#I post wips because I just know I’m gonna Fuck this up at some point

[crab-in-elliotts-shirt-pocket]

I wanna draw flowers…but I also wants draw my sdv husband…

And thus here is the result

[desiccatedwithering]

WIP: bat!Eddie

Happy International Bat Appreciation Day! Figured I might as well use @batboysxprompts's Bat to the Bone event as an excuse to post a 1k snippet of my post-s4 bat!Eddie WIP (unbeta'd so ignore any mistakes) 🦇

“Ok,” Steve says, dragging the word out, hands raised to show that he’s unarmed. “How did you get into my house? And where did you come from? Did you, like, escape from a zoo? Should I be calling animal control?”

Eddie lets out an annoyed screech, and Steve jumps.

“...You don’t have rabies, do you?” he asks, eyeing him suspiciously.

Eddie grumbles and shakes his head, giving Steve a look that hopefully comes across as offended.

Steve drags his hand through his hair and mutters, “I’m going insane. There’s no way a bat just shook its head in response to my question. Maybe this is a hallucination. Weird fucking Vecna vision, though…”

Ok. Steve clearly isn’t going to guess the truth on his own. (Which is fair, honestly, because even after getting a crash course in the craziness of the past few years, Eddie doubts that he’d believe that a bat that randomly showed up in his house could actually be a person. It’s still extremely inconvenient, though.)

He wracks his brain, trying to think of some way to communicate with Steve when he can’t actually talk to him, and— Oh. He’s kind of an idiot, isn’t he?

He starts squeaking. Short short shot, long long long, short short short. Pause. Repeat.

Steve squints up at him. “Am I actually going insane, or are you squeaking at me in morse code?”

Eddie nods so furiously his whole body bobs up and down with it, letting out a high, fast chitter. Yes yes yes yes yes!

“Do SOS again,” Steve orders, still staring.

Eddie does.

Steve literally falls to the floor. He doesn’t seem to even notice, just sits sprawled on the carpet, eyes fixed unblinking on Eddie. “Holy shit. Ok. Uh, I don’t know any other morse code, so uh, gonna have to stick with yes or no questions for now.”

Thank fuck, since Eddie hadn’t really considered what might’ve happened if Steve had learned morse code or picked up a guide in… however long Eddie was out of commission for.

“Starting off with a stupid question: You can understand everything I say, right?”

There’s a brief pause where they both stare at each other expectantly.

Hey, big boy, you gonna tell me what I should do for yes and no? He gives Steve a pointed look then squeaks another SOS.

Steve blushes and smiles sheepishly. “Shit, yeah, sorry about that. Um. One squeak for ‘yes,’ two for ‘no,’ three for ‘I don’t know,’ and four for ‘Too complicated for a yes or no.’ Sound good?”

Eddie squeaks once. Honestly, that’s surprisingly thorough.

Steve lets out a sudden, hysterical burst of laughter, running his hand through his hair. “Fuck, I can’t believe this is my life. This is crazy,” he breathes. Then he looks up at Eddie again and says, louder, “I have it on good authority that I always ask dumb questions, so don’t judge me too much. Are you a normal bat that somehow gained the ability to understand English?”

No.

“Are you… from around here?”

Yes, Eddie squeaks. Then, corrects, No. Then, shaking his head in frustration, It’s too complicated for a yes or no.

“Huh,” Steve says, squinting again. “So that sounded like yes and no?”

Yes.

“Alright… Were you born around here?”

Yes.

“But you’re not from here.”

That’s not a question, but Eddie still squeaks that it’s too complicated.

Steve adjusts so he’s sitting criss-cross applesauce, drumming his fingers against his knees. “Fuck, do we have to switch to charades or something? I don’t—”

Yes! Eddie squeaks because oh Steve is a genius. Eddie’s literally a bat right now. He was made for this.

He leaps off the chandelier—falls, really, since he’d just been awkwardly holding on with his thumbs, wings wrapped around it—and takes to the air. Sure, he’s never done this before, but hopefully it’s as instinctual as flying was. He makes a wide arc, aiming for the chandelier again. At the last second, he tucks in one wing. The shift in his center of gravity makes his stomach swoop for a moment, before his feet hit the metal and latch on. Then he’s staring at Steve’s baffled face upside down. He spreads his wings wide, shaking them a little in a sort of Ta da! gesture.

Yes, he squeaks again, for good measure, wrapping his wings around himself in a very bizarre self-hug.

He’s got bat ears now, so he doesn’t have any trouble picking up Steve’s mumbled, “Yes to charades…” His head snaps up, eyes wide. He points at Eddie. “You flipped upside down after agreeing to charades.”

Yes.

“You know about the Upside Down?”

Yes!

“Just to make sure we’re on the same page: like, the Upside Down, which is what we call an alternate dimension filled with monsters.”

Eddie’s not sure if his eye roll gets across or if it’s the exasperated tone of his answering Yes, but Steve also rolls his eyes in response.

“Jeez, sorry for trying to get clarification from the enormous bat that appeared in my house and started communicating with me in morse code.”

Eddie’s ears droop in a hopefully apologetic looking expression, and he lets out a low chitter.

“Don’t worry about it. I get it’s probably frustrating that you’re talking to me rather than someone smarter.” Before Eddie can even think of a way to push back on that, Steve’s moving on: “Ok, so you were born here, but you’re from the Upside Down? Is that what you were trying to say before?”

Yes! Eddie squeaks, hoping that if it seems enthusiastic enough, Steve will realize that he’s doing an incredible job with this. Someone else probably would have called animal control, or wouldn’t be able to figure out Eddie’s mixed messages and ask the right follow up questions.

“Now, when you say you were born here, is that, like, here as in Hawkins or this planet or—? Shit, sorry. Were you born around Hawkins?”

Yes.

“Did you… live in Hawkins before being in the Upside Down?”

Yes.

“Have you always been a bat?”

No.

“Were you a person?”

Oh, Eddie could kiss him. He barely stops himself from dropping from the chandelier to curl up in Steve’s lap, and that’s only because he thinks Steve might have some trauma-based unpleasant reactions to a bat shaped creature suddenly diving at him.

Yes.

Steve takes a deep breath, voice wavering just a bit as he asks, “Did I know you when you were a person?”

Yes!

This whole time, Steve’s been curling into himself more and more, knees tucked to his chest, arm wrapped around his shins, hands clutching his sleeves with white knuckles. He’s balled up smaller than Eddie’s ever seen him. Looking terrified in a way he didn’t when facing down actual monsters and the literal end of the world. He looks like Eddie’s next answer has the potential to shatter him completely.

“…Eddie?” he whispers.

Yes! Eddie squeaks, loud enough that Steve jumps. He wants to repeat it, wants to say it over and over because honestly he never really imagined that someone would figure it out, let alone with a single conversation—but that’d be confusing, so he settles for a high pitched trill to convey his excitement.

[vladdyissues]

What do you think about au where Danny and Vlad are both teens? I know, there're some variants of this (from Friend From the Other Side to Vlad-befriended-with-Danny-only-for-his-hot-mom), so, I'd like to hear your version.

I actually really like this idea and had a blast drawing it for last year's Pompep Week prompt "Both Teens" (see below)

I'd planned on writing a short fic to go along with it when it came time to post everything on AO3, but I never managed to get too far. That WIP takes place in Danny's timeline (2004), where Vlad is a new kid in class. The working title is The New Kid (lol), which you can see here on my WIP "sort of" masterlist. And since no one asked about that one for the WIP game, here's a snippet:

“What’s your name?”

The boy hesitated. “Vlad.”

Danny’s heart sank. This kid was bully fodder for sure. “Wow. Uh, that’s—”

“Yes, I’m American. Yes, I was born in this country and speak English. No, I’m not a vampire,” the boy named Vlad snapped. 

Danny backpedaled. “It’s okay. I was gonna say it’s a pretty cool name.”

Vlad stared, head cocked and one eye narrowed.

“Yeah. Names that start with V are cool. Valentine, Vincent…”

“You must like Final Fantasy 7.”

After a startled pause, Danny laughed. “Yeah, I walked into that one, didn’t I? What about you? You play video games?”

“A little. Mostly arcade stuff. I’m pretty good at Mortal Kombat.”

Probably poor, Danny decided. “There’s an arcade here in town. I mean, if you don’t already know. They’ve got some good deals if you play by the hour.” He almost offered to meet up there sometime, then he realized he hadn’t even introduced himself. “Um, I’m Danny. Danny Fenton.” He pointed. “Those are my friends, Sam and Tucker. We were wondering if you wanna come sit with us.”

Vlad seemed tempted but cautious. “Really?”

