#i have quite a few snippets for this arc

[lena-in-a-red-dress]

Greys Anatomy AU-- Lillian at Seattle Grace Pt 2

As Lillian's guest stint at Seattle Grace continues, Lena does her best to avoid her mother in both the halls and the operating room, and limiting their inevitable exchanges to relaying patient information.

To her surprise, though the other interns continue to bully her, the residents actually rally behind Lena. Meredith, of course, understands the pain of an inattentive mother, and once she gets behind Lena, the others do as well. They remain courteous to Lillian, perfectly professional, but never engage beyond that.

Lena keeps increasingly to herself, rarely seeking comfort from Lexie and the residents, and never doing so at work. Still, Lexie keeps an eye on her, especially when Lillian corners Lena at the nurses station, while Lena and Lexie are updating their patients' charts.

Lena makes no move to greet her mother, not even lifting her gaze as the taller woman starts making notes in her own charts. The nurses all stare surreptitiously, but Lexie thinks she might be the only one to see the stiffness of Lena's posture.

"You'll be glad to know your brother is doing well," Lillian delivers succinctly as she scribbles notes with an elegant hand. "He's even taken over your father's role in the company. Not that you've bothered to ask."

Lena closes her chart with a snap sharp enough to make Lexie and the nurses jump. Without looking at her mother, she grinds out a terse "I have rounds" through a clenched jaw before turning on her heel and stalking away.

As the days pass, and Lena's tension and anxiety around her mother starts to build, she starts sharing more with Lexie. About her family. How her father had been a raging alcholic, and how her mother had always been brilliant, had always put her career first, and her son second. How Lena had always seemed to fall off her list of priorities.

Lena never truly blamed her, she tells Lexie one night. When her older brother was diagnosed with cancer, it made sense that Lillian's attention would be focused on Lex. She practically lived with Lex at the hospital, leaving Lena to be raised by nannies and other staff. Even when he was home, Lex's condition seemed to consume everything.

There isn't a single happy memory Lena has that isn't punctuated by Lex and his health. Piano recital? Lex's first seizure. Honor roll ceremony? Lex collapsed halfway through congratulating her, resulting in an ambulance ride to the hospital while the driver took Lena home alone.

Even when his cancer went into remission, something else always seemed to pop up in it's place. Lena can't remember a single time Lex has been healthy and pain-free. But even as she says it, a darkness creeps into Lena's voice, the tone of a secret.

"What is it?" Lexie asks.

"On my fifteenth birthday, we had dinner together, as a family. By that point, it was rare for us all to be in the same room, and I was so, so happy. No one was angry, or worried. Everything seemed like it would be all right for once."

Lexie takes Lena's hand, giving it a squeeze. "But..."

"But," Lena confirms, "right as I was about to open my first present, Lex had another seizure. It-- it was a bad one. He fell out of his chair, and hit his head on the way down."

"Oh, Lena...."

"That's not-- that was normal, by then," Lena explains with a shake of her head. "We all knew what to do. When it was over, I was holding Lex's hand while our mother called the hospital, and he..."

Lena trails off, her gaze unfocused, lost in memory. Lexie waits, letting Lena set the pace.

"He smirked at me."

Lexie blinks. "What?"

"He smirked at me," Lena repeats, so quietly it's almost a whisper. "He was usually groggy after a seizure, but before Mother returned, he looked me dead in the eye, and smirked like he had won something."

Lexie watches Lena carefully. Only one thing comes to her mind at this revelation, but she hesitates to voice it out loud. Munchausen.

"I know what you're thinking," Lena says quietly. "And the answer is, I don't know. All I know is that on that day, in that moment, Lex faked that seizure."

"Did you... talk to your mother about it?"

At that, Lena frowns, her gaze darkening. When she nods, the movement doesn't quite hide the quiver of her chin.

"She, uh..." Lena looks down into her coffee cup. "She smacked me, accused me of being selfish, and cruel for even thinking such a thing, and then just... went back to Lex's hospital room."

Lexie leans into Lena's side, offering comfort without interrupting.

"I didn't see her again until my dad's funeral three weeks later. I don't remember much about that day, but... I don't think she looked at me even once."

"So when she missed your white coat ceremony..."

"I didn't need to ask what happened," Lena confirms. "Real or faked, Lex had some sort of episode, and she stayed with him. Just like she always did."

When Lena takes a deep breath, Lexie can hear the heartache and exhaustion.

"I don't know why she's here," Lena whispers. "All I know is that if she stays... I can't."

[tls123]

Oh my god HOW DID YOU LIKE SVSSS!!!!!

i liked it more than i thought i would but overall less than i might have given the potential of the story, i think in general i really enjoyed the characters (mxtx never goes wrong with characters, she creates them in a way that makes me feel unhinged) and the world building but the pay off to the set up—which i really liked!—felt a bit........ i mean, just alright.

the dynamics too are pure mxtx, personally the bin/gqiu dynamic specifically really was the least interesting part of the whole story. to me!! but individually i loved both characters. my interest was just elsewhere because """elsewhere""" felt way more fascinating idk how to explain it

was very, very happy about the extra with airplane and the yue qingyuan / shen jiu one because that's exactly what i wanted more of in the story itself as well as just more shen yuan/qingqiu interacting with cang qiong mountain

maybe it's my orv brain but like i told jana a while back i think i would have enjoyed svsss way more if it was more about shen yuan (loner; hater; etc) suddenly finding himself among all of these people (disciples looking up to him; sect siblings relying on him one way or another; common folk admiring him; etc etc) and starting to.... live? again?

Shen Qingqiu hadn't noticed that, unconsciously, he no longer considered the disciples around him (...) to be mob characters the novel had described in a scant number of words.

^from volume one, he starts seeing them almost immediately because he's not actually that separate and he genuinely cares. all the time. about everything. even before that we get:

This was only a book, and all the people were constructs, imaginary characters. Logically, Shen Qingqiu was very clear on this fact...but when a character was actually being taunted and bullied right before his eyes, it was just flat-out unrealistic to expect him to be completely unmoved.

like why are you lying, shen yuan (<- svsss tagline if there ever was one)

just the idea of this really lonely detached guy finding a community, i know it's not the story mxtx was trying to tell but again, with the set up i really wanted to see it go in that direction.

there's one line from vol two where liu qingge goes "you fear becoming a burden to cang qiong mountain (...) but cang qiong mountain fears not your burden"

and basically what i'm saying is that i wish the story had been about THAT

(and also ning yingying's lines in that same chapter about shizun always taking on everything himself and why is it always you like that whole moment with the cang qiong mountain almost begging him to see that they care. idek what i'm saying but you know)

(also foaming at the mouth that we only got tiny tiny glimpses of shen yuan's life from before, those handful of times he mentioned his siblings i wanted to take a bite out of my kindle. tell me more!! dear fucking lord tell me more!! keep talking! elaborate!! he really felt very "kim dokja and his fourth wall" at times, sorry once more about the orv brain)

tldr: i guess i wanted a story about shen yuan/qingqiu but mxtx created svsss to be a story about bin/gqiu. and i just have to be okay with that.

[meanbossart]

Ask Compilation: Blondes, feet, bowl-cut guardian lady.

He did not, they never had sex. But he was in love with her.

For sure. I think she struck him more like a teenager with the black hair and bangs, after the change (both visual and in attitude) she became a far more mature AND attractive person in his eyes.

PFFT, well, if you're saying they meet ALL of the criteria, I assume you mean both in looks and personality and hence be damn near his soulmate. DU drow could overlook weird feet (and a lot of other things, actually) if he were in love with the person in question. He would probably gently request they take better care of them, though.

Nothing special there, I'm afraid! He just has human-like skin - perhaps a little on the oily side but completely within the bounds of normality.

He runs a little hot, if that's anything. Oh! His hair is shockingly soft.

Correct! DU drow only (arguably) looks like a drow. He doesn't have their usual bone structure, height, or associated magical proclivities. He has some dark vision but its nowhere near as good as a drow's either.

I don't necessarily think all Bhaalspawn are the same way, but the Dark Urge IS quite different from the previous game's iterations. DU isn't simply Bhaal's child conceived with a partner, he's a piece of the god that supposedly slobbed off and grew legs and a face, pretty much. So yes, I do think that the Dark Urge at least is it's own unique thing.

