#and some pre-zimbits

[the-lincyclopedia]

Winter holiday fics by lincyclopedia

Thanks for the tags, @cricketnationrise and @doggernaut! When you tagged me, I wasn't sure if I had any winter holiday fics. I have 12, across four fandoms. In my defense, I have over 200 fics total, so I lose track of what I've written sometimes. (Also, looking back through my AO3 account, it's like, man, I used to write. Unfortunately I've been too depressed to do much of that for a while now.) Anyway. Here's what I've got, organized by fandom:

Check Please

Deck the Halls with Balls of Holly

Ransom misunderstood the lyrics to "Deck the Halls," and he and Holster wind up making some interesting Christmas decorations for the Haus.

This is a super short one-shot featuring platonic Ransom & Holster friendship from Bitty's POV. (It's part of my series of fics based on misheard song lyrics.) The relevant holiday is Christmas.

Palentine's Day Karaoke

This fic is inspired by @softfloralbro's story "Shitty Knight's Palentine's Day Spectacular" and is basically a karaoke playlist wrapped in narration. The basic idea is that SMH has a karaoke party on Valentine's Day, and everyone serenades their friends. Set in February of Year 2.

This fic is full of SMH friendship, music, and not much else. The relevant holiday is Valentine's Day.

In Your Warmth I Forget How Cold It Can Be

In a world where the graduation kiss never happened, it's winter break of Bitty's senior year, and Bitty and Jack are both out and single. The plan is for Bitty to spend New Year's Eve with Jack at Jack's condo, but that plan goes awry when Bitty and Jack return from the airport to find a homophobic slur painted on Jack's parking space. TW for homophobia.

Basically, this is canon-divergent Zimbits getting together. The relevant holiday is New Year's Eve.

too long i've been afraid (of losing love i guess i've lost)

Dex gets disowned after coming out as gay. SMH is there for him.

Basically, angst, hurt/comfort, and platonic Frogs content, plus some platonic Dex & Bitty. The relevant holiday is Christmas.

Five Times Lukas Was Homesick Plus One Time He Didn’t Have to Be

It can be hard to go to school in another country where everyone speaks a different language and no one celebrates your holidays. Luckily, Lukas has friends to help when he’s homesick.

Okay, this is a 5+1 and only one of the scenes is actually about a winter holiday, but I like that scene, so I'm including this fic on the list. The relevant holiday is St. Lucia Day.

When Lucia Day Dawns

For Lukas's senior project as a music major, he has to plan/lead a public music performance. He decides to form a choir to sing Swedish Lucia/Advent/Christmas songs on St. Lucia Day (December 13). This is the Friday before finals and everything is stressful—until the concert starts and suddenly it’s perfect.

This is another Lukas-centric fic about being Swedish. The relevant holiday is St. Lucia Day.

Carry On

Right Now

A one-shot set during Christmas break of Simon and Agatha's fifth year at Watford. Even though they're not ultimately meant to be, they made sense as a couple once.

This is very jossed by Any Way the Wind Blows, but I still kind of like it. It's pre-canon Simon/Agatha. The relevant holiday is Christmas.

Stranded

After leaving Baz's house and dropping Penny off in London, Simon and Agatha get stranded in a ditch in the middle of a snowstorm. Ex awkwardness ensues.

Unlike "Right Now," this fic features Simon and Agatha as exes. The relevant holiday is Christmas.

Sounds Like a Date

Baz is a barista stuck working on Christmas Eve. Simon is a handsome customer.

This is a coffee shop AU featuring a Snowbaz meet-cute. The relevant holiday is Christmas.

Yuri on Ice

Ice Quality

One of Yuuri's college friends invites him to spend Christmas with her family, and Celestino approves as long as Yuuri promises to skate while he's there. Trouble is, the town's indoor rink is closed for renovations. A one-shot set during Yuuri's time in college in Detroit.

This is a pre-canon platonic Yuri & OFC fic. The relevant holiday is Christmas.

Happy New Year, Otabek!

Yuri and Otabek have been best friends for four years, and Yuri's had a crush on Otabek for a while, but he never expected Otabek to like him back. Until, that is, Otabek gets drunk at the Grand Prix Final banquet and says some things Yuri doesn't expect. It's going to be a very interesting New Year's celebration in Almaty . . .

This is a post-canon Yuri Plisetsky/Otabek, and it's the only multi-chapter fic on this list (though it's still pretty short). The relevant holiday is New Year's Eve.

Sherlock

Over the Table and through the Giggles

John has insisted on hosting a Christmas party. Again. Everyone but Sherlock is drinking, and John is telling stories about Sherlock, and suddenly Sherlock decides to kiss John. Plotless fluff.

This is a canon-divergent Johnlock getting-together scene based more heavily than you might guess on my sober-but-sleep-deprived friends and me being ridiculous in high school. The relevant holiday is Christmas.

I'm guessing a lot of people have been tagged, especially from the Check Please fandom, but I'm going to try to pull in some Queen's Thief folks. I tag @worldsentwined, @newtsoftheworldunite, @hoeratius, @eponymiad, and anyone else who wants to play!

[forabeatofadrum]

El WooWoo Wednesday to you all and thank you @wellbelesbian for the tag! I am still writing the Klaine and Zimbits fics for the summer challenges. I did progress a lot on the Zimbits fic, not so much on the Klaine fic, but you know, all in good time.

Again, the Madison and More fic is an anonymous fest, and I don't think there's anything that I can share that doesn't give it away. BUT I did just a) find a title, thanks to @coffeegleek and b) learn how to say "Fucking assholes!" in Italian thanks to @martsonmars. Yes, the latter was necessary for the fic. Very necessary.

I do still need a title for my Klaine fic, but I first need to actually.... write it. I have some new stuff:

Blaine checks his watch and Kurt sees the realisation sink in. They need to find these animals fast, otherwise they will have to deal with a lot of upset and potentially crying pre-schoolers. “Check every corner, now!” Blaine yells. It doesn’t have to be said twice. Both Kurt and Blaine sprint towards the corners, but to no avail. Kurt’s about to tear his hair out, which is saying something cause usually nothing would allow Kurt to mess up his hair. Then he hears it. “Shhhh!” he shushes Blaine. “What?” “Shhhhhh!” It is dead silent and that’s when Kurt can hear it more clearly. It’s a squeaking noise. It’s the sound of a little hamster.

I have decided that Kurt and Blaine need to find a hamster, two baby rabbits, a mouse, a rat, a baby ferret, a baby meerkat, a guinea pig, a chinchilla and a hedgehog. Don't ask me what kind of school this is and why they have this weird variety of animals. As usual, it is my fic and I get to decide the reality of the situation.

Lastly, speaking of titles, I have settled on a title for my series about Glee and Asian identity. It's "Dancin' on that bamboo ceiling", a lyric from the song Bamboo by KAYE (stage name of Charlene Kaye, for the Starkid fans among us). She wrote it to ask awareness for Asian racism while also showing Asian pride, so it fits. I am still figuring out how to post it, but hey, at least there's a title!

And now, the weather: @quizasvivamos @blurglesmurfklaine @coffeegleek @esperantoauthor @otherworldsivelivedin @caramelcoffeeaddict @sillyunicorn @bazzybelle @dragoneggos @raenestee @tectonicduck @nightimedreamersworld @urban-sith @thnxforknowingme @captain-aralias @you-remind-me-of-the-babe @justgleekout @cerriddwenluna @tea-brigade @ivelovedhimthroughworse @moodandmist @whogaveyoupermission @bookish-bogwitch @confused-bi-queer @aroace-genderfluid-sheep @ionlydrinkhotwater @1908jmd @special-bc-ur-part-of-it @larkral @chen-chen-chen-again-chen​ @cutestkilla @artsyunderstudy ​ @martsonmars​ @facewithoutheart​ @shrekgogurt @boyinjeans @rockitmans @bitbybitwrites @blackberrysummerblog @whatevertheweather

[justlookfrightened]

Fic rec friday

tagged by @onetwistedmiracle

Rules: Share your top fics no matter how big or small - give us the links to your wonderful words with the Most hits/Most kudos/Most comments/Most bookmarks /Most words/Least words

Also share your fics with the fewest hits/kudos/comments/bookmarks to give them some love!

My addition: if one fic would by rights hold multiple spots, go to the next one on the list!

*Notes: I limited works to the OMGCP fandom, and disregarded "Bits 'n' Pieces," which is a collection of unrelated Tumblr ficlets. I also disregarded the separate but related ficlets I wrote as direct responses to Year 4 updates (or they would take up almost all the "least" slots).

Most hits and kudos: Neighbors (Zimbits, T, 23,911 words) Jack and Bitty first meet as neighbors in the same building in Providence.

Next most hits, most comments: Can't Hardly Wait (Zimbits, E, 52,346 words) Done as a daily posting challenge between May 19 and July 5, 2016. Apologies for formatting and editing errors.

Next most kudos: Comedy of Errors (Zimbits, G, 13,225 words) Bitty and Shitty move in next door to Lardo and Jack. Misunderstandings ensue.

Next most comments: Make It Good (Zimbits, M, 27,871 words) Sequel to How Hard Could It Be? in the first part, Jack and Bitty meet online during the COVID-19 lockdown. In this part, Bitty moves in with Jack, having never met him in person before.

Most bookmarks: Locked Out (Zimbits, T, 63,414 words) Jack and Bitty meet when Bitty locks himself out of Lardo's car in Providence while Lardo is out of town.

Most words: The Long and Winding Road (Zimbits, T, 65,502 words) Jack and Bitty get to know one another again, two years after their relationship imploded

Fewest hits and fewest kudos: Small (Jack and Bitty pre-slash, G, 1,017 words) Bitty reflects on the meaning of the word "small."

Next fewest hits: Birthday Surprise (Zimbits, G, 5,710 words) Bitty arranges a surprise party for Jack's 30th.

Next fewest kudos: Second Zimbits Bingo Card (Zimbits, G, 8,127 words). Fic based on fulfilling unrelated prompts, bingo card-style, into a semi-coherent whole)

Fewest comments: Puppy Steps (Zimbits, G 2,153) Jack and Bitty adopt a puppy.

