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magnus-rhymes-with-swagness · 10 months

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thinking thoughts about swords symbolizing the corruption of the institute and the control it has over the kingdom. the sword motif is absolutely everywhere - banners and art, kids’ games and cereal commercials, the statue of gloreth at the center of the kingdom. the institute building itself boasts even more - there are tons of statues and suits of armor, all holding swords. swords are everywhere you look!

another example is the way ballister and his swords are used as a tool by the director. he’s knighted with the same fake sword that kills the queen, highlighting how the system can only thrive on manipulation and deceit - the director can only have control over the kingdom if she lies to it, which she does primarily through ballister. he also immediately tries to go to his sword when he finds out nimona is a shapeshifter, as he hasn’t yet unlearned the values taught to him by the institute. the director keeps his real sword the whole time and uses it to try to kill who she thinks is ambrosius, planning to frame ballister for that murder too, which becomes a major turning point in his arc as he decides to abandon the sword as he no longer wants to be part of her game.

but even though he’s made the choice to reject the institute, he still struggles to unlearn its values. he’s been brainwashed from a young age, and had plenty of time to internalize false notions about heroes and villains and monsters. while he cares deeply about nimona at this point, he still instinctively goes to draw his (other) sword when he learns she’s the “monster” from the legend of gloreth.

one of the ways the director retains power is through gloreth - since she’s considered the symbol of righteousness and heroism, the ideal to which all knights should strive, she’s invoked at every moment possible. the scroll bearing the legend is used to justify killing nimona, and “the will of gloreth” is used to justify practically everything. ballister’s sword has a G on it, which is visible right before he gets knighted, and ambrosius’s sword looks just like the one the statue holds aloft. (gloreth didn’t actually have a sword like that, at least not when she knew nimona, but nobody knows this - the real story had been warped and twisted to fit the narrative so much over the course of a thousand years.)

ambrosius, being her descendant and the golden boy, finds it even more challenging to realize the institute is corrupt. he’s also been brainwashed and forced into a role, and there has always been an immense amount of pressure on him to follow in her footsteps. so when he meets ballister in the tavern he places ballister’s sword on the table and suggests killing nimona, as this is what the institution wants. ballister, who knows that nimona isn’t the one to blame, angrily walks out and leaves the sword laying there, trying to leave both it and the institute behind again.

ambrosius becomes understandably reluctant to use his sword for anything violent after cutting off ballister’s arm. he doesn’t draw it when leading a squadron of knights to find nimona and ballister, even when everyone else has their weapons trained. he points it at them and doesn’t use it when he and the other knights have them surrounded. at one point he even places it in front of the director in the effort to protect her. (he seems to be very loyal to her for reasons i’ve touched on here, and is still heavily under the influence of the institute at this point in time.) in fact, the only time he ever actually uses his sword going forward is the fight with ballister, but even then he’s not really fighting exactly, just deflecting ballister’s sword. he doesn’t try to get in a single strike, not wanting to hurt ballister again or give him any more reason to hate him.

nimona, having grown up under very different circumstances, knocks over suits of armor that have swords. she destroys the statues that hold them. when she and gloreth play fight as children, gloreth holds a toy sword while nimona holds a stick.

everything is inverted at the climax - when every other knight is running around with weapons, ambrosius doesn’t draw his sword. he stands in the middle of the street and asks aloud, “what are we doing?” as he’s finally able to see how corrupt and how dangerous the institute is.

and nimona is the one who seeks out gloreth’s sword, and ballister is the one who lets his own sword fall, breaking the cycle and rejecting the institute’s values once and for all in order to save her.

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somerandommess · 9 months

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Maxiel au.

Almost 2000 words

Inspired by something I had quite the laugh about ‘help I accidentally called my potential sperm donor sobbing and now he doesn’t want to do that anymore. What do I do’

content warning: mention of mpreg

As it neared the end of Daniels 30th birthday, he found himself sitting on the floor of his kitchen with his back to the cupboard. Micheal and Blake were there too, passing a bottle of scotch between them. Daniel stopped drinking a while ago but still had that level of drunkenness where his tongue was loose .

“Do you guys ever think about having kids?”

Blake, who was bringing the bottle to his lips paused and watched him dead on. Micheal did the same.

He felt uncomfortable under their gaze and shifted, trying to play it off as the cupboard handle digging into his back.

Blake put the bottle down, “What?”

Daniel looked away, “I mean children. Little sticky hand, snot nosed kids.”

Micheal grabbed the bottle and passed it to him, “Where’s this coming from DR?”

Daniel picked at the label on the bottle.

“I don’t know, I mean I’m getting older. I know my mum wants more grandchildren and I just- I thought I’d be married with at least two kids by now”

Micheal and Blake said nothing, the silence made him uncomfortable.

