#“feel free to take [character] for that bit; but i'm tapped out of that scene”

[applepies-and-starlight]

Sometimes I think back to that one time I was in a discord rp where I was planning out a scene and everything with a big reveal and everything but right as I was about to do it the person who rped with me just dipped and was barely even sorry about it (edit: now that I've read the chatlogs I don't even think they were sorry...)

(The reveal scene happened eventually, but it was so underwhelming that it's stuck with me by virtue of being bland lmao)

[sassykattery]

Dollface Pt. 3

I would like to thank you all for the support on this fic! I'm so happy to see it be so well-received. I hope to continue making this an enjoyable fic for you all. On with the show now.

CW: Main Character is afab, uses she/her pronouns. Profanity. Smut scene: fingering (f! receiving), handjob (m! receiving), oral (f! receiving). Use of gendered terms: reader called "Good girl"

The main character is afab, uses she/her pronouns. This story is meant to be somewhat curvy/plus-sized reader insert, but the main character is given a physical description, but it's not crucial to the story or mentioned often after Part 1.

Themes: Romance. Magic. Adventure. Sex. Smut. Diavolo x fem! MC.

Characters: Main Character. Diavolo.

Minors and ageless blogs DNI

18+ only

Masterlist

Hear me, denizens of darkness, for this curse may only be finally broken in totality for when the doll is so loved, the only way a human can love a doll, so innocently, sweetly, and whole-heartedly. May this human find love and comfort its presence, and the affected shall return to their form, forever changed by the wholesome love of a human. The demon may return to their full true self only when they understand what it is to be human.

In the early hours of the following morning, the human woman stretched, nuzzling her face further into the warm, bare chest her head laid against. Her hands wandered, arms wrapping over a set of muscular arms that were tightly wound around her waist, keeping her in place so that she could never go too far. One of her hands threaded into a set of soft locks, softly messing through them. Her legs were tangled up with a much longer, much thicker set, so warm and protective around her own. She had never slept so soundly in all her life, feeling such an overwhelming protection around her as she pressed further into the warmth that invited her in closer. She drifted back into a deep slumber again.

When she awoke again, she rolled her head, rubbing her cheek against a warm bare shoulder and collarbone, pushing herself further into the comforting presence that held her and welcomed her. There was no rush this morning as it was the weekend, so she snuggled in closer and sighed contently with a smile.

Her eyes then suddenly popped open as she looked ahead to the collarbone of the one holding her, pulling her head back and watching as a man slowly opened his own eyes for the first time. The soft rays of sun in her room cast down on him, revealing his golden orbs, tawny brown skin, russet red locks, and muscular frame. He had a well-defined jaw, soft full lips that had a pinkish hue to them, and thin but high cheekbones that made his eyes stand out that much more.

The two stared at each other in silence for a few moments until she started to open her mouth with a look of panic on her face, followed by a sharp inhale of breath.

His hand flew up to her mouth to stop her.

"Please don't scream," he murmured in his familiar tenor voice, a bit hoarse after weeks of silence in his living form. Her breathing was erratic, and she started to squirm, so he continued. "I apologize for scaring you. Please, listen for a moment."

She barely nodded her head, remaining very still while he spoke.

"Do you remember that doll? The one you got almost a week ago or so?" He asked quickly. She nodded again. "I am that doll. I'm guessing the curse lifted last night, and that's why I'm here like this now. It's me, Diavolo."

Her free hand tapped his arm, and slowly, he pulled his hand away from her mouth. She leaned back and looked him over, with her head snapping back up with a deep flush on her face as she realized he was fully naked when she saw the topside of his bare hip.

"It's nice to finally meet you... like this," he added warmly, a charming smile lacing his lips.

"I see... It's nice to meet you, too. I'm glad I was able to take care of you until the curse broke, I suppose," she replied slowly, somewhat relaxing again in his hold. They both laid their heads back on her pillows.

"Indeed, you were wonderful. I rather enjoyed going to class with you, watching you study, and seeing how you lived. I'm actually rather interested in understanding humans better, and it has been a privilege to live with you," he declared.

"Oh, well, then I'm happy to help," she replied, a smile finally gracing her mouth. He shifted around slightly, his hips brushing hers, and that panicked look came back, her brows shooting up on her forehead. "You... You're naked," she squeaked out.

Diavolo chuckled then, his legs rubbing against hers. "I apologize, I suppose my doll clothes didn't grow back with me."

"It's... okay... I guess..." she mumbled, her gaze drifting back down to look at his large frame, fully realizing how enormous he really was compared to what a normal human man would be. His biceps were definitely larger than her whole head, his chest wider than anything she's ever seen in person. Her own curiosity was starting to build.

"You know, you're rather ravishing yourself," he seemingly replied to her thoughts, interrupting them too. Her head snapped back up to look at him in shock. "I apologize, but as a doll, I didn't have much choice in what I saw, so there were a few times I saw you undressed as well."

"Oh no..." she said, finally rolling out of his grasp to the other side of the bed. She felt it dip rather deeply behind her as the demon moved closer to her.

"I said I liked how you looked, did I not? Was I too forward?" He asked in her ear.

"You probably say that to everyone you meet," she said bitterly, snatching the blanket and wrapping it around herself to cover.

"No, I actually don't," he tried to reply, his hand slipping beneath the blanket to rest on her shoulder.

"Listen, I don't want to be another notch on your belt, just some one-off fling, or a human to toy around with, so..." she retorted, not budging from her position. He could hear the hurt in her voice.

"I apologize, I didn't mean to upset you. I think you're quite special. I've heard how smart you are, how kind, how sweet... I'm quite taken with you, not just your looks," he answered softly. "I know you've just met me, but you must realize I've been here the entire time, watching you, even before I could talk to you. You're special to me."

She finally rolled over and looked at him, measuring how truthful he actually sounded in comparison with his expression, looking for tells.

"Additionally, I can tell when others are lying and have made a vow to never lie either, so take that as you will," he added.

"Fine. I believe you," she replied tartly. She rolled her eyes, but he saw the hint of a smirk tipping up the corner of her mouth. He scooted in closer with a smile on his face, too.

"Do you mind if I..." she started to ask and trailed off, wriggling closer so that they were touching again. He immediately scooped her up into his large arms, cradling her against him with her chest pressed to his sternum, legs tangling again. "I slept really well last night, and I believe I have to attribute that to you."

Diavolo gave that charming smile again. "That's good to know. I'm not sure when I turned back either, but I know I slept well, too."

Feeling brave and curious, her hand came up to his face, gently cupping it.

"You have the softest touch," he murmured with a sweeter smile adorning his face. He watched as her brows slightly furrowed, looking over his features. Her thumb ran over his brow, tracing down his temple and jaw. Then, her hand came back up to curl her fingers in his hair, never pulling.

"You seem so normal, and you look like your doll..." she observed. "Well, other than being far more handsome than any man, and you're, um, rather large for a man," she added nervously.

A flush of pink heat flashed on his cheekbones. "Were you expecting some scary monster?" He asked, taking in her movements and expressions while she was busy with her hands-on investigation.

"Maybe slightly," she confessed, one corner of her mouth tilting up just barely.

"I could show you my true form if you require showmanship," he replied with a smirk. She finally met his gaze and looked more concerned at that remark. He chuckled. "Another time, then."

Her small hand cupped his chin. Her fingers and claw-like nails gently danced over the skin of his neck and the underside of his chin and jaw. Her head came closer to inspect him in more detail. "You're... amazing," she finally whispered, and it was barely audible.

"May I?" He asked, holding his hand up. She briefly looked at his hand, and suddenly, hers came up to meet his, the bottom of her palm lined with his. He looked at it, seeing how his own hand dwarfed hers so much, and then he curled his fist around hers, completely encapsulating her hand.

"Adorable," he murmured. His gaze flitted back to her face, and he really admired how she looked, then, as the sun's scarce rays were now highlighting her features. She didn't have a stitch of makeup on, and he was quite infatuated with her bare face, the softness she retained. He enjoyed looking at her when she was looking at something else. He was able to study the twitches in her brows and lips as she turned pensive. Her emotions truly were worn openly on her, which he appreciated, too. Being so close, he could really fine tune his sights on every inch of her, and he loved every bit.

She finally met his gaze again.

"Can I kiss you?" He asked in a husky tone.

She nodded, and he instantly moved closer, gathering her into him and wrapping his arms around her tightly. His head inched closer to hers, his sights set on her lips, and then briefly looked back up at her. When her lids lowered and she glanced at his lips, he gently pressed his lips into hers. A soft grunt of surprise sounded in her throat. Both of their hands went to each other's faces, gently cupping them and finding comfort in the touch of the other. They breathed in the scent of one another, his musky and masculine one, her soft and sweet one, and it was like the finest drug either had ever inhaled.

"So beautiful," he murmured against her lips, carding his fingers through her hair. "So sweet."

One of her hands tentatively came to rest on one of his pectorals, so he placed a hand over hers as reassurance. He hummed softly against her lips, rubbing his nose against hers.

She sat up on one arm, and he watched her as she looked back at him. Sitting up more fully, she turned and pulled her sleep shirt off, revealing her bare body to him. He shifted to the side so she could fully lay on her back as he took in her form.

A warm smile graced his lips, and he leaned over her, slowly moving to lay above her, holding his upper body up as he gazed at her.

"Stunning," he rapsed, leaning over on one arm to use his free hand to brush his knuckles against her face, trailing down her neck and collarbone. His touch sent shivers down her body in the warmest way possible, causing more heat to pool within herself as she stared up at him in return.

"You're... incredible," she whispered. "I've never met another like you."

"I feel the same for you," he murmured.

Their lips met in another passionate kiss. He fully caged her body under his, hiding his prize from the world to keep for himself. She wrapped herself around him, her legs around his hips and her arms just under his. He then curled around her too, slithering his arms under her back.

They remained like that for a while, kissing and exchanging soft sighs and moans while their hands busied themselves with caressing any and all available skin, getting to know each plane, dip, curve, and mound. His lips found purchase on her neck while hers found it on his shoulder, leaving evidence of their meeting with bruising marks as a history.

Diavolo pulled away, letting them both breathe and gaze at her breathless form once more. Her lips were puffy and glossy, cheeks rosy, brow glistening. She was the image of beauty to him.

"Um..." she mumbled, pulling him away from his thoughts.

"What is it, precious?" He asked in reply.

"I don't..." she trailed off again, her eyes flickering away with what looked to be frustration and sadness in her expression. "I don't want to do this and then you run off, never for me to see again. I don't... I don't like that."

"Then I'll stay," he murmured.

Her gaze traveled back up to meet his, studying his expression now.

"You say you don't lie, but I can't help but feel you'll have to leave," she replied in a somber tone.

"Then I'll take you with me," he replied. "When it's time for me to go home, come with me."

"You... You mean it?" She stammered, emotion making her voice waver.

"Let me keep you, and I'll make sure all your needs are met, you'll never want for anything, and I'll do whatever it takes to keep you happy and safe," he promised, cupping her face again. "Consider it my lifetime debt of you caring for me in a state of vulnerability."

Tears made her eyes shine, and her lip wobbled slightly.

"Okay," she whispered, reaching up to place her delicate hand on the back of his neck. He let her guide him back to pressing his lips to hers. Her tongue timidly pressed against his lips, to which he granted access and opened the kiss, his tongue greeting hers. They danced together, encircling and lapping each other up.

She broke the kiss and looked up at him nervously again.

"Can you be gentle? And go slow?"

"Of course," he replied. "Whatever you want. I'm just grateful to know your body, how perfect and wondrous it is. Have you done this before?"

She looked away but nodded reluctantly. "A little." Side-eyeing the prince, she asked, "And you?"

"A little," he said with a slight smirk, using her words teasingly. "But not with a human."

She nodded, taking a hold of his hand and sliding it down her belly and down to her sacred space. He took initiative and gently prodded at her heat, his fingerpads running over her lower lips. His eyes were glued to hers, making sure to never stray from her gaze. Then, his middle finger glided past her folds, carefully rubbing back and forth until he reached her clit to rub smooth circles over it.

"Ohh! Hah... that's... nice," she mumbled, lids becoming heavy.

"Mm, already a bit wet. Is that for me?" He purred. Her blush intensified, and she nodded. He kept up his pace, taking in her expressions the further she fell down her chasm of pleasure. Her own hand drifted down to find his hardened cock that was dripping precum all over her thighs, and he stiffened and groaned when her delicate fingers brushed it.

"Is that for me?" She murmured back playfully, her voice softening and becoming husky.

"All yours," he mumbled back. He smirked at her when she looked away shyly again.

The two continued to rub the other, soft gasps and sweet but quiet moans escaping their mouths. Feeling that she was absolutely drenched, he prodded a finger at her entrance, focusing on her expression again for permission.

"Please, go ahead," she whimpered, her hips bucking slightly. Gingerly, he took hold of her thighs and spread them wide around his hips, lifting her slightly to change the angle of her hips. He laid himself on her, but holding himself up with one arm as to not crush her. His dominant hand came back to run his fingers in her folds again, slicking up his digits before slowly sliding his middle finger into her entrance.

"Oooh!" She yelped in surprise. His fingers are huge... just the one is already... a lot, she thought to herself.

"Is this okay?" He asked quietly.

Her hand came to rest on his bicep, gently squeezing it. "Yes. Keep going."

He nodded and kept pushing until he was at the hilt of his digit. Waiting until she nodded, he then gently rocked his finger in and out of her drenched pussy. Their lips locked again, unable to get enough of one another. She huffed against his mouth as she got closer to her climax.

"I would be the happiest demon if I was able to see this rapture on your face every day," he murmured with a softened smile.

"Keep– hah, keep talking," she requested, rolling her hips.

"As a doll, there were moments where this was all I could think about. I wondered what you looked like when you're being pleasured, the kinds of noises you would make," he murmured. Her brows furrowed, watching him and listening, but distracted by the pleasure. He smiled, "I'm not disappointed. You're gorgeous."

Involuntarily, she clenched down on him, moaning out softly. His smile deepened, showing off his fangs for the first time.

"So pretty," he purred, looking her over. When she moaned and rolled her hips at this, realizing what she liked, he kissed her forehead. "Such a good girl for me. Will you cum for me? I'd love to see you come undone, beautiful."

She nodded tearfully, her hands clinging onto his arms harder. Unable to hold back now, wanton moans and gasps escaped her throat, filling the space between them. He laid his forehead softly against hers, absorbing her sounds, her breaths, feeling her heartbeat as it pounded within her.

"I'm close, k-keep going, please," she whimpered, squeezing her eyes shut.

"I have you, just let go, precious. I'll catch you," he said in a lower pitch of tone.

"More, add one more," she whined. Obliging, he added a second digit, curling both against her g-spot, sending her higher that much faster. "Oh!"

"That's it. Enjoy it, take it," he huffed.

"D-Don't stop," she cried out, her hips rutting against his hand, one of her hands curling into his locks and tugging softly. "Hah, oh... oh... Fuck! Diavolo!"

