#but also she came back to twitter just as i was finishing my reread and i was like this is a sign

[autumnrory]

nora sakavic has "tsc" in her bio after all the aftg acronyms............bestie if there's another book i will SCREAM

[colonyorats]

So, all credit to my very close friend @silly-boi-broski for reminding me of this song because I need to write a whole entire other post about my relationship with this song and how I kept thinking about it and how well it fits with both my life and probably my favorite book, Hell Followed with Us.

*Deep breath*

I grew up in a very very religious household (I still live in one). My dad's a pastor, my mom works with the youth groups, and I was heavily involved from day one. I was taught to "Love thy neighbour" and that everyone deserved a chance at heaven, that Jesus loves everyone no matter what but at the same time I watched as the very same people would turn around and chase the teen mom out of church or shun the kid who came out as queer and whatever other bullshit things they did.

I remember people at my church saying the most racist and terrible shit ever, like, the kind of things people say on Twitter nowadays but in real life infront of the Pastor and his literal child.

Then, we moved somwhere else and I got sent to a private school up until 5th grade and saw the hate the teachers spread and how a bunch of people bullied this one kid because he was of color and all the rest of us where white and it was so bad that he had to be transferred to a different school the next year because of it but I didn't understand it at the time and he was my best friend so I was so fucking confused.

Same thing happened to a kid in a wheelchair, and, while it wasn't as bad for me, I was, and still kinda am, the fat kid so that made it suck on my part since I heard comments from adults saying things to my mom like "She'd be so much more beautiful if she lost a few more pounds" which, hello??? That's a fucking terrible thing to say about a literal 10 year old child.

That was about the same time I started questioning if any of it was really real and I had a huge drop in my mental health and personally went through hell and back during a bunch of personal stuff I won't get into right now, but involved a lot of questioning my identity and shit and a lot of family drama.

That's when sometime during 2022 my friend (also @silly-boi-broski) suggested me a book called Hell Followed with Us because he was going through some similar stuff. I was skeptical at fist but then I read it and was blown away that someone was writing about similar feelings I had.

The rage and justice I felt while reading it almost broke me because I had grown up in an environment, while not as literally deadly as Benji, was so similar to it that I freaked out and had to put the book down at times. I finally finished it and I felt so seen and understood that I couldn't not want to talk and ramble about it and now I've reread it more times than I can count and everytime it makes me feel so understood.

Fuck, then I remembered the song he sent me and hearing that for the first time made me feel all the same things I did when reading HFWU and it just shocks me.

While I don't align myself with the church in any way, I think I still believe. Kind of like how Faith said it in the book, "I do, actually. And I'm still trying to figure out how I feel about that. Talking to friends--you know, Sadaf is Muslim, Salvador is Catholic, Carly is Jewish--to see if anything clicks. Or if I'm just going to have to deal with believing in the same kind of God those motherfuckers do... I guess what I'm saying is, I believe in something, and I don't know what to do with it, and maybe, I don't actually believe in anything at all, and I just want to because I hate the idea of Trevor being faced with nothing." (-page 55 of the US edition paperback of HFWU)

This is already so long so I'll stop but I still have so much to say about this book and this song but I'll save that for another day.

Here's the song I was talking about btw

[graygiantess]

Thank you for In Hell Together After All, it absolutely crushed me (in a good, painful way). ❤️ It made me wonder what is your history with IWTV/The Vampire Chronicles: how did you become a fan, what caught your attention and what made you want to "stay"?

And also, you probably write a lot of your headcanons into your stories, but do you have any specific headcanons of any of the characters/relationships in the series?

Hey Nonny!

Sorry for the late reply. Covid broke my brain and I can only focus on reading/writing for very short stretches of time.

(I love getting these asks, though, so please no one feel deterred by this, lol!)

I'm so glad you enjoyed In Hell Together After All! And thank you for your ask. 😊

Putting my answer under the break again so as not to clog up people's dash with my novel-length ramblings.

Luce and TVC

I first got into TVC when I was 14, which is almost 21 years ago. My 13yo foster sister and I were completely obsessed with Buffy the Vampire Slayer. 

I was aware that there was a vampire movie with Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt and wanted to see it. I have a much older half-sister and the three of us ended up having a movie night at her house. We watched Interview With the Vampire and The Blair Witch Project.

We were all very 👁👁 throughout the entire movie. Then I bought a boxset of the first four books, foster sister and inhaled the first three books, watched the QotD movie and got very pissed off by how terrible it was. 😂

We were like, "Guess we'll always have the books 🤷‍♀️". I ordered TVA, because QotD had left me completely Armand-obsessed, and started reading Tale of the Body Thief.

I don't remember quite what it was, but Lestat says something at the start of TotBT that my 14yo self just thought was so stupidly retconny that I went, "Yeah, fuck that". I think it was something about how he only ate bad guys and that that was somehow in service of Jesus? Whatever it was, I wasn’t having it, so I put it down and never picked it back up. 😂

Then in my late teens/early twenties I followed Anne Rice on Facebook for a while, but I got kinda creeped out when she started addressing everyone with 'dearest People of the Page'. I distinctly remember thinking, "Lady, I'm here for gay vampire reasons, not to be in a cult". 😅 So I unfollowed her and spent about a decade not thinking about TVC very much at all.

AND THEN in early summer of 2022 the YouTube algorithm informed me that AMC was making an IWTV show. I reread IWTV and in October thought, "Let’s give this a go."

I had my reservations because I still remembered my teenage rage at the QotD movie, and I wasn't sure how I felt about them changing the time period and casting 'some old guy' as Daniel (sorry Eric! 🙈).

BUT THEN Jacob came on all, "Dear Mr. Molloy, did you know you can orgasm just from hearing a man's voice? Wanna finish what we started half a century ago?" and my head just about exploded!

This is the second interview?! They’re revisiting it 49 years later?! OMGGG, that's the most genius storytelling move in the history of storytelling! 😱

I watched ep2 right after and then desperately needed to yell about the show with other sickos. So I joined Twitter and started reading fic again (which I'd only really done when I was 17 and obsessed with that wizard school franchise), started writing fic, joined fic-themed group chats/Discords and made a Tumblr so I could (lovingly) yell at other fic writers.

And now I've published over 150k words in fic and there's IWTV fan art all over my house. 😂

So it was really the show that made me come back to stay. It's just thee best TV show of all time to me.

And as much as this fandom can be a shit show, it's really helped me stay sane while grappling with my long covid, which has left me very incapacitated in many other areas of my life.

Luce's headcanons

Asking me for my headcanons has the same effect as asking me for my favorite movies or songs in that it immediately makes me forget any headcanons I ever had. 😂

You're right that I write a lot of them into my fics, which are mainly me exploring my headcanons and asking myself what if...? I have a couple others, though I'm not sure these are really headcanons or more actual theories, though, so I apologize if this wasn't what you were looking for.

- I've mentioned this one before, but Louis and Lestat had a grand old time during their honeymoon phase between Louis getting turned and Louis almost eating Grace's baby. I think people tend to make too big a deal out of Louis being an unreliable narrator but it's a little too convenient how quickly he skips over those 6-7 years. I think he doesn’t like to think about how much fun he had with Lestat just having all the sex, getting super rich and eating whoever the fuck he wanted.

- Daniel isn’t going to give a single fuck about the ethics of killing people in order to survive once he finally becomes a vampire. We already know he’s selfish and a hypocrite. I can just see him fully ready to view all humans as savory inferiors once he’s no longer one of them.

- If show!Daniel ever met Marius, he would punch him in the face. 🤭

- Santiago is going to be SO jealous of Louis's relationship with Armand. I don't care if Santiago and Armand end up having zero homoerotic tension between them on screen, they're fucking to me.

- I'm also a Claudeline truther. Show!Claudia doesn’t need a parental figure the way book!Claudia does but she very much yearns for romantic love, and she did say Charlie was the last boy she'd ever love, and went after the woman when Lestat asked her if she wanted the Mr. or the Mrs. in ep7.

Kudos to anyone who made it all the way to the end of this answer! Your prize is getting to choose if I share:

A) A silly anecdote about that movie night I had with my sisters.

B) A shocking fact that might get me cancelled as an Armandaniel fic writer. 👀

(Though tbh, if you pick B, I'll probably still give you A for free.)

[sapphicscholar]

Giving myself a slow start to this rainy morning and decided to accept the “anyone who wants to do it” invite from @chainofclovers for a nice end of 2022 meme

3 ships: Ava/Deborah (duh, but also currently writing three WIPs for them + running a Hacks fic event, so they’ve taken over in a major way haha); Ana/Mariana (I just finished S3 a couple days ago and really need fic to flesh out Mariana’s interior life in the final season in particular bc I can understand why she did some things she did, but we definitely weren’t shown why); and let’s go with the old favorite Supercat standby 

First ever ship: first ship I read fic for was Willow/Tara (came to btvs and fandom late), but first ship where I was watching a show live and actively hoping for them to get together was definitely Rizzles (#dontmakequeerbaitliketheyusedto)

Last song: huh probably whatever was playing at the climbing gym yesterday... but I’ve got Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust playing on CD in the car so realistically something from there

Currently reading: Sally Bellerose’s Fishwives (though I’ve had to pop a bookmark in it to focus on rereading a few 19th C. novels I’ll be teaching in my upper-level lit seminar this semester) 

Last movie: Finally watched Glass Onion last night, and it was a delight! Not my usual genre, but very fun!

Currently consuming: Assuming this is about food, nibbling at some salted caramel chocolate I got for Christmas (yes, it is 10am, shh I’m stressed about everything I have to do for the semester which is precisely why I’m on tumblr) 

Currently watching: Just caught up on some TV during break (Wednesday, the new season of MSHD) but still need to find time to catch up on this most recent season of TLW: Gen Q and to watch the final couple episodes of Dead to Me (someone on Twitter spoiled the ending the DAY the new season dropped, so I’ve been dragging my feet a little bc now my wife doesn’t want to watch it). Oh and So Help Me Todd and Abbott Elementary come back soon! 

Currently craving: Hot cocoa, which I’m trying to wait to have as a reward for finishing and publishing my course canvas page later today

--

Likewise tagging anyone who wants to participate! I’ve been pretty mia from tumblr of later, so I’ll refrain from tagging specific people in case you’ve all already done it!

[dairy-farmer]

Hi, I came from ao3 recently, and I have 2 things I want to ask about. 1. have you thought of putting some of your asks on ao3?

2. I have my own little au I want to present; a/b/o feral tim au, aka bimbofication but make it wrong-wolf-porn-animalistic-ish.

I just like the thought of this highly intelligent person, succumbing to their bare basic needs, feelings and instincts. For one reason or another, Tim has been mentally pushed too far. His needs have been suppressed for too long, and now his subconscious has come hitting back with a vengeance.

Humans are not lone beings, they are social, they are pack animals. Therefore while rare, it is not too uncommon for some people to become feral, one in a million. It is a badly researched scientific phenomena, and the general treatment is to just handle them as animals. Put them in a zoo or a sanctuary, or if they are too aggressive or unadaptable, put them in a cage. At this point there are too mant social disadvantages to further research them, and the blame usually is laid on their weaker genetics.

"Oh I always knew there was something wrong with them" their friends and family would gossip, as the little taboo topic they would occasionally bring up whenever they were bored.

But the truth is that it's just a very old deeply buried instinct that existed to protect the mind, they could come back out of it with just a little bit of care. Everyone has it, it could have happened to anyone.

To Tim it happened after finally proving Bruce was alive, the moment he had accepted his death at Ra's hands. Maybe if he ever becomes lucid again, he would realise that he does not remember his fall correctly, the memory is more primal, filled with confusion and fear. As if he lacked the understanding of what had just happened to him

hi!! i have thought about that but also wanted to include some of my longer twitter threads/au's so i'm currently trying to compile a nicely organized masterlist that i will pin when finished, that way people will be able to peruse through all my tumblr asks and twitter thread fics and the organization of it will be much easier to organize and allow ppl to find what they want. on ao3 i can really only just add more chapters and i don't want people to have to flip through multiple chapters just to find and be able to reread one specific thing- to me that's my biggest grievance with posting tumblr/twitter things on a single ao3 fic.

and a FERAL A/B/O au!!!!!!!!!!!!! oh i cannot even express how much i love a/bo/o fics that tap into a more animalistic kind of origin. i have an more animalistic a/b/o fic on the backburner but i'm fascinated by your au!!!

a wolf/more animal part of them existing in the hindbrain and taking over. they're like cornered animals, their cortisol and stress levels are through the roof. and tim, finally reaching his breaking point when he accepts death and letting this animal take charge. he's like an abused animal, every person who turned is because they finally reached their point where it was just. too. much. and this was a last ditch effort by their bodies to protect themselves.

dick catching tim before he hits concrete and being relieved but then nearly dropping tim when he feels teeth dig into the meat of his arm where tim is biting him. him dropping tim on the roof where he starts growling at him, a bit of saliva dripping out of his mouth. his hackles are raised and dread fills dick as he knows what this is.

he's never seen it before, only heard stories and read stuff about it. when dick was in highschool there was a news story about a young woman in new york who didn't show up to work for a month and when the police check on her home where she lived alone they found her half starving and feral. neighbors had reported hearing strange noises but never made a fuss about it.

bruce had never mentioned anything to him, only went over it in a very vague way. just another unlikely thing to happen to be ready for in a very long list of things.

but now dick is on a roof. with his little brother who he hasn't seen in a year. he doesn't smell like pack. like his little brother who smells so sweet with just a hint of tartness like the rind of a particularly juicy orange.

tim smells of sourness as he he growls in a register too low to be possible while staring at dick through the whites of his shattered lenses.

just tim being feral after everything he's gone through and they all have to work to get him back and it's hard at first he snaps at them. tries to bite them if they come close. then bruce returns and it's like...180 shift.

it's clear tim likes bruce much better than them the way he calms down and practically wags his tail as bruce comes close and strokes his head. dick feels a little hurt, he'd admit that. it took weeks for tim to stop snapping at him. he still eyed dick warily but at least now dick could get close enough to offer tim water and some food.

tim curls on bruce's lap, nuzzling him and even licking his cheek like he's a dog and something...strange swirls in dick's gut at the sight.

they have tim in onesies like he's a baby but it's the easiest kind of clothing they can get him in because he fights in shirts and pants.

tim makes a cute sight sometimes. the way he curls up in front of a fire place to get warm, stretching out his lithe body and wincing when he jostles and injury.

bruce needs to hand feed him medications for his missing spleen. bruce is the only one who can do it. with anyone else tim will draw blood.

tim!!!! just!!!! being!!!! very much!!! an animal!!!! and when he has his heat while like that he just rolls around and whines his discomfort. he'll press and rub against anyone looking for relief while looking up at them with desperate eyes as he presents for them and it just!!!! does!!! something!!! to them!!!

i love a nice feral a/bo/o au i LOVE them!!!!!!!!!