The reason why he looks like a drow, is because he was placed in the Underdark upon creation. The metaphor I always use here is that if you place something infantile in a biome that is alien to it, it may try to adapt to it's environment to survive as it develops, to different degrees of success. This is why DU drow looks the way he does.

[MORE UNDER THE CUT]

You're welcome!

I've received a few snippets here that you can find through the #gift art tag! There is also the fic I'm in the process of writing called A Novel Experience on AO3.

It was just something I was compelled to do when I first drew him! The facial scars felt like they should lead into something else so I just made up a pattern on the spot, minus a tiny tweak here or there, it has stuck basically unchanged. All and any lore relating to the scars came later.

I get a lot of sweet messages but "thanks for your man's penis size" has to be one of my favorites. Thank you!

HELLO!

Thank you so much for the kind message! And that sounds like a fun dream, I love that your Tav got jealous of the attention ASTARION was receiving instead of mad that he had to share in the first place LOL

DU drow is desperately monogamous. He doesn't care what other people do with their lives but he's very much a "one and done" kind of person.

He would be willingly to participate in a threeway/have group sex with a partner, assuming the rules and regulations of said encounter were laid out clearly before or at least mutually understood between them. He would never want to see these people again after the fact though.

She does not, naturally I had no idea that this character was going to turn into anything when i made him, so I just... Made a lady. And since she was supposed to be a "guardian" I gave her a Joan of Arc type of look.

I've occasionally thought about changing this, but... Y'know, sometimes you don't need lore to be that in-depth, LOL.

The emperor gave everyone else a nondescript hottie he assumed they would trust, DU drow just got the same treatment. She's not even DU drow's type but definitely someone he would be compelled to take seriously yet not feel threatened by - so ultimately, her design does make sense.

---

That's all I have the energy for tonight folks, as always thank you for the many encouraging and sweet messages you send me, I'm sorry I can't reply to all of them! 😭

Have yourselves a great week!

[solalunar-eclipse]

Sonadow Snippets #2

In which Sonic returns the favor.

| One |

Shadow’s eyes were carefully trained on Sonic as the blue hedgehog raced through the forest, jumping over roots that sprouted out from the ground and spin-dashing whenever he could in an effort to gain momentum. Of course, Shadow was right by his side, the jets of his skates hissing in rhythm with his strides…but this particular time, the more serious of the two never pulled ahead.

For once, this wasn’t a race.

Instead, Shadow was following Sonic on a path only he knew, waiting to see exactly what lay at the end. After the time when Shadow had invited Sonic to come watch him skate atop a lake out in the middle of nowhere, it hadn’t taken long at all for him to receive an offer in return. Sonic had come up to him one day while he was out picking up some odds and ends for Omega as a favor (apparently his friend had gotten himself temporarily banned from his favorite hardware store but couldn’t handle going without his usual supply of materials to tear apart). Sonic had been his usual direct self, just asking “Hey, do you want to go somewhere with me this Friday?”.

Of course, Shadow had requested a few more details, preferring to know such things as “When, exactly?” and “Why?” before he agreed. Sonic’s response to the latter had more or less made up his mind, however.

“I really appreciated you showing me your skating spot the other day, and…I wanted to show you something too.”

After that, how could he say no?

Of course, this had all come after Sonic offered (seemingly out of nowhere, at the time) to take part of the massive stack of various wooden boards, pieces of plastic, and a strange number of PVC pipes currently threatening to fall out of Shadow’s arms. As an artificially engineered lifeform, he might have been stronger than most, but even he couldn’t hope to win a fight against gravity with a haul that unwieldy.

After that, Shadow had agreed to show up to Sonic’s proposed meeting place, but insisted that “you’d better not be late”, which of course set off a lighthearted argument over whether or not the famously titled “fastest thing alive” was in fact ever late to anything. (Sonic said no to preserve his pride, Shadow said yes based on testimonials he’d heard secondhand through Rouge.)

But Sonic certainly hadn’t been late for this. He’d shown up at the appointed meeting spot even before Shadow had, something that was quite impressive considering the alien hedgehog’s tendency to be almost frighteningly punctual.

And now, the two were running through the forest together, as Shadow awaited the place Sonic considered so important.

All of a sudden, Shadow saw brighter sunlight up ahead—and then burst out of the tree line just behind Sonic into an open field. His momentum sent him tearing past Sonic, as a matter of fact, who had stopped in the middle of the field, apparently having reached his final destination. Shadow quickly turned into a wide arc, slowly decreasing his speed as he looped out, around, and back towards Sonic, before finally kicking his skates forward and coming to a stop himself.

“Pff, show-off.” Sonic teased, smirking.

“I just needed to find a way to burn off my speed,” Shadow insisted, not mentioning that he did generally prefer to do so in an artistic way when possible. “It’s not my fault you stopped without saying anything.”

“I did so say something, you must not have heard me.”

Shadow sighed, before letting it go for once. “So, what did you want to show me, anyway?”

Sonic gestured out to the field, which Shadow hadn’t looked at properly yet, first blinded by the sun and then focused on stopping himself. He turned in the direction Sonic had moved, and…

…it really was a special place.

This was the kind of field he’d begun to suspect only existed in storybooks and paintings of days gone by, after several years getting used to life down here on the planet. Most fields were filled with grass so tall he could barely see, or were patchy with dirt and mud amongst the green. This one, however, was covered in lush green grass, among which grew a veritable bounty of wildflowers.

It took him a long moment to think of what to say, and even then, it didn’t feel like much. “It’s beautiful.” he said, and then tried to add something more. “I…appreciate you bringing me here.”

Sonic beamed at him, leaning forward eagerly. “And this is just the beginning! Come on, we gotta get further out!”

Shadow followed Sonic as he walked further into the field, occasionally spinning around and walking backwards just to get a better view of everything. He’d always shoot Shadow a smile whenever he did that, too, and Shadow would dip his head slightly in response. It became almost comforting after the first couple of times, a silent little call-and-response.

You still liking it?

Yes.

Hey there!

Hello.

Glad you came.

I am too.

Eventually, they found one particular spot (Shadow knew it was specific because he saw Sonic lining up his position with a couple of landmark hills and rocks), and both stopped right there, at the top of one of the low, rolling curves in the earth. Sonic sat down cross-legged, before falling backwards and lying down, kicking his legs out as he did so. After a moment where he looked expectantly upwards at Shadow, the alien hedgehog lay down delicately, easing himself into it a little more than his companion.

For a while, they just lay there together in silence, staring up at the vibrantly blue, cloudless sky. Shadow sighed, feeling the warmth of the sun as it rapidly soaked into his dark fur.

Soon enough, he closed his eyes, just basking in the heat and letting his breathing slow down. It was sometimes difficult for him to stay grounded in the present moment, always ruminating on the past or trying to plan ahead for the future. Whenever he could feel his thoughts starting to wind up, though, he would just open his eyes again, tilt his head to the side, and try to count all the different colors and flowers that he could see in the field.

After a few more moments, Sonic spoke up. “I knew you’d be the perfect guy to do this with.”

“Did you?” Shadow asked, his voice hushed. He didn’t want to disturb the stillness of the moment.

“Yeah. I know we hang out a lot because we can keep up with each other…but that goes for the slow times as well as the fast ones.” Sonic answered.

Shadow let out a slow exhale. “Indeed. It’s more difficult to slow down mentally rather than physically, but when I can, it’s very much appreciated.”

“Is now one of those times?” He heard a shifting over to his right, and turned to see Sonic’s eyes looking at him, somehow a more vibrant green than the grass beside him.

“I’m doing my best. It’s a lovely place.” Shadow said softly.

Sonic smiled, much more peacefully than his usual grins. “One of the best parts of saving the world is getting to enjoy it after. You made this place possible, just as much as I ever have. I appreciate that.”

Shadow felt his face soften and relax slightly, and though he wasn’t sure what it looked like, the way Sonic’s eyes widened told him that it was a rare sight. “Thank you, Sonic. For bringing me here, and for your words.”

“Anytime, Shadow. Anytime at all.”

