#I'll go to my archive later and tag things that might be there if I reblogged without a proper tag!

[jascurka]

hey i saw ur post about being pro-ship and/or not caring about ships and that's cool and all i was just wondering if you could tag the posts with the shipnames so that folks can adequately filter stuff they do / don't want to see? like i'm not even asking as an anti or whatever, i have ships ppl wouldn't consider problematic blocked just cause i dont wanna see it lol its more like, we're not able to actually curate our experience / avoid things in a way that feels comfy for us on our end if its not even tagged yknow?

Oh, of course! Sorry if I haven't done that before. Muting tags still works if the original post is tagged with the ship name so theoretically I would not have to tag it again but I realize now maybe not every post is tagged properly so I will do my best to add tags when it's a ship post! I was a bit hesitant before because people are ready to send nasty things to someone as soon as they see the mobrei tag or whatever and I'll be honest, I didn't wanna get a bunch of death threats from the fandom of a show about kindness..

So your request is totally justified, I myself mute just ship names I'm kinda bored with, like Serirei gets muted for me. Thanks for the ask!

[muffinrecord]

Current Plans + Musings

I don't plan on playing Exedra to the degree I did for Magia Record, or playing it at all. Because of that, I won't be taking an active role in the community and archiving anything for it. Of course, if Exedra has like amazing gameplay and stories then this is all subject to change, but for now I think I'm done with phone games.

The two youtube channels will stay up and I'll check em periodically to make sure there aren't copyright strikes against the content. I've saved all my raw files, especially for the battle animations, so I can remake them in the future if the music ever becomes a problem for some reason.

Google Drive will stay up until Google rots away. I haven't recorded footage in a long time (as in stories, I do for the character doppels and such), but I'll upload things if they're sent to me.

Magia Union Translations still plans on translating things and making videos, especially leading up to the end, but also for after the game is over for whatever wasn't made in time. I'm not sure what form this will take in the future-- if it'll be manual captions added to the videos or not, but I know it WILL happen.

As for this blog, I'm not going to delete it or anything. However I'm going to be taking a step back. I'd like to say that I'll do liveblogs but I mean... *gestures at blog* I've been saying that for years and the only one I really did successfully was the Oriko one lmao. Ahhh oh well.

I'll have more words later, but it was really fun to be part of a fandom experience like this. I'm excited to work on my own original story projects though and quiet down a bit.

...

When I started this blog, I never expected it to have people actually read it. Or look at it. I just wanted a place to gush about how much fun I was having. I didn't even want to tag the posts with "Magia Record" at first because I was terrified people would be mean at me, haha.

But I'm glad I did. I made so many good friends through this game. I'm glad it existed. And it made me happy to have a place where people cared about what I had to say. Some folks actually got their news from here, can you imagine that? They had notifications turned on for this blog. My god.

Anyways, I'm going to be here for the next two months, and tomorrow I'll start reblogging fan projects and initiatives, plus general news. Maybe this blog will turn into a dumping site for art and fanfic reblogs, who knows. I might watch the remaining stuff and add various thoughts here and there.

Otherwise, you can find me on my main blog @malignmuffin, which only reblogs stuff (I don't talk much if at all there). I have another tumblr blog for my comic, but I think I'll reshare the name once I actually have content you can look at on it. It's pretty bare bones for the moment.

Actually it'll be funny if the end of this game is what makes me finally work on it again. I was in the process of working on it when NA came out, and it totally derailed me. Stopped writing, drawing, just focused on this silly little phone game. Now it's like those five years have gone by and I'm going back to where I started, except I think my lil comic is going to be a bit better than it was before. If I actually make it, that is.

If I ever do actually make my comic and start posting it, I'll be sure to update y'all here. hah

Anyways, thanks for being on this wild ride with me. The memories have been great, and I'm glad I had this experience, even if it had to end.

[jakowskis]

torchwood fanfic resources

so i'm a chronic livejournal archaeologist, and fixating on 2000s media is particularly fun for me because it means i get to go digging on lj / dw / old fanfic forums. below you'll find some of the excavations from my torchwood fixation (give it up for month 6!) it's pretty much got every comm i've ever stumbled upon and found useful, or thought others would find useful. it's largely fanfic-oriented, though there's some more generalized comms, too. i hope you guys enjoy!

i was originally going to include a link to my reclist on this post as well, but it's still a wip, so i'll just post that separately in the future.

general disclaimer: most of the content here is from 2006-2013 or so. period-typical attitudes may pop up in places. i'm not sure if most modern tw fans have witnessed the original fandom at all, but i felt a need to say this anyway, because i've seen some icky stuff. i've warned for anything notable. gwen bashing in particular may unfortunately pop up in some of these comms, especially in the comments, so tread carefully.

if you're new to probing through old lj comms, remember to always have the wayback machine on hand, because you're going to run into a lot of purged accounts and seemingly lost fics, but sometimes you get lucky and something's been archived :)

as of the date i'm posting this, all of these comms are still accessible, but if you're from the future and some have been deleted, again, go ahead and give the wayback machine a try. additionally, livejournal has a system that includes 'cross-posting' in which, if authors choose to (and the majority of them do, to get their fics more visibility), fics get posted to multiple comms at once. so chances are, even if one comm gets deleted, the contents will survive through other comms. kind of like how reblogs continue to exist even when the original blog is deleted.

finally, ctrl + f is your best friend if you have a specific ship/character/trope you're invested in, especially in comms with less than ideal tagging systems. if a comm does have a substantial tagging system, you can find all of its tags by adding '/tags' the end of the urls i've provided.

ok... let's begin :-)

assorted livejournal communities

✎ torch-wood: this is essentially a torchwood subreddit. it started before the show even aired, and one of the highlights of it is episode reaction posts (easily accessible on the right side of the lj) that document how everyone immediately reacted to the eps, which is pretty damn cool, fandom-history wise. only thing i should mention is there's quite a lot of gwen and owen bashing in the comments of some of those reaction posts, so just be wary of that if you love those two like i do, 'cuz it's a bit of a bummer.

✎ torchwood-three: this comm is an extremely cool then-daily newsletter (that still updates sometimes?!) that compiled as much fan-content as it could find into cleanly organized lists. the posts made immediately after new episodes aired contain reactions, discussions, meta, theories, new fic, fanmixes, just about everything. very very cool to go back and see the way the fandom was thinking as the show was airing and as they were getting to know the characters. here's a direct link to all posts made in late 2006, during the airing of s1.

✎ torchwood-fic: exactly what it says on the tin. desktop layout is easy to navigate, tags are all there!

✎ torchwood-fic's profile page also features a list of affiliated accounts that's pretty handy. it's worth taking a peek at, in case i've excluded anything in this post that you might be interested in.

✎ twgenrefinders: handy dandy comm where people would ask for fics of a certain variety & be treated with reclists, or hyper-specific fics... pretty cool stuff, ive got several threads bookmarked to sort through the links later. ofc, please note that some of the things people asked for might be stinky. particularly i've seen a lot of ppl requesting gwen bashing fics :/

✎ twstoryfinder: cousin to the above comm; here, people would ask for a very specific fic they'd lost. it's kind of fun to find fics through because you get someone describing memorable scenes + hyping it up, so it's different than just a standard summary. this one still gets posted on, too, which is crazyyy.

✎ tw-unpaired: for gen fics! no romance allowed! there's some good character studies + friendship fics in there. stuff's tagged by character + authors are even tagged, in case you find one whose writing you particularly enjoy. this is v useful for when someone's main journal has been deleted.

✎ torchwood-decaf: a comm where janto is BANNED. nah i'm kidding, it's not anti-janto, it was just made because janto is so huge that it overshadows everything else. pretty smart, tbh; wading through the sheer mass of janto content can be tiresome.

✎ jack-in-cuffs: for dark tw fic, or uber smutty tw fic. as a fan of dark!fic, there's some goodies in here, but of course it's not everyone's cup of tea. most of the writers included warnings, but if you go a little further back, some people weren't as courteous; navigate with caution.

✎ jack-owen: for fic featuring our captain and his (second favorite) doctor. i know this pairing's kinda divisive nowadays, but i enjoy it a lot. the comm's got a dismal tagging system and, ngl, i don't truly like any of the fics there (i'm very intrigued by jack and owen's relationship but i've never found fic that really does them justice, and i still haven't figured out how to write them myself) - but i'll include it anyway.