He likes children, he knows that much. He loves being an uncle, but sometimes he thinks about having his own little child to laugh at when they fall down. He was in a relationship before and they talked about children. He and the guy had been together for four years but he left when Daniel brought up kids. Daniel was going to propose, so guess he dodged a bullet there.

Sometimes he dreams about curly haired children running wild in his mother’s backyard. In the dreams they look like him but in a weird distorted dream way. There’s also a guy there with them, tall and blond. His ex was blond so he thinks it was him. Ironic.

He always wakes up sad from those dreams.

“You could get a donor,” Blake says. Micheal finishes the bottle and nods his head aggressively.

Daniel watches them wide-eyed.

“What?”

“A sperm donor, there are clinics in Monaco that do that.”

Daniel laughed, “You’re joking,”

Blake fixed his stare on him, “I’m serious”

“Mate I’m not having some random guys baby just because I want kids. What if he’s a ginger?” He tries to joke but his heart is racing a mile a minute. All of a sudden he’s stone cold sober.

A sperm donor? Really? Actually, it’s not the craziest thing. He’s not drunk enough for this.

Micheal chimes in, “Maybe you could have a F1 drivers baby. I heard some of them have done it. Or a doctor,”

“What if he tries to, I don’t know, reach out? Isn’t the point to be anonymous?”

Blake fixes his glasses, “Actually, some places ask if you want to meet the person. Or if you want to be totally anonymous. It’s up to you.”

“How do you know so much about this shit?” Micheal asks.

Blake shifts and tries to stretch out his leg, “I just do.” He pulls out his phone and starts typing something.

Daniel watches him cautiously, “What are you doing?”

“Sending you clinic options for you to research or go to, incase this isn’t just a drunken confession and you actually want to do this,”

His phone pings and he sees that he sent him three clinics close to him to try. His heart pounds. He’s just a semi decent artist, whose work has been featured in museums. He can’t even make a proper omelette without burning the sides, and he’s thinking about children? Christ, what was he thinking?

Micheal seems to sense the mental battle that he’s having and places a hand on his knee. “Hey, we‘ll support you no matter the choice”

“Yeah. You don’t have to go or do anything,” Blake puts the phone away, “but if you do, you’ll have Micheal and I to help”

Daniel feels his eyes watering. “Thanks guys,”

They sit in silence for a while. He checks the clock on the wall, 12:10 am. His birthday is over.

“I think I’ll go,”

“I’ll obviously be the favorite uncle,”

“I think Scotty just shuddered at the thought of that actually, and he’s like halfway around the world right now”

————

Two weeks later he goes to one of the clinics. It had the best reviews out of the ones Blake sent.

He meant to go earlier but a museum called and asked to feature some of his work in an exhibition. He couldn’t say no. They also said they’d pay extra if he could procure a new piece so he spent many nights coming up with something perfect.

He walks in and goes to the counter. The receptionist is an old lady with…brightly colored hair. She smiles up at him and he explains why he’s here. He’s given some forms to fill out and he goes and sits in one of the chairs.

As he’s filling out the form, his stomach twists. He’s actually doing this. He considers just running out but he made up his mind. He wants the sleepless nights and the early mornings. He wants this. It doesn’t help that he and Michelle spent an entire two hour call just looking at baby clothes.

A nurse comes out from the back and calls him into one of the rooms. The receptionist, Gertrude as her name tag says, smiles at him as he goes inside.

When he enters the office, the doctor gets up from her chair to shake his hand.

“Good afternoon Daniel, I’m Doctor Felix but you can call me Janine if you’d like,”

He shakes her hand and greets her. She has a warm smile and kind eyes. He sits in the chair and relaxes immediately.

They start talking about why he’s here and other important stuff.

Financial and living situation, the procedure, and the donor process.

“Some donors actually leave their name and contact info just incase the recipient wants to meet or needs support,”

She types something on her keyboard,

“Though most just stay anonymous. Are you interested in keeping contact with your potential donor?”

He shrugs and looks off to the side. He hadn’t thought of it. He thinks he’s capable of raising a kid on his own. And it’s not like he’ll be completely alone, with his Mum and Dad, Michelle, Micheal, Blake, and Scotty.

Maybe he’ll keep the number, just incase.

When they’re done, she sends him off with some pamphlets and a date to come back.

He heads out and even though Gertrude is attending to another person, she waves him goodbye.

————

When he comes back, he ends up getting the contact number for his donor.

Max V.

He doesn’t plan on using it. He knows the clinic will notify him something along the lines of ‘Hey, this random guy is taking your sperm thx for your service’

So he doesn’t expect to contact him or be contacted.

His plan doesn’t completely work.

