#writing for myself

[ervotica]

you’re an angel, i’m a dog — a.donaldson

pairing; older!art donaldson x fem!reader

warnings; roughly written, badly edited, not beta’d (because when is it ever?), allusions to smut, implied age gap (reader is early 20s, art is early 30s), slight tashi x fem!reader if you squint, infidelity (but tashi is kinda cool with it), just some thoughts about older!art and his pretty girl

a/n; this concept has been eating at me for daysss so i had to write it at least roughly! should we make this a series? (maybe get patrick involved?🫢) let me know what you think! ART & CHALLENGERS (poly!art & patrick) REQUESTS ARE OPEN! any questions / conversation starters about this particular au are highly appreciated and encouraged!! please come to my inbox 📥 <3

older!art is fucking obsessed with you— you, who comes to every one of his matches, who sits next to his wife in those adorable little tennis skirts you sport just for him, who whoops and cheers from the stands whether he wins or loses.

you’re forbidden fruit. so, naturally, he adores you.

tashi knows, because of course she does. she never pries, never so much as spares you a second glance when he wraps his arms around you and buries his face in your neck and huffs hot air against the shell of your ear. she doesn’t care — you’ve made art better at tennis.

his confidence has skyrocketed since having a pretty thing like you cheering him on, his biggest and most enthusiastic supporter. he plays better, he second guesses himself less, he’s more relaxed.

you’re what’s been missing. the last piece of the puzzle.

an obedient little thing, glued to his side, wagging like a dog at his every command.

he fucking loves it. loves having someone relying on him for love and validation. loves the way you preen under his fervent gaze and flutter your lashes at the slightest touch.

when tashi asks you to join art’s team officially, you almost keel over.

“look, i don’t care that he’s fucking you… or that he’s in love with you. he has a shot at the us open this year, and he needs you by his side to do it.” she says. you’re quick to agree, ever obedient and desperate to please.

“he’s in love with me?”

she scoffs. “you’ve seen the way he looks at you. he almost creams his pants every time you’re in the same room as him.” she tilts your chin upwards with a crooked finger, giving your cheek an affectionate - albeit condescending - pat.

“you two can have your fun— but he has to win this year.”

art’s perched against the doorframe when you turn, corded forearms crossed over his chest. you scrunch your nose, pushing back a smile that crinkles at your eyes despite your efforts.

fucking smitten.

tashi rolls her eyes, a half smile tugging at the corner of her lips, and she nudges you towards him.

“go on.”

he opens his arms in greeting and you’re quick to fall into them, your fingers knotting in the shorn hair at his nape. his chest expands beneath your own as he takes a long breath, and he presses his nose to your pulse point, shuddering.

“love you.” he murmurs into your skin.

“love you more.”

he could cry; he doesn’t remember the last time someone told him they loved him and meant it. you’re obsessed with him, almost as much as he is with you.

at his next match, you carry his rackets and send him off with a good luck kiss that has him breathless, grinning as you roll his wad of gum between your teeth that you sucked right from his waiting mouth.

he wins.

how could he not with his pretty girl watching?

and that night, he rewards you with a thorough fucking, whispered love confessions against your lips, and a breathy moan as he cums that you won’t be forgetting anytime soon.

so, yeah. maybe this life isn’t so bad, after all.

[pancaake101]

yan! captor ૮꒰/ฅ//ฅ//꒱ა

imp. notes!!!: noncon photos, masturbation, kidnapping

yan! captor who stalked studied you all the time before taking you. it wasnt hard at all considering his route to wherever was a similar route to your school.

yan! captor who actually didnt JUST study you, he even hired a p.i to gather more info about you when hes busy. your whereabouts, and possibly things he's missed (if any) will get reported to him

yan! captor who would take pictures of you all the time. when he's passing by your favorite hang out spot, you picking up your food order, you taking your books out of the locker, etc.

yan! captor yknow sometimes he'd even take pictures up your skirt if possible. sometimes when the hallways are crowded he gets lucky enough to be right behind you and takes the chance to steal an upskirt picture. look he knows it wrong !!,, he really does but what else can he do? at the time you guys weren't friends and he was so deprived of your touch and attention,, it kills him!! :(

yan! captor who didn't actually consider kidnapping you at first, he thought this was a simple fascination that'd pass. but it didn't. it went from days, to weeks, to months, to eventually almost a full year. and thats when he decided, yeah no i have to have her.

yan! captor especially when the summer had came around, it was so hard!! he was so deprived of your face everyday that he just resorted to passing your house and sneaking glances through your window. he even considered breaking in but realized it'd be too risky :(

yan! captor who often heard you and your friends talking. he'd often eavesdrop and even sometimes record it to listen back. he once heard you talking about your type and it was commonly agreed among you that you guys like a guy more on the fit side. not overly muscle-y, or bodybuilder type. just a guy who takes care of himself, and if he's being honest he hasnt been on his self care as much as he should've. to be fair, it's because you take up all his attention!! being your future boyfriend is just so time consuming, it should be considered a hobby !!