[libertyreads]

October TBR--

That's right! October is the month we will be moving into our house. Hopefully. As long we close on Friday the 13th. Yeah, I KNOW. What a weird month October is going to be. Besides all of the packing (and moving and unpacking), I will attempt to read 5 books--7 if I can swing it but let's not go for too much all at once here. Weirdly, 3 of the 5 are rereads so I'm hoping that's just setting me up for success. The books:

The Damned by Renee Ahdieh--This will be a reread for me since the last book in the quartet comes out later this year. I haven't been loving this series but I think I'm invested enough to see where the story goes. This is book two so I don't think I can really dive into the synopsis too much. Book one takes places in 1800s New Orleans and we follow Celine who has just gotten off a boat from France as she somehow gets all tangled up with La Cour des Lions and all of their seedy doings while a murderer is on the loose. Vampires, New Orleans, 1800s. Book two basically takes off from where book one leaves us.

The Luminaries by Susan Dennard--This book is the reread I'm looking forward to the most. It is also perfect for Fall. I'm hoping for a great rainy day to just settle in and knock out as much of this one as possible. The seed for the story came from a choose your own adventure that the author ran on Twitter at one point in time. I had no clue about any of that while going into this one originally. Let me grab the two sentences off of GoodReads that made me preorder this one immediately: "Hemlock Falls isn't like other towns. You won't find it on a map, your phone won't work here, and the forest outside town might just kill you." Creepy forest, monsters, a town of monster hunters trying to keep it all secret, and dark family histories? Just shut up and let me read this book (again).

Cytonic by Brandon Sanderson--This is the reread that I'm the least excited about. This is the author's take at YA Sci-Fi. In book one, we follow a girl who wants to go to pilot school and follow in her father's footsteps, but the government doesn't want to let a coward's daughter in. In book two, the world gets expanded. In the two novellas that come between books two and three, we see what's happening back on the planet at the same time the things in book two happened. This is the third book. In my opinion, the weirdest book. I don't really like it. I can't remember what I rated it originally, but I'm positive if I read it for the first time now I would rate it lower. But I am also planning on finishing this series when the next book comes out so I'm going to reread the entire series first.

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman--Finally a book that isn't going to be a reread for me. I'm not certain what I'm going to be walking into with this one. GoodReads has it marked as YA but also Middle Grade; Fantasy, Horror, Paranormal. It seems that we'll be following a boy who lives in a graveyard, being raised and educated by ghosts. There are dangers and adventures in the graveyard for this boy but the most dangerous thing for him exists in the land of the living where a man who has already killed his family lives. This is probably the book that exemplifies Halloween the most from my entire physical TBR. Let's do it.

The Cliff House by Chris Brookmyre (NetGalley)-- This will probably be my first read for the month just to make sure I can get it read before the book gets archived. Synopsis: A hen weekend on a private island with the bride-to-be, a pop diva and an estranged ex-bandmate, a tennis pro, a fashion guru, an embittered ex-sister-in-law, and a mouthy future-sister-in-law leads to chaos when one of them is kidnapped and threatened to be killed unless someone confesses her terrible secret to the others. Mysteries in October? Groundbreaking.

[maverickmongrel]

I've been rereading warrior cats and I finished TNP a bit ago but I wanted to slap this down here before my twitter feed loses the thread forever

I don't ever see this get brought up in conversations about Brambleclaw but... Brambleclaw did not trust Hawkfrost for the first half of TNP. He only starts defending him in Starlight and it's only when Squirrelflight says she doesn't trust him.

In fact it's almost an immediate switch that happens within a few pages.

((Photo Caption: ...yet Brambleclaw struggled to feel any kinship or loyalty to the RiverClan warrior. He was too quick to order other cats around, too openly hungry for power in his Clan, and he made Brambleclaw ask himself questions about their shares inheritance that he would have preferred to ignore. Such as, where did Hawkfrost's ambition come from? Did he share Tigerstar's hunger for power at any cost? And if he had inherited this from their father, what did that mean for Brambleclaw?))

This scene is when the patrol is coming back from exploring around the lake. Brambleclaw then goes on to describe the territories to all the Clans and afterwards Hawkfrost approaches him and Brambleclaw is expecting confrontation. Again, because he doesn't trust Hawkfrost.

((Photo Caption: He winced as Hawkfrost came over to meet him and braced himself for a hostile comment, perhaps a challenge about where the new boundaries should be.

To his surprise, there was a friendly gleam in the RiverClan warrior's blue eyes.

"Thanks for finding the new territories, Brambleclaw," he meowed. "I'm almost sorry we'll be going our seperate ways now. I'd have liked to hunt with you."

Brambleclaw blinked. Warriors of different Clans could not hunt together - but that wasn't the real reason Hawkfrost's suggestion startled him. Did the RiverClan warrior feel something like kinship with him?))

Squirrelflight then comes in to break up the conversation and it's here we see a very sudden switch.

((Photo Caption: "Why are you talking to him?" Squirrelflight demanded crossly when Hawkfrost was out of earshot. "You know he can't be trusted."

"I don't know anything of the kind," Brambleclaw retorted.

Squirrelflight snorted. "Yeah, right. That cat has too much ambition for his own good."

Brambleclaw felt his neck fur start to rise. "Really?"

"He wishes Mistyfoot had never come back, so that he could still be deputy. I've heard him arguing with her more than once."))

Despite Brambleclaw having these exact same thoughts just moments ago, he feels defensive and hostile when Squirrelflight voices them. He later goes on to claim that he has a kinship with Hawkfrost despite saying the exact opposite moments before.

((Photo Caption: Brambleclaw narrowed his eyes. "So you don't have anything against Hawkfrost except for what Leafpaw feels about him? Because she's your sister, right? Well, Hawkfrost is my brother."

"Are you telling me you feel loyal to him because of that?" Squirrelflight exclaimed. "But you hardly know him!"

"Neither do you. But you think you know him well enough to say he can't be trusted." Brambleclaw unsheathed his claws and let them sink into the fallen leaves. "Or are you accusing him because of who his father was?"

Squirrelflight's green eyes stretched wide. "If that's what you think, then you don't know me at all!" she hissed.))

Brambleclaw says that he is uncomfortable with Hawkfrost's blatant aggression and ambition and is insecure over the possibility that Hawkfrost inherited those traits from their shared father, Tigerstar. So when Squirrelflight voices her own distrust and he turns to defend Hawkfrost it feels a lot less like Brambleclaw truly and honestly believes Hawkfrost is a good guy and lot more like him believing that if Hawkfrost is a bad guy, it might mean Brambleclaw is also a bad guy. He would rather defend Hawkfrost's honor than confront his insecurities that he and Hawkfrost have inherited "evil" from their father.

He would rather lose his relationship with Squirrelflight than confront his own insecurities. Insecurities that have manifested into Hawkfrost. And now Brambleclaw is putting his self-worth in whether or not Hawkfrost is evil rather than recognizing they are seperate cats with seperate moral codes just as he and Tigerstar are seperate cats with seperate moral codes.

[strawberrymilkgeorge]

Part Ten. Faces

warnings: swearing, hate comments word count: 4.1k (not including pics)

behind the screen (irl dream x f!reader) series masterlist ultimate masterlist

A/N: sorry its late!!!! this feels rushed but i was just too excited to get to some parts!!! also i have had some parts written out for SO long that they dont even feel cute to me anymore so im literally praying to every deity rn that you guys think its cute lmao anyway enjoy!!!!

**********

It had been about a week since Karl's slip up but everything was already more normal than Y/n had expected it to be. Of course, George, Sapnap and Quackity were all very understanding and gave her space while simultaneously reassuring her that she was safe with them. She fully believed it too, she knew she was safe with them and they weren't going to tell anyone her name.

The one unusual thing was now she had a heavy guilt, like someone dropped another sandbag in her stomach, every time Dream texted her. If the others knew, it was only fair that she tell him her name too, right? I mean, it's Dream. Dream! The boy who had quickly slipped his way into her life and, though she wouldn't admit it to Karl or Naomi, her heart.

But how? Does she just come right out and say it or wait until it gets brought up? She hadn't practiced telling anyone her name because she wasn't planning on doing it any time soon. Though, maybe she should have been seeing as she was going to see them all in person in a little over a month.

Regardless of the guilt, Y/n had other things to worry about today; Quackity was coming to visit. Karl had picked him up from the airport and the two of them spent all day catching up and doing who knows what but Y/n still hadn't met him. She was scared. She wasn't scared of Quackity, but scared because it was the first time one of her online friends would be able to put a face to her name and voice.

Y/n shuffled across her living room rug and reached for her phone on the coffee table, looking for some sort of distraction while she waited for them to arrive.

-

Y/n rolled her eyes but smiled, shaking her head as she threw her phone on the couch. Okay, he's right. It's gonna be fine. It's gonna be great. It's just Quackity. If he said anything rude or annoying or anything she could literally just step on him like a bug.

A sharp knock on the front door of her apartment snapped her back into reality. She shook her limbs of nervousness as she made her way to the door, two familiar voices begging to be acknowledged from the other side.

"Let us iiinnn!! Y/nnn!!!!" Karl whined.

After countless times asking the same question, she finally convinced Karl that she was okay with him using her real name in front of Quackity. He clearly still felt guilty about telling the boys her name, asking her multiple times in different ways whether he should call her Y/n or Bugsy in front of the guest. She finally got it through his head that she didn't mind either way.

"Hold on!" she yelled back. She unlocked the door and swung it open to see Karl and Quackity. "So impatient."

"Holy shit, you are tall! Goddammit, I thought that was a joke!"

Y/n laughed shyly at the greeting, looking at Quackity like he was crazy. "Hello to you too. Tried to warn you, dude."

"Yeah but, damn! You're tall and attractive, what the hell?"

"Dude," she said with a warning in her voice. She thought the flirting on Twitter was funny, but in real life she got embarrassed easier and wasn't a fan. "I'm about to kick you out of my house before I even let you in."

This was weird, meeting Quackity before meeting some of her other friends. She loved Quackity, but she had known George much longer and Sapnap even before that. There was no problem with meeting Quackity, she just had no idea how to act since she felt like she hardly knew him.

"Am I allowed to tell people that you're hot?" he asked as he fell on her couch, Karl following right after.

"Quackity!" Y/n yelled, her face heating up at a compliment. "Seriously?"

Karl cackled and shoved Quackity. "Shut up, Alex! No, you're not allowed!"

"Sorry, is that compliment reserved for Dream?" He cackled at his own joke and Y/n's face heated up even more.

"I seriously will kick you out of my house."

"You wanna be flirty on main but not in real life?" Quackity scoffed.

"I'm not flirty on main, you are!" she laughed. "Seriously, don't."

"Okay, sorry, I'll stop," Quackity promised with a laugh in his words.

The three of them fell into easy conversation, mostly because Karl and Quackity were already comfortable around each other at this point. They eventually decided to go to the mall, just to mess around and do something.

*reminder: covid doesn't exist in this fic bc we only want happy things so ignore their masks :P*

Y/n frowned as she unlocked her front door, staring at her phone. She had been so happy with all the fans freaking out about the meetup so she looked at the trending list, expecting to see a flood of keyboard smashes and happiness, but that's not all she ended up seeing. BUGKARLITY was trending, so she scrolled through the tweets and was upset to see not all of them were positive. In fact, when she typed her name in the search bar, lots of the tweets using her name were rather mean.

A few that stuck in her head called her an attention whore and said that her friends only flirted with her because she paid them too. Who on earth would even do that? Some hurt way more than others but she tried to push them aside. It wasn't like this was the first time she had seen comments like this, but they had only gotten worse since her Minecraft date with Dream. She was worried it was cause more hate for her friends and the last thing she wanted was to be the cause of their own hate.

She typed several different messages to Dream, deleting them all after she reread them. She felt like she had to request the same thing from him in a different way. Maybe because she felt like his words meant more, even if he really was just joking like the rest of them. She decided to call him instead of texting.

"Hi!" he chirped happily from the other end.

"Hi, Dream," she said as her chest filled with something warm at the sound of his voice. "How are you doing?"

"Good," he dragged out the word. "How are you?"

"Okay."

"Just okay? What's up?"

"Um," she started, immediately forgetting the words she decided she'd use. "I just... would you mind, uh, not flirting with me so much on, like, Twitter and streams and stuff like that?"

There was a silence before Dream's frantically apologetic words came through. "Yes, of course, oh my gosh. I'm so sorry. If I had known I was making you uncomfortable, I wouldn't have—"

"Wait, no," she interrupted but he must not have heard.

"—said things like... oh gosh. Bug, I'm really sorry—"

"Dream!" she raised her voice, getting him to stop ranting. "You don't make me uncomfortable."

"Oh. Really?"

"Of course not. I actually think it's really..." Cute? Adorable? Endearing? "funny," she decided.

"Oh. Then why...?"

She sighed heavily and explained what she told the others. "So, yeah. I just don't want you guys getting hate because of me so I figure if you stop then... you know."

"Bug..." he said gently. "I'm really sorry. I promise you that I don't—none of us think those things about you."

"I know."

"No, seriously," he said, clearly not believing her. "You need to understand that I..." he paused. "I mean what I say. Always."

Always? she thought. There's a few things he's said that certainly he didn't really mean... like calling her cute?

"I don't joke around like that unless I want to. I wouldn't say things like I say to you unless I really, really, genuinely considered you a close friend and felt comfortable around you. And I do."

