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just-a-random-dead-thing · 1 year

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~Lost and Found~ (Larissa Weems x Student!reader)

The reader is 19 in this fic!!! The show makes it clear they have students well above the age of consent.

...

Please don't murder me for this being so late!!! I wasn't doing great mentally after mocks so took a break from writing so this was written in small chunks over the course of nearly two weeks so I'm very sorry if it's super disjointed!

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3 (1.7k words)

There isn't a lot of larissa in this chapter because I wanted to focus on some world building and finally properly introduce you guys to the readers friends/my OCs.

Thank you as always to @thefangedman for editing this and with such a quick turn around so you guys didn't have to wait any longer for an update!

The room was large but not overwhelming. It had an almost comfortable aura despite this being my first time inside, as well as despite my reason for being trapped inside.

I slowly made my way to my feet, drifting throughout the room; searching. For what? I don't know. It is drawing me closer. An overwhelming feeling hits me in progressively stronger waves as I make my way towards what I can only assume is the en suite. I slowly push the door open, uneasiness slipping into the atmosphere.

Something isn't right.

I can't tell what is wrong. My eyes quickly dart to all corners of the room, seeing nothing out of place. That's when I see it. A small cigarette case, tucked beside the rather nice clawed bathtub. So that's where the funding goes, Weems is living in luxury while I can barely get a hot shower most days, for fuck’s sake. I'll be bringing this up with her later.

I approach slowly, bending down to collect the case and look inside, to figure out what the source of this strange aura is. I turn as I hear sharp knocking, followed by a very angry - yet almost concerned voice?

"Y/N M/N L/N! Come out right this instance! I will break this door down if I have to, don't snoop through my drawers. I know you've been thinking about it. I just wanted to talk."

I turn back around, moving towards the sink to lift a metal nail file, before making my way to the window, attempting to unlock it. I try to as quickly as possible make my way through it. Weems’ bangs get louder, until I hear one exceptionally loud one and the clicking of heels.

I am just about free when my sleeve snags on a rogue nail, pinning me like a frog in a biology lesson, ready for my dissection at the hands of Weems. As I am struggling with my sleeve she bursts into the bathroom.

I manage to get free just before she can snatch me, darting away; lungs burning as I do more exercise than I've done all week.

I look around: I was at the back of the school in a place I’d never been before, however, my worry of being followed meant that I didn't want to stop and get my bearing - at least until I wasn't so out in the open.

Eventually, after much running and much pain, I find my way into - an abandoned section of the school? I've never seen this place before, which is strange, considering I've searched high and low for the best hide outs on campus to go while... not fully present, let's put it like that.

The corridor I have taken refuge in is dilapidated, walls crumblings with a thick layer of dust clinging to everything. I wonder what happened that they left this place in such disrepair, especially since Weems is always complaining how we don't have enough space, and the board wants to let in more students so they can make more money.

Fine, sometimes I do eavesdrop on Weems... I get bored sitting in her office most days, and she doesn't let me read or draw because it's a punishment so I'm apparently "not meant to be enjoying it".

I crouch down in an alcove close by, reaching into my jacket pocket. Silently I curse myself, realising I've left my book in Weems’ office. Knowing I'll have to go and ask for it back if I ever want to finish it makes me cringe. I can already hear the lecture I'll get from Weems.

Eh, it'll be fine, I'll just sneak in after curfew so I can avoid seeing her again. Resting my head against the wall behind me, I take out my box of cigarettes and my lighter. Weems thankfully didn't find it in my pockets and take it for the 10th time this week. I'm old enough to smoke, I don't get why she's so annoying about it.

It's not even like I'm smoking anything serious in front of her - it's just nicotine, so I don't get what the issue is, especially since I've seen the ash tray hidden the the bottom drawer of her desk. She's definitely a stress smoker.

I shake off the thoughts of her, quickly lighting my cigarette and taking a drag, wondering why I still feel so on edge even though I have reached safety away from her gaze. As I take another drag, I remember the cigarette case. No wonder I'm so on edge, that thing has some of the worst energy I've felt in weeks.

I take it out, slowly examining the gold casing. It wasn't fancy but it was well made and loved. The roses engraved on the front and a small inscription on the back were worn down and the casing itself had seen better days, small scratches and dents littering it. I did my best to make out what the message said.

"My dear___ ______a, I will never forget the ____ we shared together. I will re____ to you soo_, _ith love M_______."

It was pretty easy to fill in the gaps, but the names left me at a loss. I careful open the case and inside there is a single half smoked cigarette with a distinctive dark berry lipstick stain. I pick it up and my veins go black, the loss flooding my body as a specture of the past appears before me.

They are clearly crying, sitting on a set of steps holding the cigarette between their fingers, rain beating down from the sky soaking them - but they don't seem to care. It takes me a few minutes before I recognise the person as my very own principal, but before I can question her I am dragged back to the land of the living. My own cigarette is long abandoned on the floor as my hands shake, my body trembling at the sudden rush of emotions.

Once I return to normal - veins blue and not black - I take a deep breath and return the cigarette to its case, pocketing as I get to my feet. I slowly make my way back to the in-use section of the school building.

I make it back to my dorm, Wilde Hall, without any staff spotting me. Thankfully, they don't typically patrol the older students' dorms, as they are more concerned with the younger students drinking underage and such. Also, unless repeating, we attend by choice, so typically the students behave better than the younger ones, who's parents force them to be here.

I push the door open, only to be met with my two best friends destroying my room.

"What the fuck do you think you are doing?" They both turn to me with guilty smiles. Noah is the first to speak.

"Hey N/N, we didn't think you'd be back so soon... we were just... um, looking for that book you borrowed from me?"

I roll my eyes at his ill attempt at lying. "The book that is clearly sitting on my desk, and for no reason would be in my wardrobe?" I stand with my arms folded glaring at them both, waiting for one of them to reveal the truth behind their chaos.

Kat is the first to break. "Noah was looking for your leather jacket because he wants Ajax to think he's cool so that he'll ask him on a date!"

They are so fucking annoying I swear, but deep down I love them for it. "You could have just asked, you know I would have lent it to you, so I don't get why you needed to destroy my room looking for it. Also, you should ask him out yourself, instead of waiting for him to make the first move - I've been telling you for months he's into you."

Noah rolled his eyes before arguing back, "Firstly, you nearly murdered me when I took your tweed trousers, and secondly, you say that about everyone! You think that everyone is into everyone, just cause you can't keep in your pants."

Kat chimed in, doubling down on the attack. "You're a total slut! I swear you've been with half the school at this point!"

I grab Noah's book from my desk and fling it at them, causing the pair to throw curses at me. "Both of you are just jealous because I can actually pull unlike you both. Plus I only got mad because I had planned the outfit I was wearing that night around those tweed trousers - I had to completely redo the outfit at the last minute, you're lucky I had a back up outfit!"

Before they can reply, the door swings open and a disheveled Miss Thornhill enters. She is out of breath and has bags under her eyes, likely researching new plants late again, remembering that time I found her passed out in the greenhouse at 4 in the morning, her coffee and notes both left half finished.

"Y/N... I hear you've been getting on Principal Weems’ bad side again. Can you not even go one week without annoying her? She's already stressed as it is with the new student who is due to arrive today, which is likely why she's requested you to be assisting her the rest of the week instead of attending your regular classes. She would like you to start immediately after the disappearing act you pulled this morning."

I groan audibly, before trying to bargain with Miss Thornhill.

"Please, Miss, can I not work in the greenhouse with you, I'm so much better with plants than paperwork."

She gives me a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry Y/N, I tried to get you out of it, but you've really managed to annoy her this time. What did you even say to her? You know what. I don't think I even want to know.”

She turns her eyes away from me, addressing Kat and Noah. “And as for my two favourite students, class starts in 5 minutes - hurry up and grab your books or I'll feed you to my carnivorous plants!"

A mock offended expression makes its way onto my features as I dramatically slam my hand over my heart. "Am I no longer your number one student? After all I've done for those plants, I'm now I'm being replaced? I see how it is, Thornhill. You're no longer my favourite teacher anymore - and to think I didn't skip a single botany class because of how much I cared for you!"

She shakes her head at me, exasperated by my antics, and I slowly trudge my way down to Weems' office, dreading the coming week. I knock on the large wooden door to her office, a chill running down my spin as I hear her almost cruel tone.

"Enter!"

-Tag list-

@the-bagel24 @suckerforcate @zerolovestpn513 @multifandomlesbianic @littledollll @freshmoneyalmondathlete @jinxscatbomb @khajiit-trading-caravan

#larissa weems x reader #larissa weems #marilyn thornhill #oc x character #student x professor #morticia x gomez #wenclair #ocs #ajax petropolus #t4t mlm #wednesday #enid sinclair #wednesday addams #mortica addams #gomez addams

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unorcadox · 5 months

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UNORCADOX

howdy, i'm mabel! it's the 3 year anniversary of unorcadox today, so i've prepared a decent bit of surprises. (and yes that means i started this blog in 2020, which is terrifying to think about.) i'll go into those new things under the cut, but first... check out the carrd linked in the header text of this post :3c

sooo soo so so so where on earth do i begin. uhh honestly let me just break down the new stuff first since i can talk about that more easily.

THE NEW LOOK! ok so like truth be told, i've been a faceless blog on purpose up until now. it wasn't until this summer where i actually liked how i looked or had any solid sense of my own aesthetic or what i wanted to look like. it also made it easier to protect against dysphoria and transphobes in the same breath, as no one could ever comment on any aspect of my appearance, or even the mere suggestion i even had one to begin with! but that all changes now, i'm going to actually have a presence on this blog, as it is MY blog and tbh i'm tired of being so faceless on here. that's why i've been doing more asks and non-edit posts recently, and those will increase in frequency. check out the carrd for more info, my sona's ref, and art credits for assets on here <3

mondays -> MUSIC MONDAYS! so it might come as a shock i'm actually a musician in addition to making stuff on here! i've promoted my music a couple of times by now, but nothing all that substantial. sooo, considering that, i'm going to be replacing monday oc posts with a music post! just a link to a song on my bandcamp and a little description about it. i don't really care if these perform particularly well, but i want to give people a chance to actually hear it without having to deep dive through my entire internet history to get it. i also will be releasing more soon-- whether via compilations of older work or new stuff altogether :3

MORE IN THE FUTURE! i have a couple other ideas up my sleeve, we'll see how they pan out but i wanna keep trying new possibilities on here. i think at this point i've proven my consistency, and it's about time i let myself have a little fun and explore my options. these will be announced individually but probably added here over time as this is the new pinned post lol.

----- ----- -----

ok so anyways, i do wanna have the mandatory sappy segment because of course i do. i want to say a couple of things but i'll split them into bullet points again bc yeah i do that.

this year has been really good for me and the blog, in most ways it's been the straight up best year of my life uncontested. not everything has gone perfectly, i had other plans that fell through, but hey that's just how life goes huh. at one point, i was easily projected to hit 20k by the end of the year, and now i'll be happy if i hit 17k lol. tumblr has not been that kind to my blog's growth this year and it's making me consider other options in the future, but everything's so scary rn i don't wanna commit to anything.

as for the blog itself, i've kinda been in a weird spot with it for a while. i've been scraping by on here intermittently for the entire year on and off, and i might have some ways to help keep me on top of the ball during the next year, but i also do wonder how long i can really keep doing this, and how long people will still like weirdcore and my work in particular. i've been considering branching out in terms of my presentation, or format, or style, but i feel incredibly weird about doing so.

in my personal life, this is the year i finally started transitioning and seeking treatment for my most pressing issues. i've finally started dating the love of my life, my best friend of 10 years, and despite some interpersonal turmoil all around me, i think i'm finally finding safe ground and knowing what i wanna do next. i don't really talk about it on here because i'm very private about it, but i've been kinda slowly becoming like a Real Adult Person this year. i didn't really have much of a chance to prior and i still am struggling a lot, but hey i know what i want now!

it's really silly to say but this blog still means a lot to me! it's seen me through the craziest times in my entire life, it's brought me so much perspective and knowledge and opportunities i wouldn't've had otherwise. i wake up every day and go on here and never stop feeling starstruck that people chose to follow me. i know tumblr success means nothing but to me it's the only community i've ever actually belonged to, so thank you all.

ok so like i really just don't have much else to say anymore, so i think i'll end it there! thank you all again, i can't wait for year 4 as it's going to definitely be a crazy one lol. let's hope it's a good one too!