Fewest bookmarks: Wasn't Expecting That (Zimbits, T, 1,719 words, major character death) Bitty copes with Jack's death after 50 years together. It's sad, but I love this one.

Fewest words: "Fo-inne!" (Zimbits, G, 717 words) Bitty gets his first fine.

tagging: everyone who wants to do this!

[likeshipsonthesea]

I just saw that post about what would you do if you became disgustingly rich and the one indulgence, but can you imagine that sort of conversation taking place between the frogs? Or even the house occupants? I feel like it would be an interesting avenue for a character study! Especially since recently you mentioned the whole low income to ivy league feels you can get out of Bitty and Dex!

{hey so sorry i took so long to respond to this! work got crazy andthen i moved my entire life back home in a nissan ultima that did not have enough room and then i spent theremaining time cuddling my cats.. so yeah, just watched kingsman for the firsttime, am IN LOVE, and ready to respond to an ask.. i don’t understand my braineither}

the above? written three days ago.. to you and to everyone who’s sent in asks/prompts, please know that i DO want to respond, but my brain has been half-dead recently and i’ve started a bunch of things but can’t seem to finish them (my drafts are unfortunately filling up and my desktop has like seven starts of wips and i am Tired) so i am going to do my best here to respond to this ask now

(also the link for the post referenced above is here and for my amended thoughts on bitty’s relationship to wealth see this add on to the post you mentioned in this ask)

i was going to write out a whole fic but it’s going to have to be a fic outline kind of thing because my brain is not in the Make Words mode rn so this is what we get..

i think the conversation starts on a random night when all the boys are in the haus, let’s set it during bitty’s softie year (so zimbits and shardo are not yet together, frogs are still in their first year, jack is still captain, you get it) and let’s make it a random night where they’re all hanging out but it’s not a kegster

maybe it’s the night after a kegster, a weekend, no game or anything, and there’s leftover tubjuice to get rid of so they cut it with some orange juice (a Bad Idea) and sit on the floor of the living room and just, like,, talk for hours. the kind of meandering, heavy-and-then-not kind of talks, where you feel comfortable and languid and forget what time is, for a bit. maybe you break out into showtunes for a while, maybe you play truth or dare. who knows. it’s great. and when you notice the sun has risen and you’re well and truly fucked, well. at least you have the memories to get you through the following day

so it’s one of those nights, yeah, and it hasn’t reached morning quite yet but it’s late, sometime after yesterday (”it doesn’t count as tomorrow until you fall asleep” shitty asserts, at six a.m., leaning heavily between jack and nursey with a joint hanging out of his mouth) and they’re all sitting around, in somewhat of a lull in conversation, where everyone’s relaxing somewhat into their seats and thinking about the last topic of conversation (top hats) or maybe the one before that (family dinners) and emotions are flowing strangely and nothing seems exactly real

and then someone, we don’t know who, puts it out there, says, “what do you think you’d do if you were rich?” and yeah we’ve got a bunch of college students in this economy in the room but, well, we’ve also got a room full of ivy kids (we know, at least, that shitty and nursey and jack are not strangers to this concept) so when people blink at the asker all, ‘i dunno man’ they clarify and say, “if you were stupidly rich, like, what would be the ridiculous thing you’d do? that the tabloids would report on, people would be outraged about, you know?”

and, well, that takes a moment.

after some thinking, bitty decides he’d want a ridiculously decked out kitchen, with a rotating pantry that’s always fully stocked (either by magic or a 24/7 team of shoppers, he hasn’t decided yet)

jack frowns for a long time (probably busy storing bitty’s idea for an anniversary present at a latter date, though he doesn’t know he’s in love with bits at the time) but eventually comes up with his own private hockey rink, except the ice is made of maple syrup.

(”how would that even work,” holster asks incredulously. ransom just fist-bumps jack solemnly. o’canada plays vaguely in the background)

holster decides he’d want to be carried everywhere (”what about the dudes from wall-e bro?” ransom asks, wide-eyed, and holster pats his shoulder. “i’d come down for leg day, bro, don’t worry.” dex is ignored in the background, throwing his hands up, utterly done)

ransom wants a smart-house, completely decked out with ai, and when shitty points out that movies say that ends with the house murdering him, ransom says that if he didn’t do everything a movie told him was bad, how would he ever have any fun in life? shitty frowns for a moment, confused, but eventually proceeds without questioning too hard.

shitty, on the other hand, wants his entire house to be a library. “i don’t know exactly how i’d organize it yet,” he says, “hopefully something clever, like shit books in the bathroom or something, but i have time to work out a system.” books would be stored in ridiculous places, like the microwave, or inside the couch, and finding them would be either a delightful surprise or a frustrating adventure. dex laments to no one in the background while nursey fist-bumps shitty in solidarity.

lardo says she’d buy housing developments, lower the rents to next-to-nothing, and paint ridiculously sized murals all over the walls, make sculptures out of skylines and left-behind furniture. (”hey that sounds nice, i thought the rules were we had to be ridiculous,” ransom protests. lardo grins. “let me finish”) she would eventually amass so much wealth and real estate that she would eventually buy entire countries, until she could rule the world as a benevolent dictator.

everyone in the room shivers, because they know it’s a possibility.

nursey, mellowing the tone, says he’d get a jetpack. he hates flying but he thinks he’d be okay knowing he’s in control, and he could travel anywhere he wanted without going through the hassle of an airport. “all i’d have to pay for is the fuel,” he says, grinning, and dex rolls his eyes. “yeah, and all the inevitably property damage resulting from you operating a flying machine.” nursey, very maturely, sticks his tongue out at dex in response.

dex, for his part, doesn’t really know what he’d do. he can’t imagine having enough money to spend it irresponsibly, at least not to that degree. securing his family, with houses and cars and savings accounts, securing himself. maybe going on some fun trips. buy a nice pair of shoes. “come on poindexter, one thing.” nursey pokes dex in the side and he squirms. “if you could pick one stupid, ridiculous thing to do with your money, what would it be?”

dex thinks, trying to be outrageous but also something he thinks he would enjoy. after a series of long moments, he decides. “i’d have a swimming pool installed in my house so i could swim from room to room without having to get out once.”

the room blinks. nursey grins and pats dex on the shoulder. “there ya go, you nerd.” dex smiles, pleased, and also now wanting exactly that.

chowder, who’s been waiting patiently the entire time, finally bursts out, very quickly, “i would buy the san jose sharks and an aquarium and once a year i would make them switch places.”

“how would that even…” ransom shakes his head. chowder is beaming too much to dim his spirits.

“on that note, y’all, i think it’s time to head to bed.”

the night sky is steadily lightening and a series of yawns disperse across the room. and then the team, like their author, rises from their spots, stretches, and leaves to find their bed, dreams of stupid wealth dancing in their heads.

thank you, and good night. ;)

[podfic-please]

[image: Shitty in his cut-off American flag denim vest with his arms stretched out, declaring “The day has arrived! The podfics are revealed!”]

Podfic Please Reveals Day!!!

We are so excited to announce that we have 25 brand spanking new Check Please podfics in our collection, for your listening pleasure!

Creators! Don’t forget to change your post publication date to today!

If you’ve created a podfic for this fest or want to recommend a podfic from this fest, create a Tumblr post, tag us, and we’ll reblog it!

Some more stats comin atcha! We’ve got…

1 Polyfrogs pod totalling 40 minutes

1 Patater pod totalling 2 hours, 10 minutes

2 BittyParse pods totalling 2 hours, 15 minutes

2 Whiskent pods totalling 11 hours, 47 minutes

3 Gen (no ship or pre-ship) pods totalling 1 hour, 16 minutes

4 NurseyDex pods totalling 4 hours, 24 minutes

12 Zimbits pods totalling 7 hours

For a grand total of 29 hours and 39 minutes of listening! 😱❤️🤯🎉😃🎧

Thank you so much to everyone who participated and hyped this fest! We couldn’t be happier with the results! Go forth and listen, you beauts!! 🥲

[wander-wren]

Wren’s Fanfic Masterpost

completed works or wips already posted to my ao3!! alphabetical order by fandom, post order within fandom categories. feel free to ask me about any of them but especially the wips—no guarantee i ever finish anything unposted, but showing interest might kick my motivation up. once it’s posted, it WILL eventually, someday, be finished.

everything is a oneshot unless stated otherwise. everything is a happy ending unless stated otherwise. for space, i only included archive content warnings, but all fic notes/tags should have more detailed CWs.

other posts have my current wips or concepts im kicking around.

Arcane

afterimage- post-s1 nightmare fic featuring jinx, with vi and caitlyn there to help. strong focus on jinx’s trauma and hallucinations.

transformation- sort of trans jinx (nonbinary girl) character study, including trans dad silco and some stumbling blocks on the road to healing between vi and jinx.

day off (off day)- caitvi hurt/comfort where cait gets badly hurt on the job, ft hospitals, feral protective vi, and panic attacks, hooray.

the things the war leaves behind- whumptober prompt fill for “say goodbye.” a look at what happened when ekko tried to save powder from silco.

BNHA

i’ll set the table (you can make the fire)- post canon/pro hero au with krbkdktd. izuku overuses ofa at work, causing a pain flareup, and his boyfriends take care of him

all systems red- 3-chapter todoroki-centric sickfic that spiralled out of control and turned into an “erasermic find out about endeavor and adopt todo” fic. mostly a fic about my headcanon that todoroki is dissociating half the time.

not what time steals (what it leaves behind)- whumptober fill for “caged.” old guard/immortality au where dabihawks have been psychically connected for centuries, but separated bc hawks is used as the commissions favorite torture experiment. then: rescue!

can’t believe what you see (all eyes on me)- whumptober fill for “waking up disoriented” and direct sequel to “not what time steals,” so same plot/premise.

lie still and let the lights pass by- decidedly unwhumpy whumptober fill for “tossing and turning.” platonic or pre-slash tdbk, there was only one bed, nightmare fic.

wrong place, right time- after all might crushes deku's hero dream, aizawa finds him on the edge of a rooftop, and they have a very long talk. first installment of my quirkless!deku au.