[technicallyfriendly]

I promised a while ago I would make a fanfiction rec list for lucemond, so here we go:

Star-crossed by DominaReginald

I have to say this is my all-time favourite lucemond fic. If you like the Lucerys-gets-kidnapped-instead-of-eaten-at-Storm's-End-trope, then this one is already worth a read, but what I love about this story is that it shows how the conflict really impacts lucemond's relationship, which is the focus of the plot. Much happens, of course, but the story focuses on how the war and Aemond's subsequent participation in it impacts his relationship with Lucerys. It's also very interesting how this story handles the marriage pact with the Baratheons. But really, a short summary will not do this master piece justice, so I urge you to go and read it yourself! For anyone who is hesitant due to the major character death warning: It's not the main couple, though the deaths occurring are tragic and happen to beloved characters.

the beast you've made of me by MotherMaidenCrone

I don't think anyone has walked past this amazing and beautiful fic in this fandom, but it still deserves its mention on this list as well. No other story has ever done a Team Neutral approach this well and nuanced. If you wanna see Lucerys girilboss his way through King's Landing politics and beat everyone at the Game of Thrones in a desperate bid to save his family from self-destruction, this is for you!

the tragic evolution of desire by toraophim

So I debated long and hard before I added this on because, boy, does this one make you feel stuff, and a lot of it is not great. It's an amazingly written story, and since I enjoy dark themes, I did like it a lot. Though, and this is important, the warnings are there for a reason, this dove is deader than dead. Also, none of the characters are having a good time here aside from Aegon for a time, which is why you should not read this if you are an Aegon stan. The author really turned him into a monster. If you are like me and enjoy an emotional rollercoaster with a somewhat happy ending, I say proceed with caution ;).

Set fire to the rain by baby345

This is a collection of a few short stories about lucemond. I really enjoy the writing and its variety!

Blood for Blood by GoddessofRoyalty

The way the author puts it in the summary is actually the best way to describe this fic: Aemond is not cruel, but he is also not kind (and Lucerys has both none of and all the power). And that is also how I like their dynamic. The story is told in snippets of their life together before and after the marriage, and the writing is really enjoyable!

all I had to give by monkkeyslut

This one starts out as one-sided love despite Aemond trying really hard, in his own way of course, but it's not just about their relationship but also about dealing with the aftermath of the war and the current unstable position of Lucerys due to the continued absence of an heir. This fanfiction is not only well written and a great ride, but the author also has an interesting take on Alys before we got even got introduced to her in HotD.

Office Lucemond by Avonne

This is a collection of ModernAU!Lucemond fanfiction about lucemond matching each other's freak told through the eyes of their stunned and slightly terrified coworkers and through the eyes of a very unimpressed Vharga.

Borros and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by lucerysinthesky

This is the funniest lucemond fanfiction I've ever read, which is why it gets a place on this list despite being tragically unfinished, but I have not given up hope quite yet! Maybe one day we'll get the last chapter. Still even unfinished, it is awesome, and it'll make you cry laughing, I promise. The title says it all already, and Borro's does suffer a lot while also having a full character arc and all while trying unsuccessfully not to die.

For now, I'll finish this rec list here, but there are still many more great stories out there that I haven't mentioned. Maybe I'll update it in the future or make another one for the once that I did not include here. For the ones reading this, I wish you a lot of fun reading the stories!

[yoditopascal]

Con La Brisa

summary: "give me a little bit more time 'cause my last breath I will give to show you the entire sky." or snippets into the domestic life of sanemi and his tsugoku.

warnings: none that are really that bad, post infinity castle arc, mentioned character death, established relationship, domestic fluff, implied/referenced sex, soft sanemi, some angst but not a lot, AU where all the hashira live because I said so, minor mitsuri/obanai, minor shinobu/giyu, unplanned pregnancy

a/n: this is a continuation of my fic Home taking place after my other fic My Nemi!

part 2. ohagi

It was a month later when Sanemi returned to your village. Having to go back and finish up his affairs back home he wrapped them up as quickly as he could before the winds of spring brought him back to you.

It was a cool April afternoon when Sanemi returned. You had already heard the whispers from the town gossips of a ‘scary looking stranger’ playing with the village children down by the riverside while you were out shopping so you knew he had come back before he even stopped by.

“I’m back.” called a voice from the door, you were in the kitchen of the tea shop preparing lunch for the hungry customers that had stopped by that day.

“Welcome home Sanemi!” you gave him a closed eyed smile as he approached the counter. He had wanted to lean over and kiss the top of your head but the mere thought of doing so in the presence of so many others made his cheeks burn. 

Behind the counter you looked the picture perfect of domesticity. Hair tied up in a bun atop your head with a bandana, frilly apron in place as you worked hard at making food, he could definitely get used to such a sight.

“Can I get you something to eat?” you asked as you filled trays up with food preparing to serve them.

“J-just onigiri is fine.” He stuttered as you pulled him from his thoughts. Sanemi watched as you struggled to balance the trays in your arms, your brother was sick that day and it was just you running the tea shop on your own Sanemi had noticed. “I can wait though, let me help you.”

“Oh! That’s ok I-” He wordlessly took the trays from your hands before you could finish your sentence. Shaking your head you gave in and directed him to which customer got what and he simply obliged.

That was your routine for the rest of the day, You cooking and filling orders while he served them. By day’s end you had served quite a few patrons, more than you normally would have if you were alone.

“Thanks for your help today Sanemi-san, I honestly wouldn't have made it without you.” You smiled as you served him a cup of hot tea and onigiri taking the seat in front of him so you could talk.

“Drop the -san Sanemi is fine!” he said, sipping at his hot tea.

“You're right we have seen each other naked already after all.” you smiled at him while you leaned on your palm.

Sanemi choked, nearly spilling his tea all over the place. A moment of silence filled the space between you for a moment before Sanemi spoke again this time in a more hushed tone, his cheeks tinged pink

“D-did you want to talk about it?” he asked. He had yet to actually ask you about what you felt about that night you spent together when he first visited you. Was he too forward? Did you want it to happen again? What if he had hurt you?

“About the hot springs? What's there to talk about?” you asked reminiscing back to that night at the swordsmith village when you were still his tsugoku.

Oh right…that. 

“Not that! I meant-” he cut himself off, unable to actually say what he was thinking out loud, cheeks burning even brighter if that were possible.

“I’m just teasing you Nemi.” You leaned across the table to kiss him on the forehead.

“You ass!” he cried placing his hand were you had kissed him.

You laughed, a hearty laugh that you hadn’t actually done in a while since being home and it felt nice.

After the two of you ate, you cleaned up and closed up the shop.

 “Where are you going?” you questioned as you were leaving, Sanemi had started heading in the opposite direction from your home.

“To the Inn?”he said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Why? You can just stay with me!” You smiled at him

“Don’t you think that’s too…informal? Aren’t you worried about what people might think about us?”

“Who gives a rat’s ass what people think of us, and besides we're way past being formal to each other.” You said, grabbing his hand, pulling him along with you as you walked home.

“Come on, I'll make you a bed in the guest room and make you a nice big breakfast in the morning!”

Sanemi stared after you as if he was pondering what to say next, instead he opted to follow you in silence just happy to be holding your hand.

Afterall who was he to turn down a home cooked meal and a warm bed?

The following weeks were much of the same. You’d get up early to eat together then you'd both head down to the tea shop to get some work done. When your brother returned from his illness he was surprised and a little scared to be working in the same building as someone so ‘scary looking’ he had told you, but over time he had slowly started to warm up to Sanemi to the point where he’d sometimes invite him over to drink and play shogi with him and his friends.

Weeks turned into months and soon Sanemi was a full fledged employee and one of the family. You parents were still pretty weary of him but none the less they welcomed him to their employment with open arms. That didn't mean that everyone accepted him though, a few of the regulars hadn’t been by as much as they usually would have in the past few months and though you tried to tell Sanemi it wasn’t his fault he had a feeling that it had to do with the way he looked.

“Don’t worry about them, they're a dime a dozen, I'd much rather have you around than a bunch of stuffy old geezers anyways.”You had tried to reassure him one day after a particularly bad incident.

Sanemi was going about his usual day of serving food and tea to customers, however when he got to the table of an old woman, who was new and visiting her children in town, she damn near had a heart attack at his appearance alone.

“Maybe I’m just not cut out for this line of work.”

“Nonsense! You’re great at it! Don't let one old hag get you down in the dumps man.” Your brother tried cheering him up as he hooked his arm around him. Shrugging your brother off, Sanemi silently continued to work, clearly upset by the whole situation.

That night when you returned home for the evening you prepared him his favorite meal and an extra special treat of ohagi, his favorite, which he promptly thanked you for all night till the sun came up.

