#My chapters are usually so short

[demaparbat-hp]

For the Spirits— Chapter VII: Take Me South

Take me south when it's the time

Pour me away like golden wine

I'll form a splash and it will dry

But in the shape of you

—Pure You by Nothing But Thieves

.

Yume placed her hands on her hips and took a step forward. “That I do, yet I can't help but wonder about the timing. Heading South, seeking information on the Tribes…it's all very sudden, don't you think?”

The folded parchment hidden under his vest suddenly seemed to hold the weight of the world. Zuko placed a hand on his chest, where the sketch rested just above his heart. He stared thoughtfully at the floor.

Why now, indeed?

[keeps-ache]

blood of the covenant

[vinelark]

omGGG, with every snippet youre giving out the more excited im getting for ch 5 of bbts 😭 for certain were gonna be eating good when it drops 👌👌👌

glad you’re excited!! i hope it’ll be a good meal after the wait 🍽️🫡

[come-down-that-tree]

Prologue Previous

Come Down That Tree! (An aftermare story)

Chapter 20:Unu partì per piglià a so scarpa, l'altri dui parlavanu.

Geno had watched as the other looked absolutely flabbergasted at his bare foot. Understandable. How could someone go through their whole day without noticing they’re missing a shoe?

That was a show of incredible head-in-the-clouds behavior.

Not that clouds couldn’t be very distracting but that was certainly not the point he was trying to make.

Point was: Nightmare had been rightfully mortified by the ordeal and had eventually run off to search for the missing boot, shouting that he must have lost it on the way back.

And all of this led to his current situation: alone with Dream, a plate of untouched cake sitting innocently in front of him and a ring around his finger.

The last element made his mind twirl in a confused dance, hesitant on where to put his next step and if doing so would unleash a beast or a rose. 

The fluttering feeling spluttered out once a simple question was thrown his way.

“Do you like the cake?”

“Uh?”

“I said,”Do you like the cake?”, you barely touched it.” 

Geno hesitantly brought a piece of cake to his mouth, munching on it until it dissolved easily with a fizzy leftover taste (indicating it was at least partially monster food) and nodded in the other’s direction. 

“For my part, I think the berries are a bit young, it’s bitter than it should be.”

Another nod, it wasn’t like he was any good at baking himself. Baking With A Killer Robot was one of the only times he watched someone explain the process. Unsure if the dramatic poses and furious buzzsaws were an obligated addition.

Silence stretched for a minute.

They ate their piece.

He then spent a moment ogling at Nightmare’s gift and wondered about any implication with choosing a ring. 

Shaking his head, the monster chuckled at the thought. Mere coincidence! And perhaps a little cultural difference.

“Can I ask you something?”

Dream’s question was sharp, gutting the silence with a surprising precision.

He merely hummed in answer, eye still focused on his hand.

“Who are you?”

At that, he glanced up and met a serious gaze. He frowned.

“Mind elaborating? I’m Geno.”

The eyes didn’t blink.

“What do you want?”

“I’m calling you back when it’s relevant again. I don’t want anything.”

A stone statue peering at him, unblinking.

“What are you doing here?”

“I think I remember that it was you who dragged me here to be precise.”

Not a twitch, it was a bit eerie if he dared to say.

“Have you ever hurt Nightmare?”

A flash of something made the guardian's eyes shine for a second before it’s gone. Geno hesitated, waiting. Maybe Dream counted that as an answer.

“Willingly?”

And at that, he indignantly sputtered and before he realized what he was doing, he shook his head furiously.

A beat.

Another one.

A sigh and a rigid pose gaining back some fluidity.

“I want to trust you.”

It didn’t even occur to him that Dream could have been anything other than a trusting soul, maybe a bit naive. To his defense, the guy brought a stranger to the very treasure he was made to protect. 

“Allow me to think about it, alright?”

And like that, the tension disappeared fully as if nothing happened. Dream smiled and took another piece of cake before frowning jokingly.

“This one is thoroughly burnt.”

The monster chuckled and pointed at the blackened crust -pushing away the unease to think about at a later date, maybe never- and declared that as it was still possible to see the colors under the black, “it couldn’t be that burnt!”

And they bantered about failed cakes and if baking something at a high temperature could shorten the time efficiently (obviously it would but it would be worth some experimenting to determine the length it worked) and thus and that for a good while.

Above them, the blue of the day was blending out with a softer orange, making the clouds pink on the underside.

A black shape flew right above them, shrieking and startling them both.