Check Please!

there’s a ringing in my head- whumptober fill for “dazed and confused” featuring concussed!bitty and pre-slash zimbits. iffy on the happy ending bc of miscommunications between jack and bitty.

The Old Guard

in the sea that’s painted black (you’re a king and i’m a lionheart)- au where only nicky was kidnapped by merrick, with much worse and very gross torture, then rescue and healing. and joenicky being in love, of course

walking heavy till the dying’s done- joenicky fic that asks “so what if you were impaled, stuck, but unable to die? wouldn’t that suck?” and yes, it would.

dry drowning- whumptober fill for “running out of air,” ft booker/nile and bonding over quynh dreams

The Raven Cycle

how to keep turning when the world goes still- non-tdt compliant post canon au where adam and ronan are accosted by the past at harvard, and adam doesn’t cope well.

how to be still when the world whirls on- same universe as above, but now facing ronan’s ghost. discussion of past rape/non-con in the usual vein of rovinsky toxicity

stealth missions (your cover’s blown)- transmasc adam has been going stealth at aglionby, terrified that if his all-very-cis friends find out he’s trans, they’ll drop him. turns out he’s wrong about…all of that. mostly platonic gangsey, bit of pynch.

this black thing inside of me (call it irrationality)- also a non-tdt compliant college au, pynch/adam-centric sickfic and emetophobic!adam. sort of a vent/projection fic for me.

hostage situation- whumptober fill for “ransom video,” where greenmantle kidnaps adam to get to the greywaren and ronan goes ballistic.

shields, surrender, shadows on shoulders- whumptober fill for “silent panic attack,” direct sequel to “hostage situation,” covering the hospital visit after the kidnapping.

this circular humanity- whumptober fill for “whipping,” set roughly around dream thieves. pynch crumbs. adam returns to the trailer to speak to his mom, and it does not go well, but his friends help.

old habits- non-tdt compliant au with established pynch, where the boys work through ronan's trauma re: past abusive rovinsky. yes i have two fics like this now, no i don't know why either

Six of Crows

the world owes me nothing (i’m taking from it still)- trans!inej character study set pre-canon, with hints of kanej and lots of Gender Feelings. tagged rape/non-con for canon-typical depictions of inej’s backstory.

without armor (or not at all)- post-ck, kanej, kaz-centric focusing on overcoming his fear of touch. very sweet imo as the author lol.

to take up swords and strike the sea- unfinished 1/3 part pirate!inej fic post-ck. not kanej, not kaz friendly but not kaz unfriendly. inej gets a gf. both of them are trans but that’s just a bg element. also discusses, not in detail, abuse and rape, bc *waves at inej and her entire mission*.

no matter how broken (come home to you)- ck au where inej’s legs are broken by van eck and she grieves, heals, and grows. lots of kanej, lots of crows friendship, lots of disabled characters still being badass.

best laid plans- whumptober fill for “ambush.” pre-canon, jesper, inej, and kaz attempting a bank robbery that goes wrong when dime lions show up. technically sad/cliffhanger ending, but no mc death or anything.

ghost of you- whumptober fill for “back from the dead” ft wesper. jesper doesn’t come back from a job when he says he will, and wylan panics. presumed death and misunderstandings cause angst trope?? my faves

Warrior Cats

swiftpaw’s chance- swiftpaw lives au with bright/swift/cloud, focusing mainly on his journey and healing from the trauma of the dog pack through the rest of tpb. 16/16 chapters.

dusk to dawn- sequel to swiftpaw’s chance, rewrite of the new prophecy focusing on whitewing and nightcloud, then squirrelflight and tawnypelt as well, with others thrown in for spice. 48/70 chapters.

Welcome to Night Vale

unsolvable calamities- carlos goes on a work binge in an attemot to solve night vale and stop so many people from dying, then collapses. cecil helps.

not quite perfect (so you say)- trans!carlos comes out to cecil, panics, and then they have a Talk about how things are different in night vale (they’re better. night vale is queertopia).

wilderness survival guide- whumptober fill for “self-done first aid/makeshift splint.” carlos nearly gets swallowed by the whispering forest and doesn’t make it out unhurt.

[whoacanada]

Camp Sweetgum

Pre-Canon Zimbits —  Camp Sweetgum shares lakefront with a private resort and Eric is used to wealthy, entitled people wandering into his camp. He isn’t used to them awkwardly hitting on him.

“Hello?”

Eric looks up from the mess he’s cleaning out of the bottom of a canoe to find a man waving awkwardly a few yards away. The glare from the lake is enough to mask any discerning features, but Eric can make out a thick accent. 

“Hi. One of your campers left this oar near the water polo court?”

“Oh, bless,” Eric sighs, rinsing his hands in the lake to clear any lingering stench. “The little kids are still learning and our new counselors are just as green. Thank you for bringing it back, I hope they didn’t interrupt your morning?”

The man comes into focus and Eric realizes he’s younger than he sounds, the hair on his head floppy and overgrown, softening his sharp features and oddly bright eyes. Eric can’t recall the last time he’d met someone with such light blue eyes, if he ever has; and the realization comes with a flutter low in his stomach. A flutter Eric always tries very hard to ignore when he’s working.

“Oh, no worries,” the man says, smile half-timid. “I saw the kids playing and should have said something before they left it behind.”

He’s older. He’s foreign. He’s cute. Not that Eric needs to think too hard about any of those details.

“So, bleach, eh?”

Eric looks down at the bucket and rag, realizes he hasn’t spoken aloud recently enough for this to be a real conversation and takes steps to amend the problem.

“How else are we supposed to determine what campers get motion sickness?” Eric offers with some measure of levity. “What’s life without a little mess?”

“Are you a counselor?”

“Caught me,” Eric balances the plastic bucket as he steps out of the canoe onto the pier, trying not to stain his shirt when the bleach solution splashes over the edge. “You’re looking at Sweetgum’s Senior Counselor. Why? Looking for a summer job? We need a cook if you’re halfway decent in the kitchen.”

He’s only half joking. Eric doesn’t have the authority to hire anyone, but they do need a new chef, and there’s very little Eric enjoys more than knocking rich guys down a peg.

“No thanks, I’m just on vacation,” the guy points over his shoulder at the resort on the opposite side of the lake, completely missing Eric’s sass. “But I’ll keep that in mind. I’m good with kids, I used to coach bantam hockey.”

“Used to?”

“I’m going back to college this fall,” he shrugs, bending low to rest the oar on the sand. At this angle, Eric can see the man shares the familiar, slightly bowlegged stance of some of his lifer teammates; the good ones who’ve played ice hockey as long as Eric’s known how to walk. “It’s kind of weird, isn’t it?”

It takes a moment for Eric to realize what the guy is talking about, but then he notices the way he’s looking at the bunk buildings behind Eric.

“Oh, you mean how there’s a middle-income summer camp next door to a super secret private resort? Believe me, I know. Half my job is making sure tech billionaires on speedboats don’t mow down my campers in water wings.”

The words are out before Eric has time to think, and the man’s pale cheeks flush pink, which Eric only notices because he’s already so pale. Who spends their summer at a lake resort and doesn’t tan?

“I don’t like speedboats,” the man offers. “I mostly golf with my dad.”

“Well I appreciate you not murdering my kids.”

“You’re welcome.”

They stand in silence for a few moments, Eric waiting for his visitor to do something, anything other than awkwardly hover while Eric’s campers scream and play a short ways away.

“Well, thank you for the oar,” Eric says, opening the door on the end of their conversation so this hottie can escape. “You feel like coming by the snack shack, I’d be happy to reward you with a fun-size candy bar of your choosing.”

“Thanks. I’m conditioning so I can’t.”

Eric’s used to rich kids sneaking across the lake to play pranks and be generally unworthy of any measure of kindness, but this is new. This boy, this hockey player, has accomplished his mission of returning a missing camp item, he’s made small talk, and rejected Eric’s thank you offer outright; and yet, he isn’t leaving.

“Is there anything else you needed?” Eric asks. “You’re welcome to help me clean.”

Pale, blue-eyed hottie actually scuffs his heel into the sand.

“Yes?” Eric prompts gently.

“I just saw a sniper scrubbing puke out of a boat and thought I’d say hello,” he says, looking appropriately horrified the moment the words leave his mouth.

Eric suddenly gets it.

This is not the first time someone’s mistaken him for a girl at a distance, especially when he’s wearing his swim shorts. Figure skating did wonders for his coordination, it also gave him the ass and thighs of a co-ed. One day, a boy will hit on Eric from behind and actually be interested in what’s happening on the front end as well, but that’s a day he’s saving for his college up north, the one with a much healthier gay-straight ratio.

“No stress,” Eric forces. “It’s an easy mistake. You aren’t the first guy to clock me at a thousand yards. Happens all the time.”

Blue-eyes blushes harder and looks away.

“I-I didn’t,” he stammers. “I’m sorry, I should go. Thanks for . . . um, don’t ruin your clothes. The cleaner.”

Eric waves halfheartedly as the man departs, walking quickly to the wooded path before breaking into a sprint the second he thinks Eric can’t see him any longer. When he disappears from sight, Eric adds another tally to a mental checklist labeled ‘sexuality crisis’.

“Stupid boys,” Eric sighs, giving up on appearances as he dumps the remaining contents of the bleach bucket into the canoe.

[todaydreambelieversfic]

Author Spotlight: Lilyvandersteen Day 1

Author Spotlight: @lilyvandersteen​

How did you get into Glee and Glee fandom?

I got into Glee when my hubby saw a commercial for it on TV and said, "Hey, isn't that right up your alley?" I'm sure he regrets ever pointing me to the series, seeing as I'm still obsessed with it years after it being discontinued. I got into the Glee fandom when Cory died. I wanted to know if Glee would still continue without him, so I Googled Glee, and ended up on the Glee forum (which no longer exists). There, someone pointed me to the fanfiction, and I jumped into it with gusto.