yan! captor who took the initiative to go to the gym and actually start taking care of himself! he developed a skin care routine and spends at least an hour at the gym everyday. ugh he can't thank you enough for reminding him of this!! he can't remember the last time he gave himself this amount of careful attention :,)

yan! captor who was driving in his car but slowed down when he recognized you. it was a slow day, hardly any cars were occupying the street, and so he couldnt help himself and took the risk!! he grabbed you as swift as he could and lifted you into his car. it was so easy to pick you up considering him finally developing a good self care plan.

yan! captor who is oh so giddy to finally have you in his arms! although you were screaming and trying to kick him off of you while putting you in the car, it was so adorable and honestly kind of attractive. although that had to come to an end quick because he had to knock you out to silence you. even though it made him very sad to hurt you in such a way, what else could he have done? you were screaming like a banshee. it hurt and it could've alerted the authorities!

yan! captor who promises to take such good care of you now that you're in his care!!, it might be hard to keep suspicion about your disappearance under control but he will do anything to keep suspicion on his part. he'll even kill if need be

౨ৎ

[punkerpepsi]

bron has never been on his knees for another man before. bron has never felt the need to see, to touch, to feel another man's cock before.

but now, he does. and seth's patient about it, in his own seth rollins way of being.

seth is looking at him with his head tilted, the tip of his tongue touching his upper lip. bron can see the glint of malice in his eyes, he can see the way seth's naked chest goes up and down with each breath he takes, he can see the veins in seth's strong arms as he props himself on his hands. seth's legs are wide open, and bron can feel the strength of the muscles as he grabs one of seth's thighs, feeling him tightening them involuntarily, almost as if he didn't expect the touch.

seth's cock is thick, the head glistening with precum as it rests against seth's navel. bron reaches out with his free hand, taking the cock in his palm. seth's breath hitches, and his eyes roll back. it's warm, bron takes notice; it pulsates as he holds it and strokes it, so very slowly, testing the waters. more precum comes out and when it reaches bron's finger, it's hot and sticky.

"too dry," seth mumbles, making bron look at him. "spit on your hand, baby. make it wet for me, come on," and bron obeys immediately, gathering a good amount of spit on his hand and taking seth's cock back in it. it's visible how much seth likes it, because he shudders and gasps, and his cock once again twitches in bron's grip as he strokes it. "good boy, yeah," seth breathes out, his voice raspy, his hair falling down his shoulders. bron shudders too. he likes it when seth praises him.

he feels almost stupid. a big, strong man like him — a 27 year old man, capable of killing someone with a single punch if he wanted to, feeling all fuzzy because another man praised him.

but it's not just any man. it's seth rollins, the egotistical messiah, the cult leader, the man trying to right his wrongs by doing more wrongs in ways he considers to be right and bron is nothing if not his true follower, his right hand man, his enforcer.

"i know you got your dick sucked by many women before," seth comments, one hand grabbing bron's chin gently, his thumb pressing on bron's lower lip, tugging at it. "yeah, baby, i know you got your fair share of women split on your cock often. the locker room walls have ears and they also can talk," seth laughs in that cunning particular way of his, and bron almost feels himself blushing. blushing because his owner knows that he had dated many of his colleagues. blushing because seth probably heard about all the dirty things he did to the beautiful women he took to bed. "think you can take a cock in your mouth too, big man?"

bron licks his lower lip and his tongue touches the tip of seth's thumb. seth chuckles. bron feels dumb. and he likes it. he hasn't stopped jerking seth's cock once.

"i can," bron's quick to answer, and seth chuckles once again, his rough hand caressing bron's cheek now, like he's a pet.

and that's what he is, isn't it? seth's little pet?

seth rollins' dog?

"gonna teach you how to do it. wanna learn how to do it, bron?"

bron nods his head so fast he doesn't have the time to feel ashamed for it. seth lets a little laugh out.

"got myself a good dog, right? a very good dog. come closer, baby. put the tip in your mouth. gonna show you how to suck dick."

[darkuniverseofmonsterandmen]

[desireve]

cinnamon girl ¡ finnick o’dair.

summary : since secrets started you couldn’t get enough of Finnick.

Oh you were is so much danger. That night signed you for the most heart-burning chapter of your life, not that you didn’t like it, but tainting your reputation for Finnick O’dair, you never thought you will fall this low. 

But you did, you fell so hard that you find yourself entering a hotel room, disguised in funky glasses and a hat, a far cry from the vibrant soul that normally graced Panem's lavish gatherings. Just with a lot of money.

As you stepped into the room, expecting nothing but a bed and the men you did all of this for. That evening, thought, the room smelled of sugar and cinnamon and the comforting smell smashed all your senses.

