#and the first one with multiple chapters

[concreteburialplot]

VIRALITY // 10

10 - Maybe Both, Maybe Neither

pairing: nicholas ruffilo x fem!oc [vallie]

masterlist/intro: here | crossposted: ao3 | word count: 5.8k

summary: after waking up next to each other vallie & nicholas go their separate ways. vallie goes to visit an old friend who may be more than friendly. nicholas goes to sober up noah but doesn’t expect him to pull the curtain back on his resentment.

warnings: mentions about alcoholism/AA meetings/cheating, arguing, noah being annoying but what's new, tea is spilled !!, vallie is vulnerable for once in her life, lots of dialogue, alternating POVs sorry 🥲

A/N: Sorry it's been like 2 months since I’ve updated, it literally did not feel like it 🥲 school & life are kicking my ass lol + this chapter ended up being so complicated / difficult

Also! This chapter introduces a very mild crossover with Christian 'Kras' Anthony from the band Chase Atlantic - he's being used as a fun little temporary reoccurring side character. Don't worry, knowing who he is isn't necessary to understand his character lol i just think he's cute🥰

don't like it don't read it. don’t be mean for no reason & let others enjoy things thnx :)

-NICHOLAS-

A jarring buzzing jolts me awake. I sit up a bit with scrunched eyes trying to follow the noise with a wandering patting hand. The noise leads to Vallie’s phone rattling on my bedside table next to her. I grab it and sleepily ignore the call out of habit.

In my still half-sleep state, I don’t want to be anywhere else besides where my body was curled up against her. I return to my spot with my arm around the brunette, tugging her closer. Her scent fills my nostrils when I nuzzle into her neck. The smell of her hair is peppermint-y and the scent on her skin reminds me of marshmallows and… matcha?

Whatever it is, it’s warm, cozy, and smells so yummy it makes me want to eat her again.

Before I have the pleasure of manifesting that thought into reality, her phone goes off vibrating again, this time making me significantly more aggravated.

I snatch the phone looking at her caller ID – the name plastered across the screen:

Christian

with some emojis I’m far too sleepy to decipher.

Christian?

I decide not to ignore her phone call from an evidently urgent caller.

“Hey, Hey.” I gently nudge her shoulder. “Your phone has been going off.”

She lets out a sleepy groan that is probably the cutest noise I’ve ever heard.

She takes one look at the ID and immediately ignores it and shoves it under the pillow.  

Odd.

She yawns and rubs her eye, “What time is it?”

“I’m not sure.” I try to look at the edges of my window covered with blackout curtains trying to gauge even the time of day. “You have your phone, check it?”

Her fingers tap against the mattress. “It’s not that important.”

“Who’s Christian?” I blurt out without thinking.

From the angle I’m at, I can see her eyes widen a bit at the question.

She clears her throat. “What?”

“The person who kept calling you. It was someone named Christian?”

“Oh um,” She bites down on my lip, seemingly contemplating her answer. “He’s a friend.”

I’m filled with a feeling I’m not sure I enjoy nor one I should be feeling.

“A friend?” I ask, unconvinced.

It’s none of my business. It doesn’t matter who he is.

“Yeah, a friend.” She scrunches her brows at the wall. “Why do you care who’s calling me?”

“I-I don’t.” I reply but I know I’m a shit liar and I probably don’t sound very convinced. “I was just wondering.”

“Right.” She yawns then gets up in a panic like she just realized where she is. “Oh my god we fell asleep.”

“Yeah…I figured you gathered that by now.” I said falling down flat beside her.

“Fuck Nick, how am I gonna get out of here?” She scrambles for her phone beneath the pillow to finally check the time. “Fuck, fuck, I have to leave.”

“Okay, okay, calm down. Let me just check out the house, I can take you to get your car.” I pull myself out of bed and let myself stretch out my arms above my head.

“Fuck.” She mutters, readjusting her entire torso in her tight top. “Remind me to never sleep in a corset ever again. I need to get out of this, can I borrow something?”

Her attention lands on me and at first, her forest greens are inquisitive and calm but when she actually looks at me, they widen. Her eyes slowly trail down my body and land where my shirt hangs above the exposed skin of my hips.

Watching her tongue slide between her lips makes my heart thump in my ear drums so loud I can barely hear what she’s saying.

 “Also, can you um,” She clears her throat and looks back up at me, “Help me get this off?”

“Sure.” I nod and drop my arms back down.

She shifts in the bed so the zipper in the back of the faux-corset faces me. My fingers delicately gather her dark chocolate locks and drape them over her shoulder to get them out of my way. Her tan skin curves so beautifully from her neck to her shoulder that I feel as though if I don’t kiss her there it would somehow be insulting.

The need to kiss her there feels as necessary as air, so lean down and press a hesitant kiss to the crook of her neck as I begin unzipping her top.

She doesn’t stop me, which I was sure she would stop me now in the daylight.

Another kiss up, I linger more there.

Then another in the same spot, then another, and another, and another – until I am fully peppering her skin with open mouth kisses and my hands roam her curves.

She lets out little noises the closer I get to her ear that remind me of the ones she gave me when my tongue was inside her.

It’s not until I’m nipping and sucking at her skin that she speaks.

“Nick…” She whines in a tone that says ‘you know better’.

I tug down the rest of her zipper.

My lips still lazily drag up her neck.

I hum against her and let my hands wander down her sides to her hips. “Let me make you feel good.”

She lets out a shuddered whine but not a red or green light.

My hands round her hips giving them a gentle back and forth rub, “I need to taste you again.” I press another kiss against the sensitive skin below her ear and I can feel goosebumps erupt all over her skin.

My fingers burn everywhere they meet her skin and beg to be everywhere  they shouldn’t be.

She closes her eyes and lets herself breathe for a second.

“Nicholas.” She repeats, more sternly this time. “I have to leave before anyone sees me.”

“I know.” I say simply and pull away, strategically resting both hands over my semi.

I know I shouldn’t press more. I know shouldn’t try to convince more. But god do I want to. All I’m thinking about is fucking her senseless.

She keeps a hand on the front of the corset to keep it flush on her skin. “Could I please borrow something?” She reminds me of her original request.

“Oh yeah sure, sorry.” I quickly scan the room for the closest item.

I spot a barely worn Deftones shirt and hand it to her.

“Thanks.”

 She just sort of stares at me then makes a ‘turn-around’ motion with her hand.

“Oh, sorry.” I shift away from her. “It’s not like it’s anything I haven’t seen before.”

“Shut up.”

I hear her let out a sigh of relief, probably from finally being freed from the constricting top.

“Okay you can turn around now.”

I turn back to her and find what I expected: her in my shirt.

What I didn’t expect was to somehow find her even more attractive in my shirt than even a lace corset.

As much as I’d like for her to stay, I fear that if I don’t get her out now, I’ll devour her whole.

“I’ll just… go scope out the area.” I thumb over my shoulder towards the door.

“Good idea.” She nods.

I very quietly sneak out of my room into the empty hallway, gently closing the bedroom door behind me.

After tiptoeing around the house, I find everyone asleep as it seems still quite early, at least for them.  

The drive back to the bar is quiet and somewhat awkward. I’m not sure if it’s because of what we did or if I crossed some sort of invisible line and made her upset.

Or maybe both,

Maybe neither.

Maybe I’m over thinking it.

We haven’t talked about anything, no rules, no boundaries. I don’t know how I would bring that up to begin with. What the hell are we doing? And how do I feel about it. How do I want to feel about it? 

We say goodbye and it’s stiff and odd. I’m not sure if I should kiss her? Or treat her like my colleague?

Maybe both,

Maybe neither.