The first time he heard his name like that on her lips was the first time he was hooked on it forever more. The high he felt within him was incomparable at that moment. There was nothing like it in his world or any other. And then to be accompanied by the sweetest cries and whimpers, his name now ghosted on her lips as she repeated it like a sweet serenade. The rush of her fluids over his hand was divine as well, the way her walls gripped his fingers so tightly, too.

He waited for her to relax, breathing in her afterglow and beauty as he gently pulled his fingers out and brought them to his mouth. Even her taste was almost sweet, just like the rest of her. When she looked up to see what he was doing, she was totally embarrassed, turning her head away and grimacing.

"Divine," he murmured to her in her ear. He chased her lips down and coaxed her head forward to kiss her again, her essence light on his mouth. "I'd love to taste you directly, if you'll allow me."

She sank back into the bed, as if to hide but with nowhere to go. He saw that she looked uncertain and kissed her cheek.

"Another time then? Shall we stop?"

"I-... No, um, please... You can..." she trailed off, feeling embarrassed.

"I need you to say exactly what you want me to do, darling," he murmured in reply.

"I want you to... eat me out... please," she finally choked out, feeling shy but indeed doing what he asked of her.

"That's my good girl," he purred, sinking backward and down the bed, then lifting her thigh onto his shoulder when he was faced with her cunt. His head turned to kiss the inner part of her thigh, the softest nips of his fangs against her skin. When she barely rolled her leg towards him, her thigh brushing his cheek again, he took that as a sign to return his attention to it. He pressed an open kiss there and then sank his teeth into the plush flesh, sucking as he worked to mark her there, too. Soft little whimpers escaped her mouth as she watched with anticipation and need.

When he was done, he pulled away to admire the flush of red left behind, his teeth marks lined perfectly within the blotch of redness. He gave more kisses up her thigh and towards her center, finally looking at her slightly spread pussy.

"Mm, beautiful," he purred, using his free hand to spread the lips apart. He kept one arm wrapped around her thigh that rested on his shoulder. His other hand kept her spread as he gently pressed his lips to her wet heat. Watching for her reaction, he kept his mouth pressed to her lower lips and slowly swiped his tongue against the folds. She sharply but quietly gasped, her fists curling the cotton sheets they laid upon.

"Tell me if I need to stop," he mumbled to her. She nodded and he continued swiping his tongue up and down until he found her clit. Her hips, of their own accord, bucked up into him slightly.

"Hah, I'm s-sorry..." she murmured, a haze of red splashing her cheeks. He neglected to respond in favor of keeping his tongue working on her clit. He swirled it around her sensitive nub, earning more wanton moans from her. Watching her as she squirmed around, clearly enjoying this, he took his hand from her lips and rotated his wrist to slowly insert his middle finger into her drenched cunt.

"Diavolo," she sang out. "Yes... Yes, please, I like that."

Internally, this made him feral, to know she was enjoying herself, enjoying him. He loved knowing he could make her happy, making her feel good. Diavolo could see himself doing this for the rest of his days, making this sweet woman writhe, moan, and cry in pleasure for all eternity. Yes, he was hooked; he had to make sure she came back home with him.

"Ohhh, oh, baby, I'm getting close," she murmured, her eyes shut and jaw slack.

Quickly, he added his ring finger and started curling into her g-spot, keeping his lips wrapped around her throbbing clit.

"Faster," she rasped, her fists curling with the sheets wrapped in them. He responded in kind, doing as she asked of him. "Right– oh, right there." Flashes of heat graced her skin, her whole body becoming flushed, telling him she was on the precipice. Her ever-tightening walls clued him in on it as well, with more juices pouring over his fingers.

"Cum for me, baby," he commanded in a deeper pitch, immediately pressing his mouth against her hot pussy, his tongue coaxing more pleasure against her clit.

"Okay, okay, o-oh! Diavolo! Please!" Burning heat raced up her nerves and set her orgasm ablaze within her. She sank her hips down into his mouth, keeping him in place as she rutted them back and forth, chasing her pleasure. His fingerpads kept busy on her spongey spot, delivering her to her much-deserved ecstasy. This bliss was all-consuming, forcing her down a chasm of euphoria, causing a smile to somewhat form on her mouth. Her body relinquished against his, letting him have every bit of her, openly falling apart before him so dramatically and genuinely, the scene looked like a painting.

And he wholly enjoyed every moment. He consumed every drop her body offered him, drinking her essence in like the sweetest juice. There was no stopping until he completely had his fill, cleaning her up to perfection.

When she was finally down from her high, she was incredibly still, barely breathing. Leaving his perch between her thighs, he crawled up to hover above her, taking in her form. From what he could tell, she was fine, her pulse strong and fast but slowly climbing down. He gently laid himself on top of her, propping his chin on her shoulder, breathing in her scent again. Oh, to be this close to a human, and then have one be as special as her, he thought, this was what he wanted all this time. Closeness, intimacy, physical touch, authenticity. She didn't want him for the money or the title, but he'd gladly give it to her. He'd give her everything and anything, whether she asked for it or not.

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed.

Post made by sassykattery. Do not repost. Reblogs and comments appreciated.

Tags: @delphi-dreamin @itsmeninerz @flemmingbamse @marvelous-maniac @themythicaldisaster @attic-club-sandwich @bite-sized-devil

If you would like to be tagged, please comment on the Masterlist. Please have an age in your bio if you decide to comment. Must be 18+.

[personwithatophat]

Intresting concepts, I love where you're going with that idea. I needed some expansion on that ngl and you fully cooked there /pos (Also hi Tophat)

What thoughts do you have on the idea Austin can see everything/the fact he either has no filter or a broken filter? Why would he be given this ability by Showfall besides the idea of an entertainment asset?

Hello! o/ thank you and good followup because austin is my crutch so i appreciate making me take it head on. (feel free to challenge my theories it helps me build them! :] ) As for austins filter being broken, I think the theory is good but incomplete. Austin does have a filter and has involvement, but it clearly works differently. in fact most of the 'filter items' have their own rules that they go by, its not a uniform model.

and a bit of this has to do with just how the show works sneegs hat isn't wired into his skull because he takes it off a couple times during the show or moves it around charlie has some kind of base program where he can run multiple items at once since during episode 2 he was wearing the glasses and the headphones and there are theories that details like this such as placement, hardware, etc have an effect on the items' limitations. for example, sneeg doesn't have surgically implanted hardware so he can't run two items like Charlie can and when they try, it shorts out and we get the ep 2 hat scene. or that other cast members couldn't be 'The Hero' since ranboos mask is necessary and capable of more complex sequences. that being said I've seen people speculate that Austins item is his jacket, which is entirely possible but it makes it confusing when he actually takes it off in the dressing room. so I'm going to pivot to the theory that he doesn't have a formal item. "so he doesn't have a filter?" not what I said. During the beginning of ep 2 before sneeg gets soft rebooted he doesn't actually have a filter item either and is still very much in character, he doesn't even recognize ranboo, we have hard proof that this is possible. and we know Austin is filtered/playing a character just by how he's acting in general. Austin as a showfall media victim has no reason to lie about having a wife and several children. why wouldn't he have a formal item? maybe because he was originally written to get double-tapped in Nikki's place in scene 1. Its very up for interpretation still but I believe a lot of this stems from the way that Austin is compared. Specifically how he gets compared to ranboo and sneeg when Ethan dies. i would like to counterpoint this with the way that Austins character is built for the episode. desperate, afraid, ......straight. but at the same time, he stalls to catwalk in the closet, mouthes off to puzzler questioning him having children, and is also very gay. so I think there might be some difference in writing. So yes, Austin is the only one who has a normal and more aware response to Ethan's death. Austin is also the only one there that isn't 3 layers deep in meta.

during this moment Austin is the only one freaking out but consider the company. ranboo is an NPC at this point. he got factory reset and basically has a cap over free thought, right now the only thing in his brain is the objective to go through the show. Austin is still in his role of character trying to escape this actual saw trap he's stuck in, his panic is as warranted in character as it is out so he panics and when the others don't it freaks him out more. sneeg on the opposite side of the spectrum is knee-deep in lethargy. sneeg is actually the one seeing everything how it is and can't respond to any of it so he doesn't care about anything anymore. after his soft reboot sneeg can still see but he's confined to the roll, I want to make a separate sneeg post because he's actually the one I think people view Austin as. so yeah I think that Austin has something going on but I think it's a step to the left of the current theories. sneeg is where the real awareness is feel free to ask me for any clarification on this since I jumped around a lot or if you have other questions/theories because this is epic :D -Tophat

[feeling-artsick]

Thank you for sharing how you did the head sculpt! If youd be able to go into more detail I'd truly appreciate it!

Started typing and then before I knew it tips turned into a tutorial so I reformatted the whole thing into a loose step-by-step of how to make them.

This is a tutorial on how to add details to heads like Isahla's neck detail, so not quite how to make everything from scratch but 90% of it at least.

This tutorial will teach you how to bake details on to a head's normal map. I'm using a scar in this tutorial as an example but you can paint any details you like this way. The things to be aware of are:

this tutorial assumes you've got some basic knowledge of Blender and sculpting in Blender. It also assumes you know how to navigate tools like Photoshop or GIMP.

this tutorial won't explain how to make diffuse/other maps match the normal map. That's kind of a whole separate thing with a lot of different methods that can go with or against this one.

this tutorial can be applied to the body as well as the head.

this tutorial won't explain how to blend details across seams (wrist, neck, ankles).

this tutorial can't be applied to… mostly everything else. Skyrim normal maps are special like that, and that's why I love 'em.

And so I don't overwhelm you before going in, here's a quick rundown of the entire process: We're taking the player's head and preparing it for sculpting. We'll sculpt in the details we want. Then we bake out that sculpted detail into a normal map. Then we edit the player's existing normal map to include the new detail. And that's all.

Also, everything can be done with freeware so you have no excuses. Let's go.

1 Preparing the head.

Exporting your character's head from the game isn't always necessary, but it is encouraged. The closer the head in Blender is to the shape of the head in the game, the more accurate your details will be to their head shape. If you don't wish to use a specific head, feel free to use any other head you like, whether thats the vanilla head, High Poly Head, ECE's head, etc. There is a difference between these heads that should be noted, typically in the UV space, but for individual cases it's not too important. Exporting is done with RaceMenu, and the resulting nif file can be imported into Blender using the PyNifly plugin available here. If you struggle with this plugin, converting the nif file to another format through Outfit Studio is also possible. When the head is in Blender, remove any clutter. We don't need anything except the head model for this so we can remove scar and eyebrow masks, eyes, hair, and so on. Now, duplicate the head model so you have two copies of the same head, and for clarity, label your heads low and high poly. I'll be distinguishing between my heads with a _low/_high suffix. We don't need the low poly for now so you can hide it. Your scene should look something like this:

I'm going to sidebar a little bit here to mention that there are two ways to prepare the head for sculpting. One is by "cleaning" the model which I've detailed below. Another (and the method I prefer) is to use Blender's Human Base Meshes bundle (available here) and just scaling and contorting the sculpt-ready model they have to the shape of your character's head. If you feel confident doing that unguided, skip the rest of this step.

Right-click the model and choose Shade Smooth. Enter into edit mode, tap 1 to enter vertex selection, A to highlight everything, and M to merge vertices (choose By Distance). The distance will need to be tweaked depending on the scale the model was imported at but you'll want to merge enough that model isn't splitting when you sculpt later. It should look indistinguishable from before, but there should be no aggressive seam lines like on the back of the head. In Edit mode, go into Edge selection and Alt-Left Click the border of the neck. Alt-F to Fill. Get inside the head and repeat the process for the back of the lips like you see below.

The head should now be prepared for sculpting. You can verify this by attempting to Remesh it, and if it bugs out, there's probably a hole somewhere.

2 Sculpting the head.

This guide isn't going to have a tutorial for sculpting in it as there's plenty online. The techniques you use are up to you. Personally, I'm a large-detail-to-fine-detail kind of person. That said, Dyntopo is far more intuitive and was how I made Isahla's neck details way back when. You do not need to sculpt every detail on the head although there's nothing stopping you; just do your best to keep the head as close to its original shape as possible. Also, if you have a computer that's struggling with higher poly counts—you can absolutely remove entire parts of the model that you aren't going to use later.

For this example, I've haphazardly cut two scars into a head I had previously sculpted for a different mod. Again, you do not have to sculpt the entire head.

3 Baking.

Once you're done, you'll need to export the two heads as .obj files. Remember to name them in a way that you can recognise them as either high or low poly. You can see my export settings below. You may need to tweak these depending on how the bake goes.

For baking, I'll be using xNormal (available here). It's the shadiest looking site on the modern web but it is what it is. Feel free to use another if you find yourself with a better alternative. If you aren't familiar with baking or what it is, it's a process where we take all the detail from the sculpt, compare it with the low poly in a software like xNormal, and it outputs a texture that can be used to mimic the sculpt's detail.

In xNormal, click 'High definition meshes' in the top-right. Right-click, 'Add meshes'. Locate your high poly obj file and select it. Repeat the same steps for the 'Low definition meshes' tab, then move on to the 'Baking options' tab. In 'Baking options', start by defining a location for the output texture in the 'Output File' field. Name it whatever you like--it'll automatically slap a "_normals" suffix on the end. Bitmap is fine but it's up to you. Set the size to the same size as the normal map you're currently using. For most skin textures these days, your normal map will be 4096x4096. Under 'Maps to render' is a large list of maps you can output but for this we want to only have Normal map checked. Click the three dots beside it. Change the settings to match what I have below.

These changes are important because Skyrim bodies use model space normal maps instead of tangent space, and their world Z direction is inverted. Just don't ask me why. You can now 'Generate Maps' in the lower-right. This process can take a little while and if done correctly, the resulting window should look something like this:

If it's looking like a complete mess and nothing like this, I'm sorry to say you may have a bit of troubleshooting to do. Make sure both meshes are set to use exported normals, and make sure your normals are oriented properly in Blender (see guides on face orientation). It may also help to choose the triangulate option on the high poly model on export.

If yours looks mostly the same but maybe the colours are in different orientations, you can try inverting the "swizzle coordinates" and regenerate the map or invert the colour channels in Photoshop/GIMP. You want Red on the left, Green on the top, Blue at the front.

If yours has all sorts of odd marks around the lips, eyes and ears like mine, that's to be expected. Fixing those spots is outside of the scope of this tutorial.

4 Finishing the texture.

For this next step, I'll be using Photoshop. Feel free to use GIMP or Paint.NET, even. You should be able to follow along mostly fine. If you have never edited Skyrim textures before, this may be difficult to follow, and it's not really the space for a tutorial on it. So, I'll quickly address the following:

GIMP 2.10.10+ should have DDS support already.

Paint.NET has DDS support already.

Photoshop requires a plugin. There are two. Hell, I think there's three. I don't know why. I'm using Intel's plugin available here.

If for whatever reason things aren't working out in one program, you can always switch to one of the others.

LE users should export their normal maps uncompressed.

SE users should export theirs at BC7 (Fast, Linear with Intel but don't quote me on that).

I don't know if any of the non-Photoshop ones support BC7 compression or not. If it doesn't, go uncompressed.

