#and i can be pretty mean to my friends but with the added layer of online anonymity i dont even know enough about you guys to roast you

[italiantea]

honestly the reason online friendships work is because we dont do things together enough for you to find me annoying or incompetent and i dont know you well enough to be mean to you

[nope-body]

.

[vaspider]

Okay, let's try this without the errors and casual domestic abuse references and classism/racism!

All of the below may be worn "because I like how they look." When I say what they're worn for, I mean the intended practical intention of their design.

This is a compression tee or workout tee. They are usually made out of synthetic materials for moisture-wicking purposes. They are worn for exercise or workouts, to draw sweat away from the skin.

This is a muscle tank. It is worn for working out (lifting weights, most often) or showing off one's muscles.

This is a sleeveless tee. Note the different sizes of the armholes. This is pretty much just a fashion statement, two tickets to the gun show, etc. but sometimes worn at the gym.

This is an A-shirt, ribbed knit tank, or fitted knit tank. In the US it may colloquially be called a "wifebeater," but that's classist, racist, and fucking gross, so knock it off.

Originally intended as an undershirt, may be worn as a primary shirt. Still worn as an undershirt by many men/mascs.

This is a fitted tee. They come in crew necks (pictured) and v-necks, typically. These also started as undershirts and are often still worn as same, but now are often worn as casual shirts as well. The difference between one intended as a casual shirt and one intended as an undershirt is mostly just fabric weight.

This is a tee shirt, also known as a heavyweight tee (a reference to fabric weight), loose-fit tee, or unisex tee. Intended as casual wear.

This is a polo shirt. Usually worn fitted and tucked in as shown, unless being worn with shorts. This is a "dress casual" sort of shirt, the kind of thing a person might wear to a semi-nice dinner out with family during the summer, but it's also part of the work uniforms of a lot of working-class people now, so.

This is a Henley or y-neck. Usually 3-5 buttons at the neck and made of cotton knit. This started as underwear too - a warm layer for winter - and is still used that way, often layered with camp shirts, chamois shirts or flannels. Also worn alone. These are pretty common chores/work shirts in my experience.

This is a camp shirt or work shirt. It is made of broadcloth, denim, canvas, or another sturdy material. Worn either as an outer layer unbuttoned over a tee, tank or henley, or if it's a nice shirt in good shape you can button it up and tuck it in and get away with wearing it to a semi-casual thing, like a weekday dinner with friends or an event at church/synagogue which isn't a service, like a potluck or a meeting.

These can often be bought lined or quilted and used as a light jacket. I used these for throwing on real quick when going to bring in wood so the wood wouldn't chew up my forearms.

Now THIS is a flannel. The difference is this is made out of flannel.

Everything I said above applies to this, except flannel shirts are more "casual" than a nice camp shirt bc the material is softer.

Flannel. Shirts. Don't. Have. To. Be. Plaid. A lot of them are, but I own/owned plenty of solid color flannel shirts. I don't care for these as much for chores bc the soft material means stuff is more likely to poke through, but they're great for layering.

I'm out of pictures so hang on, adding more.

[arminreindl]

Pachycetinae: The Thick Whales

Oh look I'm way behind not only on my work with wikipedia but also in regards to summarizing it on tumblr. Good thing, three of the pages I've worked on these past few months can just be summed up in one post because they are all one family.

So Pachycetinae, at the most basic level, are basilosaurid archaeocetes, the group that famously includes Basilosaurus and Dorudon. Reason I've picked up the articles in addition to my usual croc work, basically a friend and I noticed how lacklustre many pages are and stupidly decided to start revising all of Cetacea (pray for me).

Currently theres two genera within the group. Pachycetus aka Platyosphys aka Basilotritus, which is a whole mess I will get into at the end for those interested, and Antaecetus, which I'll just call "the good one" for now. Among those are three species. Pachycetus paulsonii (or Basilotritus uheni) from continental Europe (Germany and Ukraine mostly), Pachycetus wardii (Eastern United Staates) and Antaecetus aithai (Morocco and Egypt)

Picture: Pachycetus and Antaecetus by Connor Ashbridge

So the hallmark of Pachycetines, as the name would suggest, is the fact that their skeletons are notably denser than that of other basilosaurids. The vertebrae, the most abundant material of these whales, are described as pachyostatic and osteosclerotic. The former effecitvely means that the dense cortical bone forms thickened layers, while the latter means that the cortical bone, already forming thickened layers, is furthermore denser than in other basilosaurids with less porosities. The densitiy is increased further by how the ribs attack to the vertebrae not through sinovial articulation but through cartilage, so adding even more weight to them. Overall this is at times compared to manatees, famous for their dense skeletons.

Pictured below, the currently best preserved pachycetine fossil, an individual of the genus Antaecetus from Morocco.

Now there are some interesting anatomical features to mention that either differ between species or just can't be compared. For example the American species of Pachycetus, P. wardii, shows a well developed innominate bone, basically the fused pelvic bones. This is curious as one would think of it as a more basal feature, with derived whales gradually reducing them. The skull is best preserved in Antaecetus and has a very narrow snout. One way to differentiate the two is by the teeth. Pachycetus has larger, more robust teeth while that of Antaecetus are way more gracile and is thought to have had a proportionally smaller skull (in addition to being smaller than Pachycetus in general).

All of this has some interesting implications for their ecology. For instance, why the hell are they so dense? Well its possible that they were shallow water animals using their weight as ballast, staying close to the ocean floor. This would definitely find some support in the types of environments they show up in, which tend to be shallow coastal waters. There are some Ukrainian localities that suggest deeper waters, but that has been interpreted as being the result of migration taking them out of their prefered habitat.

Now while pachycetines were probably powerful swimmers, their dense bones mean that they were pretty slow regardless. And to add insult to injury, they were anything but maneuverable. Remember those long transverse processes? Turns out having them extend over the majority of the vertebral body means theres very little space for muscles in between, which limits sideways movements.

From this one can guess that they weren't pursuit predators and needed to ambush their prey. What exactly that was has been inferred based on tooth wear. Basically, the teeth of Pachycetus show a lot of abrasion and wear, not dissimlar to what is seen in modern orcas that feed on sharks and rays. And low and behold, sharks are really common in the same strata that Pachycetus shows up in. Now since Antaecetus had way more gracile teeth, its thought that it probably fed on less well protected animals like squids and fish.

Below: Pachycetus/Basilotritus catching a fish by @knuppitalism-with-ue

The relationship between pachycetines and other basilosaurids is wonky, again no thanks due to Pachycetus itself being very poorly known. Some studies have suggested that they were a very early branching off-shoot, in part due to their prominent hip bones, but in the most recent study to include them, the description of Tutcetus, they surprisingly came out as not just the most derived basilosaurids but as the immediate sister group to Neoceti, which includes all modern whales. Regardless, in both instances they seem to clade closely with Supayacetus, a small basilosaurid from Peru.

And now for the part that is the most tedious. Taxonomy and history.

Remains of pachycetines have been known for a while and were first described as early as 1873 by Russian scientists. To put into perspective how old that is. The material's history in science predates both World Wars, the collapse of the Russian Empire and even the reign of Tsar Nicholas II. Now initially the idea was to name the animal Zeuglodon rossicum, but the person doing the actual describing changed that to Zeuglodon paulsonii reasoning that it would eventually be found outside of Russia (something that aged beautifully given that Ukraine would eventually become independent).

And this is where the confusion starts to unfold. Because at the same time people unearthed pachycetine fossils in Germany too, which would come be given the name Pachycetus (thick whale) and be established as two species. Pachycetus robustus and Pachycetus humilis, both thought to be baleen whales.

Pictured below: Pierre-Joseph van Beneden who coined Pachycetus and Johann Friedrich Brandt who described Zeuglodon paulsonii. Beneden easily has the better beard.

These latter two names however were later rejected in 1935 by Kuhn and lumped into other species, whereas Zeuglodon paulsonii was elevated to a full on new genus by Remington Kellogg in 1936. For those curious, Platyosphys means "broad loin", in combination with the species "Paulson's broad loin" to the amusement of some friends of mine.

And then people stopped caring and we have a nearly 70 year research gap. Eventually Mark D. Uhen found fossil material in the United States, but interpreted those fossils as being part of the genus Eocetus, naming them Eocetus wardii, a move that many following researchers disagreed with.

Then in 2001 a new species of Platyosphys, P. einori, was named. It's bad, moving on. More importantly, we got the works of Gol'din and Zvonok, who attempted to bring some clarity into the whole thing. To do so they rejected the name Platyosphys on account of the holotype having been lost sometime in WW2 and picked out much better fossil material to coin the genus Basilotritus ("the third king" in allusion to Basilosaurus "king lizard" and Basiloterus "the other king", isn't etymology fun?). They erected the type species Basilotritus uheni and then proclaimed Eocetus wardii to also belong into this genus, making it Basilotritus wardii.

This move was however not followed by other researchers. Gingerich and Zhouri maintained that regardless of being lost, Platyosphys is still valid and can be sufficiently diagnosed by the original drawings from the 19th and early 20th century. And to take a step further they added a new species, Platyosphys aithai (weird, why does that name sound familiar).

Then Van Vliet came and connected all these dots I've set up so far, noting that the fossils of Platyosphys are nearly identical to those of Pachycetus. This lead to the fun little thing were "paulsonii", applied first to Zeuglodon in the 1870s, takes priority over "robustus", coined just a few years later, BUT, the genus name Pachycetus easily predates Platyosphys by a good 60 years. Subsequently, the two were combined. Platyosphys paulsonii and Pachycetus robustus became Pachycetus paulsonii (simplified*). Van Vliet then deemed humilis to be some other whale and carried over Basilotritus uheni, Basilotritus wardii and Platyosphys aithai into the genus Pachycetus. *Technically Pachycetus robustus was tentatively kept as distinct only because of how poorly preserved it was, making comparisson not really possible.

Then finally in the most recent paper explicitly dealing with this group, Gingerich and Zhouri came back, killed off P. robustus for good, sunk Pachycetus uheni into Pachycetus paulsonii for good measure and decided to elevate Pachycetus aithai to genus status after finding a much better second skeleton, coining Antaecetus (after the giant of Greek myth).

And that's were we are right now. Three species in two genera, but only one of them is actually any good. So perhaps at some point in the future we might see some further revisions on that whole mess and who knows, perhaps Basilotritus makes a glorious comeback.

To conclude, sorry about the lack of images, despite the ample history theres just not much good material aside from that one Antaecetus fossil and I didn't want to include 5 different drawings in lateral view. Obligatory Wikipedia links: Pachycetinae - Wikipedia Antaecetus - Wikipedia Pachycetus - Wikipedia

Ideally Supayacetus will be the next whale I tackle, distractions and other projects not withstanding (who knows maybe I'll finally finish Quinkana)

[theapangea]

Yas for the forehead kiss. Thank you💖

Also, I think we should come up with a nickname for fwb reader.

Now onto the smutty smut and angsty fluff. So here's a few ideas in general.

Their first time together like what made them want to, would it be her first time? Or would this be like a jealousy thing like obvi they're bffs and he's messing with Karen. But what if he saw reader in passing with someone hitting on her. Or hell he sees her with a hickey herself.

Or like as some smaller ones, just her reaction if they sleep together and she's like yes! Finally and when she goes to ask him about if afterwards he gets a call from Karen. Or just snippits of when he calls her not his girlfriend and her reactions and the reactions of the other Gallaghers.

Here are my nicknames idea - let me know what you all think - Sweetheart, Button, Bunny, Sugar or Sunshine???

I'm kind of leaning more towards Bunny because it can have like a cute little story behind it. Like it's enduring without being like you have to be together (boyfriend-girlfriend) to call someone that.

Smutty stuff - My fav

I don't think Lip would be her first time. I imagine them being friends for a while but not like super close until pretty recent. Lip would so be jealous when he sees another guy hit on her/ or she talks about hooking up with someone. And at first like maybe he is a little protective but then after sleeping with the reader kind of thinks it something more. I also think another reason he sleeps with reader is because Karen has dudes on the side - so like in a way to get back at her. There's many layers. I have an idea about some jealous lip dabbles that can correspond with the story!!!

I think the reader has liked Lip for a while - I mean how could she not??? I think she would be like super happy that her and lip hooked up. I picture it kind of spontaneous (like in the back of a car, or like some random ass place). And she thinks it's some one time thing like he just need to blow off steam because he was mad at Karen. And then they just keep having sex.

