#anyhoo. original tags time:

[sincerely-sofie]

Quick, post Hollow Knight sketchbook art from circa five years ago and go to bed before anyone notices (but a second time because Tumblr is being weird about the first attempt)

[legendaryskyscale]

Here it is, my snippet I've been working on! Just a heads up, I did add a doodle in between my writing below the cut~

-----

It was supposed to be a quick retrieval job.

The ringing in his ears was starting to fade out and he could hear his target speaking. Words were too muffled for him to comprehend what the other Asura was saying.

Then his blurred vision cleared and he watched his target slip through the gate. It crumbled as it flickered and threatened to deactivate. Everything around him was falling apart. He tried to get up, but his legs wouldn't respond. He looked back at where his legs should've been. They were both missing, severed at the knees. There was no pain, only confusion.

He looked ahead toward the Asura gate and reached forward, using his hands to crawl toward it.

'You're going to die here...'

He paused.

'Unless you allow me to save you... Would you like that? To be saved from this predicament?'

The assassin glanced around, trying to find the source of the raspy voice.

'You won't see me, little one... Not unless you're willing to accept a binding contract with me...'

He remained silent, unsure what to make with this mysterious voice that echoed all round him within the swirling Mists.

'Time is running out, little one... I can get you out of here... All you have to do is let me in...'

--

Adjin stared down at the assassin with a disgruntle expression.

"You've costed me quite a fortune with this mishap. Care to elaborate on your failure?"

Raennyn shook his head and gazed down at his new legs. He swung them back and forth, testing them where he sat. They felt heavy and cumbersome. He wondered if he could modify them. Probably not, these legs were issued to him through the Inquest. Another asset he would have to pay for.

"Stop that." Adjin commanded and Raennyn looked up at him, ceasing his leg swinging. "Go to your quarters and remain there until you're called for. I've got your mess to clean up."

Raennyn got up from his seat and hesitated. These new legs really didn't feel right. They were definitely heavy and awkward. These legs would hinder his mobility and make his job difficult.

"Now." Ardjin growled impatiently. Raennyn moved out of the room all the while being watch by the displeased Asura.

He made it to his quarters, heading for his desk as the door slid shut behind him. The heavy thuds of his footfalls made him wince with each step. He would need to ask for a lighter model.

Raennyn sat in his chair and leaned back. He kicked up his legs on the desk and immediately regretted it. Hefting his prosthetic legs up caused his chair to lean too far back and he went down with it.

There was an echo-y, raspy chuckle.

Raennyn laid on the floor, staring up at the ceiling. He reached up to unlatch his mask, pulling it off his face and tossing it aside. He took a deep breath.

"Where are you? Why can't I see you?"

'You wish to see me?'

"You said I could see you if I accepted your contract."

'Mm, yes well... Let’s see...'

There was a shift in the atmosphere. The temperature around him dropped and the lighting in his room dimmed. He sat up and stared at the corner. His eyes could see a swirling black mass forming in the corner. The swirling mass distorted, warping and pulsating, as if trying to collect itself into a solid form. Finally it settled on a form.

Its emaciated body was hunched over, with two sets of arms were too long for its lanky body. It had digitigrade legs with three clawed toes. A thin tail trailed behind it.

The creature looked inky, black wisps wildly enveloping its form, like a living liquid shadow. Raennyn couldn’t tell what he was looking at until it opened its six violet eyes and stared right at him.

'Do you see me now?'

Raennyn's eyes tried to seek some solid form, separating the shadowy being's body structure into notable segments. He shut his eyes and rubbed them. The strain of trying to process the creature was getting to him. When he opened his eyes, the creature was right in front of him, causing him to stumble backwards and fall on his ass. The creature tilted its head to one side, curious.

"What are you?" he finally asked. It seemed to smile, showing off a ghastly slit full of needle-like obsidian teeth.

'I'm your savior, little one...' it whispered hoarsely, an inkling of a voice coming through in Raennyn's mind. It sounded like it was trying to emulate his own voice. 'I'm your source of life... Without me, you'd be dead...'

Raennyn pondered on the creature's words. Come to think of it, how did he escape the Mists?

'I assisted your broken body through the gate...'

He frowned. "You can read my thoughts?"

'I hear them, yes...'

Great. He sighed, getting up on his prosthetic legs. He looked over to the shadowy creature, inspecting it. He wasn't particularly scared of it, no. He was just as curious of it as it was of him.

"This contract. What did you want in return?" Raennyn asked.

The creature's slit for a mouth widened, allowing black ooze to spill from its mouth. The inky liquid hit the floor and melted away into more shadowy wisps.

'You kill for a living...'

He blinked. It seemed like that was obvious, wasn't it?

'You keep killing and keep me well fed, and I'll lend you my strength when you're in dire need, little one...'

"That's it?"

'And at the end of your life, you will be my last meal...'

Raennyn huffed with a smile. So this thing was going to stick around til he died, huh?

'Are you not afraid of the prospect?' the creature questioned.

He shrugged. He wasn't one to fear death, really. His entire job revolved around it.

'But you're not afraid to die, little one?’

He never really thought about it. Dying wasn't something he considered when out on a contract. He was perfect at his job. Well, almost perfect. This recent mishap in the Mists was new to him. He's never failed a contract before, and now he wasn't sure what was going to happen. Ardjin certainly wasn't happy with the situation.

Raennyn moved around the creature and sat on the edge of his bed. The creature slowly turned to face him.

'Is Ardjin your master?' it asked.

He shook his head at first. Well, Ardjin did take him in and trained him to be a assassin. He only took order from Ardjin, too. Did that make him his master? He never questioned his role and relation to Ardjin. Why would he?

The creature shifted, its form distorting as it stared at him with its six eyes. 'You're efficient at killing, yet you are subservient to another... With your skill, you could easily take down your master... and if you needed a boost, I could offer assistance...'

Raennyn frowned. He couldn't just kill Director Ardjin. What an absurd notion.

'Why not?'

Raennyn just stared at the creature with a blank expression. Of course, what would this creature from the Mists know of Asuran social hierarchy and status? From what he could gather, all it wanted to do was eat something.

'What I want are the souls of your kills, little one...'

Raennyn gave a single nod. "Right."

He realized he hadn't said a word this entire time. The creature really was listening to his thoughts. It was odd. He felt like he had a natural conversation with the thing, yet he hadn't said a word out loud until now.

He was curious, did this thing have a name?

K'sarvek.

He blinked at the creature and it blinked back at him with all six eyes. Why did it freely give its name? The creature moved closer to him, its face mere inches away from his own.

'Mm.. so you've sought out my true name... It seems I am not the only one to hear the thoughts laid out between us, little one... Interesting...'

The creature's form flickered and by Raennyn's next blink, it was gone.

"Subject R dash nineteen thirteen, report to the medical bay!" the intercom blared, startling him. He looked around for the creature, but it was nowhere to be found.

'Fret not, little one... I'm right here with you, awaiting my first meal outside the Mists...'

[lordressdragoonbear]

My Sims 3 Slider Folder ✨

Hello, hello! Today I bring you my TS3 slider folder!

I'm posting this folder so It's easier to find the sliders that I use on my sims, I may not use them all the time, but I do use like two of them a lot so, yeah!

Anyhoo, Thanks to all the creators that I tagged and the ones who couldn't find! I hope Ya'll don't mind me posting this!

So, give a good ol' round of applause to @simtanico @gruesim @semller @oneeuromutt @packagedblyss @pyxiidis and everyone I couldn't find! 👏🏽

You guys are all amazing and you do great work for this little community we got here! 💕

Slider Folder: SFS/DRIVE

Here are some links to versions of some of the sliders I have, ya know, just for good measure.

If the original creators don't want me posting this, then I shall remove your sliders from the folder 🙏🏽

[superhaught]

Subterfuge

Fandom: Baldur's Gate 3

Pairing: Shadowheart x Walker (OC/Tav)

Warnings: nudity but no smut

Word Count: 3700, Part 1/?

A/N: I've had this bad boy collecting dust for quite some time now. It was originally part of a longer piece but I wanted to just post this chunk. Walker is my first Tav. He's a half wood-elf Paladin. He's trans. He's everything to me. You'll also notice me provide some reasoning for always re-classing Shadowheart as a tempest cleric, lol. Anyhoo, please enjoy and lmk if ya wanna see more Shadowheart love!

Tagging @gothimp and @optiwashere in the hopes that y'all will enjoy this?? <3

Thunder rumbled through the area as heavy winds battered the walls of Shadowheart’s tent. This was the first storm they have had to weather on their journey and she was kept awake by the sounds. 

She was never one to be fearful of storms, but this particular storm felt imposing. Perhaps it was made worse by being separated from the elements with only a waxed canvas tent rather than the security of a building. While storms were in the domain of other gods, she always felt that the dark clouds were sent by her Lady Shar. She tried to channel that into her magic by calling upon clouds of darkness to send her Lady’s rage in the form of thunder, lightning and ice upon her enemies. 

It was in this moment of not being able to find rest when Shadowheart realized that their groups’ leader was likely still outside, unsheltered and keeping watch through the brutal storm. She sighed and mumbled out loud, “that idiot,” before wrapping a blanket around herself and peeking her head out of her tent. 

She was, unfortunately, right. Walker sat on the log by where they’d normally have a fire burning, but instead he was staring at a steaming pile of coal while wrapped in a drenched wool blanket. She could see that he was shivering though he would likely never admit it. 

She called out to him, “You donkey! Get inside!” 

He whipped around and faced her, teeth chattering and curly hair dripping wet, “I can’t! I’m keeping watch!” 

“We will survive one night without your vigilance, if you don’t come inside you’ll get sick at the very least and we can’t have that, or worse. Come on!” 

He stared at her indignantly. 

“Come here.” She demanded. 

Walker faced an internal battle between keeping watch as was his duty, and following orders like the good soldier he was. He eventually decided on the latter, “Fine. I see no reason to argue with you.” He began to stand up. 

“Good. That will serve you well in the future.” Shadowheart held the tent flaps open for him when he approached and then closed the tent back up tightly once he was inside. He had to duck slightly to fit his taller frame comfortably in the space of the tent. 

Up close, Shadowheart could clearly see the bluish tint to his lips and that he had been soaked through all of his clothing. 

“Strip.” She instructed simply. 

“What?” A flush appeared on his cheeks as he gave her a surprised expression. 