First, load your character's current normal map into the program. Then load your new normal map you got from xNormal into the program on top of the first. Name the two layers however you like, or don't, but for clarity's sake, I'll be referring to the original map as Base and the new map as Scar. Attach a layer mask to Scar (if you aren't familiar with layer masks and how they work, pause now, look it up. Super simple; very useful.) and start to subtract all the stuff that you don't need. You should see the Base layer showing up behind it, filling in all the areas you're erasing.

You'll notice very quickly that the Scar layer will be much smoother than the Base layer, and probably has some differences in hue. Use a really soft brush if you need to blend out the skin. Minor differences in colour value go a LONG way here, so if you see noticeable lines or contours where your new map meets the old one, those will also show up in the game. Do your best to eliminate them if you can. Also, don't be afraid to erase some of the details you're trying to add. Making sure it blends in is the key.

Here's a gif showing the texture I started with, and how it looks with the scar. Note that other than the scar itself, there's nothing new that's been added to the image. This is to keep things as consistent with the original work as possible.

When that's done, you can export it as a .dds file. Make sure not to export with the Alpha channel, as it's unused and will add significantly to the size of the file.

Aaaaand, finally, that's it. Sort of. There's still a lot more you can do but it's all easy tweaking from here on.

Here's how mine turned out:

Even without changes to the diffuse or specular maps, the depth still stands out a lot and if you're willing to keep going and adding details to all three maps, you can really make it stand out.

[cboffshore]

could you tell me about ossas? is it an au?

- @my-apollo-gies

OSSAS - full government name On Sea, Sunlight, and Sky - is, in short, my answer to the grand tradition of Skybound gap filler fanfic. It's a Nya-centric series set between "The Last Resort" and "The Way Back" in the gaping holes where her experience lurks. (More notes below the cut, spoiler free with a few broad content notes, because I don't want to clog anyone's dash - but I love to yap about my work.)

I would save this for later, but this is a pretty big disclaimer, so I'll start it here and elaborate in a bit: there is no Jay in OSSAS. That's probably the greatest difference between OSSAS and the more prominent Skybound rewrites you see bopping around, which tend to be HEAVY on the Jay and treat Nya as an afterthought. OSSAS is an experiment in what happens if we change camera angles. For my purposes, Jay is off on a beach somewhere with a tiny umbrella smoothie, taking a well-deserved break.

OSSAS is also my attempt to write the Skybound fic I wish to see in the world, because for a while there there was not very much variety, and I freely admit: I got bored! It felt like the same several tropes and trends on a permanent loop, and I could only take so much angst. So I noted what bored me so much and decided my best route was a hard U-turn. A few key differences between OSSAS and the most popular Skybound expansion works (aka what you may well be expecting of OSSAS) that I've seen are:

No gore. None. Nobody loses an eye. There are a few injuries and close calls, a few mentions of blood and sedatives and needles and guns, but generally everyone makes it through with clean clothes and all their limbs. (Generally. Trust me on this one.)

Also: no SA, hinted at or otherwise. The closest I ever come is a brief flashback mention of the infamous E62 ending shot and how that feels on Nya's end, but I never, ever go beyond what canon does. That canon compliance informs most of OSSAS, but comes across most strongly here. Is my Nadakhan still winning the Creepo Championships? Of course. That boundary crossing is a crucial part of his character, and I think it would be as boring a move to ignore it entirely as it would be to amp it up for the sake of drama as I've seen so many others do. Writing Nadakhan as close to canon as possible has been, and continues to be, a delightful puzzle. That does mean keeping the yuck factor - but it doesn't mean raising the rating or making up new crimes for him to commit. His existing ones give me plenty to work with. I've been told I write a pretty accurate Nadakhan, if that's any incentive.

As mentioned above: OSSAS is entirely Nya-centric. Jay gets a few more mentions early on (particularly in the first installment, which was originally meant as a standalone. however, that let me set up a fun system of tapering his influence off when I decided to turn it into a series!), and I'm working to balance that out with everyone else on the team, but that's just set dressing. Nya, and the gaps in her experience, are the foundations of this series, which leads to a final difference:

There are no rewrites of onscreen moments if I can avoid it! A few flashbacks break this rule, but I try to keep it as vague as I can. A tradition I've noticed in Skybound fic is to take existing scenes - such as Scrap 'n Tap, which is probably the most common version of this - and soup them up. More action, more detail, more dialogue... that's all well and good, and done well, I do love it! However, I'm trying to stay so close to canon plausibility that I'm hesitant to mess with those moments. The Hageman Bros already said what they said; I would rather pull threads to weave over the gaps than spin new ones, if that makes sense.

That's about as much as I can say about OSSAS without venturing into spoiler territory - I hope you check it out! I know you asked about another Skybound playlist of mine earlier, so I'm including a link to my official OSSAS Playlist as well if you'd like to sample that first.

These songs either reflect the general mood, hint at specific plot points, or are what gave the different installments their names! I'm always happy to explain why I picked any of them, so feel free to ask - but I would recommend you read the series first.

A final note: OSSAS updates once per year, generally in/around December, and this year is the series' grand finale - so now is, genuinely, a fantastic time to get caught up. OSSAS is currently locked to AO3 users only to prevent bot scraping, so I can't link to it from here, but you can find the whole thing under my AO3 profile at OffshoreWriter.

Let me know if you have any other questions!

(@my-apollo-gies - tagging down here since you sent this on anon and I want to be sure you get this :) )

[kiwikipedia]

15 Lines Game

Rules: Share 15 or fewer lines of dialogue from an OC, ideally lines that capture their character/personality/vibe. Bonus points for just using the dialogue without other details about the scene, but you’re free to include those as well.

Tagged by @purgetrooperfox hoo hee

not tagging anyone but anyone is free to do this :)

“You’ve been starin’ down at your drink for like, ten minutes. The ice melted. Here, just take this one.” Sylv tapped the new glass and Fox glanced at the one between his hands— True to her words, the ice to his drink had melted to nothing.

“You two better not be breakin’ my shit in there, Enbo!"

“Dex is an old god," Sylv scoffed, holstering her blaster as she glanced at Nomi. "He can take care of himself. He knew the risks of staying.”

“You should get out soon, though, I have a feeling it's only going to get worse. We still don't know why the Clones flipped their lids and why the Senate declared the Jedi traitors.”

“How is it that we always end up in this predicament?” she complained, shaking her head a bit as they ran.

“If you forgot, you fucking dumbass, toxins have no effect on me,” she said simply with a roll of her eyes. “And that includes Dioxis."

“He’s dropped by the Clover before. Saccha doesn’t like him, neither does Ajina. I don’t think Charlotte does either, but that’s besides the point,” she hummed, pulling the silver lighter out from her coat pocket. “The point is he’s acting different than he usually would. Keep an eye out.”

“Betcha Eval gets off to watching shit like this then!” she hummed as she moved out of the way of another deadly spike.

“Let’s get out of here, Embabe,” she hummed, making him chuckle a bit. “What? I don’t want to end up like Onca and Kiara, the boss wives wouldn’t like that very much and I have things to do back at my place!”

“You’re just acting weird is all,” she hummed, brushing a bit of dust off of her coat. “Hey, Embo. Welcome to the party.”

“But it’s only a fifty-fifty shot,” Sylv chimed in, “Let’s hope your gamble is correct, if not we’re throwing you through and hoping your body hits the switch instead.”

“I’m a bartender, I help people. I have things to do and would like to be out of here quickly. This entire thing is a waste of time.”

“As soon as his precious emperor is gone, Vader’s like a rabid dog without a leash."

"White Clover is open to anyone, Republic or Separatist, Senator or Clone. As long as you don't cause problems, I don't care," Sylv said casually, as if she hadn't just stabbed the spot between Obi-Wan's fingers with the massive knife she had been using to cut fruit. "This is my Bar, my rules. Deal with it."

"Yeah well, Morrak listens, you don't. Therefore, he's my favorite between the four of you here."

Emilia's below the cut because I love her

“Depends on how mad you all make me,” she mused. “But I know as soon as we’re in the clear, I’m taking a small break. Heading out to Germany to check on Kimberly’s husband and family.”

“But I've lost people under my care. It’s not a good feeling when so many wounded are pouring in. But I didn’t have time to stop, it was only after the fighting had ended that I could process it. Dazed and not totally there for me, I think I cried sometime in that time span."

“It’s not like we can do anything about it, though,” she told them, waving her hand in a dismissive gesture. “Big wigs decided it all. If you’re that cautious then come meet him when he lands.”

“Standing around, König?” Emilia asked, tone flat and as dry as the desert they were in.

Emilia looked back at the door, before shrugging. "Door's broken. Truck's broken. We're working on it."

"I used a dose of horse tranq because thats what it takes to get Grinch down. Don't tell Sandman."

"Look, I'm not even 141, I got my boys to take care of and some British SAS to hunt down, here's more tranq syringes, and now I'm leaving forever," Sturgeon huffed, handing Roach a case that was likely full of the said tranquilizers.

"Alright, I'm done here. Someone tell Nocte not to look for me if he needs something," Emilia said, handing her pack over to Seowoo "I'm walking into the woods and if I'm not back before nightfall, I have fallen into a quagmire and died. Goodbye."

"The 141 went where? Jesus, why am I not surprised that Price ended up in a Gulag... not our problem, though, Overlord just sent over new orders for us."

"I never pinned you for a coward, and yet here you are, crawling back to the people who thought you were dead because you ran away."

"Oh feel free to tell Nightingale about the bullet in your arm, just get ready to head back home because he will be removing that arm from your body. It's your choice."

"Pack it up, boys. Lee's taking us all to wafflehouse as soon as we're boots back on US soil. And I know Sandman hates wafflehouse."

"Some days, I wonder, if I should've asked those bastards to just shoot me in the skull instead of assuming I'd bleed out and die," Emilia sighed, setting her drink down as she sat. "Because watching this soap-opera? Worse than death."

"Hey, props to the 141 for being forced to watch all this shit up close, but that's as far as I'm gonna give it. Because if I see those two acting like lovesick puppies, I'm gonna take Ghost's balaclava and puke in it."

"Did I just give you the little blue pills with the imprints K 85 on them? Because if so, see you later space cowboy. Enjoy that nap.”

[justagalwhowrites]

Ok so I have a couple of asks because I'm curious or more like nosy. Feel free to skip if it's to much.

1. What does your writing process look like? Do you outline everything or just make it up as you go? Do you write in order or write scenes as they come to you and fit them together later?

2. If you could give one piece of advice for everyone reading to live by what would it be?

3. If you could could visit anywhere in the world where would it be?

4. Is there a particular genre, topic, trope or Fandom you haven't written but would like to?

BESTIE!! HI!!!!

I love these omfg

I loosely outline everything and I write in order. I lay out the story chapter by chapter but only like (for example in Yearling): Chapter 1 - Bambi boyfriend turns, cut to future, Joel finds her. Things often take longer than I planned (see chapters 16-17 of Lavender that was supposed to be just one chapter and then became 2) or I might feel like a plot point didn't accomplish what I wanted in character development and need to add another element to get the character to where I want them to be. I'm not a slave to the outline but it definitely is the basis of my work!

Ooo I don't know if I'm the best person to give advice lol but one that I think is good for people who enjoy fic is: There is no such thing as a guilty pleasure. If it brings you pleasure and doesn't hurt anyone, don't feel guilty about it. Life is too short to be ashamed about what you enjoy! Love the things and people you love fully and whole heartedly and you'll be a lot happier for it.

AHHH such a good question! My favorite place to visit is probably Paris. My dream life allows me the freedom to go to Paris for a few months a year so I can do things like sit at a cafe or a garden and write and watch the people go by. But I'd love to explore someplace new! Southeast Asia would be amazing to visit. I have a friend who LOVES Vietnam so that's been on my list for a while and Indonesia looks incredible. I'd also love to check out Australia, Morocco, Scotland and Brazil. I also think it would be incredible to visit Antarctica at some point though that's lower on the list. I love to get a taste of other cultures when I travel (I do a lot of nature stuff close to home, we camp and hike a fair bit) so I focus on that more.

I want to write a superhero story at some point! I'm a casual Marvel fan and I like Batman well enough from DC but I don't really feel like a part of any superhero fandom (except maybe Watchmen?) But I love the idea of 1) a hero who is always surrounded by other superpowered people dealing with the mortal fragility of someone they love or 2) someone who is used to being the strongest in the room suddenly being outclassed. I love how inhuman things (like superpowers or the infected in TLOU) allow us to explore the depth of our humanity, it opens the door for so many amazing stories and I want to tap into that!

Thank you for asking, Bestie!!

Love you!!!!

[ode-to-odes]

IF Review: Visit Skuga Lake - Masterpiece Edition

The first version of this game originally appeared in Ryan Veeder's ECTOCOMP 2021 entry, "Even Some More Tales from Castle Balderstone." In this remastered version, it's been expanded and further polished into an incredible game which I very much enjoyed spending my Saturday afternoon on. I've unfortunately never played any of Veeder's Balderstone games, so I can't speak to the changes and/or improvements made in this new version, but Visit Skuga Lake is one of those games which embodies everything I think makes a great IF game.

This game has everything, honestly. A fun, simple, and effective magic system, exploring a town at night, theft with no punishment at all, and a hagfish god living in a hagfish world. Need I say more? (According to the following thousand words, I guess so.)

I'm honestly astonished that prior to playing this game, I'd never even heard of Ryan Veeder - a quick look through his IFDB profile shows just how prolific he's become in the last decade he's been making these games. Visit Skuga Lake was my first of his works to play, but undoubtedly not the last.

Now I'm going to talk about the game at unnecessary length. Feel free to tap out at this point if you feel sold on my love for this game already. Spoilers below the cut, although I won't be going into detail about how to solve any specific problems.

Scene One: The Interview. The premise of Skuga Lake is that you are the main character living out the events of a horror (though I'd prefer "spooky" for this one) novel. This "novel" has an author - also an invention of the game, which. I'm going to be honest. I didn't originally realize. Don't bother googling Leah Naidu. Our prologue scene is simply interviewing the author, which is a cute introduction to the story. I was immediately drawn in by the writing and descriptions; atmosphere is so important in text-based games, and Veeder was immediately off to a great start. It DID take me a minute to figure out everything to ask Leah about, but overall a great time.

Scene Two: The Closet! I love the closet scene so very much. It introduces our main problem-solving mechanic and immediately shows the player that out-of-the-box solutions and experimentation are wholeheartedly encouraged in the game. There's not much more to say. It's a short part of the game, but a perfect introduction to gameplay without holding the hand of the player.

Scene Three: Also Known as 90% of the Game!! Visit Skuga Lake is just soooo interactive fiction. It's immediately topped my list of games I'd recommend to literally anyone, regardless of experience with IF. The one thing that was slightly annoying for me at first was going "IN" buildings rather than entering them via a cardinal direction, but you get used to that pretty quickly, and in retrospect, I think I like it more, especially when you're in an urban location. The gradual discovery of more amulets and eyestones made continuing the game incredibly rewarding, and I feel like nearly everything mentioned in the game was implemented in some way, which is always impressive. Experimenting with the different combinations was so exciting, though I probably should've kept track of them all because I kept forgetting which stone did what with which amulet. The characters all had very distinct voices and helped direct the player's next choices without railroading. Overall just. A fantastic time.