“What was that?”

A thud resonated and something fell on the grass between them.

There, lying in all its fluffy glory, a whole bat. A whole confused creature who bonked hard on the tree’s bark. Somehow.

The event got two very different reactions out of them.

Geno bit out an incredulous laugh and Dream swiftly started fretting over the dazed animal, quickly pulling it into his lap to check it.

It had dark fur all over, except for some burned golden hue around its throat, and was roughly the size of a fast-growing pupper.

Geno watched, bemused, the guardian handling the bat with care, moving parts, observing stuff. 

“Do you do that often, you’re being very… efficient at the task?”

Without looking up from the small beast trying to sink tiny fangs in a thumb -which ended up not doing much beside getting a chuckle out of the spirit, bone can be heard to break- Dream hummed.

“Yes and no, I wouldn’t say it’s a very common occurrence but it is not the first time a bat bumped its head here,” he looked up, displaying an amused grin, “and now I’m starting to wonder if it’s not the same one as last time…”

Little screeches arose from Dream’s prisoner and the bat was released at last.

“Bye, little bat, please stop bonking your head against mother’s trunk.”

And, like that, they watched the chiropteran fly in a circle over them once before going away in the darkening surroundings.

Dream sighed once and they quickly fell back into silence.

The gentle wind played with the frayed end of his scarf and a lonely thought of days it blew without help idly passed his mind.

“Isn’t he taking a long time to find a boot?”

“He is.”

They both glanced at the village, with its newly lit lights, contemplating.

Geno wondered, face closed and pinched, if Nightmare was even capable of going down there without running into deep troubles.

“What do you mean by that? It’s just the village. A few folks there can be pretty rough -and most hard to please, ignore that I said that- but they aren’t bad!”

He said that out loud, curses.

“I’m sorry if you’re stuck in temland or something but I can’t say they made a good first impression on me and I’m pretty sure they had been making a lousy one on your brother for a while now.”

Dream kept quiet for a few seconds and idly, Geno briefly thought about adding more facts to the argument.

“...really?”

The voice was small and the eyes searching, searching for what? He wasn’t sure. 

He nodded.

They both glanced, once again, to the houses and streets, ant-sized people moving along and treading back home.

Geno swore and stood up.

“I’m going to go find him.”

The other did not follow but he felt burning eyes digging into his back all the way down the hill…

End of chapter 20... Go to chapter 21?

@dragon-tamer-1 @shinechermont

Geno!Sans belongs to @/loverofpiggies Nightmare, Dream and dreamtale belong to @/jokublog

That chapter is dedicated to @shinechermont! Happy birthday AC <3 🦇🎉💖

[loppiopio]

psychic damage.

[lorelaiislatte]

in which the power goes out, and greta opens up

[skania]

Replies to OnK Asks #3

Idk how this happened but I can already do a third round of replies, so here we go!

That's exactly how I read it, too. To me that panel confirms that Aqua has thought of being intimate with Akane, which contradicts his earlier statement about not seeing her as a woman. Which means the way he views Akane did change, some people just don't like acknowledging that.

Can a relationship be endgame just because it's healthy and can a relationship not be endgame just because it's toxic?

I mean, since this is fiction, then that can absolutely be a valid criteria in choosing your endgame ship.

That said, this is just my personal opinion, but I'm honestly not sure I'd consider Aqua and Kana particularly healthy. His feelings for her have been described as an "obsession" and Kana was so emotionally dependant on him at one point that she couldn't shine on her own. Aqua doesn't let her see the real him, the one that is so traumatized and guilt-ridden that he can barely function. Kana doesn't know about the darker sides of his personality which, combined with how easy to read she is, makes her extremely easy to manipulate; case in point, Aqua knows exactly what to say to get certain reactions out of Kana. So Kana is basically at his mercy, if he chooses to manipulate her she's essentially defenseless.

These issues seem bigger to me than anything that Aqua and Akane have going on, because at least Aqua and Akane are pretty much equals mentally. It also helps that they have developed enough emotional intimacy that Aqua feels comfortable showing himself as he is to Akane, and that Akane has an accurate reading of him overall.

So it's just like you say, there aren't any perfect relationships anon! It's up to Aka to decide which relationship works best for his story.

I agree, I think Aka kind of messed up by rushing the Aqua/Kana reunion. And by that I mean that we spent chapters upon chapters showing how dependant Kana is on Aqua and how miserable she is without him. This eventually led to Kana realizing how unhealthy this is and deciding that she isn't that kind of girl. Which is great! More than great actually, that's the Kana I know and love.