Her heart swelled. "Thanks, Dream. I just... maybe don't do it so much for right now? Online, at least," she clarified, not wanting to deprive herself completely of Dream's flirting.

"Yeah, if that's what you want, of course."

"Well, I don't want you to stop flirting with me but, yeah."

He chuckled. "Oh, you do like when I flirt with you?"

She hummed and changed the subject. "Did I interrupt you doing anything?"

"No," his teasing voice dropped and was back to his regular self. "I'm just editing the video we filmed the other day."

"Oh, the 'Minecraft, but you can't touch the floor'?" she asked.

"Yeah."

"Oh," she said, not meaning to sound disappointed. "I'll let you get back to it—"

"No. I mean, you can stay on the phone. Unless you're busy."

She smiled and put her phone on speaker and set it next to her foot on the floor. "I was just gonna paint. So I can stay."

Before she knew it, almost two hours had passed of them sitting in comfortable silence, occasionally speaking to share something with the other before going back to their tasks. It was comforting knowing she didn’t need to speak constantly and could just hang out with Dream.

Y/n's phone rested on the floor next to her, Dream on speakerphone on the other end, only the sounds of his keyboard clicking letting her know he hadn't fallen asleep or hung up. She wasn't sure when they started doing this, staying on the phone even when they had nothing to talk about, but they had done it a few times before. They had talked on the phone and Discord many times but it was usually always with purpose, not usually this silently-enjoying-each-others-presence nonsense. Who was she kidding calling it nonsense, she enjoyed it an embarrassingly insane amount.

She repositioned so she was laying on her stomach as she finished sketching an image that was in her mind.

"Hey, you still there?" Dream asked softly.

"Yeah. Sorry, am I taking away from your sitting in silence time with George?" she joked.

Dream chuckled lightly. "Nah, you're more fun. I was just seeing if you ditched me for Karl yet."

"Nah, you're more fun," she mimed truthfully. "But I'm very focused on this drawing."

"Can I see it when you're done?"

"Don't expect too much. It looks bad."

"If you don't tell me what it is, I can't know how accurate or inaccurate it is."

"Very true..." she trailed off, holding the canvas further away to examine it all at once. She wanted the sketch to be perfect before she made permanent choices with paint. She enjoyed the serenity they maintained even when talking, voices low and delicate like they were keeping secrets but not quite whispering. "Are you almost done editing your video from the other day?"

"Sorta. I'm at the part where you and Sapnap almost died laughing because a ghast knocked George into lava and then Sapnap laughed so hard he fell into lava."

She chuckled, remembering the situation vividly. "That was so funny. The way George screams is so funny."

"Let Naomi know that," he mumbled, causing Y/n to gasp.

"Dream!" she laughed loudly and he joined.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry. It's true though."

"Disgusting!"

A distant voice sounded on the other end and she assumed it was Sapnap. "What do you want for dinner?"

Dream responded with a soft, "Nothing, I'm good."

"Are you talking to Bugsy?"

He must have responded physically because the next sound was Sapnap's very clear, much more lively voice speaking directly into the phone. "Hi, Bugsy!"

"Hi, Sapnap!"

"Can you tell Dream to eat some damn food? This man literally hasn't eaten a single thing all goddamn day."

"Dream," Y/n scolded slowly. "Please eat."

"I'm not hungry."

"I'm not showing you my painting until you eat."

A door closed on the other end and she took that as a sign that Sapnap had left.

"I don't wanna see it anyway. It's probably trash."

"Take that back!" she gasped lightly. She looked at the canvas as she grabbed the first paint color and laughed. It was only a sketch and it was already trash. "Fine, then I won't go on the trip if you don't eat in the next ten minutes."

"That's punishing yourself too though."

"Who says I want to see you?" she asked.

"I never said anything about not seeing me being the punishment."

She had been caught. "It was implied."

"Sure it was."

"It's true though. Who says I wanna see your stupid face?"

He didn't say anything, but an incoming FaceTime call lit up Y/n's phone. A FaceTime call from him.

Her smile dropped. "Clay?"

"Answer it," his voice was lower and her heart started beating faster. Was he really about to show her his face to prove a point? Reveal his biggest secret that only a few close friends knew? To her of all people? She made sure she couldn't be seen in the small window and pressed accept, the voice call ending and the FaceTime call starting.

To her surprise, what came into view wasn't his face, but the logo of the hoodie he was wearing, the simple smile of his merch taunting her. She laughed, the anxiety slowly fading away as it was replaced with a heavy feeling in her stomach. Was she disappointed? Maybe a little, but he teased her into believing she would see him.

"Oh, wow! Dream face reveal! He looks just like his icon, no way!!!"

His chest moved up and down as he laughed, not moving the camera away. "You heard it here first, guys! You've known my face all along, the logo is actually my face!"

She laughed and returned to painting, not paying any more attention to her phone since he was now also showing his ceiling, a small corner of his monitor in frame but nothing else. "I mean it though, if you don't eat, I'm going to be so mad I won't even want to be friends anymore. Or you'll die from malnourishment before we get the chance to meet."

"I doubt it. I'm just not hungry."

"Whatever."

"Oh, hey, so you met Quackity today. How was it?"

"Very scary."

"Yeah?" he asked sympathetically, urging her to explain if she wanted.

"Yeah. But it turned out okay! He didn't act any different so it was fine. It was mostly just awkward. He's also so freaking loud. You would not believe how much louder he and Karl get when they're together."

"I can imagine. Aren't they doing a stream right now or something?"

"Yeah, I think so. I don't wanna watch though, I've had enough of them for the month."

Dream laughed. "How will you deal with them together for New Years'? It'll be for like two weeks."

"Who knows if I'll actually go?"

"Wait, what?" he asked abruptly, not even bothering to hide the disappointment in his voice. His keyboard stopped clicking and she could picture him staring at his phone as if looking at her. "Of course you're going."

"Not if you don't eat food! You have, like, 3 minutes to eat something until I officially am busy doing other things whenever the trip is."

Dream groaned and clicked a few things on his computer before the image on the screen became blurry as he walked through the house, still pointing it at the ceiling. She looked away again and kept painting.

"Quackity's really funny though," she continued. "It was super awkward at first but it was fun to have someone else to help me make fun of Karl."

"Wait, Bug," Dream called out over the sound of wrappers crinkling.

"Hm?" She hummed, continuing to paint.

"Bug," his voice was much softer and he sounded nervous.

She looked at her screen and dropped the paintbrush as she focused on what she saw, grabbing her phone and holding it closer to her face so she could see, still making sure she wasn't in view. All the anxiety from the beginning of the FaceTime suddenly came back and hit her like a truck. Sitting on her screen, waiting to be seen, was Dream. His hood was up, tufts of blonde hair sticking out, and he was standing with his back towards a dark room, the dim light from his pantry making his face just visible.

He held up a cookie in front of his actual, real face. "Are you watching?"

"Y-yea... I... Yeah. I'm watching. Is that really you?"

He nodded once before shoving the cookie in his mouth. "There, I consumed food," he announced, his voice muffled by the cookie. "Now you're legally obligated to come."

"I—What? CLAY! WHAT?"

"What?" he asked innocently as he chewed, walking back to his room and still holding the phone up to show his face. His room light was on, making his face much more visible. If Y/n thought he was attractive in the harsh pantry light, he must have looked like a god in his room lighting, even as pixelated as he was due to the quality of FaceTime. He fell on his bed and Y/n could only gape at his features. He slumped against his headboard, surrounded by roughly a thousand pillows, sporting a small, shy smile as he stared at the screen. "Bug, what?"

She opened her mouth but no words came out. Needless to say, he was unbelievably handsome. Part of the speechlessness was from the shock that he showed his face out of the blue, but obviously, the majority of it was that he was pretty much the most attractive person she'd ever seen. It should be illegal for someone to look that good in a hoodie, especially when pixelated.

"Hmm," he hummed thoughtfully. "Wanna take back what you said earlier?" He bit into another cookie.

"W-what did I say earlier?" Why was she stuttering???

"You said you don't wanna see me and that I'm ugly," he teased.

She paused for too many seconds too long before finally muttering, "you arrogant son of a bitch." He laughed loudly at that.

His eyes crinkled and he threw his head back. So that's what he looks like when he wheezes, she thought to herself, pretty.

Dream shuffled his position on his bed and rested his head on one of his hands. He looked so comfy. "Why are you so quiet, weirdo?" he mumbled.

She set her phone back down and touched her cheeks with her hands and looked away for a moment, grounding herself to the real world for a second. She couldn't process her thoughts when she was staring at a man as gorgeous as Clay. "I don't know, maybe because you gave me no warning before showing me your face? Or because you failed to mention that you're incredibly hot?"

She was so glad she had looked back at her phone or else she would have missed the glorious sight of his cheeks turning bright red before he turned the camera back to his ceiling. "Oh my gosh."

"Aw cute, I made you blush."

"Shut up," he mumbled. "You threatened to not come if I didn't eat something!"

"You didn't have to—you showed me your freaking face just to prove you ate a cookie!! DREAM! I would have believed you if you just said you ate something!" she laughed breathlessly, staring at the phone now for a chance to see him again. "I was joking anyway!"

"Sure you were."

"I was."

"Well, oh well. You deserved to see me anyway."

"Oh, I deserve to see you?" She laughed. "How big is your ego?"

"You know what I meant," he groaned. "You got doxxed by Karl and you met Quackity in person. And you've clearly had a bad day because of all the hate and stuff. You've done a lot of stressful things recently and you deserved to be let in on a secret too."

He was so sweet. Like, tooth-rotting, Halloween candy stash hidden under a kid's bed, upset tummy sweet. She also couldn't get over the fact that he was a million times cuter when he was shy like he was being now, his voice soft and unsure. It contrasted vastly with the confident, loud-mouthed Dream everyone usually saw, though she liked that Dream too. She wished he could show his face for just one more second to see what he looked like shy. Probably sickeningly adorable.

This was it, wasn't it? The chance she had been waiting for to tell him her name? He just let her in on his biggest secret, now he was the one deserving to be let in.

"Y/n," she said with a confident, but soft voice.

There was a long pause. "W-what?"

"Y/n."

He understood the second time immediately. "Y/n..." he tested, the smile in his voice clear as day. "I like it."

"Yeah, well, I guess you deserved to know the secret too."

"I would have been content never knowing."

"Really?" She didn't believe him. He seemed like the type to never be satisfied, always looking for something better. Not in a greedy way, but in a motivational, goal-oriented big achiever way.

"Really," he hummed. "I already feel like you're too good to be true so I wouldn't be surprised if you weren't a real person."

It was silent as she tried to collect her thoughts.

"Bug? You okay?"

"Yeah, I... it's just a lot."

"Sorry."

"No, it's not you. Well... I don't know. I just don't know what I'm supposed to say when you say things like that," she admitted.

He paused. "I think you always have the perfect responses when I say things like that."

"What do I usually say?" She smiled shyly, pulling her hoodie up to her lips.

"You usually call me a nerd or say you can't stand me. 'Oh my gosh I cannot stand you'," he mimicked before laughing.

"What? How is that the perfect response to you saying you can't believe I'm real?"

He hummed and she could practically hear him shrugging. "Because it's a classic Bug response. It's a hundred perfect you. So yeah, it's perfect."

She was silent, trying to compose herself before she exploded.

"By the way, check Twitter."

"Why, are you bragging about me calling you hot?" she teased, hoping to make him blush like she had earlier. It worked.

"Oh my gosh, no. Just look."

She clicked her home button and navigated to the app, her feed instantly flooding with the same similar messages.

"Oh, my gosh," she muttered, her fingers flying away as she typed out her own tweet in response to the love.

Dream chuckled from the other end and when she asked him why, he vaguely said that George texted him but didn't explain further.

"Um, I have to go," she said mournfully. "Karl and Quackity are coming over again."

"Booooo," he pouted.

"Sorry, you aren't the only man in my life," she teased before instantly regretting her choice of words. Too flirty, Y/n, she thought to herself.

"Hm, shame. Am I at least at the top of the list?"

She bit her lips, wanting desperately to repeat what she had told him on their Minecraft date. In the end, she gave in. "I always mean what I say too," she started. "You're my main bitch, baby."

Dream made some sort of sound, a mix of a scoff and a whine but Y/n didn't comment on it, just glowing with heat in her cheeks.

"Leave before I don't let you," he said softly and the heat only grew.

"Goodnight, Dream," she pressed, the tone in her voice letting him know he was being a tease. "Thanks for... thanks for your tweet. And for everything you said earlier."

"Of course. Sorry that you have to see those kinds of things a lot."

"It's okay when I have people like you."

"People like me? What does that mean?"

"Just.... people like you." Cute, sweet, kind, genuine people who make her heart flutter.

She could hear his smile in his words and she figured he knew the unspoken words in her thoughts, the ones she was saying without saying. "Okay. Goodnight, Y/n."

"Goodnight."

