#and finally. the only ot3 tag I could come up with:

[llamahearted]

they're currently in the middle of discussing which insurance plans are best suited to the outlaw lifestyle

prints + stickers ♥

[pikapeppa]

Year-End Writer's Round-Up: 2023

It’s that time of year, writer friends — time to take stock of what we’ve been up to this year! Tagging to literally ANY AND ALL WRITERS who would like to participate, but I’ll throw down some tags from the top of my head: @contrivedchaos @jadefyre @kittynomsdeplume @iamcayc @hollyand-writes @elveny @johaerys-writes @crackinglamb @mogwaei @alyssalenko @about2dance @cthu-boo @chloefraazers @fogsblue @lordofthenerds97, join in if you fancy!! If you're not a smut writer, feel free to leave out those stats, and feel free to add any accomplishments and "metrics" that are significant to you! 🥰

(Blank template at the bottom for convenience!)

Words written (published or not, WIPs totally count too!!): 999 496 — ARGH IT WAS SO CLOSE TO A COOL MILLION. I did this calculation on the evening of Dec 31 and I was like DAMMIT I NEED TO WRITE A DRABBLE LMAO. 😂🙈 Honestly, I’m surprised the word count was so high this year — I could have sworn my word count had dropped because I wrote very little for a few weeks after BG3 first came out LMAO!

Smut scenes: 42 — I've done better LOL. I’ll blame the slow-burn BG3 ships I’m working on currently. 😂

New things I tried:

I started dabbling in M/M smut this year, in the context of my beloved Horizon F/M/M polycules (Aloy/Drakka with either Kotallo or Nil). Usually when I write F/M/M threesomes, the focus is on the men pleasing the lucky lady of the group, but I headcanon Drakka in particular as being very unapologetically bi, so it’s only fair and right that he get some sweet M/M action. I’m looking forward to putting this M/M practice use on Halsin/Tav/Astarion when my BG3 writing finally gets to that point! 

This was also the first time that I wrote an AU where I gleefully yeeted the canon deaths LMAO. I’m usually a stickler for adhering to significant plot points including character deaths, but the dastardly and darling @iamcayc nudged me into writing Here Come the Dreams, where Varl and Fashav both get to live, and it was a total delight to keep those darling men alive and happy. 

I wrote a smut scene in first-person POV for the first time, using the adorable voice of Karlach from BG3. This was a particularly interesting challenge because I feel that the first-person voice calls for a more urgent in-the-moment kind of narration, which means that I had to alter my usual way of writing smut in terms of phrasing/wording and pacing, so it was a fun challenge! 

With Astarion/Tav/Halsin, this is my first time writing an OC who falls in love simultaneously with two people, and it’s been… interesting trying to negotiate the polycule coming together. Of course I had to get enamoured with (arguably) the two most emotionally complicated male LIs in BG3 and make my own life difficult, LMAO. I’ve been struggling a little with bringing the relationships together and it’s been slowing my writing down over the past month or two, but I’m trucking on because I love both Halsin and Astarion and I really do believe in the dynamics of the OT3. SILVANUS GUIDE MY HAND AS I FIGURE THIS SHIT OUT.

Fic I spent the most time on: 

Even The Hardiest Desert Blooms! I really sank my focus into my beloved Desert boy this year and wrapped up his fic, which is always a bittersweet feeling when you adore the pairing. 😭

Fic I spent the least time on:

Burning Blue (Karlach/Dammon). I was bitten by a sudden bug of adoration for them, and that piece basically came together in a day and a half because I was on fire to get it out. I LOVE THIS PAIRING SO MUCH. 😭🔥

Favourite thing I wrote: 

Even The Hardiest Desert Blooms has always been my self-indulgent pleasure because I just love Drakka to the moon and back, so focusing a lot of this year on his fic was a treat. But Here Come the Dreams was also an enormously fun project because I just went ham and hyperfocused on it for a month and a half. I really wanted to see if I could finish it in a month just for shits and giggles, but AS ALWAYS it ended up being longer than anticipated so I didn’t meet that goal, but it was still a total ball to come up with a fun little project and finish it as quickly as possible. 

Favourite thing I read: 

Hands-down, without a doubt, What’s A Sex Tape Between Friends?  by @auntie-coagulant. I don’t read much fanfic, and when I do, it's only for the ships that I don't write. So when I saw this fic recommended in the Kotallo server and I was like “Travis/Lis?? You have my attention.” My eyes were popping and I was HOWLING by the first chapter, and I’ve been dead in the water for this fic ever since and procrastinating on finishing the fic because MY EMOTIONS ARE NOT READY FOR THE HEARTBREAK.

Writing goals for next year: 

Finish Coming In Like A Western Wind. I’ve been sleeping on this fic since September because Astarion and Halsin turned my head and I feel really bad about it… but I do mean to finish it! 

Just keep on keeping on with my BG3 fics for Astarion and Halsin! I’ve been DYING to write smut for Halsin for months, and I have images living rent-free in my head of Astarion enjoying some very tender sensate focus, so let’s hope I get around to writing these scenes before I explode. 

**************

Template time!

Words written (published or not, WIPs totally count too!)

Smut scenes written (if applicable)

New things I tried

Fic I spent the most time on

Fic I spent the least time on

Favourite thing I wrote

Favourite thing I read

Writing goals for next year

Enjoy, friends!!! And cheers to another fulfilling year of writing! 🥰🥂

-- love from your friendly neighbourhood Pika! xoxo

[may-be-magic]

🏵️ 20 questions for fic writers - tagged by @calicomarie11

How many works do you have on AO3? 15

What's your total AO3 word count? 71,831 (Jesus I didn't know it was that much)

What fandoms do you write for? Ted Lasso, Leverage, Sense8, Scum Villain Self Saving System, and I used to write for Red vs Blue

What are your top 5 fics by kudos? In Search of an Anchor, What is Home?, Jamie's Favorite Sight, A Silent Morning, Finally Feel It.

Do you respond to comments? I try to but I'm very bad at it.

What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? Superglued Human of Proof for sure. My only sad ending on a fic.

What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Probably Among the Chanedliers

Do you get hate on fics? No, I've gotten one critique but it was reasonably polite.

Do you write smut? If so, what kind? Yes. Mostly in discord though. I have one smut fic posted rn and my current huge WIP has a couple smut scenes. Both are supernatural smut.

Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written? I haven't but I could see myself writing some in the future.

Have you ever had a fic stolen? No, thank God.

Have you ever had a fic translated? No

Have you ever co-written a fic before? Nope. I would actually love to with some of my fellow Ted Lasso writers though.

What’s your all time favorite ship? The Leverage ot3 probably. They're just so perfect for each other.

What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? I have a Leverage ot3 hanahaki fic I worked on in like 2018. I still think about it often I just have basically lost the muse for it completely.

What are your writing strengths? I excel at coming up with some super fun au ideas. Devising lore and stuff is just so fun to me.

What are your writing weaknesses? I am so wordy. Like. Distractingly so. As you can probably tell from the responses on this post lmao.

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? I have a couple Sense8 WIPs where I have written in German. But that's cause I took it for 2 years in high school and have a friend who's fluent. I wouldn't risk it otherwise. Kudos to those who can do it though.

First fandom you wrote for? Please do not judge me. It was Rooster Teeth/ Achievement Hunter RPF.

Favourite fic you’ve written? Oh easily Jamie's Favorite Sight. I wrote that in a like 6 hour rush of joyous energy and I go back to read it when I doubt myself as a writer.

And I will be tagging @singaroundelay @jamietwat @benjaminrussell

[polyamoryinfandoms]

Hi💚 I really like your blog!

I was wondering, since I'm "desperately" looking for polyamorous representation in media, could you please list some canon poly ships?

Thank you so much and have a good day <3

Hi, I added these from the top of my head -what I have not personally watched is italicized. I tried to write without my own thoughts about the ships since those are purely my opinions, but when I felt like it was important I added them in parentheses.

If any of our followers have suggestions as well, you can add them and I'll reblog/update the list, and you can also check our canon tag. :)

Endgame and/or Currently Canon:

You Me Her: Canon main throuple. The entire show is about these three navigating their relationship and discovering polyamory.

Sense8: Kala/Rajan/Wolfgang, presumably a throuple. This was unfortunately only canon in the wrap-up special, but the show also has multiple characters who get together via the cluster (Dani/Hernando/Lito is also considered platonic polyamory by the mods, though it's not necessarily explicitly specified as polyamory)

Siren: Closed throuple that becomes a v-relationship. (Note: I personally have issues with this portrayal that I won't get into here, but it was a poly relationship until the end of the series.)

Gossip Girl (2021): Looks to be a canon closed throuple between main characters

Kimetsu No Yaba/Demon Slayer: Tengen + his wives. Not main characters, so it takes a while for them to show up, nor are they in every episode after appearing.

New Amsterdam: unsure when this relationship starts but it looks like there's a canon relationship that forms in the newest season.

What We Do In The Shadows: Nadja & Laszlo are in an open relationship and have had other lovers in the show, including another main. It hasn't been explicitly stated but has been clearly shown, and in the season 4 trailer it's mentioned the characters are polyamorous, so explicit labeling may come later this season.

Professor Marston and the Wonder Women: canon throuple in a movie, I believe it's based off the real Wonder Woman creators.

Steven Universe: A recurring character in a polyamorous relationship who shows up later in the series, not in every episode.

Most Likely Canon/Heavily Coded: It may not be specifically stated as the above but I'd still say it would count as canon polyamory.

Moon Knight: Marc and Steven are part of the same system - as they are alters, Moon Knight's main has DID - and both seem romantically linked with Layla. (Whether or not either of them are actually currently together with her is not known, but I consider them as canon polyamory and have seen their relationship described as polyamorous!)

Gotham: There is a bisexual character who seems to be dating two other characters; they're unfortunately a bit vague for some relationships in the show and said character dies in the final season.

Leverage: Parker/Hardison/Eliot. Coded, and the show's creator confirmed them as an OT3. (After Leverage: Redemption I'm personally not quite sure if this is canon or if the creator is paying lip service, but that's my own view as a mod and I think it's up to fans - and it's still a ship I love dearly).

Canon, Not Endgame/Canon Poly Characters: spoilers ahead for these shows:

The Last Man on Earth: the character Todd enters a v-relationship with two women; ultimately it doesn't work out with one of them, but they do navigate the relationship and set their boundaries (including the fact that both women want to date him, but not each other). The group in general has a nice poly feel (Todd and a main male character even kiss casually in one of the episodes!) but there's nothing else explicitly stated.

Elite: I'm not too sure what the throuple is here, but - and major spoilers for the show - I'm fairly certain one of the main characters here dies.

Parks and Recreation: very commonly seen in reaction memes and generally played for laughs, but April is in a v-relationship for the early seasons.

You: a married couple is introduced in season 3 and they're polyamorous, and survive the season. Whether or not they will appear in future seasons is currently unknown.

She's Gotta Have It (Netflix) also has a polyamorous main character who leads the show, but I can't find any information on if she ended the show in a poly relaionship. Bob's Burgers also has a poly-coded character in Tina, though she's not in any relationship. Bojack Horseman has a character who has 7 fathers and they're in a healthy, happy relationship, though they aren't shown often and are usually only mentioned.

[cherryfinolahobbes]

Morning Chill

Prompt #2

Prompt: morning air just a bit colder than expected

Ships/Pairings: Ot3: Cosmic Hearts (Stephen Strange/OFC/Wong), Wong/OFC

Warnings: None. Fluff and light petting

A/N: I meant to add the prompt list Im using to the last Drabble and I forgot. The prompt list is linked above. I hope to continue these throughout the month, but a lot of it will decide on my work load because my vacation ends today. I do hope to continue them though because I really miss writing. Wong deserves so much more attention from the fandom so please enjoy a prompt with him.