She rolled her eyes, “It’s not like that you fool, you can’t sleep in sopping wet clothes. Come on now.” She began to push the blanket off of his shoulders and let it fall in a wet heap to the floor. 

He nodded while shivering and began to shyly lift his shirt off. 

Shadowheart had meant what she said of course, she had no intention of exploring sensuality with him in this moment, but that didn’t mean that she couldn’t indulge in a few glances at his body while he undressed in front of her. 

Her eyes followed the bottom hem of his shirt as he lifted it and exposed his abdomen. He was incredibly toned and honestly, too attractive for his own good. And, she wasn’t ignorant to how his endless humility only made him more desirable. 

His shirt came off and he added it to the blanket in a wet pile. 

Shadowheart cast a simple cantrip, producing a wisp of flame in the palm of her hand in an effort to warm the air in the tent. 

Walker undid the laces of his trousers and pulled them down, letting the wet fabric pool around his ankles before stepping out of them. He then bent down and gathered all of his wet garments in his arms and put them somewhere out of the way. He let out a sigh as he started to warm up. 

Shadowheart doused the flame in her hand and then moved tentatively to place her hand on his upper arm. He shuddered at the warmth that her palm retained from the spell and at the touch she gave him. 

Walker's eyes fell closed as he unconsciously leaned a little closer to her, “You’re so… warm…” he mumbled. 

“Come here, then.” 

Shadowheart reached for him more definitively now, pulling him fully into an embrace. He couldn’t help but let out a whimper as she held him close and he tucked his face into the crook of her neck. 

His skin was freezing. She considered her next words carefully, trying to strike a balance between genuine concern for his safety and a little bit of interest, “You know,” she offered, “hypothermia is best avoided by skin-to-skin contact.” 

Walker did not respond for a few seconds as his mind raced to understand this enigma of a woman. Then he just sputtered, “I… I…” 

“Calm yourself. It’s only an offer. Would you like to take me up on it?” 

All Walker could do was nod sheepishly. 

Shadowheart smirked but hid it from him. She let go of him and then began to undress herself as well. She sloughed her leather top off of her shoulders and let it fall to the ground. She relished in the feeling of having Walker’s eyes so obviously on her exposed torso. 

She gave him a sly smile and then hooked her thumbs into the waistband of her leggings and underwear and slid them down her legs before kicking everything aside. She watched as Walker’s gaze followed her movements. 

“Like what you see, paladin?” 

Her words startled him and he looked back up to her eyes and swallowed the lump in his throat. 

“You can say so,” she continued, “I don’t mind.”

He nodded, “You’re… gorgeous.” 

She stepped forward and placed her hand on his abs, sliding her fingers down over his muscles, following the trail of hair that graced the center of his taut stomach. He gasped and shuddered as her delicate fingers danced over a hip bone and teased as the very edge of his briefs. 

“You’re sweet… and not so bad to look at, yourself.” 

“Shadowheart…” he breathed, “Wha-… what is this?” 

She looked up at him, “Whatever you want it to be, Walker.” 

She watched the shy, nervousness leave him in an instant and the sweet thing standing before her was suddenly the confident man she had come to know in battle.

“Can I kiss you?” He asked. 

She smiled and nodded in response. He grabbed her by the waist and pulled her body close to his and captured her lips in a kiss. It wasn’t the soft and chaste kiss they had already shared, but it wasn’t hard either. It communicated a deeper want without being overpowering. 

Gods how she loved when he acted on the things that he really wanted. 

The paladin had done nothing but surprise her since they first met. When he saved her life on the Mindflayer nautiloid she expected that he was good. She wasn’t wrong about that at all. He was, first and foremost, a good man. Sometimes to an irritating degree. He had insisted that they help the Tiefling refugees in the grove. Insisted that they involve themselves in the local hags’ business to rescue that girl, Mayrina. Insisted on rescuing Volo from a fate he simply brought onto himself. Insisted on talking with every animal they came across. And yet, she couldn’t complain because his focus on their larger goal of finding a solution to their tadpole problem never wavered. 

As a result of his good-nature, she expected him to, at the least, be wary of her faith in Shar once he knew the truth, and at worst, outright condemn her for it. But his reaction was neither. Where some of the other companions looked at her with doubt, he only expressed kindness and genuine curiosity. He asked her questions and graciously allowed her to correct any misunderstandings he had. He never pried. He never judged. He never insulted. It became easy to trust him after that, which surprised her. 

He surprised her in a myriad of ways as they dove into the goblin encampment. He understood her discomfort with being in a temple to Selune despite the fact that untold years had passed since actual worship of the Moonwitch took place there. She watched as the man got down on his knees and groveled to a filthy goblin just so that he could deftly sneak a lightly magical ring off of the creatures’ toe by kissing it. She watched as he stripped his armor off and submitted to a religious beating from a priest of Loviatar for truly, no good reason. There was a moment when she wondered if he only did it because he thought she might enjoy the spectacle, but she dropped that foolish notion from her mind quickly, surely he wouldn’t.

She used the tadpole connection to share a memory with him. Her only memory. The one thing she had left, wherein she was nothing more than a scared and vulnerable little girl. She didn’t know why exactly she shared it with him, she just felt… compelled somehow. She knew that he would be kind and honestly, she just felt like she needed that. When the playback of the memory ended, he took her hand in his and gave her a reassuring squeeze and thanked her for sharing, while giving her that sweet smile and an unspoken but nonetheless understood, “I’ve got you.” 

It was then that Shadowheart knew it would be hard, impossible even, to escape her attraction to him. 

But even with all of that, she expected him to fall for someone like Karlach or Wyll. Someone kind and soft, like him. But he surprised her in that regard, too. He had shared a bottle of wine with her one night and he kissed her for the first time. He kissed her. She was as shocked as she was elated, but she expected him to regret it the following morning. He didn’t. He just looked at her with those puppy dog eyes of his and said that he wanted more with her in the future. And who was she to deny such a kind request from their heroic leader? 

Sometime in between then and now, the most shocking thing of all occurred. The paladin broke his oath. Shadowheart didn’t catch when or how it happened, but one morning he awoke as an Oathbreaker and although she had a million questions for him, they hadn’t talked about it. He hadn’t changed, really. He was still the same, good man. Still a beacon of light and hope. Still respectful of life and nature, just a little… off. He offered a little less healing and a little more violence. He had something darker at his disposal, but he was still him. If he had simply made a mistake along the way in all of the chaos they were up against, she wondered why he wouldn’t just atone and immediately retake his oath. If something deeper had genuinely changed for him, like no longer aligning with the ideals of his oath, she expected to see evidence of that, but she never did. Regardless, she didn’t feel like it was her place to ask and she felt that he would tell her if he wanted to. Not knowing gnawed at her all the same, though. 

But now, here she was, naked in her tent, kissing this beautiful and confusing man, wondering why this attraction she felt was all-consuming and hoping against all hope that he wouldn’t change his mind about her. 

His hands moved upwards to hold her face. He kissed her more and more and she felt herself melting in his grasp. The storm outside and his touch clouded her senses such that any thoughts and anxieties left her behind. She could only feel his impossibly soft lips and his gentle, yet battle-hardened hands. She could only feel his pulse throbbing in his neck and his shiver as she traced the contours of his chest with her index finger. She could only feel him pull her closer and bury his fingers into her hair. 

He surprised her again as he effortlessly picked her up and then laid her down on the bedroll, hovering over top of her as he continued to kiss her lips. She would have given herself freely to him that night but he never took more. He only pressed his lips to hers in an incomprehensible number of sweet, adoring and reverent kisses, until he finally opened his eyes again and stared at her for a minute while catching his breath. 

“That… you’re incredible…” he said. 

She smiled, “Are you feeling warmer, now?” 

He chuckled and nodded, “Yes, very. Thank you.” 

“My pleasure.” 

His cheeks flushed. He was back to being awkward and not knowing what to do next. She decided to save him from himself and said, “Come here, silly,” offering her arms out. 

He nodded and laid down and embraced her strongly. They got comfortable beneath the blankets and snuggled. Shadowheart naturally found herself resting her head on his chest and he wrapped his arms around her. Her heart just about burst when he placed a tender kiss on her forehead as he drifted off to sleep. This night was sweet and intimate and unlike anything she ever dreamed of experiencing in her life. 

She almost missed it. A poorly timed rumble of thunder outside obscured part of his sleepy, mumbled confession. But once she processed the words he had uttered, she felt a vice grip her heart. 

“I love you.” He had said. Quiet, half-asleep, whispered against her head. 

Shadowheart’s mind raced. It was so soon. Too soon. Less than two tendays of even knowing each other. He barely knew anything about her, how could he so easily say such a thing? 

She didn’t have to respond. He wouldn’t expect a response. It would be easy to pretend that she hadn’t heard him at all. The words can disappear into the night, no harm no foul. 

Her attraction to him was clear. She even felt affection, care, for him. She liked how good he was. She liked his kindness. His strength. But love? Did she love him? 

A crack of lightning lit the sky and the wound on her hand flared with searing pain. Shar. There she was. Using pain instead of words to make her point clear. Shadowheart tried her best to understand. She really did. That could not be denied. The proper conclusion was that the physical pain she felt now was a reminder of the emotional pain she’d feel later if she fostered this attachment any further. Exchanged glances were fine. Kisses in the night were fine. Even sex would be fine so long as it was meaningless. But anything more? Dangerous. Undoubtedly. 

Shadowheart stared at the ceiling of her tent and tried not to stir so that she wouldn’t wake him. She needed him. He kept her safe. He would help her complete her mission. He was the only true ally she had. The only one she trusted. So she couldn’t just walk away. But she didn’t want to lose this either. She didn’t want to break his heart by saying, “I think we’ve gotten too close, let’s just keep focus on the mission.” That would be a betrayal to herself, a lie. 

The wound seared again. She bit her lip hard to stifle the cry of pain that threatened to escape. If he knew how she was hurting over him, he would feel so guilty.

She could make this work, she thought. Subterfuge. Stealth. Stolen affections with this man wouldn’t hurt. Her mind would soon be occupied by learning more about the Dark Justiciar presence in this area, anyways. Lady Shar could indulge Shadowheart having someone to share a tent with for companionship when the rest of her, almost all of her, was so devoted to serving the Dark Lady. It would work. It would be okay. 