**********

PREVIOUS | NEXT

taglist: OPEN (at the time)

@hydrate-tion @loraleiix @tinaswagbd @charsdummb @smileyyuta @1ghoste1 @cerberus-hellhound @gaysludge @queestionmark @carnations-red @letsloveimagines @the-fictionwriters-hairdo @boiled-onionrings @a-cryptic @fee-btheweeb @erwinss @just-a-stan @axths @kayleigh2703 @furiouspockettoad @sometimeseverythingsucks @powerpuffyn @itshaileyn @millavalntyne @automaticcomputerpaper @nikkineeky @fivedicksinatrenchcoat @sprucekot @bellomi-clarke @possiblyanxioushuman @crybabyjabby @mae-musicbitch @hungoverhellhound @dreamyteam​ @kuroo-icedtea @stuffforreferences @menacingaesthetic @sapphic-soot​ @fangeekkk​ @haseulreturns​ @queenwastaken​ @peteysgf​ @losingvienna​ @bi-narystars​ @zero-nightshade​ @erinitoburrito @sparklykeylime​ @youhyakuya​ @danny-devitowo​ @clubfairy​ @loser-keiji​ @oi-itsemily​ @alm334​ @the-katastrophe​ @wreny24​ @applecakeradio @unicornblood4ever @brendalopez99​ @spacecluster​ @justonemoreepisode​ @strawbrinkofdeath​ @aikochan4859​ @chaotic-tieflings​ @dreamsofficialwife​ @where-thesundoesntshine​ @jamiealenaa​ @unstableye​ @kageyamama-hinatatata​ @officiallyunofficialperson​ @secretly-a-weeb​ @localsimp​ @loxbbg​ @rhymeorreason1​ @flubblubbb​ @kiritokunuwu​ @sylumarts​ @raining13lemonade​ @aiyncel @ghostfacefricker6969​ @avengemepercy​ @modyoonie​ @sapnapsupremaci​ @donttellaweirdweakling​ @writinginnit​ @mosstea-png @mayempress @theboywhocriedlupin​

[tobiosmilktea]

umpah umpah! smau

↪︎ bokuto x f!reader x iwaizumi

[004] — it’s you!

masterlist | prev. | next

a/n: i wrote this during my psych class cause i was bored,, also this wasn’t proofread lol

by the time iwaizumi gets home after long days at work, he would usually knock out like a light after dinner and a bath, but tonight he had more energy than anticipated. and if he was being completely honest, he was not expecting himself to be spending the rest of his night reading a random webtoon. hell, he wasn’t even planning on reading it in the first place, but his boredom got the best of him.

a sigh escapes him as he settles at his desk, finger hovering over the lime green webtoon app for a brief second before giving in. quickly, he input in his information to create an account and before long he was already bombarded with promotions of many other webtoons until he was met with the biggest one—the love cemetery: soon to become a major motion picture!

that’s it, iwaizumi thought as he clicked on the promotional advert as it redirected him to the webtoon’s table of contents. there, he reread the synopsis over again, peering slightly at its contents purely from the plain inkling of familiarity of it all.

the moment he opened the first chapter, he was immediately enticed by the art style and colors. it was as if he was suddenly transported into this world that you have created that the hours had past faster than he had anticipated. the only reason why he even looked up from his phone in the first place was due to that little white box notifying him that his phone was at the cusp dying. iwaizumi’s eyes flickered over to his clock, two in the morning, he read as he let out a sigh. despite wanting to read more of the webtoon, he knew he was going to regret staying up. never mind the fact that he needed to go into work early and even hesitating to close his phone was a good enough reason to force himself to stop.

no wonder bokuto was obsessed.

iwaizumi’s thumb hovered over the author’s handle then, “dddeities?” he whispers to himself before swiftly pressing on the link.

it was then did his familiarity was suddenly confirmed. the moment the link took him to the webtoon author’s twitter account, iwaizumi recognized your name and face within a snap. a lump formed in his throat.

he wasn’t sure what really came over him as the obvious fatigue in his eyes was nowhere to be seen. grabbing his laptop from his desk, his fingers quickly typed away on his keyboard to search up your name on youtube. once the videos loaded in, iwaizumi found himself hesitating again as the first video that was at the top of the list had your smiling face. it still had his heart thumping in his chest even after all these years.

you looked amazing and the fact the interview had just been uploaded a few hours ago had him feeling shy for a brief second. iwaizumi scoffs at himself before shaking his head, “fuck it,” he mutters to himself before clicking on the video. it wasn’t like you, his first love and ex would ever find out he had ever read your webtoon.

“hey, my name is (y/l/n) (y/n) aka dddeities and i’m the author of the webtoon, love cemetery,” your voice softly emitted from iwaizumi’s laptop at a low volume. “today i was invited by webtoon themselves to answer some of your questions you have asked me!”

iwaizumi couldn’t remember the last time he had heard your voice. it was strange hearing it after so long now that you’ve matured since the last time he had seen you—from your looks to the way you dressed, a lot of things changed. granted, you both weren’t fifteen anymore.

“the first question is from seonshines who asked, ‘how does it feel to be able to be part of love cemetery’s film production?’’ you read off the slip of paper before discarding it off to the side, “it’s genuinely a dream come true! i’ve never expected love cemetery to be popular enough to even become a film, but considering how a lot of live actions tend to flop whenever the original creator isn’t part of production, i’m really excited for this project and i have high expectations.”

still as eloquent as usual, iwaizumi thought as he didn’t even notice the smile that was melting upon his expression the more he admired you.

you grab another question from a bowl, “from iloveddd, they asked: how do you plan your webtoons? …well when i first got the idea for love cemetery, i just started plotting it out on a piece of paper. it was initially only me who started drawing, coloring, and publishing each chapter, but once it started picking up a bit, my best friend murakami kaori started co-writing it.”

“kaori?” the familiar name slipped out of iwaizumi’s lips. “i remember her,” how could he forget the girl who got you and him together in the first place?

“overall, she’s mainly the one that keeps the story a bit more interesting while another member of my team, akaashi keiji, is my editor. he’s very meticulous and knows whenever there’s a plot hole somewhere so he’s often part of the writing process as well.” you finished off your answer before continuing to the next one, “this question is from user bokutoxbaisho. they asked ‘did you know that bokuto koutarou of msby black jackals is a big fan of love cemetery?? how do you feel about it??”

hesitance radiated out of you as you awkwardly laughed.

“um...” you trailed out, “i think it’s pretty cool i guess. it’s definitely a shock considering i never thought he would be the kind of guy to be into these types of things.”

iwaizumi’s eyebrows furrowed at this. how would you know? it wasn’t like you were the type to make assumptions about people you didn’t know either. if anything, he found it a bit strange but he shook it off.

“alright the last question is from annaoopsy,” you swiftly changed the subject, “this love triangle trope is honestly one of the best ones i’ve read. it’s really a breath of fresh air for a cliché ,which comes into question, how did you come up with this romance? was it from personal experience in past relationships?”

a chuckle left your lips as you discarded the question with a pink tint appearing lightly on your cheeks.

“let’s just say first loves were a major impact to the creation of this webtoon.”

iwaizumi felt his breath suddenly hitch the moment those words left your mouth. as if a sudden downpour of each and every feeling he felt back then in high school was catching back up to him after years of suppressing them. he swallowed the lump forming in his throat as he slapped his laptop shut, “oh no.”

fun facts! —

kaori was the one who got y/n and iwaizumi together back in middle school after she tricked them into being alone together to get to them to confess

iwaizumi was the one who confessed first since y/n was a shy, art hoe™️ back then lmao

taglist: (comment or send an ask to be added!)

@moonlightaangel @elianetsantana @k4tiepie @memorableminds @skyguy-peach @suhkusa @kitsunetea @airybby @noeminemi @truly-a-snitch @keichan @cosmicmermaid25 @bap-kingdom @saturnfarie @kwdflash @ennos-baby @dinablossom @chrisrue15 @seikamuzu @nestlevanilla @chasekudo @yammmers @pixcldust @iwaizluv @h0ngh0ngh0ng @emogril @tiredandkindaoverworked @atsunakaashi @underratedmage @bokutosuwus @kellesvt @kaiju-teeth @oh-tapeworm @scrappydaisies @alittlebitofrain @mxngy @tpwkatsumu @atsumuwoah @macchiatoast @dicerawr @kageyamasbabygorl @some-random-stranger-007 @vhskenma @wntrmn @little-plants @stargirlara @kissungjae @je11yfishwriter @sbaepsae @apollochjld

[baebaejooheon]

Corpse husband x cottagecore! Reader headcanon

Just a cottagecore esque thing where it’s readers birthday and they throw a big meet up/sleepover thing.

Fem reader just bc. Mentions wearing a dress/skirt

A/N: uhhh leave me alone Ik I have a series in the works that I haven’t written for in months. Leave me alone 😎 not edited pls it’s rlly not good , as well as written at 6 am. Based on a maladaptive daydream I had for like a week straight. I could turn this into a real fic if anyone wants it but like ahaha I can barely write once a year 😌🤚🏻 I will probably reread it and fix it later but as of now you get what you get. I literally just typed this on my phone with no sleep so like 🤗🤪

Originally posted by datchidatchi

A little background, Y/N lives in a medium sized cottage esque house. She has a small garden in her back yard, as well as a free roam fluffy brown cow named dellie, and a big chicken coop. As well as a duck that roams the property and a couple of other animals. As well as a huge flower field a little off the premises. (All of this is infact important.)

It’s Your 23rd birthday, and for this big occasion you decided to invite over all your friends, even those who live outside of the country, to your small home in the middle of nowhere. This would be the meetup that would break the internet.

Many people were invited. The typical among us group:Jack, Felix, Rae, Sykunno, Toast, Poki, and even Corpse who was given the option even tho the likelihood was low given the situation.

A few SMP friends you had made through association were also invited: Karl, Alex, Nick etc.

Many people, lots of fun.

The morning of your birthday, You awoke to many messages and posts for your birthday. Lots of bomb selfies on the feed as well as #HAPPYBDAYY/N trending on Twitter. Along with this, you were greeted with a few texts from your non American friends stating that they arrived safely or that they were checking into the hotel rooms they had booked for the weekend.

When the time came for the party, most of the people had managed to show up. The party was in full swing, everyone had a drink in hand, posting pictures, celebrating being together as well as it being your birthday.

Filling the trending tab on Twitter with so many hashtags

Around 10 pm you got a call from corpse and decided to head upstairs to get some peace and quiet from the loud music in your living room.

Answering the phone the conversation wasn’t anything special, corpse wishing you the fourth happy birthday for that day, as well as asking how everything was going. It was a normal conversation, that was, until his breath hitched and his voice started to quiver as he grew quiet, barely mumbling. Asking what was wrong, corpse went on a small tangent about how he wished he was more confident with his looks, how he wished it wasn’t scary showing his closest friends what he looked like etc. and how he wished he could be there at the party with everyone.

“Corpse I’ve told you 100 times. I understand your situation and it’s ok that you couldn’t show up. I don’t hold it against you, but I didn’t want you to feel left out :))”

“What would you say if I said I just pulled up in an Uber and I’m absolutely terrified of what’s gonna happen?”

Sneaking out of the back door as quickly as possible and running to the front lawn preparing herself. Corpse steps out of the car and You just jump in his arms. like full on koala grip on this man.

Holding his face and just showering him with compliments. Lots of reassurance and sweet nothings.

Heading to the back porch in order to allow him to calm down and prepare. The two end up sitting outside in the dark talking for like 30 minutes.

Finally working up the courage to head inside. You hold his hand the whole time and you see his hands start to shake.

Stepping into the living room, Jack noticing corpse was there, smiling but not saying anything after realizing he’s nervous. Meeting eveyone for the first time really being hard on him. No one else knowing what he looks like so no one really has a reaction

“Look who I found”

“Oh Y/N!! We were wondering where you ran off too. Who’s your friend?”

Corpse just hits them with a “uhh, hi 🤗”

Everyone freaking out as soon as they realize who it is and trying to talk to him.

Phones were put away for most of the night in fear of leaking anything.

You going the extra step to check everyone’s camera rolls (with consent of course) just incase and deleting any photo with any form of corpes face.

A group selfie with just corpse’s hand doing a peace sign

Many drunk escapades

Everyone finding a place to crash for the night. Some staying awake on their phones, some heading to hotels, some alresdy passed out for the night.

You check in on corpse before you head to bed, knowing today was a lot for him.

“Surprisingly? One of the best nights I’ve had in awhile :))”

Heading off to bed.

6 am rolls around and ms Y/N is up at the crack of dawn to do morning chores for the small farm.

Cute hobbit esque dress. Brown skirt, off the shoulder white flowy shirt tucked in, white frilly apron, brown corset belt Etc. you know the fit

Walking down the stairs, you see corpse on his phone in the dark sitting at her dining room table. Everyone was still asleep and it seemed like corpse hadn’t even slept a wink. You know, his insomnia and all.

“What are you doing awake? It’s only 6 am and you partied pretty hard last night?”

“Farm life doesn’t stop for a hangover, but I could ask you the same thing mister :) come on you can help me out”

Corpse is 100% not dressed to do anything outside, especially not any farm work.

Tells him to wait on the back porch while she gathers some stuff from the house. coming out with a messenger bag as well as a basket and a blanket.

Sets everything down and continues to feed the animals with corpse, asking him to grab the big bucket of feed. showing him the ropes, filling up everyone’s water dishes. Collecting eggs etc.

Corpse just watching you with a smile on his face. Your just talking to all your animals, yelling at fiesty hens for pecking at your legs and/or talking to Gerald the duck for getting in the way.

Corpse lowkey obsessed with dellie the cow. Pets her and coos for like 5 minutes straight.

When they finish the sun is barely rising everything still looks like a silhouette from far enough away. putting what needs to go inside away, and then grabbing the messenger bag off the porch.

Dragging corpse to the flower field just down the hill at the edge of the property.

Laying out the blanket and sitting just talking for hours.

You plays music from your phone through a small speaker, dancing around and twirling, lost in your own world.

Corpse’s Instagram story is just full of videos and pictures of you in the sunrise, small captions like happy birthweek to the most amazing person Ik. Or damn who knew farm girl had moves.

Literally 30+ story posts at 7 am.

Corpse takes a picture of you making a flower crown. Shadows cast across your skin, the small bit of sunrise light casting a soft golden glow. The field of flowers all around. Literally goddess worthy.

Fans going crazy reposting the pictures, spamming Twitter etc.

His camera roll is FULL of pictures of her.

Giving corpse A flower crown full of an array of wild flowers

Dancing together. Just twirling and laughing.

City boy corpse loving the farm life

Secretly of course

Relaxing and just sitting with eachother as it slowly reaches 10 am.

“Uh, thanks for this morning, I had a lot of fun.” A small sleepy smile on his face. The flower crown crooked on his messy curls as he just stares into your eyes.

You both end up leaning in for a kiss bumping noses as you gently pull away

Definitely the best birthday gift you could have asked for

Heading back inside to see how everyone’s doing.

Rae being one of the few awake asking where the two of you had been seeing it was already around noon

“Those of us awake took it upon ourselves to raid your kitchen sorry not sorry”

Corpse getting sleepy wanting to take a nap seeing as it was noon and he was running on little to no sleep.

You let him rest in your bed as you occupy everyone downstairs

Everyone leaving around 3 pm, corpse is still asleep so you go outside to check on all the animals once again.