#not edits

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itstheelvenjedi · 1 year

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4/27/23 EDIT TO ADD: I'm disabling reblogs on this part of the post as per the advice of someone in the tags to prevent it from going around and getting out of hand but obligatory disclaimer that this is NOT an accurate post to my current state of mind. In absolute simplest terms: I'm both physically disabled and ND, and the past 2 years have been a very shitty time for me with a lot of trauma and ableism etc. etc. BUT which ultimately helped me to grow into a more emotionally mature person who absolutely would not have said these things. It's not an excuse but it is context, and if I had known (didn't remember I queue'd this and the first I knew it existed was when I woke up and checked this tumblr for the first time in almost 3 weeks and I had almost 100 notes on a single post LMAO) it was there, I would have deleted it before it got posted. I've made another post in a reblog chain >HERE< that goes into this but this is like a TL;DR if you will. You can also find a stand-alone post with the copy-paste of the ammendment >HERE< or in my pinned post (I'll leave it here for a while and take it down later once this blows over)

EDIT #2: currently trying to figure out how to disable replies but can't seem to so I'm putting this at the TOP of the damned post instead because there's still a handful of people that think it's appropriate to make nasty comments without actually READING the ammendment, I'm sorry if I sound cranky it's been a long day, I am v tired & running out of ways to say the word "sorry" lol

The thing that gets me about the "oh wanting a cure for the incurable disability that ruins my life is not ableism ACSHUALLY!!!" crowd is

Yes babes, yes it is. That's a lil nugget called ✨internalised ableism✨ and ya know something? ITS STILL ABLEISM

You can put a pretty red bow with polka dots and frills on a pig as much as you like but it's STILL A FUCKING PIG and NOTHING You do will change that

But most of yall aren't ready for that conversation ig.

It's hard. It's a very hard thing to confront, realise and accept but it IS. and ableists EVERYWHERE will use that as a pro-eugenics gotcha. You're not just hurting yourself you're hurting other disabled people too.

ABLE BODIED PEOPLE DO NOT ADD ANYTHING TO THIS POST. YOU ARE NOT DISABLED AND YOU ARE NOT QUALIFIED TO TALK ABOUT WHAT IS OR IS NOT DIFFICULT FOR DISABLED PEOPLE. Able bodied ND people may add stuff if you want but be aware if you try to derail physically disabled additions w/ "buh muh ND ish awso a disabiwity" I will straight up block you. Yall ALWAYS do that and I am tired of it. Just don't be an asshole about your additons if you're going to make any or stay quiet too.

#the queue is strong with this one #elven rants #actually disabled #tw: ableism #tw: internalized ableism #ya know what im tired of being quiet about this #it needs to be fucking said #and realising this on my own journey was a huge hurdle for me to get over so trust #*me i KNOW. and i KNOW some of u are gonna read what ive said here and immediately get mad #but take a step back for a second...and ask yourself WHY youre mad

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solradguy · 7 months

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Hey Sol! I remember quite a while ago, someone asked you about how to get into archiving stuff and you answered with a little guide of sorts of useful programs/websites/etc.

Do you still have that guide up? Is there somewhere I can learn more in-depth about how to begin archiving too?

Tumblr search is failing me and I can't find that post now... So! I'll type it again. Lately I've been thinking about writing some kind of "archivist's manifesto" type thing for my Neocities in an effort to hype people up about archiving and to guide them on how to do it. When I write that up I'll post it here too.

Here's a big post I wrote on how to scan books and where to upload them (this is also linked in the big GG masterpost that's in my pinned): https://solradguy.tumblr.com/post/722512206034501632/sol-radguy-scanning-guide

That guide also has some tips on photo editing that may be useful for non-book scanning stuff, like some free program alternatives.

I've tried finding professional guides on how to archive media but most of them are written for people looking to archive family photos/things and not web media or physical books. None of them have been very helpful, honestly. One thing they recommend doing that I think IS helpful though is the rule of 3: Keep 3 copies of an archive somewhere. A physical hard drive, cloud storage, a second hard drive stored separately from the first (in case of accidents/hardware failure), uploaded to separate file hosts, and printing new physical copies are some. Doing any 3 of those is highly recommended. I do the two hard drives and cloud storage/file hosts ones. My hosts are generally Archive.org, Neocities, and Google Drive.

Be very careful about trusting image hosting sites with valuable scan data because they come and go like the wind. Photobucket, Tinypic, Imageshack... They're either dead or require a premium to host files now, which doesn't help hobby archivists at all. Imgur's demise is on the horizon. It's just the way it goes with these due to how expensive and space-consuming image hosting is.

Absolutely 1000% do not ever use just Discord for archiving/hosting things. Nothing on that platform can be backed up easily or with automation, and the guys that run it have already made weird choices the community didn't want while also putting more and more things behind the Nitro paywall. I suspect they're going to kneecap image and file hosting some day soon, too.

For archiving someone else's files, something that helps greatly (if it can be done) is either including the source of the file in the file's name or writing a separate document with the sources and whatever other additional information there is.

Here's a basic example of some Sol images from my Sol folder:

The first two are from the Counterside collab event and then the second two are official art but the file names are descriptive and it saves time sourcing them for things later. For archiving fan art/fiction, the filename is a good place to put the artist credit. Something like [Artwork Title]-[Artist Name]-[Original File Creation Date].format ("Sol Badguy Missing Link - Daisuke Ishiwatari - May 14 1998.jpg," or however you wanna organize the folder) works good.

Windows 11 didn't like working with Japanese text in file names for some of the Vastedge stuff I archived and I had to translate/romanize them. If you can't read Japanese/source's language, just do your best (number them instead?) and include the native language text in a .TXT file if possible.

A more complex example from the Vastedge .TXT doc:

The Vastedge materials archive is pretty dense and had a lot of contributors so the first half of the .TXT document's just credits for who did what. This is useful for if something gets lost because we'll know who to go bother about it. Among other things.

The next section is a long stack of details about the files themselves. I won't paste the whole thing here, it's pretty long. It covers how the archive came to be, issues with some of the files, how the files were obtained, and some other stuff:

The last half of the .TXT doc is a listing of the folder contents. I included this for quick reference and because sometimes archives get fractured by people only reuploading certain parts of it. Future archivists or anyone else going through this archive now have a list of what should be in there and will know if something is missing.

Archive.org/Wayback Machine has a browser extension for quickly archiving webpages. I have that and WebP / Avif Image Converter by Nullbrains (Chrome, might be on Firefox?) installed to quickly archive pages and convert image files as I save them.

In summary:

Upload/store things in multiple places

Include credits wherever you can, however is easiest for you

Try to keep files in the most widely compatible formats (jpg, gif, bmp, png, tiff, mp3, mp4, txt, pdf, flac, etc). Google's .DOC, Clip Studio Paint's .CLIP, and similar file formats meant for a specific piece of software may not be supported in the future.

A bad/incomplete archive is better than no archive at all. Consider how exciting Sappho poetry fragments are compared to what it would be like if we didn't have anything. Don't worry about making it "perfect."

Hope that helps some!! I'll try to write the manifesto for my NC soon

#asks #long post #archiving

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tickle-bugs · 1 year

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For the warmup prompts can you do Beetlejuice and Lydia (platonic! I do not ship them romantically in any way whatsoever) with the dialogue of “I bet I can get you to say my name.” If not, I totally understand!

So for people who haven’t seen/listened to the musical the vibe is completely different from the movie LMAO less “this is our weird uncle beetlejuice the family won’t talk to him he’s wanted by the feds and can’t come within 500 feet of the house” and more “cool but still weird cousin beetlejuice who collects strange rocks, is always in danger of being actively actively on fire, and is wayyy too into dark humor”. It’s a good show! If you like comedy musicals with a rock lean to the soundtrack, you’ll probably like it. It’s got a Little Shop of Horrors sensibility to it, I think.

If anyone tags this as ship w/ Lydia and Beetlejuice I will crawl out of your screen like the girl from the ring and gnaw on your bones I’m so serious

AU where the plot of this show doesn’t take like. A week LMAO. Basically Lydia hasn’t said BJ’s name yet but she also hasn’t decided what to do with her dad yet. So they’re at an impasse. Lydia regularly goes to hang out in her haunted attic and lament because Delia won’t go up there, thus making it safe. Beetlejuice keeps doing Say My Name-style ad pitches to get Lydia to summon him properly but he’s not very good at it.

EDIT: FORGOT THE BODY HORROR WARNING OOPS!! It’s very mild but just in case anyone needs it <;3

Full-Time Spectres

Lydia’s life is far from conventional, perfectly so, but she’s started to adapt to the strangeness in the walls of her house. She doesn’t have the one ghost she wants most of all, but she’s got three that do just fine for entertainment and scheming purposes. She’s gotten used to the cold spots, the occasional flicker of the lights, and Adam’s habit of walking through walls rather than doors--he figured out that he could and never wanted to stop.

Some things she’ll never adjust to, though, like her attic being strewn with scraps of brutalized board games.

Monopoly’s been pinned to the wall with a knife, Ludo sits perfectly still on a shelf with suspicious-looking green liquid in the shot glasses, and a chess board hovers in the air, eternally aflame. It’s a massacre and she doesn’t know where half of these things came from.

“What’s, uh…what’s happening here?” Lydia kicks the door shut behind her. The door creaks open. She kicks it closed again with a frown.

Adam looks up and squints at the door. His eyes dart around as if he can see the schematics of it and diagnose the problem from halfway across the room. Lydia allows herself a tiny smile.

“Adam’s teaching me to play checkers.” Beetlejuice beams, which is unsettling in itself.

“Well, I tried to reach him to play chess, then a few other things…it didn’t go well.” Adam pushes his glasses up his nose and surveys the board in front of them. He captures one of Beetlejuice’s pieces with a triumphant little ‘aha!’.

Beetlejuice takes a long, pensive look at the board. Very thin tendrils of smoke curl out of his ears as he tries to decide which piece to play. Adam, sweet Adam, goes to help him make an advantageous move, but Beetlejuice shushes him.

“What are you doing?” Lydia sidles over to Barbara, who fumbles with an old lamp. She sets it down before she can shatter it.

“Well, it was going to be a surprise but…” Barbara gestures excitedly to a small nook in the attic. She’s rearranged various boxes of her former belongings to build a shoddy sort of booth. A heavy, ugly floral curtain hangs precariously over the doorway.

“It’s a dark corner!” Lydia gasps sarcastically.

“No—well, yes, but it’s supposed to be a kind of mini dark room? I don’t know much about them but I know you’re always taking pictures.” Barbara shifts awkwardly.

Oh. Oh.

Lydia cradles her camera in her hands, running her thumb along the outside. The pebbled texture is a kiss to her fingertips. If she concentrated hard enough, she can remember the feeling of her mom’s warm hands over her own, showing her how to hold the camera.

“If you don’t like it—“

“You made this for me?” She whispers. She tries to swallow the lump in her throat.

“Still workin’ on it, but yes.” Barbara gestures lamely.