I think adding some side stuff with the other Gallaghers can help develop the story. Like Fiona warning Lip to stop playing with the readers heart. Or like Debbie is super sweet to the reader. Just some stuff to show how close Lip and the reader are.

This is going to be a very complex story lol. Super excited to write it thou!!

[pokeberry5]

do you have any tips for drawing dynamic poses? i always love the way you draw bodies!!

i know this has been said a million times but the way i draw bodies significantly improved after i started drawing more frequently from reference. if i cant find a reference for a pose on the internet, i'll just use myself or a friend. i spend an unfortunate amount of time just standing in front of my mirror looking at my own joints. pay attention to where your body curves!!

other than that though—honestly my anatomy/pose knowledge is a whack amalgamation of art tips i've accumulated over the years (i miss old school deviantart/tumblr style art tutorials). i also like to look at how artists i admire draw bodies—what details to they include, what anatomical short-hands etc

i think i'm still figuring out how to draw dynamic poses, but here are some cheats i've picked up (under the cut coz this got long again):

gonna use this stray!tim as a base

the easiest way for make up a pose is to start roughly with the head, collarbones, ribcage, and pelvis — you can build everything from there

here's a couple more of what i mean by the ribcage-pelvis deconstruction:

2. push your perspective a little!! imo things look more dynamic if you move your sight-line up or down—the horizontal orange line here. if you look at the panels above, the sight lines tend to be a little low, at around the character's torso or waist. i did the same below with stray!tim

to do this i usually try to get a sense of the space im working in by putting in some sloppy perspective grids

3. S curves!!! exaggerate the lines of the body. the body naturally has parallel horizontal lines—an easy way to get a body to look less rigid is to tilt those horizontal lines which in turn curves the vertical line of the body

this is what a mean by horizontal lines—usually i use the eyes, shoulders, and hips:

i'm gonna use caterina as a better example—usually you want the horizontal lines to sort of zigzag:

i've also picked up a couple visual tricks that don't exactly add dynamism to a pose? but they do give a static pose a little more oomph. a lot of this is done by visually highlighting one specific point of the body

for our purposes, i'm gonna make the focal point tim's face

motion blur! there are a couple ways to do this. i actually dont like working with traditional motion blur because you have to mess around with selections, so i usually fake motion blur using postional perspective blur:

2. gradient lighting—you can add a lot of depth this way. usually i like setting the gradient in the direction of the focal point, e.g. tim's face

below, i added a layer above the base drawing, used an airbrush to get this gradient, and then set the layer to color burn and lowered the opacity. you can also clip the lighting layer to the base drawing and set it to multiply

below, i did the opposite—instead of adding a gradient shadow, i added gradient light. i set the layer to add this time (instead of color burn) and then lowered the opacity again.

this kinda serves to desaturate the parts of the piece that are less important (ish i was kinda sloppy here), driving the eye to face—the most saturated. the motion blur does a similar thing, where the only thing "in focus" is tim's face

the gradient also sort of adds a directionality to the piece—it starts at the bottom right corner and goes up towards the upper left, causing your eye to follow that same path, which drags your gaze up tim's body

here's what it looks like when i combine 1 and 2:

3. chromatic aberration's been pretty popular recently. it does a similar thing as perspective blur but with more eyestrain (although i went with a really exaggerated version below just to show you what it does) but it looks cool!

bonus cryptid tim as a reward for getting to the end :-)

[syddsatyrn]

❄️Stuck Without Rules❄️

☆Pairing: - Eddie Munson x Fem Reader

☆Warnings: Smut, swearing, drug use, cigarettes, intercourse, fingering, unprotected sex, p in v, pet names, Characters are all 18+

Minors DNI, scram!

☆Words: 2.5k

☆Summary: Winter has finally made it to Hawkins covering the town in a white blanket of snow. You head over to your crush’s house to jam out but the snow day quickly turns into a snow storm and you’re stuck at Eddie’s. Turns out that trailer gets pretty cold when the power goes out. Eddie has a few ideas on how to keep warm.

☆Notes: This fic is apart of a holiday prompt challenge @hellfiremunsonn and I are doing for our Christmas event. You can find that post Here. We will be doing holiday prompts and request all month long so come join us!

☆Prompt: Snow day/snow storm

It was far too early for a phone to be ringing in your apartment. The damn thing is all the way in the living room too so you’re forced to leave your warm nest of blankets. With a groan, you crawl out of bed, taking the comforter with you. It felt like the floor was coated with a sheet of ice as you made your way to the receiver mounted on the wall.

“...Hello?” You wearily greeted the mystery caller.

“Hey, sleepy head,” Eddie replies teasingly.

“Eddie? Why are you calling me this early?”

“It snowed last night and my tires suck.” He claims.

“What?” You're clearly still half asleep.

“Look out the window, dork.”

The gravel gray skies were bare and cloudless, fluffy white snow smothered the ground and everything else it could reach. There had to be about three, maybe four inches of snow. A couple of neighborhood kids are tossing snowballs and chasing each other in the street.

“I was uhh, wondering if you’d wanna come over and jam? I just bought new strings and I picked some really good green.” Eddie offers, a slight nervous tone in his voice.

“Yeah, I’ll be over in a bit.” You smile behind the phone.

This isn't uncommon, for your crush to invite you to his place for a jam sesh. You both play lead guitar, so you immediately bonded after a “battle of bands” show. He plays a red warlock NJ series, you play a green fender Stratocaster. Your friends still make fun of you for “literally having heart eyes” as he shredded the solo to “Running with the Devil” By Van Halen.

It did take you a little longer than usual to get dressed due to how many layers you added hoping it helps you combat the cold. Your car heater isn't exactly in the best condition. You packed up your guitar in its soft case, grabbed your keys, and took off.

The weather looked okay, it doesn't seem like it’s going to snow again. The sky looks pretty clear, the roads look manageable. It shouldn't be too difficult to navigate your way to Eddie’s. Let's just hope your tires don’t suck too.

—--------❄️

You pulled into Eddie’s trailer park, it was a pretty safe ride. A couple of slides here and there, but nothing you couldn't handle. Your boots crunched through the freshly powdered snow as you walked up to the front steps. You swallowed your nerves and knocked on the door, heavy footsteps walked through the house, the closer they got the further your stomach sank. I mean, you’ve been to Eddie’s before, several times. But that doesn't make it any less nerve-wracking.

Eddie opens the door and smiles, that same charming smile that wipes your mind clean of any coherence. “Hey! I’m glad you made it in one piece.” He says, motioning you inside. His hand meets the small of your back as you enter and your skin feels like it’s on fire despite the many layers you had on. You remove your boots and leave them next to the door and place your things on the couch.

“It wasn’t so bad, the roads are actually pretty clear.” You reply while unzipping your jacket. You remove a couple of layers, a hoodie, and a sweater. Now you're left in a long sleeve black shirt. You unzip the soft case and pull out your guitar.

Eddie keeps sneaking glances at you. Little did you know, Eddie has been crushing on you for weeks now. He’s never met anyone who can play guitar as well as he can. When he saw you play, he thought you were completely out of his league. His bandmates dared him to talk to you and they wouldn't shut up until he did. Eddie was completely surprised when you stuck to him like glue.

You and Eddie head to his room. You take a seat on his bed and Eddie flips the switch on the amp and hands you the cable. You plug it in with little feedback and he turns the volume dial up slightly. He takes a seat next to you on the bed and you warm up with a few random chords. Eddie can’t take his eyes off your hands, how they gracefully slide up and down the neck of the guitar. The way your dainty fingers press down on each string. When you began to pluck individual notes and occasionally wiggled a string for a vibrato effect, Eddie’s mind melted.

“Show off.” He mocks and you smile back at him.

“You’re just jealous. I can teach you if you like.” You tease back while repeating the same movement.

Eddie rolls his eyes and scoffs. He plugs his warlock into a second smaller amp sitting next to his bedside table. Eddie begins to play, his style is a little messier than yours, but that's the beauty of it. It didn't take long for you to pick up what he was putting down, you clipped the capo over the first fret and copied his movements by ear, playing one octave higher.

You have always enjoyed these jam sessions with Eddie. But something in the back of your head keeps telling you that he isn’t just interested in you as a musician. You’ve never been one for social cues, they fly right over your head, leaving you without a single clue.

The power promptly goes out, amps shut off, and lights gone. The windows are the only light source, and without the loud music, you both could finally hear the large snowflakes hitting the roof.

“Looks like the powers out.” He says while walking over to the breaker box in the hallway. He flips a few switches, but nothing changes. “It's probably a downed tree.” You both take a look out Eddie’s bedroom window to see a flurry of flakes falling from a pale gray sky. What was supposed to be a light snow day has turned into a blizzard. There is no way you’re going to be able to get your car home.

“I don’t think I can drive in this mess.” You add, just barely above a whisper.

“I’m not opposed to you staying until the snow stops. I’m sure my uncle wouldn't mind either.” Eddie suggests. He hangs his guitar back up on the wall over his mirror and plucks the acoustic from its stand. It's a pretty standard acoustic, nothing special. But he has painted the words “this machine slays dragons” on the front, in white.

Eddie sits back down on the bed and you do the same. He begins to strum and you're immediately mesmerized. See, you're not very experienced with an acoustic guitar. But you've always wanted to be, the way he plays so effortlessly is just mind-blowing. 

"You may wish for more electric skills, I think acoustic is far more difficult." You comment while bringing your knees to your chest. Eddie smiles, he doesn't receive sincere compliments often.

“You’re really sweet. Are you just saying that to make me feel better?” He abruptly stops strumming.

“No, I mean it. Really.” You insist.

The quick decrease in temperature makes you shiver, Eddie notices and sets his guitar down.

“Yeah, I had a feeling it might get cold in here fast.” He gets up and quickly walks down the hall to retrieve a blanket. He grabs a soft-knitted blanket off the back of the couch. When he returns he plops back down on the bed next to you. He was rather close, you can feel your face heat up. Eddie wraps the blanket around you both, making sure you are completely covered.

He's really close. So close you can smell his cheap cologne and shampoo. You’ve been crushing on this guy ever since you met him but haven't had the guts to say or do anything. Then fate just swoops in and puts you in the most ridiculous situation.

“This better?”

“Lots better, actually” You lean your head on his shoulder. Eddie looks a little surprised but wraps his arm around your back. “How are you so warm? It’s freezing!” You ask and cuddle just a little closer. Eddie shrugs and you look up and search his face for any emotion. Eddie has always found you attractive and has developed feelings. He regularly uses pet names with you and goes out of his way to make you smile. He’s not the best at expressing his feelings with anything but music, so Eddie has hesitated and hasn’t made a single move. Well, until today.

Eddie cups your cheek, and his rings chill your face. Biting your cheek nervously, your eyes refuse to leave his.

“Can I kiss you?”

“...y-yeah.”

Just like that, Eddie leans forward and presses his lips to yours. You feel hot under his touch, your stomach filling with more warmth than what was already there. Some shyness emerges, feeling incredibly close to him like he’s studying you. You kiss him back and fully lean into him. It immediately became something more, his tongue swiped along your bottom lip. All of your senses have been infiltrated by him, this a war you know you won't be able to win.

Eddie trailed kisses along your jaw and neck. He felt the way you shuddered as his lips ghosted over your skin. His hand slips under your loose top and roams the length of your body until he reaches your bare breast and hums into your mouth. Your breath hitches as he begins to knead the soft flesh, rolling your nipple between his fingers. You take a handful of his t-shirt and pull him just a little closer. Eddie’s arm snakes around your waist as you pull him on top of you.

You press your lips to his, he tastes like weed and coffee. Eddie deepens the kiss as your mouth drops open with a gasp. Eddie pops open the button on your jeans and draws the zipper down, his hand dips into your pants, and his fingers traverse lower and slide between your folds.

“Oh god…” You whine as he swirls his fingers around your clit, your back arches off the bed and your pants slip further down your hips. “Please don't stop.” Eddie sees this as an opportunity and eases two fingers into your entrance. Another moan escapes your lips and Eddie chuckles at how much of a mess he’s made of you. His thumb presses against your clit and he begins by making small circles. After some time he pushes two digits inside of you.

“Am I gonna make you cum with just my fingers? And so quickly too.” He coos in your ear. You close your eyes and bury your face in his shoulder, as pleasure unravels in your stomach and your core clenches in anticipation. All you could do is nod and shut your eyes, a few muffled whines escape and your hips buck. 