In general, what drew you into writing (and/or creating)?

I've always made up stories. From when I was very little. It's fun disappearing in another world you've designed on your own.

What was it about Glee that made you decide to write fanfic for it?

I ship Klaine, and I can see them in so many different scenarios. They just inspire me.

Have you been a part of other fandoms before? Have you written fanfiction pre-glee?

I'm a Harry Potter fan as well. Never published any fanfiction for that fandom, though I made some up in my head. I'm a LOTR and Narnia fan, too, but never felt the urge to write fanfic, though I've read some good Susan meta. And I love OMGCP and Zimbits too, and read its fanfic avidly. I may write some Zimbits fic in the future. Maybe. If I can tear myself away from Klaine for long enough.

Is there a trope you’ve yet to try your hand at, but really want to?

Hmm... I don't think I've ever done "There's only one bed." Or an amnesia AU.

Is there a trope you wouldn’t touch with a ten foot pole?

Whump. Anything hardcore. Also Mpreg.

How many fic ideas are you nurturing right now? Care to share one of them?

Way too many :-) Seeing as I've written a Pride & Prejudice inspired fic, I recently talked with Lallagoglee about writing a Persuasion inspired fic as well. And then there's the Vampire Blam story I've had in mind for quite a while, and I've still got plenty of WIPs going on as well.

***

Check out Lilyvandersteen’s Fics

Out of the Blue -  Kurt organises a fake wedding for Brittana to get presents from random billionaires. Cooper is one of those invited, and he shows up with his brother in tow. Sparks fly, but not of the good kind. Enemies to lovers, anyone? With a slight Pride and Prejudice vibe?

The Christmas Guest -  Kurt goes home for the holidays and finds out a fellow passenger will have no-one to celebrate with, so he invites him to spend Christmas with the Hummel-Hudsons. Somehow, Kurt's family thinks the guy he brought home is his boyfriend. As the days go by, and his Christmas guest proves enchanting in every way, Kurt finds himself wishing they truly were dating. Could his wish come true?

Don't Jinx It -  Person A is having a really bad day, starting when he slipped on the ice on his way to work and severely sprained/broke his ankle. Someone stole his coat with his phone in the pocket while he was getting his xrays taken. And of course, there are no cabs available due to the weather. Freezing cold, miserable, and struggling to deal with the crutches on the icy, crowded streets of New York, he ducks into a coffee shop he’s never been in before, just wanting to warm up and rest his throbbing foot, but as he looks around, he spots his boyfriend of two years (who he has been trying to call all morning) in an intimate kiss with another guy. Huge fight and very public breakup ensues. Meanwhile, person B, who works at the coffee shop, takes pity on him, gives him a free coffee and pastry, and offers to drive him home after his shift gets over in an hour. Of course, it’s not a good idea to rush into a new relationship ten minutes after breaking up with your asshole ex, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make a new friend, right?

[nurseanddex]

20.“i’m not playing truth or dare.” for zimbits (or jack & shitty if you want platonic) if you're still taking prompts!

Send me a prompt and a pairing from one of these lists if you feel so inclined, just please specify which list it’s from! :) 

Prompt: “I’m not playing truth or dare.”

Spending the night before Class Day on the roof of Faber was a time honored SMH tradition, and Jack and Shitty’s senior year was no different. The Haus gang gathered around a small bonfire, swapping stories of favorite memories, drinking beers, and eating chocolate marshmallow pie in lieu of making smores. Lardo had put her foot down about cooking over open flame after an incident involving a ‘flaming ball of death’ the year prior that everyone resolutely refused to tell Bitty about. He was going to miss his boys, miss this easy camaraderie. The Haus wasn’t going to be the same without Jack and Shitty. He shivered as a particularly chilly gust of wind breezed by.

“Brr. I didn’t know it’d be s-so-”

Bitty trailed off in surprise as a big, warm jacket settled itself on his shoulders.

“Oh! Thanks, Jack!” he blushed, looking up to see the identity of his mysterious benefactor.

“No problem,”Jack said, sitting down next to him with a gentle smile on his face.

“Aaaaaaaaaand noooooooooooooow,” Holster yelled, in his announcer voice. “My favorite part of Pre-Graduation SMH Bonfire and Bonding Night!”

“Secret Time!” Ransom cheered.

“Which means we get to ask you whatever we want and you have to answer everything,” Holster grinned, wickedly. Bitty could feel Jack tense up next to him.

“No secret time this year, boys. I don’t want a repeat of Johnson’s existential crisis,” Lardo said. “I say we go Truth or Dare.”

“I’m not playing truth or dare,” Jack whispered. His face was turning paler by the second. Lardo shot him a look Bitty couldn’t quit read before pulling out her phone and tapping out a text. He wasn’t trying to snoop, but his proximity to Jack enabled him to see the notification when it popped up on his screen.

Secret Time has no outs. Truth or Dare you can at least pick dare if they ask something you don’t want to answer.

“Yeah, Lardo, what’s the deal with that switch? We always do Secret Time.” Lardo shot Shitty a look that could only be described as murderous.

“You do not get a vote,” she hissed, “You did not have to deal with 170 pounds of sobbing goalie having an existential crisis using your shoulder as a tissue for over! an! hour!”

“On second thought, Truth or Dare sounds fun!” Jack chimed in. All further rumblings of dissent from Ransom, Holster, and Shitty were almost instantly silenced by Lardo’s patented Look. Lardo insisted they play by stating what the question and the dare would be before they had to choose. A few rounds passed by relatively uneventfully, but some time around when they were starting to shift from tipsy to drunk, the questions started to change from playful to personal to a bit too personal.

“Jack next!” Holster exclaimed, shifting around to settle with his head resting in Ransom’s lap. Bitty noticed that Jack had become more relaxed as the game wore on, but his jaw still clenched every time it was his turn.

“I gotta know, what the hell happened with you and Parson? How did you go from being the best friends junior hockey had ever seen to practically hating each other’s guts?” The roof fell silent, save for the crackling of their little fire, and Lardo leveled Holster with the most soul-withering glare in her arsenal.

“Or your dare is that you have to do a fancy lift with Bitty,” he added belatedly, shrinking under the force of Lardo’s glare. Jack stood up, his muscles tensed like he was a second away from running for it.

“Dare it is, then,” Jack said, stretching out a hand to pull Bitty up. Bitty took it, feeling a blush start to color his cheeks once more. His silly crush on Jack had been growing more and more ever since he realized how he felt that day they were baking together and this kind of thing definitely wasn’t helping him get over it.

“Jack, you don’t have to-”

“Yes, I do, Bittle. It’s do the dare or answer the question,” Jack replied, gruffly. They moved a few steps away from the circle they’d been sitting in, that way if one of them fell, there would at least be no chance of falling in the fire.

“Euh, I don’t actually know how to do this,” Jack quietly admitted, once they were out of earshot. Bitty was surprised to see a pink tinge coloring his cheeks. Jack Zimmermann, blushing! Bestill his little gay heart.

“Lucky for you, I spent the majority of my formative years in a figure skating rink. I may have picked up a trick or two,” he drawled, letting his accent come out a bit thicker than he normally did outside of Georgia. Surprisingly, Jack’s cheeks flushed darker in response to what his Moomaw referred to as ‘laying on the Southern charm.’

“Holster’s still trying to make a play out of those jumps you can do.”

“Well, those jumps aren’t going to help us with a lift,” Bitty laughed. “Here’s what you need to do.”

Bitty ended up teaching him a fairly simple lift, Jack’s big hands firm on his waist, holding him high enough so that Bitty could place his hands on Jack’s shoulder for additional support. The firelight illuminated Jack’s face in a soft glow, and there was something in his baby blue eyes that Bitty didn’t quite recognize.

Jack could feel something in his heart shift as he stared up at Bitty in the low light, absolutely shimmering against a blanket of a thousand stars, somehow shining brighter than every star in the sky. He filed that feeling away, he’d deal with whatever it was another day.

[somethingnurseywoulddo]

22 for zimbits? (congrats on 700!!!)

of course!!!and also thank you so much!!! send me prompts from This List to celebrate 700!!!!

prompt 22: kissing someone’s cuts/bruises/scratches

***

It’s a random thursday morning. Birds chirp as the sun rises, pastel colors tint the sky, and coffee is being brewed downstairs.

Jack rose earlier than normal, maybe because of pre-season anxiety - nothing which they haven’t been able to work through before - so he had started making breakfast. A task that normally Bitty completes. Bitty decides to rise as well and blindly searches for his slippers in the dark, even though he puts them in the same place every time.

He patters down the hall way, pictures of him and Jack, the Falconers team and the SMH boys, and some of Jacks favorite nature shots plastering their newly purchased walls. They moved in about 3 months ago, agreeing to sacrifice a slightly longer drive into Jacks work for a more homey apartment. One that didn’t feel like a boujee city prison.

As he guessed, Jack is pouring two cups of coffee. Nice and Fresh. He must of heard Bitty get out of bed and poured a cup for him as well.

Bitty shuffled over groggily and wraps up around Jack. He feels a deep exhale escape Jacks lungs; his breath tinted with the rattle of anxiety. They’ll work through it after some caffeine and time to wake up, but for now, Bitty knows that what Jack wants is him. Jack leans over and kisses square onto Bitty’s forhead, the same place he always kisses, and never fails to hit time and time again.

A lightbulb starts going off in Bitty’s head, connecting some cogs but wondering if his guess is correct. He decides to ask.

“Jack, love... Why is it you always kiss me there? Not that I’m complaining,” Bitty chuckles slightly “It’s just that there’s a lot of my face to kiss but every time, it’s there.”

Jack looks up to the right, making the same silly pondering face he does before he says something totally sappy.

“Well,” Jack starts before matching Bitty’s early morning chuckle, “Ever since - and call it stupid because it’s so in the past - when you hit your head on the ice. When you got that concussion off of a bad play I made... I wish I could of prevented it. I logically know it’s impossible to travel back and do so, but I think now that I have the chance to kiss the place you got hurt, to heal you in some way, I’ll take that opportunity whenever I can.”