“Yeah. Don’t worry, they’re cool. Besides, you’re fresh meat sitting out here by yourself. The jocks’ll destroy you if they catch wind. C’mon, safety in numbers.”

“I’m not afraid of anyone.”

“Oh, you will be, trust me. Dash Baxter thinks it’s his personal duty to welcome every new student to Casper High by giving them a super wedgie, and you don’t even wanna see what he’s like when he’s in a bad mood.”

“Wow. Guy sounds like a fucking troglodyte.”

The smoothness with which the F-bomb was delivered stunned Danny for a few seconds. But then he smiled, invigorated by the sharp, cynical intellect he’d just discovered. “A total fucking troglodyte.”

A beat passed, then Vlad shouldered his backpack and gathered his lunch.

While I mostly prefer older Vlad and younger Danny because of the uneven power dynamic, it's fun to level the playing field every now and then and let them be the same age.

[itsjaywalkers]

Ok I’m curious af so rank your jegulus’s from most kinky to least kinky. If you would like to include examples they are more than welcome but not necessary.

Thank you for your time,

Kink Nonnie

THIS ONE IS SOOOO FUN i'm always down to talk about kink especially if it's related to jeggy <333 and since most of my wips haven't been posted yet i don't wanna give too many examples bc . spoilers . but i can share a few things ofc!! here we go <3

boxer au jeggy. god they're always at the top this is starting to get emabrrassing but it's true !! it's my filthiest james without a doubt and reg is also quite the menace in this one. we're talking exhibitionism vouyeurism edging overstimulation dom/sub dynamics spanking slapping etc etc. james gets aggressive and possessive and reg turns into putty in his hands BUT they also switch and reg absolutely fucks the cockiness out of james until he's a crying writhing mess. but yeah they have no shame and they'd try everything under the sun. also if one of my jeggys had a pissing kink, it'd be them 100%

feeling good jeggy. new entrance!! the 2nd place used to belong to oby BUT i've been . outlining a bit more of this fic and had a few realisations. we're talking corruption kink virginity kink spit kink a bit of exhibitionism and possibly some cnc too!! this james may not be as filthy (sexually wise) as boxer au james buuuuuut he's meaner and a shittier person and he's only here to seduce regulus and steal all his money (at first) so he pulls all the stops <3 they're quite wild and this reg begins as my most "innocent" inexperienced one and ends up becoming . well . something else entirely

oby jeggy. my beloveds <3 we already know most of their kinks by heart, and even though all of my james have some level of oral fixation, oby james wins!! he can come just by eating reg out and he's happy whenever he gets him to sit on his face. they almost never do it in a bed like normal people, or even in either of their flats. the riskier the place, the better, and they're gonna end up traumatising someone at this rate. also <3 kings of the daddy kink <3 i think fucked up road trip jeggy have it too, and probably also boxer au jeggy but they're the blueprint!! especially bc it wasn't even planned in the first place

nothing happens jeggy. they used to be a bit lower but i've realised a few things about them too lately.. their dirty talking goes HARD because nh james needs urgent psychological help (reg too tbh) and he gets very cruel and degrading sometimes. they also have a severe breeding kink and . kinda a cheating kink like . it doesn't start that way but at a certain point i think they find it very hot, the fact that the other is always gonna cheat for them!! or at least reg does, bc we all know james takes a while to realise what he's been doing it's actual cheating. there's also a scene in which james forces reg to call his bf at the time while he's fucking him................... Yeah

fucked up road trip fic jeggy. they're quite kinky but since they're in a life or death situation and surrounded by quite a few ppl and getting some time alone is very difficult . they can never get as kinky as they could in different circumstances yk? they do have a daddy kink and there's quite the age gap!! also the fact that james is married and his son is only like . 5 years younger than reg . which is definitely Something . also the desperation whenever they fuck is at a whole other level bc they come close to dying a few times (and they might actually die at the end of the story.......... i'm still debating it tbh). and also they make out/have actual sex in very vulnerable moments or after someone else has been killed or tortured which is lowkey questionable so

making ghosts jeggy. again at the end </3 my poor babies they deserve better.. nah but seriously this place is mostly due to the fact that it’s my softest story and not as explicit or sex heavy as some of my other stories!! this is my most submissive james without a doubt tho and there’s a lot of begging and teasing and trying to keep quiet when they fuck behind closed door bc they keep their relationship secret for . a While . there’s this scene of sirius talking to james through his bedroom door and very confused bc james won’t let him in while reg is sucking james off on the other side.. so yeah very kinky still <3

[iboatedhere]

Tension Tuesday

Post a scene with some tension from a WIP or a published work

Thank you for the tag @rmd-writes. From the Secret Service AU which has about 6-8 paragraphs left before I leave it to work on something else because I am dead inside.

—

A moment later his towel is being draped over his body, followed by his hoodie and Carlos’ insulated winter jacket. Carlos kneels beside him to wrap him up while TK pulls at the fabric, tucking his knees to his chest and sinking into the warmth.

“You’re all right,” Carlos says, more to himself than to TK, before exploding to his feet and jamming his hands into his hair. “Jesus fucking Christ, TK,” he exclaims, “what the fuck were you thinking?”

“I’m fine,” TK says, teeth chattering and Carlos spins in a circle before he points to the water with both hands.

“You were at the bottom of the pool.”

“I was fine, it’s a game, I…” He trails off as he really looks at Carlos for the first time. Carlos’ shoes are off and the front of his jeans and sweater are soaked from when he pulled TK out but his jacket is dry, meaning it was already off when he reached into the water. “You were gonna jump in?”

“Of course I was, I thought you were dead.”

“I wasn’t, I’m fine, that’s not even how I would do it.”

Carlos’ face pinches in confusion before clarity hits and his eyes widen. “TK–.”

“That’s not what I meant,” TK rushes out because it wasn’t, not really. It was a joke. He hasn’t felt like that in over a decade and he doesn’t need pity. “I’m fine,” he says as he gets to his feet. “It was a joke. I’m not going to off myself just because I guy wouldn’t kiss me.”

“Oh so now we’re talking about it?”

“No, we’re not,” TK says as he shrugs off Carlos’ jacket. “Thanks for this but I’m good.”

“No,” Carlos snaps as he darts out in front of TK, “you’re not running away from me, not this time.”

“I never ran away.”

“Really? Like I didn’t beg for you to talk to me after it happened and you took off? I just imagined that?”

“Just leave it alone, Carlos.”

“Then you avoided me all morning,” Carlos continues, stepping to the left to stop TK from passing by, “before pawning me off on your father–.”

“You said you wanted to snowmobile.”

“So you could cry to your mom and have her ship me off to Austin so you don’t have to deal with your problems like an adult.”

“You think I told my mom? If I had done that you’d have a one-way ticket back to Texas instead of a round-trip. And you really want to talk to me about running away? You took a job fifteen hundred miles from home so you didn’t have to deal with your father’s disappointment.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Carlos says.

“You didn’t even want to go home for a week for Christmas. My mother asked what your deal was and I answered with the bullshit answer that you gave me. I could’ve told her the truth, that you’re just a coward who doesn’t want to deal with his own shit so he avoids it and runs off to Camp David.”

“Well at least I’m not so afraid of being alone that I proposed to my walking red-flag of a boyfriend.”

It stings but TK pushes past the hurt and turns it into anger.

“And if I’m so terrible,” Carlos continues, “then why were you trying to kiss me?”

“According to you I don’t have the greatest taste in men,” TK snaps back. “And don’t flatter yourself, Carlos, you were a body in a hot tub, I would’ve tried to make out with anyone.”

“Your desperation is so attractive, TK,” Carlos says sarcastically.

“Fuck off,” TK tells him, “at least I took a chance on something.”

Carlos starts to argue but he’s interrupted by Owen sticking his head out the patio door.

“You boys okay down there?”