“Fuck! Eddie!” His name rolls off your tongue, a sound so addicting, he just wants you to say it again. You unravel in his arms, and Eddie slows down and helps you through the high. Your senses were smothered by him and all you could see were stars. When you open your eyes, Eddie is displaying his signature smirk.

“You’re so pretty, y’know that?” He coos.

“I was just about to tell you the same thing.”

Eddie cupped your cheek and captured your lips in a slow languid kiss. You palm at the front of his jeans feeling his cock strain against the denim material, causing him to shift uncomfortably. Eddie looks ruined, and you haven't even touched him yet. You make quick work of unzipping his jeans. He helps you shuffle them, along with his underwear. His aching member springs free, flushed at the tip and weeping, it’s the most enticing thing you’ve ever seen.

Eddie quickly sits up and leans back against the wall. He hooks his fingers into the waistband of your pants and dragged you with him. You rock your hips and completely remove them, Eddie crosses his arms and pulls his shirt over his head, tossing it somewhere. Eddie grabbed your ass as you straddled him. Reaching up to bring you into a hungry, wet kiss. His mouth was restless. Lightly chapped lips pressed to yours, he helps you out of your top between kisses.

Eddie slowly rubbed his cock against your clit as your hips wiggled in his lap, getting comfortable. As you slowly lowered yourself, moans fizzled into small huffs and whines. When Eddie bottoms out, your nails dig into his shoulders, leaving crescent-shaped marks. He holds you by your hips and you brace yourself with his shoulder.

“Fuck…you are so tight.” He growls, “You look so pretty like this, filled with my cock.”

There wasn’t any pain, thanks to how completely soaked you were, but the pressure of him splitting you open made your breath hitch. You looked down at him as you began to roll your hips down onto his. His hands found their way to your hips and readjusting his grip on your body, he began to thrust himself up into you. Soon enough, you both found a steady and continuous speed.

“Are you gonna cum for me again, princess?” Eddie asks, just barely above a whisper.  

“Fuck…yes…please…” You mewl and allow yourself to slump forward over him, nosing at the crook of his neck. Your stomach was tight, breath fluttering in your chest as you tried to focus on reaching your high. Eddie squeezes his eyes shut, groans and huffs escape his mouth as he shoves into you impossibly deep and cums, cock pulsing inside your walls.

“Oh god, fuck” He says under his breath. Eddie continues to help you ride it out, your hands slide up the back of his neck and card through his long brown hair. The coil that had been winding in your stomach finally snapped for a second time and Eddie groaned as he felt your cunt cling around him as you came. “That’s it.” Eddie praises. Your breathing is ragged as you come down from your high, still holding Eddie’s arm for dear life.

He pulls you in for a sweet, lingering kiss.

“You did so good for me, sweetheart.” Eddie commends and you give him a lazy smile. He peppers your face and neck with kisses which earns him a soft giggle. You slowly lift yourself off of him, the loss making you whine a little.

The sky is getting darker as 5 pm approaches. After some cleanup, Eddie hands you one of his band shirts, a pair of black sweatpants, and boxers.

“I don't think you’re going home tonight, sweetheart,” Eddie says while moving strands of hair away from your face. "But you can crash here if you like?" He offers and you nod. You look outside the window and see the snow flurries have subsided, but the flakes haven't completely stopped. Your car probably wouldn't make it out of the driveway. It has two wheel drive and runs on hopes and dreams.

"Thank you, Eddie."

"My pleasure, sweet thing."

Suddenly the lights started to flicker, you both looked up at the ceiling light. The power kicks back on and you can hear the heater start up.

"Oh thank goodness." You sigh with relief.

"I'm gonna make some food before we lose power again." Eddie declares, scampering down the hall to the kitchen.

[inconspicious-random-thoughts]

My theory is that Mimzy was once Alastor’s best friend, he maybe even thought he might have been in love with her at one point, in that manner aroace people who don’t know they’re aroace often do, that she was then sacrificed by this cult, and that Alastor had them infiltrated and taken down every member of that cult over decades, losing more and more of himself each time as those he killed grew less and less directly connected to the crime, “sorry you just got in my way, maybe I enjoy it just a little bit does that make me insane”, but that in the act of doing so, that contradiction of righteous intent and pure depravity, along with whatever ritual for power the cult had initially started upon, let’s say in honour of Roo (the root of all evil in the Hellaverse, a character yet to be introduced), and that on Alastor’s eventual death, he then found himself in Hell all-powerful, and set about bringing down those Overlords beneath his power continuing this moral code, until he hit a wall, finding himself having ended all Overlords less powerful than him / otherwise came to his senses on meeting Mimzy again and finding her to have gone to hell, recognising that “weren’t you an old pal of mine” and really nothing more and deciding mere power, entertainment is all he now desires. But that still, out of obligation, that he must kill Lucifer, the Devil, for a sense of completion, while still being allowed to exist himself afterward. Which leads to whatever deal he ended up trapped in seven years before the events of the series, and him getting Charlie to make a deal with him to “harm no one” at a certain point in the future: to ensure that when the time comes that he will be able to kill Lucifer, and the one person able to stop him won’t be able to. To really make Alastor a true Exterminator, more measured, the embodiment of how the road to Hell is paved with good intentions.

My first message on this blog! Everyone feel free to do so. I be happy to heart thoughts or possibly give opinions or disscussion.

That's interesting. It keep overlooking the concept of cults when I theorize. I just slips my mind its a thing. I wrote something about Vox and someone mention him being a cult leader, and I have to admit....it makes sense. He fits cult leader material perfectly. The charisma, the hypnotism. "Trust us..." Which, would an added layer to their rivalry of Vox recognized Alastor as the 'notorious cult member killer' from decades before his time to fit your theory.

I personally headcanon the reason he was so powerful when he fell was voodoo. I haven't done a 30 minute research for me to flush it out tho. But based off my very poor memory of Disney the princess and the frog...Alastor was into Voodoo while alive.

Been mention through the show, "His voodoo magic." And maybe, his voodoo aided him to be a successful serial killer. Basing Dr. Facilier to Alastor, (remember my memories are sketchy) and my non existent knowledge of voodoo,he sold his soul already to someone in Hell while he was alive to perform voodoo, and his body count counted to the demon he sold his soul to power. Aware but not fully digested the weight of that action and what it truly entailed to sell his soul. That Hell is forever. So when he died, his master pretty much granted him immense power for a job well done as well treat him like a lieutenant type of underling. Every time Alastor increase his power, it increase his master. He nearly has free range do whatever he wants but he still has commands to follow.

I think that's why Charlies dream seem so laughable to him.When Charlie asked Alastor if he thought it was possible for the souls can be redeemed. He said (paraphrase) "There's no undoing what is done while they were alive, and now they pay the price in their after life." Which tbh, Alastor right...that's what Hell is about. But I think it may have a stronger meaning to Alastor. His deal he made while alive.

I agree with the Lilith and Eve theories for as his master, which does check out. But I'm not throwing Zestial out the window. I find it odd that Alastor nearly wiped out all the older generation overlords but he remained. Also, how everyone overly fears him when the show introduced him and literally did nothing with him. (I have a feeling he minimal use is keeping him on low profile until he becomes a big player later.) Alastor did seem a tad apprehensive when Zestial appeared calm enough knowing harm not coming his way. The only reason I haven't made a post of it because Zestial question the 7 year absence/-which I can't explain. I think he would know what his powerful underling been up too.

The reason he got into killing I assume is his father. Alastor is a momma boy and I can see him taking out his father trying to defend his mother. Then it just kept morphing into a defender of woman and selecting men who rape woman and children or he see a very abusive man to his wife and it just keep recalling the memories of his own parents. His soul already damn, might as well put it to use, can't damn it more! He found himself good at cold murder, enjoying it. Or rather...entertained. The stalking, planning out every detail, the chase. He gives me slow death vibes, relishing their 'song and dance' as they scream and writhe in pain. It gave him a high,holding that much power over someone, the power of their life in his hands (god complex we get to witness) Then the satisfaction of getting away with it. It becoming more of a game then a (in his mind) service of justice.

Maybe he got into cannibalism when he fed come gaters to rid of the evidence and was like 'hmmm, maybe them gators have something there..." and kept a calf to try and was hooked since then. Then the killing became more of feed an appetite and boredom, that he had to seek a suitable victim to fulfill his needs. When it use to be, he witness/has knowledge of a deplorable act, he killed to end it from continuing. His 'kind' service became a greedy hunger of flesh, power, and entertainment.

But the last part of you message was extremely interesting. I never consider Alastor deal with Charlie is to use his favor to have her not get involved and stop him from fulfilling a task he needed/wanted. It really clever and keeps the harm no one part.

Love the part that Hell was paved with good intentions, because of the apple of knowledge/free will what created Hell. Such a lovely and fun way to put it. Then applied it to Alastor with what started as good intention murders.

[whinlatter]

author's note: chapter 10: reared & chapter 11: hatched 🐣🎇

thank you for reading chapters 10 and 11 of beasts (and especially for being patient with the bumper doubled up author's note). this time, ginny has a bad new year's eve (attends the world's most triggering party, slops booze down her old love rival, loses to her boyfriend at butterbeer pong) and then an even worse new year's day, featuring boggarts, the hangover from hell, the inevitable consequences of her own actions, and cormac mclaggen. nightmare. if you slog through all this you'll get a sneak peek of chapter 12 so that's my ploy to try and get you to endure my takes on liberal subjecthood and girlhood again. shameless! alright - let's do this.

✨ spoilers for this chapter below the cut  ✨

writing notes and headcanons:

parties: i almost called chapter ten party animals. you can be glad that i didn’t. but wow writing parties is hard! you have to keep track on like 30 different attendees! it ends up like choreographing a musical number. and then i had to come up with costumes for all of them AND fun drinks names. nightmare. never again. i only did it to make all the memes

haunted house: ‘they have a house party then ginny gets trapped in the house with both her ex boyfriends, her boyfriend’s ex and also cormac mclaggen’ was a chapter concept i mentally wrote back in february lol. it’s too delicious. i wanted the teenageness of it - the sloppy lazy hangover vibe the day after a house party, but added all these layers of fear and the waiting game with all the left-behind characters. the garden as relief was important, but also the wild overgrownness of it, unmanageable untamed. i have lived in flats in the kinds of london townhouses grimmauld is based on and they very often have these big scooped out brick walled gardens below street level that are just so atmospheric and oasis like but also usually kind of a mess and overgrown. so count this as a love letter to a london garden

ginny and sirius: in these two chapters, the flashbacks are entirely ginny’s memories of sirius black - specifically, of teenage ginny’s attempts to connect with this veteran, someone she canonically cares for and admires, who i think would be something of a god in her eyes, partly because he’s hot/cool/can turn into a dog (slay) but mostly for his enormous self-sacrifice and martyrdom for his friends and for the cause, even before his actual death. i’ve talked about the canon parallels between these two characters in the first of a two part meta here, which lays out my thinking behind sirius and ginny’s relationship as rendered here (ie. sirius would quite like ginny, perhaps see shades of james in her - hence the snitch - but she would always care more about him, and about impressing him, than he ever would about her). one of the most important lines of sirius’ in canon for me is the one he yells at the weasley children the night their father is attacked: they (understandably) just want to go and see their dad, but sirius, as kindly but as firmly as he can, tells them that this is both naive and also counter to what the order of the phoenix exists to do: a resistance organisation that is all about self-sacrifice for the greater good (“This is how it is — this is why you’re not in the Order — you don’t understand — there are things worth dying for!”) through sirius, we learn, ginny began to form a set of ideas about some very important things for her: about how to survive, how to preserve a mind, and about what it means to fight, especially when being held back and deliberately kept out of the fight. all pretty formative in ginny weasley’s book, i’d say. i wanted ginny’s memories of sirius to be very triggered by place, trapped back in this very claustrophobic, very sensorily dense and evocative house. i knew i wanted moments where we have ginny actively drift off into reminiscences in the present timeline (getting caught drifting off fleabag style by ron before the party) or seek out spaces to remember (going into walburga’s bedroom). where previously the flashbacks have been less active and less visible acts of ginny remembering, more standalone cutaways than examples of a character actively going into a memory, it was important to me to start to show memories becoming much more like intrusive thoughts ginny can’t push away as her defensive coping mechanisms come under increasing assault.

