#cull your dash

[writers-potion]

Let's Talk About Pacing Our Fight Scenes.

For Fast-Paced Parts:

Short words with single syllables. Immediately > at once/ endeavour > try/ indicate > point at/ investigate > check out.

Short sentences, the shorter the better.

Partial sentences to blaze through multiple senses and actions within a few lines.

Short paragraphs

Lots of verbs.

Few adjectives and adverbs.

Cut down on -ing form of verbs, as it can make words longer

Use simple past tense

Avoid conjunctions and link words.

Avoid internal thought - your characters are irrational, ruthless and in the flow of pure action.

For Slow-Paced Parts:

Use medium/long sentences

the paragraphs are longer: three lines minimum

Include longer words with more syllables

Use adjectives and maybe a couple of adverbs.

Insert the thoughts of the PoV character.

Words for Action Scenes

act, alter, attack, avert, back, block, bang, bash, battle, beat, beg, belt, bend, best, bite, blacken, bleed, blind, blister, blow, blunt, boil, bolt, boot, bore, bow, box, brace, brag, brash, brawl, break, breathe, brush, buck, bulgde, burn, burst, cackle, call, can, carry, cart, carve, catch, check, chop, chuck, clack, clank, clap, clash, claw, clear, cleave, click, cliff, cling, clip, close, club, cock, coil, cold, collar, come, con, connect, corner, cost, count, counter, cover, cower, crack, crackle, cram, crash, crawl, creep, crinkle, cross, crouch, rush, cry, cuff, cull, cup, curl, curse, curve, cusp, cut, dart, dash, deepen, dig, deep, dip, ditch, drive, drop, duck, dump, ede, effect, erect, escape, exert, expect, feint, fight, fire fist, fit, flag, flare, flash, flick, fling, flip, flock, force, gash, gasp, get, gore, grab, grasp, grip, grope, group, hack, harden, heat, help, hit, hop, hurl, hurry, impale, jab, jar, jerk, join, jolt, jump, keep, kick, kill, knee, knock, knot, knuckle, leak, leap, let, lever, lick, lift, lock, loop, lop, plunge, mask, nick, nip, open, oppose, pace, pack, pain, pair, pale, palm, pan, pant, parry, part, pass, paste, pat, peak, peck, pelt, pick, pierce, pile, ping, piss, pit, pivot, plot, pluck, plug, plunge, ply, point, pool, pop, pose, pot, pound, pour, powder, pray, preen, prepare, prey, prick, prickle, print, probe, pry, pull, pulp, pulse, pump, punch, pursue, push, quarry, quarter, quest, race, raise, rake, ram, rap, rasp, rear, retreat, rip, riposte, rivert, roar, rock, roll, rope, round, rouse, run, rush, sap, scale, scalp, scan, score,scream, seek, seep, shake, shape, sharpen, shock, shoot, shop, slap, slap, slash, slice, slick, slip, slit, smash, snap, snare, snatch, snipe, sock, space, spar, spark, speed, spike, spill, spin, spit, splash, spoil, spring, spur, spurt, spy, squirm, stand, steert, step, stick, strap, strike, stuff, suck, support, swat, sweat, sweep, swingm tack, tag, take, target, taste, team, tear, tent, test, thrash, throw, thrust, thud, tick, tide, tilt, time, tire, top, toss, tower, toy, trap, trick, trigger, trip, triumph, trouble, trump, try, tuck, tug, twril, twitch, weaken, wet, whip, whirl, whirr, whoop, whoosh, whop, work, zap, zip.

If you like my blog, buy me a coffee☕ and find me on instagram! 📸

[jolapeno]

✨ jolapeno turns three today 🥹

(or undercoverpena, mvtthewmurdvck - however you've come to know me)

no matter when i stumbled into your dash, whether through my bucky barnes stage, daredevil, the umbrella academy, daredevil again, call of duty, daredevil again again, narcos, triple frontier, the last of us, the mentalist, the mandalorian and likely back to daredevil again, thank you. not just for the laughs, or the notes; the kudos or the asks, but for being here when it's been cloudy and stormy. thank you for reading the things my brain comes up with and urging it to continue.

i started as a person who didn't know if she could tell stories and I'm now a person who loves to tell stories. even with the lows, this has still been a place I've felt super happy to be a part of, and I'm so grateful that so many of you have stuck around (or allowed me to forcibly drag you from fandom to fandom).

i wish i could go back and tell three-years-ago-jo that in two years she'll have friends she couldn't go a day without speaking to. i wish i could see the look on her face when i told her that she'll have written not one story, but countless romance stories after never thinking she'd be able to do it again. so thank you, for being here, for reading and supporting, for cheering me on and also being my friend. i love you all lots. (sorry not sorry for being a mush)

some special thank you's to just some people who inspired great things in me, who have seen my work when it hasn't been as polished as when it's posted and not judged me for my random misspellings or crazy dyslexia.

even when i didn't think i could do it, you all did. so thank you. to my friend aish, who held my hand through late night texts (which allowed me to find my tuesday sister @goodwithcheese without who i cannot humanly go a day without now). without @eupheme we'd never had had din going around the universe, without you telling me i could do it. and if not for @tonysopranosrobe we'd never had me writing outbreak joel who just can't keep his hands to himself and even more joel's since then. to the wonderful @secretelephanttattoo who inspired and cheered me on for do me yourself (it wouldn't have existed without you) i am amazed by you all the time. and to @luxurychristmaspudding for fancying the pants of frankie and blue so much we're still not sure who we're choosing, for helping me cull the ideas and holding my extra 'S' with all the love in the world. and @toomanytookas for being a sounding board when i change plot three times and not judging me.

and last but no means least, my panda, the girl i have trekked on a train for even if i hate trains, @thetriumphantpanda you don't just inspire great things in me, but make me do great things. your honesty and care with my heart and work is never taken for granted and if you're not crying as you read this, what the living fuck hahaha.

[sincerelyamee]

Looking for JJK x reader that has a little (or a lot) more than smut? More fun and plots? I've got something cooking for you. Click on the titles to go to AO3:

1. Your Life as a Tokyo Jujutsu High Background Student (Reader Insert)

Fix-it/Retelling of JJK (covering the light novels, JJK0, JJK), fluff, humor, hurt/comfort, found family; canon-compliant until the Shibuya Incident; everyone survives; gender-neutral & chaotic reader; reader x JJK characters relationships are fully developed - either platonic or romantic-leaning; rated mature for language & dark themes; non-smut.

2. Divine Ruination (Reader Insert)

Primarily Sukuna x Reader; fluff, humor, hurt/comfort, smut with plot; enemies to lovers with a dash of amnesia & Stockholm syndrome; he fell first, he fell harder; canon-divergent featuring the Culling Game & Shinjuku Showdown arcs; female & chaotic reader; rated mature for smut, language, & dark themes.

3. The Zen'in Curse (Reader Insert)

Nanami x Reader & Haibara x Reader; fluff, humor, hurt/comfort; female & chaotic reader; slow burn; canon-divergent; story set before the Hidden Inventory arc; featuring bestie!Shoko, childhood-sweetheart!Gojo, & mentor!Kusakabe, rated mature for language & dark themes; non-smut.

4. A Family of Villain (Sashisu Defect AU)

Gojo/Shoko/Geto defecting together with the kids after Geto went bananas at that village; fluff, humor, found family; slow burn; slice of life; non-smut.

[stories-and-chaos]

Shrike: The Deal with Niffty; 1 Year Anniversary

[Hazbin Hotel reader insert as Alastor’s “darling life and death partner” Ace x ace relationship, both parties are moderately sex favorable.]

[Part 2 with Niffty, word count 1446, Cw: bug genocide none]

———————

You counted the days, double checking on the Scenic Hell calendar pinned up in the kitchen. You didn’t mention anything until that evening; Niffty was literally underfoot all day. “Tomorrow will be one year from when you made the deal with Niffty, cher.”

Alastor paused in his nightly routine, counting in his head. “I suppose it is. Ah, how the time flies.”

“We should do something, celebrate a little.”

Your husband gave you a questioning smile in the reflection of your vanity mirror. “We’ve never done that for any other Sinner.”

“We haven’t had any other Sinner chase you for weeks to make a deal,” you pointed out logically. “But she is yours, Alastor, it’s up to you.” He hummed noncommittally as two of you settled in for the night.

In the morning, you woke to a warm buttery smell and the hiss of a hot pan. Alastor, wearing a black apron, was making hotcakes and sausages. Niffty, still dressed in her nightgown and rubbing sleep from her eye, wandered into the kitchen. She spotted Alastor at the stove and immediately skittered up to him.

“Sir! I’m supposed to make breakfast!” She shot up to his shoulder and tugged on one antler.

Alastor, usually despising that much physical contact, merely shrugged and twirled his spatula as dramatically as his cane. “Well my dear, Y/N reminded me it’s been one year since we struck our deal. So I decided we’ll have some fun today.” He plucked the little cyclops of his shoulder and deposited her on the stool next to the table.

She scampered down and climbed back up his side to perch on his head. “Ooo, what kind of fun?” Her grin turned feral as she watched him flip hotcakes.

He finished cooking and delivered both food and the little maid to the table. “We’ll figure that out together.” The three of you started eating before he continued. “So my dear, what would you like to do today?” Alastor asked Niffty as he cut into his sausage.