[itsevanffs]

a lot of tag games

i'm just gonna combine them into one post because otherwise i think the next like 10 posts you see are all gonna be my tag games. below the cut etc etc

so, first and foremost, @aglassroseneverfades tagged me in a get to know tag game:

Relationship status: proud cat owner. i'm committed

Favorite color: probably the colour of alana's eyes. or her nose. or her beans. but cardinal red is a close contender

Song stuck in my head: nothing in particular, but i've been listening to all of cam ostrom's stuff on repeat recently. also bought his first EP the second i found him haha

Favorite food: broccoli and camembert pie (quiche?) with cashews

Last song I listened to: another familiar window by cam ostrom

Dream trip: home

Last thing I googled: tumblr

@raehb336 and @toast-ranger-to-a-stranger tagged me in a wip tag game:

post all the names of the files in your wip folder, no matter how obscure or ridiculous. ok. it says to tag someone for every wip but i don't think i can tag like 80 people and i honestly don't want to. i have these in alphabetical order based on fandom btw

FS: rewrite

GF: cat eyes

HP: 2.5

HP: a/b/o fic canon adjacent

HP: a/b/o fic sacred nests

HP: a/b/o fic teacher/student

HP: a/b/o incest for monsieur

HP: a/b/o incest scarves

HP: a/b/o laundry au

HP: a learning experience

HP: at the expense of the world

HP: audio fic

HP: blood in your mouth

HP: blood relations 6

HP: boogeyman au

HP: chav au

HP: childhood pictures

HP: cnpg

HP: crash & burn

HP: curfew

HP: DNP

HP: DNA

HP: doll au

HP: egg creature fic

HP: emd fic of fic

HP: enamoured

HP: eton au

HP: fae au

HP: favours

HP: forced fem au

HP: forcedpreg kidnapping au

HP: futuristic ABO au

HP: hold me down (fuck me up)

HP: hooker au

HP: icarus au

HP: incest au 20

HP: incest inf nc

HP: in the dark rewrite

HP: junkie au

HP: lucifer au

HP: maid au

HP: mamma mia au

HP: mirror au

HP: monastery au

HP: monastery au 2

HP: new politics

HP: oedipus fic

HP: oviparous

HP: ovipos intersex

HP: priest incest au

HP: priest au n

HP: rage, rage

HP: red riding hood au

HP: reverse a/b/o au

HP: robot au

HP: romeo & juliet au

HP: smart move

HP: snow white au

HP: songbird au

HP: stalker au

HP: storm & silence au

HP: swan lake au

HP: tentacles

HP: the darker the weather

HP: the mark upon your heart rewrite

HP: therapy au

HP: tomcest bar sex

HP: tomcest sr 6

HP: vampire au

HP: vee pov genfic

HP: vespertine rewrite

HP: violent resurrection fic

HP: vol de lys

HP: zombie a/b/o au

RG: lecture

SS: swallowing smoke

SV: cnc

SV: eggs

SV: final exam

SV: god's just sleeping

SV: jumper au

SV: slowly

SV: sugar

SV: the worst

SN: demon

and no, these aren't all my fics, they're literally just the ones marked wip. my total fic count reaches 169, because i keep track.

@aglassroseneverfades tagged me in a picrew/uquiz combination, so that's going here:

i don't know if i 100% agree with the quiz but i do like taking care of people, up to a point. beyond that you're on your own, though i can help take care of some of the cleanup.

@toast-ranger-to-a-stranger tagged me in seven sentence sunday, which is good timing on my part because it is in fact sunday:

Mr O’Hara hums. “You like the rain?” “I don’t like-like it,” Miles begins, then changes his mind. “Well, I like it when I’m inside. Not when I’m stuck in a downpour in the middle of nowhere.” “I don’t think Brooklyn counts as the middle of nowhere.” “I live outside the boundaries of human norms.”

that's seven, right?

@aspengray tagged me in a 'get to know' tag game:

3 ships you like: miguel o'hara/miles morales, tomarrymort, and uhh the christian grey/anna steele dynamic i invented in my head. they're cute i like em

first ship ever: god. uh. that depends because it's either bella/edward from twilight, or it's... wait no it is just bella and edward, winx... wait no i watched it in dutchl. so yeah either bella/edward or bloom and that teacher guy from season 2 or three. jesus christ what was his deal. he was hot though

last song you heard: i see you by cam ostrom (it changed because i have spent like an hour on this already)

favourite childhood book: twilight

currently reading: the witcher blood of elves by andrzej sapkowski

currently watching: i don't watch series or tv but i'm always in the mood for a rewatch of spider-man across the spiderverse

currently consuming: water with syrup

currently craving: nothing. i just ate soup

@moontearpensfic, @atredys and @goldenzingy46 tagged me in 10 characters, 10 fandoms, 10 tags, to which i have no context but i just assume you pick your favourite of each fandom:

voldemort - harry potter

miguel o'hara - spider-man: across the spiderverse

rikkard ambrose - storm & silence

john winchester - supernatural

bill cipher - gravity falls

rosalie cullen - twilight

geralt - the witcher

sans - undertale

jim - the jrasl original fiction universe

me - irl

in no particular order. i ran out of actual fandoms i like about 5 entries in so forgive me for cheating. link to jrasl for context though, jim is actually a fictional character and i want him to crack me like a glowstick

@alittlebitofharrypotterinmylife tagged me with yet another get to know tag game, but a different one from the previous two:

last song: crossing the bridge by ólafur arnalds

favourite colour: prussian blue

currently reading: sources on extra virgin olive oil

sweet/savoury/spicy: spicy all the way tbh. i have been craving the burn

relationship status: single

current obsession: miguel o'hara's scrumptious tits. have you SEEN his chest. apparently we were deprived of additional ass which is a travesty but he's still so big that i had to seriously reevaluate my previous love for twinks the second i saw him

erm yeah. sources for the images used as text breaks are all me. moi. follow me on @itsevansart or whatever, do what you want. i am so glad i am caught up. i think. maybe i missed a few but we'll see <3

thanks for the tags though! this year has been brutal but i'm so glad it'll be december soon and we can all get a well deserved break. what do you mean check the calendar? what's a calendar?

[changelingsandothernonsense]

Wip when I get the time.

Hey! I got tagged again. Thanks to @thequeenofthewinter, @mareenavee, @friend-of-giants, @archangelsunited and @elfinismsarts for the tags, I'll get to everyone's posts! I've been avoiding certain parts of the internet this week for my sanity so have been a bit slow getting to things <3 Anyways this week is art and writing again. I've finished 1 art, almost finished another and started one that is a little on the NSFW side, yay me. Oh and because I've been down it's obviously more Josh because that's all my brain can draw atm. Art!

Yeah, Glock!Josh is almost done and the meme is almost over! Next art is under the cut coz length lol.

And here's the most self-indulgent thing I have ever created...the safety version!

It is very self-indulgent, will be a massive pain in the ass and I can't post the full image outside of discord and pillowfort but dammit I'm going to paint this!

Now writing!

More Josh, he's gotten off the boat and is stuck in a room. What's he gonna do? Fuck with Socucius Ergalla of course! It's all dialogue so feel free to skip and just look at the art. :)

“Thank you, now on to the next question,” the Breton paused for a moment, did he expect Teldryn to interrupt him again? “Your cousin-”

“I don’t have a cousin,” Teldryn interjected, oh he was going to enjoy this.

 The Breton sighed before continuing his line of questioning, “Your cousin has given you a very embarrassing nickname and, even worse, likes to call you it in front of your friends. You asked him to stop, but he finds it very amusing to watch you blush.”

“Well, I don’t know what you Bretons like to do with your cousins but-“

“Will you shut up!” The Breton finally raised his voice at him, just the rise Teldryn was looking for.

“Of course, officer, please do continue with these very important questions,” he pointed at his right ear, “I’m all ear.”

 “Your three options are, A. Beat up your cousin, then tell him that if he ever calls you that nickname again, you will bloody him worse the next time.”

Teldryn nodded, he’d let him finish this one.

“B. Make up a story that makes your nickname a badge of honour instead of something humiliating. Or C. Make up an even more embarrassing nickname for him and use it constantly until he learns his lesson.”

“All three,” Teldryn stated before scratching his nose again.

“Choose one please,” the Breton’s tone was becoming increasingly irate.

Teldryn laughed and took a step towards the desk, sitting on its edge. His chains shook as he moved, “You see first I’d cover for myself, make that name sound all heroic in front of these friends.” He moved some of the papers to the side, earning a somewhat mortified look from the Agent. He grinned at the Breton before continuing, “Then I’d call my cousin over, wait for him to use it again and beat the shit out of him. Teach him a lesson and all that. I’ll have plenty of ammunition for an even worse name later!” He laughed to himself before standing back up and returning to his original position, “It’s fucking brilliant!”

The agent just pinched the bridge of his nose, bit his tongue, “Next question.” Teldryn would take that as a win.

“There is a lot of heated discussion at the local tavern over a group of people called 'Telepaths'. They have been hired by certain City-State kings. Rumour has it these Telepaths read a person's mind and tell their Lord whether a follower is telling the truth or not.”

Teldryn remained quiet this time, why not let him continue this one?

“What do you think of this rumour? A. This is a terrible practice. A person's thoughts are his own and no one, not even a king, has the right to make such an invasion into another human's mind.”