That one feels more like a maybe neither.

The way she acted this morning makes me think that whatever… this is, is over.

I know it should be done, but there is a part of me that doesn’t want to stop. At least not yet. Maybe if I got one more fix.

Regardless how I feel about it, it was a mistake. I knew that the first time, I knew it last night and I know it now.

Why did I let this happen. How did I let this happen?

I tap my fingers anxiously against the steering wheel once I’ve parked at home.

I know Folio wouldn’t really care but if Noah or Jolly found out about this?

Oh my god.

I don’t even want to think about what would happen.

All I know is two things.

One, I can’t keep fucking thinking about this – I can’t keep thinking about her.

Two, I unfortunately know what I need to do when I walk back through our front door.

-VALLIE-

As soon as my car door shuts behind me, I let out a long sigh that I wasn’t aware I was holding.

I fold my arms around my steering wheel and rest my forehead against it.

“Fuck.”

The entire ride home there was this nausea festering in the pit of my stomach.

I like being with Nicholas.

I like being with Nicholas too much.

And this stupid fucking Deftones shirt is too comfortable and smells too much like him – and I like it more than I should. And I need to get home as soon as possible to get it off me.

This is absolutely the last thing I needed – catching feelings or whatever the fuck is filling my chest with butterflies from someone I’m representing.

This is the band that I shouldn’t have even taken on in the first place, and now I’m here on the verge of vomiting because I miss the way his bed feels. This was not the plan.

I shake my head from the the thoughts as I walk through my front door. It’s just the dickmatization talking. That’s it. I like his dick and that’s all.

His huge fucking…

No.

No.

And god his fucking tongue...

No.

No.

This absolutely cannot be happening.

I won’t let this happen.

I need to nip this in the bud before it goes any further.

I chuck my phone and keys on my dresser and use my palms to lean against the edge.

An abrupt buzzing of my iPhone against the hard wood shocks me from my dissociation.

Christian

Christian

Christian

…could be exactly what I need.

I slide the answer bar across the screen and bring the phone to my ear.

“Hey Kras.” I smile, using his nickname.

“Val!” He chimes cheerfully on the other line. “I’ve been trying to get ya all day!”

“I’m busy Kras, you know that.” I roll my eyes playfully. “What’s up, what do you want so badly?”

“Tour ended last week and I’m staying in LA for a bit for some band stuff before I head back home to Sydney.” He pauses. “I wanna see you. I need to talk to you about something.”

I press my lips together and take a deep breath, suddenly stressed about what exactly that meant.

“Okay. When and where do you wanna meet up?”

“Today? My place?”

“Okay, see you then.”

After a much-needed shower I’m finally at the door of his temporary apartment. I smooth out my outfit, which wasn’t much really, just some sweats with a cropped tank. With as long as I’ve known Kras, it didn’t really matter what I looked like, but I still wanted to look cute. I use my hand to flatten my tied up hair to make sure there’s no ridges before I knock on his door. It doesn’t take long for him to answer it.

“Val.” He greets with his signature big goofy smile.

The tall, long-haired blonde envelopes me into giant hug and I embrace it. His scent fills my nose with memories; it’s soft, comforting, and most of all, fun.

Christian and I have always been close, he’s the closest thing I have to a best friend. Our friendship has always been…interesting to say the least. I think most people would consider our dynamic complicated, but to us it’s quite simple.

I give him a good, hard squeeze around his midsection. “Augh, Kras I’ve missed you.”

He reciprocates the squeeze and places a kiss atop my head. “I missed you too.”

I pull away with a smile and smack his arm, “You don’t text me enough! I didn’t even know your tour ended.”

“Me? The phone works both ways Miss ‘You know I’m busy’” He mocks me jokingly.

“God, I forget how strong your Aussie accent is in person.” I chuckle, diverting the conversation.

I shiver at the ice-cold chill I get from his AC and rub my arms for warmth.

“Fuck it’s cold as shit in here.” It’s so frigid even my teeth chatter.

“Yeah, sorry I like it freezing. You want a jacket or something?” He offers then crosses the room when I nod.

He picks through some clothes in an open suitcase and hands me a multicolored flannel. I pull the flannel over my arms letting the material engulf my body.

After a brief catching up about tour and life, I lean against the wall and cross my arms.

“So, what is it you wanted to talk about.” I cut straight to it.

He bites down on his lip, and I can’t tell if he’s excited or nervous.

Maybe both, maybe neither.

“We need a manager.” He blurts out.

“Oh? I thought you were working with-”

“We want you Val.”

I laugh, because surely, he can’t be serious. I don’t belong to an agency and work my two clients freelance, all on my own. There’s no way I could take on another band, especially one as successful as Chase on top of the other two.

“What? No, no, I absolutely couldn’t manage you guys…”

He steps towards me and trails his fingers down my arms and hooks onto my hands. “Sure you can. You used to, remember?”

I shake my head, “Oh, you know that doesn’t count Christian. We were nobodies – you were nobodies. Of course I could manage your measly little 10,000 Instagram followers.”

He squeezes my hands and tugs on my arms. “C’mon Val. It’ll be like the good old days. It’ll be fun!”

“I don’t know about you, but living in a tiny LA apartment with three men struggling to afford food wasn’t really that good or fun.”

He rolls his eyes and tugs on my arms again. “For old times’ sake?”

I shake my head, “No, no, I already have enough on my plate. I just took on another band not that long ago.”

“Please Val, for us?” His brows curve up, and he gives me the biggest hazel puppy dog eyes that he knows I can’t say no to. “For me?”

I groan and rest my head back against the wall. “I’ll think about it, okay?”

His hands leave mine and find their way to my hips, slipping under the flannel so his hands are holding onto bare skin between my tank and my sweats. His forehead presses against mine.

“Is there anything I can do to help change that answer?” He asks between the small space separating us while his finger traces my jaw line tilting my chin up a bit.

I tug at my lip – this is partially why I came here right? To nip my Nick problem in the bud, to break the dickmatization spell.

“I don’t know, maybe.” I tease up at him with round eyes.

“Hm.” He hums and leans in, pressing a kiss to my lips and I freeze.

Even though we’ve done this a million times before, it just feels wrong now. Nicholas and I aren’t even… anything, we’re just fucking, right? But it still feels odd.

I know this feeling.

And I know what it means.

Fuck.

I pull away and give a little head shake.

“Plum?” He asks using our code word for when we’re interested in or dating someone else.

I groan loudly, shuffle past him to his bed in the studio apartment and dramatically fall flat, face down onto it. Then let out an even louder, longer groan.

He walks over and gently sits criss-cross on the bed next to me.

“Must be a pretty good Plum to have you like this.”

Our friendship was simple. We’re the rare example that a friends-with-benefits can be truly, purely platonic and casual. Kras is a generally affectionate guy, even with his bandmates. And he is one of the only people I feel comfortable being affectionate with, so I let myself be affectionate with him.

We are platonically affectionate best friends who fuck when we’re single. It sounds impossible but it’s who we are and who we have been for almost 10 years. 

It’s nice, cozy, and convenient. Easy.

He’s safe, familiar, and reliable.

Which is more than I can say for any friendship or relationship I’ve ever had.

I turn my head towards him still flat against the bed.

“It’s bad Kras.”

“How bad?”

I chew on my bottom lip. “I work with him.”

His eyes widen. “Oh no.”

“Oh yes.”

“…In the band you were talking about?”

I turn back to hide my face in his duvet. “Oh yeah.”

“Val noooo.”

I chuckle at how his ‘no’s sound like ‘naaauur’s.

“I knooow.” I whine into the sheets.

“Singer?”

I shake my head against the duvet.