Niffty, her cheeks full of hotcakes and syrup, froze. Her giant eye pinned as she stared at Alastor. A minute passed, then she gulped down her mouthful of food before automatically shoveling another forkful of hotcakes into her mouth. You realized she probably never really thought about it, enthusiastic as she was about her work.

You savored a bite. “How about…” you mused aloud, “we find more bugs than the bayou has?” Niffty’s attention snapped to you as she smiled around her bite of breakfast.

Fed and caffeinated, the three of you walked to your proposed destination. Niffty traveled three times the distance as she dashed around you and Alastor, occasionally climbing up one of you for a better view.

Your destination was a moderate two story building with two large glass enclosures connected. The sign above the entrance read Infernal Insectorium. Niffty’s eye widened as she started giggling on Alastor’s shoulder.

“Y/N, are you certain of this? Our dear Niffty is sure to decimate the population,” Alastor asked with amusement. “If you want to put this establishment out of business, this is an original way of doing so.”

“Not to worry, cher.” You pulled him inside, paying the entrance fee for the three of you. Niffty climbed down and started to run off, but you snagged her blouse before she could. “This place breeds quite a few critters for various purposes. So much so that they have a special wing for removing the substandard ones.” The foyer led to the two wings; one was labeled Observation Room, the other Culling Room. Through the glass walls to both you could see lush indoor gardens.

You led the way to the Culling Room. There was a small room between the foyer and the garden with a door leading to each. Only one could be open at a time, preventing any insect escapes. There was a member of the staff stationed in the room to operate the doors and ensure the bugs stayed where they were meant to be.

Once inside, you let Niffty go. “Eeeeheheheheheeeee!” she laughed, skittering off the path to chase down her first victim. Alastor walked arm in arm with you, admiring the garden.

“However did this place come about? And how did you find out about it my dear?”

Your talons brushed a flowering vine aside. “Evidently this was originally an insect house, supplying silkworms, beetles and snails for dyes, in addition to the indoor garden. But so many visitors kept eating the insects on display, they decided to add this room and charge for the privilege.”

Niffty’s giggles and mutters of “stab, stab, stab” were joined by other chuckles and squeals as demons hunted down their tiny prey. As you rounded a corner you saw a pair of frog-like demons at a wrought iron table catching flying insects with their tongues while making eyes at each other.

“Quite resourceful,” Alastor commented. He spotted an open bench for you both to relax on as Niffty had her fun. He hummed contentedly, soft jazz music filling the area around him. The tiny cyclops dashed into view on occasion, wielding either her favorite chef’s knife or a needle as she scurried after various bugs. She brought ones she was particularly proud of to pile up on the bench “for her collection.”

Whenever a creepy crawly got too close to you or your husband, it found itself impaled by one of your talons. Depending on the bug, you’d either eat it or add it it a separate pile for someone else to indulge in. Even Niffty had a limit to her energy and after a few hours she plopped herself between the two of you. She sifted through her spoils, selecting her favorite specimens. The rest were added to the pile you made.

After her selection was carefully wrapped in a handkerchief and stowed in your handbag, Alastor decided it was time for a late lunch. Food refilled her well of energy and afterwards Niffty was skipping around him again. “Now then, anything else we should do today Niffty, Y/N?”

“Oh oh, I need supplies to display my collection!” Niffty said eagerly, bouncing rapidly. “This way guys!” She ran back and forth between Alastor and the nearest crossroads. She repeated this after every turn until she brought you all to a craft store. The purple spider demon behind the counter recognized the cyclops. “Long time no see Niffty! Where you been sweets?”

“Hi Cici! I’m working for Alastor now. We’re celebrating my one year anniversary!”

“Greetings! The name’s Alastor and this is my darling Y/N. Pleasure to meet you my dear, quite a pleasure,” he said, holding out his hand to shake.

Cici either recognized your husband’s name or voice. She shook his hand carefully and asked Niffty in a shaky voice, “You…you’re working for the Radio Demon?” Niffty responded with a quick and cheerful “yup!” before dashing down an aisle.

“Yes indeedy! She was quite insistent about working for me. Even after my darling whisked her away multiple times! We found her to be extremely persistent.”

“She wore us down,” you added. “It’s been an excellent decision in the end.”

Cici looked a bit less nervous. “Well, she has always liked bad boys.”

Niffty returned with a stack of items; frames, cloth, pins, and boards. “More shadow boxes sweets?” Cici started tallying things up.

“Uh huh! They took me bug hunting today! I’ve got lots of new friends for my collection,” she replied, her voice turning into a cackle at the end.

Alastor paid for the items and stored the lot in his shadow. “I believe we’ve had quite an enjoyable outing today. What say we head back?”

“‘Kay! Bye Cici, see ya later!” Niffty waved rapidly at her friend while bouncing out the door Alastor was holding for you both. You waved at the spider, saying “au revoir!” as you accepted Alastor’s arm.

Niffty continued to zip around the streets on the way home. But her energy started to flag again. A little over halfway, she started dozing off on Alastor’s shoulder. You scooped her up and placed her in your purse; you’d brought your largest in anticipation of this. Her bright red hair peeked out from the top of the bag.

“It has been a lovely diversion today, I must admit,” Alastor said as the sky began to darken.”

“Agreed. I have to say I’m glad Niffty was so persistent. She’s been an excellent addition to the household. And not just because she’s so willing to do housework.” Alastor didn’t reply, but the cheerful music that swelled as he hummed said enough.

——————

@whitewolfsoldat @edgyboi10000 @ch3sire-blu3 @clearly-awkward @badatpunz @bengewatch @chewbrry

[maintitle]

I do not care about the solavellan favoritism. Given the set-up of the game, I'd be mad on behalf of Solas romancers if there wasn't a bit of favoritism for them.

What I care about is the over-emphasis on that romance in an article that cuts and dashes peoples love of other romances while also dashing the state of the world your choices built. I care that Iron Bull and Blackwall romancers now are in a state of limbo. I care that no romance from before DA:I even exists anymore, in the eyes of this game. I care that my favorite fictional character, whom I played a man to romance, is being confirmed as heavily involved with the game, but seemingly robbed of all context of her life's story. I'm mad that a necessary culling of choice has turned into a wilfire that has left only three survivors, and yes I'm a little annoyed that the one very well fed group in all these changes is the most popular straight romance.

This whole thing is frustrating as hell and it hurts a lot of people to know that their choices don't matter and that their favorite romances are either lessened or gone, and that their favorite OC's are basically non-existent in the mind of this game. So please don't turn this into a fandom versus solavellan issue, because it's not about solas, it's about how a huge fraction of the fanbase is sleeping on the couch while one romance specifically is sleeping in the bed.

[pileofmush]

warning: yes we're talking about taz skylar. yes i am opinionated.

i'm making this as a response to the posts i've seen floating around on my dash that are promoting neutrality, and, most annoyingly, whining about the backlash he's receiving.

you guys had your turn to speak so i guess i'll take mine!

no, this is not directed at any particular blog. yes, i am biased, and i'm not going to pretend that i'm not. and finally no, i’m not posting this to seem virtuous or some shit like that. glad we got that cleared up.

anywho. you guys are annoying me 😭

it's always #freepalestinetillit'sbackwards until your favorite british blorbo is questioned. questioned, rightfully so, mind you.

let's go over the facts:

this was posted by twitter user knsiara yesterday morning. apparently, people are also getting on taz about who he follows on social media, but that's none of my concern. i'm aware it takes effort to cull and monitor the values of those you follow. i don't hold that against him. moving on.

the real concern is the charity that he was directly promoting. as in, the charity that he's presumably donated to and encouraged his 1.9 million followers to donate to as well, seeing as it was linked right there in his instagram bio.

so! there is a bit of confusion about who the red cross supports. i've done some basic googling, and yeah it's pretty vague, so i do understand the confusion. it seems the red cross provides aid to both sides, which has already put me off (in no circumstance would i provide aid to the country enacting a genocide. because remember, it's less-so a conflict and more-so a genocide.) but that's beside the point. as you'll note in the right-most screenshot up above, it's the fundraising for the british red cross (BRC), in particular, that has raised some eyebrows.

so who does the BRC support, then?

there we have it. taken right from their site. i've even taken the liberty to highlight it for you: as it stands, the british red cross provides aid to "israel and occupied palestinian territory.”

what does that mean? well, i'm glad you asked. this leads to my next segment...

the assumptions:

does the BRC support palestine? no.

do they support israel? well, you read their words. it's not the clearest statement in the world, but it's to my understanding that the BRC supports israel, as it clearly subscribes to the zionist sentiment that palestinian land belongs to israel. hence, palestinian occupied territory. zionist rhetoric. now, that doesn't sound like an organization that has the people of palestine's best interests in mind, does it?