Well, this was an odd one, didn’t the Empire use these sorts of mages in their spy rings?

“B. Loyal followers to the king have nothing to fear from a Telepath. It is important to have a method of finding assassins and spies before it is too late.”

“What kind of bootlicking response is that?” Teldryn muttered under his breath, it earned him a stern glare from the Agent before him.

“And finally, C. in these times, it is a necessary evil. Although you do not necessarily like the idea, a Telepath could have certain advantages during a time of war or in finding someone innocent of a crime.”

“How are any of these answers options?” Teldryn shifted his weight where he stood, why was this room so hot? “Oh, I don’t know…The first option is the least stupid.”

“That is the most common response among recruit- “The Breton paused, he’d clearly misspoken, Teldryn decided to keep that bit of information for later, “amongst those being released.”

Teldryn just nodded silently, the word recruit still swimming in his mind.

“Question five, your mother sends you to the market with a list of goods to buy. After you finish you find that by mistake a shopkeeper has given you too much money back in exchange for one of the items.”

And the thought of his mother trusting him with coin and a list sent Teldryn into another laughing fit, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, please continue,” This was just ridiculous!

The Breton furrowed his brow. Clearly, he was trying his best to keep his composure, “Do you A. Return to the store and give the shopkeeper his hard-earned money, explaining to him the mistake. B. Decide to put the extra money to good use and purchase items that would help your family. Or C. Pocket the extra money, knowing that shopkeepers in general tend to overcharge customers anyway.”

“Is this a trick question?” Teldryn asked, “You do know what I was arrested for? Right? It’s in that fancy notebook you’ve got there.” Teldryn pointed to the ledger that the Census and Excise Agent had closed earlier.

“It’s a hypothetical situation, now could you please answer the question without all the commentary please.”

“What do you think?” Teldryn shook his head.

“I don’t know, you need to answer the question.”

“The latter,” he looked up at the ceiling and noticed a long, thin crack in the plaster, how much longer was this going to take? He was beginning to feel restless, for a variety of reasons, he did just wander off a cramped ship after all.

The Breton took a deep breath before moving on to the next question, “While in the marketplace, you witness a thief cut a purse from a noble. Even as he does so, the noble notices and calls for the city guards. In his haste to get away, the thief drops the purse near you. Surprisingly no one seems to notice the bag of coins at your feet.”

“Oh, another trick question ha?” Teldryn moved back onto his heels, the shackles around his ankles pinching at his skin. He really wanted those things off. The old man ignored his comment.

“Do you choose option A. Pick up the bag and signal to the guard, knowing that the only honourable thing to do is return the money to its rightful owner.”

“What bullshit!”

The Breton glared at him again, “Do you B. Leave the bag there, knowing that it is better not to get involved.”

“Also bullshit and terribly stupid.”

“Or finally do you choose C. Pick up the bag and pocket it, knowing that the extra windfall will help your family in times of trouble.”

“Oh, come on officer! What kind of leading questions are these?” Teldryn watched as he scribbled something down into that ledger. Notes? Was he being assessed? Teldryn sighed, “Fine, the last one.”

“Thank you, question seven, your father sends you on a task which you loathe, cleaning the stables. On the way there, pitchfork in hand, you run into your friend from the homestead near your own. He offers to do it for you, in return for a future favour of his choosing.” He paused, glancing at Teldryn for a moment before continuing, “Do you A. Decline his offer, knowing that your father expects you to do the work, and it is better not to be in debt.”

“That’s stupid.”

“Enough commentary please,” the Breton snapped. He wrote something else down in that ledger as he continued his line of questioning, “Do you choose option B. Ask him to help you, knowing that two people can do the job faster than one, and agree to help him with one task of his choosing in the future.”

“Also stupid,” Teldryn interjected again.

“Please just let me finish,” no, this was stupid and Teldryn was adamant that he’d prove that point, “Or finally C. Accept his offer, reasoning that as long as the stables are cleaned, it matters not who does the cleaning.”

Teldryn smiled, He attempted to fold his arms but got caught in the chains, he leaned back instead, “Oh that’s easy, if the s’wit is stupid enough to want to shovel guar-shit, then he can shovel guar-shit.”

“Interesting way to put it, most ah, prisoners choose the second option,” he continued scribbling down what Teldryn assumed was his answer or a commentary on his answer, he couldn’t quite see.

“Well then, most prisoners are stupid,” Teldryn offered, he found another knot in his hair to fiddle with. It felt greasy, he didn’t like it one bit.

“Question eight, your mother asks you to help fix the stove. While you are working, a very hot pipe slips its mooring and falls towards her.”

“No.”

“Excuse me?” The Breton questioned, pausing long enough to dip his stylus into the inkpot.

“I’m not helping mother with a stove! This question is stupid! Next!”

“Please, we only have two left!” the Breton’s composure slipped again as he raised his voice at Teldryn, “Now option A-“

“Next. Question.” Teldryn growled through gritted teeth, he was officially over these questions and it seemed that in this case, the Census and Excise Agent was just as willing to move on.

He flipped through a few pages, marking each as he went, the elderly man appeared to be clenching his jaw as he went, “Question nine, while in town the baker gives you a sweet roll. Delighted, you take it into an alley to enjoy only to be intercepted by a gang of three other kids your age. The leader demands the sweet roll, or else he and his friends will beat you and take it.”

“Kid sounds like a dick, if you ask me,” Teldryn interjected, really what was the point of this?

[for-a-longlongtime]

I loved the first part of Nothing That I Didn't Know, but wondered who your ideal sandwich pairing is? 🥪

Santi x Frankie x Reader

Javi x Tim x Reader

Or maybe something else?

Or is there another one lurking in there?

I've been saving this one for a rainy day, @linzels-blog <3

SUCH DIFFICULT CHOICES.

Okay let me start by saying that, unfortunately for her, Javi x Tim x reader isn't even my ideal sandwich for that WIP. (That's not to say I don't love those three together though!) To me, this is the real MVP sandwich of that fic:

Tim Rockford x Javier Peña x Marcus Pike. I mean, I hope you're ready...

Then sometime in May next year, there's a Frankie Morales x Benny Miller x reader sandwich coming up for @rhoorl (which I think I mentioned here the other day? but my memory is shit so maybe I only mentioned it in a spiral squad evening on Discord, haha).

At some point I'll also get to writing a Javier Peña x Judy Moncada x reader sandwich one shot (first FFM fic, yay!). I'm looking forward to that one because that should be a trip - and yes, it's definitely going to be part hate fucking. (And lucky for me, I know that this one is definitely NOT gonna be more than just a one shot - unlike several WIPs that totally escalated) Thanks for the hyping on this one @legendary-pink-dot <3

I haven't taken any official notes for this yet, but I am planning a Dieter Bravo x Javier Gutierrez fic which I suspect may end up becoming more than just a one shot (hopefully it'll stay contained as a very short series, we'll see what happens). In that case, I'm pretty sure that there will also be a Dieter x Javi G x male original character or male!reader chapter (👀 @sin-djarin I know I haven't said anything about this yet because it was just a passing thought, but the vague idea for it *exists*)

But honestly?

Yeah, Santi x Frankie x reader is hands down my absolute favorite sandwich. For SO many reasons. It's how they actually pushed Tim x Javi aside, because they wanted to be the first fic I posted. What can I say - I have a really big soft spot for all three of them. Plus, y'know - Santi and Frankie, that's pretty much canon IMO, just look at Triple Frontier. <3

Thank you for asking and letting me yap about my sandwich love! Honestly, it's not like I only like threesome fics, or even that I intend to only write those (for example, there definitely is an Ezra x Marcus Pike WIP outline! And there's not going to be a sandwich pairing in there) - but, you know. There are so many fucking fantastic writers out there who write all kinds of pairings so beautifully, and I totally love that. I want to add something of myself and the things I care about to that.

Personally I'm a sucker for representation because I think it's super important for everybody to be able to see themselves reflected in fic, and even to just see the diversity of gender, sexuality, intimacy and all kinds of relationships. So bi, gay, lesbian and queer characters, as well as polyamorous relationships, really have been part of my fic ideas from the beginning - particularly because there are a lot fewer of those than straight male x female couple fics in the Pedro verse. I’m glad that you and others are here for that sandwich love ❤️🥪

[teddywesworl]

if you're still doing the wip thing... The last mile? your mass effect au makes me feral

I just tried to answer this and tumblr fucking ATE my response but yeah i'm working on it, it's set half at the beginning and half at the end of the Reaper War with the Hawkins assigned to Project Crucible (part 1) and the London assault (part 2). tonally it's very me3 so im gonna be kinda nervous about posting it, especially as it may require a MCD tag lmaoooooo (not them though. never them)

i have no idea when it's going to be completed, though, so here's a sizeable chunk of the opening, complete with epistolary-ish framing device to match DTA:

EDDIE 1

Fig. 1: Perspectives on Tayseri Ward, an award-winning photograph of the Citadel by acclaimed asari photographer Lidilya Ranis, ca. 2182. Note the near-atmospheric effect of the gas and dust of the Serpent Nebula creating depth of field between the camera’s lens and the Presidium Ring.

