nb-octopus-writes

[nb-octopus-writes]

5-21-25

it's been a bit but I'm coming back for another wip wenesdy! this week's theme... hm, let's call it get studied, idiot

the stories:

accidental alien abduction (chrono, non-chrono)

Enrichment in their Enclosure (chrono, non-chrono)

two hiveminds and a stowaway (chrono, non-chrono)

the rules:

send me an ask with any of these titles and I will write and post at least three sentences for that wip

you can send me multiple asks if you want and I will do multiple snippets

[nb-octopus-writes]

@wizisbored said,

Enrichment in their Enclosure please :)

The giant fingers repositioned around him, tightening around his hips and legs while the ones around his upper body opened up. Their other hand appeared to pluck Lewis's spear out of his grip, and he could no more resist it than he could escape from their hold.

Then the giant shifted around him again, and when they were finally still, Lewis found himself lying on his back across their fingers, mostly unrestrained but with a giant thumb under each arm to pin his shoulders in place.

[nb-octopus-writes]

@phantom-z0ne said, Accidental Alien Abduction, please!!

~~

Roman was really going to miss the nerd. Logan's time studying abroad was nearly up, and he'd have to go home soon. He was consolidating his notes, writing his report, deciding what to take home with him and what he had to leave behind.

"I will not have much use for… American clothes, after I leave," Logan explained over dinner one evening.

"What, would people back home judge you for wearing jeans or something?" Roman asked. Fuck them if so, Logan had found clothes he liked, he could wear them if he wanted to!

Logan chuckled slightly. "Not exactly," he said. "It is… colder, back home. These clothes are not designed for the weather there. They would be insufficient coverage." He sighed, looking down at himself. "I will miss wearing these, I think. They are pleasant."

"Maybe you could keep them to wear around the house," Roman suggested. "Do you keep your houses warmer?"

"Not as warm as here, no," Logan answered. He considered some more, then decided, "I will at least keep the tie."

[nb-octopus-writes]

@akumteir said, Accidental alien abduction, please!

When Logan joined him, Roman showed him how to assemble a taco, and Logan jotted the instructions down before doing so himself.

"These are good," Logan proclaimed after taking a bite. "It's similar to the ones we purchased, but certainly distinct. Why is that?"

"Dif'ren ingredients," Roman said around a large bite. "Fresher veggies, probably a different spice blend, plus it's less greasy cause I drained the meat better." He considered. "Also, we're not being as stingy with the cheese and guac and sour cream."

"I see," Logan said, nodding. "The shells are also larger and more sturdy."

"Yeah, I think that's partly the grease, partly the shells themselves," Roman said with a shrug. "Easier to eat if it doesn't fall apart on you. You know, when I was a kid I hated lettuce, but my parents wouldn't let me just leave it off the taco. Gotta eat your greens, you know? I kept eating my tacos from the bottom up to avoid it as long as I could; it was a mess."

[nb-octopus-writes]

the first two she pulled were for the same wip lol

been wanting to write but not sure what, so I decided to pull requests from a hat!

I printed out all the unfilled wip wednesday requests I've got, cut them apart and folded them, and now I shall do several writing sprints with my wife, pulling a random slip of paper each time and write in that wip for the sprint

[nb-octopus-writes]

been wanting to write but not sure what, so I decided to pull requests from a hat!

I printed out all the unfilled wip wednesday requests I've got, cut them apart and folded them, and now I shall do several writing sprints with my wife, pulling a random slip of paper each time and write in that wip for the sprint

[nb-octopus-writes]

I forgot it's Tuesday

hm

anyone got theme ideas for this week?

[nb-octopus-writes]

@meggiejolly said,

two hiveminds and a stowaway, please

(The uniforms came in two styles, and he didn't know yet the significance of either, but one had included low-cut slippers instead of boots, and so he had chosen the other. The shirt was red, with long sleeves and a high collar, and the dark trousers were sturdy and loosely cut, with good pockets.)

The laundry machines looked like they hadn't been moved since they were installed. The stowaway found one that wasn't quite flush against the wall, and managed to stuff his old garments into the space behind it where they would only be visible if someone looked very carefully.

He did not intend to give them any reason to look carefully.

[nb-octopus-writes]

For WIP Wednesday, PLEASE do something with two hiveminds and a stowaway. It's such a fascinating idea that could go so many ways.

:D 💜 glad to hear it!

~

The stowaway slipped down the hallway as quickly and quietly as he could, his boots in his hand and his socked feet near-silent against the tile floor. Spotting an open doorway, he ducked inside.

He was in luck: he'd found the laundry room, and there was a load of clean washing left unattended. Moving quickly lest he be caught, the stowaway changed clothes. His original hiding place had served him well enough as the ship got underway, but he held no illusions that it would last him the whole journey. It was better to hide in plain sight, using the size of the uniformed crew to his advantage.

It was too bad the uniforms did not include a helmet. If he could hide his face, it would be even easier to blend in, rather than hoping nobody he encountered knew every face on the ship well enough to pick out a stranger.