Scene Four: HAGFISH. Here's my one tip for anyone playing for the first time - if you want to collect all the worry dolls (not necessary for anything besides a special little achievement), you need to do it before you get on the boat! I did not know this and was quite sad to find out I couldn't go back and get all of them (I managed 6/10 on this run, though I might go back and try to find them all at some point). Honestly, the ending felt a bit underwhelming to me? There's fairly low stakes in the fight against everyone's favorite hagfish god (our primary antagonist. sort of) since he doesn't try to fight back at all. No ticking clock. Just trying to figure out how to hurt a giant slime creature. I mean, I'm not complaining that much. It suits the game, which is more about experimenting and exploring than worrying about the slime lake or the ghosts or your boss, who's turned into a slime (or was it oil? I forget) puddle. It does feel a bit funny though, that the most powerful witch of the town, who's scared them all into locking outsiders into closets and who makes deals with slime gods couldn't save herself from said slime god until you, the player, showed up, hit the hagfish with a couple spells, and saved the day in approximately ten commands. There's a few different possible endings (to take or leave Terlissa, for example), which, again, is always a pleasure in games like these.

The end!! I clearly love the sound of my own voice. My own keyboard? Not sure. This game is fantastic though, so please play it. I need more people to be into IF please please please <3 bye

[sleepyfaceandsnark]

1.03: Take a Chance on Me- Pre Dart Date

Missing 1.03 scene Carlos works up the nerve to ask TK out.

AO3

We can go dancing, we can go walking As long as we're together  Listen to some music, maybe just talking Get to know you better 

'Cause you know I've got So much that I wanna do, when I dream I'm alone with you It's magic You want me to leave it there, afraid of a love affair But I think you know That I can't let go

Michelle's advice for Carlos to just 'ask TK out' echoes in his mind. It would save Carlos from constantly scrolling on TK's Instagram, begging for an update. Plus, after the police station, it's not like they left on bad terms. TK trusts him with something so personal. That has to be something, right? 

He scrolls down on his contacts. He taps his phone as he stares at the name.

It's just TK. No special character by it (He deleted the wink face minutes after he put it in). Two simple letters shouldn't hold such meaning, or give Carlos so much anxiety. 

He takes a deep breath and presses the phone button. 

It rings, and rings, and rings. And then Carlos thinks, Oh God! Why did I call? A text. People text. They don't call. They don't-

"Hello?" 

His thoughts are interrupted when the rings stop, and he hears a voice on the other line.  

"Uhh...hey..." Carlos draws out. 

"Hey?" he can tell the person on the other sounds confused but also like he's trying to stifle a laugh.

"It's Carlos.” Dumb - so dumb. He knows. Phones have caller ID. 

He can hear a small laugh on the other end. "Yeah, I know."

"Right, right. Obviously." 

"There something wrong? Did I leave something at the station?" TK asks. A little bit of Carlos wishes. It'd make asking to see him a lot easier. 

"No, no. Well, something to do with the station..." Like Carlos realizing he was still crushing hard when the anger went away. 

"Oh," TK sounds down now. "Look about that. I'm sorry. Maybe I shouldn't have sprung that-"

Oh shit. 

" No! No, not that. I mean, if you wanted to talk more about that, I'm always- I mean … we could if you needed to or wanted to talk about it, or anything really..."  Jesus, Carlos. Pull it together. He hides his head in his free hand.  

"Yeah. I'd like that."

"Oh, good. Good." Just ask him already! 

"Is that what you called about?" TK asks. 

"No. Well, sort of, but not really." 

"Carlos..." Carlos knows if TK was in front of him right now, he'd be trying to hide a cheeky grin. TK has to know. 

"I was wondering if you maybe...wanted to go out sometime?" Carlos bites his lip. God, was it too shortly after the last fuck up to ask. "And we can take it however you want. No pressure. I promise I won't surprise you with a fancy dinner again or something. "Carlos laughs awkwardly. "Or if you just wanted to -" 

"I'd like that." TK thankfully interrupts him before he stumbles over his words even more.  

"Huh?" 

"To 'go out sometime,'" TK repeats Carlos' words.  "I'd like that." 

"Really?"

"Yeah," TK lets out a small chuckle. "You're umm,” Carlos can hear TK hesitate. “... not easy to resist, you know?"

Carlos can feel himself blushing. "I should say the same..." he mumbles, unsure if TK hears him. "Tomorrow?" Was that too soon? Does he sound too eager? "Or we could do a different day if you-"

"I got a shift,” TK says. 

“Right, yeah. Me too,” Carlos knew that, but he was thinking maybe- 

“...but maybe after?" TK offers. 

Carlos’ smile covers his entire face. "Yeah, okay. That works." He laughs. He actually somehow convinced TK to go out with him and didn't get ghosted. Not only that, but TK also could've easily said no to tomorrow. It would be reasonable to not want to go out after a shift. 

"Where?" Tk asks, interrupting Carlos' thoughts.

"Hmm?" He celebrates the yes in his head too quickly he forgets he’s still on the phone. 

"Where were you wanting to go?" TK asks again. 

Oh right. Carlos spent so much time thinking about asking he didn't even think about where to go if TK did say yes.

He panics and says the first place that comes to mind. The same place they first danced. 

"I’l be there," TK says. Carlos is about to offer to pick him up, but he resists. He'll see how the night goes. Maybe he can drive him after. 

They agree on a time.

"You're really good at this," TK jokes. 

"Shut up," Carlos says and laughs. TK is getting him back for that lip comment, he’s sure of it. “I’ll see you tomorrow night then.” 

“Yeah,” TK says. “I’ll see you-” 

TK stops. Carlos hears a distanced yell on the other line then an aggrivvated “yeah alright,” from TK.   He hears TK huff before he gets back on the phone. “Sorry. I gotta go.” His tone is different. 

TK sounds annoyed, but Carlos knows it isn’t because of him. It must be something at work. 

“Of course,” Carlos says. “Do what you gotta do.” He smacks his forehead. 

“Uhh yeah..” 

“We’ll talk later.”

“Looking…forward to it.” TK sounds more distracted now. The phone goes silent. 

Carlos sits there and wonders what’s going on at the station. Part of him wonders if TK will tell him. Would TK confide in him about things that are going on from now on? Does TK trust him with that?

His big reveal at the station should be Carlos’ answer, but that could’ve just been a one-time thing. Guess he’ll just have to wait to find out. 

-

-

When TK’s phone rings, he stares at the caller ID for several seconds. He saw that it was Carlos immediately. He lets his mind wander to ask why Carlos would be calling, especially after the previous night. Was he calling to tell him they should keep their relationship strictly professional? Was he going to warn TK that he and his buddies at the station are keeping their eyes on him after his revelation to Carlos?

But, no. That’s not Carlos at all. TK doesn’t know him too well, but he knows enough to know Carlos is kinder than that, even if his self-loathing brain is trying to tell him otherwise. 

When he finally picks up TK  tries to play it cool, like he didn’t just stare at his crush's name on his phone, kicking himself that he can’t make it something more. But he’s not ready for a relationship yet and he knows Carlos will respect that. 

The invisible anxiety-ridden grip on TK’s chest loosens when TK hears Carlos act as nervous as he feels. 

It doesn’t take long for TK to realize what Carlos is doing. He listens in amusement as the other man struggles to get it out. TK helps him out a bit and they have a date set for tomorrow. 

He’s at ease until he hears a yell from Judd then he remembers what sent him over the edge the other day. He yells back out and excuses himself from his phone call with Carlos. 

He puts his phone away and readies himself to somehow work with the rest of the crew while avoiding Judd. It wont be an easy task.  

He wonders if it will always be like this, being called a spoiled brat just because he’s his dad’s son. Will him and Judd ever get along or will their relationship be rooted in a rivalry? 

He tries not to let himself think about it, tries to think about Carlos instead. Easier said than done. 

[dzamie]

I posted 15,568 times in 2022

That's an average of 43 posts a day!

977 posts created (6%) (thanks, horny anon(s))

14,591 posts reblogged (94%)

Blogs I reblogged from the most:

@dovewithscales

@universalthaumaturge

@catgirldick

@ demilypyro

@carbisari

I tagged 15,401 of my posts in 2022

Only 1% of my posts had no tags. This is because I am using tumblr correctly.

#text - 12,482 posts

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Longest Tag: 47 characters

#doug dimmadome owner of the dimmsdale dimmadome

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

I thought @prokopetz's 🔁🐦 (Rotate Bird) RPG was a fun little idea, so I figured I'd have a go at making a character and writing up a scene to see if I could figure out the test mechanic.

Meet Chandler the Fluffy. With his pipe, his bristly, grey beard, and his yellow raincoat and hat, it would be easy to mistake him for a gruff old sailor. However, he's only in his thirties, is as cheerful as can be, and has only set foot on a boat twice in his life. His hobby is metalworking. After an improbable incident one day between a homemade figurine, a ball of magic, and a Sollux Captor cosplayer, Chandler was granted three special abilities: "Copy Piece," "Mirrored Fangs," and "More Utensils."

"Alright, in the next area, you see a locked gate, a small pile of bouncy balls, and a catboy with a vacant smile holding a small, chrome key."

"I'll use Copy Piece to make a duplicate of that key."

"Okie. That's gonna be a test to see how accurate it is - or you can get just a generic key-shaped thing for free."

"Kinda defeats the purpose of copying a specific key, no? Now, it's a shiny metal thing, so I'll tap the crown because treasure, the area - still outside, I presume - is well-lit, so the lightbulb there, and also the paperclip 'cuz I'm MacGuyvering this shit. Also, if you tilt the ice-cream sideways, it kinda looks like a diagram of an eye, and I'm looking closely at the key, so..."

"Lightbulb and ice cream are a bit too far. Two dice?"

"Wait, wait: EYES cream."

"...goddammit. Three dice, as long as you never use that pun again."

"I'll take it. 1, 4, and... 5. I'll take that four, thanks."

"Okay, you get a perfect copy of the key, and for the fallout... that's the falling dude."

"I'll sac the... lightbulb to unbe that. Y'know, before someone makes me trip and drop the key beyond the fence."

"I'd never dream of it."

"I'm sure. Alright, time to use the key to unlock that gate!"

"Gate's unlocked now. But before you go, you feel glomping intent and hear the catboy right behind you: 'Mew aren't plannyaing to leave with my key, nya?'"

"And you criticize MY puns? Anyway, I turn and hand him the key. And use More Utensils and hand him a spoon as well."

"Wh- again? Uh, he takes them both, though looks puzzled at the spoon."

"Out I go! 'Bye, kitty, enjoy the spooonn!!'"

322 notes - Posted March 27, 2022

#4

They're right and they should say it. Any game with item durability is made objectively better with an option to turn it off. Looking at you, Minecraft. Breath of the Wild. Enter the Gungeon.

Dark Souls gets a pass because basilisks, wonky hitreg, and Blighttown show that the game was always intended to be hostile to the player.

While we're at it: hunger is a shit mechanic.

335 notes - Posted February 22, 2022

#3

where the fuck is my Next button

did I reach the end of tumblr

is Demily's post so powerful it deleted everything after it

339 notes - Posted February 25, 2022

#2

NO

NO!

THEY FIXED IT

THEY FIXED THE RAT POST

WHYYYYYYYYYYYYY

1,420 notes - Posted March 22, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

6,483 notes - Posted October 16, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

(fixed that last link so it's not a fucking tracking URL because I have standards)

[dashofmonsters]

Night Classes pt.1

Male Werewolf x Female Reader

When you were a kid you loved reading and writing more than anything. As you got older you still did but hardly found the time to between work and helping your older sister with her twins. As time went by the twins finally got old enough for school and your sister met a really nice gal who got her into the local community college. With new found free time you decide to try your hand at writing again but feel rather rusty. Your sister talks you into the creative writing course they have at night and you love it, but there's just something about the professor that seems oddly familiar...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Ughhh this is killing me!" Felix moans into his journal. You try your best to ignore him but as always he repeats his complaints until you turn to him and see what's wrong.

"Stuck?" you ask the obvious. He had a knack for writing really good dramatic scenes but always had a tough time tying them up so the plot could move forward.

"Beyond stuck, I finally got to the point where Nathan was exposed as the one who's hazmat suit wasn't working and that's how the crew got infected but I don't know... Ivan's response was kinda predictable and Suzuki's overreacting felt way too out of character...God I feel like I'm fighting with this story and the characters!" he fumes.

We're all fighting with our stories here...

Most of everyone here prefers writing fantasy or YA fiction, not sci-fi, the current theme for this semester's short story project. You've read a good bit of sci-fi last year, so you know what you want the story to be like but the problem is originality. Professor Bernard said right off the bat to not worry about that and just write.

Easier said then done...

Felix groans again and starts tapping his pencil, his fidgeting reminding you of your highschool friend but he never got on your nerves like this.

"Just rewrite it? Listen I have to finish up this chapter before the end of class tomorrow and I'm fighting to figure out if I want first contact now or to have everything lead up to it in the next chapter," you sigh, turning back to your own story so you can find where you left off.

Professor Bernard is sitting front and center, typing away on his laptop. He's rather calm and isn't complaining about all the chit chat today, something he readily snaps at. He's either pretty busy or figures everyone is stressing about finishing up this chapter because this is the first time we turn in our current and mostly unedited work to him.

With this one finished we'll be ten chapters deep.

After a couple hours you get to a pretty decent stopping point and go over your work for grammar and running sentences. You save your work and power off the laptop and go over additional notes you wrote your my journal. It'll be a cliffhanger at this point but that's just what you want, to build up that suspense.

"Leaving so soon Cherry Cola?" Professor asks as you step away from your desk.

You wince at your class nickname and nod. "Unfortunately. I'd like to work on this a bit longer but tomorrow is Friday and that's when work usually gets pretty crazy."

He shrugs his shoulders knowingly and looks back up towards the class, "A little less groaning and more writing Arnold Palmer."

The woman he called out rolls her eyes at her nickname and gets back to the grind.

You quietly laugh to yourself in the hall thinking back on how everyone got our terrible nicknames. First day Professor asked the class to put out their drinks on the desks if they weren't already. Then, going person by person assigned everyone new names based on that and he's been calling the class by those names ever since. Poor Felix got reduced to Mr. Three Red Bulls, Mr. Three for short.

You told your coworkers about the names and with much pain and annoyance they started calling you Cherry Cola or Cherry. It had been a good three months now since so you've grown used to it if not fond.

You take a deep breath and sigh, thinking about work is never fun. There's this new client you have that's supposed to be coming in tomorrow and they haven't been the easiest to deal with. Your manager has had to take over a couple times with how unruly they've been but if you can get this policy bound it might mean your boss will finally get off your back!

Taking one last deep breath for good measure you nearly jump out of your skin with a yelp when you feel a tap on your shoulder.

"I-I'm sorry you just dropped this on your way out of class."