Faced to the window, Finnick awaited you, his charming smile lighting up the room. Under the Panem sunset, his smile mirrored the warmth of freshly baked pastries. Yet, it was the pastries arranged on the nightstand that got your attention, making your mouth water involuntarily.

"Hey, darling," Finnick greeted, approaching you and playfully eying the funky accessories. "All this effort to see me? You've really put in some work," he joked, removing the accessories and placing them on the bed. Your response was a smile, accompanied by a gentle sigh as his hand brushed a lock of hair behind your ear. "If it's to see you... and those," you gestured towards the cinnamon pastries, "last night, you mentioned craving them, so..." his words trailed off, Finnick all proud and charming, you playfully tapped his shoulder. "You know how to charm O’dair ."

Finnick's gaze dripped with love, sweet as sugar and intense as honey. "You're doing it again," you whispered, shifting to take a pastry in your hand taking a gentle bite off that incredible brioche, still perfectly warm.

"Doing what?" he asked innocently raising an eyebrow and taking a seat beside you on the bed. Finnick, a master of words, charm, and love, knew how to make you flustered. "Admiring you is a crime now?"

"Everything we're doing is," you whispered challengingly, locking eyes with him. He grinned, tracing your cheek with his fingertips, and you met his gaze, the taste of cinnamon lingering on your lips. "But we like a little challenge, don't we?" he whispered, searching your eyes for echoes of love and approval.

Oh, he found them. You admired the blonde curls falling with meticulous grace, the eyes compared to the sea he so often spoke of, and the dimples craved in his cheeks, forming a smile that melted you, very.

"We do," you whispered, gently tracing your fingertips in his hand, that rested on the bed. Your touch traced his knuckles, and as you gazed at each other, the silence hung between you. The sugary feeling of the pastries lingered on your lips, you were ready to be spoke about them, but before you could, his lips met yours.

This time, it was Finnick whose mouth watered. Your dreamy gaze made every secret gathering, every risk taken, worthwhile. He was a madman, and you loved him for it.

The kiss wasn't a mere repetition of the last one. It kindled warmth under your skin, painted your cheeks in shades of red, and unfolded slowly as both of you smiled like fools. Fingers finally interlocked on the bed, hands gently caressing the nape of your neck, eyes closed, and chests dangerously close. It was passion, but in an endearing, almost foolish way.

Under the sun's burn, the beautiful man before you shone, delightful. The kiss ended, but the warmth lingered as your foreheads gently touched. Breaths synced, light heaving, and heartbeats synchronised, marking hearts finally happy to interlock again after nurturing them with so much love.

Finnick looked at you, still searching for your recovered breath, eyes glossy, and cheeks tinted with a delicate pink. He licked his lips gently. "Very sugary, darling." A soft chuckle escaped your lips, and his hand slid from your neck to your waist. "Oh, shut up."

sorry for the ones who don’t like cinnamon 🤭 I love my babies, lana del Rey reference 😩

[certainly-sydney]

Hiya 👋 I’m writing a fanfic about time travel and Dreadrook/Solrook. Fanfic usually never leaves my mind but I felt such an itch to write this that I had to get it out there 💕

https://archiveofourown.org/works/60740563

[vivus09]

It think one of my greatest writing inspirations is Camp Here and There.

[livingmybestlove]

My fiancés biggest green flag is when I did the TikTok Challenge where you ask your partner to name a girl, any girl. The first one that comes to mind. This sweet angel of a man said Ruth Bader Ginsburg. 😂🖤

[cowardlyriver]

And then I'm leaning across the small table outside the cafe in the dying light and touching the tips of my fingers to your face. Just the tips of my three fingers. Grazing the skin from your cheekbone to your jaw. There are no stakes here except the surprise on your face. There are no stakes here except my awe at the feel of your skin, cold from the chilly evening air. The waiter puts two coffees in front of us and my hand retracts with the rest of the daylight, taking with it my delight, my reserve, my impossibly quiet loud joy.

[asolitaryraven]

So maybe using the phrase "Lucifer's words cut through the unholy air like Beelzebub hitting a buffet table" isn't the best to use while writing an extremely sad and dramatic moment but it is hella funny so I'm keeping it.

[ervotica]

i feel like art would have a babbling problem. like, he can’t stfu the closer he gets to cumming, so you have fun finding different ways to occupy his mouth while you suck him off or ride him. first instinct is sitting on his face or shoving your fingers in his mouth

// MDNI; art donaldson x reader

warnings; smut, oral (m receiving), praise, fluffy af ending, light dom/sub undertones, sub!art, art definitely has a praise kink i don’t make the rules 🫡

Art has always been loud— loud on the court, grunting and groaning as he plays, loud when he’s kissing you, breathy whines and gasps that you swallow greedily with your own mouth.

But most importantly, he’s loud in bed.

