#//here we go

[tealeavesandthorns]

"Thy tongue outvenoms all the worms of Nile" | Maria x Gareth - Days of Youth

Summer seemed to have come around fast for Maria, she had turned 18 in the March and since then her life had been filled with the final exams for her a-levels. Summer, therefore, was supposed to be a time for her to relax before university, to allow herself to have all those experiences 18 year olds were supposed to want...

Maria, despite the urging from both parents and grandparents though was still reading, studying, working hard just in case there was even the slimmest chance she hadn't passed something - which was highly unlikely.

It was fair, that they worried she wasn't living her young life to the fullest. Maria had few friends, buried herself in books and couldn't resist correcting people. She'd been called everything at school and college from know-it-all to brainiac and had been used by others, so they could copy her answers, more times than she cared to admit.

Better, she thought, even if her family didn't agree, to stick to books, be content with the people around her and not worry about what everyone else seemed to think she was lacking. Life was long, she'd have plenty of time for silliness when she was older. Her Grandfather was testament to that.

Maria had come to the pub to give the illusion she was getting out of the house, she had still brought a book and a notebook with her. She would read the book, from her reading list, like she did with others she might write an essay on, once for pleasure then once for study. Concentration was becoming difficult as the evening chatter from the patrons in the pub grew the noise level and her concentration was entirely shattered when not to far from her a group of men were shouting, cheering, egging each other on and one of them was quoting Shakespeare.

"Oh for goodness sake," Maria finally snapped, almost, but not quite slamming her book down on the table. Her tone befitting someone much older and more matronly. "the line is:

The strong necessity of time commands Our services awhile, but my full heart Remains in use with you. Our Italy Shines o’er with civil swords.

She put real emphasis on the words he had gotten wrong or mostly missed. "If you're going to disturb everyone's evenings rowdily quoting the bard the least you can do is get it right."

@dontcxckitup

[flamesignite]

@sennenpharaoh

Roy had been dreading coming home all day. He knew that he and Atem had to talk about this. There was no walking around it, he knew it had to be done. They were in a relationship together, they both did things that they weren't proud of.

Roy knew the faster that they could discuss the faster it could be dealt with and moved on. His heart ached, not just because of the fact Atem did things that were so out of character of him, but his own regrets, his choices he made, he knew that there was no justifying what he had done to thousands and countless lives.

He stands in front of their apartment door, ready to face the music of what discussions that they would have to have in order to be able to move past this, if there was a way to do such a thing, if Atem didn't want him around anymore after learning the horrors, he'd understand.

What Roy did was unforgivable, but he knew the other probably had all sorts of questions he wanted answered and Roy would do his best to be as open and honest with him as humanly possible.

There was also another subject that bothered him, he had gotten a visit from Yami and had to tell him that they needed to stay away from each other for now, so that Atem doesn't get upset with him for being around him.

He needed to know if the other was hurt or what happened in his point of view. Worry of course was running through his body as he opened the door to see the other sitting on the couch keeping his knees brought up to his chest.

"Good evening, darling." He says softly as he closes the door behind him. He didn't know what tonight would bring them, but he was prepared to face the consequences of his past actions.

"May I sit with you?"

[badlydrawnwaywardvagabond]

NYELLOW MEOWOR HEHEHE HEARD MEW PAWNTED TO JOIN THE FUN? >:3 - Trickster!@unwelllydrawnroxy

er... are you alright? you seem a bit... off lately

[ayda--demir]

Ayda: Congrats on the biggest heart.

Ayda: Are you free for coffee? Come by the bakery?

[star-paths]

@united-as-one clicked ♥ for a starter!

Ryung entered the men's bathroom after the other, reaching behind him and flipping the lock with a quiet click. Sangkyu did not yet know of his presence, but it would be made clear soon enough.

"You're a difficult man to get a hold of, Choi Sangkyu," he approached the other with his hands slid into his pockets, knowing Sang would likely startle to see him. It had been nearly a month since their separation and try as he might he never seemed to be able to get through to the other — not phone, not social sites, not visiting.

He sauntered up to the sinks where he'd found the other washing his hands, catching his eyes in the smudged mirror and relishing the expression on his face. "If I didn't know any better I'd say you were avoiding me," his voice trailed along, waving a hand nonchalantly beneath one of the paper towel dispensers before ripping one off and handing it to the other.

"But you've never been able to stay away from me for long, so that seems a bit silly, doesn't it?"

[pawnshopsouls]

“  i think i’m dying—  fuck i’m gonna die…  ” -Eden for Bonely

The mage was talking. Eden was talking. Usually, that was a really good thing! Something special since talking was hard for them! But it only made Bonely feel worse as he stood by the fur-covered slab they'd been laid on. He knew Cimerrian fruit was awful to taste and even worse in wine. But with their garden being so plentiful, he never thought that Eden's plants and Gunmar's cimmerian vineyard would get a chance to cross-pollinate.

"Ah jeez," he rumbled and grabbed a round pitcher, Salem's glowing solstone glowing softly at the bottom. "Here, this'll help yeh get that stuff outa yer system."