“Guitarist?”

“Bassist.” I reply muffled in bedding.

“Oof.”

A laugh escapes me at his reaction. I pop my head up at him, “Stop, I know.”

I pull myself up and cross the bed to sit next to him and lay my head on his shoulder.

“Maybe I just really like his dick.” I state confidently staring out the large window across the room. I blankly watch the daytime city lights flicker across the highrise-littered skyline.

“You think so?” He asks looking down at me a little. “I’ve never seen you get like this over just good dick. You’re pretty cut and dry about like…emotions. You’re good at separating sex from feelings.” He laughs and nudges me. “That’s why we work so well.”

I groan and hide my face in his shoulder because I know he’s right. He’s always right when it comes to shit like this.

“He sang to me Kras.”

“Oh god…was he any good?”

I feel my cheeks heat up and I nod against his arm, “It was so pretty.”

He laughs and tickles my side, “Look at you! You’re smitten! I never thought I’d see the day.”

I grab the nearest pillow and smack him with it, “Shut up!” then fall back flat and cover my face with it.

There’s a silence between us for a bit, a million things running through my mind, but Kras speaks for me.

“You know you can’t love him, right?” He says gently.

My brows furrow immediately, I slam the pillow down and shoot straight up.

“WHOA, whoa whoa.” I cut through the air with my hand. “Nobody ever said anything about…the L word. I do not…love him.” I can barely get the word out as if it’s something forbidden. “I barely fucking know him. I just like his dick.”

“Okay, okay.” He raises his hands in defense. “You can’t like him. You know that right?”

“I don’t even know if I like him. We’re just fucking. That’s all.”

He glares at me with a face that screams, ‘yeah right’. “Well, fine, you know you can’t keep fucking him.”

I let out a long sigh.

“Yeah, I know. I thought coming here to fuck you would help.”

He laughs then tapers off in thought.

“Maybe we don’t actually have to fuck in order to help.” He suggests.

I raise a brow at him, “What do you mean?”

“Well, I mean… guys normally don’t just sing to girls they’re casually hooking up with.”

“Okay…?” I motion for him to keep going.

“So, if it comes up or anything, you could just lie.” He shrugs.

“Lie about what?”                             

“About like, fucking someone else. If he likes you enough to sing to you, he probably won’t be happy if you tell him you’re fucking someone else. So, he’ll stop trying to fuck you.”

I chew on my thumbnail in thought, he’s right. Like always.

“Maybe. I don’t really know if he’d even care. We never really talking about anything… I thought we just had a silent agreement about just fucking, he never said anything about-”

“He sang to you Val.”

I anxiously twirl the ends of my ponytail and chew on my bottom lip. “I don’t want to hurt him.”

He gives me the most ‘are you for real’ glare.

“Okay, okay.” I deflate. “IF it comes up, I’ll mention something.”

“Just don’t say who I am. I don’t know him, he could beat my ass." He laughs. "Plus, it would be pretty awkward for him to find out that you’re fucking a hot guitarist from your other band.” He smirks cheekily.

“Shut up.” I elbow his side playfully, “I never said yes.”

“But you will.”

I chew on my lip thinking it over.

On one hand, I’m already insanely busy and overworked with the two artists I’m already managing.

On the other hand, as odd as they are, they are old and close friends of mine. It wouldn’t be like managing strangers or learning a whole new fanbase, I helped build the foundation of the one they have now back in 2014.

And it would be a good distraction.

If this plan works out with Nick, maybe I could move on from Plum status and I can actually focus on my job.

“Fine. I’ll do it. BUT,” I hold a finger pointed towards him menacingly, “ONLY temporarily.”

“Ah yes! I knew you would!” He exclaims, wrapping his arms around me and tackling me to the bed, pressing various ‘thank you’ kisses to my cheek.

“Okay, okay enough.” I chuckle trying to escape his grasp.

-NICHOLAS-

I let a long sigh at the bottom of the stairs, shifting my weight between both feet. I tap my fingers on the wooden railing anxiously. I probably shouldn’t be this rattled over something I’ve done a million times before. But it doesn’t get any easier.

I push myself up the stairs in one driving force knowing that it has to be me. It’s always me.

Never Folio. Never Jolly.

It’s always been my job.

There’s no response when I knock on Noah’s bedroom door.

I knock again, no answer.

I knock again, no answer.

So, I let myself in.

As expected, Noah’s passed out with a fresh bottle of whiskey half drank on his nightstand. His room still in as much filth as it’s been for a while. For as long as I’ve known him, I’ve only ever seen his room even remotely messy a handful of times, and this is the worst I’ve ever seen it. In the past I’ve known the reasons behind the mess or the drinking – usually over a breakup or some depression spell – but this time he kept me in the dark. I have no fucking clue what's going on with him.

If I wasn’t so aggravated with him already, the mess of the room would worry me even more than I already am.

I cross the threshold of garbage between the door and his bed and pat his cheek awake.

“Noah.”

Sleepy snores tumble from his mouth and while one might find them endearing, right now, they’re pissing me the fuck off.

“Noah.” I say more sternly, nudging him more. No luck.

I try various other ways, and nothing works. He’s out cold.

So, I try a tried-and-true classic.

I climb on top of him and straddle his waist over the duvet, one knee at each side of his hips. His boney exposed shoulders offer a great anchor so I grab them, shaking him awake.

He comes-to slowly, droopy heavy lids struggling to open. His fist goes to rub his tired eye but winces when he’s reminded of the swollen black and blue that surrounds it.  

“The fuck are you doing?” He groans, stealing a pillow from beside him to cover his face. “Get off of me.”

I snatch the pillow from his grasp and toss it across the room. “No. You’re going to get up. You’re going to shower. And I’m taking you to a meeting.”

He shields his eyes with his arm. “I’m-I’m fine Nick, don’t need a meeting.” His words slurring together.

“You’re a fucking idiot.” I correct.

“I don’t need a meeting.” He hiccups and I can smell the alcohol radiating off him, seeping through his skin. “I’m not going. I'm just gonna sleep.”

I grab his wrists, pin them to the bed and get low to his face. “Oh you’re going. We’re gonna sober you up, starting with a shower.” I pull off him and stand beside the bed.

“Let’s go. C’mon.”

“No.”

“We can do this the easy way or the hard way. Either way has the same result. Let’s go.”

“No.”

I sigh, even though I knew it would end up like this. “Fine. Hard way it is.”

I yank the sheets off him and use two arms to scoop up his body by his midsection and throw him over my shoulder. He’s thin enough to where even I can lift and carry him easily – or maybe I’ve just gotten used to the weight of him in my arms.

“Nick let me fucking go.” He whines but doesn’t try to wiggle out of my grasp, probably too hungover to move that much.

With every bit of my strength, I carry his thin body to his guest bathroom.

I all but toss him into the shower, start the water, and fling the curtain closed.

“Hey! What the fuck!” He yells and shuts off the water immediately.

He slings the curtain open and snatches a towel off the nearest rack, wrapping it around his shirtless torso.

“What the fuck is your problem, Nicholas!” His hands frantically wipe the water from his face. 

I let out a frustrated groan and turn to leave. "Stop being a baby." 

He steps out of the tub and calls after me, “Hey, I’m not fucking done talking to you!”

The shower shock did exactly what I needed it to do, sober him up, but now I regret even waking him up.

“My problem is that you’re a fucking drunk Noah.” I snap turning back to him.

“I’m not a fucking drunk, I have it under control. You’re just fucking paranoid!” He steps into the hallway dripping water all over the carpet.

“I’m not fucking paranoid, Noah. I’m not letting you drink yourself to oblivion.”