You always know when he’s about to cum; those corded thighs tighten around your head, back arching from the bed. His lips- rubied and swollen from your greedy mouth against his own- part around a moan, a drawn out whine, and an outright shout when your tongue laves across the tip of his weeping cock, drooling and flushed from your attention.

“Baby, baby, please,” he babbles. “Need it so bad. Gonna fuckin’ cum, please, baby.”

One of your manicured hands drags its way up his glistening chest, slick with sweat and littered with dark marks from your hungry teeth. He moans again, and you part his lips with a gentle thumb, pressing two digits flat against his tongue; he takes them greedily, suckling against the curve of your knuckles as you work him over with your other hand. You resist the urge to roll your eyes— always so obedient.

“Good boy,” you giggle. “Pretty baby.” He whines. You soothe him with a kiss to the tip of his cock.

His hips sporadically jerk as you seal your lips over him, sinking downward until the heavy length of him is settled snugly in your mouth. His chest stutters, a bare leg twining under your arm and round your waist until his heel presses into the base of your spine.

You know he’s cumming before he does.

His breath seizes, missing a beat. The muscles in his thighs tighten as he grinds further upwards into your warm mouth, and then he’s spilling into you with a sob.

His mouth is a wet throbbing around your knuckles, tips of your fingers still pressed to the dip of his tongue. You coast your thumb over the underside of his chin, pressing to the hollow of his throat— he preens under the attention.

“Shh, shh,” you coax. He bends at the waist, hooking a lithe hand under each of your armpits, and you’re dragged up and over his front until you’re nose to nose.

“Baby,” he sighs, nuzzling his cheek against your own. “Love you.”

“Love you too, pretty baby,” you coo. He’s almost limp underneath your weight, eyes half lidded and crinkling at the corners. “Can I have a kiss?”

He melts.

“You can have anything you want. C’mere.”

[tangerineluciddreams]

Respect is Earned: a poem by TLD (me).

I only love life as much as life loves me.

And pretentious people call me selfish,

They tell me I’m going to hell for it.

They tell me I should just wait and see.

I understand that respect is earned,

Yet the people expect me to listen.

I understand I only know what I learn,

But not when I’m forced to a rhythm.

I know I’m different, I know I’m me.

There’s not anyone else I would be.

I don’t yearn for love or for passion.

It’s never beyond a platonic fashion.

It feels like I’m drowning,

Water muffling my screams.

What else is there for me,

If not to follow my dreams?

They all say “myself” is what I should be,

But suddenly I’m doing it wrong.

One comment off or one smile on,

And suddenly the problem is me.

I’m treated like a burden yet I feel so alive.

Certainly there’s more to the idea of life.

Certainly I couldn’t be crazy for thinking it?

Certainly I’d feel like me if I liked what fit?

No, to be truly real is to be truly authentic.

No more of acting like everyone’s okay with this.

We’re tired, we’re scared, we’re confused and bored.

So there’s no point in ruining a good metaphor.

[punkerpepsi]

quick thought: seth edging bron for a whole hour. sucking on his cock, masturbating him, putting a vibrator against the sensitive head and bron absolutely can not come. at all. bron's hands are tied to the bedhead, and he's tearing up at this point because he oh so desperately needs to come but seth won't allow him and he won't come without his owner's order, because he wants to be good to seth. he wants seth to be proud of him for being able to control himself.

this poor little thing just wants to come.

and then seth sits on bron's cock, mainly cockwarming him, but moving his hips back and forth from time to time and escalating it slowly until seth's fully riding him, hard and fast. seth's taking in the way bron's eyes can't seem to keep open, the way his moans are loud and filling the room, the redness in his cheeks and his chest. he can feel bron's cock twitching inside him, thick and long, and seth knows he's holding back. he knows bron is used to seeing things and just taking them because he can, but right now, bron is learning to take when seth's willing to give him. he's learning seth's conditions, and he's behaving well. there's even a single tear running down bron's cheek, and that's when seth finally feels moved.

so seth leans down, bites bron's lower lip, tugs at it, lets it go and runs his wet lips across bron's jaw, until his lips find bron's ear. that's when he whispers, "come inside me, big dog. you earned it."

[desireve]

freezing hunger ¡ coriolanus snow drabble

coriolanus snow is the type of boyfriend who refused to release his grasp. In the Capitol, you are unique beauty, eccentricity, and vibrant allure. Your image outshone even the brilliance of your kindness. Yet, the hunger of the Capitol couldn't be satiated by your pretty face alone. They craved more, and Snow was there to purposely keep them starving. 

In every corner, in every party, within the academia, and through the districts, your radiant presence was always followed with the icy shadow. Where you went, Coriolanus was there, fiercely protective, asserting his claim, wielding his gun, and manipulating his own image. He didn't just breathe for you; he lived, survived, and killed for you. And he'd do it repeatedly, shamelessly displaying that he wasn't just solely about you but was the one craving you the most.

