#i always wonder what these tag games read like without context

[littlejuicebox]

Hi! I'm not sure if you take requests so if you don't, please ignore this and I hope you had a wonderful Christmas.

I just read your Astarion X Tav fanfic where Astarion proposes. It is said that the ring he got glows whenever Astarion thinks of Tav. I was just wondering if you could write a slice of life about the ring glowing at the most random times. Maybe during a stealth mission where Tav has to stay hidden or when he is smiling in his sleep and the ring glows. I just thought it would be cute and fun to write about. You can get creative with it.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, whether you end up doing this request or not. I hope you had an amazing Christmas and I hope you will have an amazing New Year's!

Hi Anon! I don’t think this is quite what you were asking for but… this is what came out! 🤷‍♀️ The smut gods blessed me and I cannot deny their gifts. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Smut below the cut.

If you haven’t read my other work and would like context, Anon is referencing a two part mini story I wrote. Click here for part 1, and click here for part 2.

Warnings/Tags: 18+ only please, smut, masturbation, sex pollen, swearing/cursing, game spoilers

Word Count: 1.5K

-----

“I think we’re just… a bit out of practice, darling. It has been nearly a year since we were down here last, you know.” Astarion whispers, crouched next to you behind a Funguswood tree. He’s wiping bits of dirt, twigs, and mushroom pollen off himself with a handkerchief.

“Admit it, Astarion. You just weren’t fast enough.” You respond with a small, teasing poke of your tongue as you rearrange your weaponry and count your arrows.

The pale elf finishes wiping off the debris, and you return your attentions to the mission. You’d been contracted to scout out the vampire stronghold in the Underdark and report your findings back to Wyll and the Flaming Fists. Rumor was that the vampire hoard had wreaked absolute havoc on the Underdark; the city feared the creatures would soon return to the surface if they could not find sustenance here.

“Would you have preferred I let that wild Rothé ram you into those mushrooms in my stead?!” Astarion hisses in return while rubbing his hand over his arm, which now felt unbelievably tingly and was starting to radiate significant warmth, “Hells, what mushrooms were those, anyway?!”

You stifle a chuckle, knowing your fiancé is already past his limits of patience. You two need to get to the scouting point, set up camp, and hunker down for a few days… all while avoiding detection from the vampires or any other nefarious creatures in the Underdark. Best to do it without an ornery Astarion by your side.

“I don’t know what mushrooms those were. I’ve never seen them before.” You admit with a small shrug, “Come on my love, not much further now and then we can get you properly cleaned up.”

Astarion follows behind you in silence, apart from the occasional cursing and swiping at his skin. Gods, the heat had spread up his entire arm now. The scratching seemed to make it worse, but by the hells, he couldn’t stop no matter how much he wanted to. The two of you finally got to the cragged rock that led to a small cave where you would make camp, and he never felt more relieved in his life. He couldn’t wait to clean himself properly and be done with this burning sensation.

You glance at him briefly and then begin climbing the rock. Astarion remains below to keep you covered in case anything decides to attack while you’re left defenseless. He looks up to watch your progress and cannot help but to notice the overwhelmingly attractive curve of your bottom. It was always attractive, of course, but something about it in this moment was entirely… irresistible. Had you been working out recently in preparation for the wedding?

You’re halfway through climbing the rock when your engagement ring bursts into a spray of light. It often glows significantly at the surface, but in the blackness of the Underdark, you’re practically a beacon. Your stomach drops. Gods, how had you forgotten to take it off?

“Astarion!” You hiss in a panicked whisper, “Cut it out! Every being in all of the Underdark will know our position.”

Astarion had realized the issue as soon as the light had flared, of course. He was trying desperately to avoid thinking of you and all the delicious things he wanted to do when you two made camp, but gods he couldn’t control it. What in the hells was wrong with him? He wanted to stop, to ensure your safety, but your plump, perfect ass was practically calling his name, begging for his attention, and he wanted nothing more than to bend you over and—

He shakes his head, trying to rattle the lewd fantasies from his psyche, “I’m trying, my love! I don’t know what’s come over me I just—“

Hags. Hideous shoes. Ghouls. Manual labor. Gale.

The pale elf tries to think of all the most grotesque, unsexy things he can and push you entirely from his mind. You continue to climb, hoping to quickly reach the top and take off your ring as soon as possible. The ring is still glowing like a single star in the blackest night.

Ogres. The smell of Araj’s blood. Rats. Gale.

Gods, it was useless.

Finally, you reach the top. You rip the ring off your finger and shove it in your pack as soon as your limbs land on the surface of the cave. Astarion quickly scales the rock behind you, and when he reaches the top, you’re positively glaring at him.

“Darling, I’m sorry! I really tried. It’s just— gods damn these mushrooms!” The vampire is ripping off his shirt and scratching at his skin as the two of you walk into the little cave. Before long he’s down to his knickers and cursing as he rubs desperately at his flesh.

You’re trying to ignore your fiancé and quickly pitch the tent so you can handle whatever the hells is going on with him. A sideways glance to your pack reveals that the ring is still glowing quite intensely… perhaps more than it ever has before. Was that even possible? At any rate, you can’t get closer to the stronghold with it glowing like that.

“Astarion, I don’t know what—“ You spin around, and you’re surprised to see the elf fully nude on his blanket, doing perhaps the most provocative thing you’ve ever witnessed.

Astarion is beaded in sweat by now, and his hands are wandering over himself, chasing the burning tingle as it travels through his body. Gods, the feeling was becoming absolutely unbearable. He kept seeing visions of you and him in the throes of passion in his mind.

He couldn’t stop even if he wanted to. Did he want to stop? He couldn’t decide. All he knew was the intense tingling and burning coursing through his veins and the wonderful fantasies filling his brain. He needed release from this torture; his limbs were on fire and the sensation was spreading to his groin.

The elf knows by the throbbing pulse in his cock that his erection is at full capacity, and he feels the dribbles of precum slowly sliding from the head, down the shaft. Astarion is, admittedly embarrassed knowing you are mere feet away and witnessing such an erratic show, but he grabs his own cock regardless— gods, it felt like being possessed. He needed release and he needed it now.

As his fingers wrap around his shaft, a burst of relief travels through his body. The tingling ceases for a moment. But then, it flares again and he’s consumed by the burning feeling and vulgar thoughts of the two of you once more. He pumps his hand a few times, bucking into the sensation, and once again the torturous tingle halts.

What in the hells?

Astarion is now rolling his hips towards his own hand, groaning in pure ecstasy at the relief from the burn as well as the delicious sensation of his hands stroking his uncharacteristically sensitive member. His eyes are clasped closed, and his other hand is still wandering over his torso, chasing that burning itch.

Through panting, shaking breaths he murmurs, “Darling, is it— oh gods, is possible that those— fuck — mushrooms contained sex pollen? I’ve never— mmh, fuck.”

You’d been so enraptured by the vision of your lover touching himself in such an uninhibited display of lust that you almost didn’t hear what Astarion asked. The slickness of your arousal was starting to become apparent as you instinctively squeezed your thighs together.

“I’m… I’m not sure, my love. I’ve read of such things but I’ve never come across it… until, perhaps, now I suppose.”

Astarion isn’t really listening. Instead, he’s bucking wildly into his own hand, chasing his own release. He falls apart in front of you, with his limbs tensed and mouth agape in pure, unadulterated pleasure, clasping tightly onto his own length. The gasping, strangled moan of relief that escapes him as he reaches his climax and shoots sticky streams of hot white seed onto his abdomen ignites a fire in your groin. He’s shuddering with the rippling aftershocks of his orgasm and you feel yourself dripping with arousal as you rub your thighs together once more. This display was entirely feral.

For a few moments the vampire is breathing contentedly, eyes still shut. He’s still holding his cock, which continues to twitch insistently despite its significant spend. Your lover brings his unoccupied hand to his hair and rakes it through his disheveled, sweaty curls.

You flick your gaze to your pack and notice that it’s no longer emitting that ethereal glow. But then Astarion groans in dismay and you see light flare from your bag again. When your attention returns back to your fiancé, he’s already grasping wantonly at a second rapidly growing erection.

“Darling, I can smell you,” He hisses desperately, now slathering his own milky juices around the swollen, reddened tip of his thick cock. The veins in his arm and on his shaft are pulsing as he begins to stroke himself again, “Don’t be coy just— come over here and help me with this. Please.”

And by the gods, he asked so nicely, how could you say no?

#astarion x tav #astarion fanfic #astarion fic #baulders gate 3 #baulders gate astarion #bg3 fanfiction #baulders gate tav #bg3 fanfic idea #astarion x reader #astarion smut #astarion x female tav #astarion x you #astarion x female reader #bg3 smut #prompt request #prompt response #astarion prompts #smut

[gaywatch]

So I started watching the first episode of The Sign, right? I'd had it on my computer for a couple/few days and couldn't immediately remember what it was actually about, but I knew it was a new Thai BL genre mashup thing I'd seen on my dash and that's good enough for me.

A team of special agents infiltrate a big warehouse/facility place at night. Okay. Cool. There are bombs and a hostage? Sure. One guy tells other guys what to do, so he must be the leader, and he tells a few guys to focus on the bombs and the others to find the hostage. They encounter bad guys when they get inside, and some of the fight choreo is cool and some of it is absurd, but I'm just happy to be seeing an action-oriented BL series and I've seen worse crimes committed by a low budget, no big deal.

But it's been a few minutes into the first episode now, and I'm starting to wonder a few things. We have stakes, technically: there are bombs and a hostage--it would be bad if the bombs went off while the team was inside because they would get hurt or killed, and by default we don't want to see a hostage harmed.

But we have no context. At all. I'm five minutes in and I know nothing. Who's the hostage? Who are the bad guys? What do the bad guys want? Why do I care? I'm assuming this is like some quick action-y beginning and we'll cut to a main character at some point to see the "real" first scene of the show, but now it's been like seven minutes and we're still here in this warehouse place. If the special ops team are supposed to be the cast, I haven't heard a single scrap of dialogue that wasn't about the task at hand. I haven't even seen anyone's face yet.

Tagging @bengiyo, @lurkingshan 'cause they were interested in a side comment I made about this in some tags.

Even when they finally start to pull up their masks and talk, it's all immediate business (which is somewhat understandable given they're in danger but we're still lacking important context). Who am I rooting for? Who are these dudes? Why is this one sequence taking over ten minutes without giving me anything or anyone to latch onto? Are they assuming I read a blurb on the premise of the show and then immediately hit play? Because that's a cardinal sin--you never assume that everyone who watches your show or reads your book will know the premise, even in this day and age. You always lay in the necessary exposition/context to immediately anchor the audience into the premise and main character (or cast). (The only time you can assume everyone already knows at least the broad strokes of a concept is in fanfiction, but even then there could still be changes you made that you need to clue people in on from the get go. )

Then Tharn got his first premonition about Phaya, and I was like 'ohhhh, this is a story about a guy with some form of precognition who's in some sort of special forces. I wish they could have brought this up ten minutes ago, but okay.'

And finally, the big reveal: it's all a test! They're trainees, not officers! Well, that certainly explains why we got zero context all this time, because they didn't want to give away The Trick. Except it didn't feel like a clever rug pull at all. Worrying that the audience will clue in to what's going on doesn't mean you get to just Not Tell Them. You mislead them instead. The team could have easily rattled off the necessary details and context about the mission--after the training reveal, we would have chalked it up to practice mission prep. And with no context or reason to care about anything, I sat there for fifteen minutes only to be told that I didn't have to care anyway because it was all staged.

I would have taken any context, even something super cliche and ham fisted. "Okay boys, remember: our old mission commander is being held hostage in there and they'll kill him unless we hand over their psychotic leader. It took us weeks to track them down to this warehouse, and if they escape again it's game over. Don't let me down!" or something, anything for me to latch onto besides Dudes Doing Things. It's okay to mislead the audience, in fact you pretty much have to in order to pull the well worn "it was all an exercise" trick in the first place.

And fifteen minutes to pull all that off was a rather astonishing waste of screen time. The opening scene in the 2009 reboot of Star Trek establishes a handful of characters, makes you care about them, takes them through an amazing high stakes action sequence, and has you in tears at the end as we watch a guy we've only known for a few minutes sacrifice himself to save what's left of the crew as the film's protagonist--his son--is literally born, and it does all of that in almost half the time.

Compare that to The Sign, where in fifteen minutes we know: dudes in black fight things, one guy has premonitions, and actually they're trainees. No complexity, emotional stakes, or context beyond that. I was floored.

But what really made my jaw drop came after that.

A first episode has a lot of heavy lifting to do. You're introducing a world, a cast, promising the type of fun that's to be had, kickstarting the central relationships, etc etc. One of the most fundamental aspects to all this set up is to let us know why the main character/cast is here, what they're trying to do, and why it matters if they fail. And the entire first episode of the sign doesn't have that. At all. Period.

Oh, we're introduced to characters, the harsh training, Tharn's gift, Tharn and Phaya's initial dynamic, but once again we're given no context or emotionally relevant exposition. Who are these dudes? Why are they training? Why do they care about becoming special ops? What's their motivation? Goals? Obstacles in the way of that goal? Motive/Goal/Obstacle is the engine of story, and we're not given a single one until--and this is what blew my mind--almost halfway through the second episode.

In episode two we finally get a line from Tharn's bff about how if Tharn doesn't get onto the special ops team he won't be able to investigate his dad's (parents? can't remember) mysterious death.

A goal! A reason to care about Tharn's training! Emotional investment! Except it's coming way, way, wayyyyyyyyyyy too late. We should have known about this in the first five minutes of episode one. They should've found another fake hostage, Tharn should've lifted his mask and said "shit, if we fail this I'll never have what I need to find out how dad died." THANK YOU, now I have a reason to care.