His brows lift in offense, “Let me? What the fuck are you, my fucking keeper?”

“Sometimes it sure fucking feels like I am!” The words escape me before I can stop them.

He chuckles in disbelief, “Well, nobody fucking asked you to be.”

“It doesn’t matter if anyone asked me to, I have to because who the fuck else is gonna pick your sorry, bruised ass off a bar floor in the middle of the fucking day?” My hand helps exaggerate each word.

“Jolly or Folio would’ve.” He sasses, crossing his arms.

“Oh yeah? And how long you think they’d put up with that?” I step closer to him. “Not for as long as I have, that’s for fucking sure.”

His eyes scrunch together like he’s hurt or offended.

Maybe both,

Maybe neither.

“I won’t let you push out everyone in our lives Noah.”

His eyes land on me and he cocks his head to the right a bit like a dog processing a foreign noise.

“‘Push out everyone in our lives’ is that what this is actually about? Alice?”

My gaze locks on him and my hands curl into tight fists at my sides. There are many words I want to say but none seem able to leave my tongue.

“Oh my god. You can’t be serious.” He steps back and points defensively at me. "I didn't push her out, you did!" 

My blood boils and burns as it courses through my veins. My eyes narrow at him.

“I know you fucked her Noah.” I shove my finger so hard into his chest that it nearly knocks him back.

“I didn’t even like her Nick! Why the fuck would I fuck her?” He immediately denies.

“Because you always have to have everything you want, including the things that aren’t yours.”

“‘Things’” He scoffs. “Funny how you’re so upset about someone you only see as a thing.”

My teeth grind so hard it makes my jaw clench, “You know she was never a thing to me until you fucked her.”

“Oh, give it a break Nicholas! Stop blaming me for her leaving.” His hands exaggerate his words then points straight at me. “You are the reason your relationship failed. You are the reason she left.”

My eyes narrow as I step closer to his soaked body. “I would really watch what you fucking say if I were you.”

“Or what?” He asks but I have no answer. “When are you going to stop punishing me for something I never fucking did?”

I watch his eyes: dark brown, heavy, bloodshot, and one lined with a dark bruise from the bar fight. His words sound genuine, but I know his eyes, I know them like the back of my hand.

I know when he’s lying, and he’s lying to me right now. I can’t prove it, I haven’t been able to, but I know he’s been lying to me for the past year.

“For the love of god Noah, can you just stop fucking lying?” I snap. "You don't even have enough respect for me to tell me the truth?"

“Wow.” He presses his lips together for a moment. “You must think so low of me to really believe that I would do something like that.”

“I don’t have to think low of you to believe the truth.” I hiss, stepping towards him. “But you’re going to keep denying it so it’s irrelevant what I believe did or didn’t happen. What I do know, is that you have a fucking problem, and you need help.”

He steps towards me with low brows and narrow beady eyes, “I didn’t fuck Alice and I don’t need a fucking alcohol anonymous meeting just because I still like to get drunk sometimes. I am a fucking adult, and I don’t need you to ‘save me’.” He scoffs and runs his tongue across his teeth. “You know? Maybe that’s what actually drove Alice away, you and your fucking high-and-mighty, savior complex bullshit.”

Every inch of skin on my body feels like its burning and my heart races so loud I can barely even think clearly. I tighten my fists so tight that my nails dig into my palms painfully. I know that if I do anything, it will make me look like the villain.

“I can’t fucking hit you because if I do, I don’t know if I’ll be able to stop.” I growl lowly. “Get sober or don’t, I don’t fucking care anymore – but we have a chance, a real chance at making it now and if you ruin this for us Noah, I will never fucking forgive you. Do you understand me? I will fucking destroy you if you fuck this up for us.”

His brows curve up and he looks at me like I’m insane for insinuating that he would. “I won’t.” He replies through gritted teeth.

I glance over the railing when I hear the house beginning to stir with Jolly and Folio starting to wake up, which is exactly what I was trying to avoid. I don’t need them getting involved.

“Just,” I lower my voice between us. “Make it to rehearsals, meetings, shows – the rest I don’t give a fuck. Just make it to work. Sober.”

“Fine.” He says quickly, "If that will keep you out of my fucking business and leave me the fuck alone."

"Fine."

"Fine." He repeats, because of course he has to have the last word, before storming off to his room and slamming the door behind him.

I mirror him, making it to my room and slamming the door.

Once alone, the feeling that courses through my body is nauseating, painful and overwhelming. It is a visceral ache, I feel it twisting in my chest first, in my ribs, then flows and pools in the pit of my stomach.

I thought I moved on from the Alice situation. I tried to force myself to believe him, I tried to forget and push it so far down that it wouldn’t hurt. Tried to rationalize, maybe he didn’t sleep with her. Maybe he didn’t betray me. Maybe it really is just me projecting the weaknesses of our relationship onto him. But no matter how hard I push it down, it always bubbles back up.

And in my gut, I know he did it. Everything adds up, the timelines, the behavior, all of it.

I was just never prepared for a girlfriend to cheat on me with my best friend. I was never prepared to have him sleep with my girlfriend. Not after everything we’ve been through.

I was never prepared to have my heart broken by the two people I trusted and loved more than anything in my life.

In retrospect, I guess, I should’ve expected it. For as long as I can remember Noah always had girls fawning all over him. He always had that lead singer charm even though he never planned on being a frontman. Girls were never an issue for him, he seemed to get anyone he ever wanted.

Is it really that far-fetched that the one I had wanted him too?

Is that all that this is going to be from now on? Any girl the rest of us want, would just want Noah first?

I never pictured that this would be our future.

I never pictured my best friend of over a decade fucking my girlfriend then lying about it to my face.

I never pictured having to drag said lying, alcoholic best friend out of bed trying to get him to an AA meeting just so he could be sober enough for rehearsals.

I never imagined that out of the four of us, it would be me having to hold it all together. I never signed up for that. I signed up to play an instrument, to sign CDs, sleep in busses and sit in interviews. I never signed up to play manager, I never signed up to secretly scrape Noah off bar floors, be his personal caretaker and tentative AA sponsor. Doing all of that just to have it thrown in my face, to stand next to him – every day in rehearsals, in photoshoots, on stage, across the fucking dining table – knowing what he did and pretending that I’m okay with it.

I never thought I’d feel stuck in this band, this thing Noah and I have worked on and dreamed about since we were 15. I’ve poured so much of my life into this fucking band.

I can’t just up and leave. I’d have nothing left. I’d be nothing without them and I can��t be the bomb to blow us up. Especially not now when everything is just starting to take off. All this work would’ve been for nothing.

It’s not just my livelihood and dream, but theirs as well. I can’t do that to them.

And as much as I want to, as much as I’ve tried, I can’t leave Noah. We both know I’m right whether he wants to admit it or not. Nobody else would do what I do, nobody knows what I do, and nobody knows how to take care of him the way I do. He’s stubborn and stupid and won’t let anyone else in the way he’s let me in.

I don’t know why I’m the only one who has gotten the curse of his trust, but I have it and I can’t hand it off or set it down – no matter how heavy or suffocating it is.

Next Chapter -> 11 - Peak Fashion

tag list; @ladyveronikawrites @kingdomof-omens @persuasivus @strawberryruffilo @thebadchic @the-hell-i-overcame @sinkingteethinwhitenoise @cncohshit @dominuslunae [comment if you'd like to be tagged?]