Tagging: @mastersofkamartaj @kakashibabe02 (If you’d liked to be tagged, please let me know!)

Disclaimer: I dont own anything in the MCU/Marvel franchise. I only own Cherry and my own silly plots. These are for entertainment only.

Prompt: Morning Air Just a bit Colder than you Expected

For the most part the Sanctum stayed at an even temperture. Magic made it possible as it did many things in brown stone home, but not always. This morning the old building seemed to be ignoring it’s soft occupants. Not a single fire place lit in the autumn morning with the Great Seal Window faceted with several crystaline layers of frost.

The cold nipped at noses and fingers and Wong was going to get to the bottom of it once he got the damn stove to light so he could make some tea. He huffed and growled at the old appliance until a slender hand slipped past his brown one.

“You gotta speak nicely or it won’t work at all,” Cherry murmured, her own voice thick with sleep. She murmured something in a honeyed voice and turned the knob. Without missing a beat, the old gas range clicked and hissed to life with the flicker of fire and the young woman looked quite proud of herself.

“You’re going to have this whole building turned against me,” Wong muttered, the corners of his mouth tipping upwards. To be fair, the kitchen had all but come under Cherry’s hand. Even without having an ounce of magic in her blood, the appliances and gadgets seemed to bend to her whim. It felt like a loyal dog listening to someone else other than you.

Cherry laughed, her blue eyes bright and her cheeks still pink from waking as she placed the pot of water on the burner, “Well, sometimes you catch more flies with honey than vinegar,” She answered before a shiver ran through her frame. She was bundled against the cold in a heavy hoodie and sweat pants. She crossed her arms over her chest to ward off the cold.“Any idea what it’s so cold today?” The Sorcerer Supreme gave a shake of his head before he slipped his hand into the nook of her arm. He pulled the other woman to him, enjoying the scent of her as she came against him. No matter what time of day or activity he caught her in, she always smelled of vanilla and kitchen spices. He’d never figured out if it was a perfume she liked or if after all her years of cooking the scents had become embedded in her skin. He ran his hands over her arms and back to help warm her as she pressed closer to soak in his body heat.

“This old house is temperamental at best. After breakfast, I plan to go to investigate,” He liked the way she fit to him, soft body melding to his frame, warm and comfortable. It definitely stoked something else in him as he leaned down to press a kiss to her temple and then her cheek and finally the plush mouth which had already raised up to greet his. “If you’re cold…I can think of ways to warm you up,” He murmured, his voice going low and hungry as his hands slid down her ribs with purpose and he felt her respond. Her body arched into him, pressing close as she chased his mouth for another kiss.

“A fire would be nice,” She said against his lips, her tone sweet and soft as her fingers curled into the material of his robes. “And someone to share it with,”

A needy sound rose in the other man’s throat, pressing hard to her, herding her against the counter to pin her there, the kisses becoming edge with want, “Fire might take a minute. I had something more effecient in mind,” He purred against her. She gave that little whine he loved, a high pitched mewl in her throat, as her hands abandoned their perch on his chest, coming up to cup his face, kissing him greedily as he tugged at her shirt, wanting to feel the naked skin of her waist.

The whistle of the kettle shook them both apart like two people caught in a plot. Cherry’s cheeks were flushed and her eyes blown wide with desire. She watched him as the moment stretched and Wong finally made a gesture. Golden energy flicking the stove burner off and the sharp sound of the kettle began to die away.

“Now,” He murmured, lifting her up by the waist to deposit her on the kitchen counter. He fit himself in between her thighs as her small hands took his face again, her legs wrapping around his hips to anchor him to her. “Where were we?”

[theclearwaters]

I posted 1,300 times in 2022

43 posts created (3%)

1,257 posts reblogged (97%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@twilitty

@musingsofvenus

@renegadepack

@tattoocowboi

@howlonghaveyoubeenseventeen

I tagged 367 of my posts in 2022

#q - 184 posts

#leah clearwater - 59 posts

#jacob black - 47 posts

#bella swan - 39 posts

#anon - 32 posts

#julia jones - 23 posts

#kristen stewart - 22 posts

#seth clearwater - 21 posts

#inbox - 19 posts

#new moon - 18 posts

Longest Tag: 119 characters

#a perfect description of me remembering how author steamrolled over that perfect groundwork she laid for jacob and leah

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

If you're team wolfpack, do you also dislike the vamps?

We are anti-Cullen in this house (might make an exception for Rosalie tho)

8 notes - Posted November 9, 2022

#4

who on leah’s green earth is taking requests and where can I put monopoly money down to see more blackwater content. moodboards gifs fics a reason to live, i would like it all

9 notes - Posted December 6, 2022

#3

I’m working on answering the ask you just sent me lol and I might just dump everyone in your inbox as well. To start, Jared? 👀👀 (@gezellig-writes)

YES I WILL STOP EDITING TO ANSWER (thank you, srs)

do I like them:

I didn’t really have an opinion on him throughout the series, then I read the Illustrated Guide and decided I liked him - if only for how he handled the Sam/Emily clusterfuck and REVIVED her after she was hurt. My dude is the same age as Jacob, probably 15y/o at the time, and he handled it like a bloody champ.

5 good qualities:

someone has to be Sam Uley’s best mate I guess lol

he entertains Embry's side bets

seemed a pretty decent Second to Sam before Jacob took over

best vision in the Pack

makes little Kim happy, probably

3 bad qualities:

Everything about that scene in Breaking Dawn when he tried to play peacemaker and said to Jacob that he’d “torn” their family apart after he defected gtfo

Pulled the guilt thing on Seth: “Sue asked me to tell you—no, to beg you—to come home. She’s brokenhearted, Seth. All alone. I don’t know how you and Leah can do this to her. Abandon her this way, when your dad just barely died—”

THEN HE SAID TO MY GIRL, “Sam told me to beg. He told me to literally get down on my knees if I have to. He wants you home, Lee-lee, where you belong.”

NAH

favourite episode/etc:

Favourite scene I can recall is in New Moon at Emily's house. I like to think he wasn't entirely joking when he suggested that Bella could be bait.

otp:

gotta be our Kim surely

brotp:

Jared, probably: If Sam has a million fans, then I am one of them. If Sam has ten fans, then I am one of them. If Sam has only one fan then that is me. If Sam has no fans, then that means I am no longer on earth. If the world is against Sam, then I am against the world.

ot3:

imprint-addled Jared doesn't share (but there is a fic out there with Jared watching Kim/Seth and even after all these years I'm still not sure how I feel about it, I think it's by audreyii-fic?)

notp:

I've seen a few popular fics with Jared/Bella/Paul but just doesn't float my boat

best quote:

Of course I had to flip through New Moon for this:

"She's just a girl," Embry protested. "I didn't say it made sense. But that's why the bloodsucker's been trying to get past us. She's been heading for Forks." They continued to stare at me, mouths still hanging open, for a long moment. I ducked my head. "Excellent," Jared finally said, a smile beginning to pull up the corners of his mouth. "We've got bait."

head canon:

Saving Emily made them pretty tight. He'll go down swinging for his pack mama any day of the week.

11 notes - Posted April 19, 2022

#2

See the full post

24 notes - Posted December 6, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

hate to break it to u but third cousins is still cousins… it’s incest

Bestie I hate to break it to you but I just spent the afternoon literally inhaling all the Helaena/Aemond content I could find so you might want to block me and move on. You’ll be happier for it

30 notes - Posted November 5, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[gezellig-writes]

I posted 352 times in 2022

That's 65 more posts than 2021!

4 posts created (1%)

348 posts reblogged (99%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@renegadepack

@howlonghaveyoubeenseventeen

@musingsofvenus

@the-most-pathetic-edge-marquis

@theclearwaters

I tagged 180 of my posts in 2022

Only 49% of my posts had no tags

#bella swan - 29 posts

#jacob black - 27 posts

#leah clearwater - 21 posts

#twilight vibes - 9 posts

#charlie swan - 8 posts

#billy black - 8 posts

#paul lahote - 6 posts

#the pack - 5 posts

#edward cullen - 5 posts

#sam uley - 5 posts

Longest Tag: 135 characters

#but also that the increased cell replication and repair that is their enhanced healing could also leave them vulnerable to other things

My Top Posts in 2022:

#4

🌹

Now though, with the rumors of giant wolves in the woods going strong for months and only confirmed by the events of the morning, their hand had been played.

for every "🌹" received in my inbox I'll post one random sentence of a random WIP I'm currently writing

1 note - Posted October 25, 2022

#3

This has been sitting in my drafts for ages, and I finally got around to finishing it. Many, many, many thanks to @forksgothic for being a phenomenal beta-reader/editor

Basically a continuation of my not-quite a rewrite/extra to canon of twilight where the pack isn't essentially on their own, but loved and supported by their parents and the elders of La Push. Wherein Billy has a somewhat difficult conversation with his younger sister about his nephew Colin

2 notes - Posted April 18, 2022

#2

I want to dump all the characters in your ask box (I may do this anyway), but I’ll settle for Embry Call 👁👄👁

Oh go ahead and dump everyone lol. But, on to my best boy, Embry

Do I like them: Absolutely. I've always been most interested in the pack and their dynamics (like the rest of tumblr), but I was really drawn initially to the friendship between embry/quil/jacob, or what little of it we saw in the series

5 Good Qualities: (a lot of this is coming from those genius lists @blackpack did on little known tidbits from the books)

He's very observant, being the one to bring up to Jacob that Sam meets with the tribal council, among other things

He's quite loyal to his friends and family

and his mom- he's very aware of the gossip about her when she first moved to town, and what still lingers to some extent. I could go more into how I see their relationship, but for a good while, they were all the other had, and having to keep the secret from her really hurt

I also see him as quite smart, wanting to go to college to study history and/or folklore and is the one that fights the hardest against the pack having to drop out of school or whatever they end up doing

He's quite easygoing and doesn't seem to hold a grudge for long if at all

He puts up with Quil and Jacob and their shenanigans

3 Bad Qualities: (tbh this took a lot longer than I thought)

honestly, the fact he stayed with Sam's pack as long as he did- for as long as he and Jake have been friends I'm surprised it took him until after Bella had the baby to leave

he never tells his mom?? I am drifting far into my own headcanon territory, but if they're close, he should have let her know what was going on and that he's not in some rebellious phase- he had the okay from Sam to do so. Even if she isn't Quileute she does have the right to know at least some of what's going on

he makes too many bets for his own good- where is this money coming from??

Favorite Episode/Moment: This scene from Eclipse

Otp: Quil/Embry for sure because a) I’m a sucker for friends to lovers, but b) it’s a great replacement for the claire imprint situation which has always squicked me out

Brotp: Embry/Quil/Jacob obviously

Ot3: I don’t know if I have an OT3 for Embry? Maybe Embry/Quil/Jacob, if I was forced to choose, but it still doesn't feel right

notp: I'm not particularly fond of Embry/Bella, but really don't like Embry/any vampire-though I don't even know if those fics exist (like I know Rosalie/Leah exists and I’m baffled by it)

best quote: I had to flip through New Moon, and I had totally forgotten about this gem-

"Well, the wolf's out of the bag now." Embry sighed. "Way to go, Jake." (New Moon, pg 328, Family)

headcanon: he's a fancy dancer and has been going on the powwow trail with his mom quite literally his entire life (Tiffany is a somewhat well known fancy shawl dancer) and the entire pack+ adjacent crew saved up for ages and surprised him with new regalia after he grew out of his old set post-growth spurt

6 notes - Posted April 19, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

If you haven’t done so, please do yourself a favor and read @theclearwaters Between Who You Are and Who You Could Be

18 notes - Posted April 18, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[arsenicpanda]

I wanted to wait until the finale aired to answer this, and also I’m screenshotting so I can avoid the search, and I’m only tagging this with my tumblr savior tags so anon can see this even if they have the jt ship tag blocked. Also, I am a multishipper, I ship bh and jt and bjt and bt, and my desires for canon are based more on what I think works within the story we currently have as well as what treats Tabitha well and avoids racist tropes.