“Oh, baby... I don’t know what to say. I love you.” Bitty feels like he could cry, obviously happy tears, but what did he do to deserve Jack Zimmermann?

“I love you too, Bits.”

[forabeatofadrum]

You know what fuck it actually, answer all the writers asks that you haven’t already answered yet PLUS another #25 if you have already answered it bc you can be proud of multiple scenes HAPPY EL WOOWOO WEDNESDAY

I should've seen this coming. I am putting this under the cut because this got long. Again, I should’ve seen this coming.

I’ve already answered 5, 8, 9, 13, 18 and 25.

1) is there a story you’re holding off on writing for some reason?

I MEAN... look at my many, many WIPs. I think the main reason for holding off a fic is because I got stuck, or because I want to prioritise other fics. I’m trying to not take on new projects, but instead focus on older ones (famous last words, probably).

2) what work of yours, if any, are you the most embarrassed about existing?

Anything written pre-2015, unless I have rewritten them (like This Charming Man or the SBL/Glee crossover). That, except for JTWLYT, even rewritten it’s bad. I don’t mind, You gotta start somewhere, right? Because otherwise I don’t really mind any fics. Like, I wrote a Glee/Animal Crossing fic once and it slaps.

3) what order do you write in? front of book to back? chronological? favorite scenes first? something else?

Mostly chronological, but it doesn’t really matter. So yeah I write what I have in my mind. For example with Ljubim te, I of course knew there were going to be 24 chapters since it’s the Advent, so I plotted out a little bit what happens in all chapters and by now each chapter has at least something.

4) favorite character you’ve written

Jack motherfucking Zimmermann, even though I have abandoned my boy and I haven’t written proper Check, Please! fic in all of 2022. I want to finish two Zimbits WIPs this year, though. Maybe the attic vs. roaches debate breaching containment will bring me back to this fandom. Aly, what would you rather have? A person living in your attic, or 1000 roaches living in your attic?

6) something you would go back and change in your writing that it’s too late/complicated to change now

Oh I change things without shame. I do point it out in the author���s note, in case someone notices.

7) when asked, are you embarrassed or enthusiastic to tell people that you write?

This is a difficult question. WAIT NOT ALY THIS IS ME AFTER POSTONG THE ASK I FORGOT TO ANSWER THIS ONE I WILL DO THAT LARER CAUSE I NEED TO GO TP UNI NOW!!

OKAY ALY I AM BACK (and also hello to others!)

So, this is a difficult question because I have the Fear of Being Perceived by people I know IRL. Not necessarily because I think they will judge me, but this is just something I’ve ever had. This is also why I am not going to karaoke night tonight. As a result I do not tell people I write, but not because I am embarrassed. I have just always kept my online and offline lives separately, you know? And this has only grown over the years. I have, like, one person I know IRL follow my personal blog and I created this blog because I do not want him to see my stuff. It’s literally in the bio of this blog. This is also why my name isn’t on here, although I do not mind when people use it in asks or replies. It’s not foolproof, I am aware, but it’s how it is.

But I am also fucking proud of my work and I an enthusiastic. This is why I love ask games like this or communites on Discord. I put a lot of time and effort into my work so of course I love to blabber about it. The person I mentioned above? Yeah, he knows I write fic. But I made him promise to not go look for it. Now I did meet some people who unabashedly talk about what filth they post on AO3. And I told these people I write fic to. But I am always feeling that hesistant feeling. I told them vaguely about Bakery fic and So Much Better, but I am never going to send them the link so if they want to find it, they can, but I will not be the one giving my AO3 away. (Rip. I never kudo their fics either for this reason, cause my AO3 account will pop up).

Aka it is just kind of weird.

10) write in silence or with background noise? with people or alone?

I CAN NEVER WRITE WITH PEOPLE AROUND. This is why, when I visit my parents’ house for the weekend, I write less. I recently told Jenna (@thnxforknowingme, not Ushkowitz) that I am shook that she can write at work. I cannot relate.

I don’t like silence in general. I always have sound on, but it doesn’t really matter what. I am currently listening to The Last Five Years lockdown version, but I also just put on video essays that I have seen before, or gaming music, or YouTuber content. Only when I have a specific song/playlist for a fic, I tend to actively choose what I put on, like the playlist for River fic was on repeat during the writing. And Nothing Matters When We’re Dancing is my song for “damn Baz, you live like this”/Time After Time. That kind of stuff.

11) what aspect of your writing do you think has most improved since you started writing?

Uh. Everything. But I am also not too harsh on myself. I was 13. I am 24 now. And my English has improved. Fun fact, I did not know the difference between make out and break up for a very long time.

OH AND I LEARNED HOW TO DO PROPER PARAGRAPH BREAKS

12) your weaknesses as an author

Movements. Setting. That kind of stuff. When two people are in a scene and talk, I love the dialogue but I am constantly like “oh God, what else is going on in this scene?”

I am writing a scene for Ljubim te with Kurt and Sunil in a restaurant and I am constantly like “DON’T FORGET THEY NEED TO EAT!!!”

14) do you make playlists for your current wips?

Not right now. I don’t make playlists for my fics that often, unless I want to integrate the music into the fic (again, see River fic). Or I make a playlist AFTER I am done, like my Myosotis playlist.

15) why did you start writing?

Fanfiction? When I first read Harry Potter when I was around 11, but I used to write stories before that. Shout out to TEENZZONE and my first ever gay character that I made when I was 10 and then I got scared cause oooooh homosexuality scary!!! ooooh taboooo!!!! and erased it and made him marry a lovely woman named Daisy but then years later I was like “fuck it he’s bi then”

16) are there any characters who haunt you?

Oh, uh? The first ever gay now bi character from TEENZZONE I guess. Fuck, was Danny his name, or was Danny the guy who came before Daisy? Look, I was 10. Ik zat in groep 7, of misschien zelfs 6. It’s been 14 years.

17) if you could give your fledgling author self any advice, what would it be?

It doesn’t have to be perfect. I am not a published author. This is all for fun. Besides, I read a lot of fic that maybe aren’t “that good” in the eyes of whoever decides what’s good, but I still enjoy them and that’s what matters in the end. I write for me and me alone and hopefully people like it too and we will all have a banging time.

19) when it comes to more complicated narratives, how do you keep track of outlines, characters, development, timeline, ect.?

Not

Jk jk

I often have a little section in my doc with “Information”, like a timeline or people’s names or what is happening when. The one for Ljubim te has the names of my OCs and the street names of where Kurt and Blaine live. I am thinking of also making a timeline, because there are some time jumps between chapters, although I also try to point out what month it is in the chapter itself.

20) do you write in long sit-down sessions or in little spurts?

Depends on how inspired I am. I write when I have an idea. Sometimes things snowball from there, sometimes it’s to only add one line.

21) what do you think when you read over your older work?

Define older. As I said, everything before 2015 I pretend I do not see, but after that I actually reread a lot of my stuff. Hence the “I write for me and me alone” mentality. I reread Mendacious this week. And I haven’t read the Anyway series in years and I kind of want to.

22) are there any subjects that make you uncomfortable to write?

There are too many to list, but from the top of my head: non-con/dub-con, detailed slavery or kidnapping or something like that, graphic violence, MPREG, fic with one being a minor other an adult.

23) any obscure life experiences that you feel have helped your writing?

GIRL MY MAIN STARTING POINT FOR KLAINE FIC THESE DAYS IS “WHAT PART OF MY LIFE CAN I LIFT FROM??”

Mendacious: a conversation I had with one of my friends about internalised homophobia

River fic: lol (my broken friendship) (it’s almost Real Blaine’s birthday) (ah, then it will have been 4 years since I last saw him)

Ebb & Flow: my love for Splatoon 2

Bakery fic: me being obsessed with a documentary about rich people in Dubai

Ljubim te: I miss Ljubljana

So yeah, sometimes it influences the plot (Mendacious and River fic) and sometimes it is more a starting point for me to build upon, but it’s my liiiiiiiife it’s not or neverrrrrr-

Also, okay, I am writing this Snowbaz fic called Just Some Guy from an outsider POV and that is coming from me very much believing that Baz is not that hot. Simon is just in love with him. Sorry Baz fans.

24) have you ever become an expert on something you previously knew nothing about, in order to better a scene or a story?

Expert? I wouldn’t say that, but I do learn about obscure things like Broadway orchestra subbing. And of course I had that entire chapter about neurobiology in Myosotis sylvatica. But I can’t say I am an expert on things.

25) copy/paste a few sentences or a short paragraph that you’re particularly proud of

You can get some All the pretty things lore as a treat.

“As if in every lifetime you and I have lived, we’ve chosen to come back and find each other and fall in love all over again, over and over for all of eternity. And I just feel so lucky that I found you so soon in this lifetime because all I want to do, all I’ve ever wanted to do is spend my life loving you.”

This is how All the pretty things ends. Obviously it is not my writing. This is a direct quote from Glee. I may hate the proposal but they went hard with the speech. But I knew I needed to end the fic with this quote, since it actually inspired the entire premise of the fic. They hop through all these dimensions and in every one of them they find each other to go on to the next. And they grow stronger in the process. I do not know if this fic would be this fic without this quote.

For my own writing, I am really happy with the “emotional climax” of Paradiso 1 and Time After Time, but shhhhh spoilers, you gotta read that for yourself. But a shareable part that I am admittedly obessed with is from The Naked Truth:

We’re acting like a bunch of hormonal teenagers, but I don’t care. We’re high on energy and love. The moment we get to my flat and I close the door behind us, I press him against it and he laughs.

Again, there’s so much laughter.

Is this what love is like? Endless exuberant laughter? I revel in the sound of his joy.

I wrote this because I used “he laughs” or “I laugh” or “we laugh” A LOT in this fic up to the point that it was making me wonder if it’s bad writing, so I just put it in the story. Hooray.

ALY I FUCKING DID IT.

[missweber]

Random Zimbits AU thought...

Has anyone ever done a reverse You’ve Got Mail story? I’m thinking specifically for Zimbits, but the idea amuses me just in general.