A/N: The love for this story has honestly been so overwhelming (in a good way obv) and I couldn't be more grateful. I really thought this would flop lol so, thank you so much for every like, reblog, ask, or comment. It means the world to me truly. Thank you.

i love hearing your thoughts so feel free to share! (i'm really bad at responding to comments/asks but i still love them 🥺)

#2 POVs bc i was feeling SILLY #& by silly i mean the characters were not cooperating with the assignment #sorry if this chapter is all over the place i was having so much trouble with this one #this is the first time i’ve ever had multiple POVs in one chapter & i can’t tell if i like it or not #vallie wears princess by kilian perfume #i love how vallie's character is developing #i think vallie & kras' friendship came out so cute 😭 #nicholas ruffilo fanfic #noah sebastian fanfic #bad omens fanfiction #bad omens fanfic #noah sebastian fanfiction #nicholas ruffilo fanfiction #nick ruffilo fanfic #nick ruffilo fanfiction #nicholas ruffilo x oc #nick ruffilo x oc #nicholas ruffilo x fem!oc #bad omens x oc #noah sebastian x oc #noah sebastian x fem!oc #virality series #virality #christian anthony #christian kras anthony #christian anthony fanfic #kras anthony fanfic #chase atlantic #chase atlantic fanfic #concreteburialplot works

[aroaceleovaldez]

i really think there’s so much untapped potential with messing around with the pjo gods canonically having different regional/historical/epithet forms and near constantly existing in multiple places at once. mostly in that I think it’d be extremely funny for more demigods to interact with different historical versions of the gods.

give me Nico interacting with Mycenaean Dionysus who both is and isn’t his dad and also is his therapist. All at once. weirdest therapy sessions ever. or Percy interacting with Mycenaean Poseidon and being confused why this version of his dad is both king of the gods and also a chthonic deity. or Hermes kids and satyrs having the very awkward situation of super old Hermes and Pan are the same guy. The gang meets Zagreus and Everybody Has A Weird One cause this guy both is and isn’t Zeus, Hades, and Dionysus, and/or some combo of their kids? What.

#pjo #riordanverse #the existing-in-multiple-places-at-once is also underutilized outside the first series #i want to see a scene of the gang talking to a god in one spot #and then the next chapter cuts to the other half of the gang talking to the same god in a different place #also this is specifically based on how in the pjo universe belief directly correlates to. existence i guess? #it's weird to explain but it's fascinating in a worldbuilding perspective #and also ties into why there's things like Kronos having time powers when he's not related to time - he's titan of the harvest #but conflation between Kronos and Chronos = time powers Kronos #so if we're going based on that being A Thing then basically all historical theories exist in some form #it's weird and confusing but i LOVE the worldbuilding potential from it #cause its like. that's so wonky. that's gotta be so weird for literally everyone. fascinating.

[annoyingloudmicrowavecultist]

thinking about how the first thing we learn about ambrosius is that he ruined ballister’s life. but the first time we see him in person he (in a way) saves it

#comic spoilers in tags #nimona #nimona comic #nimona graphic novel #ambrosius goldenloin #ballister blackheart #saves it in the sense that ballister wanted to stay behind for nimona (who could survive an explosion whereas he couldn’t) #in chapter 10 he does it again but it’s more obviously saving ballister’s life because he fully drags ballister out of direct danger #in a very similar sequence with many direct parallels to chapter 3 :) #if you’re one of the people who is unfortunate enough to be on the receiving end of my nimona brainrot #you know how Obsessed i am with the multiple escape sequences #sorry. #movie equivalent being ambrosius being introduced as a bro jock who you’d expect to be an asshole and then the first thing he does #is love ballister #pluto talks

[hopeworth]

dawn breaks anew

shanks & luffy | teen and up audiences | time travel au | 7.9k words

He laughs, grin stretching into a wide, familiar shape. “I’m Monkey D. Luffy! I’m the next King of the Pirates!” Oh. Luffy laughs at his slack-jawed surprise, laughing and laughing and—oh. There’s an infectious joy to his whole-body laughter, an irresistible charm to the edge of his D-shaped grin. It’s Captain’s smile. It’s Captain’s joy, his freedom, his words. Shanks is hungover; he’s seeing double; he’s hallucinating; he’s fourteen and his Captain is the freest man in the world; he’s fifteen and this boy is throwing his words out into the wind as they break free into the open ocean. A frayed breath catches in his throat at the sound of Luffy's laugh. // On the dawn of the Great Pirate Age, a time-traveling Pirate King and a future Emperor of the Sea meet.

#14 yo luffy and 15 yo shanks meet after roger's execution and shanks finally understands all of his captain's insane ramblings about fate #this is the first chapter of a longfic. it's also one part of the larger au but with it being multiple chapters it's probably going to be #the longest fic in the whole series. #one piece #my fic #my stuff #my writing #fanfic #shanks #luffy #shanks & luffy

[tokkias]

we should just kiss like real people do ship: natsu dragneel x lucy heartfilia all the fear and the fire of the end of the world, happens each time a boy falls in love with a girl. happens great, happens sweet, happily, i'm unfazed here too. or: a series of interconnected one-shots following Natsu and Lucy's budding relationship through the letters of the alphabet. ao3

chapter 1. a - aquarium

The glass fogged up with the warmth of their breaths as their noses pressed up against the barrier separating them and the fish. There’s a sign not even five feet from them that states in bold letters PLEASE DO NOT TOUCH THE GLASS, but Lucy simply assumed they had either ignored it, or saw it and took it as a challenge to make as much skin-to-glass contact as they possibly could.

"You’re not supposed to touch the glass, you know," she scolded, as if her pointing it out would stop them.

The two of them were getting weird looks, and they were definitely going to get in trouble if they didn’t stop any time soon, but Lucy didn’t have it in her to reprimand them too much because it was honestly kind of endearing.

"If I didn’t know any better, I would say you two had never seen a fish in your lives up until now."

She wasn’t too far off in her observation; the aquarium they’re in is certainly larger than anything Natsu and Happy had seen in their lives. Every tank was filled to the brim with different exotic-looking fish, the likes of which the two had never seen before, and by the looks of things, it seemed as though they were trying to burn the image of every new creature into their brains.

Even though she had lived in Crocus for a year, Lucy had never been to the local aquarium herself. She’d known of its existence, of course; it was a big tourist draw for the city outside of Grand Magic Games season, but she had never felt compelled to visit herself until now. At the time, she thought it might have dredged up memories of her partner that she wasn’t in the right frame of mind to deal with. Going there would have only reminded her how much he and Happy would have adored a place like this.

It seemed that her assumption was correct based on the way the both of them ooh-ed and ahh-ed at each passing fish.

Deciding that her attempts to stop them from trying to become one with the glass were futile, Lucy instead joined their side in hopes of figuring out what all the fuss was about. Admittedly, she understood their fascination. Coral and creatures of every colour practically glowed under the blue lights, flowing through the water with ease. They needn’t worry about anything, perhaps unaware of their enthusiastic observers as they continued to glide along in their inclosure. It was calming, borderline mesmerising to watch.

"This is so cool," Natsu declared, drawing Lucy’s attention away from the water and over to him and his wide grin. "Thanks for bringin’ us here, Lucy."

What had begun as his typical, unrestrained Natsu grin had softened into a gentle, genuine smile, going all the way up to his eyes, where he looked at her with all the adoration in the world.

"Yeah, it’s no problem," she affirmed, trying to keep herself from melting into an ooey, gooey mess right in front of him.

He didn’t give her much time to recuperate before her hand was in his, and he was dragging her over to the next tank that caught his eye in a not-so-romantic reminder that this was technically a date. That reminder was affirmed when they finally made it to the exhibit Natsu had his eyes on, and he still kept her hand held safely in his own, his thumb dragging across the back of her hand in an act of silent affection.

While his gaze was fixed on the new species of fish that filled the overhead tank, Lucy’s eyes trailed down to see where their bodies met, fingers intertwined together.