“You…didn’t have to do that.”

“Yeah, well, I’ve got nothing but time. Might as well use it right.” Barbara shrugs. Lydia bounces on her toes.

“I’ve still, um, gotta clear out all of our junk. Adam and I don’t need it anymore, not really, and you need room to breathe. I know it’s not much, but--”

Lydia crashes into Barbara for a hug. She’s icy to the touch, but her touch is the most comforting thing Lydia can imagine. Barbara pulls her in close, cradling the back of her head with her cool hands. There is no heartbeat in her chest, but Lydia can feel that it’s not empty.

A memory of her mother prickles at the back of her mind. She pushes it down.

“Do you want help?” Lydia pulls away and looks towards the dark room, ignoring the twinge of grief in her gut. She can see its potential around the edges.

“It’s your surprise! You can’t help with that!” Barbara gasps, affronted.

The curtain falls heavily from the hooks and thumps into the ground. A plume of dust kicks up and Lydia coughs.

“Okay. Maybe you can.” Barbara scratches her head. Together, she and Lydia hoist the heavy curtain back into precarious-looking hooks embedded in the wall. As they back away from it, silently begging it to stay in place, Beetlejuice sits up ramrod straight.

“Adam, Barbara’s throwing away your coin collection,” Beetlejuice gasps and points over Adam’s shoulder.

“What? They’re vintage!” Adam whirls around. Beetlejuice moves a bunch of pieces around, making a bunch of captures, and eats a piece for good measure. He winks at Lydia. She fondly rolls her eyes.

“You know I would never.” Barbara says. Adam deflates. She kisses his forehead. He grumbles a little but accepts it.

When Adam turns back to the board, Lydia has the express joy of watching him go through the five stages of grief in real time. He looks from Beetlejuice to the board in sheer despair.

“Why do you keep eating the pieces?” Adam puts his head in his hands.

“Because, Adam dearest, it makes you mad.” Beetlejuice pats his shoulder solemnly. Lydia snorts.

“Well, I’m officially out of games.” Adam pats his thighs and stands. He ambles over to Barbara and appraises the curtain. He puts his hands on his hips and starts muttering about supports and tracks. Lydia tries to follow along but her eyes near-instantly glaze over.

“Sooooo, Lydia.” Beetlejuice slides over to her. “Have you given my offer any more thought?”

“You still haven’t given me a convincing argument. Calling yourself ‘the worst of the best’ isn’t exactly a glowing review.” Lydia wrinkles her nose.

“These two like me!” Beetlejuice points at the Maitlands. Barbara gives a teasing ‘meh’ gesture just to see him splutter in offense. She laughs softly.

“I’ll admit, I’m coming around on him.” Adam chuckles.

“Thank you, Adam. Mwah.” Beetlejuice blows a kiss in his direction. Adam turns a little pink and goes back to working on the curtain. Barbara whispers something in his ear that makes him turn even pinker.

“They like anyone. I’ve met cardboard with stronger opinions than them.” Lydia scoffs, then turns. “No offense.”

Adam and Barbara both shrug.

“Fair point. Counteroffer: you hate your dad, I hate your dad, let’s kill him.” Beetlejuice gives his most enthusiastic jazz hands. Lydia stares at him blankly.

“Denied.” She pushes his hands out of the way.

“On what grounds?”

“On the grounds that you suck. Your fate hinges on me and you can’t even get me to say your name. You spend all your time cheating at board games because you need me more than I need you. That’s pretty lame for a big, scary demon,” Lydia says mockingly, curling her fingers into claws. When Beetlejuice gives her the finger, she gives two right back with a smirk.

“Lydia, be nice,” Barbara chides, goosing Lydia’s side. She yelps and smacks her hand away.

Beetlejuice gasps. Lydia slowly meets his sparkling eyes.

“No.” Lydia points at him. Beetlejuice smiles slowly, wicked and full of mischief.

“I’ll kill you. I’ll bring you back to life just to kill you--”

Lydia steps back, Beetlejuice steps forward, and all hell breaks loose. Lydia springs over a pile of Maitland junk and ducks under Adam’s arm. She shoves him into Beetlejuice’s path.

Beetlejuice simply picks Adam up and deposits him elsewhere like a Maitland mannequin. He squeaks and leaps out of the way of their chase.

The two of them circle each other around an unbuilt dining room table kit, Lydia just barely keeping out of arm’s reach. She bolts past a dilapidated spin-your-own-yarn kit and dives through Barbara’s legs to hide behind her.

Beetlejuice stops and visibly considers the consequences of doing the same. Barbara gives him a withering look. He tries to circle around her, but Lydia’s excellent at moving her around like a meat shield. Beetlejuice visibly starts scheming.

Barbara looks at Lydia, looks back at him, and slides out of the way.

“Barbara!” Lydia screeches in outrage but there’s not enough time to screech and run. He grabs her and pulls her into a bear hug.

“Thank youuuu, Babs!” Beetlejuice grins at her. She shakes her head fondly and honorably discharges herself from the battlefield.

“Hey Lydia…I bet I can get you to say my name.” He cackles evilly. Lydia hisses at him, but damn it, she’s already giggling nervously. He swoops his hands over her stomach, wiggling his fingers but not quite touching.

“B-Beetlejuice!” She squeaks and rocks up onto her toes in lieu of running.

“That’s one!” He singsongs, finally touching down on her stomach. She folds into his hands—unwise, really—and curses Beetlejuice to the high heavens and below.

“Think we should help her?” Adam leans over to Barbara. They both watch Lydia worm around in Beetlejuice’s arms, not making much of an escape attempt despite the volume of her threats.

“Nah.” Barbara moves a crate of nearly-unused embroidery hoops out of the way with tender care. The curtain collapses again. Both Maitlands sigh.

“Beetlejuice, you fucker!” Lydia growls, but quickly loses it to laughter. He’s doing this infuriating little pinchy-thing to her sides, one that makes her leap clear off the ground each time. She tosses her head back and cackles, her whole face scrunched with the force of it.

God, she hasn’t laughed like this since…well, it’s been a while. She’d forgotten that she could.

“Eh, that probably counts. One more!” Beetlejuice finds a deathly spot on her lower ribs and decides not to leave it alone.

“Beeeeeeeeeeeee--AHHH!”

“Hm, yeah. See, now we’re gonna have to start over.” Beetlejuice tasers her sides, right at that spot, and feigns disapproval. Lydia makes a noise at a pitch audible only to dogs and demons.

Crunch.

Lydia’s foot connects directly with his face in a frankly-stunning high kick. He drops her roughly. Something goes flying across the room and hits the wall with a quiet thump. Barbara gasps sharply and covers her mouth in shock.

Beetlejuice touches his nose—or rather, the space where it used to be, and a thick hush falls over the attic. Everyone’s eyes drift to the nose, now fallen among jars of the most rancid-looking kombucha on the face of the earth. It twitches plaintively.

He laughs, loud and boisterous. His lack-of-nose whistles as he does. Adam picks up the fallen nose and gags before tossing it to Lydia and wiping his hands on his shirt.

“Got your nose,” Lydia giggles weakly, depositing it into Beetlejuice’s hand.

“Nice shot.” Beetlejuice chuckles, uncomfortably nasally, and shoves his nose back into place with an awful crack. He takes a long, wheezing inhale and gives her a thumbs up.

“So…” He sidles close to her, bringing back the jazz hands.

“No.”

“Yeah, that’s fair.” He sighs.

“Lydia, are you alright?” Delia’s voice curls faintly up the rickety staircase. She climbs up, but not all the way—Lydia can tell by the shuffling of her awful shoes.

Everyone freezes.

“Lydia?”

She opens her mouth to answer Delia and Beetlejuice squeezes her sides. She yelps and whirls around, but he doesn’t even have the decency to feign innocence. He just does it again, waiting for the precise moment she goes to speak.

“Y-Yeah, I’m o-okay.” Lydia wrestles with Beetlejuice’s hands, her voice shaking with barely-restrained giggles.

“Oh god, please don’t make me come up there.” Delia’s ‘whisper’ is anything but. Beetlejuice snorts.

“I’m fine! Just, uhm, doing spring cleaning.” Lydia calls back, stomping on Beetlejuice’s foot. He doesn’t even flinch.

“Okay.” A long, heavy pause from Delia.

“You can go now!” Lydia yells. Delia’s heels click quickly down the stairs, back towards the dreary living.

“You’re insufferable,” Lydia hisses at Beetlejuice, punching his shoulder. He holds his hand over his heart and gives a grand, sweeping bow. When he stands up, he smacks his head against the dagger in the wall. Lydia snickers at him.

He turns around like a penguin, never one to do things normally, and makes a delighted noise at the pierced Monopoly board. He pulls the knife out of the wall and pokes his finger with it a few too many times, fascinated with the sharpness of it.

He stretches, makes a bunch of vague measurement and aiming gestures, then lobs the knife straight upwards. It lodges into the ceiling with an enthusiastic ping! The blade warbles with the force of it.

Beetlejuice slaps the Monopoly board down on the floor and plops down in front of it. Adam bemoans the state of the attic ceiling as Barbara consoles him.

“Wanna play?” Beetlejuice snaps his fingers and the board changes, shifting into black, whites, purples, and greens. Graveyard moss creeps along the edges of the board. Monopoly components spawn into existence on the board, appearing in puffs of fog and comically-quiet wails of the damned.

“Sure.” Lydia sits opposite him. She pokes at some of the moss. It sprouts to meet her touch.

“If you get stabbed, you lose?” Beetlejuice casts a cursory glance to the still-wobbling knife. The blade shifts slightly out of the ceiling.

“Deal.” Lydia sticks her hand out to shake. Beetlejuice takes it with gusto.

“You guys wanna play?” Lydia turns to the Maitlands. Barbara and Adam look at each other, communicating in that telepathic way of theirs. Barbara grins and leads Adam over to the board to sit.

“I call thimble!” Adam reaches for it. Beetlejuice swats his hand. Adam reaches again. Beetlejuice swats him a little harder.

“You can’t have the thimble. I’m the thimble.” Beetlejuice pinches it between his fingers.

“Can I have the thimble?” Barbara leans close to Beetlejuice and looks up at him through her lashes. Lydia never would’ve guessed that a demon could blush, but sure enough, Beetlejuice’s face takes on the slightest bit of color.

“I sense that I’m being manipulated.” He narrows his eyes.

“Is it working?” Barbara smiles.

“Yep.” He slaps the thimble into her hand. She passes it to Adam. He beams. Beetlejuice rolls his eyes but his gaze lingers on them for just a bit too long.

“Well played, Babs. Well played.” Beetlejuice scoops up the racecar piece and frowns at it. Its tiny metal form melts and reconfigures into a small hearse. Satisfied, he places it right next to the cat piece—Lydia’s, of course. Barbara takes the top hat with pride.

When Beetlejuice jumps Adam for his extra get out of jail free card—of which there are a suspicious amount in Beetlejuice’s version of the game—Lydia laughs and swipes a bit of Beetlejuice’s money. Adam’s hiccupy cackles are the backdrop for Barbara robbing the bank in broad daylight, taking as many bills from the tray as her heart desires.

Lydia’s life is certainly very strange and painfully unusual, but she wouldn’t trade it for the world. She can only hope that her mom will love being part of the attic’s menagerie of ghosts and ghouls as much as she does.