To your surprise it was Professor Bernard who gave you a near heart attack. He's holding your keys and your lucky pen.

Great... my hearings getting worse if I didn't hear those drop. Either that or I'm getting too distracted lately...

"Thanks and sorry, I scare easily. Kinda comes with having terrible hearing and spacing out a lot, people can sneak up on me a lot easier," you laugh.

"I see..." he pauses and rocks back and forth with his hands in his pockets. "So umm feel pretty good with your story so far?"

"Yes, but it's a bit out of my element right now, I'm hoping to really dive into more of the world building with the rest of it," you admit.

"That's... that's good..." he replies rather dryly as he looks away from you.

He seems a bit on the edge, you think. "Hey Professor are-"

"We're out of class, just call me Bernard," he quickly interrupts.

"Ok? Then Bernard, are you ok?" you ask him, crossing your arms as the chill of the school gets the better of you.

"I'm fine I... It's just..." he stops mid sentence and hide his face in his hand and groans.

"Do you want to go grab a coffee from the café and talk about it?" you offer and he nods his head.

You lead him to one of the school's cafés and he sits with his head in his hands as you pour coffee for the both of you.

He mutters something under his breath as you sit down and pass him his coffee. You set packs of sugar and creamer down and to your surprise he grabs none.

"So you like your coffee just plain?" you nervously ask him.

He finally sits up straight and exhales rather loudly.

"Only when I need to stay awake for a while longer. And listen I'm just... I'm sorry, I know this is going to sound strange and feel free to say no, but would you like to have lunch sometime? I've been meaning to ask you for a little bit now but I either never find the time or you leave class too early and I just wanted to ask you about that one piece you turned in at the start of the semester when I asked if anyone had any current or finished projects."

You look down into your half empty cup as if it has the answer but your brain is firing off too many alarms for you to grasp at the coffee's enlightenment.

Is he asking me on a date? No no no! He just said he wanted to talk about my story that I turned in... But what if something happens? Do I roll with it? I don't know what to do even if it turns into something like that? Should I say yes and just see how it pans out or...

"Unless you're too busy then could I-"

"No no, I uh... uhh lunch would be nice," you nervously grin while internally you're slapping yourself in the face.

Bernard sighs and gives you grin of his own, "ok... cool-" he pauses and quickly clears his throat. "I mean, um what day would work for you?"

"I'm usually free on the weekends if I'm not helping my sister with her kids," you tell him.

He looks up to the ceiling as you did with your coffee then quickly reaches for his phone and thumbs through it a few times.

"Would next Saturday work for you?" he asks, his amber eyes widen in anticipation.

"I'll have to see. I never know when my sister might need help and she doesn't trust her kids to anyone who's not family and unfortunately I'm the closest relative she has," you explain with pained memories of trying to get out of babysitting but your sister wouldn't leave her kids with just anyone, even a professional nanny.

"I understand, my folks were the same way with my brothers and I. My grandparents were always the go to sitters when they had date night," he huffs, though he seems more relaxed.

"You have brothers?" you ask him. Coincidently you knew someone who had the same last name as your creative writing professor and looked eerily similar to him, but with much shorter hair.

"Yes, two of them. We're identical triplets, though we're easy to tell apart since we wear our hair at different lengths," he explains.

"You wouldn't happen to be related to Logan Graham then?" you ask.

Bernard folds over into his hands and groans, "What did he do now?"

You couldn't help but to laugh, but you understood. Logan has...well had, a reputation of causing trouble if he wasn't getting into it.

"Nothing that I know of, but I thought you look familiar. I was in the same classes as Logan in highschool, that's how we met. My sister and I also sort of couch hopped at your place back then too" you tell him.

He straightens back up with a sigh, "Oh gods! That was you then!? I kept thinking you looked so familiar and I couldn't remember... I was out of the house so much between my grandparents and college. So you and Logan? Were you two, well...together?"

You snort a laugh and shiver with cringe, "No no no no no, gods no! Ew! He was like a brother to me. Not to mention every time I think about him the first thing that comes to mind is the chili dog eating contest and the aftermath...That poor Cadillac..."

"Oh no! Don't tell me, you were the one who was helping him clean the vomit out of my dad's '89 Deville?" Bernard covers his mouth, looking like he's trying to stifle a laugh.

"Yes! So that must mean you were the asshole brother who just stood on the porch watching us in panic while trying cleaning it," you snap with a grin.

"In my defense I was getting back at him for eating my leftovers," he crosses his arms, daring you to defy his petty teen logic.

And you do. For nearly a hour the both of you go back and forth reminiscing about the dumb stuff Logan did and the few times you met each other as teens. You could have kept going on and on, but a text from your sister alerted you to the time.

Bernard apologizes for keeping you, but you wave it off. You exchange numbers so you can keep him up to date if you'll be free this coming Saturday.

There's an odd moment when you say your goodbyes and goodnights, neither of you sure if a hug or a wave would be appropriate, so you both simultaneously decide on an awkward smile and a 'see ya later'.

On your drive home you can't help but to think about what just happened. It feels so unreal but at the same time you can't help but to feel relieved. Relieved that you're not going on a lunch date with just your creative writing professor, but with the brother of an old friend of yours. That logic put you at temporary ease, but you then you reminded yourself that no one called it a date.

When you pull up at the apartments you hear a ping from your phone and see a text from Bernard.

Prof. Bernard: Just checking to see if you made it home safe, we're supposed to be getting some bad weather soon.

You stare at the text for an ungodly five minutes, trying to figure out if he's being nice or just trying to open up communications or if this is his way to start flirting or whatever! You quickly shake yourself out of it and dismiss it as you reading too much into it and reply.

You: Just got home, I live like ten minutes from the college. Thanks for the heads up though, I'll make sure to bring some of my plants in. We've been getting a ton of rain lately XD

Polite and to the point with just enough friendliness...Ok, let's see where this goes, if anywhere...

Prof. Bernard: That's good. Yeah the weather's been pretty wild lately. Hopefully it doesn't flood, I don't think the Deville can take anymore mishaps to it

He texts back rather fast so you decide to wait to reply till you're in the comfort of your apartment. The rain finally starts up as you make an effort to unlock your door, the key getting stuck and unwilling to cooperate with you again.

Blast this old thing!

Once inside you quickly deposit your things and make a mad dash to reign in your herbs and flowers from the patio. The rain is heavy and hard and you're lucky that you got home when you did.

You: It's coming down pretty hard now. Wait is that old clanker still running?

The thought that the old Deville is still hitting the road brings about a strange happiness. It was a very large part of your teenage years, just as much as it was for the Graham brothers you assume.

Prof. Bernard: Oh fantastic! And I wouldn't call sitting at a mechanic for three fourths of the year running, but I'm hoping once they drop a new engine in her that that will change... For now the city bus will have to do

You look outside at the downpour and grimace at the thought of having to take a bus in this sort of weather. You didn't like it back in highschool and you hated it even more so as an adult. Thunder cracks and shakes the windows, the rain picks up even more and it doesn't look like it'll end anytime soon.

You: I'd like to see the good old clunker once they getting running... WAIT DID YOUR DAD GIVE YOU THE DEVILLE?!?!?!

The thought didn't hit till now but the gifting of Mr. Graham's baby Deville was no small thing. You remember Logan drooling over the prospect of owning it one day, even buying it from his dad if he had to. But if Bernard has it, oh man, how did Logan take the news when it happened.

Prof. Bernard: Yeah, he gave it to me as a graduation gift. I was excited and upset, I knew it would cause issues with Logan and I...

You could feel your stomach tighten, almost as if you could hear the disappointment in through the text. Logan would not have taken it well at all. He didn't really have a temper that you saw, but he was never the sort who kept his feelings about things bottled.

You: I'm guessing it did cause problems huh?

Prying into an old friend's life wasn't something you'd typically do, but this was Logan. The guy who punched your prom date in the face for ditching you last minute for another girl. The guy who shielded you from onlookers in the halls when you bled through your jeans. He was honorary family!

But the question must have been too much since Bernard doesn't reply back right away. You set your phone down and start preparing for tomorrow. Work clothes, microwave meal, rain boots and jacket, the typical storm season layout. You check outside and see that the rain is still coming down pretty hard, you hope Bernard won't have to wait for the bus for too long.

You hear your phone ping and see that he's finally texted back.

Prof. Bernard: Problems would be an understatement... We haven't spoken since... Sorry for the long wait, class just ended when you texted. I'm not looking forward to getting drenched

It hurts to know that something like that had happened and it's even worse that you're only now hearing about it. You really didn't keep in close touch with him after graduation but you emailed each other a few times a year for updates. He never once mentioned anything about the Deville, so he must have had a lot of mixed feelings about it.

You: I'm sorry that happened...I don't know what to say...Maybe if I had known I'd have slapped him upside the head for acting like a kid, but I'd probably would have sided with him just because we were friends. Rain is still pretty heavy, hopefully your bus gets there soon

How could he not say anything? Especially to me!

You huff and shuffle to your tiny apartment livingroom and plop yourself on the worn sofa. You sigh and huff a lot, feeling outraged about the Deville drama. It's just an old clunker car but there's a lot of sentimentality behind it for the Grahams and for you too. Logan would have outright emailed you a ten page complaint about the whole thing, that is, if he weren't conflicted about it.

Not able to take the internal frustration any longer you let out a long and immature groan. It felt good and helped clear your head a little bit.

No use stewing in this...

Deciding to get to the bottom of this, you start emailing Logan. It's short and there's nothing about the subject of conflict, yet. Knowing him he'll probably get to it this weekend since he works away from internet most of the time.

Checking the time on your phone, you see that Bernard texted back a few minutes ago.

Prof. Bernard: It was a family issue and he probably didn't want to drag you into it... though your honesty is appreciated. I think I might have to rideshare unfortunately, my bus is thirty minutes late. Safe to say that it might be flooded up that way.

Ignoring the drama of the past you open your weather app on your phone and see flash flood warnings in your area. Luck would have it that you live on what's basically a hill so no surprise water. But Bernard's been out there for a while now and gods knows when or if someone will come pick him up.

You: It might be a hour or so if at all that you'll get picked up if there's a flood. Not a lot of people around here would want to risk it. I could pick you up if you want...

You hold your breath and send the text. You tell yourself on normal circumstances this wouldn't even be on the table but you know the Grahams and Bernard, though you knew him as a jerk to his brother, he was always nice to you albeit awkward.

Within record timing your phone pings in response.

Prof. Bernard: Would you?!?!?! I was going to go back in and wait but the schools locked up and I only have keys for my room.

There wasn't any going back now, you made the offer and he is clearly in need.

You: Yeah, give me like 5 minutes and I'll be omw. Are you at the bus stop or on campus???

Grabbing your rain gear you had set up for work you wiggle your way to the door as you dance to get the jacket and boots on. You snatch your keys and bag in one quick motion and nearly trip as you shut the door behind you. The rain is coming down in sheets now and the thunder rumbles even louder when you're outside. You have to hold the hood of your rain jacket as you carefully walk to your car.

You check your phone and Bernard responded that he's at the bus stop.

Gods he must be soaked to the bone!

With the utmost caution you make your way out of the apartment parking lot and drive ever so slowly towards the school. Hardly anyone is driving about and the local diner is packed with the night owls who can't get home thanks to the flooding. There's got to be at least three or four inches of water in the road right now, not a number you're comfortable with but not enough to flood out your vehicle...yet.

You finally come up to the street where the bus stop is at and you can make out a figure sitting solemnly at the bench with a just big enough umbrella to shield from the rain. You pull up to the stop and Bernard shoots up, his eyes squint trying to make out your face through the rain and tinted window.

"Get in before you catch a cold dammit!" you yell as you roll down the passenger side window.

He stumbles with his umbrella as he opens the door and slides in. You have him throw his things in the back seat since there's little leg room up front and just like Logan, Bernard has some long ass legs.

"I cannot thank you enough for this," he combs his wet hair back as he basks in the heat of your car.

"Don't thank me yet, depending on where you live I might not be able to get you home tonight," you admit and explain the flooding situation.

Bernard makes a mix of several different faces, most of them seem as if he has something to say but would rather shove his foot into his mouth before he did.

You let out a deep sigh and decide to break this awkwardness.

"We're both adults Berny, if you're uncomfortable sleeping on your brother's old friends couch then I can drop you off at the nearest motel." you say flatly but emphasize on his old nickname.

You can see the tension shift from awkward to pure cringe at hearing an old hated nickname. "I thought I'd never have to hear anyone call me that again."

Logan loved antagonizing his brothers, especially Bernard. You recall all the times how he would holler from the Deville 'Hey Berny!' and how Bernard looked like he was three seconds away from dragging Logan out of the car and starting a fight on the front lawn.

"You had the patience of a saint back then. First time I heard him call you that I thought you were going to deck him right then and there," you laugh, glad that he seems a bit more relaxed.

He straightens up and flops against the car seat with a huff. "It was annoying for sure but I'd never fight him over something like that, not seriously anyways. Besides I don't think he'd like it if I stunted his ego in front of a lady friend."

You snort laugh and shake your head, "Lady friend?"

Bernard turns to look at you, giving you a smile so charming it should be a sin. "With how often you hung around him I thought the two of you were dating."

"I can see why you'd think that, a lot of people did to be honest. Logan didn't really go out of his way to flirt or anything, in fact whenever the subject was brought up he always said that he's still waiting to meet the right one. He was kind of a hopeless romantic," you chuckle and tap your steering wheel.

He shifts in his seat to sit sideways the best he can with his long legs, the amber of his eyes glistening from the street lights. He opens his mouth to say something but quickly stops, contemplating on how he should string his next sentence.

"I kind of have to admit something...The whole lunch thing for Saturday, only part of it was for talking about your story. I mean, I am very interested in it, the plot is very very well thought out and the characters are interesting, but it's uh...fuck...Ok I thought you looked familiar and it's been bothering me since day one and I was going to sort of gage whether or not you are who I think you are but you've literally been beating me to every single punch," he takes a deep breath and waits for some sort of reaction, but you're almost too shocked to give an immediate response.

You suddenly find yourself laughing, nervously perhaps but at least it was some sort of noise versus the maddening pitter patter of the rain.

"Sorry sorry, wow...aren't we doing so well as adults and properly communicating," you sigh, the laughter in you finally dying down.

Bernard is still looking at you, his eyes soften up and that sinfully charming smile of his returns. "So it would seem. I forgot how nonchalant you can be about unusual situations. Moving on though, I think it's best that we continue our awkward reunion at your place, lest your car get flooded out."

"How considerate," you chuckle, putting your car in drive.

It takes twice as long to get back to your apartment though it felt even longer with the silence between you and Bernard. Ever so often you would catch him stealing a glance over at you then quickly looking away. You decide that he's probably still in disbelief that you're his brother's friend from back in the day, after all you've changed quite a bit so you're almost more surprised that he thought you look familiar.

When you do finally make it home, Bernard ever the gentleman of the Graham brothers, offers his umbrella even though you clearly have rain gear on. You take him up on the offer though and a part of you wishes you didn't.