He’s been taking these supplements to do something. He can’t remember. Increase the chance of it sticking he guesses. It makes his hormones act up and sometimes, like tonight, makes him bawl hysterically.

He calls Micheal crying and doesn’t even give him the chance to speak before he’s rambling.

“Mikey I can’t do this. A child? What was I thinking! I can’t even cook! What am I meant to feed a baby?,”

He hears as if he’s about to say something but continues talking, “And don’t say that omelettes and oatmeal is cooking. It’s not! What about my art? I’m going to have to stop painting. The fumes Mikey!”

He pauses

“I’m going to have to go back to traditional!” He sobs some more.

“Or maybe photography. I always liked that,”

He collects himself. Micheal stays quiet. He takes a deep breath,

“Im just overthinking, the stupid hormones. It’s only going to get worse when i actually get pregnant. Let’s hope this Max guys sperm knows what it’s doing,”

Micheal is still silent.

“Micheal?”

He checks removes the phone from his ear checking to see if he’s muted. That would be embarrassing.

The phone screen lights up and-

This is not Micheal.

The name reads Max V.

“Shit.”

He blurts out a quick ‘sorry’ and hangs up.

“Fuuuck”

He opens WhatsApp and creates a chat with Max V.

Hey, I’m sorry about that. I thought you were my friend Micheal.

This is the guy who’s going to take your sperm btw.

Daniel

He cringes. So much for no contact. The message gets blue ticked and then Max V. Is typing.

Are you okay?

Mentally?

And. Ok, rude. Just because he had a crisis over the phone doesn’t mean he’s not ok.

He responds

Yes lol.

Max V. Is typing. But then it goes away.

Daniel locks his phone and runs a hand through his hair.

“Shit”

————

When he goes to follow up with Dr. Felix, she tells him that his original donor declined.

“What?”

“He says something happened recently and now he’s no longer a potential sperm donor… for you”

He blinks.

“Excuse me,”

He pulls out his phone and opens his chat with Max.

Did you really cancel my appointment just because I accidentally called you crying?

You called at 1 am, crying hysterically. Forgive me if I’m having second thoughts

Fuck you

He locks his phone.

————

“He really did that?”

“YES! So what if the hormones made me cry? That’s normal. Ugh. Asshole.”

Daniel shoved a piece burnt toast in his mouth. He chewed on the charred bread. He should really learn how to cook properly. But what do Babies know? They drink milk for like…ever! He has time to figure it out.

Blake watched him and cautiously drank his orange juice.

“I swear, if I ever meet him, I’ll give him a piece of my mind,”

Blake set the cup down and looked like he was going to speak before taking another sip.

Daniel narrowed his eyes, “What?”

Blake shook his head but mumbled something under his breath.

Daniel raised his eyebrow and kicked his shin under the table.

“Ow. I just- What if you…met him? Not to argue but to hear him out? Make him reconsider?”

Daniel pondered the idea. He took another bite of his burnt toast.

It’s not the craziest idea he’s had. No, that was moving to Monaco.

“Yeah, I could do that,”

Yes. He’ll meet Max and demand his sperm back.

Wait.

He’ll word it better.

He pulls out his phone and opens the chat.

————

probably many errors in here

Can you tell I know very little about this topic? lmao

Max is still an F1 driver, Daniel is an artist.

Maybe I’ll do a part 2 lol

#maxiel #maxiel au #Gertrude is actually inspired by a lady I met at work #she’s like 80 and has bright orange hair #I want to be like her when I’m older #I don’t actually have plans to make this a long winded fic #But in the end he and Max get together obvi and Dan doesn’t burn food anymore #Scotty hearing Micheal refer to himself as the favorite uncle:#I sense a disturbance #also in the end #he ends up not needing the clinic for the donation #if you know what I mean #wink wink

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blithesharem · 6 months

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diavolo 🌠 !

The day that Diavolo fell in love it was raining.

The morning had begun gray, a slow drizzle, but by mid-day it had crashed into a proper storm. Barbatos had been caught several times staring out the window, watching the wind tear through the gardens and the water create rivers over the pathways. Diavolo had asked the demon if he was worried for his flowers, but Barbatos had only give him a thin smile and offered him a fresh pot of tea.

Eventually the prince made his way back to his office to continue working through the stack of his father’s paperwork. No. His paperwork. He was still adjusting to thinking of it that way, to taking ownership over the decisions he made every day. No longer would he have his father’s shadow to fall back on. No longer would he have his father’s shadow oppressing him.

While Diavolo mused over those two thoughts, the storm continued. It seemed like it was demanding something from him, he thought with mild amusement, like it wanted his attention.

“Not now, storm, Barbatos will scold me if I don’t get these finished,” he tried to jest aloud, but his voice fell flat in the empty room. And anyway, his butler was far too distracted today to pay him much thought.