#this...this got out of hand #rewrote it twice so it might be a bit of a mess but i think i got to mash together the concepts i was leaning between #hope u enjoy it anon!! thank u for this!!!#my fics #beetlejuice musical #ticklish!lydia #lil bit of adam at the end too but im not gonna tag it #lydia deetz #adam maitland #barbara maitland #beetlejuice #not gonna tag delia either but bless her heart #not explicitly ship but. i think adam barbara and beetlejuice hold hands sometimes idk #tried to include a couple easter eggs/references i hope ppl enjoy those hehe #also bj is just so much fun to write. funky lil freak

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afterdarkprincess · 8 months

Text

The Devil’s in the Details (But You got a Friend in Me)- Part 2

Samijey Fic- AU From the Royal Rumble

So just a heads up- I’ve changed a few things in this fic from when Part 1 was posted. Nothing major, but if you notice anything’s different that’s why :) Those updates and edits will show up on the full version of this fic when it goes up on AO3.

Thank you SO much to @elementaldoughnut12 for letting me use her chubby Sami prompt, I hope I’m doing it justice 🥰

And thank you to @feelschicken for always being my sounding board when I need it and letting me drag you into new fandoms!

Some warnings for this fic because it is Explicit and reminder as always that my blog is 18+

This part contains: Conversations about weight gain (zero shame involved) a small Panic Attack, Oral Sex, Body Worshipping, and Coming Untouched (mostly)

Part One Here

—-

That nights' Smackdown passes in a blur, a fight between him and Jimmy and the Alpha Academy that they easily win, taking Gable down with the 1D for the pin.

Roman hasn’t given them any explicit direction since they’re still riding on the momentum of Sami’s injury, which really doesn’t sit well with Jey.

After Smackdown, the rest of the weekend is booked up with House shows, and endless hours in the car with Jimmy and Solo driving between cities.

Despite being crammed into a car with the two people he’s supposed to be closest to, Jey feels more alone than ever.

He has another week and a half before a 3 day break when he can return to Sami. It can’t come soon enough.

---

This pattern continued for a few months, Jey going to the house in Florida whenever he has a break to see Sami. The visits are never as long as he wants them to be, and the time in between when he’s working and traveling seems like torture.

Jey ostensibly has a separate home, an apartment he keeps for mail and tax stuff. But the house where Sami stays rapidly replaces it as “home” to him.

Sami has put on some weight in the meantime, what with being so well fed from Chef Uce-ardee and not being able to do much in the gym other than bulk up his arms, but it makes Jey happy to see Sami so clearly well cared for. His pale skin glows with health, who cares if there’s more of him?

Sami moans about his shirts not fitting, so Jey makes sure on his last few trips to bring lots of merch oversized. He tries his best not to think about why it makes him so pleased to see Sami swimming in a 2XL shirt with his face on it.

Jey has a tight schedule with Wrestlemania coming up, their feud with the Brawling Brutes now heating up to a fever pitch. Jey’s gonna make those bastards pay for what they did to Sami, and he’s gonna do it on the biggest stage of them all.

But that means a solid 6 week stretch through March and April where he can’t make a trip home to Sami, between press and fan appearances and shows.

Jey’s miserable. They text and call each other of course, but it just isn’t the same. Jimmy gives him a hard time whenever he steps out of their hotel room to call Sami, with a teasing “Say hi to your girl for me, Uce!” to which he just rolls his eyes and grumbles for him to shut up.

It’s hard to argue with that logic though, when just hearing Sami’s voice over the phone is the only bright spot of his days.

Somewhere along the way Jey’s feelings for Sami have became more than just a brotherly bond that comes from fighting together. Sami understands him in ways that no one else does, makes him smile and laugh when he’s had a shitty day.

He’s the last person he wants to talk to before going to sleep, and in the dark of shared hotel rooms, Jey’s mind wanders to think about what it might be like to really share a home with Sami, to share a bed and a life together. To always have the other man in his corner.

The only thing that gives Jey pause is the ever looming presence of Roman.

There’s a reason he only calls Sami from the safety of hotel rooms and the cover of night. Roman’s used Jey’s devotion to his brother against him before, made it crystal clear that if Jey doesn’t follow orders, Jimmy would pay the price.

What would Roman do to Sami if he knows how Jey feels? If Jey puts a toe out of line or talks back, would it be Sami’s neck this time?

In his mind’s eye he can see Roman with his hands around Sami’s throat, choking the life out of him as he struggles and reaches for Jey, frozen and powerless to do anything.

Would it be worth it? To love Sami but never be able to keep him safe from his own family?

“You don’t have to do this alone anymore, you know,” Sami voice on the phone cuts through the doom and gloom of his thoughts. “Whatever’s on your mind, we can work through it together.”

Jey laughs ruefully, how does Sami always know?

“Jus’ really miss you, Sami. Things been real intense lately, dunno, worried over nothin’.” Jey rubs his face with his hands, trying to keep himself together.

“It’s not nothing if it’s botherin’ you like this, Jey. Is it Roman? Is he giving you a hard time?”

It really wasn’t anything out of the ordinary, being ordered to take out opponents during Roman’s fights, taking it like a good guard dog.

“The usual, jus’ tired of fightin’ his fights, you know? Got my own fight to deal with. Gotta kick Holland’s ass for even thinkin’ bout touchin’ you.” He tries for a light tone to brighten the mood, but he really didn’t meant to sound so possessive.

Sami is quiet for a moment, and Jey thinks maybe he’s fucked everything up.

“Wish I could be there to help, you don’t always have to fight my fights too. And I gotta teach that asshole a lesson for coming at you like that.” Sami laughs, but Jey can hear the frustration in his voice.

How can Jey tell him that it’s never a hardship to fight Sami’s fights? That he would volunteer to go to war with him before being commanded to do anything by Roman ever again?

Jey’s silent for too long, because Sami’s voice comes over the line again.

“Miss you too, Jey- Just a few more weeks, yeah?”

Jey blinks away the tears that threaten to fall, trying to push down the ache in his chest.

“You just miss my cookin’, I knew it.”

“I got plenty of your food in my freezer!! I’m gonna be up a few weight classes when I come back as it is.”

“Ain’t nothing wrong with that, Uce,” Jey can imagine Sami in the house, sitting up on the couch, big t-shirt barely covering his boxers and thighs, the picture of comfort and home. “M’coming home as soon as I can,” He can hear the naked longing in his own voice.

“I’ll be waiting here,” Sami might have meant that as a joke, but Jey hears the same longing in Sami’s voice and it makes the distance hurt all the more. “You should get some sleep, it’s late.”

“Yeah, you right…”

Jey trails off, but he really doesn’t want to end the conversation.

“Go to bed, Jey!!” Sami laughs, “And tell your brothers I said Hi.”

“Those clowns ain’t gettin’ nothin’ from me,” Jey grumbles. “Night, Sami.”

“Night, Jey.” Sami’s voice is soft, and there’s the sound of his breathing before finally the line goes dead.

It would be smarter for Jey to put some distance between them, to give this up to keep Sami safe and not give Roman another bargaining chip. It’s what he would have done a year ago, two years ago.

But Sami is right, he’s not alone in this anymore. And Sami isn’t a damsel to be saved. They can fight for this together.

He’s got weeks to decide how to do this, but the next time he sees Sami, he’s going to make sure Sami knows he’s in his corner too.

---

The week before Wrestlemania arrives before he knows it, and while Jey is thankful that his time without Sami is going quickly, he’ll really only feel better once the event is over and done with.

He calls Sami almost every night, and gets text messages throughout the day of little things happening back in Florida; the birds that hang out on the feeder out the window in the kitchen, little snippets of what’s happening on whatever show Sami’s decided to watch.

This time it’s a picture of Sami in the bathroom mirror, flexing his definitely bulked up arms, the stripes of stretch marks on his full soft belly visible and tantalizing.

Jey nearly chokes on his lunch.

He’s scheduled for a one on one match against Ridge Holland on Raw, and it’s an opportunity to make a big statement and set the tone for their tag match.

It’s also a chance for him to get some well earned payback for injuring Sami. The big show will be for Sofi, but if he can get some shots in he will.

Jimmy comes out with him of course, but Solo is nowhere to be found backstage, and of course Ridge brought that mangy dog partner of his so chances of interference are high.

Jey steels himself in the corner of the ring while Ridge eggs on the crowd that’s booing him.

Technically the Brawling Brutes are supposed to be good guys to the crowd, but Sami had endeared himself to more than just the bloodline over the last year, and the WWE universe was about as forgiving for Sami’s injury as Jey was.

As the ref comes in to start the match, Ridge took a few hulking steps toward him, and spit down at Jey’s feet.

“Make sure ya tell yer little boyfriend I said hullo, been a lot easier around here without ’im. Shoulda taken ’im out sooner.” The taller man sneers.

It’s clearly meant to rile him up and get him off his game, and he tries his best not to let the rage that boils in his blood overcome him, but he sees red as he goes for a super kick that immediately gets caught in Ridge’s giant hands, tugging him off his balance and starting the match in his opponent’s favor.

It’s an uphill battle from there, with Butch taking his opportunity to mess with his fingers, which always hurts like a bitch, but he’s knocked away pretty quickly by Jimmy and no lasting damage is done.

Jey finally gets the upper hand with a splash, but he takes the time to drag the man to the corner of the ring to get one Helluva kick in before making the pin.

The crowd goes wild, and the arena is filled with his entrance music, and the cover buys him a few moments to lean close to spit next to his face.

“Keep Sami’s name out yo’ damn mouth.” He grabs the back of Ridge’s shirt, raising his face up a few inches before slamming him back into the ring. “And if you ever so much as THINK ‘bout touchin’ him again, yo’ gon’ have a lot more than a busted knee!”

Jey stomps his foot down onto Holland’s knee, relishing in the howl it emits from the other man. It definitely crosses a line to do that unscripted, but Jey can’t find it in himself to care.

He stalks out of the ring, victorious, rejoining with Jimmy before they exit together.

It doesn’t take long for him to get cleared by medical and get back to the locker room to his phone, where he finds a slew of text messages from Sami.

I’ve got Raw turned on, kick his ass, Uce! 7:19pm

I don’t know what he said to you, but it’s not worth losing the match over- you can do this! 7:40pm

WOOOO-Way to go, Jey!! Hope you don’t get chewed out for that stomp though! 7:57pm

Just headed to bed but still awake- call me when you get to the hotel? Wanna tell you good job over the phone! 8:15pm

It’s almost midnight on the east coast, but knowing Sami he’s still awake waiting for him to call.

He shoots him a quick message, letting him know it’ll be about a half hour if he doesn’t want to wait up.

No worries- I can wait up for you :) 8:56pm

Jey doesn’t know what he’s done to deserve Sami, isn’t sure that he deserves him at all given his past and the things he’s done. He’s never known this kind of unconditional support before, and he’ll do whatever it takes to keep it.

“What you smilin’ at, Uce?” Jimmy shoves a hand at Jey’s shoulder playfully, knocking him from his train of thought and alerting him to both of his brothers’ presence.

“Jus’ thinkin’ bout how that dick Holland sounded when I put my boot in his knee,” It’s a white lie, but it’s better than showing all his cards. He’d like to trust in his brothers not to run off and tell Roman his every move, but some days he’s not so sure.

Solo nods, arms cross and face unreadable, and Jimmy laughs as he gathers up his bag.

“Serves that douchebag right for takin’ out our dawg! Glad you got a shot in ‘fore Saturday anyway, Uce. Make takin’ them down that much easier.”

Jey shrugs his own bag over his shoulder, “Can’t wait to put ‘em down for good, tired of seein’ their ugly mugs.”

“No Joke! Especially Butch,” Jimmy shakes his head, as if trying to dispel the image from his head. “I think that dude bites, for real.”

They all pack up into their rental to head back to the hotel, and despite the chatter that streams out of Jimmy’s mouth and the occasional grunt from Solo, all he can think about is hearing Sami’s voice as soon as possible.

Jey wakes up early for Day One of Wrestlemania, determined to face the day head on.