animagi: one of the big things ginny first badgers sirius about is how to become an animagus. ginny’s interest in becoming an animagus does, at first, come from a place of childlike awe (especially from an animal lover). but, as ginny eventually hints to sirius, it’s also a reflection of young ginny becoming very interested in possible survival strategies to get out of facing awful memories she’d rather not think about every time a dementor comes to town. she sees sirius becoming the dog as an escape both from literal prison and from the prison of the mind. sirius suggests it’s not quite as simple as that. we’ll be returning to these ruminations in due course…. 

traitors: as @ashesandhackles’ gift of a question suggests, one of the big themes at work in these chapters, particularly chapter 11, is betrayal and - particularly - the figure of the traitor. as ashes points out, we see a whole lot of traitors mentioned to varying extents (from canon: pettigrew, percy, regulus, sirius himself, marietta, mundungus, kreacher, xenophilius, snape, andromeda…). in c.10 these themes are more dormant, little passing asides (the banality of evil, lol, and geri halliwell betraying the spice girls aka the worst act of treachery in 90s britain). but in c.11, we see the memory of past traitors and the prospect of future ones come to bear: the DA’s interrogation and fear that dean might not be all that he seems, and then rabastan lestrange getting killed by his own brother for, as harry suggests in his analysis of rabastan’s murder, betraying a set of ideas and a worldview that pre-existed voldemort and now survives him. so far in the fic, we’ve seen ginny reflect on questions of the soul as an inherently moral entity, its existence imbuing all who have a soul with the capacity for good, if not compelling them to always do it. here, i wanted to start introducing questions of where the choice to do bad comes from, the big nature vs. nurture, question, because i think this question would not just interest ginny given her own set of experiences (and you can speculate what those might be, because we will be returning to them!), but also because it speaks to a broader set of themes and questions that beasts is trying to expand upon that thread through canon. i don’t want to spoil too much for a future plot point, but needless to say this is a fic that tries to ask questions about selfhood, people’s nature, about motivation, intent, and choices, about childhoods and why people grow up to be who they are and make the choices they make – and also about wizards’ claim of superiority over all other magical beings because they have a monopoly on morality, on conscience, on justice, and therefore, as the most rational, civilised, self-governing political subjects, have the right to make and enforce law over other magical species. the existence of the traitor, for these characters who made moral choices to resist during a war fought over right and wrong, is a fascinating litmus test for any society grappling with the enforcement of justice, what it means to try to do good, and the circumstances under which people choose not to do good - as kingsley’s speech at the end of c.11 suggests, what it is in a person’s development that might lead them in one moral direction or another. “is this who we are?” kingsley asks, and the answer really might be: yes, actually.

the girls’ getting dressed: a) it’s literally always the best bit of any party and b) yes it’s important that hermione granger not just looked hot but wanted to, and that her and ginny had the first meaningful conversation they’ve had with each other while they’re pulling on hoe fits and doing sleakeazy treatments. female friendship arc engaged. also nymphadora tonks just definitely had hot cool 90s clubbing fits don’t know what to tell you (recs below)

the DA: what was fun about writing the party, though, was getting to try and show ginny among her fellow soldiers, and, especially, harry getting to see it. we know that canon ginny is popular and well liked by her classmates pre the war, but the experience of the DA under the carrows (as future flashbacks will show…) would be an intense bonding experience for many, and, i think, of the three leaders (neville, luna, ginny), it would be ginny that would become perhaps the most important emotionally to her fellow soldiers on the basis of her personality, compassion and empathy. in these chapters, you see those who *were* at hogwarts during the war have their guard up, exercise stiff safety procedures, and those that *weren’t* - especially harry - start to clock how much the war changed the DA from duelling fight club to a resistance organisation with military capabilities and procedures. what this means for hinny, of course, is harry, knowing that ginny is keeping things from him, starting to put together that that persecution and torture neville spoke breezily about in the hog’s head tunnel that time might actually have been, er, real, and that ginny might have had her own direct experiences of it that she hasn’t shared with him…

the slytherins: @titaniasthings sent me this ask ages ago about slytherins and i very rudely banked the ask to talk about another day. and i'm not even going to answer it now! i am hugely sorry about that, but i will answer it in due course, so this is me publicly apologising and basically promising to get back to this question, because i think it’s both very interesting and also one of the weakest points of canon that fanfiction can help right in really interesting and productive ways. for now, let me just say theo nott and daphne greengrass’ presence at the party is me flagging that i DO think there are ways that slytherins would have engaged with the DA and with resistance during the war, for lots of different motivations, and look forward to developing this further as this lovely little inquiry gets underway…

deamus: is this deamus or is it dean/rio ferdinand (unrequited)? who’s to say

cormac mclaggen: yes everyone is under attack from a renegade bunch of vigilante wannabe death eaters but you should never let that stop you from going to pound town

cho and ginny: me, posting a sneak peek that looked like it was ginny dialogue but it was actually from cho… 😈

i’ve talked a bit about my thoughts on cho and ginny’s relationship elsewhere, and had this scene written for ages, because i a) think it’s funny when surprising characters call the protagonist out on their shit and impart the most useful wisdom (michael and cho have both played this part so far lol) and b) i wanted ginny’s insecurities about cho, which are understandable but come from a place of teenage rivalry and are quite juvenile, to have to give way to something more mature between them, as part of a coming of age growing up arc. in c 10 we get their petty interactions, judging each other for their outfits, clearly frosty, but in c 11, we see ginny and cho accidentally have probably the most important conversation ginny's had with anyone in ages. ginny has to face up to the fact that since 1995, cho chang has grieved and lived with a reality that ginny fears enormously - the death of the boy she loves - and also all the repercussions that came with it, including the impact of it on her own quidditch ambitions. the cho we see has done a lot of work on her own grief and now has a remarkably healthy reflection on what it is to grow up and to both forgive yourself and release yourself from dreams you had as a child, while also recognising it’s ok to mourn the future you hoped you’d have when life gets in the way. for hinny purposes, i also wanted the memory of cho’s distress and harry’s inability to handle it to resurface before the hinny fight, because i think cho’s weepiness and attempt to ask harry for emotional support would be pretty influential on ginny’s decision to try to avoid doing that at all costs. (ashes also pulled out my agenda behind the cho changing in front of ginny moment: “the difference of Cho's comfort with changing in front of people i.e women vs Ginny - it shows how differently each have built friendships and at what stage in their lives”. cho chang had close female friends before ginny or hermione really ever did and it shows!

rodolphus lestrange: ‘a huge day for rodolphus nation’ - aka just @saintsenara. i have never bought the idea that rodolphus is pure flop and bellatrix is the instigator in their marriage for them joining the death eaters - my personal take is that the lestranges are the gateway for the black sisters being drawn into the orbit of death eaterdom, and am especially a fan of a big age gap between bellatrix and rodolphus, meaning that rodolphus was in the first wave of death eaters/voldemort’s school gang or at the very least an early follower, and that that’s how bellatrix gets drawn from low key pureblood supremacist politics of the black family into the paramilitary activities of the death eaters. i *like* the idea of death eaters who aren’t just thugs for hire but have a real political worldview and a programme that they will continue to pursue after voldemort’s death, and am excited to explore that in the fic (and what it means for plans for postwar reform and societal rebuilding). slay from roddy, basically

ginny’s boggart: thank you to this lovely anon both for the regulus-ginny parallels note and also for asking about ginny's boggart! i am however going to be an arsehole and stay zipped lip on this one for now (we will find out i swear), but just for now to say: i wanted the boggart to both add atmosphere and a lovely sense of oppressive dread (hiding in a broken clock, a forever waiting game), but also ginny’s inability to bring herself to draw it out and face it to be a sign of her struggling to force herself to process dark memories that are proving stubbornly haunting…

the hinny fight: you all have had the patience of saints waiting for this scene fr. pls know this fight took me absolutely bloody ages to write lmao. fights are hard when you want people to be flawed but neither person really be in the wrong! here we have ginny, finally letting out seven years of resentment at being left out, patronised, and over-protected: harry, calling her on the fact that she’s clearly trying to protect him from things that really bothering her, letting her know how hurt he is that she’s excluded him from her ongoing ordeal - but also, in getting her to finally tell the truth, having to face up to the thing he hasn’t wanted to face up to, the possibility of ginny’s enormous sufferings during the war that he literally broke up with her, naively, to try to avoid. it’s a long scene – 4k words lol - but i really wanted the fight to have distinct stages, a crescendo, a cooling off period, building ultimately to a quiet moment of confession from both characters. harry finally says out loud what ginny has become to him, his fears about what happened to sirius happening to her, how lost he feels in a world where he is no longer the chosen one, and the hopes he has for him and ginny as a little family around which he wants to build a future amid uncertainty about literally everything else. ginny finally admits what it is in her past that has shaped how much she is prepared to trust and confess to another person about her fears. and so we leave them having finally aired out things that needed to be said, but lacking direction about how to resolve them. they’ve got work to do, baby (and i’m super excited to share how they’re going to do it). will be posting part 2 of the sirius and ginny meta v soon, which discusses in more depth how the memory of sirius, and especially of his death, influences harry’s ideas about familial love and especially his overprotectiveness when it comes to ginny. stay tuned for that. it’ll be real sad, sorry!

harry left holding all of his eggcups once ginny’s gone back to school: 

songs from the playlist for these chapters:

i would personally like to take this opportunity to call out ginny weasley for having such a sad adolescence that i had to write about it and listen to phoebe bridgers the entire time and therefore fuck up my spotify wrapped. that is all

the songs for chapter ten (party party party) are wall to wall bangers. two tribes, with siren, right before the auror alarms go off! yesssss. also slow show is the most romantic song ever written about a party and a person’s dick (‘standing at the punch table swallowing punch’, ‘you know i dreamed about you/i missed you for 29 years/before i saw you): 

playing around before the party starts by childish gambino | i predict a riot by the kaiser chiefs | paint it black by the rolling stones | two tribes - we don’t want to die version by frankie goes to hollywood | slow show by the national

the songs for chapter eleven are much more subdued, quiet (hangover-proof), songs for a waiting game. the mitski song is this chapter's manifesto and also is the harry-sirius-ginny arc anthem, i will not be persuaded otherwise (you're an angel, i'm a dog/or you're a dog and i'm your man/you believe me like a god/i'll destroy you like I am). i wanted duets, too, especially men and women duetting together, to echo the conversations that happen across both of these chapters (between sirius and ginny, dean and ginny, and then harry and ginny). and had to have auld lang syne cos it’s bloody new year for GOD’s sake: 

i’m your man by mitski | no doom for doubt by lianne la havas and willy mason | house of the rising sun by alt-j | birch by big red machine and taylor swift | waiting room by phoebe bridgers | new auburn by big red machine and anaïs mitchell | auld lang syne by mairi campbell and david francis

ps. the new beyonce song could easily be harry to the DA at the end of chapter 11. get the fuck out of my house!!!

reading list: 

on tonks being a hot girl with party streak and a wardrobe that is major:

Leather by @saintsenara/asenora  (self-rec! embarrassing!) dead ends by whinlatter

on dean and his mum: 

Lifelike by @evesaintyves

on sirius and grimmauld place:

Toys in the Attic by @ashesandhackles and thecat_iswriting Lux Aurumque by @saintsenara/asenora

on peter pettigrew: 

All I ever wanted was a life in your shape by saptashati 

on cho chang: 

overemotional: in defense of cho chang by dirgewithoutmusic

plus the smallest of sneak peeks of chapter 12, coming in january...

They're different, his letters. She knew they would be, though it doesn't make it hurt any less.

[thenerdysewist]

Making My Morgana Cosplay

I watched Merlin for the first time in 2015/2016, and was immediately obsessed with Morgana's Season 4 Coat.

At the time, I hadn't really gotten into sewing yet. I knew how to sew, but I'd only made one project bigger than a pair of pajama pants. But then the pandemic hit, and I was stuck inside with too much time on my hands. I rewatched Merlin (and have multiple times since 2020), and realized that I likely had the skills to make that coat so it became my pandemic project.

Materials:

My first concern was the materials. The coat is full length, with full sleeves and a train. That would require a lot of specialty (expensive) material, and I was pretty broke considering I had been laid off. Plus, new fabric is also pretty bad for the environment. So my goal was to thrift any and all material I could. I got lucky.

I found a king size comforter set at the thrift store for $10, and that meant I got both the specialty material and the lining in one

I found a lace skirt at a different thrift store for the sleeves of the under-dress, and a green prom dress to modify.