It wasn’t anything new; they’d been together romantically for several months at this point, and they’d been best friends for even longer. It was a comfortable transition, easing into it so naturally as though fate itself had placed them together.

She liked it like this.

She liked being best friends who went on silly aquarium dates where they held hands in the shark tunnel.

She liked watching his fascination with all the sights and sounds.

She liked him.

A lot.

In a soft moment of adoration, she squeezed his hand.

He squeezed hers back.

Looking back up at him, his eyes were still fixed on the display, watching a stingray glide past overhead. He let out a soft breath of awe, and she, in turn, breathed out a gentle giggle that captured his attention.

"What?" He asked, his attention now on her as he gazed down at her.

"Nothing," Lucy hummed, her lips pursed together to hide her amusement at this softer, cuter side of Natsu.

He wasn’t given the chance to interrogate her further before Happy’s voice called out to them from further in the tunnel, beckoning the pair to his spot.

"Wo-oah! Guys! Come look at this!"

His little paws pressed against the glass, clearly having not learned his lesson from before, as he watched a shark pass him by.

"Look! A real-life shark!" He exclaimed, practically shaking with excitement. "Oooohhh, I’ve never tried shark before, but I bet it’s so yummy~"

Lucy rolled her eyes, unsurprised that this was what had been on his mind the whole time.

"Nah, the skins probably too tough to get through," Natsu dismissed.

"You probably shouldn’t be talking so loud about eating the animals," Lucy added. "Besides, I think a shark is more likely to eat you," she pointed out.

Her words caused Happy to shudder slightly in fear, and Natsu chortled at his reaction, his laughter causing her heart to skip a beat in her chest.

He and Happy continued to chat away about the display of fish, with Natsu’s hand never leaving hers. Lucy held little interest in what they were talking about; their words little more than background noise in her head as she watched on. The blue and green hues of the water surrounding them rippled against the floor, the colour distorted light, defining Natsu’s features as he spoke.

It wasn’t until Happy flew off to follow a particularly tasty-looking fish that Natsu noticed she was staring.

"Are you having fun?" She asked, trying to divert attention from the fact that she had just been caught.

"Are you kiddin’? This is the best date ever," he grinned.

Something akin to pride swelled up in her chest. Perhaps it wasn’t the most romantic of dates, but Natsu was happy, and that was enough for her.

He looked at her for a moment, and almost as if he had read her thoughts, he brought his hand up to cradle her cheek before dipping down to join his lips with her own. It was short and soft but didn’t fail to leave her breathless, just like he always did.

"There, that romantic enough for ya?" He asked, barely making it through the sentence before Lucy’s hands were on his cheeks, pulling him down for another.

#nalu #fairy tail #fanfiction #fan fiction #mya writes things #i have never posted anything with multiple chapters on tumblr before so uhhh #please forgive the weird formatting i have no idea what im doing #im testing the water with a low stakes one shot collection #before i actually start posting my first real multichap hehehehehe :]

[strangesickness]

losers playing ttrpgs... losers playing ttrpgs save me...

mike is running a multi-year homebrew ttrpg campaign that is basically just a combination of any rulebook the losers can get their hands on + anything they come up with. i know it to be true. the campaign started as a call of cuthulu campaign but it is now a terrifying mix of call of cuthulu, dungeons & dragons, and cyberpunk with elements from a dozen other games including star wars: the roleplaying game, warhammer, harnmaster and somehow alma mater(??? idk how. but i know this happened). richie was like. "mike man, i love you forever, you're great at this. but why don't i have magic powers?" and he pointed at ben's collection of d&d rulebooks he'd been browsing through and he sounded so earnest and excited that mike knew in that moment he was going to sacrifice the integrity of his cool mystery campaign so richie could cast vicious mockery (99% sure vicious mockery didn't exist yet... don't quote me on that but it doesn't matter because the idea of richie using it constantly is hilarious)

they've all been playing the same characters for years and they keep convincing mike to add more stuff so they're all like super powerful and mike keeps having to come up with more and more powerful enemies.

mike's dice collection is so so so cool he has so many dice, and whenever he introduces a new important character he goes out and gets dice that fit their theme and it is such a moneysink but it's worth it because ooooh pretty dice

after four occasions where the losers decided to adopt a random npc mike hadn't planned anything for, mike has started planning every single npc out down to the specifics of their childhood education. he has endless character sheets hanging out in his room with characters he's created that populate his game world.

okay hanbrough agenda time: bill is the most oblivious guy in the entire world. i know this. (he is the guy who looks at brokeback mountain and goes "what do you mean it was gay? why can't men be friends anymore?" this is based on that one passage at the beginning of the book where he goes on one of those "why can't the curtains just be blue because they're fucking blue" rants lol. he does not know what media literacy is. to me) and mike is. increasingly frustrated and feels like he's losing his mind. he is like head in hands because he asked bill to go to prom with him and bill was like "yeah sure man! sounds great, you're my bestie forever!", and he has no idea what to do, because how is this man this dense, so he just starts having all of his NPCs fall head over heels for bill's character and flirt like madmen. it is painful for everyone involved. except bill. who still has no idea what is going on. that is a very unfortunate month.

mike and ben hang out a lot and ben helps mike brainstorm for the campaign so ben has all this insider knowledge and mike will just look at him before something insane happens in the campaign. they'll like make eye contact and ben will be like holy shit holy shit holy shit :0 and mike just drops some insane new lore. it's very special to me.

#i know it might be like. why isn't ben or bill GM? they're the writers! #but like. idk it just fits. watching mike in it chapter 2 gave me so much unhinged GM energy #that man can spin a TALE. i know it. i also know he can improvise like crazy #they finish a session and he's like. btw guys everything after like the first hour was improvised i hope it didn't feel to awkward #and the losers are like... wdym you didn't perfectly plan all of that????? #bill could not run a campaign to save his life. he does not know what chekhov's gun is. he does not know what nuance is. #he would be trying to run a campaign and the losers would do ANYTHING even slightly off the hyperspecific plan he made #and he'd start trying to railroad everyone and everyones just getting increasingly stressed #basically it would be a bad time #that man can't do improv i know it in my heart #ben on the other hand is a massive ttrpg nerd and has run multiple one shots with the losers #he's not big into long campaigns like mike is but he loves coming up with new campaign ideas #he also collects ttrpg rulebooks and is always looking for weird ones to try out with his friends <3 #they all have so much fun doing character creation with ben too. it's great. #i'm not done with this btw. i have so much more to say #i love ttrpgs and a party is the highest level of friendship. this is true #my high school best friends were literally just my d&d party #and cyberpunk (the ttrpg) is how i made friends in college lol #posts afflicted with a strange sickness #it stephen king #it 2019 #it 2017 #mike hanlon #bill denbrough #ben hanscom #hanbrough #richie tozier

[tathrin]

I’ve been working on that LotR Zombie AU that I talked about a while ago, and it’s been fun! I’m actually several chapters in, and still enjoying it mightily, so I’ll hopefully start actually posting it soon but.

I keep going back-and-forth on whether or not I want to include this chapter or not. It’s pure exposition scene-setting, and while I enjoyed writing it and it was very helpful initially when I was figuring out the background for it all, it’s mostly exposition that gets covered better in other places now.

And I just can’t find a good place to insert it. I keep moving it around in between other chapters, and every time I’m like “yes, there, it fits there”...until I change my mind and move it again. So I think it might be time to just admit that it doesn’t fit anywhere, and cut it completely.