✎ odetojoi: for fic featuring owen in the middle of a janto sandwich, for those of us who are allergic to women (/sarcasm). there's an oddly impressive supply of fics of the three of them, and a good chunk of them can be found in this comm. (everytime i see this comm i think of a certain abbreviation found in p/rnogr/phy... but i digress)

✎ halfwee-and-tea: for ianto x owen fic. haven't gone through this one much, truthfully. i hate when comms have no tagging systems agh.

✎ owenharper-fans: a comm for the saddest undeadest bisexualest doctor around. also features a few burn appreciation posts, which is nice to see pre-pac rim era. mostly just features a shit ton of owen fic, particularly owen x ianto fic. mostly sufficiently tagged. if you need me once i post this, btw, i will be balls deep in this comm.

✎ the pro-owen alliance: another owen-focused comm - i think this one was made directly in response to owen bashing. haven't combed through this one much but it's got a fair amount of fics.

✎ house-of-cooper: a gwen comm! made in response to gwen bashing. haven't gone through it, but i'm glad it exists.

✎ torchwoodcoffee: ianto comm! this one's hugeee. the majority of it's janto, but the pairings aren't tagged, which is really frustrating. about 6k fics on there, though! just untagged. fff.

✎ tw-femficfest: a comm for fic about any and all of the torchwood ladies. tagging's cleanly done & there's some handy fic round ups, too.

✎ tw-femslash: yuri!!! wahoo!!! a comm for f/f tw ships. there's quite a lot of fic on here, but unfortunately there's no tagging whatsoever. sigh.

✎ tw-classic: a comm for 'all things series one and two of torchwood'. was made after s3 and was popular around s4 out of nostalgia for the golden age <3 good amount of fic, discussions, etc.

✎ torchwood-house: this comm is, like, letterboxd, but for torchwood fanfic. basically a group of individuals who thought of themselves as having Good Taste would read Good Fic and then go in this comm and write a post about why they recommend it. it's well-made, easy to scroll through, and sells the fics v well, and it kinda gets you more excited to read them when you get to see someone hype them up with Fancy Words. it's like a little torchwood yaoi bookclub. we're eating quiche

✎ tw100: a drabble challenge; this thing's full of 100 word drabbles. ngl i hate drabbles but i'm throwing it in here anyway

✎ touchyerwood: i love kink memes... i love kink memes less when my favorite character/pairing is unpopular. the pac rim kink meme's been a blessing bc i'm a basic ass newmann - the torchwood kink meme? not so much. it's got a fair amount of shit, though, so maybe someone else will appreciate it. this one isn't the original, that one's been wiped off the internet, to my chagrin. keep in mind before digging that people in kink memes are horny & gross. that's your warning.

✎ reel-torchwood: for any and all movie aus... ok i have a bone to pick with this comm. i'm a big movie nerd, i love film, i've seen dozens of films i've thought would make good aus - i combed through this and there is not a SINGLE fic in there that piqued my interest. NOTHING. needless to say my disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined. i'm sure my experiences aren't universal though.

✎ torchwoodslash: ah, remember when we called it slash? gee whiz. i'm not big on this comm, it's not very user friendly + there's like no tags whatsoever so it's extremely hard to navigate. enter at your own risk & good luck, lol.

✎ rounds-of-kink: this isn't a torchwood-exclusive comm, but it's got a sizeable torchwood tag, which can be found here. pretty organized tagging system; makes me happy.

✎ tw-declassified: this comm was mainly used for running a 'torchwood bingo', which, i've been in other fandoms that do episode bingos and it's usually cute... this one confused me a little so i didn't bother peeking around too much, but still a cool little bit of fandom history.

✎ writerinadrawer: this was an annual torchwood writer's challenge that ran for four years... it's kinda hard to navigate but it does have some fic in it so i'm putting it here.

✎ dmarley-recs: a recs journal someone ran for compiling torchwood fic; it's got a l o t of recs on there, largely jack/ianto.

ok and straying from lj briefly for two other places to find fic...

✎ kink_bingo: this is a dreamwidth comm, and it's not torchwood-exclusive, so i've linked straight to the torchwood tag. this comm has a livejournal equivalent, but for some reason the tw tag is pretty barren on that one? not sure why. but on dw it's got a fair amount. the tagging system is rough, it tags fandom and kink but not pairing, which is irritating, and every post is hidden under a cut AND makes you go through a discretion barrier every single time (but probably only if you don't have an account? i'm not logged in) which makes navigation a pain. but i dunno, more smut, if you want it.

✎ whofic.com: this site is for doctor who fic, but it's got a very substantial amount of torchwood fic. i do not, however, like the formatting at all. i'm being overly nice; i HATE the formatting. it's very reminiscent of fanfic dot net but, like, worse. it reminds me of adultfanfiction dot org which was a NIGHTMARE to use. but! there is torchwood fic there so it's going in here.

aaaand there we go! that's all i have. i hope these prove handy! enjoy :D

[brightside-of-the-upsidedown]

Baby, I Got Sick This Morning

Chapter 10 I wanna lay you down in a bed of roses (For tonight I sleep on a bed of nails)

Rating: Explicit

Ships: Harringroveson, Billy Hargrove/Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson

Word Count: 56,393

Status: On Going

Chapter Summary: Our boys take a break, Steve gets some rest, there is talking and- not talking. Beware Teddy Bears, for they are fierce ❤

Chapter Notes: Yes, sorry for the late update. Health has been dragging me down and I've stayed busy with work on top of it. But I hope this chapter finds you all well!

Thank you to my partner for his support and to my amazing beta, Leti, who could use all the love right now ❤ go read and support her fics on @leticheecopae! Tell her Harle sent you ❤

The next update may take 2 to 4 weeks, hopefully not that long but I like to let people know what to expect as I'm writing as I go.

Thank you all for hanging in there with me ❤ your support means a lot!

Story Summary: Steve is dying, but what hurts the most is watching how it's affecting his family, his friends, everyone around him.

Nothing seems to be helping - not his community rallying around him, not magic itself, and not the devoted attention of Eddie Munson. Eddie is a rock and a hurricane in Steve's life. Steve might also be a little bit in love with him.

Then, one day when all other options run out, Eddie introduces him to one Billy Hargrove, and Steve's already-screwed-up life might be taking a turn. But is it for the better or for the more dangerous?

Notes: not all of Steve's chronic issues will be healed. He will always have some disabilities because I ain't about about that 'cure all' shit. They're just saving his life here.

As for the magical pregnancy: it will be in the sequel, so you'll be able to read this as a stand alone if it's a squick for you. I gotchu buddies ❤

Tags: Terminal Illnesses, Chronic Illness, Fantasy, What If Stranger Things Was More Like Buffy The Vampire Slayer?, Magic Shit, Mentioned Malpractice, Magic Practice, Magical Healing Cock, Future Magical Pregnancy? It's all complicated and Fairy Tale Rumplestiltskin bullshit, Magical Creatures, Demodogs are Hellhounds, Steve is bad sick from an injury, head injuries, Head Injury, Past Torture, Past Relationship(s), past Stancy, Tinnitus, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Chrissy lived and is living her best life somewhere, mention of cults, Steve's having a bad time but it improves, Steve Needs a Hug, he's gonna get one and more, Billy Hargrove is Bad at Feelings, Eddie Munson Has a Crush on Steve Harrington, Steve with long hair, I'm running out of ideas for tags so I'll add more later, please suggest tags if you like, slow updates but please comment it helps so much

[thenotebookwizard]

She-Ra | Defiance Chapter 3: Claw and Shadow

For the @spopbang 4th Anniversary Big Bang Event

Catra wakes up somewhere new and strange - and without Adora.

Catra's POV! We are moving at breakneck speed towards a big moment in the story (tomorrow) where @rhnalli gets to reveal their amazing art for it.

This is my first longfic in a long time. I almost forgot to update this afternoon. Gotta remember old habits, I guess?

It's also been a long road back here.

Did you know? On three separate occasions, all my fics have been taken down?

The first time was dark hour in a social group resulted in me being blamed for things I wasn't even in town to have done. A computer savvy person with a spare house key burned me.

I call this The Fanfic Murders.