Back when I would go into the office pre-COVID, there would be people in my building or on my floor I would encounter on a regular basis. We’d either be in line for lunch together, or hitting up the coffee machine at the same time, or getting into work at the same time. Small talk ensues, and the next thing you know you’ve got a friend... or maybe even a crush. 

Anyhow, you start sharing details about your life and having surprisingly deep conversations while waiting for the lunch line to move forward. You vent a little about some of the people who are making your work life miserable. Maybe you treat them to some of the baked goods you brought in for your team. Maybe you treat them to a fancy coffee. You get the idea.

The problem is, the more time that goes by, the more embarrassing it becomes to ask the person their name. But finally, you either see a badge. Or get introduced to them in a meeting.

And it turns out that your crush is the UTTER JACKASS who has been making your life a misery in their TOTALLY RUDE email replies, or in their requests for certain things to be done by COMPLETELY UNREASONABLE deadlines. And he thinks that you are the IRRESPONSIBLE NITWIT who needs to GET TO THE POINT in your rambling emails and get your shit organized and maybe look at a calendar once in a while.

It’s rough sailing for a bit, but things work out in the end. Because of course they do.

Anyhow, I’m thinking about... 30K slow burn, mistaken identity, friends/enemies to lovers. That sounds about right.

[striveattemptfail]

Football Vs. Husband: Which Do You Know Better? | Zimbits ft. Tater, G, 1.8k

Summary: Bitty gets quizzed on two of his favourite things: Jack and...... football?

Based on the Buzzfeed video of the same name. Takes place sometime in Sept-Oct 2019. Minor spoilers for 4.25 Faber and 4.26 Check, Please! (If you can call em spoilers LOL.)

Read on Ao3

A/N: Fun fact: At the time I wrote this (2017), it was set in the “future” (2019), but now that year is literally the past for us hahahahahahskfjasldfjasldfjklaskdfj. In the fic summary I say “minor spoilers” because what I originally wrote as wish fulfillment in 2017 became canon in 2020.

Anyway, this is a near verbatim copy of Ned Fulmer getting quizzed on his wife vs football—like fr some of the dialogue is exactly the same LOL. Thanks to @smol0ctopus​ for the beta and the omg stream! please server for advice!<3 Any other mistakes are mine.

YouTube transcript of Football Vs. Husband (Check, Please! #151: A Falconers Special!) [Descriptive captions by biittyyreciipees, airhockeycanbeviolent, and f4lcsboy: Check, Please! Captioning Team]

Eric Hey, y’all! Didja miss me? Because I sure did miss you! Now, today’s video is a lil special. Y’all’ll see that I’ve got myself some lovely guests here from Providence’s own Falconers team. (gestures towards Jack and Tater) Say hi guys!

Tater (waves) Hi!

Jack (single nod, smiles) Hello.

Eric I’ve got here regular guest and my husband, Jack Zimermann, and his teammate, Alexei Mashkov—

Tater But you call me Tater!

Eric (laughs) But we call him Tater! Tater, why don’t you explain what’ll happen here today?

Tater Is collaboration with Falcs TV! We had special tournament to see if players knows their SOAPs more than favorite thing.

ONSCREEN CAPTION SOAPs = Significant Others And Partners, for all y’all non-hockey fans out there! Click here (highlighted annotation inserted) to watch the tournament on the Falconer’s official website or check this video’s description!

Eric I had me such a great time over on Falcs TV with Jack that I wanted to share the fun with y’all here!

Tater (nods) Zimmboni crush everyone in tournament!

ONSCREEN CAPTION “Zimmboni” is Jack’s hockey nickname, like “Tater” is for Alexei. Everyone on the team has one! In fact, I have one too: Bitty! But Alexei likes to call me “B”.

Jack (shrugs, gives small smile) I know history. I know my husband.

Eric (laughs, blushes)

Tater Now, is time to see if B know Zimmboni just as much!

Eric I’m feelin’ pretty confident that I do. What do you think, sweetpea?

Jack I think Bits knows me better than myself, to be honest.

Eric Jack! (blushing again)

Tater Yes, yes, is very cute! But I’m want to ask questions now, yes?

Eric (turns to camera) Now, I tried to get ‘em to quiz me on baking—because y’all and your mama know that I love it—but Jack here insisted that I get asked about football instead.

Jack Baking’s too easy. I figured you’d appreciate the challenge. You know a lot about American football, eh?

Eric (rolls eyes) “American football”—I know y’all in Canada just call it football too! Now, I’d argue, but that’ll take up the rest of this video, so I guess it’s time to get to the quiz!

Tater Yes!

(video transition with dramatic music)

Tater (holds up stack of cards in hands) Here, I’m hold questions about NFL and college football, plus questions about Zimmboni for B to answer. Like during Falcs’ tournament, I’m ask SOAP about their favorite subject first, then ask about their partner. B, is ready?

Eric As I’ll ever be!

Jack Gonna crush it, Bits.

Eric Let’s hope so, sweetheart.

Tater Will be good, B, I’m sure! Question one, name five offensive positions in the NFL.

Eric Lord, how easy—quarterback, running back, wide receiver, offensive tackle, tight end.

ONSCREEN CAPTION Score: 5/5

Tater See, B! You be fine! Name five of Zimmboni’s favourite foods.

Eric Ooh, alright. So PB&J sandwiches, chicken tenders... scrambled eggs, uh, cassoulet... (Caption Note: French food pronunciation is not butchered, because food)

ONSCREEN CAPTION Score: 4/5

Tater One more, B.

Eric Hm, let’s see—

Tater (snickers) Remember this easiest question in stack.

Eric Oh, hush, you.

Jack Bits? Maybe a dessert?

Eric (hits head with base of palm) Oh, goodness me, right! Maple sugar crusted apple pie.

ONSCREEN CAPTION Score: 5/5

Tater (nods) Yes. Okay, how many minutes in football quarter?

ONSCREEN CAPTION Answer: Quarters in the NFL and NCAA football are 15 minutes.

Eric 15 minutes.

Tater How long is Zimmboni’s pre-game ritual?

ONSCREEN CAPTION Answer: 15 minutes max. Like all athletes, hockey players have specific rituals before their games.

Eric About thirty minutes?

Tater (whooping laughter) 15 minutes, max.

Jack (laughs)

Eric (gasps, shakes head) That is not true, that can not be true! Honey, I’ve seen you take 15 minutes making your pre-game PBJ sandwiches. (scoffs)

Jack (makes a face)

Tater Sorry, B. Must give big zero for that question.

Eric (rolls eyes) Hmph!

Tater B, you get 20 seconds—name as many starting quarterbacks in the NFL as possible. Ready, set, go!

Eric Matt Ryan, Aaron Rodgers, Josh Allen, Philip Rivers, Tom Brady—ugh—Baker Mayfield, Derek Carr, Carson Palmer.

ONSCREEN CAPTION Score: 8

Tater Have 10 seconds, name as many as Zimmboni’s lineys when he finally move to first line.

ONSCREEN CAPTION Lineys = Hockey linemates. Fun fact: Jack moved from third to first line during his first season in the Falcs back in 2015!

Eric (opens mouth)

Tater But! Must name them by nickname!

Eric (single nod, determined expression)

Tater Okay? Ready, set, go!

Eric Alright so excluding Jack, that’ll be you, Tater, then we got Marty, Thirdy, Guy, and Snowy if you count the goalies!

Tater (solemnly nods) Always count goalies!

Eric Then that’s five for five. Gettin’ a lil easy there!

ONSCREEN CAPTION Score: 5/5

Tater Haha! Okay, who are on cover of Sports Illustrated for this season’s NFL and college previews?

ONSCREEN CAPTION Answer: Jarvis Landry and Odell Beckham Jr. were on the cover for the NFL preview. Trevor Lawrence was on the cover for the college preview.

Eric Oh, Coach and I were just talkin’ about this! I know the NFL preview was Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry, but the college preview... (brief pause, placing chin on fist contemplatively) I think it’s Trevor Lawrence?

Tater Correct! What magazine cover did Zimmboni appear on first?

ONSCREEN CAPTION Answer: Trick question! Jack’s first ever appearance on a magazine cover was not as a hockey player. He first appeared on People Magazine as a baby with his parents, Robert “Bad bob” Zimmermann and Alicia Zimmermann.

Eric Can I ask a question?

Tater ...no.

Eric Well, shoot, alright. If you mean his first cover as an athlete, I’ll say Sports Illustrated, but if you mean his first one ever I think it’s People Magazine when he was a baby.

Tater (censored beep) Wow!

Jack (raises eyebrows) You remember that?

Eric Well, you told me! And Alicia did show me when we visited for Christmas one year. (smug smirk)

Jack (covers face in hand, exasperated sigh) Of course she did.

Tater Next question! How many Super Bowl rings does Tom Brady have?

Eric Oh goodness. I think it’s five?

Tater Six!

Eric What?

Tater Is six!

Eric (groans) Of course it’s six. Whatever, it’s fine, I try not to think about Tom Brady anyway. I don’t mind getting this one wrong. In fact, I’m kinda glad because I certainly don’t care for the man. Like, who—

Jack Bits. We’re in the middle of a game right now?

Eric (blushes) Oh, right.

Tater It’s alright, B, haha. But we move on with game now, yes? (single nod) Now, how many rings Zimmboni normally wear?

ONSCREEN CAPTION Answer: 1.

Eric One! He usually just wears his wedding ring, but today he’s got his 2016 Stanley ring! Wanna show it off, honey?

Jack (sheepishly holds up hands to show the two rings)

ONSCREEN CAPTION Fun fact: The team who wins the Stanley Cup get matching rings. Jack got his first one when the Falcs won the Cup in 2016!

Tater Is tough one now: How many times have the Atlanta Falcons made the playoffs?

ONSCREEN CAPTION Answer: 14.

Eric (sighs) Oh Lordy, that's hard. Alright, so by the time I was born they were at five so— (voice continues in fast forward) —they did in ‘98, then... ‘02? After was 2004, not 2005, or ‘06... so the next one was 2008. Then there was that streak from 2010 to 2012. Then the next one was 2016, and then ‘17. Not ‘18 and ‘19. So that’s... (begins to count on fingers)

Tater (back to regular speed, looking impressed) You have answer, B?

