeding.

Luigi: I have more painkillers ready, and Mario is off to get some One-Ups from the garden.

Karen: Hold up! That much rapid healing with this many injuries could cause more complications. We don't wanna risk anything healing backwards or upside down.

Luigi: Oh. Okay.

Karen: We also need to dial back on the painkillers a bit until she's stable. She has a concussion, so we need to keep her awake for right now. Any more right now and she'll ABSOLUTELY black out.

Whimpu: You really do know your way around medicine.

Karen: You kinda have to when you're a single mom with four kids. Melony?

Melony: Hm?

Karen: I need you to hold her down while SMG4 realigns the bones and applies the sutures. Can you do that.

Melony: Yes ma'am.

Karen: Luigi, I need you to get the plaster ready for the casts.

Luigi: Okie Dokie.

Tari steps out while holding her left shoulder.

Tari: SMG4 is ready with the sutures.

Karen: Alright. I'm gonna look and see if anyone else needs some help.

Melony and Luigi go back into the Guest Room while Karen goes off to meet with SMG3. Saiko comes in and notices Tari headed for the bathroom. Once she's inside, Tari heads for the sink and takes a deep breath as she removes her jacket. The left side of her shirt is bloody. She winces as she removes her shirt and sees that her left shoulder is covered in burn marks that stretch across her chest and up her neck. That's when Saiko knocks on the door.

Saiko: You okay in there?

Tari opens the door a crack

Tari: Yeah I'm just getting changed.

Saiko: Tari....... I can see the blood. Let me help.

Now knowing she can't hide it, Tari reluctantly allows Saiko to enter. To say she was concerned about Tari's condition is an understatement.

Saiko: Jesus......

Tari: It's fine, really. I can handle it. You should be concerned about Meg-

Saiko suddenly pulls Tari into a hug, much to her surprise.

Saiko: I should've been there. I could've helped. I could've smashed that thing and kept it from taking you, I........ I'm sorry.

Tears begin to well up in Saiko's eyes. Seeing Tari hurt like this makes her wish that she had been there. Maybe things could've gone differently, maybe they wouldn't, but that doesn't matter right now to Tari. She gently wipes the tears from Saiko's face.

Tari: What matters is that you're here now.

Back in the Guest Room, Meggy is screaming her lungs out as Melony holds her still and SMG4 reinserts the last compound fracture. Mario holds her hand as tears stream down her face.

SMG4: And.........done!

Meggy: NGH.......AGH.......pant.......pant Okay.........Okay...........

Melony steps out of the way as SMG4 gets to work on the sutures. Meggy winces with every pull of thread.

Meggy: Hey Mario. You wanna play Super Smash Each Other In The Ass Bros after this?

Mario: Meggy, I don't think-

SMG4: No, that's good! Mario, keep her engaged while I finish up here.

While SMG4 finishes with the sutures as Meggy and Mario are talking, Melony's leans against the wall holding herself. Luigi comes in with a tub of casting plaster.

Luigi: Plaster is ready. You sure you don't want any painkillers?

Meggy: Yep. Doc said my brain is bleeding, remember?

Luigi: Whimpu never said that! He said you had a concussion!

Meggy: Eh, Tomato Miyamoto.

SMG4: That's not how it goes, but she's right. She needs to stay awake, and if she takes anything right now it could be lights out. Melony, I'm gonna need you to hold her still again...... Melony?....... MELONY.

Melony: Oh, right! On it.

She places her hands on Meggy as Luigi readies the plaster.

Meggy: Bring it on, doc!

Luigi: Okay, here it goes.

Kaizo is entering the Main Hall when he hears the screaming. Meggy tightens her grip on Mario's hand and Meggy's shoulder as Luigi applies the cast. Mario keeps trying to pep talk Meggy as Melony holds her.

Mario: It's okay Meggy! Just think about video games and Ramen!

Luigi: Keep her still, I think I got it!

Melony keeps mentally repeating "I can do this" as the noise gets louder, but even that's getting drowned out. Meggy's screaming, Mario and Luigi's yelling, the increasing grip pressure on her shoulder, it's beginning to overwhelm her. It's too much as her breathing gets faster and faster as she can hear her heart beating in her ears. That's when SMG4 gives her a light tap on the shoulder.

SMG4: Alright, Melony. You can-

It's too much. Without warning, she jumps back and backs herself against the wall, hyperventilating as she holds her head and begins to tear up.

SMG4: Melony?

Kaizo is caught off guard as Melony rushes out of the Guest Room, right past him, and straight into the Storage Room before shutting the door. Everybody is shocked, unsure what to make of what just happened as Kaizo enters the Guest Room.

Kaizo: So, um......... is the ginger still alive?

Meggy takes a deep breath as the pain subsides for a moment.

Meggy: Yeah........ I'm good.......... But I think Melony..........

Kaizo: I saw. I'll look into it. Also, the cat said that you should be good to start on painkillers again. Keep it to small doses, though.

Meggy: Yaaaaaaaaaaayyyy.

SMG4: Thank's, Kaizo. We have things covered here.

In the Storage Room we see Melony curled up into a ball and quietly sobbing in the corner as the door creeks open. She doesn't even acknowledge Kaizo standing right beside her.

Kaizo: Hey......... can you talk to me?

She shakes her head. Kaizo notices red splotches seeping out from under the clockwork armor. She's been wearing it since they had escaped the Ketch. He kneels down and keeps his voice low.

Kaizo: Look. I know I'm not too good with this whole "comfort" thing, but I can see that you're hurt. And I want to help.

She slowly meets his gaze.

Kaizo: So......... what do you need?

She waits a moment before signing "Take it off, slowly" before raising her arm to him.

Kaizo: Alright.

She winces as Kaizo gently removes the gauntlet, revealing a pattern of circuit shaped wounds underneath. The arm and armor are both covered in blood.

Kaizo: Damn........ is the rest of it like this?

She nods, signing "I wanted to make sure she was okay first". Kaizo takes a deep breath.

Kaizo: Alright......... let's get the rest of this junk off of you so you can wash off.

Tari and Saiko exit the bathroom, with Tari's arm and chest wrapped in bandages. They see Kaizo exiting the Storage Room with Melony, now bereft of that armor and covered with a blanket.

Tari: Melony?! Oh my God what happened?!

Kaizo: She........ had a bit of an emergency. Don't worry, it's all under control now.

Melony signs "he actually helped out a lot" with a smile.

Tari: Is there anything we can do to help?

Kaizo: Yeah. Is the Bath Room open? Because she is in desperate need of a bath.

Tari: Sure thing! C'mon Melony, let's get you cleaned up.

Melony signs "thank you" to Kaizo as Tari escorts her to the Bath Room. He notices Saiko smiling too.

Kaizo: What?

Saiko: Nothing. C'mon, let's go check in on Meggy.

They both head over to the Guest Room. Judging by the lack of screaming, they're done with applying the casts. They've also started on painkillers judging by the copious amounts of giggling. In the room we see Mario sitting beside her on the bed, letting her rest her head on his shoulder while they watch meme compilations on his phone. We see Karen and SMG3 talking with SMG4 and Luigi, with Karen handing SMG4 a jar of green liquid.

Karen: This is a diluted extract from the One-Ups Mario gathered. Put an ounce of this in her IV once per day and once per night. If all goes well, she'll be back on her feet in two weeks.

SMG4: Understood.

Kaizo and Saiko enter the room.

Saiko: Everybody still alive?

Luigi: Alive and well! Say, where's Tari and Melony.

Saiko: Kaizo helped Melony out with her armor and Tari is helping her clean up.

Saiko didn't say it directly, but she was proud of Kaizo. Those kindness lessons were really paying off.

Kaizo: How's the shortstack?

Karen: Well, we got everything patched up the best we can for right now. I'm having someone come over to help monitor. I gotta head back home and make sure my kids haven't killed Mr. Depresso.

SMG3: Thanks for everything, Karen. We all owe you one.

As Melony steps out of the shower and Tari helps dry her off, a knocking on the front door can me heard. They head over to the front door and Tari is surprised to see.........

Tari: Whisk!?

Whisk: Hey guys. My mom called and said you needed some help.

Tari excitedly welcomes her inside. We zoom out from the Castle as Whisk is introduced to the rest of the gang.

Tari: Guys, look!

Karen: Hey Whisky, glad you could make it.

Luigi: Whisky?

Whisk: Mom, I told you not to call me that in front of others!

Meggy: MOM!?

Karen: Oh, so you've met my daughter.

Tari: Wait, Whisk is your daughter?

Meggy: Karen's your mom!?

Mario: And I'm-a Mario!

SMG4: MARIO!

This goes on for the rest of the night.

Chapter 12: Chillin' Out

It's a cool spring night over at the Showgrounds. Peering through the Game Room window we see Tari, Saiko, Melony, Meggy, Belle, and Whisk all sitting on and around the couch watching a new movie called "Midwest Angelica" on the TV. Now, you'd think that after facing LITERAL GODS that they'd be numb to this kind of horror, and you'd be right.

Whisk: EEEEP!!!!

Not for Whisk, though. The first creature sighting has her vaulting over and behind the couch, much to Belle's amusement.

Belle: Whats the matter? CAT got your tongue?

Meggy: Be easy on her. You alright Whisk?

Whisk's head pops up from behind the couch.

Whisk: Y-yeah. I'm g-g-good.

Tari: Guys, maybe we should watch something else.

Whisk: No, really! It's fine. It's fine it's fine it's fine. I'm just gonna be...... back here for a bit. Heheh......

Meanwhile, we see Bob and Boopkins plotting something over in the Storage Room with a variety of cheap Halloween junk.

Boopkins: Bob, are you sure this is a good idea?

Bob: Oh come on, Boopkins! One does not simply see a bunch of girls having a sleepover without messing with them a little.

He digs into the pile and picks out a ghost costume for Boopkins and a creepy mask for himself.

Bob: Showtime.

They very quietly make their way into the Gaming Room while the girls are distracted, with Whisk all bundled up in a blanket burrito on the floor between Belle and Melony. Another jumpscare makes her flinch, but she manages to stay in place this time.

Melony: See? Nothing to be afraid of.

Whisk: Y-Yeah.......Yeah, you're right. It's just a scary movie is all. It's not real, and it can't hurt me.

That's when Boopkins makes his move, stumbling out of the shadows as he makes the scariest noises he can possibly make. It's not very effective, but it does make for an effective distraction as Bob catches them off-guard.

Bob: OOGILY BOOGILY BITCH.

That's enough to make both Whisk AND Boopkins scatter. Bob laughs his ass off, having successfully completed his mission.

Saiko: WHAT THE HELL!?

Bob: Holy shit, did you see that!? I sent her flying! Thanks for the assist, Boopkins. Boopkins? Boopkins where are you?

He looks behind the couch and sees them both holding each other in sheer terror.

Boopkins: trembling Oooooooohh maaaaaan.

Bob: Oh, damn. I'm a lot better at this than I thought.

Meggy may still be a week away from recovery, but that doesn't stop her from punting Bob out the window and into the dumpster. A faint "ow my ovaries" can be heard in the distance as Tari sits beside Whisk to comfort her.

Tari: I'm sorry about Bob. He can be....... troublesome, when he wants to be.

Whisk: I-it's okay. Hey...... can we put on some MyStreet?

Tari: Of course.

Over at the Café, we see SMG3 and SMG4 having their own little get-together with their old friends.

SMG4: I'm glad you guys could come over.

Remember when I mentioned X and FM getting new designs all the way back in Food Wars 2? Well, now they're right here and I finally get to describe them to you! X is around the same height and build as Whimpu. He wears a Turquoise hoodless jacket and Beanie, a dark green scarf and sweatpants, and a pair of glasses.

X: It's good to be here, Four. As for FM, he's as tall as Ganondorf and ABSOLUTELY jacked with a gorgeous blonde mustache and mullet. He wears a red skullcap and plad shirt, a black leather vest, some scuffed-up jeans, and a pink and blue friendship bracelet.

FM: Hey Three! I saw your new ride and I gotta say she is BEAUTIFUL.

SMG3 gives a clearly forced smile, silently grinding his teeth into powder as he prepares some coffe for the four of them. Looks like he's still not over the whole "abs" thing. SMG4 and X take a seat.

X: So, I see you guys got yourself a new place.

SMG4: Yeah. Things were a little crazy for a while, but we eventually managed to carve out our own little slice of paradise.

X: And judging by the ship, you've been on quite the adventure lately.

SMG4: Yeah.......... Hey, can you take a look at something for me?

X: Sure.

SMG4 pulls out a small device and places it at the table. It's the same one that stranger placed on Melony to drive her crazy. X picks it up and carefully examines the design.

X: Hmm.........looks like a piece of Xelor tech.

SMG4: Xelor?

X: Time magi. They're followers of Xelor, the God of Time in the World of Twelve. I've rarely seen them on Earth though. Where did you get this?

SMG4: It's a long story.

Back in the Castle, we see Boopkins and the girls are fast asleep in the Guest Room. Meggy, Whisk, and Boopkins have taken the dog bed, Tari and Saiko have taken the casino bed, Belle has taken the chair, and Melony just brought her own mattress........ but she doesn't seem to be resting as easily as the others. Taking a look within her dream, we see she's back aboard the Ketch, once again clad in that Clockwork Armor. All her friends lay dead around her as she holds a wounded Tari by the throat.

Tari: Melony........ please........

Melony wanted to stop, but she had no control over her own body. She could only watch as her blade pierced Tari's heart. Tari gave one last teary gaze, her heartbeat growing slower and softer as the light faded from her eyes until....... nothing. Melony was in silent anguish as she dropped Tari's lifeless body to the ground. A figure emerges from the shadows. It is the Stranger, the one who had turned her body into a weapon she could no longer control. He placed his hand on her shoulder, and a single phrase echoed within her skull......

?????: Good work, my puppet.

Melony awoke from her nightmare in a cold sweat, her distressed breathing rousing Boopkins from his slumber.

Boopkins: Mh.......huh? Melony?