Letting Gerald in the house bc he’s being a pain in the ass.

When you come into the house you see corpse coming down the stairs rubbing his eyes and streatching. His shirt twisted and raising slightly, the jewelry and chains he was wearing now gone.

Giving him a good “morning” kiss.

The day is filled with you cooking for him. Making fun of his foil troubles, watching movies, laughing and overall joking.

Spending the rest of the night cuddling together and making the most of the time you had together.

Making things between you official

✨Extra✨

When you post about eachother to tell the fans that the two of you have been dating for like 6 months the captions are wild.

Corpse is like “ugh look at my gorgeous girlfriend, so pretty, so nice and kind, the most amazing person ever” just full on simp. The pictures he uses are from the morning after your birthday.

Your picture is just you guys holding hands. His usual chains and jewelry. Caption just “eww a city boy 🤮, gotta take all the love I can get tho”

[twwpress]

Creator Spotlight: Week 4

Welcome back to our TWW Creator Spotlight! For every spotlight, we’ll ask each featured creator the same ten questions as well as select questions submitted on twitter. This week, we’re chatting with @sapphiccjcregg // jedianniescrambler on ao3. Emma creates lovely fics and edits, and we’re thrilled to feature her this week!

1) What are your top 5 desert island TWW fics?

The Journey of Wells and Roads by kennedygailparker

My absolute favorite fic ever. Post canon, absolutely gorgeous. This is my season eight and no one can convince me otherwise.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/20657867

I hold with those who favor fire by internationalprincess

This was the first Amy/Andy fic I read and it’s just so good. The blueprint honestly.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/146182

 States of Union by Iamsherlocked07

The secret married hurt/comfort of my DREAMS.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/31008557

 summer, highland falls AND extracts, a six act play, and a tango by crossingdelancy 

Everything by crossingdelancy is beautifully written but I especially love these two.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/34995025

https://archiveofourown.org/works/32778259 

2) Do you have a favorite character to write/edit? Favorite ship(s) to write/edit? Are there characters or ships you'd like to write/edit more of?

I love writing Amy Gardner, she’s so funny and I don’t know what this says about me but I feel like it’s really easy to get into her headspace.

CJToby is definitely my favorite tww ship to write for, along with cjandy and abbey/amy, the latter two I always mean to write more of! 

 3) Tell us about your creative process (setup/location? Night or day? Snacks/beverages? Computer/phone/notebook? Music or silence? Anything else you want to share is welcome!)

I don’t really have a set process for fic writing. It usually happens on my phone between doing other things. Sometimes I’ll go to a coffee shop to finish writing a book review and end up procrastinating by writing fic, but that’s as close to an actual process as I get. (And always music over silence!) 

4) What video editing/writing advice do you have for others who may be reading this?

Just write! The only way to get better is to keep doing it, over and over and figuring out what you like and what you don’t like in your writing. Also developing your own voice in storytelling is important, there’s nothing worse in my opinion than a narrative voice that sounds average and mediocre.

 5) From where do you usually draw your inspiration? (Other forms of media, music, tropes, etc?)

Honestly everything? Sometimes it’s songs or random tweets or photos. Most of the time it’s brainstorming with Sam. There’s a trope/kink/au generator I use sometimes when I need that extra kick though. 

 6) What is the fic/edit you've written/created that you're most proud of and why?

still got love for you. I think is my favorite fic I’ve written. I love how it turned out, it just feels so soft and cozy when I reread it. 

https://archiveofourown.org/works/32699131 

 7) What's the fic trope/concept/AU you'd read 1000 of? What's the fic trope/concept/AU you'd write 1000 of? And/or, are there any editing tropes/artists/themes you can't get enough of?

I have a soft spot for marriage of convenience/arranged marriage fics and I would definitely both read and write 1000 fics of that. But looking back at my past posted fics I seem to have written more than one “only one bed” fics haha 

 8) Is there anything you'd like to try writing-wise/video editing-wise that you haven't yet?

Technique wise not really? I’m working on a quasi epistolary fic for another fandom, and it would be kinda fun to write one for tww if I came up with the right plot to suit it. 

 9) What's your go-to Starbucks/coffee shop/other drink order?

Iced chai (or matcha) with almond milk! 

10) Do you have any current projects you'd like to promote or anything upcoming you'd like to tell us about?

I’m quite happy with my parent trap au (and your eyes look like comin’ home / https://archiveofourown.org/works/40186941) which I posted back in July as well as my most recent fic (come in with the rain / https://archiveofourown.org/works/41303256). I have several fics in progress that I need to finish but work has been really busy and I have been far too tired afterwards to write lately. I hope to post four more fics by the end of the year though- I currently have 96 published West Wing fics on ao3 and I’d like to make it 100. For sure I’m working on a fic about Ellie and another cjtoby au. 

 Submitted questions:

From @mlea7675: What’s your favorite AU you haven’t tried yet?

I love a classic coffee shop au and have written them for other fandoms but not tww! It’s definitely on my to write list. 

From @jessbakescakes: What's a line you've written that you're really proud of?

Serious line answer: California didn’t suit her. Ohio, Washington, she was at her best in a wool coat, the cold chill never cutting through her warmth.

Much less serious line answer: CJ did remember, distantly, that she found him handsome in that older, put together kind of way. She always felt like he looked as if he did his taxes on time and gave really good head. But it wasn’t like she devoted a lot of time thinking about this particular neighbor.

From @thefinestmuffin: When did you start writing? Have you written in other fandoms? What's your favorite thing about your OTP?

I started writing fanfiction when I was 13, before I knew what fanfic even was! Then I didn’t start writing West Wing fic until July 2020 after my second watch through. I’ve written for a lot of other fandoms but the most for TWW, Once Upon a Time, The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, and Unreal.

I think my favorite thing about CJ and Toby is their mutual respect for each other, and how they seem to get each other on a level no one else does. Their relationship seems to mirror Sam and Josh, and Jed and Leo. 

From @S4MWILSON: craziest au you’ve created? favorite au from someone else? most and least favorite tww ships? which tww character deserves a spin off most? most overrated + most underrated tww episodes? favorite thing about cjtoby? funniest part of tww? ship you’ve never written but would like to?

Craziest AU: I’m working on a western au which has been fun! I’ve also written a cjtoby art thief au which was also pretty out there.

Favorite AU from someone else: I love Sam’s (iamsherlocked07 on ao3) bookshop au, Takes One to Know One!

Most Favorite Ship: CJ/Toby Least Favorite Ship: CJ/Danny

Character that Deserves a Spin Off: Ainsley Hayes!

Overrated Episode: I plead the fifth! Underrated Episode: my personal favorite episode is The US Poet Laureate which does not get enough love. 

Favorite thing about CJToby: (answered with thefinestmuffin’s question above)

Funniest part of tww: definitely a toss up between the Toby and Sam walking to breakfast in Mandatory Minimums and the CJ/Amy/Will scene where they’re definitely not hazing Amy.

Ship I’ve never written but want to: Andy/Amy!!

Thanks again, Emma!

If you’re interested in being featured for a future spotlight, please drop us a line here on tumblr, on twitter, or email weeklypressbriefing@gmail.com.

xx, What’s next?

[blues-valentine]

I don't normally jump into people's asks but can I just say I absolutely love your takes regarding the Darkling, Malina and especially Mal? You remind me of why I enjoyed him so much in the first place whilst others hated him. He wasn't dark and unique like the Darkling or particularly vibrant or charismatic like Nikolai; he was just an ordinary teenager who started feeling even more ordinary and unimportant when Alina became the sun summoner. He was then ignored and belittled and forgotten about by many. I did find him difficult at times but is that not the mark of an interesting character and your investment in them? Someone you can love but be disappointed in? Even then his behaviour didn't really bother me because it made sense given what was happening to him. I think rereading the trilogy last year 6-7 years later with fresh eyes and a much more mature outlook made me appreciate him even more than I did as a 19-20 year old (not that age always has a bearing on maturity, it just did with me).

When I see the comments about how he is unlikeable and boring I roll my eyes. What is he? Unlikeable or boring? You can't have an unlikeable personality whilst also having no personality. That makes no sense. It makes even less sense when you hear it from people who have read the whole trilogy and know Mal's significance to the plot. It ain't a boring plotline in the slightest. The hate he recieves has always reminded my of thg fandom back in the day and how vitriolic some people were about Peeta and his personality.

Anyways I really took nothing to do with the fandom for a while and ignored the casting for the show etc because I had had my fill of negativity (and I didn't want the crows to be ignored for the sake of the trilogy's storyline), but the show just drew me back in aha! And metas like yours are what's keeping me around (sorry for this huge rant).

Hello! Thank you so much for this ask.

I just recently "joined the fandom" and read the books so I can’t say I experienced what you and a lot of people that liked Mal in the fandom did - I know it was worst in the early years to like Malina or even say you liked Mal. I came in the right time were people is more vocal about liking Mal and Malina because of the show, but there’s a lot of hate too specially in Twitter.

The moment I finished the books the hate towards Mal was just strange to me because all I saw a teenager that was experiencing too many changes and dealing with trauma, and as you said, often belittled by everyone that was in a higher place. When I think of Mal - all I can think is loyal, devoted and brave. He went thought so much and lost so much to protect Alina, to be loyal to Alina, to help Alina succeed, and it’s only natural for him to feel insecure and frustrated, and that’s why I like him.

He isn’t your typical romantic lead that has a personality that is often popular in YA books. He is flawed, impulsive, exhausting at times - but the journey he goes through during whole books is so complex, sad but most importantly, real. He isn’t here to be a 'bad boy' or a charismatic comedic relief character, he is here to be someone with his heart on his sleeve most of the time and he isn’t here to be fake - he tells Alina exactly how he feels. I think people also don’t see it because we don’t get to explore his POV - i think it would’ve been interesting to have an idea on what he is feeling.

Mal is the one that gets the most undeserved hate on the whole tgt fandom mostly coming from people that resent that he was the one that stayed with Alina at the end and "prevented her" from "reaching her potencial" (if by potential they meant living a life she didn't want). I don’t want to say it comes with maturity but I understood the way he was acting, it only feel very human to me and also why their ending was so beautiful and bittersweet.

And yes, a lot of aspects with Malina reminds me of Everlark. Peeta was Katniss peace, just like Mal represents Alina's peace. Also, Peeta for me is one of the best YA male leads ever because he wasn't your typical male lead, and neither was Everlark as a YA couple. And how interesting that Peeta gets called "boring" constantly while also Katniss ending is a topic of disccusion similar to Alina's, both at the end wanted peace and stay away from the war - and that's perfect.

[ryttu3k]

End of year book asks, original post here!

1. How many books did you read this year?

Only 25 26. Alas! An average of two a month. I mean I did read a few novel-length fics, though...

2. Did you reread anything? What?

I reread bits and pieces of things? Like if I was looking up something Locked Tomb-wise and accidentally kept reading for a few chapters...

3. What were your top five books of the year?

Ooh, let's see. Number one was the last Wayfarers book by Becky Chambers - The Galaxy, And The Ground Within. Also goddamn adored her solarpunk novella, A Psalm For The Wild-Built, the first Murderbot Diaries, All Systems Red by Martha Wells, and The Midnight Library, by Matt Haig. For the last one, I'd say the novella Defekt by Nino Cipri?

4. Did you discover any new authors that you love this year?

RoAnna Sylver! Also read more from Becky Chambers and yeah, she is absolutely up there with Tamsyn Muir as one of my top favourites.

5. What genre did you read the most of?

Science fiction, easily.

6. Was there anything you meant to read, but never got to?

*laughs in excessive TBR* (It's on 73 now.)

7. What was your average Goodreads Storygraph rating? Does it seem accurate?

4.4 (or 8.8 by my usual marking standards). Yeah, seems about right!

8. Did you meet any of your reading goals? Which ones?

I was hoping for three books a month, kinda failed there.

9. Did you get into any new genres?

Honestly, not really.

10. What was your favorite new release of the year?

The Galaxy and The Ground Within ;_;

11. What was your favorite book that has been out for a while, but you just now read?

All Systems Red and Empty Vessels came out in 2017.

12. Any books that disappointed you?

Honestly, not really! The lowest I rated anything was an 8!

13. What were your least favorite books of the year?

See above~

14. What books do you want to finish before the year is over?

Wouldn't mind getting one more in. Might continue the RoAnna Sylver stuff (most-read author, with Chameleon Moon and Lifeline Signal, Life In Parole 1, and Stake Sauce), and read Life In Parole 2 or the Stake Sauce sequel?

Edit: Got in The Midnight Library!

15. Did you read any books that were nominated for or won awards this year (Booker, Women’s Prize, National Book Award, Pulitzer, Hugo, etc.)? What did you think of them?

Interactive novel, but The Luminous Underground (Choice of Games) got a Nebula nomination. For Locus, Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson was nominated for best science fiction novel. Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel won the Arthur C Clarke back in 2015. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig got the Goodreads Choice Award for fiction. And I'm pretty disgusted by the Hugos right now, but Murderbot Diaries won best series and I read the first book of it. Harrow the Ninth and Finna also picked up a bunch of nominations, but I read those in 2020. Really enjoyed all.

16. What is the most over-hyped book you read this year?

Overhyped, huh. None I can think of - some with the most hype (Murderbot Diaries, Station Eleven) honestly deserved said hype, they were really good!

17. Did any books surprise you with how good they were?

Nah, went into basically all going, "Yeah, going to enjoy this", and did!

18. How many books did you buy?

Ooh man. About 40? Some of these were double-buys too, ie. buying hard copies of books I already had ebooks of.

19. Did you use your library?

Alas, my local library system is... not great!

20. What was your most anticipated release? Did it meet your expectations?

The Galaxy, And The Ground Within BITCH I CRIED.

21. Did you participate in or watch any booklr, booktube, or book twitter drama?

I did go 👀 at the Bad Art Friend drama. That shit was incredible.

22. What's the longest book you read?

Like all of Kim Stanley Robinson's work, Ministry for the Future was a chonky boy. (Seriously, I haven't even touched the Mars trilogy yet because it looks so intimidating!)