He gets through a few hours at the gym before making himself a protein shake for breakfast and checking his phone. He generally tries to avoid social media before a big match other than the stuff he’s required to post, but there’s a few messages from Sami, just a good morning and encouragement for the show tonight.

Even with the time difference, it’s a bit early for a text from Sami, who’s been using his recovery time to get into the sleeping habits of a teenager on summer vacation, often not waking until 10 or 11, but Jey doesn’t pay it much mind.

The rest of the morning is taken up with interviews over the phone before he’s taken off for a photo shoot and press op with Jimmy before finally heading to the stadium.

They’d done some dry runs in Sofi yesterday, but the sheer size of the place is still overwhelming. It’s still hard for Jey to believe sometimes that he went from wrestling with his family in their living room to all this.

There’s a pang in his chest that tells him that Sami should be here too, that he would have had his own Wrestlemania moments under these lights if it hadn’t been for his knee.

But at least Sami was away from Roman and his schemes and the pressure to perform.

The Tribal Chief had been particularly demanding in the last few weeks as he made appearances on Raw and Smackdown, making Jey wonder if it wasn’t better when his cousin only deigned to show up for Live Events.

This feud with Cody Rhodes was sure to be ended after this weekend and hopefully they could all move on from the damn Royal Rumble, and Jey could enjoy some breathing room from his family.

It would be another two weeks before he could go home to see Sami, but after enduring the last four, two weeks seems like nothing.

He just has to get through the match tonight, get rid of the Brawling Brutes and deal with everything else after.

---

The bell rings, signaling the end of the match.

Jey stares up at the lights above, the chorus of boos from the crowd is deafening. He rolls out of the ring to join his brother, grasping his hand like they were children again hiding from a thunderstorm.

They’d lost.

Sheamus had interfered, delivering a painful brogue kick to Jimmy’s chest and taking him out of the equation 30 minutes into the match, when Jey was exhausted and well past ready for a tag after a brutal bout with Butch. Holland made the tag when his back was turned and plowed into him like a truck.

Jey could barely tell which way was up, but he could hear the other man spitting words into his ear.

“Ya couldn’t protect ‘im then, and ya can’t now. Stay down, ya piece o’ shit.”

In his delirium, Holland’s thick accent turned to Roman’s smooth tones and his heart is frozen in fear, watching as his cousin gave the order for Solo to hit Sami with the spike. The scene twisted to his new recurring nightmare, Roman choking Sami as he cries and reaches for Jey, who is stuck, immobile, a failure again.

He felt the cover, felt his leg in the air and the count, but he was frozen and numb until he rolled out and felt the contact of Jimmy’s hand.

They failed.

He failed.

The walk backstage is long and painful, his lungs protesting with each step. There will be hell to pay for losing the tag titles, and his mind is already racing with thoughts of how this conversation with Roman will go.

Jey gets cleared pretty quickly, his ribs were a bit bruised but otherwise fine. Jimmy’s taken back to get his shoulder checked out, so Jey returned to their locker room alone.

But when he arrives, the Tribal Chief and the Wiseman are nowhere to be found.

Solo is unwrapping the tape on his hand slowly, he’d taken Sheamus out, but it was too little too late.

Solo nods at him, “Sami’s here,”

Wait, what?

He stares at his younger brother blankly, “What you say, Uce?”

“Sami’s here,” Solo nods again, and Jey twists to look behind him.

Like a mirage in the desert, Sami stands there, knee in a thick brace still but without the scooter contraption that helped him around the house. His face is drawn with worry and he stares at the hand Jey has braced against his ribs.

“Jey-“ He starts, taking a step forward, but Jey closes the distance, holding Sami’s shoulders like a lifeline and using every ounce of restraint not to wrap his arms around him.

“You’re here,” Jey hears the words tumble out of his mouth.

Sami laughs softly, “Yeah, Uce. I’m here.”

So many emotions are tearing through him, the relief and feeling of home at seeing Sami again, the exhaustion and frustrations from the match, combined with the leftover terror at Holland’s words, that Sami wasn’t safe and never could be as long as he’s by his side.

Sami gently removes his hands from his shoulders, gingerly stepping around him and pushing Jey to sit on the couch.

“Solo, can you take Jey’s papers to management for me? And tell Jimmy we’ll meet up back at the hotel?”

The enforcer gives Sami a raised eyebrow but nods, leaving the room and shutting the door behind him without another word.

They’re alone, no prying eyes. No brothers, no Roman, no Paul Heyman.

Sami turns back to him, approaching slowly and sitting down on the couch next to him, so similar to the nights back in Florida, watching trash TV until late at night.

“I’d really hoped to surprise you, think I still did, but I thought it’d be in better spirits,” Sami gently puts his hand on Jey’s where it rests in his lap. “Still glad I’m here though.”

Jey can’t think through the fog in his head, caught up in the swirl of emotions and the leftover adrenaline from the match, and his eyes fall from Sami’s worried brow to the plush of his lips.

Before he knows what he’s even doing his lips are pressed to Sami’s, hands cupping Sami’s cheeks in an effort to keep him close.

It lasts just for a few moments before Jey’s brain comes back online and he realized what he’d done.

Panicked, he pulls away, casting his head down, staring holes into the floor and wishing they would swallow him.

“Fuck, Sorry, uce- SHIT, M’sorry,” Jey feels like he’d been dosed in freezing water, the urge to vomit rising in his mouth.

Another fuckup, another way he’s failed tonight. He’s hit with the need to get away, get some air and distance from whatever he just did.

He starts to stand, but is stopped by a firm hand at his elbow.

“Jey, don’t be sorry,” There’s the touch of warm fingers at his chin, so soft and gentle as they guide his head up to meet Sami’s eyes once more.

Sami opens his mouth to speak again, but closes it instead and leans in slowly to connect their lips again, running his fingers along Jey’s jaw before tangling in his hair.

It’s slow, unhurried, and so heartbreakingly sweet. It’s everything Jey’s secretly wished for on the lonely nights on the road, dreaming of when he could return home to Sami.

When they finally part, Sami rests his forehead against his own, sighing out a long breath.

“I’ve wanted to do that for so long,” He giggles, like a child caught with their hand in a candy jar.

“Why didn’t you?” Jey asks, absent-mindedly smoothing Sami’s hair with his fingers.

Sami gently shakes his head back and forth, and Jey relishes in the feeling, the intoxicating closeness.

“Was scared, I think. Didn’t know how you’d react really,”

That Jey could understand, honestly. He doesn’t know how to respond, other than that he really just wants to kiss Sami again, so he pulled their lips together desperately, groaning at the feeling when Sami deepens the motion.

“Seems like I was worried over nothing,” Sami laughs pressing a quick peck to the tip of Jey’s nose.

Jey buckles under the weight of his emotions, burying his face into Sami’s shoulder and wrapping him in a desperate embrace.

“Sorry-M’sorry, Sami,” Jey mumbles the words into the other man’s skin, tears falling and wetting the hoodie Sami has on.

Sami’s hands gently rub circles on his back, “You have nothing to be sorry for, it’s alright.”

“Couldn’t protect you, can’t do anythin’ right,” Jey’s chest heaves with a sob, shoulders shaking as Sami just holds him.

Jey couldn’t remember the last time anyone consoled him like this, aside from his twin, and even then Jimmy usually told him just to get his shit together.

After a few minutes, Jey could finally breathe and gently released Sami from the koala hold he’d had him in, Sami’s hands coming to wipe the remaining tears from his cheeks.

“Feeling better?” Sami asks gently, with no judgement.

Jey nods, feeling the exhaustion of the day settle into his bones.

“Jey, listen-“ Sami starts, keeping his warm hands on the side of Jey’s face so he can’t look away or hide. “You have nothing to apologize for, okay? I appreciate that you want to protect me, but remember when I told you we’re in this together? You don’t have to bear all that on your shoulders. I can protect myself and help you too.”

“But Roman-“

“I’m not blind, Jey. I saw what Roman did to Jimmy before, and I know how that eats at you. But you don’t have to be scared, okay? I’m not gonna let him use me against you or vice versa.”

Sami’s thumb strokes against his cheek, and he wants to believe so badly. “Still, we gotta be careful. Maybe we jus’ keep us between us for a while?”

There’s a frown on Sami’s face, “I gotta be honest here, Jey, I don’t wanna keep you a secret forever. I wanna treat you right.” He sighs, heavily. “But I understand this probably isn’t the best time.”

Jey blinks, trying to keep himself in check.

“Can’t have you payin’ for my mistakes tonight, Sami. I can’t-“ He feels panic rising in his throat again.

He’s cut off by the sensation of Sami’s lips at his forehead, right between his brows.

“Let’s not think about that now, huh?” Sami’s voice is low and soothing. “We have a lot of lost time to make up for.”

Jey feels a rush of heat to his stomach at the implication, and it fuels him to press their lips together, grasping at Sami’s neck to pull him closer, closer. Jey opens his mouth in a sigh, inviting the other man in further and relishing in the feeling of Sami’s tongue tasting along his bottom lip before diving in further to explore his mouth.

Jey angles his head a little, rubbing their noses together and pulls back just a bit, taking Sami’s lip in between his teeth and biting it playfully.

The noise the ginger makes in response goes straight to Jey’s pants, where his dick is quickly getting invested in the situation.

Jey runs his hands down to Sami’s chest, to the zipper of the hoodie he’s wearing, taking the zip in one hand and unzipping it while pushing the material off Sami’s shoulders and down his arms.

Underneath the hoodie, Sami is wearing a ribbed white tank top, one he’s had for a while based on how tight it is over the softness that’s settled on his chest and belly.

Sami’s never been a 6 pack abs kind of guy, but something about how the weight gain has settled on his frame drives Jey absolutely wild. The swell of his round little tits, kept perky by strong pectoral muscles underneath, and how they just kiss the fullness of his belly.

Jey gets up from the couch and kneels down in front of Sami, boxing him in with his arms as he swoops in to kiss the other man again.

“Missed you so much, Sami, you don’ even know,” He mumbles in between kisses. “Thought ‘bout you all the time, every night.” Jey moves to Sami’s neck, pressing little kisses to each faint freckle he finds.

Sami arches his back and neck, letting out a long sigh. “Couldn’t wait two more weeks, I bought the ticket as soon as the docs said I could.”

“M’glad,” Jey’s lips lingered at Sami’s collarbone, nipping the soft skin as he ran his hands along the bottom hem of Sami’s shirt. “Gonna take this off,”

Sami’s hands come down to his to stop him, “Jey-“

“Wanna see you, baby,” Jey moves up to Sami’s face, brushing his lips over each of Sami’s cheeks, then just ghosting over his lips.

Sami’s hands relaxed, and Jey guided both their hands in pulling the shirt off.

Jey’s mouth watered at the sight laid out before him, Sami’s round little nipples kissing the soft squish of his stomach, with a dusting of light soft hair covering all of it.

He zeroed in one nipple, taking it in his mouth and swirling his tongue around the tip, moaning around it as Sami threads his fingers into the hair on his neck. His dick is aching in his shorts, but this is about Sami now and making him feel good.

He drags his nose and licks a stripe across the mounds of Sami’s tits to pay attention to the other nipple as he smooths his hands around the sweet love handles that are a perfect size for each handful.

Sami looked so well loved and cared for and it was intoxicating knowing he’d taken of Sami this good for the last few months.

Jey’s hands travel back down to the edge of the joggers Sami wore, tugging on the elastic.

Sami’s hand stilled in Jey’s hair. “Baby, you don’t have to,”

“Wanna make you feel good,,”

Jey looks up at Sami through his thick eyelashes, rubbing his thumbs into the soft give of belly. Sami’s face is nearly red with blush and there are tears shining in his eyes as he nods, fingers tightening their grip on Jey’s hair. He tugs Jey up for another melting kiss.