"but-but that doesn't make taz a zionist!"

oh, brother. he's donating to pro-israel organizations and encouraging his followers to do the same!! let's get serious here.

there is of course the possibility that he didn't research the charity. that he didn't know what he was promoting. and sure! it's possible. everyone's human. we all make mistakes.

but then he went and tweeted that vague as hell tweet implying that he sides with israel…

if it was an honest mistake; if he stood with palestine, he’d say so. morgan davies did, so let’s not pretend it’s a “protecting his job” move… (expanded on towards the end).

now, since i don't follow him, i don't have the timeline of things, such as when he added the BRC to his bio, or when people started asking him about it, but, i mean. the BRC was in his bio, now it's not. he posted the tweet two days ago, and has since deleted it. maybe it's bad timing, but, i'm not inclined to believe it is.

which leads me to my point that i'm highly suspicious of the taz-riders right now...

especially the ones outright complaining about him getting "canceled" and whatnot.

people use the word “cancel” so loosely now. it’s pretty much lost all meaning. choosing not to support taz skyler for his abysmal political opinions does not equate to him getting “canceled.”

dissing him on twitter does not equate to him getting “canceled.” girl no one is taking his netflix check away—he’s got a bag, he’s got a second season, he’s got his loyal stans: he‘ll come back from this. and honestly, throwing the term “cancel” around is ridiculous when we’re talking about matters like palestinian genocide.

yes, taz might have worded his response poorly under stress. but doesn't it still hold implications? what else can we assume if his response to people accusing him of promoting and funding israel is... we have different opinions, and that's okay 🤍

c'mon taz, you can do a little better than that, can't you?

so that's why i'm confused about why others are confused, regarding the backlash. we, the people, have such little control over the shit that’s happening in the world: of course we’ll exercise what little control that we have…

we’ll choose what we consume and who we monetarily support according to our own values.

people wanna talk about "parasocial relationships" and "putting him on a pedestal," but bae, i promise you, it's nothing personal. from me, at the very least. i was never a rider or a hater of taz, personally. but c'mon. he publicly promoted a pro-israel organization, and then made a vague nothing-tweet in response. backlash is warranted.

maybe you should reconsider why you’re so willing to ride for this man you don’t actually know… if we’re gonna bring up parasocial relationships, and all.

that doesn’t mean i support sending him death threats or doxxing him or anything like that, but i mean... if people have opinions, they're gonna talk 😭 getting called out on twitter is not the end of the world.

anywho. give him the benefit of the doubt if you want. but i think he's made his stance quite clear in his actions and inaction.

if you still want to simp over a man who thinks political neutrality toward genocide is acceptable, go ahead and take the watermelon outta your bio. there's no need for performative activism on this site. just admit to yourself that you're only willing to support palestine until it makes you uncomfortable.

as for support of the OPLA, that is, obviously, up to you. i, for one, won't be streaming it on netflix anytime soon. but, there are some actors in the OPLA who do support palestine, such as morgan davies, who publicly shot down the losers trying to angle that palestine is anti lgbtq+ and therefore does not deserve support (as if intersectionality and queer palestinians don't exist, lord) ...so, this is a nuanced convo and i may change my mind when season 2 rolls around if i feel the pros outweigh the cons. or i'll just follow morgan davies into their next project. whichever feels right.

what i won't do, however, is make this site comfortable for the taz-riders lmaoo, because there were a few too many posts advocating for him than i’m comfortable with from my fellow fans of one piece. one piece, of all fandoms, and we’re divided on the morals and ethics of supporting genocide—good lord— nor will i support anyone else on the OPLA cast who has a terrible take on what’s taking place in palestine. repeat after me, there's no such thing as neutrality when it comes to genocide.

free palestine, today. tomorrow, and the next. class dismissed.

posting this on 1/5/24, 7:00 pm EST. as of right now, taz hasn’t come out with a statement addressing the backlash. but hey! opinions can change and i hope he’ll change mine, for what it’s worth.

[pixelnrd]

9,10,13,15,21,33(if you read anyone else’s stories on tumblr that is if not then skip)!

9. what about your story are you looking to improve on?

I am always looking to improve on my shots and their composition. I feel like I am always learning something new, or favouring a different style, but still haven't found an approach that I am most happy with and often will use shots I'm not totally proud of. I would love for my shots to be better composed to tell more of a story on their own, rather than rely on a sequence of shots all the time. However, I am also lazy and hate being meticulous!

10. is your story fully planned or are you still working things out? is there a definitive end?

The rest of the 1990s is fully planned and nearly finished! The 2000s is loosely planned in terms of the direction it will go (no matter who the heir is), and my end-game plan is already fully planned out (but not executed. That, my friends, will be a huge effort).

13. from basic planning to a finished post, how long does that take you?

Ok I feel like everyone is way more organised when it comes to planning than I am. I think my method would destroy some people to see because it is so chaotic and slap-dash.

I will have a generic idea for what a post is about (like one sentence), and maybe some dot points on what that will involve in terms of location, interactions between characters, arrangement of shots. Then I will go in game and shoot, cull my shots down, and apply a basic generic edit that I use fo all shots. And that's it!

If it requires me downloading or decorating lots, or if it requires outfitting lots of sims, this will take longer - sometimes several sessions of sims, as I only get to play in the evenings most days. However, I am pretty good at getting one post (sometimes two) done in a 3-ish hour session.

15. what have been the highlights of creating your story?

So many! Being a part of a community, being able to get creative and use my imagination, the freedom to tell a story that I want to tell, learning to use different tools for both gameplay and editting to really up my skills, learning how to create custom content. But most of all, meeting other people from around the world who share my interest, who inspire me and entertain me with their content, and who encourage me in my own!

21. choose your least favourite shot so far

This really accidentally-NSFW posing mistake between Leo and Valerie back in the 1960s.

33. recommend another creator’s story!

I will always recommend @aheathen-conceivably (second tag from me babes) because her story is exsquisite. The Vibes are impeccable. Pleease read it all the way from the beginning if you haven't already!

[burins]

eisners 2024 roundup pt 1!

because I collect for graphic novels at the library I technically get to vote in the Eisners. which means that every May I read an ungodly number of comics because try as I'd like to keep up with stuff throughout the year it is impossible!

there was a lot of really good fun stuff I got to read, and also some stuff that made me absolutely furious. please enjoy the fruits of my labor and my very very long spreadsheet.

Best Continuing Series: birds of prey 1-6 (dc, kelly thompson and leonardo basto romero)

if you read my yuri zine piece you might remember that at the end of it I mentioned I hadn't read this yet because I knew that Babs was going to be Batgirl in it. Babs is Batgirl in it, but the series is still really really good. it is exactly what I want out of birds of prey – a really cohesive, fun team comic. also dinah really shines in this! I love the old school take on the art and the almost screen tone edges of the coloring, it gives it a really retro feel. also appreciate the lack, at least so far, of tons of cheesecake. I read the entirety of old birds of prey and I'm done with crotch shots thank youuuu (this is not counting issue 5 which takes a really jarring completely different artistic bent where everyone is drawn like it's 2003 and they're anime waifus. you cannot skip issue 5 for plot reasons but i did grit my teeth through it)

(continued below the cut for saving-your-dash reasons)

honorable mention: shazam 1-6 (dc, mark waid and dan mora)

I have never before cared about a Shazam comic but this was really fun.. it really leans into Billy being a kid with some real big powers and the rapport between him and his foster siblings is delightful. also I'm never going to say no to Dan Mora art

i won't get into my feelings about taylor's nightwing run AGAIN here but i resent that i had to read more of it for the second year in a row. and i especially resent that the fps nightwing issue got a nomination for best single issue.

Best Limited Series: the cull (image, Kelly Thompson and Mattia De Iulis)

another Kelly thompson! this was a cool and interesting story about a group of kids who, after a tragedy, go out to the beach to film one last short film together and discover an alien world. the plotting is sharp and quick and the character stuff hits well. hyperrealistic art isn't always my jam, but I think it does work in this instance. also quite frankly the rest of this category was pretty weak.

honorable mention: superman lost (dc, chris priest and carlo pagulayan)

I loved the start of Superman lost. I thought it was a really fantastic take on Lois and Clark and the inevitable very real difficulties that their relationship would face. I loved how it let Lois be angry and hurt without condemning her which we SO rarely see in a capes comic. and then it almost completely lost me towards the end. I thought the infidelity / pregnancy subplot was both unnecessary and frustrating (and tbh I don't love the only Black-coded character in the comic, even if she does have pink skin, being a secret villain who's trying to keep Clark trapped with her.) it felt like it fizzled and that's a bummer because boy do the first few issues put clark through the grinder.

Best New Series: Phantom Road (image, Jeff Lemire and Gabriel Hernández Walta)

this category was really hard to pick a favorite because it was full of cool shit. phantom road is a familiar narrative if you've listened to Alice isn't dead, from the Long haul truckers to the truck stops that slide into another world, to the body horror other world monsters. I think Alice isn't dead does it better, but I'm excited to see where phantom road goes. in general I really like Jeff lemire's stuff and I think this will be well done, and hernandez walta's art is tautly paneled and slides between uncanny normal into horror perfectly.

honorable mention: black cloak (image, Kelly Thompson and Meredith McClaren)

I love the worldbuilding in black cloak, but I think it's undercut by art that is too cute for the story. everything in McLaren's art is really rounded and feels kind of like a video game world where I'm collecting pets or something, rather than a fairly gritty fantasy murder mystery. still think this is worth a read though!

honorable mention #2: Local Man (image, Tim Seeley and Tony Fleecs)

I enjoyed this enough to read the second volume even though it didn't actually come out in the nomination period! the plot on this is great and although I think the trope of down on his luck superhero who has to go back in disgrace to his hometown and solve some mysteries is maybe a little overplayed (the overall plot feels a bit too watchmen lite for me) the way it's done here is interesting to read. also the diegetic comics are delightful, particularly the ones with Inga.

next category: kids 9-12. hey did ya'll know there are some really good middle-grade comics coming out right now! there are some really good middle-grade comics coming out right now. this isn't actually my collection area but too bad.