From that moment on Sanemi no longer stayed in the guest room, even when he tried to go back you’d both come up with some kind of excuse as to why he shouldn’t.

“It's too stuffy in there, my room is much cooler.”

“I thought I heard an intruder, it’d be best if I just stayed in here with you for the night.”

“I can’t sleep alone, I'm much more well rested when you're beside me!”

Excuse after excuse piled up day after day until Sanemi finally said ‘Fuck it’ and moved all his things into your room officially.

It was a chilly autumn morning when you found yourself strolling the Demon Slayer Corps cemetery, you shivered as you wrapped your scarf and haori tighter around yourself, trying to protect yourself from the chill of the wind and atmosphere of the graveyard. Sanemi placed an arm around you as he guided you along the path.

“It won’t take long.” he reassured you, pulling his haori off to wrap around you.

“Take all the time you need. There’s no rush.” You said reaching out to grab his hand, giving it a light squeeze before letting go.

“Hey.” Sanemi says kneeling at a headstone, he wipes off some of the dirt and leaves that had started to collect on it as you place the incense and flowers you had bought along with you at the base. “Sorry it took so long for me to visit this time, I've been pretty busy.”

He watches silently as you light the incense, saying a little prayer as you do so. “It’s nice to see you again Genya.” You say as you move to sit next to Sanemi. “Wish it was under better circumstances though.”

You had briefly met the boy when he had come to the Wind estate for hashira training. Though he had barely spent any time there you had liked him well enough while he was there. He was a nice kid, who was polite and blushed and averted his eyes anytime you were around him, the poor boy was just trying to get his brother to love him, he didn’t deserve the fate he faced at the hands of an upper moon, he shouldn’t have been a demon slayer to begin with, he was way too sweet for that life.

“I-“  Sanemi’s starts, his voice drifting off as he looks from the grave to you as if he’s trying to think of what to say “I’m sorry.”

You place a hand over his.

“Sorry for not protecting you, for pushing you away and leaving you on your own for so long. M’ sorry for ever calling you weak and trying to hurt you, m’ sorry for ever saying that you weren’t my brother. Hell I’m just-just-“ tears brim his eyes as he cuts himself off. 

Sorry.

He doesn’t say the last word as he rubs at his eyes trying to force the tears to stop but they’re flowing full force now.

“You're my brother, I should have been there for you. I should have done better!” He shouted at the grave, all you could do was look on at him in sorrow, your own tears blurry your vision as your thumb rubs over his hand.

“It’s-it’s not fair.” He says voice watery and quiet almost at a whisper. “Good people die…you, Masachika… one after another it’s just not fair!”

“You should have had a house somewhere, raised a family of your own and gotten to grow old. You should’ve had a wife and children and gotten to make them happy and share memories with them. I would’ve done anything for that life for you.” He said, gripping at his clothes over his chest, they felt constricting, the air around him heavy, almost suffocating.

“I’m so sorry Genya.”

“Sanemi…” you trail off as you move your hand to his shoulder not knowing what to say to comfort him. He places a hand over yours and squeezes reassuringly, just you being there was enough. 

“I’m ok-“ he starts finally looking at you, his eyes are bloodshot but soft as he looks on sadly. “It’s just-“

“I know.”

The pair of you sit in silence for a while, leaning onto each other as you watch the incense burn. What feels like hours pass before either one of you speaks again.

“Thank you,” Sanemi starts as he sits up to kiss your forehead “for coming with me.”

“Anytime.” You say, gently carding your fingers through his fluffy hair.

A month had pass since you last visited Genya. You and Sanemi had just settled back into your routine when he received a letter. It was from Rengoku asking how he was doing, if he had settled into town alright and if he had confessed to you yet. A blush rose to his cheeks as he stopped reading the letter aloud.

Instead he shoved the piece of parchment to your chest, cheeks still rosy, and without looking you in the face asked you to reply for him.

You knew Sanemi could read but after years of practicing still couldn’t write so you opted to help him when he needed it.

A few days after your reply was sent, Sanemi received another letter, this one was from Tengen who had cheekily asked how you were doing and if you had gotten married yet instead of the former wind pillar. Sanemi refused to respond to that one. 

Soon you both were trading letters back and forth between all the former hashira who had survived the final battle, until one day they all suddenly stopped.

The bell to your tea shop alerted you that someone had just walked in. Without looking up you said “Be with you in a second!” Hands busy with the task of preping food for the next rush of customers.

“Well now is that any way to greet an old friend?”said a boisterous voice with a laugh.

Snapping your eyes up, you immediately straightened up and bowed respectfully in greeting when you saw that not only was Tengen and his wives here, laughing at your rigid form, so was Rengoku and Shinobu and Mitsuri! All the hashira were here!

“W-what are you guys doing here?” You asked nervously, if you had known they were coming you would have tidied up some, you definitely would have made more of an effect to make yourself look presentable.

“We came to visit you and Shinazugawa of course!” Rengoku replied, a bright smile ever present on his face. “And no need to be so polite we’re all civilians now after all.” 

“R-right, I’m sorry.”

“It’s quite alright my young friend!” He smiled a closed eyed smile though the eyepatch was making it difficult.

“So how’ve you been? Shinazugawa treating you well?” Tengen asks leaning over the counter to finger your frilly pink apron. Snatching it off you nodded in response.

“He’s perfect, I-I mean fine, he’s fine. We’re both fine!” Your cheeks darken at your mistake, Tengen laughs again sitting up to slinging his arm around Hinatsuru.

“I’m sure he is.” Tengen grinned.

“D-did you guys want something to eat? Some tea maybe?”

“Yea tea would be lovely and no need to be so nervous around us.”

“Sorry. It’s nothing personal, it’s just that you’re all so…you.”

You wanted to say intimidating, training under the wind breathing master and Sanemi for all those years had taught you that the power of the hashira was something to fear, admire even. They were the strongest warriors after all and you were just a lowly kinoe during your time in the Corps, but when you stop and look at the people standing before you all you can truly think about is…family.

“After everything you’ve all done for this world, I should be respectful. You guys are like heroes, I should be thanking you!” you bowed again, this time properly, as you came from behind the kitchen counter.

“You forget, you were there on that battlefield just the same as us. So pick your head up and come sit with us, we have a lot of catching up to do!”

Rengoku reassured you crossing his arms over his chest.

That was how Sanemi found you as he and your brother returned from dropping off an order, sitting at a table surrounded by your former colleagues and loved ones laughing and reminiscing over tea.

“Ahh Shinazugawa you finally made it! We were beginning to worry!” Tengen waves him over at he sloshes his drink around.

“The hell are you all doing here?”

“We came to visit.” Giyuu said emotionless as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, he sipped his tea quietly.

“I can see that, but…why?”

“We missed you two!” Mitsuri said excitedly as she pulled you to her chest in a tight hug, Obanai shook his head staring at her adoringly. 

Sanemi sighed as he looked over his former comrades, they were laughing and just having a good time being nostalgic about the good old days, if you could call it that. Most importantly you were laughing and that image alone was enough to make his heart beat out of his chest. 

Closing his eyes he smiled, committing that image of you to memory, and chuckled as he said “It’s good to see you guys.”

After a few hours at the shop you brother decided to kick you all out, saying that you were being too loud and that your friends were drinking up all the profit, so you being the good host that you were, invited everyone back to yours and Sanemi’s home for a nice home cooked meal.

You were having the time of your life during the meal, everyone was joyful and so full of life even with all their scars and missing limbs it was just what you and Sanemi had needed after working so hard for so long. You were so busy having a good time hanging out with your friends that you had hardly noticed the time. 

Just as you were about to get up and start cleaning a wave a nausea hits you out of nowhere. Jumping to your feet you raced to the bathroom just before you threw up everything you had eaten that day.

“Is she ok?” Suma asks worry etched onto her face. 

“Yeah…this has been happening a lot lately.” Sanemi said, raising from the table to go check on you.

“You doing ok?” He asks, you're still puking when he gets there, he bends down to rub a hand on your back trying to help soothe you. 

“Yeah, sorry for the trouble.” You sniff as you wipe your mouth.

“It’s no trouble, but we gotta get you checked out by a doctor,” he says clearly worried about you, this had been a recurring thing for weeks now and he was really starting to get anxious. “this isn’t normal.”