He poured a glass for Eden and offered it to the mage. The Solstone was full of Salem's healing Clerci magic, and he had no doubt it would help heal up whatever the Cimmerian hybrid fruit was doing to Eden's stomach. Granted, he'd only been able to get it on loan with the specific condition of NOT letting Gunmar consume it. A trial in an of itself right there.

The caster reached over and grabbed a wide, empty bowl. "Here, if yer feelin' like yer gonna puke, go ahead 'n' puke. This here water will help yeh."

The poor mage. Bonely had a bucket for them if the rotten stuff needed to go out the other way. Thankfully, Walburga was more than prepared for stuff like this - one of the many reasons he'd brought Eden to the healing den for Changelings instead of the regular army. Grike would grump about it but he knew the trickster-quagawump wouldn't grump too much with their partner being safe.

[unbeleveable-archive]

@auntiezelda gets an agnes starter

Agnes hadn’t had much contact with her Spellman relations other than the occasional exchange of letters over the years. So when she received one from her cousin Zelda inviting her (and Ada and Marian; Oscar couldn't get away) to come visit at the house they had taken in Newport, it was something of a surprise. Still, they had accepted and the three of them now stood in the entry hall, making observations of their surroundings.

“How perfectly charming, isn’t it, Agnes?” Ada, always the more likely to issue compliments, asked of her. 

“It certainly isn’t shabby,” was Agnes’ response.

[doomxdriven]

following (x)

The Kido Palace couldn't be accessed from the outside through normal means. A mix of multiple gates, Kido barriers, and crushing bureaucracy made it nearly impossible for anyone outside the Kido Corps to walk these grounds (without incident), but today was to be one of the few exceptions.

Within the Kido Palace's main courtyard, scores of Kido Corps members would watch as a seal suddenly appeared upon the ground, it's great, violet light cast upon every surface in the immediate area. From within the seal, two people would soon emerge, the Grand Kido Chief himself, Bansui, and someone who had not been seen within these halls before; Lyric, a Dragonclad, in all their scaled, horned glory.

Whenever Bansui would pop in and around the Kido Palace in this manner, his many subordinates were usually quiet, reverent, or otherwise used to these things, but for once they can be heard whispering to each other, a tinge of shock or confusion seen in their eyes (the only parts of their faces that were visible beneath their uniforms).

Bansui doesn't even address any of them though, he immediately turns to Lyric, and grins widely, a hand listlessly raised while he gestures to their surroundings.

Lyric would see large, winding stone pillars, walls decorated with strange abstract murals, and numerous windows in the shape of the Kido Corps emblem. There was a large, glassen, semi-dome far above the courtyard as well, which was inscribed with countless, though indiscernible, symbols that all appeared to faintly glow.

Bansui, in that low, gravelly voice of his, would eventually go on to say, "I bid thee…. welcome, to the, Kido Palace, my… prospective, lamb. Shall we… begin, thy jaunt?" // @lunarscaled

[unboundwanderers]

THE LIBERATION FRONT | NAHIDA? AND THE WAR DOCTOR | @maquiscursed

WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF YOUR ENTIRE HOME HAD BEEN REWRITTEN AND CHANGED? The whole of Teyvat had been changed by something that had seeped through the cracks of a lock. Everything that was happening right now was impossible, it shouldn't have broken through the Time Lock around Teyvat- but here, as evidenced by the putrid smog that turned the sky a filthy maroon- the time lock clearly didn't matter anymore. The Daleks had somehow rewritten history on a massive scale, leaving Teyvat nothing more than a wasteland for them to occupy. The Whole Planet was now a massive nuclear wasteland, with many fortresses made from the gutted remains of the major nation's capital cities.

THE PLANET HAD BEEN FITTED WITH SEVEN SPIRES in each capital city. Time Shield Emitters that kept the Time Lock maintained, so that the altered timeline essentially rested within a different dimension. There was absolutely no way for The Timelords to interfere- even if they wanted to, which they didn't. Right now, Gallifrey was amassing all of its firepower and resources in order to construct THE ARK, a massive battle station that would be able to theoretically crush THE EMPEROR's TIME FLEET, which was moving toward Gallifrey at this very second. This meant several things for The War Doctor, who was here- alone... on Teyvat.

This was most CERTAINLY a trap. Why else would the Strategist linger? Why else would he choose to make a stand on Teyvat as opposed to joining the time fleet? Why else would The Time Strategist KIDNAP Lumine and lure The War Doctor here. Whatever weapon they used to do this? It was inconsequential. The War Doctore had been lured here... All of this? Everything? The rewrite? There was NO tactical cause for it. Except for ONE reason, and ONE reason alone... This was a TRAP for HIM. For The War Doctor. One he could not ignore, as he had to rescue Lumine. She was being kept somewhere, in one of the seven towers scattered across Teyvat.