Buzzing (Samuel Sattin and Rye Hickman)

i'm usually not one for Issue Comics, even ones for kids, but this was such a lovely and sweet story about a kid with OCD who finds friends in his D&D group. the art is lovely and i wish baby me had had access to this!

Mexikid (Pedro Martín)

Mexikid is just a delight from start to finish. funny, poignant, great stuff about family and culture and the experience of going on a very long road trip with your horrible siblings who you love very much. Martín switches between laugh out loud humor and deep emotion with incredible facility. This was my picks for the category, but it was tight!

Saving Sunshine (Saadia Faruqi and Shazleen Khan)

really sweet story about a pair of twins who have to pretend to get along in order to get their phones back and end up remembering that they do, in fact, love each other.

on to the teens!

Best Teen (13-17) Danger and Other Unknown Risks (Ryan North and Erica Henderson)

I like this comic so much that I made my partner read it, and they also loved it. delightful romp of an adventure through a post-apocalyptic world in which magic has replaced all electricity. the Chosen One (and her dog) have to bring certain artifacts back to her uncle in order for him to save the world. or do they? the plot turns on this one are extremely good and the cast of characters is a delight

honorable mention: Frontera (Julio Anta and Jacoby Salcedo)

I think it is extremely good for kids, and for everyone, to read stories about the horrors of the us-mexico border. however the ghost subplot on this one really really lost me.. it felt like it took a lot away from the seriousness of the story instead of heightening it or relieving tension.

Best Humor: How to Love: A Guide to Feelings & Relationships for Everyone (Alex Norris)

I went in fully expecting not to like this at all- I assumed it would be really didactic. but it is actually both extremely funny and very sweet. it is essentially a relationship manual from the "oh no" comics person, with all of the silliness and care that that entails.

honorable mention: The Yakuza’s Bias (Teki Yatsuda, trans. Max Greenway)

what if you were a hard boiled high ranking Yakuza, and your boss's daughter got you into kpop? and you became really inspired by your bias and the way that he tirelessly works towards his dreams? delight of a manga (obvious comparison would be the way of the househusband and this is just as fun.)

Best Anthology: Deep Cuts (Kyle Higgins, Joe Clark, Danilo Beyruth, and others)

this SLAPPED. collection of loosely related comics about jazz and the joys of improvisation and the various indignities of the music industry. the art is great from comic to comic, the colors are so tasty, and this made me really emotional about collective artistic endeavor. it's good to have a jam session, and this is the comics equivalent of one.

honorable mention: The Out Side: Trans & Nonbinary Comics (ed. The Kao, Min Christensen, and David Daneman)

i'm generally pretty hit or miss on anthologies (the nature is such that there's gonna be someone in there i really dislike) but this one was actually quite lovely and the art was great. a good variety of stories and takes and a lot of nonbinary artists :)

DIShonorable mention: Comics for Ukraine (ed. Scott Dunbier)

i could have lived my whole life without seeing an Astro City take on the invasion of Ukraine. i wish this had been good! there was one single story in here that didn't make me want to go, head in my hands, hey maybe american comics writers are not like, best positioned to write about what it's like to have your country invaded! i just think. superhero comics are not always the best medium with which to tackle every issue. and that is okay! (the story, "talking to a hill," was also one of the few non-tie-in stories in the anthology and one of the few that actually like. told a ukrainian story rather than a weak allegory.)

Best Nonfiction: Last on His Feet: Jack Johnson and the Battle of the Century (Adrian Matejka and Youssef Daoudi)

woof this is a killer. incredible art incredible writing incredibly nuanced take on a pretty difficult figure, famous Black boxer Jack Johnson, that does not pull any punches in its treatment of either the virulent racism he faced or his treatment of his wife. honestly probably my favorite book of the whole collection.

okay my arm is crapping out so I'll round up the rest (adaptation, international, album, academic, strips, and a few good things I read for best writer and artist) later!

[weskin-time]

i am not proud of this but! Happy Valentine’s day y’all!!

not beta read

Valentine’s day

Wesker x GN!Reader

You came home to find a flower on the table. A red rose, just sitting by its self on the table. You took it in your hands, the thorns have been cut off, there was no note or anything.

You shrugged and assumed it was from Wesker, today was Valentine’s day after all, so flowers on the table was pretty much standard for this day. A smile tugged at your lips as you shoved your nose into the flower and gave a sniff.

“You’re home early.” Wesker appeared in the dining room with no warning and almost scared you.

“Geezus Al warn me next time you dash into a room.” You put your stuff down and walk over to him wrapping your arms around his neck you stand on your toes to give him a peck on the cheek, to his credit he leans down slightly to make it easier on you. “Happy Valentine’s day Albert! Thank you for the rose.”

Honestly you were fine with just the rose, as long as you could spend time with your boyfriend you didn’t care about gifts or such.

“Oh! Speaking of gifts, i got you something.” You head back over to the table where you pick up a bag decorated in over the top hearts and sappy one liners you got from the store and hand it to Wesker.

He looks at it before opening the bag and pulls out a pair of sunglasses almost identical to the pair he has on currently. He looks at you for a second before you usher him to look more into the bag. He pulls out a new small jar of hair gel, a very fancy expensive cologne he was eyeing for a while, and a card. He set everything on the table and opened the note. You saw his eyes scan over the words a few times, soaking in your handwriting. You were really proud of this little notecard, it was a stupid little card you bought from the store, it had a dog on it holding a chocolate heart box, and inside you poured your heart out to him. Even though he was a bastard sometimes you loved him. Loved him so very dearly. In a sense he was your everything.

He sighed and for a heartbeat you thought the note was too over the top, that he was annoyed but your millisecond of worrying changed as soon as a slight chuckle came from him.

“You’re idiotic writing all this down.” The smile on his lips put warmth into his words, you knew he was deflecting from the situation and you smiled at him.

He sets the card down and removes his glasses, setting them along with the pair you just got him. He’s always breaking them so you figured to get him a new pair. He took a second before reaching out to you, holding your hand and leaning into you. He leaned down to rest his head in the crook of your neck, you pressed a kiss to his cheek as his arms snakes around your midsection pulling you into him even more. Your arms find their place around his neck.

“Happy Valentine’s day dearheart.” You tried to say it back to him but he shushed you and continued speaking, “I love you. Truly i do. Everything about you drives me mad, i need you, i don’t know what i would do without you. You really are worthy to join me in culling this world.” He places a kiss on your forehead as your cheeks run hotter from his words.

“Now get dressed and ready, fancy wear my dear, we have a dinner reservation at 7.” He pulled away and adjusted his sweater.

You smiled at him, “I thought we were just going to stay home all day?”

“I can pull a few strings and get us into a nice place. Now go get ready, I’ll get a car ready as soon as you say the word.” He left the room to go change himself and you watched him walk away.

You did love him but you think he may have forgotten what day it was.

You also wondered how he was going to get you two in a fancy restaurant on the busiest day of the year. 

[vinthetiefling]

Baldur’s Gate 3 was worth the wait.

I’ve spent over a decade searching for the next game to inspire what I felt playing Dragon Age Origins. That’s not to say I’m not enamoured with the creative beauty of Legend of Zelda, the epic storytelling of the Witcher, or the existential freedom afforded to you in Disco Elysium. For me, the greatest source of that feeling is the ability to fail and to have those failures fleshed out and made real. To witness those failures having a meaningful impact on your story and where it’s headed. There are countless forks in the road, which might explain why I retained so many save states despite routinely culling them.

Sure, high rolling is nice. High rolling kept some of my favourite characters from turning on me or becoming consumed with power. I even built a sorcerer with high persuasion in anticipation for what lay ahead. But the hidden intricacies—the people you notice or fail to notice in a flooding room, the choice to give into a whispering dark urge, the fate of a prince with no bearing to your backstory—are where we cut our own paths, and where we unwittingly stumble into failure.

Whether you want to come into the game with a preset alignment, decide on a case-by-case basis, or even throw it all out the window and veer from good to evil—that’s on you as the captain of this ship! And make no mistake, you are the captain. Even when the characters have their own bonds, belief systems and priorities outside of your mad dash to remove the tadpoles.

The writing was ingenious. There were characters I never saw myself caring for who demonstrated vulnerability and complexity, making me wade into hell to save them. Other characters I’d pegged under a certain alignment or archetype. They later proved themselves capable of doing a 180 and becoming a problem later. There were those who showed an incomparable ability to adapt and those who held strong to their beliefs. I also loved the touch of recruiting potential enemies into your party where they would prove to be invaluable assets to the team.

That’s not even touching on the choices you’ll be able to make in Acts 1, 2, and 3. Tdlr; It would be one hell of a task to make two runs resemble each other.

Here’s the lowdown on my run:

Character:

Vin the tiefling was a divine soul sorcerer conjured in pencil on the back of my rogue’s player sheet back in 2017. He was a backup in the event that I died. Eventually, I brought him out and his stats made him the face of the party, which was unfortunate for me as a naturally uncharismatic person. His shenanigans later saw him captured, petrified, amputated, crushed beneath the falling tower of a lich and transformed into a weapon of Bhaal. My favourite trait of his was his refusal to die. My sparkly glitter dice kept him going, and in the spirit of that, Vin was reborn in BG3 as the son of Bhaal.