Now then, I do think bhva have a chance of coming back because I don’t think anything is set on this show until the last episode is over, and there are a number of ways this could play out for each pair.

Let’s talk ba first, because how ba goes is tied to va and bh in some capacity

1.) The ba engagement is an indication of endgame and s7 will be Riverdale playing with ba and va, likely with ba as first love but in some way tangled up with va.

2.) The above is true, but the “tangled up with va” leads to an ot3 and not ba alone.

3.) Someone on twitter said that no couple that gets engaged in the penultimate season ends up together, and I think that’s a fair point, although idk if I’ve watched enough live action American tv shows to say one way or the other. In this situation, ba don’t end up together, and however they play with ba and va ends in va, Betty/Veronica, or some other combo of the characters being single and in various relationships (Betty/Reggie, anyone?).  In this scenario, I would especially keep an eye on the possibility of Betty/Veronica.

Now let’s talk jt and bh, and keep in mind that Jughead remembers his previous life and Tabitha is somewhere that creates an “echo” of the fact that she wasn’t in the high school seasons

A.) Jughead’s feelings for Tabitha and the vision of their future together are either the primary or two of the primary drives for Jughead to find her and/or a way home to regular Riverdale, and yadda yadda yadda they end up together. This is compatible with scenarios 1, 2, and 3.

B.) The vision of Jughead and Tabitha’s future together is more of a goodbye to the ship in the narrative than something to fight for.  The ba/va stuff is happening ala scenario 3, and also Jughead and Betty investigate or whatever and fall in love again.  I have no idea what happens to Tabitha or Jughead’s feelings for Tabitha here.

Any combo of 1-3 & A and 3 & B is possible, and I’m not confident enough in my ability to predict Riverdale to say one way or the other.  Like, I think the only things I’ve gotten right are “Jughead and Tabitha will definitely date at some point in s5 for an unknown period of time” (made after 5x11 aired), “Jughead and Tabitha will still be romantically tied at the end of s6” (made after 6x12 aired), and “Jughead will get his hearing back before s6 ends” (made after we learned he would have hearing loss).  And, like, getting only three predictions right over four and a half seasons, one of which is based only on lack of confidence in the writers more than the actual writing, is a pretty bad track record, and you’ll notice that the two that aren’t based on writer incompetence/fuckery were made halfway through the season.  I’ll probably have a more confident answer for you then, but that’s at least like nine or ten months from now, and even then I doubt I’ll be *certain* because certainty and I don’t often exist in the same space.

I will say, though, that I’m not quite sure how people experiencing being teenagers again but with possibly tweaked backstories and having relationships there will affect their decisions as adults with their original backstories–because I assume we’re going back to the real world in the end, although I could be wrong there because of my less-than-stellar track record. I’m rooting for a change in the ba/va situation though, except for the ot3 option, I can’t handle that in a ship that has such harem anime vibes, like I can’t do it, I’m not strong enough, it repels me.

Anyway, I think scenario B is less likely than A, just because Jughead *does* remember his relationship with Tabitha and the future he saw, and it would be weird and kind of dickish for him to just give up on her and it and move on to his ex who currently thinks she’s a teenager, especially if it’s while he’s fighting to get back to regular Riverdale.  Bh would have a *much* better chance if Jughead didn’t have his memory either.  But Betty does have that James Dean poster, who is more visually similar to Jughead than Archie, and they do have *so much* history, so I’m not going to count them out.

But also I don’t see a way to have Jughead move on from his feelings for Tabitha and instead fall for a version of Betty without making him look like an asshole, unless he’s given up on both finding her in this time *and* getting home to her after like at least a year of trying, which, if you’re gonna do that, why have him remember in the first place?  And also, Betty thinks she’s a teen and is presumably different from real life Betty, both adult and teen, while Jughead is the same and thinks he’s an adult, and I just think that romance would be weird; like, it wouldn’t be inappropriate or gross, I’m not saying that, but I do think it would be, like, a weird thing for Jughead to do. Anyway, I especially don’t see a good way of doing this without it being deeply unfair to Tabitha outside of killing her, and RAS has indicated that she will still be in the show, so that’s off the table.  In my opinion, it’s important to ensure that Tabitha is treated fairly, just as it’s important to make sure that Veronica is treated fairly and not just given the bullshit racist “yeah, she wants love, but she should just be a #girlboss who doesn’t need a man!” ending and just as it’s important for Betty to not succumb to suburbia and/or even slightly turn into either of her parents (unless we’re going for a Bad End, but that would be extremely depressing).  But, like, right now they’re doing the opposite of both of the latter, so who knows about the former.

If I *have* to make a guess based on the information we have now, I’ll guess Cheryl/Toni, Kevin/Moose, and to a lesser extent Jughead/Tabitha endgame, but I am still unable to guess what would happen with ba/va, but I do assume that there will be at least bait/crumbs for bh in a few episodes.  But the only one I’m 99.999% certain of is Cheryl/Toni because of the whole fated soulmates across time thing, although I’m at like 70% on Kevin/Moose just because RAS seems to truly love that one and has loved it since day 1.  Jughead/Tabitha is at, like, 35-45% confidence tops

Now I’m gonna throw this over to @elegant-force for her thoughts, printed here because it’s easiest, because she’s less biased than I am:

So, frankly, I’m not super confident in my predictions here. Just going to start off with that. I used to think I understood the general character of the writers’ room for Riverdale, but that hasn’t been true since about Season 4. I don’t have much insight into how their decision-making process works at this point or what values/ideals/principles they have as guiding lights for the show/narratives/characterizations. 

I used to think that the show was purposefully really thoughtful about picking relationships and committing to them so that it could save time for the plot and for other characterization arcs, rather than wasting time on predictable garbage you could find on any tired daytime soap opera. But that’s definitely not what we’re doing at this stage. 

Frankly, my opinion is that the writers saw that fans were invested in the ships, and decided that because of this, messing with them would be an easier way to keep fans “on the hook” than writing a story that people actually could engage with. Instead of caring about the crafting of good relationships or interesting narratives, they seem to have become about “The bas vs. The bhs” or “The vas vs. the bas” or the “How are the Cheryl/Tonis going to feel about X?” 

And I think it’s all incredibly manipulative and, frankly, outrageously sexist. I’ve never seen a show or other work of media purposefully play with and manipulate (both in the narrative and on social media) something that fans were so invested in regarding a work that was targeted primarily at men. I’ve never seen Marvel be like “Maybe next time we’ll decide that Captain America has laser vision and Iron Man is a sorcerer… not like just for a fun lark, but like for real, this is who they are now in the comics, forget all of the time you spent learning about and talking about their powers with other nerds” because if they did that sort of shit, people would be really mad at them and feel like their narrative expectations were betrayed. And it just feels disrespectful to fans to do that sort of thing. But for some reason, when it’s women and the things that they are invested in are relationships you’ve put work into over the course of the show, blowing them up with little to no explanation and using them to manipulate viewership is just normal. 

And I’m sort of annoyed that everyone is buying into it to this degree. It frankly seems like every fucking comment from the writers about a ship is meant to be a tease to keep us on the hook and it’s fucking rude. It’s been a huge turn-off for me in terms of investment because the manipulation is so obvious and sloppy.

But you asked for my predictions and here they are. 

I’ve listed some of the current couples that were asked about as well as some other options I think are likely: 

1.) Betty/Archie

So, I have to wonder why, if we wanted to do this as endgame, we were going to have another season of messing around with the triangle stuff. We got here, they were going to get married, then we all got hit with the Retcomet. Essentially, our relationships were retconned, so either this is about us fighting our way back to our “perfect endings” or we’re going to redo some stuff. 

I don’t think that Betty had a perfect ending to fight her way back to. I think the only person in that category is Jughead (and notably, he remembers his old future). She basically had decided that the job she’d wanted her entire life wasn’t worth it and that she just wanted to be a wife or whatever after graduating top of her class at Yale. It doesn’t make a ton of sense to me that she’d throw everything she’d worked for her entire life in the garbage and that the audience was supposed to think that was good.

I also think that Polly having to wash her “sins” off of her rather than her accepting herself and being loved for who she is darkness included was so fucking gross. Like Betty needed to accept herself and also feel as if Archie accepted her without her former cultist sister doing some weird fake religious bullshit on her to trick her into doing it (this is so what happened, just because Polly was dead for a little bit doesn’t mean she can purify people, she was pulling old cultist tricks out of her pocket and we all know it). Betty only saw herself as a threat because she thought she was one. Polly tricked her out of it. Simple as that.

I honestly think we may come to find out that the reason Jughead remembers and the others don’t is that on some level, the others wanted to forget because they were unhappy with where they were. If Cheryl using the combined powers of all of the others really did, as Jughead implies, send them back due to some sort of manifestation of their wills, then it makes sense to me that part of what Veronica may have absorbed was their collective discontent with their situations and this reset is all of them trying to go back and change the things they did wrong. Especially if this is the case, I don’t see a lot of hope for Betty/Archie endgame. Even if that’s not the reason Jughead remembers when no one else does (if it’s just his writer powers or whatever), I still think resetting and then doing the thing we’re doing now with them doesn’t make a lot of sense. I think it’s possible that we go back and forth and eventually land on this if the bas scream loud enough online, though. I do think online screaming is the main thing determining what the show does. 

Probability: 10-20% 

2.) Betty/Veronica 

This is what I think is the best narrative option if we want to really wipe the slate clean with whatever is happening in S7 1955 land. I think that if the show really doesn’t want to play the traditional Betty/Archie/Veronica love triangle, they can lean into Betty and Veronica’s relationship and build that up. We’ve already introduced the concept of Betty being bisexual with her relationship with Agent Drake and we also had Cheryl and Veronica’s super hot (and very long) kiss at the end of S6. So, I think if we really wanted to go this way, we could. 

I think it’s a great answer to them both wanting to be in a relationship with someone they love and care about and know. And I also think, at this point, Archie is irredeemably awful.  He asked his ex that he broke up with less than a year ago to help him pick a ring for his new girlfriend. He sucks. He just fucking sucks. It’s gross beyond my ability to describe. 

But on that point, Veronica has shown true and unconditional love for Betty. She’s never held the cheating against Betty. When Archie asked her for a ring, she already had one that she thought would be perfect for Betty. She has been there for Betty whenever Betty has needed her. And while, prior to S6, Betty hadn’t always reciprocated, I think that her coming up with the idea for Veronica to kiss Archie and letting her do that was proof that Betty is also willing to take risks and make sacrifices for Veronica as well. I don’t think it was easy for her to do that, because she’s always been insecure about Archie and Veronica, but she did it because she loves Veronica enough to overcome those insecurities. I can’t say that about her feelings for Archie, or maybe even the feelings she had for Jughead. I think that Veronica has done more to help Betty deal with and overcome her insecurities than anyone else in the show. I wish that we could see Betty support and help Veronica more, and I really hope that regardless of what the show decides to do, we do more of that in the final season. 

Probability: 10-20% 

I don’t think that we’re going to do this, just because the show really seems to think that Archie is a good person who deserves love. I disagree with this, but I’m not in the writers’ room. I think he should end up single and alone due to his inability to treat women with any sort of respect. But that’s just me. I think that if the show still cares about crafting a good narrative or things having any sort of thematic resonance or meaning, this is what they’ll do. But I just don’t think it’s likely. 

3.) Betty/Archie/Veronica 

I like this option way less, but I think it’s fairly likely. It’s another reason we could have set up Betty and Veronica being bi, and I think it’s what the show would like to do. And the reason I think it’s what the show would like to do is that the writers, like Archie, can’t choose between Betty/Archie and Veronica/Archie. And I think the writers can’t choose because they have gotten so into playing with the shippers that they can no longer think of a way to make a satisfying ending where Archie ends up with one of these women. 