“I know I know.” You waved him off as you stood. Shooing him out of the bathroom, Sanemi returned just as Mitsuri had gotten up to clear the table, Obanai following closely behind her. Shinobu was so lost in thought she hadn’t even noticed Sanemi’s return.

“How long has she been like this?” Giyu asks, knowing where Shinobu’s mind had gone and what she was about to start asking.

“About a month or two.” Sanemi says

“Has she had any other symptoms?” Shinobu asks her finger and thumb resting on her chin in thought.

“Just the nausea and sometimes she has some fucked up cravings but I think that’s just her.” Sanemi pondered as he thought about all the times you made him run out and get you odd snacks like mitarashi dango with natto or yakisoba with horseradish and cheese. You didn't even like natto normally.

 Shinobu hmmned as she lost herself in thought again.

“If she’s up to it I can check her out at the Butterfly estate, just have her meet me there in a few days.” She said standing to put her own dishes in the kitchen. Sanemi stood with her grabbing the plates and cup from her hand, walking towards the kitchen he said over his shoulder. “She’ll be there.”

It was a week later when you found yourself outside of the Butterfly estate. You had told Sanemi that you could have just gone to the regular doctor in your village but he refused to let you go, telling you that Shinobu was the best of the best and that if anyone could help you out, it’d be her.

“Go on, she won’t bite ya.” He said, pushing you gently towards the door. You had both been standing outside in the courtyard for a good ten minutes now.

With a gulp you nod your head, dreading anything to do with doctors and the overall medical side of things,  steel yourself as you hold your head up high and walk through the shoji doors.

“Welcome, please come in!” Shinobu greeted you as she led you to a back room. The room itself was stark white, six hospital beds were lined neatly along the walls. 

“Have a seat and we can get started.” She said patting one of the beds for you. You swallowed thickly as you made yourself comfortable. Around you Shinobu’s assistants Aoi, Sumi, Kiyo and Naho rushed about getting together various medical supplies for her.

While inside the room Shinobu ran a series of tests on you, everything from blood samples to urine samples to throat and nose swabs, just to make sure you didn’t have any underlying conditions she should know about.

It was an hour later when she came back into the room, a single piece of paper was resting in her hand.

“Well, I got your blood work test results.” She said coming into the room.

“Lay it on me Kocho-san how bad is it?” You asked nervously, you had really hoped it wasn’t anything serious.

“It’s just what I thought it was, you’re pregnant.”

Time stopped moving completely.

Pregnant, you weren’t hearing things Kocho had said, you were pregnant.

You had sat there for a moment, too stunned to say or do anything. Your eyes glued to the test results in her hands, too lost in thought to see the gentle look come over the former insect hashira’s face. 

You really shouldn’t have been surprised, since he had come home Sanemi couldn’t keep his hands to himself but you had thought you were being careful. Your cheeks flushed as a few incidents came to mind where you both had thrown caution to the wind and gave in to your primal desires.

“Do you need a moment?” Shinobu asked, sitting down next to you on the bed placing a hand on your shoulder.

“N-no I’m fine thank you.” You stammered still not sure that it had fully sank in yet. “I’m just….shocked is all.”

“I understand this can be quite a lot to take in, especially with everything that’s happened over the past year and a half.” She said standing to her feet, while offering a hand to help you to yours. “But rest assured I’ll be here for you every step of the way and I’m sure Shinazugawa will be too.”

You chewed your bottom lip as you left Shinobu.

How the hell were you going to tell Sanemi?

It’s not like the two of you were married and you definitely hadn’t talked about having children together. Did he even want kids? You knew he came from a pretty big family as a child and he absolutely adored the village children but did that mean he wanted one of his own some day?

All those thoughts swirled together violently in your head, distracting you from the warm body that stood in front of you. You were so distracted that you hadn’t even noticed how close he was until you bumped into him as you walked through the door. Arms reaching out to steady you so that you didn’t fall, Sanemi looked at you, concern etched into his features.

“You ok? What’d Kocho say?”

“Well…” you started nervously, how were you going to go about this? 

“It’s not exactly a stomach bug but I am going to be sick for a little while. Nine months to be more exact.” You had said in a joking tone to hide your nervousness, hopefully that was all it took for him to get it.

“What the hell, Kocho couldn’t fix you?” Sanemi snapped, he was starting to get irritated.

“It’s not really something that can be fixed, Sanemi.” You deadpanned, it went right over his head it seemed.

“Bullshit, let me go talk to her, there’s gotta be something she can do,” he says, going to bust his way into the room, “maybe she can make you some medicine or something.”

You grab the sleeve of his haori to stop him and he turns to you, confusion settling into his brow. 

“Sanemi.” You said, grabbing his hand finally placing it over your stomach.

You could almost hear the gears turning in his head as he figured it out. It was almost like he had finally added up every instance where you were showing signs, all the times you were too tired to drink with him and your brother after work, the sickness no one else but you seemed to have, the cravings. It all made sense now.

His knees nearly gave out from underneath him.

“A-are you-?” He swallowed hard, unable to finish his sentence.

“Yes.” You said gently placing a soft hand over his on your stomach. 

“Holy shit.”

You were pregnant.

You were going to be parents.

He was going to be a father.

He stroked his thumb over your stomach, eyes vacant as he stared down at it completely lost in his thoughts. What if he wasn’t good enough? He could barely take care of himself, how the hell was he going to take care of you and a baby? What if he turned out like his old man? A thousand thoughts filtered through his head, his brain running a mile a minute trying to process everything.

Kneeling down on the engawa he buries his head into your stomach, inhaling your scent deeply as he wraps his arm around you. No, he refused to be like his bastard of a dad. He was going to do better, be better, for the three of you.

“Thank you.” He murmured tears prickling his eyes, he blinked them away as quickly as they came.

“W-what are you thanking me for?” You stuttered stroking his hair as you looked down at him affectionately.

“For gifting this beautiful family to me.” He smiles up at you close eyed as he pulls himself away from your stomach.

[theesteemedladydebourgh]

Are you going to continue first time divorcees club? The amount of times I have already re-read it LOL. I love the way you break down their feelings so viscerally! I feel like I am in each of their shoes while reading

All this to say I hope you haven’t given up on it! And if you have it’s still one of the most beautiful stories I have ever read

short answer...yes! (see a previous anon ask for a more detailed answer haha).

thank you, that's very sweet of you to say! i was looking for a snippet to give you, but couldn't find anything quite right, so I ended up writing a bit of a scene that I've had a few lines of since I started writing TFTDC.

hope you enjoy ;)

Her hands are looped around his neck, body pressed against his as they dance. “It’s funny,” Lily says. “It’s like we’re doing this for real.”

James raises a brow. “Aren’t we?”

The mood is still light and she laughs. “Yeah,” she says. The music of the club booms over her words. “We are. But…”

Her but gets drawn away into a kiss. 

James grips the silky fabric of her dress, something piercing between his ribs at the noise, the feel of her slightly sweaty skin, her perfume in the air, her here, here, here. 

He’s drunker than he thought he was, because he doesn’t really remember how they escape the club, stumbling down the cobbled street. His arm is over her shoulder and she’s laughing—did he say something?—cheeks flushed, hair sticking to her mouth, pressing her smile into his arm.

The bay spreads out in front of them, moonlight glittering silver on the dark water. It blurs in his mind, turns into the arc of spells in a classroom from his youth.

“Sorry—” Lily gasps when they almost collide into a group of laughing women emerging from another bar. 

They call something back at them that’s lost in the noise that spills from the open door to the bar. One of the women is wearing a white sash, the word BRIDE emblazoned on it in glittering rhinestones.

James is concentrating very hard on not falling over, but Lily has paused in her unsteady walk. She’s looking over at the women’s retreating figures, something complicated in her fuzzy expression.

“Hey,” James says. He’s got words, somewhere, a feeling, an understanding, but they get lost on the liquor-soaked way to his mouth. He presses his hand to her warm cheek, clumsy and affectionate. “Hey,” he says again.

Lily shakes her head and laughs. “You’re drunk, my love,” she tells him.

“S’ironic for you to say,” James sniffs—or attempts to. He sort of grumbles it. 

Lily just laughs again and tugs him down the street towards the quieter harbor.

They sit on a low stone wall—well, Lily almost falls and drags a chuckling James with her as his arm is still looped over her shoulders, then they settle. Lily’s heels have been kicked off and she swings her legs over the stone. The moonlight and lamps glitter over the bay. “It would be funny,” Lily says unexpectedly and leans her head against his shoulder. Her voice drops to a drunken, half-asleep mumble. “If we did it for real.”