‘Perhaps,’ Diavolo then thought, setting down his pen and giving a stretch, ‘A walk will do me some good.’

And so on the day that Diavolo fell in love he went on a walk in the rain.

Of course, he took an umbrella. He wasn’t a barbarian. Still, it made him feel a bit wild to be strolling through the castle grounds in the rain. His father would never have allowed such behavior, and Diavolo suspected Barbatos might have something to say if he was caught as well. But for now, he was as free as a prince could get in his gilded cage.

“Well, here I am, storm,” he said pleasantly, smiling when a rumble of thunder answered him, “Yes, thank you, I must agree.” He chuckled to himself, shaking his head. Perhaps he was a bit lonely, he had to admit. Demon princes probably shouldn’t be talking to themselves in the rain.

He was about to turn around and return inside with a sudden light caught his eyes. Anticipating a score of lightning, Diavolo stopped and lifted his eyes to the boiling clouds in the sky. There, tearing across the grey, was not lightning but a shooting star.

A chill ran down Diavolo’s spine, a feeling he felt rarely enough to note it. A shooting star midday?

He had better make a very special wish.

#“I need someone to be my friend. Someone who won't run away. Maybe send me an angel! The nicest angel you have.”#i originally planned this to be longer but it wanted to end here #obey me diavolo #obey me dialuci #obey me fic #i wanted to write about the moment when Lucifer lifts his head #and Diavolo is caught in his eyes burning bright with anguish and fury and terror all at once #and the strike that gaze makes into his heart #the sudden realization that whoever these eyes belong to is someone Diavolo would fall to his knees for #but alas the fic would not comply

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quietalight · 2 years

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“You have to let yourself feel, Essek, and use it to fuel your fire. Perfection is a bullshit standard to try and achieve, and not one I’m interested in. Performing for the joy of it, that will sustain you far longer than aiming for perfection will.”

Excerpt from Shadowgast Musician's AU "The Breath Before the Phrase" by @kmackatie

#the breath before the phrase #kmackatie #musicians au #fic rec #fic art #my art #caleb widogast #shadowgast #i have 2 chapters left to read this was absolutely done to postpone finishing it but alas i am ready #go read it if you havent its wonderful #caleb is bright and burning and lives by small joys #i fell in love with him all over again with this fic #critical role fanart #critical role

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maesterchill · 7 months

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MY TACKY TASTE

Happy birthday my dear @tackytigerfic !

I don't have a gift for you this year, sadly. I have been pretty terrible at gifts this year. So, instead I'm resurrecting this banner of dubious merit that I did for you about 5 years ago lmao, shur why not. I'm all about recycling ♻️

You're a brilliant friend, a gorgeous person, and a very talented writer. It was very difficult to come up with a list of my favourites because you've never written a thing I didn't like. I think a lot of these are ones you maybe don't rec yourself AS much, but they all have a really important place in my heart. For each one I'm going to share a few quotes that I loved.

Silverpoint (E, 8.8k) - This one is so special for me as it's the fic where I felt I got to know Tacky so much better. I felt we worked really well together on it, like symbiosis.

- You whisper something soft and too telling into his skin as you kiss the velvet of his inner thigh, the strung bow of the back of his knee, the eggshell delicacy of his ankle bone - After a while you wonder why, when you're the target of an obsessive, megalomaniacal, all-powerful Dark wizard who has used literal blood magic to reanimate himself back from the dead in order to kill you, all you can bring yourself to care about is the way the clean lines of morning sun kiss the ridge of Malfoy’s jaw as he licks jam off the side of his little finger.

Through the Window, Clear Skies (M, 1.4k) - This one really *altered my brain chemistry* 🤣 as to how I thought about Draco. He's so wonderful in this, Tacky, you got him just right.

- "He always had talked a lot, Harry remembered, and he said as much about himself. I never shut up, I’m a bit much sometimes, with that crease between his brows that showed he was cross about caring too much about it; and he said out it just like that, like it was a fact, as though it was something he’d heard from other people too many times before. But Harry had never had enough of anything, growing up, and privately he thought that a bit much sounded like just right. Not that he knew how to tell Draco that, but Draco seemed to understand anyway." - "They didn't talk about loving each other, of course. Neither of them was good with that sort of thing, and anyway Harry had always been better at doing. And Draco, well Draco didn't trust the word love. It always meant the wrong things, before. He said it once though, when Harry was about to go out in the snow for the papers, and was carelessly muffling himself up to his eyeballs in Draco’s old school scarf. Draco had kissed him on the mouth right through all the layers of green and told him crossly, I love you, and again with another kiss, the outbreath of it muggy through the wool, I love you, Harry, like Harry was somehow at fault. But he sounded like he meant it."