"no hands this time; my dress is way too shiny.." you hummed, facing the mirror in a dress as vibrant as lichfield angels. Snow stood behind you, eyes locked on the reflection, fingers already tracing your waist. The mirror bore witness to his intense gaze, ‘’can’t promise my darling''.

okay maybe i see the potential, going to write a whole fic...

[spilled-drafts-on-napkins]

"My Eyes Can't Lie"

If you ever see me in public, it’s not hard to tell what I’m thinking. My eyes say everything before my mouth ever does.

Eyes wide or relaxed — I’m engaged, listening, part of the moment.

Eyes squinted or locked in — I’m focused, working something out. Maybe it’s on my phone. Maybe it’s in my head.

Eyes sultry or scheming — I’m watching you. Flirtation or fantasy, either way, it’s you on my mind.

Eyes drifting or soft — I’m content, coasting, just observing the world go by.

Eyes low or wincing — I’m annoyed. Looking for a distraction, maybe a way out.

Eyes darting or scanning movement — I’m anxious. On edge. Hyperaware.

I guess my eyes speak before I do. It’s just how I’m wired.

[ghostie-jakxy-gray]

Longass Thematic Analysis of Gut & Idyll AU

Because I’m 80k in and finally figured out what my Point is with this one. Also warning: this is Actually Long.

(for reference THIS is the fic series I’m talking about)

First off, let me address the elephant in the room: yes I know, AUs don’t have to have a Point.

It’s an AU, it can be “hey what if they were superheroes” stuff.

But see, one of my Jobs (my Favorite of my Jobs) is making the “hey what if they’re superheroes” style stuff. So my stress relief hobby writing goes down the routes that don’t end up in my commercial writing, and that means existential crises and body/mind horror and Thematic Points that aren’t just shoving politics underneath an already existing bit of dialogue so it sounds Culturally Relevant, okay? So yeah. Gut & Idyll has a Point.

What is that point? Well (and I’m so tempted to say something like “buckle up chucklefucks” here because I just *know* this metatext is gonna end up being as long as some of my actual chapters lol [editing note: it IS]) Let’s Get Into That.

First off: Gut n Idyll is a crossover AU. this means we’re drawing meaning and relevance from the source materials themselves AND how those texts and themes interact with each other. However, even with me trying to shove this monster of an AU back in the box it came in, it has already spiralled into involving many tagged fandoms. So before we get into any themes at all…

WHAT ARE THE MAIN TEXTS / FANDOMS INTERACTING IN GUT N IDYLL AU?

There are… arguments to be made here, given what’s been published thus far. However, y’all can death-of-the-author me later, because as far as I’m concerned this is a 3-main-media-crossover AU.

Yes. Three. Which three? 

First off we have Hadestown. For those who don’t know it, it’s a broadway musical retelling the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice in a modern/post-apocalyptic-maybe/steampunk setting through New-Orleans Jazz. Notable components that stay the same between the original text/theatrical-production of Hadestown and the Gut n Idyll AU is the omniprescence and Meddling of the Fates as a character, and specifically the characterization of the Fates as the Wind.

Next off we have Content SMP. For those unfamiliar, it’s a minecraft survival roleplay server telling an original story of revenge and betrayals played out through the creation and use of mods [for those really lost who don’t know what mods are… the actors/players add stuff that you can’t normally do in the game through messing with the game’s code]. For the most part in this AU major events on the server are referred to as passing the same, with most of the divergences from the original thus far being the exact character motivations for these actions, given that the Wind is also Meddling with people’s actions. 

And finally we have Three Houses. For those who aren’t acquainted, this is an offbroadway musical about three people who broke up right before the 2020 pandemic and spent the subsequent lockdown alone with their thoughts, framed around the story of the three little pigs. Thus far in the publicly available works, there is little obvious connection between this bit of media and literally anything else, aside from the authors note in which I promise real hard it ties in you guys. (Looking ahead, if I can actually finish these unendingly long chapters, the point of connection is that the “Young Man” who becomes Hades in this AU is Beckett - one of the three protagonists of the show; and more connections that I’ll articulate later in a specifically marked “if you want spoilers for the backstory-fic because I’m taking ten zillion years to write it” section.)

{and yes. Somebody can argue that Dream SMP is also an “integral” part of this AU because I have Two Whole Published Fics in the series that deal with it. But counterpoint as hand-of-god author perspective, that narrative is a self-contained little arc that reinforces and deals with the overarching themes but doesn’t intrinsically add anything to the Point of the AU. Frankly, by the logic of that, somebody can equally argue that Ruhl’s Eurydice is an “integral” part of this AU because I’ve included three whole fics referencing it, and another unpublished one where it’s central. Which isn’t to say that Ruhl’s Eurydice isn’t important, or that I haven’t published fics in the AU relating to Dream SMP, just that they aren’t one of the Main Texts that Builds This AU.}

Okay so if those are the Main Texts, what exactly…. Hold on wrong font

OKAY SO IF THOSE ARE THE MAIN TEXTS WHAT ARE THE COMMON THEMES BETWEEN THEM?