*

The Citadel is different than he remembers, but it’s also the same.

He and Steve see it differently. Steve thanks air traffic control in person on their way through security and comments on the Sur’Kesh native trees freshly planted in the commercial district. Eddie marks the C-Sec man tailing them while they eat tacos from a super gimmicky Thessia-Earth fusion restaurant and spots a pickpocket watching them from an alley. It’s a human girl, maybe thirteen. No visible tattoos or marks, but that doesn’t mean much when the kid is wearing a beanie and a scarf and a bulky jacket that’ll hide plenty of take. Eddie angles himself so the cop can’t see his face, makes eye contact with the girl, and shakes his head.

They’re in the Mid-Ward, a part of Zakera that Eddie should know intimately. It feels strange not to recognize the large majority of the storefronts, replaced as so many were in the aftermath of the geth attack in ‘83, but the longer he looks, the clearer it becomes that the bones are the same. Eddie rebuilds the map in his head from the position of keeper ports, maintenance panels, walkways—and vents.

He falls behind Steve just staring at a vent tucked between an Armax vendor and a pop-up shop selling the elcor equivalent of beer. Steve walks another dozen feet, maybe, before he notices Eddie’s not beside him and doubles back.

“You okay?” Steve says, fingertips brushing Eddie’s elbow.

Eddie shakes himself off and nods. “Yeah, sorry,” he says. “Um. I used to sleep in there, I think. I’m pretty sure that’s the one.”

Steve frowns, his eyes moving from storefront to storefront, gliding over the vent like it isn’t there until he remembers. “Oh,” he says. His hand slides down Eddie’s forearm, and he laces their fingers together.

Eddie feels oddly disconnected from his own body. He doesn’t think he would fit in that vent, now, but that’s sort of the point, isn’t it? That’s what a duct rat is. You stop being a duct rat when you can’t fit anymore. Or when the wrong fan powers up and chews you to pieces.

Eddie unfocuses his eyes and doesn’t quite look at the C-Sec man still pretending not to follow them. It’s a turian, hanging around some fifty paces behind them, and he’s obvious in a way that’s kind of aggravating, because turians make up something like half a percent of the Mid-Ward’s population, and the real residents don’t dress business casual. There’s a tension welling up, raw from the vents and the cops and the collision between memory and immediate reality. He bounces on the balls of his feet, indecisive. Then he squeezes Steve’s hand, locks eyes with the turian, and crooks his finger at the guy, beckoning.

There’s a strange hanging moment where the cop looks like he’s gonna try to disappear into the crowd, but then he accepts that he’s been made and approaches. Steve looks surprised to see him; his posture gets a little guarded, so Eddie squeezes his hand again.

“That’s close enough,” Eddie says at a distance of ten or so paces. He’s not in the mood for this, doesn’t feel like playing a game, so he just says: “Why?”

Steve stays quiet, apparently satisfied to let Eddie handle this.

The turian’s mandibles twitch. “I’m,” he says. “I don’t…”

Eddie rolls his eyes. “Why’d they send you?” he says.

“They didn’t say,” says the cop. Eddie’s not sure he believes him, but at least he’s not playing completely dumb.

“Get out of here,” Eddie says. “Tell them you were made. Also tell them the Alliance doesn’t appreciate C-Sec harassing its N7s on shore leave.”

The mandibles twitch again. Turian hearts aren’t quite like human hearts, but the rhythm of this one changes enough to confirm Eddie’s suspicions that the guy at least didn’t know who Steve was. “Right,” he says. Leaving is an awkward thing, but he manages it, walking off in a straight line.

Eddie sighs when he’s gone.

“How long’s he been there?” Steve asks.

“Since security,” Eddie replies. “Fuckin’ amateur hour, sending a turian. Especially since there’s a ton of human cops now.”

Steve hums thoughtfully. “You ready?” he says.

“Yeah,” Eddie says, and it’s the truth. He wasn’t sure it would be, when Hop offered to call in a favor, when the message hit his inbox, or even when he stepped out of the Hawkins airlock and onto an Alliance dock this morning. He just kept saying yes and moving forward because he knew he’d regret it if he didn’t.

He keeps holding onto Steve’s hand as they move through and past the crowds toward Oji Way Warehouses, a row of storage units guarded by sectional doors and the occasional krogan hired gun. One such krogan, a scarred old brute with a cracked green frontal plate, approaches to grunt at them about what they’re doing down here, to move along if they don’t have business.

“We do,” says Steve. “We’re looking for somebody.”

“That so, soldier boy?” says the krogan. Eddie ducks his chin to hide a smile, because yeah, even in civvies, Steve sticks out like a sore thumb.

“Munson,” says Steve. “That’s the name.”

The krogan turns his head to get a better look at them out of a single eye. “What d’you want with Wayne?”

[stabbyfoxandrew]

for you wip Wednesday posts, do you just post as you write? like are the parts all continuous or is there parts between that you don’t post? (sorry if this is dumb, I’m just curious how you do yours:))

okay so (get ready for a long winded explanation of how my writing works sorry in advance)

for wipw, i have sort of a basic outline for plot points and stuff. i know roughly how each of the stories go and how they end. that being said, i have two docs (or more) per au. one with the outline and the other is the draft i'm posting for you guys. like here's the actual docs in my bookmarks (ignore my joke titles okay)

(ID: a screenshot of my Firefox, with a folder of bookmarks showing.)

cutting here because sweet lord this got long

as you can see i've got all my wipw docs in a bookmark folder so i can find them easily. DIH, BB, OG, 🦊, and 🦊WIPW are all writing folders. DIH is a long fic for another fandom. BB stands for 'big bang' and is for all my 'cosmic lost and found' stuff. OG is my ocs stuff :). Fox is anything aftg-related that isn't for wipw. and finally wipw is... wipw.

ALSO 'strips and tags' is the doc where i keep my little 'headings' for wipw posts as well as the tags so i don't have to type that shit everytime! (ex: 'WIP Wednesday (10/25) | Guardian Angel Neil (Part --)'

anyway! i write on them and cut them into chunks for wipw. the size of the 'chunk' each ask gets depends on how well the story flows and if it's a good stopping point. so sometimes it's just a couple paragraphs and sometimes it's almost a full fucking page because i couldn't decide where to chop it?

also usually i like to work a bit ahead so i'm not starting with nothing the next week. so when i don't and i get a lot for a certain au it stresses me out bc i don't know where we're going and i have to come up with it on the fly so i can answer asks??

this is also why i write in order and i could never write bits and pieces here and there all over the timeline like Ash does. it would Stress Me Out sooo bad lol

to answer the actual question: yeah.

for the most part, it's mostly how the final draft will be. but in the final i'll probably flesh out certain bits to make it make sense. like we just Jump into the scene a lot in wipw posts and it makes sense for wipw posts. but it wouldn't in an actual longfic on ao3? you know?

also in angel neil, some of the events are out of order. i never expected people to care about it so much so originally it was gonna be a lotttt shorter so andrew talks to betsy about it right away. i think in the Finished Fic (whenever that will be) he won't mention neil to betsy for a while?? but idk for sure we still have a long ass way to go.

thanks for asking this i'm sorry if you didn't want to read my life story but i don't have anyone to talk about writing with really and also i'm insane and can't just say yes/no i have to EXPLAIN

[blackjackkent]

15 Lines Tag Meme

Tagged by @morganaseren

Tagging: @istibaethoriel @thedarkstrategist @astreamofstars @bardic-inspo (also retagging @morganaseren and @writer86 bc I did this slightly differently than y'all did and maybe you wanna try it this way too :D )

(Want me to tag you in work-sharing memes like this in the future? Toss a like on this post over here! Would love a bigger list of folks to tag. :) )

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

I just realized that I don't actually have a WIP currently running that involves an OC, which is a bit wild. (Two WIP Jaheira longfics and a bunch of one-shot ideas I haven't started yet. XD ) So I'm going to do this as not a WIP fic quote but instead fifteen different quotes from Hector across several different existing fics that are representative of his personality. (I'm not sure which the originator of the meme intended and I know prev (Lee) did it the other way XD but I'm gonna reinterpret the instructions bc this is where my brain is taking it instead.)

