#enjoy them /threat

[tunastime]

i spun a wheel to decide what to request and it gave me 5 so

5 and renthubs?

-your most favorite fluff writer ever/silly

5. Sickly / Sweet (x) (983 words)

Etho flips an egg. It's. It's not working. It's not. It's not the eggs fault that it won't cook right or the pan's fault that it won't cook even or the carton's fault for having three eggs that refuse to cook right. But he can't. The egg is too hard. There's a short breath caught in Etho's chest. He’s not. He’s not frustrated with this. It’s fine. So he puts the egg on another plate. And he cracks another one. There are three eggs on the plate. Bdubs will eat them. Ren will not, but he will be glad they’re made for Bdubs. It’s fine.

He burns his egg.

It sticks to the bottom of the pan and he stands there with the burner off, staring into the charred edges of the egg too cooked and singed. He takes a long breath. He does, he really tries. And then he starts scraping.

He scrapes at the pan to get the egg off. It unsticks but the charcoal is going to ruin the taste so he keeps scraping it. He stands there and he scrapes and he lets his brain fog over and just stands there.

“Etho, hey, good morning, love.”

Etho looks over, but he realizes his mouth is still in a fine line. He doesn’t try to fix it. He turns back to the pan. His mind loops the situation, the steps.

“Etho...hey,” and Ren’s voice gets very soft. Not. Not demeaningly soft. Just, collected. It’s a voice he uses sometimes with him and it mutes every other sound. It quiets them. He hears Ren step over, somewhere in his periphery, the known shape of him. 

“It’s okay,” Etho says in a voice not all there. Ren very slowly puts his hand over his, lets Etho decide whether or not he’s going to pull away from him. He doesn’t. Ren takes his hand between both his own, squeezes ever so. 

Ren doesn’t say anything else. There’s enough in the hands around his own that Etho can make his own sentences. It says something like let me, something like it isn’t worth the strain. So Etho lifts his hand from the handle of the pan, and Ren’s hand drifts to his elbow, still gentle, still holding. When he steps back, Ren keeps him at his side, and Etho stays to rest his chin on Ren’s shoulder. 

“What’s happening?” Ren asks as he wipes the pan out. Etho sighs. His inflection is enough that the question he’s really asking is something else.

“Dunno,” Etho says, pressing his cheek against his shoulder. Ren’s tail swishes, thwapping him in the leg when he does that. He smiles.

“One or two?” he asks.

“One is fine.”

Ren’s hand drifts to the carton. Etho shuts his eyes.

“Promise?” Ren asks. 

“Yeah,” Etho says. He fusses with the hem of Ren’s shirt. “I’ll be okay to eat lunch.”

Ren nods, something he feels more than sees. He feels him kiss the top of his head, just so, before he listens to the sound of egg frying in the pan.

“Hey you two.”

If Etho were to crane his neck around, he might be able to see Bdubs pause in the doorway before he enters. He instead catches a glimpse of him as he rounds his shoulder. He reaches out and Bdubs catches his hand, pausing by his side.

“Hiya, Dubs,” he says, cracking one eye open. Bdubs squeezes his hand.

“You alright, sweetheart?”

Etho shrugs halfheartedly.

“‘M okay.”

“You sure?” Bdubs raises his eyebrows. Etho shuts his eyes again, shrugging, goes to speak, floundering, mouth opening and closing. The answer is no. But Bdubs finishes: “Nah, don’t...don’t say anything, it’s alright. I getcha.”

Bdubs skirts past him, letting his hand go.

“Eggs, love?” Ren asks Bdubs.

“Hm?” Bdubs hums. Etho watches him look over at the plate on the other side of the stove. Bdubs nods. “Sure, sure, I’ll have the leftover ones. I’m just gonna put the kettle on and hop up here.”