So, what’s the best solution? To not have to choose, of course. And then they get “points” for being “daring” and “innovative” to have a thruple as the main relationship in their show. They’ll think it will make the fewest people upset and that it will get them a lot of social media attention. And I think that’s honestly all they want: attention that isn’t mostly negative. Maybe that’s deeply cynical of me, but it’s the main common factor I’ve seen in their decision making at this point. 

I do think this could be done well, but I don’t think they will do it that way. I think it really only works if the triangle changes to be a full love triangle (ie: with each person being attracted to both other people in the triangle) and if the thruple puts Veronica mostly in the center. I think we still have to spend most of the season focused on the relationship between Betty and Veronica. I think we also have to embrace the part of Betty that seems to really not want a traditional family or maternal role, but maybe just wants to live with people she is comfortable with and attracted to that she can have sex with. I think that if the end dynamic has househusband/primary caregiver Archie taking care of kids that he and Veronica had together and Betty is part of it but doesn’t have to engage with the domestic things she dislikes, that’s fine. 

What isn’t okay is for this to become an Archie-centric triangle that functions as a mini-harem for him. It can’t just be Archie now sleeps with two women and sometimes watches them have sex because he’s just such a great guy he deserved this because for a white guy not choosing means eventually getting everything you want. That’s fucking gross, but I’m afraid they’ll be careless about it and that’s what will happen. 

Probability: 30-40% 

4.) Veronica/Archie

I think this is slightly more likely than Betty/Archie if Jughead has kept his memories because he’s the only one who doesn’t have regrets. I think it’s possible that Archie still wants to be with Veronica and we know Veronica still wants to be with Archie. She’s only not going for it because she loves Betty more than she wants to be with Archie. I think that in a reset where it’s clear Betty has another path to happiness, Veronica/Archie has a chance. 

Probability: 30-40% 

5.) Betty/Jughead

Honestly, I think this really hinges on why Jughead kept his memories. If it’s because he doesn’t have regrets and wants to get back to the future he saw with Tabitha, then there’s no way that bh is going to happen. I think, at best, what bh gets in this setting is a chance to end cleanly and in a way that both of them move on from that’s healthy. And, frankly, I think there could be a lot of good in that. I think the writers could give this ship the respect it deserves and acknowledge what it meant to both Betty and Jughead, without them having to get back together. I think we could have them date briefly or just spend time together as friends and acknowledge what could have been in a way that isn’t just shitting all over this pairing and/or teasing it with no real hope of follow-through just to keep the shippers on the hook. And I think that would be really nice. 

I think that if Jughead kept his memories as a fluke/due to his writer powers, then I guess we could go back to bh. I think you really have to come up with a good reason that we’re not going to have him try to get back to Tabitha though. Also, I think that the writers know if they throw his relationship with Tabitha in the garbage at this point, it’s just super fucking racist. And they don’t want people to accuse them of being racist on the internet (especially when the accusations are credible), so they probably won’t do it. 

Probability: 10-20%  

(If Jughead didn’t have his memories, I would have put the odds of this ship at 60-80%, frankly. If he didn’t remember Tabitha, I would have seen the time-compressed date as a good final send-off for Jughead/Tabitha, proof that they could have had a beautiful life together but we weren’t able to do that because of the comet coming and tearing us apart and destroying all of the memories that we built together. It would have been sort of rude to Tabitha, but I would have definitely accepted it as a perfectly good ending for the ship and felt like it was done justice. But I just can’t see a good reason for Jughead to keep his memories if the point isn’t for him to try to get back to Tabitha somehow.)

6.) Jughead/Tabitha 

We really invested in them over the last few seasons. I think that if we wanted to break them up, we would have just had Jughead lose his memories as well. There’s no real reason for him to have kept them, certainly no reason he had to that I can see from a writing perspective, unless it was to preserve his relationship with Tabitha (because that didn’t exist in high school).

I do think it’s really hard for them not to follow through on Jughead/Tabitha without looking really racist, frankly. And I think the writers care about that. And I think they should. I also think them backing out at this point is straight up bad writing, even if it’s to go back to bh. I think the window on going back to bh closed a while ago, and now we’re just shipbaiting the fans. I think jt has a good chance to be endgame, though I don’t know how much of it we’ll be seeing during this season, because I don’t know what Tabitha’s exact situation is. 

Probability: 50-70%

7.) Moose/Kevin 

I really used to hate this ship. A lot. I was really sad when Joaquin died because I knew in my heart it meant that RAS was never going to let go of Moose/Kevin. I never really trusted Kevin/Fangs because every time RAS has had the opportunity to go back to Moose/Kevin, he has done so as quickly as he fucking can. He’s really invested in this, so I just think we’re going to get it as long as Moose’s actor is willing to be here. 

Though, honestly, I’ve come to like this ship a lot more in the last season. Every other ship is so garbage (except jt, which is cute) that they’re actually fine and even endearing now. Moose is also less toxic, which is good, and he’s really supportive of Kevin. And heaven knows that boy needs all the support he can get. 

Probability: 70-90% 

8.) Cheryl/Toni Dude. Cheryl’s best childhood lesbian friend broke up with Cheryl because she saw their love written in the stars. There’s not much more of a guarantee than that. 

Also their fans have been as loud as possible about the fact that their ship has been done so dirty in so many ways, and frankly, they were right to say it. The writers seem to know they done fucked up in splitting these two up for so long. Really looking forward to seeing them as 50s lesbians. 

Probability: 99% (because there’s no such thing as certainty with these motherfuckers) 

[onyxbird]

I posted 4,114 times in 2022

That's 1,685 more posts than 2021!

198 posts created (5%)

3,916 posts reblogged (95%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@bostonbakeddeans

@icannotreadcursive

@vickyvicarious

@party-gilmore

@original-missif

I tagged 3,371 of my posts in 2022

Only 18% of my posts had no tags

#q - 1,500 posts

#dracula daily - 370 posts

#leverage - 350 posts

#eliot spencer - 221 posts

#mr. quinn - 164 posts

#leverage aus - 159 posts

#the sandman - 126 posts

#cats - 111 posts

#leverage ot3 - 81 posts

#alec hardison - 69 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#con of showing this post to my friend: we currently live on opposite sides of a large country--prohibitive to attempting joint puppetry. 😢

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

A ridiculous Leverage AU concept popped into my head last night that's cracking me up. So first, it's Leverage OT3 having teamed up as a criminal crew without meeting Nate and Sophie. I'm picturing it in like a cyberpunk setting, but could potentially just be a canon-adjacent setting where the OT3 joined forces without Nate's influence, still pursuing crime for personal gain.

They've become a force to be reckoned with, a target of law enforcement and other criminal elements alike--probably clashed with at least pieces of Moreau's organization more than once--but no one has been able to touch them. Everyone with any connection to the criminal underworld knows about the genius Hacker Hardison and his cyber-crime empire, and everyone knows about his two closest lieutenants: a incredible Thief and an unstoppable Hitter, known only as "Parker" and..."Baby."

Some know only that much, and, when meeting the crew, many are prone to guess that the dainty blonde must be "Baby," and thus the glowering brunet must be "Parker."

The slightly better informed know that the Thief is "Parker" and the Hitter "Baby," but aren't 100% sure which is which.

The truly well-informed folks in the criminal underworld know who is who and enough of their reputations that although "Baby" is spoken of in hushed tones, since they know of no other name for the most elite Hitter in the business, no one dares to even think of calling him that to his face. That can get difficult for people who have to do business with him directly or discuss matters involving him with Parker or Hardison. None of the three ever offer any alternatives. (Every so often a newbie criminal comes along and decides to crack a joke about the name, often some variation on "putting Baby in a corner" and is quickly warned by their peers that 1) you do not joke about Baby--he could kill you with a blade of grass and is known to materialize in the most unexpected times and places--and 2) that specific joke has been made a million times already.)

Behind the scenes, of course, the trio's partnership is quite egalitarian, and Eliot's name is used freely, but 1) neither Parker nor Eliot is comfortable being the face of their organization, while Hardison is happy to LARP his nerdy little heart out as an evil overlord, and 2) Eliot had reasons to not want his real name spread around too much and made the tactical error of giving Hardison a little too much freedom in deciding what to call him in front of people.

Nate eventually does come on the scene, finally disgusted enough to break ties with his "lawful" but corrupt organization and willing to turn to the criminals he used to chase to cut a deal. His boldness at asking for a meeting in addition to what they knew of him as an investigator piques their interest, but they're disappointed when he stumbles in unkempt and still fairly inebriated.

He gains their interest back when, even in his drunken state and having never laid eyes on any of them, he sweeps one look around their temporary HQ, immediately clocks Parker as THE Parker despite her just standing still next to Hardison, and, by process of elimination, turns to Eliot and says, "So, you must be Baby."

895 notes - Posted January 12, 2022

#4

Dying to know how Van Helsing "signed" his phonograph entry in all-caps. Did he just suddenly bellow his surname into the phonograph at full volume in case Jonathan wasn't sure who was speaking?

(I'm also not at all clear on why VH is leaving notes by phonograph rather than just writing a note, but at least the "how" of that is fairly obvious.)

1,042 notes - Posted October 4, 2022

#3

It seems like a lot of modern vampire fiction implies or outright shows that a vampire can drain an entire adult of blood, either completely or enough to kill them, in one meal (and they feed frequently). And then here's Dracula implying that 3 adult vampires are going to share a single small child.

I mean, I know people talk about portion sizes in the USA being excessively large, but the vampires of Sunnydale/Bon Temps/etc. are apparently taking this to the extreme.

1,494 notes - Posted May 16, 2022

#2

Dream of the Endless is back in his cage for Halloween, and he is not happy.

I, on the other hand, am delighted by how well the design carved up, particularly how clearly Dream's eyes glow.

I ended up decreasing the width of the binding circle a bit to fit better on the pumpkin without shrinking Dream and the cage down any further, and the chains are a little chunkier to be carveable with the tools I have, but overall the concept translated onto the pumpkin very well.

I think it looks even better in person--it's hard to capture well on a phone camera.

1,706 notes - Posted October 31, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Suddenly tickled by the idea of Death giving Dream a mobile phone (whatever magical version can get service in the Dreaming) to facilitate him keeping in touch with his one (1) human friend Hob. (And maybe even making more friends? Hint, hint, little brother.)

She assures him she's taken care of everything. The only thing he needs to do is give this sequence of numbers to Hob (or any other human he wants to be able to contact him). He'll know what to do. Death has already set up everything else on the phone--she even set a ringtone for him!

Dream has never cared enough about human telecommunications to know what a ringtone is, and he's too distracted by insisting that he doesn't need a phone--he and Hob have managed fine for centuries without one--to think to ask about it.

He realizes this was a mistake only later, when he's looming dramatically and impressively over someone as Lord Morpheus, and suddenly music begins to blare:

🎶 "Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream! Make him the cutest that I've ever seen..." 🎶

(It gets through an entire verse before he figures out where the music is coming from.)