Eric I'm gonna go with fourteen as of this year.

Tater (censored beep)!!!

Eric (laughs)

Jack (censored beep), Bittle.

Tater Is amazing! You have both number and years!

Eric I’m Southern, and my daddy’s a football coach. (shrugs) Can’t help it!

Jack (chuckles) This is why I wanted you to answer stuff about the football instead of baking.

Eric (rolls eyes, swats Jack’s arm) Oh, this boy.

Tater Next question! What is most number of times Zimmboni fight in one season?

ONSCREEN CAPTION Answer: 3 fights.

Eric Ooh, shoot. I should know this one too, huh? Okay, so his first season he only got in one fight— (voice continues in fast forward) —and second season was also one, I think. After that, uhh, I think he finally got in two. Last year was three maybe? And this season hasn’t even started. But last year? Was it three? I don’t quite—hm.

Tater (back to regular speed) Your answer, B?

Eric I’m gonna go with three fights for last season.

Tater (shaking his head)

Jack What did I say?

Tater (censored beep) Is correct. (huffs) What year did Falcons join the NFL?

ONSCREEN CAPTION Answer: 1965.

Eric Uhhh, oh goodness, I know Coach told me this at some point... (pause) I think it was 1965?

Tater Correct! What year Zimmboni first try skating?

ONSCREEN CAPTION Answer: 1992. Fun fact: Bad Bob had Jack skating as soon as Jack could walk!

Eric Skating, huh? ‘Cause I’ll bet the son of Bad Bob tried on his first skates before he even turned one, huh? (smiles cheekily)

Jack (nudges with elbow, gives Eric a small smile) Not the question.

Eric Oh alright, not the question. Hmm, I know it was before you turned three so, I’ll say... (drawling out answer) nineteen-ninety... two?

Tater (throws cards out of hand, shaking his head) Is correct again!

Eric Oh my god!

(high pitched sound as Eric fist pumps the air)

Jack (laughs, bringing an arm around Eric before kissing his cheek)

Tater B, I'm frustrate to say you know Zimmboni as much as you know football.

ONSCREEN CAPTION FINAL SCORE: Football = 6, Husband = 6. T I E ! ! !

Jack Knew it. Told you so, Bits.

Eric That sounds like a chirp, and I will not have that on my vlog, Mr. Zimmermann. So with that, I guess we’re done! (looks towards camera, claps once) Well, that about does it for today’s video! Thank you so much to my special guests, Providence Falconers’ Jack Zimermann and Alexei Mashkov, for joining me today. (gestures towards Jack and Tater)

Tater (nods with a wide smile) Thanks for having us, B!

Jack (smiles and nods) Always great to be here.

Eric Be sure to check out the Falcs TV videos too! Link in the description or right over here! (points to space, highlighted annotation inserted) And thanks for tuning in! Next week, I’ll have a new video for y’all on the best ways to add protein to your favourite sandwiches.

(Eric, Jack, and Tater wave at the camera)

Eric Bye, y’all! See ya next time!

(More notes on Ao3.)

[karin848]

Do I Know You?

Ok, so I somehow wrote my first ever omgcp/Zimbits fic thanks to this post I saw on my dashboard the other day! posted originally by @billypoindexter

Go easy on me, as I haven’t published a fic since 2017 lol. I hope you enjoy!!

~

Read it here on Ao3

Bitty glares at the shelf of pie filling like it has personally offended him. Pre-made pie crust! The audacity! Where is the love? The effort? The patience? He sighed. One of his viewers had requested he do a video of some recipes with pre-made ingredients for students or young adults living on their own.  Bitty understands the necessity to learn some basic meals one can make with cheap local grocery store supplies from his own time in college.

Which brings him to the baking supplies aisle of the closest grocery chain to his Providence apartment, glaring at the pre-made pre-packaged pie crusts. There’s even an Oreo flavoured one, dear Lord. His moomaw would drop dead at the sight. Bitty sighs before stretching onto the balls of his feet, trying to reach a can of apple filling on one of the higher shelves.

Curse whatever he did in a past life to be stuck in this mess.

He’s interrupted in his wobbly mission by an arm reaching up into his line of sight, plucking the peach filling right off the top shelf.

“Need a little help there, bud?” The voice is a bit accented, maybe French? Bitty is bad at those, but it sort of sounds like it. It’s familiar though, and he turns to look up at the person offering him the cursed can of peach filling and realizes that he knows this man.

Oh god, where does he know this guy from?

Now, mama didn’t raise an impolite barbarian. He’s a genuine southern gentleman all right. Bitty knows he’s met this man somewhere before, and he’s not going to make a fool of himself by forgetting a name to a face. The problem is that he has, in fact, completely forgotten this man’s name.

“Oh! How are you? Thank you so much for your help, I really appreciate it!” Bitty says as he accepts the can. He scans the label and mentally flinches at the names of things that are-definitely-not-real-peaches listed inside.

The man is looking at him with a little bit of shock, a little bit of confusion as well. “Euh, well, I’m…I’m good – well – doing well.” He’s looking at Bitty with a bit of colour on his cheeks now. “How – how are you?”

Bitty tries to wrack his brain for all the different places he could possibly know this guy from. Did he go to Samwell? It’s possible. He only graduated last year after all, they could’ve had a class together and were only briefly acquainted.

“Things are going well for me too,��� Bitty holds up the can pointedly before placing it inside the basket on his arm. “Just getting supplies for the vlog. Someone requested easy recipes with pre-made ingredients, and no matter how much I loath to use anything but authentic Georgia-grown peaches in my pies, I should be able to branch out to help some college kids feed themselves on their own.”

The man adjusts his own basket, hanging mostly empty in his hand, only item obtained so far is a pack of Vitamin Water and some protein bars. Maybe he’s an athlete? Bitty was sure he met all the guys on the hockey team. Heaven forbid this handsome man be a former member of the dreaded lacrosse team.

“You make pies?” Now that Bitty’s heard him a bit more, he’s pretty sure his accent might be Canadian? He sounds a bit like Ransom whenever he’d come home from a break.

Bitty laughs. “Lord, I don’t know anybody who’s spoken to me for more than a few minutes and doesn’t know I bake. I was hoping by now with the cookbook coming out that more people had heard of the vlog. Though I guess I wasn’t showing that to many people when I was at Samwell.”

The man perks up. “You go to Samwell? Or…went to Samwell?”

Bitty pauses and squints back up at the dark-haired man. Well. Not former classmates then. He realizes he may just have to bite the bullet on this one.

“I’m sorry…Where do we know each other from again?”

The man blinks quizzically down at Bitty. Bitty stares back. Both parties proceed to get trapped in a somewhat awkward silence, neither quite sure where to go from here.

“-Know each other?” The man asks. Lord, this guy is a little helpless, isn’t he? Bitty sighs. He sure is handsome though.

“Yeah, sorry, I’ve been trying to remember where we met. I thought we may have shared a class at Samwell together, but apparently not. Sorry for my rudeness, I swear I’m usually much better at remembering peoples’ names!”

“Uhm – I’m – Jack,” he holds out his hand for Bitty to shake. Bitty takes it graciously.

“Nice to see you again, Jack! Sorry again, I’m Eric. Eric Bittle, although I usually go by Bitty. It’s a nickname from my time playing h-” Bitty’s hand freezes as everything clicks into place. “-playing hockey. It’s a hockey nickname. Oh my god, you’re Jack Zimmermann.” Bitty pulls his hand back like he’s been burned. “Oh goodness, we don’t actually know each other do we? Oh Lord, I’m so embarrassed. I’m so sorry! I thought I recognized you, and I didn’t want to be rude of course. But, oh goodness, I didn’t realise I recognized you from being a famous hockey player. Didn’t realise I know your face because you won the Stanley Cup last year!” Bitty slaps his hand over his mouth. It doesn’t hide how red his face has gotten with his growing mortification.

Jack Zimmermann, top scorer for the Providence Falconers Jack Zimmermann, won a Stanley Cup in his first year of being drafted Jack Zimmermann, Bitty may-or-may-not have seen posters of this man’s face for sale at Target Jack Zimmermann, is shyly scratching at the hair on the back of his neck. “Eh, it was a team effort, yeah?”

Bitty flails a bit. “I bet this was so weird, I’m being so weird, I’ll just – let me let you get back to your shopping – goodness. So sorry!”

Jack waves his hand dismissively. “No, please, I – this was – this was fun. I liked talking to you.” Bitty watches Jack’s ears begin to burn red. “Uhm, if you want. I’d like to-” Jack fumbles to get his phone out of his back pocket. “I’d like to hear more about this – this – vlog? Of yours. And did I hear something about a cookbook?”

Bitty slowly takes Jack’s phone as its handed to him. “Oh. Um, yes. Just some recipes I’ve created. A lot of family heritage, some tips to help young adults survive on their own. Hence the,” he lifts the basket on his arm slightly, “You know.” Bitty stares down at what looks to be a default iPhone background. Is this phone new? Bitty imagines one could probably purchase a good number of iPhones with the salary of a professional hockey player in the NHL. “Did you, uh?” He waves the phone a bit. “Me?”

Jack smiles a bit and Bitty is suddenly sure he must be dreaming. “I’d like to get your number, if you’ll allow me to have it.”

Oh.

Oh!

“Yes, of course! Yeah, let me just-” Bitty quickly pulls up the contacts and enters his information in a new profile. “Here! Here you go. Thank you! Ah-” Bitty wishes something would spare him from this torture. “Not – thank you doesn’t – I mean. It would be lovely, to be able to talk to you again.” Bitty hands Jack his phone back and works up a non-hysterical smile.

Jack gazes down at his phone with something akin to wonder. He places the device back into the pocket of his shorts and meets Bitty’s eyes. “I’d like that a lot…Bitty.”

Bitty blushes. “Well, I should probably let you get on back to your regular grocery shopping then. And hey, if you ever need advice with baking! You’ve got my number.”