She made a silent vow then, that if she was ever capable of giving and receiving love, it would be with him. She would never let him go, no matter how badly it hurt. The pain she could take, but though she was loath to admit it, she didn’t know that she would ever be able to bear the loss of him. Not after knowing what having him felt like. 

Shadowheart finally let her eyes close as she snuggled in closer to Walker. With a few deep breaths, the pain was put away in a box somewhere in the back of her mind where she could ignore it. His scent. His heartbeat. His soft skin. All of that felt so, so much stronger than the pain.

-

She woke to soft kisses peppering her cheeks. For a minute, she just relished in it while pretending to still be asleep so that he wouldn’t stop so soon, but then his lips drifted closer to her ear and started to kiss along the edge of it and it tickled and felt amazing and over stimulating and she couldn’t help but squirm and giggle and she gasped, “Careful! Sensitive ears!”

He just smiled and whispered to her, “I know…”

She rolled over and cuddled into him and he started to massage her neck and back without her even asking for it and she immediately melted. She let out a long sigh and said, “Lady of Sorrows guide me… gods… what did I do to deserve that?”

“Nothing at all, love. You shall not need to do anything to deserve my affections.”

There was that word again. Now a pet name. The closeness. The tenderness. The love. It was all getting dangerously close to being too much for her to handle. She wanted it… gods she wanted it… but the doubt was in whether she really could get away with having it. 

“Walker…” she began. 

“Yes?” His morning voice was like the finest wine she could imagine. It was deep and rich. She wanted to drown in that voice. It was far too easy for him to knock her legs out from under her. That’s why it was so risky, she realized. If he ever came all the way between her and Shar…

No. She couldn’t think like that. Not now. 

“Nothing. Nevermind. Just… keep touching me like that.”

Their morning in the tent somehow simultaneously felt like it lasted multiple, blissful years, and less than a second. 

The shape of a one-horned Tiefling materialized outside and called out, “Hey Shads, the suns up already! Dontcha gotta commune or whatever? Also, we don’t know where Walker is, have you seen him?”

Walker was about to announce his presence when Shadowheart quickly put a finger over his lips to shush him and said, “I’ll be right out, Karlach. And, I’m sure he’s around, probably took cover somewhere nearby from the storm last night.”

Walker turned and looked at her with a confused expression as Karlach's sliouette shrugged and walked away.

“I’m not ashamed,” Shadowheart whispered, “I just don’t want the whole camp to get the wrong idea about the time we’re spending together. Is that okay?”

Walker nodded and whispered back, “Okay.”

“Also, they’re all idiots if they haven’t noticed your pile of clothes outside the tent yet. But, if they have noticed and they’re just teasing, I don’t want to add fuel to the fire.”

He nodded again. She didn’t know if she was making sense to him, but she appreciated that he went along with it nonetheless. She didn’t know if she was making much sense to herself, either. She just knew that she wasn’t ready to face the reactions of everyone else to their… coupling? Their courtship? She didn’t even know what to call it. But she felt that the more people who knew, the realer it became, and the more likely it would be that she’d have to put an end to it lest her Lady deem it to be too much of a distraction. For now, this was just for them and the four walls of her tent. She prayed that Walker could sense that without her needing to say it. 

Walker kissed her softly one last time and then slipped out of the tent easily enough. Everyone was gathered around the campfire enjoying breakfast so they didn’t notice him quietly get new clothes from the storage chest then dart into the treeline to get redressed before making a big show of coming back to the camp, acting like he had slept in the woods. 

Shadowheart had begun her morning prayers by then but she couldn’t help opening one eye slightly when she heard his voice again as he joined the others by the fire. She giggled to herself at his performance and watched as he fixed two plates of food. 

When he stood up and began to walk back to her, she sealed both eyes shut again while he quietly set the second plate of food down on the stool next to her. This had become part of his routine every day. She prayed, and he brought her breakfast while the food was still hot, even going to lengths to cover the plate with a silver lid that he found somewhere along the road. 

This time though, he added something new to the procedure. He stood in front of her and leaned down, placing a kiss on the top of her head, before walking away. 

She almost cried. She could have. 

But she bit down on her lip and batted away the pain in her hand and continued her prayers.

Blessed Nightsinger, witness our adoration. 

He had kissed her like she was something to be adored. 

See how we serve you, only you. 

He was so gentle…

We have emptied our hearts of falsehoods. 

I don’t love him. I don’t love him.

We have vanquished your foes.

He could light the darkest night… erase every shadow…

In darkness, we see your truth. Embrace us, your loyal warriors. 

Please, Lady of Sorrows… please… embrace me… I have only ever served you…

Cloak us in your shadow. Guide us to your victory. 

Just don’t make me choose…

Shar's will shall be done. As sure as night will fall.

[coldflasher]

Answer the Questions and Tag 5 Fanfic Authors

Tagged by @kitkatt0430 and @softboydepot - Thank you both for the tag :D

1. How did you get into writing fanfiction?

So I was about 13 years old, I was scrolling through my brand new One Direction tumblr, username "its-a-1d-world", soon to become "curly-and-boobear-stylinson", a harrowing username that genuinely makes me shiver like someone just walked over my grave. Like I'm sure this means nothing to someone who wasn't in the fandom AND an extreme larrie but let me tell you. Imagine the most intensely cringe superwholock url you could have. It's on that level

And I remember seeing what we would soon come to very derisively refer to as a "harry het fic" on my dash. So like, in 1D fandom, you had your standard self-insert Y/N fics, you had the queer RPF where you were shipping the boys with each other, and then you had the "het fics", which is where someone would make up a female character for one of the boys (usually Harry bc that man had and still has an insane chokehold on teenage girls everywhere) to date. If anyone has had the misfortune to read and/or watch After by Anna Todd... that type of deal

ANYWAYS I was totally unaware of fanfic as a concept, which is quite funny because as a little baby writer I'd been writing extremely derivative pseudo-fanfic for quite a few years by that point, like stories inspired by Young Dracula or Narnia or whatever without really knowing what it was. But this Harry het fic floated across my dash and a little switch went in my brain because I was like WAIT. I COULD BE WRITING STORIES ABOUT THE BOYS?? Like this was so exciting to me because writing is like probably my biggest eternal special interest and One Direction was my like, most intense special interest at the time, so I was like WAIT. I CAN COMBINE THESE THINGS. And also PEOPLE WILL READ THEM AND COMMENT ON THEM and I was sooo convinced I was god's gift to writing at the time so I was like well OBVIOUSLY everyone will read MY fics and I'll get super fandom famous instantly.

So I wrote an incredibly terrible Harry het one shot with an original character and literally got crickets. Nobody read it. Very embarrassing. I think I wrote a handful of these and nobody wanted to know, which is fair enough because I'm sure they were very bad. But THEN I was like okay fine, well everyone is obsessed with Larry, including me (though I very much liked it in a "bromance" way at the time, so I'll write a Larry fic instead. This is Louis and Harry for the uninitiated. It was the biggest fandom ship. We shipped all and every configuration of the boys but Larry and Ziam were the hard hitters. I think I wrote a few different one shots for various pairings but then I did my first Larry multi-chapter

ANYHOO the Larry fic was a big hit, I got all the outpouring of compliments and attention that my enormous thirteen-year-old head was convinced I deserved and that was kind of it really lmao. I was hooked. When I tell you I'd update my fics MULTIPLE TIMES A DAY because I was writing so fast and so obsessively, like god idk what the fuck was going on in my head but it was the greatest high I have ever experienced in my life. I also got incredibly deeply involved in the conspiracy theory about Louis and Harry's secret gay relationship and spent the next five years of my life tinhatting obsessively but that's a whole other story

2. How many fandoms have you written in?

In terms of what I've posted to AO3, only a handful—as mentioned, I started off in the One Direction fandom, I've written for The Flash and Legends, and dabbled in Doctor Who. In terms of fandoms I've written little bits for but never shared... so many lmao, the list (as far as I can recall) includes the following:

Batwoman, Supergirl, The Bold Type, The Devil Wears Prada, Once Upon a Time, Supernatural, Torchwood, Twilight, X-Men, and bizarrely, The Witcher, apparently??? I have ZERO memory of that, but it's in my fanfic folder. No idea what that was about

3. How many years have you been writing fanfiction?

I think I started in 2011/early 2012, so upward of a decade at this point... eesh.

4. Do you read or write more fanfiction?

Definitely write. I do want to read more fic, but I have a hard time choosing what to read and I am very bad at using AO3's search functions to find what I want.

5. What is one way you’ve improved as a writer?

I've finally started finishing shit!! Big moment for me lmao

6. What’s the weirdest topic you researched for a writing project?

I read an entire book on public defenders for a fic where Barry becomes a public defender instead of a CSI. I own a copy of a book called Forensics for Dummies which I'm slowly working my way through for fic reasons... I feel like none of these are that weird lmao

7. What’s your favourite type of comment to receive on your work?

Who doesn't love the mega long comments pulling out random lines the reader liked to yell about them. I sometimes get so excited reading these comments that I lose sleep over it lmao i love them so much

8. What’s the most fringe trope/topic you write about?

Lmaoo this is a very odd one but I once wrote a Larry Stylinson fic where Harry was Slenderman and he was haunting Louis, and either Zayn or Liam was like a Van Helsing type who was trying to hunt Slenderman!Harry down and kill him. Or maybe it was Nick Grimshaw, the at the time host of the BBC1 radio breakfast show. He was the go-to fandom villain at the time

I never finished it but that was a cool time, someone in the fandom actually composed an instrumental piano piece inspired by Slenderman!Harry which is up there with the coolest things that have ever happened to me

In general I don't know if I necessarily go that fringe. I feel like it's somewhat obvious I have a bit of a thing for femdom, and also like. Coldwest/coldwestallen in general lmao, I guess that's fringe-ish

9. What is the hardest type of story for you to write?

Funnily enough probably pwp. I feel like smut is generally considered to be just an easy fun time but I feel like my line-editing process is not conducive to smut writing thing because I write the first draft in a haze of feral horny energy and then edit and revise it over and over to the point where I no longer find it sexy at all and am unable to tell whether it's even still hot or if I've totally killed the vibe in my quest to find the most poetic way of describing the way people fuck nasty. It's very frustrating ngl

