lost-or-dead

[lost-or-dead]

Watching the Stranger Things 5 trailer and remembering this show isn’t actually about Steve and Eddie and Robin being queer in the 80s

[lost-or-dead]

It’s ladies night at the gay bar Eddie works at which means no men allowed, which means, ‘how the hell did this dork in a polo make it pass the bouncer and how the hell has no one complained about him yet?’

Eddie watches the admittedly gorgeous guy approach the bar and ask for a drink. Eddie responds with, “How did you get past Frank?”

“The bouncer?” Pretty boy asks. “Oh, I asked if I could come in.”

“You asked?”

“Yeah?”

“And he let you?”

“Yeahhh?”

“None of these girls are going to go for you,” Eddie tells him in case he somehow missed that this was the queerest bar in town. “They���re lesbians. They like women.”

“I know!” The guy - Steve, Eddie will find out later - smiles, bright and big. “Isn’t that great?!”

Something in Eddie curdles with disgust because, “Nice try, buddy. You’re not going to ‘turn’ a lesbian.”

“Hope not,” Steve laughs and then pulls a stack of Polaroids out of his pocket. “Look at this.”

He holds one out to Eddie, showing him the image of a girl looking done-as-shit with the camera in her face. There’s a phone number written at the bottom.

“This is Robin," Steve says fondly. “Shes my best friend, and a lesbian, and the best person I’ve ever met, and I love her…she deserves a girlfriend so I’m-“

“Advertising her?”

“Helping get her a date,” Steve finishes. “This will make a great story at their wedding.”

“That’s insane…and strangely endearing.”

“Yeah, I’m like that,” Steve says, sliding over a Polaroid of Robin giving the camera the bird. “That’s my phone number too. Just so you know.”

[lost-or-dead]

kill the imposter syndrome in your head because not only is there someone out there doing it worse than you, they’re also using chat gpt to do it

[lost-or-dead]

Gandalf & the Balrog by John Howe (1979)

[lost-or-dead]

sending illi & friends to the Big Dance…!!!

[lost-or-dead]

likethenight's Barduil fic masterpost

It's been a long time coming (mainly because I've been putting it off because there's so damn much of it how is this even my life at this point) but here, have a masterpost of everything I've written about the bi widower dads!

the series

My Heart Is An Empty Vessel: canon-'verse, featuring the dads getting together in the aftermath of the Battle of the Five Armies and featuring side-fics, flashbacks to Thranduil's youth in Doriath and an entirely canon-mangling sequel set in Valinor. (62 stories so far)

All I Want Is You: modern AU in which Bard is working as a delivery driver who keeps having to make deliveries to the reclusive owner of Greenwood Hall (and then lockdown happens). Including the daft Christmas-movie fic that nobody wanted except me. (23 stories so far)

A Kiss in the Cold and Dark: modern AU in which Bard and Thranduil knew each other as teenagers but lost touch for 30-odd years before running into each other again at a Christmas market. (14 stories so far)

Dancing In The Dark: modern AU in which Bard and Thranduil had a not-quite-a-thing in the 90s when they were both singers for relatively successful rock bands, never sorted themselves out, and find themselves on the same festival bill 30 years later. (14 stories so far)

stained glass heart: There is a legend in Dale, that somewhere deep in the forest that borders the city lives the forest king, an ancient being with a special care for archers, and for all things that grow. Bard, camping in the woods after his finals, finds a place that isn't on any maps and begins to dream of something - someone - familiar; and years later, after the heaviest loss he has ever had to bear, he goes back out there again, hoping to find something that might help him recover. (5 stories so far)

Stars and Arrows: the Oxford-college-professors-with-different-names reincarnation story, featuring a mysterious illuminated manuscript and your humble author's 25 years of archival nerdery. (2 stories so far)

the oneshots: canon-'verse

Something Magical: Thranduil thinks about magic, and glamour, and illusion, and wonders if now he is under a different kind of enchantment.

Overrun by Halflings: a somewhat cracky fic in which Rosie persuades Sam to take her and the children to the Undying Lands, some of the Elves are somewhat less than pleased, and one of them (no prizes for guessing who) has Absolutely No Room To Comment At All.

A Little Less Than Safe: Thranduil takes Bard, Sigrid and Tilda for a picnic in the forest. The sorcerer of Dol Guldur sees an opportunity to have a little fun and teach the Elvenking a lesson.

Should All The Stars Shine In The Sky: the first Midwinter celebration in Dale after the Battle of the Five Armies. Bard and Thranduil are in the thick of the festivities, Sigrid and Tauriel are stargazing on the rooftops, and there are all kinds of magic abroad on this, the longest night of the year.