And One To Play (E, 21k) - FWB, wild magic, weather shenanigans, magical theory, brilliant and a bit sleazy meglomaniac villain, HOT COMPETENT DRACO 🚨 (and a gift for me so....)

Tacky's writing in this fic is at times so funny and at times so insightful, and very often heartkicky and also quite a bit hot and romantic. FUNNY: The trouble is, Harry thinks ruefully, that they're not really very good at trying not to have sex again. It's only four days on from the potions lab raid, and they've already fucked again, which was absolutely not the plan. "You're being an unromantic twat, Potter. You can bloody well wait until the Healers have pumped you full of core replenisher and Resanguinis potion and discharged you so that I can take you home, and say it back to you, and then fuck you so slowly you think you're going to cry. Is that clear?" INSIGHTFUL CHARACTERISATIONS: - Harry can see that Malfoy's natural desire for a dramatic build-up is warring with his excited need to tell Harry his news immediately. - He's not Harry's Malfoy without the curl of his expressive mouth, without the glitter of intelligence in the grey eyes, without the constant play of emotions across his face. HOT: - nothing about them has changed, except all those years of friendship have shifted over a bit to allow room for the unfurling of this overwhelming sense of pure want. HEARTKICKY: Harry realised early on that being loved was not a right granted to everyone. So when he does love, it's a fierce and powerful thing. He doesn't compromise with the people he loves 🥺 EXCITING: The descriptions of Harry's wild magic are so good! - when Harry raises his hand, he feels the snap and hum as everything comes together for a moment—his magic, and the sex-warm air in their office, surge together with the bright clarity of a bell chiming. He laughs in delight as he feels it into being, the air around his hand beginning to whip and whirl faster until he's holding a miniature zephyr in his palm - It's vibrating impatiently in the very molecules of the air, desperate to be harnessed. He takes it—takes all of it into himself—until the thrum of it pulses through his bloodstream and knocks at his bones from the inside out. He feels ripe and swollen with power. ROMANCE: "There's only ever going to be one you, Potter. So I'm in, if you're asking"

The Opposite of Hate You (M, 3.9k) ModernLove!Verse, bathing and washing (on brand), toe-touching, heart-to-hearts, biscuits (also on brand)

- Harry thinks about it, about Draco up at the top of the church, hair silvered up in the divine light from the dome, pale and severe and buttoned up from throat to ankles, and he likes it, of course he likes it, but it’s got nothing on the real Draco who’s right here under him, breathing hard, with his stupid bright blue pants shoved down around his thighs, and his hair all tangled up in Harry’s fingers, and his plate of biscuits forgotten on the coffee table. “I like you best like this,” Harry tells him seriously, and Draco takes a shaky breath.

Our Little Life (M, 7.3k) - Lovers in every lifetime! A swooping, sweeping, soaring, surging, skyrocketing stunner of a story... so original and so enchanting. An achingly beautiful story of questioning and realising and longing and inevitability. I fell in love with Tacky's Draco all over again (in his wide brimmed hat, in red lipstick, in a toga and earring), just as Harry/Henri/Henricus/Anraoi did too 😍 not to mention their lushly drawn settings (in a currach, in the trenches, sweaty and sticky in bed)? And all peppered with literary and linguistic and charmingly nerdy Easter eggs?

- He wanted to tell his Malfoy, “I see how things could be for us, I see it all the time,” but he knew that Malfoy wouldn’t get it. So instead he just told Malfoy, “I want you to like me as much as I like you,” and that was finally, grimly, satisfying, because Malfoy went pink and blotchy all of a sudden. - When it came down to it, all they really had to do was learn each other’s bodies, and they had always been skilled at learning each other

Last Offices (M, 6.7k) - MCD, rituals, mourning. Honestly, Tacky had me right from Harry leaving bruises across elegant knobs of pale knuckles through him pressing at Draco's slack useless pulsepoint to stretch the skin out for the razor’s sweep, fingers rasping against the stubble, and they didn't let go until Draco lazily shaking a frying pan, smiling at Harry across the kitchen and Harry crying

- He'd tried to say, “I love you,” no matter that half the Auror squad was there to hear it, only they never really said that to each other, and it felt too weird and final. But then Draco died, on one last pained bubbling futile gasp, and Harry wished he had said it anyway, because anything would have been better than just letting Draco go like that, while choking silently on his own preemptive grief.

The Thing You Shouldn't Do (M, 1.2k) - the second wizarding war, spy!Draco, bruises, lots of good stuff based on those first three things. There is a pattern in Tacky's work of one or or other of them being 'too much' or thinking they're too much. And always, always, they are just exactly 'right' for the other one, and I CAN NOT get enough of this trope. Never will. Also, I think this little fic sparked Tackys FTH in a tiny way, so we must give thanks and exultation where it is due.