The other two times are - also pretty rough and more recent. I'll talk about them a bit if anyone is curious.

And just for shits and giggles (and because I want to) -

Some of the tags I collated to use on this thing. More will appear later, I'm sure.

Go on. Ask me about them. I dare you! I might even answer. (At the very least, I will be smugly cryptic. Because that's an authorial mood, right? RIght!)

[ashes-onthewind]

PINNED POST ALERT ! ✨

I like green, shush

Hiya! My name is Ash! Please use exclusively he/him

my ask games are: here, here

go reblog this if you would :3 or this

"famous" posts i have: baikal seals

context for my blog title

my pfp is a commission from @honeybyte !!

I hate longass pinned posts so! The rest is under the cut, motherfuckers

I write and draw sometimes over at @dawns-captain! I reblog emotes I want to use on @ashess-inthewind, my as of yet inactive BBC Merlin sideblog is @resident-merthur-enthusiast , and my contribution to the gimmickverse is @irate-art, which is currently inactive while I get my shit together :( I've got stuff to queue on it when I have time but yeah feel free to tag me on any of these!

My tags are as follows: (never consistent)

# ash asks <- for when I send other people asks

# ash answers <- for when I answer other asks

# ash draws <- for finished art pieces

# ash scribbles <- for every art, including sketchy little doodles!

# ash rambles <- for my original posts and long comments

# ash comments <- for when I shpeak on a reblog

# tumblr heritage <- for classic posts I've gotten on my blog!

# not my art <- might tag it sometimes when I remember, usually I fast-reblog though

# might just write this <- things I want to write

# might just draw this <- you'll never guess. things I want to draw. waow

# into the archives <- something I want to come back to later, usually a reference

My friend tags are, in no order and not a full list:

# my silly <3 <- @/retsameki, my girlfriend <3

# potato stick <- @/irishfry

# sir morphy <- @/mrmorphea

# bee juice <- @/honeybyte

# cactiddies <- @/cactus-with-boobs

# the rats <- @/fivemillionrats

# bardbucks <- @/v3ntissecrets now @/banhamm3r-r3al

the rest of yall just get username tags im too lazy for that shit anymore

@/sunglasses-in-the-bentley

@/achilles-the-boy-of-gold

@/aristotle97

#lunarsys <- @/thelunarsystemshares / @/thelunarsystemwrites

@/razeeswillowtree

@/the-silly-words-on-your-screen

@/vampiricram my bestie

@/stars-etc

@/otvian

If you want a friend tag u gotta ask im not gonna do them much anymore

Enjoy the chaos!

I'll make this pretty eventually I promise lol

Miscellaneous Links

Secret Dashboards

Radar (my dog!) pictures here

Adobe analog

Art references here, here, and here

What to cook when you have no food at home

hampter

dunkin lesbians

Heritage posts I managed to get on my blog

The guy who forgot to turn on anon to send himself hate mail

ice pack or pee, the endless question

list of tumblr folklore

while you studied the blade

Important information

Esk*mo is a slur

How to adult

Be careful before donating

colour calibrate your monitor!

Prompts and stuffses

Writing prompts here, here, here, here, here

paperwork

[surr3al1sm]

MLYID Update

Decided to post this today bc well why not, it's porbably going to become the posting day lol. For anyone unaware: "Maybe Loving You is Dangerous" (aka MLYID which is the shortened name until I think of a better one) is a Wanderrose one shot I wrote and posted like a solid week ago. If you haven't read it yet and like the ship, I would highly appreciate it.

I'm officially going to continue the story (yippie!) and I know how I want to format it now!

☆ I am going to be posting it as a chapter based story on AO3 but the chapters are going to be more like seperate stories that follow a similair main goal/plot (The boys being gay for eachother) and a funky little subplot to keep things intresting. This means that the chapters won't always line up with each other- but them sneaking off during parties to be gay seems way more fun to write than just a day by day type of thing. ☆ ☆ Every chapter will have it's own title based on a song lyric from the song that gave me the inspiration for that chapter :) You don't have to lisent to the songs during reading but I will link them to the chapter updates ☆ ☆ I'm going to try my best to post a new chapter every saturday but I have no idea how life will treat me during the postings so you might get some chapters earlier and some later. Who really knows. I can almost certainly say that Chapter 2 is coming out next saturday! Also the chapters might be looonnngggg so writing that takes a lot of time. I don't have a set amount of chapters yet though, that'll come later (I do already have the end figured out somehow tho) ☆ ☆ A lot more coaches will be included, including an OC, so keep an eye out you might see one of your favourites pass by (maybe I'll include them if you ask nicely) ☆ ☆ The ao3 tags will be edited if nessecairy per new chapter that comes it because sometimes shit just happens, so keep an eye on those aswell! ☆

I really do hope that you are even a slither as excited to read this story unfold as I am to write it. I am so immensely for all the positive reactions it has gotten so far. I am so happy you guys enjoyed chapter one and I hope the rest live up to its standarts.

If you haven't yet and would like to before chapter 2 is posted, here's the link

☆ Sorry that this is such a wordy post, I have no idea how to explain it otherwise. Thank you so much for reading lol ☆

[ageless-aislynn]

Title: “Recreation” (4/5) Author:@ageless-aislynn​ Characters/fandom: Kai-125/M!Reader, Halo the series Summary: A fellow in green Mjolnir gives you a little help in setting up a surprise dinner for Kai. 😉 Rating:  T (PG13) Length: 2,211 Spoilers/warnings: Set in the Silver Timeline of Halo the series, not the games or novels. No show spoilers. Disclaimer: Definitely not mine but I do enjoy borrowing them just for a bit! 😉 A/N:  Believe it or not, we're finally reaching the end of this little journey - the next chapter will be the last. However, it's set to slot in-between "15 Minutes" chapters 14 and 15, so it'll be a little while before it appears. (I'll be working on ch11 for that next. 😉)

A special thank you so much to everybody who's hung in here while it's taken me waaay too long to finish things. 😞 And a heart-felt thank you to everyone who has read and/or kudos and commented, then, now or in the future. It means a lot to me! Hope you enjoy! ⭐💖⭐

Taglist: @laurenstacy610 @sporadicbelievernightmare @sarnakhwritesthings

I tagged everybody I tagged last time but, as always, if you’d prefer not to be, just let me know! And if you would like to be tagged in my Kai/Reader fics, just let me know! At the moment, I also write John/Reader, John/Kai and John/Cortana, so I’m glad to tag you for whatever you’d like. Also, if you’d like to be removed, just let me know as well, no hard feelings. 😉 💖

Halo fic masterlist ⭐

"Now," you said seriously, "I think we should be open to new things, don't you?"

You held up a tennis ball and waited.

Gigi looked at you skeptically. You very slowly knelt and extended it towards her, careful to not get too close. This was her decision and trying to force it would only make things worse. She didn't take a step but she did lean as far as she could, sniffing the ball. Then she turned up her nose and retreated to her favorite spot under the porch.

"I thought you might not be a fan of a used tennis ball," you said, standing and giving it a toss out of the way, "but I figured we should give it a try, just in case."

You grabbed the container you'd left on the porch and popped the seal. "Now," you went on, "how do you feel about a brand new ball? Guaranteed fresh, nobody else's teeth marks or slobber on it. Interested?"

You held it down, waiting. Her eyes glittered thoughtfully in the shadows, then she emerged back out into the light. She eventually bumped your hand with her nose. You carefully adjusted so your fingers were out of the way if she wanted to take the ball.

She seemed to consider it for a long moment, then sat resolutely, looking at you as if to say, Your move.

You gave the ball a gentle roll away, then retrieved it, showing it to her. "See? That's how you do it."

You repeated the procedure a couple more times, underhand throwing it a bit farther each time. The last time, you gave it a little more muscle than you'd intended and had to trot a ways for it. When you returned, you could almost swear the small gray dog was about to very politely clap her paws.

Then she abruptly disappeared under the porch. A split second later, Kai appeared around the corner.

"I think she's almost got you trained," she teased.

You let the ball drop as you strode over to her. "I think you're right," you said and as soon as you were within reach, she kissed you.

"Hello," she murmured when she released you.

"Hello," you repeated, sounding rather dazed. "Silver off-duty?"