Melony didn't respond, her eyes damp with tears as she held her legs. Boopkins hops down from the bed and walks over to her matress.

Boopkins: Are you okay? You look scared.

Melony looks to Boopkins, slowly regaining her composure as she wipes the tears from her eyes.

Melony: Y-yeah....... I just..... had a bad dream. Sorry for waking you up.

Boopkins: It's okay.

Boopkins hops onto the mattress and gives Melony a hug.

Boopkins: I'll go get you a glass of water?

Melony: Yeah...... yeah I think I could use that. Thanks.

Back in the Café, we see FM trying to make some small talk with an unamused SMG3.

FM: Anyways, we decided that Alex and Derrick would handle fireworks for new years. Like, what's the worst that could happen, right? Not FIVE SECONDS later we see Derrick is missing a hand and Alex has third degree burns on roughly ninety percent of his body.

Meanwhile, SMG4 had just finished regailing the tale of their Ketch adventure and the not-so-pleasant aftermath to X, who is tinkering with the Xelor device.

X: Yikes. I had heard that Xelor Armigers weren't the most pleasant to use but....... mind control? That's a whole new level of scuffed. Poor girl must've been mortified.

SMG4: Yeah. That guy was a MENACE. Pretty sure we'd all be dead if it wasn't for Tari coming in with the clutch.

X: Speaking of which, has she figured out the whole "ancient heritage" thing yet?

SMG4: Not yet. To be honest, we've all been taking our time getting back into the swing of things.

X: I don't blame you.

SMG4 gets up from his seat and does a stretch before heading for the door.

SMG4: Anyways, I've gotta get some shut eye. I have one hell of a meme backlog to get through tomorrow.

X: Well, before you go........

He tosses the Xelor device back to SMG4.

X: I modified the device into a temporal anchor. It should come in handy in case you see that Xelor again.

SMG4: Oh thanks, X.

X just shrugs with a grin.

X: Anything for a friend.

We close out the night with SMG4 heading back to the castle. He checks the Guest Room and sees everybody fast asleep, with Melony and Boopkins now peacefully snuggling on the mattress. SMG4 smiles as he heads to his room and calls it a night.

Over at Mushroom City, we see Wario and Waluigi rummaging through the dumpster for valuables. So far they've made quite the haul as Waluigi finds a vintage lighter and tests it our by lighting a cigarette.

Waluigi: I know a few folks who would pay quite the coin for this.

Wario: That's child's play. Check this out!

Wario manages to haul out a broken motorbike.

Wario: I've meet meaning to get myself a new ride, wahaha!

They both share a laugh about their finds, but fall silent after noticing someone else in the alleyway, his piercing red eyes set on the brothers. Wario pulls out a gun and Waluigi pulls out a bat as they both approach the figure.

Wario: This is our haul, wise guy!

Waluigi: Yeah, go steal someone else's junk!

The figure says nothing. He merely holds out his bandaged gauntlet and presents two gear shaped devices to the brothers.

Chapter 13: Lunchtime Tussle

It's a beautiful day in Mushroom City as Meggy, Whisk, Melony, and Tari are over at Peppino's Pizza for lunch. Unsurprisingly enough, Mario and Luigi are already there, with Mario getting started on his fifth Spaghetti Supreme. Something tells me Luigi isn't gonna be happy with the bill.

Whisk: Does he........ normally eat that much?

Luigi: Not really. Usually he'd be on his tenth by now.

Whisk: That....... can't be healthy. Have you tried getting him on an exercise plan?

Meggy: It's not impossible, but......it usually ends in disaster.

Clench: He turned into King Kong at one point. Climbed a skyscraper and everything.

Peppino comes out of the kitchen with the girls' order and a timid smile on his face.

Peppino: One Surf n' Turf Stromboli and a side of Garlic Knots. Enjoy!

Meggy: Thanks, Peppino.

He nervously watches as Whisk takes her first bite, knowing how crucial a first impression is when it comes to first-time customers. Luckily for him, Whisk is more than impressed.

Whisk: WOW! This is amazing.

Peppino breaths a sigh of relief. Another satisfied customer.

Peppino: It's a pleasure doing business with you.

He heads back into the kitchen for Mario's 6th Spaghetti Supreme as Whisk goes ham on the Stromboli.

Tari: Hey Melony, wanna see what I've been practicing?

Melony: Sure.

She holds out her hands and focuses, creating a small hollow bubble of blue light.

Whisk: WOAH. How are you doing that?

Tari: I've been practicing my barrier projection. I've got the basics down........

She tries to expand the bubble as much as she can, getting it to around the size of a volleyball before it pops.

Tari: ........I just need to work on my focus. I haven't gotten a chance to train since the incident on that Ketch.

Meggy: Speaking of which, did we ever figure out who the Captain was?

Tari: I mean, even with all the other factions on board, it was predominantly a Ketch, and even the Grineer and Corpus had those black Fallen banners. The captain could've been the Kell of whatever House those Fallen belonged to.

Melony: Well........I have a theory.......

She thinks back to that Xelor that attacked them on the bridge. If they were to place bets on who the Captain of that Ketch was, her money's on him. But her train of thought is interrupted when they hear a rumble coming from outside. Mario and Luigi also take notice of the rumbling, which was then followed by police sirens. They look outside to see a circle of police cars led by Mr. Monitor surrounding a local pawn shop. Even the military is getting involved as Chris and Swag come riding in on a UNSC Falcon. We pan over to see a pair of armor clad individuals. One is short and stocky, with barrel like arms tipped with mechanical bronze claws and a gear shaped signet on his chest. The other is tall and lanky, with an arm mounted crossbow, a quiver on his back, and a similar signet on his right shoulder. Both are carrying sacks filled with various items from the now wrecked pawn shop.

Swag: KIDS GONNA DIE TONIGHT!

Chris: This is Babygirl to Mamamia. Targets are in sight.

Hal: I read you, Babygirl. Keep those guns on standby. ATTENTION, FELONS. WE HAVE YOU SURROUNDED. STAND DOWN AND YOU WILL NOT BE HARMED.

The Stocky one replies by launching his fist like a wrecking ball, sending Hal and several cop cars flying across the street. Swag opens fire with the Falcon's mounted machine gun to little effect. The Lanky one retaliates with a precise explosive bolt to one of the Falcon's engines, causing it to crash. Chris busts out of the cockpit as Lanky hops on top of the wreckage and pulls Swag out of the passenger bay, holding him up by the throat as Lanky aims for his chest.

Swag: You fool, do you really think you can best Swagmaster6969696969? I'll have you know I served as one of the generals of the Anime Secret Service and lead the charge towards dismantling the Anime Cartel. I know over 200 ways to kill a man with my bare hands alone and blew up a small Malaysian Island by sheer accident, so you can imagine the kind of carnage I can do Intenionally. You could've lived a happy life if you hadn't crossed me, and now I will reign hell upon you until you are nothing more than a blood stain and a memory.

Chris: Can you please just kill him and get it over with?

But just before Lanky can do just that, we see Melony come in and dropkick him off the wreckage before catching Swag all superhero style as Tari tags in with her glaive drawn. They both get ready to face off against their assailants.

Melony: That armor........ this must be the work of that guy from the Ketch.

Tari: Then we need to aim for the signets.

Swag: Alright ladies, it's time to kick some HOLY SHIT IS THAT A SURF N' TURF STROMBOLI!?!?

He rushes by Meggy and Whisk as he heads straight into the restaurant, much to Chris's bemusement. I guess that Stromboli must be one hell of a hit. Stocky hands his sack over to Lanky and charges forward. Lanky makes a break for it with the loot while Stocky battles Tari and Melony. Meggy readies her bowgun to give chase.

Whisk: Meggy, wait! You're in no condition to fight! You're not fully healed!

Meggy: It's fine. I just need one clean shot.

Suddenly, we see a truck roll in with Chris behind the wheel.

Chris: I drive, you shoot.

Meggy and Whisk hop aboard and the three give chase. Lanky notices the truck and opens fire. Chris swerves to avoid the incoming bolts as Meggy returns fire, trying her best to land a hit on the signet on Lanky's shoulder.

Meggy: Keep it straight, Chris!

Chris: I'm giving it all she's got! What the hell is this guy on?!

Meggy eventually manages to land a hit on one of Lanky's hands, causing him to drop one of the loot sacks which crashes through the truck's windshield. The truck serves out of control before crashing into a nearby flower shop, with Meggy flying head first into a bed of roses. A mercifully soft landing, apart from the thorns. Whisk's allergies start acting up as the airbag goes off right in Chris's face.

Chris: I don't get paid enough for this.

Back with Melony and Tari, we see Stocky giving them both no quarter. He easily tanks their ranged attacks while also constantly evading and deflecting their melee attacks, whipping his chained fists around like morningstars. Melony would've activated her Deity Mode by now if it wasn't for that nightmare interrupting her sleep last night.

Melony: Dammit....... he's gonna wear us both down at this rate.

It was then that Mario comes out of the restaurant, which gives Tari an idea. She goads Stocky into using a grappling attack, launching his claw right at her. Tari dodges and allows Mario to be grabbed instead. Since Mario had just eaten ten Spaghetti Supremes, Stocky has trouble moving Mario due to how heavy he is. He isn't even aware of what's happening. This gives Tari and Melony the opening they need. Charging up her sword, Melony lands a powerful strike on Stocky that sends him flying upward. Tari intercepts from above, landing a clean strike on the signet on his chest, splitting it in half as he crashes down into the pavement. When the dust settles, we see Stocky lying in a crater with his armor shattered. His helmet falls off and the girls are shocked to see that it's actually..........

Tari: Wario!?

Wario: It's hot....... in Topeka....... eeegh.

The gang meets back up in Peppino's restaurant. Luigi is paying off some tabs, Meggy is still prying thorns out of her hair, Whisk is recovering from her allergies, and Chris is busy interrogating Wario.

Chris: Alright you big yellow son of a bitch. You have T-minus 30 seconds to start talking.

Wario: And what if I don't? You gonna court marshall me? Send me to the big house? I'll have you know that I am a pretty tough nut to crack.

Swag comes in with a massive bladed weapon labeled "Neutertron 9000". One flick of the switch electrifies the blade, causing it to glow red hot and spin around at hypersonic speed.

Swag: You were saying?

Chris: You have two options Wario. Either you tell us now and we'll let you off with prison time and parole, or you can let my friend here test out the latest and greatest in surgical hardware on your eggroll. What will it be?

Judging by the abject look of horror on Wario's face and his desire to keep his family jewels, he gives in.

Wario: Alright, alright! Me and Waluigi were dumpster diving the other night when this mummy looking guy came up to us.

Melony's eyes widened in shock.

Wario: He gave us these gear broach thingies. We tried them on and........

He falls silent for a moment.

Wario: .........The power was amazing, but it felt like being crammed into an iron maiden full of tazers. Everything was too bright, too loud, and the only thing I could understand was this......voice guiding me. It was awful, like I was a tormented animal on a leash. I wasn't in control at all.

Tari looked over to Melony, who was still processing what Wario had told them. She felt the exact same way when that stranger placed the signet over her eye..... and turned her against her friends.

Melony: So it really was him........... and the guy with the Crossbow must've been.........

Tari: Waluigi..........But what would he want with a bunch of pawn shop knick knacks?

They look over to the sack, and we transition to another scene in a warehouse. We now see the Xelor stranger approaching the bag brought to him by Waluigi. He carefully opens the bag to verify its contents, before presenting it to a figure in the shadows.

??????: I heard you ran into a bit of a snag, Rhode. Did you not intend to deliver more?

The Xelor finally speaks. His voice was raspy and faint.

Rhode: Apologies, captain..........we were intercepted by......... her compatriots.

??????: I see.......

A large metal talon reaches into the bag, rummaging through its contents as a pair of gold glowing eyes peer out from the darkness.

??????: Still, you did manage to pull off a decent haul. We are still one step closer to our destination.

He pulls out what looks to be a blue stained glass dodecahedron etched with odd symbols.

??????: And one step closer to the gate.

Taking Flight, Chapter 14: New Neighbors

It's another fine day at the Showgrounds as Meggy and Melony eagerly watch Tari practice her barrier projection. So far, she's managed to create a dome she can fit in.

Meggy: Alright Melony, you're up.

Melony hacks away at the dome with her sword. Tari's shield seems to be holding up so far.

Clench: Keep it up, Tari. Keep it up.

Melony kicks it up a notch with some energy blasts. Tari winces as small cracks begin to appear on the barrier. Melony then switches to her Deity Mode and readies a charged strike, but Tari falls to her knees and the dome dissipates. Melony powers down and goes to check on an exhausted Tari.

Tari: huff..........huff.......... How long was that one?

Meggy: Two and a half minutes. A new record!

Tari: Great....... anyways I cough cough ..........sigh.........

Melony: Yeah, I think that's enough for right now.

Tari rolls onto her back.

Tari: No, no, it's fine......... I just need to take a breather is all.........

Clench: And maybe an Advil or two.

SMG4: So, what do you think so far?

The girls turn to see SMG4 with......... someone new. He's an odd looking fellow, wearing a deep blue suit adorned with hearts, clubs, spades, and diamonds. He also has a lavender scarf with what looks to be a golden "bowtie" in the shape of a pair of wings. His head is a free floating ball with a mouth, and he wears a fedora with a golden band around the head.

?????: It's a rather lovely place. Quite roomy, too. It almost reminds me of my brother's place.

Meggy: Uh......SMG4?

SMG4: Oh, hey guys! This is Aybel, one of our new tenants.

Aybel: A good noon to you.

SMG4: He's gonna be running our new guest house.

Melony: Guest house?

SMG4: Yeah, something to keep things fresh around here. Me and Three have been in talks to get some more traffic flowing here in the Showgrounds, and he suggested we open up a place for guests to stay long term.

Tari: Now that you mention it, Three did say that things have been a bit slow here for his business.

Meggy: That's all good but........ why didn't you run this by us first?