“Careful,” Etho says, reaching his hand back out again. Bdubs takes it, bending to kiss his knuckles. He lets Etho let go first.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m always careful,” Bdubs smiles. He sets the kettle on the burner before he hops up onto the counter. Etho sighs, shifting to press his forehead to Ren’s shoulder. The world hurts him a little less, now. Water bubbles in the kettle. It drowns out the sound of the cicadas outside.

“You guys are too sweet to me,” he mumbles into Ren’s shirt.

“Too sweet?” Bdubs laughs a little. “Etho, we’re doing the bare minimum.”

Etho sighs, trying not to sound pathetic. “I know, I just...” He scrunches his face, still buried for the most part against Ren’s shoulder blade. He feels Ren laugh. Thwap. His tail wags. (If he were to look up and over his shoulder right now, he would see Ren plating an egg that’s just over easy enough. And toast, too). Ren says:

“I saw you were getting frustrated,” and shrugs a little. “It’s my job to help.”

Etho huffs.

“Not necessarily,” he says, unsticking himself from Ren’s shoulder. He rests his chin there instead. Bdubs reaches out, poking his hip with his foot.

 “Mm, no,” Bdubs says. “I’m sure it’s in the job description.”

Etho groans, worming away as Bdubs tries unsuccessfully to poke him again. He narrowly evades Ren’s grab at his hip and manages to flounder his way to the kitchen table. Bdubs does grab him at some point, throwing his arms around his ribs and pressing his cheek to his back. He squirms, he really does, but then Ren’s scooping him up in his arms too and he’s being crushed between them. He sighs. He’s an Etho sandwich. His chest feels full to bursting. It’s not a cure-all, but it certainly feels good.

Etho smiles.

“You guys are the worst.”

[bunnieswithknives]

I feel bad for neglecting Hazel so much, I do have many thoughts about her.. and also a mermaid au that im probably not going to do anything with

[gutiuniverse]

Legend, teaching the young heros: Okay, what's the first rule? Wind, Wild and Hyrule: Don't wake up Sky before 12, if you want to live. Legend: Second rule? Wind, Wild and Hyrule: If Warriors tells you no, go to Four. Warriors, shouting from a distance: WHAT ARE YOU TEACHING THEM!?!?!

[pelcrow]

"Everything you see will be yours if you fall down on your knees and worship me."

[allyriadayne]

jace character assassination because he might be less than willing to allow low born addam to ride a dragon? NOT TO ME!!!! jace hearing during his childhood he had "common blood" vs the targaryenism of we are closer to gods vs having to prove himself as an heir vs lowborn addam claiming a dragon so easily. clear as day!!!

[aaandbackstabbed]

Beakley: Scrooge, you’ve received a lot of calls today

Beakley: I’ve organised them into three piles; ‘goldie’, ‘death treats’ and ‘death threats from goldie’

[screechingfromthevoid]

now that I'm even more emotionally invested i can't go on the dorym tag or even their separate tags :( I just want to reblog pictures of my boys but I don't want stress about current events yet :(

[metallicdawn]

I made a post abt it on twt, but Everyone talks about the tunnelers, the return of the NCR, or a possible Yes-Man betrayal as the biggest threat to the courier post-game, but real ones know it’s Joshua once the legion eventually crumbles and he has unrestricted access to recruit disenfranchised ex-legionnaires HE FORMERLY TRAINED to his version of New Canaan.

He’s already been made a living martyr, and I know damn well he’ll take full advantage of that.

[soullessjack]

the thing with claire and jack is claire is a wounded animal who hates stability because her own was destroyed and jack is a cornered animal who wants stability because he’s like born unstable or something and they both want what they think the other has and in this essay I will

[froganni]

Maybe a little overly serious approach to the situation, but y'all have GOT to be more respectful towards the creators you watch and consume content for. fWhip's message about getting a lot of hate is honestly abysmal.

Like, don't get me wrong, I love lore-related series! I think they're a lot of fun and I love watching them.But give non-lore series a chance! They're also a lot of fun!

These creators are all responsible adults who are very capable of creating boundaries for themselves and deciding amongst themselves what rules they want to follow when joining a project.