- He peeled my fingers off his wrist when I clutched too hard, rubbed at the bracelet of bruises I left (I was always too much when it came to him). - "I always bruise him up, spill the pattern of my desperate fingers across his body until his skin blooms with the story of how much I need him." "I keep the marks of his mouth livid on all the secret parts of my skin"

Relic Radiation (M, 927 words) Interstellar boyfriends, Dad Draco.... do you need any more convincing? Actually gonna just post the comment i left:

There are so many complex feelings in this little piece: that mean selfish part of Harry that can't get past how very fucking much he wants to be the centre of Draco's universe... he knows, he knows, that Draco wants this and needs this and that he should be happy for him and that he's 'being a shit', and yet he feels the thing he wants slipping away, that he's second fiddle in Draco's life, or maybe even third, and that Draco shouldn't want to leave him for so long. And on the flip side we see Draco not rising to any of it, because he knows, he knows that Harry is only saying these things (and that Harry'd actually be horrified to have succeeded in shaming him into not going), and that anyway it's all bullshit because Harry has never EVER been second fiddle.

After dinner Harry and Scorpius went up to the Astronomy Tower still wearing their silly hats, and watched until the distant winking light appeared overhead. The third brightest thing in the sky, Draco had said. It was hard to miss.

Countdown to a Life (E, 3.4k) A gorgeous set of vignettes, structurally beautiful, which embarrassingly I haven't actually commented on but is somehow still so fresh in my mind.

From GoodFriend!Ginny: "It’s not noble to do something that makes both of you unhappy. That’s just stupid." - Draco's mouth moves silently, disbelievingly, and Harry thinks there may be the beginnings of a smile in there somewhere. - “If I could choose to make someone happy, I would pick you. Every single time, I’d pick you.” ❤️

Right well after doing this little exercise, which I thoroughly enjoyed because it meant I got to revisit some of my pal's lovely words, I realise there are LOADS of them I haven't commented on. How appalling! Anyway, that's a me issue (you know i've read and loved them all), and Tacky, I hope that you have had the day that you deserve, i.e full of fun and love and relaxation and treats. I treasure you!!

#happy birthday tacky!#the bestest and loveliest #tackytiger recs #my tacky taste #loads ive missed out #but i can simply NOT rec them all #though i would like to #drarry fic recs #drarry #drarry fic #tacky wacky doodah #tacky tiger burning bright

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stardryad · 2 years

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A chibi redraw of that scene from the fic May Your Forge Burn Bright by @lordoftherazzles! (made when I've heard it was its anniversary but shhhh it's done at last)

#the hobbit #bagginshield #thorin oakenshield #bilbo baggins #fic: may your forge burn bright #chibi #i dont make chibis often! My 12 years old self would be appalled #ANYWAY there was an update yesterday!! Go check the fic out if you hadnt already uwu #thilbo #fanart

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forestsofthenight98 · 8 days

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a new world, a world of shining hope for you and me

Chapters: 1/1

Rating: Mature

Relationships: Levi Ackerman/Eren Yeager

Main tags: Post-Canon Fix-It, Fluff and Angst, Developing Relationship, References to the 'Burning bright' visual novel, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Sunsets

My fic for the Rivaereri BigBang, in collaboration with the brilliant Mochi! 💟

Hope you like it 🫶🏻

Read on Ao3

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kayla6 · 4 months

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I’ve been rereading How Bright We Burn and I’ve noticed a few things that probably mean nothing but it’s just in my head for some reason

- while Jeff and Nick were figuring their shit out Jeff probably thought Nick had a little crush on Blaine. Like Jeff noticing Nicks arm around Blaine shoulders or when he offered to be Blaines new years kiss. Jeff was probably wishing Nick would be comfortable expressing attraction to him like he is with Blaine. To Jeff, Nick was probably giving him so many mixed signals 😭

- As I’ve been rereading this I’ve noticed Dylan is literally lurking in the shadows but yeah he obviously watches Blaine from afar, he said something about going to the Christmas holiday concert and being dressed in disguise so no one would know he’s there or that they’re friends and at first I didn’t think anything of it but now that I know he likes Blaine (or at least he’s shown interest) I’m rethinking all of it. Him watching Blaine and Sebastian during dinner… he must like Blaine so much.