After much digging and swearing I found left over fabric from another cosplay to use as the green fabric in the hood and sleeves

A friend was moving and cleaning out her closet, meaning I was able to thrift the belt buckle from a belt she was going to donate

The only material I purchased new was the trim I used for the belt.

Process:

The first step was picking apart the comforter set. I probably could have just cut it open in order to render it into two flat pieces of usable material, but I knew the yardage would be a tight fit, so I used a seam ripper to separate the three layers of fabric from the layer of batting. (I think while I introduced a friend to Merlin).

I used a combination of patterns from my stash to get the pieces I needed. I used the hood from Simplicity 1771A, and the sleeves and skirt from Simplicity 8013. Looking back I likely could have used the bodice as well, but I felt the angle of the neckline was wrong, so I drafted my own bodice pattern using a t-shirt and the angle from the neckline of McCalls M7502.

I decided to make a mock up first. I only had the fabric from the comforter to set to work with, and there wasn't a lot. I didn't want to risk cutting into it, and then realizing it didn't fit. So I used an old white sheet to make the first draft.

Initially I thought the coat was a coat-dress, but noticed the detail that when Morgana walked, you could see the lining flash at the front. So I cut the bodice on the fold, and turned the skirt backwards. The front was meant to go on the fold and the back was two pieces to accommodate for a zipper. However, knowing I needed a train, I added a train to the front panel and made that the back, and then made the two back panels the front panels. I sewed them part of the way down to give it a skirt look, but left the bottom open so that the lining would flash when I walked. It ended up looking like this.

As you can tell from my face, I didn't like how it was laying. It didn't have the same shape as her coat, at which point I realized the front should be separate to make it close like a coat would, rather than a dress would. So I seam ripped the front skirt panels apart and cut the bodice front up the middle. I tried it back on and it looked like this:

(You can also tell by image quality that my old phone gave up the ghost and I had to get a new one, which had a much better camera)

I liked this a lot better, but there were still more adjustments I needed to make. I didn't like the angle of the neckline, and I felt like the train was too long. So I made those adjustments to the pattern, and made a second mock up out of a sheet set that my mom had cannibalized for her own sewing project.

With all the adjustments, the second mock up ended up looking like this.

I was now happy with the angle of the neckline and the length of the train, and felt ready to move onto working with the actual materials I bought.

I cut out all the pieces twice; once from the specialty material and once from the black backing material from the comforter set I used for the lining. I also cut additional lining for the hood and sleeves out of the green fabric since Morgana's coat has that contrast lining. I started by stitching the specialty fabric together.

Once that was done, I stitched all the lining pieces together. Then I pinned the specialty fabric to the lining with the hood in between the two layers so that it when I turned everything inside out, the hood would be on the outside.

I ended up not liking how the hood looked.

It came from too far back on the neckline. and that meant I had to pick apart the shoulder and neck seams and redo it. I redid this step probably four times because the fabric was thick, heavy, and slippery. It refused to stay in place, and I was constantly catching parts of the fabric I shouldn't.

Next was the sleeves. Which literally made me cry from frustration. Sleeves are my kryptonite at the best of times, but I was also working with fabric that was heavy, slippery, and thick, in a narrow arm hole. After several screaming matches with my sewing machine, and a stress and frustration induced break down, my mom ended up inserting the sleeves for me. (Thank you, Mom!)

Then I finally got to see the fully assembled garment and I was thrilled! It really looked like it was shaping up to look like Morgana's coat.

I completed the hem on both the lining and specialty material and the bulk of the garment was complete! But I still needed her belt, and I wanted to make have an under-dress since you can see a flash of the skirt under the coat while Morgana walks. For that, I just adjusted a prom dress that I found at the thriftstore. I shortened it, moved the skirt to be right under the bust, and added straps. I didn't think to get photos of that process since it was mostly pinning and cutting.

I did however, have to make my own lace sleeves for the dress since you can see lace sleeves under Morgana's coat. For this I traced the sleeve of a shirt I already owned.

Then I made a mock up which was way too tight. I added a little extra width, and made another mock up which fit. So then I was able to cut the sleeves out of the lace I removed from the skirt, and I stitched it into the armhole created by adding straps to the modified dress.

As you can see it wasn't the neatest job, but I didn't care since it was going to be covered by the coat anyway. If I wanted to submit this for a contest or anything, I'd probably go through the trouble of making her under-dress too, but this works.

All that was left was her belt. For that, I had ordered a precut YaYa Hahn pleather trim and that gave me the width of my belt. It also gave me the length since there was just enough there to wrap around my waist with some overlap. I cut a strip from the green fabric I used for the sleeves and hood, and black fabric for the belt lining since I was out of the green fabric.

Stitched those together, and flipped it right side out. I left one end open so I could insert two loops to attach the belt buckle to the belt. Then I pinned the trim to the belt and ironed it on. It was iron on trim so I didn't have to sew it.

I inserted the loops through the belt buckle, then tucked the ends into the belt and stitched it closed.

Reveal:

Final Thoughts:

Overall, I am jazzed by how this turned out. I think it looks so much like Morgana. I might need to fix the hem since the first time I wore it, twigs started getting caught in the hem, but that is an issue for future me. My issues are actually more with my makeup. I tried to learn contouring for this. I literally haven't worn makeup since 2019 and I only did basics then. So if anyone wants to let me know tips and tricks, my ask box is open. I also still don't know how for photos.

This project took well over a year to complete. Part of it was the amount of mock ups I did, but part of it was the process of tracking down materials. It took weeks for me to find the right green fabric and I actually bought multiple other fabrics that I returned because they weren't right for it. That it was in my own stash was such a relief while simultaneously the most annoying thing ever. The second snag was finding the belt buckle. I had to get one in the right dimensions to fit the trim for the belt, and apparently belt buckles are impossible to find in a size bigger than an inch. It was complete luck that my friend found something in her closet while she was moving. (If you have buckle resources, please hit me up. I need buckles for another project I'm working on now, and can't find buckles small enough.)

This is the biggest project I've done so far, and I am so proud of myself for it.

[griefabyss69]

Ample Fire Within

Hello everybody I hurt my feelings about Steve and so I've decided to inflict that on all of you as well <3

[AO3] [ Tip / Commissions post ]

Platonic Stobin - Rated: G - 1.7K

Angst with a happy ending It's short enough the full thing is under the cut!

"For all of the late night wishing on a star type of bullshit he does, when he's alone in the dark and doesn't even have to properly face himself, let alone anyone else, you'd think he'd be able to handle it when he finally gets what he wants."

You'd think that all of the near-death experiences and injuries and horrible secret knowledge they’d all had would make a group of people like, forthcoming about their feelings.

But when most of those people are hiding deeply under too many layers of irony, insecurity, and maybe an affected teenage distance, feelings come out in stupid little arguments and the decision to be as annoying as possible instead of like.

Talking about it.

The affection is just like that too – drenched in demands - and just like anything, Steve has to assume that being asked for shit means that someone somewhere cares about him.

If they need him, that means they'll think about him, remember him.

It means they won't leave and won't spit his feelings back in his face, drunk off of either expensive wine or spiked punch – he's since forgiven Nancy, and they're good friends, though she could never love him.

Forgiving his mom is something he thinks he'll get around to one day, if she ever gets around to deciding he exists again.

His dad is a lost cause, so he doesn't bother.

---

Robin's hand is tight around his, her nail polish alternating between a shimmery blue and a stark black. It works on her, makes her look cool in the way only she can be.

He studies the difference in their fingers, his nails are neatly trimmed out of habit, though the skin around them peels like he hasn't been taking care of the skin. Hers are doing pretty well, considering she's once again trying to fully kick the habit of biting them.

Despite how much smaller her hands are, he feels like the one who's protected, a bracing grip that keeps him grounded as some of his neighbors head out of the store, the sour feeling of being degraded by nothing but polite conversation about where he might go to school next year and “What are your parents up to these days?” sitting heavy in his guts.

"You want to pick the movie?" Robin asks, adding her other hand into the mix, squeezing his tightly.

He shakes his head, can't stomach the thought of having an opinion on anything right now, on being some kind of real boy who has to make a decision harder than breathe in – good – now breathe out.

She lets go of him to go wander around the shelves, and he misses the comfort deeply, but doesn't say anything about it because he needs to find a way to earn the next one, this one finished with it’s job even if it’s prematurely. He’ll find the next emotional punch he can take and will hope it makes someone notice he could use a hug or something.

He wants to think he's got people in his life now that notice him at least some of the time, really notice him, not like before when he'd sat concussed through his exams and managed to pass because the teachers didn't want to face down the wrath of Harrington Sr.

He tries not to mope, tries to shake everything off, and goes to poke fun at Robin for whatever movie she picked.

---

For all of the late night wishing on a star type of bullshit he does, when he's alone in the dark and doesn't even have to properly face himself, let alone anyone else, you'd think he'd be able to handle it when he finally gets what he wants.

But maybe it's the unexpected timing, or just the way he didn't think they'd ever be those people – but when Robin hugs him goodbye one night, the last one out of the house as Nancy waits up outside to take her home, she murmurs a quiet "Love you" into his shoulder and he only manages to hold himself together by a fucking hair until the door is shut behind her.

He wouldn’t have ever imagined that it would make him crumple to the floor beside the neat rack of shoes he never wears, but he finds himself flat on his ass with his forehead on his knees like someone's packing him away in a box.

Ugly tears already brimming and spilling down his face as his throat closes up around what might just be a banshee's wail.

He knows he's supposed to be happy, and he knows there's a part of him that is, but the rest of him is just hurt – there’s an empty hole that had dug through him until it had grown into a deep well of loneliness, and every little offering of care and attention and love drowns in it.

About thirty minutes and a big pounding headache later, his phone rings, and his voice is rough when he picks up.

"Steve," Robin gasps, out of breath like she'd run to the phone. "What's wrong?"

He frowns, wondering if he sounds that bad.

"Nothing, why?"

"Oh, you just sound… And I'd thought – I just had a feeling in the car and then it got worse and I got worried and I'm sorry I'm sure you're so ready to go get your beauty sleep and I know we'll see each other at work tomorrow – but you sound terrible, Steve. Are you really okay?"

Robin's voice is as soothing as much as it picks at him, all the little threads he'd found on the floor to put himself back together get snatched back up by her soulmate premonition feelings or whatever, and he feels his sore eyes start to sting again.

"Rob, everything's fine," he says, heading to the sink, stretching the phone cord so he can get a cold glass of water. "Just took a little nap."

"Oh, that's good," She sighs, clearly relieved. "I guess… I'll let you go?"

Steve's heart feels full of something that aches, but maybe it's not really in a bad way. He can't tell right now, but he blinks and blinks and blinks until his eyes aren't threatening to un-convince Robin of his fine-ness.

"Yeah, I'll see you in the morning," he says, and pauses, digging his toes into the tile floor to brace himself. "Have good dreams, love you."

Robin's voice is warm and thready when she replies, the phone doing a bad job of replicating it but he can still imagine she's speaking into his shoulder again.

"Love you too, goodnight Steve."

---

He does more crying in the shower, though this time it’s more of a relieved thing.

The little worry in the background of his mind that Robin had said it accidentally earlier is gone – and the larger worry in the front of his mind that he'd somehow ruin their friendship by saying the same thing back at her is gone too.

He's almost excited to get to work tomorrow, though his self esteem hasn't been doing all that great lately, with summer vacation and everyone he went to high school with coming back home from college.

Logically he doesn't care about the judgmental questions and the superior airs they put on, as if surviving another year of schooling could hold a candle to the crazy shit he's survived, but it still like, hurts.

At least the store’s been too busy for them to be scheduled for solo shifts, so he's mostly just working his full day with Robin, and aside from the retail hell of it all, it's been kind of nice just getting to hang out together for hours and hours.

---

Robin's too good at reading him, and he regrets his excitement to see her so soon after his weird love induced meltdown on the welcome mat.

"Oh my God, you lied!" She hisses as he takes his place behind the counter, leaning beside her. "Clearly something was wrong last night."

He knows his eyes are slightly fucked up still, but he's had nights of bad sleep that had him looking worse, so he's truly confused for a moment, and lets her know that, his perplexed frown out in full force as she sets her hands on his shoulders.