-----

“Where your Lady looks for emptiness, mine looks for…self-reliance,” he finally says slowly. “Which is itself…not conducive to…” He trails off. “I have not ever felt this way before.” (Happy For You)

Hector hesitates. “I think perhaps I ought to ask you to forgive me,” he says quietly. “There were– and still are– many steps along this path that I have not handled as I should have. I was…very confused for quite some time, and very afraid, and perhaps my actions betrayed too much.” (Happy For You)

“It was one of the mantras of grounding I was taught from when I was a very young boy,” he says. “To…calm myself when I was upset or angry, to stop crying or raging, take control of the feelings and quiet them.” (The Center Cannot Hold)

“I love it,” he murmurs. “And I will keep it close to me going forward, you can be sure of that.” He turns the small talisman in his fingertips, watching it catch the light. “I've seen many of these,” he adds reverently. “But never one of such fine make. And old, too. Some monk carried this through hell before it made its way to you. I suppose I will add to that tradition...” (The Mystery of the Night)

“I don’t think I can go back,” he finally says quietly. “Not after all of this. I’ve… changed too much.” (Riverbed)

“I don’t know how to do what they want me to do,” he says softly. “How to… be what they think I am.” (Riverbed)

“It is only through meditation and strength of will that we master our emotions,” he says. “So I was taught.” (What Good, This Heart of Stone?)

“Discipline,” he mutters. “To control one's body is to control one's mind.” (What Good, This Heart of Stone?)

“SHUT UP!” The roar bursts from him and cracks apart into a sob. Tears flood his eyes, blurring his vision. “Gods… please… just leave me alone. I can’t… I can’t… she is dying and she is in so much pain, and I can’t help her, I can’t stop it. If you were anything less than a monster, you would grieve with me, you would want to help her… you would give a single, solitary damn… but you don’t. All you care about is your fucking worm, and it’s all falling apart… it’s all gone… it’s all gone…” The tears are coming heavier now, choking him, blinding him. “What the hell am I going to do?” he whispers. “I won’t… I won’t do it, I won’t do what you want… I won’t become an… an abomination just to save my heart… I won’t take her choice from her… but how will I bear it…? ” ("Because of What You Are" - drabble)

He swallows the lump that forms in his throat at hearing these words. “There is so much… so much more to the world than I ever imagined…” (vision of selune - drabble)

He flinches, not meeting her eyes. “I was thinking about how I’m scared because I could die. And then I thought about how perhaps there is a certain level on which that would be the simplest outcome.” (night before the brain - drabble)

“You’re perfect,” he repeats softly, and to his shame he hears his voice tremble. “I just…have no idea what I’m doing, and you surprised me.” (Prayers and Hellfire)

“You make me smile,” he goes on when the kiss finally breaks. The words come slowly, carefully - he considers himself no orator, but there is an ocean of feeling inside him waiting to be spoken of. “So many terrible things we see out here, and yet you make me laugh. You see the good in everything, even when it looks so dark to me. You've suffered so much and you're still kind, still want the best for everyone.” He pauses, then adds with fervent sincerity, “And you are so… so beautiful…” (Prayers and Hellfire)

[tboygareth]

wip wednesday

i was not tagged by anybody but because i have finally been given permission to talk about my steddiebang project, i'm goddamn gonna.

RULES

Post up to five (5) filenames of your WIPs; not titles, file names.

Post a snippet from one of them. Snippet must be words you wrote in the last 7 days. We’re posting progress here. This is an opportunity to flex your steddiebang - DO THAT.

After you’ve posted, people can send you an ask with one of your file names. You must then write 3 sentences in that file.

That’s it! You can invite others to join in or just post.

*Optional: Respond the the ask with the lines you wrote. (This is me holding myself accountable honestly)

WIPS - all my file names already have titles

batter up! (steddiebang!!!)

greatest hits (final update forthcoming... at some point...)

for the bit (fake dating au, currently going thru a full rebrand)

Early in the week, Wrigley Field welcomes the press for interviews about their upcoming games, the spring season now well underway, and a reporter from ESPN actually has the nerve to ask Steve about it.

“Yeah, of course I’ve listened to it,” Steve tells her, forcing a smile. “Eddie and I graduated high school together. He’s really made a name for himself, huh?”

“Well, you do know what the rumor is, don’t you? It’s been all over Reddit all week.”

Of course Steve knows what the going rumor is. It’s him, he is the rumor. He puts on his best doofus expression. “No, I hadn’t heard. I don’t spend much time online these days.”

He waits for her to say it, for the ESPN reporter he once went down on in the locker room after everybody else went home for the night to tell him that he is the subject of even more gay rumors, less than a year after he’d been caught fucking a teammate in the very same locker room where he fucked her.

What’s her name again…? Shelby? Sara? Samantha? Steve can’t fucking remember. She doesn’t say it, though; she puts a finger to her earpiece and smiles once again at the camera.

“Looks like that’s all we have time for,” she says instead. “This is Simone Tindell, signing off for ESPN.”

Simone. That’s right.

The camera shuts off, and Simone smacks Steve on the arm. “You do know, don’t you?”

“Off the record?” Simone nods. “Of course I know. That asshole hasn’t been subtle a day in his life. The album art? Cheap Cubs uniform? Number seven on his wristband? He practically gift-wrapped the rumors for me.”

“Is it about you, Steve?”

“You think Robin would let me say one way or another?” Steve asks, holding his hands out in a placating gesture. “And you can say as much as you want that you won’t tell anyone if I confirm it, but you’re a reporter above all else, Simone. If you get the scoop, you gotta run it.”

“Can you tell me what your favorite song is, at least?”

“No,” Steve says, short and simple. “I’m not talking about it. If I talk about it too much, the rumors will just get worse, and I really, honestly wanted to keep a low profile this season.”

“Are you mad at Eddie for releasing the album when he did?”

“No comment, Simone, okay? Let it drop already.”

“Are you done flirting?” calls one of his teammates.

“Fuck you, Carver.”

“Fuck me yourself, Harrington,” Jason Carver says with a wink.

“Better stay away from that one this season,” Simone teases. 

“Learned my lesson last year,” Steve says, nodding in agreement.

It got really bad last year. Carver had been deeper in the closet than Steve at the time, with the gold crucifix practically glued to his neck and the sign of the cross in the batter’s box every time he stepped up to the plate. 

The media storm overshadowed the team’s eight-win streak and put Steve in a vat of hot water.

Not both of them, just Steve. Because he already had a reputation before Carver even joined the team. And now on top of being a bitch and a slut, here he was corrupting a good Catholic boy from the Bible Belt, tempting him into sin. The accusations had sent Steve reeling, because they were the very same types of accusations Eddie had gotten after… well, after everything. 

With Carver last year it was never serious, so after getting caught it was easy for them to put a stop to it, but it has been months and they are both still being asked about their relationship. And Jason fucking Carver is still doing the absolute fucking most when there are cameras around that might see him within arm’s reach of Steve. Carver’s stats are garbage, so like… anything to have his name in print, right? Even if the only leg he’s got left to stand on is whatever relationship they may have had last year.

There never was a relationship, is the thing. They fucked around a couple of times here and there, and Steve was finished with him the one singular time he brought Carver back to his condo and watched him push his cat off the bed. Petty? Maybe, but he was never worth the headache in the first place.

In the months since the thing between them that had never even been a thing to begin with, Steve has continued to date around. He went out with a tattoo artist for a few weeks before dropping him when he realized he hated the way the guy laughed. And then there was the girl he’d gone out with a few times that had a cockatiel. He dumped her because she had a cockatiel. 

That’s another thing; Steve Harrington, serial dater, can’t commit.

It was never like that with Eddie. Sure, things between them ended badly, and way sooner than either of them would have liked, but that was justified. When you’re eighteen, threats about college and a beating from your dad outweighs every good thing in your life. Especially when every good thing runs away from the fight and leaves you to deal with it on your own, even after all the promises you made to each other.

Steve doesn’t know if he’s ready to reconcile with Eddie; he doesn’t know if he should. They were good in high school, an unlikely but compatible match in almost every way. They argued sometimes, about what they were to one another, because Steve wasn’t ready to be out, but the time they spent alone together remains some of the best memories of Steve’s high school career. Not even state championships could compare.

tagging literally all my followers and mutuals who are taking part in the bang. please join in, today's the wednesday to do it! even if you're not doing the bang and working on something else, please join in!

[sparxaf]

5, 7, 11, 24, and 29. I'll stop there even though I'm oh-so-tempted to keep going!