SMG4: What do you mean? I've been sending you guys texts and emails all week.

Meggy: You mean the same things you use to spam us with memes?

SMG4: Well........

While Meggy and SMG4 sort things out, Aybel hovers over to Tari and Melony. Tari gets back on her feet to greet their newest arrival.

Tari: It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Aybel. I'm Tari.

Aybel: The pleasure is all mine Ms. Tari. And you must be Melony Greenhorne, I presume.

Melony: You know me?

Aybel: One of my brother's associates told me about these "mangas" of yours. She's quite a fan of your works.

Melony: Oh, wow! Well, make sure to send her my thanks the next time you see her.

Aybel: Actually, you may be able to do so yourself. She's gonna be a patron at the guest house.

Tari: Wait, you already have people lined up?

Aybel: Of course. They'll be here by sundown, so if you'll excuse me........

SMG4 and Meggy meet back up with the others as Aybel hovers over to an open plot of land.

Aybel: .......I must get to work.

And so he did. Motes of light fly from his fingertips and dance to his every gesture. He uses their light to draw perimeter within the plot, sculpting intricate patterns of doors and windows within a 5-layer octagonal frame. When the outline is done, the most fly together to create a single ball of light above the construct. Aybel snaps his fingers and BOOM! In a flash the structure becomes a red and yellow building with a tent-like top, the windows embroidered with a golden trim. An ornate arch adorns the entrance, ordained with a round plaque depicting Aybel's "bowtie". The Crew is awestruck.

Our Guest House is complete.

Aybel takes off his hat and out comes a small floating bubble with beady black eyes and a formittable set of razor sharp teeth.

Aybel: Bubble, could you be a dear and help me get the rooms ready?

Bubble: Gotcha!

The crew comes inside to see the main lounge. In the center we have the lounging area with 4 couches and TVs with various amenities such as video games. To the left we have the kitchen, to the right we have the bathrooms and storage, and in the back we have a stairway that leads to the upper floors.

Aybel: Good to see things are in order down here.

Tari: I gotta say, you have quite the setup here.

There's a knocking at the front door. It seems as though some of the patrons have arrived earlier than expected.

Aybel: When it comes to ensuring the safety and comfort of those under my care, I spare no expense.

He opens the door to great three new arrivals: A ragdoll with red curly hair and a button eye, a tall purple rabbit man with a flannel shirt and overalls, and an anxiously pale little jester with red and blue dimples and candy shaped eyes.

Aybel: Oh, Ragatha! I'm surprised to see you here so soon.

Ragatha: It's like you always said, hesitation is defeat.

Aybel: SMG4, this is Ragatha. She's a prized pupil of mine. The rabbit and the jester are her entourage, Jax and Pomni.

Jax immediately heads for the nearest couch before Ragatha snags him by the ear.

Ragatha: Jax....... these are our hosts here. Why don't you introduce yourself?

Jax: Alright alright! Jeez...... Sup guys, my name is Jax. It's a pleasure to be here.

Somewhat satisfied, Ragatha releases Jax and allows him to laze about on the couch.

Ragatha: At least take your bags to your room before you start being a lazy ass.

Jax: Hey, we walked for 30 miles! As far as I'm concerned we earned this.

Pomni: I'm really sorry about him. He can be......... insufferable at times.

Meggy: It's alright. My friend Mario can be like that too sometimes, so I'm kinda used to it.

Tari goes over to grab Jax's bags and heads upstairs with Ragatha and Pomni. We see three floors of rooms connected by a central spiral staircase.

Ragatha: Just place his bags outside of room nine.

Tari: Will do!

Tari heads up the staircase to room nine as instructed, placing Jax's luggage outside the door. She also can't help but feel........ curious about some of their new tenants.

Tari: So....... what brings you guys to the showgrounds

Ragatha: Well........ there was a bit of an "incident" over at our workplace, so Aybel convinced our boss to let us stay somewhere else. It's a bunch of responsible businesses stuff.

Tari: What exactly IS your "business"?

Pomni: We're a performance troop called the Circus. Well, less of a Circus and more of a.........makeshift community for lost souls. That's how Caine puts it at least.

Tari: Lost souls?

Ragatha: Yeah. Sometimes a soul gets lost and ends up becoming....... something else. Jax became a rabbit, Pomni became a jester, and I became a ragdoll. It can be a bit jarring at first, having only fragments of who you used to be. And sometimes even those get lost if you're not careful enough........ and you only have so long to find them again until you go crazy, which is when things start to get....... REALLY bad..........

She falls silent for a moment. Pomni goes over to Ragatha and holds her hand. Ragatha gives Pomni a reassuring smile.

Ragatha: So, yeah. The Circus provides us with a home, good work, and plenty of things to do so we don't start going crazy. It's a decent gig, all things considered.

Ragatha and Pomni retreat into their rooms, leaving Tari to contemplate Ragatha's words for a moment. She can't help but think back to the days where she'd be drifting around, living off of prize money from video game tournaments. Then came that day at the mall, when she first met Mario. In a way, she was a lost soul herself until she joined SMG4's crew. You could say that makes her a Carnie herself.

And with all things considered, she wouldn't have it any other way.

Chapter 15: Abstract Thinking

It's a full moon out tonight on the Showgrounds as more arrivals have come to the Guest House. First up we have Gangle, a ghostlike shadow figure covered head to toe in bandage like ribbons. A pair of white glowing eyes peer from behind a porcelain mask. Sitting next to her was Zooble, who looks somewhat human apart from the fact that their body is divided into various mismatched shapes, sizes, and colors. Their hair is basically a bunch of green triangles. Lastly we have Kinger, a walking white king chess piece with a white beard a pair of floating eyeballs, and two completely detatched floating hands. He wears a red velvet cloak and bears a scepter witn a queen's crown. He's also busy hiding in a pillow fort because he might be a little nuts. We see Tari coming in with a tray of lemonade.

Tari: So, how has your first day been?

Zooble and Gangle take their glasses.

Gangle: It's been really nice so far. Thank you.

Zooble: Yeah, it's good to be out under an actual sun for once......... no offense to Sunny, of course.

Tari walks up to kinger to give him his lemonade.

Kinger: Oh, thank you!

His hand pops out of the fort and grabs the glass before slinking back in. Tari just starts pacing around after that, clearly curious about something.

Zooble: Got something on your mind, kid?

Tari: Oh, well........... I was a bit curious about Aybel and this brother he keeps bringing up.

Gangle: Oh....... Aybel is very kind....... and.........

Yeah, she's not normally one for conversations. Zooble places a hand on her shoulder.

Zooble: They're the "ringleaders" of this little troop of ours. Aybel handles the logistics, and Caine does his best to keep us from losing our minds.

Kinger: He's also VERY showboaty. Like, a REAL showman. He's always so full of energy, and he loves to plan adventures and activities for us when we aren't out doing temp jobs.

Tari: Temp jobs?

Kinger: Yeah. When it comes to lost souls, the line between the mind and the body is practically nonexistent. As messed up as we are, our sanity is what gives us some semblance of control over ourselves. That's why Caine and Aybel do their best to keep us sane. Aybel thinks that doing normal people jobs will help us feel more "human," and Caine sometimes has us go on an adventure to keep our minds healthy and stimulated.

Tari can't help but think back to what Ragatha said earlier, about out how losing your mind can cause bad things to happen.

Tari: So........Your physical forms are tied to your mental state, so you need to maintain your sanity to maintain your body.

Zooble: That's pretty much the jist of it.

Tari: So.......hypothetically speaking...... if a lost soul DID lose their sanity, then they would cease to exist?

Zooble: Well........Not exactly.

The trio exchanges glances at one another.

Zooble: Let's just say its......... not a good time......... For anyone.

Tari: Oh........um....... okay. Sorry for......

Zooble: It's fine. Look. If anything goes wrong, we'll give you a call. Alright?

Tari nods. She takes the hint and decides not to push the topic further as she takes her leave. An awkward silence fills the room after her departure.

Kinger: Did someone mention an insect collection?

We later see Tari flying above the treeline. She can't help but feel awful about that conversation.

Clench: Look on the brightside! Zooble and Kinger were still nice about it, so it's not like you screwed up TOO badly.

Tari remains silent. She can't help but feel like she messed up as a hostess by overstepping on what was evidently a sensitive topic. Maybe she should wait a bit longer before bringing that up again. She should also watch out for that lance flying towards her.

Tari: Huh? WAAAH!

Tari narrowly dodges the lance. She frantically tries to trace it back to its source right as another whizzes towards her. She brings up a small barrier, but it pierces through and stops a mere armhair's length from her eye. She also sees its not a lance. It's a sharpened candy cane. She dives down into the trees, stows her wings and draws her glaive in case things get up close and personal.

????????: You're a daring little duckling, aren't you.

She spins around to meet her assailant: a princess, dawned in a royal dress embroidered with sprinkle patterns and a crest depicting a piece of hard candy adorned with a crown. She had the face of a swirling orange jawbreaker, and a small crown rested upon a head of red orange slice shaped hair. A bright orange gem sat on her chest.

Tari: Look...... I'm sorry I intruded on whatever you were doing. I did not come here looking for a fight.

????????: Of course you didn't. No one would bring a glowing pair of wings on a stealth mission, especially at night time.

Tari: Of course! This was just all a huge misunderstanding. So let's just-

Tari's words are cut off with a swift kick to the gut, sending her barreling back. The princess then draws a swirling peppermint lance from her gem as Tari tries to get back on her feet.

????????: Of course........ it would be rude of me to not finish a fight I started. Nothing personal, just basic warrior's etiquette.

She rushes forward again, more than prepared to drive that lance through Tari's heart........ but is stopped when her lance meets a pair of cleavers wielded by a familiar ragdoll.

Ragatha: What the hell do you think you're doing?

????????: Oh come on, Ragatha. You know how banefully boring a patrol can be. What's the matter with letting off some steam?

Ragatha: She's with me. And she has nothing to do with this. Now stand down.

????????: And you think you can take me on?

Ragatha: No........ but Aybel might. Especially when he finds out you abandoned your patrol in an area where there's a primeval on the loose.

Tari is shocked to even see Ragatha of all people here, and confused as to what this woman has to do with her.

Ragatha: I'm giving you a choice here. Either we keep up this fight and Aybel finds out you abandoned your duties to "let off steam", or you can stay your weapon and save your murder boner for the primeval.

The air is tense and still as the two stare each other down.

Ragatha: What's it gonna be?

With a sigh, the princess relents and stays her weapon.

Saturday: You're no fun. It's not like I was gonna kill her anyways.

Ragatha: Yeah....... right.

Ragatha stows her cleavers and helps Tari to her feet.

Ragatha: I am so sorry about this. She can be a bit......... trigger happy, sometimes.

Tari: It's okay, but......... could you please explain to me what's going on here?

????????: I am Loolilalu of house Bonbon, heir to the throne of Sugar Canyon.

Ragatha: We just call her Saturday.

Tari: Well, it's nice to meet you, Miss Saturday.

Saturday only replies with a scoff and a roll of her eyes. A bit of a brat, as you can see.

Ragatha: So...... why are you out here, anyways?

Tari: I was just heading home for the night until your friend ambushed me. How about you?

Their little meet and greet is interrupted by a distorted shriek from the woods.

Ragatha: ........That's why.

Saturday: I'll tell you what. You can either fly back to your little nest and forget tonight ever happened, or you can make yourself useful and see how deep this rabbit hole goes. I personally don't care which.

Saturday then rushes off in the direction of the shrieking with Ragatha following close behind, leaving Tari to contemplate her next move.

Clench: I don't know about you.......... but I'd like to show that bitch just how "useful" we can be.

Tari gives a confident smirk as she spreads her wings and flies off after the two.

#smg4 #smg4 au #smg4 fanfic #tadc #Nexus!AU

[elliepassmore]

The Tainted Cup review

5/5 stars Recommended if you like: fantasy, sci-fi, greenpunk, murder mysteries, powers, disability rep

Big thanks to Netgalley, Del Rey, and the author for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

To start, I'll say I'm not sure whether to classify this book as fantasy or sci-fi since I feel it has elements of both. The world the book is set in is 'greenpunk,' with buildings grown from plants and things like AC from mushrooms, and the characters have powers augmented through some kind of medical procedure. At the same time though, there are leviathans that rise from the ocean depths and threaten the empire. The genre isn't really important, but I will say it isn't super clear-cut and think it could fit easily into both sci-fi and fantasy.

The world in the book is super interesting. As mentioned, the buildings are largely grown from plants, with some more plant-like than others. A lot of the buildings have fernpaper walls, which serve well to keep out the humidity and don't mold, while also being sturdy enough to stand and not too heavy in the case of an earthquake. A couple of buildings are made from a different plant that can be grown in any shape, allowing for a more personalized architecture. Plants are pretty central to life in the book, and are used for additional things like AC, vaccination, medical treatments, and human augmentation. I love all the plant stuff and think the focus on 'green' things is a really interesting worldbuilding piece that isn't used nearly often enough. We get a good background on how the greenery works without going too in-depth, though I honestly could read an encyclopedia on this world and be happy.

In terms of the augmentation, there's a breakdown of the different augments people can have, with grafts being temporary and more for things like increased immunity in humans or faster growing in plants, while suffusions are permanent and change a lot more about a person/plant. If someone is employed by the empire and has a suffusion they're called a Sublime, with Sublimes categorized into how their suffusion works (axioms are good w/ numbers, linguas are good w/ languages, spatiasts are good w/ spatial relations, engravers who memorize everything, cracklers who are superhumanly strong, etc.). It was really interesting to read about the suffusions and the different Sublimes, and I really enjoyed the background info we get on the augmentations. I also thought it was pretty cool how the augmentations seem to be everywhere, including to help plants do different things and to help medications and vaccines be produced against the wide range of issues people might come across.

While this is a SFF story, the bulk of it is the murder mystery. It's twisty and deliberate, but at the same time has moments when it's very fun. Ana reminds me at times of Benoit Blanc from Knives Out and I really enjoyed her method to solving mysteries. There's a good mix of humor and seriousness here, and I think Bennett struck a good balance between the two.