10. What is the easiest type?

None of them. This is such a cop-out but everything I write is hard because I'm an insane perfectionist and everything HAS to be beautifully crafted so at this point everything is hard. But ngl I find multichapters easiest to draft in some ways just cos I can kinda cling to the high of "ooh a new idea" whilst also contributing to the same project because the "new ideas" are just new chapters, if that makes sense? It's fitting them all together that's the hard part lmao

11. Where do you do your writing? What platform? When?

I use a combination of Microsoft Word, Scrivener, and a notes app on my phone called Penzu, which is where I scribble down all the random snippets and ideas and bits and bobs that come to me during the day. The bulk of my drafting and editing is done in Word and I basically only use Scrivener for its notecard function where you can move scenes around really easily, and then I transfer everything back into Word because of Tracked Changes. Does Scrivener have that? Probably. Scrivener has everything

12. What is something you’ve been too nervous/intimidated to write, but would love to write one day?

Honestly it's never really a case of "too nervous/intimidated" because I genuinely have never encountered an idea where I was like "hmm idk if I can pull it off", I have extreme faith in my own capabilities to an almost delusional level lmao, it's always just "I do not have time". But I do have this extremely long Coldwestallen fic that's inspired by Hades and Persephone, with Barry as Persephone, Len as Hades, and Iris as a soooort of Demeter figure which i know is weird because Demeter is Persephone's mother, but whatever, she more embodies the familial connection of the whole team rather than being an actual blood relative if that makes sense

So the concept is basically Barry as Persephone spending half his time with Len and the Rogues in the criminal underworld (I thought I was so clever for that one lmao) and the rest with Team Flash, and then the lines blur and it becomes coldwestallen-y eventually, but it's soooo long and basically split into four novels that I have written between 25 and 50k for each. It's gonna take me literal YEARS to tackle this thing so I've kinda put it on hold for now but I miss it so much

13. What made you choose your username?

So I wrote a joke in a fic that I genuinely have no idea whether I even posted it or not, it might have been in Aftermath. But basically Barry's suit gets blown up and he gets photographed literally streaking through the city totally nude (you can't see anything bc he's moving too fast but you can tell he ain't wearing any clothes lmao) and there's a newspaper headline that's like "THE FLASHER???" Let me tell you I was very annoyed the other day when I learned they already made that joke on Supergirl

And then I just added "cold" for Len lmao

[monstrouslyobsessed]

been a minute since i've answered yall asks, sorry about that. been having health issues again. sighs.

tw / tags: monster fucking, snake anatomy, breeding mentions

Do you have any thoughts about slime-like monsters? I personally find monsters with… unstable??? body structure quite interesting cuz of their potential lol. Like, even of they're slow and trembling like jittery jelly, once they have grip on you – you gone, whoops. Struggling r useless, u will only get urself deeper and you can't even do a lot to escape. And bonus points if they're kinda dumb, so by acting silly and goofy they're practically gaslighting lmao —anonymous

i actually have a musing in the work about that one!! its...been in my draft forever...whoops....i'll work on that in just a bit then.

but yes!! theyre also super versatile too! imagine if you have one as a pet...its going to make a pet out of you, oho rip darling.

I wonder how the 6 arms snake god eat. Does he just shallow his prey whole? chew them? Tear them apart then eat them piece by piece? I wonder what is his favorite part of his prey, and his less favorite. I imagine that some times, he eat messy, so reader clean the blood around his mouth with a clean napkin. —anonymous

i actually kinda imagine him opening his mouth like a snake would since he's no longer a human (w a pic below). but in the beginning, when he's still merging with the snake god, he'd probably start tearing his, ah, meals apart, yeah. i actually don't think his transformation was actually completed by the time he started his initial rampage + he wouldn't have any arm when he first started out too.

oh geez i can see him being super clumsy and floppy trying to learn how to move his new body. poor thing.

his mouth would be like this, maybe with bigger fangs tho. that said, i cant find the original source now :( so if any of you know who this may be by, lmk so i can link the artist!!

Hey-hey! Have you read Mieruko-chan by any chance? Maybe it's only me, but i find designs for ghosts from here rlly cool and some chapters can give some pretty cool concepts/ideas.

Gl on ur day! ✨ —anonymous

i actually have been keeping up with it! poor mc, she's trying her best...I'm crushing on the yandere tentacled head lady atm lol

☆ Put this star into the inbox of your favourite blogs. It's time to spread positivity! 💖 — @berrychan03

dawwww <3 thank you!!! i'll be sure to spread them around~!

Your Jaguar Trube story is really good! I like it. Are you going to make the part 2 for it? —anonymous

im actually kinda stumped on how to continue this one mainly because of the breeding kink being the primary focus and the reader initially being gn. i feel iffy doing this to my fellow gn readers as well, as i don't wish to exclude them and i don't think im that good of a writer to pull off a gn smut.

i could just do two versions tbh because its a little different between if the reader is afab and if they're amab.

if afab, theyre actually kinda in for some bad time because there's so many males around, possibly around 30 to even 50, and there's a lot of dp to go around because they're sharing them.

if amab, there's not many females around at all, maybe around 4 young adult ones (with the rest being old ladies), though that's not to say the males wouldn't touch them because they def would though lol but i kinda imagined that being amab they wouldn't be in too high of demand and would be given breaks. plus, they don't have to worry about getting pregnant.

i'll take feedback regarding this matter though, so lmk your thoughts on how i should proceed!

anyhoo, gonna try and work on couple overdue commissions i got, but in the meanwhile, feel free to send in whatever (that is currently open lol) love ya bunches!

[cto10121]

Wilkommen, Bienvenue, Welcome: Tag Masterpost

Cto10121 is finally doing a personalized tag masterpost!!! It’s about damn time. Anyhoo, hopefully this will make it easier to find most everything of interest in my blog.

Me, Myself, and I

Cristina Reviews: General tag for my reviews of books, movies, musicals, and TV shows.

Cristina Reads: General tag for books with text, quotes, and screenshots.

Cristina Opines: My cold takes.

Cristina Has An Unpopular Opinion: My hot takes.

Cristina Is Silly: Technically I have a sense of humor.

Cristina Memes: Badly, but she does.

Cristina Metas: General tag for my nerdy griping.

Icon Fun: I had tons with those icon memes of yore.

Ask/Reply

I Come Anon: For anonymous asks.

Books & Literature

Cristina Is An English Major: Main tag.

Popular Fandoms

Twilight Meta: Meta on Twilight.

Anti Anti Twilight: This is a pro-romance blog above all, but honestly it doesn’t deserve it.

Twilight Clownery: Tumblr’s hatred of Twilight has much to do with hate, but more with love clownery.

SAB Meta: Very critical meta on Bardugo’s Shadow and Bone. See also: Anti Malina, Mal Me Cae Muy Mal

Darling Dorkling Darkling Done Dirty: I originated this tag and don’t you lot forget it! Defense of The Darkling from Bardugo’s Shadow and Bone.

HP Clown Takes: Harry Potter clownery is real and so I eat it.

Shakespeare

R&J Meta/RJ Meta: Meta on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. The Struggle Is Real for both Shakespeare and Presgurvic meta. I also did a read-through on Arthur Brooke’s version.

R&J Clown Takes: It’s a whole series by this point. See also: RJ Clown Takes, RJ Clownery, R&J Clownery.

Romeo Hate Dumb: So much material that I literally had to create my own tag for it. Thanks for nothing, world.

Hamlet Meta: Meta on Shakespeare’s Hamlet.

Hamlet Clownery: I foresee this will be a thing.

Shakespeare Meta: Meta on Shakespeare’s plays in general.

Shakespeare Clownery: Might as well create this tag because I know I’m going to need it.

Life of Will: Meta on Shakespeare himself and his life.

Musicals

Romeo et Juliette: General tag for Presgurvic’s musical. Also Roméo et Juliette.

RetJ Meta: I like to talk about this musical way too goddamn much.

RetJ World Domination: The whole purpose of this blog by this point.

Original French RetJ

Revival RetJ

Takarazuka RetJ

Hungarian RetJ

That Production That Must Not Be Named: You lot know exactly what I mean.

Idaho RetJ: This exists.

Notre Dame de Paris: General tag for the Plamondon/Cocciante musical.

Elisabeth: General tag for the Kunze/Lévay musical. Also with the das.

Rebecca: General tag for the Kunze/Lévay musical. Also with the das.

My Writing

That’s kind of my main thing. I still have my AO3 and Fanfiction.Net accounts, as well as a sister blog here, technically.

Lyrics and Translations

The agonies of a certain English translation of RetJ has driven me to a life of crime lyric writing, beginning with RetJ. I also uploaded whole scripts to my lyrics website; those are more or less the latest versions.

My Lyrics: My general tag for all my translations, including pop and world music.

RetJ English: English lyrics for Presgurvic’s Roméo et Juliette, de la Haine à l’Amour.

Notre Dame de Paris English: English lyrics for Cocciante’s and Plamondon’s Notre Dame de Paris.

Elisabeth English: English lyrics for Kunze and Lévay’s Elisabeth.

Starmania English: English lyrics for Plamondon and Berger’s Starmania.

Tanz der Vampire English: English lyrics for Kunze and Steinman’s Tanz der Vampire.

[leoisaburger]

TMNT asks 5, 7 and 23!

I probably should have expected you to pounce on this 😅

AND I HAD THIS TYPED OUT BUT FORGOT EMOJIS DON'T GO IN TAGS SO I LOST EVERYTHING. So, take 2.

5. If you were a ninja turtle, what color would your mask be?

Hmmm. Well, I tend to wear a lot of green and black. But my sona, who is a lizard/sea slug yokai, tends to prefer purple, tan, and a dark aquamarine. So, I think a vivid yellow-gold or a dark aqua like her outfit would be nice.

7. Favorite really obscure character

Really obscure, huh? I had to look up what she was, but that fish lady in the 2003 iteration from Atlantis always fascinated me for some reason.

23. If you could have a TMNT crossover with ANY other series, which would it be?

Hehe, I do love a good crossover. Personally, I think I'd like either 2012 or Rise to get the crossover. As for the other series, are we talking tv shows, games, comics? 'Cuz a Legend of Zelda (TOTK in particular) would be cool (Dude! Demon Dragon vs. Light Dragon Duo and the Rise team would be sick!). And I've seen really good things from an ATLA/Rise crossover.