"C'mon, the puppy dog eyes aren't going to work," she says, squeezing and shaking him a little bit. "You let me think I was an over-worrier! That I was thinking too much. Tell me, Steve."

He sighs, closes his eyes, and wishes desperately they weren't at work for this.

"Any chance of letting me talk about it in eight hours?"

Robin scoffs, and digs her fingers into the meat of his shoulders.

It's probably meant to hurt, but it's a pleasant pressure, his muscles feeling a little sore from all of the tension he’s been carrying.

"No, tell me now before we have to flip the sign," she says, the little crack in her voice betraying her whole pissed off act.

"Fine just. Don't laugh," he says, wondering if it's more pathetic to ask her not to or more pathetic to experience it if she does.

She raises her eyebrows, eyes lasered in on his as he opens them, and she just looks sad.

"It hurt, you know, in the car. I just… I knew something wasn't okay but I had no idea what it was, but I was sure it was something to do with you," she says, subdued.

The soulmates thing gets pretty freaky sometimes, but Steve's heard of this happening to like, identical twins. So why not him and Robin, honestly?

"Sorry," he says, swallowing around the lump in his throat. "Just uh, when you. Said you loved me."

Robin winces, loosens her grip on his shoulders.

"Not good?" She asks, and Steve frowns.

"No, it was good," he says quickly, doesn't want her to feel bad for saying it, or worse, take it back. "I'm…"

He thinks about it, the little bright spark in his chest that's been flickering, fighting against all of the heaviness and general stress he's been feeling. It grows a little stronger every time he sees her, and he hopes that one day it can be a proper flame.

"It's just been a while," he whispers, thinks that this isn't fair to even tell her. "Since someone's told me that."

It sounds depressing as hell, and truly, despite whatever his 3AM wallowing would have to say about it, he's been doing fine, has a full enough social calendar with his friends.

"Oh," Robin says, the way it hurts as plain as a clear day on her face. "Well, I love you."

Steve finds himself blinking back tears again, and the smile that sneaks up on him feels like the lightening of a burden, an unpacked suitcase.

"I love you too."

[ssentimentals]

dating dino feels like…

having best friend and lover all in one. being friends first is important for him, he needs a solid foundation before taking things one step further. he fell in love with you slowly, uncovering you layer by layer; your appearance lured him in, but it’s your heart for which he stayed.

('do i look good?' you ask, nervously looking at your boyfriend. 'should i change into something else?'

chan smiles, shaking his head. your fussing over meeting his friends is cute, but he doesn't get why you're so nervous. 'my family won't care about your outfit, i swear.'

'first impression is important!' you argue, frowning.

'and you will make a striking one, i promise.' chan comes closer, hugging you from behind. 'first they'll think you are pretty and then they'll get to know you and will realize why i am so gone for you. your smile is pretty, but your heart is prettier, believe me.')

chan’s image can be found next to “chivalry” word in a dictionary. he’s doing it all: opening the doors, walking on the side of a sidewalk, putting coat on you when it’s cold out, pulling out chair and you better let him, because for him those little acts speak volumes, they help him convey his feelings for you in a subtle way. he gets a bit lost with words so actions work better for him.

('you do know, right?' he suddenly asks and you look up in confusion, not understanding what he’s means. 'that I love you. you know that, right?' he starts stressing when all you do is gape at him in shock and continues: 'i just- i think i forget to actually say it, you know-'

'you say it to me all the time,' you interrupt, looking at him seriously. 'every time you bring me my favorite takeout, every time you go out of your way to be there for me, every time you message me asking if i'm alright or if i slept well. channie,' you cradle his face in your hands, 'you say it to me all the time. and i hear you.' the smile he gives you is full of gratitude and affection. 'but you still can say it more, you know.' you tease, making both of you laugh.

'love you, i love you.' he rambles, attacking you with kisses.)

dates with chan are either super chill ('you, me, takeout and netflix sounds good, doesn't it?') either super fancy ('bought you hundred and one roses, because you deserve them and because they show my love nicely'). he likes to mix up, selfishly and a bit childishly wants to be your first one in everything, wants certain places and emotions to be associated with him and only him.

('you look awfully smug,' you comment, when you both go out of the very popular and hard to get restaurant. 'what is it?'

'nothing, i'm just happy that your first time here was with me,' he answers honestly, taking your hand in his. 'now, for you this place will be linked to me, always.')

chan is 'what's on your mind? tell me everything' and 'your problems are my problems as well' kind of guy. he strives to be your favorite person to go to, his mission is to be on your speed dial in case of emergencies, his aim is for you to feel like you are never ever alone and with him it really is like that.

dating chan is like jumping and knowing that you won't fall because on the other side everything is already laid out for your safe landing. he makes you feel like there is nothing to fear in this world, that friendship is the biggest gift but love is the biggest reward.

a/n: when i say that chan is not even close to being my bias but he IS in top3 of best boyfriends in svt list - does it make sense? do you get me guys? pls tell me that you do, this boy is the bEST!! anyway, here is the link to my other works, come say hi <3 - nini

tag list: @pearlygraysky @woozionascooter @smalliechelle @jaetaimjadore @yeow6n (please let me know if you want to be added!)

[love-kurdt]

How to Write a Good Fanfiction: A 5 Step Manual

Hello! My name is @love_kurdt, also known as Eva, and I’m a Wattpad Veteran of the early 2010s, where the genres of Slash Fics, Y/N, and Imagines ran rampant. I spent years of my life as a kid scrolling through my iPod touch, weeding through Wattpad’s plethora of profiles, on a quest to find quality fanfictions. I found a handful, which I added to a specific reading list to come back to when I needed a break from screaming into my pillow because of the sheer audacity of thought-criminals who called themselves writers.

When I’d reached the point of reading the same five works over and over in a never ending cycle, I decided to make the life-altering decision to start publishing my fanfictions online. Granted, I was only thirteen at this point, so my writing wasn’t spectacular by any means, but I came to discover that over time, the mere acts of reading and writing can light a spark of inspiration that can carry you to creative success.

I’ve been writing my own works for over ten years now, and can confidently say that I have cracked the code to writing a good fanfiction that will have your readers captivated instead of cringing. Please don’t get me wrong– if you want to just write fanfic on the internet for fun, and not to write a novel, that’s great, too! That’s what the internet is for; exercising your free will. But this manual is tailored towards those who want to hone in on their craft and gain a substantial following as strictly fanfiction authors. So without further ado, let’s jump into it. Godspeed!

Step 1: Choose Your Fandom

What show, movie, or book has drawn you in and left you feeling like there should be more to the story? When one of those media comes to mind, you’ve chosen your fandom!

Step 2: Do Your Research

When writing fanfiction, it’s kind of an unspoken rule that you need to know the canon of the fandom you’re writing about. The canon is also known as the source material. For example, if someone were to write a Draco Malfoy x OC fanfiction (*cough* a 200+ page Draco Malfoy self insert fic written at 11 years old in a series of notebooks bound together with multiple layers of Gorilla tape *cough*), the canon would be the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. It’s, in essence, what “really” happened. It’s totally fine if you want to write a non-canon compliant fic, too! In fact, they’re extremely popular, specifically within the “fix-it” genre, which usually involves characters that died in the canon but the author kept alive in their fanfiction. Either way, you should have a general idea of how the canon functions within the context of the fandom, so you can make creative choices that diverge from or stick to the canon.

With the canon comes the fanon, which is basically a compilation of fan theories and headcanons that are often common themes in both canon and non-canon compliant fanfics. A pretty niche example of this is the Byler fandom (the ship between Stranger Things characters Will Byers and Mike Wheeler), where there’s an official list of theories on Tumblr that are used in many, if not most Byler fanfictions. There’s FlickerGate, where the flickering of the garage light in Season 1 is actually Will and Mike in the Upside Down in Season 5. There’s BirthdayGate, where the antagonist, Vecna, manipulates the minds of everyone in Hawkins to forget Will’s birthday, which is a central plot point in a lot of Byler fics since no one seems to remember it, not even his best friend. There’s also LetterGate, where Will confronts Mike in the canon about not sending any letters after he’d moved away, but the theory reveals that Mike wrote plenty of letters– he just never sent them because they ended up turning into love letters, which in turn resulted in internalized homophobia. You get the picture. Most theories reach far into the land of delusion, but it doesn’t stop writers from creating incredible work that could easily be mistaken for a script.

But Eva, what if I just think the characters are hot and I don’t give a shit about the cannonball? I can’t tell you what to do, my friend, but I highly suggest you at least consider the canon so you can avoid all the petty, obnoxious gatekeepers in some fandoms who can be unhinged enough to send death threats if you leave out a significant canonical detail. But you do you!

Step 3: Choose Your Platform

There are three popular platforms to choose from: Archive of Our Own (ao3), Tumblr, and Wattpad. There are also a few other lesser known or dead pages such as fanfiction.net, but I honestly wouldn’t bother with those, since they’re more infiltrated with anons and bots nowadays.

This is where you want to think about 1) where most of the members in the fandom you chose reside, and 2) the demographic of readers you want to reach. For example, I observed a higher number of Nirvana fans on Wattpad than the other two platforms, which is why I chose to post my full length Kurt Cobain fanfiction, “You Know You’re Right,” on there. It also helped that my favorite author of another Kurt Cobain fanfiction on Wattpad, @/ugh-nirvana, had hits in the hundreds of thousands, so I was confident that my book would do well on that specific platform. On the other hand, the Stranger Things fandom is in full swing on Tumblr and ao3, so I chose to post those fanfictions on there rather than on Wattpad. It all just depends on who’s where.

You also have to consider how active you want to be on your platform(s). Tumblr is more of a blog situation, while ao3 and Wattpad are solely for publishing the work. If you want to have a life beyond the realms of the world wide web, choose Wattpad or ao3, as inconsistent updates are a bit more accepted than on Tumblr. But if you want to throw yourself headfirst into a fandom and put your whole author-ussy into your fanfic, then Tumblr is the platform for you.

You should be aware, however, that Tumblr involves a lot of upkeep, as well as constant, strategic, and active participation within your fandom. Visual aesthetic is vital to any functional Tumblr blog. Most profiles have directories, with color coded links to each work’s homepage, which is linked to each individual chapter, which are then distinguished by a unique GIF to capture a prospective reader’s attention while they’re scrolling through copious amounts of content. And there are always new ideas and theories in development in certain fandoms, so it’s crucial to keep up with recent updates in order to stay relevant.

After all is said and done, you don’t have to get married to one platform for the rest of your life. You can choose to be exclusive to one or two platforms, or publish everything on all of them! The decision is ultimately yours!

Step 4: Obey the Writer’s Trifecta of Consistency

Yes, I came up with this term, and yes, it should be a real thing. Because in every piece of writing, whether it be fanfiction, a short story, an actual book, a screenplay, what have you, it is critical to be consistent in your People, your POV, and your Plot. Let me explain.

People

Your people, or your ensemble of characters, consists of three hierarchical levels: your protagonist/antagonist, your side characters, and other background characters. I should emphasize the importance of building character profiles for everyone, including your pre-existing characters from the fandom, but specifically for your original character(s) if you have them. That way, you know who serves as a major plot device, who serves as someone who just helps time move faster, and those who are mentioned by name but have very little significance to the events of the story. I’m going to reference Harry Potter again, since most of the world is familiar with the characters. Harry and Voldemort are the protagonist and antagonist; Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Professor Dumbledore, Hagrid and company are side characters; and Peeves, Seamus Finnigan, and Blaise Zabini are background characters. Keep this hierarchy in check; don’t let your main characters fade away, and don’t let your background characters shift to the forefront for no reason. If you do plan to move a character up or down the ladder, make sure to have clear motive as to why you’re bringing this character into or out of play.

2. POV

Your POV is the point of view in which you’re writing from. Assuming you’ve been in a typical middle school English class, you’ve heard of the first, second, and third person points of view. I cannot tell you how many times I have read fanfictions that jump from one POV to another, sometimes within the same sentence. I open the door and see Kurt Cobain standing in the corner of the room. She walked across the floor to meet him there. See what I did there? I jumped from first person present tense to third person past tense. Do not attempt this at home.

The least common of the three points of view is the second person, or what I like to call the Y/N point of view. In fanfiction, second person POV is often used in self-insert fics, where instead of a character’s name, it’s replaced with “you.” That’s why a lot of romantic character x reader fics are so popular. You should feel free to use this one, especially if that’s the kind of vibe you’re going for, but I’m going to elaborate a little bit more on first and third person, as they’re a bit more “literary.”