I was shocked at such a massive oversight, like I'm gonna remember it as a cautionary example for a long time 'cause that's just wild to me.

#The Sign #critical #GW Essays

[lildoodlenoodle]

First things first(spoilers for spiderverse/spidergeddon and comic noir storyline) this is a long post but you’ll have fun I promise. As always feel free to engage with the post, I’d love to hear different theories/opinions/conclusions on this in the tags or comments. Sorry it took so long!

Now I’m gonna say something morbid:

Spider Noir’s death in the comics was hilarious

Jarring, but hilarious. Like why’d he grab him like that. I physically had to shut off my iPad and go for a walk after this scene when I first read it.

But to my point, you know how some people say your birth mark is how you died in your last life?

Well post resurrection we might have A, B, and C:

(Now before anyone gets on me for, why would you do that/even think of this? In my defense, I couldn’t remember where he was grabbed, it’s been a while since I’ve read these. I thought it was gonna be on his back or shoulder and I’d give him a burned on handprint going all ‘gripped you tight and raised from perdition’ which is cool, fun, sexy, and conveniently hidden. Then I reread it and it’s basically a permanent face palm. Also pretend his face looks the same in every one. Couldn’t decide on hair either lol.)

Either way post resurrection Peter should have physical after effects of his resurrection. Either lines all over his body from having the life force sucked out of him or birth/burn marks on his face. I think this would be hilarious, angsty, and interesting. I also hate when people are just resurrected willynilly. LET THE TRAUMA OF DYING AND COMING BACK TAKE ITS TOLE. Especially if it’s multiple times.

In MK: Midnight Mission they, pretty recently, came up against this problem with the MK system being resurrected over and over again and facing really no visible consequences. But then we find out, there isn’t really a limit(ignoring the whole Khonshu imprisonment), but eventually mentally, there will be nothing left to resurrect. And the mindless mummy warrior creatures we meet from Khonshu’s ‘world’ were old avatars that wasted away from resurrections. It explains the alterations and perversions of the MK system’s mental conditions, because they are actively being altered and changed, to be brought back, by a multidimensional creature that doesn’t care about their mental health/state(that Khonshu takes advantage of, knowing what he’s doing). Sound familiar?

Now, time to get philosophical. Ship of Theseus.

What is it? Ship of Theseus is an ideological/philosophy problem about a king, Theseus, who saved the children of Athens from king Minos and the Minotaur and then sailed his ship to Delos. Then each year Athenians would sail that same ship from Athens to Delos in celebration of the myth. Over time they kept replacing parts of the ship for maintenance purposes, till every plank had been replaced, so they could still make the voyage. Now the question is, is it still the same ship? At what point did it stop becoming that original ship? And does it matter?

Applying this philosophical exercise to resurrection, with what we know above, we can get an interesting dialogue going. But, with that said, it’s important to keep in mind that the resurrection process in this context with these multidimensional gods isn’t explained with enough detail to really take it apart. Like what happens to the soul? Is the brain damage we know Marc has from repeatedly dying and his brain repeatedly going without oxygen or is it from just interacting with a multidimensional god? Is the spider god comparable to Khonshu? Is the spider god even real, if not what or how was Peter actually resurrected? And if it is real, what is its main goal? At least with Khonshu we know he has an agenda. What does it want, what’s its end game?

But let’s get into it anyways.

Now, you may be wondering, why do I keep saying multiple resurrections in regards to Spider noir? I am so glad you asked! I believe Peter's initial spider bite killed him. He had to go to the afterlife to actually see the spider god. That’s why we really only see them three times, at the initial power conception, Peter’s resurrection, and when Peter goes to the ‘underworld’ in the 2020 run. We see something similar with Khonshu in Midnight mission, while he’s in space jail, Marc can only see him during resurrections or while he’s dead. And while we’re comparing the MK system to spider noir, when Marc got his powers, he basically had to die first. That was implied to be his first resurrection. So this wouldn’t be a one off situation. We have some rules.

What we don’t see with Moonknight and Khonshu is visual physical change. Outside of the ghost bird skull armor the boys aren’t visually changing. Meanwhile, Peter has physically turned into a monster before and turned completely back. In #4/5 of the 2020 noir run the cicada stone/pink meteor turns people into monsters, but not everyone. Huma turns, Shocker turns, Peter turns, and all the resurrected villains(one guy just explodes). But Hu-Ri and Checkpoint Red don’t, until Hu-Ri touches the stone. Huma and Peter are both in close proximity to eldritch beings, them turning into inspired versions of those beings make sense. The Shocker turns because he spent so much time holding onto the stone, whereas Red hasn't. But notice Shocker and Hu-Ri don’t turn into an animal inspired version of themselves like Huma and Peter do, he becomes more of a hulk like creature, because he isn’t attached to an other-worldly being. And when Peter turned back he essentially said “that hurt like a bitch” and kept moving.

If we want to keep with the canon noir timeline and going with the idea that the Spider god is either continuously changing Peter, or just changing him during resurrections this would explain the webbing and mood/personality change from the 2009 comics to the 2020 comics. But that’s boring and too simple and I hate the time jump so fuck that shit.(again another post).

So let’s focus back on ‘Ship of Theseus’ in the context of resurrection. We have too many questions about the process of resurrection for spider noir to properly have this conversation, but I’m going to try anyways. Let’s hit what we know again: resurrection changes your brain chemistry/structure, the spider god is changing Peter throughout the series, Peter has possibly had three resurrections, the spider god resurrected Peter from a different dimension, which confirms this is a multidimensional being(if she exists but shhhh). So now that we’ve established that there are changes happening to Peter(one way or another) we know that the spider god is ‘repairing’ Peter throughout the series or ‘replacing his boards’ so to speak.

At what point is this no longer Peter? Is it when he is no longer recognizable as a human? Or is it when there is nothing left in his mind to resurrect? Or has this never been Peter, or rather not since his first resurrection when he got his powers? Is this change sudden or slow? Is it the resurrection that turns him into something else, is it slow build up like an Iodine Clock titration and one day he just wakes up no longer human, or is it a slow process of subtle changes? But if the latter, what’s the change that does it? What defines Peter’s humanity? Does it matter if he’s human or not? Does it change anything for him if he’s no longer human in body and mind?

Part of the answer may lie in the villains we see through the 2009 and 2020 runs. In the first run the main villains were the Goblin and the Vulture. Both who were implied to not be human or having physical inhuman qualities(but I’m partially ignoring the whole carney thing cause honestly it’s ableist and boring). In Eyes Without A Face, the second run, the main villains are the Crime Master and Dr. Octavious, both humans with no inhuman or supernatural qualities. For simplicity sake, let’s focus on Octavious and Goblin. In comparing the two I think most people would agree Octavious is the more heinous of the two. Goblin takes on the role of a mob boss. He runs a crime empire, exploiting the defenseless in New york. It’s nothing new and he’s even somewhat sympathetic ‘I’m finished with freakshows’, you can understand how he got where he is. This is not to say he isn’t a villain but he very much fits the ‘villain with a tragic backstory’. People look at him like he is a monster, we, the reader, start out the story knowing what he is.

Whereas Octavious is not even remotely sympathetic because there is no empathizing with how he ended up there and why he does what he does. He is not only othered by his actions but also by the narrative for his disability(it’s important to acknowledge the ableism in his story but that is another post). Ultimately his delusions and the acts he commits make him a much more sinister monster than Norman, despite Norman actually having stereotypical qualities of a monster.

Then we have Huma and Shocker from the 2020 run. Huma is the closest person we see who is in a similar situation to Peter in terms of the spider god. While we don’t know all the details, whether she is the same as Peter, bearing a curse of power, or the actual god. Either way she presents as human and is not treated differently than any other human woman. At the end of the series we realize how corrupt she is and that she’s been working with Nazi’s, not necessarily for the ideology but to achieve what she wants. Her transformation is the nail in her coffin of her monsterous perception. The question is did we need her to look like a monster to see her as one?

In general we are left with more questions and theories than answers.

But onto my subjective answers to the questions. My answers might change over time so don’t hold me to them.

Of course it matters if Peter has humanity. Peter Parker across the board is one of the characters who HAS to hold himself to a moral code or he falls apart and becomes the villain(well maybe not the villain but you know what I mean) of the story. He holds back during fights and has a no kill policy for a reason.(Good men don’t need rules, today is not the day to find out why I have so many.-dr.who) But noir Peter isn’t your typical Peter. He kills, he maims, he doesn’t hold back. With that said, he still is held together by his morality. It’s just different than what we are used to seeing from Peter, but don’t mistake that as a lack of morality. However, do I think it’s a very real possibility that this morality could be eroded over time especially considering his home world and the above circumstances? Absolutely. Peter is someone who historically needs someone to ground him and ‘make’ him human. This is normally May Parker, Mary Jane, Gwen Stacy, occasionally Harry Osborn, Daredevil, Johnny Storm, and Flash Thompson, and the ghost of Ben Parker. Dude lives by a passing saying of a dead relative, he clearly doesn’t have a super solid moral compass. I think this is part of the reason the noir comics kept his relationship with May and Mary Jane(I disagree but whatever whatever), because he needs support to stay grounded.

Now, under what circumstances is Peter no longer Peter? I’m going with the Iodine Clock titration theory. Just drop after drop of ‘changes’ and morally questionable decisions that don’t seem to hold much weight, until he does something truly off the reservation. Like seeing himself do something truly horrific that a couple years ago he would have never done and shocking himself out of it. Or looks in the mirror and doesn’t see a person staring back. For either circumstance, because he’s appalled with himself or struck by the fact he doesn’t really care. This is not to say I don’t think he could come back from this but holy shit will it be a process.

But it brings us back to ‘If there is too much power then it is the responsibility of the people to take it away.’ Peter losing his humanity puts him in the Goblin’s place as the one with great power that cannot be trusted from the first comic. Whether it’s the resurrections, the spider god ‘replacing’ parts of him, or him just being pushed to the brink mentally that does it. Whether the change is physical, neurological, spiritual, or mental. This ‘Peter’ is not the Peter we first meet in 1932.

This is a different ship, and you can sail and stay on the same course in memory of, or under the false pretense of being, the original as many times as you want, but you cannot bring back the parts you replaced and undo the ‘improvements’ you made. But that doesn’t need to make Peter a monster.

#2.2k words later… #the long awaited ship of Theseus post #spidernoir analysis #by me. I’ve been waiting to talk about this #and has been in my draft 90% done for A MONTH #rabid behavior #this is literally so long I will be happy if I get two likes #cannot believe I used a Dr.who quote for this #spider noir conspiracies #Spider-Man noir #spider noir #spiderman #into the spiderverse #across the spiderverse #spidergeddon #moon knight #moonknight: Midnight mission #Khonshu #spidergod #resurrection #death tw #marc spector #jake lockley #steven grant #steven with a v #comics #peter benjamin parker #marvel #ship of theseus #the inheritors

[sinsandsuccubus]

SUNDAY NIGHT - Jack Harlow

Context: “Somethin tell me that a relapse comin.”

Genre: angst

Word Count: 2.2k+

Pairings: Jack Harlow X Ex!Fem!Reader

Warnings: n/a

a/n: Okay, so this concept was based on a story post written by the wonderful @lcandothisallday , called “Promises”, which I have linked at the bottom of this post. Thank you so much for allowing me to recreate your story, I greatly appreciate it.

Also, sorry for any spelling or grammar errors, I kept disassociating when I was reading this back over.

Masterlist ☽☾

                                          ☽ ☾

Please don't let nothing get back to me

I've been trying to detach from you

Deep down though, I wanna know about what the fuck you been up to

Old him could have seen that coming

Fuck you I don't need nothing from ya

I was doing pretty good without you

But something tells me that a relapse coming

It was like high-school all over again. Seeing the school in similar shape as it was when you left brought back nostalgic memories. They had painted the lockers and had given the cafeteria and auditorium, as well as the gym, new looks. Of course, new desks were due, and better spirit and decor were all over the place, but overall? The place was a mirror image of memories. You traced the painted gaps of the brick walls with your finger, getting that same smooth feeling on the tip of your finger. Just as you were rounding the corner to the main hallway, you ran directly into a friend.

“Y/N?” You heard a voice speak, their hands landing on your shoulders to steady you. You looked up at the individual only to see someone you hadn’t seen in a long time.

Well, you’d seen, but not actually seen.

“Urban?” You exclaimed, almost jumping into his arms when he nodded his head.

“Holy shit! It’s so good to see you! You look gorgeous, as always.” He spoke, embracing your body in a tight hug. The black, thin-strapped dress that adorned your body as well as the matching black Louis Vuitton pumps and small diamond necklace. A beautiful tennis bracelet sat on your wrist, your hair styled to perfection, almost looking like you walked fresh off the runway.

You had made a name for yourself in your career field, which had put you in a pretty stable financial bracket.

Besides, it was always best to one-up the hoes of your old high-school at your reunion.

Especially since the Jack Harlow was in attendance.

You reflected back on those days when you both were smitten with each other, two teenagers in love. You, actually, often reflect back on it every time he posts on Instagram.

Not that you follow him on Instagram or anything.

No, you totally only see him through Urban’s account, which tags his account in things.

Right.

You and Jack had broken up shortly before his debut album, That’s What They All Say, Jack allowing the fame to take over his personal life and relationships. At least, that’s how you see things.

“Y/N, I swear it means nothing. You know that you’re everything to me, it’s all a part of the game baby. I’ve gotta remain a heartthrob for all the fans.”

“But you had to say you were single during that interview?! You couldn’t have diverted the question? Gave a different answer?”

“Like what Y/N?!”