Slightly more obscure but no less fascinating. A Summertime Render crossover. Could the Shadows access the Rise gang's mystic powers?! Even the 2012 team would be a big issue as Shadows! You know what? Let's go with that! Summertime Render X TMNT crossover. I suppose the question for that becomes how does their presence affect the timelines? The concept of running out of time and people is heavily prevalent. Obviously Ushio and Hizuru are the original powerhouses, add four capable fighters (probably the 2012 gang for power balances' sake) who could be copied and result in ninja Shadows with enhanced speed/strength/endurance. But also giving Shinpei extra backup and a variety of skills to meet the deadline.

See what happened?! Now I've got a brain worm of an idea that won't leave me alone for a bit! Anyhoo, thanks for the ask! And yo, if anyone wants to try that crossover idea, I'd love to see it!

[dangerpronebuddie]

hi!! you said in tags on a recent post that they were foreshadowing something happening to eddie! could you pls tell me when you thought this, as i’m intrigued lol

Hello anon! 🥰

You're going to think I'm delulu by the end of this. If you don't already lol 😅

For starters, 9-1-1 loves playing the long game when it comes to foreshadowing. Eddie's shooting and the lead up to his breakdown started in his first episode.

I mean, we had "I've just done it while people are shooting at me is all" in 2x01 and "At least nobody's shooting at us" in the crossover. And! Eddie's insistence that the universe does not scream.

All the military related accidents and the entirety of the Shannon arc and 3x15 and... pretty much everything that happened to that poor man lead to his breakdown.

But the foreshadowing for what I thought was going to happen (which didn't 😕) started in 4x14 with none other than the legal guardian conversation.

I mentioned that I thought something was going to happen to Eddie and/or Chris. Like with the shooting, whatever that something is has been building for a few seasons.

Now, I love the legal guardian thing. There's so many layers to it, not to mention how they look at each other through the whole thing. It's a declaration of love. However! It's also a bad omen.

Eddie Diaz, Mr. Prove To Me Something Is Real And I'll Believe It, keeps jinxing himself. Even speaking the will into existence is a bad idea™. These writers don't normally bring something up and then forget about it. And I would say making your best friend the father of your child if you aren't there is a pretty big thing to just leave hanging!

Eddie didn't even plan on telling Buck about it until the shooting. He waited an entire year??? For something that important? In short, the writers included it for a purpose beyond an aborted love confession.

Anyhoo. That's sign one.

Season 5 we can put aside, because it was a whole other thing.

Season 6 was where the most foreshadowing came in. I think it all really started in 6x07. Even Eddie, by the like third(?) accident Felisha had, commented on the fact that he might be cursed. At the end of the episode, at the beach, he gets a call from Abuela. The framing of that shot (I really wish I could make gifs right now. Thankfully I found a set) shows Eddie in focus with Chris at the forefront. As Eddie asks "what does she say about my future?" in regards to Abuela's curandera, the focus shifts to Chris. To me, that meant something would happen to Eddie and have the guardian thing come up again.

Then, in 6x15, Eddie and Chris go to see Shannon (I thought that was really nice, btw, it was sweet). Then his mother is pestering him to come visit. He talks to her twice I believe (haven't rewatched that episode in a while, the cemetery scene haunts me 😅). Anyway, when he talks to her at the end of the episode, he says "we'll figure something out. Okay? We got time."

Refer to my earlier statement. Eddie keeps jinxing himself!

The entire episode, there was something ominous about it. The old lady, "we're all gonna die alone," Shannon, etc. It just felt... eerie, I suppose.

I expected the season 6 finale to satisfy the foreshadowing. I heard they rewrote the ending thanks to them not being sure if the show would be picked up by another network (THANK YOU ABC!) Anyway. Something tells me that the original plan was to severely hurt the fathers on the team. Chim, Bobby, and Eddie were all in serious danger.

The time jump at the end kinda sucked. To me, the finale felt a little... discombobulated. I think that maybe, even though 911 doesn't do this, they intended for season 6 to end on a cliffhanger. Any or all three of them could've still been in danger or clinging to life when the episode ended. It would've been more satisfying, honestly.

Anyway.

I just think they hinted a little too much at this. It could be that it just hasn't happened yet and there's still more foreshadowing to go. Maybe in season 7, Eddie could be missing and presumed dead or injured badly enough to have Buck step in for Chris (in a much more concrete parental role.)

[theidiotwhowritesthings]

Just read the Inevitable update and I’m obsessed all over again!! Each chapter just keeps getting better 🥹 I’m glad the reader character grabbed you by the collar and said bitch nah coz I am COMPELLED and I love the character and everything 😂❤️ could I be added to that tag list as well? Lol and really any mandalorian fic you write I would love to be tagged in 😬 thanks! Love you byeee

STOP YOU'RE MAKING ME BLUSH.

Thank you so so much! I'm so glad you're enjoying it. (And absolutely I'll put you on the taglist).

I'm also going to use this time to publicly announce my to-do list so I can fucking get my shit together lolol. I've been so lazy the last few days and it's mostly b/c work has been so crazy that by time I get home I just crash. But good news/bad news, I'm ✨sick✨. I think I caught one of the viral bugs floating around here. Which means that I'm gonna be stuck at home with my laptop getting shit done (good news) but there is a solid chance anything I write is mildly nonsensical from cold meds (bad news). Guess we'll find out!!

Next chapter of Inevitable. This gets priority since I need to update it on Monday lol.

Work on the next chapter for AFS. This won't be as hard, and will probably be the last thing I do this weekend if I get to it b/c it's already half done. #19 was supposed to be longer but I split it in half so.

I have a comfort drabble I'm working on that I want to finish today (and ideally post today at some point). I've been slacking on my drabbles for y'all so I'm gonna try to get some out.

Maybe work on my original manuscript that I haven't touched in like a week ??????

I wanna work on the next chapter of Seven Days, just b/c I'm seriously craving cowboy!Din again. (and b/c i accidentally over complicated my plot so now I'm super excited to write it all out)

Maybe write another AFS deleted scene? I guess that counts as a drabble.

And, if time willing, I think I wanna branch out into the world of Joel Miller. I have been craving that man like an addict looking for a hit (also side note to the anon who asked for the TLOU inspired drabble surrounding Din, it absolutely will be done b/c I'm obsessed with the scene you brought up I'm just slow).

ANYHOO, I'll be on and off tumblr all day long while writing so message me things. Any of the things. ALL of the things. Let's chat!

[wheezykat]

I posted 1,983 times in 2022

7 posts created (0%)

1,976 posts reblogged (100%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@peachpety

@vukovich

@museiums

@ihopeyoubothstaysafefromharm

I tagged 530 of my posts in 2022

#drarry - 41 posts

#lmfao - 13 posts

#pansy mf parkinson - 11 posts

#drarry fanart - 9 posts

#i wanna live in a house filled with joy's art - 9 posts

#my baby is a real peach 🍑 - 9 posts

#stranger things - 8 posts

#harry potter - 8 posts

#ginsy - 8 posts

#draco malfoy - 8 posts

Longest Tag: 69 characters

#🤣❤💕👀🥺😊👍😂😘😍😏😭😀😅😩🥵🦝🔥🍵😐🌵😤😌📚🦊🥴👁😔😳🧋🏔🕯🍊😠🤔

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Chapters: 1/6 Fandom: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling Rating: Explicit Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy/Others (Offscreen) Characters: Draco Malfoy, Harry Potter, Original Muggle Character(s) Additional Tags: Angst, It gets better I promise, Down and Out Draco Malfoy, Draco Malfoy in the Muggle World, Post-War, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, Sex Worker Draco Malfoy, Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Panic Attacks, Touch Averse Draco Malfoy, References to Depression, Implied/Referenced Dubious Consent, (not between drarry and offscreen), these warnings sound dark but i promise it's not all that, Eventual Happy Ending, Coffee Shops, Coffee Shop Owner Draco Malfoy, Explicit Sexual Content, Eventual Smut, there are SOME feelings in here, as per usual, Illustration by Babooshkart, (feat in ch 2), Angst and Hurt/Comfort Summary:

After the war, Draco tries to make a life in the Muggle world.

Potter keeps showing up.

14 notes - Posted September 24, 2022

#4

❤ last lines! ❤

Thanks @phd-mama for tagging me!!

I've been working like crazy instead of writing (s i g h) BUT. I do have something for this :) from my self indulgent Panama ginsy fic!

“Mmm, el mundo es un pañuelo,” Parkinson murmers, reaching up to twist her long black hair to one side, “Only so many places to go, Ginevra.” 

Tagging my best bbs and beans @amorsindolor @vukovich @peachpety @calypsotempete @wynnyfryd @secretartlair @academicdisaster24 @nv-md @fw00shy @the-sinking-ship

24 notes - Posted February 4, 2022

#3

drarry tag game

Thank you @calypsotempete and @vukovich for tagging me! How fun. Lol.

When did you get into Drarry and why? I was actually a Jily/Wolfstar shipper back in OG fandom days, and sometimes I would read Viktor/Hermione fic and drarry would be the side pairing. Anyhoo, got back into fandom in 2019 and went down the rabbit hole looking for some of my favorite older fics, somehow ended up in dramione-land and read practically every fic on AO3 for the pairing (I know this sounds crazy, and I wouldn’t believe it if it hadn’t happened to me 😂💀) and then was sad that I had read mostly everything. Dabbled a bit in Drarry fics, reading them at random while waiting for new WIP chapters, for a few months. Then I made a Tumblr. I saw art for Running on Air by @tinyhistory. I am a simple raccoon, I see pretty things, I click. I ended up reading the entire fic in one sitting. 

Which Drarry fic hooked you?  The Fallout by everythursday (Dramione) is the fic that dragged me back to fandom kicking and screaming. Running on Air is what brought me over to Drarry (and by god, is it beautiful!!), but the fic that truly hooked me was Tea and No Sympathy by who_la_hoop.  I think that same week after I finished it, after the requisite amount of time spent staring at a wall and feeling as if my entire life had changed, I sat down and read through all of bix/firethesound/loveglows/lqt fics. There was not a lot of sleep happening. Lol.

Top three favorite Drarry fics: this was so difficult 😂 my 400 bookmarks are yelling at me! 

1. Coming Home by @nerdherderette

M, 9.8k - TWs: MCD, Grief/Mourning, Mild Sexual Content

Three years after his world was shattered, Harry tries to pick up the pieces at the place he once called home. 