Caught Like Stars: another Midwinter-in-Dale fic - Thranduil has his reasons for accepting Bard's invitation to celebrate Midwinter in Dale, but he isn't quite expecting anything that happens after he arrives.

(Not) For You: They’re not for you, the Elves, not for the likes of you, and Bard has known this all his life. But he's always been a dreamer, and after the Battle of the Five Armies his whole world has been turned on its head, and the Elvenking is being oddly open with him.

fragile/uncanny: in which the Elvenking and the Dragonslayer find that they have more in common than they realise at first.

what dark paths brought me here: Riding into the darkness of the forest, Bard wonders why he was so insistent that he go alone to ask the Elvenking for help; but it takes his mind off wondering why he can't stop thinking about the time they spent together last autumn, at least.

unanticipated, unexpected: Sigrid never expected to be in a position to actually do something about the ridiculous crush on the Prince of the Woodland Realm that she picked up during the fall of Lake-town - so Tilda and Tauriel take matters into their own hands. Otherwise known as the Sigrid/Legolas fic I never thought I'd find myself writing - the dads are a background pairing in this one.

Very Nearly A Diplomatic Incident: Dáin thinks something's going on between Bard and Thranduil. He…isn't far wrong, but they're not telling him that.

and where they dwell now none can say: there is a tale that's seldom told about two kings in days of old… (in other words, your humble author accidentally commits poetry)

On the Steps: After the battle is over, Bard finds himself talking to the Elvenking - and tending a wound.

A Very Recent Development: When Thranduil's temper gets the better of him in conversation with Dáin, he has to ask Bard to help him salvage the alliance between their three kingdoms. Perhaps inevitably, it gets complicated.

Waylaid: After the battle, Legolas is determined to get as far away from Dale as fast as he can. But when he is delayed retrieving his horse, he finds himself lingering for Tauriel's sake, and beginning to forge friendships with Bard's children - and beginning to mend fences with his father at long last. (another one where the dads are more of a background pairing)

into the darkness: Bard had only ventured into the forest to try and find something for his children to eat. But the spiders - and the Elvenking - have other ideas.

someone else's life: Bard often thought, in the months following the battle, that the world had ended, for him, on the night the dragon had come swooping down from the mountain breathing fire and flame and burned Lake-town to ashes and cinders. His home was gone, his livelihood was gone, his whole life as it had been had stopped on that awful night, and now - now he felt as though he was living someone else’s life.

the greatest treasure you could ever hope to find: A couple of weeks after the battle, Sigrid has a conversation with the Elvenking, and both of them find themselves saying rather more than they'd intended.

red: Thranduil's cloak is lined with red, the colour of blood; he is all silver, silver and red, ice and blood and a love he can no longer bear to let himself feel.

the oneshots: (mostly) modern AUs

Three Things and One Step At A Time: in which teenage boyfriends Bard and Thranduil are split up by Thranduil's abusive father and run into each other years later. Inspired by 'To Be A Father' by the lovely @fox-deer.

On Arda Street (chapter one): a tiny tattoo artist/florist AU, part of a set of AUs also including a pet shop, a coffee shop and a high school featuring other characters from the legendarium.

Metallic Red and Deep Pink: two fics set in the incomparable @scary-grace's seeking a friend for the end of the world-'verse. In a ruined, deserted mall somewhere east of Wyoming, Bard discovers that Thranduil is perfectly capable of walking in (very) high heels - and, in an abandoned motel, Thranduil tries on lipstick for the first time in a very long time.

Tonight Is For Mysteries: the retelling of the Cinderella story in which Sigrid is not the only one who finds something special at the Woodland Realm's masked ball.

A Double-Booking in Room 305 and Another Night in Room 305: Bard, checking into a hotel for a conference, finds that someone else has already checked into his room.

Once In A Lifetime and Make This Work Somehow: Bard's taken his first away-from-home acting job since his wife died and it's a huge opportunity, with the most renowned costume designer in the business working on the film. It's also an adaptation of his kids' favourite book, so...no pressure. And no need to even think about how incredibly attractive the aforementioned costume designer is, because that's not even the slightest bit relevant...

Espresso: There's a reason Bard always gets his coffee from the Lonely Mountain Roastery, every single day…

paint the sky and burn the stars: The best birthday present Bard ever had was the treehouse his da built him for his eighth birthday. Over the years it brings him his best friend, his first love, the one that got away…and then, eventually, it brings his first love back to him again.