2,406 notes - Posted August 14, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[riddlerosehearts]

not to be a hater (though this is more hating on how fandom treats sapphic ships and female characters than anything) but last night i felt bored and deranged and kept thinking about my changing opinions on ATLA ships, so i sorted the mai/ty lee tag on AO3 by kudos and kept track of how long it took me to find an actual mai.lee fic, usually just by looking at tags and descriptions but sometimes taking a peek at the work itself... and it took 53 fics lol. 53 fics down the list of most kudos'd fics in the mai/ty lee tag, to find a 3k oneshot that is actually about them. on some of these i would click the "entire work" button and search for their names, just to find zuko and sokka's names mentioned 700 times each while mai and ty lee's would be mentioned maybe 10 times each. ugh. their tag already only has 871 fics to zu.kka’s almost 6k to begin with.

like, to be fair, from what i could tell based on their tags and descriptions, only 33/52 of the previous fics--so around 60%--were entirely/primarily focused on zuko or zu.kka (or the set of harry potter/zuko crossover fics i found). the other 19 fics seemed to be the odd zu.tara, zuk.ki, or azu.tara fic, or even gen fic about azula, katara, toph, or the whole gaang, that included mai.lee in the background. so not every one of the top fics in the mai/ty lee tag is actually focused on male characters. but still, to see so many of them be like that... i tried sorting by date updated and most of the stuff on the front page wasn’t about them either. :/

idk i just kinda feel like this backs up what i said before about mai.lee mostly just getting popular because zu.kka got popular and its fans wanted to get mai out of the way, and not because they actually care about the girls and their dynamic. NOT saying everyone who ships zuko and sokka is like this of course, but i think it also shows in the fact that zuko/sokka/suki has become a semi-popular ot3 whereas i have never once seen mai shipped with zu.kka, as part of an ot3 or even ot4. she just gets paired off with ty lee and then the two of them get a secondary role at best (in several of the fics i opened up, mai and ty lee were tagged but literally not even mentioned or there was just one line saying they were dating) in every fic. people just don’t seem to actually like her and to be honest, i don’t like her much either, although i tried to get myself to. i tried to more closely examine her character and see the good in her and i started thinking mai.lee would be a cute ship and seeking out content for it about a year before the ATLA renaissance of 2020. content was scarce but a lot of the oldest fics for them on ao3 are, at least, actually about them even if they’re just short drabbles. so after the renaissance i was excited to come back to tumblr after a hiatus and discover that they were finally a popular ship and people were seeing how good they could be together, but then every time i went to look for fanworks about them, on ao3 or here on tumblr, i realized everything i’m saying in this post. they’re a wlw ship, so of course they’re not actually popular, that would be crazy. of course their “popularity” is entirely owed to the fact that a mlm former rarepair (yeah, zu.kka was not that popular pre-renaissance, people who wanted an mlm ship used to prefer jet.ko) that involves mai’s canon love interest blew up. and i just hate that this sort of thing seems to happen in just about every fandom. i wish the ATLA fandom could’ve been better about it.

[johnconstantinesdick]

Not me in hysterical tears as I listen to the Shrek musical and imagine Tarvek as a princess stuck in a tower

I rambled in the tags So Damn Much that I actually hit the tag limit before even getting to the fandom and character tags so I’m just gonna copy and paste that here instead.

#there was a prophecy about a sturmvoraus princess except Anevka bullied Tarvek into pulling a twelfth night so she’s in Paris attending #university while Tarvek is wearing one of his many pretty dresses while lounging in a tower with his handmaiden (tinka) and dragon stand in #(violetta obviously) except WAIT Gil fucking KNOWS Tarvek and THAT IS NOT TARVEK!!!!! #Anevka is completely delighted by this turn of events. like oh this could NOT GET ANY BETTER. Anevka is living her best life. #so she obviously ‘accidentally’ lets slip that she’s Tarvek’s sister and she sets Gil on his quest #(I can’t decide if seffie has been read in on the plan or if Anevka has to comically dodge her the entire time she’s in Paris but Martellus #cannot fucking tell that there’s anything wrong here) #ANYWAY. Gil sets out to Save Tarvek!!!! he’s possibly been lead to believe that his childhood best friend (crush but shh he doesn’t know #that yet) is in more imminent danger than he really is. Gil runs into Agatha on the way and probably saves her from some danger and she gets #roped into his quest by accident. her locket gets damaged somehow and on the way she breaks through. many death rays are made. #so Tarvek is just busy building clanks in his tower. refining his knowledge of the muses. getting kind of bored waiting for the future ruler #of Europa that he’s either going to seduce or kill (he hasn’t decided yet. maybe both) and then fucking GILGAMESH HOLZFALLER SHOWS UP???? #and Tarvek is like. of course. of course he has to play the hero So Damn Bad that he’s going to mess up this entire plan. but oh? who is #that lovely girl with him holding such a beautiful death ray??? obviously she’s the one the prophecy is referring to. she’s already shown #herself to be more competent than holzfaller. #Gil is offended like EXCUSE YOU. I CAME HERE TO RESCUE YOU AND YOURE IGNORING ME??? you KICK miette?????? #also I SAW AGATHA FIRST and IM PRETTY SURE SHE DOESNT HAVE ANY CLAIM TO EUROPA???? #unlike you? Tarvek retorts and Gil goes through like five stages of anger as he tries not to Spill The Beans to win an argument #IS THAT A MUSE??? Agatha asks. CAN I LOOK AT YOUR MUSE?????? #Agatha is the only one here with her priorities straight. #anyway the five of them (ot3 plus tinka and violetta) set out to like. ostensibly return Tarvek to his family. but instead they go on #WACKY HIJINKS. they run into the circus! they join the circus! they reunite tinka and moxana! they steal Zeetha from the circus! they dodge #the jagers that Klaus has sent to retrieve Gil once he gets wind that he’s not in Paris!! they add jagers to their party! like. a lot of #jagers for some reason? why do they all want to go with us? #‘should we tell them she’s the heterodyne?’ oggie whispers. ‘she must be keeping it a secret for a reason’ maxim answers. this is wrong. #Agatha has no idea what’s going on. #once THAT comes out their destination changes to Mechanicsburg and they fix the castle and Klaus finally personally comes down to confront #his wayward son and that’s when GILS revelation comes out and then Klaus catches sight of Zeetha and they have a conversation in skifanderin #and THAT ends in Zeetha going ‘DAD???!!!’ #and someone (Krosp probably. he needs to be there) is like. unbelievable. does ANYONE ELSE have surprise royal heritage???? #Tarvek is like. well ok you have to promise not to get mad.

Anyway that’s my Shrek inspired AU I’ll be here all night.

[junko-and-riri-domain]

❦ single parent circle typa thing | pjs

↬ ꜱᴇʀɪᴇꜱ: tatts & cupcakes | chapter 2

↬ ᴘᴀɪʀɪɴɢ: park jongseong / jay x reader ft. all members + eventual appearance of i-land k

↬ ɢᴇɴʀᴇ: enhypen single dad!au | ceo!jay | single dad!jay | baker!reader | single mom!reader | fluff | slight? angst

↬ ɴᴀᴠɪ: ᴘʀᴇᴠɪᴏᴜs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ | ɴᴇxᴛ | series masterlist

↬ ᴡᴀʀɴɪɴɢs: none 

↬ ᴡᴏʀᴅ ᴄᴏᴜɴᴛ: 1.4k

Jay’s hands felt clammy as they held Sunoo and Jungwon’s, the three making their way to where ras bakery stood. He wondered to himself if they should turn around and leave, text you tonight, and properly thank you some other time. As if he were trying to justify wanting to go back,

“She did tell me to text or call, she never said anything about actually visiting,” he muttered to himself. He was about to tell his sons the change in plans since it was getting late. That is until Jungwon and Sunoo took it upon themselves to let go of his hand and run to the door when they saw you and Ni-ki coming out. 

He ran after them as any parent would do but the two kids had legs of speed and managed to get to you before he could catch up. He noticed how your arms instantly invited them without hesitance and the way your eyes looked at them with worry. When he finally reached the 4 of you, he bowed out of politeness,

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to let them run off like that. They just let go of my hand when they saw you and got excited.” His attention then went to his sons, “Yah, didn’t I tell you guys not to run?” he said. As the two boys looked up at him, his gaze softened and he let out a sigh, Jake and Sunghoon said that he was too soft for his boys, letting them get away with too much, and he was starting to believe them.

“I’m y/n, this is Ni-ki,” you said with a smile and a bow of your own.

“I’m Jay and well, you already know their names.” He wasn’t quite sure what he expecting when he heard of you from Jake, Sunoo, and Jungwon. Naturally, he was curious since you stood up for his kids despite not even knowing them for a full day. But as you stood here in front of him, there was just something about you that rendered him speechless. It wasn’t until you spoke that he was brought out of his thoughts,

“So, what are the three of you doing here?” you asked.

“I, uhh, wanted to say thank you,” he replied truthfully, nervousness now settling in the bit of his stomach. “I didn’t realize it was closing time or I would’ve come some other time.”

“I’m honored, CEO Park Jongseong thought my bakery was worth paying a visit to?”

“Sunoo and Jungwon raved about the cupcakes Ni-ki shared and the pastries on the way to the park you gave them.”

“Y’all should be my test-tasters for new recipes then.”

“Oh? Who am I to deny that request. After all, it’s for the greater good of your customers,” he joked.

“Ni-ki and I were gonna get dinner at the pizza place across the street. The 3 of you should join us if you haven’t eaten yet.” He knew he should have said no, after all, you and Ni-ki probably wanted to eat together and you were probably offering just to be nice. He tried not to eat out too much if he could help it and preferred to cook for the boys. Yet tonight, he was feeling tired and he wanted to get to know you some more so,

“Yeah, that sounds nice.” As the 3 kids were working on one of the coloring sheets,

“Can I ask you something?” he asked. You leaned back into the booth,

“You just did,” he let out a chuckle.

“Why’d you name the bakery ras bakery?” he asked.

“Ahh, well I usually tell people that it stands for “rise and shine” y’know, cause it’s a bakery and pastries tend to be a way to start your day.”

“Mhm,” he said, wanting you to continue.

“But the real reason is because of you.” Because of him? He took a sip of his drink in an effort to stay cool,

“Me?” Quoting his famous line,

“Resentment, Anger, and Shame,” you replied. “I got into selling my baked goods around the time I found out I was pregnant and a lot of things were happening. When I got the money to open the bakery, I named it ras bakery.” Curiosity settled into him, wondering your story and just why that line stuck with you knew but he knew he wasn’t in a position to ask. So instead,

“Who was your bias?”

“OT3.” He leaned into the booth, bringing his arms up and hands behind his head,

“Liar, who was it?” He noted how your eyes widened slightly,

“How the hell did you know I was lying?” you asked. If he was being honest, he hadn’t.

“You just confirmed it,” he replied.

“Ok, well, I like all of you the same let’s get that clear but if I had to choose a bias... Sunghoon.” After hearing that he wasn’t your 02z bias, he felt slightly jealous but tried not to show it.

“Why him?”

“Have you seen the man? He’s a freaking prince. And when he laughs it’s so cute, please, I can’t. Like there’s a reason he’s called the Ice Prince but he seems like the type of guy who’ll do things for you on the down-low.”

“What about Jake?”

“Jake is such a gentleman! His Aussie accent just gives me butterflies whenever I hear it. Like you look at him and you just know that you can trust him. Plus, he’s so in love with Layla like imagine if he ever has a kid?” As the pizzas came to the table, he put a slice on everyone’s plate. As he placed one on yours,

“What about me?” he asked.

“You?” you asked.

“Mhm.”

“You’re an angry bird,” you teased.

“Yah, that’s not fair. You said all this stuff about Sunghoon and Jake,” he said with a pout.

“Ok, ok. In all seriousness though, you’ve always been passionate about anything you do. Whether it’s being an idol or a CEO, you follow through with everything. You’re caring towards other people and you’re comfortable to be around. Maybe it’s because of your honey addiction, I don’t know.” As dinner progressed, Jay realized that he was starting to enjoy chatting with you. He couldn’t remember the last time he felt so at ease with someone and noticed that throughout the night, you didn’t just take care of only Ni-ki, but also Sunoo and Jungwon which he was thankful for.

As the month went on, you and Jay exchanged a few texts here and there sometimes about the kids but other times just to chat whenever you both had time. To help Jay, you made lunch for Jungwon and Sunoo and gave it to them in the morning. To help you, either Jay, Jake, or Sunghoon dropped Ni-ki off to the bakery after school. Some days, the 3 kids were in the bakery while other days they were at Jay’s house. You managed to hire a pastry chef Wendy to help out with the work. One Friday afternoon, Heeseung came in while you were organizing the cupcake display.