-i know Sebastian views his mom better than his dad but I also wonder if he views her more of a friend than a mother. Like assuming Sebastian probably started having sex early (with older men as well at that) like does he ever have moments where he resents his parents for not paying closer attention to him. (like protecting him from the men who where way older than him, he also probably didn’t have any REAL friends his age) His views of life and relationships are most likely reflective of his parents relationship which he probably sees everything wrong with it but at the same time it’s normal/comfortable for him because that’s all he knows, the thing is he obviously cannot continue that cycle with Blaine, so in the sequel is probably gonna be really hard for him (assuming he’s going to have a hard time communicating that with Blaine or moments where he kind gets closed off or pushes Blaine away) it’ll be interesting to read anyway, but yeah I think way too much.

#how bright we burn #lusthurts fics #seblaine #Niff

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lusthurts · 4 months

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you know the tiktok audio that’s like “every friend group has” and it’s taylor swift lyrics ?? well…

argumentative antithetical dream girl - sebastian

careless man’s careful daughter - blaine

the girl who lives in delusion - trent

a mess of a dreamer with the nerve to adore you - nick

pathological people pleaser - jeff

nightmare dressed like a daydream - hunter

#glee #warblers #dalton academy warblers #dalton academy #this is just my headcanons based on how bright we burn lol #how bright we burn #lusthurts fics #please comment/reblog with your thoughts also #seblaine

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erisenyo · 3 months

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20 questions for fic writers

tagged by @ofherlionheart, thank you!!

1. how many works do you have on Ao3? 36?! When did that happen...

2. what's your total Ao3 word count? 1,612,719, and now I'm eyeing the shibari fic and my written WIP where chapter 4 of 6 is going to be 60+ word document pages all on its own...

3. what fandoms do you write for? ATLA! Though I'm starting to eye The Radian Emperor too, if I can figure out the writing style

4. what are your top five fics by kudos?

1. Love is in the Hair 2. These Things Written 3. These Things Known 4. These Things Unsaid (lol the middle of the series having the least kudos of the three, middle book syndrome strikes) 5. Lessons in Proper Asset Management

5. do you respond to comments? I do! I do my best to reply to all of them, I love hearing people's thoughts and chatting about the fic or the characters or canon. Though I am currently egregious behind after the holidays, doing my best to catch up...

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? I don't know that I do angsty *endings* versus just highly emotional situations that end in (hopefully) satisfying ways? To Cleave These Roots We've Made is probably my angstiest run into an ending, and Of Tea and Turtle Ducks (and the Turtle Duck Guy) just had a very high-emotion end. I don't know, what do you guys think? I don't always have a good read on the tone of my own fics lol

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Ohhh this is tough, maybe To Be Named, To Be Known (To Be Loved) or (With Wonder and Care) Reach for Far-flung Dreams, in part because the endings are just a culmination of a lot of like warm feelings? Or Didn't Know What I Was Missing (But I Guess I Found It) because we were all so happy the three of them finally talked lol?

8. Do you get hate on fics? Not really, though Katara in Burning Bright has been fairly polarizing. It's not hate but it's also like...not happy haha

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? Oh, do I ever! And...all the kinds (m/m, f/m/ poly, f/f incoming)? Full on, graphic, self-recognition-through-the-boner character-developing smut.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written? I don't!

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? oh man I hope not. I don't even know how I'd find out, unless someone told me

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? Yes! Into Russian!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? No, though I got close with certain installments in the Zukki series with the way Ash helped me outline haha. I wouldn't be opposed to it, but it feels more like long-form roleplay when I imagine it.

14. What’s your all-time favorite ship? This is a hard question! Because there's stuff I read fic for and stuff I write and then stuff I've like, read and gently rotated in my head for the rest of my life. But to make it easy--Zukka haha

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? I tend not to let myself have too many simultaneous WIPs, and I don't really break my rule about finishing a work before starting to post, so no, looking at the current set. There's ideas I'd like to write that I'm not sure I will, but nothing started.

16. What are your writing strengths? I'd say dialogue, characterization, and building narrative tension and momentum

17. What are your writing weaknesses? Fight scenes lol. I don't know why they're so much harder than smut scenes, they should be the same, except smut is like intensely close and intimate and full of sensation and emotions and fight scenes have to be go-go-go but still full of sensation and emotions just different ones haha

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? I've never tried! It seems like it would be difficult, me knowing only the one (and Latin, that doesn't count haha) and so much of the fun of language being in the wordplay and clever turns of phrase and the world of difference between someone saying "father" or "dad"

19. First fandom you wrote for? ATLA! I wrote some original fiction back in the day, but fandom-wise ATLA is my first go

20. Favorite fic you’ve written? So cruel to make me choose! I am a little bit in love with everything I post. And I will cheat by saying either To Open Every Door to Night, To Meet Each Rising Sun or Just Let My Love Adorn You (You Gotta Know that I Adore You) right now, I'm so pleased with how they both came out, and they were so much fun to write. Both really came together so well from what I initially imagined.