Except instead of letting Kana walk the walk, he basically has Aqua enter her life again almost immediately after. Which, again—I get it. Kana realized the issue and thus got the development she needed, so Aka considered it done. But it'd have been much more satisfying to see Kana actually shining without Aqua being in her life just yet lol

Here is to hoping Aka delivers when it comes to Aqua and Akane! Honestly, their big moments are so iconic that I do think Aka will rise to the occasion.

Yeah, even if Aka goes like: Kana is everything Sarina was and everything Aqua thought Ai to be, but since she is her own person it's like Aqua is getting the best of both worlds! I would just be like

Preach it anon! Being Aqua is suffering :(

My take is that Aqua messed up because now Ruby is more attached to him than ever. There is no way he can doom himself without breaking Ruby in the process, and the last thing he wants is to hurt her :(

Your English isn't weird at all, no worries anon! And I agree, I find it really soft too 😭 He is such a nurturing person by nature

I'm with you, Akane's goal is to save Aqua. Since her goal is intrinsically tied to him and to his outcome, trying to write her out on that premise backfires lol

I think Aka is at his best when he is subtly developing something rather than being in-your-face about it, so I can only hope that he subverts the expectations of everyone who is expecting the predictable end lol

That they're falling victim to confirmation bias.

If Akane were "the second option", she wouldn't have been in his thoughts at all lmao

I feel them completely because that's exactly how I felt during my first ONK read. I just think that Aqua and Akane have more potential that people give them credit for, so I'm choosing to have some faith in Aka 😂

So they want Akane to steal Kana's thunder?

Kana is like a mirror, she reflects back whoever you project onto her 😂 Just kidding, but I am glad that more and more people are talking about all the parallels to Sarina and Ai.

Yes, me too!

That's one of the reasons I love her, she is such a dynamic character that she fits the story in its entirety instead of just fragments of it 😭

I went through something similar! OnK came out while I was reading Kaguya, but since I already wasn't very impressed with Aka's writing and the topic didn't interest me, I didn't bother picking it up. I forgot about it until the anime came out, and since I heard so many good things I decided to give it a shot. I already knew Ai would die, but making it through the first episode was a struggle. There were a few things I found interesting here and there, but not enough to keep watching. Then I heard about Akane and got curious, so I decided to pick up the manga and she blew me away. I've been here ever since lmao

[27-royal-teas]

sat down three hours ago n pounded out 2k of car crash angst. if it was slight slash but mostly genfic would u read

[memes-in-a-half-shell]

Arabian Nights AU (Turtle of choice x F!Reader) - Ch.3

After uh ..... 4 years of staying in my drafts, here’s the next chapter fsndfbsdjfbsd. (Yep, started that AU in 2019 <__< ...)

Last chapter we spent some time with Raph and Donnie, now it’s Leo and Mikey’s turns !!

Reminder that this story is going to be a sort of “choose your own adventure/romance” kinda thing. “But Mama Vee, can I romance more than one turtle?” No. ‘cause, hell, that’d be too much work x’D Stick with one and read the story again if you want to romance another 👏 it’ll be indicated at the start of chapters whenever such choice is required.

Ch.1 || Ch.2

The next day you woke up with the sun, the whole world ever so silent - frozen in gold. You couldn’t help the feeling of being called by the oasis, the view of water ever so relaxing. It didn’t take long before you made your way to the luscious garden surrounding the source, walking barefeet into the fresh grass. A calm sigh escaped your lips as you stopped into a ray of light, closing your eyes and simply taking the moment in. Peace...

“Can you breathe any louder?”

You jumped slightly, unaware that you were not alone. Your gaze rapidly scanned the place and that’s when you found one of the turtles on a large, flat rock, a little farther from your position. It was Leo, the creature seated in a meditative posture, the back of his hands placed on his knees, palms up to the sky. You made your way to him, already apologizing:

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know you were here...”

As you got before him, the blue clad turtle cracked open an eye, next showing a grin.

“Don’t worry, I’m just messing with you. ... It’s not everyday I get some company this early.”

He gestured the empty space next to him on the rock.

“Come. Sit with me.”

You accepted the invitation, taking place and giving a chance for silence to settle once more. You tried to mimic Leo’s posture - after making sure that his eyes were truly closed. It was ... strangely relaxing! Your palms turned to the world, your energy felt like a stream; coursing through your veins in a beautiful flow. And to feel the turtle’s presence and own energy in return somehow made you feel empowered. This creature you first met in fear was now an unexpected source of comfort...