Origin:

The dark urge didn’t pull any punches. I don’t know if I’ve ever felt so uncomfortable playing a character in a game—one who embarks upon his journey by smiling over the bodies of a nautiloid wreckage. So began my fight for control over Vin. There were moments when the game took my autonomy away, which added to my helplessness as I witnessed him kick a squirrel and commence the torturing of a captive under interrogation. I had no idea which scenes the urge was going to leap out in, and that made for a wild time. My best bet was to simply avoid situations where the urge might pull my strings. But that was hard to do when Faerûn was set on falling apart. I was a puppet, and Bhaal was my master. I was so rattled by what Vin did to Alfira, I did nothing but play with Scratch after. It was real, the discord struck between my trauma and head-in-the-sand coping.

Combat:

Wizards might have the ability to consume scrolls over sorcerers, but with Vin’s persuasion, intimidation, deception and performance checks, he was more than happy to leave the thinking to the experts. I built him as best I could to his configuration in the home game. While divine sorcerer didn’t exist as a subclass in BG3, my next pick for him was draconic bloodline, which provided a healthy boost to my AC. In a great stroke of luck, Vin’s detect telepathic and telekinetic feats were largely mirrored in the illithid powers provided by the consumption of tadpoles. My main spells were a combination of fire bolt, shocking grasp, burning hands, fly, haste, fireball, telekinesis, and chain lightning. I hoarded explodable barrels and bottles of flammable grease, and the invisibility afforded to me through Alfira’s sacrifice helped me wipe the board clean. Godspeed, Alfira. You saved many lives by helping me kill efficiently.

Story:

Act 1—We saved the tieflings and druids by destroying Minthara and the goblins. Her armour was great on Wyll for a time. Gale and Vin seemed into each other, until the weave scene happened and I decided to keep it friendly. My closest bond was with Shadowheart, who showed an intelligent and practical approach to whatever Faerûn threw down at us. We helped the myconids and befriended Omeluum. Then, we saved the Grymforge gnomes by eldritch blasting the duergar into lava and honking Nere’s nose with a shocking grasp. It’s a shame he was so terrible and evil. I thought we had a connection.

Act 2—Imagine my surprise when Jaheira joined my party after hunting Vin like an animal in the shadowfell. The urge wanted me to take out Isobel and revel in the horrific fall of the Last Light Inn, and I told it to shut up. We saved as many prisoners as we could in Moonrise, masquerading as an evildoer in front of Z’rell who was super into it. Then we cleared the Gauntlet of Shar, where Shadowheart spared Dame Aylin and became a Selûnite. I’ve never seen a more bloodthirsty Aasimar. Balthazar went down in like two hits. We sweet-talked Mizora into an infernal rapier, apparently missed Zevlor in the illithid pods, and destroyed Ketheric. Vin slow danced with Wyll. Oh. And Halsin glitched out of my party after we saved Thaniel, so I painstakingly went back to the beginning of Moonrise to save him. His name is now a curse in my house.

Act 3—Vin slept with anything horned, tentacled and from the Underdark, along with his beloved fiancé. We defeated Cazador and set the spawn free, got the Orphic Hammer for Lae’zel, rescued Wyll’s father and the Gondians from the Iron Throne, reunited Gale and Mystra, cleansed the house of grief with fireballs and said goodbye to Shadowheart’s parents, usurped Gortash by letting Karlach get in the final hit, saved Matthew Mercer and his lovable space hamster, and put Ansur back down in the dirt. After pulling on Bhaal’s chains for so long, Vin became an unholy assassin then turned and rejected Bhaal himself.

When I crafted the guardian form that the Emperor took on, it was made to resemble Vin’s younger sister in our home game. What occurred lore-wise was a projection of the sister he never had because his real blood-kin was Orin. And what a villain Orin was! What an actor. Tormenting us as a fortune teller, a newspaper interviewer, taking on Lae’zel’s form in a way that almost convinced me if not for the corner she’d turned as a character! In the end, she was no match for my scrolls of hold monster. I might not be a wizard, but I’ve swindled enough gold to buy a mansion and I’m hotter than Elle Woods. That’s the sorcerer class, baby.

Romance:

Wyll fell into place for Vin, and the more thought I gave it, the more sense it made. He was the guiding light for our dark urge rehabilitator. Vin was written to be chaotic good in his mind but chaotic neutral in practice. In truth, his sense of justice is shallow. Sure, he steps in front of oppressors and a specific trigger for him is slavery, being a slave to his dread lord father and all. But he thwarts evil simply because he *can.* What’s funnier than subjugating the weak? Overthrowing those with all the power and stealing their crown. Luckily for the everyday person of Faerûn, Vin is a merciful ruler. I’m not quite sure if Wyll could see what I saw. To him, Vin was a shaker and mover, a trailblazer in a world of horror and cruelty. To me, Vin was a self-indulgent manipulator given a new set of keys. Can he fix me? He can try, one slow dance at a time.

Endings:

After staring at this decision for a good ten minutes, I trusted the Emperor by letting him kill Orpheus and destroyed the Netherbrain at the end of the final battle.

Lae’zel was convinced to stay after I let the comet prince be assimilated. This felt like the more evil outcome of the split in the road, to be honest. I doomed the Gith’yanki so I could live without tentacles. In accepting it, Lae’zel renounced her obligation to the Gith regarding Orpheus or Vlaakith. I stole her hope for change and left her with an ordinary, mercenary life. She seemed happy. But Lae’zel, I’m sorry. You deserved more.

Gale reforged the crown for Mystra and washed his hands clean of its power. I was happy with this outcome for him, but it also reminded me of why Gale and Vin fell flat as a romance. Gale was still utterly consumed by Mystra, and staring at her face before our little date sealed the deal for me. He would always be second to the goddess of the weave.

Shadowheart, Jaheira and Minsc have a fresh start to look forward to. I suppose the latter two will find new work around the city. I especially enjoyed having a harper in the mix after watching D&D Honor Among Thieves. And as for Shadowheart, her parents are gone, but she’s broken from Shar’s clutches and the world is hers. I see her becoming entrenched in her new Selûnite status and rising peerless among their ranks.

I legitimately thought we’d killed Astarion before he ran from the sun. As he never ascended, the tadpole was the only thing protecting him. It was hinted in our discussions that he would go to the Underdark to offer guidance to the spawn once the battle was over. If that isn’t an enormous change from the cutthroat we first met, I don’t know what is. He showed the greatest capacity for change and self-reflection, and for that, he went from one of my least liked to most beloved characters.

At the behest of his father, Wyll became Duke Ravengard. But it was a fairytale ending and a ball and a wedding that came at the cost of someone else. Who better to rebuild Baldur’s Gate when his warlock powers have vanished? With Gortash gone and the power vacuum ripped wide open, who else could wield such empathy and an unwavering sense of justice? While it was a form of drudgery compared to being the Blade of Avernus, Wyll seemed a perfect fit. Without knowing what was at the end of the string, I took it.

I’ve been building up to the hollyphant in the room.

Karlach died, and it felt not only devastating and real, but very dear to me as a person with something malfunctioning in their body. Her happiness for Vin saving himself hit like a dagger in the chest, because there’s hope for him, and none for her. She’s so happy for you while she’s dying. How do you make peace with that? You can’t. In her final moments, I saw how much Vin loved her—the real sister he never had—and that look on his face as she exploded will haunt me forever. I wished we could’ve saved her and given her a life in the city she loves. In hindsight, I know about Wyll and Avernus. I plan on making a run where Vin, Wyll and Karlach venture through hell together as the ultimate poly triad.

To wind down from the hype, there were battles that ruined my day. My heart was beating, my grip on the controller was strong, and the screams and laughter came from a primal place. My partner knew not to come into the room in the middle of Cazador because I was going to punch a hole in the screen. I’ve never been challenged quite like this, with special mentions to the Iron Throne and a final battle in which I did everything possible to avoid bringing out my beloved owlbear. My appreciation for clerics is at an all-time high, and I’d gladly put up with Lae’zel any day for what she brought to table.

It’s all a part of being alive, isn’t it? Life happens, and in that mess of sacrifice, temptation and broken promises, we find ourselves.

[tinkertoysdamn]

WiP untitled Starmora Grendel inspired thing

I'm going to reuse this Buddhist metaphor from Lighting the Way Home because I can. Hahahaha. Anyway--

“Why does everyone ignore me?” Gamora asked.  

The priest sighed, the lines on his ancient face deepened.  “It is because you are cursed, child.”  He was matter-of-fact about it; there were no unnecessary dramatics, no teasing or torment.  Somehow, that was worse.

“But,” Gamora said, “I didn’t do anything.”

“You did not.”  The priest reached out, his hand hovered for a brief hesitant moment before settling on her head.  “You did nothing wrong,” he reassured her, “you were simply born under the wrong sign.”

“Wrong sign?”  Gamora had not heard this before.  Her mother spent her time pretending that nothing was wrong, that her child wasn’t ostracized by adults or other children.  Gamora though was no fool, she was young but she had eyes.    

“The night of your birth the moon went red and the sea grew rough.  Your father’s ship was caught in the sudden tides and his body dashed upon the rocks.”  The priest sighed, the weight of that horrible night still hung over their village.  “You were born cursed and others fear it will rub off on them.”

“That’s—”  Gamora shook his patronizing hand off.  “That’s not fair, what am I supposed to do about it?”