"Unfortunately not," she said, "or I'd suggest we get some lunch. But I wanted to see if you'd be interested in dinner? I thought we could--"

"Yes," you blurted out.

"Don't you want to hear the idea before you agree to it?" she asked.

You gave a hitch of your shoulder. "Doesn't matter. If you're going to be there, that's where I'd like to be, too."

"I know the feeling," she said then cleared her throat. "But I was wondering if you wanted to do something super fancy? I saw a restaurant the other day that looked like it might cost an entire year's salary just walk through the door. I talked to the doorman, turns out the owners have a fondness for Spartans. Said they'd be thrilled to give us a discount and we don't even need a reservation."

"I think I know the place. They have a dress code, formal wear only, fancy dresses, expensive tux, that sort of thing."

"Yeah," she said, rubbing her hands together gleefully.

You hated to have to break it to her. "I, um, don't have a tux," you admitted. "Or a fancy dress, for that matter."

"Oh, well, I'm sure we can…" she trailed off, then began to chuckle. "I don't have a fancy dress, either. Or a tux. The most expensive 'outfit' I ever wear is my Mjolnir."

"If they're Spartan fans, they'd probably accept that," you said. "Give me a few days and I'll see what I can come up for--"

"Nah," she interrupted. "It was just a thought. I wouldn't mind staying in, actually. Meet up at my room at chow time, then?"

You nodded, saying, "I'll be there."

She caught hold of the front of your shirt and pulled you into another scorching kiss. "Hopefully I will be, too, handsome. Unless the Covenant makes the bad decision to ruin my dinner plans."

"No worries, I understand."

"Wish I could stay longer but you'll do better with Gigi if I'm not here," she said.

"I'm not sure I'll be making progress any time soon," you confessed.

The corner of her mouth twitched. "Oh, I think you're doing better than you realize. Where'd the ball go?"

You turned to look and... the ball was gone. Or rather, it was just barely visible under the porch, resting between two little gray paws.

You looked back at Kai and she grinned.

Back on base, someone called your name as you wove through the crowded hallway. The other marines parted, revealing Master Chief in his Mjolnir, carrying his helmet at his hip and cutting towards you with purpose.

"Walk with me," he said brusquely and you fell in step as directed.

You couldn't help but wonder if he was going to take over for Vannak-134 and lay down a series of veiled or not-so-veiled threats now that things had... escalated with you and Kai. It caught you off-guard, then, when he said, "What do you know about massage?"

You blinked a few times. "Therapeutic or recreational?" you finally asked.

"Therapeutic. Recreational. Both, possibly."

"Are you asking for a recommendation as to where to get a...?" you trailed off as the look he gave you would've probably knocked over three Grunts, two Jackals and at least one fully armed Field Marshal.

"I want to learn how to give a massage to a non-Spartan in a way that won't cause discomfort," he clarified.

It all clicked. Of course, everybody knew about Chief's friend and the injuries she'd recently taken. "How is she?" you asked. "Kai mentioned wanting us to stop by to check in on her but I didn't know if she was up for visitors."

His expression gentled. "I think she'd like that. She's healing but… It takes time. Apparently."

You inclined your head thoughtfully. "Have you asked somebody in medical about therapeutic massage?"

"I was hoping for a little more discretion."

"ODST Jerry--"

"--would be a lot less discreet than asking medical," he interrupted.

You crossed your arms in contemplation. "When I was assigned to A-Company, Corporal Perez used to wager massages instead of credits in poker games."

"And his massages were that good?"

You shrugged. "Don't know personally, never beat him. But there had to be something to it because everybody did their best to win one."

"A-Company is on Reach right now," he mused.

"I'm sure he'll help you, no poker game required."

"All right, then, I'll talk to him. Thanks."

"Um, Chief?" you said before he could walk away. "Do you have access to Kai's room, by any chance?"

And that look probably caused half a dozen Grunts just outright drop dead somewhere. Your self-preservation instincts insisted that you take a slight but distinctive step back.

"Why do you ask?" he said flatly.

"I'd like to surprise her." You quickly detailed out your plan.

At the end of it, he paused, evaluating, then said, "All right, I'll help you."

You were just straightening the bouquet on the table when your padd chimed.

117: On her way.

You sent back a thanks, then put the padd away and finished the last touches to set the scene before heading out to wait in the hall.

Kai came around the corner, dressed in crisp, dark gray civvies, and her face lit up when she saw you. She greeted you with a kiss, then stepped back and looked you over from head to toe. "Wow," she finally said.

It would've taken a stronger person than you not to preen a bit under her admiring gaze. "You like?" you asked, spreading your arms a bit.

You were wearing your regular civvies pants and boots but from somewhere Master Chief had actually produced a button-down dress shirt and matching tie, all color-coordinated to best compliment your eyes. Chief had told you that last part with a slightly bemused expression, as if he were repeating nonsensical words in a foreign language he was being fed by an ear comm.

"Oh, I like," Kai said. "A lot."

You stopped her before she opened the door. "Close your eyes."

"It's a surprise?" she said and just from that tone, you immediately made a mental note to find some way to throw her a surprise party one day.

"It's a surprise," you confirmed and the hand she put over her eyes did nothing to hide her broad smile. You opened the door and led her into the darkened room. Once the door had closed behind you both, you told her she could look.

The table that had been set up in front of the couch was laden with shiny covered trays of food, with barely enough room for the centerpiece of flowers and candles at the center. You'd set the room lights to a quarter, low enough for ambiance but bright enough so you didn't have to worry about tripping over your chair.

"What's this?" she said, her expression delighted.

"Well, since we couldn't get to the fancy restaurant on such short notice, I thought we could bring the fancy restaurant to us. Do… do you like it?"

"It… This is the nicest thing anybody has ever done for me," she said, a definite sheen to her eyes. The hug she gave you was perhaps a bit too tight but there was no force in this universe or any other that would've made you pull away.

After dinner, you and Kai moved the table out of the way and cuddled up on the couch in the circle of lights and shadows cast by the candlelight.

"How did you manage all of this?" she asked, positioning so that her head rested on your shoulder.

"Master Chief," you said without hesitation. "He wanted to ask me about massages and I took the opportunity to--"

That had her sitting back up to look at you. "He wanted you to give him a massage?" she questioned, arching a brow thoughtfully. "Or to give you a massage? Is oil involved? Because I'm pretty sure I could sell a shit-ton of tickets to any of that and I want to get on it before ODST Jerry beats me to it."

"He wanted to learn how to safely give a massage to a non-Spartan," you explained. "And, uh, thanks?"

She chuckled, then looked thoughtful. "Does massage help healing?"

"It can. Even just simple touch can be very therapeutic."

You could see that trying to process. "Spartans heal by pushing through it," she finally said.

You had known how badly she had been injured, of course, but that had been before you had spoken that fateful time in the elevator. "Maybe you would've healed even faster if you would've had somebody to...?"

As you trailed off, you traced the curve of her cheek with your fingertips. Her eyelids fluttered as if she were briefly overwhelmed by the sensation, so you gave her a moment, then repeated it. She leaned into your touch, letting her eyes close.

You tenderly tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear, then brushed your fingers along her temple, her cheek, her jaw. Her breathing hitched slightly as you skimmed the pad of your thumb across her lower lip.

Your fingers moved to sweep slowly across her forehead, followed the line of her nose, went back to her temple on the other side, making your way in leisurely strokes down to her chin. When you touched her mouth again, her lips parted and her eyes opened.

"Can I try?" she asked, her tone husky.

Words fled you then, so you nodded.

She used a single fingertip to map the broadest features of your face, a rough sketch as she figured out how much pressure and strength to use. Then she repositioned in a heartbeat, straddling your lap so she could use both hands, and she explored your features so thoroughly you felt as if she had made a masterpiece out of you by the time she was done.

"Are you sure this is what they do for therapy?" she murmured into your ear.

"This might be more recreational than therapeutic," you admitted and loosened your tie.

With deft motions, she undid the tie completely and pulled it free, draping over her own shoulders. "They fixed the bed," she said conversationally, her gaze flicking from your mouth to your eyes and back again.

It took two tries for you to respond. "Uh, did they? Good."

She found the top button of your dress shirt and popped it free of the buttonhole. "Want to break it again?"

You gave her a crooked grin. "Yes, please, ma'am."