23. What's the fastest time it took you to read a book?

Some of the novellas I cleared in an hour.

24. Did you DNF anything? Why?

Nope! Closest I came was about 30% into Ministry for the Future because it was so grim at that point, but pressed on and started getting to the point where shit started getting better for the characters and the world and I was going “Yeah!!” a lot. Very glad I didn’t DNF!

25. What reading goals do you have for next year?

This time I'm gonna do three a month really.

[atths--twice]

Beneath the Light of the Moon

A little future fic where after a late shift at the hospital, Scully comes home to sit on the porch and drink some wine with Mulder, discussing her day and hearing about his own.

I saw a poem on my timeline on Twitter and from six short lines, a fic was born. I hope you enjoy the story I have created. I love it very much. The fluff... 💙

September 2022

Scully walked into her office and sighed. The later shifts at the hospital were always harder, but she was happy with how the day had gone. Well, content anyway.

She still had an hour to go, in which she would need to finish up her paperwork, leaving notes for the doctors on call in the morning. Sitting down at her desk, she sighed as he opened a file, rereading what she had written earlier, adding notes from the day.

As she moved it, reaching for the next folder, she heard a buzzing sound, and turned to her left, seeing her cell phone light up with a message from Mulder. She smiled as she picked up the phone and opened the message.

It was a picture of the moon, a bright full moon, taken from their porch, a small portion of the drive and the magnolia trees in the bottom corner. As she stared at it, the phone buzzed with another message.

Opening it, she found a picture of their porch swing, the new pillow Faith had insisted on sitting in the middle; white with numerous rainbows upon it. She grinned at the picture and then the phone buzzed again.

A picture of the porch chairs.

Then a picture of two glasses of wine on the table between the chairs.

She smiled, about to text him and tell him she would be home soon, when a message appeared and she sighed, the poetry of the words stirring her soul and arousing her all at once.

“Come home Beautiful lady I’ve left the lights on Though the stars And the moon Are burning brightly”

She exhaled, looking back through the messages and shaking her head; that man did know how to get to her. Exhaling again, she set the phone aside, not answering him, knowing it would only prolong things and she was now eager to hurry the paperwork along and get home to drink wine with him by the light of the moon.

Her notes may have been shorter than usual, but they were thorough and contained what was needed. Placing them onto Doctor McKay’s desk, she gathered up her things, walked out the door, and smiled as she headed to her car.

The gate to the drive was open, cutting out one stop she had to take in order to reach the house. She closed it after she drove through, not wanting Bella to run out and away. Driving up and parking beside the house, she saw him sitting on the porch, the white fairy lights on and the porch light off.

Smiling as she made her way to the stairs, she glanced at the moon across the field, wanting to see the view he had been enjoying as he waited for her arrival. Looking back at him, she grinned as she walked up the stairs.

“Hello there, beautiful lady,” he said and she stepped closer to him, bending and kissing him, her hand on his shoulder.

“Hello,” she breathed against his lips, kissing him again. Pulling back, she smiled as she took off her coat and tossed it onto the porch railing. Sitting beside him, she accepted the glass of wine he handed her.

Holding it in her right hand, she held her left out to him, silently asking for his hand. He interlocked their fingers, bringing her hand to his lips and kissing it.

“How was your day?” he murmured, kissing her hand once more.

“It was okay,” she answered, taking a sip of her wine, squeezing his hand and releasing it, bringing it to rest on the arm of her chair.

“Just okay? Hmm. Give me your high and low.” She smiled as she thought of the game they played with Faith, the high and low of the day, always trying to highlight the positive over the negative.

“Let’s see…” she said, leaning back, and resting her head against the chair. “Low of my day… there was only light cream cheese in the cafeteria.”

“Oh… that is a definite low.” She laughed and nodded, taking a drink of her wine.

“And my high…” She turned her head and smiled as she looked at him. “Knowing that you were waiting here for me.”

“Gross,” he said, shaking his head as he grinned at her and she laughed softly. Turning her head, she looked at the moon and sighed happily.

“What about you? What did you two get up to today?”

“Well… we decided on a color today.”

“What? Really? That’s exciting!” Looking at him again, he nodded and smiled. “So what’s the color then?” He cleared his throat and grinned as he lifted his glass to his lips.

“All of the colors.”

She laughed, the sound of it echoing in the still, dark night. Shaking her head, she looked at him and he nodded.

“So… then no decision has been reached?”

“No, Scully. The decision is all of the colors.” He spread his hands wide and she laughed again.

Over the summer, despite the heat, they had all been working on a non-tree treehouse. It was more of a playhouse, but Faith had called it a treehouse so often, that was what it had become.

Everything had arrived in a huge kit, the wood a light colored pine with a plan to paint it when it was put together and finished. Skinner had come over a few times to help with the building of it, the house more intricate than believed when it had been purchased.

When the last screw was put in, Faith had been over the moon, clapping her hands and hugging them all before she opened the door and stepped inside.

It was a decent sized house, one that Scully could stand inside with Mulder bending only slightly. One large room was all it had, but to Faith it was like a palace, considering all the things she had wanted to put inside of it. It had a Dutch door, the top of it with a heart cut out in the middle. There were seven windows, with window boxes beneath four of them. A gabled roof extended out over a small porch with railings on three sides.

They had numerous tea parties and even a movie night with a sheet hanging on the wall to project it upon. Mulder had needed some ibuprofen the next day, the house not quite large enough for his over six foot tall body to lay in comfortably.

But Faith had loved playing in there, always rearranging the furniture she had brought inside. Trading the books from the bookcase in her room to the small one in the treehouse, back and forth as her interests changed. Little plastic chairs were sitting on the small porch and the window boxes had real plants in little plastic pots, though they did not actually grow very well, as Faith dug them up frequently, curious as to how they were doing.

It was her house, however, and they let her do what she wanted with it- within reason of course. She wanted curtains and Violet, their wonderful neighbor, surprised her one day with white ones covered in rainbow colored polka dots. She helped her hang them up and Faith had loved them. She wrote Violet a thank you note, which had made Violet cry, hugging Faith and telling her she was more than welcome.

The color of the house… that had been a never ending discussion, the color of it changing every time they thought they had it nailed down. They had gone to the hardware store and let Faith pick paint sample cards, hoping it would narrow down her options, but instead she had walked out with a huge stack of them. She had laid them all out on the living room floor, laying on her belly as she had stared at them, her concentration unwavering, as she took the decision very seriously.

A color had not yet been chosen yet, and that trip to the hardware store had taken place over three weeks ago. She had decided against some of the samples, but there were still quite a few on the floor, with no one allowed to touch them but her.

“So,” Scully laughed again. “How did she uh… narrow it down?”

“Would you like to see?”

“Absolutely.”

“Come on then,” he said, setting his glass down and standing to his feet. Reaching for her hand, he pulled her to her feet and set her glass of wine beside his on the table.

They walked down the stairs and around the house, the moon alone bright enough to light their way. He squeezed her hand and she smiled, grabbing his arm with her other hand.

Standing in front of the treehouse, he took a flashlight from his pocket and turned it on, before opening the door and gesturing for her to enter first. She smiled, ducking only slightly as she stepped inside, the beam of the flashlight revealing how the decision had been made and Scully laughed quietly as she shook her head.

All around the room, as high as Faith could reach, a different paint sample card had been taped to the wall. Clusters of colors were together, some random lonely ones, and some in a rainbow pattern. There was no rhyme or reason to it and Scully found that her usual need for organization was overpowered by the beauty in the chaos of colors.

She smiled and looked at Mulder, who was also grinning as he looked at them. He turned to her and nodded with a shrug.

“She was in and out of the house today, as I fixed the clothesline, Bella always trailing after her. I went inside to get our lunch ready and didn’t even notice the paint cards were all gone from the floor. We ate lunch and she asked if she could go back outside and I said sure. As I was finishing the clearing up, she came in with a huge smile on her face, pulling at my arm and asking me to come see something.” He grinned again as he held an ocean blue card between his fingers and then let it go. “She was so proud of herself, telling me she had finally decided on the color and wanted to show me, but I had to close my eyes before she would open the door and show me.”

“Did she lead you in?”

“She did and I one hundred percent hit my head on the way inside. Not too bad, but still…” They both laughed and she looked at the color samples again. “As I looked at them, I asked her why she chose all the colors and she said because she couldn’t choose just one and she didn’t want to make them sad and hurt the other colors feelings when they weren’t picked.” He looked at Scully and she shook her head slowly.

“That girl,” she whispered, taking a deep breath. “She has such a kind soul. So diplomatic. That’s you, through and through.” She smiled at him and he shook his head.

“No, that’s both of us,” he corrected her quietly and she smiled as she rubbed his arm. Sighing, she looked around the small room again.

“How will we ever accomplish this, Mulder?”

“Well,” he said, turning off the flashlight, and the room was plunged into darkness. He slipped the flashlight back into his pocket and pulled her close as she wrapped her arms around his neck. “I raised that question to her as well and I was told, “You can do it, Daddy. I know you can.”” He stared at her and she grinned.

“She has complete faith in you,” she quipped and he laughed softly.

“She does indeed. It’s scary sometimes, that’s for sure.”

“Why would you say that?”

“I… I just don’t ever want to let her down. To be less than in her eyes, but I know that someday, somehow, I will.”

“Mulder…” she whispered, shaking her head. “Neither of us will ever be perfect and while we strive to always do our best… there will be times when we fall short, either because of our own shortcomings or because she will find something we do to be so embarrassing.” She rolled her eyes and smiled at him. He chuckled with a nod and then sighed deeply.

“I know,” he whispered.

“But for now,” she whispered back. “You can do no wrong. You are her superhero, her helper, her confidant, her best friend. She knows that if she puts up all the colors on the wall, you will get it done. Not because she demands or expects it, but because you are her daddy and her daddy can do anything.” She smiled and he ducked his head with a smile. “Complete faith in you.”

“My Faith has faith,” he whispered and she nodded, stroking his face gently.

“She’s not the only one.” He bent his head and kissed her, her arms tightening around his neck as he lifted her slightly off the ground.

They left the little house, Mulder careful to not bump his head, and closed the door behind them. As they walked back to the porch, she took a deep breath as she grasped his hand, smiling at how happy she felt even as she imagined all the painting they would soon be doing.

“Do you want to head inside?” he asked as they walked up the stairs and she shook her head.

“Not just yet,” she said, sitting down and smiling at him.

“Then I will get us some more wine,” he said, picking up their glasses, dropping a kiss on her head, and walking into the house.

Bella came out, her tail wagging happily as she walked over to Scully, giving her a lick and nudging at her hand.

“Hey girl. How you doing, huh?” She rubbed her ears and pet her muzzle, scratching under her chin. “Did you have fun with Faithy today?”

“Mama?” She heard and turned her head to find Faith standing in the doorway, barefoot in her pajamas, a black nightgown with a sleeping rosy cheeked yellow moon and yellow and pink stars. Rubbing her eyes as she blinked in the light, she yawned tiredly.

“Hey, love. What are you doing up?” she asked as she sat up and opened her arms. Faith stepped onto the porch, climbing into her lap and snuggling close. “You should be sleeping.”

“I heard you talking and I wanted to see you,” Faith said quietly, the baby doll she had gotten for her second birthday and had loved ever since held tightly, as Scully wrapped her arms around her.

“Well, I’m glad you did. I missed you today.”

“I missed you too, Mama.” She yawned again and snuggled closer, her breathing already becoming slower. Scully smiled, rubbing her back and kissing the top of her head.

Mulder walked out, stopping in his tracks as he saw Faith on her lap. He raised his eyebrows in surprise and she smiled. Setting down their glasses of wine, he held his arms out to take Faith and put her back to bed.

Scully shook her head, happy to cuddle her for a while longer. He nodded with an understanding smile and sat down in the chair beside her.

Closing her eyes, she leaned back and  situated Faith to lay against her chest. Resting her right cheek on her head, took a deep breath, breathing in Faith’s sleepy scent.

“This,” she whispered, opening her eyes and looking at Mulder. “This moment, this past hour, this is my high of the day.”

He smiled and reached for her hand, connecting the three of them. She closed her eyes again and squeezed his hand gently, wishing she could freeze this moment and stay there forever.

“Mama,” Faith breathed in her sleep and Scully smiled softly. She knew she could never truly freeze time, as much as she may want to make it happen.

Tomorrow would arrive, the sun rising and taking this night away with it, but it would be remembered; by the brightness of the moon, the richness of the red wine, the taste of Mulder’s kiss, a treehouse room full of color samples, and the warmth of the little girl in her arms.

Let tomorrow come, she thought, kissing the top of Faith’s head again and sighing a happy smile.

Tomorrow they had a wish to fulfill, with a visit to the hardware store, and a rainbow selection of paint to bring home.

[wildmichaelflower]

HI RAYE ❤️ my first request is from your prompt list is - “My heart tells me to kiss you, my head tells me to walk away.” With Calum please 🥺 Sending you many hugs, gay!sos buddy 💕

Sorry for getting to this four months later!!!

5.  “My heart tells me to kiss you, my head tells me to walk away.”

Word Count: 2,190 words

Content Warnings: Calum Angst (With happy ending), Unplanned pregnancy, Breakup over text, Crying

 Calum never understood why you had chosen to broke up with him, especially over text, and especially when you two were engaged to be married in a year. In his mind, everything was perfect, until he was getting off rehearsal and the message from you knocked the wind out of him.

‘Calum, I’m leaving. I’m sorry, but I’ve decided that this isn’t what I want. I’m leaving tonight, I made sure your neighbor can take care of Duke until you get home, but by the time you read this I’ll be moved out of your home. I left my key, and the ring, on the table. Don’t call me, this number will be disconnected shortly after I send this. I wish you the best in tour and I hope you find someone who knows how lucky they are to love you.’

He blinked back tears as he struggled to comprehend the message, rereading it again and again, hoping the words would change to your usual ‘i love and miss you’ text he was used to getting. He immediately called you. hoping this was some joke you were pulling.

“I’m sorry,” the automated message greeted him, “The number you are trying to reach has been disconne-” Calum didn’t let it finish, he didn’t want to confirmation to hit, and he definitely didn’t want a robot to apologize to him. 