Dear Sweet Baby Zeus, Sarah! Why are you so mean to me? Did I piss on a maple leaf? Kick a bunny in front of you? Why do you enjoy my pain? I could do an entire post just on #5 alone 😆. Maaaaan, this is gonna be so freakin' long…

5. How many wips do you have? What fandoms/pairings are they for?

I have a lot. Several of them are fully written, but not edited. I'm only gonna count ones where I wrote at least a paragraph and not the ones that have extensive notes or complicated outlines but no actual story yet. So lemme see... That'd be... 17. JFC.

LITG S1 AU: Levi vs Jake x MC

LITG S3 Villa: Nicky x MC

LITG S1-S2 AU: Levi + Lucas

LITG S2 Royal Werewolf AU #1: Bobby + MC

LITG S2 TSIME AU: Noah x Lili

LITG S2 Royal AU: Lucas x Arjun

LITG S2 Royal Werewolf AU #2: Bobby x MC

LITG S2 College AU: Lucas vs Noah vs Bobby x MC

LITG S2 Villa: Bobby x Marisol--it's cursed I know

LITG S2 Post Villa: Lucas x MC x Bobby

LITG S2 Villa & Post Villa: Lucas x MC

LITG S2 AU: Arjun x MC

LITG S5 Post Villa: Suresh (non romance)

LITG S2 Post Villa Divorce: Bobby x MC

LITG S3 Therapy AU: Seb x MC

LITG S2 College AU: Rahim (non romance)

LITG S6 Villa: Marshall x Lewie x Ozzy x MC

I might have to let go of some of these S2 ones. Ain't nobody reading S2 anymore. Sigh.

7. Post a snippet from a wip.

She laughed, the tension in her releasing. “Do you want to get my heart racing, Lewie?” His own soft chuckle faded and he stepped closer to her and lowered his voice. “I really do.” And just like that, the tension, the ache, returned two-fold. What was this man doing to her? He reached over and stroked her jaw. “Do you want me to get your blood pumping?” She found herself quivering beneath his touch. “Maybe.” “Just maybe?”  “I’m receptive to it.” He grinned and pulled her closer. “I’d prefer you to be keen. Maybe even enthused.” The bright blue of his eyes dazed her like a midday summer sky. “I can offer you amenable," she said. “Damned with faint interest." He picked her up and put her on the counter, letting his hands rest on her hips. God she loved when he did that. “I fear I need to give you something to make you a little more enthusiastic.” “You might have to,” she whispered. 

11. Do you write scenes in order, or do you jump around?

This is a good question! I don't usually think much about it. I rarely write dual POV for fanfic, because it's time consuming and I'm lazy. So when I know the premise, I generally know who's POV it'll be in. Like, in one of my wips, I decided that Levi is just discovering that he's bisexual and the story will follow him going from closeted to out so he can be with Lucas (who is already out and resents being shoved back in). Since Levi is the one who is going to grow and change, the story was always gonna be in his POV in my head.

With TSIME I DID plan to write Beach Hut Confessionals from Lili's point of view and scatter them throughout the story, but after the first one I realized that I liked it better when we only saw things through Bobby's lens.

29. What’s something about your writing that you’re proud of?

I'm proud of writing small moments that foreshadow the big emotional impacts to come. Most people never even notice them, so they're kind of just something for me. TSIME has a fuck ton of them.

**WARNING: THE SUN IN MY EYES SPOILERS AHEAD)** Bobby and Lili share a cup of tea and Lili turns the mug so her lips touch the same spot his do, foreshadowing the first kiss she'll instigate many chapters later (though she'll forever say that Bobby instigated it). Lili tells Bobby early on that "people leave." And there are numerous scenes of him watching her walk away from him. All of it foreshadowing what happens after CA. Bobby tells Lili she should fall madly in love with him and she says it's a bad idea and he quotes a line from Thirty Rock, telling her there are no bad ideas. Only good ideas that go horribly wrong. Foreshadowing their relationship in the villa as a whole.

My favorite is when Noah grabbed Lili, threw her over his shoulder and walked off with her, saying, "Sorry Bobby, I'm stealing your girl," foreshadowing the disaster recoupling and something that happened later after the show between Lili and Noah. FYI I have a one shot for that one as soon as I post the last chapter of TSIME. It's both distressing and sexy. Thanks for the interrogation, Sarah 😝 You jerk.

[kiestrokes]

WIP Tag Game

▸rules: post 3 snippets from published work, and 3 from your wips ▸tagged by: my sunshine @minisugakoobies ▸no obligation tagging: @still-with-koo @axialitae @mochilatae 🗝️note: you're getting some raw wip status snippets here, do prepare for grammatical and dyslexic errors. MDNI because the Geonbae Pt.2 snippet is pure smut, sorry!

✦ My Three WIPs ✦

⌞Accismus with Kang Yeosang⌝

They move in together for their engagement. insert all the buildup: one bedroom, he sleeps on the couch. she gets upset, "we have always shared a bed before, get in the bed Yeosang." he looks at her in her baggy tee, "it's different now." the loom of their romance comes crashing down, because Yeosang's grandmother forced it to happen. She wrestles him on the couch, "I know you want to be with ---- but I don't want to be locked in a loveless marriage AND lose my best friend." Yeosang pins her arms behind her back, stunned, "Loveless?" She turns her face embarrassed. "---- our marriage will not be loveless, I just didn't want to encroach your borders so rapidly." he shifts her wrists to one hand and smooths the other up her back to glide up and grip the back of her neck "look at me." she does and sees his eyes flutter to her lips and back, she swallows hard as his hand drifts around to the side of her neck, thumb sliding under her jaw to tilt her face up. she sucks her bottom lip into her mouth and his lips part at the movement. "I'll come to bed, and we will discuss everything in the morning." His eyebrows raise expectantly, releasing her once she nods. they shuffle off to the bedroom, Yeosang spoons her tightly like usual. "I'm sorry for being distant." she hums and burrows back into him.

⌞Baby, I'm a shadow of you with Kim Mingyu & Jeon Jungkook⌝

Your boyfriend's best friend (Mingyu) that you’ve had a crush on leaves to study abroad. When he comes back you and your boyfriend (Jungkook) are on a break. Mingyu asks if all of you is still the same, "because I know I’m not." Talking about your virginity, because the two of you had make a pact when you were drunk one night: to be each other's firsts so that you could enjoy your first time with Jungkook. You get embarrassed. “Of course not, it’s been two years.” His eyebrows quirk and he is still surveying you under hooded eyes. “Pity we didn’t get to complete our bet,” he tucks hair behind your ear. “I don’t think you missed out,” you laugh thinking about your first time. He tilts his head curiously. You wave him off, “this isn’t a coffee shop appropriate conversation.” “I’ve heard you talk to Hobi and Jimin about this in public.” “Yea well they’re gay,” you turn back to the window sipping your drink. “What does my sexual orientation have to do with it?” He chuckles, eyes dancing with warmth. You shift, rubbing your legs together. His eyes follow the movement, and he smirks leaning into whisper “it turns you on, doesn’t it?”  You give him a pointed look before your eyes roll away. Hoseok shows up then, and you break away gratefully. Waving goodbye as you head off to the movie. When Mingyu hugs you goodbye, he trails his knuckles under the hem of your skirt telling you how nice you look.

⌞Geonbae Pt.2 with Park Jimin⌝

“Shit why do you feel so good?” You ask as you stroke his stomach again, followed by a quick snap of your hips. Jimin looks more fucked out than ever, cheeks flushed, lips parted, eyes blazing into yours as he says the next words with a firmness that nearly makes your come, “I was made for you.” You moan and Jimin shudders, “gonna come for me Park?” Your body shakes with effort, just as overheated as his, but determined to wreck the man beneath you first. 

✦ My Three Published Fics ✦

⌞the layover with Kim Namjoon⌝

His hips tremored with effort, as his eyes bore into yours. You sat upright on him so he sank completely into you and started to match his quick pace. One of your hands gripping the side of the tub and the other on his chest, just barely grasping the base of his neck. As your insides began tightening again, you moaned his name in what sounded like a plea, "Namjoon." Namjoon’s moans climbed, louder and louder. Just like Jimin had teased. Sending you further into the spiral of ecstasy. As you watched each other, water sprayed around you like the ocean with each thrust forward and pull back, creating your own pleasure driven tides.