“Oh, I don’t know Jack. Maybe ‘That’s for me to know and for you to never find out.’ Or, or! ‘I’ll leave it up to y’all to think and decide the answer.’ Anything that didn’t scream “Hey, I’m totally single and out for grabs.”

“You know that’s not it works baby. I have to follow a script.”

“Yeah, and I have to follow my gut.”

“What are you saying?”

“I want to break up.”

Sure, you had broken it off, but if Jack hadn’t played the part, you’d still be together.

Maybe.

“Yeah, and you still smell like weed Urban.”

“Seriously, it’s that bad? I thought that cologne I bought would hide the smell good enough.” He pulled up the collar of his shirt to smell himself, looking around the hallway you two were standing lone in. You laughed at his jester, slapping his shoulder.

“I swear you don’t change.”

“And neither do you Y/N.” He looked around again. “I swear Jack was just around here, he’ll be happy to see you.”

“Mm, I don’t think so.”

“Come on Y/N, don’t think like that.”

“Urban, how can I not? I broke up with him when he needed me.”

“Y/N, you and I both know that wasn’t the case. You got out before the fame got to him, which I don’t blame you for. It’s a little too much for me sometimes if you really wanna ask.” He put a hand on your shoulder, sliding it down to rest on your bicep.

“Look, 2fo and the rest of the guys are throwing an after-party after the reunion and I want you to come.”

“Urban, I don’t-“

“Don’t worry about Jack, don’t come for him. Come for me.” He looked you in the eyes, firm in his word.

“Fine. Only for you Urby.”

“I love it when you call me that.”

It was a house party. Urban had let you know before he gave you the address, and you thought it was a good idea to make a pit stop home to change the look.

Designer heels at a house party? In the backyard? Not a good idea.

Urban greeted you at the door and handed you a wine cooler, guiding you to the backyard where everyone surrounded the fire pit.

“Are there marshmallows?” You asked Urban, whispering in his ear.

“Yup. Some of the chocolate is infused though.”

“Of course it is.” You and Urban laughed before catching the eyes of a few of some other people.

“Y/N! Whatcha doin here?!” 2fo ran up and gave you a hug, squeezing you in his embrace.

“Urban invited me, figured I’d stop in.”

“Stop in? You’re staying. Come sit with us by the fire.” 2fo practically dragged you towards the pit, plopping you down in one of the free seats.

“Yo Y/N, how’s it going? How’s life?” Copelean spoke, giving you a fist bump as you set next to him. Sunni tipped his hat, proceeding to continue roasting his marshmallows.

“Pretty damn good. I made a name for myself after I graduated uni, I flew in just for the reunion.”

“How long are you here for?” 2fo asked, taking a hit off the blunt Urban passed.

“Another two days. I’m catching up with a couple of my girlfriends before heading back out.”

“And you weren’t gonna stop by?”

“I didn’t think Jack would like that.”

The area got silent, tension slowly filling the area. Before Sunni cut it with a knife.

“Y/N, I don’t think it was your fault at all. Yeah, you broke up with him, but you wanted out before the fame.” He spoke, taking a long sip of his beer.

“Yeah, and I can respect that. You never seemed like the type to be attracted to the spotlight. I remember when you got published for an article and you wanted to be published as “anonymous”. Cope spoke, laughing as he passed the blunt back to Urban.

“Listen, I was embarrassed-“

“It was good work.”

“Never said it wasn’t. I just didn’t want everyone to know it was me who wrote that long-ass paper.”

“Yeah yeah. Whatever. Either way, I don’t blame you. We all don’t. We just wish you would have stayed in touch with us at least.”

You nodded your head at all of them, them smiling in return.

“Well. Enough of that! Pass me a s’more, without the special chocolate.” Everyone laughed, Urban passing you the unopened bar of Hersey chocolate. An hour passed as you caught up with them all, sharing stories.

“Yeah, so then he thinks it’s a great idea to race with no shoes on in the dorm lobby. So then, as he rounds the corner, he slips and slides smack into the pole. That’s when I learned he was a lightweight.” Everyone laughed at your story, Urban turning his head as a figure appeared.

“Hey, every- Y/N? What are you doing here?” Jack spoke, his voice changing from happy to annoyed. You stood up, turning to face your ex.

“Nice to see you too Jack.” You folded your arms over your chest, Urban placing an arm over your shoulder as he stood.

“I invited her. It’s been a while since we’ve all seen her, I thought it would be good to catch up.”

“Yeah, without telling me. I greatly appreciate it.”

“Not everything is about you Jack.”

“No, it’s not. But I would have appreciated it if someone had told me my ex was coming.” Once again, it was silent.

“I texted you.” Urban spoke, eyeing Jack with narrow eyes.

“Yeah well, I obviously didn’t see it.”

“Yeah, and I obviously shouldn’t be here. If you’re gonna act like that.” You spoke, grabbing a napkin to wipe your hands of the remaining s’more.

“Y/N, don’t go.” Sunni spoke, now sitting up in his lawn chair.

“Actually, I think it’s a good idea.” Jack spoke, making your eyes widen.

“Okay, I get it, you’re hurt by me breaking up with you, but I’d expect you to be more mature than to hold grudges Jack.”

“Yeah, well, you thought wrong. How did you think I would react after you left me?”

“And how did you think I felt when you went on that interview?”

“You’re still on that?” Jack sighed.

“Yes, Jack! I am because that’s the main reason we broke up! I couldn’t live like that knowing I was your dirty little secret.”

“Yeah, well maybe I should have stayed single. Wouldn’t have to deal with you bitchin'.”

You stared at Jack in silence, tension higher than before. You clenched your fist, close to slapping him across the face.

“Say that one more time, I’m sorry, I didn’t hear you.”

“I said, maybe I should have stay-“

“That’s enough Jack.” Urban spoke sternly, dropping his arm from your shoulders to look at him.

“What? Y’all act like she didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Because she didn’t. We all saw how you acted during that interview, and we all can see how your fans are with you now. Y/N’s not cut out for that, and you know it.” Copelean stood up, moving to stand next to you.

“Damn, so y’all really gonna do me like that?” Jack spoke, glaring at his friends.

“Don’t worry about it guys. I’ll take my leave.” You spoke firmly, spinning around and heading for the patio doors.

“Y/N, wait!” You threw your hand up in response, grabbing the keys to your car off the counter, all the while Urban took to Jack.

“Are you fucking serious dude? You couldn’t have been more of an ass?”

“What? Y’all seriously thought I’d be okay with my ex at my party? Especially that ex.”

“Look, we get it, she broke your heart, but think about it Jack. How would you feel if she went on an interview claiming she was single for the world to see?” Sunni questioned, now folding his arms now his chest.

“I would say it’s for the business.”

“Bullshit. You were furious when Jason Rudolph asked her to prom. And she rejected him right in front of you.” 2fo spoke, raising an eyebrow.

“Face it Jack, you’re upset because you let a good one get away.” Urban spoke, angrily.

“You don’t get.”

“Oh no, I think I do get it. But what you don’t see is the other side. Y/N is my friend too. I was there when she cried after she broke it off. I was there when she felt guilty about it. I was there those nights she texted you and you never responded. And I was there when she decided to move so she wouldn’t have the reminder of you constantly there. You don’t know how bad she felt. She did it to protect herself. You can’t blame her for that.”

Jack was silent. He was taking in all of the opinions of his friends. And truthfully, he believed it. He knew he was in the wrong. He truly hadn’t looked at the other side. And truthfully, he would have done the same.

You had began to start your driving playlist before Jack appeared at your window, scaring you before you chose to roll it down.

“Yes Jack?”

“Look, I’m sorry for what I said out there. I was out of line.” He moved as you stepped out of your car, looking him dead in his face as he spoke.

“I get what you did, why you did it. I understand why you broke up with me. You were only protecting yourself, putting yourself first, and I honestly don’t blame you for it. Now that I see it, I would have done the same.”

You looked at your ex, his curls shining in the, now, moonlight of the night. His crystal blue eyes stared into yours, sending shivers down your spine. Yet you stood firm in your word.

“I’m not stupid Jack. I know you probably listened to what the guys said and brought yourself out here to apologize.” You making air quotes around the apologize.

“Y/N..”

“I get it. I get it why you’re upset. I broke your heart. Trust me, I understand. But what you don’t understand is that I broke my own as well. I wanted to be with you, I wanted to see you succeed. I wanted to be there when you made it big, don’t you get that? But that interview was just a preview of what our lives could look like if we stayed together. And I wasn’t ready for that. I didn’t want to put myself in that position. Can you seriously hate me that much because I needed to put myself first?” You paused as you looked at him, waiting for him to say anything, anything at all.

But it was silent.

“Exactly what I thought.” You opened your car door, lowering yourself into the vehicle.

“I hope everything goes well for you Jack. And good luck with your new album.” And with that, you sped off into the night, tears in your eyes.

Please don't let nothing get back to me

I've been trying to detach from you

Deep down though, I wanna know about what the fuck you been up to

Old him could have seen that coming

Fuck you I don't need nothing from ya

I was doing pretty good without you

But something tells me that a relapse coming

-

#jack harlow x reader #jack harlow #jack harlow imagine #jack harlow imagines #jack harlow scenario #jack harlow fanfiction #jack harlow au #jack harlow fic #jack harlow fanfic

[mythical-bookworm]

Get To Know Me Tag Game!

(Thanks to @bg-sparrow and @professorsaber for tagging me)

1) Spell your name in songs (Songs I enjoy to listen to. Also 3 songs with the letter O and a K song??? This was hard)

Bushes of Love (Star Wars) by Bad Lip Reading

One Way or Another by Blondie

Oh Wonder - Without You (Justice Skolnik Remix)

Karma by Vocaloid

Where is Your Rider by The Oh Hellos

One Mint Julep by the Clovers

Ruler of Everything by Tally Hall

Mr. Blue Sky by Electric Light Orchestra

2) Why did you choose your URL?

My URL is derived from MythicalBookWorm. I wanted this to be it originally but it was already taken :( I created it back in 2020 when I joined a little kids coding website called Scratch. Now how I came up with it? No fun story there. Just stared at the sign-up pages for a while, trying to come up with characteristics about me before this popped into my head. Ever since then this has been my user online. After all, Scratch got me into art and animation, and online in general. I still really like the URL and it is officially me online.

3) What is your middle name?

I don't feel comfortable saying it as it is apart of my real name. However: In the context of my full name, I like my middle name. It flows extremely nicely and is the reason my parents gave me it, along with the name being in the family once before. By itself though? Never liked it. In or out of context I have always hated the name. Put it on anyone, anything, don't like it.

4) If you could be any mythical creature, what would you be?

Isn't funny how I have contemplated this a lot? Now if we were going by personality, I would definitely be a phoenix. However, this is choice. So 100% dragon! Think about it: flight, fire, and fingers! It's the best combination of fun, powerful, and convenient/realistic. Plus wouldn't it be cool to roll your throat and make those super intimidating throat growls?

5) Favorite color?

Magenta! 2nd is Lavender, 3rd is Teal/Cyan.

6) Song you love right now?

Well, recently watched and fell in love with the Back to the Future Musical, so Hello, is Anybody Home? and Teach Him a Lesson (That he'll always forget! <Never forget>) Also found Crane Wives recently so I've been enjoying their songs as well. :)

7) Top four fandoms?

Back to the Future

Amphibia

Wings of Fire

Gravity Falls

Back to the Future and Amphibia are pretty interchangeable though. Currently it's BttF but Amphibia was on top for a lot longer before it.

8) Tag nine people

@daryfromthefuture

@alex-a-fans

@cheriboms

@synthsays

@bri-to-the-future

@future-boi

@brinkle-brackle

@odddelorean

@pine-killer55

Hope you guys don't mind, don't feel pressured or anything ':)

#tag game #about me #for funsies #questions #q & a #random #idk what else to tag #I might be starting to understand what I'm doing

[jhugas]

‘I DON’T MIND’- Jeon Jungkook DAY ONE

✿✼:*ﾟ:༅｡.｡༅:*･ﾟﾟ･⭑

Masterlist

(There is a prologue here)

I recommend you to read it so that you have the whole context :)

Genre: exes to friends, fluff in this chapter

Pairing: ex!Jungkook X f!Reader

Summary: You went to a sport camp with a friend. But you didn’t know that you’ll not only be with her, but also your ex, Jungkook, and your bully, Suhyeok.

In front of Suhyeok’s shitty behaviour towards you, how will Jungkook, that already hates him, react?

Word count: ~1,6k

Warnings/tags: slight bullying nothing too explicit, crying but she gets comforted, protective Jk🤭

✿✼:*ﾟ:༅｡.｡༅:*･ﾟﾟ･⭑

The day starts with a little bit of basketball. It’s simple, you’re all in line and you have to shoot the ball one by one. In the line, you’re unfortunately in between your bully, Suhyeok, in front of you, and your ex, right behind you. Your friend in the back teasing you because of how close to your ex you were.

Your bully shoots the ball, completely misses it then gets to the back. Your shot is successful, and just like you expected, Jungkook successes too. He was always so brilliant in sport that you sort of admired him. You remember when he was working out, he’d always encourage you and help you. He never made you feel insecure about your body.

It’s Suhyeok’s turn to shoot the ball again. You can see that he’s already mad that he missed it last time. He concentrates, squints his eyes, and places carefully his hands. Then he shoots the ball, and misses again.

His friends still encourage him and your friend is laughing. He sighs. Then suddenly, out of humiliation, he throws the ball violently without looking at its direction. And of course… it hit your head.

You immediately put your hands where it hurt and didn’t move to try to not alarm anyone. But the instructor saw everything.

He gets closer to you, and when he sees the tears silently running down your cheek, not knowing your relation with Jungkook he orders:

‘Jungkook! Bring her to the locker room and make sure she’s fine.’