Obviously, there are many viewers and community members who this isn't directed at. :D

Please don't send hate to anyone, it's not helpful. If you don't like something, don't engage with it. Just leave it at that. Show respect to the community you're apart of, and to the creators that head it.

(It's fine to be annoyed with something and talk about it, but don't force a creator to see that negativity. It's not benefiting anyone.) The more hate a creator gets, the less they engage with and organize fun things for the community. Please remember to be kind.

[atoriv-art]

I really like your nejisasuneji fanart!I think the similarity between Neji and Sasuke in Naruto is worth exploring. Both of them come from the pupil aristocracy, and their strength is about the same (the early Byakugan and Sharingan are both very strong), and both of them are rebels. Regardless of whether it was fate or the system, both people failed in the end. Neji still failed to escape fate and became a scapegoat. Sasuke finally compromised to the old system and ran around in order to maintain the status quo. It is very appropriate to use one sentence to evaluate the two people: "Those who try to control their destiny end up being controlled by destiny."It will be interesting for the sasuneji two to help each other: Sasuke helps Neji reform the Hyuga clan and break the curse seal of the caged bird. At the same time, the reform of the Hyuga clan becomes the beginning of the reform of the old system of the ninja world. Neji, who is no longer controlled by the caged bird, becomes Sasuke's right-hand man.

yesssss this is what drew me to them! i find it very interesting they are both clan prodigies with Baggage and both come from prestigious clans no less. remember when the sharingan and byakugan were compared to each other and it meant anything ever that was FUN.

i particularly enjoy the idea of contrasting them because If I Wrote Naruto (said every naruto fan ever) this conflict of like. sasuke goes on to be the one who could Not bear to stay in konoha and then later turns against it, vs neji who stayed in konoha after being promised that things would change (and they didn't. funny that) would be something to be explored! especially after Both having been seen as Shitty, Angry Prodigies. but neji "calmed down" after being made promises that weren't kept and sasuke didn't let himself even consider falling for stuff like that (until the ending of naruto lmfao)

i'm a big fan of characters who contrast like that lol and i think the whole sharingan vs byakugan thing is a very fun backdrop to that. like dreams/illusions vs reality/truth? come on now.

people joke about it a lot i've seen, but literally if neji as a character were allowed to 1. exist in a meaningful way at all in shippuden lmfao 2. interact with sasuke, i do think it'd be an easy path for interesting interactions, because like. having to defend the village who's literally never helped you, against the guy who was also Never given any assistance or support growing up, AFTER the village made you countless promises that your life would get better when it literally did not? lol. lmao even

them teaming up is sincerely on the like top 5 best things that would happen If Naruto Made Any Sense to me to be honest i do think about it a lot.

[july-19th-club]

favorite type of villanous characters are the ones whose motivations boil down to

like they dont even have to have any stakes in the broader situation. they just have take pleasure in destruction

[starbuck]

I just saw a super old post of yours talking about Ravenous and omg what a film! one of these days I’m going to write an extremely in-depth analytical paper about it — there’s just so much to talk about. you don’t happen to still have access to those deleted scenes do you? bc I would love to see them

it’s sooooooooo good! feel free to chat with me about it whenever - i love to talk about it and hear others’ thoughts!

the deleted scenes can be found here! the editing of the final film is very tight, atmospheric, and dreamy in a way that the inclusion of any of these scenes would have stepped on, so i am ultimately glad they were cut, but i’m also so glad to have access to them and believe that they are mandatory viewing for fans of the film who want to engage deeply with it.

[declamationark]

I feel like Atsushi would so over the moon and swear undying loyalty to whoever showed him how to get his own library card. He'll be treating it like his most prized possession, second only to Chazuke

[fricc-darn]

What type of person do you think BEN would like? Personality wise? Or looks? Would they want someone kind and meek or someone cruel? or someone pretty?