I literally can’t even count the amount of times I’ve read this fic - I know that in 2021 I read it 18 times. 💀💀 And I’ve begged countless people to read it. It’s so gorgeous; the prose is exactly what you expect, entirely captivating and encompassing, and Harry’s grief feels so real. Though we don’t get a happy ending here, there’s something about this fic that holds my entire heart. This story taught me a lot as a writer about how a story doesn’t need to be fairy tales  and rainbows at the end to have a striking and meaningful conclusion that feels right. 

2. genesis (you don’t know what it means to win) by crossourbridges

T, 73.5k - No TWs

Harry Potter didn’t help the Malfoy’s because he owed them; he did it because it was the right thing to do. He’s not sure why he keeps going back to visit, except that it seems to annoy Draco Malfoy and he loves annoying Draco Malfoy.

Ya’ll. This Harry. He is the ultimate characterization for me. Honestly, this type of fic is largely not my style - it’s kind of light-hearted and humorous, and there is no smut (😭). BUT. and this is a huge but. The writing is so dynamic, and the drarry banter is SPOT ON, and there’s even some lovely interaction with Narcissa, who I absolutely adore in this story. It’s SO GOOD. I find myself coming back to this fic as a comfort read (because who doesn’t read 74k words for comfort). I absolutely fall in love with the boys all over again every time. I tend to keep this fic open in my tabs, that’s how often I read it!

3. the space between (what you want and what you need) by  disapparater  

M, 13.6k - TWs: major character injury, disability, sexual dysfunction

As a specialist Healer in dark magic, Draco has had his fair share of difficult cases and awkward patients. Still, nothing has prepared him for a curse-paralysed Harry Potter.

Okay. I’m not going to lie. This isn’t an easy read. (In fact, you’ll find that most of the fics I enjoy aren’t). But this is a heartfelt look at acquired physical disabilities, and also features an ace! Draco. Be still, my beating heart! Literary weaknesses abound! As someone who grew up with a disabled parent, who saw the journey in real time and up close, this fic speaks to me on a different level. I love the depth of Harry’s character, and I love the fact that this author chose to write from Draco’s POV as a healer. Being that we’re in Draco’s POV, it’s also incredible to read this fic and get to experience what is, in my opinion, a more accurate portrayal of asexuality/ace spectrum characterisation. As someone who is demi, I’m constantly on the lookout for ace rep in fiction, and this is one of my absolute favorites for that reason. (You can see some of my other ace/demi faves here in my bookmark collection).

HONORABLE MENTIONS

💕 Crown Witness by @slytherco - E, 70k. TWs - violence

After the war, wizarding society is oppressed by a new kind of plague—an organised crime group calling itself the Family.

When Harry Potter goes to interrogate a potential witness, he doesn’t expect to end up on the run again, trying to keep Draco Malfoy alive, while a manhunt follows in their footsteps, adamant on eliminating the one witness that could ruin everything.

In which Harry and Draco learn that the way to each other might just have to go through the dingiest hotels in Britain.

💕 The Body Keeps Score by @amorsindolor - E, 13.5k. TWs - mentions of past trauma (not between drarry)

Draco cries during sex.

A story about touch, intimacy, and the healing we find through mutual trust and love.

💕 holemate by @vukovich - E, 18.9k. TWs - description of wasting disease

Most people never get a soulmate. Harry has buried three. When the mark appears again, this time alongside an American Auror, perhaps a diversion can keep everyone alive. A diversion that looks a whole lot like a chaotic, fuckable Malfoy.

💕 Have Your Cake and Eat It, Too by @peachpety - E, 3.9k. No TWs. 

Harry Potter loves his birthday… until he doesn’t.

All it takes is a miserable slice of jealousy, sprinkled with an unfortunate slip of the tongue, and doused with a heavy dollop of pining to turn Harry sour. Fortunately for him, Draco Malfoy is there to sweeten the day.

See the full post

28 notes - Posted March 10, 2022

#2

six-ish sentences

whew. it’s been awhile since i’ve had anything to share (life is cray for me rn, iykyk) but some lovelies tagged me and whelp. i have this unedited lil nugget that isn’t for anything in particular (except my love of pansy and stuffing too many adjectives in my scenes). ty @vukovich @drarrymybeloved @the-sinking-ship  @mintamintathings for the tags <3

They’re in Panama, this time; the rattling of street carts and faint chatter mix with the sound of twilight waking, its insects chirping as the moon slowly rises against a bruised blue-red sky. A curl of smoke drifts, hazy and swirling in the balmy air, thick and lethargic. It’s heavy, hanging stilted and slow-rising, making the grey smoke lazy in its escape. 

Ginny sighs, watching for a beat, before her feet are moving her across the room. Inch by inch, slender legs reveal themselves, and her eyes can’t help but follow that bare skin up, up, up, their path only impeded by the thin, white cotton robe wrapping itself around Parkinson’s body. She’s languid, in the way she only gets when she’s away, when she knows Ginny has come at her beck and call once again, lounging loose-limbed, a fag hanging delicately between her fingers over the edge of the chair. 

“Thought you’d quit.”

Parkinson’s face turns, eyes flashing open as she lifts the cigarette to her lips, taking a slow drag and exhaling it out the side of her mouth. 

“Thought you said you wouldn’t come.”

tagging my darlings @peachpety @corvuscrowned @calypsotempete @amorsindolor @wynnyfryd @nv-md @drarryruinedme @avenueofesc @mystickitten42 @thusspoketrish @softlystarstruck 

32 notes - Posted January 26, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

throwing rope

@nv-md, my darling. i present to you some shameless Ginny thirst art, and as a bonus, a wee pining Pansy POV. happy valentine’s day, and happy early bday, Ali! <3 i cherish you. all my love to @amorsindolor​ for the beta, hype, and endless wisdom. 💕 you can also read it on AO3! (you can see a better quality image too!) 

Pansy’s heels are rubbing, even encased in familiar worn leather as they are, her shirt sticky and starched from the sweat of the day. A little piece of her aches, small and sharp, watching as a faint smile crosses Ginevra’s lips, even in the thick of it all. The heat bears down on their backs as the sun burns across the skyline.

Wisps of hair escape Ginevra's braid —tickling her nose and sticking to the perspiration dotting her skin —a loop of rope held in her loose fist. It’s dusty today, much like it is everyday, a thin film of ochre infiltrating anything not locked down or closed up tight. The constant stomping of boots and hooves kicking up the earth is a regrettable exasperation, spinning tiny whirlwinds of grit to tuck into every crevice.

Pansy thinks that maybe she wasn’t quite built for this world, feeling shaky in her own skin, smothering it all up in sharp barbs and snarky quips, edging out anyone who might get close enough to find her out. But Ginevra, well. It’s like she’d been carved out of the mighty red rocks themselves, standing in strong relief against the backdrop. Taking her own place in the landscape, belonging to the earth and the sky and the stars. 

Ginevra laughs, looking at Pansy a split-second before she throws her rope through the air. 

It’s that feeling, those hidden looks and sly smiles, that tells her this much for certain: that she may be able to count her name among the rest of those great, big things that tether Ginevra to this world. 

And that Pansy wants to feel her own lasso pull taut. 

60 notes - Posted February 14, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[rejectofsociety]

WIP Search Game

tagged by @roykentt (ty ty this made me very happy to see!)

My words are “alone, control, pieces, home, stay” and I don’t really post multi-chapter fics, nor have i done much writing lately so none of these wips have been posted yet. Anyhoo, let’s give it a go!

from Ronance Library Date - home

They stand like that for a few beats, listening to the shuddering whisper of their in-sync breathing, the low hum of the fluorescents. Together, they stare at each other’s hands as they let sink in the fact that when they regroup in the Harrington home as they have been over the past few days— Steve won’t be there.

He’ll be here, just down the hall from Max. Struggling to breath, and wishing he was home.

from Five Times Johnathan and Argyle Kissed But Didn’t Remember It - alone

It was easier to be lonely while alone than lonely around others, Johnathan came to realize. So that was the plan while in California— keep his head down, go unnoticed, be alone. 

But Argyle, who always had his head up, noticed everything and everyone, and like hell he was about to let Johnathan be alone. 

from some kinda Ednancy type thing - pieces

She chews on her thumbnail as she watches Eddie on that stage, practically setting the atmosphere on fire with the ferocity of his music. She can barely hear the music or the roar of his voice as it tears through the air, too caught up in her own anxiety. 

Is it healthy? She can’t help but wonder. Is it healthy for him to relive the worst moments of his life— including the very moment that it ended— every night for months on end? Is she watching a scar heal or a wound fester? Is this how he builds himself back up, or is she watching him fall to pieces? Where does she draw the line? How does she tell him:

“I love you, I love you, I swear I love you. But I hate what you’re doing to yourself.”

from some Wayne and Eddie angst - stay

“Damn straight. Ed, that’s what makes you different from your father— your heart. Now, you may be your father’s child— but you’re my boy, you hear? And you’re never turning into your father, not on my watch,” it’s a promise that Wayne makes to not only Eddie, but to himself, his dead sister-in-law, and his dead niece.

Eddie stays silent, jaw tight and eyes screwed shut as he fights back tears. Wayne rests his hand on his nephew’s shoulder and gives it a gentle squeeze.