“The only thing you can do,” the priest said, “live as best you can.  Your life is cursed and your death will be a miserable thing, but the world beyond ours does not have to be.”  He stood up, gesturing for the girl to follow.  

Cautiously, she stayed close to him, trying to ignore the stares of passersby.  Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the good people making signs behind her back, wards against the bad luck that surrounded her.  Now that she knew why they made these gestures, her heart grew hard and ever more sorrowful.  

It was before the spice merchant’s stall that the priest stopped.  “Do you see the pillar of salt?”

Of course, Gamora had seen it many times, it was the central attraction of the stall.  

“This is your curse,” the priest explained.

A chill went down Gamora’s spine.  Before, the thick pillar of solid salt had been a novelty, now its presence was a terror.  “So, should I break it?”

“No, no,” the priest said, laughing under his breath.  “The pillar represents your curse.  This is an illustration to explain my point, understand?”    

She nodded.  Gamora was starting to understand more than she wished to.

“The salt will always be there, the salt is unavoidable,” the priest explained, gesturing to it.  He grasped a small handful from a bowl at the edge of the stall.  “But salt can be diluted, and can be drowned by the river.”  Fingers spread, allowing the white grains of salt to flow back into the bowl.  “The river, the water are the good things that you do, the pure thoughts that you hold.  The more of these that you do over the course of your life the less the salt will matter.”  His eyes were kind.  “Do you understand?”

Gamora could feel the tears well behind her eyes, and the fear pressing against her skull.  “But the salt, there’s so much,” she whispered.

“And that is your challenge,” the priest said.  “That is your burden.  I am sorry.”     

As the years passed, Gamora couldn’t help but grieve that the priest was wrong.  Her curse wasn’t salt but blood, and the river of her soul was choked with it.    

Her only solace was that the priest had been culled during the invasion of her world.  He never lived to see the horror she would become.  

[sincerelyamee]

Sukuna x Reader but make it Enemies to Lovers with a dash of Amnesia & Stockholm Syndrome

Fic Title: Divine Ruination

Everything that could have gone wrong had gone wrong. Gojo Satoru was sealed, the world engulfed in the Culling Game’s flames.

And Ryomen Sukuna? The King of Curses had finally obtained his perfect vessel. But he also took something else – a simple human girl, a whim, a fleeting source of amusement. He had no way of knowing she would become the sun in his endless night… and the architect of his downfall.

This is the story of how he ruined her life, and how, in turn, she ruined him.

The story of the girl who would bring a god to his knees.

“Mine,” he growled against your skin, the word more threat than endearment, a claim staked in flesh and breath. “You’re mine, understand? Mine to fuck, mine to protect, mine to kill if I so choose.”

One moment, you wanted to ride him. The next, you imagined the satisfying slide of a blade across his throat, wondering if the King of Curses could bleed like mere mortals. Sometimes, disturbingly, you wanted to do both simultaneously.

Read the whole thing on AO3

[etraytin]

All Time Soul-Stealing Fic Recs List

This morning somebody put a challenge across my dash to reblog their post and put in the tags the fics that captured my soul and that I still think about years later. It's Saturday morning, so I opened my bookmarks back to the oldest page and was plunged back a decade in time to all the fics I have loved before. I have hundreds of bookmarks, and culling down to even a double handful is nearly impossible, much less one. So instead of hijacking somebody else's post, I'm making my own list! And I'm including links in case anybody is interested.

User Since by rageprufrock (Avengers, MCU)

West of the Moon, East of the Sun by KnifeEdge (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

Cause We Belong to the Hurricane by DeathMallow (The Hunger Games)

Invigorating by CrunchySunrises (BTVS/Anita Blake xover)

Lilac City by nwhepcat (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

Republic of Heaven Community Radio by ErinPtah (Welcome to Night Vale/His Dark Materials xover) If I had to pick just one, it would probably be this one.

The Substance of Things Hoped For by Justawritingamateur (The West Wing)

A Yellowed Paper Heart by ndnickerson (Nancy Drew, the books)

A Van, A Plane, A Car and a Bus by Speranza (The West Wing)

Background by RyoSen (The West Wing)

The Dragon's Rubies by Elliot Silver (The West Wing)

Time and the Fates of Men by Marguerite (The West Wing) (If I had to pick just two, this would be the other one.)

have you heard by peradi (Star Wars: The Force Awakens)

Post-War Economy by cassievalentine (Captain America)

Infinite Coffee and Protection Detail by owlet (Captain America, MCU)

The Only John Wayne Left in This Town by gyzym (The Avengers)

Embers by Vathara (Avatar: The Last Airbender)

There are so many good stories, and I had to grab myself by the scruff of the neck to keep from just copying and pasting most of my bookmarks here. But the prompt was stories that capture your mind for years, so I didn't put anything I read for the first time in the last five years or so.

And hey, if you want to add some fics that have stood the time and still live nibbling at the corners of your brain in the middle of the night, I'm always looking for new things to read.

[authorautumnbanks]

How To Tame A Sorcerer (68)

Series Master list

"Your plan is idiotic," Sesshomaru says, coolly as he strolls into the dojo. He's wearing his old outfit from the feudal era, minus the spiky armor piece. His mokomoko trails behind him.

Kagome scowls and gives Shippo the look. The look all moms instinctively have. The kind of look that conveys how much trouble their child is in. And right now. Shippo is in so much trouble, it will take nothing short of him bringing Satoru home to soothe things over.

"What plan?" Yuta asks, stretching his arms and then twirling his sword with one hand. He rolls his shoulders back and takes a fighting stance. His dark hair highlights how pale his skin is.

Sesshomaru looks over at Yuta and then blurs out of view. Kagome's heart jumps to her throat as she throws her hands up. A pink barrier envelopes her and Shippo right as Sesshomaru's claws make contact. She gulps and tries to calm her breathing as Sesshomaru inspects his smoking hand.

"Your plan is idiotic. I can hear how fast your heart is beating. The barrier is fine, but only if you can maintain the concentration to keep it up." He pulls out his sword and dashes to Yuta, who barely blocks the attack.

Kagome bites her tongue as her hands drop to rub her stomach, soothing the twins. There's a pulse and her barrier dissipates into a shimmering glitter of pink. Shippo leans forward and picks up a crystal.

"Do your barriers always do this?"

Kagome swallows the lump in her throat and nudges her heart to go back to its rightful place in her chest. "N-no, that's not normal."

She rubs her stomach again. The pulse returns and her cheeks warm. She pats her face. Did the room get warmer?

"Wonder which twin is doing that," Shippo says with a whistle.

"Twins?" Yuta grunts out, falling to one knee as he blocks another attack. "Kagome-san, you're having twins?"

"Focus on me," Sesshomaru says, lifting his sword and spraying acid at Yuta. Yuta rolls to the side and gapes at the hole in the floor where he was just at. "Too slow." Mokomoko grabs a hold of Yuta and dangles him upside down.

Kagome grimaces. Sesshomaru can be quite brutal sometimes. "What if he didn't dodge that last attack?" Her stomach flip flops. Ughhhh, the smell of acid makes her want to hurl. The smell dances across her nostrils and travels down her cavity, settling on her tastebuds.

"Then he'd be dead."

Yuta makes a choked noise and then is promptly thrown into a wall.

"Get up."

"I'm fine right here," Shippo sing-songs. "I like my ass where it is."

"No, you should go." Kagome plucks the crystal out of Shippo's hand and nudges him forward.

"But mama! I didn't even do anything."

"You ratted me out."

"He beat it out of me. Where is the compassion?" Shippo sniffles, but the motion is exaggerated and not at all sincere. He rubs at his eyes with his fists, but no tears come out.

"Priestess, you are too far along to be putting yourself and the pups at risk. If you insist on helping, send a shikigami in your stead." Sesshomaru hits Shippo with his whip.

"This is as bad as training with Gojo-sensei," Yuta complains, dusting his shirt off. "Shit!" He dodges the green whip and lets out a sigh.

Kagome feels a tiny bit sorry for him.

"What's going on—OW! You son of a bitch!" InuYasha shakes one fist while palming his face with his other hand. Splat! Blood hits the floor, and Sesshomaru looks far too smug. "I wasn't fucking ready for you to attack me!"

"Because you're an idiot," Sesshomaru says, brushing his hair back, before flinging an attack at Yuta and Shippo.

"Ummm, maybe we should go back," Yuji says, taking a seat next to Kagome. Megumi grunts.

"How are you doing, Nanami-San?" Kagome tucks the crystal into her hoodie pocket—okay, Satoru's hoodie.

"Better thanks to you." Nanami crosses his arms and leans against the wall. "So, this is the strength of a demon?"

"A little. Sesshomaru's being pretty nice to them."

"NICE!" Megumi and Yuji exclaim.

"Sesshomaru-sama, will you be participating in the culling games then?" Yuji asks.

"This Sesshomaru cares not for what happens to humans." He blocks an attack from Yuta, kicks Shippo into InuYasha, and then drops low to sweep Yuta off his feet, and rams his claws into Yuta's gut. "Heal yourself. We will finish this after dinner."

"A-after dinner?" Yuta squeaks out, as his blood stains the floor.

"However," Sesshomaru continues, sheathing his sword. "The imprisonment of one of my own cannot go unpunished."

"I'll go," InuYasha says, pushing Shippo off of him.

"Sorry," Yuji interrupts, "but when you say the imprisonment of one of your own…"

"He's talking about Satoru, sweetie." Kagome pats Yuji's head. "Satoru is my mate, which makes him pack."