James hums. “Yeah,” he says. “It would.” He kisses the top of her head, slightly clumsily and rests his chin there. “Sleep, sweetheart.”

Lily makes a soft noise and James lets his eyes close for a second too. They’ve got to walk back to the others, and to the villa, but for now his head is spinning pleasantly and the summer night is warm and balmy, and Lily’s tucked up against him. The rest of the world can wait a few more minutes. 

[replicabetweenblogs]

Writing update 21.03.2025

hello hi hey- I am making progress c:

Yeah no- I have been quite busy ripping my hair out trying to deliver some quality-of-life changes for the next update. Aka- I have been gauging my eyes out fixing errors rather than writing any new content, a bit on and off as I got stuck a few times- and changing entire bits of codes up from the past chapters THREE TIMES for it to work as I scatter snippets such as the above ones throughout the entire story for the ones who have it toggled on. But I've done it! WOOHEE. YES. that's out of the way. Hail to the 3 a.m. nights that I've been staring at my ceiling trying to come up with solutions to my problems. Yet a fair warning; I'm not sure how Cogdemos handles updated chapters, but there may be a chance that the game won't load up your outdated saves, as the next update will update all chapters with new codes.

Next up is actually writing up new content. I've planned a few new scenes out throughout part 1 of the story- additional content with Amethyst and Ha specifically, alongside some more flashback sequences to deep-dive into their characters so there's that. I will be writing those up- finishing the WIP scenes of chapter 9 as well as 8, and the new update should be up after! When? I am not sure at all. But it's getting there. I am actually working on it this time around.

Aside from that- I've commissioned a little something from a good friend of mine for RBU. As a small thank you to everyone who has been sticking around so far, and to push RBU further to potential full release for when the time comes. This, too, shall be released alongside the quality of life update when this happens.

Meanwhile- enjoy the few playlists I've duct-taped together on all the RO's! It's a mixture of old songs I had noted down for them a decade or so ago for nostalgia reasons, and a few new songs I thought fit well with their arcs right now. Did a funny and put the songs resembling the beginning of their arc at the top, and the end at the bottom.

have a fantastic day y'all <3

[cabe0512]

Writing Update:

I'm currently writing Chapter 9 of Sarabande of Healing, and went ahead and made some significant edits to Chapter 8. I must admit, I never expected this mini-arc in Garibaldi to last longer than I thought. What was once gonna be up and done by the 10th chapter just extended to the 12th.

My second semester is also upon me, and so too are the schoolwork. As I said in my earlier post, I'm balancing continuing this story and my personal matters at all costs.

All things considered, I'm quite happy with how the recent chapters are turning out. The action sequence in Chapter 8 made me ecstatic to do the next one. I'll be posting a few snippets as I go, but I'll see you when it's finished!

Here's my art of Alucard as an freebie. Much like the rest of the NFCV cast that had no relation to Hector (except for Isaac), he will also not appear in any major capacity in Sarabande of Healing just yet. I also have a redesign sketch of Erzebet ready, which will be my next project.

[oxittocin]

sunray (nico robin x reader)

nico robin masterlist

because i recently met someone who felt like busking in sunlight

cw: gn!reader, pre-water 7 arc

also, thank you @turtletaubwrites ; i wouldn't have found the motivation to put thoughts to words without your kind comment

Busking in sunlight.

She was busking in sunlight, lounging in her favourite spot on the outdoor deck, engrossed in a book she probably picked up on the last island. She is a picture of graceful stillness; her eyebrows raising ever so slightly in delight whenever she comes across a sentence that tickles her fancy. You peep a slight smile and a quiet, cheerful hum - small quirks that would have been too easy to miss. She meticulously thumbs through another page.

You wonder what snippet of knowledge she has since added in her library of wisdom; you wonder if she would ever invite you for a chat, and metaphorically let you take a walk through the museum that is her mind.

———————————————

You wonder so often what goes on in Nico Robin’s pretty mind. You’ve thought about it for a good few weeks now, yet the answer seems to continuously elude you.

At first, her history of being associated with Baroque Works rendered you wary of her, eyeing her suspiciously whenever she approached you. A cunning mastermind was what you thought she was. Someone who would go to great lengths to protect her vested interests, regardless of the costs.

Over time, you warmed up to her. How could you not? There was no doubting the sincerity that radiated from her being whenever she looks at Chopper. Slowly, you noticed it too when she speaks to the other Strawhats.

The fondness in her voice when she addresses Luffy, her firm protectiveness over Nami, the mutual respect she has with Zoro, her teasing banter towards Usopp, her never-ending tolerance for Sanji’s flirtatious antics.

This can’t be faked, you thought.

And when she looks at you, soft gaze and smile - you wished so badly that it was real.

That can’t be faked, right?

———————————————

The enigma that she is has occupied the vast majority of your time. It keeps you distracted. It keeps you up all night. Most of all, it keeps you single-mindedly obsessed with figuring her out.

You don’t know how it began, but like vines that grow towards the sun, you started to orbit around her - as though she was the gravitational force that kept you grounded.

It started with minor tweaks in your schedule. Where you used to spend most of the time carrying weights with Zoro in the afternoons, you’d silently shifted some of the dumbbells to the deck where Robin lounges, stealing sly glances at her while you go about your routine.

———————————————

“You’ve been training here a lot more.” She had commented once, a few weeks ago.

“Oh yeah. Zoro’s stinky.” You hurriedly searched for an excuse, throwing poor Zoro under the bus.

“I think you’re safe for today. He had his weekly shower yesterday.” She responded with a chuckle.

You could feel your cheeks burning up, embarrassed that she might have figured out your true intentions. You prayed that she would logically assume that the blush was from the workout instead.

———————————————

Soon, you had gotten used to spending afternoons on the deck with her. Her, lounging with her book and you, going about your workout routine.

The comfortable silence that you had both grown accustomed to was peppered with witty exchanges throughout the day.

Yet, there remains a line that cannot be crossed. Her fondness and affection often hiding behind a polite demeanour that you simply cannot override.

You wonder what else resides in the depths of her thoughts; what secrets, ambitions and aspirations might she hold in her heart, not quite yet ready to let out.

———————————————

You were sitting a mere few metres away but the distance between you and her felt like oceans apart.

It didn’t matter though.

You would cross that bridge when you get there. For now, you were content for whatever this is to remain as is; to enjoy her presence without the complexities of the heart, feelings, whatever this was.

And whatever was this?

What was the language one would use to describe this arrangement?

A friendship, but not quite. A crush would sound juvenile. An attraction doesn’t sound right either.

By then, as you were pondering the semantics of the situation, the afternoon heat that had earlier prickled your skin has since given way to the gentle breeze of the cool sea air. A sign that the sun is steadily setting, as the ocean of orange paints over the clear blue skies.

It was then that it occurred to you.

It was like busking in her sunlight.

———————————————

Perhaps your gaze had lingered on her for a second too long, prompting her to look up from her book, curious eyes meeting yours.

“Your dumbbells haven’t moved in quite a bit.” She teased you, coy smile gracing her features before she shifted her attention back to her book.

Perhaps it is true that sun must set, and the night must eventually fall. Still, for however long it may be, you hope that you could stay in her periphery. For just a little while longer, if only to busk in her sunlight.

[cyb-by-lang]

Today's snippet (8/6/2024)

(So, because of MHA ending, I got inspired to write a bit of an alternate take on the last arc of Shell Game. Here, have a snippet! There will be more to come.)

There was a pause for a moment. “Hey, can I ask you a question before we get started? It’s not about homework.”

“Fair’s fair,” Kei replied. It wasn’t like she had a ton of other activities to pursue right now. “I ask things all the time. What did you need to know?”

Hitoshi hesitated for at least ten seconds. “Remember how when we were at the hospital, you walked out for a bit?”  

Kei felt the frown pinch her brows together even as she processed the strange tone in Hitoshi’s voice. He sounded strained. Not quite sad, but like he’d been holding something back and the weight was going to come off his chest whether he wanted or not. Might as well avoid getting crushed. Kei had pretty good reflexes for it.