Instead, he shoved his phone back into his pocket.

“Hey mate,” Ashton gently slapped a hand onto his shoulder and whispered, “Everything alright?”

Calum shook his head, finally letting the tears fall and sobs emit. Wide eyed, Ashton pulled his best friend into a hug, biting his lip as Michael and Luke hurried over.

“Th-they’re leaving,” Calum cried, “They disconnected they’re n-number and left me. They don’t love me anymore.”

The boys did their best to comfort their friend through his endless sobs. 

“Should we cancel tonight?” Luke whispered but Calum shook his head, pulling his head away from Ashton’s chest.

“No,” he wiped his sleeve across his eyes, “No, the show still goes on. I just need to take these next few hours to process this.” He took a deep breath, doing his best to hold in the tears.

The boys nodded, giving him one more hug before giving him space. Calum tried to get a hold of everyone who would know where you would be, but no one seemed to have an answer for him, and he couldn’t bear to tell them that you broke up with him over text so he just said he’ll try again later. 

The concert was hell, Calum knew he played like shit, but the only thing that made him give a damn was that he let the fans down. As expected, stan twitter was buzzing about his performance, many wondering what had happened to the bassist. That alone was enough to not want Calum to be on the site, that, and the fact that your name would be dragged into it, and it wouldn’t take long for fans to realize you deleted your social media presence. Instead, he chose to head right to the bus, drink a couple beers, try your number one last time before getting the same damn automated apology, before settling into his bunk and sobbing himself to sleep. 

The boys hated seeing him like this, they had thought you were meant to be his for life, and they were just as shocked as him to hear of you leaving. When they were sure their heartbroken friend was asleep, they took their own turns trying to contact you, but they reached the same results as Calum. 

The next morning, Calum woke up to a phone call, and he too eagerly sat up, hoping it was you and the whole thing had been a nightmare, but his face fell when the caller ID said Management.

“Hello?” The bassisst grumbled into the phone.

“Hey Cal,” the sympathetic tone of one of their managers, Linda, greeted him, “I heard about what happened last night, and I know the last thing you want to do is talk about it, but in the next few days you will have to make a public statement if you are still engaged with-”

“Yeah, I know,” he cut her off, not ready to hear your name, not this soon, “I’ll post something on twitter, just give me some time to prepare.” 

“OK dear,” Calum could hear her small smile in her tone as she used to pet name she gave to all the boys, “I’ll let the team know, and if we need to cancel, just let us know OK?”

Calum took a deep breath, “Yeah, but we’re so close to finishing. I wanna power through it and go see Duke and get used to being in the house without [Y/N].”

“OK.. Just let us know, alright? We’re all here for you.”

Yeah, but I want her, Calum thought sadily to himself before responding, “Thanks Linda, I really appreciate it, you’re the best.”

He let Linda say her goodbyes before she hung up, and the rest of the tour was a blur to Calum. He kept the same pattern of getting up, going through his day, going to concerts, going to bed. The last two weeks of tour passed and before he knew it, Ashton was driving him to his Los Angeles home. Calum said nothing the whole way there, and Ashton knew this was going to be hard. 

“Listen man, if you want, I can grab Duke and some of his things and have you stay with me,” Ashton glanced at his friend in the seat next to him, biting his lip as Calum shook his head.

“No, part of moving on is getting used to what’s gone. I’ll call you if I need company though, I promise.”

The older man sighed but nodded, knowing Calum had to get through this in his own way if he was going to get through it all, but he walked him to the door and gave him one more hug before going back to his car.

With a deep breath, Calum unlocked the door and teared up at the sounds of Duke running to greet him.

“Hey bud,” he smiled as he sunk to his knees to pet his furry son, letting him lick all over his hands and face, “I missed you too.”

Duke barked happily and headed into the kitchen where his food and water awaited him. Calum followed, noticing the note on the counter from his neighbor. 

Hey Cal! I was last here around noon to let Duke out and I plan to be back around 4 in case you wanted to rest. If you are back before then, just shoot me a text so I know not to come over. I know you don’t wanna talk about [Y/N] so I didn’t say anything when you were on tour, but I hid her ring in the drawer with the bills. Also, and please don’t think I was being weird, I took out the trash when I first came over to take Duke out and noticed a pregnancy test in one of the trash bins.  [Y/N] knows now I know, but I knew you also deserved to know, you know? There’s something else I need to tell you, so when I come back at 4 I’ll tell you then.

Calum felt shock after shock as he read the letter. You were pregnant? Is that why you left? And what did the neighbor have to tell him that they couldn’t write in the note? He checked the time on his watch, seeing it was almost 3:30. He could go over and knock now, get the anticipation over with, but he remembered his neighbor car wasn’t in their driveway when Ashton dropped him off, so he settled on taking a quick shower and making a snack. He was grateful he knew what drawer not to open, the ring had too many memories he had spent the last two weeks getting over. 

It was 4:10 when he heard a knock on his door, and Calum hurried to leave his pizza rolls on the counter before rushing to the door, biting his lip when he saw his neighbor.

“Hey. Rian right? Thanks again for watching Duke while I was away... I could take him on his walk, but I did want to talk about the note you left.”

“Yeah, that..” Rian bit their lip, “So you know she was pregnant, but she left me her new number in case anything happened to Duke while you were still on tour, and her new address to send her letters too.. I talked to her before writing the note, and, while it took time, I convinced her that she had to be honest with you, in person, and she gave me permission to give you her address, if you still wanted to talk to her.”

Calum gasped, nodding, but trying to process the words. He thought he had lost you forever, and he still might have, but to get to see you again and know why everything had happened. He deserved that, and he knew that, no matter what happened at the end of the night. 

Rian wrote the address down and set it in his hand, “No matter what happens, I hope you both get the closure you need,” they smiled weakly, gave Duke some small pats, before leaving. 

The pizza rolls now abandoned, Calum grabbed Duke’s leash and his phone, quickly typing the address into the GPS before walking out with the small dog to the car. 

The Maori man had a tight grip on the steering wheel, driving past familiar sights as the map took him to an apartment complex close to where you lived when you two first met. 

He parked on the street then grabbed Duke’s leash before getting out. Taking a deep breath, he looked for your apartment number before knocking.

“Coming!” Your familiar voice rang through the opposite side of the door and Calum couldn’t believe this was actually happening. After weeks of agony, he was going to see you again.

You checked the peephole, biting your lip when you saw the man you called your fiance, still the handsomest man you have ever seen, standing with your furry son. Slowly, you opened the door, doing your best to give a small smile.

“Calum,” you greeted, “Hello..”

“Ba- [Y/N]. I know, about the baby, and I’m sure that’s why you left huh.”

Tearing up was already more than enough to confirm his suspicions, but he let you explain yourself.

“I’m sorry,” You sniffed, “I knew you would be a great dad, but I was so scared in the moment that I was going to ruin your career and your fans would hate me that I made you leave the band to raise a baby that was unplanned so I left and I had hoped that things would be fine but they’re not fine, because I hated myself for what I did to you and to me, and to our child. I’m not asking you to forgive me, the fact that you came to let me explain myself is enough.” You sobbed and placed an instinctive hand on your stomach as you waited for him to say something. 

He took a deep breath and tried to calm Duke, who was riled up by your tears, before whispering,

“My heart tells me to kiss you, my head tells me to walk away.”

You sobbed but nodded at his words, “Which one will you listen to?”

He bit his lip, “The same one that told me to drop out of high school to form a band with my best friends,” he smiled softly as he stepped inside and he watched as you stepped back, not in fear but to let him in, “The same one that told me ask you out in that bar we met all those years ago, the same one that told me to come here, even after I thought everything was thrown away.” He gently wiped the tears from your cheeks as Duke settled at your feet and as he leaned in he whispered, “The same heart that knew it would never stop loving you.” He pressed his lips to yours gently, not fighting the smile as you returned the kiss with the same passion. 

“You, me, and little one now.” you sniffed and smiled, “No more separating, no more heartache.”

He nodded in agreement, “No more walking away,” he smiled, “Only kissing.” He pecked his lips to yours one more time before sinking to his knees and whispering to your stomach, “Hey baby, it’s daddy.” He looked up as he heard you sob again, but returned the smile you gave as you assured him they were happy tears and he gave gentle kisses to your tummy.

“Only kisses,” he mumbled into your skin, sealing the promise with a small peck to your belly button before looking up with his own happy tears. 

[tsarisfanfiction]

Fic Rec Bingo

Okie dokie, this is the Fan Rec Bingo - idea courtesy of lightvials on twitter, but I don’t have a twitter that I ever use, so I’m filling it out here instead.  Let’s see if I can fill it all out!

I did, and then some.  To save poor dashboards, it’s all under the cut!  If I know author tumblrs they’ve been mentioned - I know pitifully few so if anyone knows the ones I don’t, let me know so I can mention them, too!

A fic you love without knowing the source material: The Dragon-King’s Temple by Kyral (Stargate SG-1/Avatar the Last Airbender)

Through the spite of the spirits or plain rotten chance, a door that would have been better left untouched has opened. On the other hand, with Fire and Earth as one's allies, sometimes escaping is the easy part. Rated: Gen.  AO3 Archive Warning for Graphic Descriptions of Violence. Characters: Zuko, Toph Beifong, Janet Fraiser, Sam Carter, Jack O’Neill, and more Words: 196311.  Status: Complete

I very rarely read fics without already knowing the canon, but one that I think counts would be a Stargate/ATLA crossover, because I know nothing about Stargate and I have yet to finish ATLA!  This was recommended to me due to the creativity of the author regarding a language barrier (something I always enjoy, and my friend knows that).

---

A fic series with a premise that shouldn’t work but it does: Crazy=Genius by blackkat (Bleach/Harry Potter)

Minerva McGonagall isn't about to let Harry go back to the Dursleys after his first year. She finds an alternative, and along the way, Bazzard Black finds that he might have more family left than he'd ever thought. Rated: Teen.  AO3 No Archive Warnings Apply Characters: Bazz-B, Harry Potter, and more Words: 21682.  Status: Incomplete

Okay, I cheated and picked a series.  Not my fault blackkat decided to make this universe a series of oneshots rather than a single entity and you’re certainly not getting me to only pick one of the five already published ones.  Bazz-B being a Black and also kinda a wizard is a brilliant concept, and having him adopting Harry is pure gold.  Not sure how crazy Quincy adopting poor, neglected Boy Who Lives works, but it does!

---

A fic you’ve reread several times: The Guardian (Director’s Cut) by SGTBrowncoat (Naruto)

Itachi Uchiha receives his first mission in ANBU: protecting a certain trouble making Jinchuriki. He bonds quickly with the boy, but dark forces rise to threaten Itachi, Naruto, and those they care for most. Rated: T.  Canon-typical violence Characters: Uchiha Itachi, Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Shisui and more (includes Uchiha Itachi/Inuzuka Hana background pairing) Words: 35945.  Status: Complete

Back to my first ever fandom, here, and a really fun non-massacre AU fic, with lots of Itachi and Shisui goodness.  There are a fair few ANBU-looking-after-kid-Naruto fics but this is by far my favourite of them!  There is a sequel, but unfortunately it’s not finished and hasn’t been updated in a long time (I live in hope!)

---

A fic you still remember many years later: While The Ring Went South by Thundera Tiger (Lord of the Rings)

What happened after the Fellowship left Rivendell but before they came down off Caradhras? Behold the missing scenes. Rated: K+.  Canon-typical violence Characters: Legolas, Gimli, Aragon, Gandalf, the whole Fellowship Words: 149624.  Status: Complete

I refound this fic completely by accident the other week, after first reading it (according to when I favourited it on FFN) in 2011!  It was just as amazing as I remembered, and is really the standard I hold all other LotR fics to, especially ones that involve the entire, pre-Moria, Fellowship.  It has a sequel but sadly that’s not been updated in some time (but again, I live in hope!)

---

A comfort fic: There May Be Some Collateral Damage by metisket (Bleach/Harry Potter)

Ichigo’s been ordered to go undercover at a magic school to bodyguard a kid named Harry Potter, and this would be fine, except that he’s about as good at bodyguarding as he is at magic. And he considers it a good day, magic-wise, if he hasn’t set anything on fire. Rated: Gen.  AO3 No Archive Warnings Apply Characters: Kurosaki Ichigo, Harry Potter, Weasley Twins, and more. Words: 61209.  Status: Complete

I have no idea what this means by ‘Comfort Fic’ but if I want a laugh and Umbridge getting a pile of comeuppance, this is definitely the fic I’ll turn to.  As the A/N says: ‘sending Ichigo to Hogwarts is basically the same as swinging a wrecking ball directly into the side of the castle’.  Beautiful chaos is what we get.  Beautiful, beautiful chaos.

---

A cathartic fic: See You Again by cookietosser (One Piece)

Rocinante has been through a lot in his life. Adding uncontrollable time travel into the mix? That's just the icing on the cake. Rated: Teen.  AO3 Violence and (canon) Character Death Warnings Characters: Donquioxte Rocinante|Cora-san, Trafalgar Law, Heart Pirates Words: 15755.  Status: Complete

You want to rip my heart out and trample it into lots of little pieces while still making it all better because Law and Rocinante?  Well, this little time-traveller’s wife AU fic is just the one for all that.  Sad moments, frustrating moments, happy moments, all wrapped up in this oneshot!

---

A fic you’d print and put on your bookshelf: Thrower of the Dart by Vathara (Artemis Fowl/The Avengers)

What might have happened instead of Artemis Fowl book 6, if it'd happened in the Marvel Universe. Megalomaniacs ahoy! Rated: Teen.  AO3 No Archive Warnings Characters: Artemis Fowl II, Tony Stark, and more Words: 101272.  Status: Complete

It’s long, it’s epic, and it would nestle in perfectly at home alongside my Artemis Fowl books on the bookshelf!  It’s not so much a rewrite of book 6 as a complete replacement of it, with a new plot and an all too familiar villain!