“Where’s Ni-ki?” he asked.

“Dance studio, Jay’s picking him up today.”

“Ok, what’s going on with you and him? All Ni-ki talks about is ‘Jay-hyung this, Jay-hyung that.’ As your best friend and Ni-ki’s favorite hyung, I’m offended.”

“We’re just helping each other out.” In the short time that you and Jay knew each other a sort of silent agreement fell between the two of you to help out the other whenever possible. When you mentioned to him that Ni-ki wanted to attend a dance studio, he did some research and found one that gave discounts with 2+ kids enrolled. When he mentioned that Sunoo stopped wanting to eat actual food and only wanted cupcakes, you gave him some recipes to secretly incorporate it in meals and started baking more savory and vegetable-filled items.

“The two of you are in a single parent circle typa thing. Since he’s Jay of 02z that means he worked with-” you cut off Heeseung not wanting to hear the name he was about to say,

“Hee,” you warned.

“Y/n, you know I love you but when it comes to the men in your life we both know that you haven’t made the best decisions.”

“Good thing Jay and I are just in a single parent circle typa thing then, right?”

❦ written by riri (@enhykkul) | next | series masterlist | main blog masterlist

ᴛᴀɢʟɪꜱᴛ: 

@cha-raena | @hoonieclipsee | @affectionaterainoflove | @ghjasksdk | @j45uk3 | @enhypenova | @googoojeu | @softnanaaaa | @rubyanne | @steadyfreakmuffinalmond

ᴛᴀɢʟɪꜱᴛ ꜱᴛᴀᴛᴜꜱ: still open! if you want to be on the taglist send an ask or comment saying that you wanna be tagged in the series

[pikapeppa]

Fic writers' end-of-year roundup: 2022 edition!

It’s that time of year, writer friends — time to take stock of what we’ve been up to this year! Tagging to literally ANY AND ALL WRITERS who would like to participate, but I’ll throw down some tags from the top of my head: @contrivedchaos @kittynomsdeplume @little-lightning-lavellan, @varric-tethras-editor @lavendreapark @hobo-apostate @ranaspkillnarieth @iamcayc @ocean-in-my-rebel-soul @hollyand-writes @elveny @johaerys-writes @charlatron @noire-pandora @hellas-himself @crackinglamb @barbex @mogwaei @alyssalenko @musetta3 @iarollane @about2dance @mythicaitt @cthu-boo !

Words written (published or not, WIPs included!): 1 012 607. I was hoping to crack a million this year and I FINALLY DID IT. 😂

Smut scenes: 41! Less than other years, but not the least.  

New things I tried:

I wrote fanfic for anime for the first time this year — for Samurai Champloo (Fuu/Jin/Mugen) and for Cyberpunk: Edgerunners (David/Lucy). On a related note, this year was the first time I wrote for a form of media that I didn’t originally watch in English. I was always a little scared to write in English for something that I hadn’t watched in English, because capturing characters’ voices and speech patterns is so important to me, and it’s hard to translate that across languages. But CPER got me by the throat, so I watched it in both Japanese and English so I could capture the characters’ voices as best as I could. I watched Samurai Champloo dubbed in English, though, and I am a sucker for Jin’s English voice, so that was a snap to write. 😂

For the first time, I also wrote for a game that I’ve never played before: Far Cry 5! @schoute got me reeled in with her raving loving descriptions of cheeky shithead John Seed, and I was compelled to write some smut for her. I had a blast watching a playthrough of FC5 with her (LOVE YOU BB ❤), and writing from John Seed’s POV was A MINDFUCK AND A HALF, let’s just say. GOOD TIMES. 😂

Fic I spent the most time on: 

Becoming Whole (Aloy/Kotallo), which has been my main focus since March and is more than 500k words now. I genuinely did not expect or intend for this fic to be this long! I’ll blame the party banter for this. My outline will say “GAIA Gang chat over dinner”, and this single note will translate into 10k words in the chapter 😂💀 In any case, VERY honoured by everyone who has stuck with this extremely long fic!

Fic I spent the least time on:

The Wisdom In A Bowl Of Pudding (Felassan/Tamaris Lavellan). I was inspired by the news about the DA:D milestone and got so excited that this oneshot came together in… one day, I think? One or two. I JUST LOVE FELASSAN OKAY.

Favourite thing I wrote: 

It’s a tie between two fics. I loved writing Finding Something In Common (Aloy/Nil/Drakka) because a) writing Nil again after 5 years of being “away” was like coming home 😭❤ and b) I fucking love Drakka with a burning passion LOL. But I also loved writing my Samurai Champloo fic Just Hold On, We’re Coming Home because it was purely and entirely for me. There are so few fics for that anime and even fewer explicit fics for the OT3, so I knew that basically nobody was going to read it and that anyone who did would be really grateful to see a rare fic for the OT3, but I had to write it because I just had the urge and couldn’t rest until I did. It was a gift to myself to kick off the year. 😂

Favourite thing I read: 

I’ve actually done some actual reading this year!!! Both of fics and published books, because I wanted to start working my way through my bedside tsundoku, with mixed results: I read a couple of books from my tsundoku pile but then bought the entire Sailor Moon manga set and have only read 6 issues so far 😂😭💀 one step forward, 10 STEPS BACK. 

Anyway! Fave fics of the year:

I read a few fics for Samurai Champloo. As I mentioned before, there aren’t many fics for this fandom, but one of the fics I read was both the shortest and the most drop-dead gorgeous fic I’ve ever read: Bodies of Water by moemachina. I genuinely envy this writer for their ability to pack so much emotional punch into so many words. 

Where The Time Goes, a Chloe Fraser/Nadine Ross fic by @contrivedchaos. OH MY GOD WAS IT EVER LOVELY. Cat used a repeated phrase/theme throughout the fic that just had me on the edge of my seat the whole time, and MY GOD was the ending ever wonderful and satisfying. 😭❤

Written In The Stars, a Kotallo/OC fic by @iamcayc WHICH IS SUCH A TREAT. Caycee has created a wonderful OC to pair up with Kotallo and expanded on Tenakth lore in a way that had me squealing!

HZD Terraforming Base-001 Text Communications Network by Discar. It’s a texting fic between the GAIA Gang and it’s SO GOOD. Hilarious, great characterization of the crew, incredible expansion on the worldstate and lore. I stopped reading halfway through because I was afraid that I’d start accidentally stealing their headcanons/lore expansion since it just makes so much sense, but I just recently noticed that the fic finished, so I might get back into it soon!

Writing goals for next year: 

Oh man there are so many things I want to write and so little time and I’M SO MAD ABOUT IT.

Finish Becoming Whole. Now that we know the DLC is coming out in April, I am DETERMINED to finish BW before then so my slate can be clear for new fics ideas 🤩

An Aloy/Avad sequel to Window Bird. The conversation that Aloy and Avad have at the start of HFW makes MY ENTIRE HEART HURT. I will stubbornly maintain that Avad is the most tragic character alive in the Horizon universe, and I’m going to give him some love because he deserves it, the poor sweet man.

More Aloy/Drakka. This entire fic has been my treat to myself, and the next oneshot is in progress -- probably the first thing I'll publish in 2023!

Aloy/Nil. I fucking love Nil to the moon and back, but writing this ship again is going to take some mindfuckery because I’ll be rebooting my take on the ship as though Stormbirds and Stalkers didn’t happen 😅

I’m sure this won’t be all; I always end up getting blindsided by a desire to write something I didn’t expect (e.g. Cyberpunk this year), so we’ll see what else comes up as the year progresses! 

Can't wait to see what everyone else has been up to!!! Please tag anyone you think would like to participate, and tag me back so I can spy on what you've been up to as well! 🥰

-- love from your friendly Pikapeppa xoxo

[malecacidd]

yesss poly jatp fic recs pls :D

I have SO many so I'm gonna do a mix of different ships

Luke/Alex/Willie

I've only recently gotten into this ship but I love it with my entire heart,,, it's just,,, them,,,

The Storm Before The Rainbow by @random-nerd-3

Luke has been harboring crushes for Willie since he met the guy six months ago, and he's been in love with Alex since they broke up in high school. When he runs away from them during a storm he goes to Reggie, Bobby and Nick for advice, and then like always Luke returns home to his lighthouse, guiding him home whenever he's adrift in the sea.

Reggie/Luke/Bobby

As well all know, my personal favorite KFKXKDKDK I love these boys sO much and I'm about to rec pretty much every fic in their tag get ready

i guess we belong to each other by @sunsetcurvecuddles

“Shut up,” Bobby grumbles, and dumps the whole pile of blankets on top of Reggie. “You guys are stupid. You're both out here, in the freezing cold, and neither of you come wake me up?”

“We didn't want—” Luke starts, at the same time as Reggie insists, “You were sleeping—!”

Or, Luke and Reggie huddle in the cold studio until Bobby comes to (grouchily) warm them up.

The Inherent Intimacy of Writing a Country Song by @oldsmobile-hotdogs

Bobby and Luke hadn't really known what to expect when they finally gave in to Reggie's begging and pleading for them to learn a country song, just the three of them.

what a blessing (to feel your love) by wildflower (on ao3)

luke has two approaches to his crushes:

- nice and soft, joke with him not about him, be sweet because he's sweet (reggie)

- put shaving cream under his pillow. put a note in his locker that says "get out of my band loser". call him a nice petname, like, scum of the earth. (bobby)

or:

reggie Knows bobby and luke like each other. but it also turns very confusing and just something doesn't add up, ever. until it does.

Anddddd shameless self promo here is a link to all of my rebuke fics on ao3

Alex/Reggie/Luke/Bobby

Polycurve,,,, my beloved,,,

Red Cast by InvisibleAce (on ao3)

Reggie overhears something he shouldn't. Upset, he goes home and has to deal with his drunken mom.

In the mists of helping her, he falls down the stairs and breaks his wrist. He'd call the guys if they weren't the reason for his current heartbreak.

All This Feeling Second Best, It’s Got Me by the Throat by @aroacethetic-shitpost

Bobby Reynolds didn't know much, but he did know three things.

One: His band — Alex, Luke, and Reggie — were his best friends.

Two: The three of them were inseparable. Soulmates, even, as cheesy as that sounded.

Three: He was never going to be a part of that.

-

classic bobby pining angst with a side of touch starved, coming right up!

A Tomb With a View by InvisibleAce (on ao3)

It seemed to happen in slow motion. The man on stage looked up, flicking his hair out of his face with the quick motion of his head. Luke’s eyes went wide, anxiety and hope bloomed in his chest as he took in Bobby.

Or

The boys find a familiar face when visiting the Hollywood Ghost Club

Alex/Luke/Reggie

Not my absolute favorite, but I have a few recs for the boysss

Hearts on Fire by @aroacethetic-shitpost

Alex gets dared to kiss someone.

He freezes. He and Luke had just broken up, and while he wouldn’t mind getting to kiss him again, it seems like that would just cause more problems. So he picks Reggie. They’re friends, right? What’s a little kissing between friends?

He didn’t expect Reggie to be so… good at it.

-

sunset curve ot3 ftw babey! here's some boys pining and angsting and getting together and kissing

We are here, together. by What_point (on ao3)

Is this okay?" asked Alex, his face so close Reggie could feel his breath against his cheek.

"Yeah,"— Reggie cleared his throat when it comes out high pitched —"Yeah, this is okay."

"Just okay?" Luke's voice was muffled. Reggie could feel his lips move through his shirt while he talked.

"No, yeah, more than okay, it's great." His voice cracked, shooting up at the end.

Julie/Luke/Reggie

THEM!!!!! THEM THEM THEM!!!!! I LOVE THEM MORE THAN ANYTHING!!!

love like a storm by thessalonike (on ao3)

“He’s afraid, isn’t he?” she asks Reggie later. “Of thunder?”