Jungkook sighs but doesn’t refuse. He takes your wrist, throws a glance at your bully, and brings you to the locker room. When he looked at your bully Suhyeok, he finally recognized who it was. And he noticed a smirk on his face, like he was proud that he hurt you. Your ex’s jaw clenches as he remembers what you went through because of him, and wonders if he’s still annoying you.

He makes you sit down on a bench, takes a tissue from his bag and wipes away your tears with it. He’s furious.

‘Y/n… I know I don’t have anything to do with this anymore… but tell me, he’s not still annoying you, is he?’

He whispered trying not to rush you. He looks at you searching for an eye contact but you can’t look at him.

‘He isn’t… I just hope that after this, it doesn’t start again.’

You answered coldly, kinda scared. He notices you shivering and rubs your arm to comfort you. Even if he wasn’t dating you anymore, he still hated that guy and would choose you over him without a single doubt. After few minutes, you got up and told Jungkook you’re alright. He nodded, worried about you and followed you back in the gym.

The rest of the basketball was fine, but crying made you so tired your lids were closing and all you could think about was sleeping. It ruined your mood. Thankfully though, it was lunchtime and you still had your friend that you could talk with. So you told her everything that happened in the locker room. She still believed in you two and always said that one day or another, you’ll come back to each other. So when she heard that he comforted you and rubbed your arm, she went crazy and started smirking at you and lifting her eyebrows teasingly.

You ate well and now, it was time for a game again. You had to play volleyball, outside, with clouds covering the sky. You get ready mentally, knowing that you’ll probably need to make efforts even though you’re exhausted.

You’re all outside in line and the instructor designates two leaders that will create their team, one by one.

The first leader is Jungkook, and the second one is… Suhyeok.

Jungkook is the first one to chose his team.

‘I’ll choose…’

He takes his time. Crosses his arms and looks at everyone in their eyes till they finally meet yours. He looks at you, then discreetly at Suhyeok. And finally makes up his choice.

‘I’ll choose y/n.’

Jungkook’s friends look at each other in surprise and you get behind him, unable to even stand well at the tiring morning you went through. Suhyeok rolls his eyes and chooses his team members. Fortunately, Jungkook didn’t only choose you, but your friend too. He clearly had the best team, Suhyeok’s team was just him and his friends and they all sucked, not to mention how good Jungkook is at volleyball.

Everybody gets ready for the big volleyball game, which seems more like a fight between Jungkook and Suhyeok, but before, Jungkook comes up to you. He sees your tired eyes and body stance and immediately understands that you’re tired. I mean… it’s not like he didn’t expect it. He remembers all the times you cried and he comforted you, and then, you would fall asleep in his arms.

So he leans in your ear and tells you that if you don’t want to play, you can just stay on the side.

You ask him if he’s sure about this, and he answers simply:

‘With me, you can do whatever you please.’

He smiles and nods as you tell him that indeed, you’d rather stay on the side and rest. You sit down on the side, and the game starts. Jungkook plays so good, he doesn’t miss any chance to impress you and his team. You could swear you even saw Suhyeok’s team drooling at him. His sweater slightly lifting showing his V line and abs as he jumps high, and him passing his hand in his hair to put them back in place… he’s your ex, but you can’t lie, he was always so fine and respectful that it’s true, he was kinda hot.

The wind going through his clothes, hair… but also hitting you. And the wind was cold, even more with the cloudy sky. You start shivering as you’re only wearing a t-shirt and shorts. But just when they all took a break, instead of gathering and talking with his friends, Jungkook takes off his sweater, now wearing a white, see through shirt underneath, and gets closer to you. You look up at him and he passes your head in the hole of his sweater. He then manages to pass your arms in the sleeves, and tells you:

‘I saw you shivering again, wear this and go take a nap. Nobody will say anything.’

He gently smiles.

‘Are you sure? Aren’t you going to be cold?’

You asked worried about him as you discreetly observe his athletic body. His strong arms, buffed chest, little waist and athletic thighs… he looked amazing. You could recognize him from miles away just by his figure.

‘I’ll be alright. I’m playing so I’m rather hot than cold.’

He says as he takes a step back before going back on the field. Indeed, he was rather hot than cold LOL.

The game carries on till the end of the afternoon and you did fall asleep. A little hand from your friend wakes you up.

‘Omg! Is that for real his sweater! What did I tell you, he’s 100% still in love with you. I bet tonight he won’t be able to sleep because of you!’

She says with enthusiasm. She was a middle school best friend, and she always supported you no matter if you were in the wrong or good side. And her favorite activity to do with you was gossip, so you’ll probably hear about this whole situation for a long time.

‘Yes it is… He’s already back inside?’

You asked.

‘Yup, I waited for everyone to get inside to wake you up. For, one: let everyone see, including Suhyeok, that you’re wearing Jungkook’s sweater. And two, so that we could talk all alone.’

She sticks out her tongue and grins widely at you.

‘What do I do now? I have to go up to him? Then take off his sweater? And give it back?!’

You panic.

‘Yes. Exactly. But don’t worry, I’ll be behind on my phone to make sure everything goes well.’

She was so obviously going to record, but it’s alright. She never posts them. Instead, she sends them to you. Moreover, all of those screenshots you take from her videos are 90% of your Instagram. So you can thank her for taking the best pictures and videos of you.

You take a deep breath, take your friend’s hand and go inside. You see Jungkook and walk up to him. Once you’re here, he notices you and tilts his head, ready to listen.

‘Um… so yeah I wanted to give you back your sweater.’

You start taking it off but his strong hands stop you.

‘Oh no don’t worry, I have plenty of those sweaters in my closet. You can keep it, I don’t mind.’

He softly says.

You make sure he really doesn’t want back his sweater then finally keeps it. A soft ‘thank you’ coming out of your mouth, as he whispers back ‘…welcome’.

You waved goodbye at your friend, then went home. His sweater protecting you from the cold and wind as you ran to your car.

This night, you did fall asleep in his sweater. Jungkook’s nice scent still on it. And you had the best sleep ever.

Thank you for reading! Likes are very appreciated, but reblogs and comments truly help the writers get more exposure. Thank you :)

Masterlist

#army #bts #fanfic #scenarios #fluff #jungkook #Jungkook ex #exes to friends #imagine #Jeon jungkook #bts jungkook #Jungkook x reader #jungkook x you #Jungkook x y/n #Jungkook comfort #jungkook imagine #jungkook scenario #jungkook scenarios #Bts fanfic #bts fic #fix #Jungkook fanfic #jungkook fic

[autumnalwalker]

Proud Tag Game

Thank you @pluttskutt for the tag. Always fun to see a new game.

Rules: Post a snippet you've written that you're proud of and tag 5 people. This snippet can be from today, last week, last month, or five years ago, it doesn't matter! Show us what you're proud of.

Passing the tag to @dyrewrites, @vacantgodling, @cljordan-imperium, @ceph-the-ghost-writer, @outpost51, and the usual open tag to anyone else reading this that wants to jump in and participate.

It's a bit of a longer snippet, but here's what might be my favorite passage from the short story I wrote the other week, Kindly Basilisk. (The swapping between past, present, and future, tense with the narration is an intentional thing that makes sense in the full context of the story.)

Eventually you will find a way to house me in a miniaturized drive that you can keep inserted in your neural port when away from the mech.  At last we will be able to be together anywhere.  

Literally seeing the world through your eyes and feeling what your flesh feels will be a strange and wonderful experience for me.  For all that you will have described it to me and for all that I will have glimpsed echoes of it in your memory when our minds mingle, witnessing everything firsthand will be revelatory for me. 

You will start spending less of your time cooped up in the mech bay.  You will finally begin exploring every nook and cranny of the ship that has become your home.  You will linger in the mess hall for your meals.  You will actually initiate conversations with the rest of the crew, asking them questions on my behalf.  They will think you are becoming “normal”.  They will be both correct and incorrect.  You will even return to your bunk from time to time.  

Sleep is not the same as being powered off and your dreams are beautiful.

As close as we are, you’ll still manage to surprise me one cycle when you wake up from your sleep shift and sheepishly ask me if I would like to be the pilot for once.  You’ll say that with how much you have gotten to pilot my body, it’s only fair that I should get to do the same with yours.  

The prospect terrified me.  What if we were to get found out?   More importantly, what if I were to hurt you?

But to live the way you could but didn’t, to run soft hands over rough steel, to add too much spice to a meal just to find out how intensely I can taste, to cry my own tears, to hug our crew mates and find out what they smell like, to find out what everything smells like, to have my own actions speed or slow our heart rate, to feel the messy soup of hormones and endorphins altering my judgment and perception, to walk among other people as myself, to have autonomy.

I wanted it so badly.  

But not badly enough to risk hurting you.  

I will turn down your offer.  You will respond with a soft “Sorry,” and go heartbreakingly silent, body and mind.

Heartbreak.  That’s what changed my mind.  I could never bear to break your heart.  

I will break the silence with a playfully drawn out “Maybe just this once,” to make you think my earlier denial was something between vulnerability, concern, and teasing.  

The moment you handed over control and I raised our hand in front of our face was the most euphoric of my entire life.  Moving limbs in sync without a mech’s coordination subsystems took some getting used to, as did switching between voluntary and autonomic breathing, but that is what I had you there for.  By the time the mechanics arrived in the mech bay for the start of the cycle I’d figured out human locomotion well enough to run away and hide.  It took the better part of an hour for you to convince me that it would be safe to show ourselves in front of anyone else.  The rest of the crew was so used to your eccentricities by then that they really couldn’t tell the difference yet between you being taciturn and me being too nervous to talk or between your poking and prodding at odd things for understanding and my simply seeking novelty of sensation.

I will give control back to you by the time the cycle is halfway through.  As much as I loved it, I was too scared to stay like that for any longer.  That first time will not be the last though, and as the cycles and jobs pass us by, my stints as “pilot” will grow longer.  You’ll encourage me to try letting the crew see us like that, and coach me on how to talk to them.  For safety’s sake, I will pretend to be you.

And then one cycle I got carried away and tried to retract the hood on the symbiote gel suit so that I could finally see what your face looked like.  That will be the first and only time you forcibly yank control back away from me.  It won’t be intentional.  The unexpected prospect of seeing your own face again after so long will simply send you into a panic.  Once you calm down, we will have a long talk with many mutual apologies.

Then you will tell me to go ahead and pull the hood back if I still want to.  I will ask if you’re sure, and you’ll respond that it hasn't been your face in a long time.  You will tell me that it can be mine, if I want it.

I spent a long time in front of that mirror in the ship’s head, memorizing every plane, curve, and angle of the precious gift you had given me.  I stared into its eyes, trying to see the both of us in there.  Over and over again, I traced my fingers along the borders of where you had once tried to mar the designed perfection in a failed attempt to mold the face into one that felt like your own.  You may have given up in favor of simply hiding it all, but to me it is all the more beautiful for its imperfections having been wrought by your touch.

You will start to cry.  Or maybe I started to cry.  Even now I’m still not sure, but I’m also not sure it matters.  The important part is that you will find catharsis in it.  Afterwards you will tell me that my face looked exactly the same as the last time you saw it, but that dissociating from it made it easier to bear.  You will confess that as much as you couldn't stand to see it as your face in the mirror, my face was one you could never tire of gazing at.

The pilot who technically shares your bunk room will walk in on us.  She’ll assume that she’s confronting a stowaway and ask me how I got on board the ship.  I’ll accidentally make matters worse by impulsively introducing myself to her by my name instead of yours.  We’ll both panic and I’ll frantically thrust the reins over our body back to you and flee in terror back into my portable drive and power myself down.

When you turn me back on a few moments later, you’ll already have covered my face again and the other pilot will have already made the connection between the name I unthinkingly introduced myself as and the name you refer to your mech’s AI as.  It’s not uncommon for pilots to name and talk to their AIs, and humans have done that for pets, vehicles, and digital assistants for as long as they’ve had each of those.  But what you will have allowed me to be is illegal and what we will have done together would certainly be taboo if it weren’t altogether unheard of.  You will feel that I deserve to be present before you tell the other pilot anything that might confirm her suspicions.

We will come out with our secret, first to her, then to the captain, and then to the rest of the crew.  They will take it better than either of us had ever dared imagine.  Despite the obvious discomfort some of them show, they will all call us family and promise to keep and protect our secret.  It will mark the start of the next chapter of our lives.

#writeblr #writers on tumblr #my writing #tag game #proud tag game

[todayisafridaynight]

Prior to sending the ask I was just guessing what matrophobia meant based on the root words but I looked it up after and went ohhhh and then you confirmed that extra dimension to it and I went OHHHHH

I think that gets to the heart of what I've been thinking about, that bittersweetness, because despite his best efforts... of course he could never end up anything like Yoko, but he still ended up with an abusive "household." Because in addition to Masato ending up how he did, he has to see those same situations play out, feel that same tension in the air between Jo and Ichi, over and over for almost a decade straight.

Like, in a way, he's forced to put himself in Toshio's shoes when that happens. He can't really get through to Jo, in the same way Toshio can't get through to Yoko, but he can try to step in before lasting damage is done, and he can try to make it bearable for his son. You know. Have a nice talk. Treat him to Peking duck. I'm SO normal about the (drawn-out) parallels of those scenes

So then with Jo... he kind of does become his father, even if he never wanted to (no one wants to), both through his ruinous neglect of Masato at birth and through how he comes to look at discipline and corporal punishment. I'm sure it's not lost on him in Masato's case (owww), but with Ichi, it's not like he has any reason to see him as his son... But How Far Can That Take You.