Din is a Sublime engraver recently assigned to be Ana's investigative assistant. He's a rule follower and so his and Ana's approaches clash at times, though never majorly. Din is very clearly dyslexic, which gave him trouble in training, and at times he runs up against needing to read things during the investigation, but he's figured out a work around using his engraving skills which I found to be a really smart way of going about it. He's clever and a good observer, and is able to put the pieces of things together quickly even though he's new to investigating. I liked seeing things through his eyes and and way he would meticulously go through a scene to find evidence. It was particularly interesting how he interviewed people because Din seems to have a knack for knowing how to circle a conversation around to what he really wants to know without being too obvious about it, thus putting the interviewee at ease and getting them to open up. It was wonderfully subtle the way he got people to open up.

Ana is the main investigator on the case and is not the sort of investigator you'd expect. She prefers to stay in her house (or later on, in her borrowed rooms) rather than going outside to investigate on her own, and when she does leave the comfort of her accommodations, it's with a blindfold on. I suspected she was autistic throughout the book, and then toward the end she basically comes out and says it (without saying it since...you know...this is a SFF novel not set in our world with our terminology). She's quick to make deductive leaps and is often several steps ahead of everyone else involved. It was fun to read as she snapped through deduction after deduction, using the evidence Din collected, and coming to a conclusion that made sense but you didn't always see coming. Ana is also pretty funny and I enjoyed the humor she brought to the book.

There are a bunch of side characters who come in and out of the story as needed, and I found them to be pretty well fleshed out. It definitely felt like each character had their own lives and concerns and didn't just cease to exist once they left Din's presence. Miljin is the side character who's probably around the most, he's one of the investigators working the case with Ana and Din. At first his demeanor was pretty gruff and unwelcoming, so I didn't think I'd like him much, but over the course of the book his character grew on me and I actually ended up liking him a lot. He's just the kind of person that doesn't immediately warm up to people, but once he does he's got quite the quick brain and lots of humor and advice to go around.

As mentioned, the main point of this book is the mystery. At the beginning, Ana was making all sorts of leaps that I just took her word for, but as the story continued, I began being able to make guesses of my own. Some of the stuff I was able to guess correctly, sometimes in a surprising way, but other times I was still puzzling it out when Ana and the others came to their conclusions. There are so many moving pieces and different elements to the mystery going on in this book, I enjoyed trying to figure out the solution myself as well as seeing what the actual solution was.

Overall I greatly enjoyed this book and I'm definitely looking forward to the next book in the series. This is the kind of book that makes me want more SFF backgrounds for mystery books, it added a really interesting layer to things that I enjoyed.

#book #book review #books #book recommendations #fantasy #bookstagram #booklr #bookblr #bookaholic #bookish #the tainted cup #murder mystery book #mystery #murder mystery #scifi books #scifi #advanced readers copy #netgalley #netgalley reads #lgbtq characters #eco horror #disability representation

[choicesficwriterscreations]

CFWC Writer of the Month: liaromancewriter

Each month CFWC highlights one of our talented fanfic writers, and this month’s writer of the month is @liaromancewriter ! We hope you will enjoy learning more about her and her work below! The writer is selected at random. More info can be found on the navigation page.

Quick Links: 

Tumblr blog: liaromancewriter Tumblr Masterlist Maxenna Masterlist

Tumblr Blog: 

How do you want to be known on Tumblr? 

Lia or Mal. Both are my nicknames in real life, depending on who’s calling, so I respond to either.

1- When did you start playing Choices? What's the first book you played? 

I first downloaded Choices in August 2020 after being bombarded with its ads on another game. I figured I'll try it and see what it was about. My average track record for mobile games is 2-3 months, and then I get bored and delete the app. That didn't happen here because I quickly realized it's not a game but a library of fiction books in all genres. Two and a half years later, I'm still here reading Choices.

The first book I played (read?) was The Royal Romance. I believe it pre-loaded when I opened the app the first time. I fell in love with the Prince (who I named Aiden as it's my favorite boy name) from the first moment. To this day, I think the first two TRR books are the most romantic stories on Choices. 

Incidentally, I started playing Open Heart at the same time, but mostly to earn diamonds for TRR since medical stories weren’t really my thing (that’s changed now obviously). But Ethan Ramsey was equally irresistible and I had a hard time saving my diamonds when romancing the two.

2- When and why did you join Choices fandom?

I didn't know there was something called a Choices fandom, so it's very happenstance. Unofficially, I joined in November 2020 as a silent reader and didn't have a Tumblr account. Officially, I created my Tumblr account on December 7 and started becoming more active in January 2021. 

I had just finished Open Heart: Second Year and then Platinum (for the fourth time), and was feeling adrift. I was obsessed with Raleigh Carrera and googled him out of curiosity to see what might be out there. I came across fics posted on AO3 and then Tumblr. 

Then, I googled Ethan Ramsey as I was missing OH and just wanted to get lost in that world again. I came across a plethora of fanfics, mostly on Tumblr. I originally started reading them on my mobile browser and still have masterlist pages bookmarked (in order) on Safari for @lem-20 (the first OH writer I read and followed because her pfp match my book sprite), @jamespotterthefirst and @starrystarrytrouble. 

I didn't know fanfiction was a thing, so I was a bit baffled by all of it initially. The more I read, the more I loved the interpretations others were bringing to the story. I was also generally impressed by writers unafraid to write and post their work for the world to read, and that inspired me to want to publish my original stories online.   

3- How did you pick your url name? 

My original intent with Tumblr was to publish my original romantic fiction novel, Happy Ever After. And, maybe in the future write and post more original romance short stories as an exercise to rediscover my fiction voice. 

When I was creating the account, I blanked on what to call it. In a burst of "just pick a username already", I named my blog liaromancewriter to represent my nickname (Lia) and the type of stories I would be posting (romance). 

By the way, my desired account name initially was hopelessromantic, but it was taken. When I was setting up the blog headline and description, I decided to go with The Hopeful Romantic because the phrasing best embodied my perspective of soulmates and happy ever afters.

4- Go back to your archive and tell us about the first post on your Choices blog. 

My first Choices fandom post was a reblog game response on January 11. All posts on my blog before that were chapters of Happy Ever After.

5- How long have you been writing fanfiction?

I published my first ever fanfic, First Impressions, on February 15, 2021. So, about 22 months.

6- What is your favorite Choices book to write about?

I only write for Open Heart, so I would say it remains my favorite as I keep coming up with stories for this extended universe I’ve created for my pairings.

7- Share the first fanfic you wrote with us. Do you still like it or would you change anything about it?

The first fic I submitted to CFWC was Me Before You on April 5, 2021. I think I’d only heard about this blog in March of that year and didn’t know that anyone could submit. 

It’s very much an introspective piece, showing Ethan’s inner thoughts, and Cassie's too. I love writing descriptive stories about what people are thinking and feeling. It’s when my writing is the strongest.

I still like that story. Having said that, the middle of this fic drags a little, so I’d probably want to tighten that up. I also hadn't fully developed my headcanon for their relationship yet. Anyone who reads my work knows that it's like a TV series where everything is connected, and the plot continues along a specific timeline, even if one-shots are posted at different times of the year. 

So the timeline inside the story doesn't quite sync up perfectly with the rest, but I've learnt to let it go....somewhat. 😂

8- What is your favorite fic that you’ve written?

Can I pick two? I’m picking two, one for each of my pairings. At this stage, they’re both equal OTPs anyway.

Ethan & Cassie: Come Undone

Max & Sienna: Unforgettable

9- Do you have a fic that you didn’t expect to be well received, but it was? What about one you expected to be but could use a little more love?

I know that notes aren't everything since there are many silent readers out there. But it's the only metric Tumblr allows writers to use. So, this answer is solely based on that.

It’s not a fic, but a series. The original Maxenna series, Then There Was You, was incredibly popular both in terms of notes and comments and in attracting new readers despite the fact that I wrote it after the series had already ended, and it was a side character (Sienna) and an OC (Max). I’m forever grateful because it’s an original story in every sense of the word, with some nods/references to canon. Despite the fact that it’s Sienna, she’s an OC, too, since we don’t know too much about her in canon.

For the second part of this question, I thought Seeing Red would have been more popular. It's angsty, and has Ethan’s relationship with Louise, Cassie and Ethan fighting (somewhat). So, it was surprising it didn't get as many notes. But then, I also wrote it in 2022, and the fandom isn't what it used to be. So that could be one reason.

10- If you could write only angst, fluff, or smut for the rest of your writing life, which would it be and why? 

Fluff...absolutely 100% fluff. Anyone who knows me for five seconds knows that I'm all about finding and keeping your soulmate. Real life is hard, the fictional world doesn't have to be.

I grew up reading fairytales and love Hallmark movies. When I discovered romance books in uni, I fell in love with the journey of two people falling in love and finding their happy ever after. I also enjoy writing about relationships; while there are angsty moments in those, it's the resolution of finding your way to the light that makes me happy. Happy Endings Guaranteed is my motto. 

11- Do you ever recognize yourself in any of your MCs or in your writing?

I bring parts of myself to all my characters. In real life, I'm more like Ethan and Max; the professional and personal elements in their personalities are based on me and my experiences. 

Cassie's ambition and determination to prove herself are pure me. That's why even in canon, I never gave a thought to why a Junior Fellow was qualified to head the Diagnostics Team. I was running my own department by the time I was 30. It's all about seizing opportunities even if you don't think you're ready. You learn on the job and eventually make it your own.

One other observation is that I’m a champion researcher and accuracy is important to me. So, when I write I bring that accuracy and plausability to all scenarios. My Google history will attest to that. 😝

12- What element of writing do you struggle with most?

I struggle with writing common, every day body gestures without repeating myself. I can visualize the scene in my head like someone wrapping their arms around the other or framing their lover’s face between their hands. But I don’t always know how to write it well or at least have more diversity in the words/expressions that I use. 

13- Do you have any neglected work you really want to finish?

No. I don't do WIPs. Sometimes I'm not happy with a fic, so I'll write the first draft but not publish it for a while. I'll do/write other things and then come back to start editing the fic until it works. Candy Thieves and Postcard Memories are two good examples of that.

I do have a document with about 20+ possible story ideas, but some of those are random thoughts that might or might not have a story in them.

14- If someone you know in real life (who isn’t involved in fandoms) asked to read your work, would you let them? If yes, what would you recommend they read first? 

Absolutely! I mostly share my Wattpad account with them rather than Tumblr as the former can be easier to navigate for novice readers. But my close friends have my Tumblr blog link. 

I always ask them to read Happy Ever After (original work) first since it’s mine and doesn’t require knowledge of canon. But for fanfiction, I tell people to start at the top of my masterlist and work their way down. This way, they’ll get to meet my characters from the beginning and go on the journey with them, even if they’ve never read canon. 

15 - Are there any writers (published authors and/or fanfic writers) who influenced your writing?

I’m mostly influenced by published authors with Nora Roberts, Jayne Ann Krentz and Julie Garwood leading the pack. I love how Nora does scene setting and descriptions, and shows relationships between people (romantic and platonic); my approach to storytelling is largely influenced by her. 

Jayne Ann Krentz does a great job of writing spunky heroines who aren’t afraid to take chances, no matter if it’s a modern setting, paranormal or historical. While Julie Garwood’s novels are fluffy with wonderfully memorable characters especially the LI. Aiden Madison remains my perfect guy to this day and I wish he was real. 🥰

I do want to give a shoutout to @jamespotterthefirst whose edits and text fics showed me that there’s another interesting way to tell a story than writing prose. I live in hope she will finish her First Year Pictagram series (hint, hint, Bree 😉)

16- Which one of your stories would you most like to see as a movie/series? 

Maxenna’s original series would make a great Hallmark movie/series. As a student of Hallmark’s formula, I think it has all the elements including a slow burn, delayed first kiss, love declaration closer to the end, swoonworthy proposal and wedding, and of course family.

17- Do you write original stories? 

Absolutely, but maybe not as much recently (unless you count Maxenna). I’ve already talked about Happy Ever After here. I have 2 other completed manuscripts that I hope to do something with one day.

18 -  What other hobbies do you have?

I don’t have a ton of free time, so what I do have is reserved for reading books (my first love). Other than that, I watch a lot of cooking shows on Food Network. At the end of a long and busy day, there’s something very soothing about watching other people cook/work. 

19 - What’s your favorite emoji? 

😂

#choices fic writers creations #writer of the month #cfwc writer of the month #liaromancewriter #open heart choices #open heart

[marblemoovt]

Stay - Griffith/Ashe(OC)

Masterlist

Rating: Explicit (Smut)

Word Count: 5k

Warnings: Fluff with some reverse hurt/comfort. Smut, Oral sex, Fingering, P in V sex. A bit of a praise kink. Dirty talk. (Let me know if I'm missing anything)

Summary:

When Guts leaves, Griffith is distraught. He seeks comfort in the only other person who is hurting as much as he is. Guts's sister, Ashe.

------

She rips the door open and meets the gaze of an equally startled Griffith. His fist hangs in the air before dropping to his side. 

He rushes forward and embraces her. Cold and wet fabric sticks to her skin. Griffith is shivering, raindrops dripping from his pale locks. “You’re still here,” he mumbles, arms squeezing her in disbelief. A shaky breath shudders near her ear, and she turns to look at him, freezing at the unfamiliar expression on his face. “I thought…” —his throat bobs— “I thought you left.” There’s a pause that leaves the sentence feeling unfinished.

Note:

My first commission!! Ashe is an OC that belongs to @maid0evil; thank you so much for the commission! She was so pleasant to work with and honestly quelled a lot of fears I had about writing commissions for people. Check out her blog or message her if you want to know more about Ashe!

Here's some helpful background info: Ashe is Guts's younger twin sister and she is an apothecary, a person who makes medicine and other drugs. A healer/pharmacist essentially. She also has the skill set to do spy work.