Sami lifts his hips up, pushing the joggers down with one hand, taking his boxers in one motion halfway down his thighs and freeing his very hard dick.

Jey sinks back on the balls of his feet to come to eye level with Sami’s waist, touching the ginger’s hips and nudging them forward a touch, mindful of the knee injury. He dips down to press an open wide kiss to the head of Sami’s cock, eating up the loud groan that escapes his mouth.

“Gonna have to stay a lil’ quieter than that, Sami,” Jey laughed before peppering kisses down the length of his shaft, and licking back up with the full breadth of his tongue in one smooth glide.

The chances of anyone overhearing were minimal, but it was enough to send a thrill down Jey’s spine.

He takes his time, dragging his tongue around the head of Sami’s cock and learning all the places that elicit those sweet gasps and whines from the other man.

Sami’s fast breaths turn to pleas for more, and Jey obliges, taking the full length of his cock into his mouth. It’s length is just enough to stretch into his throat and the full weight of it on Jey’s tongue is intoxicating.

He swallows around Sami’s cock and takes a few slow breaths through his nose, moaning to send vibrations through the ginger’s body.

Sami’s grip on his hair is tight, just this side of painful, and it makes Jey’s dick ache. He feels precum leaking out and creating a wet spot in his underwear, and he’s hit with the thought that he might just cum from pleasuring Sami alone.

Jey sucks in and hollows his cheeks, reaching back to put his hand on Sami’s in his hair, pressing their hands and his head down further on Sami’s length, hoping that the other man gets the picture. Which he does, based on the groan he lets out and the tug on his curls that drags him back up to wrap his lips around the full pink head of Sami’s cock.

He lets Sami control his movements, setting a slow deliberate rhythm with Jey’s mouth and tongue, as Jey lets his hands wander again, dragging up over the curve of Sami’s belly and rubbing his thumbs in circles over those sweet puffy nipples.

Sami’s body hair is softer than Jey ever would have imagined, like he could curl up and take a nap right on the man’s chest and never move again.

“So fuckin’ good, Jey- feels so good,” Sami’s words spur Jey’s movements, lightly pinching on his nipples before rubbing his thumbs along the meat of his tits, watching up from below as they jiggle.

Sami’s hips are shaking, and Jey thinks maybe the other man’s knee is aching from sitting in one place for so long, but when there’s movement it’s Sami’s good leg that moves forward to the tent in his shorts, gently putting pressure against the head of his dick.

Jey’s vision whites for a moment at the sudden contact.

“Take what you need, baby, M’not gonna last long,” Sami says, and it’s all the permission Jey needs to rut his hips forward, groaning at the friction of his cock against Sami’s shin.

It’s dirty and desperate, but Jey can’t find it within himself to care.

He’s bobbing faster on Sami’s dick now, bringing his hands back down to steady Sami’s still shaking hips. It’s a heady power trip, feeling how much pleasure he’s bringing to this man that he loves so much.

That’s what this is, what his feelings have become. He loves Sami with everything he has, and there’s no going back after this.

“Jey,” Sami’s nearly whimpering, “Jey, baby- stop m’gonna-“ His fingers tug to pull Jey off of his dick, but Jey’s never been one to see something halfway through.

He takes a breath through his nose instead, pushing forward to bury his nose in Sami’s soft pubic hair, taking the full length of him into his mouth and throat.

Sami cries and its the most beautiful sound he’s ever heard, feels the twitch of his dick on his tongue and in his throat as Sami cums.

He bucks his own hips twice more and his cock spurts all over the inside of his shorts, and he’s moaning again, wringing the last drops of pleasure out of Sami before his hands push him off.

“Too much,” Sami’s breath is heavy but he’s smiling, “You’re too much babe.”

Jey licks his lips, savoring the last of the taste of Sami’s skin as he pulls the joggers back up over the man’s hips.

Sami looks down at Jey’s very much no longer tented shorts, eyes wide.

“Did you-?”

He laughs, “Like a damn high schooler, yeah.”

“Lucky for you, I got some extra pants in my bag,”

Jey stands, his knees protesting, especially doing all that after a fight. Probably not the smartest thing he’s ever done, but he can’t find it in himself to regret it.

Sami stands too, bringing him in for another kiss. He can’t believe he gets to do this now, can really have this.

Reality creeps in though as their lips part, Sami reaching back to the couch for his discarded hoodie.

“We’re gonna have to head back to the hotel soon, they’re gonna wonder where we are.”

Jey drops his head to rest on Sami’s shoulder, groaning defeatedly.

“Please tell me you got a separate room from those fools?” He asks, but he knows the answer. There’s no way he could sneak away from his brothers for a whole night. Especially not tonight.

Sami shakes his head and laughs. “Sorry, babe. Had to plan with Paul to even get in here.”

“And when do you leave?” The question hurts to ask.

“Tomorrow afternoon. I’ve got a follow up appointment I need to get to Monday morning, or you know I’d stay.”

“I know,” Their bubble of happiness is about to burst way sooner than he anticipated. “Just wish I could hold you tonight, s’all.”

He feels a warm kiss press to the top of his head, “I know- at least we can get some breakfast in the morning, huh? Some waffles? And it’s two weeks until you get a whole week off.”

The two weeks might as well be two months for all that it helps Jey right now. He pulls his head back up, stopping to give Sami one quick press of lips, that turns to two, then three. Just brushing their lips together.

“We gonna spend every single day in bed, you know that?”

Sami laughs, “I think we can make that happen.” He turns to rummage in his bag, tossing Jey a pair of shorts.

Jey grumbles, “Time to face the music I guess.”

The anxiety of losing the fight, what Roman’s reaction will be to them losing the belts, creeps back in. He can feel his shoulders tensing up already.

“Hey now, none of that.”

As Jey tugs the new shorts on, Sami is there when he gets to full height, dropping another kiss on his forehead. “I told you before, we’re in this together. No shouldering this on your own this time.”

Jey swallows, nodding his head. “Okay, Sami.”

They leave together, taking a rental back to the hotel, Jey wishing each minute were longer as he enjoys the feeling of Sami’s fingers in his own.

Two weeks. Two weeks and he can take his time with Sami. Love him the way that he deserves.

At least he’ll be away from whatever wrath Roman is about to throw at them.

----

Thinking 1 more part to deal with the fallout of Wrestlemania and let Jey worship his man the way he wants to :)

Thank you to everyone reading- it means the world to me 🤍

Happy Smackdown Night!

#samijey #jeysami #sami x jey #jey uso #sami zayn #devils in the details

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blackjackkent · 1 month

Text

Glad I took a final look around, bc there's a whole chest of letters (loabeled "Chest of Grateful Words") and some Baldur's Mouth Gazettes pinned up on a board.

Various fun newspaper headlines first:

"Fresh Stock: An Interview with the New Master of Ramazith's Tower"

"Thorm's Army Dispersed from Baldurian Borders"

"Report: Stone Lord Killed by Beloved Ranger"

"Harpers Out of Hiding: Secretive Sect Step Forward to Aid City"

"Almond Cakes of Avernus: Elturian Refugees - and Owners of City's Newest Cafe - Share Their Recipe"

"Site of Foundry Blast Still Sectioned Off, Says Fist"

"New Waveservant at Umberlee's Temple: No Leads on Desecration"

"Ravengard Returned to Full Strength"

"Gondians Disband: 'Gond's Time Has Come and Gone'" (A/N: Bongle will be pleased. 🙄)

"Duke Stelmane's Murderer Still at Large"

"Planar Pains: City Caught in Center of Githyanki War?"

"Volothamp Geddarm's Guide to Baldur's Gate: Bard Seeks Contributors to Newest Edition"

"Last Holdout Cultists Cleared from Temple of Bhaal"

"Iron Throne Wreckage Continues to Block Shipping Lanes, Complain Merchants"

"Settles Bound for Lands Upriver Amid Claims Curse is Lifted"

"Business Boom - Take Your Troubles to the House of Grief"

"Witnesses Encounter Vampire Spawn - And Live to Tell the Tale"

"Six Months Since the Assassination of Archduke Gortash"

"Small Sun: Tour New District Built by Elturian Refugees"

"New Bardic School, Tiefling Founder, Secures Upper City Funding" (A/N: AHHHHH Go Alfira Go! :D )

"Jannath House to Host Evening of Art and Culture, Celebrating Salvation of City"

"Monument Planned for Heroes of the High Hall"

I love all of this. :D

Also a quick side note because I need to shout out my favorite bit of the ambient dialogue in the camp - everyone has been making random comments the whole night, but every once in a while, Shadowheart comments: "Withers has a keen eye for a nice vintage. Why were we scrounging in barrels and crates for supplies when he could source these? Gods, I remember one evening we had to eat fourteen apples, some fish heads, and a stale loaf of bread just to get by."

lolololol <3

On to the letters!

"Official Guild Letter":

Aw. :)

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Wehhhhhhh. <3 I'm glad we got you free of the curse, Art. Poor guy.

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Hector still hates you, Valeria, and this isn't helping.

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Atta boy, Mr. Duke.

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I'm assuming Beard Man is Elminster. :D Excellent. I think Hector probably has Gale keep an ear to the ground on how she's doing; the whole group felt very protective of Arabella.

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Oh, shut up.

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[incredibly loud squinting from Hector] You are so FUCKING creepy, ma'am. And if you come anywhere near Astarion again, by the way, Hector will kill you (if Astarion doesn't do so first).

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Aw. I'm glad they were able to find some kind of stability, even though there was no real good outcome to that situation. :(

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Florriiiiiiiiiiick. <3 She's so cool. I wanna be Florrick when I grow up.

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This is kind of sweet actually. Growth for everyone.

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EEEEEEEE :D I love this so much. She deserved such a good ending and she got it. (Though people KEEP putting Hector's names on things; I think he's giving up on fighting against notoriety. XD )

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HI DAMMON! Hector definitely makes sure Karlach sends him a super nice letter bringing him up to date. He's a saint in their eyes, made it possible for them to be together at all.

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Hee. Elminster turned out to be interestingly nuanced in terms of Gale's storyline; he didn't really seem to approve of how Mystra was treating Gale, but also wanted to toe the party line of the goddess of magic. Hector's a smidge skeptical of him as a result. But good to hear he and Gale are still on good terms.

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<3 If Nocture eventually decides to leave the Sharrans, and Shadowheart goes to help her, Hector would absolutely be there to help as well.

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Eyyyy, Voss. I love this because he greets Hector with the title "She'lak", which means 'benevolent burden' (a term for a do-gooder hero), which I already headcanoned was what Lae'zel calls Hector. So she's got Voss doing it too, which absolutely makes Hector smile.

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Aw. Hope seems to be doing okay. <3 As okay as she can be under the circumstances at least.

@writer86 pointed out to me that the House of Hope would make perfect sense as a regular headquarters for Hector and Karlach and Wyll; I think they probably go there pretty regularly for time to rest and recuperate.

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Aw, Mayrina gets a happy ending! This is great! She didn't end up naming her son after Hector after all though lol. Which he's fine with tbh.

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Oh no. XD

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I love the implication that Nine-Fingers might have just randomly showed up too and been the only non-companion here besides Tara. XD That line about getting Jaheira to sing intrigues me. Fodder for a one-shot perhaps...

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Zevlor is such a great character, man. I think this is a good end for him, and hopefully he finds peace and happiness in it somehow, in the end.

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Awwwwwww. Atta boy Geraldus!

It's incredibly unclear to me how easily Hector and co. can or cannot get out of the Hells. But if he has the freedom to do so, he would absolutely be there. (Though honestly, lbr. It should be Jaheira.)

#bjk plays baldur's gate 3 #hector carlisle #casually getting around this stupid image limit by using the rptt account as image hosting

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jancy-central · 5 months

Text

Welcome, everyone, to another Spotlight Saturday!