“Donnie explained the situation to me last night,” calmly started the other, getting you out of your reverie. “... The voyage is feasible, but not without any danger. ... Raiders travel in large groups and are often merciless. We are but just four soldiers that can do so little much.”

“Don’t you have any allies that could help?” you asked, looking back at him. “There must be people that fight for the same ideals as yours.”

His blue eyes fell on you, ever so calm and poised.

“Of course. ... But they are far and by the time they would arrive, your people would be long gone by then. ... We are sadly alone in this case.”

A small frown invaded your traits, your heart suddenly beating hard.

“Let me help. Let me accompany you and fight!”

A stifled laugh escaped the terrapin, but it quickly died as he knew you were truly sincere.

“Do you at least know how to handle a weapon?”

“I’ve handled sickles in the fields to help my family during harvest!”

“But can you kill? Can you look into someone’s eyes and see their last light flicker away as you emptied them of their blood?”

He had asked that while slightly leaning towards you as a way to emphazise his words. You were speechless, finally looking away in defeat.

“I- ... I don’t know,” you mumbled. Although you looked back to him with confidence. “But I need to do something. I need to help my people and I will not stand on the sideline.”

The turtle smirked, getting back into his previous position.

“Your words have power in them, but who knows if they will translate properly into actions? ... I cannot say if you’re ready, but I might know who will.”

“Who?”

***

You met Mikey, as per Leo’s request, a bit later in the morning. As you approached an interior courtyard, you were first greeted by the soft thump echoes of arrows getting stuck into targets. Your eyes finally landed on the orange clad terrapin, taking a moment to observe his form as he was nocking another arrow to his bow. Although the smallest amongst his brothers (but still taller than you), Mikey’s body was toned to perfection - remaining an actual threat to any wrongdoers. Only wearing loose pants, but still adorning golden jewelry to complement his style, you could only admire such a force of nature being so at ease in his environment. Readying his bow, the flex of his arms had you gulping in no time, trailing your gaze along the lines of his scales glistening under the morning sun. His breathing slowed down, taking a moment to properly aim. And with a sharp air intake, he released the arrow, which successfully planted itself near the center of his makeshift target.

“Impressive,” you couldn’t help yourself.

The turtle rolled his shoulders, his radiant smile appearing in an instant.

“Enjoying the view?” he asked.

A slight blush rose on your cheeks, diverting your eyes. But you still walked into view and closer to the terrapin.

“... I didn’t mean to intrude or be impolite.”

“Nah, don’t beat yourself over that. If I can enjoy looking at someone, I sure hope others can enjoy me in return,” he winked.

He got another arrow out, preparing himself for another shot.

“Leo briefly told me about testing you over, right as I got out of my room,” he continued, closing an eye to get a better focus. “But I don’t see why, really.”

Mikey let loose once again, hitting close to the center. He then looked back over to you, this feeling of respect in his gaze.

“You survived the desert. To me, you’re strong already.”

You smiled politely, but that didn’t stop brief flashbacks from your time under the scorching sun and heat to get to your thoughts.

“Maybe it’s more luck than actual strength,” you said. “It felt quite like hell out there...”

The terrapin’s traits softened, offering you his bow.

“Then maybe you’ll be our lucky charm in our upcoming quest,” he added. “Let’s see how you fare first with a weapon.”

You briefly hesitated before holding the bow, having rarely got any chances to actually wield one - except the short one your father had for hunting. The weapon felt a bit heavier, yet its shape was easy to place in your hands.

“I’m a bit rusty with bows, unfortunately,” you confessed, testing the chord and getting into an aiming position.

Mikey got closer, his touch gentle as he properly placed your arms and posture.

“Keep your firing arm’s forearm in a straight line, lining it perfectly with an arrow - up to your ear. Twist that holding arm a liiiiiiiittle towards the inside - there we go.”

His proximity brought heat all over your body, feeling much more confident already with his encouragements. He next handed you an arrow, making sure it was properly nocked. The turtle’s arms were now extending with yours, mimicking you posture, standing right behind you.

“That’s it,” he said calmly. “Center yourself and extend your sight to where you wanna hit. Stop any shakiness by holding your breath...”

You felt like your arms were about to snap at any moment, the tension even greater than what you had experienced before with your father’s bow. You held your breath in, finally focusing your shot.

“Shoot,” simply commanded Mikey with a confident smile.