The first person POV confines the narration to the mind of one character. It can also be done with multiple characters, but be sure to do it so it’s painstakingly obvious to the reader whose POV you’re writing from. Also note that if you plan to write multiple first person POVs, try to keep that number on the lower side, as a large number of POVs can get really complicated really quickly. Third person narration can be done from two angles: limited or omniscient. Limited is more similar to first person, in which you’re confined to one person’s viewpoint, but they aren’t the narrator; you’re just seeing the story through their eyes. Omniscient is my favorite, because you can narrate from a bird’s eye view with the freedom to travel from mind to mind and read their thoughts.

Building character profiles can be really helpful when developing both first or third person POV; if you connect with a particular character more strongly than the rest, that should tell you whose POV you should write in. If you choose to switch POVs, be sure to do it either on an alternating/rotating basis, or if you repeat, it should be apparent as to why that particular character is the “voice” of that scene.

3. Plot

Dare I say that Plot is the most important step of them all, so do not skip this one, whatever you do! The biggest mistake most fanfiction writers make is having a concept but lacking a plot. It’s like biting into an apple just to discover it’s a lemon. Many writers are capable of starting off strong, but once their initial story begins to meander, traveling into uncharted territory, their brainchild can become a monstrosity.

In order to write a solid plot, it’s pretty common knowledge that you need to have a beginning, middle, and end in place. It doesn’t need to be overly specific or down to the last detail, you just need to figure out how your characters make it from point A to point Z (the larger scale), and how points B through Y factor into the plot (the smaller scale). There are a few routes that you can take in order to do this: you can write the entire thing ahead of time without any input, you can write the entire thing with the feedback of a beta reader or proofreader to help you work out any kinks or mistakes before you publish it for the entire platform to see, or you can publish it gradually and take feedback from your readers as you go. Should you go with the last option, though, you should be made aware that if you aren’t already an established author, it may feel like you’re talking to a wall, and you will likely feel discouraged from writing the story altogether.

I find it helpful to outline the whole thing. I have a closet door in my house dedicated to a Dave Grohl true crime fanfiction I’m working on. I’ve written the entire story from beginning to end on index cards, split into four different parts with each card representing a chapter. What’s good about outlining is that I can edit my story as I go along. If I decide to change something, I can add or remove an index card, then replace or rearrange the other index cards to work around the change I made, and that way, I don’t have to start over from scratch. It’s helpful to see everything laid out in front of me, so I’m not left at the end of a completely improvised plot with a slew of loose ends that I’ll need to go back and edit. It’s also better than publishing each part individually then having to redo everything after your readers have already seen it. And I don’t know about you, but I enjoy it when I’m able to save some time, energy, and lengthy explanations to random people online. That is, unless you enjoy constant feedback from readers, in which case you can change the plot on a chapter by chapter basis based on their feedback.

Consistency in all of these respects is key. I cannot emphasize this enough. Keeping all of these elements in check will help you create a sort of cohesiveness that will neatly wrap the story up with a little bow on top. 

Step 5: Use Relevant Tags and Content Warnings

Repeat after me: tags matter! Again: tags matter! When you’re about to publish your fanfiction, you’re going to be given the option to add tags to your work. For my first few years spent on Wattpad, I had no idea what tags were, so I didn’t use them. Thankfully, the platform was still pretty small, so people still found my work pretty easily. Nowadays, though, it’s nearly impossible to find what you’re looking for without searching excessively specific tags and using a million filters. It’s unfortunate, but look at it this way: there are so many people contributing to so many fandoms that the content is seemingly endless!

What you’re going to want to do is add as many tags as you can but keep it as simple as possible. I know that sounds kind of oxymoronic, but I mean it in a way that all of your tags relate directly to your story, and not just to the fandom itself. A lot of readers feel misled when they’re scrolling through their filtered search page for, let’s just say, a Byler fanfic, and end up neck deep in a Mileven fanfic in disguise. That’s not a fun experience.

Lastly, please remember that you are publishing your work on the internet, and you don’t know who may encounter your work! Listen, we live in a world where everything needs to be overexplained, everything needs trigger warnings, and everything needs to be neutral or else someone is going to hate you. I get it. I’ve been writing fanfiction for a long time. It might be annoying to add content warnings, especially if one of those warnings spoils a major plotline, but if I’m being honest, I’d rather be safe and add the damn warning than not add the warning and be responsible for someone’s worsened emotional or mental state. Bottom line, it’s just fanfiction! Let’s do our due diligence to create a community full of love and understanding for everyone!

After that, you should be all set to publish! Let’s review one more time for the road:

Choose Your Fandom

Do Your Research

Choose Your Platform

Obey the Writer’s Trifecta of Consistency

Use Relevant Tags and Content Warnings

If you’ve stuck around for this long, thank you so much!

I hope this manual helps you along your fanfiction writing journey, wherever it takes you <3

[trans-beetleboy]

PRETTY BOY'S.

Macaque x male reader! [heavily inspired off of decora fashion!!1! I wrote this out pure fluff and comfort because i wasn’t feeling the best. Sorry i got lazy towards the end i hope you still enjoy!!!]

( ◡́.◡̀)(^◡^ )

__ ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*  *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧ ⋆｡ﾟ☁︎｡⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡⋆ ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*  *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧ ___________

"why am I doing this again?" Macaque sighed under his breath, feeling you lightly dab the brush covered in eye shadow against his closed eyelids, his brow twitched as you do, not really expecting the feeling even though he knows what you're doing.

"Because you love me." a sly smile plastered your face hearing a soft grumble leave his throat as you dabbed a bit more shadow to the lower part of his eye, giving them some what of a curve.

"and because you agreed too, so basically you did this to yourself man." grabbing a smaller brush, you dipped it into a darker color than the one before, the idea to blend into the corner of his eyes to give it like a cartoonish like shadow."Im surprised you agreed to this."

"I don't know why I did, im starting to regret my decision..." Macaque confessed a bit of attitude laced his voice. feeling you move away from his face, he laid his head in his palm, massaging the new forming soreness in his temple.

"Awwww, why?" you pouted, adding a thin layer of blush to his cheeks, your intent was to joke, but from the corner of your eye, you saw his brows furrow together and watch him huff out an annoyed cloud of smoke from his nose, feeling the warm gust around your wrist , sending a slight shiver under your skin.  your smile turned into a frown quickly, worried you may have unintentionally made your friend upset.

you open your mouth to ask but macaque beat you to it first.

"I feel like you aren't taking this seriously. your not up to something are you?" the demon  monkey accused, pointing a finger at your direction, his brows furrow hard enough the skin on his head started to wrinkle.

you stare at his closed eyes for a second, a small awkward atmosphere formed between you and Macaque, you were a bit surprised he would accuse you of doing something bad as to do something so small as like putting makeup on, but shake you it off, maybe he thinks your going to prank him like Mei and MK do. You've seen what they been up too, and you would be worrisome as well.

"have you known me to be up to evil schemes? Im a bit offended you think of me so lowly." you place a hand over your chest taking your heartbreak before you quietly chuckling to yourself. Hoping to lighten up his paranoia mood with a bit of a dramatic jokers act, which fortunately in your favor, seemed to work a bit as you swatch him struggle to force his grin down.

you smile yourself, gathering up the few makeup palettes and products you used, feeling that you've put enough makeup on his face for now.

"you should know my relationships are not build on trust." Macaque mumbled into his hand, his golden eye's slowly open, his vision blurry at first  but quickly adjusting to his surrounding's. his eye's landed on you as he watched you gather your stuff not really expecting a response, so he was quite shocked when he heard your voice, nonetheless the word's that come out of your mouth.

"I mean, you must trust me a little bit. you let me do this." your own eye's met his widen ones as you gestured to your handful of makeup then to him, your smile never leaving, in fact it turned more mischievous, sticking your tongue out playfully at him.

"Now can you put your hair? fur? up please, I need to get something real quick." you asked handing him a purple hairband that had a star charm on it, that seemed to be conveniently in your pocket.

The monkey gave you a look of uncertainty before taking it gently from you hand, watching you as you walk out of the room to get what ever you were looking for.

Macaque put the band between his teeth as he started to grab locks of his hair deciding to put it up loosely, his mind on your words. He never really thought about it, usually he is scared to trust people, to let them into his life, but at some point he let you in without realizing it, what was it about you that he could trust?

"you can look at your makeup if you want! there's a mirror on my dresser! Don't go snooping!"

Shaking his head out of his own trance, Macaque looked the door way were you left, seeing you rummage threw the bathroom cabinet from across the hall, a pile full of something rested against the sink, He quirked a brow not realizing a small smile was curling onto his feature.

Tail flipping, the demon got up from his crossed position and headed to your dresser in the corner of the room, finding it strange you don't have a full length mirror in your room, but hey, everybody has their quirks y'know?

full heartedly expecting  some sort of purposeful train wreck, Macaque was surprised when he picked up the hand mirror, to see the makeup done well. light mixed with dark purple shadow curved his eye's in away that almost make's them look droopy, giving the golden color of his eye's a bright pop, and what he was assuming was probably the blush gave his cheeks more color to them.

He felt good.

He felt quite pretty.

Coming back into the room you find Macaque looking into your small hand mirror, his eye's seemed to sparkle but you weren't sure if it was from the reflection of the mirror or the physical serotonin you can see boosting off of him.

"Heh, okay hot shot come here for a moment then you can go back to making out with yourself."

He glanced at you for a moment before putting the mirror back down on the dresser.

"Bend down a bit, your a fucking big monkey."

Rolling his eyes Macaque doing as you asked, was startled a bit when you grabbed bits of his hair, going to protest on what were you doing, he notices the variety of pastel colored hair clips  you held, some having bow's, others having charms the others plain with different designs on them, one of them catching his eye was shaped as a strawberry.

Ah. that must've been the pile he saw on the edge of the sink.

"Their, done. what do you think?" you asked a smile stretched on your features as you back away from the demon's face once again.

Macaque standing back up, reached for the hand mirror behind him as you watch him with excitement, which soon turns into nervousness as quite moments pass, with him still looking into the mirror, a emotion on his face you cant read.

"d-do you like it?" you stuttered, scratching the back of your neck , your throat tightening with worrisome, thinking your friend doesn't like it, what if he HATES it, what if he hate's YOU now-

your eye's met Macaque's as he looked up from the mirror, the makeup and hair decora really fitting together with his features, the look in his eye's were soft, the color of them almost like a warm honey color now.

"I....I love it.." the demon said.

something clicked in his head, trust. he knows why he trusts you. He trusts you because you make him feel good, you make him feel happy with your annoyingly chipper attitude, he's not really sure why this has made him open up to you but it has, you have made him feel something special. your something special to him.

He watches as your body deflates as you let out a sigh of relief.

"Oi.... don't freak me out like that you shart!" you laughed, the lump in your throat disappearing as you let out another sigh.

"Im glad you like it, i wasn't sure if you would so this was just a random throw but it turned out well and im glad-"

"Can I try to do this on you..?" Macaque asked hesitantly[not caring he interrupted your nervous blabbing], pointing at his new makeup feature's.

you raised your brows in surprise for a moment, not expecting the question at all, but you beam softly at the monkey demon, giving him a warm feeling in his chest.

"of course!"

BONUS:

"Meeeeiiiii im telling you it really did happen!" MK whined at his best friend, who was currently giving all her attention to her phone, seeing what the latest news's has to offer about anything bad happening to the city.

"MK how do you expect me to believe Redson, DEMON BULL KING'S CHILD, saved you from the inner crack's that lead down to the earth's deathly lava pit core? Without any evidence?" Mei sighed lightly, not being able to believe his story, the earth cracking to it's blazing core? maybe. Redson helping the MK? Let alone saving him? That's less believable than Sun Wu Kong's excuses to... really anything.

"MEI, THEY LITERALLY HELPED US BEAT LADY BONE DEMON, THEY HELPED YOU CONTROL THE SAMADHI FIRE MEi pl e ase-" MK deflated defeatedly on his best friend

"She's right kid, it's a little hard to believe that the child of the Demon bull king would help out anyone." Pigsy said scratching the back of his neck, trying to hold back his mischievous grin, leaning his body leaning against the door frame of the kitchen, watching the the hero slowly get louder confused why his friend's weren't believing him.

any other time he would stop MK from getting worked up but today has been slow, and he want's some entertainment. he chuckles to himself before he see's  from the corner of his eye you standing at the entrance door, noticing your extra flare of hairclips, and makeup today, realizing it as, what he thinks is Decora kei, he's heard of it from Chang'e cooking channel, she has talked about how it is one of her favorite style's to explore.