The whole evening you've spent talking to him as the brother of your friend, completely forgetting that he is in fact a grown man and one you've admitted to your friends and coworkers of being very attractive. None of that didn't dawn on you until he stood right behind you, umbrella over head, and his hand on your shoulder.

"Lead the way," he says and the both of you make a mad dash to your door. You fumble with your keys again, the lock sticking and the knob not wanting to turn.

"Sorry this old thing's been giving me hell lately and my landlord refuses to-"

"Mind if I try?" He asks, setting his things down and pulling out a spray can of wd40.

You would have been surprised if anyone else had a can of wd40 on them, but you've never not known a Graham to leave home without it. Logan carried one in his backpack at all times and surprisingly put it to good use at least once a day.

Handing your keys to Bernard you back up and let him work his Graham magic on the lock. After spritzing and fidgeting with the lock and knob he finally manages to get it open but almost falls into the doorway from lack of resistance.

"My hero," you clap, doing your best to stifle a laugh.

Bernard quickly straightens up, his cheeks slightly flushed, "That thing has to got to go. Why won't your landlord replace it? It's practically useless."

"He's a cheapskate and trust me my lock problem is not the worst issue around here. Cecil's been without A/C for six months and June still can't use her bathroom sink," you shrug and invite your professor into you humble little home.

He grimaces at the door as he shuts it behind him. His expression lightens when you hand him a towel and the directions to your bathroom if he wants to take a hot shower to warm up. He almost declines the offer until you tell him that you'll just go straight to your room and he can use your washer and dryer.

"Alright, I did want to talk to you a bit more but I've kept you long past what I should have and you've got work in the morning. I guess I'll see you tomorrow," he smiles, rocking back on his heels.