All The Ages Of The World Alone: Thranduil never leaves the Greenwood, after the end of the time of the Elves in Middle-Earth. Gradually he fades away, drifting between the trees as a spirit…until a little lad playing in the woods catches his attention, and later, a grieving man with three children who seems to know about events he could not possibly have experienced…

Court Etiquette: (only just not-canon-'verse, this one) Thranduil is very bored at the wedding of Thorin Oakenshield and Bilbo Baggins, but then he meets the new King of Dale, who has never been to one of these events before.

business class: Bard, on his first business trip abroad since his wife died, gets an upgrade to business class, where he finds himself sitting next to someone very intriguing indeed.

on first sight: Thranduil allows himself to be talked into a blind date.

[lost-or-dead]

[lost-or-dead]

whatever needs to be said was said in iris by the goo goo dolls

[lost-or-dead]

we need to slow down a little I'm so serious. all these quick short videos on tiktok, ig reels, and youtube, artists releasing quick little songs for the trend, tv shows releasing episodes at once, people using chat gpt and google ai overview because they get answers quickly but no validation done for the source, we need to sloww downn i really do not think our brains should be running this fast

[lost-or-dead]

What people expect when I say I’m a writer: writing a whole novel

What I actually do: get into a fandom or come up with an original idea, go to sleep every night thinking of the story, make imaginary scenarios and Pinterest boards, make Spotify playlists, and finally sit down to write it out 2 months later only to get another idea and abandon the story. Repeat the cycle.

[lost-or-dead]

[lost-or-dead]

Mad about politics again

[lost-or-dead]

Stargazing with the boys

[lost-or-dead]

Well fucks? Get to it!

[lost-or-dead]

welcome to my crack au where everything was fine and nothing bad ever happened to anyone

[lost-or-dead]

The worst thing you can do, as someone who has recently realised they are transfem, is to let terves and transphobes convince you cis women will never accept you.

I was told that when I came out everyone would reject me. That I would find myself isolated from the world, and from other women especially, who would react to me with horror and revulsion.

In reality, within the first months of coming out, in no particular order:

My sister's reaction on my coming out was, "Right, so I have a sister instead of a brother. Cool. I'm taking you clothes shopping tomorrow."

A friend, when she learned I am a woman, immediately invited me to her women-only, girls-night-out birthday party the following week.

Another friend, when a friend of hers expressed doubts about my gender, immediately shut them down and reaffirmed I am a woman.

I went camping with a group of friends, and we had two tents, one for the boys and one for the girls; I was unsure as to which I should enter, to which a girl friend responded by grabbing me and physically dragging me inside the women's tent.

In the women's bathroom at a movie theatre a random woman, whom I'd never seen before and haven't seen since, stopped me as I was going into a stall, to warn me there was no toilet paper in there, because she'd just used the last of it.

All of these, and more, some from friends, some from complete strangers. All within a few months, as a trans woman who hadn't started medical transition yet, and was very visible as being a trans woman.

I've had some people reject me, true, but the vast majority, including almost all cis women, accepted me as a sister with open arms.

Cis women are cool. It's terves who are bigots.

[lost-or-dead]

Hilson post canon storyline will always be this to me:

House and Wilson's road trip lasts like a week or two. After that, Wilson has an epiphany in the middle of the night in some crummy hotel that he WANTS to live. 5 months isn't enough time to spend with his best friend, doing stupid stuff together and having fun. It's his own choice, and he realizes that he's willing to be in pain for House. (And maybe he also realizes he's gay and he doesn't want to be in denial anymore yada yada)

Wilson changes his mind (again) and the very next day decides to start treatment. House supports him completely and is both relieved and terrified. It's painful, it's scary, it's everything Wilson worried about, but House stays by his side unwaveringly the entire time. He's an honest, grounding force. After a year or two or three, Wilson finally declared cancer free, with House right alongside him ringing that bell.

House and Wilson don't "settle down" for the first few years after he gets better. they keep living their life the same way, traveling the country together and living life to the fullest, making up for all the time they lost during Wilson's treatment, and enjoying the time they've been given. Maybe one day, when they're both tired of life on the road, they buy a house together (Wilson buys the house because House is legally dead). They don't get married (that's against House's entire belief system), but all their neighbors assume they are. House somehow changes his identity and is known on all important and unimportant paperwork as "Steve McQueen."

Maybe they'll adopt a kid (a daughter because come on House and Wilson are girl dads) or get a dog, or maybe they'll just enjoy being together. Maybe Wilson and House will even find a way to reconcile with Cuddy.

And then, at some point in the now present (2024-2025 ish), they get a knock on the door. It's Foreman, who knew House was alive all along and tracked him down. There's a grave situation going on at PPTH, and he's run out of all options. He needs House to figure it out. House, at first, declines but eventually decides to help with Wilson's blessing. Boom. that's how you start the 9th season of House.