This is enough to read this fic without getting too confused, but here's a post with all the details about Ashe.

Happy Reading! ヾ(•ω•`)o

─── ⋆ ｡ﾟ☆: *. ☽ .* :☆ﾟ｡⋆ ───

Quiet. Their—her—house is quiet. No longer will she hear the repetitive swish of metal cutting through the air. He’s not in the backyard anymore for her to scold when he overworks himself. The drawer full of bandages and ointment is now bare. Ashe refused to let her brother leave without it all. 

Now she feels empty. Half of her is missing, leaving a gaping hole that aches with longing. Guts asked her to go with him, but she couldn’t. Ashe’s place is with the Hawks. She told him as much. These people have become her family, and they need her. Her brother can take care of himself now. She reminisces over the days before he hit his growth spurt when she used to tower over him. When she protected both of them during those nightmarish times.

It was hard to watch him go, but the determination in his eyes…. When Guts told her his reasons for leaving, how he promised to return once he could proudly stand beside Griffith, who was she to stop him? So she sent him off from their house with a forced smile. Ashe couldn’t bear watching him leave the town, so she remained inside. That was until she heard the clashing of swords.

Grabbing a bag containing basic medical supplies, she ran to the source of the commotion. She nearly slipped on the frost-covered path when her heels dug into the ground. Someone caught her by the arm to steady her, but her focus remained on the ongoing fight. Griffith and Guts were fighting, and Ashe recalled a memory from years ago. But this time ended differently.

Griffith was left stunned on the ground as Guts turned around and left. Ashe’s lips still sting from when she bit down on them then. He didn’t look back or say anything to her, and she understood why. So she returned inside, unwilling to give him a reason to stay behind. The tears didn’t start flowing until the door clicked shut and the latch locked into place.

She doesn’t know how much time has passed since then. Currently, she’s curled up in a fetal position on the bed, waiting for the sharp pain in her chest to ebb into a dull ache. Moonlight filters in through the window and bathes the room in silver, the only indicator of how long she spent holed up in her room. Ashe shuts her eyes, but the colour induces brief images of a particular general to flash through her mind. Because the walls inside are thin, she can hear when someone knocks on the front door. But she ignores them all, weighed down by the desire to do nothing. And so she listens to the knocks, cries herself to exhaustion, and the cycle repeats until only the chirping of cicadas remains.

Another knock on the door. She remains in bed like usual. The knocking repeats itself after a few beats of silence, more persistent than before. Ashe drags herself out of bed to salvage what’s left of her front door before it’s torn off the hinges. Her stride quickens when the sound becomes frantic, and the creak of abused wood follows. She rips the door open and meets the gaze of an equally startled Griffith. His fist hangs in the air before dropping to his side. 

He rushes forward and embraces her. Cold and wet fabric sticks to her skin. Griffith is shivering, raindrops dripping from his pale locks. “You’re still here,” he mumbles, arms squeezing her in disbelief. A shaky breath shudders near her ear, and she turns to look at him, freezing at the unfamiliar expression on his face. “I thought…” —his throat bobs— “I thought you left.” There’s a pause that leaves the sentence feeling unfinished.

Ashe shakes her head. “My place is here with all of you,” she reassures him. “I love my brother, but he needs to figure out his own problems.” 

“You won’t leave?” Griffith asks in a meek tone. Ashe has never heard him speak like this. What happened to the Griffith that was always certain about everything? Where did that confidence go? She licks her dry lips when she thinks about how it was probably cut down alongside his sword this morning. Caution must be taken to not agitate Griffith further. He looks like a skittish puppy ready to bolt at any sudden movement. She doesn’t know what he’ll do if he storms away from her. 

“No. I’m staying,” she answers. “Now come inside; you’re freezing.” Right now, the safest place for him is somewhere she can keep an eye on. Just until he recovers from the shock. Ashe guides Griffith to the small sitting room by the fireplace. The embers are dying, so she adds another log and stokes the flames. The fire crackles as it consumes the wood, embers dancing across the small stone stage. She retrieves a spare blanket and wraps it around his trembling form. She doesn’t have any extra clothes to offer. Anything Guts left behind would be too big, but it might be better than nothing. Amid her thoughts, Griffith surprises her by raising the fabric and patting the empty spot beside him. Ashe sits down, and he wraps the blanket around them, draping one arm around her shoulders. 

She shudders slightly at the cold contact, leaning into him to share her body heat. He rests his head against hers, an intimate gesture she never thought she would receive from him. “When Guts left, I thought you would leave with him.” Griffith glances at the window, a crease forming between his brows. “My apologies. I know it is late, but I had to make sure.” When he notices her confused expression, he adds, “I had to see for myself whether you were gone.”

Ashe purses her lips in silence before eventually asking, “Why?” Sure, they’ve gotten closer, but she knows her role could be easily replaced. She understands that everyone here is working for the sake of Griffith’s dream.

“Why indeed?” Griffith muses to himself, picking up a lock of her hair and thumbing it between his fingers. He raises the strands to his lips but drops his hand before they make contact, staring at her like how he stares at a map when planning a battle. “Know that I do not trust just anyone to poison me.” And Ashe is taken back to that night. The night he entrusted his life to her. The night he swept her away on the ballroom floor. The same night she made the startling realization that she sees Griffith as more than her superior and that they can never be more. 

“I’m still surprised you asked me to make and swap out the poisons,” she admits. He entrusted her with his life. The ratio of the poison was fatal. If she didn’t dilute the mixture correctly, the dose would have induced him into a complete-death state instead of near death. One mistake by her was enough to kill him—permanently. Yet he still explained his plan and asked for her help. Guts was the only other hawk who knew of his intentions. 

So Ashe concocted the poison with deadly precision, paying attention to the minutest detail. Griffith placed his faith in her, a privilege not given to many. She would ensure not to betray it. Swapping the poisons was the easiest part. All it took was for Ashe to feign ignorance when bumping into the waiter and act like one of the many naive women attending the ball. The man was too focused on her neckline to notice her deft fingers switching out the bottles. 

Shortly after, Griffith asked her for a dance. It was an excuse to escape the horde of women surrounding him and to inquire about the swap. She’ll never forget how close he was that night. One hand was placed around her waist, and the other holding her hand as he gracefully led her through the dance. They floated across the ballroom floor. Griffith’s steps never faltered, each twirl and turn as confident as the last. 

Occasionally, Griffith would lean in and whisper. He didn’t ask outright about the plan, but they danced around the subject. After the third or fourth time, Ashe could no longer ignore the goosebumps rising across her skin. Griffith’s warm breath tickled her ear, and she found it hard to respond accordingly to their conversation. There was the undeniable urge to run from this foreign feeling, but her desire to remain by his side won. 

The entire time Griffith only paid attention to her. His eyes, which usually carried an unmeltable frost, warmed when meeting her gaze. When Griffith complimented her dress, she failed to return the sentiment, tongue twisted by embarrassment. Griffith only smiled at her lack of a response, and her heart beat so loudly she was afraid the entire room could hear it battering against her ribcage. Ashe didn’t even notice the song was over until Griffith drew back and bowed, kissing the back of her hand in farewell.

Even though she knew beforehand, nothing could prepare her for witnessing Griffith fall. She watched as he accepted the glass from the waiter and took a sip, collapsing a few seconds later. He truthfully looked dead, and despite her knowledge, she was having a hard time believing he wasn’t. Suppose she miscalculated and made the dosage too high. What if she did kill him? She would never forgive herself. Everyone rushed to Griffith, but Ashe could only stand rooted to the ground, weighed down by guilt and mortification. She still remembers how her palms stung as her hands balled into fists. Guts scolded her light-heartedly later as he bandaged her wounds.

Ashe is brought back to the present when she hears Griffith’s voice. She didn’t realize how tightly she was clenching the blanket.

Griffith places his hand over her fists, and they lose their tension. “I am glad I did.” He smiles at her, a rare smile that reaches his eyes.  “You played a vital role. It would not have gone so smoothly without you.” The confidence in his words shakes her. How is she supposed to respond when he looks at her like that? As if she’s the most significant person in the room?

Ashe clears her throat and flits her gaze to the hallway. “I’ll find some of Guts’s spare clothes for you to wear. You can sleep in the guest room tonight.” She stands up to leave, but Griffith’s arms wrap around her waist, and he presses his forehead against her stomach. Ashe hesitantly pats his back, softly saying, “I’m not going anywhere.”

Griffith chuckles; a bitter and dry sound fills the room. “Forgive me, but I am having difficulty believing you. How am I to know that you will not try to leave like Guts?” he asks, arms snaring her in his hold. Like prey trapped in the coil of a snake, she squirms but stills when the pressure tightens. As a gentle reminder, she squeezes his shoulders, and her lungs can breathe again. Griffith doesn’t let go, much to her bewilderment. Would her absence really matter to him? Or is it only because her brother left first?

Ashe already decided to stay, which she’s told Griffith several times. But he just doesn’t seem to get the message. “Everyone here still needs me. Besides, Guts will come back. He didn’t intend to leave forever. Once he finds a dream of his own and can proudly call himself your equal, he’ll return,” she reminds him. At Griffith’s silence, her brows knit together. “Didn’t he tell you that?” she asks, although she already deduced the answer from his reaction. 

“His own dream? My equal?” Griffith chuckles in disbelief, his shoulders sagging as he leans against her. Startled, Ashe straightens up to support Griffith's weight. 

“Idiot,” Ashe mumbles under her breath. Leave it to Guts not to explain things to Griffith. No wonder the duel shook Griffith up so much. “Guts overheard a conversation you had with Charlotte at a fountain,” she explains. His body stiffens, then the arms around her waist go slack. 

“So he did not leave because he wanted to cut all ties with me?” Griffith glances up at her with wide eyes. He takes a deep breath, and it comes out as a sigh. “I am… glad.” The smile on his face wobbles like a taut string pulled in opposite directions. And eventually, it snaps. Ashe catches a glimpse of his misty eyes before he buries his face into her lower abdomen again. His shoulders shake with silent cries, and she bites her lip, unsure how to comfort him. So Ashe does what she would do if it were her brother. She gently strokes his head and speaks in a low, soothing tone. 

“Guts wants to be your friend, an equal. He told me that he’ll return once he finds his own dream. You two can have a proper conversation once he’s back.” She cradles him close to her body,

“And you?” Griffith’s voice is muffled by her shirt, but her excellent hearing picks out the words.

“What about me?” She plays with a lock of his hair. The fireplace and window cast shadows of orange and silver, like a dance between fire and ice. A delicate balance of push and pull where one side does not entirely consume the other. Griffith’s hair glows in the moonlight as if it holds the ethereal light.

“Will you remain with the hawks, or will you eventually cave in from the absence of your brother and follow his footsteps?” he asks. Judging by the tone of his voice, it doesn’t seem like he’s considered other outcomes. 

Ashe grimaces. “Why do you make it sound like those are my only options?” She flicks his forehead lightly when he looks up at her again. “I’m a human being with free will, Griffith. I’m not limited to the two choices you’ve presented.”

Griffith chuckles, “I did always admire this quality of yours. You see humans as nothing more than that. Human. No Gods or superior beings. Human.”

Ashe hums and takes in his ragged appearance. “I think you need some rest.”

“You did not answer my question.”

She sighs, “But I did, multiple times. You just never believed my answer.”

Griffith stares into her eyes, holding his gaze for a few seconds before looking away. “Perhaps I am starting to,” he whispers.

Ashe guides him to the guest room, promising to return with some spare clothes. While he’s no longer soaked, he’s still damp and can easily catch a cold. She makes a detour and grabs her medicine bag. Knocking on the door, she waits for confirmation to come in. She enters when there’s only silence, worried something terrible has happened to him.

Griffith is still in the room, half-dressed. His shirt falls to the floor, and their eyes meet. “I-I’m so sorry!” she apologizes, slamming the door shut. She buries her face in the clothes she’s carrying and lets out a scream. Luckily the fabric does a decent enough job at silencing the sound, but she doubts Griffith missed it. The hinges of the door creak open, and her back straightens. “I also brought you some medicine in case the rain made you sick,” and she hastily shoves everything into Griffith’s arms before rushing back to her room. Ashe pauses in her steps and mutters a quiet “goodnight,” the burn on her cheeks spreading across her body.

The sky rumbles, shaking more droplets out of the clouds as they beat on the roof tiles. At least the storm provides some distraction from the chaos plaguing her mind. She curls up in her bed again, confused and embarrassed. Ashe doesn’t know what to do with her feelings; bury them? Will she end up like Casca? Forever pining after a man who will never look at her the same way? But she’s noticed lately that Casca’s gaze has been slowly redirecting towards someone else. 

Thunder growls outside, and she shuts her eyes and imagines that her brother is here to keep her company. But the more she pretends, the larger the ache grows. Loneliness is a relentless beast. Once it sinks its teeth into you, it’s hard to shake off. It claws into your chest and carves your insides until you’re hollow. Quiet gasps leave her trembling lips as she struggles to hold in her cries. The tears burn and leave hot trails as they soak her pillow. It takes a few minutes for her to notice that not all the noises are coming from her. Besides the storm howling, another set of sobs fills the house. Ashe can pinpoint the guest room as the source.

She exits her room, wrapping her blanket tight around her shoulders. Heading to Griffith, she knocks on the door. The crying stops, and footsteps shuffle close. Ashe loses all function over her tongue when she sees him. Red-rimmed eyes and a complexion paler than usual. He sports similar tear tracks to hers. He also stares in silence, taking in her dishevelled appearance. 

“I’m sorry to bother you. It’s just… I… the storm—can I stay the night with you?” she stutters, wrangling her words to form a coherent sentence to no avail. “The storm is loud, and I’m not used to dealing with them alone.” Ashe avoids his gaze, fidgeting with her fingers. She hopes he doesn’t think of her as a child for being afraid. The loud noises bring back memories she would prefer to never think of again.