Reggie winces, caught in the lie of omission... but at least he knows better than to play dumb about it. “Yeah,” he sighs, running a hand through his hair. “Kind of? It’s more... the storms themselves, really. Since he was a kid, they’ve always freaked Luke out. He used to hide in his bedroom closet during the worst ones... it made him feel safe. I think he still goes there now, even though his parents don’t know he’s around.”

Julie’s heart breaks for him all over again — Luke, frightened and lonely, beyond even the comfort of his parents, riding out the storm surge on his own.

They can’t allow that. There’s got to be something they can do.

Not a Burn of Jealousy by snowflake97 (on ao3)

Flynn didn’t know what she was expecting when she rushed to Julie’s house following the latest 9-1-1 text, but it wasn’t that she would find her best friend on YouTube, watching videos of her own band performing.

“I think Luke’s in love with Reggie.” Julie moaned as she spotted her friend, paused the video, and then flopped back onto her bed.

-

Julie has a revelation that there might be something going on between Luke and Reggie, which is a shame, because she knows she's got a crush on Luke. But she soon realises that things aren't even as simple as that, when she discovers that she also has feelings for Reggie.

thinking out loud by thessalonike (on ao3)

Julie never knows what she's going to walk in on, nowadays. Two ghosts bustling around her kitchen, trying to figure out how to make pasta, is just the latest in a long string of surprises.

“If anyone could burn pasta, it’d be you guys,” she muses.

Luke grins at her. “We come with a lotta talents.”

And Julie is impossibly fond of them both.

--

These aren't all the ones I have but they are my favorites!! Please talk to me about them if you do read them I love them so much jdkzkdkzk

[the-iceni-bitch]

Pretty pretty please with your fave C. Evans characters naked on top give us a few lines from your upcoming OT3 featuring Freezy, his lady Suzy, and Justin Capshaw?? Maybe Suzy getting a first glimpse of pouty baby Justin Capshaw?

It’s more than a couple lines, but I got you!! Tagging @slothspaghettiwrites because I owe her for invading my mind with this.

“Kitten, c’mon, tell me how it feels.” Bobby’s knuckles were white around the phone as he stared at you through the glass, gripping his cock under the table as he watched your breasts heave with deep breaths. You had unbuttoned your dress enough that they were bare to his gaze, the drape of the fabric keeping you covered up enough that none of the guards or inmates could tell what was going on unless they were looking over your shoulder.

“So wet and tight, Bobby.” You curled your fingers against your sweet spot and moaned softly, making Bobby growl. “Miss that big cock so fucking much.”

“That’s ‘cause she’s mine.” This might have been a bad idea, he was ready to break the fucking glass so he could finally lose himself in that perfect snatch. “You close?”

The only answer you gave was a soft whine as your body shivered with pleasure, your eyes fluttering and your teeth sinking into your lip until you were finally able to breathe again.

“Goddamn it, baby.” He was right there himself, grinding into his hand desperately. “How’s it taste?”

You beamed at him when you drew your fingers up your torso, smearing some of your cum over one of your nipples before popping them into your mouth with a low hum, and he snarled when he felt his cum flood his pants.

“Mmm, it’s sweet, Bobby. Not as sweet as yours though.” You dragged your thumb over the arch of your finger slowly, glancing at something over his shoulder and winking. “We’ve got an audience.”

Bobby blinked a couple times before turning, rolling his eyes when he saw his stupid bitch looking at you curiously. The smaller man shuffled away with a blush when he realized you had seen him, ducking his head when he went to the booth where his lawyer was waiting.

Come join my 4K sleepover!!!

[pengychan]

[Coco] Mind the Gap, Epilogue

Title: Mind the Gap Summary: Modern Day AU. Tired of Ernesto’s snide remarks, Imelda decides to put him in his place and her husband is more than happy to help. It was supposed to be a one-night deal. Things quickly get out of hand. [OT3, mostly porn and humor. Plenty of instances of Ernesto being Dramatic, Imelda getting Sick Of His Shit, and Héctor trying to be the peacekeeper. Don’t expect anything serious.] Pairings: Ernesto/Héctor/Imelda Rating: Explicit.

Art by @swanpit​.

[All chapters are tagged as ‘mind the gap’ on my blog.]

A/N: A family can be a mom, a dad, their baby, mom and dad's boyfriend who is also the baby's honorary uncle, a cat, and a total of five dogs. 

***

“You know, you and your brothers had been baptized long before you were six months old.”

The speakers are not on, but Ernesto is still able to hear every word Imelda’s mother is uttering due to the disease that seems to affect many people the age of fifty - the certainty you absolutely need to yell into the phone for your words to be heard on the other side.

Imelda would very much appreciate not hearing them, if the way she drops the side of her head against the passenger side window with a thunk is anything to go by. “I am aware, mamá,” she almost groans. “But we’re doing it now, no? We’re on the way there, by the way, that’s what I called to let you kno--”

“And I am glad, but I cannot see any reason why you had to wait this long.”

Imelda’s head thunks back against the window just as Ernesto changes lanes to get past a car whose owner seems to be missing the foot that’s supposed to go on the speed pedal. Somewhere in the back, Héctor groans quietly. 

“I had work to do, Héctor had work to do, and if we wanted to have the ceremony in Santa Cecilia we needed time to organize,” Imelda is gritting out. “I don’t see why we should have rushed things, considering that Coco is not at risk of imminent death. Nor has she had enough time to commit significant sins on the mortal plane.”

“Of course she has not, but you know it is important for babies to be baptized--”

“And besides, the Pope decided limbo is no longer canonical some ten years ago.”

“He also said it is no reason to delay--”

“Ah, we’re getting into a tunnel. Signal is bad. See you later,” Imelda snaps, and ends the call before dropping against the backrest with the expression of a luchadora who barely made it through the end of the match. “Remind me why cancelling the entire baptism out of spite is not a good idea?”

“Ceci worked really hard on the ropón and Coco looks beautiful in it,” Héctor speaks up.

“I already paid for the entire damn thing,” Ernesto supplies helpfully.

A chuckle. “Ay, we’re stuck, then,” Imelda says, and turns back to Ernesto. “... Sorry. What were you saying before the call again?”

“The concert next month. The latest piece Héctor wrote is a duet and we could use a woman’s voice. You should come with us, it will only be a couple of nights and you’d only need to be on stage for that song. Armando is already sold to the idea.”

It seems a very reasonable proposal to Ernesto, but Imelda frowns, pulling the car’s window down just enough to get some wind on her face. “I know he is, but I am not completely sold to the idea of leaving Coco in my brothers’ care for any amount of time.”

“It can’t be that ba--”

“You were not there when they came up with the self-rocking crib,” Héctor interjects from the back.

“The self-rocking crib?”

“Yes. Thankfully they tested it on Pepita first. She was not very happy about being ejected against the wall, but you know what they say about cats landing on their feet.”

“Ah.” Ernesto briefly debates whether he should tell them about the surprise the twins are planning. Not that he knows what the surprise actually is, they just briefly mentioned they were going back to Santa Cecilia a few days earlier than them to prepare… something. 

Ah, it will be fine. Probably. 

“Well, maybe we could find someone else to look after Coco,” he finally says instead. “Or keep an eye on them while they look after Coco. ”

Imelda hums. “I guess Ceci may be able to.”

“... Anyone else?”

“Don’t be like that, she’s her godmother.”

“Not yet she isn’t, you have time until tomorrow to change your min--”

“Your co-godparent,” Héctor pipes in. “Meaning that if anything happens to me and Imelda, you two will be morally obliged to step in and help her out. Together.”

“Uuugh. You both had better live long and healthy lives.”

A chuckle. “We’ll do our best,” Imelda promises, and for a time the car is quiet. Not for a long time, with Héctor speaking up again soon enough. 

“Are we there yet?”

Ernesto sighs. And there he hoped he would stop asking. “No.”

“My leg is all pins and needles.”

“Wouldn’t have happened if you sat like a normal human.”

“But Coco needed me to hug the baby seat, she wouldn’t settle otherwise.”

“Well, she’s asleep now. You can let go.”

Sprawled across the back seat in order to keep his arms wrapped around the sleeping child on the baby seat, his left leg folded awkwardly beneath him, Héctor shoots a very offended look which Ernesto glimpses through the rear view mirror.

“No,” he declares with all the defiance of a father refusing to hand over his baby to King Herod himself to be slaughtered in the Massacre of the Innocents. Ernesto shrugs.

“Suit yourself,” he says, and keeps driving. A boring task right now, the road straight and mercifully empty. They should be in Santa Cecilia within a couple of hours, he estimates, give or take a few--

“Are we there yet?”

“Por Dios, I was prepared for the baby to be insufferable throughout the trip, but you’re worse,” Ernesto groans. On the passenger seat, Imelda rubs her temple. 

“We could stop a few minutes, so Héctor can stretch his legs - don’t protest, you know you need it. I wouldn’t mind a break either,” she adds, and glances over at Ernesto. “Do you want me to drive the rest of the way? You’ve been at the wheel the entire time.”

“I can drive the rest of the way,” Héctor volunteers.

“Absolutely not,” Ernesto and Imelda say as one.

“Oh come on, if this is still about that thing with the level crossing in Colima, it was weeks ago and--”

“Coco is in the car,” Imelda reminds him, and Héctor promptly shuts up. When Ernesto pulls into a service station and stops the car in the small parking lot, he slowly disentangles himself from the baby seat. As Coco does not, in fact, bolt awake screaming in horrible pain the second he lets go, he finally gets off the car and takes a few steps. 

Or rather, hops awkwardly on one foot while trying to regain sensation in his left leg. Imelda watches him hop towards the toilet with a chuckle, and turns to put a hand on Ernesto’s arm. “I’ll be getting coffee for both me and Héctor. Knowing you, I assume you’d prefer a beer.”

“I’m supposed to be driving--”

“Look at you, being all resonsible with a baby on board. But no, you’re not. I’ll take over from here,” she cuts him off, and Ernesto smiles. 

“I’ll take two beers, then. One for me and one for the señorita in the back.”

Imelda laughs, and smacks his chest before she picks up her purse. “I’ll be right back. If the señorita in the back awakens and demands a drink, you know where the bottle and the thermos with her milk are.”

“I may have forgotten, Héctor only showed me sixteen times,” Ernesto calls after her, leaning against the side of the car. He arches his back to stretch, groans at the satisfying pop somewhere in his spine, and pulls out his phone. Sofía has sent him a photo showing the couch in Héctor and Imelda’s living room, currently occupied by four napping chihuahuas, an unimpressed-looking cat, and an upside-down Xolo dog.

Pet sitting them here is a lot better, she wrote. At least it’s not my shit they chew up. No shoes among the fatalities, though, so no need to castrate the big one. Tell Imelda that.

Ay, how unfortunate that Dante is getting the snip either way, Ernesto thinks, much like Diablo and Lobo did. He could have Clara and Zita spayed, true enough, but the procedure is more invasive and he’d rather spare them the ordeal if it can all be fixed, literally, by fixing Dante. They’ll book the appointment as soon as they get back, and then he and Héctor will have a drink in male solidarity. Soon, possibly before either Clara or Zita can--

“Bababababa!”

Ah, so the señorita is awake. Ernesto puts away the phone and sticks his head back into the car. “You called?” he asks, and Coco grins up at him with half a tooth, absolutely delighted. She reaches up with a squeal, and Ernesto grins back.

“You want me to pick you up? Is that it?”

“Aaaababah!”

“Is that a yes? I’ll take it as a yes.” Getting Coco out of her baby seat gets another delighted squeal out of her, chubby hands grabbing fistfuls of his shirt. He bounces her a bit and she gives a joyous laugh. “Ah, look at you. Don’t tell your papá I said it, but sometimes I get what he means when he--”

“BLEAGH!”