⌞Ditto with Kim Seokjin⌝ 🗝️this is arguably my favorite fic

“Why did you really ask me to come?” His eyes fall to the armrest you both have appropriated, “I don’t allow many people to see me, in my entirety.” His eyes lift to yours, hesitation and vulnerability present as he continues- “you showed such an indifference to me in the beginning. To my good looks and the fame, you treated me like a normal person. It was refreshing, and I felt like I could show you the parts others have a tendency to judge.” “Jin…” Your voice crackles with compassion as he gives you a quick close lipped smile, the one that dimples the corners of his mouth. “Not everyone will love or accept the whole me, so I have to filter what they see.” He sighs, anxiously pinching the denim of his pants. “Especially the fans, they see me as the light hearted and silly, hyung.”

⌞Eyes on Fire with Lee Minho x Han Jisung⌝

"We all get a little scared sometimes." Jisung's head snaps to Minho's, stunned that the vampire was conversing with him. "What are you afraid of?" Jisung asks softly. Minho stifles a laugh, looking down at his notebook. "Pretty little werewolves that smell too delicious for me to focus." Jisung visibly gulps when Minho's eyes dance back to his, glinting mischievously. 

© COPYRIGHT 2023 by kiestrokes All rights reserved. No portion of this work may be reproduced without written permission from the author. This includes translations. 

[dprcailimait]

Iridescence (WIP)

I've been getting my ramblings together and as thus far. I have a solid idea of where to take my ideas.

TL;DR

Currently outlining a Berserk retelling spanning from the Golden Age Arc to Fantasia, focused on an AU where Griffith forcefully turns Guts into an immortal (Apostle).

For a frame of reference, I read the first chapter of the golden age arc, and this quote just summarizes perfectly what I want out of a Griffith/Guts post-Eclipse retelling. When I say retelling, I really mean a twisted, dark romance. They're fucked up courtship, where with every exchange, they mend a little piece of themselves they never dared bring up to anyone else.

Exploring Griffith’s psyche fascinates him, I’m debating where exactly in the Golden Age arc to start because I want to drill in the dread of loneliness into him. It’s gonna be subtle at first, but nonetheless there. I think it’d add on to the angst sandwich I want to make with this fic. Not just that but making Guts and Griffith blossoming lovers, not outwardly either to themselves or others but a blurred mix of the two.

I fleshed out my idea a little more clearly. Some plot points are very much lost in the word soup that is this fic lol.

Main Idea:

The turning point, where Griffith will turn Guts into an immortal, will be after they have fought.

Guts' primary motivation— his dream, and life’s purpose is Casca. He does not lose her, but he's trying to be a man worthy of Casca’s devotion. He needs to control his urge to chase Griffith, to not give into temptation but his inner demon coaxes his psyche into passivity— making him fall prey into thoughts, nightmare. Estranged lucid fantasies of his former commander.

It whispers of possibilities that ring bloody and sour to his sanity, but with the rusted aches comes an emotion rivaling even the sweetest kiss from his lover. And that terrifies him beyond all reason.

Guts dies while fighting Griffith, an entity he should know better than to challenge.

He knows defeat but the bitterness of an impending death comfortably sits on his tongue, soothing a pavlovian response in him to tear and thrash and glaze, endlessly enamored as a quick, seamless slash breaks his skin, muscles and bone.

The horrid, white-sear leaves him breathless— without the strength nor mind to scream or is it the sight before him. One of Griffith, his face ghosted with a smile he’s only known in far-off memories of a time long before his maturity. He’d be a fool to be scared of death but he’d be a liar to say it doesn’t cause him fright, losing Casca and the potential of being with her scares him,

But for now, for this singular moment of agony, he smiles. His mind wonders, fruitful in its fantasies and nightmares and for once, aimless in his struggle, he finds peace— as if being nurtured by the embrace of a mother, he’s satisfied. Seeing a glimpse, a crack in Griffith’s armor, lulls him.

While clashing, the past's excitement rekindles inside Griffith. His heart beats at his ears, singing of a long tattered wound. A scar left known in a far-off time beyond his conscious psyche, a deep seeded loneliness remembrance only pray tell him. The very one that clung to the man stumbling before him.

Then and there in the brief moment of their swords play, Griffith's blood runs cold as he watches the man he once grew to love and hate smile at him. His composure collapses with Guts’ dying breath, and, for the first time, in his immortal life, he processes the depths of his solitude.

In that moment, Griffith ruins his former friend once more by giving him the very thing he swore to take, his life.

[candycandy00]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Thank you so much for tagging me, @scary-grace! This was a lot of fun!

1. How many works do you have on Ao3? 

18, though I’ve only posted a fraction of my BNHA stuff on there and there’s even some JJK stuff I haven’t posted there yet. 

2. What’s your total Ao3 word count?

217,870. And wow it took me way too long to find that lol. I didn’t even know about the Statistics page! 

3. What fandoms do you write for? 

Currently, Jujutsu Kaisen and Boku no Hero Academia. I wrote for a ton of different fandoms back in my “previous era” I’ll call it lol. I wrote for One Piece, Naruto, Final Fantasy (mostly 7 and 12), Death Note, Gundam Wing, Harry Potter, Durarara!!, and lots of other things (almost all of it featuring non canon ships like Cloud x Yuffie and L x Misa). I’d like to try writing for Bungou Stray Dogs and Demon Slayer at some point. 

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

The Doll House (2,280)

Human (390)

The Offering (377)

How to Seduce a Gamer (300)

Little Miss Nobody (234)

5. Do you respond to comments?

I try to! But sometimes if it’s a comment on an older chapter of something I might not or if I got several close together I miss a few and then I’m too embarrassed to go back and respond later. Or if they just comment with an emoticon, I’m not sure how to reply lol. 

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

In my current era, it’s definitely the Mr. Compress chapter of The Dark Carnival. I have other fics that end badly for Reader but this one felt very tragic to me. 

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? 

Most of mine have pretty happy endings! 

8. Do you get hate on fics? 

Current era, I occasionally get people complaining that certain Readers are wimpy or stupid or whatever. I even had one person on AO3 write out a huge wall of text about how one of my Reader characters was a Mary Sue (they simultaneously complained that she was too weak and useless in a fight but also too perfect). But I tend to shrug off those comments. Readers are supposed to be Mary Sues. They’re literally Reader/Writer self inserts! Part of the appeal of x Reader fanfiction is the fantasy of Reader being an idealized version of yourself. So yeah she can hang out with the League of Villains and be the only girl Dabi has ever liked, or she can be old high school buddies with Gojo and Geto and they’re both crazy about her. It’s all fantasy. 

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? 

Yes! And I write pretty much all kinds that don’t involve my three “big no’s” (minors, animals, or scat/pee/vomit). 

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written? 

Not since I was a kid, writing Sailor Moon/DBZ crossovers lol. 

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? 

Not in my current era, not that I know of. In my previous era, I wrote a Gundam Wing fanfic that got really popular in the fandom and was ripped off twice. Not exactly copied word for word, but very close in both cases. They basically changed the wording around a bit but kept the entire plot the same (and it was a very unique AU with a big, sprawling plot). 

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? 

Not that I know of!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? 

Like 20+ years ago a friend and I were co-writing a very fucked up DBZ fanfic together. It was actually pretty good, but it was unfortunately lost to time. I’d give anything to find it and be able to read it again, but she’s the one who was posting it and she deleted her account a few years later. 

14. What’s your all time favorite ship? 

I’m just gonna go with my current fave ships of my two main fandoms: BNHA (Spinneraki) and JJK (SatoSugu). 

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? 

Probably The League of Villains Heroes. I love it dearly but it gets practically no notes so I have little motivation to keep working on it. 

16. What are your writing strengths? 

I’ve always felt like dialogue is my strong point. Probably because, until I was up into my 20’s, I rarely read actual books and almost exclusively read comics/manga (which tend to be dialogue heavy). I think I’m pretty decent with plotting as well. 

17. What are your writing weaknesses? 

Descriptions! 😩 I am so bad at describing things. Or rather, I’m bad to just… not do it. I literally forget to. I’ve had friends read my work and be like “what does this place look like?” Or “what does that guy look like?” And I can see it all so clearly in my head that I forget readers can’t see it as well. 

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? 

I sometimes toss in some honorifics just because it seems weird to have certain characters not use them. Other than that, I try to avoid throwing in random Japanese (the only other language I would even consider using, just because these are Japanese characters). I did have Sukuna say his famous “Gambare, gambare” line once but it’s just too iconic! 

19. First fandom you wrote for? 

First I wrote for: Sailor Moon. First I actually posted a fic online for: Dragon Ball Z. 

20. Favourite fic you’ve written? 

I’m going to pick one from each fandom, only among completed fics. 

BNHA: Trending Topics

JJK: The Offering

Tagging @missrosegold and any other writer friends who would like to do this!