Griffith nods and steps aside to let her in. Ashe enters the room and sits on the bed, leaning her back against the headboard. She hugs her knees to her chest and watches him hesitantly sit beside her. A slight draft breezes through the room, and Ashe wraps the blanket tighter, clenching her teeth to prevent them from chattering. Another blanket drapes over her, and her right side is pleasantly warm. She turns her head, sucking in a breath at how close Griffith is. He’s pressed against her, and she can feel his hot breath tickling her face. 

“Thank you,” he says. 

“Don’t worry about it. Guts should have told you why he was leaving,” she responds, shrugging. 

“Well, that too. But I mean thank you for staying… by my side.” Griffith smiles, and Ashe can no longer tell if the drumming in her ears is the thunder or her heartbeat. “If I had known the reason, I would have told him I see him as a friend. Your brother is the only—no, he’s one of the few people who can rival the importance of my dream,” he confesses. 

Ashe lifts her head, mouth running dry. One of?

“But at least you are still here,” he says, looking down at her fondly. “I never thought we would have so much in common.”

“Griffith, what am I to you?” Ashe asks. He stares at her again, trying to decipher her.

“I would say a friend, but you are much more special than that.” Griffith frowns as he contemplates. “I cannot call you a comrade or any similar title. None of them express what I feel.” He hums, mulling over the thought. “…A partner, perhaps?” he whispers, staring at her with wide eyes. Ashe leans in close, and his gaze flickers to her lips. “May I kiss you?” he asks. 

She laughs breathlessly, “Yes, please.” He cradles her face and kisses her languidly. His hand slides down and cups the nape of her neck, pressing her closer to him. Griffith trails down her jaw and along her throat, chuckling when he hears her gasp. He runs his tongue over her pulse and grins when she tilts her head back to expose more of her neck. When he moves on to her collarbone, Ashe places her hands firmly on his chest. “Wait,” she says. “I want to please you first.”

Griffith smiles softly and strokes her hair. “Not to worry, we will get to that.”

But Ashe shakes her head. “No. Let me lead for once,” she insists. He bites his lip but relents. “Sit back,” she commands. Griffith leans against the headboard and removes his shirt, lifting his hips when she tugs on his pants. The lack of undergarments is a surprise, but her face flames when she remembers she didn’t provide him with any.

“Your expression is adorable. Is this your first time?” Griffith jokes, but his jaw slackens when she bashfully nods. “You should have told me sooner,” he says. It comes out harsh, and Griffith softens his tone. “If I knew earlier, I would have gone to further lengths to ensure the best experience possible for you.”

Fuzzy warmth blooms in Ashe’s chest. She licks her lips and glances down between his thighs. “It’s alright, Griffith. Please tell me what to do,” she says, trying to ignore the red pendant dangling around his neck. But the damn thing stares at her. “If it’s not too much trouble, could you remove your necklace? It’s… distracting.” Ashe doesn’t want to admit that the inanimate object is creepy since he wears it constantly.

“Not the most romantic accessory, is it?” Griffith smiles and removes the necklace, setting it on the bedside drawer. “Let us start with something easy. Take your hand and stroke slowly. Make sure not to squeeze too hard,” Griffith instructs. Ashe wraps her hand around his cock and gives it a few experimental pumps. She pulls away when he hisses through clenched teeth.

“Did I hurt you?” she asks, observing his expression.

Griffith shakes his head, chest heaving with shallow breaths. “No, dear. You were doing wonderfully. Please keep going.” So she resumes stroking, gliding her hand up and down his shaft, watching as the head of his cock swells to a dark red. Spurred on by Griffith’s sighs, she swipes her thumb across the small hole at the tip, smearing precum onto her hand. Ashe glances up, meeting Griffith’s hooded gaze. “Use that to ease the friction.” She marvels at how easy it is to move her hand once it’s slick. 

The tip of Griffith’s cock continues dripping, and Ashe’s tongue darts out to lick along the slit, curious about the taste. He groans, hips bucking into her hand. “Did you like that?” Ashe asks, noticing the heightened sensitivity around the front of his cock near the tip.

“I loved it. Do it again,” he commands, and she carries out his orders, lapping and stroking simultaneously until she’s drowning in his musky scent. A salty tang coats her tongue, but she doesn’t mind the taste. When she glances up again, Griffith’s head is thrown back, eyes shut tight. Ashe feels his cock twitching in her mouth. “Love, I need you to stop. I will not last if you continue,” he begs. 

Ashe furrows her brows and draws away. “Don’t you want to climax?”

“Not yet. I want you to lie down first,” Griffith says. So she lies on her back, shuddering when her nightgown is pushed up and the night air brushes against her exposed skin. He parts her legs and plants a kiss on her inner thigh. “A gentleman always returns the favour.” His boyish grin sends a jolt that sparks a flame in her lower abdomen. 

“Griffith—I…..” She can’t think of anything to say, fixated on how she can feel his breath against the damp fabric of her undergarments. 

“Is this too much for you?” He pauses and waits for her answer. 

There’s a heat in her body that’s begging to be soothed. An ache that lingers and drives her mad with every passing second. “No. It’s not enough. Please touch me,” she says.

“As you wish.” Griffith pulls down the fabric to unveil her glistening cunt. A heady musk fills the room, and he dips his head for a taste. He licks a stripe through her folds, lapping the arousal dribbling out of her entrance. 

“Griffith,” Ashe moans, electricity tingling through her veins. There’s a sudden hunger for more. She wants him to douse oil on the fire raging inside her and become consumed under his touch. Something flicks her clit, and she yelps in surprise. Ashe glances down to see Griffith circling his tongue around the throbbing area, never touching the center. She shudders when one of his fingers probes her entrance, sliding in slowly.

“That’s it, love. I can feel you squeezing around my finger. You can take one more. I know you can,” he says, adding another digit inside her. She groans at the slight burn from the stretch, bucking her hips when he resumes teasing her clit. He curls his fingers, wagging his tongue over the swollen bundle of nerves. Ashe feels something building in the pit of her stomach, a swirl of energy that grows stronger and threatens to swallow her whole. “You are doing so well for me. Let go. Let the pleasure consume you.” She climaxes at his words, feeling the waves crash and roll off her body as she grinds against his face, babbling incoherent pleas for more.

Griffith slows down, moving just enough to trigger the aftershocks that spread from her core and ripple through the rest of her body. He places soft pecks along her puffy lips and removes his fingers, licking them clean. She watches his tongue through hooded lids, remembering how they looked between her thighs earlier. A throb surges to her cunt, and she clenches around emptiness. Griffith chuckles and pets her clit gently with his thumb, the rest of his fingers splayed on her lower abdomen.

“Ah! Not there!” she cries out, jerking away from his touch. His hand pins her to the bed. The pleasure teeters on pain, but her body aches for more. 

Griffith shushes and strokes her thigh. “I will be gentle. I am starving to taste you.” Ashe shudders and avoids his gaze. The flames beneath her skin blaze on her face and neck. He hooks his arms underneath her knees and tugs her to the edge of the bed, where he’s kneeling on the floor. “Oh? Did my words excite you? How cute.” He doesn’t waste any time digging in. His tongue feels different from his fingers. It doesn’t reach as deep, but her cunt still greedily sucks him in. 

He occasionally praises her, telling her how delicious she tastes. But her mind is foggy, and most of the words never reach her. All she can focus on is his mouth around her clit and the obscene slurps that fill the room, mixed with Griffith’s groans. He draws out another orgasm from her, not as intense as the first one. He takes great care in slowing down and drawing out her high.

Ashe sighs, head buzzing as her vision refocuses. “I’m ready,” she says.

“Ready for what?” Griffith taps his cock against her clit and grins when she shivers. “I cannot understand what you mean if you remain vague.”

If her brain was functioning normally, she would be upset. But she writhes her hips, and her eyes nearly roll into the back of her head when she comes in contact with his cock again. “Please make love to me,” she begs.

Griffith rubs his cock between her folds, lubricating himself with her arousal. “Let me know if it is too much, and I will stop. I want you to enjoy this.” He lines himself up with her entrance and eases in. Ashe sucks in a breath, releasing it with a hiss. The burn stung more than when he used his fingers, but it was bearable.

Ashe watches as his cock disappears into her inch by inch. She feels him rub against her walls until he’s buried deep. “More,” she pleads.

“Whatever you desire.” He pulls out and slams back in, hitching the air in her lungs. He repeats the process, waiting in intervals until the next thrust. “My dear, you should see the mess you are making.” His laughter fills her with warmth. Griffith cups one of her breasts, brushing his thumb over her hardening nipple. “Forgive me for neglecting such beauty.” He lowers his head to suckle and nip, overwhelming her with stimulation.

Ashe rocks her hips to increase the rhythm, eager to feel the head of his cock brush against that sweet spot inside. “Fuck, Griffith,” she whines. She can already feel the pressure in her stomach about to burst. 

He slows down, and she almost cries, fingertips digging into his shoulders. “Lie on your side, dear. I promise it will feel better,” he says, guiding her into position. He lies beside her, and his blue eyes are breathtaking up close. His cock slips into her, and he sets a regular pace this time. The repetitive stimulation is enough to bring her to the brink of orgasm. Her walls clench hard, and he grunts in response.

“Griffith….” She can’t say anymore, head empty as the throbbing of her cunt climbs rapidly. 

“I know, love. You are taking me so well, such a good girl,” he coos, bringing her into another kiss. She cums with a wail, walls spasming around his cock, milking him. The tight knot in her stomach snaps and unleashes a tidal wave of pleasure that drags her underneath into its depths. Her clit throbs in tandem, and a rush of wetness pools between her legs, earning a loud squelch with Griffith’s next thrust.

When her cunt stops fluttering, Griffith pulls out and strokes his cock, spilling his release into his hand. Only the sound of their ragged breathing can be heard. He exits the bed, fetching a damp cloth from the bathroom and wipes her body. A trail of kisses follows, her skin trembling at the slightest touch. He is more careful when cleaning between her thighs, murmuring into her shoulder about how well she did. Ashe allows her body to sink into the bed, watching Griffith return to the bathroom to clean himself.

She doesn’t know how much time passes, but the mattress dips beside her and a kiss is pressed on her forehead. “Sleep, and we will discuss things in the morning,” Griffith says, covering her with the blanket. Ashe nods, and her eyelids droop. Strong arms pull her closer, and she snuggles into his warm body.

Maybe she should thank Guts for leaving.

─── ⋆ ｡ﾟ☆: *. ☽ .* :☆ﾟ｡⋆ ───

End Note:

I thought I would struggle with the smut, but something happened and my fingers were flying across the keyboard lmao. Something about Griffith providing oral sex just does things to me 😳

Ngl, after writing this, I kinda want to write more Berserk stuff. I did have an idea for a Guts smut so.... 👀 It involves a waterfall.

Anyways, I love Ashe. I think she's a very interesting character. I don't know much about canon post-Eclipse so I'm curious how she affects the story. I'm honestly interested in seeing what maid0evil comes up with! Please check her out if you're also interested :D

If there's anyone else who would like to commission me, send me a message and we'll work something out!

I'll see you guys at my next hyperfixation! (。・∀・)ノ

Reblogs are appreciated!

Taglist: @lovecats123451

#griffith x oc #griffith #griffith smut #berserk #berserk x oc #commission #I have no idea if people will find this since it's not an x reader lmao #This was fun to write #I loved learning about Ashe #I hope she's able to smack some sense into Griffith in the canon timeline #We can all agree that he would look very pretty between our thighs

[thotsforvillainrights]

any updates on the baby? I hope your really resting and taking time for yourself!

Can I request a one shot of the reader and stain going out and reader is trying on a bunch of hot outfits and stain admiring them? (How do you think stain would be in public would he wear a face mask cause of his nose or ignore staring strangers and not cover it up?)

(Yes, sorry if it's TMI! I've been placed on medication due to a short cervix and now have a high risk doctor to see in danger of preterm labor. Other than that, little guy seems to be doing well. He's still kicking around in there and we're almost set on a name finally. Hopefully he stays in there and cooks until time, no early visits I hope!)

~Shopping~

headcanon|scenario|imagine|match-up

The fun thing about life is the fact that there's a huge enough population to guarantee your looks no matter what. You should never truly have time to feel insecure for too long if you sit back and think about it. You may not be your own 'type' (or maybe you are), but I promise you are someone in the worlds type. You've landed a gruff man, rough around the edges and not exactly a romantic to be honest. By God were you his type. For full honesty, you were more than that to him.

You were essentially his weakness.

Sure he hated feeling the way he did at first, but he quickly learned to give into the emotions he began feeling. It's a nice warmth bubbling up in your chest. If you can ignore the butterflies, love is actually quite nice. Therefore, he did all the cheesy stuff with you that most couples tended to do. One of those things was shopping. Due to his usual covert nature, no one who caught glimpse of his face and features were able to live and tell the tale. It took media a very long time to acquire even the most blurry picture of his silhouette for reference. This made going out a breeze for the both of you. After walking around and window shopping, eating, and taking in the fresh air through the open centered mall, you finally decided on the store you wanted to go into. He followed close behind you, taking in the faces of people whose eyes lingered on you too long. He was observant as he liked to call it...not jealous of course. "I think I want something nice so we can do a restaurant dinner for once. Would you be open to something like that?" You asked him, not wanting to push him past his boundaries. "That's fine." He said shortly, taking a much needed seat near the changing rooms. You smiled and gave him a quick peck on his cloth-covered lips before dipping off somewhere else in the store. Your eyes browsed rack after rack until you found a few outfits you deemed worthy enough to try on. He keep an eye on you out of the periphreal of his vision but mostly remained focused on the few news articles he'd pulled up to read on his phone. He made sure to keep track of himself to see just how much info the fuzz had on him. He smiled when he realized it wasn't enough.