She winked, standing and pulling you to your feet in a smooth motion. As she led you across the room, she paused just long enough to blow out the candles but, even in the abrupt change in lighting, you had no trouble seeing her brilliant smile.

Note: You might think that Corporal Perez is a nod towards Cpl. Talia Perez from season 2 but I suspect that she might've been named for this fellow from Halo 2's level "Metropolis." He's one of my favorite NPCs and I always tell him hi when I see him, lol! (In my mind, he knows that, too. *nodnods*) This level is one of my all-time favs so I've seen Cpl. Perez quite a bit and I wanted to give him a little shout-out. 😉

[luvrlou]

Spy Deal

Pairing: Charlie Conway x fem!reader

Summary: Coach Orion has a little job for his younger sister.

Warnings: Charlie's anger issues lol

A/N: I think I'll make a part 2 for this.

Word Count: 1.9k

Coach Bombay had heard wonders about you, since he had met Ted Orion, to him you were the best marketer in the Hockey world, of course, Orion was a bit biased considering you were his younger sister. You had controlled advertisements for some of the biggest teams in the USA, even the National team. At your ripe age of sixteen you were really making a name for yourself.

"Y/N!" Your older brother called through to you, for a few years you had been living in Minneapolis with your brother, his wife and your niece, Jen.

You left your bedroom and walked down the wooded corridor to the living room, "yeah what's up?"

"I have a little research job for you, perhaps you could help me learn more about this new team I'm taking on this year," he told you, offering you a seat on the sofa across for him.

You were instantly interested, your work had been quiet ever since the local hockey team had moved on to bigger things, "yeah I would be happy to help, under one condition."

He let out a chuckle, despite being twenty-two years older than you, you always had a price when it came to a bit of help, "okay, okay, you help and I we go on a brother-sister laser tag and sweetie shop run. Just like the old days."

"Oh my god! Yes! We haven't done that since I was like nine!" You grinned, reminiscing about your ninth birthday where your parents both had meetings all day so Ted took you out.

He smiled softly before continuing, "I have a new team coming via scholarships, they like to call themselves the Ducks, they won the Junior Goodwill Games last season."

"I'll be through with whatever I find later, then it's shooting time buddy!" You chuckled, standing up.

"Whatever you say baby sister," he mocked, drawing his attention back to his television as you left the room.

You quickly ran back to your room and flung yourself into your office chair and turned on your computer, after a few minutes your home screen appeared. You hummed a little tune as you opened up the internet.

"I'm sure there will be some newspaper files about them," you spoke to yourself, finding the local Minneapolis news paper. Despite the world wide web being a new phenomenon the archives were easy to access.

You slowly grew more intrigued as stories of this so-called 'wonder team' popped up, you filtered the site to only show clippings that contained the words 'ice hockey', 'ducks' and 'Bombay', their coach and a close friend of your brothers.

More and more clippings came up, this team were incredible, you had noticed that they had 4 'star' players, Captain Charlie Conway, Adam Banks and the Bash Brother, Fulton Reed and Dean Portman. They had even beaten Iceland's team, which was coached by the Wolf, a well-respected genius in the hockey world.

• • •

Bombay felt much more at ease knowing his beloved team would be passed onto the great Ted Orion, and after learning of your work in the hockey industry, he was thrilled that the ducks could gain even more attraction.

However, the Ducks were not too fond of their new coach, he had stripped Charlie of his captaincy and had taken away the team's spirit. They were no longer the ducks, they were Eden Hall's JV team.

"They hate me it's impossible to work with!" Ted groaned as you were all sat around the dinner table, knees deep in yet another of his rants.

Jen, who always tried to see the best in a situation spoke, "who knows, they might just be scared of you?"

"Darling, I don't think so," he smiled almost sadly.

"How about this, I can come with you to practise sit at the side and see if I can get some information off of them, I'll try to see why they haven't taken a liken to you." You suggested, Ted seemed to enjoy this suggestion as he nodded slightly.

"Are you sure they would talk to you?" Your sister-and-law asked, "I mean you are the younger sister of their coach."

"Well I am the same age as most of them, they might feel like they could say something." You answer, hoping you were right.

• • •

"Gather round team," your brother called, before growing impatient, "god gave you legs for a reason, use them!"

They all grumbled while they skated over, stopping in a messy semi-circle around you and him, peculiar looks on their faces.

"You may be wondering who this is-" Orion began before getting cut off by a tall looking boy with brown hair.

"Y'all that's Y/N! That girl who made that team in Chicago mega-famous!" He shouted.

"The team can't be that famous if you don't know the name, Dwayne," another boy quipped back, this one had off-black hair and was shorter than this Dwayne character.

"Yes Dwayne, this is the Y/n and she is my younger sister, she's just here to supervise the game. She finally decided that lying in her bed all day fawning over Michael J Fox in Back to the Future wasn't being productive." He introduced you, his last comment making you shake your head and flush.

They all exchanged looks, before yet another boy, this time you recognised as Charlie Conway, spoke up, "What age is she, shouldn't she be a bit older if she's your sister?"

"I'm sixteen, our mum had him quite young," you clarified. "Okay Ted, I'm going to go sit down." The team's uproar started again after hearing that their new coach's name is Ted. You laughed, something so normal was causing quite the stir.

The practice wasn't anything interesting, just some drills and a mock game to finish. You were brought out of the trance, that you had caught yourself in when the sound of skates dragging to a halt in front of you.

It was girl who had a long plait in going down her back, "Hi, I'm Connie!"

"Y/N, it's lovely to meet you," you smiled.

She smiled back before pondering her next question, "does coach Orion always act grumpy?"

You laughed slightly, "no, don't worry, he does really want to see you all succeed but he just doesn't know how to get around it."

"Well he doesn't act like it, look!" Connie gestured to the rest of the team, who were all shooting at Goldberg as Orion barked out orders. That's when you noticed that one of the players who had played with them since the PeeWees wasn't there.

"Connie, is there not meant to be another boy, he's blonde, wears number ninety-nine?" You inquired, looking back at the girl.

She smiled slightly, "awe yeah, Banks, he plays for Varsity now." She spoke, almost proud of her ex-teammate. "Well, I better get back to practising, we need to speak again Y/N!"

You grinned, "definitely!"

the girl skated away, lapping around some of the other players, then shooting a puck past Goldberg into the net.

When practise finished Ted approached you, "so did you speak to anyone?"

"Only Connie, she's super nice, but she thinks you're dead grumpy." You answered, this made him frown slightly.

"I know this is a lot to ask, but do you think you could find Conway and try to talk to him?" He asked, a glint of pleading in his eyes.

You smiled, "yeah I'll speak to him, just because I love you so very much," you teased lightly, which caused him to gently slap the back of your head.

"You're a cheeky prick," he laughed, helping you up.

"That's what you get for having a sixteen-year-old sister when you're thirty!" You grinned back, walking off the ice with your beloved older brother.

• • •

You spotted the brunette boy in the distance walking out of Eden Hall, quickly, you jogged after him.

"Charlie!" You called out, which made him turn around.

He grimaced when he saw you fast approaching, "what do you want?"

"I just want to talk, you seemed kind of," you hummed. You tried to think of a way to make this sound like you weren't being bitchy, "agitated, earlier."

He huffed slightly, "Obviously, have you seen my coach!"

"Hey! Let's remember that's my brother!" You faked annoyance before laughing.

This made him smile, "Fine we can talk, under one condition."

"Woah there Conway, take me out for dinner then we can see where it goes!" You joked, making him flush under the blinding sun.

He shook his head sheepishly, "no! Not like that, I meant to buy me ice cream!" He scrambled out, "if you buy me ice cream, I'll talk to you about anything you want."

You pondered his requirement, "are you asking me on a date Conway?"

"It's a get-together, not a date! Don't be so silly!" He groaned.

You chuckled at his comment, "come on!" You cheered, beckoning him to follow you towards the seafront. Where an ice cream truck would roll on by tweeting out a chirpy tune at exactly ten past five every evening.

The pair of you reached the boardwalk next to the swirling sea just in time to hear the merry tune which signified it was ice cream time. Charlie immediately sped-walked over to where the truck would park and scowled at you as you slowly traipsed over.

"Okay, number ninety-six what are you for having?" You quipped looking up at the boy.