This week we are spotlighting writer @throttlegainwell so read their answers to our ‘Get To Know Your Fic Writer’ questions below the cut. And here is the ao3 link to check out all of their amazing fics:

Reminder: This month’s prompt is ‘soulmates’…

…so please see our pinned post for more info. We have posted a lot of soulmate prompts for those needing some inspiration so check those out as well.

And as always, feel free to message us with any questions, whether you are a fic reader or a fic writer. Both of us write fanfic so we are open to helping however we can. Need a beta? Message us and we’ll either help you or put out a call for beta help! Hit writer’s block? Maybe we can help? Or maybe you just want to recommend a fic? SEND US AN ASK OR A DM!

Happy Saturday! ✍🏼 📖

Spotlight Saturday Questions:

@throttlegainwell’s answers:

1. I guess I prefer one-shots generally, but it's much more satisfying to me to write (and finish!) multi-chaptered fics.

2. A mix of both? There's usually at least some degree of planning for each chapter, but sometimes I just see where it goes.

3. ... It depends on the story. Usually, I'm rushing to slap a bunch of ideas into a document as quickly as I can type (or writing notes on my phone). Lines of dialogue, character ideas, themes I want to address, bits of description or narrative or details to include, plot arcs, whole scenes sometimes... I get those into one doc (which I clean up as I go, if I'm copying them over from my phone), then I create a corresponding doc titled LINEAR that I typically view side-by-side with the fragments/notes doc. I move bits into the LINEAR doc as I work, once I know where they're going or have a place for them (like when I've built the connective tissue), until the first doc is empty; I finish writing in the LINEAR doc. There's usually a brief summary of the story, by that point, in the Synopsis window on the right (I work in Scrivener) so I don’t get too off-track, and I'll probably have some notes in the Notes window, as well as any warnings that will be necessary if I post it (so I don't forget later). But sometimes I just sit down and write, like, an entire story, without thinking about it, or I'll try something stream-of-consciousness or experimental. And sometimes I actually do outline (though sometimes that outline is just a bunch of things that I know need to happen, and I drag those around until the order of them feels like a satisfying arc--I wrote an entire 40k+ story that way).

4. Oh, everywhere, I guess. From the source material, definitely. From books I read, concepts I've studied, themes that just interest me so they tend to crop up in my work or maybe I want to try a different spin on them. Sometimes a story I've written/am writing sparks an idea, or I want to try a variation on it to see where it goes, so I branch off from that. Sometimes I just want something, out of the blue. Occasionally, I browse prompts.

5. Nah. I did the whole concrit thing back in my early fandom days. I'm here to have fun and I assume so is everyone else.

6. Nope! I used to do beta reading, a long time ago, and I've casually edited for fandom friends, but I've never used a beta reader. I don't really see myself starting now.

7. Whichever one is the most interesting for the story or whichever one best serves the story's goals, usually. Sometimes because I haven't tried a particular POV before and I just really want to give it a shot, or because I'm writing it with one voice and the voice of a different POV character just *feels* right or sounds really interesting. But I've been branching out a little! I'm usually very committed to 3rd person limited, but this past year, I've been trying switching POVs a bit, I'm writing one story simultaneously from two different POVs (beginning to end, for each) just because it's such a different story for each character, and I'm writing one from omniscient POV because it was really the only one that would do what I needed.

9. I usually try to! (Not always. But usually.) I don't read a lot of fanfic, due to what I imagine is the very common combination of lack of free time and quite severe concentration issues (though I've always been a big reader and I love it a lot, so this is, needless to say, a massive bummer). It's worse with fiction than non-fiction, so if I actually manage to read a fic, it's a safe bet that I probably took notes during and the author will hear *at length* about all the ways I enjoyed it and what I found really interesting or memorable.

10. I have many WIPs, but blinks only came up in a few. One is too explicit to share here, but here's one: He can’t tamp down a shiver at the thought; he blinks extra hard, resisting the urge to grasp the back of his neck protectively.

11. Ooh. Like I said, I don't read a lot of fic (and I haven't read that many for the ST fandom), but I very much love what maddie_grove is doing with Tonight, Tonight, The Highway's Bright. I wildly enjoyed where the hours bend, by fakelight. And this world is gonna pull through, by scoutshonour, hit just right.

12. I don't tend to expect much feedback. I post because otherwise I'll go back and tinker with fics, and I don't really have the time for that, plus at a certain point it's not fun anymore, but I'm still messing with it. So when it's done enough that I've accomplished what I set out to, I post to free up my brainpower to move on to other things. It doesn't necessarily discourage me to not receive it (usually), but it really does encourage and motivate me when I *do* receive it. If someone enjoys a story and wants to talk about it, I'm likely to write more works in that vein or explore those ideas/characters/fandom more. I’m more likely to go back to a WIP if people are excited about it with me. I've received some truly lovely, thoughtful, analytical, humbling, and memorable feedback, and I hugely appreciate and enjoy all of it.

13. Don’t delete/erase anything. Save it all.

14. I tend to get into a certain headspace to write, but I wouldn't say that I usually feel what the characters are feel. Sometimes, I probably do. (I'm one of those people who moves their lips when they read an emotional scene, so I guess I do get a bit into it while I'm writing! Embodied cognition, what a trip.) I do sometimes draw from personal experience, but typically only in very broad strokes.

15. Happily. :) I've written a LOT of sex scenes over the years, for a lot of different thematic, narrative, and character purposes (and sometimes just for rule of horny, rule of funny, or to explore a particular kink). I approach each one differently, based on the tone I'm trying to set, whether I want it to be particularly erotic or emotional or something else, the level of narrative distance I want the reader to feel, what the characters are like, what the overall genre is. Sometimes I get visual or detailed, depending on what I'm trying to do (and whether I feel those characters would do so or whether it would be a help or a distraction in that moment), but I tend to depict the internal processes more than the physical details. The sensory aspects. The observations, interpretations, and reactions. Connections between characters, if there's more than one. I personally tend toward realism in my sex scenes, but I'm not going to pretend that I don't skirt the edges sometimes or just say fuck it and throw realism out the window for a particular story. But I don't think realism is necessary in smut (or any fiction, when it comes down to it). It's a matter of preference.

16. Omg how many fic ideas am I NOT nurturing right now. Way, way too many. Here's a Jancy one that hasn't quite made it to the WIP stage (still in the synopsis-in-dedicated-doc stage): Jonathan and Nancy break up over the college thing. (It’s not really the college thing.) Years later, as they're both settled into their careers (Jonathan as a photographer, Nancy as a journalist, both constantly traveling for work and hard to reach), they end up sharing a room when they visit for Lucas and Max's wedding. Lots of angst, lots of pining, lots of denial, and ultimately an exes-getting-back together story. Sometimes you just want the cliche done your way.

17. I just don't write, tbh. I try to address whatever issue is preventing me from writing (if possible) or (if it's beyond my control) I just accept that it's not a writing period of my life. I'm happier when I'm writing regularly, and I do think it's good for me overall, but I'm not going to let hobby writing cause me genuine stress. (I've got non-hobby writing for that, ha.) I take it as a sign that something is wrong or that I'm just tired of writing and need to recharge (by engaging some other interest or hobby for a while).

18. Depends. Sometimes the title comes first, sometimes during, sometimes after. Sometimes I really do just fall in love with a title, though. I rarely struggle to title fics after the fact, but when I do, I'll just slap a quick and vague title on there and call it a day. Often it's a pun or something relevant, sometimes an important line from the story, sometimes lyrics. I have a series of art-related titles for some Will stories I want to do and some science ones I have saved for some Dustin stories. Some photography terms for Jonathan. Stuff like that.

19. Turns out it's hurt/comfort! This should surprise no one.

20. Oh, have I ever. Yeah, I've had people read enough of my work to point out themes that I tend to tackle a lot (I'm big on autonomy, resilience, and kindness--you'll see them repeated a LOT in my work, from different angles--and, yeah, I write about trauma a lot), and I definitely have some words/expressions that pop up a lot (and with each passing year, I try a little less to cull them). Also, you'd be hard-pressed to find a story of mine where someone isn't making, drinking, or talking/thinking about coffee. No reason. It just... seems to happen.

21. I had a shared 'verse with a friend, a long time ago. It was a huge amount of fun. We really gelled and produced just tons of material for it that had us in tears laughing and, you know, was also incredibly horny. That was a shared 'verse, rather than a collaboration for an entire story, but, yeah, I'd say that I'd be willing to collaborate. I don't consider myself terribly reliable or consistent, though, so I worry that a potential writing partner would find this frustrating.

22. I used to think so, but, honestly, I've been proved wrong many times, so I'd say no, not really. There's not a lot that I absolutely won't write. There are a few things that remain pretty serious squicks for me, but I'm sometimes able to write about things that I would find difficult to read. Some things also don't necessarily interest me or I would find it technically difficult to write them.

23. Don't worry about making it beautiful. Just get it all down. (You can’t sculpt what’s not there, you know?) And in that vein: write EVERYTHING down. Even if you’re not sure it works. Don’t assume you’ll remember or won’t need it. Just write everything.

24. Anything that's involved regimentation. That just doesn't work for me in every case. It's important to be flexible, both to discover what *does* work for you or to be able to move between different strategies for different stories or at different times in your life. Close second, though: that you should mine your pain to write because that's where true art comes from. That advice is shit. Sometimes art is aliens fucking in a time warp and also there's a ghost with daddy issues. Write whatever the hell you want. It does not have to be profound literature to be a good story.

25. For my ST fics? I think I've gotten a pretty decent response for most of what I've posted, considering it's all very niche and this is a massive fandom (and one to which I came extremely late and very recently). I guess a little more response for already wise, already worn might have been nice, just because it's a weird little experimental story that I think actually came out really neat, but it's *very* niche so I never expected much response. Or possibly Two Steps Forward, just because I think it's an interesting little ghost story that's different from everything else I have posted, and I really do have a soft spot for gen works.

26. For my ST fics, our future foe scenarios is a pretty odd one. We've got Nancy really feeling her big sister duties while also kind of worrying about Jonathan, making out with him, then convincing the Party to let her earnestly and VERY awkwardly talk to them about the importance of consent (and kind of roping Jonathan into helping her, which he's not happy about but dutifully does). It’s kind of clumsy, but she means well.

27. I love when the ideas slot into place, when I know where things are going, I see how it's moving, and I get all the pieces lined up so it's a straight shot to the end. Extremely satisfying. I dislike working out the kinds of technical details that I'd prefer to gloss over but that are sometimes story-significant, like ages and timelines. I'm increasingly just ignoring that shit.

28. Apparently I'm getting several thousand words done a day, on average, with as many as 6-7k some days. But I'm happy if I just do a couple hundred, or a line or two. This has just been an unusually productive year for me.

29. Ideally: I ignore it for a couple of weeks until I've forgotten the shape of it, then I read it over with fresh eyes. Increasingly: when it's written, I go over it for typos, overall continuity, basic coherence, and (if it covers sensitive themes) to make sure that I'm not inadvertently presenting something wildly hurtful or counter to my goals. And then I just call it done.

30. I'd say that I never really polish all that much to begin with, these days. I mostly post 1st drafts, even though there's typically stuff that I would pretty easily catch and adjust if I gave it a real once-over. I've just decided that I'm okay with not fussing with it very much. But I share WIPs these days, some of which are pretty rough. (I did not used to do this that much.)

#jancy spotlight saturday #spotlight saturday #writer spotlight #jancy fanfic #jonathan byers #nancy wheeler #jancy

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plantsarepeopletoo · 8 months

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Only Friends Music Ep2 (2/2)

Part one covers the first half of EP2, or you can find links on my pinned comment.