You'd regained his full attention when you emerged from the changing room with your first outfit on. "Well, what do you think? I'm feeling like the color is cute but I don't know about matching accessories to it y'know? Maybe something simple?" He was at a small lost for words, 'how embarrassing' he thought for a moment. That was quickly overshadowed by the tightness in his chest and the feeling of a small fire lighting him up, slowly burning away at his insides until there was nothing left. "I like it..." Was all he could muster to say. Which each and every outfit you tried on, he felt less like being out at the mall and more like taking you home rather quickly for some much needed TLC. However, he's at least try to put himself away and give you the respect you deserved. You'd finally settled on a nice little black number with matching black shoes and gold jewelry to fit. While you checked out he watched you from a short distance as he tried to regain his composure. Surely that dinner date would have to wait for a while. He could use a little stay at home date first.

#sorry it got a little suggestive there at the end #hero killer stain #stain mha #stain bnha #akaguro chizome #scenario

[seraphim-soulmate]

ok, so I have this problem. I dissociate. A lot. It causes me to loose my balance, and I also have knee pain, occasional back pain, and mild hip pain. I do not use a walking aid. I’m 13, which, in my opinion is too young, but there are days where I go rlly slow. How do I explain 2 people that I’m not doing it on purpose, it’s cause it hurts. Also, how do you go about navigating crowds on bad days?

First of all, I am so sorry that you're going through this! This is a really difficult situation that you're in and I'm sorry that people around you are not seeing and understanding that. Secondly, my direct messages are open and it might be easier for me to better answer your questions if we can have a conversation about it, and/or if you have other questions, you're welcome to reach out there! As a disclaimer, I'm not a doctor so I can only share from my experience and my perspective. My lengthy answer is under the read more !

The part you asked for:

Communicating lived experiences, like how your chronic pain and balance issues impact you, is particularly difficult since others aren't experiencing what you do, so they have a hard time understanding what it's like to have that level of pain and can often assume you must be exaggerating. Comparing your pain to pain they're familiar with helps them understand (ex. "it feels like when you bump your knee really hard, but my pain doesn't go away after a couple minutes"). The approach you'll take depends on a lot of factors, like their ages, your relationships with them and how open they are to trying to understand what you're experiencing. Unfortunately, some people won't even try to understand, sometimes you have to let those people out of your life if they're not willing to try, but sometimes people (in particular parents) are actually scared of confronting the situation because of what it means for you+your future; you can continue reminding those people that you are still in pain and need help/accommodations if they don't acknowledge it at first. You can share resources/info about chronic pain with them, and/or tell them your pain level at certain times with a numerical pain scale.

There's a loose formula I use for general communication that is based on DBT therapy which is: "I experience this, this is how it impacts me, this is how it impacts our relationship, this is what you can do to help me and help our relationship". Coming up with a solution yourself for the situation helps set clearer expectations and what the other person can expect from you rather than putting it on them to find a solution.

How I typically explain it is, "I have chronic pain and other health issues that impact how quickly I'm able to do things. I often experience uncontrollable moments of pain that appear unexpectedly. Concretely, that means it takes me more time to do the same things that you do. I do my best to make preparations in advance to manage my symptoms, but they sometimes appear unexpectedly and I cannot control them. It would really help me if you could let me know (X time/days in advance) if there's something I need to be ready for at a specific time, that will give me a better chance to be there/ready on time". I personally timed how long it takes me to do the activities I need to do to get ready, so I know that if it's a bad pain day, I'll need to add another 30 minutes to an hour to accommodate that.

On bad days, I avoid crowds. But I understand that you probably aren't able to do that; you can maybe suggest going at an earlier time when things are less busy though? The quick version is: I bring sunglasses (even for indoors), headphones/earbuds (I have the Skullcandy Sesh Evo, they're noise-cancelling - I leave one halfway out in case I need to hear something & play lofi music), a medical face mask (it feels reassuring/protecting) and a water bottle. If you're grocery shopping and get overwhelmed, you can communicate that and say you're going to go wait outside. If you're at an event, you can excuse yourself to the bathroom for some distance. You're going to have to accommodate yourself in ways that may seem socially weird to others, but your health and comfort is more important than those social rules.

For the long explanation:

I prepare before I even get into that situation. So for prep, I make sure I eat a proper meal. I take a 1h30 nap that allows me to reset my body and sensory experiences. I do a guided deep breathing exercise (1-2 minutes following a YouTube video is enough) and my stretches to help with pain. I take my pain medication early enough for it to take effect before leaving. I make sure I'm wearing sensory friendly clothes.

I carry with me at all times a Ziploc bag of "essentials" that contains stuff like lip balm, lotion, ear plugs (for when I need to fully tune out what's around me), mints/gum (helps anxiety/nausea) & additional pain meds. I put my essentials pack into my backpack and in my backpack I have a snack (like a granola bar) and a large water bottle. You can also put the sunglasses+earbuds/headphones in when not in use. Yeah it kinda sucks to carry a backpack, but I find the weight/presence of it grounding and my anxiety is reassured knowing I have everything I need on my person. You can use any type of bag for this btw. Having a cane forces people to give me space and makes them generally more understanding of my whole situation when I'm wearing sunglasses indoors; a mask can sometimes have a similar affect depending on where you live. If you're standing in line or a place that isn't moving much, you can actually ask people if they can take a couple steps back to give you more space.

Additional input:

My dissociation is brought on by my pain rather than the opposite. So I'll experience a higher level of pain, and in order for my brain/body to be able to cope with that, I dissociate (it's an involuntary response but I can recognize a lot of my triggers). My therapist very gently explained to me that while dissociating is annoying, it does serve a purpose and you don't always need to try to forcibly ground yourself. It's a maladaptive coping tool, but it's what you have available right now and sometimes using more helpful coping tools can only happen when you have more control in your life. That doesn't mean you shouldn't try learning them now, but it's important to not get mad at yourself for having that response.

I'm not very familiar with having balance issues due to pain or dissociating. What I assume is happening is that your dissociation is causing a warped perception, which is causing you to have balance issues. It may also be a different underlying cause (vertigo, inner ear infection, blood sugar fluctuations, iron deficiency, just to name a few). It's really hard to unravel all of these things to see what's connected and what might be a different issue all-together. This is where I mention you should go to a doctor if you haven't already, my heart goes out to you if that's not an option for you at the moment but I can reassure you that you will be able to get medical help eventually.

Lastly, there is no age too young to encounter disability. For example, it's hypothesized that fibromyalgia can be triggered by traumatic events, which can occur at any age. But to clarify, it is definitely not the norm for a thirteen year old to be experiencing these issues! I had to do a lot of research by myself and present that to doctors for them to know how serious I was about my difficulties. When/if you can, I'd recommend booking multiple appointments in one day to save time considering wait lists. Having all your test results, x-rays and other medical info already done and readily available helps to cut down the wait time for a diagnosis by a lot. For me, a diagnosis allowed me to accept myself and my situation better, and let me allow myself to use the accommodations that were necessary. Wishing you the best & thank you for reaching out!

#personal #asks #anon asks #disability #disability questions #chronic pain #mental health #dissociation

[lcvebvtes]

Josie - ❝ it’s been a long time since someone stuck their neck out for me like that. ❞

Seated in court, Josefine is calm and collected as her defendant, Gregor Regis- the CEO of a major publishing company, is being grilled by the plaintiffs lawyer, an ex employee who had filed both a harassment and wrongful termination lawsuit. The other lawyer, a man she is familiar with by the name of Marcus Pike, is almost as good at his job as she is, however he's not quite on her level. He's midway through a tirade about how terrible of a boss Gregor is when she speak up "objection!" the judge looks to her in a querying manor and her chin lifts a fraction "counsellor Pike is leading the jury with his tall tales". The judge considers this for a moment and nods sagely "sustained, please keep your questioning concise and pertinent, counsellor." There's a glare in her direction and Marcus finishes up his questioning before returning to his seat and Josefine stood to begin her own.

"Mr Regis" she begins, hands clasped at her waist "tell me, before Ms Quinn filed this lawsuit against you- had you ever met her?" The defendant shakes his head and replies "not once in my life." "Interesting. Had you ever set foot in the Editing Department based on Whale Island?" "No, I can't make the journey due to my health issues" "can you please elaborate on these issues- for clarities sake?" "certainly, I have a heart condition and my body struggles to regulate my blood pressure. I take daily medication for it but my doctor advises me not to make strenuous journeys." "And I believe, climbing all the way up the vines to Whale Island would be classes as a strenuous journey- no?" The defendant chuckles slightly "there is a air balloon, you know" "I'm aware- however the wile change in air pressure is difficult for even perfectly healthy people to cope with- why there are many documented cases that attest to this where folks become unwell, or even lose consciousness due to these conditions." She heads back to her desk and plucks the relevant file and carries it over to the judge "for your consideration, your honour". She turns back to her defendant "so tell me, Mr Regis, has the plaintiff ever had business in your head office in Selphia?" "not once has she been called to the main office. Both her interview and hiring were held on the Island and we have never had cause to call a junior editor to the HQ of Regum Print and Publishing." "Interesting." She pauses "that is all."

After the court has adjourned for the day, Gregor and Josefine are heading back to her office in the back of his car, she can feel his eyes burning into her skull. "Yes, Mr Regis?" she asks, looking at him sidelong "I just wanted to thank you, you've done amazing work. I really think this case is going to be thrown out." She smirks and looks ahead again "I know it is. Pike couldn't puncture a hole in the defense I've raised today even if he had an enchanted harpoon." He guffaws and shakes his head "where did you get all that info about the people fainting and such after riding the balloon?" The car pulls to a stop and the driver moves to get out and open her door for her, "I have my sources, Mr Regis, if I gave them all away people wouldn't need to hire me." She steps out and pauses, turning and bending to look back into him "I'll see you tomorrow, bright and early." and with a final smile she turns and heads towards the door, ignoring Joon who was panting with a rattling chest after he had sprinted to hold it open for her.

#` meme day ' * #` josie meme replies ' * #` blood runs thicker than all else ' *

[spaceydragons]

First hunt & Adventure

Me? Actually writing? More likely than u think

Day one and two of predvember by @jacklycan! I'm super excited to participate in this!!

A/N: I would say 45 for a Yautja is around 15 in human years? And their wasn't much info on K'yipsas so I took some liberties lol

"I am not too young, I'm 45 years old! And you have spent years training me yourself. You're the one who said my aim with the bow is impeccable. You know I'm ready for this." Jha'tha huffs at her mom, crossing her arms. "Plus I'm always going to be small, that won't change." She grumbles.

-

"No, my pup. You are still too young to go on a hunt." Am'hla states, not looking up from the herb garden she carefully tends to. "Too small, you could get hurt."

Am'hla sighs. "My stubborn pup." She walks over to her daughter and places her hands on her shoulders. "As thick skulled as your sire." She mumbles, mostly to herself. "Fine." She mirrors Jha'tha and crosses her own arms. "Prove your aim and bring back a K'yipsas."

"A K'yipsas?" The flying creatures weren't particularly big or fearsome, but they're armored and fast and often swarmed together in the hundreds.

"Yes. Shouldn't be too difficult for someone with aim as good as yours. You will leave at first light tomorrow. Now, come help me with the herbs."

Jha'tha tries her best to hold back a sigh. "Yes, bearer."

-

Jha'tha is glad that she leaves at first light, the trek to the swamps where the K'yipsas like to swarm is going to take longer than expected.

After a quick first meal and grabbing her satchel-- fully packed with medical supplies and rations, courtesy of her mother-- she slings her bow and quiver of arrows over her shoulder and heads out.

It's mid-day by the time Jha'tha reaches the swamps, and she can easily hear the large group of K'yipsas before she even sees a them.

The insects clinging to the spindly trees while others fly around, and the easiest target would be one on the trees.

But Jha'tha isn't going to take the easy route.

She quietly ascends one of the trees, steadying herself on a limb and readying her bow. Crouching down, she locks onto one of the flying creatures, leans forward to aim and--

And her long tendrils fall forward, the few beads in them clinking together.

The sound isn't loud, not compared to the natural sounds of the swamps, but it still causes the K'yipsas to swarm into a panicked frenzy.

"Pauk!" Jha'tha quietly curses, mostly at herself for not tying her tendrils back.

It takes awhile for the swarm to calm down, and when they do it's further within the swamp. Jha'tha descends the tree-- making sure to tie her tendrils back when she's back on solid ground-- and makes her way to where the insects have settled.

She repeats her process. Swiftly climbing a tree, settling in a good advantage spot, leaning forward to aim and--

And a loose piece of tree bark shifts under her feet and falls to the ground, inciting another panicked swarm.

"Oh come on!" Groaning, she quickly makes her way down the tall tree.

Not waiting for the swarm to settle, Jha'tha chases after them. She readies her bow, aiming for a K'yipsas on the outskirts of the swarm. She fires and--

And the arrow bounces right off of its thick plated back.

"Cjit! How did I forget that!" The creatures have thick, almost armor like skin on their backs.

The only way to kill them is to aim for their vulnerable underbelly.

Groaning, Jha'tha rounds the side of the swarm, struggling to keep up with her target and to find a spot where she can aim for its weak point and--

She found it. An open spot to aim at it.

Waisting no time, Jha'tha shoots another arrow.

And hits the K'yipsas dead center in its underbelly.

It falls to the ground with a shriek as Jha'tha lets out a cry of victory.

She walks up to her kill, yanking the goo-covered arrow from its belly and picking it up by one of its many legs.

"Thank you for the hunt, zabin. My bearer is going to be be proud of me."

-

The sun's have begun to set and blanket the village in a warm hue by the time Jha'tha makes her way home.

She presents her kill to her mother, holding it up with a triumphant click of her mandibles.

Am'hla is very proud of her youngest pup.

-

Predvember taglist; @arthurmorganstinkydick @bobafettuccini @penandsaber (dm me or ask in the comments if u want to be tagged!)

#predvember #Jha'tha #predator oc #Yautja oc #my writing #the Yautja

[eiseryn]

Arknights AU Sketches (Lei ft. NPC friends)

Today I am introducing Lei's NPC friends but it's kinda funny that I'm introducing them as sketches for an Arknights AU. It is what it is.