Jack nods. “I’ve got your number.”

Bitty turns on his heel and makes his way down towards the end of the aisle. He’s stopped by Jack calling his name right as he’s about to ‘round the corner.

“Hey, uh, Bittle!”

Bitty halts and turns his head back to look at Jack. “Yes?”

“I don’t know if you’re doing something this Friday, but I know you mentioned playing hockey and, well,” Jack takes a step forward. “We’re playing a home game that night, and if you’re free, or if you’ve got a couple friends who’d be interested,” He scratches the back of his head again. Bitty is hopelessly endeared. “I’d like to offer you a few tickets to the game, if you’re ok with that?”

Bitty grins. “I would love that, Jack. Thank you”

Jack nods quickly and strides away. He’s gone when he turns behind a display of some brand of cereal or another. Bitty smiles softly and heads toward the fruit aisle to restock his supply for the blueberry scones he’s got planned for later this week. He feels his phone buzz in his back pocket. Bitty takes it out and glances at the screen.

He smiles.

[justlookfrightened]

Zimbits bingo post #3

Read from the beginning

Jack knew first

Jack rounded the corner at the back of Bitty’s house to find him in the coop with the hose, rinsing out the chickens’ feed and water containers.

It had taken a little trial-and-error, but Jack had learned that this was the best time of day to walk by Bitty’s if he wanted to say hello. Bitty was almost always outside at this hour of the morning, seeing to the hens.

“Puck, down,” Jack said, as the dog eyed Bitty among the chickens. “Stay.”

Puck settled on her elbows, haunches still coiled. But she was down, and stationary. Jack counted that as a win.

“Mornin’, Jack,” Bitty said, before pausing to fill the water container from the hose. “Miss Puck.”

“Hey, Bits,” Jack said. “Care to join us on our walk? We can stop for a coffee at Annie’s on the way back.”

Bitty looked down at his shorts and old sneakers. “You sure?” he said. “I’m kind of a mess.”

“It’s just Annie’s,” Jack said. “If you want, you can wait outside with Puck and I’ll go in.”

“I would think you only wanted me to come to watch Puck for you if you ever got anything besides plain black coffee,” Bitty said. “Which you could make just as easily at home. But sure, I’ll come. I happen to enjoy Puck’s company.”

He tipped some feed from the bucket at his side into the food container, checked to see that Jack had a good grip on Puck’s leash, and let himself out of the coop, carefully latching the door behind him. He replaced the lid on the feed bucket, stowed it in the shed, and then approached Puck, who was practically vibrating with excitement, but had not stood up.

“You want to release her so I can greet her properly?” Bitty said.

“Free, Puck,” Jack said, smiling. “Good dog.”

Puck was up on all fours and practically dancing around Bitty’s legs.

“Yes, you are a good dog,” Bitty said, holding out what looked like a homemade dog biscuit. “Shake.”

When Puck offered a paw, Bitty took it and gave her the treat.

“She shouldn’t eat too much,”Jack said. “The vet said she could lose a couple of pounds.”

“One biscuit, Jack,” Bitty said. “And I have some of those muffins you like, if you want to bring our coffee back here.”

They made their way to the park, around the pond and back to Annie’s, where Bitty took the leash. Jack wasn’t sure how Bitty could take the sweetness of his milky, frothy, kind-of-coffee-flavored drink nearly every day, but Jack had the order memorized.

The summer had been good for all of them, Jack thought. For him, to rest and recover and get ready for the next season; for Puck, whose manners had improved immensely once Jack was around to work with a trainer regularly; even for Bitty, who had come to be one of Jack’s best friends. Any fear Bitty had shown around Puck was long in the past, and the two of them were fast friends. Bitty even said he’d care for Puck if Jack was gone and Shitty wasn’t available.

The thing was, Jack wanted more. Maybe it was greedy and selfish, but he wanted to be able to hold Puck’s leash in one hand and Bitty’s hand in the other when they walked together. He wanted to hold Bitty — all of him — in his arms, not just give him an occasional bro-ish side hug. He wanted to taste not just the food Bitty made, but the man himself.

He just didn’t know if Bitty wanted any of that, too. Bitty had already been so generous, starting with bringing pie and even making a meal when he came to complain about Puck getting loose. He’d shared so much of his food, and himself, starting with his instruction to call him Bitty, the way his college friends did. He talked about figure skating, and growing up gay in the south, and deciding to make a new life up north. He even worked hard to get used to Puck, who wasn’t a bad dog, but she was a dog who would hurt chickens, and she could be … exuberant at times.

But as kind and caring as Bitty was, as affectionate as he was with Puck, he’d never given Jack a clear indication that he wanted what Jack did.

Sure, Jack had caught Bitty looking at him a time or two. But, not to be vain, Jack was in good physical condition. Lots of people looked at him. He’d been in the Body Issue and everything. And Bitty didn’t really stare at his body anyway. His eyes tended to stay on Jack’s face most of all. Once he’d pushed that floppy lock of hair off Jack’s forehead, then pulled his hand back like his fingers were burned and said, “Sorry!” 

“It’s fine,” Jack said. “You can touch me.”

Shitty was no help. He teased Jack mercilessly when Bitty wasn’t around, joking about being their best man and when it would be time to offer congratulations to the happy couple … even though they weren’t a couple. Jack was pretty sure Shitty would lay off if he knew how desperately Jack wanted the jokes to be true, and how desperately at sea he was when it came to making that happen.

The truth was, Jack hadn’t really had any kind of a serious, committed relationship since he left rehab. If he didn’t count Parse — and could you count a relationship when you were drinking and taking enough pills to dull every feeling you were having? — he’d never had a real relationship at all. Sure, he’d dated a bit. He’d been kind of surprised when Camilla told him they’d been together for a couple of months. Just as she was dumping him because it wasn’t working out.

It wasn’t like he was hurt; seeing her had been convenient, in terms of having a date and having someone to have fun sex with. It had been fun; it just hadn’t meant more than that to either of them.

Having sex with Bitty … that would mean something, at least to Jack. The idea that maybe it wouldn’t mean anything to Bitty — that was almost as frightening as Bitty not wanting Jack at all.

It wasn’t like Bitty dated a lot. Jack spent enough time with him to be sure he didn’t have a boyfriend, not someone he saw regularly, not even a lot of dates on Friday or Saturday nights. As far as Jack knew, he’d only been on one date all summer, someone a former college classmate set him up with. It hadn’t gone well.

“He got so drunk he threw up on his shoes,” Bitty said the next morning. “I’m not saying I was a Boy Scout, but I left the college-level drinking behind in college. And I’ve been in such a dry spell, too.”

Would it be so hard to say, “Would you want to try going out with me?”

Jack was sure Bitty would be kind, even if he refused. That would be better than Bitty accepting, and making it a pity date.

Whatever happened, it should happen soon. Once training camp got going, Jack wouldn’t be around near so much. And he’d like to be able to tell George and a few of the guys at the beginning of the pre-season that he had a significant other. He knew the chirps he would get — “Finally!” would probably be the most common reaction — but he also knew this was a good team, a good group of guys, and they’d be happy for him.

Jack carried their coffees outside, and traded Bitty his cup for Puck’s leash.

“We won’t be able to do this so much once training camp starts,” Jack said, feeling almost nostalgic before the summer actually ended.

“No, I guess not,” Bitty said. 

He was quiet for a few steps, then said, “Look, I know it could be a problem, me being gay and all, and people might give you a hard time. I understand that you might not want to be seen hanging around with me. But maybe I could come walk Puck sometimes?”

“What?” Jack nearly choked on on his coffee. “That’s not what I meant. At all. I just meant that I’ll be busy this time of day. Of course I don’t mind being seen with you.”

Bitty seemed to relax a bit.

“And Puck would love for you to come walk her, with or without me,” Jack said. Because Puck liked Bitty almost as much as Jack did.

“Well, then, I will,” Bitty said. “I can leave fresh eggs for you, too.”

“That’d be great,” Jack said. “But I wanted to ask something else. Would you like to have dinner with me?”

“What — tonight?” Bitty said, sipping at his coffee. “I could do that. I have a teleconference this afternoon, but I could make that chicken you like after that.”

“No,” Jack said.

“No? You want something else?” Bitty asked. “I have a recipe for — ”

“No, that’s not what I meant,” Jack said. “I meant, would you like to go out to dinner with me? Like a date?”

“Like a date?” Bitty said, but his face was pink and he was grinning.”

“On a date,” Jack said. “With me.”

“Of course,” Bitty said. “Wherever and whenever you want.”

Tagging: @zimbitsbingo​

Read on AO3

Read Part 4

[hullomoon]

This month it’s solely Check Please as I want to continue to branch out my recs to other fandoms.  I also tried to have ones that weren’t all Zimbits as the main pair but oops, that didn’t happen.  I decided I wanted to make recs, but a little more in-depth, and because of this there may be some slight spoilers.  

We’ll Always Have Pintrest  by: @justlookfrightened

Chapters: 4/4  Word Count: ~7k

Rating: General Audiences

Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply

Category: Gen

Fandom: Check Please! (Webcomic)

Relationship: Eric Bittle/Jack Zimmermann

Characters: Suzanne Bittle, Eric Bittle, Adam "Holster" Birkholtz, Justin "Ransom" Oluransi, Jack Zimmermann, Lardo, Shitty Knight

Additional Tags: Pre-Samwell, Suzanne's gonna miss her boy, Suzanne wonders what she should have done differently, mentions of bullying and homophobia, college boys drink beer, bitty cooks

Summary:  Suzanne Bittle thinks about Eric, what she knows and what she doesn't, as she prepares to take him to Samwell for the first time.

Thoughts:  This is a lovely concept and I love the insight it provides of Suzanne.  For me at least it’s the kind of story that makes me want to give a hug to a family member and tell them how much I love them.  Suzanne is a supportive mom who just wants the best for Bitty and this clearly shows through.

Recommended if you like: Insight on Mother/Son relationships, Suzanne being supportive, and that crushing feeling of being away for somebody you love.