"Which means we can't let this go unchecked. Yada, yada, yada." Shippo mimics puppets with his hands as he rolls his green eyes. "Permission to kill the higher ups now? I appoint myself as the next lead."

"Granted, and no."

"Why not?" Shippo whines, tail drooping.

"I'd sooner put the wolf in charge." Sesshomaru holds out his bloody hand and steam rises, leaving behind a clean hand. "Kagome."

"Ohhh no," Kagome says, as she crosses her legs to get more comfortable. "I'm gonna be far too busy with these kiddos to be making those kinds of decisions." She sucks in a breath, closes her eyes, and imagines two shikigami. It doesn't hurt to try, even though Sesshomaru's words sting.

"Kagome, what the fuck are you doing?"

She peeks open one eye and then the other in shock at two large eggs in front of her. Talk about the world's most useless shikigami. Freaking eggs. Her shoulders slump as she blows a breath.

Megumi rises and hoards the eggs in front of him as he takes his place next to Kagome.

Kagome blinks slowly at Megumi. They might be the world's most useless shikigami, but they're her eggs, dang it!

"Where's Nobara?" she asks.

"Back at Jujutsu High with everyone else. She wanted to learn more about soul stuff from Yuki-san. Jaken is with her, so I guess she'll be back." Yuji scratches his cheek. "Speaking of which…is it alright for my brother to come here?"

"You have a brother?" Kagome's brows furrow together. Yuji never once mentioned a brother the entire time he was staying with her and Satoru.

"Yeah…. I didn't know about him either."

POP!

"Eggs aren't supposed to pop," Yuta comments, holding his stomach.

"Nothing about this place is normal," Nanami mutters.

Kagome ignores them and tilts her body towards Megumi, who refuses to take his eyes off the eggs. The eggs shake.

POP!

A hand pushes through the shell. A leg through the other.

"We're all gonna die," Yuji exclaims. "This is like the making of a horror movie."

A head pops through and Yuji makes a cry that sounds like he's croaking. Big blue eyes stare unblinking at Megumi. Another leg pops out of the other egg and it takes off, running into a wall.

Kagome purses her lips together as she scratches her nose. Great, not only are her shikigami useless, but they're stupid too. She sighs as she struggles to get up off the ground. It's like her stomach grew overnight.

"You can barely get up and you think you really going into battle?" Sesshomaru states as if she asked him for his so unhelpful opinion.

"I'm trying your plan, aren't I?" She slaps her hand on her leg as she walks over to the flailing egg. "It's okay, just calm down," she soothes, rubbing the egg. It shakes and a head full of black hair and the fuzziest cat like ears where normal ears would be, emerges.

"Kagome-san…did you just give birth?"

"You're a dumbass," Shippo chortles. "Since when do humans lay eggs?"

"I've seen some shit!" Yuji exclaims. "Give me a break here."

Kagome helps the shikigami break out of its egg. To be honest, she was expecting something like a phoenix. Not something that resembles a cat girl. She turns her head and blinks at the sight of Megumi, holding a similar cat girl shikigami with white hair.

That's different. She reaches her hand out to the dark-haired one and grabs its hand. Maybe she should name them? Ugh, but she sucks at names. Sesshomaru dashes past her. The hairs on the back of her neck stand. Is he charging at Megumi?

There's a pink light and Sesshomaru is pushed back. The white-haired shikigami in Megumi's arm glares at Sesshomaru. Her nose wrinkles in distaste as the barrier dissipates.

"Megumi-kun," Kagome says, "I know you like to collect things…but that isn't a pet." She frowns. Pet doesn't seem like the right word to use, but these are still shikigami, even if they look more human than others.

Megumi's cheeks turn pink. "I wasn't—" A white smoke cloud appears where the Shikigami was and a white cat with the largest ears possible takes its place. On its back are small wings and it has one long tail like that of a lion.

Kagome clucks her tongue and looks at the other one, who bats its pretty blue eyes up at her. "Can you do that too?" A nod. She huffs. Of course it can and Megumi is already eyeing this one to add to his collection. Buyo Jr. leaps out of Megumi's shadow and puffs up his tails.

Oh boy.

"You know what, guys, I'm just gonna take a nap." Kagome shakes her head as walks towards the door. Nanami calls out to her. She stops and waits for him to ask whatever is on his mind. A series of emotions flit across his face before settling on something akin to acceptance.

"You and Gojo," he says. He pauses, contemplating his words.

She and Satoru what?

"Sukuna has already revealed that you are a priestess," Nanami says. "And considering that demons exist…Did you really fall out of the sky into Gojo's lap?"

Sukuna knows? Well, she hasn't been that subtle. Whatever. "Yep! I was checking out something back at home and the next thing I knew, I was falling. And I've been with Satoru ever since."

Nanami's mouth drops. "He was telling the truth," he mutters in shock.

"How many years have you guys been together?" Yuji asks.

"…Years? It hasn't even been a year." Kagome chuckles. Hasn't been a year, and she's knocked up.

"For fuck's sake," InuYasha groans.

"You mean for fox's sake," Shippo chastises. "You gotta watch your language around the baby shikigami. What if they pick up your bad habits?"

"How about I shove this sword up your ass?"

"First of all, I top. Second—"

"Guys, be quiet for a second," Megumi interrupts as he pulls his ringing phone out of his pocket. Buyo Jr. continues to paw at the cat like shikigami, who paws back with kitten like wonder.

Kagome shakes her head and tries to head back out so she can take a much needed nap, but the distress in Megumi's voice stops her. She walks over to him, abandoning all thoughts of getting some rest. "What's wrong?"

He swallows. Buyo Jr. must sense the urgency of the situation because he brushes his head against Megumi's.

"Megumi, what's wrong?" Kagome asks again, this time softer. She prays that there haven't been any new developments regarding Tsumiki. Whoever took her is most likely keeping her safe to get Megumi to join these culling games. At least she prays Tsumiki is safe.

"It's Maki. She went to the Zenin estate to get some weapons that they took from jujutsu high. I gave her permission as clan leader."

"Is she dead?" Yuji questions, face grim.

"No. But Mai tried to kill her. Mai is saying Maki attacked her first. Not sure what is going on, but Naoya-san is insisting I come down there as clan leader and sort it out." He sighs. "And he won't tell me where either of them are, unless I bring Kagome-san with me because he wants to talk to you."

"Who?" Kagome scratches her head. Who the hell is Naoya? "What does he look like? And if you're the clan leader now, then he shouldn't be playing games with you." She wrinkles her nose as Megumi and Yuji explain who Naoya is and what he looks like.

This Naoya guy does sound familiar.

Oh. Shit.

That guy.

"He doesn't want to talk to me. He's probably still smarting over me slapping him for his disrespectful comments. And he knows I'm with Satoru because Satoru confronted him."

"The priestess is not going," Sesshomaru states. "Shippo will accompany you. Kill those you see fit. These sorcerers are becoming tiresome."

"Yes, milord," Shippo jokes, playfully saluting Sesshomaru. "Might mess around and wipe out the whole clan. Sorry, Gumi."

"So, we're going to force him to talk, then?" Megumi asks.

"Nah, I mean he wants to see mama so badly." Shippo's tail wags behind him in slow, measured strokes as though he just found something he wants to sink his teeth into. Kagome can't find it in her to care one way or the other if this Naoya guy ends up dead. She wants Satoru back. She wants Tsumiki back. And she really, really wants to take a nap.

"We can't take Kagome-san there," Megumi points out.

"Give me some credit here. I am a fox, after all. The real question is, should Naoya get to have a meeting with mama or papa?"

"Gojo-sensei isn't here."

"He's here in my heart." Shippo sniffs. "Mama, do you give me permission to do unspeakable things in your likeness and image?"

"I should say no." She motions for the other shikigami in Megumi's arms. It reluctantly leaves Megumi's arms and leaps to her shoulder. "But I'm too tired to care. Take one of the girls before you go. They should be able to help if need be."

"YES!" Shippo fist pumps the air and throws an arm around Yuta, who grins like he just found all his favorite items replaced with coal. "We ride out in twenty."

The white shikigami meows, and Kagome nods her head in acceptance. There goes her shikigami. It nuzzles her face and then rushes back to Megumi's arms. The dark-haired one tugs on her hoodie. She smiles softly at it.

She should name them. Something cool? Or something just nice?

"We aren't killing anyone, right?" Megumi asks.

"Do what needs to be done," Sesshomaru says. He walks over to stand by Kagome. "I will escort the priestess back to her room. Human, clean your blood off the floor." Sesshomaru escorts her out of the dojo and down to her bedroom, which is way on the other side of the estate. "We will get our mate back. Do not be rash."

Kagome dips her head, cheeks burning. "I feel useless. I should be able to do something."

"You just created two shikigami, one of which whom could create a barrier to repel this Sesshomaru. You are not useless."

"…Thanks, Sesshomaru." She blinks. Her eyes prickle with tears that want to fall. Damn her emotions for being so haywire. "I just want him—them, back."

"And they will. This Sesshomaru will see to it. Stop crying, it is unbecoming."

She barks out a laugh. The dark-haired shikigami squeezes her hand. Everything is going to be fine. It has to be.

****

A/N: Merry Christmas! I hope you have been having a wonderful and gentle holiday season. I was originally going to answer some questions, but that will have to wait until the next update.