“Yeah, I—” 

There was a noise on his end that sounded rather strange. Somewhere between a noise of frustration—which suited Kei’s mood well—and maybe a muffled curse. It didn’t sound like Hitoshi, since his voice hovered around a bass note when it didn’t crack. The other voice was higher, more energetic than Hitoshi ever was, except for the immediate aftermath of finding out Aizawa wanted to train him.

“Hitoshi-kun?”

“I’m fine. I just…I need to think about how I want to say this.” As though that wasn’t ominous. Alarm klaxons blared in Kei’s head. “And my neighbors are being loud as hell. ” 

“Wouldn’t know,” Kei said. Her neighbors were all elderly and occasionally asked her to help adjust their furniture. The Suzuhara couple could be especially annoying about two-centimeter placement discrepancies, which wasted about half of Kei’s afternoon after the second Stain incident. “Mine are old, so they’re probably already in bed.”

“Ha. Give me a second to go deal with this.”

Kei huffed a short laugh and went to go grab her science homework, putting her phone on speaker mode and leaving it on the table. Hitoshi would come back and nag her about something in a minute, but it was still better to hear him distantly complaining about inconsiderate neighbors. With her boys sidelined in Konoha, it felt nice to hear another human voice without having to turn the TV on. Even if it did sound like he planned to interrogate her. 

She was just returning to the table, in the middle of kicking her school bag back onto her futon, when there was a loud crack from the other side of the call. Like wood splintering.

“Who the hell are you?” Hitoshi’s voice was tinny and distant, as though he was at least a few meters away from his phone. Had he set it down to go to the door? What was happening? Even warped like that, Kei could hear the hardened edge in that tone and already felt her heart rate spike.

Though a question was loud and clear in her brain, Kei snapped her mouth shut rather than give voice to the automatic, worried exclamation of his name. If she somehow broke his focus when he sounded like that—

“Isn’t he cute, Mr. Compress?” 

[jakes3resin]

Can you tell us about your other fics if you already have an established plot?

I'd love to! So there's quite a number of them I won't lie. I tend to get inspired by the randomest things. These are all in various stages of plotted out and written.

A/B/O fic (technically turning into 3 fics) that follows Bucky & Buck through the war, described below.

Courting Arc (top of my list to finish writing) - Bucky POV as he is anonymously courted during his time in the states just before he gets sent over to England (there's a post I'm basing my writing around I'll link it in a moment) <- published

England Arc- a quick look into their lives as they run missions with A/B/O elements (this will be pretty short I think) mostly snippets of scenes from the show just now with Omega Bucky and Alpha Buck <- published

Stalag Arc - Omega Bucky and his awful time in Germany. Here is where we see what being an Omega in war is really like in my omegaverse. Bucky is the highest ranked Omega in the camp meaning he's technically 'in charge' of keeping those Omegas in line. He's tested by his heats, keeping his pack together, and finally by a German order that could tear Buck and Bucky apart. This is a big fic for me to prepare for, and I'm building up to it by writing the Courting Arc first <- next on deck

Biker Gale AU (my beloved, genuinely obsessed with this AU) - this was inspired by one of hogans-heroes AUs. So, Gale leads an outlaw-esque biker club, and Bucky used to be his right hand (and lover) except one day out of the blue he just disappeared. Gale does everything he can to find Bucky, but there's no trail to follow, no clues to put together, nothing. Fast forward about two years, Bucky arrives on Curt's doorstep holding a small baby with the brightest blue eyes and prettiest blonde curls and begs Curt to watch his baby for 5 days. 5 days later Bucky comes back in town bruised to all hell with the FBI on his tail with their own nefarious reasons for tracking Bucky down. Bucky has nowhere else to turn especially since when he comes back to Curt's he finds Gale holding his little baby. (This could be A/B/O I haven't decided, but it's definitely at least mpreg)

Amnesia fic - this is based off of a post I made about the effects of Bucky getting hit over the head like 3 times in the span of two days, its... somewhere (edit: here). But its about Bucky waking up with no memory of who he is just before he gets interrogated by the Germans and sent to Stalag Luft III where he meets a man that his heart rejoices at seeing but his mind doesn't recognize. Buck of course has to deal with the love of his life forgetting him.

Magic AU - Bucky is a Scamander and its now everyone's problem to deal with it. The tag to find all of my ramblings for it is magic au (not that Tumblr's tag system works), and @getinthefuckingjaeger just wrote the best ever fic of Bucky and Theseus so go read that.

I've also got a few paragraphs written of Foster Kid Bucky somewhere but that might never see the light of day (that's also from a hogans-heroes AU) where Bucky is a jaded teenager just trying to make it to 18 to get out of his shitty foster placement when in comes Buck whose mother finally divorced his dad, got custody of her kids, and moved to her hometown to escape. It's about a Bright Buck meeting a Jaded Bucky (a flip on their usual dynamics)

Blonde Bucky AU - I wrote a blurb on the Twin Cleven AU post, and the idea of Bucky bleaching his hair on a drunken night out with Curt and Bubbles has haunted me since <- published as well

There might be more? But these are the only ones I can remember off the top of my head right now that are plotted out beyond oh that'd be a good fic. I have a lot of time spent sitting and waiting right now, so I have the ability to write a multitude of fics. I'm happy to talk about any of these fics if you want to come into my inbox or my messages.

[thnxforknowingme]

Klaine Valentine's Challenge 2025: Day 2

Faith

Notes: For this challenge I'm writing snippets in my Mediator!Klaine AU. More info here. This is the final scene from the first arc/story of the AU. Enjoy!

Kurt was getting out of his car outside his house when Blaine reappeared.

“She’s gone,” he said.

“Yep,” Kurt agreed, not questioning how Blaine already knew. No matter how long he spent around ghosts, he would never completely understand how all their spiritual abilities worked. Sometimes they could just sense that kind of thing, through the astral plane or whatever.

“You did a good job,” Blaine told him. In the moonlight, his dark hair looked bluish.

Kurt shrugged, leaning against the driver’s side door. “It turned out so well because you showed up,” he said. “I don’t want you to get in the habit of completely ignoring my requests, but…thanks, for intervening. I didn’t have much faith in her, but your way was better.”

“I just wanted to give her options,” Blaine said softly. “If she hadn’t listened, then you still would have had to go through with your…” He trailed off.

“Exorcism,” Kurt supplied. He wondered if all ghosts found the word distasteful.

Blaine hummed noncommittally. 

“You know,” Kurt said cautiously. “You gave Santana quite a persuasive speech about the need to move on to find peace, and all that.”

“I did my best.”

“So then…” Kurt steeled himself. He was both itching with curiosity and afraid of the answer. “Why haven’t you moved on? It doesn’t seem like there’s anyone still around who you’d need to make your peace with. Why not follow your own advice?”

Blaine looked away from him, facing towards the darkness of the horizon, where Kurt knew the ocean lay down the hill even if it was too dark to see now. The breeze rustled in the leaves of the oak trees above them. Kurt could feel his heart beating, and he wondered if Blaine could hear it.

“It’s late,” Blaine said finally, turning back to Kurt. “You should get some sleep.”

Kurt scoffed. “Way to dodge the question.”

A smile twitched at Blaine’s lips. “Good night, Kurt.” And then he was gone. Kurt sighed. Typical ghost behavior.

He sneaked back into the house and trudged upstairs, physically and emotionally exhausted. His mind couldn’t settle as he got ready for bed, going over the events of the past few hours.

He’d warned Blaine to stay away from the school that night because he didn’t want him to get caught up in the exorcism and sent to the Great Beyond against his will. Part of that was Kurt’s mediator senses, knowing that the best outcome would be for Blaine to resolve whatever was keeping him here, to make the choice to move on, just like Santana had tonight. 

But the truth was…a bigger part of his motivation was selfishness. He didn’t want Blaine to disappear from this realm of existence because he liked Blaine. If he thought about how much he liked Blaine, he started getting heart palpitations.

Dead people and living people can’t be together, he’d told Santana only hours ago. It just doesn’t work like that.

Now, he needed to take his own advice. Because no matter how hard he’d tried to fight against it, he could feel how easy it would be for him to fall in love with the ghost of Blaine Anderson.

Kurt had to avoid that tragedy at all costs.

[sciroccoorion35]

I sometimes write little snippets for my friends. They sometimes make it into a fic, but more often they just live as fun little snippets. Thought maybe some people here would enjoy? Although most of my tumblr friends have probably already read them 😂

...