What he wasn't expecting was the shadow demon himself to also be decorated in many hair clips and makeup,  standing in his entrance door, with you, holding your hand?!

Pigsy watched how Macaques face soften as you talked to him, how the edgy evil dark demon monkey was wearing pastel decora in his hair and seem genuinely happy to be talking with you.

Pigsy has one thing to say about that.

Good for him.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*  *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧ ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*  *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

[depressedhouseplant]

🔞 Just Fucking Write - Day 105 🔞

Prompt: Sunwoo x Julie (Kiss of Life) / Sunwoo’s belated birthday post / Straight Sex pt 4 (?)

Tags: Unprotected sex (wrap it up kids), sex work, drinking, vaginal fingering, multiple orgasms

A/N: Thank you for the request(s) & I hope I did your idea justice 💕

“Why are we going out when it’s balls ass cold and I could be working on improving my LOL level?” Sunwoo asked as the group entered the club, kicking the snow off their boots and shucking off outer layers.

“Because our baby is finally old enough to drink and get a lap dance,” Kevin pinched Eric’s cheek and Eric swatted at him.

“You know he’s not into girls, right?” Juyeon pointed out.

“Some of us are,” Younghoon added.

“You’re into anything with a nice ass and a pulse and I’m pretty sure the pulse is optional,” Chanhee said. Younghoon reached over and hit him in the shoulder.

They made their way to a table that Sangyeon had reserved. Girls were milling around in various states of undress, but none of them caught Sunwoo’s eye. There was only one girl Sunwoo had his eye on and had for months. He was so lost in his own thoughts that he bumped into one of the girls.

“Shit, sorry, are you okay?” he asked.

“I’m fine, thank you,” a familiar voice replied. As his eyes adjusted, he recognized the girl standing in front of him. She was wearing a full face of makeup, the stripper version of a schoolgirl outfit, and heels. Definitely not the sweatpants, no makeup, and hair in a bun held up by a pen Julie Han that he regularly crushed on in his advanced math class.

“Julie?” he asked.

“Ruby,” she corrected. “At least when I’m working.”

“But you are…” Sunwoo trailed off.

“Yes,” she confirmed.

“I had no idea,” he said.

“That’s kind of the point,” she told him.

“I can leave you alone if I’m gonna, like, blow your cover or something,” he replied.

“Do you want a dance? I can give you one for a discount,” she offered.

“My friends got a table since it’s our youngest’s 21st birthday, so I think they’re probably gonna drink more than anything, but they were threatening to get him a dance,” Sunwoo told her.

“That doesn’t answer my question,” Julie (Ruby) said. Sunwoo considered her offer. She was willingly offering to take her clothes off in front of him. Of course, it was her job and he’d pay her for it, but he was still having trouble processing this fact.

“Yes, I’d like a dance,” he finally decided.

“Then follow me,” she took his hand and led him back to an area lined with booths. She sat him down in one and closed the door.

“I normally charge $50 for a private dance and the panties have to stay on, but I’ll give you half off. Panties still have to stay on or we lose our liquor license. Apparently pussies out means you can’t have booze,” she shrugged.

“I can give you $50, wait, should it be $60? For a tip?” Sunwoo pulled out his wallet and looked up at her.

“I’ve never had a man insist on paying full price and tipping me when I offered him less,” she laughed a little.

“I know how expensive school is. I assume that’s why you’re here,” he replied.

“A big part of it, yes,” she nodded.

“Then here’s $60,” he handed her the money. She looked at it for a moment before putting it in the string of her panties.

“You can choose to have music or not. It’s the buttons on the wall,” she pointed.

“Do you have a preference?” Sunwoo asked.

“You’re definitely the most considerate client I’ve had in a while,” she laughed and pushed a few buttons, starting a song that was popular at the moment. “You ready?”

“Yes,” he nodded. Julie (Ruby) began to slowly move with the music, first pulling her hair out of the ponytail and ruffling it loose. Then she slowly unbuttoned the top and let it drop to the floor, revealing a lace bra underneath. She reached behind her to unzip the skirt and stepped out of it now standing in just her underwear and high heels. Sunwoo gripped his pants tightly to keep from touching her and to rein in his erection.

“You can touch me,” she said. “The only off limits is between my legs.”

“So I can touch your -,” Sunwoo was cut off by Julie (Ruby) removing her bra and releasing her tits almost directly in front of his face.

“Tits? Yes, you can touch my tits,” she grinned as she put her hands on his thighs and leaned forward. Sunwoo tentatively reached up and ran his hands up her sides before resting his hands on her chest. By this point his brain was akin to a microwave someone had thrown a fork into. Julie (Ruby) grazed her hand over his crotch and smirked.

“Too bad we’re a reputable club or I’d take care of that for you now,” she said.

“How?” he asked before thinking.

“Probably suck you off, but riding you also seems reasonable. I’m really not picky which hole your cock ends up in as long as it does,” she told him. She continued to snake up and down his body, letting his hands roam all over her skin until they heard a ding.

“Time’s up,” she told him. “Do you have your phone?”

“Uh, yeah,” he managed to fish it out of his pocket even with the massive boner he had. He handed it to her and she entered her number.

“I get off at 2. Expect a message around then,” she told him.

“Okay,” he nodded.

“And if you really need to take care of that, guys jack off in the bathroom all the time,” she added.

“Right, thanks,” he said.

“See you soon,” she kissed his cheek before exiting the booth fully clothed. It was gonna be a long 3 hours.

The boys started interrogating Sunwoo when he finally got to the table after finishing himself in the bathroom.

“One of the girls offered me a dance, so I took it,” it wasn’t a lie. Julie had offered him a dance and it wasn’t his fault he thirsted after her looking like a regular college student much less sex incarnate.

Sunwoo tuned them out after that, opting to drink and check his phone every 10 minutes. Finally the message he was waiting for popped up.

Jules💎: Changing & then I’ll be ready to leave. Meet me out front in 5?

“I gotta go,” he announced. “I’m tired.”

The rest of them looked at him suspiciously, but didn’t say anything. By the time he got his warmer layers on, Julie was waiting outside for him. She looked more like the girl he knew bundled up in a coat and hat barefaced.

“Hey,” he smiled.

“Hey,” she smiled back. “I live pretty close to here and I don’t have a roommate so I thought you might be up for going there?”

“Sounds great,” Sunwoo agreed.

“So did you end up finishing yourself in the bathroom?” she asked as they walked.

“Yes. I haven’t had to do that since middle school,” he gave her a look. She laughed.

“It’s not my fault you got that hard. Most guys get a semi, but you were ready to go,” she said.

“And it’s not my fault I’ve had a crush on you for the entire semester only to discover you’re a stripper,” Sunwoo countered.

“Really?” she looked over at him.

“The guys are actually really annoyed by the fact I haven’t asked you out yet,” Sunwoo told her.

“So why haven’t you?” she asked.

“I assumed you either already had a boyfriend or you’d turn me down. You’re way out of my league,” he replied.

“Joke’s on you, I guess. Now you know your crush is a stripper,” her voice took on an edge to it that Sunwoo didn’t like. He stopped and turned to face her.

“Whatever happens tonight whether it’s a one time thing or we decide to pursue something, I respect your judgment. If you decided this is the best way to earn money, I trust you. Would I be a little jealous that strangers get to see you naked, too? Yeah. But I trust that if we were in a relationship that you’d only do what was necessary and I’m the one you come home to. Fair?” he explained.

“Fair,” she agreed. “This is me.”

Julie once again led him into the building, up the elevator, and to her apartment. Once they were out of their boots and layers, Sunwoo couldn’t stop himself. He kissed her, savoring the taste of her mouth against his. She wrapped her arms around his neck and returned the kiss.

“Now you can see my pussy and I won’t even charge you,” she teased.

“Aren’t I lucky?” he grinned. Their clothes littered the way to the bedroom and they flopped onto the bed naked and horny. Sunwoo traced Julie’s folds with his fingers, smiling at every twitch or moan.

“You’re soaked,” he observed.

“Maybe I’ve had a little crush on you too,” she replied.

“Is that so?” he raised an eyebrow.

“Yes, I’ve had a crush on you too,” she confirmed.

“I admit this isn’t exactly how I envisioned us finally fucking, but it’s pretty good,” Sunwoo said as he slid 2 fingers into Julie’s soaked hole. He began working all her sensitive spots while massaging her clit with his thumb.

“If you keep that up I’m gonna come,” she moaned.

“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” Sunwoo grinned down at her, increasing his pace. Julie squirmed under him as he pushed her closer to her release.

“Come on, baby. Come for me like a good girl,” he breathed next to her ear. With a loud keen, Julie came all over his hand. “Beautiful.”

He wiped his hand on the corner of the sheets then entered her still shaking cunt.

“Fuck, you’re huge,” she grunted.

“I think you can take me,” he leaned down to kiss her. She held his face, kissing him back ferociously. She bucked her hips in time with his thrusts, their bodies moving in perfect tandem with each other.

“Come in me,” she begged.

“Even though…?” Sunwoo asked.

“You heard me,” she replied.

“Of course,” he agreed. Julie locked her legs behind his lower back, holding him in place as he started to come. The first few spurts of hot come sent her over the edge a second time.

“Holy shit. That was the best sex I’ve ever had,” she panted when they finished.

“Me too,” Sunwoo agreed.

“I’m glad I have an understanding boyfriend,” she ventured.

“I’m glad I have an amazing girlfriend,” he replied.

“So we’re gonna try this?” she asked.

“I’m up for it if you are,” Sunwoo told her.

“Then let’s have a shower and go to sleep. I’m exhausted. Boyfriend,” Julie said.

“Good idea, girlfriend,” Sunwoo’s face hurt from smiling.

[zeroducks-2]

I really like the fanfiction with eobard and his brother. I thought he was your OC but I read the notes and I'm not sure now. did you make him up?

Hi friend :) I'm happy that you liked my fic!

Robern Thawne appears in Reverse Flash: Rebirth and he actually is Eobard's younger brother. I promise I did not pull a Full Life Consequences on you! You can read the aforementioned comic here, but I will also write an explanation as to who Robern is and the role he played in Eobard's life.

Explanation under the cut, long-ish post ahoy!

Eobard wasn't a wanted child. His parents paid for a bioengineered designed baby with ginger hair, blue eyes and 167IQ, and then kept him locked in a playpen, only giving him attention (of the negative kind) when Eobard would break a toy. Kid grows up affection starved and with "low social skills", so his parents are urged to make a second baby.

Robern Thawne is born, but their parents still have no idea what they should do with a child, which means itty bitty 7 year old-ish Eobard is shown taking care of his little brother who quickly becomes the golden child of the family. But their parents made it so Robern could boss Eobard around even when they were very little - we see Eobard trying to wrestle his whiny baby brother into doing things and if he dares raise his voice, their father manifests through screens to viciously scold Eobard.

Robern grows up and becomes a cop, whereas Eobard lost his chance at the career he wanted because his parents made it so he couldn't complete his academic studies in order to take care of his brother. His mother used to not let him finish his classes because he had the more important task of being Robern's caretaker. He still clandestinely studies the speedforce, and the person who finds out is Robern of all people - interestingly enough, when Robern hits him Eobard doesn't even defend himself (and in fairness, he never tried to hit Robern even once, not even when they were kids).

Robern is still very much willing to arrest him by the way. He literally says "turn yourself in, you wouldn't fight your own brother", the ungrateful little shit. This is when future Eobard, in his Reverse Flash persona, intervenes and saves himself by literally erasing Robern from the timeline (making it so as things are now, Eobard is an only child because Robern was never born).

And all things considered, what he does is pretty merciful and he only acts when he has no other options, because if he had just let himself be arrested he wasn't going to become the Reverse Flash.

What I did with my fic was adding another dark layer to their relationship. Robern is bossy, physically violent and feels quite literally entitled to his brother. Younger siblings don't seem common in the 25th century, and by context clues we can assume that it's because if the family decides to pay to get another child designed it can only be because the first one is a failure, and I can imagine that among other things, Robern quickly picked up on that too. He was the "good son", replacing his faulty older brother.

Leaving a link to the fic in case someone is interested! (please do mind the tags if you click, it's a darkfic)