“You hear me, Ed?” Wayne demands, he needs to know Eddie understands, “you’re my boy.”

from Love in Five Senses - control

Originally, the feeling of a basketball in his hands was a complex one to describe. On one hand, the rough, dotted rubber on his fingertips, followed by the rush of air as he launched it into the hoop, was the best feeling in the world. Those were the moments when he truly felt like the king of Hawkins High. Finally, something he wasn’t just good at, but excelled in with the sort of talent that should have taken him far in life— but recruiters never came to Hawkins, no matter how many times the couch called them. But, that was fine because people loved Steve for his talent and, when he was on the court, he could physically feel the admiration. He held it in the palm of his hand like a prize— and yet it was completely out of his control.  

i forget who all writes because i barely interact with anyone anymore, but I’ll tag @riality-check and @i-lovethatforme for now, only if you want ofc. Words to find in your wip are: hands, power, back, true, and moment

[spagheddiesquash]

hi yes found you on the tall characters post, please tell me about the talls

SO GLAD U ASKED, ANON!!!!! :^D

ok so this is venn. (like the diagram. he is trans and he named himself specifically after it)

like i said before, hes a time traveler!! (like as in thats his job and everything!) he is from the year 2148, which is the Widely Accepted Universal Present Year, or WAUPY for short. (I HAVE A WHOLE TON OF LORE I CAME UP WITH FOR THIS UNIVERSE AND I CAN MAKE A WHOLE POST ABOUT THE WAY TIME TRAVEL WORKS IN IT BUT to put this simply, once time travel was invented, an organization was created to regulate it so it wouldn’t fall into the wrong hands. while creating the regulations, they needed a universal present date, which would mark anything before it as the Past, and anything after it as the Future. That is what the WAUPY is for. To get more specific there is a WAUPD/T which serves the same purpose but it’s the exact Present Date/Time 👍)

anyway again as i said in the tags of that reblog on the tall post, he is 190cm tall, so like 6’2”. he’s 34, his birthday is June 14th (which makes him a gemini i think??) and the comic im planning with him and another oc ill talk about later in this post is about him traveling back to the year 2012, when his time machine breaks and he is now stuck there until he can fix it.

this is joshua, or josh, for short.

he’s from the year 2012 and he works at a video store. (after realizing that video rental stores were starting to really decline even at that time, honestly im considering just changing it to a dvd and cd and video game store or something. id need to find the word for that. unless thats a video store. im kind of dumb sometimes lmao. or maybe it was originally just a rental place for dvds and now they also sell some cds and video games on the side? i dunno. like i said this comic is still being planned, SOME OF THE LORE IS A WORK IN PROGRESS)

anyhoo. of course i said on the aforementioned tall post that he is NOT over 6 feet, hes 175cm or like 5’7”. He’s 23, his birthday is March 22nd (which makes him either a pisces or aquarius i think if i know the zodiac sign dates right.) he’s the one who accidentally breaks venn’s time machine so he offers to let him stay at his place until everything gets figured out.

another thing to note is that they’re both from the same city, just 136 years apart!!

AND AGAIN: if anyone else is curious about anything else related to these 2 ocs, dont be shy, send me an ask!!!!! again, i have SO much lore stuff i can ramble on about.

[alphacmt]

Ever wonder how your work would look like in a more upscale setting? Presented as premium works or accents that exude luxury? I did.

So I tried some art staging. And I learned some things along the way. I always thought I was a minimalist, but when scoping out upscale interior environments I found out quickly my work looks best in lived in, eclectic spaces that effectively used objects to sell a aspirational lifestyle. Which is ironic to say the least, considering my personal ideology and aesthetics.

So for the record, before doing it the hard way I peeped several apps that you could use to stage your work in various home decor spaces. I opted not do that do due to the bait and switch tactics of the apps. They bait you with great photos of spaces, but the switch comes when you find out the "free" side of the apps only have the most basic of set ups. That beautiful living room that they lured you with in the first place? There's a monthly subscription fee for that.

Look, everyone's' personal financial situation is different, but me personally? I'm not trying to hear that.

So we're doing it the hard way. I scour Instagram for modern living spaces that speak to me and I get to work. And with Clip Studio Paint I go all in, adding frames and mattes, shadows, and in some cases adding reflections and adjusting light sources. Admittedly, it can take a little bit of time, but I find the process weirdly cathartic and relaxing.

Doing it the hard way actually turned out to be a good thing. You see, I credit and tag the original interior designers and photographers. And whenever I can, I use Black and People of Color interior designers as inspiration. It's been a great way to break the ice, and every interior designer has loved what I've done with my art remixed in their spaces. Who knows? Future art staging collabs with designers I love and respect? Win win baby!

Anyhoo, here's a few of my favorite art staging works! Enjoy

[daydream-believin]

Douxie moving in with the reader? Even temporary?

full heart, full home

warnings: swearing, makeout, ask to tag?

word count: 2954

a/n: i needed this lmao my real roommates are giving me hell. first paragraph brought to you by the elevator gang

taglist: @moppetwithamanbun @alovesongshewrote @blixeon @prismarts @transformers-insanity @fantasyiswaybetterthanreality @ukuleles-and-roses @rookiedookspam

you tried your best not to show how winded you were at the top of the stairs. in your defense, it was like, a bunch of flights of stairs. you could count them, but i, the narrator, do not exactly know what constitutes as a flight of stairs, nor do i care enough to google it or wtv. is it one stretch of stairs? or both stretches that span a level that count? i don’t know and neither do you. anyhoo, you lived on the third and top floor of this stupid building. the landlord doesn’t believe in elevators. kinda ablest but that’s off track. you made your way over to the front of your door and were finally able to place the heavy box in your arms down. wooo. you’re out of shape. maybe you should focus more on combat training instead of studying spells.

douxie came up beside you, also pretending not to be winded from the stairs. he placed the box in his arms on top of the one you’d brought up. archie came flying in, taking his perch on top of the box tower and looking down at you two wizards who really should climb stairs more often. geez, do some cardio. never mind that archie was technically cheating here with his wings. you met archie’s smug face with a grimace of your own. maybe you and douxie could start running together in the mornings now that you’re living together.

right, you should really open the door instead of having a staring contest with a judgey dragon. the door was pretty shabby looking. three locks, scuffed up, paint coming off, kinda sticky, you have to kick this thing to get it open. it’s... extra secure. yeah.

so! now that you’d finally gotten that door open, it was time to start your tour. archie being the impatient dragon he was, had already flown in and was sniffing around, doing that thing cats do where they make scent map thingys, scratching a bit at the carpet, generally just making himself at home before you and douxie could even make your way through the door. honestly he’s so cute you couldn’t be mad.

you and doux shuffled in with the boxes, placing them back into tower formation in on the shabby living room with its familiar array of stains, some you made yourself (you’re not gettin that deposit back) and some you’ll never know the origin of. douxie looked around, probably noticing the stains, and all the other damage. you tried not to cringe. you may not be able to afford the fanciest joint,,, actually that’s it, end of sentence. you’ve been here for like 2 years it’s not home or anything. it’s not like doux hadn’t been at your place before, you just thought maybe he’d be looking with a more critical eye this time around. he wasn’t. if he was, that would be a bit hypocritical, too, considering he was living in the storage of the bookstore like a rat before this. didn’t stop you from being anxious.

you slipped off your shoes and put them in the basket by the doorway, before turning to address your new housemates.

“OKAY. so. mi casa su casa, of course, since, you know, you’re living here now...” you managed to get out.

“ah, i got one rule, you remember,” you pointed to douxie’s feet, “shoes,”

douxie nodded and complied to your request. you looked over at archie, who was up on his hind legs, snooping through one of the kitchen cabinets.

“oh, and no leaving dead things on the counter if you don’t plan on disinfecting that counter,” douxie raised his brows at your words, “it’s happened before. so i guess i got two rules. no shoes, no bacteria from dead things. other than that, we’re all good.”

“cross my heart,” douxie gestured along with the phrase.

archie returned to the top of the boxes, like, well, a dragon guarding a castle tower, surveying his domain. his tail flicked, making a swoosh swoosh sound against the cardboard. neither of the boxes had labels. they didn’t need to. despite being a really old and eccentric wizard, doux hadn’t really collected many personal items. must be all the traveling he did for merlin’s errands over the years. most important magical objects were stored in the bookstore. everything else douxie owned fit into these two boxes alone.

douxie himself probably would have just stayed in that tiny bookstore like the rest of the magic artifacts gathering dust if you hadn’t stepped in. in truth, you weren’t planning on ever having a boyfriend move in so early in the relationship, but damn you needed to get him out of there. the first time you saw the storage room he called a studio, you made up your mind. douxie was living that bachelor life in what was essentially a coat closet, sleeping on his couch (on the rare occasion he slept), eating nothing but takeout (when he remembered to eat), showering in the building maintenance shower (thankfully this one was a regular everyday thing don’t worry the wizard prides himself on being very clean and free of diseases), etc. may have been none of your business, but you had to put a stop to that.

functioning wizards sleep 8 hours a night and eat food that isn’t packed with sodium. it’s probably gonna take a lot of work to get those eye bags to disappear but hey douxie’s health is worth it. not that you didn’t love scraggly sleepless scarecrow man, but you were gonna fix him dammit. at the very least make him take a nap every now and then.

“fancy a cuppa?” you called as you made your way to the kitchen to put the kettle on.

“that would be perfect, thank you, love.”

let’s be honest you needed tea, if only to calm your nerves. you handed douxie his teacup and you two sat in a comfortable silence on the couch. you enjoyed being able to be quiet with douxie, just enjoy his presence. it was safe and nice. you, felt like you were forgetting something.

you heard a skitter and the jingle of a bell. ah fuck, your cat. mystery solved. pumpkin was a senior, who’s bright orange coat had dulled into a more creamsicle color over the years and become raggedy. his smushed in face made it look like he was constantly scrutinizing the world. he was the reason you had a no leaving dead things on the counter rule. and he didn’t like strangers. the crotchety ball of fluff came around the corner, wide eyes searching. probably smells archie. pumpkin came over to rub on your legs, and also hide in them. poor thing. you gently lifted the frightened senior cat. in his twenties with fragile bones, you were extra careful when you scooped him up to make sure he felt safe. but even then, you were in danger of getting your arms clawed with what was about to come next.

you held the cat towards douxie. you were hoping pumpkin would be fine, since douxie had been over before and left his scent around the place. pumpkin sniffed, but ultimately decided douxie wasn’t worth his time. good.

“see, you know douxie.” your voice soothed.

he’ll warm up to your boyfriend soon enough, and then he’ll be just as clingy to doux as he is to you. douxie held out a palm, and pumpkin rubbed his face into it. yeah, he’ll love douxie. now comes the hard part.