"Right. Goodnight Berny," you stick your tongue out at him and turn to your room. As you shut it you hear a snarky reply 'Goodnight then, Cherry Cola.'

~~~~~~

You can hardly sleep knowing that your creative writing professor, brother of your friend, and the once in a while subject of gossip at the workplace is most likely sleeping naked on your couch.

Feeling like a scandalous giddy school girl for wishing to sneak a peak you decide to try and busy yourself by working on classwork. You make great headway with needing to be distracted but you still find yourself looking towards your door.

This is stupid! This is my apartment! If I want to walk out of my room to go do something I shouldn't have to feel awkward about it! Plus the likelihood of him being in the absolute nude is slim to none, his mother wouldn't approve of such ungentlemanly behavior...

Now that you've rightfully convinced yourself to be the big girl you are, you quietly open your door and tiptoe to the kitchen. You see Bernard, shirtless and laying on his stomach with his arm hanging off the couch and his face smooshed against the throw pillow. You nearly giggle but you hold it together. Your eyes move up to see if his legs are in any strange position and they are, but something's off about them.

Ever so carefully you tiptoe just a bit closer and almost jump out of your skin upon closer inspection. His legs are hairy, very very hairy. In fact hairy isn't quite the right word, more like fury. His legs are covered in fur and your pretty sure that where there should be feet that there are dog like looking paws.

You start to back up, being diligent not to make a sound. You're almost successful until you trip over the coffee table and stumble back. Bernard shoots right awake and looks at you with confusion for a moment until he suddenly realizes himself.

"You saw?" he looks down to his legs and then to you. It was less of a question and more of an accusation. He waits for you to say something, anything, but all you manage to do is gawk.

It's not that you're scared or upset, but genuinely shocked. Your brain is going ninety to nothing trying to process what's going on but you're current self feels a bit too stupid to even talk. Bernard looks towards your door and then to his things. You'd hate to put him out because of your short circuited cranium so you try and say something.

"I uh-" you pause, Bernard's full attention on you. His eyes are wide and expression mute.

"I...I was just getting something to drink and you looked a bit uncomfo-"

Bernard starts laughing uncontrollably and drops to the floor. Without the blanket hiding anything you can see that he did indeed sleep in his boxers, but you tell yourself that that's not the most important thing going on right now.

"I really do adore how absolutely nonchalant you can be," he smiles with a wistful sigh.

You feel a strange tightening in your chest and the only thing you can think is 'uh oh'. You quickly try and look anywhere but in his direction so you can at least start to process this situation.

"This is going to take some time for you to understand, I get that. I'm just glad that you're not running for the hills or trying to call the authorities. I don't know what I would do if I... if you..." Bernard pauses and you hear him inch towards you.

His hand slides over yours and you try not to jump from the sudden contact. You can feel the weight of his eyes on you and when you finally cave in and look at him he looks as if he's about to break.

"I don't think I need time," you start. "I need answers, but I'm too tired and too overwhelmed to even process anything right now so we'll save that for later. Just promise me that you won't be dodgy with me and I promise that I won't talk about whatever I saw ok?"

Bernard practically throws himself at you, hugging you so tight and unexpectedly that you squeak. If your brain was in disarray before, it's now in utter and absolute chaos with the everything on fire. You're about to try and push yourself off but he quickly rights himself and you see that his face is flushed.

"I uh sorry about that," he clears his throat and continues. "I just- No uh, sorry. I'm just a bit a mess in the head right now," he chuckles and shakes his head.

For some reason this calms you down quite a bit. Maybe it's because he's just as shocked as you are or maybe because he's just as tired, but whatever the case is, he's still the same person you found out you knew.

"Look at us being adults and properly communicating," you quip.

He gives a breathy laugh and leans back into the carpet. For a quick moment you dare to look at his full sprawled out body. He's fit and has a few scars on his side, but nothing alarming. Now that you're able to get a closer look the fur on his legs is a dark almost reddish brown and the worst part is that it looks soft.

"You can touch it if you want," he coughs, his head turned away.

You'd been caught and he had the nerve to offer you to touch his fur and he won't even look your way.

"Thanks but you don't look like you want me to," you say.

There's a long stretch of silence and you almost assume that he just fell back asleep on the floor but when you start to move to get up he grabs your hand. You look back down and his eyes have a sort of fiery resolve to them.

"There's a lot I want to say right now but I'll hold off for a little while longer. There's definitely been some time for things to change but it seems that they haven't and it's picked up right where it left off for me, the only difference now is that I know where to look. I know I'm being cryptic and none of this makes sense, I just had to get it off my chest. I should let you get back to sleep," he lets go of your hand and for some odd reason you wish he didn't.

Bernard makes the first move to stand and offers to help you off the floor. It's almost a miracle that you don't fall over with how numb your legs are but the wobble in your step seems to give someone a good excuse to lift you off the floor and into their arms.

Once again he doesn't look at you and it almost frustrates you that he has the nerve to pick you up but not even look at you.

"Come on Berny, we're adults. If you're going to princess lift me at least carry me to my room dammit," you laugh, and strike a damsel in distress pose in his arms.

He nearly drops you with how hard he's laughing and you can't help but to join in. It takes several minutes for the both of you to calm down and you're surprised to find that you're still in his hold.

"I forgot how melodramatic you can be too," he blinks a few tears out of his eyes by looking up.

"And funny," you add.

Bernard rolls his eyes and smiles that sinful smile again, "Yes and funny. I think that's why I had a crush on you back then."

Part 2 >

[nothing-but-dreamy]

THE NIGHT UNFURLS

Characters: Leon Kennedy x fem!Reader

Warnings: erotical language

Words: 2.616

As yn entered the hotel bar, she caught all the attention of all men in the room. She was dressed in a long, well-fitting, black dress with a cutout back. It got closed in her neck with long, silk ribbons. The open back gave a perfect view of her soft, naked skin down to the small of her back.

Her curled hair fell over her shoulders in loose strands. The bright eyes were rimmed with smokey eyes make up and her lips were glowing red. All in all, she was a jaw dropper and Leon had spotted her the second she entered the room.

Leon played with his whiskey tumbler and let his index finger slowly sliding along the rim while he watched the mysterious woman. Her black leather high heels with ribbons around her ankle and calf were making soft sounds on the parquet on her way through the room as she aimed for the bar.

With an elegant move, she sat on a free bar stool, crossed one leg over the other and revealed more skin as the dress slid upwards. Her black painted nails clattered over the mahogany surface while she waited for the bar keeper to take her order.

Leon was fixated on her appearance. Everything on her screamed beauty and he got distracted more and more by her long legs and how she presented herself. Now and then, her eyes met his and Leon knew that her moves were just for him to give him a small show of herself.

The bar keeper served her drink, a Vodka on the rocks. While looking at Leon, she raised her glass to him with a small sexy smile and a small nod before she took a sip of her drink, still connecting their glances.

From the outside, Leon seemed to be calm but on the inside, his mind was already running wild with fantasies he had about this sensual woman. He imagined how her skin would feel under his hands. How her full lips would taste and how it would feel if these bright eyes would bore into his while he was inside her...

Leon's unleashed imagination stopped suddenly as a guy, tall, broad shoulders and with black hair appeared in his line of view. The unknown man walked over to the beauty, leaning against the bar to talk with her in a low voice.

Leon was able to watch the scene just for five minutes before he had enough. She faked a laugh about something the guy said and Leon noticed it didn't sound right. The whole scene between them didn't look right and he wanted to change what was wrong. Mostly, because she still searched his eyes no matter how close the guy came to her.

Leon cleared his glass, walked over to the two and tapped the guy on the shoulder, "Excuse me, but-"

"Don't you see that I'm talking with this woman? So, go away."

"Yes, I've noticed that. That's the reason why I came over. You might not see it but she's not interested in you.", Leon said serious with a stern expression.

The guy turned around to face Leon to the fullest. He straightened himself but was still a bit smaller than Leon. The guy was not amused to be interrupted, "Listen, buddy, I was here first and you're an intruder in this very nice conversation we have."

"First, I'm not your buddy.", Leon said and stepped forward. He looked serious at the man in front of him and drew his brows together, "And now, I would advise you to go away, letting this lady alone.", Leon said with a dark and threatening voice.

The guy looked at Leon, considering his next best move but as he stared at Leon and saw his stern expression and the determination in his eyes, the guy accepted the fact that he had no chance against Leon. Without another word, the guy left to search for the next victim.

"A white knight. That's very rare these days.", Yn purred with a honey like voice, looking at Leon through her long, black lashes.

"I can't stand it if men don't know when they're unwelcome."

"That's true. But, luckily, you were there to help me."

"Leon Kennedy at your service.", he said with a small bow and a smirk.

"Nice to meet you, Leon. I'm yn. But please, take a seat. Have a drink with me. I have to thank you."

Leon agreed more than willingly. His imagination was back in charge.

*

Thirty minutes and an incredible conversation later, Leon escorted her to the elevator. With his hand on the small of her bare back, he guided her through the bar. The whole time, he couldn't take his eyes off her. The way she moved, talked and laughed made him nervous and excited at the same time.

Patiently, both waited for the elevator to arrive and as the door opened, they both were relieved to see it empty. Leon let yn enter it first and she went to the mirrored wall opposite the entrance. He followed and the moment the doors closed, Leon stepped in front of her.

Yn and Leon didn't have to talk anymore. They knew what they wanted. It was exactly the same. Like a starving man, Leon cupped yn's face with one hand while he brought her close with his other arm. She rested her hands on his chest before they kissed like never before.

There was a bond between their lips that was unbreakable. A promise for the night which connected them. Leon deepened the kiss even more. He wanted to feel everything of this woman. He was desperate to have her as close as possible. With his hands, he roamed over her body, appreciating every single curve, never stopping on one spot too long.

Yn wanted the same. Deep in her body, she felt a heat rising she barely experienced before. His hands on her bare skin let her shudder with sexual excitement. His lips knew what they had to do to take her breath away. And even through the fabric of his black suit shirt, yn felt his body heat and muscles.

Leon left her lips and stared into her eyes, "Where have you been my whole life?", he breathed against her lips.

Her eyes flickered back and forth between his clear, bright ones. Even after this short time, she couldn't get enough of these endless oceans of mirrored emotions, "I was out there just waiting for you.", she breathed with a low voice.

The sound of the opening elevator door distracted both of them but Leon was the first who reacted, "Spend the night me, yn.", Leon asked, stepped back and offered her his hand as an invitation to follow him.

Yn didn't need a second to consider her next step. Of course, she would follow this mysterious looking man with the brooding expression that told her he had seen a lot of things. She was already addicted to his masculine scent. She wanted more of the way he let her feel. And she was already a slave for his lips.

As yn placed her hand into Leon's, his heart skipped a beat. He was sure she would follow but then as she did it, his excitement got kindled once again. He lead yn to his room. And as he opened the thick wooden door, yn found herself in a huge, luxury suite. The view was incredible as well as the interior but she was sure nothing of this would matter for one moment.

As if Leon was reading her mind, he approached her from behind and let his hands roam over her curves while he kissed slowly over her bare shoulders up to her neck. Yn closed her eyes just to focus on him. His lips left a trail of goosebumps. His fringes tickled her bare skin and as he reached her sensitive spot underneath her ear, he bit softly into it which caused her to moan.

The low sound was music for Leon's ears and he hoped he would hear it again and again in this night. With the back of his right hand, Leon let his fingers slide over her bare back. From the lowest part, along her spine, carefully tickling the tiny hairs, up to her neck to the knot of the ribbons where he waited for her permission.

Yn turned her head to the side and met Leon's darkened eyes. They were filled with hunger and lust. His fingers were lying around her neck, playing with the ribbons. She knew what he wanted. But to tease him, she stared into his eyes, gnawed lasciviously on her lower lip and leant forward to stop inches in front of his face, "Do it.", she whispered and swiftly, she noticed the knot opening. As the knot was out of the way, the silky fabric slid slowly down her frame.

Leon was amazed by the view. This incredibly beautiful woman stood almost naked in front of him. She was just dressed in some black lace slip. Slowly, she turned around and snaked her arms around his neck. Her naked frame melted against his solid body and while she kissed him desperately, Leon stroked over her soft skin to make her shudder.

Carefully, yn pushed Leon into the direction of the edge of the bed while slowly opening the buttons of his suit shirt. As he hit the bed, Leon sat down and looked up at yn. She stepped between his legs and stroked the fabric over his shoulders to expose his perfect chiseled figure.

Leon watched yn admiring him. With the nail of her index finger, she slid along his torso and grabbed his shoulders with both hands as support as she climbed on top of his crotch. Straddling him, she cupped his face softly, tracing his facial features with her thumbs, "I'm already addicted to you, Leon.", she purred low against his lips.

Leon hugged her strongly and brought her even closer, "You're not alone with this feeling.", he whispered back. Smoothly and with a swift move, Leon got up and placed yn on the bed to hover over her.

Yn snaked her legs around his waist to keep him close while she immediately started to roll her hips, already feeling his erection against her core. Leon was eager to kiss her again. He needed to feel her and so, he crashed his lips on hers for a hungry kiss.

And then, very quickly, Leon had undressed himself not wanting to miss one second with this goddess while yn did the same with her slip before she reached for her high heels. Leon stopped her, "Keep them on, please.", he asked and smirked.

She obeyed and waited for Leon to join her. But Leon wanted his own way with her. He stared at her naked body as if she was an expensive painting, painted in Leon's favorite colors. He approached the bed and stroked his fingers over the leather of the highheels. Carefully, he took one of yn's feet in his hands and slid along the soft curve of her calf, admiring every single inch.

Leon leant down and kissed his way along her legs. Prepping kisses on the inside what let yn shudder whenever his stubbles scratched over her skin. He worked his way up to her core and played her like an instrument to let her sing the song of the night. The way yn squirmed and cried out his name was the melody that let Leon's blood boil. That she clawed her fingers into his hair was the fuel to continue what he had started.

Only as he was pleased with the result, that she resembled more a sweaty, heavy breathing mess, he crawled on top of her. Yn's darkened eyes looked hungrily at him. It was the way he had hoped she would look at him. Without a word, yn pulled Leon down for a deep kiss and at the same time, Leon used the moment to enter her teasingly slow which left her gasping for air.

Yn snaked her legs around Leon's waist and rolled with her hips into his to increase the friction even more. Leon left her lips for some air and supported himself with his arms to create some space. Yn let her eyes roam over his handsome features. The fringes were falling into it and between the strands were his bright eyes shining like gems. With her hands, she explored his strong, muscled chest, his abs and his back where she clawed her nails into his muscles as he rolled into her once again.

Yn arched her back up in ecstasy and closed her eyes. Her head fell back, deeper into the pillow under Leon's observing glance, "I want to hear you cry out my name again, yn.", he breathed.

She opened her eyes with a sensual smirk, "Then make me."

Leon didn't have to hear more and within a few more moments, yn closed her eyes and cried out his name as she relished the exploding sensation of the rhythmically waves of the orgasm. This was the second song of the soundtrack of their night.

*

As the sun slowly began to rise into the dark blue velvet sky, the last song of the two got played. A duett. And for yn and Leon, it was their best song of the whole night. Happy and exhausted, both laid on their backs with an erratic pulse and covered in sweat.

Leon turned his head to yn. He watched her chest rising up and down. As she noticed that he stared at her, she turned around on her side and placed her hand on his cheek. Leon placed his own hand on top of hers and smiled, "This was an excellent idea, babe."

"I thought you would like it to seduce me once again.", yn said with a soft smile, glad about the fact that her idea had worked out.

"Yeah. First, I was sceptical about this whole roleplay thing but it was fun. Just... This guy at the bar? Was he part of your game?", Leon asked and she saw true jealousy sparkling in his eyes.

"No. Actually, he really was hitting on me. And I have to admit, he had charme.", she said and watched amused how Leon rolled on his side to face her.

Possessively, he placed his hand on her hip and pulled her close to his chest, "Charme, huh? Babe, I know exactly what you like and that's nothing this guy had to offer. What you want is rather something like this.", Leon breathed low, leant in and kissed her deeply until she was breathless.

"You know, baby, you're so damn sexy when you're jealous. Even after five years, a random guy is able to make you nervous? Good to know.", she chuckled.

Leon smirked and pushed her back on the mattress to hover over her.

"Sexy, huh? Speaking of, these shoes...can you keep them?", Leon asked and looked at her feet.

Yn moved one of her feet in the rays of sunlight that fell through the curtains of the window, "You like them? I never expected you to be a fan of shoes."

Leon looked back into her eyes, "They suit you. And I'm a really big fan of you, sweetheart. Since day one. What shall I say, you turn me on so fucking much.", he whispered low before he kissed her deeply and before yn could react, Leon S. Kennedy, her boyfriend, best friend and partner, laid between her legs again, already prepared for the next round.

[iturbide]

🥹 and 👀 from the ask meme please.

okay the first one is giving me a few issues but I think I know what it is (feel free to send another if I'm off-base!)

🥺 - Is there a certain type of moment or common interaction between your characters that never fails to put you in your feels?

I honestly never get tired of two generally smart people being completely oblivious when it comes to their feelings for the other. Particularly the sort where they talk themselves out of it, thinking the other couldn't possibly feel fondly toward them -- I absolutely love the pining, the yearning, the emotion that goes from wanting but thinking that it's out of reach, not knowing that the feeling is mutual (bonus points for the other person not realizing for a completely different reason, so when it eventually comes out they're both blindsided).

👀 - Tell me about an up and coming WIP please!

how about we do something different this time

I have a few fics that actually aren't on my Masterlist yet (in part because I've been bad about updating it, in part because they're not ready to debut yet). This one in particular has actually been in limbo of sorts for years: I wrote a piece of it on a whim ages back, and not long ago revisited it, finished that first bit, and made good headway on a second. The story is still very nebulous: I know the backstory, but no the throughline of the plot, so right now it's just disconnected little scenes that have been fun to write.

In brief: in this particular AU, Validar does turn his attitude around when Robin is born, and spends most of Robin's upbringing keeping the upper eschelons of the Grimleal at bay. As Robin's eighteenth birthday approaches, though -- the traditional age when he's considered an adult -- Validar suspects that some among the Grimleal intend not to push him into a position of power, but force him to take on the role of the Fell Dragon in smiting Plegia's historic enemies. In order to keep that power out of their hands, Validar, Wren, and Robin stage a 'kidnapping' of sorts: Wren and Robin both vanish from the palace, and Validar claims ignorance of what happened or their whereabouts (which is technically true, since he doesn't know where or how they left or where they're going).

Robin and his mother leave Plegia and travel through Ferox and into Ylisse over the course of the next three years, during which time the Grimleal grow increasingly desperate -- enough to delve into ancient, terrible magicks, raising the dead to seek out the missing Heart of Grima. Risen begin to appear across the continent, homing gradually in on Robin's location; in their first encounter with them, Robin and Wren are separated, and in the process Robin taps fully into Grima's power for the first time to escape the undead horde. He then proceeds to Southtown, where he and his mother had agreed to meet if they ever lost each other -- only he meets Chrom first, ends up getting drawn into the Shepherds, and general chaos ensues from there.

✨Fic Writer Emoji Asks✨

[weclassybouquetfun]

ALL THE SPOILERS IN THE MULTIVERSE

DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS

THE GOOD

-When Scott Derrickson stepped away from directing DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS, the rumour was that he did so because Kevin Fiege didn't like his idea of making the film "a no-holds-barred weird, gnarly, scary movie". Obviously that wasn't true because it really is a no-holds-barred, weird, gnarly and scary movie. It was obvious by the hiring of Sam Raimi that the film would hold on to those tenets because while people may associate him with his Spider-Man films, he's known by a larger audience by his EVIL DEAD films and horror films like DARKMAN and DRAG ME TO HELL.

While this film still looks like a "Marvel" film most of the time, Raimi does lean into more visually arresting looks giving the film a 70's horror feel; very Dario Argento at points.

-I managed to stay spoiler free for the most part but because being on Twitter you can't help but see spoilery info spill across the timeline and using context clues I managed to figure out a few of the cameos before I saw the film, but the one thing I wasn't spoiled on was that Wanda was the Big Bad! I really thought this film would serve to atone Wanda for WANDAVISION crimes, but in fact, it doubles down on how much the darkness has enveloped her. Olsen was great as the Scarlet Witch; a true formidable foe. And just coming off of MOON KNIGHT, I'm happy to see a good villain again.

-Love that Feige has seemingly come around to the Marvel series as the rumour was that he held no love for the ones that were on Netflix and ABC. So as great as it was to see Charlie Cox in NO WAY HOME, it was equally great to see Anson Mount as Black Bolt from the failed and greatly ridiculed INHUMANS.

-Nice that Sam Raimi brought in Bruce Campbell, Ash himself, for a small role -echoing his fight with himself scene from Evil Dead.

-Rachel McAdams and Benedict Cumberbatch has great chemistry and I would like to see one of the universe's Christine actually work it out with Stephen.

-The beauty of having a film spiraling through the multiverse is that there are actual risks involved. Sure, we've had heroes die in Marvel films but it's generally towards the end of their contract (Iron Man) or the end of a phase (Black Widow). The benefit of the multiverse is that you can create mass casualties of heroes and it's thrilling because it's shocking but it's bearable because it's of no consequence. Seeing Wanda lay waste to Mr. Fantastic, Peggy Carter's Captain Carter, Lashana Lynch's Captain Marvel and Black Bolt was wonderful.

Though her killing of Charles Xavier was too much. That hurt.

-Loved the idea that there's a Charles in another universe with a soft spot for people others have given up on. He's ever trying to find the good in someone. I just know in that universe he was playing checkers instead of chess with Magneto and still trying to keep him from committing genocide.

-Wong always coming through in the clutch.