This is a series of posts taking a closer look at the music of only friends. Reminder, Playing with the music is like body language, it moves with the conversation. Verbal says something either through lyrics or something like a song title.

Warning, this is long, but a lot of it is lyrics and music players.

Last song of [2/4]

Song: Alright Come On by Sonic Spark Type: Vocal Scene: Friends go wakeboarding

The friends and Top go wakeboarding and Alright Come On sounds like a party song, something to hype everyone up. Lyrics start when Top goes out on the water,

Oh you're so pretty and mean It ain't what it seems But you really stand out against the lined up faces

They edit the song so the lyrics pause, and we get Mew correcting Cheum, saying Top isn’t his boyfriend. The lyrics start again when April is out wakeboarding

When are we going to be alone I guess the fight is on A knock out for a kiss in the empty spaces

At that line, Top turns to look at Boston, who had been staring at him.

[3/4]

Song Blue Skies by JAKE $ING

Scene: Top is helping Mew put together a table

Type: Verbal/Playful

In the show, the song has no lyrics, but it does use the song as a way of expressing the emotion, and beats of the scene. The drum beat starts after Top says, “so that you can think of me when you look at it”. And continues while Mew offers the cookies, and Top tries to get Mew to feed him. The rest of the instruments come in after Top says “I've been doing this for so long that my arms are tired. Can’t you see?” Everything but the drums pauses when Mew picks up a cookie, and there are three bass drum beats like a heartbeat before Mew asks “How about I feed you like this? If you want it come and get it”

Keyboard and guitar start up again, Mew puts the cookie in his mouth, a snare beat as Top moves to get the cookie, and the song continues in full from there. It dissipates along with the mood when Mew pushes Top away after he goes in for a kiss, yelling “You can’t do that”

Here are the lyrics, not in the show, (Translated lyrics in [brackets]. Used google translate, so I left the original Korean.)

Wow You look so perfect I’ll hit the ground If you keep on looking at me like that And you Don’t know what you do to me And I Would probably go and end it all If you found out No words can explain what I’m feeling Being with you feels as easy as breathing And right when I do you just Go on and steal it Am I out of my mind? You got me so high Being with you feels like blue skies [I'm bored day after day without you] 너 없이 하루 하루 지루해 [I can't think when I see you] 난 널 보면 생각 잘 안돼 [Because you are so beautiful] 아름다워서 You got me so [Time goes so fast when I'm with you] 너랑 있을때 시간이 너무 빨리 가 [Now when I see another girl] 이제는 딴 여자 볼때 Out of focus, [I can’t see] 보이지 않아 [Only you] 오직 너 뿐이야 (okay) [Never turn my gaze] 내 시선은 절대 안 돌려 [From the first moment I saw you] 처음 본 순간 부터 It was clear skies from day one got me so high [Floating] 붕뜬 spaceship, we in that ufo sight (we in that) I’m falling fast for you, no parachute [Leave now] 이제 떠나버려 lonely life 'Cause I finally found something true

Lyrics tell of falling for someone, but being horribly afraid to let it be known, I know I’ve gone off about Mew needing control, and I am thinking it’s because of fear. Top has so much more experience than him, and @VivienneActing just tweeted that Mew may be Demi, so this might be one of the first times Mew is feeling like this. That’s why he needs to control the beats of the relationship, or Top might set his own pace again like he did at the beginning. I do think Mew has feeling for Top, but he might not trust Top enough to let him actually kiss. Especially as their first kiss escalated so quickly beyond Mew’s control

While the song talks about it being easy to be with a person, and being so high, it also talks about falling without a parachute. Emotions both new, and stronger than he’s ever known. A mixture of euphoria and fear.

For further reading on Mew thoughts from @rocketturtle4:

More specific, but slightly older (EP3 and before writer’s Demi tweet) here.

And more general, but more recent (EP4) thoughts on communication here

The Negotiation scenes:

This section is a bit different because we get three scenes of negotiation in a row, and just watching how differently they use the music. Especially with Sand and Ray's scene at the end.

Song: Look At Me Closely by Blue Topaz Scene: Top asks to stay the night at Mew’s place, after the cookie.

“Can I stay the night here?” Top starts the negotiation as the drums of Look at me closely start. Mew puts up a boundary, saying Top can stay, but sleep on the sofa. Top pushes at the boundary, testing if he can get more, “I didn’t get out of line (before). Don’t you trust me?”

Side note, look at everything someone says if they say this very closely. Are they pushing you to do something you’re not comfortable with?

Back in the scene, Mew remains firm, reminding Top that they have reset, this is their first sleepover. That “We are not a thing.” The guitars come in, without the bass, but they continue their talk. Mew stays firm in what he wants until Top relents, only asking for a blanket, and the music fades.

Song: Running Around In The Dark by Ryan James Carr Scene: Boston and Nick talk about their relationship

Running around in the dark- Nick fumbling around in the dark trying to be more than just a “favorite”.

Nick starts with "What are we to each other?" Boston counters with giving him options, "Fuck buddies, or Friends with Benefits?" As Nick thinks, drums start playing, the negotiation has started.

The bass comes in while Boston explains, fuck buddies don’t care what the other does, while friends with benefits are friends but they sleep with each other. The music pauses when Nick asks "And what am I to you?"

"What is the matter with you? Don't tell me you're into this already. If so, I'll stop. I hate dramas." Boston has completely over ridden the negotiation, using his trump card of stopping completely if Nick keeps pushing. An low, droning organ song plays as Nick backtracks, "I'm not being dramatic. I asked out of curiosity." Higher piano notes come in right before Nick chooses fuck buddies, trying to set a boundary. Boston immediately pushes in, scooting closer to Nick, trying to appease him. "We can push our status a little farther"

The music just sounds sad, slow, with a distant sounding piano that doesn't quite have a melody.

Song: unknown Scene: Sand and Amm outside the bar

Next scene is with Sand, Amm, and Ray outside the bar. They play with the music again in a way I really liked. Sand and a girl walk out of the bar, Lost in a dream is playing, steady rock, confident. Stops when Ray shows up

While Ray and Sand are talking we get a drum, stopping with a Bass slide at “Have you known each other long”

Sand replies and we get a bassline and drums back as Ray talks to Amm, then music pauses “Come to my place instead.” And music comes in with everything, drums, bass, guitar, Ray is dominating the negotiation. It goes on until Sand pulls Ray away from Amm. We get a bass drum start up at Ray begging Sand to go with him (With or without Amm). Cymbals and snare join as full drum beat at “You’re such a pesterer” And Sand apologizes to Amm, the beat pauses for her to scold him. She leaves then we get the full song. It's one of my favorite music scenes, do check it out, if you have time.

Song: อย่าดีกว่า (Better Not) by Micro Scene: Sand and Ray driving to Ray’s house Type: Vocal

Next scene, Sand and Ray are going to Ray’s. A Micro song plays i the background of their conversation. Ray sings the Chorus:

I better not, Just forget it, I should forget, forget it, Keep telling myself that I should not.

Whole song is about having a secret crush on someone and watching them, but the part that is actually louder, that Ray sings along to, is about not starting, about forgetting about the whole thing. EP4 Spoiler: So, we know who this was about now. And it’s interesting to me that Ray is singing this song with Sand in the car. Like he knows he still has an attachment to someone else, but being with Sand feels good. That the old feelings have no hope in being reciprocated so he should let go.

[4/4]

Song: Halo: sing me to sleep Scene: Ray and Sand talking at Ray’s house Type: Vocal

Ray and Sand at Ray’s house, as Sand offers to be Ray’s friend there is a soft acoustic guitar. Until Ray starts playing Sparkle Shirt Shiny Shoes on the record player. It’s funky and just serves as background music. But, There is a sound, it’s like a head rush, when Ray asks if Sand has ever been hit on by a guy.

When Sand responds “If we click, I’m open.” Halo: Sing me to sleep starts, and plays until Ray lights his cigarette with Sand’s.

There are no lyrics in the show:

Broke, I can’t afford to let you in But we’re bad, so what’s the harm in one more sin? Take off your halo, you’re beautiful I don’t care if it tears me apart We couldn’t let go, from the get-go I think we’re past tryna to hide who we are Baby, I don’t mind you calling I’m still awake, come on by Say the things you shouldn’t be saying I don’t want you to act Like you still have that halo, halo, got that halo Like you still have that halo, halo, you should let it go Don’t stop, I love it when you touch my skin I know it’s bad, I don’t care if the walls are caving in right now I know it’s bad but I don’t care, I don’t care I need you to kill off my lonely nights Otherwise I’ll just be dead inside I can’t keep pretending you don’t exist Hate the lies, you know I can’t resist, yeah (chorus) Sing me to sleep, I need you, want you Don’t wanna dream, just lay ‘til darkness Sing me to sleep, I need you watching Don’t wanna dream, just lay ‘til darkness

Ray and Sand are already falling, even if they don’t admit it to each other or to themselves. They can’t afford to let the other in, but they can’t let go either. Sand tries in vain a few times in the next episodes, but he can’t, the puppy dog eyes melt him.

Ray needs Sand to kill off his lonely nights. “I don’t mind you calling, I’m still awake, come on by, say the things you shouldn’t be saying” Minor EP4 spoiler, Ray has Mew as his emergency contact, will drop everything to go to him. I could see Sand wanting to be that person, Ray’s Emergency Contact, even now, in this moment, Sand cannot keep his eyes off Ray.

Song: A Heavy Load by Sven Karlsson Scene: After the smoky kiss Type: vocal

Music starts when Ray asks "Open enough for someone like me?" and pauses while they talk about if they can be friends if they continue. Then comes back after Sand agrees, after Ray puts out his cigarette, the lyrics play:

Don’t come round and waste my time A generation of my time There is nothing we can do To stop the plague from breaking through

It mirrors Halo, walls are caving in, the plagues breaking through. Lyrics continue, not in the show:

There’s a heavy load upon my back No way to throw it off For a second I believe it’s gone I’m just a fool out of luck Standing on the open road Always with the heavy load Don’t let me carry it along I think my head is full of stone There’s not a whole lot I can do When all my visions have come true There are times when everything feels great I’m on top of the world But eventually my spirit breaks Can’t get the final word (Chorus) Don’t come round and waste my time A generation of my time There is nothing we can do To stop this plague from breaking through

They’re just beginning their relationship, a relationship that will carry the weight of their loneliness, there could be more positive songs, just like how Nick and boston’s start with Lurking TIger, Mew and Top’s start with Always Always and Check for Pulse.

It’s interesting to note that the hints the music is giving us about the characters' emotional arcs are paying off in the following episodes, despite the characters lack of self awareness in this episode. These songs are from episode 2, and as we have continued through episodes 3 and 4 more of our characters' arcs and feelings have been revealed to us (and sometimes themselves). Ray and Sand’s progress and self awareness have paid off the lyrics we see in this episode about feelings that need letting go of (Ray and Mew) and Sand and Ray’s combined loneliness and desire for an Important Person to share their loads. Mew has continued to struggle with control of his own desires and boundaries and we have seen how his feelings are overcoming his fear and desire for control. Though unlike Ray and Sand he seems to be lacking self awareness. Top continues to feel out the cracks in Mew’s boundaries (though whether he’s pushing through them out of a desire to be more or a desire to take and leave remains to be seen). Nick continues to try to get more from Boston, but most of their songs have not had words. They’re all going to boil over at the start of EP3 when we get a hip hop song begging for love. But that is in the next post!

Thank you so much, @rocketturtle4 and @shouldiusemyname for everything, editing, helping organize, and putting up with me.

#Only friends meta #Only friends the series #ofts #only friends #only friends music #Plant's OFTS music #only friends ost #Somehow I didn't tag this?

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