tagging @queendollophead-ao3 @lizardlicks @ranilla-bean and anyone else who wants to play! I'd love to see your answers

#tag games #fic writing #if we take Burning Bright as one fic for Q4 then Part-Time Plumber and Oh the way your makeup stains are the next highest by kudos #Also asking me to pick a favorite is so cruel I love all my creations so much and for such different reasons

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lordoftherazzles · 3 months

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𝐌𝐚𝐲 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞 𝐁𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭

bagginshield | pre-quest/blacksmith au | explicit

Thorin labors as a blacksmith within the world of men to support his family and the other displaced dwarves of Erebor. Change comes to his monotonous routine when the smithy he works in unexpectedly comes under a hobbit’s management.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫

Staring at the intricate metals that were now twisted together, and the various decorations that had been melded to it, resembling a headpiece, Thorin exhaled deeply. "How things have changed..." he murmured to himself, continuing to examine his good work and wonder how a blade held as much beauty as this. No sharp edges to cut and kill, only curves and decorations to accentuate the head it would soon rest upon in honor.

“I knew I'd find you here,” a voice spoke up, breaking through Thorin's thoughts and the crackling of the forge.

“I think there's something to be said here about taking a dwarf out of a forge, but never being able to take his love for the forge away from him,” Thorin drawled with a roll of his eyes. “It brings me peace, and fond memories of...” he trailed.

And that's a wrap!!

Thank you to everyone who stuck with me through this long ride from the beginning, who joined halfway, and who are just reading it for the first time now. Can you believe this was my FIRST posted fic? Two and a half(ish) years, 100k+ words, and now it's over. It feels so bittersweet, but also amazing.

I could spend many more years on this fic, and while I'm shelving this universe for now, there's no telling when I may pull it back out again, should there be a need/desire!

Onto the next project!

#bagginshield #thilbo #thorin oakenshield #bilbo baggins #thorin x bilbo #bilbo x thorin #bagginshield fic #hobbit fic #razzywrites #fic: may your forge burn bright

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shealwaysreads · 2 years

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She Always Recs: Tackytiger

Take You Made

"Draco didn’t believe in soulmates, but Harry Potter was the closest thing he had to one, so he was just going to keep pushing those inconvenient loving thoughts aside until one day he could learn how to get rid of them for good."

Or: Draco Malfoy has FEELINGS in a wardrobe, and Harry Potter has a wank (or two).

Our Little Life

Sometimes Harry dreams. Only they're not really dreams at all, and Malfoy is always in them.

It's time travel, but not as we know it, and Harry just needs a good night's sleep.

Modern Love

Harry Potter, of all people, knows that life isn’t always fair. And no one gets to be happy all of the time. But surely there’s something more—something better—than a rubbish Ministry job, and a lonely old house, and that feeling that everyone out there is doing a better job of living than Harry is.

And it really doesn’t seem fair that Draco Malfoy is back in Harry’s life, all of a sudden, and even though he’s wandless, and living with Muggles, and making his mother cry with his lifestyle choices, he’s happy. So what's he doing right, that Harry isn’t?

Because things don’t really change, do they? And if Harry can’t be happy, he’ll settle for a good night’s sleep, some posh antiques, and the opportunity to find out what Malfoy has been up to for all these years.

And that’s what starts it all.

Between the Power Lines

For Harry Potter, all roads eventually lead to Draco Malfoy.

Or: this is not an AU! It's just Harry and Draco meeting by chance in an imported food shop in Connecticut and going on a road trip together. Featuring motels, cacti, Americana, and a hefty dose of pining.

@tackytigerfic is one of my oldest fandom friends, kind and generous and deeply thoughtful, and also a writer that I’ve wildly adored since I first read Take You Made way back when I first came back to the fandom (before I actually met them, its our ‘how we got together’ fic)

Their writing never fails to deliver what a dear friend fondly termed the ‘heartkick’—effortlessly taking your breath away with a casual lick of marmalade from thumb, or the flicker of a pulse, and sketching out the vast scope of history and love in the most intimate and well-observed details. Experimenting, and always clarifying their voice and tone, I feel like I could spot a Tacky fic at twenty paces, there’s something inimitable in their use of language and evocation of emotion that never fails to hook me completely, brain and heart.

If you haven’t read any of Tacky’s fics yet, do yourself a kindness and get stuck in today—you’ll adore every word, and find yourself thinking of their redolent imagery and insightful characterisation long after you’ve finished.

Read all of tackytiger’s fics here on Ao3 and don’t forget to follow them here @tackytigerfic 🤍

Part 5/? of my book cover fic recs, see the rest here!

#happy birthday tacky #tackytiger burning bright #drarry #drarry fic rec #things to read #shealwaysrecs #hp

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