“Gah!” 

Getting half-digested milk and apple puree all over his shirt is not what Ernesto expected to happen, but in retrospect he probably should have. To his credit he doesn’t give in to his first instinct, which is to drop the baby to tend to his shirt, so he will get to live another day. He just stands there, staring down at his ruined shirt, holding Coco at arms’ length. 

Unaware - or maybe perfectly aware - of the mess she has made, Coco burps and laughs, legs dangling in what almost looks like a little dance. Ernesto sighs, and stares at her in the eye. “I take that back,” he informs her. Coco giggles. 

“... I suspect I know what that look means. I will not be the one to change your diaper.”

“Paaa.”

“Yes, exactly. We’ll leave it to your--”

“She’s awake! She didn’t cry, did she? Coco! Papá is here!”

“Paaaaaaaa!”

Héctor takes Coco from Ernesto’s hands with a wide smile, not even noticing the condition his shirt is in, and twirls around with her in his arms, making her laugh harder. Ernesto would warn him not to spin too much, but it seems she’d already emptied her stomach, the little demon. In the end he just scoffs, gives her an offended look she absolutely ignores, and grabs a clean shirt from his luggage in the back of the car before he heads for the toilets to try and somewhat salvage the one he’s wearing. Maybe if he washes off the worst of it now, his mother will know how to fix the rest. He’s halfway to the toilets when Imelda calls out. 

"Here's your beer, it's not as cold as you like it but-- ah. I see Coco got you."

Ernesto turns to meet her gaze, his expression solemn. “I am afraid your mother was right.”

“... Qué?”

“You’re too late. Your daughter has now definitely sinned on this mortal plane,” he declares. “Do you know how much I paid for this shirt?”

Imelda raises an eyebrow. “Ah, more than you should have. It doesn’t fit you that well. You should just arrive at your parents’ place shirtless. They’re used to seeing you shirtless by now,” she adds, and laughs at Ernesto’s indignant sputtering as he informs her that was low. 

But then she kisses him and promises she will keep his beer in the ice box fridge until he’s back, and he can find it in himself to forgive the affront after all.

***

“... And this my mamá, see? Emilia. She is your other abuela, can you say abuela?”

“Abbwaba!”

“Heh. Close enough, querida. Close enough” 

Sitting cross-legged before his parents’ grave, with Coco nestled comfortably in his arms, Héctor kisses his daughter’s head before turning back to the gravestone with a small smile. Ricardo and Emilia Rivera are smiling back from it, a few years younger than they were when they died. 

Finding that photo was a struggle, because the gas leak that destroyed his home spared none of the family albums. Ernesto nearly tore down his own home, but in the end he was able to dig up a bunch of photographs from one of their very last Nativity plays - and among them was one photo of Héctor, looking a little embarrassed in his angel wings and fake halo, with his parents beaming at either side of him. 

The original is now proudly displayed in the living room in Mexico City; Imelda’s parents have a copy, which Héctor always finds on their ofrenda when he and Imelda come to spend Día de los Muertos with them. Two cut-outs from a third copy are now gracing their gravestone.

I should make more copies. Just in case.

In his arms Coco squeals, and holds out a chubby hand towards the smiling faces of her grandparents. Héctor’s somewhat dampened smile brightens again. 

“Mamá, papá, meet Coco. She’s very happy to meet you.” He bounces the child a little in his arms. “She crawls everywhere and puts everything in her mouth, just like you said I did. And she's got my eyes! Yours, mamá. Not the nose, thank God - no offense, papá, but… come on.” He laughs a little. “Ay, I shouldn’t complain. I mostly grew into it, like you said I would. I’m sorry you didn’t get to see that you were right. I’m sorry you don’t get to be here today.”

Héctor pauses a moment, and kisses Coco’s head one more time before he speaks again. “... I wish you were here to give me advice, but I’ll do my best to be as good a parent as you were. I, uh. Well, my family is not really traditional now, I guess. I don’t know if you’d approve. I don’t know if you’d understand. I’m both relieved and sad I may never get to know, and then sad I’m relieved at all because-- either way, I wish you were here.” 

He pauses, and swallows. Oblivious to the painful lump in her father’s throat, Coco has managed to grab a flower and is trying to put it in her mouth. He takes it out of her hand gently, placing it back before the grave. “But I wanted to tell you, I believe I am doing the right thing. And I am very happy. We are all very happy, and doing our best, and that… that is the most important thing, I think.”

Their smiling faces stare back, forever unchanging. He never got to see their bodies - he was told it was for the best - and now he is glad of that. This is how he wants to remember them: whole, and alive, and always smiling. They would smile today seeing their granddaughter, he’s sure. He likes to think that somewhere, they still are. 

Coco sure is smiling plenty for someone with only half a tooth, still babbling and trying to reach out for the faces on the gravestone. Héctor holds her a bit closer, and her hands press on the glass over the photos like she’s trying to grab those smiles for herself. 

“Abbwaba,” she chirps, and laughs like someone just told a really great joke. 

Must be papá. Mamá’s jokes were terrible, Héctor thinks, and when Coco turns to look at him again, laughing, he laughs just as hard.

***

“Oh, you look so handsome!”

That is something Ernesto usually appreciates hearing - he appreciates it very much, truth be told - but it does lose some of its appeal when the person saying it is your mother as she circles you to make sure your jacket looks absolutely spotless.

“Uh, yes. So, are we ready to--”

“Isn’t he handsome, Estéban?”

Estéban de la Cruz, who clearly needs help getting ready far more than Ernesto ever did - anything vaguely more elegant than an undershirt seems to make him ill at ease - glances over and gives him a shrug that probably translates to ‘I have to listen to this every day, now it’s your turn’. 

“Looking good,” is all he says, causing Ernesto to blink. This kind of thing, his father looking at him and talking to him like a normal specimen of homo sapiens, is something he has yet to get entirely used to. He remembers times when he saw his father sitting on the couch while staring at the wall in an alcohol-induced stupor, and being both relieved and frustrated by it. A part of him rejoiced at the chance to just pass by unnoticed and spare himself one of his moods, while the other wanted to grab him by the shirt and shake him, knowing full well it would amount to suicide.

I am here, damn you. I’m right here. Look at me.

“So handsome,” Adela repeats for the eleventh time, snapping him from his reminiscence. “You know, you should find someone.”

As his father looks suddenly very busy fiddling with the buttons of his jacket, Ernesto holds back a groan. “Mamá, can we not--”

“You know Mirela’s son? He’s a nice boy too, and word is that he also may be--”

Oh no. No no no no no, this is not happening.

“Ay, look at the time, I really need to go! See you in church!” Ernesto yells, and sprints to the door, almost forgetting to pick up the sack of coins on his way out.

***

“That’s a very generous bolo.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me. Ceci would never let me hear the end of it if I gave anything less.”

“Ah, don't be modest. You wanted to be a good godfather and bring plenty of good fortune to your goddaugh--"

“No, it was definitely Ceci."

"Ah." As children swarm around them to pick up the frankly astounding amount of coins Ernesto has scattered around, Héctor laughs and puts an arm around his shoulders. “Ay, don’t worry, mi amigo. I have a song in mind that will more than make up for your losses.”

Ernesto, newly-minted godfather, snorts. “It had better,” he says, elbowing him in the ribs, but his lips are already curling in a smile. Héctor lets out a yelp that’s mostly for show, and looks over to where Imelda is standing, clad in a beautiful dress Ceci insists on tailoring just for her along with Coco’s pure white ropón.

“No, no purple, for God’s sake,” he remembers Ceci muttering as she took Imelda’s measures. “This is your child’s christening, not Lent!”

Imelda does favor purple over most colors, but she looks stunning in the blue dress as she speaks to guests, Coco squirming and giggling in her arms as Óscar and Felipe make faces at her. She gets to make some noise now, after being on her best behavior through… most of the ceremony, a few drum-shattering shrieks aside. Héctor finds himself smiling dreamily. 

“She is beautiful, isn’t she?” he sighs, and Ernesto raises an eyebrow. 

“Imelda, or Coco?”

“Both.”

“Heh. Yes,” Ernesto concedes. For a few more moments they just look on, side by side. For just a split second Héctor allows himself to wish circumstances would allow him to grab Ernesto’s hand, but he knows better than that; they will not go out of their way to hide, but they have got to be practical. If there is anyone present at the moment they may try to come clean to first, it’s probably-- ah, speaking of them…

“Ernesto?”

“Mmh?”

“The twins are planning something during the reception, aren’t they?”

“Of course they are. It may or may not involve explosive material.”

“Por Dios, tell me you talked them out of it!”

“Why would I? I like fireworks.”

To the boys’ credit, the display is pretty spectacular. The only casualty is a perfectly replaceable tablecloth, and Coco’s sheer delight as she claps at the lights, nestled in her grandmother’s arms, is well worth the loss. 

It also causes enough of a distraction for the three of them to slip their arms under the table and hold onto each other’s hands for a few moments, squeezing tight.

***

“Home, sweet home!”

Héctor’s dramatic declaration would be more accurate as ‘bed sweet bed’, really. When they made it back to their apartment it felt anything but sweet, with a baby cranky from the long trip and five dogs, plus a cat, either very offended by their absence or bouncing off the walls,  frantic for their attention after a grand total of two hours on their own after Sofía left. 

It took about an hour to put down their things, feed the pets, feed the baby, take the dogs out and put Coco in her crib. Then, and only then, can the three of them collapse on the bed and breathe in a sigh of relief. 

“We survived,” Ernesto mutters into the pillow. 

“Seems like it,” Héctor groans. “Now we can sleep.”

And then, of course, Coco starts crying. It takes Imelda approximately half a minute to pick her up, decide she’s not going to be able to keep standing on her own two feet long enough to soothe her, and return to their bed with her. She lays down with her and Coco settles quickly, nestled securely in her arms. She never moves around when asleep and Pepita is keeping watch as always, so it’s safe enough, Imelda reasons with a yawn. She only realizes she forgot to close the door when Pepita jumps in, curling up next to Coco. She groans. 

“For the love of God, close the door before--”

“BOOF!”

“Yip! Yip! Yip!”

“Agh-- Dante, no, wait--” Héctor trails off with a yelp when Dante jumps up on the bed, landing across his legs and just barely missing his crotch with a clumsy paw. Out of the corner of her eye, Imelda notices Ernesto reaching down. 

No dogs on the bed, she wants to say, but Dante is already up and she is tired enough to admit defeat, at least this once. She sighs and shushes Coco while she falls back asleep, trying to ignore Ernesto’s little monsters as they snuffle around to find a spot to snooze. Once they finally settle, Imelda closes her eyes and tries to sleep. And tries. And tries. 

On the pillow, Pepita is purring away. The dogs are mostly silent, except for the occasional twitch and half-snore. Coco is suckling on her thumb as she sleeps, Héctor is breathing with his mouth open as usual, and Ernesto is snoring softly behind her. She could blame any of those things for the lack of sleep, but she knows that’s not it. 

Finally, quiet and careful to stir no one, Imelda half-sits and looks across the bed she used to share with Héctor and no one else, and that used to feel so large. 

It’s quite crowded now, with the three of them and Coco resting on it, Héctors’ limbs splayed in all directions and Ernesto a solid presence behind her, their pets filling up all remaining space. Not a single gap left.

It is perfect. It is whole. 

It is home.

Imelda nods silently, and leans back down. She tucks a lock of hair behind Coco’s ear, kisses her forehead, and closes her eyes with a sated smile.

***

Aaaand it's over, yet another fic that got out of hand and ended up at least three times longer than planned! Hope you enjoyed the read as much as I enjoyed writing it.

(Also, letting a baby sleep in the Big Bed with mom, dad, their boyfriend who is also a honorary uncle, their cat and their five dogs is really cute in fiction, but can go very wrong in reality if someone turns in their sleep. Don't do that.)