"Two scoops, chocolate orange and vanilla," he answered back after studying the array of flavours intently.

You only smiled at him before going up to the window, "a two scoop cone of chocolate orange and vanilla," you hummed, "and a rocket ice lolly for me."

"That'll be four dollars and fifty cents, doll," the woman in the truck said, handing Charlie both of the sweet treats while you reached for a five-dollar note then slid it over to her.

"Thank you!" You grinned, taking your ice lolly from Charlie.

"Since we never introduced ourselves directly to each other," you spoke before tasting your lolly. "I'm Y/N Orion, I'm sixteen and I grew up in Tampa."

Charlie gave you an odd look before reluctantly speaking, "I'm Charlie Conway, ex-captain of the Ducks and the USA team and I'm also sixteen. Oh and I'm from Minneapolis."

"Lovely to meet you, Charlie Conway!" You smiled towards him, a smile which he returned apprehensivley.

You grabbed his free hand and pulled him towards a free bench and sat down, indicating him to sit down next to you.

"So, Y/N what brings you to Eden Hall?" He asked.

"Well I don't go to school there but Ted just wondered if I could help him gain some information on the players." You explained, Charlie didn't seem to be fond of this answer.

"So you're only here right now with me for some sort of spy deal?" He accused, anger radiating off of him.

"No! Of course not, he just wanted to know how to get you guys working as a team!" You defended, hoping this answer would calm him down.

He scoffed, "well excuse me, we are a team, the ducks, it's just Orion is not a part of it!"

"Come on Charlie! He just wants whats best for you!" you pleaded.

He huffed again and silently got up and stormed away, you quickly followed him, "Charlie, he doesn't mean anything bad!"

•••

You trudged back into the Orion household, swiftly going to your room and slamming the door.

"Y/N you good?" Ted shouted over towards your room, there was a lengthy silence that followed which made him enter your room.

"Charlie hates me!"

[babbybones]

Oekaki updatez...

Monster Kidz Oekaki is still up and i'd like to keep it that way, but i need to give it some more attention and keep people updated on what's going on/what my plans are for it. so let me jot some thoughts down...

data scraping for machine learning: this has been a concern for a lot of artists as of late, so I've added a robots.txt file and an ai.txt file (as per the opt-out standard proposed by Spawning.ai) to the site in an effort to keep out as many web crawlers for AI as possible. the site will still be indexed by search engines and the Internet Archive. as an additional measure, later tonight I'll try adding "noai", "noimageai", and "noml" HTML meta tags to the site (this would probably be quick and easy to do but i'm soooo sleepy 🛌)

enabling uploads: right now, most users can only post art by drawing in one of the oekaki applets in the browser. i've already given this some thought for a while now, but it seems like artist-oriented spaces online have been dwindling lately, so i'd like to give upload privileges to anyone who's already made a drawing on the oekaki and make a google form for those who haven't (just to confirm who you are/that you won't use the feature maliciously). i would probably set some ground rules like "don't spam uploads"

rules: i'd like to make the rules a little less anal. like, ok, it's no skin off my ass if some kid draws freddy fazbear even though i hope scott cawthon's whole empire explodes. i should also add rules pertaining to uploads, which means i'm probably going to have to address AI generated content. on one hand i hate how, say, deviantart's front page is loaded with bland, tacky, "trending on artstation"-ass AI generated shit (among other issues i have with the medium) but on the other hand i have no interest in trying to interrogate someone about whether they're a Real Artist or scream at someone with the rage of 1,000 scorned concept artists for referencing an AI generated image someone else posted, or something. so i'm not sure how to tackle this tastefully

"Branding": i'm wondering if i should present this as less of a UTDR Oekaki and more of a General Purpose Oekaki with a monster theming. functionally, there wouldn't be much of a difference, but maybe the oekaki could have its own mascot

fun stuff: is having a poll sort of "obsolete" now because of tumblr polls, or should I keep it...? i'd also like to come up with ideas for Things To Do like weekly/monthly art prompts, or maybe games/events like a splatfest/artfight type thing. if you have any ideas of your own, let me know

boring stuff: i need to figure out how to set up automated backups, so i guess i'll do that sometime soon... i should also update the oekaki software sometime (this is scary because i've made a lot of custom edits to everything)

Money: well this costs money to host so I might put a ko-fi link for donations somewhere... at some point... maybe.......

[folk-enjoyer]

Song of the day

do you want to know the history of a folk song? submit an ask or dm me and I'll cover it

"I Ride an Old Paint/Leavin' Cheyenne" Carl Sandburg, 1937

"I Ride an Old Paint/Leavin' Cheyenne" is a traditional cowboy ballad, first published in 1916 by John Lomax in "Cowboy Songs and Other Frontier Ballads"

and later, in 1921, by Nathan Howard "Jack" Thorp in "Songs of The Cowboys"

and even later in 1927, by Carl Sandburg in " The American Songbag"

all 3 of them propose different origins to the song, which demonstrate a larger story-

Carl Sandburg says in The American Songbag that he heard it from a singer who heard it from a cowhand traveling to the border with some friends:

Jack Thorp says that he heard it from a cowboy in Pecos City, Texas, but doesn't say who.

Luckily, with John Lomax, there actually is a thread to pull with the origins of this song.

John Lomax had learned the song from Cowpoke Jess Morris who at multiple times had said that he learned the song as a child working on his father's ranch from Freed-man Cowboy Charley Willis, a famous Black cowboy and employed by Morris' Father, E.J Morris.

in 1928, he says that he learned it working at his father's ranch at a young age but doesn't specify Charley Willis.

Amarillo Sunday News-Globe (Amarillo, Tex.), Vol. 19, No. 133, Ed. 1 Sunday, March 18, 1928 (p. 2)

and in 1952, where he specifies that it was Charley Willis who taught him.

Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Fort Worth, Tex.) Sun, Jun 01, 1952. (p. 18)

In J. Morris' unpublished manuscript and other correspondence that's been archived at the American FolkLife Center at the Library of Congress, he talks about the life of Charley Willis. He was an amazing cowhand because of his soothing voice, how he was leaving from Texas to Wyoming, how he might have actually had a horse called "Old-Paint." If you're interested in learning more about that, i recommend:

this short article

this npr article

and chapter 12 of this book

While neither Charley Willis nor his son were ever recorded singing this song, in 1942, Jess Morris was finally recorded by John Lomax, and this version is probably as close to the version by Charley Willis as we're going to get

it seems that in 1913, Jess Morris recorded the song, but this recording no longer exists, but here's a tag for it.

Steven Wade, The Beautiful Music All Around Us (2012) p.345, The American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

as with many things, however, one of the first recorded renditions of this song belongs to Harry McClintock in 1928

based on the similar lyrics in all of the older versions, I believe this song is actually a Descendant of "The Wagoner's Lad" (also called "Lovely Nancy" or "My Horses Ain't Hungry" sometimes) and belongs to the "On Top of Old Smokey" family of traditional folk music.

take a look at the lyrics from the 3 books it was first recorded in

While Sandburg's is pretty different, Lomax and Thorp's versions both contain lyrics that are also in "The Wagoner's Lad" as well as other similarities, as do Jess Morris' version and Harry Mcclintock's.

here are "The Wagoner's Lad" lyrics to compare with

"The Wagoner's Lad" was first compiled in 1906 by Cecil Sharp and published in 1917

where Sharp explains that it was much much older and that the Appalachian culture was particularly skillful at persevering traditional folk songs. this song also probably comes from even older, more traditional folk tunes from English folk music.

it was first recorded in 1926 and performed by Kelly Harrel as "My Horses ain't Hungry"

my favorite rendition is "Pretty Nancy" by Jean Ritchie in 1971

Getting back on the topic of "Old Paint," my favorite version of all time is by contemporary artist Colter Wall in 2023, who combines the best aspects of the traditional song's various melodies and lyrics and really makes the story of the song stick out as a bittersweet masterpiece.

Anyway, I don't know who wrote "Old Paint". like with all folk music, it's very likely that it has multiple origins or that Charley Willis learned it from someone else. Regardless, I'm happy that he's credited with writing the song. black history in the American West is so often erased that whatever shred of recognition that is given to black cowboys is something to hold onto.

[teddyqd]

20 Questions for Writers

eeee thanks for the tag @fuckyeahfang!! <3 i'm gonna tag @maraschinomerry if u wanna (no pressure tho!)