It was brought to my attention that this story and maybe others have been getting some hate on social media. I just want to encourage anyone that wants to create, that there is an audience out there for you. There is an audience for all of us. Honestly, in all avenues of life, there will be people who do not like you and do not like your work, and that is okay. So, if there is something out there that you have been hesitant to do because you are afraid of what others might say, ignore them. Go for it. I promise there is an audience, a community out there for each and every one of us.

Stay encouraged. Stay hydrated. Be kind to yourself. And...I'm honestly shocked it wasn't a smut scene that set those people off LOL. Next update will most likely be Wish I Could since Geto is determined to have this smut scene. I won't spoil too much, but it's different from the other smut I have written. Take care of yourselves!

[ausetkmt]

It’s Mardi Gras. Welcome to The King Cake Drive-Thru.

A tire shop parking lot has become a popular destination for those craving the beloved treat. The only problem: Which variety to choose?

By Rick Rojas

Reporting from Metairie, La., and the kitchen of Joyce’s Sweets in Ponchatoula, where he sampled a praline-filled cake fresh from the oven.

Of course Mardi Gras is about boundless revelry: the weeks of balls and the parades that shower the streets of New Orleans with beads. But beneath all that, it is also a period of metamorphosis.

A midwinter Tuesday transforms from the most mundane of days into a festival of frivolity and vice. People shed the cocoons of their regular lives and emerge plumed in feathers and sequins.

And this year, just outside New Orleans, a tire shop that for as long as anyone can remember sold only car parts has become a bustling marketplace offering king cakes, the delicacy of the Carnival season, in just about any conceivable flavor.

All you have to do is drive up.

“Any idea of what you want?” Tiffany Langlinais asked a customer who pulled up on a Friday afternoon.

It is a daunting question at the King Cake Drive-Thru. Flaky or fluffy? Filled with cream cheese? What about strawberries, ice cream, even crawfish — or nothing more than the traditional plastic baby? Cakes from more than a dozen bakeries are on offer.

Others have had the idea to sell king cakes culled from various local bakeries, at one location, like King Cake Hub in the Mid-City neighborhood of New Orleans. But the innovation of the King Cake Drive-Thru, which Ms. Langlinais opened in January with her fiancé, Mike Graves, is the added convenience of accessing that bounty of options without even needing to get out of the car.

The drive-through has drawn nurses headed to morning hospital shifts, parents with cars full of children, tourists on road trips and people with limited mobility or weakened immune systems keeping them from easily browsing bakeries. Even the food writer for the city’s main newspaper, The Times-Picayune, passed through.

“I’m surprised nobody thought of it before you, Mike,” David Scripter told Mr. Graves as he dropped off an order of dozens of cakes from Bittersweet Confections, a bakery started by his wife.

“Sometimes,” Mr. Graves said, “the best ideas are right in front of you.”

The drive-through, which takes over the parking lot of Duckworth Tires in the suburb of Metairie three days a week, often has a line of cars waiting when it opens at 7 a.m., and has sold out its inventory well before 7 p.m., its listed closing time.

King cakes have always been a staple of the Carnival season along the Gulf Coast, a crown of pastry served during a burst of gluttony and good times before the austerity and fish fries of Lent. (King cake season begins on Jan. 6 — known as Twelfth Night, Epiphany or Three Kings Day — and ends with Fat Tuesday, or Feb. 13 this year.)

A king cake, in what many consider its purest form, is a ring of brioche-like dough with a dash of vanilla, a crunchy coating of purple, green and gold sugar and a small trinket known as a fève — usually a plastic baby — baked inside.

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“It’s almost blasphemous to get cream cheese in it,” Pam Carr said the other day as she placed an order a staunch traditionalist never would: a pair of cream cheese and chocolate cakes to share with her co-workers at a warehouse store. “Those are the ones I like!”

King cakes are another front in a familiar New Orleans divide. There are those who believe that adhering to tradition means refusing to budge from how things have always been done, and those who maintain that experimentation and interpretation are not an insult to the past, but a tribute.

“Anyone can put anything in a king cake now,” Bridgett Saylor Meinke said as she surveyed the drive-through’s selection.

She grew up on old-school king cake but has been cautiously open to trying some newfangled varieties, like the bananas foster from Brennan’s (“Absolutely delicious,” was her take) and the strawberry cream cheese from Joe’s Cafe.

“That’s the one I’m on the hunt for today,” she said.

The drive-through’s menu varies some week to week, written on a white board by Ms. Langlinais. The couple buys the cakes from bakeries at a wholesale rate and sells them at a markup, with prices ranging from $17 to about $50 per cake. (They come in a range of sizes, too.)

On a recent weekend, there were plenty of traditional options, as well as the Bavarian cream from Caluda’s, an almond cake from District Donuts, boudin or crawfish varieties from Clesi’s Seafood, and lemon curd and vanilla bean cakes from Paw Paw’s Donuts.

The one with Vietnamese coffee filling from Dough Nguyener’s Bakery sold out quickly, as did the cinnamon cream cheese option from Tartine.

Ms. Langlinais wanted to lure customers with their favorite offerings from well-known spots but also nudge them toward cakes they may not know. Those from Joyce’s Sweets, a bakery in Ponchatoula, almost an hour away, are a prime example.

Joyce Galmon is known for her pralines, but she has made king cakes for 25 years, stuffing them with a filling made from broken pralines she could not sell.

“Miss Joyce has no social media,” Ms. Langlinais said. “You can only call her. She has no website.”

In past years, Ms. Galmon would sell as many as 90 cakes in a season. With the King Cake Drive-Thru, she has sold more than that in a single weekend.

Hers is a labor-intensive process, teasing out the dough, lathering on the praline filling, and then letting the cakes rest and rise for several hours. The result: a gooey, crunchy eruption of cinnamon and sugar.

“It’s got me on my toes,” Ms. Galmon said after delivering a fresh batch to the tire lot. “It was a hobby for me, but they’ve made it bigger.”

For all the excitement the drive-through has caused, it is a simple operation. From the street, it almost looks like a Covid testing site.

“No frills, as you can see,” Ms. Langlinais said, “with our tent and tables and Mike’s van.” She was referring to a raggedy but reliable 2007 Kia Sedona missing its middle seat.

Jimmy Duckworth, the owner of Duckworth Tires, gave them a pretty good deal on rent: a king cake a week. Last week, he got his favorite, the cinnamon cream cheese kind from Tartine.

“I’ve been very lucky in life,” he said. “Give them a break — why not?”

He nodded at Mr. Graves, who was busy helping customers.

“Look at him,” Mr. Duckworth said. “He’s all happy.”

A few years ago, Mr. Graves, 35, had been a lawyer in Manhattan, working in finance. Then he moved to New Orleans and started a novelty ice cream business called Bof Bars. He had no ties to New Orleans — he grew up in Chicago — but now he cannot imagine leaving. He and Ms. Langlinais are planning to get married in March.

Ms. Langlinais, who also owns a marketing business, grew up in a shrimping family in Biloxi, Miss., immersed in the elaborate world of Mardi Gras.

She became something of a king cake connoisseur. She has tried more than 100 varieties. She keeps a spreadsheet with detailed notes. (“Enjoyed the light filling but would want x3 for me to be truly happy,” she wrote of one encounter.)

“I know that it’s not a super refined operation,” Ms. Langlinais, 33, said, “but we want it to feel like us.”

There have been setbacks. One day last month, Mr. Graves woke up at 3 a.m. to find someone had busted a window on the minivan and stolen 100 cakes.

The whole endeavor has been exhausting: The excruciatingly early mornings hustling to collect the cakes at bakeries or rendezvous points in random parking lots. The 12-hour days on their feet at the drive-through. And there have been the urgent after-hours calls and texts.

“My kid didn’t tell me she got the baby!” said one friend desperate for a last-minute cake. (According to tradition, the one who finds the baby is responsible for supplying the next cake.)

The drive-through is usually open on Fridays through Sundays, but customers have asked if the couple would be selling cakes on Fat Tuesday.

Not a chance.

Duckworth Tires will be a tire shop again.

“I’ll be partying,” Mr. Graves said.

[dont-call-me-algernon]

@crabbycatt-noraitt-norai Thanks for the tag!!

Rules: Pick a song for each letter of your URL, and then tag that many people.

D – Dance Macabre (Ghost)

O – Own My Mind (Maneskin)

N – Not Gonna Die (Skillet)

T – The Great Shipwreck of Life (IAMX)

C – Culling of the Fold (The Decemberists)

A – A Good Song Never Dies (Saint Motel)

L – Lay All Your Love on Me (ABBA)

L – Laplace’s Angel (Will Wood and the Tapeworms)

M – Mark Chapman (Maneskin)

E – Emperor’s New Clothes (Panic!At The Disco)

A – Absolution (Ghost)

L – Lonely Dance (Set It Off)

G – Gossip (Maneskin)

E – Enchanté (Dirt Poor Robins)

R – Roaring 20s (Panic!At The Disco)

N – Neutron Star Collision (Muse)

O – Over the Hills and Far Away (but like – specifically the Nightwish cover)

N – Natural (Imagine Dragons)

Let me tell you, this game made me realise that I do not know, let alone listen to a lot of songs that start with the letter O or with the letter N because those took some serious thinking lmao

aaand 18 are definitely too many people to tag, so I’m gonna just leave the game to anyone who sees it on their dash and wants to steal it, as usual!