On the surface there is very little connecting these stories. That is, in fact, why it took me writing so damn much of this AU before I figured out that there Were specific common themes I was drawing on from each of them. (remember when I thought this would be a maybe-eight-chapter-max AU? I do, and oh how I laugh at my foolish naivety.)

First off let's start with the commonalities between the musicals, because at least that sort-of makes sense.

Hadestown and Three Houses are both shows about perseverance; and they are both framed by repetition. 

Okay, sure, what do I mean by that. Well, Hadestown is the more obvious example so lets start there. The show quite literally repeats, almost ending exactly as it began. To quote the show- “it's a sad song, but we’re gonna sing it again.” Remove the bows song and there is nothing stopping the end of one night’s performance bleeding into the beginning of the next. Within the world of the text, this is a sequence of events that keeps going indefinitely, on and on for all eternity. Every night, the story plays out, Orpheus preservers and tries to reunite with Eurydice, Hades tries to reconnect with Persephone, and every night one of those pairs succeeds for a time. Repeating.

As for Three Houses, it’s not quite so literally spelled out, but it still isn’t particularly hard to find. Each character is introduced to the same space, they introduce their plight in a reprise (repeating with variation) song, all three address the same themes of love and fear and connection to their ancestors, and from a narrative structure point of view they all kinda follow the same character arc more or less? Like not exactly beat for beat but… It’s got a thing of repetition is what I’m saying. 

And as for perseverance? Just look at the last song of both of those musicals. Hadestown’s We Raise Our Cups and Three Houses’ Coda are both [for a given use of the word] ensemble songs expressing the sentiment of “even if things didn’t work out well in the past we’re still here and we can still hope for a better future.” Literally asking the audience to imagine these characters trying again, and maybe doing better this time around. 

Right so now we’ve done the obvious stuff can we talk about Neverend?

Content SMP is a partially improvised form of storytelling, an ensemble piece with a wide range of individual narrative and perspectives woven into it, and often with each of these individual narrative addressing different themes and topics - triumphs and failures of hubris alike. It is a bit harder to say what the Theme and Narrative Point is of a story that has ten plus distinct Themes and Narrative Points going on. 

And Yet. From the first day of the server, one of the ongoing conflicts on the Content SMP has dealt with the topics of the End, and who can access it. 

From the point of view of minecraft, yeah duh okay who cares. But think about that from a narrative standpoint for a second. A main conflict between various individual narratives has been Who Has The Power To End The Story. To the point that one of those characters makes something specifically so that the End will never be reached, so that the story and its conflicts will continue indefinitely, and it’s called the Never-End. 

It’s perseverance and repetition, all the way down. 

But of course, that’s not the only main theme in Content SMP. After all, there’s longstanding plot points and conflicts going on based upon what is owed to those with a family connection (see: Lux and Nox’s Everything), and the price one is willing to pay for safety and riches (see: Mouthpiece’s Everything). 

Hey you wanna know what other shows deal with those themes? How about Three Houses’ long and beautiful sections on how the choices of the protagonists’ grandparents affect them and their choices for better or worse. How about the way Hadestown’s addresses the descent of Eurydice, in which she has to grapple with having to give up her relationship with Orpheus in order to gain safety and riches in Hadestown. 

And actually, not as a theme but as a plot device, all three of these stories have an Outside Meddling Force driving the conflict - Mouthpiece for CSMP, The Fates for Hadestown, and the Wolf for Three Houses.

Alright. That’s enough ranting about the similar themes in these three bits of media. 

HOW DO THESE THEMES FIT IN WITH THE STORY OF THE AU?

We know the story repeats. That’s, like, the conceit of the AU - that the Wind is forcing people to play out the story of Hadestown/Orpheus+Eurydice even where it isn’t relevant and especially against those peoples’ will. (Also see: me trying to fit in every damn theatrical Eurydice that I can possibly think of into this AU, just because the whole point is that the story’s been repeating, and I get to flex my knowledge of this particular niche of info. I am So So Very Desperately trying to stick in a Jasper in Deadland reference, but can’t for the life of me manage it TT)

Perseverance is also pretty easy to see: this entire AU is about people slowly and occasionally futilely and yet still consistently fighting back against the Wind. And there are So Many Examples of people fighting against the Wind’s enforcement of roles in this AU; from Persephone taking in Folly as a mentee instead of Hades, to at least three Eurydices just fucking off into the ocean entirely and turning into fish to escape the Wind. Likewise, it’s pretty easy to see the Wind’s perseverance in this AU - it just doesn’t give up, even when its choices of “Orpheus”’s and “Eurydice”’s seems less than intuitive.