-The Danny Elfman score, especially in the musical battle was outstanding.

-Give Michael Stuhlbarg one scene and he will still take it and make it amazing. He's such a fine actor who can do so much with so little.

THE BAD

The tag "Doctor Strange will return". Why? As good as this film in, I think Strange is better served in a smaller capacity as a guide in other films (helping Thor locate Odin, helping Peter in NO WAY HOME, now showing America her strength).

I suppose the next film could lead to some connection to ETERNALS and whatever they're planning on doing with those characters, but that just shows how weak a character he is that they just can't do stories centered around him. Or at least deal with him as a person outside of the magic wielding. I think Strange is more interesting when we get the sense of his regrets, which this film tapped into a bit.

But maybe we'll see more humanity with him and Charlize Theron's character in the next film.

- I don't think they explained Wanda's actions enough in this film. If you hadn't seen WANDAVISION Wanda's heel turn in this would be too insane. I think more explanation should have been given re: the loss of Vision and how it has led her down this dark road. Just making about the kids didn't really jibe (does her sons not have powers in their universe? They should have been able to combat Wanda a bit). I don't know why they couldn't just insert a dream sequence where she's recalling her argument with Vision from WANDAVISION on what she was doing to drive it home for those who hadn't watched the series.

[superpixie42]

From @saraneth86 ❤️ 🧡 💛 💙 💜 💚

I'm gonna drop this below the cut since it's pretty lengthy

My writing process is a little all over the place, but my best case "I Know What I'm Doing" scenario is outlined here :)

I usually know a story is done when the scene is done, since my stuff is so short. Endings is actually something I want to work on because at the moment they can be a bit...abrupt... which is a little bit of a stylistic choice and a little bit of a cop-out.

My best time of day to write is Nap Time because I'm awake and focused and there aren't a lot of other things going on around me.

What gets me in the mood to write? That's an excellent question and if anyone figures out the answer please tell me so I can tap into it more regularly XD

Fic I loved writing the most...hmmmmm HMMMM. What's Eating You was hilarious from start to finish and it felt fresh and free and I was really inspired the whole time and never felt "stuck" or like I had to compromise or lose any scenes I liked during editing. So yes, zombie apocalypse pwp was the most fun :D

I love Inuyasha because there is a little something for everyone and unlike a lot of media I feel like the characters are believable. When something bad happens they hold a grudge, when something good happens it can change their whole outlook AND THEY CARRY THAT WITH THEM from chapter to chapter. You see real growth and real consequences and that is eternally satisfying.

And the big one. Writing with a screaming baby in the background is not fun or easy. I hit long spells where stuff sits untouched for weeks because I'm tired or unfocused and just don't want to put forward the mental energy to Do The Thing. It's a huge part of why so many of my fics are short, especially my pieces from a year ago. Now that she sleeps better and is a little more independent I can do some "longer" pieces, but I don't let myself feel bad that I'm not writing epics. And I write a lot of canon "look they have babies now" fics and not complex AUs. And that's okay.

Write just the one idea: 50 words, 200 words. That's still a story.

Write the baby fic that is 97% just your morning but with puppy ears. Everyone rips off their own life; it's inspiration not a copout.

Maybe find someone who will co-write with you? Collabs are fabulous.

Publish to Tumblr only. Crossposting on AO3 takes TIME and if you don't have that time, don't worry about it, you can always add it later.

Keep a notebook/digital notes. A lot of my fics start out as this:

no quotation marks, so many typos, and just gross. But I'm the only one who sees it and it gets the idea out of my head to let me focus on it properly later (though you may note this is from January...so later varies XD )

PS this is from the Swan Princess AU I've wanted to write for 7 months and just haven't had time because other things have come up and also it's gonna need multiple chapters. But the idea is alive, somewhere, until I have time.

[imaginexmeintheuniverse]

Counting the Years

Pairing: Fred Weasley x Gryffindor!Reader

Word Count: 4, 023

A/N: just an idea I had that i thought might be cute~ i may have messed with certain events to make this work

You've become close to the whole Weasley family over the years, and you'd always gotten along great with the twins, but there was something about Fred that always seemed to linger in your thoughts after he'd leave the room.

You've also fallen hopelessly for one of your best friend's older brothers— how pathetic and typical of a trope is that?

Let's count through the years to see how you came to free fall for years without even noticing until now.

Year 1

You had just been sorted into Gryffindor, and you couldn't be happier as a crowd of students welcomed you to the table.

You had been worried about sitting under the sorting hat, especially after all your newly made friends from the train ride here had been sorted into the same house. Harry, Ron, and Hermione had all been so kind to you, despite you being so shy and stumbling into their cabin after all the others being full. You really liked them, and after the unfortunate exchange between Harry and that nasty Malfoy boy in the hall, you were even more afraid due to your blood status, which seemed to matter a lot more than you thought it would. Walking up the steps to the stool, your anxiety had taken over as your mind raced, you knew for sure the hat would see how scared you were and thought it wouldn't deem you brave enough. You were so shocked upon hearing the sorting hat shout "Gryffindor!" after taking so long to contemplate.

You were so surprised, in fact, that you froze on the spot long enough to embarrass yourself, earning a some nasty snickers from the same group of boy from earlier. Thankfully though, Hermione snapped you out of your daze and led you to the table to be welcomed enthusiastically by wizards and witches in red-accented robes.

Among those students, was none other than Fred Weasley, who had at first introduced himself a George along with his brother who introduced himself as Fred, and kept switching names throughout the welcome dinner, making you feel like you were home.

Year 2

It was Gryffindor vs. Slytherin, the game that was to be a major showdown between Harry and Draco, and you couldn't wait to see your team take the match.

From the start, you and Hermione noticed that something felt off. It became clear when the bludger kept targeting Harry, and you nearly had a heart attack when it almost killed him after he was already down. Rushing to the field close behind Hermione, you could already the damage from his fall. Everything was taken care of in the end, but if that incident proved anything, is that you're Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher was a bloody imbecile.

You had gone to check up on Harry later, when you saw the twins were already there. They saw you approaching and waved to you in unison. George continued to speak with Harry whilst the other Weasley walked over to where you stood a short distance away.

"Hi," you greeted him, casting a glance past his shoulders to wave at the other boys.

"Hey," Fred wore a sullen expression, something clearly on his mind.

"How is he?" You asked, reminded of the reason why you came.

"He'll be all right I reckon," he looked back at Harry as he nervously scratched the back of his head. "I'm really sorry, Y/N."

"What are you sorry for?" You inquired, registering his defeated tone.

"Georgie and I are the beaters, we should have—"

"No," your voice was stern, but still as soft as always. "You did what you could, that ball was cursed, and Harry made the decision; an 'accident' was bound to happen."

"We didn't want to leave him alone—"

"Fred," you stopped him, reaching up to place a comforting hand on his shoulder as you offered him an emphatic smile. "It wasn't your fault, okay?"

Your hand held his attention for a moment— long enough to make you feel self-conscious about the gesture and you instantly brought it back to your side. Fred nodded, as though not to argue about the guilt he felt any longer, and you gave him another smile in return.

"Here," you pulled out a bag of sweets from your robe. "I brought these for Harry, but I'm sure he won't mind you taking one."

Year 3

"I heard the news, great job guys!" You exclaimed, pulling both twins into a hug where you'd be sandwiched in the middle. They both thanked you, chuckling and making a few jokes about cheating, but you knew they wouldn't. "Who knew the Weasley twins had brains?" you teased them.

"Oi! I take offense to that," George put a dramatic hand over his chest, and you laughed at his antics before once again congratulating them, and bidding them goodbye.

"Hey, Y/N," Fred caught up to your smaller strides in a few seconds, lightly tapping you shoulder as he continued to walk by your side in the hall. "I heard about what those Slytherin girls said to you and Hermione," he brought up the topic on a more serious tone, genuine concern in his expression as he spoke.

"Oh," is all you thought of as a response. That scene was something you had tried to keep quiet about, but it was bound to reach him. The same group had always bullied you and called you that dreadful name since the first time you held the top scores back in your first year. Hermione of course played the situation off perfectly like she always did, but you stood there frozen, like you always do.

"They're probably just jealous that the two of you alone basically got Gryffindor all the points for the cup— you're bloody brilliant, you know that?" he chuckled, and you bit back a smile at the compliment. "Are you okay, though?" You nodded your head up and down without speaking. "Just say the word, and I'll make sure that word never leaves their mouths again— seriously, I'll hex them all if I have to." You laughed, knowing that he was half-kidding, and probably wouldn't do anything those unpleasant girls.

You then felt a gentle grasp on your shoulder, halting your steps. With a light pressure, he swiftly spun you to face him and pulled you into a hug— a surprising gesture, and once you processed what was happening, you gladly wrapped your arms around his taller frame and let yourself sink into his chest.

It was then that you noticed the comfort and support that came with being close to Fred Weasley.

Year 4

"George!" Arthur Weasley shouted through the oncoming crowd. "Ginny is your responsibility!"

That was the last familiar voice you heard before you got lost in the mayhem. You tried to follow your friends, but Harry was the first to be separated, and upon trying to get to him, so did you.

People around you were pushing and shoving their way through the mass of others that were doing exactly the same thing and you were being propelled around like a ping pong ball. A certain motion sickness settled in with your anxiety and you thought you might start crying or throw up— perhaps both. How the hell were you supposed to find your way to the portkey now? To make matters worse, you were then knocked to the ground, stepped on, and kicked.

Your saviour came in the form of an unidentified tall figure who lifted you off the ground and seemed to be examining— wait, could it be?

"Y/N! Are you okay- are you hurt?" Feeling immense relief, you grabbed onto whatever part of him you could.

"Fred," You felt like a complete coward clinging to his arm in the midst of all this chaos. Despite everything you've already been through with your friends, you were still scared out of your mind, and you grew absolutely terrified when you saw the ominous mark appear in the sky. "Fred, I-I'm—"

"I know," he told you, looking down at you with an intense, yet soft and comforting expression. "It's going to be okay, but first we have to get out of here— hold on!"

Grabbing your hand, he weaved his way through, never letting go of you. You almost fell for a second time, but he was quicker and pulled you to him.

After stumbling through more people, the two of you finally had a moment to catch your breaths away from all the madness.

"Thank you, Fred," you breathed out, pulling him into a tight hug like you could lose him at any second.

"Hey, are you okay?" He asked you again, giving you a once over to check for injuries with his eyebrows knit in concern.

"Yeah, I'm—"

"Bloody hell, that's a big one," he uttered, gently holding your arm where there was a huge patch of skin turning purple already.

"It's all right, it's just a bruise—"

"It's massive- and you've got a scratch here," he observed aloud as he pushed back stray hairs from your face to reveal the split skin at your eyebrow.

"Really, Fred, I'm okay," you reassured him and he gave you one of his signature grins. "Thank you, I don't know if I would have—"

"Of course you would have, although it certainly helps to have a handsome lad like me, doesn't it?"

"Yes," you agreed jokingly, rolling your eyes. He wasn't wrong though; it did help to have a handsome lad like him lead you out.

Year 5

You had heard of the Weasley twins' grand exit plan that would take place during your OWLs before anyone else did, but despite being close to them, they still hadn't told you exactly what they were doing yet.

It was approximately an hour before your first examination that Fred pulled you aside to wish you good luck.

Well, not only that but also to tell you, "I'll miss you."

"Of course you will," you said in a cocky, joking manner to rival his.

"Of course I will," he repeated, the humour notably less present in his tone as he spoke softly. There were a few seconds of silence that seemed like it stretched on for hours as you fell victim to the trance his warm, fudgy eyes put you in. But of course it was only a few seconds before he stayed true to character and resumed his usual shenanigans. "How could I not miss this face?!" He took your face between his index finger and thumb and squishes your cheeks together to make you look like an adorable chipmunk.

"Fred!" You shrieked as you attempted to wiggle your way out of his grasp.

"C'mon, admit it, you'll miss me too," he laughed as your efforts proved futile, and took the opportunity to tickle you.

"Okay, okay!" You succumbed to his expert knowledge of your vulnerable spots and backed away panting. "I'll miss you too," you said, returning to a calm, mellow tone. His lips curved into a soft smile as he reached forward to grab you gently by your shoulders and pull you to him.

You could have been imagining the light pressure, but you swear you felt him press his lip to the top of your head before letting go.

"I think you're what I'll miss most about Hogwarts, love," he remarked cheekily before running off, leaving you to wonder exactly what he meant by that.

Year 6

It was during the holiday break that you paid the Weasley twins a visit at their shop. You had gone before the school year started with the gang, but hadn't gotten to see them since.

The shop was bustling with customers searching for gifts and you scanned the aisles as you tried to spot the familiar red head of hair. You had already seen George since he greeted you at the door, and now you really wanted to see Fred.

As you continued your search, it became shorter than you expected as he came to you. He tapped on your shoulder and you were so excited to see him that you practically threw yourself into his arms.

"So, have you missed me?"

"You wish, Freddie," A small laugh escaped your lips as he dramatically acted hurt over your words.

"Merlin, Y/N, you could at least try to spare my little heart!"

"Thank you for that, ehm, cough potion by the way," you chided him, clearly not pleased. "I was actually ill, by the way, and instead of helping my symptoms, I ended up followed Seamus Finnegan around with heart eyes for a whole day!"

"Huh, only a day? I they're supposed to last longer than that..."

"Yeah, thanks to Harry! At least he knew what to do after the same thing happened to Ron as well!" You grumbled, shoving his shoulder lightly as he laughs at your unfortunate past predicament.

"In all honesty, though," he calms down, catching his breath. "I have missed you quite a bit." In a classic Fred manner, he coughed, and added, "W-We both have- Georgie and I that is—"

"Don't worry about your reputation, Fred Weasley, I won't tell anyone that you missed me SOOOOOOO MUUUUUUU—"

"All right, all right, I missed you a lot," he laughed, covering your mouth with his large hand. "Come and visit more often, yeah?"

"Will do, Freddie," He then pulled you into another one of his hugs you love so much, this time holding you so tight that your feet lifted off the ground, and let you go before you were ready. "I guess I'll be going, then."

"I wish you could stay longer."

"Me too, Freddie," you gave him a small smile that has a hint of sadness in it. You really did wish you could stay with him longer.

"I'll see you soon, Y/N."

Year 7

Yesterday had been the mission to get Harry to the safe house, and you had volunteered yourself to take the polyjuice potion.

You had been the last one to arrive, and it was an understatement to say you were quite shaken from the trip. After being separated from your own partner, you saw that Mad Eye had been left for dead by Mundungus, that weasel. Since you were disguised as Harry and didn't no linger had your companion, you tried to reach him as fast as you could, but you were too late. You bore witness to the fall of a great auror, and an even better man.

You hadn't come out of the journey unscathed either, you had a nasty gash on your shoulder from when you had been knocked off your broomstick. Thankfully, you had been fairly close to the ground and that's all you got away with, but you did nearly get hit by a bus in the street.

When you did finally arrive to the safe house, you assumed you were the last one since you could see a crowd formed around what seemed like an injured person laying on the couch through the living room window. Taking a moment to catch your breath, you walked slowly, faintly hearing Bill explain what happened to Alastor as you approached the entrance.

"What a-about- wh-where's Y/N?!" The sound of frantic concern in Fred's voice pierced through the walls. You focused on transforming back into yourself and ditch Harry's awfully dense glasses before entering quietly.

"I-I don't know where she is- sh-she went after Moody—" Bill never got to finish his explanation because that's when everyone notices your arrival.

"Y/N!" Fred was the first to run to you, causing you to stumble back from the sheer force of his body colliding with yours. If it weren't for how tightly he held you, you probably would have fallen backwards.

"Oh my- Georgie- is he oka—"

"What happened to your—"

"Y/N!" Your best friends rushed over to you, swerving around Fred, and your quartet was reunited with a massive group hug. Your eyes welled up from the immense relief you felt knowing that they were all safe, and came out of this mission without any serious injuries. Three pairs of arms hugged you tight, and although you were overjoyed by the heart-warming moment, you couldn't help but let out a small wince of pain at the pressure on your wound.

"Y/N, you're hurt," Hermione pointed out, her eyebrows knit together in worry as she observed it.

"It's just a scratch, really," you shrug— with your good shoulder— not wanting anyone to fuss over you when George clearly needed the medical attention more than you did. "Barely grazed the pavement," you tried to laugh it off despite it starting to burn now that your adrenaline levels were dwindling.

"I've had quite a few of those in my day," Remus declared, making his way to you. "Let me have a look, dear." You tried not to let your mind picture the worst and most irrational scenarios while you gauged his reaction as he examined the gash. At least it wasn't from a magical attack, the worse that could come from it was an infection. "A nasty one, but isn't too deep, should be easy enough," he stated, following up by taking out his wand and mumbling a spell that cleared away most of the blood caked on the skin surrounding the laceration as well as closing it up enough so that you wouldn't need stitches or any additional external healing procedures.

You started to thank him, but your words were cut short by Fred tackling you with yet another hug. His long arms wrapped around you and held your head tight to his chest as though he was trying to whisk you away from all possible harm.

"I almost thought I lost you," he whispers into your hair, and you could have imagined it, but you swear you heard his voice start to crack.

Now

There were countless other instances, of course, where you'd establish certain levels of intimacy and fall into the relationship you have now— which is fairly close, but a lot more platonic than you would like. As you watch him joke around with George from across the wedding tent, you come to the seemingly obvious conclusion that he must just see you as his little brother's friend, as well as his, and nothing more.

It hasn't even been twenty-four hours since the intense trip to the safe house that resulted in a death and the loss of George's ear, and here you are sitting alone at a table while guest dance about at Bill and Fleur's wedding. It might seem like a ridiculous time to have a wedding, but that's the precise reason why now is a good a time as any— you don't know what will happen next.

"Hey," You greet him with a smile as he takes a seat beside you.

"And how is the lovely lady enjoying her evening?" Fred asks in a terrible posh accent.

"The festivities are simply delightful, and I have the most dashing suitor," playing along, you perfect your posture and add dainty hand gestures.

"Yes, I hear your suitor is quite the sophisticated gentleman," he says, adjusting his tie.

You both break out in laughter simultaneously, momentarily forgetting about the ongoing war. He's always had this way of making you feel like happiness is still an option, no matter how dire the circumstances may be.

"And would the lovely lady care for a dance with her dashing suitor?" He stands, extending his hand for you.

Smiling, you place your smaller hand in his and he leads you to the dance floor. He places his other hand on your waist, you place yours on his shoulder, and he starts to sway the both of you to the music that has coincidentally slowed down upon your arrival on the dance floor.

"Infuriating, isn't it?" You quip, noticing that you both cast a glance in Ron and Hermione's way at the same time. Fred hums in response, as though to ask what you're referring to. "You would think that with the impending doom, they would finally confess their undying love for each other."

"Tell me about it," he chuckles, and you feel his chest rumble against yours. You don't catch when his focus shifts to you, and there's a moment you're totally oblivious that he's taking in every detail of your face, making sure he never forgets.

"Georgie caught Ginny and Harry snogging in the kitchen earlier," blurts out, not knowing what else to do with his overwhelming surge of emotions. Then, he breaks out in a fit of laughter thinking about all the ways he and George will tease her and Harry incessantly.

"Talk a out seizing the moment," you laugh along with him.

"Meh, I reckon Ron and Hermione will confess to each other any day now," he suggests nonchalantly.

"I hope soon, for their sake." Fred gradually slows the pace, and you continuously subconsciously gravitate towards one another until there is little to no space between your bodies. "The possible end of the world as we know it seems like a good time to confess such feelings, don't you think?" You say absentmindedly, only realizing the impact of your words when you turn your full attention back fo him. Fred swallows nervously, and his eyes dart around the room before meeting yours again. "Oh, I-I'm so-sorry- have I made you uncomfortable—"

"N-No! Not at all," Those chocolate brown eyes of his widen in panic for a split second before mellowing out again. "I-It's just that I-I—"

"Oh, just tell her already!" George calls out with his hands cupped around his mouth.

"All right, all right," he chuckles, not being able to take himself seriously on top being totally clueless about how he could possibly tell you that he's been in love for you for years and—

"Fred," you say his name slowly, snapping him out of his daze. "What did you just say?"

"What- n-no- I—"

"Fred Weasley, did you just say you're in love with me?"

Shit. There's no way he thought he was saying all that out loud. They were all mumbled murmurs, but you did manage to make out those three words.

"Y-Yes?" He answers truthfully, although it sounds more like a question as he observes your reaction. A huge wave of relief washes over him when a soft smile graces your lips.

"Me too."

And just like that, it's feels like a huge weight you've carried around for years has been lifted from you’re shoulders, and feel like your walking on air when the goofiest lovestruck grin appears on Fred's face.

"So, are you going to kiss me, or...?" You ask him, playfully raising an eyebrow. "Or are you going to wait another—"

Fred cuts off your teasing by pressing his lips to yours. Suddenly, all oxygen leaves your lungs, and the only way you can breathe is by kissing him back. It's passionate, and full of emotion, it definitely isn't slow, but it's also far from rushed. Your lips move in synch with each other like one knows exactly what the other feels. If he weren't completely immersed in the moment, he'd be kicking

"Took you long enough," you mumble breathlessly, finally letting your eyes flutter open to meet his melting chocolate orbs.

"Hey, it takes two," he protests with a light chuckle. The smile you give him right there is enough to make him weak in the knees.

He soaks it all in; taking in every curve and edge of your face, and memorizing how your body fits perfectly against his as he leads you in slow circles with your head leaning peacefully on his chest.

You're in the midst of an all out war, and there's no telling what tragedy will strike next. Too many lives have already been lost, and anyone can fall victim. So for now, you choose to forget about the rest of the world and live in this moment with Fred Weasley, vowing to never let him go.