Then again, he probably wouldn't have been able to find a spare helmet lying around in the laundry, and being the only person not wearing one would have stood out worse. There weren't any boots in the laundry either, so he was going to have to risk wearing his own for now. He'd have to swap them for a different pair as soon as he had a chance. Luckily black was a popular color; they just might escape notice so long as nobody looked closely enough to realize they were the wrong cut.

[nb-octopus-writes]

wip wed 04/09/25

this week's theme is "Ideas I've had and talked about but never actually wrote anything for"

they still have links, to the tag in which I've talked about them, instead of a wip snippet tag. or to the singular post in which I've talked about it, in the case of the hiveminds

vampire au 2 (fruitpire Patton) [tag] [chrono tag]

logince with a touch of pining [tag] [chrono tag]

two hiveminds and a stowaway [post]

abused pet au [tag] [chrono tag]

no starter snippet this week, because as I've said I've not really written much for any of these, so I don't have anything to share

[nb-octopus-writes]

@zyrafowe-sny said,

Enrichment in their Enclosure please

Just as he thought it, the giant's grasp loosened around him, fingers opening up. Lewis flung his arms out as best he could in the confined space, trying to brace his elbows against the giant's fingers, to find some kind of handhold to prevent him falling.

[nb-octopus-writes]

@eriquin said,

Some more Enrichment in their Enclosure please

When the giant stopped, Lewis still had to tilt his head back to look them in the eye, but much less so than before. The giant didn't say anything, just looked at him. Lewis looked away first, unable to maintain eye contact.

He was so far off the ground right now. If the giant dropped him, it would end badly.

[nb-octopus-writes]

enrichment in the enclosure please

The giant smiled, and their hand rushed forward. "I'll be gentle," they agreed, as their fingers closed around him.

Gentle, it seemed, meant a firm hold, their fingers pressing into Lewis's body from all sides, but not crushing him. His feet left the ground, but his stomach seemed to stay behind as the giant lifted him up, up, up.

[nb-octopus-writes]

Switching Heights for WIP Wednesday please!

Roman was not responding to texts. He might still be asleep, given how late he was apparently up last night, or he might have gotten distracted and forgotten to check his phone. Logan was not particularly concerned either way; he had his own key and implied permission to enter, given Roman's request for him to come over. If Roman was still asleep, Logan could do some work on his laptop while he waited for him to wake.

Logan knocked before letting himself into Roman's a apartment, but as with his texts, he received no response.

He let himself in.

[nb-octopus-writes]

@eriquin said,

Jay in Minecraft please!

Actually, planting the seeds hadn't been too different than placing blocks, come to think of it. They hadn't snapped into place like blocks did, but then again, they didn't really get larger either, did they? Well, maybe a tiny bit larger as sprouts versus seeds, but not nearly to the extent that blocks did.

Jay takes their little pinch of bonemeal and taps it to the tops of the little sprouts, and the sprouts absorb it immediately, shooting up. Success! Jay does the same with the rest of the bonemeal, and their reward is several fully-grown stalks of wheat. And now to harvest, they just gotta punch it. They consider angles for a moment, then decide to punch downward so as not to damage the surrounding still-growing crops.

Jay punches, and the wheat provides no resistance whatsoever, crunching immediately under their fist. The ground beneath the wheat also crunches, and reverts to dirt. So maybe they don't need to punch that hard, actually.

[nb-octopus-writes]

@aparticularbandit said,

Jay in Minecraft please!

Applying the bonemeal to the plants takes some experimenting. First Jay tries throwing one of the little units of bonemeal onto his crops, but it just lands on the ground and hovers there as an item drop. Jay picks it back up, careful not to break the plants, and considers. Maybe… they hold the bonemeal above the little sprouts and try to sprinkle it, but the grains just shift back and forth between his fingers and don't sprinkle down. Jay frowns. There's got to be a way to do this, they're just gotta figure it out…

In-game, they're realizing, a lot of very different actions are all mapped to the same general "use/interact" button. Tilling the ground, planting the seeds, placing blocks, opening the chest—all done with the same button, but now that Jay's actually in minecraft, doing each is quite distinct.

[nb-octopus-writes]

Requesting rotate the energy skyward for the WIP Wednesday Game please

‘Gratify’ was one of the poorly-translated terms they had worked out previously. It was actually a request modifier, to make the request more polite or more intense. Given the context and the force behind the word, A was reasonably certain that it was being used as an intensifier. Whatever the human was asking for, they desired it very strongly.

“I still do not understand ‘rotate the energy skyward’,” A said.

The human considered. “What is it called,” they said slowly, thoughtfully. “If you have solid water. You do not desire solid water. You desire liquid water. How do you force solid water to be liquid water? Force liquid water to be gaseous water?”

There were a few methods to change a substance's state. For many substances that were gaseous or liquid under normal conditions, compressing them would change them from gaseous to liquid, from liquid to solid, and placing them in a vacuum would reverse the effect. For water specifically, however, which expanded upon becoming solid, that process did not work.