He had recruited the help of Aether, the traveler left behind when The War had started. The two had split up, Aether heading to Fontaine, Natlan, and Snezhnaya, leaving The War Doctor to liberate Liyue, Mondstadt, Inazuma, and Sumeru from The Temporal Fleet hanging over Inazuma. HE HAD DECIDED TO START WITH SUMERU and would figure out which nation to liberate after, keeping his focus entirely on the situation here in the city. In the center of the city was a control spire, that stretched into the sky- practically scratching the heavens. He had to reach the top of it. He assumed, anyways, that that was where the main operations for the Sumeru Division were housed, anyways.

Right now, he was on the edge of the city- watching Sumeru Civilians being escorted into mineshafts by DALEK INFANTRY UNITS. Their BRONZE casings caught his eyes. He had no weapons, no plans, no way to disable the SIX DALEK UNITS that were guarding the TWENTY CIVILIANS, but he knew that alerting them to his presence and revealing, finally, that he was on Teyvat- would be the best way for those civilians to be safe. The Daleks hadn't chained the civilians, of course, they hadn't- they had weaponry and guns, and that alone made them advanced enough to keep the Sumeru People close by out of fear for their lives.

So The War Doctor did what he did best and got the attention of The Daleks, throwing a rock at the dome of the unit commander. A harsh voice screamed out,

"ALERT!! INFORM COMMAND!! THE DOCTOR IS DETECTED!!" "Give the man a medal!! Come and get me!!!"

Immediately, the prison guards lose interest in the civilians, as they begin slowly making chase after The Doctor. They seem to understand that this is a distraction for them to escape, and they do- The Daleks deeming them irrelevant in the pursuit of their greatest enemy-- who's entered Sumeru City and is now RUNNING through the streets and enters the town square. The Daleks must've studied the layout of the city, as they'd already cut him off and surrounded them completely.

"THE DOCTOR WILL BE EXTERMINATED!" "EXTERMINATE!!!" "EXTERMINATE!!!!!"

[anunkindncss]

Peter was starving as any growing boy would be swinging about the city and taking down the morons that wanted to commit minor felonies. But, after a long night and a successful bust of Kingpin's operation, he swung himself to a local favorite getting ready to close up shop. Hitting the street, he walked over and tapped the tail end of the vehicle. "Hey, hey! No closing up on your favorite customer! I'm starving. Got anything good left for me? I got a good tip with your name on it!" @unfogged

[v0andv3]

CONNECTION LOCKED.

BZZZZZZZZZZZT-!

"This unit fails to recognize the use in this." "Ma'am, it could be a good way to gauge information and such throughout all layers. All messages, whether directed at us or not, will land on this screen. Who knows? Maybe we'll even get some other Machines to talk to."

"...Mmh. This unit acquiesces. Proceed."

V0 AND V3 ARE NOW AVAILABLE FOR ASKS.

[cornpapers]

[daisywords]

One of my biggest nitpicks in fiction concerns the feeding of babies. Mothers dying during/shortly after childbirth or the baby being separated form the mother shortly after birth is pretty common in fiction. It is/was also common enough in real life, which is why I think a lot of writers/readers don't think too hard about this. however. Historically, the only reason the vast majority of babies survived being separated from their mother was because there was at least one other woman around to breastfeed them. Before modern formula, yes, people did use other substitutes, but they were rarely, if ever, nutritionally sufficient.

Newborns can't eat adult food. They can't really survive on animal milk. If your story takes place in a world before/without formula, a baby separated from its mother is going to either be nursed by someone else, or starve.

It doesn't have to be a huge plot point, but idk at least don't explicitly describe the situation as excluding the possibility of a wetnurse. "The father or the great grandmother or the neighbor man or the older sibling took and raised the baby completely alone in a cave for a year." Nope. That baby is dead I'm sorry. "The baby was kidnapped shortly after birth by a wizard and hidden away in a secret tower" um quick question was the wizard lactating? "The mother refused to see or touch her child after birth so the baby was left to the care of the ailing grandfather" the grandfather who made the necessary arrangements with women in the neighborhood, right? right? OR THAT GREAT OFFENDER "A newborn baby was left on the doorstep and they brought it in and took care of it no issues" What Are You Going to Feed That Baby. Hello?

Like. It's not impossible, but arrangements are going to have to be made. There are some logistics.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Hey now, Let her cook!

[pigswithwings]

above all else a trans woman is a person. above all else a trans women is a woman who goes to the same grocery store as you and buys fruits in the same grocery cart as you and goes home and eats her dinner the same as you. above all else a trans woman is a woman who dresses like you do and talks the same way you do. above all else a trans woman is a woman who wants to be cared about the same way you want to be cared about and a trans woman is a woman who makes friends the same way you make friends. above all else you should care about trans women because they are people. treat her as such.

[chiptrillino-art]

something stranger and more wonderful

(ID in ALT text)

my art for @faux-fires (ao3 Link) fic "something stranger and more wonderful"

beta red by @ranilla-bean (ao3 Link) for this years @zukkabigbang2024 event. its truly a beautiful fic. Keeping you on your toes while reading. making you worry about sokka exposed to the whims of nature and zuko, all alone.

big thank you to reikah and rana for all the handholding during this project! And stoping me form overthinking details.