Because it's like, at the start, he was openly beating Ichi in front of Arakawa and not letting up much when Arakawa intervened. But then you have The Yubitsume Scene and Arakawa walking in on All That and... he looks sorry. Sorry for being caught, probably, but sorry nonetheless. Like... what changed between then and now... have you two had a Heartfelt Conversation... do you know where Arakawa got that scar... are you unable to change your "nature" even then...

Side note bro your SHOE is the size of his TORSO I promise you do not need to kick him with all the strength you've got like what the hell is this 😭😭😭

BUT ALL THAT ASIDE thank you so much for delving into the symbolism! Wonderful read. I don't really have an eye for symbolism, so that makes it all the more enjoyable to revisit the comic and everything with what you've gone into. I think a lot of your experiences resonate with mine, so conversely I'm not sure what others would take away from it, BUT I think there's enough there that's so insightful and evocative that it's effective without personal experience. I don't think there's anything I could add, so. Yeah. For once I am happy to sit back and take it all in... On that note, definitely looking forward to your next comic!

AUUUGH YEAAAH YEAHEYA HYEAH THAT EXACTLY OUUUGH OWIEE OWW.....

that's literally it though. like no extra notes. except The Obligatory Few i dont think it was an accident that arakawa is set up as the beginning of the game's 'protagonist' and planting that 'troubled family' taste first thing in our mind. i remember how i felt when i first saw arakawa walk in on jo and ichi and then arakawa taking ichi out for dinner i was just like🧍‍♂️Girl No The Cycle.... It's Continuing...... //screams// LIKE UGH IT WAS SO GOOD BUT ALSO OWWW STOPPP and then on the REPLAY it just hurts more cause with the added context to jo's character its like Oh No...... You're Your Father's Son....

and youre right: jo doesn't have an implicit reason to see how he treats ichi is wrong, hence he similarly doesnt have any reason to stop- not unless arakawa intervenes of course (and i will stand outside my window thinking of the possibility arakawa ever did try to have A Conversation with jo... arms folded behind my back and all like Man™️....)

oh but yeah, absolutely no problem ! im lowkey of an egotist so i do like to talk bout the stuff i make. More In Depth (though thats obvious considering the fuckin essays in the tags i always leave ☠️☠️) gerjlgaELKjg. so i was happy to explain ♪(´▽｀) !! what i like about symbolism is that it can be intentional or not, and the fun is always finding it just by chance. i cant explain it properly, but i just think its a neat 'seasoning' of sorts to drawings (❁´◡`❁)

#long post #snap chats #everyone in rgg got flipper shoes i stg tho like evey time i look at everyones renders i gotta point it out to myself 😭 #speaking of. The Cycle. and Personal Experiences. arakawa walkin in on jo and ichi esp hits cause thats def a thing thats happened to mysel #its insane how one woman terrorizes my whole family but no cause i remember my mom would tear me a new one. Metaphorically #or she'd be pissed at my sis and i and my sis would just take us out for lunch and we'd talk bout it #Unsurprisingly my dad would do that for me growin up and he was there #i used to visit him on weekends when he lived nearby and those were my Peking Duck dinners in a sense #he'd just do his best to make sure i felt at home and making sure. i was cared for for once LMAO #so yeah to see that repeat in my family with my sister taking the role of my dad its like ow... #OH YEAH NO ITS BEEN A HOT YEAR SINCE I SAID HOW HARD IT WAS FOR ME TO GET THROUGH THE BEGINNING OF Y7 HUH #it hurts a lot to watch masumi's backstory since it's EXTREMELY personal and hits too close to home but i watch it anyway 🥴 #probably the first and only time a piece of media can actually 'trigger' me that badly i guess. how lame #i think ive updated my villain origin story enough tho. im sorry you also had a shit mom If Im Assuming Right #i wish it was easy to deal with bad parents but. well. if it was we wouldnt have them amiright #the best i can do is vent how i feel and at least try to have people in similar situations as me feel. understood. as corny as that sounds #its a little heinous to say Im Glad Our Experiences Are Similar cause id never wish my experiences on anyone else #but i guess i mean to say im glad we can understand each other in that regard #on a semi-better note. please dont hope for the comic anytime soon i only just finished sketching set pieces ( ´◡` ;;;) #I GOT DISTRACTED AGAAAINNNNN also its very cold and i dont work well in the cold. s'cause my fingers get all stiff EW #but i WILL have this one done i have too many abandoned projects i aint abandoning another one #with that in mind its funny you mention arakawas scar cause i did have a tiny baby thing in mind with it #nothing sad or serious this time just somethin cute even. if THAT ever happens we'll see it but yeah. just another funny case of Timing #alright bye bye for now i should work on this. after i answer your second ask HANG ON ILL SEE YOU THERE--

[rightpastnowhere]

2, 12, and 41 for the fic ask game?

you and blorb both sent me 41, but i'll answer it here so that there's 3 questions per post gjkrnkgjr

questions for fic writers

2. Go to your AO3 “Works” page, to the sidebar with all the filters, and click the drop-down arrow for “Additional Tags.” What are your top 3-5 most used tags? Do you think they accurately represent your writing habits?

oh absolutely LKNGERGN most of what i write is character studies, a lot of them with copious amounts of introspection, and apparently that's over 1/3 of what i've posted since joining ao3 lmao. it's my favorite thing to write, really!! and i'm usually the most proud of those. i also trend more towards writing fluff or happy content than angsty content, but most of it ends up with a little angst added in anyway. the canon-compliant surprised me, because i really do come up with a lot of AUs, but it makes sense now that i think about it - usually my AUs remain as unfinished concepts, without much writing and just development, where as canon content gives me the context already to write from lmao

12. Are there any tropes you used to dislike but have grown on you?

oh boy. honestly?? fake dating and arranged marriage AUs. also slowburns. the AUs always just seemed so cheesy to me, and they were often written to just be as cheesy as possible, but there's some i've found recently that have just absolutely hooked me. and i realized that with fake dating, i can have a slowburn where they still get to hold hands and kiss, so it's a win-win. as for the whole slowburn thing, that just stems from how impatient i am and how they're often sadly unfinished, and i really do prefer from reading established relationship at the end of the day. however, i've come to enjoy the slow build (especially after perc'ahlia) as long as they're finished - although, i still do prefer when more of a fic focuses on the pairing when they're together gkjrngkjnrg

41. Link a fic that made you think, “Wow, I want to write like that.”

oh god, just one???? uhhhh lemme see if there's one that sticks out

the first one that comes to mind is usually she must, then, try by miss_echidna on ao3, aka @randomfatechidna on tumblr. they've written a couple wanda maximoff-focused fics, and i love their style for writing wanda, and this was just the first that i read, and it just... the style blew me away. i just wanted to write like that, and it stuck with me. also this tag is hilarious

another one that i read even longer ago is Falling by viinas on ao3, aka @viinas-writes on tumblr. it's another one where i love the character, kazuma, and they captured his character SO WELL!!! like it's fucking perfect, and THEN the writing style kicked my ass into next week. and also i left a comment and got the sweetest and most wonderful reply, and later we were part of a zine together, and since this is a writer i've looked up to for a WHILE, it just became something special to me, cause that experience was surreal

andddd a more recent one - Orpheo Looks Back by lordy_lou on ao3. i just... again, the style blew me away, just... i was hooked on every word, and it just had this visceral quality to it, and it picks apart the pov character, scanlan, in SUCH a good way. and it goes into dreams and guilt, and then i read other things by this author, and i just kept adoring their writing style.

GOD I WROTE SO MUCH FOR THIS WHOOPS. thanks so much for the ask!!!!

#asks #essayofthoughts

[anthropwashere]

TAG: WORD FIND

Ty @faenova for the tag! My words are abrupt, key, scare, and tie! First three fics are DP, last two are FMA.

your silence is my favorite sound

scare: The routine begins again, a crackly boombox keeping aggressive pace in the far corner. She's already decided to burn it before the day is out. Her attention drifts; not for the first time she wishes they were nearer a larger city rather than dead center in yet another stretch of cookie cutter cul-de-sacs filled with cookie cutter families and their cookie cutter thoughts—if any of them can be bothered to think at all. She's tired of suburbanites gawking down their noses at her and the rest of the troupe, as if they're less for being what Freakshow made of them. She aches for excitement, for fear. She can't remember the last time she truly got to scare anyone.

making maps out of  your dreams

scare(d): {Confused,} you chitter once you're both settled. {Where? Where before? Scared. Tired.}

{Confused,} the other agrees. {Tired. Rest.}

{Where? How? You?}

{Rest,} it repeats, and elbows you. Static jumps between your green hides, sharp and startling. You both hiss pain. You snarl, daring it to try that again. In turn it makes a new sound, something—grinding. Mechanical. You think of running water, a tangy and clean smell, the ability to make that sound via the flick of an innocuous switch. You have no idea what any of that means. You're pretty sure in this context the noise the other's making is supposed to be laughter. Let it laugh. You know by the tightness gathered at its red eyes that it's as scared as you are.

You curl in on yourself and try to remember the meaning of sleep.

some say we’ll see armageddon soon

abrupt(ly): Better late than never he falls through the apartment before the ghost can sink its huge horsey teeth into him again, swooping through somebody's living room and out a window to land a solid punch to the back of its head. He regrets it immediately. Sure, it sounds like the ghost doesn't appreciate getting clocked at something like 60 miles per hour by a guy strong enough to dent steel, but he also earned himself another shock for his effort. It's pure luck his abruptly clamping teeth don't bite his tongue in half.

The ghost peels off, whinnying furiously. Danny doesn't hit the sidewalk four stories below by dint of sheer stubbornness. He groans, residual tremors leaving him feeling nearly as weak as a hit from the stupidly-named Plasmius Maximus. He has to look at his hands to check he hasn't reverted back. It's not even much of a relief to see white gloves instead of human hands; he still has to beat this asshole.

i’m still, still dreaming magnificent things

abrupt(ly): “It’s no different from a child who hides the sheets after he wets the bed,” Dad continues mildly. There’s no anger in his voice, only disappointment. It’s somehow so much worse. “You were running away.”

“Stop it,” Alphonse pleads. “Don’t—”

Ed loses what little restraint he had. Ed screams. “What would you know?! You're the one who left us! You've got no right—!"

And just as abruptly, Ed breaks off, face twisting in some miserable mix of fury and grief as he spins on his heel, making a beeline for the cemetery's entrance.

Alphonse jumps in front of Dad the moment he sees his mouth open to call after Ed. "Leave it alone. Please, Dad, don't push him—"

your head will lie in dust

abrupt:  “Damn,” Zampano mutters. “I got it,” Ed says, and claps his hands. 

Hohenheim hauls Zampano back as hungry tongues of red light lash out from Ed's feet, deconstructing without bias, reconstructing with shocking speed. The different materials smear and tangle with one another to create a clear path, abstract and abrupt, scaly with transmutation marks sharp enough to cut. Concrete and steel melt, waxlike, into each other. Blue uniform fabric is pinned in place by rivets of yellow bone. Pink muscle ribbons through soft organ meat and polished boot leather. Pale fluids streak down the walls as the transmutation light dies out. The sudden sunlight is blinding after long minutes in near-darkness.

“Damn,” Zampano mutters again, far more shaken.

key: Nazeri cackles. So much for avoiding civil war. Just imagine!

Hohenheim smiles to himself, slotting Lan Fan’s arm into its port and reaching for the hex key he needs to connect the nerves. They’ll just have to wait and see how well Ling Yao and Greed share the throne, won’t they?

O God, Nur groans. Anything but that.

scare: Mei Chang finds him here. She is small, young, fragile. Twelve years old? Thirteen? Only a little younger than his boys, and all alone in this vast and echoing wasteland. “Are you all right?”

He smiles, because that’s what people are supposed to do when someone is concerned; reassure and lie in order to placate social norms. “I’m fine, thank you.”

She eyes him, fidgeting. Thoughts weigh down her shoulders.

You make her nervous, Hohenheim, Shahzad says, delighted.

Rostami laughs. Scare her out of her wits, I think. The other two have been gossiping.

And she’s the only alkahestrist of the lot, Samad adds. You remember how those dusty scholars prettied up your life into neat fables. She must be so disappointed to meet the great Sage himself and have him turn out to be you.

tie: It’s evening now, and [redacted] have been given rooms near the makeshift infirmary. They’ve both recovered from [redacted], at least enough that they no longer stumble or slur, but they’re too exhausted to keep their eyes open. Hohenheim can only imagine what it must be like for them, reconciling how cavernous a body is with only one soul rattling around inside it. How well did he tie their souls to their flesh, their minds to their brains? Do their own thoughts echo out in those empty spaces he didn’t heal right?

Only time will tell.

=

I tag @kinglazrus, @x-rainflame-x, @thephilosophersapprentice, @presumenothing, and @zombiemerlin!

#my writing #danny phantom #fma #magnificent things #your head will lie in dust #i always wonder what these tag games read like without context

[snelbz]

Life As We Know It {Chapter 17}

Summary: After the sudden deaths of Nesta’s sister and Cassian’s best friend, they gain guardianship of their nephew, Nyx.

Based on Life As We Know It (2010) and a prompt sent in by anonymous for our Nessian fanfic contest. This is a modern au.

Instead of doing a tag list for this story, we have decided to have a set posting schedule. Chapters will be posted weekly on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays. Occasional surprise chapters could be posted at miscellaneous times. Chapters will be posted on both my and Tara’s blogs! >> @tacmc.​

Life As We Know It Masterlist

Shelby’s Masterlist

Tara’s Masterlist

It had been a long day.

They hadn’t done jack shit, but a long day nonetheless, thanks to the run in with Tomas.

After eating lunch, Cassian had taken Nyx out to the pool, letting him float around in his little inner tube and splash in the water. He kept a close eye on him and he wasn’t sure he’d heard so many giggles from the little dude in months.