TYSM IF YOU ANSWER ILYSSSSSSSM AND I LOVE YOUR WORK YAYAYAYA 🫶🏻🫶🏻💕🫶🏻🫶🏻💕💕💞💕💞💞💕💞💕💓💕💞

FIRST OF ALL THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!💖💖

BEN doesn't care about appearances. The Moon Children have some preferences, but attractions are a fleeting feeling. Having those chummy feelings is an insecurity they'd rather not think about. Plus, they're too judgmental. BEN sees themselves above everybody.

BEN is never seeking anyone out romantically (aroace), so it doesn't have an ideal partner in mind. They have a few qualities they tend to lean towards. Ultimately, it depends on how much they enjoy messing with you, for how long you can last, and what they can gain from you. It has to be someone who has decent mental fortitude and has an interesting personality. There needs to be a good middle ground; can't be too meek or too hardheaded.

[moonshine-nightlight]

Hi, I'm always very impressed by your world building skills, even in shorter stories! Do you have any advice for aspiring writers on how to build their fantasy world?

So i drafted a response to this in between working just far too much and then my computer crashed and i lost it. Then i was even busier so i never got around to writing it again but i am making some time this weekend, so worldbuilding post - take 2

My main, high level worldbuilding tips are:

Rule of Cool: worldbuild things you think are fun and interesting. not only is that the best way to get ideas you like and are motivated to write about, but other people will also think they're interesting too. have fun with it.

Iceberg theory: know more about the world than ever makes it into the story. people can sense when worldbuilding is shallow, so even if they never see the true depths of the world they can often sense it's there. plus if u know the whole picture, everything the readers do see will seem more coherent

Integration: i heavily integrate the world i'm building into the story i'm telling--so dig into the plot and characters and make sure that the world and the story serve each other well. your world is there to contribute to the story so make sure its fulfilling that purpose

For more specifics about how i personally world build and for some examples from my stories of the above guidelines, see below.

So firstly, i love worldbuilding. i just think its a ton of fun and could easily spend hours just thinking about worlds in my head. (i mean what else is there to do when ur commuting to work, amiright?) i think that does make it easier for me to take the time to do it right and makes the world come through more vividly in my writing. it can get annoying or tedious or be more challenging at times, but since i like it/find world building interesting, i'm more willing to put in the time and effort to whip it into shape and i get less frustrated with that part of the process in general.

i'm also always thinking about world building to some degree in the back of my mind. picking up interesting information, facts, snatches of cool ideas or images or whatever. then i throw all that in like a junk drawer in my brain so when i sit down to more officially write or flesh out a world, i already have spare parts at my finger tips to use or drawn on.

Reading and consuming other art and worlds also makes it easier to make your own, just lik reading is a key part of writing practice. i don't just mean fiction, but just anything about the actual world makes it much easier to make up your own--that can manifest as awe at the fireflies that actually exist or spite that dragons dont. Whether that's random youtube video essays about the history of musicals or drinks or fashion to books and articles and documentaries or just my friend's niche interests (or their regular jobs). i'm always taking worldbuilding notes in the back of my mind.

For a more writing specific example, i read this short guide '50 Ways to Kill a Mermaid' (its locked for AO3 so u hav to sign in to read it) and it was super fun and cool to read that info from a writer who had studied marine biology. then when i was fleshing out Don't Shoot the Messenger a year later, the problem of Satrasi being a sea demon in a fresh water pool and bloating came to my mind because i'd stored that tidbit from the article away for later use.

My personal method for worldbuilding and plot outlining is sort a brainstorming/Q&A i have with myself (i hope this makes sense when i'm done writing this all out lol).

I've mentioned this before but the prompt that inspired Dale was: "You’re pretty sure your boyfriend was replaced by an eldritch being that can barely emulate being human. Weirdly, you enjoy a better relationship with them than your actual boyfriend."