Let's start with Elise! In the original cyberpunk setting Lei's from, Elise is an older female doctor who worked for the most prestigious med corp but quit and opened up a clinic in the slums instead. She's obviously a very talented doctor and Lei looks up to her a lot, as Elise appears to be the epitome of an ideal doctor, in Lei's perspective. Someone who actually views saving lives as being the most important - a rarity in this capitalistic dystopian setting. TLDR: Elise is Lei's doctor senpai.

Elise in the Arknights AU is obviously a medic (the operator class). I'm not sure about her archetype/subclass but she's definitely one that actually does healing and a lot of it. They don't do that anymore XD. She is a six star (highest rarity) because she is really good at her job AKA doctoring around. With input from the Keeper (COC's version of the GM/DM), she's a liberi (bird people) specifically, an eagle. I thought this was extra fitting since Lei is a liberi (swan) as well, which makes them more parallel to each other.

Elise's introduction/onboard quote is: "Elise Amaya, a doctor of the medical department. You're worried about me? Don't be. I can take care of myself. Please come by if you have any injuries yourself."

According to Ceres (another one of Lei's friends), Elise has collapsed from overwork. Elise is just the self sacrificial type who would risk her life to save someone else's. Perhaps... this is due to guilt? So in her quote, I imagine the Arknights Doctor has heard about this too and showed concern for Elise, who brushed it off with the "I can take care of myself". This is how she brushed off Lei in the campaign when Lei showed concern for Elise. Elise... please :')

The next one is going to be Ceres! Who is Lei's bestie in the slums. Lei met her very soon after she moved to Prism's clinic in the slums. Although Ceres has her whole medical degree (apparently a neurosurgeon, according to Lei's coworkers), Ceres' job is to drive Prism's ambulance. Personality wise, Ceres is very shy, gentle, and soft-spoken. She's 2 years younger than Lei, so Lei dotes on her Ceres like the younger sister that Lei's never had. Ceres is also small and fragile-looking, so I imagine Lei has a fierce protective instinct over Ceres. They hang out a lot during what breaks they can steal on their long shifts and even spend time outside of work. Their relationship is so cute. 🥺🥺🥺 I love me girl friendships.

In the Arknights AU, Ceres is either a supporter/specialist class and let's pretend there's a subclass that involves driving/car XD because Ceres is not a fighter. That's also why I made her a 4 star, because she is definitely physically weak and doesn't seem to have any fighting skills. She probably is not there doing damage but I imagine if you put her on field when Lei and Elise are also on the field she gives big buffs to them or something XD. Moral support, you know. I wanted Ceres to be a soft prey animal but I ultimately settled for a deer because she is a dear. (I'm joking). In actuality, I describe her eyes as doe-like before and because of her docile, gentle personality, I thought a deer was very suitable for her!

Ceres' onboard quote is: "Oh, he-hello. I'm Ceres... I'm an ambulance driver. Have you seen Lei or Elise? I'm looking for them."

Sometimes Ceres stutters when she speaks! I think generally she does this more when she's nervous. (Or lying???) She's looking for her friends, Lei and Elise in this, because in the campaign currently she's also waiting for Lei and Elise to come back (crying in the club noises). 🥺 She's so cute I constantly want to give her headpats and hugs.

The last of Lei's NPC friends is her former (?) patient, Vail. (DISCLAIMER: ETHICALLY, THIS IS BAD). He is a runner and his info broker's name is Martial (whom we do a little job for in the campaign~) Anyways, he's kind of suspicious because he used to visit the clinic once or twice a week, sometimes injured, sometimes not, and purchase sedatives and brain stimulants. When Lei expressed concern for him, he replied. "Don't worry, most of them aren't for me". (bro, that's sus. But he's cute so it's okay 💅<- this is a joke but he is a cutie). Apparently he hasn't been in the Prism clinic for like 3 months now but he and Lei meet up for drinks sometimes, and they last met 3 weeks prior to the campaign. I wrote about this event :3 and made it mildly spicy :3 but welp we'll see if I post it.

In the Arknights AU, I originally wanted him to be a ranged guard (Lord class, my fave!!!) but there weren't any vanguards XD so I decided to make him a vanguard! He doesn't seem very high DPS based on what we've seen of him in combat -- which was one time and I don't think we saw him do any fighting. We got there when he had already 1v4ed and taken down 2 robot dogs though! (😳😳😳). He was using the same handgun as Lei, which I've drawn badly here LOL. Subclass wise, I imagine he's an agent for the range :3 I made him a catboy because he likes cats and also he's really catboy coded like there is no other way to describe him. He just feels like a catboy to me.

Vail's onboard quote is: "Hey Doctor, got any sedatives on you? Ask the medical department? Nah, that'll worry my usual Doc."

Hahah I sure wonder who his "usual Doc" is. Hmmmm who could it be? As I mentioned above, he purchases sedatives a lot. Here he is asking the Arknights doctor for some. What he's using them for is still a mystery to me at this point in time 😔

Another thing to note is that in Arknights, there's a deadly disease called oripathy and those Infected with it are heavily shunned by society. Anyways lots of operators (the character/ units) in Arknights are Infected people who are working to pay for their treatment (and also there are lots of doctors who are working on treatment). Unfortunately, Vail is infected😔

And finally, my girl, Lei!

As described before, she is a liberi! Specifically a black swan because I feel like she has ugly duckling -> swan vibes. She doesn't have many feathery parts to her outfit because she tries to keep her outfit neat and clean as a doctor/medical expert. She's also a medic like Elise, but she's probably more of an incantation medic who is a subclass that both heals and does damage. Just like her, in the campaign :D I drew her holding a healing gun that you can put like uhh healing chemicals into. And probably deadly chemicals too :') - or sedatives :3

Lei's onboard quote: "My name is Lei Lani. I'm a doctor who specializes in pharmaceutical research and synthesis. Let's work together and save more lives, Doctor."

Here she has a pretty cut and dry introduction quote. Nothing fancy, but it suits her. I imagine her other voicelines will talk about her friends more.

In Arknights, Olivia Silence gives people her feathers as gifts. So I kind of stole that idea for Lei, where she is also giving her friends her feathers, but she fashioned them into little charms with little gemstones. I imagine she spent lots of time putting the together for her friends and she wants them to serve as good luck charms where she prays for their safety and happiness.

The locations for where those charms are also pretty important! For Lei, she wears it as a necklace which hangs close to her heart because her giving out these charms is like her handing out pieces of her heart to her friends. For Elise, it hangs off her medical symbol because Lei looks up to her as a fellow doctor and I guess they're both working hard to save lives. For Ceres, it hangs off her antlers, close to her head because Lei always thinks of Ceres first. For Vail it uh.... well let's just say it's the most appropriate place to hang it without getting in the way of his movement. XD

I do plan on making actual E1 art of her one day ;w; and also I plan for her to have a 6 star alter who is a sniper (maybe caster?) cuz uh she sure has done lots uh one shot one kill type of thing.

EXTRA SPICY BONUS UNDER THE READMORE (It's not that spicy)

What's going on here? 😳😳😳 Some tail action??? Scandalous!

I mean, it can be cute and wholesome if you want it to be cute and wholesome.

#OC #my OC #original character #but also some are not my ocs so im going to need to tag that as #not my ocs #lei #vail #elise #ceres #arknights au #au art #cyberpunk coc #lei's friends #lei's npc friends #sketches #sketch #eiseryn #eiserynn #oc lore #oc lore dump #sorry i rambled a lot here #long post

[inevitably-johnlocked]

Hi Steph! Thanks so much for your work, I really appreciate your contributions to fandom! I was wondering if you have a list of good non-AU long fics? I don't read AUs, but I love reading long (like >50k word) fics! It's okay if it diverges from canon, but I like fics that are set in the normal BBC Sherlock universe :) thanks again!

HEY NONNY! :D

Thank you kindly for your lovely words! I'm glad that you are enjoying your time here!!

I have LOTS of long AU and non-AU fics! Check out these lists here, and your post is starting another one :D. I mark all my AUs at the beginning of the info tags between the double pipes after the Chapter counts if there is one, so just check each listing for the AU listed... any without an AU are "canon" universe :)

Enjoy!!

NOVEL LENGTH FICS: 50 to 100K Pt 3.

See also:

Novella Length Fics: 20 to 25K (Oct 2020)

Novella Length Fics: 25 to 50K (Aug. 2019)

Novel Length Fics: 50 to 100K (Nov. 2018)

Novel Length Fics: 50 to 100K Pt 2 (May 2020)

Novel Length Fics: 100K+ w. (May 2019)

Novel Length Fics: 100K+ w. Pt 2 (Aug 2020)

Novel Length Fics: 100K+ w. Pt 3 [MFL’s] (Dec 2020)

Smut-Free Fics Over 50K (Aug 2019)

A Study Of Living With Sherlock Holmes by  AllesandraQuartermaine (T, 50,234 w., 22 Ch. || Post-ASiP/Pre-TAB, Domestics, Friendship, POV John) – Learn about what happened between John and Sherlock January 31st and March 22. From John's pov on how to survive and learn to live with one eccentric mad genius known as Sherlock Holmes. 

The Hollow Woman by ScopesMonkey (M, 51,335 w., 22 Ch. || Post-TRF, Major Character Death, Mystery, Romance, Friendship, Family, Angst, Crime, Reunion, First Kiss / Time, Nightmares, Doctor John, Jealous Sherlock, Jealous John, BAMF John, Angry John, Dub-Con, Rough Sex, Bottomlock, Possessive John, Villain Mary, Open Ending) – Forced to return to London sooner than expected, Sherlock falls into a case too close to home. Part 1 of the Hollowverse series

A Goose Quill Dipped in Venom by Polyphony (M, 52,748 w., 16 Ch. || Celebrity John AU || Alternate First Meeting, TV Host John, Supermodel Mary, Character Death, Mystery, Romance, Case Fic, First Kiss/Time, Meddling Mycroft, Drug Abuse, Doctor John, PDA, Deductions, POV Sherlock, Toplock, Sexual Tension, Angry/Rough Sex, Hopeful Ending, Asperger’s Sherlock) – Sherlock Holmes, consulting detective, is called in to a very ordinary although brutal murder. Something is badly out of tune with the whole scenario and Sherlock finds himself becoming more and more obsessed with the crime - and also with the victim.

Isosceles by SilentAuror (E, 56,609 w., 7 Ch. || Post-S4, POV John, Original Male Character / Sherlock Dates Another Man, Love Triangle, Jealous John, Virgin Sherlock, Sexual Coaching, Angst, Romance, Domesticity, Unrequited Feelings, Miscommunication, First Kiss/Time, For a Case, Friends With Benefits, Bottomlock, Love Confessions, Spooning) – After solving a case for a major celebrity, Sherlock gets himself asked out. When John asks, he discovers that Sherlock has no intention of going, at least not until John agrees to coach him through whatever he might need to know for his date...

You Might Just as Well Be Blind by ArwaMachine (E, 56,625 w., 12 Ch. || Fake Relationship, For a Case, Bed Sharing, Platonic Cuddling, Jealous Sherlock, Oblivious John, BAMF Hudders, Fluff and Angst, Frottage, Anal Sex, Happy Ending, Case Fic, Flirting, Pining John, POV John, Toplock, Possessive Sherlock, First Kiss/Time, Infidelity) – When a serial killer starts targeting couples, Sherlock and John must do what they have to do in order to get to the bottom of things. Unfortunately, John already has a girlfriend. Surely pretending to be in a relationship with Sherlock won't pose any problems with his relationship, will it?

Lunar Landscapes by J_Baillier (M, 57,046 w., 21 Ch. || PODFIC AVAILABLE || S3/TAB Fix-It, Slow Burn Angst, Drama, Hurt/Comfort, Confessions, Drugs, Pain, Medical, Injury, Sherlock Whump, Mental Health Issues, Panic Attacks, Romance, Secrets, Tragedy, Trauma, BAMF John, Doctor!John, Drug Addict Sherlock, Injured Sherlock, Grieving John, Idiots In Love, Protective John, POV John Watson, PTSD Sherlock, Sherlock is a Mess, Medical Realism) – An accident forces John to face the fact that Sherlock's downward spiral had started long before his flight to exile even left the tarmac.

Gold Rush by ShirleyCarlton (E, 71,783 w., 17 Ch. || Post S3 / No Mary, Friends to Lovers, Mentions of Past Sexual Abuse, First Kiss, Case Fic, Slow Burn, Alternating POV, Switchlock, Angst with Happy Ending, Marriage Proposal, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Abduction, Anxious/Insecure Sherlock, Miscommunication, Emotional Lovemaking) – John has divorced Mary and pops round to 221B one evening to find Sherlock in the middle of a case. As Sherlock tries to find the identity of a young woman’s stalker, John realises he can no longer deny his feelings for Sherlock – which then, to their befuddlement, turn out to be mutual. Shy kisses and tentative embraces ensue. But will Sherlock be able to cast off a shadow from his past that he thinks might prevent John from wanting to stay?

Kintsukuroi by sussexbound (E, 91,823 w., 20 Ch. || S4 Compliant / Post-TLD, Grief / Mourning, PTSD, Internalized Homophobia, Therapy, Past Abuse, Alcohol Abuse, Nightmares, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Depression, Anxiety, Bed Sharing, Love Confessions, Cuddling, Suicidal Ideation, Masturbation, Minor Character Death, Sexting, Frottage, Inexperienced Sherlock, Rimming / Anal / BJ’s, Emotional Turmoil, Finding Each Other) – “I love you.” Sherlock sees the words hit John with almost physical force. He reels back a little, jaw twitching and eyes filling. “I love you,” he repeats, a little softer, a little more gentle, as earnest as he possibly can. Because they’ve been teetering on the brink of this thing for years, and it had become painfully obvious over the last few months that they were at a tipping point. This had to happen. Now it has. Now they can see where they end up. The tears in John’s eyes spill over, and he wipes at them angrily. “Do you even know what that means?”  

#steph replies #johnlock fic recs #long fics #50 to 100k #my fic recs #novel length fics