1. How many works do you have on AO3? 31! Dang I've been writing fic for a second and a half huh (Note: one of these fics is not mine lol -- I posted it for a friend without AO3)

2. What's your total AO3 word count? 77,138 -- waough

3. What fandoms do you write for? Whatever's rotting my brain most at the moment -- I had a long streak of Critical Role, which went into TMA, and I have a feeling Dunmeshi might get a few fics by the time it's done with me; also original stuff but I don't post that

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

My Lightbringer - 4,891 Hits, Critical Role

[incoming communication] - 3,018 Hits, Lifeline

little blue pills - 2,919 Hits, The Magnus Archives

The Hands-On Approach To Teaching Dunamantic Spells: A Guide by Essek Thelyss (Results may vary) - 2,271 Hits, Critical Role

Shitty Hair - 1,190 Hits, My Hero Academia

5. Do you respond to comments? I try, I really do, but sometimes I'll see one and be like "I'll reply to that later!" and then I don't and then it's been 2 years and I feel bad for replying so late that I just don't 😭 But I do read and appreciate them all I prommy

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? this would require me to finish fics EVER lmao... but seriously probably (Don't) Look Away. Do NOT read this if you haven't played Outer Wilds, but DO go and play Outer Wilds, and THEN read this.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Probably [incoming communication]? It's definitely the ending I'm most proud of -- it's very self indulgent, but I'm fond of it :"

8. Do you get hate on fics? nah people tend to be chill

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? Sometimes, but not often, and I post it even less often. I prefer reading it to writing it, but I do like tossing around ideas I'll never write about the characters' weird and intriguing kinks lmao

10. Do you write crossovers? I don't tend to, unless they're incredibly funny to me. Reading-wise, crossovers just annoy me because there's 2x the chances for mischaracterisation/misunderstanding of the setting(s), but sometimes a really good one can scratch my brain.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? not to my knowledge!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? Not into another language, but I have had a podfic made of Cabin Fever -- which was great since it was a scriptfic anyway! It's really well made, go give it a listen!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? Quite a few! Not in a while, but it's fun to work with someone whose brain ticks in synch with mine about a character or ship. I actually started dating my current partner in part because we were talking about a fic we wanted to write together! We'll get to it one day, and get sooo much hate about it it's quite fucked up LMAO

14. What’s your all time favorite ship? MAN. YOU CAN'T ASK ME THIS. it's like picking children. uhhh Shadowgast (Critical Role) is up there for All Timers but they are def not the only one. Probably the one I've thought most about, but now I'm thinking about Blupjeans (TAZ)... JMart.... augh. i love when people love each other despite the very terrible consequences

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? little blue pills! It's a fun concept -- I love fucking with the very rubbish trope of soulmate AUs and making them Weird and Queer, but I am not great at finishing projects and I have also cooled slightly on TMA since I started it.

16. What are your writing strengths? big emotions! being purple prose but like good about it! Weird People.

17. What are your writing weaknesses? finishing things, plotting, writing convincing dialogue -- yknow, just little things (🥲)

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? It can be done well, but it needs to be considered deeply. Also, used sparingly. I like throwing in terms of endearment in other languages, but when it's whole conversations, it's not fun to be checking google translate/the AN every five seconds.

19. First fandom you wrote for? the first one that's still up? Layton Brothers! the first ever? harry potter 😔

20. Favorite fic you’ve written? i hate favourite questions i hate favourite questions uHHHHHH You Were My Conscience. fucked up monster lovers trying to moralise their way out of being responsible for a man's mental breakdown <3

thanks again for the tag sunny i love u mwah

[syn4k]

hallo came here to ask. I really liked the little things ya write, the stuff I've read is really really cool n i finally have the time to read some long fics n stuff, so what are some fics of yours that you could recomend? idk where to start n I'd like to hear more abt the stuff ya make :]]

oh my goodness this is actually a really nice ask to receive,, hello anon! glad you're enjoying our shorter works!

we have three long-ish fics that are all up on our ao3 as well as a couple multichapters in progress.

the two finished long(ish) fics of ours that i'd reccomend:

twice. (40,503 words) | Hermitcraft, No Romantic Relationship(s), Teen and Up Audiences, Graphic Depictions of Violence, Major Character Death

An alternate universe with a fantasy setting, Xisuma and Evil Xisuma-centric. This work follows the journey of one Xisuma Void, King of Hermit's Hollow, and one Xelqua (Exy) Void, his younger brother who came into the world under less than usual circumstances and has picked up a hobby that X isn't too fond of. Misunderstandings occur and spiral. If you're worried about the MCD, it might help to know that they do get better, just not within the timeline of the work!

the younger years (10,557 words) | Empires SMP, No Romantic Relationship(s), General Audiences, No Archive Warnings Apply

In the desert capital of Pixandria, the king has gone missing without so much as a trace or a warning. A curious young girl slips into his house to poke around and perhaps get some clues, running into another Emperor on the way. About a thousand years later, a tired history major who lives in that same desert unearths a chest while digging a garden, leading him on a journey around the Empires.

[-<:>-]

now, we also have some works in progress that are either already decently long or which we're planning on making longer! both of these are Empires fics because we have a hyperfixation

works in progress of ours that i'd reccomend:

(i'll tend to the flame, you can worship the) ashes (currently 16,572 words) | Empires SMP, No Romantic Relationship(s), Teen and Up Audiences, Creator Chose Not to Use Archive Warnings, check the tags on this one for more information

In the aftermath of the Empires S1 apocalypse, Fwhip and his sister Gem are headed towards an obscure corner of the world in which a portal sits. Their plan is to go through this portal to a kinder world, one where they can escape all of the horrors of this one. One night, they touch down in the desert and, almost by accident, come into contact with Pixlriffs, the Copper King, who has been missing for eight years. They decide to bring him with them on their journey, but it becomes clear immediately that something is very wrong with Pix, and he's not talking. The story follows the three as they journey across the world, have arguments over food rations, survive a freak plot-relevant bear attack, and try to navigate both the crushing weight settled on Pixl's shoulders as well as their own. Things do get bleak a lot, but I promise it doesn't have a bad ending.

invisibility (What?) (currently at 3,422 words) | Empires SMP, Jimmy | Solidarity/Scott Major | Smajor1995, General Audiences, No Archive Warnings Apply

This one started as a oneshot and then we realized that oh hey, it could have a plot! Scott goes out at 3am one Sunday evening to meet up with his lover, but things go wrong when he feeds his horse a diluted invisibility potion. (The horse is fine, don't worry.) A guard at a watchpost nearby notices, and soon the message is out to all the allies of Rivendell that a minion of Xornoth may or may not have been spotted going away from the site. Despite this being an M/M shipfic (from us? The horrors!), the focus is less on Scott and Jimmy's relationship than it is on the political shenanigans that ensue when Scott tries to walk the line between "no, guys, Xornoth isn't coming back" and not outing himself as gay. It's sure to be a ride, both to read and to write.

that's it really hope you enjoy

[brightside-of-the-upsidedown]

Baby, I Got Sick This Morning

Chapter Eight

Rating: Explicit

Ships: Harringroveson, Billy Hargrove/Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson

Word Count: 44,475

Status: On Going

Chapter Summary: Eddie touches base with the Party, Steve gets a cover story, Billy loves being a brat, tattoos, and Eddie and Steve finally get some of that sexual healing~ ❤

Chapter Notes: There is a moment at the end where Billy accidentally uses his hypnosis to make Steve come. No harm done and will be addressed in chapter 9, but it could be construed as dubious consent, so be warned.

Next update may take three weeks instead of two for health reasons, but I will try my best to stick to original schedule. Thank you for your support ❤

Story Summary: Steve is dying, but what hurts the most is watching how it's affecting his family, his friends, everyone around him.

Nothing seems to be helping - not his community rallying around him, not magic itself, and not the devoted attention of Eddie Munson. Eddie is a rock and a hurricane in Steve's life. Steve might also be a little bit in love with him.

Then, one day when all other options run out, Eddie introduces him to one Billy Hargrove, and Steve's already-screwed-up life might be taking a turn. But is it for the better or for the more dangerous?