You released, the sharp sound of the string’s release thumping loud in your brain for a brief second. The arrow nearly missed the target, only to land in its larger, near-end, circle. You finally breathed out, although disappointed.

“Not bad!”

“That was atrocious,” you added, gazing back at the male.

“No need to be harsh on yourself,” teased Mikey. “At least I know you have some skills that can be worked on.”

You handed the bow back to the terrapin, stretching your arms afterward.

“I may have more luck  with shorter weapons,” you stated. “Like I mentionned to Leo, I handled sickles in the fields. I’m used to them.”

Mikey’s smile turned slightly flirtatious: “Oh, close combat, I like that too,” he ended with a quick wink. But his attention soon diverted as he proceeded to detach the quiver resting at his waist. “Although I think the best one to test you on that would be Raph - to which I’ll say good luck trying to convince him that you have any worth.”

How could you even spar with such a mountain, anyway?

“... If that’s what it takes to show you guys that I can defend myself and help, then so be it.”

“And that’s what I wanted to hear,” encouraged Mikey. “You’ve got spirits. It’s something you’ll need along the way.”

He rested his bow and arrows to a nearby weapon rack, next gesturing you to follow him.

“Now come! I think we deserve a lil’ break. Care for something to eat?”

You smiled, getting to his side and walking with him.

“Absolutely! Lead the way.”

((TO BE CONTINUED))

[zhouxiangs]

ah oui tu as appris la totale! (latin et grec😳) et tu préfères quoi entre les deux?👀

(ahaha don’t know if you’re fluent in french so speak in the language you’re comfortable with!)

pas du tout, i still understand it (which is extremely useful if you're in europe and use vinted regularly) but i don't remember how to say anything 😂

i usually had the two classes back to back (for an inhuman amount of hours too), it was the same professor, and i had a similar level in both languages so in my mind they're kinda the same thing asjdkasd but ancient greek was a lot more fun bc i got to write in a different alphabet!

[yoinkschief]

Wow, this prologue for Strip/Mafia is a lot longer than I thought it would be....

I mean I knew it was gonna be long but we're like halfway through it at at 6300+ words,,,

[littleholmes]

woke up this morning like

I’m so exhausted and depleted that even just sitting here typing this post on my phone is a struggle and I need to eat my breakfast and drink my tea but both are just sitting here and I don’t have energy to eat

and then as I typed this mom text she needed something and the little energy I have rn is being conserved so I can take care of her and so that leaves nothing much for me so I’m just sitting here trying to motivate myself to eat at least and maybe text a family friend to come over so they can take care of mom for a few hours so I can sleep or at least rest bc I have to work (thankfully from home) tomorrow, or maybe I can get someone to bring a meal ​bc the thought of trying to cook something for myself since mom still has leftovers for herself to cover lunch but I need to make us dinner, exhausts me more

[rose-blooms-red]

we have officially hit (a little over) 10k on this little bastard of a fault lines chapter.

and there are still at least 7 scenes (by my current count, at this moment in time, though they are admittedly subject to change or rearrangement depending on how it reads in the end) that either need to be finished or still need to be written at all. (half are at least started and the other half are just blank spots in the doc rn).

I had forgotten just how long these little bastards could get lmao. I'm gonna laugh forever if this bitch (chapter 13) ends up being 13k exactly. The chances are on the low side with that high unfinished scene count number but it would be So Funny.

[piease-iove-me]

might post a 6k first chapter of something. and kinda nervous because ik my subscribed people will hate me not working on my wips but- i mean thiam... can't believe that's what's holding me back out of all things... me writing for another fandom as well

[thelastspeecher]

hhhhhh I really wanna write, esp to work on my languishing multichaps, but work has been absolutely HORRIFIC

two people left, which means the rest of us had to scramble to pick up their sites and when we got site reassignments, I lost two sites that I really enjoyed and got two that I absolutely despise

(one of the sites would actually be kinda enjoyable if it weren't FOUR HOURS AWAY)

(the other site is actually two sites in the same city and the city is like the worst one in our network it's so fucking sketchy and smelly and one time someone pooped at the site so yeah I ain't thrilled about it)

(that four hours away site btw I'm only supposed to go to every other week but this month I've had to go every week to deal with Stuff and today I made my work schedule for next month and I get to go there every week AGAIN next month)

so yeah I've been way too beat to do much more than work on little snippets here and there. I've even been too beat some days to come up with fun little posts about my AUs :/

just as an update if people were wondering why I've been kinda quiet lately