“hey archie, he’s really old, you gotta be extra nice, okay?”

the dragon-cat looked offended you would even imply otherwise. “i can promise you i’ll be on my best behavior.”

pumpkin puffed up into a big bucket of fuzz whenever you lifted him up to eye level with archie. there were those claws, digging into your arms. okay, so maybe this wasn’t the best way to go about cat socializing. you had hoped since archie was reasonable that this wouldn’t be that big of a problem. but you were too busy thinking about it in terms of archie’s comfort that you forgot to factor in that pumpkin was old and grumpy and wasn’t going to take kindly to someone on his turf.

archie started purring, displaying friendly cat body language. pumpkin didn’t drop his suspicions all together, but he at least stopped puffing. good. archie hopped off the boxes onto the ground and chirruped. you held your breath as you placed pumpkin in front of him. by deya’s grace, he didn’t swat archie, and just sniffed. okay.

leaving the little babies to sniff it out (you trust archie), you led douxie into the bedroom so he could start unpacking his boxes. it was weird seeing your bed made. you never make the bed. unless, well, you were expecting a certain someone to spend the night. which means now you’re either going to have to make the bed every day, or you’re gonna have to drop the illusion of you being that put together of a human being. it’s gonna be the latter.

douxie disregarded your carefully assembled representation of responsibility, launching himself onto the bed face down. he rolled over to look at you in a ‘draw me like your french girls’ pose. once you got done laughing at his antics, you had to pretend to be mad.

“doux,”

“what?” he feigned innocence, “just making myself at home.” boy, how you loved his cheshire cat smile. douxie patted the bed beside him.

“no, we’re supposed to be settling you in,” you refused. you couldn’t expect him to take you seriously when you couldn’t wipe the grin off your face. there were many downsides to finding a man who made you laugh.

“hmm,” he pretended to think, finger pressed to his chin, “nah. i believe it’s nap time.”

“douxie, it’s five,”

he proceeded to get under the covers, ignoring you.

“didn’t you say you wanted me to get more sleep,”

“are you sure you don’t just want to cuddle?”

“been a while since i’ve slept in a real bed, we need to break it in.”

“it’s already been broken in,” you rolled your eyes.

nevertheless, you joined him in bed. it was cozy and warm and damn now you’re ready for a nap too. working morning shifts will do that to you. douxie wrapped you up in his arms, nose brushing the top of your hair.

“see, this is what we need,” he murmured.

he tangled your legs together. he was really really warm and comfy. you breathed in his comforting scent, smokey, spicy, like the colder months. sighing against his chest, you could stay like this forever. douxie pulled his hand through your hair. if you were a cat you could purr. being able to feel his breathing, his heartbeat, a steady rhythm, lulled you. it was so relaxing, knowing he was there. you smiled into his chest,

“i can’t wait to fall asleep like this every night.”

“and you will,” he paused, “just not now. we won’t sleep through the night if we nap now.”

you snorted, “but i thought you wanted a na—“

douxie crashed his lips into yours, bumping your noses. he was a little too caught up to account for that. no matter, you melted.

as douxie’s lips danced over yours, he took those hands that were in your hair and pulled at the locks. you moaned into his mouth. just what that sneaky son of a court wizard wanted. he saw his opening and slipped his tongue in. mmmm. he tasted like safety, tenderness, and the sugar he dumped into his tea. as expected of a man named douxie, very very sweet. you tried your best to match his pace, but his tongue gliding across yours was melting your brain.

just a little dumbstruck, lovestruck. you couldn’t be held responsible for the noises coming from your throat. douxie took his hands out of your hair, wrapping around your waist, and pulled you in as close as he could. still not close enough, but that may have been physically impossible to attain.

your heart fluttered in your chest. it was like he knew exactly how to make you stupid with affection for him. was this the honeymoon phase? you cupped your hands around douxie’s handsome face. you were shining with adoration. you gently bit down on his lower lip, tugging on the tender flesh. the moan the action elicited from douxie’s mouth was so delicious, you opened your starry eyes just a half-lid. a red flush painted his gorgeous features.

you were positively delirious at this point, drunk on douxie’s touch. you moved to kiss just under his jaw. he mewled as he pushed his face forward, making it easier for you brush your teeth over the sensitive skin of his neck and shoulders. douxie shivered. yeah, this was what you needed.

you were absolutely going to make sure he was he was properly taken care of now. you were going to make sure he received a generous amount of sleep, healthy food, and all the love he could possibly need.

taking you by surprise, douxie broke away, taking the opportunity to gently flip you onto your back. you waited in dazed anticipation as he hovered over you. he ran his hand down your chest, and kissed your cheek, then the other one, then your nose, and finally pressed back into your own impatient lips. his kisses lingered, even though he hadn’t. he looked down at you, hazel eyes glimmering with lovesickness. you tenderly tucked his fringe behind his ears as he stared you down, as if he could see into your own soul.

“i’ve got to say, i am adoring the view from your apartment. quite a place you’ve got here.” douxie chucked, his deep irish voice hoarse.

“hmm, well, it’s our place now,” you blushed softly, catching on to his compliment.

“it is, isn’t it.” let’s say it again, boy, how you loved his cheshire cat smile.

you stayed there, basking in each other, as the sun faded and the light coming from the bedroom window painted you two golden. your cheeky boyfriend plopped down onto your chest without warning, knocking the wind out of you, but you couldn’t do anything to hide your delight. his head resting over your heart felt so comfortable and soft. combing your fingers through his hair, you rested in that comfortable silence, and watched the dusk fade from the window.

once the darkness fell however, you felt it time to move. you wriggled free, gently pushing douxie off of you, to his disappointment. he looked back up at you with pleading eyes.

“c’mon, dewdrop. we can’t lay in bed all night. we gotta get you unpacked, and you will actually eat dinner tonight i swear to nimue.”

•••

back in the living room, you were greeted by the sight of your cats cuddling up on the couch. turns out pumpkin didn’t take long to warm up to archie after all. that was all you could’ve hoped for. pumpkin didn’t have much longer, maybe having a friend his own species (err, close enough) would be good for him in these last few years. it was nice to see him happy, laying next to archie, purring happy purrs.

as you worked on preparing a meal for you two, douxie clung to you. would have been annoying if you weren’t absolutely craving this, mordrax’s miracles.

after dinner, douxie gathered up the dishes to wash. nothing sexier than a man who does the dishes. you sat cross legged on the couch, pretending to study the spellbook in your hands, peaking a glance at him in the kitchen every now and then. the sink was on the side of the circular counter that was facing out towards the living area. open concept. great for if you’re watching children play, bad for if you’re trying to watch your boyfriend work without being caught staring. which you were. you were caught staring. douxie chuckled to himself fondly as he saw you quickly turn your head away in a flush. he made his way over to the coffee table to collect the tea cups from earlier. at least, that was his pretense.

you tried really hard to ignore him. well he couldn’t have that. he punched his hands into the back of the couch behind you, boxing you in, cool guy kabedon style. you looked up, startled. douxie once again hit you with that dazzling cheeky grin.

“hi~”

it was hard not to feel safe in his presence; so, confidence returning to you, you returned his gesture, placing your hands on his chest.

“hi,” you echoed.

“hmmm, what do you say we break in this couch too.” douxie wiggled his eyebrows.

“hmmm i’d say not in front of my child, please,” you waved your hand to direct his eyes to the sleeping cats beside you.

“bother.”

i have nothing but fondness for him, you thought to yourself as he disentangled himself for your on the couch, dejectedly collecting the tea cups and returning to the sink with a sigh. i love him, a pleasant thought.

you reached over to the cats beside you, giving each an ear scratch. pumpkin looked so comfortable with archie now. douxie was poking his tongue out in concentration at the sink. you were so lucky.

this may have been early in the relationship, but it definitely wasn’t a mistake by a long shot. you were so glad you made the decision to have hisirdoux casperan join your little home and blend your little families. your heart was full, quite like the apartment is now.

[bomberqueen17]

scraping

I spent yesterday doing a scorched-earth rewrite of a scene that hadn’t quite worked, as written. Thanks to @bittylildragon‘s useful feedback, I could see it wasn’t saying what I meant it to. So I did the hard version of editing, where you open a new window and have the original on one screen and the new in another and you copy-paste absolutely nothing, you just type it all over by hand. That’s the only way I can make myself really fix things.

So I did that, for the one scene-- 3k words-- and then the scene after it stood better on its own, another 1500 words, but to round out the chapter I have to wrap it up in another like 1-2k scene and literally nothing in that scene works either, so I have to scorched-earth rewrite it with new reconceptualizations of the logistics.

This is what I get, for trying to sum up a whole complicated backstory in flashbacks. This is exhausting!

It doesn’t help that this is for the Iorveth/Saskia thing, which as a rarepair is getting approximately half the attention of the Roche/Iorveth prequel. (I hope the Roche/Iorveth sequel regains some of the traffic of the prequel despite this interruption, I hadn’t realized how much that was bolstering me. It has been, though, even though I’ve been shit about replying, I love the things people say in their comments and I treasure them and shit has been Bad this summer/fall so it’s been real necessary.) I can’t blame people for not being so interested in rarepair stuff, but to be honest I’d vainly assumed Roche/Iorveth was a rarepair, LOL. And I’ve been spoiled by a lot of people willing to follow where I went, and thought more people would be excited about a threesome with a dragon. But Roche isn’t in it, and I guess people are holding out for that character tag! Well anyway, for those who’ve followed me down that rabbit hole, thanks, the next chapter is going to be an exquisitely-crafted doozy, if not porny, alas (I tried), and then the sequel after that is going to have the Roche/Iorveth dynamic everyone likes. (I’ve written a lot of it ahead while I’ve been stuck. There’s a snowball fight. I promise it’s good too.)

OH but Chapter 2 has a beloved video game character cameo. More than cameo! Buckle up for Eibhear Hattori feeding dumplings to Iorveth, W3 fans!

What about Ciri? y’all might ask, and thank you if you do ask. I’ve been stuck on the chapter after Morvran’s lil breakdown, in which it’s Geralt’s POV and he’s trying to figure out why Voorhis is having such a bad time at this boring dinner party. It’s going slowly but it is going. Once I get over that hump I think I can start to integrate the timeline of Trust-- but the Roche/Iorveth stuff is behind in the timeline so I’ve been doing more updates on that side to try to square them up.

(Pearls is set in like, February, and Peace-Tied was November, so. To get back to Trust, Very Dark Magic is set in like, March. It’s gotten rather complicated.)

Anyhoo that’s the state of the state there.

{oh. I could rewrite it one more time and punch up the complexity between Eibhear and Iorveth though. Iorveth has been a partisan and Eibhear a collaborator, and while each could respect the other as a survivor, surely each is going to resent the other-- Iorveth resenting Eibhear for never fighting, Eibhear resenting Iorveth for raising the level of violence in the conflict. It would be behind them, now, but that underlying tension... listen IDK if I can squeeze any more shit into this story.}

{Shit... now I’m plotbunnied...}