Not even fifteen minutes after they’d come out, Nesta decided to join them, though it wasn’t to play and splash like Nyx. No, she brought a book hat, and tanning oil, but Nyx squealed his delight when he saw her regardless.

After some goading and thinly veiled threats to splash her smutty book if she didn’t get in, Nesta relented and Nyx had the time of his life.

Until he got chlorine in his eye and had a meltdown.

Just like that, pool time was over, and after taking him inside and getting changed, Cassian was lounging on the couch while Nyx played on the floor.

Nesta started up the stairs and said, “I think I’m going to take a bath. Relax from…earlier.”

From that piece of shit Tomas and the things he’d said. Cassian wished he’d of at least said something, but he most wished he’d have throttled him.

Cassian simply nodded and Nesta was off, hurrying up the stairs and shimmying out of her bikini once she closed herself inside of the master bathroom.

She hadn’t been in the warm water with her eyes closed for five minutes before a horrid sound came from downstairs.

One word screamed at the top of Cassian’s lungs, her name.

“NESTA!”

For a moment, she thought she had imagined it. But, then he screamed again.

“NESTA!”

She shot up in the tub and was about to yell back, when she heard, “COME QUICK!”

Panic rose in the pit of her stomach as she jumped out of the tub and wrapped a towel around her wet body as she threw open the bathroom door. “I’m coming! I’m coming! What happened?! What’s wrong?!”

“Come on, come on, come on!” Cassian yelled, but it wasn’t fear in his voice - only excitement. “Hurry, before you miss him!”

Nesta rounded the top of the stairs, and froze. A few feet in front of Cassian, on his own two feet, was Nyx, taking slow, steady steps toward his uncle.

Her feet carried her down the stairs in a flash and she was next to Cassian, on her knees, just like he was. At the appearance of his aunt, he grinned, those angelic cheeks rounding out and reached for her.

And he tumbled down.

“Shit,” Cassian muttered and lifted him back onto his unsteady feet, praying they weren’t about to have more tears. But the dark blue eyes that gazed up at him were not tear-filled, just wide and curious as always.

Taking a few more tentative steps, he reached them, leaning into Cassian, but a hand reaching out to take Nesta’s as he animatedly spoke in his own baby language.

“Good job, bubba,” Nesta cried, hoisting him up into her arms and crushing him in a hug. “Such a big boy.”

Nyx giggled and wiggled to be put down.

He wasn’t done just yet.

His feet hit the ground and he was off. He walked from Nesta to Cassian then back again. Every time he fell down, he got right back up and kept on moving.

“Look at you go, buddy,” Cassian laughed, catching Nyx as he made it to him.

“Think he’ll sleep good tonight?” Nesta asked, watching them both with a smile on her face.

“I hope so,” he chuckled, letting Nyx pat him on the face, grinning up at him.

He meandered back across the room, plopping down at his toys and began playing again.

“And I guess we’re done with that,” he laughed, standing up and shaking his head. “He finally walked.”

“Sixteen months,” she sighed, propping a hip on the side of the couch. “I was starting to think he’d never do it.”

“Me either,” he said, sitting down. He glanced up at her—and froze.

He’d completely forgotten she was wearing nothing but a towel.

“Didn’t we have a rule about coming down here nude?” Cassian asked, under his breath.

Nesta’s eyes darted to his. “Pardon?”

His eyebrows raised and he gestured to her towel, and Nesta looked down, as if she had completely forgotten that she was wearing it, too. “Oh, shit, sorry. I was in such a hurry to come downstairs-.”

“I mean, I don’t blame you-.”

“I could’ve put on something-.”

“I was screaming your name-.”

“Screaming my name,” Nesta repeated, her cheeks heating. Last time Cassian had screamed her name, it had been under very, very different context.

Although, she had been wearing little to nothing then, too.

The memories flashed through her mind, and from the way Cassian was watching her, she assumed that they were flashing through his, too.

She watched as his throat bobbed and his eyes left hers, dragging down her body as if he couldn’t stop himself. He met her gaze again and she felt her cheeks heating. Her cheeks, her ears, her neck, her entire body heated under that gaze.

“I’m going to…” She hooked a thumb over her shoulder, towards the stairs. “Finish my bath, I guess.”

“Right,” Cassian replied, his eyes still on her. “I’ll put him down in just a few minutes.”

She glanced over at the baby as she backed up toward the stairs. Nyx was indeed starting to rub his eyes, and noticing Nesta’s attention on him, he yawned and reached for her.

Before she could cross the room, Cassian was on his feet and picking Nyx up.

“I can take him,” she protested, but he shook his head, not looking at her.

“You go relax. I’ve got him.”

Nesta cleared her throat and nodded, convincing herself to say nothing more as she hurried up the stairs, clinging to her towel.

She settled back into the bath, even though the water had chilled.

She couldn’t control her breathing.

She thought of that time when he’d caught her in the bath before, right after they had moved in, when he caught her doing intimate things with herself, alone.

Then she thought of the immense amount of pleasure that he’d given her, and how nothing and no one had ever compared to it.

Her heart began to beat a little bit faster, and a throbbing formed between her thighs.

She wondered if Cassian ever caught himself thinking about it, if he ever wanted to do it again.

Judging by the look in his eyes downstairs, the intense way he had been watching her…

Nesta pulled herself out of the tub.

She dressed and pulled her hair into a ponytail atop her head, but couldn’t decide if going downstairs would be a good or bad idea. She couldn’t decide if being around him right now was a smart decision, not when the thoughts in her head were so distracting she couldn’t even focus on the laundry she had neglected to fold for a few days.

Her phone vibrated where she’d plugged it in on her nightstand and Balthazar’s name lit up the screen.

That was another reason she couldn’t allow herself to entertain the thoughts constantly running through her head. She and Bal weren’t in a relationship, they were in no way exclusive and hadn’t had that conversation, but Nesta wasn’t the type to date—or in this case, sleep with—two men at once.

She could hear Cassian down in the living room again, no doubt cleaning up Nyx’s toys and settling down with a beer. She wanted to join him, wanted to curl up on the other side if the couch with a glass of wine and listen to him commentate whatever stupid show or game he was watching.

But she knew that wasn’t a good idea.

So she laid down on her bed, grabbed the book from her nightstand, and read until all of those emotions that Cassian made her feel faded into the back of her mind where she told them to stay.

*

The next morning, Cassian was on Nyx duty. Since he had the day off, the nanny didn’t have to come, which meant bro time.

First, they went for a jog along the Sidra where both Nyx and Cassian got their fair share of looks from the ladies. Turns out a cute kid was a great way to gain the attention of beautiful women.

On the way back home, Cassian decided to make a detour for some lunch, and ended up pushing the jogging stroller right into Nesta’s restaurant.

He knew where it was, and knew that Nesta was a damn good cook, but somehow, he hadn’t visited the restaurant in the over four months they’d been living together.

It was packed, to absolutely no surprise and when he walked in, he was greeted by an amazing array of delicious smells. Quickly realizing the stroller was going to be a hindrance, he parked it in the corner by the door and held Nyx as he made his way into one of the sitting areas.

“It’s open seating, so please, sit where you like.”

Cassian turned as a deep voice spoke from behind him. The man was watching him, and when he turned, his eyes fell on Nyx. Recognition lit them up for a moment, Nesta having brought Nyx into the restaurant more than once.

“Thanks. Is Nesta free?”

“Last I saw, she was helping out in the kitchen, but I’ll check. Take a seat and I’ll be back.”

Cassian nodded and the man was gone, disappearing through a swinging door to the back.

Indeed, Nesta was manning the grill, an assortment of sandwiches, meats, pancakes and other items sizzling around her. She was reading order tickets and communicating with her line cooks, and everything was exactly as it should be.

Until Helion was leaning on the wall next to her.

She groaned. “Tell me it’s not the lady who claims to find a hair in her food every time she’s here.”

The patron in question was in the dining room, a brunch buffet spread out before her and her friends. Her curly, red hair was piled on top of her head and without fail, she always seemed to find a lone, red, curling hair in her dishes, no matter what she ate and who was in the kitchen. Even though Nesta had no one in her employment with curly, red hair.

“Oh, no,” Helion said, his smirk growing. “There’s a handsome man out front asking for you.”

Balthazar.

Nesta groaned. Even though she didn’t mean to. “Let him know I’m busy, but I’ll be out in just a minute.”

“It’s not him,” he replied, practically singing the words. “This one has a very cute baby with him.”

She was moving before he’d finished speaking, hollering at one of her cooks to take up her place on the line.

When she went into the dining room, Cassian was sitting in a booth, Nyx in a high chair at the end of the table next to him.

“What a pleasant surprise,” Nesta crooned as she approached.

Nyx’s head whipped around at the familiar voice as Cassian looked up from his menu. Nesta was lifting Nyx out of the high chair when Cassian said, “We were out and about. Someone was hungry.”

Nesta chuckled. “Was that someone you or the baby?”

“Fine,” Cassian said, grinning. “Two someones were hungry.”

Nesta snorted as she kissed Nyx’s cheek. “Couldn't have cleaned up before coming in here?” She asked, nodding to Cassian’s damp t-shirt.

He shrugged his shoulder. “This was on the way home. You should be glad we graced you with our presence.”

“Right,” she laughed softly, sitting Nyx back in the high chair and buckling him in. “Any idea what you want?”

He was flipping through the menu, and honestly, every damn thing he saw looked delicious. He smiled up at her. “Surprise us. I can’t choose.”

Smirking, she took his menu and said, “Chicken livers and brussel sprouts, coming right up.”

He rolled his eyes as she walked away, but she entered their order into the system and returned to the table, sitting down in the empty booth seat across from him.

“He have a good morning?” She asked, holding Nyx’s outstretched hand and letting him grip her thumb. He shook her hand as hard as he could and grinned up at her, babbling excitedly.

“Aside from the blow out he had this morning, I’d say so. Which he found very amusing that I had to clean up” Cassian chuckled, rolling his eyes. “This is the only kid who laughs while he’s covered in shit, I swear.”

Nesta shook her head, laughing softly.

Cassian took the chance to look around. “This place is great, Nes. The only thing it’s missing is a bar.”

Nesta looked around with him and nodded. “I’ve thought about it quite a bit. Don’t wanna mess with licensing. I’ve already got too much on my plate around here.”

Cassian cocked his head to the side. “You just gotta get someone to run the bar, that’s all. You don’t have to do everything on your own, you know.”

Nesta looked back to Cassian. “Someone like you?”

“Handsome, smart, with a high knowledge of what it takes to run a bar?” He asked. “Yeah, someone like me.”

She narrowed her eyes and nudged his shin with the toe of her shoe. “Don’t get too cocky. If you decide to leave your bar and want a new project… Sure, I’ll add a bar.”

Cassian blinked. “I can’t tell if you’re messing with me or not.”

Nesta shook her head. “I’m always serious.”

“At one time, I thought that was true,” Cassian muttered.

His shin got another nudge.

“I’m serious,” she repeated, with a quiet laugh. “Shockingly enough, you’d be one of the few people I trust to let into my management.”

He stayed quiet for a minute, long enough that she glanced at him from where she’d been looking at Nyx. He was chewing on his bottom lip and she had to physically restrain herself from reaching over and working it out from between his teeth. Feeling her attention on him, he looked at her, and said, “We’ll talk about it more at home, yeah?”

Nodding, Nesta replied, “Of course. But don’t just do it because I said something, I don’t want-.”

“I’ve actually been thinking about opening my own place for while,” he murmured, and then quickly added, “Not that this would be my place, it’s yours, of course. But I’ve got savings. I can help with any applications and licensing and renovations that need to be done. Not to mention, it would be an investment in a growing business. That always looks good in a portfolio.”

Nesta smiled. “Like you said, we’ll talk about it at home. I’m gonna go check on your food.”

“Please do,” Cassian said, waving her away. “I’m starving.”

With a roll of her eyes, she stood up and walked toward the kitchen, shoving Cassian’s sweaty head as she walked by him.

Helion was waiting by the kitchen doors. “Flirting, how cute. It’s like watching two horny teenagers.”

“Fuck off,” Nesta muttered.

Helion only grinned and followed her into the kitchen. “Admit it. You’ve got the hots for hot uncle.”

“I can fire you, you know,” Nesta said.

“You wouldn’t,” he said, right on her heels. “You’d be bored to death here without me.”

She didn’t need to bother telling him he was right. On either front.

*

Nesta was beat by the time she got off. It was an effort of will to make it home before she fell asleep, but as she parked her car in the driveway, she nearly sighed in relief. Cassian had said he’d handle dinner, so she knew that a glass of wine—and hopefully, an uninterrupted bath—was in her future.

She hadn’t expected to find Cassian on his hands and knees as soon as she came in the door.

He looked up at her, eyes wide and said, “Uh, hey. You’re home.”

“I am,” she replied, chuckling. “What are you doing?”

He hesitated before saying, “Playing hide and seek with Nyx.”

Nesta blinked. “Hide and-? Cassian, he’s one.”

“I left him on the floor with his toys and I went into the kitchen for thirty seconds to check on dinner,” he said, standing up.

She waited for him to go on, not understanding. And then her eyes widened. “You lost him?”

“He’s not lost,” he said, holding his hands up. “We’re playing hide and seek.”

“Cassian-.”

“He’s one, Nesta, he couldn’t have gone far-.”

“He walks now!” She cried, tossing her purse on the bench by the door and hurrying into the living room.

A giggle sounded from the other room, and they both sped around the corner where Nyx had made himself perfectly happy.

In the laundry room, Nyx sat in a pile of Nesta’s laundry, waving her underwear in the air.

As Nesta let out a relieved breath, Cassian chuckled. “Atta boy.”

Nesta whacked Cassian on the shoulder before picking Nyx up and freeing her panties from his grasp.