For the What We Owe Family point - the whole thing with Rat and Folly. They’re family, but what are they to each other? Twins? Co-admin? And is one of their existances more Real than the other, just by virtue of having been around longer? (and likewise in an upcoming chapter I’m doing the same damn thing with Lux and Nox, but I haven’t finished editing it yet so… just trust me, that’s the vibe.) Also, in the Voidburger arc, Fundy and Sally and the Big Fish That Is Ruhl Eurydice and what relationship the three of them owe each other, and how exactly they wish to connect or not.

I also literally just said it, but: Charter mod stuff, and Hades’s coins, both address the theme of the price of safety and riches. With both, one gains a priceless artifact that will keep them safe from bodily harm and in acquiring it loses something precious to them. And also, to a different extent: Talon’s end dust mod - there’s a cost to safety and it’s that to be safe from threats on one dimension you must be attacked by threats from another. I’m sure this particular theme pops up in more spots, and *will* pop up in more spots as the AU continues, but these are the two obvious ones. 

And of course, the one theme I didn’t mention above but totally should have: Power and Autonomy. Who has power, who has the power to tell another body where to go, who can deny that power and why might they and why might they not? Which is. I mean. It’s the whole goddamn thing? The Wind is giving orders and people are denying it, Rat establishing dominance as admin on the server vs The Mason denying that authority and changing netherite spawn rates, even in Three Houses there’s the underlying understanding that a Pandemic is happening and what rules should be obeyed because of that and how that affects the characters for better and worse… Like it’s not quite as blatant as the other themes but it’s definitely an underlying current thats running through everything. 

Right. Cool. So.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR THE POINT OF THE AU?

Not to tangent, but I’m gonna bring up a wholeass 'nother point here. It’s not a tangent, I swear, it’s just more info that is Relevant to what I’m getting at.

There are two ways I say this AU started. The first is the literal “I was bored and wanted to write a crossover of Orpheus and Eurydice from Hadestown go to the Neverend” because I had an hour and why the hell not, after all - to be cringe is to be free. That’s what literally started this AU. But that is not the “starting point” of this AU. The “starting point” as I articulate it, the thing that I dovetailed from cannon plots so hard that I felt it would reasonably create 

Let me ask you a rhetorical question, alright? What is the Point of Orpheus as a Protagonist in Hadestown?

Like, obviously he’s a protagonist because he has to go save his wife and bring the world back into tune and whatnot. But not from a smartass “oh the protagonist is the protagonist cuz he’s the main guy” point of view, from an in-universe narrative perspective. Why Orpheus? Well, I’m gonna say a thing regarding my interpretation of Hadestown that is gonna piss off a few character-enjoyers in the room: Orpheus is a shit protagonist. 

No, really. He spends the first act trying to write a song we don’t hear while his wife dies, and he spends the second act chasing after her. He should not be the protagonist of the show. I have, in fact, spent entire academic papers arguing that he isn’t the protagonist at all. 

But Jakxy, you cry, why the fuck are you writing an AU centering the story of Orpheus and Eurydice being retold with Them As Protagonists if you don’t think the Central Story Being Retold is actually about Orpheus??

Yeah, no, I didn’t say that. The story of Hadestown is definitely about Orpheus. But Orpheus is not the Protagonist of Hadestown. In universe, diegetically, from the perspective of The Gods Telling The Story They Are Telling in Hadestown, Orpheus is the protagonist because Orpheus is the only one who can deliver a message to Hades. Specifically: a warning. If you keep going down this path, Orpheus warns Hades, you will not be regarded kindly by your people and you will break the world as we know it. 

In Hadestown the musical, Orpheus is able to deliver this warning because he is The Bestest Boi at songwriting, because his mom is the Muse Of Songs. (I think. Don’t quote me on which muse Orpheus is supposed to be the kid of. That’s the Vibe and I’m sticking with it.)

In this AU, I’m the author and so if I think that’s kinda bullshit and also makes his character less interesting, I can just… change it. So in Gut n Idyll, Orpheus is able to deliver that warning because he is the son of the Muse of Warning, and he does it in song because that’s the best way the warning will be received. We’re aligning the narrative purpose of the character and the literal backstory baybeee!

Which, of course, changes the function of the story of Hadestown in this crossover, now doesn’t it. On the outside, Hadestown is a rescue mission. That doesn’t transmute with the change. But the reason it fails, and in turn the reason it repeats, that does.

Basically: my interpretation of Hadestown is that it is NOT a retelling about Orpheus’s personal hubris-y failing, not really anymore. It’s a story about forcing those in power to confront the way their actions have affected the world; and how ultimately even if those people in power might want to change things, they are in too deep in the power-structure they have built to actually realize the changes necessary.