---

A fic you associate with a song: Goodbye, Brother by Serena Estelle (Bleach)

Ilforte's final moments as I like to picture them-with his brother. Rated: T.  Canonical character death Characters: Szayelaporro Granz, Yylfordt Granz Words: 3073.  Status: Complete

Might be cheating, because the author actually names a song in their starting A/N, but this definitely brings to mind Exile Vilify by The National, and I fully recommend listening to that (on loop - there is a 10-hour loop version on youtube) as you watch this for maximum tear-jerking effect.

---

A fic that inspires you: Magic of the Rose Cross by Awensweth (Harry Potter/D.Gray-Man)

In Harry's 4th year the Triwizard Tournament is brought back to live, but the appearance of a fourth mysterious school about which only Dumbledore seems to know brings new secrets with it for everyone. Who are the students of Rose Cross? Rated: Mature.  AO3 Chose Not To Use Warnings Characters: Harry Potter, Allen Walker, and more Words: 66632.  Status: Incomplete

I have been inspired by many, many fics, but I chose this one in particular because it was the main one that inspired me to join the HP/DGM Triwizard Tournament wave of the early 2010s - indeed, The Combat School is one of my most popular fics, but without this and other fics of the trope, I probably would never have written it!  That’s not to say I’ve copied this fic - aside from the base trope I tried my best to make my own work unique against the others, and hope that I succeeded!  Sadly, this fic is incomplete and hasn’t been updated for some time, but it’s still worth a read.

---

A fic that brought you on board a new ship:  Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell by MsChunks (Boku no Hero Academia)

Uraraka and Bakugo have a secret. It’s not what their classmates think it is. Rated: Teen.  AO3 Chose Not To Use Warnings Characters: Bakugo Katsuki, Uraraka Ochako Words: 182478.  Status: Complete

Putting Bakugo and Uraraka together was something I’d never considered, and I started this fic with some trepidation after a friend recommended it to me, but said friend has never steered me wrong with fics and didn’t start now!  Fake dating, Uraraka actually being badass, the most terrifying couple in class 1-A?  That’s this fic.

---

A fic you wish could be a movie: Mission Impossible by Loopstagirl (Thunderbirds)

Being selected for his first solo mission should have been exciting for Captain Scott Tracy of the Air Force. But there was something else at play. Something dangerous and deadly. Something that could cost him more than his life. Rating: T.  Warnings: Violence Characters: Scott Tracy, Gordon Tracy Words: 55048.  Status: Complete

Air Force!Scott?  W.A.S.P.!Gordon?  On a joint mission together?  Yes, gimme, gimme, gimme.  Gimme Scott’s awkwardness alone on a boat of WASP personnel, gimme Gordon’s horror when he realises the suicide mission pilot is his older brother, and now give that all to me on screen!  And we can’t forget the Hood, of course!  Might be a bit higher rating than the current Thunderbirds stuff, but hey, I’m old enough.  Gimme.

---

A fic that led to you becoming friends with the author: The Gabriel Project by Aceidia (Bleach)  - @thetwelvecaesars​

When Szayelaporro knew Aizen's reign in Heuco Mundo was coming to a close, he took matters into his own brilliant hands. He reincarnates himself and the other nine Espadas into a new life full of surprising turns and irony. Yet, the harmony and ignorance is not forever as they begin to remember. Rating: M (violence) Characters: Szayelaporro Granz, the Espada Words: 116030.  Status: Complete

Well, this fic sparked off a friendship that’s still very much there, even if neither of us write much for Bleach any more!  What started off as a challenge to identify who the Espada were turned into essay-length PMs about anything and everything, and then RP groups and now random emails about whatever at random times of the day (different timezones don’t help)!

---

A fic you’ve gushed about irl: Living Like Kings by CLynnB (Thunderbirds)

The world wants to know more about the Tracy brothers. So Lady Penelope takes it upon herself to show the world just who they are. Through YouTube. Rating: Gen.  AO3 Author Chose Not To Use Warnings Characters: Lady Penelope-Creighton-Ward, Tracy Family (background Pen/Ink, Scayo, Virg/Brains) Words: 35348.  Status: Complete

I love social media fics like this one, and my poor boyfriend got the brunt of it while we were on holiday... he knows basically nothing about Thunderbirds except for what he’s heard from me (which is a lot because he’s amazing and lets me gush).  I mean, Tracy boys playing “The Floor Is Lava?” and tackling each other to the ground?  Gimme.

---

A fic you associate with a place: Thunderbirds Meet Thunderbirds - Alan trip in to the movie verse by ak47stylegirl (Thunderbirds) @ak47stylegirl​

Crazy stuff always happens to Tracys, don't they?  Add felling into a different world to the list. Rating: Gen. AO3 No Archive Warnings Characters: Alan Tracy, Tracy Family times two Words: 25599.  Status: Incomplete

This might be a little random, but this fic was one that I found while I was ill on holiday to the Lake District last autumn.  Sadly, it’s the only trip there I’ve ever done where I couldn’t climb a single fell (and my car’s clutch burnt out after having to reverse up a pass... thanks bus coming the other way), and this fic’s updates while I was there kept me sane!  This has actually very loosely inspired a fic of my own which is in the making - which might get posted in the next year if I’m lucky...  Still waiting eagerly for this fic’s next update :D

---

A fic that made you gasp out loud: The Colours Of The World by MaiKusakabe (Fullmetal Alchemist/Harry Potter)

When Roy Mustang went to retrieve his eyesight from Truth, he wasn’t expecting to end up doing a job in exchange. It couldn’t even be an easy job, of course, because Edward’s assessment of Truth was a pretty accurate one. Rating: Mature.  AO3 No Archive Warnings (but watch for canon-typical violence) Characters: Roy Mustang, Albus Dumbledore, Sirius Black, and more Words: 120578.  Status: Incomplete

Badass Roy yesss.  Twists and turns and Truth is a pretentious you-know-what but Voldemort’s even worse so where does that leave poor Roy except caught in the middle and very much a war veteran at this point... much to the horror of a few wizards!

---

A fic you found at the right time: Seafaring Heartless: Exit North Blue by Avian Swallow (One Piece)

Pirates may be considered evil by the majority, but Law had met quite a few of the world's navy who were corrupt to the core and putting up a very thick facade. He reasoned that if he was going to manipulate and scheme his way into that goal, at least he was going to be honest enough to admit it. Rating: T.  Canon-typical situations Characters: Trafalgar Law, Bepo, Penguin, Shachi, Heart Pirate OCs Words: 159644.  Status: Complete

Is there ever a ‘wrong time’ to find a fic?  (a 100k+ at 4am debatable, but shh).  When I craved Heart Pirate content, this fic (and its sequel, still in progress but updating) appeared!  Only loosely clings to canon at the moment, thanks to some SBS revelations, but with well developed OCs to fill the faces we have no names or personalities for at the moment!

---

A fic that you would read fic of: Only a Boy by Riddle Lee (Harry Potter/Merlin)

Merlin has changed Camelot forever but while that part of his life is complete, destiny has a new task for him. Now he has to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, hide the fact that he's the Merlin, and defeat a Dark Lord that's messing with magic he knows nothing about. Rating: T.  Canon-typical situations Characters: Merlin, Draco Malfoy, Hermione Granger, and more Words: 340998.  Status: Incomplete

An amazing universe with Slytherin!Merlin, no Harry Potter/Boy Who Lived, and the good old ‘hiding real identity’ trope to underpin the whole series.  Currently just into the start of Merlin’s third year at Hogwarts, aka “The Prisoner of Azkaban”.  This universe has so much to give, although Riddle Lee is doing a fantastic job at it.  It’s incomplete and slow to update but does update!

---

A fic that made you laugh out loud: HOW’S THE COMA GOING by ossicle (One Piece)

Kidd and Penguin keep trying to murder each other and Law is done with their shit. He assigns them to take care of each other’s injuries so they’ll learn to get along. It doesn’t work. Rating: Teen.  AO3 No Archive Warnings Characters: Eustass Kid, Penguin, Trafalgar Law (background KidLaw) Words: 2062.  Status: Complete

Oh this one had me in stitches basically the whole time.  Kid’s bedside manner should not be mimicked in the slightest, but a beautiful bonding fic in typical pirate fashion - beat ‘em up ‘til they have your approval.  Poor, poor, Law.

---

A fic with a line (or two) that you’ve memorised by heart: On Their Side by Gumnut (Thunderbirds) - @gumnut-logic​

She trusted these boys with a great deal. Rating: Teen.  AO3 No Warnings Apply Characters: Colonel Casey, Virgil Tracy, Gordon Tracy Words: 1116.  Status: Complete

I think I have basically the entire thing memorised.  This one also falls into several other categories, most notably ones that made me laugh and ones that I’ve reread several times, but it really belongs here on this list.

---

A fic that gave you butterflies: it’s a long way forward so trust in me by aloneintherain (Miraculous Ladybug)

Six times Marinette carried Adrien (plus one time he carried her). Rating: Teen.  AO3 No Archive Warnings Characters: Adrien Agreste|Chat Noir, Marinette Dupain-Cheng|Ladybug (all sides of the love square) Words: 5611.  Status: Complete

Aaah I have a weak spot for strong!Marinette and this fic ticks that box time and time again, with a side of blushing!Adrien and general love-struck Adrien/Chat.  I mean, what more could a girl need?

---

A fic that embodies something you value in life: Team Itachi by Killer of thy Cookies (Naruto)

What if the Third Hokage stopped the council before they could order Itachi to commit the Uchiha Clan Massacre? Itachi is one of the village's strongest ninja, and has now been given the task of being a Jonin sensei, assigned to Team 7 with his little brother Sasuke, the 'dead last' Naruto Uzumaki, and fangirl Sakura Haruno. This is Team Itachi. Rating: T.  Canon-typical situations Characters: Uchiha Itachi, Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, and more Words: 155092.  Status: Complete

(Yup, another non-massacre AU.)  Loyalty.  Honestly, there are so many fics that have loyalty in them, especially in fandoms like Naruto, where loyalty is a pretty big thing anyway (alongside friendship, of course), but this one is Itachi staying openly loyal to the village because Sarutobi actually saved the clan, and of course lovely bonds between the team!

---

A favourite AU: A Son By Any Other Name by carryonstarkid (Thunderbirds)

Cursed as a child, Scott Tracy lives a life in which everyone he encounters must follow all of his given commands. Rating: Teen.  AO3 Chose Not To Use Warnings Characters: Scott Tracy, Tracy Brothers, Kayo Kyrano, and more Words: 83429.  Status: Complete

I rarely read AU fics - my preferred sandbox is the canon one, or a nice slice of canon diversion, rather than completely taking characters out of their home and dumping them somewhere entirely new.  This fairytale AU, however - reminding me very much of Sleeping Beauty except instead of sleeping it’s, well, what the summary says - is fantastically well done and addresses the strain such a thing would put on even the closest of family relationships.

---

A fic you stayed up too late to finish reading: As N Approaches Infinity by Corisanna (Bleach/Puella Magi Madoka Magica)

Despairing as yet another timeline goes horribly wrong, Homura wanders into Karakura. There she discovers that while the spiritually-aware people of Karakura were distracted by Ichigo Kurosaki and Xcution, Kyubey had managed to contract the Kurosaki sisters as magical girls. Drawing the attention of the shinigami could be just the advantage Homura needs. Rating: Teen.  AO3 No Archive Warnings but watch out for canon-typical situations for both fandoms (especially Madoka) Characters: Akemi Homura, Kurosaki Karin, Kurosaki Yuzu, Urahara Kisuke, and many more Words: 465297.  Status: Incomplete

There are many fanfictions that have kept me up til dawn.  Many.  This one, however, has literally robbed me of all my sleep and I’ve still been unable to finish it in one sitting.  It’s good, the pacing is fantastic, and with Homura as our leading lady, that means those time resets really hit hard when they happen (and they happen.  They really, really, happen).  Might be incomplete, but is still updating - and there’s plenty to keep you occupied in the meantime!

---

A fic that made you feel seen: A Seed Once Grown by Darkestwolfx (Thunderbirds) - @darkestwolfx​

Believe it or not, they did have a garden on Tracy Island. It looked a little like a… tip. And that was being kind. Rating: Teen.  AO3 No Archive Warnings Characters: Ned Tedford, Tracy Family Words: 4785.  Status: Complete

Okay, so I’m taking this literally because I spend a lot of time feeling invisible on the internet so having a fic written for me from someone I’d barely spoken to before was a whole pile of screaming.  Not that it’s the first time someone’s written a fic for me, but the other ones have been done by friends I’d already known for some time, and not someone in a fandom I’m just starting to find my feet in.

---

Free space: whoo boy, fun time!  There are a few fics on the top of my head that didn’t fill any of the above prompts (or got beaten to the punch by another), so my wildcard space is going to be a few fic links without the extra detail because I’ve already spent about 12 hours on this to get to this point (did I get sidetracked and re-read a bunch?  You bet) and I’d quite like to also get some fic written today, too!

Eight-Day Week (JoJo Spotting) by TrufflestheMushroom (JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure)

The Trouble With Eastern by teaandtumblr (One Piece)

Remembrance by ClioSelene (One Piece)

Legacy by MaiKusakabe (One Piece)

A Fleeting Smile by AnonymousTwit (Boku no Hero Academia)

Too Loud For Comfort by vaporeon_ninja (Boku no Hero Academia)

A Dragon’s Hoard by Chezka (Boku no Hero Academia)

Nine Lives by P_Artsypants (Miraculous Ladybug)

Chat’s Eye View (Love Letters To Paris) by Icka M Chif (Miraculous Ladybug)

Gabriel’s Lament by Chaotic Neutral (Miraculous Ladybug)

What The Cat Dragged In by Kyral (Avengers/Miraculous Ladybug)

Weekend Warrior by BlackDog_66 (Avengers)

Fitting In (Tiny Spaces) by aloneintherain (Avengers)

Autonomy by beetlebee (Naruto)

Great Minds by ScreamingViking (Final Fantasy VII)

Dear Kunsel by Sinnatious (Final Fantasy VII)

Cracks in the knight by authorettejasmin (Magic Kaito)

To Wrap An Elvish Princeling by Jael (Lord of the Rings)

There are more, many more, and I’ll probably post a few more recs around - you can also find some on my blog and I’ll try and get that updated with a few more at some point because there are many more than that!