But before I do that, I figure I might as well share it with all of you:

It started, at least in Mirkwood, when the king came home. He was dead, of course; had been dead for three thousand years at that point. The world had changed so much in the years since his death that he would have barely recognized it—had he been conscious enough to see the lands he walked through. But he wasn't; he was dead.

He was Dead, and the Dead followed after.

Oropher, and Gilthawen, and Rhosslas, and Teithion, and Hebinastor, and all the others who had died with their king in the land of Mordor where the shadows lie. It started when the dead came home.

Their bodies should have rotted away to nothing long ago, nothing but the ghosts of dead faces staring up unseeing forever out of the fetid waters. They should have; but the Necromancer who had ruled that dark land, who had clawed his way out of his own grave more than once before, had left a mark on Mordor too deep to be erased even by his own destruction.

He had been a craftsman, after all, that maia once called Sauron and once called Mairon and even, once, named Annatar. He had been a craftsman, and his favorite medium was souls.

Perhaps someone should have worried more about those bodies in the Dead Marshes outside the land of Mordor. Perhaps someone should have worried sooner about the way their faces did not fade from the foul waters, even when their flesh was centuries gone.

Perhaps someone should have remembered that “Necromancer” had been one of the names by which he had been known, too. Perhaps someone should have remembered why.

The bodies in the Dead Marshes had drained to dust and rot centuries ago, leaving nothing but dead echoes rippling in the water. But that water lay outside a Necromancer's lair, in lands that had been long poisoned by his arts. Dead and gone they were, those Men and Dwarves and Elves and Orcs who had died fighting there so long ago; dead and gone and rotting…

But even dead, the echoes of their souls endured. Trapped, corrupted, their spirits rotting from within, they endured. And, eventually, they Rose.

The Risen Dead were no army to be commanded by the Wraiths who held dominion over the ruin of Mordor now. Their unliving corpses were driven only by hunger for life, for flesh.

Many of the Dead eventually followed the smell and sound and flickering lights of a great city to Minas Tirith, and there they fell on the white walls of Gondor's great capital first in a trickle and then as a tide. By the time the city knew to shut its gates, death was already inside the walls. An army of the dead stands there now—frothing and snapping, moaning with mindless hunger—outside the walls they cannot breach, while the few who slipped inside before the gates were shut lurch and spread through the winding tiers of the city so that Minas Tirith rots from within.

Others scattered, wandering off in whatever direction their lifeless eyes turned to in pursuit of any whisper of life that caught their senseless attention enough to draw them onwards. The Dead are everywhere now, found far beyond the reach of the rotting legs of those first corpses, for their infection spreads even faster than they do: it passes silently through air and water, undetected, not strong enough to kill…but inescapable, too. Now those dead who die in Middle-earth by other means Rise as well, and they spread the infection ever onwards in a growing wave of corpses and moans.

But Oropher…Oropher came back to Mirkwood.

Some said it was Dol Guldur looming like a lodestone, drawing the Dead. Others said it was because even in death, the forest still called her old king home.

Whatever the reason, he came, and Death followed with him.

Oropher came home, and the Rising began.

#or maybe i can post it as a sort of prologue chapter? #idk the first chapter is already sort of a prologue in a way so it feels redundant to do this one too #but then again this IS lord of the rings #story with a thousand endings #why not start with multiple prologues? lol #idk folks anyone have any opinions? #is this worth keeping on its own merits or should i just scrap it and move on? #kill your darlings isn't that what they say? #lotr fanfiction #lotr zombie au #zombie lotr au #my writing #my stuff #lotr

[bi-bats]

Jason’s first thought — around the incredibly loud siren noise in his brain — is that Tim is too tall. He thinks it in the weird way that a person sometimes thinks a single rational thought in the middle of losing their mind, but still. Jason is certain that he’s an inch or two taller than he should be.

Taller-Tim frowns at the device in his hand, his eyes pinching in the corners. He shakes the thing once, twice, then taps it against his palm a few times, like maybe there’s something stuck in it.

“Damn it,” he mumbles, placing a hand on his hip.

“Tim?” Jason asks, his voice cracking right down the middle as the name slides out with the air that was stuck in his chest.

Tim’s head snaps up to look at him, and his face does something complicated. Not the kind of complicated that Jason is used to. Or, was used to. Before. Back when Tim was around to do things like look at Jason. Back when Tim was alive—

Nope. He hasn’t let himself think that for four months and he isn’t about to start now.

Especially not when Tim is looking at him.

(Look I know that the @ficwip word game wednesday thing is supposed to be one line but I’m physically incapable of sharing one line out of context. Something something my loss is your gain)

#word game wednesday #writing snippet #jaytim #bibatwrites #word was Shake #I’m ALSO SO EXCITED FOR THIS PIECE #THIS WAS ONE OF MY FIRST JTW PIECES AND IT’S DEFINITELY GOING TO BE A LONG FIC THAT I ONLY POST CHAPTER ONE OF FOR JTW #DON’T WORRY I’LL FINISH KNOW YOURSELF I SWEAR #BUT I HAVE TO DO THIS FIC SO BADLY #ALSO YEAH I REALLY FR WAS LIKE #I’M WRITING A FIC ABOUT MULTIPLE DIMENSIONS AND THAT’S OBVIOUSLY NOT COMPLICATED ENOUGH #HOW ABOUT I ALSO WRITE A FIC ABOUT TIME TRAVEL??? #AND THEN I HAD A REVERSE ROBINS IDEA THE OTHER NIGHT!!! #I HAVE TOO MANY IDEAS HELP

[mariposiel]

My Red Son/Reader fic is probably going to go past 10K words, and there’s still a few, major scenes I have to incorporate AJSKDKD

#*it’s up now on my AO3 btw!! #WHAT HAPPENED #this got much longer than I originally anticipated GEEZ #I’m loving it still #it’s so much fun to explore his character and add little hcs of mine haha #red son my emotionally constipated love <3 #this is also my first time writing Red Son in a solo fic #so I hope I did okay on his characterization?? #if everything goes well #the fic should come out either next week or the following #I’m pretty sure I’m just gonna keep it as a one-shot #because I think it reads better like that instead of split up into multiple chapters #lmk red son #lmk red son x reader #lmk x reader #lmk x y/n #mari muses #lego monkie kid #lmk #lmk fanfiction #lego monkie kid x reader #lego monkie kid fanfic

[coquelicoq]

Une petite houle, venue du large, imprimait au canot un léger roulis, et quelque crêtes de lames clapotaient à son avant. (Vingt mille lieues sous les mers, 2e partie, chapitre III)

today in sentences that would have made me weep quietly into my dictionary if i had read them a year ago before jules verne expanded my marine vocabulary by ~1700%.

#do u you know how long it took me to figure out 'lame' has a totally separate sea-related meaning #i was like a slat? a slat of what??????? #no it's just one of the three most common words for 'wave' #(the others being vague and flot(s)) #(not to mention houle of course. or remous) #(and onde but that's a different kind of wave) #now i see it and i'm like ouais ouais une lame nous tous l'avons vue #french #my posts #hey remember the first time i read a jules verne novel & was going crazy trying to figure out what 'allure' was in a nautical context #i was like i know allure means speed...but he is definitely not using it to mean speed #that's how they get you. all these normal words with normal meanings that have SPECIAL BONUS MEANINGS #as soon as you get on a boat 😩 but jules verne is like. you are going to learn these words if it kills me #and who am i to argue with a guy who really wants to teach me five different words for wave/swell? #i learned all the words for mud and manure because that was important to vicky hugo. it's the least i can do #now i'll tell you where i draw the line is learning all the names of the different species of fish. in french. #he's throwing like multiple paragraphs of run-on sentences per chapter at me that are just listing forms of marine life #i don't even know what these are in english so i'm just letting them wash over me #i've learned the ones that keep showing up over and over but most of them are so specialized they're not even in the dictionary #frenchified scientific latin ass names #very fun to pronounce but yeah i ain't committing these to long-term storage sorry

[haunted-by-the-narrative]

If you didn’t know, you can use the wayback machine to access fics on ao3 when the site is down! It can be really hard to navigate, since not every page is captured (making it almost impossible to search or filter) but if you have the links lying around for your fave fics/authors you might be able to find something!