So when that idea grabbed me, i started brainstorming about the world and asking myself questions. Why is the reader with the boyfriend if they don't really like them? What would make someone stay in a relationship like that? Do i want to make this a dark story? And i did not, i wanted it to be fun, so the arranged marriage angle came to mind. And if that's the premise then when is the story? is this our 'past' or another world entirely? diff world means more freedom so i automatically leaned in that direction.

Can the reader tell the 'boyfriend' has been replaced? Are demons a thing people know about? does the reader know that's an option? which is more fun? if the reader is worried about Dale getting caught, that's more room for hijinks so then yes, demons are known, but not common otherwise too many people would notice.

So my plot and worldbuilding are evolving in tandem and informing each other, based on the type of story i want to tell and how the characters i have in mind will react etc.

i run through a lot of ideas and turn them over in my head--trying out diff pieces to see if they fit--and am always willing to drop an idea or save it for another story if i don't think its working for the current one

For iceberg theory, i mentioned above for Dale would be the religions in that world. When i decided to introduce a priest like character (for discovery danger) i knew i needed to focus more on the religions than i previously had noted. the majority of what i came up with isn't int he story, but i think the fact that i know it helps me write when did end up in there, helped make it consistent, and means i can more easily work in allusions to it without having to work so hard those singular times.

For example, i'd decided to call the demon realm "the Depths" early on, which to me already invokes deep water and darkness, so i followed that through to sort height and air and light as being perceived more positively. fire and light are important symbols in this world and they primarily burn their dead--to bury someone below ground would be seen as almost condemning them and someone drowning is also seen as like, not good for their soul because what if it is 'pulled down' rather than 'ascending'. some of this was alluded to in the chapter, but most of it is not. this also helped me come up with the various "by the light" "dawn's ire" and other similar little 'religious' phrases and exclamations different characters use at times.

Meanwhile, in Sacrifice, the people living their are relatively non-religious--thats why they both don't pray to any other deities and it takes 5 years of problems to even bother trying an old god. it's not sacrilege because they're desperate people trying a long shot, not violating or abandoning a different belief. because i wanted the reader's main problem with it all to just be that they didn't think it work.

And why is she a translator? because i wanted to use the idea from that one post that goes around about how ridiculous it is in movies when their translated prophecies rhyme in english. why are they arguing about the translation? because its a dead language so no one really speaks it, that means the people who came up with it were here a century ago or longer. why aren't they here anymore? nomadic so they left and ended up staying away because of a natural disaster elsewhere. why is this town here now? a particular export/resource in this area became valuable enough for people to try to live here. the fact that its a lumber town due to some rare wood native to the area doesn't come up in the story, but i know it and i think that i know that about the town helps it feel more real, makes it easier for me to reach for new details when i need them

and going back to anything can be inspiration, let's talk about the doorlock in the very beginning of Finally Woken. its literally just a magical keypad/number pad but with different colored tiles instead of numbers because i wanted the reader to be able to get in, but i felt it didnt make sense for them to hav a physical key. and i thought it would look cool in Heshi's door and it went well with the fact that he's a glassblower . also, why is Heshi a glassblower? because i frickin' lov blown glass - i just think its so cool and pretty. that helped lead into the sort of artisan economy feel that world has.

Each of these stories has an outline and notes doc at a minimum. the notes doc is where i throw lik pics, inspiration posts, random worldbuilding ideas etc. only much shorter stories or stories that are heavily based in 'modern' world don't hav extensive random notes.

my Dale folder has subfolders for characters and the setting, as well as random worldbuilding files such as "demon summoning/magic" "spiritual belief and org" "fashion - feminine" and so on. Even excluding the plot outline and chapter notes (and not counting pics) i've got like, over 4k of random notes saved. dale is the one i hav the most of that for, but all my fics have some little section with stuff like that jotted down

in the end, i think the best way to sum up all that is with my three original rules of: put stuff u think is cool in your world, known more than you tell to help everything fit together and seem deep, and build your world around your plot and characters because they should all be working together to tell the story you want to tell.

honestly, i could ramble about worldbuilding all day so if anyone has any questions or wants more examples, just let me know ^^