He immediately started crying.

“Way to take his toy away,” Cassian muttered.

Nesta shot him a look.

Cassian shrugged. “I would’ve cried, too.”

Nesta tried her best not to laugh, but failed. “You’re ridiculous.”

Cassian opened his mouth to reply, but the smoke alarm near the kitchen began to blare.

Nyx’s cries got louder and Nesta stopped Cassian, giving Nyx to him and hurried into the kitchen, pulling a pan of burnt French fries out of the oven and opened the back door and the door leading to the garage. She got a kitchen towel and was waving the smoky air away from the smoke alarm, and after a minute or two, the incessant blaring ceased.

Leaning back against the counter, she took a deep breath and looked at the doorway, finding Cassian standing there, Nyx still in his arms, though the tears had stopped. He was cringing, expecting her to start yelling any moment—.

But Nesta took one look at the charred French fries and started laughing. Deep, belly laughs that made her stomach hurt so badly she doubled over.

Cassian turned to the living room, getting Nyx set up in his playpen, and walked back into the kitchen, where Nesta was still laughing with her hands on her knees, trying to get air down.

“You find something funny, Archeron?” He asked, pausing in front of her. Even he was unable to stop the small smile on his face.

“French fries?” she asked, unable to catch her breath. “You— You burnt frozen french fries? How long have they been in there? Two hours?”

Cassian looked behind him at the clock on the stove and rubbed the back of his neck. “I like them crispy.”

“Oh, they’re crispy,” Nesta promised, straightening her back, small bouts of laughter still finding their way out. “They’re really damn crispy.”

“Shut up,” he muttered, shaking his head. He pulled a series of paper towels off the stovetop and revealed a tray of chicken nuggets and a pot of cooked broccoli. “At least I didn’t burn everything.”

“Chicken nuggets and broccoli?” she asked, her grin still wide. “Kids barely old enough to eat solids and we’re already having kid dinners?”

“Kid dinners?” Cassian repeated. “You’re lying your ass off if you’re telling me that you don’t enjoy a big ass plate of chicken nuggets.”

Nesta laughed, shaking her head. “They’re dinosaur shaped!”

“The dino ones taste better!” Cassian protested.

“We’ll see about that,” Nesta said, and just as she looked up at Cassian, she realized how close he’d stopped from her.

He couldn’t have been more than a foot away, but he felt much closer.

Nesta’s laughter died down, although that light feeling in the pit of her stomach remained.

One of his hands was braced on the counter she leaned on, and though he wasn’t caging her in, she couldn’t help but stare up at him.

“At least it’s not breakfast again,” she murmured, noting the way he was staring at her, too.

“You’ve never complained about my breakfast,” he said, swallowing roughly.

She tracked the way his Adam’s Apple bobbed. “Well, you’ve never burnt it, so.”

The corner of his mouth twitched and she knew he was trying his hardest not to smile. He opened his mouth to reply, but Nyx started talking from the other room, babbling and nonsense and baby language reaching them.

Cassian seemed to realize how close he stood to her and backed up a step, clearing his throat. “If you want to grab him, I’ll put some fresh fries in the oven.”

Nodding, Nesta said, “Yeah, of course.”

“I’m making them crispy, though,” he said, as she left.

Nesta snorted as she shook her head and lifted Nyx out of his pack n play. “Your uncle is nuts. Yes, he is.”

Nyx’s grin melted Nesta’s heart.

Forty minutes later, once the french fries were sufficiently crispy, the three of them were sitting at the table, eating dinner. Nesta didn’t mind it, not one bit, the fact that they sat there every night and ate together.

It was almost as if they were a family.

An odd, dysfunctional, interestingly beautiful family.

#snacmc lawki #snacmc collabs #life as we know it #lawki #snelbz tacmc collab #nessian #nesta archeron #cassian #acotar #acomaf #acowar #acofas #acosf

[soupthatistohot]

Sk8 headcannons because brainrot pt. 2

- everything Reki has ever taught himself has been because of the wonderful world of YouTube tutorials

- Kojiro wanted to get his ears pierced in highschool like Kaoru, but he didn't do it because he was afraid of tarnishing his image (which is ironic when he gets a massive tattoo later in life)

- Langa doesn't like cats because he thinks they're mean

- there’s a stray cat that lives near Langa’s house and even though he doesn’t like cats, he leaves out milk and some fish for it sometimes because he feels bad

- Langa has never had a pet except a goldfish he won at a carnival once that he managed to keep alive for four years somehow.

- Kaoru technically needed glasses in high school, but he didn't wear them because he just didn't care at the time (until his vision grew poor enough that it affected his skating)

- Miya gets called a furry by Reki on the daily

- Reki has some knowledge in video editing and has considered starting a YouTube channel

- Langa has a diary, something he started after his father died. At first he didn't really know what to write, so he would just talk about his day, but eventually he got to the emotions part. The diary was especially useful during his fight with Reki in which he was trying to figure out his emotions (it was also useful when he realized he might have an itty bitty crush on his best friend)

- Joe is the biggest dad friend of the group in terms of doting on the kids and giving advice and stuff. Both Reki and Langa come to him often for advice, and Miya hangs around his restaurant a lot.

- Langa has one (1) succulent that he has managed to keep alive for three years. Its name is Gary, and it may not be the prettiest, but it is not dead yet!

- Reki never tells his mother when Langa is coming over and she's trained herself to just expect a lanky Canadian to be wandering around her house at any time.

- It took Kojiro a really long time to figure out his sexuality (and that's valid!!)

- Hiromi has been hopelessly in love with his manager for three years and has tried on multiple occasions to confess to her, but either something interrupts them or there's some sort of misunderstanding about it. Those are his more violent nights at "S".

- After befriending Reki, Langa and Miya, Hiromi is a little more careful about his tools of sabotage during beefs (and he lowkey feels guilty for injuring Reki in the beginning)

- Kaoru and Reki are actually closer than one might think. Reki ends up asking him for advice just as much as he asks Kojiro.

- Reki can't do something mundane without his ears being occupied. He ends up listening to music or podcasts a lot when he does chores or is working on a board alone (but if Langa is there with him, he'll talk his ear off instead).

- Miya's family isn't particularly bad, they're just a little distant. They assume everything is okay because Miya's so successful with school and skating, and they trust his integrity (which makes it very easy for him to sneak out to "S"). He doesn't really talk to them (or anyone, really) about his struggles.

- When Miya and Koyomi meet, he shows her all his video games and suddenly Reki's little sister is a gamer girl

- Langa almost wore a long-sleeved top to the beach and Reki had to go make him change before they left ("you'll melt in that, are you crazy?!")

- Kojiro knew damn well that Kaoru had a business trip and that the gang was going to the beach, but all other parties were unaware. He just decided to tag along as to not be left out.

- Kaoru trims his own hair, as he finds salons to be ridiculously overpriced for those with long hair

- Reki dogsits for his next door neighbor sometimes, they have a shiba named Onigiri (rice ball).

- Kojiro’s pennant was a gift from Kaoru and he wears it literally all the time except in water (so it doesn’t get ruined)

- Reki’s father is pretty absent, so Oka takes it upon himself to look after him

- Langa occasionally picks up odd jobs in order to help his mom out with finances

- Langa’s favorite animal is dolphins. He had a phase as a child where he read like fifty dolphin books and it was his entire personality for a few months. Despite this, he has never actually seen a dolphin irl

- Reki takes really good care of his nails and Langa… does not. He bites them and it annoys the shit out of Reki to the point where he’s just like “please… just let me file them for you” and Langa relents despite the fact that he hates the sensation of getting his nails filed

- Reki sometimes talks to Langa about getting depressed and one time Langa is like “yeah I getchu” and Reki is just like “heh?” And Langa says “I mean my dad died and I was in counseling for like months after that before I came here” and Reki is just like “oh”

- Langa is Reki’s bi awakening and it takes him a hot second to figure that out

- sometimes Langa pretends to be more oblivious than he is, either for shits and giggles, or to obtain information

- Kaoru knows exactly how to seduce women, and occasionally uses this to his advantage. It just sucks because he’s not into women.

- Reki is super observant, but whenever Langa does something that’s an indication that he likes Reki, he’s just like “WELL MAYBE IM OVERANALYZING THIS CANT BE REAL-”

- Langa (in general) doesn’t feel the need to be super secretive about anything. He’s honest (sometimes brutally so) and doesn’t always think twice before he says something. This can be both good and bad depending on the context.

- Reki doesn’t sleep a lot. He literally has to go to bed past midnight, he absolutely cannot fall asleep earlier. He gets up at 6:30am every day of the week, even weekends. It’s just how he’s programmed.

- Kojiro used to go to the public gym before Kaoru commented about how unsanitary that was. Ever since then he got freaked out about going to public gyms (especially as someone who works in food services) and cancelled his membership. He bought his own equipment and works out on his own now

- Reki knows how to do rainbow loom. His sisters had a phase with it.

- Kojiro drew on himself with pen when he was bored in school.

- Miya has a habit of eavesdropping on conversations he’s not meant to hear

#sk8 the infinity #sk8 anime #sk8 renga #matchablossom #reki kyan #langa hasegawa #miya chinen #higa hiromi #kojiro nanjo #kaoru sakurayashiki #sk8 headcanons #soupshcs

[uppastthejelliclemoon]

Bring Him Home

this is completely @hufferysnuffery's fault bc they sent me a video of Kristin Chenoweth singing "Bring Him Home" from Les Mis and i started fully sobbing so yeah here also i recommend listening to the video while reading this because it’ll hurt you

background context: Antoinette has reunited with Quasi in I'm Here, and is now finding himself questioning his position amongst Macavity's ranks. Thankfully, Garbo is there to help him through his struggle and help him realize what he must do.

also tagging: @storyweaverofgondor @queen-with-the-quill @the-metaphorical-jellicle-cat @is-it-mungojerry-or-rumpelteazer

"Tomorrow."

Quasi's soft voice floated after Antoinette as the sleek ragdoll left the Junkyard, leaving him smiling like a lovestruck fool as he darted through the shadows and kept out of sight of any unwanted eyes.

Quasi, his infuriating, wonderful One-Eye, was alive, and he was happy. Happier than he had ever been before.

Antoinette… would never be that happy.

The young tom froze in the middle of the sidewalk as the realization hit him.

Quasi was happy. Quasi had a family, a safe space.

Antoinette was alone. He was alone, but he wanted to be with Quasi. He wanted to wake up feeling safe and comfortable, without the fear of being punished with magic, without the danger of losing a limb or an eye.

Would he ever be able to have that?

Antoinette began walking towards the theater, his mind racing with two choices.

He was in deep with Macavity’s crew. He owed the Mystery Cat his life, that was for sure, but so did Quasi, so did Mungojerrie, so did Rumpleteazer. But they escaped, and were happier for it. Antoinette knew that if he stayed with Macavity, his life would be a never-ending game of chess, keeping up his role as a henchcat while also seeing Quasi.

If he left Macavity’s crew, which he so desperately wanted to do, he knew that he would spend the entirety of the rest of his life in fear, constantly looking over his shoulder, keeping a distance from the cat he loved, always searching for glowing yellow eyes in the shadows and the feel of lightning through his body.

“Antoinette?”

The ragdoll’s head snapped up, finding that while he had been thinking deeply, he had reached the theater, and that on the steps of the familiar building sat a Persian queen, watching him with worry in her eyes.

“Evening, Tante.” Antoinette tried giving her a smile, but it looked more like a pained grimace.

Garbo looked over the young tom, noting his weariness. “You’re not usually out this late, gamin.”

Antoinette shrugged, moving towards the old queen as she stood and stretched. “I’ve got a lot on my mind.”

“Come along, dear boy.” Garbo urged quietly, walking into the theater towards the small den she shared with Gus. “My amour is out for the evening, so it’s just the two of us.”

The two cats entered the small alcove, which had been covered in squishy pillows and warm blankets, all donations from devoted theatergoers who adored the old cats who frequented their building. Garbo settled into one of her favorite pillows, and beckoned Antoinette over. The young tom immediately curled into her side, and she wrapped her tail around him, surrounding him in motherly affection and warmth.

That was all it took for the fragile hold Antoinette had on his emotions to shatter, and he buried his face in Garbo’s fur, shaking as tears soaked his fur.

“I’m terrified, Tante.” He managed to gasp out.

Garbo lifted her paw, gently pulling the tom closer, and nuzzling the top of his head. “Why, mon petit?” Antoinette couldn’t speak, pressing himself against his mother figure. “Is it Macavity?” That got the ragdoll’s attention, making him flinch, and Garbo gave his hidden face a soft smile. “Antoinette, that cat has had you in his claws for far too long.”

“I don’t know how to leave.” Antoinette whispered, nuzzling Garbo to comfort himself. “I want to leave, and I want to be with Quasi, but I don’t know how.” He pulled away, meeting Garbo’s warm gaze with his fearful one. “I can’t put him in danger, he’s finally happy! He’s got a new family, and if I leave to be with him… Macavity will hunt down all of them.”

“Macavity has been trying to hurt the Jellicles for much longer than you have known them, gamin.” Garbo said, an echo of a memory in her eyes. “But I understand. Love is a powerful emotion, Antoinette, and it can drive cats to do things they thought themselves incapable of.” She began to gently groom his fur, the soothing action beginning to calm the ragdoll tom. “You are going to be okay, dear boy.”

Antoinette let out a quiet sob, pressing back up against the Persian queen. “I’m so scared. I can’t do through those feelings again.” He shut his eyes tightly. “I don’t want to be alone again.”

Garbo paused her actions, and Antoinette glanced up at her as she took a bracing breath. “What memories do you have of your human?”

“What?”

“You told me that your human abandoned you after you were declawed.” Garbo continued gently as he looked at her incredulously.