The entity variably known as the Skull in the Jar, that blasted thing, and the source of all Otherworldly knowledge—though he preferred to think himself simply as “me”—woke up in the attic of Portland Row with a headache. The thing was, when all that was left of you was a head, a headache was rather a big deal. He couldn’t quite remember when he’d been here last, or what had been happening. He had a vague recollection of Lucy doing something unbelievably stupid and something catching fire. So basically, Tuesday.

He stretched his senses, taking in the dusty attic, the last shimmering rays of sunset arcing across the ceiling. He couldn’t remember ever seeing the sunset paint such vibrant colours across the walls—shades of under-eye-bruise indigo and embarrassed-teenager pink. It was pretty enough to distract him from his headache for a few moments.

As the light grew dimmer, his senses became sharper. He could see the fine wood grain of the floor and hear the neighbour’s cat beginning its prowl (he’d frightened the hapless creature a fair few times with some of his more creative faces).

This all seemed perfectly natural, yet something was niggling the back of his mind. If it wasn’t for the feeling like his skull had been split open, he was sure he’d be able to figure out what it was.

He turned his attention inward, trying to feel if somehow his skull had been damaged. That was when he noticed three things.

First, there was a hand-lettered plaque sitting next to him that read: “You will never be forgotten.” It was adorned with illustrated lavender and lilies and all manner of cutesy crap that could only have come from Lucy. He made an audible gagging noise that echoed off the ceiling.

That was when he noticed that he was no longer in his jar. In fact his skull was sitting right on the windowsill, bare as the day he was killed… or well, the day the last of his flesh rotted away. Though it did look a little worse for wear.

This led him to his third and final realisation. That his skull was topped with a beautiful, handmade crown of flowers.

Skull sighed. 

Then he took a deep and entirely psychosomatic breath, and screamed.

[bluebells-scribbles]

A Wishing Moment

Hi, guys! I'm planning a fanfic for Infinity Nikki, because I loved the original main story, and frankly, there wasn't enough of it for me! So I'm writing the content I want to see, and I was hoping for some feedback?

I'm writing a few experimental snippets to start with, to solidify my theories about how gameplay elements would look as part of the story.

What do y'all think of this piece?

Nikki and Momo trotted along the side of Silken Lake, heading to groom the pair of swans for the day.

"Momo, look! There's a few flowers in the lake, by those lily pads. I've never seen them before; let's go check them out!"

Nikki hopped blithely over the water, using her floating outfit to navigate the spaces between the farther-apart lily pads, and pocketed the two lovely flowers. She checked the creamy little tag attached to the first one.

"I guess it's called an aromalily, Momo, and the flowers only bloom during the daytime. They close up at night!"

"It's such a pretty colour, Nikki! I wonder what kind of outfit piece could use that?"

"I wonder, too, Momo. We'll have to collect more of them and check our sketches!"

As she waded through the shallow water back to the shore (and a nervously waiting Momo), she pulled out her backpack to add the new flowers to her collection.

"Nikki, do you know what all these little pink crystals are for?" Momo asked, as he added an entry for the new material into their Compendium. He drew a reasonable imitation of the blue flower with its long stamens, and shook a small handful of pink glitter out of the book's pages. "We keep finding them, but they don't seem to be used for crafting any outfits, and they're not edible like BBQ."

"We do have quite a few of them," she mused. Nikki pulled a small pouch out of her backpack and opened the drawstring, spilling a whole pile of the tiny, sparkling pink shards out onto the grass. As Momo dumped the new ones onto the pile, there was a bright glow from them, and the pile resolved itself into an iridescent purple-pink gem the size of Nikki's palm.

"Oh! Maybe…it's a wishing item!" she replied, with a burst of inspiration. "No one in Florawish mentioned it, but I wouldn't be surprised if there were lots of different kinds of wishing items throughout this world."

"Nikki, you should try making a wish with it!"

Nikki stood up and held the gem close, bowing her head and thinking hard. What should she wish for? A piece of a Miracle Outfit? For the coma victims to wake up? She thought about Florawish city and all of its kind inhabitants, and their obsession with clothes, styling, and creating and sharing beauty with each other.

The gem lit up golden, and unbidden, shot from her hand toward the sky, tracing a bright, swirling arc through the clouds as far as she could see it.

"It looks like your wish has shot off to the Wishing One, Nikki! Maybe he'll send us some delicious, savory BBQ!" Momo exclaimed.

As Nikki lowered her eyes, she saw a small blue packet emerge from the waters of the lake in front of her. "It looks like he has answered our wish, Momo. I wonder…what it is?" She reached her hand out toward it, and with a whoosh and a small musical chime, found herself holding a small hairclip. It had two parallel lines of white beads, each ending in little amber tips. The tag with it read,

'Sweet Nectar

When the sun drapes the land in golden light, the Foodie Bees settle into the flowers, enjoying the feast of nectar.'

[getvalentined]

there is no reason for this other than that I was reading through RTGT aloud to check for errors (because that's how I do that) and thought it might be fun to record and play it back. I did a little cleanup, but not a lot, if that's not ridiculously obvious. It was a good way to test the mic on my new headset.

Transcript, snippet taken from chapter 5 of RTGT:

The inside of the house was dim, lit only where sunlight squeezed through the gaps between boards on the windows. It had been abandoned since the Crisis, so it was no surprise that there weren’t many active signs of human habitation, but Cloud was surprised to find most of the furniture he’d seen on his last visit still seemed to be in place, everything now covered in a thick layer of dust. Still, the house seemed barren with no tea towels on the wall pegs, no dishes in the sink, no pots and pans hanging on the rack overhead. All the knobs had been pulled from the stove for some reason, left lined up on the counter, strikingly white compared to anything else in the open, even through the grime. When Cloud picked one up, the void in the dust underneath seemed to indicate they’d been there since the employee charged with residence had finally left sometime after Meteorfall. “It’s a fire risk,” Vincent explained. “If the stove were still powered, something knocking into one of the dials right or left sharply enough to activate the hob could burn the place down. It’s much more difficult to accidentally turn just a stem.” “I guess so,” Cloud agreed, frowning. “It’s still kinda...weird, though.” He looked at the backside of the knob, then to the stems on the stove, then back. He’d cleaned the stove face enough times that he didn’t really need to look, but he had to double-check anyway—it wasn’t the same stove, so disparities in design were likely, but his memory proved correct. The stems were metal, the cross-section shaped into a smooth arc not unlike a hollow tube cut lengthwise, with one notch about a centimeter down—and another much closer to the end. The one further down was unfamiliar, but it was also a bit ragged, clearly not properly machined, added manually to line up with the depth of the knobs that had been removed. The stem slot on the back of those knobs was slightly worn down from use, but oddly angular, a hexagon with a plastic stopper as opposed to the smooth semicircle of the stems. “The stove is the same kind we had, but these aren’t the right knobs.” He picked up another, checking the slot on the back and finding the same sectioned plastic hexagon instead of the metal half-circle from his childhood. “They’re kinda….new? Not new, I guess, but newer. Weird.” Vincent made a curious sound, moving in to look over Cloud’s shoulder at the plastic attachment, then turning to the stove itself. He reached down to run the index finger of his right hand over a metal stem, testing the shape of it, tapping with one fingernail as if testing the material. “This is quite old,” he said at last. “It was probably fairly expensive for its time. It could be original to the structure—the knobs would have been damaged in the fire and need replacement, but it would be difficult to find genuine hardware for an appliance this old.” A cold shock rushed through Cloud, eyes widening as he looked to Vincent. “What?” “If the original knobs were bakelite or some other early to mid-century polym—” “How could this be original?” He interrupted. “The house burned down. They replaced everything.” Vincent pursed his lips just slightly in thought, eyes narrowing, the crimson glow within brightening by the slimmest measure. “Contrary to their image, Shinra never actually had unlimited finances,” he said slowly, not looking up. “I know Veld, the director before Tseng, oversaw the rebuilding of Nibelheim. He did the same with Kalm a few years prior, and…he’d done similar in Banora, just a little prior to the formal launch of the Jenova Project. His work on complex coverups was highly regarded within the company even in my day, mostly because of his rather spendthrift nature.” At last, Vincent raised his head, giving Cloud a look that seemed to suggest caution, although his words offered something else entirely. “Old Nibel construction was very stable, so I doubt this place burned to the ground. Anything in the house that survived the fire would have been salvaged for reuse.”