Notes: not all of Steve's chronic issues will be healed. He will always have some disabilities because I ain't about about that 'cure all' shit. They're just saving his life here.

As for the magical pregnancy: it will be in the sequel, so you'll be able to read this as a stand alone if it's a squick for you. I gotchu buddies ❤

Tags: Terminal Illnesses, Chronic Illness, Fantasy, What If Stranger Things Was More Like Buffy The Vampire Slayer?, Magic Shit, Mentioned Malpractice, Magic Practice, Magical Healing Cock, Future Magical Pregnancy? It's all complicated and Fairy Tale Rumplestiltskin bullshit, Magical Creatures, Demodogs are Hellhounds, Steve is bad sick from an injury, head injuries, Head Injury, Past Torture, Past Relationship(s), past Stancy, Tinnitus, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Chrissy lived and is living her best life somewhere, mention of cults, Steve's having a bad time but it improves, Steve Needs a Hug, he's gonna get one and more, Billy Hargrove is Bad at Feelings, Eddie Munson Has a Crush on Steve Harrington, Steve with long hair, I'm running out of ideas for tags so I'll add more later, please suggest tags if you like, slow updates but please comment it helps so much

[ginoeh]

Shipper Tag Game

I was tagged by the lovely @tj-dragonblade , thank you!

What ship were you completely obsessed with as a teenager, but now you don’t care about anymore?

As a teenager... well, that was quite a while ago lol. I suppose that would have been Harry/Draco. First fandom, first queer pairing, first smut stories. I was such a sweet sweet summer child XD The early 00s were wild

Which ship would you consider your first one?

Soooo. Funny story. Way back when, I got into fanfiction via fanfiction.net. You know how their filter system is bad/non-existent? Yeah. Little me, on her first outing to ffnet, didn’t know how to operate the character settings. I clicked on the first story on the top of the first page of the HP section. It was a Snape/Hermione star-crossed lover deal. It flash-fried my brain, taught me content curation in a crash course and incidentially made me partial to the ship for quite a few years...

Your first fanfic was about which couple?

See above lol. I will never ever forget the experience. I tried to find that story later for downloading (like an ugly beloved keepsake ig lol) but never managed.

If you mean fanfic I've written: it was gen.

Do you remember the first couple you saw fan art of?

Kakashi/Obito

Have you ever gotten into ship discourse?

Nope. Scraped by a few times since I entered the tumblr bubble but managed to stay out of it. I don’t get the point. It's freaking fictional characters in fictional worlds. Go touch grass or something instead... (but you will make me fucking mad if you try to drag me into these things with wild ad hom accusations based on what i ship or dont ship)

Did you used to have a NOTP or have one currently?

No, not really. It's only ever preferences. There are some I dislike due to my own hc/inability to suspend my disbelief but I wouldn’t call them NOTPs. I just don’t read them.

Who were the last couple in the last fanfic you read?

Dreamling

Currently, do you have any OTPs?

I actually dislike the term OTP. It's a scale of preferences for me. There are few (read: none) fav characters that I can only see with one love interest (and anyway, sometimes i do prefer plot over love story. wild take i know) and the more time I spend in a fandom the more I diversify.

Is there any couple that, to this day, you are extremely mad about not getting into?

I don’t get this question, sorry. If I'm interested, I'll search it out. Even if the fandom is old. AO3 is an archive for exactly that reason.

Is there any ship you used to dislike but now you think they’re kind of interesting?

Not that I can think of, at the moment!

Do you have any ship that, in the past, would have been considered normal but now you would be cancelled over?

Probably? I'm not clear on what all one is getting cancelled over this week/month/year by which group of 'concerend bystanders'. I suppose I might get cancelled for the mentioned Hermione/Snape?

What is your favourite crack ship?

I'm so glad you asked. It's clearly Dream/Helm (thank you for that @writing-for-life ) Or Gollum/The One Ring (thanks go to Neil himself here). Or - actually, never mind lol.

What is the couple you read the most fanfics about?

At the moment it's Dreamling. But I cycle through fandoms/pairings periodically...(btw im looking for more Johanna/Death? If anyone could point me in the right direction?)

What do most of your ships have in common?

At least one character has a dark/unknown/violent/tragic past (they can be victim or perpetrator!!! I'm all for character development babey)

What do you absolutely hate in a ship?

I don’t hate ships? As I said above. Possibly the reduction on 'I can fix him/her' or 'my love will save him/her from depression/"the darkness"/etc.' but that is mostly a matter of the author's style of crafting characterization and plot and has nothing to do with the ship itself.

I'm tagging @bazzybelle , @seiya-starsniper , @writing-for-life if you want to or maybe just point me towards your post if you've done it already?

[strange-creature-222]

HELLO, WELCOME, WHY DON'T YOU TAKE A SEAT? RELAX, GET COMFORTABLE, TAKE A SECOND IF YOU NEED TO

Here's my little blog site thingy, I'd recommend using it while viewing my blog, so the posts aren't annoying white blocks

Y'all can call me Creature, Archivist, or scourge , I go by it/they pronouns, as well as any neopronouns

MORE INFO BELOW [warnings, interests, tags, blinkies, and is that a playlist of songs I like?]

One: GENERAL WARNING FOR INSECTS, ARACHNIDS, AND OTHER CRITTERS IN THIS BLOG

I SHOULD ALSO ADD THAT IM REALLY INTERESTED IN JUST ABOUT ANY OTHER ANIMAL THAT PEOPLE FIND SCARY

Two: this is my only account, I don't have a side blog or art blog right now, if you specifically want to see my art you can use my art tag (tags listed below)

Three: I block freely so I'm not writing a big dni, don't interact if you fall under basic dni criteria (racists, pedos, nazis, etc. You know who you are), terfs don't interact (although I don't see why you decided to come here in the first place)

Four: WARNING FOR EYESTRAIN!!!! I LIKE BRIGHT COLORS!!!! Oh and eyes, A lot of eyes

I tend to avoid flashing lights, they don't cause me pain but they're really annoying

If I should start tagging stuff as warnings just ask <3 I might not be amazing at it but I'll try

SOME STUFF IM INTERESTED IN

Wings of fire*

Will wood*

Warrior cats*

Wander over yonder

Lemon demon*

Animaniacs

Ride the cyclone

Hamilton

The beetlejuice musical

The Jekyll and Hyde musical*

Tally hall

Miracle musical

Jack stauber

Lackadaisy

Gravity falls

Across the spider-verse

Birds (mainly birds of prey)

Sea Creatures

Bugs

animals that people find scary in general

Fossils

history

Space

Rats

My chemical romance*

The owl house

The strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde*

The glass scientists*

The Magnus Archives*

A bunch of other things

*starred interests are ones I mainly post about*

MUSIC

MY TAGS

MY ART POSTS

#creature draws : this one has my art!

#creatures neon dragons : this one has some simple brightly colored sketches of dragons on a black background (im not sure I'm continuing this, all posts here are old)

#super cool art : other peoples art that I reblog

#creatures comic collection: comics that I reblog, I will still also put comics in the art tag

MY TEXT POSTS

#creatures ted-talks / #creatures ted talks : these have my text posts, stuff where I talk (I don't do so very often)

#creature answers : this one has my answers to asks and responses to tags

MY REBLOG STUFF

#creature rambles In someone else's post : self explanatory, I talk in someone else's post

#very important post (vip) : this one has posts I find important, nowadays I stick to things with helpful links

#creatures faves : posts I really like

#creatures faves² : posts I really really like

#creatures saved files : this one has things I want to save for later

#creatures saved files art edition : art tips and color palettes I wanna save

INTERESTS

#wee woo : will wood related stuff

#silly music people doing silly things : other musician related stuff (where you'll find lemon demon and mcr posts grouped together, yaaayy!!)

#casualdejekyll and formaldehyde : Jekyll and Hyde related stuff

#Normal British archives : The Magnus Archives related stuff

#wof of fire : wings of fire related stuff

#warrior kitty cats : warrior cats related stuff

(edit 2/20/24 THEY TOOK THE YELLOW TEXT AWAY WHAT THE FUCK)

Any now for a collection of blinkies and banners (credits in tags)

HERE'S MY PRONOUNS PAGE, THIS HAS MY NAMES, PRONOUNS, WHAT WORDS YOU SHOULD CALL ME, AND OTHER QUEER STUFF