#ao3 #mainly useful for one shots since you don’t need to load up multiple chapters and the entire work button doesn’t always work #and you can play around with the date if something isn’t showing up on the first page of results (on like an author’s page or something) #since the next page and more works buttons often don’t work

[freezethebeez]

while Catalyst probably won't be over for another couple months, I'm curious to see what the people would want my next c!Beeduo abomination to be?

more details can be given if desired :D

#it doesn't really matter which one wins i'm just curious #both the first and last one would have multiple chapters whereas the small town au will only be one chapter #the small town au will also have angst. do not fear. there just won't be any major character death

[emily-mooon]

Sometimes I just feel like writing a fic where chapters are episodic and I don’t have to elongate an event cause I finished it in one chapter.

And this is where I pull out a fake presentation talking about a 1930s Jancy au that is a slow burn friends to lovers where they get into weird situations and go on adventures like it’s a book written by L.M. Montgomery and has a similar energy to Little Women.

#ok I have to admit that I am horrible at writing about one event for too long #when I was in my creative writing class I noticed when writing a book for my final project that I could write one paragraph for each chapter #I was unable to write a chapter that was multiple pages #because of this I think that writing something more episodic would be good for me to write becuase then I’ll probably finish it #I think I’m also much better at writing things that are short and sweet and get straight to the point #I love all of my other au ideas that I have or want to put into fics but I think I need to start writing in a zone that I’m comfortable with #and not dive head first into something I need to work on more #so I’m going to start plotting out the first few chapters for this fic tonight and start writing tomorrow #give myself a bit of a break from drawing and allow myself to get back into writing #in way that works for me and my rollercoaster of ideas of a brain #sorry for the wall of text here in the tags and if you read them I hope you are all doing well and for those of you going back to school #or are already back I wish you good luck on your studies #btw all my other fic ideas will be written and turned into a fic or finished at some point #I don’t know when but they will be when I feel like I’m ready to dive in #(and also when I get a grasp on how to plot better with the dumb plot triangle)

[todayisafridaynight]

born to do a Saeko Only y7 run forced to be technically illiterate

#snap chats #we all know if i knew how to mod id make so many stupid masadai screenshots but not the point #ive been obsessed with solo runs for rpgs for a while so NATURALLY i wanna ask the question if each y7 chara can solo the game #i was thinkin of saeko specifically cause. 1.) love u 2.) in my first playthrough i primarily used her for support #though subsequent playthroughs obvi i switched her up to be way more offensive #the only chara you really can do this with is ichi and MAYBE adachi since. well ichi's obvious but adachi's the earliest accessible #'what about nanba' girl he LEAVES FOR THREE CHAPTERS #and ofc you only get saeko come chapter 5 - same thing for eri. not gonna even MENTION joon gi and zhao LMAO #so obvi i dream of a mod where you can swap ichi- at least for battles- for any of the other party members #if youve seen rpg runs that ft multiple members at a time then yk the plan is to just have everyone else block and do nothing #or get them ko'd as fast as possible. but obvi in this Mod Reality i would just have The One character to make it. awful LMAO #i mean me and other rpg enjoyers think y7's easy enough so why not the extra challenge #adachi gets the Can Also Do This Run pass since he's playable just about as long as ichi is #exceptions being of course the first chapter / beginning of second chapter and the first sawashiro fight / chapter 3 #i already know people are thinking of the jima fight.... throwing up at that thought #honestly i think JUST them might make the challenge impossible #at least with ichi you have the poundmates but the others Id Consider to be out of luck #itd be fun imo to see how far each chara could get tho #beyond grinding i think youd HAVE to master perfect guarding not just for the jimas but ESPECIALLY for tendo #kiryu doesnt exist to me. apparently. idk he was a wash on my first playthrought but joon gi WAS the unintentional punching bag so-- #anyway im almost done with this comm i just gtta shade it so bye

[alo-officialgf]

lewis hamilton, king of my heart 🥹

#draftze by enchantze #i don't think i've been this excited writing since adore you kimi and holy shit i truly live for writing fluff >>>>> #now that i'm finished with seb/web the remaining fics is doab are fluff!nn #minus the alo one but i'm ignoring that because i know what will happen and i'm choosing not to thibk about it #i'm halfway through voodoo doll hahahahaha #and i'm also trying to make doab!lewis different from wnt!lewis #nico makes an appearance in both and i'm excited hahahahaha #maybe i'm thinking of wnt and not doab but we deal with it #i wrote a lot but i also studied the whole morning and yesterday night so//// it's a win for me #the last two fics were on queue so next week i might post part two of wish you hell which has been in the drafts for a while #i'm cooking up multiple things so hopefully they all get posted within the week #enjoy this week's posts 👍 #also!!! license to drive it's living in my head rent free and i can't wait to upload the first chapter which is also in my drafts...... wbk

[shiniestcrow]

The group confronts Kagha about her connection to the Shadow Druids. Sage is almost glad when the fighting starts; having to listen to Kagha defending her choices is grating on their nerves.

The fight ends predictably: with Kagha, the Shadow Druids and whoever else joined her side dead. Rath isn't happy and neither are most of the other druids. Sage doesn't particularly care at that point. The tieflings won't have to worry about getting kicked out before Sage and the others manage to take out the goblin threat anymore. The kids are somewhat safe for now.

When they leave the grove again, Wyll speaks up: "I have to say, I'm a tad surprised you didn't try talking her out of it. You've been surprisingly successful so far whenever you do."

Sage looks back at him, then past him at the gate receding in the distance. They shrug. "Even if I had convinced her, it probably wouldn't have changed the beliefs of the others there. And besides, she was trying to get a child killed. If we hadn't intervened that first time, Arabella would probably be dead. I don't forgive that. A better person might be glad if she changed her ways but I don't care."

They turn back, leaving the grove further behind them.

"I suppose you could be right," Wyll says, voice trailing off.

Sage shrugs again.

For everyone's sake, they hope Halsin will be alive and actually able to bring the druids back to their senses.

For some reason, Sage had always assumed druids were kinder people than most. The whole connection to nature thing and all that. Of course, that assumption had been quickly proven wrong. We don't allow drow in here this, foulbloods and outsiders and parasites that. They scoff. "Let's hope this Halsin is a better guy than most of the druids we've met so far."

On that point at least, they can all agree.

#oops what's this #another sage snippet? #was not planning on this #was thinking all day about the conclusion to their personal story in act 3 (there will be pain :3 and very deserved murder >:3) #but I played this and for the first time didn't even try convincing kagha #because sage wouldn't #they really really wouldn't #and it's a lot easier for me to roleplay now that I've finished the game twice and seen act 1 many more times #easier to let go of the compulsive 'I have to be the best possible person' thing #and tbh #in the end #it was kind of gratifying to kill the other two druids that fight alongside kagha and the shadow druids #especially that elf guy #can't stand him #glad he's dead lol #also #I'm thinking about putting these snippets on ao3 but I'm unsure if it would be better as one work with multiple chapters or a series #technically they're not chapters that build on each other but just random scenes that all revolve around sage #but posting many individual short works feels also kinda unnecessary and spammy #bg3 #bg3 tav sage #my writing