And HERE is where I’m gonna go into spoiler-ish territory, not in that I’m actually spoiling specific plot stuff that’s gonna happen but the general character arcs. Anyone who doesn’t want spoilers… eh it’s already been few k worth of Thematic Discussion that you can chew on and yell at me about in the comments. Skip this last bit or forever hold your peace about me “spoiling” the ending of the AU.

Thus far there’s been a fair bit of the AU devoted to explicitly saying that the Wind has been replaying the story of Orpheus and Eurydice. And there’s been a fair bit of specifically “The Rat That Feeds the Rattlesnake” devoted to the fact that Folly is the latest Eurydice and Rat is Obviously Orpheus.

Except, y’know… if you look at the following plot points of Content SMP? That just… doesn’t really work if you’re building off those set cannon actions. I mean, sure, Rat is “defying the wind” and doing a wholeass other revenge plot before saving Folly, that is an AU I can write.

That is not the AU I’m writing. Because, if we’re just drawing parallels between characters in media? Rat is not the one who should be Orpheus. Like, so blatantly Not The Obvious Orpheus.

Because Fucking Blake Winsweep is Orpheus. 

No no I’m serious it lines up Entirely Too Well and I’m actually both kinda  mad about it and almost impressed. Here is a Dude(™) and he travels to a whole freaking other dimension owned by the god-king-owner of his known world, and he does this in order to confront this overpowered other player in order to remind him that his actions have consequences for the entire server not just himself, so if he could stop escalating the conflicts please and thanks. He is led there by an ally who has been taken in by this king-player, and who refuses to stay with him and see reason that the king-player’s actions are taking things too far. He exits hell alone. He exits hell alone, but the general populace agrees with him, and turns popular vote against the king-player. He wins the people over, but he still cannot stop the king-player from escalating conflicts and making the world he lives in harder to live in.

So yes. Orpheus SHOULD be Winsweep. And, by that same logic, Hades SHOULD be Rat. or, at the very least, Lux should definitely be Eurydice. After all, she even dies at the end!

But. well. first off I started this AU just a little after the Neverend video came out, and I wasn’t thinking that hard about what Rat’s role would be aside from “yeah he’s there probably lol.” and now I’m in too deep to change it, so. Sunk cost fallacy. It’s a feature not a bug now. What does it mean for the narrative if we’re putting some who should definitely-probably be Hades in the role of Orpheus, who is a Warning?

Firstly it changes the scale of the story. A crossover between Hadestown and Content SMP where Winsweep is Orpheus is self-contained. It exists only on that server. For Rat to be Orpheus there has to be a bigger big-bad than the power-mad admin of the server. Secondly, it changes Rat’s autonomy. (see, I told you this theme would come back!) Orpheus as a character and especially as a protagonist doesn’t actually have the power to save anyone. Likewise, if Rat is playing out the role of Orpheus, that strips him of the narrative ability to guarantee anyone’s safety or wellbeing: if he’s just a guy trying to get a loved one back then that means that there’s no way to know if he’ll succeed, if (in the words of Hadestown) the story will turn out this time. 

And finally? 

Let’s go back to that sum up of “the point of (my interpretation of) hadestown” I did like five seconds ago. Orpheus wants a better world. His function is to warn what happens if people don’t try to achieve that better world. And when, not if WHEN he fails? He doubles down and tries again, makes it harder to ignore, keeps repeating that message until one day, Some Day, he’ll finally drill it into these peoples’ thick skulls.

Which puts Rat’s escalations of conflicts into a bit of a different light, now doesn’t it? After all, I said he was not the Obvious Orpheus, I didn’t say his character arc didn’t work in that way at all. He doubles down. Tries again. More directly, and to-the-point. And maybe, eventually, hopefully before it’s too late, he makes those around him see the danger he sees.

Remember how I said this is a three way crossover? And remember how I said it has a Point?

All of my source-material-media for this crossover deal with repetition. Telling the story again, trying to derive catharsis and meaning from keeping a story going beyond its natural endpoint. And if Hadestown and Three Houses both laude this feature as something admirable, Content SMP holds a directly opposed stance, says things Must come to an end or they will spiral ever outward into calamity and escalation with no refuge in sight. And if Rat is acting as the bearer of a Warning to higher powers like the Fates that are pushing him around in this AU? That seems like a pretty dire and straightforward warning to articulate.

Which is fine and good but seems pretty anticlimactic for a Point-with-a-capital-p in a post that’s already however-the-fuck ridonkulously long. So let me put it this way:

Things that cannot adapt to the Way Things Are die. But if the Way Things Are cannot adapt, then it too will die. And if Death itself cannot adapt to accept the Way Things Are in its embrace? 

Eh. Then you find out exactly what kind of person has enough spite in them to destroy a metaphysical concept like Death.

(If you've read this long, you get a cookie and a hug, thanks for listening to me rant about my Blorbos)