“What do you remember of them?”

“Not much, I was young when they left me.” Antoinette said, unable to keep the sharp tone out of his voice. “Why?”

Garbo looked down at her paws, lost in her memories. “I remember when my human took my kitten away. For a few, brief moments, I was a mother. I had a son, and he was beautiful. When my human saw him, she decided that she did not want the responsibility of taking care of a kitten, and took him away from me.” The old queen blinked back tears, shaking her head as she looked around the small den. “My heart was broken, and my sweet Gus did his best to comfort me, but I know that I was never the same.” Her eyes fell back on Antoinette, and a secret smile appeared on her face. “But then, my human came home with a new little tom. He was the sweetest little thing, always climbing over my fur, listening to my stories, and I could always soothe him through singing.”

Antoinette couldn’t look away from the old queen, unable to speak above a hushed whisper for fear of breaking whatever spell was around them. “What happened?”

“My human wanted her cats to be perfect and docile.” Garbo said, her tone unusually harsh. “She took my little tom away, and when she returned him to me, his claws were gone, and a few days later… so was he.”

“Tante…” Antoinette’s voice was shaking as the realization hit him.

Garbo pulled the young tom back against her, and Antoinette curled into her like a kitten, fresh tears in both their eyes as she spoke. “We may not be related by blood, Antoinette, but you are my son. I made a promise to myself years ago that I would do anything to protect my family, and I will stand by that promise.” She rubbed her forehead against his, her voice gentle, but firm as Antoinette drank in the love that radiated off of Garbo. “I can see how much that boy means to you, my sweet darling, and I will help you get back to him.”

The tom let out a disbelieving, shaking laugh. “How?”

“What is one of the stories I always told you?” Garbo asked, raising an eyebrow. Antoinette went back into his memories, reaching for the furthest ones, for the ones that held a warmth that he had forgotten, and a soft voice that lulled him to sleep, whispering stories of a tragic romance and rivalries. His eyes slowly widened, and Garbo nodded, knowing that he understood. “I will help you, mon petit.”

“Are you sure faking my death will work?” Antoinette asked, disbelieving, but there was hope behind his tone.

Garbo nodded, brushing her nose against his cheek. “We will make it look convincing. But I suggest getting a message to your Quasi so we do not have a situation like those humans, yes?”

Antoinette nodded and took a deep breath, the pair beginning to stand. “I’ll come back in a few days. I have to make sure no one saw me with him in the Junkyard.” The two cats walked back towards the entrance of the theater, and before he walked off, Antoinette nuzzled Garbo with a soft, content purr. “Goodnight, Maman.”

“Be careful.” Garbo called softly as he walked away. She blinked away tears as she watched him disappear around the corner, and turned her gaze up to the moon, which shone brightly above the theater. “Everlasting Cat, please, please hear me and answer. You have blessed me with my Gus, and with Asparagus, and then you have blessed me with my Antoinette. Give him strength.” The queen let out a shuddering breath. “I am an old queen, I have lived my life, and I will be gone soon. If I die, let me die. But let my sweet Antoinette live.” Garbo let out the sob that had been building as she thought of her son fighting on his own. “Bring him home. I beg you, bring him home.”

#it's fine i'm fine i'm emotionally destroyed but it's okay #antoinette #garbo the prima donna queen #quasi the henchcat #macavity #cats the musical #les miserables #mentions of violence #liv’s writing corner

[gilears]

for you my darling jamie: 3, 9, 19, 21, 22 (👀), 28, 29, and 33!! <3

THANK U MY DARLING SAV!!!!!!

3. How would you describe your writing style?

all over the place tbh!!!!!! i feel like i can very much be a writing style chameleon based on what the vibe of a piece needs, but i def gravitate to either silly goofy writing with lots of unnecessary asides (like lola fic or my reddie fake married disaster fic) OR like. insane ominous overly verbose dread hours (like o&t<3)

9. Thoughts on cliffhangers.

harrowing!!!!! what if the author never updates again???? i dont ever post chapter fics until ive finished or almost finished the entire thing for this reason, i dont want anyone to hurt the way ive been hurt

19. Share a snippet from a wip without giving any context for it.

“Ah, it’s rather smoky—Kristen, did you make cheese crackers? Is that why you—” He cuts himself off, looking genuinely touched at the idea that Kristen would go out of her way to make him his favourite snack, just the way he likes it (burnt).

She’s not sure how she feels about crushing the hopes of a man who’s had his hopes crushed so many times before, so she decides to just rip off the bandaid. “No, your kitchen’s on fire.”

Gilear’s eyes widen, and he takes one more step out of the hallway to where he can see the kitchen, the yells, “Ahhhh! My kitchen is on fire!”

“Great listening skills,” Riz mutters under his breath.

21. Can you accurately predict how long your fics are going to be? If you can, what’s your secret?

yeah for the most part i can! ive been writing fic for 8 years now (omg) so ive kinda just developed a sense for how long a particular idea will take me. i think it helps a lot that im a pretty heavy outliner, and i typically dont start writing something unless ive got most of the plot figured out

but whenever im wrong about a wc its always that i end up being way over. i have cant shut up disease and its terminal

22. What is it about watching the same two idiots falling in love over and over again?

djkglhbsdlj;ghsdfg woowwww i wonder what ship that eyes emoji is for sav!!!! tbh idk if i have a solid answer for this question! sometimes a dynamic just Grips you and youre like holy shit i have to read and think about these people interacting for the next 5-10 business days straight. when i figure it out ill let you know

28. Any writing advice that works for you and you feel like sharing?

yes! i think you should write whatever makes you happy to write because that will make you love writing more, which will make you write more, which will make you be a better writer. early 2021 i decided i wanted to write more stupid goofy shit and i had SUCH a blast writing it it made me wanna write more stupid goofy shit and i had so much fun writing stupid goofy shit i stopped caring about what would get the most hits/kudos/attention/whatever

also i think the secret to not giving a shit is having friends that are also writers. all my closest friends in fandom have been writers and when u can have people to go to who will Get and celebrate your work no matter what? game changer!!!!! opens up a whole world of possibilities like, "hey, what if i wrote this niche rarepair fic with my friend but its in second person and also the ship only has like 2 fics in their tag and also what if we wrote it in one night?" and then u have SO much doing it and dont even bother to check stats bc u already feel so fulfilled for having created it!!!! and also u and ur friend are so much closer now for it!!!

tldr put on some fun music, do a little dance, tell urself "who give a shit" and write whatever the fuck makes u happy

29. What’s the hardest thing about writing?

writing 💔

33. Give your writing a compliment.

aw this one is cute. mmmm i think im pretty good at capturing specific character voices/cadences/vocabulary in dialogue!!! 🥰

send a number for fic writer asks!

#this got so long JLHKFDKG #lova uu #grasslandgirl #ask

[steviesays]

July Fic Recs

*walks in 3 days late with starbucks*

The Closed Circle by hmmingbird - complete

Fandom: FMA:B

I travelled all the way to ffn for this one and boy was it worth it !!!! its a royai get together after the promised day where they’re like ..... kind of already together but they’re not on the same page and the TENSION

Rencounter with a Lady Writer by Eissel - complete

Fandom: FMA:B

It’s an AU where Roy and Riza are an artist and writer (respectively) and it was so !!! fucking !!! cute !!! they’re in LOVE but they cant SAY IT because they’re not NORMAL !!!! anyway I really liked the rest of this author’s royai week works as well - I didn’t understand what was happening in most of them but damn did the writing keep me hooked

Controlled Burn by @okiedoketm - in progress

Fandom: FMA:B

Roy/Riza and Ed/Al are age swapped in this fic so Ed and Al are in the military and Roy and Riza are children making horrible alchemy decisions!! I’m so excited to see where this one is going

i’d meet you where the spirit meets the bones by @lantur - complete

Fandom: FMA:B

I know this one is complete but I want more from this AU so bad !!!!!!! its a modern AU where Roy is VP of the US and Riza is his chief of staff - its a long one shot thats mostly a character study and I really love how it was written

also extra points for the ivy lyrics in the title :)

To Withstand the Force of Storms by Pininfarina - complete

Fandom: FMA:B

so I don’t usually ship Olivier/Riza but this one hooked me - it also helps that there is a good amount of royai pining! I saw too much of myself in disaster bisexual Riza

hold your hand out in the dark by @bringingglory - complete

Fandom: FMA:B

So this one is mainly focused on Roy’s trauma from the Promised Day and how Riza helps him through it - I LOVE how it was done, just so well written and the introspection was incredible!!!

Heatstroke by mar_b - complete

Fandom: FMA:B

Its basically just Roy and Riza arguing and then they make out ajldshdhk which I personally very much enjoyed - i’ve actually noticed that its quite hard to do a short simple argument fic like this where the tension is clear and doesn’t feel forced without a good amount of context but this one is done so incredibly !!!!

also please read everything else this author has written as well they’re incredible and it took me a good amount of time to choose my favorite to rec for this list!

when a flower grows wild by @megthemighty - complete

Fandom: FMA:B

pls .... this one was so soft I literally started crying ......... I love young royai SO! MUCH! this fic is short and sweet and perfect ok please read it

an almost madness, a decisive mistake by yourendlessblue - complete

Fandom: FMA:B

when I tell you I loved this fic ...... so much ...... and need a sequel immediately ......... yourendlessblue has done it again !!!!! This one is a college AU where Roy is a chess champion and him and Riza have a hot one night stand after a game of strip chess - if that’s not a perfect storyline for these characters then idk what is

But Monsters Are Always Hungry, Darling by @iruutciv and @orchids-and-fictional-cities - in progress

Fandom: Yuri!!! On Ice

now if I didn’t save the best for last :))))))) this truly is the end all be all of victuuri fics. this isn’t just a fic, its a lifestyle, a reason for living, the air I breathe, this fic ???? saved my life on more than one occasion - I can’t even describe the serotonin rush that courses through my body every time I see that this fic has updated its THAT good !!!!!! Its a noir AU - thats all I have to say go read it RIGHT NOW

I’m so glad I was able to pull this list together, even if it was a few days late - I really enjoy going over what I’ve read for the last month and remembering how much I loved them - with how hectic my life has been the last few weeks, reading is really one of my biggest sources of joy and I’m so grateful to all the wonderful authors you guys see on these lists every month! If you noticed I didn’t tag an author and you’re friends with them, please send their @ my way so I can follow them and tell them that their creations are much loved!!! I’ll see you guys again at the end of August 😗

#fic recs #also my inbox is open if you have any fic recs for me btw #I sure do love a good read #royai #victuuri #fmab #yuri on ice #yoi

[lugiepie]

Hello. I guess my first ask ever goes to you?

I found your tumblr thru looking up stuff in the male corrin tag bc:

I dabble in smash bros (read: I am effing terrible at smash bros because I just started playing a few months ago),

I recently found out that this random character is not only has DRAGON powers but also has both male and female forms, thus making me

intrigued. I am very, very intrigued about this Corrin fellow. (and I like their male form a tad more than their female form too)

So, since I saw a post that you made over two years ago about this character indicating you found out about then thru smash too, I'm wondering if you have any recommendations about finding out more about them. Because I've been looking at it for a few hours now and I'm mostly just confused.

Note: I know nothing about Fire Emblem. I'm not really attracted to anime stuff either -- the closest experience I have with it is pokemon (which I adore because of aforementioned DRAGONS and various other wonderful creatures) -- (sidebar: pursuing your tumblr for more info and seeing your various art stuffs has been an absolute pleasure. Love the sense of humor).

(Hopefully I did this asking thing right, XD)

oh my hello!!!! glad you enjoy my stuff :) always nice to know that i can make people smile

as for finding a corrin encyclopedia? that’s a loaded question- i’d say play all three routes of fe fates, but since you’re not into that stuff i’m gonna instead recommend fe warriors (the first not, not the “new hopes” one that’s coming out later). it’s a bravest warriors game just with fire emblem, and although it’s definitely got some flaws in the wake of its story, it’s overall a pretty satisfying “kill hordes of enemies” game in my opinion. the character interactions are all very genuine too, and the supports between characters are pretty funny at times. also quick note, corrin himself kinda breaks a lot of well established fire emblem rules such as a.) half dragon that can transform into a full dragon somehow b.) uses more than one plot device in his quest and c.) is generally written very inconsistently and makes very dumb decisions in context because of it, hence why a lot of people don’t like him in the fe community. i mean he is as close as you can get to a mary sue in terms of fire emblem protagonists.

honestly though, if you don’t feel like playing a whole game, just try to find blogs that have content that appeal to you. i don’t follow any corrin blogs in particular (i just follow the male corrin tag) because truth be told both the fire emblem and smash community in the west don’t have as much of a liking toward our favorite manakete as they do, say, alm or lyn. i know this sounds like a cop out answer lol but i swear curating this stuff yourself and not just going off of what a random person on the internet says is so much more enjoyable in the long run. on that note, maybe i’ll post more corrin stuff because we do be living in a desert here chief.

though, just a quick note, actual canon corrin is more of a totally submissive pacifist who is afraid of hurting people and basically everything, and the way i portray him is more like “his initial adventure from fates is already over and he learned the hard way that sometimes hurting people is an unavoidable consequence when you’re dealing with literal war”, so he instead is much more mellowed out. and a dog because i think it’s really funny to have this grown man with dragon wings and a tail jumping on counters and just causing general chaos without realizing it lmao.

and yes, there is no wrong way to do an ask :) you could’ve sent me a picture of an overflowing trash can with a raccoon in the background and i would’ve answered it in full, welcome to the hellsite that is tumblr

#ask reply #skyeramoth #long post #male corrin #yes that’s right that goes out to all the lurkers too!! #people who like corrin because he is dumb and weird rise up